text:
Bristol Battery Storage Project Brilliance
An innovative project trialled in Bristol has been a success. SoLa Bristol used battery storage devices charged by rooftop solar PV Panels on homes and businesses across the city. The residents in the buildings benefitted from the project by storing the energy in the day and using it at night. They also profited by selling surplus energy back to the grid.
Partners of the SoLa Bristol project have celebrated its completion. The successful energy innovation trial helped 26 homes, 5 schools and an office block reap the rewards of more efficient renewable energy.
The £2.8 million SoLa Bristol project trialled battery storage devices, charged by rooftop solar PV panels in the Knowle West based council-owned homes and work buildings. Participants were able to store power generated by the solar panels during the day to then use the electricity when it was needed to power a DC lighting system. They also benefited from a 'Smart Tariff' deal, allowing them to earn money by exporting their stored energy at peak times onto the electricity grid, reducing their peak energy demand.
Bristol-based Western Power Distribution (WPD) partnered with Bristol City Council, Siemens, the University of Bath and Knowle West Media Centre to deliver the project, which came to an end in March 2016.
It was designed to address the technical constraints that WPD has experienced as the distribution network operator (DNO) in Bristol, where the uptake of solar panels has been high.
The project found that demand side response and customer variable tariffs can be very beneficial for both customers and DNOs but maintaining engagement is absolutely crucial to success. Equally, future projects must ensure that they tailor their approach to make the battery storage technology work for each customer – a 'one-size-fits-all' approach simply does not work.
On Tuesday night, Bristol Futures Director at Bristol City Council, Stephen Hilton, welcomed the project. He said: "Projects such as SoLa Bristol demonstrate that Bristol is continuing to lead the way towards a decarbonised, resilient, and community-led energy system following its year as European Green Capital.
Bristol City Council is committed to working with residents, such as those in social housing, who can benefit the most from innovative technologies and services. It has been invaluable to work with community organisations such as Knowle West Media Centre to make engagement with these innovations fun and meaningful for those involved."
Roger Hey, Future Networks Manager for WPD, said: "We are really pleased with the results of this project and enormously grateful to our project partners and the Knowle West community for their time and efforts supporting SoLa Bristol.
"Tonight's Innovation Reception has been a great opportunity to share our invaluable findings from the project with the rest of the energy industry. We are hopeful that others can now exploit the learnings to inform their own projects and move closer to a smarter energy system."
Professor Furong Li from the University of Bath said: "The SoLa Bristol systems continue their life at the Smart Grid teaching and research Laboratories at the University of Bath, providing immediate benefits to students and researchers from over 50 countries.
This is the perfect platform for the University to continue with the successful path already established by the SoLa Bristol Project. New ways of managing, trading and supplying electricity with increasing supply from local communities will be investigated, ensuring communities can benefit from low energy bills, low carbon emissions and high returns from community energy."
Related Topics:BristolBristol city councilcommunity energyinnovativeKnowle West Media Centrelocal communitiesNational GridrenewablesSiemenssocietySoLaSoLa BristolSolar Energysolar panelssupplytradingUniversity of Bath
Economics of Buying a Home with and Without Solar Energy
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Thin-Film Solar Panels Offer a Lot of Great Benefits for Renewable Energy


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        <item name="android:windowTranslucentStatus">true</item>
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
package com.ltsllc.miranda.node.states;

import com.ltsllc.miranda.Message;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.State;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.clientinterface.basicclasses.Version;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.clientinterface.MirandaException;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.clientinterface.requests.Files;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.cluster.Cluster;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.cluster.messages.ConnectMessage;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.file.GetFileResponseWireMessage;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.node.NameVersion;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.node.messages.GetClusterFileMessage;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.node.messages.GetFileMessage;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.node.messages.GetSubscriptionsFileMessage;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.node.messages.GetTopicsFileMessage;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.node.networkMessages.*;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.subsciptions.SubscriptionsFile;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.topics.TopicsFile;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.user.UsersFile;
import com.ltsllc.miranda.user.messages.GetUsersFileMessage;
import com.sun.org.apache.bcel.internal.generic.GETFIELD;
import org.junit.Before;
import org.junit.Test;
import org.mockito.Matchers;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue;
import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue;

import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;

/**
 * Created by Clark on 3/22/2017.
 */
public class TestNewNodeState extends TesterNodeState {
    private NewNodeState newNodeState;

    public NewNodeState getNewNodeState() {
        return newNodeState;
    }

    public void reset () throws Exception {
        super.reset();

        newNodeState = null;
    }

    @Before
    public void setup () throws Exception {
        reset();

        super.setup();

        newNodeState = new NewNodeState(getMockNode(), getMockNetwork(), getMockCluster());
    }

    @Test
    public void testProcessJoinWireMessage () throws MirandaException {
        JoinResponseWireMessage joinResponseWireMessage = new JoinResponseWireMessage(JoinResponseWireMessage.Responses.Success);
        JoinWireMessage joinWireMessage = new JoinWireMessage("foo.com", "192.168.1.1", 6789, "a node");
        NetworkMessage networkMessage = new NetworkMessage(null, this, joinWireMessage);

        State nextState = getNewNodeState().processMessage(networkMessage);

        assert (nextState instanceof NodeReadyState);
    }

    @Test
    public void testProcessVersionsWireMessage () throws MirandaException {
        BlockingQueue<Message> queue = new LinkedBlockingQueue<Message>();
        setupMockMiranda();

        List<NameVersion> nameVersions = new ArrayList<NameVersion>();
        Version version = new Version();
        version.setSha256("whatever");
        nameVersions.add (new NameVersion(Cluster.NAME, version));
        VersionsWireMessage versionsWireMessage = new VersionsWireMessage(nameVersions);
        NetworkMessage networkMessage = new NetworkMessage(null, this, versionsWireMessage);

        when(getMockMiranda().getQueue()).thenReturn(queue);

        State nextState = getNewNodeState().processMessage(networkMessage);

        assert (nextState instanceof NewNodeState);
        assert (contains(Message.Subjects.Versions, queue));
    }

    @Test
    public void testGetFileResponseWireMessageCluster () throws MirandaException {
        setupMockMiranda();
        BlockingQueue<Message> queue = new LinkedBlockingQueue<Message>();
        setupMockCluster();
        GetFileResponseWireMessage getFileResponseWireMessage = new GetFileResponseWireMessage(Files.Topic, new Version(), "hi there".getBytes());
        NetworkMessage networkMessage = new NetworkMessage(null, this, getFileResponseWireMessage);

        when(getMockMiranda().getCluster()).thenReturn(getMockCluster());
        when (getMockCluster().getQueue()).thenReturn(queue);

        State nextState = getNewNodeState().processMessage(networkMessage);

        assert (contains(Message.Subjects.GetFileResponse, queue));
        assert (nextState instanceof NewNodeState);
    }

    @Test
    public void testGetFileResponseWireMessageUsers () throws MirandaException {
        BlockingQueue<Message> queue = new LinkedBlockingQueue<Message>();
        setupMockUsersFile();
        GetFileResponseWireMessage getFileResponseWireMessage = new GetFileResponseWireMessage(Files.Topic, new Version(), "hi there".getBytes());
        NetworkMessage networkMessage = new NetworkMessage(null, this, getFileResponseWireMessage);

        when (getMockUsersFile().getQueue()).thenReturn(queue);

        State nextState = getNewNodeState().processMessage(networkMessage);

        assert (contains(Message.Subjects.GetFileResponse, queue));
        assert (nextState instanceof NewNodeState);
    }

    @Test
    public void testGetFileResponseWireMessageTopics () throws MirandaException {
        BlockingQueue<Message> queue = new LinkedBlockingQueue<Message>();
        setupMockTopicsFile();
        GetFileResponseWireMessage getFileResponseWireMessage = new GetFileResponseWireMessage(
                Files.Topic, new Version(), "hi there".getBytes());
        NetworkMessage networkMessage = new NetworkMessage(null, this, getFileResponseWireMessage);

        when (getMockTopicsFile().getQueue()).thenReturn(queue);

        State nextState = getNewNodeState().processMessage(networkMessage);

        assert (contains(Message.Subjects.GetFileResponse, queue));
        assert (nextState instanceof NewNodeState);
    }

    @Test
    public void testGetFileResponseWireMessageSubscriptions () throws MirandaException {
        BlockingQueue<Message> queue = new LinkedBlockingQueue<Message>();
        setupMockSubscriptionsFile();
        GetFileResponseWireMessage getFileResponseWireMessage = new GetFileResponseWireMessage(Files.Topic, new Version(), "whatever".getBytes());
        NetworkMessage networkMessage = new NetworkMessage(null, this, getFileResponseWireMessage);

        when (getMockSubscriptionsFile().getQueue()).thenReturn(queue);

        State nextState = getNewNodeState().processMessage(networkMessage);

        assert (contains(Message.Subjects.GetFileResponse, queue));
        assert (nextState instanceof NewNodeState);
    }

    public void testProcessGetFileMessage (Files file) throws MirandaException {
        Message message = new GetFileMessage (null,null,file);

        State nextState = getNewNodeState().processMessage(message);

        assert (getNewNodeState().getDeferredQueue().size() > 1);

    }

    @Test
    public void testProcessGetUsersFileMessage () throws MirandaException {
        testProcessGetFileMessage(Files.User);
    }

    @Test
    public void testProcessGetClusterFileMessage () throws MirandaException {
        testProcessGetFileMessage(Files.Cluster);
    }

    @Test
    public void testProcessGetTopicsFileMessage () throws MirandaException {
        testProcessGetFileMessage(Files.Topic);
    }

    @Test
    public void testProcessGetSubscriptionsFileMessage () throws MirandaException {
        testProcessGetFileMessage(Files.Subscription);
    }

    @Test
    public void testProcessConnectMessage () throws MirandaException {
        NewNodeState.setLogger(getMockLogger());
        ConnectMessage connectMessage = new ConnectMessage(null, this);

        when(getMockNode().getCurrentState()).thenReturn(getNewNodeState());

        State nextState = getNewNodeState().processMessage(connectMessage);

        assert (nextState == getNewNodeState());
        verify (getMockLogger(), atLeastOnce()).warn(Matchers.anyString(), Matchers.any(Throwable.class));
    }
}


