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Introduction {#bju14925-sec-0005}
============
In the treatment of localized prostate cancer (PCa), the addition of even a low dose of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) to long‐term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has been shown to improve overall survival in patients with high‐risk PCa compared with ADT alone [1](#bju14925-bib-0001){ref-type="ref"}. Delivering EBRT to 78--80 Gy with a conventionally fractionated scheme additionally provides an advantage with regard to biochemical disease‐free survival (BDFS), compared with low‐dose EBRT, but with slightly greater toxicity [2](#bju14925-bib-0002){ref-type="ref"}, [3](#bju14925-bib-0003){ref-type="ref"}. A modest dose escalation up to 84 Gy~1.5~ (equivalent dose at 2 Gy per fraction assuming α/β 1.5 Gy) using moderate hypofractionation (2.5--3.5 Gy/fraction) has shown non‐inferior relapse rates compared with conventional fractionation and might improve disease‐free survival (DFS) in intermediate‐risk PCa [4](#bju14925-bib-0004){ref-type="ref"}. Further dose escalation by combining EBRT and a brachytherapy boost has demonstrated an improvement in biochemical control compared with that attained with 78 Gy EBRT, but at the expense of unacceptable grade 3 urinary toxicity rates [5](#bju14925-bib-0005){ref-type="ref"}. Ultra‐hypofractionated radiotherapy (UHRT) regimens exploit the radiobiological advantage thought to be associated with the PCa low α/β ratio, by delivering a high dose per fraction (5--10 Gy) in \< 10 fractions, with a dose distribution that closely resembles the distribution associated with high‐dose‐rate brachytherapy. The most common UHRT scheme is given in four to five fractions of 7--9 Gy. Recent multi‐institutional pooled analyses and meta‐analyses have shown advantageous BDFS in patients undergoing UHRT compared to historical controls, with minimal severe toxicity rates for low‐risk and intermediate‐risk PCa [6](#bju14925-bib-0006){ref-type="ref"}, [7](#bju14925-bib-0007){ref-type="ref"}. For this group of patients, there is now level 1 evidence demonstrating that seven‐fraction UHRT is not inferior to conventional‐dose normofractionated radiotherapy [8](#bju14925-bib-0008){ref-type="ref"}. However, there is a lack of data for patients with unfavourable‐risk disease; therefore, the role of UHRT in high‐risk patients is still controversial [9](#bju14925-bib-0009){ref-type="ref"}. In the present study, Extreme Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Localized Prostate Cancer (EHRAP), we hypothesized that UHRT (45.2 Gy delivered in eight fractions over 3 weeks) could be safely administered to patients with unfavourable intermediate‐risk and high‐risk PCa, and could yield favourable DFS rates compared with historical controls. In the present paper, we report the 5‐year outcomes of this phase II trial, focused on unfavourable PCa.
Patients and Methods {#bju14925-sec-0006}
====================
Patient Eligibility and Follow‐up {#bju14925-sec-0007}
---------------------------------
The study protocol was reviewed by an independent agency of the Ministry of Health (the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices, *AEMPS*) and approved by the institutional review board. All patients signed specific informed consent and were aware of the institution's standard radiotherapy treatment, which consisted of 20 fractions of 3.17 Gy, five fractions per week [10](#bju14925-bib-0010){ref-type="ref"}. Patients with locally advanced prostate adenocarcinoma (cT3b) or disseminated disease (cN1 or cM1) were excluded. Distant and lymph node metastases were assessed by abdominopelvic CT and bone scan (mandatory for patients with unfavourable intermediate‐risk and high‐risk disease). Pelvic MRI was used for T staging in 58 patients (38%), providing additional information for N staging. Men with recent acute urinary obstruction requiring bladder catheter or with a baseline IPSS \>19 were also ineligible. The following were not exclusion criteria: prior TURP; adenomectomy; low maximum urinary flow; and large prostate volume.
Patients were categorized according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) risk classification system, version 4 [11](#bju14925-bib-0011){ref-type="ref"}. Patients were prospectively assessed at baseline, weekly during the treatment, at 2 months, and every 6 months thereafter.
Radiation Treatment {#bju14925-sec-0008}
-------------------
### Planning {#bju14925-sec-0009}
Planning CT scans (2 mm thick) were performed with empty rectum and urethral catheter to contrast‐enhance the bladder. In 38% of the patients, multiparametric MRI was performed after the diagnosis in order to stage PCa and improve risk stratification.
Intermediate‐ and high‐risk patients were prescribed a dose of 45.2 Gy (92 EQD~1.5~) with 95% planning target volume (PTV) coverage delivered in eight fractions, while for low‐risk patients the dose was reduced to 43.84 (87.4 Gy~1.5~). Fractions were administered two to three times per week, Monday to Friday, over 3 weeks. The clinical target volume (CTV) included 3--5 mm of extraprostatic fat in unfavourable intermediate‐risk/high‐risk patients, depending on the rectal examination, ultrasonography, MRI and biopsy findings (location of Gleason 8--10 adenocarcinoma, periprostatic extension or nodules). For the low‐risk/favourable intermediate‐risk group the CTV encompassed 1--2 mm around the prostate gland. The CTV also included the proximal 2‐cm seminal vesicles along the vertical line for the unfavourable intermediate‐risk/high‐risk group and 1‐cm for favourable intermediate‐risk group. PTV margins of 3 mm posteriorly and 5--7 mm in the other dimensions were added to CTV.
Two modifications were made to the treatment protocol in 2015: an endorectal balloon (ERB) filled with 100 mL air was placed to reduce intra‐fraction motion and rectal toxicity [12](#bju14925-bib-0012){ref-type="ref"}, and the bladder was filled with 200 mL physiological saline solution through a paediatric bladder catheter prior to each treatment fraction. For patients without an ERB, the rectum and bladder were contoured (1 cm above and below the PTV) as solid organs. For patients with an ERB, the rectal and bladder wall (5‐mm thickness) was contoured instead. Dose--volume limits for normal tissues are summarized in Table [S1](#bju14925-sup-0004){ref-type="supplementary-material"}.
### Treatment {#bju14925-sec-0010}
All patients included in the present study were treated with helical TomoTherapy® (Accuray, Sunnyvale, CA, USA). Unlike high‐dose‐rate brachytherapy or robotic linac, the achieved dose distribution was fairly homogeneous, with doses into the PTV ranging from 95% to 103% of the prescribed dose; therefore, there were no hot spots in the urethra or the prostate gland. As margins were wide, we ensured that \~8--10 mm beyond the prostate capsule received \~90 Gy~1.5~ in intermediate‐risk and high‐risk patients. Steep dose gradients between the prostate and rectum allowed the sparing of the lateral and posterior rectal mucosa from high doses. Dose distribution on a typical patient without an ERB and with an ERB is shown in Fig. [S1](#bju14925-sup-0001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}. After a cleansing enema, with the patient lying supine on the treatment unit couch, with knees flexed and feet flat, the ERB was placed by the physician at the depth previously determined during the simulation CT, using its marked scale and stopper. The depth of insertion, to position the balloon at the prostate/seminal vesicles in a comfortable and reproductible way, was rather variable among patients, and therefore had to be individualized. In the treatment position, using a simple positioning device (Combifix; CIVCO, Kalona, IA, USA), a megavoltage CT was acquired every day before treatment. Then, it was co‐registered with the simulation CT using CTV and bone anatomy, and finally, the isodose curves displayed to assist with the online correction of both the prostate‐seminal vesicles inter‐fraction shift and the ERB position, if necessary (Fig. [S2](#bju14925-sup-0002){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Online corrections over 3 mm were uncommon (\<5% of the total treatment fractions). Prophylactic α‐blockers (tamsulosin 0.4 mg/day) or anti‐inflammatory medications (hydrocortisone enema, given a few millilitres once a day) were routinely administered during radiotherapy. Treatment was completed over a period of 13--23 days in 95% of the patients. ADT was prescribed for 6 months in favourable intermediate‐risk/unfavourable intermediate‐risk patients. It consisted of 1 month of bicalutamide 50 mg/day with one 6‐month injection of leuprolide or triptorelin, \~3 months before radiotherapy. For high‐risk patients ADT continued with 6‐month injections up to 24 months.
Study Endpoints {#bju14925-sec-0011}
===============
Toxicity {#bju14925-sec-0012}
--------
Baseline urinary and intestinal symptoms were recorded before the start of the radiotherapy. Physician‐reported toxicities were defined using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 3. Patient‐reported urinary toxicity was assessed with the IPSS. The minimal important difference (MID) or minimal clinically important difference is the smallest change in a treatment outcome that an individual patient would perceive as clinically meaningful. For IPSS, the MID threshold was defined as the mean IPSS value at baseline plus 0.5 standard deviation of the series. Side effects occurring within 2 months of radiotherapy treatment were categorized as acute toxicities, and those developing after 2 months were considered late toxicities. We also aimed to identify potential clinical predictors of genitourinary (GU) and gastrointestinal (GI) toxicities among the following: age; Charlson index; diabetes; hypertension; coronary artery disease; intake of anticoagulants/antiplatelet drugs; intake of α‐1‐blocker for symptomatic BPH; placement of bladder catheter before every radiotherapy fraction; history of adenomectomy/TURP; baseline IPSS (1--7 vs 8--19); baseline IPSS (irritative subscore, questions 2, 4, 7); baseline IPSS (obstructive subscore, questions 1, 3, 5, 6); baseline IPSS (question 3); placement of ERB; history of symptomatic haemorrhoids; ADT, radiotherapy dose (43.84 Gy vs 45.20 Gy); NCCN risk group; and year of radiotherapy treatment (2012--2014 vs 2015--2017). Late toxicity after radiotherapy, as a consequential late damage of acute toxicity, was also investigated.
Quality of Life {#bju14925-sec-0013}
---------------
Quality of life was assessed using the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC)‐26 questionnaire at baseline, 2 months after radiotherapy, then every 6 months for 3 years, and every year thereafter. For each domain, an MID threshold was defined as the mean EPIC score at baseline plus 0.5 standard deviation of the series. The impact of UHRT on quality of life will be extensively addressed in another publication.
Disease‐Free Survival {#bju14925-sec-0014}
---------------------
Failure was defined as biochemical recurrence or the administration of any salvage, antiandrogen, or systemic PCa therapy. An increase in PSA level of 2 ng/mL above the prior nadir was scored as a biochemical failure, unless followed by a decline to a new nadir. Patients who developed biochemical recurrence underwent either bone scan and CT or body MRI every 6 months.
Study Objectives and Statistics {#bju14925-sec-0015}
===============================
The primary objective of this prospective study was safety, i.e. to determine whether the 5‐year incidence of patients experiencing CTCAE grade 3 or higher toxicities exceeded 10%, a rate deemed excessive [13](#bju14925-bib-0013){ref-type="ref"}. A sample size of 100 patients yielded 90% power for identifying an excessive toxicity rate at the one‐sided 5% significance level. Accounting for unevaluable patients, the minimal planned enrolment was 120 patients.
The secondary objective was efficacy, i.e. to determine whether, for unfavourable intermediate‐risk and high‐risk patients, UHRT improved 5‐year DFS from an expected rate of 75%, the average rate reported with ADT plus either dose‐escalated normofractionated EBRT [14](#bju14925-bib-0014){ref-type="ref"}, [15](#bju14925-bib-0015){ref-type="ref"} or EBRT with brachytherapy studies [16](#bju14925-bib-0016){ref-type="ref"}. Potential prognostic factors of GU or GI toxicity were assessed using a bivariate Cox proportional hazard model. Variables with a *P* value \< 0.2 were included in a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model. A *P* value of \<0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results {#bju14925-sec-0016}
=======
Between May 2012 and October 2017, a total of 154 patients were treated, 92 of whom had unfavourable intermediate‐risk or high‐risk PCa. Patient characteristics are listed in Table [1](#bju14925-tbl-0001){ref-type="table"}. A total of 112 patients (73%) received ADT. Seventy‐nine men received neoadjuvant‐concomitant ADT over the course of 6 months. Thirty‐three continued the ADT (6‐month injections) up to 24 months. The median (range) follow‐up of the series was 48 (19--84) months. At the time of analysis, nine patients (5.7%) were no longer being followed up: seven died, and two were lost to follow‐up. One death may be linked to PCa, while the others were attributable to causes unrelated to either PCa or the treatment (four related to second tumours, one suicide, one congestive heart failure).
######
Patient, tumour and dosimetry characteristics.
Characteristic Entire series (*N* = 154) Unfavourable intermediate‐risk and high‐risk group (*N* = 92)
-------------------------------- --------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------
Age, years
Median (range) 72 (50--81) 73 (50--81)
Clinical stage, *n* (%)
T1c 56 (36) 17 (19)
T2a 21 (14) 9 (10)
T2b 26 (17) 20 (22)
T2c 19 (12) 14 (15)
T3a 30 (20) 30 (33)
Tx 2 (1) 2 (1)
Gleason score, *n* (%)
3 + 3 64 (42) 15 (16)
3 + 4 38 (25) 25 (27)
4 + 3 24 (15) 24 (26)
4 + 4 20 (13) 20 (23)
4 + 5 5 (3) 5 (5)
5 + 4 3 (2) 3 (3)
Initial PSA, ng/mL
Median (range) 9 (1.2--214) 13.5 (4.2--214)
\<10 84 (55) 32 (35)
10--20 53 (34) 43 (47)
\>20 17 (11) 17 (18)
NCCN risk group, *n* (%)
Low‐risk 28 (18)
Favourable intermediate‐risk 34 (22)
Unfavourable intermediate‐risk 35 (23)
Favourable high‐risk 37 (24)
Unfavourable high‐risk 20 (13)
ADT, *n* (%)
No 42 (27) 8 (9)
Neo‐con 79 (51) 53 (57)
Neo‐con‐adj 33 (22) 31 (34)
ERB, *n* (%) 75 (49) 49 (53)
Dosimetry
CTV, %
D98% 100.1
PTV, %
D98% 98.1
D2% 102.1
Rectal wall, %
V100% 5.2
V90% 15.1
V80% 19.8
Bladder wall, %
V100% 7
V90% 11.4
V50% 25.5
Median volumes, cm^3^
CTV 64.8
PTV 118.7
Rectal wall 23.4
Bladder wall 43.7
ADT, androgen deprivation therapy; CTV, clinical target volume; D2% (near maximum), percent of the prescribed dose covering 2% of the target volume; D98% (near minimum), percent of the prescribed dose covering 98% of the target volume; ERB, endorectal balloon; NCCN, National Comprehensive Cancer Network; Neo‐con, Neoadjuvant‐Concomitant; Neo‐con‐adj, Neoadjuvant‐Concomitant‐Adjuvant; PTV, planning target volume; Vn%, percentage of the organ‐at‐risk covered by *n*% of the prescribed dose.
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Relapse occurred in four patients for the entire series (97.4% crude BDFS) and three for the unfavourable intermediate‐risk/high‐risk group (96.7% crude BDFS). All had a PSA increase \>2 ng/mL over PSA nadir. No local recurrence of the PCa was detected after performing bi‐parametric MRI and rectal examination. Pelvic lymph node and distant metastases were observed in one patient. Bone metastases were documented in three patients: two in the high‐risk group and one in the favourable intermediate‐risk group, giving a crude metastasis‐free survival rate of 98%. Actuarial DFS plots are shown in Fig. [1](#bju14925-fig-0001){ref-type="fig"}. For the entire series, the actuarial 5‐year DFS rate was 94.3%. For the unfavourable intermediate‐risk/high‐risk PCa group, the estimated 5‐year DFS rate was 90%, which proved to be superior to the 75% historical control rate we chose for comparison with other forms of EBRT [14](#bju14925-bib-0014){ref-type="ref"}, [15](#bju14925-bib-0015){ref-type="ref"}. For unfavourable intermediate‐risk/high‐risk patients the 5‐year cumulative incidence of metastasis was 2.7% (Fig. [2](#bju14925-fig-0002){ref-type="fig"}). The crude metastasis‐free survival rate was 98%.
{#bju14925-fig-0001}
{#bju14925-fig-0002}
Figure [3](#bju14925-fig-0003){ref-type="fig"} provides a summary of the observed toxicities for the whole series. No grade 4 or 5 toxicities occurred. No patient reported acute grade 3 side effects. One patient experienced late grade 3 dysuria 9 months after radiotherapy as a result of a urethral ulcer that resolved within 3 months. It required a suprapubic bladder tap and pregabalin. The mean IPSS returned to baseline between 2 and 6 months after radiotherapy (Fig. [3](#bju14925-fig-0003){ref-type="fig"}). There was no late grade 3 intestinal toxicity. The incidence of grade 2/3 GU and GI toxicities at 3 years was 1.4/0% and 0/0%, respectively. Kaplan--Meier 5‐year cumulative Grade 2--3 GU and GI toxicities were 17.8% and 7.4%, respectively (Fig. [S3](#bju14925-sup-0003){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). These treatment‐related side effects were far below the 10% grade 3--5 toxicity rate deemed excessive [13](#bju14925-bib-0013){ref-type="ref"}.
{#bju14925-fig-0003}
The 17 variables potentially correlated with acute or late urinary toxicity, and the 12 variables potentially correlated with acute or late intestinal toxicity are listed in Table [2](#bju14925-tbl-0002){ref-type="table"}. *P* values for all variables after univariate analysis are displayed. Those with *P* values \> 0.2 were included in the multivariate analysis. *P* values, hazard ratios and CIs for those variables are also shown in Table [2](#bju14925-tbl-0002){ref-type="table"}. Multivariable analysis showed that the placement of a urethral catheter was significantly associated with increased acute GU toxicity, whereas hypertension and history of α‐1‐blocker intake for symptomatic BPH were significant variables predicting for late GU toxicity. None of the prognostic factors investigated were found to be predictive of acute GI toxicity. Ischaemic cardiopathy might be correlated with higher incidence of late GI morbidity.
######
Predictors for the incidence of genitourinary and gastrointestinal grade ≥1 toxicities
Univariate analysis Multivariate analysis
---------------------------------- --------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------
**Acute GU toxicity predictors**
Age (≤72 vs \>72 years) 0.733
Charlson index 0.469
Diabetes 0.925
Hypertension 0.777
Cardiopathy 0.623
History of α‐1 blocker intake 0.632
Anti‐aggregant/anticoagulant 0.115 0.840 0.751 (0.490; 1.175)
TURP/adenomectomy 0.349
ADT 0.592
Bladder catheter 0.005 0.008 1.742 (1.157; 2.662)
Dose (43.8 vs 45.2 Gy) 0.549
Baseline IPSS (\<8 vs ≥8) 0.544
Baseline IPSS (irritative) 0.770
Baseline IPSS (obstructive) 0.440
Baseline IPSS (question 3) 0.640
NCCN risk group 0.929
Year of the radiotherapy 0.011 0.210 0.966 (0.650;1.431)
**Late GU toxicity predictors**
Age (≤ 72 vs \>72 years) 0.249
Charlson index 0.365
Diabetes 0.676
Hypertension 0.036 0.030 2.041 (1.072; 3.887)
Cardiopathy 0.843
History of α‐1 blocker intake 0.024 0.030 2.110 (1.072; 4.151)
Anti‐aggregant/anticoagulant 0.529
TURP/adenomectomy 0.061 0.197 0.720 (1.072; 4.917)
ADT 0.139 0.458 1.342 (0.616; 2.924)
Bladder catheter 0.018 0.333 1.610 (0.614; 4.218)
Dose (43.8 vs 45.2 Gy) 0.156 0.216 1.805 (0.708; 4.599)
Baseline IPSS (\<8 vs ≥8) 0.144 0.548 1.211 (0.649; 2.262)
NCCN risk group 0.610
Year of radiotherapy 0.002 0.005 3.857 (1.501; 9.912)
**Acute GI toxicity predictors**
Age (≤72 vs \>72 years) 0.469
Charlson index 0.887
Diabetes 0.887
Hypertension 0.759
Cardiopathy 0.520
Placement of ERB 0.000 0.082 0.365 (0.118; 1.135)
Anti‐aggregant/anticoagulant 0.996
Haemorrhoids 0.210
ADT 0.546
Dose (43.8 vs 45.2 Gy) 0.252
NCCN risk group 0.424
Year of the radiotherapy 0.000 0.275 1.788 (0.630; 5.079)
**Late GI toxicity predictors**
Age (≤72 vs \>72 years) 0.477
Charlson index 0.368
Diabetes 0.365
Hypertension 0.361
Cardiopathy 0.099 0.000
Placement of ERB 0.000 0.158 3.222 (0.636; 16.328)
Anti‐aggregant/anticoagulant 0.449
Haemorrhoids 0.128 0.317 0.606 (0.227; 1.616)
ADT 0.422
Dose (43.8 vs 45.2 Gy) 0.342
NCCN risk group 0.002 0.162
Year of radiotherapy 0.000 0.214 2.902 (0.540; 15.587)
ADT, androgen deprivation therapy; ERB, endorectal balloon; GI, gastrointestinal; GU, genitourinary; NCCN, National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
The mean EPIC urinary irritative/obstructive subdomain score exhibited transient statistically significant declines at 2 months after radiotherapy that barely reached the MID. It subsequently returned to baseline at 6 months and continued to be around the baseline level thereafter (Fig. [4](#bju14925-fig-0004){ref-type="fig"}). UHRT had no impact on the urinary incontinence subdomain.
{#bju14925-fig-0004}
Discussion {#bju14925-sec-0017}
==========
A meta‐analysis published this year, including more than 6000 patients, stated that UHRT had sufficient evidence to be supported as a standard treatment option for localized PCa [7](#bju14925-bib-0007){ref-type="ref"}. It also highlighted that only few UHRT studies included patients with high‐risk PCa, and those that did only had a very small proportion of such patients. Additionally, most studies including high‐risk patients did not separately report outcomes by risk group; therefore, there is a lack of data from phase II/prospective trials on unfavourable PCa treated with UHRT. The present study (ISRCTN19419439) shows that UHRT for unfavourable intermediate‐risk and high‐risk PCa could be safely undertaken by experienced institutions, provided that planning and delivery requirements were fulfilled. Prescribing 92 Gy~1.5~ (delivered in eight fractions of 11.5 Gy~1.5~) over 3 weeks resulted in very low rates of 5‐year severe toxicity (grade 3+). Relapse rates were similar to dose escalation combining brachytherapy and EBRT, and compared favourably with historical controls of other forms of radiotherapy.
As our objective was to improve BDFS without increasing toxicity, our treatment schedule was designed to be equi‐effective for late normal tissue toxicity probability with our standard radiotherapy treatment (20 fractions of 3.17 Gy) under the linear quadratic model, i.e. 78 Gy~3~ (intermediate‐risk and high‐risk patients) or 74 Gy~3~ (low‐risk patients), while escalating radiation dose as close as possible to 100 Gy~1.5~ to PCa cells. Using EBRT exclusively, that objective could only be achieved through extreme hypofractionation. In order to diminish the intra‐fraction shift associated with the irradiation time, even using an ERB [17](#bju14925-bib-0017){ref-type="ref"}, dose per fraction had to be delivered, fulfilling demanding dosimetric criteria, in a treatment time that we considered acceptable, i.e. \<10 min. As a result of the previous considerations, our radiotherapy schedule consisted of eight fractions of 5.65 Gy prescribed to 95% of the PTV. Following the recommendations of Fowler et al. [18](#bju14925-bib-0018){ref-type="ref"} for avoiding excessive short overall times, fractions were planned to be administered two (Monday and Thursday) or three times (every other day) per week over 2.5--3 weeks instead of daily fractions over 1.5 weeks. ASTRO‐ASCO‐AUA evidence‐based UHRT guidelines suggest that avoiding consecutive daily treatments could decrease toxicity [19](#bju14925-bib-0019){ref-type="ref"}. The HYPO‐RT‐PC phase III trial has also found that, probably due to the shorter overall treatment time, early side effects were more pronounced with ultra‐hypofractionation than with conventional fractionation [8](#bju14925-bib-0008){ref-type="ref"}. Finally, there is level 1 evidence that five‐fraction UHRT delivered once per week improves acute urinary and intestinal quality of life compared with every‐other‐day delivery [20](#bju14925-bib-0020){ref-type="ref"}. By contrast, repopulation of PCa and how the \'time factor\' might affect tumour control is currently unknown, especially for high‐grade tumours [21](#bju14925-bib-0021){ref-type="ref"}, [22](#bju14925-bib-0022){ref-type="ref"}. Also, in light of the discouraging results obtained after single‐dose high‐dose‐rate brachytherapy [23](#bju14925-bib-0023){ref-type="ref"} for low‐ to intermediate‐risk PCa we should be cautious when designing clinical trials for unfavourable PCa with few fractions (\< 5) or for an overall treatment time \< 7 days.
For low‐risk and favourable intermediate‐risk patients, this trial represents a considerable effective biological dose escalation (87 Gy~1.5~) over typical 76--78 Gy‐(IMRT) intensity‐modulated radiation therapy. The 5‐year BDFS rate of 97.9% observed in the present trial, EHRAP, was similar to the 5‐year BDFS rates of 90--95% reported with dose‐escalated 86 Gy‐IMRT [14](#bju14925-bib-0014){ref-type="ref"}, low‐dose‐rate brachytherapy [24](#bju14925-bib-0024){ref-type="ref"}, and UHRT [7](#bju14925-bib-0007){ref-type="ref"}. For this group of patients, any EBRT treatment delivering a dose up to 80--85 Gy~1.5~ (e.g. moderate hypofractionated EBRT, UHRT in five fractions of 7 Gy), or brachytherapy alone obtains excellent DFS outcomes with low toxicity rates.
To set in context the outcomes of the present trial, we gathered the data on BDFS rates and grade 3+ toxicity of several trials [5](#bju14925-bib-0005){ref-type="ref"}, [7](#bju14925-bib-0007){ref-type="ref"}, [8](#bju14925-bib-0008){ref-type="ref"}, [25](#bju14925-bib-0025){ref-type="ref"}, [26](#bju14925-bib-0026){ref-type="ref"}, [27](#bju14925-bib-0027){ref-type="ref"}, [28](#bju14925-bib-0028){ref-type="ref"}, [29](#bju14925-bib-0029){ref-type="ref"}, [30](#bju14925-bib-0030){ref-type="ref"} with a minimum 5‐year follow‐up (Fig. [5](#bju14925-fig-0005){ref-type="fig"}).
{#bju14925-fig-0005}
Further information on these studies is summarized in Table [S2](#bju14925-sup-0005){ref-type="supplementary-material"}.
For unfavourable intermediate‐risk and high‐risk patients, the 5‐year BDFS rate of 90% observed in EHRAP compares favourably with the 70--80% rate observed in the 86 Gy‐IMRT group of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC) [14](#bju14925-bib-0014){ref-type="ref"} and the 70% rate reported in the 78 Gy‐arm of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 9406 [15](#bju14925-bib-0015){ref-type="ref"}. Our results are similar to the 92% 5‐year BDFS rate observed in Jackson's meta‐analysis for intermediate‐risk patients [7](#bju14925-bib-0007){ref-type="ref"}, and also comparable with the 89% 5‐year BDFS rate reported in the ASCENDE‐RT trial for the combined pelvic EBRT + brachytherapy + ADT arm [27](#bju14925-bib-0027){ref-type="ref"}, but without the high grade 3 toxicity rates observed in the latter trial. Other trials treating patients with EBRT plus brachytherapy boost plus ADT resulted in 5‐year BDFS rates of 75--86% [31](#bju14925-bib-0031){ref-type="ref"}, [32](#bju14925-bib-0032){ref-type="ref"}. As mentioned previously, the HYPO‐RT‐PC phase III trial demonstrated that UHRT regimens are not inferior to conventionally fractionated 78‐Gy EBRT for intermediate‐risk patients [8](#bju14925-bib-0008){ref-type="ref"}. This trial also included a group of selected 62 high‐risk patients (maximum PSA allowed was 20 ng/mL), although the tumour control rates for this specific group were not reported. Their fractionation scheme was very similar to ours, delivering seven fractions of 6.1 Gy over 2.5 weeks, which, like the present study, is equivalent to 92 Gy~1.5~. The main differences between HYPO‐RT‐PC and EHRAP are: (1) HYPO‐RT uses three‐dimensional conformal radiotherapy in 80% of patients with two‐dimensional image guidance with intraprostatic fiducials vs helical tomotherapy with three‐dimensional image guidance and an ERB in EHRAP; (2) seminal vesicles were not included in the volume target in HYPO‐RT vs at least 2 cm of seminal vesicles in all patients in EHRAP; and (3) HYPO‐RT did not allow ADT vs 91% of unfavourable intermediate‐risk‐high‐risk patients receiving ADT in EHRAP. Recently, a randomized phase II trial compared five different UHRT and moderate hypofractionated schedules. At a median follow‐up of 7.5 years, the results suggested that the efficacy of the 10‐fraction arm and the 15/20‐fraction arm was superior to the five‐fraction arm, with no differences in late toxicity among groups [33](#bju14925-bib-0033){ref-type="ref"}. Based on these outcomes and the favourable tumour control results obtained by HYPO‐RT‐PC and EHRAP, UHRT schemes delivering 6--10 fractions should also be included in future phase III trials involving unfavourable intermediate‐risk and high‐risk PCa.
One may speculate whether increasing the radiotherapy dose close to 100 Gy~1.5~ was the main factor responsible for the high DFS rates observed in this trial. Another hypothesis is that the addition of ADT, even delivering such a high total dose, might have played a crucial role in the unfavourable intermediate‐risk/high‐risk patients. A multi‐institutional consortium study reported a 93% 5‐year BDFS rate in the unfavourable intermediate‐risk subgroup using UHRT alone [6](#bju14925-bib-0006){ref-type="ref"}, suggesting very high dose delivered with UHRT or through a brachytherapy boost may obviate ADT in this group of patients. However, a recent meta‐analyses of randomized trials addressing the role of ADT with dose escalation using a brachytherapy boost concluded that the addition of ADT to the brachytherapy boost further improved metastases free‐ and overall survival by 20--30% [34](#bju14925-bib-0034){ref-type="ref"}. Two‐year adjuvant ADT added to the conventional radiotherapy dose (76--82 Gy) improved BDFS and overall survival compared with short‐term ADT in high‐risk patients [35](#bju14925-bib-0035){ref-type="ref"}. To date, there are no published studies addressing the efficacy of long‐term ADT in combination with dose escalation to \> 85 Gy~1.5~ in high‐risk patients. For unfavourable PCa, in the absence of a randomized trial showing otherwise, dose escalation with brachytherapy or UHRT, should not replace ADT.
The toxicity of prostate UHRT relative to the combination of EBRT plus brachytherapy or other forms of moderate hypofractionated or conventional fractionated EBRT has been the subject of debate [5](#bju14925-bib-0005){ref-type="ref"}, [36](#bju14925-bib-0036){ref-type="ref"}, [37](#bju14925-bib-0037){ref-type="ref"}. Figure [5](#bju14925-fig-0005){ref-type="fig"} shows that late grade 2--5 toxicities in the present study were similar to those from centres using five‐fraction UHRT and compare favourably with other radiation therapies. In particular, we did not observe the high incidence of late urinary grade 3 toxicities associated with the combination of EBRT and brachytherapy. As a small percentage of late toxicities may develop beyond 5 years, the current toxicity rates we are presenting are unlikely to largely underestimate actual long‐term rates. For example, in the RTOG 9805 study, the rate of grade 2--5 GU toxicities increased \< 3% between 5 and 9 years after low‐dose‐rate brachytherapy [38](#bju14925-bib-0038){ref-type="ref"}. The present trial delivered a significant dose escalation, protracted overall treatment time, used three‐dimensional image guidance before every treatment fraction, avoided hot spots into the prostate gland, urethra and rectal mucosa, placed an ERB in half of the patients, and followed rigid constraints of dose to normal tissues. The rigorous control of these factors may account for the favourable late toxicity rates observed in the present study. It has been described that patients who develop acute grade 2+ urinary or intestinal symptoms during treatment experience higher incidence of late toxicity [13](#bju14925-bib-0013){ref-type="ref"}. To reduce the probability of late grade 2+ intestinal toxicity as a consequential effect of acute rectal injury [39](#bju14925-bib-0039){ref-type="ref"}, a corticosteroid enema was administered every night during the radiotherapy treatment with the purpose of preventing acute rectitis. Prophylactic treatment with topical rectal corticosteroids during radiotherapy significantly reduced the risk of rectal bleeding and radiation‐induced mucosal changes and improved patient\'s quality of life in a randomized clinical trial [40](#bju14925-bib-0040){ref-type="ref"}.
Reaching a median follow‐up \> 5 years is required for determining actual long‐term rates of DFS, as BDFS might significantly drop after 4--5 years [27](#bju14925-bib-0027){ref-type="ref"}. Further follow‐up is guaranteed.
In the present trial, a dose of 92 Gy~1.5~ was delivered in eight fractions over 3 weeks to \~98% of a large PTV that included \> 5 mm beyond the prostate capsule and half of seminal vesicles. The 5‐year BDFS rate of 90%, observed in this series of unfavourable intermediate‐risk/high‐risk patients, is a figure which is not surpassed by other radiotherapy techniques. The toxicity profile was very favourable and the impact on urinary quality of life minimal and transient. Further studies should define the most effective fractionation for unfavourable intermediate‐risk/high‐risk PCa, which should be compared with other curative treatments for localized PCa. The role of ADT along with very high radiotherapy dose also needs to be investigated.
Conflict of Interest {#bju14925-sec-0019}
====================
Dr. Macias reports grants from Castilla‐Leon Public Health Service, during the conduct of the study; and in 2018 I taught for free a webinar organized by Accuray based on an oral communication accepted in ASTRO 2018. Dr. Barrera Mellado has nothing to disclose.
ADT
: androgen deprivation therapy
BDFS
: biochemical disease‐free survival
CTCAE
: Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events
CTV
: clinical target volume
DFS
: disease‐free survival
EBRT
: external beam radiotherapy
EHRAP
: Extreme Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Localized Prostate Cancer
EPIC
: Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite
ERB
: endorectal balloon
GI
: gastrointestinal
GU
: genitourinary
MID
: minimal important difference
NCCN
: National Comprehensive Cancer Network
PCa
: prostate cancer
PTV
: planning target volume
RTOG
: Radiation Therapy Oncology Group
UHRT
: ultra‐hypofractionated radiation therapy
Supporting information
======================
######
**Figure S1.** Dose distribution on a typical patient without endorectal balloon (A) and with endorectal balloon (B). D Gy~1.5~ = equivalent dose at 2 Gy/fraction assuming a/b 1.5 Gy; D Gy~3~ = equivalent dose at 2 Gy/fraction assuming a/b 3 Gy; CTV = clinical target volume; PTV = planning target volume; % iso = isodose curve expressed as a percentage of the prescribed dose.
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
**Figure S2.** Example of on‐line image‐guided tomotherapy on a typical patient with endorectal balloon. Planning CT (grey) and daily megavoltage CT (green) used for position verification show a good correlation for endorectal balloon and clinical target volume coverage (95% isodose in red).
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
**Figure S3.** Physician‐recorded side effects. Cumulative incidence of urinary and intestinal grade 2+ late toxicity in the whole series.
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
**Table S1.** Main dose limits used for target volumes and organs‐at‐risk.
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
**Table S2.** Selected series of unfavorable prostate cancer patients treated with UHRT, hypofractionated EBRT, normofractionated EBRT, brachytherapy, and combination of EBRT and brachytherapy.
######
Click here for additional data file.
This study was funded with a scientific grant (GRS 903/A/14) from the Castilla‐Leon Public Health Service (SaCyL). The authors thank Maria‐Jose Fernandez‐Gomez from the University of Salamanca for assistance with statistical analysis, Lisa Goggin from Accuray Incorporated for technical support, and Pedro Soria‐Carreras, Enrique de Sena‐Espinel, A. Fernandez‐Lara and Francisco Gomez‐Veiga from the Salamanca University Hospital for their valuable suggestions. Oral communication at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 60th Annual Meeting (2018).
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Well, I wouldn't say that. Remember what happened to the American crook
(he
fell off the plane), and John Cleese got Jamie Lee Curtis after all (I
wouldn't like the idea of having Tony Curtis as my father-in-law).
No, he got run over by the steam roller driven by John Cleese, while
stuck in the concrete, didn't he?
Yes, but after that -- incredible though it sounds -- he somehow got up,
climbed to the wing and, all covered with wet concrete, looked in at John
and Jamie sitting in the cabin. When the plane took off, he slid off the
wing.
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Gut-busting food in Dubai
We tuck into the city's top calorific treats
By
Oliver Robinson
06 December 2010
It may be old hat now, but here at Time Out we still have a perverse fascination with Burger King’s pizza burger. Someone, somewhere thought it would be a marvellous idea to marry two of the world’s best-loved fast foods, and the result is the culinary equivalent of rubbernecking past a car accident on Sheikh Zayed Road – there’s something so unhealthy about it, but it’s very difficult to turn the other way when faced with it. After all, it’s a meal that incorporates two of the best things ever invented: burgers and pizza. What’s not to love?
Well, if you listen to the medical experts, quite a lot. When the pizza burger hit the menus a few months ago, doctors and nutritionists alike had a collective coronary – Dr Qazi Ahmed described the health implications of the pizza burger as ‘frightening’ in local press.
‘The limited-time-offer pizza burger is designed to be shared, as clearly communicated in our ads, and is sliced into six pieces before it is served,’ responded a Burger King representative. It’s as though doling out this calorific wonder among your friends suddenly makes everything okay.
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The UAE seems to have developed a worrying addiction for fast food. A national study found that 27 per cent of children in the emirates are overweight and, despite its relatively small population, the UAE is the 10th most obese nation in the world. Part of the problem is that junk food here is so darn cheap (the pizza burger costs just Dhs39), meaning anyone on a budget in need of a quick bite will always be tempted to pop into a drive-thru. The other problem? Well, junk food just tastes so good.
The furore surrounding the pizza burger got us wondering: what are Dubai’s most calorific foods, and are they tasty enough to warrant ruining your own health? We thought we’d find out by tucking into the usual suspects (an excuse to try the pizza burger), as well as sample some of the less obvious options that still pack a calorific punch. Our journey took us from drive-thrus to fish and chip shops to more refined restaurants, where we tested the taste as well as counted the calories of a colourful array of foods.
So, without further ado, loosen your belt, and prepare to pig out...
Pizza burger
Taste test: Perhaps we were expecting too much from the pizza burger (we were giggling with excitement when we bought it), which is why we were disappointed when we actually got around to trying it – it’s all bun. At least it tastes that way, and there’s not much to the beef patty and pepperoni other than a slathering of pizza sauce. While the idea of the pizza burger is wonderfully absurd, the actual eating experience proves that pizzas and burgers are best enjoyed separately.
Worth it? Considering the average person’s recommended daily calorie intake is around 2,000 (this, of course, varies depending on the individual), the pizza burger would have to be The Most Delicious Food We’ve Eaten, Ever to warrant the silly amount of calories. It isn’t, so it doesn’t. Alternative: Try an honest old-fashioned spicy salami pizza straight from the wood-fire oven at Bussola (04 399 4141). It costs just Dhs56 and only contains about 300 calories.
Deep-fried Mars bar
Taste test: We’re not quite sure who originally decided that a Mars bar would taste infinitely better if it was coated in batter and plonked in a deep-fat fryer for a few minutes. Initially, we were horrified by the idea of battered chocolate, so were surprised that it actually tastes okay – the crisp batter and sweet, melting chocolate complement one another rather well. Worth it? We think the reason deep-fried Mars bars haven’t really caught on outside Scotland is because anyone with a passion for them probably dies of heart disease before they can spread the word. Definitely worth trying once, but once only.
Deep-fried ice cream
Taste test: Again, who first came up with the idea of deep-frying ice cream? Well, someone, somewhere did, and we have to say we approve. The warm, crispy exterior gives way to a sweet icy treat within – a great sensation that tastes fantastic, but will leave you feeling a tad sickly and very guilty.
Worth it? If you’re going to ruin your health, you may as well do it in style.
Cupcakes
Taste test: It’s pretty much a given that something that’s bright blue and edible is going to give you one hell of a sugar rush, and the Sugar Daddy’s cupcake doesn’t disappoint. One is enough to keep you wired for the best part of the day. More than one will have you bouncing off the walls and probably double your annual dental bill. Still, they’re devilishly delicious.
Worth it? When you think about it, 190 calories isn’t that much (a Krispy Kreme doughnut contains 250), so having a cupcake with your cup of tea every now and then can’t hurt – providing you can manage to limit yourself to one.
Alternative: Try the scones (about 95 calories each) at the Ritz Carlton’s high tea, daily 2pm-6pm (Dhs125). Not only are they healthier (depending on how much butter you slather on them), but you get to gorge yourself and feel sophisticated at the same time.
Pasta carbonara
Taste test: The combination of chicken, bacon, cream and pasta is never going to make the healthiest meal, but it certainly makes for a delicious one. We’re fans of Carluccio’s carbonara because whichever outlet you visit, they serve up consistently decent, rich and creamy portions.
Worth it? Damn straight – though if you’re having it for lunch, it’s best to rule out doing anything mildly productive in the afternoon. Alternative: Try the 220-calorie spicy and sour noodle soup with shrimp and chicken (Dhs40) from Thai Kitchen at the Park Hyatt Dubai (04 317 2222).
Chicken Caesar salad
Taste test: It’s a long-standing myth that McDonald’s Caesar salad is more unhealthy than a Big Mac, (the latter is actually worse for you, with 540 calories). Even still, the Caesar salad’s not far off, which defeats the object of having a salad in the first place. What’s more, it doesn’t taste particularly great: the sauce is a little too rich and smothers the lettuce, rendering it a soggy mess. Worth it? If you’re going to go to McDonald’s, you may as well order a Big Mac – at least then you know what you’re letting yourself in for.
Chicken shawarma
Taste test: Like the pizza burger, the shawarma marries two of the world’s best foods: kebab meat and chips. Unlike the pizza burger, however, it actually works. The tender chicken is perfectly seasoned, the sauce has a great tang, and the chips – well, everyone loves chips (though too many can make the shawarma a bit stodgy).
Worth it? Yes, a thousand times! Alternative: Why would you want an alternative? If you’re worried about the calories, take out the chips (though admittedly this would ruin the fun).
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China diy-fabric-light-box
S+C is a professional manufacturer, supplier of diy-fabric-light-box, we provide diy-fabric-light-box OEM & ODM wholesale, diy-fabric-light-box price and more questions, please contact us and follow our Facebook , We will respond in a timely manner, we are not the lowest price of diy-fabric-light-box, but we will provide you with better service.
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Q:
What is the difference between business and application logic?
Please note that I asked the same question on stackoverflow but they directed me to ask here.
While I am trying to discerne the difference between the application logic and business logic I have found set of articles but unfortunately there is a contradiction between them.
Here they say that they are the same but the answer here is totally different.
For me I understand it in the following way:
If we look up for the definition of the Logic word in Google we will get
system or set of principles underlying the arrangements of elements in
a computer or electronic device so as to perform a specified task.
So if the logic is set of principles underlying the arrangements of elements then the business logic should be set of principles underlying the arrangements of the business rules, in other words it means the rules the should be followed to get a system reflects your business needs.
And for me the application logic is the principles that the application based on, in other words, how to apply these rules to get a system reflects your business needs, for example should I use MVC or should not I use?, should I use SQL or MSSQl?.
So please could anybody help me to get rid of confusion about the difference between the application and the business logic.
A:
I agree with SO's LoztInSpace that this is quite opinionated answer and that everyone can have slightly different definitions. Especially if historical influences are involved. This is how I would define the terms:
Business logic is logic, that is created with collaboration and agreement with business experts. If business expert says that "Customer cannot withdraw more money than he has in his account.", then this is a business rule. In ideal world, this logic would be in some kind of library or service, so it can be either reused across multiple applications or changed in all relevant applications at once.
Application logic is simply everything else. Example can be "clicking this button opens window to add new customer". It has nothing to do with business, but it is still logic that needs to be implemented. In ideal world, application logic will use library or service, that is implementing the business rules. Multiple application, each with different application logic, can reuse one business logic. Imagine web app, web service and mobile app all operating using one business logic, but each clearly need different application logics.
The reason why I think those two get mixed up, is that keeping them separate is extremely hard. Even if you do your most to keep them separate, use cases surface where you have to mix them up. If for example you have all your business logic in service, it keeps it separate. But having some business logic in local application that is using the service might increase responsiveness or user comfort, because the local application doesn't need to call service for every small change.
Another reason why they are mixed together is that for many non-technical people. UI is "the application", so anything reflected in the UI is important. In the ideal "business logic" case, there is no UI. There would probably be suite of automated tests to verify the logic, but nothing that can be shown to business people. So to business people, everything is same kind of "logic". IMO.
A:
Every system or application is going to have its own definitions of what is business logic and what is application logic. It will either be explicit or implicit.
In my experience data driven applications (e.g. DBs etc.) tend to have a more formal definition of what the business logic is.
The application logic tends to focus on getting information from point A to point B, the business logic centres around what the information is - and the language of the business logic is usually domain specific. Put another way, the application logic is focused on the question "how does it work?", the business logic on "what does it do?" - again, the distinction can be very fuzzy and is more often that not domain specific.
A:
As others have pointed out, these terms do not have one universally accepted meaning. I will describe the definitions I have encountered more often, i.e. in several projects with different companies.
The business logic defines a normalized, general-purpose model of the business domain for which an application is written, e.g.
Classes like Customer, Order, OrderLine, and associations like customer-order, and so on.
General-purpose operations such as registerCustomer, cancelOrder
Very often this class model is mapped to a database model and the mapping is implemented using ORM. The operations are normally performed each in their own transaction and provide the basic API for modifying the database, i.e. the persistent state of the application.
The application logic is a layer built on top of the business logic and serves to implement specific use cases. Application logic modules may use ad-hoc data representation, e.g. a CustomerSummary class without any association to Order if you want to list customers only. Such ad-hoc data representation must be mapped to the underlying normalized representation provided by the business model. For example, CustomerSummary can be defined as a view on top of Customer.
Note that the boundary between the two layers may not be so clearly-defined. E.g. after implementing several use cases one might notice similar data structures in the application logic and decide to unify (normalize) them and move them to the business logic.
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Q:
Ubuntu Minimal Install
Every attempt I've made to install via the Minimal Install has resulted in a full blown Unity Install, whereas I simply want the Base System, the Repositories, and i3WM installed (of course flash and such would be lovely but that can always be installed through the restricted-extras package) and then basically configure my system from there (install my own File Manager, music player blah blah blah) Is there something im doing wrong when using the Mini iso or is it simply built that way?
A:
Try this:
Start with a mini ISO on a CD or USB stick.
Start the installation.
Choose the default language.
Select the keyboard settings.
Select the geographical configuration.
Wait for the system to configure the network.
Write the name of the host.
Choose the installation mirror for Ubuntu packages.
If you use a proxy server, enter it's details. Otherwise, leave it blank and continue.
Installation of basic packages starts. It will occasionally stop to ask you some details.
After downloading the required packages start partitioning.
I suggest choosing manual and manually create partitions as needed.
When finished partitioning, the system will ask you to confirm the changes made on the computer, including formatting and editing the partitions.
The system will start the download and installation of packages; including the kernel, required for the system to function.
After downloading and installing, configure user accounts, writing full name, username and password.
After analyzing the reply, it will ask if you want to enable automatic updates.
Now comes the most important, the selection of programs:
Do not select anything other than the server!
Then, it will proceed to download and install the files, and then download and install Grub, set the time zone, and warn you when you are ready to restart.
Restarting from the hard drive, it will start in a terminal.
There you can install programs to your needs via apt-get.
Example of installation with minimal Xfce desktop:
sudo su
apt-get update
apt-get install software-properties-common
apt-get dist-upgrade
apt-get install xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-core xfonts-base xinit x11-xserver-utils x11-apps x11-session-utils x11-utils xinput xorg lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter oxygen-icon-theme qupzilla flashplugin-installer gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg libcurl3 libnotify4 libtag1-vanilla dkms gvfs gvfs-backends policykit-1 udisks2 synaptic xfce4 xfce4-goodies thunar thunar-volman
dpkg --configure -a
apt-get autoremove
apt-get clean
reboot
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The NHL 14 simulation and The Hockey News have spoken: the St. Louis Blues are Stanley Cup favorites to open the season.
The 2013-14 Blues started taking shape shortly after losing in the 2013 Western Conference quarterfinals to the Los Angeles Kings. Before August, the team locked up forwards Patrik Berglund and Chris Stewart along with defensemen Jordan Leopold and Kevin Shattenkirk. The team then expanded its roster over the summer, adding free-agents Maxim Lapierre and Derek Roy.
The Blues made a major shakeup to its top-six forwards as well, bringing in Magnus Paajarvi from Edmonton in exchange for David Perron.
The final moves came in September. After silencing the critics by signing top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to a seven-year extension, the Blues filled up its bottom-six unit with veteran left-winger Brenden Morrow.
