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Friday, 22 June 2007

We have all recovered from yet another virus! Nugget caught it somewhere in Port Douglas and we have all had it since. What the hell is happening to this family?

R&G have finally done it! They got married on the beach at Port Douglas (PD) on Saturday the 9th June at 3pm. It was a lovely affair. Planned to the last minute (of course), it went off without a hitch. But let me rewind.

We left for PD on Thursday the 7th June. The flight went at 7.05am, so it was a very early morning for us all. Nugget decided it was time to catch the plane at 12.30am when he woke up, and could not be convinced that we still needed to sleep for awhile before we could go, so it was a VERY early morning for us. Grandpa drove us to the airport (bless him), and we flew out with B&R and Finn, Kat and Matt, and Sister B and her crew. Apart from the terrible turbulence (I really was tossed out of my seat and the whole plane let out a collective scream at one point) caused by the lightening storm, it all went swimmingly. Nugget was a little bored with his cars after a little while and was pegging them around the cabin, but we managed to avoid any lawsuits with our very understanding fellow travellers.

We arrived at the house in the afternoon, after an extremely slow bus ride from Cairns on a bus that was about as old as I am. The house we stayed in with Sister B, Billy and the kids was amazing. Spacious and glamorous and easy to clean and right on the golf course. It had a pool, pavillion style accomodation and a fabulous outdoor barbeque area. Very nice. We were all very proud of ourselves for finding something so nice and so close to the Sea Temple too (where the wedding was being held). That night we had a BBQ at home and enjoyed the surrounds of our abode.

On Friday, the Geege and I got up early with the boys and went out for a walk. We found C&K's place (another gorgoeus home right on the beach). We sat around with them reading the paper and walking on the sand. Doo Dah had the world's longest sleep, so the Geege and Nugget headed back to our place, while I had a shower in the indoor/outdoor shower (awesome) and waited for Doo Dah to wake. The Geege played golf with the lads in the afternoon. All the golf widows and their kids came over to ours for a play. We had a lovely time. We provided beers for all on the 5th hole (which was right outside our door) and it was the first time we had seen the groom since our arrival. That night we went to Rob and Sam's rooftop for a BBQ. We caught up with all of the guests and had a great night of banter and shenanigans. Sister B and Billy minded the boys so we were free and easy.

Saturday was the big day. The Geege was off early in the morning to help R and the other groomsmen get themselves ready for the day. Doo Dah and I went to breakfast at G's. We then spent the remainder of the morning racing around getting the tables adourned, borrowing a car to get to the ATM to get money for the babysitter (I still didn't get enough out either), and then getting home to get Nugget down for a sleep before the babysitters arrived. Nugget went to the beach with the Sister B and the cousins. We managed to acheive all we needed to acheive, and I managed to get myself to the boardwalk in time to meet R's Dad Lother to take him to the wedding (he was in fact late, most unusual for a German).

The ceremony was lovely. G was the most beautiful bride I think I have ever seen (I mean that, she looked amazing). They wrote their own vows. They made us all cry. It was tremendous. The reception started with drinks and canapes in the villa, and was followed by a buffet on the verandah. The Sea Temple is a gorgeous resort with Asian style furniture, a pool that occupies most of the space not occupied by apartments, and a very impressive level of service. It was a superb night! I had a few too many drinks (poor ol' Doo Dah was over the limit again) and got into a fight with Uncle J by the end of the night, but apart from that... I had a swell time. The best bit was the awesome DVD that we made for the bride and groom (the one surprise in the whole night!) with a series of their life's highlights! It was hysterical.

Sunday was a day of recovery. The Geege wanted to spend the day at home by our pool, so I left Doo Dah with him (he was cranking out 2.5 hour day sleeps - probably to make up for the lack of sleep in the night) and Nugget and I headed into the PD markets. We had a quick look around (and bought a little pressie for super sis, Auntie B), but spent most of the morning until the shade of a tree looking out into the ocean, near the big pier, overlooking St Mary's Cathedral (or whatever the church is called there). We also had lunch with C&K and Jack at the Courthouse Hotel and met up with Welsh Sal and her parents and B&R and Finn. It was a lovely way to spend the day. When we got back to the house, we all went to the resort to see everyone for a quick drink by the pool, before heading home again. We babysat Maxi-Taxi and Capers that night and caught up of a bit of TV.

We had breakfast at C&K's on Monday morning. I also went past the resort for a swim in that amazing pool. Brad accompanied me and we managed to circumnavigate the entire pool. It was divine albeit a little nippy to begin. We concluded the swim with a glass of Cockfighter's Ghost at Amanda's place. A lovely way to spend the afternoon. I left at about 3.15pm and we had to be back at the reception to catch the bus at 4.05pm. One speed change later... we were travelling into PD to see George the Groper and have a lovely meal with all of the wedding party. It was a superb way to conclude a great few days in FNQ.

The Tuesday was pack up day and a bit more time on the beach with C&K and Jack. The Geege and Doo Dah went to the resort to say goodbye to everyone but I stayed at the house to help Nugget have one more sleep before we had to get back on the bus, back on the plane, in the car and home. Nugget was awake until the car trip, so he was a little beside himself on the plane. It was a looooong trip home. We arrived home at 11.30pm.

Nugget started chucking at 2.30am, so it was on for young and old. The Geege had to work on Wednesday morning, so it was up to me to deal with the two beds that had been vomited in, as well as the still vomiting child. Fun and games. We got through it. And then I got sick on the Friday, and The Geege got sick on the Sunday. It is now Friday and noone has been sick for a good few days now. Maybe we have finally rid ourselves of the dreaded virus...

Thursday, 14 June 2007

 So I turned 34 the other day. Kind of scary to think that it has already been four years since the night at the playboy mansion...

Birthdays don't really mean that much to me anymore (although I always seem to blog about them, so maybe they secretly do?), although it is always nice to get a few presents and toast another year.

I had laryngitis this year. The never ending virus morphed into another strain and after a lovely weekend at Wiseman's with some friends, I lost my voice. It was a fitting tribute to the world's greatest talker on her birthday. All in all it was a pretty quiet day (excuse the pun).

The weekend away was lots of fun though (I think I touched on this in an earlier post?). I think we have put the two friends who do not currently have children off from having any. There were about 7 children under 3 there and they made themselves known. None more than our very own Nugget who was found at midnight riding the ride-on lawn mower (long story but what does a person do?????).

Apart from that, the grown-ups all got some play time when the kids went to sleep, except Nugget (see above). We have a history of banning boardgames with our friends, due to fights. Risk, for example, is banned. But I hadn't seen the need to ban Cranium before. There have certainly been times when people have gotten a little "Monica" from Friends during the game, but this was something else. Needless to say, I will no longer be condoning Cranium. Looks like we are left with Poker only for games nights.

The other social things that have been happening are R's Buck's party and G's Hen's night. The Geege disappeared for a couple of days at R's function. They tell me they went to the races, then to the pub, then to the Cross, but really, what happens at a Buck's, stays at the Buck's so they could have been up to anything. The Geege came home in the same clothes that he left in and still had all of his pubic hair, so I was happy with that.

G's function was a lovely lunch down at Pyrmont wharf. It was all love and happiness with a good helping of fine wining and dining thrown in. The boys and Geege played at B&R'so that I could feed Doo Dah in the middle of the event (he still won't take a bottle). It all went well, although Doo Dah may have been a touch over 0.05....

Wednesday, 6 June 2007

I am an avid reader of the Sun Herald finance section, Money Magazine and, occasionally, other financial publications. For a non-capitalist, I have a real interest in money. I don't think I really want to make heaps of it, but I like the challenge of finding good investments and stretching the family income. Having said that, I don't invest very much. A case of, if I had any money, here's what I would do with it. But like all good financial managers, we do have a few small investments and hope that one day we can add to them. Once the kids grow that is. If I ever get back to full-time work that is. One day, that is.

In the meantime, I have a plethora of good reading material around the place. I thought I would write up some key points, rather than have to keep the paper-cpoies. A way for me to refer to them, without having to physically locate them. This house is getting way too small! Please note: if you are not me, and you are reading this, I am NOT a financial adviser and I take NO responsibility for whether or not these tips are helpful. I am just jotting them down in my own way so that I can refer to them again and make a decision about their usefulness.

So my first attempt at this comes from an article by Terry Ryder, published in this month's Australian Property Investor magazine, called (aptly) Investing on a Single or Low Income.

There are plenty of options for wannabe investors whose incomes present barriers to getting into the property market (I'm listening, Terry...). Investing is challenging for people on a single or low income, but not impossible. Especially if you have equity in your home. Low income earners cannot afford to take big risks and the reality is they have smaller borrowing capacity, but that doesn't mean you can't put together a property portfolio over time. It won't be high-end property, or even middle-of-the-road property and you may not be able to buy lots of properties, but you will be able to create a property portfolio. (Still listening Terry... get on with it).

Here's a short-list of important considerations for you if you are in this situation:

Have realistic expectations of what you need: aim for lower-end properties. You don't need 100 properties, just a couple will do if you can sit on them and let time do its thing.

Check out 'ugly duckling' suburbs: every city, including Sydney, has areas with affordable homes. But don't just stick to cities, the whole of Australia is your market. Ugly duckling suburbs have cheap homes but also tangible reasons to grow and evolve into better locations. It may not be near where you live, or indeed somewhere where you would like to live, but it will be cheaper and will have better returns. Also think about units and townhouses, rather than a free-standing house.

Find positive cash flow property: try to find property that earns enough rent to cover the costs of owning it (positively geared) or close to cost neutral. Apparently it is still possible, although not as easy as it used to be, and will help with securing cash from a bank. This is not without its risks though. Most of these properties are in one-industry towns (like mining towns) where values are dependent on the longevity of the resources boom, and the entry prices are now becoming steep. Studios and one-bedders in the city often attract 7-8% returns in major cities, but they are hard to get investment loans for. Banks are reluctant to lend on properties under 50 s.m.

