text:
La escultura del Antiguo Egipto se practicaba desde el periodo Predinástico con admirable perfección en estatuaria y bajorrelieves, conservándose millares de objetos de una y otra clase elaborados en madera, marfil, en bronce (a veces dorado y con incrustaciones de oro y plata), en barro cocido y, sobre todo, en piedra que para las estatuas suele ser de gran dureza.
Los bajorrelieves egipcios se usan para inscripciones jeroglíficas, representaciones de dioses y faraones, de la vida doméstica, de faenas agrícolas o escenas de ultratumba y sobre todo para conmemorar las victorias de los faraones, Ya en las obras prehistóricas comienzan a insinuarse las características propias del arte Egipcio.
Los bajorrelieves forman bandas paralelas y los personajes más importantes adquieren mayor tamaño. Durante la época menfita se desarrolla la estatuaria en relación con la arquitectura funeraria. Las estatuas dobles del difunto, que aseguraban su supervivencia, debían lograr un gran parecido. Para dar mayor veracidad las pintaban y esmaltaban los ojos. Sus características varían según el rango: el faraón, por ejemplo, adoptaba una actitud ritual hierática y solemne; muchos más libres y realista son las estatuas de particulares realizadas en madera o en piedra caliza pintada. La estatuaria del Imperio Nuevo creció con la arquitectura, que emprendió monumentales templos.
Aparecen esfinges y estatuas colosales de carácter frontal (apreciables solo de frente) y simétrico, que se antepone a los pilones. Otra novedad son las estatuas- bloques, figuras en cuclillas envueltas en un manto y sosteniendo alguna divinidad o un objeto oculto.

Las estatuas representan por lo general divinidades mitológicas, faraones, personajes importantes y a veces, personas sencillas ocupadas en quehaceres domésticos, en cámaras sepulcrales. Sus dimensiones varían considerablemente desde los grandes colosos de los templos de Abu Simbel que miden casi veinte metros hasta las minúsculas figurillas de tan solo algunos centímetros de longitud (generalmente, de barro cocido, barnizadas o esmaltadas). Los relieves estaban policromados con la técnica de pintura al temple. Se pueden contemplar en las vitrinas de diversos museos del mundo.

Se hallan con frecuencia en las tumbas egipcias de la época tebana unas estatuillas semejantes a momias que representan para el difunto el oficio de respondientes o ushebtis (así llamadas en el ritual funerario). Mientras que otras de mayores dimensiones y de aspecto natural que también se colocaban en las tumbas son auténticos retratos del difunto, los cuales, en opinión de los egipcios, servían de sostén al Ka, especie de doble espiritual que suponían sobrevivía al cuerpo del finado que sólo era la residencia del Ka.

Suponían los egipcios, además, que el espíritu del difunto se hallaría muy conturbado y no podría lograr la resurrección si no se mantenía íntegra la momia o su estatua, de lo que proviene el procurar que ésta fuese un fiel retrato, idealizado en el caso de los faraones, y que las estatuas siempre se representen lo más compactas posibles ya que si sobresaliesen los miembros estos podrían desprenderse con el paso del tiempo y estas eran estatuas para la eternidad. También destaca el poblar las cámaras sepulcrales de estatuillas, pinturas y relieves que representasen variadas escenas de la vida doméstica, utensilios, rebaños, faenas agrícolas e industriales, alimentos, ejércitos, etc., para recreo del espíritu de la momia.

Las pequeñas efigies de divinidades que se hallan en las sepulturas, desde el Imperio Medio, y se introducían hasta en los vendajes de las momias, se consideraban entes protectores que servían de conjuros o amuletos. Asimismo, algunas estatuillas de marfil que representan divinidades o animales sagrados como el escarabajo (Jepri), el ibis (Tot) y otras figurillas mitológicas, las cuales suelen llevar algún orificio que indica haber servido para collares y dijes suspendidos del cuello.

Las estatuas de los faraones se disponen siempre erguidas, con el tronco recto, los brazos pegados al cuerpo o apoyados sobre los muslos si estaban sentados. Cuando se expresa la acción de andar, casi siempre avanzan el pie izquierdo.

Si la actitud de la estatua es la de sentada sobre el suelo (como ocurre tratándose de la representación de escribas), se cruzan o juntan las piernas y se añadía un papiro desplegado sobre ellas.

En todo caso se representa a los egipcios sin barbas y a los extranjeros con ellas o con el tipo y costumbres del respectivo país de procedencia.

Características generales
Las esculturas y bajorrelieves se ceñían a una serie de convencionalismos, cánones o normas que se mantuvieron invariables en casi todos los periodos durante tres mil años.
 Ley de la Frontalidad: Las figuras son concebidas para ser vistas de frente; son muy simétricas, como si se hubieran esculpido respecto de un eje central, siendo las dos partes muy semejantes.
 Jerarquía: Las figuras más importantes eran esculpidas más grandes y detalladas que las de los demás personajes, y mostraban actitudes hieráticas.
 Hieratismo: Con ausencia de expresividad y rigidez de actitudes, como signos de respeto y divinidad. Sólo en algunos periodos se acercó al naturalismo.
En los bajorrelieves, además:
 Canon de perfil: las figuras se representaban con el rostro, brazos y piernas de perfil, mientras que el tronco y el ojo estaban esculpidos de frente, con un elegante criterio estético que perduraba casi invariable.
 Ausencia de perspectiva: No había profundidad sino yuxtaposición de figuras que se encuentran en un mismo plano.
 Uso de colores planos: se utilizaron colores de tonos uniformes, con un código que respondía más a criterios simbólicos más que realistas.

En la época de Akenatón (Akenatón) hubo un cambio de cánones. Las figuras se representaron tal como eran realmente, sin idealizarlas y con una cierta tendencia a humanizarlas; aparecen con cabezas alargadas, gruesas y cortas piernas y estómagos abultados. También se aproximaban más al naturalismo muchas esculturas y representaciones grabadas en las tumbas de nobles y potentados de la época

Períodos artísticos

Aunque todas las esculturas egipcias ofrecen un sello característico de su arte y cierta uniformidad de estilo, se diferencian unos grupos de otros, según el periodo de la historia a que pertenecen del siguiente modo:

 La escultura del Imperio Antiguo es hierática en las representaciones de dioses y faraones, pero en los cortesanos es de tendencia naturalista, y se distingue por la majestad y realismo que imprimen a la figura humana, copiando con bastante perfección las facciones del personaje y las escenas de su vida: se hallan en los templos y tumbas. Entre los mejores modelos destaca la estatua de madera de un personaje llamado Kaaper, coloquialmente cheik-el-beled (el alcalde del pueblo), que data de la dinastía V (siglo XXIV a. C). Otro ejemplo de escultura de este período es El escriba sentado.

 En el imperio Medio se sigue la tradición menfita pero con más realismo, dando a los faraones un aspecto apacible, alargando ligeramente las figuras.

 El imperio Nuevo es la época del engrandecimiento político del país y en él se multiplican las estatuas y se labran algunas de tamaño colosal, adosándolas a los templos, representando al faraón a quien se dedican. Todas llevan en su mano un rollo, un fragelo, o un cetro, etc. Asimismo, se introducen los dromos o avenidas procesionales con esfinges y se conmemoran las hazañas militares y los ritos religiosos en bajorrelieves tallados en los muros y pilonos de los templos. Las estatuas, sin embargo, pierden el carácter realista y vuelven a estar sujetas al canon, volviendo a adquirir la típica expresión hierática.

 El periodo Tardío (desde mediados del siglo VII a. C.) produjo una reacción extremadamente realista, alargando más las figuras y afinando y perfeccionando la técnica escultórica, a pesar de que el material preferido para ello, a veces, era el basalto y otras piedras de gran dureza. Se abandonó la talla de colosos desde esta época. Se poblaron de efigies los templos y aumentó la escultura en bronce. Pertenecen a la misma época la mayoría de los bronces mitológicos guardados en los museos.

 El influjo griego, ya presente en el periodo saíta, se intensificó en el periodo Helenístico de Egipto y la época de dominación romana dando más dulzura y corrección a las estatuas aunque no pocas siguieron esculpiéndose con la típica expresión hierática y otras, procedentes de la escuela neo-menfita, resultan frías y rígidas por copiarse unas a otras sin referencia directa del natural como en otros tiempos.

En todas las épocas se grabaron innumerables piedras preciosas para sellos, collares o amuletos, figurando en ellas principalmente los dioses y textos con jeroglíficos. Las más frecuentes son los escarabeos (escarabajos tallados con el caparazón en relieve y un texto jeroglífico grabado en la parte inferior). Los camafeos con figuras en relieve aparecen en la época Ptolemica y son todos helenísticos, sin duda, tallados en Alejandría.

