text:
Advanced Computing Research Centre
ACRC enabled research
HPC enabled research linked to the HPC Facility in PURE can now be seen on this PURE web-page.
If you have published research which used the ACRC HPC facilities please remember to add a 'relation' to the HPC Facility in PURE so that your research can be listed here.
Acknowledging ACRC in Publications and news articles
When you write articles about your research for publication, conference proceedings or for other reasons, please acknowledge use of the ACRC facilities by including the following:
This work was carried out using the computational facilities of the Advanced Computing Research Centre, University of Bristol - http://www.bristol.ac.uk/acrc/.
2022 research news
Pocket feature shared by deadly coronaviruses could lead to pan-coronavirus antiviral treatment
Scientists have discovered why some coronaviruses are more likely to cause severe disease, which has remained a mystery, until now. Researchers of the University of Bristol-led study, published in Science Advances today [23 November], say their findings could lead to the development of a pan-coronavirus treatment to defeat all coronaviruses—from the 2002 SARS-CoV outbreak to Omicron, the current variant of SARS-CoV-2, as well as dangerous variants that may emerge in future.
Advanced computer simulations shed intriguing new light on magma deep below Earth's surface
Advanced computer simulations shed intriguing new light on magma deep below Earth's surface. Unlike the classic Jules Verne science fiction novel Journey to the Center of the Earth or movie The Core, humans cannot venture into the Earth's interior beyond a few kilometres of its surface. But thanks to latest advances in computer modelling, an international team of researchers led by the University of Bristol has shed new light on the properties and behaviour of magma found several hundreds of kilometres deep within the Earth.
£4.9 million award to investigate pioneering biological electronics
Researchers from universities across the UK, led by the University of Bristol, have been awarded £4.9 million from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the UK's largest bioscience funder, to investigate how electrons and energy flow through biological molecules by building artificial protein-based wires and circuits.
Dead fish breathes new life into the evolutionary origin of fins and limbs
A trove of fossils in China, unearthed in rock dating back some 436 million years, have revealed for the first time that the mysterious galeaspids, a jawless freshwater fish, possessed paired fins.
Scientists have discovered when beetles became prolific
Researchers at the University of Bristol have found that beetles first roamed the world in the Carboniferous and later diversified alongside the earliest dinosaurs during the Triassic and Jurassic. Using a previously published and carefully curated 68-gene dataset, the scientists ran a battery of mathematical models to reconstruct the evolution of protein sequences - the results of which, have been published in Royal Society Open Science.
Predicting Rainfall Futures
Leading global climate scientists claim our ability to deal with climate change lies in jeopardy without drastic action to improve rainfall predictions.
Understanding enzyme evolution paves the way for green chemistry
Researchers at the University of Bristol have shown how laboratory evolution can give rise to highly efficient enzymes for new-to-nature reactions, opening the door for novel and more environmentally friendly ways to make drugs and other chemicals.
How vitamins, steroids and potential antivirals might affect SARS-CoV-2
Evidence is emerging that vitamin D – and possibly vitamins K and A – might help combat COVID-19. A new study from the University of Bristol published in the journal of the German Chemical Society Angewandte Chemie has shown how they – and other antiviral drugs – might work. The research indicates that these dietary supplements and compounds could bind to the viral spike protein and so might reduce SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. In contrast, cholesterol may increase infectivity, which could explain why having high cholesterol is considered a risk factor for serious disease.
Research shows emissions of banned ozone-depleting substance are back on the decline
Global emissions of a potent substance notorious for depleting the Earth's ozone layer – the protective barrier which absorbs the Sun's harmful UV rays – have fallen rapidly and are now back on the decline, according to new research.
DeepMIP: model intercomparison of early Eocene climatic optimum (EECO) large-scale climate features
We present results from an ensemble of eight climate models, each of which has carried out simulations of the early Eocene climate optimum (EECO, ∼ 50 million years ago). These simulations have been carried out in the framework of the Deep-Time Model Intercomparison Project (DeepMIP; http://www.deepmip.org, last access: 10 January 2021); thus, all models have been configured with the same paleogeographic and vegetation boundary conditions. The results indicate that these non-CO2 boundary conditions contribute between 3 and 5 ∘C to Eocene warmth.
The Trans-Ancestral Genomic Architecture of Glycemic Traits
Glycemic traits are used to diagnose and monitor type 2 diabetes, and cardiometabolic health. To 462 date, most genetic studies of glycemic traits have focused on individuals of European ancestry. Here, 463 we aggregated genome-wide association studies in up to 281,416 individuals without diabetes (30% 464 non-European ancestry) with fasting glucose, 2h-glucose post-challenge, glycated hemoglobin, and 465 fasting insulin data. Trans-ancestry and single-ancestry meta-analyses identified 242 loci (99 novel; 466 P<5x10-8), 80% with no significant evidence of between-ancestry heterogeneity.
Deep Learning for Ultrasonic Crack Characterization in NDE
Machine learning for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) has the potential to bring significant improvements in defect characterization accuracy due to its effectiveness in pattern recognition problems. However, the application of modern machine learning methods to NDE has been obstructed by the scarcity of real defect data to train on. This article demonstrates how an efficient, hybrid finite element (FE) and ray-based simulation can be used to train a convolutional neural network (CNN) to characterize real defects.
A potential interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors
Changeux et al. recently suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein may interact with nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and that such interactions may be involved in pathology and infectivity. This hypothesis is based on the fact that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein contains a sequence motif similar to known nAChR antagonists. Here, we use molecular simulations of validated atomically detailed structures of nAChRs and of the spike to investigate the possible binding of the Y674-R685 region of the spike to nAChRs.
Discovery of a druggable pocket in the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein could stop virus in its tracks
A druggable pocket in the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein that could be used to stop the virus from infecting human cells has been discovered by an international team of scientists led by the University of Bristol. The researchers say their findings, published (21/09/20) in the journal Science, are a potential 'game changer' in defeating the current pandemic and add that small molecule anti-viral drugs developed to target the pocket they discovered could help eliminate COVID-19. This research was supported by Oracle Cloud, BlueCryo, ARCHER and ACRC HPC resources and ACRC Research Software Engineers.
Scientists discover new non-sticky gels
Scientists from the University of Bristol and Université Paris-Saclay have discovered a new class of material – non-sticky gels.
Brunel's Network Project
Brunel's Network is a project that aims to find, record, assess and weight the influence of all the individuals with whom Brunel collaborated. It is an analytical enquiry into communities of innovation, and how they functioned in the past, with Brunel at the epicentre.
Ordering of atoms in liquid gallium under pressure
Liquid metals and alloys have exceptional properties that make them suitable for electrical energy storage and generation applications.
Technology takes a step forwards in genetic research
New research brings combined computational and laboratory genome engineering a step closer following the design of smaller and smaller genomes, to advance genetic manipulation, using supercomputers by researchers at the University of Bristol.
Bristol mathematician cracks Diophantine puzzle
A mathematician from the University of Bristol has found a solution to part of a 64-year old mathematical problem – expressing the number 33 as the sum of three cubes, with a little help from BlueCrystal.
The stability of multitrophic communities under habitat loss
Habitat loss (HL) affects species and their interactions, ultimately altering community dynamics. Yet, a challenge for community ecology is to understand how communities with multiple interaction types—hybrid communities—respond to HL prior to species extinctions. To this end, we develop a model to investigate the response of hybrid terrestrial communities to two types of HL: random and contiguous.
The proportion of missing data should not be used to guide decisions on multiple imputation
Researchers are concerned whether multiple imputation (MI) or complete case analysis should be used when a large proportion of data are missing. We aimed to provide guidance for drawing conclusions from data with a large proportion of missingness.
Association of Genetic Risk for Rheumatoid Arthritis With Cognitive and Psychiatric Phenotypes
In this cohort study of 7977 children and adolescents, genetic liability for rheumatoid arthritis was associated with lower total, performance, and verbal IQ at age 8 years and symptoms of hyperactivity and inattention from ages 4 to 16 years. However, there was little evidence of association with other domains of psychopathology.
Novel molecular designs unlock therapeutic potential of nicotine receptors
Using computational simulation methods developed with the aid of Bristol's high performance computing facilities at ACRC, the researchers have unpacked how the modified chemical structure determines the biological profiles of these new cytisine variants. With further research, this work has the potential to produce a new smoking cessation therapy based on cytisine that, may lead to higher and more sustained quit rates.
Lung cancer drug resistance explained by computer simulations
Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Parma, Italy, have used molecular simulations to understand resistance to osimertinib - an anticancer drug used to treat types of lung cancer.
News Largest-ever computer vision dataset from wearable cameras
This ground-breaking dataset will help machines to learn and advance first-person vision, enabling improvements in robotics, healthcare and augmented reality.
Industry partnership to create the world's most accurate simulation of an aircraft jet engine
The project could lead to an aircraft jet engine simulation so accurate that it could enable new engine designs to be certified before they are physically built.
Key role for University of Bristol in new supercomputer collaboration
The University of Bristol is one of the key academic partners in a new collaboration announced by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) today [Monday 16 April] to accelerate the adoption of supercomputers in the UK.
ACRC enabled research showcase
3D pentagons and metallic glasses
Researchers from the University of Bristol have used state-of-the-art computer simulation to test a theory from the 1950s that when atoms organise themselves into 3D pentagons they suppress crystallisation.
Study shows how Ebola evolved during the outbreak in West Africa
University of Bristol researchers used Bristol's Supercomputer, BlueCrystal, to analyse raw data on the Ebola virus in 179 patient blood samples to determine the precise genetic make-up of the virus in each case. This research informed public health policy in key areas such as diagnostic testing, vaccine deployment and experimental treatment options.
BlueCrystal used to shed light on the origins of the chloroplast
A new study, led by the University of Bristol, has shed new light on the origin, timing and habitat in which the chloroplast first evolved.
BlueCrystal used to simulate the climate of Game of Thrones
Scientists from the Universities of Bristol, Cardiff, and Southampton have used a Climate Model to simulate and explore the climate of the world of Game of Thrones.
BlueCrystal used to compare how bat and human cells respond to viruses
With the assistance of Bristol's High Performance Computing team, the researchers used the University's supercomputer, Blue Crystal, to identify about six thousand genes and proteins made by the bats and examine how these genes and proteins changed in response to infection by the Hendra virus. A similar analysis was also done on the human cells.
ACRC HPC Enabled Research
High Performance Computing News at the University of Bristol
Research Data Storage Facility
Research Software Engineering
ACRC Researchers
ACRC Team and Governance
ACRC training