Understand what matters to financiers: It is not how much you owe on credit cards that matters, but the total limits of all the credit cards you have. Get rid of unnecessary credit cards and pay out any other loans. The less debt you have the better when applying for an investment loan. You don't need a 20% deposit but this will impact on your interest rate and the fees the bank charges. And there's stamp duty, mortgage insurance and legals to consider. Remember, you need to be able to pay back the money you borrow. Don't get in over your head. You need a regular, steady income.

Consider a shared equity loan: These are pretty new to the market. Buyers can acheive a purchase for less than the full price, they also have to forego a chunk of capital growth when they sell. The bank retains 10/15/20% share of the property but receives up to 40% of the capital growth. These are complicated loans but may be an option if you have no others available.

Consider low-doc loans: These loans allow you to state your income and sign a declaration to that effect. The lender then bases their assessment on the stated income figure. Mainly for self-employed people who don't meet usual lending criteria. You need to have been self-employed for 2 years with an ABN. You need to provide 20% equity for low-doc (and 30% for no-doc loans). You can go higher but the interest rate increases too. Use this cautiously though. It is not meant to be a way to borrow more than lending criteria would allow or more than you can pay.

Take a longer term to lower payments: 40 year loans are out there and these can springboard low income earners into the market. Longer terms lower the minimum payments on the loan, which may mean you can borrow a bit more, while still having the flexibility to pay back extra on your mortgage (should your situation improve). This may be a stepping stone to a standard-length mortgage after becoming established.

Buy property with others: Thought about partnering with a friend or family member to buy property? It is becoming more popular. Partnerships will distribute the liability, but are not without their issues. Address contingencies and I mean ALL contingencies (such as payment of rates, how the property will be managed, how maintenance costs will be paid and what happens if someone decides to sell out). You will need a tenants-in-common agreement. You don't need to have equal shares, one can take 40 percent and the other 60 for instance. You can finance your shares separately, but the partners are jointly and severally liable for the debt. All of it. A split agreement, where you are in control of your part, and they are in control of theirs is best practice. That way you can pay off your share at any rate you wish. Note: this sort of deal can restrict your future borrowings.

So there you have it. Terry's investment tips for young players. He makes it sound possible (albeit with some rather unorthodox methods), but I still think that with 2 kids, 2 PT jobs and a massive mortgage that I will have to hold onto this information for another day. What do you think? Are you ready to take the plunge?


Q:

Is there any way to access a cached version of a webpage?

My school publishes the homework on a website called Corebaby.org and we had some homework that we were supposed to do over the summer and I admit, I procrastinated until the weekend before school starts. I know, I know, I should have done my work earlier, but please... I am desperate here.
There were four assignments that we were supposed to to and I have gotten two and a half finished, but I need the website for the remaining parts. I tried using Google, Bing and Yahoo to try and view the cached page, but for some reason, there is no link to view a cached version. Is there any way to get a cached version out of chrome, or some alternative method to see the webpage before they changed it?

A:

How did you try to use the cached copy from the search engines? Do you mean that you simply searched for the page, then looked the cached link next to the result or did you specifically use the cached query parameter? For example:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:myschool.net/homework/blah.html

You can also try (with fingers crossed) to see if the page happens to have been cached by the Internet Archive. For example:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/myschool.net/homework/blah.html


When is intervention warranted?
A chemoprevention trial in prostate cancer would be a formidable but potentially rewarding study. The current status of knowledge of drug interactions with, biomarkers of, and even the natural history of prostate cancer is insufficient to study all levels of men at risk. Currently, the most promising group to study is group I--those men with a high probability of developing prostate cancer but who do not currently have evidence of the disease. This could be a placebo-controlled, prospective and randomized study with the endpoint being clinically-detected prostate cancer. In addition, much may be gained from short-term pilot studies of "chemo-active" agents on morphologic and other biomarkers of prostate cancer initiated immediately before surgical removal. It is hoped that such studies may provide rationale for future efforts directed at preventing progression of premalignant or early prostate cancer lesions.


Injury-ridden DiPietro finally starts at home

‘"Health is a main goal here but I don’t want that to overshadow the fact I have to play well and have results," DiPietro said. "When you’re back in the NHL, all that matters is wins. That’s what’s really important."’


The need for government and central bank intervention in financial regulation: Free banking and the challenges of information uncertainty

Contents:

Through a focus on the ever increasing need to address information asymmetries, as well as reference to the uniqueness of the degree to which systemic risks are triggered in banking, this paper aims primarily to highlight reasons why government and central bank intervention are essential and required in financial regulation. The role presently assumed by regulation is not the same as it was thirty years ago. Deregulation and conglomeration have significantly altered the landscape in which regulation previously existed and to an extent, defined the role which it presently assumes. For this reason, arguments which were (and have been) directed against government, central bank intervention, as well as the role of regulation, require re-evaluation. Deposit insurance and lender of last resort arrangements serve to instil confidence in depositors hence contributing towards safeguarding system stability and preventing unnecessary runs where panics occur. Such benefits are not only considered against those arguments advanced by antagonists of deposit insurance and lender of last resort arrangements, but also against those views which do not favour government and central bank intervention. In evaluating whether free banking is equipped with as many mechanisms and safeguards required in safeguarding the stability of the financial system, the urgency for such safety net instruments, which is attributed to the peculiar and unique nature of banking, will be considered. Contrary to the argument [that “if markets are generally better at allocating resources than governments are, then the differences or distinctions which exist between “money” and the industry that provides it (the banking industry) should not serve as bases for an assumption that money and banking are exceptions to the general rule”], it has to be highlighted (for several reasons) that the banking industry could not be equated to other areas of the financial sector. One of such reasons relates to the extent to which the impact of systemic runs differ within the banking sector when compared to other areas such as the securities markets. The differences in the nature of risks which exist in banking and those which exist within the securities markets, constitutes another reason why the need for government and central bank intervention is advocated. Furthermore, even though the nature of banking risks warrants government and central bank intervention – as well as capital adequacy regulation, capital regulation should also be extended to the securities markets for many reasons – one of which is the ability to securitise assets. If there was no longer a role for regulation, then re- regulation should not have occurred in certain jurisdictions which have adopted and successfully implemented consolidated supervision.

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Baseball is a funny, complex game.

You can hit four screaming liners in a game and walk away hitless, then the very next day you hit a bleeder through a hole and a bloop into no man’s land and have a pair of hits to your name. A quick glance of the boxscore and one might believe that the hitter’s second day at the plate was productive and the first was a hot mess. Largely speaking, those people would be wrong. The game, although centred around a seemingly infinite amount of statistics and analysis, is more about the process and the little things day-to-day that truly impact a player’s season than the actual result.

This is why for Michael Saunders determining if a batter is in a slump, or hot streak for that matter, purely comes down to his own mentality. “Guys get to this level and they’re the greatest professional baseball players in the world. I think only they can determine if they are going through a slump or not,” said Saunders prior to Monday’s 13-2 loss against the Tampa Bay Rays. “I think it is mental. We get here for a reason. It’s because of talent, and physically we’re good enough to be here. I think what separates everyone is mentality.”

“We get here for a reason. It’s because of talent, and physically we’re good enough to be here. I think what separates everyone is mentality.”

Right now, Saunders is far from in a slump. Before going 0-for-4 Monday, the Victoria, B.C. native had reached base in 15 straight games and was riding an eight-game hitting streak that included five-straight multi-hit games with a slash line of .438/.455/.594. On top of that his knee is finally healthy, and he’s playing a regular and pivotal role wherever he finds himself in the Blue Jays lineup. But what’s really making a difference for Saunders once again comes down to the M-word. His mentality.

When asked what was working for him right now, he mentioned some baseball clichés such as seeing the ball well, and going up the plate trying not to do too much, but the one thing he said that was helping him more than anything was confidence.

Confidence is certainly a delicate thing in the world of professional sports, especially one where even the best players fail two out of every three at-bats, and over 330 times throughout the course of a healthy season. Thus, when it comes to determining your own success at the plate, or lack thereof, the game becomes coloured by numerous shades of grey as opposed to the black and white of results.

“When you say how mental this game is, I don’t think you truly understand unless you’ve played this game for a really long time,” Saunders said. “I think what really separates the great players from the average player is their mentality.

“Everyone goes through periods during the season when they’re slumping or they don’t feel great, their body is wearing down, your bat is dragging through the zone, …they don’t feel like they are seeing the ball well. I feel like the great players are able to limit their slumps to one or two games. The average player their slump kind of continues, and prolongs for sometimes a month. I think the difference is the mentality and the confidence and belief that you can go out there every day and produce.”

The 29-year-old Canadian believes Josh Donaldson is a prime example of this:

“He’s been hitting the ball hard the last week and doesn’t have much to show for it. The thing about him is that he’s staying calm and trusting the process, and realizes that the ball will drop for him. He’s just going through a stretch right now where he’s hitting the ball hard, just it’s right at people.”

He was right by the way. Donaldson connected for a line drive double to left field in Monday’s loss, breaking up a three-game hitless skid.

All of this being said, Saunders also believes that there’s no such thing as a cheap hit. You take whatever you can, whenever you can. It’s baseball’s version of paying the piper for all those line drive outs, but also a strictly results-oriented belief that helps build confidence and raises the stat line.

Baseball – funny and complex, and coloured by multiple shades of grey.

Lead Photo: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports


Q:

How do I get Access Keys?

I found a Secure Container. It says I need Access Keys to open it. And, sadly, Everspace's standard container-access method didn't work (i.e., I shot it, and it didn't open).
Where do I find Access Keys?

A:

Access keys can occasionally spawn in stacks of two as Bonus Equipment (as a Perk) before a run, or they can be purchased from Traders and Service Traders.
Access keys can spawn after defeating Elite enemies (the drop rate is 75% as of the latest update).
According to this forum post by Giraffasaur, if you use Mainframe Override on an Elite, “you can take them down without any form of retaliation.”


H1N1 & Seasonal Flu Prevention, Dr. Stephen Baum

In this editionof Einstein On, a research & medicine podcast, Stephen Baum, M.D., professor of microbiology & immunology and of medicine at Einstein, discusses the 2009-10 flu season and how to prevent transmission of the H1N1 and seasonal influenza viruses. (May 20, 2009)


The Godmen of investments: placebo or real medicine?

