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Home All issues Volume 610 (February 2018) A&A, 610 (2018) A34 Full HTML
Volume 610, February 2018
2 Observations and ...
3 Variability of ...
4 Constraints on ...
5 Discussion and conclusion
Glimpses of the past activity of Sgr A★ inferred from X-ray echoes in Sgr C
D. Chuard1,2, R. Terrier2, A. Goldwurm1,2, M. Clavel3, S. Soldi2, M. R. Morris4, G. Ponti5, M. Walls6 and M. Chernyakova6,7
1 Irfu/Département d'astrophysique, CEA Paris-Saclay, Orme des Merisiers, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
e-mail: dimitri.chuard@cea.fr
2 APC, Univ. Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Obs. de Paris, USPC, 75205 Paris Cedex 13, France
3 Space Sciences Laboratory, 7 Gauss Way, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7420, USA
4 Dep. of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
5 Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, 85748 Garching, Germany
6 School of Physical Sciences, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland
7 Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies, 31 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2, Ireland
Context. For a decade now, evidence has accumulated that giant molecular clouds located within the central molecular zone of our Galaxy reflect X-rays coming from past outbursts of the Galactic supermassive black hole. However, the number of illuminating events as well as their ages and durations are still unresolved questions.
Aims. We aim to reconstruct parts of the history of the supermassive black hole Sgr A★ by studying this reflection phenomenon in the molecular complex Sgr C and by determining the line-of-sight positions of its main bright substructures.
Methods. Using observations made with the X-ray observatories XMM-Newton and Chandra and between 2000 and 2014, we investigated the variability of the reflected emission, which consists of a Fe Kα line at 6.4 keV and a Compton continuum. We carried out an imaging and a spectral analysis. We also used a Monte Carlo model of the reflected spectra to constrain the line-of-sight positions of the brightest clumps, and hence to assign an approximate date to the associated illuminating events.
Results. We show that the Fe Kα emission from Sgr C exhibits significant variability in both space and time, which confirms its reflection origin. The most likely illuminating source is Sgr A★. On the one hand, we report two distinct variability timescales, as one clump undergoes a sudden rise and fall in about 2005, while two others vary smoothly throughout the whole 2000–2014 period. On the other hand, by fitting the Monte Carlo model to the data, we are able to place tight constraints on the 3D positions of the clumps. These two independent approaches provide a consistent picture of the past activity of Sgr A★, since the two slowly varying clumps are located on the same wavefront, while the third (rapidly varying) clump corresponds to a different wavefront, that is, to a different illuminating event.
Conclusions. This work shows that Sgr A★ experienced at least two powerful outbursts in the past 300 yrs, and for the first time, we provide an estimation of their age. Extending this approach to other molecular complexes, such as Sgr A, will allow this two-event scenario to be tested further.
Key words: Galaxy: center / ISM: clouds / X-rays: ISM
© ESO 2018
From our terrestrial outlook, the astrophysical phenomena occurring at the centre of the Milky Way are observable at an unrivalled level of detail because the nucleus of our Galaxy is the closest we can study by two orders of magnitude. Consequently, the centre of the Milky Way has emerged as a key prototype for the study of galactic nuclei. In particular, like most massive galaxies, the Milky Way hosts a supermassive black hole at its centre, named after its electromagnetic counterpart, the compact radio source Sagittarius A⋆ (Sgr A⋆) discovered by Balick & Brown (1974). It is located around 8 kpc from Earth, and its mass is about four million times that of the Sun (see Chatzopoulos et al. 2015; Boehle et al. 2016, for recent estimates). Nevertheless, in contrast with active galactic nuclei (AGN), its emission is extremely faint. In X-rays (2–10 keV), its absorption-corrected quiescent luminosity is about 1033 erg s−1 (Baganoff et al. 2003), which is not only several orders of magnitude below the Eddington limit, but also far lower than what is expected from black-hole feeding by the stellar winds in its vicinity (Genzel et al. 2010). A strong effort is being made to account for this underluminous state using numerical models of the gas dynamics (e.g. Cuadra et al. 2015; MoŚcibrodzka 2017). In particular, radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF) models are in very good agreement with the observations of the steady-state emission from Sgr A⋆ (Wang et al. 2013).
The black hole also undergoes regular flare-like events, especially in X-rays (Neilsen et al. 2013; Ponti et al. 2015; Yuan & Wang 2016; Ponti et al. 2017, and references therein). During these episodes, its luminosity can increase by up to two orders of magnitude above the quiescent value. This variability indicates that significant changes in the accretion flow, such as stochastic acceleration, shocks, magnetic reconnection, or tidal disruption of small bodies, are possible. By extrapolation, we may therefore infer that Sgr A⋆ sporadically ventures out of its current low-luminosity state. The idea that this could have occurred in the past motivates the search for relics of potential past high-activity episodes in the interstellar medium surrounding the central black hole (see Ponti et al. 2013, for a review).
When an X-ray source experiences an intense burst, it is indeed possible to track it long after it ends by monitoring its reflection on any optically thick molecular material located along the trajectory of the photons. This reflected emission consists of a strong fluorescent line of neutral and low-ionised iron (Fe Kα) at 6.4 keV, together with much weaker lines of lower atomic number elements and a continuum component produced by Compton scattering. In the case of potential past flares of Sgr A⋆, this emission is expected to come primarily from the giant molecular clouds populating the central molecular zone (CMZ; Morris & Serabyn 1996; Sunyaev et al. 1993).
In 1994, the ASCA mission first detected a strong Fe Kα signal in Sgr B2, the most massive molecular cloud in the Galaxy, which is located at a projected distance of about 100 pc from Sgr A⋆ (Koyama et al. 1996). Since then, similar detections have been reported at many other locations in the CMZ (e.g. Nobukawa et al. 2008; Terrier et al. 2018). Notwithstanding that this non-thermal emission can also be produced by low-energy cosmic rays (LECR; e.g. Yusef-Zadeh et al. 2002; Dogiel et al. 2009; Tatischeff et al. 2012), the great variability observed in the Sgr A complex (Muno et al. 2007; Ponti et al. 2010; Capelli et al. 2011; Clavel et al. 2013, Clavel et al. 2014) and in Sgr B2 (Koyama et al. 2008; Inui et al. 2009; Terrier et al. 2010; Nobukawa et al. 2011) is a solid argument for a reflection origin.
Considering the estimated energetics of the illumination, the most plausible explanation is that the source is Sgr A⋆. Therefore, it is possible to probe the past activity of the Galactic supermassive black hole over the past few centuries by monitoring the echoes of its past flares while they propagate through the CMZ. The current distribution and evolution of the 6.4 keV bright clumps indeed suggest that Sgr A⋆ experienced at least one, and probably two, powerful outbursts (L ~ 1039 erg s−1) in the past few centuries (Clavel et al. 2013). However, this does not allow a proper reconstruction of the past light curve of Sgr A⋆ as long as the distances between the bright clumps and the black hole, and hence the propagation delay, remain unknown. Two main approaches have emerged to address this problem: correlating variations between multiple regions all over the CMZ while assuming that they are illuminated by the same event on the one hand (Clavel et al. 2013; Churazov et al. 2017; Terrier et al. 2018), and using the physical properties of the X-ray emission to constrain the line-of-sight positions of individual clumps on the other hand (Capelli et al. 2012; Ryu et al. 2013; Walls et al. 2016).
From this standpoint, the molecular complex Sgr C is a highly valuable object of study as it allows the two methods to be applied together for the first time. Sgr C is indeed a suitable candidate for three-dimensional position determination based on spectral analysis as its clumps are well resolved. It is also ideally located for studying correlations in the Fe Kα emission from both sides of the Galactic plane, since Sgr C and Sgr B2 are on opposite sides of Sgr A⋆ at similar projected distances.
Fe Kα line emission at 6.4 keV was first detected in Sgr C by Murakami et al. (2001) with ASCA. It was then resolved into four main clumps by Nakajima et al. (2009) with Suzaku. Furthermore, the study of the thermal diffuse X-ray emission by Tsuru et al. (2009) revealed an elliptical object designated as G359.41−0.12 and an adjacent chimney-like structure. These two features, which are notably bright in the SXV Kα line at 2.45 keV, are thought to be a supernova remnant (SNR) candidate and its associated outflow. Many non-thermal radio filaments are also found in the area, including one of the brightest in the CMZ, the Sgr C filament (Liszt 1985; Anantharamaiah et al. 1991; LaRosa et al. 2000), as well as two non-thermal X-ray filaments that may betwo pulsar wind nebulae (Chuard et al. 2017). Because of the possible interaction of all these structures with the 6 × 105 M⊙ of molecular gas contained in Sgr C (Liszt & Spiker 1995), some of its Fe Kα emission may be due to cosmic-ray irradiation rather than X-ray reflection. Therefore Sgr C offers a unique opportunity to study these two competing scenarios for the origin of the Fe Kα emission.
We study the variability of the Fe Kα emission in observations of Sgr C made with the X-ray observatories XMM-Newton and Chandra between 2000 and 2014 (Sect. 2). To do so, we used both imaging analysis and light curve extraction (Sect. 3). Based on our results, we discuss the plausibility of the reflection scenario compared to the cosmic-ray irradiation scenario. Finally, by comparing our data to Monte Carlo simulated reflection spectra, we are able to place the best constraints to date on the line-of-sight positions of the main bright clumps of Sgr C (Sect. 4.1). Ultimately, extending this approach with the inclusion of other molecular complexes allows us to partially reconstruct the past light curve of the Galactic supermassive black hole (Sect. 4.2).
2 Observations and data reduction