[See related: Breaking Down Pietrangelo’s Contract]
Behind the helm is still top-flight coach Ken Hitchcock. The team is secured in net with Jaroslav Halak, Brian Elliott and Jake Allen vying for the starting spot. Needless to say, this team is deep top to bottom.
What will it take to ensure that EA Sports and The Hockey News are correct in their picks?
Goalie decision must be determined
A lot has been said about the Blues’ solid goaltending in the past two seasons. Despite a shaky start to 2012-13, Elliott was handed the job in March and went on an unbelievable 11-2-0 run in April. He stands as a solid choice for the top job in 2013-14.
But the Blues still have two other steady choices in goal. Halak has faced his fair share of injuries but usually finds his name slated as the starter when he is ready to go. Allen, named to the NHL All-Rookie Team last season, posted a 9-4-0 record a year ago, including an 8-1-0 start to his NHL career.
Although the Blues used all three last season and finished as the fourth seed for the playoffs, the coaching staff must determine who gets the nod as the starter. Elliott and Halak will have the annoyance of playing contract years as both are set to become unrestricted free agents in 2014. Allen’s contract becomes a one-way deal after this season, meaning that he is a likely candidate for the No. 1 job in 2014-15. The Blues could add a valuable asset at the deadline with one of these goalies going the other way; if the team still does not have its clear-cut No. 1 by that time, a season-changing deal could be left in the dust.
Offense has to score
This has been the biggest question mark for the Blues since their playoff run in 2009. The goal scoring has been average at best, ranking 17th in the league last season in goals scored per game (2.58). An elite team cannot rely on the defense and goaltending to get the job done every night.
Chris Stewart had a bounce-back year in 2012-13 (18G-18A—36P), but he added just two goals in the final 18 games (regular season and playoffs). He will need to be more consistent as he fits in as a top-six forward.
Captain David Backes will also have a close eye on his offensive numbers this year as well. Backes was the Blues’ second-leading point scorer (6G-22A-28P), but he will be expected to find the back of the net more often.
The slew of newcomers will likely add a new feel to the roster. Morrow and Paajarvi likely fit in as bottom-six forwards, providing some scoring touch to the third and fourth lines. Roy was brought in for his abilities to find open teammates, likely fitting in with Stewart or T.J. Oshie.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz will be entering their second season in the NHL. Both talented forwards will have to play a consistent game to stay afloat in the top-six forward unit. If Tarasenko can contribute like he did at the start of 2012-13, he will find himself playing top minutes.
Bottom lines must keep up tempo
Late last season, the Blues’ best line was the fourth line, better known as the CPR Line. Adam Cracknell, Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves provided a much-needed spark through the end of the season, wearing opposing defenses down with a menacing forecheck.
With the numerous additions, the team was forced to send Chris Porter to the Chicago Wolves, the Blues’ new AHL affiliate. Cracknell and Reaves remain with the club, likely to see time with Morrow, Lapierre and Vladimir Sobotka.
The Blues engine runs off a high-energy game. If the bottom lines can provide that, it should provide more room for the top two lines to produce.
Keep up the solid defensive play
Head coach Ken Hitchcock’s gameplan calls for steady defensive play from everyone on the roster (let’s keep the “buy-in” talk to a minimum). The Blues have received this in each of the past two seasons and will look to do so again in 2013-14.
In 2011-12, the Blues gave up the lowest amount of goals per game (1.89) and shots against per game (26.7). The club did take a slight step back last season with the eighth-lowest goals against per game (2.38) but saw better numbers in shots against per game, although they finished second in the league (24.2). This is partially due to the meltdown in early February when the Blues gave up 25 goals in a span of five games.
Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester are slated to be the team’s No. 1 defensive pairing. Despite playing against the Kings’ finest scoring lines, the two were the only defensemen on the Blues’ roster to register a plus rating during the playoffs.
The Blues have supplemented their top pairing nicely. Shattenkirk and Leopold likely make up the team’s second pairing, with veterans Barret Jackman and Roman Polak contributing a lot of time on the penalty kill and during tight-game situations.
Of course, the Blues boast some of the best defensive forwards in the league. Backes is always a prime candidate for the Selke Trophy while Oshie and Sobotka rake in top minutes on the penalty kill.
New division, new standards
Although the Detroit Red Wings move to the East this season, the Central Division remains very competitive. The Chicago Blackhawks will look to repeat their Stanley Cup championship and the new look Nashville Predators are revved up to return to the postseason. The Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild, both new opponents in the Central, are ready to challenge for playoff berths. The Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche house young talent that can break out at any time.
Yet, the Blues are Stanley Cup favorites. The changes this offseason, along with the staff that was employed from years prior, make this a formidable franchise that has high hopes to begin the season.
This is the time for the kids become men.
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Republican voters want an outsider; that much is clear. What’s not clear is how much they care about conservative credentials this election cycle, because on this score, their favored contenders are weak.
Donald Trump and Ben Carson collectively are capturing 40 percent of poll respondents’ support. But issue by issue, both fall short on positions that test how conservative they are. Trump likes to talk about universal health care. Carson has been leery of gun ownership for city dwellers. Both are late-comers to the anti-abortion cause.
Their opponents so far have ignored these ideological hiccups. But that is beginning to change. Rival campaigns are complaining publicly and privately that the two front-runners are, at best, new to the issues party activists care about most, and their activist supporters are starting to needle Trump and Carson on questions of orthodoxy to GOP principles.
“You’re going to see each of them crest relatively soon as they each start to get a little more pressure and the lights get a little brighter and each of their comments means a little more,” said Craig Stevens, a New Hampshire Republican consultant.
Carson’s most out of step on abortion policy. While the neurosurgeon says he is opposed to abortion, he has referred patients to doctors who perform the procedure. His campaign has, so far, been unable to reconcile those medical decisions, which he stands by, with his pro-life posture, and his team has confused the issue further by suggesting Carson doesn’t necessarily see a role for government in stopping abortions.
In multiple conversations with POLITICO, his campaign struggled to articulate a single legal restriction Carson would support. And as a doctor, Carson also performed research on fetal tissue, another practice that came to light as he began to surge in the polls — and one he says remains defensible.
Anti-abortion activists have noticed.
"I don’t think that anyone looking at those statements without interpretation would say that this is a solidly pro-life candidate," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List.
Dannenfelser said she recently sat with Carson for more than an hour to suss out his position on abortion. Though she left feeling assured that he’s truly in the group’s camp, she said he must clarify his position publicly. “He has a particular burden to communicate exactly what he believes,” she said.
Carson has endorsed a federal ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. But he appeared to take a different position again this week in his new book, "A More Perfect Union." In it, Carson proposes leaving abortion decision to voters in each state.
“There is hope that the Supreme Court may one day rule differently on abortion, but it would make more sense for the Court to allow states to decide the matter for themselves," he wrote. "One of the real beauties of having fifty different states governments is that almost everyone can find a place of happiness where the people believe as they do. Ultimately, it would make a great deal of sense to allow the people of each state to vote on the issue after they have been objectively educated."
Trump too has problems on this score. The GOP pack leader didn't publicly renounce his belief in abortion rights until 2011, when he was weighing a presidential bid. Trump previously described himself as "very pro-choice" and in the late 1990s opposed a ban on partial-birth abortions.
All of those positions are considered heretical among most conservatives, who have in other elections remained skeptical of candidates who have changed their views on the issue, including Mitt Romney.
That these leading candidates for the Republican nomination could deviate from the party line on such a fundamental issue is remarkable in an era when tea party-driven politics has sought to weed out impurity. On Capitol Hill, conservatives just celebrated nudging out House Speaker John Boehner over perceived weakness on issues important to the base.
“I think things such as Dr. Carson having made referrals for abortion and being unapologetic about it — those are things that are going to be coming out and are going to get some scrutiny in the next few weeks and months,” said Matt Beynon, a spokesman for former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a social conservative who is also running for president.
Neither Trump, nor Carson's campaigns responded to requests for comment.
Their unorthodoxy extends well beyond abortion.
Carson has also stoked concerns among conservatives over his views on gun control, for instance. In 2013, he suggested that gun access should be restricted in urban areas—a comment he has since sought to clarify, chalking it up to political inexperience in speeches and in his new book. But his recent shift in rhetoric on that position hasn't assuaged concerns in some conservative corners about his commitment to protecting gun rights.
“Dr. Carson is not strong on the Second Amendment, especially for citizens living in urban areas,” said Jamie Johnson, an ordained minister who previously served as a top aide to Rick Perry in Iowa before the Texas governor dropped out. Stressing that he respected Carson as a person, the unaligned Johnson continued, “That is of great concern for many Christian conservatives.”
On gay marriage, Carson is again out of step with the most conservative activists in the party. After the Supreme Court's ruling this summer that paved the way for legalizing gay marriage across the country, Carson echoed Jeb Bush, saying the decision was now the law of the land, rather than siding with the evangelical-courting candidates now calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling.
And in "A More Perfect Union," Carson repeatedly says that while he personally doesn't want to redefine religious marriage, it's an issue best left to local officials. That's not what conservative evangelicals, who say any form of same-sex union is a threat to traditional marriage, want to hear.
"[T]oday there are numerous social issues, such as the legalization of marijuana, gay marriage and welfare reform, that could probably be more efficiently handled at the state level but with which the federal government keeps interfering," Carson wrote, in the book out Wednesday.
Carson also leans anti-interventionist as more of the Republican electorate embraces a greater U.S. role in fighting terrorism overseas. He didn't support going to war in either Afghanistan or Iraq, which puts him at odds with most of his party. And in the last presidential debate, he advised that President George W. Bush should have instead used the "bully pulpit," and suggested that sometimes, smarts are a substitute for military force—remarks that drew ridicule from rival candidates Chris Christie and Marco Rubio.
Trump bragged in the last debate about opposing the war in Iraq and took shots at Bush, a move that appeared to backfire in the Republican audience when Jeb Bush earned some of the biggest applause of the night, defending his brother.
The real estate mogul also has found himself at odds with Republican orthodoxy over health care. In the first debate, he spoke positively about single-payer health care in other countries, a remark that prompted incredulous rebuttals from establishment Republicans who consider a single-payer a government takeover. He also reiterated his interest in universal health coverage during an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday. “Everybody's got to be covered. This is an un-Republican thing for me to say,” he said, adding that he wants the government to pay for coverage for the uninsured.
And while a hard-line stance on immigration is now an animating issue of Trump's campaign, in 2012 he was attacking Romney from the left, suggesting that his Republican presidential campaign was "mean-spirited" toward Latinos. He called for a plan to "take care of this incredible problem that we have with respect to immigration, with respect to people wanting to be wonderful productive citizens of this country" — a sharp departure in language from his rhetoric now, which includes accusing many illegal immigrants of being "rapists."
But Trump has so far been unscathed by these far-from-conservative remarks in the polls, to the chagrin and amazement of other campaigns that hope his record will catch up to him. And as the third Republican debate approaches, they’re preparing to pounce.
"Trump is a textbook case in what it means to flip-flop on political issues," Johnson said, echoing a criticism thrown Trump's way by everyone from Bush to Rand Paul.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, one of Trump’s favorite punching bags, posted a video questioning the front-runner’s conservativism, and the Club for Growth has launched ads in New Hampshire to try and undermine Trump's standing on the right.
And supporters of the more consistently conservative candidates say they are sure once voters are more tuned in, these out-of-step positions will drive Trump and Carson down in the polls.
Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, said elected officials are held to a different standard. But should Trump and Carson continue to rise, he expects that they’ll be pressed, especially by debate moderators. Scott Walker, he noted, rose in the polls to the point that he started getting pressed on policy matters — and he struggled.
“In terms of substance, on positions, I think it’s fair to say no one’s really challenged them,” Cullen said of Trump and Carson.
Yet.
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Q:
Does ART's ahead-of-time compilation optimize resources
The new Android Runtime (ART) that replaces the old Davlik virtual machine in newer Android versions introduces ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation. Thus, applications get compiled on devices using the dex2oat tool, which compiles dex files, packed into the application apk, to native target applications. My question is if during this process also resource optimizations, like stripping resources for other display resolutions, are performed.
A:
No, ART is only concerned with the runtime code (dex). Resources are packed as usual into the APK. Native libraries (NDK built) are extracted at install time, but only the native lib(s) for the architecture in which the APK is being installed, just as before.
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Coronavirus: Gaza Faces Worst-Case Scenario
Read Next
Where is the last place you would want to be in the event of an outbreak? Some would say Gaza.
The coastal enclave on the eastern Mediterranean is considered one of the most densely-populated areas and UN officials have described its health care system as a crisis waiting to happen.
Although public health authorities in the Gaza Strip have yet to announce a case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), observers believe it’s only a matter of time as the pandemic sweeps across the globe.
“We are truly worried because the overall health structure in Gaza is already weak because of the recurrent conflicts and because of nearly 14 years [of] blockade,” UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) spokeswoman Tamara Alrifai told DW.
Looming crisis
The confluence of conflict and blockade has left local health authorities ill-prepared for an outbreak of the magnitude currently seen in other countries, with Gaza in dire need of disinfectants, protective gear for medical staff and life-saving medicines, according to the UNRWA.
Given the situation, the agency has requested $14 million (€12.8 million) for emergency preparedness and response operations in anticipation of an outbreak.
“It really isn’t much to ask for in the face of the possible humanitarian catastrophe,” Tamara said. “We really hope that there will be no outbreak in Gaza, we truly hope it can be averted, but we know that being under blockade doesn’t mean that the virus will not cross into Gaza.”
Palestinian police officers stand guard outside the Church of the Nativity that was closed as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 6, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Mussa Qawasma
‘Israel’s responsibility’
But some argue that the responsibility for dealing with such an outbreak falls on Israeli authorities given their status under international law as the “occupying power,” a term enshrined in UN resolutions but contested by the Israeli government.
Earlier this week, international and human rights lawyer Shannon Maree Torrens penned an op-ed in the Tel Aviv-based newspaper Haaretz urging Israel, along with local authorities and the international community, to take responsibility for what she described as “one of the world’s most at risk populations.”
However, if Israel failed to do so, then neighbouring Egypt would have to step in, for example, by providing passage to those in need of intensive care, Torrens told DW. But Egyptian authorities are also dealing with their own severely-underreported outbreak.
“For now the unfolding situation in Gaza is primarily Israel’s responsibility,” Torrens said. “Israel must focus on assisting with the testing of those in Gaza, coordinating with Palestinian leaders and providing health care to affected individuals.”
Transcending borders
On the Israeli side, some precautions are being taken. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) of the Israeli Defense Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. However, COGAT civil affairs chief Colonel Sharon Biton said last week that his office and the Palestinian Authorities are “cooperating closely and effectively to manage the outbreak of the virus,” including Gaza. Biton noted that the novel coronavirus “does not recognise geographic borders.”
So far, Israeli authorities have donated 200 test kits and suggested they could scale up assistance in the event of an outbreak. Meanwhile, Hamas has closed schools, mosques and its land border with Egypt.
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1927 in Afghanistan
The following lists events that happened during 1927 in Afghanistan.
Incumbents
Monarch – Amanullah Khan
Prime Minister – Shir Ahmad (starting 25 October)
Events
The year is free from internal disturbances. During a tour in the southern provinces, King Amanullah is loyally received by the same Mangals who were in revolt against him a couple of years previously. Some restiveness shown by the Uzbeks of Afghan Turkestan is also calmed by a personal visit from the king in May.
May - In pursuance of his settled policy of modernizing Afghan institutions, the king reorganizes the arrangements for the budget after a conference with his ministers at Jalalabad. The revenue estimates are satisfactory, and not only are liberal allocations granted to various departments, but provision is made for opening twenty-seven new primary boys' schools and three girls' schools, also schools of agriculture and telegraphy. In order to gain new ideas for the improvement of his country, the king further plans an extended tour in foreign, especially European, countries.
December - The preparations for his tour having been completed, King Amanullah makes a farewell speech to his officials at Kabul, in which he states that Afghanistan, in the shadow of freedom, has said good-bye forever to her stationary position, and has joined the "social and living nations of the age." The farewell durbar is held at Kandahar - a place with which the king has close family connections - and from there the king travels via Quetta and Karachi to Bombay. He is accompanied by his queen and by his minister for foreign affairs, and other high officials. The minister of war, Sardar Mohammad Wali Khan, is left as regent in his absence. The royal party reaches Bombay on December 14. They are received by the governor - the viceroy being confined to bed with malaria - and are given an enthusiastic popular welcome. Amanullah during his stay visits the principal mosque, and delivers a sermon, in which he recommends to his Muslim hearers tolerance of other faiths. Leaving Bombay on December 18, the party sails to Egypt, stopping on the way at Aden, where the king and queen land for a few hours and visit the residency. Port Said is reached on December 26, and from there the party proceeds to Cairo, where they are entertained by King Fuad.
The Swedish citizen Aurora Nilsson obtain a unique divorce from her Afghan spouse Asim Khan, possibly the first time in Afghanistan a woman could divorce a man on equal terms.
Births
Deaths
References
Afghanistan
Category:Years of the 20th century in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
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Cardiovascular death in rheumatoid arthritis: a population-based study.
To determine whether systemic inflammation confers any additional risk for cardiovascular death among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), after adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities. Using the population-based data resources of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, we assembled an incidence cohort of all Rochester, Minnesota residents ages >or=18 years who first fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology 1987 criteria for RA between January 1, 1955 and January 1, 1995. All subjects were followed up longitudinally through their complete (inpatient, outpatient) medical records, beginning at age 18 years and continuing until death, migration, or January 1, 2001. Detailed information on the occurrence of various cardiovascular risk factors (personal history of coronary heart disease [CHD], congestive heart failure, smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemia, body mass index [BMI], diabetes mellitus, menopausal status) as well as indicators of systemic inflammation and RA disease severity (rheumatoid factor [RF] seropositivity, erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR], joint swelling, radiographic changes, RA nodules, RA complications, RA treatments, disease duration) and comorbidities were collected on all subjects. Causes of death were ascertained from death certificates and medical records. Cox regression models were used to estimate the independent predictors of cardiovascular death. This inception cohort comprised a total of 603 RA patients whose mean age was 58 years, of whom 73% were women. During a mean followup of 15 years, 354 patients died and cardiovascular disease was the primary cause of death in 176 patients. Personal history of CHD, smoking, hypertension, low BMI, and diabetes mellitus, as well as comorbidities, including peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic pulmonary disease, dementia, ulcers, malignancies, renal disease, liver disease, and history of alcoholism, were all significant risk factors for cardiovascular death (P < 0.01 for each). Multivariable Cox regression analyses, controlled for cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities, revealed that the risk of cardiovascular death was significantly higher among RA patients with at least 3 ESR values of >or=60 mm/hour (hazard ratio [HR] 2.03, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.45-2.83), RA vasculitis (HR 2.41, 95% CI 1.00-5.81), and RA lung disease (HR 2.32, 95% CI 1.11-4.84). These results indicate that markers of systemic inflammation confer a statistically significant additional risk for cardiovascular death among patients with RA, even after controlling for traditional cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities.
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Q:
Compare two JSON in PHP
Here is my code in PHP,
<?php
$query = "SELECT items FROM `ppmp` ORDER BY date DESC LIMIT 1";
if($result2 = $con->query($query)) {
$row = $result2->fetch_array();
$items2 = $row['items'];
}
$items = $_POST['ris4'];
$items = json_decode($items,true);
$items2 = json_decode($items2,true);
for($i = 0; $i < sizeOf($items["items"]);$i++){
for($i2 = 0; $i2 < sizeOf($items2["items"]); $i2++){
$val = $items["items"][$i]["Desc"];
$val2 = $items2["items"][$i2]["Desc"];
print_r($val);
print_r($val2);
if(strcmp($val, $val2) == 0){
echo "same";
}
}
}
?>
I am going to substract the Quantity of the products..
But i can't detect if the two descriptions is the same..
I use strcmp() but it is not working.. i echoed descriptions and it's have same descriptions. but == operator is not working.
This is the layout of the $items2 JSON,
{"items":[{"Desc":" Pencil ","Qty":25},{"Desc":" Ballpen ","Qty":5},{"Desc":" Tech Pen ","Qty":20}]}
And here is the $items,
{"items":[{"Desc":" Tech Pen ","Qty":15},{"Desc":" Ballpen ","Qty":4}]}
A:
I would suggest you to use array_diff. This way you can make sure they match exactly the content in the JSON structure.
$it_1 = json_decode($items, TRUE);
$it_2 = json_decode($items2, TRUE);
$result_array = array_diff($it_1,$it_2);
if(empty($result_array[0])){
echo "they are same";
}
A:
Suppose we have...
JSON OBJ 1 {"key1": "message", "key2": "message", "key3": "message"}
JSON OBJ 2 {"key2": "message2", "key3": "message3", "key1": "message1"}
Using a code like this one:
$responseMatch = json_decode($obj1) == json_decode($obj2);
return $responseMatch ? 'responses match!' : 'responses dont match!';
will give you what you want, i've tested in many use cases
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_________________________I used to think it was terrible that life was unfair. Then I thought what if life were fair and all of the terrible things that happen came because we really deserved them? Now I take comfort in the general unfairness and hostility of the universe.
I can see it now........<br><br>Dear email recipient, <br><br>Our client has come into posession of some yellow-cake uranium, which he now wishes to move out of the country and store somewhere that the local authorities cannot gain access to. We are seeking your assistance in this matter. Please give us details of a private storage facility that we may transfer this yellow-cake too. In return for this favour we will allow you to keep 10% of the yellow-cake by weight.<br><br>Yours<br>Dewy, Fleesum, and Howe<br><br>Truth is a 3 edged sword.
_________________________I used to think it was terrible that life was unfair. Then I thought what if life were fair and all of the terrible things that happen came because we really deserved them? Now I take comfort in the general unfairness and hostility of the universe.
Xplain's use of MacNews, AppleCentral and AppleExpo are not affiliated with Apple, Inc. MacTech is a registered trademark of Xplain Corporation. AppleCentral, MacNews, Xplain, "The journal of Apple technology", Apple Expo, Explain It, MacDev, MacDev-1, THINK Reference, NetProfessional, MacTech Central, MacTech Domains, MacForge, and the MacTutorMan are trademarks or service marks of Xplain Corp. Sprocket is a registered trademark of eSprocket Corp. Other trademarks and copyrights appearing in this printing or software remain the property of their respective holders.
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Howick and Pakuranga Times : Howick and Pakuranga Times Monday December 1 2014
Contents
www.times.co.nz
Howick and Pakuranga Times, Monday, December 1, 2014 — 9
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126882
127883
Letters to the editor Featured letter each week will
receive a Times pen.
SUPPORTIVE: The playing group that took to the fairways for the Kurt
Williams’ memorial golf day.
Photos supplied
Fitting tribute to a good man
IT WAS the perfect day in
memory of my son.
Thanks to the Howick
Golf Club and family and
friends for helping make
Kurt Williams’ memorial golf
day so special.
There were 39 invited
friends and family in
the field, who all had
a wonderful day, with
fantastic weather.
Kurt was killed while
working at an iron ore mine
at Christmas Creek in the
Pilbara region, Western
Australia, in August 2013,
aged 26.
Diane Andrew,
Howick
Favourable decision
WE APPLAUD the Howick Local
Board members in their final deci-
sion to allot money to the restora-
tion of Mellons Bay foreshore to
some of its previous beauty (Times,
October 30).
We are aware that not all were
in favour, but that a majority voted
for it.
We commend those who have
the foresight to approve this work,
as without it the foreshore will be
lost forever.
As New Zealanders, we tend to
be pretty laid back until something
either disappears or it’s too late,
so the decision before there is no
beach left to protect or to replace is
a marvellous move.
We pay not an inconsiderable
amount of rates each year to be
controlled by the local board, so its
small contribution will be received
most gratefully.
John and Sally Champion,
Mellons Bay
Story time
JOIN in a fun-filled 30-minute ses-
sion of music and great stories at
Pakuranga Library every Thursday
at 10.30am during school terms. It’s
suitable for anyone aged between
three and five.
Christmas in Poland
STORIES, traditions and decora-
tions using paper and wool work-
shop will be held on December 7
and 14 from 2-4pm at the Polish
Heritage Trust Museum, 125 El-
liot Street, Howick, $8 per person.
Make Polish tree decorations called
spiders from wool; create your own
unique Christmas star from paper;
taste Pierniki, a spicy Christmas
ginger biscuit (recipe given on the
day); learn about the Christmas Eve
traditions, including star watching
and the Polish Wigilia supper; see
a presentation of Polish Christmas
stories and enjoy background mu-
sic of Polish Christmas carols. To
book a place, phone 533-3530.
Lions’ bling
HOWICK Lions Club meets on De-
cember 3 at 6.30pm at the Nixon
Community Hall, Sale Street. There
will be a bling-themed dinner, $25
per person. Visitors welcome. For
more information and bookings,
phone Alan on 577-5135 or Ian on
576-7592.
Date for singles
NEW Horizons is a social and
friendship club for single 40s, 50s
and 60s, with monthly programmes
of barbecues, outings, dinners and
films. A club and prospective new
members night is held on the first
Thursday of each month at Barrel
Inn, Cook Street, Howick, from
6.30pm. For more details, phone
Rex on 577-3459 or Suzy on 529-
4027, or refer to www.auckland-
singles-social-club.org.nz.
Country music
THE Beachlands Maraetai Coun-
try Music Club meets every second
Thursday at the Maraetai Bowling
Club, 7.30-10pm. The next play
date is December 4. For more de-
tails, phone Laurie on 271-0533 or
Joclyn on 273-6364, 021-160-5012.
Mainly music
A FUN and interactive music ses-
sion for young children from birth
to school age with their parents/
caregivers is held at St Peter’s
Church, corner Udys and Reeves
Roads, Pakuranga, on Tuesdays
at 10am. The session takes about
half an hour. Then children enjoy a
snack followed by a short playtime,
allowing the adults to have a chat
over refreshments. Entry costs $3
a family, all welcome. Phone the
church on 576-7817.
Volunteers needed
HOWICK Lions Club is looking for
community volunteers to assist it
in supervising the Howick Lights
Snow Cave display in Picton Street,
running until Christmas Eve,
8-11pm, most nights. The display
is an annual highlight for families
with young children at Christmas.
For more details, phone Craig on
535-2233.
Active playgroup
CESSION Community Playgroup
offers three fun styles of playgroup
with no waiting list: Tuesday music
time; Wednesday art focus; Friday
gym focus. It’s all at The Depot, Sir
Lloyd Drive, Lloyd Elsmore Park
(behind the netball courts) from
9.30-11.30am, $3 per family a ses-
sion. Contact playgroup coordina-
tor Katie on email playgroup@ces-
sion.org.nz, or phone 021-299-6171,
or come along and try for free on
your first visit.
Dogs’ day out
A BICHON frise fun day for dogs
and their owners is at Mt Albert
War Memorial Hall on December 7
at 11.30am, entry $2 per adult. Bring
a shared plate for lunch. Dogs don’t
need to be perfectly groomed or
behaved, but must be pure bred bi-
chon frise. For more details, phone
Bev on 021-0233-0028.
KURT WILLIAMS
VILLAGE VOICE is a free community notice-board for non-profit groups. Send notices
to [email protected], fax 271 8073, post to PO Box 259-243 Botany, Auckland
2163 or drop into our office at Times House, 50 Stonedon Dr, East Tamaki.
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Some parties on the political Right are fretting because President-elect Donald Trump is no longer interested in pursuing legal action against Hillary Clinton. From Politico: Judicial Watch, a conservative …
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Burkina Faso begins 3 days of mourning after al-Qaida attack
Sunday Alamba
Published 3:45 pm, Sunday, January 17, 2016
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A victim of Saturday's gun attack at the Splendid Hotel receives treatment at a hospital in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. The overnight seizure of a luxury hotel in Burkina Faso's capital by al-Qaida-linked extremists ended Saturday when Burkina Faso and French security forces killed four jihadist attackers and freed more than 126 people, the West African nation's president said. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A victim of Saturday's gun attack at the Splendid Hotel receives treatment at a hospital in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. The overnight seizure of a luxury hotel in Burkina Faso's capital by
A victim of Saturday's gun attack at the Splendid Hotel receives treatment at a hospital in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. The overnight seizure of a luxury hotel in Burkina Faso's capital by al-Qaida-linked extremists ended Saturday when Burkina Faso and French security forces killed four jihadist attackers and freed more than 126 people, the West African nation's president said. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
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The sturdy plastic toolbox contains a lift out parts tray and there is plenty of room to add more parts, including TIG-Gloves,Torch-heads, Gas-lenses and other TIG spares, all available from Bossweld.
Description:A handy TIG parts starter kit for use on Linde Style 17, 18 and 26 series TIG Torches, which are now the most common supplied TIG Torches on the Australian market.The kit contains the main sizes of tungsten‰Ûªs,collets, collet-bodies and gas nozzles to allow a user to tackle most TIG welding applicationswith professional ease.
Applications:The BOSSWELD TIG Xtras Kit, is a complementary (add-on) product designed to provide the main consumable spare parts thatare used on 17/18/26 Series TIG Torches.These popular parts are not normally supplied with the TIG Torch and so this kit completes the basic TIG welding set-up.
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Earlier this week, The Intercept was able to select "white genocide conspiracy theory" as a pre-defined "detailed targeting" criterion on the social network to promote two articles to an interest group that Facebook pegged at 168,000 users large and defined as "people who have expressed an interest or like pages related to White genocide conspiracy theory."
At a monthly check-in at the ICE office, Carlos would report names of other undocumented people. The agent told him to focus on "illegal aliens" with criminal histories and charges like drunken driving or domestic violence. He would need to produce one name per month for three months. If he refused, he would be sent back to Mexico.
The search engine, codenamed Dragonfly, was designed for Android devices, and would remove content deemed sensitive by China's ruling Communist Party regime, such as information about political dissidents, free speech, democracy, human rights, and peaceful protest.
With access to images of thousands of unknowing New Yorkers offered up by NYPD officials, IBM was creating new search features that allow other police departments to search camera footage for images of people by hair color, facial hair and skin tone.
The young newspaper reporter wanted to write a book about the war he was covering. But the editors who read his proposal turned it down, all of them. They said the book wouldn't sell because Americans were tired of reading about these violent foreigners and their centuries-old grudges.
Sprawling over 50 acres of a repurposed oilfield workers' camp, Dilley, as the center is colloquially known, has room for 2,400 detainees. It currently holds about 1,500 people — all mothers and their children, including babies.
In a recent debate aired on Radio Boston, Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley delivered an unusual mantra for her bid to unseat incumbent Rep. Michael Capuano, declaring that she would vote in a nearly identical way as her opponent. “We will vote the same way, but lead differently,” she said.
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As residents are urged to have their say over threatened closures...
Young readers are backing the campaign to save Fylde libraries – as residents across the area are encouraged to make their voices heard during the consultation process over threatened closures.
Under Lancashire County Council proposals, Fylde could lose four of its five libraries in their current form, with only St Annes set to continue as it is now, while Kirkham’s facilities would be accommodated in alternative premises nearby.
The County Council, looking to save £200m by 2020/21, stresses that no firm decisions have been made and a 12-week consultation is running until the second week of August.
Thousands of people across Fylde, including some 3,000 in Lytham, have already put their names to petitions calling for the local libraries to be preserved.
Meanwhile, the Friends of Ansdell Library were delighted with the response to a competition held for local youngsters to design a poster on want from their library.
Suggested by 10-year-old Alice Burr, who attends Lytham Hall Park Primary School, it attracted around 100 entries, many of which are now on display in shops.
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Expression of an ascidian gene in the tip of the tail of tail-bud-stage embryos.
The occurrence of tadpole-type larvae is one of the key events used to understand the origin and evolution of chordates, and the tail bud of chordate embryos is thought to be associated with formation of the tip of the tail. Although some transcriptional factor genes including Brachyury are expressed in the tail bud, no structural genes have been reported to be expressed there. We report here that an ascidian gene HrTT-1 is expressed exclusively in the tip of elongating tail of the tail-bud embryo. This gene encodes a possible secreted protein of 415 amino acids with the SCP/TPX family consensus sequences.
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Calcium-induced intracellular cross-linking of lipocortin I by tissue transglutaminase in A431 cells. Augmentation by membrane phospholipids.
Covalently cross-linked multimers of lipocortin I are shown to be present in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells treated with epidermal growth factor or the calcium ionophore A23187. This intracellular cross-linking of lipocortin I is suggested to be mediated by the action of tissue transglutaminase, a Ca2(+)-dependent protein cross-linking enzyme. Cross-linking of lipocortin I competes with proteolytic digestion of the protein, and pretreatment of the cells with inhibitors for calpain (Ca2(+)-dependent intracellular protease) markedly enhanced the cross-linking of lipocortin I. Cross-linked lipocortin I is shown to be present in the soluble fraction of A431 cells as well as in the particulate fraction; a 34-kDa fragment of lipocortin I was solubilized successfully by plasmin digestion of the latter fraction. Immunofluorescence microscopy using specific antilipocortin-I antibody showed that cross-linked lipocortin I forms an envelope-like structure, which is not extracted with [ethylenebis(oxyethylenenitrilo)]tetraacetic acid (EGTA) or Triton X-100. In vitro incubation of purified lipocortin I with tissue transglutaminase resulted in the formation of covalently cross-linked lipocortin I dimer, tetramer, and so on. Amine incorporation and cross-linking studies using lipocortin I and its N-terminal truncated derivatives indicated that the cross-linking site is localized within the plasmin-susceptible N-terminal 29 amino acids of lipocortin I. The cross-linking of lipocortin I is shown to be accelerated more than 10 times by the addition of phosphatidylserine vesicles, on which lipocortin I molecules are most likely aligned in a conformation suitable for cross-linking. Collectively, these findings suggest that an increase of intracellular calcium concentration results in the attachment of lipocortin I onto the plasma membrane phospholipids through the C-terminal domain of the molecule where the membrane-bound lipocortin I is cross-linked by the action of tissue transglutaminase through the N-terminal domain.
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Q:
View All Table / Database Constraints in MySQL
How do you view all the constraints (Primary keys, Secondary keys, Assertions , Triggers, etc) in a MySQL Database / Table in the command line environment.
A:
Just dump the database without data using
mysqldump --no-data (other options)
As if you were taking a backup. Use the same options as you do when taking a backup (maybe --lock-tables=0 - you don't need a lock when dumping the schema)
Without the data, you get just the schema which includes all those things you said above.
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Monthly Archive: November 2016
Nov 2, 2016 — Raleigh — The Power of propaganda cannot be underestimated, after MSNBC Hostess, Rachel Maddow, spewed lies and hate speech about VIP’s research into North Carolina’s bloated voter rolls. We will have time to critique her deceptive segment (aired Nov 1, 2016) at a later date, but for now, we want …
Join our E-Blast Mailing List
11-1-2016 RALEIGH — Desperate to agitate his fund-raising base, the “Reverend” William Barbour played the race card, Monday, in an ugly way by suing the state BOE and selected county election boards, while indirectly attacking the race-blind research techniques of election integrity watchdogs in North Carolina. We will not take these false accusations lying down. Our …
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Q:
In Chronicle, what happened to Steve?
The last time we see Steve, he was confronting Andrew while flying above some storm clouds. As Andrew became more and more agitated, we see more and more lightning activity in the storm clouds.
Right when Andrew seems to lose his temper, it appears that lightning strikes, and next thing we know
we're at Steve's funeral.
Was the lightning coincidental, or did Andrew somehow influence the severity of the storm?
Did Andrew kill Steve with lightning, or did Steve die because he and Andrew just happened to be in a dangerous spot, and he got unlucky?
A:
There was a line of dialogue when Matt confronted Andrew after
the funeral.
Matt says, and I paraphrase because I just saw the movie on Saturday and don't remember it exactly, that
they found Steve's body in the middle of a field after being struck by lightning. So it seems like he was struck by lightning while talking to Andrew, and then crashed to the ground. Matt notes that there were no reported strikes on the ground, so he assumed that Steve was in the air when it happened, most likely talking to Andrew. So I don't think that Andrew caused the lightning to hit him, but he definitely did let his body fall to the earth (it's not guaranteed that the lightning strike killed him).
I'm not sure if the powers Matt, Steve and Andrew got could influence weather. They really only showed telekinetic and some force field based powers, none of which I think can alter the weather. I feel like if it was intended for weather to be manipulable by their powers, it would have played more of a factor in the climax.
A:
Well, I think most people get it wrong. It was Andrew that killed Steve. I think it wasn't coincidental that the lightning struck him. The reason why I don't think it was a coincidence is because if you listen to Andrew and Matt's confrontation in the cemetery right after Steve's funeral, Matt clearly states that there is no way he could have been struck when there were no lightning strikes recorded in that area, meaning, the lightning literally came out of nowhere. Now I'm not a meteorologist but since Matt said no one else saw the lightning,this probably implies that it was in fact Andrew who was influencing the weather. And it kinda seems that when Andrew got angrier the lightning flared up.
A:
How can people here doubt that Andrew killed him when Andrew himself admitted to it? He apologized for it when he visited Steve's grave alone after the funeral. You know -- when he was all "I miss you, I'm sorry, I wish I could take it back" etc.
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The younger members of the team working on the Breath of the Wild sequel have notably been inspired by Red Dead Redemption 2
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Zelda Team's Influences
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 Screenshots 24 IMAGES
The Legend of Zelda at E3 2019
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Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma revealed this information in an interview with IGN. When asked what games the younger staff on the Zelda team were playing, specifically what inspired them, Aonuma replied “[Something] I did hear that a lot of people were playing was Red Dead Redemption 2."When asked what open worlds inspired the Zelda team as a whole, he said "When I was working on Breath of the Wild , the director [Hidemaro Fujibayashi] was playing Skyrim ."But what about these days? Mr. Aonuma says he’s been playing the upcoming rhythm-based game Cadence of Hyrule . "Recently I've been very busy, especially with Link's Awakening... So on my breaks I've been playing Cadence of Hyrule. So I've been kind of overloaded with a lot of Zelda recently."This morning, Nintendo revealed it’s working on a sequel to Breath of the Wild , and we later learned it’s not related to Majora’s Mask - in fact, it’s even darker.Nintendo also revealed a release date for The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for Nintendo Switch , and we’ve learned 22 new details since Reporting by Samuel Claiborn.For more on IGN's E3 coverage, stay tuned to IGN's E3 2019 hub . Be sure to also check out the list of confirmed E3 2019 games , as well as the list of games that won't be at E3 2019
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected] Colin Stevens is a news writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter
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Influence of Color on Emotion Recognition Is Not Bidirectional: An Investigation of the Association Between Color and Emotion Using a Stroop-Like Task.
The association between color and emotion has been shown, with red facilitating recognition of anger and green facilitating recognition of happiness. However, it has been unclear if emotional stimulus conversely facilitates and/or inhibits recognition of such colors. This study used a Stroop-like task, which required participants to ignore facial expressions and recognize color, in order to investigate the influence of emotion on recognition of color. In addition, this study investigated the association between color and emotion recognition from emoticons, as it was recently suggested that the process of emotion recognition from emoticons was different from that of actual faces. Results revealed that for facial expressions and emoticons, color influenced emotion recognition, in line with previous studies. Conversely, facial expression did not influence recognition of color. The results suggest that in emotion recognition people consider surrounding contextual information and integrate it automatically; however, in color recognition, they do not.
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Cytotoxic Impact of Costunolide Isolated from Costus speciosus on Breast Cancer via Differential Regulation of Cell Cycle-An In-vitro and In-silico Approach.
Costunolide, a sesquiterpene lactone, is a biologically active molecule found in most of the medicinally valuable plants. The present study aims to evaluate the anticancer property of costunolide isolated from Costus speciosus against breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231). Costunolide effectively reduced the viability of both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines at an IC50 value of 40 μM. Flow cytometric analysis revealed costunolide mediated cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase in both the cell types. Western blotting results confirmed the alterations in the expression of cell cycle regulators (cyclin D1, D3, CDK-4, CDK-6, p18 INK4c, p21 CIP1/Waf-1 and p27 KIP1) and apoptosis inducers (caspase-3 and caspase-9) upon costunolide treatment in comparison with their expressions in normal breast cell line (MCF-10A). Costunolide mediated downregulation of positive cell cycle regulators and upregulation of negative cell cycle regulators were related to the induction of apoptosis in cancer cells. The above results were validated with in-silico results that predicted stable interactions between costunolide and cancer targets. Thus costunolide effectively induced breast cancer cell apoptosis targeting cell cycle regulation, and the compound can be used as an effective herbal therapeutic molecule to treat breast cancer with further explorations.
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Description
Smart Garden's classic Pergola Garden Mirror offers a fast and effective solution for creating light and the illusion of space in your garden. The antique effect, oxidised metal frame will lend a rustic ambience to your outdoor space, while the acrylic mirror is safe and shatterproof. Also suitable for indoor use, the mirror has fixing holes for easy fitting and is UV and weather resistant.
Important Features of Smart Garden's Pergola Garden Mirror:
Size: W 48cm x H 75cmapprox.
Suitable for Indoor and Outdoor Use
Safe and Strong
Acrylic Mirror
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EAN/GTIN
5050642001663
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Feasibility and advisability of resections of thalamic tumors in pediatric patients.
The author conducted a retrospective review of 19 cases in which he resected thalamic tumors between 1986 and 2001. The median age of the children was 8 years. Five different routes were used to resect the tumors; two tumors were resected via two approaches. The extent of resection was evaluated by postoperative imaging. Gross-total resections were performed in six cases and resections of greater than 90% of the tumor were conducted in 10 others; 90% or more of the tumor was resected in 84% of the cases. Seven tumors were low-grade gliomas and 12 were high grade. There was one postoperative death, and two children suffered permanent morbidity. Five of seven children with low-grade tumors are alive 2 to 12 years postoperatively; three of 11 children with high-grade tumors are alive at 2, 3, and 16 years, respectively. Treatment of pediatric thalamic tumors must be individualized, with consideration given to the tumor's location, enhancement, and margins as well as the published data about the correlation between extent of resection and prognosis.
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Arab Americans who met with Obama said he blamed the Israeli government for refusing to make concessions, blamed the U.S. congress for providing cover to the Israeli government, and he planned to bring an additional $500 million in aid for the PA.
Most reports about the meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and several representatives of various Arab American organizations which took place on Monday, March 11, have been fairly sketchy.
But at least some participants at that meeting provided three rather startling revelations to an Arabic news source.
First, they said the U.S. president blamed the stalled peace process on the Israeli government for refusing to offer concessions, and second, that he blamed the U.S. congress for providing cover to the Israelis whenever the president tries to apply pressure on the Jewish State. The implication the sources came away with was that Obama said he will get around those problems when he is in Israel by bypassing the Israeli government and going directly to the Israeli people.
The third surprising revelation from the meeting was that President Obama plans to hand over half a billion dollars in additional aid to the PA during his visit.
As with Obama’s meeting with representatives of Jewish organizations a week ago, his get together with Arab and Muslim leaders was not part of the president’s public schedule, and participants had been asked not to comment about the confidential conversations which took place.
Most reports about the meeting merely mentioned the names of some of the participating organizations, which included the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the American Task Force for Palestine, the Arab American Institute, the Arab Federation of Ramallah, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
As was also the case with the Jewish representatives’ meeting, there were some Arab American participants who discussed some details of the meetings, a few with attribution and others on condition of anonymity. Several sources at each meeting told members of the media that the president told their group that he was not going to attempt to kickstart a new Arab-Israeli peace initiative.
But one story in an important Arab media outlet quoted participants as having provided a reason for the U.S. president’s unwillingness to push a peace initiative during this trip. That anonymous Arab and/or Muslim participant told Al Arabiya.net reporters that Obama said to the group: “since the Israeli government has not been willing to make concessions, there is no point in pushing [for negotiations] right now.”
In addition, the U.S. president expressed solidarity with the plight of the Arab Palestinians. “‘The only people more frustrated than me,'” Obama was quoted by a source as saying, are the ‘”Palestinians living in West Bank and Gaza – it’s a legitimate frustration,'” Al Arabiya‘s source said.
The U.S. congress also came in for criticism by the U.S. president. “Every time the pressure gets to the Israelis, they go to Congress.”
The message understood by that source who was present at the March 11 meeting was that Obama believed he could get around the interference of the U.S. congress and the obstructionist Israeli government by speaking directly to the Israeli people. The source said, “He wants to find a way around that, that’s why he wants to talk to the Israeli public directly.”
In other words, the Israeli elected government should be sidelined because President Obama believes he knows what is best for Israel, and he will deal directly with the Israeli people this time, rather than with their elected government. At least that is the message some meeting participants either believed or want others to believe.
There was one additional piece of information in the Al Arabiya article that was not reported elsewhere.
President Obama, who has been railing against what he describes as the Republican-imposed sequester, “will take with him a cash infusion of $500 million – which Congress will soon release – of much needed financial aid to the Palestinian Authority.”
A condition-free gift to the PA of half a billion dollars in additional aid from the U.S. is hard to imagine given all the cuts being imposed because of the sequester. For one thing, several hundred million dollars is due to be cut from Israel’s portion of the defense budget, but more importantly, as this is U.S. taxpayer money, are the statements made by the president that the U.S. is reducing naval warpower in the Persian Gulf because of the sequester. This came up recently in the context of a dust-up between the White House and liberal journalist Bob Woodward of the Washington Post.
About the Author:Lori Lowenthal Marcus is the US correspondent for The Jewish Press. She is a recovered lawyer who previously practiced First Amendment law and taught in Philadelphia-area graduate and law schools. You can reach her by email: [email protected]
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I dont care where it comes from. I trust Obama more then Arab Americans or the Arab Journalist. Again I direct you to FACTS from the Israeli Military…."never had better relations". So I trust the Israeli Military more….yes. Not sure how many times Obama has to prove himself. Whats next? His Birth Certicate again? Cause its in the same parrallel.
Right. This has been said since he is in office…already 5 years. Meantime…Bin Laden has gone (Yes I give credit to Obama) and Israel MOD is in love with Obama. But gain,,,I should listen o Arabs FOX and th deeted instead of FACTS and the Israeli MOD. talk about being dillusional….
BHO is going directly to the Israeli public…? The same public that has nearly voted the left out of existence? Is he really that full of himself? Is this money he's purportedly offering to the Arabs coming from some reduction in his golf with Tiger budget? There's no other money around…
BHO is going directly to the Israeli public…? The same public that has nearly voted the left out of existence? Is he really that full of himself? Is this money he's purportedly offering to the Arabs coming from some reduction in his golf with Tiger budget? There's no other money around…
If these reports are true, BO is more clueless than I ever credited before. If thy are untrue let us hear the rebuttal from his actions and his tongue. If this politics, it is crazy politics I haven't seen the like of since the Governor Turnbuckle era when Minnesota was sold down the rat hole for a couple hundred dollars each. As i asked elsewhere, "if there is a statesman out there somewhere, please stand up and raise your hand so we can be sure to take note."
Obama is a community organizer. It's not just what he does best, it's all he knows. He's a one trick pony.
So, he's going to Israel to community organize? Problem is that Jews — not he — INVENTED community organizing. So if the professor is going to Israel to preach to the choir, he'd be better off staying home and listening to a good speech by his trusted reverends Wright, Farrakhan, Ayers, and the other arab coddlers/Israel haters.
"King" Barack Hussein of America is not as brilliant as he thinks he is; Israelis are not as stupid as he hopes they are.
One has to remember that 70% of the Jewish voters in the USA voted not once but twice for a man who has on more than one occassion insulted Israel and the Jewish People. This trip to Israel is just another attempt to diminish Israeli leadership in the area by promoting the Palestinian cause. Quite frankly it is a waste of time and money for Israel to invite the President, and for the President to be in Israel. Giving an additional $500 million dollars to the Palestinians is like putting money down a rat hole. I can think of better ways of spending the tax payers money than that.
There is no such right as a right of a nation to exist or not. Either it exists or does not exist.
Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people is, therefore it exists. Its coming into existence did not require any one's approval but the will and strength of the Jewish people. Its right to exist is not negotiable nor subject to argument. Israel's existence does not depend on whether some professor thinks Israel has no right to exist because it will not treat non-citizens as citizens. It does not depend on how it treats its minorities, gays, refugees or neighbors.
Israel may cease to exist if another nation militarily destroys Israel and exiles its population as Rome did or if the citizens chose to disband the state whether at the ballot box or by civil war.
Egypt never lost a right to exist despite the actions of the Fatamids, Mamluks or Nasser. Germany, Italy, Austria, and Japan did not lose a right to exist notwithstanding the atrocities each committed before or during world war II. The Soviet Union did not cease to exist because it controlled states in Eastern Europe such as Poland and Romania. China did not lose a right to exist because it invaded Tibet or that it threatens Taiwan existence. Great Britain, Portugal and Spain did not lose a right to exist by colonizing much of the world. Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia, never lost a right to exist because their societies were built over top pre-existing aboriginal cultures.