Over the last few days, the print and electronic media has had news articles about the activities of a god-man named Nirmal Baba. First, one news channel did an investigative report on him and estimated that at Rs 2,000 per devotee per event, his income as Rs 85 crore. Then, the god-man himself appeared on another channel and said that the figure was incorrect and his actual income was Rs 235 crore and that he paid all his taxes and so on and so forth. Presumably, since April 1, he must also be charging service tax. However, some of the discussion quickly gravitated as to whether the god-man was 'genuine'. In other words, whether he was actually providing the services (benefits) he was charging for.

Of course, this is an essentially unanswerable question. From the god-man's own statements, he seems to suggest that if people are satisfied that they are benefiting, then that's that. In other words, he is in the business of supplying a placebo effect. I guess, one can't actually argue with that. The placebo effect is a major part of what advisors and consultants of all sorts deliver. This is even true in personal finance and investments, where one would have expected hard numbers to drive out any kind of faff.

In investments, the placebo effect mainly seems to take the form of verbiage that excuses the poor performance with explanations and analyses. At the end of the day, investors are led through bad choices but they are eventually satisfied with a reason for the bad performance.

However, unlike whatever it is that god-men do, in investments it is easy to distinguish between the real medicine and the placebo. It's just that one might have to persist with the medicine a lot longer than a quick visit to a god-man.


Eddie Murphy reprised some of his most iconic Saturday Night Live characters when he hosted the show for the first time in 35 years.

This weekend, the comedian and actor returned to the stage that made him a household name for the season finale of NBC’s long-running variety sketch show — and he pulled out all the stops while doing so.

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At the beginning of the show, the audience immediately began chanting Murphy’s name as he stepped out on stage, and he kicked off his opening monologue with a plethora of hilarious jokes. “This is the last episode of 2019, but if you’re black, this is the first episode since I left in 1984,” Murphy, 58, joked.

“I just had a new baby just about a year ago,” he continued. “That means I have 10 kids now. My kids are actually pretty much my whole life now, and if you would have told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring, stay-at-home dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I would have taken that bet.”

After sharing updates about some of his recent projects, including Netflix film Dolemite Is My Name and the upcoming sequel of Coming to America, Murphy was joined on stage by some longtime friends and fellow comedians: Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, and Dave Chappelle.

“If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here,” Morgan, 51, told Murphy, while Rock, 54, joked that he was only there for Lizzo, the show’s musical guest.

“Alright, now you’re looking at half of Netflix’s budget,” Chapelle, 46, joked to the audience, which Morgan clarified that he “made all my millions on the road.”

“You mean touring?” Murphy asked him.

“No, I got hit by a truck,” Morgan responded, referring to his 2014 accident.

Image zoom Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

After the opening monologue, Murphy got back into character to revisit many of his iconic SNL skits from back in the day. To start, he returned to the rundown apartment of “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood” to teach kids about the now-gentrified neighborhood.

“It’s like a magic trick,” Murphy said. “White people pay a lot of money and then, poof, all the black people are gone. But where do they go, boys and girls? Back to where they come from, of course — Atlanta!”

Image zoom Will Heath/NBC

In the next skit, the comedian participated in a Masked Singer parody to revive Buckwheat, a character who was so popular that Murphy himself killed him off on the show during the 1980s.

After hiding himself in a corn on the cob costume, Murphy revealed his identity as Buckwheat and delivered a number of hit songs for the judging panel, such as “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” “Feliz Navidad,” “Respect,” and “Single Ladies.”

Murphy capped off the skit by uttering the character’s iconic line, saying, “Don’t worry about Buckwheat, just remember, wherever I am, I’m doing Otay.”

Image zoom RM Lewis Jr./NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

The comedian also transformed into the green cigar-smoking Gumby to visit Michael Che and Colin Jost on Weekend Update. After yelling at them for not letting him on the segment earlier, Murphy’s Gumby joked, “This is the thanks I get for saving this show from the gutter?” alluding to when he revived the character in the ’80s and ’90s.

“Shame on you, Lorne Michaels! Shame on you, NBC!” Murphy said, before insulting Che, 36, and Jost, 37.

“You know why you two are behind this desk? Because your jokes don’t have legs,” he joked. “I’ve passed kidney stones with more personality than the two of you.”

In the recurring skit “Black Jeopardy,” Murphy returned as pimp Velvet Jones who tried to turn women into prostitutes by writing books like “I Wanna Be A Ho.”

Unsurprisingly, Murphy’s Velvet Jones said many disparaging things about women and got scolded by the show’s host, played by Kenan Thompson. He also debuted a new book this time, “Ass for Cash,” which led Thomspon to ask him if he knows about the MeToo movement.

Also on the show, musical guest Lizzo, 31, delivered her show-stopping hits “Good as Hell” and “Truth Hurts” during the episode.

Murphy was previously a cast member from 1980 to 1984 and last hosted the show in 1984. He also briefly returned for the show’s 40th anniversary special in 2015.


Raipur Upazila

Raipur () is an upazila in Lakshmipur District, Chittagong Division, Bangladesh. It is surrounded by the upazilas of Faridganj, Ramganj, Lakshmipur Sadar, Mehendiganj and Haimchar, and on the west by the Megna River. Raipur has 40,618 households, and covers an area of .

Demographics
In the 2001 Bangladesh census, Raipur had a population of 236,965. Males were 51 percent of the population and females 49 percent. The population aged 18 and older was 100,491. Raipur had an average literacy rate of 22.5 percent (ages seven and older), compared to the national average of 32.4 percent. The Muslim population was 228,361; there were 8,566 Hindus, 23 Christians and 15 others.

Administration
Raipur Upazila is divided into one municipality and 10 union parishads: Bamni, Char Mohana,   Keroa, North Char Ababil, North Char Bangshi, Raipur, Sonapur, South Char Ababil, and South Char Bangshi. The union parishads are subdivided into 49 mauzas and 81 villages.CHAR PATA

Economy
Raipur has one of the largest textile factories in Bangladesh, which is closed. Its small factories are in need of modernization. Raipur is  from the river port of Haidergonj and  from the seaport of Chittagong. Other industries include fishing, dairy farming and beef production for Eid al-Adha.

Transport

Raipur is a regional transportation hub, with bus service to major cities. Raipur upazila is connected with river port Chandpur by road. Until the establishment of Chandpur Irrigation Project (CIP) Raipur had river ways connected with Chandpur-Dhaka.Water flow in the major river Dakatia was stopped by barrage and lost water transport facilities. Three-wheeled vehicles provide local transport. Rural roads are rarely paved and poorly maintained.

Online Newspaper
www.googlenews24.com

Education

Bamni Adarsha High School
 1984

See also
Raipur Fish Hatchery and Training Center
Upazilas of Bangladesh

References

Category:Upazilas of Lakshmipur District
Category:Raipur Upazila


Reliability of intraoperative flow measurements to determine early graft patency with simultaneous introduction of a new method for distal coronary artery run-off capacity.
Intraoperative measurements of blood flow were made in 44 patients in whom a total of 112 venous bypass grafts were inserted. Blood flow through the graft was measured by a standard electromagnetic device as well as by a new method, consisting of a roller pump run-off system. At an average of 5 months after operation all patients underwent control coronaro-angiography. Overall patency-rate was 86.6%. Using the standard method mean flow in the patent grafts was 78 ml/min and 39 ml/min in the occluded grafts. Using the new run-off method mean flow in the patent grafts was 142 ml/min and 78 ml/min in the occluded grafts. It is concluded that measuring distal coronary artery run-off capacity provides a reliable index for predicting patency rate. For several reasons roller-pump run-off measurement has advantages over the generally used electromagnetic measurements.


// Copyright 2015 by Paulo Augusto Peccin. See license.txt distributed with this file.

// Implements the n * 8448 byte "AR" Arcadia/Starpath/Supercharger tape format

jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR = function(rom, format) {
"use strict";

    function init(self) {
        self.rom = rom;
        self.format = format;
        // Cannot use the contents of the ROM directly, as cartridge is all RAM and can be modified
        // Also, ROM content represents the entire tape and can have multiple parts
        bytes = jt.Util.arrayFill(new Array(4 * BANK_SIZE));
        self.bytes = bytes;
        loadBIOS();
        // Initialize Random seeds
        for (var i = 0; i < 31; ++i) randomSeeds[i] = (Math.random() * 256) | 0;
    }

    this.powerOn = function() {
        // Always start with bank configuration 000 (bank2, bank3 = BIOS ROM), writes disabled and BIOS ROM powered on
        setControlRegister(0x00);
        // Rewind Tape
        tapeOffset = 0;
        // BIOS will ask to load Part Number 0 at System Reset
    };

    this.connectBus = function(pBus) {
        bus = pBus;
    };

    this.read = function(address) {
        // maskedAddress already set on bus monitoring method
        // bank0
        if (maskedAddress < BANK_SIZE)
            return bytes[bank0AddressOffset + maskedAddress];
        else
        // bank1
            return bytes[bank1AddressOffset + maskedAddress - BANK_SIZE];
    };

    this.write = function(address, b) {
        // No direct writes are possible
        // But check for BIOS Load Part Hotspot range
        if (bank1AddressOffset === BIOS_BANK_OFFSET &&
            maskedAddress >= BIOS_INT_EMUL_LOAD_HOTSPOT && maskedAddress < BIOS_INT_EMUL_LOAD_HOTSPOT + 256) {
            loadPart(maskedAddress - BIOS_INT_EMUL_LOAD_HOTSPOT);
        }
    };

    this.performBankSwitchOnMonitoredAccess = function(address) {
        maskedAddress = address & ADDRESS_MASK;
        address &= 0x1fff;

        // Set ControlRegister if the hotspot was triggered
        if (address === 0x1ff8) {
            setControlRegister(valueToWrite);
            return;
        }

