Current mobile communication systems follow market trends in that new mobile communication systems are structured with radio signal technology based on new communication systems so as to respond to demands for an increase in speed and capacity in communication. However, the introduction of a new mobile communication system requires that the existing mobile communication system be sequentially changed to the new mobile communication system in accordance with market trends without a significant change thereof, and that a plurality of types of the new mobile communication system be used in combination.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network configuration of a mobile communication system, in which two mobile communication systems of a 3G (Third Generation) system 100 and an LTE (Long-Term Evolution) system 200 as one of new mobile communication systems having increased speed and bandwidth compared with the 3G system, are provided concurrently.
For example, the 3G system 100 comprises: an RNC (radio network controller) 120 having a control function of controlling a radio network; an IP-RNC 120a; a BTS 110 having a function of managing and converting a radio signal; and an IP-BTS 110a. With radio signals based on a 3 G communication system, the BTS-110 and the IP-BTS 110a in the 3G system 100 are linked to a mobile terminal 1 (referred to as 3G-MS in FIG. 1).
The LTE system 200 comprises: an aGW (access gateway) 220 having a function of switching the radio signal and controlling a part of a radio network and a BTS 210 (referred to as an LTE-BTS in FIG. 1) having a function of managing and converting the radio signal. With an IP protocol, the LTE-BTS 210 in the LTE system 200 is linked to the aGW 220 as a higher-level device. Further, using a radio signal based on LTE-system communication, the LTE-BTS 210 can be linked to a mobile terminal 2 (referred to as LTE-MS in FIG. 1).
The 3G system 100 is linked to the LTE system 200 via an MSC (mobile Switching Center) 910 having a function of switching a radio signal of a core network 900 (referred to as CN), an IASA (Inter Access System Anchor) 920 that manages connection between different systems, and the aGW 220.
As the network example, the BTS 110 and the IP-BTS 110a are base transceiver stations (BTSs) that control the mobile terminal 1 (3G-MS) using a radio signal in conformity with a communication system of the 3G system 100. The LTE-BTS 210 is a base transceiver station that controls the mobile terminal 2 (LTE-MS) using a radio signal in conformity with a communication system of the LTE system 200, the mobile terminal 1 (3G-MS) and the mobile terminal 2 (LTE-MS) need to be simultaneously controlled by the same base transceiver station so that seamless communication of data is achieved between the mobile terminal 1 (3G-MS) and the mobile terminal 2 (LTE-MS) using radio signals based on different communication systems.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a base transceiver station (BTS), in which the BTS 110 in the 3G system 100 is depicted as a representative example.
The base transceiver station 110 includes a radio equipment control 111 (REC) that allows communication of data with the RNC 120 as a higher-level device, the mobile terminal 1 (3G-MS), and the radio equipment 112 (RE) that performs radio communication using a radio signal in conformity with the communication system for 3G system. The RE 112 is set for, e.g., an underground mall. Thus, the mobile terminal 1 can also be used at a place where radio waves do not sufficiently reach from the setting position of the REC 111. In general, a plurality of the REs 112 are disposed and are connected to one REC 111, via a communication link 8 using, for example, an optical fiber. The REC 111 transmits and receives data corresponding to the radio signal for the 3G system to the RE 112 via the communication link 8, thereby achieving communication of data with the RNC 120 as a higher-level device.
Regarding the installation manner of the base terminal station (BTS), in general, the radio equipment control (REC) and the radio equipment (RE) are set apart from each other and are connected with a one-to-n correspondence using optical fibers. The number of cases where a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) is used as an interface for the communication link between the REC and the RE, has increased. The CPRI Specification V2.1 discloses the details of the CPRI.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an outline of a communication protocol defined by the CPRI.
As for data (IQ data), an “IQ Data” frame of Layer 2 and “User Plane” of Layer 3 are used. Further, an HDLC frame of “LAPB Protocol” of the Layer 2 and “Control & Management Plane” of the Layer 3 are used for transmission and reception of monitoring control data in order to maintain and monitor the RE 112. A “Vender Specific” frame of the Layer 2 is used for a specific purpose by a vender. Hereinbelow, a transfer frame for transmitting and receiving the data (IQ data) is referred to as an IQ data frame, a transfer frame for transmitting and receiving the monitoring control data is referred to as an HDLC frame, and a transfer frame for transmitting and receiving the “Vender Specific” data is referred to as a VS frame.
The details of the communication protocol defined by the CPRI are disclosed in the CPRI Specification V2.1. Herein, a description thereof is thus omitted.


Anti-Trident protesters blockade world’s biggest arms fair in London Anti-Trident protesters blockaded the ExCel London exhibition centre and tried to create an makeshift peace garden ahead of the world’s […]

Anti-Trident protesters blockaded the ExCel London exhibition centre and tried to create an makeshift peace garden ahead of the world’s largest arms fair.

Delegates from countries across the globe including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, international armed forces and the world’s 10 biggest arms companies are set to gather at the Defence and Security Equipment International event which starts on 12 September.

Our taxpayers’ money is being used to arm those involved in wars and repression. The i newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription. Angie Zelter, Trident Ploughshares

The Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon and the International Trade Secretary Liam Fox will be among speakers at the four-day event for buyers and sellers of military equipment, along with the chiefs of staff of the British armed forces.

Thousands of protesters are expected to take action in the days leading up to the conference.

A Met Police spokesman said a total of 25 people were arrested at the centre this morning for offences including obstructing the highway.

Trident Ploughshares said six of its members were arrested as they blocked an entrance to the centre in Docklands, east London.

Trident Ploughshares aged from 27 to 71 locked on to each other using plastic tubes and prevented traffic carrying materials for the event from entering the centre for 90 minutes.

Margaret Bremner, 63, from the group said: “The sale of arms shows that the value of money is being put before people’s lives. We must campaign for dignity, respect, peace and justice in our world.”

A campaign called Stop the Arms Fair is aiming to stop weapons from arriving at the centre.

Nuclear weapons

Trident Ploughshares said its action this morning was aimed at highlighting the “involvement of the world’s biggest arms manufacturers in production operation and maintenance of Britain’s nuclear weapons”.

Angie Zelter of Trident Ploughshares said: “Our taxpayers’ money is being used to arm those involved in wars and repression.”

On Monday, another group of six protesters including a Methodist clergywoman were arrested outside the centre, according to thet Campaign Against the Arms Trade, as they stepped out in front of a lorry.

More than 1,600 makers and sellers of weapons and military equipment will exhibit at the event, which will include “a range of exciting showcases and demonstrations” according to the event website.


Your Medical History On A Microchip

The idea is to put together records that patients control and manage
themselves, collecting data from different providers and sharing it as
they see fit. Consumers surveyed by the group Connecting for Health
became receptive to the idea of electronic medical records after
viewing an ad showing a man falling from a ladder with the caption
“You have three seconds to remember every doctor you’ve ever seen,
every procedure you’ve ever undergone and every medicine you’ve ever
taken.” In addition to recording vital information such as next-of-kin
contacts and lists of allergies, patients could use the records to
track their own immunizations and note any mistakes in their doctor’s
records.

Step by step the National Health Information Infrastructure will get built.


Effect of fitness on cardiac structure and function in overweight and obesity (the FATCOR study).
Obesity is associated with reduced left ventricular (LV) systolic myocardial function. We aimed to explore by means of a cross-sectional study whether this effect is offset in the presence of good fitness. We studied clinical and echocardiographic data from 469 overweight (body mass index [BMI] >27 kg/m2) and obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) women and men without known cardiovascular (CV) disease in the FAT associated CardiOvasculaR dysfunction (FATCOR) study. The participants were grouped according to obesity and sex- and age adjusted peak oxygen uptake, obtained by ergospirometry. LV systolic myocardial function was assessed by peak systolic global longitudinal strain (GLS) measured by speckle tracking echocardiography. The association of fitness with GLS was tested in logistic regression analyses and reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). In the total study population, participants were 47 years old, 60% were women, and mean BMI was 32.0 kg/m2. GLS did not differ between fit and unfit subjects within the overweight and obese groups (both p > 0.05), but the overweight fit group had higher GLS (more negative value) compared to the obese unfit group (-20.1 ± 2.6 vs. -19.0 ± 3.0, p < 0.05). In obese subjects, fitness was associated with higher GLS (OR 0.88 [95% CI 0.79-0.99, p < 0.05) in multivariable logistic regression analysis, independent of significant associations with higher arterial stiffness and lower fat percentage (all p < 0.05). In the overweight group, fitness was not significantly associated with GLS. In obesity, fitness was independently associated with higher GLS, while no association was found in overweight. URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.govNCT02805478.