Sgr C has been repeatedly observed with XMM-Newton and Chandra, during either dedicated pointings or CMZ scans. We consider here all the available observations from these two satellites, including the latest Chandra observation that we were granted in 2014. All data were taken with focal plane imaging spectrometers using X-ray CCDs, namely the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC) onboard XMM-Newton (Turner et al. 2001; Strüder et al. 2001) and the Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS; Garmire et al. 2003). They represent a final dataset of 14 observations, covering the period from September 2000 to August 2014 (Table 1).
The data reduction was carried out using the standard tools provided for each observatory, the XMM-Newton Extended Source Analysis Software (ESAS; Snowden et al. 2008) included in the XMM-Newton Science Analysis Software (SAS) version 12.0.1, and the Chandra Interactive Analysis of Observations software (CIAO; Fruscione et al. 2006) version 4.8, respectively.
Exposure-corrected images were created from Chandra data using the CIAO scripts fluximage and merge_obs. Only ACIS-I chips were considered. We excluded events within a circular region of radius 2.76′ centred on (l, b) = (359.56°, − 0.08°) in the 2005 dataset because of contamination from the X-ray binary KS 1741−293, which was very active at that time (Degenaar & Wijnands 2013). Maps of the Fe Kα emission were generated by integrating the counts in the band 6.32−6.48 keV and continuum-subtracted following the approach of Ponti et al. (2010) and Clavel et al. (2013). The underlying continuum emission was estimated from images created in the 4.0−6.1 keV band, assuming a power-law spectrum of photon index Γ = 2 (i.e. with a rescaling factor of 0.045).
Source spectra were extracted from Chandra data using the CIAO specextract routine, which also generated the ancillary response file(ARF) and the redistribution matrix file (RMF). It was also used to extract background spectra from blank sky event files, which were created by combining observations of relatively empty fields available from the Chandra calibration database (CALDB version 4.7.2). XMM-Newton spectra were extracted with the ESAS mos-spectra and pn-spectra scripts. Filter-wheel closed event lists from the ESAS calibration database were used to estimate the quiescent particle background. All spectra were then analysed with Sherpa, the modelling and fitting package of CIAO (Freeman et al. 2001). They were rebinned until the square root of the number of counts in each bin exceeded a minimum signal-to-noise ratio, between 3 and 10, depending on the quality of the spectrum. The analysis was restricted to the energy range 2−7.5 keV. Model fits were carried out using a chi-square statistic with the Gehrels variance function (Gehrels 1986). In the following, all errors are given at 1σ (68% confidence) level and descriptions implicitly refer to Galactic coordinates.
List of all XMM-Newton (EPIC) and Chandra (ACIS-I) observations, grouped into the six periods we defined to study the time variability (Fig. 2).
3 Variability of the Fe Kα emission
We first focus on the spatial distribution of the Fe Kα emission in Sgr C. In order to identify the brightest regions and track them over time, we took advantage of Chandra's unique imaging capabilities thanks to its high angular resolution. We produced two images of the Fe Kα emission from our dataset from the data taken in 2005 and 2014, respectively (Fig. 1). Both correspond to an exposure time of about 100 ks (see Table 1).
Three main bright regions are visible in the 2005 image. They match those identified by Nakajima et al. (2009) using Suzaku data taken in Feburary 2006 (seven months later than the first ACIS-I Chandra data). These regions (indicated as Sgr C1, Sgr C2, and Sgr C4; see also Table 2) are known to be coincident with molecular structures seen in radio (Ryu et al. 2013; Terrier et al. 2018). Between 2005 and 2014, the morphology of the Fe Kα emission underwent noticeable changes. The image built from the 2014 data reveals that there is almost no more emission in Sgr C4. Sgr C2, the brightest region in 2005, is also clearly less luminous, and the centroid of the bright area is shifted towards the west. The case of C1 is more complicated as the peak value of the radiance remains roughly constant, but the bright area shrinks and moves towards the west as well. Thus, all three regions exhibit clear variability. These results based on Chandra data are therefore in full agreement with the findings of Terrier et al. (2018) using XMM-Newton observations.
In orderto obtain more quantitative information about the variability, we carried out a spectral analysis in the three main regions identified above (Table 2). Following the standard approach, we fitted the spectra extracted in these regions witha phenomenological model composed of a reflected emission component and two thermal plasma components (APEC; Smith et al. 2001). The reflected emission was modelled by an absorbed (with fixed column density of NH = 1023 cm−2) power law ofphoton index Γ = 2 and a Gaussian line with E = 6.4 keV and σE = 10 eV. The power law corresponds to the spectrum of the illuminating source, and the absorption is the result of the crossing of the molecular cloud. Following Koyama et al. (2007) and Tsuru et al. (2009), the temperatures of the two APEC models werefixed at 1.0 and 6.5 keV, respectively, the first accounting for the soft local plasma emission and the second for the hot Galactic ridge emission (Worrall et al. 1982). No fixed normalisation ratio was assumed between thetwo APEC components, which were thus left free to vary. We fixed the metallicity to solar values (following Nakajima et al. 2009) and applied foreground interstellar absorption (with column density fixed at NH = 7.5 × 1022 cm−2) to all components except for the Gaussian line: (1)
Even if this description is not fully physically relevant (see Sect. 4.1), it allows us to precisely measure the flux in the Fe Kα line.
The dataset including all available XMM-Newton and Chandra observations was split into six periods (see Table 1) in order to study the flux variability over time. For each region, the observations for all these six periods were fitted simultaneously, leaving the normalisation of the reflection components free to vary from one period to another, while the thermal components were held constant over time. The same approach was then applied to a control region (Table 2) that did not overlap the bright clumps in order to estimate the level of background emission at 6.4 keV. The reduced chi-square is very close to 1 for all fits.
The Fe Kα light curves we derived are shown in Fig. 2. There is no evidence of a systematic shift between XMM-Newton and Chandra data points, suggesting that intercalibration errors, although possible, do not significantly affect our results. The observed trend confirms that the reflected emission from Sgr C has varied significantly for the past 15 yrs. In Sgr C2 and C4, the hypothesis that the flux has been constant during the entire period is rejected at 5.6 and 5.4σ, respectively. The light curve of Sgr C2 exhibits a maximum in 2005, followed by a sharp decrease and a residual flux consistent with constant emission from 2008 to 2014. However, since no data were collected between 2000 and 2005, it is possible that the flux of Sgr C2 was even higher during this period. The light curve of Sgr C4 is compatible with a linear decrease over the whole period down to the background level indicated by the grey band. As for Sgr C1, its light curve would have been compatible with a constant without the excess seen by Chandra in 2005 (+ 62% compared to the 2005-excluded average). In this respect, it is worth noting that the variability we infer from the light curves only takes changes in intensity into account and thus might be hiding changes in morphology within the region of integration (Clavel et al. 2013). This appears to be especially true for Sgr C1, whose 6.4 keV emission morphology evolves, but with almost constant brightness.
The timescale and the amplitude of the variability detected at 6.4 keV exclude the cosmic-ray irradiation scenario and confirm the reflection origin of the Fe Kα emission in Sgr C, in agreement with Terrier et al. (2018). The fluxes in the line and in the reflected continuum appear to be positively correlated at the 4σ level (determined by permutation following Legendre & Legendre 1998, to take uncertainties in both variables into account), which is also consistent with the reflection scenario. Furthermore, the apparent motion of the emission centroids towards the west, that is, away from Sgr A⋆, may be evidence of the signal propagation within these clouds. In the following, we therefore consider that Sgr A⋆ is the source at the origin of this reflected emission (see also Sect. 5).
Chandra continuum-subtracted images of the Fe Kα emission in Sgr Cfor the observations taken in 2005 (left) and 2014 (right). The maps are in units of counts s−1 cm−2 pixel−1 with a pixel size of about 1″, and smoothed using a Gaussian kernel of 20-pixel radius. The regions of interest (Sgr C1, Sgr C2, and Sgr C4) are marked by the solid ellipses (see Table 2). The dashed circle shows the control region. The white cross marks the position of the X-ray transient KS 1741−293, which has been removed from the 2005 dataset. The green crosses mark the positions of bright point sources (F0.5−8 keV > 10−5 counts s−1 cm−2) from the catalogue of Muno et al. (2006) that remain visible in the 6.4 keV band after continuum subtraction.
Galactic coordinates of the elliptical regions, following the naming convention of Ryu et al. (2013) and Terrier et al. (2018).
Light curves of the 6.4 keV line emission obtained by fitting the phenomenological model and integrated over the regions Sgr C1 (left), Sgr C2 (centre) and Sgr C4 (right). The black circles and the red squares correspond to XMM-Newton and Chandra observations, respectively. The grey shaded bars show the average level of background emission measured in the control region (their thickness represents one standard deviation).
4 Constraints on the past activity of Sgr A⋆
4.1 Determining the line-of-sight positions of the clumps
It is possible to use the observations of Sgr C to place constraints on the past light curve of Sgr A⋆ on the condition that we can precisely determine the positions of the bright clumps along the line of sight. This information can be extracted from the cloud X-ray spectra but, until recently, no relevant physical models were available forthis purpose. Either phenomenological models (like the one we used in Sect. 3) or models developed for other geometries, e.g. MyTorus (Zhang et al. 2015; Mori et al. 2015) and pexrav (Ponti et al. 2010), were used. These poorly suited models stongly limit any inference of the physical parameters of the reflection phenomenon and may provide results that are marred by significant systematic errors. Fortunately, Monte Carlo models computing the spectrum produced by X-ray reflection from a spherical molecular cloud have been recently developed. They are thus the best-suited models available to date to physically describe the reflection phenomenon.
