text:
Reporting Trends, Practices, and Resource Utilization in Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Prostate Gland: A Survey among Thirty-Nine Genitourinary Pathologists
Sambit K. Mohanty, Anandi Lobo, Sean R. Williamson, Rajal B. Shah, Kiril Trpkov, Murali Varma, Deepika Sirohi, Manju Aron, Shivani R. Kandukari, Bonnie L. Balzer, Daniel L. Luthringer, Jae Ro, Adeboye O. Osunkoya, Sangeeta Desai, Santosh Menon, Lovelesh K. Nigam, Rohan Sardana, Paromita Roy, Seema Kaushal, Divya MidhaMinakshi Swain, Asawari Ambekar, Suvradeep Mitra, Vishal Rao, Shailesh Soni, Kavita Jain, Preeti Diwaker, Niharika Pattnaik, Shivani Sharma, Indranil Chakrabarti, Mukund Sable, Ekta Jain, Deepika Jain, Spinder Samra, Mahesha Vankalakunti, Subhashis Mohanty, Anil V. Parwani, Sankalp Sancheti, Niraj Kumari, Shilpy Jha, Mallika Dixit, Vipra Malik, Samriti Arora, Gauri Munjal, Anuradha Gopalan, Cristina Magi-Galluzzi, Jasreman Dhillon
PA-Anatomical Pathology
Background: Neuroendocrine differentiation in the prostate gland ranges from clinically insignificant neuroendocrine differentiation detected with markers in an otherwise conventional prostatic adenocarcinoma to a lethal high-grade small/large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. The concept of neuroendocrine differentiation in prostatic adenocarcinoma has gained considerable importance due to its prognostic and therapeutic ramifications and pathologists play a pivotal role in its recognition. However, its awareness, reporting, and resource utilization practice patterns among pathologists are largely unknown. Methods: Representative examples of different spectrums of neuroendocrine differentiation along with a detailed questionnaire were shared among 39 urologic pathologists using the survey monkey software. Participants were specifically questioned about the use and awareness of the 2016 WHO classification of neuroendocrine tumors of the prostate, understanding of the clinical significance of each entity, and use of different immunohistochemical (IHC) markers. De-identified respondent data were analyzed. Results: A vast majority (90%) of the participants utilize IHC markers to confirm the diagnosis of small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. A majority (87%) of the respondents were in agreement regarding the utilization of type of IHC markers for small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma for which 85% of the pathologists agreed that determination of the site of origin of a high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma is not critical, as these are treated similarly. In the setting of mixed carcinomas, 62% of respondents indicated that they provide quantification and grading of the acinar component. There were varied responses regarding the prognostic implication of focal neuroendocrine cells in an otherwise conventional acinar adenocarcinoma and for Paneth cell-like differentiation. The classification of large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma was highly varied, with only 38% agreement in the illustrated case. Finally, despite the recommendation not to perform neuroendocrine markers in the absence of morphologic evidence of neuroendocrine differentiation, 62% would routinely utilize IHC in the work-up of a Gleason score 5 + 5 = 10 acinar adenocarcinoma and its differentiation from high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma. Conclusion: There is a disparity in the practice utilization patterns among the urologic pathologists with regard to diagnosing high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma and in understanding the clinical significance of focal neuroendocrine cells in an otherwise conventional acinar adenocarcinoma and Paneth cell-like neuroendocrine differentiation. There seems to have a trend towards overutilization of IHC to determine neuroendocrine differentiation in the absence of neuroendocrine features on morphology. The survey results suggest a need for further refinement and development of standardized guidelines for the classification and reporting of neuroendocrine differentiation in the prostate gland.
International Journal of Surgical Pathology
large cell carcinoma
neuroendocrine tumor
prostate gland
small cell carcinoma
Dive into the research topics of 'Reporting Trends, Practices, and Resource Utilization in Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Prostate Gland: A Survey among Thirty-Nine Genitourinary Pathologists'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Neuroendocrine Carcinoma Medicine & Life Sciences 100%
Neuroendocrine Tumors Medicine & Life Sciences 87%
Pathologists Medicine & Life Sciences 76%
Prostate Medicine & Life Sciences 64%
Adenocarcinoma Medicine & Life Sciences 43%
Paneth Cells Medicine & Life Sciences 32%
Large Cell Carcinoma Medicine & Life Sciences 29%
Neuroendocrine Cells Medicine & Life Sciences 28%
Mohanty, S. K., Lobo, A., Williamson, S. R., Shah, R. B., Trpkov, K., Varma, M., Sirohi, D., Aron, M., Kandukari, S. R., Balzer, B. L., Luthringer, D. L., Ro, J., Osunkoya, A. O., Desai, S., Menon, S., Nigam, L. K., Sardana, R., Roy, P., Kaushal, S., ... Dhillon, J. (Accepted/In press). Reporting Trends, Practices, and Resource Utilization in Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Prostate Gland: A Survey among Thirty-Nine Genitourinary Pathologists. International Journal of Surgical Pathology. https://doi.org/10.1177/10668969221116629
Reporting Trends, Practices, and Resource Utilization in Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Prostate Gland : A Survey among Thirty-Nine Genitourinary Pathologists. / Mohanty, Sambit K.; Lobo, Anandi; Williamson, Sean R. et al.
In: International Journal of Surgical Pathology, 2022.
Mohanty, SK, Lobo, A, Williamson, SR, Shah, RB, Trpkov, K, Varma, M, Sirohi, D, Aron, M, Kandukari, SR, Balzer, BL, Luthringer, DL, Ro, J, Osunkoya, AO, Desai, S, Menon, S, Nigam, LK, Sardana, R, Roy, P, Kaushal, S, Midha, D, Swain, M, Ambekar, A, Mitra, S, Rao, V, Soni, S, Jain, K, Diwaker, P, Pattnaik, N, Sharma, S, Chakrabarti, I, Sable, M, Jain, E, Jain, D, Samra, S, Vankalakunti, M, Mohanty, S, Parwani, AV, Sancheti, S, Kumari, N, Jha, S, Dixit, M, Malik, V, Arora, S, Munjal, G, Gopalan, A, Magi-Galluzzi, C & Dhillon, J 2022, 'Reporting Trends, Practices, and Resource Utilization in Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Prostate Gland: A Survey among Thirty-Nine Genitourinary Pathologists', International Journal of Surgical Pathology. https://doi.org/10.1177/10668969221116629
Mohanty SK, Lobo A, Williamson SR, Shah RB, Trpkov K, Varma M et al. Reporting Trends, Practices, and Resource Utilization in Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Prostate Gland: A Survey among Thirty-Nine Genitourinary Pathologists. International Journal of Surgical Pathology. 2022. doi: 10.1177/10668969221116629
Mohanty, Sambit K. ; Lobo, Anandi ; Williamson, Sean R. et al. / Reporting Trends, Practices, and Resource Utilization in Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Prostate Gland : A Survey among Thirty-Nine Genitourinary Pathologists. In: International Journal of Surgical Pathology. 2022.
@article{d17729fb41b84575a01c2cdfdf7664e0,
title = "Reporting Trends, Practices, and Resource Utilization in Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Prostate Gland: A Survey among Thirty-Nine Genitourinary Pathologists",
abstract = "Background: Neuroendocrine differentiation in the prostate gland ranges from clinically insignificant neuroendocrine differentiation detected with markers in an otherwise conventional prostatic adenocarcinoma to a lethal high-grade small/large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. The concept of neuroendocrine differentiation in prostatic adenocarcinoma has gained considerable importance due to its prognostic and therapeutic ramifications and pathologists play a pivotal role in its recognition. However, its awareness, reporting, and resource utilization practice patterns among pathologists are largely unknown. Methods: Representative examples of different spectrums of neuroendocrine differentiation along with a detailed questionnaire were shared among 39 urologic pathologists using the survey monkey software. Participants were specifically questioned about the use and awareness of the 2016 WHO classification of neuroendocrine tumors of the prostate, understanding of the clinical significance of each entity, and use of different immunohistochemical (IHC) markers. De-identified respondent data were analyzed. Results: A vast majority (90%) of the participants utilize IHC markers to confirm the diagnosis of small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. A majority (87%) of the respondents were in agreement regarding the utilization of type of IHC markers for small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma for which 85% of the pathologists agreed that determination of the site of origin of a high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma is not critical, as these are treated similarly. In the setting of mixed carcinomas, 62% of respondents indicated that they provide quantification and grading of the acinar component. There were varied responses regarding the prognostic implication of focal neuroendocrine cells in an otherwise conventional acinar adenocarcinoma and for Paneth cell-like differentiation. The classification of large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma was highly varied, with only 38% agreement in the illustrated case. Finally, despite the recommendation not to perform neuroendocrine markers in the absence of morphologic evidence of neuroendocrine differentiation, 62% would routinely utilize IHC in the work-up of a Gleason score 5 + 5 = 10 acinar adenocarcinoma and its differentiation from high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma. Conclusion: There is a disparity in the practice utilization patterns among the urologic pathologists with regard to diagnosing high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma and in understanding the clinical significance of focal neuroendocrine cells in an otherwise conventional acinar adenocarcinoma and Paneth cell-like neuroendocrine differentiation. There seems to have a trend towards overutilization of IHC to determine neuroendocrine differentiation in the absence of neuroendocrine features on morphology. The survey results suggest a need for further refinement and development of standardized guidelines for the classification and reporting of neuroendocrine differentiation in the prostate gland.",
keywords = "large cell carcinoma, neuroendocrine tumor, prostate gland, small cell carcinoma, survey",
author = "Mohanty, {Sambit K.} and Anandi Lobo and Williamson, {Sean R.} and Shah, {Rajal B.} and Kiril Trpkov and Murali Varma and Deepika Sirohi and Manju Aron and Kandukari, {Shivani R.} and Balzer, {Bonnie L.} and Luthringer, {Daniel L.} and Jae Ro and Osunkoya, {Adeboye O.} and Sangeeta Desai and Santosh Menon and Nigam, {Lovelesh K.} and Rohan Sardana and Paromita Roy and Seema Kaushal and Divya Midha and Minakshi Swain and Asawari Ambekar and Suvradeep Mitra and Vishal Rao and Shailesh Soni and Kavita Jain and Preeti Diwaker and Niharika Pattnaik and Shivani Sharma and Indranil Chakrabarti and Mukund Sable and Ekta Jain and Deepika Jain and Spinder Samra and Mahesha Vankalakunti and Subhashis Mohanty and Parwani, {Anil V.} and Sankalp Sancheti and Niraj Kumari and Shilpy Jha and Mallika Dixit and Vipra Malik and Samriti Arora and Gauri Munjal and Anuradha Gopalan and Cristina Magi-Galluzzi and Jasreman Dhillon",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2022.",
journal = "International Journal of Surgical Pathology",
T1 - Reporting Trends, Practices, and Resource Utilization in Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Prostate Gland
T2 - A Survey among Thirty-Nine Genitourinary Pathologists
AU - Mohanty, Sambit K.
AU - Lobo, Anandi
AU - Williamson, Sean R.
AU - Shah, Rajal B.
AU - Trpkov, Kiril
AU - Varma, Murali
AU - Sirohi, Deepika
AU - Aron, Manju
AU - Kandukari, Shivani R.
AU - Balzer, Bonnie L.
AU - Luthringer, Daniel L.
AU - Ro, Jae
AU - Osunkoya, Adeboye O.
AU - Desai, Sangeeta
AU - Menon, Santosh
AU - Nigam, Lovelesh K.
AU - Sardana, Rohan
AU - Roy, Paromita
AU - Kaushal, Seema
AU - Midha, Divya
AU - Swain, Minakshi
AU - Ambekar, Asawari
AU - Mitra, Suvradeep
AU - Rao, Vishal
AU - Soni, Shailesh
AU - Jain, Kavita
AU - Diwaker, Preeti
AU - Pattnaik, Niharika
AU - Sharma, Shivani
AU - Chakrabarti, Indranil
AU - Sable, Mukund
AU - Jain, Ekta
AU - Jain, Deepika
AU - Samra, Spinder
AU - Vankalakunti, Mahesha
AU - Mohanty, Subhashis
AU - Parwani, Anil V.
AU - Sancheti, Sankalp
AU - Kumari, Niraj
AU - Jha, Shilpy
AU - Dixit, Mallika
AU - Malik, Vipra
AU - Arora, Samriti
AU - Munjal, Gauri
AU - Gopalan, Anuradha
AU - Magi-Galluzzi, Cristina
AU - Dhillon, Jasreman
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.
N2 - Background: Neuroendocrine differentiation in the prostate gland ranges from clinically insignificant neuroendocrine differentiation detected with markers in an otherwise conventional prostatic adenocarcinoma to a lethal high-grade small/large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. The concept of neuroendocrine differentiation in prostatic adenocarcinoma has gained considerable importance due to its prognostic and therapeutic ramifications and pathologists play a pivotal role in its recognition. However, its awareness, reporting, and resource utilization practice patterns among pathologists are largely unknown. Methods: Representative examples of different spectrums of neuroendocrine differentiation along with a detailed questionnaire were shared among 39 urologic pathologists using the survey monkey software. Participants were specifically questioned about the use and awareness of the 2016 WHO classification of neuroendocrine tumors of the prostate, understanding of the clinical significance of each entity, and use of different immunohistochemical (IHC) markers. De-identified respondent data were analyzed. Results: A vast majority (90%) of the participants utilize IHC markers to confirm the diagnosis of small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. A majority (87%) of the respondents were in agreement regarding the utilization of type of IHC markers for small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma for which 85% of the pathologists agreed that determination of the site of origin of a high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma is not critical, as these are treated similarly. In the setting of mixed carcinomas, 62% of respondents indicated that they provide quantification and grading of the acinar component. There were varied responses regarding the prognostic implication of focal neuroendocrine cells in an otherwise conventional acinar adenocarcinoma and for Paneth cell-like differentiation. The classification of large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma was highly varied, with only 38% agreement in the illustrated case. Finally, despite the recommendation not to perform neuroendocrine markers in the absence of morphologic evidence of neuroendocrine differentiation, 62% would routinely utilize IHC in the work-up of a Gleason score 5 + 5 = 10 acinar adenocarcinoma and its differentiation from high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma. Conclusion: There is a disparity in the practice utilization patterns among the urologic pathologists with regard to diagnosing high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma and in understanding the clinical significance of focal neuroendocrine cells in an otherwise conventional acinar adenocarcinoma and Paneth cell-like neuroendocrine differentiation. There seems to have a trend towards overutilization of IHC to determine neuroendocrine differentiation in the absence of neuroendocrine features on morphology. The survey results suggest a need for further refinement and development of standardized guidelines for the classification and reporting of neuroendocrine differentiation in the prostate gland.
AB - Background: Neuroendocrine differentiation in the prostate gland ranges from clinically insignificant neuroendocrine differentiation detected with markers in an otherwise conventional prostatic adenocarcinoma to a lethal high-grade small/large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. The concept of neuroendocrine differentiation in prostatic adenocarcinoma has gained considerable importance due to its prognostic and therapeutic ramifications and pathologists play a pivotal role in its recognition. However, its awareness, reporting, and resource utilization practice patterns among pathologists are largely unknown. Methods: Representative examples of different spectrums of neuroendocrine differentiation along with a detailed questionnaire were shared among 39 urologic pathologists using the survey monkey software. Participants were specifically questioned about the use and awareness of the 2016 WHO classification of neuroendocrine tumors of the prostate, understanding of the clinical significance of each entity, and use of different immunohistochemical (IHC) markers. De-identified respondent data were analyzed. Results: A vast majority (90%) of the participants utilize IHC markers to confirm the diagnosis of small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. A majority (87%) of the respondents were in agreement regarding the utilization of type of IHC markers for small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma for which 85% of the pathologists agreed that determination of the site of origin of a high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma is not critical, as these are treated similarly. In the setting of mixed carcinomas, 62% of respondents indicated that they provide quantification and grading of the acinar component. There were varied responses regarding the prognostic implication of focal neuroendocrine cells in an otherwise conventional acinar adenocarcinoma and for Paneth cell-like differentiation. The classification of large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma was highly varied, with only 38% agreement in the illustrated case. Finally, despite the recommendation not to perform neuroendocrine markers in the absence of morphologic evidence of neuroendocrine differentiation, 62% would routinely utilize IHC in the work-up of a Gleason score 5 + 5 = 10 acinar adenocarcinoma and its differentiation from high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma. Conclusion: There is a disparity in the practice utilization patterns among the urologic pathologists with regard to diagnosing high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma and in understanding the clinical significance of focal neuroendocrine cells in an otherwise conventional acinar adenocarcinoma and Paneth cell-like neuroendocrine differentiation. There seems to have a trend towards overutilization of IHC to determine neuroendocrine differentiation in the absence of neuroendocrine features on morphology. The survey results suggest a need for further refinement and development of standardized guidelines for the classification and reporting of neuroendocrine differentiation in the prostate gland.
KW - large cell carcinoma
KW - neuroendocrine tumor
KW - prostate gland
KW - small cell carcinoma
KW - survey
JO - International Journal of Surgical Pathology
JF - International Journal of Surgical Pathology


