text:
Q: Autocomplete javascript/jquery on a standard page layout This is my situation: I'm triying to create an autocomplete function with javascript or jquery in the contact's page layout. The idea is to autocomplete the post code and state according to what suburb the users types in. This can be done calling an external API (in my case, the Australian postal office) to retrieve the location of a suburb.
My problem is that I've read different ways to achieve autocomplete functions in custom visualforce page but not in a standard layout. These are some examples of how to do it in standard pages:
https://jungleeforce.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/using-jquerys-autocomplete-in-salesforce-part-1/
https://jungleeforce.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/using-jquerys-autocomplete-in-salesforce-part-2/
http://www.jitendrazaa.com/blog/salesforce/ajax-based-autocomplete-component-in-salesforce-using-jquery-ui-and-json/
Does anyone know something about this? or is there a restriction from salesforce to execute javascript/jquery functions in a standard layout?
Thanks in advance for any help.

A: That's true. Inline VF page won't fill the values of the standard page.
What you can do is :

*

*Display the same field (To be autocompleted) in Inline VF page.

*Populate values based on your operation

*Add one button on VF page to save the process

*When user confirms, update the record and refresh the window URL.

Let me know if you need any further help.
You can also refer this blog for autocomplete. This is pretty good.
http://blogforce9.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/auto-complete-visualforce-component-v2.html

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text:
Global Warming Causes
» Hydroclimate Projects
Last Updated on Wed, 09 Aug 2017 | Hydroclimate Projects
Precipitation is the moisture flux from the atmosphere to the Earth's surface coupling the atmospheric and terrestrial branches of the hydrologic cycle and serving as the downward directed mass flux for climate of the second kind. Rain and snow provide the primary moisture inputs to the land phase of the hydrologic cycle. Dew and fog-drip provide small moisture inputs for specific locations that are very important locally, but the moisture quantity delivered by these processes is small compared to rain and snow. Accurate measurement of rain and snow is essential for hydroclimatic analyses, but precipitation is highly variable in both time and space compared to temperature and pressure. The general problem of data representativeness is particularly challenging regarding precipitation due to its time and space variability which is a function of the processes responsible for producing precipitation.
Precipitation is produced in a series of stages beginning with supersaturation of ascending and cooling air. Condensation, droplet formation, and successful descent of the droplets or particles to the Earth's surface complete the atmospheric cycling of moisture. The amount of water vapor present in the air is a fundamental factor to precipitation formation. Quantifying the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is achieved by determining the contribution water vapor makes to total atmospheric pressure. This is the partial pressure due to water vapor or the vapor pressure, and it is typically about 2.5 hPa out of the total atmospheric pressure (Trenberth, 1998). The common convention is to view the process as occurring in a defined volume of air identified as an air parcel. Saturation is the state achieved when evaporation and condensation of water molecules in the parcel are in equilibrium. Saturation is quantified by relative humidity (see Equation 3.4) of 100%.
The saturation vapor pressure is the pressure at which the air parcel is saturated with water vapor, and it varies only with temperature (see Fig. 3.4). This relationship has important consequences relative to the atmosphere and precipitation formation. The first feature is that the saturation vapor pressure of warm air is greater than the saturation vapor pressure of cold air when the quantity of water vapor in the volume is unchanged. The second characteristic is that cooling an air parcel is an efficient means for achieving saturation of air as an initial step in precipitation formation.
A key mechanism for cooling air is to induce vertical displacement of the parcel by lifting the parcel to higher elevations. The vertical ascent of the parcel
Lifting and cooling
Fig. 4.1. Simplified diagram of the precipitation formation process.
results in cooling as the parcel uses internal energy to expand as it moves into a decreasing free atmospheric pressure environment with increasing altitude. The processes resulting in precipitation are depicted in Figure 4.1. The parcel cools initially at about 9.8 °Ckm_1 of ascent. This cooling is known as the dry adiabatic lapse rate. The free atmosphere cools at a mean vertical rate for the troposphere of 6.5 °Ckm_1. However, the tropospheric lapse rate varies with time and space.
Three types of lifting mechanisms are recognized as being responsible for triggering vertical atmospheric motion. Convective lifting is related to turbulent air currents initiated by frictional drag due to rough surface features, eddy circulations in the surface air flow, or thermal differences in surface materials that result in differential heating of the air. Frontal lifting occurs due to the contrasting air mass characteristics along the boundary separating expanses of air with different densities and temperatures. The nature of the advancing air mass determines the frontal slope and the horizontal and vertical character of the lifting. Orographic lifting is associated with the forced ascent of air resulting from horizontal flows encountering a terrain barrier such as mountains. The mountains' height influences the character of the lifting, but wind direction relative to the mountains' orientation influences the overall character of the atmospheric lifting.
The lifting condensation level (LCL) defines the height to which a moist air parcel must ascend for adiabatic cooling to produce saturation of the parcel with respect to a plane surface of water. Once saturation of rising air is achieved, condensation can occur if the air is cooled further. Water vapor requires a surface on which to condense because the process would require rarely observed high degrees of supersaturation of air to allow water molecules to collide and stick to produce a droplet. In the free atmosphere, the condensation surface is provided by microscopic impurities suspended in the air and known as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). These particles have diameters of 0.1 to
Table 4.1. Selected precipitation types and representative physical characteristics
Precipitation type Intensity (cm h 1) Median diameter (mm) Fall velocity (m s 1)
Fog Snow Light rain Heavy rain Cloudburst
10 mm and originate from natural and anthropogenic sources. The droplets that form around CCN are relatively small and remain buoyant due to the continuous rising air stream from the surface. These droplets may become dense enough to be visible as clouds. Growth of the cloud droplets is necessary for them to achieve a mass with a terminal velocity great enough to exceed the buoyancy provided by the vertical air currents. Droplet growth depends on the cloud temperature where the growth occurs.
In clouds with temperatures above freezing, droplets can grow by collision and coalescence with other droplets. This growth process is enhanced when droplets of different sizes are involved due to differences in terminal velocities. The greater terminal velocities of larger droplets permit them to overtake smaller droplets. Clouds extending above the freezing level support droplet growth by a three-phase process or the Bergeron process. These clouds contain ice and supercooled water above the freezing level. Since the saturation vapor pressure over ice is less than the saturation vapor pressure over water at the same temperature (see Fig. 3.4), water molecules move from supercooled drops to ice crystals. The ice crystals grow while the water droplets become smaller. The terminal velocity of the ice crystals increases, and they fall toward the Earth's surface. The ice crystals melt and arrive as a water droplet if they encounter air above freezing before they reach the surface. Selected characteristics of different precipitation types are listed in Table 4.1.
Waste Management And Control
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Hydroclimatology defined - Hydroclimate Projects
Factors affecting runoff - Hydroclimate Projects
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Atmospheric pressure - Hydroclimate Projects

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text:
Dale Lee: Reward teachers' hard work
January-09-2014
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Children in Finland remain among the top-scoring students in the world, particularly in science but also in reading and math.
Why? One reason is Finnish teachers are highly respected and valued. The teaching profession in the Scandinavian country is on par with physicians in the United States in respect and pay.
But Finland also enjoys a very low child poverty rate of about 4 percent. Meanwhile, the KIDS COUNT Data Center reported that nearly one in...
Education officials like pay raises, wary of other proposals
By David Gutman
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Teachers union and education officials in West Virginia are pleased that Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, is pushing for teacher pay raises -- but they say a one-time raise is insufficient, and they're wary of other proposals Tomblin made in Wednesday's State of the State address.
The governor proposed a 2 percent pay raise for all teachers and school service personnel. It would be the first across-the-board pay raise for teachers in three years....
Legislative leaders differ on pay raise
by Dave Boucher
Daily Mail Capitol Bureau Chief
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Democrat and Republican legislative leaders disagree on Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's proposal to raise salaries for teachers and state employees.
Tomblin announced Wednesday night during his State of the State address there is a 2 percent pay raise for teachers and service personnel and a $504 raise for state employees included in the budget for next financial year.
That's going to cost the state...
W.Va. BOE still working on governor's education reform plan
By Mackenzie Mays
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- During the monthly West Virginia Board of Education meeting on Wednesday -- the same day of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's State of the State address -- board members established an "implementation timeline" for the public education agenda that the governor tasked them with in his address one year ago.
Three of the 18 items listed in the board's timeline have been marked "completed": reduce personal services within the Department of Education;...
Teacher groups respond to pay raise proposal
By Jeff Jenkins in News
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is proposing pay for state workers in a tight budget year. The governor unveiled the plan during his State of the State Address Wednesday night.
Tomblin wants to increase teacher and school service personnel pay by 2 percent and give all other state workers a $504 increase. It will be the first pay raise for the workers in two years.
While encouraged a proposed raise made it into what's expected to be a...