We used a Monte Carlo spectral model developed by Walls et al. (2016), hereafter referred to as the Monte Carlo model, to determine the line-of-sight positions of the reflecting clouds from their spectra. This model has been designed to take the geometry of the reflection, which has a major influence on the flux and spectral shape of the cloud emission (Walls et al. 2016), into account. The geometry is parametrised in the model by the angle between the cloud, the illuminating source, and the observer, referred to as the line-of-sight angle. The total continuum flux at low energies notably increases with this angle because photons only superficially penetrate the cloud before being scattered towards the observer. Consequently, the scattered photons are more likely to be absorbed in the low-angle case than in the high-angle case. The line-of-sight angle, as well as the cloud column density, also affect the strength of the Fe Kα line and the depth of the iron edge (Walls et al. 2016). All these effects are of key interest for the line-of-sight position determination.
The line-of-sight angle and the cloud column density are free parameters of the Monte Carlo model that can thus be constrained through a spectral fitting procedure based on our dataset. In order to have the best possible constraints on their values, we restricted our analysis to the deepest observations (2000, 2005, 2012, and 2014). We used the same model as in Sect. 3, except that the reflected emission was now modelled using the Monte Carlo model: (2)
The parameters of the two thermal plasma components and of the foreground interstellar absorption were kept unchanged (see Sect. 3). For a given region and a given period, the normalisation was left free to vary. The line-of-sight angle and the cloud column density (with a uniform density profile) were also left free but constant over all periods. The dataset allows good parameter constraints with satisfactory fit quality (see Fig. 3 and Table 3). The variability of the reflected component is found to be consistent with the light curves obtained in Sect. 3.
The best-fit values of the cloud parameters are given in Table 3. The column densities we find are higher than previous estimates (Yusef-Zadeh et al. 2007; Nakajima et al. 2009). As Walls et al. (2016) reported similar findings for Sgr B2, this suggests that prior modelling efforts might have been biased towards underestimating column densities. In the case of Sgr C2, the difference is almost one order of magnitude. However, our values are in the range of those inferred from the CS J = 1–0 line emission (NH ~ 1023 cm−2; Tsuboi et al. 1999) and from Herschel far-infrared data (NH ~ 1024 cm−2; Molinari et al. 2011).
Using the angles obtained from the fits and the celestial coordinates, we are able to derive the 3D positions of the clumps within the CMZ (Fig. 4). Sgr C2 is found to be in front of Sgr A⋆, while C1 and C4 are slightly behind it, both at comparable line-of-sight distances. Although the error bars look rather small, one should keep in mind that some systematics may affect our results, notably because of the uncertainty on the cloud metallicity, its density profile, and its geometry.
We tested the effect of the cloud metallicity Z. Three values that are higher than solar are parametrised in the model (1.3, 1.7, and 1.9) but we only considered the Z = 1.3 case since the Galactic centre abudances are known to be close to solar (see e.g. Davies et al. 2009). We find than increasing the metallicity tends to separate the clouds more from each other. In the case of Sgr C1, we observe that the line-of-sight angle increases with increasing Z up to degrees. Conversely, the angle of Sgr C2 decreases to degrees. The position of Sgr C4 remains almost unchanged ( degrees). Although some of these fits are statistically less good than those with Z = 1, this procedure allows us to estimate the typical systematic error that results from the uncertainty on metallicity. On the whole, we find that when we assume a higher metallicity, this does not fundamentally alter the trend of our results even if it marginally changes the angle values.
In addition, the shape of the cloud and its density profile might not be as assumed by the Monte Carlo model. We tested Gaussian density profiles. They have a very limited effect on our findings. The line-of-sight angle changes by only a few degrees for Sgr C1 and C2 and remains unchanged for Sgr C4. Moreover, all the fits with Gaussian profiles are statistically less good than those with uniform density. Consequently, we did not consider these alternative profiles further.
The cloud might also be only partially illuminated if the burst duration is shorter than the cloud light-crossing time, which might be the case for Sgr C2 according to the rapid change observed in its light curve (Fig. 2). Ultimately, the line-of-sight geometry of the cloud would also be required in order to translate the observed light curves into the original burst profile. Unfortunately, no satisfying heuristic can be found to estimate the influence of these parameters. It would require a refined version of the Monte Carlo model, which is not yet available.
Despite these limitations, the position and column density we find for Sgr C2 agree well with those required to account for the extinction of the north-eastern portion of the SNR candidate G359.41−0.12 (Chuard et al. 2017). It is also worth noting that while some of the 6.4 keV emission in Sgr C4 is superposed upon the SNR candidate emission, there is no sign of absorption of the SNR candidate emission by Sgr C4. As a consequence, G359.41−0.12 may consistently be located somewhere between Sgr C2 and Sgr C4. Finally, our results also agree with the work of Sawada et al. (2004), recently confirmed by Yan et al. (2017), who derived a distribution of the molecular clouds in the Galactic centre that is compatible with the positions we find for the main subregions of Sgr C.
Nevertheless, our results are significantly different from previous estimates that were based on partial absorption of the local plasma emission reported by Ryu et al. (2013). The origin of this discrepancy is unclear. The model used by previous studies to describe thereflected spectrum coming from the illuminated cloud (an absorbed power law) is poorly suited, as was shown by Walls et al. (2016). In particular, the strong dependence of the spectrum on the line-of-sight angle can hamper the partial absorption measurement if it is not properly modelled. Furthermore, we note that since the molecular cloud only covers part of the region chosen for the spectral analysis, a fraction of the flux is not in the line of sight of the cloud. Hence, part of the absorption is independent of the cloud location, and it is inaccurate to consider the cloud density liable for all the absorption of the thermal plasma in the region. This is another important bias in the derivation of the cloud position from the fitted absorption fraction as done by Ryu et al. (2013).
Spectrum of Sgr C1 observed with EPIC-pn onboard XMM-Newton in 2012. The red line corresponds to the best-fit model. The dotted lines show the three components of the model: the hot (thin line) and soft (medium) thermal plasmas, and the Monte Carlo reflected emission (thick).
Values of the line-of-sight angles and uniform cloud column densities, obtained by fitting the XMM-Newton and Chandra data with the Monte Carlo model.
Face-on view of the Galactic centre. The negative direction along the z-axis points towards Earth. The red star marks the position of Sgr A⋆. The black dots show the best-fit positions for the bright clumps Sgr C1, C2, C4 (Table 3), and Sgr B2 (Walls et al. 2016) in the solar-metallicity and uniform density profile case. The grey parabolas trace the best-fit associated wavefronts (as seen from Earth; Sunyaev & Chuarzov 1998) for the two-event model. The width of the parabolas represents the statistical uncertainty on the position, not the duration of the associated event.
4.2 Investigation of the associated illuminating events
Constraining the 3D positions of the clouds within the CMZ opens the door to reconstructing the past light curve of Sgr A⋆. To do so, we developed a proxy of the Monte Carlo model to fit the time delay of the associated echo directly instead of the line-of-sight angle. Considering that Sgr C1, C4 and B2 are roughly located on the same parabola, we tested two hypotheses: (i) that all clumps result from the same event; and (ii) that the illumination in Sgr C2 is due to a second event. Following the Occam razor parsimony principle, we restricted our analysis to one-event and two-event models. We did not consider models with more events to avoid overfitting.
We first fitted the spectra with the proxy model while imposing the same value of the delay on all clumps. Cloud column densities were fixed to the best-fit values we found when fitting each clump individually to ensure stability in the parameter estimation. Then, we repeated the procedure, now assuming that Sgr C2 corresponds to a different delay. We compared the statistics of these two fits using a likelihood-ratio test and found that the second hypothesis is statistically better than the first (p < 0.05). The best-fit values of the associated delays (2000 being the reference year) are yr for Sgr C2 and yr for all other clouds (Sgr C1, C4, and B2). As the systematics discussed before may affect these values, we repeated the same analysis in the Z = 1.3 case. We found again that the two-flare scenario is preferred, and the delays are now yr and yr.
Another important assumption of the model is the cloud density profile. However, as stated in Sect. 4.1, alternative Gaussian profiles are statistically less good, and in any case, they cause the clouds to lie farther apart. This would be even more inconsistentwith a single-event scenario. Therefore our conclusions are rather robust against systematic effects and the values obtained in the Z = 1.3 case provide an estimate of the systematic uncertainty in the age determination of the outbursts.
The finding that Sgr C2 is illuminated by a second event is further supported by the two distinct variation patterns that can be identified in the light curves derived in Sect. 3. The time behaviours of Sgr C2 and Sgr C4 are indeed very different, one exhibiting a sudden rise and fall in about 2005, while the other decreases smoothly during the entire period. Even assuming that the Fe Kα emission in Sgr C2 peaked in about 2003, the illumination duration barely exceeds eight years. Because of the delay due to the propagation, the timescale of the associated flare has to be substantially shorter (i.e. a few years). Conversely, the light curve of Sgr C4 suggests a considerably longer timescale (ten years at least). This difference strongly supports the two-event scenario. Interestingly, Terrier et al. (2018) reported a trend for Sgr B2 very similar to the trend of Sgr C4, which is an important hint that these two clumps may be witnessing the same event. Although the light curve of Sgr C1 shows no evidence of a comparable linear decrease, the imaging analysis makes it clear that it is also illuminated by a long outburst (whose duration is estimated to ~ 20 yr by Terrier et al. 2018). As a consequence, the evidence in support of the two-event scenario does not come from position determination alone, but also from consistent patterns of variation found in the images and the light curves.