Anastomotic Leakage and Chronic Presacral Sinus Formation After Low Anterior Resection: Results From a Large Cross-sectional Study.
Little is known about late detected anastomotic leakage after low anterior resection for rectal cancer, and the proportion of leakages that develops into a chronic presacral sinus. In this collaborative snapshot research project, data from registered rectal cancer resections in the Dutch Surgical Colorectal Audit in 2011 were extended with additional treatment and long-term outcome data. Independent predictors for anastomotic leakage were determined using a binary logistic model. A total of 71 out of the potential 94 hospitals participated. From the 2095 registered patients, 998 underwent a low anterior resection, of whom 88.8% received any form of neoadjuvant therapy. Median follow-up was 43 months (interquartile range 35-47). Anastomotic leakage was diagnosed in 13.4% within 30 days, which increased to 20.0% (200/998) beyond 30 days. Nonhealing of the leakage at 12 months was 48%, resulting in an overall proportion of chronic presacral sinus of 9.5%. Independent predictors for anastomotic leakage at any time during follow-up were neoadjuvant therapy (odds ratio 2.85; 95% confidence interval 1.00-8.11) and a distal (≤3 cm from the anorectal junction on magnetic resonance imaging) tumor location (odds ratio 1.88; 95% confidence interval 1.02-3.46). This cross-sectional study of low anterior resection for rectal cancer in the Netherlands in 2011, with almost routine use of neoadjuvant radiotherapy, shows that one third of anastomotic leakages is diagnosed beyond 30 days, and almost half of the leakages eventually do not heal. Chronic presacral sinus is a significant clinical problem that deserves more attention.


Pablo Pauly

Pablo Pauly (born 24 January 1991) is a French actor.

Theater

Filmography

References

External links

Category:1991 births
Category:Living people
Category:French male film actors


Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I'm a little tired from travelling in Southeast Asia for a month, and although I should be taking advantage of my little vacation in the region before I go home, I'm resting in my room and contemplating a nap. I'm also contemplating the ubiquity of English and thinking about how it's used around the world. I've been in Indonesia for the last week, and it's really interesting to me to see how much English has infiltrated their language, Bahasa Indonesia. A colleague told me the other day how they're trying to get rid of all the Dutch words in their language. The Dutch colonised this area for about 400 years. I don't know enough Dutch to see all its influence, but there are a few I can pick up, such as the word for bus stop, halte. It surprises me that they're more concerned about the Dutch influence than the English. You can take a yellow bas sekolah to get to school, and maybe you wouldn't be allowed to eat an apel while you're on the bus, but you might find it in your lunch. Sometimes a teksi is more flexible about what you can eat if you're running late for work perhaps, and need to get there in a jiffy. There are many places where you can find seks, but instead you can always find many other places where they serve fresh fruit jus of various kinds, and you can make them colder with es if you need to. There are many more like this that I can't remember off the top of my head, but I do find it funny. Generally a language will not have a word for which the speakers of that language have no concept, which is why many languages will adopt words from a language if they have been colonised, and often from English whether or not they have been colonised, and then those words are given a spelling and/or pronunciation to make it fit with the local language. It's quite entertaining. That still doesn't explain the Dutch.

My cousin in India suggested to me that Indian style English may soon become the norm because there are so many speakers of that style. Isn't that a scary thought! We'll have to read the Samosapedia dictionary to start practising now! :o)


Rising Star (Indian TV series)

Rising Star is an Indian version of the international franchise series Rising Star, a reality television singing competition.

This is the first reality television show in India which involves live audience voting. Votes can be sent through Colors TV app (Season 1) and Voot app.(Season 2- )

Popular playback singer and music director Shankar Mahadevan, actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh and playback singer Monali Thakur formed the trio of experts. Monali was later replaced by Neeti Mohan in the third installment of the show. This show marked Dosanjh's television debut.

The first season of the show was hosted by singer-actor Meiyang Chang and dancer-choreographer Raghav Juyal. Popular television actor Ravi Dubey took over the baton in the second season and was replaced by actor-singer Aditya Narayan in the third season.

The show premiered on 4 February 2017 on Colors TV.  The second season started on 20 January 2018. The third installment of the show is set to air from 16 March 2019

Format
In contrast to other singing competition TV shows which feature a cast of celebrity judges, Rising Star features a cast of celebrity experts and considers the viewers at home the judges. During each performance, the audience at home is able to decide in real time whether or not a contestant is sent through to the next round by using a mobile voting app.

While the viewers are considered the "judges", the expert panelists also may influence the vote, but with continuously decreasing percentage votes over the total public vote and not exceeding 5% of the total voting power.

Auditions
The auditions are the first round where the acts are individually called to perform. As a reportage of the announced performer is shown, viewers are invited to register for voting for that specific act. Following a countdown of three seconds, the candidate has to start performing behind a screen called "the wall".

With the start of the performance, the voting kicks in. Registered voters have the option of voting just "yes" or "no". Non-votes are also considered "no" votes. If an expert votes "yes", another 5% is added to the tally of the contestant. The contestants also see random photos of voters in their favour. The faces of panelists voting "yes" are also shown in larger frames.

Once the contestant reaches 80% of "yes" votes, the wall is raised and the contestant goes to the next round of the competition.

Duels
Contestants who make it through the auditions are paired by the judges to face off in a duel. The first contestant sings with the wall up and sets the benchmark for the second contestant. The second contestant sings with the wall down. If the second contestant betters the first contestant's vote total, the wall rises and the second contestant was through to the next round while the first contestant is eliminated; if the second contestant fails to raise the wall, the second contestant is eliminated and the first contestant goes through.

Series overview

See also:Rising Star (Indian season 4)

Color key

Bannet Dosanjh  became India's first Rising Star, winning Rs. 20 lakhs and the opportunity to sing in a movie under Vishesh Films banner. Maithili Thakur was declared as the first runner-up.
Hemant Brijvasi  was adjudged as the winner of the second season. Rohanpreet Singh and Vishnumaya Ramesh were the first and second runners up respectively.
Aftab Singh  was adjudged as the winner of the third season. Diwakar Sharma and Sanjay Satish were the first and second runners up respectively.

Production
On 16 October 2016, Variety reported that Viacom18 had signed a licensing deal with Keshet International for the format rights to Rising Star. The show began airing on Colors TV from 4 February 2017.

References

Category:2010s Indian television series
Category:2016 Indian television series debuts
Category:Hindi-language television programs
Category:Indian reality television series
Category:Music competitions in India
Category:Singing talent shows
Category:Colors (TV channel) series
Category:Rising Star (Indian TV series)
Category:Rising Star (franchise)
Category:Indian television series based on non-Indian television series
Category:Television series by Optimystix Entertainment


Sometimes, when something really bad happened at the State House, I would ask the late Bob Crane why anyone would do something that stupid, and he always had the same answer:

“They can’t help themselves.”

They buried Bob in Wellesley yesterday, but nothing has changed on Beacon Hill. They still can’t help themselves.

On Monday, after the weekly sit-down of the governor and the legislative leadership, House Speaker Bob DeLeo, the unindicted co-conspirator, was asked if new taxes were on the table in FY 2019.

“Much too early to discuss that at all,” he snapped.

Really? DeLeo said this a few days after the Department of Revenue announced that December tax collections came in $527 million above projections. The commonwealth collected more than $3 billion in taxes that month — in other words, over $100 million a day.

