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Book 2, Chapter 74 - Unpredictable Happenstances
The abnormal fiend that was Naberius had a host of glaring flaws; vanity, conceit, madness. By now he was convinced that he had the upper hand, that the rhythm was under his control. He was a cat playing with a mouse.
So why was Cloudhawk so calm? His tricks were exhausted, his death was near!
This unsettled Naberius. It was like sleeping with a beautiful woman, only for her to lie motionlessly beneath you – responsive as a corpse. It killed the mood.
"The look in your eyes is getting under my skin." Naberius was sure Cloudhawk had no way to fight back. When they dropped once more to the ground Cloudhawk pressed himself against a tree to avoid another attack. He thrust his dagger right toward the wastelander's left eye. The madman's precision was uncanny, and his quick movements were sure to pop the young man's eye right out of his skull. "I think I'll take one!"
As the dagger's tip came his way Cloudhawk's heart was filled with a cold mirth. You fuckin' dope, you want my eye? He caught the blonde man's wrist in his hands, stopping the dagger mere centimeters from his face.
Cloudhawk's back was against the tree, pinned as they struggled for the weapon.
Naberius chortled at the young man's foolishness. The claws of his left hand reached out, this time to dig into his abdomen. This close and with his hands occupied, Cloudhawk couldn't stop him. He could almost feel it – the soft skin parting, tough muscle giving way to warm wriggling guts. He would grab them and pull them out for his plaything to see.
The time had come.
Naberius threw all his focus and strength into the attack, convinced Cloudhawk could not resist. He completely missed the stone around his neck come to life, or the pale light and power that surrounded him.
Naberius felt all resistance vanish. The dagger in his right hand jerked forward into his victim's face at the same time his left hand plummeted into his abdomen. With a thud his dagger stuck in the tree's tough bark. His five sharp claws struck something hard.
No... no this isn't right!
He saw them go through but there was no tearing.
Naberius was an expert in body control, and a self-proclaimed master sculptor of the human body. He knew what it felt like it muscle tore and skin gave way. He knew what it felt like this a dagger and with his bare hands. This felt like nothing but air.
Cloudhawk took a short step to the left, and smiled.
"My turn."
With a grunt his right leg came across like a hammer, sending Naberius off his feet. He broke through two trees before coming to a stop. That wasn't going to kill him, but it sure as hell hurt. He was confident Naberius wasn't going to be nearly as fleet-footed after a kick like that.
Sure enough, although the blonde man's body was tough the blow was not easy to recover from. Naberius felt that several of his ribs had been broken and his lungs had taken some damage. He couldn't move as deftly as before.
Cloudhawk leapt into the air, as flexible as a chimp, spinning like an expert diver. As he came plummeting down he stuck out his right foot for a crushing ax kick. This wasn't a normal kick – it was as lethal as a large man swinging a war hammer. If it landed it could very well split him in half.
Naberius pushed off the ground and shot back up to his feet, light as a feather. He dodged Cloudhawk's kick by the skin of his teeth, causing the wastelander's heel to strike the dirt. He then swept his leg around, kicking up a cloud of dirt and rock into his enemy's face.
The two men punched at one another at the same time. The force of each blasted away the particles of dirt.
Naberius staggered backwards. His gifts lay in speed while Cloudhawk was more well-rounded. He was fast and strong, leaving no weaknesses to take advantage of. Without his speed to help him Naberius had to rely on strength alone, and he couldn't go toe-to-toe with Cloudhawk.
The bones of his left arm ached. The punch damaged something in his shoulder.
Naberius refused to admit defeat. Regardless of his injury he lashed out fast as he could, but his dagger once again passed harmlessly through Cloudhawk. Again? How was this happening! Cloudhawk sidestepped and delivered a punch. Ordinarily Naberius could easily have dodged but his injuries stopped him cold. He just stared as the young man's fist caught him in the stomach. As he doubled over another dropkick buried him in the dirt.
"You have a relic… how?!" The man's twisted face was a mask of rage and disbelief. He struggled and spat mouthfuls of blood into the soil. His left arm, chest, kidney and spleen were injured. Sturdy as he was this guy had nearly put him out of commission after only a few blows.
"The instructor never said foul play was forbidden in Hell's Valley. All he said was make sure you don't get caught."
Cloudhawk was calm and frank with the man who'd just tried to kill him. He'd had no advantage against the freak and it was only thanks to the phase stone that he hadn't been gutted. Without it he would have been forced to only stay on defense and hope for the right moment.
But with the phase stone he wasn't afraid.
Although the stone's power wasn't invincible it required more power than Naberius possessed. Through its unique abilities Cloudhawk was able to land a surprise blow and negate his enemy's superior speed.
Naberius hadn't considered this his foe would have a hidden hand yet to play. Unprepared, he was taken completely by surprise and it cost him. What's more he'd never heard of a relic with power like this, that turned people into ghosts. Now his only option was to try and flee, for the condition of hi injuries would only get worse and running away would become impossible.
Cloudhawk knew what the blonde man was thinking. "Weren't you being pretty cocky? Why are you running now?"
Naberius didn't answer. He jumped up and made a run for it through the forest.
Cloudhawk gave chase. As they dodged trees Naberius' face softened. The sharp angles and twisted muscles gave way to the more familiar gentleness from before. The almost bashful Gabriel returned.
"Hey, hey! You're going to leave me to deal with your mess?!"
Gabriel was not pleased, but the body belonged to him now.
Cloudhawk was gaining so Gabriel put all his energy into trying to stay ahead. Although they shared the same body, Gabriel didn't have the same control as his darker counterpart. He could only managed about eighty percent of his potential speed, and with the state of his body as it was he was even slower. He didn't have any advantage of speed over Cloudhawk anymore.
Gabriel shouted at him over his shoulder as he ran. "Hold on, I don't want to kill you. I just let Naberius out to deal with the Butcher. I'm sorry about what happened after! That was all Naberius, it has nothing to do with me!"
This is his apology? If it weren't for my tricks, I'd already be dead.
Cloudhawk would cut him into pieces, then apologize when he was dead. He'd be interested to know if Gabriel would accept his apology then.
Gabriel bemoaned his fate. He was told it was a 'nothing mission', but obviously Frost de Winter had misjudged. It wasn't that he'd underestimated Cloudhawk, but rather that no one knew what to expect in Hell's Valley. Without relics both he and the Butcher were fighting with one hand tied behind their backs!
Cloudhawk was not the softhearted sort. These two were sent to kill him and he had no reason to show them any mercy. He was determined to kill Gabriel, if for no other reason than to spare himself more trouble later!
Cloudhawk kept up pace but after several minute he still wasn't getting close enough. He grit his teeth and thought for a moment, then snatched up a sharp rock as he ran past.
Whoosh! It struck his prey's calf.
Gabriel was surprised and alarmed by Cloudhawk's tricks. He hit the ground with a grunt and his pursuer took the opportunity to close in. He came down on him with a first like a falling star, a punch that if it landed would split his skull open. If Gabriel's head was made of steel it still wouldn't save him.
But with Cloudhawk's fist just two meters away-
Oddball squawked from nearby. Cloudhawk hesitated for just a moment, for just then a slender figure leapt out. The stranger bound off a tree trunk to his left, then whipped a kick at him.
Cloudhawk spun around and brought his arms up to block. The force of it knocked him four or five meters away, toward another tree. He grabbed a branch and used it to flip himself up onto his feet. Eyes narrowed, he glared at the new attacker.
Claudia glared back [1]. She then cast a glance toward the man on the ground. "Are you alright?"
Gabriel was relieved and overjoyed at his savior. He scrambled to his feet. "Thank you!"
She returned her gaze, filled with righteous anger, onto Cloudhawk. "Dogs can't help but eat shit, huh. Here you are trying to kill more innocent people!"
Cloudhawk felt like a child who'd had his candy taken away and then framed for stealing it in the first place. It was a nauseating feeling.
Motherfucker! It was absolutely baffling that this defeated assassin would get to live on. How did she always show up at the least convenient time? Wasn't she afraid he would kill her?
Wait… something wasn't right.
Suddenly it all felt off. He couldn't defeat Claudia, not here.
She was a close-ranged fighter with capable speed and strength. As a demonhunter she had sub-par psychic energy, however. Cloudhawk had managed to easily beat her back at Skycloud because he had his relics to help him.
Without their tools, purely hand-to-hand, Cloudhawk wasn't sure he would take her.
Claudia was marked from the lashes she decided to take as punishment for her dignity. Fresh blood traced paths down her arm and dripped from her fingertips. The back of her robes were dark from the bloodstains. Those whips were serious business so she had to be suffering, which also meant her fighting capabilities had to be affected too. It was a gratifying thought for Cloudhawk.
As Gabriel rose from the ground he fixed his eyes on Cloudhawk.
Things just kept getting better, didn't they.
1. Oh my god I hate her so much you guys.
This biatch again? Unlike Dawn, she is NOT growing on me...


