text:
\section{Introduction}

Life across the globe has survived and thrived by adapting to its local weather, including extreme events such as strong winds and floods from cyclones, drought and heat waves from blocking events and large-scale atmospheric oscillations, and critically-needed precipitation from atmospheric rivers. Driven by an ever-warming climate, extreme weather events are changing in frequency and intensity at an unprecedented pace~\cite{Eman87a,Webs05a}. We need to understand these events and their driving mechanisms to enable communities to continue to adapt and thrive.

High-resolution, high-fidelity global climate models are an indispensable tool for investigating climate change. A multitude of climate change scenarios are now being simulated, each producing 100s of TBs of data. Currently, climate change is assessed in these simulations using summary statistics such as mean global sea surface temperature. This is inadequate for answering detailed questions about the effects of climate change on extreme weather events. Due to the sheer size and complexity of these simulated data sets, it is essential to develop robust and automated methods that can provide the deeper insights we seek.

Recently, supervised Deep Learning (DL) techniques have been applied to address this problem~\cite{mudi17a, kurt18a, jian18a, cohe19d}. Further progress however has been stymied by two daunting challenges: reliance on labeled training data and interpretability of trained models. The DL models used in the above studies are trained using the automated heuristics of TECA~\cite{Prab12a} for proximate labels. This is necessary because, simply put, there currently is no ground truth for pixel-level identification of extreme weather events~\cite{Shie18a}.
While the results in \cite{mudi17a} show that DL can improve upon TECA, the results of \cite{ cohe19d} reach accuracy rates over 97\% and thus essentially just reproduce the output of TECA. The supervised learning paradigm of optimizing
objective metrics (e.g. training and generalization error)
breaks down here \cite{Fagh14a}; TECA is not ground truth and we do not know how to train a DL model to disagree with TECA in just the right way to get closer to ``ground truth".

To avoid this issue, a campaign is currently underway to generate expert-labeled training data~\cite{climatenet}. Supervised DL models trained on this data will automate expert-level curation of large climate data sets for extreme weather detection.
In this case there too will be challenges. Though an improvement over automated heuristics, expert-labeled data is still not an objective ground truth. Further, while human experts can debate the subtleties of physical characteristics of extreme weather events, the interpretability problem~\cite{Olah18a} prevents us from probing a trained DL model to determine exactly how and why it identifies (or misidentifies) specific events.

To circumvent these challenges of DL-based approaches, here we take an alternative physics-based unsupervised approach, complementary to DL.

Whereas DL takes inspiration from the human visual processing system to identify patterns in images without consideration for what constitutes a ``pattern", our method builds on a theory that seeks to understand the physical nature of pattern without consideration for the visual system that can readily identify such patterns.
When viewing a video of a complex fluid flow we do not track the evolution of each individual pixel. Our vision instead focuses on relatively few collective features, generally referred to as \emph{coherent structures}~\cite{Holm12a, Hall15a}, that the flow organizes around. Beyond fluid flows, coherent structures in spatiotemporal systems can similarly be understood as key organizing features that heavily dictate the dynamics of the full system, and thus provide a natural dimensionality reduction.
Understanding the lower-dimensional coherent structures gets us most of the way to understanding and predicting the full higher-dimensional system, and, as with extreme weather, the coherent structures are often the features of interest.

Our approach seeks to understand the physical nature of coherent structures so that we can discover and identify them in spatiotemporal systems.
It is difficult however, if not impossible, to give an actionable definition of coherent structures as the solution of a general mathematical coherence principle derived from equations of motion.
Identifying and predicting complex emergent behaviors starting from fundamental laws is typically infeasible \cite{Ande72a}.
For example, despite knowing the equations of hydrodynamics and thermodynamics, which critically govern the dynamics of hurricanes, many aspects of how hurricanes form and evolve are still poorly understood \cite{Eman03a}.

As a response, research on complex, nonlinear systems shifted to focus directly on system behaviors rather than governing equations.The resulting \emph{behavior-driven theories} (e.g. \cite{Will15a, Rung15a, Rubi18a, Zeni19a}), which lie at the interface of physics and machine learning, provide a new means of scientific discovery directly from data. Our approach to unsupervised extreme weather event detection is through a behavior-driven theory of coherent structures in spatiotemporal systems. Below we give some basics of the theory then demonstrate its utility by identifying known coherent structures in 2D turbulence simulation data and observational data of Jupiter's clouds from the NASA Cassini spacecraft. Finally, we show promising results on CAM5.1 water vapor data and outline the path to extreme weather event segmentation masks.

\section{Method: Local Causal States}

Our behavior-driven theory of coherent structures builds on a more general theory of pattern and structure in natural systems.
A quantitative theory of structure need be probabilistic, capturing structure in ensembles of behavior, and algebraic, generalizing from the group-theoretic formalism of exact symmetry to the semi-group algebra of finite-state machines.
The mathematical representation of the structure of a system's dynamical behavior is given by a minimal, optimally predictive, stochastic model~\cite{Wolf84a,Gras86,Shal98a}.
For a model to optimally predict with minimal resources that model must capture pattern and structure present in the system's behaviors.

Computational mechanics~\cite{Crut12a} makes this idea operational through the \emph{causal equivalence relation};

\scalebox{0.88}{%
  \hspace*{-5mm}
  $
    \mathrm{past}_i \sim_\epsilon \mathrm{past}_j \iff \Pr(\mathrm{Future} | \mathrm{past}_i) = \Pr(\mathrm{Future} | \mathrm{past}_j)
    ~.
  $
}
The equivalence classes over pasts induced by the causal equivalence relation are known as the \emph{causal states} of the system; they are the unique minimal sufficient statistic of the past for optimally predicting the future.

For spatiotemporal systems, \emph{lightcones} are used as local notions of past and futures. Two past lightcones $\ell^-_i$ and $\ell^-_j$ are causally equivalent if they have the same conditional distribution over future lightcones;
$$
\ell^-_i \sim_\epsilon \ell^-_j \iff \Pr(\mathrm{L}^+ | \ell^-_i) = \Pr(\mathrm{L}^+ | \ell^-_j)
~.
$$
The resulting equivalence classes are called \emph{local causal states} \cite{Shal03a}. They are the unique minimal sufficient statistic of past lightcones for optimal prediction of future lightcones.
The $\epsilon$-function, which generates the causal equivalence classes, maps from past lightcones to local causal states; $\epsilon: \ell^- \mapsto \xi$.
Segmentation is achieved by mapping a spacetime field $X$ to its associated local causal state field $S = \epsilon(X)$: every feature $x = X(\vec{r},t)$ is mapped to its classification label (local causal state) via its past lightcone $\xi = S(\vec{r}, t) = \epsilon\bigr(\ell^-(\vec{r}, t)\bigl)$.
Crucially, this ensures the global latent variable field $S$ maintains the same geometry of $X$ such that $S(\vec{r}, t)$ is the local latent variable corresponding to the local observable $X(\vec{r}, t)$.

For real-valued systems, such as the fluid flows considered here, local causal state reconstruction requires a discretization to empirically estimate $\Pr(\mathrm{L}^+ | \ell^-)$~\cite{Goer12a}. We use K-Means to cluster over lightcones with the lightcone distance metric
$$
\mathrm{D}_{\mathrm{lc}}(\mathbf{a}, \mathbf{b}) \equiv \sqrt{(a_1 - b_1)^2 + \ldots + \mathrm{e}^{-\tau d(n)}(a_n - b_n)^2}
~,
$$
where $\mathbf{a}$ and $\mathbf{b}$ are flattened lightcone vectors, $d(n)$ is the temporal depth of the lightcone vector at index $n$, and $\tau$ is the temporal decay rate ($1/\tau$ can be thought of as a coherence time).

\section{Results: Structural Segmentation}

Because the local causal state latent variables are designed to capture structure in spatiotemporal systems, we call this level of segmentation a \emph{structural segmentation}.
That is, the classification assignments are labels of unique local causal states. This is an intermediate step for coherent structure segmentation (e.g. classification assignments of `cylcone', `atmospheric river', `background', etc.), for which an additional layer of analysis is needed on top of the local causal states~\cite{Rupe18b}.
From comparison with established Lagrangian Coherent Structure results we will now show that physically meaningful coherent structures are captured by our structural segmentation, and then we outline how extreme weather events may be extracted from structural segmentation of global climate data.

