text:
\section{Introduction}

CMOS image (CI) sensors are essential parts of computer vision (CV) systems in  autonomous robots, self-driving vehicles, and surveillance systems. Currently, CI sensors used for these systems are frame based with fixed global exposure that locks to the pixel readout timing. The inability to adjust each pixel's exposure and frame rate independently can lead to regions of motion blur and overexposure.  Some examples are shown in Fig. 1(a)-(d) with regions of sub-optimal exposure settings. These saturated and/or blurred video frames cause information loss and lead to errors in a range of CV tasks such as motion estimation, object segmentation, and recognition.

In this work, we demonstrate a camera system that can adaptively control each pixel's exposure and sampling rate in real-time to maximize information content acquired from the scene. It does this using all electronic control without external  optical modulators. The system consists of three parts: an image sensor with pixel-wise exposure configurability, a high speed bi-directional chip to computer interface using the PCIe bus, and real-time a exposure controller implemented on a computer.

The paper is organized as follows: In section II, we discuss previous work in the area of high dynamic range (HDR) and coded exposure imaging. In section III, we  describe the adaptive pixel-wise imaging system in detail. In section IV, we characterize adaptive exposure control using our system with experiment results. In section V, we address some areas of improvement in discussion and conclude the paper.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{Fig1}
	\caption{(a-d) Snapshot of videos acquired with frame based CI sensors. Highlighted area in the image are not optimally exposed. (a) Motion blur due to low frame rate. (b-d) Under and overexposure in image local regions. (a-d) are snapshots of videos from Shutterstock (www.shutterstock.com) (e) Block diagram of our system. It consists of three parts: an image sensor with pixel-wise exposure configurability, a high speed bi-directional chip to computer interface using the PCIe bus, and real-time exposure control algorithms.}
	\label{Fig1}
\end{figure}

\section{Summary of previous work}

Several previous works provide non-integrated technologies for adaptively controlling exposure patterns on conventional CI sensors. Here, we review each class of these works:

\textit{Temporally varying exposure:} To minimize imaging imperfection due to suboptimal exposure, a conventional CI sensor can be used to sequentially capture multiple images of the same scene at different global exposures \cite{burt1993enhanced} \cite{mitsunaga1999radiometric}\cite{mann1994beingundigital}. Short exposure images capture details in bright regions while long exposure images enhance the signal quality in the dark regions. These sequential snapshots are then merged through tone-mapping algorithms to enhance overall scene dynamic range. While this method is widely used in photography, it is not suitable for non-stationary scenes as any movements during the sequential snapshots would cause ghosting in the tone-mapped HDR image. Furthermore, the need for multiple exposures limits the frame rate of the CI sensor, making it sub-optimal for video applications.

\textit{Multiple image sensors:} We can extend the above methods to videos by using a multi-sensor system to capture the scene at different exposure settings simultaneously \cite{tocci2011versatile}\cite{aggarwal2004split}. These setups use beam splitters after the objective lens to generate multiple copies of the scene and then project them onto multiple detectors set at different exposures. While this method produces HDR frames in real-time, it requires multiple cameras and well-tuned optics for alignment. Further, spitting the image between two sensors attenuates collected light which degrades the maximum frame rate.

\textit{Spatially varying transmittance:} Spatially modulating pixel transmittance can be used to enhance dynamic range without using multiple detectors\cite{nayar2000high}\cite{schechner2001generalized}. These methods use off-chip spatial light modulators (SLMs) prior to the CI sensor to modulate incoming light intensity at each pixel. By placing an optical spatially varying transmittance mask across the focal plane, it allows local pixel groups to capture a wider dynamic range. But to generate the HDR scene, spatial low pass filtering is needed which results in loss of spatial resolution. In addition, this technique suffers from the added complexity of the off-chip SLM, which must be well aligned to each pixel.

\textit{Adaptive optical light intensity modulation:} The optical transmittance mask can be coupled with a feedback control loop to modulate light intensity at pixel-level \cite{nayar2000high}\cite{nayar2003adaptive}. These adaptive systems first detect over-exposed and dark region within the scene. They then adjust incident pixel-wise light intensity within the region to optimize the dynamic range. This method improves scene dynamic range without sacrificing spatial resolution. But like other optically modulated methods, these systems require precise optical alignment. In addition, the image sensor's framerate is fixed. Thus, these systems cannot increase pixel sampling speed during short exposure because the exposure clock must be tuned to the dimmest part of the scene.

\section{Pixel-wise adaptive imaging system}

Here we describe an adaptive imaging system that optimizes exposure and frame rate at the pixel level. It achieves pixel-wise exposure control without external optical modulation. Figure 1(e) illustrates this system, which consists of three parts: (1) an image sensor with flexible pixel-wise exposure configurability, (2) a high speed chip computer bi-directional PCIe data link, and (3) exposure controller implemented on the computer. These three elements operate in a closed-loop to sample, detect and optimize each pixel's exposure and frame rate to enhance image quality. The PCIe link and the exposure controller could be further integrated to a system-on-chip (SoC) solution to further decrease overall system size and power.

Figure 1(e) also shows an example of this system's operation. The image sensor outputs frame 1 of a video at time (t-1). In this frame, the sky region of the scene is over-exposed which leads to saturation of important objects including poles and traffic lights. From this frame, the exposure controller then segments the region of sub-optimal exposure and re-calculates the optimal exposure for this region. It feeds back updated exposure to the image sensor, which then uses it to sample the next frame at time (t), where both the sky and the road regions of the scene are optimally sampled. In this section, we describe each part of the proposed system in detail.

\subsection{Image sensor with pixel-wise exposure configurability}

A number of image sensors with pixel-wise exposure configurability have been demonstrated, including our previous work \cite{zhang2016compact}\cite{luo2017exposure}\cite{sarhangnejad20195}. We first proposed a pixel-wise configurable exposure image sensor architecture \cite{zhang2016compact}. However, as we shall discuss here in detail, this first design's timing causes small unintended sampling deadtime during exposure. Subsequently, Luo, Ho and Mirabbasi, Sarhangnejad et al. have proposed dual-tap approaches which use two floating diffusions ($FD$) to collect charges from the photodiode\cite{luo2017exposure}\cite{sarhangnejad20195}. This design ensures minimal sampling deadtime but doubles the number of readout circuits. In this work, we improve on our previous design to ensure all the charges are accumulated during pixel exposure. This pixel can achieve the performance of dual-tap design without using additional readout circuits.
\newline

\subsubsection{Image sensor architecture}

The image sensor design is outlined in Fig. 2. The pixel array consists of 256 $\times$ 256 pixels with 6.5$\mu m$ pixel pitch and is fabricated using a standard 130$nm$ CMOS process. Pixel circuitry is modified based on our previous work and consists of three parts: a 4T pixel, an exposure control ($EX$) gate and an in-pixel static random access memory (SRAM) block. The 4T pixel include a pinned-photodiode ($PD$), a transfer gate ($TX$), a reset gate ($RST$) and a row selection gate ($RSEL$) \cite{zhang2016compact}\cite{fossum2014review}. We inserted the EX gate between PD and the readout circuitry for pixel-wise exposure control. An in-pixel 1-bit static random access memory (SRAM) block controls the $EX$ gate to modulate pixel-wise exposure according to the timing diagram in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4.

Unlike our previous design where $EX$ is placed between $PD$ and $TX$ \cite{zhang2016compact}, in this design the $EX$ gate is inserted between $TX$ and $FD$. As we shall elaborate in the next section, this modification fixes sampling deadtime caused by charge dissipation that was present in our previous design.

On the chip level, we use analog correlated double sampling (CDS) and cyclic ADCs for column readout. Compared to successive approximation register (SAR) ADC used in our previous work, the cyclic ADC occupies less area by minimizing  the use of on-chip capacitors \cite{mase2005wide}\cite{park2009high}. The schematic and timing of the ADC are shown in Fig. 3. The operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) is shared between the CDS circuit and ADC.  We choose a single-ended architecture over the fully differential one to further save chip area. Each cyclic ADC's layout has dimension of 6.5$\mu m \times$  200$\mu m$ to fit into the pixel column pitch.

Pixel-wise exposure control is done through the SRAM drivers located at the bottom of each column. When a row is selected for readout through $RSEL$, these SRAM drivers are  loaded with the exposure bits for all the pixel within that row. The timing for SRAM writing procedure is explained in the next subsection.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{Fig2}
	\caption{Pixel-wise image sensor architecture. The sensor is fabricated in a standard 130nm CMOS process featuring an array of 256 $\times$ 256 pixels with 6.5$\mu m$ pitch}
	\label{Fig2}
\end{figure}

\subsubsection{Timing}

The circuit timing diagram is shown in Fig. 3 for a pixel located at row zero and column one. When this row is selected for readout, we pre-charge the $BIT$ line for this column ($BIT[1]$) to high, indicating this pixel is ending its exposure. The CDS circuit then samples the reset value onto $C_1$, while putting voltage $V_{RP}-V_{COM}$ across $C_2$. The $WORD$ line for row zero ($WORD[0]$) subsequently pulses to write the SRAM with the logic value of $BIT$. This turns $EX[0,1]$ gate ON, connecting $PD$ to the readout structure. Then $TX$ pulses to transfer light generated charge from the $PD$ onto the $FD$ node. $FD$ voltage is subsequently sampled onto $C_1$ while $C_2$ is place in the feedback path of the amplifier. At the end of the CDS signal phase, the voltage, $V_{OUT}$, is:

\begin{equation}
V_{OUT} = \frac{C_1}{C_2}(V_{RESET} - V_{SIGNAL}) + V_{RP}
\end{equation}

where $V_{RESET}$ is the $FD$ reset value and $V_{SIGNAL}$ is $FD$ signal value after charge transfer.  $V_{RP}$ is the voltage to adjust $V_{OUT}$ into the proper ADC dynamic range. Note that the CDS's reset sampling must occur before EX is programmed to release charge onto the $FD$ node.

