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Mismatch repair deficiency commonly precedes adenoma formation in Lynch Syndrome-Associated colorectal tumorigenesis.
Lynch syndrome is a cancer predisposition syndrome caused by germline mutations in mismatch repair (MMR) genes. MMR deficiency is a ubiquitous feature of Lynch syndrome-associated colorectal adenocarcinomas; however, it remains unclear when the MMR-deficient phenotype is acquired during tumorigenesis. To probe this issue, the present study examined genetic alterations and MMR statuses in Lynch syndrome-associated colorectal adenomas and adenocarcinomas, in comparison with sporadic adenomas. Among the Lynch syndrome-associated colorectal tumors, 68 of 86 adenomas (79%) and all adenocarcinomas were MMR-deficient, whereas all the sporadic adenomas were MMR-proficient, as determined by microsatellite instability testing and immunohistochemistry for MMR proteins. Sequencing analyses identified APC or CTNNB1 mutations in the majority of sporadic adenomas (58/84, 69%) and MMR-proficient Lynch syndrome-associated adenomas (13/18, 72%). However, MMR-deficient Lynch syndrome-associated adenomas had less APC or CTNNB1 mutations (25/68, 37%) and frequent frameshift RNF43 mutations involving mononucleotide repeats (45/68, 66%). Furthermore, frameshift mutations affecting repeat sequences constituted 14 of 26 APC mutations (54%) in MMR-deficient adenomas whereas these frameshift mutations were rare in MMR-proficient adenomas in patients with Lynch syndrome (1/12, 8%) and in sporadic adenomas (3/52, 6%). Lynch syndrome-associated adenocarcinomas exhibited mutation profiles similar to those of MMR-deficient adenomas. Considering that WNT pathway activation sufficiently drives colorectal adenoma formation, the distinct mutation profiles of WNT pathway genes in Lynch syndrome-associated adenomas suggest that MMR deficiency commonly precedes adenoma formation. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
Hidden messages and performance decisions
One of the students on my Vocal Close Harmony course this semester, Amy, made the observation that you don’t see a lot of performance instructions such as dynamic markings on close-harmony arrangements. It takes somebody new to a style to point out things that you had forgotten were note-worthy - and in doing so, Amy made me think afresh about the hidden expressive codes that note-smiths (whether composers or arrangers) and performers share.
As we all know, the addition of dynamic markings to musical scores started in the late-sixteenth century, but didn’t really catch on in a significant way until the eighteenth century. It wasn’t that people didn’t shape music in performance, it was just that it was felt that if you were a good enough musician to be able to play the music in the first place, you could work out how it needed to be shaped from how it went.
Rose Rosengard Subotnik has interpreted the proliferation of markings (particularly dynamic accents) in Beethoven as a breakdown in this semiotic certainty, or a form of notational mistrust. It was no longer enough to mark a chord out by texture and range – you needed an sf too if the performer was to get the idea that it should stand out. In this light, you can see the increasing abundance of expressive markings in scores of the last two hundred years as a by-product of the cult of compositional individualism. If every composer is aiming to speak their own musical language, detailed performance directions function as expressive subtitles.
But in musical traditions such as the various styles of popular a cappella in which there is both a strong sense of shared musical vocabulary and a significant overlap in personnel between those who write and those who perform, the older model seems to prevail. It is possible to make interpretive decisions based on a combination of awareness of the general performance habits of the style and the clues buried in how the music is written.
Factors that arrangers use to give hints to performers about how the music should go include the following:
Behaviour of lines. Lots of repeated notes and small steps suggest a faster tempo than rangy lines with large intervals.
Harmonic rhythm. The more frequent the chord changes, the slower the tempo.
Harmonic colour. The dirtier the harmony, the slower the tempo. If it’s all triads and dominant sevenths, it should rollock along at a sprightly pace; if it’s all half-diminished chords and minor sevenths, you need to hang around and luxuriate in them.
Dynamics
Range. We all know that higher notes carry further (at least through air – whales take a different approach to pitch and communication from parrots). So, we can usually expect the dynamic contour of a song to correlate with the melodic contour. Sure, there are exceptions where the highest melodic note may want to be floated pianissimo – but we can usually identify these moments by the behaviour of the other parts (see below). If all parts are high in their voices, that’s a good hint that it really is the dynamic climax.
Voicing. High, tight chords produce big bright sounds (aka ‘you can ring the snot out of the them’); lower and widely spaced chords want balancing a little more carefully and usually sit most happily in a lower dynamic level. This is related to the point above about range, of course, as width of voicing results from relative pitch level of the parts.
Harmonic colour. You can use my chart of harmonic charge to make these decisions. Chords in the relaxed, soft and passive regions will need singing more relaxed, softly and passively than chords in the bright, tense and active dimensions.
Rhythm/rubato.
Homophony. If all the parts are singing the same words at the same time, you have more opportunity to play with the rhythmic delivery of the melody. Conversely, if the parts are working more independently, they’ll all (including the melody) need to coordinate to the external reference point of regular metre rather than to the vagaries of a rubato-clad melody.
Syncopation. Likewise, if the notation indicates syncopated rhythms, this obligates the performer to present a clear and well-characterised rhythmic framework to bounce the syncopations off. The entire point of syncopation, after all, is its interplay with the metre, so the audience needs to hear the metre as well as the syncopations if they’re to have any fun.
Embellishments. I thought I’d save the most obvious to last. Embellishments are where the arranger drops hints about performance that really aren’t hidden at all. Harmonically-rich swipes at the end of phrases tell you to ease your way gradually out of that phrase and into the next, while propulsive up-beats in the bass line chivvy the rhythm along. The embellishments are the place where the arranger tells you most clearly how they’d sing the song.
To illustrate these principles when Amy raised the point in class, I played Nightlife’s performance of David Wright’s arrangement of Basin Street Blues – as clear an example as you’ll ever get of the shaping of dynamics, tempo and rhythm over the entire form using the structural elements of the arrangement. And it follows that, just as you can judge the quality of a performance by how well it picks up on the hints encoded in the chart, you can judge the quality of an arrangement by the clarity and consistency of the hints it drops. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
You can download our product and evaluate it without any cost or obligation. Just click on the "Download
Now" link above. If you wish to use our product beyond the
trial period you must
purchase a license. You will get your registration key
immediately after a successful purchase to unlock the
product for unlimited use. If you decide not to purchase, the built-in
uninstall process will remove all traces of our product from your computer. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Q:
Preventing session timeout during long processing time in JSF
I've been working on an JSF application. At one place, I've to call an action in managed bean. The action actually process hundreds of records and the session timesout before the processing is finished.
Though all the records are processed successfully, the session expires and the user is sent to login page.
I'd tried adding
session.setMaxInactiveInterval(0);
before the processing of the records with no effect.
How to prevent the session time out during such process.
A:
Introduce ajaxical polls to keep the session alive as long as enduser has the page open in webbrowser. Here's a kickoff example with a little help of jQuery.
<script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.min.js"></script>
<script>
$(document).ready(function() {
setInterval(function() {
$.get('poll');
}, ${(pageContext.session.maxInactiveInterval - 10) * 1000});
});
</script>
Here ${pageContext.session.maxInactiveInterval} returns the remnant of seconds the session has yet to live (and is been deducted with 10 seconds -just to be on time with poll- and converted to milliseconds so that it suits what setInterval() expects).
The $.get('poll') should call a servlet which is mapped on an url-pattern of /poll and contains basically the following line in the doGet() method.
request.getSession(); // Keep session alive.
That's it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
} |
Opinions of the United
2005 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
10-7-2005
McDaniel v. Turnbach
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 05-2801
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2005
Recommended Citation
"McDaniel v. Turnbach" (2005). 2005 Decisions. Paper 440.
http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2005/440
This decision is brought to you for free and open access by the Opinions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at Villanova
University School of Law Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in 2005 Decisions by an authorized administrator of Villanova
University School of Law Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected].
BPS-371 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
NO. 05-2801
______________________________________
MICHAEL P. MCDANIEL,
Appellant
v.
EDWARD J. TURNBACH;
PETER J. GIOVINE,
Individually and in their/his official capacity,
as Justice of the Superior Court of Ocean County
______________________________________
On Appeal From the United States District Court
For the District of New Jersey
(D.C. Civ. No. 03-cv-04740)
District Judge: Mary L. Cooper
_______________________________________
Submitted For Possible Dismissal Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)
September 15, 2005
Before: RENDELL, FISHER AND VAN ANTWERPEN, CIRCUIT JUDGES
(Filed: October 7, 2005)
____________________
OPINION
____________________
PER CURIAM
Appellant Michael P. McDaniel, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, appeals the
May 20, 2005, order of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
dismissing his complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). For the reasons that
follow, we will dismiss the appeal as frivolous. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B); see also
Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989).
In 2000, McDaniel was charged with two counts of second-degree robbery by
separate indictments in Ocean County, New Jersey. McDaniel’s case was initially
assigned to Superior Court Judge Giovine, who set bail at $50,000.00. According to his
complaint, after McDaniel filed a motion to recuse Judge Giovine, his case was
reassigned to Superior Court Judge Turnbach. In 2001, McDaniel was convicted by a
jury of one count of second-degree robbery, and pled guilty to one count of second-degree
robbery. McDaniel was sentenced in August 2001, and has since been incarcerated at the
New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.
In October 2003, McDaniel submitted the underlying complaint pursuant to 42
U.S.C. § 1983 in the District Court. In his complaint, McDaniel alleged that Judges
Giovine and Turnbach violated his Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth
Amendment rights during his 2000 and 2001 criminal proceedings. McDaniel sought
equitable relief, asking the District Court to enter an order deciding whether: (1) his
extended term sentence is appropriate, he is a habitual offender, and his guilty plea was
knowing and intelligent; and (2) Judges Giovine and Turnbach admitted “tainted”
evidence because of racial bias.
In an order entered on May 20, 2005, the District Court sua sponte dismissed
2
McDaniel’s complaint pursuant to § 1915(e)(2)(B). First, insofar as McDaniel was
attempting to challenge the fact or duration of his conviction or sentence, the District
Court concluded that his sole remedy is a federal petition for writ of habeas corpus. See
Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 488-90 (1973). The District Court next explained
that, to the extent that McDaniel’s claims “would necessarily imply the invalidity of his
conviction or sentence, they are barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 487 (1994).
Finally, the District Court concluded that even if McDaniel’s complaint could be read as
asserting a claim for damages against Judges Giovine and Turnbach, dismissal would be
appropriate because they are absolutely immune from suit for damages under § 1983
when they act in a judicial capacity. See Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 356-57
(1978). This timely appeal followed.
This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. McDaniel has been
granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal. When an appellant proceeds in
forma pauperis, this Court must dismiss the appeal if it is “frivolous.” 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(e)(2)(B). A frivolous appeal has no arguable basis in law or fact. Neitzke, 490
U.S. at 325. After a careful review of the record, we will dismiss this appeal as frivolous
because McDaniel’s claims lack merit for the reasons fully explained in the District
Court’s comprehensive opinion.
3
| {
"pile_set_name": "FreeLaw"
} |
import config from './rollup.config'
export default config({
output: {
format: 'esm',
file: 'lib/analytics-utils.es.js',
},
browser: false
})
| {
"pile_set_name": "Github"
} |
combining phonics with whole language is the best approach for
teaching beginning reading.
9
Mrs. Ritchie wants to foster her students' emotional intelligence.
Her lesson plans should use active learning techniques that provide
skill practice in __________ and __________.
respect and caring for other; resistance to unfavorable peer pressure
10
Research shows that children who engage in as little as 21 minutes of
independent reading per day
are exposed to nearly 2 million words per year
11
Research on bilingual education shows that
a strategy that promotes children's native-language skills while they
learn English is most effective for non-English-speaking minority children.
12
Studies show that educational self-fulfilling prophecies are
especially strong
when teachers emphasize competition and publicly compare children.
13
According to Erikson, a sense of __________ can develop in middle
childhood when family life fails to prepare children for school life
or when teachers and peers destroy children's self-confidence with
negative responses.
inferiority
14
As school-age children move into adolescence, self-concept is
increasingly vested in
feedback from close friends.
15
Compared to his Caucasian-American age mates, Leonard, an
African-American fourth grader, is more likely to have
higher self-esteem and a stronger sense of ethnic pride.
16
Children who are high in academic self-esteem and motivation make
__________ attributions, crediting their successes to __________.
mastery-oriented; ability
17
Teachers who are __________ and emphasize __________ tend to have
mastery-oriented students.
helpful; learning over getting good grades
18
Which of the following statements about emotional self-regulation in
middle childhood is true?
By age 10, most children shift adaptively between problem-centered
and emotion-centered coping
19
Principal Allen wants to reduce prejudice at his middle school. Which
of the following interventions should he use?
assign children to cooperative learning groups with peers of diverse backgrounds
20
__________ children are at the highest risk for poor school
performance, substance abuse, and antisocial behavior in adolescence
and delinquency with criminality in early adulthood.
Rejected
21
Research has shown that parents promote gender stereotypes by
behaving in a more mastery-oriented fashion with sons than with daughters.
22
Despite the concerns of middle childhood, child rearing becomes
easier for those parents who established a(n) __________ style in the
early years.
authoritative
23
A study conducted showed that fifth and sixth graders describe
__________ as the most influential people in their lives.
parents
24
The overriding factor in positive adjustment following divorce is
shielding the child from family conflict and using authoritative
child rearing.
25
Research on child sexual abuse indicates that
the abuser is typically a parent or someone the parent knows well.
26
Most researchers today believe that adolescent development is
influenced by biological, psychological, and social forces.
27
During puberty, neurons become more responsive to excitatory
neurotransmitters. As a result, adolescents
react more strongly to stressful events and experience
pleasurable stimuli more intensely.
28
Sleep-deprived adolecents
are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.
29
Which of the following statements about sex differences in
adolescents' reactions to pubertal changes is true?
A few girls tell a friend that they are menstruating, but more
boys tell a friend about spermarche.
__________ is a modern substitute for the actual physical departure
of young people from the family groupthat takes place in
industrialized nations.
Psychological distancing
32
Randy is viewed by both adults and peers as relaxed, independent, and
self-confident. Maria is viewed byboth groups as physically
attractive, lively, and sociable. Which of the following is likely to
be true?
. Randy is an early-maturing boy, and Maria is a late-maturing girl.
33
Which of the following statements about individuals with bulimia
nervosa is true?
They usually feel depressed and guilty about their abnormal eating
habits and desperately want help.
34
Research shows that many adolescents do not use contraception during
sexual activity because they
fail to apply their reasoning skills to everyday situations.
35
Which of the following three-phase sequences do many homosexual
adolescents and adults move through incoming out to themselves
and others?
feeling different, confusion, and self-acceptance
36
Studies show that most adolescents are aware of basic facts about
AIDS but
are poorly informed about how to protect themselves against other STDs.
37
In Canada and Western Europe, where community- and school-based
clinics offer adolescents contraceptivesand where universal
health insurance helps pay for them, __________ than in the United States.
pregnancy, childbirth, and abortion rates are much lower
38
Adolescent drug experimentation
should not be taken lightly because a single heavy dose can lead to
permanent injury or death.
39
The imaginary audience is adolescents' belief that they are
the focus of everyone else's attention and concern.
40
Compared with adults making decisions, teenagers
less often fall back on intuitive judgments
41
Which of the following statements about school transitions is true?
For well-adjusted youths, grade point averages tend to increase with
the high school transition.
42
Which of the following statements about part-time work during high
school is true?
The more hours students work, the more likely they are to drop out of school.
43
Which of the following factors is predictive of high self-esteem in adolescence?
authoritative parenting
44
Which of the following statements about identity development is true?
The majority of young people change from moratorium to foreclosure or
diffusion in young adulthood.
45
Adolescents who __________ tend to be in a state of moratorium or
identity achievement.
feel attached to their parents but also free to voice their own opinions
46
Which of the following is a strategy for helping minority adolescents
resolve identity conflictsconstructively?
Sal and Sadie have been married for 40 years. When asked to compare
their current relationship to when theywere newlyweds, they are
most likely to say that
their marriage has more passionate love now than earlier.
64
Gloria's marriage was riddled with jealousy, emotional highs and
lows, and desperation about whether herhusband returned her
affection. Though she offered support to her husband, Gloria did so in
ways that poorlyfit his needs. She was also quick to express
fear and anger. Based on this information, it is likely that
Gloriahas a(n) __________ attachment history
avoidant
65
Which of the following statements about other-sex friendships is true?
When a solid other-sex friendship evolves into a romance, it may be
more stable and enduring than aromantic relationship formed
without a foundation in friendship.
66
Emma left home to attend college and lived on her own until she got
married. As her own children grew upand left home, her parenting
responsibilities declined. She eventually retired and her husband
died. Thisseries of phases that Emma has experienced is referred
to as the
social clock.
67
__________ is the most consistent predictor of marital stability.
Age of marriage
68
Postponing childbearing until the late twenties or thirties
. eases the transition to parenthood.
69
Parents of __________ often report a dip in marital and life satisfaction.
adolescents
70
A recent study of same-sex couples found that same-sex civil unions
were __________ heterosexualmarriages.
less likely to dissolve than
71
Jenelle, a divorced mother with two children, is marrying William, a
divorced father with three children.Which of the following
statements is probably true
It will take three to five years for Jenelle and William's blended
family to develop the connectednessand comfort of intact
biological families
72
Research findings indicate that
gay and lesbian parents are as committed to and effective as
heterosexual parents.
73
During midlife, most adults begin to
experience life-threatening health episodes—if not in themselves,
then in their partners and friends.
74
Jeanine is 55. According to her doctor, Jeanine's reproductive
capacity has ended. She has reached the midlifereproductive
transition called
the climacteric
75
Episodes of impotence
are a sign of serious sexual dysfunction
76
Among the middle-aged adults who rate their health unfavorably
men are more likely than women to suffer from fatal illnesses
77
The leading causes of death in middle age are __________ and __________.
cancer; cardiovascular disease
78
Symptoms of heart disease in women tend to
get overlooked by doctors.
79
Which of the following statements about the Type A behavior pattern
is true?
Current evidence pinpoints hostility as a toxic ingredient of Type A
in both men and women.
80
Individuals who are repeatedly enraged are more likely to be
depressed.
81
Suzanne viewed life as fluid. She expected change and accepted it as
inevitable. When Suzanne was facedwith a problem, she identified
it and decided what to do about it. Suzanne used a(n) __________ copingstrategy.
problem-centered
82
Erikson's psychological conflict of midlife is called __________
versus __________.
generatively; stagnation
83
Quentin went to college with the goal of becoming a social worker.
Instead, he gave in to pressure from hisnew spouse and changed
his major to business. When looking back at age 50, Quentin wished he
had pursuedhis original dream of becoming a social worker.
Quentin is experiencing
life regrets .
84
__________ is common in middle adulthood.
Midlife crisis
85
Gilles, age 50, tells his brother, "I'd like to maintain my
physical health and work on getting emotionallystronger. I want
to be a good friend and a role model to my nephews and nieces. I don't
want to be that guywho never comes to family get-togethers
because he is too busy working. I want to be successful in
mycareer, but not at the expense of my family. Of course, I want
to find my own special partner, but if I don't, Iknow I'll
always have you and the kids." Gilles is discussing his
possible selves
86
Cindy, age 48, cares for her two teenage sons and her ailing
mother-in-law. Along with her mother, she is oneof a handful of
caregivers for her elderly grandmother. Cindy belongs to the
__________ generation.
kinkeeper
87
Older adults who __________ adapt more favorably and feel better
about it.
see aging as inevitable and uncontrollable
88
Sedentary healthy older adults up to age 80 who begin endurance training
should focus on non-weight-bearing activities.
89
Mr. Martin reached the last years of his life feeling whole,
complete, and satisfied with his achievements. Herealized that
the paths he followed, abandoned, and never selected were necessary
for fashioning ameaningful life course. Mr. Martin has achieved
sense of disengagement
90
Being deeply religious
seems to have little effect—positive or negative—on mental and
physical health during the last year oflife.
91
One reason social withdrawal is so common in nursing home settings is that
older adults prefer to be alone over being in the company of residents.
92
__________ are the most frequently reported types of elder abuse.
. Physical neglect, sexual abuse, and financial abuse
93
Which of the following is an essential ingredient of a "good death"?
offering the dying person care, affection, companionship, and esteem
94
Which of the following statements about enhancing children's
understanding of the death concept is true?
Discussing death candidly with children fuels their fears
95
Kübler-Ross recommends that family members and health professionals
not prolong denial by distorting the truth about the person's condition
96
Palliative care involves
care aimed at relieving pain and other symptoms.
97
Which of the following statements about advance medical directives is true?
A living will is more flexible than a durable power of attorney for
health care.
98
People respond to __________ with __________.
grief; bereavement
99
Which of the following statements about the dual-process model of
coping with loss is true?
Effective coping requires people to oscillate between dealing with
the emotional consequences of lossand attending to life changes
100
Marion was forbidden by his gay partner's family to attend his
partner's funeral or burial service. Marion is atrisk for
disenfranchised grief.
101
Death education at all levels
strives to prepare students to be informed consumers of medical and
funeral services. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector for mating with a selected one of two kinds of connector interfaces, and more particularly relates to a structure of the conductive terminals of the electrical connector.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 8,353,728, issued on Jan. 15, 2013, discloses a receptacle connector including a housing defining a slot, a first group of terminals, and a second group of terminals. The first group of terminals include a first terminal having a first contact portion disposed at a first side of the slot, a second terminal having a second contact portion, and a third terminal having a third contact portion disposed at a second side of the slot. The first contact portion is positioned between the second contact portion and the third contact portion along a mating direction. The second group of terminals include a fourth terminal and a fifth terminal. A mating connector including a paddle board has a first face and a second opposite face. A group of pads are set at a front of the first face, while two groups of pads are set at a front of the second face.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,162,675, issued on Apr. 24, 2012, discloses a receptacle connector comprising a mating face. The mating face has two circuit card-receiving slots for receiving a mating connector that includes two paddle boards.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,361,059, issued on Apr. 22, 2008, discloses an electrical connector comprising a flexible tongue and a plurality of contacts on both sides of the flexible tongue. When the electrical connector is mating with a mating connector, the contacts on one side of the flexible tongue connect with the mating connector; when mating with the mating connector that is inverted, the contacts on the other side connect with the inverted mating connector.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,094,086, issued on Aug. 22, 2006, discloses a reversible connector for coupling with a USB A-type standard connector, including a first set of four electrical contact regions and a second set of four electrical contact regions. The contact regions are so configured that in a first coupling orientation of the reversible connector with the standard connector, only the first set of electrical contact regions is mechanically connected with the contacts of the standard connector and in a second coupling orientation, only the second set of electrical contact regions is mechanically connected with the contacts of the standard connector.
An electrical connector having a different arrangement of the contacts or terminals is desired. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
A jury in Prince George’s County awarded $11.5 million to the widow and child of a man who was fatally shot by a police officer and found that the officer wrongfully caused the man’s death.
The jury also found that Cpl. Steven Jackson violated the consitutional rights of Manuel de Jesus Espina during an encounter in a Langley Park apartment building in August 2008. Jackson acted with malice and not in self defense, the jury found. The $11.5 million award is for compensatory damages. The jury is still deliberating about whether Espina’s family is entitled to punitive damages.
The verdict capped a month-long trial that featured dramatic testimony from eyewitnesses to the encounter, which lasted only a few minutes but produced a wealth of evidence.
Witnesses for the plaintiffs and Jackson provided starkly different accounts of the incident.
Jackson was moonlighting as a security officer when he saw about a half-dozen men hanging out in front of the three-story building where he worked. Some of the men, including Espina, were drinking beer.
During the civil trial and in a sworn deposition, Jackson testified that none of the men was suspected of any crime, none had violated any laws against loitering, and none had committed an alcohol violation. None of the men was behaving in a disorderly fashion, Jackson testified.
Jackson said he approached the men because he was concerned they might be blocking the entrance and to see if any of them was doing anything wrong. Most of the men went inside the building, and Jackson followed them inside.
Four witnesses testified that Jackson pepper-sprayed an unresisting Espina, and beat him down the stairs with his fists and metal police baton. Eventually, the two men went into a basement apartment, where Jackson fired a single, fatal bullet into Espina’s torso.
Two of those witnesses testified that Espina was not trying to escape or resisting when Jackson shot him. One of them, Manuel de Jesus Espina, Espina’s son, testified that his father was struggling to his feet, his eyes shut and filled with blood, when Jackson shot him.
Jackson testified that he was searching Espina for weapons on the second-floor landing when Espina took a swing at him. Jackson said he managed to handcuff Espina’s left hand, but Espina continued to violently resist.
Inside the basement apartment, Jackson testified, Espina and his son were trying to get his police baton when suddenly, a “mob” of four or five more men appeared and menaced him.
Jackson said the men pushed toward him and ignored his pleas to back away. Jackson said he took out his gun to try to prevent anyone from taking it. He said Espina reached for the gun, so he shot him.
In his testimony during the trial and in the deposition, which was videotaped last May and played for the jury, Jackson was unable to explain where the additional men came from or how they left the apartment.
Jackson said the men did not come in through the apartment’s lone door, and they did not get out that way. Police arrived quickly and never searched for any members of the mob. Jackson testified that he never told police investigators about the mob because no one specifically asked him.
Attorneys for the Espina family played an audio recording of a 911 call made by Elvia Rivera, who lived in the apartment where the shooting occurred.
Moments after the shooting, as Espina’s wife, Estela, is wailing in Spanish and asking why her husband was shot, an angry male voice is heard on the auditotape screaming, “Shut the [bleep] up! [Bleep] you!”
Jackson initially testified that he did not believe the voice was his, but later testified that he might have “cussed.”
[This post has been updated.] | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
“What we found is quite stunning: Areas we thought failed to develop can, with minimal treatment, be brought into working order,” says lead investigator Kevin Pelphrey, director of the Yale Child Neuroscience Lab.
He says the activity patterns may be useful for measuring the effectiveness of behavioral or drug therapies.
PRT is a play-based, child-initiated therapy derived from the widely used applied behavioral analysis. It involves training children in so-called 'pivotal responses,' including motivation and social initiation.
The therapy is a core component of the Early Start Denver Model, one of the best-studied therapies for autism. A study published last year using that model suggested that it normalizes brain activity in young children with autism, as measured by electroencephalography, but it did not compare brain activity in the children before and after treatment.
In the new study, ten children aged 4 to 7 with autism practiced PRT for four months, undergoing brain imaging before and after the course of therapy. PRT normalized their brain activity in a number of brain regions, including the right posterior superior temporal sulcus, left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, amygdala and fusiform gyrus, all brain areas involved in social interactions. These changes correlate with behavioral improvements, such as better eye contact and ability to make conversation.
Pelphrey and his collaborators have previously shown that children with autism have abnormal activity in these brain regions when looking at biological motion, such as a person walking.
The therapy also boosts activity in other areas, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which Pelphrey’s team has previously identified as compensatory areas — brain regions that are more active in unaffected siblings of children with the disorder.
Pelphrey and his colleagues plan to look for patterns of brain activity before therapy that might predict who is most likely to respond to PRT. “Our prediction is that there is already some compensatory mechanism there,” he says, meaning activity in the compensatory regions. All the children in the study responded to the therapy, so the researchers haven’t yet been able to identify predictors.
They are currently studying a larger group of children, including more girls than before. They also aim to look at how oxytocin, a hormone therapy being tested for autism, can enhance response to therapy.
For more reports from the 2013 International Meeting for Autism Research, please click here.
News and Opinion articles on SFARI.org are editorially independent of the Simons Foundation.
Related Content:
Sibling scans
Brain scans suggest siblings of children with autism who show no signs of the disorder may be compensating.
more
Artful scanner
Kevin Pelphrey is studying how the brain changes during development in infants as young as 6 weeks old.
more
Active ingredients
Researchers are just beginning to understand which elements of early intervention are most essential.
more
Neural norms
The brains of children with autism who receive intensive intervention respond to faces in a normal way.
more | {
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"text":"李宁，家乡：山东，一个花季女大学生，一个为母亲讨公道的上访妹，最后公开报道‘自杀’于当地信F局。被网传疑似就是那个‘23岁唯一保留人皮的人体标本’，脸部非常相似，并有网友呼吁希尽快还原真相，还此女公道。不知道此事是否是小说？我相信我们国家不会有这种万恶的事情的。",
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Why You Should Rethink Your Old Customer Reference Program ASAP
Whether you’re trying to build a successful company—or a successful career—much of that success will ultimately hinge the time you invest during the hiring process.
Brilliant people apply for jobs every day. They present their unique value proposition, build a strong business case for why they should get the job, and convince the hiring manager that they are the best person to fill the role.
The hiring manager is blown away and wants to hire the candidate immediately. So, what is the next step? The manager asks for two or three references. While they are convinced this person is the game changer they have been waiting for, the correct procedure must be followed and, as part of that, references must be called.
If you’ve ever been on either side of one of those calls, you know the scenario: if you are the hiring manager, you are asking your questions to a perfectly hand-picked former colleague, who’s been prepped ahead of time and encouraged to say that their friend is nothing short of outstanding. If you’ve been the reference, you know the feeling of having a stranger essentially nudging you to rat out a friend.
The same sad truth exists for traditional reference calls in a sales process. They are an essential part of a buyer’s process and yet very little value exists for anyone in the transaction. The buyer is asking questions to a prepped reference, the reference is spending time talking to someone who is already mostly convinced, and the seller is burning goodwill with the current customer without providing much value outside of a check in the box for their soon-to-be new customer.
In a sales environment where up to 75% of the buying process is happening before a prospect contacts sales, social proof is becoming more and more important. Waiting until your customer asks for a reference is no longer good enough.
Instead, we must surround sell potential customers using social proof and peer validation as early as possible. With the shift towards digital, many brands know they must have webinars, video case studies and testimonials online to groom potential clients. However, genuine reviews on 3rd party websites, discussions in forums, blog comments and social media chatter have more legitimacy than anything your brand can create on its own. Encouraging happy customers to talk about their experience with your product online will add value to all stages of the sales process, including your prospect’s initial discovery.
Anyone who has ever spent time cold-calling customers looking for someone who will take a reference call may wonder if it’s possible to get customers to engage on your behalf in additional ways. According to Advisor Impact’s The Economics of Loyalty report, 83% of satisfied customers are more than willing to refer your company to friends, colleagues and industry peers, yet only an average of 29% of customers do. The sad truth is most companies don’t have effective methods to encourage this behavior. To create and mobilize advocates, you must engage the customers who begrudgingly take reference calls in more meaningful ways.
As an example, Ceridian, a global Human Capital Management software provider, started an advocate marketing program, CeridianXOXO, that connected other HCM professionals in community discussions and asked users to participate in advocacy activities that rewarded them with badges, status and points (which could be used to redeem gift cards and swag). This fun—and slightly competitive—program became a thought-leadership hub for HCM pros. As a result, Ceridian secured over 260 customer references in the first few months of the program and shortened their sales cycle. More importantly, the brand asked these references for case studies and video testimonials, which could help influence the buying decisions of other HCM pros early on. Since these types of activities boost the professional profile of your reference customer, this approach is a win for buyer, seller, and—most importantly—the advocate who is willing to help you sell.
Traditional customer reference programs are dying. At Influitive, we are helping some of the world’s best companies rethink their approach to engaging with customers and finding the best references.
Grow Your Customer Base. Cut Your Reference Program.
Traditional customer reference programs are self-serving, biased and come way too late in the buying process. The worst part is: buyers know it.
Find out how other customer success, marketing and sales professionals are transforming the way their companies harness relationships with loyal customers in the age of advocacy.
[…] Reference programs are a thing of the past, O’Neill writes. Today’s consumers are not waiting for you (or your sales reps) to give them the data they need. The buyer’s journey has changed, and consumers are now conducting their own extensive research and reading more content to support their purchases. In fact, 70-90% of the buyer’s journey is complete prior to engaging a vendor. They consume content from peers and colleagues, discuss their needs over social media and ask questions on discussion boards. […]
[…] Networkers Reference calls are a common part of the sales process, but they’re often done at the wrong point in the buyer’s journey. First, you need to position reference calls as an opportunity for your favourite customers to build […]
We’re glad you’re here! Help us give you the best site experience by enabling cookies so we can customize your experience. By continuing to browse or closing this banner, you indicate your agreement to our privacy policy. To opt out of cookie tracking please click here. | {
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/*
* Copyright (c) 2000, 2019, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
* DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
*
* This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
* under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
* published by the Free Software Foundation. Oracle designates this
* particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
* by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
*
* This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
* ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
* FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
* version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
* accompanied this code).
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
* 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
* Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
*
* Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
* or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
* questions.
*/
package java.nio.channels.spi;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.lang.invoke.MethodHandles;
import java.lang.invoke.VarHandle;
import java.nio.channels.SelectionKey;
import java.nio.channels.Selector;
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Set;
import sun.nio.ch.Interruptible;
import sun.nio.ch.SelectorImpl;
/**
* Base implementation class for selectors.
*
* <p> This class encapsulates the low-level machinery required to implement
* the interruption of selection operations. A concrete selector class must
* invoke the {@link #begin begin} and {@link #end end} methods before and
* after, respectively, invoking an I/O operation that might block
* indefinitely. In order to ensure that the {@link #end end} method is always
* invoked, these methods should be used within a
* {@code try} ... {@code finally} block:
*
* <blockquote><pre id="be">
* try {
* begin();
* // Perform blocking I/O operation here
* ...
* } finally {
* end();
* }</pre></blockquote>
*
* <p> This class also defines methods for maintaining a selector's
* cancelled-key set and for removing a key from its channel's key set, and
* declares the abstract {@link #register register} method that is invoked by a
* selectable channel's {@link AbstractSelectableChannel#register register}
* method in order to perform the actual work of registering a channel. </p>
*
*
* @author Mark Reinhold
* @author JSR-51 Expert Group
* @since 1.4
*/
public abstract class AbstractSelector
extends Selector
{
private static final VarHandle CLOSED;
static {
try {
MethodHandles.Lookup l = MethodHandles.lookup();
CLOSED = l.findVarHandle(AbstractSelector.class, "closed", boolean.class);
} catch (Exception e) {
throw new InternalError(e);
}
}
private volatile boolean closed;
// The provider that created this selector
private final SelectorProvider provider;
// cancelled-key, not used by the JDK Selector implementations
private final Set<SelectionKey> cancelledKeys;
/**
* Initializes a new instance of this class.
*
* @param provider
* The provider that created this selector
*/
protected AbstractSelector(SelectorProvider provider) {
this.provider = provider;
if (this instanceof SelectorImpl) {
// not used in JDK Selector implementations
this.cancelledKeys = Set.of();
} else {
this.cancelledKeys = new HashSet<>();
}
}
void cancel(SelectionKey k) { // package-private
synchronized (cancelledKeys) {
cancelledKeys.add(k);
}
}
/**
* Closes this selector.
*
* <p> If the selector has already been closed then this method returns
* immediately. Otherwise it marks the selector as closed and then invokes
* the {@link #implCloseSelector implCloseSelector} method in order to
* complete the close operation. </p>
*
* @throws IOException
* If an I/O error occurs
*/
public final void close() throws IOException {
boolean changed = (boolean) CLOSED.compareAndSet(this, false, true);
if (changed) {
implCloseSelector();
}
}
/**
* Closes this selector.
*
* <p> This method is invoked by the {@link #close close} method in order
* to perform the actual work of closing the selector. This method is only
* invoked if the selector has not yet been closed, and it is never invoked
* more than once.
*
* <p> An implementation of this method must arrange for any other thread
* that is blocked in a selection operation upon this selector to return
* immediately as if by invoking the {@link
* java.nio.channels.Selector#wakeup wakeup} method. </p>
*
* @throws IOException
* If an I/O error occurs while closing the selector
*/
protected abstract void implCloseSelector() throws IOException;
public final boolean isOpen() {
return !closed;
}
/**
* Returns the provider that created this channel.
*
* @return The provider that created this channel
*/
public final SelectorProvider provider() {
return provider;
}
/**
* Retrieves this selector's cancelled-key set.
*
* <p> This set should only be used while synchronized upon it. </p>
*
* @return The cancelled-key set
*/
protected final Set<SelectionKey> cancelledKeys() {
return cancelledKeys;
}
/**
* Registers the given channel with this selector.
*
* <p> This method is invoked by a channel's {@link
* AbstractSelectableChannel#register register} method in order to perform
* the actual work of registering the channel with this selector. </p>
*
* @param ch
* The channel to be registered
*
* @param ops
* The initial interest set, which must be valid
*
* @param att
* The initial attachment for the resulting key
*
* @return A new key representing the registration of the given channel
* with this selector
*/
protected abstract SelectionKey register(AbstractSelectableChannel ch,
int ops, Object att);
/**
* Removes the given key from its channel's key set.
*
* <p> This method must be invoked by the selector for each channel that it
* deregisters. </p>
*
* @param key
* The selection key to be removed
*/
protected final void deregister(AbstractSelectionKey key) {
((AbstractSelectableChannel)key.channel()).removeKey(key);
}
// -- Interruption machinery --
private Interruptible interruptor = null;
/**
* Marks the beginning of an I/O operation that might block indefinitely.
*
* <p> This method should be invoked in tandem with the {@link #end end}
* method, using a {@code try} ... {@code finally} block as
* shown <a href="#be">above</a>, in order to implement interruption for
* this selector.
*
* <p> Invoking this method arranges for the selector's {@link
* Selector#wakeup wakeup} method to be invoked if a thread's {@link
* Thread#interrupt interrupt} method is invoked while the thread is
* blocked in an I/O operation upon the selector. </p>
*/
protected final void begin() {
if (interruptor == null) {
interruptor = new Interruptible() {
public void interrupt(Thread ignore) {
AbstractSelector.this.wakeup();
}};
}
AbstractInterruptibleChannel.blockedOn(interruptor);
Thread me = Thread.currentThread();
if (me.isInterrupted())
interruptor.interrupt(me);
}
/**
* Marks the end of an I/O operation that might block indefinitely.
*
* <p> This method should be invoked in tandem with the {@link #begin begin}
* method, using a {@code try} ... {@code finally} block as
* shown <a href="#be">above</a>, in order to implement interruption for
* this selector. </p>
*/
protected final void end() {
AbstractInterruptibleChannel.blockedOn(null);
}
}
| {
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} |
Q:
Trying to show that the limit of $\cos t + t^2 $ does not exist
I am trying to show that $\lim_{t \to \infty} \cos t + t^2 $ does not exist. Without usint deltas and epsilons, I would argue by contradiction. if not, then $L = \lim_{t \to \infty} \cos t + t^2$ where $L$ may be infinity. Then we would have
$$ \lim_{t \to \infty} \cos t = L - \lim_{t \to \infty} t^2 $$
Which would be me a contradiction since we $\lim \cos t$ Does not exist.
What I think is that this argument looks like of fishy. What if $L = \infty$? then we would have $\infty - \infty $ on the right, which is undetermined form.
What other argument for calculus students can we use to use the nonexistence of such limit?
A:
Take any $\;R\in\Bbb R^+\;$ , so there exists $\,M\in\ R\;$ such that $\;x>M\implies x^2>R+1\;$, and then for for these same $\;x>M\;$ :
$$\cos x+x^2\ge-1+x^2>R\implies\lim_{x\to\infty}\left(\cos x+x^2\right)=\infty$$
and the limit exists though it is not finite.
| {
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Jehanne d'Orliac
Jehanne d'Orliac (25 May 1883 – 26 August 1974) was a French writer, dramaturge and poet from Amboise.
Life
d'Orliac was born in Compiègne in 1883 but her father was in the miliary and she moved around during her childhood settling in New Caledonia in 1894. Four years later the family returned to France. She discovered a love for history and began to write. When she was 22 her play François Villon was performed in Paris and well received. It was performed again by the Théâtre de l'Athénée in 1906. In 1907 her new play Joujou tragique and this attracted further interest.
In 1909 Guillaume Apollinaire paid tribute to her writing "Vous avez un talent bien net et non énervé dont je vous félicite en me déclarant votre admirateur." She was influenced by Étienne-François de Choiseul.
In 1934 she wrote a biography of the 15th century French Duchess Yolande d'Anjou which proved important as she used sources that that were lost during the second World War.
In 1938 she lived in Touraine, where she gave lectures about Pierre de Ronsard, Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, the monarchs of Sicily and the campaign of Joan of Arc.
She died on 26 August 1974 and her own works were granted to Conseil général d'Indre-et-Loire on 30 April 1976.
Selected works
François Villon, 1905
Joujou tragique, 1907
Lady Chatterly's Second Husband, 1935
References
Category:1883 births
Category:1974 deaths
Category:French historical novelists
Category:Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Category:French women poets
Category:20th-century French dramatists and playwrights
Category:20th-century French poets
Category:20th-century French novelists
Category:20th-century French women writers | {
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
} |
James Masterson
James Masterson (September 18, 1855 – March 31, 1895), also known as Jim Masterson, was a lawman of the American West and the youngest brother of gunfighters and lawmen Bat Masterson and Ed Masterson.
Early life
After working on the western frontier as a buffalo hunter with his brothers, he returned to Kansas. He and Ben Springer were the co-owners of the successful Lady Gay Dance Hall and Saloon in Dodge City, which employed the popular singer Dora Hand.
Career
Masterson became the assistant marshal in Dodge City in June 1878. At that time Charlie Bassett was the Marshal, having replaced Jim's brother Ed, who was killed in the line of duty two months earlier. Wyatt Earp was a Deputy Marshal under Bassett at that same time, along with Earp's brother James. In the summer of 1878, a cowboy named George Hoy opened fire on the Comique Variety Hall, outside of which stood Masterson and Wyatt Earp. Earp had been involved in an altercation with Hoy previously. Both Earp and Masterson returned fire, and Hoy was shot from his horse by one bullet that severely injured his arm. Hoy died a month later, and Earp always claimed to have fired the shot that ultimately killed Hoy. However, that was never confirmed, and it is entirely possible that the shot was actually fired by Jim Masterson. Masterson, however, never disputed Earp's claim, and simply didn't comment.
He made several hundred arrests during the next two year time span, mostly of drunken cowboys who came through Dodge City on cattle drives. In November, 1879, he was promoted to Marshal after Bassett's resignation. He shot at least one man during his service with the Dodge City Marshal's Office, aside from the Hoy shooting. On April 6, 1881, he lost his job after a change in city government, and the belief that the long-standing hard-line stance of the Marshal's Office was past its prime and no longer useful.
He fell out with his business partner, A.J. Peacock, over the hiring of the latter's brother-in-law, Al Updegraph, as bartender, and someone wired Bat Masterson in Tombstone that his brother's life was in danger. Bat arrived in Dodge on 16 April and saw Peacock and Updegraph near the station. Firing broke out, with Jim and others also taking part. Updegraph was the only casualty, taking a bullet through the lungs. Bat was fined for discharging a gun within the city limits and the brothers left Dodge.
Masterson moved to Trinidad, Colorado, where he joined the police force. While in Trinidad, Masterson arrested John Allen for the shooting death of Frank Loving, in what became known as the Trinidad Gunfight. In 1885 he became an under sheriff in Colfax County, New Mexico. In 1889, he took an active part in the Gray County War in Kansas. He was one of a group of lawmen who made a raid on the courthouse at Cimarron, which resulted in a famous gunfight known as the Battle of Cimarron.
He later moved to Guthrie, Oklahoma, and then later became a Deputy Sheriff of Logan County, Oklahoma. On September 1, 1893, as a Special Deputy U. S. Marshal, he was involved in the Battle of Ingalls, a gunfight in Ingalls, Oklahoma against the Doolin-Dalton gang, and was responsible for the capture of gang member "Arkansas Tom" Jones.
Death
He died in Guthrie of tuberculosis on March 31, 1895, aged 39.
References
Jim and Bat Masterson
Jim Masterson
Shootout at Ingalls, Jim Masterson
Doolin Dalton Gang vs US Marshals, Jim Masterson
Category:1855 births
Category:1895 deaths
Category:People from Guthrie, Oklahoma
Category:Lawmen of the American Old West
Category:Infectious disease deaths in Oklahoma
Category:19th-century deaths from tuberculosis | {
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
} |
[Serological study of several strains of foot-and-mouth disease virus type "O" isolated in Europe between 1971 and 1975: application of the biomathematical system of classification].
Nine strains of foot-and-mouth disease virus type "O" received in our laboratories since 1971 have been studied serologically by Osler's quantitative method of complement fixation (50% hemolysis). The results, submitted to the biomathematical system of bidimensional classification, allow to conclude that at present in Europe there are two groups of foot-and-mouth disease strains of type "O"; one has reference to our vaccinal strain "O Lausanne 1965" and the other to "O Romania 1972" strain, which has certain points of similarity with subtype "O2". In addition, strain "O Hungary 1975" has been studied on bovines; the immunological tests confirm the serological test. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
PERICLES’ “GOLDEN AGE”, the period of the greatest acme of ancient Hellenic civilization, coincided paradoxically with the years of “decline” that seemed to fall upon the Greeks since the mid-5th century. This downward trend was a kind of omen foretelling, like a Cassandra, about the upcoming “civil” Peloponnesian War. The most dramatic reaction then to “remedy the evil” was… anti-dramatic: the polis of Athens decreed in 440 BCE the cessation of all theatrical and musical activities for four years!
“Do not maltreat our music!” (Spartan ephori)
Performing in Sparta those days with his “modern” at the time nine-string cithara, Phrynis of Mytilene encountered the angry outcry of the ephori (ephors) who, shouting out “Do not maltreat our music!”, forcibly removed the two “extra” strings and obliged him to play with the “classical” (in the 5th century) seven-string cithara.(a)
(a) Ecprepes, an Ephor, cut out with an adze two of the nine strings of Phrynis the musician, saying, “Do not maltreat music.” (Plutarch, Moralia).
Quite moral, indeed! The “evil” was “corrected” with an adze!
Was it, indeed, a manifestation of the ephori’s extreme conservatism, or had Phrynis – a leader of the innovative school with an exceptionally melismatic and modulative style – perhaps gone too far and actually maltreated music? We shall never know: first of all, we did not… listen to him playing. But even if we’d heard him play, we’d still be unable to make up our minds judging by our own ears – by our own standards, if you like, i.e. by our current criteria on music.
But Pherecrates, a contemporary comic poet and musician, was strongly in favour of the ephori, if we consider that in his comedy, Chiron, he presented Music as complaining to Justice for abuses committed by innovators such as Timotheus of Miletus, Melanippides of Melos and Phrynis – whom, however, the comedian forgave because when he grew older he came… to his senses! On the contrary, Pherecrates threw several brickbats at Timotheus and Melanippides who remained unrepentant until the end, playing their even “worse” twelve-string instruments.
Comic playwrights, however, with their innate conservatism, permit me to say, are not the most reliable sources, judging by the way Aristophanes has “taken care” of another great innovator, Euripides. The tragedian believed in Timotheus’ talent, while Aristotle, together with other philosophers, also praised the work of the modernists:
“Without Timotheus”, the thinker of Stagira wrote in his Metaphysics, “we would not have so many melodic compositions, and without [his teacher and also formidable rival] Phrynis, we would not have Timotheus either.”
“Laconism (brevity) is the soul of wit”, the ancients remarked. But the Spartan ephori set out to… disprove them, hurriedly expelling Timotheus from their polis by decree, which the Roman philosopher Boethius preserved:
“For Timotheus of Miletus came to our city and dishonoured our ancient music by despising the seven-string lyre, and also corrupted the ears of the young people by introducing a greater variety of sounds, and gave music a feminine and sophisticated character by increasing the number of strings;
“For he depraved the melody’s simplicity and soberness, which it had thus far, instead of preserving it;
“We, the king and the ephori, declare we criticize Timotheus, and additionally compel him to remove from the nine strings those that are not necessary leaving only seven; and we banish him from our polis setting him as an example for all those who would like to introduce to Sparta some improper practice in the future”…(b)
(b) Timotheus was fool enough to go to Laconia despite Phrynis’ reception… In our previous Voyage we referred to the four basic modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian). There were also three genera (diatonic, chromatic, enharmonic). Each one of these modes and genera, and also rhythms, had its own ethos. It seems that people like the Spartan ephori, or even Athenian elitists such as Plato, preferred the Dorian mode and the diatonic genus, and disliked all the rest. This might’ve been the reason for the… “ephoral” rage rather than the multi-string instruments themselves, which simply enabled the able musicians to modulate through modes and genera. We have seen the same circles condemning the multi-string instruments as unmanly and effeminate. It is no coincidence that this attitude was shared by later conservatives such as the Catholic leaders. In the 11th century they rejected the chromatic and enharmonic genera and retained only the “harder and more natural” diatonic genus, “for the diatonic is very firm and virile, the chromatic very soft and feminine, the enharmonic dissonant and moreover useless”…(*)(*) …“quia diatonum firmissimum et virilem, chromaticum mollissimum et feminilem, enharmoniumque dissonum insuper et inutilem.” Quoted in Adrien de La Fage, Essais de diphthérographie musicale (Paris, 1864), from a manuscript originating at the Dominican convent of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.
Orpheus depicted on an old Greek stamp
The ephori’s “puritanism” was not just a phenomenon of the years of “decline”. This mentality of “supervising everything” characterized them also in the past bringing them into conflict – among others – with another Lesbian musician, the famous Terpander, legendary heir to Orpheus’ lyre,(c) who lived from the late 8th to the mid-7th century, that is, in the so-called “creative” times. In fact, he spent most of his life in Sparta, where he was called in during a period of political crisis to… pour oil on troubled waters! Indeed, he was able to restore peace and tranquility in the city with his music composed specially for the occasion! But the ephori, instead of thanking him, demanded… an apology because he played – alas! – a seven-string cithara and not a “traditional” – at the time – four-string instrument! They could not even suspect that these specific peace-restoring compositions could not be played on a four-string instrument…
The Spartan ephori could not even suspect that Terpander’s compositions could not be played on a four-string instrument…
(c) Legend says that when the ThracianMaenads killed Orpheus – either because he failed to honour Dionysus, or because he… spurned their advances – they cut him to pieces and threw him and his lyre into the sea. The waves carried his head and the instrument to Lesbos, where some fishermen found and delivered them to Terpander. He kept the lyre and looked after the burial of his great colleague.
Hosanna! There was an intervention – as “deus ex machina” – by Apollo himself, whose lyre, by… “divine coincidence”, was also seven-string! It was confirmed by a rumour that craftily circulated those days. Thus, even with the seal of the DelphicOracle, “the Spartans honoured the Lesbian songwriter”, according to Heraclides Ponticus (PonticHeraclea, 4th century BCE), adding: “for God commanded them through prophesies to listen to him”. Accustomed to exaggerate (let alone it was a divine command to obey to Terpander), the Spartans subsequently placed everyone “after the Lesbian songwriter”, as Aristotle wrote.
The predominance of the art of this incomparable in his time citharoedus at the expense of the ephori’sscholasticism benefited in many ways the Spartans, who secured not only a peacemaker in times of political turmoil, but also the founder of their musical life. They also say that Terpander was – among other things – the first to invent a kind of musical notation for the proper performance of the Homericepics.
The opposite happened millennia later with the notorious report On Literature, Music and Philosophy by the ephori’s descendant, Zhdanov, whom Stalin considered an expert also on issues of music because he could… “play the piano a little bit”! In his report of June 24, 1947, the “father” of “socialist realism”, who had nationalized in 1934 even… culture so as to turn it into a political tool, demanded from the famous composers Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Khachaturian and Shebalin to repent publicly, denouncing themselves! What a pity there was no Pythia anymore…
It was the nadir of a cultural policy aimed at creating… yes-men in literature and the arts – a policy that undermined the highest interests not only of culture, but also of the revolution. Note that it was not restricted in the Soviet Union but was also imposed on all “sister” parties. The Zhdanov report was discussed by Greek party intellectuals even on the barren islands of exile: it was unanimously approved! There was only one “dissonant” voice: that of Ares Alexandrou…
Well, starting from historical paradoxes, we have ended up to historical parallels, which are often detrimental to historical truth. Spontaneously we are in solidarity with the musicians and confront the… “Zhdanovist” ephori with disgust. In reality, however, we cannot be absolutely sure – especially in times of “decline” – which side was finally right: Phrynis and Timotheus or the ephori? Let alone that the above slogan of the “villains” fits perfectly well into the current situation concerning our music and, I think, we should all cry out loud rhythmically and in chorus: DO NOT MAL–TREAT OUR MU–SIC!
Our only certainty is probably that these historical episodes refer to professional musicians, heirs of a long tradition starting since very old times – since prehistory. Once mankind began producing more than what was absolutely necessary, resulting in surplus product which certain individuals gradually appropriated and thus constituted themselves as a separate class, since that moment musicians emerged as a separate profession.
First-rate musicians in the Orient were closely connected with the royal courts and the clergy – if they were not courtiers or priests themselves. The situation changed later in ancient Hellas due to climatic conditions that were mild and did not necessitate strong central power. These conditions nurtured a similar attitude among the Greeks and a relaxed relationship with the gods. The development of democratic ideas took place in the same context, as I have already tried to explain (see Voyages 2and 2*).
The Hellenes have had open and inquiring minds exactly because they’ve been open to the outside world as a result of the same conditions. Just a look at a map of Greece explains why. Thus, the oriental influence has been catalytic. The ancients, however, unlike us, did not like to… “copy and paste”. They adapted every recipe to their tastes by adding or removing ingredients. They borrowed their writing from the Cretans already in the 17th century BCE, after making the necessary changes to meet the requirements of their language (Minoan and MycenaeanLinear A and B scripts, respectively), and around the 9th century BCE received (most probably from the Phoenicians) the symbols with which they formed their alphabet – a real alphabet (and not an abjad) with letters for consonants and vowels alike. Using the same symbols (what would be more sensible?), they arrived to the point to also invent musical writing (notation) as early as the 7th-6th century BCE.
SeikilosEpitaph (1st century BCE or CE), engraved on a stele, is the oldest extant complete musical composition in the world: its main part, the song (excluding the prologue and epilogue), bears symbols denoting the melody.
“The Hellenes had musical notation well before the 6th century BC”,Iégor Reznikoff said at the 2nd Musicological Symposium in Delphi in 1986. “They were very good in keeping records; that’s why we know so much about ancient Greek tradition and return to it, as many other traditions had no musical writing and thus we know nothing about them.”
“Many ancient notations were invented by priests for priests and cantors, and some were even kept secret”,Curt Sachs remarked.
Music, with its catalytic effect on humans, was a deadly enemy of any religion, but also a mighty weapon in the hands of the priests who made sure that knowledge around this art was top secret.
A culture with a script was not necessarily a culture with a musical script; and if the notation existed, it might have been… top secret! Music, with its catalytic effect on humans and its magical powers, was a deadly enemy of any religion, but also a mighty weapon in the hands of the priests who made sure that knowledge around this art was a well-kept secret within the very select circle of initiates.
Music lesson (lyre class)
So, the Hellenes might not have been the initiators in the field of musical notation, but they first used it not for religious-authoritarian purposes but for didactic reasons, given that music was at the heart of education provided to children since they were six. Here we can find some differences between the cultures of the Greeks and the “barbarians” – i.e. those speaking languages incomprehensible to Hellenes. Greek culture was not theocratic (there was no reason to be), which is why knowledge was a public good and also right. The initiation into the mysteries was part of the devotional process, but the role of religion was completely different.
The Hellenes used the archaic alphabet for instrumentation and Ionic letters for the song.(d) This may also indicate that instrumental notation preceded the vocal. Obviously the latter became necessary because of music’s further development, thereby varying the melodic lines of voices and instruments.
(d) The idea was later adopted by Byzantines and West Europeans alike (except the Italian school) designating the musical notes with the initial letters of the alphabet: πΑ, Βου, Γα, Δι, κΕ, Ζω, νΗ, and Α, Β, C, D, E, F, G, instead of the Italian terms Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si – a terminology also used in Modern Greece, as if local musical theory never existed…
Thus we are able to play even now the extant ancient Hellenic music “remnants” – of course, approximately. That’s how – based on various indications – we also approach ancient Greek phonology, speech, pronunciation, which was musical and not dynamic as it is now.(e) The difference is enormous. This implies that the divergence between ancient and modern music is even greater.
(e) Contrary to Modern Greek, ancient Hellenic had a musical accent, which means that the accented syllable was not uttered with a stronger voice but at a higher pitch than the rest. Dionysius of Halicarnassus says that this interval was not just one or two tones, as we would imagine, but more or less similar to that of a fifth in music (e.g. Re–La)! Don’t forget that the acute, circumflex, and grave accents also implied different pronunciation in ancient Hellenic.
The arguable continuity of Greek civilization through the succession of classical antiquity with the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods – and the necessary adjustments at each stage due to changing conditions – seems to have been interrupted by the arrival of the Ottomans. So, we tend to identify the emergence of any divergence during this period. But such phenomena have been much older, as the rapid linguistic changes taking place already in the Hellenistic period show. As far as music is concerned, colossal differentiations emerged much later, not because of the Turkish yoke, but – how ironic! – as soon as this yoke was thrown off and the Modern Greek state was established supported on foreign “crutches”.
A rule that was undermined then from above concerned the link between folk and erudite music. The fact that Constantinople, Thessalonica and Smyrna – the great centres of the Byzantine and Ottoman eras – were outside the borders of the new state made things easier for the erudite musicians (all of them educated in Europe) to impose the music they could play and compose, regardless if it had nothing to do with local tradition.
Additionally, due to the fact that this tradition was shared with the former conqueror, a new kind of servitude that appeared since then also led to attempts to “harmonize” (based on the Occidental conception of harmony; see our previous Voyage) Hellenic music, both demotic song and ecclesiastical Byzantine chant. The latter was the only erudite music left in Greece, since secular Byzantine music was thoughtlessly ceded to Turkey without Hellas claiming its share of this centuries-old cultural heritage…
Didn’t those in power realize that there was a risk for the people to turn into tabula rasa? Didn’t they wonder if among the ages thrown into the dustbin the… Periclean Golden Age was also included? No problem! They bathed in the spotlight just the Parthenons (that is, the dead meaning of the Golden Age), then set up the “new Parthenons” on barren islands of exile,(f) and finally set out to strangle whatever little had survived from Pericles’ legacy with the asphyxiating embrace of concrete. The architectural chaos they’ve created may have knocked architecture down the podium of the fine arts, but that’s what business with pleasure is all about – and this combination is better achieved through… defects: it’s them that turn wallets thick!
The Europeanization of music has been going on apace all along as long as training provided in conservatories (aka… foreign music language schools) is based on European standards.(g) The absence of “national” music education at its place of birth (while “third world” countries of the Orient boast of their higher music institutes) might be unthinkable in any country other than modern Greece. Perhaps everything can be explained by amateurism or the absence of a cultural policy – without excluding the possibility of conscious action. After all, isn’t this absence of policy also… a policy?
(g) A conservatoire is called odeon in Greek. However, the ancient Hellenic odeon was not meant for music lessons but for musical shows, singing exercises, music and poetry competitions, and the like. The odeons were similar to ancient Greek theatres, but were far smaller and also provided with a roof for acoustic purposes. Regarding the conservatory, the term is definitely… unmusical as it also refers to conservatism, greenhouses, and preservatives!
The issue is far from simple. Any child inclined to music, regardless of stimuli, will be obliged to attend a conservatory having no choice: he/she will necessarily be taught a foreign musical language – the erudite European. It’s been another case of brainwashing – not only of this child but also of his/her future listeners, since it is impossible to “shepherd” the public to listen to occidental music if no one “produces” musicians specifically trained for the role, blocking the procedures of the formation of new traditional musicians, and marginalizing at the same time those who are already active. It’s been another scheme of the ruling circles in order to eradicate local traditional music and thus mutate the collective consciousness of the people.
The ruling circles tried to eradicate local tradition and mutate the collective consciousness of the people. Those who resisted were the conservatives…
Taking into account all these attempts, the continuous attacks against all local musical genres since the Hellenic state has been established, it is a miracle that this tradition has survived! It’s been victorious, of course, because it’s deep-rooted – but also because of a certain peculiarity: there was resistance against these attacks and those who resisted were mainly the conservative opponents of cosmopolitanism (e.g. Simon Karas, though sponsored by the Ford Foundation) and not the progressive Greeks, as it would be proper and normal. The fact that it was the conservatives who contributed the most in the field of safeguarding traditional music created even more confusion, obscuring the real problems.
The conservatives, of course, care about the conservation of music in the form it has survived through tradition so far. They are mainly interested in the conservation of the type (sum of typical features or clichés) of tradition, which is not seen in connection with the rest of the Mediterranean cultures where it belongs. It is the typical attitude of the folklorists missing the whole point. So they concentrate their attention on collecting songs and tunes in the form they’ve been polished to perfection by countless generations of musicians, disregarding personal creative interventions by current folk artists, ignoring that such innovations – those adopted by public taste – refined and perfected folk songs, and also rejecting any further similar effort as an attempt to adulterate their purity, arguing that in the era of individualism, the practice of collective development of music is long gone.
This may be true; but disregards the fact that the songs we admire so much have been created and perfected not by the people in general, but by their musicians as exponents of society at large or some social strata. That is, their composers and lyricists have been some talented persons, not society in general. In addition, we have no right to throw the inflow of new elements into our music in the purgatory, condemning it to a standstill – which is equivalent to death: τὰ πάντα ῥεῖ (everything flows), said Heraclitus; therefore, whatever does not flow, dies out. It goes without saying that I do not argue in favour of an uncritical acceptance of all new elements. I just point out the consequences of blind negativism: by cutting the thread of continuity, we offer the worst service to tradition. Are our folklorists under the naïve impression that barricading themselves behind the wall they are erecting, they would supposedly be safe? In the Internet era they behave like ostriches!
Folk songs have been created and perfected not by the people in general,
but by their musicians as exponents of society or some social strata.
Their creators have been some talented persons, not society in general.
In the era of individual creation, only a thorough understanding
of traditional music will enable its further development…
There’s no objection that after the invention of the phonograph, and especially since the record companies have also undertaken the promotion of their “merchandise”, the role of the people shrank into that of a passive receiver-listener. So much for the famous public taste! Thus, in the era of individual creation, only a thorough understanding of traditional music will enable its further development under new conditions – which is the hoped-for result – instead of serving as couleur locale. This development, of course, cannot come up with revivals such as the “neo-demotic” or “neo-rebetiko” that discredit the whole verbiage about “roots”, precisely because of the adherence of their protagonists to the past – if not to money…
AUTODIDACTS OR SCHOOLED?
“IF I CANNOT CHANGE A SITUATION, I accept it,”B.B. King confessed, clarifying the reason why this great bluesman changed the style of his music.(h) His statement raises openly the problem of accepting whatever situation or not, whether one can create obeying to the dictates of companies – or of the public, that is already a conditioned element. Certainly, the room for creation becomes more limited. Even those who can cope with difficulties would produce far more important work if they had a free hand. Those who manage not to debase their art under such strict control are really few. That’s why the ethos of music is already a concept unknown to musicians – something so hard to get that we are under the illusion we can find it among amateurs…
(h)Thelonious Monk, the outstanding jazz pianist and composer, advises exactly the opposite: “I say, play your own way. Don’t play what the public wants. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you’re doing – even if it does take them 15, 20 years.”
Well, professionals or amateurs? It’s an issue we need to elaborate on because, in the field of the arts, the former are burdened with all the sins of the world (plus the junk that’s for sale), while no one dares to call into question the noble intentions of those enveloped in the halo of an “art lover”. This mentality has already spread even to professionals! We have arrived at the point where we… boast of our amateurism, considering professionalism as hubris in the land of the Homeric epics, the work of a professionalrhapsode, where the equally professionalbards of the Odyssey era (sometime between 1250 and 1170) are mentioned, namely Phemius and Demodocus. We are talking about a tradition we know for sure it’s been going on for at least three millennia – let alone that professional musicians existed well before the fall of Troy.
So, what is a professional? Generally speaking on any kind of work, since the situation around music is rather confusing, we can say that he/she is someone who:
a) knows how to do a job – has been specially trained, or skilled as an apprentice of an older artisan – and
b) out of this job he/she can at least make a living.
Three Musicians, by Picasso
Anyone who does not meet the above requirements cannot be considered a professional and, moreover, if he/she doesn’t meet the first requirement, it’s impossible to get a job (under normal conditions). There are, of course, good and bad professionals depending on the degree they can meet such requirements. A good professional, therefore, is one who cares for both the material he’s working on, and the material aspect of his work – his earnings – because otherwise his craftsmanship would be degraded and anyone could replace him. Bertolt Brecht talked about this need in his time, but who listened to him then and who remembers him now? “When you have something to say, to express,” said Pablo Picasso, “any submission becomes unbearable in the long run. One must have the courage of one’s vocation and the courage to make a living from one’s vocation… without compromise.”
The denigration of the professional musician may be linked to the Europeanization epidemic that’s been sweeping the Hellenic state since its establishment. Ionian and Athenian serenades, operettas, various retros, and European light music in general, has been the “scope of action par excellence” of the trained Europeanist super-professionals,(i) while local tradition has been left in the care of semi-professional or even amateur, self-taught musicians, treated disparagingly by the music establishment.
(i) It is striking that music which is described as… “lightweight”, superficially sentimental, and of a petty bourgeois character, is found only in the Occident after the so-called “Commercial Revolution” that commercialized everything – even the arts. The one found in the Mediterranean is imitation! Traditional musicians, when playing such pieces, characterize them as “European”, even if they have Greek lyrics or composers…
Here’s the “root of evil”: at best the state has abandoned local music to the mercy of fate; at worst it’s been hostile against it. Several posts – public or not – were surely occupied by these Europeanists. Under the circumstances, Hellenic music and its practitioners barely survived. They were obliged to do other jobs to survive – at the expense, of course, of their art that was degraded more and more, along with public taste. This profession “offered” so much insecurity that the locals (throughout the Balkans) handed it over to the “exclusive competence” of the Roma, the gypsies.
Politakia, later Smyrnaic Estudiantina: the first estudiantina founded in Smyrna in 1898 by the Constantinopolitans Basilios Sideres and Aristides Peristeres.
The situation definitely improved when and where the Greeks gained economic prosperity that allowed them to support “full time” musicians. But the dramatic improvement of the conditions of Hellenic music came with a… tragedy: the Asia MinorCatastrophe. History shows us again and again how much she can appreciate irony! Those uprooted from their ancestral homes moved in thousands into Greece (around 1.3 million people) and, together with their scanty belongings, carried with them the Anatolian sound and lifestyle – which evolved into a struggle to survive in Hellas: they brought their songs and feasts, just in case they could alleviate their plight…
The dramatic improvement of the conditions of Hellenic music came with a… tragedy: the Asia Minor Catastrophe.
The Anatolian musicians were truly professionals, with excellent knowledge of both the Mediterranean and European traditions. But they were refugees – thus, on the margins. It would take some time until they occupied responsible positions in the newly founded phonographic companies. Until then – as far as their equally marginalized public was still there – they would keep on playing their familiar repertoire of Constantinople, Smyrna and Asia Minor at large, with songs and tunes that enjoyed widespread approval in Anatolia; but not in Greece where they were not universally embraced, were rather limited in scope, for their sound was “unfamiliar” – let alone they were difficult to sing! So their fate was similar to that of their creators and they were in turn marginalized. Another historical irony was that they were replaced by the songs of the hitherto marginalizedPiraeoticrebetiko!
The reasons for this preference, therefore, were commercial – as well as political: these elaborate, demanding songs, as artistic products of an advanced culture, were reminiscent of lost homelands. So they should be removed from collective memory to – supposedly – “heal” the trauma of the Asia Minor Catastrophe. Firm was the belief that this music was inextricably linked with the Turkish language spoken by many refugees. National interest dictated some drastic measures to be taken.
The Smyrnaic songs, reminiscent of lost homelands, were marginalized for commercial and political reasons. They should be removed from collective memory to “heal” the trauma of the catastrophe… Censorship on music targeted minor thirds, a feature of the ancient Hellenic chromatic genus…
This task was later taken over by the Metaxasdictatorship, imposing censorship that was not limited to lyrics, but extended to music, as well (see also Voyage 6). The musical censors’ main target was the minor third intervals (three semitones), the so-called “bemolli”,(j) that is, the distinctive feature of the ancient Hellenic chromatic genus. Even though there are some questions around the enharmonic genus, no one has ever doubted about the chromatic: we know e.g. that it was never used in tragedies – apparently because it did not fit there. But Plutarch, according to Aristides Quintilianus (3rd century CE), said that “the cithara, several generations older than tragedy, since its very beginning, used… the sweetest and most plaintive” chromatic genus. Besides, the three ancient genera (diatonic, chromatic, and enharmonic) can also be found, noticeably remodeled, in Byzantine music. However, the Westerners – alas! – are only able to appreciate scales, especially the diatonic, while their chromatic scale has nothing to do with the chromatic genus: bingo!
(j) “In 1936 when they first imposed censorship on the songs, they ‘corrected’ the melodies of popular songs removing the ‘oriental’ elements in an effort to ‘cleanse’ popular music. Their aim was various external features of the melody, primarily minor thirds or ‘bemolli’, according to the musicians’ popular parlance.” (Giorgos Papadakis, Folk Self-Taught Musicians).