text:
\section{Introduction}
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) are one of the most energetic phenomena in
our Universe \citep{Kumar15,Wang15}. The high luminosity makes them
detectable out to high redshifts. Therefore, GRBs are promising tool
to probe the high-redshift universe: including the cosmic expansion
and dark energy \citep{Dai04,Liang06,Schaefer07,Wang07}, star
formation rate \citep{Totani97,Bromm02,Wang09,Wang13}, the
reionization epoch \citep{Barkana04,Totani06} and the metal
enrichment history of the Universe \citep{Wang12,Hartoog15}. Among them, the
$\gamma$-ray bursts correlations \citep[for reviews,
see][]{Wang15,Dainotti17,Dainotti18a,Dainotti18b} are most widely studied, which can not
only shed light on the radiation mechanism of GRBs, but also provide
a promising tool to probe the cosmic expansion and dark energy
\citep{Wang15,Dainotti17}. These correlations can be divided into
three categories, such as prompt correlations, afterglow
correlations and prompt-afterglow correlations. The prompt
correlations mainly include Amati correlation \citep{Amati02},
Ghirlanda correlation \citep{Ghirlanda04a}, Liang-Zhang correlation
\citep{Liang05}, Yonetoku correlation \citep{Wei03,Yonetoku04} and
$L_{\text{iso}}-\tau_{\text{lag}}$ correlation \citep{Norris00}.
Afterglow correlations contain only parameters in the afterglow
phase, such as Dainotti correlation ($L_X(T_a)-T^*_{X,a}$)
\citep{Dainotti08}, $L_X(T_a)-T^*_{X,a}$ and $L_O(T_a)-T^*_{O,a}$
correlations \citep{Ghisellini09} and
$L_{O,200\text{s}}-\alpha_{O,>200\text{s}}$ correlation
\citep{Oates12}. Prompt-afterglow correlations connect plateaus and
prompt phases, referring to $E_{\gamma, \text{afterglow}}-E_{X,
\text{prompt}}$ correlation \citep{Liang07}, $L_{X,
\text{afterglow}}-E_{\gamma, \text{prompt}}$ correlation
\citep{Berger07}, $L_X(T_a)-L_{\gamma, \text{iso}}$ correlation
\citep{Dainotti11}, $L_{\text{iso}}-E_{\text{p},z}-\Gamma_0$ correlation \citep{Liang15} and so on.