Six months into the fiscal year, state tax collections are running $728 million above estimates for the year.

But grabbing $100 million a day is not enough, apparently. It never is. Because these hacks have a disease. They are taxaholics, and they need a 12-step program of their very own. They could have meetings, but they would need a big room, probably Gardner Auditorium.

“One tax is too many,” the payroll patriots could all chant together, “and a thousand are not enough.”

So they’re not ruling out more tax increases, and this is even before the scheduled referendum question on the statewide ballot in November asking the voters to impose a graduated income tax on themselves.

In the hackerama, this proposal is described as a “millionaire tax.” But rest assured, if it passes, by 2021 at the latest you will be defined as a “millionaire,” at least for the purposes of paying state taxes, even if you only make $40,000 a year.

Five times the hacks have tried to bamboozle the taxpayers into picking their own pockets. Five times they have failed. But it’s never over until the hacks win, and this time could be the charm. They’re not making voters as smart as they used to, in case you haven’t noticed.

If the hacks succeed in jacking up the state income tax from 5 percent to 9 percent, do you suppose a lot of the “millionaires” of Massachusetts have some contingency plan?

Like, say, moving?

Consider the strange case of Connecticut. The Nutmeg State’s politicians can’t help themselves either. They’ve been jacking up taxes right and left for years, and the darnedest thing has happened.

The supply of “millionaires” is falling. Go figure.

Last week, the Hartford Courant reported that last year alone 7,944 Connecticut tax-filers fled to Florida. Their average income: $253,187 a year.

Connecticut’s top tax rate is 7 percent. Florida’s is zero. Hmmm, why would all these Connecticut residents suddenly pick the same state to move to?

New Jersey has an even higher top tax rate — 8.97 percent. Meet David Tepper, a hedge-fund billionaire, who lives in the Garden State, or did, until he realized that when you make $3.5 billion a year, which he did in 2013, it might be prudent to relocate to a state with no income tax.

As the Republican leader of the New Jersey Legislature said, “Who can blame him?”

This one guy Tepper moves to Miami Beach, and The New York Times estimates he may have put a $300 million hole in the New Jersey state budget.

But these are just “anecdotes,” as Deval Patrick used to say. Just because they’re voting with their feet in New Jersey and Connecticut, our “millionaires” won’t dare leave the, uh, Hub of the Universe.

Gov. Charlie “Tall Deval” Baker basks in his allegedly high favorability ratings. Apparently, they never poll any MBTA commuters, who are suffering through yet another winter from hell. The new revenues will be spent wisely, on education and transportation. The money will be earmarked, wink wink nudge nudge.

Just ask Senate President Stanley Rosenberg — oh that’s right, he’s not the president anymore. He’s been banished to the State House basement, that bourne from which no traveler does return. Because this is the way it always ends on Beacon Hill.

They can’t help themselves.

Order Howie’s new book, Kennedy Babylon, at howiecarrshow.com


After Chicago sold its parking meters to private Wall Street investors, parking rates doubled, and last year Chicagoans paid $156 million in parking fees – but the city did not see a dime of it.1

Now, Trump wants to take the Chicago failure national in a massive handout to well-connected billionaires. His so-called “infrastructure plan” would sell America’s roads and bridges to Wall Street, political cronies and foreign governments so they can line their pockets with tolls and fees.2

Progressives in Congress have better plans: Creating millions of jobs by repairing crumbling roads, bridges and schools, supporting 21st century clean-energy projects and rebuilding water systems to keep our drinking water safe.3

If we are going to expose Trump’s scam infrastructure plan and build energy around a real alternative, we need to push every Democrat to support these principles.

Almost one decade ago, the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, dropping at least 50 cars stalled in rush-hour traffic more than 60 feet down into the water. Seven people died and dozens were injured.4 Republicans have spent most of the last 10 years blocking Democratic proposals to create millions of jobs by rebuilding crumbling roads and bridges like this one. Now, Trump has hijacked that call with an infrastructure scam that will make working Americans pay even more.

Under Trump’s proposal, Americans would pay to give private corporations a subsidy to buy the infrastructure Americans build and funded.5 We would pay the “Trump tolls” those companies charge to return massive profits to well-connected Wall Street investors.6 And we would pay with poorer health and fewer jobs when those companies focus on projects that maximize profits instead of investing in clean energy from wind and solar, small roads and bridges and repairing water systems that poison children.7

It’s a transparent scam that we have to expose and stop. That's why we are teaming up with our friends from the Millions of Jobs Coalition to unite the resistance around a bold alternative.

Progressives want to spark millions of jobs by rebuilding crumbling schools, bridges and roads, investing in 21st century projects like broadband access, high-speed rail and clean energy such as solar and wind, and repairing water systems that endanger our health – all paid for by making the rich and too-big-to-fail corporations pay their fair share. We need to get every Democrat in Congress to support these commonsense principles and declare that they will oppose any plan that gives a handout to Wall Street billionaires and allow them to impose new fees and tolls on hard-working families.

In short, Trump wants us to pay Wall Street billionaires with tax breaks for the privilege of having them charge us outrageous tolls and fees to drive on our own highway while failing to create jobs in the process.

When corporate politicians talk about public-private partnerships, they usually mean that the public pays the costs and private elites get the benefits. Trump’s only business strategy is to scam working people – whether students at Trump University or the subcontractors he regularly refused to pay for work – in order to line his own pockets.8,9Now, he is taking the standard Republican Wall Street handout approach and putting it on steroids, which will fail to create jobs but help well-connected billionaires.

There are a host of Democratic plans that would create millions of jobs by relying on the same principles. So we are pushing all Democrats in Congress to unite behind a resolution confirming these principles rather than getting lost in the differences between plans. That’s how we will expose Trump’s scam and make it clear that progressive have a bold alternative – but it will only work if enough of us speak out.


Trichotemnomania: obsessive-compulsive habit of cutting or shaving the hair.
A 28-year-old woman presented with a completely hairless scalp. The disorder had started 1 year ago, and at the same time she had developed dysphonia. During the past year, her hair disease had been diagnosed as alopecia areata totalis by many specialists, including several dermatologists. A close inspection of her scalp, however, revealed that no alopecia was present, because all infundibula were filled with a hair shaft that, on microscopic examination, showed cleanly cut surfaces. A scalp biopsy specimen showed completely normal structures. The pubic area was found to be covered with hair stubs of the same length. Therefore, a diagnosis of trichotemnomania was made. This term is derived from Greek thrix (hair), temnein (to cut), and mania (madness). After a stressful life event, the patient had developed both psychogenic dysphonia and the compulsive habit to remove the hair of her scalp, eyebrows, and axillary and pubic areas by shaving. Trichotemnomania is a distinct obsessive-compulsive disorder that should not be confused with trichotillomania. The condition should be taken into account when a supposed alopecia areata looks somewhat unusual.


Oestradiol-induced taste avoidance is the result of a conditioned palatability shift.
Taste avoidances were conditioned in male rats by pairing ingestion of a novel sucrose (0.3 M solution) taste with injections of 17 beta oestradiol (100 micrograms kg-1, s.c.). Following conditioning and prior to a two-bottle choice test (sucrose vs water), taste reactivity responses to three 30 s intraoral sucrose infusions were quantified. A robust conditioned shift in palatability, consisting of reduced ingestive and increased aversive taste reactivity responses, was obtained in the oestradiol group but not the vehicle control group. This conditioned palatability shift was also reflected in subsequent strong avoidance of the sucrose solution in the two-bottle choice test. The findings that oestradiol can condition taste aversions and shift food preferences support a role for oestrogens in the production of anorexia.


