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Assassin's Creed II (dt.: Credo des Assassinen) ist ein erstmals 2009 veröffentlichtes Computerspiel von Ubisoft für Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows und macOS, zusätzlich existiert ein Ableger von Gameloft für Mobiltelefone. Es handelt sich um den von Ubisoft Montreal entwickelten Nachfolger von Assassin's Creed, der den Schauplatz aus dem mittelalterlichen Palästina in das Italien der Renaissance verlegt. Der Titel ist dem Action-Adventure-Genre zuzuordnen und enthält zudem einzelne Rollenspielelemente. Die Handlung wurde mit Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (2010) und Assassin's Creed: Revelations (2011) in zwei eigenständig spielbaren Ablegern fortgeführt, bevor 2012 mit Assassin's Creed III ein neues Szenario eingeführt wurde.

Handlung

Haupthandlung
Die Handlung beginnt unmittelbar nach dem Ende des ersten Teils. Desmond Miles wird von Lucy Stillman aus dem Abstergo-Gebäude in Rom in einen nahegelegenen sicheren Unterschlupf gebracht, wo er ihr Assassinen-Team, bestehend aus dem Analytiker Shaun Hastings und der Technikerin Rebecca Crane, kennenlernt. Sie haben ihre eigene, verbesserte Version des Animus ("Animus 2.0") entwickelt und wollen nun diesen verwenden, um Desmond durch den sogenannten "Sickereffekt", der dem Benutzer die rasante Erlernung der Fähigkeiten ihrer Vorfahren ermöglicht, zum Assassinen ausbilden zu lassen. Dazu taucht er in die Erinnerungen des Assassinen Ezio Auditore da Firenze ein, der im späten 15. Jahrhundert zur Zeit der Renaissance in Italien lebte. Ezios Vater ist der Direktor des internationalen Bankhauses in Florenz, insgeheim Assassine und Vertrauter von Lorenzo il Magnifico und erledigt für ihn diverse Geheimaufträge.

Kurz nach Beginn der Handlung um das Jahr 1476 werden Ezios Brüder und sein Vater verhaftet. Ezio erklimmt den Gefängnisturm, in dem sein Vater eingesperrt ist, und erhält von ihm Informationen über einen geheimen Raum im Büro des Hauses der Familie Auditore und die Anweisung, dass er alles an sich nehmen solle, was sich in der darin stehenden Kiste befindet. Ezio folgt den Anweisungen und gelangt so, mithilfe seines Adlerauges, an die Ausrüstung eines Assassinen. Am Tag darauf werden sein Vater und seine Brüder gehängt. Ezio erkennt, dass Uberto Alberti, eigentlich ein Vertrauter der Familie Auditore, Ezios Vater verraten hat. Danach nimmt das Hausmädchen der Familie Auditore den jungen Ezio und dessen Mutter und Schwester bei ihrer eigenen Schwester Paola auf, weil sie im Hause Auditore nicht mehr sicher sind. Anschließend trifft er auf den jungen Leonardo da Vinci, der eine von den Auditore finanzierte Werkstatt in Florenz besitzt.

Als Ezio mit seiner übrigen Familie in die Toskana, nach Monteriggioni zu seinem Onkel, flüchten will, wird er auf dem Weg von einigen Söldnern der Pazzi-Familie, die mit den Medici um die Macht in Florenz konkurrieren, aufgehalten. Sein Onkel Mario kommt ihm zu Hilfe und nimmt die Fliehenden mit in die heruntergekommene Villa der Auditore. Die Villa hat im Laufe des Spieles eine wichtige Bedeutung, da man diese im Folgenden ausbauen und bewirtschaften kann.

Im weiteren Verlauf der Handlung reist Ezio auch durch Forlì, Venedig und die Vatikanstadt, wobei allmählich klar wird, dass die Verschwörung, der Ezios Vater zum Opfer fiel, bis in die höchsten Kreise reicht. Ezio ist tatsächlich ein Assassine und wird von seinem Onkel Mario und weiteren Gefährten ohne sein Wissen ausgebildet. Nach und nach muss Ezio folgende Attentate ausüben: den Anwalt Uberto Alberti in Florenz, den Adeligen Vieri de' Pazzi in San Gimignano, den Bankier Francesco de' Pazzi in Florenz, den Bankier Bernardo di Bandino Baroncelli in San Gimignano, den Mönch Stefano da Bagnone in San Gimignano, den Erzbischof Francesco Salviati in San Gimignano, den Mönch Antonio Maffei in San Gimignano, den Adeligen Jacopo de' Pazzi in San Gimignano, den Kaufmann Emilio Barbarigo in Venedig, das Ratsmitglied Carlo Grimaldi in Venedig, den Dogen Marco Barbarigo in Venedig, den Leibwächter Dante Moro in Venedig, den Richter Silvio Barbarigo in Venedig, den Kreditgeber Checco Orsi in Forlì, den Kreditgeber Ludovico Orsi in Forlì, den Mönch Girolamo Savonarola in Florenz.

Sein letztes Ziel, Rodrigo Borgia, der inzwischen Papst Alexander VI. geworden ist, findet Ezio 1499 in der Vatikanstadt. Im entscheidenden Kampf offenbart Borgia, dass er nur Zugang zum Edenapfel wollte, da er dachte, er sei der Prophet und könne die Gruft mit dem Edenapfel und dem Edenstab öffnen. Ezio gewinnt den Kampf, tötet Borgia jedoch nicht, weil sein Ziel, ihn aufzuhalten und zu verhindern, dass er die Gruft öffnet, erfüllt war und er auf seinem Weg dorthin schon genügend Menschen das Leben genommen hat. Es stellt sich heraus, dass er der Prophet ist, der den Edenapfel, welcher in der Handlung hart erkämpft wird, und den Edenstab zusammenführen und zur geheimen Kammer, der Gruft, bringen soll. In der Kammer trifft Ezio auf ein Hologramm von Minerva, die erklärt, dass sie und ihre Rasse Teil einer fortschrittlichen Gesellschaft, der Ersten Zivilisation, waren, welche vor über 75.000 Jahren auf der Erde lebte und einst die Menschheit erschuf. Eine große Katastrophe, ausgelöst durch einen gewaltigen Sonnensturm, löschte die Zivilisation aus, und die Überlebenden bauten ein Netzwerk aus verborgenen Tempeln auf der ganzen Welt, um ihre Technologie zu bewahren. Minerva warnt Ezio, dass auch der Menschheit eines Tages die gleiche Katastrophe widerfahren würde. Anschließend spricht sie Desmond namentlich an und teilt ihm mit, dass sie alles getan hat und der Rest nun seiner Verantwortung obliege.

Nach Minervas Warnung steigt Desmond aus dem Animus aus, während sich die anderen Assassinen zum Aufbruch bereit machen, da das Versteck in Rom von den Templern entdeckt wurde. Lucy gibt Desmond eine versteckte Klinge und die beiden flüchten in die Garage, wo sie auf Warren Vidic und Abstergo-Sicherheitspersonal treffen, mit denen sie sich einen erbitterten Kampf liefern. Dabei stellt Desmond auch seine innerhalb kurzer Zeit erlernten Fähigkeiten unter Beweis. Nachdem die Assassinen den Kampf gewinnen, entkommt Warren Vidic. Kurz darauf flieht auch Desmond mit den anderen in einem Van aus dem Versteck.

Während des Abspanns hört man Lucy mit Desmond darüber reden, dass Minervas Worte im Animus ihre Theorie bestätigt und der Menschheit tatsächlich Gefahr durch eine bevorstehende Sonneneruption mit anschließender geomagnetischer Polumkehr droht.

Die Wahrheit
Im Verlauf des Spiels stößt der Protagonist auf verschiedene Symbole (Glyphen), mit denen er eine Art Minispiel aktiviert, in dem man verschiedene kleine Rätsel lösen muss. Durch jede erfolgreich absolvierte Aufgabe schaltet der Spieler kurze Teile eines Videos frei. Das vollständige Video zeigt Adam und Eva beim Stehlen des heiligen Apfels – einem der Edensplitter – aus einer fabrikähnlichen Umgebung. Es zeigt außerdem, dass die Menschheit von jenen, die vorher kamen (Minerva, Juno und Jupiter) versklavt und zur Arbeit gezwungen wurde und es durch Adams und Evas Diebstahl zum Sündenfall und zur Vertreibung aus dem Garten Eden kam. Gegen Ende des Videos werden die beiden ertappt, und man erkennt, dass es sich um einen Binärcode in Form des heiligen Apfels handelt.

Synchronisation
Die Lokalisation des Spiels erfolgte durch die mouse-power GmbH.