Analog to digital (AD) conversion begins after the conclusion of CDS. We divide the digitization process into two repeating sub-phases driven by two non-overlapping clocks ($\phi_1$ and $\phi_2$). During the sampling sub-phase, the ADC samples the output of the OTA onto the capacitor $C_1$ and $C_2$. Then during the amplification phase, it drives $V_{OUT}$ to the value given by:

\begin{equation}
V_{OUT} = 2V_{OTA} - V_R
\end{equation}

where $V_R$ is determined by the 1.5-bit MDAC based on the output of the sub-ADC:

\begin{equation}
V_R =
\begin{cases}
    V_{RH},& \text{if } D = 2\\
    V_{COM},& \text{if } D = 1\\
    V_{RL}, & \text{if } D = 0
\end{cases}
\end{equation}

The MDAC generates 1.5-bit per conversion stage. This is a widely used technique in pipeline/cyclic ADC design to relax sub-ADC's comparators precision \cite{mase2005wide}\cite{park2009high}. The ADC repeats sampling and amplification sub-phase ten times. Addition logic then generates 10-bit digital output based on each stage's results and transmit the digital word to a serial interface for readout.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{Fig3}
	\caption{An example pixel timing diagram and the schematic of the CDS and column cyclic ADC circuits}
	\label{Fig3}
\end{figure}

\subsubsection{Modified pixel design}

Fig. 4(a) shows the pixel timing across multiple frames and charge potential diagrams to illustrate charge transferring at key timing point. We use this figure to illustrate the sampling deadtime present in our previous design, and our design modification.

To end this pixel's previous exposure, we pull $EX$ signal high to sample the pixel. This pixel potential is then reset at timing point A. The $EX$ remains high until this pixel is selected at the next frame at timing point B. In our previous design \cite{zhang2016compact}, where $EX$ is inserted between $PD$ and $TX$, the photo-generated charge will pour into $MID$ when $EX$ is high between timing A and B (Fig. 4(b)). These charges would then be trapped at $MID$ when $EX$ is pulled low at point B, and subsequently cleared when $TX$ and $RST$ are pulled high at timing point C. Therefore, these charges would be absent when the pixel value is readout at the end of exposure (timing point D). With this charge dissipation, the final charge measured at point D is the charges collected between B and D and we lose the charges collected between A and B. Of course, since $MID$'s well-potential is much smaller compare to FD and PD, this non-ideality can be negligible in bright light conditions. But it would nevertheless be a problem when overall signal is small.

Aiming to fix this issue, we switch the location of $EX$ and $TX$ gate such that $TX$ is placed between $PD$ and $EX$ (Fig. 4(c)). Between timing point A and B, the charges are kept at $PD$ since $TX$ is always high. At timing point B, $EX$ is pulled high before $TX$ to rise the potential barrier. The subsequent TX pulses would transfer charge onto the $MID$ node. But $MID$ node would be protected from reset by the $EX$ potential barrier. At timing location D, $EX$ is lowered to allow this pixel to be sampled. Note that during CDS, we sample the reset prior to lowering $EX$. Therefore, the charge trapped at $MID$ would be counted as the signal voltage. The resulting sample at point D would the charges collected between point A and D.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{Fig4}
	\caption{Timing diagram during pixel pixel exposure and pixel charge transfer (a) pixel timing diagram across multiple frames (b) charge transfer plot of pixels in our previous design \cite{zhang2016compact} (b) charge transfer plot of modified pixels in this work }
	\label{Fig5}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Chip-computer bi-directional interface }

To prototype pixel exposure control algorithms, it is convenient to work with a high level language running on a desktop PC. However, with a computer in the loop it is imperative to minimize communication delay times to prevent closed-loop instability. To achieve single frame delay in the exposure control, we must minimize the communication delay from the chip to computer so more time can be allocated to the exposure control algorithms on the computer side. We have selected the PCIe bus for chip-computer communication due to its high bandwidth and low transmission latency. We implement the bi-directional PCIe interface using a Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA with IP cores from Xillybus \cite{xillybus.com}. We characterized the round-time communication delay to average around 70$\mu s$, with maximum delay of 85$\mu s$ \cite{oe2016}. This makes communication speed negligible compared to the time between frame (for framerate $<$100 FPS).

In addition to hosting the bi-directional PCIe interface, the same Kintex-7 FPGA also implements logic to convert pixels' exposure values from the computer to serial data streams. These data streams are then send to the image sensor to load the shift registers at the input of the SRAM drivers, shown in Fig. 2.

To rapidly prototype different feedback control algorithms, we made use of the Bonsai visual programming language \cite{lopes2015bonsai}. We developed Bonsai plugins on top of a data streaming API \cite{jonathan_newman_2019_3254431}. Specifically, we developed a source plugin (PCECameraRead) to capture images from the camera and a sink (PCECameraWrite) to write pixel exposure times to the camera using the bi-directional PCIe link. Code for these plugins is available on the Bonsai.CodedPixel git repository (https://github.com/jonnew/Bonsai.CodedPixel). Bonsai includes many high performance image processing components and easy to use stream synchronization elements making it ideal for our purposes. Bonsai workflows implementing for each of the control algorithms presented in this paper can be found in the algorithms folder of the CodedPixel git repository.

\subsection{Pixel-wise exposure and sample rate controller}

For prototyping, the pixel-wise exposure controller is hosted on a computer linked to the image sensor using the PCIe interface. By controlling pixel-wise exposure, the controller can also adjust each pixel's sampling rate. The goal of the controller is to optimize pixel exposure based on estimates of local intensity and motion information. Pixel exposure should be adjusted to avoid overexposure, underexposure and motion blur. We divide this optimization task into two control modes: exposure optimization based on (1) intensity and (2) local scene motion.

\subsubsection{PI mode: Exposure optimization based on intensity}

We used a proportional integral (PI) controller to control pixel exposure based on its intensity measurement. The goal is to maintain the intensity of each pixel,  $I_{x,y}$ within a desired range that is set just below the point of over-exposure, similar to \cite{nayar2003adaptive}. To define this controller, we first calculate an intensity error for every pixel:

\begin{equation}
\epsilon_{x,y} =
\begin{cases}
    I_{x,y}(n)-I_{target},& \text{if } |I_{x,y} -I_{target}| > e_{tol} \\
    0, & \text{otherwise }
\end{cases}
\end{equation}

where $\epsilon_{x,y}(n)$ is the intensity error for pixel at row $x$ and column $y$. $I_{target}$ is a constant representing the desired intensity. The positive constant,  $e_{tol}$, is an error tolerance such that $\epsilon_{x,y}(n)$ is non-zero only when  $|I_{x,y}-I_{target}|$ is larger than $e_{tol}$. With the error term defined, the PI controller is written as:

\begin{equation}
r_{x,y}(n) = K_p\epsilon_{x,y}(n) + K_i\sum_{n'=0}^{n}\epsilon_{x,y}(n')
\end{equation}

\begin{equation}
E_{x,y}(n) = \lfloor E_{x,y}(n-1) - r_{x,y}(n) \rfloor
\end{equation}

where $r_{x,y}(n)$ is the output of the PI controller. $K_p$ and $K_i$ are the proportional and integral gain respectively. Finally, the pixel exposure value, $E_{x,y}(n)$, is an integer representing the multiples of the shortest exposure. We calculate the $E_{x,y}(n)$ as the numerical floor of the difference between the previous exposure $E_{x,y}(n)$ and $r_{x,y}(n)$. the PI controller will minimize $r_{x,y}(n)$ to achieve steady state $E_{x,y}(n)$ and $I_{x,y} \approx I_{target}$.

There are four parameters to set for the PI controller: $I_{target}$, $e_{tol}$, $K_p$ and $K_i$. The choice of these parameters depends on the pixel intensity range and the max allowable $E_{x,y}(n)$. For example, if $1 \leq E_{x,y}(n) \leq 8$ and in a standard image format where pixel value range from 0 – 255, $I_{target}$ can be selected to be around 200, with $e_{tol}$ of 30. That means the PI controller will try to keep optimal pixel in the range between 170 to 230. We should increase $K_p$  to speed up settling speed. But its value should not be too larger to induce instability. $K_i$ should be kept as a small fraction of $K_p$ to eliminate residual error after the application of the proportional control. We select these gain parameters using the following rule of thumb:

\begin{equation}
K_p \textless \frac{max(E_{x,y})}{max(\epsilon_{x,y})} \text{  and  } K_i \textless 0.1 \dot K_p
\end{equation}

where $K_p$ should be less than the quotient of maximum exposure and maximum intensity error, and  $K_i$ should be less than 10\% of $K_p$.  This parameter selection ensures that in most extreme condition $r_{x,y}$ does not cause $E_{x,y}$ to overshoot and create instability. In this example, if $I_{target}$ is 200, then $K_p$ should be less than $8/170 = 0.04$ and $K_i$ should be less than 0.004.

\subsubsection{OF mode: Exposure optimization based on motion}

For a static scene, it is optimal to use longer pixel exposure and slower frame rate to enhance SNR. But for motion scenes, it is desirable to use short pixel exposure and fast frame rate to minimize motion blur and to avoid temporal aliasing. Because the scene can change during camera operation,  using a  derivative (D) term to estimate temporal trends in pixel exposure is ineffective (e.g. in the case of a sharp edge or line passing through the scene). Instead, we update pixel exposure by directly estimating local motion using optical flow (OF) measurements \cite{farneback2003two}\cite{lucas1981iterative}.  This measurement can be used to predicts scene motion which is used to preemptively tune pixel exposure.

However, using OF-based control introduces some issues into the PI controller. First, for a static scene, when we change exposure at $E(n-1)$ using the PI controller, it results in non-zero optical flow vectors computed at time $t$ due to the pixel intensity change. This "false" OF value is representative of our control signal and not actual scene motion and therefore causes an error on motion driven exposure optimization. Second, OF measurement can be noisy at the pixel level, especially at low light condition with low SNR. Further, OF measurements' accuracy can also be affected by motion blur caused by long exposures. All of these factors make pixel-wise motion driven exposure difficult to achieve.