Q:

Java Thread Code Issue

I have a Java code which is calling two methods of a class. Like following,
import java.io.*;
class Example
{
 public static void main(String args[])
  {
  try{
FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("1.dat");
DataOutputStream dos = new DataOutputStream(fos);

for(int i =0 ; i < 100 ; i++){
dos.writeInt(i);
}
dos.close();

FileOutputStream fos1 = new FileOutputStream("2.dat");
DataOutputStream dos1 = new DataOutputStream(fos1);

for(int i =100 ; i < 200 ; i++){
dos1.writeInt(i);
}
dos1.close();

Exampless ex = new Exampless();
ex.createArray(0);
ex.ReadData("1.dat");
ex.ReadData("2.dat");

    }catch (Exception e){
  System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
  }
  }
}

class Exampless{

public static int []arr = new int [100] ;
void createArray(int z){
    for(int i =z ; i < z+100 ; i++)
        arr[i-z] = i ;
}
public synchronized void ReadData(String name){
  try{
int cnt = 0;
 FileInputStream fin = new FileInputStream(name);
DataInputStream din = new DataInputStream(fin);
for(int i = 0 ; i < 100 ; i++){
int c = din.readInt();
if(c == arr[i])
cnt++ ;
}

System.out.println("File name: " + name + " No. of Matches: " + cnt) ;
    }catch (Exception e){
  System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
  }
  }
}

In the first method, the code will create a shared array and in the second method it will compare it with a file.
Now, I want to run those two ReadData() methods in a parallel manner, using multiple threads. Can anybody help me do that. Possibly with some code modification.

A:

import java.io.*;
public class Example{
public static void main(String args[]) {
    try {
        FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("1.dat");
        DataOutputStream dos = new DataOutputStream(fos);

        for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
            dos.writeInt(i);
        }
        dos.close();

        FileOutputStream fos1 = new FileOutputStream("2.dat");
        DataOutputStream dos1 = new DataOutputStream(fos1);

        for (int i = 100; i < 200; i++) {
            dos1.writeInt(i);
        }
        dos1.close();

        Exampless.createArray(0); //static method call to set the static arr variable
        Exampless ex1 = new Exampless("1.dat");
        Exampless ex2 = new Exampless("2.dat");
        Thread t1 = new Thread(ex1);
        Thread t2 = new Thread(ex2);
        t1.start(); //calls the run method in ex1 in a new thread
        t2.start();

    } catch (Exception e) {
        System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
    }
}
}

class Exampless implements Runnable {

public static int[] arr = new int[100];
public String _name;

public Exampless(String name) {
    this._name = name;
}

static void createArray(int z) {
    for (int i = z; i < z + 100; i++) {
        arr[i - z] = i;
    }
}

@Override
public void run() {
    try {
        int cnt = 0;
        FileInputStream fin = new FileInputStream(_name);
        DataInputStream din = new DataInputStream(fin);
        for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
            int c = din.readInt();
            if (c == arr[i]) {
                cnt++;
            }
        }
        System.out.println("File name: " + _name + " No. of Matches: " + cnt);
    } catch (Exception e) {
        System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
    }
}

}


DA 00-2788
Released: December 8, 2000
MARKET ENTRY BARRIER STUDIES WILL BE RELEASED AT THE COMMISSION ON
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2000
As announced on December 1, 2000, a public forum will be convened at the FCC to discuss a
series of studies examining the extent, if any, to which small, women- and minority-owned firms in
the communications industry experience market entry barriers. The studies will be presented at a
policy forum on Tuesday, December 12, 2000, from 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM. The policy forum will be
held in the FCC's Commission Meeting Room, TW-C305, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D.C.
The purpose of the forum is to present the findings of the studies. The studies were
commenced pursuant to Section 257 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. § 257, which
requires that the FCC identify and eliminate market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other small
telecommunications businesses, and Section 309(j) of the Act, which requires the FCC to further
opportunities in the allocation of spectrum-based services for small businesses and businesses owned
by women and minorities.
The forum will begin with presentations by the experts who conducted studies, and will be
followed by a roundtable discussion with industry practitioners, civil rights experts, and the authors
to further explore and discuss the findings reached in the reports. A list of the study authors and
expected roundtable participants is attached. FCC Chairman William E. Kennard, Commissioner
Susan Ness, and Commissioner Gloria Tristani will moderate and participate in the roundtable
discussion.
The forum is open to the public, and seating will be available on a first come, first served
basis. At the end of the roundtable, we will provide the audience with an opportunity for a short
question-and-answer period. All interested persons are invited to attend. Individuals with disabilities
may arrange for accommodations by contacting Brian Millin at (202) 418-7426 (Voice), (202) 418-
7365 (TTY), or by sending an email to access@fcc.gov.
Office of General Counsel contacts: Cornell William Brooks, Sharon Bradford Franklin, or
Steven C. Rangel at (202) 418-1700. Office of Communications Business Opportunities contact: C.
Anthony Bush at (202) 418-0990.
Tentative List of Participants
Mr. William Bradford,
University of Washington
Mr. Tom Castro,
El Dorado Communications
Mr. Allen Hammond,
Santa Clara University
Mr. David Honig,
Minority Media Telecommunications Council
Rev. Jesse Jackson,
Rainbow Push Coalition
Ms. Laurie Mason,
Santa Clara University
Rev. Everett C. Parker,
United Church of Christ
Mr. John Relman,
Relman & Associates
Ms. Shelley Sadowsky,
American Women in Radio & Television
Mr. Jon Silverman,
KPMG
Ms. Janet C. Smith,
Ivy Planning Group
Ms. Diane Sutter,
Shooting Star Broadcasting
Mr. Darrell Williams,
Telecommunications Development Fund
Mr. James Winston,
National Assoc. of Black-Owned Broadcasters
Ms. Patricia Worthy,
Howard University
PUBLIC NOTICE
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554


This invention relates to caching data.
Caches improve the performance of microprocessors by storing copies of data that would otherwise be subject to frequent accesses from main memory. Because changes to the data in the cache are not immediately copied back to main memory, the version of data kept in main memory may not be correct. Because a cache typically uses memory chips that have faster access times than those used in main memory, a microprocessor can read and write data in its cache faster than in its main memory. Fast access cache memory chips cost more than slower access main memory chips and so a cache is typically smaller than main memory. Only a portion of the main memory data can reside in the cache at one time. Caches have circuitry to transfer data back and forth from main memory depending on which data the microprocessor is accessing. When data which the microprocessor needs to read or write is not in its cache, the cache decides whether to copy the data from main memory to the cache. Whole groups of contiguous words, known as "lines", are copied at one time into the cache. When the cache is full, lines being copied overwrite old lines.
Cache management is more complicated in multiprocessor systems in which, for example, one microprocessor runs a word processing system while another runs a data base, or two microprocessors run different tasks of a single data base program. Both processors may seek to access the same location in main memory, creating a conflict between the processors' caches.
In the known system illustrated in FIG. 1, the two processors CPU A 10 and CPU B 12 share a common level 2 cache 22. CPU A 10 and CPU B 12 are connected to a common host bus 14 by which they communicate with a cache/memory controller 16. The cache/memory controller manages access to main memory 18 by CPU A and CPU B and by other devices via a PCI bus 20. Each CPU has its own level 1 cache (not shown) which is typically on the same chip as the CPU and is not shared with the other CPU. CPU A and CPU B resolve ownership of the host bus via bus arbitration signals 24. Those same signals are used to resolve conflicts involving the level 1 caches in the two CPUs.
A typical known cache, shown in FIG. 2, has a cache memory 30 holding lines of data 32a-k, each including two or more words 34a-e. The number of lines in the cache and the number of words per line varies from cache to cache.
The typical known cache also includes a tag ram 36, which contains an address 38a-k and a status 40a-k for each line in the cache. Each address is an address in main memory corresponding to the data in the corresponding line in the cache. For example, address 38a may be the main memory address corresponding to the data in line 32a.
The status indicates the validity of the data in the corresponding line. For example, status 40a may contain the status for line 32a. Each status can have one of four values: (1) "modify", which means that a CPU has modified one or more words in the corresponding line, leaving the data in main memory corresponding to that line "stale"; (2) "exclusive", which means that the data is available in only one cache and it is not modified; (3) "shared", which means that the data in the corresponding line is potentially shared with other caches in the system; and (4) "invalid", which means that the data in the corresponding line of the cache is invalid.
Because each CPU has its own cache, the possibility exists for conflict between the caches such as, for example, if CPU B changes data in its cache without changing main memory and CPU A attempts to read the same data from main memory into its cache. Unless the CPUs resolve this conflict, i.e. as shown in FIG. 3 for a known system, CPU A will process stale data. Assume CPU A has control of the host bus, i.e. is the "host master", so CPU A attempts to read from its level 1 cache. CPU A experiences a "read miss", meaning that its level 1 cache does not contain a line corresponding to the address sought to be accessed 52. CPU A tries to read the corresponding line of data from the level 2 cache or from main memory 56 and notifies CPU B of the impending read via the bus arbitration signals. CPU B detects that its level 1 cache contains the line CPU A is about to read and that the status of the line is "modify" which means that the data CPU A is attempting to read from the level 2 cache or main memory is stale. This is called a "hit on modify." CPU B notifies CPU A that the read is to a data line with stale data 58. CPU A completes the read from the level 2 cache or main memory through the cache/memory controller and discards the stale data 60. CPU A transfers control of the host bus to CPU B 62. CPU B writes the modified line to main memory through the cache/memory controller and changes the status of the modified line to "shared" 64. CPU A transfers control of the host memory back to CPU A 66. CPU A reads a line of data into its L1 cache from main memory through the cache/memory controller 68. CPU A then completes the read from its level 1 cache 70. CPU A and B change the status of the line in their L1 caches to "shared."
A similar sequence occurs if CPU A experiences a write miss to its L1 cache 72. The operation follows the same logic described above for steps 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66 and 68, except that in step 64 CPU B changes the status of the requested line in its L1 cache to "invalid" because it knows CPU A is about to write to that line. After CPU A reads the line of data into its L1 cache from main memory, it performs the write to its L1 cache and changes the status of the line in its L1 cache to "modified" 74.