Trying to choose between the Epiphone Les Paul Standard, Studio, PlusTop PRO and Custom PRO? Apparently so, or you wouldn't be here! You're not alone. This is a tough decision, and to make the right choice you need all the facts.
First, you have the classic Epiphone Standard. This baby is modeled after the Gibson Les Paul, as you surely know. It's got pure rock attitude, and the sound to match.
The Epi Standard has come a long way in recent years, and the PlusTop PRO model now adds some improved features to this already great guitar. Many veteran musicians rely on it as a solid, budget-friendly alternative to Gibson.
Then you have the Epiphone Custom PRO. It's slick, shiny and makes you feel like you ought to be wearing white gloves while you play it. This is truly an amazing looking guitar, and whether you choose Ebony or Alpine White you're making a serious upgrade in appearance from the Standard PRO model, for only a few bucks extra.
Finally, you have the Epiphone Studio. This is really a great guitar in this price range, and it has all the appointments you need to call it a real Les Paul. But it is much more of a bare-bones version, just like it's Gibson counterpart. In the fact, in my opinion, the Studio compares favorably to the Standard, but does that mean the same is true in the Epiphone lineup?
Let's compare these awesome guitars and help you figure out which is the best choice for you.
Epiphone is among the top electric guitar builders in the world, and their Les Pauls are modeled after classic Gibson guitars and built to Gibson's specs. But that doesn't mean they're quite the same as their Gibson cousins.
In a Gibson Les Paul, whether it is a Standard, Studio or Custom, we see the same tonewood combination. Namely, we're looking at a mahogany body with a carved maple top and a mahogany neck. Traditionally, Gibson has used rosewood or ebony for their fingerboards.
Gibson Les Pauls also feature some of the best stock humbuckers on the planet like their 490R/T set and the newer BurstBucker Pros. In the past, this is where some players felt the Epiphone Les Paul fell short.
This is the basic Les Paul profile, and it's important to compare Epiphone Les Pauls not only to each other, but to the benchmark set by Gibson.
Like the Gibson, the Epiphone version features a mahogany neck and a mahogany body with a maple top. However, the maple top on the Epi is thinner and does not have as much of an impact on the tone of the guitar. This is also one of the reasons an Epiphone Les Paul Standard is typically lighter than a Gibson.
For some players, that's a good thing, but for others, it is an indication that this guitar isn't quite there. A big reason a Gibson sounds so good lies in the woods used to built it.
As for pickups and electronics, the Standard features a set of Alnico Classic Humbuckers. These pickups aren't bad, but as you'll see below Epiphone has made some improvements in recent years.
Bottom Line: The Epiphone Standard is a good guitar for a very good price. It's reminiscent of what you'd expect from an Epiphone a few years ago in both its high value and its minor weak points.
It makes a great first "serious guitar" for beginners who have been playing a while, but can also serve as a solid instrument for veteran gigging musicians. There is a reason Epiphone is regarded as one of the top alternatives to the Gibson LP, and it all starts with the LP Standard.
Not so long ago when you bought an Epiphone LP Standard you had the choice between a solid Ebony finish and a pretty flame top. They were basically the same guitar, only one was painted black so you couldn't see the veneer beneath.
Now the field is separated. There is the Standard model (above) with solid tops, and the PlusTop PRO model, with gorgeous flame or quilt tops featuring burst and see-through finishes. There's a significant price difference between the Standard and the Standard PRO, but it's about more that appearances.
I had a chance to play an Epiphone LP Custom PRO a while back, a guitar very similar to the Standard PRO, and a couple of things struck me right away. First, this guitar was hefty. It felt like a Les Paul should, with a beefy neck and thick body. Epiphones always felt flimsier than Gibsons to me, but not in this case.
The second thing was the pickups. The LP Standard (and Custom) both feature Epiphone ProBucker pickups, and I think they are significantly better in clarity and warmth than the Alnico Classics. They also have a coil tap function, which is a cool but unexpected feature.
Bottom Line: The Epiphone LP Standard PRO is a serious upgrade from the Standard, and in my opinion shortens the gap between Epiphone and Gibson significantly.
There were always some pretty good reasons you'd choose Gibson over Epiphone, regardless of price. Those reasons start to make less sense when Epi puts out guitars like this. If you are a serious guitarist and you don't want to spend a lot of cash, but you want a Les Paul, stop thinking so hard and grab one of these.
Both are made with mahogany bodies and hand-set mahogany necks.
Both guitars have rosewood fingerboards with block inlays and 22 frets.
Both have locking Tune-o-matic bridges with stop bar, and Grover tuners.
The Standard has Alnico Classic humbuckers, where the PlusTop has upgraded ProBuckers with coil splits. For most players, this gives the edge to the PlusTop. The pickups on the Standard are not quite as hot, and not quite as articulate.
The PlusTop has a thin maple veneer you can see through the paint. This does not impact sound much, if at all.
The Standard comes in basic, solid colors, where the PlusTop comes in nice burst finishes. It's a matter of choice, and neither is better.
The PlusTop is a more expensive guitar, typically to the tune of about $100, give or take.
The Epiphone Les Paul Custom is a prettied-up version of the LP Standard PRO. I'll be honest: My dream guitar has always been a Gibson LP Custom, but there is simply no way I could ever justify the cost. If you feel the same way, the Epiphone LP Custom may be your ticket.
This is a gorgeous guitar, but beneath the surface, it is pretty much the same instrument as the LP Standard PRO. There's a slight price difference, but the upgrade is aesthetic.
The Epiphone LP Custom PRO features the same mahogany body with maple top, mahogany neck, and rosewood fingerboard as the Standard PRO. And, it has the same great ProBucker pickups with coil tap.
Cosmetically, it has gold hardware instead of chrome, prettier inlays in the fingerboard, a cool Les Paul Custom inlay in a bound headstock, and black speeds knobs instead of the Gibson top hat knobs.
Bottom Line: This guitar isn't better or worse than the Standard PRO, just cosmetically different. If you like the look of the LP Custom, go for it!
The Epi Les Paul Studio is a stripped-down version of the guitars listed above. This is a great electric guitar for serious beginners, and very affordable. It lacks the maple top and features a carved mahogany body and mahogany neck with a rosewood fingerboard. It has Alnico Classic humbuckers like the Standard, but these are an open-coil design.
Open-coil humbuckers tend to be a little hotter and brighter than pickups with covers, and I think that works well in the context of this guitar.
There's no bindings or fancy inlays, and aside from the dots on the fingerboard instead of blocks this guitar has the look of a Gibson LP Studio.
I happen to like that look a lot. I think if I were a beginner, or an intermediate guitarist looking to upgrade from a starter guitar, I'd be tempted to grab this LP.
Bottom Line: This guitar isn't in the same league as the Standard PRO and Custom PRO models above, but it might give the Standard a run for its money.
The point of the LP Studio is to give a player all the good things about a Les Paul, without the fancy stuff that drives the price up. This guitar gets that done.
For low-intermediate players, those getting back to guitar after a long layoff and serious beginners it is a good option. There is also a Goth version with an evil-looking black paint job, in case you want to give the neighbors a little extra scare.
It seems two distinct classes of Epiphone Les Pauls revealed themselves throughout this review. There's the PRO Les Paul. These are quality guitars for a great price, and even profession musicians can make use of them in recording and gigging situations.
While the Epiphone has always been a good alternative to Gibson, I think the gap is closer than ever with the Standard PRO and Custom PRO.
Then there's a class for intermediate players, or musicians looking for their first good guitar. The Standard and Studio are both great values too, but professional musicians probably would have to make a few upgrades to find them useful. However, they're perfect for younger players and serious beginners.
My choice? I'd go with the Custom PRO in Alpine White, but I really love the Vintage Sunburst finish on the Standard PlusTop PRO too. I think I might need one of each of those in the not too distant future.
As for the Epiphone Standard vs Studio, I honestly think I'd choose the Studio. I like the open-coil humbuckers, and I like the stripped-down look.
But the choice is yours. Which guitar have you decided is right for you?
Your opinion: Epiphone Les Paul Standard, Studio, PlusTop PRO or Custom PRO?
Which guitar do you like best?
Is the Epiphone Les Paul capable of a rich, deep, clean sound similar to Carlos Santana's tone on Samba Pa Ti?
Yes. Like its Gibson namesake, the Epiphone version of the Les Paul is known for its warm, rich tone and it sounds great clean or with just a touch of overdrive. In other words, the types of sounds Santana is known for. A guitar player on a budget can get that same kind of smooth, buttery tone with something like an Epiphone Les Paul PlusTop PRO. However, I will add a few cautions here.
First, there are many guitars we could say this about. Since the early '80s, Santana has played PRS guitars, and something like a PRS SE Custom 22 could get the job done as well. Really, anything with a mahogany body and neck and moderate-output humbuckers will get you in the neighborhood of Santana sound. Use the neck pickup, and experiment with rolling back the tone control.
Second, it's a fool's errand to chase legendary tone on a budget, and not much easier with limitless cash at your disposal. Back when Santana recorded Abraxas he was playing Gibson guitars, sometimes with P-90 pickups and sometimes not. So, what guitar did he use on Samba Pa Ti? Does it really matter?
It's the same with any guitar hero. We could argue and speculate endlessly about the gear they used on a certain song or album, and then spend a huge amount of time and money trying to replicate it ourselves. This is the path to madness. For the sake of discussion, it is entertaining. But, for the sake of putting together a guitar setup that sounds great and doesn't kill your budget, it isn't really helpful.
I think it is far more important to understand the characteristics of the sound you want and get your tone "in the neighborhood." In this case, an Epiphone can certainly help you with that.
If you want a Les Paul Epiphanies are good choices. Pull the cover off pickups on current Gibsons and you'll see why they are no longer worth their price. A better choice for that Les Paul shape are the PRS customs like the SE Tremonti. For the price of an Epiphone you get old time Gibson looks and quality, not to mention superb playability.


A true indoor/outdoor pillow. These high function decorative pillows are made from 100% nylon and will move you to the very front of the fashion curve. The strong ultra light fabric allows for maximum loft, is soft and smooth to the touch, water resistant and perfect for indoor or outdoor use. Filled with 100% polyester.
Care: Hand wash cold. Use only non-chlorine bleach when needed. Line dry. Do not iron. Do not dry clean.
Warranty: For warranty information, please call 775-997-4914 Please Note: We make every effort to ensure colors are represented accurately online. Due to possible variances in manufacturer dye lots, however, colors may vary slightly from what is depicted. Also, due to the printing process of the pattern, slight imperfections in the pattern may exist.


Here is a sweet new racing game. The race course runs through a land where everything seems to be made of ice cream and other sweet treats. But watch out! There is a hungry crocodile who wants to eat you, because your car is also made of candy! While you race along, avoiding the croc, grab as many of the bubbles, jelly, and rockets as you can to earn bonus points. There are multiple levels. In order to get to the next level you need to finish first in the race or complete missions.