text:
Criterion Theatre (via YouTube) review: Edith in the Beginning
Edith in the Beginning, Criterion Theatre, Coventry, via YouTube, to Friday, November 27.
Act one, scene one: Enter Keith Railton stage right. Or left? Who cares as long as his entrance takes you back to pre-viral times? Quite long times back indeed. Keith has trodden the boards at the Criterion for many a year.
On this occasion he's not on stage, however. He's in a country churchyard in East Anglia in the role of farmer-turned-archaeologist Basil Brown. After removing his flat cap, he is laying flowers on the grave of the recently deceased Edith Pretty, the widowed landowner who had employed him to unearth invaluable Anglo-Saxon treasures from the burial mounds at Sutton Hoo. (Time for a reality check, perhaps. Keith was, in fact, at home in Earlsdon after making himself up, dressing himself up and filming himself up in the front bedroom. The other actors in this extraordinarily inventive production were doing much the same in their own homes).
Suitably socially distanced, they inter-act on screen in little boxes. Which sounds a bit limited and claustrophobic.
Far from it. Under Anne-marie Greene's direction, we are not only taken into a real country churchyard but also an expansive country estate with a distinctive rural landscape around it. At one point we're also back on the battlefields of the Western Front where Edith served as a Red Cross nurse and her late husband Frank was an army captain. The filming becomes grey at this point – a touching combination of horrific photographs and poetic imagery.
What Wilfred Owen called "war and the pity of war" is a recurring theme of the production. After all, the digging up of invaders' remains takes place in the summer of 1938 as the second worldwide conflict of the 20th century is about to unfold.
Edith Pretty was not far off 60 when she died in 1942. Lucy Hayton (pictured above) looks nowhere near that age. But she takes on the role with an authority that you might expect from an old girl of Roedean School - albeit one tinged with sad reflectiveness of a war-time nurse. Some good humour, too, comes out in her relationship with the rustic Railton as the two main characters.
Jon Elves makes the most of his cameo role as a judge with a distinctive speech impediment. And Helen Withers makes a somewhat surreal appearance as Queen Raedwaeld, manifesting herself at Mrs Pretty's mansion and calling for "a horn of sac". Instead she has to settle for a dry sherry. Cheers, Queen R. And here's to a welcome return to some Criterion stalwarts who'll be treading the boards again one of these days. Or nights. Soon, we hope, in post-vaccine-times. Chris Arnot
Barbara Goulden writes:
If you know you're watching too much television during lockdown then why not take a break and book seats in your own armchairs for the latest offering from the Criterion? Screening is only available until next Friday (Nov 27) although, once downloaded, you can watch this play more than once. And may well want to as there's a lot to take in. Not least the true story that culminated in the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon king, his 80 foot ship and a hoard of golden treasure that lay undisturbed on Suffolk farmland for more than 1,000 years. An ingenious combination of pre-recorded scenes, state-of-the-art technology and precisely calibrated acting makes the re-creation of this drama onto our small screens almost as extraordinary as the discovery of the skeleton of King Redwaeld at Sutton Hoo back in the 1930s. And that's where the story starts with Lucy Hayton taking on the role of widow Edith Pretty, who engages self-taught archaeologist Basil Brown to excavate the mysterious mounds surrounding her manor house. In a variety of extremely stylish vintage dresses, we learn Edith's story, then learn of her late husband's experiences during the First World War. Meanwhile, Keith Railton presents Basil as the choleric, flat-capped, flat-footed "man with a plan" who brooks no interference from outsiders...least of all those who've been to university. There are class divisions, as there would have been at the time. But I enjoyed Anne-marie Greene's assured direction and the clever camerawork that allowed Basil and Edith to exchange maps and mugs of tea despite physically standing in rooms many miles apart. But even Basil can't envisage the fantasy element of this great story as it seems his disturbance of the land also unearths a ghostly visitation from the ancient king's queen... who offers Edith advice but really can't get her head round this Christianity business. Few Criterion regulars will be surprised to see Helen Withers having great fun with his part. Then there's Jon Elves, at the coroner's inquest, who decides to give himself a wonderful lisp as he examines the "tweasures" that will in truth set off earthquakes throughout the archaeological world. This is a lyrical slice of nostalgia that inevitably at times lacks the vitality of a live performance. For all that it is ultimately satisfying and well-worth downloading a ticket.
Tickets for Edith in the Beginning by Karen Forbes are available from the Criterion website. The play can then be watched on YouTube as many times as you like before Friday, November 27.
www.criteriontheatre.co.uk/tickets.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Re-imagine Medical
Investec in conversation
Extraordinary times need Out of the Ordinary solutions. In our four-part live In conversation series, our medical professional clients have the opportunity to hear different perspectives from leaders and experts in various fields.
It's a forum that will both equip, empower and inspire you to re-imagine your medical career, your practice and your future.
Our medical offering
Episode one
Episode two
Episode three
Episode four
Supporting mental health and resilience in medical professionals
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to support the mental health and resilience of medical professionals who are routinely exposed to traumatic events.
For this episode, we bring together Dr Jennifer Wild (Associate professor in experimental psychology and consultant clinical psychologist at the University of Oxford) and Dr Merika Tsitsi, (Head of department, Internal Medicine) at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.
They will explore how medical professionals experience trauma and draw on their research and experience to surface practical ways to improve mental health and develop resilience.
We'd like to know what you thought of this episode
Please leave your comments below.
Watch the webcast
The full webcast of episode 3 'Supporting mental health and resilience in medical professionals' is available now.
Watch the video here >
Promoting mental health and resiliency among medical professionals.
Read article here >
For new perspectives and practical, innovative ways to approach challenges in your medical career, you can download our digital toolkit here, courtesy of The New School and WITS Healthcare Innovation.
Download the toolkit PDF 28.74 MB
About our speakers
Dr Jennifer Wild
Dr Jennifer Wild's area of expertise is in developing and evaluating evidence-based interventions to prevent stress-related psychopathology in at risk populations.
With her team, she developed internet-delivered cognitive training in resilience (iCT-R), which targets modifiable risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression in emergency workers. This preventative intervention is being disseminated to emergency services across England by its mental health charity, Mind.
Dr Wild leads SHAPE Recovery, an evidence-based wellbeing programme, to support hospital and paramedic employees during and after Covid-19. She recently published a popular science book on resilience called Be Extraordinary.
Dr Merika Tsitsi
Dr Merika Tsitsi, MBBCh, FCP (SA) is a South African specialist physician.
For the last five years he has been the clinical head of department of internal medicine at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, the largest hospital in Africa and third largest hospital in the world.
Dr Tsitsi is responsible for the training of internal medicine specialists and for overseeing the development of infrastructure for the internal medicine department. He is the current chair of its Covid-19 steering committee.
Health informatics expert, Dr Chris Mathew, will be joined by seasoned journalist Kojo Baffoe in conversation on the role of data in healthcare innovation.
Learn more about Private Banking for medical professionals.


