text:
Q: A replacement for the anti pattern ThreadLocal? During a job meeting.I have heard that Thread Local is absolutely an anti pattern because new Application servers uses new Thread technologies called new IO.In fact,they told me that the problem with ThreadLocal is that a complete thread must wait for the database query to return a response and that's absolutely a waste of resources(memory as well as CPU).
New developed Thread strategy uses a pool of threads so when a thread is not needed any more it will return to pool.What i have heard is that this new Technology is implemented in new AS such us Jboss,Websphere...(i'm not sure).
Can i use it locally with Apache tomcat for example?(if it's possible documentation on that fact)

A: ThreadLocal is a side character in your story. What you have heard about is asynchronous request processing, which is helped, among other things, by the NIO library.
In this programming paradigm, you don't get a simple method like
Response processRequest(Request req)

Instead you get
void requestReceived(Request req, Response resp)

and within this method you will usually just start the processing by preparing the back-end request and calling its method which will look like
execute(Query q, ResultCallback cb)

and the framework will call your ResultCallback's method resultReady(Result res) which will contain the query result.
The main point here is that the method requestReceived will return immediately, and will not occupy the thread while the back-end request is being processed at the back-end subsystem.
BTW another name for this style of programming is continuation-passing style or CPS. It is because when you call a function, you don't wait for its return value, but rather pass a callback into it which will be called with the function's result, and which implements the continuation of the total request processing.
How ThreadLocal fits into this
If you have followed what I have said above, it should already be clear to you that in this style of request processing, ThreadLocals are a useless concept because the request processing freely jumps from thread to thread, and in a way which is completely outside of your control.

A: ThreadLocal has basically nothing to do with databases or ThreadPools/ExecutorServices. ThreadLocal just means that the value stored in it is just visible to the Thread how set it. This doesn't cause any blocking. You must confuse some things there.

*

*ThreadLocal: Stores variable per Thread.

*"new IO": They most likely meant the java.nio package. It about reading/writing data without blocking.

*Threadpools/Executorservice: Bunch of Threads where you can submit Runnables to. You can use ExecutorServices in any Java application, because they are part of the standard library.

*For accessing the database you normally use a dedicated system like C3P0, which manages Threads and database connections

A: I think that i misunderstand the subject.
Well,i will explain in detail what i have heard.
When using ThreadLocal.If we have for example a query to DataBase or JMS call .The thread must be alive for the response to return (suppose that takes 15 minute for example).The thread will be in a waiting situation waiting for Db to return response.so it's a waste for CPU as well as memory.
New Thread management technology uses a pool of threads.In fact during the waiting time.The thread will be used to server another client.
That's what i have heard.
To Marko Topolnik:What you have exposed is asynchronous calls and it does nothing to do with Threads.

A: ThreadLocals, thread pools, and new IO can cooperate quite well. All you need is to define thread factory when creating a threadpool so that each new thread would get correct threadlocal value at the moment of creation. This value, for example, can keep a reference to java.nio.channels.Selector singleton. Another thread local variable can hold reference to the thread pool itself, so submitting new tasks to the thread pool can be simplified.
Asynchronous framework https://github.com/rfqu/df4j uses thread locals intensively this way.


text:
Q: What does "separating spin from facts" mean? What does it mean exactly?

Now that China has paused to reflect and reset, and despite
  the problems facing Arjun, India is in fact the world's fastestgrowing
  big economy. Its GDP, the nation's income, rose by
  7 per cent in 2017, although the usual caveats about separating
  spin from facts in national statistics apply, especially in a
  country as spread out as India.

A: Spin is a term often used in politics to refer to manipulation of information:

In public relations and politics, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through knowingly providing a biased interpretation of an event or campaigning to persuade public opinion in favor or against some organization or public figure. While traditional public relations and advertising may also rely on altering the presentation of the facts, "spin" often implies the use of disingenuous, deceptive, and highly manipulative tactics.

(Wikipedia)
So separating spin from facts in economic data, especially  from developing countries such as India,  means that you need to be careful about economic statistics which, in those contexts, can be easily manipulated to present a different, usually better, view on economic  growth.

A: A fact is something actual, real whereas spin, according to The Free Dictionary can mean

(informal), definition #23: the practice of presenting news or information in a way that creates a favourable impression

This said, the information presented in national statistics may not be as accurate as described.

A: Oxford:

NOUN
3 The presentation of information in a particular way; a
  slant, especially a favourable one.
'he tried to put a positive spin
  on the president's campaign'
'he was sick and tired of the
  Government's control freakery and spin'

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Hi Lauren, Just had to tell you that I got your book yesterday. Just amazing! Love how you add humor but oh such great info. Everything that I know is wrong you bring up and make it real.
I have completed the book and am empowered. The Little Book of Thin is my second favorite book after the Bible! I am at the end of week three of following the 10 steps to svelte. I have lost 6lbs. I am taking the vitamin D3 and the omega 3 everyday. Thank you for writing such an informative, practical book.
I just wanted to say that I read LBT at the beginning of January and did a complete overhaul of my eating (and in turn, my boyfriend's—although he definitely sneaks bagels and pizza when I'm not home). I've been following everything in the book to a T and I've never felt better.
Thank you for THE LITTLE BOOK OF THIN. I'm already through the 10 steps and I'm really impressed – it's all smart and succinct – something I feel like I can actually do. Sometimes, we just need someone to spell it out for us, and you do a wonderful job of that, mixing a friendly tone with good advice and science. Honestly, I'm not looking to lose much weight, but would love to just be healthier and have more energy. I'm really looking forward to diving into the program. My sister is going to read along with me and she should have her book in a few days.
So my mom gets your book, proceeds to follow ALL of your advice and has lost 8 pounds since 12/31. She's been cooking with quinoa and sprinkling hemp seeds and making your recipes. She ordered e-boost and and miso. She's totally on board with your plan, even using the treadmill to break a sweat instead of just going for a walk. How great, right?


BMI1 polyclonal antibody | 6862 | BioVision, Inc.
Polyclonal Antibody to detect BMI1 in mouse samples.
Polyclonal antibody raised in rabbit against mouse BMI1 (BMI1 polycomb ring finger oncogene) using two KLH conjugated synthetic peptides containing a sequence from the central and the C-terminal region of the protein, respectively.
BMI1 (B lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 homolog) is a core component of the polycomb group (PcG) multiprotein PRC1 complex which plays an important role in transcriptional repression of gene expression during development. BMI1 association with RING protein 1B is important to the E3 ligase activity of RING1B in the PRC1 complex. BMI1 is an oncogene whose overexpression is associated with many types of human tumors and is a stem-cell marker and regulator of stem cell self-renewal.


Bally's sports book is set to open on August after being closed earlier this year. The opening coincides with football season.
The Bally's Race and Sports Book will reopen with an all-new roster of offerings just in time for football season. Beginning Aug. 26, the full-service sports book will celebrate the re-opening with an exclusive VIP viewing area, celebrity appearances by well-known sports figures, "text-to-win" promotions and drink specials galore.
The sports book opens on schedule after being closed for the slow sports betting period of the summer. Now that football is back there will be demand for greater sports book capacity.
It's nice to see that Bally's was able to re-open the sports book. It shows that there is a little stability in the economy. I would be concerned if the sports book didn't open again. Alas, we can breath easier. This is another sign that football season is getting closer!
The dog days of summer is one of my favorite times to bet on baseball. By this time I can get a good gauge on which teams can hit and which pitchers are having a good year.
Lately, I've been looking to parlay my bets when I see two or more mismatches on the same day. If you follow me on twitter, you can see when and who I bet. I try to check the match ups every morning, but usually get side tracked from making picks by my fantasy baseball teams.
I'm bringing this up now because football season is upon us and for many the excitement of the season gets ahead of playing the match ups.
The beast weapon a sports bettor has is data. I like to bet with strengths and against the weak. This is a reminder to me and those that gamble like me to go after mismatches in baseball and to keep the excitement under control for football season.
If you frequent ECG, you know I do all of my sports betting from home on Sportsbook.com. It's easy to start an account and easy to navigate as long as you stay away from horse betting. I had an issue at the Preakness. It was annoying, but I got paid what I was due.
The latest slot machine payouts from Gambling Teachers was released on July 13th. I missed June payouts, but it seems as if payouts are slightly less than the May reports. These payouts include all machines: video poker, keno and slots.
I only post the areas where I visit, but you can find the full report on gamblingteachers.com. The following are total machine payout %'s for all denominations.
* — Denotes change in casino rankings or areas since last reporting.
If you are curious to see where the best video poker pay tables are you can check vpFREE, which is my main video poker reference.
I'm prepping for another trip to Atlantic City and noticed that the vpFREE2 databases haven't been updated since my last trip so all pay tables remain the same. I was hunting on the message boards for any updates and found nothing. I did find a question that I've seen and been asked more than a few times and thought I'd answer for the first time on ECG.
Does the video poker machine continue shuffling after you hold your cards and before you hit draw?
The answer to this question is yes, after you hold your cards the remaining cards continue shuffling and your result continues to be truly random. So it does matter when you hit the draw button. So the hand you're dealt changes every nano second you wait.
I'm a slightly superstitious type so if I'm dealt 4 cards to a royal flush I'll kiss my fingers, ask a friend to hit draw, move a certain way, look a certain direction or wait and usually not get the card I want. What do you do?


text:
echo "Run this sender performance test from fbcode/ directory"
echo "or give full path to wdt binary to use and staging directory"

set -o pipefail

if [ -z "$1" ]; then
  WDTBIN="_bin/wdt/wdt"
else
  WDTBIN="$1"
fi

if [ -z "$2" ]; then
    BASEDIR=/dev/shm/wdtTest_$USER
else
    BASEDIR=$2
fi

AWK=gawk

# TEST_COUNT is an environment variable. It is set up by the python benchmarking
# script.
if [ -z $TEST_COUNT ]; then
  TEST_COUNT=4
fi

