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Association of Medical Research Charities
Networks and groups
Sector infographics and reports
Our guidance
Partnering for patients
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Position statements and briefings
APPG on Medical Research
Leaving the EU
Research in the NHS
Patient data
Charity Research Support Fund (CRSF)
Peer review audit 2020
AMRC Open Research
Grant review: the question of quality
Leonora Neale
By Laura Harvey, Head of Relations, Publons
The theme for this year's Peer Review Week is quality. In advance of a report publishing this October on the global state of grant peer review, Laura Harvey, Head of Relations at Publons, teases some early findings of the report on the question of quality.
Last year Publons, part of the Web of Science Group, published its inaugural Global State of Peer Review Report, the largest ever study of publication peer review.
This year we're pleased to announce Global State of Peer Review: Grant Review In Focus due to be published at the beginning of October. This report sprang from feedback on our inaugural report highlighting a substantial gap in data and insights into the peer review of research grant and funding applications. In this special Peer Review Week blog for the AMRC, we'd like to preview some early findings on the question of quality in the grant review process.
Grant Review in Focus - how did we do it?
Publons is a researcher profile site and peer review solutions provider. With over 1.8 million researchers on Publons using their profiles to get recognition for over 4 million reviews, we're in a unique position to offer data and insights into the world of peer review.
So how did we go about collecting the data we needed for Grant Review In Focus? We surveyed over 4,500 Publons users about grant review - the how, when and why they do it, and importantly, asked them what they thought about it.
We then combined this unique survey data with the full power of the Web of Science datasets and interviews with a range of research funders, including the AMRC, MRC and the UKRI - making Grant Review In Focus the most extensive researcher survey on grant peer review ever conducted.
What did we find out?
In short - a lot! Our surveyed researchers have reviewed or applied for grants for over 800 unique funders, spread across 95 countries. You can read a preview and sign up for a copy of the full report here, but here are some early highlights as regards peer review quality, this year's theme for Peer Review Week.
Grant peer review as a bulwark of quality grant funding
We found the use of experts continues to be viewed as a bulwark of quality decision-making in the funding process, ensuring continued trust and accountability. 78% of respondents agree or strongly agree with the statement that peer review of grant applications is the best method we have for ensuring we fund the best research (see Figure 1). The researcher perspective resonated with our funder interviewees. Matthias Egger, President of the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), maintained that "peer reviewing is essential to the quality of our evaluation process." This was endorsed by the Royal Society Te Apārangi of New Zealand, who declared that "the reviewer's judgement of quality play(s) the most significant factor in determining who gets funded."
However, researchers also identified perceived failings of the peer review process, including fair treatment of junior researchers, the promotion of innovative or risky research, and bias. Researchers' perspectives on these issues is explored in full in the final report.
Grant peer review quality and trust in the process
Beyond acting as a quality control for a funder's grant decisions, we found grant peer review quality was also essential in maintaining trust in the grant decision-making process. As Arailym Akbolat from the Kazakhstan National Center of Science and Technology Evaluation (NCSTE) noted, "One cannot underestimate the importance of the expert reviewer, and therefore the quality of evaluation, to supporting researcher trust in the funding process as a whole."
Grant peer review quality at risk
However, alongside these positive affirmations, the report also found that grant peer review quality is at risk. The report looks in detail at issues such as reviewer workload, rejection-rates and reviewer incentives. Uniting all these issues was a struggle to allocate the best reviewers to the proposals at hand. As Eleanor Riley, Director of the Roslin Institute and experienced grant panel member, observed, "every reviewer that declines to review gets you further away from the most expert reviewers for the application in hand. There is a real danger we lose quality in the process if we do not address this."
New ways of sustaining and advancing grant review quality
However, the report identifies several ways to sustain and even advance grant review quality, including training, transparency and incentives. To look just at incentives here, we found that 89% of reviewers believe that greater recognition of grant peer review work would improve the grant peer review process, whilst nearly half of reviewers are dissatisfied with the recognition they currently get for doing grant peer review. Efforts from funders in this area will clearly be met with enthusiasm by reviewers and may go some way to re-energizing the grant reviewer community – drawing previously reluctant reviewers into what is currently an overworked pool, and reminding established reviewers of the huge contribution they make to the quality of the funding process through effective and high quality review.
"OFFERING GREATER RECOGNITION TO REVIEWERS IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE SEE CHANGING IN THE FUTURE AND SUPPORTING INCREASED TRANSPARENCY."
AMRC Interviewee, Grant Review in Focus
Interest piqued? Find out more...
Please register here for the full report, which will be published at the beginning of October.
In the meantime, please drop us a line with any questions or just share any comments you may have on these initial findings. You can also read more about Publons offering for research Funders here or drop us a line with any questions ([email protected] or [email protected])
Updated: 18th September, 2019
Author: Leonora Neale
Charity-funded #ResearchAtRisk
The people behind the charities
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan
Elected AGM 2018
Lord Sharkey
Chair appointed May 2015
Articulating the economic value of charity-funded research
Milestone reached for Priority Setting Partnerships
How to write an achievements page for your charity
How to write a lay summary of a research project
Government must act now to save charity-funded research
Contact tracing app: implications for medical research and patients
'Project restart': putting patients and the public at the heart of research resumption
Being open about diversity successes and failures
We are a membership organisation for over 140 medical research charities across the UK. We support them in saving and improving lives through research and innovation.
Changes to the way Excess Treatment Costs (ETCs) are paid
Join us and become part of a network of 150 medical and health research charities who deliver high-quality research that saves and improves lives
Negotiations continue to determine the UK's new relationship with the EU. We are working to ensure that the voice of the medical research charity sector is heard as part of this process
Aisling Burnand
Chief Executive - Phone: 020 8078 6042 - Email: [email protected]
You don't have to be a member charity to get involved with our work
Facilitating adoption of off-patent, repurposed medicines into NHS clinical practice
Consultation on revised AMRC IP guidance
AMRC is a registered charity in England and Wales (296772). Registered as a company limited by guarantee (2107400) in England and Wales.
AMRC
London WC1X 8TY, UK
General enquiries: 020 8078 6042; [email protected]
Press enquiries: 020 8078 6044; [email protected]
Copyright © 2017 AMRC. All rights reserved.
AMRC is a registered charity in England and Wales (296772).
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Registered office at 99 Gray's Inn Rd, London WC1X 8TY.
© 2019 AMRC. All rights reserved.


Good morning, good morning. How art thou today?
June 21st birthed Summer; let's go out to play.
and confess that I'm rarely without a movie in my hair.
I have been averaging for the last 3-months about 3 movies a week.
Yes-yes! Ol' AMC Theaters is getting a pretty fair cut.
I used to court Harkins until I joined AMC Stubs.
and their awesome full body recliners have an "at home" feel.
Anywho, between me and you, I'm likely going to see another movie today.
I've seen AVENGERS, SUPERFLY, DEAD POOL, UNCLE DREW and a few more via satellite play.
starring The MATRIX's Neo; ol' Keanu Reeves.
after Gee Malik Linton filmed his vision and producers in editing shot it to hell.
Yes. It appears producers are "known for" pulling a PROUD MARY; also known as "puzzle-editing" after the shoots.
I always reference PROUD MARY to make a point about movies made at the miscalculation of loot.
after the film has been shot via the editing bay.
regardless of their film concept – the producer's financial grip was a pain.
until writers bent in creativity and yielded to their will.
The writers did bend to feed their family's – 'tis true.
At the risk of the entertainment experience of me and you.
There was no sequel; no part two.
The film EXPOSED pull something like a Blair Witch Deux.
forcing Linton to create the pseudonym: Declan Dale.
Now, why is this important? Once the artistic view is reeled who will protect her?
The vision of most scripts aren't the writer's dib but yielded to the director.
it is likely (and pretty darn highly) they'll be vulnerable to the producer's hue.
The producers have the money, honey!
Pockets so deep they risk swallowing creativity.
The best producers are artists and writers with financial fluid.
Rearranging a director's view? The producer will do it.
for having a good gut feeling of what the people want reeling.
Producers co-sign and finance – if a film is to be shown.
So why then did producers change up the view of EXPOSED?
The original title was DAUGHTER OF GOD, so God only knows.
with Spanish subtitles and a mass request to believe in conceptual glory.
regardless of the re-arrangement of scenes in editing, I still enjoyed the story.
Though I hated to hear about how Declan Dale came to be a credited pseudonym name.
I suppose the timing is perfect to get an understanding; I'm studying the science of the game.
Timing this Tuesday with thee to be reflective of a Digital Cinematography chick.
She is me and my movie viewing log is thick.
The first film today starts at 11:30. Wouldst thou come with?
By 5pm, the two of us could have at least 2 films in.


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You can read a detailed study of the last 12 months in the life of Temple Works in my recent blog post here.
The story of how Temple Works was conceived is a magical one, and its importance to Leeds and the architectural and social history of England is compelling. However, the challenges in protecting and restoring Tempe Works in order to fulfil its potential are enormously complex. The people of Leeds are stakeholders in this restoration process and it is important that they are fully informed on the work carried out so far, the challenges being faced and the demands involved in protecting the building's basic fabric and maintaining its prestige.
With this in mind, CEG have organised two drop-in events for March 20th 2019. These are open to the public and are intended to offer full transparency on work carried out in the last 12 months and on the significant ongoing issues. The event also provides an open platform for honest discourse on how Temple Works could be adapted so that it and its wider setting can benefit Holbeck and the Leeds community in general, and how it should fit into the wider South Bank regeneration project.
Key personnel from CEG will be present at the two drop-in events to answer questions and explain the work undertaken so far, along with representatives from supporting organisations intimately involved in the project, including structural engineers, architects and heritage experts.
The first open invitation event is at 'The Holbeck' Working Mens' Club, Jenkinson Lawn, Leeds LS11 9QX from 10.30am to 12 noon.
The second open invitation event is at the Northern Monk Refectory, The Old Flax Store, Marshall Street, Leeds, LS11 9YJ from 3.30 to 7.30pm.
Each venue is hugely significant to modern day Holbeck and an indicator of how bright the future is for the Holbeck and South Bank area. 'The Holbeck' is the oldest 'working mens' club' in the UK, originating in 1877, and has recently been taken over by pioneering arts group Slung Low. The Northern Monk is one of the UK's leading craft breweries and their refectory and original brewhouse are located in an old flax warehouse built by the Marshall family in 1838, which is also a listed building.
Preserving and restoring Temple Works is an exciting journey, but one fraught with complexity. The people of Leeds can and should play a part in the absorbing resurrection of one of the city's greatest assets. And that opportunity starts here.
IndustrialHeritageIndustrial RevolutionHolbeck Urban VillageEmploymentHolbeckLeedsKirkstall Forge South LeedsTextilesRegeneration Textile Industry In LeedsTemple WorksHolbeck Today

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
package com.jborchardt.imagefeed.data.model;

import com.google.gson.annotations.SerializedName;

/**
 * Created by johannesborchardt on 22.03.17.
 */

public class ImgurImageResponse {
    @SerializedName("data")
    private ImgurImage mData;

    public ImgurImage getData() {
        return mData;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


A beautifully sweet, moist cake with flavours of pineapple and banana – just the ticket for a special occasion!
Super simple gingerbread shamrocks to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!
A savoury scone – best eaten straight out of the oven, smothered in some kind of dip or dunked into a soup or stew.