However, there is a circularity problem when treating GRBs as
relative standard candles. It arises from the derivation of
quantities like luminosity $L_{\text{iso}}$, isotropic energy
$E_{\text{iso}}$ and collimation-corrected energy $E_\gamma$, which
are dependent on luminosity distance $d_L$ in a fiducial cosmology. For instance, the
$d_L$ in a flat $\Lambda$CDM model can be expressed as
\begin{equation}
d_L(z) = \frac{c(1+z)}{H_0}\int_{0}^{z}\frac{\mathrm{d} z'}{\sqrt{\Omega_{\text{m}}(1+z')^3 + (1-\Omega_m-\Omega_\Lambda)(1+z')^2+\Omega_\Lambda}}.
\label{eqn:1}
\end{equation}
 Therefore, it is
inappropriate to use the model-dependent luminosity correlations to
study cosmology models in turn. Several approaches have been
proposed to overcome the problem \citep{Wang15,Dainotti17}. One
method is to fit the cosmological parameters and luminosity
correlation simultaneously \citep{Ghirlanda04b,Li08}. Another method
is to calibrate the correlations using type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia)
\citep{Liang08} or observational Hubble Data (OHD) \citep{Amati18}. It is based on the
principle that objects of the same redshift should have same luminosity
distance. \cite{Wang08} pointed out that the GRB luminosity
correlations calibrated by SNe Ia are no longer completely
independent of the SNe Ia data points. Consequently, the GRB data
cannot be combined with the SNe Ia dataset directly to constrain
cosmological parameters. What's worse, high redshift SNe Ia can
hardly be found and the furthest SN Ia yet seen is GND12Col with $z
= 2.26^{+0.02}_{-0.10}$ \citep{Rodney15}, while the redshift of GRB
can be up to 9.4 \citep{Cucchiara11}. Moreover, there are many some
systematic uncertainties for SNe Ia, such as dust in the light path \citep{Avgoustidis09,Hu17}, the possible intrinsic evolution \textbf{of}
SN luminosity, magnification by gravitational lensing \citep{Holz98},
peculiar velocity \citep{Hui06}, and so on. These processes
will degrade the usefulness of SNe Ia as standard candles.

Here, we come up with the idea to calibrate GRB luminosity relations
using gravitational waves (GW) standard sirens. The detection of
GW170817 accompanied by electromagnetic counterparts heralds the new
era of gravitational-wave multi-messenger astronomy
\citep{Abbott17}. \cite{Schutz86} first pointed out that the
waveform signals from inspiralling compact binaries can be used to
determine the luminosity distance to the source, serving as a
standard siren. This kind of standard siren is a self-calibrating
distance indicator, which just relying on the modelling of the
two-body problem in general relativity \citep{Sathyaprakash10}. The
of detected BNS and BH-NS merger events can reach up to $z\sim 4$ to
the farthest by Einstein Telescope (ET)
\citep{Abernathy11,Li15,Cai17}, going beyond the redshift limitation
of SNe Ia. For the third generation detectors, such as ground-based
Einstein Telescope (ET) \citep{Abernathy11}, space-based Big Bang
Observer (BBO) \citep{Cutler09}, and Deci-Hertz Interferometer
Gravitational wave Observatory (DECIGO) \citep{Kawamura11}, smaller
distance uncertainty will be achieved than Advanced LIGO and Virgo
\citep{Abbott17}.

The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we introduce the
procedure of construction mock GW catalogue. The calibration of GRB
luminosity correlations with GW standard sirens is illustrated in
Section 3. A summary of our result and future outlooks is provided
in the end of the paper.

\section{Construction of GW standard sirens}
\subsection{Redshift distribution}
In order to construct a mock GW catalogue, we need to consider the redshift distribution of the sources, which satisfies the following expression
\begin{equation}
P(z)\propto \frac{4\pi d_C^2(z)R(z)}{H(z)(1+z)},
\end{equation}
where $d_C(z)$ is the comoving distance of the source. The time evolution of the NS-NS merger rate $R(z)$ is given by \citep{Schneider01}
\begin{equation}
    R(z)=
    \begin{cases}
    1+2z, & z\le 1 \\
    \frac{3}{4}(5-z), & 1<z<5 \\
    0, & z\ge 5.
    \end{cases}
\end{equation}
The NS-NS merger rate at redshift $z$ is $\dot{n}(z) =
\dot{n}_0\cdot R(z)$ and the merger rate today is about $\dot{n}_0 = 1.54^{+3.2}_{-1.22}\times 10^{-6}\text{ Mpc}^{-1}\text{ yr}^{-1}$
\citep{Abbott17}.

\subsection{Simulation of luminosity distances}
It is necessary to define the total mass $M_{\text{phys}} = m_1 +
m_2$, symmetric mass ratio $\eta = \frac{m_1 m_2}{M^2}$ and chirp
mass $\mathcal{M}_{c,\text{obs}} = M\eta^{3/5}$ before our analysis,
given binary component masses $m_1$ and $m_2$. The observed chirp
mass is related to physical chirp mass via
$\mathcal{M}_{c,\text{obs}}= (1+z)\mathcal{M}_{c,\text{phys}}$. Similarly, the
observed total mass is $M_{\text{obs}} = (1+z)M_{\text{phys}}$.

\subsubsection{Frequency domain waveform and Fourier Amplitude}
The response of the detector $h(t)$ is a linear combination of two components
\begin{equation}
    h(t) = F_{+}(\theta, \phi, \psi) h_{+}(t) + F_{\times}(\theta, \phi, \psi) h_\times(t),
\end{equation}
where $F_{+}$ and $F_{\times}$ are the antenna pattern functions of
the detector, $\psi$ is the polarization angle, and ($\theta, \phi$) is
the location of the source on the sky. The antenna pattern functions
of ET are
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
F_{+}^{(1)}(\theta, \phi, \psi) &= \frac{{\sqrt 3 }}{2}\bigg[\frac{1}{2}(1 + \cos^2\theta) \cos 2\phi \cos 2\psi  - \cos\theta \sin 2\phi \sin 2\psi \bigg],\\
F_{\times}^{(1)}(\theta, \phi, \psi) &= \frac{{\sqrt 3 }}{2}\bigg[\frac{1}{2}(1 + \cos ^2\theta )\cos 2\phi \sin 2\psi  + \cos\theta \sin 2\phi \cos 2\psi \bigg].
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
The other pattern functions are $F_{+,\times}^{(2)}(\theta, \phi,
\psi) = F_{+,\times}^{(1)}(\theta, \phi+2\pi/3, \psi)$ and
$F_{+,\times}^{(3)}(\theta, \phi, \psi) = F_{+,\times}^{(1)}(\theta,
\phi+4\pi/3, \psi)$ respectively. The Fourier transform of time
domain waveform $h(t)$ is given by
\begin{equation}
    \mathcal{H}(f) = \mathcal{A} f^{-7/6}\exp(\text{i}(2\pi f t_0 - \pi/4 + 2\psi(f/2)-\phi_{(2,0)})),
\end{equation}
where
\begin{equation}
    \mathcal{A} = \frac{1}{d_L}\sqrt{F^2_+ (1+\cos^2\iota)^2 + 4 F^2_{\times}\cos^2\iota}\sqrt{\frac{5\pi}{96}}\pi^{-7/6} \mathcal{M}_{c,\text{obs}}^{5/6}.
\end{equation}
is the Fourier amplitude. The post-Newtonian formalism of GW
waveform phase up to 3.5 PN is used \citep{Blanchet02} and the
expressions of functions $\psi$ and $\phi_{(2,0)}$ can be found in
\cite{Arun05} and \cite{Zhao11}.

The component masses of binary neutron stars are randomly sampled in
[1,2] $M_\odot$, while for neutron star-black hole systems, the
component mass of black hole is uniform in [3,10] $M_\odot$
\citep{Fryer01,Li15,Cai17}. The beaming angle of $\gamma$-ray bursts are
randomly sampled in interval [0$^\circ$,20$^\circ$]. Since the GW
signal-to-noise ratio in Sec. \ref{sec:SNR} is independent of the
waveform phase, the $\psi$ and $\phi_{(2,0)}$ are not
considered here.

\subsubsection{The signal-to-noise ratio and estimated error}
\label{sec:SNR} A GW signal is claimed to be detected only when
combined signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) $ \ge 8$ for a single detector
network \citep{Sathyaprakash10}. For ET, The combined SNR is
\begin{equation}
    \rho = \sqrt{\sum_{i=1}^{3}(\rho^{(i)})^2},
\end{equation}
where
\begin{equation}
    \rho^{(i)} = \sqrt{\langle\mathcal{H}^{(i)},\mathcal{H}^{(i)} \rangle}.
\end{equation}
and the bracket is defined by
\begin{equation}
    \langle a,b \rangle = 4\int_{f_{\text{min}}}^{f_{\text{max}}}\frac{a(f) b^*(f) + a^*(f) b(f)}{2}\frac{\mathrm{d} f}{S_h(f)}.
\end{equation}
where $S_h(f)$ is the one-sided noise power spectrum density (PSD), which
determines the performance of a GW detector. We take the noise PSD
of ET to be
\begin{equation}
    S_h(f) = S_0\bigg[x^{p_1} + a_1 x^{p_2} + a_2\frac{1 + b_1 x^1 + b_2 x^2 + b_3 x^3 + b_4 x^4 + b_5 x^5 + b_6 x^6}{1 + c_1 x^1 + c_2 x^2 + c_3 x^3 + c_4 x^4}\bigg],
\end{equation}
as in \cite{Zhao11}, where $x\equiv f/200 $ Hz and $S_0 =
1.449\times 10^{52}$ Hz$^{-1}$. The parameters $p_i$, $a_i$, $b_i$
and $c_i$ are also provided in \cite{Zhao11}. The upper cutoff
frequency $f_{\text{max}}$ is twice the orbit frequency at the last
stable orbit, $f_{\text{max}} = 2f_{\text{LSO}} = 2/(6^{3/2} 2\pi
M_{\text{obs}})$. The lower cutoff frequency is $f_{\text{lower}} =
1$ Hz.