As Basiles Tsitsanes confessed in an interview with G. Papadakis: “With censorship at that time… we took away the bemolli. Bambakares for instance wrote: ‘Every evening I bwill wait bfor you, girl…’ We would change that mark and turn it withoutbemolso as not to sound oriental… We wrote beautiful serenades at that time…”(!).
Tsitsanes Tavern, Thessalonica
“How comes that no one informed Metaxas on this issue?”, – some naïve person may wonder. Well, even if someone did, he would have… disappeared later imprisoned or exiled for “anti-state activities”! Under these abnormal conditions rebetiko turned professional. Persecution affected everyone – both the Anatolians and the locals – for their music styles were first-degree relatives. Due to its tolerant police authority, Thessalonica was then turned into an oasis where many persecuted found refuge. Thus, during its early years, rebetiko influenced the city and was influenced by it.
Anyway, the painful shrinkage of Hellenism had also its positive effects, concentrating and condensing in modern Greece sounds born in three peninsulas: the Balkans, Asia Minor, and Italy. No country in the region enjoys such a privilege: its geography determines the sound of its music. This little miracle, however, with Hellenism’s three-dimensional face, collides with the mantra “We belong to the West” and is anything but welcome to the rulers who would do everything for the people to lose orientation – and if possible, they would have imposed… “occidentation” with a presidential decree!
The shrinkage of Hellenism concentrated in Greece sounds born
in three peninsulas: the Balkans, Asia Minor, and Italy.
Rebetiko’s foes covered the entire political spectrum from Right to Left.
Rebetiko’s foes, however, covered the entire political spectrum from Right to Left. In the late ’46 and early ’47, according to Phoebus Anogianakis, the musical associations asked the government to intervene taking “appropriate measures” in order to stem the spread of rebetiko:
“This initiative,” he wrote in Rizospastis, the Communist Party newspaper, on January 28, 1947, “was gradually embraced by our music critics and columnists who, in their discussions and articles, grappled with its ‘moral’ and artistic value, as well as with its effect especially on the younger generation. [Another reincarnation of the ephori!]
“Anathemas ‘in the name’ of morality at risk, or an offhand evaluation of popular rebetiko song as it is presented – mind you – in the cosmopolitan tavern, prevented a critical assessment of rebetiko creating fuss and confusion.
“The criteria of our Western music education are certainly not enough to approach and study rebetiko, especially when they are accompanied by the ‘current’ perception of morality. Many aspects of this song naturally surprise us. We have strayed away so far from its sources following our own paths that sometimes we can find ourselves with difficulty.
“The tradition of demotic song and, to a somewhat lesser extent, of Byzantine music, even though some would be surprised, continues in these songs that constitute a genuine form of today’s popular music.”
A week later, on February 4, Rizospastis published a reply letter to Anogianakis, signed by his co-fighter in the ranks of the National Liberation Front (EAM), namely Alekos Xenos, also a musician. Noting that in the newspaper Ethnos (Nation), the composer Manoles Kalomoires adopted a similar position with Anogianakis (this concurrence seemed rather… incriminating!), he outlined his diametrically opposite view:
“Rebetiko,” he wrote, “is one of the inherent contradictions of the bourgeoisie in decline. It appears in an embryonic form before the wars. It takes shape from melodic remnants of the Turkish conquerors and those melodies brought here by ship crews coming from Turkish ports. It is performed by the most lumpen strata created by the pauperizing economic tactics of capitalism.(k) It carries the most reactionary traditions, in the degradation of a segment of the bourgeoisie.
(k)Lumpen (rags in German): a ragamuffin and, by extension, every impoverished element. In Marxist theory it is combined with the word proletariat to signify the most impoverished segments of the working class having no class consciousness. Proletarius in ancient Rome was someone totally destitute who could not give the state anything but his children (proles = child). Under capitalism it is the one who cannot give the capitalist anything but his labour power.
“I think that we cannot find ourselves going back to rebetiko but to the few songs of our people’s latest Resistance and those that will be composed about it in the future.”
This fossilized thinking, which the party leadership – unfortunately – espoused, was disputed on the 23rd of the same month by Linos Polites with another letter to Rizospastis. After calling Xenos back to… Marxist order (“how comes that the lumpen is a degraded segment of the bourgeoisie?”), he censured the domestic production of tangos, concluding as follows:
“I cannot believe that A. Xenos accepts there is popular tradition and style in the music of the songs of Resistance since we know both their composers – he is one of them –(l) and the clearly Western measures in the structures of their compositions. In addition, we know that during such a short time, individual creation can far easier give its fruits.
(l) The Anthem of EPON (United Panhellenic Organization of Youth), on lyrics by Sophia Mavroeides-Papadakis (“With the golden armour of youth…”), was initially performed in the 1st Panthessalian Congress of EPON with music composed by Xenos, while in Athens it was sung with music by Anogianakis – just to mention a characteristic example…
“Today, after the great lesson of the Resistance, the gap that separates us in matters of art from the people became more than obvious and there is a clear need to find a point of contact. This point will be found in contemporary popular activities, if we examine them with less superficiality and more serious characterizations.”
Manos Hadjidakis
Then the controversy around rebetiko necessarily stopped, since another conflict had broken out – with live ammunition: it was the Civil War… Two years later, with the Left heading for defeat because of their own “mistakes” and betrayals (not because of the superior adversary firepower), another composer, also coming from the ranks of EAM but disappointed and having turned his interests elsewhere, undertook the defense of rebetiko. It was the highly penetrating Manos Hadjidakis describing the prevailing atmosphere in the late 40s:
“Our times are hard and our popular song, which is not made by people of the fugue and counterpoint who care for sanitation and make-do health make-up, sings the truth and nothing but the truth.
“Our era is neither heroic nor epic and the end of the 2nd World War left almost all the problems unresolved and up in the air.
“Furthermore, our country follows through with a war, almost uninterruptedly, with perseverance and faith in the final victory, but always – especially today – arduously and painfully. Consider now under these relentless conditions the virginal idiosyncrasy of our people. Virginal because just one hundred years of free life were not able neither to make it mature nor to leave room for the latest European trends to take root. Imagine all this piled vitality and beauty at the same time of a people like ours asking for an outlet, expression, contact with the outside world and facing everything mentioned above as main features of the era. Moreover, think of the extremely harsh conditions in our country. Vitality is burned, idiosyncrasy falls sick, beauty remains. This is rebetiko. And hence its thematology arises.
“Imagine all this piled vitality and beauty of a people asking for an outlet, expression, contact with the outside world… Think of the extremely harsh conditions in our country. Vitality is burned, idiosyncrasy falls sick, beauty remains. This is rebetiko.” (Manos Hadjidakis)
The Era of Mélisande takes us to this period that “is neither heroic nor epic”.
“Rebetiko manages to combine speech, music and movement in an admirable unity. From composition to interpretation, the conditions are instinctively created for this triple expressive coexistence that sometimes, when it reaches the limits of perfection, is morphologically reminiscent of ancient tragedy.
“Zeibekikois the purest modern Greek rhythm; whilehasapikohas assimilated a pure Hellenic peculiarity. Rebetiko is built on these rhythms; observing the melodic line of the song we can clearly discern the influence or, better, the extension of Byzantine chant. Not just examining the scales that out of folk musicians’ instinct are kept intact, but also observing the cadences, intervals and mode of execution. Everything reveals the source, which is none other than the strict and austere ecclesiastic hymn.
“Who knows what new life the leisurely and pessimistic 9/8 hold for us in the future. But, in the meantime, we would have felt their strength for good. We will hear them, very naturally and properly, raising their voice in our immediate surroundings and living in order to interpret our inner selves”…
Until the Civil War wounds healed up, many years had passed. The debate on rebetiko was rekindled in the dawn of the 60s on the occasion of Mikis Theodorakis’ Epitaph. But it was too late: the debate of the 60s seemed more like a… rebetiko epitaph – meaning it was post mortem – for its creative period, its breath, was already over…
Dinos Christianópoulos
“Persistent were the attacks on rebetiko, even after it was dead for years,”Dinos Christianópoulos comments. “Hostile attitude was maintained by nationalists and governments (especially by Metaxas and somehow more moderately by the Tsaldares government, that outlawed and persecuted it), considering it as a stigma of Greco-Christian culture;(m) religious organizations and the Church in general, that dealt with it as immoral; the fanatic communists (among them even Várnales, although he frequented in taverns), who rejected it as an expression of bourgeois decay and decadence; a part of the bourgeois press, expressing the prejudice and respectability of high society; demotic song fans (mainly schoolteachers and provincial scholars); the conservatories people, who faced it with disgust and contempt; university folklorists, who considered it as an abortion of our popular culture, and a lot of little folks emasculated by light songs.”
Noteworthy is an essay by Kostas Takhtsés on Zeybekiko – written with y because of a theory “that the etymology of the word comes fromZeusand bekos (bread in Phrygian)”. This elaborate text of 1964, rather lengthy to quote here, deserves to be read in whole, inter alia, for its important reflections, such as:
Kostas Takhtsés
“Contrary to classical Hellenic culture that modern Greeks aspired to resurrect after the War of Independence in mainland Hellas, the Byzantine world was clearly ‘oriental’. The Turks borrowed and imitated this ‘oriental’ civilization, giving to it, over time, a heavier, Turkish character, and exactly this secondary product was what generations of Greeks of servitude experienced, and brought with them when they came, as refugees, to old Hellas.”
“The guerrillas of ELAS (Greek People’s Liberation Army)”, Tachtsís also wrote referring to the years of Resistance, dissolving the embellished picture Xenos tried to create, “along with some demotic songs, depending on the area, sang Hellenized versions of Russian, and – how tragicomic! – even… German songs and paeans.”
Anyway, it is really didactic to see in outline the distressing finale of the story about rebetiko zeybekiko as narrated by Takhtsés:
“The bourgeois resisted; but they soon realized the futility of the effort. Thus, using the well-known method of rationalization or the equally well-known tactics of neutralization through containment, they embraced, adopted [the zeybekiko songs]. It’s always the best way to castrate a ‘revolution’ – cheap, safe, and bloodless. They started going on nightly treks to various taverns with bouzouki bands, the menu prices went up, the bouzouki players showed off, were flattered, saw that they had discovered a goldmine, buttoned up, even wore tuxedos, started varying their repertoire ever more with the softer, empty of any message or thought, but more tantalizing,tsifteteli, the prices went up again, the simple people got scared, withdrew to unknown taverns with still unknown bands, the eccentrics and the bourgeois discovered them, they occupied the tables there, as well, until the people, finding no place to sit, were compelled to gather outside, staring at the bands, the Americans and the bourgeois, in order to listen to the songs that were born out of them, but were far too expensive for their pockets. Thus a paranoid situation prevailed with the tourists and the bourgeois who went to see the people, and the people who went to see the tourists. Admiring products of economic misery that they were not willing to share except only aesthetically and from afar, the tourists flattered the people, for whom they became both a spectacle and objects of wonder.
“Well: with the collaboration of some well-meaning, and many dishonest or foolish people, an amazing robbery has taken place before our eyes: the people’s right to lament, at least, their fate. The zeybekiko songs have become the status quo, established themselves, lost their edge, their meaning, and have become, in turn, the Occupation tangos of our time. More Greek, of course, than the tangos but, mind you, they speak no more of social injustice, nor about the bitterness in life, they don’t protest, they consent. They speak about bourgeois pseudo-pleasures and pseudo-worries, and now and then about the bitterness of migration, which is absolutely crucial, since migration means not to face reality, but to flee from it – the only kind of flight that is still allowed, when it’s not imposed.
“Let me conclude: Those songs that managed for a while to become the means of expression of a people’s protest against their exploiters of all kinds, are now composed according to ‘plutocratic’ methods of mass production by the exploiters themselves, or they are just financed by them, for consumption by the people, and the people, who do not understand, or pretend not to understand, who have had some food to eat after the war, and, because of this little food, imagined they’ve become rich – sing them!
“I am somehow fit to judge the aesthetic result of all this unprecedented farce; and it’s lamentable”…
After such a text, silence is golden. Even D.E. Pohren’s crucial conclusion that “once a minority’s authentic musical expression becomes fashionable, it fades”, pales into insignificance. The same applies to Anogianakis’ remark that “certain current [1961] rebetiko features correspond to commercial jazz (stylized overproduction, exaggerated performance through microphones and loudspeakers, showing off of silly virtuosity).”
Here’s, then, where we have ended up: with musicians playing every night, all the time, the same repertoire with no substantial changes, bored as hell, just like their customers. When the musicians do not enjoy their art, when pathos or joys of life have been replaced by bathos or superficial revels, then merriment and “happiness” come by artificial means – drinking at best. When the musicians fail to engage creatively and freely in improvisations, having in mind just an outline, a sketch of the repertoire, leaving everything else on the spur of the moment, when they avoid or are afraid to be carried away by their imagination, and prefer to be on sure ground, then at best they may provide entertainment – for the people to forget their troubles, to be fooled away – though they should provide (at least sometimes) edutainment, “soul therapy”.(n) When the musicians act dictatorially, playing at full volume, forgetting that music has pianissimo and fortissimo, as well as a plethora of modes and rhythms, then people go out to blow off some steam, get drunk and break loose, making more noise than the amplifiers and behaving like a horde of barbarians. Then – let me say it again – the musicians have lost their best allies: the music aficionados.
(n)Edutainment (edu-cation + enter-tainment) is so weak and pale compared to the Greek ψυχαγωγία (αγωγή ψυχής = soul leading or training, education of the soul) – but what can I do? (See also Voyage 6)
But – you’re bound to ask – aren’t professionals like that? Why should I support them? Well, these are the bad professionals, I would say – regardless if they make up the majority now. Willy-nilly, they’ve fallen into the trap where other professionals, such as journalists, have also been caught, with the idea that they are… coffee men and, therefore, they make coffee according to the customers’ preferences!(o) They do not seem to bother that the order for… “light-sweet” music or news is not given by some “clients” but by their bosses. On the other hand, let’s not forget that if there was no public well-disposed to junk “music” or “news”, the bosses would necessarily have second thoughts. So, when we… shoot the piano player without looking in the mirror, chances are we’ll be finally left without a piano player!
(o) That was a publisher’s basic argument of defense in the trial of some journalists for violating a draconian Press Law…
When we shoot the piano player without looking in the mirror,
chances are we’ll be finally left without a piano player!
Music is no joking matter. It’s an art requiring years of study, either with sheet music and books or next to another musician – but always on the instrument. It takes persistent and consistent effort and study to master the technique of a single instrument and, moreover, to decipher the secrets of a single musical language. The same applies to a singer: not everything depends on a “celestial charisma”. How then is it possible to consider this verbiage of “cold” professionals and “sensitive” amateurs as well-grounded? How can a lyricist e.g. pose as a composer when he is musically “illiterate”? What would this rhymer say, indeed, if someone who had never sat down to work on language and metre declared to be a “poet”? You’ll tell me I’ve forgotten a very important parameter: in Hellas you are whatever you declare!
Popular songs – they say – are simple. Yes, but they are not simplistic! The great difficulty in their composition lies in this very simplicity. Especially when you have studied theory of music, it is rather easy to create complicated compositions. If you attempt to simplify them, if you leave just the basic melodic line, then the substance, the quality of your inspiration, reveals itself.
Popular songs – they say – are simple. Yes, but they are not simplistic!
The great difficulty in their composition lies in this very simplicity…
Let us assume that divine inspiration strikes a musically “illiterate”: he will not be able to elaborate on that because he lacks proper knowledge. And if this elaboration is taken over by someone else, the end result will be different from what he had in mind. Even if he “hits it big” and becomes a “star”, he will have capitalized on the erudition of third persons who will unfortunately, in most cases, remain unknown. Additionally, if he wishes to sing his creation, as it has become fashionable lately, he will fail, as well, because, even if he doesn’t sing out of tune (if…), he has not worked his vocal chords, ignores completely the vocal techniques, he doesn’t know the secrets of breathing, articulating and singing, and much more.
One may refer as an example to the Beatles who composed brilliant music being musically “illiterate”. Apart from the fact that they too capitalized on George Martin’s erudition, I have to stress I don’t mean by any means those musicians who are theoretically “illiterate”: the Beatles were professional musicians since the time they played – completely unknown – in Hamburg.
Mind you, the autodidacts, or self-taught musicians, have not only disadvantages but also advantages against their theoretically erudite colleagues. Let alone that the conservatory may destroy a natural talent. Liszt e.g. admired so much a self-taught virtuoso that “he trembled at the idea of him studying music, so as to keep the impulsive power of his musical instinct virginal and unchanged”, as Sophia Spanoudes wrote in her well-known column in favour of Tsitsanes in 1952. Speaking about the extraordinary advantages of autodidacts against erudite artists, Giorgos Papadakis explained why such musicians have been the salt of the earth:
Liszt “trembled at the idea of some self-taught virtuoso studying music,
so as to keep the impulsive power of his musical instinct virginal.”
“A self-taught instrumentalist is obviously required to solve many difficult technical problems alone. He is obliged to improvise solutions to problems already solved, since a teacher or a method would have significantly shortened the time required to do this. So, many times he needs to re-invent the wheel. The price can be high, but he may reap a reward that many musicians would envy: the quite personal style derived from personal improvised ways of addressing technical problems. This is evident in the way of playing of those musicians who learned out of commitment and play with commitment.”
Basiles Tsitsanes on a stamp
The musically “illiterate”, however, are also sly: they declare they are “popular composers”, instead of “popular musicians”, because otherwise the trick would have been exposed at once. So let’s have a brief look at this category, as well:
“The popular composer”, according to Phoebus Anogianakis:“a) is an uneducated person endowed by nature with musical gifts, someone who has not studied music (whatever knowledge he has is due to his extensive experience as a professional, especially in recent years, because of his contact-collaboration with musicians of light music);“b) ‘composes’ mainly songs or short instrumental pieces (of a dance or free rhythmical type) usually with the help of a popular instrument;“c) ‘bases’ his work on Greek popular music tradition, while at the same time being under some influence (from foreign popular music or also – in recent years – from local or foreign popular-like art light music).”
It goes without saying that a popular composer according to Anogianakis needs to combine the traits of a self-taught musician according to Papadakis if he is to acquire a quite personal style – and vice versa: the autodidact must be gifted by nature with musical talents and have extensive experience to re-invent the wheel…
One more thing: the term “art music”, prevailing in the 60s when Anogianakis’ text was written, is of course completely inappropriate, since it implies that a popular composer is probably… “artless”! Clearly annoyed and in a sarcastic mood, Tsitsanes once commented that the difference between popular and “art” composers is that between eyewitnesses to a crime and some others who… just heard about it!
And what about the… “illiterate”? Where can we group all those who surely have nothing in common with either Tsitsanes or the Beatles? No need to ask: they are the… perpetrators of the crime!
IT’S A PLEASANT SURPRISE when you meet the familiar figures of ancient Hellenes emerging from the pages of books about other peoples’ ways of life and expression – such as fado and flamenco – and also playing leading roles in legends that are probably unknown to modern Greeks (see the previous Voyage 3).
“Casting” those heroic Hellenes in the dramatis personæ of other peoples’ mythologies, of course, is not too strange a phenomenon. It is a measure of the splendour of ancient Greek civilization. What is quite unexpected is to find such legends in books dealing with music.
Indeed, there are so many legends, stories and tales about Heracles, Odysseus and, even more, Alexander! And it’s no coincidence at all. It’s them that have defined our common historical background: the westward voyages of Heracles and Odysseus and the eastward drive of Alexander outline this wider area, the one that, schematically more or less, I termed as the historical space of the Mediterranean.
Alexander’s exploits in the Orient are still widely acclaimed and echo in so many legends about Iskandar. In the western Mediterranean, on the contrary, the whole picture is rather obscure; it lacks clarity. It was quite natural for me to focus my attention there for one more reason: until recently almost everyone spoke of the Eastern Mediterranean as if it was not just the “gravitational” centre of this historical space, but as though it constituted an area apart from both the western half of mare nostrum and the eastern extension of the Mediterranean space into continental Asia.(a)
(a) Now everybody’s talking about one, unified Mediterranean. Well, that is something! Once upon a time – not long ago – the cliché and catch phrase (overused ad nauseam) was “ἡ καθ’ ἡμᾶς Ἀνατολή”, meaning something like “our own Orient” and referring to the long gone Hellenistic East. The exact meaning differed widely depending on the person using it. The best description of the phrase I know is Constantine Cavafy’s poem In the Year 200 B.C. (see Voyage 2). The worst ones are found in the speeches of politicians who, in the past, combined it with the so-called “Megale Idea” (“Great Idea” about a “Greater Hellas”), which proved to be not a “great idea” at all, and has since become a national nightmare…
The Rock of Gibraltar, the European Pillar of Heracles (1850)
Well, I searched for evidence to the contrary; and I arrived to the conclusion that there’s no better and more convincing example than the music – or, rather, culture – of Andalusia: the western end of our historical space has received – and repeatedly indeed – so many cultural elements from its eastern end, India, that the wide scope of exchange becomes more than obvious. If the Greeks have also been involved in this give and take, so much the better…
Andalusia, the western end of our historical space, has received so many cultural elements from its eastern end, the Indies, that the wide scope of exchange becomes more than obvious.
However, apart from les enfants terribles de l’antiquité (see Voyage 2), there are some others, as well, that outline our historical space; a people quite humble who, without having bequeathed to mankind splendid monuments of art and literature, were able to leave their indelible mark wherever they passed through, despite the relentless persecution they suffered. I’m talking about the Gypsies, the Roma who, in their own way, remind us that civilization is not only great art and culture, but also the primitive but authentic way of human expression – which, we need not to forget, was the starting point of every art form.
So, let’s go and meet them remaining on Iberian soil: from the world of fado in Portugal we cross into that of flamenco in Andalusia – and what we hear first of all are… passionate disputes about the origin of flamenco! It is an old controversy still going on strong between the advocates of an Andalusian birth certificate and those who see the genre as a Romani creation.
Even prejudiced persons are obliged to recognize that the Gypsies – or at least some of their tribes – have an innate talent for music. They are quick though to assert that the Roma are not distinguished for their creative inspiration, but just for their skill in the execution of music. Although self-contradictory, this view was expressed in all seriousness, even from authoritative personalities, perhaps with good intentions. It’s true such controversies erupted in countries, like those in Eastern Europe, with a strong gypsy presence during the formation of the so-called “national schools”. But the root of the problem goes far back:
Music was not a lucrative – and hence respectable – occupation for centuries, when the only professional musicians around were Gypsies. After the economic conditions had changed and many locals had become musicians, it was almost impossible to “purify” the local musical idioms…
Music as a profession was not a lucrative – and hence respectable – occupation for centuries, when the only professional musicians around were Gypsies. After the economic conditions had changed and many locals had become musicians, it was almost impossible to identify and set apart the indigenous musical elements from the gypsy additions – or, with a different phraseology, to “purify” the local musical idioms. Of course, we cannot accuse the Gypsies for this “problem” (if there was one)…
“Contact with foreign material,” according to Béla Bartók, the celebrated Hungarian composer and ethnomusicologist, “does not merely imply the exchange of melodies, but – and this is even more important – is also a stimulus for new styles to arise… The current situation of Eastern European folk music can be summarized as follows: As a result of the continuous interaction of several peoples’ folk music, a tremendous wealth of melodies and melody types has emerged… Therefore, the lack of racial purity that’s appeared as a final result has had crucially beneficial resonances. A complete separation from foreign influence means stagnation: well-assimilated foreign impulses offer possibilities of enrichment.”
Only racists would reject such important conclusions. But nationalism is also a problem, especially in an area like Eastern Europe as it was described above. Even Bartók was not immune to such “national sentiments”. When he realized that Hungarian folk songs traditionally employed by “classical” composers were not autochthonous, he decided to make a research. In 1908, he and Zoltán Kodály, his colleague and compatriot, travelled into the countryside to collect old Magyar folk melodies, which had previously been categorized as “gypsy music”. In contrast, they discovered that these folk melodies were based on pentatonic scales, similar to those in Asian folk traditions, such as those of Anatolia, Central Asia and Siberia.(b)
(b) First of all, the Magyars themselves are not autochthonous: they came from the Urals to what is now Hungary rather recently: in the 10th century CE. The Roma perhaps arrived there somehow later but without plundering the area around as the Magyars did! (Alas, this is the reason why there’s no Roma state today…) Why then should they care so much about indigenity? What Bartók and Kodály proved after all was that old Magyar folk melodies originated in Asia and, therefore, were not autochthonous either!
What about the rest of the melodic treasures of the area? “As a result of the continuous interaction of several peoples’ folk music, a tremendous wealth of melodies and melody types has emerged.” These melodies and melody types have been neither Austro-Hungarian, nor Czecho-Slovakian, nor Serbo-Croatian, nor Romanian or even Romani (as the Gypsies have also participated in this give and take). They belong to all – and this is quite annoying to all Eastern European nationalists!
As regards the compositions implied above, the classic example is Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies, which he based on popular tunes performed by Romani bands of the time. Another famous work – in this case by a non-Magyar composer – is Brahms’ Hungarian Dances based mostly on Hungarian themes.
In a country with “gypsy violins” famous worldwide, playing mainly heptatonic scales, a controversy broke out in 1933 regarding the point at issue. When Bartók intervened, he claimed that:
“If we want to be precise, the term ‘gypsy music‘ is incorrect, and what is described as gypsy music is in reality nothing but Hungarian music played by Gypsies”…
Alas, this “contact with foreign material” seems rather a “great idea” as long as it excludes the Romani contributions! Mind you that any “pure”, autochthonous melody anywhere in the world would be tantamount to a musical “Grail”…
Gypsy school (of violin and other strings in Hungary), by Janos Valentiny (1896)
Let’s return to Andalusia and to flamenco to go into the substance of this point at issue. Here the cultural substratum is far richer in finds with the successive layers of several civilizations. It’s obvious how inadequate the dilemma: “Gypsies or locals?”, “black or white?” is – and if you don’t suffer from colour blindness, you realize very soon that this can be nowhere true.
“In flamenco music”, according to Christian Scholze, “there are elements of Arab, Indian, North African, Greek and Jewish influence, and the respective proportions of these are hotly debated by flamencologists. What they do agree on is that the roots of flamenco lie in the suppression of the Gypsies. Wherever Gypsies found refuge and shelter over the centuries are today’s centres of flamenco.”
Voilà! There’s also Greek influence detected in flamenco! Most important, though seemingly paradoxical: among all those cultures referred to by Scholze, the only one that did not have “bearers” actually present in Andalusia in the 16th century, when flamenco’s formation began, was Hellenic culture. At that time, additionally, both the Byzantine Empire and Hellas were not on the map having lost their independence…
I mean to say that then in Andalusia, apart from the local andaluces, there were Arabs and North African Moors; there were Gypsies (as “bearers” of North Indian culture) and also Jews. It was the heterodox people that the decrees of Ferdinand and Isabella had declared personæ non grata in the name of religious “purity”, a kind of racism, in order to enforce the “new (Catholic Castilian) order”. That was the end result of the Crusades: the sanctified ethnic cleansing!
The dilemma was clear-cut: convert to Catholicism or get the hell out of here! And “for fear – even terror – of the Jews” and the rest of the heterodox people, the infamous “Holy” Inquisition began a persecution spree “in the name of God”. Most Arabs and Jews (the Gypsies had no… address and it was difficult to track them down!) were forced out of their homes, finding refuge mainly in Morocco and hoping that they would soon return (a hope shared by all refugees such as those from Asia Minor). Others (mainly Jews, not Moors who found themselves in a familiar environment in Maghreb) chose to emigrate and ended up in lands that until recently were Byzantine but had already passed under the control of the Ottomans – inter alia, in Thessalonica.
Those who stayed in Andalusia without changing their religion or the others, who were judged as insincere in their “repentance”, went underground, lived together and closed ranks out of necessity, despite all their differences, in order to confront the common enemy. Very soon this unlikely mixture of people was enriched with “new blood”: the Andalusians, who in turn passed to the other side due to various problems with the new authorities. The conquest of America e.g. started then, and the necessary “manpower” was recruited mainly in Andalusia.
Flamenco was born in such circumstances from these fugitives. But where were the Greeks? And how did they manage – being absent and from afar – to exert their influence? There can be only one answer: thanks to the splendour of their civilization – even though it was already a relic of the past…
An eristic could possibly dismiss scornfully Christian Scholze. His view, however, is not new-fangled. It is shared by most musicologists who say more or less the same. The editors of the Classic CD magazine e.g., publishing an interview with the guitarist Paco Peña, epitomized the origins of flamenco as follows:
“A synthesis of several styles, the music of the Gypsies at the base of the Iberian Peninsula comes from Moorish, Byzantine and Jewish sounds, and at a certain point of its evolution it acquired the name flamenco.”
And if that is not enough for you, here’s the American flamencologist and guitarist Donn E. Pohren, author of a trilogy on flamenco (The Art of Flamenco, Lives and Legends of Flamenco, A Way of Life) translated into many languages, and teacher of the Andalusians in Jerez de la Frontera’s Cátedra de Flamencología – but without “lecturing” at all, as he experienced flamenco’s way of life side by side with the Gypsy and local performers of this music before it became fashionable:
“Contrary to a widespread belief, the Spanish gypsies were not the sole creators of the mysterious art called flamenco. Rather, it is generally agreed that flamenco is a mixture of the music of the many cultures that have played important roles, directly or indirectly, throughout the centuries in Andalusia, the most important of these being the Muslim, Jewish, Indo-Pakistani and Byzantine.”
It’s the very first paragraph in the main part of his book dealing with The Art of Flamenco when he sets out to examine it. This chapter on Origin and Background ends with the etymology of flamenco: “Where did the term flamenco come from?”, Pohren wonders. “Again, no one knows, but theories abound”… We have already met the fugitives who probably created flamenco. Dismissing several theories about the origin of the word (e.g. Flemish, flamingo, flame, etc),(c) Pohren presents the most credible:
(c)Flemish, because of the Spanish Jews who found refuge in Flanders; flamingo, due to the supposed similarities in posture between the bird and a flamenco bailaor(!); and flame, as a graphic metaphor of flamenco’s essence.
“Possibly the most likely theory states that the word ‘flamenco’ is a mispronunciation of the Arabic words ‘felag’ and ‘mengu’ (felagmengu), which means ‘fugitive peasant’. It is likely that this term was borrowed from the Arabs (Arabic was a common language in Andalusia at that time) and applied to all the persecuted people who fled to the mountains. Through usage in Spanish ‘felagmengu’ was transformed into ‘flamenco’, until eventually the term flamenco was adopted by the fugitives themselves and in turn applied to their music.”
If all the above are again not enough for you, I need to resort to… indisputable sages – meaning in other words to invoke the views of acclaimed Spaniards who know what they’re talking about. Well, how about Federico García Lorca, his friend and teacher, Manuel de Falla, or his teacher’s teacher, Felipe Pedrell?
García Lorca used the title Poema del Cante Jondo for a 1921 collection of poems. The next year he helped Falla in the organization of the Concurso de Cante Jondo held in Granada on 13 and 14 of June 1922 with a memorable series of performances held at the Alhambra. Cante jondo or grande (deep, great song) is the most breathtaking of the flamenco forms, the most authentic and pure and, in the interwar period, the most marginalized. That’s why the two friends tried to support it. The other two forms – cante (inter)medio and chico (intermediate and small) – were considered as rather vulgarized forms, a view perhaps corresponding to the realities of the inter-war period (Lorca will soon present his point).
Federico García Lorca, by Emily Tarleton
To promote the Concurso, Falla wrote an essay, El cante jondo (canto primitivo andaluz), in which he presented the results of his own research indicating that the primary foreign influences contributing to the origins of flamenco music and dance were three: Byzantine church music coming from the eastern Mediterranean; Moorish music from North Africa and Arabia; and especially that distinct music of India and its rhythms brought by the gitanos who began arriving in Spain more than five hundred years ago. On his own part, Lorca gave a lecture on 19 February 1922. Citing Falla, he also put forward these three historical events that shaped jondo:
(d) The texts of Lorca’s lectures on Cante jondo and Duende are based on A. S. Kline’s translations.
“This mysterious migrant folk”, Lorca went on, “arriving in Andalusia, united ancient indigenous elements to what they themselves had brought, and gave cante jondo its definitive form. That is shown by the qualifying term ‘gitana’ which thesiguiriyaretains. This is not to say, of course, that cante jondo is purely Gypsy, since Gypsies exist throughout Europe and elsewhere in our peninsula, while these songs are only nurtured in Andalusia. It is a cante purely andaluz, the seeds of which existed in this region before the Gypsies arrived.”
Except the local elements, there are also Greco-Byzantine, Arabo-Moorish, Indo-Romani, and perhaps even Jewish influences detected in flamenco (García Lorca, Falla, Pedrell, Pohren, Scholze, et al.)
Flamenco guitar
In Falla’s conclusions, as well as in Lorca’s lecture, we find the same factors in the formation of flamenco; with the only exception that Jewish influence is conspicuously absent… Regarding the contribution of the Roma, Lorca tried to evaluate it in its proper dimensions, advocating neither in favour of an Andalusian parthenogenesis – for the Gypsies “gave cante jondo its definitive form” – nor in favour of a Romani birth: despite the many similarities he cited among the key elements of cante jondo and some Indian songs, mostly love songs (he’ll deal about that later, as well), Lorca persistently insisted that “jondo is a cante purely andaluz”.
Indeed, flamenco was impossible to be born in India; but, without the Roma, not even in Andalusia; just like rebetiko was impossible to be born in Asia Minor; but, without the Anatolian refugees, not even in Greece; or just like blues was impossible to be born in Africa; but, without the black slaves, not even in America. If this is true about the blues, an almost exclusively black music, you can imagine how much more relevant it is in the cases of flamenco and rebetiko where two locals became leading figures: Paco de Lucía and Basiles Tsitsanes.
Flamenco was impossible to be born in India; but without the Roma not even in Andalusia. Rebetiko was impossible to be born in Asia Minor; but without the Anatolians not even in Greece. Blues was impossible to be born in Africa; but without the blacks not even in America.
“Every cloud has a silver lining”: the truth of the apophthegm is revealed in these diamonds of our musical culture. We can now enjoy their sparkling beauty thanks to the Roma, the Anatolians and the blacks – those that played the role of a catalyst in the polish of these diamonds of the Orphean art – who, nevertheless, suffered tremendously. Of course, some people had to play the role of the villains. For the gypsies, among many others, it was Tamerlane; for the Anatolians it was Kemal; for the blacks? Here we lose count!
Of course, Lorca also spoke about the difference between cante jondo and flamenco in general – “an essential distinction based on antiquity, structure and spirit”:
“The essential difference is that the origin of cante jondo must be sought in the primitive musical systems of India, that is, in the first manifestations of song… It is cante imbued with the mysterious colour of primordial ages; flamenco is relatively modern and it cannot be said to acquire its definitive form until the 18th century… Spiritual colour versus local colour: that is the profound difference. Cante jondo is, then, the rarest specimen of primitive song, the oldest in Europe, bearing in its notes the naked shiver of emotion of the first oriental races. Manuel de Falla affirms that the Gypsy siguiriya is the only genre on our continent that preserves in all its purity the primary qualities of the primitive songs of the oriental peoples.”
Let’s have a closer look at siguiriya gitana, the appropriate song to express sorrow, deep pain, despair. According to Falla, it is the archetype of cante jondo, as Lorca defined it in another lecture, as well, entitled Architecture of Cante Jondo in 1931. Whether siguiriya is gitana or “purely andaluz” we better leave it to the Spaniards. For us, outsiders, far more interesting is the common position of the three musicians mentioned above, namely Pedrell, Falla, and Lorca (he was also a musician, let’s not forget). I quote from his lecture of 1922:
Felipe Pedrell
“The great master Felipe Pedrell, one of the first Spaniards to treat questions of folklore scientifically, writes, in his magnificent Cancionero popular español: ‘Musical orientalism survives in various popular songs and is deeply rooted in our nation through the influence of ancient Byzantine civilization on the ritual used in the Spanish Church, from the conversion of our country to Christianity until the 11th century when the Roman liturgy [Gregorian chant] can be said to have been fully introduced.’
“Manuel de Falla adds to this statement of his old master, specifying the elements of Byzantine liturgical chant revealed in siguiriya, which are: the tonal modes of primitive systems (not be confused with those known as Greek modes), the enharmony inherent in those modes, and the lack of metric rhythm in the melodic line. ‘These same properties characterize certain Andalusian songs which appeared long after the Spanish Church’s adoption of Byzantine liturgical music, songs which have a close affinity with the music which in Morocco, Algiers and Tunis is still called… «the music of the Moors of Granada.»’ [Siguiriya has] ‘specific forms and characteristics distinct from its relationship to sacred chant and the music of the Moors of Granada.’ [Falla] has found an extraordinary agglutinative Gypsy element… of Indic origin.”
Hence we can also speak of siguiriya griega or bizantina, not only indiana or gitana! But the findings of this triad (Pedrell, Falla and Lorca) go far beyond the relatively recent past, to prehistoric times. Lorca explains:
“Many suppose that chanting is the earliest form of language.”
(Falla, Lorca)
Manuel de Falla in action
“The essential similarities that Manuel de Falla notes between cante jondo and certain songs of India are: ‘Enharmonics, as in intermediate modulation; a restricted melodic line, rarely exceeding the compass of a sixth; and the reiterative almost obsessive use of a single note, a process proper to certain forms of incantation, including recitations which might be termed prehistoric, and have led many to suppose that chanting is the earliest form of language.’(e)In this manner cante jondo, especially siguiriya, creates the impression of sung prose, destroying all sense of rhythmic metre, though in reality its literary texts are assonant tercets and quatrains.”
(e) Primitive chant: a short, simple series of syllables or words sung on or intoned to the same note or a limited range of notes; a monotonous rhythmic call; a primitive “recitative”, vocalism; prosody (“melos of speech”, according to Aristoxenus), i.e. the “melody” produced during speech.
Going way back into history, we need to parallel this incantation-recitation with the paracatalogé (παρακαταλογή) of ancient Hellenic tragedy, “a kind of melodramatic recitation of tragic and pathetic parts”, according to Giorgos Iohannou, which “was something intermediate between the catalogé, i.e. the usual recitation of chants, and the proper song, the ode.” Let us not forget, by the way, that the ancient drama was all in verse. It’s not a coincidence that the modern Greek word for song, tragoudi (τραγούδι), comes from tragedy, while out of paracatalogé the word paralogé (παραλογή, ballad) was coined. The paracatalogé was accompanied, usually by aulos; in this sense it differed from the catalogé; as a melodramatic recitation, it was not a sung recitative; it also differed from the ode because there was no melos (melody), other than a certain rhythmic emphasis and the tonal or pitch accent of the ancient Hellenic language, which was musical, not dynamic like modern Greek. The tragic and pathetic effect was achieved by inserting paracatalogé in the middle of sung parts (ἐν ταῖς ωἰδαῖς). This technique enhanced the dramatic appeal of the text.
In Hellenic tragedy, “paracatalogé, a kind of melodramatic recitation of tragic and pathetic parts, was something intermediate between the catalogé, i.e. the usual recitation of chants, and the proper song, the ode.” (Giorgos Iohannou)
Alhambra with Generalife by night
D U E N D E
GARCÍA LORCA gave another lecture in 1930 on Theory and Play ofDuende – a keyword in order to get to the bottom of the essence of flamenco, of music in general, and to penetrate the core of all the arts, especially the so-called performing arts. According to dictionaries, duende means “fairy, demon, ghost, devil, goblin, spirit – holy or evil.” Dictionaries rarely make things clear on concepts related to music and culture. And why should we let ourselves in the mercy of lexicographers when we have Lorca as a guide? Let’s listen to him with due attention as we are introduced to the magic and mystical duende:
“All through Andalusia… people constantly talk about duende and recognize it wherever it appears with a fine instinct… The old Gypsy dancer La Malena once heard Brailowsky play a fragment of Bach, and exclaimed: ‘Olé! That has duende!’ but was bored by Gluck, Brahms and Milhaud. And [flamenco singer] Manuel Torre, a great artist of the Andalusian people, a man who has more culture in his veins than anyone I’ve known, on hearing Falla play his own Nocturno del Generalifespoke this splendid phrase: ‘All that has dark sounds has duende’… – agreeing with Goethe, who in speaking of Paganini hit on a definition of duende: ‘A mysterious force that everyone feels and no philosopher has explained.’
“All that has dark sounds has duende.” (Manuel Torre)
“I heard an old maestro of the guitar say: ‘Duende is not in the throat: duende surges up, inside, from the soles of the feet.’ Meaning, it’s not a question of skill, but of a style that’s truly alive: meaning, it’s in the veins: meaning, it’s of the most ancient culture of immediate creation. It is, in sum, the spirit of the earth, the same duende that scorched Nietzche’s heart as he searched for its outer form on the Rialto Bridge and in Bizet’s music, without finding it, and without seeing that the duende he pursued had leapt from the Greek mysteries to the dancers of Cádiz and the headless Dionysiac scream of Silverio’s siguiriya.”
The “Dionysiac” and “mystic” Hellenes are here again in full force. Their theatre of action is now Cádiz, the ancient Gadeira (Gadir), or Roman Gades.(f) To this port of Andalusia on the Atlantic, just outside the Straits of Gibraltar, the Pillars of Heracles, we will return shortly. For the time being, we continue listening to Lorca spellbound:
(f) The ancient root is retained in the adjective gaditano: of/from Cádiz, its native/inhabitant.
“For every man, every artist called Nietzsche or Cézanne, every step that he climbs in the tower of his perfection is at the expense of the struggle that he undergoes with his duende, not with an angel, as is often said, nor with his Muse… Angel and Muse come from outside us: the angel brings light, the Muse form (Hesiod learnt from her)… While duende has to be roused from the furthest habitations of the blood. Reject the angel, and give the Muse a kick… The true struggle is with duende.
“The great artists of southern Spain, Gypsy or flamenco, singers, dancers, musicians, know that emotion is impossible without the arrival of duende. They might deceive people into thinking they can communicate the sense of duende without possessing it, as authors, painters, and literary fashion-makers deceive us every day, without possessing duende: but we only have to attend a little, and not be full of indifference, to discover the fraud, and chase off that clumsy artifice.
“Emotion is impossible without duende.” (García Lorca)
Pastora Pavón, la Niña de los Peines
“Once, the Andalusian ‘Flamenco singer’ Pastora Pavon, La Niña de Los Peines, sombre Spanish genius, equal in power of fancy to Goya… was singing in a little tavern in Cádiz. She played with her voice of shadows, with her voice of beaten tin, with her mossy voice, she tangled it in her hair, or soaked it inmanzanillaor abandoned it to dark distant briars. But, there was nothing there: it was useless. The audience remained silent… Pastora Pavon finished her song in silence. Only, a little man… sarcastically, in a very soft voice, said: ‘Viva, Paris!’ as if to say: ‘Here ability is not important, nor technique, nor skill. What matters here is something else.’
“Then La Niña de Los Peines got up like a madwoman, trembling like a medieval mourner, and drank, in one gulp, a huge glass of fiery spirits, and began to sing with a scorched throat, without voice, breath, colour, but… with duende. She managed to tear down the scaffolding of the song, but allow through a furious, burning duende, friend to those winds heavy with sand, that make listeners tear at their clothes with the same rhythm as the Negroes of the Antilles in their rite… La Niña de Los Peines had to tear apart her voice, because she knew experts were listening, who demanded not form but the marrow of form, pure music with a body lean enough to float on air. She had to rob herself of skill and safety: that is to say, banish her Muse, and be helpless, so her duende might come, and deign to struggle with her at close quarters. And how she sang! Her voice no longer at play, her voice a jet of blood, worthy of her pain and her sincerity”…
What an evening, indeed! I would love to be there… Well, here we are back to Cádiz with the captivating description of duende by Lorca. It’s where we meet again Donn Pohren, who will lead us to the ancient city of Gadir via… India!
Donn Pohren
“Today”, he says in his Biographical History, Lives and Legends of Flamenco, the second book of his flamenco trilogy, “nearly all theoreticians of the dance agree that the baile flamenco is directly descended from the ancient religious dances of the Indian Hindus… What in all likelihood has taken place is that the highly-civilized Brahmanic temple dances were adopted by a lesser-developed people, shorn of many subtleties, and returned to a more natural and primitive art form concerned only with the expression of oneself and one’s emotions.
“Let us attempt to construct a brief history of the development of these Indian dances within Spain. First of all, how did they reach Spain? Traditionally performed only in the temples during Brahmanic religious rites, these dances eventually began to be danced more popularly outside the shrines in India. It was then that they were first introduced into other lands by way of early Mediterranean trading vessels and overland caravans. The point of entrance into Spain was most certainly Gadir, later called Gades, today called Cádiz, the oldest city in Spain, founded by the Phoenicians around 1100 BC. Gadir was an extremely important city, and it is likely that professional Indian dancers were brought in to entertain the city’s royalty, probably during the time of the Greeks (c. 500–250 BC), less likely during the reign of the Romans (c. 250 BC–475 AD).(g) Hindu musicians and singers surely accompanied the dancers, and thus also introduced their art forms into Spain during this same period. This would partly explain the strong similarities that still exist between certain types of Hindu singing and music, and flamenco.
(g) Although we have just heard Lorca telling us that “duende had leapt from the Greek mysteries to the dancers of Cádiz”, there was probably no Hellenic period then in Gadir. From the Phoenicians and the Punics (whom Pohren seems to ignore), the city passed into the hands of the Romans in 206 BC. Irrespective of the error, what’s important here is not who the master of the city was at the time, but the fact that Gadir functioned as a gateway for the Indian dance and music influence into Andalusia. Whatever the case, we know that in their symposia, the Hellenes, both in mainland Greece and in the colonies, used to enjoy the art of foreign singers and musicians, mostly women, who (according to the symposiasts’ “tastes”) appeared dressed or nude, as we are told by Athenaeus(“Deipnosophistae”, 3rd century CE) and Suda (“Lexicon”, 10th century).
Symposium scene with an aulos playing girl [modestly dressed up, not nude], by Nicias painter
“These civilizations, with their emphasis on culture, undoubtedly introduced this religious dancing into their own temples, so that by the arrival of the Visigoths in Andalusia (c. 450–700), this type of religious dancing had already become so traditional as to be carried over into the primitive Spanish Church, encouraged and even performed by early Christian priests. ‘It is now known that the fathers of the primitive Church openly admitted, and even fomented with their examples, the adoption by the Christian cult of certain elements of the sacred oriental dances, frequently danced by the very priests themselves.’ (‘El Baile Andaluz’, by Caballero Bonald).
“The Visigoths accepted Catholicism and merged with the Hispano-Roman population, and religious dancing continued throughout their reign.(h)
(h) Pohren, just like Mascarenhas Barreto in the previous Voyage 3, put the cart before the horse, speaking about Catholicism before the schism. Although this doubling of the error makes me wonder: may Catholicism be synonymous with Christianity and Orthodoxy is a… heresy? Terra incognita: religious affairs have never been my forte!
“It is postulated that during the reign of the Moors (c. 711–1492) these sacred dances were danced more and more popularly outside the confines of the church, possibly even by Spain’s first gypsies, who were thought to have come as camp-followers of the Moorish armies (after having arrived in North Africa from their homeground, India, by way of Pakistan, Persia, and Arabia). As both the gypsies and the Moors already cultivated a type of dance largely derived from the Brahmanic religious dances, their arrival most certainly gave the existing Andalusian dances a shot in the arm…
“Another historical event in the development of the flamenco dance was the arrival of the second migration of gypsies to Spain around 1450, shortly before the Moors were expelled from their last footholds in Andalusia. The gypsies arrived from India by the northern route (Persia, Russia, etc), bringing with them their interpretations of Indian dances and songs, and adding fresh fuel to the Andalusian folklore…
“After the Moors were forced out, all religious connotations in the dance ceased. The dances were not only banned from the Church because of their increasing sensuality and ‘sinful movements’, but at one time persecutions were carried out against interpreters of certain dances regardless of where they were danced. It was then that the dance, together with the cante, went underground, becoming an art of the ‘lawless elements’ of society. This happened more or less simultaneously with the 16th century edicts ordering the expulsion of the Moors, gypsies, and Jews, and can probably be cited as the beginning of the formation of flamenco as we know it today.”
This panoramic picture of the evolution of dance from the Indian Brahmanic temples to the Andalusian gypsy camps, with all intermediate stages, has a negative side: it is one-dimensional, presenting India as thematrix of the art of dance – and even more – leading to wrong conclusions. But if, instead of the dance, we trace the evolution of the guitar, then the mosaic of the exchange becomes three–dimensional and balanced. Our guide, Pohren, as a guitarist, moves now into more familiar waters:
Ancient Hellenic kithara
“The Spanish guitar”, he writes in the chapter of the same book (Lives and Legends of Flamenco) dealing with his instrument, “is the direct offspring of, principally, the guitarra latina (Latin guitar) and, secondarily, the guitarra morisca (Moorish guitar), both of which are generally believed to have descended from the ancientkitharaasiria(Oriental zither).(i)
(i) Note how terminology differs in the phases of the guitar’s development: cithara/kithara > guitarra. It refers to the time when the ancient kithara ceases to have the form of a large ancient lyre and acquires a “neck” or “arm”.
“First let us attempt to trace the kithara asiria. José de Azpiazu, in his book “La Guitarra y Los Guitarristas”, makes the observation that we must look to Egypt and Babylonia for the earliest string instruments, including the zither, from whence they passed on to Syria, Persia, India, and the Middle and Far East in general. He bases this assumption on diverse archaeological finds, principally in Egypt, singling out in particular a bas-relief, dated at 3500 BC, discovered in the tomb of one of the Kings of Thebes. This bas-relief, now in the museum of Leyden (Holland), includes an instrument somewhat resembling today’s Spanish guitar. Azpiazu also states that around the time 1000–800 BC the Egyptians possessed an instrument greatly resembling the modern guitar. This instrument could easily have been the previously mentioned guitarra morisca, or one of its predecessors in its development from the kithara asiria.
Egyptian musician 3500 years ago playing a guitar-like instrument
“However, in view of continued archaeological discoveries, no date or place can be irrevocably pinpointed concerning the origin of any of the ancient stringed instruments. The discovery by an English archaeologist, Kathleen Kenyon, determining that the city of Jericho was teeming with life as far back as 6800 BC, makes the first Egyptian dynasty (3400 BC) seem relatively modern. In truth, the family tree of string instruments, in all of its rich variety, is as vague as civilization’s early history. Perhaps the only data available to sustain the belief that the guitar is descended from the ancient kithara asiria is the similarity and progression of the zither-guitar terminology in various languages, and the corresponding similarity and development of the instruments represented by the terms, as follows: qitâra (Chaldea – an ancient region in Southeast Asia, on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers), quitar (Arabic),sitar(Hindi), kithara (Greek), cítara (Spanish) and guitarra (Spanish).
Vihuela: the bygone “aristocrat” cousin of the “folk” guitar, with six strings, as well, but double. She’s probably the mother (at least as a term) of the so-called viola, the guitar that accompanies the so-called guitarra portuguesa, the leading instrument of fado.
“If we wish to follow the popular theory that the guitar was derived from the kithara (there is no good reason not to), the guitar’s development in Spain can be traced in rough outline. It is generally agreed that the kithara asiria (then called the kithara romana) was introduced into Spain during the time of the Romans, sometime before the birth of Christ.(j) The kithara flourished in Spain until the fall of the Spanish Roman Empire (5th century), at which time it fell largely into disuse until the invading Visigoths were firmly established on the peninsula. The Visigoths set about reviving the old Roman culture, and the kithara again emerged. In the 7th century San Isidro wrote of wandering minstrels singing and accompanying themselves on the kithara… It was around this period that the guitarra latina, an instrument containing four sets of double strings and which resembled a small version of the present Spanish guitar, was developed in Spain, presumably, as we have stated, from the kithara romana.
(j) “In my opinion”, footnotes Pohren, “it is more likely that visiting Hindu musicians introduced the kithara asiria, or similar instruments, into Cádiz before the coming of the Romans, probably during the reign of the Greeks”… Well, in my opinion it is far more likely that the Hellenes themselves introduced into Iberia their own kithara helénica!
A woman playing a lyre (an instrument that shows the kithara to guitarra transition), by Cesare Saccaggi
“Meanwhile, in the Middle East the kithara asiria had long ago inspired the family of the guitarra morisca, an oval-shaped, three-stringed instrument introduced into Spain with the 8th century Moorish invasion. It is thought that the only significant characteristic that the Latin guitar borrowed from the Moorish guitar, in its development into Spanish guitar, was the idea of the single strings in place of the formerly-used sets of double strings.
“So by the 9th century there existed in Spain guitars not unlike those we play today, but until the troubadour period (11th through the 13th centuries) the guitar was not widely introduced to the general populace. Little structural change of any significance took place in this guitar until the 16th century, when Vicente Espinel began using a fifth string. (This was not Espinel’s invention, as guitars had existed previously with five strings. Espinel merely made the fifth string fashionable. Many musicologists express the belief that the famous Ziryab himself first innovated the use of the fifth string in the 9th century). With this development the Spaniards finally seemed to feel that the guitar was their instrument, and it was then that the guitarra latina was rechristened the ‘Spanish guitar’. Two centuries later the final radical development was made, which was the addition of the sixth string by fray Miguel García, a monk also known as Padre Basilio, an excellent classical guitarist and the guitar instructor of King Carlos IV, Queen María Luisa, and the famous concert guitarist, Dionisio Aguado. Thus, except for its growth in size and quality, by the latter third of the 18th century the Spanish guitar was as we know it today.
“Now that we know something of the development of the guitar, let us look into the development of the music. According to Lévi-Provençal (La Civilización Árabe en España), the great tradition of Andalusian music was molded together and developed in the Cordovan conservatory of music established and directed by the Mesopotamian musician, Ziryab, in the 9th century. (Ziryab arrived in Córdoba in 822, in his early thirties, and remained there the rest of his life). What he must have done was gather, and become proficient in, the Andalusian folklore of that period, which was, of course, highly Oriental in nature, and conserve and teach it to attending minstrels and nobility in his conservatory. As he had spent years in the courts of Baghdad, and was the supreme musician of his time, he undoubtedly added to, and purified, what he found. Ziryab, in fact, is credited with having played the major musical role in making Andalusia the outstanding cultural center of the world at that time.”
“Ziryab played the major role in making Andalusia the outstanding cultural center of the world in the 9th century.” (Donn Pohren)
Chelys: a lyre made with a tortoise shell
In this monumental mural painted mainly by Lorca and Pohren, with all the others contributing, we only need to apply some extra brushstrokes to… exonerate the Assyrians, who became notorious in history mainly for their cruelty, but also to show that in social processes parthenogenesis is out of the question in all places and all times – even in the case of the ancient “Hellenic miracle” that has been feasible due to borrowing know-how and intellectual “goods” from the Orient.
The kithara was an instrument of the professionals, while its little sister, the lyre, of the amateurs. According to the Encyclopedia of Ancient Hellenic Music by Solon Michaelides (the source of much information during our Voyages), the kithara was called Άσιάς (Asian). Plutarch (1st–2nd century CE) maintained that “it was called Asian because it was used by the Lesbiankitharodes [citharoedes or citharedes: kithara players who also sang] dwelling close to Asia”. This is, of course, a pretext – even if Lesbos is actually close to Asia Minor. We learn the truth from Hesychius of Alexandria (5th century CE), who explains that the kithara was defined as such “for it was invented in Asia”. The adjectives Άσιάς and Άσιάτις (Asian, Asiatic) were used not only in relation to the kithara, but also to music as a whole; as Strabo points out: “all music is thought to be Thracian and Asian”. Ancient Thrace, of course, was not a part of Hellas.
These instruments of the kithara and lyre family have been extinct for centuries now because they were left behind in relation to the development of music, becoming inadequate and unable to satisfy the needs of the people – musicians and listeners. They are now rarely found still in use among primitive tribes, primarily in northeastern Africa – and this is indeed a pleasant surprise! Some German ethnomusicologists recorded, among others, the sound of a lyre played by a cattleman, member of the Hamar tribe of Ethiopia, and put his photo on the album’s cover. Isn’t it impressive? The symbol of so many “serious” music institutions, the “musical instrument par excellence” of the ancients, the celebrated Chelys of Hermes, who offered it to Apollo (to atone for stealing his oxen!), to be “mislaid” in the hands of primitive Africans, and also been made with a tortoise shell? It can’t be, these Germans should have been certainly related in some way with… Fallmerayer!
In conclusion, if we assume that the guitar descended from the kithara, the latter must have been combined with some kind of lute – that is, with an instrument having a “neck”: the guitar belongs to this lute family. The only similar instrument in ancient Greece was the so-called tríchordon (three-string), or pandura, panduris, panduros and phanduros. In Alexandrian times there was already a whole family of such instruments that became later even larger with the additions of the erudite thambura (tambur of Constantinople), folk tanbur-saz or bağlama, and also bouzouki.
Bow harp (e.g. ennanga from Uganda): descendant of the musical bow and precursor of the string instruments
As regards the origin of the instrument, Pollux (2nd century CE) informs us: “tríchordon, which the Assyrians called it pandura; it was also their invention.” Thus, pandura, as a term and as an instrument, was Assyrian. Therefore, the kithara asiria, which Pohren referred to, must have been associated with pandura. The term tríchordon that the Hellenes used for the pandura means that the latter was also a tríchordon, that is, a three-string instrument. Let’s not forget that the guitarra morisca, a kithara asiria descendant, was also a tríchordon.(k)
(k)Kithara most probably means tríchordon, three-string. The Indian sitar (of a common etymological origin), though it’s multi-stringed now (about 20 strings; 6-7 melodic and the rest sympathetic, “sympathizing”, i.e. vibrating, with the melodic ones) is believed to have a Persian origin, denoting three-string (seh-tar in Farsi means “three-string” – besides, in Iran there is still a kind of three-string tanbur called setar).
It’s thrilling to imagine that the starting point of all these instruments was the primitive hunter’s bow; that in time of rest could become a musical bow…
Such ‘tangible’, “convincing evidence” in the archaeologists’ hands, i.e. a number of Egyptian trade items found in Spain, is of “a somewhat later period”, after the fall of the Minoans, ca 1400-1200 BCE. Although the possibility of “Phoenician intermediaries” cannot be ruled out, one needs to have in mind that exactly in this “somewhat later period” (late Bronze Age), especially in the western Mediterranean, sea trade was in the hands of those who brought about the fall of the Minoans, that is, the Mycenaeans – who, strangely enough, are not even mentioned by the American professor! Therefore, his assertion that the Egyptian trade items found in Spain “almost surely may be associated with Phoenician intermediaries” is anything but scientific.
Besides, the Aegean presence in Egypt, the country of origin of these trade items, dates back to at least Mycenaean times and more likely even further back into the Minoan age, when a trade settlement was founded in the Nile Delta under the aegis of the Pharaohs, namely Naucratis (Ναύκρατις). It was the first and, for much of its early history, the only permanent Hellenic colony in Egypt, acting as a symbiotic nexus for the interchange of Egyptian and Greek trade items, art and culture.(b) When a historian “forgets” the Mycenaeans and Naucratis, it means he wears “Phoenician myopic glasses”! Under the circumstances, Stanislawski, an expert on Portugal, cannot be suspected of pro-Hellenic bias in his narrative about the same fateful events in Iberia related in the previous Chronicles 6, 7, and 8. At the same time, we can test the accuracy of our own testimony:
(b) Naucratis, which was located in the Nile Delta, on its westernmost branch, 70 kilometers southeast of its mouth, where Alexandria was later to be built, was not only the first Greek settlement in Egypt but also Egypt’s most important harbour in antiquity until the rise of Alexander’s city. Its first period is obscure because of the collapse of Mycenaean civilization and the ensuing “Dark ages” (1100-750 BCE). A Hellenic cultural “renaissance” in the 7th century brought about renewed contacts with the East and its two great river civilizations of the Nile and Mesopotamia. According to Herodotus the shrine known as the Hellenion was a co-operative enterprise financed by nine Greek city-states: four Ionian (Chios, Clazomenae, Teos and Phocaea), four Dorian (Rhodes, Halicarnassus, Knidos and Phaselis), and one Aeolian (Mytilene). Miletus, Samos and Aegina had their own separate sanctuaries. Thus the natives of at least twelve Hellenic cities worked in a collaboration that was not only rare but proved to be lasting.
The sister port of Naucratis was the harbour town of Heracleion or Thonis, Egypt’s main seaport to Greece, which was only discovered in 2000 by the French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio. Its ruins are located 2.5 kilometers off the modern coast. The city was built on some adjoining islands connected with bridges and intersected by canals. It submerged into the sea in the 6th or 7th century CE, probably due to major earthquakes and floods. The “Stele of Naukratis” with a Pharaonic decree on it, describes Heracleion as a “harbour in the Sea of Hellenes”, referring to the Mediterranean. Its twin “Stele of Heracleion” was recovered in 2000. The city’s Greek name is linked to a large temple of Khonsu, whom the Greeks identified with Heracles. The city is believed to have been visited by the great hero, as well as Paris and Helen on their flight from the jealous Menelaus, before the Trojan war. Heracleion’s mythic wealth was lauded by Homer, as well.
An offspring of Naucratis was Athenaeus, a Hellene rhetorician, grammarian, and gastronomist, flourishing in the late 2nd – early 3rd centuries CE. His books have been lost, except a 15-volume synopsis of his 30-volume Deipnosophistae (Banquet Connoisseurs), which mostly survives. It is an immense store-house of information, on matters linked to dining, music, songs and dances, games, courtesans, and luxury. Guests included wealthy persons, patrons of art, and scholars, jurists, musicians, and others, who described the lifestyle, the arts and scientific knowledge of the Greeks. In the course of discussing classic authors, they made quotations from nearly 800 writers and 2,500 works, many of them unrecorded. Thus we are entrusted much valuable information about the ancient world and many authors that would be otherwise unknown.
An Athenaeus’ contemporary, a bit older, was Julius Pollux (Ἰούλιος Πολυδεύκης), also born in Naucratis, flourishing in the late 2nd century CE and living a long life of more than 80 years. He was a grammarian and sophist, scholar and rhetorician, whom Commodus appointed a professor-chair of rhetoric in the AthenianAcademy – due to his melodious voice, according to Lives of the Sophists by Philostratus. Nothing of his rhetorical works has survived. His valuable extant work is Onomasticon (Ὀνομαστικόν), a thesaurus or dictionary of Attic synonyms and phrases in ten books, arranged not alphabetically but according to subject-matter. It supplies in passing much rare information on many points of classical antiquity – objects in daily life, the theatre, music, politics – and quotes numerous fragments of lost works. Thus, Pollux became invaluable for William Smith‘s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1842), etc.
Other personages linked with Naucratis were the Naucratis Painter, a vase-painter of the 6th century BCE, and also Rhodopis, a celebrated Thracianhetaera who lived in the same period. Herodotus says she was a fellow-slave of the fable teller Aesop, with whom she had a secret love affair. Charaxus, brother of Sappho, who had gone to Naucratis as a merchant, fell in love with her, and ransomed her from slavery with a large sum of money. Sappho wrote a poem accusing Rhodopis of robbing her brother of his property but, nevertheless, the hetaera became the model for the original version of the Cinderellastory recorded later by Strabo.
Celts in Europe
A WESTWARD MOVEMENT
Celtic art in Spain
The earliest passage of Phoenician ships through the Straits of Gibraltar was probably made during the general period of time when the Central European farmers and pastoralists were first entering the Cantabrian region. These events preceded the 1st millennium BC. Later, Greek exploration and trade grew, following the example given by neighboring Phoenicia, perhaps as early as the 9th century and certainly by the end of the 7th century BC. Such contacts can be equated in time with the acceleration of the East-West movement of peoples and cultures which took place in the North with the advent of the Celts, who may have appeared in Iberia as early as 900 BC, and the main force of which was felt by the 6th century. Between the 6th and the 3rd centuries BC, while the lands of the western Mediterranean were developing under the influence of active and aggressive Greeks and Carthaginians, northern Iberia was changing under the influence of Celts of later arrival from beyond the Pyrenees. There was a difference, however, between the early contacts along the Mediterranean coasts and those of the Central Europeans with northern Iberia. It was not opportunity for settlement that drew men along the southern coasts, but trade… It was the attraction of metals that drew the early Greeks beyond the straits of Gibraltar and along the western coasts of Spain.
CONTACTS WITH THE WEST COAST OF IBERIA
It is possible that the early merchant wayfarers sailed up the west coast to trade directly with Galicia. But if they did, the coast of present Portugal represented a gap in their interest, for there is almost no record of them there.(c) It would seem that Portugal was then, as through so many periods of time before and after, apart from the main stream of events. It possessed no great source of silver such as the mines of Andalusia, nor of copper or tin (with slight exceptions in both cases).(d) With her metals, Spain was a magnet for the early traders, whereas Portugal attracted casual traders at most…
Egyptian scarabs
(c) There are slight exceptions; e.g., there is the Egyptian scarab of the 7th century BC that was found in a pre-Celtic level at Alcácer do Sal. (DS)
(d) There is no record e.g. of Carthaginian exploitation of the copper of the Alentejo, which Romans later mined at Aljustrel. As all of southern Portugal is poor in tin, silver, and gold, there was little there to distract them from their preoccupation with such places as Andalusia and Murcia. (DS)
HOMOGENEITY OF THE IBERIAN MEDITERRANEAN REGION
At the time of their first contacts with the west, the earliest Phoenicians and Greeks encountered a culture area with fundamentally similar characteristics throughout. It extended along the Mediterranean coasts, slopes, and adjacent interior valleys, from the Pyrenees to the Guadiana River… With their usual perspicacity, the Greeks recognized this area as being essentially homogeneous and sharply different in culture from the Celtic territories of the interior and of the north and west peripheries…
Indisputably, one of the important Iberian groups was that of the Tartessians, wealthy farmers and traders in metals. It was their knowledge of the sources of metals that first brought them in touch with the Phoenicians and Greeks. They knew the coasts to the west and northwest of their home, for the tin and gold that they traded came from Galicia. They were also able to furnish silver, copper, and lead, which came to them from the Guadalquivir River basin. It appears that tin was the product of greatest importance at the time. The early centuries of the pre-Christian millennium were times of great opulence along the coast of Galicia. That this wealth was due to tin may be inferred from the fact that the Greeks used the termCassiteridesto identify the area. However, the question as to the ultimate source of tin is moot. In spite of the lack of archaeological evidence it seems likely that, in the earliest years of trading, it came from alluvial deposits along the river banks of Galicia. There is a possibility, however, that Bronze Age connections with French Brittany and with the British Isles had continued and that the Galicians were merely purveyors of tin from those places. This basic necessity of bronze-users was scarce in the other parts of the Phoenician and Greek world. There was no tin in all of North Africa, Asia Minor, Caucasia, Cyprus, mainland Greece, and the Greek islands. The mines of Tuscany were small. It is no wonder that both Galicia and the Tartessians were prosperous and that the Phoenicians and Greeks were attracted to the area.
“Tin was the product of greatest importance at the time. This basic necessity of bronze-users was scarce in the other parts of the Phoenician and Greek world.” (Dan Stanislawski)
GREEK EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT
Hellenic ship, mocaic, ca 1st century BCE-CE
The earliest Greek ventures may perhaps be dated as of the 9th or the 8th century BC. Possibly Rhodian and Chalcidian sailors were in the western Mediterranean at this time… The line of Ionian names stretching along the islands and coasts of the western Mediterranean and to the Atlantic coast of Portugal – the names with the -oussa termination – can probably be ascribed to this early period. These names are important in dating the arrival of the Greeks in western waters. They mark the island route of the early Greek navigators. Starting from Syrakoussai [Syracuse] in eastern Sicily, they may be followed through Ichnoussa (Sardinia), Meloussa (Menorca), Rornyoussa (Mallorca) and Pityoussa (Ibiza). The latter three, even now, are identified on maps as the Balearics or Pityusas.(e) The -oussa names extend westward to the straits of Gibraltar and up the Atlantic coast of Portugal to Ophioussa, in the region of Lisbon, and the general area of Portugal plus Galicia may have been vaguely termed Ophioussa.
