text:
May urges MPs to back Brexit deal after securing 'legally binding' changes
Prime Minister Theresa May arrives back at Downing Street in London after making a statement on Brexit at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 12, 2019. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: Isabel Infantes/PA Wire
By Press Association Share
Prime Minister Theresa May insists she has secured "legally binding" changes to the Brexit deal which ensure the Irish backstop cannot be permanent.
Following last-ditch talks in Strasbourg ahead of a crunch Commons vote on Tuesday, Mrs May said she has now delivered what Parliament asked her to do.
The PM said she "passionately believed" her Brexit deal addressed concerns raised by MPs who feared the backstop would keep the UK in a customs arrangement with the EU indefinitely.
At a joint press conference with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, Mrs May said the three new documents agreed provided the legal assurances critics of her stance had called for.
The PM said: "What we have secured is very clearly that the backstop cannot be indefinite. Cannot become permanent. It is only temporary. If it is the case that we were ever to get into the backstop.
"The legal instrument that we have agreed is an addition to the Withdrawal Agreement. It has the same legal status as the Withdrawal Agreement. It is legally binding.
"That is what Parliament asked us to secure and that is what we have secured."
Mrs May added: "MPs were clear that legal changes were needed to the backstop. Today we have secured legal changes.
"Now is the time to come together to back this improved Brexit deal and to deliver on the instruction of the British people."
The legal view of the changes taken by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox will be an important factor in the lead-up to the Commons vote.
Mrs May said: "The Attorney General is independent. He will come to his decision. He will publish his legal opinion."
The European Commission president insisted there would be no further negotiations on the issue.
Mr Juncker said: "There will be no new negotiations. It is this.
"In politics, sometimes you get a second chance. It is what we do with the second chance that counts. Because there will be no third chance.
"There will be no further interpretation of the interpretations and no further assurances on the reassurances.
"Let us be crystal clear about the choice - it is this deal or Brexit might not happen at all."
Mrs May believes the three new documents agreed with Mr Juncker will give MPs the legally-binding reassurances they require to approve her Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on the future EU/UK relationship.
The Commons motion the PM wants MPs to back describes the first new document as "the legally binding joint instrument" relating to the Withdrawal Agreement.
The Government states that the document "reduces the risk that the UK could be deliberately held in the Northern Ireland backstop indefinitely and commits the UK and EU to work to replace the backstop with alternative arrangements by December 2020".
The second new document is branded a "unilateral declaration by the UK" which sets out "the sovereign action the UK would take to provide assurance that the backstop would only be applied temporarily".
The final document is a supplement to the Political Declaration "setting out commitments by the UK and the EU to expedite the negotiation and bringing into force of their future relationship".
If the package passes the Commons, leaders of the 27 remaining EU states will be asked to endorse the new documents at a scheduled European Council summit in Brussels on March 21-22, before the final step of ratification by the European Parliament.
Mr Juncker said he had spoken to Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who he said had indicated he was "prepared to back this approach in the interests of an overall deal".
Mrs May's dash to Strasbourg came amid predictions the Prime Minister was headed for a second humiliating defeat on her Withdrawal Agreement and it remains to be seen if the concessions will be enough to see it pass through Parliament.
The DUP has pledged to carefully analyse the Brexit deal add-ons, remaining non-committal on whether it would now back the Withdrawal Agreement.
Deputy leader Nigel Dodds told the Commons "all of this will need to be taken together and analysed very carefully".
The DUP position could be crucial in Tuesday's Westminster debate, and not only because of the votes of its 10 MPs.
The party's position on the border backstop could also influence how some Tory Brexiteers approach the issue.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group, told the BBC: "It's too early to tell definitively, but it's clearly a step in the right direction.
"It's important to see the details, but the DUP's support would be a very important and significant factor."
The Prime Minister's de facto deputy David Lidington said that the new documents gave "confirmation that the EU cannot try to trap the UK in the backstop indefinitely and that doing so would be an explicit breach of the legally-binding commitments that both sides have agreed".
But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn dismissed the move and called on MPs to reject the deal.
He said: "The Prime Minister's negotiations have failed.
"This evening's agreement with the European Commission does not contain anything approaching the changes Theresa May promised Parliament, and whipped her MPs to vote for.
"Since her Brexit deal was so overwhelmingly rejected, the Prime Minister has recklessly run down the clock, failed to effectively negotiate with the EU and refused to find common ground for a deal Parliament could support."
The 11-strong Independent Group of MPs has tabled an amendment to force the PM to seek an extension of Article 50 to hold a so-called People's Vote before the end of September.
In a letter to EU Council president Donald Tusk, Mr Juncker left the option of an extension to Article 50, but only by a could of months.
He said: "I would like to stress that the United Kingdom's withdrawal should be complete before the European elections that will take place between 23-26 May this year."
Stormont assembly members 'to reject Brexit deal'
EU politicians form 'friendship group' to build closer UK links ahead of Brexit
Free trade agreement 'very difficult if UK does not comply with EU standards'
'Misconceptions' warning over EU Brexit chief's settled status comments

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home > About > Funding Opportunities > Reporting Requirements
Progress Reports and Final Report Forms
NCCOS requires annual progress reports using the "Format for Annual Progress Report" (OMB Approval No. 0648-0384). The initial progress report covers the first nine month period, while later year progress reports will cover a twelve month period (see example below).
Please completely download (Right click>Save As) file to view content.
Final performance report using the "Format for Project Final Report" (OMB Approval No. 0648-0384) is required upon expiration or termination of a financial assistance award and is due no later than 90 days following the end of the final award. This report covers the cumulative award periods of entire project (see example below).
Award Period
09-01-15 to 08-31-19
Annual Progress Report Period
Final Progress Report Period
NOTE: Final Progress Report includes time period between 06-01-19 and 08-31-19
Restore Science Program Forms
The Restore Science Program requires a semi-annual Progress Report (template below) unless otherwise stated in the NOAA Special Terms and Condition. Each progress report should include six months of progress beginning with the start date of the award.
Semi-Annual Progress Report template
Financial Status Reports (SF-425 and SF-425A)
Federal Cash Transactions Report (SF-272 or SF-272A)
Request for Advance or Reimbursement (SF-270)
NOAA Grants Management Division (GMD) sets the requirements for the financial reports. All financial reports are due on a semi-annual basis and use the project periods of 4/1 to 9/30 and 10/1 to 3/31. If the award start date begins other than April 1st, or October 1st, then the first report would only be a portion of the reporting period in which the award starts.
As an example: take an award period of 9/1/2015 to 8/31/2018,
The first semi-annual financial report will cover 9/1/2015 to 9/30/2015,
the second financial report covers 10/1/2015 to 3/31/2016,
the third financial report covers 4/1/2016 to 9/30/2016,
the fourth financial report covers 10/1/2016 to 3/21/2017,
the fifth financial report covers 4/1/2017 to 9/30/2017,
the sixth financial report covers 10/1/2017 to 3/31/2018, and
the last financial report covers 4/1/2018 to 9/30/2018.
Semi-annual financial reports are due to GMD 30 days after the end of each reporting period. Final financial reports are due to GMD 90 days after the award expires. Financial reports need to be submitted through the Grants Online system only to the Grants Management Division (GMD).
Recipients are responsible for managing, monitoring, and reporting on their expenditures in their financial reports. It is imperative that recipients draw down funds on a regular interval rather than wait until the award has expired.
Information for Recipients
NOAA Data Policy
No-Cost Extensions
Outputs and Outcomes


