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A New Layer of Medical Preparedness to Combat Emerging Infectious Disease
Researchers supporting PREEMPT program will model viral evolution in animal populations, quantify the probability of human pathogen emergence, and pursue proof-of-concept interventions to prevent viral spread to humans
DARPA has selected five teams of researchers to support PREventing EMerging Pathogenic Threats (PREEMPT), a 3.5-year program first announced in January 2018 to reinforce traditional medical preparedness by containing viral infectious diseases in animal reservoirs and insect vectors before they can threaten humans. Through studies in secure laboratories and simulated natural environments, the PREEMPT researchers will model how viruses might evolve within animal populations, and assess the safety and efficacy of potential interventions. Autonomous Therapeutics, Inc., Institut Pasteur, Montana State University, The Pirbright Institute, and the University of California, Davis, lead the PREEMPT teams.
"DARPA challenges the PREEMPT research community to look far left on the emerging threat timeline and identify opportunities to contain viruses before they ever endanger humans," said Dr. Brad Ringeisen, the DARPA program manager for PREEMPT. "One of the chief limitations of how infectious disease modeling is currently conducted is that it forecasts the trajectory of an outbreak only after it is underway in people. The best that data can do is inform a public health response, which places the United States in a reactive mode. We require proactive options to keep our troops and the homeland safe from emerging infectious disease threats."
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 60 percent of emerging infectious diseases reported globally are zoonoses, meaning that they were initially diseases of animals and at some point became capable of infecting people. Zoonotic diseases are responsible for millions of human deaths every year, and the scope of the challenge is increasing due to the densification of livestock production, human encroachment into natural spaces, and upward trends in globalization, temperature, and population.
Ebola is a high-profile example of a zoonotic disease. Despite being relatively difficult to spread — requiring direct contact with fluids from infected organisms — a string of outbreaks over the past five years has highlighted the threat it could present once established in densely populated areas. Researchers express even greater concern over the pandemic potential of new strains of the influenza virus and other airborne pathogens. Even in the United States and its territories, where viruses do not frequently emerge directly from animal reservoirs, vector-borne transmission of zoonoses such as West Nile virus disease is on the rise.
The 2018 U.S. National Biodefense Strategy directs that it is essential to detect and contain such bio-threats, adopting a proactive posture to improve preparedness while also assessing and managing any biosecurity risks related to possible interventions. "The health of the American people depends on our ability to stem infectious disease outbreaks at their source, wherever and however they occur," the document states. For the Department of Defense, that obligation extends to protection of deployed service members, who often operate in countries that are "hot spots" for emerging viruses yet lack robust public health infrastructure.
The teams DARPA selected for PREEMPT comprise multidisciplinary researchers who bring expertise and field experience from around the world, some of whom represent institutions from nations at high risk from emerging infectious disease. Institutions participating as sub-contractors to DARPA receive funding from the lead organizations except as otherwise noted.
The PREEMPT teams proposed to model specific diseases to assess the risk of spillover from animals into humans, identify key bottlenecks in the process as opportunities for intervention, and develop and assess novel, animal- or insect-focused interventions with built-in safety switches to prevent cross-species jump. The teams will collect samples from animal reservoirs in the field for analysis in secure, bio-contained facilities; some teams will also conduct analysis on existing banked samples and datasets. DARPA is not funding the release of PREEMPT interventions into the environment.
Autonomous Therapeutics, Inc., under principal investigator Dr. Ariel Weinberger, leads a team made up of CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory; Navy Medical Research Unit-2, funded directly by DARPA; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Chicago Medical School; and University of Texas Medical Branch. The team will study air-borne highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in birds and small mammals, and tick-borne Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus.
The Center for Comparative Medicine and the One Health Institute at the University of California, Davis, under principal investigator Dr. Peter Barry and co-PI Dr. Brian Bird, respectively, lead a team made up of the Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology; Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Rocky Mountain Laboratories of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to be funded directly by DARPA; The Vaccine Group, Ltd., a spin-out of University of Plymouth; University of Glasgow; University of Idaho; and University of Western Australia. The team will examine Lassa virus spillover from rodents, and study Ebola virus in rhesus macaques.
The Institut Pasteur, under principal investigator Dr. Carla Saleh, leads a team made up of Institut Pasteur International Network partners in Cambodia, Central African Republic, France, French Guiana, Madagascar, and Uruguay; Latham BioPharm Group; and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The team will study several mosquito-borne arboviruses, which refers broadly to animal or human viruses transmitted by insects, as well as mosquito-specific viruses that could interfere with arbovirus infection in the insect vector.
Montana State University, under principal investigator Dr. Raina Plowright, leads a team made up of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies; Colorado State University; Cornell University; Griffith University; Johns Hopkins University; NIH's Rocky Mountain Laboratories, funded directly by DARPA; Pennsylvania State University; Texas Tech University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; and University of Cambridge. The team will study henipavirus spillover from bats. The henipavirus genus of viruses contains multiple biothreat agents as categorized by NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Pirbright Institute, under principal investigator Dr. Luke Alphey, leads a team made up of the University of Nottingham and the University of Tartu. The team seeks to disrupt mosquito transmission of flaviviruses, which include Dengue fever, West Nile, and Zika viruses.
Modeling and quantification are as important as new experimental technologies in preventing cross-species jumps. The results from modeling will inform when, where, and at what levels such interventions could be applied to achieve the greatest health benefits. Interventions under consideration include animal- or insect-targeted vaccines, therapeutic interfering particles, gene editors, and indirect approaches informed by environmental and ecological factors that affect how viruses are spread — for instance, understanding the environmental stressors that drive bats into closer contact with humans and devising mitigating options to reduce the likelihood of that contact.
The research teams' approaches each come with a unique set of potential benefits and challenges, and the teams are responsible for assessing and demonstrating to DARPA the safety, efficacy, stability, and controllability of their proposed interventions. In the future, these considerations could factor into decisions by the ultimate end users — communities, governments, and regulators — on which strategies to pursue to prevent new zoonoses.
DARPA and the PREEMPT teams receive guidance from independent expert advisors in the ethical, legal, social, and regulatory aspects of the life sciences. These individuals include Dr. Claudia Emerson, director of the Institute on Ethics & Policy for Innovation at McMaster University; Dr. Matt Kasper, legislative liaison for the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, and a former deputy director of field laboratory operations at the Naval Medical Research Center; and Dr. Steve Monroe, associate director for Laboratory Science and Safety at the CDC, and a former deputy director of the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
The teams also benefit from established relationships with local universities, communities, and governments based on prior or ongoing research. These relationships will facilitate initial field collection and help to familiarize stakeholders with PREEMPT technologies as they are being developed. DARPA is also beginning outreach to the WHO as a potential avenue for future transition of PREEMPT technologies.
DARPA intends that PREEMPT teams will perform fundamental research and publish results for review by the broader scientific community.
Associated images posted on www.darpa.mil and video posted at www.youtube.com/darpatv may be reused according to the terms of the DARPA User Agreement, available here: http://go.usa.gov/cuTXR.
| Bio-complexity | Disease | Therapy |
PReemptive Expression of Protective Alleles and Response Elements (PREPARE) Proposers Day
A Dose of Inner Strength to Survive and Recover from Potentially Lethal Health Threats
Dialing Up the Body's Defenses Against Public Health and National Security Threats
PReemptive Expression of Protective Alleles and Response Elements
Dr. Brad Ringeisen
PREventing EMerging Pathogenic Threats (PREEMPT)