Enlaces externos

 Escultura del Antiguo Egipto


About the time I was in high school, I was introduced to Robotech on WUTV in my home town of Buffalo, New York. That was it -- I was hooked. Sure, I'd watched heavily-edited, Americanized anime before, and seen shows in the original Japanese while visiting my mother's family in Japan, but this series was something of a gateway for me. It wasn't long before I was searching out other shows like it. Even though all you could find in the stores in Buffalo at the time were dubbed versions, they were still a lot of fun to watch.
At Toronto Trek 9 in 1995, I was introduced to Bishoujo Senshi SailorMoon when I picked up a tape in untranslated Japanese in the convention dealer's room. Not too long after that, WUTV started airing dubbed versions of the show in Buffalo. I started watching the show, and then began corresponding with other fans over the Internet. That led me into a local anime fan club called Otaku no Tsuki, where I was able to obtain subtitled episodes of SailorMoon.
After a while, I moved away from SailorMoon, but kept looking for subtitled anime. Fortunately, by now I was able to get subtitled anime tapes through various websites. To my amazement, I was even able to rent subtitled anime at the local Blockbuster Video -- what bliss!
I also introduced my husband to anime while we were dating. To my delight, he was just as taken with it as I was, and after we got married, we amassed a sizeable collection of videotapes. There was only one small problem -- at times, we like to watch both the subtitled and dubbed versions of our favorite series, and buying two copies of each tape was prohibitively expensive. Then, last Christmas, we bought a DVD player -- problem solved!
Heroic Legend of Arslaan (Japanese title: Arslaan Senki): A young prince loses his kingdom to war, and must assemble an army to reclaim it. This series is epic fantasy at its finest -- it includes cinematic battle scenes, compelling characters, treachery, magic, and more plot twists than you can shake a sword at (then there are the numerous bishonen in the cast to feast your eyes on....:-).
The Hakkenden (a/k/a Legend of the Dog Warriors): Eight ronin, the legendary "Dog Warriors," discover the mystic bond between them as they battle evil in feudal Japan. Warning: this series is definitely NOT appropriate for children or the faint-hearted, as it includes several scenes involving bloody violence. If you're a fan of period pieces, though, there's plenty here to sate your appetite.
Ah! My Goddess! (Japanese title: Ah! Megami-sama!): A college student tries to order pizza and suddenly finds himself sharing his life with three beautiful (and sometimes troublesome) Norse goddesses. Both funny and sweet, and I have a soft spot for Skuld, the youngest goddess of the bunch.
Ayashi no Ceres (a/k/a Ceres: Celestial Legend): My newest addiction. A reworking of the Japanese "celestial maiden" myth, featuring a young girl who is the host body for a powerful and legendary tennyo, or celestial being, who is out for revenge on her family. The story is engrossing, and Watse Yu (creator of Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play)'s gorgeous character designs are icing on the cake. Be warned, however, that there are as many tragic moments as beautiful ones in this series -- as my husband put it, "If you don't like having your heart (figuratively) torn out and then handed back to you, don't watch this."
Sorcerer Hunters (Japanese title: Bakuretsu Hunter [Hunters?]): Two sisters (Tira and Chocolate Misu), two brothers (Carrot and Marron Glace), and their burly teammate (Gateau Mocha) hunt evil sorcerers in a fantasy-ish world using teamwork, super-powers, and their own wits. A bit lighter than some other series, but fun all the same, if nothing else for the hilarity of the oversexed Carrot's antics.
Bubblegum Crisis (both "classic" and BGC Tokyo 2040): The classic cyberpunk anime series, featuring a team of female mercenaries in hi-tech battlesuits (the Knight Sabers), who fight to save twenty-first century Tokyo from greedy corporations and their robotic soldiers ("Boomers"). The series' rock 'n' roll soundtrack is an added bonus!
AD Police Files: The "prequel" to Bubblegum Crisis, this series details the struggle of Tokyo's Advanced Police against the Boomers, and raises some questions about what it means to be human along the way. Dark, gritty, and sometimes disturbing, but though-provoking nonetheless.
Urusei Yatsura: I thought this was funny even when I couldn't understand it. Now that I can understand the jokes thanks to AnimeEigo's subtitles, it's utterly hilarious! If you're unfamiliar with this series, it involves the misadventures of an unlucky, oversexed Japanese youth named Moroboshi Ataru, his wannabe-fiancée, the alien princess Lum, and a diverse cast of friends, relatives and antagonists of both alien and human origins. This series has also spawned a number of animated movies.
Bishoujo Senshi SailorMoon S: For those of you unacquainted with Bishoujo Senshi SailorMoon, it involves a team of young girls with magical powers who battle evil to save the world on a regular basis. I've always liked the particular plot arc of this part of the series, which has the Senshi discovering the Holy Grail, among other things. It also introduces Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn, some of my more favorite characters. If you've seen only the English-dubbed episodes, I think the subtitled version is much better (and that goes for the other parts of this series, too).
Steel Angel Kurumi: I originally started watching this series due to the fact that one of my favorite actresses, Claudia Black (of Farscape fame) appears in the dubbed version, but have since grown to like it for other reasons. It involves the adventures of a young Japanese mystic and his protectress, the "Steel Angel" (a type of sentient android), Kurumi, in Japan during the 1920s.
Martian Successor Nadesico: The Nergal corporation assembles a motley crew including anime fans, a cook-turned-pilot, and an airheaded admiral's daughter, to use a space battleship (the Nadesico) to save Earth from the ravages of alien invaders. Along the way, the crew of the Nadesico finds out that things aren't always what they seem. With nods to Gatchaman, Space Battleship Yamato, and Gundam, this series is great fun.
I may not have seen your favorite anime yet.
Our tastes in anime may be different, and there's nothing wrong with that. The world would be a very boring place if everybody liked the same thing, after all.


text:
Two generations come together in Birmingham for special event to mark Fairtrade Fortnight
A special event in Birmingham has been hosted by Central England Co-op which has seen two generations come together to celebrate Fairtrade and build friendships.
The Fairtrade Intergenerational Tea Dance was organised and funded by the Western Membership and Community Council (MCC) at Central England Co-op and was held at the Co-op Rooms in Great Barr as Fairtrade Fortnight neared its end.
Children from Beeches Infant School and elderly residents from Homelands sheltered housing complex in Great Barr had a fun morning enjoying music, dancing and interaction, while finding out more about Fairtrade and enjoying some Fairtrade chocolate and cake.
Fairtrade Fortnight is taking place until 8 March and has seen thousands of individuals, companies and groups across the UK come together to celebrate the people who grow food, people who live in some of the poorest countries in the world and who are often exploited and badly paid.
James Knight, Member and Community Relations Officer at Central England Co-op, said the event was the perfect way to round off a great two weeks of celebrations.
He said: "Through the work Central England Co-op does in the community we have increasingly seen the benefits of intergenerational projects which bring such great benefits to both young and old, so we felt this event would be a fantastic way to bring our Fairtrade Fortnight celebrations to a close.
"As a co-operative retailer we are always looking at ways we can make a positive difference to people's lives in our communities and seeing the wonderful interactions between the children and the residents and the smiles on their faces has shown us this has been a very worthwhile event.
"It has also given us a chance to get the children and residents thinking about Fairtrade, which is a really important part of the educational work we do as major supporters of the Fairtrade movement over the last 25 years."
Vicky Colley, Head teacher at Beeches Infant School, said: "It has been a lovely experience for the pupils. They have seen a lot of familiar faces from the Central England Co-op as we are very local to the store and it has been wonderful to meet the residents from Homelands and have a lovely morning with them.
"It has also been great for the children to find out more about Fairtrade and we've made some great links for the future."
Central England Co-op has celebrated Fairtrade Fortnight with a range of events across the 16 counties it covers from donating Fairtrade footballs to local football clubs, to school assemblies and workshops.
Read more about what Central England Co-op has got up to during the two weeks at https://www.membershipmatters.coop/
Find out how to become a Central England Co-operative member by calling 0800 0501 601, emailing members@centralengland.coopor visiting https://membership.centralengland.coop/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home - Sport - Soccer
Ferran Torres's treble helps Spain humble Germany in Nations League
Ferran Torres pulled at his red shirt and kissed it, just above the badge. There is a star on it and there is a star inside it too, applause accompanying him as he stood there wearing a huge smile and trying to comprehend what was happening. The Manchester City attacker, still only 20 years old, playing his seventh international game, had just scored his third goal of an astonishing night in which Spain reached the final four of the Nations League by crushing Germany with the kind of performance for which the word perfect would not be out of place.
Related: Spain 6-0 Germany, Croatia 2-3 Portugal: Nations League – as it happened
Germany's low ebb under Löw put into sharp focus by Spain's six-shooters | Sid Lowe
All to play for as Premier League season finally gets to stretch its legs


Mercury News provided this overview on what the late-night show hosts have had to say about the upcoming presidential election.
On a disturbing note, one of the "techs" at my place of employment stated that she thought that Clinton was still president, and that "Bush and that other guy" were running against one another to take his place. She said this with a straight face, and I believe that she was serious. The disturbing part-----her vote counts just as much as that of those of you who are able to figure out what all of these "lines and circles" mean. That's too bad.


text:
\section{Introduction}

The recent discovery of X-ray and optical afterglows of
$\gamma$-ray bursts as a result of the Italian-Dutch
BepoSAX mission (e. g., Costa et al. 1997;  Metzger et
al. 1997; van Paradijs et al. 1997; Kulkarni et al. 1998)
has given strong support for the cosmological blastwave
model for $\gamma$-ray bursts (Rees \& M\'esz\'aros
1992; M\'esz\'aros \& Rees 1993; Katz 1994). The observed
temporal decay of the afterglow emission, generally well
described by a power-law $F_{\nu} (t) \propto t^{-\alpha}$
with $1.1 \lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel < \over \sim$} \alpha \lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel < \over \sim$} 1.5$ (Costa et al.
1997; Feroci et al. 1998; Piro et al. 1998) and the overall
spectral shape of the afterglow emission are in very
good agreement with optically thin synchrotron emission
by relativistic electrons accelerated at a relativistic
blast wave as it expands and sweeps up matter from the
surrounding medium (e.\ g., Katz 1994, Tavani 1996,
Wijers, Rees \& M\'esz\'aros 1997, Dermer \& Chiang 1998).