Dustin Lynch has been on the top of many people's C2C: Country to Country wish list for a few years.
He finally made his first trip to the UK last weekend to perform at the festival and he wowed the crowds. His set was definitely one of the biggest surprises of C2C and he certainly brought the party to The O2 in London on Saturday night.
I caught up with Dustin ahead of his performance to discuss his first time in the UK, find out about his plans to return for a headline tour, and to talk about his new E.P. Ridin' Roads.
Great to be here. Finally! I've been counting down for years and years.
Oh I love hearing that. I didn't know that! We've got one night under our belt. It was great. First night in Dublin was wonderful and The O2 tonight… a dream come true.
What had you heard about UK crowds before coming here?
Nothing but great things. I've watched from afar for seven years now I think, that my friends have been coming over. I actually had a buddy of mine, Rhett Akins came over here, and played some shows and he said, 'dude they sing every word to every one one of your songs I played'. I knew we had some fans so that's when the real countdown began. That was a couple of years ago.
I hope I don't break that streak.
I don't think you will but it'll be awkward if that happens now I've built your expectation up… (laughs).
That's our new single release and the E.P. has Red Dirt, Blue Eyes and Little Town Livin' as well. They're just a few songs that I've been working hard on and loving. The way I write and record music these days, I kind of piece everything together and live with it for a while. Both Ridin' Roads and Red Dirt, Blue Eyes I got to live with all last summer and work on those and play them for my friends when we were all hanging out on the lake. just whatever doing life. I played them a lot of things I'd written. Those are a couple ones that kept coming up over and over again, which is always a great sign. We decided to start working on them in the studio at the end of last summer and we were trying to be ahead of the game. Then Good Girl exploded like it did and luckily we had these songs to back it up with.
We actually had a little writer retreat out at Thomas Rhett and Rhett's, his dad's, farm. Me and my producer Zach went out there with Rhett and we were writing for a few days. That's the first song we wrote. I don't know how or why we ended up with spoken word verses. My instinct is melodies and that was just something that kind of fell out. Zach just started it from scratch, a little track thing, the first line fell out and we just decided to roll with it. It's a wonderful song for me because it takes me back home. That's why I love writing music. It takes me back to simpler times in life with my friends and family.
I feel like with every release that you and with every album you push boundaries further. You're an artist in the country genre that pushes the boundaries of what people would consider country. You're never afraid to keep pushing. Do you ever have inhibitions about doing that or do you follow your gut instinct and go with it?
I follow my gut. I think we have to remember a lot of times when I'm writing I have to remind myself, 'hey you wear a cowboy hat and sing country music for a living'. (laughs). My favourite band on earth is Incubus so I pull in from all genres. If I'm in the gym I'm listening to rap or R&B or some sort of EDM mix or something. I listen to all different types of music. I pull from all those influences and I think now these days I've been doing this long enough, especially with this E.P. and moving forward, I'm writing with intention and we're recording with intention. When Small Town Boy came out we invented this character, if you will, and that's the guy and that's the brand we're shooting for. I say that because when I'm writing I can picture this fictitious character that is in my hometown or a couple towns surrounding it. I know what he drives, I know what kind of tobacco he chews… that's the guy, that's the person I write from in his shoes. That's what's steering this E.P. and then the album going forward.
Your music is always so damn catchy. Every time I hear one of your songs I can never get out of my head. How do you come up with such catchy music every single time?
It's just melodies man. I'm addicted to great melody. I didn't realise that till after writing for so many years and I realise it really is all about the melody for me. I will sit there for days and days on end. I mean Ridin' Roads was a four-day across four months process for us to get it before we were ready to go in and try and record it, and just get the exact phrasing and melody right. Some songs fall out instantly, some melodies fall instantly and some others you gotta massage on for a long time. That's what makes the song for me. I think the words fall into place after I found that magic ear candy melody.
Do you feel more pressure every time you release something because you've had so much success already?
There's definitely pressure yeah. I think there's pressure but also with the pressure there's confidence. With the first few thought maybe I just got lucky (laughs) and now I've just got a great team surrounding me. We've really fallen into sync of how to do this at this level but with that comes the pressure of a growing tour and with that comes a growing band and crew and touring family. I have a lot of guys and girls that rely on my success at radio and in the studio to put food on the table so there's definitely a pressure with that.
Are you already thinking about coming back for a headline tour?
Oh yeah. That's happening for sure. Without a doubt. I want to make this a regular stop each year and if not once, twice. I realised on the way over here my first time, two days ago it's an easy commute. It's not too bad. I want to get back over here as quick as we can and as quick as my schedule allows us to come over here and dive in and start building from the ground up.
Yeah. There's so much. I've never even got to come over here as a vacation. Selfishly it's going to be great come back on tour (laughs) and maybe build some days around it to really sink in and take in some of the sights too.
You mentioned earlier that you're writing and recording with intention at the moment. What is the plan for new music? More E.P.s or a new album?
I don't know as far as how we're gonna release it. We record as we get the song so there's not that window of, 'hey we're going to record an album in June and it's gonna come out'. It's whenever we feel like we write the songs and we come across the songs to record. I think we're all gonna know when this is the final deal. I don't know if that's going to be another three songs or six with these three or what it is. I'm just going to let the songs dictate that and also my schedule too. Being on a major tour this year is pretty strenuous but luckily it's a tour where I'm going to get to write a lot with a lot of great writers so I'll be creating all along.
Will you be on the road for the majority of this year then?
Yeah. C2C kicks off my tour for the year so we'll return back to the states and go straight to California and kick off what's going to be a whirlwind of a crazy summer. We'll all do our own tour up until the end of April and then jump out with Thomas Rhett throughout the year.
How do you prepare for those gruelling tour schedules?
Well there's no days off that's for sure. I mean even when we're off the road I continue to stay in the gym and try to keep my health at tip top shape. That's really what does it for me. I think after doing this for so long you just get used to it. This is a passion man, it's a love and you just get used to no sleep and bouncing down the road in a bus your whole life.
You mentioned that you're going to have writers with you. Do you find you're more creative on the road or is it a little bit harder?
I find it helpful that I have songwriters out on the road because they're reminded why we do this. Why we're writing songs, it's not to impress ourselves. For my show it's to create a party and create that moment and that vibe for all the guys and girls to be a part of and be present. When I get you know songwriters out on the road they get to see our show, they get to see who's in the crowd and they get to see what we're about and the message we're delivering. I think that really helps us hone in on what to say.
We can expect a party at C2C then I assume?
Without a doubt. A big, big party. I hear that the crowd here likes to drink so that's going to help out a lot.
You're not going to get any time to sightsee on this trip are you?
Zero. On the drive here we went through the scenic route, not on purpose, it was just kind of how we got here. We went by and saw all the sights we could from the road. I'm kind of glad it happened like that because it gives me another reason to look forward to coming back.
That's what I'm really going to miss. I'm more of a pub crawl do the local thing fan then going and looking at a building that was built that I've seen in movies my whole life. I'm looking to come back and do the pub crawl.


text:
Q: Prolog , check if a pair of elements appears in a list Given a list L I would like to see if a pair P, appears in the list. If the element is found, then print *Found*.
For example:
L = [3,1,2,5,4,7].
P = (2,5).

Given this example, I should get *Found* as 2,5 appears on 2nd and 3rd position in list L.
Here is my approach , but I am getting a false answer.
search_pair([_|[]],_).
search_pair([X|T],(F,L)) :-
   first(Y, T),
   write('searching: '),write(F),write(' '),write(L),nl,
   write('trying: '),write(X),write(' '),write(Y),nl,
   ((F == L , L = Y) -> (write('Found'))
   search_pair(T,(F,L),R).

A: The actual relation is quite easy to describe. There are two cases:

*

*case 1: The list starts with the given pair. In this case we're done.

*case 2: Otherwise we need to keep searching in the tail of the list.
This can be written with if_/3 and (',')/3 like so:
pair_in((X,Y),[A,B|Cs]) :-
   if_((X=A,Y=B),
       true,                    % <- case 1
       pair_in((X,Y),[B|Cs])).  % <- case 2

Querying this with your example and a counterexample:
   ?- pair_in((2,5),[3,1,2,5,4,7]).
yes
   ?- pair_in((2,4),[3,1,2,5,4,7]).
no

If you want to output the message *Found* in the case of success, I would suggest to relocate that to a calling predicate, e.g. your predicate search_pair/2:
search_pair(L,P) :-        % <- calling predicate
   pair_in(P,L),           % <- actual relation
   format('*Found*~n').    % <- output

Now let's query this predicate with the above examples:
   ?- search_pair([3,1,2,5,4,7],(2,5)).
*Found*
yes
   ?- search_pair([3,1,2,5,4,7],(2,4)).
no

As you can see *Found* is only displayed in the case of success. That is because in case the goal pair_in(P,L) fails, Prolog doesn't move on to the next goal, since the rule cannot become true any more.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Towards the end of August I really felt like the seasons were changing and I think because it has felt cold in the mornings and rainy afternoons making it feel more like November than the end of August Start of September.
Also my office is really cold, the aircon has a mind of it's own and I sat at an intersection of two aircon units.
On the way home it's felt quite mild so I've been looking for a compromise coat wise as well as some cardies.
I've got 4 cardies from Primark, 3 of which I need to photograph and will try and do a second post on next week.
I've just realised the shoes in the small picture are actually from Tesco and cost £5 reduced from £16. They are really comfy and I've been wearing them everyday.
Cardie £10 Size 20 The other cardies I've got are just the edge to edge ones but I finally found a longish black cardie with pockets. This is quite thin but great for work. I like that it has long sleeves, I do tend to roll them up a couple of times but at least I have that option.
Coatigan £20 Size 20 This is so amazing. I really could have done with a 22 as it has a button half way down that I can't quite fasten but luckily it's not quite been cold enough to need to wear it closed. It's really comfy. I feel like I want to wear it with a thick scarf and boots on a crisp autumn day and kick leaves.
Giant Strawbs - I love sweets, I'm hooked and the impulse purchase by the tills keeps catching me out.
Trio of Makeup bags - I didn't need this at all but last time I went on holiday we couldn't find out hand luggage size bags and these had vanished from Primark so though it'd grab them while they had them in. I think these were £4.
White Nail Polish 80p - Pinterest made me do it. In the past couple of weeks I've been using up the Avon Gold strength and you might have seen last night that I have actually finished it. Because I have nails I have been pinning nail ideas. A few that i've been looking at are white based so for 80p. I've used it a couple of times and it goes on quite well. It did bubble a little bit but I think that was more me putting on before bed and not leaving enough time for it to dry properly.
Nail files - Something I didn't need but I really liked the design and they always come in handy.
Shower scrub - I've had these in the past and I can never remember if I love or hate them. I thought it was worth getting one as they are really in expensive and if I hate it it's not the end of the world.