text:
Home » Mexico » Playa del Carmen News » Sea turtle committee says more efforts needed to combat egg looting
Sea turtle committee says more efforts needed to combat egg looting
Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — Members of the sea turtle committee say this year, they are reinforcing efforts in an attempt to combat sea turtle egg looting, something that is a common problem.
Lucelly Ramos Montejo, president of the State Committee of Sea Turtles, says that for the upcoming May sea turtle nesting season, municipal committees will be installed in the south of the state to coordinate surveillance and protection in the nesting areas that registered looting last year.
"In the southern part of the state in places like Bacalar and Mahahual, looting was detected and that is why we need the support of the committee to do operational work with Marina and Profepa. It is prohibited to take the eggs because they are in danger of extinction, so we are going to work on education and awareness campaigns," she said.
In 2017, the municipalities of Benito Juárez, Tulum, Isla Mujeres, Cozumel and Solidaridad participated by adding their local committees to coordinate operational actions together with the hotels, associations and volunteers that perform the surveillance, protection and management of turtles.
Ramos Montejo expects more municipalities will join.
The State Committee already had its first session of the year in which the general guidelines were put into place. The participation of each of the municipal committees will be confirmed and the final data on the 2017 activity will be announced.
"The past was a strong season, every two years there is a greater influx of turtles which was the case in 2017. Last year in Quintana Roo there were 56,012 white turtle nests, 36,702 thousand of loggerhead and 905 of hawksbill," she said.
The looting of turtle eggs has been an ongoing problem over the years, with people being arrested and sentenced to jail time for attempting to steal and sell the eggs.
She said the municipality of Solidaridad has already begun training in the hotels with whom they have collaboration agreements, so they comply with the official Mexican Standard which obligates beaches to provide ideal conditions for the turtles to lay their eggs.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Tyson Track Center
John McDonnell Field
Head Coach Lance Harter
Assoc. Head Coach Chris Johnson
Asst. Coach Bryan Compton
Facility Records
Indoor Fan Guide
SEC Homepage
SEC Indoor Performance List
SEC Outdoor Performance List
NCAA Indoor Performance List
NCAA Outdoor Performance List
On This Day: Sandi Morris Achieves Another Collegiate Record
Shawn Price May 15, 2020
Amid a senior season which included multiple pole vault collegiate records for Razorback Sandi Morris, her 15-5 ¾ victory at the SEC Championships on May 15, 2015, produced a mark that maintained her hold on the collegiate outdoor record for a few years.
Morris won the competition when she cleared 14-6 (4.42) as places 2-3-4 all missed that height and finished with clearances of 14-2 ¾ (4.34).
She then passed on the next pair of scheduled heights – 14-9 (4.50) and 15-0 ¼ (4.58) – and needed two attempts to get over 15-1 ¾ (4.62), eclipsing the conference meet record of 15-1 ½ (4.61) set by Razorback Tina Sutej with her collegiate record victory in 2011.
Only one attempt was required for Morris to make 15-5 ¾ (4.72) as she improved the outdoor collegiate record of 15-5 ½ (4.71), which had just been set a few days earlier.
Morris held the collegiate outdoor record for four seasons until Olivia Gruver of Washington, who previously competed in the SEC with Kentucky, cleared 15-6 ¼ (4.73) on March 29, 2019 at the Stanford Invitational.
The SEC winning height for Morris remains the conference record. Razorback Alexis (Weeks) Jacobus attempted to better the mark with attempts at 15-6 ¼ (4.73) during her SEC victories in 2016 and 2018, when her winning heights were 15-0 and 15-3, respectively.
Arkansas' progression of holding the conference record in the women's pole vault at the SEC Outdoor Championships includes the following: April Steiner, 13-7 ¼ (2003); Katie Stripling, 14-5 ¼ (2009); Tina Sutej, 15-1 ½ (2011); and Sandi Morris, 15-5 ¾ (2015).
Four Razorback vaulters scored in the 2015 SEC Outdoor meet. Ariel Voskamp joined Morris on the podium after clearing 14-2 ¾ to finish second. Desiree Freier tied for fifth (13-11 ¾), and Megan Zimlich placed seventh (13-7 ¾).
The Razorbacks totaled 23.5 points in the event, continuing a trend of big scores in the conference meet. In 2014, Arkansas accumulated 25.5 points.
In the past six seasons, Arkansas has scored a total of 133.25 points in the women's pole vault at the SEC Outdoor, averaging just over 22 points a year in that span.
Since the SEC started contesting the event in 1998, Arkansas vaulters have won the SEC Outdoor title 11 times, which includes a pair of five-year consecutive victories from 2007-2011 and 2014-2018.
Following is an excerpt from an article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on the record performance by Morris during the 2015 SEC Championships hosted by Mississippi State.
The Mike Sanders Track and Field Complex fell quiet as Morris prepared to take off on her record-setting attempt, but the Arkansas senior broke the silence as she cleared the bar on the way down.
"I just started screaming," Morris said. "A scream that I wanted to let out for so long."
The height allowed Morris to regain a record she previously held. The Greenville, S.C., native and Demi Payne of Stephen F. Austin have passed the record between each other this year. Morris set the record with a 15-1 ¾ vault April 11, but Payne cleared 15-5 ½ last week.
"Whenever I see my competitors jump really high, my fire is really lit," said Morris, who also won the SEC and NCAA Indoors pole vault title. "I want to go out there and prove to the world that I can do that too. … It's just a whole different story to step out there on that runway when the world's watching you with the bar up and to be able to clear it."
Ten of Morris' family members were on hand to watch her defend her SEC title. Between attempts, Morris' niece, Jamison Grace, could be heard yelling "Go, Aunt Sandy!" The 2-year-old ran down the back straightaway toward her record-setting aunt after the competition.
"It's really encouraging to me to look over and see my little niece, my parents and my grandparents," Morris said. "Everyone's here."


What would you say are the top excuses people make to not travel, and how are you able to overcome them?
A friend posed this question to me on Facebook on a link I shared to this Forbes article about how one couple saved over the years to retire in their 30s and travel. It's a really good question, and one that deserves a thoughtful response.
Before I dive in to some of the rationales people present about why they "can't" travel, I want to acknowledge something – there are some people who just don't want to travel, or who prioritize other aspects in their life over travel, and their reasons aren't excuses and I don't want to make anyone feel like they've made a wrong choice in their personal prioritization. For example, traveling for an extended period of time requires some degree of physical separation from family members, friends, your career, and material items (home, car, etc.). If you make a choice not to travel because you have an aging and ill family member you want to spend more time with, then that is your priority over traveling during that time; and that's obviously respectable. Additionally, if one of your goals is to save money to buy a home, and your budget doesn't accommodate both home ownership and travel, and if home ownership is the more important of the two for you personally, it makes sense you won't choose to travel. If you or your partner are pregnant and you want to be around family and friends during the pregnancy and birth, then, again, travel may not be your priority during this time.
All this said, I want to highlight what I think is a key factor many overlook when it comes to long term travel – most middle class people in the United States can take time off to travel the world. Many people think that they "can't" because of a mortgage, because of their careers, because of family, etc. In reality, it's all about choices and what you choose to prioritize. For instance, in the years leading up to my first trip around the world, I chose to buy a $1200 Acura Integra off Craigslist when my previous car blew its gasket. I made this decision because I was saving money for my trip. Some colleagues at work asked me why I didn't buy a new car since, with my salary, I could afford it. The reason is that a new car wasn't my priority – saving money for travel was. In my mind, if my car lasted me a day longer than I needed it to, then I wasted my money. In the end, I was able to sell my car (again on Craigslist) right before the trip for the same amount I had paid for it. For me, this was one of the smartest decisions I could have made while preparing for my trip.
So, assuming you are a middle-class citizen of a country with a relatively strong currency and relatively relaxed visa requirements for travel to other countries, and assuming you want to travel, aren't in prison and are of average health, there is no reason why you cannot travel for an extended period of time.
1. But what about my career?
For many people, job security is a serious concern and leaving a secure job to take time off to travel is intimidating. The good news is, for most industries, you should be able to take time off and easily return back to your industry. Unsure if your industry is flexible in this regard? Talk to others in your field to get a sense of it, and talk to your manager about whether you would be able to take time off and come back to work when you return from your trip. If you're performing well at your job to a degree that's hard to replace, you'll have a good shot of them welcoming you back.
I think people also respect the idea of taking a year off to travel the world. It shows you're financially responsible and are saving for that goal, it shows that you're willing to tour the world and learn about other people, cultures, places, countries, etc., and it shows that you're responsible enough to think far ahead about your job to ensure you leave the position in a way that maintains relationships, transitions responsibilities to others appropriately, and plans for a return to the industry.
Okay, so let's assume you've done your research and determined, yes, if I leave my career to travel, there will be room for me in it when I am ready to get back to work. But now you're worried about career advancement – climbing the ladder, getting the raises, becoming more "important" in your field. This is a legitimate concern. Unless your career is in travel writing, travel advising, or some other travel-related field, chances are taking time off for extended travel is not going to help you get a promotion. This is where that bit about choice and priority comes into play. If your priority is your career and you want to focus your efforts on getting promotions and advancing your level of responsibility at work, you should know upfront that taking time off to travel may slow down the rate at which you advance within your current career path.
For me personally, I left a job where I had moved into many positions of leadership and had a bright future ahead of me within the company if I chose to stay. I also knew, based on conversations with my manager, that if I wanted to come back after my trip, that they would be happy to have me. That said, even if I did come back, I wouldn't have been able to come back to my current leadership roles. So, to take my trip around the world, I sacrificed advancement in my career at this particular company. Thankfully, I work in an industry that is both very niche and very busy, where my particular training and skill sets are needed by many organizations – so, I had relative confidence that I would be able to come back into my industry after a year away and find work, but I also knew all those titles I had earned at my old company would go away.
2. But what about money?
This meal, at the finest restaurant in Lima, Peru, cost about $5 USD.
Traveling around the world is cheaper than you think. How much does it cost for you to live right now, right where you are? Think about food expenses and entertainment, your rent or mortgage, cost of owning a vehicle, bills, insurance and what you spend (if anything) on vacations each year. If you average that out over a year, how much does it cost per day for you to live your exact current lifestyle? Now, knowing that you can travel around the world for an average of $50 per day (cheaper if you spend more time in Southeast Asia or South America, more expensive if you spend more time in Europe or Australia), how many days can you travel and spend no more than what you do anyway?
This gives you a decent starting point. Tim and I traveled around the world on $35,000 per person, which we saved up over several years. We were not the cheapest backpackers, but we weren't extravagant and we kept a budget that we managed against daily.
Frankly, the biggest expense of long-term travel isn't the cost of travel itself, but opportunity cost – the money you won't be making while you're not working.
If you can find a way to work while you travel, or to get sponsorship, then that's ideal – but it can be difficult to arrange. For our first trip around the world, we determined how much money we would need to go around the world visiting all 7 continents (this was an objective of our trip), and then, based on our salaries, projected out how long it would take us to save that amount plus a little bit extra for a safety net.
This amount of time will vary from person to person based on your desired budget and your income, but regardless, you will most likely have to reject the pursuit of material gains to stay on track. During our saving period, we closely evaluated non-essential purchases. Is it something I will take with me on my trip? If not, I don't buy it, even if that trip is still 3 years out. For me, it was easy to prioritize my trip over new clothes, home décor, make up, etc. For others, it's more of a challenge, and, again, it comes down to choice – do you choose to save for an extended period of travel, or not?
One side note – if you have credit card debt, you are not in a position to take time away from work. Pay down your credit card debt, and then start saving for a trip. Some articles out there on the web encourage young people to take on credit card debt to support a year of travel, because YOLO. Taking time off to travel is not a frivolous decision. It should not be financially irresponsible – be smart with your money, always, and plan accordingly.
3. But what would I do with all my stuff? What about my car, my house/my apartment, my nice furniture, clothes, etc.?
Everything you see on our bodies is everything we had for a year.
Sell your car. Rent out rooms in your house, or sublet your apartment. Get a storage unit. If you don't want to pay for a storage unit and the option is there, move stuff to a friend's place or a family member's place. When Tim and I went around the world, we both sold our vehicles, I sublet my apartment, I sold my furniture on Craigslist (I didn't have nice stuff), and what was left Tim and I locked in one bedroom of his condo. The rest of his condo (second bedroom, living room, kitchen, etc.) he rented out for the year. This gave us a place to keep our stuff and kept a little bit of money coming in. This is a great option if you have a mortgage you need to keep paying while you travel.
4. What about my family and friends? I don't want to sacrifice time with them.
This is another one of those choices you'll have to make if you want to take extended time to travel. During your time traveling, you won't see friends and family as often as you do now. You need to be okay with that and prepare your family and friends emotionally for what this may mean as well. The good news is, your closest relationships will not suffer. With Skype, Facebook and other social media outlets, and decent internet access most places in the world, you can keep in touch regularly.
You may even find yourself getting closer to your friends and family. While I didn't see my grandmother as much during my year of travel, she said she felt like we talked more often. Without a job during the week or social demands every weekend, I had time to invest in each of my most important relationships, even without being able to hang out. Tim also found that regularly posting photos on Facebook and with us maintaining the blog, certain people in his life felt closer to him after the year of traveling; they were able to get a deeper sense of who he was as a person.
While traveling you'll also make lifelong friends all over the world. You can't avoid it even if you tried. So, you may not see your friends and family as often as you would otherwise, but I can promise you that taking time to travel will add to, not take away from, the love and connection you experience with others.
5. I want to travel, but it just sounds too crazy.
I think this is what holds people back from traveling more than anything else mentioned here. Taking time off to travel doesn't fit in with the "script" we think we're supposed to follow. Between going to school, getting a job, getting married, buying a house, and having kids, where are you supposed to fit in a year of travel? It's just not one of those life events we are taught to plan for since childhood. It deviates from the safe script of the path we think our lives are supposed to take.
This is where you have to decide whether to rewrite the script of your life to make room for other life events (like travel). In my opinion, this is something everyone should learn to do with their own lives, whether they want to travel or not. This simply comes down to being open to unexpected or unconventional paths your life can take. And studies show, more openness leads to more happiness.
Tim even felt a bit of apprehension prior to taking the trip. He wasn't sure if the stresses of travel would be worth the benefit of seeing so many places across the world. This apprehension subsided when he realized he could always come home if things were too overwhelming. In reality, once we were a month or two into the trip Tim was confident that he'd enjoy the entire year away – it was only fear of the unknown that had made him feel apprehensive – the reality was that the trip was worth every second, every sacrifice, and every penny.
Many people see taking a year off to travel in this highly romanticized light where one day you just wake up, quit your job, and hop on a plane later that week. Of course most people are intimidated by that idea and think it's crazy! They don't identify with that script, but what they may not realize is that the vast majority of people don't either, and this includes the majority of people who have taken time off to travel.
The truth is, it takes a lot of planning. There are many logistics to figure out before you get going. Most people can't afford to just quit their jobs and go travel on a whim, so you have to save up money for years, maybe a decade, before you can get out there.
If you dream of travel, or of anything else, what is the next step you need to take to get you closer to it? And then the step after that? And the next one? Just keep taking steps. You'll get there.
These are all things I always consider when packing up for a trip. Family and friends are always first..finances too. But it's always worth it!
I absolutely love how sensible this post is… especially the part about 'don't take on debt to do this!' And yet, being sensible, you definitely still can travel! If you want to! I have many friends who have prioritised other things, but they kinda 'travel' too, through my blog (and one of the reasons I have it in the first place).
Yes that's so true! I was listening to the World Nomads podcast recently on their episode about Croatia. They discussed whether it's possible to "love a place to death." Conscientious and sustainable travel practices are a big topic in and of themselves!
Some people don't like traveling and like you I agree that's totally fine (and works to our advantage when we can visit somewhere with fewer crowds!). My hope though is to inspire those who want to but don't think they can because of XYZ. Growing up without a ton of money, I thought the travel lifestyle was impossible for me. I want to show people it's more feasible than they might think, if they just make the decision to pursue it!
These are great tips. I've thought about taking time off to travel and all of these factors have come to mind. It definitely takes a lot of planning.
Thanks for reading! It really does take a lot of planning but it's so worth it !
So thought provoking, I love this article. If travel is really something one wants to do, they'll make it work!
I've been traveling (and working) full-time for three years and get asked these questions a lot! Very thoughtful answers which are a great learning tool for those thinking of taking a big trip!
Thank you so much Lola! I really appreciate you reading my post and glad you found it valuable!
Great post. I can never seem to get this idea into words, but you nailed it. I have been traveling full-time for 6 months now. My friends and family still think I'm nuts, but you are right, a job will always be there. It can be a risk, but if it is something you dream about, why not?! Love!
Thank you so much Jen! Enjoy your adventure!!
I've been on the road for almost a year and I remember that I asked myself exactly the same questions. Although, I like my lifestyle and I do understand it's not for everyone. Some people are not brave enough to travel or it's just not their thing.
Yeah, and I think if it's not their thing, that's totally fine!! Traveling full time is a bold move that does take a lot of courage – it's not for everyone. But we should never be afraid to follow our dreams!
I think this is a great post to give people that push and show them that it is possible, and there are answers to every question! I think travel as a full time lifestyle definitely isn't viable for everyone but even a weekend here and there is important!
Thank you for reading it! I agree, growing up my family would do weekend and day trips just around our state and it was great! You don't have to go far!
Travel is unfortunately something that not everyone can afford. Even though a lot of people travel when they are broke (as they say), it's not easy to convince others. But if you ask me, I can only say that if I want it enough, I will do it!
Agreed, it requires saving and specifically working towards it as a goal for most of us. It can't happen overnight, but it can happen if you make it happen!