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HomeTV ShowsAwards ShowsNicki Minaj Calls Out Miley Cyrus on the VMAS (VIDEO)
Nicki Minaj Calls Out Miley Cyrus on the VMAS (VIDEO)
08/30/2015 mj santilli Awards Shows, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Video 15
When Minaj accepted the Best Hip Hop Video Moonman for her "Anaconda" visual, she called out Cyrus — who is hosting the awards ceremony — for weighing in on Minaj-Taylor Swift's VMAs controversy to The New York Times.
"Back to this b**ch that had a lot to say about me the other day in the press; Miley, what's good?" Minaj confronted Cyrus on live television.
Miley truly seemed caught off stage, but she handled it like a pro. "Hey, we're all in this industry, we all do interviews and we all know how they manipulate s**t. Nicki, congratulations," she said before quickly moving on. Cut back to Nicki's bitch face.
In case you aren't keeping up, Miley sat for a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times recently, and had a few things to say about the little tiff between Taylor Swift and Nicki, after the latter criticised the MTV for shortchanging curvy girls and women of color.
"What I read sounded very Nicki Minaj, which, if you know Nicki Minaj is not too kind," Miley said. "It's not very polite. I think there's a way you speak to people with openness and love. You don't have to start this pop star against pop star war."
No need to start this pop star against pop star war…unless you're Miley Cyrus, pontificating from her high horse to the New York Times. Ahem.
In case you were wondering, MTV is swears the exchange wasn't scripted. A writer from Mashable spoke to a rep from MTV:
That Nicki Minaj vs. Miley Cyrus onstage verbal spat WAS NOT STAGED, an MTV rep just assured me, for what it's worth. #VMAs
— Brian A. Hernandez (@BAHjournalist) August 31, 2015
Watch Nicki confront Miley here
MEANWHILE, in a move only someone hiding under a rock for the past few months didn't see, Nicki and Taylor were all best-freind like, as they opened the VMAs with some Bad Blood. So there you go Miley.
2015 MTV Music Video Awards – Winners List & Live Blog
Kanye Gets High, Rants Incoherently on VMAs (VIDEO)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


H.M.S. Liffey was one of 36 destroyers of the "River" class.
On 29 August, 1905, as the Devonport Reserve Flotilla engaged in exercises at Torbay, Leopard's steering gear malfunctioned as the formation was being altered, causing her to strike Boyne in the stern. Liffey under the command of Lieutenant Hugh Percival Buckle escorted the two damaged destroyers back to Devonport.
In mid-1906, Liffey was with the Channel Fleet's Third Destroyer Flotilla.
In 1910, she was in the Second Destroyer Flotilla.
In mid-1913, she was active with the Ninth Destroyer Flotilla, a patrol flotilla.
Around September 1917 she moved to the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla.
In January, 1918 she was one of eight "Rivers" to move to the First Destroyer Flotilla.
↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Wednesday, Aug 30, 1905; pg. 4; Issue 37799.
↑ The Navy List. (July, 1913). p. 339.
↑ The Navy List. (January, 1907). p. 341.
↑ The Navy List. (July, 1909). p. 341.
↑ The Navy List. (January, 1910). p. 341.
↑ The Navy List. (April, 1910). p. 282.
↑ Edwards Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/95. f. ?.
↑ The Navy List. (July, 1914). p. 339.
↑ "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), Monday, Jul 20, 1914; pg. 6; Issue 40580.
↑ The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 395l.
↑ Yeats-Brown Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/265. f. 300.
↑ The Navy List. (October, 1916). p. 395v.
↑ The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 395v.
↑ The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 395c.
↑ The Navy List. (December, 1918). p. 831.
This page was last modified on 2 November 2018, at 16:12.