text:
Special Announcement: ASF in China
SHIC: Assessing the Needs, Funding the Projects, Answering the Problems – Chinese PRV Preparedness
August 2018 SHIC eNewsletter
Published by Paul Sundberg at August 6, 2018
ASF Identified in China
Discerning Between Classical Pseudorabies and High Path Variant Pseudorabies Now Possible Thanks to SHIC-Sponsored Research
SHIC Investigates SVA Outbreak that Threatened a Plant's Operations
SHIC-Funded Feed Risk Studies Lead to Stakeholder Meeting
Monitoring and Analysis Working Group Surveys Domestic and Foreign Swine Disease Risk for SHIC
July Global Disease Monitoring Report
July Domestic Disease Monitoring Report
Funded by America's pork producers to protect and enhance the health of the US swine herd, the Swine Health Information Center focuses its efforts on prevention, preparedness, and response. As a conduit of information and research, SHIC encourages sharing of its publications and research for the benefit of swine health. Forward, reprint, and quote SHIC material freely. For more information, visit https://www.swinehealth.org or contact Dr. Paul Sundberg at psundberg@swinehealth.org.
(This information was sent to SHIC stakeholders on 8/3/18. Click here to read the entire report.)
The first case of African Swine Fever (ASF) was reported in China (LINK) on August 3, 2018. First identified on August 1, the outbreak was located in the northeast, in the city Shenyang, district of Shenbei New, in the province Liaoning, swine dense area 130 miles (208km) of the North Korean border. Infection on a small farm with a herd of 383 pigs, where 47 pigs died from the disease, was confirmed by China Animal Health and Epidemiolology Center on Friday, August 3, 11am, local time.
Click here for information on biosecurity when you are traveling overseas.
Click here for information on biosecurity with international visitors to your farm.
Veteran US pork producers will remember the intense and successful effort to eradicate pseudorabies virus (PRV) from the country's commercial herd, completed in 2004. Unfortunately, there are two categories of PRV. Classical PRV has been eliminated in much of the developed world, but does reside in feral pigs in the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The second PRV category, high path variant PRV, emerged in China in 2011. This variant causes severe PRV in vaccinated and nonvaccinated sows and pigs. Now, thanks to Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) sponsored research, we can discern diagnostically between classical and high path variant PRV with a single highly sensitive and specific PCR test, further protecting the health of the US swine herd.
It is a part of SHIC's mission to protect and enhance the health of the United States Swine herd through coordinated global disease monitoring and targeted research investments that minimize the impact of future disease threats. Making sure we have the tools to diagnose key emerging pathogens is an ongoing key focus. SHIC has sponsored research that allows or updates detection of 17 prioritized swine viral pathogens like both PRV variants.
The newly developed PRV assay is highly sensitive, specific, and was able to detect as low as one infectious PRV particle in a sample while discerning between the variant and classical strain simultaneously. The assay did not detect other similar herpesviruses or swine viruses encountered in modern swine farms.
The assay was validated on nasal swabs, oral swabs, whole blood, serum, and tissues at the Kansas State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa. Specificity of the assay was further confirmed by testing over 300 clinical samples (serum, tissues, and swabs) collected from Canadian and US national herds.
PRV, a herpesvirus, is a disease no longer in the US commercial herd thanks to a successfully executed eradication program. Also called Aujeszky's disease, it can infect other livestock and wild mammals, but pigs are the main hosts and reservoir for the virus. Clinical expression of the disease includes high morbidity and mortality in suckling pigs, respiratory problems in growing and fattening hogs, and reproductive problems in sows. Like other herpesviruses, infection of the nervous system is lifelong with periodic shedding. PRV does not infect humans.
In addition to the US commercial herd, Canada, Greenland, and Australia are free of PRV; however, classical PRV does exist in approximately 20 percent of feral US swine and 0 to 60 percent feral swine in Europe, depending on region. China has been positive for classical PRV since 1947. Since 1990, more than 80 percent of pigs in China have been vaccinated. However, in 2011, a highly pathogenic variant version of PRV emerged in China and was clinically expressed in vaccinated and non-vaccinated herds alike. These variant strains caused mortality rates up to 50 percent in suckling pigs.
Early detection and understanding sources of PRV are essential to contain spread and prevent economic losses, should the virus arrive in the US. The availability of a test to discern classical from the variant high path Chinese strain strengthens the US ability to respond quickly and effectively.
In incidents of high or ongoing morbidity or mortality, where an etiology is either not identified or there is a strong suspicion that the identified etiology is not the likely cause of the outbreak, SHIC continues to offer diagnostic fee support after the initial diagnostic workup is completed and paid for by the owner. In these cases, additional support for the fees of further diagnostic workup may help to identify newly introduced or emerging swine diseases. Find a description of the requirements, submission and review process for the Support for Diagnostic Fees Program on the SHIC website.
Senecavirus A (SVA or Seneca Valley Virus) infection is indistinguishable from foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and other swine vesicular disease, so every outbreak, including at harvesting plants, must be investigated. This takes significant state, federal, and producer time and resources. But the biggest risk of SVA is potential disruption of marketing chains during investigations at plants and other facilities. It was a close call in 2017. This investigation, funded by the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) with in-kind contributions from the National Pork Board, reports about an incident where so many pigs needed to be held for investigation in the abattoir it threatened plant operations.
Introduction. On June 8, 2017, 10 loads of finishing pigs were tested by PCR for (SVA) at a packing plant in the Midwest United States. Six of the 10 were positive. Subsequently, a total of 74 lots from 61 suppliers tested positive for SVA between June 8, 2017, and July 10, 2017. This prompted an investigation to describe the outbreak and to identify factors that may have contributed to the spread of the virus during the outbreak. The investigation term was broken down to three time periods, the PreOutbreak Period from April 24 to June 7 (45 days), the Outbreak Period when positive cases were reported from June 8 to July 10 (32 days), and the PostOutbreak Period, after the last positive case was reported, from July 11 to August 8 (35 days).
SVA causes vesicular lesions around the snout, mouth, and hooves of infected pigs, but symptoms are rarely fatal and don't last long. Clinically, SVA is indistinguishable from FMD and other swine vesicular diseases. These investigations take time and resources plus pigs and products can't move until tests confirm the absence of FMD virus.
Methods. Data on lots of pigs sent to the packing plant during the investigation period were obtained from the plant records and satellite images of each supplier address via Google Earth. Weather data was obtained from Mesonet and Weatherunderground. A survey of biosecurity and management practices was also conducted on a small number of suppliers to the plant. Logistic regression was used to evaluate risk factors, QGIS software to map the locations of pigs delivered to the plant, and SatScan to detect and evaluate spatio-temporal (time and space) clusters of SVA cases. Descriptive analysis of weather data during the investigation period was also conducted.
Results. The timing of SVA cases for the outbreak investigated were consistent with a seasonal peak in cases reported by the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Lab since 2015, where the number of SVA cases peaks in summer months and declines in the winter. The most relevant findings were:
Arriving at the plant through buying stations did not affect the odds of a lot being tested positive for SVA. The odds a lot tested positive from suppliers raising pigs outdoors were lower compared to suppliers raising pigs indoors. The odds of testing positive were lower for lots identified by the plant as being from suppliers with a single site compared to those from suppliers with multiple sites.
The weather just before and during the outbreak was favorable for the multiplication and movement of mosquitos as well as flies and other insects. Temperature, humidity, and wind speeds were higher than normal just before the first positive case of SVA. A period of heavy rainfall (5.5 inches) during the first 27 days of the PreOutbreak period was followed by an extended dry period (25 days) before and immediately after the first positive case at the plant.
The presence of a cluster of SVA positive sites around the packing plant where the incidence was higher than expected suggests that proximity to the packing plant was associated with the higher than expected incidence.
Conclusion. The findings indicate weather conditions in the PreOutbreak Period were favorable for multiplication of mosquitoes, and potentially flies and other insects, which may have contributed to the spread of SVA between sites. Whether mosquitos can serve as a vector for SVA has not been explored but the results of this investigation suggest it should. Single site suppliers with the presence of outdoor facilities had lower odds to be positive for SVA, suggesting multiple sites suppliers with contact with large production systems (e.g., shared equipment, trucks, etc.) may facilitate the transmission and spread of the disease. In addition, the presence of the packing plant inside the cluster suggests it may serve as a contact between the sites and act as a source of the virus.
In May 2017, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) released information from a study it funded showing the potential for viruses to contaminate and survive in feed ingredients. These surprising findings led to on-going research on transmission potential and mitigation. A meeting of stakeholders, including representatives of USDA, FDA, universities, industry organizations, producers, the feed processing industry, and SHIC, was held in June 2018. The objective of the meeting, hosted by SHIC and the National Pork Board, was to review current government policies and regulations and to make recommendations about research to help reduce the risk for pathogen transmission via feed and feed ingredients. A report from the meeting can be read here.