        // Check for writes pending and watch for address transitions
        if (addressChangeCountdown > 0) {
            if (address !== lastAddress) {
                lastAddress = address;
                if (--addressChangeCountdown === 0) {
                    // 5th address transition detected, perform write
                    if ((address & CHIP_MASK) === CHIP_SELECT) {		// Do not write outside Cartridge range
                        // bank0
                        if (maskedAddress < BANK_SIZE)
                            bytes[bank0AddressOffset + maskedAddress] = valueToWrite;
                        // bank1
                        else if (bank1AddressOffset < BIOS_BANK_OFFSET)	// Do not write to BIOS ROM
                            bytes[bank1AddressOffset + maskedAddress - BANK_SIZE] = valueToWrite;
                    }
                }
            }
            return;
        }

        // Check and store desired value to write
        if (((address & CHIP_MASK) === CHIP_SELECT) && maskedAddress <= 0x00ff) {
            valueToWrite = maskedAddress;
            if (writeEnabled) {
                lastAddress = address;		// Will be watched for the 5th address change
                addressChangeCountdown = 5;
            }
        }
    };

    var setControlRegister = function(controlRegister) {
        var banksConfig = (controlRegister >> 2) & 0x07;
        switch (banksConfig) {
            case 0: bank0AddressOffset = 2 * BANK_SIZE; bank1AddressOffset = BIOS_BANK_OFFSET; break;
            case 1: bank0AddressOffset = 0 * BANK_SIZE; bank1AddressOffset = BIOS_BANK_OFFSET; break;
            case 2: bank0AddressOffset = 2 * BANK_SIZE; bank1AddressOffset = 0 * BANK_SIZE; break;	// as used in Commie Mutants and many others
            case 3: bank0AddressOffset = 0 * BANK_SIZE; bank1AddressOffset = 2 * BANK_SIZE; break;	// as used in Suicide Mission
            case 4: bank0AddressOffset = 2 * BANK_SIZE; bank1AddressOffset = BIOS_BANK_OFFSET; break;
            case 5: bank0AddressOffset = 1 * BANK_SIZE; bank1AddressOffset = BIOS_BANK_OFFSET; break;
            case 6: bank0AddressOffset = 2 * BANK_SIZE; bank1AddressOffset = 1 * BANK_SIZE; break;	// as used in Killer Satellites
            case 7: bank0AddressOffset = 1 * BANK_SIZE; bank1AddressOffset = 2 * BANK_SIZE; break;	// as we use for 2k/4k ROM cloning		}
            default: throw new Error("Invalid bank configuration");
        }
        addressChangeCountdown = 0;	// Setting ControlRegister cancels any pending write
        writeEnabled = (controlRegister & 0x02) !== 0;
        biosRomPower = (controlRegister & 0x01) === 0;
        // System.out.println("Banks: " + banksConfig + ", Writes: " + (writeEnabled ? "ON" : "OFF"));
    };

    var loadPart = function(part) {
        var tapeRewound = false;
        do {
            // Check for tape end
            if (tapeOffset > rom.content.length - 1) {
                // Check if tape was already rewound once to avoid infinite tries
                if (tapeRewound) {
                    if (part === 0) bus.getTia().getVideoOutput().showOSD("Could not load Tape from Start. Not a Start Tape ROM!", true);
                    else bus.getTia().getVideoOutput().showOSD("Could not find next Part to load in Tape!", true);
                    signalPartLoadedOK(false);		// BIOS will handle this
                    return;
                }
                // Rewind tape
                tapeOffset = 0;
                tapeRewound = true;
            }
            // Check if the next part is the one we are looking for
            if (jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.peekPartNoOnTape(rom.content, tapeOffset) === part) {
                if (part === 0) bus.getTia().getVideoOutput().showOSD("Loaded Tape from Start", true);
                else bus.getTia().getVideoOutput().showOSD("Loaded next Part from Tape", true);
                loadNextPart();
                return;
            } else {
                // Advance tape
                tapeOffset += PART_SIZE;
            }
        } while(true);
    };

    var loadNextPart = function() {
        loadHeaderData();
        loadPagesIntoBanks();
        patchPartDataIntoBIOS();
    };

    var loadHeaderData = function() {
        // Store header info
        jt.Util.arrayCopy(rom.content, tapeOffset + 4 * BANK_SIZE, header, 0, header.length);
        romStartupAddress = (header[1] << 8) | (header[0] & 0xff);
        romControlRegister = header[2];
        romPageCount = header[3];
        romChecksum = header[4];
        romMultiLoadIndex = header[5];
        romProgressBarSpeed = (header[7] << 8) | (header[6] & 0xff);
        romPageOffsets = jt.Util.arrayFill(new Array(romPageCount), 0);
        jt.Util.arrayCopy(header, 16, romPageOffsets, 0, romPageCount);
    };

    var loadPagesIntoBanks = function() {
        // Clear last page of first bank, as per original BIOS
        jt.Util.arrayFillSegment(bytes, 7 * PAGE_SIZE, 8 * PAGE_SIZE - 1, 0);

        // Load pages
        var romOffset = tapeOffset;
        for (var i = 0, len = romPageOffsets.length; i < len; i++) {
            var pageInfo = romPageOffsets[i];
            var bankOffset = (pageInfo & 0x03) * BANK_SIZE;
            var pageOffset = (pageInfo >> 2) * PAGE_SIZE;
            // Only write if not in BIOS area
            if (bankOffset + pageOffset + 255 < BIOS_BANK_OFFSET)
                jt.Util.arrayCopy(rom.content, romOffset, bytes, bankOffset + pageOffset, PAGE_SIZE);
            romOffset += PAGE_SIZE;
        }
        // Advance tape
        tapeOffset += PART_SIZE;
    };

    var patchPartDataIntoBIOS = function() {
        // Patch BIOS interface area with correct values from stored Header data
        bytes[BIOS_BANK_OFFSET + BIOS_INT_CONTROL_REG_ADDR - 0xf800] = romControlRegister;
        bytes[BIOS_BANK_OFFSET + BIOS_INT_PART_NO_ADDR - 0xf800] = romMultiLoadIndex;
        bytes[BIOS_BANK_OFFSET + BIOS_INT_RANDOM_SEED_ADDR - 0xf800] = randomSeeds[currentRandomSeed++]; if (currentRandomSeed > 30) currentRandomSeed = 0;
        bytes[BIOS_BANK_OFFSET + BIOS_INT_START_ADDR - 0xf800] = romStartupAddress & 0xff;
        bytes[BIOS_BANK_OFFSET + BIOS_INT_START_ADDR + 1 - 0xf800] = (romStartupAddress >> 8) & 0xff;
        signalPartLoadedOK(true);
    };

    var signalPartLoadedOK = function(ok) {
        bytes[BIOS_BANK_OFFSET + BIOS_INT_PART_LOADED_OK - 0xf800] = (ok ? 1 : 0);
    };

    var loadBIOS = function() {
        var bios = jt.Util.uncompressStringBase64ToInt8BitArray(STARPATH_BIOS);
        jt.Util.arrayCopy(bios, 0, bytes, BIOS_BANK_OFFSET, BANK_SIZE);
    };

    var bus;

    var bytes;

    var bank0AddressOffset = 0;
    var bank1AddressOffset = 0;
    var valueToWrite = 0;
    var writeEnabled = false;
    var lastAddress = -1;
    var addressChangeCountdown = 0;
    var biosRomPower = false;

    var romStartupAddress = 0;
    var romControlRegister = 0;
    var romPageCount = 0;
    var romChecksum = 0;
    var romMultiLoadIndex = 0;
    var romProgressBarSpeed = 0;
    var romPageOffsets;

    var randomSeeds = new Array(31);    // Circular Random seeds pre-determined at init() and preserved at saveStates to avoid indeterminism
    var currentRandomSeed = 0;

    var tapeOffset = 0;

    var HEADER_SIZE = 256;
    var header = jt.Util.arrayFill(new Array(HEADER_SIZE), 0);      // local buffer, not part of the state

    var maskedAddress;

    var BIOS_INT_PART_NO_ADDR 		= 0xfb00;
    var BIOS_INT_CONTROL_REG_ADDR	= 0xfb01;
    var BIOS_INT_START_ADDR 		= 0xfb02;
    var BIOS_INT_RANDOM_SEED_ADDR	= 0xfb04;
    var BIOS_INT_PART_LOADED_OK 	= 0xfb05;
    var BIOS_INT_EMUL_LOAD_HOTSPOT	= 0x0c00;

    var PAGE_SIZE = 256;
    var BANK_SIZE = 8 * PAGE_SIZE;
    var BIOS_BANK_OFFSET = 3 * BANK_SIZE;
    var PART_SIZE = 4 * BANK_SIZE + HEADER_SIZE;	// 4 * 2048 banks + header

    // Bios is 2048 bytes. This is compressed (zip) and stored in base64
    var STARPATH_BIOS = "7dSxCsIwEAbgv6niGkeddPVZ8kCOXc43yCIokkGIUN+gLxAoZHTxHRxjYq2xk7vSIPS75bb7uYNTuOJWu/bod3iU42BzUTiBe9sTzSj" +
        "ToBnNBVxfQz/nQ+2NhA2a05KYmhhjmxhoQZymxGil8gpeesOdyioW5DN25yxsiri3chQOUO1WeCSI/hPx9AJ/m/576KROMUhlfdE4dQ+AfJoPNBikgOZdLw==";

    var ADDRESS_MASK = 0x0fff;
    var CHIP_MASK = 0x1000;
    var CHIP_SELECT = 0x1000;