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Community-based integrated care: myth or must?
Int J Qual Health Care. 2002 Apr;14(2):91-101. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.intqhc.a002606.
T Plochg 1 , N S Klazinga
1 Department of Social Medicine, Academic Medical Center/University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. t.plochg@amc.uva.nl
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.intqhc.a002606
Issue: In spite of the many efforts that have been made to rationalize and improve the functioning and the quality of health care delivery in industrialized countries, too limited a degree of success has been achieved so far. This paper argues that this limited success originates from a lack of coherence among the various strategies and instruments developed to rationalize and improve the delivery of health care.
Addressing the issue: This fact can be shown by reducing the complexity of today's health care into three levels of decision making: the primary process of patient care, the organizational context, and the financing and policy context of health care systems. Distinct rationales exist on each of these three levels of decision making as actors have their own perspectives, cultures, disciplines, and traditions concerning the delivery of health care. These differences can often result in ambiguity of goals, conflicting interests between decision makers, bureaucracy, poor information transfer, and limited use of the available scientific knowledge on all three levels. In such a context, rationalization and quality-improvement efforts are frustrated and will have limited effectiveness. Therefore, the various rationalization strategies and instruments on all three levels of decision making should be embedded in our health care systems in a synergistic way.
Demonstrating the proposed solution: Community-based integrated care is a promising approach to addressing this issue successfully. How this concept might function as a unifying concept for quality improvement will be illustrated by relevant developments in the Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands.
Community Health Services / organization & administration*
Decision Making*
Delivery of Health Care / economics
Delivery of Health Care / organization & administration*
Public Health / trends*
Quality of Health Care*

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


At Hopping Eye Associates we specialize in visual perceptual disorders or learning-related vision problems, eye muscle or movement disorders, convergence insufficiency, strabismus and amblyopia. At our Vision Learning Center we provide vision therapy, or visual training, to our patients who are experiencing or struggling with these deficiencies. Our doctors have over 30 years of experience in diagnosing and treating patients with visual perceptual, eye muscle and vision learning-related diagnoses.
Vision is much more than "20/20 eyesight". Nearly 80% of what a young child perceives, comprehends and remembers will depend on the efficiency of their visual system. Vision is a learned skill, just as learning to walk or talk would be. Early detection and diagnosis of a developmental vision problem is key and if caught during the pre-school years can often be corrected before the child enters school.
Our comprehensive eye examinations involve testing for learning related and eye muscle problems. Not all eye care specialists practice the developmental approach to vision care. If making an appointment for your child to test their visual system for development it is important to ask if ALL of the visual abilities will be checked. Those include: eye movement control, form perception, visual motor integration, depth perception, eye teaming ability, sustaining clear to focus, focusing near to far and visual memory.


I've read multiple posts with this same issue but have yet to find a fix.
The procedure entry point ?LockForRead@CThreadSpinRWLock@@QAEXXZ could not be located in the dynamic link library C:\gmod\bin\dedicated.dll.
(17:48:06.27) WARNING: srcds closed or crashed, restarting.
(17:48:07.76) WARNING: srcds closed or crashed, restarting.
(17:48:08.73) WARNING: srcds closed or crashed, restarting.
(17:48:09.66) WARNING: srcds closed or crashed, restarting.
(17:48:10.60) WARNING: srcds closed or crashed, restarting.
(17:48:11.50) WARNING: srcds closed or crashed, restarting.
I have tried several things including deleting the garrysmod\bin folder then updating the server. One post even said to just hit ok a couple of times and it will go away but as you can see above this is not true.
My ports have been forwarded properly obviously. Any help would appreciated.
Although I doesn't really have anything to do with the error, as far as I know, I was incorrectly installed cs 1.6 not css like I intended. I'm starting the server over from scratch now starting with css then gmod. I'd also like to work on my start.bat a little. I'll post back with any updates.
Well I reinstalled absolutely everything and I have gotten it to run. Don't know what the problem is. I'm now going to close the server and attempt to change the gamemode to terrrortown.
Well I also ended up with a port forwarding issue because I had set up the wrong ports but that's fixed. After a full reinstall of gmod and css (the correct version) I'm not having any issues. We'll see what happens once I try to change the gamemode.
(08-17-2013, 07:51 AM)Mickers Wrote: I've read multiple posts with this same issue but have yet to find a fix.
My Windows CS:S server is crashing the same way. I hadn't had it running for awhile, and when I started it, it worked fine but kept spamming the "Update Required" message. After I ran the update, I started getting the "Failed to load launcher DLL" message. Even using a brand new, unmodded installation generates this same errors. Some acient posts in the Valve forums say this issue (for some games) was caused by a lack of SSE2 support in the server hardware.
All of this just happened to me today. I never had crashes like this unless it was due to a game update which also required a Sourcemod update, or a SM plugin which required updated gamedata. It's never happen like this to a new SRCDS install via SteamCMD.


This is Fortune & Glory an American Imperial IPA brewed by Fairweather Brewing outbof Hamilton Ontario Canada.
Beautiful pour leaving this amazing swirl and light white head.
You knew you were cracking an IPA with the aroma but this one had an interesting pepper spicy note to it.
Flavours of Peach, pear, orange zest, grapefruit.


BASF DD-831 is made up of spheres of promoted activated alumina with large surface areas and specifically engineered pores. Often used in combination with BASF DD-431 activated alumina, this product can catalyze the Claus process. The Claus process converts undesirable hydrogen sulfide and other compounds to elemental sulfur.
Promoted alumina catalysts are part of the BASF Claus catalyst product line. BASF offers the most extensive line of Claus catalysts in the industry.
Store BASF DD831 CLAUS CATALYST in a dry location to prevent premature water adsorption. Reseal packages after opening to prevent contamination and unintended water adsorption. We recommend that you rotate stock so oldest material is used first.


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Lessons from a Scandal: Write with No Expectation of Privacy
As we sit behind our keyboards day after day, I'm beginning to think we are lulled into a false sense of security, believing we have a firm grasp on what we send into cyberspace and ultimately sees the light of day. Sure, there is the occasional snafu when you hit 'reply all' to an email and everyone in the office sees what was meant for only one.
However we are just as guilty of behaving badly in varying degrees by putting something in an email, IM, or text we'd cringe to see splashed across the cover of a print or online publication or even tacked to the refrigerator in the office break room. If I were a betting woman, I'd even venture to say all of us have done it at least once.
Unfortunately, Sony Entertainment can't seem to wake from its real-life nightmare of the same ilk. Email banter between friends was unleashed for public consumption thanks to an email hack, and it's kept Sony's crisis communications team inundated, no doubt. The supposedly private email exchange between Hollywood producer Scott Rudin and Sony Entertainment Chairman Amy Pascal has become fodder for the media, both mainstream and not-so-mainstream. In fact, as a result of the hack, one of the largest daily newspapers in the U.S., The New York Times, has published a series of stories based upon the information.
Since the fallout, Rudin and Pascal have each issued a personal mea culpa, asking for forgiveness for their misdeeds and disparaging remarks about colleagues, actors, directors, industry publications and even racially insensitive comments about President Obama.
These types of scandals are beginning to seem all too commonplace. However, a recent study indicates our instincts lead us to reconsider unfettered communication via email and similar vehicles. According to research by the Pew Research Internet Project, there is a general distrust of online communication tools. Only 5 percent of adults feel "very secure" communicating via email, while 35 percent say they are "somewhat secure." The majority of those polled – 57 percent of adults – felt either "not very secure or "not at all secure" sending email. In fact of the six different mediated communication methods considered – landlines, cell phones, text messages, email, chat/IM and social media sites – none received a majority vote of confidence in confidentiality.
Last week on "The HuffPost Show," HuffPo network president Roy Sekoff conducted a refreshing interview with Lisa Kudrow, of "Friends" fame, where the topic of privacy was front and center. Kudrow offered sage advice: "Don't write anything you don't want broadcast." She went on to say we would all be better served to have no expectation of privacy in email communication. Though Kudrow isn't necessarily a communications subject-matter expert, her advice is spot on.
Let this example serve as one more cautionary reminder – in an unfortunately growing list – that what is done in the dark just may come to light.
What's your take on the Sony email scandal? Should the media report on the leaked emails?
Andrea Ewin Turner is a Senior Account Supervisor at Lovell Communications. You can view more of Andrea's blogs here. Connect with Andrea at Andrea@lovell.com or @aewinturner.
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Searching for solutions to common interpersonal or team problems can be overwhelming.
First, you have to establish goals for your solutions then whittle everything down to the granular, logistical components for each step in the process. We've found that an effective method for overcoming team challenges, whether it be miscommunication within the group or on-boarding new team members, involves individual and group coaching in the form of team building sessions. Check out these ten tips to bring greater interpersonal understanding, communication, and empathy to your team.
The key to creating an unbeatable culture within your organization starts with your people. Make sure to develop strong relationships between your team members to shape a supportive and collaborative team environment.
Each person possesses unique strengths that they bring to the table. While one team member may adhere to processes and established methodologies, another may focus more on exploring new ideas and the big picture, taking an innovative approach to their work. Both work styles are essential and necessary for organizational stability and growth. Assessments are a popular option to enhance team building as they provide a platform to understand how individual complexities influence relationships.
Before you select an assessment, be sure to establish goals that outline what you are looking to accomplish and why. This will give your sessions direction and ensure you are able to make the most significant impact on your team.
There are a lot of assessments to choose from, and the number of choices can feel overwhelming. To streamline your search, be sure to keep your goals at the top of your mind. This will help you determine how in-depth your assessment will need to be, the types of reports it should offer, and the breadth of information you'll need to accomplish your goals.
The scientific research and design behind assessments are not equal (some have none to speak of!) It is critical you take time to find one you can trust. While free options may be a tempting solution, they should only be considered if you do not need specific, actionable results and just want to use it as a fun team activity. If you have tangible, particular goals, then your team building will require scientifically reliable and valid insight.
Do I need a quick activity that will get my team together?
Do I need to address a cultural, team, or individual problem within my organization?
After considering the scope, you can select what kind of personality assessment to use—a shorter, surface-level report for a quick team building session, or a robust assessment to drive impactful team and organizational change.
Team building sessions shouldn't stop after the first team building activity you execute. Be sure to keep the momentum going with your team by hosting short but frequent team building sessions to reinforce the assessment's concepts and keep the group engaged. You can even get creative and integrate smaller conversations into meetings or projects throughout the week to enhance the concepts you learned together.
Face any roadblocks head on—you can quickly lose the group if you don't address their concerns. Hesitations towards using a personality assessment may range from the scientific validity of the report to being wary about being honest when answering questions. Here are some tips to overcome common challenges with using personality assessments in your team building session.
While you may feel overwhelmed in leading your team building session, breaking the process down into digestible parts is helpful to keep track of all the main components you'll need for a successful team building session. Work through these ten tips to make sure you cover all grounds to make the most out of your team building session.
This topic features in the first of our three part Team Building eBook series to help you get all the information you'll need to select an assessment, so you can save time and focus on what matters most—your team members. Download the eBook today.