Building on the realization that relatively low-dimensional chaotic attractors underlies turbulent fluid flows~\cite{Ruel71a, Bran83}, the Lagrangian Coherent Structure (LCS) approach is grounded in nonlinear dynamical systems theory and seeks to describe the most repelling, attracting, and shearing material surfaces that form the skeletons of Lagrangian particle dynamics \cite{Hall15a}. LCS are conjectured to capture localized, emergent structures that organize the large-scale flow. We directly compare our results with the geodesic and LAVD approaches (described below) on the 2D turbulence data set from \cite{Hadj17a} and the Jupiter data set from \cite{Hadj17a} and \cite{Hadj16a}.

There are three classes of flow structures in the LCS framework;
elliptic LCS are rotating vortex-like structures, parabolic LCS are generalized Lagrangian jet-cores, and hyperbolic LCS are tendril-like stable-unstable manifolds in the flow.
The geodesic approach \cite{Hall15a, Hadj16a} is the state-of-the-art method designed to capture all three classes of LCS and has a nice interpretation for the structures it captures in terms of characteristic deformations of material surfaces. The Lagrangian-Averaged Vorticity Deviation (LAVD) \cite{Hall16a} is the state-of-the-art method specifically for elliptic LCS, but is not designed to capture parabolic or hyperbolic LCS.

\subsection{2D Turbulence}
While still complex and multi-scale, the idealized 2D turbulence data provides the cleanest identification of Lagrangian Coherent Structures using our structural segmentation. Figure~\ref{fig:science} (a) shows a snapshot of the vorticity field, and (b) and (c) show corresponding snapshots from structural segmentations using different reconstruction parameter values. To reveal finer structural details that persist on shorter time scales, Figure~\ref{fig:science} (b) uses $\tau=0.8$ and $K=10$. To isolate the coherent vortices, which persist at longer time scales, Figure~\ref{fig:science} (c) was produced using $\tau=0.0$ and $K=4$. As can be seen in (b), the local causal states distinguish between positive and negative vortices, so for (c) we modded out this symmetry by reconstructing from the absolute value of vorticity.

All three images are annotated with color-coded bounding boxes outlining elliptic LCS to directly compare with the geodesic and LAVD LCS results from Figure 9, (k) and (l) respectively, in \cite{Hadj17a}. Green boxes are vortices identified by both the geodesic and LAVD methods and red boxes are additional vortices identified by LAVD but not the geodesic. Yellow boxes are new structural signatures of elliptic LCS discovered by the local causal states.

Because there is a single background state in (c), colored white, all states not colored white can be assigned a semantic label of \texttt{coherent structure} since they satisfy the local causal state definition given in \cite{Rupe18b} as spatially localized, temporally persistent deviations from generalized spacetime symmetries. Significantly, our method has discovered vortices in the observable field (a) as coherent structures due to the shared geometry with the latent field in (c) where they are identified as locally broken symmetries.

In the finer-scale structural segmentation of (b) we still have states outlining the coherent vortices, as we would expect. If they persist on longer time scales, they will also persist on the short time scale. The additional structure of the background potential flow largely follows the hyperbolic LCS stable-unstable manifolds. Because they act as transport barriers, they partition the flow on either side and these partitions are given by two distinct local causal states with the boundary between them running along the hyperbolic LCS in the unstable direction. For example, the narrow dark blue-colored state in the upper right of (b) indicates a narrow flow channel squeezed between two hyperbolic LCS.

\begin{figure*}[h!]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=0.929\textwidth,keepaspectratio]{science_results-figure0.pdf}
\caption{
Structural segmentation results for complex fluid flows.
Image (a) shows the vorticity observable field for the 2D turbulence data set, with (b) and (c) showing the corresponding latent variable local causal state fields. The segmentation in (c) is tuned to isolate vortices against the background potential flow, while the segmentation in (b) captures additional structure of the background.
Image (d) shows the cloud luminosity observable for the Jupiter data set, with the corresponding local causal state field shown in (e).
The CAM5.1 water vapor field is shown in (f), with corresponding local causal state field in (g).
Each unique color in the latent variable fields (b), (c), (e), and (g) corresponds to a unique local causal state.
Full segmentation videos are available on the DisCo YouTube channel \cite{discoyoutube}.
}
\label{fig:science}
\end{center}
\end{figure*}

\subsection{Jupiter}
Figure~\ref{fig:science} (d) shows a snapshot from the Jupiter cloud data, with corresponding structural segmentation snapshot in (e). The Great Red Spot, highlighted with a blue arrow, is the most famous structure in Jupiter's atmosphere. As it is a giant vortex, the Great Red Spot is identified as an elliptic LCS by both the geodesic and LAVD methods \cite{Hadj16a, Hadj17a}. While the local causal states in (e) do not capture the Great Red Spot as cleanly as the vortices in (b) and (c), it does have the same nested state structures as the turbulence vortices.
There are other smaller vortices in Jupiter's atmosphere, most notably the ``string of pearls'' in the Southern Temperate Belt, four of which are highlighted with blue bounding boxes. We can see in (e) that the pearls are nicely captured by the local causal states, similar to the turbulence vortices in (b).

Perhaps the most distinctive features of Jupiter's atmosphere are the zonal belts. The east-west zonal jet streams that form the boundaries between bands are of particular relevance to Lagrangian Coherent Structure analysis. Figure 11 in \cite{Hadj16a} uses the geodesic method to identify these jet streams as shearless parabolic LCS, indicating they act as transport barriers that separate the zonal belts.
The particular segmentation shown in (e) captures a fair amount of detail inside the bands, but the edges of the bands have neighboring pairs of local causal states with boundaries that extend contiguously in the east-west direction along the parabolic LCS transport barriers. Two such local causal state boundaries are highlighted in green, for comparison with Figure 11 (a) in \cite{Hadj16a}. The topmost green line, in the center of (d) and (e), is the southern equatorial jet, shown in more detail in Figure 11 (b) and Figure 12 of \cite{Hadj16a}. Its north-south meandering is clearly captured by the local causal states.

\subsection{Extreme Weather Events}
The strong qualitative correspondence between local causal state structural segmentation and LCS gives validation that our method can capture meaningful structure in complex spatiotemporal systems. Our aim now is to use the structural segmentation to build extreme weather segmentation masks for climate data. Each event, e.g. hurricanes or atmospheric rivers (ARs), are identified as a unique set of structured behaviors that are captured by the local causal states in a structural segmentation.

For example, a structural segmentation of the water vapor field of the CAM5.1 global atmospheric model is shown on YouTube~\cite{discoyoutube} and in Figure~\ref{fig:science} (e), (f). While signatures of hurricanes and ARs are visually apparent, these events are not uniquely identifiable from the local causal states.
However, hurricanes and ARs have characteristic structural signatures in other physical fields, including thermodynamic quantities such as temperature and pressure. So it is not surprising that they can not be uniquely identified from a structural segmentation of the water vapor field alone; this would be akin to describing hurricanes as just local concentrations of water vapor.

In addition to further optimization and scaling, we are currently working on implementing multi-variate local causal state reconstruction to incorporate additional physical fields.
Using, for example, structural segmentation of vorticity, temperature, pressure, and water vapor fields we will be able to identify hurricanes as high rotation objects with a warm, low pressure core that locally concentrate water vapor.
Similarly, the inclusion of water vapor transport will help identify ARs, as well as the use of larger lightcone templates that will better capture their large-scale geometry.

Though our structural segmentation requires information from multiple physical observables to identify extreme weather events, the generality of the local causal states will allow us to do this.
An automated, objective identification of sets of local causal states across the various physical observables that uniquely corresponds to particular extreme weather events will be challenging but, we believe, achievable.