At every simulated redshift, the fiducial value of the luminosity
distance $d_L^{\text{fid}}$ is calculated according to Equation \ref{eqn:1}. Then we
simulate the $\ln d_L^{\text{mea}}$ to be Gaussian distribution
centered around $\ln d_L^{\text{fid}}$ with standard deviation
$\sigma_{\ln d_L}$,
\begin{equation}
\ln d_L^{\text{mea}} = \mathcal{N}(\ln d_L^{\text{fid}},\sigma_{\ln d_L }).
\end{equation}
The fiducial cosmology is flat $\Lambda$CDM cosmology with
$\Omega_{\text{m}} = 0.308, H_0 = 67.8\text{ km} \text{ s}^{-1}\text{ Mpc}^{-1}$
\citep{Planck16} when calculating $\ln d_L^{\text{fid}}$.

The Fisher matrix $\Gamma_{ij}$ is widely used to estimate the
errors in the measured parameters,
\begin{equation}
    \Gamma_{ij} = \bigg\langle\frac{\partial \mathcal{H}}{\partial p_i} ,\frac{\partial \mathcal{H}}{\partial p_j}\bigg\rangle.
\end{equation}
where $p_i$ denotes the parameters on which the waveforms are
depending, namely $(\ln \mathcal{M}_c, \ln \eta, t_0, \Phi_0,
\cos\iota, \psi, \ln d_L)$. Then the estimated error $\sigma_{p_i}$
of parameter $p_i$ is $(\Gamma^{-1})_{ii}^{1/2}$. However, for
calculation simplicity, we follow \cite{Cai17} and take the distance
uncertainty $\sigma^{\text{inst}}_{d_L}$ to be $2 d_L/\rho$, allowing
for the correlation between $d_L$ and $\iota$. When the additional
error $\sigma^{\text{lens}}_{d_L}$ due to the weak lensing taken
into account, the total uncertainty is
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
    \epsilon_{d_L} &= \sqrt{(\sigma^{\text{inst}}_{d_L})^2 + (\sigma^{\text{lens}}_{d_L})^2}\\
    &= \sqrt{\bigg (\frac{2d_L}{\rho}\bigg )^2 + (0.05z d_L)^2}
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

\subsubsection{The predicted event rates}
\cite{Abernathy11} predicted event rates in ET. It is expected to
observe $\mathcal{O}(10^3\sim 10^7)$ BNS merger events and
$\mathcal{O}(10^3\sim 10^7)$ BH-NS events per year. However, this
prediction is very uncertain. \cite{Li15} expected that only a small fraction ($\sim 10^{-3}$) of GW detections are accompanied by observed GRBs. Therefore we typically construct a catalogue of
1000 BNS events in our simulation. Besides, when the ratio between NS-BH and BNS events is assumed to be 0.03 as predicted by Advanced LIGO-Virgo network \citep{Abadie10,Li15,Cai17}, 30 NS-BH events are included in the mock catalogue. These simulated events can reach out to a redshift
$z\sim 4$. Figure \ref{fig:d_L-z} shows the $d_L$-$z$ diagram of our
mock GW catalogue.

\section{Calibration of GRB luminosity correlations}

The GRB samples used for calibrating Amati relation
($E_{\text{iso}}$-$E_{\text{p}}$) and Ghirlanda relation
($E_{\gamma}$-$E_{\text{p}}$) are taken from \cite{Wang16} and
\cite{Wang11} respectively.

The energy spectrum of GRBs is modeled by a broken power law
\citep{Band93}
\begin{equation}
\Phi(E) =
\begin{cases}
(\frac{E}{100 \text{ keV}})^{\alpha} \exp(-(2 + \alpha) E/E_{\rm p,obs}), & E \le\frac{\alpha -\beta}{2 + \alpha}E_{\rm p,obs}\\
[\frac{(\alpha-\beta)E_{\text{p,obs}}/(2+\alpha)}{100\text{ keV}}]^{\alpha-\beta}\exp(\beta-\alpha) (\frac{E}{100\text{ keV}})^{\beta}, & {\rm otherwise.}
\end{cases}
\end{equation}
where the typical spectral index values are taken to be $\alpha =
-1.0$ and $\beta = -2.2$ if they are not given in the references.

For each GRB in the sample, the fluence $S$ have been corrected to
1-10000 keV energy band with $k$-correction \citep{Bloom01},
\begin{equation}
    S_{\text{bolo}} = S\times \frac{\int_{1/(1+z)}^{10^4/(1+z)} E\Phi(E)\mathrm{d} E}{\int_{E_\text{min}}^{E_{\text{max}}} E\Phi(E)\mathrm{d} E},
\end{equation}
where $E_{\text{min}}$ and $E_{\text{max}}$ are detection thresholds
of the observing instrument. The isotropic energy
$E_{\gamma,\text{iso}}$ and collimation-corrected energy
$E_{\gamma}$ are
\begin{equation}
E_{\gamma,\text{iso}} = \frac{4\pi d_L^2 S_{\text{bolo}}}{1+z},
\end{equation}
and
\begin{equation}
E_{\gamma} = \frac{4\pi d_L^2 S_{\text{bolo}} F_{\text{beam}}}{1+z}.
\end{equation}
respectively, in which $F_{\text{beam}} = 1 -
\cos\theta_{\text{jet}}$ is the beaming factor for jet opening angle
$\theta_{\text{jet}}$. The luminosity distance $d_L$ of low-redshift
GRBs is derived from GW standard sirens using linear interpolation
method \citep{Wang16}, which is independent of cosmology models
\begin{equation}
\ln d_L = \ln d^{\text{GW}}_{L,i} + \frac{z-z_i}{z_{i+1}-z_i}(\ln d^{\text{GW}}_{L,i}-\ln d^{\text{GW}}_{L,i}).
\end{equation}
The $1\sigma$ error can be obtained by
\begin{displaymath}
\sigma_{\ln d_L}^2 = \bigg(\frac{z_{i+1}-z}{z_{i+1}-z_i}\bigg)^2\epsilon_{\ln d^{\text{GW}}_{L, i}}^2 + \bigg(\frac{z-z_i}{z_{i+1}-z_i}\bigg)^2\epsilon_{\ln d^{\text{GW}}_{L, i+1}}^2,
\end{displaymath}
where $\epsilon_{\ln d^{\text{GW}}_L, i}\equiv \epsilon_{d^{\text{GW}}_{L, i}}/ d^{\text{GW}}_{L, i}$ is the distance uncertainty of
the $i$th GW event (the mock GW catalogue has been sorted by
redshift before interpolation).

\subsection{The $E_{\text{iso}}$-$E_{\text{p}}$ correlation}

We parameterize the Amati relation ($E_{\text{iso}}$-$E_{\text{p}}$
correlation) \citep{Amati02} as
\begin{equation}
    \log_{10} \frac{E_{\gamma,\text{iso}}}{1\text{ erg}} = a + b\log_{10}\bigg[\frac{E_{\text{p,obs}}(1+z)}{300\text{ keV}}\bigg],
\end{equation}
where $E_{\text{p,obs}}(1+z)$ is the cosmological rest-frame
spectral peak energy of GRB. The Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC)
algorithm is applied to constrain intercept $a$, slope $b$ and intrinsic scatter $\sigma_{\text{int}}$ of the
correlation. We use the python module $\mathtt{emcee}$ to carry out
parameters fitting \citep{Foreman-Mackey13}. The
likelihood to fit the linear relation $y = ax + b$ \citep{D'Agostini05} is
\begin{equation}
    L = \prod_{i=1}^{N}\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi}\sqrt{\sigma_{\text{int}}^2 + \sigma^2_{y_i} + b^2 \sigma^2_{x_i}}} \exp\bigg[\frac{-(y_i - a - b x_i)^2}{2(\sigma_{\text{int}}^2 + \sigma^2_{y_i} + b^2 \sigma^2_{x_i})}\bigg].
\end{equation}
where $x
\equiv \log_{10}[\frac{E_{\text{p,obs}}(1+z)}{300\text{ keV}}]$, $y \equiv \log_{10} \frac{E_{\gamma,\text{iso}}}{1\text{ erg}}$ and the
propagated uncertainties of $y$ is calculated from
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
    \sigma^2_y = \frac{\sigma^2_{S_{\text{bolo}}}}{(\ln 10\,\, S_{\text{bolo}})^2}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

\subsection{The $E_{\gamma}$-$E_{\text{p}}$ correlation}

The parametrization of the Ghirlanda relation
($E_{\gamma}$-$E_{\text{p}}$ correlation) \citep{Ghirlanda04a} is
\begin{equation}
\log_{10} \frac{E_{\gamma}}{1\text{ erg}} = a + b\log_{10}\bigg[\frac{E_{\text{p,obs}}(1+z)}{300\text{ keV}}\bigg].
\end{equation}
The likelihood function has the same form as
$E_{\text{iso}}$-$E_{\text{p}}$ correlation's, while the propagated
uncertainties of $y \equiv\log_{10}\frac{E_{\gamma}}{1\text{ erg}}$ is
calculated from
\begin{equation}
\begin{aligned}
    \sigma^2_y = \frac{\sigma^2_{S_{\text{bolo}}} F^2_{\text{beam}} + (S_{\text{bolo}})^2\sigma^2_{F_{\text{beam}}}}{(\ln 10\,\, S_{\text{bolo}} F_{\text{beam}})^2}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
The same procedure as handling $E_{\text{iso}}$-$E_{\text{p}}$
correlation is used to calibrate the $E_{\text{iso}}$-$E_{\text{p}}$
correlation.

