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Sadly, it seems that Jeunesse representatives have not learned the hard lesson that Vemma is learning at the hand of the FTC. It is time for the Jeunesse compliance department to step up. With a quick search, here are some of the claims used to sell Jeunesse products and signup additional representatives: Cancer Stroke And High Blood Pressure 2 weeks ago my father’s friend suffered stroke, i suggest to give her father reserve 2 x 3 sachet a day. Now he can talk, standing and walking by himself, all of this without consume any other medicine, only reserve. My dad for 2 months consume reserve 1 sachet a day, his blood pressure use to be 140-160 now 120, and this is never achieve before. He is very please about this. I drink reserve for 1 month and already lost my weight to 20 kg Eczema I had eczema for 4 years. It all started with small little bumps and itchiness on both of my palms. I had to apply steroid cream all the time. After a year, I had to go on steroid medication cause the cream didn’t work as good as before. Last year the condition got worst as it spread to my face, neck and body. I had to go on 6 steroid pills daily with a strict diet and had to stop working. I consulted skin specialists and tried many other products but all failed to solve my problem till I came to know about Jeunesse Cellular Rejuvenating Serum and Reserve supplement. I started on Reserve supplement. After a week, I decided to try the Luminesce skincare range. While applying the Cellular Rejuvenating Serum on my face with my hands, I noticed that it helped in healing the cuts and cracks on my palms too. I was amazed by the fast results in just 2 days. I have been on Reserve for 2 months now. I am more energetic and I don’t need to go on a strict diet. My vision has improved, less joint pain and I even lost weight with it. The best of all, I am free of my Eczema after 4 long years! Conclusion In my opinion, Jeunesse is going to run into some very serious regulator issues with all these claims being made about their products by their representatives. It is time for this type of unethical marketing to end. I wonder, now it’s april 2016 and Jeunesse reps still are in full swing making a lot of claims all over the place and Jeunesse seems to be doing well – what is the news regarding FTC investigating Jeunesse? I am an representative of Jeunesse Global and I must say that those products really work. I did not believed it myself at first. I have seen it with my own eyes. I am using the skincare line of Luminesce myself and seen how my face has changed myself. I would never joined this business if it didn’t do what it says it does. The Instantly Ageless is also a great product. I have demonstrated it yesterday again on someone, amazing! And the time of the effect depends on the skin. But for something permanent you must use the Luminesce. About those statements some people make about Reserve and other products and treating cancer etc etc. I am very careful with that because in my opinion we can not say those kind of things. I do know that Reserve has achieved amazing results around me and I do belief in the product’s greatness but this is more based on health. However treating diseases is not something I mention nor will I let my team say things like that. The representatives of Jeunesse are no doctors and we can not make those statements. Sadly there are always people around that does. We can only share what we’ve seen our selves from our own experiences. Jeunesse is all about anti aging and they work with the best doctors to achieve it from inside and outside. The products does not get this media attention in this way if they where not working! I am proud to be part of it because it does help a lot of people become more healthy in life and it has helped me and I love helping others. 🙂 Thanks so much for this review, Ethan. I’ve met quite a few Jeunesse reps here in the Greater Toronto Area. All of the Jeunesse reps who I’ve met have said glowing things about the company and about the products. However, I’ve never heard any testimonials about Jeunesse from actual customers. I’m looking forward to reading more of your updates if you have any more about Jeunesse. Alex Morton and the YPR movement that left Vemma, joined Jeunesse. On many occasions Alex and his team was mentioned in the Vemma court case. It’s just a matter of time that the FTC follows Morton and his team over at Jeunesse. I believe Jeunesse will be the next company to be investigated by FTC.

Craig Bryant Craig Bryant is the founder and product manager of Kin, an HR management software for small companies, which launched in 2013. He's also co-founder and president of We Are Mammoth, a web development company based in started back in 2006. A proud Chicago native who originally studied music composition, Craig's ethos is simple: build good places to work at, and good products will follow.

Kurt Angle: Consumers who pre-ordered WWE 2K18 at any participating retailer received two playable characters of WWE Hall of Famer, decorated Olympian and current Raw General Manager, Kurt Angle, at no extra cost: WWE “American Hero” persona (2001); ECW “Wrestling Machine” persona (2006). Gameplay Enhancements: WWE 2K18 continues refining the simulation gameplay experience that sits at the franchise’s core. Mayhem arrives in the form of improved eight-person matches, a new carry and drag system, thousands of new animations and more – all complemented by a brand new graphics engine that delivers spectacular lighting, more realistic skin and new camera effects to ensure everyone’s favorite WWE personalities, crowds and arenas look their best; MyCAREER Mode: The franchise’s career-driven journey focuses on telling a compelling story through self-created WWE Superstars (a.k.a. MyPLAYERs) as they explore two different paths en route to a WrestleMania moment and beyond: the Company Man and the Fan Favorite. A new free-roaming backstage area provides a more experiential scenario, as players spend more time interacting with fellow WWE Superstars and supporting personnel to explore their personalities, receive side quests, conduct or ambush interviews, change match cards and more. Players will also see MyCAREER updates to the mode’s Promo Generator, as well as Invasions; Universe Mode: WWE 2K18 introduces two types of rivalry scenarios – Potential Rivalries and Active Rivalries – along with a color-coded Intensity Meter to guide what’s likely to happen between opposing rivals in any situation. Rivalries and storylines now see better flow to align with WWE’s real-life pay-per-view events, while new Power Rankings, Goals and Match Types add more depth throughout the experience; Road to Glory: Making its WWE 2K18 debut, Road to Glory is a completely new online experience where MyPLAYERs from all over the world battle against one another. Players can compete daily in a variety of match types to earn stars, boosts, Superstar parts and virtual currency. In addition, by increasing their levels, players can further customize their MyPLAYERs to gain the advantage over others. Overall, players are encouraged to see if they have what it takes to secure entry into pay-per-view events and defeat their favorite WWE Superstars to earn special rewards; Commentary: Featuring the debut trio of Michael Cole, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves at the commentary table, a WWE 2K game has never sounded better. Improved crowd sounds, including the addition of authentic crowd chants, bring WWE 2K18 closer than ever to what fans see every week on WWE television and at live events; Players will be able to unlock and boost MyPLAYER ratings and attributes via a 50,000 virtual currency starting bonus; Players will begin with 10 additional Attribute Points for MyPLAYER and can boost any Attribute tower by 10 points or spread the upgrades throughout multiple Attribute towers; MyPLAYER Kick Start will be available for $9.99. New Moves Pack Explore a wide variety of new in-game moves, including the Tie Breaker (made popular by WWE Superstar Tye Dillinger); the Crash Landing (made popular by NXT Superstar Kassius Ohno); the Pumphandle Death Valley Driver (made popular by NXT Superstar Akam); and the Swinging Sleeper Slam (made popular by WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page). Season Pass*: Players may purchase select WWE 2K18 downloadable content at a reduced price point through the game’s Season Pass. For $29.99, a savings of more than 20 percent versus individual content purchases, players will receive the following items as they become available: Accelerator; Enduring Icons Pack; MyPLAYER Kick Start; New Moves Pack; NXT Generation Pack. Phew, that was a lot to sum up, but now you know what to expect from the newest version of WWE 2K.

Downregulation of KCC2 following LTP contributes to EPSP-spike potentiation in rat hippocampus. GABAergic synaptic inhibition plays a critical role in regulating long-term potentiation (LTP) of glutamatergic synaptic transmission and circuit output. The K(+)-Cl(-) cotransporter 2 (KCC2) is an important factor in determining inhibitory GABAergic synaptic strength besides the contribution of GABA(A) receptor. Although much knowledge has been gained regarding activity-dependent downregulation of KCC2 in many pathological conditions, the potential change and contribution of KCC2 in LTP expression is still unknown. In this study, we found that downregulation of KCC2 was accompanied with the occurrence of LTP but not that of long-term depression in hippocampal CA1 region. Meanwhile, KCC2 level in CA3/DG and adjacent cortex was stable in the process of LTP expression in Schaffer collateral synapses. Blockade of NMDA receptor with APV not only prevented LTP induction also abolished the reduction of KCC2. Furthermore, the inhibition of KCC2 function with furosemide directly induced EPSP-spike (E-S) potentiation, an important component of LTP in hippocampus. The present data suggest a novel mechanism that LTP formation is accompanied by the downregulation of KCC2, which is underlying GABAergic strength and most likely contributes to the E-S potentiation following LTP.

We also offer a number of Feedwater Treatment programs to help meet your needs. Feedwater is water added to the boiler to replace evaporation and blowdown. Regardless of how the feedwater is prepared, a chemical treatment is needed in order to prevent potential problems downstream. We provide a complete offering of mechanical and chemical programs, including:

[Effects of gamma-vinyl GABA per os in 5 cases of hebephreno-catatonic schizophrenia]. gamma-Vinyl GABA, an irreversible inhibitor of GABA transaminase, was administered orally to five patients with catatonic or hebephreno-catatonic schizophrenia. Improvement of psychiatric symptoms was observed in four cases. The results are discussed in relation to previously reported attempts to increase the CNS gabaergic function of patients with schizophrenia.

Control of seizures in different stages of partial epilepsy: LACO-EXP, a Spanish retrospective study of lacosamide. Lacosamide is approved as adjunctive therapy for focal epilepsies. The number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) tried is associated with prognosis. This multicenter, retrospective, observational study (LACO-EXP) in Spain in 500 adult patients with focal epilepsies examined the efficacy and tolerability of add-on lacosamide. Factors associated with better efficacy/tolerability were analyzed. After 12months, the responder rate (≥50% reduction in seizure frequency) was 57.1%, and the seizure-free rate was 14.9%. Efficacy was better when lacosamide was the first or second add-on AED, although there was a small chance to be seizure-free even for patients who had received ≤10 prior AEDs. The mechanism of action of concomitant AEDs is important in all the stages, but differences are smaller in the early stages. Lacosamide was generally well tolerated. A slower dosage-titration schedule was associated with a lower adverse event rate. Further investigation of the timing of initiation of lacosamide add-on therapy and ideal combinations of AEDs is required.

1. Introduction {#sec0005} =============== Hepatic choristomas or ectopic livers, also known as hepar succenturiatum, are an extremely rare developmental anomaly that can be found anywhere in the body, and is usually located in the abdomen, retroperitoneum and the chest. The incidence was reported to be 0.05%, with 3 cases in a series of 5500 autopsies in 1940, but more modern studies document a higher incidence during laparoscopic surgery, varying between 0.47% and 0.7% [@bib0010], [@bib0015]. The natural course of hepatic choristomas is unpredictable. Ectopic livers can undergo fatty change, haemosiderosis, cholestasis or cirrhosis. They are also at increased risk of carcinogenesis [@bib0020]. A review of the literature reveals at least 65 cases of well-documented gallbladder associated hepatic choristomas, with few documented cases diagnosed preoperatively [@bib0025], [@bib0030], [@bib0035]. We describe a case of suspected symptomatic ectopic liver tissue, which was removed laparoscopically to prevent any potential risk of malignant transformation. 2. Presentation of case {#sec0010} ======================= In our manuscript, we present a 73-year-old lady with a background history of diabetes mellitus and hypertension. She was referred to our hepatobiliary unit for a gallbladder tumor that was diagnosed on ultrasound, which was done for right upper quadrant postprandial abdominal pain ([Fig. 1](#fig0005){ref-type="fig"}). The patient was investigated thoroughly, with liver function tests and tumor markers found to be within normal values. A triphasic computed tomography scan (CT) noted a normal liver, with absence of abnormal gallbladder findings. It also showed an enhanced soft tissue lesion with the same density as the liver, measuring about 3 cm × 1.5 cm, interposed between the gall bladder and the liver ([Fig. 2](#fig0010){ref-type="fig"}). A Gallbladder polyp, tumor as well as lymph node were ruled unlikely, with the most suspect diagnosis being that of a hepatic choristoma. Although the risk of malignant transformation of a gallbladder associated hepatic choristoma into hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is low, a decision to proceed for surgical excision was made due to the patient's symptoms. We decided to perform a diagnostic laparoscopy, where surgical exploration revealed a bean shaped liver choristoma lying on the medial wall of the gallbladder with an attachment to the liver ([Fig. 3](#fig0015){ref-type="fig"}). The lesion was removed by en-bloc resection along with cholecystectomy with extraction of the specimen in an endobag. Histopathological examination confirmed the suspected finding of liver tissue, with fatty infiltration and the absence of carcinogenesis or any gallbladder pathology. The patient had an unremarkable post-operative course and was discharged the following day in good condition. On follow-up her right upper quadrant was completely disappeared.Fig. 1Ultrasound liver demonstrating a lesion inside the gallbladder.Fig. 1Fig. 2CT scan showing an enhanced soft tissue lesion with the same density as the liver, measuring about 3 × 1.5 cm, interposed between the gall bladder and the liver.Fig. 2Fig. 3Intraoperative finding of hepatic choristoma.Fig. 3 3. Discussion and conclusion {#sec0015} ============================ Hepatic choristomas have been previously classified into three entities which are separated into accessory liver lobes, ectopic nodules, or aberrant microscopic liver tissue. Liver tissue which is attached to the gallbladder, and is separate from the main liver, has been described by various names. Yet the correct term for this entity is a choristoma, which was first coined by Eugen Albrecht in 1904. Although the etiology is unclear, several possible mechanisms have been proposed which may explain ectopic liver at various sites. This includes the development of an accessory lobe with atrophy of the original bridge to the main liver, or migration of pars hepatica to the rudiment of various organs [@bib0040]. Ectopic liver lobes are commonly detected in perinatal cases, with a reported incidence of 11.5% [@bib0045]. However, they are rarely found to persist into adulthood [@bib0050]. There have been several proposed theories as to the cause of development of ectopic liver tissue at various locations within the body, such as atrophy or regression of the original bridge to the main liver, migration during embroyological development of the liver, dorsal budding of hepatic tissue before closure of the pleuroperitoneal canals, trapping of hepatocyte-destined mesenchyma in different areas or entrapment of nest cells in the region of the foregut following closure of the diaphragm or umbilical ring [@bib0055]. The most common location of liver ectopia is associated with the gallbladder, ranging from microscopic tissue to a few cm in size [@bib0020], [@bib0025]. Ectopic liver can also be found above and below the diaphragm. The close relationship of the developing hepatic parenchymal cell cords to the pars cystica and early fetal duodenum explains why ectopic liver tissue could be found in the wall of the gallbladder, the gastrohepatic ligament, the umbilical cord, the adrenal glands, the diaphragm, the pancreas, the pylorus and the splenic capsule if a portion of the pars hepatica is displaced. Dorsal budding of hepatic tissue before closure of the pleuroperitoneal canals may explain how ectopic liver develops in the thoracic cavity in locations such as esophagus, pericardium, and in the pleural cavity [@bib0030]. Hepatic choristomas are occasionally associated with other congenital anomalies such as biliary atresia, agenesis of the caudate lobe, omphalocele, bile duct cyst or cardiac anomalies, but not when the heterotopic tissue is in the gallbladder [@bib0060], [@bib0065]. Although the ectopic tissue is usually attached to the serosa of the gallbladder or lies within its wall, it can also occur in the gallbladder lumen [@bib0070]. Hepatic choristomas are rarely symptomatic. However, when they do occur, ectopic livers have been reported to cause recurrent abdominal pain due to torsion, compression of adjacent organs, intraperitoneal bleeding, as well as obstruction of the esophagus, portal vein, neonatal gastric outlet and pylorus [@bib0020], [@bib0075]. Few cases of symptomatic ectopic livers have been reported in the literature, some of which were described in infants [@bib0080]. The number of reported cases of ectopic liver giving rise to acute symptoms was fewer still. Our patient presented with right upper quadrant pain in the absence of gallbladder pathology, her symptoms were relieved after surgery. Hepatocytes in ectopic livers usually mimic normal hepatocytes and show relatively the same pathological pattern. Thus, ectopic liver tissue usually show normal histological architecture and are subject to the same risk factors and pathological processes as native liver tissue [@bib0085]. Fatty infiltration and alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency have been described in ectopic liver [@bib0090]. However, the development of HCC in a hepatic choristoma is of utmost significance. In fact, HCC can be observed in about 46% of ectopic liver tissue encountered outside the liver, with only 2.4% in gallbladder associated hepatic choristomas [@bib0095]. The high incidence of neoplastic change in ectopic livers is probably explained in that they possess different functional architecture with incomplete vascular and/or ductal systems. This results in longer exposure of ectopic liver tissues to carcinogenic substances thereby propagating its malignant transformation [@bib0005]. The reverse situation, wherein a HCC develops in the parent liver but not in the ectopic liver is exceedingly rare. Gallbladder associated hepatic choristomas may have a lower rate of malignant transformation as they occur later during biliary development and is well differentiated [@bib0100]. The vascular supply of a hepatic choristoma is an important consideration during operative planning to avoid vascular injury during dissection or traction of the specimen. With regards to gallbladder associated hepatic choristomas, there are mainly three different vascular supply patterns of gallbladder associated HC. (a) Artery arising from cystic artery (b) Vascular pedicle (with/without its own vein) arising from liver parenchyma substance (c) Vascular structures embedded in a mesentery lying from the hepatic site to ectopic liver tissue [@bib0105]. In one study Koh and Hunt reported a case of HC on the gallbladder wall in which its artery was derived from cystic artery and bile duct drainage to cystic duct [@bib0110]. Catani et al. reported that ectopic liver nodule seemed drizzled by an arterial branch that runs along the front part of gallbladder [@bib0115]. Detection of ectopic liver tissue before surgical intervention or autopsies by means of imaging studies is rare [@bib0035]. This may be due to the small size of most ectopic livers, the lack of awareness of this unusual condition amongst radiologists, difficulty interpreting imaging and the frequent lack of symptoms. The diagnosis of hepatic choristomas should be considered when radiologists identify a soft tissue mass on the gallbladder wall during imaging, whether by ultrasound, CT scan, magnetic resonance imaging or as an incidental finding during laparoscopy. Percutaneous biopsies should be avoided due to the risk of bleeding and the possibility of seeding the needle tract due to the risk of HCC. To the best of our knowledge, a preoperative diagnosis of gallbladder-associated hepatic choristoma was made in only three reported cases [@bib0025], [@bib0030], [@bib0035]. In the patient described in this report, the ultrasonographic examination prior to surgery showed thickening of the anterior wall of the gallbladder mimicking a lesion, insufficient to suggest a hepatic choristoma. Nevertheless, CT scan delineated its presence and excluded any other findings. According to the literature, a pattern emerges wherein surgeons are prone to resect the ectopic tissue if encountered during cholecystectomy for symptomatic gallbladder to avoid surgical manipulation if seen incidentally during other procedures. Despite the low incidence of hepatic choristomas and its unlikely detection preoperatively, an awareness of this entity and its associated risk of carcinogenesis may lower the rate of misdiagnoses and complications. Resection of hepatic choristomas occurring outside of the liver should strongly be considered due to its high risk of transformation, whereas the management of gallbladder associated hepatic choristomas warrant further study due to its low risk in comparison. Conflicts of interest {#sec0020} ===================== The authors declare no conflict of interest. Funding {#sec0025} ======= We report no involvement of sponsors. Ethical approval {#sec0030} ================ The case report was approved by the local ethic committee of the Al-Amiri teaching hospital. LEC-project number 52-2017. Consent {#sec0035} ======= Written informed consent was obtained from the patient and is available upon request. No patient identifying material was used in this manuscript. Author contribution {#sec0040} =================== Data collection: Hussein Faour, Hana AlHmoud. Analysis and case management: Salah Termos\* and Ahmad Alsaleh. Writing and revising of the final version of the manuscript: Salah Termos, Abdullah AlDuwaisan and Mohammad Alali. Guarantor {#sec0045} ========= Salah Termos M.D. Department of surgery, Al-Amiri teaching hospital, Kuwait. 25 Arabian Gulf Street, Kuwait City, 13041. The work has been reported in line with the SCARE criteria [@bib0120].

%1 -DWRITE_ARITH_H -DNO_FPINIT %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 if errorlevel 1 goto nolonglong exit 0 :nolonglong %1 -DNO_LONG_LONG -DWRITE_ARITH_H -DNO_FPINIT %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9

/* * feature_match.cpp - optical flow feature match * * Copyright (c) 2016-2017 Intel Corporation * * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. * You may obtain a copy of the License at * * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 * * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and * limitations under the License. * * Author: Wind Yuan <feng.yuan@intel.com> * Author: Yinhang Liu <yinhangx.liu@intel.com> */ #include "feature_match.h" #define XCAM_FM_DEBUG 0 namespace XCam { FeatureMatch::FeatureMatch () : _x_offset (0.0f) , _y_offset (0.0f) , _mean_offset (0.0f) , _mean_offset_y (0.0f) , _valid_count (0) , _fm_idx (-1) , _frame_num (0) { } void FeatureMatch::set_fm_index (int idx) { _fm_idx = idx; } void FeatureMatch::set_config (const FMConfig &config) { _config = config; } void FeatureMatch::set_crop_rect (const Rect &left_rect, const Rect &right_rect) { _left_rect = left_rect; _right_rect = right_rect; } void FeatureMatch::get_crop_rect (Rect &left_rect, Rect &right_rect) { left_rect = _left_rect; right_rect = _right_rect; } void FeatureMatch::reset_offsets () { _x_offset = 0.0f; _y_offset = 0.0f; _mean_offset = 0.0f; _mean_offset_y = 0.0f; } float FeatureMatch::get_current_left_offset_x () { return _x_offset; } float FeatureMatch::get_current_left_offset_y () { return _y_offset; } void FeatureMatch::set_dst_width (int width) { XCAM_UNUSED (width); XCAM_LOG_ERROR ("dst width is not supported"); XCAM_ASSERT (false); } void FeatureMatch::enable_adjust_crop_area () { XCAM_LOG_ERROR ("adjust crop area is not supported"); XCAM_ASSERT (false); } bool FeatureMatch::get_mean_offset ( const std::vector<float> &offsets, float sum, int &count, float &mean_offset) { if (count < _config.min_corners || count <= 0) return false; mean_offset = sum / count; #if XCAM_FM_DEBUG XCAM_LOG_INFO ( "FeatureMatch(idx:%d): X-axis mean offset:%.2f, pre_mean_offset:%.2f (%d times, count:%d)", _fm_idx, mean_offset, 0.0f, 0, count); #endif bool ret = true; float delta = 20.0f;//mean_offset; float pre_mean_offset = mean_offset; for (int try_times = 1; try_times < 4; ++try_times) { int recur_count = 0; sum = 0.0f; for (size_t i = 0; i < offsets.size (); ++i) { if (fabs (offsets[i] - mean_offset) >= _config.recur_offset_error) continue; sum += offsets[i]; ++recur_count; } if (recur_count < _config.min_corners || recur_count <= 0) { ret = false; break; } mean_offset = sum / recur_count; #if XCAM_FM_DEBUG XCAM_LOG_INFO ( "FeatureMatch(idx:%d): X-axis mean_offset:%.2f, pre_mean_offset:%.2f (%d times, count:%d)", _fm_idx, mean_offset, pre_mean_offset, try_times, recur_count); #endif if (mean_offset == pre_mean_offset && recur_count == count) return true; if (fabs (mean_offset - pre_mean_offset) > fabs (delta) * 1.2f) { ret = false; break; } delta = mean_offset - pre_mean_offset; pre_mean_offset = mean_offset; count = recur_count; } return ret; } }

Q: VC++ 6.0: Why is CASyncSocket::GetLastError() causing an access violation? I'm using Visual C++ 6.0. I'm not sure of the service pack level of the visual studio installation, but the OS is Win 2K SP4. The failing code is part of a DLL. Here's the code: EIO::OpenConnection() { m_Client = new CSocket(); if(m_Client->Create() == 0) { delete m_Client; m_Client = NULL; return CAsyncSocket::GetLastError(); } if (!m_Client->Connect((LPCTSTR)m_IPAddress, 7)) { delete m_Client; m_Client = NULL; return CAsyncSocket::GetLastError(); } ...<stuff>... } This compiles without error on my build system and executes without either of the calls to m_Client methods failing. When I move this DLL to the production system (Win 2K, not sure of service pack level yet), the call to m_Client->Connect() returns an error, so it goes into the IF block. CAsyncSocket::GetLastError() then the debugger to open and report an 0xC0000005 access violation. I don't understand this stuff enough to get anything out of the disassembly. I've also tried CSocket::GetLastError() and m_Client->GetLastError() with the same results. I'm fairly certain that m_Client->Connect() fails because of some security policy that's on the production machine that's absent on the development system, but I'd like to get the actual error code so I can help the IT guy narrow his search. I haven't yet tried forcing a call to GetLastError() on my build system to see if I get an access violation there. A: The GetLastError() method most likely calls WSAGetLastError(). But for WSAGetLastError() to work, WSACleanup() must not have been called yet. I'm guessing that when you delete m_Client that exactly this happens. Try calling GetLastError() before you delete the m_Client object.

Background ========== Ischemic stroke includes a group of acute cerebrovascular diseases characterized by clinical manifestations, such as hemiparesis, ataxia, and sudden decrease in the level of consciousness; as well as by high incidence, morbidity, and mortality \[[@b1-medscimonit-24-2235]--[@b3-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. The main symptom of cerebral ischemic stroke is the sudden occurrence of neurological deficits, which are also characterized by deep disturbances of human body homeostasis. With the current process of clinical diagnosis and treatment, more and more stroke patients are surviving. However, the morbidity among them still exceeds 80%, leading to poor quality of life \[[@b4-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Therefore, early stroke intervention is very important for the early rehabilitation of these patients. Currently, there are many types of rehabilitation methods for post-stroke functional limitations \[[@b5-medscimonit-24-2235],[@b6-medscimonit-24-2235]\], including joint activity training, neurophysiological methods such as the Bobath method \[[@b7-medscimonit-24-2235]\], proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) \[[@b8-medscimonit-24-2235]\], motor relearning program (MRP) \[[@b9-medscimonit-24-2235]\], and some other new therapeutic methods. But these procedures largely rely on patients' initiative and cooperation, which leads to different treatment effects. However, timely introduction of nutritional supplement is relatively simple and easy for patients to comply with \[[@b10-medscimonit-24-2235],[@b11-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Besides, patients with stroke often suffer from malnutrition because of chronic bed rest, which is extremely unfavorable to a patient's recovery \[[@b12-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Research has also shown that malnourished patients, or those at risk for nutritional deterioration, have poor prognosis and significantly increased mortality rates \[[@b13-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Therefore, timely and reasonable nutritional intervention in the early stage of stroke could be very important for clinical applications and basic research. There are many studies on high-protein diets in obesity, diabetes, chronic kidney function, and so on, which have indicated that a high-protein diet can increase insulin secretion in normal individuals \[[@b14-medscimonit-24-2235]\], lead to skeletal muscle insulin resistance \[[@b15-medscimonit-24-2235]\], increase the sense of satiety, reduce calorie intake, and decrease the weight of obese people \[[@b16-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Thus, a high-protein diet plays a positive role in the treatment of related diseases. However, recent epidemiological findings also have shown the adverse effects of long-term high-protein diet, for instance, a regular low-carbon and high-protein diet was found to be associated with an increasing risk of cardiovascular disease \[[@b17-medscimonit-24-2235],[@b18-medscimonit-24-2235]\], and the clinical application of high-protein diet still remains controversial. Furthermore, introducing high-protein diet intervention in the early stage of ischemic stroke reduces neurological deficit, which has not been reported in current clinical and basic research. In order to investigate the role of early high-protein diet in rehabilitation of rats with ischemic stroke, this study used an early high-protein diet in rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and obtained a series of experimental indexes. The measures were aimed at assessing the impact of an early high-protein diet on the postoperative neurological deficit, cerebral infarct area, and molecular expression of oxidative stress injuries caused by ischemic stroke, providing the theoretical foundation for early high-protein diet intervention and its clinical application in patients with stroke. Material and Methods ==================== Animals and groups ------------------ All Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were obtained from Shanghai Slaccas Experimental Animal Co., Ltd., and raised at the Laboratory Animal House of Fudan University on 12: 12 hour light cycle and at 23±1°C. The standard-protein and high-protein diets were purchased from Suzhou Shuangshi Animal Feed Technology Co., Ltd. Afterwards, the SD rats were randomized into four groups with 12 rats in each group: the MCAO group with high-protein diet (MH), the MCAO group with standard-protein diet (MS), the sham group with high-protein diet (SH), and the sham group with standard-protein diet (SS). After the surgery, each rat and the food pellet in each cage were weighed every day and the neurofunctional deficit scoring as well as behavioral tests were recorded on postoperative day 1, 3, 5, and 7. On the postoperative day 7, all rats were sacrificed to detect the cerebral infarct area by triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. In addition, serum and the cerebral cortex were collected for the identification of the molecular mechanisms involved. It should be noted that this study was carried out in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health and protocol for the animal use was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of Capital Medical University. Preparation of the MCAO model ----------------------------- In this study, we prepared MCAO rat models to simulate cerebral ischemia and reperfusion injury. The rats were anesthetized with 10% chloral hydrate (0.3 mL/kg) and maintained in automated heat blankets (Yuyan Instruments, Shanghai, China) at 36.7±1.0°C. All groups received a midline incision in the neck and the mandibular glands, pretracheal strap along with sternomastoid muscles were retracted. In MCAO groups ([Figure 1](#f1-medscimonit-24-2235){ref-type="fig"}), the exposed right common carotid (CCA) was ligated at the proximal end, and the following external carotid arteries (ECA) branches were cut after electrocoagulation: the occipital, the cranial thyroid, and the ascending pharyngeal artery. A microclip was used to occlude the CCA. The right ECA was lighted and cut distally to the cranial thyroid artery. Then a silicone filament embolus of 0.40--0.42 mm in diameter was placed against the right side of the skull and gently advanced through the internal carotid artery until its tip occlude the origin of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). The cerebral blood flow changes in the sensorimotor cortex of MCAO rats were monitored with a Laser Doppler Perfusion Monitor (Moor Instruments, Axminster, UK). The microclip at the CCA was removed and silicone filament embolism was withdrawn after 60 minutes (the blood flow in the ischemic brain dropped to \~20% of the baseline) for reperfusion of the brain. At the completion of surgery, animals were kept warm during recovery with their muscles and glands replaced and wounds sutured. In addition, any MCAO rats that did not show restoration of blood flow after removal of the filament were euthanized, for this could indicate subarachnoid hemorrhage. The sham group did not have the silicone thread embolus inserted. Behavioral assessment --------------------- In neurofunctional deficit scoring, it is assumed that the higher the score, the more serious the symptoms of the nerve function deficit appeared. For this assessment, the rat was lifted up by the tail, suspended about 1 m above the ground, and observed for forelimb flexion. Scoring criteria were 0 to 7. A score of 0 was if both forelimbs were extended to the ground and no other neurological features were present. A score of 1 was if the contralateral forelimb was bending continuously with movement ranging from mild wrist bending and shoulder joint adduction to full wrist and elbow flexion with internal rotation of the shoulder joint. In addition, the limbs of the rats showed persistent bending without other abnormal signs. A score of 2 was if the rat was pulled by its tail and was given a gentle push behind the shoulders until the forelimbs slid a few centimeters on the ground. This was repeated several times. Rats showing normal ability or mild impairment were able to resist lateral thrust similarly on both sides. But if the rats had serious impairment, the resistance to the paralyzed side thrust decreased. A score of 3 was if the rat was on the ground and pulling its tail towards the paralyzed side. A score of 4 was if the rat was on the ground and moving freely, circling towards the paralyzed side. A score of 5 was if the rat just walked by the stimulation. A score of 6 was if the rat showed no response to the stimuli, almost unconscious. A score of 7 was if the rat was dead \[[@b19-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. One of the most significant symptoms in the rat MCAO model is the forelimb dysfunction induced by the ischemia in cerebral hemisphere. Foot fault test was used to assess the motor coordination of rats, according to the existing experimental protocol in our laboratory, with slight modifications \[[@b20-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Scoring criteria were 0 to 6. A score of 0 was if the rats completely missed the rail and fell off without touching the rail or the body lost its normal position and balance. A score was 1 if the rats fell after touching the rail, affecting the normal walking. A score was 2 if the rats' feet were placed on the rail. When bearing the weight, they slipped but did not fall or affect the walk, and the balance and gait were maintained. A score was 3 if the feet were placed on the rail. But before bearing the weight, they quickly moved on to another rail. A score was 4 if the feet aimed at a rail, but because there was no contact with the rail, it was moved on to another rail. A score was 5 if the feet were placed on the rail with the ankle and toes, or knees as weight-bearing. A score was 6 if the rats were normal and their feet fully bore the body weight. Each animal was only evaluated on double forelimb and every step of each foot was used to calculate the average score for statistical analysis. Beam balance test was used to assess the ability to maintain balance in rats. The scoring criteria were 1 to 7. A score was 1 if rats steadily stayed on the crossbar. A score was 2 if rats grasped the end of grab bar. A score was 3 if rats held the crossbar, but a paw fell off. A score was 4 if rats held the crossbar but two paws fell off, or rats stayed on the rail for 60 seconds. A score was 5 if rats tried to stay on the crossbar, succeeding in staying for more than 40 seconds. A score was 6 if rats tried to stay on the crossbar, staying for more than 20 seconds. A score was 7 if rats fell off the crossbar within 20 seconds. Each rat was evaluated five times a day, and the average scores of the runs were used for statistical analysis. TTC staining ------------ Briefly, each brain was sliced horizontally to obtain five slices. Then the slices were incubated in 2% TTC (2,3,5-triphenyl-2H-tetrazolium chloride, Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) for 15 minutes at 37°C and fixed by immersion in 10% neutral buffered formalin. The area of infarction on both sides of each slice was calculated by an image analyzer. And the infarct area of each slice was summed up for each brain. Molecular analysis ------------------ Ischemic stroke leads to the increase of oxidative stress injuries, which results in cell damage and apoptosis \[[@b21-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. To assess the peculiarities in the development of oxidative stress injuries, we measured the expression level of SOD (superoxide dismutase), an enzyme that alternately catalyzes the dismutation (or partitioning) of the superoxide radical into either ordinary molecular oxygen or hydrogen peroxide and MDA (malondialdehyde), one of the most frequently used indicators of lipid peroxidation in both serum and cerebral cortex tissue, as well as the protein expression of iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase), an important material to produce free radical, thus leading to injuries, in injured cerebral cortex tissues by the corresponding kit (SOD assay kit, MDA assay kit, Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute, Nanjing, China) and performed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. The molecular level in the serum could be measured without diluting the serum. However, when measuring the molecular level in the cerebral cortex tissue, the cerebral cortex tissue homogenate should be prepared in advance: the cerebral cortex was accurately weighed before being added into 0.9% normal saline (Supply Department, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University). After being centrifuged at 2,500--3,000 r/minute for 10 minutes, the supernatant was separated and used for the detection of protein content in cortical tissue homogenate (total protein quantitation test kit, associated standards, Coomassie brilliant blue method, Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute, Nanjing, China). iNOS content was detected with western blot. Briefly, proteins were separated by 10% SDS-PAGE, blotted onto nitrocellulose membranes (Hybond ECL Membrane, Amersham Biosciences, UK), and incubated with iNOS primary antibodies diluted in 5% milk TBS--Tween overnight (anti-GAPDH, Sigma-Aldrich, 1: 1,000, 42 kDa). After being washed and incubated with horseradish peroxidase conjugated secondary antibodies, labeled proteins were visualized with ECL-reagent kit according to the manufacturer's instructions (Amersham Biosciences, UK). Statistical analysis -------------------- SPSS 20.0 (IBM, USA) was used for statistical processing. All the results were expressed as mean ±SE (standard error) and the intergroup comparisons used the one-tailed *t*-test, with *p*\<0.05 as a statistical difference. Results ======= Body weight changes ------------------- The changes in body weight can comprehensively reflect the recovery of sensory and other physical function in rats after stroke. As [Figure 2A](#f2-medscimonit-24-2235){ref-type="fig"} shows, body weights of rats in sham groups decreased until day 1 after surgery while MCAO groups until day 2 after surgery. In the following days, body weights of rats in each group increased but the growth trend of the MH and SH groups were significantly higher than that of the MS and SS groups, respectively (*p*\<0.01). Overall, the early high-protein diet was able to help rats recover their body weights (*p*\<0.05). Neurofunctional deficit scoring ------------------------------- In this study, we used a seven-point system to score the neurofunctional deficits in MCAO rats. Apparent neurofunctional deficit symptoms were found in the MH and MS groups, especially within two days after surgery, but not in the sham-operated group (SH and SS groups). However, on the third day, the scores of neurofunctional deficit started to decrease in the MCAO groups and the scores in the MH group were significantly higher than that in the MS group, day 2 and day 4--7 in particular (*p*\<0.01). Besides, the scores in the MH and MS groups were always significantly higher than that in the SH and SS groups respectively (*p*\<0.01) and there was no significant difference between the SH and SS groups. In general, the early high-protein diet was able to facilitate the neurofunctional recovery (*p*\<0.01, [Figure 2B](#f2-medscimonit-24-2235){ref-type="fig"}) in MCAO rats. Motor coordination scoring -------------------------- In this study, the foot fault test was used to score the forelimb dysfunction in all rats. The results showed that in the MH and MS groups, the level of forelimb injury was similar within the first three days after surgery. Subsequently, motor coordination ability of the MCAO groups gradually recovered in the following days and the recovery of the MH group was significantly better than the MS group on the fifth and seventh day (*p*\<0.01). In addition, there appeared significant differences between the MH group and the SH group as well as between the MS group and the SS group (*p*\<0.01) while no difference between the SH group and the SS group was observed. All in all, the early high-protein diet was able to promote the rehabilitation of motor coordination (*p*\<0.05) in the MCAO rats and facilitate the recovery of motor function in the injured forelimb ([Figure 2C](#f2-medscimonit-24-2235){ref-type="fig"}). Balance ability assessment -------------------------- To assess the balance abilities of rats in each group, the present study applied the balance beam test. The result showed that the recovery of balance ability in the MH group was remarkably greater than that in the MS group at 7 days after surgery (*p*\<0.05). In addition, the differences between the MH group and the SH group as well as between the MS group and the SS group were always significant (*p*\<0.01) while no difference between the SH group and the SS group appeared. Which means that early high-protein diet promotes the recovery of balance ability in MCAO rats ([Figure 2D](#f2-medscimonit-24-2235){ref-type="fig"}). Impacts of early high-protein diet on cerebral infarct area ----------------------------------------------------------- In order to determine whether the early high-protein diet had an effect on MCAO rehabilitation, we applied the TTC staining method to detect the cerebral infarct area in all rats at 7 days after surgery. As we can see in [Figure 3](#f3-medscimonit-24-2235){ref-type="fig"}, the cerebral infarct area of the MS group and the MH group was about 45% and 40%, respectively, while the area of the sham group was 1.2%. Moreover, the MH group showed a significant smaller cerebral infarct area than the MS group (*p*\<0.01). We then came to the conclusion that early high-protein diet could reduce the cerebral infarct area (*p*\<0.01) in MCAO rats, thus promoting brain recovery. Molecular detection ------------------- As is shown in [Figure 4A and 4C](#f4-medscimonit-24-2235){ref-type="fig"}, the expression of SOD in serum and tissue were similar, with SOD expressions significantly higher in the MH group than in the MS group, in the SS group than in the MS group as well as in the SH group than the MH group (*p*\<0.01) while rare differences between the SS group and the SH group. However, as to the expressions of MDA, we can see apparent differences in serum and tissue. In [Figure 4B](#f4-medscimonit-24-2235){ref-type="fig"}, MDA expression in serum in the MS group was significantly higher than in the MH and the SS groups (*p*\<0.01) while the differences between the MH group and the SH group were relatively less significant, only slightly higher in the MH group than in the SH group (*p*\<0.05). In [Figure 4D](#f4-medscimonit-24-2235){ref-type="fig"}, MDA expression in tissue was significantly higher in the MS group than in the MH group, in the MS group than in the SS group as well as in the MH group than the SH group (*p*\<0.01) while small differences between the SS group and the SH group were observed. Then we focused on relative iNOS expression. In [Figure 4E](#f4-medscimonit-24-2235){ref-type="fig"}, we can see iNOS expression in the MS group was significantly higher than in the MH and SS groups (*p*\<0.01) and the differences between the MH group and the SH group as well as between the SS group and the SH group were not significant. In summary, early high-protein diet was able to effectively regulate the expressions of SOD, MDA, and iNOS. Discussion ========== Ischemic stroke is one of the most devastating diseases. The high stress level after stroke often induces the body to enter into high catabolic state, thus resulting in considerable protein loss, and leading to the increased incidence of infection, prolonged hospitalization, and increased mortality \[[@b22-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Moreover, according to Gao et al., hypokalemia is a complication of hospitalized patients and correcting serum K^+^ improved the clinic outcome of ischemic stroke patients \[[@b23-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. In our study, we established the MCAO models to investigate the effects of early high-protein diet on treating ischemic stroke patients. To understand brain pathophysiology and to determine the efficacy of new therapies, numerous animal models have been used for mimicking clinical ischemic stroke \[[@b24-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Among them, mechanical, pharmacological, photothrombotic, and embolic means on mice or rats have been the most widely used models \[[@b25-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. In rodents, the intraluminal filament MCAO model is widespread used because of its non-invasiveness compared to direct surgical occlusion of cerebral vessels \[[@b24-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Liu et al. substantiated that the transient MCAO model in rodents is also one of the widely utilized models in used for studying focal cerebral ischemia. \[[@b26-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Mecca et al. revealed that the endothelin-1 (ET-1)-induced MCAO model of cerebral ischemia was found to more closely mimic the temporal events of an embolic stroke \[[@b27-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Furthermore, Boltze et al. also demonstrated that permanent MCAO model was a novel large animal model for focal cerebral ischemia \[[@b28-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. However, the outcome of the MCAO model is often affected by a variety of factors including the age, sex, and weight of the animals and the size of the filament, and its reproducibility varies among laboratories and species. In the study byTao et al., they applied a two hour MCAO to induce the cortical infarction \[[@b29-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. However, in our study, two hour of MCAO not only induced large brain injury but also caused a high death rate, while 60 minutes of MCAO induced large brain injury but caused a low death rate. Thus, 60 minutes of ischemic duration was applied in our study. To the best our knowledge, this was the first study to identify the effects of early high-protein diet on promoting the rehabilitation of MCAO rats. According to the results of the present study, the early high-protein diet could facilitate the recovery of body weight and improve the symptoms of neurofunctional deficits. It has been reported that the higher the degree of neurofunctional deficits was, the worse the ability of nutritional support to improve the nutritional status appeared \[[@b30-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Thus, the recovery of neurofunctional function could help patients to absorb nutritional formulas, such as high-protein nutritional feeding or intravenous fluid replenishment, which could subsequently promote the recovery of sensory and other body functions in the rats. The early high-protein diet has also been found to help restore motor coordination. Residual motor dysfunction is often observed in stroke survivors and patients' lives are adversely affected. The affected limb functions in post-stroke hemiplegia can be gradually improved by training and drug treatment \[[@b31-medscimonit-24-2235],[@b32-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Nowadays, hospitals use exercise therapies, such as teaching healthy side posture, relearning of movement patterns, and elbow flexor and extensor training. Although they can help the patients to restore their full limb motion, the effects tend to be minimal for severely disabled patients and those unwilling to cooperate. The early high-protein diet may facilitate patients' cooperation, in consequence lead to the improvement of patients' motor coordination. In our study, the early high-protein diet significantly reduced the cerebral infarct area in the rat MCAO models and enhanced motor coordination. This showed that the limb motor dysfunction in stroke patients may be related to the infarct size. The study by Jung et al. suggested that sensory motor functional recovery after brain injury might be a consequence of the reorganization of the neural network as a process of neuroplasticity \[[@b33-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. This may explain why the decrease of infarct area was positively correlated with the increase motor coordination. The early high-protein diet has also been verified to exert regulatory effects at the molecular level. The reduced oxygen supply after stroke can affect the oxidative stress, which plays an important role in cell damage and death in stroke. When cerebral ischemia occurs, the oxidative stress level increases, and the excess oxygen-free radicals can thus cause lipid peroxidation and produce peroxide and other products among which MDA can cause the most severe damage \[[@b34-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. SOD is an important antioxidant that can directly eliminate free radicals. *In vivo*, the activity of SOD and MDA could indirectly reflect the body's ability to eliminate oxygen free radicals and the severity of the free radical attack respectively, therefore, the combined detection of these could initially detect the oxidative stress status. Ischemic stroke -caused hypoxia, ischemia, etc., could induce the production of iNOS \[[@b35-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. As one of important inflammatory mediators produced by macrophages, the production of NO and iNOS expression are major signs reflecting macrophages' responses towards pro-inflammatory stimuli, and play an important role in the formation of atherosclerosis \[[@b36-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. Once activated, iNOS will continue to produce high levels of NO, and caused oxidative stress injuries and increase the pathology \[[@b37-medscimonit-24-2235]\]. In our study, SOD expression was lower in the MCAO groups than in sham groups and MDA expression was higher in the MCAO groups than in the sham groups. However, the early high-protein diet helped to increase the expression of SOD and inhibit the expressions of MDA in the MCAO groups. The early high-protein diet was able to restore iNOS expression in MCAO rats as well, indicating that the early high-protein diet could inhibit oxidative stress injuries, thus helping the body to eliminate free radicals, reduce inflammation, and promote the post-stroke recovery. This study was subject to several limitations that should be taken into account. First, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the early high-protein diet on the rehabilitation of MCAO rats; however, the long-term effect of high-protein diet seems to be of interest to be investigated as well. Second, our study was carried out on rats; further studies with human samples might yield more reliable results on the effects of early high-protein diet. Third, the side effect of the early high-protein diet should be taken into consideration, such as obesity, osteoporosis, and others side effects. Conclusions =========== The early high-protein diet could promote the rehabilitation of MCAO rats, and this could provide a theoretical basis for the clinical applications of the early high-protein diet in patients with stroke. Indeed, there are various factors affecting patients with stroke, and patients' individual differences should not be ignored; therefore, the roles of the early high-protein diet in the rehabilitation of patients with stroke still needs to be investigated clinically. **Source of support:** This study was supported by National Science Foundation of China (No. 81271309) **Conflict of interest** None. {#f1-medscimonit-24-2235} {#f2-medscimonit-24-2235} {#f3-medscimonit-24-2235} {#f4-medscimonit-24-2235} [^1]: Study Design [^2]: Data Collection [^3]: Statistical Analysis [^4]: Data Interpretation [^5]: Manuscript Preparation [^6]: Literature Search [^7]: Funds Collection