text:
using InfrastructureAsCode.Core;
using InfrastructureAsCode.Core.Models;
using InfrastructureAsCode.Core.oAuth;
using Microsoft.IdentityModel.Clients.ActiveDirectory;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace InfrastructureAsCode.Powershell.Commands.Base
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Holds all of the information about the current Azure AD Connection and OAuth 2.0 Access Token
    /// </summary>
    public class AzureADALv1Connection
    {
        public static AzureADALv1Connection CurrentConnection { get; set; }

        /// <summary>
        /// Holds the OAuth 2.0 Authentication Result
        /// </summary>
        public AuthenticationResult AuthenticationResult
        {
            get
            {
                return GetTokenAsyncResult();
            }
        }

        public SPOAddInKeys AddInCredentials { get; protected set; }

        public AzureADConfig AzureADCredentials { get; protected set; }

        public AzureADTokenCache AzureADCache { get; protected set; }

        private readonly ITraceLogger _iLogger;

        /// <summary>
        /// Initialize the Azure AD Connection with config and diagnostics
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="authenticationEndpoint">The authentication endpoint used to send the user to an Azure AD login screen</param>
        /// <param name="azureADCredentials"></param>
        /// <param name="traceLogger"></param>
        public AzureADALv1Connection(string authenticationEndpoint, AzureADConfig azureADCredentials, ITraceLogger traceLogger)
        {
            _iLogger = traceLogger;
            AzureADCache = new AzureADTokenCache(authenticationEndpoint, azureADCredentials, traceLogger);
            AzureADCredentials = azureADCredentials;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Initiates a blocker and waites for a Async thread to complete
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns></returns>
        internal AuthenticationResult GetTokenAsyncResult()
        {
            AuthenticationResult authenticationResult = null;
            try
            {
                var asyncFunction = AzureADCache.TryGetAccessTokenResultAsync(string.Empty);

                asyncFunction.Wait();

                authenticationResult = asyncFunction.Result;
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                _iLogger.LogError(ex, $"Claiming Azure AD Token Failed {ex.Message}");
            }

            if (authenticationResult == null || string.IsNullOrEmpty(authenticationResult.AccessToken))
            {
                throw new ArgumentNullException("authenticationResult");
            }