題目: The effect of magnetic anisotropy on the dynamical phase and on the geometrical phase of the electron spin quantum bits of the isolated Mn2+, Co2+, Fe3+ transition metals and of the Fe3+ complexes in ZnO single crystal.
The talk will present the study, using pulsed EPR (p-EPR), the quantum coherence of electronic spins qubits of isolated transition metal ions of Mn2+, Co2+, Fe3+ and Fe3+/Cs+ as well as Fe3+/Na+ complexes, all found as traces in mono-crystalline ZnO. Indeed, the study has demonstrated experimentally that the magnetic anisotropy -the Zero Field Splitting coupling (ZFS)- can alter the coherence of the dynamical phase of electronic spins qubits under a microwaves manipulation. We will see a small decoherence for Mn2+ and Fe3+, spins having the both a small uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (D), and on the contrary, we will see a very strong decoherence for Co2+ spins having a very strong uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (D). in the other hand, we will see that the electronic spins of the Fe3+/Cs+ complex, having a more complex magnetic anisotropy tensor (D) compared to the simplest uniaxial one of isolated Fe3+ spins in ZnO, have almost the same coherence time. For instance, the talk will present a theoretical study of the magnetic anisotropy effect on the geometrical phase showing, by using the perturbation theory, an additional term to the usual geometrical Berry phase, due to the magnetic anisotropy which exists in all systems having a spin S>1/2.
 S. Nishimoto, N. Shibata, C. Hotta, Nature Comm. 4, 2287 (2013).
 F. Pollmann, K. Roychowdhury, C. Hotta, K. Penc, Phys. Rev. B 90, 035118 (2014).
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 Q. Ahmad et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 011301 (2002).
 S. Yamada et al., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 57, 428 (2010).
 中野 佑樹 博士論文 東京大学大学院 (2016).
 L. Wolfenstein, Phys. Rev. D17, 2369 (1978)., L.Wolfenstein, Phys. Rev. D20, 2634 (1979).
 S. Mikheyev and A. Smirnov, Sov. J. Nucl. Phys. 42, 913 (1985).
 A. Renshaw et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 091805 (2014).


| What is the Salary Outlook for Clinical Psychologists?
Nearly 40 percent of all psychologists are self-employed. They usually work in private practice, but many of them work as private consultants independently. Although the job market for graduates from psychology degree programs, and the medical field in general, is expected to attain rapid growth, it will vary depending upon the specialization the psychologist chooses.
School psychologists, clinical psychologists, and private counselors will appreciate a growth of at least 11 percent. The largest jump is expected to be in the field of industrial-organizational psychologists. They are expected to have a growth rate of 26 percent in the job market. Psychologists in other fields should see a growth rate of 14 percent over the next several years. Students are finding that acceptance to graduate programs is very competitive. For psychology students who want to have the most in job opportunities, they should plan on getting a doctorate in one of the subfields. This could include one of the health fields such as sports psychology. They should concentrate on the master's in industrial-organization. They should never quit with a Bachelors, since the job prospects for graduates holding only a Bachelors are extremely limited.
The specialty areas in clinical psychology in which graduates are in demand are neuropsychology, geropsychology, child psychology, and health psychology. Neuropsychologists study how the brain and human behavior are related. Neuropsychologists often work with stroke victims and patients with head and brain injuries. Health psychologists study how social factors, psychological, and biological factors affect our health or illness that develops. They assist patients with preventing serious medical disorders through counseling. They also help patients who must to adjust to illness and help with treatments. Quality of life is essential and the therapist helps patients to achieve the best quality of life possible. It's highly recommended for students pursuing a degree in psychology focus on one of these specialty areas, since the annual salaries are higher than in some of the other fields. In 2008, clinical, counseling, and school psychologists made approximately $64,140. However, this varied depending on the facility and the location. Some psychologists earned anywhere from $48,700 and $82,800. In the lowest 10 percent, were psychologists earning somewhere less than $37,900. The highest 10 percent of psychologists earned $106,840.
This was further broken down by the industry in which the psychologists worked. Those were employed in the office of health practitioners earned an average annual salary of 468,400. School psychologists in elementary and secondary schools earned an annual salary of $65,710. Psychologists who were employed by state government agencies earned on the average of $63,710. Those who worked in outpatient care centers earned an average of $59,130, and those who worked in individual or family services earned an average salary of $57,440. Industrial-organizational psychologists the same year earned approximately $77,010. In the middle of the spectrum were those who were earning approximately $54,100 up to $115,720. At the lowest end of the scale were the 10 percent who earned somewhat less than $38,690, to those at the very highest end of the scale who earned over $149,120. During that same time, only 31 percent of all of those employed in the field of psychology belonged to a union.
The salary alone is unlikely to be a consideration when choosing a specialty within clinical psychology. Choices regarding what field of psychology to work in will often depend on your personal interests. You will want to consider what types of clinical psychology are most personally appealing to you before deciding which field to enter. Regardless of which field you choose, you can be sure that you will enjoy a good salary that is likely to increase in coming years.