Sgr C is a much more complex region than Sgr B2. It notably hosts a SNR candidate that might be interacting with molecular material, as well as two nearby pulsar wind nebula candidates. As a consequence, this site is expected to be a good candidate for the cosmic-ray irradiation scenario. However, we were able to provide significant evidence of variability of the Fe Kα emission in all considered subregions. In this regard, it should be noted that Sgr C2 is located very close to the sharp edge of G359.41−0.12 (Chuard et al. 2017), which is a possible interaction region of the SNR candidate with molecular gas, that is, a candidate site for intense cosmic-ray production. Despite this, Sgr C2 is the clump for which we have the strongest evidence of short-term variability. This result, alongwith the consistent interpretation given in Sect. 4.1, is a very strong argument in favour of the reflection scenario. This does not exclude the possibility that LECR production may still contribute to the nearly constant level of background emission (see Fig. 2), however.
We propose that Sgr C1, C4, and B2 were illuminated by the same event that took place about 240 years before present1 and lasted at least a decade. Additionally, we find that Sgr C2 was likely illuminated by a second flare that took place about 100 yrs later and lasted no longer than a few years. These results, which rely on imaging analysis, light-curve extraction, and three-dimensional position determination using a Monte Carlo spectral model, appear to be consistent with previous works that used different approaches. The most recent flare we report may be the same as the 110-year-old outburst described by Churazov et al. (2017), based on the comparison of time and space structure functions of the emission of a part of the Sgr A molecular complex. Furthermore, our findings are in very good agreement with the two-event scenario proposed by Clavel et al. (2013) for the Sgr A complex. As a result, the long flare seen in Sgr C1, C4, and B2 may be the same as the one seen by these authors in the molecular clouds known as MC1, MC2, and G0.11−0.11, while the short event seen in Sgr C2 may be the same as the one they see in the Bridge. Since we are able, for the first time, to assign an approximate date to these outbursts, we can infer the possible locations of the clumps in Sgr A. If the Bridge were indeed illuminated by the same flare as Sgr C2, the z-coordinates (as defined in Fig. 4) of its subregions Br1 and Br2 would thus be in the range of z ~ 5−25 pc. Similarly, assuming that MC1, MC2, and G0.11−0.11 recently witnessed the 240-year-old flare, their z-coordinates would thus be in the range of z ~ 20−45 pc. Following this approach, these predictions can be considered a test of the two-event scenario.
We are able to provide only lower limits on the luminosity of the associated outbursts. The implied luminosity varies with the inverse square of the radius of the cloud, assumed spherical, which is very poorly constrained. We used the size of the spectral extraction region instead, meaning that we clearly underestimate the luminosity. Moreover, clouds may not be fully illuminated, contrary to what we assume. It is also probable that we do not have data that match the time of maximum emission. Bearing this in mind, the X-ray luminosity (2–10 keV) of the two events illuminating Sgr C is estimated to be at least a few 1038 erg s−1, and perhaps significantly higher (up to a few 1039 erg s−1). As was extensively discussed in Clavel et al. (2013) for the Sgr A complex, Sgr A⋆ is the best candidate to account for the luminosity, spectral index, and flare duration required to explain the Fe Kα emission observed in Sgr C and to consistently illuminate both sides of the CMZ in three independent molecular complexes. The two flares we report could be due to stochastic variations of the accretion rate (Cuadra et al. 2008) or tidal disruption events (TDE; see e.g. Zubovas et al. 2012). While the constraints we place on their age and frequency may help in investigating their origin, both further regular monitoring of the Fe Kα emission of the CMZ and greater modelling efforts are still needed to ultimately unveil the past light curve of Sgr A⋆.
This research has made use of data obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA, and from the Chandra Data Archive, as well as software provided by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) in the application packages CIAO, ChIPS, and Sherpa. The authors acknowledgethe Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) for financial support. G.P. acknowledges support from the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR).
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Undergraduate Petascale Modules
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Shodor > Petascale > Materials > Undergraduate Petascale Modules
Completed Petascale Curriculum Modules approved by Blue Waters
Results: 11-20 of 30
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Parallelization: Conway's Game of Life
By: Aaron Weeden
This module teaches: 1) Conway's Game of Life as an example of a cellular automaton, 2) how cellular automata are used in solutions to scientific problems, 3) how to implement parallel code for Conway's Game of Life (including versions that use shared memory via OpenMP, distributed memory via the Message Passing Interface (MPI), and hybrid via a combination of OpenMP and MPI), 4) how to measure the performance and scaling of a parallel application in multicore and manycore environments, and 5) how cellular automata fall into the Structured Grid "dwarf" (a class of algorithms that have similar communication and computation patterns). Upon completion of this module, students should be able to: 1) Understand the importance of cellular automata in modeling scientific problems, 2) Design a parallel algorithm and implement it using OpenMP and/or MPI, 3) Measure the scalability of a parallel code over multiple or many cores, and 4) Explain the communication and computation patterns of the Structured Grid dwarf. It is assumed that students will have prerequisite experience with C or Fortran 90, *nix systems, and modular arithmetic.
Parallelization: Infectious Disease
Epidemiology is the study of infectious disease. Infectious diseases are said to be "contagious" among people if they are transmittable from one person to another. Epidemiologists can use models to assist them in predicting the behavior of infectious diseases. This module will develop a simple agent-based infectious disease model, develop a parallel algorithm based on the model, provide a coded implementation for the algorithm, and explore the scaling of the coded implementation on high performance cluster resources.
Modeling an "Able" Invader - the "Cane" Toad
By: Angela B. Shiflet, George W. Shiflet
This module introduces the basics of cellular automaton simulation with an application to studying the effect of fencing artificial watering points on adult cane toad invasion in Australia.
Dynamic Programming with CUDA, Part I
By: Rob Hochberg
This module provides a quick review of dynamic programming, but the student is assumed to have seen it before. The parallel programming environment is NVIDIA's CUDA environment for graphics cards (GPGPU - general purpose graphics processing units). The CUDA environment simultaneously operates with a fast shared memory and a much slower global memory, and thus has aspects of shared-memory parallel computing and distributed computing. Specifics for programming in CUDA are included where appropriate, but the reader is also referred to the NVIDIA CUDA C Programming Guide, and the CUDA API Reference Manual.
Dynamic Programming with CUDA, Part II
This module is largely stand-alone. It is "Part II" only in the sense that it does not contain the overview of dynamic programming seen in Part I, and does not recapitulate the introduction to CUDA. We will continue to refer the reader to various NVIDIA references where appropriate, particularly the NVIDIA CUDA C Programming Guide, and the CUDA API Reference Manual, and where we introduce new CUDA-specific ideas, will linger a bit longer by way of introduction. The algorithms described here are completely independent of Part I, so that a reader who already has some familiarity with CUDA and dynamic programming may begin with this module with little difficulty.
How Many People Does it Take to...: A Parallel Approach to the Party Problem
By: Dave Toth
This module teaches an introduction to the Party Problem, a problem in the field of Ramsey Theory, a subfield of mathematics and performance differences of a naive solution to the Party Problem between a sequential program, an OpenMP program, and a CUDA program.
Matrix Multiplication with CUDA
This module teaches matrix multiplication in the context of enumerating paths in a graph and the basics of programming in CUDA. It emphasizes the power of using shared memory when programming on GPGPU architectures.
Parallel Numerical Simulation of Boltzmann Transport in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
By: Zlatan Aksamija
This module teaches the basic principles of semi-classical transport simulation based on the time-dependent Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) formalism with performance considerations for parallel implementations of multi-dimensional transport simulation and the numerical methods for efficient and accurate solution of the BTE for both electronic and thermal transport using the simple finite difference discretization and the stable upwind method.
BLAST-ing in Parallel: Enabling an Essential Computational Tool to Keep Pace with the Explosive Growth in Biological Sequence Data
By: Jeff Krause
This module explores the inner workings of the BLAST similarity search tool, considering the algorithm and the impact of various search conditions and settings on performance. Various approaches to parallelizing the computation and their performance impacts are considered. Benchmarking of the mpiBLAST parallel code is carried out at different scales.
A Beginner's Guide to High-Performance Computing
By: Rubin Landau
This module presents some of the general ideas behind and basics principles of high-performance computing (HPC) as performed on a supercomputer. These concepts should remain valid even as the technical specification of the latest machines continually change. Although this material is aimed at HPC supercomputers, if history be a guide, present HPC hardware and software become desktop machines in less than a decade.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Daud "Cino" Yordan (born 10 June 1987) is an Indonesian professional boxer and former IBO Featherweight and Lightweight Champion.