The “Balearides” (Gymnesian) and the “Pityusae” Isles on an old map
(e) The Balearics comprise two island groups: the Gymnesians (Majorca and Minorca), and the Pityuses (Eivissa or Ibiza and Formentera). The term “Balearic” derives from the Greek Βαλλιαρεῖς or Βαλεαρεῖς (Baleares in Latin, from βάλλω, meaning “to launch”), referring to the islanders who were skilled slingers and served as mercenaries for the Hellenes, Punics, and Romans. However, Strabo regarded the word as of Phoenician origin, as the equivalent for lightly armoured soldiers the Greeks called γυμνῆτας, hence Γυμνησίαι (from γυμνός, meaning naked). This does not mean they fought naked, but that they used much lighter armament than the hoplites. Nevertheless, according to Lycophron‘s Alexandra, the toponym refers to some shipwrecked Boeotians who were cast nude on the islands (a story evidently invented to account for the name); or to the islanders themselves who were often nude (probably because of the year-round benevolent climate). In the Gymnesian Islands there are megalithic stone monuments (naveta, taula and talaiot) which speak of a very early prehistoric human activity. They are similar, but not necessarily related, to the nuraghe of Sardinia, and the torri of Corsica. One of the earliest cultures on Minorca was influenced by other Mediterranean civilizations, including the Minoan. Those islanders e.g. may have imitated the inverted plastered timber columns found at Knossos (such evidence is probably not “convincing” enough for Stanislawski).There is also a tradition that the Balearics were colonized by Rhodes after the Trojan War. The Pityusic Islands (from the Greek πιτύα, pine tree) are sometimes informally called in English as the Pine Islands, which is identical to the ancient Hellenic name Πιτυοῦσσαι, “pine-covered islands”. In antiquity they were listed in Claudius Ptolemy‘s Geography under the names Ophiusis and Ebyssus, which had a town of the same name. It is the port Ibossim founded by the Phoenicians in 654 BCE, later known to Romans as Ebusus, hence Eivissa (in Catalan) or Ibiza (in Spanish). (ML)
Herodotus said that it was Greeks from the city of Phocaea in Asia Minor who were first to navigate in the western Mediterranean waters. It may seem temerous to question the facts of the father of history, but Antonio García does so convincingly.(f) The Phocaeans, says he, arrived late upon the scene, profiting by earlier maritime contacts. Nor does he accept the statement that the important voyage of Colaeus, the Samian, was a voyage of discovery of Tartessos for the Greeks. This widely heralded 7th century journey was, to him, merely one – although perhaps the most profitable and spectacular up to that time – of many such voyages that had been made by Rhodians, Chalcidians, Samians, and others.(g)
(g) Another point of view is expressed by H. R. W. Smith in his review of García’s Hispania Graeca. Smith does not deny the thesis of García but says that he can find no reason to believe that the Phocaeans reached Tartessos prior to the time of Arganthonios, the Tartessian king friendly to the Greeks, or before the voyage of Colaeus. (DS)
Following the Mediterranean island route, the Phocaeans arrived from Asia Minor to Iberia.
Whatever the dating may be – and the archaeological inquiry has far to go – the Phocaeans certainly became the most active and effective Greeks in the area. Their colonization had energy and breadth and was the only one in the western Mediterranean with lasting results… There is no specific evidence that this activity was connected with the decay of Tyre, but there is such a coincidence in time. Tyrian decline had begun by the end of the 8th century BC and was notable during the following century. This was the time of the voyage of Colaeus the Samian (650 BC), the founding of the Phocaean colony of Massalia, present Marseille (600 BC, or approximately then), and the founding of Alalia in Corsica (640 BC, or approximately 40 years prior to Massalia). Some time before the end of the century, Mainake, the most westerly of Phocaean colonies, was founded near Málaga.(h)
(h) Within 20 miles to the east, says García; Smith suggests that it might even be at approximately the outskirts of present Málaga. (DS)
Some dates are different here. The difference in Colaeus’ voyage is not important (650, not ca 640 BCE); but the dating of the founding of Alalia is almost one century earlier (650 instead of 566 BCE). Perhaps, as in other similar cases, the older date denotes the creation of a temporary settlement before the founding of a city. (ML)
This century was one of intimacy between Phocaeans and Tartessians. The reign of Arganthonios of Tartessos began in the 7th century BC. The ancient sources spoke of his 80-year reign but probably, in typical Greek fashion, they dramatized a dynasty or a period by creating a mythical longevity for a single ruler. Whether this represented one ruler or several does not alter the fact that there was frequent and close contact between Tartessos and Phocaea. This was the period of the Phocaean maritime dominance during which the Tartessian king lent money to the Phocaeans to build their fortifications against the threat of the Persians.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GREEKS AND PUNIC PEOPLES
IN THEIR RELATIONS WITH IBERIA
The island and bay of Gadir: the Phoenicians’ springboard for attacks against Tartessos
The period of the decline of Tyre was not only important for the Ionian Greeks, but also for the Tyrian colony of Carthage. During the time of Phocaean colonization, Carthage too was expanding. As early as 653 BC it had established the colony on Ibiza of the Balearics, which lay athwart the Greek island route to the west. After 573 BC, when Tyre fell to the Babylonians, Carthage showed increasing independence. Competition for western metals was growing between the two great rivals, Carthage and Greece. It is reasonable to assume that the friendship of Arganthonios (or that of his dynasty), throughalmost a century of time, was more than mere affection and amiability. It probably represented a form of alliance in which the Tartessians aided the Phocaeans in their struggle against the threat to their mother city. In return, Greeks supported the Westerners against the growing aggressiveness of Carthage and the Punic colony of Gadir, which threatened the area of Tartessos. Almost from the time of their founding of Gadir the Phoenicians showed their expansionist tendencies. It was not long before they were using the island as a base of attack against the mainland and the Tartessians.
“The [Greco-Tartessian] friendship represented a form of alliance… against the growing aggressiveness of Carthage and Gadir, which threatened the area of Tartessos. Almost from the time of their founding of Gadir the Phoenicians showed their expansionist tendencies. It was not long before they were using the island as a base of attack against the Tartessians.”
(Dan Stanislawski)
Greek Massaliotes in Iberia
The Greeks were usually neither pacific nor friendly neighbors when the prospect of gain was apparent. In this they differed little from the Phoenicians. However, in their relations with the Tartessians they had no desire, it would seem, for control of land or people, but merely wanted to trade their products, especially olive oil and wine, for Tartessian metals.(i) In fact, the history of Greek contacts with Iberians is one of amity, and the hospitality of the Iberians toward Greeks was proverbial. The purposes of both peoples were served by friendly intercourse and mutual support against the common enemy, especially after the increased importance and the expanded ambition of Carthage. A major clash for complete dominance of the area was inevitable. This was speeded by events in the eastern Mediterranean area…
“The history of Greek contacts with Iberians is one of amity, and the hospitality of the Iberians toward Greeks was proverbial. The purposes of both peoples were served by friendly intercourse and mutual support against the common enemy, especially after the increased importance and the expanded ambition of Carthage. A major clash for complete dominance of the area was inevitable.” (Dan Stanislawski)
(i) Pierson Dixon, The Iberians of Spain, and Rhys Carpenter, The Greeks in Spain, state that the olive tree and the vine were introduced into Spain by the Greeks. Olive oil was exported from Greek Akragas to Carthage in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. No doubt the Greeks traded in wine with Iberia. Wine made from grapes is very old in the countries of the eastern Mediterranean, and the Phoenicians were famous merchants of wine… (DS)
Why then Carthage bought wine from the Hellenes and not from the Phoenicians, their kindred? Probably because Akragas was very close; for the Punic traders profit was more important than kinship. Or because, as usual, the Phoenician wine could not stand a comparison with the Greek wine… (ML)
THE ALALIA COLONY AND ITS EFFECTS
Phocaean electrum coin with playing seals
In this part of his narrative, Dan Stanislawski turns his attention to the historic developments in Asia Minor: in 546 BCE Cyrus captured Lydia, causing “a mass migration of perhaps half of the population of Phocaea to their Corsican colony of Alalia”. When the Persians took Phocaea, “all the men in this city of probably 5,000 to 7,000 people had gone. This population figure suggests the large number of available vessels, and points to the commercial importance of the city at that time”. There follows the Battle of Alalia“sometime between 540 and 535 BC” with its disastrous results for the Hellenes and also the Tartessians.
Carthage may then have sealed the straits of Gibraltar, as Carpenter suggests. More likely, the straits had been largely sealed for a long time, but after the battle the land route between Mainake and Tartessos was also blocked. Mainake itself was destroyed by the Carthaginians toward the end of the century, to end its traffic and its competition with the Carthaginian settlement in the location of present Málaga…
As Carthage had inherited the western empire of Tyre, so did Massalia fall heir to that of her mother city, Phocaea. Greek trade became centered here, with the end of Phocaean maritime enterprise in the West of the Mediterranean. Trade through France to Brittany and beyond had been undoubtedly important to the Massaliotes previous to this time, but the record had been obscured by the greater drama of the struggle on the Mediterranean. During the last half of the 6th century BC, during which time Carthaginians grasped complete power in the West, the prosperity of Galicia – presumably based upon tin – declined. This decline may have been due to the change from the sea route, by way of the Straits, to that from Massalia, via the French rivers, to the northwest and ultimately to Britain…
“Galicia’s decline may have been due to the change from the sea route, by way of the Straits, to that from Massalia, via the French rivers, to Britain. The direct land route from Massalia skirted the Carthaginian barrier and eliminated Galician middlemen.” (Dan Stanislawski)
Stanislawski offers four possible explanations for the Galician decline; the second one is probably the most important:
More likely, the Galicians had for some time been not producers, but purveyors, of tin from French Armorica or the British Isles. If this were true, the direct land route from Massalia would have skirted the Carthaginian barrier and eliminated Galician middlemen… At approximately the same period of time there was an increased interest in silver… by the avidity with which the Greeks of Asia Minor sought it for coinage… Perhaps the richest of ancient silver mines was that of Mastia (or Massia), a region second only to Tartessos in commercial importance. The ancient prosperity of the region and of its most important city, also named Mastia (or Massia), the later Cartago Nova, and probably the site of the present Cartagena, was based upon silver mining through several centuries. Great amounts were mined under the direction of Hannibal in the 3rd century BC, and it was still a large operation at the time of Polybius in the succeeding century.
CARTHAGINIAN DOMINATION OF THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN
The Celts (the only Indo-Europeans in Iberia) lived mainly in Galicia, the Celtiberians in Portugal and half of Spain, the Iberians in the other half (Andalusia to Catalonia),
the Basques in NE Spain and SW France
[After the battle of Alalia] Greek commercial activity in Iberia was ended and Carthage was less inhibited in the spread of its control. Tartessos, which had feared the Carthaginians and had allied itself with the Greeks, was left without support and was destroyed.(j) In the following century, probably 20,000 Iberian mercenaries were fighting in Sicily for the Carthaginians… Celts were also serving as mercenaries in the Carthaginian forces.
(j) If there was no one city of that name, it is not important to the larger fact that the area as a whole was put under the control of the Carthaginians of Gadir (Carpenter, The Greeks in Spain). (DS)
There was an increasing reliance upon mercenaries from the peninsula, not only from the fringes but from deep within the interior as well. In the late 3rd century BC, Hannibal’s army included Celtiberians from the northern interior, Galicians from the extreme northwest, Lusitanians from Middle Portugal, Vettones from the middle Tagus drainage – and these do not complete the list. Such troops, however, were something other than pure mercenaries; many had been forcibly impressed into service… During earlier centuries no general antagonism in Iberia seems to have been engendered by the Carthaginians. Locally there may have been antagonism, such as probably existed between the Carthaginians and the Tartessians, but for the tribes of the interior the Carthaginians may have had a friendly appeal. They offered an opportunity to fight with pay. It was later, when the Carthaginians had expanded their power and increased their need for troops that their tactics changed with regard to these tribes of the interior, which had long served as a source of manpower. When Hannibal, in desperate need for troops and under economic pressure, forcibly impressed some of them into his armies, the others reacted in bitter opposition. The tribes of the interior were a bellicose lot. An opportunity to fight for pay was not distasteful to them but a demand that they submit to enslavement was another matter. According to Strabo they resisted Hannibal as they later did the Romans for somewhat the same reasons.
Nevertheless, tens of thousands of mercenaries were introduced to new lands and cultures of the middle and eastern Mediterranean. Since this process had been going on from as early as the 6th century BC and many men had returned to the peninsula, the effect upon attitudes of the peoples of the Meseta[‘Plateau’, in the heart of Iberia] and even some of the remote western coasts may have been considerable.
The harbour of Carthage
Dan Stanislawski’s impartial view of Iberia is almost identical with the historical panorama of the last three Chronicles: Ὅπερἔδειδεῖξαι, as Euclid would say, or quod erat demonstrandum (Q.E.D), or ‘what had to be demonstrated’! There is still one Periplus left, dropping anchor at several emporiain the Mediterranean, to come full circle back to our starting point – a voyage full of surprises with several itinerant artisans, artists, and masters we meet on the way, “members of the Architects’ and Painters’ Guilds”, whose Linear A writing, however, puzzles the famous archaeologist Leonard Woolley… | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
地中海の難民船の様子。今回はリビア沖で数千人を救助したという
（ＣＮＮ） リビア沖の地中海で６日、難民を乗せた多数のボートが立ち往生しているとの連絡を受け、ドイツやイタリア、英国、アイルランドの艦船が一斉に救助に向かった。
国連難民高等弁務官事務所（ＵＮＨＣＲ）の報道官によると、最初の救難信号が入ったのは同日早朝。イタリアの沿岸警備当局者によれば、これを受けて欧州諸国から派遣された十数隻の船が、４カ所で救助活動にあたっている。
同日午後１１時の時点で約３４８０人が救助されたとみられる。現場付近の天候は良好で、死者や行方不明者は報告されていない。
救助船のひとつに同乗した人権団体のメンバーは、リビア沖約５０キロの海上で、約５６０人が乗った船４隻と小型ボート１隻から計２４００人を救助したと語った。
地中海では近年、シリアやソマリア、スーダン、エリトリアの紛争から逃れて欧州を目指した人々が人身売買業者の犠牲になるケースなどが相次いでいる。今年４月にはリビア沖で難民船が転覆し、数百人が死亡したとのニュースが報道された。
国連の推計によると、今年初めから５月末までの間に地中海を越えて欧州へ渡った難民らは９万人に達した。このうち半数以上がイタリア、約４万２０００人がギリシャに上陸。海上で死亡したり行方不明になったりした人は約１８５０人に上っているという。 | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Q:
How to stop health regen in Fallout 4?
Background: I'm playing on Very Hard (old Survival), and wanted to try a permadeath, no-health run.
I have noticed a non-deterministic health bar regeneration in Fallout 4, but I cannot pinpoint where it comes from. I just eventually notice that health is back when it shouldn't be. Also, any accumulated rads seem to disappear, and HP appears to go to max.
I installed a mod to stop health regen when levelling up (as well as other assorted texture packs and radio stations which shouldn't affect health). But this regen is not tied to level ups it seems to happen whenever I don't closely watch the health bar. Obviously, I didn't add any mods or perks that regen health.
As far as I understand it the game does not have a default regen-over-time mechanic for health.
Where could I be getting this health and RAD regeneration from?
A:
From your clarification above, it sounds like you possibly have either:
Ghoulish perk - Radiation Damage restores lost Hit Points. In level 4, radiation level will reduce slowly.
Solar powered perk - Increased STR and END during daytime: Direct sunlight heals Radiation Damage and regenerates Hit Points.
A:
There is a bug in Fallout 4 survival mode, where when you go to sleep while affected by an active effect from a consumable (other than satisfying thirst/hunger), that effect stays indefinitely after you wake up. You will be notified that the consumable has worn off and the effect will not be shown as "active effects" in the Pip-boy. However the effect itself can be seen in the Pip-boy.
For example, I once had a permanent 25 radiation resistance after consuming vegetable soup, with no detectable source (perks, gear, active effects). I don't know if this bug still exists (if it was patched or not) or how consistently it works and with which consumable it works.
Health regen is for example granted by deathclaw omelettes.
| {
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
} |
Recently, Internet telephony has been gaining world-wide popularity. Internet telephony involves the use of a multimedia personal computer (PC) or handheld device to complete Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) calls using the Internet as a transport medium. Gateways have even been established in various cities in order to permit VOIP calls to be completed to a regular telephone on the Switched Telephone Network (STN).
While VOIP appears to be an attractive alternative to the traditional Public Service Telephone Network (PSTN) voice connections, it has remained foreign to small-office/home-office and consumers for various reasons. First, difficulty in configuration and installation has discouraged retailers because of technical support issues. In addition, a limited availability of public Internet addresses available to Digital Subscriber (DSL) customers limits the number of users on a network. Typically, ninety percent (90%) of the currently installed DSL connections have only one public address available. This address is usually taken with a single PC, or multiple PCs sharing the one public address by use of a DSL Network Address Translating (NAT) router.
The above problems once plagued the PC industry, where multiple PCs could not share one connection to the Internet because only one address was available. Thus, NAT DSL routers solved the problem of limited addresses by masquerading many private Internet addresses into one public Internet address, while at the same time solving the technical support issues by removing the difficulty of configuring the PC by utilizing Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). These NAT routers have become very popular, as millions are installed thru-out the world.
Because VOIP protocols send address information embedded within the data portion of the protocol packet, the masquerading process of NAT routers is insufficient for such protocols. The ability to deliver a public call to a private VOIP device located behind the NAT router also poses problems preventing VOIP devices from utilizing NAT routers to solve the problems above.
Therefore, a mechanism to enable VOIP communications, with multiple plug and play VOIP devices, with both incoming (called) and outgoing (calling) capability, all operating behind one NAT router sharing one public Internet address, is desired. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
---
title: Demand/Further Ways to import VISUM Demand Definitions
permalink: /Demand/Further_Ways_to_import_VISUM_Demand_Definitions/
---
VISUM stores its demand in [OD-matrices which can be
imported](../Demand/Importing_O/D_Matrices.md) using
[od2trips](../od2trips.md). Though, it may be interesting for using
the computed assignments without performing a [dynamic user
assignment](../Demand/Dynamic_User_Assignment.md). The SUMO package
contains some scripts which allow to process other VISUM data and are
discussed in the following.
# Importing Turn Percentages
VISUM can save the defined/computed turning percentages at junctions.
The format differs from [turning probabilities
format](../Demand/Routing_by_Turn_Probabilities.md) used by
[jtrrouter](../jtrrouter.md). The script
***visum_convertTurnPercentages.py*** converts VISUM turning
percentages into [jtrrouter](../jtrrouter.md) [turning
definitions](../Demand/Routing_by_Turn_Probabilities.md). The tool
requires the SUMO-network converted from VISUM, the turning
probabilities from VISUM, and the name of the file into which the
converted turning probabilities shall be written:
```
visum_convertTurnPercentages.py <SUMO_NET> <VISUM_TURNINGS> <OUTPUT>
```
The script is located in {{SUMO}}/tools/import/visum. It is written in Python.
## Usability
It seems as using turning ratios for large areas would not make any
sense. The resulting routes are very unrealistic as they contain many
loops.
## See Also
- [jtrrouter](../jtrrouter.md) - page on the turning ratios
router
- [Demand/Routing by Turn
Probabilities](../Demand/Routing_by_Turn_Probabilities.md) -
further documentation on this tool's usage
# Importing Routes
VISUM can save the routes it computes during the assignment. The format
differs from [Definition of Vehicles, Vehicle Types, and
Routes](../Definition_of_Vehicles,_Vehicle_Types,_and_Routes.md)
used by [sumo](../sumo.md) and [sumo-gui](../sumo-gui.md). The
script ***visum_convertRoutes.py*** converts VISUM routes into
[sumo](../sumo.md) routes. The tool requires the SUMO-network
converted from VISUM, the routes exported from VISUM, and the name of
the file into which the converted turning probabilities shall be
written. Additional options are shown in the following table:
| Option | Description |
|------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| **--net-file** {{DT_FILE}}<br>**-n** {{DT_FILE}} | Read the SUMO-network to map the routes onto from <FILE\>; mandatory |
| **--visum-routes** {{DT_FILE}}<br>**-r** {{DT_FILE}} | Read VISUM-routes to map from <FILE\>; mandatory |
| **--output** {{DT_FILE}}<br>**-o** {{DT_FILE}} | Write generated routes to <FILE\>; mandatory |
| **--begin** {{DT_INT}}<br>**-b** {{DT_INT}} | Define the begin of the interval the vehicles are emitted within [s\]; default: 0s |
| **--end** {{DT_INT}}<br>**-e** {{DT_INT}} | Define the end of the interval the vehicles are emitted within [s\]; default: 3600s |
| **--prefix** {{DT_STR}}<br>**-p** {{DT_STR}} | Add <STRING\> as prefix to the IDs of generated vehicles; optional, default: no prefix |
| **--type** {{DT_STR}}<br>**-t** {{DT_STR}} | Set the vehicle type to <STRING\>; optional, default: no type |
| **--uniform**<br>**-u** | Vehicle departure times will be spread across the interval uniformly; optional, default: false |
| **--timeline** {{DT_STR}}<br>**-l** {{DT_STR}} | Applies a daily time line. The time line must be given as a list of 24 floats, each describing the percentage of emissions from the original number for each hour of a day; optional, default: no timeline |
Example call:
```
visum_convertRoutes.py -n <SUMO_NET> -r <VISUM_ROUTES> -o <OUTPUT> --uniform
```
The script is located in {{SUMO}}/tools/import/visum. It is written
in Python.
## Usability
The routes can be directly used within [sumo](../sumo.md) /
[sumo-gui](../sumo-gui.md).
## See Also
- [Examples of daily time
lines](../Demand/Importing_O/D_Matrices.md#daily_time_lines) | {
"pile_set_name": "Github"
} |
---
address:
- CERN
- Northwestern University
- University of Minnesota
- Florida International University
- Florida Institute of Technology
- Fermi National Laboratory
author:
- Jordan Damgov
- Phillip Dudero
- Richard Kellogg
- Luis Lebolo
- Jeremiah Mans
- Mayda Velasco
- Igor Vodopiyanov
bibliography:
- 'auto\_generated.bib'
title: 'Performance of CMS Hadron Calorimeter Timing and Synchronization using Test Beam, Cosmic Ray, and LHC Beam Data'
---
=1
$Revision: 1.30 $ $Date: 2010/01/12 00:25:27 $ $Name: $
Introduction
============
The primary goal of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment [@cite:jinstcms] is to explore particle physics at the energy scale exploiting the proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) [@cite:jinstlhc]. The central feature of the CMS apparatus is a superconducting solenoid, of 6 m internal diameter, providing a field of 3.8 T. Within the field volume are the silicon pixel and strip tracker, the crystal electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) and the brass/scintillator hadron calorimeter (HCAL). Muons are measured in gas-ionization detectors embedded in the steel return yoke. In addition to the barrel and endcap detectors, CMS has extensive forward calorimetry.
The primary purpose of the HCAL is the measurement of hadronic energy from collisions in CMS. In addition to the energy measurement, the HCAL is also able to perform a precise time measurement for each energy deposit. Precise time measurements are valuable for excluding calorimeter noise and energy deposits from beam halo and cosmic ray muons. Time information can also be valuable for identifying new physics signals such as long-lived particle decays and slow high-mass charged particles [@cite:cmsHSCPnote].
This paper is organized as follows. Section \[sec:HCALdesc\] reviews the pertinent details of the HCAL construction and their fundamental impact on timing resolution. Section \[sec:reco\] discusses the method used to extract a time value from the digitized HCAL signal. In Section \[sec:tbandsplash\], the validation of the method is presented based on measurements in test beam and initial beam operations of the LHC in September 2008. Section \[sec:suppression\] details the performance of timing filters in the suppression of non-collision-based backgrounds and the effect these timing filters have on simulated physics events.
CMS Hadron Calorimeter Description {#sec:HCALdesc}
==================================
A detailed description of the HCAL can be found elsewhere [@cite:jinstcms]. Briefly, the HCAL consists of a set of sampling calorimeters. The barrel [@cite:epjcHB] and endcap [@cite:jinstcmsHE] calorimeters utilize alternating layers of brass as absorber and plastic scintillator as active material. The scintillation light is converted by wavelength-shifting fibers embedded in the scintillator and channeled to hybrid photodiode detectors via clear fibers. The outer calorimeter [@cite:epjcHO] utilizes the CMS magnet coil/cryostat and the steel of the magnet return yoke as its absorber, and uses the same active material and readout system as the barrel and endcap calorimeters. The forward calorimeter is based on Cherenkov light production in quartz fibers and is not discussed in this paper, due to its different signal time structure.
The HCAL is segmented into individual calorimeter cells along three coordinates, $\eta$, $\phi$, and depth. The $\phi$ coordinate is the azimuthal angle and $\eta$ is the pseudorapidity. The depth is an integer coordinate that enumerates the segmentation longitudinally, along the direction from the center of the nominal interaction region. The layout of the barrel, endcap and outer calorimeter cells is illustrated in Fig. \[fig:HCALdiagram\]. Most cells include several scintillator layers; for example, in most of the barrel all 17 scintillator layers are combined into a single depth segment.
Calorimetric measurements are acquired using the HCAL readout electronics, shown schematically in Fig. \[fig:HCALreadout\]. Each electronics channel collects and processes the signal of a single cell. One calorimetric measurement is acquired with each LHC clock tick (25 ns) from each cell in the HCAL. This defines a “time sample”. The HCAL front-end electronics does not sample the signal instantaneously; rather, the electric current collected from the photodetectors is integrated over each clock period and then sampled. As a consequence, the sample clock is most commonly termed the “integration clock”.
The integration clock can be delayed with respect to the LHC clock on a per-channel basis by programmable settings, referred to as sampling delay settings, that have a resolution of 1 ns. The purpose of these settings is to compensate for channel-dependent timing variations at the hardware level, and to permit the energy estimate from each LHC crossing to be reconstructed consistently for use in the Level-1 trigger for all pulse amplitudes and for all channels. They also provide an initial coarse timing calibration.
Sources of timing variation and uncertainty {#subsec:sources}
-------------------------------------------
There are two dominant sources of channel-dependent timing variation: the different time-of-flight of particles from the interaction region to each HCAL cell and the different signal propagation times through optical fibers of different lengths. Within the barrel, the first effect tends to skew reconstructed times later for higher $\eta$. The second effect, because of the location of the front-end electronics, tends to skew reconstructed times earlier for higher $\eta$, and this is the effect that dominates. The combination of these two effects induces a timing dependence on $\eta$, with a spread in each half-barrel of about 15 ns. Smaller variations as a function of $\phi$ are induced by clock distribution differences and other effects. By applying proper sampling delay settings, this spread can be reduced substantially. In addition, the reconstruction software utilizes a set of per-channel calibration constants to synchronize the mean timing of energy measurements to less than 1 ns.
Fiber lengths also differ within each calorimeter cell along the radial coordinate, but in this case there are no means available to compensate for these differences. Since the signals from all the scintillator layers comprising one cell are optically summed, and the optical path lengths are not equalized across the layers, the resulting signal is smeared in time. For hadrons, which exhibit large shower-to-shower fluctuations in longitudinal development, the optical summing of layers imposes a limit on the timing resolution, estimated to be approximately 1 ns. For signals with uniform energy deposit in each layer (such as those arising from the beam-collimator interactions described later), the resolution is not limited by shower-development fluctuations and can be significantly smaller than 1 ns.
HCAL Time Reconstruction {#sec:reco}
========================
When the Level-1 trigger system [@cite:craftL1trig] identifies an event of potential physics interest, a set of 10 consecutive time samples per channel containing the triggered bunch-crossing is collected and sent to the high-level trigger software. The capability of the HCAL system to reconstruct the arrival time of the signal more precisely than the sample clock period derives from the spread of the HCAL pulse shape over three to four time-integrated samples (Fig. \[fig:HCALpulse\]). The time reconstruction software calculates a first order time estimate from a center-of-gravity technique using the three samples centered on the peak,
$$\label{eq:wpkbin}
\textrm{Weighted peak bin} =
\bigg[\frac{(p-1)A_{p-1} + pA_p + (p+1)A_{p+1}}{A_{p-1} + A_p + A_{p+1}}\bigg]\times C\quad,$$
where $A_i$ represents the amplitude of an arbitrary time sample $i$, and $p$ is the value of $i$ such that $A_p$ is maximum over the set of samples. In the case of multiple samples with the same amplitude, the earliest one is picked. The constant $C$ is an amplitude-independent normalization constant that rescales the first order estimate to a range from zero to one. The weighted peak bin is then used to determine a second order correction (Fig. \[fig:corfun\]) that compensates for the asymmetry of the pulse shape, yielding the phase of the signal within the peak time sample. An additional additive correction determined in test bench measurements [@cite:timeslew], $$\Delta_\mathrm{slew} = (3.59\;\mathrm{ns}) \log_{10} \left[ \frac{1\TeV}{E (\TeV)} \right]\quad,$$ compensates for an electronics effect that delays the measured time for signals with pulse energy $E$ less than 1. The maximum value of $\Delta_\mathrm{slew}$ is taken to be 10 ns.
This algorithm yields accurate time measurements except when consecutive bunch crossings yield energy measurements of similar amplitude within the same HCAL cell. Such events can be identified by their anomalous pulse shape, and the time measurement can be marked as having poor resolution.
[htbp]{} &\
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Detector Timing/Synchronization Commissioning {#sec:tbandsplash}
=============================================
This section describes the performance characterization and commissioning results for HCAL timing and synchronization. Beam tests at the CERN SPS H2 area (hereafter referred to as “test beam”) produced key results [@cite:epjcHBTB] that define the timing performance of the HCAL barrel and endcap; these results are presented first. The results from the LHC 2008 beam commissioning data for the barrel, endcap and outer calorimeters are then described; these results validate and extend the initial synchronization calibration constants determined from beam tests.
H2 beam test data
-----------------
For test beams in 2004 and 2006, a section of the HCAL barrel was mounted on a table that was adjustable in $\eta$ and $\phi$ coordinates. The unit under test was exposed to pion beams with energies in the 3–300 range. The delivered beam was asynchronous with the 40 MHz integration clock, so all relative sampling phases could be investigated. From these tests the following important timing benchmarks for the HCAL were accurately measured.
[htbp]{} &\
&
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The HCAL pulse shape was successfully reconstructed from data. Since the pulse is integrated before it is digitized, this required a numerical differentiation technique that utilized the phase between particle arrival and the integration clock, as measured by a time-to-digital converter (TDC) running at 32 times faster than the sample clock rate. This allowed the separation of the data sample into subsamples $S_n$, with $n=$1..32 ordered by TDC phase. These subsamples represent the integration of the pulse $P(t)$ shifted successively by the TDC bit resolution ($\Delta t = 0.78$ ns). Then,
$$\label{eq:recopulse}
\langle I_m \rangle_{S_{n+1}}-\langle I_m \rangle_{S_n} \simeq \int_\tau^{\tau+\Delta t}P(t)dt \simeq P_\mathrm{avg}(\tau)\Delta t\quad,
~~~~~~P_\mathrm{avg}(\tau)\simeq\frac{\Delta \langle I \rangle}{\Delta t}\bigg\vert_\tau\quad,$$
where $\langle I_m \rangle_{S_n}$ is the average integrated amplitude for time bin $m$ of data subsample $S_n$, $\tau=m\Delta t$ is the phase within that time bin, and $P_\mathrm{avg}(\tau)$ is the average value of $P(t)$ over $\Delta t$ at $t=\tau$. Equation \[eq:recopulse\] is valid to reconstruct the first 25 ns of the pulse shape, for which $m=0$. For each remaining 25 ns interval, bin $m$ is incremented and a second integral term appears in the equation that corresponds to the $\Delta t$-sized portion of the pulse “leaving” the time bin. In this manner, the whole pulse was reconstructed to approximately 0.8 ns resolution, as is shown in Fig. \[fig:recopulses\]. The functional form matched to these results is used in the simulation of the CMS detector response, and also to determine the second-order time reconstruction correction function (Fig. \[fig:corfun\]).
To measure both the channel-to-channel variations and the hadronic timing resolution limit of the HCAL, a 150 pion beam was directed at every cell in the unit under test. From these data the variation of the timing of signals as a function of $\eta$ between HCAL cells in the barrel was mapped. As the test setup mimicked the geometry and fiber lengths of the final barrel detector, a set of final sampling delay settings could be derived. Section \[sec:splash\] discusses the performance of these settings with LHC beam data. The HCAL timing resolution was determined by removing the channel-to-channel variations and combining the data. A Gaussian function was then fitted to the distribution of the leading energy deposit from each event, producing a best-fit width of $\sigma=1.2$ ns (Fig. \[fig:Tspread\]). This result is consistent with the expected effect of the uncorrectable sources of timing spread described in Sec. \[subsec:sources\], averaged over many hadronic shower events. The measured resolution is consistent across the full set of channels studied.
The variation of HCAL timing resolution as a function of energy was also measured with pion beam data. In this measurement the HCAL unit under test was paired with its corresponding section of the ECAL in front, as in the CMS detector. Events in two categories were considered: those with no interaction in the ECAL ($<$1 energy deposited) and those with a significant interaction ($>$5 energy deposited). The results indicate that the presence of the ECAL does not substantially alter the timing resolution of the HCAL as a function of energy (Fig. \[fig:timeResEnvelopesAndFilter\](a)). CMS software was subsequently adjusted by smearing the times of simulated HCAL energy deposits so that simulated data of the test beam configuration exhibited the same energy-dependent time resolution (Fig. \[fig:timeResEnvelopesAndFilter\](b)).
![(a) Timing resolution as a function of energy measured during test beam runs in 2006, showing the consistency of time reconstruction for particles that begin showering in the ECAL (lines) and those that do not (areas). (b) Timing resolution as a function of energy of reconstructed deposits generated from CMS simulations. The lines marked “Time Filter” indicate the boundaries of a timing window discussed later and used to accept or reject deposits for distinguishing signal from background.[]{data-label="fig:timeResEnvelopesAndFilter"}](fig/tb06TimeResEnvelope "fig:"){width="48.00000%"} ![(a) Timing resolution as a function of energy measured during test beam runs in 2006, showing the consistency of time reconstruction for particles that begin showering in the ECAL (lines) and those that do not (areas). (b) Timing resolution as a function of energy of reconstructed deposits generated from CMS simulations. The lines marked “Time Filter” indicate the boundaries of a timing window discussed later and used to accept or reject deposits for distinguishing signal from background.[]{data-label="fig:timeResEnvelopesAndFilter"}](fig/MCtimeResEnvelopeAndFilter "fig:"){width="48.00000%"}
LHC beam data {#sec:splash}
-------------
Data from LHC beam commissioning were used to validate the barrel sampling delay settings derived from test beam data, and to derive settings to compensate for the $\eta$ dependence of timing in the endcap and outer calorimeters. Data from LHC beam operations were recorded for the first time on September 10, 2008. In preparation for the arrival of LHC beam at CMS, the $\eta$-dependent sampling delays measured from test beam were loaded into the barrel front-end electronics. These delay values had been calculated to synchronize channels for data from collisions. Delay values for endcap and outer sectors were set to zero, since no timing measurements for these sectors were available at the time.
The LHC beam delivered to CMS consisted of a single 450 proton bunch circulating in the ring, first in one direction and then in the other. The LHC beam was also steered into collimators located 150 m upstream in either direction of the detector interaction point. Such events are referred to as “beam splash” events. Because of the large amount of material in the collimator and along the path of the secondaries, only muons were able to penetrate the entire CMS detector and form the signal in the calorimeter system. The millions of muons produced from the dumping of the beam passed through the entire detector, depositing large signals in every cell of the HCAL, with equivalent energy ranging between hundreds of to a few . A schematic representation of the geometry of the “beam splash” setup is shown in Fig. \[fig:JordansSplashDiag\].
The signal from “beam splash” muons has a well-defined time with respect to the arrival of the LHC bunch and to the LHC clock. The time-of-flight of the muons from the collimators to the geometrical centers of each cell was calculated and used to predict the expected timing versus $\eta$ for all HCAL cells. The data were averaged over all $\phi$ values at each $\eta$ value to obtain an HCAL $\eta$ timing profile. The resulting distribution of the differences between the measured and predicted times is shown in Fig. \[fig:uncorrectedVsCorrectedSplash\](a). The timing measurements for the barrel region are distributed around zero within $\pm1$ ns, demonstrating the correctness of the delay settings calculated from beam tests. The timing for the endcap before any phase corrections exhibits an average time difference that is 10 ns later than the barrel. The x-shaped pattern and the structure at $|\eta|>1.4$ in the outer calorimeter are understood to originate from the pattern of optical fibers in the scintillator trays and the positioning of readout electronics.
![Difference between measured and predicted time as a function of $\eta$ from LHC “beam splash” events. (a) Per-channel delay settings that compensate for timing variations along $\eta$ were loaded into the front-end electronics for the barrel (depths 1–2, $|\eta|<1.4$) but not for the endcap (depths 1–3, $|\eta|>1.4$) or outer (depth 4) calorimeters. Events from both $+z$ and $-z$ directions are included. (b) Compensating sample delay settings were loaded for all three calorimeters, barrel, endcap and outer. Only events from $+z$ direction were available and are included.[]{data-label="fig:uncorrectedVsCorrectedSplash"}](fig/uncorrectedSplashSept10 "fig:"){width="48.00000%"} ![Difference between measured and predicted time as a function of $\eta$ from LHC “beam splash” events. (a) Per-channel delay settings that compensate for timing variations along $\eta$ were loaded into the front-end electronics for the barrel (depths 1–2, $|\eta|<1.4$) but not for the endcap (depths 1–3, $|\eta|>1.4$) or outer (depth 4) calorimeters. Events from both $+z$ and $-z$ directions are included. (b) Compensating sample delay settings were loaded for all three calorimeters, barrel, endcap and outer. Only events from $+z$ direction were available and are included.[]{data-label="fig:uncorrectedVsCorrectedSplash"}](fig/correctedSplashSept18 "fig:"){width="48.00000%"}
From these data, $\eta$-dependent sampling delays were derived for the endcap and outer calorimeters. The delays were loaded into the front-end electronics, and new “beam splash” data were taken from interactions on the $\emph{+z}$ collimator on September 18, 2008. The same analysis used to derive the original delays was repeated on these data; the results are shown in Fig. \[fig:uncorrectedVsCorrectedSplash\](b). Some outer calorimeter data points are omitted from the plot due to a technical issue at the time of data-taking that has since been resolved.
Figure \[fig:uncorrectedVsCorrectedSplash\](b) shows that, as a result of the sampling delay derivation from “beam splash” data, barrel and endcap channel synchronization along $\eta$ is verified to within $\pm2$ ns. Although “beam splash” event data from both directions were used to derive the settings for endcap and outer, only event data from the $\emph{+z}$ direction were available to verify these settings. For this reason Fig. \[fig:uncorrectedVsCorrectedSplash\](b) exhibits systematic deviations, particularly near the barrel-endcap boundary. For cells that are significantly slanted relative to the arrival direction of the muons, the “beam splash” will illuminate the various layers of the cell at different times. The effect is canceled when considering events from both directions. Additional possible systematic effects, such as an offset in timing between the positive and negative endcaps, will be studied with future “beam splash” data from both directions.
The results shown in the last two sections indicate that the methods of time reconstruction and synchronization are effective both in the H2 test beam environment and with the HCAL integrated in CMS. The final offline time corrections, which will be determined with collision data when they become available, are expected to provide synchronization with a spread in the per-channel mean times of less than 1 ns.
Impact of Timing in Analysis {#sec:suppression}
============================
Many interesting physics processes that the CMS experiment was designed to study or discover contain the signature of an undetected particle. Examples include the Standard Model neutrino and the lightest stable particle in several hypothetical supersymmetric particle spectra. Such particles would pass undetected through CMS, carrying some of the energy and momentum that would otherwise counterbalance the other collision products registered in the calorimeters. At hadron colliders, the initial energy and longitudinal momentum of the colliding hadronic constituents are not known, but the initial transverse momentum is known to be negligible in comparison and can be treated as zero. Therefore, the benchmark used to infer the existence of an unobserved particle in any given event is the calorimetric missing transverse energy [@cite:cmsMETnote].
The missing transverse energy (MET) is reconstructed from calorimeter towers, which are reconstructed objects containing the sum of the signals from HCAL and ECAL cells at the same $(\eta,\phi)$ coordinates. The MET is calculated by taking the magnitude of the vector sum of the transverse energy contributions of towers,
$$\label{eq:met}
MET = \sqrt{(\sum_\mathrm{towers}E_i\sin\theta_i\cos\phi_i)^2 + (\sum_\mathrm{towers}E_i\sin\theta_i\sin\phi_i)^2}\quad,$$
where $E_i$ and $(\theta_i,\phi_i)$ are the energy and angle coordinates of each tower.
Multiple complications arise in the accurate measurement of MET. The energies of jets or leptons can be mismeasured due to detector miscalibration or shower fluctuations in the dead material of the detector. The MET in a collision event can also be affected by energy deposits in HCAL cells from non-collision sources. Without a separate identification of these sources the energy will be misassigned to the event of interest, inducing fake MET. Example sources include cosmic ray muons, detector noise, and beam halo.
This section explores the use of HCAL timing as a potential tool to identify sources of fake MET. The CMS design ensures that the phase of collision products relative to the LHC clock is fixed to high precision. The results presented in Section \[sec:tbandsplash\] indicate that the HCAL system is capable of being synchronized to approximately 1–2 ns. Since sources of fake MET are generally uncorrelated with the collision event one can significantly suppress their contributions to MET using their reconstructed times. In the case of beam halo particles, although their arrival is correlated to the arrival of proton bunches in the beam, the exact arrival time to a given detector cell is generally distinguishable from the arrival time of particles produced in the interaction region.
Impact on out-of-time background {#sec:bkgdtiming}
--------------------------------
The strategy for using timing to reject backgrounds is implemented at the level of reconstructed cell measurements, rather than higher-level objects like hadronic jets or MET. It is expected that during data taking triggered events will contain collision data in around 1000 HCAL cells, over which additional out-of-time energy deposits may be superimposed. These out-of-time deposits can be individually removed from the calculation of MET rather than rejecting the entire event. The application of such a technique is appropriate for the analysis of prompt physics signals, while an analysis focused on long-lived particles might perform the reverse selection, preferring energy deposits that are out of time.
The sources of irreducible timing uncertainty described in Section 2 will limit the tightness of the timing requirements that can be applied. The degradation of time resolution for low energy particles requires that any time filtering must take this energy dependence into account in order to avoid biasing the measurement. The timing filter for individual cell measurements was defined according to the resolution measurement shown in Fig. \[fig:timeResEnvelopesAndFilter\]. The filter, shown in Fig. \[fig:timeResEnvelopesAndFilter\](b), is made wider than the 95% confidence level by a factor of two, to allow for the additional uncertainty associated with the spread of primary vertex locations, particularly for the endcap calorimeters. The effect of the primary vertex distribution is expected in collision data and included in the CMS simulation but not included in Fig. \[fig:timeResEnvelopesAndFilter\](b), which is intended to replicate the results of test beam data. The larger envelope is also considered a conservative choice for startup when the detector is expected to be less well calibrated, and other sources of irreducible uncertainty will not yet have been identified. For hits with energies below 4, no requirement is applied except that the peak amplitude should be in the triggered data sample.
Using the strategy outlined above, the timing filter was then applied to two datasets: beam background data collected during LHC beam commissioning in September 2008 and cosmic ray muon and CMS detector noise background data collected in October and November 2008, during the month-long data-taking exercise known as the Cosmic Run At Four Tesla (CRAFT) [@cite:CRAFTGeneral]. For each event, the MET was calculated twice for comparison. One calculation of MET used all energy deposits (referred to as “unfiltered”), while the second did not include energy deposits with a measured time outside the window (referred to as “time-filtered”). The unfiltered measurements include energy depositions in bunch crossings other than the triggered one, as a consequence of the triggering and reconstruction algorithms used during these periods.
The comparison between the unfiltered MET and the time-filtered MET for HCAL-triggered events, cosmic ray events, and beam events is shown in Fig. \[fig:bkgdMETplots\]. The HCAL-triggered events were collected using a Level-1 trigger in which a single calorimetric tower energy exceeds a 5 threshold. Therefore, this sample includes photo-detector and other instrumental noise events [@cite:anomevents]. Events with a Level-1 muon trigger were removed from the sample. The cosmic ray muon events were collected during CRAFT with a Level-1 trigger in which a single muon is identified by the CMS muon stations. The beam events were taken with a single circulating 450 proton bunch on September 18, 2008. All events from this sample are included in the plots regardless of trigger source, which could be beam pickup, coincidence of scintillator or forward calorimeter energy deposits, or any of several muon triggers. The beam sample thus includes beam halo and beam-gas events as well as cosmic ray muons and accidental overlaps with calorimeter noise events. In all cases, the physical MET value would be zero, so a net migration of events from high MET to low MET is expected when comparing the unfiltered and time-filtered MET distributions.
Figure \[fig:bkgdMETplots\] also shows the fraction of events that survive a minimum MET criterion as a function of the threshold value. This was done for both the time-filtered and unfiltered distributions for each background type. Figure \[fig:bkgdMETplots\], therefore, indicates that a reduction by a factor of 5–10 in the rate of events with fake MET can be achieved with time filtering for all three sources of background studied. This rejection factor is consistent with the ratio of the filter window width to the width of the four time samples considered in the reconstruction of an HCAL measurement. The fake MET production for all three samples is due predominantly to a small number of high energy measurements, against which the filter is most effective.
The filter can be tuned to enhance further the background rejection performance. More sophisticated algorithms could be employed to filter clusters of cells with mixed in-time and out-of-time signals if the members of the cluster share common characteristics that identify them as background. For instance, beam halo muons may create a cluster of deposits in consecutive cells along $\eta$ for the same $\phi$, most of which will be out-of-time. This pattern, once identified, could allow the removal of nominally in-time background as well.
Impact on physics processes
---------------------------
To estimate the impact of this technique on signals that have not yet been produced in the CMS detector, studies have been performed on two simulated processes, one that contains MET at the event generator level and a second that does not. An interesting example of the first case is the real MET induced by the hypothetical weakly-interacting supersymmetric (SUSY) [@cite:susy] particle called the neutralino. By applying an ill-chosen time filter, one may underestimate the MET induced by the neutralino by filtering out calorimetric deposits associated with the recoiling jet. A typical process without significant MET at generator level is a hadronic dijet event, commonly referred to as a QCD dijet event. In this case one may also infer a (fake) MET in an event in which no MET is expected, causing a tail in the high end of the MET distribution. Therefore, an ill-chosen time filter could degrade the discovery potential of a neutralino search by reducing the measured MET of the neutralino signal while simultanously increasing the (fake) MET of a major background.
To assess whether the chosen timing cuts induce a bias on processes with significant MET, the timing filter was applied to a sample of simulated events containing neutralinos and generated under the assumptions of $\sqrt{s}=10\TeV$ and no overlapping events ($L=10^{30}~\mathrm{cm}^{-2}\mathrm{s}^{-1}$). The selected SUSY sample was generated using ISASUSY [@cite:isasusy] and Pythia 6.4 [@cite:pythia] at a “low mass” point referred to as “LM1” [@cite:susylm1] in the phase space of one favored model of SUSY known as mSUGRA [@cite:susy]. The early discovery or exclusion of this point is potentially within reach of the LHC experiments given the integrated luminosity expected from the first physics run. The left plots in Fig. \[fig:signalMETplots\] show that the same energy-dependent timing window used in Section \[sec:bkgdtiming\] preserves MET distributions for simulated SUSY events with high efficiency.
The impact of the timing filter for QCD dijet events was also studied. The QCD dijet process was generated by Pythia for a range of hard scattering scales $15\GeVc < \hat{p}_T < 3\TeVc$ with same center-of-mass and luminosity assumptions as the SUSY sample. While these events have no inherent MET, mismeasurements and dead material will result in the reconstruction of some MET in these events, particularly for events with large total transverse energy. The results for the QCD dijet sample are shown in the right column of Fig. \[fig:signalMETplots\] and indicate that the MET distribution is maintained by the filtering process. It is important to note that this filter is not intended to remove QCD backgrounds, which are inherently in-time. The point of the comparison is to verify that an increase in MET is not inadvertently created by the filtering process.
In order to apply the time filter to analysis of physics processes, actual performance of the filter will have to be rederived on collision data using processes such as $W\rightarrow\ell\nu$ events containing jets. The generation of fake MET will be measured using processes such as $\gamma$ + jet, where no MET is expected and the recoil against the photon provides good control of possible jet energy mismeasurement. The efficiency of background rejection can be further studied using dijet event samples containing a cosmic ray or beam halo muon as identified by the muon system.
Summary
=======
This paper has presented the technique used to determine the arrival time of energy deposits in the CMS HCAL to less than 25ns, and the use of this technique to suppress out-of-time backgrounds. The performance of the technique and of the synchronization system of the HCAL have been demonstrated using data from test beam operations as well as “beam splash” data from the LHC in September 2008. The ultimate resolution of the technique for hadron showers was measured to be 1.2 ns using test beam data, and the time spread of HCAL channels after hardware alignment in $\eta$ was measured to be $\pm$2 ns, with an expected potential offline synchronization of less than 1 ns. Using data from CRAFT and beam operations in 2008, the use of a timing filter to suppress fake transverse missing energy was studied. This technique was effective in reducing the rate of MET produced by cosmic ray muons, detector noise, and beam background by a factor of 5–10. At the same time, the integrity of simulated signal MET distributions under the same filtering technique was verified. This technique and the timing results from HCAL in general are available for use in CMS analyses to suppress backgrounds or select particular signals.
Acknowledgments {#acknowledgments .unnumbered}
===============
We thank the technical and administrative staff at CERN and other CMS Institutes, and acknowledge support from: FMSR (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES (Croatia); RPF (Cyprus); Academy of Sciences and NICPB (Estonia); Academy of Finland, ME, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); OTKA and NKTH (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); NRF (Korea); LAS (Lithuania); CINVESTAV, CONACYT, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); PAEC (Pakistan); SCSR (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); MST and MAE (Russia); MSTDS (Serbia); MICINN and CPAN (Spain); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); NSC (Taipei); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA). Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie IEF program (European Union); the Leventis Foundation; the A. P. Sloan Foundation; and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
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Lenovo is rumored to be pondering a bid for BlackBerry, a possibility that could lead to some major indigestion considering the PC maker is about to close the purchase of Motorola Mobility. But the concept does raise the question about whether a multi-brand effort can work in the smartphone market.
According to Benzinga, a financial news site, Lenovo could make an offer as early as this week. Other news outlets picked up on the report since BlackBerry shares were moving on the rumor.
Buying enterprise mobility management: How important is independence?
I'd argue that Lenovo buying BlackBerry this soon is a stretch. First, there are regulatory issues. In addition, BlackBerry finally has some momentum and it's doubtful it would sell out with the launch of the latest BlackBerry Enterprise Server, the linchpin of its turnaround plan, on deck November 13.
Now a Lenovo takeover of BlackBerry may make sense just not at this moment. Lenovo is integrating IBM's x86 server business and Motorola Mobility soon. Google executives said they expect the Lenovo takeover of Motorola to be completed shortly.
Should Lenovo buy BlackBerry it would become the Acer of smartphones. Acer acquired Gateway and Packard Bell to create a group of brands to hit various market segments. Ultimately, Acer remained the alpha brand and the one people know best today. The multibrand strategy worked somewhat for Acer, but wasn't a home run.
Fast forward to Lenovo and the smartphone play. Lenovo would have its own smartphones, which do well in China, Motorola, which does ok in the US and is stronger around the world, and BlackBerry, a enterprise-focused vendor. Lenovo would have to keep all three of those brands and complicate its management strategy.
There's an argument that BlackBerry would give Lenovo a solid enterprise stack — servers, PCs, smartphones and the software and security to manage it all — but a purchase right now looks a bit unwieldy.
Stranger things have happened in technology and BlackBerry looks like it would be a great asset to be acquired. But all these rumors get stopped by the simple question for both sides of the deal: Why now?
More: | {
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Share “Snyder prepares for another spring game at...”
Snyder prepares for another spring game at K-State
Published on NewsOK
Modified: April 25, 2014 at 7:10 pm •
Published: April 25, 2014
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MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — His voice still carries the same monotone quality. The verbiage about "youngsters" and the need to constantly improve has never changed. Even the tennis shoes are the same as always.
As he approaches his 75th birthday this fall, Bill Snyder is preparing for another season at Kansas State. And like a rite of spring in the picturesque Flint Hills, Snyder will be leading the Wildcats onto the field on Saturday for their annual spring game.
"I really do think about the fan base when I go on the field," Snyder said this week. "You think about the little children that line the walkway going out of the locker room and you see those youngsters and you see how emphatic they are and their appreciation for the players when they come out. To me, that has to be inspiring for a young guy.
"I think about those things," Snyder said, "but I also think about if we are ready to play."
Yes, Snyder may be a bit more reflective these days. He's been at this since 1988, after all, when he took over one of the worst programs in college football history. But rejuvenated by that brief retirement a few years back, he seems as spry and driven as ever before.
So while he may soak in the atmosphere in the stadium that bears his name, he will also be looking closely at a number of players and position groups as the Wildcats wrap up spring ball.
Here are five things that Snyder will be looking for:
— Competition. Snyder had not decided early in the week the exact format for the spring game, but he was leaning toward the top offense and defense playing against the No. 2s. Regardless, he wants to see competition throughout the lineup as the Wildcats seek to build up some depth.
"We have some solid guys coming in, playing, and we have a lot of young faces," offensive lineman B.J. Finney said. "So just putting them in a game-like scenario is going to show a lot, and how they work in kind of a light pressure situation."
— The Daniel Sams Project. After alternating at quarterback with Jake Waters last season, the versatile Sams asked to move to wide receiver, where he could get on the field more. If he is able to transition quickly to his new position, he would give Kansas State's offense another wrinkle.
"He understood all the schemes, so he knew assignments for wide receivers," Snyder said. "What he did not understand was the execution and how to go about it. That is what he is learning right now, and it is a work in progress, but we're giving him the opportunity."
— Backup quarterback. Now that Sams has changed positions, the battle is on between Joe Hubener and Jesse Ertz to be the backup to Waters, now firmly entrenched as the starter.
"They are both in the learning stages and have a ways to go," Snyder said.
— The next John Hubert. The longtime starting running back graduated, leaving a perilous lack of experience at the position. DeMarcus Robinson, a senior, has been limited by nagging injuries but remains the front-runner, while sophomores Jarvis Leverett Jr. and Charles Jones are angling for time. The wild card is Dalvin Warmack, a highly touted recruit who will arrive this summer.
"We have been moving people around a lot, especially on offensive line and then receivers to see who can do what," Jones said. "We have a lot of new faces."
— Keeping the momentum. The Wildcats won six of their final seven games a year ago, the lone loss coming against Oklahoma, and routed Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. With most of their top players returning, they expect to contend in the Big 12 this season.
"We need to realize that nobody cares about what you did last year," defensive end Ryan Mueller said. "It's all about now, playing the best you can now, and proving you can do it again." | {
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Join me on a tour of the world of beverage!
Harpoon Winter Warmer
My exploration of winter seasonal beers continues. This entry brings another spiced ale, this time from Harpoon. Goodness knows, I’ve certainly enjoyed their IPA and Leviathan double IPA on more than one occasion in the past! This brew takes us in another direction altogether, however. Instead of the wonderfully citrusy American hops found in those beers, we get some spices typical of holiday baking. And unlike many of the strong seasonal brews out there, this offering comes in at a fairly modest 5.9% ABV, making it very drinkable. So read on for the gory details!
Pours out a bright, light amber hue, clear, with a pale beige head that doesn’t last very long.
Aromas of caramel malts and cinnamon with a hint of nutmeg. Pleasant and appetizing; not too heavy on the spices. Reminiscent of spice cake and holiday baking.
On the palate, I get low carbonation, almost flat, with a medium body. A little bit oily textured and smooth. Not too heavy. Could definitely see drinking more than one based on the mouthfeel.
As to the flavor profile, I get spices up front, notably cinnamon with some nutmeg, but nowhere near overbearing. Then I note some toasty malt and a sort of baked sweets character with fairly low bitterness. A little tang accents the finish – light fruitiness with a mildly tart edge. Fresh tart plums come to mind. Nicely restrained spicing, with some drying nutmeg late in the finish. This would definitely make for a good seasonal session ale; not going to blow you away by any means either flavor-wise or in strength, but enjoyable and drinkable. | {
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The present invention relates to technologies for monitoring a plurality of devices that are capable of communicating with one another through a network, and to technologies for managing each program module that operates in the devices.
In recent years, the home-use broadband network infrastructure has been built. As a result, the home network environment in which home information appliances with high functionality are connected with one another is attracting public attention. Such an environment is based on the assumption that home information appliances (devices), each of which is connected to a network, operate in cooperation with one another, and provide users with services having new added value.
Examples of technologies for controlling a plurality of devices, each of which is connected to a home network, include UPnP (UPnP is a registered trademark of UPnP Implementors Corporation, and is an abbreviation of “Universal Plug and Play”), and HAVi (HAVi is a registered trademark of HAVi Organization, and is an abbreviation of “Home Audio/Video Interoperability”). Communications protocols are specified for these standard technologies so that devices made by different manufacturers can cooperatively operate.
On the other hand, various kinds of mechanisms used to complement a function which cannot be supported by the standard technologies are devised. JP-A-2005-309617 discloses a method for operating a device, which is not supported by the standard technologies, as a device that is supported by the standard technologies. In addition, JP-A-2006-260425 discloses a method for bringing a device into a suspend state with attention paid to a power consumption problem of a device.
One of characteristics common to these technologies is that an access to a device is relayed through a proxy program for a communications protocol specified by the standard technologies. Because the communications protocol specified by the standard technologies does not depend on hardware of a device, it is possible to use such a proxy program. For example, in JP-A-2005-309617, it is possible to make an access, through a proxy program, from a device which is not supported by the standard technologies to a device which is supported by the standard technologies.
In addition, if a device which is supported by the standard technologies has a problem (bug) of a program, the program is remotely updated. This method is generally known (JP-A-2005-309617). This technology uses a method in which a program having a problem is remotely updated by use of an agent program that is a program operating in a device, and that is used to update other programs operating in the device.
In general, devices each supported by the standard technologies are developed by many manufacturers. Therefore, the strict conformity to a communications protocol is absolutely required so that the devices operate in cooperation with one another. However, the conformity to the communications protocol is not sufficiently achieved depending on devices, or there is a possibility that a device may have a problem (bug) of a program, or may have a performance problem (the processing speed of a program, the response speed of a response to a request, or the like). Therefore, there is a case where devices cannot normally operate in cooperation with one another.
For example, in the case of the UPnP technology, if data is defective (the data includes a device description which describes information about an UPnP device, and a service description which describes information about services provided by the UPnP device), or if the data cannot be acquired, there is a possibility that the UPnP device itself will not be detected from other devices. Moreover, it is specified that an UPnP device must reply to the device-description acquisition request within 30 seconds. However, there is a possibility that an UPnP device having a performance problem will not be able to reply to the device-description acquisition request within 30 seconds. Accordingly, there is a possibility that the UPnP device will not be detected from other devices.
It is difficult to estimate beforehand that a device which has such a problem will be connected to a network, and that a user will use the device. Therefore, a mechanism for remotely updating a program in a device as disclosed in JP-A-2006-243915 is desired.
However, although the method disclosed in JP-A-2006-243915 is capable of updating a program operating in a device, measures to be taken from a point of time at which a program having a problem is detected until a corrected program is provided are not taken into consideration. Therefore, a user cannot use a device until a program having a problem is corrected and updated, which is a problem to be solved.
An object of the present invention is to provide a program control method that is suitable for the cooperative operation of devices, each of which is connected to a network, by solving the above-described problem. | {
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It’s official: Kerry James Marshall is the 21st century’s unacknowledged dean of living American painters.
He is not the first major African American artist to receive a full-dress retrospective at a major American museum, of course. That distinction belongs to Jacob Lawrence, who teamed up with the Brooklyn Museum for a survey in 1960. Yet Marshall’s current retrospective, “Mastry,” at the Met Breuer feels like the beginning of something new. (The show is organized jointly by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, and the Met Breuer.)
Marshall’s paintings, made during a bootstrapping 35-year career, bring together various elements of the culture many thought permanently ripped asunder: Western painting and the black figure, formalism and everyday subject matter, the canon and institutional critique, conventional realism and finger-on-the-pulse cultural relevance. A mere stroll through his present exhibition is sufficient to draw comparisons to the synthesizing gifts of Barack Obama—America’s uniter-in-chief.
At Marcel Breuer’s concrete bunker, Marshall’s nearly 80 works—they include collages, portraits, capsized Norman Rockwell pastorals and painting-within-painting riddles—enact important oil-on-canvas homilies and exorcisms for America’s roiled, divided culture.
Most notably, his oeuvre has given consistent presence to the virtual absence of black bodies in art history’s skewed visual archive. Like a galvanizing Obama speech—say, the one that eulogized the victims of the 2015 Charleston shootings—Marshall’s artworks also perform important triage. They expose, disinfect and cauterize age-old hypocrisies with the precision of a front-line surgeon.
Marshall’s collected canvases apply the forensic method to dissect what is arguably Western painting’s greatest we-know-whoddunit. Titled “Mastry,” after the artist’s repeated confrontations with the Old Masters, his survey proposes, in the artist’s own words, a “counter-archive” to more than six centuries of black invisibility. To experience this show is to clock something amazing—Marshall has literally taken apart and reassembled Western art history one painting genre at a time.
Self-portraiture, religious painting, history painting, landscapes, nudes, fêtes champêtres, abstraction and other tropes have all been mobilized by the Chicago-based artist to achieve his lofty artistic goal of painterly self-representation. But rather than aspire merely to what scholar Mark McGurl terms “the institutionalization of the anti-institutional,” Marshall instead constructs the foundation for a crucial conversation—one that swirls around the historical invisibility of the black subject and, by extension, the black artist.
Put differently, every one of Marshall’s paintings at the Met answers the following question affirmatively: Has this artist’s effort to paint it black added a new understanding of the history of the medium?
Marshall’s own biography looms over his calculated yet thrilling paintings like a troubled inheritance. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, he moved to South Central, Los Angeles, in 1964—just in time for the Watts riots and the opening of LACMA. After studying at LA’s Otis Institute, he lit out for New York and a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem. In 1987, he moved to Bronzeville, on Chicago’s South Side, where he became a local celebrity after receiving a MacArthur “genius” grant in 1997. The fact that Marshall—whose 1992 painting Plunge sold for $2.1 million at Christie’s in May—has occupied the same house with his family since first moving there provides a glimpse into the ethics this artist also brings to his knotty aesthetics.
Blackness itself—which scientists say “is not a color but the absence of color”—has been wielded by Marshall as both a pigment and a “rhetorical device” from the outset.
What this means in practice is that, since approximately 1980, the artist has painted every one of his figures using exclusively three kinds of black: carbon black, originally made from soot; mars black, made from synthetic iron oxide; and ivory black, fashioned from burned animal bones. Marshall’s point is composite and heavy—to confound the legibility of his figures, while establishing a working analogy between painterly visuality and historical visibility. The enigmas of his black-on-black pictures dominate various Met Breuer galleries—they weirdly harmonize Ad Reinhardt’s “last paintings” and Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man into the bargain.
“Extreme blackness plus grace equals power,” Marshall says by way of formulating an eloquent artist’s statement: “It’s a kind of stereotyping, but my figures are never laughable.”
Consider, in this light, one of the show’s most important pictures—A Portrait of the Artist As a Shadow of His Former Self (1980). Painted just two years after Marshall left art school, the picture packs a K.O.’s worth of haymakers into a modest eight by six-inch frame.
An egg tempera nod to Marshall’s Renaissance forebears, the image depicts an all-black figure in a pork-pie hat against a slightly lighter background; fittingly, the painting’s darkness is made visible thanks to the figure’s gap-toothed smile and the whites of his eyes. Pow, pow, and pow!
Several other paintings at the Met push the envelope on what at first glance resemble modern-day repeats of Kazimir Malevich’s 1915 Black Square. Among these are Invisible Man (1980), Silence Is Golden (1986) and Black Painting (2003-06), this last being a genuine tour de force. A jet-black bedroom interior, the picture features—among other hard to see details—a patterned wall, a bedside table, a Black Panther flag and copy of Angela Davis’ jailhouse book If They Come In the Morning: Voices of Resistance. A conflation of literal and symbolic aspects of blackness, the canvas combines radical aesthetics, revolutionary politics and Dave Chapelle’s lights-out humor.
Other, larger canvases made in the mold of odalisques, portraits, party scenes and monumental history paintings represent, survey, query, and ennoble the story of black life in the late 20th and early 21st century. But few do what the artist does with Untitled (Studio) from 2014. A picture of a painter painting chock-full of allusions to storied antecedents—these include Gustave Courbet’s The Artist’s Studio and Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas—Marshall’s brilliantly illusionistic canvas displays a unique control of art’s oldest medium. At the Met Breuer, Marshall’s is a display of sheer painterly and intellectual mastry.
Follow artnet News on Facebook: | {
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Q:
How to convert date format in c#?
I am getting data from XML in format of MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss tt (e.g 7/21/2016 5:43:03 PM) but I want to convert it into date format of only dd/MM/yyyy (e.g 21/7/2016)
A:
You could try something like this:
var dt = DateTime.ParseExact(input, "M/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss tt", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)
.ToString("dd/MM/yyyy");
Initially, using the ParseExact you create a DateTime object based on your input and later using the ToString you create the string representation of your DateTime in the specified format.
For info about the DateTime.ParseExact have a look here.
| {
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1. INTRODUCTION {#sec1}
===============
Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is a Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) with antipyretic and analgesic properties. Although the most frequent reactions occur by the inhibition of cyclooxygenase COX-1, because of non-immunological mechanism, it can also be mediated by IgE (immediate reactions) or T-cell (non-immediate reactions), although they are unusual \[[@r1]\]. Type I hypersensitivity reactions have been reported, such as urticaria, angioedema, and even anaphylaxis \[[@r2]\]
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS {#sec2}
========================
We present an 80-year-old man with a history of chronic ischemic heart disease, bronchial asthma, and urothelial carcinoma with chemotherapy treatment. He was diagnosed by clinical history, two years before allergy to pyrazolones (acute urticaria because of metamizole), with good tolerance to other NSAIDs. In August 2016, he presented a generalized urticaria without other systemic symptoms 30min after the administration of Intravenous (IV) paracetamol. The reaction resolved with Subcutaneous (SC) dexclorfeniramine in several hours with no residual lesions. Afterwards, he has been tolerating daily 100mg of Acetylsalicylic Acid (ASA) with no incidences. He was referred to our allergy service for drug allergy study, because of the need to use paracetamol frequently as pretreatment of chemotherapy.
We performed an Intradermal Test (IDT) with paracetamol (0.02mg/ml) with reading at 15min, based on the fact that the positive control with histamine reaches its maximum reaction at 10-15min, with a negative result. The concentration of IDT was less than standardized test due to individual risk and personal history of the patient. We didn't perform a prick test because of the lower sensitivity than the IDT. After obtaining informed consent from the patient, a Single Blind Oral Challenge Test (SBOCT) was then performed with oral paracetamol.
3. RESULTS {#sec3}
==========
With an accumulative dose of 185mg (after 60mg and 125mg doses with increases of 1hr interval), he developed 20min after discomfort, nausea and dizziness. No cutaneous lesions initially appeared, but a flare-up phenomenon was observed in the site of the IDT with paracetamol (Fig. **[1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}**).
Ten minutes later, he developed pruritus in trunk and erythema with maculopapular lesions, in the lumbosacral region as well as hypotension (BP 80/40) that disappeared with 500ml of physiological saline, 80mg of metilprednisolone, 5mg of dexchlorpheniramine IV and 0.3mg intramuscular epinefrine. Afterwards, the same exanthema extended to the thorax and lower limbs (Fig. **[2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}**). The reaction resolved completely in an hour.
Tryptase levels during the reaction and 2hrs later were increased (34.6 and 39.8µg/L, respectively). Basal tryptase level was 5.7µg/L.
We diagnosed the patient of an anaphylactic shock due to sensitization to paracetamol because of a type I hypersensitivity mechanism. Pyrazolones were previously forbidden, and to refuse NSAID intolerance, we performed SBOCT with ASA up to doses of 650mg, well tolerated. Due to the implication of two different groups of NSAIDs (pyrazolones and paracetamol), he was diagnosed with a double selective sensitization, and the use of other different groups of NSAIDs was allowed.
4. DISCUSSION {#sec4}
=============
We present an anaphylactic shock due to sensitization to paracetamol diagnosed by SBOCT and a flare reaction at previous negative IDT site with the oral challenge because of flare-up phenomenon, in a patient with previous pyrazolones allergy and with tolerance to other NSAIDs.
The IDT with paracetamol confirms IgE mechanism. Patients with type I hypersensitivity reactions due to a selective allergy to paracetamol with tolerance others NSAIDs, such as our patient, have been reported in the literature. Most of these patients have been diagnosed by clinical history or positive SBOCT \[[@r2]-[@r5]\]. However, the utility of SPT with paracetamol is yet unknown, although, in the literature, it is uncommonly described positive IDT and much less because of a flare-up phenomenon \[[@r6], [@r7]\].
Some few cases of skin test with paracetamol are reported in the literature \[[@r2], [@r5]-[@r7]\] but Rojas-Pérez-Ezquerra *et al*. \[[@r4]\] described the largest series published until the date of selective allergy to paracetamol (13 cases) in which no SPT were positive in any of them but with positive SBOCT in all the patients.
*In vitro* tests are not available in many hospitals and their utility is still questionable. In some cases, high levels of IgE have been detected in these patients, as Paramo *et al*. \[[@r2]\] reported in two patients with selective allergy to paracetamol. In our case, we were not able to perform it, due to lack of *in vitro* test study to confirm specific IgE to the drug in our hospital.