text:
\section{Introduction}

In this paper, we consider wireless communication systems with a
single transmitting antenna and a single receiving antenna which
transmit data over a frequency-selective fading channel. The
systems which we consider mitigate the intersymbol interference
generated by the channel by transmitting the data stream in
consecutive equal-size blocks, which are subsequently processed at
the receiver on a block-by-block basis, see,
e.g.,~\cite{giannakis99, wang00, jkz-iee05}. In order to remove
interblock interference, some redundancy is added to each block
before transmission. There are several ways to add
redundancy~(e.g.,\cite{giannakis99,wang00}), but in this paper we
will focus on block-by-block communication systems with
zero-padding redundancy; e.g.,~\cite{wang00, giannakis99,
jkz-iee05}.

When the receiver possesses perfect knowledge of the channel and
employs maximum likelihood (ML) detection, it was
shown~\cite{jkz-iee05, Wang_Ma_GG_2002} that such a system not
only enables full diversity but also provide the maximum coding
gain. Unfortunately, perfect channel state information at the
receiver, in practice, is not easily attainable. If the coherent
time is sufficiently long, then, the transmitter can send training
signals that allow the receiver to estimate the channel
coefficients accurately. For mobile wireless communications,
however, the fading coefficients may change so rapidly that the
coherent time may be too short to allow reliable estimation of the
coefficients, especially in a system with a large number of
antennas. Therefore, the time spent on sending training signals
cannot be ignored because of the necessity of sending more
training signals for the accurate estimation of the
channel~\cite{hassibi02, zheng02}.

To avoid having to transmit training signals, considerable
research efforts have been directed to develop techniques of
``blind channel estimation"~\cite{ALLE98, Tong98} recently. These
techniques identify and estimate the transmission channel using
only the received (perhaps noisy) signals at the receiver. The
essence of these algorithms is to exploit the structure of the
channel and/or the property of transmitted signals. The subspace
method is one such method exploiting the channel structure and the
second order statistics of input signals~\cite{Tong98, scaglione99
}. In digital communication applications, the input signals have
finite alphabet property such as the constant modulus for PSK
modulation or integers for QAM, which can be further exploited to
estimate the channel with shorter coherent time than the subspace
method by numerically solving some optimization
problems~\cite{Ding00}. Thus far, all currently available blind
methods without either training or pilots for the frequency
selection channel estimation incur scale ambiguity and as a
consequence, cannot \textit{uniquely} identify the channel
coefficients. In addition, wireless communication applications
demand the accurate estimate of the channel as well as of the
signal. The resulting scale ambiguity from the channel estimation
will result in significant error probability for the signal
estimation even in a noise-free environment.

To resolve this issue, we propose a novel signaling and
transmitting technique for the frequency selective channel with
zero-padding block transmission, in which neither the transmitter
or the receiver knows the channel state information. Our main
contributions in this paper are as follows:
\begin{enumerate}
 \item A novel signal design technique using a pair of coprime
$p$-PSK and $q$-PSK constellations for the first two block
transmissions is proposed to blindly and uniquely identify
frequency selective channels with zero-padded block transmission
by only processing the first two block received signals.
Furthermore, a closed-form solution to determine the transmitted
signals and the channel coefficients is obtained by utilizing the
linear congruence equation theory.
 \item In the Gaussian noise and Rayleigh fading environment, we
 prove that the newly proposed scheme enables full diversity for
 the GLRT receiver.
\end{enumerate}
Here, we should point out that the similar hybrid signaling
schemes~\cite{Zhou05, cui07, zhou07, ma07, ken08} were used to
eliminate the ambiguity of the blind orthogonal space-time block
codes.

{\bf Notation}: Column vectors and matrices are boldface lowercase
and uppercase letters, respectively; the matrix transpose, the
complex conjugate, the Hermitian are denoted by
$(\cdot)^T,(\cdot)^*, (\cdot)^H$, respectively; $\mathbf{I}_N$
denotes the $N\times N$ identity matrix; $\mathrm{gcd}(m,n)$
denotes the greatest common divisor of positive integers $m$ and
$n$. Particularly when $\gcd(m,n) = 1$, we say that $m$ and $n$
are coprime integers; $\varphi(n)$ denotes the Euler function,
i.e., the number of all positive integers that do not exceed $n$
and are prime to $n$. The $(i, j)$th element of matrix
$\mathbf{A}$ is denoted by $a_{ij}$.

