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The Deadline Club is pleased to announce the winners in the 2006 Annual Awards Contest, which honors excellence in journalism in 2005. The Deadline Club Awards recognize the best in New York area journalism – printed, broadcast or otherwise distributed. Winners were announced at the Annual Awards Dinner at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square on Tuesday, May 23, 2006. The evening featured a keynote address by Bob Schieffer of CBS News.
1. The Daniel Pearl Award for Investigative Reporting
Newspapers and Wire Services
Russ Buettner, Heidi Evans, Robert Gearty, Brian Kates, Greg B. Smith, staff writers and Richard T. Pienciak, New York Daily News, "9/11 Money Trough"
Judges' Comments
"Four years after the World Trade Center towers were vaporized and nearly 3,000 people perished, the Daily News assigned a team of reporters to follow the money trail. Where did the billions of dollars earmarked for relief, rebuilding and recovery go? After a four-month investigation, the Daily News uncovered multiple abuses in the use of federal recovery funds with millions of dollars spent on projects having nothing to do with 9/11. Using computer analysis and records research the Daily News showed how negligent government bureaucracy and exploitation by individuals of questionable character resulted in widespread waste, fraud and mismanagement. The Daily News says this disappointing outcome is part of a continuing investigation and we encourage the paper to continue the efforts.
· Dunstan McNichol, Josh Margolin, Kelly Heyboer and Ted Sherman, The Star-Ledger, "McGreevey Backer's $75,000 Deal," "The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey"
· Staff, The Record, "Toxic Legacy"
2. Beat Reporting
Ellen E. Schultz, The Wall Street Journal, benefits reporter
Ellen Schultz's thorough and innovative coverage of the complex world of pensions exposes how federal benefits law has gradually shifted its protections from employees to the companies that employ them. Her writing illuminates what could be a mundane topic by combining well-researched reporting with compelling accounts of the effects these changes on people ranging from widows to former NFL players. By distilling arcane financial data into something easily understood she produces original and oftentimes surprising stories that not only explain complicated pension issues, but provide a service to readers.
· Josh Margolin, The Star-Ledger, statehouse reporter
· Mohamad Bazzi, Newsday, Middle East correspondent
3. Feature Reporting
Steve Wick, Newsday, "The Last Potato Graders"
What started as a nostalgic feature on Long Island's potato-farming evolved into an extraordinary piece of investigative journalism. In the end the extraordinary work of Newsday's reporters reconnected two so-called invisible men with families they had lost. Starting with little more than names and faded memories, Newsday headed to Georgia, knocked on doors, dug through old records and ended up restoring the identities and family links to two workers who had been all but forgotten by society.
· Clare Ansberry, The Wall Street Journal, "Lost and Found"
· Andrea Gurwitt, Herald News, "An American Dream: One Immigrant's Story"
· Katie Thomas, Newsday, "Getting Away From Him"
4. Spot News Reporting
Newspapers, Circulation over 100,000
Staff and Dean Chang, New York Daily News, coverage of the New York City transit strike
"In two dozen pages of stories and pictures, the Daily News covered every aspect of the first day of New York City's transit strike with clarity and a dash of humor as millions of transit riders struggled to move about the city. The frustration of commuters, striking workers and public officials was brought to life in vivid detail and the Daily News showed the strikers effect on myriad parts of city life from businesses to schools. If it was moving (or wasn't) the Daily News was there."
· Staff, The Record, "4 Children Die As Fire Races Through Teaneck House"
· Monica Langley, Theo Francis and Ianthe Jeanne Dugan, The Wall Street Journal, "Risk Management: How Investigations of AIG Led To Retirement of Longtime CEO"
Erik Schatzker, Gavin Serkin, Peter Robison, Ann Saphir, Walden Siew, John
Dooley, Otis Bilodeau and Malcom Shearmur, Bloomberg News, coverage of
"Our judges were impressed with the amount of detail and clarity the Bloomberg reporters were able to squeeze into their stories under heavy deadline pressure. Their ability to craft six stories that were both informative and insightful within a 24-hour time-frame left us wondering whether there were any details for anyone else to report."
· Christina Cheddar Berk, Neal Lipschutz, Mary Ellen Lloyd, Maxwell Murphy,
· Aparajita Saha-Bubna and Tom Sullivan, Dow Jones Newswires, coverage of Procter & Gamble/Gillette merger
Newspapers, Circulation under 100,000
Asjylyn Loder, Herald News, "Land Grab: Affordable Housing Plan Goes Awry"
"The award goes to Asjylyn Loder's investigative series exposing how corrupt Patterson, N.J., city officials steered land contracts to well-connected developers at the expense of the city's working poor. Her reporting pinpointed, then followed up on what might have appeared to be small discrepancies, but which added up to a picture of government corruption. In addition to connecting the dots, her painstaking research made such a strong case that the city council voted to rescind the shady deals, only to later back down. The story didn't end by cleaning up city hall, as we would have hoped. But it only proves how difficult it can be to crack entrenched cronyism. Loder did, getting inside through the kind of thorough document search and dogged interviewing that exemplifies the best in our profession. And we also commend The Herald News for committing so much of her time to the story — a commitment to enterprise journalism that yielded all finalists in this category."
· Tom Meagher and Suzanne Travers, Herald News, "A Temporary Life  — Low Wages, Strong Backs"
· Jaci Smith, Herald News, "Taxed Out: At the Breaking Point"
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7. News, Series or Investigative Reporting
Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Time, "The Broken Promise"
"A complex story told with compelling human examples. Donald Bartlett & James Steele delved into the lives of four women to show how the American dream of collecting a pension after a lifetime of work was taken away and how that dream will elude more middle-class workers in the years to come. A well-written, comprehensive look at a failed system and its impact on people's lives."
· Liz Willen, Martin Z. Braun and Darrell Preston, Bloomberg Markets, "The Banks That Fleeced Alabama"
· David Evans, Michael Smith and Liz Willen, Bloomberg Markets, "Big Pharma's Shameful Secret"
Linda Tischler, Fast Company, "Join the Circus"
"Linda Tischler provided a dazzling account on the world of Cirque du Soleil. She laid out the many acrobatic feats it took to build this powerhouse brand. Her soaring narrative zeroed in on a colorful landscape of characters with vision."
· John Cloud, Time, "The Battle Over Gay Teens"
· Nancy Gibbs and Nathan Thornburgh, Time, "The Class of 9/11"
9. Web News Exclusive
Staff, The Journal News Web site, coverage of the New York City transit strike
When MTA workers went on strike the week before Christmas and millions of New York commuters found themselves without their usual means of getting to work, the Journal News was all over the story. Its online coverage kept its readers both up-to-date and well-informed, with breaking news, features stories and indispensable information on getting into and out of New York. A news organization based in the New York suburbs, the Journal News reported on the strike negotiations between the MTA and the government and its effects on individual commuters and local businesses. Its coverage telescoped between these topics with great skill. In addition, the paper made excellent use of what online journalism has to offer — interactive features, regular updates, links to more information and room for a wide range of articles.
· Harriet Ryan, Court TV Web site, "Murder In Room 103"
10. Arts Reporting
Specialized writing
Lev Grossman, Time, "The Master of Illumination: Jonathan Safran Foer," "J.K. Rowling Hogwarts and All," "The Color of Grief"
"Lev Grossman's articles are funny, insightful and interesting. Taking a lookat Jonathan Safran Foer and J.K. Rowling, two influential modern authors, and Joan Didion, a true legend, Grossman's writing and reporting offer unflinching looks into their souls that simultaneously illustrate their approach to the creative process called literature."
· Cathleen McGuigan, Newsweek, "A Problem With Authority," "The DeYoung Is … de Lovely," "A Light in the Piazza"
· Jeff Giles, Newsweek, "Lennon Lives"
11. Business Feature
Pete Engardio, Manjeet Kripalani, Dexter Roberts, Brian Bremner, Steve Hamm, Bruce Einhorn, Frederik Balfour and staff, BusinessWeek, "China & India: What You Need To Know Now"
"Everything an American investor ever wanted to know about China and India. A wide-ranging package of six "chapters" any one of which would be a good examination of its subject matter, with 21 articles. Great breadth and scope, clearly setting forth the unconventionally examined challenged that are faced."
· Mark Maremont, The Wall Street Journal, "JetGreen: The CEO's Private Golf Shuttle"
· Prashant Gopal and Dave Sheingold, The Record, "Boom Or Bubble?"
12. Business News, Series or Investigative Reporting
David Evans, Michael Smith and Liz Willen, Bloomberg News, "Big Pharma's
Shameful Secret"
"This series addresses subcontracted clinical trials. This series feels like journalism at its best — driven by the reporters' curiosity, initiative and ultimately focused indignation over a system that exploits the most vulnerable for profit. The team never fails to get the other side but is unflinching in calling it the way they see it after what is clearly an enormous amount of reporting."
· David Welch, Dan Beucke and David Henry, BusinessWeek, "Why GM's Plan Won't Work"
· Barry Meier, The New York Times, "Guidant's Flawed Medical Devices"
13. Opinion Writing
Anna Quindlen, Newsweek, "The Culture of Each Life," "The Good Enough Mother," "Complex and Contradictory"
At some point in each of these three columns, a judge said "Wow!" out loud, and probably her regular readers did, too, when the columns were published. Ms. Quindlen has a way of taking up a subject about which people care but differ-and about which many individuals may well feel the conflict of differing sides within themselves-and making complete sense of that subject with gifted, powerful writing that connects with her readers on a human level. This was evident in her columns about the entanglement of the federal government in the Terri Schiavo case, about the mourning of a pope "by millions who unapologetically acted contrary to his directives," and about the desirability of avoiding the modern, high-pressure phenomenon of "manic motherhood." Of cases like Schiavo's, she writes of families who watched "someone they love…as the music of personality dwindled to a single note and then fell silent. They know life when they see it, and they know when it is gone."
· Ellis Henican, Newsday, "Just Try To Indict Him On His Age," "Putting Death Penalty On Death Row," "This Fatherhood Thing Is Getting Old"
· Jonathan Alter, Newsweek, "The Price of Loyalty," "A Bankrupt Way to Do Business," "If Watergate Happened Now"
14. Science, Technology, Medical or Environmental Reporting
Geeta Anand, The Wall Street Journal, "The Most Expensive Drugs"
Geeta Anand's offered a fascinating and revealing account of the well-intentioned Orphan Drug Act, which was enacted to spur research for rare diseases by offering biotech companies a 7-year monopoly on the drugs reaching a limited market of patients. It was expected to earn the companies a modest profit. Instead, the act has created a multibillion-dollar industry while costing patients as much as $600,000 a year. The narrative presented one shocking revelation after another of the special privileges the biotech companies are granted under the act. Anand offered gripping accounts from patients, one wondering if her life was worth $1,400 a day, another who left a small company because healthcare costs for his son were driving up premiums for other employees.
· Trudy Lieberman, Columbia Journalism Review, "Bitter Pill"
· Peg Tyre, Newsweek, "Fighting Anorexia: No One to Blame"
15. Sports Reporting
Juliet Macur, The New York Times, "In Two Arenas"
"Juliet Macur's 'Two Arenas' series of six articles about the role of sports in healing pain and loss of war. Powerful writing and superior reporting brought home the impact of the Iraq war from an unusual and deeply personal perspective, one that undoubtedly reached a great number of readers in a way that no other approach could have. To get her story, Ms. Macur traveled to Iraq, to military hospitals and to stateside military bases. In hours of interviewing, she drew out two former college women's basketball stars, both of whom had lost arms in battle. She introduced readers to two high school football buddies who went off to war together, one of whom didn't make it back. She wrote about athletes preparing to ship out exploits in sports gave them courage for what lay ahead, and about loved ones who waited and worried and coached their children back home. Through the hopes and fears and resilience of women and men in sports, Ms. Macur gave her readers an indelible glimpse of the culture of war and of the will and strength to recover from it."
· Jean Rimbach and Gregory Schutta, The Record, "Making Pay Play"
· Steve Hamm, BusinessWeek, "Game Boy"
16. Spot News Photo
Photography and graphics
Thomas Dworzak-Magnum Photos, Michele Stephenson, MaryAnne Golon and Alice Gabriner, Time, "Ghost Town"
The photo taken at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans garden district reveals the devastation of not only caused by the hurricane itself but also the severe crimes committed by petty criminals after a natural disaster. The striking image captures an infernal erupting at the Garden of Eden.
· Philip Blenkinsop-AgencyVU, Michele Stephenson, MaryAnne Golon and Alice Gabriner, Time, "Pain"
· Eugene Hoshiko, Associated Press, "Indonesia Quake Tsunami Australia Aid"
17. Feature Photo
James Nachtwey/VII, Michele Stephenson and MaryAnne Golon, Time, "Global Health Crisis"
James Nachtwey's breathtaking portrayal of AIDS victims at a Buddhist hospice in Thailand, a hospital in India and of preparations for a funeral in Cambodia provide powerful and fresh coverage of a scourge sometimes greeted with shrugs by those who see it as unfixable. Using black and white images, he conveys the human toll of living with and eventually drying from AIDS without relying on overly graphic images.
· James Nachtwey/VII, Michele Stephenson, MaryAnne Golon and Hillary Raskin, Time, "The Lucky Ones"
· Diana Walker, Michele Stephenson and MaryAnne Golon, Time, "Former Presidents"
18. Sports Photo
Charles Krupa, Associated Press, "Shattered Bat"
In Krupa's unusual photograph of a broken bat as it flies into the stands he shows the power that impeccable timing in sports photography — usually reserved for on-the-field shots — can have when the unexpected arises. The captivating picture demands a thorough examination of the expressions worn by the fans in Ft. Myers, Fla., as they react to the bat barreling toward them.
· Paul J. Bereswill, Newsday, "Crash & Burn"
· Dan Hubbell, Sports Illustrated, "Rodeo"
19. Editorial Cartoon
No winner.
20. Information Graphic
Rod Eyer, Warner Sabio and J. Stephen Smith, Newsday, "The Bomb"
"Six decades after the U.S. ended World War II with two atomic bombs, Newsday steps back in time to show, in vivid detail, the inception and impact of the nuclear era. With clear and powerful illustrations, artist Rod Eyer takes the reader inside "Fat Man" and "Little Boy," and charts the detonation of those two bombs. It also shows how nuclear power is now shared by nearly a dozen countries. The work provides an intriguing look at a tragic time in history."
· Rod Eyer and Judy Weinberg, Newsday, "The War In Vietnam"
21. Page Design
Richard Loretoni, Newsday, "The Wounds of War That Don't Heal"
Newsday's layout and treatment of type in the piece works well with the photo and appears to set the correct tone. We admired all the faces that they used as well as all the real estate devoted to the photo. The layout is rightly understated; they let the photo speak for itself. Also, the work showed strong continuity as the design shown on the front page made the beginning of the feature inside easy to find. Maintaining the font type and size makes the connection clear to the reader.
· Joseph E. Baron, Paul J. Bereswill, Getty Images and Newscom, Newsday, "Big Bucks"
· Dean Markadakis, Lisa Kelsey, Fast Company, "Why We Hate HR"
22. Spot News Reporting
23. Feature Reporting
Carole Zimmer, Bloomberg Radio, "Berlin to Vineland"
Zimmer takes us into the lives of the Wertheim family in New Jersey as they try to reclaim what their ancestors lost to the Nazis. A compelling, well-reported thoughtful piece, it shows the lasting effects of the Nazi regime more than 60 years later.
· Rob Urban, Bloomberg Radio, "CBGB"
· Sara Fishko, WNYC Radio, "Recorded Live"
24. Series or Investigative Reporting
Beth Fertig, John Keefe, Karen Frillman and Wayne Shulmister, WNYC Radio, "Communication Breakdown"
"Reporter Beth Fertig shows how poor technology and human error led to a fire in the subway system after emergency workers failed to respond to calls about a man thowing trash onto the tracks. Using audio clips recorded by a film student who was on a trapped subway car and through interviews of subway workers who out of desperation took matters into their own hands, Fertig's piece shines a light a light on the problems New York's police and fire fighters have trying to talk with each other and with other city personnel during times of crisis."
No finalists.
No winners.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, "Auschwitz Survivor"
"Historic, heartfelt. Personal diary page from his family's experiences in Auschwitz told with authority and compassion but not overly emotional. It maintained objectivity, clarity by letting good story telling convey the emotion with the human faces of the survivors."
· Elizabeth Hashagen and Michael DelGiudice, News 12 Long Island, "Achieving the Impossible"
Walt Kane, Bill Schlosser and Anthony Cocco, News 12 New Jersey, "Elizabeth Police Misconduct"
"News 12 reporter Walt Kane produced an investigative series uncovering years of police negligence and corruption in Elizabeth, N.J. In the highest traditions of investigative journalism, Mr. Kane exposes not only a simple case of misconduct but a much larger problem regarding the city government of Elizabeth. Mr. Kane's expose has led to nearly two dozen officers facing charges, the demotion of three high-ranking officers and criminal investigations."
28. Business Reporting
John Meehan, Ed Caldwell, Antony Michels, Pat Sheridan, Marty Schenker, Gina Thompson, Suzanne O'Halloran, Leslie Gersing, Laura Lee, Mike Schneider, Carol Massar, Erin Burnett and Greg Miles, Bloomberg News, "GM: The Retooling of an American Icon"
Bloomberg News takes a step back from the doomsday headlines about the wellbeing of General Motors to examine the company's missteps and broader forces of global competion that have only raised the stakes for the company. The piece traces many of the well-documented troubles now facing the company to their beginnings decades ago. A deftly added human angle helps convey the enormity of the challenges the company faces and the frustrations and fears of those who build, sell and purchase the company's vehicles.
· Pat Sheridan, Danial Clark, John Meehan, Antony Michels, Marty Schenker, Gina Thompson, Suzanne O'Halloran, Laura Lee, Leslie Gersing, Lori Hoffman, Erin Burnett, Carol Massar, Deirdre Bolton and Greg Miles, Bloomberg News, "Mortgaging the Future: Risks and Rewards of the Housing Boom"
· Barbara Nevins Taylor, Chris O'Donoghue, Paul Tsakos, Jimmy Mitchell and Kathleen Coles, WWOR TV UPN 9, "Stolen Homes"
29. Minority Focus
Omnibus awards
Elizabeth Llorente and Miguel Perez, The Record, "Out of the Shadows"
In a series of stories, Elizabeth Llorente and Miguel Perez document the trap in which illegal immigrants from Latin America find themselves in the wake of U.S. government efforts to expel foreigners who had been deemed potential security treats, and the impact that this has on the broader Hispanic community in New Jersey. "Out of the Shadows" portrayed both the fear generated by late-night raids on the homes of illegal immigrants, as well as the frustrations of those who see these immigrants as lawbreakers. The reporters delved into the reluctance by some local police officers to assist federal immigration agents, as well as the difficulty that young illegal immigrants face in their efforts to obtain an education. The Record's coverage of these issues and more came long before election year trumpeting forced this discussion into the headlines and is both thorough and fairly reported.
· Evan Thomas, Jonathan Alter, Ellis Cose, Barbara Kantrowitz and Karen Breslau, Newsweek, "Poverty, Race & Katrina, Lessons of a National Shame"
· Suein Hwang, The Wall Street Journal, "The New White Flight: In Silicon Valley Two High Schools With Outstanding Academic Reputations Are Losing White Students As Asian Students Move In"
30. The James Wright Brown Public Service Award
The human drug testing mills revealed in this brilliantly reported and extremely readable piece are thoroughly dismaying and their exposure is a true public service. Reporters Smith, Evans and Willen show that poor people participate in clinical trials two earn significant paychecks, but are subject to shoddy medical monitoring and prison-like living conditions in the process. The results, bought by pharmaceutical companies from for-profit "institutional review boards," are low-quality clinical trials and testers injured or killed on the road to bringing profitable new drugs to market.
· Clifford J. Levy, Michael Luo and Richard Perez-Peña, The New York Times, coverage of Medicaid fraud in New York
· Elizabeth Moore, Newsday, "Fire Alarm"
Awards Winners and Finalists Presented in 2005