Управление школой. 2015. № 12.
Козина Н. С., Косарецкий С. Г., Мерцалова Т. А., Пинская М. А.
Poder K., Lauri T., Ivaniushina Valeria et al. Studies of Transition States and Societies. 2016. Vol. 8. No. 3. P. 5-28.
In this article, we demonstrate the size of family background eff ects in various regions of Russia and Estonia, concentrating on urban and rural diff erences, addressing the idea that the family background effect is moderated by school level admission policies. Having common path-dependent educational institutions from the communist period, the countries diff er in both the extensiveness of the welfare state and system level school choice policies. However, we see many commonalities in both systems, especially at the urban school level. The family background eff ect is defi ned as the dependence of student achievement on family background characteristics, such as parental education, income and social status. In operationalising family background, the number of books at home and parental education are used as proxies, and its eff ect is measured as a percentage of the individual level PISA 2012 score. We contribute to the literature by studying school choice, its key characteristics and moderating eff ects by school level admission policy in an urban environment.
Акифьева Р. Н. В кн.: Дети и подростки в этносфере крупного российского города. СПб.: Свое Издательство, 2015. С. 131-152.
Тенишева К. А., Савельева С. С., Александров Д. А. Социология: методология, методы, математическое моделирование. 2018. № 46. С. 44-84.
In the article we suggest a method for analyzing situations of choice, which is novel for sociology - the method of conditional decision trees. We describe the logic of the method, applying it to the case of parental choice of school in two urban districts of Saint-Petersburg. We show that decision trees work well for detecting groups that follow different decision making strategies. This can be an efficient tool for modeling and interpretation of the logic of choice. The method outperforms the traditional modeling by means of logistic regression, as it allows for assessing homogeneity of preferences (choices) of the groups detected, instead of simply finding the key factors related to choice. We recommend combining regression analysis with decision trees modeling in all kinds of academic and applied research studying complicated choices.
Рощина Я. М. Вып. 6 (69): Стратегии родителей школьников и воспитанников ДОУ в области образования детей в 2012 г.. М.: НИУ ВШЭ, 2013.
Экономическое поведение родителей учащихся школ и воспитанников детских садов в 2013 г.
Павлюткин И. В. Т. 6. Вып. 88. М.: НИУ ВШЭ, 2015.


Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain from the scaly, inedible chaff that surrounds it. It is the step in grain preparation before winnowing, which separates the loosened chaff from the grain. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain.
Threshing may be done by beating the grain using a flail on a threshing floor. However, in developed areas it is now mostly done by a threshing machine, now usually by a combine harvester, which threshes as as well as harvesting the plant and cleaning the grain). The threshing machine which preceded the use of combines, was usually driven by a steam engine, or later by a tractor. They were moved from farm to farm & set up next the stack of corn sheaths.
Another traditional method of threshing is to make donkeys or oxen walk in circles on the grain on a hard surface. (A modern version of this in some areas is to spread the grain on the surface of a country road so the grain may be threshed by the wheels of passing vehicles - sound a bit odd any ref to this ?).


text:
A Champion's Mind
Lessons From A Life in Tennis
Sampras, Pete
Pete Sampras is arguably the greatest tennis player ever, a man whose hard-nosed work ethic led to an unprecedented number one world ranking for 286 weeks, and whose prodigious talent made possible a record-setting fourteen Grand Slam titles. While his more vocal rivals sometimes grabbed the headlines, Pete always preferred to let his racket do the talking.
In A Champion's Mind , the tennis great who so often exhibited visible discomfort with letting people "inside his head" finally opens up. An athletic prodigy, Pete resolved from his earliest playing days never to let anything get in the way of his love for the game. But while this single-minded determination led to tennis domination, success didn't come without a price. The constant pressure of competing on the world's biggest stage--in the unblinking eye of a media machine hungry for more than mere athletic greatness--took its toll.
Here for the first time Pete speaks freely about what it was like to possess what he calls "the Gift." He writes about the personal trials he faced--including the death of a longtime coach and confidant--and the struggles he gutted his way through while being seemingly on top of the world. Among the book's most riveting scenes are an early devastating loss to Stefan Edberg that led Pete to make a monastic commitment to delivering on his natural talent; a grueling, four-hour-plus match against Alex Corretja during which Pete became seriously ill; fierce on-court battles with rival and friend Andre Agassi; and the triumphant last match of Pete's career at the finals of the 2002 U.S. Open.
In A Champion's Mind , one of the most revered, successful, and intensely private players in the history of tennis offers an intimate look at the life of an elite athlete.
Publisher: New York : Crown Publishers, c2008
Branch Call Number: ANF 796.342092 SAM
Characteristics: xi, 306 p. : ill. ; 24 cm
Additional Contributors: Bodo, Peter
Read more reviews of A Champion's Mind at iDreamBooks.com
rhodo86 Dec 03, 2015
I wasn't a big fan of Sampras but liked him much better because of this book. Sampras didn't deviate from incidents that might reveal his flaws and fears. The writing was simple, candid and factual and made me believe it was a true story directly coming from him.
The appendix where he talked about his main rivals was a nice touch for tennis enthusiasts.
modis01 Dec 13, 2014
Interesting to see the game from the point of view of one of my favorite tennis stars. The book however reads more like an internal monologue and Sampras does not really connect with his readers.
colincolin Dec 30, 2011
Tennis Players — United States — Biography
Find it at VIRL


text:
Film May 5, 2017
Guardians 2 packs in more of the same good stuff
Even its worst, weirdest flaws don't keep this space opera sequel down.
Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel (sort of), Dave Bautista and Bradley Cooper (sort of) in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
Here are the first two scenes in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (these do not constitute spoilers, unless you consider that knowing that there are scenes in a movie is a spoiler in itself): the first scene has a creepy, smoothed-out-thanks-to-CGI Kurt Russell driving a hot rod and listening to "Looking Glass Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" with a woman who we assume is Star-Lord's mother, since the title card says this scene is taking place in Missouri 34 years ago. The second scene has the Guardians fighting a nondescript space monster in the background while the very adorable incarnation of Baby Groot dances around to ELO's Mr. Blue Sky and the credits barrel past. These are the two worst scenes in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (heretofore Guardians 2) – it's as if they deliberately put a spoke in the film's wheels in order to give itself a reason to get back up and fight.
The first scene sucks because it exemplifies everything that is terrible about blockbusters that aren't Guardians 2: it's entirely useless exposition AND it uses this gross de-ageing technology that studios are apparently convinced is totally seamless (see also: Rogue One). The second scene sucks because it's pretty blatantly giving the people what they want: people loved the Baby Groot dancing in the first film, so here's more of it. "Here's more of it" seems like a half-decent M.O. for this film at first – after all, you're never going to replicate the novelty factor of the first one, which remains to this day the only real risk ever taken by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
And ultimately I'm not so sure what it is about Guardians 2 that makes it work so well considering it's, in many ways, an inferior film. The first film's soap opera dressing made it feel different from the glut of superhero films it was released in the midst of; that glut remains active to this day, and Guardians 2's space opera elements feel less radical this time around. Baby Groot is extremely fucking cute, and I tend to think that big explosive blockbusters that also take time to shoehorn in an inconsequential but extremely cute tertiary character are dumb. The film's sense of humour is still very much present, but it feels cornier on the second lap. Guardians 2 feels more like a Marvel film than its predecessor, more indebted to the sausage-grinding machine and flat aesthetics than it did only a few years ago – but that formula, hackneyed as it may be, still works.
Soon after the events of the first films, the Guardians are tasked by Ayesha (Elisabeth Debicki) to steal some precious batteries that will come in handy for her planet of genetically engineered, gold-skinned perfect people, who also happen to be holding hostage Gamora's very angry, mostly evil sister Nebula (Karen Gillan). The Guardians make quick work of the monsters who hold the batteries, but nevertheless find themselves fucked when Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) decides to steal back some batteries for the good and simple reason that he's an asshole. Their thievery makes Ayesha's people real mad, and they hunt down the Guardians using remote-controlled space-drone technology that forces Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista) and Groot (still, in his tiny form, voiced by a pitch-shifted Vin Diesel) to crash-land on a planet where they are soon acquainted with Ego (Kurt Russell), a man who claims to be Star-Lord's father. Meanwhile, Star-Lord's OTHER father, the Scavenger Yondu (Michael Rooker), is hired by Ayesha to track down the Guardians on her behalf.
It's not necessarily as complicated as it sounds, in part because director James Gunn keeps shit moving fast and in part because under all of its funky character names, jetpacks, antennae, incongruous Sylvester Stallone cameos (he has two scenes as a Ravager that are honestly completely superfluous – but of course they must preface some other twist three movies down the line) and wild planets, it's a pretty straightforward Spielbergian daddy-issues story. (The fact that there's a character literally named Ego here means few surprises are held for the third act.)
What I think Guardians 2 has over nearly every other superhero movie is a true sense of character. The characters in most superhero movies are icons; they're larger-than-life in a way that prevents them from ever truly feeling organic, no matter how good the actors portraying them can be. It seems positively insane to say that a movie where a talking racoon and a toddler who's also a tree are major characters, but Guardians 2 has respect and a real understanding of its characters.
For all the platitudes about family inserted into the script (though nowhere near as many as in the other Vin Diesel-starring franchise of the year), Gunn really does allow these characters to grow. All characters "grow," especially in a film-by-committee like this one. You can chart their "growth" if you sit down and look at the beats on paper, but Guardians 2 is that rare breed of dumb movie where a bunch of incomprehensible shit happens and yet you find yourself actually caring that the characters will make it out of there, somehow. Gunn has assembled a truly ragtag cast that works precisely for its incongruous nature, and the core team at the centre of Guardians remains the main reason to watch a story that's getting increasingly bogged down in producing the sheer torque necessary to keep these blockbuster behemoths running. Unsurprisingly, when Guardians 2 does decide to slow down and project real stakes on its characters, it actually ends up working really well.
Of course, the cynic in me knows that if the characters make it out, it's only so that they may power their way through some more nondescript CGI mischief two years down the line. That's fine, I guess. It was never truly a given that the Guardians were the saving grace of anything, and they've managed to carve their niche amongst all the white noise. Guardians 2 has no less than four credit stingers, at least one of which was so completely undecipherable to me as a comics neophyte that even Googling it left me unsure of what exactly that stinger was teasing. On one hand, that whole bit of business is wearying and obtuse; on the other, it might pave the way for something actually unknown and mind-blowing.
In the meantime, I can only keep watching – reasonably entertained, at best, but still somewhat hopeful. ■
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens in theatres on Friday, May 5. Watch the trailer here:
Posted in Film
Quebec mosque attack anniversary a sad reminder of ever-present Islamophobia


text:
Speedy trials for felonies on pause in latest executive order
by: Louis Finley
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A New York executive order has stopped speedy trial requirements for unindicted felony crimes.
"I think there's an argument that there are people in jail right now, and I think everybody on all sides of all isles of criminal justice doesn't feel really good about that, but the remedy isn't something we can quite determine," said Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly.
Discovery law going into effect last year gives a time limit to producing evidence before a case is thrown out. Mounting misdemeanor cases have added to the problem.
"The executive order helped, but we really need a critical look at the discovery obligations and we have many many misdemeanors pending that are going to need to be dealt with," Donnelly said.
While the justice system has slowed down to safely operate during the pandemic, crime has not. In Troy alone, Donnelly said shootings were up 600 percent last year.
"This tremendous amount of backlog is going to lead to a back log for years down the road," said defense attorney Lee Kindlon.
Kindlon has a client in jail charged with murder unable to schedule a court date.
"The answer I keep getting from the court and from the district attorney's office is, 'We'll get to it when we get to it,'" Kindlon said.
The defense attorney said this order doesn't only hurt the accused, but delays justice.
"What do I tell my client? What does the DA's office and what do the police departments tell the victims and the witnesses who have been affected by these cases," Kindlon said.
The executive order expires at the end of the month, but it can be renewed. Donnelly would also like misdemeanors and discovery law changed as well to help prosecutors.
"We still have to generate all this paper work and discoverable material because we have to meet those compliance deadlines," Donnelly said.
Instead, Kindlon said this should be a time to reimagine the justice system.
"We have really entered a new era of criminal justice," Kindlon said.