    // Savestate  -------------------------------------------

    this.saveState = function() {
        return {
            f: this.format.name,
            r: this.rom.saveState(true),    // ROM contents needed for later part loads
            b: jt.Util.compressInt8BitArrayToStringBase64(bytes),
            b0o: bank0AddressOffset,
            b1o: bank1AddressOffset,
            vw: valueToWrite,
            we: writeEnabled,
            la: lastAddress,
            ac: addressChangeCountdown,
            bp: biosRomPower,
            rs: romStartupAddress,
            rc: romControlRegister,
            rp: romPageCount,
            rk: romChecksum,
            rm: romMultiLoadIndex,
            rb: romProgressBarSpeed,
            ro: romPageOffsets,
            to: tapeOffset,
            rnd: jt.Util.storeInt8BitArrayToStringBase64(randomSeeds),
            rnc: currentRandomSeed
        };
    };

    this.loadState = function(state) {
        this.format = jt.CartridgeFormats[state.f];
        this.rom = rom = jt.ROM.loadState(state.r);
        bytes = jt.Util.uncompressStringBase64ToInt8BitArray(state.b, bytes);
        this.bytes = bytes;
        bank0AddressOffset = state.b0o;
        bank1AddressOffset = state.b1o;
        valueToWrite = state.vw;
        writeEnabled = state.we;
        lastAddress = state.la;
        addressChangeCountdown = state.ac;
        biosRomPower = state.bp;
        romStartupAddress = state.rs;
        romControlRegister = state.rc;
        romPageCount = state.rp;
        romChecksum = state.rk;
        romMultiLoadIndex = state.rm;
        romProgressBarSpeed = state.rb;
        romPageOffsets = state.ro;
        tapeOffset = state.to;
        jt.Util.restoreStringBase64ToInt8BitArray(state.rnd, randomSeeds);
        currentRandomSeed = state.rnc;
    };

    if (rom) init(this);

};

jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.prototype = jt.CartridgeBankedByBusMonitoring.base;

jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.recreateFromSaveState = function(state, prevCart) {
    var cart = prevCart || new jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR();
    cart.loadState(state);
    return cart;
};

jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.HEADER_SIZE = 256;
jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.PAGE_SIZE = 256;
jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.BANK_SIZE = 8 * jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.PAGE_SIZE;
jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.PART_SIZE = 4 * jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.BANK_SIZE + jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.HEADER_SIZE;	// 4 * 2048 banks + header

jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.peekPartNoOnTape = function(tapeContent, tapeOffset) {
    return tapeContent[tapeOffset + 4*jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.BANK_SIZE + 5];
};

jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.checkTape = function(rom) {
    if (jt.Cartridge8K_64K_AR.peekPartNoOnTape(rom.content, 0) === 0) return true;

    jt.Util.warning("Wrong Supercharger Tape Part ROM! Please load a Full Tape ROM file");
    return false;
};


Wyden Statement on Trump’s Appointment of Matt Whitaker as Acting Attorney General to Protect Himself from Mueller Investigation

Washington, D.C. –Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., warned against any interference in Robert Mueller’s investigation following the announcement that Matt Whitaker would be named acting attorney general.

Last year, Whitaker speculated that Trump would fire Jeff Sessions and appoint a replacement to cut Mueller’s budget and prevent Mueller from continuing a full investigation of Trump and his campaign’s ties to Russia. He also asserted that any Mueller investigation into Trump’s financial ties to Russia would be a “witch hunt.”

Wyden released the following statement:

“Donald Trump must be terrified about what Robert Mueller’s investigation has uncovered.

“Trump is desperately trying to protect himself and his cronies from justice by installing a political hack as acting attorney general. Matthew Whitaker has openly called for restrictions on Mueller’s investigation and described a game plan to obstruct Mueller from doing his job and getting to the bottom of Russia’s interference in our democracy. Given these comments, at a minimum, he should recuse himself from the special counsel’s investigation.

“Whitaker’s appointment raises blaring alarms about the acceleration of obstruction of justice and a fundamental attack on the rule of law in our country. Congress must act right now to protect the special counsel’s investigation.”

###


Deutetrabenazine in the treatment of Huntington's disease.
Deutetrabenazine (DTBZ) is a US FDA-approved treatment for chorea in Huntington's disease. The substitution of deuterium for hydrogen at specific positions imparts a longer half-life on DTBZ, allowing for less-frequent daily dosing. As a reversible vesicular monoamine transporter Type 2 inhibitor, DTBZ depletes monoamines at presynaptic nerve terminals. DTBZ significantly improved chorea in Huntington's disease patients compared with placebo. This effect continued in an ongoing open-label extension study in the cohort who switched from tetrabenazine to DTBZ. Whereas there are currently no head-to-head studies to adequately compare safety profiles between tetrabenazine and DTBZ, an indirect comparison study suggested that the tolerability profile of DTBZ was similar to placebo. In fact, there are currently no direct comparisons between vesicular monoamine transporter Type 2 inhibitors in humans. This review will explore DTBZ's pharmacological properties, drug interactions, administration and efficacy.


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Aneta Ward - Property Consultant - Mt Lawley

E: anetaward@mjandco.com.au

M: 0413 441 859

Sold

34 Second Ave, Mount Lawley

542

34 Second Ave, Mount Lawley

542

Sold

***SOLD by TRACEY and ANETA*** House - Property ID: 636363

This property is so unique I'm not sure where to start! First you have a lovely old tuck pointed character home and yes it does need some updating but here's where it gets interesting. The main home is divided into two separate and fully self contained residences. One half has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, sitting room, lounge and dining. The second half has one bedroom, bathroom, dining, lounge and kitchen. Then there is a granny flat/villa at the back which consists of 2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, laundry, spacious lounge and dining. All of this is situated on app; 1163sqm block with rear access.

The options are endless, you could renovate the main house and turn it back into one huge family home plus the granny flat or you could rent out all three self contained residences and reap the benefits of the current hot rental market.


Fluid and electrolyte requirements in the newborn infant.
Most of the studies of water and electrolyte balance have been performed on full teren balancing the hydration and electrolyte status of all infants, it is most important to relate the treatment regimen to the infant's gestational age and weight, and to make appropriate adjustments for various environmental conditions which affect water and salt requirements, such as phototherapy, type of warmer, and humidity.


DPDK_21 {
	global:

	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_agg_selection_get;
	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_agg_selection_set;
	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_conf_get;
	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_dedicated_queues_disable;
	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_dedicated_queues_enable;
	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_ext_collect;
	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_ext_collect_get;
	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_ext_distrib;
	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_ext_distrib_get;
	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_ext_slowtx;
	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_setup;
	rte_eth_bond_8023ad_slave_info;
	rte_eth_bond_active_slaves_get;
	rte_eth_bond_create;
	rte_eth_bond_free;
	rte_eth_bond_link_monitoring_set;
	rte_eth_bond_mac_address_reset;
	rte_eth_bond_mac_address_set;
	rte_eth_bond_mode_get;
	rte_eth_bond_mode_set;
	rte_eth_bond_primary_get;
	rte_eth_bond_primary_set;
	rte_eth_bond_slave_add;
	rte_eth_bond_slave_remove;
	rte_eth_bond_slaves_get;
	rte_eth_bond_xmit_policy_get;
	rte_eth_bond_xmit_policy_set;

	local: *;
};


The use of nonhuman primate models to improve gene transfer into haematopoietic stem cells.
Primitive haematopoietic progenitor and stem cells (HSC) have been pursued as highly desirable targets for genetic therapy as technology allowing safe and controllable transfer of exogenous genes into eukaryotic cells was developed a decade ago. Retroviral vectors have been used for the majority of preclinical and clinical studies directed at these cells, because these vectors have a number of the necessary properties, including chromosomal integration, helper-free production systems, and lack of toxicity. Until recently, however, results with these vectors in clinical trials and large animal models indicated efficiency of gene transfer as a major hurdle to be overcome. We have focused on using the rhesus macaque autologous transplantation model to optimize gene transfer to primitive haematopoietic cells, and investigate questions regarding in vivo stem cell behaviour, in a system with proven predictive value for human haematopoiesis. By optimization of transduction conditions using standard vectors, gene transfer efficiency to primitive repopulating cells has reached the clinically relevant range of 5-20% long-term. Alternative vector systems, have also yielded promising results. We have also found that relatively simple manipulation of cell cycle status prior to reinfusion of marked cells results in significantly improved engraftment of transduced cells: this finding may have an impact particularly in the nonablative setting. The high level marking has permitted insertion site analysis and clonal tracking in vivo. Inverse PCR and/or a ligation-mediated PCR procedure have demonstrated that a large number of transduced clones (over 50) contribute to multiple lineages in vivo for up to at least 2 years post-transplantation. Thus far we have little evidence for rapid clonal succession or lineage-restricted engraftment of transduced cells. These and other advances should result in successful gene therapy for a variety of acquired and congenital disorders affecting HSCs and their progeny lineages.


Three-beam double stimulated Raman scatterings: Cascading configuration.
Two-beam stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) has been used in diverse label-free spectroscopy and imaging applications of live cells, biological tissues, and functional materials. Recently, we developed a theoretical framework for the three-beam double SRS processes that involve pump, Stokes, and depletion beams, where the pump-Stokes and pump-depletion SRS processes compete with each other. It was shown that the net Stokes gain signal can be suppressed by increasing the depletion beam intensity. The theoretical prediction has been experimentally confirmed recently. In the previous scheme for a selective suppression of one SRS by making it compete with another SRS, the two SRS processes occur in a parallel manner. However, there is another possibility of three-beam double SRS scheme that can be of use to suppress either Raman gain of the Stokes beam or Raman loss of the pump beam by depleting the Stokes photons with yet another SRS process induced by the pair of Stokes and another (second) Stokes beam. This three-beam double SRS process resembles a cascading energy transfer process from the pump beam to the first Stokes beam (SRS-1) and subsequently from the first Stokes beam to the second Stokes beam (SRS-2). Here, the two stimulated Raman gain-loss processes are associated with two different Raman-active vibrational modes of solute molecule. In the present theory, both the radiation and the molecules are treated quantum mechanically. We then show that the cascading-type three-beam double SRS can be described by coupled differential equations for the photon numbers of the pump and Stokes beams. From the approximate solutions as well as exact numerical calculation results for the coupled differential equations, a possibility of efficiently suppressing the stimulated Raman loss of the pump beam by increasing the second Stokes beam intensity is shown and discussed. To further prove a potential use of this scheme for developing a super-resolution SRS microscopy, we present a theoretical expression and numerical simulation results for the full-width-at-half-maximum of SRS imaging point spread function, assuming that the pump and Stokes beam profiles are Gaussian and the second Stokes beam has a doughnut-shaped spatial profile. It is clear that the spatial resolution with the present 3-beam cascading SRS method can be enhanced well beyond the diffraction limit. We anticipate that the present work will provide a theoretical framework for a super-resolution stimulated Raman scattering microscopy that is currently under investigation.