            return authenticationResult;
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Site Specific Tiled 03/08/19 P/////AKT
Four contacts on baryte paper in an acid-free cardboard box
Edition of 15 copies, signed and numbered by the artist
This edition is published by P//////AKT
Pick up at / ships in 5 to 10 business days from Amsterdam (NL)
This is a site specific work made on the third of August 2019 during the installation of the exhibition Dear Sides at P/////AKT. The four images were built up on film with multiple moments during the making of a mural on the back wall of the exhibition space. The four resulting negatives were contacted on baryte paper (two in the normal position, two horizontally flipped), and tiled together into one work. (The same images appear in the 16 mm film entitled "", also shown in Dear Sides). Each work was hand printed, cut and assembled and it is therefore slightly different. The edition is signed, numbered and comes in an archival box.
about Katja Mater
Katja Mater examines the boundaries of photographic and cinematographic media in explorations of the possibilities and impossibilities inherent to their materials. The reflective process that characterizes her work starts with an observation of the exhibition context and a contemplation of the potential dialogue between the medium and the environment. She works toward an 'outcome' that carry a transformative potential.
Her work primarily consists of analogue photographic or cinematographic registrations of intermediate interventions. She creates abstract geometric compositions on paper, on objects, or directly onto a spatial context. The compositions are captured by means of a deliberate set of rules that provide a sense of direction in Mater's boundless exploration of the tension between the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional.
(courtesy of KIOSK)
Katja Mater has shown her work in solo exhibitions at venues including Kiosk; Ghent; Marres; Maastricht; O, Milan; Halfhouse, Barcelona; and Ltd Los Angeles. Group exhibitions include the 2016 Bergen Assembly; Extra City, Antwerp; Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht; Gallery Barbara Seiler, Zürich; Centre d'Art Contemporain, Geneva; La Casa Encendida, Madrid; FOAM Photography Museum, Amsterdam; and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York.
Katja Mater is represented by the following gallery;
click through to discover more of her work.
LambdaLambdaLambda, Pristhina
You can also discover more of Mater's work on her own website.
Other works by Katja Mater
Fields on a Line
Billboard Series #24: Torbjørn Rødland (NO/US)
A Temporary Monument for Brussels #8: Hana Miletić (HR)


More than 650 students who participate in orchestra, band or choir from Osseo Senior High, Park Center Senior High, Maple Grove Middle School and Osseo Middle School were able to experience the magic of hearing a world-class orchestra perform in their own high school auditorium. Minnesota Orchestra members traveled with instruments in hand to Osseo Senior High to perform in an exclusive concert designed specifically for secondary students. Conducted by the internationally renowned music director Osmo Vänskä, the Minnesota Orchestra also invited questions from the audience after the program. Students asked how the musicians handled the pressure of being on stage, how they overcame challenges they faced with their instruments, and how they stayed motivated to practice.
This performance was one of four outreach events planned across the metro area this year. Through this partnership with the Minnesota Orchestra, students were inspired to continue playing their instruments and build more appreciation for music and art.


Andy Lee Transport provides nationwide delivery. Deliveries are made using a dedicated tail lift lorry. If your delivery situation requires a small 7.5t lorry please leave instruction in the order notes section of the checkout page. The driver will do his best to manoeuvre your pallet into your desired position but please be aware the hand pump truck used to off load will need a flat even surface.
For deliveries to uneven surfaces the pallet may be left kerbside. If you think you may have a difficult delivery situation please contact 01594 542 485 to discuss.
Your firewood will be delivered within 3 working days as part of your order (standard delivery including VAT).
We can offer a next day service for orders placed before 1pm at an additional cost of £10.
For deliveries outside of mainland UK please call 01594 542485 for a price.


text:
package com.weinyc.sa.app.model;

import static com.weinyc.sa.common.util.JSONUtils.expectOne;

import java.io.Serializable;
import java.util.Date;

import javax.persistence.Column;
import javax.persistence.Entity;
import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;
import javax.persistence.GenerationType;
import javax.persistence.Id;
import javax.persistence.Temporal;
import javax.persistence.TemporalType;

import net.sf.json.JSONArray;
import net.sf.json.JSONObject;

import com.weinyc.sa.core.viewer.bean.W2UIColumnBean;
import com.weinyc.sa.common.constants.Constants;
import com.weinyc.sa.core.model.AbstractModel;
/**
 *
 * @author ronghai
 */
@Entity(name="accounts")
public class Account extends AbstractModel implements Serializable {

    public static   ModelMeta<Account> _getModelMeta(){
        if(modelMeta == null){
            modelMeta = new ModelMeta<>(Account.class);
        }
        return modelMeta;
    }
    public static  Account fromJson(JSONObject json){
        expectOne(json, "merchantId");
        expectOne(json, "email");
        expectOne(json, "username");
        expectOne(json, "recid");
        expectOne(json, "id");
        if(json.has("recid") && !json.has("id")){
            json.put("id", json.get("recid"));
        }
        return Account.fromJson(json, Account.class);
    }

    public static final JSONArray COLUMNS;

    static{
        COLUMNS = new JSONArray();
        COLUMNS.add(new W2UIColumnBean("recid", "ID", "20%", true ).toJson());
        COLUMNS.add(new W2UIColumnBean("username", "UserName", "20%", true, "text" , JSONObject.fromObject("{ type: 'text'  }")).toJson());
        COLUMNS.add(new W2UIColumnBean("email", "Email", "20%", true, "text", JSONObject.fromObject("{ type: 'text' }")).toJson());
        COLUMNS.add(new W2UIColumnBean("merchantId", "Merchant", "20%", Constants.SAJS_PREFIX+".render_merchant", true, null,  JSONObject.fromObject("{ type: 'select', items:'"+Constants.SAJS_PREFIX+".merchants()' }")).toJson());