In addition to the prioritization of next steps, the stakeholder representatives heard updates from companies and federal agencies engaged in parallel work. FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine and USDA's Animal Health and Plant Inspection Service both have regulatory authority related to feed safety. And USDA's Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health will help with a review of the scientific literature and will bring experts together to discuss risk. SHIC is funding university and production company-related research to help define feed risk. And feed processing companies are also contributing to the body of work to help identify feed transmission risk and investigate mitigation. Programs were described and outcomes discussed during the meeting. Details are included in the meeting report.
At the conclusion of the stakeholder meeting, a prioritized set of next steps for research or investigation was developed:
1. Mitigation via verifiable controls
The action with the highest priority, mitigation, could include programs for verification of feed component safety prior to shipment from a foreign country. Possible methods discussed and recommended were block chain testing and traceability as well as preventative controls for animal food.
2. Active foreign animal disease monitoring at ports or importing countries
Active monitoring of imported feed components was ranked second by the stakeholders group. Monitoring for foreign animal disease and other transboundary pathogens at ports of entry, or before shipment from source countries, was discussed. Participants agreed this monitoring should be done at a foreign facility prior to shipment to the US.
3. Minimum and median infective dose of classical swine fever (CSF), pseudorabies virus (PRV), Senecavirus A(SVA)/foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) during normal feeding behaviors
Determining the minimum and median infective dose of key swine diseases CSF, PRV, and FMD during normal feeding behaviors was named an essential need. Using a National Pork Board grant, this is being done for African swine fever (ASF) at Kansas State University where similar tests for CSF and PRV can take place. Work with FMD must occur at Plum Island Animal Disease Center where SHIC, NPB and USDA-APHIS are co-funding the project. In addition to infective dose, mitigant effectiveness and survivability tests would be completed.
4. Active domestic monitoring
This monitoring would involve surveys of feed processing mills to measure the incidence of different domestic production pathogens found in these facilities.
5. Validation of environmental swab tools
Validation for dust sampling sensitivity using different materials, from commercially-available sheets to sponges, swabs, paint rollers, to other tools, would be conducted.
6. Detectability of other viruses via environmental monitoring
Research is needed to demonstrate the ability to detect viruses using environmental samples at various points in feed processing mills. Previously environmental sampling has been shown to be useful for detection of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus and SVA and that work would be expanded.
7. Tote contamination proof-of-concept
Testing for valid ways to sample totes as they carry feed into the country could be to sample the dust of a tote before, during loading, after loading, and after emptying to compare sensitivity of dust sampling to taking feed samples at the same times.
8. Rotavirus vs. Enterobacteriaceae as an indicator of possible contamination
Enterobacteriaceae are used as an indicator organism for fecal contamination of feed components. This experiment would compare rotavirus, or some other enteric virus, to these bacteria to investigate if it would be a better indicator of viral contamination.
Stakeholders agreed the goal should always be to prevent introduction of a FAD or transboundary pathogen from entering the US. Represented groups agreed about the urgency to investigate, define and mitigate the risk because of its potential as a pathway and the threat it poses to the US swine herd.
Part 2 of 3. (Read part 1 here.)
The Swine Health Information Center functions with the input and direction of its Board of Directors as well as two Working Groups. Working Groups are made up of veterinary practitioners, researchers, state and federal animal health officials, industry representatives, and producers.
Jim Niewold, a pork producer from Illinois, chairs the Monitoring and Analysis Working Group. Niewold, like his fellow Working Group members, brings years of experience in the pork industry to the mission as well as a desire to protect US swine herd health. "Part of the reason SHIC was created was to prevent being caught off guard again like we were with PED," he explained.
The Monitoring and Analysis Working Group is charged with assessing domestic and foreign production disease risk using information from a variety of sources. They also help develop and advise on-going projects to monitor domestic swine diseases. In addition, the working group advises on data analysis projects that will support on-farm, producer decision making.
From his experience as a member of the National Pork Board (NPB) Swine Health Committee, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) Animal Health and Food Security Policy Committee, as well as work with the US Animal Health Association, the National Institute for Animal Agriculture, the USDA Secretary's Advisory Committee on Foreign Animal Disease, and state level committees in Illinois, Niewold recognized SHIC's ability to respond quickly in the event of a swine disease outbreak requiring immediate investigation and, when appropriate, coordinated intervention. "It is difficult for some organizations with traditional structure to react quickly because of their set budgets and requirement for expenditures to be approved in advance," he explained. "Because SHIC is a separate entity, we react quickly with funds available to spend on something new if that's what's deemed necessary." While SHIC is a separate entity, Niewold says NPB, NPPC, and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) work closely together with SHIC.
One of the Monitoring and Analysis Working Group's projects is review and prioritization of the Swine Disease Matrix. "We use three different criteria – production losses which create economic impact for producers, market access and trade issues, and the likelihood of introduction of the disease into the US or possibility of a disease existing in the US to start expanding," Niewold remarked. The Matrix helps the Working Group guide research and determine what tests are needed.
"We would love to keep disease from entering the US," Niewold stated. "Equally as important is to make sure diagnostic and other tools are available to so we can react more quickly, when needed."
The Monitoring and Analysis Working Group is now developing and prioritizing a bacteria list that can present a risk swine health. "Originally, I didn't think we'd go into that realm," Niewold observed. "Now with the big push for less antibiotic use as well as antibiotic free production, we need to."
As a result of SHIC coordination and with co-support from USDA, the Iowa State University, Kansas State University, University of Minnesota and South Dakota State University veterinary diagnostic labs are now able to seamlessly share data with each other. "We knew there was a wealth of information sitting there with no way to do anything with it," Niewold stated. "Now with these labs standardizing the way they record test results, we are able to analyze and perhaps react sooner with that information."
The Monitoring and Analysis Working Group is also responsible for monitoring the SHIC support of the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project. That includes the use of information technologies to reach the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project goal of developing the pork industry's capacity for disease detection, response and continuity of business of producers.
As chair of the Monitoring and Analysis Working Group, Niewold sits in on the Preparedness and Response Working Group's conference calls. "If the other group has a different opinion, as chairs we have a better idea about the big picture by participating with each other's group, then we are more confident on any advice we need to pass along to the executive director," he said.
In the next SHIC newsletter, the tasks and responsibilities of the Preparedness and Response Working Group will be highlighted.
Last Friday the first case of African Swine Fever (ASF) was reported in China (LINK). First identified on August 1st, the outbreak was located in the northeast, in the city Shenyang, district of Shenbei New, in the province Liaoning, swine dense area 130 miles (208km) of the North Korean border. Infection on a small farm with a herd of 383 pigs, where 47 pigs died from the disease, was confirmed by China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center. Read the Report.
SHIC July Domestic Swine Disease Monitoring Report
In the July domestic disease monitoring report, for the first time, data on porcine reproductive respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) came from the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Lab (VDL) and South Dakota State University Animal Disease Research Diagnostic Lab with contribution from the University of Minnesota and Kansas State University VDLs. This is a result of the project the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) coordinated and partially funded to streamline the way the VDLs report and share their data.
In July, an increased percentage of rRT-PCR-positive results for PRRSV was reported. The report also showed the seasonal pattern of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PED) is within the predicted values for 2018 while during recent summer weeks, porcine deltacoronavirus activity is also moving toward predicted values. Streptococcus suis continues to be the predominant agent detected in central nervous system tissue.
So far in summer 2018, Haemophilus parasuis appears to have higher activity for the 2018 summer compared with the summers of 2017 and 2016. This month's report also begins reporting on pathogens associated with disease syndromes. This report includes data on tissues of respiratory disease syndromes submitted for investigation to the VDLs. PRRSV and Influenza A virus are the two main pathogens detected in respiratory tissue. Mycoplasma hyorhinis is appearing between top 10 more frequent agents detected in respiratory tissue in summer of 2018. This agent did not appear in the top 10 list for 2017 and 2016. Haemophilus parasuis has also been detected multiple times.