\subsection{Results}
With our mock GW catalogue, the constraints on intercept $a$ and
slope $b$ of Amati relation is $a = 52.93\pm 0.04,b = 1.41\pm 0.07$, $\sigma_{\text{int}} = 0.39\pm 0.03$
($1\sigma$) , while for Ghirlanda relation, $a = 50.63\pm 0.08, b =
1.50\pm 0.12$ and $\sigma_{\text{int}} = 0.16\pm 0.04$ ($1\sigma$). The 1$\sigma$, 2$\sigma$ and 3$\sigma$
confidence contours and marginalized likelihood distributions are
shown in Figure \ref{fig:Amati} and Figure \ref{fig:Ghirlanda}
respectively. \cite{Wang16} standardized Amati relation of form $\log_{10}(E_{\gamma,\text{iso}}/\text{ erg}) = a + b\log_{10}[E_{\text{p,obs}}(1+z)/\text{ keV}]$ with SNe Ia Union2.1 sample. Their fitting results are $a = 48.46\pm 0.033$, $b = 1.766\pm 0.007$ with $\sigma_{\text{ext}} = 0.34\pm 0.04$. \cite{Amati18} calibrated Amati relation of form $\log_{10}(E_{\text{p}}/\text{ keV}) = q + m[\log_{10}(E_{\text{iso}}^{\text{cal}}/\text{ erg})-52]$, finding $q = 2.06\pm 0.03$, $m = 0.50\pm 0.12$ and $\sigma_{\text{int}} = 0.20\pm 0.01$.

The calibrated GRB Hubble diagram is shown in Figure \ref{fig:Hubble_diagram}. The solid line in this figure is plotted based on the Planck15 cosmological parameters \citep{Planck16}.

\subsection{Constraining $\Lambda$CDM model and cosmological applications}
We combine the calibrated GRB data and SNe Ia from Pantheon sample \citep{Scolnic18} to constrain non-flat $\Lambda$CDM model. The nuisance parameters \{$\alpha$, $\beta$, $M_B^1$, $\Delta_M$\} of SNe Ia lightcurve are fitted with cosmological parameters \{$\Omega_{\text{m}}$, $\Omega_{\Lambda}$\} simultaneously with the following total likelihood function
\begin{displaymath}
L \propto L_{\text{GRB}}\cdot L_{\text{SN}},
\end{displaymath}
The likelihood function of GRB is given by
\begin{equation}
	L_{\text{GRB}} = \prod_{i=1}^{N}\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi}\sigma_{\mu_{\text{GRB},i}}} \exp\bigg[\frac{-(\mu_{\text{th},i} - \mu_{\text{GRB},i})^2}{2\sigma_{\mu_{\text{GRB},i}}^2}\bigg].
\end{equation}
where the distance modulus uncertainty $\sigma_{\mu_{\text{GRB}}}$ is
\begin{equation}
\sigma_{\mu_{\text{GRB}}}^2 = \bigg(\frac{5}{2}\sigma_{\log_{10} E_{\gamma,\text{iso}}}\bigg)^2 + \bigg(\frac{5}{2\ln 10}\frac{\sigma_{S_{\text{bolo}}}}{S_{\text{bolo}}}\bigg)^2
\end{equation}
and
\begin{equation}
\sigma_{\log_{10} E_{\gamma,\text{iso}}}^2 = \sigma_a^2 + \bigg(\sigma_b\log_{10}\frac{E_\text{p,obs}(1+z)}{300\text{ keV}}\bigg)^2 + \bigg(\frac{b}{\ln 10}\frac{\sigma_{E_{\text{p,obs}}}}{E_{\text{p,obs}}}\bigg)^2 + \sigma_{\text{int}}^2
\end{equation}

The Hubble constant $H_0$ in our fitting is fixed to Planck15 \citep{Planck16} value. With the combined sample (GRBs + SNe), the best-fit values for non-flat $\Lambda$CDM model are $\Omega_{\text{m}} = 0.33\pm 0.04$ and $\Omega_{\Lambda} = 0.52\pm 0.08$ with 1$\sigma$ uncertainties. The constraints on $\Omega_{\text{m}}$, $\Omega_{\Lambda}$ and SNe Ia lightcurve parameters \{$\alpha$, $\beta$, $M_B^1$, $\Delta_M$\} are shown in Figure \ref{fig:LCDM}.

\section{Summary}
In this paper, we propose to calibrate the GRB luminosity relations
using GW standard sirens. This method is model-independent and will
overcome the circularity problem. The constraints for intercepts and
slopes of Amati relation and Ghirlanda relation are $a = 52.93\pm
0.04,b = 1.41\pm 0.07$, $\sigma_{\text{int}} = 0.39\pm 0.03$ ($1\sigma$) and $a = 50.63\pm 0.08, b =
1.50\pm 0.12$, $\sigma_{\text{int}} = 0.16\pm 0.04$ ($1\sigma$) respectively with our mock GW catalogue.
The performance of our method will improve with the upgrade of GW
detector's sensitivity, especially with third generation detectors
ET \citep{Abernathy11}, BBO \citep{Cutler09} and DECIGO
\citep{Kawamura11}.
GRBs serve as a complementary tool to other cosmological probes
such as SNe Ia, BAO and CMB. Besides, it
plays a crucial role in constraining $w(z)$ especially at high
redshifts \citep{Wang11}, which may help us understanding the nature
of dark energy.

\acknowledgments
We thank the anonymous referee for constructive comments. We thank Wen Zhao, Tao Yang and Jun-Jie Wei for helpful suggestions. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant U1831207).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
All posts by Cris
2014, July 01-08
Ilocano devotees took time out to welcome the Santo Niño de Cebu (Holy Child of Cebu) visiting the province on July 1 to 8 to mark the milestone of its arrival in the country about half a millennium ago.
By Cris
Laoag City – Starting July 1, the Laoag City government begins full implementation of the BAYONG (Bring Along Your Own Natural Greenbag) ordinance No. 2012-045.
Pasuquin – The Department of Agriculture gave a two-storey hanger storage worth ₱1.3 million to this town, reputed as the biggest producer of onion and garlic products in the entire country. The newly-constructed hanger-type storage measuring 12×12 meters located at Brgy. Nalvo can store up to 50 tons of onion and garlic.
2014, June 22 to July 05
Mitch Glydelle S. Cacatian A fourth year BS Agriculture student of the Mariano Marcos State University – College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development (MMSU-CAFSD) delivered a lecture in line with the current innovative agriculture system in the Philippines at the Gwanak Campus of the Seoul National University (SNU) in South Korea, June 22 to
"We do not allow and support any black sand mining project in the province." This was the reply of Gov. Ma. Imelda "Imee" R. Marcos to the letter of Laoag Bishop Rentao Mayugba on the issue on whether to allow black sand mining in the province or not.
Laoag Ctiy – The Laoag City government has once again proven its mettle in terms of performance as it garnered the European Society for Quality Research (ESQR) for Best Practices. The awarding ceremonies were held on June 2 at Brussels, Belgium.
Dr. Purisima A. Bueno won the Jose P. Rizal Memorial Award for Community Leadership during the 107th Annual Convention of the Philippine Medical Association held at the Vigan Convention Center on May 23.
2014, May 15-17
Eight representatives from the joint Foreign Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, were in Ilocos Norte on May 15-17 to explore Ilocos Norte's potential for investments, the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) along with the American, Canadian, British, Mexico and Korean chambers of commerce have expressed interest to partner with the provincial
Ryan Madamba, a designer from San Nicolas showcased his creations in the first ever Abellessima fashion show on May 13 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila.
Marcos – The saga of the town with two mayors continued on April 22 after a brief hiatus as the police padlocked the municipal mayor's office. The lockdown of the said office is to scale down tensions in the town as former Marcos mayor Salvador Pillos and proclaimed Marcos mayor Arsenio Agustin continue to claim
« Previous 1 … 22 23 24 25 Next »

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Lead Story News Women's Issues
Women's group appoints new leaders, plans move to Burma
Members of WLB pose for a photograph at their annual congress in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on 20 March 2017. (PHOTO: DVB)
The Thailand-based Women's League of Burma (WLB), an umbrella group of 13 Burmese women's rights groups in exile, concluded its ninth congress in Chiang Mai on Monday with the appointment of new leaders and an announcement that it would relocate to Burma in the near future.
Lwe Poe Ngeal of the Palaung Women's Organisation becomes WLB's new general secretary, while Naw Hser Hser of the Karen Women's Organisation was named as secretary-1. Karenni Women Organisation's Maw Day Myar was appointed secretary-2.
Participants at the Chiang Mai congress reviewed the group's work programmes and financial reports for the past two years, while adopting new policies for the year or years ahead. The NGO says its mission is to bring about peace, justice and federalism in Burma through the promotion of women's rights.
"We have adopted a policy to promote women's roles in the on-going peace process," said newly appointed secretary-1 Naw Hser Hser. "We also formed a team to represent the WLB in any future political dialogue."
She said the WLB – formed in in 1999 of 13 Burmese women's groups based in exile in Thailand, India and Bangladesh – is also looking to relocate to Burma after nearly 18 years operating outside the country.
Reclaiming the narrative on women in Burma
Parliament approves new NCA signatories, federal union accord
Life or death: Giving birth in Burma
"We will soon be discussing procedures to relocate our office [to Burma] where we can continue our mission and operations," said Naw Hser Hser.
In a statement at the end of the congress, the WLB said it wanted to cooperate with the Burmese government as well as other civic organisations to put an end to the civil war in the country, and bring about peace and federal democracy.
Tags: chiang maiethnic issuesfederalismWomen's Issues
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Next story Tens of thousands displaced from Kokang as fighting persists
Inspiring young girls with powerful women's stories