# WDT_THROUGHPUT is an env var. Set it to overwrite the expected 16Gbyte/sec
if [ -z $WDT_THROUGHPUT ]; then
  WDT_THROUGHPUT=5000
fi

if [ -z "$HOSTNAME" ] ; then
    echo "HOSTNAME not set, will try with 'localhost'"
    HOSTNAME=localhost
else
    echo "Will self connect to HOSTNAME=$HOSTNAME"
fi

ENC_TYPE=aes128gcm
CRC=false

REMOTE=$HOSTNAME
SKIP_WRITES="true"

# Without throttling:
#WDTBIN_OPTS="-sleep_millis 1 -max_retries 3 -num_sockets 13"

#CPU normalization
NUM_CPU=`grep processor /proc/cpuinfo|wc -l`
# leave one cpu alone for the rest (or typically 2 because of /2)
NUM_THREADS=`echo $NUM_CPU/2|bc`
echo "Using $NUM_THREADS threads (on each sender, receiver) for $NUM_CPU CPUs"

# With, still gets almost same max (21G) with throttling set high enough
WDTBIN_OPTS="-sleep_millis 1 -max_retries 3 -num_ports $NUM_THREADS
-transfer_id=$$ -encryption_type=$ENC_TYPE --enable_checksum=$CRC
-exit_on_bad_flags=false"

WDTNAME=`basename $WDTBIN`
WDTCMD="$WDTBIN $WDTBIN_OPTS"

mkdir -p $BASEDIR
DIR=`mktemp -d --tmpdir=$BASEDIR`
echo "Testing $WDTBIN in $DIR"
if [ -z "$DIR" ]; then
  echo "Unable to create dir in $BASEDIR"
  exit 1
fi

pkill -x wdt
pkill -x wdt_fb
pkill -x $WDTNAME

mkdir $DIR/src

for size in 1k 64K 512K 1M 16M 256M 512M
do
    base=inp$size
    echo dd if=/dev/... of=$DIR/src/$base.1 bs=$size count=1
    dd if=/dev/zero of=$DIR/src/$base.1 bs=$size count=1
    for i in {2..32}
    do
        cp $DIR/src/$base.1 $DIR/src/$base.$i
    done
done
echo "Done with staging src test files"

#set -e

# wait for server to be up
#while [ `/bin/true | nc $REMOTE 22356; echo $?` -eq 1 ]
#do
#  echo "Server not up yet...`date`..."
#  sleep 0.5
#done
#echo "Server is up on $REMOTE 22356 - `date` - starting client run"

for ((i = 1; i <= TEST_COUNT; i++))
do
  echo "starting ${i}th run"
  TWO_PHASE_ARG=""
  # every other run will be two_phases
  [ $(($i % 2)) -eq 0 ] && TWO_PHASE_ARG="-two_phases"

  set -x
  time $WDTCMD -directory $DIR/dst$i -skip_writes=$SKIP_WRITES 2> \
    $DIR/server$i.log | time $WDTCMD -directory $DIR/src \
  $TWO_PHASE_ARG - |& tee $DIR/client$i.log
  set +x
  THROUGHPUT=`$AWK 'match($0, /.*Total sender throughput = ([0-9.]+)/, res) \
  {print res[1]} END {}' $DIR/client$i.log`
  echo "Server log:"
  cat $DIR/server$i.log
  echo "THROUGHPUT $THROUGHPUT"
  TRANSFER_TIME=`$AWK 'match($0, /.*Total sender time = ([0-9.]+)/, res) \
  {print res[1]} END {}' $DIR/client$i.log`
  echo "TRANSFER_TIME $TRANSFER_TIME"
done

MAXRATE=`$AWK 'BEGIN {max=0} match($0, /.*Total sender throughput = ([0-9.]+)/, res) {rate=res[1]; if (rate>max) max=rate} END {print int(max+.5)}' $DIR/client*.log`

ALLSPEEDS=`$AWK 'match($0, /.*Total sender throughput = ([0-9.]+)/, res) {printf("%s ", res[1])}' $DIR/client*.log`

echo "Deleting logs and staging in $DIR"
rm -rf $DIR

echo "Speed for all runs: $ALLSPEEDS"

# Normalize by CPU / number of threads
# (32 cores leaves 15 threads and can do ~20-22G, use 16 for margin of noise)
EXPECTED_SPEED=`echo $WDT_THROUGHPUT*$NUM_THREADS/16|bc`

echo "Best throughput for $WDTBIN"
if [ "$MAXRATE" -lt "$EXPECTED_SPEED" ]; then
    echo "Regression: $MAXRATE is too slow - before top"
    atop -l 1 1 | head -40
    echo "Regression: $MAXRATE is too slow for $NUM_CPU cpus ($EXPECTED_SPEED)"
    exit 1
else
    echo "Good rate $MAXRATE for $NUM_CPU cpus (threshold $EXPECTED_SPEED)"
    exit 0
fi

# all done

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


YEARN Tyrants Conquest is a Strategy and Casual game for PC published by TripleRam Games in 2018. Tyrants are under your control now.
Tyrants have lots of enemies around. All of these enemies should be defeated with your abilities and skills as tyrants tribe.


Weeks before hand, start talking about camp, explore the camp's website, and share any fun details you know about the camp.
Explain how long they will be at camp by comparing it to another experience they have had before: "Remember that trip we took to Colorado last year? Well, camp will be a little shorter than that." This helps children have a benchmark for how long they will be away.
Try sending your child overnight to a friend's house or to their grandparents' for a few nights. Children will then get used to being away from home for a while if they haven't done so before.
When the time comes to begin camp, encourage them to bring a favorite bedtime comfort item (stuffed animal, book, headphones or photo).
A letter from a parent, relative or even the family dog can help. We encourage you to drop off one letter for each day of camp, and we'll deliver one each day. Don't rely on the mail, just put them in our little mailboxes when you arrive. Try not to speak about how much you "miss them", but wish them a great time.
Please write down your camper's traditional bedtime routine (if they have one). Our counselors will try to imitate your routine to make everyone feel at home.
It's been our experience parents generally feel the homesickness much more than a prepared camper. If we have any questions, or homesickness persists, we will likely call home just to say "hi" and tell you the fun activities we did. As they say, No News is Good News. We'll call if we have any questions or concerns.


