text:
Kelly Ripa Defends Co-Host Ryan Seacrest Amid Assault Allegations: 'You Are a Privilege to Work With'
Bobby Finger
Filed to: ryan seacrestFiled to: ryan seacrest
ACADEMY AWARDS 2018
The opening segment of Thursday's episode of Live With Kelly and Ryan ended with what could be easily interpreted as a thinly veiled response to recent allegations that co-host Ryan Seacrest assaulted a former E! stylist. After a little chat about this Sunday's Oscars—which both Seacrest and Kelly Ripa will be attending—Ripa said [bold mine]:
"You are a privilege to work with and I adore you. I'm speaking on behalf of all of us here. I know what an easy, professional, great person you are, and I feel very very lucky to work with you each and every day."
"You are happiness," Seacrest tells Ripa before kissing her on the head.
"You're happiness," Ripa corrects him, before raising her voice to a higher register. "You're happiness wrapped in chocolate, so there!"
This address-the-controversy-without-actually-addressing-the-controversy move is interesting on its own, but is particularly notable given a story published by People late Wednesday night entitled "Ryan Seacrest's Colleagues Defend Him Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations." In it, an anonymous colleague told the magazine [bold mine]:
"He is the hardest working guy I know. I think he's so professional. The thing that I love about working with him is every day I'm challenged. He's a great person to work for. I've never seen him raise his voice – sure, people get upset about certain things, but he's always professional. I personally would never for 15 years work for someone that this person is alleging would do the things she's saying. It's just not something I can fathom."
Based on the similarities between Ripa and the anonymous source's language, it almost sounds like all of Seacrest's current and former colleagues got the same talking points. Or maybe it's just a coincidence! In any case, the staunch defense of Seacrest by both coworkers and E! itself (who found the assault claims baseless after an "investigation) is—after months of watching other versions of this story play out in the headlines—a surprise.
In related news, Jennifer Lawrence was asked about the allegations against Seacrest on Wednesday's episode of The Howard Stern Show. "I can't imagine him being sexual," she said, before adding, "I think it is scary, you know. He has not been to trial for anything. I am not a judge. I am not a jury, you know. I don't know… that is where this stuff gets tricky."
The Oscars air this Sunday on ABC!!!
Ryan Seacrest Will Host E!'s Oscar's Red Carpet Show, But Celebs May Not Stop to Chat With Him
Ryan Seacrest Denies Former Stylist's Sexual Assault Allegations, Calls Her Claims 'Debunked'
Ryan Seacrest's Former E! Stylist Alleges Sexual Assault
Staff Writer, Jezebel | Man
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With main operations based at both Heathrow and Gatwick airports, British Airways has a huge presence in both the trans-Atlantic and European airline markets.
In addition, they fly long-haul flights from these London hubs to multiple cities in pretty much every region of the world.
Even if you don't live in England, chances are you'll find yourself on a British Airways flight at some point.
They often have plenty of award availability if you are trying to get to Europe with miles, and they're a great choice for hopping around to other countries once there.
If you are going to fly with British Airways, it makes sense for you to learn a bit about how they board their planes. It's always nice to know how the process works ahead of time instead of having to try to figure things out once you get to the boarding gate!
To make things easier on you when it comes time for your next British Airways flight, let's go through all of the details of how their boarding process works. That way you can be sure you are ready to go.
British Airways does things a little differently than most airlines when it comes to boarding.
Yes, they have pre-boarding for certain passengers, and then they use 5 numbered boarding groups. That may sound somewhat familiar.
What they do differently is change which passengers are eligible to board with each of the numbered groups, depending on whether you're boarding a short-haul or a long-haul flight.
These changes are based on the fact that British Airways doesn't have first class or premium economy cabins on their shorter flights. As a result, those passenger categories are not in the short-haul boarding groups.
Since business class passengers are the top-tier passengers on the short-hauls, they move them up to group 1 for boarding those flights.
Other than that, the 2 boarding procedures are pretty much the same no matter where you are flying.
You may notice that with both types of flights, economy class passengers do not board until the last 2 groups.
Since this is by far the largest section of the plane, you should expect long lines when it comes time to boarding groups 4 and 5.
Make sure you are ready to walk down the jetway to your next British Airways flight. Not only do you need to know the proper boarding group, but you should pay attention to the notes below too. Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com.
Passengers who are traveling together on British Airways may be assigned to different boarding groups, but they have the option of seeing the gate agent to board together.
British Airways does not specifically say in their official procedures which group you will end up boarding with, so it's likely up to the discretion of the gate agents.
Families traveling with young children are asked to get to the gate 40 minutes before the flight so that British Airways has plenty of time to board them and stow any strollers or car seats in the cargo hold.
Passengers with disabilities or those who need extra assistance with boarding are asked to contact British Airways at least 48 hours prior to their flight so that the proper preparations can be made.
Hand Baggage Only fares on British Airways are most often the least expensive option, and as such have fewer benefits for passengers.
Although you do not get a checked bag with these fares, you can still bring a full-size carry-on and a personal item on board with you.
If you want to select your own seat location with these fares, you will have to pay an additional fee. Otherwise, British Airways will assign a seat to you before your flight.
Families traveling on Hand Baggage Only fares will be assigned seats together if possible, though they may be in different rows or across aisles. Children under 12 will be seated with a parent.
Hot Tip: Read our article on British Airways' baggage fees for more information and how to actually cover those expenses!
British Airways initially launched Hand Baggage Only fares on just their short-haul flights. Since that went well, they have now started selling the fares on their long-haul flights as well.
Since these 2 boarding procedures mirror each other in most aspects, we can expect that those lower Hand Baggage Only fares will be in the last boarding group on the long-hauls just like they are with the short-haul flights.
This may be more of a problem on long-haul flights, because passengers who purchase these fare are traveling without a checked bag and will likely need to place a larger carry-on bag in the overhead bin.
As the last passengers to board, there may be limited overhead bin space left, and some Hand Baggage Only passengers might end up having to gate check their bags.
Interestingly, along with saving a few dollars (or pounds), checking a bag was probably one of the things these specific passengers were trying to avoid.
The British Airways Executive Club program uses Avios as their mileage currency. Although this is the same currency used by both Iberia and Aer Lingus (and some transfers between the programs are allowed), the British Airways Executive Club is a separate program from the other 2 airlines.
They have their own award charts and their own ways of earning lots and lots of Avios.
One of the easier ways to earn a huge number of Avios very quickly is by taking advantage of the co-branded British Airways Visa Signature Card issued by Chase. This card often has a sign-up bonus of up to 100,000 Avios, although the minimum spend required to get the full bonus can be quite high.
If you haven't earned enough Avios with your credit card, you can also transfer all 3 of the main flexible bank points to your Executive Club Account.
Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Points all transfer quite quickly, and there are often even transfer bonuses as high as 30% or 40% that you can take advantage of with one or more of these programs.
When planning to use Avios, it's important to know that if you are booking flights on British Airways metal, you will often find high fuel surcharges.
This is especially true on long-haul flights that depart out of London — and the charges get even higher for travel in premium cabins.
If you want to avoid these surcharges, some great ways to use your Avios are shorter flights on British Airways and on partner airlines all over the world.
Hot Tip: Since they are a member of the Oneworld Alliance, British Airways Avios can be used to fly on many different carriers. One of the best uses of Avios for U.S.-based customers is booking short-haul American Airlines flights. Many flights that American wants 12,500 miles to book will only cost you 7,500 Avios if you book them through British Airways.
Even though the fuel surcharges for some routes can border on ridiculous when booking British Airways flights with miles, there are plenty of other flights that can be a really good deal.
Whether booking with Avios, with your American Airlines miles, or buying a cash ticket to Europe — you are bound to find yourself at a British Airways boarding gate at some point as you travel the world.
Hopefully, we have helped clear up the British Airways boarding procedures with what we have presented above.
Remember that boarding can be a little different depending on the length of your flight. Just pay attention to your assigned group, and you should be ready to board without worry.
Get on board, get comfortable, and let British Airways whisk you away to the next destination on your list. Maybe you'll even find a member of the Upgraded Points team hanging around the gate next time you're in London!
How many boarding groups are there on British Airways?
British Airways uses 5 numbered groups for their boarding process. Prior to these 5 groups, families with infants under 2 or with young children in strollers and customers requiring disability or mobility assistance are allowed to preboard.
Are British Airways flights assigned seating?
Yes, British Airways uses assigned seating for all of their flights. In most cases, passengers can select their seats ahead of time. If premium seats are selected, a payment may be required. Passengers traveling on Hand Baggage Only fares will have seats assigned to them by British Airways prior to their flights.
Who has pre-boarding on British Airways?
Families with infants under 2 or with young children in strollers and customers requiring disability or mobility assistance are allowed to preboard on British Airways flights.
When can families board on British Airways?
Families with infants under 2 or with young children in strollers are allowed to preboard on British Airways flights. Families are asked to be at the gate 40 minutes prior to the flight so that there is plenty of time to stow any strollers or car seats in the cargo hold.
Who is in group 1 on British Airways?
For short-haul flights, Priority Boarding group 1 on British Airways includes business class (Club Europe) passengers, Executive Club Gold members, and Oneworld Emerald members. For long-haul flights, Priority group 1 includes first class passengers, Executive Club Gold members, and Oneworld Emerald members.
Who is in group 2 on British Airways?
For short-haul flights, priority boarding group 2 on British Airways includes Executive Club Silver members and Oneworld Sapphire members. For long-haul flights, priority group 2 includes business class (Club World) passengers, Executive Club Silver members, and Oneworld Sapphire members.
Who is in group 3 on British Airways?
For short-haul flights, priority boarding group 3 on British Airways includes Executive Club Bronze members and Oneworld Ruby members. For long-haul flights, priority group 3 includes premium economy (World Traveller Plus), Executive Club Bronze members, and Oneworld Ruby members.
Who is in group 4 on British Airways?
For short-haul flights, boarding group 4 on British Airways includes economy (Euro Traveller) passengers. For long-haul flights, boarding group 4 includes economy (World Traveller) class passengers. Group 4 is the first of 2 general boarding groups.
Who is in group 5 on British Airways?
For short-haul flights, boarding group 5 on British Airways includes economy (Euro Traveller) passengers and all passengers flying on Hand Baggage Only fares. For long-haul flights, boarding group 5 includes economy (World Traveller) class passengers and all passengers flying on Hand Baggage Only fares. Group 5 is the second of the 2 general boarding groups.