Czechoslovakia ceased to exist, because its citizens decided they wanted to separate into 2 states. It did not forfeit a right to exist because some professor at an American University or France, Belgium or Singapore thought the state had no right to exist.
So Obama is giving another $500 million to the PA. You can bet that only a small fraction of that money ends up where it is needed while the rest goes into the secret bank accounts of the PA and Hamas leaderships.
The NEGRO President of the United States is an IDIOT and supports the Arabs over Israeli People. Obama is a fool, this country is having problems with our Budget and he wants to give Millions to countries that hates the United States.
Franco you are an IDIOT just like that NEGRO president. He is the first president to turn his back to the Israeli officials. This country will always stand with Israel, because the Son of God. You must be anti Jewish.
So why did so many Jews vote for him in both presidential elections? Face it, Jews are their own worst enemy and this coming from a Jew. Most Jews flock toward left leaning/liberal/socialist ideals. This Jew does not.
Gerry Weiss, Israel will never cease to exist, as it the country which the Lord G-d has promised to Isaac and Jacob descendants. like in Psalm 105 "Firm stands His Word to Abraham spoken
His oath to Isaac never broken
His everlasting covenant
With Israel, G-d will not recant
He said "To you this land I give
That as my heirs you there may live." Keep the faith.
Alan Kardon If you are implying that a sound basis for justifying Israel's existence *to the world* is the Shoah or a UN resolution, you are mistaken. While these are excellent moral & legal arguments, the ACTIONS of the world community, esp. in the UN, have long proven that they simply don't care. So explain to me, which part of Israel's history or the Holocaust should I focus on in my learning — per your suggestion?
If the above article is true, then the Jews who voted for him twice, should slap themselves silly for electing him. Over 80% of the Jewish community voted for him and are Dems. How is all this hope and change working for you. Personally, I don't give a crap.
The Histadrut national labor union and the Federation of Israeli Employers have agreed to raise the minimum wage to 5,300 shekels ($1,334) by 2017, approximately half the average salary in Israel. The employers and the union previously agreed to a three-stage hike in the minimum wage. The latest agreement adds a fourth stage whole pegging […]
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu continued to lash out at a possible “bad deal” with Iran Monday and said, “The agreement being formulated in Lausanne sends a message that there is no price for aggression and on the contrary – that Iran’s aggression is to be rewarded.” Netanyahu said in a statement: The moderate and responsible […]
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Q:
A simple question about the setup of the Mayer-Vietoris sequence for singular homology
So I am a little confused with the first line of the setup of the Mayer-Vietoris sequence as in Hatcher page 149 (page 158 of the PDF). The setup is as follows. Let $X$ be a space and let $A$ and $B$ be subspaces whose interiors cover $X$. Denote by $C_{n}(A + B)$ the free group generated by singular $n$-simplices. Then Hatcher claims there is an exact sequence
$$ 0 \longrightarrow C_{n}(A \cap B) \longrightarrow C_{n}(A) \oplus C_{n}(B) \longrightarrow C_{n}(A + B) \longrightarrow 0 , $$
where the injective map takes a $\sigma \mapsto (\sigma , -\sigma)$ and the surjective map takes $(\psi, \phi) \mapsto \psi + \phi$.
My question may be a stupid one, but aren't $C_{n}(A) \oplus C_{n}(B) $ and $C_{n}(A + B)$ always isomorphic? Indeed $C_{n}(A) \oplus C_{n}(B) $ is just a direct sum of copies of $\mathbb{Z}$ indexed by $n$-simplices living in $A$ and then direct summed with another direct sum of copies of $n$-simplices living in $B$. That makes one direct sum of copies of $\mathbb{Z}$ indexed by $n$-simplices living in either $A$ or $B$. But this is precisely the definition of $C_{n}(A + B)$ as well.
Is writing them differently just a notational convenience, or are there actually situations where they won't be the same? My background tends to be more categorical so I really like to think of isomorphic things as "the same" where possible.
A:
What about the simplices which are both in $A$ and in $B$ ? They appear twice in the definition of $C_n(A)\oplus C_n(B)$. First as a summand in $C_n(A)$ but also as a summand in $C_n(B)$.
The point is, if $\sigma$ is such a simplex $(\sigma,-\sigma)$ is not $0$ in $C_n(A)\oplus C_n(B)$. But clearly, it maps to $0$ via the map $C_n(A)\oplus C_n(B)\rightarrow C_n(A+B)$ (which is $(\psi,\phi)\mapsto \psi + \phi)$ by the way).
You can now easily check that the short exact sequence is indeed exact.
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This information comes straight from the World Health Organisation's website. To me it seems to be very much from the traditional biomedical approach towards mental health, as it focuses on symptoms and disease and viewing them them as being disorders or not normal.
Anyway, what do you think?
Q: What are the early signs of mental disorders?
A: A mental or behavioural disorder is characterized by a disturbance in thinking, mood, or behaviour, which is out of keeping with cultural beliefs and norms. In most cases the symptoms are associated with distress and interference with personal functions.
Mental disorders produce symptoms that sufferers or those close to them notice. These may include:
Thursday, 23 August 2012
As a charity fundraiser, when a colleague is leaving, or just to cheer everyone up, my PAVO colleague Claire is always there with the most de-licious cakes. All baked and decorated by herself!
Here are some raspberry cheese cupcakes she made lately, just to make you feel a little bit hungry...
Claire told me - "baking is a real stress reliever for me, I find it really therapeutic, and rewarding. I love finding and trying new recipes or making a special cake for someone. I'm not that fussed about eating it (honest!), but I do get a huge sense of satisfaction when others enjoy the results!"
And it was Claire who put me on to a blog by another amazing baker - Anneliese Giggins. Anneliese took on the enormous challenge of baking all of the 218 recipes in famous cook Mary Berry's "Baking Bible." And by doing so she helped fight off the "baby blues," the social isolation and lack of confidence she experienced after leaving a fulfilling job to become a full-time Mum. You can read more about her story in a newspaper article here. Don't forgot too to check out her blog for more on her story of "baking away the blues" - risingtotheberry.blogspot.co.uk
I'm not sure how many cakes Claire has baked in total, but just to whet your appetite, here's a picture of another of her amazing creations. In my view, it's more than just a cake, it's a work of art!
Research manager Richard Kunzman tells the story behind Insight Research Group's survey into 'Austerity Britain' through the eyes of 300 GPs:
The last four years have been tough for everyone. Although we assumed that increased workloads and financial worries had affected the nation’s health to a certain extent, we wanted to hear from GPs about what they believed was happening on the ground based on their daily experiences in their practices.
The results are particularly insightful and show the extent to which the economy is not only affecting the average person on the street but also the GPs that treat them.
The GPs we surveyed felt that worries over financial security coupled with many people working longer hours have raised our stress levels. This has not only led to an increase in various mental health disorders but has also influenced other aspects of our life and wellbeing – from family planning through to levels of exercise.
The middle class has been especially affected by the turbulence of the economic recession – amongst all of the conditions that were investigated, GPs routinely associated the increases they’ve seen with middle Britain. But these pressures are not limited to one demographic either – married women and single women were both as likely to request a termination due to financial concerns.
It’s a particularly tough challenge for time-poor GPs who are faced with many patients who just need someone to talk to. Their only real option in the immediate term is to prescribe medication, which of course is rarely the solution.
Here are the top findings according to Insight Research Group’s survey of 300 UK GPs:
• 76% said they believed the economic climate of the last four years has had a negative impact on their patient’s health
• 77% felt there had been an increase in new cases (since 2008) of mental health disorders linked to the stresses of the economic climate. Of those 231 UK GPs:
o 46% thought the greatest increase was in depression
o 54% felt the greatest increase was in anxiety disorders
o 83% said mental health conditions have had an impact on their practice
• 64% felt patients are drinking more alcohol
• 77% said they believed more of their patients are working longer hours due to concerns about job security
• 62% felt they had seen an increase in the number of DLA (Disability Living Allowance) applications for patients who appear to be more in financial distress than in genuine need of support as a result of their health condition
• 38% believed more of their patients who are smokers are quitting or reducing the number of cigarettes they smoke to save money.
• 34% believed there had been an increase in patients putting off starting a family until their financial security improves
• 17% felt there had been an increase in patients specifically requesting terminations of pregnancies due to concerns about financial security
Whose health has been worst affected in the recession?• The greatest increase in new cases of mental health disorders as a result of the economic downturn is believed to be amongst those aged between 36 to 45 (49%), and those who have kids and are married or living with their partner (58%)• When it comes to gender breakdown, GPs believed there to be higher increases of depression, anxiety and alcohol abuse amongst men• The only condition where GPs felt women experienced the greatest increase in new cases since the 2008 recession is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (66% versus 19% in men)
The survey gathered the opinions of 300 GPs from across the UK about how Britain’s health has been affected by the turbulent economy since 2008 based on their experiences with patients. In addition, the research included over 40 in-depth qualitative interviews undertaken through Insight’s online GP community, e-Village. To differentiate between general health trends and specifically the impact of the economic recession, GPs were asked to only consider those instances where patients linked their behaviours and/or conditions with financial hardship or concerns about job security during their health visit.
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal, Suicides associated with the 2008-10 economic recession in England: time trend analysis, has found that a painful double-dip recession, rising unemployment and biting austerity measures may have already driven more than 1,000 people in the UK to commit suicide in the past two years.
Study lead David Stuckler from Cambridge University explained: "Much of men's identity and sense of purpose is tied up with having a job. It brings income, status and importance. There's also a pattern in the UK where men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women, while women are much more likely to report being depressed and seek help."
The analysis found that between 2008 and 2010 there were 846 more suicides among men in England than would have been expected if previous trends continued, and 155 more among women.
Between 2000 and 2010 each annual 10 percent increase in the number of unemployed people was associated with a 1.4 percent increase in the number of male suicides, the study found.
These findings suggest that about two fifths of the recent increase in suicides among men (increase of 329 suicides, 126 to 532) during the 2008-10 recession can be attributed to rising unemployment.
The study provides evidence linking the recent increase in suicides in England with the financial crisis that began in 2008. English regions with the largest rises in unemployment have had the largest increases in suicides, particularly among men.
Monday, 20 August 2012
Some of you may have seen Eleanor Longden give an inspiring presentation at our Making A Difference conference in Newtown back in May.Earlier in the year Eleanor was invited to present a short, 6 min talk at TEDxLondon on voice hearing - it's now online here. She needs people to consider rating it and leaving some feedback. Talks with the highest ratings will be invited to give extended presentations at TED 2013 in California, so this would be a great opportunity for spreading the word.At 17, Eleanor Longden had a promising future ahead of her; then she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After a lifelong battle with the voices in her head, today she has a Masters in psychology and a second chance.
Friday, 17 August 2012
My colleague Freda Lacey, who is the Development & Participation Worker in the team, recently attended a networking event run by Participation Cymru to talk about engagement and mental health. She drew upon the team's recent experience planning and running an event called Making a Difference Together, which was held in Newtown on 16 May 2012. You can find out more about the actual event here on our website.At the networking event Freda spoke for about 30 minutes on the innovative approach taken by the team to engage with people who experience mental distress. She particularly highlighted the importance of taking risks - and "thinking outside the box" - when planning events so that people can really let their voice be heard. You can listen to a recording of her presentation, and see her slides here, on the Participation Cymru website.The conference Freda describes was one of three events held throughout Wales and supported by the Stronger in Partnership network and NLIAH (National Leadership and Innovation Agency for Healthcare). Individuals had the opportunity to talk to representatives from social services, the police, Citizens Advice Bureau, psychiatric and psychology services and say exactly what they thought about the services provided. One of the people who attended wrote passionately about his experience of the day:
"I came home yesterday absolutely shattered but full of hope. I learnt more yesterday about Mental Health and indeed myself in what seemed like a few very short hours, than all of my ten years fighting the illness and the system.
I don't normally write letters of praise but you and your team have taken the system and given it a good old shake up and to give us "a voice" - fantastic!Until yesterday I thought I was a "Victim"..... I know the hard work that goes into an event such as this. What impressed me was the "looseformat". The fact that all of the Survivors, who like me struggle at social events, it is a great testament to you and your team that we were still there for the close of the event."
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
Anti-stigma campaign Time to Change has revealed the biggest clichés used when people try to talk about mental health issues.
'Pull yourself together' topped the cliché chart, commissioned by the programme run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, which explores unhelpful comments that people say are one of the hardest parts of the illness, and often worse than the symptoms themselves.
The poll also revealed that; ‘there are people out there much worse off than you’; and; ‘snap out of it’ were other expressions used frequently.
With results showing the continuing widespread myths that still surround mental health problems, Time to Change has launched a new viral film with tips on how to start a conversation about mental health.Sue Baker, director of Time to Change, said: "starting a conversation about mental health can sometimes feel daunting. Our aim is to take the awkwardness away from it and enable both people with a mental health problem and those without to talk about it openly and honestly."
“The more we’re all able to have a conversation about mental health, the more we will remove the stigma and discrimination that still affects so many of us living with a mental health problem.”
Only a quarter of people with mental health problems receive any treatment, despite it accounting for nearly half of all ill health suffered by people under 65, a new report has revealed.
This under-treatment of people with mental illnesses is the most glaring case of health inequality in the UK, the report, How mental illness loses out in the NHS, concluded.
The report, by the London School of Economics’ Mental Health Policy Group, a team of economists, psychologists, doctors and NHS managers convened by Professor Lord Layard, said that it is a “scandal” that with 6 million people with depression or anxiety conditions and 700,000 children with problem behaviours, anxiety or depression, three quarters of each group get no treatment.
Mental illness accounts for 23% of the total burden of disease. Yet, despite the existence of cost-effective treatments, it receives only 13% of NHS health expenditure, the report found.
Gemma Cairney leads a dynamic, poignant and revealing documentary about the hidden world of teenage abusive relationships.
The programme explores the issue of emotional and violent abuse through different types of relationships, including male on female, female on male and same sex - both from the perspective of the abused and the abuser, with additional contributions from experts in the issues.
We also wind back to the story of the then 19-year old hip hop star Chris Brown, who attacked his girlfriend, pop singer Rihanna, beating, biting and kicking her until she lost consciousness. We will take a look at how the story was reported on Radio 1's Newsbeat and how quickly it was all forgotten.
This story is based on the first official study of its kind into young abusive relationships, which was commissioned by the NSPCC and the Home Office. It reports 25% of girls and 18% of boys have been physically abused and 75% of girls and 50% of boys have suffered emotional abuse. The study also found that sexual violence happened to one in three girls and one in six boys.
Gemma talks to victims, perpetrators and carers as she tries to get to the bottom of this 'secret' world and under-reported story.
These powerful stories and experiences will be brought together with Gemma's own personal commentary.
"Is it okay if I totally trash your office?" It's a question Elyn Saks once asked her doctor, and it wasn't a joke. A legal scholar, in 2007 Saks came forward with her own story of schizophrenia, controlled by drugs and therapy but ever-present. In this powerful talk, she asks us to see people with mental illness clearly, honestly and compassionately.
Elyn Saks asks bold questions about how society treats people with mental illness. She views her illness very much according to the prevalent medical model of illness.
Thursday, 9 August 2012
A fellow blogger at Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations, Claire, suggested posting about a social enterprise she had come across recently. Chipmunkapublishing "gives a voice to people with mental illness and (is a) niche publisher with expertise in the mental health field of mental health service users' empowerment, carer empowerment and disability empowerment."
It's worth taking a look at the website, not only to see the books currently being published, but also to look for opportunities. It seems that the company is always looking for people who wish to write about their experiences, and also for volunteers who are willing to take on a variety of roles, from editing to marketing.
Jason Pegler is one of the founders of the company. He says, "Chipmunkapublishing is a platform to allow people to tell the truth about how people with mental health issues are treated by society, the mental health system, the state and the status quo. I want others to follow in my footsteps and help Chipmunkapublishing break down the taboo on mental health once and for all".
The company is based in the UK, but works with people round the world.
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FIG. 1 shows a basic structure of common photoelectric conversion devices such as thin film solar cells and the like. In the photoelectric conversion device, as shown in FIG. 1, a first electrode layer 2 composed of, for example, Mo to be a backside electrode is formed on a substrate 1 composed of, for example, soda-lime glass. Further, an optical absorption layer 3 composed of a compound semiconductor thin film is formed on the first electrode layer 2. Further, a transparent second electrode layer 5 composed of ZnO or the like is formed on the optical absorption layer 3 with a buffer layer 4 composed of ZnS, CdS or the like interposed therebetween.
As the optical absorption layer 3 composed of a compound semiconductor, a group-I-III-VI compound semiconductor thin film such as Cu(In,Ga)Se2, which can achieve high energy conversion efficiency, is employed.
Examples of a production method of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 include a production method in which a film is formed by applying a liquid phase raw material. As a production method of using such a liquid phase raw material, for example, a single source precursor method is heretofore known. This method is a production method of forming a Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film by allowing Cu, Se, and In or Ga to exist in one organic compound, dissolving the organic compound in an organic solvent, and applying and heat treating the resulting solution (U.S. Pat. No. 6,992,202).
However, in the production method using the above single source precursor, it is difficult to control the composition of the optical absorption layer, that is, a molar ratio (Cu/(In+Ga)), and there is a limitation of improvement in energy conversion efficiency. Therefore, further improvements in energy conversion efficiency of the photoelectric conversion device have been desired.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a photoelectric conversion device having high energy conversion efficiency by controlling composition of the optical absorption layer by use of the single source precursor.
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Q:
Half rating in altacv template class
I am currently writing my CV in \latex using the altaCV.cls class which can be found on GitHub here and also below after fully scrolling down. This class includes a command definition for \cvskill (see from line 218). What this does basically does is, it gives a rating to a field which you can define, like lets say language skills.
The command definition allows only for full circles. However, I want to color the circle only half to say give a rating of 3.5 or 4.5. How do I do this? Mind you the fontawesome package which is used for the symbols (see lines 39, 104 for package and ratingmarker definition) does not contain a half circle. For example what do I have to do to make German 4.5 and Spanish 3.5?
I do not fully yet understand latex class file schematics fully. Looking to find a solution from one of you experts ;)
Thank you.
Advait
Please find some sample code which displays the issue:
\documentclass[10pt,a4paper,ragged2e]{altacv}
\geometry{left=1cm,right=9cm,marginparwidth=6.8cm,marginparsep=1.2cm,top=1.25cm,bottom=1.25cm}
% Change the font if you want to, depending on whether
% you're using pdflatex or xelatex/lualatex
\ifxetexorluatex
% If using xelatex or lualatex:
\setmainfont{Carlito}
\else
% If using pdflatex:
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[default]{lato}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{fontawesome}
\usepackage{xfrac}
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
\fi
\newcommand{\myspace}{\hspace{0.1cm}}
\begin{document}
\cvsection{\faLanguage \myspace Languages}
\cvskill{English}{5}
\cvskill{German}{5}
\cvskill{Hindi}{4}
\cvskill{Spanish}{3}
\end{document}
Class file; Document Source: LianTze Lim.
I am using this person's work and modifying it to suit my needs.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% This is altacv.cls (v1.1.5, 1 December 2018) written by
% LianTze Lim ([email protected]).
%
%% It may be distributed and/or modified under the
%% conditions of the LaTeX Project Public License, either version 1.3
%% of this license or (at your option) any later version.
%% The latest version of this license is in
%% http://www.latex-project.org/lppl.txt
%% and version 1.3 or later is part of all distributions of LaTeX
%% version 2003/12/01 or later.
%%
%%
% Contributions:
% - https://github.com/akreuzer Added ragged2e option (5 Nov 2018)
% - https://github.com/stefanogermano Fixed bad boxes and undefined font shape (July 2018)
% - https://github.com/foohyfooh Fixed blank spaces in \cvevent and bad link in README.md (June 2018)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\NeedsTeXFormat{LaTeX2e}[1995/12/01]
%% v1.4: Detect TL2018 to handle accented characters in class information
\@ifl@t@r\fmtversion{2018/04/01}{\UseRawInputEncoding}{}
\ProvidesClass{altacv}[2018/12/01 AltaCV v1.1.5, yet another alternative class for a résumé/curriculum vitae.]
%% v1.1: Optionally load academicons
\newif\if@academicons
\DeclareOption{academicons}{\@academiconstrue}
%% v1.1.3: Choice of round/square photo
\newif\if@normalphoto
\DeclareOption{normalphoto}{\@normalphototrue}
\DeclareOption*{\PassOptionsToClass{\CurrentOption}{extarticle}}
\newif\if@raggedtwoe
\DeclareOption{ragged2e}{\@raggedtwoetrue}
\ProcessOptions\relax
\LoadClass{extarticle}
\RequirePackage[margin=2cm]{geometry}
\RequirePackage{fontawesome}
\RequirePackage{ifxetex,ifluatex}
\RequirePackage{scrlfile}
%% v1.1.5: added for convenience
\newif\ifxetexorluatex
\ifxetex
\xetexorluatextrue
\else
\ifluatex
\xetexorluatextrue
\else
\xetexorluatexfalse
\fi
\fi
%% v1.1: Optionally load academicons
%% v1.1.5: Handle different versions of academicons
\if@academicons
\ifxetexorluatex
\RequirePackage{fontspec}
%% academicons in TL2018 doesn't require
%% Academicons to be installed in OS fonts
%% so can be loaded directly
\@ifl@t@r\fmtversion{2018/04/01}{%
\RequirePackage{academicons}
}{%
% TL2017
\@ifl@t@r\fmtversion{2017/04/01}{%
\@ifpackagelater{academicons}{2018/03/01}{%
\RequirePackage{academicons}
}{%
\let\ori@newfontfamily\newfontfamily%
\renewcommand{\newfontfamily}[2]{}
\RequirePackage{academicons}
\let\newfontfamily\ori@newfontfamily
\newfontfamily{\AI}{academicons.ttf}
}
}{% TL2016 requires the package to be loaded before
% the version can be checked. Only added because
% Overleaf v1 still runs TL2016; will be removed
% when v1 is completely retired.
\let\ori@newfontfamily\newfontfamily%
\renewcommand{\newfontfamily}[2]{}
\RequirePackage{academicons}
\let\newfontfamily\ori@newfontfamily
\newfontfamily{\AI}{academicons.ttf}
}
}
\else
\ClassError{AltaCV}{academicons unsupported by latex or pdflatex. Please compile with xelatex or lualatex}{Please compile with xelatex or lualatex to use the academicons option}
\fi
\fi
\if@raggedtwoe
\RequirePackage[newcommands]{ragged2e}
\fi
\RequirePackage{xcolor}
\colorlet{accent}{blue!70!black}
\colorlet{heading}{black}
\colorlet{emphasis}{black}
\colorlet{body}{black!80!white}
\newcommand{\itemmarker}{{\small\textbullet}}
\newcommand{\ratingmarker}{\faCircle}
\RequirePackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows}
\RequirePackage[skins]{tcolorbox}
\RequirePackage{enumitem}
\setlist{leftmargin=*,labelsep=0.5em,nosep,itemsep=0.25\baselineskip,after=\vskip0.25\baselineskip}
\setlist[itemize]{label=\itemmarker}
\RequirePackage{graphicx}
\RequirePackage{etoolbox}
\RequirePackage{dashrule}
\RequirePackage{multirow,tabularx}
\RequirePackage{changepage}
% \RequirePackage{marginfix}
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
\newcommand{\divider}{\textcolor{body!30}{\hdashrule{\linewidth}{0.6pt}{0.5ex}}\medskip}
\newenvironment{fullwidth}{%
\begin{adjustwidth}{}{\dimexpr-\marginparwidth-\marginparsep\relax}}
{\end{adjustwidth}}
\newcommand{\emailsymbol}{\faAt}
\newcommand{\phonesymbol}{\faPhone}
\newcommand{\homepagesymbol}{\faChain}
\newcommand{\locationsymbol}{\faMapMarker}
\newcommand{\linkedinsymbol}{\faLinkedin}
\newcommand{\twittersymbol}{\faTwitter}
\newcommand{\githubsymbol}{\faGithub}
\newcommand{\orcidsymbol}{\aiOrcid}
\newcommand{\mailsymbol}{\faEnvelope}
\newcommand{\xingsymbol}{\faXing}
\newcommand{\facebooksymbol}{\faFacebook}
\newcommand{\skypesymbol}{\faSkype}
\newcommand{\printinfo}[2]{\mbox{\textcolor{accent}{\normalfont #1}\hspace{0.5em}#2\hspace{2em}}}
\newcommand{\name}[1]{\def\@name{#1}}
\newcommand{\tagline}[1]{\def\@tagline{#1}}
\newcommand{\photo}[2]{\def\@photo{#2}\def\@photodiameter{#1}}
\newcommand{\email}[1]{\printinfo{\emailsymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\mailaddress}[1]{\printinfo{\mailsymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\phone}[1]{\printinfo{\phonesymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\homepage}[1]{\printinfo{\homepagesymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\twitter}[1]{\printinfo{\twittersymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\linkedin}[1]{\printinfo{\linkedinsymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\github}[1]{\printinfo{\githubsymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\orcid}[1]{\printinfo{\orcidsymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\location}[1]{\printinfo{\locationsymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\xing}[1]{\printinfo{\xingsymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\facebook}[1]{\printinfo{\facebooksymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\skype}[1]{\printinfo{\skypesymbol}{#1}}
\newcommand{\personalinfo}[1]{\def\@personalinfo{#1}}
\newcommand{\makecvheader}{%
\begingroup
\ifdef{\@photodiameter}{\begin{minipage}{\dimexpr\linewidth-\@photodiameter-2em}}{}%
\raggedright\color{emphasis}%
{\Huge\bfseries\MakeUppercase{\@name}\par}
\medskip
{\large\bfseries\color{accent}\@tagline\par}
\medskip
{\small\bfseries\@personalinfo\par}
\ifdef{\@photodiameter}{%
\end{minipage}\hfill%
\begin{minipage}{\@photodiameter}
\if@normalphoto
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{\@photo}
\else
\tikz\path[fill overzoom image={\@photo}]circle[radius=0.5\linewidth];
\fi%
\end{minipage}\par}{}%
\endgroup\medskip
}
\renewenvironment{quote}{\color{accent}\itshape\large}{\par}
\newcommand{\cvsection}[2][]{%
\bigskip%
\ifstrequal{#1}{}{}{\marginpar{\vspace*{\dimexpr1pt-\baselineskip}\raggedright\input{#1}}}%
{\color{heading}\large\bfseries\MakeUppercase{#2}}\\[-1ex]%
{\color{heading}\rule{\linewidth}{2pt}\par}\medskip
}
\newcommand{\cvsubsection}[1]{%
\smallskip%
{\color{emphasis}\large\bfseries{#1}\par}\medskip
}
% v1.1.4: fixes inconsistent font size
\newcommand{\cvevent}[4]{%
{\large\color{emphasis}#1\par}
\smallskip\normalsize
\ifstrequal{#2}{}{}{
\textbf{\color{accent}#2}\par
\smallskip}
\ifstrequal{#3}{}{}{{\small\makebox[0.5\linewidth][l]{\faCalendar\hspace{0.5em}#3}}}%
\ifstrequal{#4}{}{}{{\small\makebox[0.5\linewidth][l]{\faMapMarker\hspace{0.5em}#4}}}\par
\medskip\normalsize
}
\newcommand{\cvachievement}[3]{%
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{@{}p{2em} @{\hspace{1ex}} >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}X@{}}
\multirow{2}{*}{\Large\color{accent}#1} & \bfseries\textcolor{emphasis}{#2}\\
& #3
\end{tabularx}%
\smallskip
}
\newcommand{\cvtag}[1]{%
\tikz[baseline]\node[anchor=base,draw=body!30,rounded corners,inner xsep=1ex,inner ysep =0.75ex,text height=1.5ex,text depth=.25ex]{#1};
}
\newcommand{\cvskill}[2]{%
\textcolor{emphasis}{\textbf{#1}}\hfill
\foreach \x in {1,...,5}{%
\space{\ifnumgreater{\x}{#2}{\color{body!30}}{\color{accent}}\ratingmarker}}\par%
}
% Adapted from @Jake's answer at http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/82729/226
\newcommand{\wheelchart}[4][0]{%
\begingroup\centering
\def\innerradius{#3}%
\def\outerradius{#2}%
% Calculate total
\pgfmathsetmacro{\totalnum}{0}%
\foreach \value/\colour/\name in {#4} {%
\pgfmathparse{\value+\totalnum}%
\global\let\totalnum=\pgfmathresult%
}%
\begin{tikzpicture}
% Calculate the thickness and the middle line of the wheel
\pgfmathsetmacro{\wheelwidth}{\outerradius-\innerradius}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\midradius}{(\outerradius+\innerradius)/2}
\pgfmathsetmacro{\totalrot}{-90 + #1}
% Rotate so we start from the top
\begin{scope}[rotate=\totalrot]
% Loop through each value set. \cumnum keeps track of where we are in the wheel
\pgfmathsetmacro{\cumnum}{0}
\foreach \value/\width/\colour/\name in {#4} {
\pgfmathsetmacro{\newcumnum}{\cumnum + \value/\totalnum*360}
% Calculate the percent value
\pgfmathsetmacro{\percentage}{\value/\totalnum*100}
% Calculate the mid angle of the colour segments to place the labels
\pgfmathsetmacro{\midangle}{-(\cumnum+\newcumnum)/2}
% This is necessary for the labels to align nicely
\pgfmathparse{
(-\midangle>180?"west":"east")
} \edef\textanchor{\pgfmathresult}
\pgfmathparse{
(-\midangle>180?"flush left":"flush right")
} \edef\textalign{\pgfmathresult}
\pgfmathsetmacro\labelshiftdir{1-2*(-\midangle<180)}
% Draw the color segments. Somehow, the \midrow units got lost, so we add 'pt' at the end. Not nice...
\filldraw[draw=white,fill=\colour] (-\cumnum:\outerradius) arc (-\cumnum:-(\newcumnum):\outerradius) --
(-\newcumnum:\innerradius) arc (-\newcumnum:-(\cumnum):\innerradius) -- cycle;
% Draw the data labels
\draw [*-,thin,emphasis] node [append after command={(\midangle:\midradius pt) -- (\midangle:\outerradius + 1ex) -- (\tikzlastnode)}] at (\midangle:\outerradius + 1ex) [xshift=\labelshiftdir*0.5cm,inner sep=1ex, outer sep=0pt, text width=\width,anchor=\textanchor,align=\textalign,font=\small,text=body]{\name};
% Set the old cumulated angle to the new value
\global\let\cumnum=\newcumnum
}
\end{scope}
% \draw[gray] (0,0) circle (\outerradius) circle (\innerradius);
\end{tikzpicture}\par
\endgroup
}
\newcommand{\cvref}[3]{%
\smallskip
\textcolor{emphasis}{\textbf{#1}}\par
\begin{description}[font=\color{accent},style=multiline,leftmargin=1.35em]
\item[\normalfont\emailsymbol] #2
\item[\small\normalfont\mailsymbol] #3
\end{description}
% \medskip
}
\newenvironment{cvcolumn}[1]{\begin{minipage}[t]{#1}\raggedright}{\end{minipage}}
\RequirePackage[backend=biber,style=authoryear,sorting=ydnt]{biblatex}
%% For removing numbering entirely when using a numeric style
% \setlength{\bibhang}{1em}
% \DeclareFieldFormat{labelnumberwidth}{\makebox[\bibhang][l]{\itemmarker}}
% \setlength{\biblabelsep}{0pt}
\defbibheading{pubtype}{\cvsubsection{#1}}
\renewcommand{\bibsetup}{\vspace*{-\baselineskip}}
\AtEveryBibitem{\makebox[\bibhang][l]{\itemmarker}}
\setlength{\bibitemsep}{0.25\baselineskip}
% v1.1.2: make it easier to add a sidebar aligned with top of next page
\RequirePackage{afterpage}
\newcommand{\addsidebar}[2][]{\marginpar{%
\ifstrequal{#1}{}{}{\vspace*{#1}}%
\input{#2}}%
}
\newcommand{\addnextpagesidebar}[2][]{\afterpage{\addsidebar[#1]{#2}}}
\AtBeginDocument{%
\pagestyle{empty}
\color{body}
\raggedright
}
A:
Based on the code from this answer you can redefine the command \cvskill like this:
% https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/433321/16550
\newcommand{\grade}[1]{% <==============================================
\begin{tikzpicture}
\clip (1em-.4em,-.35em) rectangle (5em +.5em ,1em);
\foreach \x in {1,2,...,5}{
\path[{fill=body!30}] (\x em,0) circle (.35em); % backColor
}
\begin{scope}
\clip (1em-.4em,-.35em) rectangle (#1em +.5em ,1em);
\foreach \x in {1,2,...,5}{
\path[{fill=accent}] (\x em,0) circle (.35em); % frontColor
}
\end{scope}
\end{tikzpicture}%
}
\renewcommand{\cvskill}[2]{% <==========================================
\textcolor{emphasis}{\textbf{#1}}\hfill
\grade{#2}\par
}
Please see that the new command \grade can not only print half filled circles with value 3.5, it can also handle values like 3.3 or 3.7.
So with the following complete code
\documentclass[10pt,a4paper,ragged2e]{altacv}
\geometry{left=1cm,right=9cm,marginparwidth=6.8cm,marginparsep=1.2cm,top=1.25cm,bottom=1.25cm}
% Change the font if you want to, depending on whether
% you're using pdflatex or xelatex/lualatex
\ifxetexorluatex
% If using xelatex or lualatex:
\setmainfont{Carlito}
\else
% If using pdflatex:
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[default]{lato}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{fontawesome}
\usepackage{xfrac}
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
\fi
% https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/433321/16550
\newcommand{\grade}[1]{% <==============================================
\begin{tikzpicture}
\clip (1em-.4em,-.35em) rectangle (5em +.5em ,1em);
\foreach \x in {1,2,...,5}{
\path[{fill=body!30}] (\x em,0) circle (.35em); % backColor
}
\begin{scope}
\clip (1em-.4em,-.35em) rectangle (#1em +.5em ,1em);
\foreach \x in {1,2,...,5}{
\path[{fill=accent}] (\x em,0) circle (.35em); % frontColor
}
\end{scope}
\end{tikzpicture}%
}
\renewcommand{\cvskill}[2]{% <==========================================
\textcolor{emphasis}{\textbf{#1}}\hfill
\grade{#2}\par
}
\newcommand{\myspace}{\hspace{0.1cm}}
\begin{document}
\cvsection{\faLanguage \myspace Languages}
\cvskill{English}{5}
\cvskill{German}{4.5} % <===============================================
\cvskill{Hindi}{4}
\cvskill{Spanish}{3.5} % <==============================================
\end{document}
you get the wished result:
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Toure’s future at City looked uncertain after his agent Dimitry Seluk suggested the 31-year-old felt he had been treated disrespectfully by the club.
A poor World Cup with the Ivory Coast and the death of his younger brother Ibrahim to cancer saw further doubt cast on Toure's City future, but the former Barcelona midfielder insists he is going nowhere.
"It was not a case of leaving the club. It was difficult because my situation was quite difficult," he told the club's official website.
"For me I was always quiet and my decision, if you want to say it like that, is that I will stay at Manchester City for as long as possible."
Toure, who scored 24 goals and contributed 12 assists from 49 appearances for City last season, hopes the club reinforce the squad in the coming weeks in order to challenge on multiple fronts.
"I hope a couple of players sign in because we need to try to build a massive club because if we want to be the best we need to win every trophy possible," he added.
"We are looking for the Champions League - that is an important title this year and the Premier League is going to be a battle as well between Chelsea, United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool too.
"I think it's going to be very open. We know we are the team to beat but we have the confidence and we have the fantastic players coming and I hope this year's going to be the same."
Watch Liverpool take on Manchester City in the International Champions Cup on Thursday morning - kick off is just after midnight, live on Sky Sports 1.
Most Commented
Readers' Comments
I
t's wrong to be making a joke out of Bender's name at the expense of gay people. It's the kind of childish, uncivilised thing that Football365 would deride and ridicule if it was another media outlet saying. Why is there a need for jokes like this? Does it make your writers feel like men? F365 might suggest that I 'lighten up', but it is genuinely traumatic for people who have been oppressed all their lives to be the butt of jokes, and to be told...
ou can't blame De Gea for wanting to leave, he has enough to do in front of goal as it is as well as taking on the role of Man Utd's version of Derek Acorah in trying to contact and organise a defence that isn't there.
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Antennas are used to typically radiate and/or receive electromagnetic signals, preferably with antenna gain, directivity, and efficiency. Practical antenna design traditionally involves trade-offs between various parameters, including antenna gain, size, efficiency, and bandwidth.
Antenna design has historically been dominated by Euclidean geometry. In such designs, the closed area of the antenna is directly proportional to the antenna perimeter. For example, if one doubles the length of a Euclidean square (or “quad”) antenna, the enclosed area of the antenna quadruples. Classical antenna design has dealt with planes, circles, triangles, squares, ellipses, rectangles, hemispheres, paraboloids, and the like.
With respect to antennas, prior art design philosophy has been to pick a Euclidean geometric construction, e.g., a quad, and to explore its radiation characteristics, especially with emphasis on frequency resonance and power patterns. Unfortunately antenna design has concentrated on the ease of antenna construction, rather than on the underlying electromagnetics, which can cause a reduction in antenna performance.
Practical antenna design traditionally involves trade-offs between various parameters, including antenna gain, size, efficiency, and bandwidth. Antenna size is also traded off during antenna design that typically reduces frequency bandwidth. Being held to particular size constraints, the bandwidth performance for antenna designs such as discone and bicone antennas is sacrificed resulted in reduced bandwidth.
Dipole-like antenna have used a bicone or discone shape to afford the performance desired over a large pass band. For example, some pass bands desired exceed 3:1 as a ratio of lowest to highest frequencies of operation, and typically ratios of 20:1 to 100:1 are desired. Some prior art discone antennas have included a sub-element shaped as a cone whose apex is attached to one side of a feed system at location. A second sub-element can be attached to the other side of the feed system, such as the braid of a coaxial feed system. This sub-element is a flat disk meant to act as a counterpoise.
Both discone and bicone antennas afford wideband performance often over a large ratio of frequencies of operation; in some arrangements more than 10:1. However, such antennas are often ¼ wavelength across, as provided by the longest operational wavelength of use, or the lowest operating frequency. In height, the discone is typically ¼ wavelength and the bicone almost ½ wavelength of the longest operational wavelength. Typically, when the lowest operational frequency corresponds to a relatively long wavelength, the size and form factor of these antenna becomes cumbersome and often prohibitive for many applications.
Antenna systems that incorporate a Euclidean geometry include roof-mounted antennas that extend from objects such as residential homes or automobiles. Such extendable antennas can be susceptible to wind and other weather conditions and may be limited in bandwidth and frequency range. Additionally, by implementing a Euclidean geometry into these conformal antennas, antenna performance is degraded.
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Beta-adrenergic stimulation of pig myocytes with decreased cytosolic free magnesium prolongs the action potential and enhances triggered activity.
Heart failure results in chronic beta-adrenergic stimulation, repolarization lability, and arrhythmias associated with early afterdepolarizations (EADs) and delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs). Having described a significant reduction in intracellular free magnesium ([Mg2+]i) in experimental heart failure, we asked whether a reduction in [Mg2+]i would delay repolarization or facilitate EADs and/or DADs. Left ventricular myocytes were isolated from Yorkshire swine. Cytosolic free [Mg2+] was set at 0.12 mM (LoMg) or 1.2 mM (HiMg) through pipette dialysis. Action potentials (AP), Ca current (I(Ca)), and sodium/calcium exchange current (I(NCX)) were measured in the presence or absence of isoproterenol (2 microM) at 37 degrees C. Under basal conditions (0.1-Hz stimulation, 2 mM external [Ca2+]), reducing [Mg2+]i had no effect on AP duration and I(Ca) but did significantly enhance I(NCX). In contrast, during superfusion with isoproterenol, reduced [Mg2+]i caused a significant increase in AP duration at both 50% and 90% repolarization (APD50 and APD90) compared with HiMg (P < 0.05). LoMg cells manifested a high incidence of triggered activities, including spontaneous AP, EADs, and DADs (83.3% in LoMg, n = 12 vs 38.3% in HiMg, n = 13; P < 0.05). I(Ca) and I(NCX) were significantly increased in LoMg cells compared with HiMg cells (P < 0.05). Decreased cytosolic free magnesium prolongs AP duration and increases the incidence of triggered activity during beta-adrenergic stimulation. These effects may be due to increased I(Ca) and I(NCX) in the presence of reduced intracellular [Mg2+]. A magnesium-dependent increase in triggered activity coupled with delayed repolarization during beta-adrenergic stimulation could contribute to the arrhythmogenic substrate in heart failure.
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Svanenhielm (noble family)
Svanenhielm was a family of Danish and Norwegian nobility.
Morten Hansen Seehuusen (1629-1694) was a merchant from Bredstedt in Schleswig-Holstein who re-located to Stavanger, Norway. His son, Severin Seehusen, (1664-1726) was an official in Bergen as well as in Stavanger and Northern Norway. He owned, among other properties, Damsgård Manor (Damsgård hovedgård) outside Bergen, Svanøy (Svanøy hovudgard) in Sunnfjord and Arnegård in Stavanger.
Severin Seehausen was in 1720 ennobled under the name Svanenhielm (lit. Swan Helm), which he had adopted after buying the Svanøy Estate in 1719.
See also
Danish nobility
Norwegian nobility
References
Literature and sources
Wikipedia, Norwegian Bokmål & Riksmål: Severin Seehusen (Per 12 April 2011.)
Category:Norwegian families
Category:Norwegian nobility
Category:Norwegian noble families
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Rumored Buzz on asbestos testing
Permits required: Typically, You will need to pull a permit to try and do demolition Focus on your house. A part of the demolition allow is to eliminate the asbestos. Make contact with your local developing or permitting department for more information.
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Do continue to keep activities to the least in any places getting weakened material which could comprise asbestos, together with restricting kid's use of any components which will contain asbestos.Choosing an asbestos abatement firm is definitely the most secure, most straightforward approach to eliminating asbestos from your house.Eurofins presen
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Asbestos-that contains supplies that aren’t broken or disturbed are not going to pose a health and fitness hazard. Usually the neatest thing is to go away asbestos-containing product by yourself if it is in fantastic affliction.In getting our purchasers by way of the whole process of handling asbestos impacted soils, our concentration is on maki
Then you realize what you are addressing and could make greater decisions on what to get rid of or enclose for your project. The asbestos removal Expense will rely upon gear, length of time to eliminate asbestos from a creating – every one of these variables lead to the remoal cost estimate.Asbestos was generally Utilized in constructing constru
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What We Mean When We Say, ‘I Love You, Man’
Share
Last November, it was Thanksgiving break. This February, a funeral. In April, a bachelor party. And in May, a wedding. At these moments, we come together. And eventually, out of nowhere, it starts to come out of our mouths. A long talk, a wild night, a tough phone call, and then “I love you,man.”
It’s not the “love” itself that hits hard — that’s always been there. It’s what’s implied after that loving declaration. It doesn’t have to be said; you can feelit.
“I love you, man [for sticking withme].”
“I love you, man [for not disappearing on me when I fell off the grid for a year orso].”
“I love you, man [because sometimes I’m theworst].”
“I love you, man [for keeping mealive].”
“I love you, man [for reminding me how to begood].”
“I love you, man [for proving to me that it’ll beall right].”
There’s a group of men I’ve known since we were children. Some fell into my life as early as the single digits, all before high school began. Growing up in Atlanta, these boys became my first inner circle, before I knew what that meant. Each of us had our own outlier friends, and different factions and smaller crews would break off, depending on the activity, the neighborhood you lived in, the sports you played, and, as we got older, the trouble you liked to get into. There was never a declaration of who was in the circle, or that there was even a circle. But it was obvious which boys continued to find ways to cross each other’s path or collect stories with oneanother.
In no way was I the sun around which this collection of boys revolved. Quite the contrary, I was more of a floater within the group, for years the one without a clear best friend, a trait that would prove contagious. As time went on, the whole proved more necessary than any singlepart.
I once wondered if my insular circle of boys would be my undoing — perhaps all of ours. I mean, teenage boys are in a constant state of trying to derail their futures, and occasionally end their lives. And these odds only increase with each additional teenage boy you add to the mix. We never would have been characterized as a dangerous bunch; it’s just that the feeling of invincibility that comes from going to school in a remarkably nurturing bubble, combined with living in the middle of a city that routinely popped said bubble, meant we were always two decisions away from something really badhappening.
Our high school, college, and early adult years were not perfectly synced. We experienced things, went through rough patches, and had breakthrough moments of true happiness at different times — all while moving apart and growing apart. In college, we would come home for holidays and pick up where we left off, and we felt as if we would always be able to do that. But our brief reconnections were happening in the shadow of extreme, rapid personal independence — each of us was creating a personality beyond the group. We started showing signs of having different ideas of what was fun. And then, one by one, people started considering falling in love. At that moment, after dedicating two-thirds of our lives to the feelings, opinions, stories, and whereabouts of one another, it looked as if it was allover.
This fear was initially pinned to the sudden appearance of significant others, but that was a smokescreen. What really happened was everyone was in various stages of experimenting with being a subpar man. Being a shitty guy has a way of warping the understanding of what it means to be manly. As in, the worse you are — rude, dishonest, uncaring, downright scoundrelly — the more of a real man you are. Our friendship had been the reason we’d been able to get back up when we fell, stay afloat, even to learn how to grow up, for so many years. But here, both geographically and figuratively, separation within the group was at its high point, communication at an all-time low. No one seemed to trust themselves in relationships, and for good reason. You begin to feel like an impostor when people know you, but only the good side of you. We were designated as “good guys,” but we were no longer as good as it seemed. There’s an extent to which you know your leash is longer, that more chances are available, less trouble awaits you, when people think you’re one of the goodones.
The bad began as an act, but was ripe for becoming a reality. But it wasn’t real, and slowly, one by one, people found ways to break the trend. The task was recapturing that initial positivity, that potential — the aspect of ourselves that truly came out in each person when we were all together, caring for each other, and keeping each other inline.
As often happens, it was the milestones that started to bring us back together. In 2013, one of the guys in the group’s father died. People dropped whatever they could to support him, because, for some of us, he was our father, too. It was a reminder that when one grieves, we all grieve. And now, when one of us finds that maybe forever person, we all fall in love, and we help our friend stay in love and not fuck up that love. We’re all taking cues from each other — everyone advanced in different ways, struggling in others — in this hunt to finally be great men. We need to stick together, because when one person figures something out, it’scontagious.
Though we never said it growing up, we always knew how to love each other. And now, at different speeds, we’re learning how to love ourselves. And then love others. And tell other people we love them. And actually meanit.
It feels good to be in a group that shared beds with each other years ago out of necessity, and still will on occasion out of camaraderie. It’s fun to be among the people who speak exactly your shorthand, for whom the same random thing sends you into a nostalgic spiral of inside jokes, throwback references, and obscure rap lyrics (though we have gotten slightly better at including others in our mania). And it’s a godsend to look for guidance from people who have figured it out, when you’re the one in the group with the most to still figure out about being a goodman.
At a recent bachelor party, once an inner-circle quorum had been reached, we started into one of our late-night “How are you really?” conversations. About ten minutes in, however, I went looking to round up a few more of our crew, partly because I wanted them to know how I was really doing, but also because there’s never just one of us going through something. I almost felt selfish having a soul-baring conversation in one of our reunion sessions without everyonepresent.
Sometimes, no one wants to be the one to break the seal of small talk. But increasingly, it’s become clear that there’s no place more comfortable to go there than among this group. And once one of us goes there, everyone’s ready for their turn. The snowball of admissions, the recognition of shared experience even though we are now such differentpeople.
It’s fun, it’s silly, it’s increasingly intense and honest, and then it’s over. That Real World–esque moment takes place when everyone has to leave the house after a weekend and go back to their lives, walking away from this collection of friendship that we’ve all grown to learn is rare. There’s always someone who has the early Sunday morning flight and has to tap out late Saturday night, causing a flurry of tight hugs, quick one-on-one talks, and promises that get less and less empty over time. The succession of good-byes continues, one after another, until everyone is gone. Each good-bye is unique, because each boy has given me something unique, even though the words are still thesame.
We pushed through a rough patch, and now we’re back on the same team. There’s a lot of love among us, and it’s no longer just insular. This is not just the camaraderie of nostalgia and convenience, but true friendship, where love is helping those you love learn how tolove.
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Fla. Secretary of State: We’re moving ahead, lesson learned
CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield spoke to Florida’s Secretary of State Ken Detzner about the criticism his state has received on voting issues. Mr. Detzner stated “this problem is going to be solved.”
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All Blacks Aaron Smith and Liam Coltman could be playing club rugby in less than two weeks as the COVID-19 outbreak puts the brakes on Super Rugby.
Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark says the 20 members of his club's squad who will not be in self-isolation could all turn out in grassroots games on Saturday week.
