prompt_front: Now, answer the following question based on the text below, only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: What are the three phases of the author's preaching process?

Read the following text and answer briefly.

Context 1: // josh vajda // | a blog about theology and everything else
// josh vajda //
Sunday School Notes
Preaching Method
January 17, 2016 Josh Vajda	Leave a comment
I’m not a preacher; I’m a theologian  But now that I’ve graduated seminary I sometimes have the honor of preaching  And as someone who just barely passed the two required preaching courses while he was focused on other things, I’ve had to go back and really develop a theology and strategy of preaching  It should go without saying that it’s a work in progress, but I’m at a place now where I’m comfortable with my system—which means the next step is to share it  Maybe someone out there can benefit from what I’ve learned, but either way there’s always room for improvement and maybe you can help me see where 
Topic/Text Selection
The first and most obvious question is what to preach on  I was trained to be sensitive to what the congregation needs to hear, but not being a pastor I don’t have that kind of insight  I once heard John Piper say when he’s a guest preacher he preaches to himself that way he knows at least one person needed it  I like that better, but this early in my ministry I’ve taken to something a little less holy: what can I preach well?
This has really driven most of my sermons to-date, especially because I usually have only a few weeks’ notice  I preached on Ahab because I had just read about him in my devotions  I preached on the tree and its fruits because I had just studied the passage in the context of LGBT acceptance  Most recently, I preached on 1 Corinthians because that’s what we’ve been studying in Sunday School  The more I know something ahead of time, the better chance I have of knowing what to look for and how to communicate it 
Once I have my topic, I start running the passage through a system in the three phases we used in seminary: exegetical, theological, and homiletical 
Phase 1: Exegetical
The exegetical phase is just getting into the passage itself  First, I want to know the immediate context for the passage  Why is this here? What ideas are continuing, and which are new? How the author frames the passage is probably the most important factor in choosing how I will introduce it in the sermon  If it’s an epistle, I will also play with a structural outline to try and identify rhetorical choices 
Second, I want to try and surface issues in the Greek  I do a very rough translation, and if a word jumps out at me I take note  I’m looking for ambiguous meanings, untranslated concepts, repeated words, related words, etc  I don’t expect to come up with a better translation than the professionals; I just want to have some idea of why they made the choices they did and what might be getting lost in translation  (Note: I don’t talk about Greek and Hebrew words from the pulpit; I only explain the concepts because that’s what I expect people to remember )
Third, I take the list of questions I’ve been building and I start to do research  Who’s the referent in this verse? What does this metaphor mean? Is it used elsewhere? What’s the relationship between these two ideas? Does this command really imply that? My research is mostly based on Scripture alone, although there are times when I have to turn to historical background information to really get a reference  I see the Bible as one whole text even though it has many authors, and I’m very interested at drawing legitimate connections across books  I’ve also found Carson’s Exegetical Fallacies is a great help at avoiding common errors in biblical studies 
Phase 2: Theological
The boundary between exegesis and theology is thin and messy  I was given conflicting advice on this: some professors insisted I “bracket out” my theology, take nothing for granted; others insisted the only way to read it rightly is with Christian presuppositions 
I try to do both if I can 
Not all doctrines are equal  I refuse to bracket out core doctrines like the Trinity or salvation by grace alone through faith alone  But I feel very free to challenge other doctrines  My sense of how far to take which ideas is really very intuitive and not something that lends itself to explanation 
In short, the question raising and answering process is really the beginning of the theological phase for me  I’m looking for key ideas and trying to identify the timeless truths they communicate  Now there’s a danger here: you can use a passage to communicate all kinds of good theology  I think it’s much better when you can identify the theology the author was trying to communicate 
So one could hypothetically use Jesus’ tree/fruit analogy to talk about order in creation or a theology of arboreal imagery—and I might even do that in a teaching context  But preaching is a different task to me  I believe preaching is exhorting with the authoritative words of God  I’m not up there to educate  I’m there to press the points I believe God is pressing  If I teach anything else, it’s on my own authority  Hopefully it’s right  But if I’m going to say “thus saith the Lord,” I’d better be a sure as I can be that this is really His point; because again, not all doctrines are equal  So that’s why in this example I preached that the fruit of your life reveals the tree of your heart  I’m confident that was Jesus’ point, not mine 
Once I’m done with my exegetical studies, once I’ve done my best to figure everything out on my own—that’s when I turn to the commentaries  Just like with doing the translation, it’s not that I think I’m better than the experts; I do it because I know the text better when I wrestle with it myself  What’s more, as I wrestle with it I get a better sense of where others may have trouble, so I know to explain them more carefully or illustrate them more vividly  The only reason I even open the commentaries is for validation: did I miss anything or draw a wrong conclusion 
Phase 3: Homiletical
Throughout the whole process thus far, I’m keeping my eyes open for anything interesting, catchy, or eloquent  In some ways I’m having a conversation with the text and cross-references, and I note the parts of the conversation I like  If a crucial idea jumps out, I want to note it so I can craft a phrase around it  If an idea gets me really excited, I’ll jump out of my seat and pretend I’m preaching on it right then and there  Often those bursts of inspiration have gems worth polishing  Hopefully by the end of the exegetical process and the theological Q&A, I have a list of ideas and phrases to sprinkle in as I actually write the sermon 
One unfair advantage here is I took a course in copy writing, which is basically script for advertising  I especially liked what my professor called “fulcrum phrases,” like M&M’s famous “melts in your mouth / not in your hand ” It’s a skill I’ve tried to hone in my songwriting  If you can find that well-crafted phrase that has symmetry, it connects deeper and sticks better  I try to make sure I find at least one for every sermon  Here are some I’ve used:
It’s not yours to take; it’s God’s to give 
He who walks in humility walks in grace 
The fruit of your life reveals the tree of your heart 
You don’t have to hold on to anything for God to hold on to you 
So that’s my ideal, but I’m looking for anything at all that excites me, because if I’m excited about something there’s a good chance someone else will be, too 
Sermon Structure
At this point, I’m ready to start writing my sermon  I know what the text is about, why it exists, how it relates to the rest of Scripture, which parts are difficult to understand, and which parts are exciting  But before I can build content, I need a skeleton 
At Dallas Seminary I learned that a good introduction has the same essential parts, and I use the acronym INSTeP to remember them: image, need, subject, text, and preview  As someone with some creative writing background, I didn’t like this at first  But truth be told, a good sermon borrows from both storytelling and essay  The story draws you in, but the essay keeps you grounded  And just like a good essay, you need a thesis statement and its essential supports to help prepare people for what’s to come 
In my mind, the most important aspect of the introduction is the boring stuff: what’s the subject, what problem does it solve, where is our passage, and what are the main points  The image serves that  As a student I wanted to pick a great image that really stood out and captured people’s attention  But right now I’m in a place where all I care about is getting people interested in the need  If I have an image that raises the need, great; if not, I’ll try to explain my way to it  If you get through the introduction and people still don’t know what you’re talking about or why they should care, you’re about to fight an uphill battle 
The preaching style taught at Dallas and many other evangelical schools is sometimes called “Big Idea” preaching  The short version is that every sermon should have a well-crafted thesis statement  The way it’s taught, it’s everything; your exegesis is all about finding it, your homiletics are all about driving it home  In some cases the thesis becomes more important than the passage itself, which I think is going too far 
But I do think there should be one main idea tying everything together  It shouldn’t replace the passage, but it should drive the passage  As I go through my study process I’m making a list of possible thesis statements  If I haven’t found it by the end of the study process, I keep working toward it  There’s no point in writing the sermon until I have that unifying thought because I’m interested in every detail, every rabbit trail  I need that thesis to give my writing purpose, to tell me what to cut and what to emphasize 
Once I have the thesis, I try to take the existing structure of the passage and relate it back to that thesis  I know there are many different structures you can play with, but I find I do a better job of preaching the passage when I follow its structural cues  When I try to write a novel structure, I tend to make the passage just a series of illustrations for my own points; I’m sure better preachers are skilled at avoiding this problem 
Once I have the thesis and the structure, I write a draft of the whole sermon, weaving in those phrases I had stored up 
Somehow application seems to be the most contentious part of the sermon  Some preachers try to draw out every possible implication while others see application as purely the Holy Spirit’s job and provide nothing  While there are many possible applications, I try to find one that the text emphasizes more than the others and make that the whole deal  So while I really wanted to say something in my last sermon about how we should love unconditionally just as God does, that wasn’t Paul’s application  It’s true and we should do it, but Paul’s application trumps mine because it’s his passage  So I talked about boasting in the Lord 
Once I have my application, I take it in two directions—and I consider this my own secret sauce  I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of it, but I didn’t hear it anywhere else  My professor always told us “give them something to do!” In fact, he would say to give them something concrete to do that very day to maximize the chances that they will actually apply the sermon  I love it! It takes no time at all to forget a sermon 
But then I discovered there are some who take issue with this entire method of application, among them one of my favorite preachers, Tim Keller  For them, giving people something to do inspires legalism, and that endangers the Gospel  Instead they strive to show how Jesus already fulfilled the command of this passage, and the application is just to believe in Him, to adore Him, to marvel at Him  I love this, too! I absolutely believe that every passage properly understood relates to Christ in some way, and every application can be used to point to His perfect example and finished work 
So I try to do both  And here’s why: both are true  Christ has given us new life and yet we are called to live out a new life  The work is done in one sense, and yet we labor in another  So I always begin with showing how Christ has perfectly applied the passage and inviting people to believe in Him and rest in His finished work  Then because of what Christ has done, I call us to imitate Him by applying it ourselves 
At this point all I have to show for my labor is a rough draft  In order to make it presentable, I have a few more steps I go through, and these typically take me a week all by themselves  My goal is to make the sermon sound as natural and engaging as possible 
First, I read the sermon out loud and mark anything that doesn’t sound like me  Maybe I was copying someone’s tone, or more likely my tone was too formal or too informal for the moment  I also italicize the words I want to emphasize  It’s all about the sound 
Second, I memorize the sermon  (Yes, the whole thing ) This is what they trained us to do in seminary, and I thought it was overkill  Yes, you can get better eye contact, step away from the podium, I get that  But what I’ve discovered is that when I memorize my work it polishes the sermon like nothing else  If I can’t remember what I’m about to say, how can I expect the congregation to remember? Memorizing forces me to find the best words for the job 
It also helps me on a structural level, because if I can’t remember what I was about to say next, it shows that there’s a weak connection between the two points  In a compelling script, the next thing has to follow the last  Once you know why the two are married, you can go back and make it more obvious to the congregation 
As I memorize, I boil down the transcript into a preaching outline, which has just enough structure and content to cue me if my mind goes blank in the pulpit  It will have the necessary structural elements, markers for key phrases, and all condensed so that it fits on just a few pages on the platform  (One danger is if I don’t use it in practice, it’s less helpful on Sunday )
Third—and frankly this is the step I’m most likely to skip—I try to choreograph my movements  I believe good preaching is theater, but not in the sense that you’re dramatizing the text  Your whole body is communicating whether you want it to or not, so your gestures should be purposeful  Use the space to organize thoughts, repeat certain motions when you repeat the same thought, make sure you’re not sending mixed signals  Usually I run out of time before I get here, so I have plenty of room to grow in this area 
As I reflect on my process I realize that it’s uniquely tailored to me  My background as a writer, my love for theology, and my unique skills all lead me to emphasize different things  For someone with a different background and skill set this might be like trying on another man’s armor  How can you leverage who you are to preach better?
Of course, I didn’t do this from scratch; I was given a great model in seminary and have observed some great preachers thanks to modern technology  The key for me is molding this process to fit my unique mix of strengths and weaknesses, and that’s sure to be a never-ending project 
Annual Meeting in Review: ETS 2015
November 22, 2015 Josh Vajda	2 Comments
Last week I made my usual pilgrimage to the place where all the evangelical seminary geeks converge: the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society  This year was the second time Atlanta has hosted since I began attending, and it was fun reliving early autumn just before the snow arrived back home 
Over the years I developed a strategy: make plans to attend nonstop papers, then throw out those plans when relational opportunities arise  This year the program was a bit light, but thankfully the people made up for what was lacking 
When reflecting on the meeting I was reminded of just how good last year’s meeting had been  This year had none of the same “aha!” moments, but I did enjoy many rich times of reflection after various papers 
As is my usual habit, I attended a number of friend’s papers (e g , Ford on Ignatius, Roeber on historiography, Svigel on the Didache)  But then I also stalked a few of the theologians I’ve come to admire in recent years: Al Mohler, Carl Trueman, and Anthony Bradley  Of course the problem there is that once you begin following someone you have the ever-increasing experience of anticipating what they are going to say on a given subject  This is especially true of Mohler, whose two podcasts have been my intellectual lifeline this year in times when babies and house projects and service commitments have prevented deeper study 
Analytic Theology
What came as an outright disappointment was the afternoon I spent in the Analytic Theology section  For those of you who don’t know, “analytic theology” is a recent movement to apply the tools of analytic philosophy to the questions of theology  I’ve been thrilled about this from the moment I heard of it, but what I saw really didn’t reflect what I think the movement is capable of  The thinking seemed lackluster and the questions unhelpful  Crisp and especially Rae were there asking insightful questions, but I think being overly kind to the presenters  I suppose you can’t be too inhospitable if you want guests to come back next year 
Avoiding the Marriage-and-Family Theme
The theme this year was “Marriage and Family” but it’s clear the real interest was continued discussion of how to deal with LGBT-related doctrines  In the past year I’ve read numerous books, taught two classes, and delivered a regional paper on the subject  That was enough for me  Maybe there were some missed opportunities here, but I’m ok with that 
Reflection on 2015
One of the things I’ve been forced to do each year—and rightly so, I think—is to reevaluate my purpose and progress in the intellectual community  This occupied much of my reflection in private, some with friends, and significant portions of the drive time from Michigan 
Here are a few conclusions I reached:
Even though I can’t justify a doctorate for my career, I am coming to the conviction that I can justify one for ministry  It may even be something I must do 
Even though I have the tools for self-study, I can accomplish much more with a cohort of like-minded individuals  I need to find a group of theologians I can run with or I will fall behind 
Even though I feel as though I’ve hardly studied this past year, (I recall reading only two theology books!), I’m reminded that I’ve still accomplished quite a bit with my LGBT studies, weekly Sunday School prep, church doctrinal formulations, and ministry strategizing  It’s different work, but I haven’t been as lazy as I feared 
Even though I have been working to be useful to our local church congregation and open to correction about my academic bent, the fact remains that right beliefs are a crucial part of our walk with Christ  Theology matters 
I used to journal incessantly, but have cut back quite a bit this year to focus on getting stuff done  All that to say the time was ripe for some reflection 
Lately I’ve referred to my calling as a “ministry of ideas ” As I chart a course for 2016, the question of what that ministry looks like looms large  The plans are still up in the air, but my time in Atlanta this year has been enormously helpful in the process 
See you next year in good old San Antonio, TX!
Sanctify Us with the Truth
July 9, 2015 Josh Vajda	Leave a comment
I’ve been a big fan of the Bible all my life  As a child I was amazed by the miracles God did  As I got older it was His character that captivated me  These days I’m intrigued by His wisdom  I want to know how He thinks, what He’s planning, how to make sense of His creation  The Bible is at the center of my relationship with God, and it always has been 
But the Bible isn’t God, and the Bible isn’t the whole of my relationship with God  So why is it that I always come back here? I believe that God reveals Himself in Creation and in the Church; I believe I have His Holy Spirit  So why does my relationship with Him keep coming back to a book?
One passage that gives us some clues is John 13–17—known as the Upper Room Discourse  It’s Jesus’ last teaching time with His disciples before He goes to the cross  It’s a time of transition 
Up until now, having a personal relationship with God was as easy as ever  You just spend time with Jesus—the Jewish guy  You want to talk to God? Just go find Jesus  You want an answer from God? Ask Jesus a question  You need divine intervention? Call Jesus for help 
In fact, not only is Jesus God in the flesh as the second person of the Trinity, but we see that He also manifests the Father and is indwelt by the Spirit  This goes beyond the perfect unity of the Trinity: all three persons are present in unique ways 
But in the Upper Room, Jesus is about to leave  He won’t be there to answer questions, to heal the sick, to right the wrong  And if He’s gone, so is the manifestation of the Father, and so is the Holy Spirit within Him 
So what does a personal relationship with God look like when God leaves the building?
First and most importantly, God hasn’t really left  Even though God incarnate has ascended into heaven, He did not leave us alone  The Holy Spirit is God’s special presence in this age 
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him  You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you ” (John 14:16, 17 ESV)
The same Spirit that indwells Jesus will indwell His disciples, and if we skip ahead to Acts, we can see that this Spirit of Truth indwells all believers  He is described as a Helper—which should come as no surprise from the God who just washed His disciples’ feet  And at least one aspect of His ministry is to point back to Christ 
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me ” (John 15:26 ESV)
But it’s not as though the Spirit is a consolation prize  Even though His ministry is all about Christ, Jesus seems to say the Spirit’s ministry will be better than His!—at least for the next phase of God’s plan 
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you  But if I go, I will send him to you  And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged  I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you ” (John 16:7–15 ESV)
There’s a lot to unpack here, but first I just want you to notice: when we lost the Savior, we gained the Helper, and He’s exactly what we needed next  Even though Jesus fully paid for our sins, we need a Helper to teach us the perfect obedience that Jesus modeled, to realize the change that Jesus purchased for us 
Now we get a fuller picture of what the Spirit of Truth has come to do  To the unbelieving world, He is a source of conviction, confronting sinners with the reality of who Jesus really was and what He did  To believers, He is a source of wisdom and knowledge 
This is a ministry of words and truth  We usually call Him the Holy Spirit, which rightly emphasizes His character and the work that He does in our hearts, but He is also called the Spirit of Truth  He draws us back to the words Jesus spoke, which bear the Father’s authority 
The Sanctifying Word
These days we’ve become cautious about putting our trust in words or staking claim to truth  We’re allowed to have our own truth, and we’re expected to have our own interpretations  But to go beyond this is to invite conflict 
Some of us have also grown weary of knowledge because we’ve seen people devote themselves to a dead orthodoxy that devours truth and then does nothing with it  So we associate the Christian walk with a ministry of love and compassion and holiness—which it is—and try not to get too distracted by the rest 
But it’s clear that Jesus spent a good deal of time ministering in words and teaching truth, and that the Holy Spirit is also committed to a ministry of words and truth 
“Whoever does not love me does not keep my words  And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me  These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you ” (John 14:24–26 ESV)
When Jesus prays, He even emphasizes this before the Father:
“Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you  For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me ” (John 17:7, 8 ESV)
It’s a precious thing to have the words of God  They came from the Father, through the Son, and by the Spirit  These words have been compiled in Scripture—the Bible—and it’s not God’s leftovers  At the heart of the Trinity’s ministry is a message  When we put our faith in Christ, we confess and believe specific realities 