A portable generator is a great piece of equipment to add to your adventure gear, but with many options on the market how do you choose one that suits you? This helpful guide will give you the info you need to get it right.
These generate the cleanest power possible, called pure sine wave power. They are suitable for powering any equipment, including sensitive electronics. They are also lighter, quieter and more efficient than conventional generators.
Consumers usually think of a portable generator as something one or two people can carry easily, but generator manufacturers and retailers also use this term to refer trade style generators that may or may not be inverters and may weigh up to about 200 kg. Certainly not portable in the same sense! The first type is often called a 'recreational generator' by the industry, but we will use the term 'portable inverter' in this guide the same way consumers do.
A portable inverter therefore is small unit, capable of being moved by one or two people, which produces clean power that will safely power any appliance. They are also petrol powered.
Other sorts of generator include trade and diesel types, and while we won't discuss them here, the same buying tips apply.
2 Determine the maximum total load for these appliances, including start up requirement. This is usually given in watts and can be found on the data plate or in the manual for the appliance. Starting power is higher than running power for appliances with electric motors and compressors, such as air conditioners, so it is important that you get this information. Often it is not found in manuals and you may need to contact the manufacturer.
3 Choose a generator that can handle the maximum load.
Generators are sized in kVA, if the rated output in watts is not given multiply the kVA by 0.8. This will give you the rated output for the generator in kW (multiply again by 1000 to get the number of watts).
Because many appliances require additional power for starting than running, you may be able to use a smaller generator if you don't start all of the appliances at once, or if you turn some off while using others.
Even after working out the size of generator you require there are a lot of options to choose from, but they will not all be the same! Below are some features to look out for.
Weight: The lighter the better, and there can be significant differences between brands.
Noise: A noisy generator is not popular on a campsite! Most generator noise levels are measure in decibels at 7 metres from the unit (dBA @7m). As a point of reference 60 dBA is about the level of an average conversation. When comparing noise levels it is important to remember the decibel scale is logarithmic, not linear. This means 70dBA is actually twice as loud as 60dBA. Every 10dBA increase is twice as loud.
Smart throttle: An automatic throttle adjusts engine revs to match the load. This helps to reduce noise and fuel consumption.
Run time: Better quality units offer longer running times, reducing the frequency of refuelling.
Fuel petcock: This allows you to shut off fuel and run the carburetor dry. You will be able to avoid stale fuel gumming up the carburettor and prevent smells leaking during storage and transport.
Warranty: You will be able to ensure maximum life time for your portable inverter with a quality warranty. Look for brands that are easily contacted and will stand by their products. The longest warranty available on the market is currently four years.
Service and parts: Accessing spare parts and servicing is important for the longevity of your unit, so a brand with a good service network will ensure years of enjoyment.


Therapy Dog Harnesses There are 6 products.
Maximum functional nylon dog harness for Labrador walking, training and work in all weather. Extra strong, light-weighted and water-resistant. Velcro patches will help to identify your dog's activities.
Leather dog harness for guide Labrador. Maximum comfortable for the dog and super convenient for the handler. Strong and hardwearing. All metal details are welded for additional durability. Removable handle-frame covered with leather. Velcro sign patches. Reflective strap makes the dog visible in the dark. Intended for safe walks.
Guide harness for safety and comfort of the dog and the handler. Super strong and convenient nylon dog harness with short back handle and removable nylon covered long metal handle. Ultrastrong rustproof nickel-plated hardware. Reflective strap for extra safety in the dark. Exceptionally reliable harness for guide Labrador.
White leather harness of special purpose for guide Labrador Retriever. Perfectly processed. Super comfortable and very convenient. Equipped with luxury brass hardware. Has Velcro patches for identification. Three reflective stripes on the front chest strap. Leather covered steel handle and removable handle-frame. Handy buckle. Adjustable girth.


The Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP) was established in 2007 with the objective of promoting the country's gaming development industry. GDAPs members create and publish interactive games and content for various platforms. It is supported by the Government along with schools and universities.
GDAP envisions a Filipino game development industry that is vibrant, dynamic, and prosperous.
GDAP promotes the growth and economic interests of the Gaming development sector in the Philippines by providing a platform for which members can collaborate and discuss with each other, as well as publishers, developers, and students. The organization hosts annual conferences and workshops, such as 'Gamefest', 'Epic Games in Manila' to name a few.


Male Celebrities (Generally) In Tighty Whities.: Paul Anka - "Lonely Boy"
A young (21) Paul Anka getting dressed.
I'm still trying to figure out what brand/kind of briefs those are. From the side they look like Jockey's but definitely not so from the front.
Wow !! This is quite rare to find what kind of undies Paul Anka wore...white brief !! Thanks for the layout. Turned me on.


text:
\section{INTRODUCTION}
As a critical capability for autonomous and intelligent vehicles, localization makes it possible to determining precise position of the vehicle on the map. The typically used tool for outdoor localization is GPS, which is limited by low rate, accuracy, and satellite accessibility. An alternative approach is vision-based localization (VBL), which has become an active research area in the past decade (see, for example, the survey paper \cite{piasco2018survey} and the work \cite{karlsson2005vslam} on vSLAM). VBL usually requires higher computing power for video and/or LiDAR point-cloud processing in real-time. It also requires an high definition (HD) map that contains detailed features in the environments. Probabilistic models are often employed to handle the uncertainty in the change of landmarks, as well as sensor noise.

Terrain-based localization (TBL) is referred to as matching in-vehicle sensor measurements with a stored topographical terrain map, and taking the location of the best match to be the position of the navigator. As the primary localization method before GPS was invented, terrain-based localization has been used extensively in aircraft \cite{gustafsson2002particle}, cruise missile applications \cite{hostetler1978optimal}, and underwater systems \cite{whitcomb2000advances}.

For road vehicles, map-based localization with particle filters were proposed in \cite{gustafsson2002particle}, in which the driven path was matched to a road map. However, driven path may not contain enough significant features on a small scale, and it can be easily affected by noise, such as traffic volume, it along does not always provide enough localization accuracy. In 2001, it was first pointed out in \cite{bae2001road} that low frequency component of pitch measurement correlates well with road grade, since the road grade usually changes slower than the pitch motion of the vehicle. Pitch profile was not reportedly used for localization until 2006, when location dependency and repeat-ability of the pitch profile in spatial domain were demonstrated \cite{martini2006gps}, and offline longitudinal positioning was studied by searching the best correlation between a new pitch profile, reported by in-vehicle inertial measurement units (IMUs) devices,  and the known accurately measured pitch profile. Particle filters were later used to match the pitch measurements onto the terrain map to achieve real-time localization \cite{dean2011terrain}. It has also been shown that pitch profile can be used in combination with driven path to create a hybrid map for improved localization accuracy \cite{li2014extended}. To overcome the potential zero drift in IMU measurements and to enhance robustness, pitch difference, instead of pitch profile itself, was used for matching with
Bayesian inference and particle filters \cite{li2016robust}. In \cite{laftchiev2015vehicle}, pitch profile data was encoded using linear models for computational efficiency.