This article leans more toward business philosophy than branding or marketing, but it is related. In my experiences with Fortune 500 companies and small businesses, there's one quality that I notice that seems to be missing in a number of them.
That's quality of being great. Ultimately, people want to be a part of something great. Great causes, great services, great brands. Now, there are many companies who are building something great. Apple to simplify technology and deliver a wow experience. Southwest Airlines to democratize the skies giving people freedom to fly by providing low-cost travel that almost anyone can afford. Bello Romance Photography a small entrepreneur whose mission is to capture the romance that every woman wants to see when she looks at photos of her special events. These are just a few examples from large to small of companies who are striving to achieve greatness.
Now, what I mean by great is not a mushy, sentimental idea. Greatness takes a huge amount of effort, commitment, and focus, all grounded in reality of the marketplace and an honest view of yourself and competitors. To be great takes courage over the long haul and that's why so many companies fail to achieve it. This courage takes place when, at times, you will be standing alone, going against the trends, and staying true to the core mission of why your company is in business in the first place. Greatness also requires you to lead, not follow. That's why when I conduct a brand session, I require companies to think why they do what they do beyond making money. If it's just making money, I don't think you can achieve greatness in its truest form.
Another benefit is you no longer become a commodity, but a cause. Customers become emotionally loyal to your brand, not primarily because your product is better. It may or may not. The real move from commodity to uniqueness is what your brand stands for something beyond making money. Apple has been able to harness this quality because consumers see them unleash the power of creativity into their hands. Because of Apple, they too can create and show the world what they can do.
One other thing about being great, it takes just about the same amount of effort to be great than to be just good. This may seem counter-intuitive, but to be good takes a large amount of effort and commitment. To be great doesn't take much more. The difference is in the mindset of being willing to lead and not follow, to not get lazy and settle on the small details while pursuing the big picture, and to always remember why you're in business in the first place.
Being great isn't really about being altruistic. A cup of coffee can be great. An online music service can be great. An airline can be great. It just takes a mission that is beyond making money and making a difference in your customer's lives. Greatness leads, it never follows. To me, that is one standard you can hold your company up to while striving to be great.
Thank you, Tony Fannin of Be Branded.
Very Cool! Congratulations Marty! Success does s come overnight and you know where your strength comes from. Be blessed brother!