Kaleena writes, “On New Year’s Eve, Teyana Taylor had on a leopard dress.” “… It was on her Instagram page. Please help I need that dress in my life.” Our Fashionista to Watch rang in the New Year with stylist EJ King and Karrueche Tran in a $98 BCBG Tori V-Neck Leopard Print Dress: She accessorized with a vintage Versace belt, a Céline bracelet, and Givenchy shoes. Unfortunately her dress is sold out! If you don’t mind rocking with a different print, BCBG has the same ‘Tori’ silhouette in other variations. Take your pick here: Disclaimer All images on www.the-fashion-bomb.com and www.fashionbombdaily.com are readily available on the internet and believe to be in public domain. Images posted are believed to be published according to the U.S Copyright Fair Use Act(title 17, U.S. Code.). Copyright ® 2006-2015 The Fashion Bomb LLC. ® 2006-2015 All text herein is property of the author and may not be copied or reproduced without explicit permission.

Incorrect terminology in nasal anatomy and surgery, suggestions for improvement. This article discusses why nomenclature such as 'upper lateral cartilage', 'lower lateral cartilage', 'weak triangle', 'empty triangle', 'soft triangle', 'hemitransfixion', and 'marginal incision' should be abandoned and replaced by anatomically, linguistically, and surgically correct terms. Suggestions for better terminology are made. The division of the nasal organ into five anatomical areas and three physiological parts is questioned. The terms 'interdomal ligament', 'intercrural ligament', and 'septocrural ligament' should not be used, as histological studies have demonstrated that no such ligaments exist.

Greenbrier State Park Campground Boonsboro, Maryland 21713 Greenbrier State Park, at just under 1,300 acres, has two main attractions: the Appalachian Trail and the 42-acre Greenbrier Lake. The lake provides good fishing, as it’s stocked with trout, largemouth bass, and bluegill. It also serves as a great place for a swim, with its nice beach. As for the camping, there are four loops, each with a bathhouse. It’s a pretty campground, with many of the sites following the natural contours of the land. It’s also a heavily wooded campground, and maintenance is impeccable. Greenbrier State Park Campground Boonsboro, Maryland 21713 Greenbrier State Park, at just under 1,300 acres, has two main attractions: the Appalachian Trail and the 42-acre Greenbrier Lake. The lake provides good fishing, as it’s stocked with trout, largemouth bass, and bluegill. It also serves as a great place for a swim, with its nice beach. As for the camping, there are four loops, each with a bathhouse. It’s a pretty campground, with many of the sites following the natural contours of the land. It’s also a heavily wooded campground, and maintenance is impeccable. Greenbrier State Park Campground Professional Guide Detailed Trail Description from our Guidebook "Greenbrier State Park, at just under 1,300 acres, has two main attractions: the Appalachian Trail and the 42-acre Greenbrier Lake. The lake provides good fishing, as it’s stocked with trout, largemouth bass, and bluegill. It also serves as a great place for a swim, with its nice beach. As for the camping, there are four loops, each with a bathhouse. It’s a pretty campground, with many of the sites following the natural contours of the land. It’s also a heavily wooded campground, and maintenance is impeccable."

The "other mobile data" - danw http://www.pikesoft.com/blog/index.php?itemid=170 ====== sanj The problem I tend to have with cross platform "data driven" architectures is that the interfaces (both UI and API) end up at the lowest common denominator. Now, to be fair, this is more an issue of cross platform than of data driven, but the two are so intertwingled in the real world that they can't be pulled apart.

2016 Australian Baseball League postseason Bracket Preliminary Final Series Game 1 Game 2 The second game of the series was scheduled to be played on 30 January, but was postponed due to wet weather. It was rescheduled to be the first game of a doubleheader the following day. Game 3 Composite Line Score 2016 ABL Preliminary Final Series (2–1): Adelaide Bite over Canberra Cavalry Championship Series Game 1 Game 2 Composite Line Score 2016 ABL Championship Series (2–0): Brisbane Bandits over Adelaide Bite Category:2015–16 Australian Baseball League season

Monoclonal LYM-1 antibody-dependent cytolysis by human neutrophils exposed to GM-CSF: auto-regulation of target cell attack by cathepsin G. Murine monoclonal antibody (mAb) Lym-1 is an immunoglobulin G2a specific for certain human leukocyte antigen-DR variants expressed on the surface of malignant B cells. It has been proposed for serotherapy in patients with B lymphomas. We have previously shown that mAb Lym-1 synergizes with granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor to promote Raji B-lymphoid cell lysis by human neutrophils via the intervention of neutrophil Fc receptors type II and D-mannose-inhibitable interactions between CD11b-CD18 integrins and CD66b glycoproteins. Here, we provide evidence that the process is oxygen-independent by inference related to the release of primary granules and is regulated by cathepsin G activity. The lysis was indeed reproduced by replacing normal neutrophils with cells from three patients suffering from chronic granulomatous disease, i.e., neutrophils genetically incapable of generating oxidants. Moreover, the lysis was inhibited by the serine protease inhibitor 3,4-dichloroisocoumarin and by Z-glycyl-leucyl-phenyl-chloromethyl ketone (Z-Gly-Leu-Phe-CMK), which blocks cathepsin G. Conversely, the lysis was unaffected by N-methoxysuccinyl-alanyl-alanyl-prolyl-alanyl-CMK (MeOSuc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Ala-CMK; elastase inhibitor) and MeOSuc-Ala-Ala-Pro-valine (Val)-CMK, which inhibits elastase and proteinase 3. The ability of neutrophils, engaged in cytolysis, to release cathepsin G was proved by detecting this enzymatic activity spectrophotometrically and immunocytochemically. Moreover, inhibition of cathepsin G activity by concentrations of Z-Gly-Leu-Phe-CMK, incapable of affecting elastase activity, was found to reduce the release of elastase and myeloperoxidase from neutrophils under conditions similar to those used for cytolytic assays. These findings suggest that neutrophils auto-regulate their lytic efficiency by controlling the exocytosis of primary granules via their cathepsin G activity.

The World's 10 best airports London's Heathrow Airport, the world's busiest international airport, was in the news this week for leaving passengers waiting for hours in long queues at border control, but the awards offered some good news for the beleaguered facility. Heathrow's Terminal 5, opened in 2008, won the award for best airport terminal, while the airport also won the award for best shopping. Another London airport, Stansted, won the award for best low-cost airport.

I think this Indictmt vague & uncertain, so that it could not be supported, on a Writ of Error—There are not any of ye Indorsements -------------------- page 226 -------------------- mentioned (tho' that is matter of Evidence)—Nor any peculiar specification of the Deed—not even the date—nor any other Marks, whereby it could be distinguished from another, between persons of ye same names, for the like quantity of Land in ye same County—And for other reasons, unnecessary to Enumerate. JOHN MORGAN. Inner Temple, 6th Augt 1770. With respect to the last question, on Mr Fanning's Case, I conceive a full answer is given in my former opinion. [See page 33 ante.—Editor.] I do not see the least foundation, for criminating the Defendant, and I am therefore clearly of opinion, he ought, in every respect, to be Exculpated. In my opinion on the Second Question, I observed that a Prosecutor had his Election, either to proceed for the Penalty, by action; or for Criminal punishment, by Indictment. This, perhaps, hath induced a Supposition, that I doubted, with respect to the Case in question. But, if my answer is reconsidered, I apprehend 'twill clearly appear, I was only attempting to Elucidate (if it required any Elucidation) the Second section of the Act of Assembly, & to shew that it doth not restrain the operation of the Common Law—Yet I had not, nor could I have it in contemplation to apply any Criminality to Mr Fanning.

Q: What would this concept be called? I am trying to do something in code, that is not working and I'm not even sure what to google for. The actual case is in python using tkinter, but here is a simple example that will make the point. I want to create a bunch of variables so I made a list of tuples: vars = [('var1', 'value1'), ('var2', 'value2')] Then I want to use a syntax like this: for item in vars: item[0] = item[1] This will make item[0] equal to 'value1'. what I want it to do is make var1 equal to 'value1'. I hope its clear what I'm trying to do. And I have a feeling its even trivial once I can get a hint in the right direction. This is in python but I think the concept is more universal. Thanks A: You can use a dictionary for this purpose: d = dict(vars) Then you can access var1 by doing d['var1'], which will give you value1.

Q: If $f:[0,1]\to\Bbb R$ is continuous and $f(0)=f(1)$ show that $\forall n\in\Bbb N,\exists x_n,y_n\in[0,1]:|x_n-y_n|=1/n$ and $f(x_n)=f(y_n)$ If $f:[0,1]\to\Bbb R$ is continuous and $f(0)=f(1)$ show that $\forall n\in\Bbb N,\exists x_n,y_n\in[0,1]:|x_n-y_n|=1/n$ and $f(x_n)=f(y_n)$ It is supposed that I must use the intermediate value theorem, not something more advanced (like any kind of derivative or so). The case for $n=2$ is the unique that I can prove, it is easy because if we create a function $h(x)=f(x+1/2)-f(x)$ (what is continuous because is a sum of two continuous functions) then we can see that $h(0) h(1/2)<0$ and cause the intermediate value theorem then exists a point $c$ such that $h(c)=0$ and $f(c+1/2)=f(c)$. But for the general case $1/n$ Im lost... I was trying to see anything, with graphs, but seems too complicate. I feel that one possible solution could come from some recursive mechanic involving $f(x)$ and $h_n(x)$, but it seems too complicate and I dont think this will be the real solution. Can you help me please, leaving some hint or so? Thank you very much. A: The idea is still to use the intermediate value theorem. For fixed $n$, setting $g(x):=f(x+\frac1n)-f(x)$, we need to show that $g$ has a zero in the interval $[0,\frac{n-1}{n}]$. To do this, we consider the value of $g$ at $0,\frac{1}{n},\dots\frac{n-1}{n}$. Note that $$\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}g(\frac{k}{n})=\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}f(\frac{k+1}{n})-f(\frac{k}{n})=f(1)-f(0)=0.$$ Now if there exists $0\leq k\leq n-1$ such that $g(\frac{k}{n})=0$, then we are done. Otherwise, $g(\frac{k}{n}$) are not zero for $0\leq k\leq n-1$, then there must exist $0\leq k_1\leq n-1$ and $0\leq k_2\leq n-1$ such that $g(\frac{k_1}{n})$ and $g(\frac{k_2}{n})$ has opposite sign, thus we see from the intermediate value theorem that $g$ must have a zero between $\frac{k_1}{n}$ and $\frac{k_2}{n}$.

We have approx 120 total seats for retail risk management on the 5th floor. I think its important to put all power related retail functions (risk management, tariffs, structuring, risk reporting, etc.) on the 5th floor. If you do this, then there will not be room for the retail gas group, which means you need to work with Tammy Shephard and Wes Colwell to get room on the 6th floor for retail gas.

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Django on your Dynos and Python in your Pipelines: A Hands-on Heroku Introduction Sunday: 11:30 - 13:30 Workshop leader: Michelle Rowley and Lyric Hartley Heroku is a cloud platform that makes application development enjoyable while maintaining a high level of security. The Heroku platform lets you build, deploy and scale your applications without having to manage the underlying infrastructure. The Heroku Elements Marketplace offers a large number of product and service add-ons to facilitate application development. Are you curious about Heroku? Come get an introduction to the platform and then deploy a Django app to Heroku in this hands-on workshop! After we’ve deployed, we’ll show you how to easily scale and monitor your applications. During the second half, we’ll dive into the deep end by setting up Github integration and Pipelines for Continuous Delivery of the app you’ve deployed.

Takehiko Endo was a Japanese politician who was a member of Liberal Democratic Party, serving in the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. On September 3, 2007, due to the financial scandal, he resigned as Minister of Agriculture just eight days after he was appointed to the post. Masatoshi Wakabayashi became new Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries again. A native of Yonezawa, Yamagata and graduate of Chuo University, he was elected to the first of his three terms in the assembly of Yamagata Prefecture in 1975 and then to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1986. He lost his seat in 1993 but was re-elected three years later. On December 27, 2019, Endo died in a hospital in Yamagata Prefecture from interstitial pneumonia. References External links Official website in Japanese. Category:1938 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Chuo University alumni Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Category:Ministers of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan Category:People from Yamagata Prefecture Category:Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Category:Deaths from pneumonia

Q: nginx and varnish for caching forcing ssl I'm in the process of doing my homework for a move from apache w/o caching to nginx with caching, possibly via varnish... After reading various blogs, articles, serverfault questions, etc. I understand that varnish cannot work with ssl, and that varnish might be better than nginx for actual caching of dynamic content. But I'm a little stuck in understanding how nginx caching works AND how nginx+varnish can play together when ssl is required. How would the following be implemented, with nginx+varnish OR just nginx with caching? some urls driven by a custom php engine: i.e. example.com/this-page is served by example.com/index.php?p=this-page some urls are driven by wordpress: i.e. example.com/blog/this-article is handled by wordpress via example.com/blog/index.php?p=this-article should force ssl everywhere: i.e. http://example.com/* redirects to https://example.com/* www should redirect to top domain: i.e. http://www.example.com/* redirects to https://example.com/* All of which serving the cached version if it exists (if I understand- caching is time based, so if I make an update to that page, I need to call PURGE if the varnish route and manually delete files if the nginx route) A: If you want to use nginx and Varnish I would suggest something like this. nginx as the frontend and SSL terminator, configured with Varnish as backend. This will also normalize (rewrite) hostnames from e.g. www.example.org to example.org. Varnish for caching content from its backend, nginx nginx with virtualhosts running on e.g. port 8080 with all "application logic" like WordPress-rewrites, custom PHP-engine rewrites and such. So basically you would have a stack like this: nginx -> Varnish -> nginx -> php-fpm The four bullet points you mention would then be solved like this. Backend-nginx with rewrites and proxy_pass to php-fpm. Backend-nginx with WordPress-related rewrites. Frontend-nginx with simple virtualhosts for redirections. Same as 3.

5/29/2010 I purposely didn't write anything about the upcoming Winter Classic game to be held in Heinz field vs the Capital because I wanted to gauge the scuttlebutt; get the word on the street first. Personally when I first heard about it, I was intrigued. Though shortly thereafter my intrigue was followed by a "oh-here-we-go" mentality. I was sure that there would be mass of criticism toward the NHL for showcasing the two primary superstars in the game, Crosby and Ovechkin. And that's exactly what happened. While I can most certainly sympathize with the average hockey fan who so desperately wants to see their team in the Winter Classic, I have to ask them why in fact they dislike the idea so much. To me the notion of having the two biggest superstars go head to head in pond hockey in front of 4 times as many people than normal while most of North America is nursing a hangover is absolutely perfect. The concept isn't anything new to sports in general. The NFL adopted this very idea when it showcased the Detroit Lions back in 1934 as the team who would play on Thanksgiving; then later the Cowboys followed suit. Once upon a time Detroit was a marquee team lead by a young superstar named Earl "Dutch" Clark. Likewise the NBA has adopted a similar tradition for their Christmas Day match-ups. In recent time we see the likes of LeBron vs Kobe in a Cavs/Lakers match-up. Back in the day we might see the Lakers vs the Celtics in a battle of Magic vs Bird. The moral of the story is simply this. While there's no question the NHL has taken Sidney Crosby captive and marketed him as the face of the league, they are doing so for the benefit of the sport in general. Let's face it hockey doesn't get the national notoriety the same way the NBA, NFL, and MLB does. In order for the NHL to prove, as it were, to the casual fan that this sport should warrant the attention of with the other sports, they need to showcase the not only the best players in the league, but the leagues best rivalry as well. Again, I sympathize with those fans whose teams have not yet had a chance to play in this unique game. But you need to realize that what the NHL is doing is for the increase and advancement for the sport altogether. Are their financial considerations involved? You bet there are. If Toronto was playing Tampa Bay the profit margin would indubitably be lower. But the NHL is a business just like any other business. And it's doing what it feels is best for the league as well as best for the sport. People will no doubt criticize Gary Bettman for his decision in this matter just like they criticized David Stern when he first became commissioner of the NBA. But look how far the NBA has come and how popular it is today. Go ahead, tell yourself that the only reason I'm writing this is because I'm a Penguin fan. You'll recant of your position after your NHL hating/PGA loving boss is talking to you about the game on January 2nd.

#ifndef COLLECTCFG_H #define COLLECTCFG_H // // This file is distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.md for details. // // Standard includes #include <fstream> #include <map> #include <set> // LLVM includes #include "llvm/ADT/SmallVector.h" #include "llvm/ADT/StringRef.h" #include "llvm/Pass.h" template<typename T> struct CompareByName { bool operator()(const T *LHS, const T *RHS) const { return LHS->getName() < RHS->getName(); } }; class CollectCFG : public llvm::ModulePass { public: static char ID; public: CollectCFG() : llvm::ModulePass(ID) {} bool runOnModule(llvm::Module &M) override; void getAnalysisUsage(llvm::AnalysisUsage &AU) const override { AU.setPreservesAll(); } void serialize(std::ostream &Output); private: bool isNewInstruction(llvm::BasicBlock *BB); private: using BasicBlock = llvm::BasicBlock; template<typename T, size_t N> using SmallVector = llvm::SmallVector<T, N>; using Comparer = CompareByName<BasicBlock>; std::map<BasicBlock *, SmallVector<BasicBlock *, 2>, Comparer> Result; std::set<BasicBlock *> BlackList; }; #endif // COLLECTCFG_H

14.5cm 0.96cm 0.96cm -0.31cm [**Current conservation in two-dimensional\ AC-transport**]{} Jian Wang and Qingrong Zheng [*Department of Physics,\ The University of Hong Kong,\ Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong.* ]{} Hong Guo [*Centre for the Physics of Materials,\ Department of Physics, McGill University,\ Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2T8.* ]{} The electric current conservation in a two-dimensional quantum wire under a time dependent field is investigated. Such a conservation is obtained as the global density of states contribution to the emittance is balanced by the contribution due to the internal charge response inside the sample. However when the global partial density of states is approximately calculated using scattering matrix only, correction terms are needed to obtain precise current conservation. We have derived these corrections analytically using a specific two-dimensional system. We found that when the incident energy $E$ is near the first subband, our result reduces to the one-dimensional result. As $E$ approaches to the $n$-th subband with $n>1$, the correction term diverges. This explains the systematic deviation to precise current conservation observed in a previous numerical calculation. [PACS number: 72.10.Bg, 73.20.Dx, 73.40.Gk, 73.40.Lq]{} Introduction ============ The dynamic conductance of a quantum coherent mesoscopic system under a time dependent external field is the subject of recent interests[@but1; @bruder; @pieper; @chen; @wang1]. In contrast to dc-transport where the internal potential distribution inside the sample does not appear explicitly, the AC-response depends sensitively on the internal potential distribution. This internal potential is due to the charge distribution generated by the applied AC-field at the leads and it has to be determined self-consistently[@but1]. So far there are two approaches to the coherent AC-transport problem. One is to derive a formal linear response to a given potential distribution in the sample[@baranger]. The difficulty with such an approach is that the potential distribution is not known a priori. Another approach is to investigate the AC-response to an external perturbation which prescribes the potentials in the reservoirs only[@pastawski; @but1]. The external potentials effectively determine the chemical potential of the reservoirs and the potential distribution in the conductor must be considered a part of the response which is to be calculated self-consistently. In this approach, Büttiker and his coworkers[@but1; @but3] have formulated a current conserving formalism for the low frequency admittance of mesoscopic conductors. In the theory of Büttiker, Prêtre and Thomas[@but1], it is necessary to consider the Coulomb interactions between the many charges inside the sample, in order to preserve the current conservation. For a multi-probe conductor the low frequency admittance is found to have the form[@but3; @but4] $G_{\alpha\beta}(\omega)=G_{\alpha\beta}(0)-i\omega E_{\alpha\beta} +O(\omega^2)$, where $G_{\alpha \beta}(0)$ is the dc-conductance, $E_{\alpha \beta}$ is the emittance[@but3], and $\alpha$ (or $\beta$) labels the probe. The emittance $E_{\alpha \beta}$ describes the current response at probe $\alpha$ due to a variation of the electro-chemical potential at probe $\beta$ to leading order with respect to frequency $\omega$. It can be written as[@but3; @wang1] $E_{\alpha \beta} = dN_{\alpha \beta}/dE - D_{\alpha \beta}$, where the term $dN_{\alpha \beta}/dE$ is the global partial density of states (GPDOS)[@gas1] which is related to the scattering matrix. It describes the density of states of carriers injected in probe $\beta$ reaching probe $\alpha$ and is a purely kinetic term. The term $D_{\alpha \beta}$ is due to the Coulomb interaction of electrons inside the sample and is a term of capacitive nature. $D_{\alpha\beta}$ can be computed from the local density of states[@but1; @but3] which is related to the electron dwell times. Electric current conservation, namely $\sum_{\alpha}G_{\alpha\beta}(\omega)=0$, means that $\sum_{\alpha}E_{\alpha\beta}=0$ or equivalently[@but1; @ian] $$\frac{dN_{\beta}}{dE}\equiv \sum_{\alpha} \frac{dN_{\alpha \beta}}{dE} = \sum_{\alpha} D_{\alpha\beta}=\frac{\tau_{d,\beta}}{h} \label{eq1}$$ where $dN_{\beta}/dE$ is the DOS and $\tau_{d,\beta}$ is the dwell time for particles coming from the probe $\beta$. Clearly the current conservation is established since one realizes that $\sum_{\alpha}dN_{\alpha\beta}/dE$ is the physical quantity called injectance which is identical[@but3] to $\sum_{\alpha}D_{\alpha\beta}$. Applying the above formalism to mesoscopic conductors, one needs to compute various physical quantities[@wang1] such as the partial density of states. These quantities have vivid physical meaning[@wang1] but are not easy to obtain exactly. For a large system, the GPDOS can be expressed approximately in terms of the energy derivative of the scattering matrix elements[@avishai]: $$\frac{dN_{\alpha\beta}}{dE} = \frac{1}{4\pi i} \left( s_{\alpha\beta}^{\dagger}\frac{ds_{\alpha \beta}}{dE} - \frac{ds_{\alpha\beta}^{\dagger}}{dE}s_{\alpha\beta}\right)\ \ . \label{eq2}$$ Because for a given system one may be able to obtain the scattering matrix, Eq.(\[eq2\]) thus provides a practical means of computing the GPDOS. On the other hand, in order to obtain current conservation [*precisely*]{}, a correction should be added to Eq. (\[eq2\]) which can be neglected for large systems and large energies[@gas1; @gas2]. For one-dimensional systems, such a correction has been derived by Gasparian [*et. al.*]{}[@gas2] which contains the reflection amplitude divided by the energy, $$\frac{dN_{\alpha}}{dE} = \frac{d\bar{N}_{\alpha}}{dE} + Im \{\frac{s_{\alpha \alpha}}{4\pi E} \}\ \ , \label{eq3}$$ where $d\bar{N}_{\alpha}/dE\equiv \sum_{\beta}dN_{\alpha\beta}/dE$ which is computed from Eq. (\[eq2\]). We have recently applied the above current conserving formalism to a [*two-dimensional*]{} mesoscopic conductor in the shape of a T-junction[@wang1]. To the best of our knowledge, it was the first 2D calculation with first principles. Among other things, an interesting and we believe useful discovery was that Eq.(\[eq3\]) turned out to be inaccurate in 2D. First of all, energy $E$ in the second term on the right hand side of Eq.(\[eq3\]) has to be replaced by the longitudinal part of the incident energy. Even with this change, there were small but systematic deviations to precise current conservation when the energy is approaching the second subband. In fact it was found that the DOS $d\bar{N}_{\alpha}/dE$ as defined above diverges near the onset of the second subband and this led to the observed systematic deviations[@wang1]. We are not aware of any 2D theory to account for the correction term which should appear in Eq. (\[eq3\]). The purpose of this paper is to investigate such correction terms in two dimensions. This not only provides further theoretical insights to the problem of AC-transport, but is also very helpful from a practical application point of view. From our own experience, numerical AC-transport calculations can be quite tricky and being able to obtain precise electric current conservation often serves as a very stringent check to numerical results. To this purpose, we have considered the simplest two-dimensional model which is a $\delta$-potential inside a quasi-1D ballistic conductor[@bag]. Since quantum scattering in this system leads to mode mixing which is the basic feature of a two-dimensional system, it provides answers to our 2D problem. The advantage of this system is that it can be solved exactly. We have thus derived analytically the correction term. In particular we found that when the incident energy $E$ is within the first subband, our result essentially reduces to the one-dimensional result Eq. (\[eq3\]). As $E$ is increased to approach the $n$-th subband edge with $n>1$, the correction term diverges. This explains the systematic deviation observed in our previous numerical calculation[@wang1]. The paper is organized as the following. In the next section we present the solution of the 2D scattering problem and derive the correction term. Section III contains our numerical tests of the analytical formula. The last section serves as a summary. Model and results ================= Figure 1 shows the system where a $\delta$-potential is confined inside a quasi-1D wire with width $a$. We assume, for simplicity of the calculation, that the boundaries of the ballistic conductor are hard walls, [*i.e.*]{} the potential $V=\infty$. Inside the conductor, the potential is zero except that a $\delta$ function potential $V(x,y) = \gamma \delta(x) \delta(y-y_0)$ is placed at $\vec{r}=(0,y_0)$. The scattering region $x_1 < x < x_2$ is assumed to be symmetric with $x_2 = -x_1 =L/2$. From now on we set $\hbar= 1$ and $m=1/2$ to fix our units. To compute the transmission and reflection amplitudes thus the scattering matrix, a mode matching method[@schult] is employed. The electron wave functions are written as follows. For region I (see figure 1): $$\Psi_I = \sum_n \chi_n(y) \left(a_n e^{i k_n x} + b_n e^{-i k_n x} \right) \ \ ,$$ where $\chi_n(y)$ is the wave function of the $n$-th subband along y-direction; $a_n$ is the incoming wave amplitude and taken as an input parameter; $b_n$ is the reflection amplitude; and $k_n^2 = E - (n\pi/a)^2$ is the longitudinal momentum for the $n$-th mode. Note that for electron traveling in the first subband, $k_n$ with $n>1$ is purely imaginary. Similarly for region II: $$\Psi_{II} = \sum_n \chi_n(y) \left(c_n e^{i k_n x} + d_n e^{-i k_n x} \right) \ \ ,$$ where $c_n$ is transmission amplitude and $d_n$ is set to zero in our calculation. After matching the boundary conditions at $x=0$, we obtain $$a_n+b_n = c_n$$ and $$i k_n c_n - i k_n (a_n - b_n) = \sum_m \Gamma_{nm} (a_m +b_m) \ \ ,$$ where $\Gamma_{nm} = \gamma \chi^*_n(y_0) \chi_m(y_0)$. Eliminating $c_n$, we have $$\vec{e} = P \vec{b} \ \ ,$$ where $e_n = -\sum_m \Gamma_{nm} a_m$ and $P_{nm} = \Gamma_{nm} -2 i k_n \delta_{nm}$. To find $\vec{b}$ we need to compute $P^{-1}$. Introducing a new matrix $\tilde{P} \equiv I + M$ with $M_{nm} = i \Gamma_{nm}/(2k_m)$ so that $\tilde{P}_{nm} (-2ik_m) = P_{nm}$. Expanding $\tilde{P}^{-1}$ in powers of $M$, we have $$\tilde{P}^{-1} = \frac{1}{I+M} = I - M + M^2 - M^3 ...$$ Since $\Gamma_{nm} \Gamma_{ml} = \Gamma_{nl} \Gamma_{mm}$, we find that $M^2 = (\alpha -1) M $ where $\alpha = 1+i \sum_n \Gamma_{nn}/(2k_n)$, from which we have $\tilde{P}^{-1} = 1-M/\alpha$. Finally, we obtain the matrix elements $$(P^{-1})_{nm} = \frac{i}{2k_n} (\delta_{nm} - \frac{i \Gamma_{nm}} {2 k_m \alpha} )\ \ . \label{eqp}$$ We shall specialize to consider the incident electron being in the first subband: $a_n = \delta_{n1}$. Using Eq.(\[eqp\]) the reflection and transmission amplitudes are $$b_n = \sum_m (P^{-1})_{nm} e_m = \frac{-i \Gamma_{n1}}{2k_n \alpha}\ \ ,$$ $$c_n = \delta_{n1} +b_n\ \ .$$ For our system the scattering matrix elements $s_{\alpha \beta}$ are given by $s_{11} = b_1 \exp(ik_1 L)$ and $s_{12} = c_1 \exp(i k_1 L)$. The approximate DOS becomes, using Eq. (\[eq2\]), $$\begin{aligned} \frac{d\bar{N}_{\alpha}}{dE} & = & \frac{1}{4\pi i} \sum_{\beta}\left(s_{\alpha \beta}^{\dagger} \frac{ds_{\alpha \beta}}{dE} - \frac{ds_{\alpha\beta}^{\dagger}}{dE} s_{\alpha\beta} \right) \nonumber \\ & = &\frac{L}{4\pi k_1} - Im\left(\frac{b_1}{4\pi k_1^2}\right) - \frac{1}{4\pi} \sum_n \frac{|b_n|^2}{i k_1 k_n} \ \ . \label{dosbad}\end{aligned}$$ To derive this expression we have used a relation $2b_1^* +1 = \alpha /\alpha^*$ which follows directly from the unitary condition of the scattering matrix. Next we compute the dwell time and hence the precise DOS (as opposed to the approximate DOS of Eq. (\[dosbad\])): $$\begin{aligned} \tau_{d,1} &=& \int_I |\Psi_I|^2 dx dy + \int_{II} |\Psi_{II}|^2 dx dy \nonumber \\ & = & \frac{L}{2k_1} + Re (b_1 \frac{e^{i k_1 L}-1}{2ik_1^2}) + \sum_n |b_n|^2 \frac{e^{ik_n L}-1}{2ik_1 k_n}\ \ . \label{dosgood}\end{aligned}$$ From Eqs.(\[eq1\]),(\[dosbad\]) and (\[dosgood\]), we arrive at the following central result of this work, $$\frac{dN_{\alpha}}{dE} = \frac{d\bar{N}_{\alpha}}{dE} + Im \{\frac{s_{\alpha \alpha}}{4\pi k_1^2}\} + \frac{1}{4\pi} \sum_{n=2} \frac{|b_n|^2}{i k_1 k_n} e^{i k_n L}\ \ . \label{result}$$ Hence we found that for this 2D system, there are two correction terms to the DOS. Clearly the first correction term, [*i.e.*]{} the 2nd term on the right hand side of Eq. (\[result\]), is generic, as it can be written in terms of the scattering matrix element. This term is similar to the corresponding term in Eq. (\[eq3\]) of the 1D case, except that the total energy $E$ in Eq. (\[eq3\]) is now replaced by the transport energy $k_1^2$. In fact this them has been guessed in our earlier work[@wang1]. There is a second correction term (the 3rd term of Eq.(\[result\])) which comes solely due to mode mixing in our 2D system, and understandably it does not exist in 1D cases[@gas2]. For small incident energies, [*i.e.*]{} as $k_1$ goes to zero, $|b_n|^2 \rightarrow k_1^2$ for $n>1$. Therefore the second correction term of (\[result\]) is actually negligible at small energies. Indeed, this is the case in our earlier numerical calculations[@wang1] where current conservation was very well satisfied at low energies using Eq.(\[eq3\]). However, as energy is approaching the $n$-th subband edge, for small $k_n \rightarrow 0$ with $n>1$, $|b_n|^2$ remains finite. Hence according to Eq. (\[result\]) the second correction term diverges at these higher subband edges. This explains the observation of our calculation[@wang1] where systematic numerical errors exist in current conservation near the 2nd subband edge. For energies within the first subband, as mentioned above $k_n$ are all pure imaginary numbers with $n>1$. Hence with large system size $L$, the factor $\exp(i k_n L)$ is very small as long as $k_n\neq 0$. However we emphasis that the second correction term becomes dominant very near each subband edge thus must be included in order to obtain precise current conservation. Finally we note that Eq.(\[result\]) is not coordinate independent, so care must be taken when using it. For instance, if we choose $x_1$ as the origin in figure 1, the factor $\exp(i k_n L)$ in the last term of Eq.(\[result\]) will be canceled due to the coordinate shift while the second term of Eq.(\[result\]) remains the same. In this sense, the new correction term is not generic and must be computed case by case for 2D systems. Numerical test ============== To gain further intuitive impression of the AC-transport, and in particular to check our analytical formula Eq.(\[result\]), we shall first present direct numerical calculations of the admittance for the quantum wire system studied in the last section (Fig.(1)). Obviously since this problem was solved exactly above, agreement is obtained with Eq.(\[result\]). We shall then study the validity of Eq.(\[result\]) using another more complicated 2D conductor in the shape of a T-junction (see below). Indeed, although Eq.(\[result\]) was derived using a specific example of Fig.(1), it dramatically improves the current conservation near the second subband edge for the T-junction as well. In order to compute the admittance, we have to know $D_{\alpha, \beta}$ which is related to the dwell time[@but1; @wang1]. For a metallic conductor, it is appropriate to use the Thomas-Fermi approximation. Under such an approximation $D_{\alpha, \beta}$ is given by[@but1; @but3] $$D_{\alpha, \beta} = \int d^3r \frac{(dn(\alpha, \vec{r})/dE ) (dn(\vec{r}, \beta)/dE)} {dn(\vec{r})/dE} \ \ , \label{d11}$$ where the local density of states $dn(\vec{r},\beta)/dE$ is the injectivity which measures the additional local charge density brought into the sample at point $\vec{r}$ by the oscillating chemical potential at probe $\beta$. The injectivity can be expressed as[@but1] $$\frac{dn(\vec{r}, \beta)}{dE} = \sum_n \frac{|\Psi_{\beta n}(\vec{r})|^2} {2\pi v_{\beta n}} \ \ , \label{dn}$$ where $v_{\beta n}$ is the velocity of carriers at the Fermi energy at mode $n$ in probe $\beta$. $dn(\alpha, \vec{r})/dE$ is called the emissivity which describes the local density of states of carriers at point $\vec{r}$ which are emitted by the conductor at probe $\alpha$. It is defined as $$\frac{dn(\alpha, \vec{r})}{dE} = -\frac{1}{4\pi i} \sum_{\beta} Tr \left[ s_{\alpha \beta}^{\dagger} \frac{\delta s_{\alpha \beta}}{e \delta U(\vec{r})} - \frac{\delta s_{\alpha \beta}^{\dagger}}{e \delta U(\vec{r})} s_{\alpha \beta} \right] \ \ .$$ It has been shown[@but4] that in the absence of magnetic field the injectivity is equal to the emissivity. Using Eqs.(\[dosbad\]), (\[d11\]) and (\[dn\]), we can calculate the emittance. Specifically, for the system of Fig.(1) we consider incident electron coming from probe 1 and set $a=L=1$, $y_0=0.3$, and $\gamma=-1$. In Fig.(2), we plot the global DOS together with the transmission coefficient $T$. As expected, the transmission coefficient $T(E)$ (solid line) has large values for almost all energies $E$ except at a special energy $E_r$ where we have complete reflection (reflection coefficient $R(E_r)=1$) due to the resonant state. This can also be seen from the behavior of the global partial DOS for reflection $dN_{11}/dE$ (dotted line) which peaks when $T(E=E_r)=0$. On the other hand, $dN_{21}/dE$ (dashed line), which is the global partial DOS for transmission, takes minimum value at $E=E_r$. This behavior is consistent with that of a 1D system made of a symmetric scatterer[@gas1] where one has $dN_{11}/dE \sim R dN/dE$ and $dN_{21}/dE\sim T dN/dE$. In Fig.(3), the quantities $D_{11}$ (solid line) and $D_{12}$ (dotted line) are shown. Both curves reach maximum values near the resonant point $E_r$, which is expected since $D_{\alpha \beta}$ are proportional to the dwell time or the DOS. The emittance $E_{\alpha \beta}$ is plotted in Fig.(4). Both $E_{11}$ (solid line) and $E_{12}$ (dotted line) reach extremal values at the resonant point. The system responds differently for different energy, either capacitively when $E_{11}=-E_{12} >0$, or inductively otherwise. From Fig.(4), we observe that near the resonance $E_{11}$ and $E_{12}$ respond capacitively while $E_{12}$ is inductive away from this resonance energy. This behavior, namely being capacitive when at the $T\approx 0$ resonance, is the same as that observed in the 2D T-junction[@wang1]. On the other hand for an 1D tunneling system[@but1] the response is inductive at its resonance. But in that case the resonance is marked by transmission coefficient being near unity. Finally, to confirm electric current conservation, essentially the two curves of Fig.(4) must add to zero. Clearly these curves do not cancel each other as the figure shows, exactly due to the approximate nature of the partial density of states as obtained using Eq. (\[eq2\]). After including the two corrections to DOS as derived in Eq. (\[result\]), however, we did obtain perfect current conservation for the whole energy range. This is not surprising since after all (\[result\]) is an exact result for this quantum system. Our main result Eq.(\[result\]) is derived using a specific simple example shown in Fig.(1). There seems no special reason for Eq.(\[result\]) to apply to other 2D systems, since the form of the new correction term is given by the amplitudes of the non-propagating modes inside the scattering junction (as oppose to the more general scattering matrix elements), and these evanescent amplitudes probably depend on the scatterer in some fashion. In this sense it is unfortunate that a more general form was not obtained. However since the new correction term does explain, qualitatively, the observed[@wang1] discrepancy of using Eq. (\[eq3\]) as discussed above, it is tempting to test it using the more complicated 2D system of the T-junction studied previously[@wang1]. As the T-junction has been reviewed and studied by many authors[@sols; @wang1] at various contexts, here we shall not present the details for its calculation. For this purpose, we have checked the current conservation of the T-junction using Eq.(\[eq3\]) and compared with the result obtained using Eq.(\[result\]). In Fig.(5), we have plotted the DOS $d\bar{N}_1/dE$ given by Eq.(\[eq3\]) (dotted line) and by[@foot1] Eq. (\[result\]) (solid line), and the dwell time $\tau_{d,1}/2\pi$ (dashed line). Although the result Eq. (\[result\]) is model dependent, we observe that the agreement is clearly better. This suggests that the new correction term does capture the essential ingredient of the correction, although it is not completely universal as the evanescent amplitudes depend on the peculiarities of a 2D system in some weak way, leading to the small remaining difference. Summary ======= In summary, we have investigated the electric current conservation in a two-dimensional ballistic conductor under a time dependent field. Similar to that of the 1D case, we found that in order to obtain precise current conservation, certain corrections to the density of states as obtained approximately from the scattering matrix must be included. We have derived these corrections analytically for a specific two-dimensional system and found that there are two correction terms. One of the correction term has the same form as that of the 1D case, while the second correction term is purely due to mode mixing characteristic of 2D quantum scattering. In particular, when the incident energy $E$ is within the first subband, our result essentially reduces to the one-dimensional result if $E$ is not too high. On the other hand as $E$ approaches to the $n$-th subband with $n>1$, the correction term diverges at the subband edges. Hence in 2D the mode mixing leads to important changes in the global density of states and must be included if precise electric current conservation is desired. Finally, the new correction term found here provides a qualitative explanation for the small but systematic deviation to precise current conservation observed in our previous numerical calculations[@wang1] on a 2D quantum wire in the shape of the T-junction. Indeed, our numerical test has produced better agreement when the new formula derived here is used. Acknowledgments {#acknowledgments .unnumbered} =============== We thank Prof. M. Büttiker for helpful communications and discussions. We gratefully acknowledge support by a RGC grant from the Government of Hong Kong under grant number HKU 261/95P, a research grant from the Croucher Foundation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and le Fonds pour la Formation de Chercheurs et l’Aide à la Recherche de la Province du Québec. We thank the Computer Center of the University of Hong Kong for computational facilities. [00]{} M. Büttiker, A. Prêtre and H. Thomas, Phys. Rev. Lett. [**70**]{}, 4114 (1993); M. Büttiker and H. Thomas, in [*Quantum-Effect Physics, Electronics and Applications*]{}, Eds. K. Ismail [*et. al.*]{}, (Institute of Physics Conference Series Number 127, Bristol, 1992), pp. 19; M. Büttiker, H. Thomas and A. Prêtre, Z. Phys. B. [**94**]{}, 133 (1994). C. Bruder and H. Schoeller, Phys. Rev. Lett. [**72**]{}, 1076 (1994). J. B. Pieper and J. C. Price, Phys. Rev. Lett. [**72**]{}, 3586 (1994). W. Chen, T. P. Smith, M. Büttiker, and M. Shayegan, Phys. Rev. Lett. [**73**]{}, 146 (1994). Jian Wang and Hong Guo, cond-mat/9608158. H. U. Baranger and A. D. Stone, Phys. Rev. B [**40**]{}, 8169 (1989); D. S. Fisher and P. A. Lee, Phys. Rev. B [**23**]{}, 6851 (1981); J. Cohen and Y. Avishai, J. Phys. Condens. Matter [**7**]{}, L121 (1995). H. Pastawski, Phys. Rev. B [**46**]{}, 4053 (1992). M. Büttiker, J. Phys. Condens. Matter [**5**]{}, 9361 (1993). M. Büttiker and T. Christen, cond-mat/9601075. V. Gasparian, T. Christen and M. Büttiker, cond-mat/9603135. G. Iannaccone, Phys. Rev. B [**51**]{} 4727 (1995). Y. Avishai and Y. B. Band, Phys. Rev. B [**32**]{}, 2674 (1985). V. Gasparian [*et. al.*]{} Phys. Rev. B [**51**]{}, 6743 (1995). P. F. Bagwell, Phys. Rev. B [**41**]{}, 10354 (1990). R. L. Schult, D. G. Ravenhall, and H. W. Wyld, Phys. Rev. B [**39**]{}, 5476 (1989). See, for example, F. Sols, M. Macucci, U. Ravaioli and K. Hess, Appl. Phys. Lett. [**54**]{}, 350 (1989); Jian Wang, Yongjiang Wang and Hong Guo, Appl. Phys. Lett. [**65**]{}, 1793 (1994). To apply Eq. (\[result\]) for the T-junction, we have substituted the appropriate amplitudes $b_n$ for the T-junction into (\[result\]). Figure Captions {#figure-captions .unnumbered} =============== - Schematic plot of the quantum wire system: a $\delta$ potential $\gamma\delta(\vec{r}-\vec{r_0})$ is confined inside a quasi-1D quantum wire, with $\vec{r_0} = (0,y_0)$. The wire width is $a$. The scattering region is between $x_1$ and $x_2$, where $x_2=-x_1=L/2$. In our calculations, the parameters are set to $L=a=1$, $y_0=0.3$, and $\gamma=-1.0$. - The global partial density of states and the transmission coefficient as functions of electron energy $E$. Solid line: transmission coefficient $T$; dotted line: $dN_{11}/dE$; dashed line: $dN_{21}/dE$. Unit of energy is $\hbar^2/2ma^2$. - The current response to the internal potential, $D_{\alpha\beta}$, as a function of energy $E$. Solid line: $D_{11}$; dotted line: $D_{21}$. - The dynamic part of the admittance, $E_{\alpha\beta}\equiv dN_{\alpha\beta}/dE-D_{\alpha\beta}$ as a function of energy. - A numerical check of the electric current conservation, Eq. (\[eq1\]), for the T-junction studied in Ref. [@wang1]. Solid line: $dN_1/dE$ as obtained by Eq. (\[result\]); dotted line: $\tau_d/h\ =\ \sum_{\alpha}D_{\alpha 1}/h$. Agreement of the two curves indicate the conservation. The remaining small differences at high end of the energy between the two curves indicates that the new correction term in Eq. (\[result\]) has a weak non-universal dependence on the 2D system shapes.