To the best of our knowledge, in all the above-mentioned methods, pitch profiles are measured using in-vehicle IMUs.  As a result, these approaches usually ignore the unmodeled dynamics within the suspension systems. Since the suspension dynamics can vary greatly from one vehicle to another, Pitch profile created by one vehicle may not be applicable to the other. In addition, with the development of active and semi-active suspension control technologies, the suspension dynamics of the same vehicle may vary drastically, causing potential inconsistency in the estimated pitch profiles. Although the previous methods all used low-pass filters to get rid of the noise caused by unmodeled dynamics to increase consistency, they discarded quite a few useful statistics in the data. This could affect localization accuracy.

In this paper, we propose a new methodology to conduct longitudinal localization using sensors from an active suspension control system. An active suspension control system requires high-quality and high-frequency sensors (e.g., wheel accelerometers) mounted in the wheel assembly. With the help of these sensors, it is practical to reconstruct cleaner and more repeatable pitch profiles, with comparably higher resolution than traditional methods. In addition, we propose a dynamic matching and merging algorithm to create and maintain a crowd-sourced terrain map. The terrain map has sufficient information to generate a {\it master} pitch profile that is compared with the {\it live} pitch profile as generated from in-vehicle computers. Finally, we present our experimental results to validate the proposed methodology.

The remainder of paper is organized as follows. Section II reviews a classical quarter-car model with active suspension control systems, and provides several approaches to reconstruct repeatable road profile. Section III details the main results of the proposed technology, including how the pitch profile is generated, and how the crowd-sourced map is created and updated. Section IV presents the experiments we conducted and related data analysis. Section V gives conclusions and briefly points out future research directions.

\section{PRELIMINARIES}
\label{roadprofile}
\subsection{Road profile reconstruction}

Consider a quarter car suspension system \index{Car suspension system} described by the following ordinary differential equations \cite{hrovat1993applications}:
\begin{eqnarray}
\dot x_1 &=& x_2 \label{eq:qcar:1}\\
\dot x_2 &=& -\frac{k_ss_d+b_s(s_v)-f}{m_b}\label{eq:qcar:2}\\
\dot x_3 &=& x_4\label{eq:qcar:3}\\
\dot x_4 &=& \frac{k_ss_d+b_s(s_v)-k_t(x_3-r)-f}{m_w}\label{eq:qcar:4}
\end{eqnarray}
where $x_1$, $x_2$, and $m_b$ denote respectively the position, velocity, and mass of the quarter car body;  $x_3$, $x_4$, and $m_w$ represent respectively the position, velocity, and mass of the  wheel assembly; $s_d=:x_1-x_3$ and $s_v:=x_2-x_4$ are the displacement and velocity of the shock absorber; $k_t$, $k_s$, are the tire and the spring coefficients; $b_s(\cdot)$ is a nonlinear damping function; $f$ is the force applied between the body and the wheel assembly.

Our road profile estimation method is based on the quarter car model and will be elaborated in the next Section.

\subsection{Cross-correlation}

This paper employs cross-correlation \cite{buck1997computer} \cite{stoica2005spectral} to find a signal snippet within a longer stream. The theoretical cross-correlation sequence of two jointly stationary random process $x[n]$ and $y[n]$ is given by
\begin{eqnarray}
R_{xy}[m] &=& E\{x[n+m]y^*[n]\} \\
&=& E\{x[n]y^*[n-m]\}
\end{eqnarray}
where $n\in(-\infty,\infty)$, asterisk denotes complex conjugation, and $E(\cdot)$ stands for the expected value operator.

In practice, only a finite segment of the random process is available. Thus, the raw correlation without normalization is defined as
\begin{eqnarray}
\hat{R}_{xy}[m] = \left\{\begin{array}{cc}
\sum\limits_{n=0}^{N-m-1}x[n+m]y[n]^*,& m\ge 0,\\
\hat{R}^*_{xy}[-m], & m<0.
\end{array} \right.
\end{eqnarray}
When applying raw cross-correlation on a signal snippet and a longer stream, the point at which the cross-correlation is the greatest may indicate the delay between the starting points. Thus, it is possible to apply cross-correlation between a live profile generated by the on-board computer, and a master profile stream stored in the cloud to localize the vehicle. This will be detailed in Section \ref{sec:loc}.

\section{TERRAIN-BASED LOCALIZATION}
This section presents the main results of the localization methodology, which includes pitch profile creation, map merging, online localization, and some key implementation issues.
\label{sec:loc}

\subsection{Road profile estimation}
On distinctive advantage of using an active suspension system for this task is that we can conveniently identify the parameters of the quarter car model. Indeed, linearizing the damping term $b_s(s_v)$ to $b_s s_v$ makes the quarter car model \eqref{eq:qcar:1}-\eqref{eq:qcar:4} a standard LTI system, and quite a few system identification approaches can be directly applied. Notice that this is not straightforward in a passive or semi-active system, due to the lack of sensors and the ability to inject actuation force.

With identified parameters of the quarter car model \eqref{eq:qcar:1}-\eqref{eq:qcar:4}, the road profile at each corner of the vehicle is estimated as
\begin{eqnarray}
\hat{r}=\frac{1}{k_t}({m_w\dot{x}_4 -k_s s_d-b_s(s_v)+f}) + \hat{x}_3
\end{eqnarray}
where $\dot{x}_4$ is directly reported from the wheel accelerator, and $\hat{x}_3$ is computed by integrating $\dot{x}_4$ twice and applying a high-pass filter to remove the low-frequency numerical drift caused by integration.

For other approaches, such as observer-based profile reconstruction methods, please refer to \cite{noll2016accuracy} and \cite{doumiati2014adaptive} as examples.

\subsection{Pitch profile creation}

The road profile $r(t)$ described in Section \ref{roadprofile} is a function of time. With standard vehicle velocity measurement (e.g., 20Hz to 50Hz collected from CAN bus), the road profile can be converted to a function of distance ${r}_d(s)$ based on the following equality:
\begin{eqnarray}
{r}_d\left(\int_0^tv(\tau)d\tau\right) = {r}(t)
\end{eqnarray}
where $v(t)$ is the vehicle speed.

A detailed conversion algorithm is given in Algorithm \ref{alg:profileconv}, where $d_{map}$ is the discrete point on the map, and $\Delta d$ is the resolution of the map.
\begin{algorithm}
\caption{Road profile conversion}\label{alg:profileconv}
\begin{algorithmic}[1]
\Procedure{Initialization:}{}
\State $d_{old} \gets 0$
\State $d_{new} \gets 0$
\State $t_{old} \gets 0$
\State $r_{old} \gets 0$
\State $r_d \gets \emptyset$
\State $d_{map} \gets 0$
\EndProcedure
\Procedure{Time to distance conversion}{}
\While {receiving new data $(t, v, r)$ and $v>0$}
\State $d_{old} \gets d_{new}$
\State $d_{new} \gets d_{new} + \int_{t_{old}}^t~v~dt$
\State $t_{old} \gets t$
\If {$d_{map}\in(d_{old}, d_{new})$}
\State $r_{d, new} \gets \frac{(r-r_{old})(d_{map}-d_{old})}{d_{new} - d_{old}}+r_{old}$

\State Append $r_{d, new}$ to the end of $r_d$
\State $d_{map}\gets d_{map} + \Delta d$
\EndIf
\EndWhile
\State return $r_d$
\EndProcedure
\end{algorithmic}
\end{algorithm}
\noindent

The quarter car model associated with each wheel can generate such a road profile as a function in distance. Thus, for a regular four-wheel vehicle, four different road profiles are generated in the same way.

It can be converted to the pitch profile of the chassis by
\begin{eqnarray}
p(s) = \tan^{-1}\left(\frac{r_{fl}(s)+r_{fr}(s)-r_{rl}(s)-r_{rr}(s)}{2l_{b}}\right)\nonumber\\
&&
\end{eqnarray}
where $l_b$ is the wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear axles of a vehicle), $r_{fl}$, $r_{fr}$, $r_{rl}$, and $r_{rr}$ are the road profile estimated at front-left, front-right, rear-left, and rear-right wheels, respectively.