text:
Gauguin: A Spiritual Journey
ArtNerd 10/17/2018 09/03/2018 Museums, San Francisco
Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903) "Reclining Tahitian Women," 1894 Oil on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 1/4 in. (60 x 49 cm) Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, 1832 Photograph by Ole Haupt © Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO – The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) are proud to announce Gauguin: A Spiritual Journey, debuting at the de Young museum on November 17. The first exhibition at FAMSF dedicated to the work of Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) will explore two themes central to his career: the relationships that shaped his life and work, and his quest to understand spirituality, both his own and that of other cultures he encountered. Through an exceptional partnership with the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, more than sixty Gauguin works will be on view—ranging from oil paintings and works on paper to wood carvings and ceramics—alongside art of the Pacific Islands from the FAMSF collection. Combined, these works encompass distinctive phases of Gauguin's career to show the development of his ideas, the scope of his oeuvre, and the inspiration he found in New Zealand, the Marquesas Islands, and Tahiti.
"The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco have the largest repository of works on paper in the western United States, including numerous works by Gauguin—among them, The Woman from Arles, one of his most important drawings," says Melissa Buron, Director of the Art Division at FAMSF. "Putting these works on view with Gauguin's stunning oil paintings provides an unprecedented opportunity for our collection to shine and take its place in the larger historical narrative."
Gauguin: A Spiritual Journey will feature works showing the deep influence that other artists, places, and relationships had on the arc of his career. Embarking on a profession in painting with no formal training, Gauguin was mentored by Impressionists including Camille Pissarro and Edgar Degas. (In fact, as an avid collector himself, Gauguin originally owned two of the Pissarro paintings on view in the exhibition.) Later collaborations with Vincent van Gogh and Émile Bernard show experiments with Symbolism as Gauguin developed his own distinctive style of painting, using flat fields of bold color and dark outlines that in turn influenced artists including Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.
Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903) "Woman with Mango Fruits," ca. 1889 Painted oak, 11 3/4 x 19 1/4 in. (30 x 49 cm) Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, 1781 Photograph by Ole Haupt © Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The exhibition will take visitors on a journey through the progression and scope of Gauguin's work, from an early drawing of his wife, Mette Gad (ca. 1873), to better-known paintings inspired by his travels to Tahiti, such as Tahitian Woman with a Flower (Vahine no te tiare), from 1891. Although Gauguin is best known as a painter and printmaker, the exhibition will also feature fifteen experimental ceramics and intricate wood carvings interspersed with period photography and excerpts from his own letters and writings.
Gauguin was greatly influenced by Pacific art and culture, from his time spent in the region en route to Tahiti in 1895. Corresponding to this period of Gauguin's travel and work in the Pacific, carvings and images from New Zealand, the Marquesas Islands, and Tahiti will be on view from FAMSF's own extensive holdings in Oceanic arts. Works such as the striking Māori gable figure of Tüwhakairiora, purchased by founder M. H. de Young from the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition in Golden Gate Park, will add to visitors' understanding of the Pacific histories, beliefs, and art that inspired Gauguin and captured his imagination. (Tüwhakairiora was an ancestor who avenged the death of his grandfather and became a leader of all the peoples of New Zealand's northeast coast of North Island in the seventeenth century.)
"It is exciting to bring so many Gauguin works to San Francisco," says exhibition curator Christina Hellmich, curator in charge of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "I am pleased that we can highlight some lesser-known aspects of his life, including his wife's critical role in his career, and offer contemporary perspectives through a new video installation. The striking works of Māori, Marquesan, and Tahitian art from our own collection will allow visitors to learn about Gauguin's fervent interest in the art and spirituality of Oceania."
Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903) Breton Girl, 1889 Oil on canvas, 28 1/8 x 35 5/8 in. (71.5 x 90.5 cm) Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, 1827 Photograph by Ole Haupt, © Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen Image provided courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Among many of Gauguin's paintings are subjects believed to depict Indigenous Māhu, or Tahitian "third gender" individuals. In Sāmoa, the equivalent is known as a Fa'afafine, an indigenous queer minority considered to be gifted in the spirit of more than one gender. Sāmoa-based interdisciplinary artist Yuki Kihara has been commissioned to create a new video work that will debut with this exhibition. Filmed in Upolu Island Sāmoa, her piece, entitled First Impressions: Paul Gauguin, shows a group of Fa'afafine friends discussing works that Gauguin created during his time in the Pacific.
"The Glyptotek contains one of the world's finest collections of Gauguin's works," adds Christine Buhl Andersen, Director of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. "For us it is of crucial significance that the collection is put into new contexts and thus remains vital and relevant. This is the case here where two museums have combined their potential and worked together curatorially, thus creating an original exhibition. We at the Glyptotek have enjoyed an excellent collaboration with the de Young museum and we look forward to experiencing the public's reception of the exhibition when it opens in San Francisco."
Gauguin: A Spiritual Journey is organized by Christina Hellmich, curator in charge of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and co-organized by Line Clausen Pedersen, curator at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.
The exhibition will be on view at the de Young museum from November 17, 2018, through April 7, 2019, and then travel to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.
"Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903) Woman Sewing, 1880 Oil on canvas, 45 1/16 x 31 5/16 in. (114.5 x 79.5 cm) Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, 3453 Photograph by Ole Haupt, © Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. Image provided courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Previous Tavares Strachan: Invisibles
Next Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Prince Imrahil Man
Imrahil was the twenty-second Prince of Dol Amroth. Imrahil was the son of Adrahil II. He had two older sisters, Ivriniel and Finduilas. After his father's death, he became Prince in T.A. 3010. Imrahil had four children: Elphir, Erchirion, Amrothos and Lothíriel.[1]
During the War of the Ring, Imrahil came to the aid of his brother-in-law, Denethor II. On 9 March, T.A. 3019, he came into Minas Tirith with a company of knights and seven hundred soldiers.[2] On 13 March, as Southrons harrassed Faramir, Imrahil and his knights, with Gandalf, formed a sortie, and Imrahil himself saved his sister-son from his pursuers. Faramir received a poisonous wound, and Denethor fell to madness. Being the highest ranking officer in Gondor fit for battle, Imrahil took command, and quickly passed it on to Gandalf.
Two days later, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields raged before the city. Imrahil ventured outside the city, and witnessed the funeral procession of Théoden. He recognized that Éowyn still lived (though she lie an inch from death), and brought her to the Houses of Healing.
Because Éomer and his riders were outnumbered, Imrahil rode into battle, together with Húrin the Tall, Forlong of Lossarnach and Hirluin the Fair, and they were soon joined by Aragorn who landed at Harlond. Imrahil continued East, driving the frightened Variags and orcs away.
Imrahil survived the battle unscathed, and together with Éomer and Aragorn he came to the Great Gate of Minas Tirith.[3] Imrahil recognized that Aragorn was the rightful King, but he agreed that it was wise for Aragorn to wait to enter the city, because he knew Denethor was strong-willed and proud.
When Imrahil learned that Denethor was dead and Faramir dying, he suggested that Aragorn be summoned, remembering that the Kings of old were great healers. Aragorn came at Gandalf's request to heal the wounded Faramir, Éowyn, and Merry, but he declared that Prince Imrahil should rule the City until Faramir awoke, in effect granting Imrahil the position of Steward.
During the debate of the Captains of the West, Gandalf proposed that they march to the Morannon to distract Sauron's attention from Frodo the Ring-bearer. Imrahil said that he would follow his liege Aragorn, but since Minas Tirith was under his command the Prince advised that some should remain to defend the City. In the end it was decided that an army of 7,000 would ride forth. Imrahil laughed at the thought.[4] Húrin the Tall was left behind in command.
The Host of the West left Minas Tirith on 18 March. Bypassing Minas Morgul and marching North, the heralds announced the coming of King Elessar at Imrahil's advice. When Sauron's forces emerged from the Black Gate on March 25, Imrahil stood on the front line with his men. They fought the Battle of the Morannon until the One Ring was destroyed.
Prince Imrahil was present at the celebrations of the field of Cormallen, and the coronation of Aragorn as King Elessar, and rode with the funeral procession of King Théoden to Rohan, remaining in Edoras after the King's burial on August 10. Imrahil and Éomer became great friends, and in Fo.A. 2 Éomer wed Imrahil's daughter Lothíriel.[5]
Illus. Donato Giancola
Prince of Dol Amroth Steward of Gondor
Adrahil II (Father) Ivriniel (Sister) Finduilas (Sister) Elphir (Son) Erchirion (Son) Amrothos (Son) Lothíriel (Daughter)
Friends and Associates
Aragorn Faramir Éomer


text:
Q: Ubuntu terminal shows php version 7.4 but browser shows php version 7.2 I'm in need of some desperate help. Moderators, please don't flag this question for being duplicate. I'm only asking here after I couldn't find any solution(s) for my case on previous question.
I've been stuck on this for 2 days now. I wanted to change the php version used on my Ubuntu from 7.2 to 7.4. I tried all the steps that I can google and also that I can find here in Stack Overflow and all I was able to do was switch php version on terminal to 7.4 but the browser still displays version 7.2 when displaying php info with phpinfo();
For your information I've PHP versions 5.6, 7.0, 7.2, 7.4 & 8.0 installed on my Ubuntu system.
So, can any help me switch my php version on the browser from 7.2 to 7.4? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.


Richard Lowry grew up in Southeast Idaho where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Accounting. He worked for Deloitte and Touche in the state of Alaska for 2.5 years in the tax preparation and auditing division. He has also been the Director of Audit for the state of Alaska and the Financial Controller for various software companies as well as several law firms. He maintained a small tax practice for 25 years before partnering with his wife Kelly to form K&R Tax.
Kelly Lowry also grew up in a small town in Southeast Idaho. She received her Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the Utah State University. After 20 years in her profession, she changed her career path and partnered with Richard to form K&R Tax in 2010. She is a Registered Tax Return Preparer.
Seth Coombs was born and raised in Cache Valley Utah. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from Utah State University, as well as a Master of Accountancy from Southern Utah University. He specializes in helping small business owners select the proper legal entity and tax structure to help them meet the needs of their business and save money. Seth is also a QuickBooks ProAdvisor and can help you with any bookkeeping needs. In his spare time, he enjoys playing sports and spending time with his wife and their three children.
Seth McRae grew up in Meridian, Idaho and eventually moved to Thatcher, Arizona. He graduated from ASU with a degree in accounting. He is married to his hot wife Macey and plans on getting his master's this year so that he can eventually become a CPA. Seth is a certified ProAdvisor for QuickBooks.


text:
How Will Climate Change Affect El Niño and La Niña?
SnowBrains | November 10, 2020 |
In September, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center announced that a La Niña had developed in the Pacific and was likely to last through the Northern Hemisphere winter. Credit: NOAA Climate.gov
This post first appeared on the NOAA Research News website
As climate change disrupts weather patterns around the world, one overarching question is the subject of increased scientific focus: how it will affect one of the world's dominant weather-makers?
Related: NOAA October 2020 ENSO Update: Chance of La Niña Increased to 85% | Forecasters Expect Strong La Niña
The future of the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is the subject of a new book published by the American Geophysical Union. With 21 chapters written by 98 authors from 58 research institutions in 16 countries, the volume covers the latest theories, models, and observations, and explores the challenges of forecasting El Niño and La Niña. The book, "El Niño Southern Oscillation in a Changing Climate" was published online on November 2.
El Niño and La Niña typically influence weather patterns in the United States in very different ways. Credit: NOAA Climate.gov
A giant weather-maker
ENSO is a cycle of warm El Niño and cool La Niña episodes that happen every few years in the tropical Pacific Ocean. It is the most dramatic year-to-year variation of the Earth's climate system, affecting agriculture, public health, freshwater availability, power generation, and economic activity in the United States and around the globe.
"This is the first comprehensive examination of how ENSO, its dynamics and its impacts may change under the influence of rising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere," said Michael McPhaden, Senior Scientist with NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle and co-editor of the new volume. Two other co-editors are from Australia: Agus Santoso, a scientist with the University of New South Wales, and Wenju Cai, a researcher with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, also known as CSIRO.
Credit: NOAA
ENSO impacts around the globe
During El Niño, chances for drought increase across India, Indonesia, and Australia, and a large part of the Amazon, while the southern U.S. tends to see more precipitation. During La Niña, the pattern is effectively reversed, with wetter conditions for Indonesia, Australia, and parts of the Amazon, and dry conditions in the southern tier of the U.S. In September, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center announced that a La Niña had developed in the Pacific and was likely to last through the Northern Hemisphere winter.
The new book, three years in the making, tracks the historical development of ideas about ENSO, explores underlying physical processes, and reveals the latest science on how ENSO responds to external factors such as climate phenomena outside the tropical Pacific, volcanic eruptions, and anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing.
Variability a challenge for forecasts
Antonietta Capotondi, a CIRES scientist working at NOAA's Physical Sciences Laboratory, said in recent decades, scientists have come to appreciate how significantly ENSO impacts can vary from event to event.
"No two El Niños or La Niñas are perfectly alike. We've seen how diverse ENSO events can be. This diversity adds another degree of complexity for understanding how climate change will influence future ENSO events."
– Antonietta Capotondi
So how are ENSO impacts likely to evolve in the coming decades?
"Extreme El Niño and La Niña events may increase in frequency from about one every 20 years to one every 10 years by the end of the 21st century under aggressive greenhouse gas emission scenarios. The strongest events may also become even stronger than they are today."
– Michael McPhaden
In a warming climate, rainfall extremes are projected to shift eastward along the equator in the Pacific Ocean during El Niño events and westward during extreme La Niña events. Less clear is the potential evolution of rainfall patterns in the mid-latitudes, but extremes may be more pronounced if strong El Niños and La Niñas increase in frequency and amplitude, he said.
Some ENSO impacts are already being amplified, such as the extensive coral bleaching and increases in tropical Pacific storm activity observed during the 2015-16 El Niño. ENSO is expected to impact tropical cyclone genesis in the future as it does today in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, but precisely how is still an open question.
To learn more about El Niño and La Niña, visit http://www.climate.gov/enso.
SnowBrains | November 10, 2020