Embarrassed

I've had many days that I was incredibly proud to be a United Methodist. Many of those have been after natural disasters struck and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) was, as always, one of the first and most important responders. Other days of pride have come when I was reminded of incredible works of compassion like Imagine No Malaria, which has helped cut in half deaths due to malaria in less than a decade. I was even rather proud today to learn that UMC pastor Adam Hamilton would be preaching at the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service.

But today is probably the day I have been most ashamed to be a United Methodist. The cause for that shame is this joint press release from key representatives for United Methodist Women and the UM General Board of Church and Society.

The press release notes that it comes on the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It celebrates years "devoid of unnecessary deaths." It laments that "we continue to face opposition to keeping abortion safe, legal, accessible and rare." It laments rising maternal mortality rates and women who "die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth." It claims to await God's kingdom on earth, "in which all pregnancies are intended." It uses the word justice four times.

Not once does it mention the unnecessary deaths of unborn children that have come at the hands of people whose conveniences, preferences, or lifestyles were threatened far more than their physical well-being. Not once does it lament the deaths of unborn children or suggest further advocacy for them (other than a passing reference to abortion being rare). It suggests that unintended pregnancies would have no part in the kingdom of God, and even implies that abortion would be an appropriate option in those cases.

How in the world can you write a press release chock-full of "justice" and "kingdom of God" and "unnecessary deaths" without ONCE mourning the killing of unborn children?!?

How can you write this press release and use the word "rare" twice in passing without acknowledging how many abortion deaths are due to convenience, not threat to physical well-being?

I can understand a Christian position that is concerned for women whose lives are put at serious risk. In that, I celebrate many of the things this press release celebrates and lament many of the things the press release laments. I'm torn, and not sure of my ultimate position, but can at least understand a position that would advocate for legal abortions in some of these worst-case circumstances.

But I can't even comprehend such a one-sided statement as this. When representatives of the Church stand so strongly on one side of a two-sided justice issue like this, it grossly misrepresents the gospel. I hope that regardless of which side of any political aisle anyone might be on, we would agree that talk about the kingdom of God in reference to abortion is grossly incomplete without mourning the loss of life for unborn children.

I know some will try to say that this press release was from two individuals who happen to be in these positions in the UMC. That's unacceptable. Especially since the General Board of Church and Society posted it to their webpage. I was disgusted - nearly physically ill - to read this statement from the church that I am a part of. To non-Methodists, I apologize for my denomination in this. This is an unfit representation of the gospel.

So A Call to Action

Are you a UMC member or pastor? Is there a United Methodist Women's group in your church? I think it's time to financially cut ties with this organization. Please encourage any UMW groups in your church to stop sending them money. I believe they're misrepresenting the gospel to the point that the Christian cause would be better off without them. Yes, they are doing some very good things. But others are doing very good things. Send your money to them instead. Send it to "Imagine No Malaria" or UMCOR. For Methodist women's ministries, consider instead the Renew Network.

In "The local church's competition," I just said that most Christian groups and charities should be seen as allies, not competition. Frankly, I'm at the point of moving UMW to the other side of that equation. Such gross misrepresentations and distortions of the gospel as this (no, this isn't the first; this is a tipping point for me) are doing us terrible harm.

For all of my celebrations and all of my frustrations with the UMC, I suspect that if I ever leave, it will be because the UMC gives major money and prominence to groups that would put out statements like this - and that use considerable money to support causes that reflect this perspective.

The Rev. Teddy Ray serves as executive pastor of First UMC in Lexington, KY, and as lead pastor for its satellite Offerings Community.

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Comments (3)

We Need to Temper Our Shock

LIke Rev. Ray, I can write an essay on things that make me proud that I am a United Methodist. I could bore you for hours with things that embarrass me about being a United Methodist.

However, I am egregiously embarrassed by one of our pastors making one single issue the litmus test on whether one should be proud or embarrassed to be a United Methodist. It makes me want to ask, "Rev. Ray, don't you have a life?"

I am probably the most reluctant pro-choice clergy in the UMC: with our denomination, I know that sometimes abortion is the least lousy of a series of lousy choices, and that those choices need to be made by the woman, her partner, her doctor, and her pastor. At the same time, I also am appalled that almost 30 of the conceptions in this country are aborted. (Check the statistics in any Almanac for the accuracy of that statement!) There are a lot of easier and less traumatic (for all) ways to prevent an unwanted conception from occurring. We need to be preaching that if one wants to be sexually active, one needs to be responsible about it before getting into bed.

To condemn abortion as the single, most important, and even only issue is to ignore preaching the wholeness in life to which Christ taught us to pursue and to live.

I, too, lament the demise of the Cokesbury local stores. At the same time, I know that brick-and-mortar bookstores are closing right and left, and that these days, every online bookstore uses computerized catalogs from distributors like Ingram and others. We get what we pay for. If we want only to get "religious" books that pass muster with our sensibilities, we have to pay the cost of having brick-and-mortar stores. If we aren't willing to pay the financial cost of that luxury, we have to allow for the fact that cataloging is at best an art rather than a science, and not blame Cokesbury for being as much victimized by distributors as Rev. Ray feels.

Tom Griffithmore than 2 years ago

One-sided message about abortion

I appreciate his statement, even if I'm not ready to defund the UMW. Whenever GBCS and the Women's Divison speak about the importance, dignity and rights of children, I have to wonder why they don't concern themselves with children before birth. It's just as incomplete as those on the "pro-life" side who seem to stop concerning themselves with children after birth. Justice pays attention to those who are weak and vulnerable. Children before birth are definitely weak and vulnerable, and adults exercise nearly unlimited power over them. Is this not a justice issue? Why does the child exercise no "choice" and the adult has it all? That's been the law for 40 years, but that does not make it just. Once our Social Principles saw abortion as "the tragic conflict of life with life". The current statement appears to see no tragedy or conflict at all.

Jeanne Devinemore than 2 years ago

shocked

I am shocked that this article was given print space. For a licensed local pastor to advocate UMC churches dismantle their chapters and support of the United Methodist Women shows an abject lack of understanding for the depth and breadth of the organization's work and value. Instead of him offering dialogue, avenues of reconciliation or grace, he proposes his own death knell on a life-saving organization. Simply because a person is able to string together sentences in a coherent manner, is that reason to give him this public forum? I think the article and its incendiary sentiment more properly belongs under the "Good News" umbrella.

Notable Quotes

"Each and every day, more and more LGBTQ people and our allies are coming out of a different closet — as evangelical Christians. And as more of us step out, the more we are sensing that the Spirit of God is powerfully working in our midst. The fruit that we are seeing coming from these churches, ministries and lives is abundant. We are seeing real lives saved. Faith is reborn in the hearts of many who never thought there would be a place for them at God’s table. Revival is breaking out among younger evangelicals, who are catching a glimpse of the new thing God is doing in our midst. In other words, we are seeing tremendous blessing, not wrath."

Bruce B. Lawrence, professor emeritus of Islamic studies at United Methodist-related Duke University, examines theological arguments about whether ISIS is truly a movement based on the religious tenets of Islam.

A state judge in New Jersey has ruled that therapists who claim they can "cure" homosexuals -- commonly known as "reparative therapy" -- are committing consumer fraud based on current science about sexual orientation.


Q:

Is it valid to directly call a (virtual) destructor?

In this answer, Ryan directly calls the virtual destructor. I've tested the code in VS2010, and it correctly calls all destructors (tested with logging statements). Is it actually valid to do so? What are the problems, flaws or even the good points of such an approach?
I can only think of it as a way to really force a reset of the actual type, even if they don't override a virtual reset function, since they atleast have to clean up in their destructors.
Also, eactly what kind of side-effects does a call to the destructor bring? Is it undefined behaviour to use the object after such a destructor call? What if one immediatly reinitializes it with a new (this) MyClass(); call?

A:

Calling a destructor manually is a perfectly valid thing, regardless of if it's virtual. You just want to make sure that it's just called once for every constructor call.
Is it undefined behaviour to use the object after such a destructor call?

Yes.
What if one immediatly reinitializes it with a new (this) MyClass(); call?

Still horrifically undefined.
Do not manually destruct an object unless you had to manually place it, e.g. with placement new or some equivalent, and definitely do not ever re-initialize a destructed object like that and hope to avoid UB. Classes like std::vector very explicitly make accessing destroyed objects UB, and it remains UB even if you then make a new element in it's place.


Q:

Can I Customize LinqPad shortcut keys?

I am accustomed to using ESC to "list members" and F1 to "show parameter info" in Visual Studio.  This is an old habit from XCode.  Is there any way to achieve this in LinqPad?  I noticed an advanced preference called "use visual studio shortcut keys". My first thought is that this option would copy your key mapping settings from visual studio into LinqPad, but that does not seem to be how it works.

A:

There's no way to customize keyboard shortcuts in LINQPad right now. The "Use Visual Studio shortcut keys" option (for which the default is TRUE) just tells LINQPad to use shortcuts consistent with VS's defaults.
Setting this option to false makes it consistent with early versions of LINQPad which used single-key combinations for things like comment/uncomment rather than the VS-style chords.


How to Cook a Pizza Lunchable

Lunchables are among the favorite snacks and lunch options for children and adults alike. The pizza Lunchables are enjoyed by children because it is exciting to make. The pizza Lunchables comes in cheese, or pepperoni and cheese. Some of the Lunchables also come with a juice and a dessert like cookies and candy bars. Although most enjoy pizza Lunchables right out of the package, you also can warm it up to get an extra burst of the mozzarella, marinara and pepperoni flavors.

Things You'll Need

Microwavable plate

Microwave

Video of the Day

Open the pizza Lunchables, and place the three breaded crust contents onto the microwavable plate.

Open the pizza sauce and squeeze about two quarter-sized dollops onto each breaded pizza crust. Use the back of the spoon to smooth the sauce evenly.

Sprinkle the cheese onto the crust and top with the pepperonis.

Put the plate into the microwave, and heat for about 25 seconds. Let stand for about two minutes, and then serve.