New Year, New Opportunities - ay jay kay squared.ay jay kay squared.
We celebrated it pretty normal. After supper we played Netflix's 'King Julien's New Years Countdown' (or something like that), which is basically a 3 minute mini dance party and a 10 second count down at the end, which you can play anytime. So, we played it with the kids, I danced with them (while Andy looked on) and joyfully rang out 'Happy New Year!' afterward and celebrated with a chocolate kiss. Then bedtime. It was wonderful.
We had our friend Fr. Darryl over for supper, games and booze, and we happily played Star Craft the evening through while watching Star Wars in the background. Speaking of which, Fr. Darryl has graciously accepted our challenge to him: to go watch the new Star Wars again with each of us separately. You see, we haven't a babysitter, and not a lot of extra money for it, and this way one of us stays with the kids. Fr. Darryl reluctantly accepted the task *snort*. Let's just say he's a fan of the movie.
So, from us to you, Happy New Year!
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged fun, movie, New Years, star wars. Bookmark the permalink.


Living Room — This living room, is one of the 24 designs published under the gallery: Elegant Blue Living Room Ideas. In the next page, we have the awesome living rooms in blue living room ideas for home living room decoration planner navy blue living room ideas [ ... ]. While in	the previous page, we have the living rooms. living room with blue ... blue living room furniture [ ... ].


text:
Facebook busts vast Iranian manipulation campaign targeting Israel, others
By Pamela Geller - on February 1, 2019
Facebook Censorship
For years, we've been banned, suspended, scrubbed, and deleted by these social media giants, while these savage destroyers get free run of the place, and the party of treason shrieks "Russia, Russia, Russia Trump!" Facebook systematically blocks, shadowbans, and otherwise silences my colleagues and me. I am loathe to advocate for government intervention in private industry, but the left-censorship, the sharia censorship of the public square is a whole other animal. We are being systematically disappeared from the public square, and action must be taken before the coup is complete, or free speech will be a dead letter in the United States.
"Facebook busts vast Iranian manipulation campaign targeting Israel, others," Times of Israel, February 1, 2019:
Facebook said Thursday it took down hundreds of "inauthentic" accounts from Iran that were part of a vast manipulation campaign operating in more than 20 countries, including Israel.
The world's biggest social network said it removed 783 pages, groups and accounts "for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior tied to Iran."
The pages were part of a campaign to promote Iranian interests in various countries by creating fake identities of residents of those nations, according to a statement by Nathaniel Gleicher, head of cybersecurity policy at Facebook.
The announcement was the latest by Facebook as it seeks to stamp out efforts by state actors and others to manipulate the social network using fraudulent accounts.
"We are constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity because we don't want our services to be used to manipulate people," Gleicher said.
"We're taking down these pages, groups and accounts based on their behavior, not the content they post. In this case, the people behind this activity coordinated with one another and used fake accounts to misrepresent themselves, and that was the basis for our action."
The operators "typically represented themselves as locals, often using fake accounts, and posted news stories on current events," including "commentary that repurposed Iranian state media's reporting on topics like Israel-Palestine relations and the conflicts in Syria and Yemen," Gleicher said.
"Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our manual review linked these accounts to Iran."
The operation dating back to as early as 2010 had 262 pages, 356 accounts, and three groups on Facebook, as well as 162 accounts on Instagram and were followed by about two million users.
Facebook said the fake accounts were part of an influence campaign operating in Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, US, and Yemen.
Earlier on Thursday, US-based technology firm Vocativ said it had identified hundreds of Iranian bots as part of a manipulation campaign aimed at Israeli voters ahead of national elections, the Ynet news website reported.
Vocativ flagged the accounts to the networks hosting them, including Facebook, Twitter and Telegram.
Meanwhile, Likud party claimed that Iran was trying to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau.
"It is unsurprising that Iran is trying to topple Prime Minister Netanyahu, who blocked its nuclear program, thwarted its efforts at military entrenchment in Syria, pulverized its economy and sent the Mossad to steal from under its nose the secret nuclear archives," according to Likud….
Victor on France: 150 occupied territories are held by Islamists, according to a Secret Defense document


text:
Sweet Creator
Published on November 23, 2018 | in Profiles
Sporting a bleached blonde mohawk, piercings and high top sneakers, Anna Polyviou's chef whites are perhaps the only conventional trappings of her profession that she conforms to. A renowned pastry chef, her colourful and creative culinary creations have elevated her to the the height of patisserie.
Originally, Anna was an all rounder in the kitchen before the allure of the sweet side tempted her. "My mum is an amazing cook and as a Greek Cypriot I grew up with homemade haloumi, bread, olives, and sauces, but also fresh fish, quail and rabbit. In the end, the fun flair of pastry won me over and I still love seeing people's reactions and excitement when they taste my crazy and magical creations," she said.
Her first professional role was at The Sofitel Hotel in Melbourne, where she won the award for Best Apprentice in Victoria. The prize was a scholarship to travel to the United Kingdom, which led to Anna landing a job at Claridges Hotel in London. From here, the opportunties and accolades flowed. "While I was at Claridges, I won Nadell Trophy for the best dessert in the UK and the Culinary Academy Award of Excellence, which meant I could go to Paris to work beside Pierre Hermé. These opportunities all led me to the Shangri-La in Sydney where I became Executive Pastry Chef, and a few months ago I was honoured to win Chef of the Year at the TAA Awards."
Anna's desserts are far beyond the standard fare, with unexpected flavour combinations and experimentation hallmarks of her work. Bright colours and intricate workmanship transform simple treats into show stopping masterpieces, an experience for the eyes as well as the tastebuds. "There's an endless stream of creativity in my head and I draw inspiration from so many different things. It's the reactions that I get from people when they see and taste my creations that keep me going!" Anna will be sharing her recipe for sweet success at the Cake and Bake Sweets Show this month.
Words by Gemma Easton
Images via Anna Polyviou
← Orange the World
Markets Master →


There are many things in life you are taught to just say NO to. Some examples include drugs, gas station sushi, Keystone Ice, a date with your second cousin, and lollipops from strangers driving all-white cargo vans. For the Baltimore Orioles, there is just one thing to say NO to this offseason. His name is Hanley Ramirez.
For some reason, the Orioles have become viewed as a potential landing spot when the Boston Red Sox try and unload Ramirez after just a single year in Beantown. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, there are no returns on poor free-agent purchase, even if you save the receipt. Now, the Red Sox have only one option — try their best to re-gift Ramirez to one of their American League brethren in need of a designated hitter. In this Hot Stove season, Ramirez is the ugly sweater that gets tossed back into the gift bag at the last second when you realize you're running late for Secret Santa at the office Christmas party.
The Orioles may very well need offense for next season, especially if Chris Davis walks. That's not exactly what Hanley would bring, and there is certainly no guarantee he would even be able to stay on the field. Since 2010, Ramirez has managed to get on the field over 130 times only once. The former All-Star shortstop played 86 games in 2012, 128 in 2013, and only 105 in his first year with the Red Sox. His injuries last year tamped down his OPS+ to a career-low value of 90. Ramirez slashed only .249/.291/.426. The low on-base number is shockingly bad for a hitter with a career OBP of .367. At this point of his career, Ramirez is a full-time DH. The gas station sushi previously mentioned is a slightly more appetizing option than watching him play first base or left field.
When Ramirez has been injured throughout his career, he has not been the type of player who has shown any ability to play through the pain or shake off rust. When he played only 92 games for the Florida Marlins in 2011, he batted just .243. Ramirez followed that up the next year by hitting .246 in 93 games before the Marlins found someone willing to take the mercurial star off their hands. The three-time All-Star was clearly over Miami by the end of his tenure there. Things were a little better in Los Angeles with the Dodgers, but there are still plenty of questions about Ramirez's level of effort and demeanor on the field. Rejoining the Red Sox and teaming up with Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz was supposed to set a fire under Ramirez, but it did not.
The Orioles have one of the most tightly-knit clubhouses in the league with a no-nonsense star in Adam Jones and a no-nonsense manager in Buck Showalter. Neither would be willing to accept the baggage and act of Hanley Ramirez in the clubhouse. Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop, two budding All-Stars, do not need to be around a potentially poisonous influence as they continue to mature as ballplayers.
Beyond just dealing with the possible Hanley headaches, the Orioles just flat-out do not have a need for Ramirez even if the Red Sox are willing to eat the entirety of the money left on his contract. If the Orioles lose Davis, they lose the one real left-handed threat in their lineup. Going out and adding another right-handed bat that is most likely past its expiration date for big-league productivity would be a very poor choice.
To top it all off, taking Ramirez off the hands of the Red Sox would be playing right into what a big-time divisional rival wants to do. Boston is not the type of team who needs to worry about the cost of paying Hanley Ramirez to play for someone else. At this point, they will do so quite gladly. Getting Ramirez out of the clubhouse will allow the Red Sox to continue strengthening their lineup with free-agent purchases. Baltimore's own Chris Davis could become a primary target for the Red Sox if they can get some poor sucker to bite on Ramirez. How much of a slap in the face would it be for the Orioles to have aided the Red Sox in their pursuit of Davis by taking the damaged Hanley goods? Quite a painful slap in my opinion.
The Hanley-to-the-Orioles talk seems like pure speculation at this point. The Orioles may be willing to listen only because of Dan Duquette's history with Ramirez from his first stint in Boston. That's about as far as it should go. This is one dark alley the Orioles do not need to go down. Generally speaking, when someone offers you something questionable for free, the best course of action is to run screaming. That's exactly what the Baltimore Orioles should do when it comes to Hanley Ramirez.