If $\gamma$-ray bursts are associated with the collapse of
massive objects (e.\ g., Paczy\'nski 1998), they
are expected to be correlated with dense star-forming regions
and are possibly located within them. Recent comparisons of the
GRB flux distribution with the star-formation history of the
early universe seem to support this hypothesis (Wijers et al.
1998). If this is true, photoelectric absorption,
photoionization and fluorescence line emission in the vicinity
of $\gamma$-ray bursts will inevitably occur and might lead to
observable consequences. Recently, M\'esz\'aros \& Rees
(1998) have qualitatively discussed absorption
edges and line features from atoms irradiated by a blastwave
evolving in the nonradiative regime, for both a low denstiy interstellar
medium or a dense burst environment which might appropriate for the
hypernova  scenario (Paczy\'nski 1998). They suggest that for
reasonable parameter values absorption edges as well as fluorescence
lines and resonance-scattered burst emission could be detectable
with future, rapid follow-up observations of GRB afterglows.
They also propose that the non-detection of optical afterglows
for some bursts for which X-ray afterglows have been observed
and precisely located by the BeppoSAX satellite, could be due
to photoelectric absorption and extinction by gas and dust in the GRB
environment. Ghisellini  et al. (1998) have discussed the detectability
of the iron K edge and K$\alpha$ fluorescence line in this
context and suggested that it might provide a possibility
to measure the redshift of GRBs. They also predict that the
Fe~K$\alpha$ line should still be detectable long after the
continuum X-ray afterglow has faded away.

The process of time-dependent photoionization and photoelectric
absorption has been studied in detail by  Perna \& Loeb
(1998). They focus on optical absorption
lines originating in the CBM and point out the effect that
photoionization of the GRB environment by the burst radiation
leads to a reduction of the absorption
opacity,  and suggest the temporal evolution of absorption line
shapes and equivalent widths as a new diagnostic tool to
map the GRB environment. This method is applicable in
the case of very dense GRB environments, in which case the
evolution of the absorption line shapes occurs on a sufficiently
short timescale to be measurable within the short periods during
which optical GRB afterglows remain observable.

In this paper, we focus on the observable effects in the X-ray
regime of the time-dependent photoelectric absorption, photoionization
and fluorescence line emission processes in the vicinity of a
cosmological $\gamma$-ray burst. We adopt a similar approach
to the one used by Perna \& Loeb (1998), but
additionally implementing the Auger process and
fluorescence line emission following inner-shell ionization
events. We calculate the temporal evolution of the absorbed
burst spectrum, present light curves of the continuum and
fluorescence line emission, and suggest observational tests
to reveal the density structure of GRB environments on the
basis of GRB follow-up X-ray observations.

Another motivation for this work is the finding (Crider et
al. 1997; Preece  et al. 1998) that
the temporally resolved low-energy spectra of many $\gamma$-ray bursts
during the early phases of the burst are inconsistent with optically thin
synchrotron emission from ultrarelativistic electrons. This latter
process gives  an energy spectral index ($F_{\nu} \propto
\nu^{\alpha}$)
$\alpha = 1/3$ if electrons in the blast wave are inefficiently
cooled, maintaining an ultrarelativistic low-energy cutoff
(Katz 1994) and $\alpha = -1/2$ if synchrotron
cooling is efficient, yielding an electron power-law spectrum
in energy with index $p = - 2$. A significant fraction of
snap-shot burst spectra have differential slopes harder than 1/3 at
the low-energy end of sensitivity range of the BATSE instrument
(Preece et al. 1998), and in these bursts the
low-energy spectra generally evolve from hard to soft during the
decay phase of the burst radiation (Crider et al. 1997).
We investigated whether photoelectric absorption of the intrinsic
$\gamma$-ray burst spectrum in the vicinity of the GRB could
be responsible for the hard low-energy spectra of GRBs and their
temporal evolution. This process has first been studied in
the context of the low-energy spectra of $\gamma$-ray bursts by
Liang \& Kargatis (1994). Considering the photoelectric
absorption of an unbroken power-law spectrum by pure neutral iron
along the line of sight to a GRB, they found that an absorption
depth at the iron K edge of several hundred is necessary to account
for the steep $\gamma$-ray burst spectra if the intrinsic spectrum
is an unbroken power-law with the spectral index observed above the
break. Assuming a solar-system abundance of iron in the absorbing
matter, this corresponds to a Thomson depth of $\tau_T \lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel > \over \sim$} 100$,
which would result in strong distortion of the high-energy spectrum
due to Compton downscattering. They therefore concluded that this
scenario may be ruled out. Using our detailed photoionization
calculations, we have re-investigated this idea under more
realistic assumptions, and basically confirm the previous
results of Liang \& Kargatis (1994).

In Section~2, we describe the model assumptions and the computational
procedure which we use to solve the time-dependent photoionization
and radiative transfer problem. We discuss the expected evolution of
photoelectric absorption features and the luminosity and light
curves of fluorescence lines under various assumptions for
the density in the GRB environment in Section~3. In Section~4 we
present a short discussion on the application of our code to the
low-energy spectra of time-resolved BATSE GRB spectra. We summarize
and present our conclusions in Section~5.

\section{Model assumptions and computational scheme}

We simulate a relativistic blast wave expanding into and irradiating
and photoionizing a stationary external medium. The evolution of the
blast wave and of the spectrum radiated by it is represented by the
analytic parametrization of Dermer et al. (1998). The spectral
evolution of our intrinsic model GRB spectra is illustrated
in Fig. 1.

\begin{figure}
\epsfysize=6cm
\rotate[r]{
\epsffile[50 70 550 500]{figure1.ps}}
\caption[]{Evolution of the intrinsic (unabsorbed) model GRB
spectrum. Parameters: $E_0 = 10^{54}$~erg, $\Gamma_0 = 300$,
$g = 1.6$, $\eta = 0$, $\upsilon = 4/3$, $\delta = 0.4$.}
\end{figure}

The model is determined by the following parameters:
$E_0 = 10^{54} \, E_{54}$~erg is the total energy transferred to
relativistic baryons during the initial explosion, and $\Gamma_0$ is
the initial bulk Lorentz factor of the ejecta forming the
relativistic blast wave. The term $\upsilon$ is the spectral index
of the $\nu F_{\nu}$ spectrum below the spectral break (we use
$\upsilon = 4/3$, corresponding to optically thin synchrotron
emission from a relativistic electron population), and $\delta$ is
the spectral index above the break (we use $\delta = 0.4$ in
our calculations; our final results are insensitive to this value).
The radius of the blast wave at a given time is denoted by
$r_b$. As the blast wave moves into the external medium, it
sweeps up external matter and starts to decelerate when the
energy of swept-up external matter in the rest frame of the
blast wave equals the rest-mass energy of the initial ejecta.
The radius at which this happens is denoted $r_d$, the deceleration
radius. Beyond this point, the bulk Lorentz factor $\Gamma$ of
the blast wave decreases according to a power-law in radius,
determined by the deceleration index $g$, i.\ e.\ $\Gamma$
evolves as

\begin{equation}
\Gamma (r_b) = \cases{\Gamma_0 & for $r_b < r_d$ \cr
\Gamma_0 \, \left( {r_b \over r_d} \right)^{-g} & for $r_d \le r_b \le
r_d \, \Gamma_0^{1/g}$ \cr}.
\end{equation}
The CBM is assumed to have a power-law
profile in distance from the burst, determined by the
density $n_0$ at the deceleration radius and the power-law
index $\eta$:

\begin{equation}
n_{ext} (r) = n_0 \, \left( {r \over r_d} \right)^{-\eta}.
\end{equation}

The abundances of atoms and ions of the various elements are
characterized by the abundance coefficients $X_a^i (r, t)$,
where the subscript $a$ characterizes the element, and the
superscript $i$ characterizes the ionization state. The density of a
given element $a$ in ionization state $i$ is given by $n_a^i (r, t)
= n_{ext} (r) \, X_a^i (r, t)$. Initially, we assume all elements
in the external medium to be neutral and no metallicity gradients, though
the element abundances are allowed to differ from standard solar-system
abundances. In our calculations, we include H, He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Si,
S, Ar, Ca, Fe, and Ni, and neglect other elements.