University of Hohenheim

The University of Hohenheim () is a campus university located in the south of Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1818, it is Stuttgart's oldest university. Its primary areas of specialisation had traditionally been agricultural and natural sciences. Today, however, the majority of its students are enrolled in one of the many study programs offered by the faculty of business, economics and social sciences. The faculty has regularly been ranked among the best in the country, making the University of Hohenheim one of Germany's top-tier universities in these fields. The university maintains academic alliances with a number of partner universities and is involved in numerous joint research projects.

History
From 1770 to 1794, the Karlsschule was the only university in Stuttgart. Since its founding in 1818, Stuttgart's oldest university has been the University of Hohenheim. The eruption of the Indonesian volcano Mount Tambora in 1815 triggered a global climate change and was one of the causes of the massive famine suffered in the Kingdom of Württemberg at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1818 King William I of Württemberg set up an Agricultural Academy in Hohenheim to radically improve general nutrition in the kingdom through teaching, experimentation and demonstration and, in so doing, laid the foundation for the University of Hohenheim. At that time, there were 18 students enrolled and a staff of three professors. It is not connected to or affiliated with the University of Stuttgart (founded in 1829), although there is collaboration between the two.

The first director of the academy was Johann Nepomuk Schwerz, and it was located in Hohenheim Palace, built by Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg.

In 1847 the institution was designated as holding the rank of an "Academy of Agriculture and Forestry". In 1904 the name was changed to "Agricultural College". Hohenheim College was awarded the right to confer doctorates in 1918 and habilitations in 1919. With the appointment of Margarete von Wrangell to the chair for plant nutrition in 1923, she became the first female full professor at a German university. During the period of national socialism, the university was brought into line with the party’s ideology, and it was forced to close in 1945.

Architecturally, the university that re-opened its doors in 1946 had survived World War II relatively undamaged. In 1964 the faculties of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Sciences were created, followed in 1968 by the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences. Hohenheim has enjoyed university status since 1967 when it became known as Universität Hohenheim.

Today there are approximately 9,000 students and a teaching staff of around 900, of which slightly more than 100 are professors. Over 2,000 people now work at the university. The current rector of the university is the agricultural economist Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert (born June 23, 1958), who took office on April 1, 2012.

Location
The University of Hohenheim is located in southwest Germany, in the district of Plieningen on the southern rim of Baden in Württemberg’s capital, Stuttgart. It was named the most beautiful campus university in Baden-Württemberg in 2009 and is generally acknowledged as having one of the most picturesque campuses in the country. The baroque palace, the University's emblem and its main building, is surrounded by historic parklands and botanical gardens, including the historic Landesarboretum Baden-Württemberg.
The campus is close to the light rail line U3 station Plieningen Garbe (Stuttgart Stadtbahn) and is within minutes of the Stuttgart airport, Stuttgart Exhibition Center and major motorways.

Research
The university currently pursues research in the fields of health, nutrition, agriculture, consumer protection and environmental protection, as well as economics and communication.

Areas of particular importance include:

 Agricultural and nutritional sciences within the food chain
 Biobased products and bioenergy from agriculture
 Biological signals
 Bioeffector research Biofector
 Innovation and services

University networks
The university is active in academic alliances and is a member of both the ELLS and the HERMES university networks.

ELLS
The University of Hohenheim was co-founder of the Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS) which was established in 2001. This university life sciences network presently includes the following members:

 University of Hohenheim (UHOH), Stuttgart, Germany
 University of Copenhagen Faculty of Science (KU), Copenhagen, Denmark
 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden
 University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Austria
 Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), the Netherlands
 Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CULS), Czech Republic and
 Warsaw University of Life Science (SGGW), Poland.
 University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany.
 Szent István University, Gödöllö, Hungary

Main fields of co-operation in ELLS are:

 joint curriculum development
 student and staff mobility
 pooling of expertise
 quality assurance
 development of university policy and strategy
 internationalization

HERMES
The HERMES (Higher Education and Research in Management of European UniversitieS) network is a strategic alliance of 18 leading European universities in 11 countries. Its goal is to offer dual degree programs in Management on all academic levels: Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral studies.

The participating universities work closely together in defining their study programs, exchanging professors and organizing joint research projects. Each year, this network holds an annual conference at one of the partner universities, where common programs are defined and achievements are reported.

Scientific Centers of the University
 Life Science Center
 Eastern Europe Center (EEC)
 Center for Bioenergy and Biobased Products
 Competence Center for Plant Breeding
 Center for Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics
 Food Security Center
 Center for Research on Innovation and Services
 Competence Center Gender and Nutrition

Museums
The university’s museums are open to the general public. Visitors can take a tour through the history of agriculture in the German Agricultural Museum, which encompasses 5,700 sq.m. of covered exhibition space. The Zoological and Veterinary Museum has a collection of teaching aids and curiosities on display in a traditional exhibition in the palace. Set in the Exotic Garden of the university, the Hohenheim History Museum in the Spielhaus tells the history of the municipality, the palace and the university.

Special characteristics
 The University of Hohenheim has been accredited as being a family-oriented university since 2004.
 The university possesses its own cemetery, where professors were buried a long time ago. Today it is used very rarely.
 According to a survey conducted to elect the most beautiful campus in Germany, the university could reach the 7th place in the overall placings in 2009. Therefore, it is seen as one of the most beautiful campuses in Baden-Württemberg.
 The university hosts the Josef G. Knoll Visiting Professorship for Development Studies, a chair endowed by Senator Herman Eiselen. The first holder, Prof. Dr. Patrick Webb, established a programme of teaching and research from 1996 through 1998. He was succeeded by Prof. Dr. Dieter Neubert (1999/2000), Prof. Dr. Heinz-Rüdiger Korff (2000–2004), and PD Dr. Thomas Berger (2004–2007).

Notable professors and alumni
 Enno Bahrs (born 1967), is an agricultural scientist and economist, and tax expert, at the University
 Stephan Dabbert (born 1958), German agricultural economist and Rector of the University
 Werner Doppler (born 1941), German agricultural and economical scientist
 Wilhelm Hertenstein (1825–1888), Swiss politician and President of the Confederation 1888
 Winfried Kretschmann (born 1948), German politician of the Green Party of Germany, Minister-President of the state of Baden-Württemberg since 2011
 Abdul Ghafar Lakanwal, Afghan cabinet minister
  Hans-Peter Liebig (1945), German agricultural scientist and Rektor of the University 2002-2012
 Uwe Ludewig (born 1967), German agricultural scientist and Director of the Institute of Crop Science Hohenheim
 Stefan Mappus (born 1966), German politician from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was Minister-President (“Governor”) of the state of Baden-Württemberg 2010-2011
 Torsten Müller (born 1962), German agricultural scientist and Dean of Education of the Agricultural Science Faculty in Hohenheim
 Guenter Neumann (born 1958), German plant physiologist and scientific coordinator of the EU Research Project Biofector
 Manfred G. Raupp (born 1941), German agricultural and economical scientist
 Volker Roemheld (1941–2013), German agricultural scientist, plant physiologist and soil biologist at Hohenheim University
 Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (1845–1923), German physicist, discoverer of X-rays
 Satyabrata Sarkar (born 1928), Indian virologist
 Jürgen Stark (born 1948), German economist and prior chief economist of the European Central Bank
 Ralf T. Voegele (born 1963), German biologist and Dean of the Agricultural Science Faculty in Hohenheim
 F. Wolfgang Schnell (1913–2006), German professor of applied genetics and plant breeding
 Markus Weinmann (* 1974), German agricultural scientist in the area of Plant Physiology
 Margarete von Wrangell (1877–1932), Baltic German agricultural chemist and the first female full professor at a German university
 Juergen Zeddies (born 1942), is a German agricultural economist and Emeritus of the University

References

External links
Official site

Category:1818 establishments in Germany
Category:Agricultural universities and colleges in Germany
University of Hohenheim
Category:Educational institutions established in 1818
Category:Universities in Germany
Category:Universities and colleges in Baden-Württemberg


Rapid increase in multidrug-resistant enteric bacilli blood stream infection after prostate biopsy - A 10-year population-based cohort study.
Bloodstream infection following a transrectal prostate biopsy is a well-known and feared complication. Previous studies have shown an increase in multi-resistant bacterial infections as a consequence of higher usage of antibiotics in investigated populations. Our aim was to analyze bacterial resistance patterns in positive blood cultures, after prostate biopsies in Stockholm, Sweden, where the use of antibiotics has been low and decreasing during the last 10 years. From the three pathology laboratories in Stockholm, reports of prostate examinations were retrieved (n = 56,076) from 2003 to 2012. By linking men to the National Patient Register all but prostate core biopsies were excluded (n = 12,024). Prostate biopsies in men younger than 30 years of age were excluded (n = 5) leaving 44,047 biopsies for analysis. From laboratory information systems data regarding blood cultures were retrieved. Proportions of blood cultures within 30 days by year were calculated. Crude and adjusted logistic regression models were used to estimate ORs. In total, 44,047 prostate biopsies were performed in 32,916 men over 10 years. On 620 occasions a blood culture was drawn within 30 days of the biopsy; 266 of these were positive. The proportions with positive blood cultures in 2003 and 2012 were 0.38 and 1.14%, respectively. The proportion of multidrug-resistant bacteria increased significantly during the study. In the crude and the adjusted analysis, the year of biopsy and Charlson Comorbidity Index were associated with the risk of having a positive blood culture. Multidrug-resistant enteric bacilli are becoming a problem in Sweden, despite low antimicrobial use. Men need to be informed about the increasing risks of infectious complications of transrectal prostate biopsy. One out of 50 men undergoing a prostate biopsy will develop symptoms suggestive of a bloodstream infection after the biopsy and one in 100 men will have a positive blood culture.


Two British women injured in Zanzibar acid attack

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Men riding a motorbike threw acid at two British teenage girls in Tanzania's semi-autonomous Zanzibar region, leaving them with facial, chest and back injuries, a senior police official said on Thursday.