Early life and family
Yordan was born in Ketapang, West Borneo, Indonesia on 10 June 1987. He is the fifth child of six children to Hermanus Lai Cun, a Chinese father and Natalia, a Dayak mother.

His former trainer, Carlos Jesus Penate Torres from Cuba give his nickname Cino (Chino in Spanish). Since then he is always known by the nickname.

Professional career
Yordan won his first 23 fights, most against national level opponents, which included notable wins against Surasak Makordae and José Antonio Meza Jimenez, the latter being his American debut. He then fought Robert Guerrero, his first fight on HBO, where the fight ended as a no contest after an accidental head clash in the second round. After this he started fighting higher level opponents, beating Robert Allanic, by KO, and Ricky Sismundo, by TKO. Yordan suffered his first professional loss against the seasoned veteran Celestino Caballero by UD. He won his first minor belt, the WBO Asia-Pacific Featherweight Title, after defeating Damian David Marchiano.

Yordan then fought for the WBA featherweight title against Chris John on 17 April 2011 at the Jakarta International Expo, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta where he lost by unanimous decision. Yordan continued to fight higher level opponents which resulted in him winning the IBO featherweight title after beating Lorenzo Villanueva. He made his first defense of his title against Choi Tseveenpurev, which he won by UD. He then lost his title to Simpiwe Vetyeka after losing to him by a TKO in the twelfth round.

After this loss he moved up to lightweight where he instantly won the IBO belt against Daniel Brizuela by UD. He defended the title against Sipho Taliwe where some critics thought he lost as he scraped through to get a SD win. During 2014 to 2017 he went on to win his next 5 fights at lightweight beating questionably lower level opponents which resulted in him rising through the WBO lightweight rankings and accumulating the WBO Asia-Pacific and Africa Lightweight Title, WBO Africa Lightweight Title and the WBA International Lightweight Title after defeating Cristian Rafael Coria. Yordan then beat previously unbeaten Pavel Malikov on 22 April 2018 by a KO which was caused by an impressive combination that targeted Malikov's body. This won him the WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight Title and cemented his name in future title eliminators and title fights.

Yordan called out former WBC, WBA and The Ring lightweight champion Jorge Linares on Instagram in August 2018 and a future fight between them is lingering as Linares continues to rebuild his career after being stopped by Vasyl Lomachenko.

Yordan fought Anthony Crolla on 10 November 2018 in the Manchester Arena. Crolla had a good start over Yordan, whose big moment came in the sixth round, when he pressured Crolla against the ropes and caused Crolla some punishment. Crolla regained himself in the remainer of the fight, and won the fight via unanimous decision.

In his next fight, Yordan beat Aekkawee Kaewmanee in a rough match, via sixth round TKO.

On November 17, 2019, Yordan fought and defeated Michael Mokoena via eighth round TKO.

On November 19, 2021, Yordan won the WBC Asian Boxing Council Silver Super Lightweight title by defeating Thai boxer Rachata Khaophimai. He won the match by TKO in the fifth round.

On July 1, 2022 Yordan defended the WBC Asian Boxing Council Silver Super Lightweight Title by defeating Thai boxer Panya Uthok and won the match by TKO in the sixth round.

Professional boxing record

Notes

References

External links

Daud Yordan - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live

|-

|-

1987 births
Living people
Dayak people
Indonesian people of Chinese descent
Indonesian sportspeople of Chinese descent
Indonesian Roman Catholics
People from Ketapang Regency
Indonesian male boxers
Featherweight boxers
Super-featherweight boxers
Lightweight boxers
International Boxing Organization champions
21st-century Indonesian people

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Oracle continues its expansion into advertising technology with an announcement on Tuesday that the company will be acquiring the third-party verification vendor, Moat, for an undisclosed sum (but rumoured to be as high as $850m).
As part of the deal, Moat will remain independent within Oracle's Data Cloud suite with the division run by Moat's CEO, John Goodhart, and supported by the entire Moat team.
Moat are a third-party verification vendor that focuses on measuring viewability & brand safety on behalf of 600+brands, publishers and agencies. As the fastest growing cloud-based measurement company, Moat raised $50 million last year and have since grown their analytics business by over 100%.
Coining two key industry standards, Cost Per Quality View and Moat Video Score, the company utilise these consumer attention metrics to allow advertisers to measure and optimise engagement for video and display advertising.
Whilst Adobe and Salesforce have been leading their push into AdTech with a focus on executional vendors like TubeMogul (Adobe) and Krux (Salesforce), Oracle has sought to concentrate their efforts on providing a comprehensive analytics suite.
Moat will enhance the current DaaS offering by providing attention measurements to connect the dots between targeting and behavioural data, purchase and ROI measurement thereby allowing a better visibility within the consumer purchase journey.
Brand safety and viewability have been key areas of focus for the digital media industry of late due to recent revelations of brands appearing on extremist videos on YouTube and Facebook video viewability mismeasurement.
These events have demonstrated the importance of third party verification services, and through the acquisition of Moat, Oracle has ensured that their Data Cloud meets changing industry demands and provides holistic measurement solutions that help Oracle to differentiate from their competitors.
This deal provides Moat with a connection to sales data, allowing them to measure whether a digital impression has resulted in a desired action for advertisers in bot online and offline environments, With Jonah Goodhart, CEO and Co-Founder of Moat stating that "When Oracle approached us about working together, we began to see the huge potential to jointly drive innovation".
What does this mean for Oracle and the industry?
Oracle's intent for Moat is to remain open and independent, with continuing integration and partnership with companies across the AdTech industry. Customers of both vendors can expect to benefit from increased investment into functionality and innovation of Oracle's analytics platform.
Oracle's purchase of Moat has led to speculation of further acquisitions within the verification space, with suggestions that major enterprise tech firms such as Salesforce and Adobe will be quick to capitalise on increasing market demand for third party verification and snap up remaining vendors for their own platforms.


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Olivet Heights ex-students unveil renovated classrooms, inaugurate new exco
by Esther Olowoyeye
July 16, 2018 - Updated on July 19, 2018
The Old Students Association of Olivet Baptist High School Oyo, 1988- 1993 set, at the weekend unveiled a renovated block of classrooms as part of the celebration of its 25th year graduation anniversary.
Nigerian man bags second PhD after four masters, one PGD, three bachelor's degrees
We're collaborating with Ministry of Education to fast track enrollment of students, staff of tertiary institutions- OYSHIA
Undergraduates studying education in public varsities to get N75K stipend per semester
It also inaugurated new executive members at the event held inside the Jubilee Hall of the school.
The project was commissioned by the National President of Old Students Association of the school, Mr Gbolahan Labinjo who appreciated the set for giving back to their alma mater. While commending their spirit of togetherness, he urged them to also tell the current students their success stories in order to motivate them.
On how the project was chosen, Labinjo explained that there is a general secretariat where the Public Relations Officers and General Secretaries get the list of projects requested by the school. He added that the association as a whole is currently embarking on the building of a new multi-purpose hall costing N65 million. According to him, each set will contribute a sum of N1 million for the project.
The Senior School principal, Mrs O. A Arowolo, represented by the Junor School principal, Mrs Dosumu Olubukola, stated that the school will show appreciation for the renovated classrooms by making sure that the students understand the need to maintain them. He said parents will pay for any act of vandalism carried out by their wards.
The newly inaugurated exco are as follows: Chairman, Akindele Akintunde; Secretary, Olagunju Abiodun; Public Relations Officer 1, Afolabi Bukola; Financial Secretary, Oyewale Sunday; Treasurer Aderibigbe Kunle; Social Secretary, Adekanbi Yinka; Welfare Secretary, Bukola Esho.
Mr Oluremi Amusan, CEO of Petrus Paints, was inaugurated as a honorary member. Mr Amusan is not an old student of the school but being a friend of the set, he was part of the renovation project.
The immediate past chairman of the set, Nurudeen Olaitan Yusuf, appreciated his group for cooperating with him all through his tenure. He said every member of the set, at home and in diaspora, contributed to the success of the project.
The new welfare Secretary, Bukola Esho told Newspeakonline that the set started an empowerment programme two years ago to help those who were not financially stable in the group. According to him, the first was in 2016, when they found out that a few members were having some difficulties.
Esho said members were being encouraged to come up with ideas that would help to empower others.
Tags: EducationOlivet HeightsSchool
Ekiti: Fayemi's victory, good omen for Yoruba, southwest – Ayandele
Fashola explains closure of third mainland bridge