In order to eliminate the drift caused by integrating of wheel accelerations, we differentiate the pitch profile $p(s)$ with respect to distance to extract the most consistent portion of the data across different drives.

Note that the pitch profile depends on the vehicle wheelbase, which may vary from one car to another. Therefore, the terrain map only stores the road height profile but will derive the pitch profile whenever it is needed.

\subsection{Crowd-sourced map creation}
Road profile height and the resultant pitch profile estimated in this way are by no means to serve only one car in a specific area. Instead, it is desired to collect the profiles generated from different vehicles and attach the data to a database of geographical information, e.g., OpenStreetMap (OSM) \cite{haklay2008openstreetmap}, such that all vehicles having access to the database and with sufficient sensors can share the profile data and use it for its own localization. To this end, we have developed a new approach for creating and continuously improving a crowd-sourced terrain map that contains road profiles.

To begin with, given a graph representation (Fig. \ref{fig:graphmap}) of the map geometry, one can define its associated road profile data with a desired map resolution. For example, one can assign road height values every $0.1m$ along a segment. These values are stored in the cloud and the values from adjacent segments can be loaded and stitched together to create a {\it master} profile. On the other hand, a vehicle operated in the same area may generate a {\it live} profile with its on-board computer and send the data to the cloud for further improvement of the existing master profile.

Once a live profile is received, the associated driven path is matched onto the map by using the on-board GPS measurements (Fig. \ref{fig:graphmap}). Next, the live profile is broken down into into multiple {\it stretches}. A stretch is defined as a piece of road profile with approximately $100m$ long, and it is associated with a pair of GPS points for its start and end points. The stretch has a center GPS point, using which we can find an extended stretch, which is a longer piece in the master profile that has the same GPS center as the stretch (Fig. \ref{fig:mapStretch}). Then, we try to find the precise match of the stretch within the extended stretch. This can be done by performing cross-correlation between the related pitch profiles. If this is successful, we merge the live stretch into the master profile by doing a weighted average (Fig. \ref{fig:mapAverage}). This merge operation will not only improve the height profile but also improve the GPS coordinates of the master profile.

The map creation and improvement algorithm is summarized in Algorithm \ref{alg:mapcreation} and illustrated in Fig. \ref{fig:mapStretch} and Fig. \ref{fig:mapAverage}.

\begin{algorithm}
\caption{Terrain map creation and improvement}
\label{alg:mapcreation}
\begin{enumerate}
\item Initialize the master profile with zeros.
\item Receive a live height profile as a function of distance from a vehicle.
\item Take a stretch from the live profile.
\item Find the GPS coordinate of the stretch center.
Get an extended stretch from the master profile with the same GPS coordinate.
\item Apply raw cross-correlation to precisely match the stretch within the extended stretch.
\item Crop the extended profile to get the piece of master profile that matches with the stretch.
\item Merge the stretch into the master profile.
\item If there are new available stretches to use, go to 3).
\end{enumerate}
\end{algorithm}

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[width = 0.55\textwidth]{MapMatching.png}
\caption{Graph representation of a map. Each circle filed with blue color is a {\it node}, which consists of a single point in space defined by its latitude, longitude and node id. A straight section of a way between exactly two adjacent nodes is called as a {\it segment}. Each green cross is a {\it GPS point} measured by the on-board GPS device. Each GPS point has a projection on its nearest segment. A straight section between a GPS projection point and a node is referred to as a {\it subsegment}.}
\label{fig:graphmap}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\includegraphics[width = 0.55\textwidth]{MatchingStep2.png}
\caption{Matching a live stretch with an extended stretch in the master profile. The extended stretch is found via the GPS center of the live stretch. The key in the matching algorithm is to precisely align the center of the live stretch with the corresponding location in the extended stretch. This location may be different from the location with the same GPS coordinate, due to the inaccuracy in GPS measurements.}
\label{fig:mapStretch}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\includegraphics[width = 0.5\textwidth]{MatchingStep3.png}
\caption{Once the center of the live stretch is matched with a location point in the extended stretch, one can crop the extended profile to obtain a portion of the master profile that has the same length as the stretch. Then, update the master profile by averaging it with the stretch. The GPS data of the master profile may also be updated (in terms of shifting the profile towards the left or the right) with the GPS data of the stretch.}
\label{fig:mapAverage}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Real-time localization}

Assuming a terrain map is created with sufficiently crowd-sourced data, a vehicle that has the ability to reconstruct road profile in real-time and use this map to localize itself.

To be more specific, the on-board computer downloads the master pitch profile of a desired path from the cloud. Also, it takes the sensor data from the active suspension system, and applies Algorithm \ref{alg:profileconv} to create the profiles and maintain a buffer of the trailing  profile data. Then, the computer continuously matches its buffer within the master pitch profile to achieve localization. To avoid any distortion or distance discrepancy within the buffer data, the smaller buffer can be added to refine the localization results (Fig. \ref{fig:xcorr}).

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[width = 0.5\textwidth]{Localization.png}
\caption{Illustration of the localization algorithm. The on-board computer of the vehicle maintains a buffer, with a fixed length, of the most recently reconstructed road profile in distance. Based on any a priori knowledge of the vehicle's location, a window of master profile data is downloaded from the cloud. The vehicle then localizes itself by finding the relative location of its buffer within in the window. To attenuate the noise cause by distortion, a sub-window is imposed around the estimated location of the vehicle, and the algorithm tries to find a sub-buffer in the sub-window to refine the localization result.}
\label{fig:xcorr}
\end{figure}

\section{EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION}
\subsection{Experimental setup}
The experiments were conducted in a $4.2km$ loop in a residential area in Woburn, MA (Fig. \ref{fig:loop3}). First, we drove in this loop for three times to collect the profile data such that we can create an initial map. Then, we drove in the same loop to experiment with the real-time localization algorithm.

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[width= 9cm, height = 6cm]{error.png}
\caption{Longitudinal error computed using on-board GPS measurements as the ground truth.}
\label{fig:err}
\end{figure}

A 2012 BMW 535i was used in the experiment (Fig. \ref{fig:wallace}). It was equipped with a fully active suspension (FAS) system produced by ClearMotion, Inc. The FAS system includes four proprietary fast-response, compact, electrohydraulic acturators. They include a modified hydraulic damper integrated with a hydraulic motor-pump power unit, which enables the actuator to effectively control the motion of the vehicle body. The Genshock system also includes multiple sensors, as accelerometers, to measure each chassis corner's vertical acceleration.

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[width= 8cm, height = 5.5cm]{wallace.png}
\caption{Experimental vehicle (2012 BMW 535i)}
\label{fig:wallace}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[width= 7cm, height = 6cm]{loop3.png}
\caption{Loop for experiments. This is a loop of local single lane road in Woburn, MA, USA.}
\label{fig:loop3}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Profile reconstruction}
To obtain consistent road profiles, we differentiate pitch angle with respect to distance for two times, and aligned the resultant profiles, as illustrated in Fig. \ref{fig:pitch}. It can be seen that the pitch profiles are highly consistent across three different laps.

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[width= 9cm, height = 6cm]{profile.png}
\caption{Consistent pitch profile reconstruction}
\label{fig:pitch}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Cross-correlation for localization}
We perform continuous cross-correlation between the live buffer and the downloaded terrain map. Four snapshots of the cross-correlation at varies locations are shown in Fig. \ref{fig:result_plot}.
The strongest cross correlation gives the current location of the car relative to the map. By using the previously detected location of the vehicle as a priori knowledge, we  imposed a moving window of $1km$ on the downloaded profile data stream to significantly reduce chances of mismatching. When it was not possible to identify the strongest correlation point, we applied dead reckoning using only the vehicle speed to approximate the location and move the window. Once a clear spike is identified, the estimated location can be immediately corrected. In our experiments, more than $95\%$ of the time a strongest peak was clear (the second strongest peak was less than $60\%$ of the strongest peak).

\subsection{Error analysis}
We used the on-board GPS to compute the longitudinal error of the localization results. Error was computed at every $10m$ as shown in Fig. \ref{fig:err}.The error is less than $1m$ for more than $80\%$ of the time, less than $0.5m$ for more than $50\%$ of the time and $0.1m$ for more than $10\%$ of the time. Notice that the error is within GPS tolerance, indicating our accuracy is actually higher than computed based on GPS measurements.

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[width= 9.25cm, height = 7cm]{xcorr.png}
\caption{Snapshots of cross-correlation at varies locations. The strongest correlation coincides with the location of the car's travel distance subtracted by the length of the buffer.}
\label{fig:result_plot}
\end{figure}

\section{CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK}
In this paper, we have proposed a way to achieve localization using the sensor data from active suspension control systems. We have shown that it is practical to reconstruct road profiles and generate consistent a pitch profile that can be used for localization. A map creation and improvement approach has been presented to maintain a crowd-sourced terrain map. This method has been validated through experiments.