Choose above the type of test you need and order your sample collection kit.
To receive your kit, you only need to fill in the online form with the shipping details. You can also order your kit over the phone.
You can choose between paying a small deposit of 9 € (to be deducted from the test price), or paying the full amount upfront and receiving your kit by recorded delivery mail.
Use the materials and instructions of your kit to collect the mouth swab samples. It is a very easy and painless procedure.
On the form that you will receive with your kit, you will need to state the samples identification, how you want to receive your results, etc.
Then you just need to send the samples and form by post to our address.
You will receive a confirmation email when we receive your samples and form. From that moment, your results will be ready in the stated turnaround time.
You will receive your results through the methods that you stated on your form.
Along with the test result, you will always receive a laboratory report with the details of the analysis.
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Microsoft asking $45-55 for Windows 7 Starter?
The current price of Windows XP OEM version is only around US$25-30, but the latest quotes from Microsoft for the netbook version of Windows 7 is around US$45-55 and therefore first-tier vendors are unable to transfer the cost to the netbooks' sales price due to the fierce competition. The first-tier notebook vendors are still negotiating with Microsoft hoping to bring the price down.
Note that there is no "netbook version" of Windows 7; the article is likely referring to the cheapest edition that will be primarily offered on netbooks: Windows 7 Starter. While no official numbers are known for Windows XP Starter, in May 2005 PC makers said they were paying between $15 to $35 for each copy, and in April 2009 it was speculated that Microsoft was actually charging under $15 per copy.
This translates to about a $50 increase in price if netbook makers want to offer Windows 7 as opposed to Windows XP. That typically isn't a big deal, but for netbooks, $50 is a very big difference, so it's no wonder OEMs are still trying to negotiate with Microsoft. Most laptops currently offer Windows Vista, which should have a much smoother price change going to Windows 7. While it is unlikely that Microsoft will be announcing the actual prices for Windows 7 Starter, the software giant is expected to announce the retail prices of other editions before the end of the month. Redmond will be mainly pushing the Home Premium and Professional editions to the majority of markets.


Now is the time to treat your entire household with a trip to Rui Construction Supply Inc. It's time to give your home a new look that will wow the uncles and aunties the next time you host a gathering.
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Don't wait any longer to call or stop by Rui Construction Supply Inc. to get your name and home construction project on its waitlist. The owner of Rui also is the head licensed contractor, adding a rare level of expertise to Rui Construction Supply Inc.'s team. Rui's family-like team of trained professionals guarantees that customers receive consistent, quality work at a quick pace. Rui makes it possible to have the perfect home renovation trifecta: quality, quantity and affordability.
Keep an eye out for new tile styles coming to Rui Construction Supply Inc. For a limited time, get select tiles at 60 cents per square foot. Rui Construction Supply Inc. also offers a regular must-have promotion: a free slab of granite counter top or free sink with purchase of a standard full kitchen cabinet set.


text:
Prairie State College & One Million Degrees Partner with Housing Authority for Student Success
March 21, 2016 by Press
The Housing Authority of Cook County Launches Scholarship Program for Low-income College Bound Students
CHICAGO –(ENEWSPF)–March 21, 2016. Today the Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC) announced a new community college scholarship program for disadvantaged students who reside at HACC properties or receive housing vouchers called the HACC Scholar's Promise.
During a City Club appearance, HACC Executive Director Richard Monocchio formally announced the HACC Scholar's Promise and underscored the value and importance of education. He said that each year a child spends in a high-poverty neighborhood, the chances of going to college decreases.
"The implications of poverty and inadequate housing on a young person's educational outcomes and their future success is undeniable, and we firmly believe that stable housing with education opportunities can be a platform for academic achievement among these disadvantaged youth – which is why we are so excited about the HACC Scholar's Promise," said Monocchio.
Monocchio also pointed out that 19 million families are housing insecure and remain on housing wait lists, are homeless, unemployed or paying more than half their monthly income on rent which is why higher education can help build economic stability and self-sufficiency.
The HACC Scholar's Promise is dedicated to improving the quality of life for the next generation's future. To start, 40 low income students who meet eligibility criteria will be selected and assigned long-term personalized coaching, tutoring, financial assistance, academic advising, personal supports, life skills and career readiness. Ultimately, the students will complete the program and earn a college degree to launch them into promising careers and four-year universities.
HACC Scholar's Promise partners, Dr. Terri Winfree, President of Prairie State College (PSC), and Paige Ponder, Chief Executive Officer of One Million Degrees, applauded the concept and partnership and pledged support and resources to ensure the successful outcomes of students.
"This is a very exciting project and one that will provide forty additional students the opportunity to attend PSC. Through this program, we are making PSC accessible to students who would not otherwise be attending college. This is a great effort to change the cycle of the lives of the residents of the housing authority. Giving them an education provides them an opportunity for a career, thus moving out of the housing and on to a more prosperous life," said Winfree.
Complementing Prairie State's academic resources, One Million Degrees will work with the college and housing communities to provide on-going support for students to receive their associate's degrees, transfer to four-year institutions, and launch upwardly mobile professional careers.
"One Million Degrees is proud to meet an important south suburban community need by supporting motivated students in their pursuit of an associate's degree. We are thrilled to extend our long-term partnership with Prairie State College to welcome the HACC Scholar's Promise students into the OMD community," said Ponder.
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A recent Pew Research Report stated that unless something is done to boost the number of young people earning postsecondary credentials, millions of Americans will continue to be limited in their economic mobility.
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Source: http://www.prairiestate.edu
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Rep. Jan Schakowsky Statement on Passage of the Older Americans Act Reauthorization
VIVID 2016: Jazz & scenes from Legally Blonde at Roosevelt University's Auditorium Theatre on March 29


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All Things Techie .net: You wanted to P2V?
Went to convert an old physical server to a virtual machine and I discovered that the latest version of System Center Virtual Machine Manager, 2012 R2, removed the P2V (physical to virtual) conversion tool.
What's recommended by the Microsoft Virtual Machine Engineering blog is to use an older version of VMM - 2012 SP1 or older - to complete your P2V needs.
Alternatively, you can use the SysInternals Disk2vhd tool to manually P2V.
I ended up using the Disk2vhd tool and was successful in converting my server to a virtual machine.
Disabled any services running from automatically starting. Once you boot it up and reconfigure your network adapters and drive letters, set the services back to boot Manual or Automatic.
Then, I launched the Disk2vhd tool and captured the disks (one VHD disk with both the system reserve and the C: system volumes, and another VHD disk with the D: data volume).
Note: The Disk2vhd tool default converts disks to VHDX, but that's only compatible in Server 2012 and above. I had to uncheck the [Use VHDX] check box, since the virtual machine was going on a Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V host.


text:
\section{Introduction}

The Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping (STORM) project
intensively monitored the well-known active galactic nucleus (AGN)
NGC~5548. As a part of this project, NGC~5548 was observed with the {\it Hubble Space Telescope}~
({\it HST}) in 2014 for 180 days with daily cadence, obtaining 171
usable epochs. The source was also monitored with {\it Swift}~ and in the
optical with ground-based observations. In addition, we observed the
source with {\it Chandra}~ four times during the {\it HST} observing
campaign. The goal of the STORM project was to perform velocity-resolved
reverberation mapping (RM) of the optical and ultraviolet (UV) emission
lines with fine time sampling, long duration, and high signal-to-noise
ratio (S/N) spectra. The multiwavelength continuum observations were
performed to probe the structure of the accretion disk and to track
changes in the ionizing continuum of the source.

The {\it HST}~ (UV), {\it Swift}~ (X-ray), and ground-based (optical) continuum and
spectroscopic observations are presented in Papers I--V (De Rosa et
al. 2015; Edelson et al. 2015; Fausnaugh et al. 2016; Goad et al. 2016;
and Pei et al. 2017, respectively). Reverberating-disk models for NGC
5548 are presented in Paper VI (Starkey et al. 2017). As noted in Paper
I and discussed in detail in Paper IV (Goad et al. 2016), an anomalous
behavior of the broad UV emission lines was observed during the
campaign. For most of the campaign, the broad UV emission lines
responded to changes in the UV continuum, as generally expected for
broad-line reverberation. However, there was a period of 60--70 days
during the latter half of the campaign when the UV lines did not
reverberate with the UV continuum. This was also accompanied by a
significant drop in the fluxes and equivalent widths of UV and optical
emission lines, to varying degrees.