“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world ” (John 17:14 ESV)
But this word is not some passive collection of propositions to be absorbed  Just as the Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of Truth, so the true words and message of Scripture are given to make us holy 
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth  As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world  And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth ” (John 17:17–19 ESV)
This truth has a purpose  God’s message—the words of the Father—they are to make us holy  They are to wash us and set us apart  We are to be purified by this message, and at the heart of these instructions is love 
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love  These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full  This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you ” (John 15:10–12 ESV)
God has not left us alone  We have the Holy Spirit of Truth, and we also have the words of the Father 
I think this must be what Jesus alluded to in John 4, when He told the Samaritan woman at the well about those who would worship in spirit and in truth  Jesus clearly leaves us here with His Spirit and His truth  These are the twin lights guiding us on our pilgrimage  These are the two ways God is present with us today  Even though He is not with us physically, He is with us personally, spiritually, and verbally 
Truth is good for its own sake, and sanctification is, too  But we must not forget that our relationship with God as Spirit and through the Word draws those two things together  We pursue truth in order to be sanctified  We are sanctified by the truth 
When we talk about how we relate to God, our first thought is often the Cross, and that’s not wrong  Without Jesus’ work on the Cross we could have no fellowship with God  But even though it is what made a relationship with God possible, our relationship with Him goes much deeper  God is specially present in the world today by His Holy Spirit, Who indwells each and every believer  And the words of the Father have come by the Son and the Spirit to us in the form of the Bible  It is the Holy Spirit of Truth together with the Holy Words of God that mark God’s presence in our lives  They are what guide us and sanctify us 
This is why we can’t get away from Scripture  This is why our relationship with God depends so much on our relationship with this book  Creation reveals God by what He has done, but it does not offer His words to us  The Church is united and empowered by the Spirit of God, but it cannot speak His words either  The Bible is how the Holy Spirit speaks to us; it is one of the means by which God has chosen to sanctify His people  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God 
The Story of Death (2/15/15)
February 18, 2015 Josh Vajda	2 Comments
Intro: The Matter of Life and Death
Death as Punishment
Death and God
Chinks in Death’s Armor
For Now We Wait
Closing Thoughts: Ash Wednesday
Introduction: The Matter of Life and Death
A friend once told me that Christianity is a “culture of death ” This was of course a reversal of Pope John Paul II’s 1995 condemnation of the modern culture of death, which sees the weak as useless at best—a burden to be eliminated  He pointed to the crucifixion, the Old Testament sacrificial system, and the way we seem to look forward to death so that we can go to heaven 
In a strange sense my friend was right: Christianity has a lot to say about death, and sacrifice is central to our theology  Of course, in context Christianity is anything but a culture of death, but if we’re not careful we can definitely sound the way my friend described us  We sometimes get confused about the role death plays in God’s plan 
So today we examine what the Bible says about death and reconsider what role it plays in our lives 
It’s interesting: there’s a way in which you could read the Bible as a book about death  That’s obviously not all it talks about, but the “story arc” of death spans the entire book 
Let’s take a stroll, shall we?
The first mention of death is in the second chapter of the Bible: “in the day you eat of [the forbidden fruit] you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17)  This promise was the center of the debate between the woman and the serpent in Genesis 3, and they ate of the fruit  But they didn’t die  God was gracious not to put them to death physically, but there is a kind of spiritual death that took place then  Since the Fall, mankind has been unresponsive to God 
But make no mistake, physical death was coming  We know from Romans that death entered through Adam’s sin—it wasn’t part of the original created order  And as proof, we see in Adam’s genealogy the reign of death: each one dies  We read “and he died” over and over here  Romans 3:23 tells us “the wages of sin is death ” All sinned, so all die  Death had become a part of life 
But Genesis is just getting warmed up! Because next comes the Flood where—you guessed it—everybody dies  Then the Patriarchs die  Then the book ends with the death of Joseph  Who ends a book that way?!? This is not a happy ending 
But then there’s Exodus, where the Egyptians die, Leviticus where animals die, Numbers where unbelieving Israel dies, Joshua where the Canaanites die  Death is everywhere! It’s all over the Pentateuch 
Why would this be? Because death is the punishment for sin  All crimes against God are capital offenses  That doesn’t mean He immediately smites everyone the moment they sin—but technically speaking, He could  That would be just  And if it doesn’t feel just then maybe we don’t understand sin as well as we thought we did 
In Ezekiel, God tells us He gets no pleasure from the death of the wicked  Does this surprise you? He would much rather see the wicked turn from their ways—to repent and live  But those who will not get what they deserve 
Sometimes if we’re not careful this is a way that we distort God’s character, as though God somehow hungers for death and blood  God isn’t pleased by animal sacrifice, but He requires some recompense for sin  God didn’t send the Flood on a whim but because evil on the earth had become unbearable  If we take death out of the context of grace and patience and kindness, we get a very wrong view of God 
But because death is part of life in a fallen world, we sometimes get confused about our relationship with death on the one hand and God’s sovereignty on the other  The author of Ecclesiastes notes that people are just as dead as animals in the end  The wise man for all of his wisdom still ends up just as dead as the fool  The nice thing about being dead is you don’t have to live in fear of death anymore! It’s a bleak way to look at things, but not wrong  What’s the point of life if the only thing we can be sure of is death?
If this is getting depressing, good! Sin is serious business and so is death  Christianity has a lot to say about death because it takes sin seriously 
But there’s a whole lot left to be said 
It turns out contrary to popular belief, death can be undone  Yes, you heard me: the end might not really be the end after all  Elijah and Elisha are both able to raise the dead  Jesus raises the dead  Jesus’ disciples raise the dead  Of course, these were all temporary  But it’s a start!
God promises us that it gets better than this  In Isaiah 25, He promises to swallow up death forever  How is this possible?!? The wages of sin is death  A holy God can’t just get rid of death 
He’d have to get rid of sin somehow 
This is where everything gets turned on its head  This is that part in the movie where you fly through the black hole and end up in a different dimension, or where Alice jumps down the rabbit hole  God swallows up death by letting death swallow Him up  Jesus, being fully God, lives a perfectly sinless life—a life not meriting death—and dies on our behalf, paying for all the sin of the world 
Let that sink in for a moment: God dies  But the death of God becomes the death of sin, and the death of sin becomes the death of death  And death’s final defeat is announced through the resurrection of God back from the dead  The God of life is alive! And He offers eternal life to all 
As Tim Keller likes to put it, Jesus died the death we deserved so that we could live the life He deserved  Because Jesus submitted to death on our behalf, our relationship with death gets really complicated  It’s still the enemy  It’s still the wages of sin  It’s still not good  But every good thing—salvation, resurrection, eternal life, peace with God—these all came from one great death: the Crucifixion 
So now all death is bad, but that one death brought us everything good  We praise the God of life, but we celebrate His death  God took a horrible, terrible, rotten, no-good thing and redeemed it 
I suppose that shouldn’t surprise us either 
We may sometimes look like we’re rejoicing in death itself, but really we rejoice in that one death that God used to bring eternal life  Our problem isn’t that we sing about death too much—we probably don’t sing about it enough! But we have to keep it in the context of the bigger story  We can’t make any sense of the Crucifixion apart from the Fall, the Resurrection, and Return of Christ 
This is the theme we see in the Book of Acts: God raised Jesus from the dead  It’s all about resurrection now! We baptize in the likeness of His death—and resurrection  We take the bread and cup to remember His death—all the while waiting for His return 
In Romans, death takes on a whole new meaning: since our sins were buried with Christ, we are now alive to God and dead to sin  Spiritual death is over now  Death has become just a metaphor for our relationship with sin 
But make no mistake, death didn’t just die spiritually  We might think that because we still see death all around us  Christians still die  But at the very end of the Bible we see that when Christ returns, death will finally be thrown into the lake of fire and be no more  All the dead will come to life—but this time never to die again 
I can’t help but think of John Donne’s Holy Sonnet X: Death Be Not Proud:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou thinkst thou dost overthrow
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow
And soonest our best men with thee do go
Rest of their bones and soul’s delivery 
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppies or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke  Why swellst thou then?
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die!
Today we sit knowing that we are no longer spiritually dead, and instead we are dead to sin  Christ has risen from the dead, but He has not yet returned  Physical death is still a reality  It’s still cruel  But it’s not the end 
I have another friend, a learned scholar who is emphatic about how much he hates death  He doesn’t want to die  Yet Paul almost seems to disagree  In Philippians he writes, “To live is Christ and to die is gain ” Is death gain? Is there something good about death—our deaths? Is my death-hating friend overreacting?
Insofar as my friend is only talking about death, he’s right  You can’t really hate death enough  And our hope is in the resurrection, when we get our new bodies and live with Christ forever  Paul’s not saying that death isn’t really so bad after all  He’s saying Christ means so much to him that he would even suffer death to be with Him  It’s not that death is lesser; it’s that Jesus is greater 
This is how we make sense of Paul’s taunt in 1 Corinthians 15, which talks at length about the resurrection: “Death is swallowed up in victory  O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Ultimately he’s talking about the end of death when we are raised, but there’s a sense in which death’s sting is tempered by the sweetness of life with Jesus 
When we lose a loved one, it’s hard  If he or she is a believer, we’re comforted by the fact that even though they died they enjoy the sweetness of Christ’s presence  Don’t let anyone take that away from you  Just don’t forget: that’s not the end of the story  It gets better!
They won’t stay dead 
Who is this God who can even bring good out of death?
Today is Ash Wednesday  Many Christians will receive ash on their foreheads and be reminded, “You are dust, and to dust you will return ” Not a message we particularly like to hear  We often think of ourselves as souls who just happen to be in bodies, that our parts are interchangeable—maybe even expendable  But these words are the words God Himself spoke to Adam after the Fall  You are dust  A sobering thought  Our bodies are a part of us, and our reflection is a daily reminder that we’re not as strong as we think we are 
That’s not the whole truth about us, but it’s a part we can’t afford to forget  Considering our frailty and our mortality shouldn’t lead to despair; it should bring us to our knees before our Savior  We confess how much we need Him, and how grateful we are that we have Him  Recognizing our insufficiency is just one way we deepen our appreciation for all we have in Christ  We humble ourselves not to make Him greater but because He is greater! He has brought us forgiveness and eternal life, sent us His Spirit  If we were left to our own devices, we would have no hope  But because of His love, rich in mercy, we have this gift from God 
Bonus: Christ is Risen by Matt Maher
We Didn’t Stay Perfect (2/1/15)
February 2, 2015 Josh Vajda	Leave a comment
The Unfolding of the Fall
Fractured Relationships
Total Depravity—but not Extreme Depravity
Comparing Theories [new! not discussed in class]
So What Do We Do Until Then?
Bonus Thoughts
We all know the story of the Fall from Genesis 3  Perfect woman with perfect husband in perfect garden meets talking snake  He tempts her to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit, then she hands some to her husband who does the same  God comes and gives them a spanking and sends them out of the garden 
Ok, so the details might be a little off… maybe even a little forgettable  But the story is familiar and the consequences tragic  We live in those consequences  So what does this story have to tell us about the world today and our lives in it?
You can learn a lot about sin and humanity by really chewing on the details here  Consider:
The serpent (we’re later told it’s also Satan) begins with questioning what God has said 
The question overgeneralizes and invites a conversation 
The woman adds to God’s commandment 
The serpent challenges God and offers a desirable half-truth 
The woman (although perfect) is tempted  That temptation draws her to inspect the fruit 
Looking at the fruit, the woman focused on the positive side of the equation 
She risked her life trusting the serpent over God, because eating the fruit should have meant certain death 
The man ate without any signs of a struggle 
Their eyes were open  Before they knew only the good; now they knew good and evil 
Their first response to sin is to cover up, which indicates fear and probably shame 
Their response to God (their creator whom they knew personally!) was to hide  Apparently they either didn’t know or forgot that God is everywhere and knows everything 
God asks the man a question for effect 
The man blames his wife and even seems to accuse God 
The woman blames the serpent and even seems to deflect by saying she was tricked 
At this point God punishes the serpent, the man, and the woman by cursing all creation  Work will be hard, childbearing will be painful  But there is hope in the promise of One to come who will crush the serpent 
I love how the Good News glimmers even in that first dark moment 
It’s so tempting to read more into the story because there are so many more details we wish we had  The gaps in the story invite our imaginations to jump in, but we need to be careful not to put words in God’s mouth 
One theme we see in the Fall is one broken relationship after another  We noted last week how we were created to need one another and how that’s a good thing  But after the Fall we see husband and wife blaming each other  Worse yet, we see them hiding from God  After creation is cursed there’s really nothing left: man’s relationships with God, with others, with creation, and even with himself are all broken  And so our need for each other grows even greater, but our incapacity to find what we need and be who we need to be for others makes meeting this need impossible 
But let’s be honest here: the biggest problem is this broken relationship with God  He is their Creator and Sustainer  He knows them personally, guides them, and has given them all they need  What’s more, He’s perfectly good  This fall into sin was an act of rebellion against a God who had been nothing but loving and giving  Everything depends on Him 
Is it any wonder He warned them they would die?
Now the astute reader will note they didn’t drop dead  Does this mean the serpent was right? Not hardly! This broken relationship with God is sometimes thought of a “spiritual death,” a state of unresponsiveness to God  I’m generally fine with this idea—after all, they certainly became separated from God! What else could you call a state apart from the God of life? Death makes sense 
But we know that this is where physical death enters the picture  Mankind wasn’t supposed to die  YOU right now reading this: you were never supposed to die  Now we tend to say death is a part of life  It wasn’t supposed to be that way  Death was never a part of life  Death is a reality we have to live with, but it’s not good 
So I think spiritual death metaphorically happened, but physical death literally happened  And the only reason they walked out of that garden alive has to have been God’s grace and mercy 
Another observation we can make is that Adam and Eve weren’t immediately as bad as they could have been  This is sometimes what we think when we talk about “total depravity ” If you want a really bleak picture you have to turn ahead a few pages to the state of the world before the Flood  It took a long time to get there 
No, extreme depravity wasn’t the result of the Fall, but total depravity still is  Total depravity is the doctrine that says sin bent every part of man  Sin pollutes man’s reason, man’s emotions, man’s willpower, man’s desires, man’s imagination, man’s memories, man’s senses, man’s body, and even man’s conscience  Nothing is safe  Nothing is pure 
And this is intimately wrapped up in the image of God  Remember that man was made in God’s image, unique among all creation  But sin now pollutes that image  It’s still present—we still can’t help but “image” our Creator when we act rationally, make wise decisions, love others selflessly, and so on  Instead the image is defaced but not erased  What should normally reflect God’s character instead reflects a mixture of good and evil 
Comparing Theories
Now if we take a step back, we all recognize that we live in a broken world  Very few people would argue that everything is perfect, that sin, suffering, and death somehow don’t exist or aren’t really bad  We (generally) all agree that there’s a problem  But there’s little agreement about why it is the way it is 
People who don’t believe in a literal Adam and Even tanking the human race are generally stuck  For example, if you only believe in the natural world, evil is just a part of nature  Death is a part of life  Suffering is a biochemical response to destructive conditions  And if you’re just one organism out of millions competing for resources, all you can really say is that you don’t like these things  They are distasteful  Maybe you’re hard-wired to show empathy with others because of some evolutionary imperative, but objectively speaking what can you say?
Well, you can say lots I suppose, but you can’t be consistent without ending up a nihilist 
Other religions have the same problem: either evil belongs as some part of the bigger cosmic plan or it’s an illusion  Either way, it’s hard to take evil seriously  Either it belongs in some way, or it doesn’t exist at all  Either way it’s hard to justify our natural reactions to injustice, suffering, and death 
But let’s forget about consistency and get to work: what problems can we name and how do we fix them?
If the problem is society, the cure is social change 
If the problem is pride, the cure is humility 
If the problem is bad decisions, the cure is right decisions 
If the problem is lack of love, the cure is love 
If the problem is a broken relationship, the cure is forgiveness 
If the problem is rebellion, the cure is submission 
If the problem is demons, the cure is their destruction 
If the problem is illusion, the cure is truth 
If the problem is original sin, the cure is death of the old self 
If the problem is doubt, the cure is faith 
If the problem is in every part of us, the cure is a new creation 
If the problem is death, the cure is eternal life 
Of course this just scratches the surface  But what I want you to notice is that for all of these problems, Christianity offers the solution  And for all of these problems, the solution is the same: that one seed of woman that God promised, the One to come that would crush the serpent  His name is Jesus 
Some of these things were addressed in His first coming, when He died on the cross for our sins and rose to life to offer us eternal life  But the work isn’t done yet  He’s coming back to finish the work, to make all things new  Think about that  We’ll explain further another time 
As a wise poet named Tom once wrote, the waiting is the hardest part  If we as Christians are a new creation (we are), have eternal life (we do), are filled with the Holy Spirit (yup), and are no longer slaves to sin (seriously!), then why is the world still messed up? And more to the point, why are WE still messed up?
Frankly, we still suffer the effects of sin in all our faculties  Our wills have been freed from slavery, but they’re still polluted  We won’t be fully free from the effects of sin until Jesus comes back 
So we’re no longer slaves, but we’re still polluted and live in a polluted world  We have the Holy Spirit, but we still choose to disobey  In theory you should be able to live a perfect life after you’re saved, but because we’ve already been marked by sin in our lives and live in an imperfect world, we will never be perfect under our own power 
What do we do then? Give up? Of course not! We beat our bodies into submission  We learn right and wrong from Scripture, and we challenge our motives day to day 
But if we want to go the extra mile, we can’t do it alone 
There will be times you trick yourself into thinking you’re doing what’s right  There will be times you misread Scripture and misunderstand what God expects  And to guard against those times you need to surround yourself with fellow believers  You need people who know you, who know the Word, and who are committed to following Jesus with you  They can provide that outside check to make sure sin isn’t getting the best of you 
Because let’s face it: some days it’s hard to tell the difference between the Holy Spirit’s promptings and our own desires  Nothing can do better to counter that than other Spirit-filled people who bring a different perspective 
We ended up talking a lot about sanctification today, but that’s because it’s how we cope with the effects of the Fall in our lives  I don’t ever want to teach about sin and suffering and death without also pointing to the hope we have in Christ! The sin we as Christians struggle with is our bad choices day to day  If you’re saved, all you can do is persevere in what’s right and help others to do the same  We’ll say more about suffering and death another time 
My challenge to you is this: who do you have in your life who can give you that outside angle to your struggles and decisions? Where can you go to make sure you’re on the right path? If you’re not sure, start looking!
We need each other more than ever 
Isn’t it interesting how hard it is to remember the details of a story we’ve heard dozens of times? Our memories aren’t perfect  It sure helps having other people to lean on…
Historically speaking, the discussion of the effects of the Fall gets really fun with Augustine and Pelagius  In a nutshell, Augustine argued that we are always in need of God’s grace, but Pelagius believed we didn’t suffer from original sin and could become perfect if we try hard enough 
Regarding different relationships with sin, Augustine put it this way: God is not able to sin, Adam was created able not to sin, the Fall left us not able not to sin, and those in Christ are back where created Adam was: able not to sin 
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Context 2: \section{Introduction}