Spielprinzip und Technik
Wie im ersten Teil besteht die Aufgabe für den Spieler vorwiegend darin, Kämpfe zu absolvieren, auf Gebäude zu klettern und bestimmte Attentate auszuführen. Dafür wurde das bisherige Spielprinzip stark erweitert: so stehen dem Protagonisten mit fortschreitender Handlung neue Rüstungen und Waffen, wie z. B. eine zweite versteckte Klinge, eine Giftklinge, eine Pistole und Wurfmesser zur Verfügung. Zudem spielt eine Währung (Florin) eine wichtige Rolle, da der Spieler mit ihr bei verschiedenen Händlern seine Ausrüstung verbessern und personalisieren oder aber zur Ablenkung einfach auf den Boden werfen kann. Des Weiteren können nun verschiedene Fraktionen wie Kurtisanen, Diebe oder Schläger angeheuert werden, die den Spieler auf unterschiedliche Arten bei seiner Mission unterstützen. Außerdem gibt es mehr Nebenaufgaben, wie Attentate, Rennen oder das Plündern von versteckten Gräbern zu erledigen. Auch der gesellschaftliche Status Ezios spielt wieder eine Rolle: sollte er z. B. jemanden offen angreifen oder bestehlen, steigt sein Bekanntheitsgrad in der Stadt und damit die Wahrscheinlichkeit, von den Wachen bemerkt zu werden. Dies kann der Spieler aber durch das Entfernen von Steckbriefen, das Bestechen von Herolden oder durch die Tötung von Amtspersonen verringern.

Assassin's Creed II enthält zahlreiche Elemente eines Open-World-Spiels, aber auch einige Rollenspiel-Elemente; so kann man etwa das Aussehen des Assassinen Ezio durch verschiedene Kleidungsstücke individualisieren. Auch haben die verschiedenen Waffenklassen wie Schwerter, Dolche, Stangen- und Schlagwaffen unterschiedliche Attribute.

Produktionsnotizen

Musik
Der Soundtrack zu Assassin's Creed II wurde von Jesper Kyd komponiert. Aufgenommen wurde er von Capitol Records mit einem 35 Personen umfassenden Streicherensemble und einem 13 Sänger starken Chor; zusätzlich trug Melissa Kaplan einige Gesänge bei. Der Soundtrack wurde am 16. November 2009 als Download veröffentlicht.

Veröffentlichung
Assassin's Creed II erschien gleichzeitig für PlayStation 3 und Xbox 360 im November bzw. Dezember 2009. Neben einer Standardversion, die nur aus der Spiele-DVD besteht, wurden zudem zwei Sonderausgaben aufgelegt: Die White Edition enthält neben der Spiele-DVD eine etwa 30 cm große Kunstharz-Statue der Hauptfigur Ezio Auditore und bietet eine exklusive, zusätzliche Mission im Spiel. Die Black Edition enthält eine veränderte Version der Statue, eine Bonus-DVD inklusive Soundtrack, ein Buch mit Artworks über die Verschwörungsgeschichte im Spiel sowie drei weitere Zusatzmissionen. Auch die Umsetzung für Windows erschien im März 2010 in allen drei Varianten. Außerdem erschien im November 2009 eine Version für diverse Mobiltelefone.

Die Veröffentlichung wurde zudem durch eine Kurzfilmreihe begleitet, die den Namen Assassin's Creed: Lineage trug. Lineage erzählt die Geschichte von Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, dem Vater der Spiele-Hauptfigur Ezio, sowie die der Assassinen und wie diese mit der Fürstenfamilie verbunden sind. Die Filme wurden auf YouTube und MTV gezeigt.

Am 17. November 2016 wurde Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection für Xbox One und PlayStation 4 veröffentlicht. Diese beinhaltet neben Teil zwei auch Brotherhood und Revelations in grafisch überarbeiteter Fassung inklusive aller zuvor kostenpflichtig erhältlichen Zusatzinhalte sowie die Kurzfilme Lineage und Embers.

Kopierschutz der PC-Version
Assassin's Creed II verwendet als eines der ersten Spiele des Publishers Ubisoft einen Kopierschutz, der eine Bindung des mit dem Spiel erworbenen Aktivierungscodes an ein Benutzerkonto erfordert. Dabei muss sich der Spieler vor jedem Spielstart einloggen und während des Spielens muss eine dauerhafte Internetverbindung zum Authentifizierungsserver bestehen. Daraufhin riefen viele Spieler zum Boykott des Spiels auf und auch die Presse übte deutliche Kritik. So würden Spieler ohne oder mit instabiler Internetverbindung (z. B. über UMTS) ausgeschlossen und der Wiederverkauf durch die unwiderrufliche Kontenbindung erheblich erschwert.

Ubisoft hingegen verteidigte den Kopierschutz mehrfach und wies darauf hin, dass man als einzige Alternative sehe, den PC als Spiele-Plattform aufzugeben. Außerdem wies man auf die Vorteile für den Spieler hin. So muss nicht wie bei vielen anderen Spielen die Spiel-DVD im Laufwerk liegen, und es ist möglich, seine Spielstände online abzulegen. Kurz nach Erscheinen des Spiels veröffentlichte Ubisoft außerdem einen Patch, durch den das Spiel bei einem Abbruch der Internet-Verbindung nach deren Wiederherstellung direkt fortgesetzt werden kann und kein Neustart ab dem letzten Speicherpunkt mehr notwendig ist. Allerdings darf das Spiel zwischenzeitlich nicht geschlossen werden.

Viele Kritiker fühlten sich zudem dadurch bestätigt, dass bereits in den ersten Wochen nach Veröffentlichung des Spiels mehrfach die Authentifizierungsserver ausfielen und somit ein Spielen für mehrere Stunden nicht möglich war. Als Entschädigung bot Ubisoft den Besitzern der Black Edition ein älteres Spiel des eigenen Portfolio als Gratis-Download an; Besitzer der anderen Editionen erhielten kostenlos die drei Bonusmissionen der Black Edition.

Anfang 2011 wurde der Kopierschutz durch einen Patch gelockert und erfordert nun keine permanente Internetverbindung mehr.

Zusätzliche Inhalte
Am 28. Januar 2010 erschien der erste zusätzliche Inhalt mit dem Titel Die Schlacht um Forli. Am 18. Februar folgte der zweite Inhalt mit dem Titel Fegefeuer der Eitelkeiten. Es ist außerdem möglich, Fegefeuer der Eitelkeiten gemeinsam mit den drei Bonus-Leveln der Black Edition zu erwerben. Beide Inhalte sind über Xbox Live und PlayStation Network erhältlich. In der PC-Fassung sowie in der Neuflage der "Ezio Collection" sind sie bereits in der Verkaufsversion enthalten.

Ableger

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Rezeption
Die ersten Kritiken diverser Fachzeitschriften fielen durchweg positiv aus. Laut Metacritic erzielt es bei 70 ausgewerteten Rezensionen das Gesamtergebnis 91 %. Gelobt wurde, dass es im Gegensatz zu dem Vorgänger mehrere Arten von Missionen gibt. Als Kritikpunkt wird die recht kurze Haupthandlung genannt. Dies werde aber durch eine erhöhte Anzahl von Nebenmissionen ausgeglichen.

Von vielen Spielern wurde kritisiert, dass anscheinend zwei bereits zur Veröffentlichung des Hauptspiels weitgehend fertiggestellte Inhalte aus dem Spiel entfernt wurden, um sie nachträglich als kostenpflichtigen Download zu verkaufen. Der Publisher hat dies zwar bestätigt, gibt jedoch an, dass das Hauptspiel dennoch über ein sehr gutes Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis verfüge. Spieler und Presse bemängelten außerdem bereits im Vorfeld den restriktiven Kopierschutz der PC-Version, der ihrer Ansicht nach die Attraktivität des Spiels erheblich einschränkt.

Auch die Handyversion des Spiels wurde gänzlich positiv bewertet. So erhielt sie auf Airgamer.de 91 % Spielspaßbewertung und sogar den Airgameraward für das beste Handyspiel des Jahresquartals. Bei Testfreaks.de erhielt das Spiel 9,5 von 10 Punkten. Besonders positiv hervorgehoben wurden dabei die für ein Handyspiel lange Kampagne sowie Grafik und Ton. Außerdem übertraf sie auf jeder einbezogenen Testseite in der Wertung den Vorgänger.

Literatur
 Assassins Creed: Renaissance von Oliver Bowden, Panini Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-8332-2235-1

Weblinks

 Offizielle Website

 Assassin's Creed II bei Fandom.com

Einzelnachweise

Action-Adventure
Open-World-Spiel
Computerspiel 2009
Mac-OS-Spiel
PlayStation-3-Spiel
Windows-Spiel
Xbox-360-Spiel
Xbox-One-Spiel
PlayStation-4-Spiel
Science-Fiction-Computerspiel
Assassin's Creed