Such an ``anomaly,'' when the continuum and emission-line variability
became decoupled, was not previously observed in RM campaigns and
demands explanation.  Moreover, understanding the origin of the anomaly
is critical to the robustness of the RM technique, since
it depends on the observed continuum flux being a good proxy for the
unobserved extreme-UV (EUV) ionizing continuum.  Here we present X-ray spectra
obtained as part of AGN STORM that provide important clues to the
origin of the anomaly. In \S 2 we present analysis of {\it Swift}~
spectra. The {\it Chandra}~ observations and spectral analysis are presented
in \S 3.  In \S 4 we discuss how the appearance of a soft-X-ray excess a
few days before the anomaly may clarify its origin. Although NGC 5548
was observed intensively with {\it XMM-Newton}~ in the years prior to the AGN STORM
campaign (Kaastra et al. 2014; Mehdipour et al. 2015, 2016; Cappi et
al. 2016), a detailed comparison with those data is beyond the scope of
this paper. Here we focus on {\it Swift}~ and {\it Chandra}~ data obtained during
our campaign.

\section {{\it Swift} Observations}

\subsection {Spectra and Analysis}

Descriptions of the {\it Swift}~ observations, data reduction, and time-series
analysis are presented in Paper II. Here we present a time-resolved
spectral analysis. In Figure 1, we show the $0.3$--$10.0$ keV spectra in
9 time bins, from pre-anomaly (days $1$--$54$) to post-anomaly (days
$150$--$170$). The exposure times for each period are given in
Table~1. We see that the hard X-ray continuum ($2$--$10.0$ keV) is
constant over the period of the observation, but the soft X-ray flux
(below $\sim 0.8$ keV) increases from the pre-anomaly period (days
$1$--$54$) to days $55$--$75$, peaks during days $75$--$85$, and then
fades during days $85$--$100$.  This is a model-independent result,
suggesting that the soft excess is likely related to the anomaly. {\bf
  In Figure 2, we have reproduced Figure 1e from Paper IV; the black
  points show the percentage difference in the \ifmmode {\rm C}\,{\sc iv}~ \else C\,{\sc iv}~\fi flux.  The red
  points show the percentage difference in count rate at $\approx 0.55$
  keV. This again shows that the soft excess increases on days
  $55$--$75$, just before the start of the anomaly (on day $\sim75$),
  peaks during days $75$--$85$, and then fades. This also shows that
  there is some delay of about $20$ days between the period of high
  soft-excess and the period of the anomaly}.

In order to perform the spectral modeling and to quantify the soft
excess, we divided the {\it Swift}~ observations into two parts, which we call
pre-anomaly and anomaly spectra (days $0.4$ to $54.5 =$ JD
$2,456,690.4189$ to $2,456,744.5088$, and days $55.4$ to $84.9 =$ JD
$2,456,745.3676$ to $2,456,774.9165$, respectively). A Galactic column
density of $N_{\rm H}=1.69 \times 10^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$ (Dickey \& Lockman 1990)
was included in all the models. We simultaneously fitted both the  spectra
with an absorbed power-law model, adding a blackbody (BB)
component to parameterize the soft excess. The parameters of the
power-law slope (photon index $\Gamma$) and normalization were tied
for the two spectra (as justified by Fig. 1), but the intrinsic
absorption and BB parameters were allowed to vary. The fit showed that
the BB temperature is the same in the two spectra, so we tied the
temperature and fitted the spectra again. The resulting fit was good
($\chi^2_{\nu}=1.16$ for 1001 degrees of freedom).

In their model of the entire {\it XMM-Newton}~ observing campaign, Cappi et
al. (2016) found an additional scattered soft X-ray component dominated
by narrow emission lines, with 8\% of the total soft X-ray flux. This
soft component was constant over the whole campaign, so it cannot be
responsible for the variable soft excess we see here.  Nonetheless, we
added a similar component to our model ({XSPEC model \bf apec}) with
flux as in Cappi et al. (2016) and found no improvement to the fit
($\chi^2_{\nu}=1.16$ for 1001 degrees of freedom).  The best-fit spectra
are shown in Figure 3 and the model parameters are given in Table 2
along with the flux in the soft X-ray excess after correcting for
absorption. The soft excess is significantly stronger in the anomaly
spectrum. The intrinsic spectrum (without the instrument response) is
shown in the bottom panel of Figure 3; the absorbed power law, BB, and
scattered emission-line components are shown as dotted lines.

While a BB component describes the soft excess well, ``warm
Comptonization,'' in which seed photons from the accretion disk are
Compton upscattered by an optically thick hotter corona is likely a
more realistic model. Thus, we also tried to fit the soft excess with a
warm Comptonization model ({\bf compTT} in XSPEC), together with an
absorbed power law. We fixed the model parameters (seed photon
temperature, corona temperature, and optical depth) to the parameters in
Medhipour et al. (2015), allowing only the normalization to vary between
the pre-anomaly and anomaly spectra. The resulting fit was worse
($\chi^2_{\nu}=1.33$ for 1015 degrees of freedom; $\Delta \chi^2=189$
compared to the BB fit) and significant negative residuals were observed
below 1 keV; in particular the warm Comptonization model did not
adequately fit the spectral turnover below 0.5 keV. We could improve the
fit by adding another cold absorber at the source (best fit
$N_{\rm H}=(4.7\pm0.7) \times 10^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$), resulting in
$\chi^2_{\nu}=1.2$ for 1014 degrees of freedom. Hence, if warm
Comptonization is the correct description of the soft excess, it will
have to lie behind this absorbing medium. The best-fit normalizations
are given in Table 3 and the fit is shown in Figure 4; as expected, the
normalization is significantly higher during the anomaly. Alternatively,
the change in soft excess could be a result of a changing optical depth of
the corona, as shown by Page et al. (2004).  We therefore fixed the
normalization to the pre-anomaly value and allowed only the optical depth to
vary. As expected, we find significantly higher optical depth during the
anomaly (Table 3). A warm Comptonized corona with variable optical depth
is our preferred model for reasons discussed in \S4.2.

{\bf  When we fit the warm
  Comptonization model to the post-anomaly spectrum (days $150$--$170$),
  the normalization is $29\pm 2$ as compared to $22 \pm 1$ in the
  pre-anomaly spectrum and $50\pm 2$ during the anomaly. At late times,
  the soft excess has dropped significantly and is close to the excess
  in the early phase.  While there is some delay with respect to the
  emission line anomaly and the continuum transitions are not very sharp
  (as we see in Fig. 1), this strengthens our assertion that the
  increase in the soft-excess is likely the cause of the anomaly. For
  the rest of the paper we focus only on spectra before and during the
  anomaly.  }

\subsection {Alternative Models}

It is possible that the observed spectral shape (the ``soft excess'') is
an artifact of a partially covering cold absorber.  We therefore tried
to fit the soft excess with a partial covering power-law model. The
best-fit absorption column densities in the two spectra were found to be
the same within the uncertainties, so we refitted the two spectra after tying
the column densities. As expected, the absorber covered the continuum
source more during the pre-anomaly period (covering fraction
$0.91\pm0.01$) and less during the anomaly (covering fraction
$0.75\pm0.02$). However, this fit is worse ($\chi^2_{\nu}=1.4$ for 1003
degrees of freedom) than the BB model, with obvious residuals in the
soft X-ray spectrum. As seen in Figure 5, the partial covering absorber
model does not adequately account for the excess flux in the soft X-ray
band in the anomaly spectrum, or the spectral turnover below $\sim 2$
keV. Thus, the {\it dominant} parameter describing the change in soft
excess between pre-anomaly and anomaly spectra cannot be the covering
factor.

Alternatively, the apparent soft ``excess'' could result from the
recovery of the soft X-ray spectrum through a warm absorber. NGC~5548 is
known to have an X-ray warm absorber, detected even in low-resolution
spectra (e.g., Nandra et al. 1993; Mathur et al. 1995). We therefore
tried to fit the {\it Swift}~ spectra with an absorbed power-law model
modified by a warm absorber. We used PHASE (Krongold et al. 2003) to
model the warm absorber. The parameters of this model are ionization
parameter $U$, total column density $N_{\rm H}$, velocity $v$, and the
microturbulent velocity $\sigma$. Given the low resolution of the
spectrum, we fixed $v$ to match the galaxy redshift and $\sigma$ was
fixed to 200~km~s$^{-1}$. Thus, the free parameters of the warm absorber
model were $U$ and $N_{\rm H}$.  Once again, we fitted the two spectra
simultaneously, keeping the power-law parameters tied. The fit was good
($\chi^2_{\nu}=1.1$ for 1003 degrees of freedom) and the results of this
fit are given in Table 4. The absorber $N_{\rm H}$ was found to be
similar in the two spectra, and as expected, the warm absorber in the
anomaly spectrum is more ionized (higher $U$), leading to the apparent
excess in the soft X-ray band.  The warm absorber column density,
however, is unusually large ($\log N_{\rm H} ({\rm
  cm^{-2}}) \approx 22.2$). The warm absorber column density in NGC~5548 has
varied from about $\log N_{\rm H} ({\rm cm^{-2}})=20.3$ to $\log N_{\rm
  H} ({\rm cm^{-2}})=21.7$ (Mehdipour et al. 2015). While a significant
increase in the column density is possible, it is also possible that the
column density is actually lower, and there is an additional soft-excess
component; we cannot distinguish between these two models.  Warm
absorbers with low ionization parameter are clearly related to UV
absorption lines (e.g., Mathur et al. 1994,,1995,,1998; Monier et al. 2001;
Krongold et al. 2003, 2005, 2007; Kaspi et al. 2004), so variability of
the UV absorber (Kriss et al., in prep.) may help distinguish between the
two possibilities. As noted below in \S 4.2, the warm absorber model
alone cannot explain the anomaly, so a variable warm absorber is
unlikely to be the correct model of the soft excess.