This page features 4 virtual tours (be patient for the loading!), photo galleries and a map, make sure you don't miss anything!
This beautiful expedition takes us to the heart of the Khammouane Province in Laos, where limestone mountains are covered with untouched jungle. In the middle of this fantastic landscapes, the giant Xe Bang Fai Cave (sometimes called Khoun Xe Cave) has been "rediscovered" and exposed to the world by a National Geographic expedition in 2008. But visitors are still rare.
And now… it's my turn to go and bring back what probably are the first panoramas of Xe Bang Fai in the world! I wanna say thank you to my 2 guides Ice and Tik and my adventurous mom who were a great company for this cave trip.
How to go: Book a tour with Green Discovery, they have their office in the Inthira Hotel in Thakhek. It is also possible to go to Nong Ping by yourself and find a guide in the village.
Tour price: At the time of my visit (October 2015), 396 USD per person for two persons. Note that I am not sponsored or affiliated with them in any way, but they did provide excellent service.
Duration of the tour: 3 days. This article is actually the third day of this tour.
Best season: October to May (dry season).
Hours away from the city of Thakhek on a difficult road, Pakphanung is a village with dirt roads and wooden houses. This is where the expedition actually starts, as the village is located on the bank of the Xe Bang Fai River.
Thakhek is on the Mekong River, with Thailand on the other side. Phakphanung is totally on the other side of Laos, the border with Vietnam being only 26 km away in straight line!
Once you get on the boat and leave Pakphanung, there are almost no more signs of civilization. On both sides of the river, can be observed the typical karstic landcape of this part of the world, with limestone mountains and the forest partly covering them.
From Pakphanung, it's a 20 km journey on the meandering river before finally reaching the Xe Bang Fai Cave. After passing the village of Ban Nongping, we really enter the vast wilderness of the Hin Namno National Protected Area.
In front of the cave's lower entrance, a large sandbar is where we will camp. I had plenty of time to explore every corner of this sandbar, enjoying the wonderful pristine environment… and shooting panos.
It is actually a total of 2 nights that we spent on this sandbar – the night before exploring the cave and the night after. The first night, I must admit that I didn't sleep much – too excited!
An almost full moon ruined my hopes of shooting great pics of stars. But when the moon finally disappeared below the horizon at around 3:30 am, I was out with my tripod and camera! How can you just sleep when you have this rare opportunity to see this remote place under a sky full of stars?
Finally, the D-day has come! For someone who usually is allergic to waking up early, I can tell you that on that particular morning I was quick to get up! No matter how much sleep debt I had accumulated from the previous night spent taking photos of the stars.
In a straight line, from an entrance to another, the Xe Bang Fai river cave is a little less than 5 km long, but underground it meanders for much longer, 10 to 12 km according to different sources.
I am not particularly experienced in cave exploration, but it is easy to tell that the Xe Bang Fai Cave is exceptional. It is the largest cave in Laos, even larger than the more famous Kong Lor Cave. It is actually said to be the largest river cave in the whole world.
I really didn't know what to expect inside the cave. Its size, the height of its ceiling, are astonishing. At some points, we had to get off the kayaks and carry them among huge slippery boulders in order to pass some rapids.
It happened 3 times at the time of my visit, but the number of rapids depends on the level of the water.
Most of the time however, it is just kayaking on calm water, at times struggling a little against the current. But at all times, you are just in awe discovering what your tiny headlamp reveals from the darkness.
This darkness, I hadn't really thought of it before going in. The fact of staying alive… depends on the little batteries inside your headlamp. Of course I was not alone in the cave and we all had a headlamp plus some extra ones, but if they happened to run out of batteries… we are probably doomed to death.
There isn't a single speck of light inside. The darkness is total and spatial landmarks are all gone. So without light, I really don't see how anyone could get out of the cave and brave the violent rapids.
Shooting pictures and panoramas inside the cave was a real challenge… as there is zero light.
When I left for my trip around South-East Asia, I was not sure I would be able to go to Xe Bang Fai. As a result, I didn't bring any good source of light with me, and the only available light inside the cave was the one coming out of our headlamps. And it's really not great.
So I did what I could with what I had. The panoramas at the two mouths of the caves were of course not a problem as plenty of daylight was penetrating the cave. But inside the cave, I had to use all the available headlamps and place them around, in order to light the whole scene up.
There is so much more inside the cave that I would have liked to shoot and show on this website. But my lack of light equipment and lack of time prevented me from doing more. When we came out of the cave it was already night – we had spent 10 hours underground!
This tour is clearly on the expensive side and it was a real financial sacrifice for me. But I felt that it would be something amazing and gave it a go. It turned out to be one of the more extraordinary places I have visited in my whole life. An experience I will remember forever!
My wish now? Get another opportunity to explore this cave, with more time and proper light equipment to create a complete virtual tour all along! – and make a cool travel video.
This is the map showing all 4 virtual tours (with different colors). Don't hesitate to zoom in to explore! You can open the menu on the left side to see the list of panoramas and where they are on the map.
What a fabulous post! I love that cave 🙂 All the formations are so beautiful! And the pictures are really nice.
Love the interactive tours, really helps show off how stunning the area is, and how amazing that cave is on the inside. I'd love to visit somewhere like this.
Thank you Alison, this cave is really amazing, I wish you to visit it one day!
This has got to be the most interactive and engaging blog post I've seen. I liked the 3D panoramic images. I can see why you broke your daily tradition of sleeping in later to see this gorgeous place. I probably wouldn't have felt claustrophobic to go into the cave.
Thanks for your comment Kareemah, it's true that the cave is so huge that you can't get claustrophobic!
I met a truly awesome young woman, who comes from Laos. Her stories had me wanting to visit. This feature has me wanting to visit even more! Thanks for sharing.
Laos is a really beautiful country with great people, so many things to discover there. You can't be disappointed.
I always love how beautiful your pictures and presentations are! They always take me to the location. I love discovering caves and would love to visit one day!
Hey Rachelle thanks for your comment! If you like cave then this one is like THE cave to see! I had never seen a cave like this in my life.
Wow this is amazing — the virtual tour had me there with you! I've always wanted to visit Laos . Sounds incredible.
Thanks Solmaz, glad you liked it!
Wow, these pictures are beautiful! I love small villages like Pakphanung, but I can imagine not many people lived there.
Thanks Marissa, I also love visiting these remote villages and enjoy their peaceful lifestyle.
What an adventure! I 'm besotted with Laos and would love to camp in that remote spot. It looks superb. The river cave formations look pretty spectacular too but no matter how big the cave looks, I think I'd have to sit that bit out due to claustrophobia.
Hey Aleney, thanks for your comment! The place is indeed superb but really the cave is SO big that I don't think you would feel claustrophobic.
My internet struggled a bit with the virtual tours, but what I could see was absolutely spectacular. The Xe Bang Fai river looks so gorgeous and like a truly serene off-the-beaten-path journey. Did you encounter many other people along the way? I would love to go to Laos one day and this seems like an amazing experience in the country.
Hey Kate, sorry about the technical struggle! I did not see any other foreign visitor as it is totally off classic itineraries, just people in the villages I crossed.
Thanks Siddharta! Glad you enjoyed the pictures. It was indeed a very memorable experience!
This is as offbeat as it can get. The Xe Bang Fai caves are definitely hidden gems and the landscapes so stunning. The interiors of the caves themselves are the most intriguing and must make for an incredible experience. The 360 degree panoramas brought this incredible place alive on my screen.
Thank you Sandy! I'm glad you enjoyed the panoramas. It's a stunning cave indeed!
Thank you Lauren! I'm happy you enjoyed the virtual tour. If you love caves, I can tell you that this one will blow your mind!
I would love to kayak down the Xe Bang Fai River and then imagine that I would be an early explorer. Did you get to see any amazing wildlife on the trip down the river.
Hey Jennifer, I did not get to see wildlife along the river except pretty butterflies, it's really mostly about the very spectacular landscape and cave. And as you say, the feeling of being among the first ones to explore it.
Loved your photos. They make me want to visit Xe Bang Fai. Camping next to the river sounds so serene. You mentioned the tour was expensive. Did I miss where you say how much it cost?
Hey Debra, thanks for the comment! I mention the cost in the "Quick Info" at the top of the page, almost 400USD per person for a 3-day tour. But if you feel comfortable renting a motorbike and driving on a VERY bad road, you can actually reach the closest village (Ban Nong Ping) by yourself and find a a guide there. It would cost a fraction of that price and I think I will try doing that next time I go to Laos.