To address these issues, we allow the PI controller and the OF controller to engage pixels separately depending on the magnitude of pixel motion. We first divide the image into sub-blocks of size $M \times M$ pixels. We then calculate the average OF for all the pixels within each of these blocks over a period of $T_{switch}$:

\begin{equation}
v_{i,j}(n) = \frac{1}{M^2\dot T_{switch}} \sum_{y=1}^{M} \sum_{x=1}^{M} \sum_{n'=n-T_{switch}}^{n}|u_{x,y}(n')|
\end{equation}

where $|u_{x,y} |$ is magnitude of the optical flow vector at pixel $(x,y)$. $v_{i,j}$ is the average of $|u_{x,y}|$ over a period $T_{switch}$ for all the pixels within this block. Spatially averaging of OF enhances measurement accuracy, while temporal averaging over a period of $T_{switch}$ allows us to distinguish motion from instantaneous change in pixel value due to closed-loop exposure update. After incorporating  $v_{i,j}(n)$, pixel exposures are determined as:

\begin{equation}
E_{x,y}(n) =
\begin{cases}
    E_{PI_{x,y}}(n),& \text{if } v_{i,j} < v_{tol}  \text{\; \; PI mode} \\
    \lfloor max(E_{x,y})-K_v v_{i,j} \rfloor, & \text{if } v_{i,j} \geq v_{tol} \text{\; \; OF mode}
\end{cases}
\end{equation}

$v_{tol}$ is a constant threshold to determine controller mode selection. For static regions or regions with instantaneous motion, we allow PI mode to control pixel exposure. But for regions with constant motion, we use OF mode which calculates exposure based on the magnitude of the motion. $K_v$ is the gain that converts the OF magnitude, measured in units of pixels moved, to exposure values. $K_v$ was determined using test images, where lines are moved in front of the camera at different speed to determine the correct $K_v$ to avoid motion blurring.

\section{Experiments}

We next experimentally investigated the adaptive exposure feedback imaging system. In all the experiments described here, $E_{x,y}$ is represented by a 3-bit integer. $E_{x,y}=1$ corresponds to shortest pixel exposure of $30$ ms, while longest exposure $E_{x,y}=8$ corresponds to pixel exposure of $240$ ms. This setting also configures the fastest pixel sampling rate to around 30 frames per second (FPS) and slowest sampling rate to around 4 FPS. Before the raw images from the sensor is sent to the exposure controllers, they first undergo fixed-pattern noise correction and are filtered by a 3 $\times$ 3 median filter to remove salt-and-pepper noise from non-responsive pixels.

In these experiments, we take the 10-bit ADC full scale as pixel's value range $(0 – 1024)$. We set the PI controller parameter following equation (7): $I_{target} = 800$, $\epsilon_{tor} = 120$, $K_p = 0.01$ and $K_i = 0.001$. We compute the OF measurements using the Farnelback method based on polynomial expansion\cite{farneback2003two}. We set $K_v = 2$, this means for every motion magnitude $v_{x,y}$ of 1 pixels, we reduce exposure, $E_{x,y}$, by 2 steps. $M$ is set to be 8 corresponding to $v_{x,y}$ averaging over an 8 $\times$ 8 blocks.

\subsection{Setup}

Fig. 6 shows the chip micrograph, the data collection setup, and two scenes used for experiments. The chip is wirebonded onto the PCB and mounted behind an objective lens, shown in Fig. 6 (a) and (d). The data from the image sensor is transmitted to a connector board which sends the data into the KC705 FPGA its FPGA Mezzanine Card (FMC)  port, shown in Fig. 6(b). The KC705 hosts the PCIe bi-directional interface and is mounted onto one of computer's PCIe slots. Fig. 6 (c) is a scene used in this experiment. It is a cardboard cutout in a shape of a cartoon sun. We overlay it with a transparent paper with a drawing of a smiley face. This setup is then back-illuminated to create high dynamic range scene for imaging experiment. Fig. 6 (d) is a setup to create continuous motion to test the functionality of the controller in OF mode. Objects are mounted on a rotating stand. The spinning motion then creates continuous motion at the top-half of the video, while the bottom half remain stationary. The detailed experiment results are described in the next sections.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{Fig5}
	\caption{Chip micrograph and experimental setups: (a) chip micrograph (b) data collection setup (c and d) scenes and objects used for testing the PI controller (c) and OF controller (d)}
	\label{Fig6}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Stationary scenes}

Fig. 6 shows a back-illuminated pictures of a cartoon cardboard cutout in the shape of a Sun under different exposure settings. In Fig. 6(a) and (b), the entire scene undergoes short (30ms) and long (240ms) global exposures respectively. During short exposure, the smiley face overlaid on top of the circle, and the gap between the circle and the triangles cutouts are visible and can be easily segmented. But the background remains dark. Conversely, during long exposure, the background text of the MIT logo is visible, but the circle and the triangles of the Sun are over-exposed. As a result, the edges between the triangle and the circle shrinks due to over-exposure. This makes the segmentation more difficult. In addition, due to over-exposure, the smiley face is statured and not visible.

Fig. 6(c) shows an example when each pixel's exposure is tuned based on its intensity using the pixel-wise exposure controller as described in section III.C. Since the camera is imaging a static scene, the control adjusts pixel-wise exposure in PI mode. The exposure pattern to needed to generate Fig. 6(c) is shown in Fig. 6(d). The controller sets most of the background to long exposure of 240ms to enhance the SNR. It only lowers the exposure values for pixels within the back-illuminated circle and triangles to avoid over-exposure. The pixels around the bright regions are tuned to have exposure between 30ms and 240ms. As a result, both the background text and the smiley face at the back-illuminated region are visible. The gaps between the circle and triangles are also wide and distinguishable.

\begin{figure}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{Fig6}
	\caption{Pixel-wise exposure optimization for stationary scene using controller in PI mode. (a) Image acquire with short global exposure, (b)  long global exposure. (c) Image acquired with optimized pixel-wise exposure set by the PI controller}
	\label{Fig6}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure*}
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{Fig7}
	\caption{Pixel-wise exposure optimization for scenes with instantaneous motion using controller in PI mode. Two video examples are shown in (a) and (b). The top row of each example shows the image sensor output, while the bottom row shows the corresponding pixel exposure pattern. The legend for pixel exposure length is also}
	\label{Fig7}
\end{figure*}

\begin{figure*}
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=\textwidth]{Fig8}
    \caption{Pixel-wise exposure optimization for scenes with continuous motion using controller in OF mode. (a) Six frame from a video where image sensor outputs are shown in the top row, while pixel exposure patterns and OF measurements are shown in the bottom row. (b) A timeline showing the duration between each frames. when pixels exposure are shorten at $T_{switch}$, the pixel sampling rate also increase in the corresponding region}
    \label{classification}
\end{figure*}

\subsection{Motion scenes}

\textit{Instantaneous motion:} Fig. 7 demonstrates the controller's performance for scenes with instantaneous motion. We show two examples here. For each example, we plot the image sensor output on the top row and the corresponding pixel exposure pattern is on the bottom row. In the example (a), we move the back-illuminated cardboard cutout to the right at frame 2. This motion is not large enough to cause the controller to switch to OF mode from PI mode. As a result, pixels in the region where the motion occurs become overexposed and underexposed. This causes the error function to grow and PI controller starts to regulate pixels exposure, shown in frame 3 and 4. The pixels' exposure eventually settles at frame 5, after 3 frames following the end of motion

Fig. 7(b) shows another example, where an incandescent light bulb is placed in front of an MIT logo. The PI controller tunes the pixels at bulb's filament to short exposure while keeping the background at longer exposure. This enables us to see both the shape of the filament and the background. We then introduce motion at frame 2 and 3 by moving the bulb to the right. Pixels at the motion region become sub-optimally exposed. But PI controller then optimizes the them which eventually settles to their new exposure at frame 6.

\textit{Continuous motion:} Fig. 8 demonstrates an example where continuous motion triggers the OF mode for pixel exposure control. In this example, objects are placed on a rotating stand, as shown in Fig. 6(c). We then spin the stand to generate continuous motion. This results in continuous object motion on the top section of the video frame, while the bottom section remain stationary.

Fig. 8(a) top row shows the outputs of image sensors, while the bottom row shows pixel exposure and corresponding OF vectors. Initially, each pixel is configured to have exposure of 120ms, sampling at around 8 FPS. Some example image are shown in frame 1 – 3. The long pixel exposures, although optimal from SNR perspective, generate blurring effects in frame 1 to 3.

The optical flow measurements are continuously integrated according to equation (8) and It reaches the threshold $v_{tol}$ at end of period, $T_{switch}$. This causes the controller to switch from PI mode to OF mode according to equation (9). In OF mode, the pixel exposures are optimized according to the magnitude of the velocity instead of intensity. In this example, it shortens pixel exposure and increase framerate for the top region of the frame for the amount proportional to the magnitude of the motion. These pixels now update every 30ms instead of 120ms and results in blur-less capturing of the motion.

It can also be observed that the OF measurements, especially the direction of the motion vectors in frame 1-3 are less accurate in reflecting the actual motion due to the blurring effects from long exposures. This is compared to OF measurements in frame 4-6 during where blurless frames results in much more accurate motion measurements.

\section{Discussion, future work and conclusion}

We have demonstrated a closed-loop, all-electronic, pixel-wise exposure control system that is capable of adapting to both changes in scene intensity and motion in order to tune exposure in over-and-over exposed scene regions. We have provided a simple PI control algorithm to tune each pixels exposure time in order to achieve ultra-high dynamic range imaging of static scenes with large differential lighting levels. Further, we have provided exposure control based on predicted scene motion using optical flow in order to adjust pixel exposure times to minimize blurring.