The publicly available XMM-Newton slew data covers to date around 35\%
of the sky  The soft band (0 2$-$2 keV) sensitivity limit of the slews
(6$\times10^{-13}$\,ergs cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$) is close to that of the
ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS; Voges et al \ 1999), and in the medium
(2$-$12 keV) band, the slew data goes significantly deeper
(4$\times10^{-12}$\,ergs cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$) than all other previous
large area surveys  Over 7700 individual sources have so far been
detected to a positional accuracy of 8\arcsec   For details on the
the construction and
characteristics of the first released XMM-Newton slew survey
catalogue, see Saxton et al  (2008)  For details of the initial
science results from the slew survey, see Read et al  (2006) 

The comparison of XMM-Newton slew data with the RASS is now giving,
for the first time, the opportunity to find exotic, extreme
high-variability X-ray bursting objects, e g  tidal disruption
candidates (Esquej et al  2007), and also Galactic novae, flare stars,
and flaring white dwarfs, plus eclipsing binaries, AGN and blazars  It
is only with such a large-area survey as the XMM-Newton Slew Survey,
that transient events as these have a chance of being caught 

One such rare event, XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933, which we here show to be
a new Classical Nova, was discovered in an XMM-Newton slew from 18th
July 2006 at a very high count rate of 23 3\,ct s$^{-1}$ (EPIC-pn:
0 2$-$2\,keV)  

Classical novae (see Bode \& Evans 2008 for a review) occur in
interacting binary systems consisting of a white dwarf primary star
and a lower-mass secondary star  The nova itself is a cataclysmic
nuclear explosion caused by the accretion of material (via Roche Lobe
overflow or wind accretion) from the secondary star onto the surface
of the white dwarf; here the pressure and temperature at the base of
the accreted material becomes sufficient to trigger a thermonuclear
runaway  A recent review of the thermonuclear processes powering
classical novae can be found in Starrfield et al \ (2008)   The
accreted material is partially expelled, obscuring the X-ray emission
from the surface of the white dwarf  At later stages, the ejected
material expands further and becomes optically thin, revealing the
nuclear burning on the surface of the white dwarf   This emission
peaks in the soft X-ray regime and it is known as the super-soft
source (SSS) state (Krautter 2008)  Models of the classical nova SSS
state can be found in Tuchman \& Truran (1998) and Sala \& Hernanz
(2005) 

Though many classical novae have been observed in X-rays in their SSS
states (Ness et al \ (2007) for example discuss several examples observed with
Swift), it is in the optical band, early in their outbursts, that
classical novae are almost always discovered  This is because they are
intrinsically optically bright and easily found in inexpensive
wide-area shallow surveys   XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 is very unusual
therefore in that it has been discovered, as we shall see, later in
its evolution, in the SSS X-ray state 

In this paper we describe the XMM-Newton slew observations
(Section~2), and the follow-up X-ray observations by the Swift XRT
(Section~3) and XMM-Newton (Section~4)  Multiwavelength observations
with Swift-UVOT, Magellan and ASAS are described in Section~5  We then
present a discussion of the results (Section~6), and conclusions 



\begin{table*}[t]
  \caption[]
  {Details of the four XMM-Newton Slew observations and the single (Rev \,1378) 
    dedicated XMM-Newton pointed observation  XMM-Newton revolution, date and observation ID 
    are tabulated, together with the 0 2$-$2 0\,keV X-ray properties of XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933;  
    position, background-subtracted counts, exposure, count-rate, and detection likelihood  For the 
    Rev \,1378 dedicated observation, these properties are given for all the EPIC cameras combined   
    For the slew observations, only the EPIC-pn values are given  In the first two slews the source 
    was not detected, and upper limits are shown in the table }
  \centering
\begin{tabular}{lccccrrrr}
\hline
Rev  & Date & Obs \,ID & RA(J2000)   & Dec(J2000) & Counts         & Exposure & Count rate  & Lik  \\ 
     & (UT) &        &     &            &                & (s) & (s$^{-1}$)  &      \\ \hline 
 351 (slew) & 07/11/01 &  9035100003  &        &               & $<$3 6     & 8 8 & $<$0 41 & $<$$\sim$8      \\
 750 (slew) & 12/01/04 &  9075000003  &        &               & $<$3 2     & 17 3 & $<$0 18 & $<$$\sim$8      \\  
1210 (slew )& 18/07/06 &  9121000003  & 06:06:36 2 & -69:49:33 & 228 8$\pm$14 1 & 9 8 & 23 4$\pm$1 4 & 1777 1   \\ 
1246 (slew) & 28/09/06 &  9121460003  & 06:06:36 5 & -69:49:38 &  12 9$\pm$2 4  & 3 4 &  3 8$\pm$0 7 &   54 7   \\
\vspace{-3 5mm}\\
\hline 
1378 (pointed) & 19/06/07 &  0510010501  & 06:06:36 5 & -69:49:37 & 1511 0$\pm$44 8 & 8940 0 &  0 20$\pm$0 01 & 4630 4          \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\label{slewtable}
\end{table*}

\section{XMM-Newton slew observations}

XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 was discovered in XMM-Newton slew 9121000003
from revolution 1210 on 18th July 2006  Details of the standard
XMM-Newton slew data reduction and analysis used, plus the
source-searching and catalogue cross-correlation etc , are presented
in Saxton et al   (2008) 

The source passed through the EPIC-pn detector in 14\,s, at a small
off-axis angle, such that an effective vignetting-corrected soft band
(0 2$-$2\,keV) exposure time of 9 8\,s was achieved   A total of 229
source counts lie within a radius of 20\arcsec, yielding a (EPIC-pn:
0 2$-$2\,keV) count rate of 23 4\,ct s$^{-1}$ 

The source is seen to have no cross-correlation identifications in the
RASS, and no other multiwavelength candidates within 30\arcsec\ in
Simbad\footnote{http://simbad u-strasbg fr/simbad/},
NED\footnote{http://nedwww ipac caltech edu/index html}, and
HEASARC\footnote{http://heasarc gsfc nasa gov/}  The position of the
source in the sky is such that it lies apparently at the outer eastern
edge of the LMC 

XMM-Newton has slewed over this region of sky a number of times, and
though nothing was detected in previous slews from 7th November 2001
and 12th January 2004, the source was seen again on 28th September
2006 (rev \,1246, 72 days after the rev \,1210 discovery), at the same
position, but at a reduced flux level (3 8\,ct s$^{-1}$; EPIC-pn:
0 2$-$2\,keV)   i e  it had reduced in flux by a factor of $\approx$6
in 72 days  XMM-Newton has not slewed over this area of sky since
rev \,1246  Details of the relevant XMM-Newton slews, together with
the (0 2$-$2\,keV) EPIC-pn source position, detected source counts,
count rate and detection likelihood are given in
Table~\ref{slewtable} 

The fact that XMMSL1 J060636 2-694933 is detected in the total-band
(0 2$-$12\,keV) and the soft-band (0 2$-$2\,keV), whilst effectively
zero counts are seen in the hard-band (2$-$12\,keV), is immediately
indicative of the source being very soft  

The moderately high count rate indicates that the spectrum is affected
by pile-up (the on-axis limit is 6\,ct s$^{-1}$ for EPIC-pn full-frame
mode
\footnote{http://xmm esac esa int/external/xmm\_user\_support/documentation
  /uhb\_2 5/index html})  This distorts the spectrum and makes
quantitative spectral analysis of the slew data difficult  We
minimized these effects by following the standard procedure, i e 
ignoring the central part of the Point Spread Function (PSF), and
extracted an event spectrum (containing single and double events) of
the source from within an annulus of 5\arcsec$-$30\arcsec\ radius,
centred on the source position  Unresolved problems associated with
the motion of sources across the detector still exist within slew
data, and approximations currently have to be made when calculating
the associated effective area and detector response matrix files  In
order to perform qualitative spectral analysis, an effective area file
was generated by averaging the individual core-removed effective area
files at 9 different positions along the detector track made by the
source  This accounts for the removal of the piled-up core, and takes
the vignetting and PSF variations into account to a good
approximation   Individual BACKSCAL values have been set by hand, as
have the EXPOSURE values, estimated by calculating the distance
travelled by the source in detector coordinates and finding the time
taken to do this, given a 90\,deg\,hr$^{-1}$ slew speed, then
subtracting the appropriate fractions for chip gaps and bad pixels 
For the response matrix, we used the equivalent canned detector
response matrix for the vignetting-weighted average source position,
for single plus double events and for full-frame mode:
epn\_ff20\_sdY6\_v6 9 rmf  A background spectrum was extracted from a
much larger circular region close to the source and at a similar
off-axis angle 

To fit the slew spectral data, and indeed all the high-energy spectra
in the present paper, the
XSPEC\footnote{http://heasarc gsfc nasa gov/docs/xanadu/xspec/}
spectral fitting package has been used  As $\chi^2$ minimization is
not valid when fitting spectra of low statistical quality, for the
fitting of the slew spectrum (and all the spectral fitting in the
present paper), C-statistics have been used  To take into account the
absorbing column along the line of sight, the {\em wabs} model with
the {\em wilm} cosmic abundance table (Wilms et al \ 2000) has been
used throughout the paper  All the errors quoted in the present paper
are 90\% confidence intervals, unless otherwise stated 

The rev \,1210 slew spectrum shows that the source is very soft, and
appears consistent with a 63$_{-10}^{+12}$\,eV black body, absorbed by
a hydrogen column density of
8 2$_{-4 1}^{+5 4}\times10^{20}$\,cm$^{-2}$  The fit is good, with a
P-statistic value of 0 11, obtained via the XSPEC {\em goodness}
command for this fit, based on 5000 random simulations  The best-fit
hydrogen column is equal to the full Galactic hydrogen column in the
direction of the source (8 0$\pm{1 1}\times10^{20}$\,cm$^{-2}$; Dickey
\& Lockman, 1990, calculated via the FTOOL {\em
  nh}\footnote{http://heasarc gsfc nasa gov/lheasoft/ftools/fhelp/nh txt}) 
The slew spectrum, plus the best fit simple black body model and the
deviations from the model, are shown in Fig \,\ref{slewspec}  The
observed count rate corresponds to a (0 2$-$2\,keV) flux, corrected
for the removal of the saturated PSF core, of
4 8$^{+2 7}_{-1 6}\times10^{-11}$\,ergs cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ (an
increase in flux over the RASS upper limit, assuming the same spectral
model, by a factor of more than 500) 