Heritage' refers to places and values past established that continue to influence the operation and culture of McIntosh today. The McIntosh founding fathers created a solid foundation based on sound business and scientific principles that continue to guide the company. These men and the company home of Binghamton, NY have formed the special company that is McIntosh today.
McIntosh was originally founded in Silver Spring, Maryland, in 1949. The current Binghamton, NY factory, shown under construction in 1956, continues to grow with the company.
idney Corderman joined McIntosh in 1951 as head of research, engineering and development. His forty year tenure established McIntosh as a leader in high performance audio.


At its most basic, minimalist design is stripped of superfluous elements, colors, shapes and textures. Its purpose is to make the content stand out and be the focal point. It's meant to calm and to bring the mind down to the basics. It makes me think I should not only use "less is more" in my design, but also in my life.
This design movement started in Switzerland and was used in a variety of media: graphic design, architecture, music, literature, painting, and more recently, web design. Although minimalist design took off decades ago, we've just recently seen minimalism in website design. Thanks to this design movement, surfing the internet is easier on the eyes. Sites that have space around design elements, simple one word navigation (no big bulky buttons), organized text areas, clean one element illustrations or images give a "Zen Appeal" to any website.
"Less is more" has been my design moto for the last five years and has helped me design websites like Prosperoware. Keep in mind, there is a balance. Not everyone likes this minimalistic approach applied to their website and would prefer a site that is rich with color and textures. But, you can have both. The key is to keep the richness in the images and these images should have a focus. Background colors and textures should be used minimally and more transparently. A black background can be dramatic, but placing a white body of text on a black/dark background is not easy to read. In turn, a white or light colored background for the text area will help keep your viewers happy and you can keep the drama on the headers, surrounding borders, side bars and/or the footer.
These are just a few tips to help achieve that "Zen Affect" when it comes to website design. If you need some zen in your website, give us a call today. Namaste.


text:
News Flash Freeze: Inhalable Therapies Improve Drug Efficacy and Adverse Events Profiles
Finally, you can take a deep breath in and relax…knowing you've also taken the lowest efficacious dose of your medicine, with less worry over adverse events. And it's all thanks to a company called TFF Pharmaceuticals.
Press play to learn:
What specific problem TFF technology solves in terms of drug metabolism and systemic absorption
How TFF technology can be applied to the area of vaccines
Whether TFF technology could be used with cannabinoids as an alternative to vaping
Glenn Mattes has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for over forty years now, and for the past four years, has served as CEO of TFF Pharmaceuticals, a Thin Film Freezing technology platform that can improve the properties of drug formulation, delivery, and administration while maintaining efficacy and avoiding many adverse events associated with other drug therapies.
The Thin Film Freezing technology uses flash freezing to capture pharmaceutical drugs in a highly active state and convert them into highly concentrated powders. These powders can then be put into a capsule and inhaler device, allowing for administration directly into the lungs. Since the lung is an ideal organ for drug metabolism and distribution throughout the body, lower doses of the drug can be used to achieve the same or better efficacy with lower incidence of adverse events.
Other substances being formulated at TFF Pharmaceuticals can be inhaled through the nose, and in the works is a formulation that can be applied to the eyes or skin.
Mattes explains the science behind this technique, including the details of how and why it works, and the specific ways in which it can be applied.
Learn more at https://tffpharma.com/.
https://media.blubrry.com/futuretechpodcast/p/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/chtbl.com/track/6F4136/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/findinggeniuspodcast/Glenn_Mattes.mp3
Improve Drug Efficacy
Inhalable Therapies
TFF Pharmaceuticals
TFF Technology


We sell CURLY & WAVY hair produced by hair-specialized companies including MODEL MODEL, BOBBI BOSS, SENSATIONNEL, ISIS, HARLEM125, OUTRE, and EBIN. There are BODY WAVE, LOOSE WAVE, BOHEMIAN CURL, RIPPLE DEEP, etc. in different manufacturing results; UNPROCESSED, REMY, HUMAN, WET&WAVY, and STNTHETIC. To see further information, go to the specific category at the left, tap to find what you are looking for or product detail.
CURL & WAVY There are no products in this category.


The Haga Initiative wants to prove that the business community is part of the solution in the transformation to a low-carbon society. Climate responsibility is inherent in our societal responsibility, and therefore, we push for more ambitious climate policy to enable companies to work more effectively with their climate responsibility.
The Haga Initiative is a business network that strives to reduce the business sector's climate impact. We are a platform for companies who are committed to reduce their climate impact in order to achieve the Haga Initiative's vision of a profitable business sector without climate impact. The way forward for the Haga Initiative is to engage companies from different industries and highlight the ween ambitious climate strategies and increased profitability.
At the same time, the companies in the Haga Initiative show that an effective work with climate responsibility creates concrete economic advantages. Therefore, the Haga Initiative wants to inspire other companies to set stricter emission targets and openly and transparently disclose their climate efforts through annual climate reports.
What do we want to achieve? A profitable business sector in Sweden, Europe and the world that takes environmental and climate issues seriously and that has identified the inherent possibilities in the climate transformation. A sector with companies that inspire and reinforce each other and that cooperate with politicians, academia and the civil society searching for answers to the pivotal questions that need to be addressed in order to achieve a society where the major climate problems are solved.


continuous improvement of the quality assurance system and of customer satisfaction.
Armor Lux has its own testing and analytical laboratory specialized in the control and development of textiles (LAD). Since 2011, the laboratory has been accredited by the COmité FRançais d'ACcréditation (COFRAC) (French Comity of Accreditation), pursuant to the standard NF EN ISO/CEI 17025. Armor Lux's laboratory carries out over 10,000 physical and chemical tests each year (colorimetric analyses, dimensional stability, colorfastness, mechanical characteristics…).