Our current system uses a PCIe based communication protocol and high-level software in the control loop for prototyping purposes. In the future, we foresee the complete integration of the control logic system directly into the camera sensor to form an SoC capable of native and automatic adaptive pixel exposure control. In addition, several areas of the system could also be improved in future works:

\subsubsection{Application dependent metrics for measuring sub-optimally sampled pixels}

The key to high performance controller is well-defined error functions. In our controller, we used intensity error to measure over and under exposure, and in addition used optical flow as an indicator for motion blur. These performance metrics are selected for general applications. But a better approach would be to find application dependent metric to measure sub-optimally sampled pixels. For example, when the videos are inputs to classification or segmentation tasks, we could use classification or segmentation accuracy as a metric to adjust exposure and frame rate.

\subsubsection{Combining learning to pixel-wise exposure estimation}

The recent development in convolutional neural network (CNN) could also be utilized to learn the optimal pixel exposure patterns. Previous work using CNN for optical flow estimation and motion blur detection and removal have been proposed \cite{dosovitskiy2015flownet}\cite{sun2015learning}\cite{nah2017deep}. A similar network architecture could be used to segment the scene based optical pixel exposure. A potential difficulty with this approach is the collection of high dynamic range and multi-frame rate video data for network training.

\subsubsection{Using coded exposure patterns}

The most difficult case for the exposure controller is when there is high continuous motion with low illumination. Prolonging exposure increases SNR but leads to motion blur. Shortening exposure reduces motion blur but causes low SNR. In this case, we could configure the pixels to sample in coded exposure patterns and use computational imaging methods to enhance image quality [9], [22].

\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Note: I wrote this post for the IIE Fulbright Blog about my Fulbright experience in Syria.
Lost, I strolled up to a middle-aged gentleman standing a few feet beside me who was leisurely munching on a bag of peanuts. I cleared my throat as I approached him. "Marhaba," "hello," I said in my peculiar Arabic accent. As the man turned to me, I asked if he could point me in the direction of the market.
There was no rush because there was never really a need to rush; everything in Aleppo happens in its own time. The man offered me some of his peanuts. I declined politely as he extended the snack-sized bag. I made sure to say "shokran," "thank you," so as to not offend, but he insisted. Having already lived here for a few months, I understood this was part of the intricate, Syrian hospitality waltz. It's a well-established, figurative dance based on a set of unspoken rules. If you watch it take place between two locals, it can be quite beautiful — I was still learning. I explained how I had just eaten lunch and was absolutely stuffed. I followed with a comment about how delicious my meal had been, and he smiled and instructed me to follow him.
We exchanged stories as we walked down the busy street. I mentioned that I was a Fulbright student studying food in Aleppo; he chuckled and assured me I had come to the right place. In fact, most Arabs and food scholars consider Aleppo to be the culinary capital of the Middle East. Historically situated along the Silk Road, Aleppo has served as the home for a myriad of cultures — Armenian, Circassian, Greek, Jewish, Kurdish, and Turkish. They have all played a role in shaping what Aleppan food is today.
During my stay in Syria I met many people like the middle-aged man who were interested in getting to know me, and vice versa. Conversations that started about eggplants and parsley unraveled into stories of love and companionship, culture and politics.
These exchanges, however imperceptible, are indicators of a larger dance meant to teach us about one another. They are ways in which we can participate in each other's cultures and form relationships based on mutual understanding. I consider these interactions to be the highlights of my Fulbright in Syria. These are the interactions I carry in my heart and continue to share on my blog in an effort to continue the waltz I started almost one year and one month ago.
Note: For more photos from my Fulbright in Syira, please visit my Flickr account.
Posted in Fulbright by Antonio Tahhan on November 23rd, 2011. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Great article, you captured what it feels like to be a stranger in Syria. I love the language they speak in Syria. Yes it's Arabic like their neighbors but there's a certain poetry in the words they use that makes it so close to the heart. Whether they're praising, thanking or complaining, they have such an eloquent way of describing things that is very unique to the Middle East.
I've visited Damascus many times and always wanted to go experience cuisine in Aleppo – It's heartbreaking that fear keeps people out of beautiful Syria because of what's going on now. I hope all their conflicts end soon, they pick up the pieces and and revive the most hospitable experience and best food in the Middle East!
Thanks for the gorgeous pictures. I'm dreaming of going now.
Tony, reading this article makes me miss Syria so much. It was like closing my eyes and dreaming of the walks to the local markets, and the "khoudargy" down the street. In my opinion the best way to experience any culture is through its food. So much love goes into making food, that love is unraveled into the stories you mention and that is how one experiences that culture. There is a lot of love in all your work and I admire you for it. So, thank you for taking me on a short trip home.
Fabulous writing and photos, as always! You bring such a thoughtful perspective to your experiences.
Looking at this beautiful pictures,makes me wonder are all this people still smilling ? Are they still alive? How long it will take till we'll be able to see them smilling again?!
Tony, this is a great post – It makes want to be there to experience your experience!
Love the story and photos, i always wanted to visit Syria for the food, hopefully the current problems will be sorted out soon and the country and its people can live in peace.
Hoping your family & friends in Syria are safe!!
I'm filled with longing for my birthplace. Syrians are always kind without any expectations in return. I've never felt so homesick as I do right now. Bless you for your blog and insight.
This is the second time I have stumbled upon your blog and once again you've brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes. You capture the very essence of Aleppo in your beautiful writing and I hope you will continue your wonderful work on here.
Funnily enough, it appears that we were in Aleppo at the same time and that we have a couple of mutual friends there. Inshallah, I hope I see you there again one day.
Hello. I realize you posted this several years ago. I am in Canada and my husband and I have sponsored a family of Syrian refugees. They are a wonderful family of Iman and Muhammed and their four young children. They are from Allepo . Iman and I have bonded over food. She is the daughter I never had. I love her and her family, in fact they are part of our family now. I have learned so much from her about glorious Syrian food and culture. I was looking for a few more recipes to add to my collection when I found your blog. Thanks for bringing this wonderful culture and it's beautiful people to the rest of the world. Much has changed in Syria and Allepo in particular. The city has nearly been wiped from the map. It will take generations to rebuild if that is ever possible. Such sadness, and madness.


text:
.class Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$1;
.super Lcom/android/internal/view/IInputMethodClient$Stub;
.source "InputMethodManager.java"

# annotations
.annotation system Ldalvik/annotation/EnclosingClass;
    value = Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;
.end annotation

.annotation system Ldalvik/annotation/InnerClass;
    accessFlags = 0x0
    name = null
.end annotation

# instance fields
.field final synthetic this$0:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;

# direct methods
.method constructor <init>(Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;)V
    .locals 0
    .parameter

    .prologue
    .line 514
    iput-object p1, p0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$1;->this$0:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;

    invoke-direct {p0}, Lcom/android/internal/view/IInputMethodClient$Stub;-><init>()V

    return-void
.end method

# virtual methods
.method protected dump(Ljava/io/FileDescriptor;Ljava/io/PrintWriter;[Ljava/lang/String;)V
    .locals 6
    .parameter "fd"
    .parameter "fout"
    .parameter "args"

    .prologue
    const/4 v5, 0x1

    .line 519
    new-instance v1, Ljava/util/concurrent/CountDownLatch;

    invoke-direct {v1, v5}, Ljava/util/concurrent/CountDownLatch;-><init>(I)V

    .line 520
    .local v1, latch:Ljava/util/concurrent/CountDownLatch;
    invoke-static {}, Lcom/android/internal/os/SomeArgs;->obtain()Lcom/android/internal/os/SomeArgs;

    move-result-object v2

    .line 521
    .local v2, sargs:Lcom/android/internal/os/SomeArgs;
    iput-object p1, v2, Lcom/android/internal/os/SomeArgs;->arg1:Ljava/lang/Object;

    .line 522
    iput-object p2, v2, Lcom/android/internal/os/SomeArgs;->arg2:Ljava/lang/Object;

    .line 523
    iput-object p3, v2, Lcom/android/internal/os/SomeArgs;->arg3:Ljava/lang/Object;

    .line 524
    iput-object v1, v2, Lcom/android/internal/os/SomeArgs;->arg4:Ljava/lang/Object;

    .line 525
    iget-object v3, p0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$1;->this$0:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;

    iget-object v3, v3, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;->mH:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$H;

    iget-object v4, p0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$1;->this$0:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;

    iget-object v4, v4, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;->mH:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$H;

    invoke-virtual {v4, v5, v2}, Landroid/os/Handler;->obtainMessage(ILjava/lang/Object;)Landroid/os/Message;

    move-result-object v4

    invoke-virtual {v3, v4}, Landroid/os/Handler;->sendMessage(Landroid/os/Message;)Z

    .line 527
    const-wide/16 v3, 0x5

    :try_start_0
    sget-object v5, Ljava/util/concurrent/TimeUnit;->SECONDS:Ljava/util/concurrent/TimeUnit;

    invoke-virtual {v1, v3, v4, v5}, Ljava/util/concurrent/CountDownLatch;->await(JLjava/util/concurrent/TimeUnit;)Z

    move-result v3

    if-nez v3, :cond_0

    .line 528
    const-string v3, "Timeout waiting for dump"

    invoke-virtual {p2, v3}, Ljava/io/PrintWriter;->println(Ljava/lang/String;)V
    :try_end_0
    .catch Ljava/lang/InterruptedException; {:try_start_0 .. :try_end_0} :catch_0

    .line 533
    :cond_0
    :goto_0
    return-void

    .line 530
    :catch_0
    move-exception v0

    .line 531
    .local v0, e:Ljava/lang/InterruptedException;
    const-string v3, "Interrupted waiting for dump"

    invoke-virtual {p2, v3}, Ljava/io/PrintWriter;->println(Ljava/lang/String;)V

    goto :goto_0
.end method

.method public onBindMethod(Lcom/android/internal/view/InputBindResult;)V
    .locals 3
    .parameter "res"

    .prologue
    .line 541
    iget-object v0, p0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$1;->this$0:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;

    iget-object v0, v0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;->mH:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$H;

    iget-object v1, p0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$1;->this$0:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;

    iget-object v1, v1, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;->mH:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$H;

    const/4 v2, 0x2

    invoke-virtual {v1, v2, p1}, Landroid/os/Handler;->obtainMessage(ILjava/lang/Object;)Landroid/os/Message;

    move-result-object v1

    invoke-virtual {v0, v1}, Landroid/os/Handler;->sendMessage(Landroid/os/Message;)Z