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Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain in dogs with recently diagnosed but untreated pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to determine the prevalence of visible pituitary masses in 21 dogs with recently diagnosed and untreated pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism. All dogs had clinical signs and routine database values (CBC, serum biochemical panel, and urinalysis) consistent with a diagnosis of hyperadrenocorticism, and none had clinical signs suggestive of an intracranial mass. Each dog had plasma cortisol concentrations after adrenocorticotropic hormone administration or low-dose dexamethasone administration consistent with hyperadrenocorticism. Pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism was confirmed by the finding of 2 equal-size adrenal glands on abdominal ultrasonography and by results of plasma endogenous adrenocorticotropic hormone concentration and high-dose dexamethasone suppression testing. Sagittal and transverse T1-weighted magnetic resonance images of the brain were obtained before and after IV administration of gadopentenate dimeglumine. Eleven dogs had visible masses, ranging in size from 4 to 12 mm at greatest vertical height. Mean age and body weight of dogs with a visible pituitary mass was not significantly different from dogs without a visible mass. There was no significant difference in endocrine test results when comparing dogs with a visible pituitary mass to dogs without. The prevalence of visible pituitary masses in dogs with pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism was greater than suggested by the prevalence of clinical neurologic signs.

Deoxypodophyllotoxin induces cytoprotective autophagy against apoptosis via inhibition of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in osteosarcoma U2OS cells. A natural compound deoxypodophyllotoxin (DPT) possesses potent anti-proliferative and anti-tumor properties on several cancer types. It triggers cell cycle arrest followed by apoptosis through various cellular processes. However, it is limited to the action mechanism of DPT-mediated cell death modes via apoptosis and autophagy. Cell viability assay, morphological changes, annexin-V/propidium iodide (PI) assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS), acridine orange staining, and Western blot analyses were evaluated. We demonstrated that DPT induced both apoptosis and autophagy via production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS). DPT suppressed the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling cascades to lead autophagy process, resulting from conversion of light chain 3-I (LC3-I) into LC3-II and acidic vesicular organelles (AVOs) formation. Even if DPT-induced ROS were occurred in both apoptosis and autophagy, inhibition of ROS generation enhanced cell viability. Otherwise, 3-methyladeine (3-MA) impeding on autophagy accelerated an apoptotic response caused by DPT. Therefore, these findings suggest that DPT triggers cytoprotective autophagy against cytotoxic apoptosis. Autophagy is required for cell survival by inhibition of apoptosis through down-regulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway against DPT-induced apoptosis in U2OS cells.

/***************************************************************************** * video_epg.c : EPG manipulation functions ***************************************************************************** * Copyright (C) 2010 Adrien Maglo * 2017 VLC authors, VideoLAN and VideoLabs * * Author: Adrien Maglo <magsoft@videolan.org> * * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it * under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or * (at your option) any later version. * * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details. * * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, * Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston MA 02110-1301, USA. *****************************************************************************/ #ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H # include "config.h" #endif #include <time.h> #include <vlc_common.h> #include <vlc_vout.h> #include <vlc_vout_osd.h> #include <vlc_events.h> #include <vlc_input_item.h> #include <vlc_epg.h> #include <vlc_url.h> #include "vout_spuregion_helper.h" /* Layout percentage defines */ #define OSDEPG_MARGIN 0.025 #define OSDEPG_MARGINS (OSDEPG_MARGIN * 2) #define OSDEPG_PADDING 0.05 /* inner margins */ #define OSDEPG_WIDTH (1.0 - OSDEPG_MARGINS) #define OSDEPG_HEIGHT 0.25 #define OSDEPG_LEFT OSDEPG_MARGIN #define OSDEPG_TOP (1.0 - OSDEPG_MARGINS - OSDEPG_HEIGHT + OSDEPG_MARGIN) /* layout */ #define OSDEPG_ROWS_COUNT 10 #define OSDEPG_ROW_HEIGHT (1.0 / OSDEPG_ROWS_COUNT) #define OSDEPG_LOGO_SIZE (OSDEPG_HEIGHT) /* shortcuts */ #define OSDEPG_RIGHT (1.0 - OSDEPG_MARGIN) #define OSDEPG_ROWS(x) (OSDEPG_ROW_HEIGHT * x) #define OSDEPG_ROW(x) (OSDEPG_ROWS(x)) #define EPGOSD_TEXTSIZE_NAME (OSDEPG_ROWS(2)) #define EPGOSD_TEXTSIZE_PROG (OSDEPG_ROWS(2)) #define EPGOSD_TEXTSIZE_NTWK (OSDEPG_ROWS(2)) //#define RGB_COLOR1 0xf48b00 //#define ARGB_BGCOLOR 0xC0333333 #define RGB_COLOR1 0x2badde #define ARGB_BGCOLOR 0xc003182d typedef struct { vlc_epg_t *epg; int64_t time; char *art; vlc_object_t *obj; } epg_spu_updater_sys_t; static char * GetDefaultArtUri( void ) { char *psz_uri = NULL; char *psz_path = config_GetSysPath(VLC_SYSDATA_DIR, "icons/hicolor/" "128x128/"PACKAGE_NAME".png"); if( psz_path != NULL ) { psz_uri = vlc_path2uri( psz_path, NULL ); free( psz_path ); } return psz_uri; } #define GRADIENT_COLORS 40 static subpicture_region_t * vout_OSDBackground(int x, int y, int width, int height, uint32_t i_argb) { /* Create a new subpicture region */ video_palette_t palette; spuregion_CreateVGradientPalette( &palette, GRADIENT_COLORS, i_argb, 0xFF000000 ); video_format_t fmt; video_format_Init(&fmt, VLC_CODEC_YUVP); fmt.i_width = fmt.i_visible_width = width; fmt.i_height = fmt.i_visible_height = height; fmt.i_sar_num = 1; fmt.i_sar_den = 1; fmt.p_palette = &palette; subpicture_region_t *region = subpicture_region_New(&fmt); if (!region) return NULL; region->i_align = SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_LEFT | SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_TOP; region->i_x = x; region->i_y = y; spuregion_CreateVGradientFill( region->p_picture->p, palette.i_entries ); return region; } static subpicture_region_t * vout_OSDEpgSlider(int x, int y, int width, int height, float ratio) { /* Create a new subpicture region */ video_palette_t palette = { .i_entries = 4, .palette = { [0] = { HEX2YUV(RGB_COLOR1), 0x20 }, /* Bar fill remain/background */ [1] = { HEX2YUV(0x00ff00), 0xff }, [2] = { HEX2YUV(RGB_COLOR1), 0xC0 }, /* Bar fill */ [3] = { HEX2YUV(0xffffff), 0xff }, /* Bar outline */ }, }; video_format_t fmt; video_format_Init(&fmt, VLC_CODEC_YUVP); fmt.i_width = fmt.i_visible_width = width; fmt.i_height = fmt.i_visible_height = height; fmt.i_sar_num = 1; fmt.i_sar_den = 1; fmt.p_palette = &palette; subpicture_region_t *region = subpicture_region_New(&fmt); if (!region) return NULL; region->i_align = SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_LEFT | SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_TOP; region->i_x = x; region->i_y = y; picture_t *picture = region->p_picture; ratio = VLC_CLIP(ratio, 0, 1); int filled_part_width = ratio * width; for (int j = 0; j < height; j++) { for (int i = 0; i < width; ) { /* Slider border. */ bool is_outline = j == 0 || j == height - 1 || i == 0 || i == width - 1; /* We can see the video through the part of the slider which corresponds to the leaving time. */ bool is_border = j < 3 || j > height - 4 || i < 3 || i > width - 4 || i < filled_part_width; uint8_t color = 2 * is_border + is_outline; if(i >= 3 && i < width - 4) { if(filled_part_width > 4) memset(&picture->p->p_pixels[picture->p->i_pitch * j + i], color, filled_part_width - 4); if(width > filled_part_width + 4) memset(&picture->p->p_pixels[picture->p->i_pitch * j + filled_part_width], color, width - filled_part_width - 4); i = __MAX(i+1, filled_part_width - 1); } else { picture->p->p_pixels[picture->p->i_pitch * j + i] = color; i++; } } } return region; } static void vout_OSDSegmentSetNoWrap(text_segment_t *p_segment) { for( ; p_segment; p_segment = p_segment->p_next ) { p_segment->style->e_wrapinfo = STYLE_WRAP_NONE; p_segment->style->i_features |= STYLE_HAS_WRAP_INFO; } } static text_segment_t * vout_OSDSegment(const char *psz_text, int size, uint32_t color) { text_segment_t *p_segment = text_segment_New(psz_text); if(unlikely(!p_segment)) return NULL; /* Set text style */ p_segment->style = text_style_Create(STYLE_NO_DEFAULTS); if (unlikely(!p_segment->style)) { text_segment_Delete(p_segment); return NULL; } p_segment->style->i_font_size = __MAX(size ,1 ); p_segment->style->i_font_color = color; p_segment->style->i_font_alpha = STYLE_ALPHA_OPAQUE; p_segment->style->i_outline_alpha = STYLE_ALPHA_TRANSPARENT; p_segment->style->i_shadow_alpha = STYLE_ALPHA_TRANSPARENT; p_segment->style->i_features |= STYLE_HAS_FONT_ALPHA | STYLE_HAS_FONT_COLOR | STYLE_HAS_OUTLINE_ALPHA | STYLE_HAS_SHADOW_ALPHA; return p_segment; } static subpicture_region_t * vout_OSDImage( vlc_object_t *p_obj, int x, int y, int w, int h, const char *psz_uri ) { video_format_t fmt_out; video_format_Init( &fmt_out, VLC_CODEC_YUVA ); fmt_out.i_width = fmt_out.i_visible_width = w; fmt_out.i_height = fmt_out.i_visible_height = h; subpicture_region_t *image = spuregion_CreateFromPicture( p_obj, &fmt_out, psz_uri ); if( image ) { image->i_x = x; image->i_y = y; image->i_align = SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_LEFT|SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_TOP; } return image; } static void vout_OSDRegionConstrain(subpicture_region_t *p_region, int w, int h) { if( p_region ) { p_region->i_max_width = w; p_region->i_max_height = h; } } static subpicture_region_t * vout_OSDTextRegion(text_segment_t *p_segment, int x, int y ) { video_format_t fmt; subpicture_region_t *region; if (!p_segment) return NULL; /* Create a new subpicture region */ video_format_Init(&fmt, VLC_CODEC_TEXT); fmt.i_sar_num = 1; fmt.i_sar_den = 1; region = subpicture_region_New(&fmt); if (!region) return NULL; region->p_text = p_segment; region->i_align = SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_LEFT | SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_TOP; region->i_text_align = SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_LEFT | SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_TOP; region->i_x = x; region->i_y = y; region->b_balanced_text = false; return region; } static subpicture_region_t * vout_OSDEpgText(const char *text, int x, int y, int size, uint32_t color) { return vout_OSDTextRegion(vout_OSDSegment(text, size, color), x, y); } static char * vout_OSDPrintTime(time_t t) { char *psz; struct tm tms; localtime_r(&t, &tms); if(asprintf(&psz, "%2.2d:%2.2d", tms.tm_hour, tms.tm_min) < 0) psz = NULL; return psz; } static subpicture_region_t * vout_OSDEpgEvent(const vlc_epg_event_t *p_evt, int x, int y, int size) { text_segment_t *p_segment = NULL; char *psz_start = vout_OSDPrintTime(p_evt->i_start); char *psz_end = vout_OSDPrintTime(p_evt->i_start + p_evt->i_duration); char *psz_text; if( -1 < asprintf(&psz_text, "%s-%s ", psz_start, psz_end)) { p_segment = vout_OSDSegment(psz_text, size, RGB_COLOR1); if( p_segment ) p_segment->p_next = vout_OSDSegment(p_evt->psz_name, size, 0xffffff); vout_OSDSegmentSetNoWrap( p_segment ); } free( psz_start ); free( psz_end ); if(!p_segment) return NULL; return vout_OSDTextRegion(p_segment, x, y); } static void vout_FillRightPanel(epg_spu_updater_sys_t *p_sys, int x, int y, int width, int height, int rx, int ry, subpicture_region_t **last_ptr) { float f_progress = 0; VLC_UNUSED(ry); /* Display the name of the channel. */ *last_ptr = vout_OSDEpgText(p_sys->epg->psz_name, x, y, height * EPGOSD_TEXTSIZE_NAME, 0x00ffffff); if(*last_ptr) last_ptr = &(*last_ptr)->p_next; const vlc_epg_event_t *p_current = p_sys->epg->p_current; vlc_epg_event_t *p_next = NULL; if(!p_sys->epg->p_current && p_sys->epg->i_event) p_current = p_sys->epg->pp_event[0]; for(size_t i=0; i<p_sys->epg->i_event; i++) { if( p_sys->epg->pp_event[i]->i_id != p_current->i_id ) { p_next = p_sys->epg->pp_event[i]; break; } } /* Display the name of the current program. */ if(p_current) { *last_ptr = vout_OSDEpgEvent(p_current, x, y + height * OSDEPG_ROW(2), height * EPGOSD_TEXTSIZE_PROG); /* region rendering limits */ vout_OSDRegionConstrain(*last_ptr, width, 0); if(*last_ptr) last_ptr = &(*last_ptr)->p_next; } /* NEXT EVENT */ if(p_next) { *last_ptr = vout_OSDEpgEvent(p_next, x, y + height * OSDEPG_ROW(5), height * EPGOSD_TEXTSIZE_PROG); /* region rendering limits */ vout_OSDRegionConstrain(*last_ptr, width, 0); if(*last_ptr) last_ptr = &(*last_ptr)->p_next; } if(p_sys->time) { f_progress = (p_sys->time - p_sys->epg->p_current->i_start) / (float)p_sys->epg->p_current->i_duration; } /* Display the current program time slider. */ *last_ptr = vout_OSDEpgSlider(x + width * 0.05, y + height * OSDEPG_ROW(9), width * 0.90, height * OSDEPG_ROWS(1), f_progress); if (*last_ptr) last_ptr = &(*last_ptr)->p_next; /* Format the hours */ if(p_sys->time) { char *psz_network = vout_OSDPrintTime(p_sys->time); if(psz_network) { *last_ptr = vout_OSDEpgText(psz_network, rx, y + height * OSDEPG_ROW(0), height * EPGOSD_TEXTSIZE_NTWK, RGB_COLOR1); free(psz_network); if(*last_ptr) { (*last_ptr)->i_align = SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_TOP|SUBPICTURE_ALIGN_RIGHT; last_ptr = &(*last_ptr)->p_next; } } } } static subpicture_region_t * vout_BuildOSDEpg(epg_spu_updater_sys_t *p_sys, int x, int y, int visible_width, int visible_height) { subpicture_region_t *head; subpicture_region_t **last_ptr = &head; const int i_padding = visible_height * (OSDEPG_HEIGHT * OSDEPG_PADDING); *last_ptr = vout_OSDBackground(x + visible_width * OSDEPG_LEFT, y + visible_height * OSDEPG_TOP, visible_width * OSDEPG_WIDTH, visible_height * OSDEPG_HEIGHT, ARGB_BGCOLOR); if(*last_ptr) last_ptr = &(*last_ptr)->p_next; struct { int x; int y; int w; int h; int rx; int ry; } panel = { x + visible_width * OSDEPG_LEFT + i_padding, y + visible_height * OSDEPG_TOP + i_padding, visible_width * OSDEPG_WIDTH - 2 * i_padding, visible_height * OSDEPG_HEIGHT - 2 * i_padding, visible_width * OSDEPG_LEFT + i_padding, visible_height * (1.0 - OSDEPG_TOP - OSDEPG_HEIGHT) + i_padding, }; if( p_sys->art ) { struct { int x; int y; int w; int h; } logo = { panel.x, panel.y, panel.h, panel.h, }; *last_ptr = vout_OSDBackground(logo.x, logo.y, logo.w, logo.h, 0xFF000000 | RGB_COLOR1); if(*last_ptr) last_ptr = &(*last_ptr)->p_next; int logo_padding = visible_height * (OSDEPG_LOGO_SIZE * OSDEPG_PADDING); *last_ptr = vout_OSDImage( p_sys->obj, logo.x + logo_padding, logo.y + logo_padding, logo.w - 2 * logo_padding, logo.h - 2 * logo_padding, p_sys->art ); if(*last_ptr) last_ptr = &(*last_ptr)->p_next; /* shrink */ panel.x += logo.w + i_padding; panel.w -= logo.w + i_padding; } vout_FillRightPanel( p_sys, panel.x, panel.y, panel.w, panel.h, panel.rx, panel.ry, last_ptr ); return head; } static int OSDEpgValidate(subpicture_t *subpic, bool has_src_changed, const video_format_t *fmt_src, bool has_dst_changed, const video_format_t *fmt_dst, vlc_tick_t ts) { VLC_UNUSED(subpic); VLC_UNUSED(ts); VLC_UNUSED(fmt_src); VLC_UNUSED(has_src_changed); VLC_UNUSED(fmt_dst); if (!has_dst_changed) return VLC_SUCCESS; return VLC_EGENERIC; } static void OSDEpgUpdate(subpicture_t *subpic, const video_format_t *fmt_src, const video_format_t *fmt_dst, vlc_tick_t ts) { epg_spu_updater_sys_t *sys = subpic->updater.p_sys; VLC_UNUSED(fmt_src); VLC_UNUSED(ts); video_format_t fmt = *fmt_dst; fmt.i_width = fmt.i_width * fmt.i_sar_num / fmt.i_sar_den; fmt.i_visible_width = fmt.i_visible_width * fmt.i_sar_num / fmt.i_sar_den; fmt.i_x_offset = fmt.i_x_offset * fmt.i_sar_num / fmt.i_sar_den; subpic->i_original_picture_width = fmt.i_visible_width; subpic->i_original_picture_height = fmt.i_visible_height; subpic->p_region = vout_BuildOSDEpg(sys, fmt.i_x_offset, fmt.i_y_offset, fmt.i_visible_width, fmt.i_visible_height); } static void OSDEpgDestroy(subpicture_t *subpic) { epg_spu_updater_sys_t *sys = subpic->updater.p_sys; if( sys->epg ) vlc_epg_Delete(sys->epg); free( sys->art ); free(sys); } /** * \brief Show EPG information about the current program of an input item * \param vout pointer to the vout the information is to be showed on * \param p_input pointer to the input item the information is to be showed * \param i_action osd_epg_action_e action */ int vout_OSDEpg(vout_thread_t *vout, input_item_t *input ) { vlc_epg_t *epg = NULL; int64_t epg_time; /* Look for the current program EPG event */ vlc_mutex_lock(&input->lock); const vlc_epg_t *tmp = input->p_epg_table; if ( tmp ) { /* Pick table designated event, or first/next one */ const vlc_epg_event_t *p_current_event = tmp->p_current; epg = vlc_epg_New(tmp->i_id, tmp->i_source_id); if(epg) { if( p_current_event ) { vlc_epg_event_t *p_event = vlc_epg_event_Duplicate(p_current_event); if(p_event) { if(!vlc_epg_AddEvent(epg, p_event)) vlc_epg_event_Delete(p_event); else vlc_epg_SetCurrent(epg, p_event->i_start); } } /* Add next event if any */ vlc_epg_event_t *p_next = NULL; for(size_t i=0; i<tmp->i_event; i++) { vlc_epg_event_t *p_evt = tmp->pp_event[i]; if((!p_next || p_next->i_start > p_evt->i_start) && (!p_current_event || (p_evt->i_id != p_current_event->i_id && p_evt->i_start >= p_current_event->i_start + p_current_event->i_duration ))) { p_next = tmp->pp_event[i]; } } if( p_next ) { vlc_epg_event_t *p_event = vlc_epg_event_Duplicate(p_next); if(!vlc_epg_AddEvent(epg, p_event)) vlc_epg_event_Delete(p_event); } if(epg->i_event > 0) { epg->psz_name = strdup(tmp->psz_name); } else { vlc_epg_Delete(epg); epg = NULL; } } } epg_time = input->i_epg_time; vlc_mutex_unlock(&input->lock); /* If no EPG event has been found. */ if (epg == NULL) return VLC_EGENERIC; if(epg->psz_name == NULL) /* Fallback (title == channel name) */ epg->psz_name = input_item_GetMeta( input, vlc_meta_Title ); epg_spu_updater_sys_t *sys = malloc(sizeof(*sys)); if (!sys) { vlc_epg_Delete(epg); return VLC_EGENERIC; } sys->epg = epg; sys->obj = VLC_OBJECT(vout); sys->time = epg_time; sys->art = input_item_GetMeta( input, vlc_meta_ArtworkURL ); if( !sys->art ) sys->art = GetDefaultArtUri(); subpicture_updater_t updater = { .pf_validate = OSDEpgValidate, .pf_update = OSDEpgUpdate, .pf_destroy = OSDEpgDestroy, .p_sys = sys }; const vlc_tick_t now = vlc_tick_now(); subpicture_t *subpic = subpicture_New(&updater); if (!subpic) { vlc_epg_Delete(sys->epg); free(sys); return VLC_EGENERIC; } subpic->i_channel = VOUT_SPU_CHANNEL_OSD; subpic->i_start = now; subpic->i_stop = now + VLC_TICK_FROM_SEC(3); subpic->b_ephemer = true; subpic->b_absolute = false; subpic->b_fade = true; subpic->b_subtitle = false; vout_PutSubpicture(vout, subpic); return VLC_SUCCESS; }

Q: get selected value from multiple using jquery i have a unordered list of data, and within each <li> i have a hidden input which contain the different values for each <li> <form> <ul> <li><input type="hidden" id="tid" value="1" />Apple</li> <li><input type="hidden" id="tid" value="2" />Orange</li> <li><input type="hidden" id="tid" value="3" />Pear</li> </ul> </form> how do i retrieve the post value from the hidden input when a particular <li> is clicked through jquery?? A: $(function () { $("form li").on('click', function () { var tid = $('input[type="hidden"]', this).val(); alert (tid); }); });

Player valuation and SGP Hey folks, sorry it’s been a while since my last post but I was pretty jammed up with the Winter Meetings. Now that that’s out of the way I’m catching up on things, so let’s pick up where we left off last time, which was illustrating the value of stats in relative context. To sum it up, Andre Ethier (below) didn’t hit 31 homers in a bubble last year, he hit them in the context of an overall offensive environment, and therefore, the value of those homers is dependant upon the overall environment. However, I didn’t really do much for your fantasy planning by putting it in the context of recent MLB league stats… knowing that there 651 fewer homers hit in 2009 than in 2000 is helpful, but how much does that effect the value of any player? And besides, we don’t compete with the Dodgers or Yankees or Tigers, we compete in 12- and 15-team fantasy leagues. So let’s put things into a fantasy context and see what that means. My main league, the one in which I invest the most of my time and effort, is my 15-team mixed NFBC league. I know more people do 12-team leagues than 15, but hey, this is the data I have available and it’s still useful for illustrative purposes. There were 26 NFBC leagues last year, a total of 390 teams. I dropped the top and bottom five teams in each category, since outliers don’t help much, then took the top and bottom 10 teams in each category and averaged them out. From that, here’s what we get for average stats of the first and last place teams in each of the 26 NFBC leagues last year: AVGABRHHRRBISBWSVERAWHIPIP (ERA) IP (WHIP) SO .28507524114221443021127197106993.6171.2481520.91433.21367 .2611693691218112058769668214.6961.4331408.31407.6959 (The first thing you should notice right away is the importance of playing time… the average first place team had nearly 600 more at-bats than the average last place time, which is why we say, never take a day off when it comes to managing your roster and maximizing playing time! Note though that there are two IP values for ERA and WHIP, since the top and bottom teams in each category were not necessarily the same.) Let’s stick with homers for our example on how to use these stats to help figure out player values. The average top team hit 97 more homers than the average last place team, or an average of about 6.9 homers for each of the 14 roster spots. This means that on average, for each 6.9 homers a particular player hit, he moved his team up one point in the standings in that category. Well, not so fast… because the last place team had 205 homers, you had to do better than that to get your first point and move up from there. This is where the notion of replacement value comes in. The average player (roster spot) on the last-place team hit 14.6 homers, so in fact, the “replacement value” – the average player on the worst place team – was actually just under 14.6 homers, and for each 6.9 homers above THAT, another player earned his team one place in the standings. This is the beginning of developing what is known as standings gain points, or SGP. The concept is that you figure out what each player was worth in each category over the replacement level – the worst player on a roster, or slightly below – and then add it up in each of the five (batting or pitching) categories to get his overall value. So our friend Andre, who hit 31 homers, was worth about 2.4 SGP’s in homers, the number of points in that category he was worth over a replacement-level player. Do this exercise for each player in each category, then add ’em up for their overall value. But wait… Joe Mauer (right) hit 28 homers and surely those were more valuable than the 31 Ethier hit as an outfielder, right? After all, Mauer is a catcher and we know catchers stink, so plus production from one of them is worth more than a good outfield season, right? Exactly… and that’s why replacement value is different at each position. But more on that next time. Looking forward to your feedback! Thanks, Cory Like this: LikeLoading... Related 7 Comments This is sweet Cory. Last year I just listened to the podcasts and heard “I think this guy will be undervalued” so I drafted him. This year with your advice I’m gonna create some number crunching spreadsheet craziness. My question is, how do you come up with those awesome projections for players? Do they incorporate surrounding line-up, injury prone-ness, age and growth/decline, and how is that done statistically? -Another Mike Just an awesome analysis. The hard part I would imagine is doing this in season, comparing adjusted projections against what you project yourself to need in order to win or place in your league. I love it. Hey guys thanks for the feedback. I’ll get into building better projections in a later post. Also, now that I re-read this, I should’ve averaged the top 21 teams (26 NFBC teams minus the five outliers) to come up with the weighted first place and last place team averages, rather than only 10 teams, but I suspect it won’t change the numbers very much. i am thinking strasburg $1 and one of the closers. Everyone is jumping off the franklin bandwagon but marmol is very iffy. incredible stuff only problem he has no idea where the ball is going. please help guys and please comment on strasburg as a keeper (can keep this yr and next at $1) Giantstep, I think you have to with Strasburg and Marmol. The Cardinals were ready to go with Jason Motte as their closer last year over Franklin, and given how poorly he ended the season, I don’t think he’s a strong keeper investment. Marmol struggled with his control, true, but it wasn’t nearly as bad the previous two seasons and his strikeout numbers speak to his dominance. Good luck! I’m trying to use this approach on my keeper decisions and I’m having some issues. It seems pretty straight forward when it comes to the counting stats but I can’t get it to work on the ratio categories. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Im tyring to decide who I should start at 2nd base. Either Ian Kinsler or Jemile Weeks. Kinslers batting avg is horrible and I feel that if I put Weeks in he will contribute to more than just 1 category. Weeks has been on fire. Any suggestions on what I should do? Meta The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.

CEO Hirai to Network Sony Content and Gadgets By IBT Staff Reporter On 02/09/12 AT 2:35 PM Sony Corp's Walkman, a portable music player, is displayed at the lobby of the company's headquarters in Tokyo February 9, 2012. Photo: REUTERS (Reuters) -- Incoming Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai aims to reshape the company by linking hardware and software through online networks - a model he used at the PlayStation maker's computer entertainment unit. It's a bigger concept we can grow into a bigger space for Sony overall, Hirai, 51, said in an interview with foreign media at the company's Tokyo headquarters. It's a business where hardware drives software and software drives hardware, and it's all tied up by the network, he added, referring to efforts to sell games, movies and other content to connected PlayStation owners. Hirai formally succeeds Howard Stringer as CEO on April 1, with the once-stellar consumer electronics brand heading for what it warned last week would be a much bigger-than-expected $2.9 billion annual loss, its fourth in a row. Under intense pressure from investors and ratings agencies to staunch losses at the sprawling electronics group, Hirai pledged not to flinch from tough decisions to trim costs, and renewed a promise to return the TV business to profit in two years. We have to make some hard decisions on where there are some redundancies and reduce the fixed costs in a variety of different areas, he said, pointing to sales units in Japan, Europe and the United States, supply chains and Tokyo headquarters functions as areas where cuts could be made. Credit ratings agency Standard and Poor's on Wednesday cut its long-term debt rating on Sony and warned it may drop it another notch within a year if Hirai fails to stem TV losses and deliver a significant boost to profitability. Sony was also downgraded by Moody's last month. BIG BLEED The TV division has lost more than $11 billion over eight fiscal years. Together, Sony, Panasonic and Sharp expect to lose $17 billion this year alone, highlighting the savaging of Japan's electronics industry by foreign rivals led by South Korea's Samsung Electronics, weak demand and a strong yen. Better products would, Hirai said, add as much as 40 billion yen ($520 million) in profit, with cost improvements adding another 50 billion yen, as part of a strategy he described as defense and offense. As well as weak global TV demand, Sony has been hammered by last year's flooding in Thailand that ruptured supply chains, a big one-off charge for exiting a flat panel joint venture with Samsung, and smart competition from Apple and Samsung that has squeezed market share in TVs, smartphones and other gadgets. Hirai predicted that LCD technology would remain the main battlefield in TVs for at least three years, before next generation technology takes hold. Sony shares have jumped 13 percent to a 14-week high of 1,544 yen since Hirai was named as the next CEO. The stock slumped more than 60 percent during Stringer's 7-year reign. A Sony veteran of 28 years, Hirai was credited with reviving the PlayStation gaming operations through aggressive cost-cutting, in competition with Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox. A year ago, Hirai, a fluent English speaker, was promoted to head the consumer products and services business, overseeing Sony's network operations. He was also at the forefront of efforts to counter hackers who accessed Sony customers' personal details, including credit card information. He takes over after a period of cost cutting by Stringer, a rare foreign CEO in Japan who sold off TV factories in Spain, Slovakia and Mexico and outsourced more than half of the group's production to outside companies. A white Fiat van rammed into pedestrians outside enjoying a late afternoon stroll on Las Ramblas in Barcelona on Thursday killing at least 13 people and leaving hundreds injured. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Abstract Trials on the effect of systemic chemotherapy on survival and recurrence in adults with high-grade glioma have had inconclusive results. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effects of such treatment on survival and recurrence. METHODS: We did a systematic review and meta-analysis using updated data on individual patients from all available randomised trials that compared radiotherapy alone with radiotherapy plus chemotherapy. Data for 3004 patients from 12 randomised controlled trials were included (11 published and one unpublished). FINDINGS: Overall, the results showed significant prolongation of survival associated with chemotherapy, with a hazard ratio of 0.85 (95% CI 0.78-0.91, p<0.0001) or a 15% relative decrease in the risk of death. This effect is equivalent to an absolute increase in 1-year survival of 6% (95% CI 3-9) from 40% to 46% and a 2-month increase in median survival time (1-3). There was no evidence that the effect of chemotherapy differed in any group of patients defined by age, sex, histology, performance status, or extent of resection. INTERPRETATION: This small but clear improvement in survival from chemotherapy encourages further study of drug treatment of these tumours.

List of massacres in the Finnish Civil War This is a list of massacres during or immediately after the Finnish Civil War. The Finnish Civil War was a conflict in 1918, which killed more than 38,000 people (about one percent of the country's population), of whom 1,650 were victims of Red Terror, and over 10,000 of White Terror. See also List of massacres in Finland References Category:Lists of massacres Category:Lists of massacres by war Category:Finnish Civil War

Introduction / objectives ========================= Awareness of epidemiologic profile of MRSA-hospital-acquired infection in neonatal-ICU might improve an early recognition of this infection. Evaluating the clinical epidemiologic profile of hospital-acquired *Staphylococcus aureus*-bacterium infection in neonatal-ICU patients according to its methicilin sensibility. Methods ======= The infections cases were prospectively recorded for an eleven-year period from 2000 to 2010; the program used was EPI-INFO v 3.4.1. Results ======= 31 strains of *Staphylococcus sp* were identified in some hospital-acquired-infections. 46.7% of *Staphylococcus aureus* were methicilin resistant. Bloodstream infection (BSI) was the most prevalent site of infection of MRSA (40%) as well as for methicilin-sensitive *Staphylococcus aureus* (MSSA) (62.5%). Symptoms of infection had began as early as 8.5 days and as late as 11 days (average time) from the admission date in methicilin-sensitive and methicilin-resistant *Staphylococcus aureus* cases respectively. The previous antibiotic therapy was more usual in MRSA cases (80%) than in MSSA (0%). The average weight of newborn infant was heavier in MSSA (2.222g) than MRSA (1626g). The frequency of death was higher in MRSA than MSSA (40% and 12,5% respectivelly). The average duration of stay was slightly longer in MRSA (24 days) than in MSSA (22.8 days). Conclusion ========== From that analysis we have pointed out an epidemiologic profile of MRSA-hospital infections in neonatal-ICU concerning its prevalence and others epidemiologic issues in order to prevent its increase and diffusion in neonatal ICU. Disclosure of interest ====================== None declared.