Simple power-law, thermal Bremmstrahlung, and other optically thin hot
plasma models are unable to fit the spectrum adequately well   Given
that we later are able to identify the source as a nova (Section~5 2),
then the black-body model will likely be a good approximation 
Furthermore, as we have obtained here a moderate number of slew
counts, the more physically realistic, though more complex atmosphere
model for CO white dwarfs of MacDonald \& Vennes (1991), provided by
K \,Page (private communication), was attempted   This model, used
e g  to model the nova V1974 Cyg (Balman et al \ 1998), yielded a
marginal fit (and not formally a more statistically significant fit;
P-statistic = 0 03, based on 5000 random simulations), with an
effective temperature of 70$^{+8}_{-6}$\,eV, an $N_{\rm H}$ of
3 7$^{+3 2}_{-2 5}$$\times$$10^{20}$\,cm$^{-2}$, and a PSF-corrected
(0 2$-$2\,keV) flux of 4 5$^{+1 3}_{-1 8}\times10^{-11}$\,ergs
cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$  Note that a smaller $N_{\rm H}$ (though perhaps
still consistent with the full Galactic hydrogen column) is now
obtained using the white dwarf atmosphere model  (Note that the
MacDonald \& Vennes (1991) ONe white dwarf atmosphere model was also
attempted, but yielded a marginally worse fit than the CO white dwarf
atmosphere model; only the CO atmosphere model has been used in the
subsequent analysis) 

It is well known (e g  Krautter et al \ 1996) that, because of the
energy-dependent opacity in the white dwarf atmosphere, fits to super
soft source novae spectra with black body models give larger fluxes
and lower temperatures than atmosphere models fit to the same spectra,
and this is seen in the present case  Thus the black body model
requires a larger $N_{\rm H}$ to fit the same data than the atmosphere
model, as is seen  

The model normalizations, corrected for the removal
of the saturated PSF core, can be used to derive an approximate
distance to the source   If we assume a typical emitting region for
the white dwarf atmosphere to be of spherical radius 10$^{9}$\,cm,
then, for the black body model, this distance turns out to be
20$^{+31}_{-10}$\,kpc  The effects discussed above however can lead to
usage of the black body model giving rise to an underestimation of the
distance   For the white dwarf atmosphere model, a larger distance of
71$^{+27}_{-23}$\,kpc is obtained  Both estimates are consistent with
the distance to the LMC ($\sim$50\,kpc, see Section~6), and assuming a
distance of 50\,kpc, the black body derived flux corresponds to a
(pile-up corrected) 0 2$-$2\,keV X-ray luminosity of
1 4$^{+0 8}_{-0 5}\times10^{37}$\,ergs s$^{-1}$ 


\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[bb=100 20 575 700,clip,width=6 0cm,angle=270]{12082f1 ps}
\caption{XMM-Newton Slew spectrum of XMMSL1 J060636 2-694933 from
  XMM-Newton revolution 1210   The data points (crosses; adjacent data
  bins having been grouped together for the plot to have a significance of at least
  3) have been fitted with a black body model (kT=63\,eV; see text) 
  The solid line shows the best fit to the spectrum  The ratio of the
  data to the best fit model is shown in the lower panel }
\label{slewspec}
\end{figure}


\section{Swift XRT X-ray observations}

We requested and received a prompt observation with Swift of this
source before it moved out of the Swift visibility window in April
2007  We received over 14\,ksec of Swift-XRT time in 7
separate observations and the details of these observations are listed
in Table~\ref{xrttable}  All of the observations were in photon
counting mode and none of the observations showed any times of
significant high-BG flux  In none of the observations did the source
position coincide with any of the dead (micrometeorite-induced)
detector columns  The analysis has been performed using HEASOFT
v6 1 2  The individual XRT observations were astrometrically-corrected
and then stacked to ascertain a best Swift-XRT position $-$ this was
found to be 06 06 37 00 -69 49 33 9 (with a 90\% error radius of
4 0\arcsec)  Source counts were then extracted from each observation
from a circle of radius of 40\arcsec\ at this position  Background
counts were extracted from each observation from large-radius
off-source circles close to the source position  Source counts and
count rates for the individual XRT observations are given in
Table~\ref{xrttable} 


\begin{table}
  \caption[]{Details of the Swift-XRT observations (observation ID, observation date and 
    cleaned exposure time) are tabulated, together with the total (0 2$-$2 0\,keV) background-subtracted 
    counts and count rate from XMMSL1 J060636 2-694933 (see text) }
  \centering
\begin{tabular}{ccrrr}
\hline
ID          & Date     & Exp  & Counts       & Count rate       \\ 
            &   (UT)   &  (s) &              & (s$^{-1}$)        \\ \hline 
00030895001 & 28/02/07 & 1955 & 23 9$\pm$5 1 & 0 0122$\pm$0 0026  \\
00030895002 & 07/03/07 & 1796 & 15 8$\pm$4 2 & 0 0088$\pm$0 0024 \\
00030895003 & 08/03/07 & 1651 & 10 9$\pm$3 6 & 0 0066$\pm$0 0022 \\
00030895004 & 08/03/07 & 2547 & 20 6$\pm$4 8 & 0 0081$\pm$0 0019 \\
00030895005 & 10/03/07 & 2550 & 29 5$\pm$5 7 & 0 0116$\pm$0 0022 \\
00030895006 & 20/03/07 &  552 &  8 6$\pm$3 2 & 0 0156$\pm$0 0057 \\
00030895007 & 22/03/07 & 3391 & 24 4$\pm$5 4 & 0 0072$\pm$0 0016 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\label{xrttable}
\end{table}

The observation naturally fell into three time-separated groups, those
of obs \,1, obs \,2-5 and obs \,6-7  A similar analysis applied to
these groups (where the statistics are improved) gives rise to source
counts and count rates of 76 7$\pm$9 3\,counts and
0 0090$\pm$0 0011\,ct~s$^{-1}$ (for obs \,2-5), and
33 0$\pm$6 2\,counts and 0 0084$\pm$0 0016\,ct~s$^{-1}$ (for
obs \,6-7)  (Analysis of all the data together yields
133 6$\pm$12 3\,counts and 0 0092$\pm$0 0009\,ct~s$^{-1}$)  

A spectrum was extracted from all the Swift-XRT data from a 40\arcsec\
radius circle, using grades 0$-$12, centred on the Swift-XRT position 
A background spectrum was extracted again from all the Swift-XRT data,
from large-radius off-source circles close to the source position  An
ARF file was created using {\em xrtmkarf} and the appropriate RMF
(swxpc0to12\_20010101v008 rmf) from the Swift-XRT Calibration Database
was obtained 

Standard spectral models were again fit to the spectral data using
XSPEC  Again, C-statistics were used, as was the {\em wabs} absorption
model with the {\em wilm} cosmic abundance table  It was again 
obvious that only a very soft spectrum would be appropriate for the
data, and the only simple model that was able to fit the data
adequately was a black-body model of temperature
$kT$=$59^{+14}_{-10}$\,eV, with an absorbing hydrogen column of
9 5$^{+5 0}_{-3 9}$$\times$$10^{20}$\,cm$^{-2}$  No sufficiently constrained parameters could
be obtained using the CO white dwarf atmosphere model (MacDonald \&
Vennes 1991)  The Swift-XRT spectrum, together with the best-fit black
body model is shown in Fig \,\ref{xrtspec}  The corresponding
(0 2$-$2 0\,keV) flux is 2 7$^{+0 7}_{-1 2}\times10^{-13}$\,ergs
cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ (i e  a reduction by more than a factor 100 from
the XMM-Newton slew discovery flux), and the X-ray luminosity, for the
assumed distance of 50\,kpc, is 8 0$^{+2 2}_{-3 5}\times10^{34}$\,ergs
s$^{-1}$ 

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[bb=100 15 580 710,clip,width=6 0cm,angle=270]{12082f2 ps}
\caption{Swift-XRT spectrum from XMMSL1 J060636 2-694933  The data
  points (crosses; adjacent data bins having been grouped together for
  the plot to have a significance of at least 3) have been fitted with
  a black body model (kT=59\,eV; see text)  The source has faded by a
  factor of $>100$ since the XMM-Newton revolution 1210 slew
  discovery  The solid line show the best fit to the spectra   The
  ratio of the data to the best fit model is shown in the lower panel 
}
\label{xrtspec}
\end{figure}

A cautious estimate of the size of the emitting region can be obtained
from the model normalization; the assumed distance of 50\,kpc yields a
maximum radius of 4 5$\times$10$^{8}$\,cm (the fit normalization is
essentially unconstrained at the lower bound)   Though great care
should be taken in interpreting this result, as the black body model
is possibly overestimating the luminosity, this obtained radius is
still consistent with that of moderately massive ($>$1 1$M_{\odot}$)
white dwarfs (Hamada \& Salpeter 1961), i e \,the whole white dwarf
surface may still be emitting at 59\,eV 

\section{Dedicated XMM-Newton observations}

We were granted an XMM-Newton Target of Opportunity (ToO) observation,
once the source became again visible to XMM-Newton, and a 10\,ks
XMM-Newton EPIC observation was made on 19th June 2007 (see
Table~\ref{slewtable})  All the XMM-Newton EPIC data, i e   the data
from the two MOS cameras and the single pn camera, were taken in
full-frame mode with the thin filter in place   These data from the
three EPIC instruments have been reprocessed using the standard
procedures in XMM-Newton SAS (Science Analysis System) $-$ v 7 1 0 
Periods of high-background, of which there were very few, were
filtered out of each dataset by creating a high-energy 10$-$15\,keV
lightcurve of single events over the entire field of view, and
selecting times when this lightcurve peaked above 0 75\,ct s$^{-1}$
(for pn) or 0 25\,ct s$^{-1}$ (for MOS)  This resulted in
$\approx$9 4(8 0)\,ks of low-background MOS(pn) data  Details of this dedicated
XMM-Newton observation, together with source position, and
(0 2$-$2\,keV) all-EPIC combined (pn, MOS1, MOS2) detected source
counts, count rate and detection likelihood are given in
Table~\ref{slewtable} 

Source spectra, containing single and double events, were extracted
from the datasets from circles (none of the data were now piled up)
centred on the source position  An extraction radius, estimated from
where the radial surface brightness profile was seen to fall to the
surrounding background level, was set to 30\arcsec  Background spectra
were extracted from each cleaned dataset from a 40\arcsec$-$80\arcsec\
annulus centred on the source position  Point sources seen to
contaminate these larger-area background spectra were removed from the
background spectra to a radius of 60\arcsec  ARF files were created
for the source spectra, and were checked to confirm that the correct
extraction area calculations had been performed  Finally RMF response
files were generated 
 
Standard spectral models were again fit to the spectral data using
XSPEC  Once again it was obvious that only a very soft model would fit the data; the only
simple model that was able to fit the data well (a P-statistic = 0 17,
based on 5000 random simulations) was a black-body model of
temperature $kT$=70$^{+3}_{-4}$\,eV, with an absorbing hydrogen column
of 6 9$^{+1 0}_{-1 6}\times10^{20}$\,cm$^{-2}$  The spectrum, together with this best-fit
model are shown in Fig \,\ref{xmmspec}  The corresponding
(0 2$-$2 0\,keV) flux is only marginally less than the Swift-XRT value
at 2 2$^{+0 8}_{-0 9}\times10^{-13}$\,ergs cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ and the
X-ray luminosity (for the assumed distance of 50\,kpc) is
6 7$^{+2 5}_{-2 8}\times10^{34}$\,ergs s$^{-1}$ 

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[bb=110 15 570 705,clip,width=6 0cm,angle=270]{12082f3 ps}
\caption{XMM-Newton ToO spectrum from XMMSL1 J060636 2-694933  The
  data points (crosses; adjacent data bins having been grouped
  together for the plot to have a significance of at least 3)) have
  been fitted again with a black body model (kT=70\,eV) (see text) 
  EPIC-pn data is shown in black, with EPIC-MOS1 in red and EPIC-MOS2
  in green  The solid lines show the best fit to the spectra   The
  ratios of the data to the best fit model are shown in the lower
  panel }
\label{xmmspec}
\end{figure}

Given that, in this XMM-Newton ToO observation, we had obtained a
larger number of counts ($\raisebox{-1mm}{$\stackrel{>}{\sim}$}$1500 over the 3 EPIC cameras), the
physically more realistic CO white dwarf atmosphere model (MacDonald \&
Vennes 1991) was also attempted  This yielded a marginal fit (and formally
a no more statistically significant fit; P-statistic = 0 04, based on
5000 random simulations), with an effective temperature of
73$^{+3}_{-2}$\,eV, and an $N_{\rm H}$ of
3 4$^{+0 8}_{-0 8}$$\times$$10^{20}$\,cm$^{-2}$  Again, usage of the black body model results
in a larger fitted $N_{\rm H}$ and a lower fitted temperature than
with the atmosphere model  


As before, the model normalization can be used to obtain a cautious
estimate of the size of the emitting region  For the assumed distance
of 50\,kpc, then the black body model returns an emitting region
radius of only 1 3$\pm$0 2$\times$10$^{8}$\,cm   Again care should be
taken, as this may be an overestimation, the black body model having
perhaps overestimated the luminosity  For the white dwarf atmosphere
model, a smaller radius of 0 4$\pm$0 1$\times$10$^{8}$\,cm is
obtained  Note further that the assumption of a larger distance (see
Section~6) would result in a proportionally larger emitting radius 
The range in allowed radius therefore is quite large, and it is not
impossible for for the whole of the white dwarf surface to be emitting
at 70\,eV  If this is the case, then the white dwarf would have to be
at the high end of the mass range ($>$1 2$M_{\odot}$; Hamada \&
Salpeter 1961)  It may be the case then that we are at this point at,
or close to the end of the SSS phase, where the effective temperature
has reached a maximum (Sala \& Hernanz 2005), as is tentatively seen
in the spectral fitting results, and where the photospheric radius has
reached a minimum, close to the white dwarf radius 


\subsection{X-ray variability}

The full (XMM-Newton slew plus Swift-XRT plus XMM-Newton ToO) X-ray
lightcurve of XMMSL1 J060636 2-694933 is shown in
Fig \,\ref{lightcurve}  The calculated (0 2$-$2 0\,keV) flux values
are shown plotted against the number of days since the rev \,1210
XMM-Newton Slew discovery  The first two data points are the
rev \,1210 and the rev \,1246 XMM-Newton Slew observations  Then the
three nested Swift-XRT points are shown and finally the XMM-Newton ToO
observation  The level of RASS upper limit is shown to the bottom
left  The (0 2$-$2 0\,keV) X-ray flux is seen to have dropped by more
than two orders of magnitude in 230 days since the discovery, but is
then seen to have levelled off for the next 120 days, at a level still
$\approx$3 times that of the RASS  Finally, no evidence for any
short-term variability (using time bins down to 100\,s) is seen in the
highest statistic continuous X-ray lightcurve (the $\approx$8 0\,ksec
background-filtered EPIC-pn lightcurve) obtained from the 19/06/07
XMM-Newton observation 

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[bb=60 60 550 454,clip,width=8 7cm]{12082f4 ps}
\caption{The full X-ray lightcurve of XMMSL1 J060636 2-694933  Plotted
  are the calculated (0 2$-$2 0\,keV) flux values versus time  The
  first point is the rev \,1210 XMM-Newton Slew observation, then the
  rev \,1246 XMM-Newton Slew observation  The three nested Swift-XRT points
  are shown next and finally the XMM-Newton ToO observation  The RASS upper
  limit is shown bottom left  }
\label{lightcurve}
\end{figure}


\section{Multi-wavelength Follow-up}

\subsection{Swift UVOT}

For the Feb/Mar 2007 Swift observations, we arranged for both the
Swift UVOT-B filter and the UVOT-UVW2 filters to be used in an
approximate exposure time ratio of 1:5, thus ensuring roughly equal
numbers of counts in the two bands (though there is a spectral type
dependency here)  Swift UVOT images in these two filters of the area
of sky around XMMSL1 J060636 2-694933 are shown in Fig \,\ref{uvot} 

Prior to the Swift UVOT observations, a `best-guess' to the possible
candidate optical/IR counterpart would have been the USNO-A2 0 source
0150-04066298 (B~mag: 17 4, R~mag: 16 1), seen 4\arcsec\ south of the
XMM-Newton slew position  The UVOT images however immediately showed
that the optically fainter source at position RA, Dec (J2000) = 06 06
36 4, -69 49 34 3 (error radius: ~0 5\arcsec) was a very strong UVW2
source and very blue, and was very likely the true counterpart to
XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933  (The UVW2 filter spans approximately
800\AA\,, centred at $\approx$1900\AA)

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[bb=-82 210 695 585,clip,width=8 7cm]{12082f5 ps}
\caption{Swift UVOT images of the field around XMMSL1 J060636 2-694933 from observation
  00030895002  Left shows the UVOT B-filter and right shows the the
  UVOT UVW2-filter  The large circle is a 20\arcsec\ radius circle around
  the XMM-Newton Slew position  The small circle in the UVW2 image around the
  bright source is reproduced in the B image, indicating that a faint
  optical source is also visible at this position }
\label{uvot}
\end{figure}