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Jenny Holzer – Softer Targets
Home Events Jenny Holzer – Softer Targets
likeyou, July 12, 2015 July 5, 2015 , Exhibitions, 0
in Bruton / Somerset / United Kingdom
Jenny Holzer: Lustmord Table, 1994, © 1994 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Jenny Holzer: Selection from Survival: Die fast and quiet…, 2006, © 2006 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Jenny Holzer: Purple, 2008, © 2008 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Jenny Holzer: Shifting to Softer Targets (detail), 2014-2015, © 2014 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Hauser & Wirth Somerset is pleased to announce 'Softer Targets', a major solo exhibition by Jenny Holzer, featuring both new work and a selection of significant pieces drawn from over three decades of the artist's career. The renowned American artist is best known for using language to make art, utilising a range of techniques for employing the power of words. Since 2004, Holzer has explored the use of text from declassified and other government documents.
The title of the exhibition refers to a 'redaction painting' from a classified 2004 Federal Bureau of Investigation report, 'The Terrorist Threat to the US Homeland: An FBI Assessment'. Relatively few pages of the 45-page report were declassified, with its text heavily redacted, before release to the public. Faithfully rendered, but enlarged and realised in a palette of whites, greys, transparent red and black, the painting received its title from the single surviving line on page 26: 'Shifting to Softer Targets'.
All five gallery rooms are devoted to the exhibition, creating a succession of environments, some sun-lit or illuminated by the kinetic programming of LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and sombrely keyed to set the mood of the works that Holzer presents. The pieces range from the 'Truisms', that first established her reputation in the 1980s, to her thoughtful ongoing examination of the 'war on terror'.
A selection of paintings and LED installations, benches and other works in stone, signs on metal, plaques in bronze, and the artist's preparatory carbon lettering on tracing paper provide the visitor with a sense of the diverse media that the artist has employed over the course of her career. Also present are the extraordinary variety of voices and individual perspectives she has utilised to show, at times, the darker side of the world.
Entering the first of the gallery spaces, the 18th-Century Threshing Barn, the viewer encounters 'MOVE', a new eight-foot LED work suspended from the rafters in vivid juxtaposition to its surroundings. The slender four-sided LED column senses the presence of the visitor and moves in response. Text from declassified and other sensitive US documents is programmed on each of the column's sides, including text drawn from censored U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Reports detailing the investigation into Afghan soldier Jamal Naseer's death whilst in US custody.
The next of the five gallery spaces houses a selection of the artist's hand-painted works in oil on linen, including 'There were eleven of us' (2015), 'young adult female' (2015) and 'Window' (2015).
Crossing the threshold into the Pigsty gallery, the viewer is confronted with two wooden tables covered in carefully displayed human bones, some with inscribed silver bands. 'Lustmord Table' (1994) is a workconceived in response to conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, continuing Holzer's themes of sex, war and death. The genesis of Holzer's 'Lustmord' text series was an assignment for Munich newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Published in 1993 as colour photographs of handwritten text on skin, and a special white card printed in blood ink, it represented the artist's reaction to the war and reports that rape was used tactically. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights had begun recognising crimes against women, such as rape, as war crimes. The 'Lustmord' texts of 55 sentences are the imagined voices of the perpetrator, the victim and the observer. The German word 'Lustmord' denotes a murder committed for sexual pleasure – the use of real body parts is a reminder that people were hurt in ways beyond the physical.
The largest of the gallery spaces, the Rhoades Gallery, is devoted to two LED works, alongside four stark black and white 'redaction paintings' from 2009 and 2010, which are derived from documents about waterboarding. The first of the LED works, 'Purple', displays texts of US government documents on a wall-to-ceiling array of curved surfaces, the shapes reminiscent of human ribs.
'FLOOR', a brand new LED work conceived for Hauser & Wirth Somerset, is 40 feet in length and is programmed with a rapid and reversing cascade of Holzer's best known text series, including 'Truisms' (1977-1979), 'Inflammatory Essays' (1979-1982), 'Living' (1980-1982), 'Survival' (1983-1985), 'Mother and Child' (1990), and 'Arno' (1996).
The final room, the Bourgeois Gallery, houses a selection of paintings and many of the artist's works in stone, including a granite sarcophagus and a selection of benches. Some of these works trace their exhibition history to two important early solo shows – New York's Dia Art Foundation in March 1989 and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in December 1989.
Jenny Holzer was born in 1950 in Ohio, USA. She studied painting and printmaking (BFA) at Ohio University, and received an MFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design in 1977.
Much of Jenny Holzer's education was in the Liberal Arts at Duke University and the University of Chicago, and she believes this broad education had an impact on the work she made. Although much of her work focused on painting, she was already using text in her pieces at this early stage. Holzer works with language as an artistic medium, employing it across a variety of formats, from printed posters to LED displays. Her work is part of the public domain, equally accessible in museums and galleries as in storefronts, on billboards and T-shirts, and even electrified in New York's Times Square.
In 1976 Jenny Holzer moved to New York and enrolled in the Whitney Museum of American Art's Independent Study Program (ISP). Her text pieces started in the 1970s with the New York City posters, a series she called 'Truisms'. In the 1980s Holzer began using LED lights and electronic billboards on public buildings and monuments, in place of her posters. Other significant series of works, after the early 'Truisms' are 'Inflammatory Essays' (1979-1982), 'Living' (1980-1982), and 'Survival' (1983-1985). In 1990 Holzer became the first woman to represent the USA with a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale, for which she was awarded the Golden Lion prize.
Since 1996 Holzer has been using light projection – in which a powerful film projector casts scrolling texts onto architecture or a landscape – as another way of presenting texts in the public realm. The texts and light are dramatic but unobtrusive, adapting to varied projection surfaces, from the mountains and ski jump in Lillehammer to the Pyramide du Louvre in Paris. In recent years Jenny Holzer has returned to painting, making reference to Abstract Expressionism and Suprematism and reinforcing the continued relationship of art with politics.
Opening hours Tues-Sun 10 am – 5 pm (March – October)
www.hauserwirthsomerset.com
Hauser & Wirth Somerset
Durslade Farm / Dropping Lane
BA10 0NL Bruton / Somerset
Tags: Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Jenny Holzer
Six possibilities in painting (int.) - curated by Fabian Schöneich and Samuel LeuenbergerOpening: Jenny Holzer - Softer Targets


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No Tell Intel
Posted at 3:01 am on July 23, 2010 by onorth
Georgetown, SC – The Washington Compost is mercifully less than ubiquitous down here in the Carolina low country. That's why I was a bit surprised by the comments of a fellow customer at the Independent Seafood pier when I went to fetch some fresh catch for dinner. "I'm outraged by the classified information on our intelligence operations in that paper," he said. I quickly surmised he was referring to the much-hyped "Top Secret America" series in The Washington Post. Very upset by what he read in the WaPo, he didn't hesitate to tell me why.
"I'm calling my Congressman and Senators about this," he volunteered. "That map they have shows there are more than 2,200 federal government facilities and another 7,000 locations where contractors do classified intelligence work here in the United States. There are only sixty-five of 'em here in South Carolina? That's an insult!"
Probably not the reaction the writers, editors and publishers at the Post expected when they set out – two years ago, if their hyperbolic self-promotion is true – on a mission to expose "an enterprise so massive that nobody in government has a full understanding of it." In breathless, movie-promo prose, the flagging paper's editors claim they have discovered that America's "top-secret intelligence complex" is "bloated," "redundant," "unaccountable" and "often inefficient and mostly invisible." And this is "news" to The Washington Post? Those adjectives describe most of our federal government.
The three-part series – and a ponderously inefficient, frequently "off-line" web-site – purports to offer readers "a real, granular ("granular," as in grainy or coarse?) understanding of the scale and breadth of the top-secret world" of U.S. intelligence operations. For those unfamiliar with the geography of America the Beautiful, "a user can also see the cities and towns where the government conducts top secret work in the United States." If you're looking for an Abu Ghraib in Augusta, a bio-weapons lab in Bangor or super-spy sites in Sioux City, think again.
Most of the WaPo's "Alternative Geography" of "top-secret clusters" and "contractor concentrations" are precisely where any thinking person would expect them to be. Now, thanks to this "groundbreaking investigative reporting," hostile intelligence services, criminal networks and drug cartels can spare themselves the long hard drive to do harm or recruit a new sleeper cell in Casper, Wyoming. Everyone in town knows who works at the city's sole "government organization performing top secret work" – and they all pack heat.
Enemy bean counters had to be shocked to learn from the Post that the U.S. "intelligence system" budget is now over $75 billion – more than double what it was before the 9-11-01 attacks. America's allies and adversaries are no doubt stunned to realize "more than 854,000 people have top-secret clearances" – and that 265,000 of them are evil contractors. And those who intend to commit violence against us are no doubt comforted by the revelation that some of these nefarious characters help the National Security Agency (NSA) "intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communications" daily – but there are too few interpreters or cryptologists to analyze all the data.
But wait. There's more. The Post piece isn't all cold, hard numbers and dollars. The paper evidently wanted to put a "human face" on their drawn out story and help readers understand there are "real people" involved in these shadowy activities. In copy that reads like poorly-written pulp fiction or the opening of a personal advice column, the authors describe meeting "a businesswoman" at a bar in Maryland, near "super-secret" Fort Meade:
"…she's been living with one of those secretive men for 20 years. He used to work at the NSA. Now he's one of its contractors. He's been to war. She doesn't know where. He does something important. She doesn't know what…She says she fell for him two decades ago and has had a life of adjustments ever since…'I'm the interloper,' she says. 'It bothers me he never takes me traveling, never thinks of anything exciting to do…I feel cheated.'"
There's no information how this deeply moving personal account tucked into the WaPo exposé has affected Washington policy makers. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, must have read some of the story. On July 20, she told retired Air Force Lt. Gen, James Clapper, the Obama administration's nominee to become the next Director of National Intelligence (DNI), he had to rein in "the enormous growth" and eliminate "sprawl, overlap and duplication" in the sixteen agencies of the U.S. intelligence community and the contractors supporting their work.
Unfortunately neither Ms. Feinstein nor the "muckrakers" at the Post acknowledge why these problems continue to grow: we're in a war we can't fight without contractors. General Clapper is the fourth DNI in five years. In those same five years Congress has failed to pass a single Intelligence Authorization Bill. Aside from the U.S. military, intelligence agencies are largely funded by annual supplemental appropriations which do not permit the hiring of new federal employees – even if the government could recruit and retain adequate numbers of competent people. If the essential work of these agencies is going to get done, it has to be performed by "auxiliaries" on annual contracts.
Finally, what all involved seem to ignore is that many of these contractors or auxiliaries actually deliver. Their most pressing challenge – particularly for those involved in human intelligence (HUMINT) collection – is getting the information to those who can act on it.
Apparently these facts weren't sensational enough to make the WaPo's "Top Secret America" headlines. For that reason the names of those who authored it have been omitted from this column – just in case they want to go into the witness protection program at a previously undisclosed location.