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Angiotensin II signaling pathways mediate expression of cardiac T-type calcium channels.
Recent studies indicate that cardiac T-type Ca2+ current (ICaT) reappears in hypertrophied ventricular cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of angiotensin II (Ang II), a major inducer of cardiac hypertrophy, in the reexpression of T-type channel in left ventricular hypertrophied myocytes. We induced cardiac hypertrophy in rats by abdominal aorta stenosis for 12 weeks and thereafter animals were treated for 2 weeks with losartan (12 mg/kg per day), an antagonist of type 1 Ang II receptors (AT1). In hypertrophied myocytes, we showed that the reexpressed ICaT is generated by the CaV3.1 and CaV3.2 subunits. After losartan treatment, ICaT density decreased from 0.40+/-0.05 pA/pF (n=26) to 0.20+/-0.03 pA/pF (n=27, P<0.01), affecting CaV3.1- and CaV3.2-related currents. The amount of CaV3.1 mRNA increased during hypertrophy and retrieved its nonhypertrophic level after losartan treatment, whereas the amount of CaV3.2 mRNA was unaffected by stenosis. In cultured newborn ventricular cells, chronic Ang II application (0.1 micromol/L) also increased ICaT density and CaV3.1 mRNA amount. UO126, a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase-1/2 (MEK1/2) inhibitor, reduced Ang II-increased ICaT density and CaV3.1 mRNA amount. Bosentan, an endothelin (ET) receptor antagonist, reduced Ang II-increased ICaT density without affecting the amount of CaV3.1 mRNA. Finally, cotreatment with bosentan and UO126 abolished the Ang II-increased ICaT density. Our results show that AT1-activated MEK pathway and autocrine ET-activated independent MEK pathway upregulate T-type channel expression. Ang II-increased of ICaT density observed in hypertrophied myocytes may play a role in the pathogenesis of Ca2+ overload and arrhythmias seen in cardiac pathology.


# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
require 'helper'

class TestChartOrder03 < Test::Unit::TestCase
  def setup
    setup_dir_var
  end

  def teardown
    @tempfile.close(true)
  end

  def test_chart_order03
    @xlsx = 'chart_order03.xlsx'
    workbook    =  WriteXLSX.new(@io)
    worksheet1  = workbook.add_worksheet
    worksheet2  = workbook.add_worksheet
    chart2      = workbook.add_chart(:type => 'bar')
    worksheet3  = workbook.add_worksheet

    chart4      = workbook.add_chart(:type => 'pie',    :embedded => 1)
    chart3      = workbook.add_chart(:type => 'line',   :embedded => 1)
    chart1      = workbook.add_chart(:type => 'column', :embedded => 1)

    # For testing, copy the randomly generated axis ids in the target xls file.
    chart1.instance_variable_set(:@axis_ids, [67913600, 68169088])
    chart2.instance_variable_get(:@chart).
      instance_variable_set(:@axis_ids, [58117120, 67654400])
    chart3.instance_variable_set(:@axis_ids, [58109952, 68215936])

    data = [
            [ 1, 2, 3, 4,  5 ],
            [ 2, 4, 6, 8,  10 ],
            [ 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 ]
           ]

    worksheet1.write('A1', data)
    worksheet2.write('A1', data)
    worksheet3.write('A1', data)

    chart1.add_series(:values => '=Sheet1!$A$1:$A$5')
    chart2.add_series(:values => '=Sheet2!$A$1:$A$5')
    chart3.add_series(:values => '=Sheet3!$A$1:$A$5')
    chart4.add_series(:values => '=Sheet1!$B$1:$B$5')

    worksheet1.insert_chart('E9',  chart1)
    worksheet3.insert_chart('E9',  chart3)
    worksheet1.insert_chart('E24', chart4)

    workbook.close
    compare_for_regression(
      [],
      {
        'xl/charts/chart1.xml' => [ '<c:formatCode', '<c:pageMargins' ],
        'xl/charts/chart2.xml' => [ '<c:formatCode', '<c:pageMargins' ],
        'xl/charts/chart4.xml' => [ '<c:formatCode', '<c:pageMargins' ]
      }
    )
  end
end


Friday, March 23, 2012

We woke up at the crack of dawn to head to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. We had originally planned on taking the train (Darjeeling Ltd anyone?) but unfortunately, without posessing an Indian phone number, it was quite impossible to buy tickets. Dave didn't seem to be too happy to be up that early either.
Our first day together, Dave seemed pretty quiet. About an hour outside of Delhi, we figured out that he did indeed like to talk...about his religion. Dave is Sikh. It was a rather interesting conversation. He wasn't trying to convert us, he just seemed like he wanted us to be educated. He told us how Sikhism is similar and at the same time quite different from Hinduism. He also told us the stories of all of his gods and how he also believed in the Hindu gods. His story came to a climax when he pulled off the road so we could see a shrine. It was quite a large shrine for being in the middle of nowhere!

Almost five hours after our departure, we arrived in Agra and went straight to the ticket booth for the Taj Mahal. Again, we paid an outrageous ticket price but were pleasantly suprised when the transportation from the ticket office to the entrance was free! We paused for a cup of coffee before heading to the compound. There was a separate security line for men and women because despite walking through a metal detector, everyone was patted down, which seems to be a trend in Asia.

The Taj Mahal is as magnificent in person as it looks in the photos. After walking through the courtyard, this is the first view you get:

Of course the sheer size, as well as the ammount of white marble is incredible but what astounded me was the symmetry of the entire compound. From the gardens right down to the inner room, everything mirrors its counterpart. The interesting thing, was that the Taj was designed for his deceased wife. When he died, it was decided that he should be burried with her, however, the construction had not accounted for a second casket during construction. In the inner room, the wife's casket lies right at the center, under the dome, while her husband lies to the left, asymmetrically.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

We met up with our driver for the duration of the trip. We never actually figured out his real name but he told us to call him Dave. We started out the day by going to a monument, because Dave seemed rather perplexed that we had spent the majority of our first day shopping, not sightseeing. He dropped us at Humayun's Tomb. Again, I don't really know the exact history of the thing but it was elaborate and beautiful. The grounds were as magnificent and peaceful as the building itself.