    .line 542
    return-void
.end method

.method public onUnbindMethod(I)V
    .locals 4
    .parameter "sequence"

    .prologue
    .line 546
    iget-object v0, p0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$1;->this$0:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;

    iget-object v0, v0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;->mH:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$H;

    iget-object v1, p0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$1;->this$0:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;

    iget-object v1, v1, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;->mH:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$H;

    const/4 v2, 0x3

    const/4 v3, 0x0

    invoke-virtual {v1, v2, p1, v3}, Landroid/os/Handler;->obtainMessage(III)Landroid/os/Message;

    move-result-object v1

    invoke-virtual {v0, v1}, Landroid/os/Handler;->sendMessage(Landroid/os/Message;)Z

    .line 547
    return-void
.end method

.method public setActive(Z)V
    .locals 5
    .parameter "active"

    .prologue
    const/4 v1, 0x0

    .line 551
    iget-object v0, p0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$1;->this$0:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;

    iget-object v2, v0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;->mH:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$H;

    iget-object v0, p0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$1;->this$0:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;

    iget-object v3, v0, Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager;->mH:Landroid/view/inputmethod/InputMethodManager$H;

    const/4 v4, 0x4

    if-eqz p1, :cond_0

    const/4 v0, 0x1

    :goto_0
    invoke-virtual {v3, v4, v0, v1}, Landroid/os/Handler;->obtainMessage(III)Landroid/os/Message;

    move-result-object v0

    invoke-virtual {v2, v0}, Landroid/os/Handler;->sendMessage(Landroid/os/Message;)Z

    .line 552
    return-void

    :cond_0
    move v0, v1

    .line 551
    goto :goto_0
.end method

.method public setUsingInputMethod(Z)V
    .locals 0
    .parameter "state"

    .prologue
    .line 537
    return-void
.end method

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Paula Gaer and her family friend Lily, 6, enjoy lunch at the Applewood McDonald's restaurant on Aug. 15. The two got to spend the day together before Lily starts the first grade.
Mike Sandoval, a local franchisee who co-owns and operates eight McDonald's restaurants in the metro area along with his father Frank, demonstrates how to use the Applewood McDonalds' new digital self-order kiosk.
Paula Gaer is a longtime customer of the Applewood McDonald's and used to visit the restaurant frequently when she lived in the area.
Now that Gaer, 63, lives in Denver, she doesn't come quite as often. But she does like to bring Lily, her six-year-old family friend who still lives in the area, to lunch there when the two spend the day together.
On Aug. 11, the Applewood McDonald's, 2881 Youngfield St., hosted a ribbon cutting and grand reopening following a remodel and technology upgrade.
It's part of an initiative called Experience of the Future, which entails adding technology and some renovation work to the fast food restaurants to provide a more modern dining experience. It has been rolled out at more than 2,600 international McDonald's restaurants, and the plan is to do it at all McDonald's nationwide by 2020, said Mike Sandoval, a local franchisee who co-owns and operates eight McDonald's restaurants in the metro area along with his father Frank.
The Applewood McDonald's is the Sandovals' third restaurant to receive the updates within the past three years. The other two are the Kipling and Belleview location, 10177 W Progress Ave. in Littleton; and the McDonald's at 38th and Wadsworth, 3902 Wadsworth Boulevard in Wheat Ridge. The Sandovals' restaurants yet to be done are the Ken Caryl and Alkire location, 7509 S. Alkire St. in Littleton; Belmar, 6801 W. Alameda Drive in Lakewood; and their Commerce City store. The father-and-son also own-operate the McDonald's inside the Walmart near C-470 and Bowles Avenue in Littleton.
Mike Sandoval grew up in Golden and now lives in Lakewood. Frank Sandoval still lives in Golden. He purchased the Applewood McDonald's in 1996.
The Experience of the Future renovations include interior and exterior remodels, such as new décor and seating/dining furniture. The Applewood McDonald's also now has a double drive-thru lane. Two noteworthy technology upgrades are an app that allows customers to order and pay by mobile device and digital self-order kiosks inside the restaurant.
The dining experience itself has also received some attention. The Applewood restaurant now offers curbside pickup for those who order through the app, delivery through a partnership with Uber Eats and for customers who still prefer to dine in, orders can be delivered to tables by McDonald's crew members — no matter if the order was placed through the digital kiosk or by the traditional method of at-counter.
"You have many more options" for a customized dining experience, Sandoval said.
Society as a whole is progressively moving forward with technology advancements, said Crystal Carr of Lakewood, the Applewood McDonald's general manager. What's exciting is seeing McDonald's growing and modernizing alongside it, she said.


James Yong founded interlink design solutions in 2003 . James' attention to detail and passion for perfection has earned him multiple awards . He is much sought after by publication and media and was being named top ten rising personality of the year. Renown for his modernist approach to tropical living space, James has carved a niche market in upscale residential , retail and commercial projects.


Carnosine is a protein made of just two amino acids, alanine and histidine. Because this tiny protein is made of just two amino acids, it is always formed perfectly and acts predictably in various physiological processes. Carnosine is most abundant in the skeletal muscles (the muscles we use for movement), the heart, and the brain.
The "L" in L-carnosine refers to the direction in which crystalline carnosine reflects polarized light. The carnosine molecule is made from the combination of L-histidine and alanine, and also exists in an "L" form.
L-carnosine, more specifically zinc-L-carnosine, is the form of carnosine used in nutritional supplements. If you were to look up zinc-L-carnosine in the medical literature, you would find it under another name, prolaprezinc.
The zinc in L-carnosine is a chelate, which means it does not form a new chemical compound with L-carnosine. Instead, it is "captured" by L-carnosine. Groups of L-carnosine molecules can also trap nickel, copper, cadmium, manganese, copper, calcium, strontium, and beryllium, but L-carnosine is not typically combined with these metals and it has not been tried as chelation therapy for them.
L-carnosine is not the only form of carnosine used in nutritional supplements. N-acetyl-carnosine is a form of carnosine made by the reaction of carnosine with acetic acid. This form of carnosine does not capture heavy metals, but it also is not broken down by an enzyme called carnosinase, which can turn carnosine back into its constituent amino acids, alanine and L-histidine. N-acetyl-carnosine is the form of carnosine used in experiments for treating eye diseases.
Both forms of carnosine are thought to fight glycation, which can be described as "caramelization" of proteins in the bloodstream and in nerve tissue by excessive levels of sugar. When proteins join with glucose, they cease to function, and they release free radicals that can spread tissue damage even further. The N-acetyl form of carnosine is most commonly used to treat conditions cause by diabetes and chronically high blood sugar levels.
Zinc-L-carnosine supplements are often offered as nutritional support for people who have gastric or duodenal ulcers, that is, ulcers in the stomach or small intestine. Researchers in Japan have found that this form of carnosine induces the formation of an enzyme called heme oxygenase. The way this enzyme works is literally to keep the iron released from bleeding lesions in the lining of the digestive tract from "rusting" the healthy tissues of the stomach. It helps transform free iron released by damaged red blood cells into ferritin, which is much less inflammatory and destructive.
Zinc-L-carnosine has been used successfully to stop stomach irritation caused by histamine (that is, triggered by allergies to food or medication), aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol), stress, and poor circulation, also known as ischemia. In the digestive tract, ischemia is typically an undetected problem. Especially in type 2 diabetics, the linings of the arteries that provide oxygen to the stomach and bowel can stop generating enough of the compound that keeps them open. Even without high cholesterol, the artery gets narrower and narrower and provides less and less blood to the digestive tract.
At some point, some other event (in one case I know very well, drinking ice water after getting hot and thirsty) can close off circulation entirely, and the linings of the stomach and bowel become inflamed and start to die. Zinc-L-carnosine can help stop this process if the inflammation is not so severe that food and drink cannot be taken by mouth.
In treating ischemia, the benefits of L-carnosine can be dramatic. In treating ulcers, the benefits of L-carnosine are primarily preventing flareups after eating the "wrong" food or taking an irritating medication.
Carnosine is also recommended for slowing the progression of cataracts and Alzheimer's disease. Let's consider the benefits of carnosine for cataracts first.
Russian scientists formulated eye drops containing the N-acetyl form of carnosine as a treatment for cataracts. Innovative Vision Products in Newcastle, Delaware, in the USA, developed an extended-release form of N-acetyl-carnosine eye drops that they claim can deter cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, wide-angle and closed-angle glaucoma, and macular degeneration.
Those are bold and far-reaching claims. Are they true? Are they at best premature?
Veterinarians at Cambridge University in the UK have found that N-acetyl carnosine eye drops can partially reverse cataracts in older dogs. A series of studies published in Russian in 2007, 2008, and 2009, found that N-acetyl-carnosine eye drops can improve the results of Eximer laser treatment of cataracts experimentally induced in lab rats. An enthusiastic report published in the American Journal of Therapy in 2009 reported that "in a cohort in excess of 50,500 various patients seeking cutting-edge medical care," N-acetyl-carnosine was "judged to have sufficient" efficacy.
"The evidence for the effectiveness of N-acetyl carnosine eye drops is based on experience on a small number of cases carried out by a Russian researcher team. To date, the research has not been corroborated and the results replicated by others. The long-term effect is unknown. Unfortunately, the evidence to date does not support the 'promising potential' of this drug in cataract reversal. More robust data from well conducted clinical trials on adequate sample sizes will be required to support these claims of efficacy. Furthermore, we do not feel the evidence base for the safety is in any way sufficient to recommend its use in the short term. More research is needed."
I have to agree. There is no reason to believe that an N-acetyl carnosine supplement taken by mouth would cause any harm. There is reason to hope that an N-acetyl carnosine eye drop solution might "dissolve" cataracts and even help other eye diseases, but the proof just is not available yet. Don't forgo another treatment or stop a medication hoping that you can just use carnosine for your eyes.
I have searched for anecdotal information regarding the use of the Brite Eyes and Can-C N-acetyl-carnosine drops, and what I have found is that people who already have cataracts say that it helps with glare, although it does not stop progression of the disease. There are testimonials that these products have cured glaucoma-but the proof would always be your eye pressure readings taken at the doctor's office. There are also testimonials of relief from dry eyes that precluded continued use of contacts.
If you start taking these drops, you should allow six to nine months for any improvement at all. If you neglect some other treatment that works for that long, you could do your eyes some serious damage. Don't take N-acetyl-carnosine eye drops unless you are also taking all other available treatments for your condition.
There has been a small body of research, most of it published in Russian scientific journals, that has found that carnosine relaxes blood vessels while it improves the ability of the heart muscle to pump blood. Researchers don't know whether carnosine works inside the cell, outside the cell, or in the plasma of the bloodstream. They just believe it works, at least on the basis of experiments conducted with laboratory animals. Like carnosine for cataracts, carnosine for cardiovascular conditions is promising but a recommendation to use it would be premature.
There have been experiments with animals that have found that L-carnosine accelerates wound healing. In theory, it should be helpful for hard-to-heal wounds aggravated by diabetes, but there are no good data for how much to take.
What About Carnosine for Alzheimer's?
One of best-known advocates of carnosine for Alzheimer's care is a British research named Alan R. Hipkiss. Dr. Hipkiss is a senior fellow at the University of Birmingham.
Dr. Hipkiss points out that carnosine fits the bill. Also, certain drugs that stop seizures are known to raise levels of carnosine in the brain, and carnosine can be formulated as a nose spray that is absorbed more quickly into the brain. Scientists at Hamilton Health Sciences have found that the enzyme carnosinase becomes less active the longer people have Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, which may suggest that carnosine is depleted in the brain in these conditions. (There are other explanations for this observation.) But do we know that carnosine will relieve the symptoms of Alzheimer's?
Unfortunately, the proof just isn't there yet. Because it is very difficult to keep Alzheimer's patients on a routine, and there are many other supplements that are better known to be helpful in Alzheimer's, I wouldn't even experiment with carnosine for Alzheimer's at this time.
It is also difficult to keep children with autism on a supplementation schedule. For autism, however, supplementation with L-carnosine is worth a try.
However, the children did do better when assessed with the Gilliam Asperger's Disorder Scale. This measurement index has more scales than the CARS and may capture smaller changes. By this measurement, children improved overall, and on the Behavioral, Communication, and Socialization subscales.
5 mg of zinc twice a day. Any form of zinc is acceptable.
Many parents ask whether a smaller child might need less of these supplements, or a larger child might need more. My suggestion is that these amounts are OK for any child over the age of three, and simply see if these dosages work. And please share your experiences in the Comments Box.
What Is the Normal L-Carnosine Dosage?
For children, the normal dosage of L-carnosine taken by mouth is 400 mg twice a day. Adults may take up to 1,000 mg twice a day. If you are taking L-carnosine for ulcers, take the supplement on an empty stomach with a glass of warm water.
N-acetyl-carnosine is used in eye drops. If you choose to use the eye drops, take as recommended by the manufacturer.
Are There Any L-Carnosine Side Effects?
If you were to be injected with about 1% of your body weight in L-carnosine, you would experience toxic effects. This is approximately 500 to 2000 times the recommended dosage, and you would not be able to absorb that much L-carnosine through your digestive system. L-carnosine has essentially no toxicity and no side effects when used as a dietary supplement.
Arakawa T, Satoh H, Nakamura A, et al. Effects of zinc L-carnosine on gastric mucosal and cell damage caused by ethanol in rats. Correlation with endogenous prostaglandin E2. Dig Dis Sci 1990;35:559-66.
Bonfanti L, Peretto P, De Marchis S, Fasolo A. Carnosine-related dipeptides in the mammalian brain. Prog Neurobiol 1999;59:333-53.
Cho CH, Ogle CW. A correlative study of the antiulcer effects of zinc sulphate in stressed rats. Eur J Pharmacol 1978;48:97-105.
Frommer DJ. The healing of gastric ulcers by zinc sulphate. Med J Aust 1975;2:793-6.
Kashimura H, Suzuki K, Hassan M, et al. Polaprezinc, a mucosal protective agent, in combination with lansoprazole, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin increases the cure rate of Helicobacter pylori infection. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 1999;13(4):483-7.
Nishiwaki H, Kato S, Sugamoto S, et al. Ulcerogenic and healing impairing actions of monochloramine in rat stomachs: effects of zinc L-carnosine, polaprezinc. J Physiol Pharmacol1 999;50:183-95.
Quinn PJ, Boldyrev AA, Formazuyk VE. Carnosine: its properties, functions and potential therapeutic applications. Mol Aspects Med 1992;13:379-444.
Roberts PR, Black KW, Santamauro JT, Zaloga GP. Dietary peptides improve wound healing following surgery. Nutrition 1998;14;266-9.