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The Leftovers recap: Lens
Nora might be an Angel of Death, and Kevin admits he's seeing another woman
By Jeff Labrecque November 09, 2015 at 02:24 AM EST
Credit: Ryan Green/HBO.
People in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks.
That is one of the themes in "Lens," the first episode since episode 2, "A Matter of Geography," co-scripted by author Tom Perrotta, who's clearly invested in Nora's story in season 2. She's impulsive, as we know from her spontaneous purchase of the house in Miracle, and she holds a grudge, too. Early one morning, before the neighborhood is awake, she calmly walks next door and chucks a rock through the Murphys' window. Oh, did we forget that John Murphy banished her brother, Matt, to carny-degenerate tent-city?
Evie and her friends are still missing, and their mysterious disappearance is attracting national attention. The Washington Post did a story, and the clipping — taped on weirdo Dr. Juaquin's white board — telegraphs a last-act reveal: "…as many choose to continue doing the same things they were doing on the day when no individual disappeared." Hence, the Miracle woman who was watering her lawn in her wedding dress and the daily goat sacrifice…?
Dr. Juaquin brings some credibility when he arrives in Miracle. Correction: He brings an orange box. Is he a quack? Has he cracked the Departure mystery? Erika is perplexed when he knocks on her door, but he's actually in town for Nora. Did she cross paths with Evie, he asks Nora? Did they ever touch? Was she touching her own children when they Departed? In other words, did Nora cause this? Nora lashes out and literally kicks him to the curb.
Back in the Dunn/Garvey house, the night-handcuffing has prevented Kevin from any after-hours dates with Patti, but don't think for a second that she's gone dark. In fact, Nora's play for morning nook-nook is interrupted when Kevin is startled. He says it was a cramp in his leg, but the odds are better that Patti lobbed an insult in his direction, killing the mood.
The mothers of the other two missing girls want Erika and John to speak with the Department of Sudden Departure to rule out the possibility that the girls Departed — or as the new term seems to be, Lifted. The genial DSD rep, George Brevity (Mad Men's Joel Murray) isn't the soul of wit, but he and Nora have a professional rapport, and he can't hide his excitement about the new questionnaire. "None of the fraud flags popped," he says about the girls' families' results over breakfast. "If the questionnaire says they Lifted, maybe they Lifted."
Dr. Juaquin's visit really rattled Nora because she asks George if it's possible that someone can be responsible for another's Departure. Funny you should mention that, he seems to say. It's called lensing, "like a kid taking a magnifying glass and frying ants with it," says George, apparently oblivious of Nora's background. "Someone gives off ultraviolet rays or whatnot, causing everyone around them to Lift."
Nora wants that new questionnaire. She has to prove to herself that she isn't a curse.
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Meanwhile, Erika's Audubon Society/voodoo jogs in the woods are losing their magic. She digs up another bird, but this one doesn't fly away like before. It's dead, and she discards its remains with the decaying victims of her other experiments.
At work, she sews up a man beaten for selling reservoir water for $500 per milliliter. We know him as nerdy-looking Dr. Goodheart, the man who met Evie and the girls at the swimming hole in the season premiere. Erika knows that John is the man behind the beating, especially since he forcibly took a palm print to see if Goodheart is linked to the scene of the supposed crime. Recall that it was Kevin's muddy palm that left a mark on Evie's friend's car, and shame on the Texas police for not running those tests by now. At least John and Erika have a sweet deal going in Miracle: John beats people senseless, and Erika sews them up.
Nora is distracted by the lensing theory described in the Scientific American article. Kevin is wallpapering upstairs while obliviously engaging in conversation with an unseen Patti. And Lily is alone outside, sitting precariously in her babyseat on the hood of Kevin's truck, when neighborly Erika returns her to her family. Some phony motherly banter, and Nora blurts out that she lost her two children. Do you think Erika suspects her new neighbor is jinxed too?
Dr. Juaquin's colleague doesn't think Nora is jinxed. She calls Nora and apologizes for his lack of people skills. But the data he gathered in Miracle is very promising, and she thinks she has the answer: Nora isn't cursed, nor is she is emitting unusual nuclear magnetic resonance. She's simply possessed by the demon Azrael, but good news — the Vatican has been contacted. This might have been the funniest moment in two seasons of The Leftovers, but Nora's laughter quickly breaks down into tears.
In an episode where everyone is knocking on the Murphys' doors, Erika sees and chases down the young man who left them a mysterious pie in episode 1. But he's just the messenger, and the true gifter is the old man that Michael visited with to pray. He's family, perhaps Erika's father. He did something unforgivable once, something that caused John to shoot him. Is it possible he did the something careless that caused Erika to go deaf? It seems like she was born with hearing, and there's bound to be something major behind it. He offers her another bird for the road after she warns him to stay away from her family.
NEXT: Nora and Erika have all the wrong answers
At least Matt is happy. He's found his place, his calling. He's no longer naked and locked in the stocks, but he puts in a few hours every day, I'm sure. "All I had to do was refuse to let someone else take my place," he bubbles to Nora and Mary, when they come to visit him outside the walls. "Suffering breeds compassion." Give him a few more weeks and Matt will be giving hugs to people to erase their pain.
Last we saw Tommy, he was hugging the world with his phony baloney Holy Wayne story. But Laurie has lost track of him, and rather than call her ex-husband or daughter, she rings Nora to see if Tommy has joined them in Texas. It's an odd choice. But if Laurie has lost track of Tommy, then where is he? Has he struck out on his own? Has he relented and succumbed to the Guilty Remnant, the one place where he felt some semblance of meaning? Or, has Meg kidnapped him as part of her plan to hurt Laurie?
At the fundraiser for the missing girls, Nora swipes Brevity's questionnaire. But Erika steals the show when Jerry the Goat Slayer makes his daily appearance and sacrifice. On Oct. 14, he was put in jail for killing a goat, but since Miracle was spared, his actions — and the mundane acts of others — are part of the town's superstitious belief in why they were spared. Cecilia, the wedding-dress lady, is stop No. 13 on the tourist audio tour — because Miracle was chosen! God shed his grace on thee! Well, Erika is not having any of it any more. The girls weren't kidnapped; they didn't run away — they Departed, Erika rants. "We're not spared! We're not safe! My daughter is gone. So, no — no, Jerry!… She Departed!"
[Note: Regina King getting emotional and screaming "No, Jerry!" made we worry that Rod Tidwell was unconscious in the endzone again.]
That night, Nora knocks on the Murphy's door, feigning concern. She wants to give Erika the DSD questionnaire, but she obviously has ulterior motives. "You're scared that if you answer these questions, everyone's going to know that your daughter didn't Depart," Nora says, getting her in the front door. They sit, and Nora asks the questions…and Erika's answers are confessional. She was going to leave John before Evie went missing. She had withdrawn money from the bank — hence that bag of cash hidden with her hearing-aid batteries — and was planning to split. But she was worried about her children, especially Evie. So she used her grandmother's old ritual about the buried bird to make a wish that Evie would understand what was to come. "I wished that she'd be okay without me," she says. "The next night, my daughter was gone."
Nora scoffs at Erika's theory — or tries to. Because once upon a time, she too wished away her family at the moment they Departed. That morning of Oct. 14, her son was screaming for breakfast, her cheating husband was distracted by his phone, and her daughter spilled orange juice all over her own phone just as Lucy called to tell her about her job interview. The same job interview where she promised Lucy that for the next four weeks, it would seem like she didn't even have a family. "Goddammit, I said two hands," she screamed at her daughter, in what would amount to the last words she said to them. Alone in the kitchen, an exasperated Nora shook her head and looked up to the heavens, and you could practically see the thought bubble: "I wish my family would disappear."
Did she wish them away? Did Kevin wish away the woman he committed adultery with? Did Laurie wish away her unwanted pregnancy?
"Terrible things happen in this world, and the only comfort we get is that we didn't cause them," Nora maintains, though she's trying to convince herself more than Erika. "So I'm sorry, but, Erika, this had nothing to do with you."
Erika gives Nora the death stare and chases her out of the house with a reciprocal question about her own Departed children. Everything Erika said only confirms Nora's own guilty suspicions about her role in her family's disappearance. Maybe she is the earthbound instrument for some demon after all.
Their exchange felt like an appropriate last scene of the episode, and the subsequent conversation, where Kevin confesses that he's going crazy, seeing and hearing Patti Levin, felt tacked on. That alone could've been its own episode. But now we know that Patti is upset by Kevin's blabbing — almost as upset as Erika is at Nora, judging by the rock that is returned through their glass window.
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By Kyle Ryan
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A "rapture" drama from Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, whose book of the same name served as inspiration for the series.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Planning a party for 12 or just a dinner for two? Either way, learn how to create a comfortable space that accommodates your personal dining style.
Formal is nice, but it's not for everyone. The dining room is used for more than gathering the gang (and then some) for Thanksgiving dinner. Carve out a space that works for your lifestyle.
Dreaming of that long dining table surrounded by family and friends? Make it happen. Take advantage of the extra inches (even if it's tucked in a corner) to set up a table and chairs. Ready to shop for your room? Browse our collection of tables and chairs.
Just the two of you? Make your dining area part of your home's open plan. Choose seating that, you know, you actually want to sit on. In our books, that means comfy and sturdy. And if you're dying to make a statement, hang a cool chandelier overhead. Love this look? Shop for lighting that works for your setup.
Grandma might be wondering where that formal dining room is (she might be looking for awhile), but we're totally feeling the casual and cool look. Remember that your dining experience is what you dream for it to be. Define the space by laying down a graphic rug. The white table and chairs are light and airy, which keep the space from getting weighed down. Browse an assortment of stylish rugs here.
You've worked hard to make a home feel so you. And now you feel like you need a dining table. Rather than redecorating the entire space (that can be exhausting), build your dining area into your personal space. After all, it's a gathering place. Choose to set it up in front of a favorite spot, such as a bookshelf or a captivating outdoor view. Watch the dinner party come together from there.
Sure, we love lots of space, but it's not just about the square footage. The dining area is where you want to spend time doing your favorite things, such as enjoying a cup of tea, chatting with a friend, or reading a book.
If you want something a little less casual, adding warmth to your space should be a top priority. You can't beat the way dark wood pairs with an emerald and rose color palette. Find an assortment of elegant chandeliers here.
The more the merrier. That's exactly the feeling we get from this setup, which is clearly an entertaining spot. In case you missed the memo, it's calling for a weekly get-together with friends and family. Love these pendants? Browse a selection of styles here.
Repeat after us: Formal can be fun. The spirit is in the way you make the elements of your space (dining table, chairs, window treatments) play together. When comfort comes into the picture, there's no such thing as stuffy.
Rubber Tree, Rib Planter Oyster, 6 Ft.