\section{Channel model and blind signal designs}\label{sec:model} If the channel is assumed to be of length at
most $L$ (i.e., if $L$ is an upper bound on the delay spread),
then, the block transmission system with zero-padding operate as
follows: First, $L-1$ zeros are append to ${\mathbf x}$ to form
${\mathbf x}'$ which is of length $P=K+L-1$. The elements of
${\mathbf x}'$ are serially transmitted through the channel. The
channel impulse response is denoted by ${\mathbf h}=[h_0, h_1,
\cdots, h_{L-1}]^T$. The length $P$ received signal vector
${\mathbf r}$ can be written as
\begin{equation}\label{model1}
{\mathbf r}={\mathbf H}{\mathbf s}+\boldsymbol{\xi},
\end{equation}
where ${\mathbf r}$ is a $P\times 1$ received signal vector,
${\mathbf s}$ is a $K\times 1$ transmitted signal vector,
$\boldsymbol{\xi}$ denotes the $P\times 1$ vector of noise samples
at the receiver, and ${\mathbf H}$ denotes the $P\times K$
Toeplitz matrix~\cite{giannakis99,wang00, jkz-iee05}
\begin{small}
\begin{displaymath}
{\mathbf H}=\left( \begin{array}{cccc}
h_0 & 0 & \ldots & 0\\
h_1 & h_0 & \ldots & 0\\
\vdots & h_1 & \ddots & \vdots\\
h_{L-1} & \ddots & \ddots & h_0\\
0 & \ddots & \ddots & h_1\\
\vdots & \ddots & \ddots & \vdots\\
0 & \ddots & 0 & h_{L-1}
\end{array}\right)_{P\times K}.
\end{displaymath}
\end{small}
For blind channel estimation, it is convenient to rewrite the
channel model~(\ref{model1}) as
\begin{equation}\label{model2}
{\mathbf r}={\mathcal T}({\mathbf s}){\mathbf h}+\boldsymbol{\xi},
\end{equation}
where we have used the following fact ${\mathbf H}{\mathbf
s}={\mathcal T}({\mathbf s}){\mathbf h}$
with ${\mathcal T}({\mathbf s})$ defined by
\begin{small}
\begin{displaymath}
{\mathcal T}({\mathbf s})=\left( \begin{array}{cccc}
s_1 & 0 & \ldots & 0\\
s_2 & s_1 & \ldots & 0\\
\vdots & s_2 & \ddots & \vdots\\
s_K & \ddots & \ddots & s_1\\
0 & \ddots & \ddots & s_2\\
\vdots & \ddots & \ddots & \vdots\\
0 & \ddots & 0 & s_K
\end{array}\right)_{P\times L}.
\end{displaymath}
\end{small}
Now we assume that during a $T$ block transmission period, the
channel coefficients keep constant and after that, will randomly
change. Our novel blind modulation scheme is described as follows:
During the first block transmission, each symbol of a transmitted
signal vector ${\mathbf s}={\mathbf x}$ is chosen from $p$-PSK
constellation ${\mathcal X}$; i.e.,
${\mathbf r}_1={\mathcal T}({\mathbf x}){\mathbf
h}+\boldsymbol{\xi}_1,\qquad {\mathbf x}\in{\mathcal X}^K$.
During the second block transmission, each symbol
of a transmitted signal vector ${\mathbf s}={\mathbf y}$ is chosen
from $q$-PSK constellation ${\mathcal Y}$; i.e.,
${\mathbf r}_2={\mathcal T}({\mathbf y}){\mathbf
h}+\boldsymbol{\xi}_2,\qquad {\mathbf y}\in{\mathcal Y}^K$,
where $p$ and $q$ are coprime. Then, during the $i$th block
transmission for $3\le i\le T$, each symbol of a transmitted
signal vector ${\mathbf s}={\mathbf z}_i$ can be chosen from any
constellation ${\mathcal Z}$; i.e.,
${\mathbf r}_i={\mathcal T}({\mathbf z}_i){\mathbf
h}+\boldsymbol{\xi}_i,\qquad {\mathbf z}_i\in{\mathcal Z}^K$.
Collecting all the $T$ block received signals, we have
\begin{subequations}\label{blind modulation}
\begin{eqnarray}
{\mathbf z}={\mathbf S}{\mathbf h}+{\boldsymbol \eta},
\end{eqnarray}
where ${\boldsymbol \eta}=(\boldsymbol{\xi}^T_1,
\boldsymbol{\xi}^T_2, \cdots, \boldsymbol{\xi}^T_T)^T$ and
\begin{eqnarray}
{\mathbf S}=\big({\mathcal T}^T({\mathbf x}), {\mathcal
T}^T({\mathbf y}), {\mathcal T}^T({\mathbf z}_3), \cdots,
{\mathcal T}^T({\mathbf z}_T)\big)^T
\end{eqnarray}
for ${\mathbf x}\in {\mathcal X}^K, {\mathbf y}\in {\mathcal Y}^K,
{\mathbf z}_i\in{\mathcal Z}^K$.
\end{subequations}
Throughout this paper, we make the following assumptions:
\begin{enumerate}
 \item The channel coefficients $h_\ell$ for $\ell =0, 1, \cdots, L-1$ are samples of independent circularly symmetric zero-mean complex white
    Gaussian random variables with unit variances and remain constant for the first $PT$ ($T\ge 2$) time slots,
after which they change to new independent values that are fixed
for next $PT$ time slots, and so on.
 \item
The elements $\boldsymbol\eta$ is circularly
    symmetric zero-mean complex Gaussian samples with covariance matrix $\sigma^2{\mathbf
    I}_{PT}$;
 \item During $PT$ observable time slots,
$T$ consecutive blocks ${\mathbf z}_i$ are transmitted with each
entry $z_{ik}$ for $i=3, 4, \cdots, T$ and $k=1, 2, \cdots, P$
being independently and equally likely chosen from the
constellation ${\mathcal Z}$, while components $x_k$ and $y_k$ for
$k=1, 2, \cdots, P$ in the previous two blocks are independently
and equally likely chosen from the respective $p$-PSK and $q$-PSK
constellations ${\mathcal X}$ and ${\mathcal Y}$, where $p$ and
$q$ are coprime.
 \item Channel state
information is not available at either the transmitter or the
receiver.
\end{enumerate}

Our goal in this paper is to prove that our designed signaling
scheme (\ref{blind modulation})
\begin{enumerate}
 \item enables the unique identification of the channel and the
 transmitted signals for any given nonzero received signal vector ${\mathbf r}$ in a noise-free case and
 \item provides full diversity for the GLRT receiver in the Gaussian noise
 and Rayleigh fading environment.
\end{enumerate}

\section{Blind unique identification and full diversity}
In this section, we first develop some decomposition properties on
a pair of PSK constellations and then, prove that our blind
modulation scheme proposed in the previous section enables the
unique identification of the channel coefficients and the
transmitted signals in a noise-free case as well as full diversity
for the GLRT receiver in a noise environment.
\subsection{Decompositions of PSK
Constellations}
\begin{proposition} \label{pro:factor}
Let two positive integers $p$ and $q$ be coprime. Then, for any
integer $k$ with $0 \leq k < pq$, there exists a pair of $x$ and
$y$ such that
\begin{equation}\label{eq:spsq-1}
    x y= \exp\left(j\frac{2\pi k}{pq}\right).
\end{equation}
Furthermore, $s_{p}$ and $s_{q}$ can be uniquely determined by
\begin{subequations}\label{eq:spq}
    \begin{eqnarray}
        x &=& \exp\left(j\frac{2\pi k\,
        q^{\varphi(p)-1}}{p}\right)\\
        y &=& \exp\left(j\frac{2\pi k\,
        p^{\varphi(q)-1}}{q}\right).
    \end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
~\hfill\QED
\end{proposition}
Proposition~\ref{pro:factor} tells us that any $pq$-PSK symbol can
be uniquely factored into the product of a pair of the coprime
$p$-PSK symbol and $q$-PSK symbol. This factorization was first
discovered by Zhou, Zhang and Wong~\cite{Zhou05, zhou07}. Now,
Proposition~\ref{pro:factor} significantly simplifies the original
representation. The following property gives a necessary and
sufficient condition for a complex number to be able to be
decomposed into a difference of a pair of  the coprime $p$-PSK
symbol and $q$-PSK symbol.
\begin{proposition}\label{pro:unit}
Let $w\ne 0$ be a given non-zero complex number and
$w=|w|e^{j\theta}$. Then, there exists a pair of $x\in {\mathcal
X}$ and $y\in{\mathcal Y}$ satisfying equation
\begin{eqnarray}\label{eq:unit}
x-y=w
\end{eqnarray}
if and only if there exist three integers $m, n$ and $k$ such that
\begin{subequations}\label{condt}
\begin{eqnarray}
\theta&=&\frac{\pi(p n+q m)}{pq}+k\pi+\frac{\pi}{2}\\
|w|&=&(-1)^{k+1} \sin\left(\frac{\pi(p n-q m)}{pq}\right).
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
Furthermore, under the condition~(\ref{condt}), if $p$ and $q$ are
coprime, then, equation~(\ref{eq:unit}) has the unique solution
that can be explicitly determined as follows:
\begin{enumerate}
 \item If $w=0$, then, $x=y=1$.
 \item If $w\ne 0$, then, $x$ and $y$ are given by
\begin{subequations}\label{eq:spq}
    \begin{eqnarray}
        x &=& \exp\left(j\frac{2\pi \ell q^{\varphi(p)-1}}{p}\right)\\
        y &=& \exp\left(j\frac{2\pi \ell p^{\varphi(q)-1}}{q}\right)
    \end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
with integer $\ell
=pq\left(\frac{\theta}{\pi}-\frac{1}{2}\right)$.
\end{enumerate}
~\hfill\QED
\end{proposition}
The proofs of Propositions~\ref{pro:factor} and~\ref{pro:unit} are
omitted because of space limitation.

\subsection{Blind unique identification of the channel}
Our main purpose in this subsection is to prove that the blind
signaling scheme~(\ref{blind modulation}) is capable of uniquely
identifying the channel coefficients and the transmitted symbols.
To do this, Let ${\mathbf u}$ and ${\mathbf v}$ be two consecutive
block received signal vectors in the first two block transmission
from the channel model~(\ref{model2}) in a noise-free environment;
i.e.,
\begin{eqnarray}
{\mathbf u}&=&{\mathcal T}({\mathbf x}){\mathbf
h}\qquad {\mathbf x}\in{\mathcal X}^K,\label{eq:blind-x}\\
{\mathbf v}&=&{\mathcal T}({\mathbf y}){\mathbf h}\qquad {\mathbf
y}\in{\mathcal Y}^K.\label{eq:blind-y}
\end{eqnarray}
Now, we formally state the first result.
\begin{theorem}(Unique Identification)\label{th:identi}
Let ${\mathbf u}=(u_1, u_2, \cdots, u_P)^T$ and ${\mathbf v}=(v_1,
v_2, \cdots, v_P)^T$ be the first two consecutive block nonzero
received signal vectors given by~(\ref{eq:blind-x})
and~(\ref{eq:blind-y}), respectively, and $p$ and $q$ be co-prime.
If $r$ denotes the maximum integers such that $u_1 v_1=u_2
v_2=\cdots=u_r v_r=0$, then, $h_0=h_1=\cdots=h_{r-1}=0$. In
addition, the other remaining channel coefficients $h_{r},
h_{r+1},\cdots, h_{L-1}$ and all the transmitted symbols in
${\mathbf x}$ and ${\mathbf y}$ can be uniquely determined as
follows.
\begin{enumerate}
 \item Let $w_1$ be defined by $w_1=\frac{u_{r+1}}{v_{r+1}}=|w_1|e^{j\theta_1}$ and
 $\ell_1=\frac{pq\theta_1}{2\pi}$. Then,
 we have
 \begin{subequations}\label{solu:x1y1}
    \begin{eqnarray}
        x_1 &=& \exp\left(j\frac{2\pi \ell_1 q^{\varphi(p)-1}}{p}\right)\label{solu:x1}\\
        y_1 &=& \exp\left(-j\frac{2\pi \ell_1
        p^{\varphi(q)-1}}{q}\right)\label{solu:y1}\\
        h_r&=& x_1^* u_{r+1}\label{solu:hr}.
    \end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
 \item For $1<m\le L-r$, let $w_m$ be defined by
\begin{eqnarray}\label{def:w}
 w_m &=&\frac{x_1^*\left(u_{r+m}-\sum_{i=1}^{m-2}
 h_{r+i}x_{m-i}\right)}{h_r}\nonumber\\
&& -\frac{y_1^*\left(v_\ell-\sum_{i=1}^{m-2} h_{r+i}
x_{m-i}\right)}{h_r}.
\end{eqnarray}
\begin{enumerate}
 \item If $w_m=0$, then, we have
 \begin{small}
\begin{subequations}
\begin{eqnarray}
x_m &=& x_1\label{solu:xwo}\\
y_m &=& y_1\label{solu:ywo}\\
h_{r+m-1} &=& x_1^*\big(u_{r+m}-\sum_{i=1}^{m-2} h_{r+i}
x_{m-i}\big)\label{solu:hwo}.
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
\end{small}
 \item If $w_m\ne 0$, let $w_m=|w_m| e^{j\theta_m}$ and $\ell_m=pq\left(\frac{\theta_m}{\pi}-\frac{1}{2}\right)$.
 Then, we have
 \begin{small}
 \begin{subequations}
\begin{eqnarray}
x_m &=& x_1 \exp\big(j\frac{2\pi \ell_m q^{\varphi(p)-1}}{p}\big)\label{solu:xm} \\
y_m &=& y_1 \exp\big(j\frac{2\pi \ell_m
        p^{\varphi(q)-1}}{q}\big)\label{solu:ym}\\
h_{r+m-1} &=& x_1^*\big(u_{r+m}-\sum_{i=1}^{m-2} h_{r+i}
x_{m-i}\big)\label{solu:hm}.
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
\end{small}
\end{enumerate}
\item For $L-r+1\le m\le K$, we have
\begin{small}
\begin{subequations}\label{solu:xmym}
\begin{eqnarray}
x_m &=& \frac{u_{m+r}-\sum_{i=1}^{L-r-1} h_{L-i}\,
x_{m-L+r+i}}{h_r}\\
y_m &=& \frac{v_{m+r}-\sum_{i=1}^{L-r-1} h_{L-i}\,
y_{m-L+r+i}}{h_r}.
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
\end{small}
\end{enumerate}
 ~\hfill\QED
\end{theorem}
\textit{Proof}: Basically, the proof of Theorem~\ref{th:identi}
captures the following four steps.