text:
Harat Company Strives for Excelling Transport Services
When the Harat Company policy strategists developed their future outline regarding the aims of the Harat Transport Services, they sought to achieve national priories. Specifically, ensuring the safety of the public and reducing their exposure to transport manipulators. For over a decade, middle-sized buses of the company have been found throughout major cities and even small towns.
Despite the rumors of that time suggesting that Harat may experience trouble in competing with the experienced bus companies like the Asmara Bus Company, Gemel Transport Corporation, SATAIE, Red Sea Cooperatives Transport, and Awet Private Bus Owners Association, Harat Company has continued to succeed. It has worked tremendously hard at improving services and accessibility for all people and regions of the country.
Under the aegis of the concerned body of the Government of Eritrea, Harat continued adding new model buses to the country. In 2011 alone, for instance, the company brought judicious changes in transportation fares. And as the society acclimatized to the policy guidelines of the company, constructive engagements between trilateral bodies started happening for tangible changes: the public, the government and the private bus owners.
According to Brigader General Birhane Tsehaye, Managing Director of the Company, while Harat buses cover 65% of the entire regions of Eritrea, the demand for transport is growing greatly. And in some areas, as in the Southern Region where Harat Company buses account for 23% of the transport coverage, private bus owners associations like Awet are the forefront transport services provider in the region.
However, as records of Eritrea's transport services testify, private buses often don't reach the most remote areas of the country. Moreover, with the staggering depreciation
Brig. General Birhane Tsehaye
records of the buses, the safety of the public and their luggage may even suffer. To minimize such hurdles, therefore, the Government decided to import modern buses which were safer, more comfortable, and improved overall service.
And through time, Harat augmented its capacity and continued to open various branches throughout the country, including to Menokuseito—a small village near the border with Ethiopia. The company has 446 buses, 100 branch offices, and 1300 employees working hard to meet the public's demand for safe, comfortable, affordable transport services.
Meanwhile, even though Harat has been providing services in various corners of the country, its prevalence in the transport domain is not a substitute for the private bus owners. As clearly stated in the 1992 Proclamation, Harat exists to support affordable transport services for all. For example, two years ago, the fare from Asmara to Abune Merkerewos Monastery was 400 Nakfa; currently, it is 175 Nakfa, largely due to the impact of Harat.
As transport is one of the critical sectors of any country, the influence of Harat has been positive. At the same time, efforts toward maintaining transport services have the potential to absorb major financial and material resources of a nation. Accordingly, the private sector has an important role to play, and private bus owners are encouraged to work in the country.
According to the Operations Department of the Ministry of Land Transport, Harat is part of the government's answer for ensuring standardized transport services. However, although the company has expanded its services to more regions, adding hundreds of buses, transport demand remains high in the country, especially during holidays.
"Even though there are many responsible private bus owners, there are also a few others who chase after every opportunity to speculate on unfair prices and to take advantage of travelers. However, through the introduction of Harat, such practices have begun to considerably decrease," asserts the Managing Director of the Harat Company.
Efforts to Register Asmara in World Heritage
"I place colours on the canvas as I position words on my diary"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (MEIS) Program at CSUN is a new interdisciplinary minor established in 2013. It offers courses in the languages, histories, religions, cultures, sociology and politics of Middle Eastern peoples. It also seeks to enhance students' understanding of Islamic cultures and the Muslim communities both internationally and within the United States.
In addition, MEIS provides an academic home for the study of the intellectual, cultural and material conditions that have shaped our current understandings of and relationships with the Middle East and Islamic societies. Among the primary beneficiaries of this program are students interested in becoming scholars, journalists, translators, interpreters, diplomats, businesspersons, negotiators, and personnel in foreign offices. Some of the courses in the MEIS program satisfy General Education (GE) requirements or may be used as electives in several majors.
Through offering the minor, sponsoring courses, organizing conferences, film and lecture series, MEIS brings together interested students, faculty, and Middle Eastern communities in larger Los Angeles.


Some stories are harder to report on than others. As a doctor and a father, I can assure you that any story involving the death of a child is the most difficult – especially when that death may have been preventable.
This may have been the case for Wes Leonard, the 16 year-old basketball star from Fennville High School in Michigan. On Thursday night, Leonard scored the game-winning shot to conclude a perfect season shortly before collapsing on the school court. He was rushed to Holland Hospital, but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful, and Leonard was pronounced dead at 10:40 pm.
By all accounts, Leonard was a healthy, disciplined student athlete who ate properly and lifted weights in his spare time. Not only was he the top scorer on his basketball team – in fact, he had surpassed 1000 career points in a previous game – he was also the quarterback for the school football team.
But, as I often warn people, it can be impossible to know what may lie under the surface without the proper tests. If Fennville is like most high schools in America, they likely require student athletes have a yearly physical on file, but it is my firm opinion that this is not enough.
These elements, unlike a mere sports physical, would be able to shed light on hidden clinical conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), cardiac arrhythmias and valvular abnormalities that may be present but completely asymptomatic in a young person. These conditions could have catastrophic consequences if the child does any kind of strenuous physical exercise.
There also must be an automated external defibrillator on site in any school, town or community gym, because if something terrible does happen, without the proper equipment, you will not be able to bring that person back in time.
This is supported by data, which shows that when an AED is used within the first 10 minutes of cardiac arrest, survival rates increase to 80 percent. However, it typically takes emergency responders at least seven minutes to arrive.
Schools in Italy have these policies and I urge American high schools to implement these procedures as well: require cardiac physical and always keep an AED handy at sporting events. When it comes to a matter of life or death, the benefits far outweigh the costs.