The Swift UVOT pipeline processed data were analysed using the UVOT
photometry package {\em uvotsource} released with
FTOOLs\footnote{http://heasarc nasa gov/lheasoft/ftools/ftools\_menu html} 
This package performs aperture photometry on pre-specified source and
background regions, accounting for photometric- (via PSF fitting) and
coincidence loss- effects using the UVOT calibration files  Source
counts were extracted using a 5\arcsec\ radius aperture centred on the
source, while for the background we used a 10\arcsec\ radius aperture
located in a nearby source-free region   We used a larger background
aperture to effectively smooth over the modulo-8 fixed pattern noise
present in UVOT observations and to improve the statistics of the
background counts  Source counts were converted to UVOT UV-magnitudes
using the UVW2 zero-point calibration released with version~2 8 (Build
22) of the CALDB  The source is seen (see Fig \,\ref{uvotlc}) to be
roughly constant over the short duration of the Swift observations,
with a suggestion of a decline towards the end  This is in keeping
with the general form of the X-ray lightcurve (Fig \,\ref{lightcurve})
at this time 

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[bb=80 70 535 380,clip,width=8 7cm]{12082f6 ps}
\caption{Variation of the UVW2 magnitude of the bright UV source
  during the Swift observations  The same time axis as
  Fig \,\ref{lightcurve} has been used to aid comparison, and a zoom
  is also shown  The UVW2 filter was only employed during observations
  00030895002, 00030895004, 00030895005, 00030895006 \& 00030895007
  (hence the points span the dates 07/03/07 to 22/03/07)  The errors here are 1-$\sigma$  }
\label{uvotlc}
\end{figure}

It is possible to include the UVOT-detected flux with the XRT spectrum
described in Section~3  UVOT files, created using {\em uvot2pha} for
the five observations (00030895002, 00030895004, 00030895005,
00030895006 \& 00030895007) where the UVW2 filter was employed, were
incorporated into {\em xspec}, along with the appropriate response
file (swuw2\_20041120v104 rsp) from the Swift-XRT Calibration
Database  We attempted to fit a single black-body spectrum to the
Swift-XRT+UV data (again using C-statistics, the {\em wabs} absorption
model and the {\em wilm} cosmic abundance table, plus the inclusion of
the {\em xspec-redden} component to model the absorption in the UV
band)  The best fit however, with a much lower temperature of
$kT$=$36^{+3}_{-4}$\,eV, is a very poor fit to the data; we obtain a
{\em goodness} P-statistic value of 0 00, based on 5000 random
simulations  This notwithstanding, a flux in the UVW2
(1 57$-$7 77\,eV) band of 3 5$\pm{0 2}\times10^{-13}$\,ergs cm$^{-2}$
s$^{-1}$ can be obtained, corresponding to a UVW2 luminosity, for the
assumed distance of 50\,kpc, of 1 0$\pm{0 1}\times10^{35}$\,ergs
s$^{-1}$ 

The very poor single black-body fit above, plus the large change in
fitted temperature is strongly suggestive that a model other than, or
in addition to the XRT-derived kT=59\,eV black body model (Section~3)
should be used to describe the UVW2 data  As we have no UV data other
than in the UVW2 filter, all that can be done is to apply the
XRT-derived black body model to the UVW2+XRT data, and in doing this,
a large flux excess with respect to the XRT-derived black body model
is seen in the UVW2 band  This is shown in Fig \ref{xrtuvotspec}  This
excess in UV emission (most of the $10^{35}$\,ergs s$^{-1}$ discussed
above) is likely due to a combination of residual post-nova nuclear
burning on the surface of the white dwarf, plus accretion in the disk,
including from emission lines  The situation is likely to be rather
complex, depending on the structure of both the ejecta and the
accretion disk, and is beyond the scope of the present work, where we
only have sparse UV data   For a review of the UV emission from
classical novae, see Shore (2008) 


\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[bb=100 15 580 710,clip,width=6 0cm,angle=270]{12082f7 ps}
\caption{Swift-XRT spectrum (black) from XMMSL1 J060636 2-694933, plus
  the best-fit black-body model to this spectrum (Section~3; Fig \,2),
  but extending into the UV to the Swift-UVOT UVW2 flux points (coloured)
  (see text)  The data points are plotted such that adjacent data
  bins have been grouped together to have a significance of at least
  3  The solid line show the best fit to the Swift-XRT spectrum  The
  ratio of the data to the best fit model is shown in the lower
  panel }
\label{xrtuvotspec}
\end{figure}


\subsection{Magellan optical observations}

On Nov ~13, 14, and 15, 2007, XMMSL1~J060636 2--694933 was observed
with the Low--Dispersion Survey Spectrograph 3 (LDSS3) mounted on the
Magellan Clay telescope  Images were obtained through the Sloan
$g^\prime$, $r^\prime$ and $i^\prime$ filters  On Nov ~15, 2007
conditions were photometric and the Landolt field RU 149A was observed
to flux calibrate the data in the $g^\prime$, $r^\prime$ and
$i^\prime$--bands   The Landolt (1992) magnitudes of the standards
were converted to Sloan magnitudes using the transformations presented
in Smith et al \ (2002)  All the images were debiased and flatfielded
using dome flatfield frames  We applied aperture photometry on each of
the images using DAOPHOT in \textsc{IRAF}\footnote{\textsc {iraf} is
  distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories} to
compute the instrumental magnitudes of the stars  Differential
photometry of the optical counterpart to XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933
(marked by an arrow in Fig ~\ref{magellan}) was performed with respect
to the field star (marked with a `c' in Fig ~\ref{magellan})  This was the
brightest isolated and unsaturated star common to all frames   The
calibrated brightness of this comparison star is $g'= 18 42 \pm 0 04$,
$r'= 17 85 \pm 0 06$ and $i'=17 58 \pm 0 07$ 

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[bb=35 215 575 575,clip,width=8 7cm]{12082f8 ps}
\caption{Magellan Clay LDSS3 finder chart  The counterpart to
  XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 (and the bright Swift-UVOT UVW2-filter
  source; Figs \ref{uvot}\&\ref{uvotlc}) is marked with an arrow  The comparison star is
  shown marked with a 'c' }
\label{magellan}
\end{figure}

In addition to the imaging observations described above, we have
obtained spectroscopic observations on Nov ~13, 14, and 15, 2007 using
the VPH All grism, which has 660 lines per mm, and employing a
1\arcsec\ wide slit  This set-up provides a mean dispersion of 2\AA\,
per pixel  For a slit width of 1 arcsecond and a mean seeing close to
1\arcsec, the mean spectral resolution is $\approx$10\AA  On Nov ~13, 2007
we took 4 exposures of 450\,s each, on Nov ~14, 2007 we took 2
exposures of 900\,s each, and on Nov ~15, 2007 we took one 1200\,s
exposure with the slit at the parallactic angle  The spectra were bias
and flatfield corrected, and extracted in \textsc{IRAF}  The
instrumental response was corrected using the spectrophotometric flux
calibrators LTT 3218 (Nov ~13), H600 (Nov ~14) and LTT 9293 (Nov ~15) 
Significant differences in the flux around H$\alpha$ are apparent with
the flux being 50\% higher during the Nov ~15, 2007 with respect to
the Nov ~13, 2007 observations  Since there is no evidence for
brightening in the $r^\prime$ images we attribute the difference to
the fact that the source was not observed at the parallactic angle on
Nov ~13 and 14, 2007  We exported the one dimensional spectra to the
spectral analysis software package \textsc{molly} for further
analysis 

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[bb=70 30 600 800,clip,width=6 8cm,angle=270]{12082f9 ps}
\caption{Magellan Clay averaged optical spectrum of the optical source
  associated with XMMSL1 J060636 2-694933  The flux scaling is
  approximate  The prominent strong emission lines are marked (see
  text)  }
\label{optspec}
\end{figure}

We have averaged all spectra (see Fig ~\ref{optspec})  We find several
strong emission lines  The strongest of these emission lines are best
interpreted as due to [OIII] 4958 9\AA\, and 5006 9\AA\,, He~II at
4685 8\AA\, and a blend of the H$\alpha$ plus the [NII] at 6548 1\AA\,
and 6583 4\AA\,, lines found often in novae (Williams 1992)  In this
case the main [OIII] lines appear redshifted by approximately 2000\,km
s$^{-1}$  We interprete this as due to clumpy outflows in the nova
shell  The integrated light from different outflowing parts can also
explain the substructure that is present in the [OIII] lines  The
outflow velocities that we obtain for the H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ lines
is $\approx$350\,km s$^{-1}$, hence less than that for the [OIII]
lines   Note that, if XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 does reside within the
LMC, then the systematic line-of-sight recession velocity of the LMC,
262$\pm$3 4\,km~s$^{-1}$ (van der Marel et al \ 2002), should be taken
into account; i e \,a good fraction of the observed H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$
recession would then be due to the recession of the LMC itself 

\subsection{Long-term Optical light curve}

Analysis of archival robotic optical survey data from 3-minute CCD
exposures (pixel size 14\arcsec 8), obtained with a 70\,mm (200\,mm
focal length) f/2 8 telephoto lens in the course of the All Sky
Automated Survey (ASAS; Pojmanski 2002) show that the visual magnitude
of this source rose from m$_{V}\raisebox{-1mm}{$\stackrel{>}{\sim}$}$14 to m$_{V}$$\approx$12 between
Sep ~18, 2005 and Sep ~30, 2005, and then declined rapidly thereafter (see
Fig \ref{optlc})  ASAS did not detect any significant emission from
the source after around November 2005, the source having dimmed below
the limiting magnitude of ASAS 

The decline from the brightest data point ($\approx$2 2 magnitudes in
10 days, then a further $\sim$1 3 magnitudes in 46 days) suggests that
this is a nova of the 'very fast' speed class (Warner 1995, Downes
et al \ 2001)  We estimate that the time that the light curve takes to
decline 2 magnitudes below maximum observed brightness is
8$\pm$2\,days (see Section~6) 

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[bb=30 78 453 549,clip,width=7 8cm,angle=270]{12082f10 ps}
\caption{All Sky Automated Survey V-band magnitudes of the optical counterpart 
to XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933, during outburst (late September 2005) and afterwards }
\label{optlc}
\end{figure}



\section{Discussion}

The optical spectrum, showing lines of [OIII] 4958 9\AA\, and
5006 9\AA\,, He~II at 4685 8\AA\, and a blend of the H$\alpha$ plus
[NII] at 6548 1\AA\, and 6583 4\AA\, suggests that
XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 was a nova, observed (in Nov 2007) in the late
A$_{0}$ auroral phase  The fact that the observed [OIII] lines are not
in the more usual, optically thin 3:1 ratio, can be explained in terms
of a clumpy outflow scenario, whereby individual clumps of both
rest-frame and redward-shifted material are observed, and the
superposition of these account for the observed [OIII] ratio (note
further that density enhancements can change observed [OIII] ratios to
more like $\sim$1:1)  Clumps of material are often seen in nova ejecta
(e g  Shara et al \ 1997), and outflows of speeds around 2000\,km
s$^{-1}$ are not uncommon in novae (e g  in nova LMC 1991; Schwartz
et al \ 2001) 

XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 was likely at its onset (in Oct 2005) a very
fast, Fe~{\sc ii} nova (Section~3 and Williams et al \ 1991; Williams
et al \ 1994)  An accurate classification now however is not possible,
so late after maximum brightness  The soft ($kT_{\rm
  eff}$$\approx$60--70\,eV) X-ray spectrum indicates that the nova was
in a super-soft source (SSS) state (Krautter 2008) during its
discovery (in July 2006), and throughout its X-ray decline (by more
than two orders of magnitude) in the observations of Sept 2006, March
2007 and June 2007   Such a state originates from nuclear burning on
the surface of the white dwarf, and measurements of the intensity,
duration, and temperature can be used to estimate the distance to the
nova and the mass of the white dwarf (e g  Balman et al \ 1998; Lanz
et al \ 2005)  Indeed, we believe (Section~4) that the white dwarf
within XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 may be quite massive
($>$1 2$M_{\odot}$) 

As discussed earlier, classical novae are almost always discovered
optically in the early phases of their outbursts 
XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 is very unusual therefore in that it has been
discovered first in X-rays  As such, it is useful to compare it with
XMMSL1~J070542 7-381442 (also known as V598 Pup; Read et al \ 2008),
another nova recently discovered (in X-rays) in the XMM-Newton slew
survey  With a peak $m_{V}$ of $\ltsim12$, XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 is
not a particularly bright nova (c f  V598 Pup, which reached an
m$_{V}$ of $\raisebox{-1mm}{$\stackrel{<}{\sim}$}$4), and so it is not surprising that it went
unnoticed, only being discovered in X-rays during the later (here
291\,days after the outburst), optically thin nebular phase, when
classical novae are typically observed as soft X-ray sources  Though
this delay should be taken as a upper limit, it is long when compared
to V598 Pup ($\raisebox{-1mm}{$\stackrel{<}{\sim}$}$127 days), but may instead be more similar to the
delays of $\sim$200 days seen in V1974 Cyg (Krautter et al \ 1996),
$\sim$6 months of V382 Vel (Orio et al \ 2002), and 6$-$8 months of
V1494 Aql (Drake et al \ 2003)  In their X-ray monitoring of optical
novae in M31, Pietsch et al \ (2007) detect 11 out of 34 novae in
X-rays within a year after their optical outbursts  Seven novae are
seen to be X-ray bright, several (3$-$9) years after outburst, and
three novae showed very short X-ray outbursts, starting within
50\,days of outburst, but lasting only two to three months 
XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 therefore is not particularly unusual 

A method to estimate the distance to the nova is to use the relation
between the absolute magnitude at maximum brightness and the time that
the light curve takes to decline 2 magnitudes below maximum
brightness, $t_{2}$ (Della Valle \& Livio 1995)  We have no
information over the 12 days between the data point of maximum
brightness and the lower limit prior to this (Fig \,\ref{optlc}), and
therefore we have no exact outburst date, nor exact apparent
magnitude at outburst   Assuming for the moment though that we have
caught the outburst exactly in the Sep ~30, 2005 observation, then we
can estimate (Sect ~5 3) $t_{2}$ to be 8$\pm$2\,days, and using this,
we can estimate (Della Valle \& Livio 1995) the absolute magnitude at
maximum brightness $M_{V}$ to be --8 7$\pm$0 6  An absolute magnitude
of $M_{V}$=--8 7 implies a peak luminosity $\sim$7 times the Eddington
luminosity for a 1\,$M_{\odot}$ white dwarf  This is quite typical of
novae 

With $A_{V}$=0 39$^{+0 05}_{-0 09}$ (90\% error), as derived (Predehl
\& Schmitt 1995) from $N_{\rm
  H}$=6 9$^{+1 0}_{-1 6}\times10^{20}$\,cm$^{-2}$ (from the highest
statistic spectral fit; the XMM-Newton ToO observation), and with
$M_{V}$=--8 7$\pm$0 6, and a peak $m_{V}$ of 12 0, we can derive a
distance to XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 of 115$^{+43}_{-30}$\,kpc   As
discussed above however, we are unsure as to the exact outburst date
and the maximum brightness at outburst  Our assumed peak $m_{V}$ of
12 0 is almost certainly an underestimation  Although we have no
information in the 12 days prior to Sep ~30, 2005, a simple linear
extrapolation of the early October lightcurve back prior to Sep ~30,
2005 suggests that the actual peak $m_{V}$ was somewhere between 9 and
12  The corresponding distance estimates are then between 29 and
115\,kpc (with a mid-point $m_{V}$=10 5 value yielding a distance
estimate of 58\,kpc)  Many methods have been used to estimate the
distance to the LMC (e g   Kovacs 2000, Nelson et al \ 2000), but a
value of around 50\,kpc appears to be quite robust  Our distance
estimate is certainly consistent with that of the LMC, though the
errors are quite large   It does appear to be the case however, that
our distance estimate places the source far outside of our own Galaxy 
This, together with the source's position on the sky (at the eastern
edge of the LMC) and the sizable ($\sim$Galactic) X-ray hydrogen
column densities obtained from the spectral fits, suggest strongly
that XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 lies within the LMC itself   Note further
that the (pile-up corrected) spectral model normalizations to the
initial Slew discovery data (Sect ~2) also imply an approximate
distance to XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933 of $\sim$50\,kpc 