Mosel Weinfest. May 30. $95.
Chablis Wine Dinner with Domaine Laroche. May 1. $95.
Morel Mushroom Dinner. May 23. $135.
Mazzei Tuscan Wine Dinner. May 6. $95.
Burger Train. May 18. $39.
Beer Tasting Train. May 25. $68.
Italian Community Center: "An Italian Cookbook Author Dinner" with Elizabeth Minchilli, 6:30 p.m. April 23. $85 per person, plus service charge and tax. Four-course dinner and cookbook. Event catered by Bartolotta Restaurants. 631 E. Chicago St. Information: Bartolotta Restaurants, (414) 223-2800.
Italian Community Center: "A Taste of Italy" benefit, 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. April 28. Free admission and parking. Food tickets are $2 each. Live entertainment, prize raffle and a 50/50 raffle. 631 E. Chicago St. Information: (414) 223-2180.
Pizza Train. May 11. $37 adult; $27 child.
Schuster Mansion: Mollie's Tea, 1 p.m. Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. $48 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Take a lesson in 1800s table etiquette, enjoy a buffet of 7 different flavored teas and a variety of savories, scones and sweets, listen to history and stories, followed by self-guided tour of the first floor of the mansion. Reservation required. 3209 W. Wells St. (414) 342-3210.
Fresh Summer Flavors. May 21.
Strawberry Fields for Dinner! May 29.
Polish Center of Wisconsin: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. 6941 S. 68th St., Franklin, (414) 529-2140.
Marvelous Mother's Day Menu. May. 10.
Fabulous Fathers Day Favorites! May 28.
Gluten Free Pizza Crusts. May 15. $69.
Breakfast Favorites. June 3. $30.
Polish Center of Wisconsin: Classes held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. $10 Adult; $8 PHA members. Pre-registration and payment required. 6941 S. 68th St., Franklin. Information: (414) 529-2140.
Nalewka (Homemade Polish Cordials). May 7.
Naturally Healthy Baking. April 23. $69.
Easter Cooking Class. April 20.
Baking Camp: Breads, Cookies, Pies & Cakes. June 11-14.
Parisian Pleasures French Food. June 18-21.
Cookin with Fire. July 1-5.
Baking Camp: Chocolate Making, Baking & Pastry Creation. July 9-12.
Taste of Italy. July 16-19.
Baking Camp: Sweet Sensations. July 23-26.
Food Truck Wars. July 30-Aug. 2.
Global Cuisine Street Food. Aug. 6-9.
Baking Camp: Sweet Obsessions. Aug. 13-16.
Urban Ecology Center-Washington Park: Healthy Cooking with Susie Roberts, 5:30-7 p.m. May 8. $21; member $15. Work with local chefs and make reasonably priced, nutritious meals at our Healthy Cooking Community Demonstration series. 1859 N. 40th St. (414) 344-5460.
Vegan Favorites. April 24. $30.
The Best Indian Meals. May 29. $30.


Phenomenal! That solar project we talked about here, well they've finally broken ground and will have 10,000 solar panels visible from Pena Boulevard. Oh yeah, they say it will be completed by the time the Democratic National Convention starts. That will be excellent advertising for all the folks coming into Denver International Airport and driving into town via Pena Boulevard for the convention. Nice. Here's more info via the Rocky Mountain News.


Harbor Hills is a superb Lloyd-Clifton designed par 72-championship golf course. Located 1 hour northwest of Orlando, the golf course has earned a 4 star rating by Golf Digest. Be swept away by our the scenic elevations, extra wide mature oak tree lined fairways, and tranquil setting. Five sets of tees provide members and guests of all handicaps a both fun and challenging experience. On your next trip to central Florida, come see why Harbor Hills is the Lady Lake area's premier championship golf course.


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Infinite Warfare Review
ThisGenGaming April 7, 2017 Comments Closed	24 views	0 likes Articles
Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare_20170117232224
The Call of Duty franchise is one of the most famous in the gaming world. Releases like Modern Warfare 2 and 3 managed to attract thousands of gamers to the series. However, the latest edition Infinite Warfare takes things to the next level. While it looks similar to the other COD titles on the surface, it's fifty times better. If you haven't had the chance to play this game on the PS4 or XBox One, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible. It's quite addictive, and you're guaranteed to keep yourself entertained for hours. Still not convinced? Then read this short review, and we'll tell you a little more.
Game modes:
Just like most of the other Call of Duty releases, Infinite Warfare comes with three standard game modes. There's the campaign mode for people who like to play the full game as created by the designers. There is then an online multiplayer mode for people who fell in love with team deathmatches a long time ago. The title also comes with a brand new zombies mode that is proving popular. Earlier releases from this company contain simpler versions of zombies. However, none of them were that impressive, and most gamers found them a little tedious. The same is not true when playing Infinite Warfare.
Those of you who played Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 will remember all those old guns from World War 2. Modern Warfare 3 offered something a little different, but Infinite Warfare takes things to another level. With the new title, gamers can use various weapons never seen on a COD game before. Indeed, there are even some prototype guns available too. Some of the best shooters in this game include:
KBS Longbow
DCM-8
That's just a small selection of the weapons we tried when testing the game. However, there are lots of other ones on there too.
Gameplay and tech
While this game hit the markets last year, it still has some of the best graphics you're going to find from a new title. Indeed, this year's best gaming monitors were created for titles of this nature. The gameplay is fast, and the controls are responsive. There doesn't seem to be much lagging like there was with Modern Warfare 3. So, Infinite Warfare should make a vast improvement on COD titles you've encountered in the past. Every shot should count, and you shouldn't get too stressed about all the times you fired the gun with no effect because the game was running slowly.
Would we recommend this game to our friends? We already have! It's impressive, to say the least, but it's also got lots of features to ensure you never get bored. Sure, the COD franchise will release a new and improved title during the next few months. However, you don't want to invest in that until you completed Infinite Warfare. So, now is the best time to make your purchase and jump on the bandwagon. We'll catch you guys in the lobby waiting for team deathmatch to start once we're done publishing this post! Enjoy!
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Explore games tagged MIDI on itch.io · Upload your games to itch.io to have them show up here.
A boy who needs to save his kidnapped father with his trusty sword!
Flick between the worlds of light and dark to discover the way to your escape. Avoid the phantom. Pronounced "nullvoid".
The sequel to Bubba Goes #2 Hell is here!
Alternative local multiplayergame for three players.
Are You Sure You Want To Send That?
A Modern Day Typing Tutor With Procedurally Generated Tweets!
From 2008 all the way to 2018!


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John Stephens (June 25, 1835 – unknown) was an American politician who was twice elected as Coroner of Cook County on the Republican ticket. Born to a German American family in Albany, New York, Stephens moved to Chicago with his family when he was four years of age. Prior to his political career, he served in the Chicago Fire Department and as a Sergeant in the Union Army.

References

1840 births
Date of death unknown
Cook County Coroners
Illinois Republicans


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Parkes & MacDonald Plan Feature Version Of Jon Robin Baitz' Play 'Other Desert Cities'
EXCLUSIVE: Producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald have acquired film rights to Other Desert Cities, the Jon Robin Baitz stage play. Parkes/MacDonald used the development fund it launched with Imagenation Abu Dhabi to make the deal. Baitz will write the script and will co-produce, with Parkes and MacDonald producing. They haven't yet involved a studio.
The play opened on Broadway at the Booth Theatre this month after a run last season at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre. In the play, Stacy Keach and Stockard Channing play an old Hollywood couple who'd once counted Ronald and Nancy Reagan as close friends. Their retirement to Palm Springs is upended by continuing friction with their kids, a reality TV producer and a novelist daughter who has gotten past her writer's block by writing a tell-all memoir that bares family secrets.
Parkes and MacDonald produced the screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's musical Sweeney Todd, and they adapted Catch Me If You Can, for the stage (they produced the film). They are currently in production on the Robert Zemeckis-directed Flight starring Denzel Washington, and they are in post-production on Men In Black 3D, which Sony releases May 25, 2012.
Laurie MacDonald
Walter Parkes


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'Glamping' plan application withdrawn
A group gathered this summer in response to a proposed "glamping" business in the Cottonwood area. Under Canvas, the glamour camping company that proposed a 100-tent luxury camping site on 82 acres at the end of Bill Gray Road, has withdrawn its application. VVN file photo/Vyto Starinskas
By Vyto Starinskas
Originally Published: November 9, 2019 7:16 p.m.
COTTONWOOD — Under Canvas, the glamour camping company that proposed a 100-tent luxury camping site on 82 acres at the end of Bill Gray Road, has withdrawn its application with Yavapai County, Leah Brock, planner for Yavapai County Development Services, said Friday.
A hearing on the glamping issue was scheduled to take place as part of the Nov. 21 Yavapai County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. No future public hearing is scheduled, explained Brock.
"The use permit application for the proposed Under Canvas "Glamping" campground facility … has been withdrawn by the applicant," her email stated.
Even though she gave no more explanation, Yavapai County Supervisor Randy Garrison said on Saturday that he was not surprised about the withdrawal, considering the backlash the proposal received from residents who live near the proposed project.
He said he didn't have any specific information for why they pulled the application, but did not think the proposal is "gone," and Under Canvas might simply be reconsidering it.
Under Canvas already reduced the original plan for the project based on the feedback from an Aug. 6 community meeting, during which the company unveiled its development plans to nearby residents, according to release attributed to Caitlan Cullen, manager of real estate for Under Canvas.
More than 30 residents raised concerns about the untraveled dirt road and the pristine lifestyle during the neighborhood. The area has a view of Sedona-area red rocks and Sycamore Canyon Wilderness.
The site plan included two acres of development with the priority-designed tents, a central restaurant for campers and a social tent for campers, a main campfire area, water and sewer and gravel roads.
Any revised Under Canvas proposal will have to be reviewed at two Yavapai County Supervisor's Planning and Zoning Board meetings for approval, and then, if approved, Garrison and the other four Yavapai County Supervisors would then hear a presentation at a regular monthly, and then vote on final approval.
Glamping company scales back on plans for Bill Gray Road project
Montana company eyes Verde Valley for glamour camping business
Exotic glamping experience is a walk on the wild side
Letter: No thanks to 'glamping' on Bill Gray Road


The person who the Author taught the most to in his first year of teaching was, interestingly enough, himself! Since then he has collected and honed many Teaching & Classroom Management Hints – some learnt from other teachers, others from self-study, some from past experiences and some from students who he has taught. Discipline and Classroom Management are both such elusive topics that it's difficult to pin down just one or two 'magic strategies' that will transform an inexperienced teacher into someone who is well respected by students and who maintains impeccable control within the classroom. This booklet contains ten (10) essential skills that a beginning teacher should have in their kitbag.