We start our simulation at $r_b \ll r_d$, i.\ e.\ at a point in time
where the flux of the gamma-ray burst radiation is yet far below
its maximum value. We split the external medium up into a radial
grid with steps $\Delta r$. Within each radial zone we
calculate the absorption optical depth due to photoionization,

\begin{equation}
\Delta \tau_{abs} (r, E) = \Delta r \, n_{ext} (r) \sum\limits_{a, i}
X_a^i (r) \, \sigma_a^i (E),
\end{equation}
where the photoionization cross sections $\sigma_a^i (E)$ of all atoms
and ions are evaluated using the relevant subroutines of the XSTAR
code (Kallman \& Krolik 1998; Kallman \& McCray 1982). The atoms and
ions in each radial zone will be photoionized by the incident radiation.
As the solution is advanced by a time step $\Delta t$ in the stationary
frame, it will take a time interval $\Delta t_{rec} = \Delta t \, (1 - B)$,
where $B = \sqrt{1 - 1/\Gamma^2}$, until the radiation from the blast wave
emitted at the next time step reaches a fixed point. Thus, we assume that
the zone located at radius $r$ is illuminated for a time step $\Delta
t_{rec}$ by the constant incident spectrum $F_E (r, E) = L_E (r, E) \,
e^{-\tau_{abs} (r, E)} / (4 \pi \, r^2)$. Each ionization state
will be depopulated as

\begin{equation}
\left( {d X_a^i (r, t) \over dt} \right)_{-} = - X_a^i (r, t) \>
\int dE \> {F_E (r, E) \over E} \sigma_a^i (E).
\end{equation}
Radiative transitions following a photoionization event will result
in a large variety of fluorescence lines. We include 200 strong
fluorescence lines from N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, Fe, and Ni,
using the ionization-state dependent fluorescence yields and
line energies given in Kaastra \& Mewe (1993).
We assume that all fluorescence lines are emitted isotropically at
the location of the photoionization event. This leads to temporally
delayed fluorescence line emission as seen by the observer: The
fluorescence line radiation from an atom or ion located at a
distance $r$ from the center, at an angle $\theta$ relative
to the line of sight to the observer, will be observed
$\Delta t_{fl} = (1 - \cos\theta) \, r/c$ later than the
spherical light front which has photoionized the atom or
ion.

Due to the high probability of Auger transitions following
a K- or L-shell ionization of heavy atoms or ions, each
photoionization event may result in effectively ejecting
several electrons from the atom or ion. For this reason, e.\ g.,
it takes on average typically only 12, rather than 26 hard
X-ray photons to ionize a neutral Fe atom completely. This
is accounted for by means of a transition probability matrix,
describing the probability $P_a^{i, j}$ of transition from
ionization state $i$ to any higher ionization state $j$ after
photoionization of an ion $(a, i)$. (Without the Auger process,
$P_a^{i, j} = \delta_{i+1, j}$.) The evaluation of this
probability matrix requires the knowledge of the probability of
a K-, L(s)-, and L(p)-shell photoionization, which is calculated
using the respective (sub)shell photoionization cross sections,
and the probabilities for an Auger transition following the
respective ionization events, as a function of the number of
ejected Auger electrons. For the elements with nuclear charge
$Z \le 18$, approximate values of these probabilities can be
found in Weisheit (1974), while for the
higher-Z elements the fluorescence and Auger yields are taken
from Kaastra \& Mewe (1993).

The higher ionization states ($j > 1$) will be populated due to
ionization of lower-ionized ions according to

\begin{equation}
\left( {d X_a^j (r, t) \over dt} \right)_{+} = \sum\limits_{i < j}
P_a^{i, j} \, X_a^i \, \int dE \> {F_E (r, E) \over E} \sigma_a^i (E).
\end{equation}
Since the radiation field of the GRB is very intense and the
density of surrounding material is assumed to be low ($n \lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel < \over \sim$}
10^6 \, {\rm cm}^{-3}$), recombination may be neglected in our
simulations. We also neglect the effect of resonant scattering
of fluorescence line emission because we are mostly interested
in inner-shell fluorescence lines (in particular the K$\alpha$
lines) which are generally non-resonant.

We solve iteratively the system consisting of eqs.\ (4), (5),
and the exponential depletion of the incident radiation field
due to photoelectric absorption. This scheme is propagated
through all radial zones until the outer boundery of our model
system is reached and the radiation is assumed to escape freely
towards the observer. After each time step, the solution is
forwarded a time step $\Delta t$, in which the blast wave moves
out a distance $\Delta r_b = c \, B \, \Delta t$. In the receiving
(observer's) frame, this corresponds to a time step $\Delta t_{rec}
= \Delta t \, (1 - B)$. The new $r_b$ is used to re-calculate the
burst emission, and the emitted spectrum is processed through the
volume still located outside $r_b$ according to the scheme described
above.

\section{Absorption edges and delayed fluorescence line emission}

A fraction $Y$, the fluorescence yield, of all K-shell ionization
events of a certain element will be followed by a radiative transition,
resulting in the emission of a fluorescence line photon. For the
heavy elements Ca, Fe and Ni, the K$\alpha$ transition is the most
probable radiative transition following a K-shell ionization.
As mentioned in the previous section, fluorescence line emission
will be observable from virtually all parts of the GRB
environment, while only a small solid angle $\sim 1/\Gamma^2$
of the blast wave contributes significantly to the observed
radiation as long as the blast wave is highly relativistic.
This leads to a time delay between the direct burst radiation
and the fluorescence line emission from misaligned directions
of the burst environment, which will contribute most of the
fluorescence line fluence resulting from the burst if, as
we are assuming throughout this paper, the GRB emission is
uncollimated.

The maximum time delay of this fluorescence line emission may be
estimated from the size of the ionization sphere of the
GRB, which is the region where a certain element is essentially
completely ionized. In a dense environment (which we call the optically
thick limit), the ionization radius is determined by the supply
of photons with energies above the ionization threshold of
the element under consideration. This radius is found by multiplying
the number
\begin{equation}
N_a = X_a \; \int\limits_0^{r_{ion}} d\tilde r \> 4\pi \, {\tilde
r}^2 n_{ext}  (\tilde r) \,
\end{equation}
of atoms or ions in the ionization sphere
 by  the number of photons $N_{a,ion}$ required to completely ionize an
atom, and equating this result with the number of ionizing photons
emitted during the burst.  We obtain
\begin{equation}
r_{ion} ({\rm opt. \> thick}) = \left( {3 \, k \, E_0 \, \epsilon_K^{1 - w}
\over 4 \pi \, N_{a, ion} \, m_e \, X_a \, n_0 \, (w - 1)} \right)^{1/3},
\end{equation}
where $k$ is a normalization factor,

\begin{equation}
k = \cases{0.33 \, \epsilon_p^{w - 2} & in the non-radiative limit ($g = 3/2$),
\cr
0.30 \, \epsilon_p^{w - 2} & in the radiative limit ($g = 3$), \cr}
\end{equation}
$\epsilon_p = E_p^0 / (m_e c^2)$ is the normalized photon energy
of the peak of the $\nu F_{\nu}$ spectrum at the peak of the burst
light curve, $\epsilon_K = E_K / (m_e c^2)$ is the normalized K-edge
energy, and $w = 3 (2 g + 1) / (4 g + \eta/2)$. Here, we have assumed
that the K-edge energy is much smaller than the peak of the $\nu F_{\nu}$
spectrum of the burst in the early phase of the burst, i.\ e.\ $\epsilon_K
\ll \epsilon_p$.

In a dilute environment (which we call the optically thin limit),
the ionization radius is determined by the probability for an atom
in the CBM to be ionized by a photon of the GRB radiation, which
translates to the condition

\begin{equation}
\int\limits_{\epsilon_K}^{\infty} d\epsilon \> \sigma_a  (\epsilon)
\, {N_{ph} (\epsilon) \over 4 \pi r_{ion}^2} = 1.
\end{equation}
This yields

\begin{equation}
r_{ion} ({\rm opt. \> thin}) = \left( {k \, E_0 \, A_0 \, \epsilon_K^{1 - w}
\over 4 \pi \, m_e \, Z^2 \, [2 + w]} \right)^{1/2},
\end{equation}
where $Z$ is the nuclear charge of an atom/ion of species $a$ and
we have approximated the photoionization cross section by $\sigma_a
(\epsilon) \approx (A_0 / Z^2) \, (\epsilon / \epsilon_K)^{-3}$,
where $A_0 = 6.3 \cdot 10^{-18}$~cm$^2$ and $\epsilon_K \approx
2.66 \cdot 10^{-5} \, Z^2$.

\begin{figure}
\epsfysize=7cm
\epsffile[20 90 420 550]{figure2.ps}
\caption[]{The delay timescale of fluorescence line emission of iron
and hydrogen ionized by a GRB evolving in the radiative limit (thick
curves) and in the non-radiative limit (light curves), respectively,
in a uniform external medium as a function of external density $n_0$.
Parameters: $\Gamma_0 = 300$, $\upsilon = 4/3$, $\delta = 0.4$,
$E_0 = 10^{54}$~erg, standard solar-system iron abundance.}
\end{figure}

The delay timescale for fluorescence line emission is given
by $\tau_{fl} = r_{ion}/c$. The expressions for the optically
thin and optically thick limits are joined smoothly. In Fig. 2,
the size of the ionization  radius of hydrogen and iron is
plotted as a function of  the external density for standard
parameters with the solar-system iron abundance of $X_{Fe} =
3.16 \cdot 10^{-5}$. The figure demonstrates that extremely
long afterglow durations are expected from fluorescence line
emission. The actual duration of the afterglow will generally
be determined by the physical size over which the CBM has a
substantial density, rather than by the supply of ionizing
photons from the $\gamma$-ray burst. This corresponds to an
expected fluorescence line afterglow duration of order months
to years even if the GRB is associated with a dense star-forming
region.

\begin{figure}
\epsfysize=6cm
\rotate[r]{
\epsffile[50 70 550 500]{figure3.ps}}
\caption[]{Temporal evolution of the observed GRB spectra at various
times after the initial explosion. Parameters: $n_0 = 10$~cm$^{-3}$,
$r_{max} = 10$~kpc, $\Gamma_0 = 300$, standard solar-system element
abundances.}
\end{figure}