The pair, both 18 and from England's northern city of Manchester according to police in the Indian Ocean archipelago, were flown to Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

They had been volunteering at a local school in Zanzibar, an island that is popular with international tourists but has suffered a wave of deadly protests last year as supporters of an Islamist group repeatedly clashed with the police.

Britain is concerned about Wednesday's attack and is "in contact with the Tanzanian authorities", the Foreign Office said in a statement.

The police described the attack as "an isolated incident", refusing to link it to rising religious tension on the island between majority Muslims and its Christian population.

"The attackers approached the girls as they were walking on a street at around 7:15 p.m. and threw acid at them," Zanzibar Urban West regional police commander Mkadam Khamis Mkadam told Reuters. "The incident occurred when the streets were deserted as most people were breaking their Ramadan fast."

Television images showed one girl obviously in pain in the back of a car at the Zanzibar airport.

"The victims sustained facial, chest and back injuries from the acid attack," Mkadam said.

The Britons were expected to fly home on Thursday.

The attack comes during the tourist season in the historic town and after a Zanzibar Muslim leader, Sheikh Fadhil Suleiman Soraga, was hospitalized with acid burns in a November attack.

Two Christian leaders were killed early this year in separate attacks.

A separatist group in Zanzibar, Uamsho (Awakening), is pushing for the archipelago to exit from its 1964 union with mainland Tanzania, which is ruled as a secular country. Uamsho wants to introduce Islamic Sharia law in Zanzibar.

Supporters of the group have engaged in running street battles with the police in the past, but authorities have not linked the group with the attacks on Christian clerics.


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ISPMT Function

The ISPMT function is one of the financial functions. It is used to calculate the interest payment for a specified period of an investment based on a constant payment schedule.

The ISPMT function syntax is:

ISPMT(rate, per, nper, pv)

where

rate is the interest rate for the investment.

per is the period you want to find the interest payment for. The value must be from 1 to nper.

nper is a number of payments.

pv is a present value of the payments.

Note: cash paid out (such as deposits to savings) is represented by negative numbers; cash received (such as dividend checks) is represented by positive numbers. Units for rate and nper must be consistent: use N%/12 for rate and N*12 for nper in case of monthly payments, N%/4 for rate and N*4 for nper in case of quarterly payments, N% for rate and N for nper in case of annual payments.

The numeric values can be entered manually or included into the cell you make reference to.

To apply the ISPMT function,

select the cell where you wish to display the result,

click the Insert function  icon situated at the top toolbar,

or right-click within a selected cell and select the Insert Function option from the menu,

or click the  icon situated at the formula bar,

select the Financial function group from the list,

click the ISPMT function,

enter the required arguments separating them by commas,

press the Enter button.

The result will be displayed in the selected cell.


1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a piston mechanism. More particularly, the invention relates to a piston for such a mechanism with a flow passage therethrough.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a piston mechanism allows the sucking in or intake of gaseous medium into the cylinder through the piston without an extra valve in the piston.
BE-A-378.946 describes a compressor with such a piston mechanism. However, the passage in the piston only extends partly thereover, namely from the front side up to an opening in the side which, in the utmost extended position, is not yet situated at the back side of the piston. Consequently, this passage does not open at the back side of the piston.
Gaseous medium is sucked in via chambers situated on the outside of the cylinder and consequently not via the crank chamber which is filled with oil. This oil serves to lubricate the bearings with which the piston rod is connected to the crank shaft and the piston. Hereby, the heating of the bearings is avoided, but traces of oil will be present in the obtained compressed air, which is not desirable for certain applications.
The presence of chambers at the outside of the cylinder and the use of oil to lubricate do not make the construction simple.
The gaseous medium which is sucked in through the passage flows along the wall of the cylinder which may be rather hot during operation, resulting in the heating of the medium, disadvantageously affecting the efficiency of the compressor.
A piston mechanism whereby the piston is provided with a passage which opens at the rear side of the piston and whereby the piston ring forms a valve in the passage is known from CH-A-308,083. However, this piston mechanism is not of the type concerned by the invention because the piston is stiffly connected with the piston rod and a crank chamber is not present. Therefore, such a piston mechanism does not show the problem of heating of the bearings.


The Baltimore experience with laparoscopic management of acute cholecystitis.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has rapidly emerged as a popular alternative to traditional laparotomy and cholecystectomy. Acute cholecystitis has been considered to be a relative or absolute contraindication to laparoscopic surgery. After gaining extensive experience in laparoscopic biliary tract surgery, this procedure was attempted in 15 patients with acute cholecystitis. All patients were operated on within 72 hours of admission. In five patients, the laparoscopic procedure was converted to an open laparotomy; in one patient, a localized abscess was found, and in the other four patients, extensive inflammation and edema precluded a safe dissection of the vascular and ductal structures. Laparoscopic cholangiography was performed in 14 patients and proved valuable in demonstrating the ductal anatomy. Patients were discharged an average of 2.7 days after the laparoscopic procedure. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy may be safely performed by experienced surgeons in patients with acute cholecystitis. To ensure a low complication rate, a low threshold for converting the procedure to an open laparotomy must be maintained if the ductal and vascular anatomy cannot be safely demonstrated.


Q:

Add numbers to the beginning of lists

I have a list of list, say X, that looks like this
X_train = [[4,3,1,5], [3,1,6,2], [5,0,49,4], ... , [3,57,3,3]]

I wrote this piece of code
for x in range(0,len(X_train)):
    X_train[x].insert(0, x+1)

For each list in X this code inserts the index value of the list + 1 to the beginning of the list. That is, running
for x in range(0,len(X_train)):
    X_train[x].insert(0, x+1)
print(X)

will produce the following output
[[1,4,1,5],[2,3,1,6,2],[3,5,0,49,4],...,[n,3,57,3,3]]

where n is the number of lists in X.
Question: Is there a faster way to do this? I would like to be able to do this for very large lists, e.g. list with millions of sublists (if that's possible).

A:

This is faster in my testing:
X = [[n, *l] for n, l in enumerate(X, 1)]


I feel a big part of Bitcoin's success derives from more of a political standpoint rather than a viable investment option. With garnered support from celebrity leftists, on top of mainstream libertarians, the media has turned investing in Bitcoins and other crypto currencies, into a kind of “Don’t Tread on Me” political statement. With all the tribulations the global economy is facing today, thanks to central banks, it’s no wonder why so many people are eating up the political hype surrounding the Bitcoin and how it represents a revolutionary movement. Movements can bring great changes, but they can also flop, and as an investor, I have to ask myself, is Bitcoin an investment trend that is here to stay and revolutionize the marketplace, or is it just a maturing fad fueled by the ongoing hype that promotes it?

The Value in Bitcoin The thing about Bitcoin is that it is really not much different than investing in a company on the stock market. Stocks have a finite amount of shares for distribution (authorized shares), but there are also derivatives that supply the market’s demand, and acts as a hedge for shareholders. There will ultimately be a finite amount of Bitcoins (21 Million), and just like the stock exchange, I can see fractional reserve banking methods taking shape in the future to meet supply and demand. Ultimately a handful of corporations/banks will end up controlling the majority share of Bitcoin (similar to what happened with Gold), and people will end up trading derivatives of Bitcoin. This could cause the value of Bitcoins to skyrocket like gold, but unlike tangible commodities like gold and other precious metals, coffee, corn, sugar, oil, etc., Bitcoin has no intrinsic value. Bitcoin also isn’t backed by anything with intrinsic value either, which makes me feel like Bitcoin is more of a virtual commodity or faux commodity than it is a new form of currency. Personally I see Bitcoin as an investment option that is maybe a rung or two above trading cards and other collectibles, but then again you are able to hold your trading cards and collectibles in hand. If more people were familiar with how the stock market works, they would be able to see that Bitcoin’s value is sustained by the volume within the exchange. The large amount of volume is created by ongoing press releases and fandom by those who believe in the Bitcoin ideology. There is no business creating products/services behind the bitcoins, like there is with shares in the stock market (not all stocks). So take away the consistent press releases that drive Bitcoin hype and the volume will subside. What you are left with is an unregistered, self-regulating (no connection with the SEC rules, just digital algorithms), uninsured, and highly volatile investment “security” that has no intrinsic value or backed by anything of intrinsic value, that only exists in virtual reality. The hardcore fans would end up being the only participants in this computer simulated form of coin collecting.The Test of Time Some economists say Bitcoin is susceptible to deflation. I believe it is inevitable, because it is literally a religion currency. It will only retain value so long as people continue to have faith in it. It is a borderline Ponzi scheme, because it will need to continue to attract new money into the system in order for the value to continue to grow. The fact that there is a finite amount of authorized Bitcoins that will be created (a very small amount at that), this means the value of Bitcoins can easily spike. We have seen this happen at least a few times now where it has hit over a thousand USD by Mar2014. Since there is such a relatively small supply of authorized Bitcoins, there will be more of an incentive to save them than to spend them , creating a why spend today if it’s going to have more value tomorrow paradox. My speculation is that there will eventually be a handful of majority shareholders, and those who are still interested in the virtual commodity by that time will be trading a diluted form of the currency and/or derivatives. I believe the dilution is what will ultimately kill the faith in the currency, and deflation will be the end result. This happens all the time to micro-cap stocks, whose hype has subsided. So Are You Saying Screw Bitcoin? Bitcoin is the investment choice of the SHTF demographic, so this means we may see more spikes like we did at the end of 2013: · Whenever there is impending “doom and gloom” in world news · Around the end of each fiscal year · During Election time · Emergence of new Federal laws/policies that restrict/modify our current rights, or contradicts the constitution · When there is news of war · If there is negative news on Wall Street These are just a handful of catalysts that I believe drive Bitcoin’s price volatility. So what’s the bottom line with Bitcoin? At the risk of sounding like a complete cop out on the subject, mostly because I am just providing my analysis & not financial advice, I will leave you with this statement:

Those who really know what they are doing in Bitcoin will hold money, and those who don’t know what they are doing in Bitcoin will virtually hold nothing.


Our mission at Delectable Planet is to encourage people to eat lower on the food chain to support environmental sustainability, increase social justice and be healthy. We have a collection of vegan recipes – all in video form – so you can make these delectable good for you and good for the world dishes!