From there, we went to see another monument, which we of course knew nothing about and turned out to be closed anyways. This is the Lotus Temple, aka the Baha'i house of worship.

After appeasing his desire for us to see the monuments of India, Dave conceded and took us to what I refer to as Aladdin's Cave of Treasures. We were promptly picked up by a salesman when we walked in who led us to the scarves.

Buying textiles in India is like having a personal shopper. You get seated on a couch while the salesperson stands on a platform and presents items to you of all different qualities (money).

From the scarves, we were led to the punjabis (tunic shirts), purses, bedspreads, custom fabric and collectibles. It's a good thing we weren't on a schedule because a good hour had passed by the time we actually made our purchases!

After our shoping excursion, Dave took us to Connaught Place which I had read contained some pretty cool specialty stores that export to the US. He dropped us off at a restaurant on a corner and told me to call him when we were finished. Unfortunately, as we sat down to lunch, I realized that I had left my phone in the car. The restaurant was amazing. I had some dry potatoes (meaning not floating in curry) that packed a crazy punch!

We finished lunch and decided to walk around Connaught Place for awhile, which was quite the opposite of what I had read about before the trip. We almost felt as though we were being chased, like in a movie. Everyone stared at us while we were walking down the street and if we paused for a moment, we were assaulted with offers to lead us to the "nearest bazaar". Luckily, we were rescued by Dave, who happened to be circling around. He dropped us off at an English-language bookstore.

It was at this bookstore that I had a horrifying experience with a squatty. Being that most facilities in Indonesia are squatties, I didn't think it would be a problem in India. Boy was I wrong. I asked an employee if they had a restroom I could. He said, yes miss, please follow me and proceeded to lead me out the back of the store to a small shack in the alley. I was not prepared for what I saw when I opened the door.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with squatty potties, they are basically porcelain bowls set down into the ground, where you squat. Usually, they are equipped with a flusher or accompanied by a bucket that you fill up then dump into the squatty.

I opened the door to the shack and was greeted by the unpleasant odor that usually accompanies a squatty. This squatty, however, did not flush. In addition, there was tobacco spit or vomit (I honestly couldn't tell) running down the wall near the mirror. After seeing what I was up against, I suddenly did not have to use the restroom anymore and made a hasty exit through the alley.

Dave obliged and dropped us off at one last market before taking us back to the hotel. We went back to the Paharganj market we had visited the previous night. This time, it was bustling with backpackers who kept disappearing down small dark alleys to find their hostels (which made me all the more grateful that we had not chosen that route).

We capped off the day with a visit to a rooftop cafe in the bazaar. We got up there just as the sun was setting and there were stunning views of the market below.

Monday, March 19, 2012

We decided the best way to tackle the huge city of New Delhi was one neighborhood at a time. We hopped in an autorickshaw or tuk-tuk and rode across town to the Red Fort where it quickly became apparent that we were going to be paying a lot of extra money on this trip, simply for being American. They didn't even try to hide it. At the ticket booth, one line marked Indian Tourists: 10rp while another marked Foreigners: 250rp. Being a tourist, I expected to pay more but I didn't expect it to be so blatantly advertised!

I honestly have no idea what the purpose of this fort was (you have to pay extra for "guides") but I believe that it was part of one of the cities of Delhi (there were seven or eight maybe? ). Here's my favorite picture from the Red Fort:

After we walked around the grounds, we decided to do some shopping. Shopping in India has been on my bucket list so I was psyched to have an entire afternoon devoted to that! From our map, Chiandi Chowk, a big shopping street (which we actually figured out was more of a neighborhood) looked pretty close to where we were. We hopped in a rickshaw (the foot pedal kind) and headed to the spice market.

It was pretty incredible. Shop after shop selling all sorts of things that I recognized and did not, all of which smelled heavenly. We meandered around the market for another hour before heading back to our hotel for lunch. Regrettably, I didn't really document the food that I ate on this trip, but it was all delicious.

Our hotel arranged a tuk-tuk for us for the afternoon to take us for....more shopping! Here is our driver:

We weren't sure exactly where we wanted to go, so he took us to Khan Market which was filled with shops containing all sorts of exported goodies (such as Tide detergent, Honey Bunches of Oats) that are difficult to find in Indonesia. There was also a bounty of English-language bookstores :)

From there, he took us to a local market (not so much for tourists) that I cannot remember the name of. It started with an "S". I loved this market. It seemed more like "real" India, not "tourist" India. Here was one of the few places that we saw women walking around. It was a Sunday afternoon and it was crowded. Check it out:

As the day drew to a close, he dropped us by the market near our hotel so that we could pick up some tea at a normal price. We were staying in an area called Paharganj and the main market was just across from the train station. Here, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. There were textile shops all over, filled to the brim with colorful, embroidered, dyed works of art. It took a lot of restraint not to buy one entire store! More on this market later (we went back a few times :)

Sunday, March 11, 2012

We made it to India! Our car is picking us up soon, so here are just a few first impressions:

1. Driving. The first thing that struck me straight off, was the traffic. After living and driving in Indonesia, I didn't think anything on the road could suprise me. I was wrong. In Indonesia, motorbikes rule the road and cars are just in the way. Here, traffic is constantly flowing. Everything that moves (cars, motorcycles, cows, bikes, horses, rickshaws and dogs) are all in a race for a very small number of spots on the road.

2. Man-love. I'm sure it's a cultural thing and there's a perfectly logical explanation that I haven't found yet, but guys are pretty close here. Close, as in holding hands while crossing the street.

3. Cleanliness. Travel shows, friends, and guidebooks alike all caution travelers about how dirty this country is. So far, I have been pleasantly suprised. Perhaps, living in Indonesia has altered my perception on what is considered clean. Don't worry, I'm not going to go drink out of a water faucet or eat anything questionable off the side of the street, but there's not an overabundance of trash litering the streets, the street food stalls all seem to be washing their equipment on a regular basis, and my feet were only a slightly different color at the end of the day.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Each year, Mountainview elementary students temporarily pause their social studies to pick up with their country of choice to learn about art, language, culture and customs. The month-long study culminates in two events: Travel Day and International Day. For our International Day performance, after a unit on France, my students prepared an original Madeleine skit and song.


Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The following is guest post by Briana Cairco, a freshman at Clemson University enrolled in Dr. Barrett's Creative Inquiry course focused on amphibian conservation.

My name is Briana Cairco, I’m a freshman wildlife and
fisheries major and entomology minor at Clemson University in South Carolina.
This semester I’ve have the wonderful opportunity to take a Creative Inquiry
class studying the effects of exurbanization on salamanders in Appalachia. As
you may or may not know, the Appalachian Mountains are home to more species of
salamander than any other place on earth, so there is no better place to study
salamanders than in our own backyard.

So, what is exurbanization? Exurbanization is basically
urban sprawl, people like having the amenities of the city, but want to live in
a more rural area. So, land outside of cities is developed to provide easy
access to the city, and a more natural environment to live in. This process may
be the best of both worlds for humans, but these exurban communities can
decimate the ecosystem they’re in. These communities may not seem so bad at
first glance, but when you consider the sedimentation from the construction,
the runoff from fertilized lawns, the increased salinity from road salt, and so
many other factors that impact the streams, the threat these communities pose
to amphibians is very real. Our goal this semester is to sample streams with a
varying exposure to these developments in order to determine the effects
exurbanization has on the salamander population as a whole.

Within our group each person is conducting his or her own
research on a related topic. I chose to research the relationships between
species of macroinvertebrates and species of salamanders. I will be using the
salamander data we get and collecting data on the variety of invertebrates and
looking at any correlation between the two. Salamanders are the top predator in
these streams that we are examining, so when their populations suffer it is
safe to assume that the invertebrate community will change as well. Either they
will increase because they aren't being hunted, or they will decrease because
whatever is threatening the salamanders is threatening them too.