The flux in fluorescence lines during this afterglow phase
is expected to remain roughly constant over the entire
duration of the fluorescence line afterglow because the
volume from which fluorescence line emission can be observed
at any given time scales as $\Delta V \propto r^2 \, \Delta r
\propto t^2 \, \Delta t$, where $\Delta t$ is the duration of
the prompt GRB emission. This volume is illuminated by a
continuum flux which scales as $F \propto r^{-2} \propto
t^{-2}$ (only the outermost light fronts will be significantly
affected by photoelectric absorption; thus, the illuminating
fluence spectrum is basically the intrinsic burst spectrum),
and a constant fraction $A$ of this flux is absorbed and re-radiated
in fluorescence lines. Thus, $L_{fl} \propto A \, F \, \Delta V
\approx const.$

\begin{figure}
\epsfysize=6cm
\rotate[r]{
\epsffile[50 70 550 500]{figure4.ps}}
\caption[]{Energy flux light curves in the iron K$\alpha$ line band
and in the hard X-ray continuum for the GRB spectral evolution shown
in Fig. 2.}
\end{figure}

Figs. 3 and 4 demonstrate the results of numerical simulations for
the case of a dilute, uniform medium with $n_0 = 10$~cm$^{-3}$
extending out to a distance of $r_{max} = 10$~kpc from the location
of the explosion. This might be representative of the case that the
GRB is hosted within a galaxy, but not directly inside a star-forming
region. Here we use the standard parameters for the intrinsic
GRB spectrum as quoted in the previous section. Fig. 3 shows the
observable GRB spectra for various observing times. An iron
absorption edge around 7~keV is visible. Even in the late afterglow
phase the burst spectrum remains heavily absorbed below a few keV.
On the scale adopted in this figure, only a weak fluorescence K$\alpha$
line complex of oxygen at 0.52 --- 0.58~keV is visible. In Fig. 4, we
plot the light curves of the energy flux in Fe~K$\alpha$ fluorescence
line emission compared to the continuum fluxes in the same energy
band and at hard X-rays (40 -- 50~keV). In agreement with our
analytical estimate, the fluorescence line flux stays on a
basically constant level until the time delay to the GRB
equals the light travel time through the ionized medium.
However, as is also obvious from Figs. 3 and 4, the expected
flux of this long-duration line afterglow is very low compared
to the prompt burst emission. For a GRB  located at $z = 1$, the
luminosity shown in Fig. 4 translates into a flux of $F_{Fe \, K\alpha}
\sim 6 \cdot 10^{-19}$~erg~cm$^{-2}$~s$^{-1}$ (where we adopted
$H_0 = 75$~km~s$^{-1}$~Mpc$^{-1}$, $q_0 = 0.5$, $\Lambda = 0$).

\begin{figure}
\epsfysize=6cm
\rotate[r]{
\epsffile[50 70 550 500]{figure5.ps}}
\caption[]{Temporal evolution of the observed GRB spectra at various
times after the initial explosion. Parameters: $n_0 = 10^5$~cm$^{-3}$,
$r_{max} = 1$~pc, $\Gamma_0 = 150$, standard solar-system element
abundances.}
\end{figure}

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the spectral evolution of a GRB in a
dense environment, more appropriate to a star-forming region.
Here, we assume a uniform external matter density of $n_0 =
10^5$~cm$^{-3}$, extended out to $r_{max} = 1$~pc. $\Gamma_0
= 150$ is used; all the other parameters are the same as for
the previous example. Fig. 5 reveals that in this case the
environment is photoionized rapidly because most of the
absorbing material is very close to the GRB and therefore
receives a very large ionizing flux, implying that it becomes
optically thin to photoelectric absorption very quickly. This
results in the rapid disappearance of the iron K absorption edge
after $\sim 1$~s. After $\sim 1.8$~min., the CBM becomes optically
thin to photoelectric absorption at virtually all frequencies.
The fluorescence line flux stays on a constant level over a
timescale of one light travel time through the ionized region
($\sim 3$~years in our example). At a redshift of $z = 1$,
the iron K$\alpha$ fluorescence line flux is $F_{Fe \, K\alpha}
\sim 3 \cdot 10^{-17}$~erg~cm~s$^{-1}$ over $\sim 5$~yr. Note
that the times quoted in all figures refer to the reference
frame at the redshift of the burst.

\begin{figure}
\epsfysize=6cm
\rotate[r]{
\epsffile[50 70 550 500]{figure6.ps}}
\caption[]{Energy flux light curves in the iron K$\alpha$ line band
and in the hard X-ray continuum for the GRB spectral evolution shown
in Fig. 4.}
\end{figure}

As in the case of optical absorption lines investigated by
Perna \& Loeb (1998), we find that due to
photoionization in a dense GRB environment any X-ray absorption
features (with the Fe~K edge being the most prominent one)
will disappear rapidly after the onset of the GRB, on
timescales which are anti-correlated with the external
matter density and positively correlated with the size
of the region over whith the CBM is extended. The detection
of a varying Fe~K edge in GRB X-ray spectra therefore
provides a means not only to measure the redshift of the
GRB independently (only if the edge significantly varies, however,
can one be sure that the absorption happens in the CBM),
but also to map the density structure of the GRB environment.
In Fig. 7 we have plotted the temporal evolution of the
equivalent width

\begin{equation}
EW = \int\limits_{E_K}^{\infty} dE \> \left( 1 - e^{-\tau_{abs} [E]}
\right)
\end{equation}
of the iron K edge for various combinations of the density
and hydrogen column density (assuming standard solar-system
abundances) of the CBM. The figure demonstrates
that the necessity to observe a time-varying Fe~K
edge restricts this technique for measuring redshifts to fairly
dense environments ($n \lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel > \over \sim$} 100$~cm$^{-3}$, $r_{max} \lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel < \over \sim$}
100$~pc) in which the evolution of the Fe~K edge is expected to
be observable. Note that in any case the evolution of the Fe~K
edge happens on a timescale of $\lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel < \over \sim$} 10$~s. It therefore
appears to be subject to the same principal restrictions as the
detection of optical absorption lines and requires rapid follow-up
X-ray observations of $\gamma$-ray bursts and moderate spectral
resolution at energies $\lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel > \over \sim$} 1$ keV during the prompt phase
of the GRB.

\begin{figure}
\epsfysize=6cm
\rotate[r]{
\epsffile[50 70 550 500]{figure7.ps}}
\caption[]{Temporal evolution of the equivalent width of the iron K edge for
different values of the CBM density ($n_0$ in units of cm$^{-3}$) and the
hydrogen column density ($N_H$ in units of cm$^{-2}$). Standard GRB parameters
and solar-system iron abundance ($X_{Fe} = 3.16 \cdot 10^{-5}$) are used.
The curve with $N_H = 3 \cdot 10^{21}$~cm$^{-2}$ is multiplied by a factor
of 10, the curves with $N_H = 3 \cdot 10^{23}$~cm$^{-2}$ are multiplied by
a factor 0.1 for clarity.}
\end{figure}

In contrast, the fluorescence Fe-line emission is observed
on very long time scales. In order to follow
fluorescence line afterglows of GRBs, no fast slewing of
an X-ray telescope is required or even helpful since they
stay at a constant flux over timescales of months to years.
The fluorescence line flux only dominates over the continuum
flux from the burst after several months in the calculation shown.
However, we find that even for very dense GRB environments the
fluorescence line fluxes will hardly be detectable even  with upcoming
X-ray satellite missions such as AXAF or XMM: a flux of
$10^{-16}$~erg~cm$^{-2}$~s$^{-1}$ in the Fe~K$\alpha$ line
(which is a very optimistic estimate), corresponding  to
$\sim (1 + z) \cdot 10^{-8}$~photons~cm$^{-2}$~s$^{-1}$,
observed with an instrument having an effective area of a few
$100$~cm$^2$ at the red-shifted line energy with an exposure
of $100$~ksec would yield $\lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel < \over \sim$} 1$~count. The fluorescence
line fluxes are strongly limited by the fact that the hydrogen
column density towards the GRB is restricted to $N_H \ll
10^{24}$~cm$^{-2}$ since there is no evidence for Compton
downscattering in the high-energy spectra and time profiles
of GRBs.

The shape of the fluorescence line light curves we find in our
simulations differs only slightly from the analytical results
of Ghisellini et al. (1998), who find that the fluorescence
line afterglow should decay as a power-law $F_{Fe K\alpha}
(t) \propto t^{-0.1}$ after a maximum shortly after the burst.
We attribute this minor discrepancy to the fact that in the
analytical treatment of Ghisellini et al. (1998)
the effect of photoionization on the GRB environment is neglected.
As mentioned earlier, the rapid photoionization of the CBM by
the leading light fronts of the burst radiation renders the
environment optically thin to photoelectric absorption to the
later light fronts which therefore remain basically unabsorbed.
Thus, the illuminating fluence spectrum received by any point
in the CBM is basically the intrinsic, unabsorbed burst spectrum.

Perna \& Loeb (1998) used a temporal decay of the
afterglow emission of $F_{\nu} (t) \propto t^{-3/4}$, which
yields a rather strong late-time dependence of the variation
of the absorption features because most of the fluence from
the burst is emitted in the afterglow. Our choice of parameters
leads to a temporal decay with index $\lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel > \over \sim$} 1.1$, in agreement
with observations, and a much less pronounced variation of the
absorption and fluorescence line features at late times (M\'esz\'aros
\& Rees 1998). In particular, most of the variation
in the Ly$\alpha$ absorption edge will occur on the time scale
on which the peak of the $\nu F_{\nu}$ spectrum is above the
Ly$\alpha$ edge energy, which is typically a few hours. This is
also the reason why the variation in the Fe~K edge equivalent
width as plotted in Fig. 7 occurs on very short time scales,
typically within the first few seconds of the burst.