A larger-than-life inflatable Eminem. Arena-wide aerial acrobatics. Killer vocals in a glittery jumpsuit. P!nk's Beautiful Trauma World Tour visited the KFC Yum! Center last night after the pop star missed two shows due to the flu. No one could have guessed she'd been sick, though. She belted her bombastic hits like "Just Give Me a Reason," "Try" and "Perfect." When the lights dimmed and the red curtain dropped to start the show, P!nk wasted no time in putting on a spectacle. Her 2000 chart-topper "Get the Party Started" set the stage for a concert that was indeed a pretty-in-pink party, as she came swinging in on an enormous chandelier. Below her stratospheric stunts, a cast of eccentric dancers shook in unison. There were no dull moments across the heart-shaped stage. With everything from a waterfall of pyrotechnics cascading during "Just Like Fire" to more intimate moments realized in a three-song acoustic set, P!nk captivated the entire arena. In a special moment, she broke from the music and shared words of self-empowerment and solidarity that have lingered long after the confetti fell. "We don't change. We take the gravel and the shell and we make a pearl. And we help other people to change so they can see more kinds of beauty." She blew Louisville "one last kiss" as she soared around the Yum! Center in a harness system that allowed her to interact with concert-goers even in the nosebleeds. And with a final bow after "Glitter in the Air," the punk popstar waved goodbye and disappeared under the stage.


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BREAKING: AI-powered DoD data analysis program named "Project Salus" SHATTERS official vaccine narrative, shows A.D.E. accelerating in the fully vaccinated with each passing week
BySurvive the News
Oct 1, 2021 #analysis, #Data, #DOD, #goodhealth, #goodmedicine, #goodscience, #mRNA, #narrative, #pandemic, #vaccinated, #vaccine, #vaccines, accelerating, ade, AIpowered, biden, BREAKING, breakthrough infections, covid, delta variant, Fully, health, health ranger, jaic, medicare, Named, Official, Passing, Program, Project, project salus, Salus, SHATTERS, Shows, vaccination, vaccine wars, Week
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An AI-powered Dept. of Defense program named "Project Salus," run in cooperation with the JAIC (Joint Artificial Intelligence Center), has analyzed data on 5.6 million Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 or older. Data were aggregated from Humetrix, a real-time data and analytics platform that tracks health care outcomes. Legal analysis from Thomas Renz of Renz-Law.com is included in a breaking video interview, below.
The alarming findings show that the vast majority of covid hospitalizations are occurring among fully-vaccinated individuals and that outcomes among the fully vaccinated are growing worse with each passing week. This appears to fit the pattern of so-called Antibody Dependent Enhancement, where the treatment intervention (mRNA vaccines) is worsening health outcomes and leading to excess hospitalizations and deaths.
These data, presented here, shatter the official Biden / Fauci narrative that falsely claims America is experiencing, "a pandemic of the unvaccinated." The data show that the pandemic actually appears to be accelerated by covid-19 vaccines, while unvaccinated individuals are having far better outcomes than the vaccinated.
Furthermore, according to these data (shown below), the single best strategy for avoid post-vaccine infections and hospitalizations is natural immunity derived from a previous covid infection.
The full analysis is entitled, "Effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines against the Delta variant among 5.6M Medicare beneficiaries 65 years and older" and is dated Sep. 28, 2021. The presentation of these data consists of 17 slides, which are available at the Humetric website in slide form, also posted on Natural News servers in this PDF version which is more convenient for viewing and printing.
From the JAIC Project Salus document:
In this 80% vaccinated 65+ population, an estimated 60% of COVID-19 hospitalizations occurred in fully vaccinated individuals in the week ending August 7th.
By August 21st, 71% of covid-19 "cases" were occurring among fully vaccinated individuals:
In this 80% vaccinated 65+ population, an estimated 71% of COVID-19 cases occurred in fully vaccinated individuals.
These data reveal that as the Delta variant approached a 97% infection rate, "cases" and hospitalizations among fully vaccinated individuals showed striking increases with each passing week.
Key findings of the DoD / JAIC / Project Salus / Humetrix analysis
Throughout the slides, "VE" refers to vaccine effectiveness. "Breakthrough" means a failed vaccine, where a fully vaccinated person is diagnosed with covid. Many of those people require hospitalization and ICU treatments (see the slides below).
Some of the key findings of the Project Salus analysis include:
The effectiveness of mRNA vaccines is confirmed to wane over time.
With each passing week, those vaccinated with mRNA vaccines show an increased risk of vaccine failure / covid infections requiring hospitalization. From the analysis: "Odds ratio increasing to 2.5 at 6 months post vaccination."
Natural immunity works: A prior covid infection greatly reduces the odds of a vaccinated person needing hospitalization from a subsequent infection.
Vaccine failure dramatically worsens within 5-6 months after being vaccinated
One slide from the analysis reveals that so-called "breakthrough" infections — vaccine failures — increase with time, showing a near doubling of breakthrough infections among those vaccinated 5-6 months ago vs. those vaccinated only 3-4 months ago.
These data end at August 21st, 2021 but the trend does not appear to be flattening. As more data are added to this analysis each week, it seems almost certain that breakthrough infections rates will continue to rise over time in vaccinated individuals. We do not yet know what will happen in 9 months after vaccination, but these data show cause for serious concern.
The following chart reveals that both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are showing the same pattern of worsening "breakthrough" infection rates over time. Notice the upward trend of all the bars in this chart, meaning both mRNA vaccines are producing the same increase in infections among the fully vaccinated:
Once the Delta variant took hold, 71% of COVID-19 "breakthrough" cases occurred among the fully vaccinated
As the following chart shows, 71% of COVID-19 "cases" were breakthrough cases (vaccine failures) once the Delta variant reached 90% spread across those infected.
Understand that the authors of this document state that those who are jabbed are not considered "vaccinated" until two weeks after they received the injections, which means that infections, hospitalizations and deaths which occurred from 0 – 14 days are ignored in this data set.
In reality, that means the percentage of "fully vaccinated" people responsible for breakthrough infections, hospitalizations and deaths is substantially higher than what is shown in these data. If they are claiming a 71% rate, it may in reality be more like 80% or even 90%, but we don't know for sure because they are hiding all negative health outcomes for the first two weeks after the vaccines are administered (by claiming those people are "unvaccinated," which is a deliberate deception being used to try to hide the harmful effects of vaccines).
Ethnic groups hit hardest: Native Americans, Hispanics and Blacks
Finally, a horrifying slide in the data set reveals that one of the highest risk factors for being hospitalized after being vaccinated is simply being of Native American descent. According to the data in this slide, Native Americans face around 50% higher odds of being hospitalized after being vaccinated, compared to other ethnic groups such as Whites.
Hispanics face a slightly lower risk which appears to be around 40% higher odds. Blacks face around 25% higher odds.
Why is this the case? The gain-of-function properties which were engineered into the SARS-CoV-2 biological weapon — via Fauci, Daszak and the NIH — target ACE2 receptors which exist in higher densities in targeted organ systems of many minority groups such as Native Americans, Hispanics and Blacks. This has led many observers to conclude that the covid spike protein — which is generated in the bodies of those who take mRNA vaccines — is a race-specific bioweapon designed to achieve depopulation of minority groups. Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, has engaged in many efforts to bring this to the attention of his followers, for example. These data provided by the DoD / JAIC / Project Salus document shown here appear to support the plausibility of such theories.
Other factors that greatly increase a person's odds of being hospitalized after receiving vaccinations include kidney failure (ESRD), morbid obesity, chronic liver disease or receiving chemotherapy.
Natural immunity offers documented protect against future hospitalization
Finally, the data presented in this document shows that natural immunity — listed as "prior covid-19" substantially decreases the risk of hospitalization after receiving covid-19 vaccines. (See slide above.)
What this means is that the best way to ensure the safest outcome of a covid vaccine is to experience a covid infection before getting vaccinated. This dramatically reduces your risk of negative health outcomes.
Then again, if someone has already had covid, why would they need a vaccine in the first place? If anything, these data show that anyone choosing to receive covid-19 vaccines is making the wrong choice if they desire to avoid infections, hospitalizations or deaths.
Natural immunity, once again, is revealed as the most effective status that reduces negative outcomes.
In conclusion, these data from the DoD / JAIC absolutely shatter the false narrative of Biden, Fauci, Walensky and other "authorities" who are still attempting to gaslight the American people into thinking that hospitals are filled with unvaccinated people. In reality, the vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among those who were fully vaccinated, according to the 5.6 million people studied in this particular data set (Medicare).
Importantly, post-vaccine health outcomes are worsening over time, meaning that the vaccines appear to be gradually damaging the immune system over subsequent months, making vaccinated individuals far more vulnerable to subsequent infections.
This is the very definition of ADE (Antibody Dependent Enhancement), about which many analysts such as Dr. Sherri Tenpenny have warned. Now, it appears that ADE is no longer merely a theory but rather a confirmed phenomenon reflected in official Medicare data.
Attorney Thomas Renz told Natural News today that these data should immediately result in not just the FDA's revocation of mRNA vaccine EUA and approval status, but that the FDA, Fauci and Big Pharma's top executives should be sued under RICO Act violations for racketeering and organized crime.
The full interview with Thomas Renz is available here:
Brighteon.com/c3c52dd7-7db9-4e1c-b386-58b9a6c97f5b
www.humetrix.com/powerpoint-vaccine.html
www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2269200/
dodcio.defense.gov/About-DoD-CIO/Organization/JAIC/
www.naturalnews.com/files/Salus_Humetrix_VE_study_2021_09_28.pdf
BREAKING: Tyrannical New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian RESIGNS in Disgrace Following Corruption Probe #LockHerUp
Disgusting Liar Jen Psaki Blames Trump for Joe Biden's COVID Failures and Lack of Leadership (VIDEO)
By Survive the News
Boris Johnson Scraps COVID Mandates in England: 'We Will Trust The Judgment of the British People'
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2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee UPLAND 4X4 4118J 1C4RJFAG6KC688848 For Sale | Lincoln IL .
Comments: Delivers 25 Highway MPG and 18 City MPG! This Jeep Grand Cherokee boasts a Regular Unleaded V-6 3.6 L/220 engine powering this Automatic transmission. TRANSMISSION: 8-SPEED AUTOMATIC (850RE) (STD), QUICK ORDER PACKAGE 2BC UPLAND -inc: Engine: 3.6L V6 24V VVT UPG I w/ESS, Transmission: 8-Speed Automatic (850RE), Liquid Titanium Accents, Gloss Black Roof Rails, Gloss Black Rear Fascia Applique, Blue-Accent Badges, Gloss Black Grille w/Black Honeycomb, Tow Hooks, Rear Fascia Black MIC Step Pad, Selec-Terrain System, Security Convenience Group, Heated Front Seats, Universal Garage Door Opener, 115V Auxiliary Power Outlet, Remote Start System, Power Liftgate, Heated Steering Wheel, Security Alarm, Jeep Black Gloss Badging, Dark Headlamp Bezel Finish, Gloss Black Exterior Accents, Quadra-Trac II 4WD System, Hill Descent Control, Rear View Auto Dim Mirror, Dark Lens Taillamps, Power 4-Way Driver Lumbar Adjust, Dark Day Light Opening Moldings, Power 8-Way Driver/Manual Passenger Seat, POWER SUNROOF. This Jeep Grand Cherokee Comes Equipped with These Options FRONT LICENSE PLATE BRACKET, ENGINE: 3.6L V6 24V VVT UPG I W/ESS (STD), DIAMOND BLACK CRYSTAL PEARLCOAT, BLACK, CLOTH BUCKET SEATS, Wheels: 20' x 8.0' Gloss Black Painted Aluminum, Valet Function, Trip Computer, Transmission: 8-Speed Automatic (850RE), Transmission w/Driver Selectable Mode and Sequential Shift Control, Tracker System. Stop By Today You've earned this- stop by Lincoln Chrysler Dodge Jeep located at 103 Taylor Ct, Lincoln, IL 62656 to make this car yours today!