We believe the proposed methodology serves as a foundation for many related research directions. For example, it will be interesting to extend this approach to study localization with multiple lanes. Also, the pitch profile we generated can be combined with other sensor data such as yaw rate and steering angle, and terrain-related information such as special road features or extrema features \cite{vemulapalli2011pitch} to create a map with different layers. It may also work in combination with vision data \cite{gruyer2014map} to achieve both longitudinal and lateral localization. As the size of the terrain map increases, it is of importance to consider how to efficiently store the profile data or compress the data, e.g., using model-based methods \cite{laftchiev2013robust}. Finally, it is of great value to use the localization results as way to provide preview information \cite{roadSurface, chen2022vehicle, jiang2022vehicular} to active suspension systems for better ride improvement and motion-sickness mitigation \cite{ekchian2016high}.

\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Despite the rise in alternative payment methods such as card and electronic payments, recent reports suggest that cash in circulation and cash usage continues to increase in the UK. Figures from the UK Payments Council in June 2013 revealed that businesses and consumers made £20.8 billion in cash payments in 2012, compared with £20.6 billion in the previous year. These findings are supported by a study released by Market Platform Dynamics, which found that cash use is increasing in many other developed countries. The study examined ten markets including the US, UK, France and Germany and of them only Sweden expected to see a decline in the use of cash.
The number of cash machines in use in the UK is also at an all-time high, with more than 66,000 ATMs in existence, according to the report from the UK Payments Council entitled 'UK Cash and Cash Machines 2013'. This rise may be driven in part by an industry initiative to increase the number of ATMs in underserved areas in the UK, as well as an increase in charging IAD machines. The report also reveals that the average withdrawal is £66 per transaction.
The trend in the UK is also reflected globally according to 'Global ATM Market and Forecasts to 2017' a study from RBR, the research and consulting firm. This is largely due to the rapidly rising demand for cash withdrawal services from emerging markets.
These studies demonstrate that the volume of cash in circulation is increasing in spite of the continuing rise in alternative payment methods and a decline in the overall value of cash. But what is behind the rising fortunes of cash?
One of the sectors hard hit by the economic crisis has been the retail industry. Consumers have understandably restricted their spending on non-essential items as a result of lower household incomes and rising inflation. This has impacted retailers and led them to actively encourage customers to purchase goods in cash as it is the cheapest form of payment for them to process. It costs a retailer approximately 22 pence to process £100 worth of cash. In comparison, to process the same amount on debit card, it costs a retailer approximately £1.80. The cost increases to almost £4 for credit card payments. For smaller retailers in particular, this has the potential to impact profitability, so many have introduced minimum spends or charges to pay by card in order to encourage customers to pay in cash. Newer forms of payments, such as Near Field Communication (NFC), are also expensive for retailers as it requires an initial investment to buy and implement the technology in store. The £20 maximum spending limit on NFC also means its profitability is limited.
Many retailers are also now providing a cash-back facility which they actively promote to their customers when they make a purchase with them. This may also be impacting on cash usage and circulation figures. Retailers publicise their cash-back facility with store signage, and the checkout operators verbally offer this when you pay, encouraging consumers to withdraw cash they may otherwise not have.The infrastructure already exists to manage and process cash, so while retailers are still feeling the effects of the economic crisis, we expect to see retailers continue to encourage consumers to use and pay for their goods in cash.
The other key benefit of cash to struggling consumers is that it allows them to keep a closer eye on their spending and therefore manage household budgets more effectively. The Payments Council report shows that in 2012, 7.2 million adults made all of their day-to-day purchases by cash, an increase of around 700,000 compared with 2011. An interesting example of this has been witnessed among petrol forecourt operators who are seeing customers withdraw cash to pay for petrol, rather than pay using a card.
Looking at the use of cash on a global level, it appears that emerging economies are still heavily reliant on it as the main form of payment. In Russia in 2012, the amount of cash in circulation increased by 11.2% to 7,676 billion roubles, according to research by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), compared to 6,903 billion roubles in 2011. Similarly, in Romania, 93% of all payments were made in cash according to statistics from the European Central Bank. Its report on 'The Social and Private Costs of Retail Payment Instruments' shows the volume of cash payments as a percentage of total payments in a sample of European countries. In comparison, developed countries which have the necessary infrastructure for electronic payments, are much less reliant on cash. The Nordic countries particularly favour electronic forms of payment; in Denmark and Finland the volume of all payments in cash was 37% and 36% respectively.
We are seeing that during challenging economic times both retailers and consumers turn to cash, for their own reasons. For retailers, cash is the cheapest and easiest form of payment to process; whereas for struggling consumers, cash enables them to budget more effectively. Together these two groups are driving the surprise rise in cash usage, after almost a decade of seeing volumes decline. Given that card payments all rely on the availability of technology and electricity, it seems that cash will always remain a vital part of our lives due to its reliability and simplicity.


text:
Elena Popova
Don't Overinflate the Pentagon Budget
There are plenty of perennial problems draining the military's coffers that need attention.
William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman
By William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman
Defense hawks like Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., who have long called for major increases in the Pentagon's already-massive budget, are now using the issue of inflation to press for the addition of up to $100 billion to the administration's $773 billion defense-spending plan for fiscal 2023. This is an astonishing proposal when one considers that the administration's budget request is already more than $100 billion higher than U.S. military spending at the peak of the Cold War.
Inflation is an issue, to be sure, but it should not be addressed by simply locking in an increase tied to the rise in the consumer price index, now running at over 8 percent. The CPI measures the costs of entirely different items than those purchased by the military. It is not a useful gauge of what is needed to maintain the Pentagon's buying power. Any adjustment for inflation should be based on a specific tracking of things the Pentagon and weapons makers actually buy, ideally vetted by an independent body such as the Government Accountability Office.
Another point, made regularly by the Biden administration, is that the funds provided for fiscal 2023 will not be spent until October 1, and will only be spent through Sept. 30, 2023. If inflation adjustments are needed, they should be made according to the prices of goods and services when the Pentagon buys them, not earlier and based on estimates of what inflation might or might not be.
If Congress really wants to ensure that the U.S. military has access to its full buying power, it might tackle more perennial problems, like the Pentagon's habit of overpaying for basic items. A few months ago, for example, DOD's inspector general reported that the Transdigm corporation had sold a small sampling of spare parts to the government for 10 to 100 times its own costs, overcharging a total of $20.8 million. A full assessment would find untold millions or billions more in overcharges. Until Pentagon negotiators are allowed to have accurate data on the costs of key items before negotiating for new ones, this kind of fraud and abuse will continue unchecked.
In addition to spare parts, the Pentagon overpays for major weapons, from $13 billion aircraft carriers to F-35 combat aircraft that could cost $1.7 trillion to purchase and operate over the life of the program. Getting weapons costs under control should be a top priority. At the moment, that is clearly not the case.
The Pentagon could also save billions by capping its use of private contractors. It currently employs more than half a million contractor personnel, many of whom provide services that can be done better and more cheaply by government employees, if they are needed at all. Cutting spending on contractors by just 15 percent would save $26 billion per year.
As Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., noted in a recent Congressional hearing, blindly adding funds to the Pentagon's already enormous budget based on questionable inflation arguments "invites defense contractors to pick taxpayers' pockets…The American people are willing to pay to defend this country but they're not going to sit still for being gouged by hugely profitable defense companies."
All of the above doesn't even address the question of whether America's costly "cover the globe" military strategy—with more than 750 military bases and counterterror operations in 85 countries—is the best way to make the country safe.
Before tacking on an arbitrary amount to the Pentagon budget based on flawed inflation estimates, the department should be required to show that it will effectively manage the funds it is already receiving.
William D. Hartung is a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Ben Freeman, Ph.D., is a research fellow at the Quincy Institute. They were the co-chairs of the Sustainable Defense Task Force at the Center for International Policy
NEXT STORY: How to Gauge the Risk of a Nuclear Escalation with Russia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
Jasminanthes is a plant genus in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1850. It is native to China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

Species

 Jasminanthes chunii (Tsiang) W.D. Stevens & P.T. Li - Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan
Jasminanthes laotica Y.H. Tan & H.B. Ding - Laos
 Jasminanthes mucronata (Blanco) W.D. Stevens & P.T. Li - Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Zhejiang
 Jasminanthes pilosa (Kerr) W.D. Stevens & P.T. Li - Guangxi, Yunnan, Thailand, Vietnam
 Jasminanthes saxatilis (Tsiang & P.T. Li) W.D. Stevens & P.T. Li - Guangxi, Yunnan
Jasminanthes tuyetanhiae T.B.Tran & Rodda - Vietnam
Jasminanthes xuanlienensis T.B Tran & Rodda - Vietnam

formerly included
transferred to Stephanotis
Jasminanthes suaveolens Blume is now a synonym of  Stephanotis suaveolens (Blume) Benth. & Hook. f. ex K. Schum.