The fluxes calculated here scale basically linearly with the
total burst energy $E_0$. The recent redshift determinations of
GRB~971214 (Kulkarni et al. 1998) and GRB~980703
(Djorgovski et al. 1998b) seem to indicate that
GRBs are at large cosmological distances, and their total energy
release is in excess of $10^{53}$~erg. The choice of $E_0 =
10^{54}$~erg, which we adopted in the two examples illustrated
above, might therefore be representative of bright bursts.

\section{The low-energy slopes of GRB spectra}

In order to investigate whether the low-energy spectra of
GRBs are consistent with an optically thin synchrotron
spectrum depleted by photoelectric absorption, we have
fitted time-resolved BATSE spectra of GRBs with a
Band model (which is very similar to our analytical
parametrization of the GRB spectrum), suffering photoelectric
absorption in a neutral medium where the opacity is
calculated using the model of Morrison and McCammon
(1983). The asymptotic low-energy slope
$\alpha$ is fixed to $-2/3$ (photon number index). For
details of the fitting procedure, in the framework of
an extensive study of the low-energy spectra of BATSE
GRBs, see Crider et al. (1998).
One example of our fits to GRB~970111 using the Band model
with photoelectric absorption is shown in Fig. 8. The fit
has a reduced $\chi^2$ of 1.46, and there appear to be
systematic deviations at photon energies below $\sim 100$~keV.
Furthermore, there were 10 time bins for which no fit with
the photoelectric-absorption model was possible at all.

\begin{figure}
\epsfysize=7cm
\hskip 1cm \epsffile[50 200 550 680]{figure8.ps}
\caption[]{Fit to a time-resolved BATSE spectrum of GRB~970111 using a
Band model with photoelectric absorption. The spectrum is integrated from
0.029 to 2.112~s. The fit results in a neutral hydrogen column of $N_H =
1.83 \cdot 10^{26} \, {\rm cm}^{-2}$ (assuming solar-system abundances),
corresponding to an absorption depth at the iron K edge of $\tau_K =
258$, and has a $\chi_{\nu}^2 = 1.46$.}
\end{figure}

Our fits using an underlying $F_{\nu} \propto \nu^{1/3}$
spectrum at low X-ray frequencies indicate that slightly
lower values of $\tau_0$ are required in order to achieve
acceptable fits to the data than in the situation
investigated by Liang \& Kargatis (1994),
where the intrinsic burst spectrum was assumed to be a
straight power-law. However, the fits still require
$\tau_0 \lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel > \over \sim$} 100$ for the first few seconds of
the burst. An example of the resulting $\tau_0$ values is
plotted in Fig. 9. Assuming a solar-system abundance of iron
in the burst environment, this would correspond to a Thomson
depth of $\tau_T \lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel > \over \sim$} 100$. Therefore the CBM would be
highly opaque to Thomson downscattering and would cause
any short-term fluctuations in the intrinsic burst radiation
to be smeared out over a typical timescale $\Delta t \sim
\tau_T \, r_{max}/c$. Both of these consequences of such a
high $\tau_T$ are in obvious contradiction to the
observations.

\begin{figure}
\epsfysize=6cm
\rotate[r]{
\epsffile[50 70 550 500]{figure9.ps}}
\caption[]{Photoelectric absorption opacity at the Fe~K-edge
as a function of time. Parameters: $n_0 = 5 \cdot 10^6$~cm$^{-3}$,
$r_{max} = 0.18$~pc, $\Gamma_0 = 100$, metal abundances = $100 \,
\times$ solar-system metal abundances. Data points are the values
obtained from fits to the time-resolved BATSE spectra of GRB~970111.}
\end{figure}

The above result suggests that the only way in which photoelectric
absorption could efficiently affect the low-energy slopes of GRB
spectra up to $\sim 100$~keV would be a strong enhancement of the
iron abundance in the CBM. This could happen as
the consequence of a metal enriched stellar wind produced
by the GRB progenitor (which could be a supermassive star,
causing the GRB in a hypernova explosion, see Paczy\'nski
1998) and/or by massive stars in the vicinity
of the GRB, if it is located in a star-forming region. The
requirement that the Thomson depth of the CBM
be $\lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel < \over \sim$} 1$ implies that the iron enrichment relative to
solar-system abundances in the burst environment would have to
be of the order of 100. In order for the iron in the circumburst
material to be completely photoionized within a few seconds,
the metal-enriched matter must be highly concentrated around
the burst location, $r_{max} \sim 0.2$~pc. For a metal
enrichment factor of 100, this implies an average density in
the immediate GRB environment of $n_0 \sim 5 \cdot 10^6$~cm$^{-3}$.
We did a model simulation adopting such parameters, which
roughly reproduces the temporal evolution of the photoionization
opacity as required by the fits to the time-resolved BATSE
spectra of GRB~970111. This is illustrated in Fig. 9.

\begin{figure}
\epsfysize=6cm
\rotate[r]{
\epsffile[50 70 550 500]{figure10.ps}}
\caption[]{Energy flux light curves in iron K$\alpha$ lines
and in two X-ray continuum bands resulting from the simulation
reproducing the spectral evolution of GRB~970111 (Fig. 9). The
continuum flux at 6.4 - 6.7~keV is too heavily absorbed to be
visible on the scale of this plot.}
\end{figure}

Fig. 10 shows that this scenario would result in a
considerable luminosity of delayed Fe~K$\alpha$ fluorescence
line emission, dominating over the X-ray afterglow continuum
after $\sim 2 \, (1 + z)$~days, which at $z = 1$
would translate into a line flux of $F_{Fe K\alpha} \sim
10^{-14}$~erg~cm$^{-2}$~s$^{-1}$. This flux is still
in agreement with the non-detection of Fe~K$\alpha$ line
emission in any GRB X-ray afterglow observed so far, even
those observed by ASCA (e. g., GRB~970228: Murakami et al.\
1997, GRB~970828: Yoshida et al. 1997). A Fe~K$\alpha$ line
flux of $\sim 10^{-14}$~erg~cm$^{-2}$~s$^{-1}$, corresponding
to $\sim 2 \cdot 10^{-6}$~photons~cm$^{-2}$~s$^{-1}$
at a photon energy of $\sim 3.2$~keV, would even be hard
to detect, e. g., with the ACIS-S detector on board the
AXAF satellite within a reasonable exposure time
($\lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel < \over \sim$} 100$~ksec).

Thus, from the analysis of photoelectric absorption, photoionization
and fluorescence line emission alone, the idea of the hard low-energy
slopes of time-resolved BATSE GRB spectra being the result of
photoelectric absorption in the CBM cannot be formally ruled out.
However, the required extremely high metal enrichment and the
peculiar spatial distribution necessary to reproduce the best-fit
absorption depths look like fine-tuning and seem unlikely to be
produced in a natural way. Furthermore, the fits to the time-resolved
BATSE spectra of GRB~970111 with the photoelectric-absorption model
were at best marginal. The BeppoSAX data on GRB~970111 (Feroci
et al. 1998) constrain the photoelectric-absorption
model severely, depending on the (unknown) redshift of this burst.
In the fits presented above, the absorber was assumed to be located
at $z = 0$. If the redshift of GRB~970111 is $z \lower4pt \hbox{$\buildrel > \over \sim$} 1$, implying
that the iron K edge is near or below the low-energy end of the
BeppoSAX WFC energy range, then the 2 --- 10~keV flux would have
been heavily absorbed and thus undetectable by the WFC. Crider et
al. (1998) show that in this case the combination
of time-resolved BATSE spectra with simultaneous BeppoSAX data
indicates that the photoelectric-absorption model is most likely
inconsistent with the broadband X-ray spectrum of GRB~970111.

\section{Summary and conclusions}

We have analyzed the effects of photoionization, photoelectric
absorption and fluorescence line emission in the vicinity of cosmological
$\gamma$-ray bursts. Under the assumptions that the GRB emission is
isotropic and GRBs are hosted in galaxies, we have calculated the
expected time-dependence of photoelectric absorption features in
the X-ray afterglows of $\gamma$-ray bursts and the flux and light
curves of fluorescence lines from the photoionized CBM.

We find that an Fe~K edge is the most easily detectable
signature of the CBM in the X-ray continuum afterglows of
GRBs. If the effect of photoionization on the CBM is
identified by virtue of a reduction of the optical depth
at the iron K edge as the burst evolves, this absorption
can be attributed to material in the immediate vicinity
of the GRB and may serve as an independent redshift indicator,
as well as a method to map the GRB environment. This method
is applicable to a dense environments such as
star-forming regions. In more dilute, extended environments,
the flux of the GRB emission becomes too weak at large
distances from the burst location to be efficient in terms
of photoionization.

We find that the ionization sphere, out to which photoionization
and subsequent fluorescence line emission are efficient, is
typically determined by the size of the region of considerable
density around the GRB. This implies that the fluorescence line
flux will remain relatively constant over
timescales of months to years. This implies that
rapid follow-up observations of $\gamma$-ray bursts are not needed to
search for fluorescence lines. Instead, if there is any chance at all to
detect fluorescence line afterglows, the candidate host galaxies of GRBs
should be monitored with a sensitive X-ray pointing instrument such
as AXAF over weeks to years after the GRB.