Smith and Coltman are the most high profile of the squad members who did not travel to Buenos Aires for the game against the Jaguars that was cancelled just hours before kick-off.
PHOTOSPORT Aaron Smith did not travel to Argentina because of the controversial New Zealand Rugby player management plan.
It was impossible for the Highlanders - who will arrive in New Zealand on Tuesday - to get home before the government's 14-day self-isolation travel restrictions that came into force at midnight Sunday.
READ MORE:
* Crusaders hunt solutions
* Moffett: Rugby must dig deep
* How Highlanders are affected
* Kiwi sports teams hit hard
* Highlanders forced into self-isolation
Clark confirmed none of the returning Highlanders players are showing signs of ill-health and that they will be permitted to train on their own where possible.
GETTY IMAGES Aaron Smith could be set for a rare game of club rugby.
Sanzaar announced the suspension of the Super Rugby competition on Sunday, and were caught off balance by the New Zealand government's decision on Saturday to introduce tough new measures at the border to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
But plans to keep the Highlanders who are not self-quarantined fit in club rugby could be short-lived with even the grassroots game facing uncertainty.
All community rugby has been put on hold until the first week of May in Australia, effectively immediately.
Even if club rugby in this country isn't affected by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's decision on Monday to effectively-ban all gatherings of more than 500 people, a New Zealand microbiologist is already warning against continuing with contact sports as coronavirus continues to spread.
The 20 Highlanders squad members who are currently in New Zealand have been given the week off but will return to training next week and be available for club rugby on Saturday week, Clark told TVNZ.
Clark also opened up on the difficulties the returning players will have training while they are self-isolated.
"They can do a little bit of their own stuff. They can't obviously train as a team.
"They can still train in their house, which is obviously weight-bearing stuff, and they can go for a run or a cycle as long as it's not in a public place. But they basically have got to keep away from as many people as they can," Clark told TVNZ.
He also said most players will be able to self-isolate at home but for those who can't, the Highlanders are already making alternative arrangements.
"We've just got Airbnbs or houses that they can go into. It's a containment situation obviously, so it's trying to keep them away from the public," he told TVNZ.
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Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales
The Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales () is the National Museum of Natural History of Spain. It is situated in the center of Madrid, by the Paseo de la Castellana. It is managed by the Spanish National Research Council.
The Museum was created in 1772 by Charles III of Spain as the Gabinete Real de Historia Natural, changing names several times until its current denomination. The museum originally hosted a collection donated by a Spanish merchant, Pedro F. Dávila. In 1867, some facilities were separated to give birth to other museums (Archeology, Botanic Garden, Zoologic Garden). In 1987 the museum was restructured and enlarged with funds from two smaller museums.
Some of the more relevant components of the Museum collections are:
A Megatherium brought from Argentina in 1789.
A Diplodocus donated by Andrew Carnegie to Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1913.
The museum shares a big building, the Palacio de Exposiciones de las Artes e Industrias, with the Industrial Engineering School of the Technical University of Madrid.
The research departments of the museum are:
Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology
Evolutionary Ecology
Paleobiology
Vulcanology
Geology
Gallery
References
External links
Website
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, MNCN - CSIC at Google Cultural Institute
Category:Museums in Madrid
Category:Natural history museums in Spain
Natural History
Category:Geology museums in Spain
Category:Buildings and structures in Chamartín District, Madrid
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LEC Summer Week 2: Powerhouse Clash
Week 1 of the LEC did not go quite as anticipated. Out of 10 predictions we made, only 5 came out right on the money and all of them on opening day of the split. Day 2 consisted of some long-shot predictions in OG beating G2 and Misfits beating Fnatic which came out wrong, but the real surprise came out of SK Gaming, Rogue and Splyce who managed to dominate their opponents.
Our Week 2 Preview will feature some on the predictions and two crucial matchups that might come back to haunt the teams later in the split.
Day 1 features a classic matchup and everyone got their hype on. Fnatic meets Origen in the first repeat matchup after the Spring semis. We already know it has been a painful offseason for both teams since G2 took every trophy available and cemented themselves as Kings of Europe.
The two closest teams to G2’s form in Spring were both FNC and OG, and both were busy in the aftermath coming up with excuses about what went wrong in Spring. With Summer creeping in both teams are looking to get to Worlds and build a bid for the championship. With both teams knowing this is a crucial match that might determine things later down the split, it is all hands on deck for this one.
There is two ways this match might develop. A repeat Sona/Taric match from the side of Origen to finally put a nail in the coffin in the FNC/OG SonaTaric debate or scenario two would be a Xayah/Rakan for FNC’s bottom lane forcing the Origen team to go for a more aggressive early game pick and create a clown fiesta game with frags flying left right and center. Either works for me.
Day 2 has Vitality match up against champions G2. The importance of this match cannot be understated for the side of Vitality. They had a horrible Week 1 going 0-2 at the hands of Origen and Splyce. They have an “easy” matchup versus Rogue first, but a loss versus G2 would put them at 1W3L at best or 0W4L at worst. Either way Vitality’s playoff chances might die in Week 2 of the LEC. Something that seemed impossible to conceive just a week ago.
Meanwhile, LEC production is leveling up hard this split with higher quality content than ever. The way they “Newsflash” the previous and upcoming week might put us out of work soon.
In closing, the matchups of Week 2 and predicted winners are once more put forward. Let us hope for more than a 50% accuracy this week.
The LEC action kicks off today at 18:00 CEST at Watch.lolesports.com
Wishing to place a bet? Find out here the best League of Legends Betting Sites.
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Depolarization induces NR2A tyrosine phosphorylation and neuronal apoptosis.
Cytosol Ca2+ overload plays a vital role in ischemic neuronal damage, which is largely contributed by the Ca2+ influx through L-type voltage-gated calcium channels (L-VGCCs) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type glutamate receptors. In this article, L-VGCCs were activated by depolarization to investigate the cross-talk between NMDA receptors and L-VGCCs. Depolarization was induced by 20 minutes incubation of 75 mM KCl in cultured rat cortical neuron. Apoptosis-like neuronal death was detected by DAPI staining. Tyrosine phosphorylation of NMDA receptor subunit 2A (NR2A), interactions of Src and NR2A were detected by immunoblot and immunoprecipitation. Depolarization induced cortical neuron apoptosis-like cell death after 24 hours of restoration. The apoptosis was partially inhibited by 5 mM EGTA, 100 μM Cd2+, 10 μM nimodipine, 100 μM genistein, 20 μM MK-801, 2 μM PP2 and combined treatment of nimodipine and MK-801. NR2A tyrosine phosphorylation increased after depolarization, and the increase was inhibited by the drugs listed above. Moreover, non-receptor tyrosine kinase Src bound with NR2A after depolarization and restoration. The binding was also inhibited by the drugs listed above. The results indicated that depolarization-induced neuronal death might be due to extracellular Ca2+ influx through L-VGCCs and subsequently Src activationmediated NR2A tyrosine phosphorylation.
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A conventional smart phone includes cellular telephony circuitry (e.g., a microphone, a speaker, a cellular transceiver, etc.) to enable the smart phone owner to make cellular phone calls. Some smart phones further include a pixelated display screen and a global satellite positioning (GPS) circuit to enable the smart phone to further operate as a navigation device (e.g., by graphically rendering maps and directions) thus enabling the smart phone owner to travel to various desired destinations.
To operate the smart phone, the smart phone owner turns on the smart phone. Firmware within the smart phone loads an operating system which then makes a variety of smart phone applications (or apps) available. At this point, the smart phone owner is able to make cellular phone calls and operate the smart phone as a navigation device as well as perform other operations such as accessing email, viewing electronic content, and playing electronic games.
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UTSA has first practice at new facility on Main Campus
Courtesy: UTSA AthleticsRelease: 08/26/2013
Courtesy UTSA Athletics
RELATED LINKS
Larry Coker post-practice transcriptMonday, Aug. 26
On practicing at the new on-campus facility for the first time …“This is phenomenal. This is great. I’m excited about it, but more importantly than that, our players are just really elated about it. They wanted to be here today. I thought if we have to practice at Dub (Farris Stadium) this week that’s fine. It’s just been great for us; it’s a great move. I really appreciate what Dr. Romo and Lynn Hickey have done. It’s just a beautiful place. I haven’t been around any better, to be quite honest with you, so I’m very pleased about it. It’s going to help us be better.”
On the improved facilities as program continues to grow …“I ran a 4.7 today and normally I do a 4.9, so to have these new facilities has been a lot different, but in a good way. I told Lynn this is my fourth year here and to see this come to be has been fantastic. More importantly, the players are really excited about it. I’ve never seen players this excited about a practice on a Monday.”
On players seeing the new practice facility for the first time …“We’ve got real goal posts up, real college goal posts up on both ends. We’ve got film towers. We’ve got basically the same thing everybody else has. We’re really appreciative of it. It really means a lot to us, a lot to the program and a lot to recruiting, because people can use that against us. ‘They don’t have any facilities, they don’t have any place to practice, they practice on a high school field.’ All those types of things, but we have a place to practice now. I want to thank the Northside Independent School District. That was awesome for them to allow us to use Dub. I think it got our program jump-started as much as anything. We appreciate that”
On the convenience of an on-campus practice facility …“Just to go downstairs and get dressed for practice or to go to class is huge. Because there is so much time in transit that the coaches and players have had to do in the past with us being off campus, this saves a lot of time. Honestly, we would come back from practice and there’d be no parking on campus because of the crowds. This is really special for us to be able to do this.”
On the challenges of transitioning to game week …“That’s what I was concerned about; that there would be challenges. Maybe the clock didn’t work or maybe they couldn’t get the goal posts up. Fifteen thousand things can happen, but everything went smooth today and everything worked well. I think that’s a really good point everything was pretty smooth. I really have to thank Mike Villa and his staff. This is a huge thing that they’ve done transitioning to move all this stuff and get it set up for us. To have an equipment staff like that, you don’t worry about doing their job so that makes your job easier.”
On players’ attention now that it is game week …“Attention was good today. I told them at the end of practice we had some mistakes today and we’re going to make some mistakes Saturday, but I don’t want to make foolish mistakes. Let’s get those things ironed out. When we get on the flight Friday, I want us to be very confident and go out and let loose; play and have fun. Don’t be worried about making a mistake. Let’s get all those things ironed out here and when we’re in Albuquerque let’s just play.”
On New Mexico …“They’re really good. The running back’s really good. They do an outstanding job running the football. They’re an improved team and that’s not just coach-speak. I was out there at a clinic a few years ago and they’re much improved. Bob Davie and his staff have done a great job. They’re running the ball extremely well and I know they’ve improved a lot on their passing game. Defensively, they’ve got a really good solid front. They’re going to really be a challenge for us.”
On being able to focus on just football instead of behind-the-scenes issues …“I think we have grown into that. I think we’re smart enough to realize that some of these things are just going to take time. We’re in the fast food generation. We want our Big Mac right now. Again, it’s a process and we know that. Our players have been understanding. They’ve practiced their backsides off at Dub Farris and now to see this new facility, I’m excited for them because they bought into it. They really bought into nothing here but a vision and now they’ve seen this vision come to fruition. Lynn Hickey was here this morning and I actually got a hug from Lynn. I don’t know if that’s legal or not, but I did because of what she’s done as far as building this program.”
On thinking back to the very first workout at Dub Farris Stadium in September 2010 …“As a coach, anything that we do you think of in terms of making the best of it and whatever it is, it is. We’re not going to make excuses, but we were thin and weren’t very big, weren’t very strong and didn’t know how to practice. This is such a different group of young men. They’ve just grown so much and this coaching staff is outstanding. It has been a blur though, as I said it’s been four years and it’s just gone by really fast for me. Lynn said I was on a honeymoon, I think that honeymoon is over. I think it’s real ball now.”
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When you come out of hospital after a mental health crisis, you need the right care and support to help you recover and put your life back together. You need to feel prepared and confident you will get the support and services you need to help pick up the pieces and continue getting better. If you feel rushed and unsupported you risk becoming unwell again and going back into hospital.
Yet in our survey over a third of people said they were discharged from hospital sooner than they should have been; one in five were given no notice that they were being discharged. Two out of five people told us that staff did not plan for their ongoing care and support and one in four people said they did not receive any support at all when they left hospital.
Discharge from inpatient services
Over a thousand people used our survey to share their experiences of leaving hospital after a mental health crisis. The results were sometimes disturbing - painting a picture far removed from NICE’s recommendations.
You can read more about our findings, what NICE says should happen, and some of the good practice around England in our briefing.
We’re calling on commissioners, providers and crisis care concordat partnerships to use our briefing to review what happens in their area and ensure that everyone leaving hospital gets the right care and support.
Our campaign explained
When you leave hospital after a mental health crisis you need the right care and support to help you recover. Too many people aren't getting it.
The facts about follow-up
Planning for recovery booklet
We’ve produced a new guide, ‘Planning for recovery’, to help you take part in your own discharge and care planning, think about what you need and know what to expect. We are distributing copies to mental health trusts and boards in England and Wales, and you can also download a pdf version in English and Welsh language versions.
We need excellent crisis care
In a mental health crisis, your mind is at melting point. You can’t carry on anymore. There may be an immediate risk of self harm or suicide. You may experience extreme anxiety, have a panic attack or even a psychotic episode. It can happen to anyone.
When people’s lives come crashing down in a mental health crisis, they need help. Urgently. Only 14 per cent of people in crisis got all the help and support they needed.
That’s not acceptable: an emergency is an emergency.
Excellent crisis care exists. It can save lives. And that’s why we need it available for everyone.
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3.3 Human Resources and Shared Services
Authorization to renew the contracts with CALMELL S.A. and PARAGON IDENTIFICATION for the supply of magnetic fare cards and receipts (STM-3863-07-10-25)
Total cost : $716 628.53 including all taxes
3.4 Human Resources and Shared Services
Authorization to take part in a group purchase from CENTRE DE SERVICES PARTAGÉS DU QUÉBEC (CSPQ) for the acquisition of (voice and data) mobile services and to extend the contract (STM-4863-09-14-68 et STM-4181-01-12-68)
Total cost: $2 347 789.50 including all taxes
3.5 Human Resources and Shared Services
Awarding of contracts to PRÉVOST, A DIVISION OF VOLVO GROUP CANADA INC., and GMS TECHNOLOGIES INC. for the acquisition of spare parts for video-surveillance systems (STM-4790-05-14-47)
Total cost: $772 127.65 including all taxes
3.6 Human Resources and Shared Services
Awarding of a contract to LES PORTES INDUSTRIELLES INDOTECH INC. for the supply of spare parts for garage doors (STM-4478-03-13-47)
Total cost: $298 726.16 including all taxes
ITEMS IN SECTION 4 CONTRACTS FOR WORK AND SERVICES
4.1 Planning, marketing and communication
Authorization to exercise the option of renewing the contract with TOOTELO INNOVATION INC. (DIVISION TELMATIK) to manage subscriptions to the « OPUS à l’année » program (STM-3739-11-09-23)
Total cost: $2 499 723.21 including all taxes
4.2 Technical Services
Authorization to terminate the supervision and coaching contract with COH PROJETS ET SERVICES INC. for the maintenance of overhead bridges, hoists, monorails and cranes (STM-4146-11-11-18)
4.3 Bus Services
Authorization to extend the contract with the ASSOCIATION DE TAXI DIAMOND DE MONTRÉAL for shared taxibus services on the Island of Montréal (STM-4397-11-12-02)
Total cost: $42 538.24 including all taxes
4.4 Bus Services
Awarding of contracts to COOP TAXI DE L’OUEST and ASSOCIATION DE TAXI DIAMOND DE MONTRÉAL for shared taxibus and Navette Or taxi services (STM-4894-10-14-02)
Total cost: $667 504.56 including all taxes
ITEMS IN SECTION 5 CONTRACTS FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
5.1 Planning, marketing and communication
Authorization to renew the contract for professional services awarded to VISION CRITICAL for establishing and maintaining a panel of customers for STM’s research and survey needs (STM-4019-04-11-25)
Total cost: $100 833.08 including all taxes
5.2 Human Resources and Shared Services
Awarding a contract for professional services to VINCENT ERGONOMIE INC. in workplace ergonomics and occupational therapy (STM-4805-06-14-68)
10.1 Finance and Control with Bus Services
10.2 Finance and Control with Bus Services
Adoption of by-law R-153 authorizing the financing of $13,365,906.00 for the purchase of minibuses for paratransit service
10.3 Finance and Control with Technical Services
Adoption of by-law R-154 authorizing the financing of $300,000,000.00 for Phase 2 of the « Réno-Infrastructures » program
ITEMS IN SECTION 11 BUS ROUTES
Nothing filed under this section
ITEMS IN SECTION 12 VARIOUS AGREEMENTS AND LEASES
12.1 Human Resources and Shared Services
Authorization for the lease agreement with 9227-9702 QUÉBEC INC. (GARE D’AUTOCARS DE MONTRÉAL) regarding the accesses to Gare d’Autocars de Montréal (STM-4933-12-14-36)
Total cost: $1 778 240.05 including all taxes
12.2 Human Resources and Shared Services
Authorization for the transfer agreement to be entered into with Ville de Montréal assigning the rights and obligations of the permit that allows the STM to install and maintain equipment inside the city’s shed located on the roof of Ste. Anne’s Hospital for Veterans
WITHDRAWN - 12.3 Finance and Control
Approval for the Agence métropolitaine de transport’s general transfer agreement of equipment pertaining to the extension of the east branch of the Orange line (L2) to Laval
ITEMS IN SECTION 13 WEIGHTING SYSTEMS
13.1 Auditor General
Adoption of the bid weighting and evaluation system for professional services to perform internal audits and other services (STM-4931-12-14-40)
13.2 Technical Services
Adoption of the bid weighting and evaluation system for professional services to perform various industrial engineering assignments and provide an expert assessment of equipment and machinery (STM-4940-12-14-10)
13.3 Human Resources and Shared Services
Adoption of the bid weighting and evaluation system for professional legal services related to occupational health and safety (STM-4963-01-15-10)
ITEMS IN SECTION 14 OTHER SUBJECTS
14.1 Strategic Planning and Innovation
Authorization for the payment of annual membership fees to the Association du transport urbain du Québec (ATUQ) for 2015
Total cost: $398 157.28 including all taxes
14.2 Human Resources and Shared Services
Renewal of the term of members of the board of administrators of the STM’s post-retirement allowance program
14.3 Human Resources and Shared Services
Renewal of the term and appointment of persons designated by the Société to sit on the STM pension fund committee (1992)
14.4 Human Resources and Shared Services
Renewal of the term of persons appointed by the Société to act as administrators of the STM designated employee pension fund
14.5 Human Resources and Shared Services
Renewal of the term of persons appointed by the Société to sit on the STM pension fund committee (Syndicat du transport de Montréal CSN)
14.6 Finance and Control with Planning, marketing and communication
Authorization for the payment of Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) invoices pertaining to the use of metropolitan equipment
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Q:
Can I move controls to inside a groupbox without loss the control's attributes?
On Visual Studio in the GUI designer, If I do in a Control CTRL+X (or CTRL+C) and then CTRL+V inside a GroupBox control the information like the events I defined to this control isn't preserved. Can I copy it and keep its attributes?
I need to move some controls I don't want to define again the control's attributes/again of them.
A:
You can drag the controls into the group box directly using mouse. By using dragging and dropping method visual studio will not remove the object from the parent container. So, you will not lose the events handling and attributes by doing this.
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People tend to not like being lied to, over and over
On Tuesday, Politico reported what the House GOP sees as their secret weapon in winning the political battle over the sequester: Their unpopularity.
“And, for once, the GOP is buffeted by its unpopularity: House Republicans kept their majority with mid-teen approval ratings after two years of political warfare,” Jake Sherman wrote. “They aren’t spooked that their numbers will move any lower.”
Nice.
Republicans have put off their investigation into why they’re so unlikable and decided to take their unpopularity for a spin by embracing a policy Americans won’t like and refusing a compromise 76 percent of Americans say they want.
They’re prepared to sabotage the economy because they think the debt is too high — even though the deficit is rapidly shrinking — but they won’t do the basic thing we need to do to get control of the debt: Get rid of tax loopholes. Republicans have said that will not happen — not in a box, not even if Fox goes off the air.
New revenue is necessary for two reasons. The first is political. Democrats can’t agree to cuts unless the billions in tax breaks given to hedge fund managers, big oil and corporations are dealt with first. The second is mathematical. Ending tax breaks for those who can afford to see them end does the least damage to the economy. And raising taxes is the only way to get back to the nearly balanced budgets we had circa 2000.
It would be better to wait to solve our deficit until we fix our economy. But the GOP says we can’t wait because look at this giant debt clock we discovered when President Obama became president!
As Slate‘s Dave Weigel wrote, “The idea that you can be a deficit hawk while ruling out any tax increase, ever, is politically and mathematically untenable.”
And that’s exactly why Americans are increasingly sick of Republicans. The hypocrisy.
You can’t say you care about the debt after blowing the surplus and swearing to all-powerful Grover that you’ll never raise taxes.
You can’t say you’re for a smaller government and then use the government to decide how many forced ultrasounds a woman has to endure to make a medical choice.
You can’t say you’re for fiscal discipline and let Mitt Romney pay a lower tax rate than most nurses.
You can’t say you’re for families and stop millions of Americans from getting the same access to marriage that you have.
You can’t accuse groups that don’t exist of stealing elections and then spend millions making it difficult for anyone but rich, white men to vote.
You can’t say you love America and be unable to contain your hatred for the President, the First Lady and anyone who doesn’t vote Republicans.
People may not know President Obama has cut the deficit each year he’s been in office or that Ronald Reagan actually socialized medicine. But they get it when they’re being treated like a fool. And there is no messaging, no rebranding that will make that okay with most people.
So if unpopularity is the GOP’s trump card, they don’t have to worry about it going away.
[Picture by Keith Allison]
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Autar Kaw receives the highest undergrad teaching honor from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and CASE.
USF Professor Autar Kaw holds his award, flanked by CASE President John Lippincott (left) and Carnegie Foundation President Anthony S. Bryk. Photo: Courtesy Daniel Peck Photography
By Vickie Chachere
USF News
TAMPA, Fla. (Nov. 15, 2012) – Autar Kaw, a University of South Florida mechanical engineering professor who was an early adopter of new technologies and social media to teach complex mathematical calculations, has been named a 2012 U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Kaw, a USF professor for 25 years, was feted Thursday in events at the National Press Club and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. He is one of four professors – selected from more than 300 nominees – to receive the award that is considered the nation’s highest honor for undergraduate teaching. Kaw was selected in the category of Outstanding Doctoral and Research Universities Professor of the Year.
Kaw was lauded for his innovative work in using technology and social media to reach tens of thousands of students around the world studying to be engineers. Known to engineering students around the world as the “Numerical Methods Guy” through his Holistic Numerical Methods Institute website, his blog and YouTube video lectures, Kaw has dedicated his career to eliminating one of the most significant obstacles to engineering students being successful by providing students everywhere free access to supplemental lessons.
“The U.S. Professor of the Year award is the highest honor in the nation for undergraduate teaching and Dr. Kaw’s selection reaffirms what the University of South Florida and his students have long known about this exceptional professor and outstanding individual: his commitment to education and his dedication to his students knows no bounds,” said USF President Judy Genshaft.
“His innovative and forward-thinking approach to education, his use of technology to expand learning opportunities around the world and his tireless pursuit of new and engaging teaching methods has made a lasting difference in the education and lives of his students.”
USF graduate Daniel Miller – a former student of Kaw’s who went on to create a patent-pending form of body armor with Kaw and co-author a book with the professor – was chosen to introduce the professor at the ceremony.
“Dr. Kaw possesses all the qualities of a great educator; he is dedicated, innovative, motivated, and he is fair,” Miller said. “He displays genuine compassion for students and their development. He is a leader. When you are in one of his lectures, Dr. Kaw inspires you to learn, inspires you to seek more, and inspires you to ask questions. He is extremely talented in relaying information in a manner that sticks for life.”
Kaw celebrated his 25th anniversary as a USF professor this year. His professional honors abound: Kaw is a fellow in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a member of the American Society of Engineering Education. In 2011, he was awarded the National Outstanding Teaching Medal from the American Society for Engineering Education. A prolific writer, he has authored four text books and scores of academic articles.
Born in India, Kaw received his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India and his master’s and PhD in Engineering Mechanics from Clemson University.
Long before anyone started talking about online learning or Massive Online Open Courses—the so called “MOOCs” which are now taking higher education by storm—Kaw was exploring using technology to reach students. Kaw pursued funding for his idea for more than a decade before winning grants from the National Science Foundation to implement his concept. The reaction was immediate as students from around the world began clicking on his lessons.
Kaw said his use of technology stems from a basic concern for student learning: he saw students struggling with the same concepts semester after semester. If that was happening in his classroom, it was probably happening elsewhere, he surmised.
“When I started teaching a course in numerical methods in 1988, students would ask me questions in class for which the answers could not be given on the spot, as they would involve lengthy calculations,” he said, explaining the genesis of his online learning initiatives.
“A few times, I would assign such questions as mini-projects and most times, I would write short computer programs to find answers to their questions. This led me to thinking that I should write simulation programs for a course in Numerical Methods, and since my fellow instructors in other universities must be asked similar questions, why not send these programs to them on a bunch of disks. “
Kaw and colleagues eventually won funding from the National Science Foundation for their Internet-based courseware and have not looked back since.
“As much as some may think that this will be the end of the physical classroom or dismiss it for not being equivalent, I look at these resources as a way to complement the physical classroom,” he said.
USF alum Mike Denninger was one of Kaw’s students, a top student in high school who got a quick and rude awakening on the first quiz of his math class as a new engineering major. He went to see Kaw, and quickly learned that his professor not only wanted him to learn the material but wasn’t going to be satisfied until he was sure Denninger really had a full grasp of the material.
Denninger ended up getting an “A’ in the class, and going on to become the senior corporate director rides and engineering for Sea World.
““He has a way of breaking down advanced topics into understandable pieces. He does have this very sophisticated but humble manner,” Denninger said. “He has a very deep respect for the student and what they are trying to do.”
Kaw was nominated for the award by USF Professor Rajiv Dubey, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who wrote of Kaw’s incredible connection with his students.
“I knew that undergraduates were very impressionable; but now I could tell why so many graduating seniors during exit interviews wanted to talk about the impact Dr. Kaw had on their lives and careers,” Dubey wrote. Read the full text of his nomination letter here.
Sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and administered by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, the awards recognize professors for their influence on teaching and commitment to undergraduate students. In addition to the four national winners, there are 30 state Professors of the Year award winners and one from the District of Columbia. Kaw was named the 2004 US Florida Professor of the Year
Kaw celebrated Thursday with fellow honorees:
Christy Price, Outstanding Baccalaureate Colleges Professor of the Year: Price is professor of psychology at Dalton State College in Dalton, Ga. She is a nationally recognized authority on innovative teaching techniques to engage millennial learners.
Lois Roma-Deeley, Outstanding Community Colleges Professor of the Year: Roma-Deeley is professor of creative writing at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, Ariz. She is an award-winning, published poet and a champion for creative writing programs at two-year institutions nationwide.
Todd Pagano, Outstanding Master’s Universities and Colleges Professor of the Year: Pagano is associate professor in the department of science and mathematics and director of the laboratory science program at the Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, N.Y. He is a leading scholar of science education for deaf students and an advocate in the professional chemistry community for students, scientists and technicians with special needs.
Vickie Chachere can be reached at 813-974-6251.
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Protesters Monday night toppled Silent Sam, the Confederate statue at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Press accounts in North Carolina said that the protesters used ropes to pull down the statue after first covering it with banners, one of which said that it was time for "a world without white supremacy." When the statue fell, people cheered.
Video posted by The News & Observer shows the scene as the statue was pulled down and protesters celebrated.
The action came after years of debate. As many other colleges and universities removed Confederate statues and symbols, UNC officials said that they lacked the power to remove the statue, with the campus deferring to the system, and the system board last month saying that any decision needed to come from a state agency, and that the system had no plans to ask that agency to act.
Student and faculty activists have been asking for Silent Sam to be taken down for years, but the violence last year in Charlottesville, Va., gave the effort a new sense of urgency. Governor Roy Cooper said UNC could remove the statue, but the university said it did not have “clear legal authority to act unilaterally.” Meanwhile, protests continued until last night, when protesters brought down the statue. (The governor is a Democrat, but system board members are appointed by the General Assembly, which is controlled by Republicans.)
Silent Sam, representing all Confederate soldiers, was put up by alumni and the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1913 to honor alumni who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. The photo at right shows the statue as it appeared on campus.
On some campuses, such as the University of Texas at Austin and Duke University, statues of Confederates have been vandalized (and then cleaned) in the debates leading up to the university decisions to remove the statues. But in those cases, protesters did not take down the statues.
Carol L. Folt, chancellor at Chapel Hill, issued a statement late Monday condemning the protesters.
"The monument has been divisive for years, and its presence has been a source of frustration for many people not only on our campus but throughout the community," Folt said. "However, last night’s actions were unlawful and dangerous, and we are very fortunate that no one was injured. The police are investigating the vandalism and assessing the full extent of the damage."
On Twitter, Governor Cooper criticized the protest.
The Governor understands that many people are frustrated by the pace of change and he shares their frustration, but violent destruction of public property has no place in our communities. 2/2 — Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) August 21, 2018
The North Carolina Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans tweeted a photo of the toppled Silent Sam with the caption: "This is what injustice looks like in America today!"
But many are applauding the protest.
Tarik Woods, a student at UNC, wrote a column for The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper, in which he described feeling "hopeful" in the wake of the removal of Silent Sam.
"I’ve only lived in two cities my whole life, both in North Carolina and both home to Confederate monuments," Woods wrote. "I have seen the protests and unrest, the increase in racial tensions and the violence they cause. I’ve been asked repeatedly 'what the big deal' is about these statues, and why our society should condemn them. I’ve heard excuses repeatedly for keeping it where it is, such as 'inanimate objects like Silent Sam can’t be racist,' and 'by removing the statue we would be erasing history.'"
Woods went on to say why the statue was a big deal.
"I strongly believe the most prevalent feeling among my fellow students, including myself, toward Silent Sam is anger," he wrote. "Anger that a symbol of discrimination and hate would be allowed to remain at the forefront of our campus for more than 100 years. Anger that our fellow students were jailed and punished for attempting to rectify this wrong. Anger that our efforts to persuade our administrators, the Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors of this internal abuse was met with further attacks on our fight against injustice."
On Monday, hours before the protest, UNC's Center for the Study of the American South, a research and education center, issued a statement saying that "we cannot lead critical conversations in or about the region if we do not address the controversies on our own campus. As we study the South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, we are compelled to confront the fact that Southerners are as hostile to one another as we are hospitable. Southerners created the Confederacy, and they also created the civil rights movement. We are now in another moment when UNC’s legacy will be forged in powerful ways that reach beyond the politics of our state."
The statement did not condone Monday night's actions. But it said that the failure of UNC to act was "immoral," explaining that "excessive deference to process over people can itself be a form of violence when it makes the obvious solution to end suffering seem impossible."
The statement went on to both urge the removal of the statue and to caution that doing so would only be one step needed in the state and the country.
"The Center for the Study of the American South recognizes that removing the statue will not, by itself, erase attitudes of white supremacy, eliminate racial violence in our society, provide equal protection to immigrants who enter lawfully, or redress the other injustices that are standing in the way of our nation’s progress," the center said. "Removing a toxic symbol from our campus, however, will free the University of North Carolina to fulfill its promise to facilitate research, knowledge, ideas, and frameworks that do address these problems. Taking Silent Sam down opens the door for reconciliation and will allow UNC to declare itself a true home for all."
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Hitler’s Bandit Hunters
Hitler’s Bandit Hunters: The SS and the Nazi Occupation of Europe is a 2006 book by the British author and researcher Philip W. Blood. It discusses the evolution of German rear security policies during World War II, from Partisanenkreig (partisan warfare) to Bandenbekämpfung (bandit fighting), leading to mass crimes against humanity and genocide.
Themes
Hitler’s Bandit Hunters initially examines German rear security doctrines and how they had been shaped by experiences of German military forces against francs-tireurs in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the German colonial wars at the turn of the 19th century and World War I. According to historian Lee Baker, these experiences formed "a potent and deadly matrix in which attacks behind the front were perceived as criminal banditry and therefore required total annihilation". Immediately after the start of World War II in Europe, and especially during the German–Soviet War, 1941–45, these doctrines were combined with the genocidal plans of the Nazi regime for the racial reshaping of the Eastern Europe to secure living space (Lebensraum) for Germany.
The book explores the functioning and operations of the rear security units and the close cooperation between the German armed forces (the Army and the Luftwaffe (Air Force), the auxiliary collaborationist units and the security forces of the SS. From 1942, rear security operations were coordinated by Erich von dem Bach-Zalewski, as head of Bandenbekämpfung ("bandit fighting") for occupied Europe. The operations were, in the word of historian Ben H. Shepherd who reviewed the work for American Historical Review, a "cover for a vast enterprise of terror and exploitation". The accounts are detailed, giving a vivid picture of how they were conceived and implemented.
The last sections detail how the principles of Bandenbekämpfung were exported from the Soviet Union to the rest of occupied Europe. The author argues that war crimes and atrocities committed in the West were not aberrations but a planned campaign directed by the chief of the SS, Heinrich Himmler.
Reception
Shepherd writes that the book "breaks new, important ground" in the study of German rear-security operations during World War II. He finds that Blood "has rendered an invaluable service" in his study of doctrines of German security warfare and the mentality of its higher-level commanders. The findings, according to Shepherd, "illuminate these issues to a new and unsettling degree".
Baker, writing for The Journal of Military History, commends the book for its thorough analysis and convincing conclusions,
See also
Myth of the clean Wehrmacht
Hitler's War in the East 1941−1945: A Critical Assessment
Marching into Darkness: The Wehrmacht and the Holocaust in Belarus
References
Citations
Bibliography
External links
Official book page at the University of Nebraska Press web site
"Author's Perspective": Philip W. Blood discusses his research into German security warfare in World War II Quarterly, Winter 2009 (p. 61)
Philip W. Blood on C-SPAN
Category:2006 non-fiction books
Category:21st-century history books
Category:History books about World War II
Category:University of Nebraska Press books
Category:History books about the Holocaust
Category:Historiography of World War II
Category:War crimes of the Wehrmacht
Category:The Holocaust in Belarus
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Q:
How do I hide an 'unshared' directory?
I'm sharing a directory with another user. This directory is called /home/Shared.
When I was setting up the home network (that's another question), I found the 'Shared' directory with read access in the "Browse Network" part of Nautilus.
I'm not aware of having shared this directory on the network, it doesn't show up in /etc/fstab, nor in /mnt on the Server.
How can I remove this directory?
As a side note, I'm not seeing my own home directory in the share.
A:
Look Shares and Automounter parts here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SettingUpNFSHowTo
It seems the folder /home/Shared can be Samba or even Apple software related.
Can be helpful:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1902093
testparm -s
look in your /usr/local/etc/smb.conf some about (part of out from link above):
[shared]
comment = Shared Folder
path = /home/shared
valid users = +samba, +dakids
read list = +dakids
write list = +samba
read only = No
create mask = 0777
directory mask = 0777
browseable = No
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Southern Comfort River District
Southern Comfort River District Apartment San Antonio apartment is set in the downtown district of San Antonio.
A walk will take guests in 20 minutes to Arneson River Theatre, Majestic Theatre and Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Guests will get to New Braunfels in 35 minutes by car. Cafe des Artistes serves french and american dishes and lies just 5 minutes walk from the property.
The venue has 10 rooms. The rooms are arranged with free Wi-Fi, a microwave, a DVD player, flat-screen TV and a balcony. The property offers a private bathroom fitted with a bathtub and a shower.
While staying in this apartment, guests can use a kitchen equipped with a dishwasher, an oven and a washing machine.
The apartment is about 250 meters from Broadway & Casa Blanca bus stop and within 5 minutes' walk from San Antonio Museum of Art train station.
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Q:
On certain decomposition of unitary symmetric matrices
It is well known that a symmetric matrix over field $\Bbb F$ is congruent to a diagonal matrix, i.e., there exists some A s.t. $A^TUA=D$ with $U$ symmetric and $D$ diagonal. If $\Bbb F=\Bbb C$ then we can make $D=I$.
Recently I learned that if $U$ is unitary that we can do one step further by requiring $A$ to be unitary too. A similar result holds for unitary skew matrices. But I fail to figure out a proof myself.
Can anyone provide a proof of this or at least help me to locate some references? Many thanks!
A:
Let $U$ be complex symmetric unitary, i.e., $U^T = U$ and $U^* U = I$. From Takagi factorization we know that $U = V D V^T$, i.e.,
$$D = V^{-1} U V^{-T},$$
for some unitary $V$ and real diagonal $D$. Here, we do not have $D = I$, but we do have the unitarity of $V$.
Using the unitarity of $U$ and $V$, we see that
\begin{align*}
D^* D &= (V^{-T})^* U^* V^{-*} V^{-1} U V^{-T} = \overline{V^{-1}} U^* (V V^*)^{-1} U V^{-T} = \overline{V^{-1}} U^* U V^{-T} \\
&= \overline{V^{-1}} V^{-T} = \overline{(V^* V)^{-1}} = {\rm I}.
\end{align*}
In other words, $D$ is real diagonal unitary, which means that it has diagonal elements $-1$ and $1$. Define a complex diagonal matrix $X = \operatorname{diag}(x_1, x_2, \dots, x_n)$:
$$x_k = \begin{cases}
1, & D_{kk} = 1, \\
{\rm i}, & D_{kk} = -1.
\end{cases}$$
Obviously, $D = X X^T$. Defining $A = VX$ we get
$$U = V D V^T = (VX) (VX)^T = A {\rm I} A^T,$$
which is the required form. Notice that $X$ is unitary, so $A$ is unitary as well.
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Dren waited as Aeris shimmied down the hole. He studied the hall, each statue a different Sith. He wondered if any of them represented the monster they had unleashed. He wondered where the Sith was at this very moment, and what he could be doing. His heart began to quicken the more he thought of it, looking into the shadows at the end of the hall. He almost didn't notice Aeris falling towards him--but he could feel her. He turned at the last minute and caught her in his arms. Yet again, her body against his--it was testing his resolve. His heart began to quicken for another reason. As she apologized and left him, he felt a little bit colder, like he was missing something. He had never felt that way in a long time--not since she left the order.
He breathed out, trying his best to ignore all of it. He needed to focus now. He needed to rescue his friends. Aeris felt them close, and Dren felt it too. Yet something was off about their presence. The force, it was twisted and frigid. Maybe he was just reading it wrong because of what happened in the tunnel. Regardless, he couldn't help shake that something was off. "We need to be cautious," Dren told her. "It might be nothing, but-" Dren trailed off. He didn't know how to explain it. Instead he walked forward.
He turned the corner at the end of the hall, but it was dark. So he ignited his lightsaber--both for light and for protection. It bathed a green hue over everything, but it struggled to reach the far corners of the rooms. He didn't know who he would face, friend or foe--and if it was one of Aeris' companions he wasn't sure if they would attack him. Just as he had that thought, he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye deep in the shadows. It was someone he recognized, someone with white hair.
"Asha?" Dren asked. She was silent, standing there and not speaking. Something was wrong. "Asha? You're alright--I thought you were hurt--" Dren paused for a second. She had been hurt and was unconscious, and he saw the room collapse around her. Yet here she was, alive and well. Yet she didn't say a word. That twisted force he felt, it was there, stronger than ever, and coming from Asha.
He took a step closer, the glow of the green bathing her face. Her blue eyes were gone. Her eye sockets were empty, replaced by black mist dancing out like flames. She opened her mouth and the same black mist poured out towards the ground like a waterfall. She didn't say anything, but a sound emanated from her, and it was frightening. It was like a scream of a ghost. With that she turned the corner and out of sight. Dren turned the corner to catch her--but she was gone.
Dren turned to Aeris and asked, "please tell me you saw that."
_________________I cut open my heart, bleed words onto the page, and see what happens...
As Aeris pulled away, she felt cold somehow. His warmth left her and she was greeted by the cool, damp air in the room around them. It felt oddly lonely. Or perhaps she felt lonely in general. He was so close, yet he still felt out of reach. She did feel like they had gotten a little closer again, or at the very least he didn't seem quite as intent on pushing her away, or as distrustful of her as he had been. It was at least a step in the right direction. Regardless, though, there were more pressing matters right now, she supposed.
She nodded when he said they should be cautious. "I feel something, too." she assured him. "The Force feels... different." she added, a troubled expression coloring her face. She wasn't sure what it was, but like before when she had felt the cold, dark presence in the tunnels, the Force felt different. It wasn't the same, yet it shared some similaries. It was colder and darker than before, but that wasn't all. It felt tainted, twisted. She wasn't really sure how to explain it. It just felt... off. As did the presences she felt in the distance. Rather than sit around and wonder, however, she followed him as he walked. Her muscles were still sore and she still felt weak so walking was difficult, but she pushed forward nonetheless. She had to.
She stayed behind him as they turned the corner and he ignited his lightsaber to provide some light, as well as protection, she assumed. The light didn't quite reach the corners of the room, so shadows lingered, but she felt a presence close by. Before too long, that presence was revealed. It was the female Jedi from before. The one she had healed. She seemed different, though. Her presence felt different and Aeris couldn't feel any emotions from her, but it wasn't like when someone tried to hide their emotions, it was more like she had none at all. Upon closer inspection, her physical appearance had also been altered. Her eyes were gone, replaced with some sort of black mist. The Jedi opened her mouth, as if to speak, but no words came out, only that same black mist and some high-pitched screeching sound, almost like the screams of a ghost. It was rather unsettling, to be perfectly honest.
Aeris closed her eyes and reached out into the Force, deciding that this was a good opportunity to gather some information. Even if she was weak, she could still use the ability. The girl's presence no longer resembled what Aeris had once felt from her. In fact, she couldn't feel that presence at all, nor could she feel any real life force. All that remained was that same cold, dark, twisted presence that very much resembled that of the Sith. It was almost as if she'd died and the Sith had taken over, at least in a manner of speaking. She wondered, was this the fate they had all suffered? All of their companions?
"Yeah, I did." She replied, frowning, and placed a hand on Dren's shoulder, to brace herself more than anything. She didn't explain what she was doing, so she hoped he wasn't too surprised by her actions, but she didn't have time to explain right now. She couldn't keep this up for much longer, so she needed to use her time and her strength while she could. She then reached out further into the Force, searching for the others. She was already using the Force, she might as well look for them, too. She couldn't look extensively, but in the short time she was able to search, she found nothing but emptiness, darkness, and that same cold, twisted Force. It was as if all of the life inside the temple had been stolen. At least that was what she thought at first. Somewhere, hidden beneath that ever-present darkness, she felt at least two distinct presences. That meant that at least two others were still alive, at least for now. She wasn't exactly sure who they were, but it was a pretty safe bet that they were either her companions or his.
After a few moments she pulled her mind back to reality. She didn't realize how much it had taken out of her until then. She felt somewhat dizzy and her breathing was a bit heavier. She was also leaning more heavily on Dren than she had intended. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to move. She wasn't sure if that was because she felt too weak to support herself in that moment, or for another reason, but it was at least due in large part to the former, so that's what she chose to believe. "I'll be okay. I just need a moment." she assured him, whether or not it was completely true. She needed to rest and soon. Sooner now, after what she had just done. Still, she didn't want to be the one to slow them down. Although, she thought that whoever was still alive was a farther distance away from them than she was capable of walking at present, but she would try to go for as long as she could.
"I felt two of the others, so at least two are alive, although I'm not sure who. There could be others, but I couldn't feel them if they are there. Granted, I wasn't able to look extensively in this state, so there is still hope. They may still be alive." she told him what she had found, trying to give him some form of hope. Still, a hint of sadness colored her features. "But Asha..." she paused, "I couldn't feel her. I think she's..." her voice trailed off and she averted her gaze, not having the heart to actually say those words, or see his face when he heard them.
She realized that she hadn't moved from where she had been, leaning against him. "I'm sorry, I keep..." she let her words trail off again. "I'll move in a minute, if you want to keep moving. I just need a moment to recover." she explained, figuring he was probably tired of having to hold her up. He'd done that a lot in the past few hours. It couldn't be helped that she needed to rest for a moment. She supposed that the wall would work just as well but if she was being honest, she preferred this, and it gave her some calm and comfort that a wall could not.
_________________
Thanks for the signature/avatar set, Fainy! <3Check out my resume!"The line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines." - Klaus Mikaelson.
She leaned on him, and he felt that same feeling from before. That feeling of completion, that feeling of something deeper. He turned to her slightly, and put his arm around her back, letting her carefully rest upon him. She explained what she was sensing. He thought about it for a moment, "this monster--this Sith, he's twisting them somehow. Maybe he's making them into servants? Or creatures that do his bidding? We can't let him leave this planet--or else who knows what he'll do to the galaxy."
She couldn't move on, not for the moment. He could feel it. Everything told him he should let her down to rest upon the wall, but he didn't want that. He suspected she didn't either, but he wasn't sure. Though the connection they had always shared, something strong through the force, it was stronger every moment they were near each other. He felt like she wanted to be here, with him--but maybe that was just his mind playing tricks on him.
He could feel they were safe for now. He turned and put his other arm around her, holding her gently, letting her leave his embrace if she wanted to. He figured it was a more practical way to hold onto her--which is what he told himself. "You can rest for a moment," Dren told her. "I won't leave you."
As they remained, he though of the moment she left him, back at the Jedi temple--the turmoil it caused him. He spent so many years meditating to finally suppress those feelings, and it was as if this one meeting undid all of that. He could see that moment when they fought, and when he tried to see her the next morning. Her room was bare and empty. She didn't say goodbye. She did leave behind a necklace--and he remembered how he kept it safe in his room, in a box underneath his bed. Perhaps it didn't help his recovery of her leaving, to hold onto a part of her, but it was something he needed to do. It was a necklace he had given her after all, made of leather and a stone he had fastened. Perhaps she had left it behind by mistake, or on purpose, he didn't know. He had almost forgotten about it, but it was all coming back to him.
Without moving--still holding on, he asked the question that had been burning in him, "why did you leave Aeris?" He couldn't bear to hold back his emotions. He needed to meditate--because every word poured out of him with purpose and sorrow that he was trying to hold back and hide. "I went to find you the next day--but you were gone." He bit back anything more, because he shouldn't be like this. He was a Jedi after all.
_________________I cut open my heart, bleed words onto the page, and see what happens...
Aeris gave a nod to his statement that they were being twisted or turned into some creatures to do this Sith's bidding. She thought that he was right about that, just as he was right when he said that they couldn't let him leave the planet. "You're right. We can't let him leave. We don't know what he might do to the galaxy, but it won't be good. We have to stop him. We have to fix this mistake, at least." she added the last part in a rather enigmatic manner, as if alluding to some other mistake that had yet to be fixed.
He was right again, on all counts. She should rest. She didn't really have it in her to continue on right now. But she also didn't want to stay here alone. She wanted to be with him, whether that meant staying here or moving on. She didn't want to leave his side or let him out of her sight. She couldn't. It was all she could do to let him go down here alone before she followed. It was silly, probably, but she didn't care. After everything that had happened, and everything happening with the Sith, she couldn't bear the thought of being separated, of having to wonder whether or not he was safe, or being apart if something were to happen, unable to help. She thought that, perhaps, he didn't want to leave her and go on, either. She was doing her best not to use the Force for now, even for something as simple as reading him, but the bond they'd once shared had been growing stronger again, and she thought that, through this, she sort of understood how he felt.
She was a bit surprised when he moved, putting his other arms around her in a gentle embrace, giving her the option to escape, should she so choose. She didn't, of course. Even if she had the strength to, she had no desire to. In fact, she was quite content there. He was warm and his arms gave her a strange sense of peace and comfort, even if the embrace simultaneously stirred up a whole slew of emotions and memories. When he told her that she could rest, that he wouldn't leave her, she relaxed into his arms, leaning into the embrace, obviously more at peace than she had been since they had been reunited.
She closed her eyes, relaxing her body, despite the turmoil in her mind. She thought back to that night, after they'd fought. She'd waited up half the night, hoping he'd come back. Hoping for the chance to see him again. But he didn't come. When someone finally did visit her chambers, it had been her master, telling her it was time to leave. She'd asked for a chance to see Dren, or at least the time to write him a note, but her request had been denied. They were leaving now, while the others slept. They couldn't risk the delay. She could come with them now, or remain with the Jedi. It was the hardest choice she'd ever had to make. In the end, she'd left behind a necklace he'd given her. It was sort of a way of saying good bye, and giving him a piece of her that she hoped he would hold on to. Of course, it meant letting go of something precious to her, but she thought that, perhaps, he needed it more.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight back the emotions when he asked her why she had left, saying that he had gone to find her the next day, but she was gone. She could hear the sorrow in his voice, which added to the sorrow she felt in her heart. She didn't have a good answer for him. She didn't have any magic words to explain it away and ease his pain. She wished she did. The truth wasn't so simple, though. It was messy and painful. The truth of the matter was that no matter how badly she'd wanted to be with him, she'd made the selfish choice. She chose to leave, to try to find a place where she belonged, rather than choosing him.