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A holiday gift guide to musical boxed sets
Good luck finding a record store to buy them, but there is no shortage of new musical boxed sets available this season. And considering how long labels have been raiding their vaults, it's surprising how many big-name artists are the subjects of ...
Good luck finding a record store to buy them, but there is no shortage of new musical boxed sets available this season. And considering how long labels have been raiding their vaults, it's surprising how many big-name artists are the subjects of new mega-compilations designed for that special Dolly Parton or Rod Stewart fan in your life.
Here's a roundup of new boxes:
"Backtracks" (Legacy, 3 stars) A rarities box designed for the hardcore fan that provides a decent overview of the iconic Aussie hard-rock band. The first CD collects studio odds and ends from throughout the Angus Young-led outfit's 3½-decade career, and a DVD gathers videos and live performance footage.
The middle disc, which pulls together dependably blistering live cuts, is the keeper, covering the early era when Bon Scott fronted the band and later decades when Brian Johnson has been doing the screaming.
"Keep an Eye on the Sky" (Rhino, 4 stars) The long-awaited Big Star box does justice to the greatest of Southern rock bands that
didn't play Southern rock. Instead, the 1970s foursome led by Alex Chilton concocted their own transcendent Memphis power-pop blend of Beatles and Beach Boys influence, overlaid with Velvet Underground alienation and Chilton's and Chris Bell's own acute sensitivities. "Keep an Eye on the Sky," with superb liner notes from fellow Memphian Robert Gordon, includes the three studio albums, many illuminating unreleased tracks, and a 1974 live hometown concert before an unappreciative audience.
"The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings, 1954-1956" (Mosaic, 4 stars) Has there ever been a more relaxed singer than Bing Crosby? Listening to this jazzy 160-song set, which features Der Bingle effortlessly swinging through the Great American Songbook with energetic and inventive keyboard whiz Buddy Cole and his trio, leads one to conclude that the answer is no. The great majority of these sides have never been released, and the sound quality and quality of Crosby's performances, from "The Nearness of You" to "Try a Little Tenderness," are impressively high throughout. Outstanding.
"Live in New York" (Rhino, 3 stars) After Val Kilmer's fey Lizard King impersonation, it's time to salvage the Doors' reputation for putting on a ferocious live show. This package from their final N.Y.C. shows with Jim Morrison in January 1970 does the trick. The gigs find Morrison confidently caressing each dark sentiment with his duskiest baritone on the freak-flying blues original ("Roadhouse Blues") and covers (of Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley).
"Twelve Nights in Hollywood" (Hip-o Select.com/Verve, 3½ stars) You get the gift of Ella Fitzgerald live on these four discs caught at the Crescendo club in Hollywood in 1961 and 1962. Despite the less than perfect recording -- guitarist Herb Ellis is often hard to hear -- the 77 cuts provide a sonic torrent of Fitzgerald's peerless scatting, musicianship, and humor. Her imitations of singers from Louis Armstrong to Dinah Washington are funny and fabulous. And she works so hard, singing melodies and solos for hour after hour. Fitzgerald, then 44 and 45, often sounds world-weary. But the set captures an amazing artist in the moment.
"Elvis 75: Good Rockin' Tonight" (Legacy, 3½ stars) "I don't sing like nobody," an 18-year-old Elvis Presley famously told Sam Phillips' secretary Marion Keisker when he showed up at Sun Studios in Memphis to record the version of "My Happiness" in 1953. Billy Altman retells that story at the start of his liner notes for "Elvis 75," whose title refers to the King's 75th birthday, which is coming on Jan. 8. The box, which will be released next Tuesday, has 100 songs on four CDs. None are unreleased or alternate takes. Instead, "Elvis 75" sticks to the basics, from the incandescent early Sun sessions to the late swagger of "Suspicious Minds" and "Burning Love."
"Sinatra: New York" (Reprise, 3½ stars) This year's Ol' Blue Eyes box follows the same blueprint as 2006's "Sinatra: Vegas" in compiling series of live performances from one of Sinatra's favored locales, ranging from a 1955 Manhattan Center appearance at a Tommy Dorsey tribute to a 1990 show from Carnegie Hall. There, the 74-year-old Chairman was in fine form: "I'm so glad that I had 4 cents to leave Jersey and come over here, many years ago." The treasures: a 1963 concert at the United Nations accompanied only by a pianist, and a DVD of a 1980 Carnegie Hall show with a stirring saloon-song interlude. The music is great but the booklet is wanting, despite a good Nat Hentoff essay.
"Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out" (ABKCO, 3 stars) Sure, "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out," which catches the Stones of the "Beggars Banquet"-"Let It Bleed" era at Madison Square Garden at the height of their powers, just might be the greatest live album of all time. That holds true from the wicked rip through "Stray Cat Blues" to the between-song plea of a female fan for Jagger to "Paint it black, you devil!" This 3 CD, 1 DVD set, however, hardly justifies its price tag with a mere five extra songs, a disc devoted to opening acts B.B. King and Ike and Tina Turner, and a DVD of 29 minutes of outtakes from the Mayles Brothers Altamont documentary "Gimme Shelter"
Tom Petty & The Hearbreakers
"The Live Anthology" (Reprise, 3 stars) This vivacious collection, spanning the years 1980 to 2007, was recorded at venues from Los Angeles to London. Over four discs and nearly four dozen songs, you get the big hits ("American Girl," "Free Fallin'"), some obscurities (the opening track "Nightwatchman," which sounds like Jane's Addiction), and some surprising covers (a Dick Dale-like romp through 007's "Goldfinger" theme; a spirited version of the early Fleetwood Mac gem "Oh Well"). What stands out in the pure Americana of "Anthology" is the consistent discipline and modest virtuosity of Petty, guitarist Mike Campbell, drummer Stan Lynch and keyboardist extraordinaire Benmont Tench. These guys are like clockwork, always in the pocket, keeping meticulous time for more than three decades. (4 CDs, $24.99.)
"30 Years Outside the Box" (Sony Classical, 3 1/2 stars) No questions about quality here: Cellist Ma thoroughly deserves his superstar status and few have recorded so much great music with such fine collaborators. However, those most likely to appreciate Ma's complete recordings in this highly attractive box will already have many of them. And will any single consumer embrace Ma's excursions into film soundtracks and ethnic music (that also fill the two bonus discs)? Also, no Ma discography is truly complete without his very first commercial recording -- Finzi's splendid "Cello Concerto for Lyrita," which is missing here.