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Adherencja – zdolność do przylegania (przyczepiania) się bakterii do korzystnego dla ich rozwoju podłoża, która daje początek procesowi zakażenia. Adherencji sprzyjają stany zaburzonej homeostazy organizmu. Przykładem mogą być gronkowce, które na zewnątrz swoich komórek posiadają tzw. adhezyny – związki, które wchodzą w reakcję z odpowiednimi receptorami komórek infekowanej tkanki, gronkowce ponadto mogą je dopasowywać do odpowiedniego receptora w zależności od tkanki, w której się znalazły.

Zobacz też
 białka adhezyjne
 układ immunologiczny
 Fagocytoza

Fizjologia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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3 Stocks That Look Just Like Google in 2004
There's good reason to believe the return-on-investment party is just getting started for ADT Inc., Shopify, and Netflix.
Chris Neiger, Chuck Saletta, and Neha Chamaria
Back in 2004 when it went public, Google was far from being the massive technology conglomerate that Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is today, but it was still a leader in the search engine space, and it was clear that it knew exactly what it was doing and could execute on its plans.
At any given time, there will always be companies in the stock market poised for similarly impressive growth. So we asked a few Motley Fool contributors to name some businesses they think have potential that resembles that of the Google of yore. They came back with ADT Inc. (NYSE:ADT), Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX).
You just can't ignore this e-commerce play
Neha Chamaria (Shopify): Google was already profitable when it IPOed in 2004. But the numbers that stood out in its books quarter after quarter were on the top line: Its revenue was growing at a torrid pace. That, combined with Google's potential to become a tech juggernaut, caught investors' attention, and went on to make it one of the most successful stocks ever. I see similar potential in Shopify -- an e-commerce powerhouse in the making that's already turning heads with its differentiated product offerings and strong revenue growth.
Unlike Amazon.com, which operates its own marketplace, Shopify offers a cloud-based e-commerce platform that makes it easy for small and medium-sized businesses to create and run their own online stores. Shopify earns monthly fees (subscription solutions revenue) from the merchants that use its platform, as well as a percentage of transactions made on its portal (merchant solutions revenue).
Shopify generated a record $9.1 billion in gross merchandise volume in the last quarter even as its merchant base crossed 600,000. Its revenue surged 73% in 2017. One strong factor appears to be working for Shopify: Access to entrepreneurs and smaller businesses to its technologically advanced, e-commerce platform. Just to give you an idea about what Shopify is doing on the tech front, the company recently partnered with none other than Apple to bring augmented reality to its platform.
While Shopify isn't profitable yet because it's spending heavily to grow and market its business, investors are likely to be richly rewarded in the long run given the profitable niche it's carving for itself in the e-commerce space.
You can invest in this security leader again
Chuck Saletta (ADT): By the time it went public, Google was already recognized as an internet search leader. Home and business security company ADT is similarly a leader in its industry in the U.S. and Canada. After about two years as a privately held company, it rejoined the public market last month, and is actually trading below its IPO price. That gives investors the opportunity to buy in for less than those "lucky" enough to get a piece of its offering.
Home and business security monitoring, like internet search, is a business where scale matters a great deal. With alarm systems, central monitoring sites handle the response and dispatch duties. The more customers a company has, the more widely it can spread its overhead costs. As the largest player in its industry, ADT is thus best able to cover the costs of providing its service.
ADT's shares aren't just trading below their IPO price, they're downright reasonable compared to the company's prospects. They're valued at less than 15 times its expected forward earnings, and the company is expected to be able to grow earnings at a healthy clip over the next five or so years.
If there's one risk with ADT, it's that its balance sheet has been "levered up" by its former private equity owner: Its debt-to-equity ratio is a rather high 3.9. Given its scale and relatively asset-light operating model, it will likely be able to generate enough cash to comfortably service its debt. Still, that's something to watch, especially if its growth doesn't materialize to the expected degree.
The streaming video giant
Chris Neiger (NFLX): Netflix is a powerhouse in its niche of video streaming, just like Google was (and is) with Internet search. The two companies similarly focused their attentions on building amazing products, and neither has looked back since. But the difference is that Netflix is only beginning to tap its international market potential.
Netflix ended 2017 with about 118 million total subscribers and more than 53% of them are international customers. It would therefore be logical to assume that the majority of its sales and earnings come from outside the U.S. -- but they don't. International subscribers generate about 49% of revenue and have a contribution margin (which is sales, minus variable costs) of just 8.7%, compared to a 34.4% margin for Netflix's domestic customers. What all of this means is that Netflix has a huge opportunity to raise rates for its international customers in the coming years, just as it has done in the U.S., and drastically increase its margins in other markets.
Netflix had its first full year of international-contribution profits in 2017, and more than doubled its global operating income as well. Conservative estimates forecast its international subscriber numbers will exceed 100 million just two years from now, which would require about 60% growth. That doesn't even include domestic customer growth over that same time period. Even if Netflix rolls out price increases more slowly for its international customers than it has domestically, those customers will still add significantly to the company's profits.
Strong subscription and sales growth both at home and abroad have, of course, pushed up the Netflix's share price and valuation. Shares are trading at 67 times forward earnings estimates right now. But Netflix isn't anywhere near finished growing -- and its international profits are just getting started.
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text:
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Kelsea Ballerini Sends Message to Fans, Reveals Why 'Healthy' is Her Word of 2021
by Joe Rutland January 5, 2021
written by Joe Rutland January 5, 2021
Focusing her life goals in 2021 down to one word, "healthy," is what matters right now to country singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini.
Ballerini, in an Instagram post, shares why she chose this word for her life at this moment.
"I want to nurture and focus on my physical, mental, and emotional health that all took a bit of a backseat last year (anyone else?)," she wrote as part of her post.
Take a look at Ballerini's full post and what she is planning.
A post shared by Kelsea Ballerini (@kelseaballerini)
Kelsea Ballerini Reveals 'Biggest Silver Lining' From 2020
Most people could not wait to put 2020 behind them. Kelsea Ballerini, though, has found a heartwarming silver lining. The Tennessee native and country music star shared a special message to her husband Morgan Evans on their third anniversary.
"@morganevansmusic and I are celebrating our three-year anniversary today," the singer wrote on her Instagram stories. "The biggest silver lining of this year was all of the extra time together. I'm grateful for the realness it's brought us and the new level of comfort we have because of it all."
She concluded the post with a sweet and simple, "Love you Morgs, so much."
In March 2016, Ballerini and Evans first met in Evan's native country of Australia. After co-hosting Australia's Country Music Channel Awards, the two decided to celebrate together at the after-party. Their fairy tale began that night.
"He was like, 'Let's take a shot,'" she told "People" in 2017. "I remember taking that shot and putting it down and looking at him like, 'Oh … he's super-hot.' Later that night he leaned over and asked if he could kiss me, like a proper gentleman. And I said yes."
Ballerini Sees 2020 As Standout Year For Her Records
For Ballerini, 2020 has been a standout year for the singer. In the spring, she released a self-titled album, "Kelsea." Before that, she released the hit single "Hole in the Bottle."
Her most personal effort yet, "Kelsea" was met with critical praise from National Public Radio.
"Kelsea Ballerini is definitely one of the most influential women in country right now… she's defining the sound of the genre," the NPR review said.
She later released a remix of the song with one of her biggest musical influences, Shania Twain. Six months after the release of "Kelsea," she dropped her fourth studio album, "Ballerini."
For more news and stories on Kelsea Ballerini, join us on Outsider.
H/T: KelseaBallerini.com


The sweet scent of your mum always makes you feel calm. She always watches over you while you sleep to make sure you are safe.
This artwork is printed with high quality inks on 300gsm premium textured paper. This artwork is an original design by Narin Barnett.
All artwork is supplied unframed. A4 - A3 prints are packaged with backing board within a cello sleeve and then posted in a rigid mailing envelope. A2 and larger are placed in tissue paper and then posted in a mailing tube.
Please allow up to 5 business days for your print to be dispatched. All artwork is sent with tracking information. Shipping within Australia is $8.50. International shipping varies, see our shipping page for more details. If you would like your art express posted please contact us for a quote.