text:
Singapore | Marina Bay Sands Sky Park
As you know, I always have a thing for sunset that's why I love going to places where I can have a full-view of the sky. Apparently, the Marina Bay Sands Sky Park is the best spot to enjoy the beautiful skyline of Singapore. When I was at the roof deck, I really took time to cherish the panoramic view as the sun slowly fades behind those stunning high-rise buildings. Seeing a well-developed country like Singapore inspires me to dream big and hope more.
I used to dream of working overseas when I was still in high school. Having both parents working abroad influenced me to venture a career outside the Philippines. As a matter of fact, I've been eyeing Singapore as one of the countries where I would like to work. Someday, who knows? :-)
I'm the kind of person who always like to seek for new experience and travel fuels my boredom. I also think that working abroad would help me learn new things about myself. Yes, I know it only sounds so easy but really difficult when realized. Every decision has a consequence but it's better to take risks than to just wait for things to happen. And I believe most risks in life are worth it.
Singapore is truly an inspirational masterpiece. It represents a promise of hope for people who persevere and take chances. I heart S.G. :-)
By The Sunset Guy at Saturday, March 21, 2015
Tags International Travels, Marina Bay Sands Sky Park, Singapore, Singapore Sunset, The Sunset Guy, Travel
Singapore | Haji Lane
Sunday Cooking Challenge III


What is the meaning of foetor?
Chicago WordNet. 2010. "foetor" http://smartdefine.org/foetor/definitions/1276764 (accessed April 20, 2019).
Harvard WordNet 2010, foetor, Smart Define, viewed 20 April, 2019, <http://smartdefine.org/foetor/definitions/1276764>.


At Hurray we have designed a process framework that is result oriented and deliver niche services and technology for our clients. Our extensive use of technology (IFIX) we are evolving the workforce dynamics to provide cutting-edge consulting solutions.
The planning phase for us means understanding the client requirements and the utility of such requirements to strengthen our search. On the basis, of the requirements we further work to plan a strategy that would follow to serve the needs. Our work plan strategy is based on the possible challenges, the mechanism to counter such challenges, the ongoing trends in the market, competency levels available, parameters required for the position etc. With the blueprint present we initiate our work on the R&D.
In our R&D phase we put our efforts to search for the right competency levels on the parameters of skill, experience, stability and performance. By ranking the candidatures on these parameters we select and share the quality candidatures with our clients.
With the selection of candidatures we are engaged in preliminary screening where we assess them on Key Result Areas (KRA's), Compensation Package, Job Title, Job Location and other details. Our team of consultants personally conducts their interviews to assess the candidate competency.
After the initial screening and validation we refer the candidate for the client interview where the client can directly assess the capability and potential of the candidate.
With the positive feedback from the client, we make a formal reference check about the candidate regarding his work ethics, performance, behavior and other basic details.
The last phase of the process is the negotiation and the handholding phase where we negotiate for the salary package, joining date and offer letter. Also, we continue to maintain our relationship with both our client and selected candidate to ensure smooth integration of the candidate in the organization.


text:
Q: Number greater than 255 in bash shell script How to return a number greater than 255 in
function returnnumber(){
    x=256
    return $x
}

returnnumber
echo "value: $?"