Watch a Hand-Painted Animation of Dostoevsky's "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" | Open Culture Watch a Hand-Painted Animation of Dostoevsky's "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man"
In this tale, an unnamed narrator also meditates on his absurd state, to the point of suicide. But he observes this spiritual malaise at a distance, recalling the story as an older man from a vantage point of wisdom: "I am a ridiculous person," the story begins, "Now they call me a madman. That would be a promotion if it were not that I remain as ridiculous in their eyes as before. But now I do not resent it, they are all dear to me now." This character, unlike Dostoevsky's bitter underground man, has had a transformative experience—a dream in which he experiences the full moral weight of his choices on a grand scale. In a moment of instant enlightenment, our protagonist becomes a kinder, more humane person concerned with the welfare of others.
It is the difference between these two tales which makes the static, internal Underground a very difficult story to adapt to the screen—as far as I know it hasn't been done—and "Ridiculous Man," with its vivid dream imagery and dynamic characterization, almost ideal. The 1992 animation (in two parts above) uses painstakingly hand-painted cells to bring to life the alternate world the narrator finds himself navigating in his dream. From the flickering lamps against the dreary, darkened cityscape of the ridiculous man's waking life to the shifting, sunlit sands of the dreamworld, each detail of the story is finely rendered with meticulous care. Drawn and directed by Russian animator Alexander Petrov—who won an Academy Award for his 1999 adaptation of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea—this is clearly a labor of love, and of tremendous skill and patience.
The technique Petrov uses, writes Galina Saubanova, is one of"Finger Painting": "Forcing the paint on the glass, the artist draws with his fingers, using brushes only in exceptional cases. One figure is one film frame, which flashes within 1/24 of a second while watching. Petrov draws more than a thousand paintings for one minute of his film." In Russian with English subtitles taken from Constance Garnett's translation, the twenty-minute "animated painting" sublimely realizes Dostoevsky's tale of personal transformation with a lightness and lyricism that a live-action film cannot duplicate, although a 1990 BBC production called "The Dream" certainly has much to recommend it. If you like Petrov's work, be sure to watch his Old Man and the Sea here. Also online are his short films "The Mermaid" (1997) and "My Love" (2006).
Thanks muse_x, I was about to do the same thing until I saw you had beat me to it.


Scientists on an optimistic fishing expedition, involving 1,000 small molecules and hundreds of mice, have caught a big one with a chemical that promotes adult neurogenesis. Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas report in today's Cell that their compound, designated P7C3, enhances survival and integration of new hippocampal neurons, as well as memory, in mice and rats. First author Andrew Pieper and senior author Steven McKnight led the research.
Every day of our lives, in the hippocampus, we make thousands of cells, Pieper said. Yet most of these new neurons die within a week or so, for unknown reasons. Keeping them alive could bring potential dividends for neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer disease, which seems to impair neurogenesis (see ARF related news story on He and Shen, 2009). Currently, there is no drug on the market that specifically promotes neurogenesis, Pieper said, and previous in vitro screens have failed to yield compounds effective in animals. Therefore, the researchers decided to screen small molecules in mice. They were not at all sure they would find any promising drugs, but reasoned that if they were lucky enough to do so, they would already have something effective in vivo.
McKnight and colleagues divided their 1,000 potential drugs into 100 pools of 10 and treated mice with the cocktails. They injected the mice with BrdU to label newly divided cells, and looked for growth in this population in the hippocampus.
After separating the effective pools into individual components, the researchers discovered eight chemicals that boosted new neuron numbers. Pieper and colleagues then focused on one particular molecule—P7C3 for pool 7, compound 3—because it was orally bioavailable, crossed the blood-brain barrier, and appeared to be non-toxic to the animals.
P7C3 worked in these wild-type animals, but the researchers wondered if it could also assist new neuron formation in mutant mice with impaired neurogenesis. They focused on a model lacking NPAS3, a transcription factor that controls adult neurogenesis (Pieper et al., 2005). NPAS3 mutations are associated with schizophrenia (Kamnarasan et al., 2003), schizophrenia-associated learning disabilities (Pickard et al., 2005), and bipolar disorder (Pickard et al., 2009). Mice lacking the transcription factor are able to form neural precursor cells, but the cells do not survive the maturation process. P7C3 restored normal hippocampal structure and function in these animals, suggesting that the drug improves survival of newly generated neurons.
There is evidence that neurogenesis enhances cognition and memory (see ARF related news story on Clelland et al., 2009). To test this, the researchers treated 18-month-old wild-type rats with P7C3 before testing them in a water maze. Aged rats have difficulty with tasks of learning and memory, Pieper said. Drug- and vehicle-treated animals were equally able to learn the location of a raised platform in the pool. Then, the scientists removed the platform to test how well the rats recalled its former location. Compared to the control, vehicle-treated animals, the P7C3-treated rats spent more time swimming over where the platform used to be, suggesting enhanced learning and memory. The study really strengthens the connections between adult neurogenesis and cognitive function, said Henriette van Praag of the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Maryland, who was not involved in the work.
How does P7C3 rescue newborn neurons Normally, many of these cells undergo apoptosis, a process regulated by mitochondria. The researchers used cultured U2OS cells, a human osteosarcoma line, to examine mitochondrial permeability under P7C3 treatment. They put the cells under high calcium conditions, to stress them, with a dye that leaks out of the organelle in the presence of excess calcium. P7C3 prevented the dye's release from mitochondria, suggesting it helps maintain the organelle's membranes. This action is similar, the authors note, to a possible mitochondria-sealing mechanism of Dimebon, a candidate drug for Alzheimer disease (Zhang et al., 2010; Bachurin et al., 2003). The most recent trial results for Dimebon were poor (see ARF related news story), but the authors suggest it might be possible to enhance its efficacy or potency. If so, the assays in their study could be useful to test Dimebon derivatives, they wrote.
We do not know yet what the actual target of [P7C3] is, Pieper said It enhances the stability of the mitochondria. The researchers are working to discover P7C3's mechanism, and also plan to test the compound in mouse models for Alzheimer's, Huntington disease, spinocerebellar atrophy, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.


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Q: Windows Server DNS returns .local address I have a Windows server set up as a webserver but I am also running my DNS on the same machine (I know this is bad practice). I have the domains default zone webserver.hosting.local as well as my website zone example.com. Now whenever I dig ns example.com it returns webserver.hosting.local. as one of my name servers. What do I need to configure to stop this from happening? I note that webserver.hosting.local is an ns record on the default zone.