As noted in \S 1, NGC~5548 was monitored intensively with {\it XMM-Newton}~ in
2013--2014. The source appeared in a highly obscured state then (Kaastra
et al. 2014), with a column density $\sim 10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$. In
our STORM campaign, the absorption column density was over an order of
magnitude lower ($\sim 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$). A detailed spectral
analysis of {\it XMM-Newton}~ observations of NGC~5548 is presented by Cappi et
al. (2015), who modeled the spectra with six different components: a
power-law continuum; a cold reflection component; a soft thermal
Comptonization emission model; a scattered emission-line component; a
warm absorber; and up to two high column density partial covering
``obscurers.'' Given the S/N of our {\it Swift}~ observations, it is not
possible to fit the spectra with such a complex model and deduce
meaningful information. Moreover, our interest is to understand the {\it
  difference} between the pre-anomaly and anomaly spectra.  It is
possible that the observed changes in the soft excess are caused by a
combination of changes in multiple components. We cannot constrain these
multiple components; instead, we have looked for a dominant model that
describes the soft-excess variability. During the {\it XMM-Newton}~ campaign, the
dominant variability component in the $0.3$--$0.8$ keV range of soft
excess was the covering fraction of the obscurer as reported by
Mehdipour et al. (2016), but Cappi et al. (2015) show that the
normalization of the Comptonization component was also important.

In our STORM campaign, the soft excess can be modeled as a BB, a warm
absorber, a warm Comptonizing medium behind a thin veil of matter, or a
combination of all these models; the {\it Swift}~ spectra cannot discriminate
among these models. However, the dominant variability is {\it not}
caused by the covering fraction {or the column density} of an
absorber. As we discuss further in \S 4, the warm Comptonization model
naturally explains several aspects of the UV anomaly, so this is our
preferred model. While a change in the normalization of the warm
Comptonization model can adequately describe the spectral difference
between the pre-anomaly and anomaly spectra, our preferred model is of
the change in the effective optical depth (\S 4). Thus, we see that the
{\it shape} of the X-ray continuum changed during the anomaly phase, not
just the normalization; this was clear from the model independent
spectra shown in Figure 1, and the spectral modeling confirms the
same. Recently, Gardner \& Done (2017) studied optical/UV variability of
NGC~5548 and argued that a soft excess is required to understand the
observed continuum lags; the observation of a soft excess with {{\it Swift}~}
and {\it Chandra}~ (\S 3) is consistent with this expectation.

\section{{\it Chandra}~ Observations and Analysis}

As a part of the {\it HST}~ campaign, we also observed NGC~5548 with the
{\it Chandra}~ Low Energy Transmission Grating (LETG) and ACIS-S on four
occasions from Feb. 2014 to June 2014 for 5~ks each. The observation
details are given in Table 5. The LETG was placed in front of the
detector to avoid pile-up; obtaining high-resolution grating spectra was
not the goal of these short 5~ks exposures.  We analyzed the data using
standard CIAO tools (version 4.7 and $\it caldb$ version 4.6.7). All the
observations were reprocessed using the \textit{Chandra repro} task,
which results in enhanced data quality and better calibration. We
extracted the zeroth-order source and background spectra using the CIAO
tool \textit{specextract}, which also builds proper response (RMFs) and
effective area (ARF) files required for analysis.  We analyzed the
spectra using both \textit{XSPEC} and the CIAO fitting package
\textit{Sherpa}.  We binned the spectra to 25 counts minimum per channel
using \textit{ftool grppha}.

It was clear that in the hard X-ray band (2--8 keV) the spectra are very
similar, but at softer energies they show differences, similar to what
we found in {\it Swift}~ spectra. Thus, we fit the {\it Chandra}~ spectra with an
absorbed power-law model, as we did for {\it Swift}~ spectra, with the results
shown in Figure 6. Once again we see that there is a clear soft excess
in {\it Chandra}~ observations II (day $57 =$ JD $2,456,747$) and III (day $93
=$ JD $2,456,784$), which were taken just before and during the
anomaly. Observations I and IV took place when the source was in its
normal state, and they show no soft excess. The appearance of the soft
excess in observations II and III once again suggests that it may be
related to the anomaly.

We fit the {\it Chandra}~ spectra with the same series of models discussed
above, primarily to determine if they are consistent with the {\it Swift}~
results despite their lower S/N.  The models which fit the {\it Swift}~ data
well also fit the the {\it Chandra}~ data well, and the partial covering
power-law model is a poor model of the {\it Chandra}~ spectra as well
($\chi^2_{\nu}=2.32$ for $\nu =63$ degrees of freedom), with the fit
yielding a covering fraction of unity.

\section{Results}
\subsection{Soft-Excess}
Ever since the discovery of soft X-ray excesses (Singh, Garmire, \& Nousek
1985; Arnaud et al. 1995), there has been a debate about their origin and
physical nature. The possible explanations have narrowed down to
(1) reflection of the hard X-ray source by the accretion disk
(e.g., Crummy et al. 2006); (2) an additional Comptonizing medium around
the accretion disk (e.g., Ross, Fabian, \& Mineshige 1992);
or (3) thermal emission from
an accretion disk.  Understanding the nature of the soft excess is
important because of its potentially large luminosity and because it is
an integral part of the accretion process. Though no correlation has
been found between the strength of the soft-excess and the black hole
mass or its luminosity (e.g., Bianchi et al. 2009), multiwavelength
studies have revealed a possible correlation of the UV slope with the
soft-excess strength and shape (e.g., Walter \& Fink 1993; Atlee \&
Mathur 2009). From the multiwavelength campaign studying Mrk~509,
Mehdipour et al. (2011) found that the soft X-ray excess is correlated
with the thermal optical-UV emission from the accretion disk and is not
correlated with the $2$--$10$ keV X-ray power law. This favors
Comptonization of UV/optical photons by a hot plasma for the origin of
the soft excess.

In NGC~5548, the soft excess was previously detected in 2000 during an
unobscured period, but the source was heavily absorbed during 2013
(Kaastra et al. 2014) and the soft-excess was modeled as a Comptonized
corona (Mehdipour et al. 2015). The soft excess observed during our
campaign is well modeled as a BB (an optically thick corona
would emit like a BB), but the anomaly is better explained by
the warm Comptonization model, as discussed below, so this is our
preferred explanation.

\subsection{Understanding the UV Anomaly}

The X-ray spectra provide a possible explanation for the UV
anomaly. First, the X-ray spectra rule out variable absorption as the
cause of the anomaly. If anything, the absorption was lower during the
anomaly.  It is possible that the EUV ionizing continuum source was
obscured, while the X-ray source was not, but that is unlikely since the
X-ray continuum source size in AGNs appears to be smaller than that of
the UV/EUV (e.g.,  Mosquera et al. 2013). Partial covering of the
continuum fits the data poorly and is unlikely to be the cause of
the anomaly.

The second important fact is that the UV emission-line flux decreased
during the anomaly. This suggests that the EUV ionizing continuum flux
decreased during the anomaly (as discussed in Paper IV; the ionization
potential of C\,{\sc III}~ is 47.9 eV and that of Si\,{\sc III}~ is 33.5 eV). This
cannot be explained by a change in the warm absorber because the warm
absorber in the anomaly spectrum is more ionized (higher $U$), requiring
an increase in the EUV continuum during the anomaly. Thus, our preferred
scenario is that of the intrinsic change in the soft X-ray spectrum.

The observed changes can be naturally explained by the warm
Comptonization model. In this model, the UV disk photons are Compton
upscattered to soft X-ray energies by the optically thick corona. In a
normal situation, where the UV and soft X-ray fluxes are correlated,
higher UV flux leads to more input photons for Comptonization, so more
soft X-rays; we can describe this as a change in the normalization of
the model. What we have, however, is the opposite situation during the
anomaly: the EUV flux decreases, while the soft X-ray flux
increases. Perhaps the EUV photons are depleted from the flux {\bf seen
  by the BLR}, but are Comptonized into soft X-rays. This could be due
to either a true change in the optical depth or an increase in the
region covering the UV/EUV-emitting region, which could be considered an
increase in the ``effective optical depth'' of the corona. The BLR is
then deprived of the ionizing photons, so the emission-line and UV
continuum variability are decoupled (the ``anomaly''). The increase in
the effective optical depth in the anomaly spectrum is $\Delta \tau =
1.8$, {\bf implying a reduction in the EUV flux by approximately
  $e^{-\Delta \tau}$ or $16.5\%$. Interestingly, the observed deficit in
  the \ifmmode {\rm C}\,{\sc iv}~ \else C\,{\sc iv}~\fi broad emission line flux during the anomaly is of a similar
  amplitude (Fig 2 and Fig. 1e in Paper IV)}.

Thus, the warm Comptonization model can simultaneously explain
all three observations (the UV emission-line flux decrease, the
soft-excess increase, and the emission-line anomaly), so it is our
preferred model. We do not understand why the corona may change its
physical structure in this way; observations such as these provide
motivations for further theoretical work on the structure of the
accretion disk and the corona.  Notably, an anomalous continuum behavior
has been seen before. In 3C~273, there was one epoch of {\it XMM-Newton}~ observations
when the UV flux decreased but the X-ray flux increased (Page et
al. 2004), while the source otherwise behaved normally.