She was quiet as she fought back many of the emotions that swirled around inside, but not managing to suppress the few tears that slid down her cheeks as she remembered everything that had happened and reminded herself of her choice. She buried her face in his chest for a moment, hiding her face and, she hoped, the tears, until she had managed to regain control of them.
"I don't know. I knew then, I suppose. I had made of my mind. I had decided that I wanted to walk the path of a grey Jedi, rather than remain with the Jedi." she began to explain, her voice soft and filled with sadness. "I waited up all night for you to come. But they came first. When they told me that I had to leave then or not at all, I had to make a choice, and I did. A selfish choice, perhaps, but a choice." she continued in the same soft voice, not daring to look up at him and see the pain in his eyes. Pain she had caused. "I hoped, probably foolishly, that you would come after me." she sort-of-laughed, although it was through suppressed tears. "But I was young and foolish, so of course I hoped for foolish things." she shook her head. "For what it's worth, it was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. I wanted to talk to you one more time. To try to convince you one last time, or at least say good-bye, but my master said we didn't have time. If I wanted to go, I had to go."
"Not a day went by that I didn't think of you, you know. I know it sounds cliche, but it's true. I wondered what you were doing, what kind of man you'd become, if you hated me or if you'd forgotten me. I wondered if I'd made the right choice, or what might have happened if I'd chosen differently." she smiled sadly. "But I suppose wondering and regret are pointless. Still... I am sorry, Dren." she spoke the latter in a soft voice, barely above a whisper, but clearly audible in the silence of their surroundings. She finally managed to look up at him, somewhat timidly, her eyes showing her sincerity, and a whole myriad of other emotions. "I never wanted to leave you, or to hurt you." she knew that, too, sounded somewhat cliche, but it was the truth. She didn't have it in her to ask him to forgive her. She didn't know that she even believed that she deserved it. Still, she wanted him to know the truth, and if nothing else, she hoped that he believed her, even if that belief never led to forgiveness.
_________________
Thanks for the signature/avatar set, Fainy! <3Check out my resume!"The line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines." - Klaus Mikaelson.
Last edited by Amara on Thu Jun 22, 2017 1:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
He listened closely, finally getting the answer to the question he had in his mind all of these years. Why? She told him, in painful detail, bringing back memories of that night, and that morning. The fight they had, he ran through his mind. Every painful word, every gut-wrenching moment. She said she was selfish, but she wanted him to fight for her. Perhaps that was his undoing.
"I asked you to stay. When you left, I thought I got my answer," he told her simply. "I looked for you the next morning, to try and convince you--" he cut himself off. He wanted to tell her how he thought of her every day, how he had to meditate just to help forget her, how he wanted her to come back, and even thought of leaving at one point to look for her. His bags were packed, he was almost out of the temple, when his master convinced him to stay.
He lifted his head and looked at her, deep into her eyes. It was a familiar look, one steeped in heartache. They had shared said look many times in the past when training to be Jedi together. They would be as close as this, sometimes even closer, but never touching. He always wanted to lean in, and touch his lips on hers--but they were Jedi, and that was forbidden. They came painfully close one time, when they were trapped on Hoth--when his feelings really began to come out.
Now he looked at her, deep past her eyes. He swallowed hard trying to fight the urge to embrace her. He was a Jedi, he reminded himself. There is no passion, there is serenity he whispered in his mind. Still, he couldn't fight it. It was as if that moment in the tunnel had switched something on in him. He wanted this, and didn't want to fight it anymore.
He heard a lightsaber ignite, and Dren turned to look. A Zabrak emerged from the darkness, running full force. "Sith! What have you done to the others?!" Shiek ran at Dren and Aeris, as he lifted his blade.
"Sheik, wait!" Dren screamed, but the Zabrak, brash as always, lunged at her. Dren took out his lightsaber, stepped back, and blocked the blade.
With their lightsabers clashed, sizzling, Sheik turned to Dren with his mouth agape. "She has you under her spell too? Then it is too late for you," Sheik responded. So he swung at Dren--
_________________I cut open my heart, bleed words onto the page, and see what happens...
Aeris listened as he spoke, explaining that he had thought he'd gotten his answer, but he still searched for her the next morning. She could tell that he left much unsaid, but what he said was enough. She felt as though the pain was physically squeezing at her heart. When he looked up at her she found the same familiar heartache reflected in his eyes. It brought back a lot of memories that she hadn't visited in some time.
Back then, she'd felt so conflicted about her feelings. She thought she knew what they meant, but they were Jedi. Such attachments were forbidden. They'd never be allowed to be together, even if he did feel the same way she did, which she thought he did. Her abilities weren't as strong then, but between that, the bond they shared, and the look she'd seen in his eyes many times, she thought that he did. Especially after the time on Hoth when they had been trapped for a time.
Her green eyes searched his, as if searching for answers to how he felt. Had he forgiven her? Did he still feel the same way now that he had then? Did he love her? Did he want to be with her? Was there any hope for them? Or was she putting her heart on the line only to have it broken again?
For a moment she thought she saw something in his eyes. Something that gave her hope. But the moment was interrupted by the sound of a lightsaber, which was in the hands of one of his Jedi comrades. The Zabrak blamed her for the condition of his comrades. Of course he did. She clicked her tongue, trying to decide what to do, but Dren reacted first, screaming at him, although it was for naught.
Dren blocked the blade, but the Zabrak tried again after deciding that he was under her spell. Aeris reacted this time, using the Force to push the Zabrak back, holding him against the wall. "I'm not the one doing this. It's another Sith, Darth Devorer. " she informed him, though she didn't expect him to believe her. "Believe me or don't. It matters not. But is it really wise to so recklessly attack your comrade without reason or proof? Look at his eyes. That alone should tell you all you need to know." She spoke in a calm, level-headed manner, although her voice also sounded somewhat tired.
She couldn't hold him against the wall for long in her current state. That she could at all was probably owed to adrenaline and her desire to protect Dren. Moments after she had said her piece, she dropped him to the ground. She then took a half-step back to try to steady herself, feeling once again like she would fall over at any moment.
As she leaned back, she felt a hand on her shoulder, steadying her. "Careful." The familiar voice warned her from behind. She glanced back to find Jax standing next to her, his left hand on her shoulder until he thought she could stand on her own. "I thought Jedi were supposed to be calm. There is no emotion, there is peace, right?" Jax asked with a wry smile.
Aeris elbowed him lightly. "Honestly. Don't go picking a fight, now." She warned him, though it was less serious than joking. He wasn't wrong, of course. In general, Jedi tended to be more calm and less rash, opposite the Jedi before them. But when your friends and comrades were in danger or worse, it tended to make that rather difficult. Especially for one already prone to such things, like the Zabrak.
"Whatever our differences, we need to work together. This thing, this Sith, he's dangerous. Who knows what he'll do to the galaxy if we don't stop him now." She said, a statement meant for all of them, but aimed more at Sheik than the other two. Dren obviously acknowledged that fact, and she thought that Jax would go along with her without an issue. The question was: could this Jedi put aside his preconceptions and hatred of the Sith in order to work with them to protect the galaxy?
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_________________
Thanks for the signature/avatar set, Fainy! <3Check out my resume!"The line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines." - Klaus Mikaelson.
Last edited by Amara on Thu Jun 22, 2017 1:27 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Sheik went for a swing, but Aeris used her force powers to pin him against the wall, and explained everything to him. "It's true," Dren added. "We unleashed something deep below the temple. He was feeding off of our energy. When we use the force, he get's stronger. So the more we fight, the more power he gets."
As Aeris dropped Sheik, he landed on his knees. He looked up at Dren, studying him. He sighed. His anger dissipating. It seemed he understood--like he had seen something. "There was a mist," he explained. I didn't know what it was. I escaped, but no one else did. First it hit Lotheal. She fought it, but it tore her apart. Then it hit Renth--he was also disintegrated. But Teli and Asha, perhaps because they aren't as trained--they succumbed to the mist. Their eyes--it's like looking into shadows. They attacked me. It's hard to know who to trust."
As the Sith spoke, Dren turned to find Aeris fallen, and in Jax's arms. Dren clenched his lightsaber tightly. He breathed out a few times, trying to calm himself. Though he got instantly weary. Dren knew she was a Grey Jedi, but he was a Sith. It was also highly suspect that he showed up out of nowhere. Was he on the side of Darth Devorer? Was he going to kill Dren or Sheik at any moment he had the chance?
"I apologize for attacking you Jedi Dren," Sheik told him, "But those two right now are Sith, and we need to dispose of them."
"It's Aeris, she used to be one of us," Dren pleaded.
"She used to be, now she's on the wrong side." Sheik walked over with his lightsaber still ignited. "The Sith want power, and that makes them dangerous."
Dren wanted to explain she was a Grey Jedi, but wasn't sure it would sit well with her comrads. He didn't trust Jax anyways, with the way he saved her suddenly. No, something was wrong about the whole situation. Sith craved power, and strength. They weren't about to do the galaxy any favors. Dren gritted his teeth, and pointed his lightsaber at Jax, and chose his words carefully, "Who's side are you on, Sith? Are you with Darth Devorer? Or are you with us?"
_________________I cut open my heart, bleed words onto the page, and see what happens...
Aeris felt relieved when Sheik stopped attacking, seeming to see reason. She doubted he trusted her, but at least he wasn't attacking Dren. She couldn't help but wonder, as he had explained the fate of his comrades, what fate had befallen her own comrades. Had they fallen? Were they dead? Had they resisted? Or were they on Darth Devorer's side?
She wondered about Jax, but she risked using the Force to gauge his loyalty and his intent, finding that he had no ill-intent. At least none related to their current situation. That was a relief. Of all of the Sith she had with her, he was the most likely to side with them. If he'd been corrupted, then there was no hope for the others. Or at least very little.
Aeris didn't allow her emotions to show o n her face as Sheik suggested, to no one's surprise, that they needed to dispose of the two Sith. Her face held a calm, neutral expression as the two exchanged words. She was grateful to Dren for standing up for her, even if it didn't work.
She was silent for a moment before speaking in a calm, matter-of-fact manner, " It will be your prejudice, Jedi, not the Sith's desire for power, that will doom the galaxy to death and destruction." Her face was relatively neutral, but her eyes showed her sincerity, and her desire to protect the galaxy and the people in it.
She fell silent once more as Dren pointed his saber at Jax, who stood next to her. "Just to be clear, I was also once one of you. Before I became a grey Jedi." Jax spoke, for clarity's sake. "That aside, I'm on your side. Not that you'll believe me." he shrugged, "I have no desire to see the galaxy fall to ruin, and it will, if Darth Devorer is on the loose." He spoke calmly, narrowing his eyes slightly. "If Aeris thinks we can beat him, then I'll follow her. To my death, if necessary." He added, making it clear where his loyalties lie.
Aeris gave him a small nod, letting him know that she believed him, before looking to the other two, waiting to see what they would do.
"You might be interested to know that I saw Titus in the tunnels not too long ago. I didn't speak to him, but he seemed different. His aura seemed even more menacing than usual. I suspect he surrendered himself to Darth Devorer. The fates of the others, I don't know. I didn't reach them before that mist appeared." he explained. "I ran when I saw it. Figured that there wasn't much I could do if it had gotten to them. I escaped and I've been wandering around ever since." He finished his explanation and shrugged. "I'm not looking to be anyone's puppet. And if history is anything to go by, Darth Devorer wasn't exactly partial to his followers. Sooner or later they all got, well, devoured. I don't fancy serving that kind of master. No power is worth that." he explained before smiling lightly. "I'd much rather serve a master like Aeris." he said with a somewhat sly grin.
Aeris groaned and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you could've left out that last part." she said, giving him a weary look. He smiled and shrugged. "Can't blame a guy for trying." he replied before glancing at Dren. "Guess I shouldn't make jokes like that in front of your boyfriend here." he added with a wry smile, to which Aeris simply let out a heavy sigh, not bothering to dignify that with a response, other than mumbling "honestly," under her breath.
Jax quickly returned to the topic at hand. "So, what's it going to be, Jedi? Shall we team up and defeat the bad guys? Save the galaxy and all that?"
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Thanks for the signature/avatar set, Fainy! <3Check out my resume!"The line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines." - Klaus Mikaelson.
Aeris bit at the Jedi in general, but he felt it was a stab at him in particular. He didn't know what to feel about her, and especially about her comrade. Dren looked over Jax, carefully studying the features of the cyborg. He imagined the man without the implants, and much younger. A memory entered his mind. Dren remembered Drax from the temple, around the same time as when Aeris was there. He was older, and a student like them. He didn't have many memories, just that he had walked the halls.
Dren tilted his head as the Sith spoke, claiming to be a grey Jedi as well. Dren slit his eyes. He looked over the man, and he didn't like him one bit. Cocky, ill-mannered, and he seemed to want to provoke Dren. Though, he didn't seem a threat, not at the moment. So Dren turned off his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. "I'm not her boyfriend--and if you so much as breath wrong, I will not hesitate to cut you down." He wasn't sure why he needed to emphasize the first part. Perhaps because he was trying to convince himself he wasn't drawn to Aeris, or perhaps because Sheik was there. Either way, he was a Jedi, he reminded himself.
"Darth Devorer, he's powerful," Dren explained. "We faced him in the tunnels below. We nearly lost our lives if not for Aeris' quick thinking. We're nothing more than insects to him. We need more than just strength and the force to defeat him. If anyone has any ideas, now's the time."
Sheik turned to Jax, "We will fight together. Do not try to pull anything--Sith--or Grey as you claim to be. I will not call you a Grey Jedi as Jedi is reserved only for those of the light." Sheik also clipped his lightsaber, and stood next to Dren.
Dren gave Jax a look, crossing his arms, clearly agreeing with Sheik. "Aeris has proven herself trustworthy to me. You have to prove it as well. Following Aeris is not enough. But right now, she needs-" His words were cut off by a scream.
Dren didn't recognize it, but it came from the pitch-black hallways. Someone was in trouble, or so it seemed. Dren and Sheik looked at each other, then to Jax. Then there was another scream, and a yell "help me!" echoed through the hallways. Still, Dren didn't recognize the voice, but the Jedi knew they needed to help. They ignited their lightsabers for light and defence, and ran into the pitch-black.
_________________I cut open my heart, bleed words onto the page, and see what happens...
Aeris had aimed her comment at Sheik, though it was true that most Jedi held the same prejudice. It frustrated her that they would even consider ignoring the fate of the galaxy simply to avoid working with Sith, for no other reason than that they held that title. She hated how many Jedi, and Sith as well, couldn't see past such trivial things. They couldn't look at the bigger picture. She supposed that it wasn't surprising, really, but frustrating nonetheless. Otherwise she wouldn't have mentioned it. Still, she never was one to hold back the truth simply because it would hurt someone's feelings. She did, however, regret that Dren seemed to take it as a stab at him. It hadn't been meant that way. In fact, compared to how she imagined most Jedi would react, he was handling it surprisingly well. He was still wary, but that wasn't terribly surprising. Frustrating, perhaps, but not surprising.
When he emphasized that he was not, in fact, her boyfriend, she had to swallow back any sort of reaction. She knew that. Still, it hurt to hear him say it so emphatically, even if he was doing it for the sake of the other Jedi. A flicker of disappointment could be seen in her eyes for a brief moment, but it was gone as quickly as it had come and she averted her eyes, her mind drifting momentarily, mulling it over. No. This was no time to be worrying about this. They had more pressing matters. She needed to focus.
Unlike Aeris, who felt a little disappointed by Dren's insistence that he was not her boyfriend, Jax found it rather amusing. He ignored the threat that followed, focusing, instead, on this. "Really? Here I thought I'd finally found whatever long lost love she was still clinging to. Guess I was wrong." he shrugged almost dramatically, smirking just a little. "Fine by me, though. Means I still have a chance to win her heart." he winked, smirking as Aeris groaned beside him, rolling her eyes. "Honestly. You don't know when to keep your mouth shut." She replied, shaking her head. Regardless, Jax knew he was right. He could see it in her eyes that she cared for this guy. Why? He had absolutely no idea. Still, she did, and he thought that the Jedi cared for her, too, whether or not he'd admit it. He knew he had no shot with Aeris. He'd tried plenty of times over the past several years and he'd gotten the same answer every time. This would be no different. That wasn't what this was about. In his own way, he was trying to help them. Or at least her.
When Dren spoke about Darth Devorer and said that if anyone had any suggestions, now was the time, Aeris spoke up. "I have an idea. It's not much, but it's something to go on." she responded, although she fell silent without going into any details when the other Jedi began speaking to Jax, agreeing to fight with them, but warning him against trying anything. Jax gave a shrug, glancing to Dren when he explained that he would also have to prove himself trustworthy. Fair enough, he guessed. Before he could respond, or Dren could even finish his sentence, a scream cut through.
Aeris and Jax both widened their eyes as the voice yelled for help. "Saila." Jax identified the voice, spinning on his heels and taking off without a second thought, igniting his saber as he ran through the hallways toward the voice. He could finish the conversation with the Jedi later. For now, his friend needed his help.
Aeris glanced at Dren and Shiek before taking her lightsabers in her hands and igniting them before running off after Jax. She was still not really in any shape for this, but it mattered not. As long as her body would respond, she would keep going. She had to. Saila needed her help, and she wasn't about to leave her to her fate. It didn't matter if she had to push herself past her limits. She would do it.
Aeris and Jax ran off in the direction of Saila, using the Force to guide them. They came to a skidding stop when they rushed into a room and were met by the same black mist. On the other side of the room they could see Saila trying her best to escape it. "What do we do?" Jax asked, looking to Aeris. She frowned and her eyes darted around, assessing the situation and the environment, trying to find something they could use to their advantage.
After a moment she reached out with the Force and pushed at the fog. It was blown back, away from them, but not as much as she had hoped. Still, it was something they could use. She glanced back at the Jedi who were right behind them, then to Jax. "We need to get up there and use it to cross the room. From there we can drop down next to her and blow the mist away, hopefully enough to escape. It will take all of us to do it, though." she explained her plan, glancing between them all before deactivating her lightsabers and crouching slightly, preparing to leap upward to the ledge.
"Aeris, no!" Jax grabbed her arm, stopping her. "You're in no shape to be doing things like that! You might kill yourself if you push your body too much further!" he warned, worry evident in his voice, despite his usual demeanor. Aeris grit her teeth and shook her head. "That doesn't matter right now! I'll be fine. If we don't go now, Saila WILL die! We don't have time for this!" she argued and he grit his teeth, glancing between her and Saila, who was frantically pushing at the fog with the Force, trying to keep it at bay as she backed away. "Fine. Let's go. But you're not making that jump." he insisted and then, before she had a chance to protest, he deactivated his saber, clipping it to his belt, scooped her up in his arms and leaped up to the ledge, immediately taking off running towards the other side.
As soon as they landed on the ledge and Jax began to run, Aeris snapped. "What the hell? Put me down, Jax!" she insisted, although, even she didn't know the reason behind why she felt so insistent on this. Was it because she didn't want help, or rather didn't want to accept help? Was it because she didn't want to be in his arms after what he'd said before, or perhaps just in general? Or was it because of Dren? Was She afraid of what he'd think? Afraid she'd hurt him again? Was she upset that it was Jax, rather than him, who had scooped her up and held her? She didn't know, but she wasn't exactly thinking it through right at that moment.
Jax shook his head, "I'll put you down when we reach Saila." He replied in a more calm manner than before. Aeris shook her head, "No! Put me down now!" she insisted, this time trying twisting her body to free herself from his grasp. He wasn't expecting her to do anything crazy like that, certainly not on a ledge when they were in a hurry, so he didn't react as quickly as he should have. She managed to twist free, falling from his arms. Normally she would have easily landed gracefully on the ledge, but she was in no where near top condition, so rather than landing gracefully on her feet, she landed unceremoniously on the ledge and tumbled over before Jax could grab her or she could grab the ledge.
She cursed herself for acting on her impulse rather than thinking it through and remaining calm. It was very much unlike her, but she was all out of sorts right now. As she fell towards the ground, she knew that Jax would want to try and jump down and save her, which would be a waste of precious time, "Go! Save Saila!" she called to him as she twisted her body slightly so that she could push down with the Force to cushion her landing, at least a little, and to blow the mist below her out of the way, meanwhile bracing herself for the impact.
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Thanks for the signature/avatar set, Fainy! <3Check out my resume!"The line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines." - Klaus Mikaelson.
“I’m helping a friend. They’re our only hope right now.” With that Dren broke out of his grasp and sprinted down the hallway, trying to catch up. Dren looked behind, and noted that Sheik was following too, though perhaps not as fast as he could.
They reached the room when Dren noticed the last mass of mist coming at them, chasing down one of the other Sith. Aeris hatched a plan, and Jax grabbed her, jumping up to the ledge. Dren grit his teeth as he watched him hold her. He breathed out for a moment, and realized if he didn’t help, Aeris might succumb to the mist. How are they supposed to stop something so devastating? Was there really any chance, or was this all a waste? They should run, Dren realized, but Aeris was heading into danger. Dren could do nothing but jump.
Dren ran up onto the opposing ledge on the other side of the room. Sheik rolled his eyes, and followed suit. Dren saw Aeris fall out of Jax’s grasp, and he wanted to help, but there was no helping right now. There was someone down below, about to die. Dren’s heart began to pulse. He had a bad feeling about this.
“Help me!” screamed a low voice, more masculine than they had expected. Just then, Jedi Renth, who Sheik had claimed to be dead, burst out of the mist. His body was a mix of flesh and shadow. He tried force pushing against the mist but it had little effect.
“My friend!” Sheik screamed. Sheik, brash as always, jumped off the ledge before they reached the mist, to land in front of Renth.
“Sheik!” Dren yelled. “We need everyone for this!”
Sheik didn’t listen. He force pulled at Renth, sending the Jedi flying towards him. He grabbed onto Renth by his hand, helping him land gracefully. Renth grinned, and ignited his lightsaber--a red lightsaber--into Sheik’s stomach. Sheik then turned dark and his body began to disintegrate.
“No!” Dren screamed, unsure if he should keep running. He was too far to do anything, so on the cue, he jumped down with Jax, and landed in front of the mist, trying to save their friend. He force pushed with Jax, and the mist exploded around them as if hitting a massive obstacle.
It wasn’t enough though. The mist enveloped Dren and the whole room, and it turned and twisted into a mischievous figures--forming three bodies. That of Jedi Teli, Jedi Asha, and one of the Sith, with their shadow eyes. Renth dropped Sheik, now dead, onto the ground. With the hit, Sheik exploded into Mist as though he had become part of it. The mist surrounded Renth in a tornado, and as it sucked into his body, he turned into into Darth Devorer. He grinned and turned to Dren.
Darth Devorer screamed a guttural moan, and pushed out with his hands. The room exploded in a force push--like in the tunnel--but stronger this time. Clearly their use of the force push had only strengthened him. Dren couldn’t see what happened to the others, but he flew and slammed into the wall. His body felt like it was being crushed by a waterfall, much like before.
Asha turned to Dren, her eyes forming into the beautiful eyes they once were. She tilted her head, studying Dren carefully as she glided over to him. “Such a beautiful face, such a beautiful spirit--always caring for me. Those extra moments we would spend together--if only we hadn’t Jedi. But you no longer have to be.” She then leaned in and kissed Dren on the lips--he didn’t have anything to fight her with, no strength to push against it all. He could feel the cold pouring into his mouth. It clenched at his throat and stopped him from breathing. His eyes widened. He could feel everything draining away from him, being replaced by hate--the terror splintering his mind into a million pieces. He could feel everything--he could feel Darth Devorer.
She released the kiss, but her mouth remained open, and the mist poured out of it, directly into Dren’s mouth. Dren screamed, trying to fight it, but his body turned frigid and tense, and his veins began turning a sickly black--
_________________I cut open my heart, bleed words onto the page, and see what happens...
Aeris used the force to push downward, simultaneously softening her landing and pushing away the mist below, giving him a clear spot to land. She landed on the hard ground, which knocked the air out of her lungs, but otherwise was much less painful than one might have expected. She pushed through the soreness in her muscles, forcing herself to stand. As she stood she glanced around the room, seeing that the mist was all around her. Jax and Dren were almost to the other side of the room.
Dren's Jedi companion, however, was in a difficult situation. She caught the tail end of his encounter with one of the other Jedi, who he had previously reported had been taken by the mist. She saw him pull the Jedi to him, only to be met with a saber in the gut. She tore her eyes away and looked to Dren and Jax, who soon dropped to the ground in front of Saila, force pushing the mist away. The mist exploded around them, but just as she began to focus on her own situation, she realized that it hadn't been enough. Rather, the mist had enveloped all three of them, rather than just Saila.
She saw figured form from the mist, two Jedi and a Sith... Cain. So, this was the fate he had suffered. She clicked her tongue and looked from him, to the figure of the Jedi who had killed Sheik. His appearance changed from that of the Jedi to that of Darth Devorer, who turned to Dren, then screamed. Moments later the room erupted with a Force push, just like before, throwing them all back against the walls.
Cain approached Jax, who was pinned against the wall, but Aeris couldn't hear what was being said. She could only see a grimace on his face as black mist poured from Cain, surrounding him and creeping up towards his mouth. Saila appeared to be suffering a similar fate at the hands of the second Jedi. She looked away, her eyes seeking out Dren, caring more about his safety than whatever fate would befall her, not realizing that the mist itself wasn't encroaching on her as it did the others.
Her eyes widened as she watched the figure that appeared to be Asha, the Jedi from before, approached Dren. She couldn't hear whatever the Jedi said to him, but the kiss was unmistakable, as was the black mist. "NO!" She screamed, fighting against the force that held her against the wall. She felt an overwhelming desire to rip the "Jedi" away from him, to protect him. She couldn't let him be killed, nor could she allow him to be taken over by this mist and turned into one of Darth Devorer's slaves.
As the various emotions flooded over her, from anger to fear, even perhaps a hint of jealousy, she managed to break herself free of the force that held her against the wall. She hadn't consciously thought about what she was doing, how she would save him, but rather acted on instinct. She reached out with her hand, drawing on strength she didn't know she had left in her. The next thing she knew the mist promptly evacuated Dren, pouring out of him and fleeing from him. Along with the mist, the Jedi was also pulled away from him, jerked backwards. It flew towards her and, with a wave of her hand, it dispersed.
Darth Devorer watched the scene, evidently intrigued by the scene he watched unfold. How was this girl controlling the mist? His mist? She shouldn't be able to. No one should. Was she, perhaps, a descendant of his? Whatever the reason, his interest was piqued. She could be useful if he played his cards right.
Aeris rushed to Dren's side, now that the Jedi was gone. "Dren! Are you okay?!" She asked almost frantically, a state not often seen from the usually composed young woman. The very brief victory, however, was short lived, as the voice of Darth Devorer soon interrupted, tightening the hold he had on Dren and the others, trying to ensure that they didn't escape. Surprisingly, though, he stopped the assault on them, keeping the mist from further invading them.
"You can save your friends." He spoke to her, his intense gaze focused on her as he waved his hand, gesturing to Dren and her two Sith companions. "All you have to do is join me." His voice still sounded somewhat broken, as though it were not complete, despite the significant improvement it had undergone since their last encounter. "Join me and I will let your friends go free." He reiterated, a menacing smile-like expression twisting his already vile face.
Her eyes widened as she listened to the words. Her mind mulled over everything that had happened thus far, trying to consider any other options, any way that they could manage to get out of this mess and escape alive. Everything she came up with, however, was risky and more than likely ended up with one or all of them dead. She didn't see a whole lot of other options.
She did consider the fact that if she left, Dren may not see things the same way she did. He might think she truly was a Sith, that she was evil. He may hate her, and he might never forgive her. These possibilities tore at her heart, willing her not to go. That, however, was her own selfishness, her own desire to stay by his side, to not let him go, to not hurt him and lose him again. In her heart, though, she knew she had only one choice. Even if he didn't understand. Even if it meant hurting him and being separated from him again, she couldn't let him die. She would rather he live hating her than die loving her.
Beyond that, if she said no, they'd all likely die. It had become painfully obvious that they didn't have the strength to defeat him alone. Certainly not now. If they all died, who would stop the destruction that was to come? Who would defeat him and save the galaxy from certain devastation? No. He needed to live, to escape and warn the galaxy of what was to come. To find some way to defeat him.
This left her with one choice. Join him. She would never truly be loyal to him. She would do her best to find a way to escape his grasp, to flee and find Dren again whenever she had the chance. Until that time came, however, she would do what she must to protect him, to ensure that he lived, and that she survived long enough to get away, if such a thing was possible.
After a few moments spent considering her options, she finally replied. "Fine." She replied, resigning herself to her fate. "I will join you, so long as you let them go." She added. There was no hesitance in her voice, not even any fear, just conviction and determination. She gathered that he likely wanted her to serve him voluntarily, perhaps because of whatever had just happened with the mist. That meant that he was less likely to kill her, and likely to release the others as he had promised, to ensure that she would leave with him.
A few moments later he released his hold on the other three, letting them fall to the ground, the mist evacuating their bodies. "Very well. You are free to leave." he spoke to the other three. "Go, before I change my mind." His voice almost hissed as he spoke. Aeris glanced back at Dren, making sure he was okay. Her eyes begged him to understand, showing how much she didn't want to leave, how much she hated this. But how she felt didn't matter. She had to keep him safe, no matter the cost. From the corner of her eye she also saw Jax and Saila on their knees, coughing, gasping for breath. Jax looked her way and she thought he was trying to say something, perhaps telling her not to go, but whatever words he wanted to say wouldn't come out.
"Come." Darth Devorer gestured to her. She gave Dren one last fleeting look, her eyes showing everything she felt, begging him to forgive her before she turned and began to walk away from him, again. Each step she forced herself to take, each step that carried her away from him broke her heart, but she forced herself to keep going, following the Sith she hated away from the Jedi she loved. Resisting her desire to turn around and run to him, to kiss him as she'd wanted to so many times, to finally tell him what she had wanted to tell him for so long--that she loved him. She promised him in her heart that she would find her way back to him one day, as soon as she got the chance. She could only hope that, if and when she did find her way back, he wouldn't hate her.
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Thanks for the signature/avatar set, Fainy! <3Check out my resume!"The line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines." - Klaus Mikaelson.
Last edited by Amara on Thu Feb 15, 2018 10:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Those eyes. Those shadows of eyes. They looked deep into Dren, and everything turned dark. The room around them lit with a sickly red, and every person disappeared. Dren was left alone, and the temple looked as if it had been built yesterday. Lightning cracked through the sky.
Dren walked into the middle of the room, adjoining it was a throne room. He felt a pull towards it, the cold of the darkside--it was entrancing, drawing him in. He walked into the room, and saw the older woman from the tunnel. She looked so much like Aeris, but not exactly. Something was off about her--perhaps a relative? She was sitting on the throne.
“She will be your undoing,” she said with a million voices. “She will tear you down--but if you join the darkside, if you let it in, you can be with her.”
Suddenly he heard a Rancor roar echo through the temple. The rancor tore through the temple, tearing down pillars through it’s rampage. Dren opened his lightsaber, but the Rancor came at him, and hit him with a swing of its arms. Dren flew against a pillar smashing it to a million pieces. He looked up, and the rancor felt familiar. It wasn’t fully corporeal. It was a spirit of a rancor, and within the body he saw the silhouette of a human figure, one he recognized. It was as if the rancor was the embodiment of his mother, as strange as it sounded. It felt like her. Why was she attacking him?
Then another Rancor tore through the temple. This time it was his father, smashing Dren against a wall. Then another, a brother he didn’t know he had? Another, his former master. Another his friend from the temple. Another a child he would have. Another Aeris.
They threw him about, breaking every bone in his body, and when he cried for help, they wouldn’t stop. The people he cared about, the people he will care about, began to tear him into a million pieces--a nightmare of grandiose proportions. That’s when he started to get angry. The anger welled up inside of him, and he screamed outwards as a force push blasted around him--
Then the world began to crumble. Had he done that? No, something else outside was breaking it down--
Dren’s eyes opened. The black was seeping out of his eyes. The black veins began to diminish. The black mist was pouring out of his mouth and back into Asha. It evacuated out from him so quickly Asha couldn’t take it back in. She seemed worried as she was suddenly jerked back and flew towards Aeris.
Dren no longer felt the push against the wall and fell to the ground in a clump of heaving mess. He was shivering, having touched the cold of the Darkside so strongly. Yet he was sweating--his entire body of muscles exhausted beyond their use. His throat was sore, and he coughed trying to expel more of the mist. Some of his veins still bore the black mist, unable to fully be evacuated from his body. He felt the anger, the fear--the power. He closed his eyes, he wouldn’t let the dark side take over. No, the mist was gone, he had to focus.
“I’m so cold--” Dren told Aeris in a shiver when she asked how he was.
He hardly had a moment to breathe, when Darth Devorer pushed Dren back against the wall. Dren was pinned again. Yet something was different this time. He could feel the dark side, somewhere back in the shadows of his mind--but he could also feel Darth Devorer. It was like the unexplainable connection that Aeris and Dren shared--but this was fresh.
Dren tried to understand everything, but he was still out of it and confused. He looked around for the Rancor spirits but didn’t see them. Instead, he saw Darth Devorer, speaking to Aeris. He could just make out a proposal. Then, she accepted. What had she accepted? It was hard to tell.
He was let go, and he fell yet again to the ground. His head to the hard floor, he looked at Aeris. She at him. He knew what she was doing. She was joining him. Why was she joining him? He was right to question her motives before--she was a Sith. She was turning on them all. She was turning on Dren. His heart sank, he gritted his teeth. She was a Sith. A Sith. It began to sink in.
Still, there was something in her eyes--he wasn’t sure what to take from it. He wasn’t so sure anymore. Those moments they shared, he couldn’t believe she was a Sith. Still, Stih deceive and manipulate, so perhaps that’s all she had been doing this whole time--all so he wouldn’t strike her down. Maybe she was trying to turn him to the Darkside as well. Dren couldn’t be sure.
He watched as she walked away, giving him one last look. That last look stuck with him. Something wasn’t right. She seemed to want to say something. He felt their connection--and it was worry? Concern? He couldn’t make out the fleeting emotions, but none of it was consistent with her wanting to join him for power, or desire. No, something was different.
Dren could only watch as the woman he thought about every day since she had left the temple--and even a bit before that--was walking away with a monster. He couldn’t go after her, not in the state he was in. How long until he would see her again? Would he ever see her again? He wasn’t sure but he knew this moment would be one of the hardest in his life, just like the night when she left.
_________________I cut open my heart, bleed words onto the page, and see what happens...
Aeris knew Dren was confused. She was certain that the others likely were, too, although she hoped they would all put the pieces together. If she were simply joining him for power then she, or Darth Devorer, would have likely ended them then and there, rather than let them go free. Please... Please understand... She thought to herself, unconsciously trying to project those feelings to the others, but mostly to Dren. Her heart broke more and more with every step she took, but no matter how much she wanted to turn back, no matter how much she wanted to run to him, to hold him, to tell him how she truly felt, she couldn't. Her resolve to save him, to save all of them, was all that kept her going, all that gave her the strength to take each heavy step away from them.
She glanced back at Dren and the others one more time before tearing her eyes away, focusing on the path in front of her as she followed the Sith, Darth Devorer, deeper into the tunnels. She wasn't sure how long they walked, it felt like an eternity as her mind raged in torment over how much she was hurting him, trying desperately to think of a way to escape, once she knew that they were safe. But it was no use. For now, she was too emotional to think straight, to come up with a reasonable plan. She needed to calm down, to let rationality win over emotions. That was the only way she would manage to ensure their safety, as well as her own.
She took a deep, quiet breath to calm herself as they entered a large chamber, where she assumed Darth Devorer had set up his temporary base, if you will. She took it all in before glancing to the corner of the room where Titus stood, eyeing her. Jax had been right, then. He was not only alive, but he was serving Darth Devorer of his own free will. Not like the others who had been turned into mindless slaves. It didn't really surprise her so her eyes didn't linger of him for more than a moment.
"We will leave this place soon. As soon as a suitable vessel arrives." Darth Devorer spoke, his voice still sounding somewhat gravelly, as though it was still not used to speaking. Aeris thought back to the days before this happened, remembering that their reinforcements should have been on the way. They should be arriving at any time now, in fact. As she thought this, she instinctively reached out into the Force, finding the ship making its approach to the planet. Had he felt them, too? Was that what he was waiting for? Or had Titus said something? She couldn't be sure, but she didn't bother asking that question.
Now that she thought about it, why was she able to use her abilities more easily again? Why did she suddenly not feel quite so weak? Before she had attributed it all to adrenaline, but that had long worn off. No, she now felt a new strength, as though some of her power had miraculously recovered, but it was different. It was darker. Had he given her strength? Had he given her a small taste of his power, hoping she would want more? Hoping that it would corrupt her and bring her fully over to his side? Perhaps. Nothing else truly made sense. Why, then, had he not said anything? Bragged on the power, tempted her with his words as well as the power? Again, she had no answers.
"That power you displayed before. Where did you learn to do that?" Darth Devorer questioned her. "A descendant of mine, perhaps?" He questioned and Aeris shrugged almost flippantly. "Don't know. That was the first time I've done anything like that," she replied with an empty voice, devoid of emotion. "I don't know whether or not I am your descendant. It's been a very long time since you last walked this world," she added, leaning back against a wall and closing her eyes.
"What do you plan to do? Where will you go when our 'suitable vessel' arrives?" she asked, curious to know his plan. She was answered with a rather unnerving smile. "This planet will fuel my rise to power, and we will begin our conquest," his voice held a frightening joy at the thought of the destruction he would bring about. Aeris thought that his answers were a bit cryptic, which she guessed was because he, perhaps, didn't trust that she was fully on his side. Still, he had given her enough information to piece together his plan.
"What of my friends?" She asked, feeling as though he had no intention of giving them an escape. "I agreed not to kill them. If they leave the planet, I won't stop them. But I won't aid them, either." He had the same somewhat menacing grin on his face. It was as though he thought he had won, manipulated her into joining him by allowing her friends to live for a time, only to allow them to die along with all other life in this planet. Still, he wouldn't interfere if they left the planet, which meant that there was still hope.
"I see," she sighed and leaned her head back against the wall, looking as though she were simply resigned to this fate, knowing that even now she hadn't the strength to fight him and save them on her own. Or perhaps she was simply relaxing before the tedious tasks ahead soon began. In reality, however, she was reaching out to Dren through the Force. Telepathy wasn't her natural gift, but she was capable of getting him a message. She chose him for many reasons, one of which was their connection, which would make it easier for her to convey her message. "Dren." her voice would whisper in his mind.
She didn't have it in her to convey her message with words, as she didn't wish to draw on the power she thought Darth Devorer had given her, as she didn't want to risk the chance that it was connected to him somehow. Instead, it would be images and feelings that would be conveyed. The first was an image of the Sith ship that approached the planet. The second was a image of the planet dying, along with a strong sense of worry and urgency. "Run." Her voice whispered in his mind once more, urging him to leave this place before its inevitable destruction. The last image was one of the Sith temple. She didn't know it for sure, but she had a sneaking suspicion that they would be heading there next, if he was waiting for the ship carrying Sith to arrive. She thought that it was likely that he would want to meet with the Sith and try to turn them to his side. Of course, he would be sorely disappointed by the strength of the Sith, given how far they had fallen since his day, but that was beside the point. He didn't know that now, and she had no intention of telling him.
-------
Jax watched Aeris leave, eyes wide as he tried to get his mind back together, to figure out what was going on, why she was leaving, and what had happened before that. He coughed, still on his hands and knees where he had landed once Darth Devorer released him, trying to rid himself of the remaining mist. After a minute or so, once he had reoriented himself, he forced himself up to his feet, staggering forward. Saila was slumped against the wall, but he could see the steady rise and fall of her chest, telling him that she was still alive.
Aeris had joined Darth Devorer. There was no way she did it for power or even for survival. She would rather die than live a life contrary to her principles, a life spent aiding in the destruction of the galaxy. There had to be another reason. He'd seen the look in her eyes, as if she was worried about them, as if she were telling them she was sorry. So why? Why had she gone? Then it dawned on him. She had done this for them. That had to be it. After she agreed to join him, they had been released. Had he offered her a deal? Join him in exchange for their lives? that had to be it. He thought it was Dren's life she was most concerned about. Had it been him and Saila, he wasn't sure she would have so easily given in. But he was her weakness.
Jax staggered forward over to Dren, who looked to be even worse shape than he was, and that was only made worse by the fact that Aeris was now gone. He imagined that Dren must feel like she'd abandoned him again. He reached down and held out a hand to Dren, to help him up. "We need to get out of here," he spoke with a voice that sounded somewhat hoarse from the mist, and the coughing. Some part of him thought that he should assure the Jedi that she must have had a reason, a purpose for leaving. That she wouldn't just abandon them--him.
Yet he couldn't bring himself to say the words. He was a Sith, and Dren a Jedi. They were enemies and, as far as he was concerned, rivals. The darker parts of him whispered that if Dren couldn't figure it out on his own, if he didn't have enough faith in her to come to that conclusion without help, then he didn't deserve that comfort. Of course, he didn't really consider that after losing her once, his fears may cloud that judgment. But then, that wasn't his concern. He would ensure that he got out of here alive, for her sake and because they would need each other to survive, but he felt little inclination to do more than that.
_________________
Thanks for the signature/avatar set, Fainy! <3Check out my resume!"The line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines." - Klaus Mikaelson.
Last edited by Amara on Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dren remained on his side, the cold wet floor stinging the skin on his face. His muscles felt raw—never in his Jedi training had his muscles hurt this much. Not even after days of intensive exercise. He watched as Darth Devorer, and Aeris, walked away. The mindless Jedi, and one Sith, were following in their trail.
Aeris looked so much like the woman Dren had encountered, and standing next to Darth Devorer, it triggered a memory. Dren could remember her, and Darth Devorer. She was—a Jedi Master? Yes, he had studied her in textbooks. She had died in a great battle with the Sith. If she was Jedi, why was she tempting him to the dark side? Why did she remind him of Aeris? There were a million possible answers, but nothing he could answer now.
He reached out to where Aeris had left, but she was gone. They were probably heading to the opening they had entered through. He wanted to go after her, but he had no strength. The connection they shared, it was growing fickle as she moved further away from him. This just wanted him to be closer to her.
Jax approached Dren, as he was starting to find his strength again, and sitting upright. Dren wasn’t sure what was going on, if Aeris was being truthful. Aeris was a Sith, or was she? So much didn't make sense. Why did she go with Darth Devorer? Was she trying to save them, or did she want to join him? Was she deceiving them this whole time? Dren couldn't be sure. His Jedi logic was fighting his emotions. And now Jax, a confirmed Sith, seemed to be helping Dren? Dren may not have a choice. Dren was alone in this, all of his comrades had fallen or been turned.
Jax held out a hand, but Dren stared at it. He didn’t bother reaching for it, and got up on his own strength. He brushed off a bit of dust, trying to take in the situation. He wanted to chase after Aeris. It was stupid, and suicidal, but he couldn’t help that feeling. Luckily his Jedi logic took hold, and he realized they would need to formulate a plan if she were to be saved. Realistically, they would need more help than just two Grey’s and a Jedi—or is it two Sith and a Jedi? He didn’t want to think about it. They weren’t ready to kill him at this moment, so for now he determined it didn’t matter.
“We need to find out where they’re going--“ Just then the connection he felt empty without forced itself into his skull. He fell onto his knees from the sudden jolt. Dren he heard. He was fed images, a sith ship arriving, then the planet dying, and a panicked run.
The connection broke. Was that Aeris? Was she trying to communicate with him--trick him? Was it his mind tricking him, or maybe the dark side he felt. Again, his Jedi logic and his emotions were in battle. He decided to listen to his feelings. He looked up to Jax, and gritted his teeth. He wasn’t in the mood to share information to Jax, and vaguely said, “We have to leave, now—my ship is too far. How close is your ship?”
_________________I cut open my heart, bleed words onto the page, and see what happens...
The sith ship would soon land and Darth Devorer and his followers, willing and unwilling, would likely begin their journey to meet the new arrivals, rather than wait for them to approach the temple. It would be the fastest way for him to get off this planet and begin the next stage of his plan, so it seemed likely that this was the approach he would take. There was no real benefit to waiting around for them to come when all they really needed was the ship. Besides, he didn't exactly strike her as the patient type. While they did wait, however, she took the opportunity to calm her mind and try to rest a bit, and rid herself of her emotions so that she could think logically about a possible escape plan.
As it stood now, she thought it unlikely that she would be able to escape before they left the planet. Even if she could, it seemed ill-advised, all things considered. Her best bet would be once they returned to the Sith temple. She would hope that the others made it off this planet in time and maybe, just maybe, they would be able to meet again once they arrived at the temple. If that didn't work, she would have to come up with another plan. For now, however, this would have to do.
She kept a mental eye on the ship that approached the planet, noting that it was making its approach and would soon be landing. She thought that it was likely that they would head out soon and, as she expected, Darth Devorer soon spoke up. "Time to go," he ordered as he turned and began heading to the exit. Aeris sighed internally but followed without hesitation. The sooner they got off the planet, the better. She had to hope that, in the time they had spent waiting, the others had sought a way off this planet. Indeed, she felt that they had moved, heading to the ship she had arrived in. Good. It seemed likely that the others would arrive at their ship first, so they should be able to get away in time.
With this in mind, she followed as they made their way out of the temple and towards the ship that had now landed. It was easier to move now than it had been before, but she could still feel the wear in her muscles. They were tired and well past their limits. She'd past the limits of her body after their first encounter with Darth Devorer and it had only gotten worse since then. Still, she pushed on with no sign of her pain showing on her face.
She remained silent, ignoring the others around her, including Titus, who walked a few feet in front of her. She had nothing to say, nor did she have any particular desire to talk with either of them. The majority of the trek was spent in silence, for which she was grateful. Eventually, they arrived at the ship to find the Sith that had been on-board preparing to make the trek to the temple. They appeared to be trying to contact her over the comms, but they have died long ago, so their attempts were futile.
"You will take me to your Sith temple," he informed the Sith outside of the ship as he approached. "Lord Aeris? Lord Titus?" one of the Sith, a dark-skinned human male questioned, looking between them and then to the unknown man with the strange voice. "Do as he says, if you value your life," Aeris responded in a rather detached tone, making it difficult to gauge her intentions, or how she felt about all of this. The man frowned as he contemplated what to do, but after receiving a glare from Titus, he gave a nod and led them onto the ship.
Once on the ship they were greeted by a female only marginally shorter than Aeris, with pale skin and light hair that was tied in a tight bun on the top of her head. The skin of her face was darkened, telling of her extensive use of the dark side of the Force. Aeris recognized the woman, someone she was never particularly fond of. The woman stood in their way, crossing her arms over her chest. "First, you run away from your assigned task, and now you have the gall to demand that we take your back? You're walking a thin line, Lord Aeris," her arrogance and perceived superiority dipped heavily from her words. Aeris didn't respond, as she had no reason to. The woman was a fool. She was letting her desire to surpass Aeris get the better of her.
Darth Devorer narrowed his eyes at the younger woman and, after reaching out a hand, she floated into the air, holding her throat with her hands, gasping for air. "Insolent child. I don't care about your petty squabbles. You're in my way," he tossed her to the side with a flick of his hand, disgust evident in his voice. "I have no use for fools who don't know their place," and with that he walked further into the ship, this time unimpeded. Aeris tossed a glance at the other woman, who was unconscious, but still breathing, then kept walking. The others that remained scurried out of the way, evidently afraid to suffer the same fate.
Aeris entered the cockpit of the ship and took the pilot's chair, which was now empty. The ship had only just landed, so it didn't take a great deal of time to prep it to leave again. She made the preparations, put in the coordinates, and called the Sith temple to let them know that the ship would be returning sooner than expected, leaving out any particulars that would cause questions. She couldn't have anything impeding their arrival, as this was her best chance of escape. She did take her time, as much as she could without raising suspicion, to give the others time to make it to their ship and get off the planet.
------
Jax couldn't say he was surprised when Dren chose not to take his hand. He simply shrugged a 'whatever' and moved on. He watched the Jedi carefully, wondering briefly if he would try going after her, even in his condition. Thankfully, he apparently decided against that course of action. After a brief silence, Dren began to say that they needed to figure out where the were going, but his words died and he fell on his knees. Jax frowned, watching him and wondering what was going on. Was he seeing or hearing something? Or was he injured? He decided it was likely the former. Aeris, perhaps?