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text:
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}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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text:
Dr Jayde Lin Roberts
Arts,Design & Architecture
School of Built Environment
Dr Jayde Lin Roberts is an interdisciplinary scholar of the built environment who focuses on Asian Cities. In 2018, she completed her 1.5 year term as a Fulbright US Scholar in Yangon, Myanmar where she examined discourses development in a context of rapid and unplanned urbanization. In 2016, her monograph, Mapping Chinese Rangoon: Place and Nation among the Sino-Burmese was published by the University of Washington Press, which has been reviewed in journals such as Contemporary Asia, Southeast Asian Studies, China Quarterly, China Review International and Sojourn as well as web-based media such as New Books in Southeast Asian Studies and Tea Circles. As a spatial ethnographer and advocate of participatory design and research, she is currently investigating heritage-making in Yangon and Mandalay and is a member of the Southeast Asian Neighborhooods Network.
j.roberts@unsw.edu.au
Red Centre Building West Wing 1012
Roberts J, 2020, 'Heritage Conservation as Trickle-Down Development', in Peycam P; Wang S-L; Hui Y-F; Hsiao H-HM (ed.), Heritage as Aid and Diplomacy in Asia, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, pp. 305 - 328
Huang S; Roberts JL, 2019, 'Place‐Making', in , Wiley, pp. 1 - 5, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118568446.eurs0475
Roberts JL, 2018, 'In search of Urban identities in Myanmar', in Routledge Handbook of Urbanization in Southeast Asia, pp. 400 - 410, http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315562889
Roberts JL, 2017, 'Urban', in Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Myanmar, pp. 64 - 71
Roberts J, 2017, 'Heritage-making and post-coloniality in Yangon, Myanmar', in Citizens, Civil Society and Heritage-Making in Asia, Flipside Digital Content Company Inc., Singapore, pp. 40 - 60
Roberts J, 2017, 'Tradition as an Imposed and Elite Inheritance: Yangon's Modern Past', in Whose Tradition?, Routledge, New York, pp. 41 - 61
Roberts JL, 2016, Mapping Chinese Rangoon: Place and nation among the Sino-Burmese
Roberts JL, 2013, 'The Sin Oh Dan street lion dance competition: A temporary space for cross-cultural understanding', in Transcultural Cities: Border-Crossing and Placemaking, pp. 62 - 74, http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203075777
Roberts JL, 2020, 'Southeast Asia's Modern Architecture: Questions of Translation, Epistemology and Power', Fabrications, vol. 30, pp. 430 - 432, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10331867.2020.1834991
Roberts JL, 2020, 'Displacement, Encroachment and Settlement: Interrogating Kyu in Peri-Urban Yangon', City and Society, vol. 32, pp. 421 - 435, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ciso.12293
Roberts JL, 2019, 'Everyday economic survival in Myanmar', CRITICAL ASIAN STUDIES, vol. 51, pp. 637 - 638, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2019.1672270
Roberts JL, 2019, 'Mapping Cultural Nationalism: The Scholars of the Burma Research Society, 1910-1935.', AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW, vol. 124, pp. 228 - 229, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhy516

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Available to use online and in store, they're the ideal gift! Sadly they are currently unavailable to purchase online (watch this space), however you are welcome to purchase them over the phone on 01895 201040 (option 2 or 3) for home delivery. Alternatively they are available to purchase in all F.Hinds branches.
The F.Hinds Gift Card is valid for 5 years from the date of purchase as can be used on all products and services.
If you are already the lucky recipient of an F.Hinds Gift Card, then you can use it as a form of payment online; simply follow the Checkout instructions. They can be used to pay in-full or for part payment of the order, with the remainder paid by credit/debit card or PayPal.
If you return an online order for a refund and you paid by Gift Card, you will be refunded via a new Gift Card which will be posted to your home address.
If you pay by paper vouchers and return the order for a refund, the equivalent value will be returned to you on a new F.Hinds Gift Card.
For any other help, please contact our Customer Services team.


This may happen even for user which has been assigned K2 Administrator role in Setup Manager when custom security was configured on Environment Library and it didn't include this specific account.
Just add required user assigning him Modify rights to resolve this issue.
This entry was posted in K2, Tech and tagged Environment Library, K2, permissions, security on February 3, 2019 by Mikhail.


Wetlands are a distinct and variable aquatic resource; for this reason, SWCA's wetland specialists provide services that are extensive and varied.
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Trad drew up some "Tumblr Dolls"!
It looks like he's already starting to cycle into the remorse stage of things.
What did he see himself do??
So I just realized there's a chapter setup in this comic, but I have no idea how it works or what the distinction between parts is.
daaaaw those tumblr dolls are adorable ...wait.. bloodied sickle ..
It's nice Felix is checking up on Benny.
Well, at least it whatever it was, it wasn't too bad.
That "Tumblr Dolls" thing reminds me of the Fisher Price characters that I had for this castle I had as a kid. I think they're pretty cool.
When you see yourself then you probably have some hidden doubts. Hm.
Come to think of it, I am not sure these guys EVER sat down and talked.
I mean casual friends talk. And they are together for a while now.
and the plot advances .. love the page .. the tumbler dolls are cute!
Right? Gosh! I wish I'd heard of these sooner, such a cute idea!
But yeah Benny-boy, let's redefine what "that bad" means :'D 'cause it's still really bad if you saw yourself skewered!!
I don't understand the artstyle in this comic at all. It reminds me way too much of Ctrl Alt Del. I seemed to be missing the joke.
People still remember Ctrl Alt Del?
2010 was a long time ago in Internet years.
Oh lord, I'm actually short of breath I'm laughing so hard.
Felix confirmed part of Mystery Inc.
They even went scooby doo and split up! Woah! It all comes full circle!!


text:
FULL WATCH The Curse of Oak Island Season 5 Episode 11 Online Series
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Watch The Curse of Oak Island Season 5 Episode 11 Online
Episode Name: Moving Targets
Summary: Further investigation suggests a link between the mysterious medieval cross and the Knights Templar.
Summary: In the North Atlantic is a mysterious, and possibly booby-trapped island that has fired the imagination of treasure hunters for more than 200 years. Oak Island could be hiding one of the greatest treasures in history, but no one has ever been able to crack the code of how to get at it. Fortunes have been spent and lives have been lost. A prophecy says that seven people will die before the treasure is found, and six have died in various accidents already. In the new series THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND, two brothers from Michigan will take new technology and old-fashioned knowhow and attempt to discover what's buried there once and for all.


Over the last three decades or so, dwindling interest among young Catalans has combined with pressure from animal-rights advocates and from Catalan nationalists to cripple toreo in Catalonia. Across the region's four provinces, bullrings have closed; Barcelona's is the only one still active.
Here in Catalonia, this persistently separatist-minded region of Spain, bullfighting has been in trouble for ages. And the economy hasn't helped. Ticket prices are akin to opera's. Fights are expensive to produce. The number of bullfights plummeted across Spain this year.
But José Tomás still draws enormous crowds. For aficionados, he is the last best hope for toreo, as bullfighting is called. Reclusive, a matador of unearthly fearlessness and calm, steeped in history and mystery, he retired in 2002, at 27 and the height of his fame, only to return unexpectedly five years later in Barcelona for what turned out to be the first sellout in 20 years at the 19,000-seat Plaza Monumental, this city's beautiful old brick-and-tile bullring.
Sunday he was back, for another special occasion: perhaps the last bullfight ever in Catalonia.
Now a referendum before the Catalan Parliament would end bullfighting here altogether. There has long been talk in this part of Spain about a total prohibition on toreo. Fans have played it down. But this time, even aficionados think a ban is likely to pass.
So Sunday's corrida — the term refers to an afternoon's regular card of three matadors and six bulls — was more than just the last bullfight of the season. It was possibly the end of an era. And José Tomás (José Tomás Román Martín, but everybody knows him by his double-barreled first name) had come, in what seemed almost like a last-ditch attempt, to lend his box office appeal and artistry to the anti-ban side.
Artistry, that is, to aficionados. There is the art of the ritual, ancient and colorful, with its sequence of movements, firmly established but, because the bulls always vary, different each time and entailing a kind of balletic grace on the part of the matadors, who are judged not least by whether they can make the bulls look graceful, too. Bullfighting is a matter of Spanish cultural patrimony, fans say. Europe may wish to come together around common social and economic interests, but national cultures must be respected, and toreo represents cultural diversity.
Opponents see it otherwise, of course. A dozen or so animal-rights protesters stood outside the arena Sunday, holding aloft handmade signs splattered with red paint.
Up the street, at La Gran Peña, a bar favored by aficionados, Isabel Bardón, the bar's owner, balanced a tray of beers while navigating a swarm of patrons, some craning their necks to see the retired matador, who was smiling for photographs beside older men smoking thick cigars. "It would be bad news for me and my business," she speculated about the ban's possible approval.
It might be, who knows. What's clear is that during the early years of the last century, Barcelona had no fewer than three bullrings. It was a mecca for aficionados. There were more corridas here from the 1920s to the 1960s than in any other Spanish city.
But Catalan nationalists began to spread the notion that toreo was an imposition on Catalonia by Franco's fascist regime, which promoted it, like flamenco, as a patriotic symbol. Opposition to bullfighting became a declaration of separatism by other means. Animal rights came along and fueled the nationalists' agenda.
That the issue remains, above all, political is demonstrated over the border, in the Catalan region of southern France, where bullfighting is embraced as fiercely as it is opposed in Spanish Catalonia, for exactly the same separatist reasons, in that case because it is banned in Paris.
"At a point when Europe is becoming bigger and more multicultural, Barcelona is becoming smaller and more Catalan," is how Robert Elms, a British travel writer who has lived here, saw the situation. He had come to see José Tomás and remarked, before the corrida, how the dark but magical city he once knew has become a shiny, designer-label hub that nonetheless looks increasingly inward.
"It's vanity," he said "That's the only word. Vanity describes an insecure culture." The possible ban on bullfighting, he added, is akin to a law here requiring schoolchildren to receive much of their education in Catalan, not Spanish.
Paco March nodded at the mention of that connection. A Barcelona native, he is the bullfighting columnist for La Vanguardia, the city's second biggest newspaper. His 15-year-old daughter is called a fascist by her classmates, he said, because she has a picture of a torero pasted into her notebook.
Aficionados talk this way. They point out how bullfighting makes death plain and visible at a time when most people, those who can do so, choose to put distance between themselves and the reality of it. Some of these same people condone factory farming by eating meat, but they condemn bullfights. Or they go to bullfights in places like Portugal, where the bulls are not killed by matadors.
They're killed afterward, offstage, so nobody has to watch.
To matadors, that's truly unfair, because it denies them their duty to the bulls, with whom they have fought, and spares them the particular vulnerability they are meant to experience at this point in the bullfight.
Whether or not you buy this argument, it would be a mistake to conclude that an end to bullfighting here portends its prohibition across Spain. While nearly three quarters of Spaniards say they have no interest in bullfighting, they're loath to have foreigners tell them what they can or can't do. This is why Spain has consistently resisted pressure from the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights to end toreo. What will end it, if anything, is public indifference, competition from cheaper entertainment like soccer and video games, and the passing of a generation of aficionados.
And so, in the failing light of a warm early autumn afternoon, amid the bursts of flashbulbs and chants of "Torero!" and "Olé!" José Tomás appeared at least one last time in Barcelona, the standard-bearer for an afflicted art. He orchestrated his usual series of hair-raising passes with the bulls. Like Roger Federer, he makes every action look impossibly slow and stylish.
His costume sparkled under the spotlights. A brass band struck up a pasodoble. The fans cheered as if somehow his sheer eloquence might, at the last minute, save toreo from extinction here. They tossed flowers, hats, scarves, notebooks and just about anything else they had at hand onto the blood-soaked sand as he circled the ring.