References

External links

Asclepiadoideae
Apocynaceae genera

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The US has raised concerns about the release of the Lockerbie bomber, after the foreign secretary said the decision to free him was "a mistake".
William Hague spoke to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said Britain may wish to explain the circumstances behind Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's release.
Four US senators believe oil giant BP lobbied for the move to secure a deal with Libya.
The Scottish government said Megrahi was freed on compassionate grounds.
It has denied having any contact with BP before its decision last year to release the Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the 1988 bombing which killed 270 people, most of them Americans.
Special hearings examining Megrahi's release will be held at Capitol Hill on 29 July.
The US Senate foreign relations committee said it would ask BP officials to testify after the company admitted lobbying the British government in 2007 over a prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) with Libya.
BP confirmed it did press for a PTA because it was aware that a delay might have "negative consequences" for UK commercial interests.
But the firm said it was not involved in any discussions regarding Megrahi's release.
The bomber was released in August by Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill because he was suffering terminal prostate cancer and was said to have as little as three months to live.
He had been sentenced to life imprisonment by a special Scottish court sitting in The Netherlands in 2001.
The fact that he is still alive nearly a year after his release has provoked fury among groups representing the Lockerbie victims.
Following the conversation between Mrs Clinton and Mr Hague, US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said: "The secretary indicated that it might be appropriate for the British government to communicate with Congress as well to make sure that they fully understand what transpired a year ago."
He later told the BBC: "There were very legitimate questions raised about the medical information that led to the decision.
"People have raised questions about interactions between the UK government and BP over the negotiation of a prisoner transfer agreement.
"And we will look to the British government to help us fully understand the basis to the decision that led to Megrahi's release."
Foreign Office sources told the BBC Mr Hague reiterated the government's belief that the decision to release Megrahi was a mistake.
He said both he and Prime Minister David Cameron had been opposed to the move, but that it had been a decision solely for the Scottish administration and that there was no connection between Megrahi's release and BP.
A Scottish government spokesman has insisted that it acted independently.
He said: "The Scottish government had no contact from BP in relation to Mr Al-Megrahi.
"The issues being raised in the United States at present regarding BP refer to the Prisoner Transfer Agreement negotiated by the governments of the UK and Libya, and therefore have nothing to do with the decision on compassionate release which is a totally different process, based on entirely different criteria.
"We were always totally opposed to the prisoner transfer agreement negotiated between the UK and Libyan governments.
"The memorandum that led to the PTA was agreed without our knowledge and against our wishes."


text:
UMPIRE'S ACCREDITATION
Category: Accreditation
Categories of Classification:
There shall be four categories of accreditation:
A Grade - Highest National Accreditation Level.
B Grade - National Accreditation Level.
C Grade - Minimum National Accreditation Level.
D Grade - Players Accreditation Level.
EXAMINERS.
Appointed by AEBF from the ranks of "A" or senior "B" grade (9) Umpires who have qualified in Eight ball, on recommendation by the NRUC. Examiners are appointed on a "needs only" basis and function under direction of the SRUC
It is further recommended that:-
a) Information package be given to prospective candidates or graded umpires.
b) Each SRUC Director shall supply to the NRUC Director a list of existing Umpires, giving such details as name, background experience, who may be placed on a priority list for "B" grade testing.
c) We the NRUC recommend, on successful completion of examination the SRUC Director will forward to the NRUC Director appropriate list of achievers and their status (grading).
A Umpire's ID card shall be issued by the AEBF.
Such Certificate, signed by the NRUC Director and emailed to the SRUC Director/Examiner.
d) The NRUC Director shall keep a register of all graded umpires throughout Australia. (excel)
e) The SRUC Director shall keep a register of all their own state Umpires. (excel)
a) Head Adjudication Panel at a National Championships, must have a minimum of "B" grade status.
b) Umpires at National Championships, must have a minimum of "C" grade status.
(i) if enough "C" grade are not available, "D" grade may be used in conjunction with a higher grade
c) International events. Minimum "B" grade is preferable, but "C" grade can be used in conjunction with a higher grade.
d) For State events, level shall be left to the SRUC.
'D' GRADE UMPIRE'S
Anyone who works face-to-face with children in a paid, self-employed or voluntary capacity, must have a Working With Children Check (WWCC) clearance, unless they qualify for an exemption.
Overview;
Appointed by an affiliate on recommendation by its S.R.U.C. after examination. Awarded to candidates who demonstrate a fair knowledge of the rules but lack the qualities or experience for higher grading.
Accreditation;
The AEBF accreditation acknowledges that the holder is recognised as an active Eight Ball Umpire
Accreditation Period;
The accreditation period will be four years
Re-Accreditation
To renew accreditation applicants have to upgrade their qualifications or provide evidence that they have undertaken required activities as well as being active during at least 2 of the 4 years of their accreditation.
Accreditation upgrade:
For an upgrade between "D" and "C" grade, the lapse of time as decided by the SRUC Director.
'C' GRADE UMPIRE'S
Appointed by an affiliate on recommendation by it's SRUC after examination. Awarded to candidates who demonstrate a good knowledge of the rules.
Examination;
The "C" grade will require the National Umpire's examination and practical exam.
Documented evidence "Practical Exam Report" is required to support their nomination.
The accreditation period will be four years.
May submit as candidate for "B" grade after two (2) years.
or a special exemption maybe granted after one (1) year. (Honorary "B" grade)
'B' GRADE UMPIRE'S
Appointed by an affiliate on recommendation by its S.R.U.C. after examination. Awarded to candidates who demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the rules and qualities necessary to conduct matches of importance,
and have at least two years standing at "C" grade level.
The "B" grade will require a more complex examination and practical test.
Documented evidence is required to support their nomination.
The AEBF accreditation acknowledges that the holder is recognised as an active Eight Ball Umpire.
May apply to NRUC for appointment to "A" Grade level after a period of 2 years.
May examine D and C Grade Umpire
Assisting A Grade Umpires
'A' GRADE UMPIRE'S
Appointed by A.E.B.F. from the ranks of senior "B" grade Umpires, on recommendation by the NRUC. Awarded only for outstanding service and proven ability to conduct matches of importance."
The "A" grade will require a more complex examination and practical test.
To renew accreditation applicants have to maintain their qualifications or provide evidence that they have undertaken required activities as well as being active during at least 2 of the 4 years of their accreditation.
'A' GRADE EMERITUS
Appointed by the AEBF on recommendation by the NRUC. Awarded only to Umpires who have given distinguished service but who by reason of incapacity due to age, infirmity etc. are no longer able to officiate as Umpires.
Appointed by A.E.B.F. on the recommendation by the N.R.U.C. Awarded only to Umpires who have given distinguished service but who by reason of incapacity due to age, infirmity etc, are no longer able to officiate as Umpires.
Re-Accreditation:
George Thomas, South Australia