Soon Dren asserted that they needed to leave, now, and asked how close their ship was. "Not that far. Closer than yours, I'd guess," he responded as he turned away from the Jedi and, despite his muscles screaming, lifted the still-unconscious Saila into his arms. "Alright. If we need to go, then let's go. I'll lead you to the ship," he responded, gesturing his head towards the entrance. He used the Force to guide him out of the wrecked temple and then, once they were out, he led them to the ship. He wanted to ask Dren what he had seen or heard, but he thought it was something that could be discussed once they were off this planet. If it was as urgent as it seemed, they best not waste a second getting to the ship.
The walk to the ship seemed longer than it had when they had first come to the temple, probably because of how tired his body was, coupled with the added weight of Saila, not that she really weighed that much. The silence didn't help matters, but he wasn't one for filling awkward silences, so he remained quiet until they neared the ship. "So, where is it that we are heading?" he asked, wondering if Dren had a destination in mind. "Also, who is flying?" He asked, deciding that they should get the details ironed out now so that when they got to the ship they could get going as fast as possible.
_________________
Thanks for the signature/avatar set, Fainy! <3Check out my resume!"The line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines." - Klaus Mikaelson.
Dren didn't bother answering Jax. Instead, he got into the ship's pilot seat and started turning on the engines. That's when he noticed outside, it was getting darker. Dren knew something was wrong. Mist began to form in the sky, and on the ground. It crept slowly over everything, beginning to block out the sun. He noticed the edges of the leaves and the blades of the grass were beginning to wilt.
He switched on the engine--it revved, then died. He looked at it with a quizzical eye. He turned off the two main fuel lines, then pumped them again. He pushed the start--it revved and died. "Is there a trick to this damn ship?" he asked Jax. Dren looked outside, the mist was approaching, closer and closer. Maybe the voice he heard, Aeris' voice, wasn't a trick. She was telling the truth, and this planet was dying. "We have to get out of here," Dren told the Sith with assertion.
It was then that Dren noticed a small blinking light in the dash. It was next to the aurebesh word for 'power stabilizing coupler'. Dren slammed his fist in the console. "It looks like a leak in the coupler," Dren told him. Dren knew where it was, like on all ships. Jedi training came with a few basics everyone needed to know, aside from academia like science, math, and history, they were taught survival, vehicle repair and piloting. The stabilizing coupler was outside, always. He wasted no time, hit the door to open and went outside. "I'll try to fix it, be ready to start up the engine."
He rushed outside, and looked around. The mist was everywhere. Trees began to fall and catch fire. The brush wilted and lifted into the air, ash began to pour. Lighting cracked across the sky. He had to hurry. He found the coupler underneath a small plate. There was fluid everywhere. He cursed, hoping there was still enough for take-off. He felt around the stabilizing lines, and checked for cracks. He felt one, where the fluid was still flowing from the last two engine start up attempts.
The air began to grow thick and moist. Breathing became difficult. Like before, he felt the cold of the darkside creeping into him. He had to fight it. Thunder and lighting caught him off guard. He had to focus. He reached for a small repair canister, and pressed it against the fuel line. Foam spread out and formed a seal around the leak. But the foam came off, and more fluid leaked.
He felt a pit in his stomach, and the cold trickle down his back. He felt someone, clear as day. They were here, but in the distance. He could feel him, Devorer. He was nearby, coming closer. That's when Dren noticed a ship fly above, and into the sky. How could Dren feel him? As he left the atmosphere, the feeling went away. He shook his head, he could feel the mist now, and he had to hurry. He took a piece of his sleeve, tore it, and tied it around his mouth in an attempt to block it out, but it probably would do nothing. That's when he heard the roar.
Through the trees there was a Rancor trudging through. Alive while the rest of the world burned. It came toward Dren, but Dren noticed the silhouette inside. It was a silhouette of Aeris. He closed his eyes, "it's not real," he told himself. He opened his eyes, but the Rancor was still there. It leaned down to Dren, and he could feel it's breath. Dren screamed at the Rancor, and the Rancor roared back. It stared at Dren, then walked back into the burning forest.
He shook his head, trying to get his bearings. He had a job to do. He pressed some more foam onto the line, and held it in place. He realized the foam needed to dry, and the liquid was hindering that. So to give it time, he held onto the seal with his fingers. Although, they were running out of time. He had an idea, but it would be risky. He didn't know Jax, and to be honest Dren didn't have any real reason to trust him. If he was a Sith, Jax had every reason to want to kill Dren. Jedi are a threat to Sith, and vise versa. Plus, Sith deal in absolutes, and if one is their enemy, they can never be anything else.
Still, Dren had no choice. He called out as loud as he could over the raging fire, wind and thunder. "Start it up!" he screamed, knowing full well that Jax could just up and leave Dren behind. But he had to hold onto the seal. He closed his eyes, and tried to resist the dark side from creeping into his veins, while waiting to see if the engine would start.
_________________I cut open my heart, bleed words onto the page, and see what happens...
Aeris slowly prepared the ship to leave and then, when ready, she slowly brought the ship into the air. She didn't want to, as she could feel that the others had not yet left, but she had stalled as long as she could. She had to trust that they would be able to handle themselves and that they would make it off in time. She the ship took to the sky, she could see the mist forming below, creeping over the planet and slowly sucking the life out of everything.
Trees withered and died as the mist touched them, animal fled, but slowly grew weaker as the life drained from them, until they could no longer run and were overtaken. She felt anger building inside of her, but she forced it down. It would do her no good now. But she would never forget this sight, nor the feeling it brought. She would always remember it, and it would fuel her desire to defeat the Sith, just as the deaths fuel his power.
Without a word, she slowly brought them higher and higher, trying not to look back down at the horrible sight below, the death and destruction he was always bringing. "Circle the planet once before your jump to hyperspace," the gravelly voice commanded, and Aeris did as she was told. She was in little position to refuse, and it would give her a better idea of whether or not the others managed to make it out alive before the planet was completely dead.
She could still feel them on the surface, where they had landed. They were taking the Sith ship, she guessed, it was closer, so it made sense. But it was also old, and she gathered by the fact that they had yet to take off, that its age was causing a problem. She could only hope that it was not a problem that would result in their deaths.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Darth Devorer standing over her shoulder, looking out at the dying world, no doubt enjoying not only the revitalizing feeling that the power he was gaining brought, but the sight of the destruction he was causing. There was a wicked grin on his face, which now seemed more whole than it had even moments before. Truly, the death of this planet was making him whole again. She cursed this, as it would make their future fight against him all the more difficult, but there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Oddly enough, she felt herself growing stronger as he did. Was he giving her another taste of his power? Or was it the mist that was giving her this strength? A glance at him told her nothing. If he was giving it to her, he was not gloating in it, as she might have expected. And if some of the power was being siphoned to her, he seemed not to have noticed. She found this altogether strange, but nevertheless, she would accept, for the moment, whatever strength she gained. She would have to be careful, though. Regardless of whether it was by his command or not, this power came of death and darkness. It was the Dark side, and it came with a price that she was not truly willing to pay. She must ensure that she did not pay a greater price by allowing it to corrupt her.
-----
Jax didn't complain when Dren ignored him, taking a seat in the pilot's chair and preparing the ship to leave. He brought Saila aboard and placed her on a small cot, covering her with a blanket even as Dren asked if there was a trick to this ship. "It's old, but there isn't a trick," he replied, although it hardly mattered, as Dren quickly found the problem. It was a leak in the stabilizing coupler. Great, Just what they needed.
As other Jedi, Dren evidently knew the basics of ship repair, and he wasted no time in getting up and leaving the ship, telling Jax that he would fix it. Jax frowned, not at Dren, but at the situation. The timing of this could not have been worse. He could feel the Dark side growing stronger, and drawing closer. It was devouring this planet, and soon, it would devour them right along with it.
He cursed to himself as he took the pilot's chair and got ready to start the ship the moment Dren gave the word. He heard the ship fly above and guessed that it must be Darth Devorer. He was preparing to leave, which meant that they were very quickly running out of time. He slowly grew impatient, but his previous Jedi training allowed him to remain calm enough to keep himself for yelling at Dren to hurry. He was out there, no doubt he could see the devastation that drew ever closer. He knew the danger, and that he must hurry, or they would all die.
Just as the mist began to draw uncomfortably close, he heard Dren yet for him to start it up. Odd, that the Jedi would trust him not to leave him. But then, he hardly had much choice at the moment, so he doubted it was true trust. Nevertheless, he did as he was told, giving it one try, and then another. It failed the first time, seeming to start before dying, but the second time it worked and the engine roared to life.
"It worked! Now get in and let's go!" he hollered back to the Jedi. The mist was nearly upon them, and the moment the Jedi was inside, he slammed the button to close the door and took them up off the ground. The ship shook and rattled, but it moved nonetheless, and below, as they lifted off the ground, he could see the mist quickly overtake the position they had held moments before. "That was uncomfortably close," he spoke more to himself than to Dren as he pulled the ship up and prepared to leave atmosphere and jump to hyperspace.
"Let's get out of here before we die along with this planet," he pulled the ship up, climbing higher and higher, ignoring the annoying shaking as they began to pass through the planet's atmosphere.Once out, he looked down, seeing that the planet was now engulfed in the dark mist. Nothing else could be seen. He wondered if this would be the fate of the galaxy, but for now, he hadn't the time to wonder. "So, where are we going?" he asked Dren, wanting to get out of here as soon as possible.
_________________
Thanks for the signature/avatar set, Fainy! <3Check out my resume!"The line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines." - Klaus Mikaelson.
The mist enveloped him, and he could feel it try to reach into his body. His skin grew dry and cracked, he felt on fire but frozen at the same time. He could hardly breath. But the engine started up. He didn't wait to see if Jax would leave without him, he jumped in, falling to the floor. With his free leg, he kicked the shut door button, and the mist exploded into the ship just as it closed. The air reclaimers quickly dissipated the mist outside.
Jax pulled up and out of the atmosphere. From a distance, they watched as the planet, Dathomir, was enveloped with shadow and lighting. Any view of the surface, through a break in the black mist, was enveloped in fire. Dren breathed out. He could feel every bit of life force draining from the planet. Every creature that lived on the planet was screaming for their lives, then going quiet. He could ever hear the cries of people, small towns that were on the surface, also vanishing with a wail. His gut sickened. Who could do something like this?
Did Aeris warn him? Was it her voice, or simply instinct? Or was it something more? He didn't know. He hardly noticed when Jax had asked where to head. Dren couldn't even think of that. He just wanted to curl into a ball to get the sickened feeling out of his gut as he heard more and more cries.
Then it was over. The force, what was filled with horror moments ago, now fell silent. Everything was gone, an entire planet wiped from existence. All that was left was the rock they once called home. He wasn't even sure if the planet was breathable anymore. His stomach was sick at the thought of it all. He swallowed hard, and knew he had to do something. He was responsible for letting out this Sith. He had to act. Though he wasn't sure what his motivation was--if it was to stop this Sith, or to try and save Aeris--if she was truly able to be saved.
He turned to Jax, now only the hum of the engine and the whirl of the electronics around him could be heard. Dren swallowed hard. He thought for a moment. Perhaps he could go to the Jedi council and warn them. The problem was, they were at the outreaches of the galaxy. It would possibly take too long to get there. No, he thought of the woman in his visions. The one that looked like Aeris, but not exactly. She reminded him of a great battle between the Sith and Jedi, many eons ago. How was she connected to this Sith? He would need to find the answers somewhere.
Turning to Jax, he told him, "plot a course for Hoth." Hoth was once a remote planet, known for a great battle many many years ago. However, since then, the remote planet has not become so remote. Mining began, and with it came cities. Despite the cold temperatures, the population grew, but mostly underground with a few pockets of cities forming above ground. "It's close by, and there's a newly formed Jedi temple. With the libraries we can maybe determine where this Sith is headed next. I just need to know, are you with me or no? Do I need to watch my back with you? Are you going to help me stop him?" He waited for Jax to reply, noting that he didn't leave Dren to die on the planet.
While Jax punched in the coordinates and did the calculations, Dren closed his eyes, trying to feel out with the force. He wasn't sure who's side she was on, and they probably already jumped to hyperspeed. Also, he was never good at this, but he wanted to try. He reached out, and spoke with his mind. Aeris, if you can hear this, and if you're still on our side, he paused for a second. Was he about to make a grave mistake? He wasn't sure. If you find a way to escape, we're heading to Hoth, to the Jedi Temple.
_________________I cut open my heart, bleed words onto the page, and see what happens...
Aeris circled the planet in the ship, as she was instructed, growing more and more uncomfortable with every passing moment. She could feel the horror of every living thing projected, their pain placed on her shoulders. It hurt. It was terrifying and lonely. It was a feeling she had never experienced before. But then, never before had she been so close to a planet as it died. Never before had she simultaneously felt such terror and pain, and then felt the lives of those to whom they belonged snuffed from existence.
It almost felt as though a piece of herself died with the planet. And when it was over, when every last shred of life had been consumed, she felt empty. It was an emptiness like nothing she had ever felt before. It was as if the Force itself had disappeared from this place, leaving nothing behind but a void surrounding a rock. She felt a chill, and she desperately sought something, anything to remind her that she was still alive, something to fill this sudden emptiness.
She wanted to gasp, to squirm, to run, but she didn't. She couldn't. She couldn't allow herself to show weakness as the Sith beside her cackled and in the back, the other Sith sneered and jeered and she alone felt the weight of the deaths, the weight of this void. She alone felt the sudden sinking feeling, the sudden loss of hope.
Just as she was about to shut it off, all of it, every feeling inside of her, both her own and from those around her, she felt something. It was a familiar, comforting presence. Dren. His voice reached her mind, telling her where she would find them, if she could escape. It was like a breath of air after being stuck in an endless vacuum, and she gladly welcomed it. It was a reminder, however brief, that she wasn't alone. It was a reminder that she was alive. And a small hope in the darkness, something to hold onto, to keep her from falling endlessly into the despair she felt within the emptiness of all that had just happened.
Yet she couldn't hold onto it for long. She didn't even had time to respond to it before his presence disappeared, or more accurately it slipped away, out of her perception. And then she shut everything out. Even as she held onto that shred of hope, she pushed everything else out, lest it overwhelm her. For now she went alone into the midst of their enemies, under the guise of one of their recruits. She didn't know how she would escape, but she would, somehow. She had to. And until then, she had to survive. But surviving she could do. She had spent many long years blending in with those whom she did not agree with. She had survived then, she would survive now. If they doubted her, then she would remove that doubt. No matter what it took. Because in the end, what mattered most was surviving, so that she could ensure that Dren and everyone else survived, too.
And with that, she punched it, jumping to hyperspace, leaving the dead planet behind and heading for the Sith Temple. It would be a longer journey than she wished, trapped in here, but once they arrived, she could start coming up with a plan for how to escape. She just had to be patient, something she had once known well, but now came as a struggle after so many years of turning her back on those lessons. But she recalled them nonetheless, and centered herself as best she could for the long journey ahead. 'Wait for me. Please,' she thought to herself, hoping that Dren could find some way to believe in her, or at least find some hope that, despite his doubts, she would find him, as soon as she could.
-------
Dren seemed to take his time in thinking of where they were to go. Or perhaps it merely seemed like forever in the face of everything going on. Below them, they could see the planet die, and with it, everything else. And in the Force, he could feel it. It was unsettling, to be sure. Not to mention distracting. He supposed he would forgive the Jedi for such, as he thought that perhaps he felt the deaths more acutely, as Jedi often did, As such, he waited as patiently as he could for Dren to answer him.
Hoth? "Well, alright," he replied with a shrug. He wasn't a huge fan of the cold, but he would manage. After all, it wasn't like he had many better ideas. Clearly, they couldn't go to the Sith, as Darth Devorer was heading there. That left the Jedi, if they wished to learn something, to try to find a way to defeat him. It was a risk, bringing two Sith to a Jedi temple. He might lean more grey than the other Sith, excluding Aeris, but he was still a Sith. Not that it mattered. To Jedi, anyone who was not a Jedi, who did not exclusively serve the Light Side was an enemy. So it hardly mattered if they were Grey Jedi or Sith. They would not be welcomed with open arms.
Nevertheless, he plotted the course. "I hope you have a plan," he glanced at the Jedi, not terribly fond of the idea of basically putting his life in the hands of one, but considering his choices, he'd take the Jedi. "I don't particularly like the idea of everything and everyone in the galaxy dying, or even the galaxy being ruled by the Dark Side. I may be a Sith, but that doesn't mean I want that. The Dark Side isn't meant to control the galaxy. There is meant to be some semblance of balance," he shrugged, "Besides, I don't fancy dying just yet."
"So, yeah, I guess I'm with you. And no, you don't need to watch your back. At least not as far as I'm concerned. But I have a feeling that for the foreseeable future, we should all watch our backs," he added the words as he entered the coordinates and did all the calculations. "To Hoth we go," he shook his head before jumping to hyperspace, just moments after Dren had sent his message to Aeris.
He hoped that he was making the right choice, that he wouldn't regret this one day. But he was certain that supporting Darth Devorer was not the right thing. At any rate, they had a lot of work ahead of them to find something of use against this ancient Sith. He would not prove an easy foe, of that Jax was certain. Perhaps they would find something at this Jedi temple. Perhaps Aeris could find something of use in the Sith archives before she escaped, although he wasn't sure how many of the archives remained that she had not yet read. Not many, he feared. Nevertheless, there was a chance. He just hoped that she could escape, for all of their sake. Whatever happened, one thing was certain: this was certainly going to be an interesting journey.
_________________
Thanks for the signature/avatar set, Fainy! <3Check out my resume!"The line between what brings us pain and what sustains us is far thinner than one imagines." - Klaus Mikaelson.
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2120
2120 - 110만 표제어의 우리말 샘 국립국어원 국민 참여형 국어사전 '우리말샘' 적용 . 예시: 사과; 3개의 한국어 대사전을 함께! 표준국어대사전, 고려대한국어대사전, 우리말샘을 한꺼번에. Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 was a chartered passenger flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Sokoto, Nigeria on 11 July 1991, which caught fire shortly after takeoff from King Abdulaziz International Airport and crashed while attempting to return for an emergency landing, killing all 247 passengers and 14 crew members on board. The aircraft was a Douglas DC-8 operated by Nationair for Nigeria. **Please note that all scholarships must be submitted with the appropriate cover sheet** National Scholarships: 1. American Legion Auxiliary Children of Warriors.
3 (1) Noticed representation Rule 3.36 provides procedures for cases in which an attorney and a party notify the court and other parties of the limited scope representation.. There was a problem adding this item to Cart. Please try again later.. The SLR-2120 Under Hood Work Light, is purpose built as an all LED, hands-free floodlight for the automotive enthusiast. This rechargeable work light has an adjustable cradle with a pair of spring-loaded, foam-covered grippers that will extend 48"-77" to fit on the underside of virtually any automobile hood..
About: New recording tools means better recordings. this is a new 9mm gunshot sound effect recorded up close and personal. Title: 9mm Gunshot Uploaded: 3.20.16 License: Attribution 3.0 Recorded by Mike Koenig File Size: 301 KB Downloads: 226773. [email protected]™ Employer issues experienced when updating and/or installing vs 6.9.2. On running the online update, some Users have reported the following errors:. 2018 Workplace Readiness Skills Report Published In 2017, the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education continued Virginia’s long history of data-driven evaluation of its workplace readiness skills framework by requesting that the Demographics Research Group at the University of Virginia Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service conduct research to identify and update the skills that.
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Trump opioid panel member says ‘We want medicine, not media’
Trump opioid panel member says ‘We want medicine, not media.’
(CNN) Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a member of the President’s commission on opioid addiction, has a message for the Trump administration a day before it is expected to declare a national emergency on the epidemic: “We want medicine, not media.”
When asked about first lady Melania Trump’s recent focus on the issue and the expectation she will continue to be part of the public effort, Kennedy didn’t mince words.
“We don’t want any more photo-ops,” the former Democratic congressman from Rhode Island said in a phone interview with CNN on Wednesday. “I’m just speaking as an advocate, in this fight every single day as someone who is in recovery and someone who is an advocate. We don’t want any more visits to rehab centers and photo-ops, saying how courageous we are. Enough already. We want to save lives.”
Advocates for Opioid Recovery is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing a science-based, evidence-based treatment system that can reduce death and suffering from opioid addiction, and produce more long-term opioid addiction survivors who are positively engaged in their families and communities. Contact us at [email protected].
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1 Dead After Washington Fireworks Explosion
TENINO, Wash. (AP) -- A deadly blast at a fireworks plant in Washington state came as workers were preparing shells for shipping, an Entertainment Fireworks official says.
The company produces professional fireworks shows around the region, Ken Julian, company operations vice president, said in a statement.
After the explosion Wednesday morning, a 75-year-old man died of his injuries while awaiting an airlift to a regional trauma center.
The blast also injured a 25-year-old man, who was flown to a Seattle hospital with burns and trauma, and a 52-year-old man, who was taken to a nearby hospital, Thurston County sheriff's Lt. Greg Elwin said.
The man who died was a long-time company employee, the sheriff's spokesman said. Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock said late Wednesday he had not yet released the man's name pending notification of relatives.
Representatives from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the state Department of Labor and Industries are investigating.
The explosion and fire at the plant south of Olympia destroyed a cloth-walled working area and part of a large box truck, Elwin said.
"Right now this appears to be non-criminal and non-intentional — an unfortunate accident related to this type of business," he said.
More people could have been hurt and more buildings damaged if the company hadn't been following regulations that require fireworks transfers to happen away from other buildings and other explosives, Elwin said.
The company is licensed by the state and federal governments, and is "a very reputable fireworks firm," said Brennan Phillips, an ATF explosives officer in Seattle.
"They've been here a long time, and generally have a good safety record," he said.
There are a number of ways the explosion could have been sparked, including static electricity or some type of radio device or a cell phone in the area, Phillips told The Olympian (http://is.gd/4VZvMM ).
"It's explosives -- it's fireworks -- there are some hazards involved," he said.
There have not been any complaints or incidents to trigger a safety inspection at the company during the past nine years, Labor and Industries spokeswoman Elaine Fischer said.
"This is the first incident in decades of a workplace death related to fireworks," she said.
"We are a small company where everyone works together -- it's like a family," Julian said in his statement. "When something like this happens, it is devastating. We have been in business more than 16 years and nothing like this has ever happened as safety is our number one priority and we pride ourselves on our highly qualified staff."
On its website, Entertainment Fireworks says it's the largest fireworks company based in Washington.
Mark Rorvic, 54, who lives across the street, told The Olympian he awoke to the sound of the explosions.
"All of a sudden, all hell broke loose, and it was boom, boom, boom, boom," he said. "Horrific — it's the only way I could say it."
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Thousands of protesters descended on BBC’s London headquarters on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Facebook page)
Approximately 5,000 protesters brought the roads around the BBC’s London headquarters to a standstill on 15 July, forcing the news organization to confront its one-sided coverage of Israel’s current assault on Gaza.
As the protesters shouted “BBC, shame on you,” Hugh Lanning, Chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), handed in a letter to the BBC’s Director General, Tony Hall. The letter calls on the BBC to reflect the reality of Gaza’s occupation and siege in its reporting. The open letter had been signed by 45,000 people in under a week. Signatories include scholar Noam Chomsky, filmmaker John Pilger, film director Ken Loach, musician Brian Eno, journalist Owen Jones and comedian and filmmaker Jeremy Hardy.
Protesters held up placards bearing statements from the letter, including: “We would like to remind the BBC that Gaza has no army, air force or navy” and “The BBC’s reporting of Israel’s assaults on Gaza is entirely devoid of context or background.” Speakers from organizations including Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, Friends of Al Aqsa and Stop the War addressed the crowds.
As BBC employees watched from the top of their building, some recording the protest on mobile phones and tweeting out the footage, Lanning told the protestors: “There are lies, there are damned lies, and then there’s the BBC. Come on BBC, tell the truth — it’s the occupation, stupid.”
“Have we been biased at the BBC?”
Taking place on its doorstep, and with police having to guide out BBC staff who wanted to leave the building, it was a protest against its coverage that the BBC couldn’t ignore.
And the next day, the BBC’s flagship news program Today on Radio 4, ran a seven-minute segment asking, in the words of presenter Mishal Husain, “Are the protestors right? Have we been biased at the BBC in favor of Israel?”
It was an unprecedented segment — and maybe the first time the BBC has publicly held up a mirror to its reporting of the occupation.
Answering the question was Greg Philo, co-author of More Bad News from Israel, an in-depth study of the BBC and ITV’s (another British television network) coverage of Palestine, and professor of Communications and Social Change at Glasgow University.
Philo’s answers also broke new ground for the BBC. Uninterrupted, Philo was allowed to talk about subjects which normally appear to be taboo across the BBC’s output: Israel’s occupation, its siege of Gaza, the forced displacement of Palestinians in 1948, Israel’s “brutal apartheid” as he was allowed to describe it, and the illegality of Israel’s actions.
And, throughout, he emphasised the lack of the Palestinian viewpoint in BBC coverage in general.
Philo also praised those who had been at the demonstration, telling Husain: “I think actually the protesters are doing the BBC a favor. I think they will help the journalists to give a better perspective … I’ve had many senior journalists at the BBC saying they simply can’t get the Palestinian viewpoint across, that the perspective they can’t say is the Palestinian view that Israel is a brutal apartheid state.”
#BBCTruth4Gaza
Asked by Husain what picture is given by BBC reporting, Philo replied: “Well, the Palestinian perspective is just not there. The Israelis are on twice as much. But the Palestinian view and the historical analysis of the events is that they were displaced from their land, they are living under military rule.”
He added: “People don’t even understand that it’s a military occupation that Palestinians are subject to. They don’t know about the economic blockade, they don’t know about the consequences of that on Palestinian life.”
As Husain interrupted to argue that the BBC had carried “many reports from Gaza … reporting on the casualties, reporting from the morgues,” Philo came back to remind her that the underlying story was not being dealt with.
“The problem with the coverage is that it doesn’t refer to the history,” he said. “That [the Palestinians] lost their homes and lands, that the occupation and the way it is conducted is illegal, that they lose their water, that they had their lives, in effect, stolen from them … Even if the BBC can’t give the Palestinian view, it should at least respect international law. The BBC should be reporting the international judgements on things like the wall …”
Here, he was stopped as Husain brought in Jonathan Friedland, journalist with the Guardian and The Jewish Chronicle, who managed to speak for only a few seconds in the whole seven-minute segment.
Philo was given extraordinary free rein by an organization which has shown — over and over again — its averseness to the Palestinian experience.
His interview on Today followed not only the previous day’s protests, but a Twitter storm on 14 July, initiated by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, during which the hashtag #BBCTruth4Gaza trended at number one in the UK for three hours, and at number four worldwide.
National newspapers in the UK covered the BBC protests and the open letter in depth, with articles and photographs in the Guardian, Independent and Evening Standard.
Local protests have also taken place outside BBC studios around the country in the last six days, organized by local PSC branches, including Nottingham, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.
In More Bad News from Israel, Philo describes the backlash for BBC management from those who support Israel’s occupation whenever anything is published or broadcast that doesn’t accord with the Israeli viewpoint. He quotes a senior BBC editor telling him: “We wait in fear for the phone call from the Israelis.”
The hope is that this week’s protests in London and around the country — and a letter signed by 45,000 — will show the BBC that there is a massive groundswell of its audience who want it to report fully, accurately and honestly on the occupation, and desperately want its journalists to find the courage to do so.
Greg Philo’s interview with Mishal Husain can be heard here (starting from 2:39) until 23 July.
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Snoop's son, Cordell Broadus, just finished his freshman year of
high school, but the 6-foot-2, 185-pound wide receiver and
defensive back, already has a scholarship offer from UCLA to join
the program in 2015 (via
LarryBrownSports.com).
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Pyrazinamide and pyrazinoic acid activity against tubercle bacilli in cultured human macrophages and in the BACTEC system.
Pyrazinamide (PZA) has become an essential component of current 6-month regimens for therapy of tuberculosis. Susceptible strains of tubercle bacilli convert PZA to pyrazinoic acid (POA) through pyrazinamidase (PZase), which resistant strains and Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin lack. PZA susceptibility results obtained in cultured human macrophages were compared with those in the broth BACTEC system with 7H12 medium at pH 6.0 for strains known to be PZase-positive or -negative. Although added POA was unable to inhibit tubercle bacilli in cultured macrophages, it was able to inhibit them at very high concentrations in the BACTEC broth. Intracellularly formed POA would not be able to escape from the macrophage, and therefore would accumulate sufficiently to lower pH to toxic levels for tubercle bacilli. The results suggest that the cultured macrophages contribute actively or passively to the effectiveness of PZA, such as through the proposed mechanism of low pH generated by PZase in the phagolysosomes.
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Expression of emmprin by oral squamous cell carcinoma.
A transmembrane glycoprotein recently identified on some tumor cells, extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN), has been shown to induce metalloproteinase (MMP) production by peritumor fibroblasts (PTF). We examined biopsy specimens of normal human oral mucosa and oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) for expression of EMMPRIN. In normal mucosa, EMMPRIN was expressed at the cell membrane throughout the epithelium with a slight enhancement along the basal cell layer. In oral SCC, EMMPRIN was expressed at the cell membrane throughout the entire lesion. Immunofluorescence microscopy localized EMMPRIN to the cell membrane in a highly invasive oral SCC cell line in agreement with our in vivo observations. Function-blocking antibodies to EMMPRIN significantly inhibited oral SCC cell migration on tenascin-C (TN-C) and fibronectin as well as invasion through a reconstituted basement membrane (RBM). We previously showed that soluble factors from SCC cells and PTF are required for deposition of a TN-C matrix. To determine whether EMMPRIN may modulate the release or expression of these soluble factors, we again used function-blocking antibodies. Antibodies to EMMPRIN completely inhibited the organization of TN-C matrices and partially reduced the deposition of FN matrices by oral SCC cell /PTF co-cultures. In addition, antibodies to EMMPRIN perturbed the expression of MMP-2. Moreover, antibodies to MMP-2 perturbed oral SCC cell invasion of an RBM by approx. 75%. Our results demonstrate that EMMPRIN is highly expressed in oral SCC, facilitates tumor cell motility, and mediates TN-C matrix deposition. Taken together, these results suggest that EMMPRIN may help regulate oral squamous cell carcinoma invasion.
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Caravan Carnivale
Episode Eighteen
It's a Rigged System
10
OCT/16
Returning to Nyburn’s workshop after one last pass through Hexum’s manor, the party delivered the Logic Engine. Nyburn was confounded by what he saw – an amalgam of his own work and that of other prominent tinkerers and engineers. Recognizing that the device in front of him would more than satisfy his Ebregoi investors, but unwilling to unethically profit from the work of his compatriots without their partnership, he asked the party to sail on ahead to Ebregos as messengers on his behalf.
During the week-long voyage, the party checked back in with the Caravan, interrogating Melchiore – now able to animate the wooden body of the Sir Egg doll he’d been transferred to – though not reaching any real satisfying results. Lusus made friends with the sailing crew, and learned a bit about Ebregoi current affairs.
Arriving, the party sought out the patrician family who’d invested in Nyburn’s invention. After a snotty encounter with the villa’s chamberlain, the lord of the house happened by and began conversation in earnest with the party. After discovering him to be a pretty cool guy, Alsahiir risked exposing his identity – a revelation that was met favorably and resulted in the party learning the story of Ebregos’ descent into organized crime and dictatorship under the corrupt Prince Asad abn-Aldhib.
Upon mentioning the Caravan Carnivale, the nobleman displayed curious surprise, revealing that a package had arrived just days prior addressed to the Caravan. The party opened the box to discover the severed and slightly dessicated head of Victol Bayar, along with a greeting card containing the message “Thinking of You”.
The head held a plastic ring between its lips, tied to a string that pulled on a spring-wound recording drum. The recording appeared to present the Provost hectoring an unknown listener about their lack of significance – deduction led the party to understand that the person being spoken to was Erich Schreiner. Another pull of the string produced a different recording – this one pointed directly at the party and serving as an invitation to enter the Akademion as guests.
The party endeavored to work towards undermining the Ebregoi government; first by planting rumors in the local populace about the return of Alsahiir, and the possibility that he is not the traitor that twenty years of propaganda have labeled him as. Lusus joined a local crime syndicate as an enforcer in order to infiltrate. Finally, the party discussed options with like-minded nobles keen on deposing Prince Asad, and it was decided that the next step would be to investigate and hopefully liberate Princess Zamarrid, sequestered in the Queen’s Palace in the countryside – and rumored long dead among the noble courtesans.
Also, Lolth reached out to her father, which ended just as badly as it always does.
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Treatment of viral hepatitis in children.
Hepatitis B and hepatitis C are important causes of chronic liver disease in children and adolescents, and later on for potential cirrhosis and primary hepatocellular carcinoma. The risk of developing chronic hepatitis B (HB) infection ranges from 90% in neonates to <5% in adults. Hepatitis C induces chronic infection in at least 85% of affected persons. HBV and HCV associated liver damage appears to be less severe in children than in adults. At the present time, lamivudine and a combination of interferon and lamivudine seem to be the best options for HB infection treatment in the pediatric population, even though they induce the presence of drug-resistant mutations, and new therapies have to be developed to improve reduction and cessation of viral replication and decrease the emergence of mutations. Therapy with interferon and ribavirin seems to offer the best results for children and adolescents. Results from a study on pegylated interferon in a pediatric population might lead to better therapeutic responses. Cost of treatment for chronic viral hepatitis is very high and efforts have to continue to extend hepatitis B vaccination to the general population worldwide to reduce vertical and horizontal transmission of hepatitis C.
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The German has so far five wins to 10 by Hamilton
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel started the year with a bang. There were back-to-back wins in Australia and Bahrain. However, there was a dip following collision at China GP with Red Bull's Max Verstappen and another crash in Germany - the race which Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton clinched and repeated the act in Hungary, Italy, Singapore, Russia, Japan and Brazil to slam the door shut on Vettel's title hopes.
Vettel has so far five wins to 10 by Hamilton. Mercedes car has proven to be faster on straight lines and turns too, giving Hamilton the edge over Vettel in most of the races. But come 2019, the German wants Ferrari to offer a better product.
"We need a stronger package. We certainly have had our moments this year when we had strong races but we also had races which weren't very strong and weren't quick enough. So I think overall it's the speed that decides and I think more often than not I think we're lacking a little bit of speed. I think we're working very hard and I think the motivation is there to do that final step that is still outstanding."
However, there is unfinished business with Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Vettel and Hamilton are the most successful drivers at the circuit with three wins. Now Vettel is hoping to enter 2019 season with a consolidation victory in Abu Dhabi.
"Certainly after a season with highs but also with lows I think it would great to finish on a high."
Meanwhile, his teammate Kimi Raikkonen is off to Sauber and Charles Leclerc will be new man at Ferrari. And Vettel said both the drivers are poles apart.
"They're two different things. I tried to beat Kimi and he tried to beat me. I think it doesn't matter who you are racing in the team, you always try to win and that means you also beat whoever is driving with you in the same team, so I don't think that changes. Obviously Charles is different to Kimi so we will see how it goes but I think he's a good kid. Obviously the team knows him very well for a while now, since he's grown in the Ferrari Drivers Academy. I am happy for him and then we'll see how it works out."
When asked what Vettel will miss about Raikkonen next year, he just nailed it with his reply: "Silence."
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Q:
Sorting rows in the following unique manner (values for columns can be interchanged within the same row, to sort the row)
Input Data frame:
1. 0th col 1st_col 2nd_col
2. 23 46 6
3. 33 56 3
4. 243 2 21
The output data frame should be like:
Index
1. 0th col 1st_col 2nd_col
2. 6 23 46
3. 3 33 56
4. 2 21 243
The rows have to be sorted in ascending or descending order, Independent of columns, Means values for columns can be interchanged within the same row, to sort the row. Sorting rows in the following unique manner.
Please Help, I am in the middle of something very important.
A:
Convert DataFrame to numpy array and sort by np.sort with axis=1, then create DataFrame by constructor:
df1 = pd.DataFrame(np.sort(df.to_numpy(), axis=1),
index=df.index,
columns=df.columns)
print (df1)
0th col 1st_col 2nd_col
1 6 23 46
2 3 33 56
3 2 21 243
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Development
===========
Getting started
---------------
**cx_Freeze** is a volunteer maintained open source project and we welcome
contributions of all forms. The sections below will help you get started with
development, testing, and documentation. We’re pleased that you are interested
in working on cx_Freeze. This document is meant to get you setup to work on
cx_Freeze and to act as a guide and reference to the development setup.
If you face any issues during this process, please open an issue about it on
the issue tracker.
Setup
-----
The source code can be found on `Github <https://github.com/marcelotduarte/cx_Freeze>`_.
You can use ``git`` to clone the repository:
.. code-block:: console
git clone https://github.com/marcelotduarte/cx_Freeze
cd cx_Freeze
Building documentation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
cx_Freeze's documentation is built using :pypi:`Sphinx`. The documentation is
written in reStructuredText. To build it locally, run:
.. code-block:: console
make -C doc
The built documentation can be found in the ``doc/build/html`` folder and may
be viewed by opening ``index.html`` within that folder.
.. code-block:: console
firefox doc/build/html/index.html
Contributing
-------------
Submitting pull requests
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Submit pull requests against the ``master`` branch, providing a good
description of what you're doing and why. You must have legal permission to
distribute any code you contribute to cx_Freeze and it must be available under
the PSF License.
Any pull request must consider and work on the supported platforms.
Pull Requests should be small to facilitate review. Keep them self-contained,
and limited in scope. `Studies have shown
<https://www.kessler.de/prd/smartbear/BestPracticesForPeerCodeReview.pdf>`_
that review quality falls off as patch size grows. Sometimes this will result
in many small PRs to land a single large feature. In particular, pull requests
must not be treated as "feature branches", with ongoing development work
happening within the PR. Instead, the feature should be broken up into smaller,
independent parts which can be reviewed and merged individually.
Additionally, avoid including "cosmetic" changes to code that is unrelated to
your change, as these make reviewing the PR more difficult. Examples include
re-flowing text in comments or documentation, or addition or removal of blank
lines or whitespace within lines. Such changes can be made separately, as a
"formatting cleanup" PR, if needed.
Contents:
.. toctree::
:maxdepth: 2
code_layout.rst
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Mica-associated pulmonary interstitial fibrosis.
We present the clinical and biopsy findings of a 63-yr-old white male with interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and a long history of extensive exposure to mica while working in the rubber industry. The patient presented 30 yr after the initial exposure with complaints of progressive shortness of breath and a chronic nonproductive cough. Pulmonary function testing revealed restrictive lung function with a mild reduction in the total lung capacity (80% of predicted) and a moderate-to-severe reduction in the diffusing capacity of carbon monoxide (50% of predicted). The chest radiogram and high-resolution chest CT scan showed diffuse fibrosis and focal honeycombing involving the upper and lower lung zones bilaterally. Bronchoalveolar lavage revealed 20% neutrophils in the lavage fluid with abundant rectangular flaking crystals. Open-lung biopsy exhibited extensive fibrosis and architectural remodeling with abundant sheets and fragments of engulfed polarizable crystalline material. Energy-dispersive spectroscopy and electron diffraction studies confirmed the material to have the features of mica. Asbestos and other silicates were not identified. The documentation of prolonged exposure to mica, the clinical and radiographic features of severe interstitial fibrosis, and the histopathologic delineation of the interstitial lesion, including spectroscopic and crystallographic verification of crystalline mica, support the causal relationship between mica and interstitial fibrosis.
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Isabel left. Relief. One less person to be afraid of backstabbing him. Now, just Maria remained.
But. Clarice wanted to go to the bell tower to expand their group. Bad idea. More people meant more people meant more people meant more killers.
Conrad followed Clarice to their destination by sprinting to her to catch up.
"That's a good idea. We could use the bell to find the people we search for. Like Scout."
However, Maria was right. People with guns could come. Guns. They had nothing to defend themselves against guns. Maria's realistic. Maybe Maria's too afraid of the idea of the bell tower, that she leaves them. Then, it would be just him and Clarice. Then, there would be no strangers.
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211 B.R. 899 (1997)
In re Scott A. HARTMAN and Tamara L. Hartman, Debtors.
Bankruptcy No. 96-83249.
United States Bankruptcy Court, C.D. Illinois.
August 20, 1997.
Gary T. Rafool, Peoria, IL, Chapter 7 Trustee.
James S. Brannon, Peoria, IL, for debtors.
OPINION
WILLIAM V. ALTENBERGER, Chief Judge.
Before the Court is the Chapter 7 Trustee's objection to the Debtors' claim of homestead exemption.
*900 Prior to her marriage to Scott Hartman, Tamara Hartman purchased a home which she mortgaged. When she married Scott Hartman, he signed the mortgage note. From the time of their marriage, payments on the mortgage note were made from a joint checking account. For a time before and after their child was born, the sole source of the mortgage payments was the earnings of Scott Hartman. The terms of the mortgage note required that the mortgage debt be rewritten in November, 1997, and the Debtors planned to put title to the house in both their names at that time.
On October 24, 1996, the Debtors filed a Chapter 7 petition in bankruptcy. Title to the home remained solely in Tamara Hartman's name. The Debtors each claimed a $7,500.00 homestead exemption. The Trustee objected to the homestead exemption claimed by Scott Hartman, asserting that only Tamara Hartman was entitled to claim a homestead exemption of $7,500.00. A hearing was held and the parties stipulated to the facts and submitted briefs. Both sides have cited Illinois bankruptcy court decisions in support of their positions.
At issue in this case is the interpretation of the Illinois statute governing homestead exemptions, which provides, in relevant part:
Every individual is entitled to an estate of homestead to the extent in value of $7,500 of his or her interest in a farm or lot of land and buildings thereon, a condominium, or personal property, owned or rightly possessed by lease or otherwise and occupied by him or her as a residence. . . .
735 ILCS 5/12-901.
The statute has two requirements. Taken in reverse order, the first is that the property must be occupied by the party claiming the exemption. In the case before this Court, Mr. Hartman was doing so. The second is that the party claiming the exemption must either "own" or "rightly possess by lease or otherwise" the property. In the case before this Court, as Mr. Hartman has no title to the property he cannot be said to be an owner, nor was a lease involved. The issue is whether he otherwise rightly possessed the property, within the meaning of the statute, which would entitle him to claim an exemption.
The Debtors rely principally upon Matter of Reuter, 56 B.R. 39 (Bkrtcy.N.D.Ill.1985). In that case, the bankruptcy court held that the spouse of a titled owner of the marital residence was also entitled to claim a homestead exemption. Reaching this conclusion, the bankruptcy court stated:
Illinois courts have consistently interpreted the phrase, "owned or rightly possessed by lease or otherwise", to mean that the debtor had to possess title or some ownership interest in the property. Sterling Savings and Loan Association v. Schultz, 71 Ill.App.2d 94, 111-13, 218 N.E.2d 53, 62-63 (1966); DeMartini v. DeMartini, 385 Ill. 128, 136, 52 N.E.2d 138, 142 (1944). One must have some right in the property for a homestead exemption. See Rice v. United Mercantile Agencies, 395 Ill. 512, 515, 70 N.E.2d 618, 620 (1947). The Illinois Supreme Court has determined that the right in the property may be acquired through marriage by stating:
[T]he title must be either in the owner of the homestead right, or in one who sustains or has sustained some special relation to such owner,. . . . The relations here alluded to are, of course, that of husband and wife and parent and child. With respect to the former, it is unimportant whether the title to the homestead premises is in the husband or in the wife. Whether in the one or the other, the holder of the title cannot wrongfully deprive the other of the enjoyment of the homestead premises.
Rendleman v. Rendleman, 118 Ill. 257, 264, 8 N.E. 773, 776 (1886).
The Illinois Homestead exemption provision (Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 110, § 12-901), when read in conjunction with the Rights of Married Women Act (Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 40, § 1016) and the Release of Homestead Act *901 (Ill.Rev.Stat. ch 30, § 26), provides a spouse the right to claim an exemption for the marital home without having legal title. The Rights of Married Women Act provides in pertinent part:
Neither the husband nor wife can remove the other or their children from their homestead without the consent of the other, unless the owner of the property shall, in good faith, provide another homestead suitable to the condition in life of the family; . . .
Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 40, § 1016 (1984) (emphasis added). A spouse, by his or her marriage and residence in a homestead, acquires a right to occupy the homestead. The other spouse is unable to unilaterally alienate that right. Historical and Practice Notes to Ill.Ann.Stat. ch. 40, § 1016 (Smith-Hurd 1984).
In addition, the Release of Homestead Act provides:
No deed or other instrument shall be construed as releasing or waiving the right of homestead, unless the same shall contain a clause expressly releasing or waiving such right. And no release or waiver of the right of homestead by the husband or wife shall bind the other spouse unless such other spouse joins in such release or waiver.
Ill.Rev. Stat. ch. 30, § 26 (1984).
It is clear that for the duration of Mr. and Mrs. Reuter's marriage, Mrs. Reuter would be unable to sell the house without complying with the quoted provisions of the Rights of Married Women Act and the Release of Homestead Act. Therefore, Mr. Reuter has a homestead right in this marital residence without any title to the Property.
The Illinois legislature's strict preservation of the homestead right as evidenced by the foregoing statutes buttresses the court's conclusion that the "otherwise" in the term "owned or rightly possessed by lease or otherwise" in the provision of the homestead exemption statute is Mr. Reuter's right to occupy the homestead by his marriage to Mrs. Reuter.
Marriage grants additional privileges to Mr. Reuter. For the duration of their marriage, Mr. Reuter has a non-vested future interest in the residence. If Mrs. Reuter were to predecease him and die intestate while they were still married, he would have an interest in one half of her estate including the Property. See Ill.Rev. Stat. ch. 110½, § 2-1(a) (1984). If Mrs. Reuter died testate and Mr. Reuter renounced her will, he would again have an interest in one third of her estate, including the Property. See Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 110½, § 2-8(a) (1984).
This court's reading of the statute is consistent with the intent of the Illinois legislature to expand the Illinois exemptions. See In re Marriage of Logston, 103 Ill.2d 266, 280-81, 82 Ill.Dec. 633, 635, 638-39, 469 N.E.2d 167, 169, 172-75 (1984); Comment, Bankruptcy Exemptions: Whether Illinois' Use of the Federal "Opt-Out" Provisions is Constitutional, 1981 S.Ill.U.L.J.65, 69 (1981). The goal of the homestead exemption is to shelter the family and allow the debtor a chance to regain his footing. Dixon v. Moller, 42 Ill.App.3d 688, 691, 1 Ill.Dec. 411, 415, 356 N.E.2d 599, 603 (1976). The spirit of the Illinois Exemption statutes should not be frustrated because Harold Reuter does not have any title to the Property. See In re Farnik, 17 B.R. 856, 858 (Bkrtcy.N.D.Ill.1982).
In In re Miller, 174 B.R. 279 (Bkrtcy.N.D.Ill. 1994), decided by the same bankruptcy judge, the court reaffirmed its earlier ruling in Reuter, limiting the special right to claim a homestead exemption in property, where one does not have a titled interest, to spouses.
The Trustee relies upon a contrary result reached by fellow Central District of Illinois Bankruptcy Judge Lessen in In re Owen, 74 B.R. 697 (Bkrtcy.C.D.Ill.1987). Holding that the debtor was not entitled to a homestead exemption in the residence solely owned by his co-debtor wife, the court stated:
The statute clearly establishes that homestead is an estate, and that the individual *902 entitled to the estate must either own the property to which the estate attaches, or rightly possess the property by lease or otherwise. Either ownership or possession through a lease gives an individual an estate in the property. Here, Roger Owen has no ownership interest or leasehold interest in the property to which the estate may attach. His sole claim to entitlement of a $7,500 homestead exemption is that he lived in the home with his wife, who was the sole titleholder.
In Jones v. Kilfether, 12 Ill.App.2d 390, 139 N.E.2d 801 (1956), a husband who lived with his wife claimed a homestead right in premises owned by his wife and her brother as tenants in common, based upon his mere occupancy of the premises. The court held:
[S]ince, under the rule heretofore enunciated, the right of homestead can have no separate existence independently of the title which constitutes one of its essential elements and from which it is inseparable, he has no right of homestead. . . .
Id. at 396, 397, 139 N.E.2d 801. Similarly, in Sterling Savings & Loan Association v. Schultz, 71 Ill.App.2d 94, 218 N.E.2d 53 (1966) the court stated:
The right of homestead being by our present statute enlarged into an estate, it follows that like all other estates, it can have no separate existence apart from the title on which it depends. We have held that the estate of homestead created by the statute is based upon the title of the householder, and can have no separate existence independently of the title, which constitutes one of its essential elements, and from which it is inseparable.
Id. at 112, 218 N.E.2d 53, citing DeMartini v. DeMartini, 385 Ill. 128, 52 N.E.2d 138 (1944). Since Roger Owen had no title, he has no homestead under the Illinois exemption statute.