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Star Trek Online - Overview, Tips and Review-ish Info
Mijan Jan 13, 2010 Gaming, MMORPG
Now that the NDA of the Star Trek Online has been lifted, I've had a fair few people ask me some questions about it, and decided it would probably be good to summarize some hints and tips, as well as giving an overview of the general mechanics of the game. The tips and suggestions will include mainly the low level stuff, as you should be able to make your own conclusions after playing for a while.
A slight disclaimer should note that the views expressed here are my own opinions based on roaming around in beta, and only that, opinions. Also, this will be a lot of text, the TL;DR version should be at the bottom. :)
First off, the general setting is – as the name implies – the Star Trek Universe, where you're roaming around captaining your starship, or leading your away team to boldly go wherever you want! Undertaking missions involving combat and/or exploration for the benefit of the Federation or the Klingon Empire.
The actual game is divided into two different sections, ground and space. When you're on ground missions, you run around as your avatar, with a squad of 4 others, either your NPC officers or other players. While the space section has you captaining a spaceship roaming around in space.
Probably the most anticipated and fun part of the game is the space part of the game. A typical fight would involve maneuvering around trying to destroy the other ship with phasers and torpedos, making sure to have them in your firing arcs, while at the same time trying to deflect as much damage as possible into your shield, balancing out the shield to the area where you are receiving damage.
The shield mechanic is based on there being 4 different sections on your ship each covered by a portion of your total shield energy, then as attacks come in, your shield will absorb a fair amount of the damage, depleting the energy in that section. At that point you should use skills to channel energy from the other sections over to the damaged one, or simply try to maneuver away so the damaged section is no longer facing the enemy.
The weapons mechanic consists of there being front and rear weapon slots, with each weapon having a different firing arc. The main types of weapons are energy weapons, torpedoes and to a certain extent mines – the energy weapons are usually quick to fire and are relatively decent at sorting out shield, while the torpedoes generally have a longer reload and have extreme amounts of damage to hull when the shield is down.
The choice of weapons determine how you're going to maneuver around in combat, typically the smaller arc gives the most damage, while the 240degree arc does medium damage, and the 360 arc does less damage. As an example, if you were extremely forward focused, you could put cannons (45degree) and torpedoes (90degree) in your forward slots, and turrets (360degree) in rear slots. If you go with such a setup, you need to adjust your playstyle to ensure that you almost always face the target, while a more balanced setup with 240degree phasers front and rear would have a more flexible setup, being able to deal damage while performing evasive actions.
As an example, the standard setup is forward and rear 240degree phaser beam weapons, and front torpedoes in the second weaponslot. I'd keep the phasers on autofire and try to broadside the other ship, while switching sides or adjusting shield power to compensate for their damage output, until their shields are failing, at which point I try to get them in the frontal view to launch torpedoes for the massive hull damage.
In addition to this, you also have control over where you want to put your power. There are 4 systems in need of power, namely weapons, shields, engines and auxiliary. Increasing power to weapons or auxiliary will increase damage from energy weapons or effectiveness of various utility skills respectively, while increasing power to shields will improve shield regen rates, and engines will increase movement speed. In a typical combat situation, I found it generally preferable to set full power to weapons, remainder to shields and minimal to engines/auxiliary due to the ships usually not being strong enough to break through my shields before I could destroy them.
Another tip when it comes to surviving against stronger ships especially, is that you should quickly identify if they have a ton of torpedoes and/or cannons at their forward arc, typically escorts will have these, if so – try to avoid being in their really strong arc, as that could easily the difference between a destroyed ship and taking minimal damage.
Furthermore, the outcome of battle will be influenced by the use of skills, these are coming either from your character, your ship(type) or your bridge officers.
Bridge Officers and Ships
Bridge Officers are NPCs you recruit or gain as rewards throughout the game with their own special abilities. As you progress in the game, you can also train and promote your own bridge officers, advancing them in rank just like yourself, with the slight exception of them needing to stay at least one rank below you. For each rank they gain, they gain access to another skill.
The different ships available have a set amount of Bridge Officers you can use at the same time, and different grades as well. As an example, the first science vessel you can access (when you reach rank Lt. Commander) has room for two science, one tactical and one engineering officer, however only one of those two science officers can be ranked as Lieutenant (Rank 1, Ensign being Rank 0), while the other has to be ranked as an Ensign still. As a result of this, only one of those officers can use their rank 1 skill, while the other one will have this disabled.
The different ships you can use are divided into three types, Science Vessels (Science Bridge Officers), Cruisers (Engineering Bridge Officers) and Escorts (Tactical Bridge Officers). Cryptic has stated that they're aiming to fill three different roles in combat with these, and want the Cruisers to fulfill a tanking role, Escorts to perform a damage role and Science Vessels to represent the utility. The main attractions of the different ships are that Escorts are able to mount cannons, are agile and have an extra forward weapon slot, cruisers are slow, have an extra weapon slot and have a ton of hitpoints, while science vessels possess more shields than the rest and have the ability to target subsections of the enemy vessels.
As far as endgame goes, the current final tier ships will allow you to have one Commander (Rank 3) and one Lt. Commander (Rank 2) of the main ship career active, while having a Lieutenant and Ensign of a second career active, and a Lieutenant of a third career active – which career the latter two relate to will depend on which subtype you choose for the final tier ship.
What does this mean? This should be one of the main things to consider when deciding on a ship class. In addition to the special effects for its given class, you will only have Lt Commander and Commander Bridge Officer skills available for the given career for your shiptype available.
As mentioned before, there are three different classes or careers in the game, namely Tactical, Science and Engineering. The real impact these careers have on the game is narrowed down to what kind of ground abilities (kits) they can use/equip, and to a certain degree what kind of special skills they receive for use in space.
I'd like to just note that there are people thinking that a certain career means you will be locked to a certain type of ship, which isn't true at all. As it stands, certain career abilities will favor some ships more than others, but you could also argue that those abilities will complement the other ship classes as well, so it's really up to personal choice. Note that I'm not 100% sure what the abilities for the different player careers are, as I couldn't find a list of them, and they seem to appear at random levels.
The progression is a simple leveling system, sort of tucked into the Starfleet ranks. From Lieutenant to Admiral basically involves 50 levels, with a rank up and new ship possibilities every 10 levels.
Each time you complete a mission or defeat some of the higher ranked enemies in the game, you receive an amount of skillpoints. These skillpoints can be used at any time to increase your skills in the skill list. A note here should be that all of the skills are either ground or space skills, and you don't gain any powers directly from the skills you select, in fact, most of the advanced skills are simply enhancing other skills used by yourself or your bridge officers.
Currency and Missions
The currency in the game is divided into two. First you have the "replicator credit" which you get from "selling" items you find. This will let you "buy" various items from most merchants ingame. Secondly you have merit points, which are awarded at the end of missions and could be seen as faction credits to be spent on various faction perks from Starfleet. In addition to these two, you have a fair amount of commodities you can either buy or trade for, some of which are required to complete certain missions. As an example, to progress in a quest at Deep Space Nine, you need 10 Entertainment Provisions, which are traded for by a nearby merchant, who requires something like 6 Provisions to trade for one Entertainment Provision. The regular provisions are replicated and sold at Starfleet commodity brokers, so you would need to first buy 60 of those provisions, trade them with the shady merchant, and then turn them in to the person who has the quest.
In addition to currency, Cryptic declared that crafting was in-game, which is true according to their definition I suppose. As you travel through the universe, you come across anomalies, which upon examination rewards you with some sort of artifact or other item. Gathering these and giving them, along with an item to a merchant will reward you with an upgraded version of the item, I can't say it's quite SWG-crafting, but then again, nothing is. :)
The various missions you can perform are relatively diverse at first, ranging from exploration quests, kill quests, and fairly mixed content. Furthermore, all missions and encounters are scaled to your group size, so you can group up and still receive challenging content, as the game will just spawn more ships or harder enemies for you.
In addition to these you have missions in the form of Fleet Actions which are similar to public quests in Warhammer Online, where a ton of people group up and perform a shared goal. These also seem to mix a bit of space and ground as well, establishing groups as you beam down to perform ground combat.
Ground combat is exactly what it sounds like, where you run around like most other mmos today, except you have a relatively limited amount of skills on your character. The mechanics are slightly different than what's "standard" compared to the other mmos out there is that you have an expose/set-up-for-damage system and flanking damage. You want to initially perform an expose attack to render the target immobilized and open for massive damage, almost similar to dropping shields of a starship, and follow up with a damage attack to deal added damage. Furthermore, attacking from the side or the back will deal extra damage, so positioning is key to do the tactical approaches here.
Now, the reason I don't write too much about ground combat is that I really don't have too much positive to say about it, I dislike the controls, combat feels very unnatural and there's an insane amount of latency compared to space combat – I assume the latter one will be fixed soon though. However, after the first few ground combat missions, I just sat there with a sour taste in my mouth whenever I saw these appear, and just wanted to get back into space as quickly as possible. The solution to ground missions was for me to just run into the midst of the enemy and hopefully get killed, then go do something else for a few minutes, while my trusty Bridge Officers killed the remaining enemies and helped me get back up.
Another "flaw" in both the ground and space combat, but much more visible in ground combat, is the utter lack of any death penalty. One of my missions bugged at one point, rendering the level of the boss I was going to kill much much higher than it should be, pretty much unbeatable in a fair fight. However, when he decided to follow me back to my respawn point, things started looking up – except I don't think the "graveyard zerg" tactic should be one of the more viable ones for defeating tough opponents. Yet, with no death penalty whatsoever, this is unfortunately not only a viable tactic, but a fairly efficient one as well.
Klingon Gameplay and PvP
A separate section is needed here, as the above is mostly generic, but all based on the Starfleet side of the universe. Once you reach Lt. Grade 5 or 6, you receive the option to create a Klingon character. This character will start at Lt. Grade 6 as a member of the Klingon Empire and roam around with his stealthy little Bird of Prey.
I have to admit I didn't spend a lot of time on my Klingon character, so I can't go into details on this, but from the little I played, I can tell you there's a lot of fun to be had with a cloaked ship!
The Klingon progression has been flagged as being very PvP-centric, and I suspect it became quite apparent when one of the first missions I received was to die 25 times in PvP combat.
All the different scenarios were something I didn't get around to testing, but from what I could see, there's a wide variety of scenarios and "battlegrounds" to participate in, and the ones I did try were quite a bit of fun, despite me figuring out the hard way how cloaked doesn't really mean undetectable as I managed to get too close to one of the enemy ships, and received a very timely torpedo barrage before I was able to remove my cloak and raise my shields.
All in all though, I feel the game as a whole comes off strong despite its flaws. The space combat is quite refreshing, and as you progress to the stages where you gain new ships and more skills, the combat really turns hectic, and it's increasingly difficult to keep track of all the different angles you need to maintain for weapons, shield values, power balance, positioning to minimize damage and various skills to use.
The concerns are present especially regarding ground combat with away missions, but also in the sense that I feel they may have a case of the diversity and potential for longevity in the game not really showing until you're quite a while into the game, and as such, it might scare off some people.
Meanwhile, I'll keep petitioning for Star Trek Online to follow the Starfleet directive prohibiting captains to participate in away missions …
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Enlighten Education was a fantastic event. I can't believe that they successfully engaged 200 girls for a whole day, even though we had many unusual disruptions. A first-class job, I was really impressed. The feedback from the other staff on the day was, 'You should feel the buzz out there, our girls are really enjoying it!' The students have asked for Gorgeous (Danni) and Spunky (Sonia) to return.