\section{Conclusion}

In this paper, we report on analyses of {\it Swift}~ and {\it Chandra}~ X-ray spectra
taken during the {\it HST}~ monitoring campaign of NGC 5548 that help us
understand the UV anomaly reported in Paper IV. We show that obscuration
of the continuum source is unlikely to be the cause of the
anomaly. Instead, the spectral energy distribution of the continuum
changed during the anomaly, as seen in the X-ray spectra. A possible
scenario may be that the warm Comptonizing corona covered more of the
accretion disk during the anomaly, depleting EUV photons while
increasing the soft X-ray excess. The decrease in the ionizing continuum then
leads to the emission-line anomaly. In order to understand the finer
details of the anomaly, detailed photoionization models will be
necessary. These results demonstrate the importance of contemporaneous
X-ray spectra to interpreting high-quality RM data.  We suggest that
future RM campaigns in the optical and/or UV include
an X-ray component as well. \\

\noindent {\bf Acknowledgments:} We are grateful to Christine Done for
discussions on the warm Comptonization model. Support for this work was
provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
through Chandra Award Number G04-15114X to S.M. issued by the Chandra
X-ray Observatory Center, which is operated by the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory for and on behalf of NASA under contract
NAS8-03060. Support for {\it HST} program GO-13330 was provided by NASA
through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is
operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,
Inc., under NASA contract NAS~5-26555. C.S.K. is supported in part by
NSF grants AST-1515876 and AST-1515927.  K.H. acknowledges support from
STFC grant ST/M001296/1.  K.L.P. and P.A.E. ackowledge support from the
UK Space Agency.  A.V.F.'s group at UC Berkeley is grateful for
financial assistance from NSF grant AST-1211916, the TABASGO Foundation,
and the Christopher R.  Redlich Fund. Y.K. acknowledges support from the
grant PAIIPIT IN104215 and CONACYT grant168519.  This work made use of
data supplied by the UK Swift Science Data Centre at the University of
Leicester (see Evans et al.  2009).

\clearpage

\begin{table}
\scriptsize
\caption{{\it Swift}~ exposure times}
\begin{tabular}{ccc}
\hline
Days & Julian dates  & Exposure Time (ks)\\
\hline
 0--55  & 2,456,690.4189 -- 2,456,744.5088   & 58 \\
 55--75 &  2,456,745.3676 -- 2,456,764.7642   & 32 \\
 75--85 &  2,456,765.6905 -- 2,456,775.5760   & 7  \\
 85--100 &   2,456,776.0284 -- 2,456,790.6312  & 20  \\
 100--110 & 2,456,791.0273 -- 2,456,800.3587      &  12 \\
  110--120 & 2,456,800.8177 -- 2,456,810.5546     &  14  \\
  120--135 &  2,456,810.8812 -- 2,456,825.5525    & 10  \\
  135--150 & 2,456,825.9454 -- 2,456,840.2837       &  16  \\
  150--170 & 2,456,840.2768 -- 2,456,859.7580 &  15  \\
\hline-
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\begin{table}
\scriptsize
\caption{Fits to {\it Swift}~ spectra: absorbed power-law plus black-body model$^{1}$}
\begin{tabular}{lccccccc}
\hline
Obs ID  &  BB~($kT$)$^2$ & BB~Norm & BB~Flux & Intrinsic Absorption & Photon Index$^2$ & Power-law Norm$^2$\\
        &   keV   & $10^{-5}$ & $0.1$--$2$ keV & $N_{\rm H}$   & $\Gamma$ &    $10^{-3}$    \\
 && ph~keV$^{-1}$~s$^{-1}$~cm$^{-2}$ & $10^{-12}$ ergs cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ & $10^{22}$~cm$^{-2}$ & & ph~keV$^{-1}$~s$^{-1}$~cm$^{-2}$\\
\hline
Anomaly   &    $0.12\pm0.005$    & $4.5\pm0.2$ & 3.7  & $0.66\pm0.05$    &  $1.49\pm0.04$   &  $5.9\pm0.3$  \\
Pre-anomaly   &    $0.12\pm0.005$    & $1.7\pm0.1$ & 1.4  & $1.13\pm0.06$    &  $1.49\pm0.04$   &  $5.9\pm0.3$  \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
1. A scattered component is also included in the fit (see text). \\
2. Power-law parameters and BB temperature are tied for both the datasets. \\
3. $\chi^2_{\nu}$ for the joint fit is 1.16 for $\nu=1001$ degrees of freedom.
\end{table}

\begin{table}
\scriptsize
\caption{{\it Swift}~ spectra: warm Comptonization fit parameters$^{1,2}$}
\begin{tabular}{lccc}
\hline
Spectrum  &  Optical depth   & Normalization \\
                  &    &     \\
\hline
Anomaly   &   $22.34\pm0.16$   &  $50.34\pm 1.85$        \\
Pre-anomaly  &   $20.55\pm0.15$ &  $22.09\pm 0.94$        \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

\noindent
1. Power-law parameters are tied for both the datasets.  \\
2. The warm corona temperature was fixed at 0.15 keV and the seed photon
temperature to 0.74 eV. Only one parameter (optical depth or normalization)
was allowed to vary at a time. \\
\end{table}

\begin{table}
\scriptsize
\caption{{\it Swift}~ spectra: PHASE fit parameters}
\begin{tabular}{lcccc}
\hline
Spectrum  &  Log $U$  &  Log ($N_{\rm H}$/cm$^{-2}$)   & Photon Index$^1$   \\
        &          &    &  $\Gamma$    \\
\hline
Anomaly   & $-0.3\pm0.03$ &  $22.12\pm0.01$  &   $1.42\pm0.02$        \\
Pre-anomaly  & $-0.4\pm0.01$ &  $22.18\pm0.01$  &   $1.42\pm0.02$         \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

\noindent
1. Power-law parameters are tied for both the datasets. \\
2. $\chi^{2}_{\nu}$ for the joint fit is 1.1 for $\nu=1003$ degrees of freedom.
\end{table}

\begin{table}
\scriptsize
\caption{NGC~5548 Chandra Observation Log}
\begin{tabular}{lcccc}
\hline
Obs.&  ID & Date of Observation & JD & Exposure Time \\
\hline
I & 15659  & 2014 Feb. 3   & 2,456,692  (pre-anomaly)   &   5 ks \\
II & 15660  & 2014 Mar 30  & 2,456,747  (just before anomaly)  &   5 ks \\
III & 15661  & 2014 May 6   & 2,456,784  (during anomaly)   &   5 ks \\
IV & 15662  & 2014 June 23  & 2,456.832  (post-anomaly)  &   5 ks \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\clearpage

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=10cm]{fig1.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{{\it Swift}~ spectra in different time bins. Note the increase in the
  soft excess from the pre-anomaly phase, peaking at days 75--85 (red)
  and then decreasing. This is a model-independent result, and suggests
  that the change in the spectral energy distribution of NGC~5548 is
  responsible for the anomaly. The inset shows $0.3$ to $1.5$ keV spectra
  for clarity.}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=10cm]{fig2.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{NGC~5548 light-curve. The black points show the percentage
  deficit in the \ifmmode {\rm C}\,{\sc iv}~ \else C\,{\sc iv}~\fi flux (reproduced from Fig. 1e of Paper IV). This
  shows the onset of the anomaly around day 75 of the campaign. The red
  points show the percentage excess in the {\it Swift}~ count rate at $\approx
  0.55$ keV (as in Fig. 1). We see that the soft excess increases before
  the start of the anomaly, peaks during the period of anomaly and then
  declines. }
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=7cm]{fig3a.pdf}
\includegraphics[width=7cm]{fig3b.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{{\it Top:} {\it Swift}~ spectra: anomaly (black) and pre-anomaly
  (red) fit with an absorbed power law plus a black-body model. An
  additional scattered component is also included.  {\it Bottom:} The
  {\bf $Ef(E)$} intrinsic spectra (without folding in the instrument
  response); the three model components are shown as dotted lines. }
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=7cm]{fig4.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{As in Fig. 3, but fit with a warm Comptonization model.
}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=7cm]{fig5.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{The {\it Swift}~ spectra fitted with a partial covering absorber
  model. This is clearly a poor fit compared to the models shown in
  Figs. 3 and 4.  }
\end{figure}

\clearpage

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=10cm,height=10cm]{fig6.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{{\it Chandra}~ spectra with the best-fit absorbed power-law model. The
  soft excess is apparent in observations II and III.  }
\label{fig5}
\end{figure}

\clearpage

\clearpage

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


The navigation.pde file includes functions used(for calculations) when moving to the desired destination.
This function, first of all, checks if the have_position exists and is uupdated.
Next, checks if the next waypoint is set, as well as the home.
then the distance to the waypoint is calculated through get_distance.If this distance is under 0, the code gives an error, the rover has passed the wp.
Lastly, updates_navigation()function is called for updaiting the wp, and home datas.
This function is not implementes yet. Its aim is to notify when the wp is reached.


The Bulgarian Franchise Association will build a network of partnerships through cooperation with international franchise associations, participation in international exhibitions and projects, and by attracting new members.
These partnerships will be supported by strong institutional structures, common values and common goal. Deepening the cooperation between the companies is a mechanism for dissemination of new ideas, information, know-how and good practices.
This way conditions are created for the effective transfer of technologies that contribute to the formation and development of competitive advantage of the association. This can be achieved by organizing various conferences and forums in which to be exchanged valuable experience and to identify the directions we have to work in, in order to achieve high economic performance and competitiveness.