{\bf Step~1}.  First, we consider the first received signals in
each block. In this case, we have
\begin{subequations}\label{eq:th-prof-case1}
\begin{eqnarray}
h_0 x_1=u_1,\\
h_0 y_1=v_1.
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
Therefore, if either $u_1$ or $v_1$ is zero, then, $h_0$ is zero.
Similarly, we can obtain $h_1=h_2=\cdots, h_{r-1}=0$ if
$u_1v_1=u_2v_2=\cdots=u_rv_r=0$.

{\bf Step~2}. We continue to proceed the $(r+1)$-th received
signals for each block. In this case, we have received
\begin{subequations}\label{eq:th-prof-case2}
\begin{eqnarray}
h_r x_1&=&u_{r+1},\\
h_r y_1&=& v_{r+1}.
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
Since $u_{r+1}v_{r+1}\ne 0$, eliminating $h_1$
from~(\ref{eq:th-prof-case2}) results in
\begin{eqnarray}
x_1y_1^*=\frac{u_{r+1}}{v_{r+1}}=w_1.
\end{eqnarray}
Now, by Proposition~\ref{pro:factor}, $x_1$ and $y_1$ can be
uniquely determined by~(\ref{solu:x1}) and~(\ref{solu:y1}),
respectively, and thus, $h_r$ is uniquely determined
by~(\ref{solu:hr}).

{\bf Step 3}. Let us consider the $(r+2)$-th received signals for
each block:
\begin{subequations}\label{eq:th-prof-case3}
\begin{eqnarray}
h_{r+1}x_1+h_rx_2&=&u_{r+2},\\
h_{r+1}y_1+h_ry_2&=&v_{r+2}.
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
Eliminating $h_{r+1}$ from~(\ref{eq:th-prof-case3}) yields
\begin{eqnarray}
x_1^*x_2-y_1^* y_2=\frac{u_{r+2} x_1^*-v_{r+2} y_1^*}{h_r}=w_2
\end{eqnarray}
Since $x_i\in {\mathcal X}$ and $y_i\in {\mathcal Y}$ for $i=1,
2$, we have $x_1^* x_2\in {\mathcal X}$ and $y_1^* y_2\in{\mathcal
Y}$ too. Now, by Proposition~\ref{pro:unit}, $x_2$ and $y_2$ can
be uniquely determined by~(\ref{solu:xwo}) or~(\ref{solu:xm})
and~(\ref{solu:ywo}) or~(\ref{solu:ym}), respectively, and thus,
$h_{r+1}$ is uniquely determined by~(\ref{solu:hwo})
or~(\ref{solu:hm}) with $m=2$.

In general, we proceed to consider determining the $(r+m)$-th
channel coefficient for $2<m\le L-r-1$. In this case, we have
received
\begin{subequations}
\begin{eqnarray}
h_{r+m-1}x_1+h_{r+m-2}x_2+\cdots+h_r x_m&=&u_{r+m}\\
h_{r+m-1}y_1+h_{r+m-2}y_2+\cdots+h_r y_m&=&v_{r+m}
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
This is equivalent to
\begin{subequations}\label{eq:th-prof-generalcase}
\begin{eqnarray}
h_{r+m-1}x_1+h_r x_m&=&u_{r+m}-\sum_{i=1}^{m-2} h_{r+i} x_{m-i}\\
h_{r+m-1}y_1+h_r y_m&=&v_{r+m}-\sum_{i=1}^{m-2} h_{r+i} x_{m-i}
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
Eliminating $h_{r+m-1}$ from~(\ref{eq:th-prof-generalcase}) yields
\begin{eqnarray}
&&x_1^* x_m-y_1^* y_m=\frac{x_1^*\left(u_{r+m}-\sum_{i=1}^{m-2}
h_{r+i}
x_{m-i}\right)}{h_r}\nonumber\\
&&-\frac{y_1^*\left(v_{r+m}-\sum_{i=1}^{m-2} h_{r+i}
x_{m-i}\right)}{h_r}=w_m.
\end{eqnarray}
Now, by Proposition~\ref{pro:unit}, $x_m$ and $y_m$ can be
uniquely determined by~(\ref{solu:xwo}) or~(\ref{solu:xm})
and~(\ref{solu:ywo}) or~(\ref{solu:ym}), respectively, and thus,
$h_{r+m-1}$ is uniquely determined by~(\ref{solu:hwo})
or~(\ref{solu:hm}).

 {\bf Step 4}. $L-r-1<m\le K$. In this case, since the channel
 coefficients have been determined by the previous three steps,
 we can determine the other remaining transmitted
 signals from the remaining received signals of each block. In
 this case, we have
 \begin{small}
\begin{subequations}
\begin{eqnarray}
h_{L-1}x_{m-L+r+1}+h_{L-2}x_{m-L+r+2}+\cdots+h_r x_m=u_{r+m}\\
h_{L-1}y_{m-L+r+1}+h_{L-2}y_{m-L+r+2}+\cdots+h_r y_m=v_{r+m}
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
\end{small}
From this we can obtain~(\ref{solu:xmym}). This completes the
proof of Theorem~\ref{th:identi}.~\hfill$\Box$

We would like to make the following observations on
Theorem~\ref{th:identi}.
\begin{enumerate}
 \item Theorem~\ref{th:identi} not only tells us that the channel
coefficients can be uniquely identified by {\em only} transmitting
two block signals with each symbol selected from two co-prime PSK
constellations, but also provides simple and closed-form solutions
to both the channel coefficients and the transmitted symbols. The
traditional blind method~\cite{scaglione99} based on the second
order statistics requires a lot of data blocks. Even so, it still
cannot uniquely identify the channel coefficients as well as the
transmitted signals.
 \item If we set $p=2^m$ and $q=2^m+1$ with $m$ being a positive
 integer, then, it is clear that $p$
 and $q$ are coprime. Therefore, Theorems~\ref{th:identi}
 holds for such a pair of $p$ and $q$. In
 addition, if we want the original symbol sets ${\mathcal X}$
 and ${\mathcal Y}$ to contain the same integer bits, we can
 delete the only one common element 1 from ${\mathcal Y}$; i.e.,
 $\overline{\mathcal Y}={\mathcal Y}-\{1\}$. Thus, there are
 totally
 $2^m$ elements in the remaining set $\overline{\mathcal Y}$ and Theorems~\ref{th:identi}
 still holds for such a pair of constellations
 ${\mathcal X}$ and $\overline{\mathcal Y}$.
 \item By Theorem~\ref{th:identi}, if we let $m_0$ denote the maximum positive integer such that
$u_{r+m}-\sum_{i=1}^{m-2} h_{r+i}x_{m-i}=0$ for $m_0<m\le L-r$ but
$u_{r+m_0}-\sum_{i=1}^{m_0-2} h_{r+i}x_{m_0-i}=0$, then, the
length of the channel is actually equal to $m_0-r+1$. Therefore,
our blind modulation scheme
 enables the receiver to exactly determine the length of the channel by only utilizing the first
 two block received signals.
\end{enumerate}

\begin{figure*}[!b]
\hrulefill
\begin{small}
\begin{eqnarray}\label{flat matrix}
&&\left|%
\begin{array}{cc}
  {\mathcal T}({\mathbf x})[1:K] & {\mathcal T}(\widetilde{\mathbf x})[1:K] \\
  {\mathcal T}({\mathbf z}_i)[k:K+k-1] & {\mathcal T}(\widetilde{\mathbf z}_i)[k:K+k-1] \\
\end{array}%
\right|\nonumber
=\left|%
\begin{array}{cc}
  {\mathcal T}({\mathbf x})[1:K] & {\mathcal T}(\widetilde{\mathbf x})[1:K]-{\mathcal T}({\mathbf x})[1:K]\\
  {\mathcal T}({\mathbf z}_i)[k:K+k-1] & {\mathcal T}(\widetilde{\mathbf z}_i)[k:K+k-1]-{\mathcal T}({\mathbf z}_i)[k:K+k-1] \\
\end{array}%
\right|\nonumber\\
&&=\left|%
\begin{array}{cc}
  {\mathcal T}({\mathbf x})[1:K] & {\mathbf 0} \\
  {\mathcal T}({\mathbf z}_i)[k:K+k-1] & {\mathcal T}(\widetilde{\mathbf z}_i)[k:K+k-1]-{\mathcal T}({\mathbf z}_i)[k:K+k-1] \\
\end{array}%
\right|=x_1^K(z_{ik}-\widetilde z_{ik})^K\ne 0.
\end{eqnarray}
\end{small}
\end{figure*}

\subsection{Full diversity}
The GLRT requires neither the knowledge of the fading and noise
statistics, nor the knowledge of their
realizations\cite{narayan98}.
The criterion can be simply stated as
$\hat{{\mathbf S}}=\arg\max_{{\mathbf S}}\{{\mathbf z}^H{\mathbf
S}\left({\mathbf S}^H{\mathbf S}\right)^{-1}{\mathbf S}^H{\mathbf
z}\}$
In fact, the GLRT projects the received signal ${\mathbf z}$ on
the different subspaces spanned by ${\mathbf S}$ and then
calculate the energies of all the projections and choose the
projection that maximizes the energy. Now, in order to examine
full diversity, for any pair of distinct codewords ${\mathbf S}$
and $\widetilde{\mathbf S}$, let $\left(
  \begin{array}{c}
    {\mathbf S}^H \\
    \widetilde{\mathbf S}^H \\
  \end{array}
\right)\left({\mathbf S}, \widetilde{\mathbf S}\right)={\mathbf
A}.$
Brehler and Varanasi~\cite{brehler01} proved the following lemma.
\begin{lemma}\label{lem:brehler}
If matrices ${\mathbf A}$ have full column rank for all pair of
distinct codewords ${\mathbf S}$ and $\widetilde{\mathbf S}$,
then, the code-book provides full diversity for the GLRT
receiver.~\hfill\QED
\end{lemma}