Black fuzzy caterpillars are associated with a species of caterpillar known as the Isabella Tiger Moth, also called the banded woolly bear. These particular caterpillars are native to Canada and the United States. They are very noticeable caterpillars because of their black spiky bodies. If you look closely, you can see there are red stripes on their body at the base of the spikes. These black fuzzy caterpillars almost resemble small black, long porcupines. That is why so many people are afraid to touch these caterpillars when they come across them in the wild.
When the black fuzzy caterpillars are in their younger stages, they'll have a brown midsection with black everywhere else. Their spikey exterior makes it easy for them to avoid getting eaten by predators. Not only are their spikey hairs sharp, but they can disguise their bodies too so that predators don't see them. For example, if a predator happens to be nearby and the caterpillar can detect it, the caterpillar will roll up into a spikey ball and not move at all. As the predator leaves the area, the caterpillar will quickly move out of the environment to remain safe.
Black fuzzy caterpillars have a very healthy appetite. In fact, they are known to eat virtually anything they can come across. Aside from herbs, trees, leaves and other forms of vegetation, they will also feast on wood as well. If you have piles of wood or any sort of wooden furniture lying outside your home, do not be surprised if you find these caterpillars roaming around on it. Some of their favorite plant types include magnolias, basil, willows, mulberry trees, angel trumpets, lettuce, and honeysuckles.
Since black fuzzy caterpillars look threatening, you might assume they are probably poisonous too. The good news is that they are not poison. When they're in the larval stage, you don't need to worry about them injecting poison into your system if you happen to touch them. In fact, you shouldn't even feel any irritation from touching their thin spiky hairs. Since there are no toxins getting onto your skin, you won't develop any symptoms of inflammation or swelling. There shouldn't even be an injury either.
However, there have been a few reported cases of people coming down with dermatitis after touching a black fuzzy caterpillar. There is no scientific proof that the hairs of these caterpillars cause dermatitis. It is possible these claims are from people who have other underlying causes of their dermatitis which have not been accounted for.
If you pick up a black fuzzy caterpillar, you may notice your hand has some yellow liquid on it. This is associated with the caterpillar's defense mechanism as it is supposed to deter predators away. The liquid will not harm you on the outside but avoid ingesting it or else you could get sick. Therefore, make sure you wash your hands immediately after you've handled a black fuzzy caterpillar. If you happen to have any open wounds or cuts, do not let the liquid touch these areas. If they do, disinfect the area with salt water immediately to clean out the wound.
When the black fuzzy caterpillar goes through its metamorphosis and becomes a butterfly, you will understand why it is called an Isabella Tiger Moth. The colors of the moth resemble the same colors as a tiger. It will have a mostly orange complexion on its body and wings, along with black dots all along its backside. You would never guess in a million years that this moth came from such a black spiky caterpillar. The moth itself does not have any spikes because they get shed during the metamorphosis.


Mess is an album released by the British group Fila Brazillia on Pork Recordings in 1996.
Mess was an Austrian band which represented the country in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 performing Sonntag (Sunday).
Multi Emulator Super System (MESS) is an emulator for many game consoles and computer systems, based on the MAME core.
The Mess is a river flowing through Luxembourg, joining the Alzette at Lameschmillen, near Bergem. It flows through the towns of Reckange-sur-Mess and Pontpierre.
something good. Ex., "That last drink was a mess."
the area where meals are served and eaten.
Naval The unit of community life as lived in one of HM ships; hence, the place where each unit lives and eats; hence also, the naval verb for both inhabiting and eating. The context must show whether living or eating is referred to.
Condition of Band Bus at end of Band Trip. When used by band parents the word 'mess' is often qualified by adjectives such as 'complete', 'horrible', 'total' or '&#@&^$!'.
Part of the ship's company that eats together, (such as the officers' mess) and, by extension, the place where they eat. On passenger liners, the passengers may still eat in dining rooms, but the crew eats in the mess. from late Latin missum, that which is put on a table.
The Mess is where recruits eat. On some bases these are within the same building but for the recruits in their initial training they sleep in barrack blocks and attend the mess building for meals.
Same as "Gretz", but applied to the equally awesome Mark Messier.
noun, feces, verb, To defecate, usually into or on an object. Soil.
F: a particular company of the officers or crew of a ship, who eat, drink, and associate together.


Purpose: To compare the long-term clinical and oncologic outcomes in patients treated with laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) and laparoscopic radial nephrectomy (LRN) for clinical T1b renal cell carcinoma.
Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of all patients who underwent LPN or LRN for a single clinical T1b tumor between January 2005 and January 2012, an actual follow-up of 2-year or greater was available in 39 and 160 after LPN and LRN, respectively. Survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was done to assess predictors of survival.
73.41% and 88.00% vs 82.85%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, patients' age, ASA score and pathological stage were the major factors affecting overall survival, and patients' age and pathological stage were associated with cancer specific survival. The percent decrease in glomerular filtration rate was significantly lower in the LRN group at early and last followup.
Conclusion: LPN is an effective treatment option in appropriately selected patients with cT1b RCC. It provides 5-year, 10-year overall survival and cancer specific survival comparable to those of LRN as well as better preservation of renal function than LRN. Overall survival and cancer specific survival are associated with nonmodifiable factors but not by the choice of operative technique.
Ljungberg B, Bensalah K, Canfield S, et al. EAU Guidelines on Renal Cell Carcinoma: 2014 Update. Eur Urol. 2015;67:913-24.
for the management of clinical T1 renal masses. BMC Urol. 2014;14:101.
Karakiewicz PI, Lewinshtein DJ, Chun FK, et al. Tumor size improves the accuracy of TNM predictions in patients with renal cancer. Eur Urol. 2006;50:521-8; discussion 9.
Volpe A, Amparore D, Mottrie A. Treatment outcomes of partial nephrectomy for T1b tumours. Curr Opin Urol. 2013;23:403-10.
Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Population-based Assessment. Urology. 2010;75:271-5.
Simmons MN, Chung BI, Gill IS. Perioperative efficacy of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for tumors larger than 4 cm. Eur Urol. 2009;55:199-207.
Aron M, Gill IS. Minimally invasive nephronsparing surgery (MINSS) for renal tumours part I: laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. Eur Urol. 2007;51:337-46; discussion 46-7.
Deklaj T, Lifshitz DA, Shikanov SA, Katz MH, Zorn KC, Shalhav AL. Laparoscopic radical versus laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for clinical T1bN0M0 renal tumors: comparison of perioperative, pathological, and functional outcomes. J Endourol. 2010;24:1603-7.
Alyami FA, Rendon RA. Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for > 4 cm renal masses. Can Urol Assoc J. 2013;7:E281-6.
serum creatinine: a new prediction equation. Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study Group. Ann Intern Med. 1999;130:461-70.
nephrectomy in treating 4- to 7-cm renal cell carcinoma. Medicina (Kaunas). 2013;49:223-8.
Lee HJ, Liss MA, Derweesh IH. Outcomes of partial nephrectomy for clinical T1b and T2 renal tumors. Curr Opin Urol. 2014;24:448-52.
Van Poppel H, Da Pozzo L, Albrecht W, et al. A prospective, randomised EORTC intergroup phase 3 study comparing the oncologic outcome of elective nephron-sparing surgery and radical nephrectomy for low-stage renal cell carcinoma. Eur Urol. 2011;59:543-52.
Ani I, Finelli A, Alibhai SM, Timilshina N, Fleshner N, Abouassaly R. Prevalence and impact on survival of positive surgical margins in partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma: a population-based study. BJU Int. 2013;111:E300-5.
Favaretto RL, Sanchez-Salas R, Benoist N, et al. Oncologic outcomes after laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: mid-term results. J Endourol. 2013;27:52-7.
hospitalization. N Engl J Med. 2004;351:1296-305.
retrospective cohort study. Lancet Oncol. 2006;7:735-40.
Mukkamala A, He C, Weizer AZ, et al. Longterm renal functional outcomes of minimally invasive partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. Urol Oncol. 2014;32:1247-51.
Compared With Partial Nephrectomy. The J Urol. 2008;179:468-73.


text:
Q: Facebook video upload from iPhone using both Social.framework and FB SDK We've got a problem with our ios app. THe thing is, that uploading through ios doesn't seem to work like expected. The real problem here, is that we are able to upload from some accounts, while we can't upload from others (although, we could do that before). The bug reproduction steps are following:
- user launches our app;
- user logs into facebook and gives the necessary permissions for the app to work;
- user uploads the video to facebook;
- facebook responds with upload success;
- then the message comes up on the facebook, that video couldn't be processed.
This same video was successfully uploaded from other accounts.
THe most weird thing, is that the videos we've successfully uploaded disappear from the facebook page after some time.
So, what we are basically thinking of, is that FB has some spam protection limitations for a user from mobile devices.
So, what I'm, asking, is if anyone had such issues as well?
P.S. Code for sending stuff to FB is pretty basic:
- (void)uploadVideoToFacebookFromFileURL:(NSURL *)url parameters:(NSDictionary *)parameters {
SLRequest *uploadRequest = [SLRequest requestForServiceType:SLServiceTypeFacebook
                                              requestMethod:SLRequestMethodPOST
                                                        URL:[NSURL URLWithString:kFBVideoURLString]
                                                 parameters:parameters];

NSData *videoData = [NSData dataWithContentsOfURL:url options:NSDataReadingMappedAlways error:NULL];