I wanted to type 256 and 256 return
But 256 return 0.

A: You can't! Shell functions don't really return anything, they just exit with an exit status, like other UNIX commands. And like other UNIX commands, their exit status must be an unsigned byte.
If you want to store the output of a command (which includes functions), you can capture its standard output in the usual way.
d() {
    echo 'hi'
}
x=$(d)
echo "$x"
hi

Here's Wooledge's wiki on getting values from commands.

A: In bash, return does not do what you expect it does from other programming languages:

The return value of a simple command is its exit status, or 128+n if
  the command is terminated by signal n.

This code will work:
#!/bin/bash

function returnnumber(){
    echo $1
}

returnnumber 256

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Uthappam is a thick pancake with toppings sprinkled on top and cooked till crisp.It is crisp on top and soft inside.
Wash the dal and fenugreek seeds well till water runs clear and soak in water for atleast 6 hours. Wash the rice well to remove excess starch and soak for 6 hours.
Drain excess water from the dal and grind it adding little water till light and fluffy.Drain excess water from rice and grind to a smooth batter adding water a little at a time.
In a deep container combine both the batters, add salt, mix well and cover and set aside to ferment for about 8 hours. The batter should be of dropping consistency. Add a little water if required.
Mix the ingredients mentioned in the topping and set aside.
Take half a potato or onion dipped in oil and smear the tawa/ griddle with a thin coat of oil evenly.
Heat the tawa / griddle. Lower the heat and pour a ladle of the batter onto the tawa. The uthappam should be thick say about 1/4th" thickness. Leave oil around the edges.Sprinkle 2 tbsp of the topping on the top evenly.
Cover and cook with a steam release lid till the base is golden. Remove the lid and flip the uthappam gently, leave oil from the sides and cook till done and golden.
I prepared the uthappam in a nonstick mini uthappam pan. Mini Uthapams can be served as starters too.
You can even mix the topping in the batter if you want. Spreading the topping on top gives a crispiness to the oothappam.
You can also prepare uthappam from leftover idli or dosa batter.