I chair the Direct Marketing Commission, the independent body responsible for dealing with complaints over possible non compliance with the DMA Code. The Commission is a mix of industry and independent members. We aim to work with DMA and Councils to pre-empt and prevent issues arising and the new DMA Code should be a major asset in distilling the issues and outcomes. The Commission, when successful, uses power of persuasion to secure changes that maintain standards and public trust. Complaints are relatively few in nature. We aim to deal with them in a timely and proportionate way: seeking informal solutions where possible but investigating and adjudicating when necessary. We are all non-executive, with others jobs and interest to keep us busy. I chair the UK Public Affairs Council (a lobbyist register), run the Online Dating Association and am on the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, regulating legal services. Before that I was with PhonepayPlus, the national regulator of "premium" telephone content services and with the Cabinet Office, Foreign Office and BIS. I am a gym junkie when my aging joints allow and follow politics and Millwall - for light relief!


text:
\section{Introduction}

A Pixelized Photon Detector (PPD) \cite{Amsler:2008zz} is a novel semiconductor photon sensor
which has a single photon level sensitivity and a linear relationship
between the gain and the operation voltage \cite{Renker:2006ay}.
Moreover the output waveform of the PPD has two component and
is not described by the typical single exponent function \cite{Piemonte:2007IEEE,Otono:2007PD07}.
While the internal mechanisms of the PPD have been intensively studied
in recent years,
the existing models incorporate artificial manipulation and
are nothing more than the phenomenology which explains above characteristics.
Thus, we have developed a new model based on semiconductor physics
and succeed in reproduction of the all characteristics.

 \begin{figure}[h]
  \begin{center}
   \includegraphics*[width=75mm]{eps/circuit.eps}
  \end{center}
  \caption{A simple circuit of the PPD. Each pixel consists
  of a diode and a quenching resistor.}
  \label{fig:circuit}
 \end{figure}

A traditional model is shown in Figure \ref{fig:circuit}, where $V_{op}$ is the
operation voltage, $C_d$ the capacitance value of the diode and $R_q$ the quenching resistor value.
The main difference between our model and the previous ones is the
precondition of the applied voltage to the diode-part in the PPD
($V_{d}$).
The existing models fixed the minimum value of $V_d$ at the breakdown
voltage ($V_{br}$)
and the avalanche multiplication is forced to be terminated when $V_d$
reaches $V_{br}$.
On the contrary, we did not request such a constraint
and the avalanche process is
terminated due to the internal physics: charge transportation, impact
ionization and circuit
equation \cite{Maes:1990Solid,Jacobi:2007Solid}.
On the other hand, $V_d$ may drops below $V_{br}$, and hence the gain linearity is not trivially determined.

We have though calculated and we have in fact confirmed the gain linearity and
the difference between $V_{min}$ and $V_{br}$,
therefore the existence of significant dead time of the PPD
is predicted.

In this paper, we firstly introduce our model of the PPD and the
prediction of the dead time.
Next, we report the waveform analysis method which is effective to
search the dead time.

\section{A new model incorporating the avalanche process}
Figure \ref{fig:circuit3} shows our model and characterized by the
charge of created carriers
$q(t)$ in the diode which is time dependent in order to treat the
transient multiplication correctly \cite{Otono:2008NIMA}.
In this Figure, $I(t)$ means the observable current and $C_q$
describes a capacitance located between the diode-part and the
resistor-part, which has already reported by ITC-irst group \cite{Piemonte:2007IEEE,Piemonte:2007NIMA,Corsi:2007NIMA}.
Note that, $V_d(t)$ is determined by both
$q(t)$ and $I(t)$: $V_d(t)=V_{op}-\frac{q(t)-\int I(t)~dt}{C_d}$.
Using this formula, the circuit equation is calculated as follows:
\begin{equation}
\frac{d V_d(t)}{dt}=\frac{1}{R_q(C_d+C_q)}(V_{op}-V_d(t)-R_q\frac{dq(t)}{dt}).\\
\label{eqn:dv}
\end{equation}

The variation of the created carriers $\frac{dq(t)}{dt}$ is described by
the densities of electrons and holes in the diode ($\rho_e$, $\rho_h$),
the ionization rates ($\alpha_e$, $\alpha_h$),
the drift velocities ($v_e$, $v_h$) and is expressed by:
\begin{equation}
  \frac{d q(t)}{dt}=e\sum_{i=e,h}\int{\rho_i}_{(x)}{\alpha_i}_{({V_d}_{(t)})}v_i~dx^3,
\label{eqn:dq}
\end{equation}
The ionization rate strongly depends on the electric field ($E(x)$) and
is proportional to $E(x)\exp(-\frac{B}{E(x)})$, where
$B$ is a constant.
We caluculated the $E(x)$ of the typical PPD \cite{Kagawa:2005IEICE} and obtained the almost uniform
$E(x)$ in the multiplication layer in the diode.
Thus, we assumed that $\alpha_e$ and $\alpha_h$ are the fuction of $V_d$.

\begin{figure}[h]
  \begin{center}
    \includegraphics*[width=75mm]{eps/circuit3.eps}
  \end{center}
  \caption{A new equivalent circuit proposed in this paper.}
  \label{fig:circuit3}
\end{figure}

Equations (\ref{eqn:dv}), (\ref{eqn:dq}) describe the evolution in the PPD
and can be sequencially solved.
Consequencely, the observable current is culculated from the following equation:

\begin{equation}
I(t)=C_d\frac{dV_d(t)}{dt}+\frac{dq(t)}{dt}.
\label{eqn:I}
\end{equation}

Figure \ref{fig:Final} shows that the waveforms expected from equation (\ref{eqn:I}) (solid) agree well with the measured ones (dashed).
Note that, the transmission properties of the measurement system are already considered.

\begin{figure}[h]
  \begin{center}
    \includegraphics*[width=85mm]{eps/final.eps}
  \end{center}
  \caption{The waveform expected from our proposed model and the measured
waveform.}
  \label{fig:Final}
\end{figure}

Figure \ref{fig:Deadtime} shows the time variation of $V_d$ and
indicate that $V_d$ drops below $V_{br}$, therefore a few nano seconds
dead-time is expected.
We ignored the the carrier lifetimes and recombinations which decrease
the number of the carriers.
If the effects are taken into account, the dead-time seems to be less than
predicted, however it will still be significant.

\begin{figure}[h]
  \begin{center}
    \includegraphics*[width=85mm]{eps/DeadTime.eps}
  \end{center}
  \caption{The waveform expected from our proposed model and the measured
waveform.}
  \label{fig:Deadtime}
\end{figure}

\section{Waveform analysis}

For the precise measurement of average waveform of PPD, or for the study of crosstalk, afterpulsing, recovery, etc., it is effective to use and analyze waveforms. We are using a digital oscilloscope and measuring the waveform for studying basic characteristics of PPDs. Consequently, waveform analysis algorithm is important. Here we introduce the deconvolution method we are developing.

If the response function $h(t)$ to a particular impulse is known, {\it deconvolution} using Fourier analysis is effective to detect pulses precisely for linear response systems. Here we describe the outline of this algorithm.

Suppose that the observed waveform is written as follows:
\begin{eqnarray}
\label{eq1}
y(t) &=& \int dt' \sum_{j}a_{j}\delta(t'-t_{j})h(t-t') + n(t)\nonumber\\
	 &=& \int dt' d(t')h(t-t') + n(t)~,
\end{eqnarray}
where $d(t)\equiv\sum_{j}a_{j}\delta(t-t_{j})$ denotes the array of impulses, which is referred as {\it comb function}, and $n(t)$ denotes the noise component of the observed waveform. Following this assumption, out problem is to estimate the comb function as precise as possible and to find and measure the position and the size of peaks $\{a_{j},t_{j}\}$ from the estimated comb function. In the frequency domain, Eq.\ref{eq1} is represented as
\begin{equation}
\label{eq2}
Y(\omega) = D(\omega)H(\omega) + N(\omega)~,
\end{equation}
where $Y(\omega), D(\omega)$, and $H(\omega)$ are Fourier transformations of $y(t), d(t)$, and $h(t)$, respectively. Considering the ideal case that the noise component is neglected, Eq.\ref{eq2} is replaced to
\begin{equation}
Y(\omega)=D(\omega)H(\omega)~.
\end{equation}
Dividing $Y(\omega)$ by $H(\omega)$, $D(\omega)$ is obtained, and the problem is solved as this is equivalent to the comb function $d(t)$:
\begin{eqnarray}
d(t) &=& {\cal F}^{-1}\left[ \frac{1}{H(\omega)}Y(\omega) \right] = {\cal F}^{-1}\left[H_{D}(\omega)Y(\omega)\right]\nonumber\\
 &=& (h_{D}\otimes y)(t)
\end{eqnarray}
where $H_{D}(\omega)\equiv H(\omega)^{-1}$ and the symbol $\otimes$ denotes the convolution.