More and more workshop managers, health & safety managers and HR professionals up and down the UK are taking advantage of the mobile column lift training available from TotalKare.
The UK's leading provider of heavy-duty vehicle lifting solutions launched its online mobile column lift training platform last summer and has since been inundated with interest from workshops wanting to ensure their staff operate mobile column lifts in a safe and effective way.
The training can be accessed via smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop device and consists of video tutorials, instructional guides and multiple-choice test questions. It takes individuals through two core modules (Rules and Regulations and Safe Use of Ancillary Equipment) before further modules specific to the models of mobile column lift in use in their workshop.
Some of the areas covered include legislation, pre-use safety checks, lift controls, floor stability, floor obstructions, height clearance and ancillary equipment.
Once successfully passed, the candidate will receive a driving license-style card that lasts for three years and informs employers they are competent to work on mobile lifts.
Over 500 users have now completed the training, with workshop managers impressed with the flexibility of the course and reduction in downtime caused by staff no longer being trained as a group.
Steve Braund, Marketing Manager, explained: "While the quality of TotalKare's product range speaks for itself, what differentiates us from other suppliers is the high level of service we provide. The introduction of our CPD-certified training was a natural extension of this and by doing so, TotalKare is raising standards and cutting out accidents in the commercial motor and bus and coach industries.
"Initially we offered a more traditional training course that lasted for half a day. The content was heavily praised, but we received regular feedback that the prospect of losing groups of operatives from the workshop for the duration of the training had an adverse effect on productivity.
He continued: "Recognising this issue, TotalKare invested in the creation of an online training platform which individuals can access at their leisure wherever they have an Internet connection. Candidates can complete the training at a time to suit them, and their progress is saved after each module which means they can even do it in stages if preferred.
Administrator access provides a dashboard view showing the real-time progress of all operatives set up on the training, so workshop managers can quickly understand who has completed the training and who is yet to do so – ideal for demonstrating compliance.


text:
package com.yscardII.framework.core.utils;

import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
import java.util.zip.GZIPInputStream;
import java.util.zip.GZIPOutputStream;

public abstract class StringUtils {
	public static int length(String string, String charset) {
		if (string == null)
			return 0;
		try {
			return string.getBytes(charset).length;
		} catch (UnsupportedEncodingException ex) {
		}
		return string.length();
	}

	public static String left1(String string, String charset, int len) {
		if (string == null)
			return null;
		if (charset == null) {
			return string.substring(0, len);
		}
		if (length(string, charset) < len) {
			return string;
		}
		StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
		String str1 = string.substring(0, len / 2);
		sb.append(str1);
		int rl = length(str1, charset);
		int index = str1.length();
		while (rl < len) {
			char c = string.charAt(index++);
			rl += length(String.valueOf(c), charset);
			if (rl > len)
				break;
			sb.append(c);
		}
		return sb.toString();
	}

	public static String left2(String string, String charset, int len) {
		if (string == null)
			return null;
		if (charset == null)
			return string.substring(0, len);
		byte[] bytes;
		try {
			bytes = string.getBytes(charset);
		} catch (UnsupportedEncodingException ex) {
			System.out.println(ex.getMessage());
			return string.substring(0, len);
		}

		int i = len - 1;
		for (; i >= 0; --i) {
			if (bytes[i] > 0)
				break;
		}
		if ((len - i) % 2 == 1) {
			return new String(bytes, 0, len);
		}
		return new String(bytes, 0, len - 1);
	}

	public static int countUnquoted(String string, char character) {
		if ('\'' == character) {
			throw new IllegalArgumentException(
					"Unquoted count of quotes is invalid");
		}

		if (string == null) {
			return 0;
		}

		int count = 0;
		int stringLength = string.length();
		boolean inQuote = false;
		for (int indx = 0; indx < stringLength; ++indx) {
			char c = string.charAt(indx);
			if (inQuote) {
				if ('\'' == c)
					inQuote = false;
			} else if ('\'' == c)
				inQuote = true;
			else if (c == character) {
				++count;
			}
		}
		return count;
	}

	public static String qualifier(String qualifiedName) {
		int loc = qualifiedName.lastIndexOf(".");
		return ((loc < 0) ? "" : qualifiedName.substring(0, loc));
	}

	public static String unqualify(String qualifiedName) {
		return qualifiedName.substring(qualifiedName.lastIndexOf(".") + 1);
	}

	public static String join(String seperator, String[] strings) {
		int length = strings.length;
		if (length == 0)
			return "";
		if (length == 1)
			return strings[0];
		StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer(length * strings[0].length())
				.append(strings[0]);

		for (int i = 1; i < length; ++i) {
			buf.append(seperator).append(strings[i]);
		}
		return buf.toString();
	}

	public static String fillToString(String fillString, String separator,
			int length) {
		StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
		for (int i = 0; i < length; ++i) {
			if (i > 0)
				sb.append(separator);
			sb.append(fillString);
		}
		return sb.toString();
	}

	public static String encodeHex(byte[] bytes) {
		StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
		for (int j = 0; j < bytes.length; ++j) {
			int b = bytes[j] & 0xFF;
			if (b < 16) {
				sb.append('0');
			}
			sb.append(Integer.toHexString(b));
		}
		return sb.toString();
	}

	public static byte[] decodeHex(String hex) {
		if (hex.length() % 2 != 0) {
			throw new IllegalArgumentException();
		}
		char[] arr = hex.toCharArray();
		byte[] b = new byte[hex.length() / 2];
		int i = 0;
		int j = 0;
		for (int l = hex.length(); i < l; ++j) {
			String swap = "" + arr[(i++)] + arr[i];
			int byteint = Integer.parseInt(swap, 16) & 0xFF;
			b[j] = new Integer(byteint).byteValue();

			++i;
		}

		return b;
	}

	public static String checkCritiria(String wokselect1, String example1,
			String wokoper1, String wokselect2, String example2,
			String wokoper2, String wokselect3, String example3) {
		StringBuffer strbuff = new StringBuffer();
		if (org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils.isNotBlank(example1)) {
			strbuff.append(wokselect1);
			strbuff.append("=(");
			strbuff.append(example1);
			strbuff.append(")");
		}
		if (org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils.isNotBlank(example2)) {
			String temp = strbuff.toString();
			if (org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils.isNotBlank(temp)) {
				strbuff.append(" " + wokoper1 + " ");
				strbuff.append(wokselect2);
				strbuff.append("=(");
				strbuff.append(example2);
				strbuff.append(")");
			} else {
				strbuff.append(wokselect2);
				strbuff.append("=(");
				strbuff.append(example2);
				strbuff.append(")");
			}
		}
		if (org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils.isNotBlank(example3)) {
			String temp1 = strbuff.toString();
			if (org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils.isNotBlank(temp1)) {
				strbuff.append(" " + wokoper2 + " ");
				strbuff.append(wokselect3);
				strbuff.append("=(");
				strbuff.append(example3);
				strbuff.append(")");
			} else {
				strbuff.append(wokselect3);
				strbuff.append("=(");
				strbuff.append(example3);
				strbuff.append(")");
			}
		}
		return strbuff.toString();
	}

	public static boolean isNotEmpty(String args) {
		if (args != null) {
			if (!args.trim().equals("")) {
				return true;
			}
		}
		return false;
	}

	public static boolean isNotEmpty(Object args) {
		if (args != null) {
			if (!args.toString().equals("null")) {
				return true;
			}
		}
		return false;
	}

	public static String clearWidth(String input) {
		if (input == null)
			return "";
		String ret = "";
		int start = 0;
		int pos = 0;
		while (pos >= 0) {
			pos = input.indexOf(" width", start);
			if (pos < 0) {
				ret = ret + input.substring(start);
				break;
			}
			ret = ret + input.substring(start, pos);
			int p0 = pos + 6;
			pos = input.indexOf("=", p0);
			if (pos < 0) {
				ret = ret + input.substring(p0);
				break;
			}
			String s = input.substring(p0, pos);
			if (s == null)
				continue;
			if (s.trim().length() != 0) {
				ret = ret + input.substring(start, pos);
				start = pos;
				continue;
			}

			int p1 = pos + 1;
			pos = input.indexOf("\"", p1);
			if (pos < 0) {
				ret = ret + input.substring(start);
				break;
			}

			s = input.substring(p1, pos);
			if (s == null)
				continue;
			if (s.trim().length() != 0) {
				ret = ret + input.substring(start, pos);
				start = pos;
				continue;
			}
			p1 = pos + 1;
			pos = input.indexOf("\"", p1);
			if (pos < 0) {
				ret = ret + input.substring(start);
				break;
			}

			s = input.substring(p1, pos);
			if (s == null)
				continue;

			start = pos + 1;
		}
		return ret;
	}

	public static String notNull(String str) {
		if (str == null) {
			return "";
		} else {
			return str;
		}
	}

	/**
	 * 根据提供的字符个数截取字符串,如果字符串字符数小于截取的个数则返回全部,如果大于截取个数则超过部分由more代替
	 *
	 * @author zhangwei5 2012-04-12 09:36
	 * @param str
	 *            截取的字符串
	 * @param toCount
	 *            截取的字符个数
	 * @param more
	 *            超过部分的替代字符串
	 * @return 截取后的字符串,如果字符串字符数小于截取的个数则返回全部,如果大于截取个数则超过部分由more代替
	 */
	public static String substring(String str, int toCount, String more) {
		int reInt = 0;
		String reStr = "";
		if (str == null)
			return "";
		char[] tempChar = str.toCharArray();
		int length = tempChar.length;
		for (int kk = 0; (kk < length && toCount > reInt); kk++) {
			@SuppressWarnings("static-access")
			String s1 = str.valueOf(tempChar[kk]);
			byte[] b;
			try {
				b = s1.getBytes("GBK");
				reInt += b.length;
				reStr += tempChar[kk];
			} catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
				e.printStackTrace();
			}
		}
		if (toCount == reInt || (toCount == reInt - 1) && more != null)
			reStr += more;
		return reStr;
	}