    }

    @Override
    public Object toJson(){
        JSONObject map = new JSONObject();
        map.put("recid", this.getRecid());
        map.put("id", this.id);
        map.put("username", username);
        map.put("email", email);
        map.put("merchantId", this.merchantId);
        map.put("merchant", merchant);
        return map;
    }

    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

    @Id
    @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.AUTO)
    @Column(name = "id")
    private Long id;

    @Column(name = "email")
    private String email;

    @Column(name = "user_name")
    private String username;

    @Column(name = "merchant_id")
    private Long merchantId;

    protected transient Merchant merchant;

    @Column(name = "disabled")
    private Integer disabled;

    @Column(name = "add_time", nullable=true)
    @Temporal(TemporalType.TIMESTAMP)
    private Date addTime;

    @Column(name = "update_time", nullable=true)
    @Temporal(TemporalType.TIMESTAMP)
    private Date updateTime;

    @Column(name = "note")
    private String note;

    private transient  boolean changed;

    private static ModelMeta<Account> modelMeta;

    public Account() {
    }

    public Account(Long id) {
        this.id = id;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean equals(Object object) {
        // TODO: Warning - this method won't work in the case the id fields are not set
        if (!(object instanceof Account)) {
            return false;
        }
        Account other = (Account) object;
        if ((this.id == null && other.id != null) || (this.id != null && !this.id.equals(other.id))) {
            return false;
        }
        return true;
    }

    public Date getAddTime() {
        return addTime;
    }

    public String getEmail() {
        return email;
    }

    @Override
    public Long getId() {
        return id;
    }

    public Merchant getMerchant() {
        return merchant;
    }

    public String getNote() {
        return note;
    }

    public Date getUpdateTime() {
        return updateTime;
    }

    public String getUsername() {
        return username;
    }

    @Override
    public int hashCode() {
        int hash = 0;
        hash += (id != null ? id.hashCode() : 0);
        return hash;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isChanged() {
        return changed;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isDisabled() {
        return disabled.intValue() == DISABLED_YES;
    }

    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    @Override
    public   ModelMeta<Account> modelMeta(){
        return _getModelMeta();
    }

    public void setAddTime(Date addTime) {
        this.addTime = addTime;
    }

    @Override
    public void setChanged(boolean changed) {
        this.changed = changed;
    }

    /**
     *
     * @param disabled
     */
    @Override
    public void setDisabled(boolean disabled) {
        this.disabled = disabled ? DISABLED_YES : DISABLED_NO;
    }

    public void setEmail(String email) {
        this.email = email;
    }
    @Override
    public void setId(Long id) {
        this.id = id;
    }

    public void setMerchant(Merchant merchant) {
        this.merchant = merchant;
    }

    public void setNote(String note) {
        this.note = note;
    }

    public void setUpdateTime(Date updateTime) {
        this.updateTime = updateTime;
    }