Exploring DNA damage responses in human cells with recombinant adenoviral vectors. Recombinant adenoviral vectors provide efficient means for gene transduction in mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo. We are currently using these vectors to transduce DNA repair genes into repair deficient cells, derived from xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) patients. XP is an autosomal syndrome characterized by a high frequency of skin tumors, especially in areas exposed to sunlight, and, occasionally, developmental and neurological abnormalities. XP cells are deficient in nucleotide excision repair (affecting one of the seven known XP genes, xpa to xpg) or in DNA replication of DNA lesions (affecting DNA polymerase eta, xpv). The adenovirus approach allows the investigation of different consequences of DNA lesions in cell genomes. Adenoviral vectors carrying several xp and photolyases genes have been constructed and successfully tested in cell culture systems and in vivo directly in the skin of knockout model mice. This review summarizes these recent data and proposes the use of recombinant adenoviruses as tools to investigate the mechanisms that provide protection against DNA damage in human cells, as well as to better understand the higher predisposition of XP patients to cancer.

Tim Passmore Tim Passmore is the Conservative Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner. He is the first person to hold the post and was elected on 15 November 2012, and re-elected on 6 May 2016. Passmore was educated at Ipswich School in Ipswich, Suffolk. References http://www.eadt.co.uk/business/new_boss_for_choose_suffolk_partnership_1_731760 Category:Police and crime commissioners in England Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:People educated at Ipswich School Category:Conservative Party police and crime commissioners

Since a lithium-ion secondary battery, one type of nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, is light in weight and has a large charging and discharging capacity, it has been used mainly as a battery for portable electronic devices. Moreover, practical use of lithium-ion secondary batteries as batteries for motor vehicles such as electric automobiles is expected. Generally, materials comprising a rare metal such as cobalt or nickel are used as a positive-electrode active material of a lithium-ion secondary battery. However, due to the fact that rare metals are small in the distributed amount, not always easily available and additionally expensive, a positive-electrode active material using a material that replaces a rare metal has been desired. Further, in the case of a positive-electrode active material comprising an oxidized compound, oxygen in the positive-electrode active material is released due to overcharging, or the like, and as a result, an organic electrolyte and a current collector are oxidized and burnt, which may cause firing, explosion, and the like. A technique of using elemental sulfur as a positive-electrode active material is known. Namely, sulfur is easily available compared to rare metals and is inexpensive, and has a further advantage that a charging and discharging capacity of a lithium-ion secondary battery can be made larger than the present state. For example, it is known that a lithium-ion secondary battery using sulfur as a positive-electrode active material can achieve about 6 times larger charging and discharging capacity than a lithium-ion secondary battery using lithium cobalt oxide which is a general positive-electrode material. Further, sulfur is low in reactivity compared to oxygen, and there is a less risk of causing firing, explosion, and the like due to overcharging. However, the lithium-ion secondary battery using elemental sulfur as the positive-electrode active material has a problem that a battery capacity is deteriorated through repeated charging and discharging. That is, elemental sulfur is likely to generate a compound with lithium when discharging and since the generated compound is soluble into a nonaqueous electrolyte (for example, ethylene carbonate and dimethyl carbonate and the like) of the lithium-ion secondary battery, the charging and discharging capacity is gradually reduced through repeated charging and discharging due to the sulfur eluting into the electrolyte. Therefore, in order to prevent a sulfur compound from eluting into an electrolyte, a technique of using a given polycarbon sulfide comprising carbon and sulfur as main component elements has been proposed (JP 2002-154815 A). This polycarbon sulfide is prepared by adding sulfur to a linear chain unsaturated polymer. It is understood that this sulfur-based positive-electrode active material can inhibit the charging and discharging capacity of a lithium-ion secondary battery from being reduced through repeated charging and discharging. Further, it is also understood that a sulfur-based positive-electrode active material obtained by heat-treating a diene rubber and sulfur is useful for enhancing a charging and discharging capacity (WO 2015-050086).

Rescued Dog Warns Owner Of Earthquake. Ends Up Saving Her Life Rescued Dog Warns Owner Of Earthquake. Ends Up Saving Her Life ADVERTISEMENT Most of the times, a good deed will be rewarded! With that in mind, a Taiwanese woman was more than thankful she had a pet dog. She had adopted a stray puppy half a year before the earthquake that shook Taiwan in February 2018. Poppy Yang was fortunate to have Twenty by her side because her life could have been in danger if it weren’t for the stubborn pup. What happened? Let’s check out their story below. 20. Returning The Favor troab.com Six months before the devastating earthquake that shook Taiwan in February, Poppy rescued a stray puppy from a parking space. Little did she know that the pup would return the favor! 19. A Normal Day troab.com Poppy was out late in the evening with Twenty, her puppy: ‘At about 11 o’clock that night, I arrived home and I went out to play with the dog downstairs for a while’, said the woman. But something about her puppy was weird… 18. A Weird Feeling thedodo.com ‘We were heading upstairs at 11:30 when suddenly the dog ran back outside and started barking at the ground.’ It was a weird behavior because the dog had a different bark as if something spooked him. Poppy had a lot of plans inside the house… 17. Stop it, Twenty! thedodo.com Poppy was planning to take a shower as soon as she was about to enter the house, but Twenty wouldn’t stop barking and running away: ‘I told him to stop playing and come inside’. But he would continue barking! 16. He Didn’t Want to Get Inside troab.com ‘A few seconds later, he rushed outside again and continued barking, very distressed,’ said Poppy. The woman couldn’t do anything else than wait for Twenty to calm down and postpone her bath. Minutes later, the 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit. 15. A Fortunate Neighborhood thedodo.com Poppy was still outside and her building was standing, fortunately for her! Unlike other buildings and parts of the city, her building was alright and the items in her house only fell from the shelves. It was a minor damage, except for this… 14. A Tragedy Could Have Happened thedodo.com The place she would have been if not for Twenty’s strange behavior was filled with shards from the shattered glass door she had in the bathroom. Thank goodness Poopy got delayed, or else all those shards would have hurt a lot! 13. No Place to Hide troab.com Poppy realized the danger and admitted that she could ‘have been seriously injured because the moment the glass broke there was no place to hide’. But she and her puppy were all right. 12. Twenty Sensed the Earthquake troab.com The woman believes that her pup has sensed the earthquake before happening and this is why he kept barking at the ground. ‘People say that animals have the ability to predict things and it seems like it’s true’, said Poppy. And she’s right… 11. It Dates Back Centuries troab.com It’s a very old belief that animals can sense natural disasters such as earthquakes or storms. Dogs have an acute hearing and they can hear the vibrations that precede an earthquake. After the magnitude 9 earthquake in Japan (2011), studies have been made on pets. 10. Pets Displayed Unusual Behavior troab.com Before the earthquake, a lot of owners reported that 236 of 1,259 dog owners and 115 of 703 cat owners saw strange behaviors, such as barking, howling and restlessness, even in the outdoors – minutes before the earthquake hit. 9. Saving the Day thedodo.com Poppy doesn’t know if Twenty actually heard the ground crack under them, but his barking and stubbornness saved their lives. This is what she said: ‘I am thankful he delayed me. I think it is our duty to look out for one another’. 8. An Amazing Mother npr.org Poppy is the best mother a pooch can have. She said in an interview that they ‘will live together forever until we’re separated by death. This is the best way we can thank each other’. And there are many other people thankful to receive help… 7. The Island Shocked By the Earthquake cbsnews.com Poppy Yang was lucky to have her pooch save her from serious injury, but not many had a dog like Twenty by their side. After the quake shook the Asian Island, 70 people were missing, probably still under the crumbled buildings in Hualien, Taiwan City. 6. Nine People Dead telesurtv.net There were 9 deaths and over 250 injured people and everyone was on edge. There were 130 aftershocks the next 25 hours! Severe parts of the city had to be closed because of landslides and the four crumbled buildings. 5. A Severe Earthquake telesurtv.net Fu Kun-Chi, the head of Hualien County said that there hasn’t been such a severe quakefor 50 years. People that lost their homes slept in a gym. Pets have also been rescued from apartments. In most rescue cases, trained dogs are the best rescuers! 4. Furry Heroes twitter.com There have been many dogs that saved a lot of people stuck under crumbled buildings. For example, this adorable pooch saved over 50 people in just a few years! This girl earned international praise after she’s rescued dozens of people after natural disasters. 3. Frida, The Awesome Labrador Retriever twitter.com Frida works with the Mexican Navy (SEMAR) and she was last needed in Oaxaca, after the earthquake. She wore protective goggles and boots and was soon ready to save some more people! If you’re a dog or cat owner and there’s a quake, you should know this… 2. Leave Them Be twitter.com Don’t hold onto your pet in case of an earthquake, because they will hide somewhere safe. Make sure they have a collar, a tag, and a microchip in case they get lost. Try to remain calm and talk to your pet in a comforting tone. 1. Stay Calm troab.com It might be frightening, but staying calm will help you and your pet to get through the quake. Keep the pet leashed and caress them for reassurance. If you’re unlucky and you lose your pet, check with the local animal shelter, as they may have already found them.

Q: Visual Studio 2010 projects are never up to date I've hit an issue with some of the projects in our Visual Studio 2010 solution. When I build they are never up to date and always rebuild. Using this post http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vsproject/archive/2009/07/21/enable-c-project-system-logging.aspx I was able to figure out that some of my projects had headers listed which no longer existed. Removing these references fixed 5 of the projects. But that leaves 13 which are always being built. The reason I get from the VS2010 log is devenv.exe Information: 0 : Project 'C:\path\to\project.vcxproj' up to date check disabled because the LastBuildState and/or LastBuildUnsuccessful properties are not set. When I search google I'm getting hits for this message. But no solutions. Does anyone know whats going on? All these projects are NMake based. Kinda suspect that may be the root cause. Do NMake projects set these properties? A: A very similar question is answered here I had to delete all .tlog files from my output.

Providers of telecommunication services typically offer plans that incentivize subscribers to call at non-peak hours, such as nights and weekends. These plans also often include discounted or free calls between subscribers of a same service provider. Calls between subscribers to a same service are typically referred to as “mobile-to-mobile” calls, regardless of whether the devices participating in the calls are “mobile” telecommunication devices, such as cellular phones. To offer discounted or free mobile-to-mobile calls, a telecommunication service provider determines whether a newly-received call from one of its subscribers is directed to another one of its subscribers. One technique used to determine whether a call is mobile-to-mobile involves the retrieval of information associated with the serving subscriber from subscriber databases. Those databases include home location registers (HLRs) and visitor location registers (VLRs) accessed via a Signaling System Number 7 (SS7) network of the telecommunication service provider. A Service Control Function (SCF) node of the telecommunication service provider that is tasked with determining whether a call is mobile-to-mobile queries the subscriber databases and makes the determination based on the information retrieved from those subscriber databases. This technique often results in substantial congestion of the SS7 network and reduced performance of the subscriber databases given the utilization of that network and those databases for other functions of the telecommunication service provider.

Q: Как правильно подключить и синхронизировать поток в Delphi? Читала статьи про потоки. Есть много примеров, пояснений и так далее... Но вот, на примерах, мне так и не ясно - как правильно подключить и синхронизировать поток. Поясните и покажите, на данном примере, как правильно подключить поток, как синхронизировать. Чтобы, при работе, форма не зависала и программа работала. Хочу полностью отказаться от использования Application.ProcessMessages(); Взяла простой код, с чтением построчно (для того что бы, проще было, уловить смысл): procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject); var f, f1: TextFile; S: string; begin if OpenDialog1.Execute then begin AssignFile(f, OpenDialog1.FileName); reset(f); AssignFile(f1, ExtractFileDir(OpenDialog1.FileName)+'\Test.txt'); rewrite(f1); end; while not Eof(f) do begin ReadLn(f, S); if (Pos('Запрос', s) > 0) then writeln(f1, S); end; CloseFile(f); CloseFile(f1); end; Буду благодарна за любую помощь, подсказку а еще лучше реализацию на примере предоставленного кода - с пояснениями что к чему. Я не хочу просто скопировать код и все. Хочу реально понять как это работает - что бы в дальнейшем использовать на новых созданных программах и не задавать больше глупых вопросов о потоках. Дополнение: После окончания работы, добавить, по желанию, сообщение - Работа завершена. Вот мои наработки, что тут делаю не так (Подскажите ?): unit Unit1; interface uses Winapi.Windows, Winapi.Messages, System.SysUtils, System.Variants, System.Classes, Vcl.Graphics, Vcl.Controls, Vcl.Forms, Vcl.Dialogs, Vcl.StdCtrls; type TForm1 = class(TForm) Button1: TButton; OpenDialog1: TOpenDialog; procedure Button1Click(Sender: TObject); private { Private declarations } public { Public declarations } end; TMyThread = class(TThread) private { Private declarations } protected procedure Execute; override; end; var Form1: TForm1; MyThread: TMyThread; implementation procedure TMyThread.Execute; var f, f1: TextFile; S: string; begin if (Pos('Запрос', s) > 0) then writeln(f1, S); end; {$R *.dfm} procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject); var f, f1: TextFile; S: string; begin if OpenDialog1.Execute then begin AssignFile(f, OpenDialog1.FileName); reset(f); AssignFile(f1, ExtractFileDir(OpenDialog1.FileName)+'\Test.txt'); rewrite(f1); end; while not Eof(f) do begin ReadLn(f, S); //Создаем экземпляр потока: MyThread:=TMyThread.Create(False); //Параметр False запускает поток сразу после создания, True - запуск впоследствии , методом Resume //Указываем параметры потока, например приоритет: MyThread.Priority:=tpNormal; //Можно указать что после завершения кода поток завершится автоматически: MyThread.FreeOnTerminate:=true; end; CloseFile(f); CloseFile(f1); end; end. A: Если вопрос все еще актуален, Татьяна, то могу предложить следующее решение. Описываем "тело" потока, добавив в него параметры для путей к файлам - поток сам их откроет в процессе своего выполнения, а также процедуру DoTerminate, о которой будет сказано позже. Код приведен ниже. type TMyThread = class(TThread) private FFileToRead: String; FFileToWrite: String; protected procedure Execute; override; procedure DoTerminate(Sender: TObject); public // Свойства для открытия файлов (пути к ним) property FileToRead : String read FFileToRead write FFileToRead; property FileToWrite: String read FFileToWrite write FFileToWrite; end; Собственно, работа потока будет заключаться в выполнении процедуры Execute. Процедура является виртуальной, что позволяет нам ее перекрыть - т.е. объявить в классе с директивой override. Это даст компилятору понять, что первой (процедура Execute имеется в классе TThread по умолчанию) будет вызвана процедура Execute, описанная в нашем собственном классе. Код процедуры приведен ниже. procedure TMyThread.Execute; var ReadFrom: TextFile; WriteTo: TextFile; S: String; begin while not Terminated do begin AssignFile(ReadFrom, FFileToRead); Reset(ReadFrom); AssignFile(WriteTo, FFileToWrite); Rewrite(WriteTo); while not EoF(ReadFrom) do begin ReadLn(ReadFrom, S); if Pos('Запрос', S) > 0 then WriteLn(WriteTo, S); end; CloseFile(ReadFrom); CloseFile(WriteTo); // Помечаем поток как требующий закрытия Terminate; end; end; Чтобы получить оповещение об окончании работы потока, можно прибегнуть к использованию свойства OnTerminate потока. Для этого следует объявить и описать процедуру, которая будет вызываться потоком по окончанию своей деятельности. Код приведен ниже. procedure TMyThread.DoTerminate(Sender: TObject); begin ShowMessage('Готово!'); end; Собственно, вызов потока: его создание, выставление некоторых параметров, получение путей к файлам. Код приведен ниже. procedure TForm1.aButton1Click(Sender: TObject); var MyThread: TMyThread; Opened: Boolean; begin // Создаем экземпляр потока MyThread := TMyThread.Create(true); MyThread.Priority := tpNormal; MyThread.FreeOnTerminate := true; MyThread.OnTerminate := DoTerminate; Opened := false; // Получаем имена файлов if OpenDialog1.Execute then begin MyThread.FileToRead := OpenDialog1.FileName; MyThread.FileToWrite := ExtractFileDir(OpenDialog1.FileName) + '\Test.txt'); Opened := true; end; // Проверяем, был ли выбран файл в диалоге выбора if not Opened then begin // Файл не был выбран, значит, уничтожаем созданный поток if Assigned(MyThread) then MyThread.Free; Exit; end; // Запускаем поток MyThread.Start; end; Как видно, освобождать поток нет необходимости - класс будет самоликвидирован благодаря свойству FreeOnTerminate. Проще говоря - запустил и забыл. Код протестирован на нескольких текстовых файлах малого размера. Полезная информация: О потоках в целом Свойство OnTerminate Процедура Execute

Safe and secure Operators can safely load bolts without entering unsecured ground thanks to the unique fold-back function of the bolting unit. Low profile bolting The Boltec SL is a low profile mechanized bolting machine optimized for for low-seam mining. Low bolting unit The reduced length of the small bolting unit and easy bolt loading means you can get into smaller spaces and get more work done. Super short rock drill The Boltec SL is a low profile mechanized bolting machine built for low-seam mining in headings as low as 1.8-2.2m. For maximum production in low profile bolting applications, the COP 628 rock drill delivers 6kW of output power. Fully mechanized single bolt installation, and the unique bolt loading system makes bolting safer and easier. To keep spare parts holding to a minimum, the Boltec SL shares a high degree of carrier commonality with the Boomer S1 profile face drilling machine. The Boltec SL is the most advanced and productive fully mechanized rock bolting rig in its size class.

Q: What is the phrase "Paramedics, come on down!" in Family Guy referencing In the season 9 episode, New Kidney in Town, Peter becomes addicted to RedBull and is shown to appear on the show The Price is Right, where he spins the wheel so fast that it comes loose and runs over the studio audience. This is followed by Peter saying "Paramedics, come on down!" in a sing-song voice and then performing some kind of spot-run while laughing in a weird manner. An example of the clip can be found here: And a Wikiquote article on season 9 containing this quote: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Family_Guy/Season_9#New_Kidney_in_Town What is this a reference to? A: It's a standard phrase used to call contestants on the show. The "Paramedics" part of the quote just indicates that emergency personnel are wanted. The Price Is Right is an American television game show created by Bob Stewart, Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. The show revolves around contestants competing by identifying accurate pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. Contestants are selected from the studio audience when the announcer states the show's famous catchphrase, "Come on down!" Wikipedia At the beginning of the show, four contestants are called from the audience by the announcer to take a spot in the front row behind bidding podiums, which are embedded into the front edge of the stage. This area is known as "Contestants' Row". The announcer shouts "Come on down!" after calling each selected contestant's name, a phrase which has become a trademark of the show.

Q: UIView animation interaction I have UIView with animated frame size on long press gesture. - (IBAction)longPressGesture:(id)sender { NSTimeInterval duration = 1; CGRect newFrame = self.view.frame; switch (((UIGestureRecognizer *)sender).state) { case UIGestureRecognizerStateBegan: newFrame.size.height += 100; break; case UIGestureRecognizerStateEnded: newFrame.size.height -= 100; break; default: break; } [UIView animateWithDuration:duration animations:^{ self.view.frame = newFrame; }]; } On tap_begin frame height increase to maximum size (heigh + 100), on tap_end decrease to original size (heigh - 100). The problem is when I tap, frame start to grow and then while growing I release finger and second animation starts from large frame, not from current state. For example frame start to animate from height 200 to 300 and in middle of animation (when frame height is 250) i release finger and frame height immediately sets to 300 and start to decrease to 200. How can I implement behavior where I can interrupt first animation and start second from curent height (250 for example)? Or behavior where first animation must complete at first and only after that start second animation? A: You could try using animateWithDuration:delay:options:animations:completion: and include the option setAnimationBeginsFromCurrentState.

Q: how to send a graph via email in Ruby without saving to disk? I'm using Ruby script and the "mail" gem to send emails. Question - How could how to send a graph via email in Ruby without saving to disk? Is this possible? Which graphing tool would you recommend and would the "mail" gem support somehow streaming this out? (or it it a given you have to save to disk first) If it's possible/easy sample code lines should how to would be great.... A: Your complete answer. This uses a pure Ruby PNG graph for simplicity; a real world app would likely use SVG, or fast native code, or a graph API. #!/usr/bin/env ruby =begin How to send a graph via email in Ruby without saving to disk Example code by Joel Parker Henderson at SixArm, joel@sixarm.com http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9779565 You need two gems: gem install chunky_png gem install mail Documentation: http://rdoc.info/gems/chunky_png/frames https://github.com/mikel/mail =end # Create a simple PNG image from scratch with an x-axis and y-axis. # We use ChunkyPNG because it's pure Ruby and easy to write results; # a real-world app would more likely use an SVG library or graph API. require 'chunky_png' png = ChunkyPNG::Image.new(100, 100, ChunkyPNG::Color::WHITE) png.line(0, 50, 100, 50, ChunkyPNG::Color::BLACK) # x-axis png.line(50, 0, 50, 100, ChunkyPNG::Color::BLACK) # y-axis # We do IO to a String in memory, rather than to a File on disk. # Ruby does this by using the StringIO class which akin to a stream. # For more on using a string as a file in Ruby, see this blog post: # http://macdevelopertips.com/ruby/using-a-string-as-a-file-in-ruby.html io = StringIO.new png.write(io) io.rewind # Create a mail message using the Ruby mail gem as usual. # We create it item by item; you may prefer to create it in a block. require 'mail' mail = Mail.new mail.to = 'alice@example.com' mail.from = 'bob@example.com' mail.subject = 'Hello World' # Attach the PNG graph, set the correct mime type, and read from the StringIO mail.attachments['graph.png'] = { :mime_type => 'image/png', :content => io.read } # Send mail as usual. We choose sendmail because it bypasses the OpenSSL error. mail.delivery_method :sendmail mail.deliver A: I don't see why you couldn't. In mail's documentation, you can see this sample code : mail = Mail.new do from 'me@test.lindsaar.net' to 'you@test.lindsaar.net' subject 'Here is the image you wanted' body File.read('body.txt') add_file :filename => 'somefile.png', :content => File.read('/somefile.png') end mail.deliver! You just have to replace target of :content => ... with your in-memory file content. And that should be enough. There's no real need of having attachments saved, even temporarily, to disk since they are re-encoded in base64 and added at the end of your mail. For the second part of your question, there's many plot/graph lib around there. See this question or this lib for instance. There's not really one lib above the others for this kind of matters. There's many lib for many different usage and you have to choose what fits more your needs and your constraints.