\section*{Acknowledgements}
Adam Rupe and Jim Crutchfield would like to acknowledge Intel{\small \textregistered} \;for supporting the IPCC at UC Davis. Prabhat and Karthik Kashinath were supported by the Intel\textregistered \;Big Data Center.
This research is based upon work supported by, or in part by, the U. S. Army Research Laboratory and the U. S. Army Research Office under contract W911NF- 13-1-0390, and used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

\bibliographystyle{ieeetr}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
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영문 기사 | Kyoum Hur | 2015-07-29 18:40
Deadly disease spreads in S. Korea
A 76-year-old male patient has died from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Friday, the man was pronounced dead yesterday and brings the total number of fatalities from the disease to four. The health authorities also confirmed the number of confirmed MERS patients rose to 41, of which 8 are a tertiary infection. Prior to this,
영문 기사 | editor | 2015-06-05 16:17
[Interview] President of Korean Society of Hanoi stresses CSR
When Mr. Ko Sang-koo, as a Korean businessman, first came to Hanoi 13 years ago, he drew many blank stares from native Vietnamese. "In the past, Korean was not familiar with Hanoi, and vice versa," Ko Sang-koo, now president of the Korean Society of Hanoi (KSH) said in an interview with The Overseas Koreans Newspaper in Seoul. And precisely because few Koreans had heard of or actually se
Cherry Blossom festivals kick Off
Many Cherry Blossom festivals began across the country, including Yunjung-ro in Yeouido and Changwon, Jinhae in South Gyeongsang Province. (KMA file photo).
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Joshua Leonard
Genre: Drama/Horror/Thriller
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Tags: Aimee Mullins, Amy Irving, Claire Foy, Colin Woodell, Drama, Horror, Jay Pharaoh, Joshua Leonard, Juno Temple, March 2018, Steven Soderbergh, Thriller, Unsane, Zach Cherry
Genre: Horror/Thriller
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Updated on Monday 08th January 2018
Estonia is one of the most representative economies of the Baltic region. Foreign investors interested in opening a company limited by shares in Estonia should know the rights and obligations of the shareholders, as prescribed by the Estonian legislation. According to the legislation available here, there are six legal entities available for the incorporation of a company, out of which two are registered through share capital to which the shareholders participate. Our Estonian company formation specialists can offer you more information on the legislation applicable to shareholders.
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Connecting your Fire to a mobile network may result in additional charges. What' s more, mobile networks aren't always very fast.
With Wi-Fi, you can stream, buy or download stuff from the Cloud as well as sync to receive items without any limitations. You wouldn't be able to make the most of your Fire phone without using a Wi-Fi network (i.e. the "live" Internet).
Fortunately, connecting your Fire to a Wi-Fi network is extremely easy (both automatically and manually). Let me show you how to do it!
Your Fire phone will automatically detect available Wi-Fi networks (and hotspots) which display their network name. You probably noticed that some Wi-Fi networks are open and some are closed (secured). Everyone can join an open network while secured networks require a password.
It's not recommended to connect to the unknown open networks (or open networks in general), because the data you send over them isn't protected at all. It means that everyone can read and use them (keep that in mind).
Open the Quick Actions panel (either swipe down from the top of the screen or swivel your Fire).
Press and hold the Wi-Fi icon in the panel and tap On. In a few seconds you will see the list of the available networks.
Choose the Wi-Fi network you want to connect your Fire to. If it's secured, enter its password.
If you click on the network you are currently connected to, you will see its details like signal strength, status, link speed, type of security, and IP address.
Once you connect your Fire to a Wi-Fi network, it will remember it and automatically connect to it when it's in range.
Open the Quick Actions panel (swivel your wrist or swipe down from the top of the screen).
Tap and hold the Wi-Fi icon. Tap On.
Tap Add Network. Enter network details like SSID or security type.
You can also add advanced settings like proxy settings or IP settings. To do that, click on Show Advanced Options.
From now on your Fire phone will connect to this network when it's in range. If you don't want to use this network or connect to it again, tap Forget This Network.


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Kubuntu
Back in Time: My Science Project
Filed under: General — Cory @ 2:43 pm
When I was a kid I had several movies that I watched over and over and over, such as "Back to the Future", "The Karate Kid", and so on. But one of my favorites was a movie called "My Science Project." I remember watching this with my cousins a lot, and thinking it was the coolest movie ever. "My Science Project" was released in August of 1985, which means it probably made its way to Blackstone in late 1986 or early 1987, which would have been when I was around 7 or 8.
The scene that has stuck in my head all these years is when the main character, "Motorhead Mike" is racing his red GTO against an electrical current that is passing from electrical tower to tower. Mike has to get ahead of the current so that he can destroy a tower down the line and prevent it from… well, doing something, I'm not quite sure. Mike is neck and neck with the electrical current when he hits the nitrous and roars past it and reaches the tower in time to blow it up and end the chain. Motorhead Mike was cool because his souped up car saved the town!
This scene was really inspiring to me as a kid as it showed that humans are amazing because we can build machines that can do anything, even outrun electricity (in the movies). Twenty years after I stopped watching this movie, I still remembered that scene.
Last week I finally watched it again, and I realized something. "My Science Project" is an absolutely terrible movie. I don't watch many movies, and I can hardly claim to be a good critic, but I am just glad that movies like this aren't being made anymore. (or are they?) It was so cheesy that I could barely stand watching it all the way through, even though I really wanted to see it again. I was happy when it was over.
But, as I was thinking about this more, I realized something about kids. Even with all the crap in this movie, the part I remembered was the part that I found most inspiring. As a kid I was able to find something meaningful in this really dumb teen sci-fi thriller. So I wonder if kids are better at seeing through the crap and finding something of value.
There was one other movie that I remember from a kid, but I can't figure out what the name of it was. I thought it was named "Quest" or something similar, but my searches for movies with that name haven't turned up much. So, I ask the LazyWeb for help. Here's what I remember:
The main character was a young boy who was an inventor. I remember a scene where he was welding.
There was a scene with him rolling on rollerskates on train tracks.
There was something like a mechanical loch ness monster in a pond or lake that he had some sort of encounter with.
I imagine the movie came out in the mid 1980′s as well. Anyone have any suggestions?
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Description: Even after you have freed the Undead Spirits trapped within the Spirit Orbs, this Loyal Spirit Orbs wishes to stay with you! If you can gather enough Loyal Spirit Orbs, you might be able to forge an item of "Blinding light."
Used in 'The Blinding Light of Destiny' quest.
Used to merge Bright Aura.
Thanks to L0re, rikimaruIII and Van Fanel.


We present a 30 year-old, G3P0 with WHO group 1 severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) associated with congenital HIV/AIDS. She was found to be pregnant at 12 weeks gestation and was initially counseled to terminate the pregnancy, which she refused. The patient subsequently presented with shortness of breath, hypoxia, and peripheral edema at 25 weeks. On admission, her CD4 count and viral load were 72/μL and 494 copies/mL, respectively. Pro-BNP was 880pg/mL and PA systolic pressure was 82 mmHg by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). She was diuresed and received treatment for Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). Due to outpatient medication nonadherence, she remained hospitalized for 51 days until her scheduled cesarean delivery for monitoring and symptom management. Serial TTE was obtained to assist in medical management and her PAH was managed with tadalafil.
A multidisciplinary team consisting of cardiologists, obstetricians, and obstetric anesthesiologists planned for delivery. Scheduled cesarean was performed successfully at 33 weeks with continuous inhaled epoprostenol, epidural anesthesia, arterial pressure monitoring, and PICC line for vasopressor infusion. After returning to the cardiac intensive care unit immediately postpartum, the patient's remaining postoperative course was uneventful and she was discharged on postpartum day 7.
As a result of the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), survival rates for children with congenital HIV have improved dramatically. Thus, an increasing number of these individuals with chronic HIV infection are nearing reproductive age. HIV-related pulmonary arterial hypertension (HIV-PAH) is a rare complication of HIV infection, occurring in about 1 in 200 HIV-infected individuals. Even during the era of HAART, prevalence of HIV-PAH has remained unchanged. As noted in several studies, severe PAH in pregnancy has a mortality rate as high as 30 to 50%. Death most often occurs following delivery as significant changes in physiology occur rapidly over several hours to days. However, prior to delivery, pregnancy related cardiovascular and pulmonary changes can worsen pulmonary hypertension. Therefore, a multidisciplinary team approach prior to delivery is essential to optimize outcomes.
Bonnin, Martine, et al. "Severe pulmonary hypertension during pregnancy." Anesthesiology 2005;102(6): 1133-7.
Opravil, Milos, et al. "HIV-associated primary pulmonary hypertension. A case control study. Swiss HIV Cohort Study." American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 1997;155(3): 990-5.
Simonneau, Gérald, et al. "Updated clinical classification of pulmonary hypertension." Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2009;54(1 supp): S43-S54.
Sitbon O, Lascoux-Combe C, Delfraissy JF, et al. "Prevalence of HIV-related pulmonary arterial hypertension in the current antiretroviral therapy era." Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2008;177(1): 108-13.