A: So I tried everything from restarting the dns service to clearing the cache but nothing worked. Finally solved it by rebooting the server which caused the .local ns record to show up in the wrong zone. I then removed it and its all working correctly.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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A Parallel Numerical Method for Risk Assessment of Myocardial Infarction During Liver Transplantation: A Case Study
Zhengzheng Yan, Dandan Shang, Jingzhi Li & Rongliang Chen
Adv. Appl. Math. Mech., 14 (2022), pp. 1225-1245.
Preview Full PDF 385 13007 Abstract
Coronary artery disease is a devastating complication of some patients undergoing liver transplantation. Anesthesia, anhepatic blood flow occlusion, and reperfusion of the liver can cause severe fluctuations in hemodynamics. However, the vast majority of liver transplant patients cannot undergo invasive coronary examinations due to their critical illness and abnormal coagulation function. In this paper, we present a retrospective case of acute myocardial infarction during surgery in order to demonstrate a noninvasive method to obtain coronary hemodynamic functional information based on scalable computational fluid dynamics technology. A $P_1−P_1$ stabilized finite element method and second-order backward differentiation formula are applied to discretize the time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations in the spatial and temporal directions, respectively. A Windkessel model constructed based on the measured clinic data is used to characterize the outlet blood flow. We then apply a parallel Newton-Krylov method with a restricted additive Schwarz preconditioner to accelerate the timeliness of the simulation. The simulated functional indicator successfully verifies the myocardial ischemia in the anhepatic phase of liver transplantation. We also present the parallel performance of the algorithm on a supercomputer, and the results show that the proposed solver achieves over 55% parallel efficiency with 3840 processor cores.
A Conservative Upwind Approximation on Block-Centered Difference for Chemical Oil Recovery Displacement Problem
Changfeng Li, Yirang Yuan, Aijie Cheng & Huailing Song
A kind of conservative upwind method is discussed for chemical oil recovery displacement in porous media. The mathematical model is formulated by a nonlinear convection-diffusion system dependent on the pressure, Darcy velocity, concentration and saturations. The flow equation is solved by a conservative block-centered method, and the pressure and Darcy velocity are obtained at the same time. The concentration and saturations are determined by convection-dominated diffusion equations, so an upwind approximation is adopted to eliminate numerical dispersion and nonphysical oscillation. Block-centered method is conservative locally. An upwind method with block-centered difference is used for computing the concentration. The saturations of different components are solved by the method of upwind fractional step difference, and the computational work is shortened significantly by dividing a three-dimensional problem into three successive one-dimensional problems and using the method of speedup. Using the variation discussion, energy estimates, the method of duality, and the theory of a priori estimates, we complete numerical analysis. Finally, numerical tests are given for showing the computational accuracy, efficiency and practicability of our approach.
Stability and Convergence of the Canonical Euler Splitting Method for Nonlinear Composite Stiff Functional Differential-Algebraic Equations
Hongliang Liu, Yameng Zhang, Haodong Li & Shoufu Li
A novel canonical Euler splitting method is proposed for nonlinear composite stiff functional differential-algebraic equations, the stability and convergence of the method is evidenced, theoretical results are further confirmed by some numerical experiments. Especially, the numerical method and its theories can be applied to special cases, such as delay differential-algebraic equations and integral differential-algebraic equations.
Sinc Collocation Numerical Methods for Solving Two-Dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii Equations with Non-Homogeneous Dirichlet Boundary Conditions
Shengnan Kang, Kenzu Abdella, Macro Pollanen, Shuhua Zhang & Liang Wang
This paper presents the numerical solution of the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii Equation describing the movement of quantum mechanics particles under non-homogeneous boundary conditions. Due to their inherent non-linearity, the equation generally can not be solved analytically. Instead, a highly accurate approximation to the solutions defined in a finite domain is proposed, using the Crank-Nicolson difference method and Sinc Collocation numerical methods to discretize separately in time and space. Two Sinc numerical approaches, involving the Sinc Collocation Method (SCM) and the Sinc Derivative Collocation Method (SDCM), are easy to implement. The results demonstrate that Sinc numerical methods are highly efficient and yield accurate results. Mainly, the SDCM decays errors faster than the SCM. Future work suggests that the SDCM can be extensively applied to approximate solutions under other boundary conditions to demonstrate its broad applicability further.
Piecewise Spectral Collocation Method for Second Order Volterra Integro-Differential Equations with Nonvanishing Delay
Zhenrong Chen, Yanping Chen & Yunqing Huang
In this paper, the piecewise spectral-collocation method is used to solve the second-order Volterra integral differential equation with nonvanishing delay. In this collocation method, the main discontinuity point of the solution of the equation is used to divide the partitions to overcome the disturbance of the numerical error convergence caused by the main discontinuity of the solution of the equation. Derivative approximation in the sense of integral is constructed in numerical format, and the convergence of the spectral collocation method in the sense of the $L^∞$ and $L^2$ norm is proved by the Dirichlet formula. At the same time, the error convergence also meets the effect of spectral accuracy convergence. The numerical experimental results are given at the end also verify the correctness of the theoretically proven results.
Two-Grid Crank-Nicolson Finite Volume Element Method for the Time-Dependent Schrödinger Equation
Chuanjun Chen, Yuzhi Lou & Tong Zhang
In this paper, we construct a Crank-Nicolson finite volume element scheme and a two-grid decoupling algorithm for solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. Combining the idea of two-grid discretization, the decoupling algorithm involves solving a small coupling system on a coarse grid space and a decoupling system with two independent Poisson problems on a fine grid space, which can ensure the accuracy while the size of coarse grid is much coarser than that of fine grid. We further provide the optimal error estimate of these two schemes rigorously by using elliptic projection operator. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis.
Analyzing the Effects of Key Design Factors of a Negative-Differential-Resistance (NDR) Microfluidic Oscillator – An Equivalent-Circuit-Model Approach
J. W. Wu, H. M. Xia, Z. P. Wang, W. Wang & H. J. Du
Numerical study on dynamic hydroelastic problems is usually rather complex due to the coupling of fluid and solid mechanics. Here, we demonstrate that the performance of a hydroelastic microfluidic oscillator can be analyzed using a simple equivalent circuit model. Previous studies reveal that its transition from the steady state to the oscillation state follows the negative-differential-resistance (NDR) mechanism. The performance is mainly determined by a bias fluidic resistor, and a pressure-variant resistor which further relates to the bending stiffness of the elastic diaphragm and the depth of the oscillation chamber. In this work, a numerical study is conducted to examine the effects of key design factors on the device robustness, the applicable fluid viscosity, the flow rate, and the transition pressure. The underlying physics is interpreted, providing a new perspective on hydroelastic oscillation problems. Relevant findings also provide design guidelines of the NDR fluidic oscillator.
An Efficient Second-Order Finite Volume ADI Method for Nonlinear Three-Dimensional Space-Fractional Reaction-Diffusion Equations
Bingyin Zhang, Hongfei Fu, Xueting Liang, Jun Liu & Jiansong Zhang
In this paper, a three-dimensional time-dependent nonlinear Riesz space-fractional reaction-diffusion equation is considered. First, a linearized finite volume method, named BDF-FV, is developed and analyzed via the discrete energy method, in which the space-fractional derivative is discretized by the finite volume element method and the time derivative is treated by the backward differentiation formulae (BDF). The method is rigorously proved to be convergent with second-order accuracy both in time and space with respect to the discrete and continuous $L^2$ norms. Next, by adding high-order perturbation terms in time to the BDF-FV scheme, an alternating direction implicit linear finite volume scheme, denoted as BDF-FV-ADI, is proposed. Convergence with second-order accuracy is also strictly proved under a rough temporal-spatial stepsize constraint. Besides, efficient implementation of the ADI method is briefly discussed, based on a fast conjugate gradient (FCG) solver for the resulting symmetric positive definite linear algebraic systems. Numerical experiments are presented to support the theoretical analysis and demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the method for large-scale modeling and simulations.
Numerical Analysis of Two-Grid Block-Centered Finite Difference Method for Two-Phase Flow in Porous Medium
Jing Zhang & Hongxing Rui
In this paper, a two-grid block-centered finite difference method for the incompressible miscible displacement in porous medium is introduced and analyzed, which is to solve a nonlinear equation on coarse mesh space of size $H$ and a linear equation on fine grid of size $h.$ We establish the full discrete two-grid block-centered finite difference scheme on a uniform grid. The error estimates for the pressure, Darcy velocity, concentration variables are derived, which show that the discrete $L_2$ error is $\mathcal{O}(∆t+h^2+H^4 ).$ Finally, two numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of our algorithm.
Large Eddy Simulation of the Vortex-Induced Vibration of a Circular Cylinder by Using the Local Domain-Free Discretization Method
Tianmei Pu, Yang Zhang & Chunhua Zhou
In this paper, the local domain-free discretization (DFD) method is extended to large eddy simulation (LES) of fluid-structure interaction and the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of an elastically mounted rigid circular cylinder, which is held in the middle of a straight channel, is numerically investigated. The wall model based on the simplified turbulent boundary layer equations is employed to alleviate the requirement of mesh resolution in the near-wall region. The ability of the method for fluid-structure interaction is demonstrated by simulating flows over a circular cylinder undergoing VIV. The cylinder is neutrally buoyant with a reduced mass $m^∗ =11$ and has a low damping ratio $ζ =0.001.$ The numerical experiment of the VIV of a cylinder in an unbounded flow shows that the present LES-DFD method is more accurate and reliable than the referenced RANS and DES methods. For the cylinder in the middle of a straight channel, the effect of the channel height $(d^∗ = d/D)$ is investigated. The variations of the response amplitude, vortex-shedding pattern and the length of the induced separation zone in the channel boundary layers with the channel height are presented.
A Second Order Accurate in Time, Energy Stable Finite Element Scheme for the Flory-Huggins-Cahn-Hilliard Equation
Maoqin Yuan, Wenbin Chen, Cheng Wang, Steven M. Wise & Zhengru Zhang
In this paper, we propose and analyze a second order accurate in time, mass lumped mixed finite element scheme for the Cahn-Hilliard equation with a logarithmic Flory-Huggins energy potential. The standard backward differentiation formula (BDF) stencil is applied in the temporal discretization. In the chemical potential approximation, both the logarithmic singular terms and the surface diffusion term are treated implicitly, while the expansive term is explicitly updated via a second-order Adams-Bashforth extrapolation formula, following the idea of the convex-concave decomposition of the energy functional. In addition, an artificial Douglas-Dupont regularization term is added to ensure the energy dissipativity. In the spatial discretization, the mass lumped finite element method is adopted. We provide a theoretical justification of the unique solvability of the mass lumped finite element scheme, using a piecewise linear element. In particular, the positivity is always preserved for the logarithmic arguments in the sense that the phase variable is always located between −1 and 1. In fact, the singular nature of the implicit terms and the mass lumped approach play an essential role in the positivity preservation in the discrete setting. Subsequently, an unconditional energy stability is proven for the proposed numerical scheme. In addition, the convergence analysis and error estimate of the numerical scheme are also presented. Two numerical experiments are carried out to verify the theoretical properties.
Numerical Analysis of Crack-Tip Fields Using a Meshless Method in Linear Elastic Materials
Zahra Sheikhi, Akbar Ghanbari, Mohammad Karkon & Soleyman Ghouhestani
In this paper, the Discrete Least Squares Meshless (DLSM) method is developed to determine crack-tip fields. In DLSM, the problem domain and its boundary are discretized by unrelated field nodes used to introduce the shape functions by the moving least-squares (MLS) interpolant. This method aims to minimize the sum of squared residuals of the governing differential equations at any nodal point. Since high-continuity shape functions are used, some necessary treatments, including the visibility criterion, diffraction, and transparency approaches, are employed in the DLSM to introduce strong discontinuities such as cracks. The stress extrapolation and $J$-integral methods are used to calculate stress intensity factors. Three classic numerical examples using three approaches to defining discontinuities in the irregular distribution of nodal points are considered to investigate the effectiveness of the DLSM method. The numerical tests indicated that the proposed method effectively employed the approaches to defining discontinuities to deal with discontinuous boundaries. It was also demonstrated that the diffraction approach obtained higher accuracy than the other techniques.
A Mesh Size Scaling Law with Reynolds Number for Large Eddy Simulation in Channel Flow
Jie Yao & C. J. Teo
In this paper, a scaling law relating the mesh size to the Reynolds number was proposed to ensure consistent results for large eddy simulation (LES) as the Reynolds number was varied. The grid size scaling law was developed by analyzing the length scale of the turbulent motion by using DNS data from the literature. The wall-resolving LES was then applied to a plane channel flow to validate the scaling law. The scaling law was tested at different Reynolds numbers $(Re_τ$ = 395, 590 and 1000), and showed good results compared to direct numerical simulation (DNS) in terms of mean flow and various turbulent statistics. The velocity spectra analysis shows the evidence of the Kolmogorov –5/3 inertial subrange and verifies that the current LES can resolve the bulk of the turbulent kinetic energy by satisfying the grid scaling law. Meanwhile, the near-wall turbulent flow structures can also be well captured. Reasonably accurate predictions can thus be obtained for flows at even higher Reynolds numbers with significantly lower computational costs compared to DNS by applying the mesh scaling law.
Interaction of Radiation and Turbulent Natural Convection: A Pseudo-Direct Numerical Study
Alexander Nee & Ali J. Chamkha
This paper presents a hybrid lattice Boltzmann solver for turbulent buoyancy-driven flow coupled with surface thermal radiation. The two-relaxation time scheme for the Boltzmann equation combined with the implicit finite difference scheme for the energy equation is implemented to compute the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics. The accuracy and robustness of the hybrid approach proposed in this study are assessed in terms of the numerical and experimental data of other researchers. Upon performing the simulation, the Rayleigh number is ranged from 108 to 1010 whereas the surface emissivity is changed from zero to unity. During computations, it is found that the overall temperature of the cavity is increased as a result of enhancing the surface radiation. Convective plumes are formed both at the isothermal and the thermally-insulated walls with the $Ra≥10^9$ and $ε≥0.6.$ In the conditions under study, the overall heat transfer rate is raised by around 5% when taking into account the surface thermal radiation.
Author Index to Volume 14
Preview Full PDF 69 3103 Abstract