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(-) Remove <label class='research-domain' title='Condensed Matter Physics'>PE3 (40)</label> filter PE3 (40)
Project acronym ASCENT
Project Advanced materials and devices for hybrid spin coherent technologies
Researcher (PI) John Julian Larrarte Morton
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Summary The property of spin has been harnessed in an array of revolutionary technologies, from nuclear spins in magnetic resonance imaging to spintronics in magnetic recording media. Nature at its deepest level is quantum mechanical and spins are capable of demonstrating superposition and entanglement, yet such coherent properties have not yet been fully exploited. The exquisite control over materials fabrication and spin control techniques has reached a maturity where spintronics can go beyond purely classical effects and begin to fully exploit these quantum properties. Potential applications range from quantum information processors, including the transmission of quantum information via itinerant electron spins, single microwave photon storage within spin ensembles, and a new generation of sensors exploiting entanglement to yield fundamentally enhanced precision. The aim of ASCENT is to develop materials and devices in which electron and nuclear spins exhibit long-lived coherent quantum behaviour and interactions which can be harnessed for technological purposes. Specifically, ASCENT will exploit in range of condensed matter systems from molecular materials to silicon-based structures, the possibility of transiently generating and removing electron spins in the vicinity of nuclear spins. The project represents a new and promising direction for the development of coherent interactions between spins in materials, and one which builds upon foundations I have established in my earlier work, often supported by preliminary investigations. Strong interactions with theory throughout this project will provide insights to refine and improve the experiments. In addition to direct applications in quantum technologies, the insights and methodology gained will be fed back into the wider field of spin resonance, including dynamic nuclear polarisation, structural biology and medical imaging.
The property of spin has been harnessed in an array of revolutionary technologies, from nuclear spins in magnetic resonance imaging to spintronics in magnetic recording media. Nature at its deepest level is quantum mechanical and spins are capable of demonstrating superposition and entanglement, yet such coherent properties have not yet been fully exploited. The exquisite control over materials fabrication and spin control techniques has reached a maturity where spintronics can go beyond purely classical effects and begin to fully exploit these quantum properties. Potential applications range from quantum information processors, including the transmission of quantum information via itinerant electron spins, single microwave photon storage within spin ensembles, and a new generation of sensors exploiting entanglement to yield fundamentally enhanced precision. The aim of ASCENT is to develop materials and devices in which electron and nuclear spins exhibit long-lived coherent quantum behaviour and interactions which can be harnessed for technological purposes. Specifically, ASCENT will exploit in range of condensed matter systems from molecular materials to silicon-based structures, the possibility of transiently generating and removing electron spins in the vicinity of nuclear spins. The project represents a new and promising direction for the development of coherent interactions between spins in materials, and one which builds upon foundations I have established in my earlier work, often supported by preliminary investigations. Strong interactions with theory throughout this project will provide insights to refine and improve the experiments. In addition to direct applications in quantum technologies, the insights and methodology gained will be fed back into the wider field of spin resonance, including dynamic nuclear polarisation, structural biology and medical imaging.
Project acronym CARBONNEMS
Project NanoElectroMechanical Systems based on Carbon Nanotube and Graphene
Researcher (PI) Adrian Bachtold
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE CIENCIES FOTONIQUES
Summary Carbon nanotubes and graphene form a class of nanoscale objects with exceptional electrical, mechanical and structural properties. I propose to exploit these unique properties to fabricate and study various nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) based on graphene and nanotubes. Specifically, I will address two directions with major scientific interests: 1- I propose to study electromechanical resonators based on an individual nanotube or on a single layer of graphene. My group has a leading position in this recent research field and the idea is to take advantage of our expertise for two sets of experiments, one on inertial mass sensing and one on the exploration of quantum motion. These two topics are generating at present an intense activity in the NEMS community. Experiments are usually carried out using microfabricated silicon resonators but the ultra low mass of nanotubes and graphene has here an enormous asset. It drastically improves the sensitivity of mass sensing and it dramatically enhances the amplitude of the motion in the quantum regime. 2- My team will fabricate and exploit nanomotors based on nanotube and graphene. Only few man-made nanomotors have been demonstrated so far. Reasons are multiple. For instance, the fabrication of nanomotors is technically challenging. In addition, friction forces are often so strong that they hinder motion. Because of their unique properties, nanotubes and graphene represent a material of choice for the development of new nanomotors. We will construct nanomotors with different layouts and address how electrical, thermal or chemical energy can be transformed into mechanical energy in order to drive motion at the nanoscale.
Carbon nanotubes and graphene form a class of nanoscale objects with exceptional electrical, mechanical and structural properties. I propose to exploit these unique properties to fabricate and study various nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) based on graphene and nanotubes. Specifically, I will address two directions with major scientific interests: 1- I propose to study electromechanical resonators based on an individual nanotube or on a single layer of graphene. My group has a leading position in this recent research field and the idea is to take advantage of our expertise for two sets of experiments, one on inertial mass sensing and one on the exploration of quantum motion. These two topics are generating at present an intense activity in the NEMS community. Experiments are usually carried out using microfabricated silicon resonators but the ultra low mass of nanotubes and graphene has here an enormous asset. It drastically improves the sensitivity of mass sensing and it dramatically enhances the amplitude of the motion in the quantum regime. 2- My team will fabricate and exploit nanomotors based on nanotube and graphene. Only few man-made nanomotors have been demonstrated so far. Reasons are multiple. For instance, the fabrication of nanomotors is technically challenging. In addition, friction forces are often so strong that they hinder motion. Because of their unique properties, nanotubes and graphene represent a material of choice for the development of new nanomotors. We will construct nanomotors with different layouts and address how electrical, thermal or chemical energy can be transformed into mechanical energy in order to drive motion at the nanoscale.
Project acronym CCICO
Project Coupled and Competing Instabilities in Complex Oxides
Researcher (PI) Nicola Ann Spaldin
Host Institution (HI) EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH
Summary "The CCICO project will build a comprehensive understanding of how proximity to previously unexplored combinations of instabilities, as well as previously unidentified types of ordering, manifest in novel behaviors, and will develop design guidelines for practical realization of new materials with such behaviors. Taking transition-metal oxides as our model systems, we will develop and apply first-principles electronic structure theory methods to explore an extensive array of new combinations of orderings, with a focus on interactions between the electronic -- Jahn-Teller, orbital and charge -- and structural -- rotations, ferroelectric and other distortions -- degrees of freedom. Our goal is to spawn a new field of study based on a novel combination of orderings in the same way that the field of multiferroics was jump-started ten years ago by our work understanding the coexistence of ferroelectricity and magnetism. Conversely, we will apply the computational tools developed in our history of studying multiferroics, particularly descriptions of proximity to structural and magnetic phase transitions, to characterizing observed behaviors such as exotic superconductivity in existing materials. In the process we will search for and characterize elusive or poorly characterized forms of order in solids, with a focus on ferrotoroidicity and emergent local dipoles. A final application is to create designer materials for solid-state experiments relevant to high-energy physics and cosmology. Promising compounds that are amenable to bulk synthesis will be made in our new oxide single-crystal growth laboratory; materials that require thin-film routes will be pursued in collaboration with colleagues."
"The CCICO project will build a comprehensive understanding of how proximity to previously unexplored combinations of instabilities, as well as previously unidentified types of ordering, manifest in novel behaviors, and will develop design guidelines for practical realization of new materials with such behaviors. Taking transition-metal oxides as our model systems, we will develop and apply first-principles electronic structure theory methods to explore an extensive array of new combinations of orderings, with a focus on interactions between the electronic -- Jahn-Teller, orbital and charge -- and structural -- rotations, ferroelectric and other distortions -- degrees of freedom. Our goal is to spawn a new field of study based on a novel combination of orderings in the same way that the field of multiferroics was jump-started ten years ago by our work understanding the coexistence of ferroelectricity and magnetism. Conversely, we will apply the computational tools developed in our history of studying multiferroics, particularly descriptions of proximity to structural and magnetic phase transitions, to characterizing observed behaviors such as exotic superconductivity in existing materials. In the process we will search for and characterize elusive or poorly characterized forms of order in solids, with a focus on ferrotoroidicity and emergent local dipoles. A final application is to create designer materials for solid-state experiments relevant to high-energy physics and cosmology. Promising compounds that are amenable to bulk synthesis will be made in our new oxide single-crystal growth laboratory; materials that require thin-film routes will be pursued in collaboration with colleagues."
Project acronym CEMAS
Project Controlling and Exploring Molecular Systems at the Atomic Scale with Atomic Force Microscopy
Researcher (PI) Gerhard Meyer
Host Institution (HI) IBM RESEARCH GMBH
Summary The objective of this project is to advance and use Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to explore the physical and chemical properties of single molecules and molecular systems with unprecedented spatial resolution. We will use AFM to develop atomically resolved molecular imaging with structural and chemical identification and investigate charge distribution and transfer in molecular systems. The AFM will allow the extension of seminal Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) work on atoms/molecules on ultra-thin insulating films to thick insulating films, to control and explore single molecule chemistry processes in utmost detail. The whole work will be significantly based on the development and exploitation of novel atomic and molecular manipulation processes to control matter at the atomic scale, both for fabricating novel complex molecular nanostructures with atomic scale precision and understanding these systems, as well as for probe-tip functionalization to tailor tip-substrate interaction. Instrumental enhancements will focus on fabricating novel AFM sensors for simultaneous lateral and vertical force measurement and on developing a new original approach to increase the time resolution in AFM measurements. Due to the fundamental nature of this work we expect the long term impact of this work to be in surface science, chemistry, molecular electronics and life sciences. In the short term we expect to develop the AFM into a practical tool for chemical structure determination of unknown molecules and we will employ atomic manipulation and high resolution AFM imaging to image, modify and functionalize graphene edge structures with atomic scale precision with the prospect of exploring and developing novel molecular devices.
The objective of this project is to advance and use Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to explore the physical and chemical properties of single molecules and molecular systems with unprecedented spatial resolution. We will use AFM to develop atomically resolved molecular imaging with structural and chemical identification and investigate charge distribution and transfer in molecular systems. The AFM will allow the extension of seminal Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) work on atoms/molecules on ultra-thin insulating films to thick insulating films, to control and explore single molecule chemistry processes in utmost detail. The whole work will be significantly based on the development and exploitation of novel atomic and molecular manipulation processes to control matter at the atomic scale, both for fabricating novel complex molecular nanostructures with atomic scale precision and understanding these systems, as well as for probe-tip functionalization to tailor tip-substrate interaction. Instrumental enhancements will focus on fabricating novel AFM sensors for simultaneous lateral and vertical force measurement and on developing a new original approach to increase the time resolution in AFM measurements. Due to the fundamental nature of this work we expect the long term impact of this work to be in surface science, chemistry, molecular electronics and life sciences. In the short term we expect to develop the AFM into a practical tool for chemical structure determination of unknown molecules and we will employ atomic manipulation and high resolution AFM imaging to image, modify and functionalize graphene edge structures with atomic scale precision with the prospect of exploring and developing novel molecular devices.
Project acronym COMPNET
Project Dynamics and Self-organisation in Complex Cytoskeletal Networks
Researcher (PI) Andreas Bausch
Host Institution (HI) TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN
Summary The requirements on the eukaryotic cytoskeleton are not only of high complexity, but include demands that are actually contradictory in the first place: While the dynamic character of cytoskeletal structures is essential for the motility of cells, their ability for morphological reorganisations and cell division, the structural integrity of cells relies on the stability of cytoskeletal structures. From a biophysical point of view, this dynamic structure formation and stabilization stems from a self-organisation process that is tightly controlled by the simultaneous and competing function of a plethora of actin binding proteins (ABPs). To understand the self-organisation phenomena observed in the cytoskeleton it is therefore indispensable to first shed light on the functional role of ABPs and their underlying molecular mechanisms. Hereby development of reliable reconstituted model systems as has been proven by the great progress achieved in our understanding of individual crosslinking proteins that turn the cytoskeleton into a viscoelastic physical gel. The advantage of such reconstituted systems is that the biological complexity is decreased to an accessible level that the physical principles can be explored and identified. It is the aim of the present proposal to successively increase the complexity in a well defined manner to further progress in understanding the functional units of a cell. On the way to a sound physical understanding of cellular self organizing principles, the planned major step comprises the incorporation of active processes like the active (de-)polymerisation of filaments and motor mediated active reorganisation and contraction. We plan to develop new tools and approaches to address how the different kinds of ABPs are interacting with each other and how the structure, dynamics and function of the cytoskeleton is locally governed by the competition and interplay between them.
The requirements on the eukaryotic cytoskeleton are not only of high complexity, but include demands that are actually contradictory in the first place: While the dynamic character of cytoskeletal structures is essential for the motility of cells, their ability for morphological reorganisations and cell division, the structural integrity of cells relies on the stability of cytoskeletal structures. From a biophysical point of view, this dynamic structure formation and stabilization stems from a self-organisation process that is tightly controlled by the simultaneous and competing function of a plethora of actin binding proteins (ABPs). To understand the self-organisation phenomena observed in the cytoskeleton it is therefore indispensable to first shed light on the functional role of ABPs and their underlying molecular mechanisms. Hereby development of reliable reconstituted model systems as has been proven by the great progress achieved in our understanding of individual crosslinking proteins that turn the cytoskeleton into a viscoelastic physical gel. The advantage of such reconstituted systems is that the biological complexity is decreased to an accessible level that the physical principles can be explored and identified. It is the aim of the present proposal to successively increase the complexity in a well defined manner to further progress in understanding the functional units of a cell. On the way to a sound physical understanding of cellular self organizing principles, the planned major step comprises the incorporation of active processes like the active (de-)polymerisation of filaments and motor mediated active reorganisation and contraction. We plan to develop new tools and approaches to address how the different kinds of ABPs are interacting with each other and how the structure, dynamics and function of the cytoskeleton is locally governed by the competition and interplay between them.
Project acronym CROWDED-PRO-LIPIDS
Project Computational Perspective to Dynamical Protein-Lipid Complexes under Crowded Conditions
Researcher (PI) Ilpo Tapio Vattulainen
Host Institution (HI) TTY-SAATIO