Although paracetamol anaphylaxis is uncommon, there are some cases reported in the literature. In this case, an old patient with the previous allergy to other NSAIDs (pyrazolones), the avoidance of antipyretic drugs was not an option because it was necessary for oncological pretreatment with chemotherapy because it is the only NSAID that can be administrated IV. This limited their therapeutic alternatives, so we considered that SBOCT was indispensable. In this case, SBOCT was a trigger for a positive IDT (flare-up phenomenon) and the anaphylactic shock could not be avoided.
Flare-up phenomenon has been described with different drugs such as beta-lactams antibiotics \[[@r8]\]. González de Olano *et al*. \[[@r9]\] reported a case with ibuprofen but as far as we know, no cases have been reported with paracetamol.
CONCLUSION
==========
We emphasized the importance of having better diagnostic tools for SPT or blood tests to determine specific IgE to confirm the diagnosis without performing SBOCT, with the potential risks for patients. At this moment, the challenge test continues to be the gold standard for drug allergy diagnosis.
RECENT PATENTS REVIEW
=====================
Anaphylaxis, anaphylactic shock, angioedema and urticaria, are specific type I hypersensitivity drug reactions.
Anaphylactic shock due to sensitization to paracetamol, as well as other immediate clinical patterns like commented before have been reported with this drug in the literature \[[@r2]-[@r5]\].
Anaphylaxis is an acute, potentially life-threatening hypersensitivity reaction, involving the release of mediators from mast cells, basophils and recruited inflammatory cells. Many patents have been filled and granted for the treatment of anaphylaxis shock.
Common anaphylaxis triggers include foods - including nuts, milk, fish, shellfish, eggs and some fruits, drugs: including some antibiotics and Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, insect stings (particularly wasp and bee stings), general anesthesic, contrast agents - special dyes used in some medical tests to help certain areas of your body show up better on scans- latex - a type of rubber found in some rubber gloves and condoms. Paracetamol has been described as a possible trigger but not very frequently \[[@r4]\].
Paracetamol is therapeutically cataloged as an analgesic and antipyretic, although at high doses can also exert anti-inflammatory action \[[@r10]\].
Paracetamol is N- (4-hydroxyphenyl) ACETA way. It is a widely available analgesic which is marketed under multiple brands in different pharmaceutical presentations \[[@r11]\]. Also, paracetamol is an active drug likely to be combined with other active ingredients for various applications. Also they exist in the market many pharmaceutical preparations in which the paracetamol occurs associated with other drugs.
Accordingly, it is possible to obtain a solution of stable paracetamol by incorporating in the solution antioxidant substances that can react with p-aminophenolates resulting their O-derivatives or coordination compounds, preferably selected from the group consisting of reducing sugars such as glucose, galactose, fructose; acid forms of the sugars or their salts such as lactobionate, gluconate; glucuronate, glucoheptanoate, galactate, lactobionate or lactones such as gluconolactone \[[@r12]\]; chemical species containing sulfur in an oxidation state less than +6, sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate, sulfites or thiourea and that these substances can produce derivatives with the phenolate form of paracetamol \[[@r13]\].
The patent WO2016069155 provides a method of producing N-acetyl-p-aminophenol *in vitro*, the method comprising culturing a recombinant prokaryotic host cell as described above, or elsewhere herein, *in vitro* in a culture medium and under conditions that provide for expression of the 4ABH and NhoA, wherein the cell produces *p*-aminobenzoic Acid (PABA), wherein 4ABH catalyzes the conversion of PABA to produce p-aminophenol, and wherein the NhoA catalyzes the conversion of p-aminophenol to produce N-acetyl-p-aminophenol. In some cases, the method comprises purifying the N-acetyl-p-aminophenol produced by the host cell. In some cases, the host cell is *Escherichia coli*. In some cases, the host cell is a yeast cell, e.g., *Saccharomyces cerevisiae*. In some cases, the N-acetyl-p-aminophenol is produced in an amount of at least 50mg/l culture medium \[[@r14]\]. Therefore, it is also very large number of pharmaceutical patents around paracetamol \[[@r12]-[@r16]\].
CURRENT AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
===============================
In the past years the use of NSAIDs is increasing, because of high number of diseases which needs the chronic use of these drugs. From this group, paracetamol are one of the most subgroups of NSAIDs used in these chronic patients in the general population for mild pains. Because of extensive use, probably sensitization is becoming more frequent in patients. Flare up is a phenomen that happens infrequently but helps diagnosis. Usually if patients have immediate or non-immediate allergy to these subgroup, it is recommended to forbid the whole group. But more frequently in the clinical practice it has been observed that patients develop allergy to only one, and tolerate the others from the same group.
Declared none.
ETHICS APPROVAL AND CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE
==========================================
Ethical approval is not applicable, as this is not a clinical trial.
HUMAN AND ANIMAL RIGHTS
=======================
No animals/humans were used for experimentation in this research. The tests are the daily clinical practice, and they have been approved and published previously, according to Helsinki declaration.
CONSENT FOR PUBLICATION
=======================
The authors have obtained the informed consent of the patients and/or subjects mentioned in the article. The author for correspondence is in possession of this document. The authors declare that they have followed the protocols of their work centre on the publication of patient data and that all the patients included in the study have received sufficient information and have given their informed consent in writing to participate in that study.
AVAILABILITY OF DATA AND MATERIALS
==================================
Not applicable.
FUNDING
=======
The authors declare they have no financial relationships with biotechnology and/or pharmaceutical companies that have an interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. This study was administratively and financially sponsored by Spanish National Health system.
We confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
====================
The authors declare that they have followed the protocols of their work center on the publication of patient data and that all patients included in the study have received sufficient information and have given their informed consent in writing to participate in that study.
All authors mentioned above have been participated in different forms of the total result of this manuscript.
{#F1}
{#F2}
| {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Central"
} |
Preoperative computed tomography findings predict surgical resectability of thymoma.
The aim of the study was to identify preoperative computed tomography (CT) imaging characteristics that correlated with surgical resectability. We retrospectively reviewed the CT scans of 133 patients who underwent surgical resection for thymoma at our institution between July 21, 1997, and September 22, 2010. Imaging characteristics recorded included tumor size, attenuation, contact of mediastinal vessels, tumor morphology, infiltration of surrounding fat, changes in the adjacent lung parenchyma, lymphadenopathy, and pleural involvement. The study group included 66 men and 67 women, aged 23-88 years (mean 58.8 years). Eighty patients (60.2%) were Masaoka stage I or II and 53 (39.8%) were Masaoka stage III or IV. Twenty-three patients (17.3%) had an incomplete surgical resection. Of these, 15 patients had microscopic residual disease (11.2%) and eight had gross residual disease (6.0%). The preoperative CT characteristics that correlated with an incomplete surgical resection included a lobulated tumor contour (p = 0.016), greater than or equal 50% abutment of the circumference of an adjacent vessel (p < 0.001), thoracic lymphadenopathy (p = 0.029), adjacent lung changes (p = 0.005) and pleural nodularity (p = 0.001). Tumor size was larger in the incompletely versus completely resected groups, with mean values of 9.7 and 6.9 cm (p value 0.013). On multivariate analysis, only degree of abutment of adjacent vessels and pleural nodularity were independent predictors of incomplete resection. Preoperative CT findings can predict the likelihood of successful surgical resection and could help to identify patients who might benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
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Came over on our way hame today. Road surface is already undulating enough to make the bike like a nodding donkey. Got a great view of the UK's most expensive cycle track mind. Much better than the steel sections on the FRB
__________________
used to be littleoldman but forgot password due to failing memory
not to mention the epileptic fit inducing lights.. who the fek thought that it would be a good idea to put that many lights at driver level. just wait till people can do 70 and it will be like a strobe light... oohh well it will give that bitch an excuse to drop the speed limit on it.
Well I have been crossing it almost daily in both directions, time door to door has been pretty much the same as it was on old bridge, but then I do filter a lot
If you've not already been over with a bit of a wind blowing, you are in for some fun Pretty easy going and with the deflectors at the sides, the winds does tend to go over the top mostly with a steady push from the side its coming from. You still feel it but not as bad as the old bridge was, that is till you hit one of the towers, wind suddenly goes from outside to inside, quick n hard
Will get used to it in the end but wondering what its really going to be like at 70 with a strong cross wind
Oh and watch out for the join heading northbound, that's quite some lump | {
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package phpv
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t *ZHashTable
cur *hashTableVal
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func (z *zhashtableIterator) Current(ctx Context) (*ZVal, error) {
if !z.Valid(ctx) {
return nil, nil
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return z.cur.v, nil
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func (z *zhashtableIterator) Key(ctx Context) (*ZVal, error) {
if !z.Valid(ctx) {
return nil, nil
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return &ZVal{z.cur.k}, nil
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func (z *zhashtableIterator) Next(ctx Context) error {
if !z.Valid(ctx) {
return nil
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z.cur = z.cur.next
return nil
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func (z *zhashtableIterator) Rewind(ctx Context) error {
z.cur = z.t.first
return nil
}
func (z *zhashtableIterator) Valid(ctx Context) bool {
for {
if z.cur == nil {
return false
}
if z.cur.deleted {
z.cur = z.cur.next
continue
}
return true
}
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"idiom" : "universal",
"filename" : "[email protected]",
"scale" : "2x"
},
{
"idiom" : "universal",
"filename" : "[email protected]",
"scale" : "3x"
}
],
"info" : {
"version" : 1,
"author" : "xcode"
}
} | {
"pile_set_name": "Github"
} |
After the fire in September 2012, The Wounded Knee Museum exhibits were reconstructed and displayed at a temporary location, but will be returning to their original location in Wall, South Dakota with an expected opening date of May 2017. We will be expanding our displays and exhibits. The Wounded Knee Museum opened in 2003 to share the events leading to the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890.
We appreciate your continued support, understanding and prayers during this transition of rebuilding.
We look forward to seeing you in 2017!
Wounded Knee Museum will be reopening summer 2017
After the fire in September 2012, The Wounded Knee Museum exhibits were reconstructed and displayed at a temporary location, but will be returning to their original location in Wall, South Dakota with an expected opening date of May 2017. We will be expanding our displays and exhibits. The Wounded Knee Museum opened in 2003 to share the events leading to the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890.
We appreciate your continued support, understanding and prayers during this transition of rebuilding. We look forward to seeing you in 2017! | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Outcome of congenital diaphragmatic hernia: analysis of implicated factors.
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia remains a significant challenge for neonatologists and pediatric surgeons. Over the last years, new therapeutic approaches, as high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, inhaled nitric oxide, permissive hypercapnia, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, have been used for the management of these newborns. We conducted a retrospective study of all infants who were managed for congenital diaphragmatic hernia in our NICU in order to identify possible clinical characteristics which were predictive for survival. We reviewed a single institution's experience with 42 consecutive neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia admitted to our NICU from 1993 to 2009. Prenatal data and side of congenital diaphragmatic hernia were similar in survivors and no-survivors infants except for the lung-to-head ratio (LHR), which was higher and measured later in survivors than non-survivors. Multiple regression analysis showed that a gestational age ≥39 weeks, Apgar score at 5 min ≥7, FiO2<0.35, MAP<13 cmH2O, OI<10 and AaDO2 >282 before surgical repair, and the absence of persistent pulmonary hypoplasia were independent predictive factors of survival. Our study suggests that the outcome of newborns with congenital diaphragmatic hernia still depends on the severity of lung hypoplasia, despite the different respiratory and therapeutical approaches. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
Paclitaxel-induced cell-mediated hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Diagnosis using leukocyte migration test, bronchoalveolar lavage and transbronchial lung biopsy.
A 73-year-old man with mild inactive interstitial pneumonitis and non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma developed a cell-mediated hypersensitivity pneumonitis within 15 days following a second exposure to paclitaxel. Histological features of transbronchial lung biopsy were consistent with interstitial pneumonitis. Bronchoalveolar lavage showed increased lymphocytes and eosinophils, and decreased helper/suppressor T lymphocyte ratio. Leukocyte migration inhibitory test was positive for paclitaxel. These results support the possibility that paclitaxel-induced pneumonitis is due to delayed type hypersensitivity; they also support the hypothesis of a central role of T lymphocytes in drug-induced pneumonitis. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
package utilities
import (
"testing"
"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
)
func TestIndent(t *testing.T) {
for _, tt := range []struct {
name string
s, indent string
want string
}{
{
name: "empty",
},
{
name: "one line",
s: "hello world",
indent: " ",
want: " hello world",
},
{
name: "one line, trimmed",
s: "hello world\n",
indent: " ",
want: " hello world",
},
{
name: "many lines",
s: "hello world\npotato\ncarrot\n",
indent: " ",
want: " hello world\n potato\n carrot",
},
} {
t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
got := Indent(tt.s, tt.indent)
assert.Equal(t, got, tt.want)
})
}
}
| {
"pile_set_name": "Github"
} |
The London Eye, 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament were among Britain's landmarks which turned out their lights for an hour at 10pm last night to remember those who died in the First World War.
Homes, businesses and public buildings across the UK were asked to leave on a single light or candle to commemorate the moment then-prime minister Herbert Asquith declared Britain had entered the First World War at 11pm on August 4, 1914.
Buildings around the country yesterday took part in the 'hour of reflection' between 10pm and 11pm, leaving just a light illuminating a window.
Scroll down for video
Darkness: Buildings around the country, including Tower Bridge and 10 Downing Street, took part in the 'hour of reflection' between 10pm and 11pm yesterday
In the dark: The Houses of Parliament in London after the lights were turned off as part off the national 'Lights Out' campaign of remembrance
The clock face of Big Ben was the only light illuminating Westminster at 11pm last night, which marked the moment the First World War began 100 years ago Before: A photo of the Houses of Parliament before the lights were turned out to mark 100 years since Britain entered the First World War London Eye: People across the UK were invited to turn their lights out from 10pm to 11pm leaving on a single light or candle Before the blackout: The London Eye, on the South Bank in central London, with lights on ahead of the Lights Out event across Britain
A single light illuminated Tower Bridge in London last night as traffic and pedestrians pass over the crossing as the centenary of World War One is marked
The bridge lifts up to allow a boat to pass through prior to the beginning of the Lights Out event where many central London landmarks took part Landmark building: The Shard in central London is seen with the spire lights switched off (left), and just before (right) Light in the distance: The Cenotaph in central London during an hour's darkness to mark 100 years since the beginning of First World War
As the lights went out, people gathered at the Cenotaph in Whitehall to light their own candles and lay their own flowers and wreaths
The Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium sits in near darkness, with only one symbolic single light illuminating the Memorial
The Menin Gate, which is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, pictured before the lights were turned out
Current troops serving in Afghanistan stand in the darkness of Camp Bastion, which was only lit by a single light. Personnel from all three armed forces took part in the vigil and they were joined by members of the US Marine Corps
The plan was inspired by the words of then-foreign secretary Sir Edward Grey, who said just before the announcement: 'The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.'
Other buildings taking part in an hour-long lights switch-off last night were Broadcasting House in London, the Eden Project in Cornwall, St Paul's and Durham cathedrals, and Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.
Also expected to join in were office buildings including Barclays in Canary Wharf and Marks & Spencer.
Prime Minister David Cameron has backed the idea and is urging as many people as possible to take part.
Bowing her head: The Duchess of Cambridge during a ceremony at the St Symphorien Cemetery in Belgium
Prince Harry, Belgium's Queen Mathilde, the Duchess of Cambridge Belgium's King Philippe, Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William in Mons, Belgium
Commemoration: The Duke of Cambridge (centre) and David Cameron (second right) at the ceremony at St Symphorien Cemetery in Mons, Belgium Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, , accompanied by Dean of Westminster the Reverend John Hall, right, walks by the tomb of unknown warriors as she attends a candlelit vigil and prayer service to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War at Westminster Abbey The duchess of Cornwall, second left, extinguishes the remaining flame at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior Camilla sits in reflection as she attends the ceremony. In one of her most significant public engagements to date, the Duchess of Cornwall attended the vigil at Westminster Abbey
A single light was shining from Buckingham Palace like many other buildings across the country as 100 years since Britain entered World War One was remembered
Unusual sight: A single window is illuminated in Buckingham Palace as the lights are turned off on iconic buildings around London
Poppies: Piccadilly Circus in London displays memorial images as the lights are turned off on buildings and the UK marks the centenary of the outbreak of the war
Black scene: Piccadilly Circus and the Criterion Theatre turn off their lights to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War
The lights of Picadilly Circus light up central London as people gathered at the landmark to commemorate 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War
A man pauses to reflect at the remembrance event in Piccadilly Circus, where the screens showed memorial images to those gathered
The Houses of Parliament are seen from Westminster Bridge as the lights are turned off on iconic buildings around London to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the war
'Spectra' by Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda: Acting as beacon for the capital, a monumental pillar of light beamed into the clouds from Victoria Tower Gardens Shining up: Lights go out across London as the city marks the centenary of the outbreak of the World War One
A man gazes up at the Spectra light installation, left, while a woman takes a picture of the light, which was the only beam to light up London, which fell into darkness at 10pm
Trafalgar Square in central London (left), and candles illuminate the names of missing soldiers at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium (right)
Seafront: Blackpool Tower in Lancashire displays a single light on the day the nation commemorates 100 years since Britain joined the First World War
Lights on: Blackpool Tower stands illuminated with a heart Union Jack to mark the 100-year anniversary of Britain joining the First World War
Passengers at Bristol Temple Meads railway station switched off their lights as part of the campaign by the Royal British Legion Temple Meads station lit up pre 10pm ahead of the beginning of the Lights Out initiative to mark the exact moment war began 100 years ago
The Library of Birmingham displayed a simple row of white lights on each floor to remember those who fought and lost their lives in the First World War
A single candle was projected on to the front of the Grade I listed Royal Liver Building in Liverpool last night as part of the Lights Out initiative A Vigil of Prayer and Penitence was held at Bath Abbey last night, where each member of the congregation lit their own candle The idea of Lights Out was promoted by the Royal British Legion, who say they have a number of initiatives planned to mark the conflict's centenary
The lights across Glasgow University were dimmed as the city fell into darkness and paused to remember the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War
A simple single lantern lights the dome above the Great Hall of the Castle Howard estate near York last night He said: 'Lights Out is a way for everyone to mark the First World War centenary and I would encourage people to take part and turn off their lights tomorrow at 10pm for an hour, apart from a single light or candle. 'This will be a personal gesture in remembrance of all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us 100 years ago. They must never be forgotten.' The idea is being promoted by the Royal British Legion, who brought together celebrities including Jeremy Paxman, Twiggy, David Gandy and Louis Smith for a video to encourage people to take part.
Westminster Abbey: Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, centre, with the Dean of Westminster the Reverend John Hall, right, walks by the tomb of the Unknown Warrior An oil lamp burns next to the tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey, which is decorated with flowers Candelit evening: Members of the congregation look on during the vigil at Westminster Abbey in central London Helping hand: Chelsea pensioners light their candles during a candlelit vigil and prayer service to commemorate the First World War starting at Westminster Abbey
Preparations at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in London's Westminster Abbey ahead of the ceremony last night
A vigil service was held at the Abbey during where members of the congregation extinguished candles to mark 100 years since the start of the First World War
The Houses of Parliament, pictured taking part in a similar scheme in 2007, switched their lights off at 10pm last night as part of an initiative to commemorate Britain entering the First World War Prime Minister: David Cameron (left) has been encouraging people to take part in the initiative, which is inspired by the words of former Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey (right), who said on the eve of war: 'The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime'
Charles Byrne, Director of Fundraising at The Royal British Legion, said: 'Sir Edward Grey's stirring words are the campaign's foundation.
'Our vision is that over one million candles will be lit across the UK, commemorating every Service man and woman who died during WW1.
'We hope to see candles lit at every war memorial, community centre and home in every village and in every community.
'This is one of a number of initiatives the Legion has undertaken to commemorate the anniversary of the First World War, when we hope to pass the torch of remembrance onto a younger generation ensuring there will always be a living legacy to those who sacrificed their today for our tomorrows.'
Coinciding with the start of the initiative at 10pm, a vigil service will be held at Westminster Abbey during which members of the congregation will extinguish candles until there is just one left alight on the tomb of the unknown soldier, which will be snuffed out by the Duchess of Cornwall at 11pm.
People in Seaham, County Durham placed candles and poppies at the town's War Memorial as they held a vigil to remember the fallen | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Rubbing the ice cubes across Ena’s tits, Marius leans forward to lick the water from her hard nipples. Applying the ice cube to Ena’s panties brings her breath in a moaning gasp, but her real moans don’t start until Marius has gotten the ice on her bare twat. He’s happy to sooth the chill by lapping at Ena’s juicy snatch, quickly making her crazy with the juxtaposition of hot and cold to her most tender parts.
When Marius is finally willing to give Ena a chance to even the score, the brunette is eager to get on her knees and wrap her soft lips around his member. Taking every inch of Marius’s hard dick in her mouth, Ena sets a slow rhythm that she could keep up for hours for their mutual pleasure. As much as Marius enjoys having his cock sucked by Ena’s expert mouth, he wants something more from this encounter.
Laying on his back, Marius pulls Ena so that she is straddling him. She sinks down onto his stiffie, impaling herself and then pumping her hips for a sensual ride. The kiss of the fan on her heated skin only increases the sensual enjoyment that Ena feels, especially once she moves up Marius’s body so that he can eat out her dripping pussy with his skilled mouth.
Dropping to her hands and knees, Ena lets out a low moan as Marius presses first one finger and then two into her juicy twat. That foreplay leaves her primed for the moment that he replaces his fingers with his fuck stick, and her squeal of joy fills the room when the coupling finally occurs. Now that he is able to set the pace, Marius speeds things up until he’s delivering a ball-slapping pussy pounding that leaves Ena breathless and sated.
When Marius adjusts her so that she is laying on her back, Ena knows that all she has to do for the ultimate pleasure is to spread her legs and let him go to town. His long strokes fill her to the brim and leave her desperate for more until she experiences one last joyful explosion. Marius is right behind her, covering Ena’s bald snatch with his cum and then dipping his cock back into her pussy for a few final strokes. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Total iron concentrations in waters and fish tissues in the Nam Theun 2 Reservoir area (Lao PDR).
Data on total iron concentrations in waters and freshwater fish tissues in man-made reservoirs are scarce, especially in Southeast Asia. Changes in total iron concentrations in water and in fish tissues were studied after the impoundment of the Nam Theun 2 Reservoir (central Lao PDR). Water quality parameters were monitored at 11 stations (reservoir, upstream area and downstream areas) from 2008 to 2010. In 2009 and 2010, total iron concentrations were measured in three different fish tissues (viscera, gills and flesh) from 14 species belonging to the omnivorous and carnivorous feeding groups. The results indicated that iron concentrations in the water were influenced by the reservoir impoundment during the first year after the creation of the reservoir. Intra-annual variations of the total iron concentration in these waters appeared to be driven by the soil leaching processes mainly during the wet season. In fish, total iron accumulated preferentially in viscera, followed by gills and flesh. Iron concentration was highly species dependant and related to the ecology of the species whereas feeding habits (omnivorous or carnivorous) did not influence total iron concentration in fish tissues. Finally, reservoir impoundment did not affect iron concentrations in fish from the reservoir and from both downstream areas. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
A second Embraer-190 aircraft leased from GE Capital Aviation Services to Myanmar Airways will make its debut flight for the airline, flying Rangoon-Mandalay-Rangoon, on January 11.
EMBRAER 190 Photo: embraer.com
“Myanmar Airways has leased a new Embraer-190 aircraft,” the company’s general manager Than Htut told Mizzima. “The first leased airplane arrived in Burma on December 12 [2012] and the second one arrived on January 6 [2013].
The second will make its debut on the Rangoon-Mandalay flight on January 11.”
The Embraer aircraft are manufactured in Brazil, but powered by engines made by the US-based GE company. They are 100-seater jets that offer passengers more spacious seating and additional storage areas. There has only been one flight accident in the aviation history of the Embraer-190.
“We plan to place the two new Embraer-190 aircraft on our Gaya-Chennai service in India, and the Bangkok-Chiang Mai route in Thailand,” said Than Htut. “Despite the expense of the leases, we will not increase air fares by more than 5,000 kyat [$5.88] per seat.”____________________________________________________________________Related articles: | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Samsung has revealed today that the Galaxy Note 9 sales have crossed 1 million units in South Korea. The company has a lot riding on this product. It didn’t get as good of a response with the Galaxy S9/S9+ as it may have hoped. It acknowledged as much earlier this year when the mobile division’s earnings reflected sluggish high-end sales.
The Galaxy Note 9 was supposed to improve the figures for the mobile division. That will only become obvious once the company releases its full earnings report for the quarter. It has mentioned today, though, that over 1 million units of this device have been sold in South Korea.
Galaxy Note 9 sales in South Korea
The Galaxy Note 9 arrived a couple of weeks earlier than its predecessor. So while it has hit 1 million units sold in 54 days after launch, the Galaxy Note 8 did that in 48 days. To be fair the situation was a bit different for the Galaxy Note 8. It represented a comeback for Samsung’s Galaxy Note lineup and was also the first new device of its kind in almost two years.
Samsung has obviously sold many more units of the Galaxy Note 9 across the globe. The device has been generally well received. It hasn’t provided the entire sales figures so it’s difficult to ascertain just how many units it has been able to sell.
The company has also introduced new color options in select markets to reignite consumer interest in its flagship. We can expect it to offer promotions going forward in order to move more units. The Galaxy Note 9 is undoubtedly one of the best Android smartphones on the market right now so Samsung will continue to sell many more units in the months to come. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Q:
Did US President Bill Clinton pay down the national debt by $223 billion in 2000?
CNN has this statement about the Clinton Surplus:
President Clinton announced Wednesday that the federal budget surplus for fiscal year 2000 amounted to at least $230 billion, making it the largest in U.S. history and topping last year's record surplus of $122.7 billion."This represents the largest one-year debt reduction in the history of the United States," Clinton said Wednesday morning. "Like our American athletes in Sydney, we've been breaking records and have come a long way."In June, the administration predicted the surplus would be $211 billion, and would increase by as much as $1 trillion over the next 10 years. Clinton also announced the federal government paid down the national debt by $223 billion this year, and by more than $360 billion since 1998, the largest debt reduction in U.S. history.
However I have seen this contested and I am skeptical that the national debt got reduced by $223 billion that year. Did it happen?
A:
Yes
This was an item that:
was reported in a great many major news outlets at the time, e.g.:
CNN.
the BBC.
MSNBC
is documented on the official Clinton biography website.
is analysed and confirmed by Factcheck.org.
is documented in the National Archive website.
is tabulated in a college student's report
is reported by the White House educational directory
is recorded by the University of Houston's historians.
Further, The Washington Post even goes into great detail, recalling that Clinton literally allowed the government to shut down rather than pass a budget that wouldn't accomplish his goal of reducing the debt. People tend to downplay that incident, but it was probably the single most important event you can point to when discussing this issue as it demonstrates that Clinton was commited to a balanced budget and did take the necessary steps to do it.
A:
No
Treasury Direct shows that the Public Debt has increased every year (tables 2010-2000 and 1999-1990).
09/30/2001 5,807,463,412,200.06
09/30/2000 5,674,178,209,886.86
09/30/1999 5,656,270,901,615.43
09/30/1998 5,526,193,008,897.62
09/30/1997 5,413,146,011,397.34
09/30/1996 5,224,810,939,135.73
09/29/1995 4,973,982,900,709.39
09/30/1994 4,692,749,910,013.32
09/30/1993 4,411,488,883,139.38
09/30/1992 4,064,620,655,521.66
The way they count such a large surplus, was by not counting money the government owes itself.
Quaap.com -
When Factcheck states that there was a surplus, they are looking at only the public debt and are not including the intra-governmental debt. Looked at this way, yes, there was a surplus. So much money was coming in through Social Security taxes (and used to buy Treasury bonds) that the general fund exceeded the budget by several hundred billion.
Is this a valid way to view the matter? After all, the money the government owes itself shouldn't count, right? Well, yes, it should. The social security money was already earmarked for future social security payments, and the Social Security Trust Fund will want to get its money back when it comes time to make more payments. So yes, this is real debt and I can't think of any reason to exclude it.
More Analysis.
| {
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
} |
PICTURE SLIDESHOW: Blue plaque honour for Beryl Burton
Sarah Hall
Actress Maxine Peake has unveiled a blue plaque dedicated to Beryl Burton in a ceremony watched by the cycling legend’s family.
Beryl’s husband Charlie and daughter Denise Burton-Cole saw the star reveal the plaque in Morley town centre on Sunday.
The blue plaque dedicated to Beryl Burton.
A large crowd turned out to see the unveiling in the entrance to Beryl Burton Gardens, off Queen Street.
The placing of the plaque has been a joint effort by Leeds Civic Society, Morley Town Council, the Outer South Area Committee of Leeds City Council and Morley Town Centre Management Board.
Maxine, who has starred in Dinnerladies, Shameless and Silk, was asked to carry out the unveiling as she has written a play about Beryl’s life which will be staged at the West Yorkshire Playhouse at the end of the month.
It originally started out as a radio play for Radio 4 but the Playhouse approached her to write a stage version for its Tour de France celebrations as part of the Yorkshire Festival.
The actress, on her first visit to Morley, said the process had been strange for her as it had been quite a short journey from the initial idea of writing about Beryl to it being brought to the stage.
“About three years ago my boyfriend bought me Beryl Burton’s autobiography,” she said. “I had never heard of her and I just thought why has someone not done a drama about this woman and why did I not know about her?”
She said it had been a privilege for her to get to know Charlie and Denise while writing the play.
“These two are so much more interesting than anything I could write,” said Maxine. “I feel like I’ve only spent a short time with Beryl but in that time I’ve come to realise I really love her!”
Denise Burton-Cole, who said the family now considered Bolton-born Maxine to be “an honourary Yorkshirewoman” said she and her father had been overwhelmed by the honour.
“It’s fabulous. I have lots of lovely memories of Morley. I would like to thank all the Morley people, the council and everyone involved as I’m sure there’s been a lot of hard work put into this,” she said.
Coun Terry Grayshon, who was one of a group of people who became a driving force in getting the blue plaque, said that although what Beryl Burton had achieved in her lifetime was remarkable things could have been very different had she been competing in the modern era of cycling.
“Had she been around to make use of the facilities and training opportunites of today it would have been overwhelming to see what she could have achieved,” he said. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Protein transport across the in vitro perfused human placenta.
Placental transport of various proteins present in human serum, such as immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA), specific anti-tetanus IgG (anti-TT-IgG), and tetanus toxoid-antigen (TT-AG), was investigated. In addition, the transport of IgG modified with biotin (IgG-BT) and 14C-bovine serum albumin (14C-BSA, a permeability marker for macromolecules), was assessed. During the perfusion of an isolated cotyledon from human term placenta the perfusate was recirculated on both maternal and fetal sides. After an initial stabilisation phase of 2 hr (control phase), media on both sides were exchanged and perfusion was continued comparing two different conditions (experimental phase). In the first group (control experiments [A, n = 3]), no test proteins were added during the experimental phase (4-6 hr). In the second group (B, n = 5), during the experimental phase (6 hr) the maternal perfusion medium contained IgG (Sandoglobuline, 6-10 g/L), anti-TT-IgG (21-25 mg/L), TT-AG (0.19-0.24 mg/L), and IgA (0.13-0.19 g/L). IgG-BT (2 g/L) and 14C-BSA (30-40 nCi/ml) were added to the medium on the maternal side. IgGs and TT-AG were determined by specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Both groups showed stable metabolic conditions with constant rates of glucose consumption, lactate production, and hormone (human chorionic gonadotropin, human placental lactogen) release observed throughout the experiment. Washout levels of endogenous IgG and IgA observed in the maternal circuit at the end of the control period were 5 and 1000 times higher than in the fetal circuit. In the experimental phase these levels remained constant at 50-80% of control levels with no change in the last 4 hr of perfusion (group A). In group B, with addition of extra proteins, trace amounts of IgG-BT, IgA, and 14C-BSA were detectable in the fetal circuit within 1 hr, with no significant further increase in circulating levels in the following 4 hr of the perfusion. In contrast, the detection of IgGs in the fetal circuit was delayed by 2 hr; thereafter, a continuous linear increase was observed for all IgGs. TT-AG in fetal perfusate was below the detection limit. TT-AG was found on the fetal side only after ultrafiltration of samples obtained at the end of the experiment. For permeability comparison, the ratio between concentrations on the fetal and maternal side multiplied by 100 ([F:M] x 100), as detected after 6 hr of perfusion, was assessed (n = 5, mean +/- SD). Labelling of IgG with biotin (IgG-BT) reduced its placental transfer by a factor 10 (0.04 +/- 0.01) when compared with the natural IgG (0.49 +/- 0.08) or the specific antibody (anti-TT-IgG). The relative fetal-to-maternal ratio found for TT-AG (0.48 +/- 0.12) was similar to anti-TT-IgG (0.46 +/- 0.11), and approximately 4 and 50 times that of 14C-BSA (0.12 +/- 0.03) and IgA (0.01 +/- 0.01), respectively. Considering that the molecular weights of TT-AG and anti-TT-IgG were at least twice that of BSA and similar to IgA, the difference in transfer suggests a specific mechanism of transport. Compared with other proteins there is a significantly increased transfer of IgGs across the in vitro perfused human placenta from the maternal to the fetal side, indicating a specific transport mechanism. The similarity in transfer of anti-TT-IgG and tetanus antigen may suggest the transport as antibody-antigen complex. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
Novel approach for predicting the joint effects based on the enzyme-catalyzed kinetics.
Organisms are exposed to mixtures of multiple contaminants and it is necessary to build prediction models for the joint effects, considering the high expense and the complexity of the traditional toxicity testing and the flood occurrence of environmental chemical pollutants. In this study, a new method for predicting the joint effects was developed and corresponding prediction models were constructed based on the kinetic models of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. While, we utilized Vibrio fischeri, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis as model organisms and determined the chronic toxicity of the binary mixtures of sulfonamides (SAs) and sulfonamide potentiators (SAPs) (SA+SAP), the mixtures of two kinds of sulfonamides (SA+SA) and the binary mixtures of sulfonamide potentiators (SAPs) and tetracyclines (TCs) (SAP+TC) respectively. Finally, corresponding mixture toxicity data was utilized to fit and verify the prediction models for different joint effects. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
Q:
Display using QtWebKit, whilst parsing xml
I wish to use QtWebKit to load a url for display, but, that's the easy part, I can do that. What I wish to do is record / log xml as I go. My attention here is to record and database certain details on the fly, by recording those details.
My problem is, how to do this all on the fly, without requesting the same url from the server twice, once for the xml, and the second time to view the url.
My hope here, is to implement a very fast way of recording set data as the user passes over it. Take for example, rather then have to type out details displayed by a website, I wish to have those details chucked into a database as I the user views the website.
Now, I am using QtWebKit, and I have everything pretty much solved viewing wise. I have a loadUrl() routine which calls load(url) inside the qwebview.h
The problem is, how do I piggyback xml parsing on top of this?
A:
In your loadUrl do the download of the url yourself using the HTTP download facilities Qt already provides (QNetworkRequest and friends).
Once you got the data, parse and log it and use:
void QWebView::setHtml ( const QString & html, const QUrl & baseUrl = QUrl() )
To set it into the QWebView manually. The second url parameter is the url you have, which will be used as a base url for the elements that are referenced from the page.
If you are not sure you downloaded html, then use:
void QWebView::setContent ( const QByteArray & data, const QString & mimeType = QString(), const QUrl & baseUrl = QUrl() )
You can also do the inverse. Just call QWebView::load(url) in your method, and once the transfer is complete, use QWebView::mainFrame() to get the main frame and then QWebFrame::toHtml() to get the content, which you can parse and log as you wish.
| {
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
} |
Prevention of ischemic acute renal failure with impermeant solutes.
Studies were performed to evaluate the effect of solute permeability and extracellular osmolality in protecting against ischemic acute renal failure. The functional protective effect of a 1-min intrarenal perfusion (prior to intrarenal norepinephrine 0.75 micrograms . kg-1 . min-1) of a hypertonic permeant solute (hypertonic saline, 1,400 mosmol/kg H2O) and an isotonic impermeant solute (isotonic mannitol, 280 mosmol/kg H2O or isotonic polyethylene glycol, IPEG, 300 mosmol/kg H2O) was evaluated. Three hours after ischemia, the glomerular filtration rate was significantly lower in hypertonic saline group vs. either the isotonic mannitol- or IPEG-treated animals (2.4 vs. 8.9 and 10.4 ml/min, respectively; both P less than 0.05). Mean renal blood flow was similar in all three groups. The effects of hypertonic saline and IPEG on glomerular filtration pressure and tubular obstruction were also evaluated. Stop-flow pressure, as an index of glomerular filtration pressure, was higher in the IPEG- vs. the hypertonic saline-treated animals (40 vs. 35 mmHg, P less than 0.001). Although proximal tubular pressure was increased in both groups, transglomerular hydrostatic pressure was higher in the IPEG vs. the hypertonic saline group (13 vs. 6 mmHg, P less than 0.01). Tubular microperfusion studies demonstrated increases in proximal tubular pressure in the hypertonic saline but not the IPEG studies. The present results indicate that isotonic, impermeant solutes provide functional protection against ischemic acute renal failure. The beneficial effect of impermeant solute is mediated, at least in part, by better maintenance of transglomerular hydrostatic pressure and prevention of secondary tubular obstruction. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
Q:
How to add additional data to a mule payload?
I'm trying to add some additional static data to an inbound http message (received as URL parameters) payload before submitting it to an outbound http form based endpoint. My mule config is as follows :
<flow name="login" doc:name="login">
<http:inbound-endpoint exchange-pattern="request-response" address="http://localhost:8081/login" doc:name="Login"/>
<http:body-to-parameter-map-transformer doc:name="Body to Parameter Map"/>
<http:outbound-endpoint address="http://localhost:8090/mayapp/Main/login.do"
method="POST" contentType="application/x-www-form-urlencoded" exchange-pattern="request-response">
</http:outbound-endpoint>
</flow>
The above transforms the URL parameters to a http form POST (name/values pairs) very nicely. What I need now is the ability to add new name-value pairs to the POST(ed) data ? The form I'm posting to expects some static data (posted as hidden HTML fields) that I would like to handle as part of the transformation process.
I've managed to accomplish this using a custom component. I'm wondering if there's an easier way to handle this using Mule's native transformers / message processors !
A:
First I would use a transformer and not a component for this, as it is really a transformation you're doing on the payload data.
Second I can't think of another transformer than the Groovy one to modify the Map payload created by the body-to-parameter-map-transformer. Something like:
<script:transformer>
<script:script engine="groovy">
<script:text>
payload['newKey'] = 'newValue'
</script:text>
</script:script>
</script:transformer>
| {
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
} |
724 F.Supp. 1027 (1989)
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION, et al., Plaintiffs
v.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, et al., Defendants.
Civ. No. 86-1918 (AER).
United States District Court, District of Columbia.
September 18, 1989.
Joseph Yablonski, Yablonski, Both & Edelman, Washington, D.C., for plaintiffs.
John Schafer, Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C., for defendants.
MEMORANDUM
AUBREY E. ROBINSON, Jr., Chief Judge.
This action is brought by the National Football League Players Association ("the NFLPA"). On August 28, 1989, Judge Thomas Hogan heard and denied Plaintiffs' application for a temporary restraining order. The action is now before the Court on Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. The parties having briefed the matter extensively, the Court heard oral argument on September 14, 1989.
The action the Players seek to enjoin is the National Football League's ("the League's") policy, already in effect, to subject all players to periodic urine testing for the presence of anabolic steroids or steroid masking agents, and to suspend those players testing positive for a period of thirty days. Indeed, immediately after Judge Hogan declined to issue a temporary restraining order, the League publicly announced the results of its steroid testing program and suspended a number of players for the thirty day period.
The NFLPA has filed a grievance, and the parties have agreed to expedited arbitration. Pending that arbitration, by its motion the NFLPA asks this Court to restore the suspended players to active status and to order the League to refrain from the further suspension of players on the basis of steroid testing. For the reasons below, the Court believes the circumstances presented do not warrant intervention by the federal courts, and therefore denies Plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction.
*1028 The clear congressional policy against judicial interference in labor disputes, as expressed in the Norris-LaGuardia Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 101-115, poses a formidable obstacle to Plaintiffs' request. See Buffalo Forge Co. v. United Steel Workers, 428 U.S. 397, 410-11, 96 S.Ct. 3141, 3148-49, 49 L.Ed.2d 1022 (1976). Nonetheless, Plaintiffs point to the fairly well-settled exception to that law's proscriptions that the Court may issue an injunction pending arbitration, assuming the usual equitable requirements are met, where the "integrity of the arbitration process would be threatened absent interim relief." International Bhd. of Elec. Workers v. Potomac Elec. Power Co., 634 F.Supp. 642, 643 (D.D.C. 1986).[1]
Unfortunately, the record simply does not present the kind of irreparable harm to the players which would support an injunction. As was recognized in the PEPCO case, temporary loss of employment will typically not threaten the integrity of a future arbitration, "since back pay and re-instatement can in most instances provide complete relief." Id. at 643. The Court is convinced that is precisely the case here. Though perhaps the suspensions were untimely, occurring simultaneously with mandatory team roster cuts, the fact remains that they last only thirty days. Plaintiffs argue that the suspended players' skills, reputations, and professional careers will suffer irreversibly from the League's actions. However, players return routinely from extended absences due to injury or suspension on other grounds to play and to play well. In addition, while the other interests Plaintiffs cite are indeed important, their loss is measured and compensated by the courts everyday.
In sum, if the League's policy is an unjustified breach of contract, the resulting injury to the players is not so irreparable "that a decision of the [arbitrator] in the union's favor would be but an empty victory," Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, 363 U.S. 528, 534, 80 S.Ct. 1326, 1330, 4 L.Ed.2d 1379 (1960), or a "hollow formality," Nursing Home & Hosp. Union v. Sky Vue Terrace, 759 F.2d 1094, 1098 (3d Cir. 1985). The arbitrable process will neither be frustrated nor vitiated absent an injunction. For that reason alone, preliminary equitable relief is not justified under the "narrow exception" to the Norris-LaGuardia Act's anti-injunction policies. Plaintiffs' motion is therefore denied.
NOTES
[1] See also Boys Markets, Inc. v. Retail Clerks Union, 398 U.S. 235, 254, 90 S.Ct. 1583, 1594, 26 L.Ed.2d 199 (1970); Nursing Home & Hosp. Union No. 434 v. Sky Vue Terrace, Inc., 759 F.2d 1094, 1098 (3d Cir.1985); International Ass'n of Machinists and Aerospace Workers v. Panoramic Corp., 668 F.2d 276, 283 (7th Cir.1981).
| {
"pile_set_name": "FreeLaw"
} |
The UAE Ambassador said Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and tried to lower the tensions between the two countries.
In a major revelation, UAE envoy to India Dr Ahmed Albanna said that his country played an important role in reducing tensions between India and Pakistan
"We have played an important role in reducing tension between India and Pakistan. On the day of the huge escalation. Our Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammad Bin Zayed had a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. Our role was to sort out differences between that two sides in a peaceful manner through negotiations", said the UAE envoy at an event organised by IIT Delhi to mark UAE's celebration of 2019 as "Year of tolerance".
This comes at a time when India has tried to downplay any foreign role in reducing of tensions between the two sides and has rejected the idea of mediation.
The Emirati envoy did say that there was no "mediation" on UAE's part since that requires request and consent of both the parties, India and Pakistan. But, accepted that the role of his country after Balakot strikes was very important.
Pakistan had planned retaliation which led to an Indian Air Force pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman being captured by Pakistani military. UAE kept both India and Pakistan engaged around the time to ensure matters do no escalate.
"The UAE was engaged with both sides to ease off the tensions and resolve the issues amicably", he said.
The envoy also took questions on the issue of Pakistan and terrorism emanating from Pakistan. Talking about the misuse of "Islam" by terrorists, he said, "Without mentioning any specific person, name or country, UAE has a long standing resolve in preventing, flighting acts of terrorism and those radicalist, radical organisation. So, we work with all partners, with many different countries, with all the countries in the region to make our region peacefull region that we can live together and coexist."
Raising concerns regarding India-UAE bilateral relations in the aviation sector Dr. Albanna said that the new rules of India's air traffic is causing commercial losses to many countries
"Our skies are open to all Indian airways but India has a policy that denies those within the 5000-kilometre radius similar 'open sky policy'. I hope they will examine this policy.... We have taken it up with
In a major criticism and pointing towards corruption in India, the UAE envoy hinted at the role of corporates, politicians and lobbyists in deciding the aviation policy of India.
"The aviation industry is very important. The slogan of the Ministry of Aviation in India is 'fly for all'. I don't want to get into politics but everybody is aware of the law of supply and demand... We have an 'open sky policy' in UAE. We do not prevent anybody but in India a couple of years ago they passed a law which is '5000 kilometre radius'. No open sky for any flight within 5,000 kilometre radius. The lobbying of a certain groups affects decision-making and normal people further get affected."
India and UAE are also caught up in a corporate war between Jet Airways and Etihad.
The envoy justified the Emirati airliners stand since it now has a major stake in Jet. "There are more than 1000 direct flights per week between various destinations of India and the UAE. On April 23, 2013 Jet and Etihad Airways signed an US$ 8 billion agreement. Etihad airlines agreed to invest US$379 million in Jet Airways for a 24% stake in the shareholding", he said. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
Q:
z3python: using math library
I was trying to use python's math library with z3python, what I did was
import z3
import math
a,b = z3.Reals('a b')
solve(b == math.factorial(a), b == 6)
The error message it returns is AttributeError: ArithRef instance has no attribute 'float'.
My purpose is not really using the factorial function in Z3, rather I am curious if the functions from the math library can be used with Z3 in general. Any suggestion is appreciated.
A:
In general, no, this is not possible. The reason is that there is no translation for Python functions to logical constraints (which in theory could be done, e.g., via the fixed-point engine), but it would require substantial effort and essentially an encoding of (in general undecidable) model-checking problems. See also Leo's excellent answer to a related question here).
In this particular example, note that a is symbolic, i.e., it represents any possible real number. math.factorial does not know what to do with this information, because it's implementation only handles concrete real numbers.
For some particular functions, it may of course be possible to provide a precise encoding to Z3. For example, Z3 supports exponentiation and the Python API provides a __pow__ operator. Note that this operator however, may not have exactly the same semantics as Python's __pow__ on (floating-point abstractions of) real numbers, and it is not derived from Python's implementation of __pow__.
| {
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
} |
import React from 'react';
import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
import get from 'lodash.get';
import { BooleanField } from 'admin-on-rest';
export class ShowField extends React.Component {
render () {
const { source, record = {} } = this.props;
let data = get(record, source);
if (data instanceof Object) {
data = JSON.stringify(data, null, 2);
} else if (typeof(data) === 'boolean') {
return (
<BooleanField
{...this.props}
elStyle={{width: '24px', margin: 0}}
/>
);
}
return <span>{data}</span>;
}
}
ShowField.defaultProps = {
addLabel: true,
};
ShowField.propTypes ={
source: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
record: PropTypes.object,
};
export default ShowField;
| {
"pile_set_name": "Github"
} |
Ruellia insignis
Ruellia insignis is a species of plant in the family Acanthaceae. It is endemic to Yemen.
References
Category:Endemic flora of Socotra
insignis
Category:Least concern plants
Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot | {
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
} |
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Stop Obamacare, demand real health care!
Hump day!!!! I wish it were the weekend. I was kind of hoping snow would hit bad yesterday or tomorrow (didn't happen) just so I could take a day off. :D Seriously.
Okay, I have a reader who e-mails about the Iraq War about once a month. He's firmly against it. I did not know he was a Republican until his e-mail today. That's cool. There's nothing wrong with it and I do have a number of Republican readers. They're welcome here. I would be a Democrat myself if we respected the process (which we don't which is why the candidate who got the most votes was robbed the nomination in Denver). I would be a Socialist (like my grandfather) but so many of them have no ethics and I'll probably tear apart one tomorrow night. I'd planned to do it tonight. (No ethics? What the hell is Socialist ever doing being a cheerleader for any Democratic president? That's beyond kiss ass. That's so far burrowed up the ass that you just ain't coming out.) So I'm a man without a party these days. But even if I was still a firm Democrat, I'd be happy to have readers against the Iraq War.
I say all of that because I thought I had three Republican readers but every time I write about one, I have others come forward. Which is cool. But I want to be sure Republicans know that I'm not attacking them. You're a person just like me. I'll attack the media figures, I'll attack the politicians, etc. I'm not aiming my fire at We The People. We can disagree and we can agree and we will always be together as We The People.
Along with being against the illegal war, I am also against Barack Obama's so-called 'health care plan'. I'm against it because (A) I believe in single payer, universal health care, (B) I do not believe in forcing everyone to buy anything (and we already have that in my home state), (C) I do not believe in gifting corporations with our money and (D) I'm not into backwater deals made out of the public eye. You really need to read Ann's "Realities about Barack's Big Pharma Give Away" from last night about just how crooked the 'health care plan' was done.
Now that's why I'm opposed to it. You may be opposed for another reason. That's cool. One reason my family voted for Scott Brown (including my family members who are Socialists) was to block Barry O's health care disaster. So when a reader asked if I would highlight a thing he got from Senator John McCain about stopping the health care fiasco, I say, "YES WE CAN!" :D This is John McCain:
This week, President Obama unveiled a "new" health care reform proposal that was little more than a regurgitation of the flawed legislation passed by Senate Democrats on Christmas Eve. He believes we need to completely overhaul our health care system, putting the government in charge of your health care, and will host a summit tomorrow to sell this plan. I've been invited and plan to attend tomorrow's summit and I can assure you I will do everything in my power to represent our point of view.
What we must do is scrap the current plan for a government takeover of health care and start over.
Last year, we gathered nearly 250,000 signatures from men and women across the country opposed to government-run health care. That support helped boost our argument in Congress against the Democrats' plan. Today, I need your immediate support to continue fighting against the takeover attempts from the left. That's why your signature is urgently needed.
President Obama and Congressional Democrats seem to ignore public opinion polling that strongly states Americans do not favor their plans. We thought they'd get the message when Scott Brown won an overwhelming victory last month, but unfortunately, they have begun to push their plans for a takeover once again.
We cannot afford government-run health care. The costs are simply too high. What we must do is start over. I hope you'll join me in calling for this by immediately signing this petition. If we can gather at least 100,000 signatures overnight from our grassroots community, it will send an immediate message in advance of this summit that Americans want to start over.
After signing the petition, you will have the opportunity to make a donation to my reelection campaign. I humbly ask that you give as generously as possible so that I may continue serving on your behalf in the United States Senate.
My friend, our fight against government takeover of your health care is far from over and we must continue fighting. The Obama bill is full of sweetheart special deals like the atrocious "Cornhusker Kickback" and "Louisiana Purchase." This legislation can't be fixed - it must be scrapped. I hope you will join me right now by signing our "Scrap Health Care Reform and Start Over" petition.
Can we stop it? All together now: YES WE CAN! Can we make Barry O a one-term president? YES WE CAN! :D
Did you catch that hideous Amy Goodman today? She decided to try to pick back up on nuclear power. She offered the lamest bulls**t I've ever seen.
I'm so sick of people on the left (I'm on the left, if you're new to this site) who can't call out Barack. I'm so damn sick of them. Chickens**t assholes.
And that show is so bad. It just gets worse every week. It's Regis and Kelly these days. If anyone mistakes what Goodman does for political then they must have just filled out their first voter registration card.
I think she's the remedial tutor that the bulk of America neither needs nor wants.
Back to health care, I'm signed up with some group called The Pen. I think I signed up while I was still in high school. I don't know who they are but they have some good alerts. This is also on stopping the hideous 'health care' Barack's trying to push:
We WERE going to do an alert today pushing back against the career right wing mole in the Justice Department who thinks he can unilaterally absolve John Yoo and Jay Bybee of facilitating known war crimes . But first we must AGAIN muster as much opposition as we can to the White House's attempt today to slickly repackage the hideously bad Senate health care bill.
All the "hope" in the world is not going to result in the slightest bit of real progressive policy change. NO, for that YOU must ACTIVELY speak out and KEEP doing it. Put down your "Yes, We Can" coffee mug and step away from the slick corporate con job. Submit this action page now, which includes a special custom function to pipe your personal comments directly to the new White House questions form.
We have a simple question for the White House, "Why are you still refusing to even consider single payer?!"
And we have a simple and singular message, "Any health care 'reform' bill that does not provide a Single Payer option is NO real reform at all."
That's it folks, the sum and total of this new fax petition, and you can add whatever other choice personal comments you like. We need 100,000 people to submit this action today, so the White House knows that we the American people are not as stupid as they think we are.
There were some who "hoped" that when the White House came out with their own health care proposal there would be a real robust public option in it. Instead, what they came out with today is little more than the exact SAME Senate bill that everyone hated so much, the bill that already cost us the Senate seat in Massachusetts, with perhaps some inconsequential cosmetic improvements, some quarter hearted gestures towards the House bill that was itself wholly inadequate.
Indeed, going out to the White House site, we can't find the ACTUAL proposed bill anywhere, just page after page of slick, corporate marketing hype with pretty graphics of prescription drug vials, and not a word, not ONE single word anywhere about single payer or an actual robust public option of any kind. Apparently the White House thinks that the only thing that needs to be fixed about health care is their marketing campaign, which is why they called David Plouffe back in to crank up the smoke blowing machine again. Why they even pulled him off his big book selling tour, talking about how he was so instrumental in selling the hopes of progressives down the river, to do it.
As best as we can determine, all the gruesomely bad stuff that cannot possibly work in the interests of the people is still in there, in particular the forced mandate to buy corporate health insurance from some unneeded new "exchange", with no other meaningful option. Here is the incredibly deceptive answer on the White House site to the question of whether you will be forced to buy a "government" plan.
"You will be able to shop among private insurance plans that will be sold in the insurance exchange -- a marketplace where you can choose what is right for you."
This is exactly the SAME load of horse radish they tried to stuff down our throats LAST month, like we're not supposed to remember or be able to tell the difference. Except for one thing, now that the Supreme Court has issued their edict that corporations ARE the government, how is corporate insurance and corporate insurance only NOT a "government" plan?
And if that isn't nauseous enough, they even try to channel the "right for you" mantra used on TV so incessantly to peddle prescription drugs we later find out are killing thousands of people from their deadly side effects. Ask your member of Congress if being an indentured corporate debt slave is right for you.
Oh, and there's a slick new corporate marketing slogan too, "Putting Americans in Control of their Health Care." Well, we're the American people and we are not in control of our health care costs until we have single payer, and we're not going to shut up until we get it.
By coincidence, today is the day the credit card so-called reform bill finally goes into non-effect, changing absolutely nothing about the bottom line, since Congress was very determined to make sure they killed any actual ceiling on net usurous interest rates.
So now we can do one of two things. Be fooled yet again, and go, "Duh, OK," like millions of Homer Simpsons. OR ... we can speak out in greater numbers than ever before, with a renewed rigor, and a renewed determination, resolved that no matter what happens we will not go down without the most valiant fight we can muster. Please submit the action page now, and encourage everyone else you know to do the same. They only way we can truly lose is by giving up.
And if you have not done so already, be sure to request your free bumper sticker protesting the Supreme Court decision to give corporations unlimited largesse to tilt our elections. No donation required, but please do make one if you can, which is what makes it possible to send these for no charge to anyone who cannot make a donation right now.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, election madness continues, more alleged 'Ba'athists' are banned, rumors swirl about who is meeting with which country, the US peace movement gears up for action next month, and more.
Stuart Bowen: This is the top story, Chairman Carnahan. We looked at this four years ago and the problem that we identified four years ago was lack of contract management -- raised in our first audit, issued in the first month of 2007. Then we got into the whole contract and found it was inauditable and so we issued a review in October saying the State Dept asked for three to five years to put things in order because it was just a mess. And then we went in in 2008 to see if there were remedial measures and there were but then we go in last summer and find the same problem, 3 person in country overseeing a contract that is spending hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars. And more-more disturbing the lack of clarity about who is supposed to do what. The in country contracting officer representative my people interviewed said, 'Well invoice accountability is being done back in Washington.' Ask them, they say it's being done in Iraq. Huge vulnearbility.
Chair Russ Carnahan: And with regard to the contractor, Dyncorp, describe how that contract was initially awarded.
Stuart Bowen: It was an existing contract that was held by the State Dept that was, that was used. I don't have the specific facts of the bidding, but it was -- it was -- it was in 2004 and used to apply to this -- to this program at the level of 2.5 billiion. And again as I said it was DoD money that went into it so I think DoD was looking for a vehicle that is could use to spend this money and it did so. I think there are some questions about that process. It certainly shows how bifurcated or disjointed both the source of the money, the contract management of the money and then the execution of the contract. All different places. Uh-uh, it shows, I think, just the lack of clarity in stabilization reconstruction contracting.
Chair Russ Carnahan: In your reviews, to what extent can you account for how that money has been spent?
Stuart Bowen: Uh, we're looking at the execution of it now. My auditors in Iraq today are reviewing that matter and the outcomes, which are an important question for you, we will answer in a later review.
Chair Russ Carnahan: And you expect that report out when?
Stuart Bowen: By July, no later than July.
Chair Russ Carnahan: I'm going to yield to Judge Poe.
US House Rep Ted Poe: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [To Bowen] Which of our government agencies, in your opinion, was most irresponsible about money? DoD, State Dept, USAID
Stuart Bowen: I think that the State Dept did not carry out its contract oversight responsibilities sufficiently enough. In this particular contract we're discuss -- discussing is the most egregious example and the most disturbing point is it hasn't remediated that weakness sufficiently today.
We attended three hearings today and I'll try to pick up the VA one tomorrow. But this hearing was the most sparsely attended by the press. It was scheduled opposite big-ticket or 'hot topic' hearings such as Senator Carl Levin's hearing (Senate Armed Services Committee) on contractors in Afghanistan which is where the bulk of the press went this morning. I was not at that hearing but I have the opening statements of the Chair (Levin) and the Ranking Member (John McCain) and have spoken to Senate staffers about it. Some of the statements and questions are built around a hope that something was learned about contracting in Iraq -- with attention to oversight and cost effectiveness. For example, McCain declared, "Too many scarce tax payer dollars were squandered in the rebuilding of Iraq. I hope we have learned lessons from our experience there." No, there have been no lessons learned. That was obvious throughout the hearing Bowen testified at today.
The problems he is addressing regarding lack of oversight are the same ones he first noticed in 2004, the same ones he flagged in his early reports are still being flagged today. What is the point of having an Inspector General over reconstruction if they have no power? And Bowen obviously has no power or else he doesn't know how to use it. The same mistakes do not get called out over and over unless no one's taking the issue seriously. And if John McCain or Carl Levin are really hoping that Iraq 'lessons' can be taken to Afghanistan, they better get serious in hearings and oversight about what's going on in Iraq still in terms of the lack of oversight on US monies spent.
Not only do they need to pay more attention to it, so does the press. Again, this Subcommittee hearing that Russ Carnahan chaired this morning? Barely attended by the press. Kat plans to cover an aspect of it at her site tonight and Wally's going to sit in for Rebecca tonight and cover another aspect of the hearing.
March 7th, elections are supposed to be held in Iraq. These are Parlimentary elections and the Parliament will then select a prime minister. Yesterday, NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro (All Things Considered) offered a report on the campaigning:Lourdes Garcia-Navarro: Nouri al-Maliki is Iraq's unlikely strongman. Initially seen as a weak compromise candidate when he was installed as prime minister four years ago, Maliki is now accused by his rivals of being a dictator in waiting. To secure another term, he needs to win big in Iraq's Shi'ite south. On a multi-city tour of the region this past week, Maliki told the crowds that he is a man who can deliver.Nouri al-Maliki: We have achieved security. We've signed huge oil contracts which will give Iraq money. I'm not telling you that we want to achieve something, we have already achieved something.Lourdes Garcia-Navarro: Maliki's coalition, called "State of Law," did well in provincial elections last year but more recently his popularity has waned according to some Iraqi analaysts. A series of high profile terrorists attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere have called into question his security credentials and what some call his heavy-handed approach to governance has also provoked criticism. Maliki's main rival in the south is the Iraqi National Alliance It includes the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, or ISCI, and Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's political bloc. ISCI's leader, Ammar al-Hakim, was also campaigning in the south this week. Speaking to a crowd in Diwaniyah, he said the time is right for change. Ammar al-Hakim: Iraq deserves better than what it has now. With the grace of God and your help, the Iraqi National Alliance will be able to revive this country.Lourdes Garcia-Navarro: Both sides are using whatever means they can to secure votes. In last year's provincial elections, Maliki won significant support from so-called tribal support councils that he established. In return for money and positions, tribal leaders promised to deliver votes for the prime minister -- and they did. Of the process thus far, Olivia Ward (Toronto Star) offers this recap, "The election started with a call for unity, which gradually unravelled with scores of people killed in bombings, candidates targeted for assassination or attack, and up to 400 would-be candidates disqualified under a 'de-Baathification' law meant to prevent a resurgence of Saddam Hussein's supporters."
al-Maliki, Allawi are only two thought to be vying for prime minister. Reuters notes the two and others thought to be in the running: Bayan Jabor, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Adel Abdul Mahdi, Ahmed Chalabi, Jawad al-Bolani, Qassam Daoud and Raad Mawlude Mukhlis. Reuters also examines some of the political alliances. The Ahrar Poliltical party issued the following today:
Yesterday on the Race to Parliament programme, Ayad Jamal Aldin declared that the Iraqi government has lost control The leader of the Ahrar Party announced that the government had failed the Iraqi people by failing to tackle three major problems: a census, the constitution, and national reconciliation.He blamed corruption for this failure and stated that Ahrar has a plan to unite Iraq and end bribery and dishonesty.Ayad Jamal Aldin said: "This government has lost control and has been overrun by corrupters and outsiders intent on dividing and destroying Iraq."Ahrar is the only party to have a credible and detailed plan to end the violence and intimidation that every Iraqi faces every day. We will create a united Iraq with water, jobs, and electricity."On March 7 the Iraqi people have a choice. They can vote for more corruption, more violence, and more division. Or they vote for change, with jobs, security and unity. A vote for Ahrar is a vote for change."Watch the video here.For further information, contact:
Ahrar Media Bureau Tel: +964 (0)790 157 4478 / +964 (0)790 157 4479 / +964 (0)771 275 [email protected] Ayad Jamal Aldin: Ayad Jamal Aldin is a cleric, best known for his consistent campaigning for a new, secular Iraq. He first rose to prominence at the Nasiriyah conference in March 2003, shortly before the fall of Saddam, where he called for a state free of religion, the turban and other theological symbols. In 2005, he was elected as one of the 25 MPs on the Iraqi National List, but withdrew in 2009 after becoming disenchanted with Iyad Allawi's overtures to Iran. He wants complete independence from Iranian interference in Iraq. He now leads the Ahrar party for the 2010 election to the Council of Representatives, to clean up corruption and create a strong, secure and liberated Iraq for the future.
Now back to Allawi. Andrew England (Financial Times of London) reports that he is accusing the current government in Iraq of "reviving sectarianism" through the previous bannings and they quote him stating, "It's a beginning of going back to the drawing table where they started sectarianism. You can sense it unfortunately, in the political landscape again. If this sectarianism becomes an issue, which it already is, and continues to do so then definitely we will slip into more violence and this may lead to a civil war." Meanwhile ever since John Jenkins, British Ambassador to Iraq, made it a 'hot topic,' military coup in Iraq just doesn't go away. The latest to wade in is Adil Abdel-Mahdi, Iraq's Shi'ite vice president. DPA reports that he has expressed concerns about "militarization" in Iraq and what that could mean for the country's future, noting, "There is a historical precende in this case. The country is set for military coups." Iraq has another vice president, Tareq al-Hashemi. Waleed Ibrahim and Rania El Gamal (Reuters) quote al-Hashemi declaring today, "(Reconciliation) is one of the projects that the government has failed at unprecedentedly and . . . the reason is that there is no real intention for national reconciliation. There is no real will for reconciliation."
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Reuters notes a Baghdad bombing which claimed the life of 1 "senior judge". KUNA identifies him as Justice Mohammad Abdulghafour and notes that he "specialized in cases of terrorism".
Shootings?
Reuters notes 1 female employee of the Independent High Electoral Commission was wounded in a Baghdad shooting.
In my mind I can't study war no moreSave the peopleSave the childrenSave the country-- "Save The Country," written by Laura Nyro, first appears on her New York Tendaberry album, also a hit for The 5th DimensionTurning to the US, yesterday, a protest against the continued wars and their toll on humanity took place in New York. The demonstration was staged by NYC Peace Grannies. Joan Wile is the founder of Grandmothers Against the War and has written the book Grandmothers Against the War: Getting Off Our Fannies and Standing Up for Peace. She was part of the demonstration and has written "Rain-Drenched, Wind-Tossed New York City Peace Grannies Hold Memorial For The 1,000 Dead G.I.s in Afghanistan:"It seems as if most of our U.S. populace has forgotten that U.S. soldiers are dying in Afghanistan. Focused on Tiger Woods' sex life and, more understandably, the seemingly endless, unresolvable health reform and jobs battles in Washington, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan appear to be ignored.However, a group of New York city peace grannies and their supporters DO remember, and they publicly so acknowledged on Tuesday, Feb. 23, the just-announced grim tally of 1,000 U.S. soldiers' loss of life in Afghanistan. The event was coordinated by Grandmothers Against the War and the Granny Peace Brigade. Members of Peace Action New York, Veterans for Peace, The World Can't Wait, the Gray Panthers, Brooklyn for Peace, and the Raging Grannies attended as well.On the cold, wet and windy evening, approximately 30 mostly elderly people assembled in front of Rockefeller Center on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to pay tribute to the 1,000 American G.I.s sacrificed in the wrong-headed war in Afghanistan. They also mourned the many Afghani deaths caused by our missiles and bombs.The great actor-author, Malachy McCourt , opened the proceedings with a powerful speech lambasting the tragic expenditure of life and resources in the hopeless pursuit of peace through war. A statement of support by NY State Senator Bill Perkins, who had to be in Albany with the legislature, was read. Following that, the vigil members read the names of deceased soldiers AND deceased Afghani civilians to the accompaniment of a single muffled drum beat.It was startling and extremely saddening to hear that so many of the Afghanis whose names were read were small children. One wondered: How can we feel morally justified in waging a war that causes so many innocent people to die whom we are supposedly protecting?Strangely enough, the police erected a barricade around the anti-war stalwarts. This had never been done before in the six plus years that Grandmothers Against the War, the Vets for Peace and the Granny Peace Brigade have been holding a weekly Wednesday vigil on that Rockefeller Center site.The soggy Peaceniks then walked down Fifth Avenue and over to the Times Square recruiting station where the Raging Grannies sang familiar songs with their revised anti-war lyrics. They kept singing despite the fact that several policemen insisted that the group leave. Finally, thoroughly soaked and shivering, the hardy old folks (and a few young ones) dispersed.It is worth quoting part of Sen. Perkins' statement: "It is obvious that the lessons of the unjust war launched by the previous Bush administration have yet to sink in on the current administration. Each day the goal of honorable victory will be ever more elusive. The goal of an honorable peace for a dishonorable war will continue to have its price."As I write, one day later, the tragic number of our young military dead in Afghanistan has climbed to 1,006.
While the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan is growing ever larger, the occupation of Iraq is still raging, nearing its seventh anniversary. With over 4,300 US soldiers and over 1.3 million Iraqi civilians estimated dead, something has to be done to stop this senseless slaughter. This year Students for a Democratic Society will hold a national week of action March 15th to 20th where students will organize protests and direct actions at campuses across the country in opposition to the ongoing, brutal occupations. The need for a vibrant anti-war movement has rarely been felt more than this very moment, while the United States drops trillions of dollars into unjust wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, during the worst economic crisis in 80 years. Students are struggling to pay for school while tuition skyrockets, and states lose billions of dollars to two continuing occupations.On Saturday, March 20th, SDS will participate in a massive National March & Rally in D.C. hosted by A.N.S.W.E.R. to finish the week of action with tens of thousands of people in the street! We're calling on students and youth from across the country to join us the week of March 15-20th in demanding: Fund Education, Not Occupation! For more information visit: http://sdsantiwar.wordpress.com/March 13th, a Peace Camp will be set up in DC. Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan (Cindy Sheenhan's Soapbox) explains some of the goals of the Peace Camp in her open letter to US President Barack Obama:
In 2005, I asked for a meeting with President Bush that was never granted, and as you know, Camp Casey in Crawford became the spark that lit a prairie fire of anti-war sentiment that swept you and your cohorts in the Democratic Party back into power and now we are coming to collect the spoils of that victory--which is not more war--but more Peace. You Democrats owe much to your anti-war base--and we will not be quiet nor be ignored as we were in the previous administration. It's time for you to pay the Peace-piper, Mr. Obama. Our demands are profound, yet simple for you to perform: troops out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (where three soldiers were just killed); no more drone bombings anywhere; close the permanent bases and torture prisons; and bring the mercenary soldiers home, too. We will not be closing up Camp, or the movement, until positive progress in the direction of Peace is noted. The first week of Camp (March 13-20), we are asking for a meeting with you to discuss setting up a Peace Council that you will regularly meet with that will have a seat at the table when decisions that will kill, maim, displace, or harm our troops or civilians in any way are being discussed. We also demand that this Peace Council be comprised of grassroots members of the Peace Movement and not rubber-stamp status quo worshippers, or other "Peace" Prize laureates like Henry Kissinger, who already, reportedly, has your ear. If you do not meet with representatives from Camp OUT NOW, we will be a thorn in the side of the War Machine, and we will not go away without a struggle. If you do meet with us and agree to a Peace Council, we will pack up our tents, but we will still be a thorn in the side of the War Machine until Peace is finally achieved--the only difference is that we won't be camped across the street from your home.