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The best performance of the evening came last, when the Russian pianist Alexandre Pirojenko played Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 1... Mr. Pirojenko, a winner of the 2004 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, captured the work's exuberant character and playful outbursts and comfortably surmounted the innumerable technical demands... The patrons awarded him the heartiest applause of the evening.
Vivien Schweitzer, New York City, USA, The New York Times, May 1, 2008
...Virtuosity does not only mean to possess exceptional technical quality, but above all share a sense that referred to the tradition of the great romantic interpreters (and post-romantic): conception of the sound, the time, the phrasing based on the temporary fantasy ignition, on the poetical enchantment. Pirojenko obviously knows this glorious tradition (we also learn from his curriculum that he is fitted up collector of historical recordings), and he has absorbed it to the point to execute in a brilliant way the Liszt transcription from Horowitz for his personal use and consumption, and "revise" the text of the six Polish songs of Chopin-Liszt with interpolations derived from some historical versions of the virtuous ones of the Golden Age. Obviously also the small studies of Pozzoli appears to increase in value from such conception, in their fluent brilliance and their musical intensity. The young Russian virtuous gives to the well known Prokofiev's Sonata its right feeling, with an execution where romantic reminiscence, mechanisms requirements and one clear, alert polyphonic clarity of the parts, coexists.
Riccardo Risaliti, Booklet of the CD released by Ettore Pozzoli International Piano Competition. Italy, 2007
A Show of Pianistic Brilliance
Very rarely, a pianist's style combines such technical prowess and musical understanding that he seems to be channeling the great virtuosos of the past. That was Alexandre Pirojenko at the Mansion at Strathmore on Friday night, playing with unfailing power and limpidity - but without exaggerated mannerisms or affectation.
The program's first half was all Schumann. Standouts among the "Phantasiestucke" were a mercurial No. 3; a sparkling No. 6, with all notes amazingly clear in the very fast middle section; a twinkling No. 7; and, in No. 8, impressive dignity stopping just short of pomposity.
The "Variations on a Theme of Clara Wieck," from Sonata No. 3, came across as tenuously connected miniatures alternating power and tenderness, even within the same phrase.
Three of the "Noveletten," Op. 21, were marked by resounding martial elements and elegant hand crossings (No. 1), extreme finger dexterity (No. 2) and quicksilver mood and tempo shifts (No. 8).
The evening's second half was a heaping helping of Scriabin served up, rather oddly, without pause - moving the audience directly from the gentle Prelude and Nocturne for the Left Hand and the lyrical Sonata No. 2 to the developing use of Scriabin's so-called "synthetic chord" in his Three Pieces, Op. 45, and Sonata No. 4.
Pirojenko ended his recital in a brilliant burst of fireworks with Saint-Saens's "Danse Macabre." But the overall program proved that he is more than a virtuoso - he is a poet of the piano.
Mark J. Estren, Washington D. C., USA, Washington Post, Monday, March 12, 2007
Young pianist shows flair beyond his years
...Pirojenko proved to be a bright star with plenty of technique to burn... Opening with Chopin's Polonaise in A-flat, Op. 61, we heard a contemplative control which let the phrases breathe musically. Chopin's Six Polish Songs, Op. 74, transcribed by Liszt, allowed Pirojenko to display a range of character from sentimental to martial, with clear command of his finger work. Rare were the delicate inflections that audiences love to savor, but it's hard not to like the bubbly outbursts and quick power of grand gestures.
Gayle Williams, Sarasota, USA, Herald Tribune, November 26, 2005
The audience was treated to a superb performance of Mozart's "Piano Concerto N 14 in E-Flat Major," featuring pianist Alexandre Pirojenko... He won my respect by the end of the first "vivace" movement, with his lengthy, perfectly executed trills, smooth as quicksilver. Twenty-eight minutes later the audience awarded him and the orchestra a standing ovation.
Peg Goldberg Longstreth, Naples FL, USA, Naples Daily News, November 20, 2005
Pianist Alexandre Pirojenko Performs for Moore County's Classical Concert Series
The Classical Concert Series has a long history of presenting outstanding rising instrumentalists in recital. For its second concert of the season, November 14, pianist Alexandre Pirojenko presented a wide-ranging program in the Sunrise Theatre in Southern Pines. Among a plethora of contest prizes, placing first in the 2004 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York led to this local appearance. Many musicians who have run the medal-gathering gauntlet come out with many technical skills but are found wanting in both individuality and depth of insight. Pirojenko made everything he tackled seem effortless but in all pieces his technique was subordinated to a clear over-all vision. His stage manner is very business-like and self-effacing. As his hands raced over or caressed the keyboard, the audience was transfixed by his extraordinary wide palette of color and timbre, his dexterity as he clearly articulated notes at high speed, and his broad and carefully-nuanced dynamics, ranging from the barest whisper to thundering octaves. Eschewing flamboyant gestures, Pirojenko whipped up huge waves of sounds while hardly seeming to change the distance of his hands from the ivories – a quality shared with an older generation of pianists such as Claude Frank, Earl Wild, and Luiz de Moura de Castro.
All these qualities were displayed in Pirojenko's opening selection, Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasie in A-flat, Op. 61. Beginning ever so quietly and slowly, he made the melodic lines sing and managed to hold the wild cavalcade together all the way to its fiery conclusion. Franz Liszt's arrangements of Six Polish Songs by Chopin gave the pianist scope to portray widely varied moods, now joyful, now melancholy, now dance-like, now lyrical. Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 19 in d minor makes use of the "czardas," a dance based on variations in tempo. Pirojenko pulled out all the stops as he alternated slow, sliding phrases with ominously rumbling chords. He conjured up rich sonority for Cesar Franck's Prelude, Chorale et Fugue, M.21, and his agility was astonishing during the many instances of crossed hands. Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-flat, Op. 83, is the middle and most popular of three "War Sonatas," composed while the composer was evacuated from Moscow. The haunting theme of the first movement is sped along by a threatening and overpowering rhythm. The lyrical theme of the second movement provides the strongest possible contrast before returning to the opening movement's intensity. The last movement blends dissonance and jazz-like rhythms and ends in a dazzling display of keyboard virtuosity. Despite the well-known conservatism of this series' audience, listeners were so swept up in Pirojenko's spell that he received a prolonged standing ovation. Their reward was a rarity in our area, the "Polichinelle" in f–sharp minor, No. 4 of Rachmaninov's Morceaux de fantasie, Op. 3. In addition to characteristic plush melodies, its comic rhythms show "Old Stone Face" in good humor.
William Thomas Walker, USA, Classical Voice of North Carolina, November 2005
Classical flavor from a young artist
...From the moment the performance began with selections from Haydn's Sonata No. 35 in A-flat major, the audience was utterly silent in a way that reflected more than the typical polite quietness veteran classical crowds know to deliver. They seemed mesmerized by Pirojenko's lively and dexterous presentation.
...The Haydn, characterized by amazing nimbleness, was followed by a more pensive series of selections from Debussy's Images, Book 1. Though the technical ability was still evident, this section was markedly more thoughtful, the sound richer. Again, other than the music from the stage, the venue was deathly silent.
The final selection before intermission, Chorale and Variations by Dutilleux, further heightened the sense of intensity and even merited more dramatic gestures on the part of the performer. Whereas the Haydn had kept his hands very low to the keys, the performance had lead to a progressive opening of the physical form as the emotionality also grew.
...The Six Preludes by Rachmaninoff delivered immediately after intermission were among the highlights of the show. Nothing short of entrancing and intense, there was an audible release of tension from the audience after their conclusion, followed by yelling, cheering, and bravos.
The final selections were from Prokofiev's Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 83, No. 7, and were appropriately dramatic in keeping with the performances escalated passion.
These were followed by extensive applause and then a still not-quite-smiling Pirojenko delivering not one, but three encores.
Emma Zayer, Washington D. C., USA, The Daily Colonial, Saturday, March 12, 2005
A Young Pianist Gives His Dazzling Keys to the City
Pianist Alexandre Pirojenko's Sunday afternoon recital at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater was the sort of concert that made a listener want to run to the phone at intermission, to urge absent friends to come quickly and catch as much as possible of the second half. Yes, Pirojenko is that good. He has the technical skills to do anything he wants with a piano; better yet, what he wants to do is sensitive, original and brilliant in all senses of the word. This young Russian - he is 25 - won first prize in the 2004 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and it was YCA that sponsored him in his Washington debut. Word of mouth should ensure that he never again plays to an empty seat. The program began with Haydn's Sonata No. 35 in A-flat. Pirojenko made no attempt to deliberately limit the piano sonorities available to this composer (who was writing for the instrument when it was still in a primitive state of development). Rather, he gloried unashamedly in the lush tone and eternally variable dynamics available only from a modern concert grand. Was this "romanticized" Haydn, then? Well, yes - and also modernized, while we're at it: Pirojenko was less interested in the dry re-creation of a performance that the composer might have heard 200 years ago than in bringing every dash of Haydn's wit, invention and sturdy lyricism dancing gloriously into the 21st century. A selection of three "Images" by Debussy was no less impressive. This is music that has moved beyond the traditional building blocks of melody, harmony and rhythm into a realm of pure sound (Debussy once said that his ideal piano would have no hammers). Talking of these works in academic terms - of their "scales," "arpeggios" and so on - seems prosaic and beside the point. What Debussy is intent on giving us are clouds, showers, flashes of lightning, and Pirojenko fully met these challenges to the imagination. We've been hearing quite a bit of music by Henri Dutilleux this season - the French composer turns 90 in January - and the "Chorale and Variations" that closed the first half of Pirojenko's program made a cogent argument for more. With its chiming chords and unfettered gallops across the keyboard, this is as unhinged and exciting a display piece for an ubervirtuoso as anything by Liszt or Balakirev. It is surprising that more pianists haven't picked it up. I particularly liked the manic, jazzy quality Pirojenko brought to Dutilleux's writing for the left hand, which flirted dangerously (and exhilaratingly) with derailment on several occasions. Six preludes by Rachmaninoff began the second half of the program. Every pianist emphasizes the composer's grand romantic effusions; Pirojenko digs deeper and presents his racked, ghostly melancholy as well. The concert closed with Prokofiev's Sonata No. 7, which can be a stomping, clangorous bore in the wrong hands but here seemed smart, fierce and inevitable. The closing Toccata movement brought the audience immediately to its feet - and not for one of your dutiful, polite State of the Union-style Washington standing ovations, either, but one with real heat and exuberance, worthy of the afternoon.
Tim Page, Washington D. C., USA, Washington Post, Tuesday, March 8, 2005
Music From the Russian Soul
...Alexandre Pirojenko, the most recent first-prize winner at Young Concert Artists, brought Debussy and Dutilleux to his recital at the 92nd Street Y on Tuesday night. In Book 1 of the "Images," Debussy's "Reflets Dans l'Eau" had its rippling, watery surfaces well attended to... Henri Dutilleux's Chorale and Variations allowed Mr. Pirojenko to indulge his musical-language skills and homegrown virtuoso training at the same time... Haydn's A-flat Sonata, on the other hand, caught the Classical style's quieter tone. It also showed that this Russian is well up on the latest thinking about period ornaments and phrasing. ...Six Rachmaninoff Preludes had their properly gloomy eloquence... The Prokofiev Seventh Sonata has become a kind of signature piece for Russian pianists, its brutal difficulties offered as a kind of dare to Western colleagues... Mr. Pirojenko played it with a cold fury kept under perfect control.
Bernard Holland, New York City, USA, The New York Times, February 27, 2005
Tout droit venu de St-Petersbourg, nous avons decouvert un jeune virtuose au talent confirme. En ouverture, il a joue une Barcarolle et la Polonaise Fantaisie en la bemol majeur de Chopin. Il demontra non seulement qu'il est un pianiste a la technique parfaite, mais aussi qu'il est dote d'une musicalite telle qu'il peut reproduire merveilleusement les plus infimes finesses des compositions du grand maitre polonais. Les compositions de Scriabine (Sonate n3 en fa diese mineur) et de Rachmaninov (Melodie en mi majeur - Polichinelle - Sonata n2 en si bemol mineur) furent egalement executees avec beaucoup de temperament, de fougue. Meme si ses idoles musicales appartiennent au passe et son repertoire couvre toutes les epoques pianistiques, son interpretation des compositions du XXeme s. ont demontre un grand sentiment de contemporaneite. Un pianiste doue, tres expressif a qui les differents auditoires n'ont pas menage les applaudissements.
Lebanon, La Revue du Liban, No 3942 - du 27 Mars au 3 Avril 2004
... de moyens exceptionnels et d'une ardente personnalite.
... exceptional means and an ardent personality.
Martine Dumont-Mergeay, Brussels, Belgium, La Libre Belgique 17-18.05.2003
Rachmaninov's Second Sonata found it's heartfelt interpreter in Alexandre Pirojenko. Living enthusiasm for music making, scope of feelings are restrained by self-control and refined culture of tone.
Michail Byalik, St.Petersburg, Russia, Nevskoye Vremya, No 196 (2793), Tuesday October 22, 2002
... there was one absolutely superb musician ... Without question, 21-year-old Russian Alexandre Pirojenko was the real thing ... scrumptious in Scriabin, and absolutely dazzling in Prokofiev's Sixth Sonata.
Michael Tumelty, Glasgow, UK, The Herald, Friday September 14, 2001
In the second part of evening public waited the surprise, personified by young pianist Alexandre Pirojenko. Being a student of the Conservatoire (piano class of Alexander Sandler), he has already become laureate of several international piano competitions. Playing the Third Piano Concerto by Sergey Prokofiev he moved the listeners by chastity of lyrics and directly electrified them by impulsive energy. Perfect virtuosity allowed him to cope valiantly with fast (sometimes excessively fast) tempos.
Michail Byalik, St.Petersburg, Russia, Nevskoye Vremya, No 83 (2543), May 11, 2001
He is brightly gifted and virtuoso by nature.
Natalya Korykhalova, St.Petersburg, Russia, Petersburg-Klassika, 02.2001 (78)
Alexandre Pirojenko, who has just won the 1st prize at the Newport International Piano Competition (UK), played a concert in Capella ... Mr. Pirojenko strongly differs from standard laureates-pianists issued by present-day high schools in dozens and hundreds. He knows perfectly not only how, but what to play due to his composition education under Prof. Alexander Mnatsakanyan. Whatever the new laureate plays there is a sharp feeling of contemporaneity, though the pianist's music idols are in the past. Mr. Pirojenko's repertoire contains piano music of all epochs - from baroque to contemporary authors, but the most interesting are his interpretations of XX century classic.
Olga Skorbiashchenskaya, St.Petersburg, Russia, Kommersant, Nr.211 Friday, November 10, 2000
Pirojenko, who had stood head and shoulders above everyone else in the semi-finals last week, underlined his superiority with an electrifying performance of the Liszt First Concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. ... Pirojenko is a player of extraordinary energy and control.
Nigel Jarrett, Newport, UK, South Wales Argus, Monday, October 23, 2000
Alexandre Pirojenko showed masterly possession of the instrument: his pearly technique, precision and distinctness of octave passages evoked particular admiration. He seemed to master the technical difficulties with exceptional effortlessness and ease. Creation of visible clearness of Liszt's images should be recognized as the pianist's greatest success.
Ekaterina Okuneva. Petrozavodsk. Russia. The Youth Newspaper of Karelia, Nr.42 (9926) October 12-18, 2000
Alexandre Pirojenko (Russie) a pour le moins impressionne par son large eventail expressif, son temperament, sa superbe technique: un digne representant de l'ecole russe. Sa pyrotechnie musicale a enflamme la salle, qui ne lui a pas menage ses applaudissements.
Alexandre Pirojenko (Russia) impresses by his broad expressive range, his temperament, his superb technique: worthy representative of the Russian school. His musical pyrotechnics ignites the auditorium, which cannot help applauding him.
Thierry Guerin, Orleans, France, 28.02.2000
Kerzengrade, geradezu schulmassig sass er am Flugel und musizierte vor allem grundlegend anders. Er schlug harter an und spielte weniger aus dem Bauch heraus. Fast kuhl, auf jeden Fall aber bis ins kleinste Detail durchdacht, interpretierte er Liszts Klavierkonzert mit einer bemerkenswerten musikalischen Intelligenz. Durch starke, aber nie uberpointierte Betonung des Rhythmus sowie ausgeklugelte Abstufungen in der Dynamik gelang es ihm, das sperrige Klavierkonzert transparent zu strukturieren. Auch harmonisierte sein Spiel hervorragent mit dem Orchester ... Aus diesen Grunden hatte ich Pirojenko fur den Gesamtsieg favorisiert - Geschmackssache, naturlich. ... Lediglich Alexandre Pirojenko bot etwas "Neues": die As-Dur-Sonate von Joseph Haydn sowie "Scherzo und Marsch" von Franz Liszt. Auch hier bestach der 20-jahrige Pianist aus St.Petersburg vor allem durch seine musikalische Intelligenz, mit der er auch ohne Orchesterbegleitung die Stucke strukturierte. Die technische Perfektion, mit der Pirojenko gerade den schweren Liszt bewaltigte, muss man wohl angesichts des enorm hohen Gesamtniveaus der Wettbewerbsteilnehmer in die Kategorie "Selbstverstandlichkeit" einordnen.
Alexander Schnackenburg, Bremen, Deutschland, KULTUR, Nr. 238 Montag, Oktober 11, 1999
Glanzpunkte des Abends bildeten die im zweiten Teil gespielten Kompositionen von Frederic Chopin ... Hier konnte Alexander Piroschenko zeigen, dass er nicht nur ein technisch perfekter junger Pianist ist, sondern dass er auch mit einer hochgradigen Musikalitat ausgestattet ist, die es ihm ermoglicht, den allerkleinsten Feinheiten der Kompositionen nachzuhorchen und diese dann auch zum Klingen zu bringen.
Koblenz, Deutschland, Rhein-Zeitung, Marz 26, 1993