text:
E-cigarette Use Linked to Heart Attack, Depression
While they may be safer than cigarettes, e-cigarettes appear to carry significant health risks, according to a new study.
Quinn Phillips
E-cigarettes are available in a wide variety of flavors.iStock
More and more research is showing the adverse effect of e-cigarettes. The latest study, presented at the American College of Cardiology 2019 meeting in New Orleans, represents "a real wake-up call," according to Mohinder Vindhyal, MD, lead author of the report and an assistant professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine–Wichita Center for Clinical Research.
Analyzing data from more than 96,000 U.S. adults collected from 2014 to 2017, Dr. Vindhyal and colleagues found that e-cigarette users were 56 percent more likely to have a heart attack, and 30 percent more likely to have a stroke, than non-users. They were also twice as likely to experience depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders.
Many health risks associated with e-cigarettes were still seen once the researchers controlled for a variety of factors that can contribute to cardiovascular disease, such as age, sex, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and use of regular cigarettes.
After these differences were accounted for, e-cigarette users were still 34 percent more likely to have a heart attack, 25 percent more likely to have coronary artery disease, and 55 percent more likely to have depression or anxiety than non-users.
While substantial, the cardiovascular risks associated with e-cigarettes appear to be lower than those seen with regular cigarettes. Compared with nonsmokers, traditional cigarette smokers in the same survey pool were 165 percent more likely to have a heart attack, 94 percent more likely to have coronary artery disease, and 78 percent more likely to have a stroke.
E-Cigarettes Help More Smokers Quit than Gum and Patches, Study Finds
Vaping Increases Chances for Asthma and COPD, Study Finds
"Cigarette smoking carries a much higher probability of heart attack and stroke than e-cigarettes, but that doesn't mean that vaping is safe," says Vindhyal.
E-cigarette Contain a Mixture of Potentially Dangerous Chemicals
The main barrier to understanding the risks associated with e-cigarettes is the variety in formulation of the liquids used in them, according to Vindhyal.
"There is no governance over the e-liquids," he notes. "Anyone can make any e-liquid that they want."
But there are some common elements to e-cigarette liquids, Vindhyal says: nicotine, solvent carriers, and flavorings. Each ingredient carries potential health risks.
Nicotine is known to raise the heart rate and blood pressure, and it may be an independent risk factor for certain types of cancer, including bladder cancer.
Solvent carriers widely used in e-cigarette liquids include glycerol, which can form a lung-damaging chemical called acrolein when heated. They also include propylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which are known to worsen lung disease and may contribute to cancer and kidney or nervous system damage, according to Vindhyal.
And the flavorings used in e-liquids are so varied that there's no practical way to study them, Vindhyal say. "There are more than 7,000 flavors. There's no way to say about a flavor, 'When you heat it, this is what you get from it.'"
Vindhyal admits that e-cigarettes may be useful in helping some people quit smoking regular cigarettes, as a study published in February 2019 in The New England Journal of Medicine suggested.
But this potential benefit, he says, should be balanced against the risks that e-cigarettes present — including the risk that people, including teens, who otherwise might not have smoked will take up vaping.
"Yes, it may help you quit, but does it eliminate the risks [of smoking] completely? We don't know the answer because we don't know what's in those e-liquids," says Vindhyal, adding that his study strongly suggests that vaping isn't risk-free.
The health risks associated with e-cigarettes are particularly concerning since it's not just adults who use them. Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a series of enforcement efforts to curb e-cigarette use among teenagers. The agency found a 78 percent increase in their use among high school students between 2017 and 2018.
Vindhyal wants the FDA to exercise greater oversight over e-liquid ingredients — a process that the outgoing commissioner has already begun. "Hopefully the new FDA chief comes in and takes over" the initiative, he says.
Vaping May Pose Serious Heart Health Risks Equal to or Greater Than Tobacco Cigarettes, Studies Suggest
Federal, State Health Officials Target Vaping With Bans, Criminal Probe
The Latest in Stop Smoking
Asthma Tech to Watch in 2020
These gadgets do not replace asthma treatment (they should be used alongside therapy prescribed by your doctor). But they may go a long way in helping...
By Lauren Bedosky January 06, 2020
E-cigarettes Raise Risk of Chronic Lung Disease, Long-Term Study Finds
Dual use of vaping and smoking tobacco dramatically increases odds of developing serious respiratory problems.
By Don Rauf December 19, 2019
My Juul Breakup: 8 Steps That Helped Me Finally Quit Vaping
About two years ago, I started vaping from a Juul in order to wean myself off cigarettes, but instead, I became even more addicted to nicotine. When headlines...
By Jamie Putman November 20, 2019
How to Quit Vaping: A Practical Guide
As the number of lung injury cases and deaths related to vaping swells, more users may be looking to kick the habit. Here are 8 helpful tips on how to...
By Don Rauf November 21, 2019
Can Tea Help You Breathe Easier if You Have Asthma? Plus 7 Teas Worth Trying
Caffeine in black and green teas can relax smooth muscles, like those in the lungs, and open airways. There's no research on herbal teas like licorice...
By Lauren Del Turco October 24, 2019


Teresa Rennick has been my dedicated Certified Financial Planner for several years. She brings to me her wealth of knowledge in this industry, yet explains in a very easy to understand format. It is refreshing that Ms. Rennick responds immediately to my inquiries. Her hand-picked specialized financial team brings confidence you are in secure hands.
Financial Destinations Group is very well managed by the owner Teresa Rennick.


After watching the US-Canada Women's gold medal match, where the Canadian's had 30 seconds remaining in a power play following the end of the last period, I have to ask a question. If you know that a shootout is likely, why doesn't one team use their weakest shooter, who would suffer a penalty, to slam into the opposing team's best shooter with the hope of causing a performance-impacting injury? Of course, this would not be a respectable action, but, other than sportsmanship, what reason is there to not field this strategy? Sure the advantage gained for the shootout may be nominal, but even a tiny error in skating or handling can cause a shooter or goalie to miss.
Anyone which was ever found to have been involved in this (the players, the coaches, the team management) would immediately receive life bans from the IIHF.
This would probably also be criminal assault in many jurisdictions.
Players don't want to start this kind of thing - they could be the next one on the end of an intentional injury.
Pierre de Coubertin once said something about winning.
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JAPAN MUSIC TRADES
JMT Web News
Roland Opens Manufacturing Base in Malaysia
Roland launched Roland Manufacturing Malaysia, a 100% owned manufacturing company, in the Industrial Park in Selangor, Malaysia in November 2014, and started full-scale operation recently. For the time being, it manufactures 8,000 digital pianos and 10,000 guitar amps by 60 workers monthly. Production lines will be expanded in the near future to include digital drums and synthesizers. Malaysia has one of the most excellent products manufacturing environment in South East Asia providing local and...
2015 First Half Term Music Products Retail Market Survey
As we have done annually at this time of year, Japan Music Trades conducted a retail market survey submitting a questionnaire to 52 music retailers throughout Japan. Music retailers experienced somewhat stagnant market affected by consumption tax hike in April last year. Consumers rushed to the stores for last minute buy before April. Then, demands disappeared, and poor sales lasted longer than expected. Summing up the sales from January to the end of June, 54% of the music stores ...
Music Park 2015 Takes Place in November
Musical Instruments Fair Association Japan organizes the first 'MIFA Presents Music Park 2015', an experience music consumer event on November 7 and 8 at Shibuya, Tokyo. It fills a gap of no-show year with once every 2-year Musical Instruments Fair Japan, and promotes music making among young generations, in particular, senior high school students, young girl guitarists and entry-level musicians. Manufacturers and distributors provide exhibition of musical instruments, and demos, while, music re...
Roland Offers Sound System for Electric Vehicles
Roland staged a press conference on June 2 at Hotel Nikko Tokyo to announce a sound system exclusively designed for electric vehicles which delivers engine sounds by monitoring driving conditions in collaboration with GLM, a start-up business in the EV segment. (photo left: Tommykaira ZZ) GLM is a consortium of Kyoto University researchers, Japanese government and industry. Its first product, Tommykaira ZZ, Japanese first EV sports car production model, at 8 million yen retail is now buil...
2020: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
Back issues >>
Japan's exclusive music products trade magazine.
* Sales, production statistics of music products in Japan appear in September issue of JMT every year (import/export statistics is in April issue).
* Aside from annual subscription, we offer one single copy at ¥1,500 plus handling charges and postages upon request.
JAPAN PIANO ATLAS 2017
List of Japanese & imported pianos manufactured from 1946 to 2017. A full list of Japanese pianos with serial numbers, specifications, finishes, photos. A list of imported pianos with brand names, model numbers, finishes, and retail prices. A must for used piano dealers.
* 63 brand names, 1,600 models, serial numbers.
* 630 pages, 210mm x 148mm size.
* ¥4,500
(not including postages and handling charges.)
* Japan Piano Atlas 2008 and 2013 editions now come in one single publication and updated. The 2008 and 2013 editions are out of print.
Piano Nomenclatur (Far East version)
Piano vocabulary listing the parts of the piano, the name of the part, the adjustment criteria of the action etc. in four languages.
* Far East version of Piano Nomenclature originally written by Nikolaus Schimmel /H. K. Herzog
* English GB/USA, Japanese, Korean, Chinese Taipei
* 64 pages, 208mm x 220mm size.
* ¥3,000