[uploadRequest addMultipartData:videoData
                       withName:@"source"
                           type:@"video/x-m4v"
                       filename:[url absoluteString]];

uploadRequest.account = self.socialAccount;

IDPLoadingView *loadingView = [IDPLoadingView loadingViewInView:self.view];
[uploadRequest performRequestWithHandler:^(NSData *responseData, NSHTTPURLResponse *urlResponse, NSError *error) {
    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{[loadingView removeFromSuperview];});
    NSString *responseString = [[[NSString alloc] initWithData:responseData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding] autorelease];
    if(error){
        NSLog(@"Error %@", error.localizedDescription);
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{[self showErrorSending];});
    } else {
        NSLog(@"%@", responseString);
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{[self showResult];});
    }
}];

}

A: You must make 2 different requests.. first is for reading permissions and after post permissions for first-use logged to Facebook  users
NSArray * p = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"email", nil];

NSDictionary * dict=[NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:@"fb_app_id",ACFacebookAppIdKey,p,ACFacebookPermissionsKey,ACFacebookAudienceEveryone,ACFacebookAudienceKey, nil];

    NSDictionary *options = @{
                              ACFacebookAppIdKey: @"fb_app_id",
                              ACFacebookPermissionsKey: @[@"publish_actions", ],
                              @"ACFacebookAudienceKey": ACFacebookAudienceFriends,
                              };
    ACAccountType *facebookAccountType = [accountStore
                                          accountTypeWithAccountTypeIdentifier:ACAccountTypeIdentifierFacebook];

    [accountStore requestAccessToAccountsWithType:facebookAccountType options:dict completion:^(BOOL granted, NSError *error) {
        NSLog(@"blablalba");
      //do nothing here.

    }];

    [accountStore requestAccessToAccountsWithType:facebookAccountType options:options completion:^(BOOL granted, NSError *error) {
 //code for upload here
}];

Hope it helps.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Question: i'm interested in getting spray tanned...but i'm just confused because i dont want to get a TAN for my wedding. i want to be sprayed a lighter white colour. what is that called?
Answer: I had no idea that you could do that! I honestly never heard of this, although I know that there are cosmetics that bleach your skin, but I believe that it is a process and does not happen overnight.
The only thing that I can think would help in lightening your color is to do a super exfoliating job on your skin.
Every time I exfoliate with it so much dead skin cells are removed that I look lighter. If you would do it regularly once a week until your wedding you would not go white, that is for sure, but your complexion would be lighter.
As to spray tanning white, I am sorry but I cannot help you.


text:
\section{Introduction}
The study of elastic scattering requires a detailed knowledge of
the properties of the pomeron, which is the dominant interaction
of hadrons at high energies. In this case, the structure and spin
properties both of the hadron and of the pomeron play a special
role.

There are two regimes for the pomeron, the ``soft"
non-perturbative pomeron, and the perturbative-QCD ``hard"
pomeron. The soft pomeron dominates in high-energy hadron-hadron
diffractive reactions at long distances while the hard pomeron
dominates in high-energy short-distance scattering \cite{bj} and
determines the very-small-$x$ behaviour of deep inelastic
structure functions and spin-averaged gluon distributions.

The ``soft" pomeron of the standard form with
$ \alpha_{pom}(0)=1 + \epsilon$.
was introduced in \cite{lan1}%
 The observed growth of inelastic cross sections and the
multiplicity coincide with these idea.
The perturbative QCD leading log calculation of the gluon ladder diagrams
gives the following result \cite{kur}
\begin{eqnarray}
   \epsilon = 12 \  \alpha_{s}/ \pi \  \ln{2} \sim 0.5  .
\end{eqnarray}
 Really,
the new global QCD analysis of data for various hard scattering processes
leads to the small x behaviour of the gluon structure function
 determined by the hard pomeron contribution   \cite{lai}
$            g(x) \sim 1/x^{1+\epsilon} $
with $\epsilon = 0.3$.
A recent analysis \cite{mrt} of the experimental data for total
cross sections and $\rho$-parameters of hadron-hadron and
photon-hadron scattering reveals the possibility that both soft
and hard pomerons are simple poles, and that both contribute to
soft physics: if the soft pomeron is a simple pole, the hard
pomeron is in fact needed to describe simultaneously the energy
dependence of the total cross sections (hence the imaginary part
of the scattering amplitude at $t=0$) simultaneously with the
value of $\rho(s, t=0)$---the ratio of the real to the imaginary
part of the hadron elastic spin-non-flip scattering
amplitude---(hence the real part of this amplitude).

Note that the contribution of the hard pomeron to the elastic
amplitude leads to the saturation of the unitarity bound in the
profile function at some impact-parameter values at very high
energies.

Here, by ``saturation", we mean, in the $S$-matrix language, that
for some distance between scattering particles, the maximum
possible scattering is reached. This distance is correlated with
the angular momentum $l$ and part of the scattering reaches the
black disc limit (BDL).

It is that last meaning of ``saturation", which is directly
connected with the unitary property of the scattering amplitude,
that we shall use in this work.

 \section{The elastic-scattering amplitude at high energy}
The presence of a hard pomeron in elastic diffractive processes
with a large intercept $1+\epsilon_2 =1.45$ \cite{mrt,lnd-hp} will
lead to a lowering of the energy where saturation starts: it now
appears as we approach the TeV region.
It is not obvious
how the total cross sections will grow with energy after
partial saturation, especially in the energy region of LHC.

  One can show that saturation leads to a behaviour of the total
cross sections at LHC energy which is almost model-independent.
Indeed, different models can be obtained by varying the the
profile function of the hadrons. The BDL leads to a cut of this
function when it reaches 1. If we take a sharp cut with a break in
the derivative, then we obtain strong edge effects from the disk
corresponding to the radius of saturation $b_s$.  To remove such
nonphysical behaviour, we input an additional function which
provides a smooth matching between the central black disk and the
rest of the amplitude, and consider various profile functions
(exponential, Gaussian, multipole).

We find in fact that the energy dependence of the imaginary part
of the amplitude and hence of the total cross section depends on
the form of $f(b)$, {i.e.} on the $s$ and $t$ dependence of the
slope of the elastic scattering amplitude, but that fitting these
quantities to existing data removes most of the uncertainty. It is
unlikely that the LHC will help us choose the right profile
function, or let us decide whether saturation has been reached.
So, we need additional information.

Therefore, we investigate the impact of the hard pomeron on the
polarisation of the elastic proton-proton scattering at LHC
energies and at small momentum transfer. One of the most important
effects is the Coulomb-Nuclear Interference at small
momentum transfer
 \cite{schwinger,lap,lead},
which mostly comes from the interference of the imaginary part of
the hadron spin-non flip amplitude with the electromagnetic part
of the spin-flip amplitude.

The differential cross section and analysing power $A_N$  are
defined as follows:
\begin{eqnarray}
\frac{d\sigma}{dt}&=& \frac{2
\pi}{s^2}(|\Phi_1|^2+|\Phi_2|^2+|\Phi_3|^2
  +|\Phi_4|^2+4|\Phi_5|^2), \label{dsth}\\
  A_N\frac{d\sigma}{dt}&=& -\frac{4\pi}{s^2}
                 Im[(\Phi_1+\Phi_2+\Phi_3-\Phi_4) \Phi_5^{*})],  \label{anth}
\end{eqnarray}
in terms of the usual helicity amplitudes $\Phi_i$.

In the general case, the  form of $A_N$ and the position of its
maximum depend on the parameters of the elastic scattering
amplitude: $\sigma_{\rm tot}$,  $\rho(s,t)$, the Coulomb-nuclear
interference phase  $\varphi_{\rm cn}(s,t)$ and the elastic slope
$B(s,t)$. For the definition of new effects at small angles, and
especially in the region of the diffraction minimum, one must know
the effects of the Coulomb-nuclear interference with sufficiently
high accuracy. The Coulomb-nuclear phase was calculated in the
entire diffraction domain taking into account  the form factors of
the  nucleons \cite{prd-sum}.

The total helicity amplitudes can be written as
\begin{eqnarray}
  \Phi_i(s,t) = \phi^h_{i}(s,t)
        + \phi_{i}^{\rm em}(t) \exp[i \alpha_{\rm em} \varphi_{\rm cn}(s,t)],
 \end{eqnarray}
where $\alpha_{\rm em}=1/137$ is the electromagnetic constant,
$\phi^h_{i}(s,t)$ describes the strong interaction of hadrons,
$\phi_{i}^{\rm em}(t)$  their electromagnetic interaction, and
$\varphi_{\rm cn}(s,t)$ is the electromagnetic-strong interference
phase factor. Therefore, to determine the hadron spin-flip
amplitude at small angles, one should take into account all
electromagnetic and Coulomb-nuclear interference (CNI) effects.

In this paper, we define the hadronic and electromagnetic
spin-non-flip amplitudes as
\begin{eqnarray}
  F^{h}_{\rm nf}(s,t)
   &=&
    = \frac{1}{2s}\left[\phi^h_{1}(s,t) + \phi^h_{3}(s,t)\right]; \ \
      \\
 F^{c}_{\rm nf}(s,t)
    &=&
  = \frac{1}{2s}\left[\phi^{\rm em}_{1}(s,t) + \phi^{\rm em}_{3}(s,t)\right].
    \end{eqnarray}
Taking into account the Coulomb-nuclear phase $\varphi_{\rm cn}$,
we obtain
\begin{equation}
Im F_{\rm nf}^{c} = \alpha_{\rm em} \varphi_{\rm cn} F_{\rm
nf}^{c} .
\end{equation}

Let us now examine the behaviour of the analysing power
(\ref{anth}),  which can be rewritten as
\begin{eqnarray}
  \frac{A_N}{2}\frac{d\sigma}{dt}& =&
  (ImF_{\rm nf}ReF_{\rm sf}-ReF_{\rm nf}ImF_{\rm sf}) \\ \nonumber
 &=&  [( ImF_{\rm nf}^h ReF_{\rm sf}^c +ImF_{\rm nf}^c ReF_{\rm sf}^c
        - ReF_{\rm nf}^h ImF_{\rm sf}^c
   -ReF_{\rm nf}^c ImF_{\rm sf}^c )\\ \nonumber
     &+& (ImF_{\rm nf}^h ReF_{\rm sf}^h -ReF_{\rm nf}^c ImF_{\rm sf}^h
        +  ImF_{\rm nf}^c ReF_{\rm sf}^{h} -Re F_{\rm nf}^{h} Im F_{\rm sf}^{h})]. \label{anf}
\end{eqnarray}

Equation (\ref{anth}) was applied at high energy and at small
momentum transfer, with the following usual assumptions
for hadron spin-flip amplitudes:\\
$\bullet$ $\phi_{1}=\phi_{3}$, $\phi_{2}=\phi_{4} = 0$, \\
$\bullet$ the slopes of the hadronic spin-flip and spin-non-flip
amplitudes are equal.