Nigeria improved its ranking on the Social Progress Index 2014, a report by the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria (NCCN) showed yesterday.
This was as a result of regulatory reforms and increased competitiveness as a means to better livelihoods for all Nigerians, according to the NCCN.
The social progress index is a global ranking organisation established in 2013 by a team led by renowned Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter.
The index measures actual welfare and those conditions that matter most to people such as basic needs, access to healthcare and education, and the opportunity to improve livelihoods.
Nigeria's improvement is a significant milestone", the Chief Executive Officer of the NCCN, Mr. Chika Mordi said.
"The index measures actual welfare instead of an arbitrary academic benchmark. The results show that while our country has a very long way to go, Nigerians are better off today than they were a year ago. This will only get better as we continue our efforts to boost competitiveness and improve prosperity for all Nigerians," he added.
The result, according to the report showed that the efforts of the NCCN and other initiatives were starting to take hold.
Areas with the most improvement include basic human needs, nutrition, health and wellness, access to information, basic knowledge, personal freedom and choice.
In the inaugural year, Nigeria was placed among the least ranking nations, two per cent of all nations measured as it ranked 49 out of 50 countries.
In the expanded 2014 survey, the report showed that Nigeria improved its ranking by almost 28 per cent, finishing 123 out 132.
The biggest areas for improvement include violent crime, political terror and criminality, with Boko Haram attacks playing a key role in Nigeria's poor perception.
"There is still much work to be to help change the international perception of Nigeria,'' Mordi added.
The NCCN had established a security, corruption and country image working group chaired by a council member, Mr. Frank Nweke, responsible for creating an action plan to help improve Nigeria's security as well as international perception about the nation.
The NCCN which was established in 2013 will continue its mission to boost the livelihoods and shared prosperity for all Nigerians through free markets, it stated.


Old Bill would walk along with a carrier bag full of rubbish he had collected during his daily walk. I couldn't stand living in dirt he would say to everyone or anyone who enquired. I am devoted to cleaning up the neighbourhood. In reality he was always looking for something to keep and hoard.


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Samsung Galaxy M30s India Launch: Full Specs, Price and Availability
Samsung has announced that it will launch the Galaxy M30s smartphone in India on September 18. It is the successor to the Galaxy M30 that was launched earlier this year. Now the company has dropped the teaser on Amazon.in about the launch of Galaxy M30s.
Samsung has teased that Galaxy M30s will pack a huge 6000mAh battery, compared to the 5000mAh battery in the predecessor. The teaser on Amazon also hints at a 48-megapixel sensor in the triple camera arrangement, which is another upgrade.
Moreover, the phone has been listed on Android Enterprise website as well as Geekbench that confirm some more specs such as a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display, 4GB RAM and 64GB and 128GB storage versions, and Exynos 9610 SoC.
Samsung Galaxy M30s Specifications
The upcoming Galaxy M30s will sport a 6.4-inch Full HD+(2340 x 1080 pixels) Infinity-U type Super AMOLED display. The device will come in a polycarbonate body with gradient back and the teaser shows blue and green colors for the same.
Under the hood, the phone will be powered by an Octa-Core Exynos 9610 10nm processor with Mali-G72 GPU. It will pack at least 4GB RAM with 64GB or 128GB storage. The storage will be expandable up to 512GB via micro SD card.
The smartphone will run on Android 9.0 (Pie) with Samsung's OneUI on top.
In terms of camera, this phone will also come with a triple camera set up. It will pack a 48MP primary camera with f/2.0 aperture, a 5MP depth sensor with f/2.2 aperture, and an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with f/2.2 aperture. There will be a 16MP front camera with f/2.0 aperture.
The Galaxy M30s will be powered by a 6000mAh battery with 15W fast charging support.
Connectivity features include Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5, GPS + GLONASS, USB Type-C, and 3.5mm audio jack.
Earlier reports have revealed that it will be priced under Rs. 20,000. Going by the Galaxy M30 price when it was launched, the M30s could start at Rs. 16,999 in India. The smartphone will go on sale from the last week of September via Amazon.in.
"Samsung Galaxy M30s India Launch: Full Specs, Price and Availability", 5 out of 5 based on 1 ratings.


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Demonstration Against Asia Cement Mine On Indigenous Lands Draws 2,500
Brian Hioe 06/25/2017 #18EnglishIndigenousJune 2017RaceSocial Movements
by Brian Hioe
Photo Credit: Brian Hioe
A MARCH AGAINST Asia Cement's mine on Truku indigenous lands in and surrounding Taroko National Park was held today, with over 2,500 in attendance. The march began in front of the Executive Yuan at 3:30 and, after marching for an hour down Zhongshan South Road, finished on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Residence at 4:30, where a number of tents and a stage for musical performances had been set up. The two central demands of demonstrators, which served as protest chants during the rally and were also printed on signs handed out to participants were for an end to the Asia Cement mine and reform of the mining industry, but more general demands underlying the demonstration were the call for broader environmental protections in Taiwan and social justice for Taiwanese indigenous.
Apart from speeches and musical performances, demonstrators set off smoke bombs and played sounds of mining in front of the Executive Yuan to represent the loud noises which are constantly produced by the Asia Cement mine, in spite of the constant disruption to the lives of indigenous residents living nearby. On Ketagalan Boulevard, demonstrators formed the shape of the island of Taiwan, citing recently deceased director Chi Po-Lin's documentary Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above, and the need to defend protect Taiwan's environment as a whole. Participating organizations include Third Force parties such as the New Power Party, Social Democratic Party, Green Party, and Trees Party, a number of environmental organizations as the Green Citizen Action Alliance, Citizens of the Earth, Taiwan, the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, indigenous organization such as the Indigenous Youth Front, a leading force in many recent indigenous demonstrations, and other organizations.
Asia Cement's mine on Truku indigenous lands is one of the long running issues in the struggle for social justice for indigenous in Taiwan going back several decades, as an emblem of the injustices the ROC government has inflicted upon Taiwanese indigenous. While Truku indigenous, as with other indigenous communities, should by constitutional law hold the rights to their land, oftentimes it is that Taiwanese business take advantages of legal loopholes to appropriate indigenous land for commercial development, sometimes with the backing of the local government.
Smoke bombs being set off outside the Executive Yuan. Photo credit: Brian Hioe
This would certainly seem to be the case with Asia Cement's mine in Taroko National Park, in which suspicions have been raised about the legitimacy of the documentation with which Asia Cement justifies ownership over the land, and in which the Truku people have been unable to achieve the restoration of their land rights because ROC government actors have shunted responsibility for who has jurisdiction over the land between the local, county, and central government. In this light, Asia Cement's development in Taroko National Park goes back to the long history of indigenous being forced off of their lands by Han Taiwanese, seeing as it is very likely that any "documentation" from several decades ago supposedly proving that the Truku people agreed to give up their lands to Asia Cement may have been bound up with forcible coercion from government or commercial actors. Accordingly, the legal case filed against Asia Cement has lasted over fifteen years without firm resolution, including past attempts by the government to pass off a false resolution to the issue, low settlement payouts to affected residents of the area even in cases of deaths caused by accidents from the mine, and pollution to the drinking water of local residents.
As always, rampant developmentalism and the crony capitalism of local government actors willing to work with corporations for their personal benefit remain unresolved issues in Taiwan, and all the more so when it comes to Han Taiwanese treatment of Taiwanese indigenous. The Asia Cement mine proves not only disruptive of the daily lives of the Truku and a violation of their sovereign rights, but also destructive of the environment in which they live in though the gradual scraping away of the mountain they live on, and is symptomatic of the broader damage to Taiwan's environment caused by commercial development.
The systematic injustices against Taiwanese indigenous in the past came at the hands of the ROC state and past exploitation of Taiwanese indigenous by Han Taiwanese businesses was oftentimes carried out with the aid of local KMT government officials, a means by which the KMT serviced the clientelist business networks which provided the vital support they needed to stay in power during the authoritarian period. However, as demonstrators also pointed out during the demonstration today, while the Tsai administration promised to realize transitional justice for Taiwanese indigenous, it, too, has not taken substantial action to benefit Taiwanese indigenous with continued back-and-forth on the Taroko Gorge mine since it took power.
Indeed, despite the high-profile apology to Taiwanese indigenous on behalf of the ROC government in August of last year, demonstrators have in past months been demonstrating the failure of the Tsai administration to restore full traditional lands rights to Taiwanese indigenous by failing to restore lands which are currently privately owned. Indigenous demonstrators had been holding an occupation for over 100 days on Ketagalan Boulevard before this was forcibly evicted by police, leading to a relocation of the occupation to NTU Hospital Station. The occupation has now lasted over 120 days. As such, demonstrators today more broadly accused the Tsai administration of failing it to distinguish itself from past KMT administrations, and also acting in a way as to only benefit large corporations.
Demonstrators forming the shape of Taiwan and holding up signs on Ketagalan Boulevard. Photo credit: Brian Hioe
Will the Tsai administration turn over a new leaf in the future, then? In all, given the weak responses of the Tsai administration to calls for it to live up to its past promises, this seems unlikely. As a result, one expects protests in similar vein to today's protests to continue in the near future.
Asia CementAsia Cement mine on Truku indigenous landsindigenous land rights in TaiwanTaroko GorgeTruku people
Brian Hioe
Brian Hioe is one of the founding editors of New Bloom. He is a freelance journalist, as well as a translator. A New York native and Taiwanese-American, he has an MA in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University and graduated from New York University with majors in History, East Asian Studies, and English Literature. He was Democracy and Human Rights Service Fellow at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy from 2017 to 2018.
丘琦欣,創建破土的編輯之一,專於撰寫社會運動和政治的自由作家偶而亦從事翻譯工作。他自哥倫比亞大學畢業,是亞洲語言及文化科系的碩士,同時擁有紐約大學的歷史,東亞研究及英文文學三項學士學位。
Indigenous Representatives Criticize Executive Yuan Report on Asia Cement Mine
Brian Hioe 02/17/2022
China Claims Measures Will Be Taken Against 'Pro-Independence' Companies
Asia Cement Ruling Likely to Be Resisted by the Company, with the Backing of the Ministry of Economic Affairs
DPP Allows Mining Companies To Sidestep Environmental Regulations
Lin Fei-fan: On 228, I Choose To Stand With Taiwan's Indigenous Peoples
Lin Fei-fan 03/06/2017
Asia Cement Extension Provokes Lawsuit From Environmental Groups