Kubota Corporation has adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (hereinafter "IFRS") instead of accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (hereinafter "U.S. GAAP") from the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.
The figures for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 are also displayed in accordance with IFRS.
In addition, items where terminology differs between U.S. GAAP and IFRS are displayed in accordance with IFRS.
Due to the change in the fiscal year-end, the business term for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 was the nine-month period that commenced on April 1, 2015 and ended on December 31, 2015.


The OpenIntro project was founded in 2009 to improve the quality and availability of education by producing exceptional books and teaching tools that are free to use and easy to modify. We feature real data whenever possible, and files for the entire textbook are freely available at openintro.org. The future for OpenIntro depends on the involvement and enthusiasm of our community. Visit our website, openintro.org. We provide free videos, statistical software labs, lecture slides, course management tools, and many other helpful resources.


Wondering what to cook for dinner? Here is my quick fix for tonight.
I used my best rice cooker.
A pinch of cumin powder (optional).
A tablespoon of cooking oil.
Wash the rice and put in the rice cooker, add the water, salt, and oil. Stir and cover with the lid. Now switch-on the cook function. It will be ready in 15 minutes. That's the beauty of technology.
I used my best rice cooker. – It comes with a steamer compartment.
Broccoli – white & green.
Red cabbage (some call it purple cabbage).
Adjust the quantities depending on how many people you will be cooking for.
Wash the vegetables thoroughly and drain using a colander.
I steam my vegetables while cooking the rice. Just place them when the rice starts boiling and remove them once tender.
Stir fry the vegetables for another 3-5mins till they release some aroma but are still crunchy.
These need to be served hot so stir fry once everything else is ready.
Half a teaspoon of your favorite mix of spices (Not more than this).
1 cup water or broth.
Wash the meat and cut into cube sized bites. Put in the iPot, add tomatoes, onions, garlic, a tablespoon of cooking oil, salt, your favorite spices and a cup of water. Cover and switch-on the iPot.
The stew will be ready in 10-15 minutes (This depends on how tender you love your meat. In 15 minutes, the meat will be falling off the bone).
Now open the iPot and add Coriander. The stew is now ready to serve.
There you go. Enjoy your super easy and first dinner. Did I mention how incredibly delicious it is? Try and let me know what you think in the comments section.


text:
Akiva Tatz is a prominent South African Orthodox rabbi, inspirational speaker and writer who is heavily involved in Orthodox Jewish outreach. He is also a doctor  and world-renowned expert in Jewish medical ethics.

Biography
Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, graduating with distinction in surgery. He then spent a year in St. Louis, Missouri as an American Field Service Scholar and subsequently returned there for elective work in internal medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. He then served as a medical officer in the South African Defence Force and served in the Angolan Bush War. After practicing in both South Africa and the United States, he moved to Israel, and worked both in private practice as well as in a hospital setting in Jerusalem.

Not raised as an observant Jew, Tatz discovered Orthodox Judaism in adulthood and became a baal teshuva. He is currently on staff at the Jewish Learning Exchange and Ohr Somayach, and in the past has been a guest lecturer at Gateways. Rabbi Tatz gives lectures to Jewish student groups and organisations across the UK, including an annual medical ethics lecture at University College London hosted by both the Jewish Society and Medical Ethics Society. He is also a regular lecturer on the Jewish Learning Exchange Genesis leadership programme. He has become a recognized expert in matters of Jewish thought and philosophy, which he covers in his authored texts. Zoketsu Norman Fischer, former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center and founder of and teacher at the Everyday Zen Foundation, describes Tatz's work, Letters to a Buddhist Jew, as "a fascinating book - the most serious contribution in this field to date."

Tatz is both the founder and director of the Jerusalem Medical Ethics Forum, whose purpose is to promote knowledge of Jewish medical ethics internationally, giving lectures worldwide in Jewish thought and medical ethics, as well as on modern applications in medicine. He is also involved with the Jerusalem Center for Research in Medicine and Halacha, often speaking at its annual European events.

He currently resides in London, England.

Works
Tatz's works have been translated into Spanish, French and Portuguese and Russian:
 Anatomy of a Search (ArtScroll, 1987)
 Living Inspired (Targum Press, 1993)
 Worldmask (Targum Press, 1995)
 The Thinking Jewish Teenager's Guide to Life (Targum Press, 1999)
 Letters to a Buddhist Jew (Targum Press, 2004)
 Dangerous Disease and Dangerous Therapy in Jewish Medical Ethics (Targum Press, 2010)
 Will, Freedom, and Destiny (Targum Press, 2014)
 As Dawn Ends The Night (Targum Press, 2018)

References

External links
 Biography at Rabbi Tatz's site
 Books by Rabbi Tatz
 Lectures and Articles by Rabbi Tatz
 Inspirational lectures by Rabbi Tatz
 Downloadable MP3 shiurim (Jewish classes) given by Rabbi Tatz

Living people
People from Johannesburg
Rabbis from London
Baalei teshuva
British Orthodox rabbis
South African Orthodox rabbis
South African expatriates in the United Kingdom
South African military personnel of the Border War
Rabbis of Ohr Somayach
University of the Witwatersrand alumni
English Orthodox Jews
White South African people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Washington University School of Medicine alumni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Mid WalesLlandrindod WellsLlanfair CaereinionLlanfyllinLlangollen
LlanidloesLlanymynechNewtownWelshpool
Police sergeant kicked out of force for sexual relationship with vulnerable woman
By David TooleyLlandrindod WellsPublished: Nov 10, 2022 Last Updated: Nov 10, 2022
A police sergeant has been dismissed after engaging in a sexual relationship with a vulnerable woman and accessing confidential records relating to her.
Karl Longhurst, an officer for Dyfed-Powys Police, admitted engaging in sexual activity with the woman but tried to argue that this amounted to misconduct, not gross misconduct.
However, a misconduct hearing panel chaired by a legally-qualified chair determined that Mr Longhurst's behaviour had breached the force's standards of professional behaviour and that it amounted to gross misconduct.
The hearing was told Mr Longhurst had been in a sexual relationship with a female member of the public and had continued to pursue this relationship following official police contact with her, despite her vulnerabilities.
He also failed to report the relationship to the force in accordance with force policy.
While the woman was in custody Mr Longhurst made inappropriate sexual comments to her.
Mr Longhurst also inappropriately accessed confidential police records relating to the woman.
On becoming aware of the matter, the Professional Standards Department took immediate action and thereafter made a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) who decided to undertake an independent investigation.
As well as being dismissed at the hearing on Thursday, Mr Longhurst will be added to the College of Policing Barred List to prevent him from ever re-entering the police service.
Claire Parmenter, Dyfed-Powys Police Deputy Chief Constable, said: "This result shows that Dyfed-Powys Police will not tolerate inappropriate behaviour.
"Dyfed-Powys Police expects the highest standards from all of its officers and staff and will ensure that members of the public can have complete trust and confidence in the force and its officers and staff.
"Where the conduct of officers and staff falls below our expected high standards, the public can be reassured that positive action will always be taken by the force."
By David Tooley
Senior Reporter@TooleyMedia
Senior reporter at the Shropshire Star, focusing on the south of the county. Got a story? Get in touch at david.tooley@mnamedia.co.uk.
UK News | 1 hour ago