Certain species of both invertebrates and salamanders are
more sensitive to environmental changes. When we look at the data between sites
with different water quality readings it would be interesting to see if any of
the species seem to be sensitive to particular variables. Between sites with similar
water quality, results may show which invertebrate and salamander species have
interdependent relationships. There are so many variables in these sites that
it could be hard to say whether particular species have a special relationship,
but it would be really interesting if for example, sites with caddis fly larvae
as the predominant invertebrate also seemed to have the most black belly
salamanders. Maybe this study could show if the salamanders have a favorite
food, or it could just show which invertebrate and salamanders have similar
habitat preferences.

The task is a little daunting since there are so many things
out of our control, the invertebrate populations will be affected by the
season, so I will have to take into account the breeding period for the species
we find. Also, the size of invertebrate
is important a small stream could support thousands of tiny stonefly larvae,
but obviously not as many hellgrammites. So instead of just comparing the
numbers, I’ll need to compare changes in species abundance between sites.

I will be using this identification
key from Auburn University to identify the invertebrates by order, then by
their feeding group. There are four feeding
groups; shredders, which rely on dead plant and animal material,
scrapers/grazers, which eat living plant matter and algae, predators, which eat
other invertebrates, and collectors/filterers, which filter fine material from
the water. Most stone fly larvae are
shredders, except for families Perlidae, Chloroperlidae, and Perlodidae which
are predatory, and have obvious physical differences. The mayfly larvae we will
encounter will be collectors, except for family Heptageniidae which are
scrapers, and are also easy to differentiate because they appear to have no
head. The caddis fly larvae are more
difficult to differentiate so since the majority of species are scrapers, any
caddis fly larvae will be classified as a scraper. The megalopterans (like
hellgrammites) are predators; as are both dragonfly and damsel fly larvae. I
think these feeding groups will be helpful in connecting stream quality and
both salamander and invertebrate abundance.

I’m really excited to start sampling, and I haven’t seen any
articles about the relationships between certain invertebrates and salamander
species yet, so I have no idea what to expect.

The following is guest post by Will Gallman, a freshman at Clemson University enrolled in Dr. Barrett's Creative Inquiry course focused on amphibian conservation.

I am a
freshman studying in the field of Wildlife and Fisheries Biology. The Landscape
Ecology of Appalachia creative inquiry (CI) interested me because it
seemed related to some of science fair projects I completed in high school, and because I was ready to start learning applicable field techniques. The
research we are doing as a whole is designed to see how the long term effect of
ex-urban development in the mountains is affecting salamander populations in
first order streams. Each student also has an individual research project that
we are to complete alongside the main research. My individual project, will be determining
whether elevation influences the relative abundance of salamanders.

So far for
most of this course, because of cold weather, we have been reading and discussing
existing research papers. I have benefited greatly from this, because I have learned
research methods along with a plethora of things about salamanders and other
amphibians. These papers also have helped us narrow the topics for personal
research. The research topic I chose didn’t directly relate to any of the
papers, but the papers offered ideas on the types of research that can be done.

I originally
had a couple of different ideas for research but narrowed it down to studying how
elevation influences the abundance of salamanders. During a summer ecology
experience, I went on a trip where we learned about and caught terrestrial
salamanders. I learned, based on the elevation, certain species of salamanders
are more commonly found. From this information, along with recent research, I
developed my topic. Knowing that certain species are more common based on
elevation I wanted to see if elevation influenced the relative abundance. I
will gather the elevation data of the testing sites from the GIS mapping
system, and determine the abundance from the actual amounts and species of
salamanders found in the field work. Currently, I do not have enough data to
make any predictions because we have only sampled two locations.

We recently
went on a weekend trip to sample test sites in Highlands, North Carolina. I
learned about different factors that can influence data collection, the methods
used in the research, and learned both salamander and vegetation
identification. The weather conditions that we experienced on this trip were
far less than ideal. One of the sampling days it rained and was overcast; leading
to low visibility and detectability. It also increases the water level and
stream flow. The second day we did not sample due to snow being on the ground. In
addition to looking for salamanders at each site, we also measure the pH,
conductivity, temperature, vegetation, stream bed composition, and percent
undercut banks. All of these variables are measured within each five meter
sampling stretch, which are separated by ten meter resting periods. In my
personal research project I will also record the elevation of the test site,
calculate the relative abundance at each site, and analyze the data in order to
make a conclusion on my personal research project.

This
Creative Inquiry provides undergraduates with an opportunity to participate in field research that
may not be done in classes. The personal projects give us the opportunity to
design and conduct our own research, which is a very important skill in the
Wildlife and Fisheries Biology field. I have learned much more actually going
out in the field and doing things related to this class than I have in a
lecture. This class gives us the opportunity to apply methods learned in class
to the field: an imperative skill to have when entering the professional world.

The following is guest post by Kevin McLeroy, a senior at Clemson University enrolled in Dr. Barrett's Creative Inquiry course focused on amphibian conservation.

After two months of participation in Clemson’s Creative
Inquiry project on salamanders, I have learned exactly how much work goes into
designing a research project. These first weeks spent on this project have been
dedicated to developing an understanding of why salamanders are important to
our ecosystems, how they can indicate the quality of the environment they live
in, and what effects humans can have on them.

Our group’s research, directed by Clemson University
graduate student Nathan Weaver, focuses on the effects of urbanization on the
populations of salamanders. Our weekly meetings have focused on other research
projects related to salamanders, such as what kind of stream habitats they
prefer, the effects of buffer zones around the streams they live in, and
effects of UV radiation on amphibian eggs. Reading and discussing these papers
not only gave us some background information about amphibian ecology, but they
also gave us an understanding of the details involved with designing a research
project. Besides the actual field research, you have to find your research
sites, get permission from landowners to use the sites, and make sure they are
suitable for your project.

The main reason that salamanders are so intriguing is their
ability to indicate the state of the environment. Salamanders are useful in
this regard because their skin, like most amphibians, is very permeable, which
means that chemicals from the surrounding environment will get into their
bodies more easily. In addition to their permeable skin, salamanders also live
8-10 years, so they can show the long term environmental history of their
habitat. Because salamanders live in aquatic habitats, they are directly
affected by changes in water temperature, depth, and pollution.

On March 1, 2014, our group went with Nathan to inspect some
of the field sites. Before the trip, Nathan used GIS to find first order
streams located within these exurban developments. It was an all-day adventure
spent driving around the Highlands, North Carolina area where a good amount of
the field sites are located and making sure they are suitable. Unfortunately
some of the sites we had planned to use were unavailable because they were
located on private roads. It was important to make these trips in advance of
our research because if the majority of the field sites were unsuitable, then
our research would not be credible.

Our first sampling trip did not go as we had planned. The
heavy rain in Highlands, North Carolina went on for most of the day, which
decreases the detectability of the salamanders. Because salamanders live in
aquatic habitats, they are more likely to hide in the event of rain as to not
be swept away by the current. However, we sampled one stream and found barely
any salamanders, but another stream we sampled yielded many Blue Ridge
Two-Lined Salamanders. These salamanders are better adapted to lower levels of
dissolved oxygen, so they persist in urbanized streams. However, the fact that
only one species was detected speaks to the lack of species diversity caused by
exurbanization.

Everyone has different ways of loving nature, and
increasingly more people are flocking to private mountain communities with
stunning views and beautiful golf courses. However, most people living in these
communities do not realize the impact that their homes are having on the
environment. These communities have changed the landscape, and we will see the
effects of this in the coming years.

For my personal project within the creative inquiry, I
wanted to focus on the direct effect that water quality would have on the
populations, but I have reconsidered and now want to address stream
composition. When these communities are built, actions are taken to alter the
direction of stream flow, which results in undercut banks, different stream bed
composition, and different vegetation around the bank. Since salamanders prefer
to live under rocks on the stream bed, I would like to see what effects the
redirection of streams has on the abundance of species.

I am excited for all of the future sampling trips and
continuing to learn more about the effects of exurbanization on salamanders!