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NBA legend on HIV/AIDS, gay son
Earvin "Magic" Johnson described himself as "the blessing and the curse of HIV" in an interview with Anderson Cooper and also opened up about his gay son who came out publicly a few months ago.
"I'm the blessing because people were talking about it, they ran out and got tested at that time. Then I'm the curse because…people now say, oh well, HIV is nothing because if I get it I can be like Magic. He's doing good, and I can do the same thing he's doing or take the same medicine he's taking and I'll be okay," Johnson said. "But what they don't understand, in 22 years, millions of people have died."
More than two decades ago, when the basketball legend tested positive for HIV, Johnson was taking a 15 pills three times a day. Now, he takes three pills once a day at dinnertime.
Johnson helped change attitudes, and his good health is a testament to how far treatment has come. However, he's concerned about African American and Latino communities where the number of HIV infections among men who have sex with men is proportionally higher than other groups.
A father of three, including his 20-year-old gay son, Johnson spoke about challenges gay family members have in his community.
"Just like my son E.J. came out, it was important that Cookie and I support our son. We love our son, we're going to support him 150 percent, but we're one of the minorities in this," Johnson said. "In the black community, young gay men or young ladies who are lesbians, they're afraid to tell their parents."
To pastors and Christians who expressed concerns to him about his son being gay, Johnson said he told them, "Hey, I love my son, nothing is going to change that. I don't care if you don't agree and you don't want to deal with me or don't like me, that's on you, but I said tell me when it hits your own family..."
Johnson said he has worked with members of the gay community to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS since he tested positive 22 years ago, and he hopes they will provide support to his son.
"What I wanted the gay community to do for me is help my son, right - give him the right information, help him to grow and be a good young man. Things that I can't talk about, that I don't know about, they can help him."
He believes E.J.'s decision to come out publicly has helped save lives too.
"A lot of young people decided to tell their parents once he came out, and so it was great to see that."
Take a look at some behind-the-scenes photos from their interview:
Post by: AC360, Shawna Shepherd
Filed under: AIDS • Anderson Cooper • HIV
Far better to be open and honest about being gay than closeted. Young gay people need the support of friends and family so that they can avoid the promiscuous lifestyle that men of all orientations easily fall pray to. Far better to be an accepting church community that welcomes gay people and encourages monogamous relationship than disparaging communities that force gay people out to the streets for their education and to hook up indiscriminately.
December 12, 2013 at 1:54 pm | Log in to Reply
Magic Johnson is a great father. He is the best person to guide his son how to avoid the same mistake he went through. Having HIV is a choice. Stay away and say no to temptation. Ask God's wisdom for your son to make the right decision in life everyday so that he will not fall into temptation. Life here on earth is a battle and victory is through Jesus Christ alone. You are more than a conqueror in Christ and your son will also be a conqueror in life as you fight for him through prayers.
November 21, 2013 at 3:47 am | Log in to Reply
jessicaskyedavies
No, Sarah, it's not a choice. It is preventable, but that doesn't make it a choice. You can make better, healthier choices, but getting HIV isn't a choice (except for an infinitesimal few who actively seek to seroconvert). Saying that getting HIV is a choice is stigmatizing and won't help either visibility or prevention.
November 25, 2013 at 10:21 pm | Log in to Reply
I think what she meant was its totally preventable and he got it because he was reckless. I am glad though that he and his family are healthy.


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Acts 5:29 (King James Version)
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What is the Forerunner Commentary?
<< Acts 5:28 Acts 5:30 >>
We generally think of this verse only in terms of a state of persecution, but its principle applies all the time. Life is a series of compulsions which lead us to choices. These compulsions come in two varieties: 1) forced, as by a gun to our temple which says, "Do this or else," and 2) unforced, just as each dawn comes regardless, gently persuading us to rise and meet our duties. Each pushes us to choose, and the only real difference in them is their strength.
We are surrounded by various elements that, forced or unforced, exert pressure to compel us to submit to them out of loyalty. Both good and evil are compulsions pressuring us to follow them. Our culture urges us to "go along." Family ties influence us to blend in. Our peers, friends in business, school, or neighborhood buddies, entice us to conform. These compulsions sweep us along, and all too frequently we go right into idolatry to satisfy our desires to be accepted and feel secure. But Peter and the other apostles said, "We ought to obey God rather than men."
The First Commandment (1997)
Related Topics: Choice,Power of | Compulsion | Conforming | Conforming to God's Will | Idolatry | Loyalty | Obedience | Peer pressure
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Acts 5:29:


To find hotels near Puerto De Santa Maria airport, paste in search form the name of the city of (Puerto De Santa Maria), then select the dates of Check In and Check Out, select the number of guests and click Search.
PXS airport Puerto De Santa Maria transcript or PXS which airport?
The name of the airport: Puerto De Santa Maria. The airport is located in the country: Spain. The city location of the airport in Puerto De Santa Maria. IATA airport code Puerto De Santa Maria: PXS. The IATA airport code is a 3 letter unique identifier, assigned airports world International air transport Association (IATA). ICAO airport code Puerto De Santa Maria: LEMG. The ICAO airport code is a 4 letter unique identifier that is assigned to the airports by the International civil aviation organization (ICAO).
The geographic coordinates of the airport Puerto De Santa Maria.
The latitude at which the airport is located: 42.000000000000, the longitude of airport: -8.883333333333. Geographic coordinates of latitude and longitude define the position of the airport on the earth's surface. The airport is located in the time zone: +1.0 GMT. The airline always indicates local time of departure and arrival airport according to the time zones.


The Salt Park Trail is 11.7 miles long. It begins on the White River National Forest at the Morapos Trailhead, continues through Salt Park on the Routt National Forest, and ends back on the White River National Forest in Lost Park at Long Park Trail #1809. On the Routt National Forest the trail is #1114, and on the White River National Forest it is #1805.