text:
Chapter 25 – Evaluation and Management of Recurrent Miscarriage
The spontaneous loss of a pregnancy before the viable gestation is termed miscarriage. Miscarriage therefore includes all pregnancy losses from conception until 23 completed weeks of pregnancy. It remains the commonest adverse outcome of pregnancy and can either be sporadic or recurrent (RM). Currently, no consensus exists on the definition of RM. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) guideline defines RM as the loss of three or more consecutive pregnancies [1]. However, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has adopted the definition of consecutive loss of two or more clinical pregnancies, documented either by ultrasonography or histopathological examination [2]. RM can be either 'primary' (no previous live birth) or 'secondary' (following a live birth).
Chapter 25 Evaluation and Management of Recurrent Miscarriage
H. M. Bhandari , S. Tewary and M. K. Choudhary
1 Definition
About 1% of the couples trying to conceive experience three or more consecutive miscarriages and about 5% of the couples have two or more consecutive miscarriages [3]. Nearly half (45%) of these women have secondary RM. In one in five women with secondary RM, the previous pregnancies are complicated by either prematurity or intrauterine growth restriction of the fetus [4]. Approximately one-third of couples (32%) with RM would have experienced conception delays and one in five (22%) late miscarriage [4].
3 Risk Factors for RM
The chance of having a subsequent successful live birth following RM is inversely related to the number of previous miscarriages and maternal age [5].
3.1 Maternal Age
Maternal age has been shown to be a strong, independent risk factor for miscarriage in a large prospective register linkage study [6]. The UK census data from 2011 reports that the standardised average age of mothers at first childbirth was 27.9 years, compared to 23.7 years in 1971. The report also found an increased percentage of births to mothers aged 35 years or more, which almost trebled from 7.5% in 1971 to 20% in 2011. The age-related risk of miscarriage in recognised pregnancies increases sharply after the age of 35 years, rising from 11% at 20–24 years to 93% at 45 years and older. In women aged 40 years or older, only 41.7% achieved live birth within 5 years as opposed to 81.3% of women aged 20–24 years [5]. Women aged 20 years with 2 previous miscarriages have a 92% chance of success in the next pregnancy compared with only a 60% chance of success in women aged 45 years [7].
3.2 Number of Previous Miscarriages
While around three quarters of women with 3 miscarriages achieve a live birth within 5 years, only about half have successful pregnancy following 6 or more previous miscarriages [5]. The risk of further miscarriage increases by 45% after 3 or more pregnancy losses [6].
3.3 Environmental Factors
A matched case control study by Lashen et al. [8] demonstrated significantly higher odds of RM in obese women (OR 3.51, 95% CI 1.03–12.01). In couples with RM, maternal obesity has been found to be an independent factor increasing the risk of miscarriage in a subsequent pregnancy.
Frequent and excessive maternal alcohol consumption, passive smoking and caffeine consumption in the peri-conceptual period have been associated with an increased risk of RM. However, there is no evidence from randomised controlled studies about lifestyle adaptations to improve reproductive outcome in women with otherwise unexplained RM.
4 Causes of RM
It has been widely accepted that RM is a heterogeneous condition. RM may be associated with several factors such as parental genetic and embryonic chromosomal conditions, maternal antiphospholipid syndrome, inherited thrombophilias, congenital and acquired uterine abnormalities, endocrine dysfunction, infectious diseases, endometrial abnormalities, immunological dysfunction and environmental factors. The common potentially associated causative factors for RM and their further management are discussed in this chapter.
4.1 Genetic Abnormalities
It is estimated that only 30% of the embryos are successful in resulting in a live birth. The remainder is either lost prior to implantation (30%) or post-implantation, 30% as early pregnancy loss (before 6 weeks' gestation) and 10% as clinical miscarriage [9]. The exceptionally high attrition rate of human embryos is attributed mainly to the high prevalence of chromosomal and genetic aberrations throughout all stages of pre-implantation embryo development. Chromosomal abnormalities account for about half of all the cases of sporadic miscarriages and amongst these abnormalities, about 50% are due to chromosomal segregation errors such as trisomy. The rest are non-trisomies, predominantly monosomy X and triploidy [10]. Although chromosomal segregation errors can lead to miscarriage, these have not been identified as risk factors for RM, but can provide useful information about the prognosis for future pregnancy.
Chromosomal translocations refer to chromosome abnormalities that are caused by the rearrangement of segments of DNA between non-homologous chromosomes. Translocations are of two types: reciprocal translocation in which there is an exchange of two terminal segments from different chromosomes, or Robertsonian translocation in which there is centric fusion of two acrocentric chromosomes with the loss of the short arms. In couples with two or more consecutive miscarriages, a carrier rate of 3–6% for either a Robertsonian or reciprocal translocation has been reported [11]. Carriers of a balanced reciprocal translocation themselves usually have no loss or gain of genetic information and hence are usually phenotypically normal. However, 50–70% of their gametes may have an unbalanced chromosomal pattern at meiosis resulting in embryos inheriting an unbalanced translocation that is in turn associated with an increased risk of miscarriage. The miscarriage risk for couples where one is a carrier of a reciprocal translocation can be up to 72.4% [12]. Children born with unbalanced translocation generally have multiple congenital malformations and/or mental disability [4]. The importance of recognising the risk is not that it can be treated but that there may be an opportunity to avoid the birth of an affected child e.g. through antenatal screening and termination of the pregnancy after appropriate counselling or in selected cases through pre-implantation diagnosis.
4.2 Thrombophilias
Pregnancy is naturally a hypercoagulable state which is protective to the pregnant mother especially during the intra-partum and post-partum period. However, when this natural pivotal change in the pregnancy physiology is affected by a thrombophilic defect, early and late adverse pregnancy outcomes can occur. Thrombophilias, both inherited and acquired, are known to cause a predisposition to venous and arterial thrombosis. The thromboses in decidual vessels are thought to be related to intrauterine growth restriction, fetal death and recurrent miscarriage [4].
4.2.1 Acquired Thrombophilia or Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS)
APS is the most important and treatable cause of RM [1, 4]. Diagnosis of APS is made when at least one clinical and one laboratory criterion is present (Table 25.1) [13].
Table 25.1 Clinical and laboratory criteria to diagnose antiphospholipid syndrome. At least one clinical and one laboratory criteria should be present to diagnose antiphospholipid syndrome.
Clinical criteria
Laboratory criteria
Vascular (arterial/venous/small capillary) thrombosis
History of adverse pregnancy outcome
– Three or more consecutive miscarriages before 10 weeks gestation
– One or more morphologically normal fetus/es lost after 10 weeks gestation
– One or more preterm births before 34 weeks gestation owing to placental insufficiency or severe pre-eclampsia
IgG and/or IgM ACA in medium or high titre on 2 or more occasions at least 12 weeks apart
IgG and/or IgM anti-B2 glycoprotein1 antibodies (in the titre of >99th centile) on 2 or more occasions at least 12 weeks apart.
LA present in plasma on 2 or more occasions at least 12 weeks apart.
Anti-phospholipid antibodies (APA) are present in 15% of women with RM [14] compared to a prevalence of less than 2% in the low risk obstetric population. APA are thought to contribute to RM by altering the extra-villous trophoblast function, initiating a local inflammatory response and by triggering thrombosis of the microvasculature of the placenta later in pregnancy. APS if left untreated can reduce the live birth rate to 10% [15].
4.2.2 Inherited or Hereditary Thrombophilias
The recognised inherited thrombophilias are listed in Box 25.1. Inherited thrombophilic mutations have been implicated as a possible cause of RM. However, prospective data on the outcome of untreated pregnancies in women with inherited thrombophilias are scarce. Their association with late pregnancy loss is stronger than with early pregnancy loss [1].
Box 25.1 Inherited thrombophilias
Types of Inherited Thrombophilia
Activated protein C resistance (commonly due to Factor V Leiden mutation)
Prothrombin gene mutation (Factor II)
Protein S deficiency
Protein C deficiency
Anti-thrombin III deficiency
Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) mutation
4.2.3 MTHFR Mutation
MTHFR is a key enzyme in one-carbon metabolism which catalyses the conversion of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate into 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. MTHFR gene polymorphisms are commonly associated with hyperhomocysteinaemia, the milder forms of which have been identified as a risk factor for thrombosis. There is no convincing evidence to suggest hyperhomocysteinaemia is a risk factor for RM.
4.3 Structural Abnormalities – Uterine and Cervical
Congenital uterine abnormalities, depending on the type and degree of anatomical distortion, are thought to impair reproductive outcome. They are associated with an increased risk of spontaneous miscarriage and other pregnancy complications such as preterm labour, fetal malpresentation, low birth weight and increased perinatal mortality rates [16]. Although the exact aetio-pathophysiology remains uncertain, they are found to be significantly more prevalent in women with miscarriage than in the general population. The incidence of congenital uterine anomalies may range from 2.7% to 16.7% in the general population or in fertile women and from 1.8% to 37.6% in women with two or more consecutive miscarriages [17]. The prevalence of all congenital uterine anomalies in women with two or more miscarriages appears to be similar to those with three or more miscarriages.
Fibroids are common, benign tumours of the uterus occurring in up to 77% of women approaching the age of 50. The prevalence of fibroids in women with RM is reported as 8.2% [18]. Although cavity distorting sub-mucous and intramural fibroids and large non-cavity distorting intramural fibroids may interfere with implantation [19], their effect on the risk of RM remains poorly understood. An observational study found that mid-trimester miscarriages were significantly commoner in women experiencing RM with either cavity distorting or non-cavity distorting fibroids compared to women with otherwise unexplained RM [18]. In this study, resection of fibroids distorting the uterine cavity removed the risk of mid-trimester loss and increased live birth rate by twofold in subsequent pregnancies [18].
Intrauterine adhesions (Asherman's syndrome) have been thought to increase the risk of RM by endometrial fibrosis and inflammation and diminishing intrauterine volume [20]. The reported incidence of intrauterine adhesions on diagnostic hysteroscopy following three or more spontaneous miscarriages is around 10%, but a study found that 97.5% of women with three or more miscarriages have had two or more surgical management of miscarriage procedures [20]. However, there is no evidence from prospective studies to confirm the causal relationship of intrauterine adhesions to RM.
A diagnosis of cervical weakness is based on a history of recurrent mid-trimester miscarriages or recurrent preterm deliveries following painless cervical dilatation in the absence of contractions, bleeding or other causes of RM. The exact incidence of cervical weakness in women with RM is unknown and there are no objective tests that can reliably identify women with cervical weakness in the non-pregnant state [1].
4.4 Endometrial Causes
There is a growing body of evidence from in-vitro and animal studies to suggest that decidualising endometrial stromal cells serve as sensors of embryo quality upon implantation and that any perturbations in endometrial decidualisation may cause recurrent miscarriage [9]. It has also been suggested that in some women with RM the duration of uterine receptivity is prolonged, widening the implantation window. Decidualising stromal cells from women with RM may fail to discriminate between high and low quality embryos and thereby allow developmentally compromised embryos to implant resulting in miscarriage which may then be recurrent. There are no standardised investigations however, to assess endometrial dysfunction and the current treatments to improve endometrial function are empirical.
4.5 Endocrine Abnormalities
Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus is a known risk factor for miscarriages and congenital malformations, but well managed, diabetes alone is not found to be a risk factor for miscarriage and thus should not cause recurrent miscarriage.
Physiological changes of pregnancy demands increased thyroid hormone production which is adequately accommodated by a normal thyroid gland. An underactive thyroid gland may not be able to meet the demands of changes in pregnancy; however, there is no evidence to suggest that women with miscarriage or RM have more overt or subclinical hypothyroidism.
The role of anti-thyroid antibodies in RM is not completely established. The prevalence of thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab) in women with recurrent miscarriage is reported to be higher. In a systematic review, it was identified that the presence of thyroid antibodies was associated with an increased risk of RM (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.5–3.5), when compared with the absence of thyroid antibodies [21].
The role of prolactin in RM is controversial. Prolactin is essential for female reproduction and high levels are associated with ovulatory dysfunction. Hyperprolactinaemia is thought to affect the hypothalamo-pituitary-ovarian axis, resulting in impaired folliculogenesis, oocyte maturation and/or a short luteal phase [2]. In one study bromocriptine-treated hyperprolactinaemic women with RM had a significantly higher percentage of successful pregnancies overall [22]. An observational study, however, identified that those women with RM and significantly lower serum prolactin levels were at an increased risk of miscarriage in subsequent pregnancy [23].
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine condition in women of reproductive age. The reported prevalence of PCOS in women with RM ranges from 4.8% to 82%, and the wide range of apparent prevalence is the result of the huge variation in the diagnostic criteria used for PCOS before the establishment of the Rotterdam criteria [24]. PCOS has been associated with an increased risk of miscarriage, but the exact mechanism remains unclear. The markers of PCOS are not predictive of pregnancy loss following spontaneous conception amongst ovulatory women with RM. The increased risk of miscarriage in PCOS women may be due to hyperandrogenaemia, hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance. The prevalence of hyperandrogenaemia in RM women is 11% [25]. In RM women, increased follicular phase free androgen index is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage in subsequent pregnancy [25]. Insulin resistance is prevalent in 17–27% of women with RM [24]. Hyperinsulinaemia in PCOS is attributed to obesity as well as to insulin resistance independent of body weight. It is found to be an independent risk factor for miscarriage and is thought to play a key role in implantation failure by suppressing circulating levels of glycodelin and IGFBP-1. However, there is no strong association between hyperinsulinaemia and RM.
There is a paucity of evidence to suggest infections such as toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, herpes, listeria and bacterial vaginosis cause first trimester RM. Therefore, routine screening for these infections as a part of RM evaluation is not recommended and neither is any routine use of antibiotics.
4.7 Immune Dysfunction
The survival of a genetically 'foreign' semi-allogenic fetus and the placenta requires significant regulation of the maternal immune system and this maternal tolerance is mediated by MHC proteins, endometrial leukocytes and the cytokines.
HLA class 1b alleles and polymorphisms (HLA –C, –E, -F and –G) seem to induce suppression of the maternal immune system, but their exact link to pregnancy complications such as RM has not been convincingly established [26].
Uterine natural killer (uNK) cells are the most abundant of all decidual leucocytes. They are a rich source of cytokines and growth factors and are thought to play a role in conferring immunotolerance towards paternal antigens, in decidualisation by regulating trophoblast invasion and vascular remodelling. There is no convincing evidence to suggest that uNK cell density is different in women with RM when compared to controls, and the uNK cell density does not appear to predict future pregnancy outcome.
Peripheral NK cells are phenotypically and functionally different from uNK cells and have no role in decidualisation, implantation and hence in RM.
4.8 Psychological
Miscarriage can be a distressing event and can induce obvious emotional responses, such as anxiety, depression, denial, anger, marital disruption, and a sense of loss and inadequacy [4].
4.9 Male Factor
Studies examining the role of sperm DNA damage in RM patients have shown mixed results. There is insufficient evidence to suggest that tests of DNA fragmentation have predictive value in the prospective identification of women at risk of RM. At present, sperm DNA testing is not recommended as a part of the clinical evaluation of RM.
Chapter 24 – Early Pregnancy
Chapter 33 – Training Opportunities in Reproductive Medicine
Oct 26, 2020 | Posted by drzezo in GYNECOLOGY | Comments Off on Chapter 25 – Evaluation and Management of Recurrent Miscarriage