A practitioner whose client's stock is not publicly traded is often requested to compile or review financial statements. When an accountant is involved in the compilation of a client's financial statements, he or she is generally required to issue a report at the conclusion of the engagement. Compilation is one types of engagements that practitioners face daily. This post will explain these services and the reporting practices associated with them, in addition to special reports generally associated with audit engagements. Engagements involving prospective financial statements and attestation services, should be viewed by the practitioner as an important area for practice expansion.
What Is A Compilation Of Financial Statements?
A compilation of financial statements is limited to presenting in the form of financial statements information that is the representation of management or owners. A key characteristic of a compilation is that no opinion or any other form of assurance is expressed on the fairness of the presentation of the financial statements. Accordingly, the accountant is not required to make inquiries or perform procedures to verify or review management—furnished information.
How Is A Compilation [Of Financial Statement] Conducted?
Inasmuch as a compilation engagement does not result in the expression of any assurance, the procedures to be performed are quite limited.
Step 1. If desired, obtain an engagement letter.
Step 2. Research the accounting principles and practices applicable to the client's industry.
Step 3. Obtain a general understanding of the flow and nature of the transactions underlying the client's financial records.
Step 4. Obtain a general understanding of the client's accounting records.
Step 5. Inquire about the stated qualifications of the client's accounting personnel.
Step 6. Determine the basis of accounting used—GAAP or another comprehensive basis of accounting (e.g., cash basis, modified cash basis, income tax basis, etc.).
Step 7. Determine the necessity of performing the following accounting services: Adjustment of client books. Consultation with appropriate personnel regarding accounting-related matters Bookkeeping services when the client's manual or automated bookkeeping does not produce financial statements as the end result.
Step 8. Although it is not required to verify or corroborate representations made by management and personnel, obtain satisfaction as to representations that appear incorrect, incomplete, or otherwise unsatisfactory.
Step 9. When financial statements depart from the basis of accounting in use, and the client refuses to make the necessary adjustments, modify the accountant's report to disclose this fact.
Step 10. Read the financial statements to confirm that the statements are free from obvious material errors. (EXAMPLES: Mathematical mistakes, omission of relevant disclosures, and departures from relevant accounting principles).
Step 11. If a higher level of service was performed (e.g., a review or an audit), issue the report that relates to the highest level of service performed.
Step 12. If the accountant is not independent with respect to the client, indicate this fact, but not the reasons therefore, in the compilation report.
What Reports May Be Issued On A Compilation Engagement?
The definition of a compilation, stating that a compilation is limited to presenting in the form of financial statements information that is the representation of management (owners).
A statement that the financial statements have not been subjected to an audit or a review and, accordingly, no opinion or any other form of assurance on them is provided.
Each page of the financial statements must be labeled "See accountant's compilation report". If desired, expand the label to include "and the Notes to the Financial Statements". Since the notes are an integral part of the financial statements. In order to avoid misinterpretation, mark each page of the financial statements "unaudited".
I (We) have compiled the accompanying balance sheet of Debit Company as of (at) December 31, 20XX, and the related statements of income, retained earnings, and cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A compilation is limited to presenting in the form of financial statements information that is the representation of management (owners). I (We) have not audited or reviewed the accompanying financial statements and, accordingly, do not express an opinion or any other form of assurance on them.
It is permissible to compile and report on only one of the financial statements normally included in the complete set.
When Should The Standard Compilation Report Be Modified?
Omission of substantially all disclosures. When financial statements which purport to be in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (or another comprehensive basis of accounting) lack the necessary disclosures (e.g., notes to the financial statements, parenthetical comments on the face of the statements, etc.), the accountant should add the following paragraph immediately after the standard two-paragraph report: "Management has elected to omit substantially all of the disclosures required by generally accepted accounting principles". If the omitted disclosures were included in the financial statements, they might influence the user's conclusions about the company's financial position, results of operations, and cash flows. Accordingly, these financial statements are not designed for those who are not informed about such matters.
Selected information presented. When notes to the financial statements include only a few matters, the presentation of this information should be labeled "Selected Information—Substantially all of the Disclosures Required by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Are Not Included". The compilation report should include the additional paragraph stated above.
Lack of independence. While an accountant who is not independent with respect to a client's financial statements may issue a compilation report, he or she must state in the report that, "I am (we are) not independent with respect to Debit Company". CAUTION: The accountant should not disclose the reasons as to why it is believed that independence is lacking.
Departure from generally accepted accounting principles. Although the accountant is under no obligation to search for departures from GAAP, such departures, if uncovered and not corrected, must be disclosed in the accountant's report. This is accomplished by adding to the standard report a middle explanatory paragraph, which either discloses the effects of the departure or states that the effects of such departure have not been determined.
Financial statements are based on a comprehensive basis of accounting other than generally accepted accounting principles. If a client uses a comprehensive basis of accounting other than GAAP, it is necessary to appropriately modify the titles of the financial statements, and disclose the basis of accounting used if the financial statements do not include the necessary disclosure.
Supplementary Information. When both the basic financial statements and other data presented for supplementary analysis purposes is compiled, the compilation report should refer to the other data. Alternatively, the accountant may issue a separate report on the supplementary data that states that (1) the other data are presented for supplementary analysis purposes only, (2) the information has been compiled without audit or review from information that is the representation of management, and (3) no opinion of any other assurance on the data is expressed.
Financial statements, which are prepared using a comprehensive basis of accounting other than GAAP, do not require presentation of a statement of cash flows.
(2) document an understanding with the client in an engagement letter, preferably signed by management, regarding the services to be performed and the limitations on the use of the financial statements.
The nature and limitations of the engagement.
The definition of a compilation.
The financial statements will not be audited or reviewed.
No opinion or any other form of assurance on the financial statements will be expressed.
Management possesses knowledge of the nature of the procedures performed and the basis of accounting and assumptions utilized in the preparation of the financial statements.
Acknowledgment of management's representation and agreement that the financial statements are not to be used by any third party.
The engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose errors, illegal acts, or fraud.
Material departures from generally accepted accounting principles (or another comprehensive basis of accounting, if applicable) may exist, and their related financial statement effects may not be disclosed.
If applicable, substantially all disclosures (and the statement of cash flows, if applicable) required by generally accepted accounting principles (or another comprehensive basis of accounting) may be omitted.
The accountant's lack of independence, if applicable.
Reference to supplementary information, if applicable.
An accountant should not accept or perform the engagement if he or she fails to establish an understanding with the client.
If the accountant decides not to issue a compilation report on financial statements not expected to be used by third parties, do the financial statements require any special marking? Each page of the financial statements that are not accompanied by a compilation report and that are not expected to be used by third parties should be marked "Restricted for Management's Use Only", or "Solely for the information and use by the management of [name of entity] and not intended to be and should not be used by any third party".
If the accountant becomes aware that the "restricted" financial statements have been distributed to third parties, then he or she should discuss the matter with the client and request the return of the financial statements. The client's failure to comply should cause the accountant to notify known third parties that the financial statements are not intended for their use.
I (We) have compiled the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities arising from cash transactions of Credit Incorporated as of (at) December 31, 20XX, and the related statement of revenue collected and expenses paid for the year then ended, in accordance with Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The financial statements have been prepared on the cash basis of accounting which is a comprehensive basis of accounting other than generally accepted accounting principles.
A compilation is limited to presenting in the form of financial statements information that is the representation of management (owners). I (We) have not audited or reviewed the accompanying financial statements and, accordingly, do not express an opinion or any other form of assurance on them.
Management has elected to omit substantially all of the informative disclosures ordinarily included in financial statements. If the omitted disclosures were included in the financial statements, they might influence the user's conclusions about the Company's assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses. Accordingly, these statements are not designed for those who are not informed about such matters.


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DFL invites goal-line technology tenders
Frankfurt - On behalf of the League Association Board, the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH has invited tenders for the introduction and operation of goal-line technology in the Bundesliga. The new system is to be implemented at the earliest possible moment, although not before 1 July 2015. The contract will run until the end of the 2017/18 season.
Vote in December 2014
At a League Association members' meeting in March 2014 the clubs making up the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 failed to reach the two-thirds majority required in order to introduce goal-line technology at the time.
Following the 2014 DFB Cup final, FC Bayern München submitted a renewed request for the technology to be used in the Bundesliga. In August, prior to making another decision on the matter, the DFL and the League Association Board decided to carry out a tender process, which is to be completed before the next general meeting in December 2014.
At that meeting and once aware of the results of the tender process, the 18 Bundesliga clubs will vote on FC Bayern München's proposal and decide whether or not to introduce goal-line technology in the Bundesliga.
Procedure letter on 25 September
As of now, interested parties in possession of a FIFA goal-line technology license can register to take part in an open, transparent and discrimination-free tender process.
On 25 September 2014 a so-called 'Procedure Letter' will be sent to the registered applicants containing a timetable and the guidelines for the tender process.


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Cambridge Fluid Systems can also review your existing equipment design and propose cost saving opportunities through VA/VE and purchasing activities.


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