Now, we are in position to formally state the second our main
result.
\begin{theorem}\label{th:fd} The blind modulation designed
in Section~\ref{sec:model} with $p$ and $q$ being coprime enables
full diversity for the GLRT receiver.~\hfill\QED
\end{theorem}
\textit{Proof}: By Lemma~\ref{lem:brehler}, we only need to prove
that $({\mathbf S}, \widetilde{\mathbf S})$ has full column rank
for any pair of distinct signal matrices ${\mathbf S}$ and
$\widetilde{\mathbf S}$. Otherwise, if there existed a pair of
distinct codeword matrices ${\mathbf S}$ and $\widetilde{\mathbf
S}$ for which the matrix $({\mathbf S},\widetilde{\mathbf S})$
does not have full column rank, then, the linear equations with
respect to variables ${\mathbf h}$ and $-\widetilde{\mathbf h}$,
$\left(%
\begin{array}{cc}
  {\mathbf S} & \widetilde{\mathbf S}
\end{array}%
\right)\left(%
\begin{array}{c}
  {\mathbf h} \\
  -\widetilde{\mathbf h} \\
\end{array}%
\right)={\mathbf 0}$,
would have a nonzero solution ${\mathbf h}_0$ and
$\widetilde{\mathbf h}_0$. Let ${\mathbf r}_0={\mathbf S}{\mathbf
h}_0$. Then, we would also have ${\mathbf r}_0=\widetilde{\mathbf
S}\widetilde{\mathbf h}_0$. In other words, for a given nonzero
received signal ${\mathbf r}_0$, equation ${\mathbf r}_0={\mathbf
S}{\mathbf h}$ has two distinct pair of solutions. By
Theorem~\ref{th:identi}, we have that ${\mathcal T}({\mathbf
x})={\mathcal T}(\widetilde{\mathbf x})$ and ${\mathcal
T}({\mathbf y})={\mathcal T}(\widetilde{\mathbf y})$. Since
${\mathbf S}\ne\widetilde{\mathbf S}$, there is a pair of distinct
signal sub-matrices in ${\mathbf S}$ and $\widetilde{\mathbf S}$,
${\mathcal T}({\mathbf z}_i)$ and ${\mathcal T}(\widetilde{\mathbf
z}_i)$ for some $3\le i\le L$. That being said, ${\mathbf z}_i\ne
\widetilde{\mathbf z}_i$. If we let ${\mathbf z}_i=(z_{i1},
z_{i2}, \cdots, z_{iK})^T$ and $\widetilde{\mathbf
z}_i=(\widetilde z_{i1}, \widetilde z_{i2}, \cdots, \widetilde
z_{iK})^T$, then, there exists a positive integer $k$ such that
$z_{ik}\ne \widetilde z_{ik}$ but $z_{i\ell}=\widetilde z_{i\ell}$
for $\ell=1, 2, \cdots, k-1$. For notional simplicity, we use
${\mathbf B}[M:N]$ to denote the sub-matrix of a matrix ${\mathbf
B}$ consisting of all the columns and the rows from $M$ to $N$.
Then, we have the result~\eqref{flat matrix}, which is shown in
the bottom of this page,
where we have used the fact that ${\mathcal T}(\widetilde{\mathbf
z}_i)[k:K+k-1]-{\mathcal T}({\mathbf z}_i)[k:K+k-1]$ is actually a
$K\times K$ lower triangular matrix with the diagonal entries
being all equal to $z_{ik}-\widetilde z_{ik}$.
Therefore, the sub-matrix of $({\mathbf S}, \widetilde{\mathbf S})$, $\left(%
\begin{array}{cc}
  {\mathcal T}({\mathbf x}_i)[1:K] & {\mathcal T}(\widetilde{\mathbf x})[1:K] \\
  {\mathcal T}({\mathbf z}_i)[k:K+k-1] & {\mathcal T}(\widetilde{\mathbf z}_i)[k:K+k-1] \\
\end{array}%
\right)$ is a $2K\times 2K$ invertible matrix and hence,
$({\mathbf S}, \widetilde{\mathbf S})$ has full column rank, which
contradicts with the previous assumption. This completes the proof
of Theorem~\ref{th:fd}.~\hfill$\Box$

So far, we have shown
 that our blind modulation scheme not only enables the unique
 identification of the channel coefficients in the noise-free case but also full
 diversity in the noise environment. However, the
traditional blind method~\cite{scaglione99} based on the second
order statistics can provide neither the unique identification of
the channel coefficients nor estimation of the transmitted signals
with full diversity reliability. Similar to the Comment~2) on
Theorem~\ref{th:identi}, our Theorem~\ref{th:fd} is also true
 for both a particular pair of
 $p=2^m$ and $q=2^m+1$ and the derived pair of constellations.

\section{Conclusion}\label{sec8}

In this paper, we proposed a novel blind modulation technique to
uniquely identify frequency selective channels with zero-padded
block transmission under noise-free environments by only
processing the first two block received signal vectors.
Furthermore, a closed-form solution to determine the transmitted
signals and the channel coefficients was derived by using linear
congruence equation theory. In the Gaussian noise and Rayleigh
fading environment, we proved that our new scheme enables full
diversity for the GLRT receiver.

\bibliographystyle{ieeetr}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


MILWAUKEE � Dave Bush seems to always struggle in the opening innings. Good thing a run or two doesn�t matter to these Brewers.
Bush rebounded from another slow start to toss seven solid innings, then watched Mike Cameron homer to cap a six-run seventh as Milwaukee rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-4 on Friday night.
J.J. Hardy also homered for Milwaukee, which leads the wild-card chase by 2� games after St. Louis beat Atlanta. The Brewers are 4� games behind Chicago in the NL Central after the Cubs lost earlier Friday to Washington.
Bush (8-9) continued his resurgence since a pair of losses in June, and manager Ned Yost has seen Bush�s early-inning struggles in another pitcher � one who has 305 wins.
The quiet right-hander, who was demoted to Triple-A on April 27 before returning five days later, allowed three runs off seven hits to improve to 6-2 in his last 11 starts, going at least seven innings in eight of those appearances. Bush has given up runs in the first or second innings in 15 of his 23 starts this season.
But the Brewers gave him plenty of offense, breaking the game open with a big seventh inning after Bush left, capped by Cameron�s two-run homer off reliever Sean Burnett that hit the right field foul pole and made it 10-3. Cameron said it was the third time this season he�s homered off the pole.
�Our starting pitchers, they�ve been giving us an opportunity to stay in the game,� Cameron said.
Milwaukee, which batted around in the inning, also got RBIs from Rickie Weeks, Hardy, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, marking the eighth time this season the Brewers have scored at least 10 runs.
Hardy hit his 20th home run of the season to begin the fifth and give Milwaukee a 4-2 lead, after the Brewers scored three times in the fourth to erase a 2-0 deficit.
Pirates starter Zach Duke (4-12) hasn�t won since June 9, losing a career-high eight straight decisions over 11 starts. The defense was just as putrid for Pittsburgh, which lost its 10th straight in Milwaukee.
In the fourth, the Pirates committed a pair of throwing errors that led to a two-run double by Corey Hart and a sacrifice fly by Bill Hall.
�Some tricky things happened, and they put the hammer down on me,� Duke said.
Pittsburgh opened its 2-0 lead on Ryan Doumit�s RBI groundout in the first and Duke�s two-out, RBI single in the second. But mixing a fastball with a deceptive offspeed pitch and sinker, Bush settled down and allowed only a long homer to Brandon Moss leading off the seventh.
Pittsburgh, well on its way to its 16th consecutive losing season, will be a major player in the postseason hopes of Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Louis. Including Friday night�s game, the Pirates play 14 of their final 35 games against the three divisional rivals. Milwaukee will see the Pirates eight more times.


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Welcome to the workshop: Good economics in the good economy
Time and place: Welcome to the workshop: Good economics in the good economy Oct. 14, 2019 9:00 AM–Oct. 15, 2019 3:00 PM, Tøyen Hovedgård, Oslo Botanical Garden
The ERC Little Tools team is organising a workshop to explore relations across economics, economy and the bioeconomy. The event will start with an open programme from 09.00 to 15.00 on October 14.
Whales in Parliament
Time and place: Whales in Parliament June 12, 2019 12:15 PM–1:00 PM, PAM 425, P.A Munchs hus
Kristin Asdal talks on whales in parliament and the whaling controversy in the late 19th century at Oslo School of Environmental Humanties.
IN SYNC International Colloquium
Time and place: IN SYNC International Colloquium May 27, 2019 9:00 AM–May 29, 2019 1:00 PM, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and Aud 2, Georg Sverdups Hus, University of Oslo
The InSync Project at Oslo's Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) holds its concluding colloquium on May 27-29. Professor Kristin Asdal will give a keynote on May 28.
Transdisciplinary workshop on Comparative immunology of fish and humans
Time and place: Transdisciplinary workshop on Comparative immunology of fish and humans Feb. 14, 2019 9:00 AM–1:00 PM, Vilhelm Bjernes' hus, auditorium 1
UiO:Life Science and the convergence environment COMPARE organise a workshop on immunology, including perspectives from the social sciences with a focus on Responsible Research and Innovation.
Event at SALT: The ocean, an used, underused, or misused resource?
Time and place: Event at SALT: The ocean, an used, underused, or misused resource? Dec. 3, 2018 6:00 PM–8:30 PM, SALT Arena, Langkaia 1, 0150 Oslo
Little Tools postdoc Hilde Reinertsen will take part in the launch of a special themed issue of Arr - idéhistorisk tidsskrift on the ocean.
Workshop on Document Analysis in Trondheim
Time and place: Workshop on Document Analysis in Trondheim Nov. 20, 2018 9:00 AM–2:00 PM, KULT Lunchroom, NTNU Dragvoll, Trondheim
Kristin Asdal participates in a Methods Workshop on Document Analysis held at KULT, at NTNU in Trondheim. She will give an introduction to document analysis.
Panel on Responsible Research in the Life Sciences
Time and place: Panel on Responsible Research in the Life Sciences Nov. 14, 2018 2:15 PM–3:30 PM, Georg Sverdrups hus Undervisningsrom 3
The Science Studies Colloquium Series Forum organises a panel discussion about Responsible Research in the Life Science. Kristin Asdal, Susanne Bauer and Silje Morsman from TIK participate.
Arctic Day 2018
Time and place: Arctic Day 2018 Oct. 31, 2018 12:00 PM–7:30 PM, Professorboligen, Karl Johans gate 47
Kristin Asdal is one of the speakers at Arctic Day 2018.
Visit from Professor Hannah Landecker
Time and place: Visit from Professor Hannah Landecker Oct. 30, 2018 4:00 PM–6:00 PM, Room 551, Eilert Sundt Building, Blindern Campus
UCLA Professor Hannah Landecker is visiting TIK. She will give a seminar at TIK before participating in an event at Litteraturhuset the following day.
Midway seminar: "Fish feed and efficient food"
Time and place: Midway seminar: "Fish feed and efficient food" Oct. 25, 2018 1:15 PM–3:30 PM, Blindern Campus, Eilert Sundt Building, room 551
Bård Hobæk gives his Midway doctoral seminar on the topic of "Fish feed and efficient food".
Kristin Asdal gives lecture at a PhD seminar at the Center for Advanced Studies
Time and place: Kristin Asdal gives lecture at a PhD seminar at the Center for Advanced Studies Oct. 23, 2018 10:15 AM–11:45 AM, Centre for Advanced Studies, Oslo
Kristin Asdal gives a lecture on "The little tools of timing: Co-modifying nature-times with political time" at the Oslo Center for Advanced Studies of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
Kristin Asdal gives a talk on parliaments in Trondheim
Time and place: Kristin Asdal gives a talk on parliaments in Trondheim Oct. 16, 2018 6:00 PM–8:00 PM, Vitenskapsteorisk Forum, NTNU, Trondheim
Kristin Asdal was invited to give a lecture at the Vitenskapsteoretisk Forum of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at NTNU in Trondheim.
"Deadly Dreams" Environmental History Workshop
Time and place: "Deadly Dreams" Environmental History Workshop Oct. 8, 2018–Oct. 10, 2018, Fevik Strand Hotell
Kristin Asdal took part in a workshop on Actor-network theory as a tool and resource for environmental history
Kristin Asdal gives keynote at workshop in Trondheim
Time and place: Kristin Asdal gives keynote at workshop in Trondheim Sep. 28, 2018, Centre for Technology and Society, NTNU, Trondheim
In September Kristin Asdal gave a keynote titled "STS, the Good, and its trouble" at the workshop "Promises, Possibilities and Practices: Celebrating STS in Action". The workshop marked the 30th anniversary of The Centre for Technology and Society at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Kristin Asdal and Hilde Reinertsen gives presentation at The University of Agder
Time and place: Kristin Asdal and Hilde Reinertsen gives presentation at The University of Agder Sep. 6, 2018, University of Agder, Kristiansand
Kristin Asdal and Hilde Reinertsen gave the presentation "Humanities ashore. Political documents as a means to approach environmental humanities through the history of knowledge" at a conference on the humanities and the challenges of society (Humaniorakonferansen - Humaniora og samfunnets utfordringer), held at The University of Agder. The presentation was a part of a track on the humanities and the environment.
Little Tools Workshop at Hamarøy: The Good Economy - If valuation studies and 'the bioeconomy' meet
Time and place: Little Tools Workshop at Hamarøy: The Good Economy - If valuation studies and 'the bioeconomy' meet June 8, 2018–June 9, 2018, Hamarøy, Norway
In June 2018 the Little Tools project hosted a workshop at Hamarøy, Nordland. The workshop was organized by Professor Kristin Asdal and Post Doc Tone Huse, as part of their study 'The Economic Life of Cod'.
Kristin Asdal participates in a panel on cooperation between academia and practice
Time and place: Kristin Asdal participates in a panel on cooperation between academia and practice June 5, 2018, VID, Diakonveien 14, Oslo
Kristin Asdal will participate in a panel discussion as a part of a the seminar "Social Innovation and welfare – rethinking the role of university" at VID vitenskaplige høgskole (VID Specialized University) in Oslo. The panel will be discussing the question "What makes a meaningful cooperation between academia and practice?".
Kristin Asdal gives a talk on contextualisation in the history of ideas
Time and place: Kristin Asdal gives a talk on contextualisation in the history of ideas May 31, 2018 11:30 AM–4:00 PM, Georg Morgenstiernes hus, room 219, University of Oslo
The lecture is a part of a seminar for PhD students on new theory and method in the history of ideas.
Kristin Asdal participates in a panel discussion on climate and environmental history
Time and place: Kristin Asdal participates in a panel discussion on climate and environmental history May 25, 2018 7:00 PM–10:00 PM, Chateau Neuf - The Norwegian Students' Society
Kristin Asdal will participate in a panel discussion on climate and environmental history and the role of historians in this field.
Hilde Reinertsen gives a lecture at OsloMet
Time and place: Hilde Reinertsen gives a lecture at OsloMet Apr. 27, 2018, OsloMet, Oslo
Hilde Reinertsen will give a lecture at OsloMet with the title "Evaluation of politics as expertise" ("Evaluering av politikk som ekspertise"). The lecture is a part of the ph.d. course "Expertice in public politics" (Ekspertise i offentlig politikk).
Hilde Reinertsen gives a lecture on document analysis at The Norwegian Police University College
Time and place: Hilde Reinertsen gives a lecture on document analysis at The Norwegian Police University College Apr. 24, 2018, Politihøgskolen, Oslo
Hilde Reinertsen will give a lecture on document analysis to students at The Norwegian Police University College. The lecture is a part of a master's course on qualitative methods.
Hilde Reinertsen participates in panel discussion
Time and place: Hilde Reinertsen participates in panel discussion Apr. 12, 2018 8:00 AM–10:00 AM, Kulturhuset
Hilde Reinertsen participates in panel discussion on the measurement of international aid, held by Agenda.
Little Tools workshop in Tromsø: Mattering the economy
Time and place: Little Tools workshop in Tromsø: Mattering the economy Apr. 9, 2018–Apr. 10, 2018, Kystens hus, Tromsø
The Little Tools project hosted a workshop in Tromsø in April. The workshop was organized by Professor Kristin Asdal and Post Doc Tone Huse, as part of their study 'The Economic Life of Cod'.
STS & Democracy workshop
Time and place: STS & Democracy workshop Nov. 23, 2017, Copenhagen, Denmark
Kristin Asdal will be giving the keynote presentation at a workshop on STS and Democracy in Copenhagen.
Kristin Asdal gives a talk at the Norwegian University Centre St. Petersburg
Time and place: Kristin Asdal gives a talk at the Norwegian University Centre St. Petersburg Nov. 14, 2017–Nov. 16, 2017, St. Petersburg, Russia
Kristin Asdal gives the opening talk at the first workshop of the Norwegian-Russian network, held at the Norwegian University Centre St. Petersburg.
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Back Book Title Malay Woven Textiles : The Beauty of a Classic Art Form.
Malay Woven Textiles : The Beauty of a Classic Art Form.
Product Weight - 460 gms.
Shipping Charges would be $ 16.0 for 460 gms.
1.	Textile Design – Malaysia 2.	Textiles fabrics – Malaysia Malay Woven Textiles is categorized as arts and craft produced by man to fulfill their lives. The art of textile has long evolved trough culture, concurrent with the cultural development of a certain group in this Malay world.