In this kinematic region, the analysing power can then be
rewritten as
\begin{eqnarray}
\frac{A_N}{2}\frac{d\sigma}{dt}& =& -(ImF_{\rm nf}^h  ReF_{\rm
sf}^c + Im F^{c}_{\rm nf} Re F^{c}_{\rm sf})
    + ImF_{\rm sf}^c  (Re F_{\rm nf}^{c} + Re F_{\rm nf}^{h})
\end{eqnarray}

   If we know the parameters of the hadron spin non-flip amplitude,
 the measurement of the analyzing power at small transfer momenta
 helps us to find the structure
 of the hadron spin-flip amplitude.

\subsection{Soft and hard pomeron as simple poles}

Let us extend the Donnachie-Landshoff (DL) \cite{DL} approach as
it is a well-known model for hadron-hadron  elastic scattering. A
modern analysis of the existing experimental data for the
hadron-hadron and photon-hadron total cross sections and
$\rho(s,t=0)$ parameters suggests a possible contribution of the
hard pomeron \cite{mrt,lnd-hp}.

In the DL approach, the $pp$-elastic scattering amplitude is
proportional to the hadrons form-factors and can be approximated
at small $t$  by \cite{lnd-hp}:
\begin{eqnarray}
T(s,t) \ =  [\ h_{1} \ (s/s_0)^{\epsilon_1}
    e^{\alpha^{\prime}_1 \  t \ \ln (s/s_0)}
   \ + \    \ h_{2} \ (s/s_0)^{\epsilon_2}
             e^{\alpha^{\prime}_2 \  t \ \ln (s/s_0)} ]
   \ F^2(t).
\end{eqnarray}
where $h_1=4.47$  and $h_2 = 0.005$ are the coupling of the
``soft'' and ``hard'' pomerons, and $1+\epsilon_1 =1.073$,
$\alpha^{\prime}_1=0.3$\,GeV$^2$, and  $1+\epsilon_2=1.45$,
$\alpha^{\prime}_2=0.10$\,GeV$^2$ are the intercepts and the
slopes of the two pomeron trajectories. The normalisation $s_0$
will be set to $1$\,GeV$^2$ below and $s$ implicitly contains the
phase factor $\exp(-i \pi/2)$. $F^2(t)$ is  the square of the
Dirac elastic form factor,

 \begin{eqnarray}
  F^2(t)=\frac{4 m_p^2-2.79 t}{4 m_p^2-t} \frac{1}{1-t/\Lambda^2}
                                     \label{dff}
 \end{eqnarray}
where $m_p$ is the mass of the proton and
$\Lambda^2=0.71$\,GeV$^2$. It can be approximated by the sum of
three exponential \cite{book}:
\begin{eqnarray}
 F^2(t)\approx f_a e^{d_a \ t}  +   f_b e^{d_b \ t}
 + f_c e^{d_c \ t}.   \label{eff}
 \end{eqnarray}
with
 $$f_a=0.55 ,  \ \ \ f_b=0.25,  \ \ \ f_c=0.20,$$
  and
$$d_a=5.5 \ {\rm GeV}^{-2}, \ \ \  d_b=4.1 \ {\rm GeV}^{-2}, \ \ \ d_c=1.2 \ {\rm GeV}^{-2} .$$

We then obtain in the impact parameter representation a specific
form for the profile function $\Gamma(b,s)$ \cite{dif04}. One can
see that at some energy and at small $b$,  $\Gamma(b,s)$ reaches
the black disk limit.
For one-(soft+hard)-pomeron exchange
this will be in the region $\sqrt{s} \approx 1.5  $\,TeV. If one
adds to the model the cut due to 2-pomeron exchanges \cite{DL},
the resulting $\Gamma_2$ will saturate at $\sqrt{s}=4.5  $\,TeV.

From the DL model, we obtain in the impact parameter
representation the following form of  the profile function
$\Gamma(b,s)$:
\begin{eqnarray}
 \Gamma(b,s)  &=&
   h_{1a} \exp(-\frac{x^2}{r^2_{1a}})
    +  h_{1b} \exp(-\frac{x^2}{r^2_{1b}})  +  h_{1c} \exp(-\frac{x^2}{r^2_{1c}})
                                                    \nonumber \\
     &+&  h_{2a} \exp(-\frac{x^2}{r^2_{2a}})
       +  h_{2b} \exp(-\frac{x^2}{r^2_{2b}}) + h_{2c} \exp(-\frac{x^2}{r^2_{2c}}),  \label{pf}
\end{eqnarray}
where the variables $h_i,\ i=a, b, c$ are
\begin{eqnarray}
         h_{1i}
 = 2  {f_i}  h_1  s^{\epsilon_1} / r^2_{1i}; \ \  \
         h_{2i} =
2  {f_i}  h_2  s^{\epsilon_2} / r^2_{2i}.
\end{eqnarray}
with
\begin{eqnarray}
r_{1i}^2 = 4  \left(d_i + \alpha^{\prime}_1
\log({s}/{s_0})\right); \ \ \ r_{2i}^2 = 4  \left(d_i +
\alpha^{\prime}_2 \log({s}/{s_0})\right) .
\end{eqnarray}

 Here the value $s$ contains the phase factor $\exp(-i \pi/2)$.
Saturation of the profile function will control the behaviour of
$\sigma_{\rm tot}$ at super-high energies.
We implement saturation as explained above, by using a smooth
matching between the saturated region ($ \Gamma(b,s)=1$, $b<b_s$)
and the unsaturated one ($ \Gamma(b,s)$ given by (\ref{pf}).

\begin{figure}[!ht]
~\vglue -1.5cm
\centerline{\mbox{\epsfysize=80mm\epsffile{anss20t.ps}}}\vglue
-0.6cm
 \caption{ $A_N$ due to the interference of electromagnetic
and strong amplitudes, calculated at $\sqrt{s}  =  20 $\,TeV.
(hard line --- with saturation, with contributions from the soft
and the hard pomerons; dashed line  ---  without saturation, with
a contribution only the soft pomeron, normalised to the total
cross section at $\sqrt{s}  =  550$\,GeV). } \label{Fig_1}
\end{figure}

Let us now calculate the CNI effect at LHC energies in different
approaches. On the one hand, the contribution of the hard pomeron
will lead to a growth of the real part of the spin-non-flip
elastic scattering amplitude, but on the other hand, the
contribution of the hard pomeron in the profile function at small
impact parameters leads to the saturation of the unitarity bound,
and to a decrease of the real part of the hadron spin-non-flip
amplitude.  The calculated $A_N$, which comes from the CNI-effect,
in the framework of the Donnachie--Landshoff model with a
contribution from the hard pomeron is shown in Fig.~1.

In this figure, the hard line represents the result from
saturation with contributions from the soft and from the hard
pomerons whereas  the dashed line is calculated without saturation
but with only a soft pomeron. Of course the predictions for LHC
energies depend on the values of the couplings and intercepts of
the pomeron(s). For both cases, we choose these parameters to
obtain a correct description of the total cross sections at high
energies ($\sqrt{s} > 50$\,GeV). From Fig.~1, we can see that the
shape of the analysing power is practically the same in both
cases.

In Fig. 2a, we show  the energy dependence of the value of the
maximum of  $A_N$  for three cases. In the first one, we use
saturation and contributions from  the soft and the hard pomerons.
In the second one, we do not use a unitarity/saturation bound and
we allow a free growth of the profile function.

We then obtain a decrease of the maximum CNI-effect faster than in
the case of the saturation regime but only at  very high energies
($\sqrt{s} > 10 $\,TeV). This means that saturation tampers the
growth of the real part which comes from the hard pomeron.
Finally, the third case shows the standard behaviour of of the CNI
effect when we take into account only the contribution of the soft
pomeron (with intercept 1.07), which reaches the unitarity bound
only at super-high energies beyond the LHC. At the LHC, the value
of the maximum of $A_N$ changes slowly with the energy.

In Fig. 2b, we show  the energy dependence of the value of the
maximum of $A_N$  in these three cases. It increases faster in the
case of the saturation regime especially at sufficiently large
energies, whereas the smallest change corresponds to the standard
analysis with a contribution from the soft pomeron only.
\begin{figure}\begin{center}
~\vglue -1.2cm \vbox{\mbox{\epsfxsize=110mm\epsffile{anmax2.ps}}~\vglue -4.5cm\hglue 4.5cm (a)\\[2.5cm]
\mbox{\epsfxsize=110mm\epsffile{antmax1.ps}}\\
~\vglue -5.5cm\hglue 4.5cm (b)\vglue +4cm }
\end{center}\caption{ The energy
dependence of a) the maximum value of $A_N$ and b) the position in
$t$ of the maximum of $A_N$ (hard line: in the saturation regime,
with contributions from the soft and the hard pomeron; the
dash-dotted line: the same, but without saturation; dashed line:
without saturation, with a contribution from the soft pomeron
only, normalised to the total cross section at $ \sqrt{s} \ = \
550 $\,GeV). }
\end{figure}

\section{Conclusion}
In the presence of a hard pomeron, saturation effects can change
the behaviour of some characteristic features of the diffractive
scattering amplitudes at the LHC.
However, accurate measurements of the analysing power in the
Coulomb-nuclear interference region can map the structure of the
hadron spin-flip amplitude, and this will give us further
information about the behaviour of hadronic interactions at large
distances.
Large-distance spin-flip contributions can be taken into account,
for example in the peripheral dynamic model \cite{zpc,yaf-str}.
Saturation will lead to a relative growth of the contribution of
peripheral interactions, and to changes in the energy dependence
of the differential cross sections  at moderate momentum transfer.
This is especially true in the case of the energy dependence of
the Coulomb-nuclear interference at small $t$. Such saturation
effects can in principle be observed at the LHC.\bigskip