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Monday July 21st: Barefoot Water Skiing
Updated: 3:57 PM EDT Jul 23, 2014
Keith Saint Onge grew up in Berlin and is now one of the World's finest barefoot water skiers. He recently returned to his home state to teach a new generation of Granite Staters how to ski, without the skis.Plus, why Bethlehem New Hampshire was once where a large population of Jewish residents from New York would come to summer, and how that legacy still lives on today.On Fritz Wetherbee's New Hampshire: The Town of Cherry ValleyFor more information on tonight's stories:Keith St. Ongehttp://keithstonge.com/The Bethlehem Hebrew Congregation603-869-5465http://bethlehemsynagogue.org/Hosting this week from:American Independence MuseumExeter, NH (603) 772-2622www.independencemuseum.org
Keith Saint Onge grew up in Berlin and is now one of the World's finest barefoot water skiers. He recently returned to his home state to teach a new generation of Granite Staters how to ski, without the skis.
Plus, why Bethlehem New Hampshire was once where a large population of Jewish residents from New York would come to summer, and how that legacy still lives on today.
On Fritz Wetherbee's New Hampshire: The Town of Cherry Valley
For more information on tonight's stories:
Keith St. Onge
http://keithstonge.com/
The Bethlehem Hebrew Congregation
http://bethlehemsynagogue.org/
Hosting this week from:
American Independence Museum
www.independencemuseum.org


Five facilities come top of the list right now. They are West Kendall Baptist Hospital in Miami, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Helen Devos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids and Providence Newberg Medical Center in Oregon.
Each of these facilities has similarities and differences in their approach. Some major schemes are in place throughout, while others have their quirks. For example, the West Kendall Center in Miami can sustain a category five hurricane and remain self-sufficient for the following five days. Here we will look at some the main factors that determine a green hospital and the way that these top facilities implement them.
First of all, each of these five top green hospitals shares LEED certification in common. LEED certification is an important aspect of a green reputation in America. Each of the five facilities highlighted in this article is all certified to some degree, many with Gold status. This is a proud bragging right for all involved, with many enjoying additional accolades.
Providence Newberg Medical Center proudly claim to be the first Gold LEED certified hospital in the country. New York Presbyterian Hospital achieved their Gold LEED status for participating in Mayor Bloomberg's Hospital Challenge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2018.
In addition to this, they won an Energy Star Partner of the Year award in 2014 and 2015. Helen DeVos Children's Hospital is the only Michigan hospital with a Gold certification. In fact, there are one of only two dedicated US children's hospitals with this certification.
Recycling is one of the first things to come to mind when considering a green approach at home. Reductions in plastic, especially single-use, as well as paper, can have a significant impact on waste and manufacturing. Then there are the collection services for other recyclable materials.
These large hospitals run the risk of going through high quantities of materials, so paperless approaches and material collections could be significant. There is also the chance to use recycled materials in the construction of new facilities where possible.
This importance of recycling, in both forms, means that all the main US hospitals need to improve on their reliance. The five facilities highlighted here all play their part well.
To begin with, all of them claim to have considered environmentally friendly construction materials with recycled components. This is important when we consider the scale of these buildings and quantities of materials used. Some take this careful use of materials all the way down to the low emission paint on the walls. Then there are those that go further with their recycling programs on site.
The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh has committed to a paperless approach to their material and brochures. Meanwhile, the West Kendall Baptist Hospital claims to recycle more than 20 tons of solid waste per month.
Then there is the use of renewable power. Again, this is one of the more obvious considerations for any homeowner that wants a greener home. The main aim here is to either reduce conventional energy use with a solar panel or to go off the grid entirely. This is easier for a smaller household because of the size of the building and energy requirements. Hospitals need a more reliable, non-stop source of power. Still, there are those that can scale up these installations of solar panels or wind turbines to meet their targets.
Providence Newberg Medical Center, meanwhile, promise the use of 100% Green power. New York-Presbyterian Hospital boasts the presence of what they call a "climate wall," which contains computerized solar vanes to generate power. Helen Davos has its own on-site green energy system for locally-produced, sustainable energy. These localized installations provide a clean, reliable source of power with massive implications for energy saving measures.
Temperature and heating is an issue with these large facilities. Every major building needs a reliable heating and air-con system to provide a comfortable environment. This is especially true when we involve patients. Large scale heating systems and HVAC systems would undo all the good work seen so far. The answer is to regulate the flow of energy and the insulation of the building to reduce the need for these energy-hungry systems. Nobody wants to cut the heating and put patients at risk, but there are alternative methods available.
So how do these top five green hospitals in America manage to maintain the right temperature across their facilities? Providence Newberg Medical Center use specially treated windows for heat preservation, as do Helen Devos Children's Hospital with their custom built glass for great heat efficiency. This is one of the added bonuses of these institutions using renewable and green sources of material from the outset. Many also ensure that they use the best, energy-efficient systems to reduce their energy usage.
Improved energy use also relies on the way the way use appliances and the efficiency of those devices. Experts advise homeowners to switch out appliances for more efficient models, turn everything off at the mains. The same goes for lighting. Where possible, we need to switch to efficient bulbs and turn them off when not in use. This is easy for a 2-bed family home than a major hospital. Still, committed initiatives for lighting and power-saving tech can make a massive difference.
These five green US hospitals have all found ways to improve the use of lighting and other appliances to reduce their energy use. Providence Newberg Medical Center has one of the more interesting approaches when it comes to lighting their hospital. Here there are clever occupancy sensors on the lamps, as well as on the air conditioning and heating. They also worked to improve the use of natural light through careful placement of courtyards. High-efficiency lighting is also in place at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
As for the use of high-efficiency equipment and tech, West Kendall Baptist Hospital installed an automatic shut down on the monitors of their computers. This means that 8,000 desktops now shut down after 30 minutes of inactivity. They estimate $150,000 in annual energy savings from this measure alone.
What About Water Use In These Large Buildings?
It is easy to focus on energy consumption, green energy sources and carbon footprints, and measures to help the environment. It is all about meeting those carbon emission targets and goals for green energy consumption. However, there is also the issue of water efficiency and water waste.
Many homes and business waste water due to inefficient systems and bad habits. It is essential to save water where possible, especially in states at risk of drought. Hospitals could struggle with their size, large patient numbers, high water use and the need for sanitation. There are those that find ways to improve their approach.
These top US hospitals for green initiatives did not leave water consumption out of the equation at all. The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh is perhaps the most interesting of the five here. They aim to improve their water efficiency with a combination of improved landscaping and modern water fixtures. Helen Devos Children's Hospital also works with water reduction plumbing to reduce usage.
An excellent way to offset energy use and carbon emissions is to create some green spaces. This is easy enough at home where we can develop gardens, allotments spaces or even containers on a balcony.
Many businesses like to do their bit with similar approaches to planting, just on a larger scale. Some improve the landscaping on the ground, or even the roof, to encourage plant life and wildlife. Those that don't have space or permission may invest in other tree-planting scheme or charity organizations. Hospitals also have this opportunity, and some make brilliant use of their available space.
Many top hospitals in the US now offer green spaces for relaxation and sensory experiences. They understand the importance of nature and a natural view on health care. This is why New York Presbyterian Hospital provides so many great views of the Hudson River from its wards. They go further for green spaces for the environment with their own atrium. Elsewhere, the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh focuses on rooftop gardens, Providence Newberg Medical Center has a healing and wellness garden, and Helen Devos Children's Hospital has its own vegetated roofing.
This idea of tree planting and charity work leads to this idea of environmentally friendly outreach initiatives. There are two ways that local businesses and organizations can do this. One approach is to educate the staff and clients about their efforts to encourage good practice away from the facility. The other is to take staff to schools and other places in need of a better green space.
There are some impressive community outreach programs with these top green hospitals. The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and New York Presbyterian Hospital focus on education within the facility. This means teaching staff and patients about green matters within the institution.
At this point, the building itself is pretty green regarding the materials used, the energy consumption and appliances, and the green spaces around it. However, there is still the issue of carbon emissions from vehicles traveling to and from the facilities. This means patients' cars, staff transportation, ambulances, delivery trucks and more.
One solution is to encourage staff to leave the cars and home and either car pool, cycle or take public transport. This also means improving public transport links with the city for ease of access.
Again, many of these top medical institutions are ahead of the game when it comes to their public transport links and reliance on cars. Hospitals cannot stop visitors from driving to see loved ones. However, they can encourage staff to embrace a greener form of travel.
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh is a great example with their discounted parking for car pools. They also strive to maintain strong public transportation links. Across town, at UPMC, there is the promise to ensure of natural gas fuel for 90% of the UPMC's shuttle fleet. Meanwhile, New York Presbyterian Hospital provides bike storage to help those traveling in to work on bicycles.
These five green hospitals show that it is possible to create an impressive, environmentally friendly facility with the right attitude and elements in place.
There are lots of different considerations here to create a greener hospital, and some are easier than others. It can all depend on location, the size of the facility, the funds that are available and the commitment of those in charge. Some will try and focus on one of these elements to reduce energy use or improve their record on other environmental issues. Others will aim to improve in each area.
The work and results at these top green hospitals show that hard work does pay off. These gold-rated institutions manage to balance patient care and green environments with an effective, efficient facility. With time, many more of America's top hospitals should catch up.


text:
Q: Pattern recognition with double vectors I have a set of vectors which contain the same amount of entries. I have been googling for a while but i haven't found anything useful:
Is there a way to detect a pattern in these numbers?
The vectors look like this:
{840.2, 842.1,....,}
{840.3, 843.1,....,}
....