	/**
	 * 数据压缩
	 *
	 * @param data
	 * @return
	 */
	public static byte[] dataCompress(byte[] data) {
		GZIPOutputStream gos;
		try {
			ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream(data);
			ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
			gos = new GZIPOutputStream(baos);

			byte[] buf = new byte[1024];
			int num;
			while ((num = bais.read(buf)) != -1) {
				gos.write(buf, 0, num);
			}
			gos.finish();
			gos.flush();
			gos.close();
			byte[] output = baos.toByteArray();
			baos.close();
			return output;
		} catch (IOException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
		return null;
	}

	/**
	 * 数据解压缩
	 *
	 * @param data
	 * @return
	 */
	public static byte[] dataDecompress(byte[] a) {
		try {
			ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream(a);
			GZIPInputStream gis = new GZIPInputStream(bais);
			ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
			byte[] buf = new byte[1024];
			int num;
			while ((num = gis.read(buf)) != -1) {
				baos.write(buf, 0, num);
			}
			gis.close();
			byte[] ret = baos.toByteArray();
			baos.close();
			return ret;
		} catch (IOException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
			return null;
		}
	}

	/**
	 * 数据解压缩
	 *
	 * @param in
	 * @param length
	 * @return
	 */
	public static byte[] dataDecompress(InputStream in, int length) {
		if (length > 0) {
			try {
				GZIPInputStream gis = new GZIPInputStream(in);
				byte[] buf = new byte[length];
				gis.read(buf);
				gis.close();
				return buf;
			} catch (IOException e) {
				e.printStackTrace();
				return null;
			}
		}
		return null;
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


What if artists painted their life on canvas and musicians played their life on stage? It would have always left one wondering how honest or fair the tellers were. Well, leaving all such scepticism aside, Anupam Kher's Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hain, directed by Feroz Abbas Khan, staged during the Vodafone Odeon Theatre Festival was entertaining if not anything else. Strategically or not, the audience were almost taken on the stage ~ breaking the fourth wall.
The play did not have a beginning or perhaps it began long before people realised, when Anupam Kher sauntered through the audiences talking to them and cracking jokes. He enters the stage and the play officially began. More like an acknowledgement before the beginning on a story.
As Kher moves from one episode to another of his life, his narration is assisted with audio-visual clips from his movies, those made by others, Dilip Kumar and even santoor player Shivkumar Sharma, who was listed as a guest in the characters of his story.
The simplistic stage had another stage set up on it, music to go with the mood changes, everyday props and an audience to clap on every step that Anupam Kher took was the recipe for the entertainment package that did not let people's mind wander even for a moment.
The audience remained jovial and they clapped even when the actor was reliving some of the most tender moments, when he put forth his angst and when his words were anything but funny.
"Raja humesha gora hua karta hai" (Kings are always fair), the eyes of the first love when she visited Kher with her husband and her son ~ the terror not from the prospect of Kher telling her husband about their first kiss, but of the glitter that may have made Khar forget the moment shared with her, and the clerk of the court ended up being a farce. Blessed be the people who were not deafened by the claps and the whistles and sensed the irony.
After watching the play one also wonders why when the two lady loves surfaced in the play, his broken marriage was kept off screen and when the movie Saraansh was mentioned repeatedly, Daddy was obliterated. If indeed the play was akin to a biography, the biographer has the choice but perhaps the selection could have been better.
Nevertheless, the play served the appetite of the viewers right and Kher left with bag full of applauds. Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hain is certainly not a "play" worth watching but an entertainment programme that should not be missed.


HAWAII…. The World Wants To Know What Is Rapid Ohia Death?
"Saving ʻŌhiʻa, Hawaii's Sacred Tree," Now being shown on your local television channels.
I had a chance Today to review the documentary "Saving ʻŌhiʻa, Hawaii's Sacred Tree" on KGMB Hawaii CBS. What a life enlightenment to say the least. This is a must see no matter what part of the world you live in.
I am sure the world does not know of the plague that has hit the OHIA Trees on the Big Island of Hawaii. A forest of sticks instead of trees. This is a very dangerous situation for the ecosystem. Birds, bees and other wild life depend on the Ohia Tree.
For the past few years now the death of Ohia forest after forest has become a great concern to the locals. As you can see from photos that the Ohia tree is a large part of the forest species on The Big Island of Hawaii.
Hawaii's DLNR website for Rapid Ohia Death has many articles and pictures. Please read and become familiar with the struggle of saving the Ohia Trees.
A new documentary is being released August and September with the islands.
"Saving ʻŌhiʻa, Hawaii's Sacred Tree," a new half-hour documentary on Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death, the disease that is killing ʻōhiʻa lehua, Hawaii's most widespread and important native tree. This documentary has been funded by a grant from the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council.
This film features some of the researchers and resource managers grappling with this new disease, and community members describing their emotional and cultural relationships with ʻōhiʻa.
Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority will support three screenings of the video on Hawaiʻi Island, including the premiere at the Palace Theater in Hilo at 6:30 p.m. on August 4.
With DLNR DOFAW assistance, the video will also be broadcast on local network affiliates statewide in August and September. The video was produced by Club Sullivan, with assistance from the Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death strategic response team. For more information on Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death, visit www.RapidOhiaDeath.org.
Check your television guide for other broadcast dates, times, and channels.
Here we go again with FAKE NEWS, News that is not reported correctly..
The truth once again bent lies just not the truth…. You really need to watch and listen to learn more. Everyone wants in the lime light… They want to be a star.
I heard on the mainland news that 23 people were seriously injured. We know that NOT to be true. They took 10 to hospital and one person was hospitalized with broken leg. It's amazing how the story grows just in minutes from Agency to agency.
Hang in there guys. Accidents happen. And if you are on a whale watch tour or lava tour you should sign a waiver.
SHAME ON YOU HAWAII DLNR. Report the correct information.
SHANE TURPIN LAVA TOUR BOAT – 23 People Affected, 13 injured, 10 taken to hospital, 1 remains in critical condition with broken leg by Lava Bomb from explosion.