text:
Alice Cooper 'Nightmare Before Christmas'
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Michael Anthony Nixes Van Halen Reunion
Larry Marano, Getty Images
Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony ruled out a summer return to the band, despite speculation that has linked him with a reunion in recent months.
The possibility of Van Halen returning to the road for the first time since 2015 was first mentioned by frontman David Lee Roth in an interview last year, when he said the group were planning a "reunion thing" for a stadium tour.
Later, former singer Sammy Hagar said that tentative discussions to include Anthony (but not Hagar) on that tour had taken place and, later still, reported that he was ready to put the Circle, his current band featuring Anthony, on hold if the Van Halen tour went ahead. Anthony last played with Van Halen's Hagar-fronted lineup in 2004, and with the Roth-fronted version of the group in 1984. Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang has played bass with the group since 2007.
Anthony offered an update via a comment on one of his Instagram posts. Asked by a fan if the Circle were going on hiatus, as many expected, he replied: "VH tour not gonna happen." It was not clear whether he meant his own involvement or the entire project.
In 2017 Anthony said he could see "some kind of proper closure or something" in a reunion, adding: "I'm not sure. Everybody in the band is still relatively healthy and alive. So there's one thing right there… I personally am through with all of the drama that comes with everything. I want to go out, play music and have a good time. I want to go to my grave a happy guy."
Speaking before Anthony's latest comments, Hagar said: "[I]f there was an opportunity for him to go play in Van Halen again, just to mend that up, just to keep that sour note from being in his head for the rest of his life, he has my blessings. … I can tell you straight-up right now – there has been nothing confirmed."
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Source: Michael Anthony Nixes Van Halen Reunion
Filed Under: michael anthony, van halen
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text:
Quantifying contact status and the air-breakdown model of charge-excitation triboelectric nanogenerators to maximize charge density
A self-improving triboelectric nanogenerator with improved charge density and increased charge accumulation speed
Li Cheng, Qi Xu, … Yong Qin
High performance temperature difference triboelectric nanogenerator
Bolang Cheng, Qi Xu, … Yong Qin
Triboelectric microplasma powered by mechanical stimuli
Jia Cheng, Wenbo Ding, … Zhong Lin Wang
Understanding contact electrification at liquid–solid interfaces from surface electronic structure
Mingzi Sun, Qiuyang Lu, … Bolong Huang
High energy density of BaTiO3@TiO2 nanosheet/polymer composites via ping-pong-like electron area scattering and interface engineering
Gang Jian, Yong Jiao, … Ching-Ping Wong
Enhanced output performance on LbL multilayer PVDF-TrFE piezoelectric films for charging supercapacitor
Moon Hyun Chung, Seunghwan Yoo, … Hakgeun Jeong
Nanogap near-field thermophotovoltaics
Anthony Fiorino, Linxiao Zhu, … Edgar Meyhofer
Energy storage behaviors in ferroelectric capacitors fabricated with sub-50 nm poly(vinylidene fluoride) Langmuir–Blodgett nanofilms
Huie Zhu, Tokuji Miyashita & Masaya Mitsuishi
Exploration of 2D Ti3C2 MXene for all solution processed piezoelectric nanogenerator applications
Rahmat Zaki Auliya, Poh Choon Ooi, … Masuri Othman
Yike Liu1 na1,
Wenlin Liu ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1152-64061 na1,
Zhao Wang1,
Wencong He1,
Qian Tang1,
Yi Xi1,
Xue Wang1,
Hengyu Guo1,2 &
Chenguo Hu ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3019-493X1
Nature Communications volume 11, Article number: 1599 (2020) Cite this article
Devices for energy harvesting
Materials for energy and catalysis
Surface charge density is the key factor for developing high performance triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG). The previously invented charge excitation TENG provides a most efficient way to achieve maximum charge output of a TENG device. Herein, criteria to quantitatively evaluate the contact efficiency and air breakdown model on charge excitation TENG are established to enhance and evaluate charge density. The theoretical results are further verified by systematic experiments. A high average charge density up to 2.38 mC m−2 is achieved using the 4 μm PEI film and homemade carbon/silicone gel electrode in ambient atmosphere with 5% relative humidity. This work also reveals the actual charge density (over 4.0 mC m−2) in a TENG electrode based on quantified surface micro-contact efficiency and provides a prospective technical approach to improve the charge density, which could push the output performance of TENG to a new horizon.
The invention of the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) provides a most efficient technology of using distributed mechanical energy sources for powering distributed sensor networks in the upcoming internet of things era1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. For TENG devices, the surface charge density, which dominates output performance, is inevitably limited by the air-breakdown effect between two tribo-surfaces10,11,12,13,14,15. In contact-separation mode TENG, derived from Paschen's law and TENG parallel-plate model, the effect of dielectric parameters and atmospheric environment on maximum surface charge density under short-circuit condition has been well expounded16,17. These models show that a thinner dielectric film, a larger dielectric constant and a lower atmospheric pressure always lead to a higher maximum surface charge density. For instance, using air ion injection method, the maximum output charge density reaches ~250 μC m−2 for 50 μm dielectric, larger than ~150 μC m−2 for 125 μm dielectric film in ambient atmosphere16. By external charge pumping18, the maximum surface charge density is enhanced to 490 μC m−2 and further to ~1020 μC m−2 through reducing the dielectric thickness to 5 μm19. Similarly, when pumping the surrounding air pressure to high vacuum (P ~10−6 torr) and improving the contact20, the output charge density for the same TENG device is improved from ~150 μC m−2 to ~600 μC m−2.
Although surface charge density can indeed be improved by the above strategies, for a common TENG device, the surface charge generated by contact electrification is usually far below the maximum one due to the lack of surface electro-states (electron cloud overlap on the contact interfaces)16. In this case, surface modification using physical/chemical methods21,22,23,24, is always adopted for achieving a larger charge output to approach the maximum value. Accordingly, by modifying a 2 μm tribolayer with a biofunctional group, the surface charge density is 200% larger than the one without surface treatment25. However, these results are still lower than the maximum value in theory26,27,28,29. More recently, our group proposed a charge-excitation TENG (CE-TENG)30, and utilizing the charge produced by external TENG or TENG itself, the main TENG with any dielectric can achieve a maximum charge density of 1.25 mC m−2 (the current reported record), which is approximately the maximum value according to the limitation of the air-breakdown effect (Paschen's law). The CE-TENG provides a more effective avenue towards high output. However, with further reduction of the thickness of dielectrics, the insufficient contact caused by surface microstructure highly affects the output. The higher average charge density is hardly obtained due to the insufficient contact. Therefore, it is worth discussing how large the actual charge density in TENG is with a thin dielectric film in insufficient contact level and how to achieve sufficient contact. Unfortunately, there is no method to qualitatively evaluate surface contact level. In addition, an effective air-breakdown model for CE-TENG to reveal the physical mechanism to guide future device development is highly desired.
In this work, we theoretically analyze the maximum charge density of CE-TENG using Paschen's Law and basic capacitor model, and clearly illuminate the strategies of enhancing the charge output for this kind of devices, including the reduction of the thickness of dielectrics, increase of external capacitor and control of atmospheric environment. Corresponding experiments are carried out for further verification. We also find that the contact status between two tribo-surfaces becomes another key point that strongly affects the output performance when dielectric thickness reduces to a few microns. A criterion to qualitatively evaluate contact efficiency is built. To achieve a more sufficient contact, we propose an arched soft contact mode using a homemade carbon/silicone gel electrode, which can improve the contact efficiency from 6.16% to 54.98% for a 4 μm dielectric film. We achieve the highest record of average charge and energy density up to 2.38 mC m−2 and 286.7 mJ m−2 by using the carbon/silicone gel electrode and the 4 μm PEI film in ambient atmosphere with 5% relative humidity. This work establishes quantification criteria of surface contact efficiency and a new air-breakdown model for CE-TENG, and provides an effective strategy for evaluating the actual charge density in electrode of TENG and achieving ultra-high output TENG.
Maximum charge density of the CE-TENG
Surface charge density is the key factor for improving the output performance of a TENG device. For a traditional contact-separation mode TENG (Supplementary Fig. 1), with a certain dielectric parameter and atmospheric environment, the surface charge density has a maximum value, which is limited by air-breakdown effect31,32. The recent developed CE-TENG provides a most efficient way to achieve the maximum charge density by applying an excitation voltage instead of physical or chemical modification on tribo-surface, which significantly improves the working efficiency of TENG. Figure 1a shows the structural schematic of the charge-excitation triboelectric nanogenerator (CE-TENG), which consists of an external TENG (smaller one), a main TENG and a charge-excitation circuit (CEC). Inset 3 presents the photograph of CE-TENG device. Different from the working mechanism of a conventional TENG (Supplementary Fig. 1), the output of CE-TENG is realized by charge transfer between the main TENG and external capacitor30. Here, inspired by Xu et al.'s work33, a half–wave rectifier circuit is used to generate a high excitation voltage, and the corresponding schematic diagram and detailed working process of CE-TENG is shown in Fig. 1b. Firstly, during the charge accumulation process, the charge from the external TENG is excited to the external capacitor through CEC and reaches a certain level after several operation cycles. Then, the charge stored in external capacitor transfers to the main TENG during contact process to reach an equilibrium state, and the charge stored in the main TENG transfers back to the external capacitor correspondingly during the separation process due to the capacitance change of the main TENG when it is pressed and released. Meanwhile, the charge from the external TENG continuously supplements to the external capacitor and thus the main TENG achieves a stable working state. Similar to a conventional TENG, with the rise of charge accumulation, air breakdown would occur between the top electrode and dielectric surface and thus limits the maximum charge output. Figure 1c shows the physical and electric model of the primary part of CE-TENG (including the external capacitor and main TENG). As depicted in Fig. 1d, the potential difference (Vgap) (simulated results by Comsol Multiphysics) forms between the top electrode and dielectric under a certain air gap. Based on parallel-plate model, the voltage can be derived and expressed by:
$$V_{{gap}} = \frac{{x\sigma }}{{\varepsilon _0}}\left( {1 - \frac{x}{{\frac{d}{{\varepsilon _r}} + x + \frac{{\varepsilon _0S}}{C}}}} \right)$$
Where σ is the average charge density on the electrode of main TENG when getting contact. d and εr is the thickness and relative permittivity of the dielectric respectively. ε0, x, and c represent the vacuum permittivity, separation gap distance and the capacitance of external capacitor.
Fig. 1: Working mechanism and maximum charge density.
a Structural schematic of charge-excitation triboelectric nanogenerator (CE-TENG). Inset 1 shows cross-section view (SEM) of the dielectric film (scale bar: 5 μm). Inset 2 is the SEM image of carbon nanoparticle dispersed in silicone matrix (scale bar: 20 μm). Inset 3 presents the photograph of CE-TENG device (scale bar: 2 cm). Inset 4 is the photograph of carbon gel electrode. Inset 5 demonstrates the conductivity of carbon gel electrode (scale bar: 1 cm). b Basic working mechanism of CE-TENG. c Equivalent physical and electric model of CE-TENG and some critical parameters are also listed in the schematic. d Simulated potential distribution of main TENG under a certain air gap distance using Comsol Multiphysics (electrodes and dielectric thickness: 0.1 mm, air gap: 0.1 mm, dielectric constant: 4.6, σ(0) = 2 × 10−3 C/m2). e Giving the theoretical Paschen's curves under different value of A which determined by atmospheric content, and voltage curves between top electrode and dielectric with various dielectric thickness under a certain charge density σ(0) = 1 mC m−2. f The maximum charge density limited by air breakdown with different dielectric thickness and atmospheric constant A.
On the other hand, according to Paschen's law34,35,36, the voltage that causes air breakdown between two parallel plates complies with
$$V_{a - b} = \frac{{A(Px)}}{{\ln \left( {Px} \right) + B}}$$
Where P is the barometric pressure. x is the gap distance between two plates. A and B are the constants determined by atmosphere, including atmospheric composition, relative humidity, temperature, and etc. A is inversely proportional to the relative humidity and proportional to maximum charge density. For a common ambient condition, A equals 2.87 × 107 V (atm∙m)−1, and B equals 12.6.
To avoid air breakdown, it requires that Va−b is always larger than Vgap. According to Eqs.(1) and (2), Paschen's curves under different values of A and voltage curves between the top electrode and dielectric with various dielectric thickness under a certain charge density σ(0) = 1 mC m−2 are plotted as shown in Fig. 1e. The plots reveal that the adjustment of atmospheric constant A (other than regulating of air pressure) and the dielectric thickness can prevent two curves from intersecting. In this case, the maximum charge density for different dielectrics and ambient conditions can be deduced as:
$$\sigma _{{\mathrm{max}}} = \left(\frac{{AP\varepsilon _0}}{{\left( {\ln \left( {Px} \right) + B} \right)\left( {1 - \frac{x}{{\frac{d}{{\varepsilon _r}} + x + \frac{{\varepsilon _0S}}{C}}}} \right)}}\right)_{{\mathrm{min}}}$$
As depicted in Fig. 1f, with the decrease of dielectric thickness and increase of atmospheric constant A, the maximum charge density can be largely improved, which provides an enlightening strategy towards ultra-high output CE-TENG. The detailed deriving steps and discussions are presented in Supplementary Note 1.
It is worth noting that, with further reducing the thickness of dielectric, the contact efficiency would become worse and thus diminish the real charge output (Supplementary Note 2 and Supplementary Table 1). In this work, we adopt the 4 μm PEI film (inset 1, all the dielectric films used in the experiment are commercially obtained and 4 μm PEI film is the thinnest one we can purchase from the market) and soft carbon/silicone gel electrode to improve the contact efficiency (inset 4, the conductivity of the carbon/silicone gel electrode is about 2.5–7.6 × 10−3Ω·m). Inset 2 and 3 are the SEM images of the carbon/silicone gel electrode material and inset 5 shows its conductivity. The carbon/silicone gel electrode is shapeable and soft (Supplementary Movie 1), which can realize conformal contact with rough surface. The fabrication of the carbon/silicone gel electrode is displayed in Methods and Supplementary Fig. 2.
Critical factors that effect on the real output charge density
For CE-TENG, the dielectric thickness and contact status would affect the contact capacitance of the main TENG device, which determines the maximum charge quantity that can be stored in TENG and transferred to the external capacitor. By depositing Cu (electrode) on both sides of the dielectrics using vacuum evaporation (this status can be regarded as 100% contact efficiency of TENG device), the capacitance of dielectrics with different thickness are measured and shown in Fig. 2a (the detailed photograph and data are shown in Supplementary Fig. 3), where the results are highly consistent with the parallel-plate capacitance determined by Eq. 4.
$$C = \frac{{\varepsilon _rS}}{{4\pi kd}}$$
In practical TENG devices, there would be large air voids existence due to the surface microstructure of the electrode, dielectric and substrate materials when the top and bottom part contacts (shown in upper of Fig. 2b). In Supplementary Fig. 4, by depositing Cu on the sandpaper with various roughness as electrodes, the charge density increases with the reduction of roughness, proving the higher charge density achieved on smoother contact surface, which is different to the common TENG that rougher surface contributes to higher charge density. In this work, we propose and fabricate a carbon/silicone gel electrode to form an ultra-soft contact status, which can be easily conformal contact with the dielectric film and highly increase the contact efficiency (shown in the lower of Fig. 2b). To improve the contact efficiency, we further introduced the arched electrode structure with different parameters (shown in Supplementary Fig. 5). Figure 2c shows the capacitance of main TENG devices with six contact optimizations (Supplementary Table 2) versus the one with deposited electrodes. Here, we define the contact efficiency as:
$$\eta = \frac{{C_{{contact}}}}{{C_0}}$$
Where Ccontact is the capacitance of the main TENG in contact state, and C0 is the capacitance of the dielectric with deposited electrodes (Fig. 2a). In the experiments, through our contact optimization, the contact efficiency of 4 μm dielectric can be improved from 6.16% to 54.98% as listed in Supplementary Table 3.
Fig. 2: Critical factors that effect on the real output charge density.
a Capacitance of the capacitor made of dielectrics with different thickness (by depositing electrode, electrode area: 3.2 × 3.2 cm). b The schematic of contact status when using a rigid electrode (up) and soft gel electrode (down). c The capacitance of main TENG devices with six contact optimization compared to the one with deposited electrode (regarded as fully sufficient contact; dielectric thickness: 4 μm). d Electric scheme of CE-TENG when exciting by a voltage source. e Output charge density when applying different bias voltage (operation frequency: 1 Hz, relative humidity: 5%, dielectric thickness: 4 μm). f Experimental and theoretical charge density of CE-TENG with different dielectric thickness. g Output charge density of CE-TENG when varying atmospheric humidity (dielectric thickness: 4 μm PEI, bias voltage: 400 V). h Output charge density of CE-TENG with different contact status (dielectric thickness: 4 μm, bias voltage: 350 V). i The actual contact area and actual charge density of main TENG devices with six contact optimization (electrode area: 10 cm2, dielectric thickness: 4 μm).
For the sake of simplicity, we first use external DC voltage source to provide an excited voltage in order to systematically investigate the effect of dielectric thickness, contact optimization, and atmospheric environment on the output charge of CE-TENG, as shown in Fig. 2d. In theory, a larger external capacitor would lead to a higher charge transfer (Eq. 3). Supplementary Fig. 6a demonstrates the impact of different external capacitance on the output charge, indicating that larger external capacitor leads to higher charge density. However, a large external capacitor spends a longer time to reach charge saturation as shown in Fig. 3b and Supplementary Fig. 6b. Therefore, on balance, we adopt 25nF external capacitance to test the entire output performance characteristics. The output charge density of CE-TENG with 4 μm dielectric under a constant environment and application of different excitation voltages are shown in Fig. 2e. With the voltage raising and reaching over 400 V, the output charge density linearly increases and gets the saturated due to the limitation of air-breakdown effect discussed above. In this way, the output charge with different dielectric thickness is measured under relative humidity of 5% as shown in Fig. 2f (red dot). The SEM of dielectric surface and cross-section view are demonstrated in Supplementary Fig. 7. Compared with previous works (dash line)18,19,30,37,38, the maximum charge density holds a certain improvement. The possible reason is that the previous theoretical and experimental results were both obtained in the relative humidity around 40–70%, which would have high impact on the atmospheric constant A and thus affect the air breakdown of TENG. By adjusting the constant A from 2E7 to 5E7, the experimental results get well matched with the theory (green solid line). In addition, the measured results of atmospheric humidity on the output charge density are shown in Fig. 2g, from which, with the increase of relative humidity, the output charge density decreases as expected by air-breakdown model. Finally, with an optimized contact status, average output charge density of ~2.2 mC m−2 can be achieved using the 4 μm PEI dielectric under relative humidity of 5% (Fig. 2h).
Fig. 3: Electric output of CE-TENG with optimized materials and structure.
a Output charge and voltage curve of external excitation TENG (operation frequency: 1 Hz). b Dynamic charge density output of CE-TENG without using zener diode. c Enlarged initial charge accumulation curve (up) and saturation output state (down). d Dynamic charge output of CE-TENG with using zener diode. e Enlarged initial charge accumulation (up) and saturation output state (down). f Output charge density comparison in the development stage of TENG. g Output current, voltage and peak power under various external load (operation frequency: 3 Hz). h V–Q curve of CE-TENG under optimized load resistance (operation frequency: 3 Hz).
Here, considering the incomplete contact in TENG, which means that the actually effective contact area is smaller than the area of electrode (S = 10 cm2), inspired by the contact efficiency above, we can get the actual effective contact area S′ and actual charge density σ′ in TENG.
$$S^\prime = S \cdot \frac{{C_{{\mathrm{contact}}}}}{{C_0}} = S \cdot \eta$$
$$\sigma ^\prime = \frac{Q}{{S^\prime }} = \frac{\sigma }{\eta }$$
Where Q is the measured charge quantity and σ is the average charge density. The detail discussion is given in Supplementary Note 3.
From the above discussion, the criterion to qualitatively evaluate the contact efficiency is built. The actual contact area and the actual charge density of the CE-TENG with six contact levels are shown in Fig. 2i (electrode area: 10 cm2). Obviously, the contact level has large influence on average charge density and the output charge quantity depends on the actual charge density and actual contact area, but the actual charge density of CE-TENG is basically the same under different contact levels. The actual charge density in CE-TENG is over 4.0 mC m−2, which also means that the maximum output charge density could be up to 4.0 mC m−2 in an ideal surface contact level. Therefore, reducing dielectric thickness, increasing that the external capacitor, improving contact efficiency and controlling ambient condition all benefit the charge output enhancement.
Output performance of the CE-TENG
With the optimized condition, the output performance of CE-TENG using external TENG as charge source should be systematically investigated. Figure 3a exhibits the basic short-circuit charge and open-circuit voltage output of the external TENG. According to Fig. 2e, the voltage over 1000 V is enough to ensure the main TENG working near the maximum level. In Fig. 3b–e, the dynamic charge accumulation of CE-TENG under 3 Hz frequency without (Supplementary Movie 2) and with (Supplementary Movie 3) using zener diode25,30 are recorded, respectively. The voltage across the external capacitor is also measured and presented in Supplementary Fig. 8, which reveals the stable voltage around 450 V. From the enlarged initial and final process (Fig. 3c, e), the charge accumulates linearly and finally reaches saturation to ~2.38 mC m−2 (without zener diode) and ~2.25 mC m−2 (with zener diode) (the calculated effective charge density are shown in Supplementary Fig. 9). This experimental result achieves the highest record of charge output density in the TENG history. And following the instructive strategies above, the higher output could be further expected as summarized in Fig. 3f. In addition, the peak power and energy output per cycle of CE-TENG is measured under 3 Hz low working frequency with varied external load resistance. From Fig. 3g, h, with the matched impendence 4 MΩ and 3 MΩ, the ultra-high peak output and energy can reach 115.6 W m−2 and 286.7 mJ m−2, respectively.
Demonstrations of the CE-TENG
To demonstrate the output performance of CE-TENG in practical applications, we first measure the short-circuit current and voltage (the voltage is measured from a 10 MΩ load, which is connected with external capacitor and main TENG in series to prevent the electric breakdown of dielectric film) under 5 Hz working frequency as depicted in Fig. 4a, b, respectively, (output under other frequencies are shown in Supplementary Fig. 10). The peak current and voltage can reach up to ~360 mA m−2 and ~1200 V, which can be directly used for powering 456 LEDs with diameter of 5 mm to high brightness in series (Fig. 4c and Supplementary Movie 4). Afterwards, with the use of full-wave rectifier (Fig. 4d), the CE-TENG can charge 2.2 μF capacitor to 200 V (Supplementary Movie 5) at 3 Hz. Under the operation frequency of 3 Hz, the equivalent charging rate reaches as high as 13.6 μC s−1 (Fig. 4e) when charging 1 mF and 470 μF capacitors. And it can be used for driving a commercial thermo-hygrometer in sustainable working mode (Fig. 4f and Supplementary Movie 6) at 5 Hz. Finally, we test the stability during 30k operation cycles as shown in Fig. 4g. The charge density is gradually decreasing at the early stages and then tends to be stable. Supplementary Note 4 and Supplementary Fig. 11 discuss the reason of possible output decreasing mechanism of CE-TENG.
Fig. 4: Demonstrations of high output CE-TENG.
a Current density and b voltage output of CE-TENG under 5 Hz operation frequency. c Directly powering hundreds of LEDs by CE-TENG (scale bar: 10 cm). d Electric scheme of CE-TENG for charging capacitor. e Charging curve of 1 mF and 470 μF capacitor using CE-TENG (frequency: 3 Hz). f CE-TENG for powering thermometer under 5 Hz operation frequency (scale bar: 10 cm). g Long-term stability test of CE-TENG.
In summary, a criterion to qualitatively evaluate the surface contact level between an electrode and dielectric (contact efficiency) is established for TENG. A new air-breakdown model on charge-excitation TENG is built based on Paschen's law, and we achieve a high charge density by multiple parameter adjustment, including reduction of the thickness of dielectrics, increase of the external capacitor, control of the atmospheric environment and optimization of surface contact level. We also demonstrate that the previous defined charge density belongs to average charge density due to the incomplete contact, an actual charge density in TENG is obtained based on micro-contact efficiency theory. The actual charge density in CE-TENG is over 4.0 mC m−2, which also means that the maximum output charge density could be up to 4.0 mC m−2 in an ideal surface contact level, which would have a great significance in evaluating the actual charge density on the surface of dielectric materials for TENG. Besides, a soft carbon/silicone gel electrode is invented to improve contact efficiency from 6.16% to 54.98% for a 4 μm dielectric film, by which the high average charge and energy density of 2.38 mC m−2 and 286.7 mJ m−2 are obtained on CE-TENG in ambient atmosphere with 5% relative humidity. This work provides a new insight into the way of enhancing the output performance, which could push triboelectric nanogenerators to a new stage.
Fabrication of the soft carbon silica gel electrode
First, the 4 mm thick foam was cut with the dimensions of 67.2 × 44.4 × 4 mm3 (Marked as foam 1), and the 0.8 mm thick foam was cut with the dimensions of 67.2 × 44.4 × 0.8 mm3 (Marked as foam 2). Then, making a square groove with the dimensions of 32 × 32 × 0.8 mm3 on the right side of the foam 2. The foam 2 with a square groove was adhered to the foam 1. Required amounts of Parts A and B of Ecoflex 20 were dispensed into a Petri dish (1 A: 1B by volume and were stirred fully for 3 min.) An appropriate amount of fine carbon powder (Tanfeng Tech) was put into the mixture, which was stirred for 3 min. Then, the coarse carbon powder was mixed into the mixture with fine carbon powder and silica gel. After stirring for 4 min, the mixture was poured into the square groove, which was sandwiched between two acrylic based plates and pressed for 8 h. At this point, the fabrication of the silica gel electrode was finished. The fabrication process is shown in Supplementary Fig. 2a.
Fabrication and integration of the TENG
As is shown in Fig. 1a, the CE-TENG is mainly composed of two parts. For one part, it consists of an acrylic based plate and two Cu electrodes. The fabrication process of this part is as follows. First, two Cu electrodes were attached to the left and right sides of the acrylic plate, which was cut by laser cutter with dimensions of 67.2 × 44.4 × 4 mm3. And the size of two Cu electrodes was 32 × 32 mm2 and 32 × 15.0 mm2, respectively. 44 mm ×20 mm × 12.5 μm FEP film was attached to the upper surface of 32 × 15.0 mm2 Cu electrode at last. For another part, 67.2 × 44.4 × 1 mm3 arch structure that was made by 3D printer was attached to the upper surface of 67.2 × 44.4 × 4 mm3 acrylic based plate. Then, 32 × 15.0 mm2 Cu electrode was attached to the left side of the foam with silica gel electrode, which was adhered to the upper surface of the arch structure. Finally, 44 mm × 44 mm × 4 μm PEI film was attached to the surface of the silica gel electrode.
Fabrication of the evaporation coating electrodes
A dielectric film was sandwiched between two acrylic frames, the shape of the frame is the same as the shape of the electrode. The prepared devices were put into the high vacuum evaporation coating machine. Utilizing vacuum evaporation technology Cu was deposited on the both sides of the dielectric film as the electrodes. The fabrication process of the sandpaper electrodes mainly consists of three parts. Firstly, 44 × 44 mm2 sandpaper was attached to the left side of the 67.2 × 44.4 × 4 mm3 acrylic based plate, 67.2 × 44.4 × 1 mm3 acrylic frame with a 32 × 32 × 1 mm3 square groove was adhered to the surface of the sandpaper. Then, the device was put into the high vacuum evaporation coating machine. Finally, taking out the device and removing the acrylic frame, the sandpaper electrode was finished.
Electric measurement and characterization
The measurement of the electrical performance of TENG was carried out in a 50 × 50 × 95 cm3 acrylic glove box. The contact-separation process of TENG was driven by a linear motor (WEINERMOTOR WMU-090-D). The humidity of the glove box was controlled by the reusable silica gel desiccant, and the reuse of the silica gel desiccant was realized by a freeze dryer (Bilon FD-1B-80). The temperature was controlled by a constant temperature circulating water tank (HX-105) and homemade copper tubes with a blower. The voltage of the capacitor was measured by electrostatic voltmeters (Trek 370). The transferred charges and the short-circuit current were measured by an electrometer (Keithley 6514). The capacitance of the device with sinusoidal motion was measured by a 7–1/2 digital graphical sampling multimeter (Keithley DMM7510). A source meter (Keithley 6517) was adopted as the voltage source for providing excitation voltage. The temperature and humidity were measured by a digital temperature humidity atmospheric pressure gauge (Testo 622), the relative humidity was controlled in the range of 4–6%, and the temperature was controlled in the range of 16–17 °C, The Cu electrodes on both sides of the dielectric film are plated by high vacuum evaporation coating machine (VZZ-300). The scanning electron microscope images were taken by scanning electron microscopy (SEM, TESCAN VEGA 3 SBH SEM).
The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.
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This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (51572040 and 51772036), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2019CDXZWL001, 2018CDQYWL0046, and 2018CDPTCG0001/22).
These authors contribute equally: Yike Liu, Wenlin Liu.
Department of Applied Physics, State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment & System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University, 400044, Chongqing, P. R. China
Yike Liu, Wenlin Liu, Zhao Wang, Wencong He, Qian Tang, Yi Xi, Xue Wang, Hengyu Guo & Chenguo Hu
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
Hengyu Guo
Yike Liu
Wenlin Liu
Zhao Wang
Wencong He
Qian Tang
Yi Xi
Xue Wang
Chenguo Hu
C.H. supervised the project. W.L., Y.L. C.H. and H.G. conceived the project and designed the experiment part. Y.L. fabricated the devices and completed the electrical performance measurement. Z.W., W.H., Q.T., Y.X. and X.W. helped plot and analyze data. Y.L., H.G., W.L. and C.H. wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the manuscript.
Correspondence to Wenlin Liu, Hengyu Guo or Chenguo Hu.
Peer review information Nature Communications thanks Dayan Ban, Chengkuo Lee and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Peer reviewer reports are available.
Description of Additional Supplementary Files
Supplementary Movie 1
Liu, Y., Liu, W., Wang, Z. et al. Quantifying contact status and the air-breakdown model of charge-excitation triboelectric nanogenerators to maximize charge density. Nat Commun 11, 1599 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15368-9
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Object Storage offers persistent storage for digital objects that can be files, databases or other datasets which need to be archived. Objects are stored in named locations known as containers. Containers can be nested thus objects can be stored hierarchically.
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The token and use_user_fiware_token options are optional. When passed to the KeystoneAPI constructor, these values are stored internally and used as the default value in the invocation of its methods. In any case, these options can also be passed to the KeystoneAPI methods for not using the default values.
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file is the content to be uploaded. Must be an instance of Blob or File.
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Deletes a specified object from the storage system.