A: To analyze your data, I suggest writing a program that puts the data into a Comma Separated Values formatted file, then input the file into a spreadsheet.  Spreadsheets already have great functions for analyzing data.
A good project would be to use (implement) a neural network for analyzing the data.  Search the Web for "Neural Network C++".

A: Based on your comment above, I think you'll be interested in cross-correlation.
The basic idea is that you have two vectors (one of length m and one of length n, where n is usually much smaller than m) and you create a third vector (of length m - n) whose values represent how well the smaller vector matches a portion of the larger at particular points.
The basic algorithm is something like:
for i = 0 to m - n
    output[i] = 0
    for j = 0 to n
        output[i] = output[i] + (v0[i + j] * v1[j])^2

The index of the maximum value in the output vector is where the smaller input vector best matches the larger.
This naive implementation is quite slow, but in the Properties section of the above link, we see that we can use FFTs to calculate the cross-correlation much faster in general.

A: You could also use metrics like the cosine similarity  in order to determine how similar two vectors are.  If all of the vectors follow a similar trend, then their cosine similarities should also be similar.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Rainy days and unexpected costs aren't just part and parcel of UK festivals – they're also cash traps we should watch out for in our day-to-day money matters.
Festival season is now well underway with Glastonbury, the UK's biggest music festival, happening in just a few weeks.
So with our music and money themed playlist ready to go, we've taken a look at how your festival experience can actually help you manage your money a little better.
It's the summer in the UK, and rain at a festival is as much of a tradition as no showers and epic coach journeys home. But as long as you're prepared for a change in the weather with wellies and a raincoat, you'll still be able to enjoy the music.
The same goes for your day-to-day life. Something will probably go wrong at some point. It could be unexpected repairs to your car, emergency dental work or a spell where you are unemployed.
All of this could hit you hard if you don't have a savings buffer. But if you can put aside a small amount, you'll be able to cope if you suddenly need a large sum of cash.
One of the annoying parts of any festival is the band clash when two (or more) of your favourite acts are on at the same time on different stages. Unless you are willing to dart across the festival site, you will probably need to prioritise who you see.
It's a similar story for your cash. Unless you've got enough money not to worry about what you spend, you most likely have to make decisions about money every week.
It could be cutting back so you can afford a holiday, or staying in one night so you can afford to go out the next.
If you're in a situation where you have scaled back your spending but worry you'll still not have enough for bills and debts, some are more important than others.
Prioritise bills such as Council Tax (non-payment could put you in jail) and your rent (so you don't get kicked out of your home).
Rock legend Dave Grohl and his band The Foo Fighters had to cancel their headlining appearance at the 2015 Glastonbury after he broke his leg a few weeks earlier.
Dave's got a fair few million pounds so he managed to get by without the money, but if you had an injury that stopped you working, could you cope?
Income protection is an insurance policy you can buy to cover a loss of income if you are unable to work due to an illness or injury.
It's not for everyone, but if you would struggle to pay your bills if you couldn't work, it's worth considering.
Something we love about festivals is how everyone is a lot nicer and more chilled out. If you get lost or into trouble, there are stewards and friendly festival goers happy to point you in the right direction. All you need to do is ask for help.
Unfortunately, that's something many don't want to do when it concerns their money.
Whether it's pride, embarrassment or just not realising the extent of their problems, people often leave it too late to seek help.
Fortunately it's easy to get free and independent advice across the country. You can use our debt advice locator tool to find someone near you.
Spending all your money on your ticket, travel, food, drink and the latest festival fashion accessories quickly adds up and could leave you with nothing until the next payday.
Though it's tempting to go for the events with the biggest names, you can probably find a cheaper festival with a vibe and bands that work for you – whether you go for a smaller, more intimate affair, or a free local party.
If you take that principle into account when you spend money elsewhere, you'll also be able to make sure you live within your means.
Choosing a less expensive alternative or making do with what you already have not only keeps you on budget, but can give you extra cash to put aside for savings, short or long term.


Step 2 - Enter your FTP account username in the next field. By default, this will be the a00XXXXX number which is the same as your account number. In the following field, enter your FTP password.
Step 4 - You should now be connected to your web server and be able to drag and drop files in and out of the folders.


text:
Zoltán Varga (born 17 September 1952 in Miskolc) is a Hungarian engineer-economist and politician. He was the Minister of Local Government in cabinet of Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai. Since 2006 he is one of the members of the Committee of the Regions.

Political career
He spent his student years in Miskolc, although he did his secondary school studies in Kazincbarcika, in a Chemical Industry Technical School. He obtained a chemical industry graduate engineer diploma at the Pollack Mihály Technological College in Pécs. First he obtained a special engineer then an engineer-economist diploma. Although he met his wife, Erzsébet Vági in Pécs, he established a family in Orosháza, where in 1979 he worked in the local glassworks as a graduate engineer. In 1997 he left the glassworks in Orosháza as the works manager when he was elected as the president of the Representative Body of Békés County. From 1998 he worked as a works manager of the industrial park in Orosháza when in the municipal elections he was elected as the president of the general assembly in Békés County again.

In 1990 he was a founder member of the Organisation in Orosháza of the Hungarian Socialist Party. In 1994 he was elected as the member of the representative body in Békés County. Meanwhile, until 1997 he was the leader of the parliamentary group of the Hungarian Socialist Party. He occupied this position between 1998 and 2002 as well. During this time period he also worked as the president of the Economic Committee. In 2000 he was elected as the party's vice president of the county which position he still occupies.

In 2006 and 2010 at the parliamentary elections he obtained a mandate on the regional list in Békés County.

Trivia
He has an oral intermediate language exam in English. In his free time he likes playing tennis and going on excursions.

References
MTI Ki Kicsoda 2009, Magyar Távirati Iroda Zrt., Budapest, 2008, 1159. old.,
Életrajz az MSZP honlapján
Varga országgyűlési adatlapja

1952 births
Living people
People from Miskolc
Hungarian Socialist Party politicians
Hungarian Interior Ministers
Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2006–2010)
Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2010–2014)
Members of the Bajnai Government

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This weekend I was in a decorating mood.
so I got to have fun with some onesies.
have seen loads of them at baby showers.
I tried to be a little bit original.
My first idea was the bow-on-the-shoulder, inspired by the many woman's shirts I have seen.
Next, I thought of ruffles around the neck.
thrift store, and it smelled too much like mothballs, so white lace it was.
in white bias tape to hide the messy threads.
Finally, I thought I would kill two birds with one stone.
would look super cute on a onesie, so there you go.
If you want to learn how to make one, keep reading!
The onesies came in this cute mesh bag, so I reused it with a new ribbon for packaging!For some fun linky parties that I linked up to, go here.


text:
import { MongoObservable } from "meteor-rxjs";
import {Game} from "../models/game.model";

export const GameCollection = new MongoObservable.Collection<Game>("game-collection");