text:
'Anthony Bourdain Food Trail' honors the late celebrity chef
News 12 Staff
Jun 13, 2019, 9:47pm EDT
Updated on:Jun 13, 2019, 9:47pm EDT
A Fort Lee restaurant kicked off the official start to an event honoring the life and legacy of late New Jersey native and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain.
The celebration was held at Hiram's Roadstand in Fort Lee to kick off the start of the "Anthony Bourdain Food Trail." The trail features 10 restaurants throughout New Jersey that the award-winning chef, author, and television host featured on his series "Parts Unknown."
Bourdain's brother Christopher Bourdain attended the special event Thursday.
"Thank you very much for creating this. I think Anthony would've been very honored to have this respect paid to him and I think he also would have said 'Just get out there, try new stuff, keep looking around, don't stay in your comfort zone and New Jersey's got a lot of neat stuff," said Christopher Bourdain.
The food trail was adopted unanimously by New Jersey officials earlier this year.
Restaurants on the trail include: Atlantic City's Dock's Oyster House, James' Salt Water Taffy, Knife and Fork Inn and Tony's Baltimore Grill, Frank's Deli in Asbury Park. Lucille's Country Cooking in Barnegat, Kubel's in Barnegat Light, Donkey's Place and Tony & Ruth Steaks in Camden and Hiram's Roadstand in Fort Lee


text:
Order a flag
More than $9.3 million available in Stronger Country Communities Round 3
Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke has announced more than $9.3 million is available in Round Three of the Stronger Country Communities Fund in the Cootamundra electorate.
The NSW Government has allocated an additional $100 million for infrastructure and programs that benefit the community and local youth, with at least $50 million earmarked for projects aimed at young people from 12 to 24 years old.
"The Stronger Country Communities Fund has delivered some fabulous projects across the Cootamundra electorate in its first two rounds, so I'm delighted to be able to announce $9,336,122 in the third round," Ms Cooke said.
"We've seen some amazing projects which bring enormous benefits for communities, such as improved sporting facilities, upgraded community meeting areas, new playgrounds and swimming pool upgrades.
"These improvements bring not only social and health benefits for so many people, they also improve local economies through the employment of local tradies and by encouraging tourism.
"This time around we are looking for projects which will benefit younger members of our communities, so I'd love to see ideas coming from youth groups and maybe the junior sections of sport clubs.
"I promise to do everything I can to help all of the Councils across the electorate and other eligible organisations to prepare applications for Round Three funding and talk about what the community wants and needs, to ensure we make the most of this fantastic funding opportunity."
Minister for Regional Youth Bronnie Taylor urged young people living in the Cootamundra electorate to think about the local infrastructure and programs they would like to see funded and share those ideas with Ms Cooke and eligible organisations.
"These are projects making a real difference to regional communities, such as sporting field lights that allow night-time play, and community hall upgrades, and I can't wait to see the delivery of $50 million in youth infrastructure and programs," Ms Taylor said.
Applications open on July 1 and successful projects will be announced from January onwards. For further information and the program guidelines, go to www.nsw.gov.au/SCCF
A breakdown of funding for the Local Government Areas in the Cootamundra electorate is as follows:
Bland Shire $776,820
Coolamon Shire $768,762
Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional $1,548,054
Cowra Shire $808,992
Hilltops $2,334,526
Junee Shire $777,827
Narrandera Shire $776,578
Temora Shire $777,945
Weddin Shire $766,618
OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE IN MILLIONS OF SPORTS FACILITIES FUNDING
Murray Cod Numbers Scaled Up In The Lachlan
Nature and Adventure Combine at Cowra Playground
Sod Turned On Grenfell Main Street Upgrade
Woodstock Has Need for Speed
Authorised by Steph Cooke MP, 140 Boorowa Street Young, NSW 2594 and funded using Parliamentary entitlements


What would happen if a neighbor or someone visiting you were to slip and fall on your property and decided to sue? Would your current auto and homeowner's liability limits be enough to cover a large ruling by a court in their favor? In today's society many legal judgments can often reach higher than those limits leaving you responsible to pay the difference, that's why you may need a personal umbrella policy. Simply put, a personal umbrella policy picks up where the rest of your personal insurance leaves off by adding excess liability coverage up to $1,000,000 and more.


Museum-quality iconic vintage 1960s brown velvet gown with brown, tan and pink marabou feathers by Geoffrey Beene. Long sleeves with zip detail at the wrists and huge voluminous feather skirt.
This dress is missing the label but it is a well documented Beene piece.


To ensure access to all of the features available through Adobe Connect, please install the latest version of Flash Player before signing in to the webinar. For technical support, contact tech@levy.org.
Cristina Marcuzzo is a Full Professor of Political Economy at the Sapienza University of Rome with research interests in Keynesian economics and history of thought. Cristina earned a Diploma in Philosophy of Science from the University of Milan in 1974, and a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1977. She has held academic positions in universities across Italy, as well as had fellowships and academic experiences at many U.S. institutions such as UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Harvard University.
Currently, she serves as President of the Association for the History of Political Economy, and has served at the head of various University Research Projects on speculation and instability in financial markets. She has published many books across a variety of subjects, from the history of Keynesian thought, to her most recent book on the development of the Latin American economy. She has served as a referee for many peer-reviewed journals including the American Economic Review, Cambridge Journal of Economics, European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, History of Political Economy, and Economica Politica. She has also been published in many top journals.
Carol Loomis inaugurates the John J. Curran '75 Lectures in Journalism Series, introduced by Wyatt Mason.
The venerated financial journalist Carol Loomis is the former senior editor-at-large of Fortune Magazine, and the coiner of the term "hedge fund." The editor of Warren Buffett's annual shareholder letter, she has been recognized by the New York Times for her success in battling gender stereotypes within the financial-services industry, having started her career in the 1950s as one of only two female reporters at Fortune. The Reformed Broker calls Loomis "a lion of financial journalism," while ValueWalk celebrates her as, "without doubt, the greatest business writer of all time."
John J. Curran '75 Lectures in Journalism honors the memory of a proud Bardian whose dedication to ethical reporting in journalism informed a trusting readership for over a quarter of a century and promoted a culture of honesty, integrity, and truth.
Join a conversation about the Syrian challenge and the European Union facilitated by Nesrin McMeekin and Greg Moynahan.
This event is sponsored by Bard Model United Nations and The Center for Civic Engagement.
Sophie Mitra, Ph.D is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Fordham University with research interests in disability, development and applied microeconomics. Sophie earned an MA in development economics and a doctorate in Economics from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne in France. Before doing her doctorate, she was a development practitioner and worked for the Overseas Development Institute (ODI, London) as an overseas fellow in Fiji.
Recently, she has studied the association between disability and poverty, the economic impact of disability onset, multidimensional poverty and disability in the U.S., social protection programs and the effects of mental health problems on employment and poverty. She has published in many peer-reviewed journals including the American Economic Review, Health Economics, Social Science and Medicine, World Development. She has served as editor or reviewer for many journals.
The State of Labor, New Models of Organizing, and the Future of Work This daylong workshop will address three primary themes: the state of the American labor movement, the future of work, and new models of organizing and worker power. An expert panel will address each topic, followed by a Q&A session.
Bilge Erten will present a paper she co-authored with Fiona Tregenna, entitled, "How Does Trade Liberalization Affect Racial and Gender Inequality in Employment? Evidence from Post-Apartheid South Africa." Bilge will discuss how rapid trade liberalization can hurt disadvantaged groups, with findings based on a study of the effects of liberalization on the racial and gender composition of employment in South Africa in the mid-1990s, which found that African and female workers were particularly affected, and that districts that were exposed to a higher loss of protection experienced larger employment losses than comparable districts. The effects of liberalization on local employment are identified by exploiting the variation in tariffs across industries and in industrial composition across regions.
Please ring bell for access to building.