\noindent {{\bf Acknowledgements:}
The authors would like to thank P.V. Landshoff for helpful
discussion. This research was conducted while O.V.S. was a
Visiting Fellow of the FNRS, Belgium.}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


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On April 1st, my husband Richard and I drove down to Urbana, Ohio to meet with friends, fans, and family, and attend Urbana University's "The Art of Cinema" lecture series being presented by Urbana native sons Clancy Brown, Randy Wilkins, and Philip Stockton. The program was presented by the Champaign County Bicentennial Arts & Culture Committee & Urbana University.
On the evening of Friday, April 1st, Phil, Clancy, and Randy screened portions of Martin Scorsese's Academy Award winning movie, "The Aviator" (for which Philip Stockton was the Sound Editor.) The three gentlemen discussed the technical aspects of their trades and how each came into play within the scenes we were shown. A Question & Answer period followed. Audience members were later invited to stay and discuss the various aspects of the movie industry with the presenters, one on one. An autograph/photo session with audience members also followed the formal part of the evening.
On Saturday, April 2nd, Randy, Phil, and Clancy each held individual sessions devoted exclusively to their individual crafts. Randy, who has designed sets for such feature films as "The Patriot", "Crimson Tide", "Pleasantville", "Meet the Fockers", "Gattica", and "Catch Me If You Can", as well as such television shows as "The Wonder Years", "Murder She Wrote", "NYPD Blue", and "Carnivale" (the WWI trenches), gave a fascinating lecture on set design and the tricks of the trade -- including forced perspective sets and how they recreate such real life places as a sixties era "To Tell The Truth" gameshow stage (for "Catch Me If You Can"), and the president's plane in "The Sum of All Fears".
Later in the morning, Philip Stockton, whose Sound Editor credits include "The Aviator", "Gangs of New York", "Angels in America", "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", "The Birdcage", "Goodfellas", "The Silence of the Lambs", and "The Age of Innocence", explained the intricacies of sound design. It was fascinating to find out that, even when there is apparent silence onscreen, there is actually ambiant sound going on in the background that the audience doesn't consciously realize. But if that sound were to not be present, it would completely jar the audience out of the moment. He also explained the huge advances in technology that have opened up opportunities for newcomers to experiment with film making without all the cumbersome and extraordinarily expensive equipment that would have been necessary only a decade or so ago.
Both gentlemen presented slides and movie clips to illustrate the points they were making, and fielded questions on a wide range of topics.
The afternoon session, "Acting for the Screen" was presented by Clancy Brown. He spent the session explaining how an actor takes his cues from the script, building his character from the evolving story there, and looking for the connecting elements and motivations that make the character who they are. He also discussed the economic forces that change the way movies and television series get made, and an insiders view of the audience's role in effecting change in our entertainment.
Clancy's mother, Joyce Brown, and the Champaign County Bicentennial Arts & Culture Committee she chairs were the driving forces in putting this lecture series together. It was a dream to many to finally get these three very successful Urbana native sons together to speak on the movie-making business, and Mrs. Brown's love and pride in her son's accomplishments, as well as Phil & Randy's, was readily apparent. Everyone enjoyed the weekend's lectures and seemed to get a lot out of them. So congratulations to Mrs. Brown and everyone in the Champaign County Bicentennial Arts& Culture Committee & Urbana University for putting together such a fascinating program.
Many, many thanks to Clancy's parents, Joyce and Bud Brown, as well as Clancy, for the wonderful weekend. The Brown family's generosity and kindness is astounding, and both my husband and I cannot thank them enough for the amazing time we spent with them. The Brown family's continuing commitment to their community and to education is rare indeed and, without a doubt, most inspiring.


I would just like to ask when hatebreed will be coming to las vegas. I need to see the Breed.
Of all your shows, what is your most memorable stage moment?
When will you be playing in the Lansing MI area? Would be great to catch a show.
Hatebreed has a show aug 5th at Mayhem and august 18th at Carnival of Chaos in Michigan, make the drive! thanks!
When is the next hatebreed's album coming out? please come back to manila.
next year and we will be back to manila too!
Are the lyrics to the new JASTA CD in the CD booklet?
When are you coming back to RI?
maybe stillborn fest would be cool in providence!
will you ever do another kingdom of sorrow record?
What stage is hatebreed playing at the Indianapolis Mayhem date?
Hi Jamey, when will you make a new hatebreed album?


Professor David Owen Norris, from South Hampton University-- an internationally renowned pianist and radio host-- will perform the works of several great English composers in a spectacular concert. Audiences in Taiwan rarely have the chance to appreciate the works of Sir Edward William Elgar or Sir William Turner Walton; so, this concert to be held in NTU's Center for the Arts, promises to offer local music lovers a rare treat of English music.
'The works I play are the works of English composers , or works closely linked to England—such as the British adaptation of Handel, or the British version of Mendelssohn which has not been made public. To most Taiwanese audience these works shall appear to be very fresh, and I am happy to give them an early experience ofsuch important connotations of British culture." said Professor Norris.
Held in National Taiwan University, this concert is part of the activities of the cultural interchange program between National Taiwan University and South Hampton University. In this program, the two universities shall welcome one music student from the other school to engage in learning and exchange for several months. The exchange student from South Hampton University is George Holloway, who has been commissioned to write new songs for Professor Norris'Taiwan concert.
Holloway said: "I very much appreciate the lyricism in Elgar and Walton's music, my new composition entitled [originalmelodie]is an echo to lyricism, and a response to Mendelssohn's [Songs without words]. I tried my best to make a dynamic and sensitive performer like David Owen Norris show his talent."
The concert repertoire will include the "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" by Sir Edward William Elgar, piano sonatas by Constant Lambert, and three waltzes by Walter Lee.
Some of the other works are directly related to the South Hampton area. Professor Norris will perform the adapted version of the prelude to Handel's opera "Rodelinda", which is part of the musical collections of novelist Jane Austin. She wrote many of her works in the village of Chawton of Hamphsire County. Additionally, Walton's prelude and fugue "Spitfire" was written for a representative fighter which was built in the Woolston district of South Hampton, and had its first test flight in South Hampton's international airport.
The University of South Hampton hopes to strengthen its ties with Taiwan through this concert. The historians from its College of Humanities are now planning biennial seminars with NTU colleagues to explore the issues of comparative viewpoints in Western and East Asian societies, and its archaeologists are doing research on the Paiwan aborigine tribe in Southern Taiwan and its ancestral histories.


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text:
'Upside-down' Concord design shows how culverts are changing in face of environmental concerns
Part of Portsmouth Street in Concord is closed as work continues on a bridge across from the lot of the Society of N.H. Forests. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff '; }
The inverted box culvert being installed to carry Mill Brook under Portsmouth Road earlier this month. Dave Anderson N.H. Forest Society '; }
The inverted box culvert being installed to carry Mill Brook under Portsmouth Road earlier this month. Dave Anderson / N.H. Forest Society '; }
If you think today's roads are bad, check out Portsmouth Street from a century ago.
"Digging down, about 5 feet below existing grade, we found the old wooden road. It was wooden planks placed to cross the stream, probably over 100 years ago," said Martha Drukker, an engineer for the city of Concord who is the project leader on a very interesting culvert replacement.
Plunging down a 5-foot embankment to Mill Brook and then heading back up again on the other side must have been a chore, which is why there has been a culvert there for decades, carrying the road over the waterway that leads into a marsh on the east bank of Merrimack River, near Merrill Park in Concord.
That culvert was a standard 48-inch-diameter corrugated pipe until recently when it was replaced with a complex structure that reflects how the much-overlooked culvert has become a focus of municipal efforts to prepare for the extremes of climate change while doing less damage to wildlife.
"They're trying to work with communities to not just go in and throw a pipe in the ground and then put a road on top of it, but to connect the needs of the environment as well as our infrastructure needs," said Drukker.
A culvert is basically a self-contained bridge, usually built so a road can pass over a small waterway. There are tens of thousands of them in New Hampshire, although nobody really knows how many. Concord's engineering department once estimated for me that the city by itself has 533 culverts, some are so old that records are sketchy.
The easiest and cheapest culvert is a buried pipe, but poor design often causes streambed erosion that leaves the pipe stranded well above the flow of water so it acts almost like a dam. A stream that passes through several culverts, as many do, ends up being chopping into a series of separate short segments. This creates a real obstacle to fish and amphibians and insects moving up and down waterways as needed to find better food or habitat during the year.
The goal these days is to have an "open-bottom design" allowing free organism movement, where the floor of the culvert is the actual streambed because the culvert is a three-sided concrete tunnel placed with the open side facing down, known as a box culvert.
Another problem is that culverts are usually sized to handle historical water flows. The increase in extreme storms caused by a warmer, wetter world means those flows are increasingly being exceeded, washing out culverts and blocking roads.
With those issues in mind, when the culvert on Portsmouth Street near Merrill Park began to fail, a large box culvert was the obvious replacement choice. But then another problem came up, caused by the glaciers that covered New England 15,000 years ago.
It turns out that soil in this area is glacial till, a mix of small material left behind by the retreating glaciers that wouldn't provide a good base for a box culvert. Rather than build monstrous concrete footings to hold up the box, which would basically undo the good of an open-bottom design, engineers took an unusual step.
They turned the box culvert upside-down, so that it's like a squared-off U, then buried it halfway, filling it with material to maintain a natural stream bottom.
"We had to set it 5 feet below the channel, and recreate the stream channel inside the box culvert," said Drukker. That's why they encountered the original road, which had long ago been covered.
The resulting structure is big: 40 feet long, 16 feet wide, and eight feet tall, although five of those feet are buried. It's also not cheap: $400,000 or so, much more than pipe culvert would be. And it wasn't easy to install, because there wasn't much room between the road and the marsh to maneuver heavy machinery.
The culvert includes a shelf that will allow non-aquatic creatures to pass without having to go through the water or cross the road. These shelves are increasingly common even in regular box culverts to aid non-aquatic wildlife movement.
"There are some animals that do not prefer to cross in traditional upside-down U's because they don't like to get their feet wet," said Linden Rayton, Merrimack River Floodplain Education Coordinator for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. The society owns property next to the crossing.
The inverted box culvert design is unusual for New Hampshire, so unusual that the city is sharing photos and videos of the installation with the state Department Environmental Services, to help guide other communities as they seek to improve their culverts.
"Across the state, everybody is dealing with replacing culverts that haven't been replaced for several decades. A lot of communities are trying to get up to speed and get them replaced, but it's difficult with funding," said Dukker.
And what about Concord itself, I wondered. Are there other culverts in the city that Dukker would like to see replaced with box culverts or inverted box culverts like this one? She chuckled at that question.
"How long a list do you want?" she said, adding: "Pretty much all of them."
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313 or dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)