text:
Elliot Abemayor, MD, PhD
Head & Neck Surgery
200 Medical Plaza
Subspecialties: Surgical Oncology, Endocrine Surgery
Academic and Medical Staff Appointments
Co-Director, UCLA Head and Neck Cancer Program
Vice-Chief, Division of Head and Neck Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 1995-2011
Professor-in-Residence, Department of Head and Neck Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 1995-present
Professional Society Memberships
Fellow, American Laryngological Association
Fellow, Triological Society
Fellow, American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Fellow, American College of Surgeons
Fellow, American Broncho-Esophagological Association
Society of University Otolaryngologists-Head and Neck Surgeons
American Association Cancer Research
Fellow, American Society of Head and Neck Surgery
Sigma Xi, National Research Honor Society
Paleopathology Club, International Academy of Pathology
Society for the History of Otolaryngology
Los Angeles Society of Otolaryngology / Head and Neck Surgery
Dr. Abemayor graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where he obtained both his MD as well as a PhD degree in Biochemical Pharmacology. He was a general surgery resident in the Harvard Surgical Service of the New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston. Following his residency training in Head and Neck Surgery at UCLA he became a faculty member, where he is now a Professor of Head and Neck Surgery.
Dr. Abemayor's practice is focused on the treatment of benign and malignant tumors of the head and neck and the surgical treatment of disorders of the thyroid and parathyroid glands. He is widely recognized for his expertise by his peers and is often invited as a speaker at national and international meetings to teach other head and neck surgeons the latest developments in these fields. When patients with malignant tumors are seen, they are evaluated by Dr. Abemayor, and then given the option to be further evaluated by a multidisciplinary team of reconstructive surgeons, maxillofacial prosthodontists, radiation therapists and medical oncologists. This evaluation by the multidisciplinary UCLA Head and Neck Tumor Board affords patients access to the best and most current treatment options available. The paramount goals are to optimize treatment options as well as ensure functional and aesthetic outcomes.
Dr. Abemayor has published extensively in the field of Head and Neck Surgery. He is the co-editor of a widely used textbook and is a member of the editorial board or an editorial reviewer for all of the major peer-review journals in the specialty. He is a co-investigator or co-principle investigator of several NIH funded grants, which fund several core research teams investigating the basic mechanisms of head and neck cancer and the investigation of novel techniques for early diagnosis of these tumors.
Medical Board Certification
Otolaryngology, American Board of Otolaryngology, 1986
UCLA School of Medicine, 1985
Deaconess Hospital, 1981
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, PhD, 1980
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, MD, 1977
What insurance is accepted?
Super doctors, Southern California, 2022
Top doctors, Los Angeles Magazine's Top Doctors 2022
Super Doctors® Southern California 2021, 2022
Top Doctors, Los Angeles Magazine, 2021
2018 Los Angeles Magazine Top Doctors
Head and Neck Surgery| Pediatric Head and Neck Surgery| Laryngology +1 more
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital
150 UCLA Medical Plaza
Early detection and management of head and neck tumors.
Link to Dr. Abemayor's PubMed publications >
Phi Beta Kappa 1972
B.A. summa cum laude, Queens College 1973
Sigma Xi, National Science Honor Society 1973
Jonas E. Salk Award and Scholarship, City of N.Y. 1973
Trainee, Medical Scientist Training Program 1973-1981
William A. Jeffers Prize for Basic Research 1980, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Outstanding Teaching Award 1985, Division of Head and Neck Surgery, UCLA School of Medicine
Outstanding Teaching Award 1990, Full-time Faculty, Division of Head and Neck Surgery, UCLA School of Medicine
Cum Laude Citation for 1994, Excellence of Scientific Exhibit, Radiological Society North America Annual Meeting
Outstanding Teaching Award, Full-time Faculty 1995, Division of Head and Neck Surgery, UCLA School of Medicine
10 Year Service Award 1996, American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Residency Program Director Recognition Award 2000, Division of Head and Neck Surgery, UCLA School of Medicine
Presidential Citation 2003, American Laryngological Association Nashville, TN
Third Place Winner Poster Session 2003, Annual Meeting Triological Society, Nashville, TN
Certificate of Merit, Scientific Session of the Radiological 2003, Society of North America, Chicago, Ill
uclahealth.org/head-neck-surgery
Johnson Cancer Center - UCLA Head and Neck Cancer Services