Summary "One of the great challenges is to understand how cellular functions emerge in cell membrane systems. Unlocking this mystery is the key to the vast majority of human diseases. The current view is based on a static picture where membrane proteins in protein-poor membranes interact with a few specific lipids, while in reality the situation is much more complicated. This ambitious project aims for a breakthrough by changing the present paradigm. The objective is to focus on the dynamical interplay between lipids and proteins under crowded conditions, paving the way for understanding the dynamics of lipid-protein complexes and their resulting functions. The objectives are outstanding and contain a high risk, with exceptional gain. The main goal is better understanding of the physical principles that give rise to cellular functions, with a strong impact to clarify the relevance of dynamical lipid-protein interactions in cellular processes related to health and disease. For this purpose, the grand themes chosen for this project are lipoproteins coupled to cardiovascular disease ("good" and "bad" cholesterol) and the function of especially cholesterol and glycolipids with membrane proteins. In order to meet these goals, the applicant employs state-of-the-art simulation techniques that comprise quantum-mechanical, classical atomistic and coarse-grained simulation methods to elucidate the complex biological phenomena associated with lipid-protein systems. The simulations cover atomistic and molecular details, over time scales from femtoseconds up to milliseconds. The theory & simulation group lead by PI comprises expertise in a truly cross- and multi-disciplinary manner, and it strongly collaborates with some of the leading experimental teams in biomedical sciences, cell biology, structural biology, and membrane biophysics."
"One of the great challenges is to understand how cellular functions emerge in cell membrane systems. Unlocking this mystery is the key to the vast majority of human diseases. The current view is based on a static picture where membrane proteins in protein-poor membranes interact with a few specific lipids, while in reality the situation is much more complicated. This ambitious project aims for a breakthrough by changing the present paradigm. The objective is to focus on the dynamical interplay between lipids and proteins under crowded conditions, paving the way for understanding the dynamics of lipid-protein complexes and their resulting functions. The objectives are outstanding and contain a high risk, with exceptional gain. The main goal is better understanding of the physical principles that give rise to cellular functions, with a strong impact to clarify the relevance of dynamical lipid-protein interactions in cellular processes related to health and disease. For this purpose, the grand themes chosen for this project are lipoproteins coupled to cardiovascular disease ("good" and "bad" cholesterol) and the function of especially cholesterol and glycolipids with membrane proteins. In order to meet these goals, the applicant employs state-of-the-art simulation techniques that comprise quantum-mechanical, classical atomistic and coarse-grained simulation methods to elucidate the complex biological phenomena associated with lipid-protein systems. The simulations cover atomistic and molecular details, over time scales from femtoseconds up to milliseconds. The theory & simulation group lead by PI comprises expertise in a truly cross- and multi-disciplinary manner, and it strongly collaborates with some of the leading experimental teams in biomedical sciences, cell biology, structural biology, and membrane biophysics."
Project acronym DROEMU
Project DROPLETS AND EMULSIONS: DYNAMICS AND RHEOLOGY
Researcher (PI) Mauro Sbragaglia
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA TOR VERGATA
Summary The applications of micro- and nanofluidics are now numerous, including lab-on-chip systems based upon micro-manipulation of discrete droplets, emulsions of interest in food and medical industries (drug delivery), analytical separation techniques of biomolecules, such as proteins and DNA, and facile handling of mass-limited samples. The problems involved contain diverse nano- and microstructures with a variety of lifetimes, touching atomistic scales (contact lines, thin films), mesoscopic collective behaviour (emulsions, glassy, soft-jammed systems) and hydrodynamical spatio-temporal evolutions (droplets and interface dynamics) with complex rheology and strong non-equilibrium properties. The interplay of the dynamics at the different scales involved still remains to be fully understood. The fundamental research I address in this project aims to set up the unified framework for the characterization and modelling of interfaces in confined geometries by means of an innovative micro- and nanofluidic numerical platform. The main challenging and ambitious questions I intend to address in my project are: How the stability of micro- and nanodroplets is affected by thermal gradients? Or by boundary corrugation and modulated wettability? Or by complex rheological properties of the dispersed and/or continuous phases? How these effects can be tuned to design new optimal devices for emulsions production? What are the rheological properties of these new soft materials? How confinement in small structures changes the bulk emulsion properties? What is the molecular-hydrodynamical mechanism at the origin of contact line slippage? How to realistically model the fluid-particle interactions on the molecular scale? The strength of the project lies in an innovative and state-of-the-art numerical approach, based on mesoscopic Lattice Boltzmann Models, coupled to microscopic molecular physics, supported by theoretical modelling, lubrication theory and experimental validation.
The applications of micro- and nanofluidics are now numerous, including lab-on-chip systems based upon micro-manipulation of discrete droplets, emulsions of interest in food and medical industries (drug delivery), analytical separation techniques of biomolecules, such as proteins and DNA, and facile handling of mass-limited samples. The problems involved contain diverse nano- and microstructures with a variety of lifetimes, touching atomistic scales (contact lines, thin films), mesoscopic collective behaviour (emulsions, glassy, soft-jammed systems) and hydrodynamical spatio-temporal evolutions (droplets and interface dynamics) with complex rheology and strong non-equilibrium properties. The interplay of the dynamics at the different scales involved still remains to be fully understood. The fundamental research I address in this project aims to set up the unified framework for the characterization and modelling of interfaces in confined geometries by means of an innovative micro- and nanofluidic numerical platform. The main challenging and ambitious questions I intend to address in my project are: How the stability of micro- and nanodroplets is affected by thermal gradients? Or by boundary corrugation and modulated wettability? Or by complex rheological properties of the dispersed and/or continuous phases? How these effects can be tuned to design new optimal devices for emulsions production? What are the rheological properties of these new soft materials? How confinement in small structures changes the bulk emulsion properties? What is the molecular-hydrodynamical mechanism at the origin of contact line slippage? How to realistically model the fluid-particle interactions on the molecular scale? The strength of the project lies in an innovative and state-of-the-art numerical approach, based on mesoscopic Lattice Boltzmann Models, coupled to microscopic molecular physics, supported by theoretical modelling, lubrication theory and experimental validation.
Project acronym DYNCORSYS
Project Real-time dynamics of correlated many-body systems
Researcher (PI) Philipp Werner
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE DE FRIBOURG
Summary "Strongly correlated materials exhibit some of the most remarkable phenonomena found in condensed matter systems. They typically involve many active degrees of freedom (spin, charge, orbital), which leads to numerous competing states and complicated phase diagrams. A new perspective on correlated many-body systems is provided by the nonequilibrium dynamics, which is being explored in transport studies on nanostructures, pump-probe experiments on correlated solids, and in quench experiments on ultra-cold atomic gases. An advanced theoretical framework for the study of correlated lattice models, which can be adapted to nonequilibrium situations, is dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). One aim of this proposal is to develop ""nonequilibrium DMFT"" into a powerful tool for the simulation of excitation and relaxation processes in interacting many-body systems. The big challenge in these simulations is the calculation of the real-time evolution of a quantum impurity model. Recently developed real-time impurity solvers have, however, opened the door to a wide range of applications. We will improve the efficiency and flexibility of these methods and develop complementary approaches, which will extend the accessible parameter regimes. This machinery will be used to study correlated lattice models under nonequilibrium conditions. The ultimate goal is to explore and qualitatively understand the nonequilibrium properties of ""real"" materials with active spin, charge, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom. The ability to simulate the real-time dynamics of correlated many-body systems will be crucial for the interpretation of experiments and the discovery of correlation effects which manifest themselves only in the form of transient states. A proper understanding of the most basic nonequilibrium phenomena in correlated solids will help guide future experiments and hopefully lead to new technological applications such as ultra-fast switches or storage devices."
"Strongly correlated materials exhibit some of the most remarkable phenonomena found in condensed matter systems. They typically involve many active degrees of freedom (spin, charge, orbital), which leads to numerous competing states and complicated phase diagrams. A new perspective on correlated many-body systems is provided by the nonequilibrium dynamics, which is being explored in transport studies on nanostructures, pump-probe experiments on correlated solids, and in quench experiments on ultra-cold atomic gases. An advanced theoretical framework for the study of correlated lattice models, which can be adapted to nonequilibrium situations, is dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). One aim of this proposal is to develop ""nonequilibrium DMFT"" into a powerful tool for the simulation of excitation and relaxation processes in interacting many-body systems. The big challenge in these simulations is the calculation of the real-time evolution of a quantum impurity model. Recently developed real-time impurity solvers have, however, opened the door to a wide range of applications. We will improve the efficiency and flexibility of these methods and develop complementary approaches, which will extend the accessible parameter regimes. This machinery will be used to study correlated lattice models under nonequilibrium conditions. The ultimate goal is to explore and qualitatively understand the nonequilibrium properties of ""real"" materials with active spin, charge, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom. The ability to simulate the real-time dynamics of correlated many-body systems will be crucial for the interpretation of experiments and the discovery of correlation effects which manifest themselves only in the form of transient states. A proper understanding of the most basic nonequilibrium phenomena in correlated solids will help guide future experiments and hopefully lead to new technological applications such as ultra-fast switches or storage devices."
Project acronym ECOMAGICS
Project Electric Control of Magnetization Dynamics
Researcher (PI) Georg Woltersdorf
Host Institution (HI) MARTIN-LUTHER-UNIVERSITAET HALLE-WITTENBERG
Summary In this proposal a new electric field based approach for the control of magnetization dynamics is discussed. The advantage of using electric fields compared to magnetic fields is twofold: (i) electric fields are easy to confine in nano-structures (screening), and (ii) no current flow is required which may allow for the development of new spintronic devices with ultra low power consumption. Physically the application of an electric field to an ultrathin ferromagnetic material gives rise to modification of the wave-function overlap at the interface between a ferromagnetic metal and a dielectric. This electronic tuning causes a modified occupation of the d-orbitals at the interface and leads to electrically induced anisotropies. Hence external electric fields generate internal magnetic fields. Due to the modified orbital moment also a large voltage induced effect on the Gilbert damping is expected in magnetization dynamic experiments. In principle these fields can be applied even on ultrafast time scales. This will be explored when rf-electric fields are used to drive internal magnetic fields in the GHz frequency range to generate spin-waves. Furthermore this technique will be used to excite monochromatic spin-waves with wave-vectors well in the exchange dominated regime in order to study their propagation properties. I propose to use the spin-wave Doppler effect in order to break the intrinsic mirror symmetry required in for four-magnon scattering processes. In this way the resonance saturation may be tuned electrically to much larger values. Moreover electrically driven surface acoustic waves will be used to generate spin-waves which will be manipulated by an electric current using the spin-wave Doppler effect. The research described in the proposal is likely to have a large impact as a shift to electric field controlled spintronic devices is favorable on small length scales. In addition the power consumption of these devices may be reduced significantly.
In this proposal a new electric field based approach for the control of magnetization dynamics is discussed. The advantage of using electric fields compared to magnetic fields is twofold: (i) electric fields are easy to confine in nano-structures (screening), and (ii) no current flow is required which may allow for the development of new spintronic devices with ultra low power consumption. Physically the application of an electric field to an ultrathin ferromagnetic material gives rise to modification of the wave-function overlap at the interface between a ferromagnetic metal and a dielectric. This electronic tuning causes a modified occupation of the d-orbitals at the interface and leads to electrically induced anisotropies. Hence external electric fields generate internal magnetic fields. Due to the modified orbital moment also a large voltage induced effect on the Gilbert damping is expected in magnetization dynamic experiments. In principle these fields can be applied even on ultrafast time scales. This will be explored when rf-electric fields are used to drive internal magnetic fields in the GHz frequency range to generate spin-waves. Furthermore this technique will be used to excite monochromatic spin-waves with wave-vectors well in the exchange dominated regime in order to study their propagation properties. I propose to use the spin-wave Doppler effect in order to break the intrinsic mirror symmetry required in for four-magnon scattering processes. In this way the resonance saturation may be tuned electrically to much larger values. Moreover electrically driven surface acoustic waves will be used to generate spin-waves which will be manipulated by an electric current using the spin-wave Doppler effect. The research described in the proposal is likely to have a large impact as a shift to electric field controlled spintronic devices is favorable on small length scales. In addition the power consumption of these devices may be reduced significantly.
Project acronym FPTOPT
Project First-passage times and optimization of target search strategies
Researcher (PI) Olivier, Jacques Benichou
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE - PARIS 6
Summary How long does it take a random walker to reach a given target? This quantity, known as a first-passage time (FPT), has been the subject of a growing number of theoretical studies over the past decade. The importance of FPTs originates from the crucial role played by properties related to first encounters in various real situations, including transport in disordered media, diffusion limited reactions, or more generally target search processes. First-passage times in confinement, their optimization and their relationship to biophysical experiments are at the heart of this project. The following two issues will be investigated. 1) We will determine key first-passage observables of general scale-invariant random walks in confinement, which up to now have remained inaccessible: FPT distribution in the presence of several targets and/or several searchers, statistical properties of the explored territory, FPT distribution of a non-Markovian random walker. Beyond their theoretical interest, these developments will allow us to address in close connection with single-molecule experiments the importance of transport and spatial organization for gene transcription kinetics and stochastic gene expression. 2) We will address the question of the optimization of the search time. We have recently introduced a new type of search strategies, the intermittent strategies, which minimize the search time under general conditions. Here, the objectives are: (i) to determine new first-passage observables of these intermittent processes (eg the full FPT distribution) to allow the comparison of optimal strategies to experimental situations; (ii) to understand the physical mechanisms underlying real intermittent pathways and assess their optimality at the molecular (homologous recombination kinetics), cellular (search for infection markers by dendritic cells) and macroscopic scales (individual search behavior of ants); (iii) to use intermittent strategies to design efficient searches.
How long does it take a random walker to reach a given target? This quantity, known as a first-passage time (FPT), has been the subject of a growing number of theoretical studies over the past decade. The importance of FPTs originates from the crucial role played by properties related to first encounters in various real situations, including transport in disordered media, diffusion limited reactions, or more generally target search processes. First-passage times in confinement, their optimization and their relationship to biophysical experiments are at the heart of this project. The following two issues will be investigated. 1) We will determine key first-passage observables of general scale-invariant random walks in confinement, which up to now have remained inaccessible: FPT distribution in the presence of several targets and/or several searchers, statistical properties of the explored territory, FPT distribution of a non-Markovian random walker. Beyond their theoretical interest, these developments will allow us to address in close connection with single-molecule experiments the importance of transport and spatial organization for gene transcription kinetics and stochastic gene expression. 2) We will address the question of the optimization of the search time. We have recently introduced a new type of search strategies, the intermittent strategies, which minimize the search time under general conditions. Here, the objectives are: (i) to determine new first-passage observables of these intermittent processes (eg the full FPT distribution) to allow the comparison of optimal strategies to experimental situations; (ii) to understand the physical mechanisms underlying real intermittent pathways and assess their optimality at the molecular (homologous recombination kinetics), cellular (search for infection markers by dendritic cells) and macroscopic scales (individual search behavior of ants); (iii) to use intermittent strategies to design efficient searches.