The source had, at the time of the slew detection, an absorbed
(0 2$-$2\,keV) X-ray flux of 4 8$^{+2 7}_{-1 6}\times10^{-11}$\,ergs
cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, corresponding to a 0 2$-$2\,keV X-ray luminosity
(at 50\,kpc) of 1 4$^{+0 8}_{-0 5}\times10^{37}$\,ergs s$^{-1}$ 
Assuming instead for the moment a distance more like 100\,kpc (though
this is thought to be well beyond the LMC, e g  Kovacs 2000), then the
(0 2$-$2\,keV) X-ray luminosity of
5 7$^{+3 0}_{-1 9}\times$$10^{37}$\,erg s$^{-1}$ obtained is at the high end of the X-ray luminosities of
classical SSS-phase novae discussed e g \,in Orio et al \ (2002) and
Ness et al \ (2007)  As discussed though, we have very likely missed
the outburst peak, and as such, our more probable assumed distance of
50\,kpc gives rise to a more typical SSS-phase X-ray luminosity   The
luminosities of 7$-$8$\times$$10^{34}$\,erg s$^{-1}$, obtained during
the Swift and pointed XMM-Newton observations, are more typical of
novae at later times, when the emission can also sometimes be
described by a thermal plasma, rather than a black-body type spectrum,
or a more mixed spectrum, due to the complex structure of the ejecta
and the accretion disk (Krautter 2008, Shore 2008) 


\section{Conclusions}

A bright X-ray source, XMMSL1~J060636 2-694933, was detected in an
XMM-Newton slew on 18 July 2006 at a position where no previous X-ray
source had been seen  The XMM-Newton slew data, plus follow-up dedicated
XMM-Newton and Swift observations, plus optical imaging and
spectroscopic data acquired with the Magellan Clay telescope and 
All-Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) data were used to classify the new object
as a nova, and to examine its properties  The primary conclusions are
as follows:

  \begin{itemize}

  \item The soft X-ray spectrum indicates that the nova was in a
    super-soft source (SSS) state at its discovery in July 2007
    (XMM-Newton slew) and through its X-ray decline (by over two
    orders of magnitude) in September 2006 (XMM-Newton slew), March
    2007 (Swift) and June 2007 (XMM-Newton) 

  \item The Magellan optical spectrum (Nov 2007) of the source
    indicates that it was very likely then a nova in the late
    A$_{0}$ auroral phase 

  \item The very fast optical decline (ASAS) during the nova's onset
    (Oct 2005), indicates that the initial nova was likely of speed class
    'very fast' 

  \item The very fast speed, together with the absolute magnitude at
    maximum brightness and the X-ray absorption, give rise to a
    distance to the source far beyond our own Galaxy  The large
    distance, together with the source's position in the sky, at the
    eastern edge of the LMC, and the spectral information from the
    X-ray data, are very suggestive that the nova is situated within
    the LMC itself 

  \item Analysis of XMM-Newton slew data is continuing to provide a
    powerful means of finding new X-ray transient objects 

\end{itemize}

\begin{acknowledgements}

  The XMM-Newton project is an ESA Science Mission with instruments
  and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and the USA
  (NASA)  The XMM-Newton project is supported by the Bundesministerium
  f\"ur Wirtschaft und Technologie/Deutsches Zentrum f\"ur Luft- und
  Raumfahrt (BMWI/DLR, FKZ 50 OX 0001), the Max-Planck Society and the
  Heidenhain-Stiftung  AMR and PE acknowledge the support of STFC
  funding, and PGJ of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific
  Research  The ASAS project is supported by the N2030731/1328 grant
  from the MNiSzW  We thank the referee (G \,Sala) for very useful
  comments and several references that have improved the paper
  notably  We thank Kim Page for providing the white dwarf atmosphere
  model, and we thank her and Graham Wynn for useful discussions  The
  use of the spectral analysis software package \textsc{molly} written
  by Tom Marsh is also acknowledged  MM acknowledges support by a
  Miller Institute Research Fellowship during the time in which part
  of the work was completed 

\end{acknowledgements}


Context 3: Paper Info

Title: Is In-hospital Meta-information Useful for Abstractive Discharge Summary Generation?
Publish Date: 10 Mar 2023
Author List: Mamoru Komachi (from Tokyo Metropolitan University), Takashi Okumura (from Kitami Institute of Technology), Hiromasa Horiguchi (from National Hospital Organization), Yuji Matsumoto

Figure

Fig  1 Example of part of a discharge summary which is a dummy we created 
Fig  2  Overview of our proposed method A new feature embedding layer encoding hospital, physician, disease, and length of stay is added to the standard transformer architecture The figure shows an example of hospital embedding 
Statistics of our data for experiment 
of summarization models with different meta-information The best results are highlighted in bold Each score is the average of three models with different seeds The BS and BR indicate BERTScore and BLEURT, respectively 
Statistics on the number of cases handled by physicians C/P denotes Cases/Physician, which indicates how many cases an individual physician has Method of Grouping Physician IDs A most naive method of mapping physician IDs to features is without any grouping process The data contains 4,846 physicians, so |M | was set to 4,846 However it caused our model's training to be unstable This might be due to the many physician IDs appearing for the first time in the test time Table

abstract

During the patient's hospitalization, the physician must record daily observations of the patient and summarize them into a brief document called "discharge summary" when the patient is discharged  Automated generation of discharge summary can greatly relieve the physicians' burden, and has been addressed recently in the research community 
Most previous studies of discharge summary generation using the sequenceto-sequence architecture focus on only inpatient notes for input  However, electric health records (EHR) also have rich structured metadata (e g , hospital, physician, disease, length of stay, etc ) that might be useful  This paper investigates the effectiveness of medical meta-information for summarization tasks 
We obtain four types of meta-information from the EHR systems and encode each meta-information into a sequence-to-sequence model  Using Japanese EHRs, meta-information encoded models increased ROUGE-1 by up to 4 45 points and BERTScore by 3 77 points over the vanilla Longformer  Also, we found that the encoded meta-information improves the precisions of its related terms in the outputs 
Our results showed the benefit of the use of medical meta-information 

INTRODUCTION

Clinical notes are written daily by physicians from their consults and are used for their own decision-making or coordination of treatment  They contain a large amount of important data for machine learning, such as conditions, laboratory tests, diagnoses, procedures, and treatments  While invaluable to physicians and researchers, the paperwork is burdensome for physicians ,  
Discharge summaries, a subset of these, also play a crucial role in patient care, and are used to share information between hospitals and physicians (see an example in Figure )  It is created by the physician as a summary of notes during hospitalization at the time of the patient's discharge, which is known to be very time-consuming 
Researchers have begun to apply automatic summarization techniques to address this problem -   Previous studies used extractive or abstractive summarization methods, but most of them focused on only progress notes for inputs  Properly summarizing an admission of a patient is a quite complex task, and requires various meta-information such as the patient's age, gender, vital signs, laboratory values and background to specific diseases 
Therefore, discharge summary generation needs more medical meta-information, than similar but narrower tasks such as radiology report generation  However, what kind of meta-information is important for summarization has not been investigated, even though it is critical not only for future research on medical summarization but also for the policy of data collection infrastructure 
In this paper, we first reveal the effects of meta-information on neural abstractive summarization on admissions  Our model is based on an encoder-decoder transformer with an additional feature embedding layer in the encoder (Figure )  Hospital, physician, disease, and length of stay are used as meta-information, and each feature is embedded in the vector space 
For experiments, we collect progress notes, discharge summaries and coded information from the electronic health record system, which are managed by a largest multi-hospital organization in Japan  Our main contributions are as follows: • We found that a transformer encoding meta-information generates higher quality summaries than the vanilla one, and clarified the benefit of using meta-information for medical summarization tasks 
• We found that a model encoding disease information can produce proper disease and symptom words following the source  In addition, we found that the model using physician and hospital information can generate symbols that are commonly written in the summary  • We are the first to apply the abstractive summarization method to generate Japanese discharge summaries 
In the studies of summarization of medical documents, it is common to retrieve key information such as disease, examination result, or medication from EHRs -   Other researchs more similar to our study targeted to help physicians get the point of medical documents quickly by generating a few key sentences -  
Studies generating contextualized summaries can be categorized by the type of model inputs and architectures  Some studies produced a whole discharge summary using structured data for input - The sensitivity of the gram stain for bacterial meningitis is about 60%, and the sensitivity of the culture is not high either 
Also, the glucose in the cerebrospinal fluid would have been slightly lower  Although no definitive diagnosis could be made, bacterial meningitis was the most suspicious disease  The causative organism was assumed to be MRSA, and vancomycin and meropenem (meningitis dose) were used to cover a wide range of enteric bacteria 
a whole discharge summary from free-form inpatient records -   The free-form data is more challenging since it is noisier than structured data  In inputting of the free-form data, extractive summarization methods, which extract sentences from the source, are commonly used , -   On the other hands, an encoder-decoder model was used for abstractive summarization , , with a limited number of studies 
The various issues in the abstractive generation of discharge summary would be studied in the future  Studies using medical meta-information have long been conducted on a lot of tasks -   In abstractive summarization on discharge summary,  developed a model incorporating similarity of progress notes and information of the record author 
They presented an idea of integrating meta-information into the abstractive summarization model on medical documents, but did not reveal how meta-information would affect the quality of the summaries  Our method is based on the encoder-decoder transformer model  The transformer model is known for its high performance and has been widely used in recent studies, thus it is suitable for our purpose 
As shown in Figure , the standard input to a transformer's encoder is created by a token sequence T = [t 0 , t 1 ,    , t i ] and position sequence P = [p 0 , p 1 ,    , p i ], where i is the maximum input length  The token and position sequences are converted into token embeddings E T and positional embeddings E P by looking up the vocabulary tables 
The sum of E T and E P is input into the model  In this paper, we attempt to encode meta-information to feature embeddings  We follow the segment embeddings of BERT and the language embeddings of XLM , which provide additional information to the model  It is not a new idea but is suitable for our validation 
Our method is formulated as follows: Let M be feature type, M ∈ {Vanilla, Hospital, Physician, Disease, Length of stay}, since we set five types of features  Feature embeddings E M is created by looking up the feature table where m j is featue value (e g , pysician ID, disease code, etc ) and |M | is the maximum number of differences in a feature 
In our study, |M | is set to four different values depending on features  Specifically, they are as follows  a) Hospital: As shown in Table , the data includes five hospital records  They were obtained mechanically from the EHR system  b) Physician: Physicians are also managed by IDs in the EHR systems  We hashed the physician IDs into 485 groups containing 10 people each 
Specifically, as a naive strategy, we shuffled and listed the cases within each hospital, and hashed them into groups in the order of appearance of the physician IDs  So each group has the information about the relevance of the hospitals  The reason for employing a grouping strategy is described in Appendix A 
c) Disease: Two types of disease information exist in our EHRs: disease names and disease codes called ICD-10   We did not use any disease names in the inputs for our experiment  Instead, we encoded diseases with the first three letters of the ICD-10 code, because they represent well the higher level concept 
The initial three letters of the ICD-10 codes are arranged in the order of an alphabetic letter, a digit, and a digit, so there are a total of 2,600 ways to encode a disease  In our data, some ICD-10 codes were missing, although all disease names were systematically obtained from the EHR system  For such cases, we converted the disease names into ICD-10 codes using MeCab with the J-MeDic (MANBYO 201905) dictionary 
Also, diseases can be divided into primary and secondary diseases, but we only deal with the primary diseases  d) Length of stay: The length of stay can be obtained mechanically from the EHR system and the maximum value was set to 1,000 days  We set |M | for vanilla, hospital, physician, disease, and length of stay to 1, 5, 485, 2,600, and 1,000, respectively  
The vanilla embedding is prepared for the baseline in our experiment and to equalize the total number of parameters with the other models  The input to our model is the sum of E T , E P and E M   We also prepare an extra model with all features for our experiments  This takes all four feature embeddings (hospital, physician, disease, and length of stay) added to the encoder 

Datasets and Metrics

We evaluated our proposed method on a subset of data from National Hospital Organization (NHO), the largest multiinstitutional organization in Japan  The statistics of our data are shown in Table  , which includes 24,630 cases collected from five hospitals  Each case includes a discharge summary and progress notes for the days of stay 
The data are randomly split into 22,630, 1,000, and 1,000 for train, validation, and test, respectively  Summarization performances are reported in ROUGE-1, ROUGE-2, ROUGE-L and BERTScore in terms of F1  In addition, we also employed BLEURT , which models human judgment 

Architectures and Hyperparameters

Due to our hardware constraints we need a model that is computationally efficient, so we employed the Longformer instead of the conventional transformer  Longformer can    In our model, number of layers, window size, dilation, input sequence length, output sequence length, batch size, learning rate and number of warmup steps are 8, 256, 1, 1024, 256, 4, 3e-5 and 1K, respectively 
Other hyperparameters are the same as in the original Longformer, except for the maximum number of epochs is not fixed and the best epoch  It is selected for each training using the validation data based on ROUGE-1  Also, the original Longformer imports pretrained-BART parameters to initial values, but we do not use pre-trained Japanese BART in this study 
We used three GeForce RTX 2080 TI for our experiments  Our vocabulary for preparing input to Longformer is taken from UTH-BERT , which is pre-trained on the Japanese clinical records  Since the vocabulary of UTH-BERT is trained by WordPiece , we also tokenize our data with WordPiece  However, the vocabulary does not include white space and line breaks, which cannot be handled, so we add those two tokens to the vocabulary, resulting in a total size of 25,002 
The vocabulary has all tokens in full characters, so we normalized full-wdith characters by converting all alphanumeric and symbolic characters to half-width for byte fallback  , we found that all the models with encoded medical meta-information perform better in ROUGE-1, ROUGE-L and BLEURT than the vanilla Longformer 
However, in BERTScore, only hospital and disease models outperform the vanilla  Specifically, disease information is most effective, improving ROUGE-1, ROUGE-2, ROUGE-L, BERTScore and BLEURT by 4 45, 0 73, 3 12, 3 77 and 0 21 points over the vanilla model, respectively  This seems to be because disease information and the ICD-10 ontology efficiently cluster groups with similar representations 
In contrast, in ROUGE-2 and ROUGE-L, the model with physician embedding is inferior to the vanilla model  This seems to be a negative effect of grouping physicians without any consideration of their relevance  It would be better to cluster them by department, physician attributes, similarity of progress notes, etc  Regarding low ROUGE-2 scores in all models, a previous study using the English data set also reported a low ROUGE-2 score of about 5%, which may indicate an inherent difficulty in discharge summary generation 
In BERTScore, the models with the physician and the length of stay did not reach the performance of the vanilla model, suggesting that the system's outputs are semantically inferior  The model with all features performed the lowest of all models in BERTScore  The reason for the low score of the model with all features seems to be that its number of parameters in feature embedding was four times larger than that of the model with the individual feature, and the amount of training data was insufficient 
In BLEURT, all models with meta-information outperform vanilla, which suggests that they are more natural to humans  To analyze the influence of encoded meta-information on the outputs, we evaluate the precisions of the generated text  Specifically, we measure the probability that the generated words are included in the gold summary to investigate if the proper words are generated 
Some previous studies on faithfulness, which also analyze the output of summarization, have employed words or entities -   In this study, we focused on words, not entities, because we wanted to visualize expressions that are not only nouns  The words were segmented by MeCab with the J-MeDic  For each segmented word, the numeral and symbol labels were assigned as parts of speech by MeCab, the morphological analyzer, while the disease and symptom were assigned by the J-Medic dictionary 
The results, shown in Figure , indicate that the encoded disease information leads to generate more proper disease and symptom words  This indicates that the meta-information successfully learns disease-related expressions  The encoded hospital or physician information also improved the precision of symbols generation 
This suggests that different hospitals and physicians have different description habits (e g , bullet points such as "•", "*" and "-", punctuation such as "。" and " ", etc ), which can be grouped by meta-information  In this paper, we conducted a discharge summary generation experiment by adding four types of information to Longformer and verified the impact of the meta-information 
The results showed that all four types of information exceeded the performance of the vanilla Longformer model, with the highest performance achieved by encoding disease information  We found that meta-information is useful for abstractive summarization on discharge summaries  Our limitations are that we used Japanese EHR, the limited number of tested features and not performing human evaluations 
As for the efficacy of the meta-information, we believe that our results are applicable to non-Japanese, but it is left as Fig    The precisions of words in the generated summaries  The vertical axis shows the probability that the words exist in the gold summary  a future work  Other meta-information may be worth verifying such as the patient's gender, age, race, religion and used EHR system, etc 
It is hard to collect a large amount of medical information and process it into meta-information, so we may need to develop a robust and flexible research infrastructure to conduct a more large scale cross-sectional study in the future  In the discharge summary generation task, which demands a high level of expertise, the human evaluation requires a lot of physicians' efforts and it is a very high cost which is unrealistic 
This is a general issue in tasks dealing with medical documents, and this study also could not perform human evaluations  On this research, informed consent and patient privacy are ensured in the following manner  Notices about their policy and the EHR data usage are posted at the hospitals  The patients who disagree with the policies can request opt-out and are excluded from the archive 
In case of minors and their parents, followed the same manner  In the case of minors and their parents are same  To conduct a research on the archive, researchers must submit their research proposals to the institutional review board  After the proposal is approved, the data is anonymized to build a dataset for analysis 
The data is accessible only in a secured room at the NHO headquarters, and only statistics are brought out of the secured room, for protection of patients' privacy  In the present research, the analysis was conducted under the IRB approval (IRB Approval No : Wako3 2019-22) of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Japan, which has a collaboration agreement with the National Hospital Organization 
This data is not publicly available due to privacy restrictions  shows the detailed number of cases handled by physicians  In all hospitals, there is a large difference between the median and the maximum of cases/physician  This indicates that a few physicians handle a large number of cases and many physicians handle fewer cases 
It is impossible to avoid physician IDs first seen at test time without some process that averages the number of cases a physician holds 



ground_truth: The three phases are exegetical, theological, and homiletical.

prompt_front: Now, answer the following question based on the text below, only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: What is the maximum radius of the emitting region for the black body model?