Established in 2014, Funaster is led by a team devoted to make you as crazy as they are about drones. We believe that drones have a lot of potential and will change the way people complete simple tasks in the coming years. We are working at uncovering all the different aspects of drones and developing new applications for them. We look forward to showing the world how easily drones can be incorporated in their lives and encouraging people to use them with your support.
Sachin Kashyap Captain, Indian Army If genuine, ingenious and professional products is what you are looking for, Funaster is THE PLACE. Their ever extending service will not only make business, but build a relation aswell. Thank you Funaster !
Shiraz Chand Founder, Coptergraphs I would like to thank Funaster for all the support and service they provide on immediate situations.
Hitesh Patel Owner, Pro Aeromodelling Funaster gives the most genuine prices and is proactive in terms of customer support. This is one of the few companies in India which is technically strong in this field.
If you want us to share information and keep you updated with the latest information, just type in your email address and we'll be in touch.


Capcom Co., Ltd. today announced that net sales increased to 17,204 million yen in its consolidated business results for the three months ended June 30, 2018 (up 46.5% year-over-year). Operating income was 5,106 million yen (up 550.8% year-over-year), and ordinary income was 5,492 million yen (up 610.6% year-over-year). Net income attributable to owners of the parent was 3,903 million yen (up 648.6% year-over-year).
This quarter, Monster Hunter: World (released in the previous fiscal year) maintained its popularity, backed by an expanding base of fans, and achieved cumulative sales of 8.3 million units total; also in the Digital Contents business, which has continued to growth steadily in recent years, the new Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection gave a solid performance, outperforming expectations. Further, in addition to healthy sales growth of high-margin catalog titles, the Digital Contents business drove earnings, resulting in the highest operating income for a first quarter in company history.
a. In this business, the phenomenal success of Monster Hunter: World (for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) from the previous fiscal year continued, with the title gaining further popularity through the expansion of its user base. In scoring a worldwide smash hit, the series solidified its position as an international brand and strengthened our base of IP (intellectual property). Furthermore, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PC), a new title released in markets outside of Japan, performed strongly, while Mega Man Legacy Collection, Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 and Mega Man Legacy Collection 1+2 for Nintendo Switch also maintained robust sales thanks to a loyal fan base and strong brand capabilities.
b. In addition, high-margin catalog titles steadily increased sales and contributed to improving profitability. Furthermore, looking ahead to the spread of diverse, digital content in the future, the Company released Resident Evil 7: biohazard Cloud Version (for Nintendo Switch) in Japan, a streaming title.
c. The resulting net sales were 13,782 million yen (up 79.3% year-over-year) and operating income was 5,735 million yen (up 242.2% year-over-year).
a. In this business, while the market recovered with arcades functioning as a familiar entertainment option that were "inexpensive, close and quick," the Company made efforts to secure customers and create demand by community-oriented marketing. Examples include installing game machines that meet diverse customer needs, holding various events and offering a pleasant atmosphere.
b. During the period under review, the Company opened one store in the Hiroshima prefecture, bringing the total number of stores to 37.
c. The resulting net sales were 2,381 million yen (up 6.0% year-over-year) and operating income was 143 million yen (up 12.1% year-over-year).
a. In the Pachinko & Pachislo sub-segment, while the Company launched Okami -Kaidouhen- in a weak market environment, demand declined and sales struggled due to the downturn in consumer confidence and dampening investments by the Pachinko/Pachislo hall operators.
c. The resulting net sales were 376 million yen (down 73.1% year-over-year) and an operating loss of 154 million yen (compared to an operating loss of 229 million yen in the same term of the previous fiscal year).
The net sales from Other Businesses, mainly consisting of royalty income from the licensing and sale of character merchandise, were 664 million yen (up 59.9% year-over-year) and operating income was 411 million yen (up 122.6% year-over-year).


The paper highlights how key results from historical exploration for conventional hydrocarbons, dating back over 70 years, led to the discovery of a new shale oil resource play in the UK.
Early conventional exploration in the West Lancashire sub-basin, conducted by D'Arcy Exploration, a forerunner of BP, was focussed on areas of surface seepage, and resulted in the discovery of the shallow Formby oilfield in 1939. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, a number of deeper wells were drilled, without success, targeting a proposed large Carboniferous conventional trap, leakage from which was thought to be source of the shallow accumulation.
Exploration of the offshore East Irish Sea Basin, in the 1970s to 1990s, resulted in numerous oil & gas discoveries in Triassic reservoirs, sourced directly from Visean- to Namurian-age pro-delta shale source rocks (including the Brigantian- to Pendleian-age Bowland Shale Formation) precluding the requirement for secondary migration from Carboniferous traps.
Regional studies highlighting poor poroperm preservation in Carboniferous clastic reservoirs led to the further downgrading of Carboniferous prospectivity.
The recent identification of an unconventional shale gas play in the West Lancashire sub-basin by Cuadrilla Resources, within the Bowland Shale Formation, has led to a re-evaluation of the Formby area.
New palynological and geochemical analyses of the early wells, presented in this paper, confirm the presence of a thick, prospective, Bowland Shale in the south of the West Lancashire sub-basin. Evidence that, locally, the Bowland Shale has generated liquid hydrocarbons is proven by the presence of the Formby shallow oilfield and the numerous oil seeps and relict hydrocarbon columns in the area; opening up a new shale oil resource play.
The cumulative results from decades of exploration has revealed the true, unconventional, nature of the Carboniferous "mother lode?? sought initially by D'Arcy, thereby heralding a new chapter in the hydrocarbon exploration of the basin.


The governor ordered furloughs for most state employees, but six elected officials said they'll defy the share-the-pain plan.
"Everybody needs to make sacrifices, except me." That prevailing attitude, while never admitted, is the reason California's budget problem continues to grow and why it may never be solved.
We hear that rationale from every quarter -- from state employees, from taxpayers, from politicians: Cut spending ... but not my favorite program. Raise taxes ... but somebody else's. Make sacrifices ... but I've made enough. Stop major building projects throughout the state ... but let us finish ours, because it's very important.
That sentiment has been prevalent for some time. Every once in awhile there's a glimmer of hope that the seriousness of the budget problem is sinking in, such as the announcement Tuesday that the Assembly would cut its operating budget by 10 percent.


The best test of our church and its members lies in what their faith compels them to do for others, not just what has been done for them as individuals. The King and Head of the Church loved us and gave Himself for us so that we should no longer live for ourselves. We are called to service.


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To Win Over Asia, Tinder Is Trying to Shed Its Hookup Image
BLOOMBERG - Jun 28 - To win over Asia, Tinder is reinventing itself. In South Korea, the app is trying to shed its reputation as a hookup app - instead, it's selling itself as a place to find new friends. In university towns, new billboards have emerged for Tinder: "New Year, New Friends, New You." The way young Koreans have traditionally found romantic partners is sogaeting, where a mutual friend sets two people up on a blind date, or meetings where groups of friends all hang out together and pair off. Those familiar with Tinder's more transactional reputation in the West are bemused. "Tinder is so tied into American culture, the thought that it could hide its identity in Korea is kind of absurd," said University of Michigan Professor Fred Feinberg, who has studied the marketing behind online dating apps. Match's foray into Asia stretches beyond South Korea. Match CEO Mandy Ginsberg is betting big on this corner of the world, spending more money on marketing in Korea, India and Japan than anywhere else in the world, despite the Asia Pacific region only pulling in 12% of Match's revenue last year. She said this would increase to 25% by 2023.
by Olivia Carville
See full article at Bloomberg
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Jun 28, 2019 | Permalink


An important part of the camping experience is the bus ride to camp. The bus ride is an important part of the "bonding" experience. There are experienced bus counselors on every bus available to assist.
**There is NO airport pickup for campers going to camp – except for pre-arranged group flights.
**Cargo space under the bus is reserved exclusively for luggage belonging to out-of-town campers.
You are welcomed to send your child with a snack for the bus ride up to camp.
Trip 2 Ends Tuesday, 8/21/18.
Buses will depart camp at approximately 8:30 am.
You will be notified via email as to the actual departure times.