The Debtors cite Willard v. Northwest National Bank of Chicago, 137 Ill.App.3d 255, 92 Ill.Dec. 92, 484 N.E.2d 823 (1985) for the proposition that an untitled spouse does have a homestead interest. In Willard, the husband, sole titleholder of the residence where he and his wife lived, conveyed his residence into a land trust and assigned his beneficial interest as security for a loan. His wife signed none of the documents involved. He defaulted on the loan and the property was sold. The court found that the wife did have a homestead "right", stating:
While it is probably true that William is the "householder" to whom the estate runs (citations omitted) it does not follow that Pauline had no right. The Homestead Exemption benefits not just the householder, but the family, and affords the householder's spouse a veto-like power where alienation or encumbrance of the homestead are concerned.
Id. 71 Ill.App.2d at 97, 218 N.E.2d 53. However, while the wife in Willard had a right to be protected where the husband conveyed his homestead without her consent, nothing in the case indicates she was entitled to receive a separate homestead exemption. Rather, the court states, "it appears that the conveyance into trust was ineffective to transfer the Willards' homestead interest. . . ." The language is singular, indicating only one homestead interest existed, based upon the husband's title. The wife merely has a right to keep the husband from conveying away both his property and his homestead interest without her consent. She has a right to the benefit of the exemption owned by the husband for the family's protection. The court found that the husband and wife might be entitled to a setoff for the amount of the exemption, or possibly a declaration that the sale was void. But, there is no indication there would be two separate $7,500 exemptions. Rather, the court's language leads to the conclusion there is only one interest, for the benefit of the family, that the titled spouse cannot convey without the other spouse's consent.
For the foregoing reasons, the Court concludes that the number of exemptions *903 available is to be determined by the number of individuals in title who qualify for the homestead estate. . . .
See also In re Donnelly, (unpublished Case No. 95 B 50476, Bkrtcy.N.D.Ill. September 13, 1996.)
This Court begins its analysis of the issue by first noting that reliance upon early Illinois cases interpreting the homestead exemption must be circumspect. Prior to its amendment in 1982, the Illinois exemption statute provided a single exemption for "every householder having a family". Under the current provision, found in § 12-901 of the Code of Civil Procedure, both a husband and a wife are permitted to claim an exemption. 735 ILCS 5/12-901. However, other sections of the statute dealing with the homestead exemption were not amended and difficult questions of construction have arisen.
In First National Bank of Moline v. Mohr, 162 Ill.App.3d 584, 114 Ill.Dec. 85, 515 N.E.2d 1356 (3d Dist.1987), an early case interpreting the 1982 amendment to § 12-901 of the Code of Civil Procedure, in holding that both titled husband and wife were entitled to a $7,500.00 homestead exemption, the court noted the inconsistencies in the act created by the amendment to § 12-901, and Justice Heiple, in a concurring opinion, stated:
The statute provides that every individual is entitled to an estate of homestead of $7,500, in property, owned or rightly possessed by lease or otherwise. The effect of this statute is to permit an unlimited number of homestead estates in a single piece of property. Thus, a family unit consisting of a husband and wife with eight children could conceivably claim a $75,000 homestead in the residence occupied by the family. Moreover, no kinship appears to be required. A commune of hippies might claim the same right. Palatable or not, that is what the law allows.
That the legislature fully considered the implications of their change in the law is doubtful. It is not, however, a function of the courts to rewrite the statute. It is a statute, however, which the legislature may want to reconsider and of which, in the meantime, creditors must beware.
After careful consideration of the divergent and conflicting views expressed in Reuter and Owen, this Court has decided to follow Judge Lessen's decision in Owen. It is a fundamental tenet of the law of exemptions that the debtor must have an ownership interest in the property before an exemption may be claimed. In re Ferguson, 15 B.R. 439 (Bkrtcy.D.Colo.1981); In re Cunningham, 5 B.R. 709 (Bkrtcy.D.Mass.1980). A long line of Illinois cases has required that a debtor have title or some ownership interest in property in order to claim a homestead exemption. Owen, supra; In re Morris, 115 B.R. 626 (Bkrtcy.S.D.Ill.1990). Other courts deciding the issue under the federal exemption scheme have held that the key word is "interest" and that an interest in real property up to a specified amount implies a monetary interest more than just one spouse's right to reside with the other. Matter of Freund, 32 B.R. 622 (Bkrtcy.W.D.Wisc.1983).
The court in Reuter strongly relies on Rendleman v. Rendleman, 118 Ill. 257, 264, 8 N.E. 773, 776 (1886). The difficulty with relying on Rendleman is that it is a case decided over 100 years ago interpreting a homestead statute which has subsequently been amended and the result is based on the right of dower in a deserted spouse, which right of dower has subsequently been abolished in the State of Illinois. Therefore, this Court does not interpret Rendleman as dictating a contrary result.
Rendleman was decided under the predecessor statute which provided that a "householder" was entitled to claim the exemption. In that case, the husband secretly sold his home to his brother and headed west, deserting his wife. The husband later obtained a divorce on the ground of adultery and the wife was awarded $575.00 "in full of all claims, rights of dower, or otherwise in [all] property" of the husband. The husband's brother brought an action of ejectment against the wife. The wife asserted the defenses *904 of homestead and dower. The court affirmed the trial court's entry of judgment in the brother's favor. Addressing the issue of homestead, the court held that when the husband deserted the wife she became the head of the family and entitled to claim a right of homestead. In so holding, the court stated:
This right of homestead is expressly declared by the legislature to be an estate in the lot of ground and buildings to which the right attaches. Like all other estates, it must be supported by a title. This title may be in fee, for life, or even for years, in the case of an extended term. In all cases the title must be either in the owner of the homestead right, or in one who sustains or has sustained some special relation to such owner, or in the asignee (sic) of one sustaining or having sustained such special relation to the owner. The relations here alluded to are, of course, that of husband and wife and parent and child. With respect to the former it is unimportant whether the title to the homestead premises is in the husband or in the wife. Whether in the one or the other, the holder of the title cannot wrongfully deprive the other of the enjoyment of the homestead premises. Thus it is expressly provided by the second section of the act relating to exemptions that, `in case the husband or wife shall desert his or her family, the exemption shall continue in favor of the one occupying the premises as a residence.'
The court found the outcome of the case to be governed by a provision of the Dower Act, which it set forth as:
If any husband or wife is divorced for the fault or misconduct of the other, except where the marriage was void from the beginning, he or she shall not thereby lose dower, nor the benefit of any such jointure; but, if such divorce shall be for his or her own fault or misconduct, such dower or jointure, and any estate granted by the laws of this state, in the real or personal estate of the other, shall be forfeited.
118 Ill. at 263, 8 N.E. at 775. The court concluded that the wife's homestead right, acquired by reason of the husband's desertion, was forfeited upon dissolution of the marriage on the grounds of her adultery.
Thus, the non-owner wife in Rendleman was not given an independent right to claim a separate homestead exemption by reason of the marriage relationship, but rather succeeded to that right under the specific statutory homestead provision involving desertion that remains on the books today in § 12-902 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The court's comments, set forth above, and relied upon by the court in Reuter, are, in this Court's view, explanatory of the rights afforded to a deserted spouse or children rather than creating a separate, independent right of homestead in them.
The court in Reuter also relies on the Rights of Married Women Act and the Release of Homestead Act to provide the basis for a nontitled spouse to claim an interest protected by the Homestead Act. The Rights of Married Women Act does not create an absolute right in a particular piece of property. A spouse can defeat a claim of homestead in an existing piece of property if another homestead is provided. As to the Release of Homestead Act, it does not create a right of homestead. It merely provides that if it exists, one spouse cannot release it for the other spouse. These statutory provisions are intended to limit the rights as between spouses and not to improve the rights of a nontitled spouse vis-a-vis third party creditors.
While it is difficult to quarrel with the basic fairness of the result reached by the court in Reuter, that result was reached by improperly relying on outdated authority and misconstruing the effect of several state statutes.
This Court's result is supported by action taken by the Illinois Legislature in 1994, apparently in response to Judge Heiple's concurring opinion in First National Bank of Moline v. Mohr, supra. In that year, § 12-901 of the Code of Civil Procedure was amended by adding the following sentence:
*905 If 2 or more individuals own property that is exempt as a homestead, the value of the exemption of each individual may not exceed his or her proportionate share of $15,000 based upon percentage of ownership.
The scant legislative history provides as follows:
Hoffman: . . . In addition, [House Bill 282] has a provision which has been put forward by the Community Bankers Organization regarding homestead exemption and clarifying language, clarifying it that we have only 75 . . . or that . . . clarifying that there is a limit of $15,000 for the homestead exemption regardless of the number of owners within the house. That is a clarification made necessary because of a recent court decision. . . .
Hoffman: "The provisions specifically provides that if two or more persons own property that is exempt as a homestead, the value of each personal exemption may not exceed his or her proportionate share of $15,000 based on the percentage of ownership. For instance, you and your wife own, with regard to the homestead exemption, own property, you would go in and sign up for $7,500 apiece. If you, your wife and your wife's sister lived with you and was ownership, you couldn't get $7,500 apiece. You would get $15,000 total. That's the intent of the original law but what has happened is, is there were some . . . there was a court case, a recent court case, that specifically said that they . . . that it was believed that the Legislature had to clear that provision up. So what it says, is that's $15,000 per household."
Wennlund: "Does this in any way reduce the amount of the homestead exemption that has existed prior to this date?"
Hoffman: "No, not at all."
88th Ill. Gen. Assem., House Proceedings (November 30, 1994). Both the amendment, adopted after all the cited judicial decisions, and the legislative history indicate ownership is a requirement to claim a homestead exemption.
To hold to the contrary would lead to another interpretation problem with an absurd result. The 1994 valuation amendment added to § 12-901 of the Civil Code of Procedure is based on ownership. If two or more individuals have an ownership interest the amendment would apply. If only one has an ownership interest, it would not. There is nothing in the legislative history to indicate, nor can this Court think of any reason that, the Illinois legislature intended such a result.
Therefore, notwithstanding the liberal construction to be given exemption laws, for the reasons stated, this Court holds that the Trustee's objection to the claim of homestead exemption by Scott Hartman must be sustained.
This Opinion is to serve as Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law pursuant to Rule 7052 of the Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.
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Q:
Is it possible to do a drush sql-sync of only certain tables?
I have 4 environments between my local, dev, staging, and production.
A large amount of content is published to the staging environment on a daily basis, so that is the center of my workflow. Once content is QA'ed in staging it is then sql-sync'ed to production. This works fine at the moment. However, we're now going to allow for user registration/user generated content. Is there a way to push these content updates with sql-sync and never overwrite certain tables? Even more specifically, is there something I can place in drushrc.php that will always skip a list of tables across all environments?
A:
YES
If you know which tables you want to transfer
--tables-list
A comma-separated list of tables to transfer. Optional.
If you know which tables you want to skip
--skip-tables-list
A comma-separated list of tables to exclude completely. Optional.
And here is how I know this:
$ drush help sql-sync
Copy and import source database to target database. Transfers via rsync.
Examples:
drush sql-sync @prod @dev Copy the DB defined in sites/prod to the DB in sites/dev.
Arguments:
from Name of subdirectory within /sites or a site-alias.
to Name of subdirectory within /sites or a site-alias.
Options:
--cache Skip dump if result file exists and is less than "cache" hours old. Optional; default is 24 hours.
--create-db Create a new database before importing the database dump on the target machine.
--db-su= Account to use when creating a new database. Optional.
--db-su-pw= Password for the "db-su" account. Optional.
--dump-dir Directory to store sql dump files in when --source-dump or --target-dump are not used. Takes precedence over --temp.
--no-cache Do not cache the sql-dump file.
--no-dump Do not dump the sql database; always use an existing dump file.
--no-ordered-dump Do not pass --ordered-dump to sql-dump. sql-sync orders the dumpfile by default in order to increase the efficiency of rsync.
--sanitize Obscure email addresses and reset passwords in the user table post-sync. Optional.
--sanitize-password The password to assign to all accounts in the sanitization operation, or "no" to keep passwords unchanged. Default is "password".
--sanitize-email The pattern for test email addresses in the sanitization operation, or "no" to keep email addresses unchanged. May contain replacement patterns %uid,
%mail or %name. Default is "user+%uid@localhost".
--confirm-sanitizations Prompt yes/no after importing the database, but before running the sanitizations
--skip-tables-key A key in the $skip_tables array. @see example.drushrc.php. Optional.
--skip-tables-list A comma-separated list of tables to exclude completely. Optional.
--source-database A key in the $db_url (D6) or $databases (D7+) array which provides the data.
--source-db-url Database specification for source system to dump from.
--source-dump Path to dump file. Optional; default is to create a temporary file.
--source-remote-host Remote machine to run sql-dump file on. Optional; default is local machine.
--source-remote-port Override sql database port number in source-db-url. Optional.
--structure-tables-key A key in the $structure_tables array. @see example.drushrc.php. Optional.
--structure-tables-list A comma-separated list of tables to include for structure, but not data. Optional.
--tables-key A key in the $tables array. Optional.
--tables-list A comma-separated list of tables to transfer. Optional.
--target-database A key in the $db_url (D6) or $databases (D7+) array which shall receive the data.
--target-db-url
--target-dump
--target-remote-host
--target-remote-port
--temp Use a temporary file to hold dump files. Implies --no-cache.
A:
Perhaps --skip-tables-list is of interest to you. drush help COMMAND is your friend. You can set a global option in a drush.rc file to make this option hardcoded for every sql-sync for certain Site Aliases if you want. Because heaven forbid you sql-sync and forget to skip tables on some Friday at 5pm :(.
drush help sql-sync
Copy and import source database to target database. Transfers via rsync.
Examples:
drush sql-sync @prod @dev Copy the DB defined in sites/prod to the DB in sites/dev.
Arguments:
from Name of subdirectory within /sites or a site-alias.
to Name of subdirectory within /sites or a site-alias.
Options:
--cache Skip dump if result file exists and is less than "cache" hours old. Optional; default is 24 hours.
--create-db Create a new database before importing the database dump on the target machine.
--db-su= Account to use when creating a new database. Optional.
--db-su-pw= Password for the "db-su" account. Optional.
--dump-dir Directory to store sql dump files in when --source-dump or --target-dump are not used.
--no-cache Do not cache the sql-dump file.
--no-dump Do not dump the sql database; always use an existing dump file.
--no-ordered-dump Do not pass --ordered-dump to sql-dump. sql-sync orders the dumpfile by default in order to increase the efficiency of
rsync.
--sanitize Obscure email addresses and reset passwords in the user table post-sync. Optional.
--sanitize-password The password to assign to all accounts in the sanitization operation, or "no" to keep passwords unchanged. Default is
"password".
--sanitize-email The pattern for test email addresses in the sanitization operation, or "no" to keep email addresses unchanged. May contain
replacement patterns %uid, %mail or %name. Default is "user+%uid@localhost".
--confirm-sanitizations Prompt yes/no after importing the database, but before running the sanitizations
--skip-tables-key A key in the $skip_tables array. @see example.drushrc.php. Optional.
--skip-tables-list A comma-separated list of tables to exclude completely. Optional.
--source-database A key in the $db_url (D6) or $databases (D7+) array which provides the data.
--source-db-url Database specification for source system to dump from.
--source-dump Path to dump file. Optional; default is to create a temporary file.
--source-remote-host Remote machine to run sql-dump file on. Optional; default is local machine.
--source-remote-port Override sql database port number in source-db-url. Optional.
--structure-tables-key A key in the $structure_tables array. @see example.drushrc.php. Optional.
--structure-tables-list A comma-separated list of tables to include for structure, but not data. Optional.
--tables-key A key in the $tables array. Optional.
--tables-list A comma-separated list of tables to transfer. Optional.
--target-database A key in the $db_url (D6) or $databases (D7+) array which shall receive the data.
--target-db-url
--target-dump
--target-remote-host
--target-remote-port
--temp Use a temporary file to hold dump files. Implies --no-cache.
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va., June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Keeping your teeth brushed and flossed can cut down on gum disease, drastically reducing risk of heart attack and stroke, dentists have warned for years. Now researchers at West Virginia University have found a clean mouth may also help preserve memory.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $1.3 million grant over four years to further build on studies linking gum disease and mild to moderate memory loss.
"Older people might want to know there's more reason to keep their mouths clean -- to brush and floss -- than ever," said Richard Crout, D.M.D., Ph.D., an expert on gum disease and associate dean for research in the WVU School of Dentistry. "You'll not only be more likely to keep your teeth, but you'll also reduce your risk of heart attack, stroke and memory loss."
Crout will share the grant with gerontologist Bei Wu, Ph.D., formerly of WVU and now a researcher at the University of North Carolina; Brenda L. Plassman, Ph.D., of Duke University, a nationally recognized scientist in the field of memory research; and Jersey Liang, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Michigan. Wu is the principal investigator.
The team will look at health records over many years of several thousand Americans.
"This could have great implications for health of our aging populations," Crout said. "With rates of Alzheimer's skyrocketing, imagine the benefits of knowing that keeping the mouth free of infection could cut down on cases of dementia."
The research builds on an ongoing study of West Virginians aged 70 and older. Working with the WVU School of Medicine, School of Dentistry researchers have given oral exams and memory tests to 270 elderly people in more than a dozen West Virginia counties.
Funded by a $419,000 two-year grant, they've discovered that about 23 percent of the group suffers from mild to moderate memory loss.
A blood draw is also part of the study for research subjects who agree.
"If you have a gum infection, you'll have an increased level of inflammatory byproducts," Crout explained. "We're looking for markers in the blood that show inflammation to see if there is a link to memory problems. We'd like to go full circle and do an intervention -- to clean up some of the problems in the mouth and then see if the inflammatory markers go down."
Researchers don't yet understand whether microorganisms in the mouth create health problems or whether the body's inflammatory response is to blame. It may be a combination of both. Researchers also don't know much about mild to moderate memory loss, even though the connection between severe dementia and gum disease is well-known, Crout said.
In the future, dentists may routinely administer memory tests to their older patients, he said.
"A dentist may see a longtime, older patient with an area of the mouth that's showing signs of inflammation because of not being properly cleaned daily," Crout said. "Many times we as clinicians, however, don't think of this as due to a memory problem. The patient may not be flossing or brushing properly as we have instructed they should. But this research indicates that the problem may be due to memory loss as opposed to noncompliance."
(Date:12/9/2016)... 2016 Research and Markets has announced ... report to their offering. ... The report forecasts the global optical transceiver market to ... The report covers the present scenario and the growth ... the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the ...
(Date:12/9/2016)... Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIFE ), a biotherapeutics company engaged ... rare diseases, today announced that senior management will participate in a ... at the InterContinental Barclay Hotel in New York City ... About aTyr Pharma ... aTyr Pharma is engaged in the discovery ...
(Date:12/9/2016)... 2016 Axovant Sciences Ltd. (NYSE: ... on the treatment of dementia, today announced a ... 2b trial evaluating treatment with intepirdine (RVT-101), combined ... plus placebo in people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer,s disease. ... to treatment was associated with reduced progression in ...
(Date:12/9/2016)... Harrisburg, PA (PRWEB) , ... December 09, 2016 ... ... concussion education program through the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) during the summer of ... Brain Injury Implementation Grant provided by the United States Department of Health and ...
(Date:12/8/2016)... ... December 08, 2016 , ... SunView Software aims ... employees that are both engaging and easy to use. Coming off the heels ... company revealed today its plans to roll out new AI-powered self-service enhancements to ...
(Date:12/8/2016)... Dallas, TX (PRWEB) , ... December 08, 2016 , ... ... to continue to be a convenient service for Texas, they are expanding their presence ... will involve a hiring spree that will bring new jobs to the Dallas and ...
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Government Bill - Second Reading (Debate to resume): Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2016 - moved by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Hon CHAN Kam-lam
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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Zero-base budgeting in the federal government: a case study.
The implementation of a zero-base budgeting system in Federal government agencies, instituted by President Carter in 1977, yielded quite different results, not only among the agencies but within specific departments as well. The experience of the Public Health Service with this budgeting process is documented and analyzed in this article. Though the individual PHS agencies generally felt that ZBB is a poor budgetary tool, the author's principal claims are that the technique was misused and that its application may well be inappropriate for the entire budget of a large political system. The result, according to Professor Herzlinger, was that those individuals who should have been the prime beneficiaries of the ZBB process were most disappointed by it.
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The invention relates to server-client architectures in medical imaging, and in particular to processing of medical image data in a network environment.
Computer networks allow peripheral devices, data and computing applications to be shared amongst a number of users. This allows centralized management of a computing environment, helps reduce unnecessary duplication of computer resources, and can aid collaboration between users. For example, in a hospital or similar environment, it is common for patient data, e.g. medical image data, to be stored in a central data store from where it may be retrieved and subsequently processed, analyzed, viewed etc. by users working at computer workstations at different locations in the hospital (or working remotely over an appropriate link). This approach avoids the need for data to be stored locally to each of the users who might require it. Accordingly, the overall storage requirement of the computing system is much reduced. Furthermore, because there is only a single active copy of the data (there may be back-up copies), the integrity of the data and access control are easier to manage. This can be especially important in medical imaging applications, for example, to help reduce the likelihood that a clinician looks at a tampered, incomplete or accidentally modified version of the patient's medical data, or that an unauthorized person gains access to at the patient's data.
There are a number of different ways in which computing resources (e.g. memory and processors) can be distributed among clients and servers in a computer network environment. One way (and the more traditional for medical imaging applications) is the so-called “thick” client architecture, and another way is the so called “thin” client architecture.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a thick-client computer network 2 used in a hospital for processing and viewing medical image data. The network 2 comprises a server computer (“server”) 4 and a series of (in this case four) client computer workstations (“clients”) 6a-d. The server 4 and clients 6a-d communicate via a network interconnection 8, in this case a conventional a local area network (LAN) interconnection is used.
The server 4 includes a data store 10 in which medical image data are stored. This may be the central data store of the hospital providing long-term storage for all data, or it may be a limited-time or limited-purpose data store for a specific department such as radiology. In either case, the data store makes data accessible to the network 2. The server 4 further includes a data loader (not shown) which is operable to retrieve data from the data store 10 and to supply it to the network interconnection 8 through a server network-interface.
The client workstations 6a-d are identical to each other and comprise a display 12a-d and a client computer 14a-d. Each client computer 14a-d includes a client (or “local”) processor 16a-d and a client (or “local”) short-term storage memory 18a-d. The client processors 16a-d have sufficient processing power to run the applications the network supports, and each client memory 18a-d is large enough to store the amount of patient data required by these applications. The client computers 14a-d further include processing capability to perform tasks such as driving the display, receiving and processing user inputs from attached input devices (e.g. keyboards and mouse pointers), and network communication.
FIG. 2 schematically shows a typical workflow in the thick-client network shown in FIG. 1. All four of the client workstations are active in processing medical image data. There are three main stages to the workflow which are relevant here.
Firstly, the server 4 sends patient data from its data store 10 to the local memories 18a-d of each client workstation 6a-d. This is shown schematically in FIG. 2 by arrows labeled W1, and also by shading of the client memories 18a-18d indicating that they contain patient data. The transfer of patient data is preferably done ahead of the time that the data is needed by a user of one of the client workstations 6a -d, for example during the previous night. Because the client memories 18a-d are smaller than the size of the server's data store, data to be transferred in advance are selected in accordance with certain rules. For example, data selected for ahead-of-time transfer to a given client workstation can be based on the clinical specialty of the user of the client workstation, the location of the client workstation in the hospital, recently accessed data for that workstation, or simply a random distribution of data from different patients, for example.
Secondly, when users at each of workstations 6a-d wish to work with data associated with a particular case, the relevant patient data is loaded from the associated local memory to the corresponding client processor 16a-d (which is running the imaging application being used by the user). This is schematically shown in FIG. 2 by the arrows labeled W2. The client processors 16a-d are shown shaded in FIG. 2 to indicate that they are processing data. If the required data are not already in the local memory 18a-d, they must be retrieved from the server's data store 10 over the network interconnection 8. This can take a significant amount of time due to the large size of typical medical imaging data sets.
Thirdly, images generated by the various client processors running the imaging application are displayed to the user on the displays. This step is schematically indicated in FIG. 2 by arrows labeled W3.
In brief summary, in a thick-client medical imaging network such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the intensive computational tasks associated with generating images, e.g. image rendering, are performed locally on locally stored copies of data obtained from the server data store 10.
The main drawback of the thick-client approach is the reliance on transferring patient data ahead of time to each client workstation. This limits the flexibility of the user's workflow (e.g. by requiring them to indicate the day before what work they will be doing the following day), and cannot cope with emergencies, such as an emergency medical case. As noted above, it is possible to download a patient's data on demand from the server when a user requests to open a patient study that is not contained in the current locally stored data. However, this is undesirable because the patient data for any given study is large (from hundreds of megabytes up to a few gigabytes) and thus transmitting patient data on demand requires the user to wait up to several minutes for the data to arrive over the network.
FIG. 3 schematically shows a thin-client computer network 22 used in a hospital for processing and viewing medical image data. To some extent this may be considered to operate in an opposite manner to the thick-client network of FIGS. 1 and 2. The thin-client network 22 comprises a server computer (“server”) 24 and a series of (again four) client computer workstations (“clients”) 26a-d. The server 24 and clients 26a-d communicate via a network interconnection 28, again this is a conventional LAN.
The server 24 includes a data store 30 in which medical image data are stored. As with the network 2 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this may be the central data store of the hospital or a short term or departmental data store. The server 24 further includes processing capability which is shown schematically in FIG. 3 as four discrete processors 36a-d. The server processors 36a-d each have sufficient processing power to run the imaging applications the network supports. The server 24 further includes a data loader (not shown) operable to retrieve data from the memory 30 and a server network-interface (not shown) allowing results of an application executed by the server processors (typically a succession of two-dimensional (2D) image frames rendered from three-dimensional (3D) medical image data) to be supplied to the network interconnection 28.
The client workstations 26a-d are identical to each other and comprise a display 32a-d and a client computer 34a-d. Each client computer 34a-d includes sufficient processing power to provide for a client network-interface and a display driver which together allow the client computers to receive the results of applications executed by the server processors (e.g. rendered images) and display them. The client computers are further able to receive and process user inputs from attached input devices and forward corresponding instructions to the server processor 36a-d so that a user can interact with the software application running, Commonly the client workstations may lack either the processing power, specialist processing resources such as a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), or the memory to run the imaging application the network supports. I he client workstations may be conventional low-spec “desktop” PCs, or dedicated “dumb” terminals, for example.
FIG. 4 schematically shows a typical workflow in the thin-client network 22 shown in FIG. 3. There are two main stages to the workflow relevant here.
Firstly, in response to a request from a user of one of the workstations 26a-d to study a particular patient's data using a particular software application, the software application is initialized in one the server processors 36a-d, and the relevant patient data is retrieved from the data store 30 and loaded to the server processor. This is shown schematically in FIG. 4 for all four client workstations by arrows labeled V1.
Secondly, for each client workstation, the server processors process the data as appropriate under control of the software application and generate corresponding results, e.g. rendered images. The server processors 36a-d are shown shaded in FIG. 4 to indicate that they are working on processing data. The results of the processing are supplied via the server network-interface across the network interconnection 28 to the client network-interface of the various client workstations as appropriate. The client workstations then displays the results of the processing to the users on their displays. This is schematically shown in FIG. 4 by the arrows labeled V2. The arrows V2 are shown connecting directly from the server processors to the displays to indicate that the client is not playing a significant (in terms of processing resources) role in processing the data.
Because the resulting images to be displayed will often be much smaller (in terms of bytes) than the patient data from which they are derived, the thin-client approach is less prone to delays associated with network traffic. The thin-client scheme can be implemented by establishing a communication between the server and the client using a remote display protocol such as X11 or VNC, for example, or by establishing a proprietary communication with a program running on the client computer.
The thin-client network may still be heavily loaded (e.g. because a relatively low bandwidth network interconnection is employed), but the loading will be relatively continuous. This situation is often easier to engineer compared to a network that is frequently under utilized but has high peak bandwidth requirements (e.g. associated with data transfer in a thick-client network). Furthermore, because the server is aware of the activity of all users, it can more effectively employ predictive loading techniques to retrieve patient data from the data store 30 before they are needed.
Thus in a thin-client medical imaging network, the intensive computational tasks associated with generating images, e.g. image rendering, are performed at the server, with only the resulting images being transferred across-the network interconnection for display to a user. A key advantage of this approach is that the data path from the data store 30 to the server processors 36a-d can be a dedicated fast connection so that the server processors can quickly initiate processing of patient data from the data store on demand. Once the processing is complete, the resulting images can be transferred quickly for display to the user due to their small size.
The two alternative client-server architectures discussed above (i.e. thick-and thin-clients) each have their advantages and disadvantages, which are largely complementary. In the thick-client architecture, if the rules for distributing data ahead of time are not adequately effective, the user has to wait an objectionable amount of time for patient data to be sent to the client when demanded. In the thin-client architecture, the system is able to access patient data quickly, but as the number of clients increases, the server begins to encounter scalability limitations (i.e. difficulty adding more client workstations to an existing network or implementing a new network with a large number of client) in respect of both processing power and network bandwidth (because the server is doing the work for all clients and the network is continually transferring results to the clients). Thus it is not possible to keep adding client workstations as demand increases without decreasing performance for each user. Furthermore, because in a thin-client network the data processing that happens in response to user's input occurs remotely from the client workstation, there can be significant latency in responding to user inputs. This makes the system appear to be slow and unresponsive and can be frustrating for users.
Thus when implementing a network, deciding between a thick-or a thin-client architecture involves a trade off between potentially long waiting times to open a study (thick-client) and problems with scalability and latency during use (thin-client).
An approach between the above described extremes of “pure” thick-client and “pure” thin-client network architectures for image rendering is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,384,821 [1] and U.S. Pat. No. 6,377,257 [2]. These propose a scheme in which rendering tasks are split between a server and a client. The proposed scheme is for rendering synthetic data comprising a plurality of 3D geometric models representing different image objects to be rendered, with some objects (e.g. foreground objects) being rendered at the client in accordance with the thick-client approach and other objects (e.g. background objects) being rendered in lesser quality at the server, in accordance with the thin client approach. A composite of the separate renderings is then displayed to the user. However, this approach is primarily applicable to rendering synthetic images represented by a plurality of different geometric models which may each be rendered independently, such as when rendering a computer animated scene for a motion picture, computer game, or flight simulator. The approach is not practically applicable to rendering medical image data because medical imaging data typically comprise a continuous array of voxels representing a patient's body, or part thereof, that does not present any obviously advantageous decompositions between parts that can be rendered on the server and parts that can be rendered on the client. It is possible to separately render arbitrarily selected parts of the data on the client and parts on the server (possibly at different resolutions), but this is simply an example of parallel decomposition of the rendering task, and at best achieves a compromise between the goals of thin-client and thick-client configurations.
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Monday, May 31, 2010
I'm so sick of Memorial Day. And I am even sicker of politicians who wrap themselves in the bloody flag and try to rub off some of the stench of death from the bodies of those who have died, mostly in vain for worthless causes, in hopes that taking on some of the odor will cause them to be perceived as admirable patriots themselves.
If we memorialize them, it should be by vowing never again to allow our government to commit crimes, and send Americans to fight and die for criminal policies.
Sadly, we’ve allowed that to happen, over and over again--in Panama, in Grenada, in Iraq, and now in Afghanistan and perhaps, before long, Iran and/or Pakistan.
President George W. Bush, who dodged danger in the Vietnam War by signing up for the Texas National Guard and then ducked even that domestic duty, and Vice President Dick Cheney who used five different excuses to duck military service, morbidly rubbed themselves with that flag for eight long years, even as they sent hundreds of thousands of young men and women into harm’s for political advantage.
President Barack Obama (who also avoided military service), continued this ripe tradition when, in his weekly PR address to the nation, he urged Americans to “leave a flower” on the grave of a soldier who died in one of America’s wars “so the rest of us might inherit the blessings of this nation.” Obama is also sending young Americans to kill and die halfway around the world in a war that has no purpose other than to demonstrate his political “toughness.” Yet he disingenuously declares that it was “to preserve America and advance the ideals we cherish" that “led patriots in each generation to sacrifice their own lives to secure the life of our nation, from the trenches of World War I to the battles of World War II, from Inchon and Khe Sanh, from Mosul to Marja.”
What nonsense!
I’ll grant you that there were noble motivations that led many Americans to die fighting for this country’s independence. The same can be said for those soldiers who fought and died on the Union side in the Civil War who had the noble goal of ending the crime of slavery. And indeed it was the decision by a group of freed slaves in 1866 in South Carolina to disinter the bodies of Union soldiers who had died in Confederate captivity and who had been unceremoniously dumped in a collective grave, and to give them all decent burials, that established the first Memorial Day.
But to claim that the over 100,000 American soldiers who died on the front lines in World War I were defending American freedoms, as Memorial Day speakers like Obama do year after year, is simply a lie. World War I was never about a threat to America. It was a war of empire, fought by the European powers, none of which was any better or worse than the others, and the US joined that conflict not for noble reasons or for defense, but in hopes of picking up some of the pieces. My own maternal grandfather, a promising sprinter who had Olympic aspirations, was struck with mustard gas in the trenches and, unable to run anymore with his permanently scarred lungs, ended up having to settle for coaching high school as a career. (My paternal grandfather won a silver star for heroism as an ambulance driver on the front, but was so damaged by what he experienced that he never talked about it at all, my father says.) Sadly, their sacrifices and heroism served no noble cause.
World War II, at least in Europe, may have had some moral justification, though there can be some legitimate debate as to whether the US and its freedoms were ever really threatened, and certainly many of the Americans who died in that war saw their struggle as worthy, so that we may at least in good conscience honor their deaths.
But Khe Sanh? Mosul? And for god’s sake, Marjah? Let’s get real.
Khe Sanh, one of the major battles in the Vietnam War, was just one little piece of a huge malignant disaster in a war that was criminal from its inception, and that had no purpose beyond perpetuating the neocolonialist control by the US of a long-subjugated people who were fighting to be free, just as our own ancestors had done. The over 58,000 Americans who died in that war, who contributed to the killing of over 2 million Vietnamese, many or most of them civilians, may have engaged in personal acts of bravery, but they were not, as a group, heroes. Nor were they over there fighting for American freedom. Some, like Lt. William Calley, who did not die, were no doubt murderers. Most, though, were simply victims--victims of their own government’s years of lying and deceit.
If we memorialize them, it should be by vowing never again to allow our government to commit such crimes, and to send Americans to fight and die for such criminal policies.
Sadly, we’ve already allowed that to happen, though, over and over again--in the Panama, in Grenada, in Iraq, and now in Afghanistan and perhaps, before long, Iran and/or Pakistan.
Take the president’s mention of Mosul. It is a city in Iraq, and the Americans who died there and in other Iraqi cities died because of the criminality of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, who manufactured a criminal war of aggression against Iraq, a country that posed no threat to the US. They died too because of the cowardice and venality of the Democrats in Congress who allowed themselves to be bullied and extorted into supporting that criminal war. The five thousand Americans who died, and the hundreds of thousands more who have been gravely wounded in that war, not to mention the more than a million who fought there or worked in support roles for others who fought, were not defending any of our “cherished ideals.” They were simply helping oil companies like Exxon/Mobil, Chevron, Shell and yes, British Petroleum, secure control of the Iraqi oilfields. They were simply helping Bush and Cheney win re-election. They were simply helping inflate the profits of Halliburton, Boeing, Lockheed and Blackwater.
Noble deaths indeed.
As for Marjah, its mention at all in the same breath as the American Revolution or the Civil War is truly grotesque. The little farming communities that the Pentagon PR machine lyingly described as a small city swarming with Taliban fighters was nothing but a staged and carefully managed battle set, designed to make Americans forget that the US was (and is) bogged down in an unwinnable war of conquest and occupation in Afghanistan. The few American soldiers and Marines who died there died for the sake of White Hours and Pentagon propaganda, not for the sake of defending Americans’ vaunted freedoms. The set has now been torn down, the klieg lights have been turned off, and “Marjah” has reverted to Taliban territory again.
If and when America and American freedom are really threatened, I have no doubt that American men and women will rise to the occasion and show the kind of nobility and heroism that was evident in the Revolution and the Civil War. But in the meantime, we need to stop glorifying all these wars that were criminal, or that could have been avoided. Memorial Day should be a day to demand peace, a day to demand an end to a military-industrial complex that claims nearly half of the nation’s general funds, a day to focus on the real threats to American’s “cherished ideals,” most of which are purely domestic, and a day to celebrate what those ideals are: equalty before the law, freedom of speech and assembly, freedom from government intrusion in our lives, the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty by a jury of our peers, and the right to stand up and say that our political leaders are, for the most part, crooks, charlatans and even war criminals.
Dave Lindorff is a founding member of the new collectively-run, journalist-owned online newspaper ThisCantBeHappening.net. His work, and the work of colleagues John Grant, Linn Washington and Charles Young, can be found at www.thiscantbehappening.net
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Q:
Android error wen inflating custom view
I am trying to use this plugin to display zoomable images.
https://github.com/MikeOrtiz/TouchImageView
I have imported it in eclipse, and referenced it in my project properties. This is my xml:
The custom view is com.example.touch.TouchImageView
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
style="@style/RegularView"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<RelativeLayout android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1">
<com.example.touch.TouchImageView
android:id="@+id/imageView"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent" />
<ImageButton
android:id="@+id/prev_button"
android:contentDescription="@string/fish_cd"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:src="@drawable/ic_action_previous_item" />
<ImageButton
android:id="@+id/next_button"
android:contentDescription="@string/fish_cd"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="true"
android:src="@drawable/ic_action_next_item" />
</RelativeLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical" >
<TextView
android:id="@+id/comment"
android:layout_margin="5dp"
android:singleLine="true"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<TextView
android:id="@+id/date"
android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
android:layout_margin="5dp"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"/>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/page"
android:layout_margin="5dp"
android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"/>
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:id="@+id/admin_controls"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal" >
<CheckBox
android:id="@+id/switch1"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="@string/main" />
<CheckBox
android:id="@+id/switch2"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="@string/approved" />
<Button
android:id="@+id/delete_button"
android:layout_gravity="center"
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:text="@string/delete"/>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
When I start the activity, it crashes with:
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): FATAL EXCEPTION: main
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{android.arin/android.arin.GalleryScreen}: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #11: Error inflating class com.example.touch.TouchImageView
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2110)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2135)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.app.ActivityThread.access$700(ActivityThread.java:143)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1241)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:137)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4950)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:511)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:1004)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:771)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): Caused by: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #11: Error inflating class com.example.touch.TouchImageView
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:698)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.view.LayoutInflater.rInflate(LayoutInflater.java:746)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.view.LayoutInflater.rInflate(LayoutInflater.java:749)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:489)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:396)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.view.LayoutInflater.inflate(LayoutInflater.java:352)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindow.setContentView(PhoneWindow.java:316)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.app.Activity.setContentView(Activity.java:1915)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.arin.GalleryScreen.onCreate(GalleryScreen.java:44)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.app.Activity.performCreate(Activity.java:5177)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.app.Instrumentation.callActivityOnCreate(Instrumentation.java:1094)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2074)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): ... 11 more
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.example.touch.TouchImageView
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at dalvik.system.BaseDexClassLoader.findClass(BaseDexClassLoader.java:61)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:501)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:461)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.view.LayoutInflater.createView(LayoutInflater.java:552)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): at android.view.LayoutInflater.createViewFromTag(LayoutInflater.java:687)
08-07 17:07:09.340: E/AndroidRuntime(2106): ... 22 more
Does anyone know whats wrong here?
Thanks
A:
try running a clean solution, and try it again I've seen this many many times before and usually is a reference issue, or some issue in the xml file itself.. ie: non closing matching tags. etc.
It says the class cannot be found, try restarting eclipse and/or check the reference again.
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Well, the faux-filibuster that Senate conservatives attempted wasn't enough to stop cloture, but at least we proved a point, right?
Wrong. Still, you can expect that supporters of the "Defund ObamaCare" crusade will likely attempt to spin this as some sort of a moral victory. If anything good happens down the road, they will argue this laid the groundwork for that by "starting the conversation" with the American public about how bad ObamaCare is. I'm not buying it.
Here are five reasons why conservatives are worse off for having fought this battle:
1. Conservatives are more divided as a result. In an era when Republicans have too often been split, opposition to ObamaCare should have been a unifying cause with broad conservative consensus. Instead, conservatives managed to invent a way of making ObamaCare into a divisive issue on the Right. This is a truly remarkable feat. It is like frat brothers fighting over whether or not Giselle is hot. What is more, those who opposed the move based on strategic (not philosophical) grounds were labeled part of the "surrender caucus," and compared to Nazi appeasers. It's gotten so bad that on Thursday morning, Sen. Tom Coburn told MSNBC, "I'm now no longer a conservative according to the standards that have been set by the expectations of this process."
2. There were better, more popular alternatives. Pushing for ObamaCare's implementation to be postponed a year would have been a much easier sell. After all, big business already benefits from the employer mandate having been delayed. Why shouldn't lunch pail workers get the same deal? Obama has already opened the door to delays. In fact, just this week, it was reported that he would "delay online ObamaCare enrollment for small businesses in federally operated health-care exchanges until November 1." As Steve Forbes writes, "A postponement would be immensely popular and would be a huge setback to ObamaCare."
Another more populist approach would have involved forcing elected officials like the president and members of Congress, plus congressional staff, to sign up for ObamaCare and forgo a special exemption that subsidizes their premium payments. Conservative opinion leaders like Charles Krauthammer and David Freddoso have argued this would have been a wiser hill to die on. (This would have allowed Republicans to essentially say that Washington elites must play by the same rules as the American people.)
Aside from picking a battle that might win public support, different positioning might have split the Democratic caucus, putting pressure on vulnerable red state Democrats to take a tough vote. Would Mark Begich and Mark Pryor really want to go on the record with a vote giving D.C. elites special taxpayer-subsidized health-care support?
It's easy to see why conservatives rejected these ideas. They would have caused turmoil and chaos among Democrats. No, it's much better to create division amongst conservatives.
3. It changed the subject from Obama's failings. Think of where we were a week or so ago. President Obama had allowed Syria to cross the red line. His efforts to get congressional approval for intervention had crumbled. Enter Vladimir Putin, who outmaneuvered the president, making him look incredibly weak. But sensing their opponent was in the process of committing suicide, Republicans chose to interfere. The same thing happened after Benghazi when Mitt Romney interrupted the narrative. See the trend? When left to his own devices, President Obama looks small. It is only when he is judged in comparison to Republicans that he appears, in contrast, to be competent and capable.
4. It misled the base. Lying to your supporters is never a good idea. Neither is setting expectations, raising hopes, and then failing to deliver (sort of like saying, "If you cross this red line…"). Unfortunately, the defund idea was always premised on convincing supporters to do something that almost everyone who is knowledgeable and intellectually honest knew was impossible. Some supporters have even posited a Machiavellian rationale: ObamaCare needs to be defeated, but to do so, we have to build lists of supporters. And the only way to build lists of supporters is to manufacture exciting events to get people fired up. Why does this matter? Presumably, you can only cry "wolf" so many times, and the conservative movement will eventually pay a price for misleading the conservative base.
5. It reinforces the negative stereotypes people have about Republicans. Republicans have an image problem, and this reinforces at least two of the worst stereotypes. First, it's a reminder of the recalcitrant "party of 'no.'" It says that, by asking for ridiculous concessions, Republicans aren't interested in governing, but instead, in gridlock. Additionally, this plays into the "war on science" meme. Just as Republican poll "truthers" were shocked — SHOCKED! — to learn that Mitt Romney didn't win by a landslide, they may be equally stunned to discover that — having lost two presidential elections and a Supreme Court decision — they don't have enough votes to stop ObamaCare.
The good news, of course, is that a handful of senators and conservative groups made a lot of money and garnered a lot of press. So I guess that's something.
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66 Creative Garden Edging Ideas to Set Your Garden Apart
15 Unique Landscaping Timber Projects and Ideas - Planted Well
14 Sep 2017 ... Best landscaping timber ideas and projects to built in your garden. Different composite, plastic and wooden Landscaping Timbers for sale with prices. ... are excellent for creating walls for a raised bed or for edging your garden...
How To Install Landscape Timber Edging at The
37 Garden Border Ideas To Dress Up Your Landscape Edging
Find 37 practical, affordable and good looking landscape garden edging ... Keep in mind as with many things in the landscape and garden there are NO RULES. .... but uses a landscape timber and this edging does not vary in height but also...
How to Install Landscape Timber Edging - The Spruce
5 days ago ... Landscape timber edging is easy to install and adds a tidy but natural ... Use a hand edger to slice through the turf or other plantings just under...
Tips on Garden Border Materials | DIY
DIY Experts discuss the pros and cons of garden border materials, including such points as ... One of the most commonly used materials is treated landscape timbers. ... Also good to use for borders are conventional 2" by 4" pieces of lumber:...
How to make a Simple Timber Garden Edge - YouTube
25 Feb 2016 ... I had some timber left over from another job, so I used it to make a rather simple garden edge. www.UrbanSelfSufficiency.com...
Landscape Timbers: What You Need To Know - ImproveNet
6 May 2015 ... Landscape timbers are used to build planter boxes and raised beds for ... Using edging stakes and yarn, measure out your flower bed,...
Using Landscape Timbers To Border A Driveway | DoItYourself.com
Using landscape timbers is a convenient and attractive way to border your driveway.
Landscape Timber Edging - Black & Decker
Lumber or timber edging can be used with any patio surface material. Here, this lumber edging is not only decorative, it also holds all of the loose material in...
About
Shanghai Seven Trust Industry Co.,Ltd. strictly controls the products according to the industry standards and works on all efforts to lead the industry. The main products has been recognized highly by Beijing Olympic Committee due to the superb quality, wood-like as well as environmental friendliness of the wood-plastic outdoor floor.It has also been authorized to be the dominated supplier for Beijing Olympic main stadium—Bird nest, Shanghai Expo Main Exhibition Centre as well as Canton Asian Games main stadium...
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Q:
MC34063 Switching Regulator IC: When was it introduced?
I'm a bit curious when the classic MC34063 IC was introduced, today available as the -A version (MC34063A).
I'm trying to get an idea when some of the classic switching controller ICs were introduced because it marks the point when switchers started to become ubiquitous.
It appears that 1975-1977 were the years when the allegedly first PWM controller IC, SG1524, was developed and introduced into the market (IEEE, Power Electronics Magazine, NASA - pdf, p. 468). To get a better idea, I am also interested in other ICs that were and are widely used, like the MC34063(A).
If I read the available information correctly, it was Motorola (now OnSemi) who first made this part, and it was or is also available from competitors such as Sipex, TI, ST, Fairchild and some smaller ones I've never heard before. Some of these just seem to have slapped their logo on top of the original data sheet, copying even the original scope screenshot along with the typical data diagrams B34063A, UTCMC34063A, HTC, MC34063, CP34063A. Looking at all these cross-references (knock offs?!), one could get the idea that the original design team is invited to feel very honored, loosely quoting Confucius.
The earliest individual Motorola Data Sheet I could find is Rev 5, dated 1996 and the device is also listed in Motorola's Linear / Interface ICs Device Data Book, Vol. 1, Rev. 4, 1993, but it's not a new device in this source either.
1990 seems to mark the upgrade from the MC34063 to the MC34063A: In Motorola's Linear & Interface IC Data Book, 1990, the MC34063 is listed as "Not For New Deisgn-Ins", and the -A version's data is printed on the following pages.
I couldn't find any earlier sources, and I don't have any early data books by Motorola on my shelves. Any sources, preferably with pdf download links, are welcome!
A:
The 1983 edition of Motorola's "Linear and Interface Integrated Circuits" (Series D) catalog contains an "Advance Information" data sheet for the MC34063 so that is likely to be around the time of introduction. That catalog also contains several other switching regulator ICs. Among those were MC3420 and MC1723 (below).
My first switching regulator circuit was around 1982 using an LM723 (National Semiconductor) which could be used as a linear or a switching regulator. This part was also available from Motorola as MC1723.
Both the LM723 and the MC34063 are still available!
In 1968, Motorola published "Semiconductor Power Circuits Handbook" which contains several discreet switching regulator circuits. We have a first-edition copy where I work ... a nice little book.
For more on the history of switching supplies:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply#History
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The City of Johannesburg is currently facing a crisis when it comes to its firefighting capabilities.
The City's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) spokesperson, Nana Radebe, confirmed to News24 that the municipality had 12 fire engines at the moment, six of which have gone for repairs. They are expected back next week.
One Johannesburg resident was left fuming on Wednesday after his Linden house was gutted by a fire.
The City had to rely on a fire engine from Cosmo City, which is 20km away and one from Florida fire station that is 10km away, to battle the blaze.
According to Maggs Naidu, the Roosevelt Park fire station does not have a fire engine to assist nearby residents.
Naidu was in Limpopo and his wife was at work when the fire broke out.
"It is a disgrace for the City. It is outrageous for a popular city to have six fire engines. People are dying because of its incompetence, people are being neglected by the City. Fortunately, no one died when the fire started in my house."
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Naidu said his family had received humanitarian aid from people who heard about the fire.