Read the following text and answer briefly.

Context 4: \section{Introduction and main results}


In this note we are interested in the existence versus non-existence of stable sub- and super-solutions of equations of the form
\begin{equation} \label{eq1}
-div( \omega_1(x) \nabla u ) = \omega_2(x) f(u) \qquad \mbox{in $ {\mathbb{R}}^N$,}
\end{equation} where $f(u)$ is one of the following non-linearities: $e^u$,  $ u^p$ where $ p>1$ and $ -u^{-p}$ where $ p>0$   We assume that $ \omega_1(x)$ and $ \omega_2(x)$, which we call \emph{weights},  are smooth positive functions (we allow $ \omega_2$ to be zero at say a point) and which satisfy various growth conditions at $ \infty$     Recall that we say that a solution $ u $ of $ -\Delta u = f(u)$ in $ {\mathbb{R}}^N$ is stable provided
\[ \int f'(u) \psi^2 \le \int | \nabla \psi|^2, \qquad \forall \psi \in C_c^2,\] where $ C_c^2$ is the set of $ C^2$ functions defined on $ {\mathbb{R}}^N$ with compact support   Note that the stability of $u$ is just saying that the second variation at $u$ of the energy associated with the equation is non-negative      In our setting this becomes:  We say a $C^2$ sub/super-solution $u$ of (\ref{eq1}) is \emph{stable} provided
\begin{equation} \label{stable}
\int \omega_2 f'(u) \psi^2 \le \int \omega_1 | \nabla \psi|^2 \qquad \forall \psi \in C_c^2 
\end{equation}
One should note that (\ref{eq1}) can be re-written as
\begin{equation*}
- \Delta u  + \nabla \gamma(x) \cdot \nabla u ={ \omega_2}/{\omega_1}\ f(u) \qquad \text{ in $ \mathbb{R}^N$},
\end{equation*}
where
$\gamma = - \log( \omega_1)$ and on occasion we shall take this point of view 


\begin{remark} \label{triv} Note that  if $ \omega_1$ has enough integrability then it is immediate that if $u$ is a stable solution  of (\ref{eq1}) we have $ \int \omega_2 f'(u) =0 $  (provided $f$ is increasing)    To see this let $ 0 \le \psi \le 1$ be supported in a ball of radius $2R$ centered at the origin ($B_{2R}$) with $ \psi =1$ on $ B_R$ and such that $  | \nabla \psi | \le \frac{C}{R}$ where $ C>0$ is independent of $ R$    Putting this $ \psi$ into $ (\ref{stable})$ one obtains
\[ \int_{B_R} \omega_2 f'(u) \le \frac{C}{R^2} \int_{R < |x| <2R} \omega_1,\] and so if the right hand side goes to zero as $ R \rightarrow \infty$ we have the desired result 

\end{remark}





The existence versus non-existence of stable solutions of  $ -\Delta u =  f(u)$ in $ {\mathbb{R}}^N$ or $ -\Delta u = g(x) f(u)$ in $ {\mathbb{R}}^N$ is now quite well understood, see  \cite{dancer1, farina1, egg, zz, f2, f3, wei, ces, e1, e2}   We remark that some of these results are examining the case where $ \Delta $ is replaced with $ \Delta_p$ (the $p$-Laplacian) and also in many cases the authors are interested in finite Morse index solutions or solutions which are stable outside a compact set 
  Much of the interest in these Liouville type theorems  stems from the fact that the non-existence of a stable solution is related to the existence of a priori estimates for stable solutions of a related equation on a bounded domain 




       In \cite{Ni}  equations similar to  $ -\Delta u = |x|^\alpha u^p$  where examined on the unit ball in $ {\mathbb{R}}^N$ with zero Dirichlet boundary conditions   There it was shown that for $ \alpha >0$ that  one can obtain positive solutions for $ p $ supercritical with respect to Sobolev embedding and so one can view that the term $ |x|^\alpha$ is restoring some compactness       A similar feature happens for equations of the form
\[ -\Delta u = |x|^\alpha f(u) \qquad \mbox{in $ {\mathbb{R}}^N$};\]    the value of $ \alpha$ can vastly alter the existence versus non-existence of a stable solution,  see \cite{e1, ces, e2, zz, egg} 

We now come to our main results and for this we need to define a few quantities:

\begin{eqnarray*}
I_G&:=& R^{-4t-2} \int_{ R < |x|<2R} \frac{ \omega_1^{2t+1}}{\omega_2^{2t}}dx , \\
 J_G&:=& R^{-2t-1} \int_{R < |x| <2R} \frac{| \nabla \omega_1|^{2t+1} }{\omega_2^{2t}} dx  ,\\I_L&:=& R^\frac{-2(2t+p-1)}{p-1}  \int_{R<|x|<2R }{ \left(   \frac{w_1^{p+2t-1}}{w_2^{2t}}    \right)^{\frac{1}{p-1} }  }  dx,\\ J_L&:= &R^{-\frac{p+2t-1}{p-1} }  \int_{R<|x|<2R }{ \left(   \frac{|\nabla w_1|^{p+2t-1}}{w_2^{2t}}     \right)^{\frac{1}{p-1} }  }  dx,\\
I_M  &:=&   R^{-2\frac{p+2t+1}{p+1} }  \int_{R<|x|<2R }{ \left(   \frac{w_1^{p+2t+1}}{w_2^{2t}}    \right)^{\frac{1}{p+1} }  } \ dx, \\
J_M  &:= &  R^{-\frac{p+2t+1}{p+1} }  \int_{R<|x|<2R }{ \left(   \frac{|\nabla w_1|^{p+2t+1}}{w_2^{2t}}     \right)^{\frac{1}{p+1} }  }  dx 
\end{eqnarray*}


The three equations we examine are
\[ -div( \omega_1 \nabla u ) = \omega_2 e^u \qquad \mbox{ in $ {\mathbb{R}}^N$ } \quad  (G), \]
\[  -div( \omega_1 \nabla u ) = \omega_2 u^p \qquad \mbox{ in $ {\mathbb{R}}^N$ } \quad  (L), \]
\[ -div( \omega_1 \nabla u ) = - \omega_2 u^{-p} \qquad \mbox{ in $ {\mathbb{R}}^N$ } \quad  (M),\]  and where we restrict $(L)$ to the case $ p>1$ and $(M)$ to $ p>0$     By solution we always mean a $C^2$ solution    We now come to our main results in terms of abstract $ \omega_1 $ and $ \omega_2$     We remark that our approach to non-existence of stable solutions is the approach due to Farina, see \cite{f2,f3,farina1} 

\begin{thm} \label{main_non_exist} \begin{enumerate}


\item   There is no  stable sub-solution of $(G)$ if $ I_G, J_G \rightarrow 0$ as $ R \rightarrow \infty$   for some   $0<t<2$ 
 \item    There is no positive   stable sub-solution (super-solution) of $(L)$  if  $ I_L,J_L \rightarrow 0$ as $ R \rightarrow \infty$   for some   $p- \sqrt{p(p-1)}   < t<p+\sqrt{p(p-1)} $  ($0<t<\frac{1}{2}$) 
\item   There is no positive   stable super-solution of (M) if  $ I_M,J_M \rightarrow 0$ as $ R \rightarrow \infty$  for some $0<t<p+\sqrt{p(p+1)}$ 

\end{enumerate}

\end{thm}     If we assume that $ \omega_1$ has some monotonicity we can do  better    We will assume that the monotonicity conditions is satisfied for big $x$  but really all ones needs is for it to be satisfied on a suitable sequence of annuli 

\begin{thm} \label{mono}  \begin{enumerate} \item There is no  stable sub-solution of $(G)$ with $  \nabla \omega_1(x) \cdot  x \le 0$ for big $x$ if  $ I_G \rightarrow 0$ as $ R \rightarrow \infty$   for some   $0<t<2$ 

\item There is no positive  stable sub-solution of  $(L)$ provided  $  I_L \rightarrow 0$ as $ R \rightarrow \infty$ for either:
\begin{itemize}
\item  some $  1 \le t < p + \sqrt{p(p-1)}$ and $  \nabla \omega_1(x) \cdot x \le 0$ for big $x$,  or  \\

\item some $ p - \sqrt{p(p-1)} < t \le 1$ and $ \nabla \omega_1(x) \cdot x \ge 0$ for big $ x$ 
\end{itemize}
 There is no positive super-solution of $(L)$ provided $ I_L \rightarrow 0$ as $ R \rightarrow \infty$ for some $ 0 < t < \frac{1}{2}$ and $ \nabla \omega_1(x) \cdot x \le 0$ for big $x$ 



\item  There is no positive stable super-solution of $(M)$ provided  $ I_M \rightarrow 0$ as $ R \rightarrow \infty$  for some  $0<t<p+\sqrt{p(p+1)}$ 

\end{enumerate}

\end{thm}


\begin{cor}  \label{thing}  Suppose $ \omega_1 \le C  \omega_2$  for big $ x$, $ \omega_2 \in L^\infty$,  $ \nabla \omega_1(x) \cdot  x \le 0$ for big $ x$ 
\begin{enumerate} \item There is no stable sub-solution of $(G)$ if $ N \le 9$ 

\item  There is no positive stable sub-solution of $(L)$ if  $$N<2+\frac{4}{p-1} \left( p+\sqrt{p(p-1)}  \right) $$

\item  There is no positive stable super-solution of $(M)$ if $$N<2+\frac{4}{p+1} \left( p+\sqrt{p(p+1)}  \right) $$

\end{enumerate}

\end{cor}


If one takes $ \omega_1=\omega_2=1$ in the above corollary, the results obtained for $(G)$ and  $(L)$,  and for some values of $p$ in $(M)$, are optimal, see \cite{f2,f3,zz} 





We now drop all monotonicity conditions on $ \omega_1$ 

\begin{cor} \label{po} Suppose  $ \omega_1 \le C \omega_2$ for big $x$, $ \omega_2 \in L^\infty$, $ | \nabla \omega_1| \le C \omega_2$ for big $x$ 
\begin{enumerate} \item  There is no stable sub-solution of $(G)$ if $ N \le 4$ 

\item  There is no positive stable sub-solution of $(L)$ if $$N<1+\frac{2}{p-1} \left( p+\sqrt{p(p-1)}  \right) $$

\item There is no positive super-solution of $(M)$ if $$N<1+\frac{2}{p+1} \left( p+\sqrt{p(p+1)}  \right) $$

\end{enumerate}

\end{cor}

Some of the conditions on $ \omega_i$ in Corollary \ref{po} seem somewhat artificial   If we shift over to the advection equation (and we take $ \omega_1=\omega_2$  for simplicity)
\[ -\Delta u + \nabla \gamma \cdot \nabla u = f(u), \] the conditions on $ \gamma$ become: $ \gamma$ is bounded from below and has a bounded gradient 



In what follows we examine the case where $ \omega_1(x) = (|x|^2 +1)^\frac{\alpha}{2}$ and $ \omega_2(x)= g(x) (|x|^2 +1)^\frac{\beta}{2}$,  where $ g(x) $ is positive except at say a point, smooth and where $ \lim_{|x| \rightarrow \infty} g(x) = C \in (0,\infty)$      For this class of weights we can essentially obtain optimal results 


\begin{thm} \label{alpha_beta}   Take $ \omega_1 $ and $ \omega_2$ as above 
\begin{enumerate}

\item If $ N+ \alpha - 2 <0$ then there is no stable sub-solution for $(G)$, $(L)$ (here we require it to be positive) and in the case of $(M)$ there is no positive  stable  super-solution  This case is the trivial case, see Remark \ref{triv}   \\



\textbf{Assumption:} For the remaining cases we assume that $ N + \alpha -2 > 0$ 

  \item If  $N+\alpha-2<4(\beta-\alpha+2)$ then there is no  stable sub-solution for $ (G)$ 

\item If $N+\alpha-2<\frac{ 2(\beta-\alpha+2)   }{p-1} \left( p+\sqrt{p(p-1)}  \right)$ then there is  no positive stable sub-solution of $(L)$ 

\item If $N+\alpha-2<\frac{2(\beta-\alpha+2)   }{p+1} \left( p+\sqrt{p(p+1)}  \right)$ then there is no positive stable super-solution of $(M)$ 

\item Further more 2,3,4 are optimal in the sense if $ N + \alpha -2 > 0$ and the remaining inequality is not satisfied (and in addition we assume we don't have equality in the inequality) then we can find a suitable function $ g(x)$ which satisfies the above properties and a stable sub/super-solution $u$ for the appropriate equation 

\end{enumerate}

\end{thm}

\begin{remark}  Many of the above results can be extended to the case of equality in either the $ N + \alpha - 2 \ge 0$ and also the other inequality which depends on the equation we are  examining   We omit the details because one cannot prove the results in a unified way 

\end{remark}






















In showing that an explicit solution is stable we will need the   weighted Hardy inequality given in \cite{craig} 
\begin{lemma} \label{Har}
Suppose $ E>0$ is a smooth function   Then one has
\[ (\tau-\frac{1}{2})^2 \int E^{2\tau-2} | \nabla E|^2 \phi^2 + (\frac{1}{2}-\tau) \int (-\Delta E) E^{2\tau-1} \phi^2 \le \int E^{2\tau} | \nabla \phi|^2,\] for all $ \phi \in C_c^\infty({\mathbb{R}}^N)$ and $ \tau \in {\mathbb{R}}$ 
\end{lemma}  By picking an appropriate function $E$ this gives,

\begin{cor} \label{Hardy}
For all $ \phi \in C_c^\infty$ and $ t , \alpha \in {\mathbb{R}}$  We have
  \begin{eqnarray*}
\int (1+|x|^2)^\frac{\alpha}{2} |\nabla\phi|^2 &\ge& (t+\frac{\alpha}{2})^2 \int |x|^2 (1+|x|^2)^{-2+\frac{\alpha}{2}}\phi^2\\
&&+(t+\frac{\alpha}{2})\int  (N-2(t+1)   \frac{|x|^2}{1+|x|^2}) (1+|x|^2)^{-1+\frac{\alpha} {2}} \phi^2 
\end{eqnarray*}
 \end{cor}