Once you have filed a claim with the truck driver's insurance company, they might come back to you with a settlement offer. However, you should never accept this offer. What if you later incur more medical expenses or miss more time at work due to your injuries? If you accept the settlement, you won't be able to come back to the insurance company and request additional compensation. So, a better strategy is to just ignore this settlement offer until you've had a chance to meet with a good truck accident attorney. They'll ensure you are offered the compensation you deserve, which may require filing a case against the insurance company or even the driver him/herself.
Should you be suing the driver or the driver's company?
It depends. Many truck drivers are actually independent contractors, which means they technically operate as their own business under a contract with the trucking company. In this case, you would have to sue the driver, not the trucking company. However, if the driver was an employee of the trucking company and the accident was caused at least in part by protocols the company had in place, then you may need to sue the trucking company instead. For example, if the trucking company required the driver to keep driving even though he or she had not had a break in 12 hours, and the driver's tiredness contributed to the accident, you may need to sue the trucking company. Again, your lawyer can help determine your best course of action here.
What expenses can you include in your claim?
A case against the driver, their insurance company, or the trucking company is considered a personal injury case. As such, you can sue for any expenses related to your injuries, including medical bills and lost wages. Your lawyer will also allocate a certain amount for pain and suffering, and if your injuries affect your future ability to work, they will include an amount for future lost wages.
For more information and assistance on choosing an auto accident attorney, discover more here.