Introduction {#s1} ============ *Trypanosoma cruzi*, the flagellated protozoan that causes Chagas disease in the Americas, is able to invade different mammalian cells in order to complete its life cycle [@pone.0051804-Brener1], [@pone.0051804-DeSouza1]. Metacyclic and bloodstream trypomastigote forms are the classic infective forms that initiate and spread infection between hosts [@pone.0051804-Burleigh1]. Trypomastigotes of distinct *T. cruzi* isolates have been shown to possess highly distinct levels of infective capacity towards cultured mammalian cells and in animal models [@pone.0051804-Neira1]--[@pone.0051804-Yoshida2]. Amastigotes generated (extracellular amastigotes or EAs) by the extracellular differentiation of bloodstream or the corresponding tissue culture derived trypomastigotes are also capable of sustaining an infective cycle in the mammalian host and cells [@pone.0051804-Behbehani1]--[@pone.0051804-Nogueira1]. EA forms of some *T. cruzi* strains (such as G and CL strains) display the opposite pattern of infectivity of trypomastigote forms [@pone.0051804-Mortara2], [@pone.0051804-Silva1]. Whereas both metacyclic and tissue culture derived trypomastigotes from G strains exhibit very low infectivity both *in vitro* and *in vivo* [@pone.0051804-Yoshida2], EAs are highly infective *in vitro* [@pone.0051804-Mortara2], [@pone.0051804-Silva1]. By contrast, little is known regarding the elements involved in EA entry into mammalian cells \[reviewed in 13\]. Carbohydrate epitopes expressed on the surface of EA have been shown to play a role in entry, probably in the initial steps of parasite attachment [@pone.0051804-Silva1]. A 21 kDa protein expressed in all developmental stages of the parasite up-regulates cell invasion by EAs and metacyclic trypomastigotes [@pone.0051804-Silva2]. However, the molecular basis of the remarkable capacity of EA parasites to invade mammalian cell *in vitro* still remains unknown. Other groups have studied amastigote specific factors involved in intracellular infection. The involvement of molecules such as Asp-1 and Asp-2 in colonization of host cells as well as protective immunity has been experimentally demonstrated [@pone.0051804-Claser1]--[@pone.0051804-Tzelepis1]. Also, mannose residues on transialidase-like molecules in amastigotes have been implicated in their invasion of macrophages through mannose receptors [@pone.0051804-Kahn1]. It is conceivable that the *T. cruzi* protein repertoire changes in a stage-specific manner, with up- and down-regulation of several factors involved in the exacerbation or arrest of intracellular infection. This repertoire varies from strain to strain, as proteins are isolated from different host organisms, and serves as different evasive/infective parasite factors [@pone.0051804-McDaniel1]. One of the families of *T. cruzi* surface proteins is the amastin multi-gene family, which consists of small proteins of about 200 amino acids and was first identified by its higher expression in amastigotes from the Tulahuen strain [@pone.0051804-TeixeiraSMRussell1] There are also approximately 45 members of the amastin gene family dispersed throughout the genome of all *Leishmania* species, showing different expression patterns [@pone.0051804-Rochette1], [@pone.0051804-Wu1]. By contrast, the amastin gene family is reduced in the *T. cruzi* genome, but is present in all tested *T. cruzi* strains [@pone.0051804-Cerqueira1]. Some of its members are organized in large clusters containing alternating copies of tuzin genes. Phylogenetic analysis of trypanosomatid amastins defined four subfamilies (α, β, γ and δ) with distinct genomic organization as well as patterns of expression during the cell cycle of *T. cruzi* and *Leishmania* spp. [@pone.0051804-Jackson1]. The amastin N-terminal signature peptides are among the most immunogenic of all leishmanial surface antigens in mice [@pone.0051804-Stober1] and generate strong immune responses in humans with visceral leishmaniasis [@pone.0051804-Rafati1]. Thus, amastin proteins seem to operate at the host--parasite interface and are likely to be involved in disease prognosis. The putative role of amastins in intracellular survival has been suggested by DNA microarray analysis data, which indicates that amastin genes are predominantly expressed in *L. donovani* amastigotes of different isolated from patients with post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis and visceral leishmaniasis [@pone.0051804-Rochette1], and was also shown for laboratory strains [@pone.0051804-Rochette2]. Although the exact role of amastin proteins in disease progression has not yet been determined and the biological function of amastins remains unknown, it has been hypothesized that *Leishmania* amastins may play a role in proton or ion traffic across the cell membrane to adjust cytoplasmic pH under the harsh conditions of the phagolysosome [@pone.0051804-Rochette1]. In this study, we report for the first time both *in vitro* and *in vivo* roles for amastin in *T. cruzi*-host interplay. By using both recombinant δ-amastin protein and transgenic parasites overexpressing amastin in *in vitro* and *in* *vivo* models, we were able to demonstrate that recombinant amastin can adhere to host cells and inhibit mammalian cell invasion by *T. cruzi* EAs. Constitutive overexpression of a δ-amastin in the G strain led to enhanced differentiation into metacyclic trypomastigotes. Interestingly, although parasites (EAs) overexpressing δ-amastin had a lower infection capacity *in vitro*, they differentiate faster *in vitro* into trypomastigotes and, correspondingly, their amastigote nests are detected very early during *in vivo* infections. Materials and Methods {#s2} ===================== Parasites, Mammalian Cells and Invasion Assays {#s2a} ---------------------------------------------- G and CL *T. cruzi* strains were used in the study according to [@pone.0051804-Silva1]. The CL Brener *T. cruzi* strain [@pone.0051804-ElSayed1] was also used in this study. EAs were obtained after differentiation of tissue culture trypomastigotes (TCTs) in LIT medium as previously described [@pone.0051804-Silva1]. Epimastigotes were obtained as previously described [@pone.0051804-Silva2]. Vero and HeLa cells (obtained from Instituto Adolfo Lutz, São Paulo, SP, Brazil) were cultured in Dulbecco's minimal essential medium (DMEM) (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO, USA) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS, Cultilab, Campinas, SP, Brazil), 10 µg/mL streptomycin (Sigma, USA), 100 U/ml penicillin (Sigma, USA) and 40 µg/mL gentamycin (Sigma, USA) at 37°C in a 5% CO~2~ humidified atmosphere. HeLa cell invasion assays were performed in 24 wells plates containing sterile glass coverslips in which 500 µL of cell suspension (2×10^5^ cells) were added to each well to seed overnight. EA suspensions (10 parasites/cell) were added and the plates were incubated for 2 h at 37°C in a CO~2~ (5%) humidified incubator. After incubation, the cells were gently washed eight times with PBS, fixed with Bouin's reagent and stained with Giemsa stain [@pone.0051804-Maeda1]. Cell invasion assays in the presence of recombinant amastin were performed by treating host cells with 5 µg/mL of GST (glutatione S-transferase)-δ-AmastinH or GST for 1 h before addition of parasites. Cloning and Purification of Recombinant GST-AmastinH {#s2b} ---------------------------------------------------- A region of a delta-amastin gene (GenBank XP_812391) encoding for a hydrophilic portion of the protein (AmastinH) was chosen to be cloned and expressed in fusion with a GST tag in the plasmid pGEX-4T2. A DNA fragment derived from the CL Brener strain total genomic DNA was amplified by PCR using the following primers: forward BamHI-5′AAG GATCCC TGG TTG GGA CGC CGA TAG ACC AG 3′ and reverse BamHI -5′AAG GATCCA CAT TCA CGA AAA TCT TCC CAA AA 3′. The insert was cloned into the plasmid pGEX-4T2 (GE Healthcare, USA) and the plasmid was used to transform *Escherichia coli* BL-21 to produce recombinant GST-δ-AmastinH. Recombinant GST-δ-AmastinH was purified using glutathione (GSH) agarose beads (Pierce, USA) then dialyzed against PBS for 48 h at 4°C. The amount of purified protein was determined using the Coomassie Plus assay reagent (Pierce, USA) and measuring the optical density at 620 nm, and the purified protein was analyzed by Coomassie Blue stained SDS-polyacrylamide gels. Real-time Quantitative PCR {#s2c} -------------------------- RNA was extracted from parasites with TRIzol® Reagent and treated with RNase-free DNase (Invitrogen, USA). First strand cDNA was synthesized using the ThermoScript™ Real-Time PCR System according to the manufacturer's instructions (Invitrogen, USA). Specific forward and reverse primers designed based upon the nucleotide sequences of the amastin gene were used to amplify sequences of this gene by PCR. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed with 2.0 µL of the cDNA reaction in 20 µL of SYBR® Green PCR Master Mix (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) with the primers described below (500 nM). Amastin cDNA was measured using the oligonucleotides Amastin-Forward 5′ GGCGGC ACA CTT CTA CCT AA 3′ and Amastin-Reverse 5′ ACAATG CTG ACC ACC AAC AG 3′. GAPDH cDNAs (used as an internal control) were measured with the following oligonucleotides: GAPDH-Foward 5′ AGC GCG CGT CTA AGA CTT ACA 3′ and GAPDH-Reverse 5′ TGGAGC TGC GGT TGT CAA TT 3′. The reactions were carried out with the ABI Prism® SDS 7000 (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) and analyzed with the associated software (version 2.0) using the standard protocol. The primers were designed to achieve maximum polymerase efficiency. Each amplicon was about 75 bp in length and each reaction was repeated three to five times to calculate the standard deviations. The comparative mRNA levels were determined after normalization to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) amplicons. Northern and Western Blot Assays {#s2d} -------------------------------- Total RNAs isolated from epimastigote, trypomastigote and amastigote cultures were separated using the RNeasy® kit (Qiagen, USA), transferred to Hybond-N+ membranes and hybridized with the amastin open reading frame (U04339) as described [@pone.0051804-Arajo1]. For the western blot, wild-type and stably transfected epimastigote cell lysates were prepared by homogenization of cell pellets in Laemmli sample buffer without boiling. Proteins were separated in 12.5% standard SDS-polyacrylamide gels, transferred to Hybond-C membranes (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, USA), and blocked with 5% milk-PBS-Tween 0.1%. Membranes were then incubated with mouse anti-GFP (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, USA), washed, and then incubated with secondary antibody (goat anti-mouse (H+L)-HRP conjugate, Bio-Rad, USA) as previously described [@pone.0051804-Ausubel1]. The immunocomplexes were detected using the enhanced chemiluminescent substrate, ECL-Plus (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, USA) according to instructions provided by the manufacturer. Flow Cytometry {#s2e} -------------- Approximately 1×10^7^ live parasites were washed with cold PBS and analyzed using a BD FACSCalibur™ flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson, USA) with 10^4^ gated events acquired for analysis. Untransfected control parasites, which showed intrinsic fluorescence, were used to establish the cut-off value. Plasmid Constructions and Parasite Transfections {#s2f} ------------------------------------------------ To overexpress δ-amastin in *T. cruzi* G strain, the coding sequence of the TcA21 cDNA clone \[20; accession number U04339\] was PCR-amplified using a forward primer (5′-CA[TCTAGA]{.ul}AAGCAATGAGCAAAC-3′) and a reverse primer (5′-CT[GGATCC]{.ul}CTAGCATACGCAGAAGCAC-3′), which contained *Xba*I and *Bam*HI restriction sites, respectively. It was then digested with *Xba*I and *Bam*HI (the sites underlined in the primers above), treated with shrimp alkaline phosphatase (SAP) and ligated into a *Bam*HI/*Xho*I GFP fragment derived from pTREX-GFP [@pone.0051804-DaRocha1]. The ligation product was purified and digested with *Xba*I/*Xho*I, followed by purification and cloning in the pTREX vector [@pone.0051804-DaRocha1] at the same sites, generating the pTREX-δ-Amastin-GFP. The plasmids created were checked by DNA sequencing. Epimastigotes were harvested from cultures, washed once with PBS and resuspended to 2×10^8^ parasites/ml in electroporation buffer (137 mM NaCl, 21 mM HEPES, 5 mM KCl, 5.5 mM Na~2~HPO~4~, 0.77 mM glucose, pH 7.0). Aliquots (0.7 ml) of parasite suspension were mixed with 25 µg DNA in 0.4 cm cuvettes and electroporated using a Bio-Rad Gene Pulser® set at 0.3 kV and 500 µF with two pulses. The transfected cells were transferred to 5 ml of LIT with 10% FCS and incubated at 28°C for 48 h before adding G418 (500 µg/ml). Plasmid DNA used in electroporation experiments was obtained by alkaline lysis using Qiagen columns (Qiagen, USA). GST-δ-AmastinH: Antibodies and Cell Binding Assay {#s2g} ------------------------------------------------- Antibodies were produced in eight week old rabbits immunized with GST-δ-AmastinH. Rabbits received the first dose of antigen (400 µg) adsorbed in complete Freund's adjuvant (Pierce, USA) and after two weeks received three additional doses of the antigen plus incomplete Freud's adjuvant at two week intervals. Ten days after the last immunizing dose, rabbits were bled by heart puncture, and serum was collected and stored at −20°C until usage. HeLa cells (5 × 10^4^) were placed in 96-well microtiter plates and were grown overnight at 37°C. Live cells were washed in PBS and blocked with PBS containing 10% FCS (PBS-FCS) for 1 h at room temperature. Increasing amounts of purified recombinant GST-δ-AmastinH or GST were added to the wells, and the incubation proceeded for 1 h at 37°C. Cells were then fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS. To detect bound amastin on the surface of HeLa cells, immunostaining of δ-AmastinH was performed as described [@pone.0051804-Silva2] using the rabbit antibodies described above. Immunofluorescence {#s2h} ------------------ Coverslips containing infected cells were washed with PBS, fixed with 3.5% formaldehyde in PBS for 1 h, washed three times with PBS and then permeabilized with 0.1% saponin (BDH, Amersham, UK) in PBS containing 0.2% gelatin and 0.1% NaN~3~ (PGN). The coverslips were incubated with Anti-GST-δ-AmastinH (diluted 1∶50 in PGN) for 1 h at room temperature, washed three times with PBS and then incubated with fluorescein-labeled goat anti-rabbit IgG (Sigma, USA) diluted 1∶100 in PGN for 1 h in the presence of 10 µM 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI, Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, USA). After three washes with PBS, the coverslips were mounted in glycerol buffered with 0.1 M Tris, pH 8.6 and 0.1% paraphenylenediamine to reduce photobleaching. Images were acquired with an Olympus BX51 under an epifluorescence microscope. Confocal images were obtained using a Bio-Rad 1024UV system coupled to a Zeiss Axiovert 100 microscope or a Leica TCS SP5 II system. Images were acquired with 100× (1.4 NA) oil immersion objectives. Intracellular Growth and Metacyclogenesis {#s2i} ----------------------------------------- HeLa cells were infected with wild type G strain, G-pTREX-GFP and G-pTREX-δ-Amastin-GFP for 24, 48 and 72 h, fixed with Bouin and stained with Giemsa as described above for intracellular growth counting in triplicate coverslips. Epimastigotes that had been cultured for 6 days (5×10^7^ cells/ml) were incubated at 28°C in LIT medium with 5% FCS for various time periods. The relative numbers of metacyclic trypomastigotes were morphologically determined by counting in a Neubauer chamber over 23 days. Animals and Histological Analysis {#s2j} --------------------------------- Six week old A/JUnib mice were used for *in vivo* infection, as this strain has been previously shown to be highly susceptible to *T. cruzi* infection [@pone.0051804-GonalvesdaCosta1]. All experiments involving animal work were conducted under guidelines approved by the UNIFESP ethics committee, which are in accordance with international recommendations. We inoculated 5×10^6^ extracellular amastigotes of G-pTREX-GFP and G-pTREX-δ-Amastin-GFP strains intravenously in a volume of 200 µL. Tissue parasitism was quantified from day 2 p.i. by examining the liver of mice belonging to each of the two groups (15 animals/group). Liver, spleen, heart and kidney from all animals were fixed in 10% formaldehyde in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.3) for 24 h, then dehydrated in ethanol, clarified in xylene, embedded in paraffin, and 5 µm thick sections were obtained from each block. Paraffin sections were stained with hematoxylin--eosin for routine histological analysis. Amastigote nests were quantified in 100 microscopic fields/section in triplicate slides, as previously described [@pone.0051804-Staquicini1]. Statistics {#s2k} ---------- All experiments were performed with duplicate coverslips and repeated at least three times. Three hundred cells per coverslip were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed by SigmaStat (Version 1.0, Jandel Scientific), employing Student's *t*-test. Data are presented as mean +/− standard deviation (SD). Ethics Statement {#s2l} ---------------- All experiments involving animal work were conducted under Brazilian National Commitee on Ethics in Research (CONEP) ethic guidelines, which are in accordance with international standards (CIOMS/OMS, 1985). The present study was approved by CEP/UNIFESP (Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Universidade Federal de São Paulo/Hospital São Paulo) under the protocol number 1839/07. Results {#s3} ======= Distinct *T. cruzi* strains (CL and G) Express Different Levels of Amastin Transcripts {#s3a} -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To evaluate amastin expression in EAs from CL and G strains, the quantity of transcript in each strain was determined by quantitative real-time PCR using primers designed to achieve the maximum polymerase efficiency and GAPDH amplicons as a reference. The level of amastin transcripts was ∼60 fold higher in EAs from the CL strain (less infective) as compared to EAs from the G strain (more infective) ([Fig. 1A](#pone-0051804-g001){ref-type="fig"}). However, this expression data could be underestimated in the G strain since the primers used were designed based on the CL Brener clone genomic sequence. To circumvent this bias, total RNA from each strain was probed by northern blot assays using an amastin coding sequence ([Fig. 1B](#pone-0051804-g001){ref-type="fig"}). This approach confirmed the quantitative real-time PCR data. ![Delta-amastin is more abundant in less infective *T. cruzi* extracellular amastigotes. A.\ **mRNAs in EAs of the G strain are less abundant when compared to EAs of the CL-Brener clone** ***T. cruzi*** **.** Transcript levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR using SYBR® Green I chemistry. qRT-PCR was performed on RNA samples from EAs of G and CL strains. The comparative mRNA levels were determined after normalization with GAPDH amplicons. Standard deviations are derived from three replicates. \*p\<0.05 **B. mRNA corresponding to amastin is preferentially expressed in amastigotes from CL Brener clone.** Northern blot analyses of total RNA (10 µg) from *T. cruzi* epimastigotes (E), trypomastigotes (T) and amastigotes (A) from CL-Brener clone or the G *T. cruzi* strain was submitted to electrophoresis and blotted on nylon membranes by standard procedures. Each blot was hybridized with amastin probe previously labeled with \[α-^32P^\]-dCTP. To determine equal loading of RNA, the 1.2% agarose/MOPS/formaldehyde gel was stained with ethidium bromide (bottom panel).](pone.0051804.g001){#pone-0051804-g001} Recombinant δ-amastin Adhered to Host Cells {#s3b} ------------------------------------------- A previous report described that several attempts to express full length amastin failed, probably due to its toxicity to *E. coli* [@pone.0051804-TeixeiraSMRussell1]. Here, we chose a region encoding the first hydrophilic portion of the protein (shown in [Fig. 2A](#pone-0051804-g002){ref-type="fig"}, in gray to clone and express in fusion with GST -GST-δ-AmastinH). The antibody raised in rabbit against this hydrophilic region of amastin specifically recognizes the recombinant amastin as well as GST, although, as shown in [Fig. 2B](#pone-0051804-g002){ref-type="fig"}, the reactivity is stronger with GST-δ-AmastinH. To confirm its specificity, we carried out immunostaining of G strain amastigotes inside of Vero cells four days after of infection with TCTs and observed a significant labeling of the parasite membranes as well as intracellular components in the vicinity of the kinetoplast ([Fig. 2C](#pone-0051804-g002){ref-type="fig"}). The specificity of the antibody was further confirmed by immuofluorescence with epimastigotes and metacyclic trypomastigotes ([figure S1](#pone.0051804.s001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). The result highlights that the anti-GST-δ-AmastinH recognizes the amastin at the cell surface of amastigotes, but not in epimastigotes or trypomastigotes ([figure S1](#pone.0051804.s001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Further controls were carried out and confirmed the specificity of the antibodies used in this study ([figure S2](#pone.0051804.s002){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). {#pone-0051804-g002} Based on amastin topology prediction by Rochette et al. in 2005 [@pone.0051804-Rochette1], the hydrophilic region chosen in this study would be exposed to the extracellular environment. This arrangement prompted us to test if this polypeptide could interact with the host cell. Therefore HeLa cells grown on microtiter plates were treated with increasing concentrations of GST-δ-AmastinH or GST alone, and the bound peptide was detected using anti-GST monoclonal antibody. We detected GST- δ-AmastinH ([Fig. 3A](#pone-0051804-g003){ref-type="fig"}) adhered to fixed or live HeLa cells in a saturable and dose-dependent manner ([Fig. 3B](#pone-0051804-g003){ref-type="fig"}). This finding suggests that amastin interacts with this host cell, probably through a putative receptor localized at the surface of HeLa cells, which suggested a role for amastin in the uptake of *T. cruzi* by HeLa cells. {#pone-0051804-g003} Amastin Inhibited Mammalian Cell Invasion {#s3c} ----------------------------------------- After the amastin-derived hydrophilic polypeptide was shown to bind to host cells, we decided to investigate whether amastin could be important for parasite invasion. HeLa cells were pre-incubated in the presence of purified recombinant protein GST-δ-AmastinH or GST alone and then infected with EAs from the G strain. Whereas treatment with GST did not affect invasion, the GST-δ-AmastinH resulted in a 34% inhibition of parasite invasion ([Fig. 4A](#pone-0051804-g004){ref-type="fig"}). {#pone-0051804-g004} G strain EAs transfected with Amastin-GFP (see description in the next section) also demonstrated a significant decrease in host cell invasion when compared to control EAs overexpressing GFP alone or the wild type parasites ([Fig. 4B](#pone-0051804-g004){ref-type="fig"}). Amastin Overexpression Triggered a Faster Metacyclogenesis {#s3d} ---------------------------------------------------------- Since G strain EAs present low levels of amastin RNA compared to CL parasites ([Fig. 1](#pone-0051804-g001){ref-type="fig"}) we decided to increase expression of amastin by stable transfection of epimastigotes with pTREX-δ-Amastin-GFP plasmid. This plasmid carries a copy of amastin fused with Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) under the control of the ribosomal protein TcP2β 5′UTR and glycosomal glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) 3′UTR. The populations transfected with pTREX-GFP (control vector) or pTREX-δ-Amastin-GFP vectors were selected over two months with G418, and both populations reached high transfection efficiency as shown by flow cytometry analyses (\>98% of G418 resistant parasites expressed GFP or Amastin-GFP, [Fig. S3](#pone.0051804.s003){ref-type="supplementary-material"}, supplementary material). The increase in amastin expression was quantified at the RNA level by qRT-PCR, and the correct translation was confirmed by western blot using whole cell extracts from transfected epimastigotes ([Fig S4](#pone.0051804.s004){ref-type="supplementary-material"} and [S5](#pone.0051804.s005){ref-type="supplementary-material"}, supplementary material). It is noteworthy that real-time PCR revealed that the additional gene copy regulated by gGAPDH 3′UTR triggered ∼5 fold increase in δ-amastin mRNA levels in epimastigotes compared to pTREX-GFP parasites. The results shown in [figure S4](#pone.0051804.s004){ref-type="supplementary-material"} also suggest that amastin expressed in fusion with GFP is not glycosylated since it migrates with the expected molecular size of an unmodified δ-Amastin/GFP fusion protein. Biochemical characterization of amastins indicate that they are present as large molecular weight glycoprotein complexes since they bind concanavalin A [@pone.0051804-TeixeiraSMRussell1]. Although no conventional signals for N-linked glycosylation were identified, several serine and threonine residues that could be modified by 0-linked sugars are found in all amastin sequences. Parasite mobility, morphology (form, size and granularity) and growth rate were not affected by transfection (data not shown). Two months after transfection, we observed ∼95% of pTREX transfected epimastigotes expressing GFP ([Fig. 5A](#pone-0051804-g005){ref-type="fig"}) or δ-Amastin-GFP ([Fig. 5B](#pone-0051804-g005){ref-type="fig"}). To check if the amastin-GFP protein was being addressed to its correct subcellular destination, transfected epimastigote and amastigote forms were analyzed by confocal microscopy. The images shown in [Figure 5](#pone-0051804-g005){ref-type="fig"} indicated that amastin fused with GFP localized at the surface and also concentrated in the vicinity of the kinetoplast, probably at the flagellar pocket region ([Fig. 5B](#pone-0051804-g005){ref-type="fig"}). This was a distinct and diffuse localization pattern from parasites transfected with GFP alone ([Fig. 5A](#pone-0051804-g005){ref-type="fig"}). Given that the fusion protein was being expressed at the expected location and in higher levels, these parasites were tested for phenotypic changes. {#pone-0051804-g005} We observed that pTREX-δ-Amastin-GFP epimastigotes differentiated into metacyclic trypomastigotes faster than the control pTREX-G-GFP epimastigotes ([Fig. 5C](#pone-0051804-g005){ref-type="fig"}). Amastin Overexpression Also Accelerated the Differentiation of Amastigotes into TCTs {#s3e} ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Full-length δ-amastin-GFP overexpressed in EAs of the G strain localized to the cell surface and also displayed a distinct concentration at the flagellar pocket ([Fig. 6B](#pone-0051804-g006){ref-type="fig"}), similar to the transfected epimastigotes ([Fig 5B](#pone-0051804-g005){ref-type="fig"}). A diffuse distribution pattern was observed when pTREX-GFP alone was expressed ([Fig. 6A](#pone-0051804-g006){ref-type="fig"}). Amastin overexpression did not affect intracellular growth of amastigotes ([Fig. 6C](#pone-0051804-g006){ref-type="fig"}). However, the overexpression of amastin in G strain EAs increased the numbers of trypomastigotes released into the supernatant of infected HeLa cells at 96 h and 120 h after invasion, as compared to the GFP controls ([Fig. 6D](#pone-0051804-g006){ref-type="fig"}). Intracellular trypomastigotes were also precociously observed in cells infected for 72 h with parasites overexpressing δ-amastin, and these forms were not observed in the control samples ([figure S6](#pone.0051804.s006){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). ![δ-amastin-transfected G-strain EAs transform more efficiently into trypomastigotes. A: EAs were efficiently transfected with pTREX-GFP and pTREX-Amastin-GFP.\ Vero cells were chronically infected with G-pTREX-GFP parasites (A) or with G-pTREX-Amastin-GFP parasites (**B**). A cytoplasmic fluorescence in A and a membrane localization of overexpressed amastins in **B** (bars = 10 µm)\] were observed. DAPI (blue) showed nuclei and kinetoplasts staining. **C. The overexpression or δ-amastin does not affect intracellular growth of parasites.** Total number of intracellular amastigotes per 100 cell in infected HeLa cells were determined and it can be observed that overexpression of amastin does not interfere with the process. **D: Intracellular amastigotes overexpressing amastin transform faster and more efficiently into TCTs.** The number of TCTs at 96 h and 120 h after invasion was higher in the culture supernatants of cells infected with parasites expressing high levels of amastin (dark columns) in comparison to control cells infected with parasites transfected with pTREX-GFP (white columns). The values are shown as the means ± standard deviations of two independent experiments performed in duplicate. \*p\<0.05.](pone.0051804.g006){#pone-0051804-g006} δ-Amastin Accelerated and Increased Parasite Tropism to Liver *in vivo* {#s3f} ----------------------------------------------------------------------- We extended this investigation to an *in vivo* model of *T. cruzi* infection, inoculating A/JUnib mice with EAs transfected with GFP vector or overexpressing amastin-GFP. It has recently been shown that G strain extracellular amastigotes do not give rise to patent parasitemia in mice, possibly due to their susceptibility to interferon-gamma \[35) In this study, bloodstream parasitemia was not detected in animals infected with G strain EAs either overexpressing pTREX-δ-Amastin-GFP or pTREX-GFP. Therefore, tissue parasitism following inoculation was assessed by counting amastigote nests in the liver ([Fig. 7A](#pone-0051804-g007){ref-type="fig"}). Nests of parasites overexpressing amastin were very early observed in the liver at the third day after inoculation and ([Fig. 7B](#pone-0051804-g007){ref-type="fig"}, dark bars). Amastigotes expressing empty GFP vector (G-pTREX-GFP, control) presented lower tissue parasitism from the 5th day that peaked at day 7 ([Fig. 7B](#pone-0051804-g007){ref-type="fig"}, white bars). {#pone-0051804-g007} Discussion {#s4} ========== Amastin as a Negative Regulator of *Trypanosoma cruzi* Cell Invasion {#s4a} -------------------------------------------------------------------- *Trypanosoma cruzi*, the etiological agent of Chagas' disease, uses many strategies to invade mammalian cells. For instance, different infective stages (e.g. bloodstream trypomastigotes, metacyclic trypomastigotes and extracellular amastigotes), distinct strains and isolates, as well as differing infectivities, have been widely acknowledged as challenging tasks to overcome by researchers. Many researchers have set out to characterize the parasite proteins involved in the establishment of infection [@pone.0051804-Lima1]. Very little is known about the molecules that participate in invasion of cells by EAs [@pone.0051804-Lima1]. Possible candidates involved in cell invasion by EAs include members of the trans-sialidase superfamily and carbohydrate epitopes tagged to surface glycoproteins, as well as secreted components and cell-surface components [@pone.0051804-Mortara2], [@pone.0051804-Silva1], [@pone.0051804-Silva2], [@pone.0051804-Kahn1]. Here, we characterized one of the members of the previously identified amastin protein family of *T. cruzi* [@pone.0051804-TeixeiraSMRussell1], a delta-amastin protein, examining its role during cell invasion and differentiation of parasites from the G strain. Developmentally-regulated amastin proteins belong to one of the larger families of surface proteins in *Leishmania* [@pone.0051804-Rochette1] and show high similarity to the amastin proteins in *T. cruzi*. There are approximately 45 members of the amastin gene family and they are dispersed throughout the genome of *Leishmania* species. The structural organization of the amastin gene family in both *Leishmania* and *Trypanosoma* species indicate that they share a similar structural organization and contain a highly conserved 11 amino acid extracellular domain, unique to amastin proteins [@pone.0051804-Rochette1]. Hydrophobicity profiling predicted four transmembrane helices for the majority of the amastin homologs and this strongly suggested membrane localization for these proteins [@pone.0051804-Rochette1]. This was confirmed at the subcellular level for three amastin gene products of *Leishmania* [@pone.0051804-Rochette1]. Studies on the evolution and diversification of this family suggest that amastin, which suffered a major diversification after the origin of the genus *Leishmania*, can be subdivided into four groups: alpha, beta, delta and gamma-amastin. Alpha- and gamma- amastin have been only identified in *Leishmania* spp and in the insect trypanosomatid *Crithidia deanei.* There are two copies of beta-amastin organized in tandem present in the genomes of *Leishmania* spp, *Crithidia* spp and *T. cruzi* [@pone.0051804-Jackson1]. Delta-amastin belongs to the sub-family with the highest number and diversity among its members. There are multiple copies of delta-amastin genes present in the genomes of *Leishmania* spp, *Crithidia* spp and *T. cruzi* arranged in clusters in which amastin genes are interspersed with tuzin genes. The delta sub-family underwent an expansion in the genus *Leishmania*, and in *T. cruzi* could still be sub-divided into two groups named delta and proto-delta amastin. In the *T. cruzi* genome two copies of proto-delta amastin genes are present in the chromosome 26 whereas at least 20 copies of delta-amastin genes are present in the chromosome 34 [@pone.0051804-Jackson1]. We have chosen one member of the delta-amastin sub-family in this study to be over-expressed in the G strain because the mRNA expression analysis showed that, contrary to *T. cruzi* beta-amastin genes, the expression of delta-amastin genes is largely reduced in the G strain [@pone.0051804-TeixeiraSMRussell1]. Because all delta-amastin genes have over 92% of amino acid identity, the member we selected for over-expressing in the G strain would be representative of all members from this group. We have been able to express and purify a hydrophilic and immunogenic region of *T. cruzi* delta-amastin and raise specific antibodies to this molecule. As previously demonstrated for *Leishmania* [@pone.0051804-Rochette1] and *T. cruzi* [@pone.0051804-TeixeiraSMRussell1], amastin is localized at the amastigote surface. The transcripts of amastin have been detected by microarray (not shown), qRT-PCR and northern blot assays. By comparing the total quantity of transcripts between G and CL strains, the amount of amastin transcripts was always higher in the CL than the G strain. Regarding EAs as infective forms, it has been known that the *T. cruzi* G strain is more infective to HeLa and other mammalian cells than the CL strain [@pone.0051804-Rodrigues1]--[@pone.0051804-Mortara3]. Given that amastigotes from the CL strain contained more transcripts and amastin mRNA than the G strain and CL EA parasites are less infective [@pone.0051804-Mortara2], we hypothesized that amastin could be a negative regulator of amastigote cell invasion, in line with previous observations of metacyclic trypomastigotes [@pone.0051804-Yoshida2]. Our results showed that the amastin displayed properties required for a protein associated with host cell invasion. First, the protein is expressed on the amastigote surface, and the truncated recombinant form adhered to host cells in a dose-dependent manner, both properties observed in previously characterized *T. cruzi* proteins [@pone.0051804-Yoshida2], [@pone.0051804-Silva2]. Next, the treatment of host cells with recombinant amastin led to a significant decrease in parasite internalization. Possibly, the contact of the hydrophilic region with a putative receptor interferes with a key process that inhibits invasion of HeLa cells. These results also showed that the binding region involved in cell adhesion and invasion is located within the amastin domain cloned and expressed in this study. A novel set of truncated recombinant proteins would help to clarify and narrow down the required amino acid sequence of amastin that regulates cell adhesion and invasion. Thus, taken together these results collectively point to a role of amastin in modulating cell invasion by *T. cruzi*. The Role of Amastin in Parasite Intracellular Survival {#s4b} ------------------------------------------------------ Some indirect evidence has pointed to a crucial role of amastin in the co-evolution, adaptation and survival of trypanosomatids within both vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. For instance, amastin proteins seem to operate at the host-parasite interface and are implicated in severe disease, as they evoke strong immune responses in both mice and humans, primarily when associated with visceral leishmaniasis [@pone.0051804-Stober1], [@pone.0051804-Rafati1]. Comparative analysis indicated that the amastin family is both diverse and ancient [@pone.0051804-Jackson1]. The emergence of the amastin family pre-dates the diversification of the various parasite species, allocating amastin as an ancient feature of all trypanosomatid genomes [@pone.0051804-Jackson1]. This suggests a preparation of the trypanosomatids in the course of evolution to develop such specialized molecules to support both survival and prevalence of trypanosomatids in a hostile environment. In addition, the putative role of amastin in the intracellular survival of the parasite has been suggested by DNA microarray analysis data [@pone.0051804-Salotra1]. Amastin genes were predominantly expressed in amastigotes of different *L. donovani* strains isolated from post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis and visceral leishmaniasis patients, and this was also shown for laboratory strains [@pone.0051804-Rochette2]. Other indirect observations corroborate a role for amastin in intracellular survival. Some authors have questioned whether amastin genes contribute to parasite pH homeostasis and growth inside the parasitophorous vacuole. As transmembrane proteins, amastins could play a role in proton or ion traffic across the membrane [@pone.0051804-Rochette1], [@pone.0051804-Azizi1]. Interestingly, a number of amastin homologs are expressed once the parasite is fully differentiated into its intracellular amastigote form, a process that normally occurs inside the acidic environment of phagolysosomes [@pone.0051804-Rochette1]. Opsonization of *Leishmania* amastigotes via host IgG antibodies promotes its uptake via the macrophage Fc receptors and the release of IL-10, which favors amastigote proliferation by changing the metabolism of the host macrophage. Amastin is considered to be the candidate for this surface epitope recognized by these opsonic antibodies [@pone.0051804-Naderer1]. Here, we have conclusively demonstrated for the first time that amastin may have a role in differentiation of *T. cruzi* both *in vitro* and *in vivo*. First, overexpression of amastin in *T. cruzi* increases epimastigote differentiation into metacyclic trypomastigotes, all of which are stages residing in the insect vector. Second, amastigotes that overexpress δ-amastin, although not growing at higher rates if compared to the controls, are able to differentiate much faster into trypomastigotes within infected cells and tissues, which are the stages exclusive to the mammalian host. Finally, the infection of mice with EAs overexpressing amastin triggers an increased and premature tropism to the liver. Taken together our results show that amastin is a key molecule responsible for the survival of *T. cruzi* in its intracellular cell stage. Amastin and the Trade-off Hypothesis {#s4c} ------------------------------------ It is apparent from the data presented here as well as through indirect evidence presented by other authors, that amastin facilitates parasite survival by accelerating the generation of infective trypomastigotes, ensuring parasite persistence and spreading within the host. Amastin is likely to be a molecule that aids the parasite to maximize transmissibility which suggests a behavior that coincides with the so- called "trade-off hypothesis." The trade-off hypothesis, developed by Anderson & May [@pone.0051804-Anderson1] and Ewald [@pone.0051804-Ewald1], takes into account that there are both fitness benefits and costs associated with virulence. If a parasite kills its host, it also kills itself and as a consequence prevents its further transmission. In this case, the host death is assumed to be "the cost," because in theory parasites evolve to be relatively benign with no benefit from killing their host. Conversely, the generation of greater numbers of transmissible forms per unit time, and/or the increased persistence in a live host could be the benefits associated with virulence [@pone.0051804-Mackinnon1], [@pone.0051804-Alizon1]. One could argue that there are both positive and negative selective forces in nature acting on virulence and that virulence is a property of a host-parasite interaction, and not simply of the parasite. Long-term parasite-host associations are the result of an advantageous coevolution since their interaction has been long enough for adaptation. To balance the fitness cost to the pathogen when the host dies as a result of infection, it is assumed that there must also be a virulence-related advantage to the pathogen's fitness [@pone.0051804-Mackinnon1], [@pone.0051804-Alizon1]. Going further in the case of *T. cruzi* and amastin, it seems that the cost for the parasite would be to be less infective, i.e. fewer parasites (EAs) enter into host cells, and this could be an alternative strategy to avoid recognition by the immune system which, in turn, would ultimately damage the host. By contrast amastin allows faster differentiation into a new round of infective forms (see proposed model, [Figure 8](#pone-0051804-g008){ref-type="fig"}). Pathogens with the highest fitness are those with an intermediate level of virulence, which balances these opposing contributions to fitness. Taking the behavior of amastin described above into account, this may be the case in relation to *T. cruzi* virulence. {#pone-0051804-g008} Supporting Information {#s5} ====================== ###### **Specificity of anti-recombinant GST-δ-AmastinH antibodies by immunofluorescence.** A--C mixtures of *T. cruzi* epimastigotes (red arrow) and trypomastigotes (yellow arrow) of the CL strain do not react with anti-recombinant GST-δ-AmastinH. A; DIC image. B: DAPI image; C: anti-recombinant GST- δ-AmastinH image. D--F: CL strain extracellular amastigotes react with the anti-recombinant GST-δ-AmastinH: by comparison, in the same experiments, EA (also CL strain) are fully labeled: D: DIC; E: DAPI image; F: anti-recombinant GST-δ-AmastinH image. Bar = 10 µm. (TIF) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### **Specificity controls on western blots. A: anti-GST:** 1) 4 µg of recombinant GST- δ-AmastinH; 2) 20 µg of GST. **B: anti-GFP:** 1) Total extract of epimastigote of G_pTREX-Amastin-GFP; 2: Total extract of epimastigote of G_pTREX-GFP; 3) Total extract of WT G strain epimastigote. **C: anti- GST-** **δ-AmastinH:** 1) 1) Total extract of epimastigote of G_pTREX-Amastin-GFP; 2: Total extract of epimastigote of G_pTREX-GFP. **D: Left Panel: anti- GST-δ-AmastinH:** 1) GST, 20 µg; 2) 4 µg of recombinant GST-δ-AmastinH; 3) Total extract of WT EA of CL strain; 4) Total extract of WT epimastigotes of CL strain; **5)** Total extract of WT EA of G strain; 6) Total extract of WT epimastigote of G strain. **Right Panel:** Coomassie loading control of D. (TIF) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### **Flow cytometry analysis showing high level of transfection efficiency.** G, G-pTREX-GFP and G-pTREX-δ-Amastin-GFP epimastigotes were washed with cold PBS and analyzed using a BD FACSCalibur® flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson) with 10^4^ gated events acquired for analysis. G-pTREX-GFP (green curve) and G-pTREX-Amastin-GFP (red curve) showed homogeneous populations with transfection rates \>98%. Untransfected control parasites (G strain), black curve. (TIF) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### **The** **relative amount of amastin mRNAs in epimastigotes transfected with pTREX-Amastin-GFP was higher than in epimastigotes transfected with pTREX-GFP.** Transcript levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR using SYBR® Green I chemistry. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed on RNA samples from epimastigotes of G-pTREX-GFP and G-pTREX-δ-Amastin-GFP strains. The comparative mRNA levels were determined after normalization with GAPDH amplicons. Standard deviations are derived from three replicates (\*p\<0.05). (TIF) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### **Immunoblot analysis of transfected epimastigotes.** G, G-pTREX-GFP or G-pTREX-δ-Amastin-GFP cell lysates were prepared by homogenization of cell pellets in Laemmli sample buffer, separated by 12.5% standard SDS-PAGE, transferred to Hybond-C membranes and incubated with mouse anti-GFP followed by secondary antibody. (TIF) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### **Intracellular trypomastigotes are detected after 72 h in cells infected with parasites superexpressing δ-amastin.** HeLa cells infected with A: WT, B: GFP or C: GFP-amastin; cells were fixed with Bouin and stained with Giemsa for the determination of intracellular parasite growth. (TIF) ###### Click here for additional data file. The authors wish to thank Lilian Cruz for designing Figure 8. We also acknowledge Bio Med Proofreading (LLC) for revising and editing the text. [^1]: **Competing Interests:**The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. [^2]: Conceived and designed the experiments: MCC CVS WDDR DB SRT RAM. Performed the experiments: MCC NSM DB WDDR PRA SRT RAM. Analyzed the data: MCC CVS WDDR DB SRT RAM. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MCC WDDR SRT DB RAM. Wrote the paper: MCC CVS WDDR DB SRT RAM.

1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to nonvolatile memories, and more particularly to flash memories. 2. Description of the Related Art Nonvolatile memories are memories which keep data stored therein when powers supplied to the memories are switched off. A flash memory is a nonvolatile memory and is used as a memory card or a universal serial bus (USB) device to store data for a computer or a portable electronic device. Data can be electrically programmed into or removed from a flash memory. A flash memory is generally used as a data storage device for a personal digital assistant (PDA), a notebook, a digital music player, a digital camera, or a cell phone. When a host wants to store data to a nonvolatile memory, a controller of the nonvolatile memory intervenes between the host and the nonvolatile memory to implement requests of the host. Referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a memory device 100 comprising a nonvolatile memory 104 is shown. In addition to the nonvolatile memory 104, the memory device 100 also comprises a controller 102. The controller 102 is coupled to a host, and manages data stored in the nonvolatile memory 104 according instructions from the host. In one embodiment, the controller 102 comprises a control unit 112, a data buffer 114, a host interface 116, and a storage interface 118. The host interface 116 is for data communication between the host and the controller 102. The storage interface 118 is for data communication between the controller 102 and the nonvolatile memory 104. The nonvolatile memory stores data according to instructions from the controller 102. In one embodiment, the nonvolatile memory 104 comprises a storage interface 126, a data register 124, and a memory cell array 122. The storage interface 126 is for data communications between the controller 102 and the nonvolatile memory 104. The memory cell array 122 is for data storage. When the host requests the controller 102 to store data to the nonvolatile memory 104, the controller 102 performs write operations according to instructions from the host. Referring to FIG. 2, a flowchart of a method 200 for writing data to the nonvolatile memory 104 shown in FIG. 1 is shown. First, the controller 102 receives data to be written to the nonvolatile memory 104 from the host via the host interface 116. The data is then stored in the data buffer 114 (step 202). The control unit 112 then sends a write command to the nonvolatile memory 104 via the storage interface 118 (step 204). The control unit 112 then sends a write address to the nonvolatile memory 104 via the storage interface 118 (step 206). The control unit 112 then sends the data stored in the data buffer 114 to the nonvolatile memory 104 via the storage interface 118, and the nonvolatile memory 104 stores the data received from the controller 102 in the data register 124 (step 208). The nonvolatile memory 104 then writes the data stored in the data register 124 to a memory space with the write address in the memory cell array 122 according to the write command (step 209). The control unit 112 then sends a status check command to the nonvolatile memory 104 via the storage interface 118 (step 210). If an error occurs when the nonvolatile memory 104 writes the data to the memory space, the nonvolatile memory 104 then reports the error to the controller 102. If the nonvolatile memory 104 reports a write error to the controller 102, the controller 102 repeats the steps 204˜210 until the nonvolatile memory 104 reports that there were no errors to the controller 102 has occurred (step 212). In other words, when the nonvolatile memory 104 reports a write error to the controller 102, the controller 102 must resend a write command (step 204), a new write address (step 206), and the data (step 208) to the nonvolatile memory 104, and the nonvolatile memory 104 will write the data to a memory space with the new write address in the memory cell array 122 (step 209). The write operation is completed if the nonvolatile memory 104 reports that there were no errors after the nonvolatile memory 104 received a status check command (step 210). A data write process is completed if the host does not send new data to the controller 102 (step 214). After the conventional nonvolatile memory 104 writes the data stored in the data register 124 to the memory cell array 122, the data register 124 of the nonvolatile memory 104 cannot keep the data stored therein unchanged. The controller 102 therefore must keep the data stored in the data buffer 114 after the nonvolatile memory 104 writes the data stored in the data register 124 to the memory cell array 122. If a write error occurs during step 212, the controller 102 can then resend the data stored in the data buffer 114 to the data register 124 of the nonvolatile memory 104 to be rewritten to the memory cell array 122. However, the conventional method 200 for writing data to the nonvolatile memory 104 has shortcomings. First, after the data stored in the data register 124 is written to the memory cell array 122, because the data buffer 114 of the controller 102 has to keep the data stored therein, the controller 102 therefore requires a data buffer 114 with large memory size. Thus, manufacturing cost is increased. In addition, when a write error occurs, the controller 102 resends a write command, a write address, and data to the nonvolatile memory 104. Resending of the write command, the write address, and the data causes delays in the data write process and degrades performances of the memory device 100. A method for managing writing errors for a nonvolatile memory is therefore required to reduce the memory size of the data buffer 114 and reduce the time delay of the data write process, thereby reducing manufacturing cost of the controller 102 and increasing system performance.

After applying for an initial DoD secret clearance with a contractor back in Sept 2018, I was notified by my FSO that my clearance was listed as ‘secret clearance eligible’ about 1 week ago (May 8). She noted that it would take a day or two for it to get over to HR, at which point I can finish onboarding and start the job that I have waited 7+ months for. I obviously have some patience, having waited 230+ days from SF-86 submittal to the call from my FSO that I was eligible. However, it has taken over a week now and this has been the hardest waiting to endure since I know that I really should be done waiting to start. This seems like a very company-specific phenomenon, but I wanted to check if any one else had found this particular corner of purgatory before me. Since the clearance process takes so long, I don’t think that most companies have everything sitting and waiting for your approval in JPAS. Big companies take time to move on most items and start dates are just another that takes some time. In many defense contractors, once you are available to start, HR and others still have to make certain that budgets are in place so that you can start charging your time to a project all the way down to phones lines and laptops being ready. In my case, after 18 months of waiting, it took another four weeks before I could start because they were in the process of budgeting and wanted to make sure that there was money available where they were going to place me. But, things like this happened to me several times in my 40 year career of non-cleared jobs.

Co-translational insertion of envelope proteins: theoretical consideration and implications. In this paper we examine some of the quantitative consequences of co-translational insertion of outer membrane proteins (OMP). Due to the linkage of OMP-synthesizing polysomes to the cell envelope, the whole machinery involved in the synthesis of OMP must necessarily be membrane-bound and dynamic. Implications of the model are discussed.

Cardiovascular events in chronic dialysis patients: emphasizing the importance of vascular disease prevention. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in both chronic kidney disease and peritoneal dialysis/hemodialysis patients. Vascular disease prevention in these patients is therefore important to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events and the high morbidity and mortality. This Editorial discusses the traditional, (1) smoking, (2) dyslipidemia, (3) body mass index, (4) glycemic control and (5) blood pressure, and non-traditional, (1) anemia, (2) vitamin D/hyperparathyroidism, (3) calcium/phosphorus metabolism and (4) magnesium, risk factors in renal patients. Current evidence does not support routine statin use and antiplatelet medication to dialysis patients. Patient compliance and adherence to proposed measures could be essential to reduce cardiovascular events and mortality rates in this high-risk population.

The Wake Weekly The Wake Weekly is an American weekly newspaper based in Wake Forest, North Carolina, primarily covering the North Carolina counties of Wake and Franklin. From 2009-2019, it was published by Allen Publishing LLC, a corporation owned by Todd Allen, son of original owners Robert W. and Margaret G. Allen. Robert Allen acquired the newspaper in 1952 from his brother and owned and operated it for nearly 50 years with Margaret. Margaret Allen was awarded the National Newspaper Association's Emma C. McKinney award for community journalism. The Allens were named to the North Carolina Journalism Hall of fame in 2006 the first couple to be jointly named. Because Margaret died on November 1, 2005, she was given the award posthumously. Allen Publishing, LLC, acquired the paper from the family in 2009 and in early 2010, bought out the other members to become sole owner. The same year, The Wake Weekly name was replaced in its three primary coverage areas as The Franklin Weekly, The Rolesville-Wake Crossroads Weekly and The Wake Forest Weekly, under the auspices of The Wake Weekly Family of Community Newspapers.[citation needed]. The Wake Weekly has won multiple awards from the North Carolina Press Association. In 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2016, The Wake Weekly, and The Wake Forest Weekly were awarded First Place in General Excellence. and first place for sports reporting in 2015, and sports photography in 2018 under award-winning sports editor Marty Simpkins, among other awards. In January 2019, Allen Publishing, LLC sold the paper to the Wilson Times Company. The paper won first place in the Investigative Reporting category from the Inland Press Association for their 2019 article "Town now says public emails to cost at least $15K." References Category:Newspapers published in North Carolina Category:Wake Forest, North Carolina Category:Media in the Research Triangle

A Molecular Chameleon: Chromophoric Sensing by a Self-Complexing Molecular Assembly. A color change from purple to green takes place on addition of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) to the macrobicyclic receptor 14+ , which is composed of a cyclobis(paraquat-p-phenylene) tetracation that shares one of its paraphenylene rings with a 1,5-naphthoparaphenylene-[36]crown-10 macrocycle. The TTF molecule forces the macrobicycle to turn inside out (see schematic drawing below) and displaces the self-complexed 1,5-dioxynaphthalene ring system from the center of the tetracationic cyclophane.

ufc 100 brock is the same fighter that got his ass kicked by carwin, cain and overeem. The significance of his illness on his abilty fight is way blown out of proportion. Brock could do a 3 week training camp and beat mir, randy, herring or min soo kim again. The only difference from win to loss is the level of competition. JDS keeps his hands low thinking takedown and Brock pulls a Randleman-Cro Cop on him. Brock was winning the Cain fight for the first 2 minutes, until the stomach aids stole his strength and cardio It's true! The stomach aids made him curl up in the fetal position in the Carwin and Overeem fights too! It was amazing that he could uncurl his body for the second round of the Carwin fight with the tremendous stomach aids pain he must have endured! I like Brock and NO, his illness was not blown way out of proportion. Brock was doing fine against Cain until he tripped then it was all downhill from there. I have always been pro-Brock, however I would give the edge to JDS... Although Brock could take JDS down, I don't believe he could keep him there. Brock does not have a great deal of patience either to avoid the big shot from JDS. Sooner or later Brock would more than likely get caught, and that would be the beginning of the end. Brock can take a pretty hard shot and not get knocked out, however he doesn't have enough experience getting hit to have any confidence that he will be ok. Neil McCauley - ufc 100 brock is the same fighter that got his ass kicked by carwin, cain and overeem. The significance of his illness on his abilty fight is way blown out of proportion. Brock could do a 3 week training camp and beat mir, randy, herring or min soo kim again. The only difference from win to loss is the level of competition. Thanks doctor, love how you state uneducated opinion as fact. Let me cut out a foot of your colon and see how you feel This si a great match up and I wish we had gotten to see it. In my opinion, it can go either way. JDS by TKO stop from strieks or Brock by TKO G and Pm with Brock probably winning 7/10 times. I see Brock coming right out and bull rushing JDS. He gets the take down and he begin to mothetically wear JDS out. What he did to Mir, how he held him in check and brutalized his face was a thing of beauty. He did the same thing to Herring, a big strong dude who can take a good shot and has good wreslting. The game plan is simple, just don't get caught standing, and finish take down attempts. Brock stops him IMO JDS still destroys Brock the same way everyone knew he'd destroy him before the Cain fight. make fights. Brock could never come close to pushing the pace like Cain did and that's what allowed Cain to win the fight. Reply Post “This is the official website of the Mixed Martial Arts llc. Commercial reproduction, distribution or transmission of any part or parts of this website or any information contained therein by any means whatsoever without the prior written permission is not permitted.”

Large quantities of glucose-containing syrups are manufactured by the enzymatic hydrolysis of corn starch. This is generally carried out in two stages. In the first step, the starch is liquefied by treatment with an alpha-amylase enzyme at a pH between 6 and 7. The liquefied starch is then saccharified by means of a glucoamylase enzyme operating at a pH between 4 and 4.5. The principal alpha-amylases presently used for the first step in the hydrolysis of starch are bacterial alpha-amylases produced by Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, and Bacillus stearothermophilus. Although these alpha-amylases are comparatively thermostable in solutions above pH 6, they do not exhibit such thermostability at lower pHs. The alpha-amylases in current use are produced by aerobic microorganisms, i.e., those that require oxygen for growth. There are a few scattered reports of alpha-amylases being produced by anaerobic organisms. Hobson, et al, Biochem. J., 52, 671-679 (1952), reported the isolation of such amylases from two anaerobes, Clostridium butyricum and a Streptococcus, present in the rumen of sheep. Both enzymes showed optimum activity at a temperature of 48.+-.1.degree. C. Hockenhull, et al, Biochem. J., 39, 102-106 (1945), found that the anaerobe, Clostridium acetobutylicum, also produced an alpha-amylase. This enzyme, which he partially purified, displayed a pH optimum of 4.8 and converted starch completely to maltose. Later Ensley, et al, J. Gen. Appl. Microbiol., 21, 51-59 (1975), studied the production of this enzyme and found that it was induced by the presence of starch in the culture medium. About 40% of the enzyme remained associated with the cells. None of these enzymes showed appreciable stability at higher temperatures. It would be desirable to hydrolyze starch by conducting the liquefaction and saccharification steps simultaneously in the same reaction mixture. This could be accomplished if alpha-amylases were available that would hydrolyze starch at pH values between 4 and 4.5, where glucoamylase is active. In addition, the alpha-amylase would have to be sufficiently thermostable at this pH to permit the hydrolysis reactions to be carried out at a temperature where the reaction rate is fast enough to be useful. An alpha-amylase produced by Clostridium thermoamylolyticum generally meeting these requirements is disclosed in European Patent Application No. 0 131 253. We have now discovered an alpha-amylase, produced in an anaerobic fermentation reaction by Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum, that shows better starch liquefying properties under these conditions.

Spectator sports, particularly football, usually include a common pastime known as a “tailgate” party that is an activity where spectators gather for fun and recreation. Millions of people attend spectator sports on an annual basis such that the popularity of tailgating has become a national pastime. A tailgate party, or tailgating, usually requires picnic items, including tables, chairs, beverage coolers, etc. Such items are brought to a location of the spectator sport and usually carried in a vehicle as loose items. When at the location of the spectator sport, the loose picnic items are unloaded and set-up on tables for tailgate party activities. Such picnic items are later loaded back into the vehicle for transport after the tailgate party. The packing, transporting, unpacking, and repacking process surrounding the tailgate party is a cumbersome and time-consuming process. Cargo carriers have been developed to assist in transporting items via vehicles. Such carriers are commonly adapted to couple with a trailer hitch found on a vehicle for external transport of items using the vehicle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,937 describes a movable frame assembly for storing and transporting items that includes a connection member for mating with a common trailer hitch and a frame member slidably attached to the connection member. The assembly is attached to the trailer hitch on a vehicle and is slidably movable, permitting outward extension away from the vehicle while still being connected to the vehicle. A storage container may be connected to the frame member. U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,451 describes a hitch carrier that is removably mounted at a rear of a vehicle. The hitch carrier includes a frame assembly having a forward section configured for insertion in a hitch sleeve and a cargo unit attached to the frame assembly such that the cargo unit may be telescoped towards and away from the rear of the vehicle. The cargo unit has a hingeably mounted aerodynamic lid and includes handholds and a locking mechanism for locking the lid in a closed position. U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,101 describes a ramp and cargo system that is removably attachable to a trailer hitch socket of a vehicle for loading and unloading a wheeled vehicle into the vehicle. The ramp and cargo system includes a ramp base, a first ramp member hingeably mounted to the ramp base, a second ramp member hingeably mounted to the ramp base, and a third ramp member hingeably mounted to the second ramp member such that the second ramp member and third ramp member may be folded onto one another. The aforementioned cargo carrier systems provide general cargo carriers that are connectable to conventional trailer hitches mounted on vehicles and specifically permit access to the rear of the vehicles. A cargo container system is desirable that both assists in the organization of cargo items while simplifying the amount of items required to be packed and transported. Such a cargo container system is particular suitable for tailgate party applications or other recreational activities by minimizing the number of items required to be packed and transported to a desired location. More particularly, it is desirable to have a cargo container that may be simply assembled and disassembled to function as a transportable container while assembled and provide a table when at least partially disassembled.

Thin film photovoltaic (PV) modules (also referred to as “solar panels”) based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) paired with cadmium sulfide (CdS) as the photo-reactive components are gaining wide acceptance and interest in the industry. CdTe is a semiconductor material having characteristics particularly suited for conversion of solar energy to electricity. For example, CdTe has an energy bandgap of about 1.45 eV, which enables it to convert more energy from the solar spectrum as compared to lower bandgap semiconductor materials historically used in solar cell applications (e.g., about 1.1 eV for silicon). Also, CdTe converts radiation energy in lower or diffuse light conditions as compared to the lower bandgap materials and, thus, has a longer effective conversion time over the course of a day or in cloudy conditions as compared to other conventional materials. The junction of the n-type layer and the p-type layer is generally responsible for the generation of electric potential and electric current when the CdTe PV module is exposed to light energy, such as sunlight. Specifically, the cadmium telluride (CdTe) layer and the cadmium sulfide (CdS) form a p-n heterojunction, where the CdTe layer acts as a p-type layer (i.e., a positive, electron accepting layer) and the CdS layer acts as a n-type layer (i.e., a negative, electron donating layer). A transparent conductive oxide (“TCO”) layer is commonly used between the window glass and the junction forming layers. This TCO layer provides the front electrical contact on one side of the device and is used to collect and carry the electrical charge produced by the cell. While the TCO layer is typically produced from relatively low resistivity materials (e.g., cadmium stannate), the TCO layer still provides resistance to the series of cells in the device. This resistance in the TCO layer can inhibit the flow of electrons through the device, effectively hindering the efficiency of the photovoltaic device, especially cadmium telluride based photovoltaic devices. Increasing the thickness of the TCO layer can reduce the resistance of the front contact, but can also lead to increased material costs and a rough surface morphology that can adversely affect subsequently deposited layers of the device. As such, a need exists to reduce the series resistance of the front electrical contact (e.g., the TCO layer) in photovoltaic devices, particularly cadmium telluride based photovoltaic devices, with minimal loss of current and without increasing the thickness of the TCO layer.