Thus it's no surprise that Tom Ricks, a former reporter and author who's taken up residence at CNAS, has fired the opening gambit in what is likely to be a direct challenge to President Obama by the military, by conservatives and neoconservatives, by surge-lovers and empire builders, and others, to keep US forces in Iraq.Ricks penned an op-ed in the New York Times entitled "Extending Our Stay in Iraq," as if the 98,000 troops there were business travelers asking the front desk for a late checkout. "Our stay"? He means, the US occupation of Iraq.And Ricks pulls no punches. Obama should forget about his pledge to reduce US forces to 50,000 by August and to zero by the end of 2011. Instead, Ricks says, the troubling internal contradictions in Iraq -- including Iran's influence -- means that the United States should "keep 30,000 to 50,000 United States service members in Iraq for many years to come."
So much to comment on. First, Ricks is doing an 'international sweep' shortly. Dreyfuss has made college students in one country very happy because they've been arguing with Ricks' sponsor (for his talk) over whether or not he's a journalist. He's not. He's now a counter-insurgency (war on a native people) guru at a War Hawk think tank. And this professor has told the students that Ricks doesn't have an opinion because he's a reporter, told the students he's objective. So we should all be grateful that Ricks has yet again pulled his War Hawk Stub out and waived it around yet again. Second, we should be grateful for the column he wrote. We now know where Michele Flournoy stands. Most of us already suspected it but Ricks doesn't write a word that Flournoy (who left his think tank to join the administration -- where she now stalls Congress on the Iraq 'withdrawal' plan) doesn't approve of.
Lastly, TV notes. NOW on PBS begins airing Friday on most PBS stations (check local listings):
In 1995 and 1996, 66 gray wolves were relocated from Canada to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho to help recover a wolf population that had been exterminated in the northern Rockies. The gray wolf relocation is considered one of the most successful wildlife recovery projects ever attempted under the Endangered Species Act; today there are more than 1,600 wolves in the region. But a debate has erupted between conservationists and ranchers over the question: how many wolves are too many? Last year, the Obama Administration entered the fray by removing federal protection for some of these wolves, paving the way for controversial state-regulated wolf hunts. The move has wolf advocates fuming, with more than a dozen conservation groups suing the Interior Department to restore federal protections. On February 26 at 8:30 pm (check local listings), NOW reports on this war over wolves and implications for the area.
Followers
About Me
I'm Michael, Mike to my friends. College student working his way through. I'm also Irish-American and The New York Times can kiss my Irish ass. And check out Trina's Kitchen on my links, that's my mother's site. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Yugoslavia women's national under-16 basketball team
The Yugoslavia women's national under-16 basketball team () was the girl's basketball team, administered by Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia, that represented SFR Yugoslavia in international under-16 (under age 16) women's basketball competitions, consisted mainly of the European Championship for Cadettes, nowadays known as the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women.
After the dissolution of SFR Yugoslavia in 1991, the successor countries all set up their own national under-16 teams.
Individual awards
Top Scorer
Zagorka Počeković — 1982
Danira Nakić – 1985
Žana Lelas – 1987
Vedrana Grgin – 1991
European Championship competitive record
Coaches
New national teams
After the dissolution of SFR Yugoslavia in 1991, five new countries were created: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, FR Yugoslavia (in 2003, renamed to Serbia and Montenegro) and Slovenia. In 2006, Montenegro became an independent nation and Serbia became the legal successor of Serbia and Montenegro. In 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia and became a FIBA member in 2015.
Here is a list of women's national under-16 teams on the SFR Yugoslavia area:
(1992–present)
(1992–present)
(1993–present)
(1992–2006)
(2006–present)
(2006–present)
(2015–present)
(1992–present)
See also
Yugoslavia women's national under-19 basketball team
Yugoslavia women's national under-18 basketball team
References
Category:Women's national under-16 basketball teams
Under
Category:Youth sport in Yugoslavia | {
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
} |
The goal of project 2 is to understand the role of WW domain proteins in the regulation of renal Na + absorption via the epithelial Na + channel, ENaC. ENaC forms the pathway for Na + absorption in the kidney collecting duct and other epithelia. Thus, this channel plays a critical role in Na + homeostasis and blood pressure control. Mechanisms that control the expression of ENaC at the cell surface play an important role in the regulation of epithelial Na + absorption. A key sequence is the PY motif, located in the C-termini of ENaC subunits. Mutation or deletion of this sequence increases the number of ENaC channels at the cell surface, causing an inherited form of hypertension (Liddle's syndrome). PY motifs mediate protein interactions by binding to WW domains, implicating a critical role for WW domain proteins. In previous work, we and others found that a WW domain protein (Nedd4) decreased Na + current by binding to ENaC and targeting the channel for degradation. However, the role of Nedd4 in the kidney collecting duct is unknown. Moreover, it is clear that Nedd4 is part of a large family of Nedd4-related proteins. Thus, we will use a systematic approach to test the hypothesis that WW domain proteins modulate ENaC-mediated Na + absorption in the collecting duct. In Specific Aim 1, we will determine which WW domain proteins are candidates, based on their expression patterns, their binding to ENaC subunits, and their ability to inhibit ENaC in heterologous expression systems. In Specific Aim 2, we will extend these results to the kidney collecting duct, and other epithelia that express ENaC. We will test the hypothesis that specific WW domain proteins interact with ENaC, and inhibit Na + current in M1 and H441 cells, derived from the kidney collecting duct and lung, respectively. In Specific Aim 3, we will identify the sequences in the WW domain proteins and ENaC that mediate the interaction between these proteins, and that are required for down-stream events leading to channel degradation. First, we will test which WW domains and PY motifs are required. Second, we will test the role of WW domain proteins, and specific sequences, in the Ca2+-dependent regulation of ENaC. Third, we will test the hypothesis that polymorphisms in ENaC and WW domain proteins alter binding and/or channel inhibition. Because these ENaC polymorphisms were identified in hypertensive populations, this work could have important implications for our understanding of hypertension, and other disorders of Na + homeostasis. | {
"pile_set_name": "NIH ExPorter"
} |
A study of some serum mineral levels before and during pregnancy and during lactation period of sheep and cattle.
The purpose of this study was to determine serum Cu, Zn, Mn, K, and Mg levels before and during pregnancy and during the lactation period of sheep and cattle and to determine the relationships between periods. For this purpose, blood samples of 14 healthy, pregnant Brown Swiss cows fed under normal condition and 36 Karakas (Ivesi x Akkaraman) sheep were used. Blood samples were analyzed using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. There were significant differences between before pregnancy and during pregnancy, and during pregnancy and the lactation period for serum Zn concentration; also before pregnancy and during pregnancy, and before pregnancy and the lactation period for serum K concentration in cows (p<0.05). There were significant differences between before pregnancy and the lactation period for serum Cu concentration, and before pregnancy and during pregnancy for serum K concentration; also pregnancy and the lactation period for serum Mg concentration in sheep (p<0.05). | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
#include <stdint.h>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include "caffe/common.hpp"
#include "caffe/data_layers.hpp"
#include "caffe/layer.hpp"
#include "caffe/proto/caffe.pb.h"
#include "caffe/util/io.hpp"
#include "caffe/util/math_functions.hpp"
#include "caffe/util/rng.hpp"
#include <boost/iostreams/device/mapped_file.hpp>
#include <opencv2/opencv.hpp>
namespace caffe {
template <typename Dtype>
JPEGDataLayer<Dtype>::~JPEGDataLayer<Dtype>() {
this->JoinPrefetchThread();
// clean up the database resources
source->close();
delete source;
delete cv_img;
}
template <typename Dtype>
void JPEGDataLayer<Dtype>::DataLayerSetUp(const vector<Blob<Dtype>*>& bottom,
vector<Blob<Dtype>*>* top) {
// Initialize mmap
source = new boost::iostreams::mapped_file_source(boost::iostreams::mapped_file_params(this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().source()));
CHECK(source->is_open()) << "cannot open source " << this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().source();
FILE *fin = fopen(this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().info().c_str(), "r");
CHECK(fin) << "cannot open info file " << this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().info();
long long int offset, size, label;
while (EOF != fscanf(fin, "%*s\t%lld\t%lld\t%lld\n", &offset, &size, &label)) {
CHECK(offset >= 0 && size >= 0 && offset + size <= source->size()) << "chunk (" << offset << "," << size
<< ") lies out side file " << this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().source() << "!";
offset_.push_back(offset);
size_.push_back(size);
label_.push_back(label);
}
fclose(fin);
cursor_ = 0;
cv_img = new cv::Mat;
// Read a data point, and use it to initialize the top blob.
Datum datum;
CHECK(DecodeImageToDatum(source->data()+offset_[0], size_[0], *cv_img,
0, 0, 0, this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().is_color(), &datum))
<< "cannot read from source!";
// image
int crop_size = this->layer_param_.transform_param().crop_size();
bool convert_to_grey = this->layer_param_.transform_param().convert_to_grey();
if (crop_size > 0) {
if (convert_to_grey) {
(*top)[0]->Reshape(this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().batch_size(),
1, crop_size, crop_size);
this->prefetch_data_.Reshape(this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().batch_size(),
1, crop_size, crop_size);
}else {
(*top)[0]->Reshape(this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().batch_size(),
datum.channels(), crop_size, crop_size);
this->prefetch_data_.Reshape(this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().batch_size(),
datum.channels(), crop_size, crop_size);
}
} else {
(*top)[0]->Reshape(
this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().batch_size(), datum.channels(),
datum.height(), datum.width());
this->prefetch_data_.Reshape(this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().batch_size(),
datum.channels(), datum.height(), datum.width());
}
LOG(INFO) << "output data size: " << (*top)[0]->num() << ","
<< (*top)[0]->channels() << "," << (*top)[0]->height() << ","
<< (*top)[0]->width();
// label
if (this->output_labels_) {
if (this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().compute_label()) {
CHECK(datum.channels() == 3);
CHECK(datum.data().size());
int start = this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().label_start();
int stride = this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().label_stride();
int n = ((*top)[0]->width() - 1 - start)/stride + 1;
(*top)[1]->Reshape(this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().batch_size(), 1, n, n);
this->prefetch_label_.Reshape(this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().batch_size(),
1, n, n);
} else {
(*top)[1]->Reshape(this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().batch_size(), 1, 1, 1);
this->prefetch_label_.Reshape(this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().batch_size(),
1, 1, 1);
}
}
// datum size
this->datum_channels_ = datum.channels();
this->datum_height_ = datum.height();
this->datum_width_ = datum.width();
this->datum_size_ = datum.channels() * datum.height() * datum.width();
}
// This function is used to create a thread that prefetches the data.
template <typename Dtype>
void JPEGDataLayer<Dtype>::InternalThreadEntry() {
Datum datum;
CHECK(this->prefetch_data_.count());
Dtype* top_data = this->prefetch_data_.mutable_cpu_data();
Dtype* top_label = NULL; // suppress warnings about uninitialized variables
if (this->output_labels_) {
top_label = this->prefetch_label_.mutable_cpu_data();
}
const int batch_size = this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().batch_size();
for (int item_id = 0; item_id < batch_size; ++item_id) {
// get a blob
CHECK(DecodeImageToDatum(source->data()+offset_[cursor_], size_[cursor_], *cv_img,
label_[cursor_], 0, 0, this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().is_color(), &datum))
<< "cannot read from source at " << offset_[cursor_] << ":" << size_[cursor_];
cursor_ = (cursor_+1)%offset_.size();
// Apply data transformations (mirror, scale, crop...)
int h_off = 0, w_off = 0;
bool mirrored = false;
this->data_transformer_.Transform(item_id, datum, this->mean_, top_data, &h_off, &w_off, &mirrored);
if (this->output_labels_) {
if (this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().compute_label()) {
CHECK(!mirrored) << "TODO: repair mirror";
int start = this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().label_start();
int stride = this->layer_param_.jpeg_data_param().label_stride();
int wend = this->prefetch_data_.width();
int hend = this->prefetch_data_.height();
int n = (wend - 1 - start)/stride + 1;
const string& data = datum.data();
for (int h = start; h < hend; h += stride) {
for (int w = start; w < wend; w += stride) {
int label = 0;
if (h + h_off >= 0 && h + h_off < datum.height() &&
w + w_off >= 0 && w + w_off < datum.width()) {
for (int c = 0; c < datum.channels(); c++) {
int data_index = (c * datum.height() + h + h_off) * datum.width() + w + w_off;
label += (1<<(2*(datum.channels()-c-1)))*(static_cast<Dtype>(static_cast<uint8_t>(data[data_index])/64));
//LOG(INFO) << label;
}
}
if (mirrored) {
top_label[(item_id*n + (h-start)/stride)*n + (w-start)/stride] = label;
} else {
top_label[(item_id*n + (h-start)/stride)*n + n - 1 - (w-start)/stride] = label;
}
}
}
} else {
top_label[item_id] = datum.label();
}
}
}
}
INSTANTIATE_CLASS(JPEGDataLayer);
} // namespace caffe
| {
"pile_set_name": "Github"
} |
"Godric, it's me." "You should not have come." "I'm here, my child." "Down here." "You were a fool for sending humans after me." "I had no other choice." "These savages, they seek to destroy you." "I'm aware of what they have planned." "This one betrayed you." "He's with the Fellowship." "They set a trap for us." " How long since you've fed?" " I require very little blood anymore." "Save the human." " Go on." " I'm not leaving your side until you..." " I can take care of myself." " Come on, we have to go." "Spill no blood on your way out." "Go." "Sync: mpm Arrow" "I'm alive." "Holy shit." "God saved me." "I'm saved." "For heaven's sake, grow a brain cell!" "Paintballs!" "What's...?" "You crazy bitch." "I let you into my house, into my bed and into my heart." "All I stood for, all I believed in," "I violated to be with you!" "I gave you everything for a lie." " You're worse than Judas." " Why?" "What did he do to you?" "Fuck you!" "Sweet Jesus!" "I'm sorry, okay?" "Just tell me what you want me to say." "Don't shoot me again." "You came to prey on me, to ruin the sacred vow" "I made to my husband, then like a coward, you ran!" "No, I didn't..." "Okay, I ran, but it wasn't from you." "It was from your husband and his crazy weapon collection." "Why'd you have to go and tell him?" "Tell him?" "I didn't tell him anything." "He's the one who told me." "Wait, wait, wait." "Told you what?" "There are wolves in our henhouse." "We must defend our flock." " What's that got to do with...?" " We have your sister." "Sookie's in the church?" "She came in yesterday spouting the same lies you told." "You listen to me." "She's got nothing to do with this." "You Stackhouses." "You're nothing but a bunch of heartless, two-faced... vampire fuckers." "Don't you ever talk about my sister like that." "And if I find out any of you so much as touched her," "I'm gonna come back here... and it won't be with no fucking paint gun!" "Brothers and sisters, we are on lockdown." "Women with children, please take them to our classroom buildings." "Men and able-bodied women, security personnel will provide you with stakes and silver just outside the chapel." "Our Soldiers of the Sun are on their way to protect our church, but safely evacuate the building now." "Brothers and sisters, the hour is upon us." " I could have you out in seconds." " There's kids out there." "Now, those humans wouldn't think twice about hurting us." "Why didn't you bring Bill with you?" "His attachment to you is irrational." "It clouds his judgment." "He would kill every child in this church to save you." "Why aren't you?" "I'm following Godric's orders and getting you out, that's all." "He's your maker, isn't he?" "Don't use words you don't understand." "You have a lot of love for him." "Don't use words I don't understand." "Let's lock it up!" "Keep quiet!" "All right, lock it up." "Nobody comes through here." "Trust me." "Is it locked?" " Did you check upstairs?" " Hey, y'all." "How's it going?" "Steve sent me over to man the exit here." "Think I can take it from here." " By yourself?" " Yeah." "You're big and all, but there's a vampire on the loose." "Where's your stake?" "Dang." "I forgot." "Maybe I can borrow yours if..." "If that's okay." "I can't do that." "Get your own." "I'd very much like to borrow your stake." "Yeah, that'd be okay, I guess." "Stake!" "You don't have to kill him." "Come on." "Those arrows are wood." "You'll never make it through." "Eric, through the sanctuary." " Where's the exit?" " Back that way." "There are several exits, actually." "For you, the easiest one takes you straight to hell." "Let us leave." "Save yourselves." "No one has to die." "The war has begun, you evil whore of Satan." "You vampires cast the first stone by killing my family." "The lines have been drawn." "You're either with us or against us." "We are prepared for Armageddon." "The vampire you're holding prisoner got away." "He's a sheriff." " He's bound to send for help." " I'm not concerned with Godric." "Any vampire will do for our grand celebration, and we got one right here." "I'll be fine." "Brothers and sisters, there will be a holy bonfire at dawn." "Look, dear." "Room service sent a gift for us." "No." "I don't do any..." "Heart's pounding." "So much tastier." "How considerate of you." "That bothersome human." "Just like an alarm clock you can't switch off." "And 10 minutes later..." "I'll give you first bite." "I am not hungry." "Oh, come now." "As I recall, your appetite was always... insatiable." "This human act you do for your girlfriend is charming and all, but we both know better." "Don't we?" "Please." "I..." "I don't want to die." "Let him go!" "I will." "Soon." "This one's different." "I've never tasted..." "What are you?" "You okay?" "You okay?" " I'm not hurting you?" " No, not anymore." "Oh, goodness." "Shut up." "Keep going." "I don't know what you heard, but those were screams of pleasure." "Right?" "Oh, my God." "If you truly care for her, you will take her to your car this very moment and drive her back to Bon Temps before the sun comes up." "Now?" "Now." "Lovers." "Oh shit, hooker." "What?" " Isn't the lovers good?" " Not for you it ain't." "In this position, it calls for a sacrifice in matters of the heart." "You gonna have to make a choice." "But it might turn out well, right?" "You want to see your future?" "Help me." "I need to talk to you." "Yeah, sure." "I'm gonna go and clean a grill or something." "Say something." "You're freaking me out." " What time is it?" "What time is it?" " What?" "It's 10 past 12." "We just closed, why?" "It happened again." "I've lost the last couple hours." "Are you sure?" "You don't remember anything?" "I mean, after I left you, I got in my car and, baby, next thing I know I'm over... past Parish Road and I'm over by the lake." "And I wake up on the ground." "It's freezing cold." "And I don't even know how I got there." "Tara, what the hell is wrong with me?" "It's okay." "It's okay." "I'm here." "You okay to close up?" "Yeah." "Yeah, y'all go on ahead." "Come on, let's get you home." " Who are you?" " It's okay." "I'm with the Fellowship." "You gotta let me in." "Sorry, bro." "We're in lockdown." "There's a vamper inside." "That's why they sent for me." "I'm a cadet with the Light of Day Institute." "Came strapped." "Honesty." "Dude, honesty." " Come on." " Let's move." "Now, we got the vamper surrounded." "He's got some f-ing fangbanger chick with him." "Now, I'm gonna take you to Steve." " No." "I got it." " No, he needs you to..." "Is that a paintball gun?" "Yeah, it is." "Who is this?" "Jesus Christ." "Renard Parish sheriff's department." "What's your emergency?" " Sheriff's department." "Anyone in there?" " Is anyone there?" "This is the sheriff's department." "May I help you?" "You see?" "Just as our Lord our Savior was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, a few ounces of silver can betray a child of Satan to the world!" "That doesn't make any sense." "How can you people listen to him?" "I offer myself in exchange for Godric's freedom." "And the girl's as well." "That's noble." "But she's just as culpable as you are." "She's a traitor to her race." "The human race." "She hardly deserves mercy." "Maybe we should tie her to you so you can meet the sun together." "Bet the marshmallow would roast up nicely." "One more step, vampire, and the girl dies." "If you shoot her, everyone here will die." "Let her go now." "Honestly, what do they see in you?" "Soldiers, some silver chains for our friend here." " Don't." "He's done nothing to you." " Sookie, I will be fine." "Let her go, fuckwad!" "Son of a bitch!" "Let's go." " Do not kill him!" " Kill him!" "Kill the motherfucker!" "Go ahead." "Murder us." "Murder us before God." "We are willing to die." "You have pushed us too far." "You expect us to sit on our thumbs while you round up your men to come lynch us?" "We'll kill you first." "Same way we did your father." "God, no." "Murderer!" "Destroy them." "All of them." " Stop them!" " We have to go now!" "Enough!" "You came for me, I assume." "Underling." "Yeah, sheriff." "These people have not harmed me." "You see?" "We can coexist." "Mr. Newlin," "I do not wish to create bloodshed where none in called for." "Help me set an example." "If we leave you in peace, will you do the same?" "I will not negotiate with subhumans." "Kill me." "Do it." "Jesus will protect me." "I'm actually older than your Jesus." "I wish I could have known him, but I missed it." "Good people, who of you is willing to die for this man's madness?" "That's what I thought." "Stand down, everyone." "People, go home." "It's over now." "Oh, thank God." "Bill..." "It's all right." "You're safe now." "You're safe." "Please, don't leave me." "I daresay my faith in humankind is stronger than yours." "Come." "Sir, after what these humans have done to you?" "I said come." "Are you sure you're okay?" "She's fine." "Go with your maker." "Sookie, come here." "I'm so sorry." "Will you please forgive me?" "What were you doing with those people?" "Are you out of your mind?" "Yeah, I was." "Just..." "That son of a bitch sucked out my brain and planted all his own babies in there." "You know nothing." "On the final day of reckoning, we'll see who goes to heaven and who goes to hell." "I reckon I've already been to heaven." "It was inside your wife." "Jason, come on." "What about that?" " Come on." " Take your ring." "Honesty, my ass, shithead." "White-suit motherfucker." "Go home, preacher boy." "Come on, Sam." "We can't tell you that." "That's why it's called an anonymous tip." "We can't tell you who phoned it in." "They wanted you to find me." "Why would I keep a body in my own refrigerator" "Was it a woman's voice?" "There's a rumor you were having a relationship with the deceased." "Is that true?" "You don't seem too beat up about it." "Well, we..." " I guess we kind of broke up." " Were you angry?" " Bound to be some hurt feelings." " Listen, y'all have to trust me." "This is bigger and crazier than you can even imagine." "I'll say." "This is the second time a woman's been found in your bar with her heart missing." "And the third time a waitress of yours has ended up dead." "That was Rene Lenier." "You can't use that against me." "Come on, Bud, Kenya." "Listen to yourselves." " You know me." " I'm not sure we do." "You got no birth records, no Social Security number." "We can't even find where you went to high school." "It's hard to explain." "Save it, son." "Nothing about your past ever checks out." "Why don't you just tell us what happened tonight?" "What the...?" "Hold up." "Bud, you don think it's Sam, do you?" " Let me get him." " Hold on, Kenya." "You're on suspension." " How'd you hear about this?" " Still got my radio." "I'm not here as a cop, okay?" "I'm a witness." "You got the wrong guy." " What?" " He's not the one you want." "He's a victim." "I saw him nearly get killed last night." " By who?" " The bull." "The what?" "He thinks he saw some kind of bull." "With claws." "A bull." "In a dress." "With claws." "Okay." "You're babbling again." " I can shut him up." " And your vic, that vic you got in there, she was part of the whole group of crazy people that was trying to get him." "I tried to fight them off, but war wound." "I'm corroborating here, Sam." "Tell them." "Help me." "If I told you that's what happened, would you believe me?" "Oh, shit." "But you're not the only one." "I blacked out last night." "Arlene blacked out." "Maybe there's some kind of gas leak or something." "But, what about Andy Bellefleur?" "He said..." "He said he saw all of us." "Andy's the only one we know is out his mind." "I got this sick feeling I did something real bad." "Knock, knock." "Hope I'm not interrupting." "No, just trying to piece together everything we been doing those days." "Sounds like somebody's been enjoying himself a bit too much." "Tell you what." "Why don't we ease up on the partying for a little while?" "Take it easy." "Snack's ready." "Hope you're hungry." "Oh, my God." "That looks amazing." "What is it?" "Hunter's soufflé." "I didn't know hunters made soufflés." "Most don't." "Dig in." "Wow, yum !" "What is in there?" "Is that the rabbit you caught?" "Among other things." "You have got to try this." "Oh, my God." "Thank you, sir." "Welcome home, sheriff." "We are all very relieved." "I just want to say I'm real sorry for what the Fellowship put you through." "You helped save many lives today, Mr. Stackhouse." "Please know you have friends in this area whenever you visit." "Thanks, man, but, I don't know if I'll be wanting to come back anytime soon." "God." "Hail the conquering hero." "No." "I'm no hero." "No, you are in this town." "But in my area we know you well as a buyer and user of vampire blood." "And that's a very grave offense." "Yeah, listen." "I don't do that no more." "All things considered, however, we'll call it even." "But you won't be doing it again." "Got it." "Good boy." "Run along." "Thanks, this is great." "You've avoided being alone with me all night." "Nonsense." "With all the commotion, there's just hardly been time." "I was in that basement for two days." "You don't even want to know what almost happened to me down there." "Where were you?" " Sookie, it's..." " "It's complicated" is not an answer." "Every time I've needed you, you've always come running, even in broad daylight." "What kept you?" "I was held." "Held?" "Like kidnapped?" "By who?" "By Eric?" "Heard my name." " I hope you were speaking well of me?" " Why should I?" "You let me walk into a trap." "I regret that." " If I had known it was a possibility..." " You did know." "But because it was Godric, you'd risk anything." "The bond between a vampire and his maker is stronger than you can imagine." "Perhaps one day you'll find out." "What's the matter?" "What, you don't like me anymore?" "I don't think..." "Bill might not like us doing this stuff in his house." "He'll never know." "Come on, you drove so fast, I know you want to again." "Besides, we got two hours before dawn." "I can't believe I waited so long." "We are gonna do it every single night whether you want to or not." "You still want to, don't you?" "Well, sure, yeah." "It's just that Sookie and Bill might come in any minute." "We got the house to ourselves." "I promise." "I've never wanted anything so bad in my life." "Make love to me again." "Please." "Do me." "Now." "Wait, stop, stop." "Sorry." " What happened?" " I don't know." "It just..." "I mean, it's felt like..." "Is that blood again?" "Oh, my God." " What, Jessica, what?" " It grew back." " It?" "What?" " My..." "It fucking grew back." "I should have known." "Everything heals when you're a goddamn vampire." "Okay, come on." "Come on." "It's gonna be beautiful." "Every time will be like our first time." "It'll hurt like hell." "I'm a fucking deformity of nature." "I'm gonna be a virgin forever." "I don't like being touched." "Believe me, I do not like touching you." "Your contact with Sookie will cease from this moment." "That's hardly your decision." "Calling in my maker because you couldn't win Sookie for yourself is feeble and desperate even for you." "Are you picking a fight?" "I'd like to see you try." "She will never be yours." "And there is nothing you can do." "In this you are powerless." "Accept it." "This is the one who betrayed us." "He's your human, is he not?" "Yes, he is." "Do you love him?" "I thought I did." "It appears you love him still." "I do." "I'm sorry." "But you are my sheriff." "Do with him as you please." "You are free to go." "What?" "The human is free to go." "And do not return." "I fear it is not safe for you here." "This is a travesty." "This is my verdict." "Escort them out." "Make sure he leaves unharmed." "Thank you." "Thank you, sheriff." "What was that about?" "Godric is sheriff and he has the authority to..." "I mean, with Eric." "Why are you talking to him if he kidnapped you?" "It wasn't Eric." "Then who?" "Is there someplace we can talk in private?" "This really isn't the time..." "Look, if I don't say this now, I never will." "Look, please, it'll only take a minute." "Let's go out back." "Thanks." "I know everyone says it, but I'm really not the guy you want." "If it's like you said, that there's something out there that's fixing to get you," "then jail's just about the safest place to spend the night." "Now, come on." "Hey, Sam." "Join the party." " What...?" " I'd come and give you a hug, but I lost my pants." "Yeah, it's been a hell of a night." "Must be a full moon." "Pretty sure it's not." "Mike?" "What'd they arrest you for?" "Sodomy." " What?" " Yeah, they say I..." "I sodomized a pine tree." " What'd you do that for?" " I don't know." "Must have blacked out, but it's true." "My pecker's got all kinds of scratches on." "Don't worry, Mikey." "It'll heal." "What are you in for?" "Worse than me?" " Leave him alone, Mike." " Sam?" "What is it?" "I need you to forgive me." "What?" "You love my sister, and... there ain't no reason why you shouldn't be able to." "All this time, I let my own stupid ignorance stand in the way." "Thank you." "But I am also in your debt for helping rescue Sookie." "After all I did to fuck everything up, that's the least I can do." "I'm just sorry it took me so long to wake up to it." "Well, you did." "Just in time." "Well, was that okay for you?" "It was fine." "Hugo's been dispatched." "I told him not to stop driving until he reaches the Mexican border." "I've arranged for an AB-negative human for you." "Extremely rare." "Thank you." "I'm not hungry." "You have to feed eventually." "I doubt the Fellowship had anything to offer." "Why wouldn't you leave when I first came for you?" "They didn't treat me badly." "You'd be shocked at how ordinary most of them are." "They do nothing but fan the flames of hatred for us." "Let's be honest." "We are frightening." "After thousands of years, we haven't evolved." "We've only grown more brutal, more predatory." "I don't see the danger in treating humans as equals." "The Fellowship of the Sun arose because we never did so." "Is that why you wouldn't fight when they took you?" "I could have killed every last one of them within minutes." "And what would that have proven?" "Oh, my God." "I inhaled that fucker." "You know what?" "I didn't think it was possible, but this is better than her pie." "Way better." "I gotta learn how to cook." "You know, I feel like a superhero." "I mean..." "You look like one." "How about now?" "I mean, I feel invincible, you know?" "Like nobody could even hurt me." "I hate you." "I fucking hate your guts." "You fucking bitch." "I fucking hate you too." "You're not even trying, are you?" "More." "Is that all you got?" "I mean..." "Now, that feels so fucking good." "Damn, boy." "Do it again." "Fuck, I want you so bad." "That's great." "Me too." "Hello, there." "I'm Lorena." "Nice to meet you." "I'm Sookie." "You are what all the fuss is about." "Excuse me?" "Aren't you a morsel." "I'm sorry." "Who are you?" "Well, we have a mutual friend." " Bill?" " That's right." "Funny he never mentioned me." "I practically made him what he is today." "Hello, darling." "I was just getting to know your plaything." "You always did like to prey on the innocent." " Is this your maker?" " She released me years ago." "She no longer has any hold over me." "I wouldn't say that." "We had two marvelous nights in your room." "What?" "Did you know your boyfriend hit me over the head with a 52-inch plasma television earlier tonight?" "Everyone says they're so thin and light, but let me tell you, when wielded properly, it's quite a weapon." " You did?" " You need to leave." "I hope he doesn't pull the same shenanigans with you." "There's no excuse for domestic violence." "What she has failed to mention is that she was holding me prisoner." "Pshaw." "We were just catching up is all." "You must have been worried sick, wondering where he was." "I admit it." "It got a bit heated." "But you know how old lovers can get sometimes." "Do not touch him." "My, we're feisty too." "You're no more than a blood bag." "You cannot win this." "I've already won." "Bill chose me." "And yet you still won't give up." "Don't you have any shame?" "Stop." "I'd listen to him." "Run away, little girl." "William and I love each other." "You've gone mad." "Now get out now." "Maybe you do love him." "Who am I to guess?" "But he doesn't love you." "He never has, and that we both know." "Take those words back or they shall be your last." " We're leaving!" " Go find someone else, you fucking bitch!" "You've lost this one!" "Retract... your... fangs." "Now." "I neither know nor care who you are." "But in this area and certainly in this nest," "I am the authority." "Do you understand?" "Yes, sheriff." "This human has proven herself to be a courageous and loyal friend to our kind." "And yet you treat her like a child does a dragonfly, pulling off wings for sport." "No wonder they hate us." "She provoked me." "And you provoked me." "You disrupted the peace in my own home." "I could snap you like a twig." "Yet I haven't." "Now, why is that?" "It's... your choice." "Indeed it is." "You're an old vampire." "I can tell." "You've had hundreds of years to better yourself, yet you haven't." "You are still a savage, and I fear for all of us, humans and vampires," "if this behavior persists." "You." "You seem to know her." "Yes, sheriff." "Escort her from the nest." "Go ahead." "I'm fine." "I wish you out of my area before dawn." "I don't know how it got this way." "I can't help it that I still love you." "You know I do." "But now it's become nothing but a constant humiliation." "The pain that you suffer you've inflicted upon yourself." "When will we see each other again?" "Never." "We're immortal." "Our paths are bound to cross eventually." "I have him by the neck, shaking..." "But... and funny you say that because..." "What the fuck, man?" "Stay away from me, Stackhouse." " Got nothing to say to you." " What the hell you doing?" "Just go." "Excuse me, everyone." "If I could have your attention." "My name is Luke McDonald." "I'm a member of the Fellowship of the Sun." "And I have a message for you all from Reverend Steve Newlin." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenSubtitles"
} |
Q:
Writing generic methods for Selenium Page Object Model Framework
I'm following page object model where in I have placed all the WebElement addresses and methods i.e id, xpath etc in the page.
Example: On a login page we have username field, password field and login button. So all these will be on the LoginPage.java. This page includes the methods that use the Webelements as well. So from the actual test case I'm just calling methods that are defined on the page. Now here's my dilemma. I have several test steps that need me to click on an element.
So say i need to click on Link1, Link2 and Link3. Right now what I'm doing is writing a separate method for each step and keeping them on the pagelike below:
@FindBy(id = "someId1")
WebElement link1;
@FindBy(id = "someId2")
WebElement link2;
public void clickOnLink1(){
link1.click();
}
public void clickOnLink2(){
link2.click();
}
Testcase:
clickOnLink1();
clickOnLink2();
So if i have 50 steps that need me to click on 50 different elements i would need 50 different methods and this is highly improper and inefficient. I could use a generic method like below:
public void clickOnElement(WebElement element) {
element.click();
}
I can pass the element i want to be clicked to this method and it would do it for me.
Unfortunately as i said before I'm following page object model so all the WebElement addresses like id exist on the page and not on the test case hence i cannot use this method since i would need to pass the webelement from the test case.
Could someone please help me with a different approach.
Thank you
A:
You can use something like following:
public class Login_Page {
@FindBy(id = "someId1")
WebElement link1;
@FindBy(id = "someId2")
WebElement link2;
//constructor
public Login_Page(driver) {
PageFactory.initElements(driver, this);
}
//Generic Click method
public boolean genericClick(WebDriver driver, WebElement elementToBeClicked)
{
try{
elementToBeClicked.click();
return true;
}
catch(Exception e){
return false;
}
}
Now in the Test method:
@Test
public void LoginTest()
{
Webdriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();
driver.get("someurl")
Login_Page lp = new Login_Page(driver);
lp.genericClick(driver, lp.link1);
}
| {
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
} |
[ft-l] Blueberries in Jupiter
Or close, nonetheless...
Had a nice ramble through the woods yesterday morning at Jonathan Dickinson
State Park...not on the FT, but on the nature trail near the creeks. Stumbled
across succulent blueberries almost every few feet-- and there's plenty more
a'comin, these bushes are hanging heavy and low with lots of green and red
fruit likely to ripen over the next few weeks.
Bonus points: If you visit the park and do some berrying, spot the immature
bald eagle. It's so noisy it's hard to miss, up in its bare tree nest,
waiting for Mom & Dad to fly home.
Cheers, Navigator
* From the Florida Trail Mailing List | http://www.backcountry.net *
==============================================================================
To: [email protected] | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Lower within-subject variability of fasting blood glucose and reduced weight gain with insulin detemir compared to NPH insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of a basal-bolus insulin regimen comprising either insulin detemir or neural protamine hagedorn (NPH) insulin in combination with mealtime insulin aspart in patients with type 2 diabetes. This was a 26-week, multinational, open-label, parallel group trial with 505 patients with type 2 diabetes (mean age, 60.4 +/- 8.6 years; mean BMI, 30.4 +/- 5.3 kg/m(2); mean HbA(1c), 7.9 +/- 1.3%). Patients, randomized 2:1 to insulin detemir or NPH insulin, received basal insulin either once or twice daily according to their pretrial insulin treatment and insulin aspart at mealtimes. After 26 weeks of treatment, significant reductions in HbA(1c) were observed for insulin detemir (0.2%-points, p = 0.004) and NPH insulin (0.4%-points; p = 0.0001); HbA(1c) levels were comparable at study end (insulin detemir, 7.6%; NPH insulin, 7.5%). The number of basal insulin injections administered per day had no effect on HbA(1c) levels (p = 0.50). Nine-point self-measured blood glucose (SMBG) profiles were similar for the two treatment groups (p = 0.58), as were reductions in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (insulin detemir, 0.5 mmol/l; NPH insulin, 0.6 mmol/l). At study end, FPG concentrations were similar for the two treatment groups (p = 0.66). By contrast, within-subject day-to-day variation in fasting SMBG was significantly lower with insulin detemir (p = 0.021). Moreover, patients receiving insulin detemir gained significantly less body weight than those who were administered NPH insulin (1.0 and 1.8 kg, respectively, p = 0.017). The frequency of adverse events and the risk of hypoglycaemia were comparable for the two treatment groups. Patients with type 2 diabetes, treated for 26 weeks with insulin detemir plus insulin aspart at mealtimes, experienced comparable glycaemic control but significantly lower within-subject variability and less weight gain compared to patients treated with NPH insulin and insulin aspart. Insulin detemir was well tolerated and had a similar safety profile to NPH insulin. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
The England captain has picked out two stars who have most stood out to him during his 12 years at Old Trafford as he prepares to play his testimonial against Everton
Wayne Rooney has named Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo as the two best team-mates he has played with at Manchester United.
The 30-year-old moved to Old Trafford in 2004 and won multiple Premier League titles as well as the Champions League with Scholes and Ronaldo alongside him.
The England captain also played in teams including the likes of Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic but says the Englishman and Portuguese's talent trumps the rest.
"I'd say there are two that stand out and they’re Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo," Rooney told his official website.
"Paul Scholes is one of the best midfielders of all time. His passing, vision and the way he controlled the tempo of games was incredible.
"Cristiano is a special player and he has gone on to be one of the best in the world.
"Some of the things he used to do in training and then take into games was unbelievable, he’ll always be remembered as one of the greats of the game." | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
If z is a "standard" normal random variable, that means whatever its mean was, it has been standardized to ZERO, and thus the z-score table for the normal distribution is what you are meant to use here. Therefore the probability thatZ is less than 1.2 is equal to the cummulative probability at z = 1.2 on a z-score chart.
For the second one, you are told that the probability between -z, and z is 0.5. Do you understand what this means? Look at the values of "z"; they are equal correct, in the sense that z is the number of standard deviations away from the mean - -z simply goes to the left of Z, and +z goes to the right of Z. The easiest way to find z's is to fix Z as the mean (theres no way of knowing this because the information you post doesn't give us any indicator). Looking at a normal chart it looks like 0.65 is a good choice for a portion of the graph that is .25 percentage points; since by symmetry the other z needs to have the same amount of its brother - .5/2). | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Protein-protein interactions as targets for small molecule drug discovery.
Protein-protein interactions represent a highly populated class of targets for drug discovery. However, such systems present a number of unique challenges. This review presents an analysis of individual protein-protein interaction systems which have recently yielded success in discovering drug-like inhibitors. The structural characteristics of the protein binding sites and the attributes of the small molecule ligands are focused upon, in an attempt to derive commonly shared principles that may be of general usefulness in future drug discovery efforts within this target class. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
Copper(II)-catalyzed asymmetric henry reaction of o-alkynylbenzaldehydes followed by gold(I)-mediated cycloisomerization: an enantioselective route to chiral 1H-isochromenes and 1,3-dihydroisobenzofurans.
By combining the copper(II)-catalyzed asymmetric Henry reaction of o-alkynylbenzaldehydes with subsequent gold(I)-catalyzed cycloisomerization, optically active 1H-isochromenes and 1,3-dihydroisobenzofurans were successfully synthesized in good overall yields with good to excellent enantioselectivities (up to 98%). Various substrates were investigated, and a correlation between the regioselectivity and electronic nature of the substrates was studied. The substrates with electro-donating groups at the alkynyl moiety preferred a 6-endo-dig manner to generated 1H-isochromenes 3 as main products (up to >30:1) while the ones with electron-withdrawing groups were inclined to undergo 5-exo-dig cyclization to form 1,3-dihydroisobenzofurans 4 (up to 1:5). | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
In this series of 3ds Max tutorials we will discuss tips and techniques for creating low polygon game characters used in MMO style games. We'll start off by discussing how to set up our scene in 3ds Max that will help us work more effectively while creating our low polygon character. Then we'll jump right into modeling the torso and continue building the base body, all the while paying close attention to our polygon count limit. Once the base body is complete, we'll begin modeling the armor pieces for our character. Finally, once everything is complete, we'll learn optimization techniques and make any final modifications to the model.
In this series of tutorials we cover the fundamentals of texturing characters in Photoshop. We will start off by setting up our Photoshop document in a way that will be optimal for texture painting. Then we’ll start laying down our base colors, highlights, and shadows. Once we’re happy with our color selection, we’ll continually refine the textures until we’re happy with the result.
Hone your modeling techniques for multiple applications while creating a fantastic car. In this course, you'll use reference images as you craft each part of the vehicle and learn how to light it properly once you're done. Software required: 3ds M…
In this 3ds Max tutorial, we'll model and texture a detailed secondary vehicle. We'll start by looking at how to build a high poly vehicle from blueprints. Once our high poly model is finished, we'll modify it to build our final in-game asset.
In this 3ds Max tutorial you'll get an opportunity to explore some of the questions and ideas that come up when creating content for procedural games, all the while creating some fun, low-resolution game assets.
In this training we'll cover in great detail how to create a highly detailed game ready revolver. To begin, we'll learn how to create a detailed high poly model. During this section you will learn tons of tools and techniques specifically for high poly modeling, but more importantly how to plan and model complicated shapes. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
[The new cerebrovascular preparation pikamilon].
Picamilon, a sodium salt of N-nicotinoyl-gamma-aminobutyric acid, was shown to induce a significant increase of cerebral blood flow in conscious cats. Picamilon was found to inhibit neurogenic spasms of cerebral vessels that was followed by suppression of tonic activity and reflectory discharges in sympathetic nerves. Picamilon led to restoration of the initial condition of cerebral hemodynamics disturbed by a previous administration of serotonin. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
---
title: Microsoft Teams usage report
author: LanaChin
ms.author: v-lanac
manager: serdars
audience: Admin
ms.topic: article
ms.service: msteams
ms.reviewer: svemu
f1.keywords:
- NOCSH
localization_priority: Normal
search.appverid: MET150
ms.collection:
- M365-collaboration
description: Learn how to use the Teams usage report in the Microsoft Teams admin center to get an overview of Teams activity in your organization.
appliesto:
- Microsoft Teams
ms.custom: seo-marvel-apr2020
---
# Microsoft Teams usage report
The Teams usage report in the Microsoft Teams admin center gives you an overview of the usage activity in Teams, including the number of active users and channels, so you can quickly see how many users across your organization are using Teams to communicate and collaborate. You can view usage information for teams, including the number of active users and channels, guests, and messages in each team.
## View the usage report
1. In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, click **Analytics & reports** > **Usage reports**. On the **View reports** tab, under **Report**, select **Teams usage**.
2. Under **Date range**, select a range, and then click **Run report**.
## Interpret the report
|Callout |Description |
|--------|-------------|
|**1** |The Teams usage activity report can be viewed for trends over the last 7 days, 30 or 90 days. |
|**2** |Each report has a date for when this report was generated. The reports usually reflect a 24 to 48 hour latency from time of activity. |
|**3** |<ul><li>The X axis on the chart is the selected date range for the report.</li> <li> The Y axis is the count of active items or activity.</li> </ul>Hover over the dot representing an item or activity on a given date to see the number of instances of that item or activity on that given date.|
|**4** |You can filter what you see on the chart by clicking an item in the legend. For example, click **Total active users**, **Teams & Channels active users**, **Active channels**, or **Messages** to see only the info related to each one. Changing this selection doesn’t change the information in the table. |
|**5** |The table gives you a breakdown of usage by team. <ul><li>**Team name** is the display name of the team. You can click the team name to go to the team's settings page in the Microsoft Teams admin center. </li> <li>**Privacy** refers to whether the team is a private team or public team.</li> <li>**Active users** is the number of active users in the team in the specified time period.</li><li>**Guests** is the number of guests in the team in the specified time period.</li> <li>**Active channels** is the number of channels that have at least one active user in the specified time period.</li> <li>**Post Messages** is the number of all the post messages in channels in the specified time period.</li> <li>**Reply messages** is the number of all the reply messages in channels in the specified time period.</li> <li>**Meetings organized** is the number of scheduled and ad hoc meetings a user organized during the specified time period. </li><li>**Urgent messages** is the number of all the urgent messages in the specified time period.</li><li>**Reactions** is the number of all the reactions to messages in the specified time period.</li><li>**Mentions** is the number of all the mentions used in messages in the specified time period.</li><li>**Channel messages** is the number of unique messages that the team's users posted in a team chats during the specified time period.</li> </li> </ul>Note that if a user account no longer exists in Azure AD, the user name is displayed as "--" in the table. <br><br>To see the information that you want in the table, make sure to add the columns to the table. |
|**6** |Select **Edit columns** to add or remove columns in the table.|
|**7** |You can export the report to a CSV file for offline analysis. Click **Export to Excel**, and then on the **Downloads** tab, click **Download** to download the report when it's ready.<br><br>|
[!INCLUDE [teams-reports-definitions](../includes/teams-reports-definitions.md)]
## Related topics
- [Teams analytics and reporting](teams-reporting-reference.md)
| {
"pile_set_name": "Github"
} |
Effect of nicotine on in vitro maturation of bovine oocytes.
The putative effect of nicotine on maturation and the chromosomal complement of bovine oocytes were investigated in the present study. Cumulus-enclosed oocytes were incubated in maturation medium with 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 mmol concentrations of nicotine. The results indicated that: (1) nicotine affected cumulus cell expansion in a dose-dependent manner and the perivitelline space failed to form when concentrations were equal to or greater than 5.0 mmol; (2) oocytes treated with 0.5 and 1.0 mmol nicotine concentrations resulted in maturation rates (83.3% and 85.9%, respectively) which was similar to the control (86.2%), whereas treatment with 2.5 and 5.0 mmol concentrations significantly decreased maturation rates to 70.2% and 26.7%, respectively; (3) nicotine at or over 2.5 mmol caused extremely irregular meiotic spindles and interrupted microfilament organization; (4) chromosomal analyses of oocytes with PB1 showed that oocytes derived from 0.5 and 1.0 mmol nicotine groups had haploid complements similar to the control (87-90%), but when the concentrations were increased to 2.5 and 5.0 mmol the haploid state was significantly reduced to around 70%; (5) oocytes at GVBD (germinal vesicle breakdown) and metaphase I stages were less affected by nicotine at 5.0 and 10.0 mmol concentrations than GV-stage oocytes; (6) maturation rates of the short-term nicotine-treated oocytes could be improved when subsequently incubated in normal maturation medium. Prolonged culture of nicotine-pretreated oocytes resulted in self-activation and some oocytes formed 1 or 2 pronuclei. In conclusion, nicotine affects bovine oocyte cumulus cell expansion, maturation rate, and chromosomal complement in a dose-dependent and an oocyte-stage-dependent manner. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
Data compression: effect on diagnostic accuracy in digital chest radiography.
High-resolution digital images make up very large data sets that are relatively slow to transmit and expensive to store. Data compression techniques are being developed to address this problem, but significant image deterioration can occur at high compression ratios. In this study, the authors evaluated a form of adaptive block cosine transform coding, a new compression technique that allows considerable compression of digital radiographs with minimal degradation of image quality. To determine the effect of data compression on diagnostic accuracy, observer tests were performed with 60 digitized chest radiographs (2,048 x 2,048 matrix, 1,024 shades of gray) containing subtle examples of pneumothorax, interstitial infiltrate, nodules, and bone lesions. Radiographs with no compression, with 25:1 compression, and with 50:1 compression ratios were presented in randomized order to 12 radiologists. The results suggest that, with this compression scheme, compression ratios as high as 25:1 may be acceptable for primary diagnosis in chest radiology. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
Q:
How to show all tables/views in ER diagram with DbVisualizer
Is there a setting in DbVisualizer to display all tables in the "References" tab? I am using the free version (10.0) and when I click on a table with the References tab open I only see the direct relationships from this table. I'd like to see all tables in the schema.
A:
In the left-hand pane, double-click on the database name while having the References tab open to have all tables displayed.
A:
In the Databases tab, double-click on the TABLE entry (that has all the tables under it), then select the References tab.
| {
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
} |
Q:
Upper semicontinuous function and equivalent statements
Problem
Let $f:\mathbb R^n \to \overline{\mathbb R}$, then the following statements are equivalent:
(1) $f$ is upper semicontinuous;
(2) for every $t \in \overline{\mathbb R}$, $\{x \in \mathbb R^n: f(x)<t\}$ is open;
(3) for every $t \in \overline{\mathbb R}$, $\{x \in \mathbb R^n: f(x)\ge t\}$ is closed.
I am trying to show the equivalence of the statements
It is immediate that (2) and (3) are equivalent since $A=\{x \in \mathbb R^n: f(x)<t\}$ is open if and only if $A^c$ is closed, but $A^c=\{x \in \mathbb R^n: f(x)\ge t\}$.
I am having problems showing (1) is equivalent to (2).
Suppose $f$ is upper semicontinuous. Let $x_0 \in \mathbb R^n$, by hypothesis we have $\inf M'_{\delta}(x_0) \leq f(x_0)$, where $M'_{\delta}(x_0)=\sup\{f(x): 0<|x-x_0|<\delta\}$.
Now, let $t \in \overline{\mathbb R}$. I want to show that the set $A$ is open ($A$ is the set defined in (2)). If $A$ is empty, there is nothing to prove. Suppose $A$ is not open, then there is $x_0 \in A$ such that for all $n \in \mathbb N$ there is $x_n \in B(x_0,\frac{1}{n})$ with $f(x_n) \geq t$. We have $f(x_0)<t\leq f(x_n)$. But this means $M'_{\frac{1}{n}}(x_0)>f(x_0)$.
From there I think I should get to a contradiction, I got stuck at that point.
I have no idea how to show (2) $\implies$ (1), I would appreciate some help and suggestions.
A:
But this means $M'_{\frac{1}{n}}(x_0)>f(x_0)$.
It means a bit more, and that bit more is what you need. It means that for all $x_0 \in A_t$, where $A_t := \{ x\in\mathbb{R}^n : f(x) < t\}$, that aren't interior points of $A_t$, you have $M'_{\frac{1}{n}}(x_0) \geqslant t$. And, by the monotonicity of $M'_\delta(x_0)$ with respect to $\delta$, it follows that $M'_\delta(x_0) \geqslant t$ for all $\delta > 0$, hence
$$\inf_{\delta > 0} M'_\delta(x_0) \geqslant t > f(x_0),$$
i.e. $f$ is not upper semicontinuous if there is a $t$ such that $A_t$ is not open.
And to see that (2) implies (1) [Remark: usually, condition (2) - or, less often, (3) - is the definition of upper semicontinuity; the characterisation in terms of the $\limsup$ - or, for lower semicontinuity, the $\liminf$ - is then a(n occasionally used) proposition], pick any $x_0\in\mathbb{R}^n$, and note that for every $t > f(x_0)$, the set $A_t = \{ x \in \mathbb{R}^n : f(x) < t\}$ is a neighbourhood of $x_0$, so $\{ x : \lvert x-x_0\rvert < \delta\} \subset A_t$, and $M'_\delta(x_0) \leqslant t$ for all small enough $\delta > 0$. Therefore we have
$$\inf_{\delta > 0} M'_\delta(x_0) \leqslant t.$$
Since that holds for all $t > f(x_0)$, it follows that
$$\inf_{\delta > 0} M'_\delta(x_0) \leqslant f(x_0).$$
| {
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
} |
[Nursing experience: discharge planning for a disabled elderly patient].
This case study describes the comprehensive and continuous care provided to an elderly patient whose self-care ability had been lost in a traffic accident. During the nursing period, from March 4th 2004 to May 18th 2004, we utilized the literature on the health problems of the elderly, concepts of discharge planning, and a comprehensive nursing assessment to confirm that the main nursing issues were clearance of a blocked airway, and impaired mobility. We also helped caregivers to cope with the problems of role strain. During the nursing process, we placed particular emphasis on management and preparation for care after discharge, the training of a maid, and psychological support for the family. The experience enabled surgical ward nurses who were already used to fast discharges of patients to gain a better understanding of discharge planning in complex cases involving the disabled elderly. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
INTRODUCTION {#SEC1}
============
With the continued application of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to human disease aetiology ([@B1]), the rapid discovery rate of susceptibility loci is far outstripping the rate at which we are able to elucidate the biological mechanisms underlying the identified loci. This represents a major bottleneck to translational progress. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of molecular, intermediate phenotypes provides a powerful means to functionally annotate and characterize GWAS signals for complex traits in a high-throughput manner. This approach has been pioneered with the use of transcriptomic data to identify gene expression QTLs (eQTLs) ([@B5]). Recent technological advances have enabled the application of this approach to methylomic ([@B10],[@B11]), proteomic ([@B12]), lipidomic ([@B15]) and metabolomic ([@B16]) data. This catalogue of molecular QTLs, cutting across multiple 'omic modalities, can be readily queried to elucidate the functional impact of disease-associated variants on the abundance of not only transcripts, but also epigenetic marks, proteins, lipids and metabolites.
A key challenge with these data relates to the identification of specific causal genes at the observed molecular QTLs. Accurate molecular QTL--gene assignments are critical for the meaningful interpretation of the biology underlying GWAS signals and the subsequent design of appropriate experimental follow-up work. There are several web tools available that facilitate the identification of genes most likely to be impacted functionally by either the sentinel or proxy variants tagging a molecular QTL. For example, tools such as the Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Annotator (SNiPA) and the Functional Mapping and Annotation of GWAS tool (FUMA) integrate various positional, regulatory and *cis*-eQTL datasets, enabling the identification of candidate causal genes using a data-driven approach ([@B19],[@B20]). Nevertheless, the sensitivity of these tools, or the extent to which they are able to highlight 'true positive' causal genes, has not yet been rigorously assessed. This is largely due to the time-consuming and resource-intensive experimental follow-up that is required to assign candidate causal genes at each individual association locus, resulting in a limited number of trait- or disease-associated variants that have so far been unequivocally assigned to established causal genes. Thus, 'reference' causal gene sets for a particular trait of interest, which could be used to benchmark causal gene prioritization tools, are either unavailable or likely to be unrepresentative.
However, metabolite QTL (mQTL) data represent a unique case in that there is an abundance of published biochemical mechanistic research pre-dating findings from GWAS that have identified and characterized many of the enzymes, transporters and other proteins that regulate specific metabolites ([@B21]). In addition, this experimental research has been complemented by the study of numerous rare inborn errors of metabolism, thereby further elucidating the substrates and functions of metabolic gene products ([@B24]). Thus, by cross-referencing mQTLs identified by GWAS with this pre-existing body of biochemical and genetic research, it becomes possible to generate a large, high-confidence, mQTL-specific reference causal gene set, which can be used for the validation of both current and future causal gene prioritization tools.
Another major limitation of these tools is that they are hampered by low specificity, in that they will typically highlight several candidate causal genes at most association loci. This necessitates the application of further downstream prioritization methods or literature review. Therefore, causal gene prioritization tools that are able to facilitate this process in an automated fashion will prove instrumental in refining the overall search space. As an example, the majority of current tools are not geared towards any specific trait or phenotype, relying solely on positional, regulatory and/or *cis*-eQTL data to prioritize causal genes based on the likelihood that they are functionally affected by polymorphisms at a QTL or GWAS locus. Conversely, by designing a tool that is focused on a specific trait (e.g. metabolites) or trait class (e.g. molecular intermediates), relevant annotation data from publicly available databases (e.g. KEGG and GO) can be leveraged to directly prioritize those candidates that have been shown to regulate metabolites or other biomolecules.
Here, we present an analysis framework and accompanying R script (<https://github.com/ds763/ProGeM>) for the **Pr**ioritization **o**f candidate causal **Ge**nes at **M**olecular QTLs (ProGeM). Consistent with existing tools, ProGeM leverages positional and *cis*-eQTL data to prioritize genes most likely to be impacted functionally by variants tagging the molecular QTL. In addition, ProGeM integrates information from biological domain-specific annotation data from multiple repositories to prioritize genes involved in the biological mechanisms that regulate the molecular phenotype in question. In this way, ProGeM is able to harness both literature- and experimental-derived information in a quick and efficient manner. Crucially, and in contrast to existing tools, we have also determined the sensitivity and specificity of ProGeM using two molecular QTL datasets, comprising 227 mQTLs and 562 *cis*-pQTLs, for which each QTL has been assigned a high-confidence causal gene. Informed by these datasets, we make recommendations as to which annotation criteria may be most informative for the identification of candidate causal genes at molecular QTLs.
MATERIALS AND METHODS {#SEC2}
=====================
Reference causal gene sets for molecular QTL data {#SEC2-1}
-------------------------------------------------
### mQTL dataset {#SEC2-1-1}
Between 2007 and 2016, 109 papers reported results of a GWAS of metabolite levels. Suitable traits were identified largely through a manual review of all entries from the GWAS catalogue tagged with the Experimental Factor Ontology (EFO) term 'measurement' (EFO_0001444) or any descendants of the term. This analysis focused on small molecules, ions, metabolites, vitamins and other biomolecules not directly encoded by genes such as mRNA or proteins. The source tissue was most often plasma or serum although studies of urine and cerebrospinal fluid have also been included. Where available, full summary statistics for the identified studies were downloaded and peak-pruned to identify sentinel SNPs at least 1 megabase (Mb) apart. Before clustering, there were 2808 sentinel SNPs (*P* ≤ 5 × 10^−8^) covering 250 distinct metabolites from these 109 studies. These variants were clustered into 497 loci by collapsing variants closer than 500 kilobases (kb) unless there was a compelling biochemical reason to separate the associated metabolites. For example, nine sentinel SNPs for branched chain amino acids and related metabolites near *PPM1K* were clustered together, and 21 sentinel SNPs for urate, uric acid and urea near *ABCG2* were clustered. However, these two groups were not clustered further, even though they are only 150 kb apart because the metabolites are not tightly linked biochemically and each cluster has its own very credible causal gene. Within each cluster, the variant with the smallest *P*-value (across all related metabolites) was retained.
For each of the 497 locus--metabolite pairs, all protein-coding genes within 1 Mb of the sentinel variant were considered. This generated a median of 20 genes per locus (range 4--92). The final selection of the likely causal gene was performed manually following an expert review of the literature, which was guided by both text-mining and annotation data from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). Many metabolites are so distinct that only a small number of genes have ever been discussed in relation to them. Examples include 5-oxoproline, here linked to the *OPLAH* gene that encodes 5-oxoprolinase ([@B27]) and manganese, here linked to the *SLC30A10* gene that encodes a manganese transporter ([@B28]).
For each of the 497 gene--metabolite pairs, we attempted to identify the earliest publication conclusively linking the gene product to the exact metabolite reported or a biochemically similar metabolite. Preference was given to evidence for the human gene, to non-genetic data and to experimental work conducted before the publication of the GWAS. The publications reporting the experimental validation for the causal genes are presented in [Supplementary Table S1](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}, listed under 'Evidence Source (PMID)'.
### *cis*-pQTL dataset {#SEC2-1-2}
This dataset was derived from our recent large-scale pQTL study ([@B14]). Briefly, the dataset consisted of 3301 healthy individuals of European descent, who had been randomly selected from a pool of ∼50 000 participants of the INTERVAL study ([@B29]). Plasma protein levels were measured using the SOMAscan platform (SomaLogic, Inc., Boulder, Colorado, USA) comprising 4034 distinct aptamers (SOMAmers) covering 3623 proteins (or protein complexes). Genotyping was performed using the UK Biobank Axiom genotyping array (Affymetrix, Inc., Santa Clara, California, USA), assaying ∼830 000 variants. Variants were imputed using a combined 1000 Genomes Phase 3-UK10K reference panel, which yielded a total of ∼10.5 million variants for pQTL analyses after stringent QC filtering. Overall, we found a total of 1927 significant (*P* \< 1.5 × 10^−11^) genetic variant--protein associations involving 1478 proteins and 764 unique genomic loci ([@B14]). Of these 1927 associations, 555 were *cis*-associations (i.e. sentinel variant within 1 Mb of the gene encoding the corresponding protein) and the remaining 1373 were *trans*-associations.
For cross-validation analyses, we utilized only the *cis*-pQTL data, for which we hypothesized that the causal gene at a given *cis*-pQTL ought to be the gene that encodes the associated protein. To convert the 555 *cis*-pQTLs into a high-confidence set of sentinel variant--causal gene assignments, we first decomposed the *cis*-pQTLs into 589 sentinel variant--SOMAmer *cis*-associations. We then removed nine sentinel variants with associations originating from SOMAmers known to target more than a single protein due to paralogous sequences. We also removed 16 associations with SOMAmers that led to duplicate (or more) protein associations for the same sentinel variant. Finally, we removed two additional associations for which the same sentinel variants were associated with distinct protein isoforms encoded by single genes. Thus, we used a set of 562 high-confidence sentinel variant--causal gene assignments ([Supplementary Table S2](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}) for the purposes of validating the bottom-up component of ProGeM.
Proxy variant selection {#SEC2-2}
-----------------------
We selected proxies for each sentinel variant based on an LD threshold of *r*^2^ ≥ 0.8. For the mQTL dataset, proxies were extracted from the 1000 Genomes Project (EUR Super Population) data using PhenoScanner, which is a curated database of publically available results from large-scale genetic association studies ([@B30]). For the *cis*-pQTL dataset, proxies were derived directly from the genotype data of the participants, as previously described ([@B14]).
Annotation of sentinel and proxy variants {#SEC2-3}
-----------------------------------------
All sentinel and proxy variants were annotated using the Ensembl Variant Effect Predictor (VEP) (v83) on GENCODE transcripts (v19) for GRCh37 ([@B31]). Annotations were generated using the 'per gene' option, which considers variant annotations across all genes and transcripts, and selects the most severe consequence per gene with an arbitrary selection of the corresponding transcript. In particular, we made use of the IMPACT rating provided by VEP, which assigns input variants to one of four overarching functional categories as follows: (i) high impact: 'the variant is assumed to have high (disruptive) impact on the protein, probably causing protein truncation, loss of function or triggering nonsense-mediated decay' (i.e. frameshift variant, start-lost variant); (ii) moderate impact: 'a non-disruptive variant that might change protein effectiveness' (i.e. missense variant, inframe deletion); (iii) low impact: 'assumed to be mostly harmless or unlikely to change protein behaviour' (i.e. synonymous variant, 3′-untranslated region variant) and (iv) modifier impact: 'usually non-coding variants or variants affecting non-coding genes, where predictions are difficult or there is no evidence of impact' (i.e. intergenic variant and intronic variant).
Identification of candidate causal genes {#SEC2-4}
----------------------------------------
### Bottom-up component {#SEC2-4-1}
We used the GenomicRanges suite of R packages ([@B32]) to extract (i) the three nearest protein-coding genes to each sentinel variant and (ii) any LD range-overlapping genes from a GRCh37 gene model based on a GTF file ('Homo_sapiens.GRCh37.82.gtf') retrieved from Ensembl ([@B33]). LD ranges for each sentinel variant were defined as the range between the genomic coordinates (GRCh37) of the left- and right-most proxy variants (±5 kb). In cases where the sentinel had no proxies, the coordinates of the sentinel variant (±5 kb) were taken as the LD range. We also extracted significant *cis*-eQTL target genes of sentinel and proxy variants from the *cis*-eQTL data prepared by the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project ([@B5]) (v7), across all tissues assayed (*n* = 48). Significant *cis*-eQTLs were defined by beta distribution-adjusted empirical *P*-values using a false discovery rate (FDR) threshold of 0.05 (see <http://www.gtexportal.org/home/documentationPage> for details).
### Top-down component {#SEC2-4-2}
mQTL sentinel variant-flanking genes (i.e. transcription start site (TSS) within ±500 kb of a sentinel) were identified using GenomicRanges ([@B32]) and the same Ensembl GTF file as above. Top-down candidates were then identified by cross-referencing the resultant list of sentinel-flanking genes against a list of known metabolic-related genes derived from five open-source databases ([Supplementary Table S3](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
Comparative analysis with SNiPA {#SEC2-5}
-------------------------------
In order to compare the output of ProGeM with that of SNiPA, we extracted all candidate causal genes using the SNiPA web server (data accessed: 7 June 2018) (<https://snipa.helmholtz-muenchen.de/snipa3/>) ([@B19]). We serially entered all 227 sentinel variants into the 'block annotation' tool with the LD threshold set to *r*^2^ = 0.8. This and all other settings used were in accordance with ProGeM; Genome assembly: GRCh37, Variant set: 1000 Genomes (Phase 3 v5), Population: European, Genome annotation: Ensembl 87. Then, for each sentinel variant, we downloaded the corresponding 'Results file' under the 'Report' tab and used all genes listed under the columns named 'GENES', 'REGGENES' or 'EQTLGENES' as candidate causal genes according to SNiPA.
Statistical analyses {#SEC2-6}
--------------------
### Sensitivity and specificity {#SEC2-6-1}
Sensitivity was calculated and expressed as a percentage of the total number of molecular QTLs in question, as follows: $$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}
}{}\begin{equation*}Sensitivity\ = \ \left( {100\ \div \ n} \right)\ \times \ TP\end{equation*}\end{document}$$
\[*n*: total number of molecular QTLs, TP: true positives\]
We calculated the overall specificity of ProGeM as: $$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}
}{}\begin{equation*}Specificity\ = {\boldsymbol{\ }}TN\ \div {\boldsymbol{\ }}\left( {TN{\boldsymbol{\ }} + {\boldsymbol{\ }}FP} \right)\end{equation*}\end{document}$$
\[TN: true negatives, FP: false positives\] whereby maximal specificity is indicated by specificity = 1 and where TN was comprised of: $$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}
}{}\begin{equation*}TN\ = \ \Sigma LG\ - \ \left( {TP\ + \ FP} \right)\ - \ FN\end{equation*}\end{document}$$
\[LG: local protein-coding genes residing ±500 kb from a sentinel variant, TP: true positives, FN: false negatives\]
To compare the specificity of the bottom-up and top-down components, as well as the concurrent candidate gene sets, TN was comprised of: $$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}
}{}\begin{equation*}TN\ = \ \Sigma PG\ - \ \left( {TP\ + \ FP} \right) - \ FN\end{equation*}\end{document}$$
\[PG: ProGeM candidates for each sentinel variant\]
### Enrichment analyses {#SEC2-6-2}
Enrichment analyses were performed using Fisher's exact tests, with the relevant background gene sets consisting of all remaining candidate causal genes across either the mQTL or *cis*-pQTL dataset as appropriate. Uncorrected *P*-values are reported in the text, with Bonferroni-corrected *P*-values shown in figures.
Software for analyses {#SEC2-7}
---------------------
All analyses described in this study were performed using R v3.3.2 and Bioconductor v3.3.
RESULTS {#SEC3}
=======
Conceptual framework of ProGeM {#SEC3-1}
------------------------------
The framework of ProGeM is based on the assumption that in order for a gene to be causal for a molecular QTL, or indeed any other phenotype, it must fulfil two requirements: (i) the gene product must exhibit altered structure, abundance or function as a result of the sentinel or proxy variants at the QTL and (ii) the gene must be involved in the molecular mechanism that influences the trait in question. Accordingly, ProGeM is comprised of a 'bottom-up' and a 'top-down' component that prioritizes candidate causal genes from the perspective of the genetic variant and the molecular phenotype, respectively (Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}).