First off. THANK YOU to everyone on the MEGALOCKS membership rosters from past seasons for making our website such a huge success! We are absolutely thrilled with what we have accomplished together and sincerely hope to see all of you return to the community and enjoy the amazing ride of the upcoming 2018 college football season!
Secondly, we are truly appreciative for all the kind messages and words of encouragement received as we built this website and community. It meant a lot. We are also very thankful for those of you that have spread the good word and allowed our membership roster to grow. Thanks!
On that note, here are some FAQ and answers related to the website that you may find helpful.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO START YOUR OWN WEBSITE ?
It is something that I have always wanted to do! The passion for college football goes back a long time and this is an opportunity to build more content, reach a broader audience and be more creative. It has truly been a wonderful experience so far and I can't wait to get rolling on 2018 content and start interacting with another group of awesome members.
WHY ARE YOU CHARGING A FEE TO JOIN YOUR WEBSITE ?
I truly wish it could be free. The reality is that this is now my full-time job so I have to try and recover costs and make a little bit of money. The MEGALOCKS website is about getting RELIABLE information and EXPERT opinion and commentary delivered in an ENTERTAINING format. Yes, you will receive weekly picks, but this is not a selection service. It is something a lot more comprehensive. The plan is to consistently invest membership proceeds back into the website so that we can provide as much quality content, and as many value-add features to members as possible.
I DON'T BUY PICKS, PAL. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WILL JOIN YOUR WEBSITE ?
As I said, this site is a one-place stop for NCAA football information, predictions, expert commentary and entertainment. Many people will find the analysis and discussion enjoyable throughout the season regardless of whether or not they plan on making a wager. Of course, the website is geared towards handicapping but as we have always said, we will do all the heavy lifting and get the information out there for you to make your own decisions. If you are simply interested in "picks" then this website is likely not for you. We have distinguished ourselves from the companies that simply offer "picks", often with a high price tag, and without helpful analysis or commentary. We also plan on keeping the website clear of annoying advertising banners and pop-ups for as long as we possibly can.
Regardless, we wish everyone the very best this season and respect the choice of anyone who chooses not to pay for the content and service we provide.
WHAT DO I GET FOR MY MONEY AGAIN ?
It's best to take a look at the learn more section. There are a lot of benefits to becoming a member, and there is little doubt, the crowd favorite is the weekly game analysis up to the end of bowl season! There is a weekly boxscore review (every game played) that advises of misleading scores and key stats, exclusive receipt of our weekly selections against the point spread and access to our help with anything handicapping-related. But wait! That is not all. There is also a members-only discussion forum and a weekly handicapping chat where you can discuss the games of the week with MEGA and other members. We also recommend value picks for season win totals, conference titles and the National Title. As always, there are many great ideas planned for the future. You MUST stay tuned!
HOW DID YOU DECIDE ON WHAT TO CHARGE ?
We did a lot of research into what people charge simply for providing picks and wanted to be at the LOWER end of that range. We have no opinion or problem with what other people or companies choose to do. What we will say is that there are services that charge $20-$50 for a single pick. There are services that charge $500-$1,000 or a lot more for a full season of picks. Again – just picks. This website provides SO much more than that and at a FRACTION of the cost. Well over 10,000 words of unique content every week, expert picks and analysis, season previews for every FBS team, handicapping chat, contests, weekly boxscore review, access to a bunch of other really solid handicapping minds in the members-only discussion forum. Whoa, Nellie! All for less than $25 per month.
Having said that, if there is another service you feel is more suitable for you – OR – you never ever want to pay for picks that is your call. There are a number of very good free handicappers that can do a fine job for you. Do some research and make the decision that makes sense for you and your budget.
WHY IS SOME CONTENT ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC ?
A selection of the season previews will be free for anyone to view. We also anticipate that a couple of weekly game write-ups will be made available for public consumption (2-3 per week). Having free content is a way of letting people learn a bit more about what to expect if they become a member. This is especially true for folks who are not familiar with MEGALOCKS.
It is also important to note that MEGALOCKS archives are available for anyone to view. It is easy to take a peek at our past content and get an idea of what is provided to members throughout the season.
WHAT DOES THE MEGALOCKS ATS VALUE RATING MEAN IN YOUR TEAM PREVIEWS ?
The ATS Value Rating has two dimensions. One – Our forecast of how well a team going to perform against the point spread over the course of the entire season. Two – Perceived reliability of the forecast.
For example, a team that we rate as a 9.0 has a high likelihood of winning more games than they lose vs the number. They are also likely to be further away from .500 ATS than a team with a 7.0 rating. We allocate "5" to each of these dimensions and get a score out of "10".
What we are trying to do is give people an idea of which teams they should place on an initial watch list for "play on" and "play against" opportunities, particularly early in the season. As I am sure you are aware, things change very quickly once the season starts so this is just an initial take.
I REALLY WANT YOUR PICKS, BRO. HOW WILL I RECEIVE THEM ?
We will send them out immediately to the email address on file. We will also post them in the members-only section of the website. As always, you can expect a very detailed analysis of any game we recommend. There are no guarantees, but at least you will have the opportunity to understand our thought process and decision-making criteria. We are also investigating other delivery methods for the 2018 season.
WHY DO YOU SOMETIMES SAY "WE" AND OTHER TIMES SAY "I" ? THAT IS REALLY ANNOYING.
You can read the "About" page and browse the "learn more" area to get some MEGALOCKS background. In a nutshell, our number ONE priority by far is to provide reliable and high-quality analysis. Number TWO is to have fun. Essentially, the name MEGALOCKS is satirical. We also use a lot of ridiculous gambling terminology for the purpose of attempted humor and not because we actually believe in a lot of that crap.
More to your question, when we started out many years ago, it seemed like everyone was saying "we" and "us" when it was just one guy in a basement somewhere. We thought it would be funny (maybe it isn't ?) to use "we" most of the time, even though as far as we know, it is a team of ONE at the MEGALOCKS HQ.
HOW CAN YOU NOT CONSIDER YOURSELF A BACKSTABBING-TOUT-SCUMBAG ?
This website is not for everyone. If you want a ton of great information and an expert to help guide you through the season at an industry-leading price point, then this is the place! If you want to join the community for the 2018 season that would be amazing! If not, like we have said many times, we respect that decision and wish you the best. Hopefully you will change your mind and eventually give a MEGALOCKS membership a shot!
One thing to keep in mind. We are not quite sure how all people that sell sports-related information or "picks" became known as "tout scum". Maybe it is because some of them are dishonest ? Well guess what ? In my experience in the real world, I have met dishonest accountants, CEOs, lawyers, financial advisors, and tradespeople. The list goes on and on. The point? MEGALOCKS has developed an excellent reputation over the past 15 years and plans on maintaining that image and brand. Not because we have to, but because we want to.
The other thing to keep in mind is that people pay for advice and information all the time in all kinds of different industries. Just to cite one example, there are dozens of services that charge for Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) advice and in many cases, it is well worth it. Absolute value. Yet nobody thinks of these people or companies as "tout scum". We understand the prevailing negative sentiment regarding the business of "selling picks", much of which is justified. We just feel that there are bad apples in every basket and do not like painting any group of people or set of companies with an unfair broad brush.
Like anything in life, if you do not have the time and/or expertise to do something yourself, it just seems reasonable to explore the option of paying an expert to help. And when was it ever a bad idea to pay money for legitimate information and insight on a topic that you find interesting? How about for entertainment? You may have noticed that in just the past year, hard-working journalists across the United States are joining forces in an effort to provide great content, and be paid a fair fee for their work. Customers appear to be just fine with that model, and that makes complete sense to us.
Hope you get on board. We can't wait for the 2018 season to start!


The Coombes Connor Memorial is in memory of 2 men who were instrumental in setting up one of our earlier clubs in the early seventies. The event takes place each April on a fast relatively flat circuit of approximately 14 km. Sign on for the event is at Bellewstown Racecourse and the race proceeds from there being neutralised before reaching the circuit.


Fleshlight has launched its Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale!
Along with some great deals at almost 50% off, Fleshlight is bringing back the free shipping, sleeves and gifts if you make a purchase during the sale.
The company has even introduced a special Holiday themed red Quickshot. You know, if you want to take a friend along to the upcoming Christmas family reunion to keep you company on a cold winter night.
There's also the new limited edition Flight Turbo which looks like it'd be a lot of fun to dive into and a unique full size Fleshlight Turbo with a floating entry-ring .


text:
Q: Mongoose data wont save new instance of model I have data coming in from a form, posting to /submit. My route looks like this:
var submission = require('../models/submission');

router.post('/submit', function(req,res){
    var ObjectId = require('mongoose').Types.ObjectId;
    var formObjId = new ObjectId(req.body.formId);
    var data = new submission({
        formId: formObjId,
        fields: req.body.fields,
    });
    data.save(function (err) {
        if (!err) {
          //NO ERROR
        } else {
          return console.log(err);
        }
    });
    res.end("Successful submission!");
});

and my submissions model:
var mongoose = require('mongoose');

module.exports = mongoose.model('Submission',{
    createdAt: {type: Date, default: Date.now},
    formId: [],
    sourceId: [],
    fields: [],
});

The first part is where I'm trying to cast the string into an object id. At the save, nothing shows up as an error, although the two fields that I'm trying to save don't save with the object. The object is saved in the database with a createdAt and object id attribute. The others are blank.
Am I doing something wrong to keep the attributes from saving with the rest of the object?

A: if i understand your code in right way , i found following things
Your using mongoose driver this is fine.
In the schema the data type of formId is Array .But in the response method  the datatype which is assigning to this field  is ObjectId.
Please check once is the fields field is exists in request body .i.e Do you sending any field which is named as 'fields' in the post request.
These are things i found when i was first look in to the code .
I hope these may helps to you .