On to the Design Challenge…this year's theme is going to be Spring Dining! I selected 5 lovely dining rooms that beautifully display the Spring season. A few of the rooms have some Easter touches with bunnies, etc, but it's more about adding touches of greenery to bring freshness to a space after a long winter.
Have you found a dining room you love yet? What inspired you?
PRIZES: 4 Winners will be selected. First place will win a $50 Amazon gift card, second and third will each win a $25.00 Amazon gift card. Each winner will also receive some surprise items to be determined. There will also be an additional winner in this challenge that will be selected at Random from the remaining contestants and also win a $25.00 Amazon gift card.
RULES: Your room should be in one-sixth (1/6) scale. The room can be an existing room or a new one (foldable/collapsible dioramas are more than acceptable, it doesn't need to be a wooden room box or permanent installation). You do not need to make anything, but the judging will be based on creative use of items and similarity to the selected inspiration room. One entry per IG account (doll accounts only). Open internationally. Must be a follower on IG and I request that you please follow our blog as well.
TIMELINE: The contest begins today March 11, 2018 and will run through April 30, 2018. I give ample time for these challenges because they are not easy and life does happen so if you want to participate I want to make sure you all have time to create. Winners will be announced May 5, 2018.
DISCLAIMER: This contest is not affiliated with Instagram, WordPress or any other social media app, solely sponsored by Brunbellebarbie.
TO ENTER: Post your room anytime after April 1, 2018 and by April 30, 2018, tag @brunbellebarbie and #brunisspringchallenge and label it an "Entry" for the Option Number you selected.
I start today! It was hard to choose one but it has to be done! Ahahaha! Thanks for this chance! It's a lot of fun crafting!


Frari | The Dream Dollhouse is on stage!
The Dream Dollhouse is on stage!
FRARI designed the scenario for a children's ballet entitled "Where do Dreams Come From".
The ballet was on display at two of the most prestigious concert halls in the district, the Teatro Aveirense and the Centro Cultural de Ílhavo, both rooms filled to watch the enchanted world of fantasy!


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Honolulu Zoo will name a worm after your ex and feed …
Tagovailoa parents express gratitude, optimism for …
No. 1 Hawaii men's volleyball sweeps Belmont Abbey
Jo Koy on why he chose Hawaii to film his newest Netflix special
Posted: Nov 21, 2018 / 06:33 AM HST
Updated: Nov 21, 2018 / 07:34 AM HST
In 2017, comedian Jo Koy sold out 11 shows and 23,000 tickets at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.
He's back in town, and has moved on to a bigger venue: the Blaisdell Arena.
His first of four sold-out shows on his "Break the Mold" tour begin Wednesday, November 21.
Jo Koy, whose real name is Joseph Glenn Herbert, says there's two things he loves about being back in the islands.
First is longtime KHON2 Anchor Joe Moore. Jo Koy first learned of Moore when he watched reports of Joe announcing Jo Koy's sold-out concerts last November.
"I love him. I put him twice on my Instagram. I think the guy's amazing. It was such a cool thing. It was such a cool post!" said the comedian.
Second: the people of Hawaii.
"First of all, who doesn't love Hawaii? If you don't love Hawaii, then there's something wrong with you as a person!" said the Washington state native, who now calls Los Angeles home.
"It's so much fun that even the stuff that I have prepared goes rogue. I'm in this zone. I'm in this pocket when I'm on stage. Stuff comes out of my mouth that I didn't even write. It's just so organic," he said of last year's shows on Oahu and Maui.
He reflected on a moment at the Blaisdell concert hall.
"When I walked off stage last year and the security guards hugged me and said 'We claim you, brah," I got so emotional. This is hands down the best fan base I ever had. Ever. I knew right then and there I have to bring this special to Hawaii."
On his Saturday and Sunday shows, Jo Koy will be taping his next Netflix special.
Security will be strict. Cell phones won't be allowed in the arena; usage of phones for taping could get you kicked out. Patrons are also asked to be in the arena at 7:30 p.m. sharp.
Jo Koy promises a good show.
"I want to show the world what kind of love this place has to offer. Aloha is real, right? If I can just show it on this big platform…that will be special to me."
Though coy about what people can expect at his shows, the comedian is known for interspersing tales of growing up Filipino-American in his standup acts.
But he wasn't shy about sharing his favorite Filipino food dish.
"My sister makes the best shrimp monggo!" he exclaimed. "I love it because she peels the shrimp for me, she doesn't leave the shell on. I'm in my forties, and my sister still peels my shrimp," he laughs.
Break the Mold Tour will be held November 21, 23, 24, and 25 at the Blaisdell Arena.
Hammock saves life as massive North Shore surf surges


QBEL has an in house design department that is led by a highly professional designer supported with a number of other designers and detailers. The design team relentlessly endeavors to provide the client with the most economic design, in keeping with the functionality as well as aesthetically as beautiful as possible. The excellent team of designers and detailers work tirelessly to bring out the most error free design from approval drawing to the shop drawing that needs minimum revision or modification at field level.
To ensure delivery of the best quality product, the process commences right from the beginning i.e. material used.The imported plates are subjected to quality test before fabrication under the supervision of the QC Dept of QBEL at the Factory end. World class fabrication is guaranteed right through the cutting, fitting, welding, shot blasting and painting using best machines available in the PEB industry. A host of CNC based Auto and Semi Automatic machines are used for cutting and fabrication. The welding quality is not only due to the following of the AWS Code but also due to the use of MIG machines as well as SAW Machines with welding consumables that are also imported. This quality check is carried out through out the period of fabrication until completion of painting. This ensures a product of the finest quality and the difference is evident when compared. The delivery of material is done in the most professional manner so as to complement the erection wherein all deliveries are coordinated to ensure that all erect-able material are delivered in line with the progress of erection. To achieve this end a very qualified team of engineers are placed at the Factory. The team includes engineers in planning, production, quality control and maintenance.
QBEL team plans and safely executes the erection of every Projects on time and within budget. Our customers can count on the vast experience, capabilities and services of the team to efficiently erect their projects of any size and complexity. Our crew is well trained on safety standards and utilizes modern techniques and equipment in the industry. Our highly skilled team of operating engineers and workers manage erection of Structural Steel or Pre-Engineered Building projects with the highest standards in the industry. Proven track record is a force to reckon with when managing the logistical challenges of handling fast-track jobs, tight access and solving site limitation issues with unique erection plans.
Surface preparation is the essential first stage treatment of a steel substrate before the application of any coating, and is generally accepted as being the most important factor affecting the total success of a corrosion protection system. The performance of a coating is significantly influenced by its ability to adhere properly to the substrate material. Residual mill scale on steel surfaces is an unsatisfactory base to apply modern, high performance protective coatings and is therefore removed by abrasive blast cleaning. Other surface contaminants on the rolled steel surface, such as oil and grease are also undesirable and must be removed before the blast cleaning process. The surface preparation process not only cleans the steel, but also introduces a suitable profile to receive the protective coating.


The best teacher in America was in Washington over the weekend. So was the best principal. I cannot name these individuals because they are early in their careers, and the truth of the matter is that I am just playing the odds. They are members of Teach for America, a kind of Peace Corps for the school room – a program so select that most applicants had an easier time being admitted to their college than they did getting into Teach for America. No matter. Its funding is being cut.
Teach for America is supposed to produce smart kids. It also produces incredible statistics. This year it got 48,000 applicants and accepted 5,300 of them. About 18 percent of the Harvard senior class applied; so did 27 percent of Spelman's, a traditionally black women's school. Last year, 19 percent of those accepted had a graduate degree or worked full time in some professional capacity. This is not a program for the aimless.
I'm sure you know all about Teach for America. I did not – not in any detail.
What can certainly be measured is the budgetary hit that TFA is set to take – about $20 million or, to put it another way, 400 teachers. This is because TFA's money is contained in an annual earmark, and earmarks, as we all know, have been abolished because they are evil.
And while there is a good chance the TFA earmark will be restored, the ax being taken to the program is representative of the budgetary madness that has come over Washington. Spurred on by the Tea Party, Republicans in the House have come up with budget cuts that do little to rein in the deficit but would severely harm programs they have long disliked. They want to end funding for public broadcasting, maul the IRS, and cut the Education Department budget by nearly $5 billion, yet more pain for TFA. What are these people thinking?
I am not one who equates dollars spent with educational excellence. (I once had a child in Washington's public schools – a teachable moment, if there ever was one.) But no one can deny the worth of such programs as Teach for America or the fact that, even in education, you get what you pay for. If, in fact, the recurring news that our kids are dumber, lazier, stupider – I'm trying to be politically correct – than kids in other advanced nations is ever going to be rectified, it will not be done on the cheap.
The federal budget, now $3.8 trillion, will never be balanced by trimming this or that program. The formula is painful, but no mystery: Limit entitlements (Social Security, Medicare, etc.), severely cut the defense budget and raise taxes on the rich, the very rich and the stupendously rich. Anything after that, as the Talmud said in a somewhat different context, is mere commentary.
I sometimes have argued with Klein and others about their insistence on the paramount importance of teachers. But I have benefited myself from the interest of good teachers, and I share with Klein, Kopp and countless education reformers the belief that poverty, race or ethnicity must not smother the talents, intellect or dreams of any kid.
Education is an investment. Our national business plan has to take that into account. It costs us a fortune to turn out functionally illiterate kids who can't do math or write a decent sentence. America's lousy education system is nothing new. It has long been the product of lax standards, ludicrous decentralization (the illogical belief that local school boards know best) and an economy that provided jobs for anyone willing to work. That, now, is sheer nostalgia.
If the maniacal budget cutters have their way, the best teacher in America will become another investment banker, and the best principal will become yet another lawyer, and the kids who might have contributed something to their community or nation will become expensive failures – a human deficit as important as the one the Treasury's now running.