{#F1}
### Bottom-up component {#SEC3-1-1}
For the bottom-up component, we utilize three complementary methods to identify plausible candidate causal genes based on (i) their proximity to the LD range ('Materials and Methods' section); (ii) their proximity to the sentinel variant; (iii) whether their mRNA expression levels are impacted by either the GWAS sentinel or any corresponding proxy variants (Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). The former two methods are designed to capture candidate causal genes that are proximal to the association signal, whereas the latter enables inclusion of more distal candidate genes. Any gene that meets at least one of these criteria is included in the list of bottom-up candidate genes. In addition, those candidate causal genes that contain either a sentinel or proxy variant of high or moderate impact on gene function ('Materials and Methods' section) are annotated as such.
### Top-down component {#SEC3-1-2}
For the top-down component, we first identify all genes that reside within a pre-defined genomic window either side of the sentinel variant. Various open-source databases are then referenced to determine whether any of these genes have previously been implicated in the regulation of the molecular phenotype in question, thereby constituting the top-down candidates (Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). The type of databases referenced, and the way in which they are queried ([Supplementary Table S3](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}), depends on the nature of the molecular phenotype (e.g. the abundance of proteins, metabolites, lipids etc.). For the purposes of this study, we extracted a list of metabolic-related genes from five databases: (i) Gene Ontology (GO), (ii) KEGG, (iii) Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI), (iv) Orphanet and (v) Reactome (Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"} and [Supplementary Table S3](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). We have made this list available at GitHub (<https://github.com/ds763/ProGeM>). Lastly, the top-down candidate genes are assigned an informal score ranging between 1 and 5 to reflect the number of times they are reported in the databases.
### Framework integration {#SEC3-1-3}
The lists of bottom-up and top-down candidate genes for each identified QTL are integrated by ProGeM to determine whether any genes are identified by both independent approaches. Any concurrent candidate genes are then designated the most likely causal genes given that they fulfil both of the aforementioned requirements for a candidate causal gene.
Generation of a high-confidence metabolite QTL reference causal gene set {#SEC3-2}
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to empirically assess the performance of ProGeM, we curated a reference dataset comprising 227 literature-derived mQTLs, each of which we assigned a high-confidence causal gene. A full description on how this reference gene set was generated can be found in the 'Materials and Methods' section.
In brief, this reference set exploits the wealth of biochemical experimental research that predates GWAS discoveries, such as the identification and characterization of proteins that regulate specific metabolic processes, as well as the extensive clinical characterization of genes underlying rare inborn errors of metabolism. The candidate causal genes we assigned to these mQTLs affect the corresponding metabolites in a variety of ways; for example, many encode enzymes that act directly on the metabolite, others encode transporters or carriers for the metabolite, whilst others code for transcription factors known to impact the transcription of metabolic genes or processes. Full details including relevant enzyme commission (EC) codes and references (PubMed IDs) can be found in [Supplementary Table S1](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}. A summary and representative examples are shown in Table [1](#tbl1){ref-type="table"}.
######
Summary of the biological relationships between expert-curated causal genes at 227 mQTLs and the corresponding metabolites
mQTL example
------------------------------------------------------- --------- ---------- --------------------- ---------------------------------------------- -------------- --------------------------------------------------
Enzyme impacting metabolite
Directly 66 29.07 rs532545 Uridine *CDA* Cytidine deaminase
rs4738684 Glycine *GLDC* Glycine dehydrogenase
Indirectly 46 20.26 rs1801133 Homocysteine *MTHFR* Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase
rs12785878 Vitamin D *DHCR7* 7-Dehydrocholesterol reductase
Transporter or carrier for metabolite 38 16.74 rs1776029 Manganese *SLC30A10* Solute carrier family 30, member 10
rs10455872 Total cholesterol *LPA* Lipoprotein, Lp(a)
Receptor or binding partner for metabolite 10 4.41 rs2366858 HDL cholesterol *CD36* CD36 molecule (thrombospondin receptor)
rs12150660 Testosterone *SHBG* Sex hormone-binding globulin
Affects transcription of related metabolic gene 13 5.73 rs6048216 rs603424 Fasting glucose Thyroid hormone levels (FT4) *FOXA2LHX3* Forkhead box A2 LIM homeobox 3
Acts on molecule / pathway known to impact metabolite 21 9.25 rs2954022 rs1801725 Triglycerides Calcium *TRIB1 CASR* Tribbles pseudokinase 1 Calcium-sensing receptor
Acts on related metabolite 29 12.78 rs646776 LDL cholesterol *SORT1* Sortilin 1
rs3738934 X-13431-non-anoylcarnitine *ACADL* Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, long chain
Other 4 1.76 rs5030062 Bradykinin, des-arg(9) *KNG1* Kininogen 1
rs38855 Triglycerides *CAV1* Caveolin 1
**Total** **227** **100%**
A selection of example mQTLs is included for illustrative purposes.
ProGeM implementation and parameter selection {#SEC3-3}
---------------------------------------------
ProGeM is implemented in the R statistical environment as a configurable .R script, which is freely available at GitHub along with a .readme file describing the necessary input and resultant output files (<https://github.com/ds763/ProGeM>).
The parameters used by ProGeM can be adjusted based on the type of molecular QTL data and the research question provided by the user. Specifically, these parameters include (i) the number of nearest genes to each sentinel variant that ProGeM should consider to be candidate causal genes ('number of nearest genes'; default = 3); (ii) the size of the genomic window around each sentinel variant from which candidate genes are reported ('distance'; default = 500 kb); (iii) the threshold ProGeM should use to select proxies from a user-supplied file ('*r*^2^ threshold'; default ≥0.8) and (iv) the threshold ProGeM should use to select *cis*-eQTL target genes as candidate causal genes ('*cis*-eQTL *P*-value threshold' = default: beta distribution-adjusted empirical *P*-values using an FDR threshold of 0.05, see <http://www.gtexportal.org/home/documentationPage> for details).
In order to determine how the ProGeM output is affected by changing various parameters, we applied ProGeM to the above-mentioned mQTL reference causal gene set ('Materials and Methods' section and [Supplementary Table S1](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). We ran an additional iteration of ProGeM after each parameter change (while leaving all others in the default setting), and then determined both sensitivity and specificity. A high sensitivity is achieved if the identified sets of candidate causal genes include the 'true positive' causal genes at the molecular QTLs, and a high specificity is obtained if the number of identified genes that do not match the 'true positive' causal genes is low. Overall, we found that there was very little variation in either of these two metrics ([Supplementary Figure S1](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}), indicating that the general performance of ProGeM is robust to parameter changes.
Using the default parameters, we applied ProGeM to the set of 227 mQTLs for the purposes of performance benchmarking (see below). This analysis took ∼15 min using a Windows 7 desktop equipped with an Intel Core i3-3240 (3.4 GHz) processor and 4 GB RAM. The bottom-up, top-down and concurrent ProGeM outputs for this set of mQTLs can be found in [Supplementary Tables S4, S5 and S6](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}, respectively.
Application and benchmarking of ProGeM {#SEC3-4}
--------------------------------------
### Local benchmarking {#SEC3-4-1}
To illustrate specific characteristics of the ProGeM output in more detail, we arbitrarily selected three sentinel variants (rs1801133, rs1005390 and rs766420) from the full list of 227 mQTLs ([Supplementary Table S1](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Table [2](#tbl2){ref-type="table"} summarizes the ProGeM output for each of these three sentinel variants.
######
Summary of the ProGeM output for three arbitrarily selected mQTLs
Annotation Bottom-up Top-down
------------ ----------- ---------- ----------- ---- ------------- ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ------------------ ------------------------ ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------
1 rs1801133 1 11856378 0 ***MTHFR*** ***MTHFR***; *C1orf167*; *CLCN6* *MFN2; **MTHFR*** ***MTHFR***; *NPPA*; *PTCHD2* ***MTHFR*** *MAD2L2*; *NPPA* ***MTHFR*** ***MTHFR*** ***MTHFR*** (4) ***MTHFR***
110 rs1005390 7 150543721 26 ***AOC1*** ***AOC1***; *TMEM179A*; *TMEM179B* ***AOC1***; *TMEM179A*; *TMEM179B* ***AOC1***; *SMARCD3* ***AOC1***; *CHPF2*; *NOS3* *NOS3* -- ***AOC1***; *CHPF2*; *NOS3*; *SMARCD3* ***AOC1*** (3); *NOS3* (3) ***AOC1***
227 rs766420 X 153554404 0 *TKTL1* *TKTL1*; *FLNA*; *TEX28* *BRCC3*; *DNASE1L1*; *F8A1*; *FAM3A*; *FAM50A*; *GDI1; IRAK1; LAGE3*; *PLXNA3*; *RPL10*; *TAZ; TMEM187* *DNASE1L1*; ***G6PD***; *IDH3G*; *MECP2*; *MPP1*; *RENBP*; *TKTL1* *ATP6AP1*; ***G6PD***; *IDH3G*; *TKTL1* *DKC1*; *IKBKG* *HCFC1*; *SSR4*; *TAZ* ***G6PD***; *IDH3G*; *RPL10*; *TAZ* ***G6PD*** (3); *IDH3G* (3) *DNASE1L1*; *RPL10*; *TAZ*; *TKTL1*
All bottom-up, top-down and concurrent candidate causal genes are shown, as well as the implicating data sources. The expert-curated candidate causal genes are highlighted in bold. The inclusion of 'mQTL number' facilitates cross-referencing of example mQTLs between this table and [Supplementary Table S1](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}, where more detailed information can be found. Abbreviations: Chr, Chromosome; LD, Linkage Disequilibrium; GO, Gene Ontology; KEGG; MGI, Mouse Genome Informatics; Orph, Orphanet; Reac, Reactome.
*Example 1*: rs1801133 has been previously identified to associate with plasma homocysteine levels by two large-scale GWAS at genome-wide significance ([@B34],[@B35]). rs1801133 is a missense variant (Ala222Val) affecting the *MTHFR* gene, which encodes an enzyme known to be involved in folate and homocysteine metabolism ([@B36]). *MTHFR* was assigned to this mQTL as the high-confidence causal gene (Table [2](#tbl2){ref-type="table"}). ProGeM identified *MTHFR* as the sole concurrent candidate causal gene at this mQTL, highlighting the expert-curated gene as the most likely causal gene.
*Example 2*: In a GWAS investigating 529 blood metabolites, rs1005390 was found to be significantly associated with circulating X-03056--N-\[3-(2-Oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)propyl\]acetamide levels ([@B17]). This variant is intronic to the high-confidence causal gene *AOC1* (Table [2](#tbl2){ref-type="table"}), which encodes an enzyme that catalyses the deamination of N1-acetylspermidine to produce the above-mentioned metabolite ([@B37]). As was the case in Example 1, *AOC1* was highlighted by ProGeM as the sole concurrent causal candidate gene.
*Example 3*: In a GWAS investigating the genetic determinants of circulating levels of bilirubin, which is a by-product of the breakdown of haemoglobin in red blood cells, the authors reported a significant association with rs766420 ([@B38]). This variant resides within an intron of the gene *TKTL1*, though for this example, the high-confidence causal gene was not the most proximal gene but rather the gene *G6PD* (Table [2](#tbl2){ref-type="table"}), which is located more than 200 kb downstream. *G6PD* encodes glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, an enzyme that is critical for red blood cell metabolism, as deficiency is known to result in haemolysis, anaemia, hyperbilirubinemia and jaundice ([@B39]). Although the ProGeM output for this mQTL highlighted four genes as concurrent candidates (i.e. *DNASE1L1, RPL10, TAZ* and *TKTL1*), none of them corresponded to the expert-curated gene, *G6PD*. This example underscores the importance of incorporating top-down information within the ProGeM framework, whilst also cautioning against automatically discounting non-concurrent genes without due diligence.
### Global benchmarking {#SEC3-4-2}
Following the characterization of the ProGeM output at individual molecular QTLs, we next determined key performance indicators. In order to benchmark the sensitivity and specificity of ProGeM, we systematically compared the ProGeM output (stratified for the bottom-up and top-down component) for all 227 mQTLs with the corresponding high-confidence causal gene assignments as described above ('Materials and Methods' section).
To assess the sensitivity, we determined the proportion of reference candidate causal genes at the mQTLs ('true positives') that were identified by ProGeM. Overall, ProGeM was able to identify the curated candidates for 223 of 227 mQTLs, thereby demonstrating high sensitivity (98%; Figure [2A](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). Importantly, the vast majority of these genes (*n* = 187; 82%) were identified by both the bottom-up and top-down components (Figure [2B](#F2){ref-type="fig"}), indicating that sensitivity remains high even when restricting to the narrower set of concurrent candidates. Indeed, the bottom-up ([Supplementary Figure S2](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}) and top-down ([Supplementary Figure S3](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}) components alone identified 216 (95%) and 194 (85%) true candidate causal genes, respectively.
{#F2}
Next, we assessed the specificity of ProGeM across all 227 mQTLs. In total, ProGeM highlighted 1629 candidate causal genes at these loci, with a median of 6 \[min. = 2, max. = 31\] candidates per locus (Figure [2C](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). The overall specificity of ProGeM for this dataset was 0.502 ('Materials and Methods' section). When we compared the bottom-up and top-down components of ProGeM, we found that the top-down component performed slightly better with a specificity of 0.459 compared to 0.384 for the bottom-up component. Nevertheless, the two components had very similar medians and ranges (Figure [2C](#F2){ref-type="fig"} and [Supplementary Figure S4](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Notably, when only the concurrent candidate causal genes were taken into account, specificity was much improved with an overall specificity of 0.846, corresponding to a median of just 2 \[min. = 0, max. = 9\] candidates at each locus (Figure [2C](#F2){ref-type="fig"}).
Comparative analysis of functional annotation data sources {#SEC3-5}
----------------------------------------------------------
One of the main limitations of current bioinformatic tools for prioritizing candidate causal genes at molecular QTLs, including ProGeM, pertains to the difficulties associated with distinguishing between true and false positive candidates. Our benchmarking analyses showed that focusing solely on the concurrent gene set returned by ProGeM appears to be a potential means to address this issue. To formally test this, we performed an enrichment analysis using all non-concurrent candidates highlighted by ProGeM for the same mQTL data (*n* = 227 loci) as a background set. A Fisher's exact test revealed a highly significant odds ratio (OR) of 29 \[95% confidence interval: 19--43\] (*P* = 8.5 × 10^−93^), indicating that the odds of identifying the true causal genes from candidates highlighted by ProGeM are greatly improved when picking from the pool of concurrent candidate genes. Indeed, based on the observed frequencies, 46% of the concurrent candidates corresponded to a reference causal gene, relative to only 3% of non-concurrent candidate genes ([Supplementary Table S7](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
Next, we assessed the importance of the various functional data sources leveraged by ProGeM for pinpointing the true positive candidate causal genes. Of all the bottom-up annotation criteria tested, the set of genes nearest to a sentinel variant was enriched with true positive candidate causal genes at the highest significance level (OR = 45 \[31--67\], *P* = 1.0 × 10^−107^) (Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"} and [Supplementary Table S7](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). This was followed by the concurrent gene set (see above), the LD overlapping gene set (OR = 15 \[11--22\], *P* = 9.5 × 10^−67^), and then the three nearest genes to a sentinel variant (OR = 15 \[9--23\], *P* = 8.2 × 10^−55^) (Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"} and [Supplementary Table S7](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Given that three of the four most significant criteria relate to the most proximal genes to the sentinel variant at the mQTLs, it can be concluded that proximity-based criteria are effective indicators of true positive causal genes at mQTLs.
{#F3}
When we compared the concurrent and nearest gene sets more closely, the concurrent gene set achieved higher sensitivity, having identified 187 (82%) relative to 157 (69%) true positive causal genes out of 227. However, the concurrent gene set exhibited lower specificity (0.846) than the nearest gene set, which inherently achieved maximal specificity. Given this, we constructed a combined gene set by imposing maximal specificity onto our concurrent gene set using nearest gene information as follows: (i) for mQTLs assigned to more than one concurrent candidate gene, we restricted this assignment to the concurrent gene nearest to the sentinel variant, and (ii) we assigned mQTLs without a concurrent candidate to the gene nearest to the sentinel variant. The resultant set of 'nearest-concurrent' genes identified 177 of 227 (78%) reference causal genes, which constitutes a 4% drop in sensitivity relative to our original set of concurrent genes (187; 82%) but a 9% increase relative to the nearest gene set (157; 69%). Further, an enrichment analysis of the nearest-concurrent gene set revealed both a higher odds ratio and *P*-value (OR = 84 \[55--131\], *P* = 1.6 × 10^−137^) relative to both the original gene sets.
The annotation criterion with by far the highest odds ratio (OR = 169 \[27--6667\], *P* = 1.4 × 10^−20^) was related to genes containing a sentinel variant of moderate impact (Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"} and [Supplementary Table S7](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Indeed, of 25 such candidate causal genes highlighted by ProGeM, 24 (96%) corresponded to a reference causal candidate ([Supplementary Table S7](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). However, although genes containing a proxy (*r*^2^ \> 0.8) variant of moderate impact were also enriched with true positive causal genes, this gene set was associated with a much lower odds ratio (OR = 6 \[4--10\], *P* = 5.6 × 10^−13^) (Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"} and [Supplementary Table S7](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
Because genes containing a sentinel variant of moderate impact will also inherently be the nearest gene to that sentinel, we sought to determine whether the highly significant enrichment observed for the nearest gene set was driven by the genes that contain a sentinel variant of moderate impact. Therefore, we repeated the enrichment analysis of the nearest gene set after removing all mQTLs tagged by a moderate impact sentinel variant, which resulted in a dataset that comprised 202 out of 227 mQTLs. There were no mQTLs tagged by a high impact sentinel in this dataset. We found that this filtered nearest gene set was still significantly enriched with true positive causal genes (OR = 34 \[23--51\], *P* = 1.3 × 10^−84^) ([Supplementary Table S8](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}), indicating that the enrichment observed for the complete nearest gene set (OR = 45 \[31--67\], *P* = 1.0 × 10^−107^) was not wholly driven by the genes containing moderate impact sentinel variants. Accordingly, we obtained comparable results when we also removed mQTLs tagged by a low impact sentinel variant as well as after removing mQTLs tagged by proxy variants of high, moderate and low impact ([Supplementary Table S8](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
The *cis*-eQTL gene sets were also significantly enriched with true positive causal genes, although the *P*-values and associated odds ratios were modest (Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"} and [Supplementary Table S7](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). When we investigated in more detail the 24 mQTLs for which the true positive causal gene contained a moderate impact sentinel variant, we found that just nine of these genes were also *cis*-eQTL genes for either the sentinel or a proxy variant. This indicates that these two methods of identifying true positive causal genes are predominantly exclusive. We also performed enrichment analyses for all GTEx tissues (*n* = 48) assayed individually; however, we did not identify any specific tissues of particular relevance ([Supplementary Figure S5 and Table S9](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). The same applied to individual top-down annotation criteria tested (Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"} and [Supplementary Table S7](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
Comparative analysis of ProGeM and SNiPA {#SEC3-6}
----------------------------------------
We also compared the output of ProGeM to that of an alternative tool, the Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Annotator (SNiPA). SNiPA is a phenotype-agnostic candidate causal gene prioritization tool that utilizes a wide range of bottom-up resources, including positional, gene regulatory and *cis*-eQTL data ([@B19]). For this comparison, we used SNiPA to identify candidate causal genes for the reference set of 227 mQTLs ('Materials and Methods' section). Of the 227 corresponding sentinel variants, nine were not recognized by SNiPA, leaving 218 mQTLs for direct comparison.
Overall, SNiPA identified 201 'true positive' causal genes out of 218, thereby achieving a sensitivity of 92%. At the same time, SNiPA highlighted 1315 'false positive' causal genes, i.e. for every candidate causal gene highlighted by SNiPA there was approximately a 1 in 7 chance that it corresponded to a true positive gene. As a direct comparison, the bottom-up component of ProGeM achieved both a higher sensitivity and specificity than SNiPA, with a total of 209 true positive causal genes out of 218 (i.e. 96%) accompanied by 827 false positives (i.e. a 1 in 5 chance that the highlighted gene corresponded to a true positive gene).
Further, after combining the bottom-up and top-down components of ProGeM, the number of true positive causal genes was slightly reduced to 180 (83%), whilst the number of false positives was substantially reduced to 207, thus representing a 1 in 2 chance that the candidate gene corresponded to a true positive. This comparison provides additional evidence that by combining genetic variant-centric with trait-centric annotation data, the sensitivity of identifying candidate causal genes can be markedly increased.
Cross-validation and partial replication in a large-scale pQTL dataset {#SEC3-7}
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Next, we assessed the extent to which these functional annotation criteria might serve as indicators of true positive causal genes in another molecular QTL dataset. To this end, we utilized a *cis*-pQTL dataset comprising 562 sentinel variants ([@B14]), for which we hypothesized that the true positive causal gene ought to be the gene that encodes the *cis*-affected protein ('Materials and Methods' section; [Supplementary Table S2](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Importantly, this dataset only enabled us to assess the bottom-up annotation criteria, as the top-down criteria are not directly comparable across the mQTL and pQTL datasets. Therefore, we used only the bottom-up candidate genes from the corresponding ProGeM output (obtained using default settings) as our background gene set. Likewise, for the purposes of this comparison, we also re-ran the enrichment analyses of the bottom-up criteria for the mQTL dataset, where we used only the bottom-up candidates highlighted by ProGeM as a background gene set.
The findings for both the mQTL ([Supplementary Table S10](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}) and *cis*-pQTL ([Supplementary Table S12](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}) datasets (Figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}) were strikingly similar. First, not only did the set of nearest genes achieve the highest levels of significance in both cases (*cis*-pQTL: OR = 54 \[41--71\], *P* = 4.1 × 10^−251^ \| mQTL: OR = 30 \[20--45\], *P* = 2.4 × 10^−82^), but the other two proximity-based criteria (LD overlapping, nearest three genes) also appeared in the top four of their respective lists (ranked by *P*-value) (Figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}). This is consistent with previous observations made for this *cis*-pQTL dataset, whereby the sentinel variants were found to cluster at the TSS of genes encoding the *cis*-proteins ([@B14]). Second, the gene sets containing a sentinel variant of moderate impact achieved the highest odds ratios for both datasets (*cis*-pQTL: OR = 99 \[37--374\], *P* = 4.6 × 10^−58^ \| mQTL: OR = 107 \[17--4327\], *P* = 1.2 × 10^−16^) (Figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}). Third, the significant enrichment observed within the nearest gene sets from either dataset was only partially attenuated after removing QTLs tagged by these moderate impact sentinel variants ([Supplementary Tables S8 and S12](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). These data indicate that genomic proximity to the sentinel variant represents a strong indicator of the true positive causal genes for both *cis*-pQTLs and mQTLs---even if the variant in question does not reside in the coding sequence.
{#F4}
Enrichment analyses of the *cis*-eQTL target gene sets yielded similar odds ratios across the two datasets, although a higher significance was observed for the *cis*-pQTL dataset ([Supplementary Tables S10 and S11](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Further, when we performed enrichment analyses of each GTEx tissue individually, both the odds ratios and *P*-values observed for the *cis*-pQTL dataset were generally more significant than for the mQTL dataset ([Supplementary Figures S6, S7](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"} and [Supplementary Tables S9, S13](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). However, this difference in *P*-values may be due to the fact that the *cis*-pQTL dataset comprised more than twice the number of QTLs relative to the mQTL dataset (i.e. 562 versus 227 QTLs), thereby leveraging greater statistical power.
Taken together, these results suggest that many of the same bottom-up criteria can be used to effectively prioritize the most likely true positive causal genes for both mQTLs and pQTLs, and that ProGeM may be applicable to other molecular QTL datasets beyond those tested here.
DISCUSSION {#SEC4}
==========
In the present study, we introduced an analysis framework and highly configurable R script for the prioritization of candidate causal genes at molecular QTLs. In benchmarking analyses using a set of 227 mQTLs for which we mapped high-confidence causal genes, we demonstrated that ProGeM is highly sensitive in identifying these genes. In enrichment analyses using this mQTL dataset, we found that proximity-based indicators are an effective means of distinguishing between true and false positive causal genes.
Unique features of ProGeM {#SEC4-1}
-------------------------
First, currently available tools are typically either trait agnostic or aimed more generally at complex disease GWAS data, whereas ProGeM is intended for a specific trait class, i.e. molecular QTLs. This confers a major advantage, as knowledge of the trait inherently enables the incorporation of trait-specific annotation criteria. In the present study, we demonstrated this for 'metabolism' as a broad trait class. We note that there are other web tools available that utilize top-down information; however, these tools are distinct in that they rely on either user-input (i.e. Phenolyzer ([@B40])) or literature/text mining (i.e. PolySearch ([@B41]), MimMiner ([@B42]), Bitola ([@B43]), aGeneApart ([@B44]), GeneProspector ([@B45])) to generate this information.
Second, ProGeM integrates both bottom-up and top-down functional annotation data sources to hone in specifically on 'concurrent' candidate causal genes. In our benchmarking tests, we demonstrated that the concurrent candidate causal genes for a set of 227 mQTLs were strongly enriched with the high-confidence causal genes. These data suggest that there is a benefit in prioritizing concurrent over non-concurrent candidates.
Third, ProGeM has been benchmarked against a large reference set of mQTLs with high-confidence causal gene assignments, which allowed us to empirically verify the validity and performance of our framework. By contrast, the published tools that have been systematically benchmarked (e.g. ToppGene Suite) have used very small datasets of known causal genes, which are most likely not generalizable ([@B46],[@B47]). We have made our mQTL reference dataset available to the research community in [Supplementary Table S1](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}, providing a substrate for future benchmarking analyses and methods development.
Global benchmarking analyses {#SEC4-2}
----------------------------
Our benchmarking analyses highlighted increased sensitivity to be one of the strengths of ProGeM, having missed only four out of 227 reference causal genes at the tested mQTLs (Figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). When we investigated these four elusive genes in more detail, we found that three of them were missed because they are located \>500 kb from their respective sentinel variants (rs7542172; *AKR1A1* \| rs140348140; *GLDC* \| rs1550532; *TRPM8*), whilst the fourth was missed because it was annotated as a pseudogene (rs7130284; *FOLH1B*). This potentially explains why ProGeM was unable to capture the curated causal gene for rs10403668. Nevertheless, we were able to achieve maximal sensitivity by modifying two user-defined settings in ProGeM as follows: (i) omit the default filter on protein-coding genes only and (ii) extend the genomic locus from the default ±500 kb to ±1 Mb.
It is important to note that the high sensitivity achieved by ProGeM was inevitably accompanied by high levels of 'background noise' (i.e. low specificity; Figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). This is not unusual within the context of candidate causal gene prioritization tools, whereby the general focus tends to be on 'prioritizing' multiple candidates at a locus rather than force-assigning each QTL to a single causal candidate---notwithstanding that at some molecular QTLs there may be more than one causal gene. Thus, in order to minimize the background noise associated with candidate causal gene prioritization tools, there is a general need to be able to apply additional prioritization strategies *post-hoc* that are both reliable and empirically validated. For example, our comprehensive benchmarking analyses demonstrated that by specifically prioritizing the concurrent candidate causal genes highlighted by ProGeM, we were able to make considerable specificity gains at the cost of only a minimal reduction in sensitivity. This was recapitulated when we compared the performance of ProGeM with that of SNiPA, which relies solely on bottom-up information.
Our analyses also showed that genomic proximity to the sentinel variants tagging mQTLs was a highly effective means of prioritizing candidates. Indeed, out of multiple candidate gene sets defined by a series of bottom-up and top-down criteria, the set of genes nearest to each sentinel variant achieved the highest level of significance in enrichment testing, with the concurrent gene set ranking second (Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}). Furthermore, the subclass of nearest genes that contained a moderate impact sentinel variant achieved the highest odds ratio of all criteria tested, whereby out of 25 such genes in total, 24 corresponded to a true positive causal gene. Although this relates to a relatively small number of genes from the full dataset of 227 causal genes, it suggests that genes containing moderate impact sentinel variants are reliable indicators of true causal genes at mQTLs.
The general consensus in recent years has been that the underlying genetic risk factors for complex human diseases and traits are primarily regulatory in nature, whilst the nearest gene to a sentinel variant often does not correspond to the true causal gene ([@B48]). Notably, both the mQTL and *cis*-pQTL datasets highlighted *cis*-eQTL target genes (as reported in GTEx v7 data) as relatively poor indicators of 'true positive' causal genes. Further research is needed to assess whether genomic proximity is a good indicator of a true positive causal gene for other molecular QTLs as well as complex disease traits, and will depend on the availability of high-confidence reference datasets.
Current limitations of ProGeM {#SEC4-3}
-----------------------------
A potential limitation of ProGeM relates to the preparation of the reference causal gene assignments at the 227 mQTL, which could have been subject to bias, such as the prioritization of the nearest genes for the assignments. As outlined in detail in the 'Materials and Methods' section, all genes within 1 Mb of the sentinel variants were included for the annotation and in-depth literature review. In support, our findings obtained using the bottom-up component of ProGeM were consistent across both the mQTL and *cis*-pQTL datasets. The latter reference set was derived using distinct methods ('Materials and Methods' section). This suggests that our conclusion, that genomic proximity to the sentinel variant is a reliable indicator of a true positive candidate causal gene at molecular QTLs, has validity.
Furthermore, although the overall approach employed by ProGeM and the methods used to curate the high-confidence mQTL dataset were different ('Materials and Methods' section), it is possible that some of the databases utilized by ProGeM may have been informed by the biochemical literature used for the expert curation. Therefore, we acknowledge that ProGeM and the curated high-confidence mQTL dataset are not entirely independent of each other, and as a result, the sensitivity of ProGeM observed within the context of mQTL may be inflated. We also note that the KEGG database was utilized both by ProGeM and as a guide for the expert literature review, although KEGG was just one of five top-down databases utilized by ProGeM. Our data showed that this did not result in a biased annotation.
Possible extensions of ProGeM {#SEC4-4}
-----------------------------
Looking ahead, we anticipate the application of ProGeM to molecular QTL datasets from additional 'omic modalities in the future. This may be directly applicable for lipid QTLs due to the similarities of standardized assay platforms but less so for *trans*-pQTLs, for example. Indeed, the prioritization of candidate causal genes at *trans*-pQTLs would call for a different top-down strategy to the one adopted here. Accordingly, we have previously applied a 'guilt-by-association' (GbA) strategy towards the annotation of *trans*-pQTLs ([@B14]). Thus, rather than asking whether genes local to a sentinel variant have previously been implicated in a metabolic-related phenotype, we asked whether any local genes exhibit related functioning to the gene encoding a given *trans*-affected protein, i.e. annotation within the same biological pathway, or evidence of a protein--protein interaction (PPI). Notably, multiple currently available tools intended for complex human disease have also adopted GbA strategies. These approaches work under the assumption that unknown or novel causal genes can be identified on the basis that they must exhibit related functionality to known causal genes ([@B47],[@B49]). There is, therefore, ample precedence for GbA within the context of candidate causal gene prioritization.
CONCLUSIONS {#SEC5}
===========
In summary, ProGeM is a new gene prioritization tool developed specifically for the identification and prioritization of candidate causal genes at molecular QTLs. We have demonstrated its utility for mQTLs, with one of its major strengths being high sensitivity. We have also highlighted multiple criteria that can be used to prioritize certain candidates over others at a given mQTL. Within the ProGeM framework, we provided evidence that those candidate causal genes with both bottom-up and top-down supporting evidence (i.e. concurrent candidates) represent likely true causal genes. We also showed that proximity to the sentinel variant is a reliable indicator of a true positive causal gene, particularly those genes containing a sentinel variant of moderate impact (i.e. missense variants). Based on our findings, we caution against an overreliance on *cis*-eQTL target genes, as it appears that long-range regulatory effects at molecular QTLs appear may be the exception rather than the rule.
DATA AVAILABILITY {#SEC6}
=================
ProGeM is freely available in the form of an R script at the GitHub repository (<https://github.com/ds763/ProGeM>).
Supplementary Material
======================
######
Click here for additional data file.
We thank Parsa Akbari, William Astle, Jessica Barrett, James Blackshaw, Stephen Burgess, Qi Guo, Joanna Howson, Tao Jiang, Mihir Kamat, Clare Oliver-Williams, James Peters, Bram Prins, Jessica Rees and Praveen Surendran for helpful comments on the analysis framework.
SUPPLEMENTARY DATA {#SEC7}
==================
[Supplementary Data](https://academic.oup.com/nar/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/nar/gky837#supplementary-data) are available at NAR Online.
FUNDING {#SEC8}
=======
Wellcome Trust \[105602/Z/14/Z to D.S.P.\]; UK Medical Research Council \[MR/L003120/1\]; British Heart Foundation \[RG/13/13/30194\]; UK National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. Funding for open access charge: UK Medical Research Council \[MR/L003120/1\]; British Heart Foundation \[RG/13/13/30194\].
*Conflict of interest statement*. None declared.
| {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Central"
} |
The continuing challenge of perforating appendicitis.
A series of 335 consecutive patients treated for acute appendicitis is presented. The incidence of perforation in the series was 32.2 per cent. The mortality was 0.3 per cent for the total series and 0.9 per cent for those patients with perforating appendicitis. When perforation occurs, a twofold increase in the hospital stay and a threefold increase in hospital costs result. A complication rate of 47.2 per cent in instances of perforation was significantly greater than that noted in instances of nonperforation. A 40 per cent incidence of perforation was noted during the first decade of life, after which the frequency of perforation declines. Beginning with the fifth decade, a progressive increase in the incidence of perforation was noted. Prior to hospital admission, a significant delay was noted among patients with perforation. In addition, those with perforating appendicitis were far more likely to have been seen previously by a physician who failed to advise hospital admission. Finally, a significant inhospital delay, from admission to operation, was noted in patients with perforating appendicitis. While geographic access to health care did influence the incidence of perforation, insurance status and possession of a telephone did not. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
Ceftobiprole medocaril is an effective treatment against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) mediastinitis in a rat model.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) mediastinitis after median sternotomy is a major complication of cardiac surgery with significant morbidity and mortality rates. We evaluated the efficacy of ceftobiprole medocaril in a new rat model of mediastinitis and compared it to vancomycin. The model was induced in 92 rats. Infection was induced immediately after median sternotomy by the injection of MRSA (strain 3020, 1 × 10(7) cfu/rat) into the sternal bone. After 24 h, rats (groups of 6-8) were treated intraperitoneally for 5 days or 14 days by either: (i) saline (control, q8h), (ii) ceftobiprole medocaril (70 or 100 mg/kg, q8h), or (iii) vancomycin (50 mg/kg, q12h). Efficacy was determined by a reduction in bacterial cfu in the sternum and spleen tissues. Comparisons were performed using the Mann-Whitney test. A 5-day treatment course of ceftobiprole at both doses tested lead to a significant reduction in MRSA load in the sternum (p < 0.01) as compared to the control group and compared to 5-day vancomycin treatment, which lead to a non-significant reduction (p = 0.07). Longer treatment (14 days) with ceftobiprole lead to a complete clearance of MRSA from the sternum, similarly to vancomycin. Ceftobiprole also showed a significant effect on eliminating MRSA dissemination to the spleen compared to saline-treated rats. Ceftobiprole was effective in treating MRSA mediastinitis in the rat model. In the 5-day course, ceftobiprole showed a significant reduction in sternal MRSA counts and was superior to vancomycin. After 14 days, both ceftobiprole and vancomycin showed clearance of MRSA from the sternum in more than 50 % of rats and almost complete clearance in the remainder. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
Get all the information on the 2020 auditions, interviews, and casting calls for the top Las Vegas dayclubs and pool parties. The process takes place in the early winter as the pools are preparing for their spring and summer seasons. Interviews and auditions typically take place at the venue or at the sister nightclub property. Be prepared to bring a resume, head shots, and model in swimwear. Men should be prepared to be shirtless and women in bikinis. | {
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
} |
---
abstract: |
With the on going construction of several large and medium scale laser interferometric gravitational wave antennas around the globe, the problem of the detection of gravitational waves has acquired great impetus. Since gravitational wave signals from astrophysical sources are expected to be weak, despite the state of the art technology being employed, the development of optimal signal extraction techniques and the consequent accurate determination of the parameters of the signal is of major importance. Coalescing binary systems are one of the most promising sources of gravitational waves. One reason is that such sources are easier to model and thus one can design detection strategies tuned to such signals. A lot of attention has been devoted in the literature studying such techniques and most of the work has revolved around matched filtering and maximum likelihood estimation.
In a previous work, Monte Carlo simulations were carried out of the detection process using matched filtering for the initial LIGO/VIRGO configuration for the first post-Newtonian corrected coalescing binary waveform. We had compared the results of our simulations with available estimates, obtained from covariance matrix considerations, of the errors in the determination of the parameters. Our results showed that the covariance matrix underestimates, by over a factor of two, the actual errors in the estimation of parameters even when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is as high as 10. Sources having SNR higher than 10 are expected to be few and hence this issue is of major concern.
In this paper we probe the question as to why the Monte Carlo simulations give such high errors as opposed to those obtained via the covariance matrix. We present, a [*computationally viable*]{} statistical model of the distribution, of the maximum likelihood estimates (MLE), of the parameters. This model reproduces the essential features of the Monte Carlo simulations, thereby explaining the large root mean square errors in the estimates, obtained in numerical experiments. The chief reason for the large errors seems to be the fact that the probability distribution of the estimated parameters is multimodal. Though only the central peak (corresponding to the actual values of the parameters) is dominant, the subsidary peaks occur ‘far’ away thereby contributing to large variances. We suggest that the variance or the standard deviation of an estimated parameter may not provide the best measure of the error, for the kind of situation we encounter here. We therefore propose another criterion by which the MLE should be judged.
In order to illustrate the model we have considered the Newtonian as well as the first post-Newtonian corrected waveform. We have assumed Gaussian noise, with a power spectrum typical of the LIGO/VIRGO type of detectors. The model we have used, however, is quite general, and robust, and will be relevant to many other parameter estimation problems.
address: |
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics,\
Post Bag 4, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007, India.
author:
- 'R. Balasubramanian and S. V. Dhurandhar'
title: 'Estimation of Parameters of Gravitational Wave Signals from Coalescing Binaries.'
---
Introduction
============
Large scale laser interferometric detectors of gravitational waves, namely, the LIGO [@LIGO] and VIRGO [@VIRGO] and the medium scale detectors, GEO and TAMA are expected to be operational by the turn of this century. Compact coalescing binary systems of blackholes and/or neutron stars are relatively ‘clean’ systems to model during their inspiral and their inspiral waveform can be predicted with a fair degree of reliability. This makes them the most promising sources for broad band detectors, and in particular, the upcoming interferometric detectors cited above. Binary systems are also valuable sources of astrophysical information as one can probe the universe up to cosmological distances. For instance, statistical analysis of several binary coalescences enables the estimation of the Hubble constant to an accuracy better than 10% [@SCH86; @Mar93; @Fin96]. Events that produce high signal-to-noise ratio can be potentially used to observe such non-linear effects, as gravitational wave tails, and to put general relativity into test in the strongly non-linear regime [@BS95]. Due to the weak coupling of gravitational radiation with matter the signal waveform has a very low amplitude and will not stand above the detector noise. In addition to the on-going efforts to reduce the noise, and hence increase the sensitivity of the detector, a considerable amount of research activity has gone into the development of efficient and robust data analysis techniques to extract signals buried in very noisy data. For a review on gravitational waves from compact objects and their detection see Thorne [@Th95a; @Th95b].
Various data analysis schemes have been proposed for the detection of the ‘chirp’ waveform from such systems. Among them the technique of matched filtering is the most promising [@Th87; @HEL; @SCH89]. Briefly, this technique involves correlating the detector output with a set of templates, each of which is tuned to detect the signal with a particular set of parameters. In order to obtain a high value for the correlation the signal waveform should be known to a high level of accuracy. The matched filtering technique is very sensitive to the [*phase*]{} of the signal and even if the template and the signal mismatch by even half a cycle the correlation integral is drastically reduced.
The fully general relativistic waveform from a coalescing binary system of stars is as yet unavailable. In the absence of such an exact solution, there have been efforts to find solutions perturbatively. Most of the work in this area strives towards computing the waveform correct to a high degree of accuracy so that the theoretical templates based on this will obtain the maximum possible SNR.
The signal is said to be detected, if the maximum value of the correlation over all the parameters of the signal crosses a preassigned threshold which has been set by the false alarm one is prepared to tolerate. Once the signal is detected, the maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) of the parameters of the binary are those of the template with which the maximum correlation is obtained. The errors involved in such an estimation have been worked out by several authors [@BS95; @Fin92; @FC93; @BS94; @Kr; @CF94; @KLM93; @PW95], for the case of ‘high’ SNR and for the Newtonian and post-Newtonian waveforms using a single and a network of detectors. In [@BSD96] exhaustive Monte Carlo numerical simulations were carried out to compute the errors in the estimation of parameters and covariances among them, for the case of the initial LIGO configuration taking into account only the first post-Newtonian corrections and assuming circular orbits. It was found that the errors as obtained from the simulations were larger by a factor of two or more from the errors as computed via the covariance matrix at astrophysically relevant SNRs. The discrepancy disappears as the SNR increases beyond certain value - typically 15 in the Newtonian case and 25 in the post-Newtonian case. The comparision with other less stringent lower bounds has also not resolved the discrepancy. Nicholson and Vecchio [@NV97] have recently computed Bayesian bounds such as the Weiss-Wainstein and Ziv-Zakai, for the case of Newtonian signals. They conclude that though these bounds are tighter than the Cramer-Rao bound, the numerical errors are still much larger than the computed lower bounds.
In this paper we explain the discrepancy between the Monte Carlo simulations and the results obtained from the covariance matrix. We demonstrate that the probability distribution of the estimated parameters cannot be got from ‘local’ methods such as the ones used earlier [@Fin92]. Since our main purpose in this paper is to demonstrate the validity of the statistical model, we initially use the simplified Newtonian model of the waveform. In the Newtonian case there are fewer parameters of the signal that one has to deal with, making the investigations simpler, analytically as well as computationally. We then specialize to the first post-Newtonian case. Here, although the discrepancy is larger, the problem is similar at a qualitative level.
Following Finn [@Fin92] we obtain an equation which relates the estimated parameters to the actual parameters of the signal for a given noise realisation. This equation is non-linear. Finn linearises the equation and obtains the errors in terms of the covariance matrix. Here we do not linearise the equation. We find that the equation has multiple solutions for the parameters in a certain sense and it is this multiplicity of roots forming islands in the parameter space which contributes significantly to the errors. Thus the problem is of a global nature and any local approximation will be inadequate in explaining away the errors. Moreover we suggest that the variance/covariance of the parameters is not a proper measure of the errors in this case. We therefore propose a new criterion by which the MLE should be judged.
The paper is organized as follows. In section \[waveform\] we briefly describe the gravitational wave signal waveform and the parameters on which it depends, namely, the amplitude, the time of arrival, the phase at arrival and the ‘chirp times’, which characterizes the time for the binary to evolve from some fiducial time to the actual merger. These parameters are found to be very convenient when we carry out Monte Carlo simulations. It turns out that the covariance matrix is independent of these parameters and hence it is sufficient to carry out the simulations only for a particular set of parameters. Further in this section we also describe the characterstics of the noise that we assume will be present in the detector and briefly review the matched filtering technique. In section \[MCres\] we present the results of the Monte Carlo simulations for the Newtonian case. We carry out transformations of the parameter space which bring out the chief features of the distribution of the estimated parameters. We show that the estimated parameters do not lie in a simply connected region around the signal parameters, but instead are distributed in multiple ‘islands’ in the parameter space considered. We next present a geometric representation of our statistical model. We then apply this model to the Newtonian chirp waveform, and compare the model with the Monte Carlo simulations. In section \[PNwave\] we deal with the post-Newtonian waveform. Finally in section \[sec\_con\] we summarise our results. We propose an alternative measure for the error which performs reasonably better than the variance as a measure of the error.
The Signal and the Noise {#waveform}
========================
The Chirp Signal {#chirp}
----------------
When constructing templates for on-line detection, it is sufficient to work with the so called [*restricted*]{} post-Newtonian gravitational waveform. In this approximation the post-Newtonian corrections are incorporated only in the phase of the waveform, while ignoring corresponding corrections to the amplitude [@3mn]. Consequently, the restricted post-Newtonian waveforms only contain the dominant frequency equal to twice the orbital frequency of the binary computed up to the relevant order. In the restricted post-Newtonian approximation the gravitational waves from a binary system of stars, modeled as point masses orbiting about each other in a circular orbit, induce a strain $s(t)$ at the detector given by $$s(t) = {\cal A} (\pi f(t) )^{2/3} \cos \left [\varphi (t) + \Phi\right],
\label {wave}$$ where $f(t)$ is the instantaneous gravitational wave frequency, the constant $\cal A$ involves the distance to the binary, its reduced and total mass, and the antenna pattern of the detector [@Th87] and $\Phi$ is the initial phase of the wave at some fiducial time $t=t_s$. The phase of the waveform $\varphi (t)$ contains several pieces corresponding to different post-Newtonian contributions which can be schematically written as $$\varphi(t) = \varphi_0(t) + \varphi_1(t) + \varphi_{1.5}(t) + \ldots.
\label {phase}$$ The evolution of the phase depends on the masses of the two components of the binary, characterised by the reduced mass, $\mu$ and the total mass, $M$ of the system. Here $\varphi_0(t)$ is the dominant Newtonian part of the phase and $\varphi_n(t)$ represents the $n$th order post-Newtonian correction to it. The Newtonian part of the phase is sensitive only to a particular combination of the masses of the two stars, frequently characterised by its ‘chirp mass’, ${\cal M} = \mu^{3/5}M^{2/5}$. We give below the waveform correct to the first post-Newtonian order: $$\begin{aligned}
\varphi_0 (t) &=& {16 \pi f_s\tau_0 \over 5}
\left [ 1 - \left ({f\over f_s}\right )^{-5/3} \right] \nonumber,\\
\varphi_1(t)&=& 4 \pi f_s\tau_1 \left [ 1 - \left ( {f\over f_s} \right )^{-1} \right ]
\label {phaseN}\end{aligned}$$ where $f(t)$ is given implicitly by, $$t - t_s= \tau_0
\left [ 1 - \left ( {f \over f_s} \right )^{-8/3} \right ]+
\tau_1\left[1 - \left ( {f \over f_s} \right )^{-2} \right]
\label {frequencyN},$$ where $\tau_0$ and $\tau_1$ are constants having dimensions of time given by $$\begin{aligned}
\tau_0 &=& {5 \over 256} {\cal M}^{-5/3} (\pi f_s)^{-8/3},\nonumber\\
\tau_1 &=& {5 \over 192\mu (\pi f_s)^2} \left ({743\over 336} + {11\over 4} \eta
\right ),
\label{NCT}\end{aligned}$$ where $\eta=\mu/M$, and $f_s$ is the instantaneous gravitational wave frequency of the signal at $t=t_s.$ The time elapsed starting from an epoch when the gravitational wave frequency is $f_s$ till the epoch when it becomes infinite will be referred to as the [*chirp time*]{} of the signal. In the quadrupole approximation $\tau_0$ is the chirp time whereas it is $\tau_0+\tau_1$ for the first post-Newtonian case [@Sat94]. The Newtonian part of the phase is characterised by three parameters: (i) the [*time of arrival*]{} $t_s$ when the signal first becomes [*visible*]{} in the detector, (ii) the [*phase*]{} $\Phi$ of the signal at the time of arrival and (iii) the chirp mass. At this level of approximation two coalescing binary signals of the same chirp mass but of different sets of individual masses would be degenerate and thus exhibit exactly the same time evolution. This degeneracy is removed when post-Newtonian corrections are included. The parameters $t_s$ and $\Phi$ are [*kinematical*]{} that fix the origin of the measurement of time and phase, respectively, while the Newtonian and the post-Newtonian chirp times are [*dynamical*]{} parameters in the sense that they dictate the evolution of the phase and the amplitude of the signal.
The parameters $\tau_0$, $\tau_1$ and $t_s$ have the dimensions of time. We convert them to dimensionless parameters by multiplying them with $2\pi f_s$. Thus we have the parameter set, $$\bbox{\mu} \equiv
\{\mu^0,\mu^1,\mu^2,\mu^3,\mu^4\} \equiv \{A,2\pi f_st_s, \Phi, 2\pi
f_s\tau_0, 2\pi f_s\tau_1\}.$$
In the stationary phase approximation the Fourier transform of the restricted second-post-Newtonian chirp waveform for positive frequencies is given by [@Th87; @SD91; @FC93; @CF94]. $$\tilde s (f) = A {\cal N} f^{-7/6} \exp \left [i\sum_{j=1}^4\chi_j(f)\mu^j
- i {\pi \over 4} \right ] \ ,
\label {FT}$$ where $A$, is the amplitude parameter depending on the distance to the binary, as well as the chirp mass and $\cal N$ is a normalization constant to be fixed by means of a scalar product to be introduced later, and $$\begin{aligned}
\label {eqs1}
\chi_1 & = & {f\over f_s}, \nonumber\\
\chi_2 & = & -1, \nonumber\\
\chi_3 & = & {f\over f_s} -{ 8 \over 5}+ {3\over 5}
\left ( {f\over f_s} \right )^{-5/3},\nonumber\\
\chi_4 & = & {f\over f_s} - 2 + {f_s\over f}.\end{aligned}$$ For $f<0$ the Fourier transform is computed using the identity $\tilde
s(-f) = \tilde s^*(f)$ obeyed by real functions $s(t).$
The noise {#noise}
---------
The output of a gravitational wave detector such as the LIGO, will comprise of data segments, each of duration $T$ seconds, uniformly sampled with a sampling interval of $\Delta$, giving the number of samples in a single data train to be $N = T/\Delta$. Each data train can be considered as a $N$-tuple ${\bf x} \equiv \{x^0,x^1,\ldots,x^{N-1}\}$, $x^a$ being the value of the output of the detector at time $a\Delta$. The set of all such $N$-tuples constitutes an $N$-dimensional vector space $\cal V$ where the addition of two vectors is accomplished by the addition of corresponding time samples. For later convenience we allow each sample to take complex values. A natural basis for this vector space is the [*time basis*]{} ${\bf e}_r^a =
\delta^a_r$ where $r$ and $a$ are the vector and component indices respectively. Another basis which we shall use extensively is the Fourier basis.
A gravitational wave signal from a coalescing binary system can be characterised by a set of parameters $\mu^a, a = 0,1, ...,m-1$ belonging to some open set of the $m$-dimensional real space $R^m$. The set of such signals ${\bf s}(t; \bbox{\mu})$ constitutes a $m$-dimensional manifold $\cal S$ which is embedded in the vector space $\cal V$. Note that Greek characters in boldface denote the full collection of parameters characterising the signal. The parameters of the binary can be regarded as coordinates on the manifold. The basic problem of signal analysis is thus to determine whether the detector output vector $\bf x$ is the sum of a signal vector and a noise vector, ${\bf x} = {\bf s} + {\bf n}$, or just the noise vector, ${\bf x} = {\bf n}$, and furthermore to identify which particular signal vector, among all possible. The latter is relevant to this paper where we are interested in estimating the parameters and also the errors made in such a estimation. Errors in the estimation arise because the noise contaminates the data.
The noise in ground based laser interferometric detectors will have, in general, both a Gaussian and a non-Gaussian component. The main sources for the Gaussian component are the shot noise due to photon counting, the thermal noise in the mirror suspensions alongwith the mirror itself and seismic noise. The non-Gaussian component can be contributed by numerous sources like sudden strain releases in the mirror suspension wires or even if lightning strikes. It should be possible to remove most of the non-Gaussian component by using environmental monitors and looking for coincidence among detectors located at widely separated sites. It is, therefore, assumed usually that the detector noise will be a Gaussian random process. Over a time scale of hours, it can also be assumed to be stationary.
The power spectral density of the Gaussian noise component rises very steeply towards the low frequency end due to seismic effects. At the high frequency end it is dominated by photon shot noise which leads to a rise towards higher frequencies. Thus the data will have to be bandpassed with a low frequency seismic cutoff, $f_s$, and a high frequency cutoff, $f_c$. We use the power spectral density expected for the initial LIGO as given in [@LIGO]. Accordingly, we choose $f_s = 40$ Hz and $ f_c = 800$ Hz.
In the absence of the signal the output will contain only noise drawn from a stochastic process which can be described by a probability distribution on the vector space $\cal V$. We assume that the noise has its mean zero, or that is, $\overline{n^a} = 0$, where the overbar denotes an ensemble average. Then the covariance matrix of the noise ${\cal C}^{ab}$ is defined as, $${\cal C}^{ab} = \overline{n^a n^b}.$$ If the noise is assumed to be stationary and ergodic then there exists a noise autocorrelation function $K(t)$ such that ${\cal C}^{ab} =
K(|a-b|\Delta)$. In the Fourier basis it can be shown that the components of the noise vector are statistically independent [@HEL] and the covariance matrix in the Fourier basis will contain only diagonal terms whose values will be strictly positive: $\tilde{\cal C}^{aa} = \overline{\tilde n^a\tilde n^{*a}}$. This implies that the covariance matrix has strictly positive eigenvalues. The diagonal elements of this matrix $\tilde {\cal C}^{aa}$ constitute the discrete representation of the power spectrum of the noise $S_n(f)$.
Gaussian noise can be described by the distribution, $$\label{ndis}
p_0 ({\bf n}) = M_n{\exp\left[
-\frac{1}{2}\sum\limits_{a,b=0}^{N-1}{[{\cal C}^{-1}]_{ab} n^a n^{b}}\right]},$$ where $M_n$ is a normalization constant given by, $$M_n = { \left[\ (2\pi)^N \det\left[{\cal C}^{ab}\right]\ \right]^{-1/2}}.$$ Equivalently in the Fourier domain this can be written as, $$\begin{aligned}
p_0({\bf n}) &=& M_n {\exp\left[
-\frac{1}{2}\sum\limits_{a,b=0}^{N-1}{[\tilde {\cal C}^{-1}]_{ab} \tilde n^a
\tilde n^{b*}}\right]}\nonumber\\
&=& M_n{\exp\left[
-\frac{1}{2}\sum\limits_{a=0}^{N-1}{{\tilde n^a
\tilde n^{a*}}/{\tilde {\cal C}^{aa}}}\right]},\end{aligned}$$ where in the last step we have used the diagonal property of the matrix $\tilde {\cal C}^{ab}$ which implies that $[\tilde {\cal C}^{-1}]_{aa} = 1/\tilde {\cal C}^{aa}$.
In the presence of the signal ${\bf s} (\bbox{\check\mu})$ the above probability density function (pdf) gets modified but in a very simple way since we have assumed that the noise is additive. We have, $$p_1 ({\bf x}) = p_0 ({\bf x} - {\bf s}(\bbox{\check\mu})),$$ where $p_1 ({\bf x})$ is the pdf of ${\bf x}$ when the signal ${\bf s} (\bbox{\check\mu})$ is present in the data stream.
In this paper we shall assume the noise to have a power spectrum consistent with the initial LIGO instrument. We use the fit to the noise curve as given in [@CF94]: $$\label{psd}
S_n(f) = S_0 \left[\left(\frac{f}{200}\right)^{-4} + 2\left(1+\frac{f}{200}\right)^2\right].$$ The value of $S_0$ will not concern us since what matters is only the ratio of the signal amplitude to that of the noise, in other words the SNR. We shall set the value of $S_0$ to be unity and accordingly adjust the amplitude of the signal to get the required SNR.
The Matched Filter {#mf}
------------------
In the absence of any prior information it must be assumed that all the parameter values, within their respective range, are equally likely to occur. In such a case, the method of maximum liklihood can be used. When the noise is a stationary Gaussian random process, the method of MLE reduces to the so called matched filtering technique. Matched filtering involves correlating the detector output with a bank of matched filters each of which corresponds to the signal waveform for a fixed set of parameters. To this end, we define a scalar product on $\cal V$. In the continuum limit the scalar product between two vectors ${\bf x}$ and ${\bf y}$ is given by, $$\label{scal}
\left\langle{\bf x},{\bf y}\right\rangle = \int_{0}^{\infty}df\,{1\over S_n(f)}\,
\left( \, \tilde{x}(f)\, \tilde{y}^{\ast} (f)\, + \,\tilde{x}^{\ast}(f)
\,\tilde{y}(f)\, \right) \; ,$$ where, the Hermitian property of the Fourier transform of a real function has been used to restrict the domain of integration to positive frequencies. $S_n(f)$ is the power spectral density of the noise. The Fourier domain is convenient since stationarity of the noise has been assumed. The norm of a vector ${\bf z}$ will be denoted by $\|{\bf z}\| = \left\langle{\bf z},{\bf z}\right\rangle^{1/2}$. In eqn. (\[FT\]) we had left $\cal N$ undefined. We choose the value of $\cal N$ such that $\|{\bf s}(\bbox{\mu})\| = A$. From the definition of the scalar product in eqn. (\[scal\]) and from eqn. (\[FT\]) it follows that, $$\label{normdef}
\frac{1}{{\cal N}^2} = 2\int\limits_0^\infty \frac{f^{-7/3}}{S_n(f)}df.$$ The integrand in the above equation, $I(f)$ is plotted in Fig. \[fig1\]. This function peaks at around $f=135$Hz and a major contribution to the integral comes from a region around $135$Hz.
We shall use normalized matched filters, that is,we set ${\bf h}(\mu^j) = {\bf s}(\bbox{\mu})/A$. Henceforth we shall use the symbols $a,b,\ldots$ to indicate indices whose range of values includes $0$ which as a index denotes the amplitude parameter, [*i.e. $\mu^0 = A$*]{}. Indices $i,j,\ldots$ will not include the amplitude parameter and will never take the value $0$.
The output called the correlation $c(\mu^j)$ of the matched filter with parameters $\mu^j$ is then just the scalar product given by, $$c(\mu^j) = \left\langle{\bf x},{\bf h}(\mu^j)\right\rangle.
\label{cor}$$ Given the data vector ${\bf x}$, the correlation is computed for the entire feasible range of parameters, continuously over the kinematic parameters $t_s$ and $\Phi$ and for discrete values of the dynamical parameters $\tau_0$ and $\tau_1$. The filters corresponding to the discrete values of $\tau_0$ and $\tau_1$ constitute the filter bank. The maximum of $c(\mu^j)$ is computed and compared with a preassigned threshold determined from the false alarm probability. A detection is announced if the maximum of $c(\mu^j)$ crosses the threshold. The parameters $\hat \mu^j$ for which the correlation is maximised are the MLE of the parameters of the signal. However, these will in general differ from the actual signal parameters $\check \mu^j$ due to the presence of noise. The difference $\Delta \mu^j = \check \mu^j - \hat \mu^j$ is the error made in estimating the parameters. When the signal is weak as compared to the noise (low SNR), the estimated parameters in general will differ by a large margin from the true ones, while in the limit of high SNR, the two will almost coincide. Thus in general $\Delta \mu^j$ is not small.
Let the data vector be $${\bf x} = \check A {\bf h}(\check \mu^j) + {\bf n},$$ where $\check A$ is the amplitude of the signal and $\check \mu^j$ are the remaining parameters. We have separated the amplitude as it occurs in the signal as just a scale factor multiplying the signal. The SNR is defined as, $$\label{SNR}
\rho = \left\langle{\bf s}(\check{\bbox{\mu}}),{\bf
s}(\check{\bbox{\mu}})\right\rangle^{1/2} = {\check A}.$$ From eqs. (\[FT\]) and (\[scal\]) we see that the SNR is equal to the amplitude parameter of the signal, $\check A$.
When we consider an ensemble of noise realisations, the $c(\mu^j)$ becomes a random variable. For a fixed set of parameters $\mu^j$, $c(\mu^j)$ is a Gaussian random variable since it is a linear function of the noise (eqn. (\[cor\]). The process of maximization over the parameters is however a nonlinear process and hence the statistics of $c(\mu^j)$ will be non-Gaussian. For a given realization of noise, we assume that the global maximum of $c(\mu^j)$ will also be a local maximum. This assumption depends on the specific nature of the waveform and the filter bank. The equations which will be satisfied at the estimated parameters $\mu^j={\hat\mu^j}$, are, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{m1}
&&\frac{\partial c}{\partial\mu^i} =0\mbox{\ \ \ }\nonumber\\
&\Rightarrow&
\left\langle\check A {\bf h}(\check\mu^j) + {\bf n}, \frac{\partial
{\bf h}}{\partial\mu^i}\right\rangle = 0\nonumber\\
&\Rightarrow& \left\langle{\bf h}(\check\mu^j), \frac{\partial
{\bf h}}{\partial\mu^i}\right\rangle = -\frac{1}{\check
A}\left\langle{\bf n}, \frac{\partial
{\bf h}}{\partial\mu^i}\right\rangle.\end{aligned}$$
In the limit of high SNR the mean square errors in the measurement of the parameters are characterised by the so called covariance matrix $C^{ab}$ [@HEL] defined as, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{cov}
\Gamma_{ab} &=& \left\langle\frac{\partial{\bf s}}{\partial \mu^a}(\bbox{\mu}),
\frac{\partial
{\bf s}}{\partial \mu^b}(\bbox{\mu})\right\rangle\\
C^{ab} &=& \left[\Gamma^{-1}\right]^{ab}\end{aligned}$$
From the expression for the Fourier transform in the stationary phase approximation (eqn. (\[FT\])) and from the definition of the scalar product (eqn. (\[scal\])) we see that the phase function in the Fourier transform simply cancel out and only the amplitude remains. We also find that $C^{ab} \propto \check A^{-2}$.
The idea now is to compare the results of the Monte Carlo simulations with those obtained via eqn. (\[cov\]). In the limit of high SNR, it is expected that the errors will agree with those obtained from the covariance matrix. In the following sections we briefly mention the results of the Monte Carlo simulations and then analyse in detail eqn. (\[m1\]). The goal is to first check the agreement between the two and then understand how the additional errors arise by studying the consequences of eqn. (\[m1\]).
The Newtonian Waveform {#MCres}
======================
Monte Carlo Simulations {#MCres1}
-----------------------
In this section we shall restrict ourselves to the Newtonian waveform. We have the four parameters: $$\bbox{\mu} \equiv \mu^a \equiv \{\mu^0,\mu^1,\mu^2,\mu^3\} \equiv
\{A, 2\pi f_st_s, \Phi, 2\pi
f_s\tau_0\}.$$ Simulations were carried out for a test case of $\check\tau_0 = 5.558$ s This corresponds to a binary comprised of a $10M_\odot$ black hole and a $1.4M_\odot$ neutron star. The waveform was cutoff at a frequency of $800$ Hz and the data train was sampled at $2000$Hz. As mentioned before the power spectral density was chosen to be consistent with the initial LIGO interferometer. The range of $\tau_0$ for the filters was $[5.358,5.758]$ with a spacing of $1$ msec. The simulations presented here were carried out for an SNR of $10$, [*i.e.*]{}, $\check A = 10$. We considered $12000$ realizations of noise.
The covariance matrix for the Newtonian case is given below: $$\label{cov1}
{\bf C}_{(\bbox{\mu})}\equiv
\left[C^{ab}_{(\bbox{\mu})}\right] = \frac{1}{{\check A}^2}\left(\begin{tabular}{cccc}
${\check A}^2$&0.0&0.0&0.0\\
0.0\ \ &222.50&322.26&-227.25\\
0.0&322.26&469.16&-328.65\\
0.0&-227.25&-328.65&232.26\\
\end{tabular}\right)$$ In the above the diagonal values denote the variances in the parameters and the nondiagonal components denote the covariances between the parameters. Since the components do not depend on the parameters $\mu^j$, (see [@Sat94; @BSD96] for details) we can choose a new set of parameters in which the covariance matrix is diagonal. The transformation can be affected by means of an orthogonal transformation. We have the new parameter set $\bbox{\nu}\equiv\{A,\nu^1,\nu^2,\nu^3\}$, related to $\bbox{\mu}$ by means of the relation $\bbox{\nu}={\bf S}
\bbox{\mu}$, where $\bf S$ is a orthogonal matrix, which for our particular case is: $$\label{smat}
{\bf S} = \left(\begin{tabular}{cccc}
$1.0$&0.0&0.0&0.0\\
0.0\ \ &-0.794 & 0.129 & -0.594\\
0.0&0.359& -0.690 & -0.629\\
0.0&-0.491 & -0.713 & 0.501\\
\end{tabular}\right)$$ In this new coordinate system the covariance matrix ${\bf C}_{(\nu)} =
{\bf S}{\bf C}_{(\mu)}{\bf S^{-1}}$, and is given by, $$\label{cov2}
{\bf C}_{(\bbox{\nu})} = \frac{1}{{\check A}^2}\left(\begin{tabular}{cccc}
${\check A}^2$&0.0&0.0&0.0\\
0.0\ \ &0.024&0.0&0.0\\
0.0&0.0&1.640&0.0\\
0.0&0.0&0.0&922.3\\
\end{tabular}\right)$$ In the high SNR limit the root mean square errors in the parameters $\nu^a$ are given by, $$\sigma_{\nu^a} = \sqrt{C^{aa}}.$$ For an SNR of $10$ the values are $\{1.0,\ 0.015,\ 0.128,\ 3.037\}$.
In a previous work [@BSD96] we had performed detailed Monte Carlo simulations to study the variation of the errors with the SNR. The simulations carried out in that paper were with a slightly different power spectrum, as we have used a simple fit to the noise curve in this paper. We reproduce in Fig. \[bsdfig\], the variation of errors in the parameters with the SNR as given in Figure 5 of [@BSD96] for the parameters $\tau_0$ and $t_a$, except that we use the log scale for both the axis, as is conventional in statistical literature. The continuous line represents the errors computed via the covariance matrix and in this approximation the errors are inversely propotional to the SNR. The dotted line represents the errors as obtained from the Monte Carlo simulations. The rest of this paper tries to explain the discrepancy between the two curves in this figure at low SNRs $\rho\approx10$.
The equation for the errors {#MCres2}
---------------------------
The expression for the Fourier transform of the chirp in eqn. (\[FT\]) in the new coordinates retains its form, but the functions $\chi_i(f)$ are now transformed to, $$\eta_i(f) = \sum\limits_{j=1}^3\chi_j \left[S^{-1}\right]^j_i.$$ Rewriting eqn. (\[m1\]) in the new parameters we have at $\nu^j=\hat\nu^j$, $$\label{m1nu}
\kappa_i = -\frac{1}{\check
A}\left\langle{\bf n}, \frac{\partial
{\bf h}}{\partial\nu^i}\right\rangle
= \left\langle{\bf h}(\check\nu^j), \frac{\partial
{\bf h}}{\partial\nu^i}\right\rangle.$$ Using the definition of the scalar product in eqn. (\[scal\]), we have, $$\label{kap2}
\kappa_i = 2 {\cal N}^2
\int_{0}^{\infty}\frac{f^{7/3}\eta_i(f)\sin(\sum\limits_{j=1}^3
\eta_j(f)\Delta\nu^j)}{S_n(f)}df,$$ where $\Delta\nu^j = \hat\nu^j-\check\nu^j$. In the Newtonian case these constitute a set of three nonlinear equations connecting $\nu^i$ to $\kappa_i$. The quatities $\kappa_i$ are random variables. Since $\hat\nu^i$ depend upon $\bf n$, $\kappa_i$ are in general nonlinear functions of the noise. This implies that the statistics of $\kappa_i$ can in general be non-Gaussian. However, for chirp signals of the type we consider, the statistics of $\kappa_1$ and $\kappa_2$ will turn out to be Gaussian. This will be demonstrated in the next section. We define the total phase difference $\theta$ between the signal and the filter as, $$\label{def1}
\theta(f,\Delta\nu^i) = \sum\limits_{j=1}^3
\eta_j(f)\Delta\nu^j,$$ which is relevant for future considerations. In the high SNR limit the errors $\Delta\nu^j$ are small and hence we can make the approximation $\sin(\theta)\simeq\theta$. This corresponds to using the covariance matrix to provide an estimate of the errors. At astrophysically interesting SNRs $\approx 10$ this assumption does not hold.
It is clear that a good correlation between two waveforms is obtained when the phase difference between the two waveforms is a multiple of $2\pi$ and is roughly constant over the time for which the waveforms last. This assumption is found to be true in the simulations. Even though there are far more outlying points than what is predicted by the covariance matrix the phase difference between the signal and the optimally matching template is found to be roughly constant. A typical case is illustrated in Fig. \[fig2\], in which $\theta$ is plotted as a function of frequency for $\Delta\nu^i\equiv\{1.62, -8.49,
7.3\}$. The function $\theta(f)$ is found to be close to $-4\pi$ in the region around $135$ Hz, from which the maximum contribution to the SNR is obtained. Note that the values of $\Delta\nu^1$ and $\Delta\nu^2$ are way beyond the rms errors predicted by the covariance matrix.
Since the function $I(f)$ in Fig. \[fig1\] peaks at $f\approx135$Hz., we define $\theta_m$ to be the value of $\theta$ at $f=135$Hz., [*i.e.*]{}, $$\label{thetam}
\theta_m = -3.87615\Delta\nu^1 + 0.739347\Delta\nu^2 + -0.0149334\Delta\nu^3.$$ In Fig. \[fig3\] we illustrate how the $\theta_m$ is distributed across many realizations of noise. It is clear from the figure that $\theta_m$ is strongly clustered around multiples of $2\pi$. Since $\theta_m$ is a linear combination of the parameters, it is clear that at least some of the parameters will show similar clustering properties. The variable $\theta_m$ is a very convenient indicator of the rough location of the parameters in the parameter space. If the absolute value of $\theta_m$ is large then the estimated parameters are far away from the actual value of the parameters.