text:
King Abdulaziz Port Adopts Diversification Strategy
<i>Aims to become one-stop shop for all Saudi maritime services</i>
28 Apr, 2019, 11:44 am
King Abdulaziz Port, the largest Saudi port on the Arabian Gulf, marks its successful story which dates back to over four decades ago.
The comprehensive port is pioneering major industrial and economic developments.
It has expanded from a small berth capable of accommodating only two ships and connected to a 13-kilometre monorail off the coast of Dammam, to a huge complex of ports, shipyards and warehouses.
It is also a base for an integrated infrastructure of factories and facilities for various maritime and marine activities, just one kilometre from the heart of Dammam.
Eng. Walid F. Al Faris, Director General of King Abdulaziz Port
Commenting on King Abdulaziz Port's journey of growth and development, Eng. Walid F. Al Faris, Director General of King Abdulaziz Port, said: "Operations at King Abdulaziz Port have started four decades ago mainly to serve the oil and gas industry, which flourishes in the Eastern Province.
"However, the Kingdom's leadership had a vision to make it a comprehensive centre for the maritime industry, and this is exactly what has been achieved.
"The port has seen regular expansions and today, it covers approximately 190 square kilometres and is connected to the heart of Dammam, which is one kilometer away.
"The port is the integrated commercial window that connects the Kingdom to the world and its location on the Arabian Gulf makes it ideal for exporting goods to neighbouring markets in Asia and the Indian Subcontinent.
"Additionally, the port's central position on the Arabian Gulf coastline makes it a preferred destination for international shipping lines carrying goods to the Kingdom; the biggest market in the GCC."
Talking about the integrated capabilities of King Abdulaziz Port, Al Faris explained, "King Abdulaziz Port can handle any type of cargo with its unique capabilities that are rarely found in a single port.
"It has four terminals operated by the best port management and operation companies.
"These include two container terminals; the first, operated by the International Port Services Company, has a capacity of 2.5 million containers TEU's and a 16 metre deep with 10 berths totalling 2,160 metres in length. It is equipped with 17 bridge cranes, 5 of them are fully operated remotely.
"The second terminal, operated by the Saudi Global Ports Company, and has a capacity of 1.5 million containers TEU's, with two berths totalling 700 metres in length and a 16.5 metre deep.
Al Faris added, "The port also has a general and bulk cargo terminal in the eastern part, operated by Globe Marine Services Company.
"It includes 9 berths totalling 1,740 metres in length and 12 to 14 metre deep. It features 56,000 square metre covered warehouses and 342,000 square metre open storage areas.
10 steps has been streamlined to 4, the licensing procedures for shipping agents and ship chandlers have been simplified and the license has become standardized and valid for all ports. You can now apply for a license through #Mawani 's website or @meras_sa platform pic.twitter.com/z5sbKfI6LE
— موانئ | MAWANI (@MawaniKSA) April 12, 2019
"The central cargo terminal, operated by United Technical Co., Ltd, includes 13 berths with length 2,465 meters, and 9 to 14 meter deep, 44,800 square metre covered warehouses, and 372,000 square metre open storage areas.
"Waiting time for ships to unload is minimal thanks to the quality infrastructure, modern handling equipment and the ability to store bulk and general cargo in covered warehouses to protect them from weather and damage."
In addition to the four main terminals, the port has a terminal with 33,600 square metre dimension for black cement and clinker export, and has a capacity storage silos around 30,000 tonne for black cement and a 40,000 tonnes for clinker.
The port also has a 113,000 square metre grain and fodder terminal with storage silos and warehouses with modern equipment capable of handling grains.
The port's diversification strategy aims at enhancing its capabilities to deal with various types of cargo, including grains, oils, foodstuffs, ro-ro goods such as cars, vehicles, and other types of containers, is key to its competitiveness.
Maersk Offers Saudi Uni Special Opportunity
The port further promotes this position by providing services to ships such as fueling, food and other supply services.
What makes the port ideal in its operations is its connection to a network of modern highways linking it to all cities of the Eastern Province.
The Saudi Ports Authority is committed to streamlining cargo handling procedures. It takes just 24 hours to clear a container, making the port a hub for the world's biggest logistics companies.
Ship operators at King Abdul Aziz Port also like the seamless procedures for landing of their seafarers and crews, and the ability to visit the city and enjoy its leisure facilities and tourist attractions.
Explaining the port's manufacturing capabilities, Al Faris said, "The port houses King Fahd complex for repairing ships, operated by Al Balaghah Holding Group. It consists of two floating docks for repairing ships and offshore rigs over an area of 147,000 square metres.
"It also houses a marine construction and repair complex, managed and operated by Zamil Offshore Services Company.
"70 vessels were built in this shipyard and over 360 marine pieces of different sizes and types were repaired or maintained, including huge offshore rigs.
"Thus, the port is a comprehensive one-stop shop for ships where they can confidently set off to anywhere in the world assured of the proficient services they received."
King Abdul Aziz Port Gets New Online Truck Booking System
In addition to the port's capabilities in ship building and repairing, as well as floating docks, it features a 500,000 square metre area for manufacturing and assembling of offshore platforms and oil drilling rigs, managed and operated by Saipem Taqa Al Rushaid Fabricators (STAR).
The port provides office spaces for logistics and maritime and ship management companies.
Commenting on the importance of training and Saudis in the maritime sector, Al Faris highlighted: "The Kingdom should take the lead in the logistics sector within Vision 2030. To ensure this is achieved, we must have qualified Saudi professionals capable of managing and operating all the port's facilities.
"That's why, we have established a maritime training academy at the port and have contracted with one of the world's leading marine-training organisations."
King Abdelaziz Port, with its integrated maritime capabilities and advanced logistic facilities, has received many international maritime awards.
Receiving such international recognition contributes to promoting the name and reputation of Saudi ports, regionally and globally.
This has a positive impact and is reflected on the Kingdom's global position as a distinguished logistics hub in the centre of three continents; contributing to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.
Read More: Kanoo Logistics Opens New Warehouse in Dammam
King Abdulaziz Port


Reproduction of the original grain upholstery vinyl used in 1971 interiors. If you need additional vinyl for your seats, door panels, or anywhere in the interior, you may want to purchase additional yardage. Each color will match Classic Industries® ; upholstery and soft trim.
All material is 54" wide and sold in yards only.
Important: Upholstery colors may have up to a 10% variation due to differences in production dates.
Note: Special order, must be prepaid. Non-returnable. Non-refundable. Please contact Classic Industries® by Phone, Fax or E-Mail to order this item.


Nothing much to add, other than here's another simple card that proves you can do anything with this bird! I love how the wings are crinkled, creating a nice textured feeling. And did you notice that the wings were also made from two different Designer Series Papers? Just another fun little fact that gives this card some depth and dimension. . . .