text:
Women's History Month 2020: Talking with Surgeon, Inventor, and Entrepreneur, Dr. Mary Anne Tarkington, MD, FACS
"Be your own best advocate and be passionate . . . that is what has taken me the furthest." Mary Anne Tarkington, MD, FACS
By Ashley N. Nicholls, Registered Patent Attorney at Jones Robb, PLLC
In honor of Women's History Month, Jones Robb attorney Ashley Nicholls asked surgeon, inventor, and entrepreneur, Dr. Mary Anne Tarkington, MD, FACS, to share her experiences as a woman in medicine, technology, and business, as well as what she has learned navigating the patent process to bring her innovations to market. We also asked what advice Dr. Tarkington would give to other women looking to follow in her footsteps.
Dr. Tarkington received her Bachelor of Science from Vassar College and her Doctor of Medicine at Georgetown University. She also completed her general surgery internship and a urology residency at Georgetown University. Following her residency, she conducted research in the field of urologic oncology with both the Lombardi Cancer Center, at Georgetown University, and the American Foundation for Urologic Disease. She is the recipient of multiple honors and awards, including first prize for her urological research at the Washington Urological Societies' Resident's Scholars Conference. Dr. Tarkington is also the author of numerous publications and holds multiple Patents, both U.S. and Foreign, relating to medical device technologies, including portable exercise devices that may be used to actively engage the lower extremities to stimulate venous blood flow. Her current U.S. Patents include U.S. Patent Nos. 8,430,796 and 9,914,009. Dr. Tarkington, through TS Medical LLC, the company she owns, is presently working to prototype and bring her portable exercise devices, which are particularly designed to boost circulation and reduce the risk of venous thromboembolism, to market.
TS Medical Device Prototype
Prior to starting the interview, Dr. Tarkington (Mary Anne) and I chatted briefly about women innovators and why women inventors hold so few patents. Although the number of women graduating with hard science degrees, and entering jobs as scientists, engineers, doctors, and even patent attorneys has increased significantly, unfortunately, women inventors are still greatly outnumbered by men, and in general women comprise only a small minority of patent holders. In fact, according to a report released in February 2019 by the USPTO, although the share of patents that name at least one woman as an inventor did increase from about 7 percent in the 1980s to about 21 percent in 2016, women inventors still only made up about 12 percent of all inventors on US patents granted in 2016[i]. Such a disparity highlights the untapped potential of women to spur U.S. innovation, a problem which we attempted to explore in our discussion.
Ashley: What women in history do you find inspiring?
Mary Anne:
Well, I thought about that and truthfully couldn't think of a famous female historical figure that stood out in my mind. I thought, to be honest, it would really have to be my mother. The greatest influence in my life came from my parents. I grew up in a household in which it never occurred to me that I could not be anything that I wanted to be. My parents believed that there was nothing more important than education, which was remarkable given the time.
My mom grew up very poor on a dairy farm in upstate New York. I can't remember if she had eight or nine brothers in addition to her sister, but they all worked on the farm. My mother was limited in what she could do but her spirit was never limited. And I remember that she had wanted to be a doctor. She was told that, well, woman were not doctors, but they would give her a full scholarship for nursing school. Her mother had breast cancer. As the only caregiver, she could not leave New York and so she became a nurse. After her mother passed away she joined the Army to see the world. She taught me the importance of hard work and service to others. She always said that "you are only as good as the service you provide to others" [and] that lived in my head. When she wanted something, she went after it. She was my role model.
Ashley: When did you first become interested in science and how did you ultimately choose your career path into the health field?
I have always been fairly creative. I was a good student but not as serious as I should have been until the end of high school. But I thought that I was going to be a fashion designer. I could, in my mind, see the most amazing designs, sort of the classic Ralph Lauren kind, you know just sort of chic, beautiful dresses and gowns. I can't draw to save my life and never took any art classes, so fashion design wasn't a viable alternative. One of my best friends was less fortunate, with fewer opportunities, [but was a] very smart girl. She looked at me one day and said, "what's wrong with you? You can go to any school you want because your parents can pay your tuition and you are smart enough to get in. What are you doing?" That was it, this was serious. Her words were like a slap, like wow what am I doing? Now I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I like to help others, which is definitely from my mother. I loved math and science, but I especially liked to be challenged. My father was a doctor and thoroughly enjoyed his work. I thought, you know what, I am going to go to medical school and do what my mother was told she couldn't. I attended Vassar college, majoring in Biochemistry.
Ashley: Did you have any role models/mentors in your youth and during your career advancement?
My favorite class at Vassar was physical chemistry. It's all math, I loved it. Hands down, it was my favorite class and the instructor, Mr. Mucci, my favorite professor. He was thoroughly engaged in not only his research but also in teaching. He created a classroom environment that was demanding yet lowkey, stimulating, and fun. Dr. Fisher, a biology professor, was also an important role model. She was an ardent researcher and an amazing teacher. Caring and compassionate. I believe those two professors really taught me to think, analyze, question, dream, and, most importantly, do. In truth, I had so much support along the way from family, friends, and all of my professors.
Ashley: As a woman, and in a profession that is still dominated my men, could you share an example of a hurdle or obstacle that you experienced during your career and how you overcame it?
I have a lot of advice on this one! I knew that I wanted to do surgery. I loved surgery and wanted to be a neurosurgeon. I had an amazing mentor, Teo-Forcht-Dagi, who is helping me to this day. He is back in Boston now, but when he was at Georgetown, where I was a medical student, he took me under his wing. I did all sorts of research with him and he had me write journal articles, which he edited, of course. He is the smartest person I've ever known, always taking thoughts to the next level. His passion was inspiring and contagious. During my neurosurgery rotation, however, I was disheartened that the patients were almost always asleep when we made morning and evening rounds because we were in the OR twenty-three hours a day! I exaggerate a bit, I know, but decided that interacting with people was important to me, I do like to talk, as you know, and determined [neurosurgery] was probably not a great field for me. Telling Dr. Dagi that I was not pursuing neurosurgery was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
My next surgical rotation was in urology, a field in which there were very few women. I'd never considered urology but felt that, as a surgeon, I would have a lot to offer in terms of treatment options and could help people across the age spectrum, which was appealing. Urology combined open and endoscopic surgery with an active office-based practice. But a lot of my classmates teased me, swearing I'd never have any patients. It really was not my teachers; it was really more of my colleagues or my peers during medical school that were discouraging. But I thought I have to get up and go to work every day and love what I'm doing, something my parents had always emphasized when discussing professional choices. I have to do what I love and I can do this. So, instead of doing something else, choosing another field based on what other people thought, I decided this is my life and I have to be happy. And so, I chose to go into urology. We were required to do two years of general surgery before starting a urology residency. There were five women [when I started] in [general] surgery. Interestingly, I was the only one that stayed in surgery. But I think that, especially in urology, when you are in a man's world, you have to do a couple of things. Learn what to ignore. Most of the time people are simply trying to get a rise out of you, just like when you are a little kid. If you completely ignore it, don't respond, it tends to stop. But the other thing I think you have to look at is the intent, when somebody says something to you, what is the intent? There were no other women in urology in any of the hospitals in which we trained, residents or attendings, so as far as everyone was concerned, I was one of the guys. Taking offense at every off color joke was not a recipe for success. I recall one older doctor who really pushed me to go into research/academics. I remember thinking that he just believes that I, or women in general, should just not be urologists, treating men, as many of our patients are male. Now that I am older, and theoretically wiser, and look back on it, that really wasn't the case at all. He was saying that research is a strength I have demonstrated and should pursue. Understanding the intent is important.
Ashley: I mentioned this when we were first talking about how women are underrepresented in the patent field. Although in the last 40 years, women have quintupled their representation among patent holders, women inventors still hold an extremely small share of patents. You, however, are one of the few women who is not only named on a patent but is the main named inventor on multiple patents. What gave you your creative spirit, drive to pursue your ideas, and perseverance to make it through the patent process, which as you now know can be kind of lengthy?
I like to solve problems and am extremely persistent, just ask my husband, and maybe because my parents grew up in the depression, I learned that you don't waste things. If you use it for one thing and you don't need it anymore then you use it for something else. I started creating things when I was, I think a medical student, or maybe a resident. I would see a problem and I thought, well, I could fix this. I just did it, not because I wanted to have a patent or anything like that, but because it needed to be fixed. The first thing that I can remember inventing was a stent for male babies undergoing a hypospadias repair. It really bothered me that the surgeon placed a needle through the glans to secure the tube draining the bladder, I just thought that this has got to be horribly painful, and it doesn't need to be. Babies can't complain, and, so, I decided I could fix it. I designed a pediatric urethral stent that didn't require suturing in place. I [didn't do it] because I would be famous or so I could make money, but because it was a problem to solve. Anyway, that is when I began to use my creativity for the medical world. When my son got hurt and I took a leave of absence, I had to find a new way to use my brain and contribute or I'd go crazy. And that's when I attended a conference on venous thromboembolism, which did apply to my patients as a pelvic surgeon, and I saw a problem and thought, [I can] fix this. But I wanted the solution to be simple [and] inexpensive, because if it is so expensive that nobody can afford to buy it, then I haven't helped anybody.
Ashley: You are also a founding member of TS Medical LLC. Can you tell us a bit about your experience with starting this business, running it, and working to bring your innovations to market?
I have to give my husband most of the credit. I think it's important to know your strengths and weaknesses. A lot of people try to do everything themselves, which can be a recipe for disaster, or certainly can result in things taking a lot longer than they would normally take. My husband has run several businesses and guided me through all of the business dealings, administrative and organizational. He knows what he knows and where to find the answer to what he doesn't. And through his work experience and engineering background, he understands many of the technical aspects involved in designing medical devices. If you don't know what you are doing then you need to find somebody that can help you. And, if you can't afford to hire someone yourself, because everything gets very pricey, look for people who are willing to partner with you for a percentage of whatever you are doing, at least in this field.
Ashley: How did you decide to start your own business?
Well, because I was working on my own and responsible for doing this all myself, I had no choice. If I weren't married to a businessman, I'd have looked for someone to team up with in the beginning and been forced to learn to use the internet far more successfully! I have maintained all my medical licenses, which has been helpful in approaching physicians and researchers, and in fact necessary to set up studies. The business has given me more credibility in dealing with a design team, engineers, business and regulatory consultants, and in approaching potential distribution partners. I have no desire to try to manufacture and distribute. I recognize that I have neither the knowledge base nor the interest in running that type of a business, but in order to do the things that I was doing and get to a certain point, I felt I had to have a business.
Ashley: And, what were the greatest challenges to making your ideas a reality, to get to this prototype stage that you are now at?
I think that the hardest thing was knowing where to start, what I needed, and who to ask. I began this whole process with [the patent protection and legal assistance from] Susie Jones, recommended by a colleague of hers, who happens to be a good friend of mine. She patiently led me through the process. And from there, when I was looking for an engineer [to assist with prototyping], she provided a contact which got the process rolling. I think that that was the biggest challenge for me, figuring out where to go [for each step of the process].
Ashley: You have already mentioned some advice, do you have any other advice that you would you give to a female inventor or entrepreneur about pursuing her ideas, navigating the patent process, and bringing her innovations to market?
Be smart about the choices that you make and who you trust. You have to be careful about the people with whom you discuss your idea, because there are those who will take your idea. And [learning] that was hard for me, because I would never do that to someone else. I trust everyone.
Be upfront with consultants that you are interviewing about the scope of your project and ask how they treat small accounts. You want to be sure they're not planning to work on your project "when they have time", which happened to me.
Use the resources that are available to you. When I started to do this, I used my resources. I contacted the head of urology at Georgetown and asked who I could approach there, referencing him, and he put me in contact with people. My husband had a home healthcare contact, so I arranged to meet with her. I would attend medical meetings and seek out people that I knew or had talked to in previous years. Even if it were just yearly, I would make a point of maintaining those friendships and connections so that when I needed something I had enough of a relationship with them that they would speak to me. And then people helped me. Not everybody, but most people are willing to try to help you, or to put you in contact with someone who can help or point you in the right direction. But you have to ask.
Remember that no one has the [same] passion about your idea. Don't let someone else's lack of enthusiasm dampen yours.
Don't take criticism personally. Evaluate any suggestion with an open mind and then go with your gut. Don't get stuck on an idea of how something should be done.
The thing that really helped my device move forward was when, because I was a little hesitant having had no experience in this business, I realized that I was the one that needed to get out there and make things happen rather than depending on someone else. So be your own best advocate and be passionate. That is what has taken me the furthest and my device has really started to move forward.
[i] Progress and Potential, A profile of women inventors on U.S. Patents, Office of the Chief Economist, IP Data Highlights, Number 2, February 2019, accessed via the internet at <https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Progress-and-Potential.pdf>.