Fig. \[fig4\] is a $\nu^1-\nu^2$ scatter plot, where each point corresponds to a realization of noise. The plot shows that $\nu^1$ and $\nu^2$ parameters are clustered in well separated ‘islands’ in the parameter space considered. The variable $\theta_m$ computed for points in any specific island yield values close to a specific integral multiple of $2\pi$ depending upon the island we choose. Multiple solutions to eqn. (\[kap2\]) are responsible for the islands. Since the pdf in the $\kappa_i$ space is largest at the origin, the islands correspond to $\theta(f)\simeq
2k\pi$, where $k$ is an integer. We give an explanation of this below. The phase parameter $\mu^2\equiv\Phi$ is constrained to lie in the interval $[-\pi,\pi]$. Using the relation $\mu^i=\left[S^{-1}\right]^i_j\nu^j$, we have, $$\label{phase1}
\Phi\equiv\mu^2=0.129212\nu^1 + -0.689524\nu^2 + -0.712644\nu^3.$$ Since the rms error in $\nu^3$ as calculated from the covariance matrix at an SNR of $10$ is $3.04$, it is highly likely that the absolute value of the last term in eqn. ( \[phase1\]), ( which dominates the other terms in the same equation, since the rms errors for the other parameters are much lesser) exceeds $\pi$. This forces the parameters $\nu^1$ and $\nu^2$ to [*jump*]{} to values such that $\Phi$ remains in the range $[-\pi,\pi]$. In order to calculate the amount by which the parameters jump, we consider eqn. (\[thetam\]). Since $\theta_m$ must be a multiple of $2\pi$ in order to get a good match, each of the first two terms on the right hand side of eqn. (\[thetam\]) contributes $\pi$. This implies that $\nu^1$ jumps by $\pi/3.87615 \approx .81$ and $\nu^2$ jumps by $\pi/0.739347 \approx 4.25$. Since the two terms are of opposite signs, we find that $\nu^1$ increases when $\nu^2$ decreases and vice versa.
We now revert back to eqn. (\[kap2\]). Since $\theta$ is close to an integral multiple of $2\pi$ in the frequency region of interest, we can write, $$\label{approx}
\sin(\theta) \approx \left(\sum\limits_{j=1}^3\eta_j(f)\Delta\nu^j - 2k\pi\right),$$ for some integer $k$. We have, $$\label{kap3}
\kappa_i = 2 {\cal
N}^2\sum\limits_{j=1}^3\int_{0}^{\infty}\frac{f^{7/3}
\eta_i(f)\eta_j(f)\Delta\nu^j}{S_n(f)}df - 4k\pi{\cal N}^2\int_{0}^{\infty}\frac{f^{7/3}
\eta_i(f)}{S_n(f)}df.$$ Since the $\bf\nu$ coordinate system is orthogonal, $$\label{ortho}
\int_{0}^{\infty}\frac{f^{7/3}
\eta_i(f)\eta_j(f)\Delta\nu^j}{S_n(f)}df = 0 \ \ \ \mbox{for\ \ }
i\neq j,$$ and $$\label{ortho2}
2 {\cal N}^2\int_{0}^{\infty}\frac{f^{7/3}
\eta_i(f)^2}{S_n(f)}df = \frac{1}{C^{ii}_{(\nu)}}.$$ Therefore, $$\label{kap4}
\kappa_i= \frac{\Delta\nu^i}{C^{ii}_{\nu}} - 2k\pi G_i,$$ where, $$\label{kap5}
G_i = 2 {\cal N}^2\int_{0}^{\infty}\frac{f^{7/3}
\eta_i(f)}{S_n(f)}df.$$ The amount by which the parameters $\nu^1$ and $\nu^2$ jump can be calculated more accurately using eqn. (\[kap4\]). For two successive values of the integer $k$, the parameter $\nu^1$ has to jump by, $2\pi G_1/C^{11}_{\nu}$ in order to have the same value of $\kappa_1$. This works out to be $0.812$ for the parameter $\nu^1$. Similarly the value for the parameter $\nu^2$ turns out to be $4.332$. These values are consistent with the scatter plot in Fig. \[fig4\].
It is clear from Fig. \[fig4\] that the distribution of the parameters $\nu^1$ and $\nu^2$ will be markedly multimodal. However, the distribution of $\nu^3$ is relatively smoother. This is illustrated in Fig. \[fig5\] which is a scatter plot on the $\nu^2-\nu^3$ plane. Though there are gaps along the $\nu^2$ axis, $\nu^3$ takes all values in the range shown. The parameter $\nu_3$ is relatively well behaved, [*i.e.*]{} it does not exhibit any sudden jumps like the other parameters.
The variances as obtained from the Monte Carlo simulations in the parameters $\nu^i$ are, $\Sigma_{\nu^i}\equiv\{0.421, 2.26, 2.53\}$ whereas, the values predicted by the covariance matrix are $\sigma_{\nu^i}\equiv
\{0.0153, 0.1281, 3.037\}$. In the case of the parameters $\nu^1$ and $\nu^2$ the observed variances are much larger than the lower bounds, due to the jumps which these parameters make. However we notice that the observed variance in the case of $\nu^3$ is actually [*less*]{} than the lower bound. This is due to the fact that the Cramer-Rao bounds are applicable only to parameters which are allowed to vary freely. For instance the variance for the parameter $\Phi\equiv\mu^2$ can have the maximum value of $\pi^2$ whatever be the SNR. The restriction of the range of $\mu^2$ puts a constraint on the values of the parameters $\nu^j$ and this accounts for the observed error being less than the Cramer-Rao bound. In the next section we give a more quantitative model for the distribution of the parameters.
Geometrical Perspective {#geom}
-----------------------
In this section we use differential geometry to arrive at a statistical model for the distribution of the parameters. The model described here is quite general and is applicable to the estimation of parameters obtained by means of the maximum likelihood method, for an arbitrary signal in the presence of Gaussian noise. The set of signal vectors, ${\bf s}(\bbox{\nu}) \equiv
s(t;\bbox{\nu})$, where $\bbox{\nu}
\equiv \{\nu_0,\ldots,\nu_{m-1}\}$, is a m-dimensional parameter vector, will describe a m-dimensional manifold $\cal S$ embedded in ${\cal
V}$, the vector space of all detector outputs. (See [@BSD96; @Ow96] for an introduction to the use of differential geometry in gravitational wave data analysis, and [@Am] for the application of differential geometry to statistics.) Let the output of a detector $\bf x$, contain a signal ${\bf s}(\bbox{\check{\nu}})$. Then $\bf x = {\bf s}(\bbox{\check{\nu}}) + \bf n$, where $\bf n$ is a noise vector drawn from the noise distribution. The distance, $D(\bbox{\nu})$ between $\bf x$ and a point $ {\bf s}(\bbox{\nu})$ is given by, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{dist}
D(\bbox{\nu}) &=& \| \bf{x - s}(\bbox{\nu})\| =
\left\langle\bf{x - s}(\bbox{\nu}), {\bf x -
s}(\bbox{\nu})\right\rangle^{1/2},\\
&=& \left[\left\langle{\bf x},{\bf x}\right\rangle -
2\left\langle{\bf x},\bf{s}(\bbox{\nu})\right\rangle +
\left\langle {\bf s}(\bbox{\nu}),
{\bf s}(\bbox{\nu})\right\rangle\right]^{1/2}. \end{aligned}$$ The MLE of the parameters is that point $\bbox{\hat{\nu}}$ on the parameter space which minimises $D(\bbox{\nu})$. This is equivalent to maximising the correlation $c(\bbox{\nu}) = \left\langle {\bf x},{\bf s}(\bbox{\nu})
\right\rangle$ provided we keep $\left\langle {\bf s}(\bbox{\nu}),
{\bf s}(\bbox{\nu})\right\rangle$ constant.
In the limit of high SNR, ${\bf s}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}})$ will lie in a small region around ${\bf s}(\bbox{\check{\nu}})$ on the manifold, effectively the tangent space to the manifold at ${\bf s}(\bbox{\check{\nu}})$. In this case, the difference, ${\bf s}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}}) -
{\bf s}(\bbox{\check{\nu}})$ can be satisfactorily approximated as the projection of the noise vector onto the tangent space. This implies that ${\bf s}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}}) -
{\bf s}(\bbox{\check{\nu}})$ is linear function of $\bf n$. Further, if the parameters form a Cartesian system of coordinates, then, they too will be linear in $\bf n$ and the distribution of the parameters can be described by a multivariate Gaussian [@Fin92]. The covariance matrix of this distribution defines a lower bound on the errors in estimation and is termed as the Cramer-Rao bound.
If the global minimum of $D(\bbox{\nu})$ is also a local minimum then, at $\bbox{\nu}=\bbox{\hat\nu}$, $$\partial D(\bbox{\nu})/\partial\hat\nu^a = 0,\ \ \mbox{for}\ \ a=0,\ldots,m-1$$ which implies, $$\label{max}
\left\langle{\bf s}(\bbox{\check{\nu}}) + {\bf n}
- {\bf s}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}})
,\frac{\partial
{\bf s}}{\partial \nu^a}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}})\right\rangle = 0.$$ These are a set of $m$ equations, one for each parameter. We interpret these equations geometrically as follows. The equations imply that the vector ${\bf x} - {\bf s}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}})$ is orthogonal to each of the coordinate basis vectors, $\partial/\partial\nu^a$, evaluated at $\bbox{{\nu}}=\bbox{\hat{\nu}}$. Thus $\bbox{\hat{\nu}}$ is a local extremum when the tip of the vector $\bf x$ lies on that $N-m$ dimensional hyperplane ${\cal B}_{\bbox{\hat{\nu}}}$, which passes through ${\bf s}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}})$, and is orthogonal to the $m$-dimensional tangent plane at ${\bf s}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}})$. This hyperplane, ${\cal B}_{\bbox{\hat{\nu}}}$, is the intersection of the $(N-1)$-dimensional hyperplanes, ${\cal N}^a_{\bbox{\hat{\nu}}}$, each orthogonal to a coordinate basis vector ${\partial}/{\partial\nu^a}$ at $\bbox{{\nu}}=\bbox{\hat{\nu}}$.
Let ${\bf l}_a$ be the normalized coordinate basis vectors at $\bbox{\hat{\nu}}$, [*i.e.*]{} $$\label{ells}
{\bf l}_a = \frac{\partial {\bf s}}{\partial \nu^a}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}})\bigg/
\left\| \frac{\partial {\bf s}}{\partial \nu^a}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}})\right\|.$$ We define $r_a$ to be the minimal distance from ${\bf s}(\bbox{\check{\nu}})$ to the hyperplane ${\cal N}^a_{\bbox{\hat{\nu}}}$, which is given by $$r_a=\left\langle{\bf s}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}})- {\bf s}(\bbox{\check{\nu}})
,{\bf l}_a\right\rangle.$$ A schematic illustration of the above discussion is given in Fig. \[fig6\].
The pdf for the vector $\bf x$ to lie on ${\cal N}^a_{\bbox{\hat{\nu}}}$ can depend only on ${\bf l}_a$ and $r_a$. If the vector $\bf x$ is to lie on ${\cal B}_{\bbox{\hat{\nu}}}$, then it must simultaneously lie on each of the normal hyperplanes, ${\cal N}^a_{\bbox{\hat{\nu}}}$. The pdf for $\bf x$ to lie on ${\cal B}_{\bbox{\hat{\nu}}}$ is given by the expression, $$\label{rdis2}
p(r_a) = \int_{\cal V}\left[\prod_{a=0}^
{m-1}\delta(\left\langle
({\bf n} - r_a{\bf l}_a),{\bf l}_a\right\rangle)\right] \ p({\bf n})
\ d^{\scriptscriptstyle N}n,$$ where the $\delta$ denotes the Dirac Delta function. Substituting for the Gaussian distribution for the noise $p({\bf n})$ in the equation above and integrating, we get, $$\label{rdis1}
p(r_0,r_2,\ldots,r_{m-1}) = {{\exp\left[
-\frac{1}{2}\sum\limits_{a,b=0}^{m-1}\left[\gamma^{-1}\right]^{ab}
r_ar_b\right]}\over{\left[\left(2\pi\right)^m
\mbox{det}\left[\gamma_{ab}\right]\right]^{1/2}}} ,$$ where, $\gamma_{ab} = \left\langle{\bf l}_a,{\bf
l}_b\right\rangle$. The integration though tedious, is quite straightforward. Note that each of the Gaussian random variables $r_a$ will have unit variance as is obvious from the definition of $\gamma_{ab}$. Moreover, the matrix $\gamma_{ab}$ is very closely related to the Fisher information matrix $\Gamma_{ab}$ as defined in eqn. (\[cov\]). Whereas the components of the Fisher information are got by taking scalar products of the tangent vectors on the manifold, the components of the matrix $\gamma_{ab}$ are obtained by by taking scalar products of the [*normalized*]{} tangent vectors on the manifold.
Statistical model for the Newtonian Chirp {#appnewt}
-----------------------------------------
We now specialise to the case of the Newtonian chirp. We use the parameters $\nu^a$ defined earlier, in the previous section. Since ${\bf s}(\bbox{\hat{\nu}}) = \hat A {\bf h}(\hat\nu^j)$, the above equations for ${\bf l}_a$ and $r_a$ give, $$\begin{aligned}
{\bf l}_0 &=& {\bf h}(\hat{\nu}^j),\\
{\bf l}_k &=& \frac{\partial {\bf
h}}{\partial\nu^k}\left(\hat{\nu}^j\right)\bigg/\left\|
\frac{\partial {\bf h}}{\partial\nu^k}\left(\hat{\nu}^j\right)
\right\|,\\
r_0(\hat\nu^k,\hat A) &=& \check A \left\langle{\bf h}(\check{\nu}^k),{\bf h}(\hat{\nu}^k)
\right\rangle - \hat A,\\
\label{r2}
r_j(\hat\nu^k) &=& \check A\left\langle {\bf h}(\check\nu^k),\frac{\partial {\bf
h}}{\partial\nu^j}\left(\hat{\nu}^k\right)\right\rangle\bigg/\left\|
\frac{\partial {\bf h}}{\partial\nu^j}\left(\hat{\nu}^k\right)
\right\|.\end{aligned}$$ Since the $\bbox{\nu}$ coordinate system is orthogonal, $\gamma_{ab}$ turns out to be nothing but the identity matrix. The distribution of the variables $r_a$ is thus a joint Gaussian given by the expression, $$\label{rdisnu}
p(r_0,\ldots,r_3) = \frac{1}{2\pi^2}\exp\left[
-\frac{1}{2}\sum\limits_{a=0}^{3}r_a^2\right].$$
The $r_j$ variables are closely related to the $\kappa_i$ variables defined in section \[MCres2\] in eqn. (\[m1nu\]): $$r_i \ =\ \check A \left\|
\frac{\partial {\bf h}}{\partial\nu^i}\left(\hat{\nu}^k\right)
\right\|^{-1}\kappa_i
%=\check A\frac{1}{\check A\sqrt{\Gamma_{ii}}}\kappa_i
\ =\ \frac{\kappa_i}{\sqrt{\Gamma_{ii}}},$$ where we have used the definition of $\Gamma_{ab}$ in eqn. (\[cov\]). Thus they differ only by a factor which is simply a constant from eqs. (\[scal\]) and (\[FT\]). This is a consequence of the intrinsic flatness of the manifold [@BSD96] and the particular parameterization adopted.
From eqn. (\[rdisnu\]) we would expect the marginal probability distribution of each of the variables $r_j$ to be a Gaussian distribution with unit variance. Using the ensemble of estimated parameters from the Monte Carlo simulations we can obtain the histograms and consequently the distributions of the variables $r_j$. In Fig. \[fig7\] we plot the probability distributions of the variables $r_j$, and compare them with the expected Gaussian distributions. It is clear that though $r_1$ and $r_2$ are Gaussian random variables to a good approximation, $r_3$ shows a pronounced non-Gaussian behaviour. The reason for this discrepancy can be traced to the fact that the phase parameter is constrained to lie in the range $[-\pi,\pi]$. In Fig. \[fig5\] we observe that in the central island the $\nu^3$ parameter gets abruptly cutoff at a value of about $4.5$ and $-4.5$. Since the points on the central island are ‘close’ to the point corresponding to the actual value of the parameters, we can apply the eqn. (\[kap4\]) with $k=0$. This gives a value of $\kappa_3\approx 0.00488$ and consequently $r_3\approx1.5$. We observe in Fig. \[fig7\] that the dip in the distribution of $r_3$ occurs at the same point [*i.e.*]{} at $r_3\approx1.5$. To further elaborate on this point, we plot in the Fig. \[fig8\], the three variables $r_i$ v/s the variable $\theta_m$ defined earlier. The figure clearly illustrates that while $r_1$ and $r_2$ take on there entire range of values in the central island, $r_3$ does not. This establishes a connection between the dip in the marginal distribution and the phase parameter being constrained to the range $[-\pi,\pi]$. Although a deeper understanding of this is in order, we continue our analysis assuming the distribution of $r_3$ to be given by a Gaussian.
Had the map between $\bbox{\hat{\nu}}$ to $\bf r$ been bijective, it would have been possible to write the distribution for the estimated parameters simply as a product of the pdf for the variables $r_a$ and a Jacobian factor. However, a given set of values for ${\bf r} \equiv
\{r_a\}$ would in general correspond to multiple parameter vectors $\bbox{\hat{\nu}}^{(l)}$, where the range of values of $l$ depends on the number of solutions. This is clear from Fig. \[fig8\] where we observe that the same value of $r_j$ occurs for different values of the variable $\theta_m$, and hence in different ‘islands’. We also observe that $r_3$ takes almost all its possible values in the central island and the two adjoining ones. Moreover, we notice that it is approximately true that $r_3$ takes different values in each of the three islands. Thus if we restrict ourselves only to the central and two adjoining islands, then the map between $\nu^j$ and $r_j$ is bijective to a good degree of approximation. For a fixed set of values for $\{r_j\}$ we have therefore, a unique solution $\nu^j$ satisfying eqs. (\[r2\]), if we restrict ourselves to the three islands identified above. We shall henceforth term the islands identified above as the [*primary group*]{} of islands and the solution there will be called the [*primary*]{} solution. (It is to be emphasized that the above discussion is applicable only to the Newtonian waveform. As we shall see later for the post-Newtonian case, the primary group of islands contains more islands on either side of the central island.) There will of course be other solutions in the other islands. It is to be noted that number of multiple solutions for a given set of values for $\{r_j\}$, depends on $\{r_j\}$, and we do [*not*]{} imply that each island admits a solution $\nu^j$ for a fixed set of values for $\{r_j\}$. The reason for the term [*primary*]{} solution is to be found in Fig. \[fig9\], where we have plotted a histogram of the variable $\theta_m$ which gives us an idea as to how many points occur in each island. We observe that $99\%$ of the points lie in the central and the two adjoining islands for the Newtonian case. Thus there is an overwhelming probability for the points to lie in one of these islands, and the primary solutions occur much more frequently as compared to the other solutions for a fixed value of $r_j$.
The problem now is to determine the various solutions $\bbox{\hat{\nu}}^{(l)}$ for a fixed set of values of $\{r_a\}$, and compute the probability that a particular $\bbox{\hat{\nu}}^{(m)}$ will be selected amongst others for a given $\bf r$. This is essentially the probability that the amplitude $\hat A^{(m)}$ is greater than the amplitude at the other solutions. We shall denote this probability as $P(\bbox{\hat{\nu}}^{(m)}|{\bf r})$. For a fixed set of values of $\{r_j\}$, we will have multiple solutions, $\{\hat\nu^j\}^{(1)}, \{\hat\nu^j\}^{(2)},\ldots$ to eqn. (\[r2\]). The correlation obtained at these points will be $$\hat A^{(l)} = \left\langle{\bf
x},{\bf h}(\hat\nu^j)^{(l)}\right\rangle.$$ It is to be noted that for a [*fixed*]{} $\{\hat\nu^j\}$, $\hat A$ will be a Gaussian random variable with a variance of unity. In order to calculate $P(\{\hat\nu^j\}^{(l)}|\{r_j\})$ we need to identify all the solutions corresponding to a fixed set of values $r_a$. The identification of the multiple roots is quite a problem, and so we make the following approximation. We assume that for one of the solutions, that is the primary solution which we shall denote by $\{\hat\nu^j\}^{(1)}$, corresponding to $\{r_j\}$, the probability $P(\{\hat\nu^j\}^{(1)}|\{r_j\})$ is almost unity. If this is true, then, we only need to compute the probability that the correlation at an arbitrary point on the parameter space exceeds the correlation at the primary solution point which shares the same set of values of $\{r_j\}$. This corresponds to computing the probability of the Gaussian random variable $\hat A^{(l)}$, exceeding $\hat A^{(1)}$. Of course, $P(\{\hat\nu^j\}^{(1)}|\{r_j\})$ is set to unity. The justification for the above procedure is essentially the fact that nearly $99\%$ of the points lie in the primary group of islands.
So for evaluating the distribution of the estimated parameters at $\nu^k=\hat\nu^k$ we follow the following procedure:
1. Determine $r_j(\hat\nu^k)$ using eqn. (\[r2\]).
2. Determine $\{\hat\nu^k\}^{(1)}$ using eqn. (\[kap4\]) for an appropriate value of $k$, [*i.e.*]{} $k$ takes one of the values $\{-1,0,1\}$.
3. Determine the probablility for $\hat A
= \left\langle{\bf x},{\bf h}(\hat\nu^k)\right\rangle$ to be greater than $\hat A^{(l)} = \left\langle{\bf
x},{\bf h}(\hat\nu^k)^{(1)}\right\rangle$. (If $\hat\nu^k$ is already a primary solution then this probability is set to unity.)
4. Set $P(\{\nu^a\}|\{r_a\})$ equal to the calculated probability.
5. Write the the pdf of the estimated parameters as $$\label{ndis1}
p(\bbox{\hat\nu})=
\frac{1}{\left(2\pi\right)^2}
J\left(\bbox{\hat\nu}\right)P\left(\bbox{\hat\nu}|{\bf r}\right)
\exp\left[-\frac{1}{2}\sum\limits_{a=0}^3
r_a^2(\bbox{\hat\nu})\right],$$ where, $ J(\bbox{\hat{\nu}})$ is the Jacobian of the transformation from ${\hat{\nu}^a}$ to the variables $r_a$, which is essentially, $$\label{jac}
J(\bbox{\hat\nu})=\mbox{det}\left[\frac{\partial r_a}{\partial\nu^b}(\bbox{\hat\nu})\right].$$
Since the amplitude parameter is not of primary interest to us, we shall integrate the distribution over $\hat A$. We use a threshhold of $7$, which means that we reject any realization whose measured value $\hat A$ is less than $7$ in the simulations. The amplitude parameter enters only via $r_0$. So the distribution for the remaining three parameters $\hat\nu^k$ is, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{ndis2}
p(&&\hat{\nu^k})=
\frac{1}{\left(2\pi\right)^{3/2}}
J\left(\hat\nu^k\right)P\left(\hat\nu^k|{\bf r}\right)
\exp\left[-\frac{1}{2}\sum\limits_{i=1}^3 r_i^2(\hat\nu^k)\right]
\;\mbox{\bf\LARGE$\times$}\nonumber\\
&& \frac{1}{\left(2\pi\right)^{1/2}}\int_{7.0}^\infty
\exp\left[-\frac{1}{2}
\left(\check{A}\left\langle h({\check{\nu^k}}),h({\hat{\nu^k}})
\right\rangle-\hat{A}\right)^2\right] d\hat{A}.\end{aligned}$$ Since the SNR is chosen to be 10 the second factor in the equation above is very close to unity.
We now compare the Monte Carlo results with the distribution given in eqn. (\[ndis2\]). We compare the one dimensional marginal distribution $p(\hat\nu^1)$ with the histogram obtained via the Monte Carlo method. The marginal distribution $p(\hat\nu^1)$ is obtained by integrating eqn. (\[ndis2\]) with respect to $\nu^2$ and $\nu^3$. This is done numerically. Though the parameter $\nu^1$ has the least root mean square error of $.015$ as predicted by the covariance matrix, its distribution has the most pronounced non-Gaussian behaviour. In plot (a) and (b) of Fig. \[fig10\] we display the distributions $p(\hat\nu^1)$, obtained from the Monte Carlo simulations and the statistical model respectively. Plots (c) and (d) in the same figure zoom in on the first two maxima occurring on the right of the central maximum. It can be seen that in the case of plot (d) the match is not very good even though the location of the peaks match fairly well. The difference here could come from either the Monte Carlo method or the statistical model.
In the histogram of the variable $\theta_m$ illustrated in Fig. \[fig9\] we have seen that about $79.5\%$ of the points in the simulations fall in the central island and about $10\%$ in each of the adjoining islands at an SNR of $10$. We can obtain the corresponding numbers from our theoretical model as given in eqn. (\[ndis1\]), by integrating the distribution over all the parameters in the domain corresponding to each island. We obtain the values $82\%$ for the central island and about $9.5\%$ for each of the adjoining islands. Thus the statistical model shows good agreement with the Monte Carlo results by this criterion. The number of points in the subsequent islands falls off rapidly. The contribution to the variance from each island depends on the number of points in that region and the location of island in the parameter space. It is found that the maximum contribution to the variance comes from the islands immediately adjoining the central island.
Post Newtonian waveform {#PNwave}
=======================
In the post-Newtonian case we have the five parameters, $$\bbox{\mu} \equiv \mu^a \equiv \{\mu^0,\mu^1,\mu^2,\mu^3\} \equiv
\{A, 2\pi f_st_s, \Phi, 2\pi f_s\tau_0, 2\pi f_s\tau_1\}.$$ Simulations (12000 realizations) were carried out again for an SNR of 10. The signal parameters were $\check\tau_0 = 5.558$s and $\check\tau_1 =
0.684$s, corresponding to a binary comprised of a $10M_\odot$ black hole and a $1.4M_\odot$ neutron star. The simulation box taken was $\{5.058$s$\leq\tau_0\leq5.859$s$, 0.484$s$\leq\tau_1\leq0.985$s$\}$, with filter spacings of $10$ms. in $\tau_0$ and $5$ms. in $\tau_1$. Our analysis of the post-Newtonian case will be very similar to the Newtonian case in section \[MCres\]. All the variables defined there can be defined for the post-Newtonian case also and we will use the same names for the variables to avoid using more symbols.
Here again we diagonalise the covariance matrix by making a coordinate transformation from the $\bbox{\mu}$ to the $\bbox{\nu}$ coordinate system. The diagonal covariance matrix in the $\bbox{\nu}$ parameters is given by, $$ = (
----------------- ------- -------- -------- ---------
${\check A}^2$ 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.0 0.018 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.0 0.0 1.1974 0.0 0.0
0.0 0.0 0.0 403.64 0.0
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 15601.0
----------------- ------- -------- -------- ---------
) $$ Therefore the root mean square errors in the parameters computed from the covariance matrix are, $\sigma_{\nu^i}~\equiv~\{.013,0.109,2.009,12.49\}$. On the other hand the observed errors from the Monte Carlo simulations are $\Sigma_{\nu^i}~\equiv~\{1.33574, 7.43948,
5.34089, 23.049\}$. One finds as compared to the Newtonian case, the factors $\Sigma_{\nu^i}/\sigma_{\nu^i}$ are larger on the average. The reason for this is that here we have one more parameter, which means there are more filters which can match with the data and consequently there are more outlying points. This is evident from Fig. \[fig13\] as is explained below.
In Figs. \[fig11\] and \[fig12\] we give the scatter plots of the four parameters $\nu^i$, the former on the $\nu^1-\nu^2$ plane and the latter on the $\nu^3-\nu^4$ plane. We observe that while there are gaps in distribution of the parameters $\nu^1$ and $\nu^2$ there are none in the distribution of the parameters $\nu^3$ and $\nu^4$. Here the phase parameter $\mu^2\equiv\Phi$ is given by, $$\Phi = -0.109838\nu^1 - 0.621516\nu^2 + 0.695335\nu^3 +
0.343747\nu^4,$$ and the variable $\theta_m$ is given by, $$\theta_m = 4.18241\Delta\nu^1+ 0.892242\Delta\nu^2 +
0.0186845\Delta\nu^3 + 0.00272864\Delta\nu^4.$$ Since both $\sigma_{\nu^3}$ and $\sigma_{\nu^4}$ are comparable, both these parameters will contribute to $\Phi$ as opposed to the Newtonian case where only the $\nu^3$ parameter dominates. Thus we find that both the parameters $\nu^3$ and $\nu^4$ assume all their values in their respective ranges. The spacing between the islands in the $\nu^1$ and $\nu^2$ scatter plot is calculated to be $2\pi G_1/C^{11}_{\nu} = 0.69$ and $2\pi G_2/C^{22}_{\nu} =
3.90$ respectively. This is consistent with Fig. \[fig11\]. In Fig. \[fig11\] we notice that there are more islands to the right than there are to the left of the central island. This is caused by the simulation box which is asymmetrical, [*i.e.*]{} the parameters of the signal are not at the center of the simulation box. This is so since all combinations of $\tau_0$ and $\tau_1$ do not correspond to valid masses for the components of the binary. This leads to a shift in the mean of the estimated parameters from their actual values. The observed means in the $\Delta\nu^i$ are $\{0.10167, 0.574784,
-0.282783, 1.56494\}$. For higher SNRs the estimated parameters will tend to lie only on the islands which lie close to the central island and consequently within a symmetrical region around the actual values of the parameters. Therefore the bias will disappear for the case of higher SNRs.
In Fig. \[fig13\] we plot the histogram of the distribution of the variable $\theta_m$ in the post Newtonian case. Here, for the same SNR of $10$, there are more outlying points as compared to the Newtonian case. This is to be expected since we have an additional parameter, and there is an additional degree of freedom to find the filter which matches best with the signal. The variance now gets substantial contributions even from far away islands as opposed to the Newtonian case.
In Fig. \[fig14\] we plot the variables $r_i$ v/s $\theta_m$. Here again only $r_4$ does not attain all its possible values within the central island, but now $r_4$ attains its entire range of values only when when we include two islands on either side. Moreover the overlap of values of $r_4$ in these islands is much more pronounced as opposed to the Newtonian case and further investigations are needed to identify the primary solution correctly.
In Fig. \[fig15\] we plot the probability distributions of the variables $r_i$. The histograms are plotted using the Monte Carlo data and the continuous curve is a Gaussian with a variance of unity. It is clear that $r_i$ are Gaussian random variables to a good degree of approximation. The approximation is better than in the Newtonian case (see Fig. \[fig7\]). As in the Newtonian case the $r_i$ and $\kappa_i$ are related by only a constant factor. Therefore $\kappa_i$ are also Gaussian random variables. However, we note that this is true only for a special class of waveforms to which the chirp belongs. The chirp signal manifold is intrinsically flat and the parameterization of the waveform is such that the coordinates are essentially Cartesian. If some other parameterization is chosen ([*e.g.*]{} the chirp mass $\cal M$), the coordinates will no longer be so and $\kappa_i$ will not be Gaussian random variables even though the variables $r_i$ will remain Gaussian.
We can again as in the Newtonian case, write down the expression for the pdf of the estimated parameters. We do not write it explicitly here since the expression is formally the same as in eqn. (\[ndis1\]), except now the index $a$ runs from $0$ to $4$. We therefore only refer to eqn. (\[ndis1\]) for the required pdf.
Conclusions {#sec_con}
===========
In this paper we have addressed the question of wide discrepancies between the theoretically predicted lower bounds in the errors in the estimation of parameters and the errors observed in numerical experiments. We now summarize in this section, the main results of our paper and indicate future directions.
- We find that the problem is of a [*global*]{} nature, in that the estimated values for the parameters fall into [*disjoint*]{} islands. Though there are very few points in the islands which are far from the actual value of the parameters, they contribute substantially to the variance. Thus the discrepancy between the Monte Carlo simulations and the Cramer Rao bounds cannot be resolved by using perturbative analysis. The restriction of the parameter $\Phi$ to the range $[-\pi,\pi]$ plays a major role in the non local distribution of parameters, as explained in the text.
- The problem is more transparent when we reparameterize the chirp signal so that the covariance matrix is diagonal in the new parameters. The parameters $\bbox{\nu}$ correspond to choosing orthogonal coordinates on the chirp manifold. Since the covariances are zero for the variables $r_a$ the pdf is computationally simpler to handle.
- A statistical model has been given which matches well with the distribution obtained from Monte Carlo simulations. The model is derived from geometrical considerations. We have identified certain variables $r_i$ as Gaussian random variables and these play an important role in writing down the expression for the distribution of the estimated parameters.
- Since the distribution of the estimated parameters is multimodal, the variance is not a good indicator of the performance of the MLE. A more reasonable indicator would be to judge the performance of the MLE by means of confidence intervals [*i.e.*]{} compute the probability that the estimated parameters lie within a certain region around the actual value. As a concrete example, we compute the probability that the deviation of the estimated parameter is less than thrice the root mean square error at that SNR as predicted by the covariance matrix. We will use the symbol $P_{3\sigma}$ to denote the fraction of points which lie within the $3\sigma$ range for a given parameter. However this criterion will in general be dependent on the specific parameter chosen. Since $\tau_0$ is one such physical parameter we use this to compute $P_{3\sigma}$.
In Figures \[fig16\] and \[fig17\] we plot $P_{3\sigma}$ v/s SNR for the parameter $\tau_0$ in the Newtonian and the post-Newtonian cases respectively. The values of $P_{3\sigma}$ for the parameters such as $\tau_0$ and $\tau_1$ will be independent of the actual value of the chirp times. For this purpose we use the results of simulations carried out earlier in [@BSD96]. It is to be noted that whereas the simulations carried out in this paper use a single curve to fit the noise power spectrum, $S_n(f)$, we had used a more accurate representation of $S_n(f)$ in our earlier simulations [@BSD96]. We see that the MLE works moderately well even at low SNRs of $\rho\approx10$. It is to be remarked that the assessment of an estimator depends upon how we use the estimates to calculate astrophysically interesting quantities.
- We required about 2 days of compution on a 300 MFlops (peak rating) machine to generate the results of this paper. The use of an integration routine specifically suited to the integrand, and/or the use of lookup tables for computing the integrand, would further speed up the computation substantially. The intrinsic flatness of the manifold turns out to be very convenient for our purpose. This property holds true for the first post-Newtonian waveform as well. There is one more parameter in the post-Newtonian waveform and consequently one more integration to perform to get the the marginal distribution of the parameters. For higher post-Newtonian corrections and/or for inclusion of parameters such as spins, it might be computationally expensive to compute the marginal distributions. However, it is to be noted that performing Monte Carlo simulations in such cases would also call for a huge amount of computational effort. A further research into the above issues is in progress.
R.B. would like to thank CSIR, India for the senior research fellowship. S.D. would like to thank Bernard Schutz and Andrjez Krolak for fruitful discussions.
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EDMONTON — Odell Willis has been ready for Friday night’s contest at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium for a while now.
Willis’ BC Lions head to Edmonton to take on the the Eskimos this weekend as the defensive end plays in his first game against his former team and he’s been looking forward to this Week 3 matchup since the 2018 season schedule was released.
“I’m going to be honest with you, yes, it has,” Willis told members of the media during Wednesday’s game preview call when asked if he had Friday night’s match circled on his calendar. “I’m ready to play. I’m ready to chase my buddy Mike (Reilly) around.”
Willis spent the last five seasons in the green and gold, suiting up in 86 games and collecting 127 defensive tackles and 46 sacks with the team. This off-season, he was traded from the Esks to the REDBLACKS and then one more time that same day to the Lions.
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In practice he went up against Mike Reilly and the rest of the Eskimos’ offence each and every day and now for the first time ever he gets to go head-to-head with his former mates.
“They’ve got an explosive offence,” said Willis. “I’ve been going against it in practice for the last five years and now I get to do it live. It’s going to mean a lot to me because a couple of guys over there, those are my brothers and I want to have fun. Of course, I want to get a win just like they want to get a win. I’m most definitely ready to play.”
Throughout his CFL career before joining the Eskimos, Willis spent time with the Calgary Stampeders (2009), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2009-2011) and Saskatchewan Roughriders (2012).
And over those four years, Willis has never gotten a sack on Reilly – he’ll be looking to get his first one this weekend- but he can recall a time where he did get some contact on the reigning Most Outstanding Player.
“The closest I’ve gotten to Mike before now is 2012 on a field goal return,” remembered Willis, with Reilly laughing in the background. “Tristan Jackson returned a missed field goal for a touchdown and I got a chance to block Mike.”
Not only is Willis excited to play against his former teammates, but the Eskimos are equally to lineup against him.
“I feel like it’ll be an uphill battle and the sky is the limit for this offence,” said Eskimos receiver Derel Walker, who joined Willis along with Reilly and BC quarterback Jonathon Jennings, on the call.
“I’m looking forward to coming out to play against Odell.”
Kickoff between the Eskimos and Lions is at 10:00 p.m. ET. | {
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Rhaphiptera annulicornis
Rhaphiptera annulicornis is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Gounelle in 1908. It is known from Brazil.
References
Category:Lamiinae
Category:Beetles described in 1908 | {
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
} |
Sgt. Isaac Ramos credits his years in Royal Canadian Air Cadets for his outlook on life.
The young man stole the show, when it was my job to do it. I had just finished a 30-minute talk at a military dinner in Etobicoke. There were about a hundred young people in the audience, members of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets (RCAC) No. 700 Squadron. I thought my talk – about the romance of aviation and the roots of national service – had gone well. I had managed to capture and keep the attention 12- to 18-year-olds. The end of my talk brought a genuine thank-you from a young warrant officer. Then a young man with sergeant’s stripes on his sleeve rose to speak.
“Four years ago, I was an irresponsible kid. I didn’t get along with my parents. I bad-mouthed everybody,” he said. “But today in the cadets it’s just the opposite.”
Sgt. Isaac Ramos was about to step down as the President of the Mess Committee (PMC). But standing there in front of his peers and holding the gavel of authority, the teenager wanted to make a couple of points in departing. He wanted to thank the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and the league that sponsors them for the impact on his life. But he also felt motivated to encourage the younger cadets to follow in his footsteps.
“Get involved,” Ramos said. “It’ll make a difference in your life.”
Throughout the mess dinner, the cadets sat at banquet tables and enjoyed prepared meals and drinks (Pepsi and ginger ale). The young men and women engaged in mock arguments and dispensing of justice over such things as illegal passing of notes, cross-table conversation and improper use of cell phones. Meanwhile, I sat at the head table with members of the sponsoring committee and the commanding officers (adults) who direct the RCAC programming. I learned that the Department of National Defence funds about 450 squadrons like No. 700, in total about 23,000 Air Cadets. During four years of membership, cadets gain instruction in citizenship, leadership, survival training and the basics of aviation and aeronautics.
“The pinnacle of cadet training are gliding and flying scholarships for qualified cadets,” the CO said.
“That’s what these young people strive for?” I asked.
“That’s right,” he said. “About 20 per cent of private pilots in Canada are ex-Air Cadets.”
Which means that the extracurricular studies, physical training, support of the annual Poppy campaign and other community service activities all come from the heart of each squadron’s youth ranks. And if Sgt. Ramos was to be believed, the RCAC also cultivates tomorrow’s leaders.
I thought about such tangible benefits to society in the wake of the comments of a Toronto councillor this week. Coun. Doug Ford (the Toronto mayor’s brother) wants the Toronto district school board to circulate brochure material published by the creators of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The brochure, according to the Toronto Star, touts something called UFC Community Works, a program promoting “discipline, respect, teamwork, honesty, time management and physical fitness.” In other words, the Toronto councillor would like to see the TDSB embrace the UFC’s promotional values, while bringing its commercial values of no-holds-barred pugilism into Toronto schools.
I suspect most have seen these so-called UFC exhibitions of strength and endurance during which opponents conduct slug fests with the rewards going to the last man standing. The marriage of that sort of commercial exploitation of violence and the UFC’s endorsement of discipline and time management rang rather hollow to me. But then, in a civic atmosphere that would prefer to see fewer library hours and less public swimming time in favour of an international amusement park on the Lake Ontario shoreline, why should anyone be surprised? One hopes the TDSB recognizes the wolf in sheep’s clothing and refuses UFC entry to its hallways and students’ minds.
When a lot of us were younger, there were plenty of extracurricular institutions where we could find the answers to questions about relationship building, appropriate behaviour and positive attitudes. Some found their way via Boys Scouts or Girl Guides. Others learned leadership skills in Red Cross swimming programs or team-building at local outlets of the YMCA or YWCA.
Founded in 1946, the Royal Canadian Air Cadets organization currently numbers 23,000.
I found Scouts uninspiring and didn’t have a YMCA close by. I found inspiration from intramural hockey and baseball and a public school coach named Mike Malott. He taught us how to play hard, depend on each other and win or lose with dignity and pride. “It’s about giving, not about getting,” Coach Malott always said.
Clearly, young Sgt. Ramos had chosen to explore his options in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. There was no guarantee he would ever become either a civilian or military aviator. But along the way he had learned respect for his peers, a love for his country and a strong sense of himself.
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U.S. Stalag Luft III PoW group honours Ted
The Great Escape: A Canadian Story has received its first recognition in the United States. In late August 2014, members of the Stalag Luft III Prisoners of War Association in the U.S. presented Ted Barris with a “Certificate of Honor" for his work on publishing the historical account of the famous 1944 breakout in the Second World War.
Ted does TEDx Talk
On May 8, 2013, Ted Barris spoke to students of St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Durham Region (east of Toronto). The original TED Talk presentation posed the question: Why should young people reflect on war and veterans?
2014 Libris Award
During a gala ceremony in Toronto, on June 2, the annual Libris Awards were presented. Ted Barris’s book, “The Great Escape: A Canadian Story,” received the 2014 Libris Best Non-Fiction Book Award, sharing the honour with Chris Hadfield for his book “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth.” In presenting the award, host Terry Fallis explained the criteria: “The award for non-fiction book of the year goes to a Canadian work of non-fiction published in 2013 that made a lasting impression on the Canadian book selling industry, through wide media attention, increased traffic to bookstores and strong sales.”
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
During an awards ceremony at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on Oct. 14, 2012, Sen. Joseph Day presented Ted Barris with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. The announcement issued with the award said, in part, “the medal is a visible and tangible way to recognize outstanding Canadians … who have built and continue to build this caring society and country through their service and achievements.”
Commendation
On July 27, 2011, the Minister of Veterans Affairs for Canada awarded 19 citizens his annual commendation. Traditionally, the award is “presented to those veterans … who, in an exemplary way, have contributed either to the care and well-being of veterans or to the remembrance of the sacrifices and achievements of Canadians in armed conflict.”
Most of the 2011 recipients are veterans. Ted Barris, a civilian, also received the commendation.
About Ted Barris
Barris is an accomplished author, journalist and broadcaster. As well as hosting stints on CBC Radio and regular contributions to the Globe and Mail and National Post, Barris has authored 16 non-fiction books and is a full-time professor of journalism at Centennial College in Toronto. He has also written a weekly newspaper column - The Barris Beat - for more than 20 years.
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Albendazole chemotherapy for human cystic and alveolar echinococcosis in north-western China.
Human echinococcosis is highly endemic in north-western China; the main treatment is by surgery. In this paper, we report the results of chemotherapy with albendazole (ABZ), 15-20 mg/kg/d orally, for 30 d with intervals of 10 d between treatments for 3-6 courses. For multi-organ cystic echinococcosis (CE) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE), patients were given 12-18 courses of ABZ. Patients were divided into 4 groups: (i) ABZ surgery group, albendazole with surgery for 21 CE cases: (ii) non-ABZ surgery group, 80 CE cases treated by surgery alone; (iii) ABZ CE group, albendazole treatment alone in 58 CE cases, and (iv) ABZ AE group, 14 AE patients treated by albendazole and surgical intervention and 5 AE patients treated by albendazole alone. Twenty-seven of 34 (79.4%) cysts in group (i) patients showed increased necrotic changes and decreased viability of the cysts compared to group (ii). However, 10 of 84 (11.9%) cysts in group (ii) patients showed spontaneous evidence of necrosis at surgery. In group (iii), ABZ treatment alone was successful in 14 (24.1%), resulted in improvement in 29 (50%) and had no effect in 15 (25.9%) patients. Seven cases in group (iv) improved, with diminished size of lesions which were non-viable. The remaining 7 cases in group (iv) showed evidence of cyst viability at surgery; 2 could not be saved after a further 15 courses of albendazole. Of the five AE patients in group (iv) who received only ABZ, one improved, 2 stabilized, one deteriorated and one died. Albendazole chemotherapy, while not completely effective, has an important role in treatment of both cystic and alveolar echinococcosis. | {
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
} |
"With his third featuring brash, breezy, unflappable Carter (Eyes of the Innocent, 2011, etc.), Parks propels himself to a niche shared by only a handful of others: writers who can manage the comedy-mystery."
"A tour de force with no room for subtle characterization, complicated moral dilemmas or descriptions of anything that's not instantly material to Jane's job—just an hours-long jolt of pure, adrenaline-fueled plot."
Jane Whitefield's latest attempt to hide someone other people are looking for puts her in even more danger than usual, and that's not easy.
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"It's hard to do justice to the outré and eccentric but gorgeous quality of Pilch's prose. Here he manages to pull off some neat literary tricks, frequently and self-consciously undermining the seriousness of his subjects with pricks of irony."
A set of loosely concatenated stories that don't quite add up to a novel but are nonetheless rich in character and in the exploration of contemporary urban life in Poland.
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31 Cal.2d 43 (1947)
In re CLIFFORD BRAMBLE, on Habeas Corpus.
Crim. No. 4755.
Supreme Court of California. In Bank.
Dec. 2, 1947.
Clifford Bramble, in pro. per., and C. K. Curtright, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Petitioner.
Robert W. Kenny, Fred N. Howser, Attorneys General, and David K. Lener, Deputy Attorney General, for Respondent.
SCHAUER, J.
Petitioner, in this habeas corpus proceeding, challenges (1) the validity of four substantially identical 1939 judgments (entered on successive counts in a single proceeding) under which he is confined in the state prison at Folsom and (2) the correctness of the ancillary determination that he is an habitual criminal who has suffered three prior convictions.
The conviction as to each of the four substantive offenses was upon petitioner's plea of guilty to the several offenses "as charged" in the indictment. Petitioner was accused in count 1 of the indictment "of the crime of Arson committed as follows: That ... Clifford Bramble on the 23d day of December 1936 at the County of Sacramento in the State of California, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously and maliciously set fire to and burn and cause to be burned the store building located at 718 K Street, in the City of Sacramento, California, commonly known as Woolworth's." (Italics added.) Counts 2, 3 and 4 in similar language charge the burning of other specifically identified store buildings in Sacramento on December 23, 1936, and January 11 and February 12, 1937, respectively.
The respondent warden in his return to the writ sets forth, as an exhibit, a certified copy of the minutes of the superior court showing the arraignment of the petitioner (as defendant) for judgment, and the pronouncement of judgment on each of the four counts of the indictment. The minutes recite that "The defendant was duly informed by the Court of the Second Amended Indictment filed against him for the crime of Arson and three prior convictions"; that the defendant was asked if he had any "legal cause" to show why judgment should not be pronounced, and answered that he had none; that "thereupon the Court renders its judgment: That whereas the said Clifford Bramble has been duly convicted in this Court *46 of the crime of Arson as charged in Counts 1, 2, 3, and 4 as charged in the Second Amended Indictment ... [and has also admitted the prior convictions of felony] as charged in" such indictment, "It is the judgment and sentence of the Court as punishment for the crime of Arson as charged in Count 1 ... for which said defendant ... was convicted ..., said defendant having been previously three times convicted upon charges of Grand Larceny, Burglary and Grand Larceny of the First Degree, separately brought and tried, and said defendant served separate terms therefor, that the said defendant ... be imprisoned in the State Prison ... for the term of his natural life." (Italics added.) A separate judgment, in substantially identical language, was pronounced on each of the four counts.
It is thus apparent that the trial court adjudicated conviction of the substantive offenses of four counts of "Arson as charged," and that each judgment refers to three prior convictions of offenses the names of which correspond to the names of crimes enumerated in section 644 of the Penal Code. We have concluded that the judgments of conviction of the substantive offenses are valid but that the adjudicated elements of only two of the three prior offenses are equivalent to the essential elements of offenses enumerated in section 644 of the Penal Code; that petitioner is not presently entitled to an order for his release from custody but that he is not, as a matter of law, ineligible for release on parole.
The Substantive Offenses
[1] Relative to the judgments of conviction of the four substantive offenses, petitioner urges as to each "that the said purported judgment of said Superior Court ... was and is void, for the reason that the same was and is without the jurisdiction of said Superior Court to give or make in said ... action, it being neither alleged nor proven in said action that said crime of Arson had been committed by petitioner." There is no merit in this contention.
The argument advanced by petitioner in support of such contention is to the effect that he stands sentenced for the crime of arson and that such crime was not charged in the indictment, hence the judgment was beyond the jurisdiction of the court. He urges that the word "arson," both at common law and by the statutes of California, has a limited technical meaning; i.e., the wilful and malicious "burning *47 of any dwelling-house, or ... parcel thereof" (italics added), and that the specification in the indictment as to each count that the crime was "committed as follows: That ... Clifford Bramble on the [date and at the place alleged in the respective counts] ... did then and there ... maliciously set fire and burn ... the store building located at [a street address as specified in the respective counts] ... in the City of Sacramento, California, commonly known as ['Woolworth's,' in count 1; 'Grant's,' in count 2; 'F. Lagomarsino & Sons,' in count 3; 'Marcus Auto Supply Co.,' in count 4]" (italics added), renders the pleading not only insufficient to charge the burning of a "dwelling-house, or ... parcel thereof" but effectively establishes that the offense was something other than the burning of a "dwelling-house, or ... parcel thereof"; i.e., the burning of a store building, and, hence, as above noted, that the court was without jurisdiction to sentence him for the crime of arson.
The above epitomized argument of petitioner is wholly untenable. Of course, if an indictment charged one offense and the court undertook to sentence the defendant for a different offense not that, or included in that charged, the sentence pronounced could not be sustained. But we have no such case here. As appears from the previously quoted excerpts from the judgments the court in rendering the same and as a part thereof declared them to be for "the crime of Arson as charged in Counts 1, 2, 3, and 4 as charged in the Second Amended Indictment" (italics added), and in pronouncing the sentence as to each count stated, "It is the judgment and sentence of the Court as punishment for the crime of Arson as charged in Count [specifying the number] ... that the said defendant ... be imprisoned in the State Prison," etc. In the light of the quoted language there can be no doubt here but that the defendant was sentenced as to each count for the precise offense, and only the offense, with which he was charged.
There is no contention that the indictment is insufficient to state a public offense--violation of section 448a [fn. *], Penal Code--neither is there any contention by either petitioner or the state that such indictment states any offense other than violations of section 448a. As above stated, petitioner urges merely that he is sentenced for an offense different *48 from that alleged in the indictment: i.e., that while the pleading charges him with violations of section 448a the judgments, through the use therein of the word "Arson," sentence him for violations of section 447a.* This contention is based on an untenably (in California) narrow meaning of the word "Arson."
History and Evolution of the Word "Arson"
[2] It is true that at common law the offense of arson was "the wilful and malicious burning of the dwelling house of another. It was an offense against the security of habitation and ... was considered an aggravated felony and of greater enormity than any other unlawful burning because it manifested in the perpetrator a greater recklessness and contempt of human life than the burning of a building in which no human being was presumed to be." (4 Am.Jur. 87.) [3] It is also true that at the present time in California in the several code sections defining various crimes of malicious burning of property the word "arson" [fn. ] appears in only one (Pen. Code, 447a). But the history of legislation on the subject shows that in this state the word, for more than 97 years, has had a broader signification than it had at common law. From 1850 until 1929 "arson" included the wilful and malicious burning not only of dwelling houses but also of "any ... store-house, warehouse, or other *49 building, the property of any other person" (Comp. Laws of California, 1850-1853, p. 646, sixth div., 56). In 1856 (Stats. 1856, p. 132) those acts of arson which consisted of wilfully and maliciously burning "any dwelling house, the property of another, in the daytime, or in the night or daytime, wilfully burn[ing] ... any kitchen, office, shop, barn, stable, storehouse, warehouse or other building [other than a dwelling house], or stacks or stocks of grain ..." (italics added) were declared to be "arson in the second degree." With the adoption of the codes in 1872 section 447 of the Penal Code defined arson as follows: "Arson is the willful and malicious burning of a building, with intent to destroy it." Section 454 provided that "Maliciously burning in the night-time an inhabited building in which there is at the time some human being, is arson in the first degree. All other kinds of arson are of the second degree" and section 455 fixed the punishment for arson in the first degree as imprisonment in the state prison "for not less than two years" while for arson in the second degree the penalty was like imprisonment "for not less than one nor more than ten years." Except for substituting "twenty-five" for "ten" in the provision for punishment of second degree arson in 1901 (Stats. 1901, p. 664) these sections stood as the law of California until 1929 when (Stats. 1929, p. 46), they, together with other sections concerning arson, were repealed and the present sections 447a, 448a, 449a, 450a and 451a, were adopted. The chapter of the code (ch. 1, tit. 13, pt. 1), for whatever significance it may have, still bears the title "Arson." The code commissioners' notes say: "the statutes of this state have enlarged the use of the term to include many acts of burning not involving special danger to the person. Thus, burning stacks of grain, standing crops, bridges, etc., is arson in the second degree. ... The commissioners recommend that the term 'arson' be confined to the offense of setting on fire buildings (including ships and vessels). Other criminal acts of burning are not properly classified under the title of 'arson,' but under the title of 'malicious mischief.' " Our code sections on arson as originally adopted were based on the New York code. The New York code commissioners say: "Originally, arson was the burning of a human habitation. The term has been, in this state, and in other jurisdictions, extended by statute, to embrace the burning of other descriptions of property not involving danger to human life." In *50 People v. Angelopoulos (1939), 30 Cal.App.2d 538, 541, 551 [86 P.2d 873], the offense of burning a "store building" was charged as a violation of section 448a of the Penal Code and was denominated "arson."
It thus appears that there are ample historical and legal bases for designating the acts enumerated in section 448a as "arson." [4] The real purpose of differentiating the acts listed in section 448a from those included in 447a is apparently not to change the nomenclature but to provide a convenient method of pleading and identifying the two classes of acts which are deemed to merit different punishments. The penalty for violating section 447a (burning a dwelling house) is "not less than two nor more than twenty years" imprisonment while for violating section 448a (burning "any ... building ... not a parcel of a dwelling-house") the term of imprisonment is "not less than one nor more than ten years." Section 644 impliedly recognizes that arson may be committed by violating section 448a as well as by violating 447a, for it distinguishes between the classes of arson by including, of the malicious burning offenses, only "arson as defined in Section 447a of this code" among the substantive offenses upon conviction of which a person may be held to be an habitual criminal if he has also previously been convicted and served terms of imprisonment for the offenses therein enumerated as a basis for such determination. For the foregoing reasons it is obvious that the use of the word "arson" in the indictment and in the judgments is not inconsistent with the specification that the offenses were committed by the burning of store buildings.
As previously mentioned, there is no contention that the indictment fails to state a public offense or any offense other than violation of section 448a. [5] Even if the judgments were otherwise uncertain they become reasonably certain by reference to the indictment and record. (In re Basuino (1943), 22 Cal.2d 247, 251 [138 P.2d 297].) We have before us no question such as would arise if section 447a were the only statute defining a crime of malicious burning. If it were the only section on that subject, then the question would be one of sufficiency of pleading to state a public offense and the effect of the rules limiting the scope of inquiry on habeas corpus in such cases (see 13 Cal.Jur. 232-233, 14; In re Leach (1932), 215 Cal. 536, 547 [12 P.2d 3]; In re Wilson (1925), 196 Cal. 515, 518 [238 P. 359]; In re Kavanaugh (1919), 180 Cal. 181, 182 [180 P. 533]; In re Ruef (1907), *51 150 Cal. 665, 666 [89 P. 605]) would have to be considered. But here the only possible uncertainty would relate to the identity of the offense pleaded (as being a violation of section 448a or of 447a, Penal Code), not to sufficiency of the pleading.
As to identity of the offense the attorney general concedes in his brief that the indictment charges violation of section 448a and not violation of section 447a, and there can be little doubt as to the soundness of his concession. If the pleader had intended to charge violation of section 447a rather than violation of section 448a and if the facts had justified the graver charge, it would have been easy to aver that the buildings burned were used in part or in whole, or as parcels, of dwelling houses. The words "store building" are certainly not synonymous with "dwelling house or parcel thereof." As already mentioned the burning of a "store building" has heretofore in this state been charged as a violation of section 448a and the case is referred to as "prosecution for arson" (People v. Angelopoulos (1939), supra, 30 Cal.App.2d 538, headnote [1] and pp. 541, 551.) [6] Furthermore, if there be any reasonable doubt as to identity of offense we are bound to resolve that doubt in favor of petitioner. As declared in People v. Ralph (1944), 24 Cal.2d 575, 581 [150 P.2d 401], "the defendant is entitled to the benefit of every reasonable doubt, whether it arise out of a question of fact, or as to the true interpretation of words or the construction of language used in a statute." (See, also, In re McVickers (1946), 29 Cal.2d 264, 278 [176 P.2d 40].) The rule applies equally in determining any question as to the identity of the offense charged and to which the defendant pleaded guilty where upon the whole record there is a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant pleaded guilty to, or the judgment sentences the defendant for, a greater or lesser offense. [7] The rule that on habeas corpus we will presume the validity of a judgment does not mean that we shall presume the harsher of two equally reasonable constructions of the judgment.
Both the indictment and the judgments might well have designated by number the code section which the petitioner was charged with and convicted of violating but we are satisfied that the defect is of artificiality rather than of substance; that the judgments, by reference to the pleadings, are amply certain to identify the offenses and that they constitute valid *52 adjudications of conviction of the four substantive offenses of violation of section 448a of the Penal Code as charged in the indictment.
It may also be observed that petitioner's contention that he was sentenced for an offense other than that charged could in no event benefit him under the circumstances of this case. It has already been shown that the sentence pronounced is in no instance broader than the charge; for each count it was "for the crime of Arson as charged" in the particular count under consideration. [8] But if in fact the judgments had been given for offenses other than those charged and to which the petitioner pleaded guilty, he would not be entitled to release but only to be returned to the superior court and resentenced for the charged and admitted offenses, with possible loss of credit for the time he has already served. (13 Cal.Jur. 281; In re Ralph (1946), 27 Cal.2d 866, 872 [168 P.2d 1].)
The Prior Convictions
[9] Petitioner contends that the prior conviction, alleged and admitted, "of a felony, to wit: Grand Larceny," in North Dakota is not available to support a determination that he is an habitual criminal. The charge against him in the indictment does not allege that he was convicted in North Dakota of any offense which meets the requirements of California's section 644. It charges him merely with the conviction of grand larceny in North Dakota, which, we are bound to judicially notice, in California might be either grand theft or petty theft. Looking beyond the face of the record, it appears from copies of the North Dakota information and judgment that petitioner in 1917 was charged with, pleaded guilty to, and was convicted of larceny of personal property of the value of $47. At that time the commission of such an offense in California would have amounted only to "petit larceny" (Pen. Code, 487, as amended, Stats. 1907, p. 113), a crime not mentioned in section 644 of the Penal Code at the time the substantive offenses were committed. Therefore, the contention of petitioner last above stated is correct. (In re McVickers (1946), supra, 29 Cal.2d 264, 269; In re Seeley (1946), 29 Cal.2d 294, 299 [176 P.2d 24]; and cases there cited.) However, as hereinafter explained, the correctness of such contention does not affect the minimum term of petitioner's imprisonment prescribed by the habitual criminal act as it now reads. *53
Petitioner does not dispute the competency of an alleged and admitted prior conviction of burglary in California to support a determination of habitual criminality. [10] The third alleged and admitted prior conviction is "of a felony, to-wit: Grand Larceny in the first degree," in Minnesota. The conviction, it appears from copies of the Minnesota information and judgment, occurred in 1925 upon petitioner's plea of guilty to a charge of stealing personal property of the value of $562. The conviction, therefore, was of a crime equivalent to the then California offense of grand theft (Pen. Code, 487, as amended, Stats. 1923, p. 271) and as such was a competent element to be considered in determining petitioner's status as an habitual criminal.
Term of Imprisonment and Eligibility to Parole
[11] Petitioner's minimum term of imprisonment is presently prescribed by section 3048.5 of the Penal Code. That section provides that every person who was determined to be an habitual criminal under either paragraph (a) (two prior convictions) or paragraph (b) (three prior convictions) of section 644 of the Penal Code as such section read before the effective date of "this act" (Stats. 1945, ch. 935, which amended section 644 and added section 3048.5), and who could not be determined to be an habitual criminal under section 644 as amended by the 1945 act, "shall be deemed to be imprisoned for life and shall be eligible for release on parole after he shall have served a minimum term of seven calendar years." Under section 644 as amended in 1945 petitioner could not be adjudged an habitual criminal, for that section now enumerates not only the prior convictions but also the substantive crimes, convictions of which can form the basis of a determination of habitual criminality; and the substantive crimes of which petitioner was actually convicted (violations of section 448a) are not so enumerated. (Violation of section 447a is so enumerated.)
It appears that petitioner has served a term exceeding the minimum of seven calendar years from the date of his delivery to the warden at Folsom State Prison and therefore, so far as his status as an habitual criminal is concerned, he is not as a matter of law ineligible for release on parole. Since, however, he has not presently been admitted to parole and the term of his sentence perdures, he is not entitled to an order of this court that he be released from custody, but *54 it is his right to have a request for parole considered and determined by the Adult Authority in the regular course of its proceedings and in the light of the law and the construction of the judgments as hereinabove declared.
The writ is discharged and the petitioner is remanded to custody.
Gibson, C.J., Shenk, J., and Carter, J., concurred.
SPENCE, J.
I concur with the conclusion that the writ should be discharged and that the petitioner should be remanded to custody, but I cannot concur with certain other conclusions reached in the majority opinion.
It is conceded by petitioner that the indictment uses the word "arson" in describing the offenses of which he stands convicted, and that it "purports to charge the crime of arson"; that he entered his plea of guilty to the crime of "arson as charged" in each of four counts of the indictment; that the judgments of conviction recited his "plea of guilty of arson as charged" in each of said four counts; and that he was sentenced on each of said four counts "for the crime of arson as charged." It is further conceded that at the present time, as well as at all times pertinent to this discussion, "the only statute defining the crime of arson is section 447a of the Penal Code enacted in 1929"; and that the offense denounced by section 448a of the Penal Code "is not arson."
While making these concessions, petitioner nevertheless relies upon an alleged defect in the allegations of the indictment to charge him with "arson" and contends that "the conviction and sentence of petitioner are void." The majority opinion does not sustain petitioner's contention in toto but does sustain it in part. The conclusion reached in the majority opinion is that the judgments of conviction cannot be permitted to stand as judgments of conviction for the crime of "arson" but that they may be permitted to stand as judgments of conviction for the crime denounced by section 448a of the Penal Code. While the majority opinion attempts to deny the implication, it necessarily follows from the reasoning of the majority opinion that if there were no catch-all section similar to section 448a of the Penal Code, upon which reliance is there placed, petitioner would be entitled to his absolute release in this proceeding.
The actual effect of the majority opinion is to permit *55 petitioner to use this proceeding on habeas corpus as a substitute for a direct attack upon the indictment by demurrer and as a means to strike down petitioner's convictions on four counts of "arson" (Pen. Code, 447a) merely because of an alleged defect in the indictment. The extension of the use of habeas corpus to cover the situation presented by the record before us has been uniformly condemned by the prior decisions of this court.
In the early case of Ex parte Williams, 121 Cal. 328, this court said at pages 330-331 [53 P. 706]: "... the proceeding [habeas corpus] may not be made to subserve the office of a demurrer; and if the facts alleged squint at a substantive statement of the offense, no matter how defectively or inartificially they may be stated, or however confused and beclouded they may be rendered through intermingling them with immaterial or unnecessary averments, the writ will not lie. (Ex parte Whitaker, 43 Ala. 323; Matter of Prime, 1 Barb. 340.)" This rule has been consistently followed in the later decisions. (In re Leach, 215 Cal. 536 [12 P.2d 3]; In re Wilson, 196 Cal. 515 [238 P. 359]; In re Kavanaugh, 180 Cal. 181 [180 P. 533]; In re Ruef, 150 Cal. 665 [89 P. 605]; In re Simmons, 71 Cal.App. 522 [235 P. 1029]; see, also, 13 Cal.Jur. 232.) The scope of inquiry upon habeas corpus into the sufficiency of an indictment "is limited" (In re Leach, supra, at p. 547) and "where an indictment purports or attempts to state an offense of a kind of which the court assuming to proceed has jurisdiction the question whether the facts charged are sufficient to constitute an offense of that kind will not be examined into on habeas corpus." (In re Ruef, supra, at pp. 666-667.)
As above stated, petitioner concedes that the indictment "purports to charge the crime of arson," and it is clear that the facts alleged do more than merely "squint at a substantive statement" of that offense. The sole defect to which attention has been called is the allegation in each of the four counts that petitioner did wilfully, unlawfully, feloniously, and maliciously set fire to and burn a certain "store building." Petitioner contends that as "arson" can be committed only by burning "any dwelling- house, or any kitchen, shop, barn, stable or other outhouse that is parcel thereof, or belonging to or adjoining thereto" (Pen. Code, 447a), he is entitled to relief on habeas corpus.
In my opinion, there is no merit in petitioner's contention. *56 It may be assumed for the purpose of this discussion that the indictment is defective and that it would have been subject to direct attack (see, however, People v. Russell, 81 Cal. 616 [23 P. 418]), but such assumption does not determine the question before us in this proceeding. Upon direct attack, the prosecution would have had the opportunity of amending to allege the fact, if it were a fact, that each alleged "store building" was likewise used as a "dwelling-house." No such opportunity can now be afforded in the event that the judgment finding petitioner guilty of "arson" upon an indictment purporting to charge "arson," which judgment has long since become final, should be held in this proceeding to be insufficient as a judgment of conviction of "arson." It is a matter of common knowledge that many store buildings are likewise used as dwelling houses. The burning of such buildings has been held to constitute "arson" under statutes similar to our own. (People v. Oliff, 361 Ill. 237 [197 N.E. 777]; Wade v. State, 195 Ga. 870 [25 S.E.2d 712].) It therefore does not affirmatively appear from the face of the indictment that the offense charged did not constitute "arson," and, in my opinion, the allegations of each count were ample, under the rules set forth in the above- mentioned authorities, to withstand the attack now made in this proceeding on habeas corpus. To hold otherwise, as does the majority opinion, has the effect of declaring, contrary to the rule of the above-mentioned authorities, that the scope of the inquiry on habeas corpus into the sufficiency of the indictment is unlimited rather than limited.
It is significant to note that not a single authority cited in the majority opinion sustains the conclusion that the indictment in this case should be held insufficient in this proceeding to sustain the judgments of conviction on four counts of "arson." On the contrary, the reasoning found in the cases above cited clearly shows that the indictment here should be held sufficient for the purpose mentioned. As is said in In re Simmons, supra, 71 Cal.App. 522, at page 530: "It is claimed that the pleading states no offense known to the law because it fails to allege that the liquor contained one-half of one per cent or more of alcohol by volume, or that it was fit for use for beverage purposes. There is nothing in the complaint which tends to negative the idea that the liquor in petitioner's possession contained at least as much as one-half of one per cent of alcohol. The allegation that it contained 'more than one-third of one per cent alcohol by *57 volume' is entirely consistent with the fact that its alcoholic content was as much as or more than one-half of one per cent." So here, the allegations that petitioner burned four "store buildings" do not negative, and are entirely consistent with, the fact that such buildings may have likewise been used as "dwelling-houses." Petitioner made no point at the time of his conviction in 1939 that he had not in fact committed four offenses of "arson" but, on the contrary, he pleaded guilty to each of the four offenses denominated in the indictment as "arson." In this proceeding on habeas corpus he merely rests upon an alleged defect in the allegations of the indictment upon which he was convicted, and in my opinion, he should not be permitted to prevail.