text:
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Essay On Gun Control: Pros And Cons
In: Popular topics
Gun Control: Pros and Cons
"Laws that forbid owning weapon disarm only those who are not prone to commit crimes. Such laws are bad … for the victims and good for the criminals, because they provoke crimes instead of prevent them. A man without weapon can be attacked more easily that the one who has a gun…"
These words belong to Cesare Beccaria, famous Italian lawyer and philosopher of the XVIII century, one of the founders of modern law. And it is hard to disagree with them, though there are a lot of opponents of this view even in the USA, the most armed country in the world.
Is a citizen with a gun protected more from crime? And can he himself turn into a robber? There are many discussions on this issue all over the world. This question is discussed by countries that allow owning weapon and by those where the only way to protect yourself is your own fists and fast legs. But the most heated debates, which sometimes lead to the court, are in America.
Recently the United States courts of appeals revoke the ban on carrying a handgun in the District of Columbia, the law was adopted in 1976. In such a way the supporters of gun owning strengthen their positions. And now on the streets of Washington and its suburbs it is allowed to carry guns in bags and purses. The fact that saddens opponents of the militarization of society.
Let's make it clear: no one was going to dispute the citizens' right on owning weapon, including snub pistols and revolvers in the United States. If someone does it, the most of Americans would judge that person, because they become very irritated when someone tries to restrict their constitutional rights and freedoms.
But supporters of disarmament, who mostly belong to the Democratic Party, act in a very sly way. They do not argue against the second amendment of the Constitution adopted by the Founding Fathers, they try to interpret it in their own way. For example, they claim that the amendment applies only to military, police and militia (civic militia). Or it is not applied to the District of Columbia, because it is not a state. The most important is that they try by any means to forbid carrying firearms.
The things are quite simple: if your gun is in your house, you may not use it outside, where in fact you need it to protect yourself from robbers and rapists. In this case guns become useless and people stop buying them. Why should they do it? To hang it over the fireplace as a decoration? Thus the ban on carrying the firearms automatically nullifies the right on gun owning. For more details and information search for gun control essays, against gun control essays or anti gun control essays.
Anyway there are millions of members of various shooting clubs in the USA. They purchase the weapon, beginning with old musket and ending with the modern automatic guns, just for entertainment. They often go to shooting range with their own guns and some of them have shooting ranges in the yard or in the basement.
To restrict somehow those "shooters" in 1990s democrat Clinton administration imposed a moratorium on the sale of automatic weapons in the country. For 10 years, automatic firearms have disappeared from the shelves of the stores giving place to their non-automatic variants (single shooting guns). Citizens were outraged. So when in 2004 they tried to extend the moratorium, republican deputies simply annulled the law.
Republican government and its leader Jorge Bush is famous by its wars, and in general period when he was the president of the USA is called "Gun thaw". The gun carrying restrictions were canceled not only on the federal level, but also on local, because every state and even city in the United States has the right to make their own laws and rules.
That is why they have their own "truth and will", and gun legislation is very various there: for example, gun carrying is allowed in 32 states out of 50. And while in Chicago the most severe restrictions are imposed on the purchase, storage and carrying of firearms, in Kennesaw (GA) local legislation not only does not forbid, but on the contrary requires from the citizens to have at least one gun. Also Kennesaw authorities emphasize that from 1980 to 2000 there was committed only one murder with a firearm in the city.
Firearms carrying supporters
American supporters of the firearms carrying emphasize that in the cities and states where carrying of the handguns and owning of the automatic guns are allowed, the crime rate is much lower than in the "demilitarized" cities and states. Chicago, for example, is one of the leaders in the number of crimes.
At the same time in Washington after the ban of 1976 the level of robberies and murders was increasing twice faster that in the country in general. The same situation was in "against gun" Los-Angeles and New York. While in the "gun" states the level of murders is 33% lower, of robberies is 37% lower. And in the states where gun laws are not very strict, the general situation is getting better. Supporters of gun owning demonstrate Florida as an example: when in 1987 the weapon restriction were canceled, crime has fallen by 21%.
There are also example of other countries. The population of Russia is 2,5 times less that in the USA, but the murders happen 1,5 times more often. Murders own guns without any permission. While law-abiding citizens have to defend with their fists and gas aerosols only.
By the number of murders per 100 thousand people Russia surpasses the United States (the USA – 4,2; Ukraine – 9,4; Russia – 20,1). Despite the fact that Russia has the most strict gun legislation in the world!
So it is hard to disagree that a citizen who carries a gun is a problem for a criminal. As one of the initiators of gun legalization in Italy said: "From now criminals will fear more, and the victims of aggression will have less problems".
Gun carrying opponents
But the gun control supporters have their own points of view on this issue and they demand to restrict citizens' access to firearms. First of all, gun storage at home increases the risk of accidents, when gun can be used in quarrels between family members and even in committing a suicide. 58% of deaths from firearms in America is suicides.
Second of all, gun opponents rightly require increasing the efficiency of police work which should not only catch the murders, but also prevent crimes.
And the third argument is the particular mentality qualities of the population. The "coloured" districts of American cities the crime rate is the highest. But in Mormon state Utah it is the lowest. It is not very high in Canada, where gun shooting on the street is really rear phenomenon. But in the countries of the former Soviet Union the level of serious crimes is huge. So the stereotype that people of these countries should not be given firearms is fair enough.
Did you like this argumentative essay on gun control? Why not order one on our website? Our team of writers will provide you with a first-class essay. Trust us and you will not be sorry!
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Movie Review: "DEATH HOUSE" is completely expendable
Tuesday, November 6, 2018 | Review
Starring Cody Longo, Cortney Palm and Kane Hodder
Written and directed by B. Harrison Smith
Cleopatra Entertainment
The come-on for DEATH HOUSE is that it's "THE EXPENDABLES of horror," gathering a convention's worth of genre celebrities in one movie. What those pushing the comparison have evidently forgotten is that THE EXPENDABLES was pretty lousy, though at least it had a discernable budget. Certain cameos in DEATH HOUSE look like they went up to the celeb's convention hotel room, shot them in front of a greenscreen and later dropped them into the movie via cheap digital effects.
Many of the star appearances in DEATH HOUSE, in fact, amount to little more than cameos, starting with Tony Todd. His opening scene has not much to do with anything before we're taken to the titular facility, where a rogue's gallery of murderers and fiends have been confined for study. This is supposed to be a super-hi-tech lab (whose layout, as seen in a brief computer simulation, looks very much like that of RESIDENT EVIL's Umbrella Corporation)—though after early scenes set in white-and-shiny rooms, the last half plays out amidst grubby, crumbling prison hallways.
It is here that FBI agents Jae Novak (Cody Longo) and Toria Boon (ZOMBEAVERS' Cortney Palm) arrive for a tour. If those names seem a little improbable, those of some of the villains are even more contrived; Kane Hodder, for example, plays neo-Nazi Alais Sieg, the kind of moniker that has you mentally rearranging the letters to see if it's an anagram for something. Anyhow, Novak and Boon are shown around by Drs. Fletcher and Redmane, played by Dee Wallace and Barbara Crampton, two actresses who are far better than their ploddingly expository dialogue and are subjected to harsh overlighting in those lab sequences.
After our two leads share the most boring shower scene in horror-film history, an EMP-pulse device is sneaked into Death House in the guts of a mutilated guard. When it goes off and kills the power, the inmates are freed to run riot through the place, Novak and Boon try to find a way out and it all leads to Death House's dreaded ninth level. That's the dwelling place of the worst of the worst, a group known as the "Five Evils"—i.e. Bill Moseley, Michael Berryman and others standing around in supervillain cosplay outfits, looking vaguely embarrassed.
Among the many, many problems with DEATH HOUSE is that writer/director B. Harrison Smith plays his ridiculous storyline completely straight and serious, and has guided his cast to do the same. You'd think that someone making what is essentially the ultimate fan film would have some fun with the opportunity, but instead the script consists largely of endless pseudoscientific mumbo jumbo and tedious ruminations on the nature of good and evil and God and humanity and stuff. Smith's "vision" also way overreached his budget, and thus Novak and Boon don VR headsets held together with duct tape, and the CGI is beneath the level of what your average high-schooler could do on his or her laptop.
Every so often, as when Sieg confronts another villain played by R.A. Mihailoff, DEATH HOUSE feels like a real movie. For the most part, though, there's a thrown-together feel to the whole thing, and with the exception of a room full of HELLRAISER-inspired ghouls, the horror content consists largely of poorly shot action that is sometimes so underlit that you can't tell what's going on. There's also an unfortunate emphasis on the brutalization of women and the baring of their breasts for cheap titillation; not once but twice, a female victim actually asks her attacker if she's going to be raped and murdered.
The worst part of DEATH HOUSE, though, is the way it squanders the opportunity to gather so many fright favorites in one place. When the late Gunnar Hansen, who receives story credit and turns up briefly as a hologram, first conceived the project, surely he didn't envision a movie in which so many of these actors would be reduced to pointless walk-ons. DEATH HOUSE's only value is as a game of Spot-the-Celebrity—which at least provides a distraction from the tackiness of the plotting and filmmaking. And it's a shame that a great tagline—"Hell isn't a word… It's a sentence"—has been wasted on a flick that does indeed feel like a prison term.
B. Harrison Smith
DEATH HOUSE
Kane Hodder
Not to mention I spent half the movie with Hitek super duper LED eye blinder flashlights in my face.


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A Dash of Courage é um filme de comédia mudo produzido nos Estados Unidos e lançado em 1916.

Filmes dos Estados Unidos de 1916

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


To all my friends who are VERIZON FiOS® customers in California, Texas & Florida, this post is especially important for you.
On April 1st, Verizon services in California, Texas and Florida moved to the Frontier network. That means if you currently have Internet, TV or Voice service–including FiOS®–it is now provided by Frontier Communications.
Now I know first hand that change can be hard, but the team at Frontier is committed to making sure everyone has the tools they need to make sure that the transition is smooth.
We know that everyone likes "cheat sheets" so we took the liberty of compiling one that would help you make sure that you can get logged in, read, understand and pay your bill.
First things first… did you create you Frontier ID?
The Frontier ID experience was developed for the latest browser versions available.
NOTE: We recommend that you download free Chrome or Internet Explorer v8.0 and higher for the best experience.
When you create your Frontier ID, you'll have online access to your account on Frontier.com as well as the MyFrontier Mobile App and the TV Everywhere app (for existing FiOS® TV customers only). You will also be able to manage your account, review bills, update your profile and more.
Here is an easy HOW TO CREATE YOUR FRONTIER ID page that walks you thru the process step by step.
OK… now that you have created your ID and have access to your favorite apps such as HBO GO®, Showtime Anytime®, TBS, WatchESPN and the Disney Channel, you need to understand your bill so that you can make sure your service is uninterrupted.
Here are 5 videos that will help you read, pay your bill easily online… SPOILER ALERT: They even have an APP so you can do it all ON THE GO!
Still have questions? Visit the HELP CENTER and get answers!


Apple released version 10.9 of their OS ("Mavericks") on Tuesday. I'm sure it's the greatest, biggest, and best-est release of an operating system in the history of man (just like every version that preceded it), and it's nice that it's now free, but I still recommend that you wait to install it until there is a version 10.9.1 or even 10.9.2. Although Apple has made some changes to the interface, included apps, and under the hood, there is nothing particularly pressing about this release, and I've encountered a few incompatibilities that need to be resolved.
Backup your drive. You never know if something is going to go wrong.
Use Disk Utility in /Applications/Utilities/ to check your disk and repair permissions.
Use Software Update to download the update, but do not install it right away. Instead, create a bootable, USB flash drive first. (I created a script to assist with that. Use at your own risk.) Make sure your flash drive is at least 8 GB and can be erased.
After you've taken these steps, go ahead and install (you'll find the installer in /Applications/), then work through the incompatibilities, if any. Also, be sure to run Software Update again to grab the software that now relies on Mavericks, like the new versions of iPhoto and Pages.


Cannabis from Brigid Farms was shown at the Home Grown Maine Medical Marijuana Trade Show at the Spectacular Events Center in Bangor on April 19, 2014.
It ends an awkward, rancorous duel that divided marijuana advocates and potentially scared away large national donors who would already have given to the effort to legalize marijuana in Maine under normal circumstances.
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, a group backed by the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a news release that it will run the effort in support of a legalization question proposed by Legalize Maine, an organization formed by state medical marijuana advocates.
Legalize Maine's proposal is similar but more permissive in some respects than the one proposed by the Marijuana Policy Project. For example, it would make up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana legal instead of the national group's 1 ounce, and also features cheaper fees for cultivation licenses.
Tamar Todd, director of marijuana law and policy for the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that helps coordinate marijuana law reform nationwide, said both proposals were "responsibly drafted" and the "only problem was that there were two campaigns," making it difficult for national funders to rally behind the cause.
"I think because of the reality of the situation, there was an openness and a willingness to unify," she said.
The two groups have been negotiating for months in private over combining the effort and differences have spilled into the public eye.
In August, McCarrier accused the Marijuana Policy Project of walking away from negotiations, saying it wanted a national "cookie-cutter model" that won't work for Maine. David Boyer, Maine political director for the Marijuana Policy Project, said then that negotiations had stopped because McCarrier was trying to "trick" him about Legalize Maine's willingness to collaborate.
That animosity had subsided by Monday. McCarrier referred questions to Boyer, who said he didn't think that past issues would hinder the campaign going forward.
Now, Boyer's group will run Legalize Maine's effort, which he said has roughly 40,000 signatures. It must submit more than 61,000 to the state by February to get on the ballot. The two campaigns, which will effectively merge, raised more than $198,000 combined by September's end, according to state records.
However, Scott Gagnon, a substance abuse counselor and Maine director of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an anti-legalization group, said in a statement that Maine shouldn't legalize marijuana as it struggles with widespread heroin addiction and "policies that support health and wellness" should be advanced.
"That is not what will be offered by the combined effort to legalize marijuana," he said.