Q: UPDATE multiple WHERE SQL not working I am trying to run a query to update the DATA table where the MAXNVQ is different it will update a different value into the Burnham Grade column. This is my code so far:- UPDATE Data SET Data.BurnhamGrade = (CASE WHEN Data.[MAXNVQ] > 3 THEN 'Grade II/III' WHEN Data.[MAXNVQ] = 3 THEN 'Grade IV' WHEN Data.[MAXNVQ] < 3 THEN 'Grade IV' END) WHERE (MAXNVQ > 3) OR (MAXNVQ = 3) OR (MAXNVQ < 3) I get an error saying SQL Execution Error: String or binary data would be truncated the statement has been terminated. Like I have been a mistake in the SQL A: Perhaps this should be a comment, but the comments seem to be about other topics. Your query (or the equivalent) is: UPDATE Data SET Data.BurnhamGrade = (CASE WHEN Data.[MAXNVQ] > 3 THEN 'Grade II/III' WHEN Data.[MAXNVQ] = 3 THEN 'Grade IV' WHEN Data.[MAXNVQ] < 3 THEN 'Grade IV' END) WHERE MAXNVQ IS NOT NULL; If you are getting a data truncation error, it would be because the strings assigned to Data.BurnhamGrade are too long for the column. So, check the length of the column. A common reason for this is when the length is left off the variable. So, if your table is defined as: CREATE TABLE data ( . . . BurnhamData varchar, . . . ); This assigns a default length to the column, which depends on context and is often "1". There is no error, just a column that is shorter than you intend. Instead: CREATE TABLE data ( . . . BurnhamData varchar(255), . . . ); Or, if this mapping is always true, store the values in a reference table and use a JOIN, Or, use a computed column: ALTER TABLE data ADD BurnhamGrade AS (CASE WHEN Data.[MAXNVQ] > 3 THEN 'Grade II/III' WHEN Data.[MAXNVQ] = 3 THEN 'Grade IV' WHEN Data.[MAXNVQ] < 3 THEN 'Grade IV' END) With this approach, you don't have to worry about keeping the value up-to-date. It will be correct whenever you query the table and use the column. A: As stated in the comments it's likely that the column you are updating (BurnhamGrade) is not big enough to hold the data that you are inserting in to it. E.g. if your column definition is: BurnhamGrade VARCHAR(10) you wouldn't be able to insert 'Grade II/III' as it's 12 characters long. This recreates the error: CREATE TABLE #data ( MAXNVQ INT , BurnhamGrade VARCHAR(10) ) INSERT INTO #data ( [MAXNVQ], BurnhamGrade ) VALUES ( 1, '' ), ( 3, '' ), ( 4, '' ) UPDATE #data SET #data.BurnhamGrade = ( CASE WHEN MAXNVQ > 3 THEN 'Grade II/III' WHEN MAXNVQ = 3 THEN 'Grade IV' WHEN MAXNVQ < 3 THEN 'Grade IV' END ) -- NOTE THE WHERE CLAUSE ISN'T REQUIRED UNLESS HANDLING NULLS SELECT * FROM #data DROP TABLE #data Produces: Msg 8152, Level 16, State 14, Line 11 String or binary data would be truncated. Modifying the column specification to: BurnhamGrade VARCHAR(12) allows it to work. After the change, it produces: MAXNVQ BurnhamGrade 1 Grade IV 3 Grade IV 4 Grade II/III So altering the column definition to a larger value should fix the issue. One final thing, you can merge 2 of your cases so: WHEN MAXNVQ = 3 THEN 'Grade IV' WHEN MAXNVQ < 3 THEN 'Grade IV' Can use <= 3 as they set the same value, like so: WHEN MAXNVQ <= 3 THEN 'Grade IV'

Subscribe Now: Email Address “People Always Condemn Pastors For Taking Donations, So I Started My Own Group Of Companies & Fund My Ministry Myself. I Don’t Take Donations.” – Pastor Alfred. Note: You Are Free To Share Or Copy & Paste All Content In It’s Entirety That’s On This Site That’s Created By Alfred And Use It For Commercial, Non-Commercial, Or Any Other Purposes. You Can Copy & Paste, Download Or Upload Entire Articles, Stories, Audio Files, Video Files, etc That’s Created By Alfred And Post It On Your Site. Just Don’t Claim Credit For It Or Alter It. Just Ensure Those Who See It Know It Was Created By “Alfred.” Backlinks To Alfred’s Website Are Not Required Or Necessary.

286 F.2d 431 Daniel Ellis WELLS, Appellant,v.Beryle C. SACKS, Warden, Ohio Penitentiary, Appellee. No. 14227. United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit. December 28, 1960. William Allen Ogden, Cincinnati, Ohio, for appellant. Aubrey A. Wendt, Asst. Atty. Gen., Mark McElroy, Atty. Gen., on brief, for appellee. Before McALLISTER, Chief Judge, and MARTIN and WEICK, Circuit Judges. ORDER. 1 The above cause coming on to be heard upon the record, the briefs of the parties and the argument of counsel in open court and the court being duly advised: 2 Now, therefore, it is ordered, adjudged and decreed that the judgment of the District Court be and is hereby affirmed.

Q: How to Install Pentaho CE 5.0.1 Can anyone tell me how to install pentaho suite CE 5.0.1. I already have the previous version which works fine. I downloaded the new version but then when I try to start the server the cmd just blinks. I assumed that since the environmental variable and setting i have worked for the previous version, they should automatically work for the new one. What am I doing wrong here ? Also the new PRD fails to display the correct formatting (like background coloring) of reports I created with the older version however the colors appear when preview the report. How do I get the new bi server working pls I have searched the internet but cant seem to find a clear cut installation process A: I found the problem was that I had a 32 bit java version installed though my OS is 64 bit. I installed a 64 bit version and change the JAVA_HOME and PATH accordingly to point to the x64 version and bi-server works fine now. All's good.

[An evaluation of hypnosis practices in palliative care.] There are very few studies in existence today that look at the value of hypnosis in palliative care.The aim of our study was to measure the impact of hypnosis on managing symptoms in palliative care. This quantitative retrospective monocentric observational study evaluated pain and patient satisfaction using monitoring and evaluation sheets, which included a rating scale before and after hypnosis sessions in a palliative care unit.For two years, thirty-seven patients participated in hypnosis sessions mostly for pain (41%) and anxiety (27%). 51% reported a decrease in symptoms, with 35% even reporting that the intensity of their symptoms vanished. Most of the patients were satisfied with the approach and at the end of the study some of them were able to recreate its effects by using self-hypnosis.Despite the small sample, the results confirm those found in the few palliative studies that do exist, particularly relating to the improvement of symptoms such as pain, anxiety, nausea, and respiratory disorders.

Q: How to handle ampersands in URL segments I'm using the channel entries search parameter to filter entries based on the value in a segment. However, I've just spotted that some of these segments contain ampersands, and these don't work correctly when filtering channel entries in this way. Is there a way around this? Here's an example URL that I'm having issues with: mywebsite.com/regions/Yorkshire & Humberside The spaces work fine as they are automatically converted into %20, like this: mywebsite.com/regions/Yorkshire%20&%20Humberside, which seems to work fine in EE. But the ampersand doesn't get converted into anything, so my segment is being ignored after the ampersand, so my filtering isn't working correctly. I've tried changing the ampersand to %26, like this: mywebsite.com/regions/Yorkshire%20%26%20Humberside but that doesn't make any difference. I've also tried changing the ampersand to & amp; (I've added a space here as EESE keeps converting this into an ampersand if I write it out correctly) like this: mywebsite.com/regions/Yorkshire%20& amp;%20Humberside, but that just gave me the following error: The URI you submitted has disallowed characters. Here's what my channel entries tag looks like: {exp:channel:entries channel="location" status="open" limit="1000" dynamic="no" search:cf_location_region="{segment_2}"} Can anyone think of any workarounds to this? I can't use categories due to the way in which I'm getting the data from an external data source. Thanks. A: Been testing this further and I found that the channel search parameter does seem to be working correctly, even with the ampersand in the URL. The thing that was making me think it wasn't working correctly was the fact that the title at the top of the page, < h1>{segment_2}< /h1> was being cut off after the ampersand (like this: < h1>Yorkshire< /h1>, instead of outputting < h1>Yorkshire & the Humber< /h1>, so I assumed that the same issue was also be happening to the {segment_2} in the channel search parameter. To work around the issue with the title being cut off with the segment variable, I'm using a Zoo Triggers variable to output the page title instead (< h1>{triggers:segment_2}< /h1>), and that outputs the full title correctly: < h1>Yorkshire & the Humber< /h1>. I've no idea why the standard segment variable is being cut off after the ampersand, or why the Zoo Triggers variable works fine, but it's outputting what I want so I'll move on. :)

Taking care of an infant is a huge responsibility. A baby depends on a parent or caregiver to meet all of his or her needs. Many new parents feel unprepared for this job and overwhelmed by the responsibility. The explosion of new products designed for babies and toddlers testifies to the desire of most parents to provide the best for their children. Consumers are looking for products that protect their children and make caring for infants and toddlers a little easier. A child's safety is usually the area of greatest concern for many new parents. Parents and caregivers go to great lengths to ensure that infants and toddlers are raised in safe environments. Parents often install outlet protectors in their house to prevent a child from getting electrocuted. They also cushion corners of tables to prevent serious cuts and bruises and buy and install anchors to secure large pieces of furniture to the wall to prevent them from falling over on a child. Safety gates on stairwells and video and audio monitors to keep tabs on a baby at all times are also common features in many homes. Car safety for an infant is an area of paramount concern for parents and caregivers. Most countries have passed laws requiring the operator of a motor vehicle with a child or infant inside to properly restrain the infant or child in an approved car seat or carrier. Child safety seats work by securing the child in a padded seat that has been sized to protect the child from being thrown loose in the event of an accident. One of two harness styles is commonly used to secure the child into the car seat—the five-point harness or the restraining bar. Both types of harness systems require that a strap pass between the legs of the child. One drawback to this center strap is that it can be difficult to secure the strap if the child is wearing bulky clothing. It is especially difficult to secure this strap if the child is wearing a one-piece sack style sleeper. Many parents dress their children in sleep sacks because they help to keep the baby warm and also are more comfortable for the child since small children will often pull their legs up and out of the leg openings in standard sleepers and then are unable to get their legs back in the openings when they try to straighten them back out. The lack of leg openings in sleep sacks means that the only way to pass the center strap of the car seat between the child's legs is to draw the baby's legs up towards their chests which is both unsafe and uncomfortable for the child. Hence, there is a need in the art for a safe, effective and cost efficient baby sleep sack with an opening through the front and back of the sack to permit a strap from a car seat to pass through it.

What Does ‘Organic’ Even Mean? ‘Organic’ seems to be a food trend outlasting even ‘gluten-free’ and if I’m being completely honest, I’m totally on board. Anything stamped with an “organic” label and a $2 upcharge goes straight into my grocery cart with a metaphorical pat on the back. I feel as if I’m doing my body a favor. There’s so much stigma around processed foods – with good reason – yet somehow even if I’m making spaghetti loaded with red meat and cheese, as long as there’s a little green label, then I’m convinced I just ate the equivalent of a grilled chicken salad. I blame the Gwyneth Paltrow’s and Gisele Bundchen’s of the world. Noted for their extremely limited diets of no gluten, dairy or refined sugars – among other things – they provide this aura of pretension that we little people tend to mistake for authority. They are beautiful and glamorous and we want to be just like them. Even though the majority of us aren’t willing to commit to such a drastic diet change, something simple like buying packs organic chicken or baskets of fresh produce from the farmer’s market is enough to make us feel like we’re doing our part. Even if we choose to make those simple changes though, what are we really doing for our bodies? In order for livestock or produce to be labeled “organic” there must be proof it was not produced using genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. This means that produce cannot be grown through GMO seeds and that the livestock being raised cannot eat GMO feed. Once upon the time, the regulations around organic food and labeling was pretty much a joke. However currently the USDA has really begun to crack down on regulations on what can be labeled “100% Organic” or “Made with Organic Ingredients.” The same, however, cannot be said for “natural foods.” There is no definitive definition on what can be labeled “natural” according to the FDA. There are only three rules: cannot contain 1) added color 2) artificial flavoring or 3) synthetic substances. The rest is fair game. Literally anything can be labeled “natural” as long as it doesn’t contain one the three above restrictions. Maybe there is something to be said for organic foods and labeling. However, no matter what the current food trends are or what fads the celebrities and athletes of the world are following, we should still pay attention to what is put in our bodies regardless. Eat what you want, just be aware of what exactly that is.

EVerY DaY CrEaTeS YouR HIStory October 08, 1967: Marxist revolutionary and guerrilla leader Che Guevara was captured in Bolivia.October 09, 1940: John Lennon was born.October 10, 1979: The Pac-Man arcade game is released to the Japanese market by Namco.October 12, 1810: The first Oktoberfest was held in Munich.October 14, 1957: "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley was released. October 16, 1923: The Walt Disney Company is founded by Walt Disney and his brother Roy. October 18, 1954: Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio. October 22, 1964: Drazen Petrovic was born.October 31, 1517: Martin Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. December 1: World AIDS Day, observed today each year since 1988.December 6, 1897: London becomes the world's first city to host motorised taxicabs. December 7, 1941: Attack On Pearl Harbor.December 8, 1980: John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in New York City. December 18, 1865: Slavery in the US was abolished when the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was adopted. December 28, 1612: Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune.December 29, 1984: Band Aid were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' and Madonna was at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Like A Virgin.' January 7, 1782: The first American commercial bank, Bank of North America, opens. January 8, 1981: B.S was born.January 10, 49 BC: Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. January 15, 1992: The international community recognizes the independence of Slovenia and Croatia from Yugoslavia. January 17, 1994: A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Northridge, California. January 20, 1937: Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States. January 27, 1977: Record company EMI sacks the controversial punk rock group the Sex Pistols. January 31, 1876: The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations. February 7, 1964: Beatlemania arrives in the US-The Beatles have arrived in New York at the start of their first tour of the US. February 18, 1885: Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time.March 8, 1948: The US Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violated the Constitution. March 10, 1876: Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call by saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you." March 21, 1685: Johann Sebastian Bach was born.March 29, 1871: The Royal Albert Hall is opened. April 8, 1973: Pablo Picasso has died of a heart attack.April 20, 1999: 12 students and a teacher die in the Columbine High School massacre. May 11, 1981: Bob Marley dies of melanoma in Miami, Florida at age 36. May 21, 879: Pope John VIII gives blessings to duke Branimir and to Croatian people, considered to be international recognition of Croatian state.June 18, 1967: Jimi Hendrix burns his guitar on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival. June 29, 1997: Mike Tyson bites off a piece of his opponent Evander Holyfield's ear during a boxing match.July 07, 1985: Boris Becker becomes the first unseeded player, the youngest male and the first German to win the Wimbledon at age of 17. July 13, 1923: The Hollywood Sign is officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood.August 17, 1982: The first Compact Discs (CD's) were released to the public in Germany. September 13, 1503: Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David. September 23, 1926: John Coltrane was born. Zadnji Dobar/Odlican/Savrsen film koji sam gledao:10/8/06 Transamerica10/9/06 Casino10/11/06 Good Night and Good Luck10/14/06 The Beat That My Heart Skipped10/16/06 Click10/25/06 The Squid and the Whale10/30/06 American Beauty10/31/06 Winter Passing11/02/06 The Departed11/04/06 Borat11/15/06 Munich 11/20/06 Don't Move11/22/06 Match Point11/27/06 Closer12/02/06 Me and You and Everyone We Know12/05/06 School of Rock12/11/06 An Inconvenient Truth12/18/06 Rain12/20/06 Grizzly Man01/10/07 Memory of a Killer01/13/07 Downfall01/14/07 Hidden (Cache)01/15/07 Little Miss Sunshine01/20/07 Cinderella Man02/06/07 The Devil Wears Prada02/16/07 Flags of Our Fathers03/20/07 Babel03/25/07 The Sopranos - Season 204/19/07 Melinda and Melinda05/11/07 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang05/21/07 Last King Of Scotland06/06/07 Deliver Us From Evil06/11/07 The Sopranos - Season 306/18/07 Volver07/10/07 Raging Bull07/16/07 Snatch08/12/07 Zodiac08/15/07 Cashout08/24/07 The Day of the Jackal09/06/07 Black Snake Moan10/16/07 Taxi Driver10/22/07 Sidewalks of New York10/26/07 Notes on a Scandal11/01/07 Reign Over Me12/05/07 High Fidelity12/09/07 The Queen 12/10/07 Atonement12/12/07 Ratatouille12/15/07 SuperBad12/17/07 The Office - Season 112/27/07 Finding Nemo01/12/08 Juno02/16/08 Kingdom03/03/08 Svjedoci03/12/08 The Darjeeling Limited03/14/08 The Rage in Placid Lake KvOTe When all the world is young, lad, And all the trees are green; And every goose a swan, lad, And every lass a queen; Then hey for boot and horse, lad, And round the world away; Young blood must have its course, lad, And every dog his day. When all the world is old, lad, And all the trees are brown; And all the sport is stale, lad, And all the wheels run down; Creep home, and take your place there, The spent and maimed among: God grant you find one face there, you loved when all was young. "A lot of time, you just have to go down many roads to get where you are going...The important thing is to keep moving." Bob Dylan, 1971. The question is not what we are willing to kill for" rekao je Gandhi "but what are we willing to die for." Mirsad, it was a name for Sarajevo, not for London. Now his name is Miro, but I think he should love his name. Names in my country are like flags, you can live or die because of your name. "L.A. is a strange place. As long as you think it's strange, then you're all right. I think it's strange, and I am pretty damn strange too." Bono, 1989. ponedjeljak, 21.04.2008. utorak, 08.04.2008. This is the first day of my life I swear I was born right in the doorway I went out in the rain suddenly everything changed They're spreading blankets on the beach Yours is the first face that I saw I think I was blind before I met you Now I don’t know where I am I don’t know where I’ve been But I know where I want to go And so I thought I’d let you know That these things take forever I especially am slow But I realize that I need you And I wondered if I could come home Remember the time you drove all night Just to meet me in the morning And I thought it was strange you said everything changed You felt as if you'd just woke up And you said “this is the first day of my life I’m glad I didn’t die before I met you But now I don’t care I could go anywhere with you And I’d probably be happy” So if you want to be with me With these things there’s no telling We just have to wait and see But I’d rather be working for a paycheck Than waiting to win the lottery Besides maybe this time is different I mean I really think you like me

Q: refreshing height of html, body after appending content i am appending content to the page on document load, after this I am using a light-box type overlay, the problem is that although the overlay is set to 100% height it only displays as high as the visible content, when you scroll down the overlay is not as high as the window. I firebug shows that the html, body tags are not the full height of the window, they are not adjusting their height when I append the ajax content. Is there a way to refresh these heights after i Have loaded the content? A: I've got a feeling I got around this once, but it was a bit of a hack. Basically you load the ajax content into a new, hidden element (which is allowed to expand as tall as it needs to), then use jQuery to ask it's height. Then apply that value to your shown element. I think at the time I was trying to load blog posts into a div which expanded height-wise. Edit: This of course assumes you're willing to set absolute heights rather than use percentages.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to a system and method for generating electrical energy from the controlled release of compressed air and, more particularly, to a system and method for generating electrical energy with a generator which is operatively connected to an axially rotating drive shaft, which drive shaft is rotated by rotating a mounted fan turbine with a controlled release of air under pressure from a plurality of refillable storage tanks containing the air under pressure. 2. Description of the Related Art As is well-known in the art, internal combustion engines for powering motor vehicles and fossil-burning power plants used in energy producing operations have been under attack for many years because of their inherent characteristics which produce air pollutants and other pollutants. Steps have been therefore taken to increase the combustion efficiency and to filter the exhaust from these power plants with a view to "saving" the atmosphere through more efficient and cleaner burning. The relative success of such operations has, however, been slow and limited because of the many problems which arise, including adding to costs of manufacturing a clean engine. One of the approaches taken in the production of a completely clean power plant is the design of the air engine which is, of course, completely clean since there are absolutely no combustion gasses to contend with. However, design in this area has been somewhat limited because of the reduced power output capable for such engines and because of their somewhat inefficient and complex operation. The air engine has therefore been used in some cases as an auxiliary power plant with a combustion engine or it has been abandoned in favor of other systems because of the auxiliary power needed to maintain adequate supply of air pressure for the system. Numerous attempts have been made to correct for the foregoing problems. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,978, issued in the name of Wagner, discloses a compressed air engine having specially designed cylinder heads and piston configurations in order to reduce friction and maximize the applications of air from a pressurized air source. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,180, issued in the name of Brown, teaches a compressed air engine having an auxiliary air compressor for building up to a minimum a predetermined air pressure in a compressed air supply tank which feeds air through an engine RPM control valve for the engine piston. However, a compressed air engine made in accordance with these references is associated with several drawbacks. For example, the use of a piston to drive a crankshaft in each of these references generates friction and requires numerous moving parts, thereby subjecting these references to problems of inefficiency, malfunction, and excessive manufacturing costs. Consequently, a need has been felt for providing a compressed air engine and system for generating electrical energy that eliminates the use of a piston to drive a crankshaft and otherwise minimizes emission of harmful pollutants, friction and manufacturing costs.

--- author: - | \ Jefferson Lab, 12000 Jefferson Avenue, Newport News, Virginia 23606, USA\ E-mail: title: Transversity Parton Distribution --- Introduction ============ Distribution of partons in a polarized spin-1/2 hadron can be completely described by three collinear Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs): unpolarised parton distribution $f_1$, helicity distribution $g_1$, and transversity distribution $h_1$. These standard collinear PDFs are defined through collinear factorization theorems and obey DGLAP evolution equations [@Altarelli:1977zs; @Dokshitzer:1977sg; @Lipatov:1974qm; @Barone:1997fh; @Vogelsang:1997ak; @Hayashigaki:1997dn]. The transversity distribution [@Ralston:1979ys] describes transversely polarized quarks in a transversely polarized nucleon. Formally such a distribution can be expressed by $$h_1^q(x) = \int \frac{d\xi^-}{2\pi} e^{-ix P^+ \xi^-}\langle P, S_{T}| {\bar{\psi}}_q(0^+,\xi^-,0_\perp) \frac{\gamma^+ \gamma^j \gamma_5}{2}\psi_q(0^+,0^-,0_\perp)|P,S_{T}\rangle$$ The corresponding charge is called “tensor charge” $$\delta q = \int_0^1 d x (h_1^q(x) - h_1^{\bar q}(x))$$ Transversity obeys so-called Soffer bound [@Soffer:1995ww] $$|h_1(x,Q^2)| \le \frac{1}{2}\left(f_1(x,Q^2) + g_1(x,Q^2) \right)\,$$ This bound was shown to be preserved at LO accuracy in Ref. [@Barone:1997fh] and at NLO accuracy in Ref. [@Vogelsang:1997ak]. Transversity is the least known of the three collinear distributions and the reason is that it cannot be measured in Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) due to its chiral odd nature. It should couple to another chiral odd quantity (chiral odd fragmentation or chiral odd distribution function, for example transversity itself). The best channel to measure transversity remains polarized Drell-Yan (preferable proton anti proton) process in which one could measure the product of transversity distributions directly, see Ref. [@Barone:2005pu]. QCD evolution of collinear transversity distribution is well known, see Refs. [@Barone:1997fh; @Vogelsang:1997ak; @Hayashigaki:1997dn]. It does not couple to gluons and thus exhibits non-singlet $Q^2$ evolution. Gluon transversity distribution does not exist either. This leads to the fact that transversity is suppressed at low-x makes it a valid object to study in high-x region by Jefferson Lab 12 [@Dudek:2012vr]. Currently the knowledge on transversity comes from Semi Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering (SIDIS) experimentally observed at HERMES [@Airapetian:2004tw; @Airapetian:2010ds], COMPASS [@Ageev:2006da; @Martin:2013eja] and JLab 6 [@Qian:2011py] in single spin asymmetries where transversity couples to so-called Collins fragmentation function [@Collins:1992kk]. Information on the convolution of two chiral-odd fragmentation functions is obtained from $e^+e^- \to h_1 \, h_2 \, X$ processes  [@Abe:2005zx; @Seidl:2008xc; @Seidl:2012er]. One usually measures low transverse momentum final hadron and thus one applies Transverse Momentum Dependent factorization. The transversity in this case depends also on intrinsic transverse motion of quarks $\bf k_\perp$ and one speaks of Transverse Momentum Dependent (TMD) transversity. One can also study transversity coupled to so-called di-hadron fragmentation function [@Collins:1993kq; @Jaffe:1997hf; @Radici:2001na]. The $u$ and $d$ quark transversity distributions, together with the Collins fragmentation functions, have been extracted for the first time in Refs. [@Anselmino:2007fs; @Anselmino:2008jk], from a combined analysis of SIDIS and $e^+e^-$ data. The most recent extraction is presented in Ref. [@Anselmino:2013vqa]. Di-hadron method was implemented in the analysis of Ref. [@Bacchetta:2012ty] and the results on the extraction of transversity from Refs. [@Anselmino:2007fs; @Anselmino:2008jk; @Anselmino:2013vqa] and Ref. [@Bacchetta:2012ty] agree with each other quite well. QCD evolution of Transverse Momentum Dependent transversity was recently obtained in Ref. [@Bacchetta:2013pqa]. Phenomenology ============= The result on extraction of the transversity is presented in Fig. \[fig:newh1-collins-A12\].[^1] One can see that $u$ quark transversity is positive and $d$ quark transversity is negative. This results is coming from global analysis of SIDIS HERMES [@Airapetian:2004tw; @Airapetian:2010ds], COMPASS [@Ageev:2006da; @Martin:2013eja] and $e^+e^-$ BELLE [@Abe:2005zx; @Seidl:2008xc; @Seidl:2012er] data. Experimentally so-called Collins asymmetry in SIDIS with unpolarised beams ($U$) and transversely polarized target ($T$) is measured and it is proportional to convolution of transversity and Collins fragmentation functions $$A_{UT}^{\sin(\phi_h+\phi_S)} \propto \sum_q h_1^q\otimes H_{1q}^\perp$$ here $\phi_h$, and $\phi_S$ are azimuthal angles of produced pion and polarization vector, experimentally observed modulation is proportional to $\sin(\phi_h+\phi_S)$ and sign $\otimes$ denotes usual TMD convolution [@Collins:2011zzd]. One can see that knowledge of Collins fragmentation function ($H_{1q}^\perp$) is needed in order to extract transversity, fortunately in $e^+e^-$ process one observes an asymmetry which is related to convolution of two Collins functions $\sum_q H_{1q}^\perp \otimes H_{1\bar q}^\perp$. This allows us to have perform global analysis  [@Anselmino:2007fs; @Anselmino:2008jk; @Anselmino:2013vqa] of SIDIS and $e^+e^-$ data. -1.cm -0.5cm We also present the results on the tensor charge at $Q^2=$ 0.8 GeV$^2$ in Fig. \[fig:tensorcharge\].[^2] -0.5cm ![\[fig:tensorcharge\] The tensor charge for $u$ (left) and $d$ (right) quarks, computed using the transversity distributions obtained in Ref. [@Anselmino:2013vqa]. The gray areas correspond to the statistical uncertainty bands of the extraction. The results are compared with those given in Ref. [@Anselmino:2008jk] (number 2) of the model calculations of Refs. [@Cloet:2007em; @Wakamatsu:2007nc; @Gockeler:2005cj; @He:1994gz; @Pasquini:2006iv; @Gamberg:2001qc; @Hecht:2001ry] (number 3-9) and with the results extraction from Ref. [@Bacchetta:2012ty] (number 10).](tensor-charge.pdf "fig:"){width="90.00000%"} -0.5cm -36pt Future measurements at Jefferson Lab 12 are going to be very important for the extraction of the transversity and the tensor charge. We estimate that corresponding improvement of the statistical error of the extraction will be a factor of $5$ approximately [@Dudek:2012vr]. This will mean that from almost 50% uncertainty we will be able to extract tensor charge with 10% uncertainty and compare it better to model predictions. Tensor charge is important for some dynamical effects of new heavy Beyond Standard Model degrees of freedom [@Bhattacharya:2011qm]. In order to constrain possible parameters of those models one needs precise knowledge of the tensor charge. Future Electron Ion Collider [@Boer:2011fh] will also allow us to study carefully $Q^2$ evolution of transversity and explore low-x region. Conclusions =========== Interested reader is referred to several reviews that describe the transversity in greater detail, see Refs [@Barone:2001sp; @Barone:2010zz; @D'Alesio:2007jt]. I have not discussed all possible ways to access transversity, for instance $\Lambda$ electroproduction in SIDIS. In this case one needs to know the chiral odd fragmentation function of $\Lambda$ production and it can be accessed via $e^+e^- \rightarrow \bar\Lambda\Lambda X$. One could also study transversity in proton proton scattering by utilizing $ p p^\uparrow \rightarrow \pi jet X$ [@D'Alesio:2010am]. In future we will have data from BABAR Collaboration, which have performed an independent new analysis of $e^+ e^- \to h_1 \, h_2 \, X$ data [@Garzia:2012za]. Jefferson Lab 12 will provide precision data in high-x region [@Dudek:2012vr] and thus complement results obtained in SIDIS at HERMES [@Airapetian:2004tw; @Airapetian:2010ds], COMPASS [@Ageev:2006da; @Martin:2013eja] and JLab 6 [@Qian:2011py]. Generally proton proton scattering can be described by so-called twist-3 factorization in which one studies multi-parton correlations of partons and corresponding Efremov-Teryaev-Qiu-Sterman functions [@Efremov:1981sh; @Efremov:1984ip; @Qiu:1991pp; @Qiu:1998ia; @Koike:2009ge; @Kang:2010zzb]. These functions are related to TMD functions and more globally twist-3 formalism and TMD formalism are closely related to each other, and have been shown to be equivalent in the overlap region where both can apply [@Ji:2006ub; @Koike:2007dg; @Bacchetta:2008xw]. 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A problem constantly present in several branches of industry is the removal of floating contaminants of various liquids originating from various technologies. The rapid increase of the contamination of environment has called attention especially to the purification of industrial sewages and--taking into consideration also the economic aspects--to their recovery. The floating contaminations in industrial sewages and other by-products in a liquid state can be divided into two groups according to the liquid to be purified, namely to substances of higher specific weight and to those of lower specific weight than that of the liquid in question. A further division is possible according to the solid or liquid state of the floating substance. Numerous processes and equipment for the separation of substances of different state, specific weight and grain size are known. The individual or combined carrying out of precipitation, centrifuging and filtering processes is generally a power-consuming task, therefore where the by-pass of larger quantities of substances is necessary, precipitators requiring specifically the lowest energy, having the highest permeability and requiring the lowest establishment costs and operating costs are generally used alone or combined with other technological devices as required. A detrimental property of the known precipitators-especially if the liquid to be purified contains impurities of both higher and lower specific weight, such as in the case of industrial sewages containing simultaneously sand and oil contaminations--consists in that requirements mutually depreciating to each other are combined in the same system. In the various sedimentation basins of the most widely used systems and separating basins the sewage is coursed in laminar flow at a minimum speed in order to let settle the floating sand grains on the bottom of the basin, and to let ascend the oil drops to the surface. Since the ascended oil film is generally separated from the surface of the sewage by means of a separating or stripping device suspended into the basin, the sewage should be coursed at least at a speed rendering efficient the separation. Obviously, these two requirements are simultaneously impractical, therefore only a compromise is possible. Another condition depreciating the practicality of meeting both of the above demands consists in that the sewage load is by no means uniform and its variation is sporadic. These sporadic variations, however, disturb the laminar flow and cause wave phenomena, especially on the surface, but also on the bottom agitating thus the already settled grains, and causing the liquid level to continuously vary in the basin, so that the separating element is sometimes freely hanging in the air and sometimes completely immersed in the liquid, carrying out no separation, or the wave sweeping in and the separating element being just on the surface fills the discharge channel with water and deteriorates the efficiency of separation or even prevents it. To solve the above problems, a solution is presented in the Hungarian patent specification No. 169.472 according to which the stripping device is arranged on floats and is equipped with at least one row of nozzles, while the edge of the stripping blade is adjusted to or beneath the boundary surface of the sewage to be purified and the contamination ascended to the surface thereof. The sole detrimental property of the known solution is with respect to the "quality" of the separated contamination, since it contains always a small quantity of the liquid to be purified. The edge of the stripping blade cannot be adjusted exactly to the boundary surface, so that the stripping blade is dipped in the liquid to be purified and the oil carries with it some water into the collecting channel.

Q: Azure Cognitive service (Face detection API) returns resource not found I have created a separate resource for face detection cognitive service api and it gives the endpoint as follows, https://southcentralus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/face/v1.0 so while making request like below, var byteContent = new ByteArrayContent(fileContents); byteContent.Headers.ContentType = new MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/octet-stream"); var response = await _client.PostAsync("detect?returnFaceId=true&returnFaceAttributes=age,gender,smile,facialHair,glasses,headPose,emotion,hair,makeup,occlusion,accessories,blur,exposure,noise", byteContent); var responseJson = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync(); it throws an error saying, Resource Not Found A: I believe you need to add trailing slash to end of your base URI otherwise the v1.0 will be discarded as per this answer. So: var client = new HttpClient { BaseAddress = "https://southcentralus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/face/v1.0/" };

Conventional ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy represents one of the least expensive methods for measuring component concentrations of a chemical process stream. However, conventional UV technology requires significant dilution of the process stream and many chemical components such as NaOH and Na2CO3 do not absorb ultraviolet radiation in the wavelength range currently measurable by conventional UV spectroscopy. To overcome the dilution problems associated with utilizing conventional UV spectroscopy equipment, those skilled in the art have employed attenuated total reflectance (ATR) probes for analyzing process streams. Such methods are disclosed in Chai et. al., Spectrophotometric In-Line Monitoring of the Electrochemical Production of Polysulfides Using an ATR-Probe, Process Control and Quality, Vol. 11, No. 2, p. 153 (1998); Schlemmer et. al., ATR technique for UV/Vis Analytical Measurements, Fresenious Z Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 329, pp. 435-439 (1987); and Chai, Process Analytical Chemistry Applied to Liquors in the Pulping Industry, Swedish Centre for Process Analytical Chemistry, The Royal Institute of Technology, S-100 44, Stockholm, Sweden, ISBN 91-7179-653-4. However, ATR probes employed by the prior art are incapable of providing useful absorbency data below 210 nm which limits their application to process streams containing chemical components which absorb ultraviolet light above 210 nm. In particular, this significant limitation prevents those skilled in the art from simultaneously determining the three major components found in paper mill kraft liquor streams. Two key components of kraft liquor streams, NaOH and Na2CO3, could not heretofore be individually detected because NaOH and Na2CO3 do not absorb ultraviolet light above 210 nm. Therefore, NaOH and Na2CO3 are commonly considered a single component referred to in the prior art as non-absorbing components or part of the total non-absorbing salt concentration. Because NaOH and Na2CO3 are non-absorbing above a wavelength of 210 nm the component concentrations of NaOH and Na2CO3 cannot be analyzed separately and determined individually. Accurate determination of NaOH and Na2CO3 concentrations is critical to the operation of many kraft mill processes. In kraft pulping, lignocellulosic material, e.g., wood chips, is treated with an aqueous liquor containing active pulping chemicals, referred to as a white liquor. The white liquor typically contains sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, the two active cooking chemicals. The fibers that make up the wood chips are separated from one another when the lignin that binds them together is dissolved in the white liquor at an elevated temperature. Once the fibers have been separated, the spent cooking liquor is collected. This spent pulping liquor is referred to as black liquor. The concentrated black liquor is burned in a chemical recovery furnace where the sulfur compounds are reduced to sodium sulfide. The inorganic ash recovered from this process is then dissolved in water producing what is referred to as green liquor. The green liquor contains primarily sodium sulfide and sodium carbonate. The green liquor can be converted into white liquor, by contacting the green liquor with calcium hydroxide in water. This process converts sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) into sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and is referred to as recausticizing. The rate and selectivity of delignification in the pulping process is strongly affected by the quality of the white liquor. The quality of the white liquor is defined by the concentrations of the sodium hydroxide and the sodium sulfide (Na2S). High quality white liquor has high concentrations of NaOH and Na2S, and low concentrations of Na2CO3 and sodium sulfate (Na2SO4). To control the pulping process, it is necessary to monitor and adjust the relative concentration of the major components. This control can only be achieved if accurate measurements can be taken in-situ, thus allowing the process operator to make timely adjustments to the concentrations. Known sensors for white liquor analysis are based upon conductivity, Fourier-Transform infrared FTIR, near infrared (NIR) or conventional UV spectroscopy. However, sensors based upon conductivity, FTIR and conventional UV spectroscopy can only provide a single component measurement. For example, FTIR and conductivity only detect the EA concentration. Likewise, conventional UV can only provide sulfide concentration. Prior art methods based upon NIR like that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,214 may provide a means for simultaneously measuring the component concentrations of a kraft liquor stream. However, the NIR equipment necessary to conduct the analysis disclosed in the '214 patent is prohibitively expensive. While conventional UV spectroscopy equipment is considerably cheaper than NIR, it too has certain disadvantages. The primary disadvantage of conventional UV spectroscopy is that it requires very high dilution rates, on the order of 10,000, before the process liquor can be analyzed. Also, since dissolved oxygen can react with sulfide and therefore greatly affect the accuracy of the measurements, it has heretofore been necessary to deoxygenate the samples prior to evaluation with conventional UV spectroscopy. Accordingly, of the three primary components of a kraft liquor stream whose concentrations are critical to kraft operations (NaOH, Na2CO3 and Na2S), only the concentration of Na2S could be determined using prior art techniques. While the combined concentration of the non-absorbing salts, NaOH and Na2CO3, can individually be determined using the prior art methods, this total non-absorbing salt concentration cannot be used to effectively control kraft mill operations. Thus, there exists a need for a rugged, inexpensive, simple analysis method and apparatus that can be used directly in the processing line, or in an associated flow cell that will provide the individual concentrations of all the major components within a kraft liquor stream without dilution of the liquor sample. The inventive system provides individual concentration information for NaOH, NaCO3 and Na2S in real time, without dilution of the liquor sample. Thus, the present invention allows for immediate concentration adjustments resulting in improved kraft mill operation. The analyzer of the present invention can be installed directly in a pulping liquor stream as a probe or can be incorporated as part of a sample system as a flow cell. The analyzer of the present invention costs significantly less than competing infrared technologies and is simple to operate. Further advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be apparent from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

This invention relates to a unique structural means for, and a novel method of, providing minimum thrust at the idle power setting, and maximum thrust with minimum losses at higher power settings, for a gas turbine engine. It is well known in the art that a gas turbine engine which can attain high thrust when at high power settings, will also have an undesirable high thrust when at the idle power setting. Accordingly, what is needed with regard to a gas turbine engine, and is not presently available, is a means for, and/or method of, providing minimum thrust at idle speed (i.e., idle power setting), while nevertheless still being capable of providing maximum power with minimum losses at speeds (i.e., power settings) above the idle speed. With my invention, I am able to fulfill this current need; and, thereby, I have significantly advanced the state of the art.

15 U.S. Code § 4602 - Grants to Sematech The Secretary of Defense shall make grants, in accordance with section 6304 of title 31, to Sematech in order to defray expenses incurred by Sematech in conducting research on and development of semiconductor manufacturing technology. The grants shall be made in accordance with a memorandum of understanding entered into under subsection (b). (b) Memorandum of understandingThe Secretary of Defense shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with Sematech for the purposes of this subchapter. The memorandum of understanding shall require the following: (1) That Sematech have— (A) a charter agreed to by all representatives of the semiconductor industry that are participating members of Sematech; and (B) an annual operating plan that is developed in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Semiconductor Technology Council. (2) That the total amount of funds made available to Sematech by Federal, State, and local government agencies for any fiscal year for the support of research and development activities of Sematech under this section may not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of such activities. (3) That Sematech, in conducting research and development activities pursuant to the memorandum of understanding, cooperate with and draw on the expertise of the national laboratories of the Department of Energy and of colleges and universities in the United States in the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology. (4) That an independent, commercial auditor be retained (A) to determine the extent to which the funds made available to Sematech by the United States for the research and development activities of Sematech have been expended in a manner that is consistent with the purposes of this subchapter, the charter of Sematech, and the annual operating plan of Sematech, and (B) to submit to the Secretary of Defense, Sematech, and the Comptroller General of the United States an annual report containing the findings and determinations of such auditor. (5) That (A) the Secretary of Defense be permitted to use intellectual property, trade secrets, and technical data owned and developed by Sematech in the same manner as a participant in Sematech and to transfer such intellectual property, trade secrets, and technical data to Department of Defense contractors for use in connection with Department of Defense requirements, and (B) the Secretary not be permitted to transfer such property to any person for commercial use. (6) That Sematech take all steps necessary to maximize the expeditious and timely transfer of technology developed and owned by Sematech to the participants in Sematech in accordance with the agreement between Sematech and those participants and for the purpose of improving manufacturing productivity of United States semiconductor firms. (c) Construction of memorandum of understanding The memorandum of understanding entered into under subsection (b) shall not be considered to be a contract for the purpose of any law or regulation relating to the formation, content, and administration of contracts awarded by the Federal Government and subcontracts under such contracts, including section 2306a of title 10, section 719 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2168),[1] and the Federal Acquisition Regulations, and such provisions of law and regulation shall not apply with respect to the memorandum of understanding. (d) Funding for FY88 Of the amounts appropriated to the Defense Agencies for fiscal year 1988 for research, development, test, and evaluation, $100,000,000 may be obligated only to make grants under this section. Section 719 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, referred to in subsec. (c), is section 719 of act Sept. 8, 1950, ch. 932, title VII, as added Pub. L. 91–379, title I, § 103, Aug. 15, 1970, 84 Stat. 796, which was formerly classified to section 2168 of the former Appendix to Title 50, War and National Defense, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 100–679, § 5(b), Nov. 17, 1988, 102 Stat. 4063.