"My family is OK, and we are capable of surviving this. What about those who can't afford insurance? How does it happen that it took 40 minutes for the fire engine to respond? When it arrived, it took them another 10 minutes to pressurise the water.
"Imagine if they were responding to a shack fire, they would have found people dead," Naidu said.
READ: Bank of Lisbon building to be demolished following fatal 2018 fire
Radebe said the City relied on neighbouring municipalities, such as Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, to assist in fighting big fires.
"We are aware of the incident that happened on Wednesday. There are plans to acquire an extra 29 fire engines for the entire city. Some of the ones we have are old and constantly go for repairs. Last year, we acquired four engines to assist the eight we had, which are old and have been in use for the past 15 to 20 years.
"We have a crisis. We have removed all our fire engines from responding to medical calls. They are now dealing with fire incidents and motor vehicle accidents," said Radebe.
She added there were glitches to secure a tender for more fire engines.
Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba confirmed in a tweet that the City would be acquiring more fire engines.
In September 2018, concerns were raised about the City's firefighting capabilities when the Bank of Lisbon building in the city centre went up in flames, claiming the lives of firefighters Simphiwe Moropane, 28, Mduduzi Ndlovu, 40, and Khathutshelo Muedi, 37.
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Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a clinical syndrome in which an abnormality of cardiac function causes cardiac output to fall below a level adequate to meet the metabolic demand of peripheral tissues. CHF can be due to a variety of etiologies with that due to ischemic heart disease being the most common. Symptoms of CHF in certain instances can be due to cardiac arrhythmias that are treatable with conventional bradycardia pacing. Some CHF patients suffer from some degree of AV block such that their cardiac output can be improved by synchronizing atrial and ventricular contractions with dual-chamber pacing (i.e., pacing both the atria and the ventricles) using a short programmed AV delay time. It has also been shown that some CHF patients suffer from intraventricular conduction defects (a.k.a. bundle branch blocks) such that their cardiac outputs can be increased by improving the synchronization of right and left ventricular contractions. Cardiac pacemakers have therefore been developed which provide pacing to both ventricles, termed biventricular pacing.
In CHF patients who are treated with pacing therapy (e.g., either a conventional pacemaker or a biventricillar pacemaker), it is desirable to select a pacing scheme that optimally improves the patient's condition. Examples of a pacing scheme include a particular pacing mode and parameter values related to that mode such as lower rate limit, AV delay time, and biventricular delay time. Pacing schemes are conventionally selected based upon a clinical assessment of the patient's condition. For example, EKG data may indicate a patient is likely to be benefited more with biventricular pacing than with conventional dual-chamber pacing. After being set initially, the pacing scheme can then be adjusted on a trial and error basis to a more optimum one based upon the patient's history and physical examination in subsequent office visits. This also allows the pacing scheme to be adjusted in accordance with any changes that occur in the patient's physical condition. This method of assessing a CHF patient's cardiac functional status can be a very subjective one, however, depending on the physician's perception of the patient's symptoms and physical disability. There is a need, therefore, for a method of assessing a CHF patient's functional status that is more accurate and reproducible than those currently practiced in order to select a pacing scheme. It is toward this objective that the present invention is primarily directed.
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Ask HN: What's the most frustrating thing about Software/Web Development? - joemanaco
======
n4bz0r
Having to struggle through a boredom of implementing the thing after all the
interesting challenges are solved.
This doesn't necessarily apply to an entire product, could be a separate
feature or even pieces of features.
_With great product comes great boredom_
------
stephenr
Cool kid developers cargo culting flavour of the week technology; and/or front
end developers changing their libraries/frameworks/tool chains more often than
they change their underwear.
~~~
muzani
Why is this an issue though? Just ignore the new technology that isn't much
better than the old one.
~~~
stephenr
It’s hard to ignore something when a client decides to use a technology.
------
muzani
Scrum isn't designed to make work more productive for the developers. It's
mostly because development is a chaotic process, and it forces everyone on the
team to sync regularly. The overhead for scrum is high, and gets in the way of
flow. It's good for menial work, the kind where a dev doesn't have to think
over a problem for several days and just ticks things off a checkbox.
------
CM30
Poor project management. It's very rare you see a company/team come up with a
plan and stick to it, without deciding to randomly overhaul a bunch of stuff
or add more features/complexity midway through.
Then again, it's a close one. I'd say also one of the following may take it:
How the site/app/program always seems to fall apart whenever the boss looks at
it, or how the developers struggle to replicate said issues when testing it
later.
How in web development, every browser seems to have its own half assed idea
about which features to implement and how to implement them, rather than just
sticking to the damn spec and keeping it consistent with other browsers.
The flavour of the week stuff, with developers constantly wanting to use the
latest shiny framework.
Or perhaps how many designers seem to act like they're making a painting
rather than an application, with zero thought put into how it scales between
sizes, how things may fit in a grid, how various conditions (like errors) work
etc.
------
karmakaze
Having to stick with established, popular languages, frameworks, etc.
From a biz standpoint it makes sense to use what's well known, time-tested,
stack-overflow answered, and easy to hire for.
From a developer's perspective, it's older, boring, and less effective than
newer ones. Probably much less so in front-end as there seems to be much more
rapid adoption.
The best case scenario would be solving a problem in-house then open-sourcing
it.
------
erik_seaberg
The industry does not agree with me that boilerplate is a pure waste of human
lifetime, and a language that's either more powerful or more domain-specific
would pay off very quickly.
------
tmm84
Smartphone compatibility, display and usage. So many different browsers, OS
versions and screen sizes make it a minefield.
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Discount Laptop Battery for DELL RCG54
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If you heard an ominous sound coming from your car's engine, what would you do? Most people probably wouldn't continue to gun the engine, trying different gears until the problem went away. But if you were the crew of the guided missile-equipped USS Georgia and you heard some clunking coming from the submarine's engine, that's exactly what you would do. A newly uncovered Navy report reveals that when a single loose bolt rolled into the USS Georgia's propulsion shaft, its crew kept the engine running for two days while trying to figure out why it wasn't working. Of course, brass wasn't happy:
"This was an avoidable mishap," [Vice Admiral] Richardson wrote in his July 19 letter closing the investigation into the first known instance of main reduction gear damage on a submarine in three years. "Had watch-standing principles of integrity, formality, procedural compliance, level of knowledge, questioning attitude and forceful backup been responsibly adhered to and executed, this incident would not have occurred and the ship would have deployed on time."
The damage to the nuclear submarine from the bolt sidelined the vessel for three months and the repairs cost over $2.2 million. Not only did the misguided attempt to diagnose the problem delay repair efforts, but it exacerbated the damage. Making things worse, the repairs happened during a time when NATO needed the submarine to help out in Libya.
Of course, the Navy has detailed maintenance procedures to be sure things like loose hardware don't wreck havoc with expensive ships, like the use of a small-part catching tent and regular periodic inspections. But detailed procedures don't help if they're not followed. After repairs, the USS Georgia is fine, and engineers are reviewing their lessons learned. But sweeping changes aren't expected to result from this incident, because after all, $2 million is peanuts to the Navy. [Navy Times via Business Insider]
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SAT scores for Pennsylvania's Class of 2010 averaged 501 on the reading test, 516 in math and 492 in writing. JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News
Pennsylvania’s Class of 2010’s average scores on the SAT college entrance exam showed little change, while the racial gap widened between white and black students, according to figures released Monday by the College Board.
The average SAT score held steady at 501 in the critical reading section of the test. Math scores rose to 516 from 515, and writing fell from 493 to 492. Each section has a maximum score of 800.
Despite on-going efforts to close achievement gaps, Pennsylvania’s gap grew slightly wider with whites outscoring black students by 101 points in reading, 114 points in math and 102 points in writing. The gap from last year's graduating class was one point smaller in each of those subjects.
Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director of FairTest, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, noted that is how overall SAT averages are trending nationally with overall SAT averages declining and gaps between white students and black and Hispanic students widening since the federal No Child Left Behind Act took effect.
“Proponents of NCLB and similar state-level testing programs promised that overall achievement would improve while score gaps would narrow,” he said. “Precisely the opposite has taken place. Policymakers need to embrace very different policies if they are committed to real education reform.”
The number of test-takers nationally (1.59 million) was the most ever to take the exam which is said to be a predictor of college success, according to the College Board. In Pennsylvania, the number dropped by about 500 students, to 104,593 test-takers.
In the self-reported data provided by test-takers, it showed 47 percent said they were A students while 44 percent indicated a B average. The majority had reported taking at least 3.5 years of English, math, science and social studies.
"Engaging students with more rigorous course work and demanding higher standards are critical in providing America's students with an education that will prepare them to compete in the 21st-century economy," said College Board President Gaston Caperton. "This report confirms that there are no tricks and there are no shortcuts to college readiness. Students who take more rigorous courses in high school are more prepared to succeed in college and beyond."
The most popular majors that the state’s test-takers indicated an interest in pursuing were health professions (19 percent) followed by business fields and education (11 percent each). Penn State, Pitt and Temple were the most popular colleges that students showed an interest in attending.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for manufacturing a knit slide fastener stringer having a fastener element row which is continuously formed by bending a linear monofilament and is knitted in and along one longitudinal edge of a warp-knit fastener tape simultaneously with the knitting of the tape. More particularly, this invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for manufacturing a knit slide fastener stringer in which a warp-knit fastener tape has a longitudinal of high density edge so that a fastener element row can be knitted in the longitudinal edge stably and firmly, and in which an increased rate of production can be realized.
2. Description of the Related Art
Knit slide fastener stringers of the type in which a coiled fastener element row is knitted in a warp-knit fastener tape simultaneously with the knitting of the tape are already known from, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 2-255104 and Italian Patent No. 1118020. Further, apparatus for manufacturing this type of knit slide fastener stringers are disclosed in, for example, the above-mentioned Italian Patent, Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 48-40034 and Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 49-42011.
As is described in the above-mentioned publications, in the fundamental structure of this type knit slide fastener stringer, a fastener tape including a fastener-element-row attaching margin is composed of chain-stitches, tricot-stitches and weft-inlaid stitches, and the fastener element row is knitted in and along the fastener-element-row attaching margin of the fastener tape simultaneously with the knitting of the tape in such a manner that each and every leg portion of the individual fastener element is connected with stitches of the foundation structure of the fastener-element-row attaching margin astride of part of loops of anchoring chain-stitch yarns simultaneously with the knitting of the tape. Thus the fastener element row is firmly secured to the foundation structure of the attaching margin of the tape. The anchoring yarns should by no means be limited to chain stitch yarns, but may be an alternative form such as a combination of tricot-stitch yarns and weft-inlaid yarns, or etc. . . .
In the conventional apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned publications, the monofilament is bent in a coiled form so as to be a coiled fastener element row before introduced into the apparatus, whereupon the fastener element row is introduced continuously to a knitting position of the attaching margin of the tape via a tubular guide member (i.e., a fastener element guide) of the apparatus and is knitted in a predetermined position of the attaching margin of the tape simultaneously with the knitting of the tape.
However, since it is formed of a coiled synthetic resin monofilament, the fastener element row is extremely extendible and contractible and hence non-stable in shape. It is therefore very difficult, from a technical viewpoint, to introduce the individual fastener elements of the fastener element row successively and accurately to the corresponding knitting portions of the fastener-element attaching margin of the tape. Further, as is apparent from the above-mentioned publications, since the conventional apparatus is not equipped with any fastener-element positioning means, it is also difficult to fixedly attach the fastener element row with the head portions of the elements arranged in an uniform pitch and kept in uniform shape. For these reasons, knit slide fasteners of this type have not been on the market for the time being.
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Mice transgenic for the human carcinoembryonic antigen gene maintain its spatiotemporal expression pattern.
The tumor marker carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is predominantly expressed in epithelial cells along the gastrointestinal tract and in a variety of adenocarcinomas. As a basis for investigating its in vivo regulation and for establishing an animal model for tumor immunotherapy, transgenic mice were generated with a 33-kilobase cosmid clone insert containing the complete human CEA gene and flanking sequences. CEA was found in the tongue, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, cecum, colon, and trachea and at low levels in the lung, testis, and uterus of adult mice of independent transgenic strains. CEA was first detected at day 10.5 of embryonic development (embryonic day 10.5) in primary trophoblast giant cells and was found in the developing gut, urethra, trachea, lung, and nucleus pulposus of the vertebral column from embryonic day 14.5 onwards. From embryonic day 16.5 CEA was also visible in the nasal mucosa and tongue. Because this spatiotemporal expression pattern correlates well with that known for humans, it follows that the transferred genomic region contains all of the regulatory elements required for the correct expression of CEA. Furthermore, although mice apparently lack an endogenous CEA gene, the entire repertoire of transcription factors necessary for correct expression of the CEA transgene is conserved between mice and humans. After tumor induction, these immunocompetent mice will serve as a model for optimizing various forms of immunotherapy, using CEA as a target antigen.
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---
part_number: II
chapter_number: 11
title: PWA
description: PWA chapter of the 2019 Web Almanac covering service workers (registations, installability, events and filesizes), Web App Manifests properties, and Workbox.
authors: [tomayac, jeffposnick]
reviewers: [hyperpress, ahmadawais]
translators: []
discuss: 1766
results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19BI3RQc_vR9bUPPZfVsF_4gpFWLNT6P0pLcAdL-A56c/
queries: 11_PWA
published: 2019-11-11T00:00:00.000Z
last_updated: 2020-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
---
## Introduction
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are a new class of web applications, building on top of platform primitives like the [Service Worker APIs](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/API/Service_Worker_API). Service workers allow apps to support network-independent loading by acting as a network proxy, intercepting your web app's outgoing requests, and replying with programmatic or cached responses. Service workers can receive push notifications and synchronize data in the background even when the corresponding app is not running. Additionally, service workers, together with [Web App Manifests](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Manifest), allow users to install PWAs to their devices' home screens.
Service workers were [first implemented in Chrome 40](https://blog.chromium.org/2014/12/chrome-40-beta-powerful-offline-and.html), back in December 2014, and the term Progressive Web Apps was [coined by Frances Berriman and Alex Russell](https://infrequently.org/2015/06/progressive-apps-escaping-tabs-without-losing-our-soul/) in 2015. As service workers are now finally [implemented in all major browsers](https://jakearchibald.github.io/isserviceworkerready/), the goal for this chapter is to determine how many PWAs are actually out there, and how they make use of these new technologies. Certain advanced APIs like [Background Sync](https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2015/12/background-sync) are currently still [only available on Chromium-based browsers](https://caniuse.com/#feat=background-sync), so as an additional question, we looked into which features these PWAs actually use.
## Service workers
### Service worker registrations and installability
{{ figure_markup(
caption="Percent of desktop pages that register a service worker.",
content="0.44%",
classes="big-number"
)
}}
The first metric we explore are service worker installations. Looking at the data exposed through feature counters in the HTTP Archive, we find that 0.44% of all desktop and 0.37% of all mobile pages register a service worker, and both curves over time are steeply growing.
{{ figure_markup(
image="fig2.png",
caption="Service Worker installation over time for desktop and mobile.",
description="Timeseries chart of service worker installation. Since Janurary 2017, desktop and mobile have increased steadily from approximately 0.0% to about 0.4%.",
chart_url="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT7DUzACr4eBhNU4cDz8-17oSx2qYbi9OFDjngz0NXNBP2IzZFxvDxLX2XThlN4SZymKMygOXzpI2AJ/pubchart?oid=251442414&format=interactive"
)
}}
Now this might not look overly impressive, but taking traffic data from Chrome Platform Status into account, we can see that a service worker controls about [15% of all page loads](https://www.chromestatus.com/metrics/feature/timeline/popularity/990), which can be interpreted as popular, high-traffic sites increasingly having started to embrace service workers.
{{ figure_markup(
caption='Percent of page views on a page that registers a service worker. (Source: <a href="https://www.chromestatus.com/metrics/feature/timeline/popularity/990">Chrome Platform Status</a>)',
content="15%",
classes="big-number"
)
}}
[Lighthouse](./methodology#lighthouse) checks whether a page is eligible for an [install prompt](https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse/audits/install-prompt). 1.56% of mobile pages have an [installable manifest](https://web.dev/installable-manifest/).
To control the install experience, 0.82% of all desktop and 0.94% of all mobile pages use the [`OnBeforeInstallPrompt` interface](https://w3c.github.io/manifest/#beforeinstallpromptevent-interface). At present [support is limited to Chromium-based browsers](https://caniuse.com/#feat=web-app-manifest).
### Service worker events
In a service worker one can [listen for a number of events](https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/primers/service-workers/lifecycle):
- `install`, which occurs upon service worker installation.
- `activate`, which occurs upon service worker activation.
- `fetch`, which occurs whenever a resource is fetched.
- `push`, which occurs when a push notification arrives.
- `notificationclick`, which occurs when a notification is being clicked.
- `notificationclose`, which occurs when a notification is being closed.
- `message`, which occurs when a message sent via `postMessage()` arrives.
- `sync`, which occurs when a background sync event occurs.
{{ figure_markup(
image="fig4.png",
caption="Popularity of service worker events.",
description="Bar chart showing the popularity of various service worker events. Fetch is used on 73% of mobile service workers, install 71%, activate 56%, notification click 10%, push 8%, message 5%, notification close 2%, and sync 1%. The usage on desktop service workers is similar, but slightly lower for fetch, install, and activate.",
chart_url="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT7DUzACr4eBhNU4cDz8-17oSx2qYbi9OFDjngz0NXNBP2IzZFxvDxLX2XThlN4SZymKMygOXzpI2AJ/pubchart?oid=2110574556&format=interactive"
)
}}
We have examined which of these events are being listened to by service workers we could find in the HTTP Archive. The results for mobile and desktop are very similar with `fetch`, `install`, and `activate` being the three most popular events, followed by `notificationclick` and `push`. If we interpret these results, offline use cases that service workers enable are the most attractive feature for app developers, far ahead of push notifications. Due to its limited availability, and less common use case, background sync doesn't play a significant role at the moment.
### Service worker file sizes
File size or lines of code are generally a bad proxy for the complexity of the task at hand. In this case, however, it is definitely interesting to compare (compressed) file sizes of service workers for mobile and desktop.
{{ figure_markup(
image="fig5.png",
caption="Distribution of service worker transfer size.",
description="Bar chart showing the distribution of transfer sizes of service workers. The 10, 25, 50, 75, and 90th percentiles for desktop service worker transfer sizes are: 176, 350, 895, 2,010, and 4,138 bytes. Desktop service workers are larger across each percentile from as many as 1,000 bytes at the 90th percentile.",
chart_url="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT7DUzACr4eBhNU4cDz8-17oSx2qYbi9OFDjngz0NXNBP2IzZFxvDxLX2XThlN4SZymKMygOXzpI2AJ/pubchart?oid=345926232&format=interactive"
)
}}
The median service worker file on desktop is 895 bytes, whereas on mobile it's 694 bytes. Throughout all percentiles desktop service workers are larger than mobile service workers. We note that these stats don't account for dynamically imported scripts through the [`importScripts()`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WorkerGlobalScope/importScripts) method, which likely skews the results higher.
## Web app manifests
### Web app manifest properties
The web app manifest is a simple JSON file that tells the browser about a web application and how it should behave when installed on the user's mobile device or desktop. A typical manifest file includes information about the app name, icons it should use, the start URL it should open at when launched, and more. Only 1.54% of all encountered manifests were invalid JSON, and the rest parsed correctly.
We looked at the different properties defined by the [Web App Manifest specification](https://w3c.github.io/manifest/#webappmanifest-dictionary), and also considered non-standard proprietary properties. According to the spec, the following properties are allowed:
- `dir`
- `lang`
- `name`
- `short_name`
- `description`
- `icons`
- `screenshots`
- `categories`
- `iarc_rating_id`
- `start_url`
- `display`
- `orientation`
- `theme_color`
- `background_color`
- `scope`
- `serviceworker`
- `related_applications`
- `prefer_related_applications`
The only property that we didn't observe in the wild was `iarc_rating_id`, which is a string that represents the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) certification code of the web application. It is intended to be used to determine which ages the web application is appropriate for.
{{ figure_markup(
image="fig6.png",
caption="Popularity of web app manifest properties.",
description="Bar chart showing the popularity of web app manifest properties for desktop and mobile. 88% of desktop web app manifests include the name property, 82% icons, 61% display, 55% theme color, 49% background color, 45% short name, 36% start URL, 19% GCM sender ID, 9% GCM user visible only, 9% orientation, 7% description, 5% scope, and 4% lang. The popularity of properties on mobile web app manifests is similar, plus or minus 2 percentage points.",
chart_url="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT7DUzACr4eBhNU4cDz8-17oSx2qYbi9OFDjngz0NXNBP2IzZFxvDxLX2XThlN4SZymKMygOXzpI2AJ/pubchart?oid=1904325089&format=interactive",
width=600,
height=452,
data_width=600,
data_height=452
)
}}
The proprietary properties we encountered frequently were `gcm_sender_id` and `gcm_user_visible_only` from the legacy Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) service. Interestingly there are almost no differences between mobile and desktop. On both platforms, however, there's a long tail of properties that are not interpreted by browsers yet contain potentially useful metadata like `author` or `version`. We also found a non-trivial amount of mistyped properties; our favorite being `shot_name`, as opposed to `short_name`. An interesting outlier is the `serviceworker` property, which is standard but not implemented by any browser vendor. Nevertheless, it was found on 0.09% of all web app manifests used by mobile and desktop pages.
### Display values
Looking at the values developers set for the `display` property, it becomes immediately clear that they want PWAs to be perceived as "proper" apps that don't reveal their web technology origins.
{{ figure_markup(
image="fig7.png",
alt="Usage of web app manifest display properties.",
caption="Usage of web app manifest <code>display</code> properties.",
description='Bar chart showing how the display property of web app manifests is used by desktop and mobile websites. In both cases, the "standalone" value is used 57% of the time. The property is not set at all in 38% of manifests. The "minimal UI", "browser", and "fullscreen" values each make up only 1 or 2% of usage.',
chart_url="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT7DUzACr4eBhNU4cDz8-17oSx2qYbi9OFDjngz0NXNBP2IzZFxvDxLX2XThlN4SZymKMygOXzpI2AJ/pubchart?oid=1514793237&format=interactive"
)
}}
By choosing `standalone`, they make sure no browser UI is shown to the end-user. This is reflected by the majority of apps that make use of the `prefers_related_applications` property: more that 97% of both mobile and desktop applications do _not_ prefer native applications.
### Category values
The `categories` property describes the expected application categories to which the web application belongs. It is only meant as a hint to catalogs or app stores listing web applications, and it is expected that websites will make a best effort to list themselves in one or more appropriate categories.
{{ figure_markup(
image="fig8.png",
caption="Top web app manifest categories.",
description='Bar chart showing the top web app manifest categories. 60 mobile manifests are in the "shopping" category, 15 "business", 9 "web", 9 "technology", 8 "games", 8 "entertainment", 7 "social", etc. Desktop manifests follow a similar distribution except for "shopping", for which there is only 1 desktop manifest.',
chart_url="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT7DUzACr4eBhNU4cDz8-17oSx2qYbi9OFDjngz0NXNBP2IzZFxvDxLX2XThlN4SZymKMygOXzpI2AJ/pubchart?oid=1609487902&format=interactive"
)
}}
There were not too many manifests that made use of the property, but it is interesting to see the shift from "shopping" being the most popular category on mobile to "business", "technology", and "web" (whatever may be meant with that) on desktop that share the first place evenly.
### Icon sizes
Lighthouse [requires](https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse/audits/manifest-contains-192px-icon) at least an icon sized 192x192 pixels, but common favicon generation tools create a plethora of other sizes, too.
{{ figure_markup(
image="fig9.png",
caption="Top web app manifest icon sizes.",
description="Bar chart showing the usage of top web app manifest icon size property values. All values are given in height and width pixels, for example the top value in 23% of manifests is 192 by 192 pixels. The next most popular sizes are 144 at 11%, 96 at 11%, 72 at 10%, 48 at 10%, 512 at 9%, 36% at 9%, 256 at 5%, 384 at 2%, 128 at 1%, and 152 at 1%. Desktop and mobile have identical usage patterns.",
chart_url="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT7DUzACr4eBhNU4cDz8-17oSx2qYbi9OFDjngz0NXNBP2IzZFxvDxLX2XThlN4SZymKMygOXzpI2AJ/pubchart?oid=1369881840&format=interactive"
)
}}
Lighthouse's rule is probably the culprit for 192 pixels being the most popular choice of icon size on both desktop and mobile, despite [Google's documentation](https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/web-app-manifest#icons) explicitly recommending 512x512, which doesn't show as a particularly prominent option.
### Orientation values
The valid values for the `orientation` property are defined in the [Screen Orientation API specification](https://www.w3.org/TR/screen-orientation/#dom-orientationlocktype). Currently, they are:
- `"any"`
- `"natural"`
- `"landscape"`
- `"portrait"`
- `"portrait-primary"`
- `"portrait-secondary"`
- `"landscape-primary"`
- `"landscape-secondary"`
{{ figure_markup(
image="fig10.png",
caption="Top web app manifest orientation values.",
description='Bar chart showing the top web app manifest orientation values. "Portrait" is set in 6% of desktop manifests, followed by "any" in 2%, and the everything else in fewer than 1% of manifests. This is similar to usage in mobile manifests, except "portrait" is set in 8% of manifests and "portrait-primary" in 1%.',
chart_url="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT7DUzACr4eBhNU4cDz8-17oSx2qYbi9OFDjngz0NXNBP2IzZFxvDxLX2XThlN4SZymKMygOXzpI2AJ/pubchart?oid=2065142361&format=interactive"
)
}}
`"portrait"` orientation is the clear winner on both platforms, followed by `"any"` orientation.
## Workbox
[Workbox](https://developers.google.com/web/tools/workbox) is a set of libraries that help with common service worker use cases. For instance, Workbox has tools that can plug in to your build process and generate a manifest of files, which are then precached by your service worker. Workbox includes libraries to handle runtime caching, request routing, cache expiration, background sync, and more.
Given the low-level nature of the service worker APIs, many developers have turned to Workbox as a way of structuring their service worker logic into higher-level, reusable chunks of code. Workbox adoption is also driven by its inclusion as a feature in a number of popular JavaScript framework starter kits, like [`create-react-app`](https://create-react-app.dev/) and [Vue's PWA plugin](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@vue/cli-plugin-pwa).
The HTTP Archive shows that 12.71% of websites that register a service worker are using at least one of the Workbox libraries. This percentage is roughly consistent across desktop and mobile, with a slightly lower percentage (11.46%) on mobile compared to desktop (14.36%).
## Conclusion
The stats in this chapter show that PWAs are still only used by a small percentage of sites. However, this relatively small usage is driven by the more popular sites which have a much larger share of traffic, and pages beyond the home page may use this more: we showed that 15% of page loads use a service workers. The advantages they give for [performance](./performance) and greater control over [caching](./caching) particularly for [mobile](./mobile-web) should mean that usage will continue to grow.
PWAs have often been seen as Chrome-driven technology. Other browsers have made great strides recently to implement most of the underlying technologies, although first-class installability lags on some platforms. It's positive to see support becoming more widespread. [Maximiliano Firtman](https://twitter.com/firt) does a great job of tracking this on iOS, including [explaining Safari PWA support](https://medium.com/@firt/iphone-11-ipados-and-ios-13-for-pwas-and-web-development-5d5d9071cc49). Apple doesn't use the term PWA much, and has [explicitly stated that these HTML5 apps are best delivered outside of the App Store](https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=09062019b). Microsoft went the opposite direction, not only [encouraging PWAs in its app store, but even automatically shortlisting PWAs to be added that were found via the Bing web crawler](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/progressive-web-apps/microsoft-store). Google has also provided a method for listing web apps in the Google Play Store, via [Trusted Web Activities](https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2019/02/using-twa).
PWAs provide a path forward for developers who would prefer to build and release on the web instead of on native platforms and app stores. Not every operating system and browser offers full parity with native software, but improvements continue, and perhaps 2020 is the year where we see an explosion in deployments?
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Still an incredible ditch
It's my favorite tradition — and a strong indicator of where my priorities fall. I've failed to go home for Christmas for six of the past seven years, but I never miss the annual autumn Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike with my dad.
This year was my seventh trip into the "big ditch," as my friend Dave calls the Colorado River gorge. My first rim-to-rim hike, back in October 2004, was such a daunting prospect that I was awake all night before the hike, nervous that I wouldn't find the strength to climb all the way out of the canyon. I'd done 6,000-foot climbs before that, but never at the end of a long day. My dad and I joined a large group at North Kaibab trailhead in predawn darkness. I remember thinking it was such an incredibly long way down; after fifteen miles, my legs were aching and we were still at the bottom of the canyon. Temperatures climbed over a hundred degrees as we plodded up the Bright Angel Trail. Some of our companions developed bloody nipples and heat exhaustion, and had to submerge themselves in tiny trickles of streams. When we finally reached the South Rim, I plopped down with a Pepsi my mom brought for me, convinced I couldn't possibly take another step. Now, eight years later, a rim-to-rim hike has become something I've convinced myself I can squeeze in less than a week after a hundred-mile mountain run. Even my dad has started talking about doing a double-crossing next year, calling it "the new rim-to-rim." But where some of the challenge has faded, the unbelievable beauty and quality time with my dad has remained.
This year we started on the South Rim and worked our way to the north. We were joined by my dad's friends Chad and Ophie, who recently moved from San Francisco to Utah. Chad is a fun guy to spend time with. He and my dad were hiking companions in the 1990s, before Chad moved from Salt Lake City to the Bay Area. Chad was a 2:48 marathoner and a mountaineer aspiring toward Mount Everest (the tragic death of his climbing partner on Mount Whitney put this dream on hold indefinitely.) But Chad is an obvious bad-ass who recently had knee surgery and gained a little weight, so his self-depreciating humor is a continuous source of entertainment. Chad is looking to get into trail running and was actually asking me for advice about training for ultras. Coming from a 2:48 marathoner, I have to say, the notion that I had anything useful to offer was pretty hilarious. But he is a great guy. His wife, Ophie, was quiet but steady. She was nervous about the scope of a rim-to-rim, too, but only seemed to gain strength as she climbed.
I still had a few lingering physical issues after the Bear 100, including tired climbing legs, extremely sore pinkie toes and a few open blisters. On Thursday night, I spent an hour giving myself a specialized pedicure, filing down my more problematic calluses, moisturizing, and carefully taping my blisters and four toes. This seemed to help a lot. My feet had been my largest concern for getting through the canyon, but they proved to be a minor inconvenience — if you count excruciating pinkie toe pressure pain as a minor inconvenience. I guess I really am developing an ultrarunner mentality.
We started down the South Kaibab Trail just minutes before the first wave of shuttle bus hikers and runners (we actually saw the bus pull into the parking lot.) Even still, we managed to stay ahead of all but a handful of runners, so we largely had the canyon to ourselves in the morning.
Although I've considered taking on the popular runner tradition of running across the canyon and back in one day, I'm torn about the notion of a R2R2R. Honestly, I think it would be a fun challenge, but the Grand Canyon is really the type of place where it's even better to take it slow.
There were, of course, many picture stops along the way.
Friday was a hot day in the canyon — barely cool before sunrise on the South Rim, and well into the 90s at the river. Having lost all of my heat acclimation since I haven't been in real heat since August, the early afternoon climb in the box canyon was a tough grind for me. Ophie, who is Filipino, continued to wear long pants and long sleeves all day long.
The bridge across the river.
The "Black Bridge" was constructed in the 1920s for mule traffic, and remains one of only two bridges across the Colorado River in the entire Grand Canyon. The other is the Silver Bridge, on the Bright Angel Trail less than a mile away. Both are foot- and mule-access only, so shuttle drivers for any rim-to-rim crossing still have to drive more than two hundred miles around the big ditch.
Climbing out of Bright Angel Canyon. It was really hot here.
So I was stoked to arrive at this place for lunch — Ribbon Falls, my favorite spot on the North Kaibab Trail. (Actually about a half mile off the main trail. So you even get a bonus mile.)
I spent as much time as I could lingering near this misty alcove. But not too close, unwilling to get my taped-up feet even remotely wet.
Yay Ribbon Falls
This was the first time I carried a GPS on a south-to-north crossing, so I never before realized that despite the long, hot grind out of the box canyon, the North Kaibab Trail actually only gains about 2,000 feet total in the first ten miles after Phantom Ranch. The Artist's House below Roaring Springs sits at about 4,500 feet altitude, and from there it's a big grunt to gain another 4,000 feet in five miles. I knew those last five miles were mean! It's not just tired legs that make it seem so.
We really motored up those last five miles. I was struggling enough to keep the pace that I didn't even stop to take many pictures, for fear my weak legs wouldn't muster the oomph to catch back up to my dad, who can hike really fast. (He may be nearing 60, but I still have to jog sometimes to keep his pace.) We were about a half mile from the top when my dad and I finally stopped at the Coconino Overlook. Chad joined us about three minutes later and staged a comic meltdown, staggering about and dramatically declaring "I got nothing left. I'm seeing stars, cherubs, there's a monkey on a pogo stick!" A lady sitting nearby turned around with a horrified look on her face, believing that Chad was serious. "You're almost there," she sputtered. "Really, you only have about twenty more minutes." Chad's a funny guy.
My mom, our ever-gracious shuttle driver, was waiting for us at the North Kaibab Trailhead. This is such a great tradition and I hope it continues, even if most of my family would probably prefer I come home for Christmas. Thanks, Mom and Dad.
You can do R2R2R slowly -- we did it. Just be prepared to finish really late :-)
Your dad looks really young.
When we thought you were hiking on Saturday and during Allison's 45 minutes of "there is no way I am going back to the S. Rim" lowness, we discussed trying to bribe you into taking us back to the South Rim, keeping you for the night and driving you back in the early morning. I am SO SO SO glad Alli rallied because that would have been sad when you never came! :-)
I'm envious! Not just of the hike (but yeah, that too), but of the opportunity to share something like this with your dad. In my experience, nothing bonds people faster or deeper than a grueling adventure outdoors. I hope to convince my parents to at least try snowshoeing when they come over for Christmas, but I have my doubts.
I met you briefly at the lodge on the North side (my dad reads your blog). I love your take on the hike and I hope someday I can get to the point where I'm even half as graceful about that murderous trek. :)
I enjoy your blog, but most of your adventures I have to file in the vicarious sufferfest category.
This post was different. It put a big old relatable smile on my face. A few years ago, I decided I wanted to try a R2R. I did N2S, spent the night and returned S2N the next day. It was fantastic, but those last few miles on the north rim were looonnnng.
I lost my dad last week very unexpectedly to a stroke. Hang on tight to your GC tradition.
Danni: Seriously impressed with your R2R2R one week after the Bear — and again, just because you want to make a friend happy. If I ever do my own R2R2R in a day, I hope it's with you.
Elizabeth: Thanks. Loved your trip report. I laughed out loud more than once. Congratulations on your first rim-to-rim! I can all but promise that you're hooked now.
Mary: Ha! I got the "Your dad is hot" remark from a few friends back in high school. I admit I didn't think I'd still be hearing that still in 2012 (he'll be 60 next year.) And I always thought camping in the canyon would be a lot of fun. It's just so hard to get a permit.
Diane: So sorry to hear about your father. I agree that every single one of these treks with my dad have been priceless beyond any race finish.
It's easy to get a permit to camp if you get away from the main corridor trails -- why do you keep doing the same thing? There's lots more canyon to see and you could have seen a lot of it by now. Lots of really special uncrowded territory down there.
Dan: Why do we keep doing the same thing? Sort of the point of a tradition. ;-)
I'd love to hear some different ideas about hiking routes in and around the Grand Canyon. But the emphasis is on hiking. I'm not a canyoneer and I never will be, sadly. Back in the early 2000s my ex-boyfriend and I did quite a few exploratory trips in Southern Utah, mainly the San Rafael Swell and also the Escalante area. We got ourselves into some precarious climbing situations that I honestly hated and eventually it caused me to dread the prospect of backpacking in the desert. I could write a book about the slippery slope of outdoor fear that I descended into, and that Alaska helped me climb out of (oh wait, I sort of did in "Ghost Trails.") But, as you can see, I am a bit sensitive about the fears that remain ... canyoneering being one.
But, of course, input is always welcome. What are the names of some places you'd suggest?
Update: Dan, your comment and my response prompted Beat to look up some other established trails in the Grand Canyon and we spent an more than an hour reading about the Tonto Trail. http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=691 That route sounds great for a fastpacking trip, with good maps and enough beta regarding water. If you end up responding, I'd love to hear whether you have any experience with the Tonto Trail.
Ya we would prefer to have you for Christmas. But if your not coming home, at least you are at your home away from home. I'm glad you had a great hike and I'm glad I got to see you, that you got to meet Ashleigh, and I got to break my 9 month sushi fast with you. Love you sister!
Ya we would prefer to have you for Christmas. But if your not coming home, at least you are at your home away from home. I'm glad you had a great hike and I'm glad I got to see you, that you got to meet Ashleigh, and I got to break my 9 month sushi fast with you. Love you sister!
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But this has been a unique period of opportunity for investors in the single-family rental space. A historic level of distressed homes for sale, price declines that have made housing remarkably cheap and high demand for rental units amid constrained credit conditions have combined to create an unprecedented opportunity for investors to buy vacant, foreclosed homes in bulk and rent them out.
Institutional investors with deep pockets have swarmed into the business, with private-equity player Blackstone leading the charge.
Housing bears fear that these big investors will pull out of the housing market once competition increases and returns dry up and first-time homebuyers and trade-up buyers who have been squeezed out of the market may still not step in to fill the void.
Morgan Stanley is optimistic, however. For one, they expect homeownership to continue to decline for the next few years and the renting class to increase. Converting distressed stock to rentals will help meet this growing demand.
Secondly, while the yields currently are modest at 5% to 6% after capex, home price appreciation will augment cash flow yields, driving a return on capital to above 10%. Moreover, the analysts expect margins to expand over time. Rents should climb 3% to 4% while expenses grow by a slower 2%.
Another big driver would be financing. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Blackstone and Deutsche Bank are in talks to securitize rental payments on 1,500 to 1,700 rental properties.
Securitizing payments from single-family rentals has its challenges. There is no data on the payment track record of people renting previously foreclosed homes.
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Q:
How to build a django query to save mixing int and str from a json var?
I have a JSON var like:
myjson = [{"name":"bla", "value":111}, {"name":"ble", "value":222}, {"name":"bli", "value":333}, {"name":"blo", "value":444}]
my Django model is:
class myTable(models.Model):
name = models.TextField(max_length=2000)
bla = models.IntegerField(default=0)
ble = models.IntegerField(default=0)
bli = models.IntegerField(default=0)
blo = models.IntegerField(default=0)
def __unicode__(self):
return '%s, %s, %s, %s' % (self.name, self.bla, self.ble, self.bli, self.blo)
I want to save this row (from my views.py):
from myproject.models import myTable
n = "lalala"
query = myTable(name="lalala", bla=111, ble=222, bli=333, blo=444)
query.save()
I don't know how to build the query iterating the JSON.
If I build an string:
#>>> q="lalala"
#>>> myzonesstring = 'name="'+q+'", '
#>>> for m in myjson:
#... myzonesstring += str(m["name"])+'='+str(m["value"])+', ' ...
#>>> myzonesstring 'name="lalala", bla=111, ble=222, bli=333, blo=444, '
#>>> myzonesstring[:-2] 'name="lalala", bla=111, ble=222, bli=333, blo=444'
#>>> query = myTable(myzonesstring[:-2])
#>>> query.save() [. python . ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: 'name="lalala", bla=111, ble=222, bli=333, blo=444'
A:
I am not so involved in django, but it seems to me that you do not initialize your Model correctly. From the django documenation:
Creating objects
To create a new instance of a model, just instantiate it like any other Python class:
class Model(**kwargs)
The keyword arguments are simply the names of the fields you’ve defined on your model.
So I would expect you'd rather have to build one dict from your json and than use this as your kwargs for the Model-init:
myjson = [{"name":"bla", "value":111},
{"name":"ble", "value":222},
{"name":"bli", "value":333},
{"name":"blo", "value":444}]
kwargs = dict(map(lambda x: (x["name"], x["value"]), myjson))
kwargs["name"] = "lalala"
table = myTable(**kwargs)
table.save()
BTW, I renamed query to table; you do not create a query, you create an object (instance of class myTable). This object then takes care of creating the query for the database when you call save()
Greetings,
Thorsten
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Bairstow: It's just another game for me
As Jonny Bairstow entered the hotel lobby on Sunday morning before going to play cricket he was beckoned. The National Selector himself wanted a word. Bairstow wondered what he could possibly want, which does not perhaps say a great deal for his deductive powers.
Then again, Geoff Miller was not hiring him as a detective, he was inviting him to bat for England in a Test match for the first time. "I didn't really know what it was about so to get that news was fantastic," said Bairstow yesterday, as he recounted that moment when a boyhood dream became something more substantial. "He explained a few different areas of play and things he had noted over a few weeks and then said that I was in the squad."
It is possible, if they have taken leave of their senses, that the captain, Andrew Strauss, and the coach, Andy Flower, into whose hands the squad of 13 has now been placed to do with as they want, will leave Bairstow out of the starting XI against West Indies at Lord's. But in the prevailing conditions and given England's winter batting cock-ups it is beyond logic.
Bairstow will become the 652nd England Test cricketer, the 78th from Yorkshire and the 13th to have had a father who also played. David Bairstow played four Tests for England between 1979 and 1981, one of them at Lord's and two of them against a West Indies team which was a rather different proposition than the one Jonny is likely to encounter this week.
It will obviously be a poignant moment. Bairstow's father took his own life when the boy was seven years old. Jonny became an all-round sportsmen as his father had been before him, outstanding at rugby, football and hockey at St Peter's School, York.
"It will be the same as every other day – there is a guy at the other end with a ball in his hand and you have got to face it," he said, downplaying the scale of it. "It will be a proud moment if selected and the family will be very proud. But at end of the day it is another game of cricket."
The match will be Bairstow's maiden first-class appearance at Lord's. In his only previous innings, in a one-day match for Yorkshire against Middlesex last August, he made 118 from 87 balls.
It is not, however, as a ground specialist that the selectors have opted for him above a crop of other young batsmen including James Taylor and Ben Stokes, whose cause continues to be hampered by injury. Bairstow has made two hundreds already this season, including an exemplary 182 in testing circumstances at Scarborough, and last week for England Lions made 50 when the side was in a spot of bother. His temperament as well as his skill came into the reckoning.
"It is something that has kind of happened and I have not really thought about," he said. "It is a good attribute. You don't want someone that cries off when the chips are down. It is that inner grit and determination that you are going to get out of this situation whether that be the easy or hard way."
One of Bairstow's chief mentors throughout his life has been Geoffrey Boycott, one of Yorkshire and England's most illustrious batsmen, who was a firm friend of Bairstow's father. When Jonny made his one-day international debut at Cardiff last year, it was Boycott who presented him with his cap and it would be fitting if he did so again on Thursday.
"Mum got a call from his wife yesterday but I haven't spoken to him. Geoffrey is very much if you want to speak to him you can. I'm very grateful to have someone like that as a family friend. But I haven't picked his brains, especially coming into this week. It is possible I could speak to him if I wanted to."
Boycott is an admirer as well as a friend and has made it plain that a long international career could await Bairstow. If the pair do talk before this initial foray, Boycott may mention that there will be no West Indian fast bowling on display at the other end by comparison with what he had to deal with.
While Bairstow is at the start of his international career, Jimmy Anderson is at the peak of his and was yesterday, correctly, named as the England Cricketer of the Year. He took 46 wickets in 11 Test matches, and 18 in 12 ODIs, both coincidentally at an average of 25.83. "The last two years I've shown what I can do at this level," Anderson said. "It's been a frustrating eight years before that, up and down. Knowing my game has been the biggest thing. Knowing I can bowl a ball on a length for a period of time is what all bowlers strive for and is something that was missing for the first part of my career."
Generation game: fathers and sons who played for England
Fred and Maurice Tate
Fred played his only match in 1902 and was last man out in a tense three-run defeat by Australia. "I've got a boy at home who'll put it all right for me," he said, and so Maurice did with 155 wickets in 39 Tests.
Joe Hardstaff Snr and Jnr
Joe Snr played five Tests in the early 1900s, Joe Jnr 23 with more success four decades later, including 205 not out at Lord's in the first Test after the Second World War.
Charlie and David Townsend
Charlie played two matches against Australia in 1899 and David three in the West Indies in 1935 – the last player to be picked for England who did not play for a county.
Frank and George Mann
Frank Mann played five matches in the early 1920s, all of them as captain, and George seven in the Forties, also all as captain, a unique record.
Jim Parks Snr and Jnr
Jim Snr played one Test in 1937, but his son was a regular part of the side in the 1960s, becoming a keeper-batsman who made 46 appearances.
Len and Richard Hutton
The father was one of England's most illustrious batsmen, the first professional captain of the 20th Century, Richard, a handy all-rounder, played five times in 1971.
Colin and Chris Cowdrey
Both were captain of England, though in Chris's case it was for just one of the six Tests he played, compared to his legendary dad's 27 in 114 matches.
Micky and Alec Stewart
Alec is England's most capped Test player with 133 appearances, his father who became England's first manager, played eight times in the early 1960s.
Jeff and Simon Jones
Injury curtailed the Test careers of both these fast bowlers, Jeff after 15 caps, Simon after 18, though he had the consolation of helping to win the 2005 Ashes.
Arnie and Ryan Sidebottom
The father played his solitary Test towards the end of a long county career and Ryan had to wait six years before he added to his first cap, becoming a reliable left-arm swinger who played 22 times.
Alan and Mark Butcher
Alan played one match against India at The Oval in 1979, Mark was more durable with 71 Tests, starting in 1997, which brought eight hundreds.
Chris and Stuart Broad
Perhaps the most successful pair, since both appeared in Ashes-winning sides, Chris scoring six hundreds in 25 appearances and Stuart with 45 caps already.
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Climategate correspondent Michael Mann has published an editorial in the Washington Post.
As a CA reader observed in another thread, the more interesting aspect of the editorial is the overwhelming opposition to Mann’s editorial in the comment thread. Readers were not distracted by Mann’s efforts to deflect attention to Sarah Palin.
Mann’s editorial commences in Nixonian style:
I cannot condone some things that colleagues of mine wrote or requested in the e-mails recently stolen from a climate research unit at a British university.
Readers were quick to observe the inconsistency with Mann’s response to Phil Jones’ request to delete emails (see Climategate here).
Two days after CRU received an FOI request for AR4 comments sent to Briffa that had not been included in the IPCC archive of Review Comments (IPCC procedures adopted by its member governments require it to be “open and transparent” and to archive all review comments for 5 years), Phil Jones sent Mann an email headed “IPCC & FOI” asking him to delete any emails that he may have had with Briffa regarding AR4 and to contact Gene [Wahl, then at Alfred University, currently of NCAR] to do likewise, saying that they would contact Caspar [Ammann of NCAR] to delete his emails.
Jones:
Subject: Re: IPCC & FOI Mike,
Can you delete any emails you may have had with Keith re AR4? Keith will do likewise. He’s not in at the moment – minor family crisis. Can you also email Gene and get him to do the same? I don’t have his new email address. We will be getting Caspar to do likewise. … [unrelated]..
Cheers
Phil
Instead of replying in forceful terms that he did not “condone” such a request and urging other parties not to do so as well, Mann immediately replied to Jones that he would “contact Gene [Wahl] about this ASAP”.
Hi Phil, [… unrelated] I’ll contact Gene about this ASAP. His new email is: [email protected] talk to you later, mike
Mann says about this:
Some statements in the stolen e-mails reflect poor judgment — for example, a colleague referring to deleting e-mails that might be subject to a Freedom of Information Act request — but there is no evidence that this happened.
This is, of course, untrue. Evidence of deletion of emails that might be subject to a FOI rquest is in a later email, in which Jones says
About 2 months ago I deleted loads of emails, so have very little – if anything at all.
In addition, while the Climategate emails are extensive and still being assimilated, they are by no means complete. In many cases, the curtain goes up for a day or two and we don’t see the end of the story. Investigations at the University of East Anglia and Penn State have been authorized.
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Design and analysis of qualitative collaborative studies: minimum collaborative program.
Collaborative studies involving qualitative data are usually conducted under design constraints to fulfill the requirements for quantitative studies. The data from these qualitative studies are often analyzed in a manner that ignores the fact that collaborative studies involve matching (i.e., each laboratory analyzes a portion of each test sample). This report presents some design considerations and analysis procedures for qualitative collaborative studies that take into account that the design involves matching. Suggestions are offered as to the number of laboratories and test samples to use in the minimum collaborative program, and analysis procedures for outier screening are detailed. Method performance is assessed through such indicators as sensitivity, specificity, false positive, and false negative rates. Methods for estimating the error of the performance indicator rates are explained, and procedures are given for estimating false positive and false negative rates for lot defect rates that may occur in practice.
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