Washington Park Early Learning Center values the diversity of experiences that children of different economic, social, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds can give one another. Therefore, financial help is at times necessary to assure that this goal is met.
WPELC is proud to set aside a portion of our operating budget each year for financial assistance to help families who might find the cost of WPELC beyond their reach. These funds are offered to new or returning families when need is determined. Scholarship decisions are confidential and are based on the guidelines in our Scholarship Application. All parents who feel they need assistance in paying tuition should apply.
The application is due May 31, 2019. However, if your financial needs have changed during the year, you can submit your application at any time.


Edge Analytical was incorporated on August 1, 1980, as Materials Testing & Consulting (MTC), providing testing services for the construction industry. Due to seasonal workflow MTC expanded into environmental testing in 1989.
By the early 1990's revenues from environmental testing were surpassing revenues from construction testing, and the decision was made to refocus the business to a full service environmental lab. In 1995, the construction testing services provided by MTC were sold and the corporate name was changed to Edge Analytical Laboratories, Inc.
MTC started in a small rented structure and eventually moved to a barn behind the home of one of the owners. In 1992 we moved into a 4,000 square foot building where we stayed until 2006. We then moved to our current 10,500 square foot facility with room to expand another 10,000 square feet when company growth warrants it. We opened the Bellingham, Washington microbiology lab in 2004, the Portland Oregon laboratory in Wilsonville in 2010, and the Corvallis Oregon Laboratory in 2013.
The company started with two employees in 1980 and now has over 40. We know our continued success is due to commitment to small town values and laser like focus on each clients needs.


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Sunny Karagozlu is the founder of Edible London, a community interest company (CIC) that's fighting food poverty in London in his own home-grown style
Why did you start Edible London
It started five years ago when I got really ill. I realised I needed to change my life and the way I ate so I turned to veganism, simplified my life by moving back in with my mum and dad and dug up their garden to turn it into an edible paradise. After that I started volunteering for a community growing site and it grew from there.
Edible London is about tackling food poverty, not with tinned food but with nutritious, fresh food. We are plant-based because it's healthy and it's inclusive – all religions can enjoy our food.
As well as using food we grow I use my contacts to partner with local businesses who have surplus food or want to donate. In the borough of Haringey alone we now work with 36 organisations to get food to those in need – from homeless shelters to youth centres.
We have a waiting list and sign-up form to understand each person's need – how many people need to be fed in each household, if they have access to a kitchen, etc. We supply hot meals and hampers which we can give to a household and provides three to five days of meals.
Do you have a background in food?
I was brought up in a Turkish Cypriot family and worked with my dad in the family business which was commercial farming, growing vegetables to sell to grocers and supermarkets. But I was lost in this cultural warfare between my traditional background and my adopted western culture, always battling with my dad and his way of doing business.
I moved out to get away from it all and fell into homelessness. People assume you must be a junkie or an alcoholic if you're homeless but it's not true. I had friends and family and a car so I was lucky. I have slept rough – I woke up soaked through after a night in a greenhouse – but my experience helped me to understand the struggles of life, pushed me into the community and helped me understand diversity.
How do you grow food in the city?
We take over derelict growing spaces, in Hackney, Haringey and Enfield, where we grow organic food . We even have a rooftop garden. We also use our spaces to do educational workshops with schools and corporates around food production, sustainability and ecology.
How has Covid-19 affected you?
In March we shut down the workshops and committed all our vegetables to the community. Haringey council approached us to help them source produce and provide food to the vulnerable. They were sending things like tea bags, sugar and cereal but no fresh food. With their help we ran an operation out of Tottenham Hotspur's stadium and Alexandra Palace, sourcing vegetables, packing them and helping the council to deliver them to 70,000 people on their shielding list.
We went out to the community and I networked like crazy and started procuring tonnes of donations and surplus food from places like Spitalfields Market, Lidl and Marks and Spencer. A small grocer I know baked us 150 loaves of bread every day during the lockdown.
How did you manage it?
Teamwork makes the dream work. We went from having 20 volunteers to 350 in a week. It was an armada of people with so many skillsets. The head of security at Alexandra Palace happened to be the head of the Kaotic Angels, a division of a biker club made up of ex army, police and emergency services people and through him we procured some of our drivers. We had this crew of big, butch bikers with beards delivering vegetables around North London.
What's your biggest achievement?
Feeding a million people on a shoestring. Before Covid-19 hit we were feeding 200 homeless people a week and working with a few local suppliers, suddenly we were working out of a football stadium and in two weeks we'd scaled up our operation to reach 50,000 people a week. It consumed every part of my life and I was working 18 hours a day – I barely saw my son, who was born two months pre-Covid – but we smashed it.
Why did you choose to be a CIC?
I only ever wanted to grow food and work with my community but so many people were inspired by what we did and wanted us to be official so two and half years ago we became an incorporated Community Interest Company. There's a lot of bureaucracy in charities and being a CIC gives us the freedom to empower communities and help local entrepreneurs.
The goal is to maintain exponential growth and roll out workshops around healthy eating, food production and sustainable and regenerative farming, always keeping people and planet in mind.
We've scaled back down to serving around 25,000 people a week but we're doing it independently and sustainably. Our closest competitor is the Felix Project who provide 1.2 million meals a year millions in funding – we did nearly a million hot, nutritious meals on £115,000 and have since hit the million meal milestone.
We're doing a crowd funder for Christmas and beyond, aiming to raise £200k to help us achieve another million meals as well as our biggest single day of food distribution ever – 50,000 extra meals!


Foodklik is an online food delivery service that caters for different needs whether domestic or commercial. The food service boasts of wealth of experience in preparing different cuisines both local and also exotic. In addition to making mouth-watering and attractive delicacies, the service also guarantees you of your food arriving at the designated location right on time. Proper and stylish packaging ensures you, your family, or guests enjoy every spoon. Our service caters for various events both indoor as well as outdoor and is suitable for family functions, diwali, anniversaries, and more. You also get great discounts when you use coupon Foodklik. Peruse through www.foodklik.com to learn more about the online food delivery service.
Order pizza, milk shake&other with a discount.


Afer having an amazing 2016 Small Business Saturday, we wanted to make sure that we did it again 2017. Small Business Saturday is all about supporting our locals in Los Angeles. There are several businesses that we support at least once a week. From where we eat, to where get our production made, embroidery, coffee, etc. These local business have alway been a main part of our daily motivation. Most being kids of immigrants or immigrants, we connected to their hustle and strive to create heritage.
We visited our local businesses and gifted them KOI pieces and asked if we can promote their business for our Small Business Saturday launch. To see the smile and excitement in their faces to participate in our Small Business Saturday, really made our launch successful.
Although we are all from different countries, cultures and families, the immigrant hustle is all the same. We all support each other, they help us with our business while we help them with their business. Thank you all for supporting!!


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The Biggest Reasons Why Princess Diana Really Was the 'People's Princess'
Michelle Kapusta
After separating from Prince Charles, Princess Diana famously said in a 1995 television interview that she wanted to be a "queen of people's hearts." Following her tragic death two years later, Tony Blair, who was Britain's prime minister at the time, called her the "People's Princess." It was a name she certainly earned given all her charitable work, and in the ways she tried changing the British monarchy to connect better with the public.
More than two decades after her death, her legacy still lives on. Here are the biggest reasons why Diana really was the "People's Princess."
Princess Diana bonded with the public in a unique way
Diana was always there for her public. | Vincent Amalvy/AFP/Getty Images
When she was alive, Diana was one of the only royals people felt they could actually relate to because she found ways to bond with the public. One of those ways was through TV shows. She said:
If I go out and about, whether it be to Birmingham, Liverpool or Dorset, I can always pick up on a TV program and you are on the same level. That I decided for myself. It works so well. Everybody watches it and I say, 'Did you see so and so? Wasn't it funny when this or that happened?' You are not the princess and they the general public — it's the same level.
She went into crowds with open arms
Diana was warm and personal with everyone she met. | Vincent Laforet/AFP/Getty Images
When she would be out and about for public engagements, the Princess of Wales did things that really set her apart from the other royals because they hadn't been done before. Diana wanted to get up close and personal with the people, and so she did.
She was often seen walking into crowds and giving people hugs. She would also bend down onto the ground when she would speak directly with small children.
Diana had friendly relationships with palace staffers
She raised her boys to be polite and interact with the palace staff. | Johnny Eggitt/AFP/Getty Images
Another thing Diana did, and something she encouraged her children to do, was mingle with palace staffers. Instead of conforming to the norm of royals not mixing with employees, the princess had a friendly relationship with them. She told her kids they could talk with the kitchen wait staff, as she did on many occasions.
According to her chef, Darren McGrady, unlike the other royals, Diana had no problem striking up a conversation and eating in the kitchen with the staffers. She also allowed Princes William and Harry to play with the children of the kitchen workers.
She interacted with AIDS patients when others wouldn't
Princess Diana met with and shook the hands of AIDS patients. | ITV News via YouTube
At a time when the world didn't know much about HIV/AIDS and thought that merely touching someone infected was a danger, Princess Diana interacted with patients who had the virus. Photographs of the princess shaking hands with patients went public and countered the idea that it was possible to contract the disease through touch.
Prince Harry has continued his late mother's work with his charity Sentebale, which raises funds and awareness about HIV and AIDS. The prince also encourages others to get tested and has publicly been tested himself.
The princess visited with leprosy sufferers
Princess Diana meeting with leprosy patients | Leprosy Mission New Zealand via YouTube
Diana was patron of The Leprosy Mission and visited hospitals in Zimbabwe, Nepal, and India. There, the princess herself sat next to, conversed with, and touched the bandages of those suffering from the disease.
"It has always been my concern to touch people with leprosy, trying to show in a simple action that they are not reviled, nor are we repulsed," she said.
She walked through a minefield
Princess Diana visiting the minefields in Angola. | Antonio CotrimAFP/Getty Images
Months before her death in 1997, the Princess of Wales also raised global awareness for landmine victims when she walked through a minefield in Angola.
Prince Harry later became patron of The HALO Trust, which according to its website is the "world's largest humanitarian mine clearance organization." By 2017, the organization had destroyed more than 92,000 landmines and 800 minefields in Angola.
Diana got candid in interviews
The couple wasn't happy most of the time, and she was honest about it. | Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Finally, perhaps one of the biggest reasons she was the "People's Princess" is because so many felt that she was very relatable; especially when she spoke candidly about her failed marriage to Prince Charles. The public was used to seeing somewhat stuffy or coached interviews from members of the royal family, but Diana let it all out after she and Charles separated, even though the palace wasn't pleased about it.
She gave the public a glimpse into her life behind palace walls and made people understand that it certainly wasn't perfect or all glamorous just because of who she had married. Her revelation about her eating orders and the infidelity that plagued her marriage were serious issues some people could relate to because it happened in their lives, too.
Follow Michelle Kapusta on Twitter @philamichelle.
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This was a special opening ceremony held for the special events community. There were several hundred guests in attendance. I especially enjoyed watching the aerialist pouring sparkling wine for guests. The overall layout, lighting, food presentation was fantastic.
The team at the JW Marriott Downtown Los Angeles really has their game together.
The music style was Nu-Jazz, Acid Jazz, Nu-Disco all blended together. I think the music did well to compliment the lighting and atmosphere of the room.