\section{Proof of main results}

\textbf{ Proof of Theorem \ref{main_non_exist} }   (1)  Suppose $ u$ is a stable sub-solution of $(G)$ with $ I_G,J_G \rightarrow 0$ as $ R \rightarrow \infty$ and  let $ 0 \le \phi \le 1$ denote a smooth compactly supported function   Put $ \psi:= e^{tu} \phi$ into (\ref{stable}), where $ 0 <t<2$, to arrive at
\begin{eqnarray*}
\int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1)u} \phi^2 &\le & t^2 \int \omega_1 e^{2tu} | \nabla u|^2 \phi^2 \\
&& +\int \omega_1 e^{2tu}|\nabla \phi|^2 + 2 t \int \omega_1 e^{2tu} \phi \nabla u \cdot \nabla \phi 
\end{eqnarray*}  Now multiply $(G)$ by $ e^{2tu} \phi^2$ and integrate by parts to arrive at
\[ 2t \int \omega_1 e^{2tu} | \nabla u|^2 \phi^2 \le \int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1) u} \phi^2 - 2 \int \omega_1 e^{2tu} \phi \nabla u \cdot \nabla \phi,\]
and now if one equates like terms they arrive at
\begin{eqnarray} \label{start}
\frac{(2-t)}{2} \int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1) u} \phi^2  & \le & \int \omega_1 e^{2tu} \left( | \nabla \phi |^2 - \frac{ \Delta \phi}{2} \right) dx \nonumber \\
&& - \frac{1}{2} \int e^{2tu} \phi \nabla \omega_1 \cdot \nabla \phi 
\end{eqnarray}   Now substitute $ \phi^m$ into this inequality for $ \phi$ where $ m $ is a big integer to obtain
\begin{eqnarray} \label{start_1}
\frac{(2-t)}{2} \int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1) u} \phi^{2m}  & \le & C_m \int \omega_1 e^{2tu} \phi^{2m-2}  \left( | \nabla \phi |^2 + \phi |\Delta \phi|  \right) dx \nonumber \\
&& - D_m \int e^{2tu} \phi^{2m-1} \nabla \omega_1 \cdot \nabla \phi
\end{eqnarray} where $ C_m$ and $ D_m$ are positive constants just depending on $m$    We now estimate the  terms on the right but we mention that when ones assume the appropriate monotonicity on $ \omega_1$ it is the last integral on the right which one is able to drop 

\begin{eqnarray*}
\int \omega_1 e^{2tu} \phi^{2m-2} | \nabla \phi|^2 & = & \int \omega_2^\frac{2t}{2t+1} e^{2tu} \phi^{2m-2}  \frac{ \omega_1 }{\omega_2^\frac{2t}{2t+1}} | \nabla \phi|^2  \\
& \le &  \left( \int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1) u} \phi^{(2m-2) \frac{(2t+1)}{2t}} dx \right)^\frac{2t}{2t+1}\\ &&\left( \int \frac{ \omega_1 ^{2t+1}}{\omega_2^{2t}} | \nabla \phi |^{2(2t+1)} \right)^\frac{1}{2t+1} 
\end{eqnarray*}
Now, for fixed $ 0 <t<2$ we can take $ m $ big enough so $ (2m-2) \frac{(2t+1)}{2t} \ge 2m $ and since $ 0 \le \phi \le 1$ this allows us to replace the power on $ \phi$ in the first term on the right with $2m$   and hence we obtain
 \begin{equation} \label{three}
 \int \omega_1 e^{2tu} \phi^{2m-2} | \nabla \phi|^2  \le \left( \int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1) u} \phi^{2m} dx \right)^\frac{2t}{2t+1} \left( \int \frac{ \omega_1 ^{2t+1}}{\omega_2^{2t}} | \nabla \phi |^{2(2t+1)} \right)^\frac{1}{2t+1} 
 \end{equation}    We now take the test functions $ \phi$ to be such that $ 0 \le  \phi \le 1$ with $ \phi $ supported in the ball $ B_{2R}$ with $ \phi = 1 $ on $ B_R$ and $ | \nabla \phi | \le \frac{C}{R}$ where $ C>0$ is independent of $ R$    Putting this choice of $ \phi$ we obtain
 \begin{equation} \label{four}
 \int \omega_1 e^{2tu} \phi^{2m-2} | \nabla \phi |^2 \le \left( \int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1)u} \phi^{2m} \right)^\frac{2t}{2t+1} I_G^\frac{1}{2t+1} 
 \end{equation}  One similarly shows that
 \[ \int \omega_1 e^{2tu} \phi^{2m-1} | \Delta \phi| \le \left( \int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1)u} \phi^{2m} \right)^\frac{2t}{2t+1} I_G^\frac{1}{2t+1}



ground_truth: 4.5x10^8 cm.

prompt_front: Now, answer the following question based on the text below, only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: What is the future direction mentioned in the conclusion?

Read the following text and answer briefly.

Context 4: \]
 So, combining the results we obtain

 \begin{eqnarray} \label{last} \nonumber \frac{(2-t)}{2} \int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1) u} \phi^{2m} &\le& C_m \left( \int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1) u} \phi^{2m} dx \right)^\frac{2t}{2t+1} I_G^\frac{1}{2t+1}\\
 &&- D_m \int e^{2tu} \phi^{2m-1}  \nabla \omega_1 \cdot \nabla \phi 
 \end{eqnarray}
 We now estimate this last term   A similar argument using H\"{o}lder's inequality shows that
 \[ \int e^{2tu} \phi^{2m-1} | \nabla \omega_1| | \nabla \phi| \le \left(  \int \omega_2 \phi^{2m} e^{(2t+1) u} dx \right)^\frac{2t}{2t+1} J_G^\frac{1}{2t+1}  \] Combining the results gives that
\begin{equation} \label{last}
(2-t) \left( \int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1) u} \phi^{2m} dx \right)^\frac{1}{2t+1} \le I_G^\frac{1}{2t+1} + J_G^\frac{1}{2t+1},
\end{equation} and now we send $ R \rightarrow \infty$ and use the fact that $ I_G, J_G \rightarrow 0$ as $ R \rightarrow \infty$ to see that
\[ \int \omega_2 e^{(2t+1) u} =0, \] which is clearly a contradiction    Hence there is no stable sub-solution of $(G)$ 

(2)    Suppose that $u >0$ is a stable sub-solution (super-solution) of $(L)$   Then a similar calculation as in (1) shows that for  $ p - \sqrt{p(p-1)} <t < p + \sqrt{p(p-1)}$,  $( 0 <t<\frac{1}{2})$ one has

\begin{eqnarray}   \label{shit}
(p  -\frac{t^2}{2t-1}   )\int \omega_2 u^{2t+p-1} \phi^{2m} & \le & D_m \int \omega_1 u^{2t} \phi^{2(m-1)} (|\nabla\phi|^2  +\phi |\Delta \phi |) \nonumber \\
&& +C_m \frac{(1-t)}{2(2t-1)} \int u^{2t} \phi^{2m-1}\nabla \omega_1 \cdot  \nabla \phi 
 \end{eqnarray}    One now applies H\"{o}lder's argument as in (1) but the terms $ I_L$ and $J_L$ will appear on the right hand side of the resulting
 equation       This shift from a sub-solution to a super-solution depending on whether $ t >\frac{1}{2}$ or $ t < \frac{1}{2}$ is a result from the sign change of $ 2t-1$ at $ t = \frac{1}{2}$    We leave the details for the reader 


(3)   This case is also similar to (1) and (2) 


\hfill $ \Box$

 \textbf{Proof of Theorem \ref{mono} }   (1)   Again we suppose there is a stable sub-solution $u$ of $(G)$   Our starting point  is (\ref{start_1}) and we wish to be able to drop the term
 \[ - D_m \int e^{2tu} \phi^{2m-1} \nabla \omega_1 \cdot \nabla \phi, \] from (\ref{start_1})     We can choose $ \phi$ as in the proof of Theorem \ref{main_non_exist} but also such that $ \nabla \phi(x) = - C(x) x$ where $ C(x) \ge 0$      So if we assume that $ \nabla \omega_1 \cdot x \le 0$ for big $x$ then we see that this last term is non-positive and hence we can drop the term   The the proof is as before but now we only require that $ \lim_{R \rightarrow \infty} I_G=0$ 

 (2)      Suppose that $ u >0$ is a stable sub-solution of $(L)$  and so (\ref{shit}) holds for all $  p - \sqrt{p(p-1)} <t< p + \sqrt{p(p-1)}$    Now we wish to use monotonicity to drop the term from (\ref{shit}) involving the term $ \nabla \omega_1 \cdot \nabla \phi$       $ \phi$ is chosen the same as in (1)  but here one notes that the co-efficient for this term changes sign at $ t=1$ and hence by restriction $t$ to the appropriate side of 1 (along with the above condition on $t$ and $\omega_1$) we can drop the last term depending on which monotonicity we have and hence to obtain a contraction we only require that $ \lim_{R \rightarrow \infty} I_L =0$    The result for the non-existence of a stable super-solution is similar be here one restricts $ 0 < t < \frac{1}{2}$ 


(3)   The proof here is similar to (1) and (2) and we omit the details 




 \hfill $\Box$













\textbf{Proof of Corollary \ref{thing} }   We suppose  that $ \omega_1 \le C  \omega_2$  for big $ x$, $ \omega_2 \in L^\infty$,  $ \nabla \omega_1(x) \cdot  x \le 0$ for big $ x$      \\
(1)     Since $ \nabla \omega_1 \cdot x \le 0$ for big $x$ we can apply Theorem \ref{mono} to show the non-existence of a stable solution to $(G)$    Note that  with the above assumptions on $ \omega_i$ we have that
\[ I_G \le \frac{C R^N}{R^{4t+2}} \]  For $ N \le 9$  we can take $ 0 <t<2$  but close enough to $2$ so the right hand side goes to zero as $ R \rightarrow \infty$ 

Both (2) and (3) also follow directly from applying Theorem \ref{mono}    Note that one can say more about (2) by taking the multiple cases as listed in Theorem \ref{mono} but we have choice to leave this to the reader 


\hfill $ \Box$


\textbf{Proof of Corollary \ref{po} }   Since we have no monotonicity conditions now we will need both $I$ and $J$ to go to zero to show the non-existence of a stable solution    Again the results are obtained immediately by applying Theorem \ref{main_non_exist}  and we prefer to omit the details 


\hfill $\Box$
















\textbf{Proof of Theorem \ref{alpha_beta} }  (1)   If $ N + \alpha -2 <0$ then using Remark \ref{triv}  one easily sees there is no stable sub-solution of $(G)$ and $(L)$ (positive for $(L)$) or a positive stable super-solution of $(M)$    So we now assume that $ N + \alpha -2 > 0$      Note that the monotonicity of $ \omega_1$ changes when $ \alpha $ changes sign and hence one would think that we need to consider separate cases if we hope to utilize the monotonicity results    But a computation shows that in fact $ I$ and $J$ are just multiples of each other in all three cases so it suffices to show, say, that $ \lim_{R \rightarrow \infty} I =0$  \\
(2)    Note that for $ R >1$ one has
\begin{eqnarray*}
I_G & \le  & \frac{C}{R^{4t+2}} \int_{R <|x| < 2R} |x|^{ \alpha (2t+1) - 2t \beta} \\
& \le  &  \frac{C}{R^{4t+2}}  R^{N + \alpha (2t+1) - 2t \beta},
\end{eqnarray*} and so to show the non-existence we want to find some $ 0 <t<2$ such that
$  4t+2 > N  + \alpha(2t+1) - 2 t \beta$,   which is equivalent to  $ 2t ( \beta - \alpha +2) > (N + \alpha -2)$     Now recall that we are assuming that $ 0 < N + \alpha -2 < 4 ( \beta - \alpha +2) $ and hence we have the desired result by taking $  t <2$ but sufficiently close 
The proof of the non-existence results for
(3) and (4) are similar and we omit the details    \\
(5)   We now assume that $N+\alpha-2>0$   In showing the existence of stable sub/super-solutions we need to consider  $ \beta - \alpha + 2 <0$ and $ \beta - \alpha +2 >0$ separately 

\begin{itemize} \item $(\beta - \alpha + 2 <0)$  Here we take $ u(x)=0$ in the case of $(G)$ and $ u=1$ in the case of $(L)$ and $(M)$  In addition we take $ g(x)=\E$   It is clear that in all cases $u$ is the appropriate sub or super-solution   The only thing one needs to check is the stability     In all cases this reduces to trying to show that we have
\[ \sigma \int       (1+|x|^2)^{\frac{\alpha}{2}  -1}    \phi^2 \le \int      (1+|x|^2)^{\frac{\alpha}{2}}   | \nabla\phi  |^2,\]  for all $ \phi \in C_c^\infty$ where  $ \sigma $ is some small positive constant; its either $ \E$ or $ p \E$ depending on which equation were are examining 
To show this we use the result from Corollary \ref{Hardy} and we drop a few positive terms to arrive at
\begin{equation*}
\int (1+|x|^2)^\frac{\alpha}{2} |\nabla\phi|^2\ge (t+\frac{\alpha}{2})\int \left (N-2(t+1)   \frac{|x|^2}{1+|x|^2}\right) (1+|x|^2)^{-1+\frac{\alpha} {2}}
\end{equation*} which holds for all $ \phi \in C_c^\infty$ and $ t,\alpha \in {\mathbb{R}}$ 
  Now, since $N+\alpha-2>0$, we can choose $t$ such that $-\frac{\alpha}{2}<t<\frac{n-2}{2}$   So, the integrand function in the right hand side is positive and since for small enough $\sigma$ we have
  \begin{equation*}
\sigma \le  (t+\frac{\alpha}{2})(N-2(t+1)   \frac{|x|^2}{1+|x|^2})  \ \ \ \text {for all} \ \ x\in \mathbb{R}^N
\end{equation*}
 we get stability 



\item ($\beta-\alpha+2>0$) In the case of $(G)$ we take   $u(x)=-\frac{\beta-\alpha+2}{2} \ln(1+|x|^2)$ and $g(x):= (\beta-\alpha+2)(N+(\alpha-2)\frac{|x|^2}{1+|x|^2})$  By a computation one sees that $u$ is a sub-solution of $(G)$ and hence we need now to only show the stability, which amounts to showing that
\begin{equation*}
\int \frac{g(x)\psi^2}{(1+|x|^{2   })^{-\frac{\alpha}{2}+1}}\le \int\frac{|\nabla\psi|^2}{    (1+|x|^2)^{-\frac{\alpha}{2}}     },
\end{equation*} for all $ \psi \in C_c^\infty$   To show this we use  Corollary \ref{Hardy}   So  we  need to choose an appropriate $t$ in   $-\frac{\alpha}{2}\le t\le\frac{N-2}{2}$  such that for all $x\in {\mathbb{R}}^N$ we have
 \begin{eqnarray*}
 (\beta-\alpha+2)\left(    N+  (\alpha-2)\frac{|x|^2}{1+|x|^2}\right)         &\le& (t+\frac{\alpha}{2})^2 \frac{ |x|^2 }{(1+|x|^2}\\
&&+(t+\frac{\alpha}{2}) \left(N-2(t+1)   \frac{|x|^2}{1+|x|^2}\right) 
\end{eqnarray*}
With a  simple calculation one sees we need just to have
   \begin{eqnarray*}
 (\beta-\alpha+2)&\le& (t+\frac{\alpha}{2}) \\
  (\beta-\alpha+2)     \left(    N+  \alpha-2\right)      &   \le&  (t+\frac{\alpha}{2}) \left(N-t-2+\frac{\alpha}{2}) \right) 
 \end{eqnarray*}     If one takes $ t= \frac{N-2}{2}$ in the case where $ N \neq 2$ and $ t $ close to zero in the case for $ N=2$ one easily sees the above inequalities both hold, after considering all the constraints on $ \alpha,\beta$ and $N$ 

 We now consider the case of $(L)$   Here one takes $g(x):=\frac {\beta-\alpha+2}{p-1}(    N+  (\alpha-2-\frac{\beta-\alpha+2}{p-1})
\frac{|x|^2}{1+|x|^2})$ and $ u(x)=(1+|x|^2)^{ -\frac  {\beta-\alpha+2}{2(p-1)} }$    Using essentially the same approach as in $(G)$ one shows that $u$ is a stable sub-solution of $(L)$ with this choice of $g$    \\
For the case of $(M)$ we take   $u(x)=(1+|x|^2)^{ \frac  {\beta-\alpha+2}{2(p+1)}   }$ and $g(x):=\frac {\beta-\alpha+2}{p+1}(    N+  (\alpha-2+\frac{\beta-\alpha+2}{p+1})
\frac{|x|^2}{1+|x|^2})$ 



\end{itemize}


\hfill  $  \Box$












ground_truth: Verifying other meta-information such as patient's gender, age, race, etc.