text:
POST: 'Blackbird' - I question myself entirely
What's it about?
A woman, Una, pays her first, very complicated, love a visit after fifteen years.
What'd I experience?
My mind has officially been blown.
I got so much deja vu watching this show, not because I've been anywhere close to the trauma Una has endured, but because of my obsession with rape cases. That's sounds so weird - let me explain. I am really interested in the psychological aspects of those who commit that crime as well as those who experience it. I like to see what motivates people to do things that society has deemed 'wrong', and even more so if in some cases they claim to have love for their victims.
Ray (who is played my Jeff Daniels!!!!), is a now fifty something man who has managed to recreate a life for himself after having been involved in a sexual relationship with a 12 year old child. That child was Una (Michelle Williams), who is now twenty something and has decided to confront her 'perpetrator'. Ray (40 something at the time) met Una when her father (Ray's neighbor) invited him to a BBQ. Una was 12 at the time when Ray spotted her in a corner looking absolutely bored. They begin talking, ended up striking up a friendship, which then slowly takes a sexual tone, and then they have sex. Now, it's important to note that Una's father ended up finding out about the little affair with Ray and took him to court. Ray then spent three years in prison and as soon as he was out rebuilt a life for himself. Una has to some extent done the same.
This is probably the point where I start getting into dangerous territory, because once again a play is making me question myself entirely. It almost feels like I was being emotional manipulated by the story - in the best way possible - because for once I wasn't pushed to feel entirely bad for a women who was victimized. Una was a strong woman, even when she was 12, she was sure of herself and determined to get what she wanted. At that young age she knew she wanted Ray. Personally it doesn't sound strange that she'd wanted Ray, at least at an emotional level. Ray was older, a loner, and someone who gave Una attention. I get a sense that Una's sexual awakening happened earlier than any parent would want, which led to doing things that no one would ever find right for a child that young. That's where the foundation of her and Ray's relationship is foggy to me. Everything that happened in that relationship was consensual, in a way. I mean, she was 12. But at the same time that is the reason why it sort of frightens me because I cannot tell if I think it was wrong. I mean, I do. Ray should have said no. But when I look through Una's eyes, things get so blurry.
Initially, Una randomly appears at Ray's job, so I'm thinking here is a women visiting her rapist. But of course it's not that simple, because Una wasn't molested, she was hurt by Ray, but not psychically. What wounded Una the most was being rejected by the man she thought loved her and then even worse she was told she could never see him again. Combine being 12, losing her virginity to an older man, a man she believed to love, one she believed to be special to, and then have that state of bliss ripped away - never to be felt again. Una may have physically grown, but that day she saw him again left her feeling that same anger and grief she felt when she was a child. She confesses to Ray she has been with 83 men since him, but nothin had come of them, which I took as after 15 years she hasn't been able to stop comparing them to Ray.
When Ray is trying to give Una a reason for having been with her, he said something that I've thought about before. Ray says that what hurt him the most about the court trials was being demonized in front of everyone. The prosecutors had created a fictionalized story about how Una and him had become close, they made it seem like he had chosen her, groomed her, and then forced her to be in a relationship she wanted no part of. It freaked me out when I saw everyone around me with expressions of disgust as Ray justified his actions, even more expressions of utter confusion when Una indirectly reassures that she didn't consider what they did as rape. I agreed with Ray and Una. I think what really made their entire situation a problem in the first place was timing. I'm talking about age, I mean if they had met now - when Una is in her twenties - they would have saved so much pain. Oh, timing. It's everything.
Want to see it?
$32 General Rush
Belasco Theatre
thru June 11
PXPChristine Gordon March 24, 2016 j christine gordon, blackbirdComment
POST: 'Sense & Sensibility' - when reputation is everything
PXPRafa Ashraf March 25, 2016 Rafa Ashraf, Sense and Sensibility
POST: 'Widowers' Houses' - a poor man, working for a rich man
PXPMariuxi Cortez March 23, 2016 Mariuxi Cortez, Widowers Houses, TACT


When it comes to determining heart and stroke risk, we've been doing it all wrong. You may not be as safe as you think.
If you thought you had your heart and stroke risk all figured out, a new study will have you reconsidering. Researchers have recalculated how risk factors, like weight and blood pressure, actually affect our risk of heart problems. The findings may make your heart sink just a bit, but fortunately, many of the risk factors are largely within our control. So the study empowers us as well as providing a sobering look at what puts hearts at risk.
Just a tiny change in any of the risk factors raised one's risk considerably. For example, if all factors are ideal for a given person, but cholesterol is between 180 and 199 (not high enough to be treated, but still higher than ideal), one's lifetime risk goes up.
The study followed 250,000 black and white participants of both sexes over a landmark 50 years. Most studies of this kind look at white males only, so the fact that this one included women and other ethnic groups gives it a lot more explanatory power than those in the past.
Cardiovascular risk factors like blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and diabetes status were measured when the participants were 45, 55, 65, and 75. The team tracked the likelihood of the participants experiencing a heart issue or stroke during their lifetimes.
The best risk factor profile was when blood pressure was 120 mmHg/80 mmHg or lower, when cholesterol was 180 mg/dl or less, and the person did not smoke or have diabetes. But just a tiny change in any of the risk factors raised one's risk considerably. For example, if all factors are ideal for a given person, but cholesterol is between 180 and 199 (not high enough to be treated, but still higher than ideal), one's lifetime risk goes up.
"We are giving incomplete and misleading risk information if we only focus on the next 10 years of someone's life," said principal investigator Donald Lloyd-Jones. "With even just one risk factor, the likelihood is very large that someone will develop a major cardiovascular event that will kill them or substantially diminish their quality of life or health."
For example, a man who is 45 years old and has no risk factors has a 1.4% risk of having a heart attack or stroke. But the risk for a man with two or more risk factors goes up to 49.5%. For women, these numbers were 4.1% and 30.7%, respectively. Women are at higher risk for stroke, in general, but at lower risk for heart attack.
African-Americans have a greater risk for high blood pressure and diabetes than Caucasians, but their heart and stroke risk is similar to Caucasians because they also tend to have shorter lifespans overall.
Family history plays a role in risk level, but so do lifestyle choices. Though it's not always easy, making healthy choices, like eating well and not smoking, really does affect our health and lifespans. And making these changes could have a bigger effect than we ever knew.
The study was carried out at Northwestern University, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.


text:
The end of smartphone innovation
March 23, 2017 by Benedict Evans in Mobile
This autumn Apple will release a new iPhone design, and the fact that it postponed a new design and kept the 6 design for three years instead of two suggests it has something that will attract attention. However, it will really still 'just' be another iPhone. Meanwhile, we have some indications that Apple is working on AR glasses (of which more later) and certainly was working on a car project - but neither of these is likely to see a mass-market consumer release for a year or two at the least (cars perhaps longer). So, expect a lot more 'innovation dead at Apple!' stories.
This is paralleled at Android, I think: the new developer release of version 'O' has lots of good work and solid worthy stuff, but nothing world changing. Again, the cry will go up, "innovation is dead!"
Really, though, this reflects where we are in the product cycle. New technology of any kind tends to follow an S Curve - at first improvement and innovation seems slow as the fundamental concepts are worked out, then there's a period of very rapid change, innovation and feature expansion, and then, as the market matures and the 'white space' is filled in, perceptible improvement tends to slow down. You could see this in cars, or aircraft - far more obvious change in the middle decades of the 20th century than in the first decade of the 21st - and you can see it in PCs or increasingly smartphones now. The PC curve has been completely flat for years and smartphones are now starting to flatten out as well. There will still be substantial improvement in cameras, and in GPUs (driven by VR), but the war is over.
This means that the questions change. We don't ask 'will this work?' or 'who will win?' - Apple and Google won (Google only outside China, of course), and their victory is now complete, just as Microsoft's was in 1995. Rather, we ask what can we do now that there are 2.5bn people with a smartphone, growing to 5bn in a few years.
There's a paradox here, perhaps: slowing innovation in the iPhone and in Android doesn't mean weakness ("Apple doomed!" "Android falling behind!") but strength: it reflects the fact that we are in a phase in which they're unassailable. The fact that almost all of the white space has been filled in - the big problems solved - also means that we have left the part of the S Curve in which a new idea or execution could overturn the incumbent. They're too feature-rich and, of course, have too much scale in units and ecosystem.
Of course, that is only true until the next S curve comes along and resets the score, just as the iPhone did to both Microsoft and Nokia. The trend this year is to say that this new S-Curve will be voice (I'm skeptical) or just AI in general (yes, but I'm not sure it changes the dynamics in phones). AI certainly is the new S-Curve in the tech industry, but for actual devices you carry around with you, I increasingly think that augmented reality is the next fundamental platform shift. AR, in the sense not of waving your phone at something but of glasses that can place objects into the world around you, can probably be the new universal interface, replacing multitouch just as multitouch is replacing the windows/mouse/keyboard model.
This won't happen all at once. Multitouch effectively had three launches: the Jeff Han demo in 2006, the iPhone launch in 2007, and then the explosion in unit sales from 2010 onwards, accelerated by Android. The new S Curve will start out flat as well - for a bit.
The fun part of this kind of innovation is that when you're at the end of the curve the stuff at the beginning seems really boring. It didn't feel like that at the time. Today this video of the iPhone from 2007 seems almost baffling - of course all phones are like that! Not then they weren't. Lots of people even claimed the demo was faked.
March 23, 2017 /Benedict Evans