text:
Green renovation
NYC unveils plans for redesigned "accordion" subway cars and renovated stations
by Joshua Marks
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans this Monday for redesigned subway cars and renovated stations as...
Architects envision carbon-sucking solar makeover for a busy L.A. freeway
Freeways don't have to be so darn drab. Built in 1953 and expanded in 1971, the Arroyo Seco Bridge on Los Angeles'...
Cantilevered Maison De Tière offers gorgeous views of the Belgian capital
by Lidija Grozdanic
The original space was previously used for a single family. As the kids grew up and moved away, the parents felt...
Grass pyramids hide an unexpected museum in the Netherlands
Part land art and part building, the renovated Biesbosch Museum includes a new 1,000-square-meter wing comprising...
Bedford's heritage-listed Moravian church is renovated as a vibrant performing arts center
The Quarry Theatre at St Luke's combines the old and new to transform this important Grade II listed building....
HHF Architects' renovated a group of crumbling buildings to help revitalize an entire neighborhood
The new building follows the general outline of the surrounding buildings, but also introduces an element of surprise...
Crusty old Swiss barn transformed into a modern solar-powered home
The small house was extended at the back, with volumes added so that the existing structure could be transformed...
The UK's Wood Awards winners demonstrate the beauty and sustainability of wood
The top prize went to a charming fishing hut designed by London-based Niall McLaughlin Architects, which is meant...
Jump Studios convert a 19th-century factory in Madrid into a colorful co-working space for Google
The team created a new entrance on the south side of the five-story building, which provides a direct connection...
This home is a small timber cottage on the inside and an automated concrete monolith on the outside
The interior of the existing house was remodeled and new addition built. The architects introduced a cathedral...
Fashion designer's stylish tiny apartment in Paris has its own vertical herb garden
Named Hike, the renovation project included optimization of the existing space. The architects removed all non-load-bearing...
76-year-old Funkis home in Norway gets a Passive House makeover
The original four-bedroom Funkis 'functionalist style' house, built in the 1930s was completely renovated,...
Rehabilitated Parisian block includes daylit metal-clad student housing
Vib's project organizes several buildings, both new and rehabilitated ones and aims to embody the multifaceted...
Enforma transformed a dark 19th-century stone villa in Montenegro into a modern light-filled residence
The architects left the original exterior features of the building intact and focused their attention on the interior...
Artists fill the vaults of a dilapidated 1923 bank in Chicago with books and artwork
The 20,000-square-foot building was originally designed by William Gibbons Uffendell for a savings and loan banking...
Trees grow through two "eyes" of a suspended garden at this renovated building in Milan
The 19th-century building is located in a posh area between Porta Garibaldi and Porta Nuova in Milan, and consists...
Locals join together to bring life, vintage design and local artwork to a rundown hotel in Montana
Over the years, Bozeman has become a hub for arts and culture and a destination for those that enjoy taking part...
Renzo Piano to convert a Moscow power station into a solar-powered arts center
The two-hectare redevelopment site is located on the Moskva River in the city's Red October district and will...
AVCI Architects transformed a derelict building into a striking LED-lit headquarters
The architects introduced cellular open-plan spaces to the interior, with a central core utilized for reception...
Studio 102 transformed an abandoned house in Hanoi into a growing, green office space
Mein Garten is a consulting and design firm that focuses on landscape architecture and horticulture. They were...
Old Sydney warehouse transformed into a modern man cave with a hidden sleeping pod
The 1060-square-meter warehouse, which once functioned as a food manufacturing factory, was altered to house a...
A sculptural timber roof turns a crumbling holiday home into a green forest getaway
by Tjeerd Bloothoofd
Rather than tear down a crumbling 1950s holiday home in the Netherlands, Bloot Architecture decided to turn the...
The Frying Pan Tower is an extreme offshore hotel that used to be a Coast Guard lighthouse
Originally built in 1964, the tower housed about 20 Coast Guard cadets until 1979 it became obsolete in light of...
2 Chelsea lofts combined into 1 gorgeous eco apartment for a growing family
With a new baby on the way, this family of four was outgrowing their two-bedroom apartment and wanted to expand....
Take a Glimpse Inside the Octagon's Stately Green Residences on Roosevelt Island
Originally constructed in 1841 by Alexander Jackson Davis, The Octagon was an island retreat that featured a beautiful...
Tour Fifty Three's Awe-Inspiring NYC Office Filled with Reclaimed Material Accents
Fifty Three turned to Laura Gonzalez Fierro of +ADD to ask for a space with what Fierro described as, "honest...
Top Dutch Designers Transform the United Nations Delegates' Lounge into a Bright, Open Space
To create the large, airy lounge, one of the design's most significant alterations was the removal of the mezzanine....
Clever 425 sq. ft. Manhattan Micro-Loft Stacks Upwards for More Space
The original apartment was awkwardly laid out with oddly placed and sized rooms, none of which were really large...
Fans Successfully Purchase Nikola Tesla's Long Island Workshop to Turn it Into a Science Museum
The Wardenclyffe building in Shoreham, Long Island is Nikola Tesla's last surviving workshop and was recently up...
HWKN Unveils New Wooden Dance Pavilion for Fire Island Pines Gay Resort
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HWKN's new dance pavilion will be the very first thing visitors will see when they jump off the ferry at Fire Island...