Next we cope with the real calse. In the real case that the noise component exists, the deconvolution method cannot be used directly because the power spectrum of the response function $|H(\omega)|^{2}$ is typically large in lower frequency region and is small in higher frequency region. Consequently the deconvolution filter enhances the high frequency region of the observed waveform $y(t)$. As the power spectrum of the noise component is roughly flat in frequency, this manner of the deconvolution filter emphasizes the noise component, and as a result the deconvoluted waveform oscillates keenly. This is not the desired one.

To avoid this problem, couple of the deconvolution filter with some low-pass filters (LPFs) is effective. Several types of LPFs are selectable e.g. Wiener optimal filter, at present we adopt the proper LPF:
\begin{equation}
LPF(\omega) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{1+(\omega/\omega_{c})^{2}}}
\end{equation}
where $\omega_{c}$ is the cutoff frequency that is determined from the relation of the time resolution and the confidence level of the peak detection. The higher the cutoff frequency the lower the SNR, and the lower the lower the time resolution. Using this deconvolution method we can split pile-up neighboring pulses up to 2 [nsec] intervals. Figure \ref{fig:deconv} shows the scheme of the deconvolution method.

\begin{figure}[h]
  \begin{center}
    \includegraphics*[width=85mm]{eps/deconvscheme.eps}
  \end{center}
  \caption{The scheme of the waveform analysis using deconvolution method.}
  \label{fig:deconv}
\end{figure}

\section{Conclusion and future prospects}
We have developed a new model of Pixelized Photon detectors and have succeeded
in reproducting all characteristics, such as spike component in the waveforms
and linearity relationship between the gain and the bias voltage.
Furthermore we our model predicts the existence of dead-time in the PPD
which has not been numerically predicted.

Our waveform analysis method has the potential to distinguish neighbouring pulses upto about 2[nsec] interval and to determine the amplitude of each pulse precisely. Applying this method, various precise analyses are possible, e.g. measuring the recovery process to search dead-time, or inspecting the frequency distribution of afterpulsing, etc.

Now, the measurement of the dead-time and the verification of our model of PPD is on going.
We are also challenging to study the characteristics of PPDs using TCAD semiconductor simulation technology. This study will lead to strategic developments of PPDs, especially in developing optimized PPDs for applied experiments in the future.

\section{Acknowledgments}
The authors wish to express our deep appreciation to the Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. and the KEK-DTP
photon-sensor group members for their helpful discussions and suggestions.
This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows $20\cdot4439$
and by Grant-in-Aid for Exploratory Research $20654021$
from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

\input{NDIP08.bbl}
\end{document}

\section{}
\newpage
\section{}
\newpage
\section{Waveform Analysis}

For the precise measurement of average waveform of PPD, or for the study of crosstalk, afterpulsing, recovery, etc., it is effective to use and analyze waveforms. We are using a digital oscilloscope and measuring the waveform for studying basic characteristics of PPDs. Consequently, waveform analysis algorithm is important. Here we introduce the deconvolution method we are developing.

If the response function $h(t)$ to a particular impulse is known, {\it deconvolution} using Fourier analysis is effective to detect pulses precisely for linear response systems. Here we describe the outline of this algorithm.

Suppose that the observed waveform is written as follows:
\begin{eqnarray}
\label{eq1}
y(t) &=& \int dt' \sum_{j}a_{j}\delta(t'-t_{j})h(t-t') + n(t)\nonumber\\
	 &=& \int dt' d(t')h(t-t') + n(t)~,
\end{eqnarray}
where $d(t)\equiv\sum_{j}a_{j}\delta(t-t_{j})$ denotes the array of impulses, which is referred as {\it comb function}, and $n(t)$ denotes the noise component of the observed waveform. Following this assumption, out problem is to estimate the comb function as precise as possible and to find and measure the position and the size of peaks $\{a_{j},t_{j}\}$ from the estimated comb function. In the frequency domain, Eq.\ref{eq1} is represented as
\begin{equation}
\label{eq2}
Y(\omega) = D(\omega)H(\omega) + N(\omega)~,
\end{equation}
where $Y(\omega), D(\omega)$, and $H(\omega)$ are Fourier transformations of $y(t), d(t)$, and $h(t)$, respectively. Considering the ideal case that the noise component is neglected, Eq.\ref{eq2} is replaced to
\begin{equation}
Y(\omega)=D(\omega)H(\omega)~.
\end{equation}
Dividing $Y(\omega)$ by $H(\omega)$, $D(\omega)$ is obtained, and the problem is solved as this is equivalent to the comb function $d(t)$:
\begin{eqnarray}
d(t) &=& {\cal F}^{-1}\left[ \frac{1}{H(\omega)}Y(\omega) \right] = {\cal F}^{-1}\left[H_{D}(\omega)Y(\omega)\right]\nonumber\\
 &=& (h_{D}\otimes y)(t)
\end{eqnarray}
where $H_{D}(\omega)\equiv H(\omega)^{-1}$ and the symbol $\otimes$ denotes the convolution.

Next we cope with the real calse. In the real case that the noise component exists, the deconvolution method cannot be used directly because the power spectrum of the response function $|H(\omega)|^{2}$ is typically large in lower frequency region and is small in higher frequency region. Consequently the deconvolution filter enhances the high frequency region of the observed waveform $y(t)$. As the power spectrum of the noise component is roughly flat in frequency, this manner of the deconvolution filter emphasizes the noise component, and as a result the deconvoluted waveform oscillates keenly. This is not the desired one.

To avoid this problem, couple of the deconvolution filter with some low-pass filters (LPFs) is effective. Several types of LPFs are selectable e.g. Wiener optimal filter, at present we adopt the proper LPF:
\begin{equation}
LPF(\omega) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{1+(\omega/\omega_{c})^{2}}}
\end{equation}
where $\omega_{c}$ is the cutoff frequency that is determined from the relation of the time resolution and the confidence level of the peak detection. The higher the cutoff frequency the lower the SNR, and the lower the lower the time resolution. Using this deconvolution method we can split pile-up neighboring pulses up to 2 [nsec] intervals. Fig.xx shows the scheme of the deconvolution method.

\section{Future Prospects}
Our waveform analysis method has the potential to distinguish neighbouring pulses upto about 2[nsec] interval and to determine the amplitude of each pulse precisely. Applying this method, various precise analyses are possible, e.g. measuring the recovery process to search dead-time, or inspecting the frequency distribution of afterpulsing, etc.

We are also challenging to study the characteristics of PPDs using TCAD semiconductor simulation technology. This study will lead to strategic developments of PPDs, especially in developing optimized PPDs for applied experiments in the future.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Finding balance at Klub & Spa Borobudur.
ERZA S.T.
Thai Massage Rooms.
Providing a real Thai massage experience.
For many years, the Klub & Spa Borobudur has been known as one of the most prestigious private health clubs in the city. It is the place where many Jakartans go to preserve their youth and pamper their tired bodies, and recently this renowned health club and spa has moved to a new building with a modern look and improved facilities.
As a private health club, it is actually very difficult to join as they are always full. It is becoming one of the most sought after memberships in the city since the facilities here are quite varied ranging from the olympic size swimming pool, 700 metre jogging track, state-of-the-art fitness centre with great trainers and classes (yoga, pilates and more), six outdoor and two indoor tennis courts, to three squash courts, and of course, the spa.
The newly built facility takes the form of a four-storey building featuring the spa, fitness and lounge facilities, private meeting rooms, and even a helipad. It has an elegant ambiance with black and red accents surrounding with warm tones from wooden elements. The treatment rooms are done in a similar design approach and include a few that are dedicated for couples. Following its popularity in the past, the new facility also has a reflexology lounge that is now equipped with six, great lazy boy chairs and has a soothing aquarium filled with fish.
Known for their Asian healing philosophies, the spa focusses on treatments based on Balinese and Javanese message techniques that include deep tissue massage, to body exfoliating, facial, traditional body scrub to the rejuvenating herbal bath. One of my favourites is the hair cream bath that uses traditional herbs and comes with scalp massage too.
What is quite new and interesting on their treatment list is the appearance of Japanese shiatsu and Thai massage, something that is quite difficult to fine in Jakarta. What is nice about Thai massage is the fact that you are not only getting the pressure on muscle points, but that it also combines yoga-like stretching movements that helps your whole body's blood circulation.
Like in Thailand, the treatment room has a mattress on an elevated floor and it was a lady masseur who did the massage. She was amazing! She understands the authentic moves of the massage and managed the pressure well. Within one hour of various stretching positions combined with deep tissue massage, I felt brand new and light like the true meaning of being in a rejuvenate stature.
I have been a big fan of the Klub & Spa Borobudur for many years. From their well-trained masseuses to great trainers and now beautiful new facilities, it is no surprise that many people are still hoping to find a membership here.
The good news is the spa is open to the public so you can come anytime, with appointment of course. And if you are keen to enjoy the rest of these health club facilities, then the only way is to stay at the hotel as a guest. I wish somehow I could be a member so that I can have my weekly Thai massage session. It is that good… [FRV]
www.hotelborobudur.com