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April 29, 2015 · 5:11 pm
How to Help Nepal
Image source: CNN
In the recent aftermath of the 7.8 earthquake that has ravaged Nepal with death tolls approximating 5000 and more than 10,000 injured, we would like to dedicate this week's blog to the people of Nepal by providing links to various relief organizations you wish to contact and offer your help. According to the United Nations, more than eight million people have been affected by the massive earthquake. News reports state the international aid agencies are facing huge challenges in distributing the aid to the survivors because of damaged roads and transport network and loss of power in parts of the country.
A man walks through the rubble of houses damaged by the earthquake in Bhaktapur near Kathmandu.
AFP: Menahem Kahana
Volunteers work to remove debris at the historic Dharahara tower, a city landmark, in the wake of a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal. (Niranjan Shrestha/Associated Press)
Please refer to this link http://nyti.ms/1P6W8Uv provided by The New York Times, for a list of organizations you may wish to consider offering your help.
In case, you're unable to access the link, below is a list of some of the organizations soliciting donations to support their relief efforts in Nepal:
CARE – CARE is asking for donations for critical relief. The group said its humanitarian workers were on the ground assessing the situation in Nepal and determining the most immediate needs.
Doctors Without Borders – The organization is sending eight teams of health care providers, including eight surgeons, to assist earthquake victims and distribute supplies.
International Medical Corps – The organization's emergency response team is on the ground in Nepal, trying to provide critically needed medicines and supplies, including hygiene kits and water purification tablets, to survivors. Teams of doctors, nurses and logisticians will try to operate mobile medical units in the hardest-hit areas.
SOS Children's Villages – The organization has been in Nepal since the 1970s and has three "villages" around Katmandu. It has set up an emergency fund to create safe spaces for children and help reunite children separated from their families.
International Relief Teams
– International Relief Teams has already ordered a shipment of emergency medicines to be airlifted to Nepal, and is asking for donations to send more.
Handicap International – Handicap International has been working in Nepal since 2000 and has 47 volunteers on the ground distributing wheelchairs and other mobility aids, and providing help with rehabilitation and logistics.
Unicef – The United Nations Children Fund is providing supplies like water purification tablets, hygiene kits, tarps and nutrition supplements for children and families affected by the earthquake, and working with the government and other partners to meet children's immediate needs.
Habitat for Humanity International – The group says its disaster response teams are coordinating efforts with local government agencies and disaster relief partners, and will be assembling emergency shelter kits.
Mercy Corps – Mercy Corps has been in Nepal since 2006 and has more than 90 volunteers on the ground trying to distribute water, shelter kits, mosquito netting, tarps, cooking utensils, hygiene materials and other household provisions.
MAP International
- MAP International, a global Christian health organization, will distribute what it calls an "interagency emergency health kit" that will treat 10,000 people for 90 days, and supply a container shipment of medicines and supplies.
For general information on the country of Nepal, we highly recommend the Infographic prepared by Work the World, an organization dedicated to providing healthcare internships around the world: http://bit.ly/1bUFGLa. Please check it out and learn more.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Nepal.
Filed under Gratitude, Human Interest, Politics, Travel
Tagged as Charity, Disaster Relief, Earthquake, Nepal