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adding an ultrasound to annual mammograms for women at higher-than-average breast cancer risk helps catch more early-stage tumors — but also ups the chance that healthy women will get follow-up biopsies unnecessarily, according to a new study.
For most women who fit into an "intermediate-risk" category — including those with very dense breasts, or who have a family member with breast cancer — the extra chance of false positives and more testing is probably worth it, said the study's lead author.
That's because along with those women's higher chances of getting cancer, mammograms may not work as well on women with denser breasts, for example.
"The vast majority... of women who are well aware of these risks would still gladly choose to have the ultrasound, knowing that it increases the chance of finding cancer if it's present and finding it early," said Dr. Wendie Berg, from Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Still, one researcher not involved in the study questioned whether that was feasible, or even a good idea.
Recommendations from cancer and radiology organizations call for women who are at high risk of cancer, including those with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, to get magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in addition to annual mammography.
But guidelines haven't specified whether extra tests are also the best option for those in the intermediate-risk category — which may include up to 30 percent of women, Berg said.
"Anything that we propose to be extra in them, that's a lot of women," she told Reuters Health.
Berg said adding annual MRIs — which start at about $500 each — isn't such a practical or cost-effective option, and many people feel claustrophobic during the procedure or just don't like it. So she and her colleagues wanted to see if ultrasounds, which are less bothersome and run for under $100, might be an alternative addition to mammography.
Their study involved about 2,700 women seen at 21 different sites. More than half of those women had a history of breast cancer themselves — which also puts someone in the intermediate-risk category.
Every year for three years, women had both a mammogram and an ultrasound to check for signs of cancer. Finally, the researchers offered participants one MRI as a final check.
Over the study period, there were 111 new cases of breast cancer, 59 of which were picked up during mammography. Another 32 tumors that weren't spotted on mammograms were found with ultrasound — 30 of which were invasive cancers, according to findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Out of 612 women who opted for MRI, nine more cancers that hadn't shown up on other screening tests were detected. Eleven cancers were diagnosed at some point during the study through means other than screening.
Despite the additional cancers caught with ultrasounds and MRIs, there were downsides to the extra tests. One out of every 20 women had to have a breast biopsy because of ultrasound results, though only a small fraction of those ended up having cancer.
"It is a substantial risk," Berg said.
"We are always in a quandary because we don't know what to do with these intermediate-risk patients," said Dr. Regina Hooley, who studies breast cancer screening at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven.
"MRI is costly and it's invasive," Hooley, who wasn't involved in the new study, told Reuters Health.
But Dr. Susan Roth, a radiologist from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, said the rate of false positives with ultrasound was concerning.
"Even if you believe in screening ultrasound, the dilemma I have is the number of biopsies I'd have to do to find those cancers," said Roth, who also wasn't part of the research team.
Ultrasounds are time-consuming, she said, and many facilities that do cancer screening are strapped as it is. And insurance companies may not want to pay for annual ultrasounds, given how many women qualify as intermediate-risk.
Hooley pointed out that neither ultrasound nor MRI can replace annual mammography in women with higher-than-average cancer risk.
For women at normal risk of breast cancer, the government-backed U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says evidence supports mammograms only, done every other year between age 50 and 74.
Regarding the chance of false positives when other screening methods are added to the mix, Berg said women who fully understand the risks, including the need for further invasive testing, should be able to make an informed choice about what test or tests are best for them.
SOURCE: bit.ly/hwxtTL Journal of the American Medical Association, online April 3, 2012.