text:
Sharks Dominate Capri Swim Meet
Anthony De Beauville October 15, 2015 4:17 pm October 15, 2015 0
Sharks representative swimmer Katie Kyle top the girl's 11-13 category with a whooping 97 points..(PHOTO: Anthony De Beauville)
WITH all of St. Lucia's top competitive swimmers in an excited and winning mode, the 2015 Capri Sun Short Course National Championships came to a resounding successful climax on Sunday at the Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre.
The Sea Jays hosted meet generated excitement and fierce competition with the stands filled by swimmers, coaches, family members and supporters in a full cheer for the three days. Amidst this festive atmosphere, all in attendance enjoyed the weekend with some fantastic swimming, and as always, the crowd favourite relay events delivered a great show for all who were in attendance.
Caprisun and their agents in St. Lucia, CFL, were well represented with stalls handing out free samples for the swimmers and "Mr CAPRISUN "in attendance to present the trophies.
The Friday opening ceremony was graced by members of SLASA and club executives and the Capri Sun representatives.
Over 150 swimmers from six swim clubs competed for a chance to win bragging rights. Those clubs were: Sharks, Sea Jays, Lightning Aquatics, Racers, Southern Flying Fish Swim Club (SFF) and Sports Academy Swim Team.
After three days of racing, it was familiar territory for Sharks, claiming their seventh National Championship in eight years. They dominated both the Women's and Men's team scores, amassing an impressive 1299 points overall.
Combined Team Scores – Sharks Swim Club (1299 points), Sea Jays Swim Club – (955 points), Lightning Aquatics Swim Club (649 point), Racers Swim Club – (513 points), Sports Academy Swim Team – (321 points) and 6th Southern Flying Fish – (143 points).
Of the many outstanding performances by the young men and women over the weekend, an incredible 22 new National Age Group Records were established, as the younger swimmers especially in the 11-12 age group demolished so many outstanding records. The individual records will be released later after ratification by the SLASA Technical Committee
Meanwhile, the St. Lucia Amateur Swimming Association will now shift its focus to preparing for the 25th OECS Swimming Championships to be held from November 6 – 8 in Antigua.
According to reports SLASA technical committee will announce the team at the weekend following its final selection.
Anthony De Beauville
Anthony De Beauville is The VOICE Publishing Company's multi-award winning sports journalist. He works closely with a number of sports federations including the Department of Youth Development and Sports, the Saint Lucia Olympic Committee and other organizations.
He covers and contributes articles highlighting the areas of international, regional, national, community based clubs and schools sporting activities. There is never an off day as he stays busy... Read full bio...