You can purchase the 41-page unit for The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart NOW for immediate download for only $19.95! Includes a Jeopardy-type game.
from Kids Wings at Teachers Pay Teachers.
"Several years ago, in the course of my research on the human brain, it came to my attention that messages were being delivered to people all across the world--delivered, I should say, quite without their knowledge. The messages were going directly into people's minds, which absorbed them not without knowing where the messages came from, but without realizing they had received or read anything at all. I believe these messages are the source of the phenomenon commonly known as the Emergency." The Mysterious Benedict Society.
The Emergency had everyone worried. People were disappearing. The government, school systems, the budget, the weather were all in a mess. Crime was rampant. Citizens clamored for improvement in government. One person knew why. Another person knew what to do about it and started by putting an ad in the newspaper.
The curious ad in the newspaper offered a gifted child "special opportunities." It caught the eye of Reynie, a gifted young orphan who was greatly in need of challenge and higher level learning. The first step in choosing a team that qualified to receive the special opportunity was a series of clever tests and problem solving tasks. Would Reynie win the opportunity to join the odd collection of gifted children? Would he have the courage to face the terrifying and dangerous plan that only children could possibly carry out to save the world? Would the Mysterious Benedict Society have the talent and resources to be able put a stop to the Emergency?
The Mysterious Benedict Society is a novel in which the world is threatened by an evil, mind-controlling power. A team of gifted kids are the only ones who can break the code and stop the destruction by solving a series of puzzles, code, and tests. Will they be successful?
Awesome Analogies --Try to beat your friend in finishing an analogy!
A 42-page unit, perfect for lesson planning and handouts or projection on your SmartBoard for The Mysterious Benedict Society is now available!
Crossword Puzzle: Who's Who and What's What at the Institute?
Research: Advertising to prove "If you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything."
Purchase this awesome literature guide and Jeopardy-type game NOW!
The Mysterious Benedict Society is included in the Kids Wings Tempests and Teamwork Collection of literature guides for award-winning novels and intermediate-level picture books. Our Tempests and Teamwork package includes a site license for one school, a spiral bound book, and CD containing 29 titles with over 700 pages of activities, nine "Jeopardy-type" games, Karoke-type songs, and professionally recorded songs! You can purchase a literature guide individually for around $19.95, but if you order Tempests and Teamwork, you can get 29 literature guides for only $25, or less than $1 each! This is probably the greatest bargain in the USA, as long as quantities last!
Buy The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart NOW!


other parts of the world who were not effected by that flood?
proportionally ideal - being six times as long as wide.
have a way into the ark.
fresh trend in trade, weights and measures continued to vary."
GREAT PYRAMID of Egypt was ever built.
cubit in Noah or Moses' time.
can prove a world-wide flood or a regional flood.
LENGTH OF TIME IN BUILDING THE ARK?
days shall be a hundred and twenty years."
told to build the ark.
wife, and your sons' wives with you."
just do not know have long it took Noah to build the ark.
NO RAIN BEFORE THE FLOOD?
not a man to till the ground..."
120 years. The people believing and teaching this "no rain"
in Florida, but even more so, because Florida does get rain.
was no rain until it started to rain at Noah's flood time.
grown plants before it had rained and before man was created.
plants and trees, it had not rained.
things that are not meant to be read into them.
preached to others to save themselves by joining him on the ark.
others to come on board the ark and save themselves.
WERE ALL PEOPLE EVERYWHERE ON THE PLANET DESTROYED?
human lives saved from destruction from the flood of Noah's time.
with only 8 person escaping that destruction with their lives.
thousands of miles away from the land where Noah lived.
nations history files, passed on from generation to generation.
but is mainly focussed on the area of the Middle East.
cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities"
or in China, or the Indian people in North America.
people on the whole planet, while Lot's destruction did not.
anything to do with the Indians of North America.
for a whole (Bullinger's book "Figures of Speech in the Bible"
America, or the native people of Japan.
NOAH A MISSIONARY TO AMERICA?
And this is one reason to me, as to why God did it this way.
He could have decided to destroy them a hundred different ways.
this context of Noah preaching of righteousness and sin.
had wandered to distant lands, including North America.
fundamental scholar that would be so daring as to claim it was.
A local flood would solve all these chronology questions.
in Noah's flood. It is worth recording those passages here.
Now the plain in which they first dwelt was called Shinar."
down from the high places?
Woodrow takes us back to Genesis 4 and 5.
EVIDENCE MOST HAVE NEVER NOTICED!
three sons - Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain.
words used would be incorrect!
the words he used it would indeed imply this was the case.
"divided" can mean - "dispersed" (Strong's concordance #6504).
take everything else we have seen into consideration.
to a mighty area of the world by Nimrod.
certain kinds who had captured Lot.
and it adds up to 222 years.
children, or from death in other ways.
would be more pages of boring names and lists of chronology.
inconsistent and the worst, trying to make your "theology ideas"
fit the Bible as you choose and when you choose.
few generations after the flood at the time of Abraham."
inundation did take place on those plains of Iraq.
water "upright as an heap" (Exodus 15:8).
As the Scriptures say, nothing is impossible with the Lord.
OVER AND DONE WITH AS WE ARE BROUGHT ON THE SCENE IN GENESIS 1:2.
that they were eating when the violent flood covered them.


Vaalto offer and supply various software solutions to a number of rail OEMs. Vaalto systems power multiple Train Wash and CET systems. We provide, program and install PLCs, Industrial PCs and panels. 3G Routers allow unattended operation.
Trains are usually washed on entry to a depot. Wash plans are usually situated around half a mile away from the main depot. Due to these remote locations, wash plants are normally controlled automatically by trains and track switches, or from the main depot.
In most cases, wired data connections to wash plants are not available, so our solutions use a 3G router and sim card. The sim card used in the 3G router is an industrial M2M (machine to machine) implementation, with a fixed IP to ensure remote access is available at all times. The router itself uses port forwarding setup to allow communications with both PC and PLC.
Internally a NAT network is created, with the router, PC and PLC all maintaining fixed IP addresses. Specific ports are forwarded to these addresses allowing direct PLC access from off-site, and remote control of the PLC.
Standard ethernet is used across the internal network, connecting the Siemens S7300 series PLC and an industrial touchscreen PC running Windows XP Embedded. This PC contains both the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system - built using GE Fanuc iFix 3.5, and the Access database for logging.
The PLC becomes an available 'node' within standard Siemens software once the remote access is launched. This allows PLC engineers to connect and make changes to the software without the need for a costly site visit. The PC can also be accessed remotely over RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). This means a remote user can take advantage of the SCADA system to change or monitor variables.
Finally the web based application is also accessible from any PC with internet access allowing plant operatives to access logs and run reports on saved information.


35481 currently has no homes for sale on the market. The median listing price is . Listings typically range from in the lower quartile to in the upper quartile. The average home currently for sale in 35481 is around 2,019 years old and 0 ft². There are currently 0 studio, 0 one-bedroom, 0 two-bedroom, 0 three-bedroom, and 0 four+ bedroom listings for sale.
This search area is located within 35481. 35481 has 3,611 residents in 1,541 households. The median age of this zipcode is 45.9 with a majority of inhabitants unmarried. At least 70.47% of those living in this zipcode currently own their homes. Roughly 0% of population here speak a language other than English at home.
The median income in this zipcode is $30,347, with an employment rate of 42.1%. It tends to take those living in 35481 an average of 29.3 minutes to get to work, with a majority commuting by car. Out of the total population of those 25 and older, 2.48% have a master's or above, 4.67% have a bachelor's, and 42.33% have a high school degree.
More broadly, 35481 is a part of Pickens County, Alabama. Pickens County, Alabama has around 20,042 residents, or 7,618 households with a median age of 42.2. Residents in this county have a median income of $31,679 and a home ownership rate of 72.74%.
Searching on Zillow 35481, Trulia, or Realtor.com? RealtyHop has the most comprehensive mortgage and property record data to help you make the best buying decision.