Leipoldtville is a small town about 40 kilometers from Clanwilliam and 27 kilometers from Lambertsbay. Although not to many people know of the existence of this town, it was already established over a century ago, in 1905.
If the name Leipoldtville rings a bell, it is because the town was named after Reverend C.F Leipoldt who was a Dutch Reformed ("NG church") minister in Clanwilliam from 1884 to 1910.
Although Leipoldt was a well-known minister, that wasn't what he was known for but instead the fact that he was the father of the Afrikaans poet and food fundi, C.Louis Leipoldt.
The town itself, apart from tranquillity and the friendliest inhabitants, does not offer much, but it makes an ideal base to explore the West Coast. Come and introduce your children or your city-friends to a real "dorpie", essentially a farming villiage with sandy roads.
In the town of Leipoldtville the building that houses the general dealer (no daily newspaper available here but friendly banter and a lovely collection of old tins) was erected in 1898.
Leipoldtville Garage echoes the architecture of the "Algemene Handelaar" -strike up a conversation with the friendly people inside, they would not want you to leave.
In fact everyone in Leipoldtville is friendly.


We are a group of local churches in and around Royston (North Hertfordshire), working together with a commitment to be united in Christ, deepen our communication with God and with our brothers and sisters in Christ and fulfil our God-given mission to proclaim the gospel by witness and service in the world. The objectives of Churches Together are to promote activity between all churches in our area and to promote and publicise Christian activities on a district basis.
We are a small (about 60) friendly evangelical baptist church with a wide range of activities.
Main service 10.45am every Sunday morning.
For those who wish to learn more about spiritualism and mediumship under the guidance of an experienced teacher.


text:
Q: Cannot resolve string supplied to vararg parameter in extension function strings.xml
<string name="my_string">Showing your number: %1$s</string>

ActivityExt.kt
fun Activity.showToast(textResId: Int, vararg formatArgs: String) {
    val text = getString(textResId, formatArgs)
    Toast.makeText(this, text, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
}

MainActivity.kt
val number = 11
showToast(R.string.my_string, number.toString())

Toast with following text is showing:
Showing your number: [Ljava.lang.String;@2cfa3b]

Why this happens?

A: Use the spread operator:
fun Activity.showToast(textResId: Int, vararg formatArgs: String) {
    val text = getString(textResId, *formatArgs)
    Toast.makeText(this, text, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
}

Currently, you're passing an array as the format argument. By using the spread operator you pass the contents of the array as the format argument.

A: You should use the spread operator to pass in the varargs to the getString function:
val text = getString(textResId, *formatArgs)

This is because the type of formatArgs inside the showToast function is Array<String> (there's no vararg type or anything like that), and if you pass that in without the *, you'll only pass a single parameter, which will be the array instead of its contents.

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