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Your BERLITZ LANGUAGE SCHOOL IN POZNAŃ The Berlitz Language School, situated in the Kwadraciak Building next to the famous “Okrąglak”, is located in the very heart of Poznań. You can easily reach us on foot, by public transport or by car. We are located close to the Old Market Square and the famous Poznań Goats. At Berlitz Poznań we are primarily concerned with teaching foreign languages. It does not matter whether you are looking for an English, German, French, Italian, Spanish or other foreign language course. We provide a wide range of courses! We put a premium on the correct level and efficiency in learning. In Poznań we offer many language courses for companies, groups and individual students. Can't decide which course to choose? We will be happy to offer advice and carry out a noncommital, free-of-charge placement test. You can visit our school in person, call us or fill out an online contact form. The Berlitz team is waiting for you. Berlitz is world-famous for its high quality service in teaching languages. The school in Poznań is exemplary when it comes to cooperating with global brands in the city. The school has huge experience in providing language courses for the biggest companies in Poznań as well as individual clients and children. Our success is based on the Berlitz Method, created over 138 years ago, which teaches fast and efficient communication in any foreign language. OUR OFFER: The Berlitz Language School in Poznań offers, first and foremost, language courses. We are the most effective language school on the market! We have many years' experience in organising courses in English as well as other languages such as German, French, Italian or Spanish. We invite you to participate in individual or group courses, for both children and adults, which may take place in our school or in your company. Our groups are not large, as we pay special attention to our customers' comfort and the effectiveness of the course. We believe that courses in small groups (2-4 persons) enable students to reach their language goals in a fast and stressless manner. What differentiates us from other language schools is our unique method and our Total Immersion course. The intensive Total Immersion course allows students to achieve language speaking abilities in a very short time! Our native speakers and language instructors will help you break your speaking barriers and you will be alble to use a foreign language in no time. Check out our offer for English or other language courses organised by Berlitz in Poznań. We teach in our centre as well as in your company offices, you can also do an online course. For all those who are undecided, we invite you to participate in our demo lessons. For those who have flexible working hours we propose courses at attractive Happy Hours prices! Arrange for a demo lesson after which our language consultant will prepare an offer tailored to suit your needs.

162 P.3d 1095 (2007) 213 Or. App. 587 STATE v. MORRIS. Court of Appeals of Oregon. June 20, 2007. Affirmed without opinion.

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Five-time world powerlifting champ at Glyndŵr University Five-time world powerlifting champion Emma James is boxing clever with her latest move. The Manchester strongwoman, a trainer and assessor in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), hypnosis and timeline therapy is now studying a BSc (Hons) in Psychology at Glyndŵr University. In past years Emma – also a 15-time European and 23-time British powerlifting champion, as well as the current world record holder with a 200kg bench press – has grown to become one of the most respected “mental coaches” in the UK. The 44 year-old has helped dozens of sportsmen and women across the country, including Premier League footballers and top athletes, appearing on television shows and visiting countries all over the world. The majority of her clients come from the fight game; she has worked with boxers such as Paul Smith and Brian Rose, and MMA star Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in past months in a bid to improve their performance. Fresh from her gold medal victory at the World Powerlifting Championships in Prague, Emma says she is “proud” to be a Glyndŵr student and looks forward to adding another string to her bow with a qualification from the Wrexham university. “I had been questioning my life and career and where it could go,” said Emma. “There is not a lot of money in the sport of powerlifting and I can only go on for so long. I also feel the standards for NLP have been in sharp decline since I qualified in the 1990s. It’s been a hard decision – financially and emotionally - but if I want progression and evolvement this is what I have to do.” She added: “For so long I had wanted to get a degree because the majority of qualifications I have are vocational; much of what I do is based on that and my experiences. “I have lectured in the United States on NLP in sport and been a keynote speaker at different conferences in Europe, but I wanted substantial further underpinning of my knowledge and to take what I have been doing to the next level and on into clinical psychology. “I really believed I wasn’t very bright, and that’s why I went down the vocational qualifications route, where it turned out I wasn’t. “It transpired I was dyslexic, even after having written a book!” Emma is now enjoying her studies and says studying at university is “a dream come true”. “To be honest I should have done this 10-15 years ago, it’s been a real lifesaver for me. I’ve been given academic and practical support and am really enjoying my time here,” she said. “After this I want to go to London to study for a PhD in Clinical Psychology, that’s my dream and I’m going to work hard to make it happen.” Having powerlifted since the age of 16, gaining respect and plaudits in a male-dominated industry, Emma says her mental fortitude and strength will help reinforce her studies and secure academic achievement. But where did it all begin for Emma, who was born and raised in Northern Ireland. “It was a pure fluke that I even started lifting,” she said. “I was spotted by a coach at 15 and it went from there. A year later I was competing in tournaments across the UK. “Women are still in a minority in powerlifting but there are some tremendous female lifters out there. That said, there are also some big egos!” There are age classes in powerlifting, so Emma could carry on for many more years if she wanted to. She says technique, strength and determination are all important, but the mental aspect is “more important than anything else”. “I’m completely terrified of the weight that I’m lifting, there is genuine terror about dropping the bar on myself, so you have to put yourself in the right frame of mind,” said Emma. “Being out there in my Great Britain kit is a pressure situation but I enjoy it so much, it means the world to me, much more than medals and records – I think that’s what I’d miss most.” With the sport dominated by Americans and Eastern Europeans, Emma admits it will get harder and harder to bring home gold, but she certainly isn’t ready to retire just yet. She will compete at the European championships in Azerbaijan this June and continue her role as President of the British Powerlifting Union, as well as her involvement with the World Powerlifting Congress. “Powerlifting and weight lifting are two very different creatures, with the latter getting far more publicity and exposure on television, but it’s still hugely popular, especially in America. “I love the sport and will always be involved in it; the same goes for boxing. There are similar pressures, physically and mentally. “With the training I’ve already got behind me and the support I’m receiving from Glyndŵr University I really feel I can take the next step in my career and do anything I want to do.”

[Systolic time intervals measurement by electrical plethysmography (author's transl)]. The determination of left systolic time intervals by electrical impedance plethysmography, using precordial pick-up electrodes, gives as good results as classical method using phonocardiogramm and carotid pulse trace. Moreover the measurement of right systolic time intervals is possible with this method. Another advantage of this technic is that it only requires affixing four electrocardiographic electrodes to the thorax and is usable during relatively long periods of time. The value of the basal thoracic impedance provides also a mean of following intrathoracic fluid changes and an early detection of pulmonary oedema, pleural effusion or hemorrage into the chest. So, cardiac impedance plethysmography appears as a good tool for cardiac monitoring.

NETinfo supports banks and financial institutions of all sizes across all geographies, empowering their digital transformation strategies by providing the best digital banking solutions. NETinfo Digital Banking Platform is a comprehensive omnichannel solution that unifies multiple channels and creates a single, seamless banking service for retail, corporate and high-net-worth individuals. At the same time, the platform greatly enhances customer experience through in-built analytics and personalisation tools. NETinfo Mobile Financial Services is a closed loop electronic wallet that runs independently of any card association, or any other third-party, enabling mobile payments in a secure, effortless and low-cost way. MFS is designed and developed using international mobile payment practices. NETsurance is an innovative omnichannel solution for insurance companies. It provides seamless online and mobile access for your customers, allowing them to view and manage their policies anytime, anywhere. NETsurance is suitable for any insurance company, irrespective of size or sector.

/* * Copyright 2016 Smith AR <audoban@openmailbox.org> * Michail Vourlakos <mvourlakos@gmail.com> * * This file is part of Latte-Dock * * Latte-Dock is free software; you can redistribute it and/or * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as * published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of * the License, or (at your option) any later version. * * Latte-Dock is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the * GNU General Public License for more details. * * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License * along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. */ import QtQuick 2.0 import QtQuick.Controls 1.4 import QtQuick.Layouts 1.3 import QtGraphicalEffects 1.0 import QtQuick.Controls.Styles.Plasma 2.0 as PlasmaStyles import org.kde.plasma.core 2.0 as PlasmaCore import org.kde.plasma.components 2.0 as PlasmaComponents PlasmaStyles.CheckBoxStyle{ id: checkboxStyle label: PlasmaComponents.Label { id: labelStyleTxt text: control.text wrapMode: Text.WordWrap elide: Text.ElideNone Rectangle { anchors.left: parent.left anchors.right: parent.right anchors.top: parent.bottom height: 1 * units.devicePixelRatio color: theme.highlightColor visible: control.activeFocus } } panel: Item { implicitWidth: Math.round(row.implicitWidth + padding.left + padding.right) implicitHeight: Math.round(row.implicitHeight + padding.top + padding.bottom) RowLayout { id: row y: padding.top x: padding.left width: parent.width - padding.left - padding.right spacing: checkboxStyle.spacing Loader { id: indicatorLoader Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignTop sourceComponent: indicator } Loader { id: labelLoader Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignTop Layout.fillHeight: true Layout.fillWidth: true sourceComponent: label } } } }

Influence of Escherichia coli endotoxin-induced endotoxaemia on the pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin after intravenous administration in rabbits. The main goal of present study was to determine the effects of an Escherichia coli endotoxin-induced endotoxaemic status on disposition of enrofloxacin after a single intravenous dose (5 mg/kg) in rabbits. Septic shock was induced by the i.v. bolus administration at a single dose of E. coli lipopolysaccharide. Six adult New Zealand White rabbits were used. Concentrations of drug in plasma were determined by HPLC. The plasma pharmacokinetic values for enrofloxacin were best represented using a two-compartment open model. Total plasma clearance (Cl(T)) decreased from 2.11 (l/h/kg) in healthy animals to 1.50 (l/h/kg) in rabbits with septic shock, which is related to an increase in the AUC(0-->infinity). In endotoxaemic rabbits, volume of distribution at steady state (V(dss) = 3.61 l/kg) was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than in healthy animals (V(dss) = 4.97 l/kg). However, the elimination half-life of enrofloxacin was not affected by lipopolysaccharide administration.

Why Giant E-Bike Tips wrote that the Full-E+ SX Pro is "built around Giant's excellent Maestro suspension platform with high quality finishing kit." Rave Reviews For Full-E+ SX Pro E-Bike! Product E-Bike Tips, a website dedicated to E-bikes, posted its review of the 2018 Full-E+1 SX Pro full suspension mountain bike, calling it a “high quality E-MTB” and awarding it 4 stars out of 5 in its ranking. The review starts off by looking at the new SyncDrive Pro motor. Reviewer Dave Atkinson noted that “the Pro motor has a maximum output of 80Nm which is up there with the most powerful off-road units, but crucially its ability to transfer all that power is much improved." The focus then moves on to the ride performance, with the review claiming that “the Full-E feels much more eager on the climbs and it’s much better when you’re attacking technical stuff.” The Full-E range shares some of the same design and technology features as the Trance trail bike range, and E-Bike Tips claims “the geometry works very well for an all-purpose trail bike”. Summing it up, Atkinson wrote: “It’s definitely one to consider if your next mountain bike is going to be electrified.”

Crossing the Distance: A Closer Look at Migrants and Their Families Overcoming the difficulties and challenges of being apart, the members of the Lequit family — Emma, Rhonan a seafarer, and their son Sean — draw strength from the Lord and from each other. Photo courtesy of Emma Lequit. The incalculable impact of migration on migrants, their families, and countries of origin and destination involves both positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, it can be enriching not just economically but also culturally and spiritually, and on the other, it can have devastating effects on vulnerable migrants and their families. According to the International Organization for Migration, an estimated 192 million people or 3% of the world’s population live outside the place of their birth. It is thus not surprising that the Church is especially called to accompany migrants and the families they leave behind (Amoris Laetitia [AL], no. 46). For Pope Francis, “dedication and concern shown to migrants and to persons with special needs alike is a sign of the Spirit” (AL, no. 47). The realities and challenges of families of migrants and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were given focus last August 8 during the second session of the DBCS Ongoing Formation Seminar Series for 2016, entitled “Accompanying Families Today.” The Filipino Diaspora Migration is an important area of concern for Filipinos; more than ten million of the population are now based overseas. About five to six thousand (newly hired and rehired) OFWs depart each day, which amounts to nearly two million a year. Fr. Resty Ogsimer, SC, Secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People spoke on migration and its effects on Filipino families. Scalibrinians (SC) are especially dedicated to the service of migrants and refugees, and Fr. Resty has spent 16 years of his priesthood serving Filipinos based in Sydney, where he was assigned for five years after his ordination in April 1999, and then in Japan, from 2003–2014. “The Commission for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People sends missionaries to provide pastoral care to OFWs; in the local scene we provide programs for families left behind,” he explained. He admits that there is much to do, so “I am always on the go,” traveling to different places in the country and abroad. According to a recent census, the Philippines has a population of 96 million, which is excepted to double by 2036. “Right now, we have about 101 million, 10% of which are OFWs, including permanent migrants and temporary migrants [and irregular — or illegal — migrants] all over the world.” The top 10 countries of destination, which can easily change depending on the availability of jobs, are (1) the United States (US) with more than three million OFWs, (2) Saudi Arabia, (3) United Arab Emirates, (4) Malaysia, (5) Canada, (6) Australia, (7) Italy, (8) United Kingdom, (9) Qatar, and (10) Singapore. “We are also the number one producer of seafarers in the world market” — 40% are Filipino. Among the reasons why people migrate are the following, “the search for better working conditions, higher salaries, resettlement, family reunification… even for the sake of curiosity.” The motivation for migration, which has been ongoing since the beginning of humankind, “has remained more or less the same.”Effects of Migration Fr. Resty said that in the experience of migration, “you will find both good and bad stories” — “loss of dignity and search for redemption are intertwined.” Undeniably, migration has resulted in many positive developments including financial improvement, material benefits, better education, family comfort and recreation, upgrading of skills and knowledge, new technology, improved self-esteem and confidence, and exposure to other cultures. “Officially, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (or the Central Bank), US$ 29 billion have been remitted by OFWs through legal channels.” Fr. Resty added however that much is unaccounted for since OFWs also send through other means, like their friends or relatives who are returning home. “It is a fact that due to OFW remittances, the Philippine economy is afloat.” Sadly, Fr. Resty noted, negative effects have a wider scope. For example, he talked about the apparent feminization of migration. “Unfortunately, for the past five years, we have an increase of deployment of unskilled migrants…. those who are working in the service sector — that is, domestic workers [women in particular]. And 65% of the 1.8 million departures every year are domestic workers.” These women migrants are among the most vulnerable. Many reports in media have shown that they become victims of contract violation (in other cases there is no contract at all), including delayed salaries or being paid a lesser amount than what was agreed upon. Moreover, about seven of these women are raped daily, especially in the Middle East. Other negative effects include dysfunctional families, estrangement of relationships, marital breakups, early marriages (of the children of migrants), and consumerism. Small wonder then that, as Fr. Resty noted, migrant families are included in AL’s five pastoral points and seven proposals. Based on their data, Fr. Resty said that there are more tragic consequences when the mother goes overseas. The absence of the woman from the family has a deeper and more devastating effect on the children and the spouses compared to the absence of the man. Children of mother-absent families are more likely not to do well in school and to get sick. In fact, a survey conducted among children showed that between the father and mother, the former is the more preferred person to work abroad. In addition, husbands of migrant wives are more prone to negative behavior including having more time to be attached to their barkada (or chums, to the detriment of the children), being more free to yield to the temptations of gambling and womanizing, and losing face because the woman earns more. It is also more difficult for husbands to take on the role of both father and mother compared to wives who are often more capable of assuming the role of both parents to their children. Fr. Resty noted that wives of migrant husbands are also able to adjust more positively to the situation, becoming more independent, learning to become income earners and sole managers of the household, able to socialize more, and monopolize decision-making. One of the most critical effects of migration is the impact on a couple’s marriage. OFWs and their spouses are certainly affected by their physical and forced separations, which can result in loneliness, sexual frustrations, infidelity, lack of intimate contact and communication, estrangement, broken marriages, among others. Moreover, their children are likely to suffer from a sense of abandonment and the absence of role models, engage in deviant behavior, and experience confusion and sense of insecurity and anxiety. “When I am asked by friends to help them go abroad, I say ‘no’ especially if they are married,” shared Fr. Resty. Migrating, he said, is more advisable for single people. Returning OFWs are not spared from their own share of suffering, which can include insecurity due to more unstable financial standing after their contract ends, and the lack of opportunities in the local job market where they can use the skills they learned overseas. They may also be past their prime and so it will be difficult to compete with the younger local workforce. Fr. Resty also added that the PhP 2 billion allotted by government so that OFWs can get a loan to start a business requires collateral. Thus returning migrants are discouraged by the prohibitive requirements. “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of needle then to get that loan,” he remarked. Moreover, it is devastating for OFWs who have been forced to extend their stay overseas to support their immediate family, and in many cases also their other relatives, to be told by loved ones that they still need to work. “It is very painful for OFWs who have been languishing for many years and who finally wish to come home to be told by their family, ‘No, not yet.’” Learning from a Seafarer’s Wife For her part, Emma Lequit, who works in DBCS’s Evangelium Office and is a Master in Religious Studies (MRS) graduate, presented a concrete example of what it means to have a migrant in the family. Her husband, Rhonan, has been a seafarer since 2010. The couple have a young son, Sean Rhonan. Rhonan has been deployed numerous times already on sea voyages along the Asia-Pacific coast. And at the time of his wife’s talk, he was attending his pre-departure orientation seminar for his next trip which will take him to the US for the first time. Emma shared that she has always shown a keen interest in her husband and his work. She is well acquainted with his responsibilities and always makes it a point to ask him about his experiences and adventures when he comes home. Life on board the ship involves his regular tasks, such as navigational watch and office duties, as well as moments for recreation, like sports and drinking sessions. Emma said that on shore time, when the ship docks at port, is the most difficult period for the seafarer. It is when the temptations come; some prostitutes would even come on board the ship. But it also offers positive forms of rest and recreation like sightseeing as well as the opportunity to shop for supplies. Emma said her husband started at the lowest rank as ordinary seaman. This meant that he was assigned to do the dirty job, performing tasks that can be risky or dangerous. In fact, Rhonan had an accident involving a steel bar that injured his toes. “This is why we needed to work on getting his PRC license,” she explained. She helped him review for the board exam, which he successfully passed in 2014, enabling him to eventually get promoted one rank higher to able seaman. Like many families of OFWs, they experience difficulties in dealing with members of the extended family, especially since people have so many misconceptions about seafarers. Many assume that all seamen earn high salaries, which Emma admits is not always the case, especially for the ones like her husband who are just starting out. “I used to take 80% of his salary in the first year,” she admitted. This percentage is the usual allotted portion remitted to families of seafarers. But she learned that one needed to be conscientious and prudent in handling hard-earned money, and that it was wise to ask only for what they needed to avoid shopping sprees. And so the couple adopted a more responsible scheme, where Rhonan would only send Emma what she and Sean need monthly, so he can save the rest for when he comes home. Their family, just as Fr. Resty shared earlier, is not spared from the psycho-social impact and effects of distance and physical absence — including isolation, estrangement, and the need to adjust and cope with the situation. “Every time Rhonan is deployed, it takes me four months to recover from the separation. He is my best friend. My son copes better than me,” Emma shared. They also deal with financial difficulties. They still lack savings because certain expenditures are necessary — like costly seminars and training that Rhonan has to undergo to keep improving and developing his skills. One of the things that Emma finds really difficult is going to Sunday Eucharist without her husband. “It really hurts when we are not all together.” But in spite of their periods of separation, the family members have continued to bond closer, and to grow together spiritually. This is made possible by maintaining close communications through social media. Moreover, Emma shared that she had a special GPS installed for Rhonan: God’s Protective System. “I always entrust my husband to Mary Help of Christians and she has given us so many miracles…. and [I also entrust him to] Jesus Our Good Shepherd.” With the Holy Trinity as model, the Lequit family values intimacy, dialogue, and interdependence. The family has wisely adopted a values system, featuring the core values of intimacy and dialogue. Interdependence is key, said Emma. “We value all members in the family, including our son. We also consult him when we make important decisions.” Putting the others first (instead of oneself) makes all the difference. “Parenting is given priority,” Emma said. And both parents make it a point to bring their son to their work places so he can be exposed to the realities of their jobs. “The Eucharist is at the center of our lives. It has been at the center since the beginning of our relationship, even before Rhonan and I were married. We are also devoted to the Nazareno [Black Nazarene]… and devoted to Mary. We also ask for all our material blessings through the intercession of Don Bosco.” She likewise expressed her gratitude to the DBCS community, especially to all the Salesian priests and brothers who have supported her family and assisted in their material and spiritual needs. Studying for her MRS degree has also helped to evangelize her, enabling her in turn to evangelize her family. The family makes it a point to share the blessings they receive with others as part of their advocacy. Among the things that Emma and Rhonan do together is to counsel young couples, and impart to them what they learned and experienced in their own marriage and family life. Challenges for the Church Indeed, a strong spirituality, frequent reception of the sacraments, awareness of the difficulties and the ways to cope with them can help OFWs and their families successfully navigate through the crises and difficulties of being apart. Unlike Emma’s family, however, there are many who are unaware of the tools that can help them. The Church can do much to help in this regard, and ought to reach out to them. Fr. Resty underscored the need and the challenge to develop parish ministry for migrants. He noted the importance of cooperation and coordination between receiving and sending countries. Echoing AL and Pope Francis, he said pastoral and social services are necessary for both OFWs and the families they leave behind. In the Philippines, there are more than 80 dioceses. But not all bishops are willing to have a program for migrants — in places where there is no information and people are not educated properly, they are more vulnerable to human trafficking. This is especially true for people living in the mountains and far-flung areas. Emma added that parish organizations can provide concrete pastoral care like skills training, to help families be less dependent on remittances; spiritual formation and counseling to help them overcome isolation and materialism; evangelization for pre-departure formation, and promoting the dignity of work and rights of OFWs; and education for OFW families and relatives. The Church has to provide adequate pastoral care in the face of all the realities and difficulties that OFWs and their families encounter. One such example is a Migrant Workers Program that has been offered and tested in the Pembo-Rembo area in Makati City. Boy Katigbak of Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life (CFC-FFL) explained that the program they designed includes several components, including, total family involvement, psycho-spiritual approach, training, and sustainability. The three-part program includes modules on the family dimension, dynamics of strengthening family unity in time of separation; spiritual anchoring and parish-based community participation; and sustainability talks, teaching for parish general prayer assembly, including a reintegration program for OFWs and their families. “The Pembo-Rembo area has such a huge population,” said Boy. In fact, he described that there were so many parishes catering to the people there that they resembled 7 Eleven stores that can be found at every street corner. One parish has about one hundred thousand parishioners. “We tested the program in this area, and it has been successful. Sustainability talks are ongoing…. We introduce it to parishes and they can give it their own name or title. In a few months, we had 200 OFWs.” Boy reflected that there must be a reason why there are more than ten million Filipinos overseas. “They are filling the vacancies in the churches in Europe, US, and other continents.” He said that all of them leave the country bearing candles, and some of these may be unlit. By helping migrants and their families, we help to light their candles. “We hope the effect is the unifying factor of families even in the time of separation,” he said. Remembering St. Paul’s words in 2 Timothy, he concluded that “we need to run the race, but let’s run it well.” Maria Divina Solano, MRS, MATh is a graduate of DBCS, a guest professor, and coordinator of the DBCS Research Office.

Impact of the introduction of rotavirus vaccination on paediatric hospital admissions, Lothian, Scotland: a retrospective observational study. Rotavirus (RV) vaccination was introduced into the UK vaccination schedule in July 2013. This retrospective observational study assessed, in a UK setting, the impact of the vaccination programme on the number of RV gastroenteritis (RVGE) admissions, the complications of RVGE in hospitalised children, and the impact on hospital-acquired RVGE. Over a 3 year period, 1-year before and 2 years after the introduction of the vaccine, children under 13 years of age in Lothian region with RV+ve stool sample by PCR were identified, retrospectively, and admission data (length of stay, complications) and vaccination status analysed. Viral strain (vaccine/wild type) was typed using PCR-based methods in vaccinated children. Vaccination uptake in the first 2 years of the programme was 93-94%. In the 2 years following vaccine introduction, the annual number of confirmed RVGE admissions fell by 84.7% (95% CI 75.4 to 91.0), from 131 to 20, bed days reduced by 91.1% (86.9 to 94.1), from 325 to 29, and suspected hospital-acquired infections reduced by 95.7% (73.5-99.5), from 23 to 1. The reduction in admissions was seen across all age groups despite the vaccination only being administered to infants. Despite the reduction in incidence, complication rates in children admitted with RVGE remained unchanged across the three study years. A frequent incidental finding was RV vaccine strain in the stools of vaccinated children, up to 43 days after last immunisation. There has been no concurrent increase in rate of intussusception in the region. These results provide encouraging initial evidence of the public health benefit, including to the unimmunised population, of the RV vaccination programme in the UK.

Utility of corticosteroid injection for temporomandibular arthritis in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. To assess the effects of computed tomography (CT)-guided injection of corticosteroid into the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence of TMJ inflammation. Twenty-three children ages 4-16 years with JIA and MRI evidence of TMJ inflammation received CT-guided TMJ injections of corticosteroid (triamcinolone acetonide [n = 16] or triamcinolone hexacetonide [n = 7]). Jaw pain or dysfunction and maximal incisal opening (MIO) distance were assessed before and after injection. Fourteen patients had followup MRI studies of the TMJ 6-12 months after injection. Of the 13 patients with symptoms of jaw pain prior to corticosteroid treatment, 10 (77%) had complete resolution of pain (P < 0.05). Prior to corticosteroid injection, MIO in all 23 patients was below age-matched normal values. After injection, the MIO was improved by at least 0.5 cm in 10 patients (43%) (P = 0.0017). Patients under 6 years of age at the time of injection showed the best response, with a postinjection MIO similar to that in age-matched controls (P = 0.2267). There was involvement of 23 TMJs in the 14 patients who had followup MRI studies; resolution of effusions was observed in 11 (48%) of the TMJs. Other than short-term facial swelling in 2 patients, there were no side effects. The majority of children with symptomatic TMJ arthritis improved after intraarticular corticosteroid injection. Approximately half the patients experienced significant improvement in MIO and TMJ effusion. These data suggest that corticosteroid injection may be a useful procedure for the prevention and treatment of morbidities associated with TMJ arthritis in JIA.

Q: How to solve Android Studio problems? Hello I have installed in my Ubuntu Android Studio with the intention of using them SDK with React Native, Cordova, Phonegap, etc. I have searched other questions on this site and tried the solutions they offered, but the result so far is that what I show next, after 10 days installing and testing I have decided to ask my question. I made the installation according to the official page of Android Studio and in several ways, but I can not get it to work. Now I have the installation of the following way, to avoid problems of permissions: Copy the downloaded folder from Android Studio to /usr/local/ For the SDK I chose a folder in my personal folder /home/charly/Android/sdk/ Install the necessary libraries for 32-bit sudo apt-get install libc6: i386 libncurses5: i386 libstdc ++ 6: i386 lib32z1 lib32bz2-1.0 To run the Android Studio installer, I placed it in the Android Studio location in the bin folder using the terminal: cd/usr/local/android-studio/bin Execute: ./studio.sh I edit the .bashrc file: sudo vim ~/.bashrc and add the following to the end of the file: export PATH=${PATH}:/home/charly/Android/sdk/tools export PATH=${PATH}:/home/charly/Android/sdk/platform-tools Install: sudo apt-get install lib32stdc ++ 6 sudo apt-get install lib32z1 When I run android sdk and android avd the answer is: Order «android» not found. When should I take the SDK Manager and AVD Manager, respectively. Also, there is another problem and when executing printenv ANDROID_HOME the result of the console is: /opt/android-sdk/ And in this folder is not Android Studio. When I try to run an Android application from React Native: react-native run-android I get an error: S server already running. Building and installing the app on the device (cd android && ./gradlew installDebug) ... FAILURE: Build failed with an exception. * What went wrong: A problem occurred configuring project ': app'. > The SDK directory '/ opt / android-sdk' does not exist. * Try: Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output. Run with --scan to get full insights. * Get more help at https://help.gradle.org BUILD FAILED in 0s Could not install the app on the device, read the error above for details. Make sure you have an Android emulator running or a device connected and have set up your Android development environment: https://facebook.github.io/react-native/docs/getting-started.html Command failed: ./gradlew installDebug Error: Command failed: ./gradlew installDebug     at checkExecSyncError (child_process.js: 611: 11)     at Object.execFileSync (child_process.js: 629: 13)     at runOnAllDevices (/home/charly/proyec/App/node_modules/react-native/local-cli/runAndroid/runAndroid.js:299:19)     at buildAndRun (/home/charly/proyect/App/node_modules/react-native/local-cli/runAndroid/runAndroid.js:135:12)     at isPackagerRunning.then.result (/home/charly/proyect/App/node_modules/react-native/local-cli/runAndroid/runAndroid.js:65:12)     at process._tickCallback (internal / process / next_tick.js: 68: 7) How can I solve these problems? Why does it tell me that SDKs do not exist in '/opt/android-sdk' if I set up .bashrc to say they are in home/charly/Android/sdk? Maybe the question is extensive, but I want to explain the whole installation and they can see the mistakes I've made in this one. Thank you A: You need to set the ANDROID_HOME environment variable in one of your bash startup scripts. This is explained in detail elsewhere on Stackoverflow. Alternatively, you could add a local.properties file to configure the SDK location.

Search form Family Support A brain injury can alter life forever, for the person who sustains the injury as well as those in a relationship with that person. The more you know about brain injury the more confident you will be in your ability to cope with these changes and find effective ways to manage the challenges that follow. Get the Facts! There's always something new to learn about brain injury. Getting our facts straight is a crucial first step in moving toward the best possible outcomes. TBI Facts: Myth: Knowing which parts of the brain have been injured will tell you the specific challenges to expect. Fact: By knowing the location of the injury to the brain, you may have some indication of the problems to expect but not to the point of being able to predict specifically what lies ahead. Every response to brain injury is different. Myth: Many people can’t change their behavior after a brain injury. Fact: With proper support and therapeutic intervention, many people with brain injury have the ability to change their behavior, learn new things, and lead full and productive lives. Myth: The best way to help a person with brain injury is to assist them with tasks. Fact: As a parent, sibling or spouse of an adult with brain injury, general wisdom suggests that you be there to assist when needed, but avoid offering assistance for activities that can be done independently. Overriding your family member’s efforts (such as jumping in to finish sentences or tasks) lessens a personal sense of dignity, respect and self-worth. Myth: After a brain injury, a person’s basic emotional needs change. Fact: People with brain injury have the same emotional needs as every other person: to feel loved, to feel useful, to feel needed, to be treated with respect and to exercise control over their lives. Myth: Personality traits often change significantly after a brain injury. Fact: Actually, personality traits tend to intensify (become stronger) after a brain injury A mild mannered person may tend to become more mild mannered. An aggressive personality may tend to become more difficult and more aggressive after brain injury. Myth: Most recoveries for brain injury show steady improvement up until 2 years when recovery is complete. Fact: There will be inconsistency during the recovery period. A person with a brain injury may be able to do something easily one day, then find the same thing difficult the next day. Although much of the recovery process occurs during the first two years, it is not necessarily complete in 2 years. Recovery can continue throughout a lifetime. Myth: The amount of time the person with a brain injury remains in a coma is the main factor that affects recovery. Fact: The amount of time in a coma is one of many factors that will affect recovery. Other factors are: age, severity of the injury, where in the brain the injury is located, early patterns of recovery, length of time a person is very confused or experiences amnesia, other injuries to the body, and the level of health before the injury. In the following videos, Tim Feeney, PhD, a nationally recognized rehabilitation expert, disscusses issues that many families face after a loved one sustains a brain injury. Click on the title of each section to view or hide the content. Now What? Recovery from brain injury is a lifelong journey. The recovery process is as unique as the individual who has sustained the injury. What can I do to help recovery? Support from family and friends is a big factor in the recovery and quality of life for individuals with brain injury. The challenges that come with brain injury provide opportunities to learn and grow. Relationships can strengthen. People with brain injury and their families can lead full and productive lives. Care for the Caregiver Caring for your family member can be emotionally and physically exhausting. In the midst of everything, it’s typical to wrestle with a wide assortment of emotions, such as guilt, anger, and grief. Tips for Coping Express your feelings. Find a way to “vent” when you are feeling down or frustrated. Bottled up emotions will not go away; they will only get stronger and create more stress. You can share your feelings by talking with others, or you can express them by writing in a journal, playing music, or doing artwork. Choose the method that works best for you. Talk with a friend. An old Swedish proverb says, Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow. Talking with a caring friend can help relieve sadness and help you regain perspective. Find someone who will listen without making judgments or giving advice. Talk with others in a similar situation. People who are “in the trenches” know exactly what it is like. A support group for caregivers or families provides a safe and supportive place to share feelings. Members often share tips and resources for handling problems, which is an added benefit. Take a break. If you are feeling overwhelmed by feelings of grief, try to take a break. Take ten minutes, half an hour, or whatever you need to work through your emotions. It also helps to do something to express your feelings. Find a private place and cry, call a friend, write, or draw. Do anything to release the buildup of emotions so you can think more clearly. Or, do something physical during your time out. Activity is often a good way to reduce the intensity of built-up emotions. Be physically active. Vigorous activity speeds up your body’s metabolism. This can help decrease feelings of sadness. You do not have to be an athlete to get in some physical activity. Just taking a walk several times a week is enough to make a significant difference in your emotional health. Take time. There is no fixed path or timetable for your grief. Take time to work through your feelings about what has happened and how it has affected you and your family. Do not minimize what has happened and don’t let others underrate your loss. It is real and so are your feelings. Ask for help. You do not have to do this alone. Friends and family can be great sources of comfort and strength. There are times when more help is needed from someone who is not directly involved who can guide and counsel you. Consider talking with a clergy person, counselor, social worker, or psychologist who understands and has experience with families and brain injury. Communication What is Effective Communication? Saying exactly what you mean is a good first step, but effective communication occurs only when a message is actually understood as it was intended. And that can be difficult, especially when communicating with someone with a brain injury. Communication is a complicated chain of events that requires hearing, perceiving, remembering, understanding, processing, thinking, taking turns, and an array of abilities – all controlled by the brain. When talking with someone with a brain injury, it is likely that you will need to make some adjustments in the way that you communicate. There are many strategies to help. The following 3 tips are a good place to start. Choose the right time Timing is everything when communicating with a person with brain injury. When important issues or conflicts arise, choosing the right time can increase the likelihood of a successful conversation. Is now the time to talk? Ask yourself: Are both you and your conversation partner: Rested? Calm? Able to focus? Once you have found a good time to talk, the next step is to choose what issues to talk about. There can be many challenges when living with a person with brain injury and it can be overwhelming to try to talk about everything. That’s why it is important for you to pick just a few areas to work on at a time. Set the stage, then engage ​​When a person has memory and organizational challenges, avoid asking a lot of questions. Set the stage. Start with a simple sentence. “Your sister is coming this weekend.” Then engage. Give information related to the topic. “Last time she was here, you and she took some nice walks together.” OR Encourage further action. “Let’s email your sister about our plans for her visit.” Keep it simple. TBI can slow the speed of thinking, comprehension, and the ability to process information. Jokes, words with double meanings, and complex sentences can be hard to understand. Learn more about effective communication from the following video with Dr. Feeney. What's in Your ToolBox? The Brain Changes after an Injury. Brain injuries can change one’s ability to : organize and plan remember dates, times, how to do things get started on tasks or activities Tools can Help. Support tools help individuals with brain injury compensate for the cognitive challenges that may occur after injury. Some people prefer paper and pencil tools such as notepads, memory books, post-it notes and calendars. Other people prefer to use electronic tools such as watches, tablets or smartphones, as well as auditory tools such as earphones. Choose the right tool! Talk with your family member to be clear about needs, skill level, preferences and budget before selecting any tool. When selecting a tool consider: Does it meet our needs? Does it match the user’s skill level? Does it satisfy the user’s likes and level of comfort? Does it fit our budget? Does it need to travel with the user or stay in one place? Give it Time. Allow your family member plenty of time to try out the tool. It takes time to learn to use a support tool effectively and determine if it is the best tool for the intended task. You may need to re-teach how to use the tool several times. There will be days when your family member looks like he or she has got it, and then the next day isn’t sure how to use the tool. With time, teaching, practice, review and lots of patience your family member may find an appropriately selected tool to be a great support. If the tool isn’t working after giving it both time and effort, try something else. As your family member tries the tool, periodically review the tool with them to determine how it is working, what more is needed, and what needs to be changed. The Home Environment Making Home that Quiet Place A calm, less stimulating home environment provides a supportive setting for someone with a brain injury. A supportive environment can: Reduce memory and attention challenges Prevent headaches Decrease frustration and agitation Decrease fatigue Making simple changes in your home can help to calm the environment. How are Things at Your House? Does your family member have any of these common sensitivities? fluorescent lights background noise (TV or radio when no one is listening) clutter loud noises Small Changes Can Make a Difference. You can help. Many people with brain injury are bothered by light. Use lamps instead of overhead lighting; use lower level bulbs in the lamps. Replace fluorescent bulbs if they cause headaches. Use dimmer switches on lamps. Close curtains or blinds. If noise is an issue, try to: Turn down, turn off, or move TV to a smaller room. Encourage family members to lower voices. Encourage the use of headphones or ear buds to block noise when needed. Set phones to vibrate instead of ring. Calm the barking dog or send it to another part of the house or outside. Arrange for scheduled quiet times at home. Go to the mall or restaurants at times that are less busy, less crowded. Reduce clutter: Simplify surroundings by having fewer items in rooms and on surfaces. Clear tabletops and workspaces. Stack or store papers, books and magazines in containers or files. Fold and put away clothes, blankets, toys. Keep pathways clear and free of clutter. Make it easy to find things: Keeping items in the same place Arrange everyday items in a consistent way. Examples: milk is always on the right top shelf, keys are always hanging next to the door… Put frequently used items in one, easy-to-see place (hang on a pegboard or put on a shelf. Be sure to post important names and phone numbers in one, convenient place. If locating items is difficult, try to: Label drawers, cupboards and closets if needed (bedroom, kitchen, basement) with the name or pictures of the contents –“silverware”, “socks”, “tools” . . . Post a bulletin board with important phone numbers, appointments, and notes Remember, if you move where the item is kept, move the label too! You can work with your family to calm your home environment and make life a little easier for your family member with a brain injury. A little less noisy, bright and cluttered. And full of reminders and helpers and organization tools for remembering and finding important items. With your family member, think about environmental changes that might be helpful in your home. Make a list! Ideas for making physical changes: Turn off noisy devices when not in use Clear clutter from rooms Use natural lighting when possible or lamps instead of florescent or overhead lights Label drawers and cupboards in areas of difficulty Keep workspaces organized and uncluttered Remove distractions Organize frequently used items in areas where they can be seen Good intentions work best when put into a workable plan. Complete your plan by adding the WHO and the WHEN to each item. Creating Routines Using Lists and Schedules Daily Activities and Routines We all have routines for daily activities and chores. Often we don’t even have to think about how to do them – we can do them on “autopilot”. These routines and habits help us do the things we need to without exerting a lot of mental energy. Routines: Provide structure for day-to-day activities Improve a person’s ability to complete tasks Reduce frustration Loss of habits and routines Brain injuries can affect the ability to remember how to follow a routine, or to put the steps of a routine in the correct order. Not being able to do things by habit anymore is frustrating for your family member. And it is likely time-consuming and frustrating for you too. For someone with a brain injury, getting from Point A to Point B, even if it is a regular activity or chore, can be difficult. Using a simple tool – a well-written list of steps – can be very helpful, replacing a routine or habit, providing a sense of accomplishment and giving more freedom and independence. What does your family member most want to do that can be helped by a list? Work together to decide. Here are the basic steps: Identify the starting point. Do the process yourself a step at a time. Check the steps by following your own written list. Adjust as needed. Have your family member try it out. Adjust as needed. Tip: You might think that you can create the list from memory, but you will likely skip over or miss a step. It is important to actually DO and WRITE DOWN the steps as you do them, for the best result. Problem Solving In this section you'll learn about a problem solving process called Goal-Plan-Do-Review (GPDR). GPDR has been used successfully for many years in rehabilitation work with individuals who have sustained a brain injury. Now you have an opportunity to use this proven strategy at home with your family member. Step 1: Identify the Issue What is the issue or behavior that is creating tension or anxiety in your family? State the issue in a way that is: specific and neutral. Using neutral language – just saying what you see, not how you feel about it, can help identify the real issue and lead to real solutions. Examples: NOT – He's lazy and won’t get off the couch! BUT – He has a hard time starting a new activity. NOT – She's so stubborn. BUT – She has a hard time with change. Step 2: Set the Goal After you have described the issue in clear, neutral language, the next step is to state what you and your family member want to change: the goal. What do you and your loved one want to change? To set a goal, keep these things in mind: Focus on one goal at a time Pick something that is do-able Use clear, objective language to describe the goal Example: Behavior: When David doesn’t get out of bed on time in the morning, he is angry the rest of the day.Goal: David will remember to get out of bed when his alarm goes off in the morning. Step 3: Make a Plan You've been introducted to strategies designed to give you ideas for how to make changes in your home environment, strategies around using tools (e.g., lists, schedules, and routines), and strategies for using effective communication. Now select a few strategies and make your plan! Be sure to includeWHAT: Start with a few strategies. WHO: Determine who will do them.WHEN: Set a time that you will start. Step 4: Do the Plan Once everyone involved agrees on a plan, set the plan in motion and see it through. Things may not be perfect, but if there is improvement, keep it going. Expect it to work some or most of the time, not all of the time. Be a good coach! Offer encouragement. | Keep the plan on track. | Be patient – it may take a few tries Step 5: Review the Plan Check in together as a family from time to time to see how the plan is working, not just for the person with a brain injury but also for the other family members as well. This is an important step that is often overlooked. What worked? | What didn’t work? | What could we do differently? Tags About CBIRT is a center under the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation at the University of Oregon. CBIRT conducts research and training to improve the lives of children and adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). CBIRT’s research focuses on developing interventions to improve outcomes related to education, employability, and quality of life. Our training activities promote the use of best practices among educators and other professionals who serve individuals with TBI.

the concept— The Global Competitiveness Academy (GCA) is a distinctive and intensive learning framework – building off the assets of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC) and Arizona State University (ASU) – that will develop a new cadre of global leaders attuned to the underpinning drivers for competitiveness and sustainable economic growth. It is not a course. It is not a series of lectures. It is a learning experience that combines: peer-to-peer interactions, case studies, moderated debates, roundtable conversations, group assignments, Q&A sessions with global leaders, and leadership development activities. The Global Competitiveness Academy will take advantage of innovations in learning processes and draw on ASU’s transdisciplinary knowledge enterprise and the richness of the GFCC network. The Academy will adopt the most updated concepts and technologies for learning and mobilize the knowledge distributed in the GFCC network, the ASU system and across an extended network of partners. Inherent in the value proposition of the Global Competitiveness Academy is the imperative to create and nurture relationships among the participants. More than colleagues, they are intended to become lifelong companions, mentors and transformation agents. Participants will be both private and public sector leaders committed to learning the cutting-edge of competitiveness thought leadership and innovation practice, understanding the intangible value of learning with real-world practitioners and engaging with leaders who are designing and implementing competitiveness and innovation initiatives. GCA faculty includes thought, business, research, policy and tech leaders from different countries. A significant part of the GCA’s activities will emerge from the direct engagement of GFCC leaders – the knowledge that comes from their experiences in promoting business and policy transformation and implementing innovative initiatives is a unique asset that the GFCC network is especially positioned to leverage. GCA programs will be transdisciplinary by nature. They will rely on and mobilize ASU’s expertise from a variety of fields, including business, engineering, international development, policy, health, and design. Rather than being a one-time experience, the GCA will engage participants in an exclusive community. From participants’ selection to post-Academy interactions, an innovative web platform will support the different stages of the Academy learning experience. The GCA will promote and catalyze Interactions among participants before, during and after each class completes its program. the goals— Identifyandempower an emerging class of global policy and business leaders. Empower business and policy transformation. Create and nurture a global community of competitiveness change makers. Catalyze the exchange of best practices and emerging new prosperity models. the programs— Global Competitiveness Academy programs will be offered in 2018. An initial set of programs on business and government transformation will be launched in November 2017, during the GFCC 2017 Global Innovation Summit, and applications will open in January 2018. The first program will begin on July 9, 2018. our partner— Arizona State University (ASU) has become the foundational model for the New American University, a new paradigm for the public research university that transforms higher education. Ranked as one of the top 100 universities in the world, ASU is the fastest-growing research university in the United States. ASU is committed to excellence, access, and impact in everything it does. It was named the #1 university for innovation in the United States in 2016, 2017 and 2018 by U.S. News and World Report. About us: The Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC) is a network of leaders and organizations from around the world committed to the implementation of competitiveness strategies to drive innovation, productivity and prosperity for their nations, regions and cities. The GFCC develops and implements ideas, concepts, initiatives and tools to understand and navigate the complex competitiveness landscape. new website: We are in the process of transferring data to this new site, launched on February 13, 2017. Having trouble finding something? Please email info@thegfcc.org.