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The	New	Voice	of Africa
Africa in the Western Media: A sidebar
The issue of Western media's coverage of Africa and its people has drawn quite a number of researchers the last four decades. One of the relatively recent works that came out of these investigations is Hardened Images: The Western Media and the Marginalization of Africa, by Asgede Hagos.
The book looks into the relationship between the media gatekeepers' practice of relegating Africa and Africans to near invisibility and the Western governments' policies of neglect of the continent. The findings show the latter drive the former. Western governments and institutions determine the level of attention the Western media give to Africa and the African people.
Drawing on his experience as a journalist and journalism educator, the author examines the nature of the interplay between the U.S. elite press and the U.S. government on Africa, with a special focus on its armed struggles waged to complete the decolonization process.
The book is centered on three case studies: the national liberation movements of South Africa, Eritrea, and Western Sahara, which seemed to represent the last and probably the most complex and difficult stage in the decolonization of Africa. The author also takes a close look at the implications of this double-edged sword of neglect and distortion for Africa's visibility and acceptability in the world.
Erecting a Wall of Pessimism:
The Western Media and Africa's Economy
Asgede Hagos, Ph.D.
The unrelenting negative Western media coverage of Africa has erected a wall of pessimism for Western investment in the continent. The level of negativity about Africa and its people, especially over the last two centuries, has been unprecedented. No major region of the world has been subjected to this kind and to this level of pessimism in history, and this has created in the minds of many including investors, donors an image of a continent "that is beyond consideration," a continent where nothing works right. All indications are that the pattern of images from the persistent negative coverage of Africa has left the perception that this is not a place to do business. One of the oracles of Afro-pessimism says, "There is little reason to wonder why globalized financial actors have avoided the region [Africa] and have chosen to direct their investments, arrange their financial transactions, and feature their loans to more politically sensible and economically stable corners of the global marketplace" (Schwab 2005, p.122).
True, there are other factors that discourage external investment in Africa. Those who focus on and monitor direct foreign investment attribute African's meager direct foreign investment to a wide-range of internal factors, including poor infrastructure, conflicts, and weak regulatory atmosphere. In fact, surveys conducted to gauge the investment climate in Africa seem to focus almost entirely on internal factors. For example, a series of World Bank investment climate surveys between 2001 and 2004 in Sub-Sahara Africa was designed to determine the extent of "investment barriers faced by enterprises" (Broadman, 2007, p. 54), and the focus was entirely on internal factors. It failed to consider the impact of the Western media which creates and circulates perceptions of Africa that reinforce unacceptable risk for investors, a key factor that seems to infect all the other investment-deterrent factors.
There is now a growing consensus that these perceptions have had a damaging impact on Africa's economy. Tony Blair's Commission for Africa, in its final report says, "Many barriers to investment in Africa are exaggerated due to 'Afro-pessimism.' Africa often appears to be seen as one large risky country, with little understanding of its diversity—driven by negative media coverage and a lack of country-specific knowledge among investors. But, the perceived investment climate is as important as the actual one." As a result, the commission recommended that "addressing negative perceptions is an important of encouraging investment" (Commission for Africa, 2005, p. 231).
The report highlights two key barriers to investment in Africa: the magnification of the risk and the lack of knowledge among investors. These two problems—neglect and distortion--have come to characterize the relationship between the West and Africa. The absence of adequate knowledge is an outcome of years of neglect of this most central region of the world by Western institutions. Africa has been the most ignored—and most sensationalized--region in the Western media. The negative perceptions are also rooted in centuries of Western portrayal of the continent and its people, not only by the media, but also by the foreign policy establishment of their respective countries, with virtually nothing to counter it or correct it from the African side.
However, with regards to the magnification or exaggeration of the risk, there are two key missing elements in the Commission for Africa report. First, the media that have been perpetuating the negative perceptions of Africa are not any media; they are the Western media, and, as stated before, there is a long history behind it. Second, the Western media have not been doing this alone. In covering foreign news, the media work in tandem with the institutions of the state because external media coverage is generally driven by national interest. For example, let us look at how the Western press covers Africa when U.S. presidents visit the continent. One of the interesting outcomes of the Bush and Clinton visits to the continent was that the Western media—generally speaking—could find good news in Africa when that served US national interest. For example, to justify President Bush's visit to the continent, the U.S. media tried to go out of their way to find "Africa's bright spots'. The same thing happened when Bill Clinton visited the continent during the previous decade. The media buzzword at the time was Africa's Renaissance,' referring to a group of young African leaders who had come to power through armed struggle at the end of the Cold War.
These occasional and sudden outbursts of optimism about the continent and its people reflected in the Western media actually were initiated by the policymakers—revealing an important dimension in the relationship between the government and the media. So, the bottom-line is that when the U.S. government decides to be positive about the region or governments in the continent, the media follow suit. This is also one way of marketing the news of the day; however, the standard marketing formula for African news in the West has been to stress the odd, the backward, and raise subtle and not-so-subtle questions about the humanity of the African--reliable elements in framing the African image. For example, according to the London Times, these are the characteristics of the formula American journalists followed in the 1960s in covering Africa:
Emphasize the bizarre, translate African situations into terms that Americans are expected to understand; fill out with snippets of African history (taken in the main from out-of-date sources); include sketches of leading African politicians—distinguishing sharply between the "good guys" and 'bad-guys" and throw in evocative remarks about the landscape, wisecracks about African politics, habits, and customs, large generalizations about African politics, and light relief about the hardship of the trip (London Times, 1961, p. 626))
Today, though the formula is less blatantly racist in its choice of words and symbols, very little has changed in the way the Western media distort the African reality and spreads pessimism about the continent and its people. Thus, one of the main barriers to the West-driven globalization in Africa is history itself—a history steeped in pessimism about the continent, its people and its future. The level of negativity about Africa and its people in the Western media over the last two centuries is unprecedented.
According to Cultivation Theory, the media are very effective in shaping our perceptions of reality. The media are effective not only in creating a certain image, but also in circulating that image. Baran and Davis say that "the media frame issues for us and cultivate our perceptions of the social world so that we are more likely to make sense of things in some ways rather than others," and this especially true of television which "blurs, blends, and bends reality" (2003, p. 330).