text:
Microsoft Xbox One X Launch Delayed
Rachel Jones August 21, 2017 Microsoft Xbox One X Launch Delayed2017-08-21T04:32:07+00:00 Games No Comment
Sad news for Xbox lovers, they might have wait until next year to wrap their hands around Microsoft's Xbox One X. But this Xbox is not the only thing which will be delayed, apparently, Microsoft also planned on launching the much-awaited Crackdown 3, with its Xbox this winter, but looks like people will have wait for the two till next spring.
Microsoft's Xbox One X is 4K capable console, which comes with turbo charging, and some amazing new features. However, this is not the first time Crackdown 3's release has been delayed. Initially, the game was first announced to release in 2014 at E3 three years ago.
Microsoft seemed to understand people's craze for the game, that's why he apologized and also discussed why they decided on changing the release date. Shannon Loftis Microsoft's Studio Publishing Manager shared that the company wants to deliver the right game, with a great gaming console interface. Nintendo Switch is the biggest gaming console in the world right now, which is going to be the biggest competition for Microsoft's new Xbox.
Crackdown in itself is amongst the most popular game in the world. People still like to indulge in a friendly round of original crackdown to get a taste of addictive mechanics, where the players need to explore the virtual world and collect hundreds of orbs. Crackdown 2 also comprised of a similar thing, but it had a new twist with an addition of zombies. However, this delay in release will also help the Microsoft in aligning more games in its lineup, which will automatically help in raising total sales. Some of these games include Cuphead, Super Lucky's Tale Forza Motorsport 7 and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. It looks like Microsoft is planning on giving its fans an unexpected surprise.
Microsoft Xbox One X, Microsoft Xbox One X launch delayed, Microsoft Xbox One X release date
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text:
Optenet, European Leader In Web Filtering And Anti-Spam Solutions, Goes All Out
The market for Internet security solutions is gaining ground every year. Companies all over the world now want to offer complete security services to Internet users. Customers are prepared to pay up to €50 a month for an Internet connection, but they are also coming to understand the hidden costs generated by surfing the web. A few good examples are viruses and spyware that slow down computers and damage data. Malicious code and spam can aggravate Internet users so much that they may even wonder if it's worth subscribing to Internet Services.
So far companies have tended to offer their own products (e.g. antivirus). Although there is a noticeable trend towards combining solutions, only a few companies offer an all-in-one solution. This is why Optenet, a Spanish company that specializes in developing Ads-Free Browsing, anti-spam, anti-phishing and web filtering services has signed a partnership with Kaspersky Lab, a famous player at the antivirus market, in order to complement its product line.
Kaspersky Lab is an internationally recognized developer of secure content management solutions and an active member of AVIEN, the Anti-Virus Information Exchange Network. An international team of anti-virus experts provides a rapid response to emerging threats. Virus activity worldwide is monitored around the clock, and the virus laboratory releases updates to antivirus databases every hour, ensures a quick cure for new viruses. The Kaspersky antivirus engine also includes reliable anti-spyware functionality that is regularly updated.
Optenet is one of the most significant European players in web content filtering, with offices in San Sebasti??n, Madrid, Paris, Manchester, and Milan. The company has been actively expanding operations in the Americas in the last few years, opening offices in Miami and Mexico. Additionally, the company has developed anti-spam (a European IST Prize winner) and anti-phishing solutions and other services, to become one of the leading service providers for ISPs, governments, banks, companies, educational institutions and residential users. Optenet solutions and services optimize Internet use, while providing 24/7 support and daily updates.
Vitaly Bezrodnykh, Kaspersky Lab's Business Development director, commented: "With the latest threats able to cross the globe in minutes, it is essential for service providers that handle high volumes of traffic utilize solutions equal to contemporary information security challenges: products with the fastest response times and the most frequent database updates. An Optenet all-in-one solution which incorporates antivirus and spyware protection enables ISPs to prevent business outages and subsequent financial losses."
The partnership with Kaspersky Lab means that viruses and spyware will no longer be an issue when clients choose Optenet to provide secure content management solutions. Optenet believes that all users can benefit from services of the type that the company provides and that ISPs should continue offering them, but in a more complete way. Therefore, Optenet aims to provide ISPs with superior services powered by Kaspersky Lab solutions. Although other sectors such as governmental and educational institutions will be able to avail themselves of these benefits, Internet access is contracted through ISPs and they are undoubtedly key players in offering value-added services such as the ones provided by Optenet.


Hunting in Ukraine will be an unforgettable adventure. Ukraine has a spectacular nature. It is due to the fact that the country is located in three different physical and geographic zones. They are – Polesia, forest-steppe and steppe. In each one of them , there is a diversity of hunting games.
Polesia – northern part of Ukraine – is coniferous and mixed forests, numerous lakes and marshes. The natural kingdom here looks untouched – a real grace for wild animals!
On the forests and plains we can found roe deers. Known as a clever and alert animal, it is a real challenge to stalk it. Hunting Roe Deer is popular in Ukraine and it is common to meet and harvest great trophies. Due to his ingeniousness, the Roe Deer is a very interesting animal to hunt.
Stalking is the main method of hunting, probably the most interesting and fascinating one.
There is nothing that compares the pleasure of Moose hunting. The Moose hunt is an exciting opportunity for the avid outdoorsman.
Big sika deer hunting in Ukraine is also a highly recommended hunt . Ukraine is the place where you can hunting really big sika stag.
During the winter, the hunters can enjoy of wolf hunting where the success is very high.
Hunting in Ukraine is so much fun.


Show up to work with an ageless vertical genuine leather Apple iPhone cover. Designed to be modern and functional with that classic appeal - Feel & smell the real leather! Flip the vertical Apple iPhone cover open in seconds to quickly check your new emails, texts or Facebook notifications (but hey don't let your boss catch you!).This case comes in classic Black colour.


text:
www.arcamax.com
Study: Climate change is increasing the frequency and temperature of extreme heat waves
Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times on Nov 24, 2022
Published in News & Features
LOS ANGELES — As California awakens to the worsening risk of extreme climate events, researchers are shedding new light on last year's anomalous and extreme Pacific Northwest heat wave. One study published this week said such heat waves could become 20 times more likely to occur if current carbon emissions continue unabated. Another said they may also be nearly 10 degrees hotter.
The nine-day event in late June and early July 2021 seared parts of Northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, where Canada saw its highest temperature on record, 121.3 degrees. The heat wave claimed hundreds of lives, sparked several devastating wildfires and killed an estimated 1 billion sea creatures.
Such an event would have been "virtually impossible" in the 1950s, but atmospheric warming has already increased its probability to about a 0.5% chance per year, according to one study out of Columbia University, published Thursday in the journal Nature Climate Change. Should warming surpass 2 degrees Celsius — the upper limit set by the International Panel on Climate Change — that probability could soar to a 10% chance per year as soon as 2050.
"The single biggest control on how bad heat waves will get — in excess of how bad they already currently are — is the amount of CO2 that we put into the atmosphere," said Samuel Bartusek, a Ph.D. student at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the lead author of the study. "There's really only one solution to the problem of putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is to stop doing it."
Bartusek said the extraordinary heat wave was "shocking" both for the people who experienced it and for the scientific community, which is why researchers hope to gain a better understanding of its physical mechanisms and its relationship to climate change.
"This was an extremely weird event," said Michael Wehner, a climate scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who co-authored another paper on the heat wave published last week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. "It was also tragic, of course, because of the mortality that resulted from it."
Among other conclusions, that paper found that the heat wave was so unprecedented it essentially broke most of the standard tools used to measure the human influence on heat waves.
"At the end of the day, we calculated not only was the event impossible without climate change — it was impossible with climate change. And of course, it happened, so that means that the model is wrong," Wehner said.
Wehner said such statistical outliers make it difficult to forecast the future frequency of such events with certainty. However, his paper does include findings about temperature, noting that global warming caused as much as a 1.8 degree increase in maximum temperatures during the heat wave.
Future warming could lead to a roughly 9 degree increase in heatwave temperatures by the end of the 21st century, the paper says.
"The bottom line is that the amount of climate change we get is really determined by us, and by the people we elect to either mitigate emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases or not," he said. "And the less we do, the worse things get."
The Columbia researchers also found that several factors converged to help create the blistering heat dome, including anomalously dry soils and disruptions to the jet stream.
In California and other parts of the Western United States, increasing heat, drought and aridification are contributing to long-term drying of soils, which means there's less water to be evaporated into the air, Bartusek explained.
"And if there is less ability for evaporation to come out of the ground, there is a greater heating effect — where the air that's just above the surface will be heated more effectively," he said. He added that in some areas it's likely there was "this feedback process going on where the land surface helped amplify some of the highest temperatures."
The jet stream — the fast-flowing air currents in the upper level of the atmosphere that guide weather systems from west to east — also played a role in the heat wave, according to the study. Before and during the event, the jet stream "buckled" into a wave pattern and slowed down, essentially locking the weather system in place and allowing the dome of heat to build up over the region.
The researchers noted that the effect of climate change on the jet stream is still being debated, although some scientists believe such wave patterns are becoming more frequent and extreme due to human activity. Wehner said the question is "one of the most interesting problems in climate science right now."
"It definitely remains a possibility that we would see more of these kinds of unusual flows with global warming," he said.
Kai Kornhuber, an adjunct associate research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and another of the Columbia study's authors, said the findings highlight how deviations among soil moisture levels, the jet stream and other factors can drive temperatures even beyond their usual magnitudes.
"Sometimes these factors just align and you get those conditions that cause a perfect storm," he said. "What is important to mention here, though, is that each of those drivers do exhibit increasing trends that are associated with climate change ... These types of coincidences might just occur with a higher likelihood in the future, just because these common drivers are all linked to climate trends."
As for how likely it is that such heat waves will reach that yearly 10% probability by 2050, much depends on which emissions pathway society ends up taking. But "given the accelerated trends in extreme weather events globally, there are reasons to believe that these estimates might even be a bit conservative," Kornhuber said.
He and the other researchers noted that while some of the studies' numbers and predictions may differ, their key messages are very similar — that the extreme heat wave was essentially impossible at pre-industrial emission levels.
"What is important in this aspect is these methods all agree that climate change plays a major role in every heat wave that we observe nowadays," Kornhuber said.
Though the findings are dire, the researchers said they could help inform future modeling of such events and help people to better prepare. Many parts of the Pacific Northwest were unequipped for such extreme heat, including homes without air conditioning and infrastructure systems unable to handle such strain. Wehner said improved adaptation efforts and contingency plans will help, but that ultimately, such events "are going to get worse because there's a lot of climate change that's baked into the system."
"The more we can reduce our emissions — eventually getting down to none, to zero — and the sooner we can do that, the better in terms of avoiding even worse tragedies," he said.
©2022 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