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Whisky Hammer agrees investment deal with Rare Whisky Holdings
Photo Credit: Grampian Online
AN ABERDEENSHIRE whisky auction site is poised for global expansion after selling a stake in the family business.
Whisky Hammer, and its sister retail business Still Spirit, have sold a 49 per cent stake to Rare Whisky Holdings, a whisky investment group based in Hong Kong.
Macduff brothers Daniel and Craig Milne set up Whisky Hammer in 2016.
The multi-million-pound deal will deliver a 2.6X return to retail investors on their original investment, who participated in its crowdfunding campaign just two years ago.
The success and potential of Whisky Hammer have been recognised by Rare Whisky Holdings, which is the same management team behind the Platinum Whisky Investment Fund, the first private equity fund in the world to focus on rare single malt whiskies.
Rare Whisky Holdings also owns the Glenor Cask Company, which holds 1000 casks of maturing single malt, blended and grain whiskies.
The new investment and partnership ensures registered members of Whisky Hammer and Still Spirit will receive exclusive access to a range of cask opportunities for the long-term.
Whisky Hammer hosts monthly auctions, dedicated to whisky and other fine spirits, allowing buyers and sellers from every corner of the globe to participate. It has auctioned a wide range of whiskies, both bottles and casks, with auctions selling in excess of £1 million under the hammer each month.
The customer base of Whisky Hammer features an extensive global network of whisky enthusiasts who buy and sell on the platform, resulting in a 70 per cent growth in revenue last year.
Whisky Hammer relocated in 2019 to a new, purpose-built facility at Udny, near Ellon, which is also home to Still Spirit, a whisky shop, e-commerce site and dram bar offering over 100 rare whiskies.
Daniel Milne, managing director of Whisky Hammer and Still Spirit, said: "This is a very exciting time for our business.
"The transaction signifies an important bond with our new Asian partner that will rapidly bring the group to the next phase of growth, and we are incredibly excited about what lies ahead.
"In addition, we are delighted to have generated a substantial return for our crowdfunding investors that helped us build the business to where it is today."
Rickesh Kishnani, co-founder of Rare Whisky Holdings, said: "Our investment group is proud to join the Milne family business and help with their expansion to Asia, where the demand for whisky continues to grow at a rapid pace.
"We are also excited to use this new partnership to provide Whisky Hammer and Still Spirit members with exclusive access to our collection of aged casks."
Read the original article on Grampian Online


NASHVILLE, TN — Local and state tourism officials hope to make Nashville a destination for national and international Civil Rights tourism.
In January, six Nashville area locations debuted as part of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, a collection of churches, courthouses, schools, museums and other landmarks, primarily in the Southern states, where activists challenged segregation in the 1950s and 1960s to advance social justice.
The Trail, which uses the theme "What happened here changed the world," was designed to connect destinations where important events during the Civil Rights Movement occurred with the goal of attracting both national and international visitors who are interested in historical and Civil Rights tourism.
Since its launch 9 months ago, some Nashville sites such as the Civil Rights Room at the Nashville Public Library, are seeing new visitors as a result of the Trail. State tourism officials say they are receiving calls from international travelers requesting brochures and information about visiting the Tennessee sites.
To be listed as a location on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, sites must be a place where Civil Rights history occurred and must be open to the public and currently welcoming tourists in groups to learn what happened there.
• Clark Memorial United Methodist Church (1014 14th Avenue North, Nashville) which served as a meeting site for numerous civil rights efforts. In 1958, James Lawson hosted workshops on nonviolent protests at the church, and in 1961 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. held the annual meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference there.
• Davidson County Courthouse and Witness Walls (1 Public Square, Nashville) where student leaders confronted Nashville's mayor on the steps of the courthouse after months of lunch counter sit-ins and economic boycotts to protest segregation. Witness Walls is inspired by these events and people.
original "five and dime" stores, F.W. Woolworth became the site of some of the first lunch counter sit-ins during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in Nashville. This location was the site of a number of successful sit-ins that served as models for later demonstrations in the South. The new Woolworth on 5th restaurant honors the history of this space by serving as a welcome table for all.
the first African-American institution to receive accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Many of the university's students were the backbone of sit-in demonstrations that successfully desegregated Nashville's lunch counters.
Since 1924, American Baptist College has carried out its mission of developing Christian leaders and preparing them to serve and work for social change and justice in the world. The college produced some influential civil rights leaders, including Julius Scruggs, Bernard LaFayette, Jim Bevel, William Barbee and John Lewis. Under the guidance of Professor J.F. Grimmett, the Rev. Kelly Miller Smith and the Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian, these young men participated in the Nashville sit-in movement and set the tone for nonviolent protest in the South.
• Civil Rights Room at the Nashville Public Library (615 Church Street, Nashville) which allows visitors to learn the story of the Nashville sit-in movement and view the same powerful photos that captured the nation's attention years ago.
Lee Sentell, Director of the Alabama Tourism Department who was instrumental in the U.S. Civil Rights Trail project, said the Nashville area was very prominent in the early discussions about Civil Rights particularly Fisk University along with American Baptist College where U.S. Representative and Civil Rights leader John Lewis attended school.
Sentell said the accumulated result of all of the activity that happened throughout the South in the early 1960s encouraged minority leaders all over the world such as Nelson Mandela while he was imprisoned in South Africa, and other oppressed people in countries such as Poland and Germany, to continue their struggle to overcome discrimination. Many of those people want to come to the South to learn more about the origins of the movement.
Sentell said his group will attend international marketplace trade shows later this year to learn if any international motor coach operators will begin tours of the Civil Rights Trail.
Tom Morales, owner of Woolworth on 5th restaurant, said Nashville has three types of tourists…those who come for country music and the Broadway experience, those who come for bachelorette and celebration parties, and those who come to conventions.
He believes there is a sizable section of the convention tourism crowd who aren't interested in country music and instead are looking for other sites to tour in Nashville such as those on the Civil Rights Trail.
Woolworth on 5th is the most prominent Nashville destination on the Trail. Since opening on February 5, 2018, Morales said, there has been a lot of interest from tourists and even celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and "A Wrinkle in Time," director Ava DuVernay have visited.
"It has been eye opening the amount of people that come through for the history," Morales said.
Woolworth on 5th has been renovated to reprise the original Woolworth and now serves as a restaurant and live music venue. Through a massive restoration effort, much of the original architecture was preserved, including the upper level mezzanine, gilded handrails and wall accents, and hand-laid tile. Parts of the 18,000-square-foot space that could not be preserved were recreated to echo the style of the past: flowing staircases, the rebuilt lunch counter, wood-paneled walls, turquoise colors and an art deco-inspired vibe.
Morales said Woolworth on 5th is a destination restaurant that serves Southern inspired cuisine and pays homage to Nashville's Civil Rights history.


Integer1 is a first of its kind content analytics platform for the media industry. The platform has in-depth analysis of more than 300 popular TV shows across all the channels in the US for it's emotional signature and emotional resonance with the audiences. All popular TV shows have a strong emotional connect with the audiences and integer1 platform measures precisely that emotional engagement level. Higher emotional engagement translates to higher viewership, popularity and ratings on social media.
The platform is used by media companies and TV channels to make decisions on which shows to air and when. This is done by comparing the emotional similarity of the new show against the existing shows. Content producers, media houses and TV channel companies can then make informed decisions on how the content has to be altered to resonate with the audiences.
Data Ingestion – All analytics begins with data. A data ingestion module was developed to fetch TV shows' script data from various sources. This was stored as text files with segregation for seasons and episodes. Developed in Python as a daily job with logic to read only the newly added shows/seasons/episodes.
Emotional Analysis – Text analytics library to derive numeric emotional values of the TV show content. Each episode was split into 10 parts giving us a good indication of how the emotions have progressed through the episode. This library was built in Python.
Visualization – Stunning UI with a carousel type landing page, show details page, search and to compare shows for emotional resonance. All this was developed in Angular and charting using HighCharts.


Come see the available apartments at Shady Plaza Apartments in Wichita, KS. Located not far from downtown and major highways, attractions in the city are a short drive away. If you don't like driving all the time, the community is close to public transportation. There are covered parking spots available to rent to keep your car safe from the elements.
I'm interested in Shady Plaza Apartments. Please let me know when this listing is available on ApartmentGuide.