The following is guest post by Meghan McDevitt, a junior at Clemson University enrolled in Dr. Barrett's Creative Inquiry course focused on amphibian conservation.

Every summer, my family would pack
into our car and drive ten or so hours to the Appalachian Mountains. North
Carolina is where I spent my childhood when I wasn't in Pennsylvania. I have
such a love for this place and all of the diverse wildlife. The mountains
seemed to come alive when we would go out hiking or rock hopping, and I was
mesmerized by the amount of rainfall every summer. Starting at a young age, my
brothers introduced me to the world of amphibians and aquatic insects. We would
spend all day looking for big salamanders and "crawdaddys," enjoying
all that nature had to offer. This passion for the outdoors has been carried
throughout my life and has led me to where I am today: in a science-based
major, studying salamanders and ecology in my free time. Going to the mountains
feels like going home and I get to do this with an awesome creative inquiry.

My interest was enhanced when I entered middle school. When most were taking
normal classes with all the other students, I was with 40 sixth and seventh
graders in a program called Streamwatch. This was a two-year curriculum for
those passionate about the sciences. We got to learn about watersheds, plant
life, invertebrates, and various information about stream studies, as well as
course subjects. This was heaven for me; I got to spend two years with such
interesting students, dressing up as caddisflies and mayflies, changing fish
tanks, and best of all, studying streams. Every other week, we took trips to
our local watershed system and performed fieldwork in the streams. This was my
first experience with hands on research and I loved it. While everyone else was
a bit hesitant around the worms and larvae, I was immersed in the algae and
macro invertebrates. It wouldn't be a field trip if I didn't come home covered
in algae and dirt. The data collected went to the Chester County Parks system,
and we'd collect all sorts of information from stream flow to pH and salinity.
This is what sparked my interest in stream ecology.

The passion for science continued throughout my school years, resulting in me
taking biology twice in high school (just because I enjoyed it so much) and
being a teacher's assistant for biology. Coming to Clemson, I knew I wanted to
be doing hands on research and be active in the field. Though I got off course
switching from Biological Sciences to Engineering, I got right back on track
Sophomore year changing to ENR: Conservation Biology. This is exactly what I
can see myself doing in the future and is right up my ally. When I heard about this
creative inquiry, it was like stepping back into my six year old self. I was
ecstatic to be working with salamanders in the mountains, fusing both my
passions and interests into one course. So far, I have thoroughly enjoyed the
class. The students are all open-minded, interesting, and nice people. We work
well together and can get things done while still having fun. Going out to
sites is also such a great experience because we get a feel of what it's like
to perform research in the field. This creative inquiry has opened my eyes to
all sorts of topics to work in and I am so thankful for the opportunity. I love
being able to use my plant taxonomy skills and acquire even more knowledge
about wildlife biology, stream ecology, and the Appalachians. I am looking
forward to the more semesters to come with this class as well as the research
over the summer. This is such an interesting research topic and I will
definitely apply it to real life situations, for example, reminding my family
about this issue and making changes at our mountain house to prevent any more
damages.

Monday, March 31, 2014

The following is guest post by Randi Sims, a sophomore at Clemson University enrolled in Dr. Barrett's Creative Inquiry course focused on amphibian conservation.

Today in our society whenever an environmental topic appears
in conversation it always seems to be followed by the words: “global warming”
or “fossil fuels”. Very few times, if ever, does the general public talk about the
issues facing wildlife or, more specifically, amphibians. If these people are
not discussing problems with amphibians it’s also a pretty safe bet that they
are not saying anything for an even more specific amphibian: a salamander.

My name is
Randi Sims and I am part of a diverse group of individuals at Clemson University who are trying to give
these creatures their voice in our world. This group is a Creative
Inquiry class specifically focused on how exurbanization (or the movement
of individuals from a more populated to a less populated area) in the
Appalachian Mountains is affecting salamanders. Each one of us are developing
and researching our own questions regarding amphibian and stream conservation.
It is through this that we hope to make a difference in the way exurbanization
is conducted.

Before
describing my own project, I feel that it is necessary to give a little
background on salamanders. As an environmental science major I have always
heard of these little creatures, but never truly understood what their
influence was on the environment or why they were of such importance to stream
ecology. The honest truth is that this is one of the first things I should have
known going into my major. For those of you who are unaware of how an ecosystem
works, this is the simplest explanation I can give: it’s very much like a
house, it takes many sturdy parts to build a strong, sound structure. Each
organism down to the smallest micro invertebrate is a like a brick to that
house, and once you take one brick out it becomes much less stable, threatening
to fall. In this comparison, the streams are like this house and the
salamanders in it are the foundational bricks. By taking them out, almost every
thing else collapses around them.

Salamanders
are not only important to the stream ecosystem, but also to our own lives. One
of the things many individuals who live near watersheds find to be an issue is
a large mosquito population. While this may not seem like too much of a problem,
it is a large annoyance to many people and even a safety concern when taking
into account diseases like Malaria. Scientists Robert
Brodman and Ryan Dorton have quantified the affect that salamanders have on
the populations of these insects around riparian habitats. In their research,
they discovered that one particular type of salamander (the Tiger salamander or
Ambystoma tigrinum) removes 144
mosquitos for every one salamander larvae (2011). Seeing that one clutch of
salamander eggs can contain as many as fifty viable larvae, this can mean a lot
of mosquitoes are being removed by these amphibians, keeping their population
size in check (Gopurenko,
Williams, McCormick, DeWoody, 2006).As you can see, these are just two
of the ways that salamanders impact both the ecosystems and our own lives.
Unfortunately, though, we are also impacting them, but not in a good way. In
developing my project I have learned that there are a lot of factors in
exurbanization that threaten delicate ecosystems in these areas and the
organisms in it; specifically our amphibian friends. My project looks in detail
at one aspect of it: stream flow. While it may seem like something that means
little to nothing to the average person, all of the debris, sediment, and trash
building up in the streams from construction are causing huge changes in this
factor. It is my goal of this experiment to look at specifically how their
young are being affected by a change in stream flow. To me this is one of the
most interesting and maybe even important parts of the overall question of
affects of exurbanization, however as my classmates can concur, it is only one side
effect of what we are starting to see is a much larger issue.Throughout the course of this
creative inquiry class my peers and I hope to make a real difference in the
lives of these creatures and, consequently, our own. We are only halfway
through the semester and already forming our projects, as well as preparing for
even more in-depth research. All of us are extremely excited about this class
and our progress in it, and hope to keep you posted on our upcoming
experiments!


The PPARγ2 P12A polymorphism is not associated with all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
The high mortality risk of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus may well be explained by the several comorbidities and/or complications. Also the intrinsic genetic component predisposing to diabetes might have a role in shaping the risk of diabetes-related mortality. Among type 2 diabetes mellitus SNPs, rs1801282 is of particular interest because (i) it is harbored by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ2 (PPARγ2), which is the target for thiazolidinediones which are used as antidiabetic drugs, decreasing all-cause mortality in type 2 diabetes mellitus, and (ii) it is associated with insulin resistance and related traits, risk factors for overall mortality in type 2 diabetes mellitus. We investigated the role of PPARγ2 P12A, according to a dominant model (PA + AA vs. PP individuals) on incident all-cause mortality in three cohorts of type 2 diabetes mellitus, comprising a total of 1672 patients (462 deaths) and then performed a meta-analysis of ours and all available published data. In the three cohorts pooled and analyzed together, no association between PPARγ2 P12A and all-cause mortality was observed (HR 1.02, 95 % CI 0.79-1.33). Similar results were observed after adjusting for age, sex, smoking habits, and BMI (HR 1.09, 95 % CI 0.83-1.43). In a meta-analysis of ours and all studies previously published (n = 3241 individuals; 666 events), no association was observed between PPARγ2 P12A and all-cause mortality (HR 1.07, 95 % CI 0.85-1.33). Results from our individual samples as well as from our meta-analysis suggest that the PPARγ2 P12A does not significantly affect all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.