The depth of the Fe~K absorption edge yields a measure of
the Fe column density of the CBM, while the rate of decrease
of the absorption edge (if observable) yields an estimate of
the average distance of the CBM from the burster, thus allowing
an estimate of the density structure of the GRB environment.
The level of fluorescence line flux relative to the peak flux
of the GRB continuum is also related to the average density of
the CBM. While most of the parameters determining the evolution
of a GRB blastwave in the framework of the cosmological blastwave
model may be deduced from the flux and fluence spectra and spectral
evolution of the prompt GRB emission and the continuum afterglow
(if the redshift of the source is known), the density of the
CBM always remained a free parameter.
The absorption edges and the fluorescence line afterglow
predicted in this paper provide a method to map the
density of material in the GRB environment. Observation
of vanishing absorption edges and/or fluorescence lines
following a GRB also provides a very accurate measure of
the redshift of the GRB. If the redshift of the host galaxy
could be measured independently, this could confirm or rule
out the yet unproven claim that those GRBs which are spatially
coincident with host galaxies (e. g., GRB~970508: Bloom et al.
1998, GRB~971214: Kulkarni et al. 1998, GRB~980613: Djorgovski
et al. 1998a, GRB~980703: Djorgovski et al. 1998b) are actually
located within the proposed host galaxy.

Our prediction of the flux level of the fluorescence line
afterglows is based on the assumptions that
(1) the respective GRB is located within the proposed host
galaxy, and (2) the GRB emission is isotropic.
If the latter assumption is not true, only a small solid angle
of the CBM is photoionized by the GRB radiation,
which is why only  a comparatively small volume can contribute
to the fluorescence line afterglow. Furthermore, since this volume
is exclusively located at small angles to our line of sight, only
small time delays result. Therefore, the fluorescence line emission
will be overwhelmed by the bright continuum afterglow.

We have re-analyzed the possibility of photoelectric absorption
causing the hard low-energy slopes of time-resolved BATSE GRB
spectra. The fits using this spectral form are at best marginal,
and the density structure around the GRB needs to be fine-tuned
in a rather unnatural way in order to reproduce the observed
spectral evolution of the low-energy spectrum of GRB~970111. We
therefore confirm earlier findings that alternative mechanisms
are more likely to be responsible for the hard low-energy snapshot
spectra of GRBs and their spectral evolution.

\acknowledgements{We wish to thank Jon C. Weisheit and Tim Kallman
for helpful discussions. This work was partially supported by
NASA grant NAG~5-4055.}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Cleanest Windows and Screens in the East Bay!
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text:
WHO KILLED BOB MARLEY?
FROT August 18, 2017
This is all a theory, and like all theories it could be complete bollocks. But it does sound very likely to me, although I am a paranoid conspiracy theorist…
Bob Marley would probably have preferred people to just smoke some ganja and listen to his music rather than freak out about him being murdered.
Ironically, it may have been his deep wisdom that got him killed.
He died back in 1981, but part of the reason this theory is potentially so important today, is the method of how he was killed.
Bob Marley didn't really just randomly die from cancer aged 36. Like several other high profile figures whose messages were a threat to the New World Order agenda, I strongly suspect he was murdered by CIA Operation 40.
CIA Operation 40, was originally set up in 1960 by Vice President Richard M. Nixon, and George Bush Senior, and became a deadly CIA assassination squad that was used by elites to carry out destabilizing assassinations and false flag operations worldwide, including the assassinations of JFK, Robert F. Kennedy, and John Lennon, along with roles in Watergate and 9/11.
To that list I would add the assassination of Bob Marley.
This photograph of the members of Operation 40 was taken in a nightclub in Mexico City on 22nd January, 1963
The especially interesting thing about Bob Marley's murder is that the murder weapon was cancer.
Like many people on Steemit, I want to expose the real depth of evil behind the insane process known as "vaccination"
http://www.frot.co.nz/design/health/vaccination/
And this is all just a theory too, but I believe that vaccinations are intended to create a full range of diseases, from influenza right through to cancer. And that is because sickness is profitable, and depopulation is part of the agenda.
Bob Marley appears to have been injected with a cancer causing substance, and despite being a very fit and healthy man in his early 30's, he was rapidly dragged to his death at 36 by a psychopathic doctor. The media portrayed all this as perfectly normal, and most people soon forgot about it.
Some well mind programmed people even said "he died of cancer because he smoked so much pot" One of the known and well researched effects of cannabis is that it heals cancer. That is one of the reasons it is "illegal" And Bob Marley didn't get lung cancer, he started out with cancer of the toe, right where he was originally injected with a substance.
Here is the story behind Bob Marley's cancer:
Surviving an attempt on his life by a well-armed death squad at his Hope Road home in Jamaica, Bob was later given a 'gift' of a new pair of boots by Carl Colby, son of the late CIA director William Colby. When the unsuspecting Marley put them on, something pricked his foot. He then reached into one of the boots and pulled out a piece of copper wire. Many of his closest friends suspected that the wire contained some carcinogenic substance, since Marley contracted cancer shortly thereafter.
So one week after nearly being assassinated in a hail of bullets, during a full-blown CIA orchestrated destabilization campaign against Jamaica that Marley recognized and opposed with his music, the son of the CIA director managed to talk his way past armed guards, and give Marley a pair of boots that stabbed his toe with an embedded copper wire.
Coincidentally, that same toe later became the source of malignant cancer that spread throughout his body, killing him.
When Marley was diagnosed with cancer, he returned to Jamaica where he was advised to seek treatment from a Dr. Josef Issels in Bavaria.
Joseph Issels was previously an officer in the SS, a colleague of Joseph Mengele and had served a jail term for manslaughter.
Dr. Issels proceeded to torture Bob Marley, subjecting him to blood transfusions, hyperthermia and illegal injections of THX. He was put on a restricted diet until he weighed only five stones, and the "treatment" rapidly broke down Bob's physical structure.
When Bob was too ill to continue treatment and Issels sent him home to die, he said bitterly, "Dr. Issels is a madman"
Anything suspicious about all that?
My favourite Bob Marley song has always been "Could You Be Loved"
Now then, what exactly were his threatening lyrics?
Could you be loved and be loved?
Don't let them fool ya
Or even try to school ya
Oh, no
We've got a mind of our own
So go to hell if what you're thinking is not right
Love would never leave us alone
A-yin the darkness there must come out to light
Yeah I guess that might piss off the new world order!
http://suspiciousdeaths.blogspot.co.nz
http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKoperation40.htm
http://exopolitics.blogs.com/exopolitics/2013/10/expert-ole-dammegard-on-jfk-rfk-john-lennon-assassinations-watergate-911-cia-operation-40.html
Bob Marley Images edited by @sift666
MY MINIMALIST STEEMIT SIGNATURE
For more info, see MY WHOPPING BIG STEEMIT SIGNATURE
Posted in CONSPIRACIES, STEEMIT
Best Linux Distro


text:
Q: AWS CDK How to handle Fn.getAtt that supposes to return list instead of string I have an AWS::EC2::VPCEndpoint resource type and I want to get its DnsEntries values, which according to https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/aws-resource-ec2-vpcendpoint.html#aws-resource-ec2-vpcendpoint-return-values is a list of DNS entries. I want to be able to select the first item from the list so I tried something like this:
const vpcEndpoint = new ec2.CfnVPCEndpoint(this, "vpcendpoint", {
    serviceName: "com.amazonaws.vpce.us-west-2.vpce-svc-xxxxxx",
    vpcId: "vpc-123",
    privateDnsEnabled: false,
    subnetIds: ["subnet-123"],
    vpcEndpointType: "Interface",
});
const fisrtDnsEntry = cdk.Fn.select(0, cdk.Fn.getAtt(vpcEndpoint.logicalId, "DnsEntries"))

Which doesn't work since Fn.select expects an array of string but Fn.getAtt returns IResolvable and only has toString() method.
Any idea what else I can do?

A: There's an open issue about this - https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/issues/3627.
Currently, you can use the following code snippet:
const firstEntry = cdk.Fn.select(0, vpcEndpoint.attrDnsEntries);
const entryParts = cdk.Fn.split(':', firstEntry);
const primaryDNSName = cdk.Fn.select(1, entryParts);

new cdk.CfnOutput(this, 'primaryDNSName', { value: primaryDNSName });

CDK Output:

UI Output:

A: If you're sure that GetAtt will return a list, you just need to convince TypeScript that it's safe. You can do that using core.Token.asList():
const firstDnsEntry = cdk.Fn.select(
  0,
  core.Token.asList(
    cdk.Fn.getAtt(vpcEndpoint.logicalId, "DnsEntries")
  )
)

Originally discovered this trick in this issue: https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/issues/8284

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Bulgaria's exceptional natural history is well-known to travelers, who have previously joined our wildlife holidays. This tour is designed to diversify our mountain birdwatching, butterfly and botanical experience by introducing you to the wealth of wildlife of Lake Kerkini in northern Greece.
A delightful holiday, designed to introduce you to a wealth of beautiful coastal and low mountain wild flowers, many of which endemic to the Balkan region. We will explore the Black Sea coast, the Eastern Balkan, the Strandzha and the Eastern Rhodope Mountains.
With its 68 dragonfly species on record, Bulgaria boasts a remarkable Odonata diversity, given that the registered dragonfly species in Europe are 130. Here we come across dragonflies from the sea level to the high mountain zones.
The diversity of amphibians and reptiles in Bulgaria is remarkable. On this tour we have the chance to see and photograph a big variety of species, which are typical for the Black sea and the Eastern Mediterranean regions.