text:
Q: limit the area to move sprite by toucharea I want to limit the area to move the sprite object only on this area (for example a area dimensions 200x200).
I would to create a box2D 200x200 where the sprites can moved only on this area
How do you do that please?
@Override
public Scene onCreateScene() {
    this.mEngine.registerUpdateHandler(new FPSLogger());

    final Scene scene = new Scene();
    scene.setBackground(new Background(0.09804f, 0.6274f, 0.8784f));

    final float centerX = (CAMERA_WIDTH - this.mFaceTextureRegionLetterOne
            .getWidth()) / 2;
    final float centerY = (CAMERA_HEIGHT - this.mFaceTextureRegionLetterOne
            .getHeight()) / 2;
    final Sprite letterOne = new Sprite(centerX - centerX / 2, centerY
            - centerY / 2, this.mFaceTextureRegionLetterOne,
            this.getVertexBufferObjectManager()) {
        @Override
        public boolean onAreaTouched(final TouchEvent pSceneTouchEvent,
                final float pTouchAreaLocalX, final float pTouchAreaLocalY) {
            this.setPosition(pSceneTouchEvent.getX() - this.getWidth() / 2,
                    pSceneTouchEvent.getY() - this.getHeight() / 2);
            return true;
        }

    };

    final Sprite letterTwo = new Sprite(centerX - centerX / 2, centerY,
            this.mFaceTextureRegionLetterTwo,
            this.getVertexBufferObjectManager()) {
        @Override
        public boolean onAreaTouched(final TouchEvent pSceneTouchEvent,
                final float pTouchAreaLocalX, final float pTouchAreaLocalY) {
            this.setPosition(pSceneTouchEvent.getX() - this.getWidth() / 2,
                    pSceneTouchEvent.getY() - this.getHeight() / 2);
            //int count = scene.getChildCount();
            //for(int i = 0; i < count; i++) {

            IEntity entity = scene.getChildByIndex(1);
            if (entity instanceof Sprite) {
                if (entity.getUserData().equals("sprite"))
                    if (((Sprite) entity).collidesWith(letterOne))
                        Log.v("colission", "face_box is collised on google plus -> letterTwo on letterOne");
            }
            //}
            return true;
        }
    };
    letterTwo.setUserData("sprite");

    final Sprite boxArea = new Sprite(centerX, centerY,
            this.mFaceTextureRegionBox, this.getVertexBufferObjectManager());
    letterOne.setScale(2);
    scene.attachChild(letterOne);
    scene.registerTouchArea(letterOne);

    letterTwo.setScale(2);
    scene.attachChild(letterTwo);

    scene.registerTouchArea(letterTwo);

    boxArea.setScale(2);
    scene.attachChild(boxArea);

    scene.setTouchAreaBindingOnActionDownEnabled(true);

    return scene;
}

Thank you.

A: I don't know box2D, but normally you would check the edges of the sprite on each movement, if they do not overlap the edges of the area.
If your sprite is represented by a Rectangle, and the area where you can move also represented by a Rectangle, this could be done easy.
But first, check the box2D API, maybe it has already some helper methods to ease this task, something like:
obect.overlaps(object)

A: You should create a Rectangle of 200X200 and then you should use create a body of the rectangle using the Box2D Physics. And for Fixture definition for rectangle you can set density, Elasticity and Friction so that your sprites will be treated accordingly when they collide with the boundary of the Rectangle.
To create a Rectangle you can refer the Examples of the Andengine.

A: With your code, you seem to try to do collision checking with your sprites ?!
It would be complicated and not nice when you try to do things without physics bodies. So lets use the physics bodies with your sprites.
But note that, DO NOT create a solid box body for your area (containing your sprites), lets use 4 separated body walls (left, top, right, bottom) to form a closed box; because game engine can only check collision with solid shapes.
The following is the code for reference:
/**
 * @param pScene
 *      Sence of the game, get from class member
 * @param pWorld
 *      physics world of the game, get from class member
 */
public void CreateSprites(final Scene pScene, final PhysicsWorld pWorld)
{
    final FixtureDef mFixtureDef = PhysicsFactory.createFixtureDef(10, 1.1f, 0.0f);//should be placed as member of class
    final Sprite letterTwo = new Sprite(centerX - centerX / 2, centerY,
            this.mFaceTextureRegionLetterTwo,
            this.getVertexBufferObjectManager());

    final Body letterTwoBody = PhysicsFactory.createBoxBody(pWorld, letterTwo, BodyType.DynamicBody, mFixtureDef);
    letterTwo.setUserData(letterTwoBody); // for later sprite-body attachment access

    pScene.attachChild(letterTwo);
    pWorld.registerPhysicsConnector(new PhysicsConnector(letterTwo, letterTwoBody, true, true));
}

/** Create the walls, in these boudaries sprites will move */
public void InitBoxWalls(Scene pScene, PhysicsWorld pWorld)
{
    final float WALL_MARGIN_WIDTH = 5f;
    final float WALL_MARGIN_HEIGHT = 10f;
    final VertexBufferObjectManager vertexBufferObjectManager = this.getVertexBufferObjectManager();

    mWallGround = new Rectangle(-WALL_MARGIN_WIDTH, mCameraHeight + WALL_MARGIN_HEIGHT - 2, mCameraWidth + 2*WALL_MARGIN_WIDTH, 2, vertexBufferObjectManager);
    mWallRoof = new Rectangle(-WALL_MARGIN_WIDTH, -WALL_MARGIN_HEIGHT, mCameraWidth + 2*WALL_MARGIN_WIDTH, 2, vertexBufferObjectManager);
    mWallLeft = new Rectangle(-WALL_MARGIN_WIDTH, -WALL_MARGIN_HEIGHT, 2, mCameraHeight + 2*WALL_MARGIN_HEIGHT, vertexBufferObjectManager);
    mWallRight = new Rectangle(mCameraWidth + WALL_MARGIN_WIDTH - 2, -WALL_MARGIN_HEIGHT, 2, mCameraHeight + 2*WALL_MARGIN_HEIGHT, vertexBufferObjectManager);

    PhysicsFactory.createBoxBody(pWorld, mWallGround, BodyType.StaticBody, mWallFixtureDef);
    PhysicsFactory.createBoxBody(pWorld, mWallRoof, BodyType.StaticBody, mWallFixtureDef);
    PhysicsFactory.createBoxBody(pWorld, mWallLeft, BodyType.StaticBody, mWallFixtureDef);
    PhysicsFactory.createBoxBody(pWorld, mWallRight, BodyType.StaticBody, mWallFixtureDef);

    pScene.attachChild(mWallGround);
    pScene.attachChild(mWallRoof);
    pScene.attachChild(mWallLeft);
    pScene.attachChild(mWallRight);
}

And the last thing you should do is to look up example of Physics/MouseJoint in AndEngine examples.

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As you consider your career choices (vocal performance) and how your major (music) will benefit you in those choices, begin to think about how your success and/or failure in school will impact your career choices. l. Include in your introduction some information about your career choices and reference at least two outside sources.
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