/* * Copyright (c) 2011 the original author or authors * * Permission is hereby granted to use, modify, and distribute this file * in accordance with the terms of the license agreement accompanying it. */ package org.swiftsuspenders.support.injectees { import org.swiftsuspenders.support.types.Clazz; public class UnknownInjectParametersInjectee { [Inject(optional=true,name='test',param1=true,param2='str',param3=123)] public var property:Clazz; } }

1. Field of the Invention The embodiments of the invention relate to personal fitness machines. Specifically, the embodiments of the invention relate to a door mounted exercise apparatus. 2. Background of the Invention The awareness of the importance of cardiovascular and muscle training has increased the demand for affordable and convenient home exercise equipment. While gyms and health clubs typically offer a variety of sophisticated and expensive equipment, they have limited or distant locations, limited hours, long term contracts and high membership fees. Even when these limitations are not an impediment, travel, changes in schedules, holidays and work can prevent the use of these facilities. Many types of exercise machines have been produced and marketed to individual consumers. These exercise machines include stationary bikes, elliptical machines, treadmills, weight machines and similar apparatuses. While designed and marketed for the home, these machines are still relatively costly. These devices are also heavy, cumbersome and large. As a result, these devices are not suitable for use during travel as they are not easily portable. The devices also take up considerable floor space. As a result, there are a limited number of locations in the home where there is sufficient space for the exercise machines. Many of these locations are not suitable because they would interrupt the other uses of a room. For example, the exercise machines are usually quite loud, when in use. As a result, they are inconvenient to use in areas where other individuals might be disturbed, such as other family members who are sleeping, watching television or engaged in similar activities. As a result, these home exercise machines are impractical for many individuals.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 A mother's love is a true treasure. As a florist I get to see the love between a mother and her children throughout the year but Mother's Day is that one day a year that we all honour our mothers and show them how much we care.

[Two patients with isolated vasculitis of the central nervous system]. Over the course of time, a 43-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man developed visual, sensory, motor, cerebellar and cognitive disturbances. Initially these occurred episodically, but later became continuous. Isolated vasculitis of the central nervous system was only diagnosed after brain biopsies were taken, upon which treatment with prednisone and cyclophosphamide was instituted. In both patients the symptoms persisted for 23 and 19 months, respectively, after treatment was initiated, but no new symptoms developed. The woman did, however, develop pancytopenia as a result of the cyclophosphamide treatment. Non-infectious vasculitis of the small veins and arterioles of the brain is lethal if left untreated. Leptomeningeal and cortical biopsy is essential in establishing the diagnosis in order to rule out other causative diseases. Combination therapy consisting of prednisone and cyclophosphamide for at least one year is recommended. The efficacy of this treatment is unknown due to the rarity of this disease.

All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Introduction {#sec001} ============ > It was not only difficult for him to understand that the generic term dog embraced so many unlike specimens of differing sizes and different forms; he was disturbed by the fact that a dog at three-fourteen (seen in profile) should have the same name as the dog at three-fifteen (seen from the front). (...)With no effort he had learned English, French, Portuguese and Latin. I suspect, however, that he was not very capable of thought. To think is to forget differences, generalize, make abstractions. In the teeming world of Funes, there were only details, almost immediate in their presence. \[[@pone.0200420.ref001]\] In his fantasy story, the writer Jorge Luis Borges described a fictional character, Funes, capable of remembering every detail of his life but not being able to generalize any of that data into mental categories and hence --Borges stressed-- not capable of thinking. Researchers have modeled these mental categories or conceptual classes with two classical approaches: in terms of similarity to a generic example or prototype \[[@pone.0200420.ref002]--[@pone.0200420.ref005]\] or based on a symbolic/rule-like representation \[[@pone.0200420.ref006]--[@pone.0200420.ref008]\]. Symbolic approaches like the *language of thought* (LoT) hypothesis \[[@pone.0200420.ref007]\], claim that thinking takes form in a sort of mental language, composed of a limited set of atomic symbols that can be combined to form more complex structures following combinatorial rules. Despite criticisms and objections \[[@pone.0200420.ref009]--[@pone.0200420.ref012]\], symbolic approaches ---in general--- and the LoT hypothesis ---in particular--- have gained some renewed attention with recent results that might explain learning across different domains as statistical inference over a compositionally structured hypothesis space \[[@pone.0200420.ref013], [@pone.0200420.ref014]\]. The LoT is not necessarily unique. In fact, the form that it takes has been modeled in many different ways depending on the problem domain: numerical concept learning \[[@pone.0200420.ref015]\], sequence learning \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]--[@pone.0200420.ref018]\], visual concept learning \[[@pone.0200420.ref019]\], theory learning \[[@pone.0200420.ref020]\], etc. While frameworks may differ on how a LoT may be implemented computationally, they all share the property of being built from a set of atomic symbols and rules by which they can be combined to form new and more complex expressions. Most studies of LoTs have focused on the compositional aspect of the language, which has either been modeled within a Bayesian \[[@pone.0200420.ref013]\] or a Minimum Description Length (MDL) framework \[[@pone.0200420.ref016], [@pone.0200420.ref018], [@pone.0200420.ref021], [@pone.0200420.ref022]\]. The common method is to define a grammar with a set of productions based on operations that are intuitive to researchers and then study how different inference processes match regular patterns in human learning. A recent study \[[@pone.0200420.ref023]\] puts the focus on the process of how to empirically choose the set of productions and how different LoT definitions can create different patterns of learning. Here, we move along that direction but use Bayesian inference to individuate the LoT instead of comparing several of them by hand. Broadly, our aim is to propose a method to select the set of atomic symbols in an inferential process by pruning and trimming from a broad repertoire. More precisely, we test whether Bayesian inference can be used to decide the proper set of productions in a LoT defined by a context free grammar. These productions are derived from the subjects' experimental data. In order to do this, a researcher builds a broader language with two sets of productions: 1) those for which she has a strong prior conviction that they should be used in the cognitive task, and 2) other productions that could be used to structure the data and extract regularities even if she believes are not part of the human reasoning repertoire for the task. With the new broader language, she should then turn the context free grammar that defines it into a probabilistic context free grammar (PCFG) and use Bayesian analysis to infer the probability of each production in order to choose the set that best explains the data. In the next section we formalize this procedure and then apply it on the *language of geometry* presented by Amalric et al. in a recent study about geometrical sequence learning \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\]. This LoT defines a language with some basic geometric instructions as the grammar productions and then models their composition within the MDL framework. Our method, however, can be applied to any LoT model that defines a grammar, independently of whether its compositional aspect is modeled using a Bayesian framework or a MDL approach. Finally, even with the recent surge of popularity of Bayesian inference and MDL in cognitive science, there are --to the best of our knowledge-- no practical attempts to close the gap between probabilistic and complexity approaches to LoT models. The theory of computation, through Levin's Coding Theorem \[[@pone.0200420.ref024]\], exposes a remarkable relationship between the *Kolmogorov complexity* of a sequence and its *universal probability*, largely used in algorithmic information theory. Although both metrics are actually non-computable and defined over a universal prefix Turing Machine, we can apply both ideas to other non-universal Turing Machines in the same way that the concept of complexity used in MDL can be computed for specific, non-universal languages. In this work, we examine the extent to which this theoretical prediction for infinite sequences holds empirically for a specific LoT, the *language of geometry*. Although the inverse logarithmic relationship between both metrics is proved for universal languages in the Coding Theorem, testing this same property for a particular non-universal language shows that the language shares some interesting properties of general languages. This constitutes a first step towards a formal link between probability and complexity modeling frameworks for LoTs. Bayesian inference for LoT's productions {#sec002} ======================================== The project of Bayesian analysis of the LoT models concept learning using Bayesian inference in a grammatically structured hypothesis space \[[@pone.0200420.ref025]\]. Each LoT proposal is usually formalized by a context free grammar $\mathcal{G}$ that defines the valid functions or programs that can be generated, like in any other programming language. A program is a derivation tree of $\mathcal{G}$ that needs to be interpreted or executed according to a given semantics in order to get an actual description of the concept in the cognitive task at hand. Therefore, each concept is then represented by any of the programs that describe it and a Bayesian inference process is defined in order to infer from the observed data the distribution of valid programs in $\mathcal{G}$ that describes the concepts. As explained above, our aim is to derive the productions of $\mathcal{G}$ from the data, instead of just conjecturing them using a priori knowledge about the task. Prior work on LoTs has fit probabilities of productions in a context free grammar using Bayesian inference, however, the focus has been put in integrating out the production probabilities to better predict the data without changing the grammar definition \[[@pone.0200420.ref023]\]. Here, we want to study if the inference process could let us decide which productions can be safely pruned from the grammar. We introduce a generic method that can be used on any grammar to select and test the proper set of productions. Instead of using a fixed grammar and adjusting the probabilities of the productions to predict the data, we use Bayesian inference to rule out productions with probability lower than a certain threshold. This allows the researcher to validate the adequacy of the productions she has chosen for the grammar or even define one that is broad enough to express different regularities and let the method select the best set for the observed data. To infer the probability for each production based on the observed data, we need to add a vector of probabilities *θ* associated with each production in order to convert the context free grammar $\mathcal{G}$ into a probabilistic context free grammar (PCFG) \[[@pone.0200420.ref026]\]. Let *D* = (*d*~1~, *d*~2~, ..., *d*~*n*~) denote the list of concepts produced by the subjects in an experiment. This means that each *d*~*i*~ is a concept produced by a subject in each trial. Then, *P*(*θ* ∣ *D*), the posterior probability of the weights of each production after the observed data, can be calculated by marginalizing over the possible programs that compute *D*: $$\begin{array}{r} {P\left( \theta \mid D \right) = \sum\limits_{\text{Prog}}P\left( \text{Prog},\theta \mid D \right),} \\ \end{array}$$ where each Prog = (*p*~1~, *p*~2~, ⋯, *p*~*n*~) is a possible set of programs such that each *p*~*i*~ computes the corresponding concept *d*~*i*~. We can use Bayesian inference to learn the corresponding programs Prog and the vector *θ* for each production in the grammar, applying Bayes rule in the following way: $$\begin{array}{r} {P\left( \text{Prog},\theta \mid D \right) \propto P\left( D \mid \text{Prog} \right)\mspace{720mu} P\left( \text{Prog} \mid \theta \right)\mspace{720mu} P\left( \theta \right),} \\ \end{array}$$ Sampling the set of programs from *P*(Prog ∣ *θ*) forces an inductive bias which is needed to handle uncertainty under sparse data. Here we use a standard prior for programs that is common in the LoT literature to introduce a syntactic complexity bias that favors shorter programs \[[@pone.0200420.ref025], [@pone.0200420.ref027]\]. Intuitively, the probability of sampling a certain program is proportional to the product of the production rules that were used to generate such program, and therefore inversely proportional to the size of the derivation tree. Formally, it is defined as: $$\begin{array}{r} {P\left( \text{Prog} \mid \theta \right)\mspace{720mu} = \prod\limits_{i = 1}^{n}P\left( p_{i} \mid \theta \right),} \\ \end{array}$$ where $P\left( p_{i} \mid \theta \right) = \prod\limits_{r \in G}\theta_{r}^{f_{r}{(p_{i})}}$ is the probability of the program *p*~*i*~ in the grammar, and *f*~*r*~(*p*~*i*~) is the number of occurrences of the production *r* in program *p*~*i*~. In [(2)](#pone.0200420.e007){ref-type="disp-formula"}, *P*(*θ*) is a Dirichlet prior over the productions of the grammar. By using the term *P*(*θ*) we are abusing notation for simplicity. The proper term would be *P*(*θ* ∣ *α*) to express a Dirichlet prior with $\alpha \in \mathbb{R}^{\ell}$ its associated concentration vector hyper-parameter where *ℓ* is the number of productions in the grammar. This hierarchical Dirichlet prior has sometimes been replaced with a uniform prior on productions as it shows no significant differences in prediction results \[[@pone.0200420.ref015], [@pone.0200420.ref017]\]. However, here we will use the Dirichlet prior to be able to infer the production probabilities from this more flexible model. The likelihood function is straightforward. It does not use any free parameter to account for perception errors in the observation. This forces that only programs that compute the exact concept are taken into account, and it can be easily calculated as follows: $$\begin{array}{r} {P\left( D \mid \text{Prog} \right)\mspace{720mu} = \prod\limits_{i = 1}^{n}P\left( d_{i} \mid p_{i} \right),} \\ \end{array}$$ where *P*(*d*~*i*~ ∣ *p*~*i*~) = 1 if the program *p*~*i*~ computes *d*~*i*~, and 0 otherwise. Calculating *P*(*θ* ∣ *D*) directly is, however, not tractable since it requires to sum over all possible combinations of programs Prog for each of the possible values of *θ*. To this aim, then, we used a Gibbs Sampling \[[@pone.0200420.ref028]\] algorithm for PCFGs via Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) similar to the one proposed at \[[@pone.0200420.ref029]\], which alternates in each step of the chain between the two conditional distributions: $$\begin{array}{rcl} {P\left( \text{Prog} \mid \theta,D \right)} & = & {\prod\limits_{i = 1}^{n}P\left( p_{i} \mid d_{i},\theta \right).} \\ \end{array}$$ $$\begin{array}{rcl} {P\left( \theta \mid \text{Prog},D \right)} & = & {P_{D}\left( \theta \mid f\left( \text{Prog} \right) + \alpha \right).} \\ \end{array}$$ Here, *P*~*D*~ is the Dirichlet distribution where the positions of the vector *α* were updated by counting the occurrences of the corresponding productions for all programs *p*~*i*~ ∈ Prog. In the next section, we apply this method to a specific LoT. We add a new set of ad-hoc productions to the grammar that can explain regularities but are not related to the cognitive task. Intuitively, these ad-hoc productions should not be part of the human LoT repertory, still all of them can be used in many possible programs to express each concept. So far, Probabilistic LoT approaches have been successful to model concept learning from few examples \[[@pone.0200420.ref013], [@pone.0200420.ref014]\]. However, this does not mean that Bayesian models would be able to infer the syntax of the model's grammar from sparse data. Here we test such hypothesis. If the method is effective, it should assign a low probability to the ad-hoc productions and instead favor the original set of productions selected by the researchers for the cognitive task. This would not only provide additional empirical evidence about the adequacy of the choice of the original productions for the selected LoT but, more importantly, about the usefulness of Bayesian inference for validating the set of productions involved in different LoTs. The language of geometry: $\mathcal{G}eo$ {#sec003} ========================================= The *language of geometry*, $\mathcal{G}eo$ \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\], is a probabilistic generator of sequences of movements on a regular octagon like the one in [Fig 1](#pone.0200420.g001){ref-type="fig"}. It has been used to model human sequence predictions in adults, preschoolers, and adult members of an indigene group in the Amazon. As in other LoT domains, different models have been proposed for similar spatial sequence domains like the one in \[[@pone.0200420.ref017]\]. Although both successfully model the sequences in their experiments, they propose different grammars for their models (in particular, \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\] contains productions for expressing symmetry reflections). This difference can be explained by the particularities of each experiment. On the one hand, \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\] categorized the sequences in 12 groups based on their complexity, displayed them in an octagon and evaluate the performance of a diverse population to extrapolate them. On the other hand, \[[@pone.0200420.ref017]\] categorized the sequences in 4 groups, displayed them in an heptagon and evaluate the performance of adults not just to predict how the sequence continues, but to transfer the knowledge from the learned sequence across auditory and visual domains. Despite the domains not being equal, the differences in the grammars strengths the need for automatic methods to test and validate multiple grammars for the same domain in the LoT community. {#pone.0200420.g001} The production rules of grammar $\mathcal{G}eo$ were selected based on previous claims of the universality of certain human geometrical knowledge \[[@pone.0200420.ref030]--[@pone.0200420.ref032]\] such as spatial notions \[[@pone.0200420.ref033], [@pone.0200420.ref034]\] and detection of symmetries \[[@pone.0200420.ref035], [@pone.0200420.ref036]\]. With these production rules, sequences are described by concatenating or repeating sequence of movements in the octagon. The original set of productions is shown in [Table 1](#pone.0200420.t001){ref-type="table"} and --besides the concatenation and repetition operators-- it includes the following family of atomic geometrical transition productions: anticlockwise movements, staying at the same location, clockwise movements and symmetry movements. 10.1371/journal.pone.0200420.t001 ###### Original grammar. {#pone.0200420.t001g} ------------------------ --- ------------------ ------------------------------------------------------- **Start production** START → \[INST\] start symbol **Basic productions** INST → ATOMIC atomic production INST → INST,INST concatenation INST → REP\[INST\]^*n*^ repeat family with *n* ∈ \[2, 8\] REP → REP0 simple repeat REP → REP1\<ATOMIC\> repeat with starting point variation using ATOMIC REP → REP2\<ATOMIC\> repeat with resulting sequence variation using ATOMIC **Atomic productions** ATOMIC → -1 next element anticlockwise (ACW) ATOMIC → -2 second element ACW ATOMIC → -3 third element ACW ATOMIC → +0 stays at same location ATOMIC → +1 next element clockwise (CW) ATOMIC → +2 second element CW ATOMIC → +3 third element CW ATOMIC → A symmetry around one diagonal axis ATOMIC → B symmetry around the other diagonal axis ATOMIC → H horizontal symmetry ATOMIC → V vertical symmetry ATOMIC → P rotational symmetry ------------------------ --- ------------------ ------------------------------------------------------- The language actually supports not just a simple *n* times repetition of a block of productions, but it also supports two more complex productions in the repetition family: repeating with a change in the starting point after each cycle and repeating with a change to the resulting sequence after each cycle. More details about the formal syntax and semantics can be found in \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\], though they are not needed here. Each program *p* generated by the grammar describes a mapping Σ → Σ^+^, for Σ = {0, ..., 7}. Here, Σ^+^ represents the set of all (non empty) finite sequences over the alphabet Σ, which can be understood as a finite sequence of points in the octagon. These programs must then be executed or interpreted from a starting point in order to get the resulting sequence of points. Let *p* = \[+1, +1\] be a program, then *p*(0) is the result of executing *p* starting from point 0 (that is, sequence 1, 2) and *p*(4) is the result of executing the same program starting from point 4 in the octagon (sequence 5, 6). Each sequence can be described with many different programs: from a simple concatenation of atomic productions to more compressed forms using repetitions. For example, to move through all the octagon clockwise one point at a time starting from point 0, one can use \[+1, +1, +1, +1, +1, +1, +1, +1\](0) or \[REP\[+1\]^8^\](0) or \[REP\[+1\]^7^, +1\](0), etc. To alternate 8 times between points 6 and 7, one can use a reflection production like \[REP\[A\]^8^\](6), or \[REP\[+1, -1\]^4^\](6). $\mathcal{G}eo$'s original experiment {#sec004} ------------------------------------- To infer the productions from the observed data, we used the original data from the experiment in \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\]. In the experiment, volunteers were exposed to a series of spatial sequences defined on an octagon and were asked to predict future locations. The sequences were selected according to their MDL in the *language of geometry* so that each sequence could be easily described with few productions. ### Participants {#sec005} The data used in this work comes, except otherwise stated, from Experiment 1 in which participants were 23 French adults (12 female, mean age = 26.6, age range = 20 − 46) with college-level education. Data from Experiment 2 is later used when comparing adults and children results. In the later, participants where 24 preschoolers (minimal age = 5.33, max = 6.29, mean = 5.83 ± 0.05). ### Procedure {#sec006} On each trial, the first two points from the sequence were flashed sequentially in the octagon and the user had to click on the next location. If the subject selected the correct location, she was asked to continue with the next point until the eight points of the sequences were completed. If there was an error at any point, the mistake was corrected, the sequence flashed again from the first point to the corrected point and the user asked to predict the next location. Each *d*~*i*~ ∈ Σ^8^ from our dataset *D* is thus the sequence of eight positions clicked in each subject's trial. The detailed procedure can be found in the cited work. Extending $\mathcal{G}eo$'s grammar {#sec007} ----------------------------------- We will now expand the original set of productions in $\mathcal{G}eo$ with a new set of productions that can also express regularities but are not related to any geometrical intuitions to test our Bayesian inference model. In [Table 2](#pone.0200420.t002){ref-type="table"} we show the new set of productions which includes instructions like moving to the point whose label is the square of the current location's label, or using the current point location *i* to select the *i*^th^digit of a well-known number like *π* or Chaitin's number (calculated for a particular universal Turing Machine and programs up to 84 bits long \[[@pone.0200420.ref037]\]). All digits are returned in arithmetic module 8 to get a valid point for the next position. For example, PI(0) returns the first digit of *π*, that is PI(0) = 3 mod (8) = 3; and PI(1) = 1. 10.1371/journal.pone.0200420.t002 ###### Ad-hoc productions. {#pone.0200420.t002g} -------- --- ---------- ----------------------------------------------- ATOMIC → DOUBLE (location \* 2) mod 8 ATOMIC → -DOUBLE (location \* − 2) mod 8 ATOMIC → SQUARE (location^2^) mod 8 ATOMIC → GAMMA Γ(location+1) mod 8 ATOMIC → PI location-th digit of *π* ATOMIC → EULER location-th digit of *e* ATOMIC → GOLD location-th digit of *ϕ* ATOMIC → PYTH location-th digit of $\sqrt{2}$ ATOMIC → KHINCHIN location-th digit of Khinchin's constant ATOMIC → GLAISHER location-th digit of Glaisher's constant ATOMIC → CHAITIN location-th digit of Chaitin Omega's constant -------- --- ---------- ----------------------------------------------- Inference results for $\mathcal{G}eo$ {#sec008} ------------------------------------- To let the MCMC converge faster (and to later compare the concept's probability with their corresponding MDL), we generated all the programs that explain each of the observed sequences from the experiment. In this way, we are able to sample from the exact distribution *P*(*p*~*i*~ ∣ *d*~*i*~, *θ*) by sampling from a multinomial distribution of all the possible programs *p*~*i*~ that compute *d*~*i*~, where each *p*~*i*~ has probability of occurrence equal to *P*(*p*~*i*~ ∣ *θ*). To get an idea of the expressiveness of the grammar to generate different programs for a sequence and the cost of computing them, it is worth mentioning that there are more than 159 million programs that compute the 292 unique sequences generated by the subjects in the experiment, and that for each sequence there is an average of 546,713 programs (min = 10, 749, max = 5, 500, 026, *σ* = 693, 618). [Fig 2](#pone.0200420.g002){ref-type="fig"} shows the inferred *θ* for the observed sequences from subjects, with a unit concentration parameter for the Dirichlet prior, *α* = (1, ..., 1). Each bar shows the mean probability and the standard error of each of the atomic productions after 50 steps of the MCMC, leaving the first 10 steps out as burn-in. {#pone.0200420.g002} Although 50 steps might seem low for a MCMC algorithm to converge, our method calculated *P*(*p*~*i*~ ∣ *d*~*i*~, *θ*) exactly in order to speed up convergence and to be able to later compare the probability with the complexity from the original MDL model. In [Fig 3](#pone.0200420.g003){ref-type="fig"}, we show an example trace for four MCMC runs for *θ*~+0~, which corresponds to the atomic production +0, but is representative of the behavior of all *θ*~*i*~. (see [S1 Fig](#pone.0200420.s001){ref-type="supplementary-material"} for the full set of productions). {#pone.0200420.g003} [Fig 2](#pone.0200420.g002){ref-type="fig"} shows a remarkable difference between the probability of the productions that were originally used based on geometrical intuitions and the ad-hoc productions. The plot also shows that each clockwise production has almost the same probability as its corresponding anticlockwise production, and a similar relation appears between horizontal and vertical symmetry (H and V) and symmetries around diagonal axes (A and B). This is important because the original experiment was designed to balance such behavior; the inferred grammar reflects this. [Fig 4](#pone.0200420.g004){ref-type="fig"} shows the same inferred *θ* but grouped according to production family. Grouping stresses the low probability of all the ad-hoc productions, but also shows an important difference between REP and the rest of the productions, particularly the simple concatenation of productions (CONCAT). This indicates that the *language of geometry* is capable of reusing simpler structures that capture geometrical meaning to explain the observed data, a key aspect of a successful model of LoT. {#pone.0200420.g004} We then ran the same inference method using observed sequences from other experiments but only with the original grammar productions (i.e. setting aside the ad-hoc productions). We compared the result of inferring over our previously analyzed sequences generated by adults with sequences generated by children (experiment 2 from \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\]) and the actual expected sequences for an ideal player. [Fig 5](#pone.0200420.g005){ref-type="fig"} shows the probabilities for each atomic production that is inferred after each population. The figure denotes that different populations can converge to different probabilities and thus different LoTs. Specifically, it is worth mentioning that the ideal learner indeed uses more repetition productions than simple concatenations when compared to adults. In the same way, adults use more repetitions than children. This could mean that the ideal learner is capable of reproducing the sequences by recursively embedding other smaller programs, whereas adults and children more so have problems understanding or learning the smaller concept that can explain all the sequences from the experiments, which is consistent with the results from the MDL model in \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\]. {#pone.0200420.g005} It is worth mentioning that in \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\] the complete grammar for the *language of geometry* could explain adults' behavior but had problems to reproduce the children's patterns for some sequences. However, they also showed that penalizing the rotational symmetry (P) could adequately explain children's behavior. In [Fig 5](#pone.0200420.g005){ref-type="fig"}, we see that the mean value of (P) for children is 0.06 whereas in adults it's 0.05 (a two-sample t-test reveals t = -12.6, p = 10−19). This might not necessarily be contradictory, as the model for children in \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\] was used to predict the next symbol of a sequence after seeing its prefix by adding a penalization for extensions that use the rotational symmetry in the *minimal* program of each sequence. On the other hand, the Bayesian model in this work tries to explain the observed sequences produced by children considering the probability of a sequence summing over *all* the possible programs that can generate it and not just the ones with minimal size. Thus, a production like (P) that might not be part of the minimal program for a sequence might not necessarily be less probable when considering the entire distribution of programs for that same sequence. Coding Theorem {#sec009} ============== For each phenomenon there can always be an extremely large, possibly infinite, number of explanations. In a LoT model, this space is constrained by the grammar $\mathcal{G}$ that defines the valid hypotheses in the language. Still, one has to define how a hypothesis is chosen among all possibilities. Following Occam's razor, one should choose the simplest hypothesis amongst all the possible ones that explain a phenomenon. In cognitive science, the MDL framework has been widely used to model such bias in human cognition, and in *the language of geometry* in particular \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\]. The MDL framework is based on the ideas of information theory \[[@pone.0200420.ref038]\], Kolmogorov complexity \[[@pone.0200420.ref039]\] and Solomonoff induction \[[@pone.0200420.ref040]\]. Occam's razor was formalized by Solomonoff \[[@pone.0200420.ref040]\] in his theory of universal inductive inference, which proposes a universal prediction method that successfully approximates any distribution *μ* based on previous observations, with the only assumption of *μ* being computable. In short, Solomonoff's theory uses all programs (in the form of prefix Turing machines) that can describe previous observations of a sequence to calculate the probability of the next symbols in an optimal fashion, giving more weight to shorter programs. Intuitively, simpler theories with low complexity have higher probability than theories with higher complexity. Formally, this relationship is described by the Coding Theorem \[[@pone.0200420.ref024]\], which closes the gap between the concepts of Kolmogorov complexity and probability theory. However, LoT models that define a probabilistic distribution for their hypotheses do not attempt to compare it with a complexity measure of the hypotheses like the ones used in MDL, nor the other way around. In what follows we formalize the Coding Theorem (for more information, see \[[@pone.0200420.ref041]\]) and test it experimentally. To the best our knowledge, this is the first attempt to validate these ideas for a particular (non universal) language. The reader should note that we are not validating the theorem itself as it has already been proved for universal Turing Machines. Here, we are testing whether the inverse logarithmic relationship between the probability and complexity holds true when defined for a specific non universal language. The formal statement {#sec010} -------------------- Let *M* be a prefix Turing machine --by *prefix* we mean that if *M*(*x*) is defined, then *M* is undefined for every proper extension of *x*. Let *P*~*M*~(*x*) be the probability that the machine *M* computes output *x* when the input is filled-up with the results of fair coin tosses, and let *K*~*M*~(*x*) be the *Kolmogorov complexity of x relative to M*, which is defined as the length of the shortest program which outputs *x*, when executed on *M*. The Coding Theorem states that for every string *x* we have $$\begin{array}{r} {\log\frac{1}{P_{U}\left( x \right)} = K_{U}\left( x \right)} \\ \end{array}$$ up to an additive constant, whenever *U* is a *universal* prefix Turing machine --by *universal* we mean a machine which is capable of simulating every other Turing machine; it can be understood as the underlying (Turing-complete) chosen programming language. It is important to remark that neither *P*~*U*~, nor *K*~*U*~ are computable, which means that such mappings cannot be obtained through effective means. However, for specific (non-universal) machines *M*, one can, indeed, compute both *P*~*M*~ and *K*~*M*~. Testing the Coding Theorem for $\mathcal{G}eo$ {#sec011} ---------------------------------------------- Despite the fact that *P*~*M*~ and *K*~*M*~ are defined over a Turing Machine *M*, the reader should note that a LoT is not usually formalized with a Turing Machine, but instead as a programming language with its own syntax of valid programs and semantics of execution, which stipulates how to compute a concept from a program. However, one can understand programming languages as defining an equivalent (not necessarily universal) Turing Machine model, and a LoT as defining its equivalent (not necessarily universal) Turing Machine $\mathcal{G}$. In short, machines and languages are interchangeable in this context: they both specify the programs/terms, which are symbolic objects that, in turn, describe semantic objects, namely, strings. ### The Kolmogorov complexity relative to $\mathcal{G}eo$ {#sec012} In \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\], the Minimal Description Length was used to model the combination of productions from the *language of geometry* into concepts by defining a Kolmogorov complexity relative to the *language of geometry*, which we denote $K_{\mathcal{G}eo}$. $K_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$ is the minimal size of an expression in the grammar of $\mathcal{G}eo$ which describes *x*. The formal definition of 'size' can be found in the cited work but in short: each of the atomic productions adds a fixed cost of 2 units; using any of the repetition productions to iterate *n* times a list of other productions adds the cost of the list, plus ⌊log(*n*)⌋; and joining two lists with a concatenation costs the same as the sum of the costs of both lists. ### The probability relative to $\mathcal{G}eo$ {#sec013} On the other hand, with the Bayesian model specified in this work, we can define $P\left( x \mid \mathcal{G}eo,\theta \right)$ which is the probability of a string *x* relative to $\mathcal{G}eo$ and its vector of probabilities for each of the productions. For the sake of simplicity, we will use $P_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$ to denote $P\left( x \mid \mathcal{G}eo,\theta \right)$ when *θ* is the inferred probability from the observed adult sequences from the experiment. $$\begin{array}{rcl} {P_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)} & = & {P\left( x \mid \mathcal{G}eo,\theta \right)} \\ \end{array}$$ $$\begin{array}{ccl} & = & {\sum\limits_{\text{prog}}P\left( x \mid \text{prog},\theta \right)} \\ \end{array}$$ $$\begin{array}{ccl} & \propto & {\sum\limits_{prog}P\left( x \mid \text{prog} \right)P\left( \text{prog} \mid \theta \right).} \\ \end{array}$$ Here, we calculate both $P_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$ and $K_{\mathcal{G}eo(x)}$ in an exact way (note that $\mathcal{G}eo$, seen as a programming language, is not Turing-complete). In this section, we show an experimental equivalence between such measures which is consistent with the Coding Theorem. We should stress, once more, that the theorem does not predict that this relationship should hold for a specific non-universal Turing Machine. To calculate $P_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$ we are not interested in the normalization factor of $P\left( x \mid \text{prog} \right)P\left( \text{prog} \mid \theta \right)$ because we are just trying to measure the relationship between $P_{\mathcal{G}eo}$ and $K_{\mathcal{G}eo}$ in terms of the Coding Theorem. Note, however, that calculating $P_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$ involves calculating all programs that compute each of the sequences as in our previous experiment. To make this tractable we calculated $P_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$ for 10,000 unique random sequences for each of the possible sequence lengths from the experiment (i.e., up to eight). When the length of the sequence did not allow 10,000 unique combinations, we used all the possible sequences of that length. Coding Theorem results {#sec014} ---------------------- [Fig 6](#pone.0200420.g006){ref-type="fig"} shows the mean probability $P_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$ for all sequences *x* with the same value of $K_{\mathcal{G}eo(x)}$ and length between 4 and 8 (\|*x*\| ∈ \[4, 8\]) for all generated sequences *x*. The data is plotted with a logarithmic scale for the x-axis, illustrating the inverse logarithmic relationship between $K_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$ and $P_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$. The fit is very good, with *R*^2^ = .99, *R*^2^ = .94, *R*^2^ = .97, *R*^2^ = .99 and *R*^2^ = .98 for [Fig 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D and 6E](#pone.0200420.g006){ref-type="fig"}, respectively. {#pone.0200420.g006} This relationship between the complexity $K_{\mathcal{G}eo}$ and the probability $P_{\mathcal{G}eo}$ defined for finite sequences in the *language of geometry*, matches the theoretical prediction for infinite sequences in universal languages described in the Coding Theorem. At the same time, it captures the Occam's razor intuition that the simpler sequences one can produce or explain with this language are also the more probable. Figs [7](#pone.0200420.g007){ref-type="fig"} and [8](#pone.0200420.g008){ref-type="fig"} show the histogram of $P_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$ and $K_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$, respectively, for sequences with length = 8 to get a better insight about both measures. The histogram of the rest of the sequence's lengths are included in [S2](#pone.0200420.s002){ref-type="supplementary-material"} and [S3](#pone.0200420.s003){ref-type="supplementary-material"} Figs for completeness, and they all show the same behavior. {#pone.0200420.g007} {#pone.0200420.g008} Discussion {#sec015} ========== We have presented a Bayesian inference method to select the set of productions for a LoT and test its effectiveness in the domain of a geometrical cognition task. We have shown that this method is useful to distinguish between arbitrary ad-hoc productions and productions that were intuitively selected to mimic human abilities in such domain. The proposal to use Bayesian models tied to PCFG grammars in a LoT is not new. However, previous work has not used the inferred probabilities to gain more insight about the grammar definition in order to modify it. Instead, it had usually integrated out the production probabilities to better predict the data, and even found that hierarchical priors for grammar productions show no significant differences in prediction results over uniform priors \[[@pone.0200420.ref015], [@pone.0200420.ref017]\]. We believe that inferring production probabilities can help prove the adequacy of the grammar, and can further lead to a formal mechanism for selecting the correct set of productions when it is not clear what a proper set should be. Researchers could use a much broader set of productions than what might seem intuitive or relevant for the domain and let the hierarchical Bayesian inference framework select the best subset. Selecting a broader set of productions still leaves some arbitrary decisions to be made. However, it can help to build a more robust methodology that --combined with other ideas like testing grammars with different productions for the same task \[[@pone.0200420.ref023]\]-- could provide more evidence of the adequacy of the proposed LoT. Having a principled method for defining grammars in LoTs is a crucial aspect for their success because slightly different grammars can lead to different results, as has been shown in \[[@pone.0200420.ref023]\]. The experimental data used in this work was designed at \[[@pone.0200420.ref016]\] to understand how humans encode visuo-spatial sequences as structured expressions. As future research, we plan to perform a specific experiment to test these ideas in a broader range of domains. Additionally, data from more domains is needed to demonstrate if this method could also be used to effectively prove whether different people use different LoT productions as outlined in [Fig 5](#pone.0200420.g005){ref-type="fig"}. Finally, we showed an empirical equivalence between the complexity of a sequence in a minimal description length (MDL) model and the probability of the same sequence in a Bayesian inference model which is consistent with the theoretical relationship described in the Coding Theorem. This opens an opportunity to bridge the gap between these two approaches that had been described ad complementary by some authors \[[@pone.0200420.ref042]\]. Supporting information {#sec016} ====================== ###### MCMC steps for $\mathcal{G}eo$'s productions. MCMC steps for the rest of $\mathcal{G}eo$'s grammar productions. (EPS) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### Histograms of complexity $K_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$. Histograms of complexity for sequences with length between 4 and 8. (EPS) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### Histograms of probability $P_{\mathcal{G}eo}\left( x \right)$. Histograms of probability for sequences with length between 4 and 8. (EPS) ###### Click here for additional data file. [^1]: **Competing Interests:**The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.