The majority opinion alludes to the history of the offense called "arson." It is clear, however, that since 1929 there has been but one offense known in this state as "arson," being the offense defined as "arson" in section 447a of the Penal Code. In view of the express statutory definition of "arson" found in that section and in view of the fact that the indictment purported to charge the offense of "arson" and cannot be held in this proceeding to be insufficient to charge that offense, all reference to the early history of the offense called "arson" becomes immaterial in this discussion. Nor does the case of In re Bausino, 22 Cal.2d 247 [138 P.2d 297], lend support to the conclusions reached in the majority opinion. In that case there was no claimed defect in the indictment or information which charged petitioner with a violation of the State Narcotic Act. The only question there was whether petitioner's maximum term was six years or ten years, which question in turn was dependent, under the terms of the act, upon whether petitioner had suffered a prior conviction of a felony. (See Stats. 1929, p. 385, 6 as amended by Stats. 1935, p. 2203, 5b, at p. 2207.) The judgment of conviction was silent on this subject, but it appeared from the face of the record that petitioner had been charged with and had admitted such prior conviction. Under such circumstances, it was properly held that petitioner's maximum term was ten years rather than six years, despite the failure of the trial court to mention the prior conviction of a felony in the judgment of conviction. That case is in no way inconsistent with the above-cited authorities dealing with alleged defects in the information or indictment, and it sheds no light on the problem before us. *58
If petitioner may not prevail upon his technical claim relating to the sufficiency of the indictment, then he stands convicted of four primary offenses of "arson." He was also charged with, and he admitted, the following three prior convictions: (1) grand larceny in North Dakota; (2) burglary in California; and (3) grand larceny in the first degree in Minnesota. He was therefore adjudicated to be an habitual criminal. The question arises as to his eligibility for parole.
I cannot agree with the conclusion reached in the majority opinion that petitioner is now eligible for parole by reason of having served a term exceeding seven calendar years from the date of his delivery to the warden at Folsom. That conclusion is based upon the premise that petitioner does not stand convicted of the primary offense of arson, and that therefore petitioner falls within the class of persons covered by the second sentence of section 3048.5 of the Penal Code. In my opinion, petitioner does stand convicted of the primary offense of arson, which offense still remains one of the primary offenses upon which an habitual criminal adjudication may be based (see Stats. 1945, ch. 934, amending 644, 3047, and 3048, and adding 3048.5 of the Pen. Code). Under the present section 3048.5 (Stats. 1945, ch. 934) petitioner is therefore a person "heretofore adjudged" to be an habitual criminal and "who would have been adjudged or determined to be an habitual criminal under ... Section 644 of said code as amended by this act ..."; and the time at which such a convicted person may be eligible for release on parole is dependent upon whether he has suffered two or three prior convictions within the meaning of section 644 of the Penal Code. As the determination of this question does not involve an attack upon the habitual criminal adjudication but merely determines the effect of such adjudication in its relation to eligibility for release on parole, I agree that petitioner should be accorded the widest latitude in this proceeding in proving that one of the three prior convictions was for an offense which, if committed in this state, would not have constituted one of the felonies specified in section 644 of the Penal Code. (See concurring and dissenting opinion in In re McVickers, 29 Cal.2d 264, 281 [176 P.2d 40].) Petitioner has successfully assumed the burden of proving that fact in this proceeding. He has shown, and it is conceded, that his conviction of grand larceny in North *59 Dakota was upon an information in which the value of the property was definitely specified and the total value was affirmatively alleged as "making a total value of all property taken of $47.00." His North Dakota offense would have constituted only petit larceny rather than grand larceny if committed here, and, under the circumstances, he is therefore entitled to be treated as one who has suffered two rather than three prior convictions of felonies specified in section 644 in determining his eligibility for parole. This brings petitioner within the provisions of the first sentence of section 3048.5 of the Penal Code rather than the second sentence of said section as declared in the majority opinion.
As petitioner was sentenced on December 26, 1939, and it does not appear that he has served the minimum time required to make him eligible for a release on parole under the provisions of the first sentence of section 3048.5 of the Penal Code, I believe that the writ should be discharged and that petitioner should be remanded without any declaration that he has a present "right to have a request for parole considered and determined by the Adult Authority in the regular course of its proceedings."
Edmonds, J., and Traynor, J., concurred.
Section 448a (Penal Code) provides that "Any person who willfully and maliciously sets fire to or burns or causes to be burned or who ... procures the burning of any barn, stable, garage or other building, whether the property of himself or of another, not a parcel of a dwelling-house; or any shop, storehouse, warehouse, factory, mill or other building, whether the property of himself or of another; or any church, meeting-house, courthouse, workhouse, school, jail or other public building or any public bridge; shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than ten years." (Italics added.)
Sections 449a and 450a provide in quite similar language varying punishments for, respectively, the malicious burning of personal property and the burning of insured chattels with the intent of defrauding the insurer. Then follows section 451a, which enacts that "Any person who wilfully and maliciously attempts to set fire to or attempts to burn ... or procure the burning of any of the buildings or property mentioned in the foregoing sections ... shall upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than two years. ..."
NOTES
[fn. *] *. See footnote below for quotations of material parts of sections 447a and 448a.
[fn. ] . Its usage is as follows (Pen. Code, 447a): "Any person who willfully and maliciously sets fire to or burns or causes to be burned ... or procures the burning of any dwelling-house or any kitchen, shop, barn, stable or other outhouse that is parcel thereof ... whether the property of himself or of another, shall be guilty of arson, and upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than two nor more than twenty years."
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Q:
Were the Jews expecting the Messiah to suffer at all?
When Jesus spoke about his future suffering it did not seem to register properly.
For example:
(Matthew 16:22)
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
This raises the question: Did the Jews push the suffering of the servant Messiah (Isaiah 53) to the background of their mind, or was there no expectation that Messiah would suffer at all?
A:
It does seem that the Jews hadn't understood that the Messiah would have to suffer, or that the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 was the Messiah. Apart from the verse you have quoted, there are other verses which suggest that the Jews didn't understand this.
They understood that the Christ would be the "King of Israel" (Matthew 15:32), they knew that he would be the one to govern the people of Israel (Matthew 2:6), but they didn't understand that his kingship was not of this world (John 18:36). They expected a political Messiah, one who would save them from their enemies in this world, not one who would "save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). This is why, King Herod was troubled and all Jerusalem with him (Matthew 2:3), for he thought that the Christ would come and take his political throne from him.
Even after having the knowledge that he was indeed the Christ (Matthew 16:16), Peter rebuked him for saying that he would have to suffer. Even after he actually suffered and died, two of his disciples seemed to have no clue what was happening and Jesus said to them,
"O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" (Luke 24:25-26)
And then Jesus had to interpret the scriptures for them, to show them all the things in the scriptures about the Christ (Luke 24:27).
So it does seem that to the Jews, it wasn't plain and clear from the scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer and in fact the evidence shows that they were expecting him to rule like a political king and not undergo suffering.
A:
The Jews did expect Messiah to suffer but not not at all in the way in which he did. His suffering was only supposed to be a temporary set back as a King waging war against the Gentiles. He was expected to arrive and war with Gog and Magog. During that war against the Gentiles, both He and Israel would suffer, only to gain victory over the entire Gentile world. Then the Gentiles would confess the God of Israel only to later fall way and face the final judgment. His was at first supposed to come, disappear and then reappear to destroy the Gentiles once and for all. His appearance and reappearance was not supposed to be associated with the destructions of Jerusalem as Jesus had said (Mathew 23:39 – 24:2). This idea that Christ espoused would cause nothing but never ending confusion for the Jew. Neither would his suffering be from a rejection from his people, which would seem like defeat to the dream. His suffering would be in the fight with Gentiles for Israel resulting in total victory.
For anyone interested in the detail I have provided many below.
Alfred Edersheim a Jewish historian is, one of the, if not ‘the’ best resource for understanding Jewish expectations before Christ. In general Jewish writings designate a happy period that would succeed the ‘present dispensation’ or ‘world’ (Olam hazzeh). This happy period would begin with ‘the days of the Messiah’ (ימות המשיח). These would stretch into the ‘coming age’ (Aṯid laḇo), and end with ‘the world to come’ (Olam habba).
So the Jewish expectation of Messiah was under three progressive stages: ‘the days of the Messiah’, ‘coming age’ and ‘the world to come’.
The ‘days of the Messiah’:
Alfred Edresheim summarizes this from ancient Hebrew writings:
The Birth of the Messiah would be unknown to His contemporaries; that He would appear, carry on His work, then disappear – probably for forty-five days; then reappear again and destroy the hostile powers of the world, notably ‘Edom,’ ‘Armilos,’ the Roman Power – the fourth and last world-empire (sometimes it is said: through Ishmael). Ransomed Israel would now be miraculously gathered from the ends of the earth, and brought back to their own land, the ten tribes sharing in their restoration, but this only on condition of their having repented of their former sins. According to the Midrash, all circumcised Israel would then be released from Gehenna, and the dead be raised – according to some authorities, by the Messiah, to Whom God would give ‘the Key of the Resurrection of the Dead.’ This Resurrection would take place in the land of Israel, and those of Israel who had been buried elsewhere would have to roll under ground – not without suffering pain – till they reached the sacred soil. Probably the reason of this strange idea, which was supported by an appeal to the direction of Jacob and Joseph as to their last resting-place, was to induce the Jews, after the final desolation of their land, not to quit Palestine. This Resurrection, which is variously supposed to take place at the beginning or during the course of the Messianic manifestation, would be announced by the blowing of the great trumpet. It would be difficult to say how many of these strange and confused views prevailed at the time of Christ; which of them were universally entertained as real dogmas; or from what source they had been originally derived. Probably many of them were popularly entertained, and afterwards further developed – as we believe, with elements distorted from Christian teaching.
The ‘coming age’:
All the resistance to God would be concentrated in the great war of Gog and Magog, and with it the prevalence of all wickedness be conjoined. And terrible would be the straits of Israel. Three times would the enemy seek to storm, the Holy City. But each time would the assault be repelled – at the last with complete destruction of the enemy. The sacred City would now be wholly rebuilt and inhabited. But oh, how different from of old! Its Sabbath-boundaries would be strewed with pearls and precious gems. The City itself would be lifted to a height of some nine miles – nay, with realistic application of Isa_49:20, it would reach up to the throne of God, while it would extend from Joppa as far as the gates of Damascus! For, Jerusalem was to be the dwelling-place of Israel, and the, resort of all nations. But more glorious in Jerusalem would be the new Temple which the Messiah was to rear, and to which those five things were to be restored which had been wanting in the former Sanctuary; the Golden Candlestick, the Ark, the Heaven-lit fire on the Altar, the Holy Ghost and the Cherubim. And the land of Israel would then be as wide as it had been sketched in the promise which God had given to Abraham, and which had never before been fulfilled – since the largest extent of Israel’s rule had only been over seven nations, whereas the Divine promise extended it over ten, if not over the whole earth.
Interestingly, during this time some Rabbis thought that that the Law would be imposed onto the Gentiles but others thought that some things in the Law would cease and all would be brought under a new Law.
Jerusalem would be as large as, at present, all Palestine, and Palestine as all the world. Corresponding to this miraculous extension would be a miraculous elevation of Jerusalem into the air
The land would spontaneously produce the best dresses and the finest cakes; the wheat would grow as high as palm-trees, nay, as the mountains, while the wind would miraculously convert the grain into flour, cast it into the valleys. Every tree would become fruit-bearing; nay, they were to break forth, and to bear fruit every day; daily was every woman to bear child, so that ultimately every Israelitish family would number as many as all Israel at the time of the Exodus. All sickness and disease, and all that could hurt, would pass away. As regarded death, the promise of its final abolition was, with characteristic ingenuity, applied to Israel, while the statement that the child should die an hundred years old was understood as referring to the Gentiles, and as teaching that, although they would die, yet their age would be greatly prolonged, so that a centenarian would be regarded as only a child. Lastly, such physical and outward loss as Rabbinism regarded as the consequence of the Fall, would be again restored to man.
Jerusalem would, as the residence of the Messiah, become the capital of the world, and Israel take the place of the (fourth) world-monarchy, the Roman Empire. After the Roman Empire none other was to rise, for it was to be immediately followed by the reign of Messiah.
The end of the war with Gog and Magog would close the Messianic era. The nations, who had given tribute to Messiah, would then rebel against Him, when He would destroy them by the breath of His mouth. Israel alone would be left on the face of the earth. Then there would be only one Resurrection and that of Israel alone.
Then the final Judgment would then commence, to be held in the valley of Jehoshaphat by God, at the head of the Heavenly Sanhedrin, composed of the elders of Israel. At the time of Christ the punishment of the wicked was regarded as of ’eternal duration’. Although there was some belief that mere annihilation would await the ‘less guilty’, the ‘guiltiest’ were to be reserved for eternal punishment. After pleading for mercy the Gentiles would be punished.
The ‘world to come’:
After the final judgment, the renewal of heaven and earth would take place.
In the latter neither physical nor moral darkness would any longer prevail, since the yeṣer hara, or ‘Evil impulse,’ would be destroyed. And renewed earth would bring forth all without blemish and in Paradisiacal perfection, while alike physical and moral evil had ceased. Then began the ‘Olam haba,’ or ‘world to come.’ The question, whether any functions or enjoyments of the body would continue, is variously answered. The reply of the Lord to the question of the Sadducees about marriage in the other world seems to imply, that materialistic views on the subject were entertained at the time. Many Rabbinic passages, such as about the great feast upon Leviathan and Behemoth prepared for the righteous in the latter days, confirm only too painfully the impression of grossly materialistic expectations.
All quotes are from 'The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah', by Alfred Edersheim.
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Superior (manga)
is a manga created by Ichtys and published by Gangan Comics. Superior is a high fantasy Manga that includes dragons, demons, and most importantly, heroes. The story centers around the Hero Exa and the Demon Queen Sheila along with the corresponding war between the demon and human races.
In the May issue on April 18, 2009, the series migrated from GanGan Powered to Monthly GFantasy, under the new title .
A Drama CD was released by Frontier Works in 2007.
Plot
Superior takes place in a world where humans and monsters co-exist, but for many years, both races have been at war, aiming for the complete extermination of each other. The powerful Demon Queen Sheila arises to lead the monsters. She is extremely powerful, and slays half of humanity by herself. The surviving humans elect a Hero, Exa, to kill the Demon Queen and liberate humanity from her oppressive rule. But Exa questions his mission. He is anguished by the knowledge that all monsters are living creatures, the same as humans, and he doesn't wish to kill any of them. Sheila becomes interested in Exa's principles and decides infiltrate his side. Eventually she realizes that she has fallen in love with Exa, who, despite his desire for peaceful co-existence, has vowed to kill the Demon Queen himself.
Characters
Voiced by: Hōko Kuwashima
The Demon Queen who personally wiped out half of humanity and subjugated all the monsters. After experiencing the loss of her beloved dragon at a young age, she decided to kill as many humans as she could so as to create a world for monsters and monsters only. Upon meeting the Hero, Sheila decided she would approach him so as to get close to him, and kill him when the opportunity came; however, she finds herself to have accidentally developed romantic feelings for Exa. And so, putting up the façade of a meek monster, Sheila joins him in his journey. On the way to find the Demon Lord, she starts to change her sadistic behavior due to the Hero's influence on her. Later on, she finds herself in a dilemma; to tell the hero her true identity or keep pretending to be a weak demon in order to stay by his side.
Voiced by: Showtaro Morikubo
The Hero who dreams of monsters and humans co-existing in harmony. He values all monster and human life, and does not wish to kill anyone, firmly believing that the war can end without the complete extermination of one race. Despite his philosophy, he will make an exception for the Demon Lord, whom Exa can never forgive for the atrocious crimes the Demon Queen has committed, as well as for the murder of his family and friends at the hands of the latter. Exa believes that with the death of the Demon Lord, peace could be restored to the world. However, he does not know that Sheila is the Demon Lord (despite others telling him so) and later on falls in love with her. In Superior Cross Sheila tells him that she is the Demon Lord, after which he becomes very violent. In a frenzy to kill Sheila, he attacks Lakshri and Angelica (who were trying to protect Sheila), to get to her. In the middle of a fight, they all fall into a lava hole and in order to save them Sheila sacrifices herself. The Hero, unable to let her die after all, saves her and apologizes.
Voiced by: Masakazu Morita
Exa's right-hand man. In the past, he was consumed by violence, but was pulled out of it with the aid of Exa. After that Lakshri swore that he would follow him for the rest of his life.
Despite being good friends with Exa he clearly lacks the latter's modesty and humbleness, often bragging about his skills (especially with women, for Lakshri becomes infatuated with almost every women that he sees), as well as displaying a certain degree of immaturity or lack of manners (usually when he's around Angelica or Crowe).
His name could also be translated as "Luxury".
Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya
A quarter monster, with extremely strong and inherited magical abilities. Abused as a child for her demonic abilities, she is devoted to Exa, as he was the first person to show her kindness. Oddly enough, her jeweled staff is used to control and limit her power, but not to enhance it. Angelica's right eye is red due to her monster blood, which she inherited from one of her grandparents. To avoid conflict and controversy with the other humans, Angelica hides her right eye behind her bangs.
While usually a kind and gentle person, whenever she loses her temper she will use her superhuman strength against the one who has upset her (usually Lakshri). In Superior Cross she finds her grandfather living in a human town, after she realizes he is her grandpa he tells her that he had to leave the town he and her grandma were living on, due to the humans threatening him because of him being a monster, but he never stopped loving his family.
Voiced by: Yūko Kaida
The current Demon Queen who was formed by Sheila in an attempt to hide her true identity. Reckless and violent, she sees every human and monster without exception as hers to kill as she pleases. However, she plans to break apart Hero and Sheila in an attempt to kill them both and prove herself to be the strongest of them all, and rule over the entire world.
After facing Sheila and Hero on separate occasions she has decided to "work together" with all other monsters to destroy humanity.
Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga
Son of the King, he idolized Exa as a harbinger of peace who would aid his father in exterminating the demons. However, when he met Exa and found out he was a pacifist because he refused to kill two humanoid monsters, the Prince was severely disappointed. After he is spared by one of the two monsters that Exa saved, however, he converts to Exa's philosophy and provides to be a valuable ally. However, it is he who sends his aide to warn Exa of his suspicions that Sheila is the real Demon Queen.
A tentacled monster with an ability to control another being's mind. Kagami has served as Sheila's guardian ever since she was a child, it is also revealed that Kagami had admired Sheila's mother and has vowed to groom Sheila to be the perfect Demon Lord when he found out that Sheila's parents was killed by humans. He also hated Exa for being the reason on why Sheila had a change of heart.
References
External links
GanGan Powered's page for the manga
GFantasy's page for the manga
Category:Manga series
Category:Shōnen manga | {
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Fnatic is a professional eSports organization consisting of players from around the world across a variety of games. On March 14th, 2011, Fnatic entered the League of Legends scene with the acquisition of myRevenge. Fnatic is one of the strongest European teams since the early days of competitive League of Legends, having been the champion of the Riot Season 1 Championship.
Biography
Acquisition of myRevenge
Fnatic’s first venture into the League of Legends scene began on March 14th, 2011, when they acquired the roster from myRevenge consisting of WetDreaM, xPeke, LaMiaZeaLoT, Shushei, CyanideFI, Mellisan, and MagicFingers.
In May of 2011, WetDreaM left Fnatic to form AbsoluteLegends.
Season 1
Fnatic were one of the eight teams to qualify for the Riot Season 1 Championship, which was held from June 18th to June 20th of 2011, as the third and final European seed from the Regional Qualifier. Fnatic placed third in the Group Stage by going 1-2, narrowly escaping elimination by defeating Team Pacific, while losing to against All authority and Epik Gamer. Fnatic would see more success in the playoffs largely due to xPeke, who had finally arrived after missing the first day due to a delayed flight. They would power through and defeat Counter Logic Gaming 2-0 in the relegation round, Epik Gamer 2-0 in the semi-finals, and won versus against All authority in the finals of the winner’s bracket, propelling Fnatic to the grand finals. Fnatic faced aAa again in an all-European final, pulling out a 2-1 victory to be crowned the League of Legends Season 1 champions. Riot later created and released Fnatic-themed skins, a custom for World Championship winners, and chose each player's most-played champions during the Season 1 Worlds: Jarvan IV (Cyanide), Karthus (xPeke), Gragas (Shushei), Corki (LamiaZealot) and Janna (Mellisan).
Pre-Season 2
Two months later, Fnatic placed third at the IEM Season VI - Global Challenge Cologne. Fnatic placed second in the tournament's group stage with a 2-1 record, defeating SK Gaming and Frag Executors, while falling to Counter Logic Gaming. However, Fnatic would fall to Team Solomid 2-1 in the semifinals, relegating Fnatic to play against Millenium for third place, where Fnatic was able to come out on top with a 2-1 victory.
The next event that Fnatic would participate in was the IEM Season VI - Global Challenge New York. Here, Fnatic displayed a dominant performance, going 3-0 and taking first in the group stage by defeating Counter Logic Gaming, Dignitas, and Team Solomid. In the playoffs, Fnatic swept Sypher 2-0 in the semi finals and SK Gaming 2-0 in the grand finals, taking home first from the event.
Season 2
On January 19th, 2012, MagicFinger left Fnatic due to the dissatisfaction with only being a substitute player.
The next major event Fnatic competed in would be the IEM Season VI - World Championship in March. Unfortunately, Fnatic couldn't emulate their success at previous IEM events, and placed fifth, being eliminated in the group stage. Fnatic took wins against Millenium and Dignitas, while falling to Team ALTERNATE, against All authority, and Counter Logic Gaming Prime.
Two weeks later, Fnatic placed second at the SK Trophy March. They started strong by defeating LowLandLions 1-0 in the round of 16, TCM Gaming 2-0 in the quarterfinals, and Millenium 2-0, advancing them to the finals. Fnatic lost to Natus Vincere 2-0 in the grand finals, taking second place.
From March 21st to May 19th, Fnatic was invited to compete in Korea at Azubu The Champions Spring 2012. They were placed in the so-called "Group of Death," Group D. Fnatic's first game was against StarTale where the Korean playstyle caught Fnatic completely off-guard. They were dominated after a relatively calm first 25 minutes of the game. Two days later, Fnatic saw themselves competing to stay in the tournament's double-elimination bracket. Fnatic took a match and lost a match to make it 1-1, and they needed a win to advance. StarTale, who had lost to MiG Blaze, would once again be in their way. Lauri "Cyanide" Happonen secured Fnatic an early game advantage, helping them to prevail over the Korean powerhouse. This earned them a spot in the quarter finals, where they played against Team OP. Despite their motivation, Fnatic was not able to win a single game against them and got knocked out of the tournament after losing 0-2.
Fnatic then participated in the RaidCall PLAY Cup 1 on April 3rd, 2012. They took second at the event, falling to Counter Logic Gaming EU in the grand finals. Fnatic most notably defeated SK Gaming and Absolute Legends in the tournament.
On May 23rd, 2012, Pheilox joined Fnatic as their sixth player, replacing Mellisan at offline and online events while Mellisan finished his studies.
With Pheilox, Fnatic placed second at the RaidCall PLAY Cup 2. Fnatic defeated TCM Gaming in the semifinals to advance to the finals, where they fell to Team Acer.PL.
On June 4th and 5th Fnatic's roster would undergo some notable changes, with long time top laner Shushei being evicted from the team due to his inability to perform up to standards. A day after the announcement of Shushei's departure, Fnatic announced Shushei's replacement, former aAa top laner sOAZ. A month after the the roster change, long time support player Mellisan departed Fnatic due to his educational commitments.
Having Pheilox and sOAZ as their new support and top laner, Fnatic would head to 2012 MLG Pro Circuit/Spring from June 8th to the 10th. Fnatic advanced to Round 2 after a BYE in the first round, where they easily stomped 4Not 2-0. In the next round they faced Epik Gamer (known at the time as TSM EVO) and won 2-1. Fnatic then squared off against Team SoloMid. They could not withstand TSM's aggressive play-style, dropping 0-2 and falling to the loser's bracket. They then played against Team Dynamic (the future Good Game University). Despite taking game 1 very easily, Fnatic dropped the next 2 games, losing 1-2 and getting knocked out of the tournament. Fnatic placed 5th/6th.
With MLG Spring over, Fnatic turned their focus to DreamHack Summer 2012, which took place between June 16th and the 19th. Assigned to Group A, Fnatic defeated PAH and Millenium while losing to Curse Gaming EU, achieving the second spot of the group with a 2-1 overall score. Moving to the semi-finals, Fnatic battled against the famous Counter Logic Gaming EU. They were forced to settle for a 3rd place match after falling 0-2. Fnatic once again played against Curse Gaming EU, but ended up taking 4th place after going 1-2.
Fnatic's next big event was the Season Two European Regional Finals, the goal being to get a spot in the top three to qualify for the Season 2 World Championship. With the eight best teams in Europe in the competition, Fnatic would first go against Curse Gaming EU in the quarter finals. Though recent events predicted a win for Curse Gaming EU, Fnatic proved to be a strong team by winning the match 2-0. They faced Moscow 5 in the semi-finals for the first time in an offline event. Moscow 5 won game 1 after some intense play. Fnatic battled back and won game 2 very convincingly to become one of the few teams to take a game from Moscow 5 in the tournament. Unfortunately, Fnatic couldn't replicate their game 2 success and were sent to the 3rd place match. With their trip to the World Championship at stake, Fnatic gave it their all against Counter Logic Gaming EU. The CLG team commanded by Henrik "Froggen" Hansen would prove to be too much. With their AD Carry Peter "Yellowpete" Wüppen carrying CLG, Fnatic was defeated 0-2 and failed to qualify for the Season 2 World Championship.
Fnatic continued to train and attend events. Campus Gaming Party: Berlin was their next stop, spanning August 21st through 25th. With no big teams on the tournament, Fnatic went 3-0 (6-0 overall) in their group by defeating Eclypsia.Luna, SK Gaming (who were attending with some subs), and Tt Dragons, taking all matches with 2-0 scores. In the semi-finals, they played against mousesports, winning 2-0. Meet Your Makers was no match for Fnatic in the finals, as they took the BO5 with a 3-0 score and achieved 1st place.
It was after this that AD Carry Manuel "LaMiaZeaLoT" Mildenberger would announce his retirement from eSports to pursue his studies and life in Taiwan.
Pre-Season 3
From November 1st until the 4th, Fnatic attended ASUS Republic of Gamers - Paris Games Week 2012. One of the requirements to participate was to have 3 French players. Fnatic sent a team consisting of sOAZ, hyrqBot, xPeke, YellOwStaR and nRated after LaMiaZeaLoT retired and CyanideFI left to deal with his highschool studies. Fnatic went 2-1 in the group stages, losing to Eclypsia by forfeit for arriving late. However, they went undefeated by beating GSU Gaming 2-0 in the winner's bracket semi-final, 2-0 against Eclypsia in the winner bracket's final, and 2-0 against GSU Gaming in the tournament's grand final.
On November 22nd, Fnatic participated in DreamHack Winter 2012. They progressed quickly through the group stage, going 3-0 over Copenhagen Wolves, Curse Gaming EU, and The Mighty Midgets. After taking a decisive 2-0 against Sju Sjösjuka Sjömän in the semifinals, Fnatic advanced to face CLG EU in the finals. Despite dropping the first game, the team was able to pull out the match two games to one and take home first place.
On November 25th, Fnatic announced that they would be participating IGN ProLeague Season 5 because Team Alternate and Eclypsia would be unable to attend the event.
On November 30th to December 2nd, Fnatic participated in IGN ProLeague Season 5. They placed second in their group, defeating Team Dynamic and Azubu Blaze, dropping a game only to Team WE. This would ensure that they advanced to the winners bracket, where they would face Season 2 World Champions Taipei Assassins and emerge victorious with a 2-0 victory. Fnatic went on to face CLG Prime in the winner bracket semifinals in a 2-1 comeback series. They then lost 1-2 to Team WE, dropping them into the loser bracket finals against their previous opponents, the Taipei Assassins. History would repeat itself as Fnatic beat the Taipei Assassins 2-0 to advance to the Grand Finals one game down, coming from the losers bracket. They lost the best of five series 1-3 to Team WE, taking home second place.
Starting December 8th and ending the next day, Fnatic participated in THOR Open 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden. A single group with 5 teams was formed (given that 3 teams cancelled their participation) and Fnatic would sweep the group stage 4 - 0. Going to the semi-finals, they would prevail over mousesports 2 - 0. Moving on to the final, they would go 2-0 against Copenhagen Wolves and take 1st place, going completely undefeated.
From December 14th to December 16th, Fnatic took a shot at qualifying for IEM World Championship during IEM Season VII - Global Challenge Cologne. Facing the newly formed Korean team SK Telecom T1, Millenium and mousesports in Group A, Fnatic went 3-0 in group stage. They faced CJ Entus in the semi-finals, losing the first game but winning the next two to move on. In the finals, Fnatic once again faced SK Telecom T1 in a group stage rematch. Their series would be decided by a third match after both teams took a win. In the end, SK Telecom T1 won the third game, with Fnatic placing second overall.
Throughout late 2012, the Swedish player Martin "Rekkles" Larsson played for Fnatic as their AD Carry. However, on December 24th it was announced that he would not be able to play with Fnatic during Riot's Season 3 Qualifiers and Championship Series due to being underage. Fnatic stated that he would start a second Fnatic team, Fnatic Academy.
On January 14th, Fnatic announced that their AD Carry would now be ex-SK Gaming Yellowstar. This would also be a reunion for sOAZ and nRated with their former Against All Authority teammate.
On January 18th, IEM Season VII - Global Challenge Katowice kicked off where Fnatic was placed in group B along with Azubu Frost, SK Gaming and Absolute Legends. Fnatic advanced through the group, going 2-1 with victories over both SK Gaming and Absolute Legends, but losing their match against Azubu Frost. In the semifinals Fnatic took on the other Korean team in attendance, Azubu Blaze. Although Blaze won the first game, Fnatic was able to take the best of three series to a third game, with a win in game two. Despite their best efforts though, Fnatic was unable to win the third game and finished in a shared 3rd-4th place for the event.
Season 3
On January 25th, Fnatic played in the Season 3 Offline Qualifiers. In Group A, they would have to face off against Anexis eSports, GIANTS! Gaming, and Team ALTERNATE. After winning their first match against Anexis, Fnatic advanced to the group's Winners Match where they would lose against GIANTS! Gaming. With a 1-1 score, Fnatic faced elimination and would play in the final game of the group against Team ALTERNATE. After a victory over ALTERNATE, Fnatic advanced to the bracket stage of the offline qualifiers where they played against Meet Your Makers. Fnatic took a 2-0 victory over the Polish team and qualified for the Season 3 Championship Series.
EU LCS Spring Split
On February 9th, the Championship Series kicked off with Fnatic playing matches against both SK Gaming and GIANTS! Gaming. Fnatic won both of their day one matches, putting them in first place with a 2-0 record. Fnatic would be a dominant team throughout the rest of the season, eventually taking first place in the Spring Split of the European LCS, with a record of 22-6. This regular season mark was an EU LCS record that would stand until Fnatic themselves broke it, two seasons later. Fnatic then took first place in the Season 3 EU LCS Spring Playoffs, going 3-2 against Gambit Gaming. The team retained their spot into the summer split of the LCS season.
The team qualified to play in the IEM Season VII - World Championship, however did not make it past the group stage, winning only one game going 1-4 and placing ninth in the tournament.
In April, Fnatic top laner Paul "sOAZ" Boyer was publicly voted onto the Europe LCS All Star team to compete at All-Star Shanghai 2013 to play against the world's best All Star teams chosen in the same fashion. The EU LCS first faced off against heavy favorites Korean OGN Champions. Despite good early gameplay from Europe, the Korean team overtook them in a 2-0 set. Their next opponent was their sibling league, the North America LCS. Both teams played an explosive two games of up and down fighting; however, the NA LCS ended up being the victor, knocking the EU LCS out of the tournament. sOAZ was able to win the individual skill exhibition for the tournament as well.
EU LCS Summer Split
On August 17th, Fnatic managed to take 2nd place on the Summer Split after winning the tie breaker against Evil Geniuses, Gambit Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas, granting Fnatic a place in the Semifinals, for the Summer Playoffs.
On August 24th, Fnatic secured a spot at the Season 3 World Championship after beating Evil Geniuses 2-0 in the Season 3 Summer Playoffs. On the following day Fnatic would beat Lemondogs 3-1 and finish first at the LCS Europe Season 3 Summer Playoffs.
Season 3 World Championship
The Fnatic team would be placed into Group B at the Championships in Los Angeles, and play against European rivals Gambit Gaming, Korean OGN intimidating team Samsung Galaxy Ozone, NA 3rd place seed Team Vulcun and Filipino champions Mineski. They would lose their first game against Vulcun but would bounce back in a strong way, with that being the only game they would lose, coming out on top of their group with a record of 7-1 and advancing to the quarterfinals.
In quarters, they would face the much hyped top NA team Cloud 9 and despite some close back and forth games, Fnatic would eliminate the last NA team in a 2-1 set to reach the semifinals. They next went up against the top Chinese seed, Royal Club Huang Zu who had eliminated their strong Chinese counterpart and who swept their groups, OMG. The match proved to be an exciting best of 5, showcasing intense team-fighting, however, in the end Fnatic would be the last European team eliminated from the tournament, losing 3-1 and taking home a respectable 3rd place.
2014 Season
Fnatic started off their season at the IEM Season VIII - World Championship. The team came in 2nd, losing to KT Rolster Bullets in the Grand Final.
EU LCS Spring Split
The Spring Split went relatively well for the team. A tight split saw Fnatic finish in 2nd place behind SK Gaming, securing themselves a place in the Spring Playoffs. The whole team raised their game for the playoffs, which saw them emerge victorious after a win against Alliance in their semifinal match-up, and another against SK Gaming in the Grand Final.
Due to Fnatic's performance in the Spring Playoffs, they had qualified to compete at All-Star Paris 2014, along with other regional winners from around the world. The team made it to the semifinals of the tournament, only losing to the world champions at the time, SK Telecom T1 K.
EU LCS Summer Split
The start of the Summer Split was shaky for the team. Fnatic could not break in to the top 2 until Week 7 of the split, at which point their main rivals Alliance were already a considerable distance ahead of them in the race for 1st place. YellOwStaR managed to pick up the MVP award for the entire split, but Fnatic could only manage a 2nd place finish. The team aimed to put the split behind them and focus on the Summer Playoffs. A close fought win over ROCCAT in the semifinal meant that the team would face Froggen and Alliance in the final. The match ended in defeat for Fnatic, but the playoffs saw the team seal their qualification for the 2014 Season World Championship.
2014 World Championship
The World Championship saw Fnatic placed in Group C with Samsung Blue, OMG, and LMQ. The team were only able to win two of six matches in their group, meaning that they would go no further in the tournament.
2015 Season
After being invited to the tournament, the departures of Rekkles, xPeke and Cyanide meant that Fnatic would not be able compete at IEM Cologne.
EU LCS Spring Split
Fnatic's new roster, including Korean imports Huni and Reignover alongside Steeelback, Febiven, and YellOwStaR, had a successful Spring Split, finishing 2nd in the regular season with a 13-5 record. This secured them a bye to the semifinals of the Spring Playoffs. Fnatic beat H2k-Gaming in their semifinal matchup, and went on to secure 1st place after taking a 3-2 win over Unicorns Of Love in the playoff final. This meant that the team would pick up 90 Championship Points towards qualification for the 2015 Season World Championship.
2015 Mid-Season Invitational
This also meant that Fnatic would represent Europe at the 2015 Mid-Season Invitational. The team had a relatively successful tournament, which they opened with a decisive win over Team SoloMid. They also had a notably close group stage game with SK Telecom T1, but went on to lose the game. Fnatic finished the group stage in 4th place, meaning they would advance to the bracket stage. They faced SK Telecom T1 in the semifinals, this time playing out a close series, but ultimately losing 3-2.
EU LCS Summer Split
Now with Rekkles on the roster instead of Steeelback, the team went into the Summer Season with confidence running high after their performance on the international stage. Fnatic managed to finish the regular season with a perfect, unbeaten 18-0 record - and became the first team to achieve this in League Championship Series history. This meant a 1st place regular season finish for the team and a bye to the semifinals of the Summer Playoffs. Fnatic went on to win the playoffs, beating Origen 3-2 in a tight final. This qualified the team for the 2015 World Championship, where they would compete as Europe's #1 seed.
2015 World Championship
At the 2015 World Championship, Fnatic were seeded into Group B along with ahq e-Sports Club, Invictus Gaming, and Cloud9. They picked up four wins in the group, going unbeaten in the second week of group stage games, meaning they would advance to the knockout stage of the tournament. In the quarterfinals, Fnatic beat EDward Gaming 3-0 before suffering a 3-0 loss to KOO Tigers in the semifinals, putting an end to their campaign.
2016 Season
EU LCS Spring Split
In the preseason, Fnatic had sustained multiple roster changes, with YellOwStaR, Huni, and Reignover all leaving the team for North American teams. They were replaced by Noxiak, Spirit, and Gamsu, though after an unsuccessful IEM Cologne and four weeks of the EU LCS split, Noxiak was replaced by rookie Klaj. Despite being only in fifth place in the EU LCS at the time of the tournament, Fnatic were invited to IEM Katowice due to their previous season's success. There, they had a surprisingly strong run, finishing in second place behind SK Telecom T1 after finding success with Rekkles on Jhin. Back home, Fnatic qualified for the EU LCS playoffs in sixth place, with a 9-9 record on the season.
In the playoffs, Fnatic upset Team Vitality 3-1 before losing to eventual champions G2 Esports 3-1 in the semifinals. They rebounded to finish on a high note after defeating H2K Gaming in the third place match 3-2. The following month, Klaj moved to Fnatic Academy as Fnatic reformed their Challenger squad, and on May 11th, YellOwStaR rejoined Fnatic from TSM.
EU LCS Summer Split
With the veteran YellOwStaR back at the helm, Fnatic improved marginally upon their previous split's regular season success. In the EU LCS's revamped best-of-two format, Fnatic began the season admirably, going 5-2-1 in four weeks and holding sole possession of first place. After struggling to repeat this success, and with inconsistent top lane play, Fnatic replaced Gamsu with former G2 Esports top laner Kikis, bringing in Giants Gaming top laner Werlyb as a substitute. The new top laners combined for a 2-4-2 record, as Fnatic slid to fifth place at 7-6-5 with a tiebreaker loss to H2k Gaming.
Defaulting to Kikis in the top lane for the playoffs, Fnatic faced H2k in the quarterfinals, but lost 0-3 to the eventual World Championship semifinalists. Fnatic next competed in the Regional Finals, where they were dispatched 0-3 by a red-hot Unicorns of Love.
2017 Season
In an offseason vividly reminiscent of 2015, Fnatic again suffered roster losses to four fifths of its positions. With the retirement of long-time support player YellOwStaR, along with the departures of Spirit and Febiven to the Afreeca Freecs and H2k Gaming, respectively, and Kikis stepping down to a substitute role, Fnatic searched for a roster to reinvigorate its middling position among the EU LCS. Fnatic first turned to former top lane legend sOAZ and veteran jungler Amazing as they departed a similarly emptying Origen, and picked up LCS rookie Caps and Immortals coach Jesiz as support.
EU LCS Spring Split
The EU LCS changed format once more for the spring split 2017, and Fnatic were placed in Group A alongside G2 Esports, Misfits, Team ROCCAT, and Giants Gaming. | {
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The Surrey RCMP is lauding local residents for their honesty, after multiple Good Samaritans stepped in to protect “bait packages” intended to snare thieves in the run-up to Christmas.
But while multiple shoppers ended up on the nice list, police put three other alleged would-be thieves on the naughty list.
According to Surrey RCMP Sgt. Chad Greg, on five days over a two week period in December, police left bags with name-brand boxes for electronics and jewelry “unattended” in rest areas and food courts of local malls.
Undercover officers secretly watched from nearby.
In total, police arrested three men, ranging in age from 32 to 35 who allegedly attempted to walk off with the packages. Police said all three had histories of property crime or related criminal offences.
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But Greg said the trio weren’t the only ones to take interest in the packages.
“We had more than that, on the nice side,” he said.
“We had seven Good Samaritans take these packages and return them to either a security guard or the customer service booth or simply just watch over these packages until their rightful owner returned.
READ MORE: This was a theft suspect’s face when a Chilliwack bait car caught him on camera
“I think it’s a great ratio — more than double — of the people that were on the nice list this year.”
The three alleged thieves have all been released pending future court dates.
The bait package program mirrors initiatives that are increasingly being used by police forces, such as the “bait electronics” stings Vancouver police ran earlier this fall that netted 14 arrests. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to air-conditioning apparatus and is specifically concerned with room ejection units of central air-conditioning systems.
The invention may be most advantageously employed for creating comfortable conditions in hospitals, residential and commercial buildings, as well as for maintaining a normal humidity in refrigerating chambers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In improving existing and developing new air-conditioning systems numerous attempts have been made to stabilize the indoor air conditions with varying outdoor atmospheric conditions and to reduce at the same time the specific power consumption of air conditioners. Although a great many new designs of air conditioners have been developed over the last 10-15 years, the central air-conditioning systems are the most extensively used ones. They have undergone no radical changes during the last 20 years. This evidences that the above-stated problem remains as yet to be solved adequately enough.
In recent years, there have been observed two different trends in this field: developing an efficient self-contained room air conditioner on the one hand and improving the primary air conditioner and secondary room unit of a central air-conditioning system on the other. Equipping all the rooms in the building with efficient self-contained air conditioners was believed to enable adequately comfortable conditions to be created in all the rooms regardless of their location and of the extent of their being heated due to insolation. Every such self-contained air conditioner should include a complete set of all the means needed for treating air and maintaining desired temperature. Thus, a self-contained air conditioner (cf. USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 151,005 Int. Cl. 2 F 24 F 3/14) comprises a freon compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, a coarse air filter, a heat exchanger, an electric air heater, a humidifier, and a fan, all said units being accommodated in a common housing of the air conditioner. It is clear that to ensure maintaining the predetermined air conditions, with the outdoor conditions varying over a wide range, the power drives and electric units of a self-contained air conditioner must have a considerable power reserve. The advantage of self-contained air conditioners is that their use does not require an air ductwork inside the building. Nevertheless, the self-contained air conditioners have found no wide application for a number of reasons lying in their constructional features and low energy efficiency. Among other things, a complex construction of the self-contained air conditioner results in its relatively high cost and affects its reliability and durability. Installing self-contained air conditioners in every room of a multistorey building raises the total power consumption to such an extent which the existing standard electric wiring cannot provide. In addition, to provide for heat removal from the condenser to the outside, a self-contained air conditioner must be installed in a window aperture, which is not always convenient. Still another disadvantage of the self-contained air conditioners is their large overall dimensions.
Efforts aimed at improving primary air conditioners and room units of central air-conditioning systems have proved to be more promising in this respect. The room units feature a simple construction, occupy little space, and can be located in any convenient place. Moreover, the total amount of power consumed by all the central air-conditioning system units in the building in much less than that which is needed in case all the rooms in the same building are equipped with the self-contained air conditioners. Owing to these and other advantages, central air-conditioning systems have gained an extensive application. A room ejection unit of a central air-conditioning system (cf. "Bacho Induction Units" of the Bacho Ventilation Ltd., Sweden, 1974) comprises a housing whose side walls, bottom, and cover define a mixing chamber. The lower portion of the mixing chamber accommodates a primary air supply manifold. A side wall of the housing has an inlet port wherein a surface heat exchanger is mounted; the heat exchanger is a coil connected to the heat carrier supply system. Such a room unit of the central air-conditioning system is successfully employed both for cooling and heating of air in summer and winter respectively, ensuring a stable temperature in the room. It is to be noted, however, that operation of a system with the above-described room units involves some inconveniences associated with the instability of humidity, which is accounted for by the fact that air supplied from the primary air conditioner to the units in different rooms is of the same humidity. At the same time conditions vary from room to room, and hence the operating conditions of the room units are different. In addition, the conditions in one and the same room vary considerably over a day, and since the air humidity control is a centralized one, it is practically impossible to maintain the optimum humidity in every room.
An attempt has been made to improve the accuracy of controlling humidity in the room by humidification of recirculating air in the room unit (cf. USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 367,318, Int. Cl. 2 F 24 F 3/14). This ejection room unit of a central air-conditioning system comprises a housing whose side walls, bottom, and cover define a mixing chamber. The lower portion of the mixing chamber accommodates a primary air supply manifold having nozzles and communicating with the primary air-conditioner. A side wall of the housing has an inlet port wherein a heat exchanger is mounted. The cover of the housing has an outlet port. The distinctive feature of this unit consists in that it is provided with a humidifier located in the mixing chamber. The humidifier is a water supply pipe arranged in the primary air supply manifold and having branch pipes connected to the nozzles thereof. The heat exchanger is a coil connected to the heat carrier supply system. The primary air supply manifold has the form of a box with nozzles passing through the box top cover. Flowing out of the nozzles, the primary air ejects water from the branch pipes and atomizes it in the mixing chamber, thereby humidifying the recirculating-primary air mixture. This ejection room unit makes possible an individual humidity control in every room. However, practice has shown that this construction is not free from some disadvantages.
One of these disadvantages consists in that the water accumulates on the manifold cover during continuous running of the unit floods the nozzles, and upsets the normal functioning of the humidifier. The water gets ejected from the unit into the room, which prevents an accurate control of the humidity.
Another disadvantage lies in a destabilizing effect exerted on humidifier performance by the coil on which moisture condenses in summer, whereas in winter, when a heated-up heat carrier is fed to the heat exchanger, the relative humidity of air in the room declines due to water evaporation. In addition, the operation of this unit requires a great deal of apparatus and pipes for heating, cooling, and feeding the heat carrier, whose normal functioning requires considerable power. | {
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1907 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1907.
Specific locations
1907 in Norwegian music
Events
May 27 – Bach House (Eisenach) opens in what is at this time believed to be the birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach, the first museum devoted to a single composer.
General Porfirio Díaz orders a mariachi band to wear upper-class clothing (a charro suit) when they play for the visiting United States Secretary of State Elihu Root; this is the beginning of modern mariachi, as well as the traditional dress of future mariachi stars.
Publication of Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music by Ferruccio Busoni.
Cosima Wagner steps down from her position as head of the Bayreuth Festival. She is succeeded by her son Siegfried.
Published popular music
"All She Gets from the Iceman is Ice" w. Arthur J. Lamb m. Alfred Solman
"And A Little Bit More" w. Alfred Bryan m. Fred Fisher
"Ballooning" w. Paul West m. Jerome Kern
"The Bandolero" w. m. Leslie Stuart
"Be My Little Teddy Bear" w. Vincent Bryan m. Max Hoffman
"Because I'm Married Now" w.m. Herbert Ingraham
"Bon Bon Buddy" by Alex Rogers
"Brother Noah Gave Out Checks For Rain" w.m. Arthur Longbrake
"Budweiser's A Friend Of Mine" w. Vincent P. Bryan m. Seymour Furth
"Bye Bye Dearie" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
"The Caissons Go Rolling Along" m. Edmund L. Gruber
"Come Along, My Mandy" w.m. Tom Mellor, Alfred J. Lawrence & Harry Gifford New words Nora Bayes & Jack Norworth 1910
"Common Sense" w.m. Chris Smith & John Larkins
"Don't Worry" w.m. Ed Rose & Ted Snyder
"Down Home Shout" Herman Carle
"Fairy Queen" m. Percy Wenrich
"Fishing For the Moon" David Kilburn Stevens
"Gladiolus Rag" by Scott Joplin
"Golden Rod" McKinley
"The Handsome, Brave Life Saver" Gumble
"Harrigan" w.m. George M. Cohan. Introduced by George M. Cohan in the musical Fifty Miles from Boston
"He Goes to Church on Sunday" w. Vincent Bryan m. E. Ray Goetz
"He Was One Of The Boys" w.m. T.W. Connor
"Heliotrope Bouquet" Louis Chauvin and Scott Joplin
"The Homesick Yankee" Clark
"Honey Boy" w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer
"The Honeybee's Honeymoon" Reed
"I Finnish 'em Off!" w.m. T.W. Connor
"I Love You So" w. Adrian Ross m. Franz Lehár
"I Wish I Had A Girl" w. Gus Kahn m. Grace LeBoy
"I'd Rather Be A Lobster Than A Wise Guy" Morse
"I'd Rather Two-Step Than Waltz, Bill" w.m. Benjamin Hapgood Burt
"I'm Afraid to Come Home in the Dark" w. Harry H. Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
"I'm Happy When The Band Plays Dixie" Vandeveer
"I'm Tying The Leaves So They Won't Come Down" w. E. S. S. Huntingdon m. J. Fred Helf
"In A Hammock Built For Two" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry von Tilzer
"In the Land of the Buffalo" Williams, Van Alstyne
"In The Wildwood Where The Bluebells Grow" w.m. Herbert H. Taylor
"In Washington" w. Vincent Bryan m. Gertrude H. Hoffman
"It's A Poor Heart That Never Rejoices" w.m. T.W. Connor
"It's Delightful To Be Married" w. Anna Held m. Vincent Scotto
"It's Great To Be A Soldier Man" Morse
"It's Nice To Have A Sweetheart" Kerker
"I've Told His Missus All About Him" Tate
"Just Because He Couldn't Sing "Love Me And The World Is Mine"" w.m. Bert Fitzgibbon
"Kansas City Rag" by James Scott
"Keep On Smiling" Paley
"The Last Rose Of Summer Is The Sweetest Rose Of All" w. Arthur Gillespie m. Harry Sidney
"Lucia" Klein
"A Man Without A Woman" Rogers
"Marie From Sunny Italy" w. Irving Berlin m. M. Nicholson
"Mariutch Down At Coney Island" (aka "Mariutch Dance Da Hootch-A-Ma-Kootch") w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry von Tilzer
"(You'll Find Me At) Maxim's" w. Adrian Ross m. Franz Lehár
"Meet Me Down At The Corner" w. Will D. Cobb m. Harry Hoyt
"(The Best I Get Is) Much Obliged To You" w.m. Benjamin Hapgood Burt
"'Neath The Old Acorn Tree, Sweet Estelle" w. C. M. Denison m. J. Fred Helf
"'Neath The Old Cherry Tree, Sweet Marie" w.m. Harry Williams & Egbert van Alstyne
"Nestle By My Side" Luders
"No Wedding Bells For Me" w. E. P. Moran & Will A. Heelan m. Seymour Furth
"No, No, Positively No" w.m. Chris Smith & Harry Brown
"No-One Knows" w.m. Francis Mack
"Not For Me" w.m. Bessie Wynn
"On The Road To Mandalay" w. Rudyard Kipling m. Oley Speaks
"The Peach That Tastes The Sweetest Hangs The Highest On The Tree" w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards
"Pride Of The Prairie" w. Harry Breen m. George Botsford
"Put Me Among The Girls" w. C. W. Murphy m. Dan Lipton
"Rain-in-the-Face" by Benjamin Hapgood Burt
"Red Wing" w. Thurland Chattaway m. Kerry Mills
"Rum-Tiddley-Um-Tum-Tay Out For The Day Today" w. Fred Leigh m. Orlando Powell
"San Antonio" w.m. Harry Williams & Egbert van Alstyne
"Sandy, You're A Dandy" w.m. Hector Grant
"Search Light Rag" by Scott Joplin
"She's A Lassie From Lancashire" Murphy, Lipton, Neat
"Sleepy Sidney" by Archie W Scheu
"Smile, Smile, Smile" Hoffman
"Somebody's Been Around Here Since I've Been Gone" m. John Walter Bratton
"Somebody's Waiting For You" w. Vincent Bryan m. Albert Gumble
"Take Me Back To New York Town" w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer
"Take Me Where There's A Big Brass Band" Morse
"The Teddy Bears' Picnic" w. James B. Kennedy m. John Walter Bratton (Words 1932)
"That Lovin' Rag" w. Victor H. Smalley m. Bernie Adler
"Theodore" w.m. Vincent Bryan
"There Never Was A Girl Like You" w. Harry H. Williams m. Egbert Van Alstyne
"Tipperary" w. Leo Curley m. James M. Fulton & J. Fred Helf
"Tommy, Lad!" w. Edward Teschemacher m. E. J. Margetson
"Two Blue Eyes" by Edward Madden
"Two Little Baby Shoes" w. Edward Madden m. Theodore F. Morse
"Under Any Old Flag At All" Cohan
"Vilia" w. Adrian Ross m. Franz Lehár
"Wal, I Swan!" (aka "Ebeneezer Frye") w.m. Benjamin Hapgood Burt
"'Way Down In Colon Town" Hoffman
"When A Fellow's On The Level With A Girl That's On The Square" w.m. George M. Cohan from the musical The Talk Of New York
"Who? Me?" Snyder
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" w. Ada R. Habershon m. Charles H. Gabriel
"Won't You Be My Honey?" w. Jack Drislane m. Theodore F. Morse
"Won't You Waltz Home Sweet Home With Me" w.m. Herbert Ingraham
"Wouldn't You Like To Have Me For A Sweetheart?" Robyn
"You Splash Me And I'll Splash You" w. Arthur J. Lamb m. Alfred Solman
Hit recordings
Classical music
Hugo Alfvén – Swedish Rhapsody No. 2, Op. 24 (Uppsalarapsodi)
York Bowen –
Piano Concerto No. 3 "Fantasia" Op. 23
Viola Concerto in C minor Op. 25 ()
Havergal Brian – English Suite
Frederick Delius – Songs of Sunset; Brigg Fair
Ernő Dohnányi – String Quartet No. 2 in D-flat, Op. 15
Edward Elgar – The Wand of Youth
Reinhold Glière – Symphony No. 2 in C minor
Gustav Holst – A Somerset Rhapsody
Sylvio Lazzari – Symphony in E-flat
Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński – Violin Sonata in G ()
Sergei Rachmaninoff –
Symphony No. 2 in E minor
Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor
Max Reger – Piano Trio in E minor, Op. 102
Ottorino Respighi – Quartet for Strings in D major
Alexandr Scriabin – Piano Sonata No. 5, Op.53
Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52
Charles Villiers Stanford – Stabat Mater
Josef Suk – Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 27 (Asrael)
Joaquín Turina – Piano Quintet, Op.1
Opera
Francesco Cilea – Gloria
Frederick Delius – A Village Romeo and Juliet, Berlin, 21 February.
Luigi Mancinelli – Paolo e Francesca
Jules Massenet – Thérèse
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Le Coq d'Or
Musical theater
Die Dollarprinzessin Vienna production
Follies of 1907 Broadway production
The Gay Gordons, with a book by Seymour Hicks, music by Guy Jones and lyrics by Arthur Wimperis, C. H. Bovill, Henry Hamilton and P. G. Wodehouse. It opened at London's Aldwych Theatre on 11 September.
The Gay White Way Broadway revue opened at the Casino Theatre on October 7 and ran for 105 performances
The Girls of Gottenberg London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on May 15 and ran for 303 performances. Starring May de Sousa, George Grossmith Jr., Gertie Millar, Robert Nainby and Edmund Payne.
Franz Lehár – The Merry Widow London and Broadway productions
The Merry Farmer Mannheim production
Miss Hook of Holland London and Broadway productions
Nelly Neil London production
The Orchid Broadway production
The Rogers Brothers in Panama Broadway production
The Talk of New York Broadway production opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre on December 3 and ran for 157 performances.
The Time, the Place and the Girl – Broadway production
Ein Walzertraum (A Waltz Dream) Vienna and Berlin productions
Births
January 16 – Martin Scherber, composer and music teacher (died 1974)
February 1 – Günter Eich, German lyricist (died 1972)
February 15 – Jean Langlais, French organist and composer (died 1991)
February 26 – Harry Gold, British dixieland jazz saxophonist and bandleader (died 2005)
February 27 – Mildred Bailey, US singer (died 1951)
March 3 – Joy Finzi, wife of Gerald Finzi and founder of the Finzi Trust (died 1991)
March 11 – Jessie Matthews, British actress and singer (died 1981)
March 14 – Tolibjon Sadikov, Uzbek composer (died 1957)
March 15 – Zarah Leander, Swedish singer and actress (died 1981)
March 19 – Elizabeth Maconchy, English composer (died 1994)
April 2 – Alfredo Giovine, Italian music historian (died 1995)
April 12 – Imogen Holst, British conductor and composer (died 1984)
April 18 – Miklós Rózsa, Hungarian-American film composer (died 1995)
April 21 – Beatrice Kay, US singer and actress (died 1986)
April 29 – Tino Rossi, French singer and actor (died 1983)
May 1 – Kate Smith, US singer (died 1986)
May 10 – Harilaos Perpessas, Greek composer (d. 1995)
May 14 – Edythe Wright, US singer (died 1965)
May 18 – Clifford Curzon, English pianist (died 1982)
June 14 – Sid Phillips, jazz clarinetist, bandleader, and arranger (died 1973)
July 19 – Günter Bialas, German composer (died 1995)
July 26 – André Gertler, Hungarian violinist (died 1998)
August 3 – Lawrence Brown, US jazz trombonist (died 1988)
August 8 – Benny Carter, US jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader (died 2003)
August 21 – Hy Zaret, songwriter (died 2007)
September 29 – Gene Autry, US singer and performer (died 1998)
October 5 – Mrs. Miller, US singer (died 1997)
October 12 – Wolfgang Fortner, composer (died 1987)
October 19 – Roger Wolfe Kahn, US jazz and popular musician, composer, and bandleader (died 1962)
October 27 – Helmut Walcha, organist (died 1991)
November 17 – James Moody, composer for harmonica (died 1995)
November 18 – Compay Segundo, Cuban singer and songwriter, inventor of the armónico (died 2003)
November 30 – György Ránki, Hungarian composer (died 1992)
December 7 – Wanda Toscanini, daughter of Arturo Toscanini and wife of Vladimir Horowitz (died 1998)
December 25 – Cab Calloway, US jazz singer and band leader (died 1994)
December 27 – Willem van Otterloo, Dutch composer and conductor (died 1978)
date unknown
Seán Reid, Irish Uilleann piper (died 1978)
N. Senada, German composer and music theorist (died 1993)
Deaths
January 19 – Beniamino Cesi, pianist, 62
February 5 – Ludwig Thuille, composer, 45
February 28 – Rosina Brandram, D'Oyly Carte singer and actress, 61
March 1 – August Manns, conductor, 81
March 17 – Ernesto Köhler, flautist and composer, 57
April 3 – Désirée Artôt, operatic soprano, 71
April 4 – Lucile Grahn, ballerina, 86
June 1 – Richard Mühlfeld, clarinettist, 51
June 2 – Anastazy Wilhelm Dreszer, pianist and composer, 62
June 4 – Agathe Backer-Grøndahl, Norwegian pianist and composer, 59
July 23 – William Shakespeare Hays, songwriter, 70
August 15 – Joseph Joachim, violinist, composer, and conductor, 76
September 4 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer, 64
September 5 – Adolf Østbye, first Norwegian recording artist, 39
September 17 – Ignaz Brüll, Austrian pianist and composer, 60
October 4 – Alfredo Keil, composer and painter, 57
October 9 – Romualdo Marenco, composer, 66
October 10 – Charles Dancla, violinist and composer, 89
November 6 – Sophie Cruvelli, operatic soprano, 81
November 8 – Marie Sasse, operatic soprano, 73
November 21 – Gaetano Braga, cellist and composer, 78
December 18 – Luscombe Searelle, composer and impresario, 54 (cancer)
References
Category:20th century in music
Category:Music by year | {
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
} |
Saving Truth From Paradox
Hartry Field
Field is one of the world's leading philosophers; this is his first monograph since 1980
Comprehensive treatment of semantic and related paradoxes
Saving Truth From Paradox
Hartry Field
Description
Saving Truth from Paradox is an ambitious investigation into paradoxes of truth and related issues, with occasional forays into notions such as vagueness, the nature of validity, and the G:odel incompleteness theorems. Hartry Field presents a new approach to the paradoxes and provides a systematic and detailed account of the main competing approaches.
Part One examines Tarski's, Kripke's, and Lukasiewicz's theories of truth, and discusses validity and soundness, and vagueness. Part Two considers a wide range of attempts to resolve the paradoxes within classical logic. In Part Three Field turns to non-classical theories of truth that that restrict excluded middle. He shows that there are theories of this sort in which the conditionals obey many of the
classical laws, and that all the semantic paradoxes (not just the simplest ones) can be handled consistently with the naive theory of truth. In Part Four, these theories are extended to the property-theoretic paradoxes and to various other paradoxes, and some issues about the understanding of the notion of validity are addressed. Extended paradoxes, involving the notion of determinate truth, are treated very thoroughly, and a number of different arguments that the theories lead to "revenge problems" are addressed. Finally, Part Five deals with dialetheic approaches to the paradoxes: approaches which, instead of restricting excluded middle, accept certain contradictions but alter classical logic so as to keep them confined to a relatively remote part of the language. Advocates of dialetheic
theories have argued them to be better than theories that restrict excluded middle, for instance over issues related to the incompleteness theorems and in avoiding revenge problems. Field argues that dialetheists' claims on behalf of their theories are quite unfounded, and indeed that on some of these issues all current versions of dialetheism do substantially worse than the best theories that restrict excluded middle.
Saving Truth From Paradox
Hartry Field
Table of Contents
PrefaceIntroductionPART ONE: A Selective Background 1. Chapter 1: Self-Reference and Tarski>'s Theorem2. Validity and the Unprovability of Soundness3. Kripke>'s Theory of Truth (Strong Kleene Version)4. Adding a Conditional? Curry and Lukasiewicz5. Interlude on Vagueness, and the Paradoxes of König and BerryPART TWO: Broadly Classical Approaches 6. Introduction to the broadly classical options7. Truth-Value Gaps in Classical Theories8. Truth-value Gluts in Classical Theories9. A Second Interlude on Vagueness10. Introduction to Supervaluational Approaches to Paradox11. A Survey of Supervaluational and Revision-Rule Theories12. Are Supervaluational and Revision Theories Self-Undermining?13. Intersubstitutivity and the Purpose of Truth14. Stratified and Contextual TheoriesStratified and Contextual Theories 15. What Is To Be Done?16. Fixed Points and Revision Rules for Conditionals17. More on Revision-theoretic Conditionals18. What Has Been DonePART FOUR: More on Paracomplete Solutions 19. Validity, Truth-Preservation and the Second Incompleteness Theorem20. Other Paradoxes21. Do Paracomplete Solutions Depend on Expressive Limitations?22. Determinateness, Hyper-determinateness, Super-Determinateness and RevengePART FIVE: Paraconsistent Dialetheism 23. An Introduction to Paraconsistent Dialetheism24. Some Dialetheic Theories25. Paraconsistent Dialetheism and Soundness26.
Hyper-determinacy and revengeBibliography | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
package collins.solr
import scala.util.parsing.combinator.JavaTokenParsers
import play.api.PlayException
class CollinsQueryException(m: String) extends PlayException("CQL", m)
/**
* Parses CQL strings into a SolrExpression AST
*/
class CollinsQueryParser private (val docTypes: List[SolrDocType]) extends JavaTokenParsers {
def parseQuery(input: String): Either[String, CQLQuery] = parse(topExpr, clean(input)) match {
case Success((docType, exp), next) => if (next.atEnd) {
docTypes.find { _.name == docType.toUpperCase } match {
case Some(t) => Right(CQLQuery(t, exp))
case None => Left("Invalid SELECT type " + docType)
}
} else {
Left("Unexpected stuff after query at position %s: %s, parsed %s".format(next.pos.toString, next.first, exp.toString))
}
case Failure(wtf, _) => Left("Error parsing query: %s".format(wtf.toString))
case Error(wtf, _) => Left("Error parsing query: %s".format(wtf.toString))
}
def clean(rawInput: String) = {
val trim = rawInput.trim
if ((trim.startsWith("\"") && trim.endsWith("\"")) ||
(trim.startsWith("'") && trim.endsWith("'"))) {
trim.substring(1, trim.length - 1)
} else {
trim
}
}
def topExpr: Parser[(String, SolrExpression)] = withSelect | withoutSelect
def withSelect = "(?iu)SELECT".r ~> ident ~ "(?ui)WHERE".r ~ whereExpr ^^ { case docType ~ where ~ expr => (docType, expr) }
def withoutSelect = whereExpr ^^ { case expr => (docTypes.head.name, expr) }
def whereExpr = emptyExpr | expr
def emptyExpr = "*" ^^^ { EmptySolrQuery }
def expr: Parser[SolrExpression] = orOp
def orOp = rep1sep(andOp, "(?iu)OR".r) ^^ { i => if (i.tail == Nil) i.head else SolrOrOp(i.toSet) }
def andOp = rep1sep(simpleExpr, "(?iu)AND".r) ^^ { i => if (i.tail == Nil) i.head else SolrAndOp(i.toSet) }
def notExpr = "(?iu)NOT".r ~> simpleExpr ^^ { e => SolrNotOp(e) }
def simpleExpr: Parser[SolrExpression] = notExpr | rangeKv | kv | "(" ~> expr <~ ")"
//range values are slightly different from regular values, since we cannot
//allow quoted strings or strings with regexes
def rangeKv = range | compareOp
def range = ident ~ "=" ~ "\\[|\\(".r ~ rangeValueOpt ~ "," ~ rangeValueOpt ~ "\\]|\\)".r ^^ {
case key ~ "=" ~ open ~ low ~ "," ~ high ~ close => (open, close) match {
case ("(", ")") => SolrKeyRange(key, low, high, false)
case ("[", "]") => SolrKeyRange(key, low, high, true)
case ("[", ")") => SolrKeyRange(key, None, high, false) AND SolrKeyRange(key, low, None, true)
case ("(", "]") => SolrKeyRange(key, None, high, true) AND SolrKeyRange(key, low, None, false)
}
}
def compareOp = ident ~ "<=|>=|<|>".r ~ rangeValue ^^ {
case key ~ op ~ value => op match {
case "<" => SolrKeyRange(key, None, Some(value), false)
case "<=" => SolrKeyRange(key, None, Some(value), true)
case ">" => SolrKeyRange(key, Some(value), None, false)
case ">=" => SolrKeyRange(key, Some(value), None, true)
}
}
def rangeValueOpt: Parser[Option[SolrSingleValue]] = "*" ^^^ { None } | rangeValue ^^ { other => Some(other) }
def rangeValue = strictUnquotedStringValue
def strictUnquotedStringValue = "[a-zA-Z0-9_\\-.:]+".r ^^ { s => SolrStringValue(s, StrictUnquoted) }
/**
* Notice that all values are parsed as strings, type inference is now
* handled in the typeCheck phase. This is because in some cases we need to
* parse numbers as strings, particularly for numeric asset tags.
*/
def kv = ident ~ "!=|=".r ~ value ^^ { case k ~ op ~ v => if (op == "!=") SolrNotOp(SolrKeyVal(k, v)) else SolrKeyVal(k, v) }
def value = quotedString | unquotedString
def quotedString = stringLiteral ^^ { s => SolrStringValue(s.substring(1, s.length - 1), Quoted) }
def unquotedString = """[^\s()'"]+""".r ^^ { s => StringValueFormat.createValueFor(s) }
}
object CollinsQueryParser {
def apply(types: List[SolrDocType] = List(AssetDocType)) = new CollinsQueryParser(types)
}
| {
"pile_set_name": "Github"
} |
Nicholas Craddock - Herefordshire Estate Agents
Full Details
£139,500
Bobblestock
Sold STCTerraced House
58 Fakenham Drive, Bobblestock, Hereford, HR4 9UQ
General Remarks
Number 58 Fakenham Drive is a 2 bedroom mid terraced property,situated in a popular and mature residential area on the northern outskirts of Hereford city, an area well served by amenities including a supermarket, doctors surgery and a regular bus service to the city itself.The house provides 2 bedrooms, both of which are doubles - with one being slightly larger than the other - an entrance hallway, fitted kitchen, sitting room with large patio doors to the garden, and a bathroom. The property has gas central heating and double glazing, it also enjoys an allocated parking space.In further detail the accommodation comprises:
Garden Leading out from the Double patio doors in the Living room on to a decked area, also a small grassed area, with garden shed at the bottom of the garden.
General InformationSERVICES: All mains services are connected. Gas fired central heating.FIXTURES & FITTINGS: Fitted carpets are included in the sale priceTENURE: The property is freehold.COUNCIL TAX: Band B
NB: The agent has not tested any apparatus, equipment, fixtures and fittings or services and so cannot verify that they are in working order or fit for the purpose. Buyers are advised to obtain their own verification.
Nicholas Craddock Estate Agents endeavour to draft these sales details accurately and reliably taking reasonable steps to verify the information given. The vendor/s have also acknowledged these details as true and accurate. If, however, there are any points which are of particular importance to you, please contact our office/s and we will be pleased to confirm the position for you, particularly if you are travelling some distance to view the property.MONEY LAUNDERING REGULATIONS 2003: Intending purchasers will be asked to produce identification documentation at a later stage and the agents would therefore ask for you co-operation in order that there will be no delay in agreeing a sale.
Messrs Nicholas Craddock for themselves and the vendors of this property, whose agents they are, give notice that these particulars do not constitute any part of an offer or contract that all statements contained in these particulars as to this property are made without responsibility and are not to be relied on as statements or representations of fact and that they do not make or give any representation or warranty whatsoever in relation to this property. Any intending purchaser must satisfy themselves by inspection or otherwise as to the property is offered subject to not being sold, let or withdrawn, and these particulars are issued solely on the understanding that all negotiations are conducted through the agents Nicholas Craddock. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Subsets and Splits