text:
D2DResourceManager& D2DResourceManager::instance()
{
    static D2DResourceManager* instance = new D2DResourceManager();

    return *instance;
}

D2DResourceManager::~D2DResourceManager()
{
}

bool D2DResourceManager::loadResources(std::string path,
                                       SDL_Renderer* renderer)
{
    Json::Reader reader;
    Json::Value root;

    std::ifstream file;
    std::string line;
    std::string jsonToParse;

    file.open(path);

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        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
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    if (!reader.parse(jsonToParse, root)){
        D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

        logger.write("\tUnable to parse resource file %s. Json reader error messages: %s\n", path.c_str(),
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        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
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    if (root["textures"] == Json::Value::null){
        D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

        logger.write("\tMember \"textures\" missing from resource file %s\n",
                     path.c_str());

        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    if (root["spritesheets"] == Json::Value::null){
        D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

        logger.write("\tMember \"spritesheets\" missing from resource file %s\n",
                     path.c_str());

        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    if (root["animations"] == Json::Value::null){
        D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

        logger.write("\tMember \"animations\" missing from resource file %s\n",
                     path.c_str());

        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    if (root["music"] == Json::Value::null){
        D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

        logger.write("\tMember \"music\" missing from resource file %s\n",
                     path.c_str());

        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
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    if (root["soundeffects"] == Json::Value::null){
        D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

        logger.write("\tMember \"soundeffects\" missing from resource file %s\n",
                     path.c_str());

        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
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    loadTextures(root["textures"], renderer);
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    loadAnimations(root["animations"]);
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    loadSoundEffects(root["soundeffects"]);
}

std::weak_ptr<D2DTexture> D2DResourceManager::getTexture(std::string texture)
{
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    if (it == m_textures.end()){
        std::weak_ptr<D2DTexture> null;

        return null;
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    else {
        std::weak_ptr<D2DTexture> texture(it->second);

        return texture;
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}

std::weak_ptr<D2DSpritesheet> D2DResourceManager::getSpritesheet(std::string spritesheet)
{
    std::map<std::string, std::shared_ptr<D2DSpritesheet>>::iterator it = m_spritesheets.find(spritesheet);

    if (it == m_spritesheets.end()){
        std::weak_ptr<D2DSpritesheet> null;

        return null;
    }

    else {
        std::weak_ptr<D2DSpritesheet> spritesheet(it->second);

        return spritesheet;
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}

std::weak_ptr<D2DAnimation> D2DResourceManager::getAnimation(std::string animation)
{
    std::map<std::string, std::shared_ptr<D2DAnimation>>::iterator it = m_animations.find(animation);

    if (it == m_animations.end()){
        std::weak_ptr<D2DAnimation> null;

        return null;
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    else {
        std::weak_ptr<D2DAnimation> animation(it->second);

        return animation;
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}

std::weak_ptr<D2DMusic> D2DResourceManager::getMusic(std::string music)
{
    std::map<std::string, std::shared_ptr<D2DMusic>>::iterator it = m_music.find(music);

    if (it == m_music.end()){
        std::weak_ptr<D2DMusic> null;

        return null;
    }

    else {
        std::weak_ptr<D2DMusic> music(it->second);

        return music;
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}

std::weak_ptr<D2DSoundEffect> D2DResourceManager::getSoundEffect(std::string soundEffect)
{
    std::map<std::string, std::shared_ptr<D2DSoundEffect>>::iterator it = m_soundeffects.find(soundEffect);

    if (it == m_soundeffects.end()){
        std::weak_ptr<D2DSoundEffect> null;

        return null;
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    else {
        std::weak_ptr<D2DSoundEffect> soundEffect(it->second);

        return soundEffect;
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}

D2DResourceManager::D2DResourceManager()
{
    logger.open();
}

void D2DResourceManager::loadTextures(Json::Value textures,
                                      SDL_Renderer* renderer)
{
    if (!textures.isArray()){
        D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

        logger.write("Member \"textures\" must be an array!\n");

        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    for (int i = 0; i < textures.size(); i++){
        if (!textures[i].isString()){
            D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

            logger.write("Value at position %d in array \"textures\" must be a string!\n", i);

            exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
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        std::shared_ptr<D2DTexture> texture(new D2DTexture());

        D2DErrorContext ec("when loading texture: ", textures[i].asCString());
        texture->loadFromFile(textures[i].asString(), renderer);

        m_textures[textures[i].asString()] = texture;
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}

void D2DResourceManager::loadSpritesheets(Json::Value spritesheets,
                                          SDL_Renderer* renderer)
{
    if (!spritesheets.isArray()){
        D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

        logger.write("Member \"spritesheets\" must be an array!\n");

        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    for (int i = 0; i < spritesheets.size(); i++){
        if (!spritesheets[i].isString()){
            D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

            logger.write("Value at position %d in array \"spritesheets\" must be a string!\n", i);

            exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
        }

        std::shared_ptr<D2DSpritesheet> spritesheet(new D2DSpritesheet());

        D2DErrorContext ec("when loading spritesheet: ",
                           spritesheets[i].asCString());

        spritesheet->loadFromFile(spritesheets[i].asString(), renderer);

        m_spritesheets[spritesheets[i].asString()] = spritesheet;
    }
}

void D2DResourceManager::loadAnimations(Json::Value animations)
{
    if (!animations.isArray()){
        D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

        logger.write("Member \"animations\" must be an array!\n");

        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    for (int i = 0; i < animations.size(); i++){
        if (!animations[i].isString()){
            D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

            logger.write("Value at position %d in array \"animations\" must be a string!\n", i);

            exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
        }

        std::shared_ptr<D2DAnimation> animation(new D2DAnimation());

        D2DErrorContext ec("when loading animation: ",
                           animations[i].asCString());

        animation->loadFromFile(animations[i].asString());

        m_animations[animations[i].asString()] = animation;
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}

void D2DResourceManager::loadMusic(Json::Value musics)
{
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        D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

        logger.write("Member \"music\" must be an array!\n");

        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    for (int i = 0; i < musics.size(); i++){
        if (!musics[i].isString()){
            D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

            logger.write("Value at position %d in array \"music\" must be a string!\n", i);

            exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
        }

        std::shared_ptr<D2DMusic> music(new D2DMusic());

        D2DErrorContext ec("when loading music: ", musics[i].asCString());
        music->loadFromFile(musics[i].asString());

        m_music[musics[i].asString()] = music;
    }
}

void D2DResourceManager::loadSoundEffects(Json::Value soundeffects)
{
    if (!soundeffects.isArray()){
        D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

        logger.write("Member \"soundeffects\" must be an array!\n");

        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }

    for (int i = 0; i < soundeffects.size(); i++){
        if (!soundeffects[i].isString()){
            D2DWriteErrorContexts(logger);

            logger.write("Value at position %d in array \"soundeffects\" must be a string!\n", i);

            exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
        }

        std::shared_ptr<D2DSoundEffect> soundeffect(new D2DSoundEffect());

        D2DErrorContext ec("when loading soundeffect: ",
                           soundeffects[i].asCString());

        soundeffect->loadFromFile(soundeffects[i].asString());

        m_soundeffects[soundeffects[i].asString()] = soundeffect;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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