Fortunately, there is an emerging silver lining from this grim reality. Generally speaking, the negativity oozing from the Western media does not affect the growing investment in Africa from non-Western regions and nations: Asia, the Middle East, and the rest of the southern hemisphere in general. Though it is difficult to show a correlation based on the data available, it is possible to infer that the unrelenting assault on the image of the continent is not one of the factors that drive Asian investment in and trade with Africa. We can see this in the trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) numbers. In the area of trade, the Asian powers are filling a void in Africa whose traditional trade partners have been reluctant to invest in the continent. Europe's share of African exports was cut by half between 2000 and 2005. On the other hand, Africa's export to China has doubled since 2000. Asia's exports to Africa are growing rapidly---about 18% a year. We see the same trend in foreign direct investment (FDI) activities. Africa accounts for only 1.8% of global FDI inflows. Generally speaking, the trend is very encouraging (Broadman, 2007).
In the growing competition between the West and the rising Asian powers for Africa's resources and markets, the latter have at least one clear advantage: they are not entering the field with the baggage of debilitating Afro-pessimism created, developed, and nurtured by the West's channels of communication and other institutions over the last 500 years.
The reasons that drive non-Western investment in Africa are not very different from those that draw Westerners to the continent: gold and glory. But, it is also true Chinese investors, for example, are not bombarded with messages that Africa is an unacceptable risk for investment. The Asian powers, which still see themselves as Third World nations, so far seem to look at Africa as an important opportunity for resources and markets and a partner in development. The response from the African nations seems to be positive. At the moment, many African nations see especially the entry of China as a welcome alternative to the West's take-it-or-leave-it attitude in its dealings with the continent and its nations.
But, is this likely to change as the new, growing Asian powers get more and more involved in Africa? Broadman argues that "over the last 15 years, Asia has already been Africa's fastest-growing export market and is much more open to trade than are Europe and America. And there is no evidence to suggest that this trend will not continue" (2007, 350). The question is whether Africa or the African nations can take advantage of these new and growing opportunities to transform their economies. Almost all African nations have been trying to improve the investment climate individually and collectively. Almost all of these nations have institutions charged with this task.
China's infusion of capital into the economies of many of the nations of Africa is expected to force Westerners to revise their perceptions of the continent which they had never seen as an important investment opportunity. Michel says, "The story of China's quick and spectacular conquest of Africa has captured the imagination of Europeans and Americans who long ago considered the continent more of charity case than an investment opportunity" (Michel 2008, p. 38).
What is new about globalization is that it is no longer driven solely by Euro-centric forces and ideas. Today, the rising powers in the southern hemisphere have a say in setting the rules that govern the process and that this has created some room even for the poor regions like Africa to try to redefine their own roles in the process. Friedman says, the 21st phase of globalization, which he calls Globalization 3.0 "differs from the previous eras not only in how it is shrinking and flattening the world and in how it is empowering individuals. It is also different in that Globalization 1.0 and 2.0 [from 1492 to 1800 and from 1800 to 2000 respectively] were driven primarily by Europeans and American individuals and businesses" (2006, 11).
Many see this new south-south relationship as part of a broader global shift taking place towards Asia. There seems to be a growing consensus that there is a steady shift "of the center of global gravity" away from the West (Mahbubani 2008; Zakaria 2008) and this has already begun to change or at least greatly influence the rules that drive globalization. The rise of Asia, especially of China and India, and their growing presence in Africa has began to profoundly change the way other countries and regions participate in the globalization process in the continent. This growing new reality in Africa is expected to force the West to reexamine its negative perceptions of the continent and its people.
But, finally, it is important to note that at the center of this problem is not that the West and Western media distort the image of Africa and its people. The West and the Western media will always look at the continent and its people from the perspectives of their respective interests, which may not be the same as those of Africa and Africans. The real question therefore should be: Why is Africa letting itself be defined by others for so long? When is Africa going to find its voice and define itself? There are some awareness in Africa today about the need for communication channels powerful enough to compete with the CNNs, the BBC's of the world, an African version of al-Jazeera or teleSur--the pan-American television network launched in 2005 to prevent the distortion of the Latin-American reality. There can be no balance—in terms of quantity and quality—in the coverage of the continent without competing sources of information, and that competition can only come from the inside. This calls for a new continental leadership with a thorough understanding of the strategic role of media in international relations. This will also require a meaningful investment in global media resources that can frame Africa's true image and effectively "circulate" it to counter and root out the deeply seated perception Western institutions have been spreading about the continent and its people. This has serious implications for Africa's acceptability at all levels and in all sectors of the global system.
Awa, Nojoku E. 1988. "Communication in Africa: Implications for Development Planning," TheHoward Journal of Communications, Vol. 1, No. 3 (fall 1988), pp. 131-144.
Baran, Stanley; and Davis, Dennis. (2003). Mass Communication Theory. Belmont, CA: Thomson.
Broadman, Harry G. (2007). Africa's Silk Road. China and India's New Economic Frontier. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Commission for Africa. (2005). Our Common Interest, Report of the Commission for Africa, www.commissionforafrica.org
Economic Commission for Africa. (2007). The Relevance of African Traditional Institutions of Governance. www.uneca.org.
Dia, Mamadou. (1996). Africa's Management in the 1990s and Beyond: Reconciling
Indigenous and Transplanted Institutions. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Friedman, Thomas. (2006). The World is Flat. New York: Farar, Straus, and Giroux.
London Times. (1961). "Americans in Africa," London Times Literary Supplement, 22 September 1961,p. 626.
Mahbubani, Kishore. (2008). The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East. New York: Public Affairs.
Schwab, Peter. (2001). Africa: A Continent Self-Destructs. New York: Palgrave.
Melkote, Srinivas R. 1991. Communication for Development in the Third World. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Michel, Serge. (2008). "When China Meets Africa," Foreign Policy, 166, May-June 2008, page 38.
Warrick, Joby and Pincus, Walter. (2008). "Reduced Dominance in Predicted for U.S.: Analyst Previews Report to New President," The Washington Post, Sept. 10, 2008, page A020.
Zakaria, Fareed. (2008). The Post-American World. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
Asgede Hagos is professor at Delaware State University
Copyright: The New Voice of Africa 2013