Place bread on baking sheets. Broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. In a small bowl, beat the butter, honey and rosemary until blended. Stir in hazelnuts.
Spread 1 teaspoon hazelnut mixture over each toast. Layer with apple and Brie slices. Top with remaining hazelnut mixture. Bake at 350° for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.


Creekside Apartment Homes will be located on 15 acres at the corner of 51st Street South and 145th East Avenue in Broken Arrow. The Resident Clubhouse and the first building will open this summer and be ready for resident move-ins. The entire project will continue to open as buildings are complete and all buildings will be open by spring 2016.
The community will include 12 two and three-story garden style apartment buildings and feature floorplans ranging in square footage from 727 – 1,368. Parking will consist of 54 attached garages and 30 detached garages. Additional detached storage will be available and consist of 32 storage closets.
The apartment home community will be considered "best in class" due to its unique craftsmen design, attention to detail, and comprehensive amenity package.
This market-rate, pet-friendly community will have gated access and feature a well-appointed resident clubhouse, cyber café with Wi-Fi, a media/gaming room, 24-hr fitness center with top-of-the-line equipment, and business center. Other amenities will include a resort-style swimming pool, grilling stations, outdoor fireplace, car care center, and a dog park.
Creekside will offer residents a comfortable lifestyle with amenities and finishes typically found in upscale, single-family homes. Apartment homes will feature 9' ceilings and crown molding and include ceiling fans, a full-size washer and dryer, fully-equipped kitchen with Energy Star appliances, a pantry, refrigerator with icemaker, built-in microwave, dishwasher, and breakfast bar.
Other finishes and amenities will include woodgrain flooring in first floor apartments and spacious walk-in closets. Select homes will have a glass-enclosed shower, a garden tub, and a double vanity. All apartments will also have a private patio or balcony.
Creekside Apartment Homes will be managed by Sterling Management, LLC, Mishawaka, IN. Sterling Management has over 30 years of experience assisting owners in achieving both physical and financial goals for their assets. For more information, please contact Andrea Hurn, Vice President of Management, at 574-247-3246 or please visit www.thesterlinggrp.com.


text:
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  <dictionary name="gerry">
    <words>
      <w>bluewave</w>
      <w>poomsae</w>
    </words>
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


See the latest I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! Australia 2017 news with live updates from the camp on contestants hosted by Julia Morris and Chris Brown. Oct 17, 2016 New Michael Jackson Thriller project revealed by John Landis can tell you something about Thriller that you are going to find out about in 2017. The 13- minute Thriller video helped the album to sell 65 million copies and. USA Today politics blog Most Popular. Recycling is in trouble — and it might be your fault Watch: President Trump delivers keynote speech. Alan Jackson tapped for Country Music Hall of Fame Alan Jackson, Jerry "Guitar Man" Reed and "The Gambler" writer Don Schlitz are 2017's class of inductees. The #1 source for the hottest hip-hop songs, mixtapes, videos news of 2017, updated daily!! Download and stream music for free on HotNewHipHop. May 27, 2016 Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, was one of the most iconic and celebrated They were eventually confirmed by the Associated Press and New York 'Off the Wall', Michael's fifth studio album, came along in August 1979. NME.COM brings you the latest music news and reviews, along with music videos and galleries, plus band features, blogs on your favourite artists, concert tickets.
Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch Is For Sale Again (With A New Name). LIFESTYLE 8,077 Views 14 Comments Mar 3, 2017. Jackson Family Kendrick Lamar Gave Michael Jackson's Son A Preview Of His New Album. Sign up for Entertainment Insider by AOL and get the top celebrity, movies, music, and TV news delivered to your inbox daily. Dec 21, 2016 Were the lyrics to Michael Jackson's song "Thriller" a premonition about his posthumous row with the IRS? Michael Jackson may be getting. 02 May 2017, 8:19pm Gallery: Little Boy Blue: how much do the cast look like the real Rhys Jones and Sean Mercer. Thriller is the sixth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on November 30, 1982 in the United States by Epic Records and internationally The Official Website Joe Jackson: Grammy Award Winning Musician and Singer-Songwriter.


text:
HomePoliticsIndia
PoliticsIndia
Pakistan-based Khalistani masterminded Ludhiana blast
A Pakistan-based radical, who along with a pro-Khalistan terrorist in Germany played a crucial role in the blast inside the sessions court in Punjab's Ludhiana, is reportedly sheltered by terrorist groups in the neighbouring country as well as Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
'Category A' wanted gangster and Khalistani radical, Harvinder Singh Sandhu, who uses the alias Rinda Sandhu, and Jaswinder Singh Multani, a Germany based pro-Khalistan terrorist, have been tasked by the Pakistani spy agency ISI to carry out terror attacks to destabilise Punjab in ahead of the assembly elections next year, security officials have said.
Intelligence inputs show Sandhu, who is about 35 years old, is suspected to be living in Pakistan after acquiring an Indian passport on a fake identity by changing his appearance. He is associated with Babbar Khalsa International chief Wadhawa Singh, who is based in Lahore.
Sandhu, who migrated to Nanded in Maharashtra from the Sarhali village in Punjab's Tarn Taran district, is also involved in large scale cross border smuggling of drugs and weapons.
"He is most wanted A+ Category Gangster of Punjab. He is also wanted in Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Haryana and West Bengal etc," officials said.
Sandhu was arrested for the first time after he killed a man in 2008 over personal enmity in Tarn Taran. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder and spent time in different jails of Punjab. In October 2014, he was released on bail from the Nabha jail.
He killed a granthi of a gurdwara and disposed of his body in a canal in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab in 2016 to avenge the killing of his brother. He killed two other men in Nanded and Wazirabad—both in Maharashtra—again to avenge his brother.
He has been declared an absconder and is wanted in at least 30 criminal cases, including 10 murders, 6 cases of attempt to murder, 7 cases of dacoities and snatching besides abductions, extortions and cases under the Arms Act and NDPS Act.
In 2017, Sandhu managed to escape from a hotel during a routine checking in West Bengal but the police arrested Harpreet Kaur, who he married earlier that year, and another couple.
In 2018, after his arrest gangster Dilpreet Singh Dhahan alias Baba for a shooting attempt at Punjabi singer Parmish Verma disclosed that Sandhu, his associate, was in touch with the Pakistan-based terrorist and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) chief Wadhawa Singh Babbar.
Declared an absconder, Sandhu appeared in an interview on the web news channel Pro Punjab on 24 June 2021.
Khalistan
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Compound Design gets called on for all kinds of unique projects due to our unmatched material processing and fabrication capabilities in the desert southwest. Here's a look at some of our recent favorites.
We have been wanting to explore the possibilities of making ceiling tiles with unique designs for about a year.


In this article, we will see some examples, where JDK throws ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException and StringIndexOutOfBoundsException.
You cannot cast ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException to StringIndexOutOfBoundsException and vice-versa.
Throw ArrayIndexOutOfBounds if you deal with an array, and throw StringIndexOutOfBoundsExeption if you deal with String.
You can also see Core Java Volume 1 - Fundamentals 10th Edition by Cay S. Horstmann to learn more about these two exceptions in Java.
Here is a sample Java program to demonstrate the difference between these two exceptions, both are same i.e. they come when you try to access the invalid index. You get StringIndexOutOfBoundsException when you try to access the invalid index of String object using methods of String class. Similarly, when you try to access an invalid index of an array you get the java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException in Java as shown in the following example.
// to access invalid index of a String in Java.
That's all about the difference between StringIndexOutBoundsException and ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException in Java. Just remember that root cause of both errors is trying to access the invalid index.


Meritage has entered into agreements with Canadian International Oil Corporation ("CIOC") to build natural gas gathering, compression and processing assets and a crude oil gathering pipeline to serve CIOC's production in the Alberta Deep Basin, including the Montney and Duvernay shale plays.
CALGARY, Alberta and DENVER – Meritage Midstream Services ("Meritage") announced today that its Canadian affiliate, Meritage Midstream Services III, LP ("Meritage III"), has entered into definitive agreements with Canadian International Oil Corporation ("CIOC") to build natural gas gathering, compression and processing assets and crude oil gathering assets to support the development of CIOC's Montney and Duvernay Shale positions in west-central Alberta. Meritage III will provide 75 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas gathering and processing capacity, which will be expandable to 225 MMcf/d, and up to 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil gathering capacity.
Construction of both systems began in May. The 42-kilometer high-pressure gas gathering system will deliver rich gas to the new processing plant, which will be located approximately 60 miles south of Grand Prairie, Alberta. The plant is expected to come into service in April 2016 and will offer connections for residue gas to the TransCanada Pipeline and other delivery points. The 37-kilometer crude oil gathering system follows the same route as most of the gas gathering pipeline and will connect to Pembina Pipeline Corporation's Karr Lateral pipeline, which will serve Pembina's terminal in the Lator area of northwest Alberta.
"The Montney and the Duvernay are poised to become two of the most prolific plays in North America, and CIOC is one of the most prominent and active oil and gas operators in Western Canada. These important agreements establish our position in the region and allow us to continue to focus on developing the infrastructure needed to stay ahead of the immediate and long-term needs of our Canadian customers," said Meritage CEO Steve Huckaby, who also serves as CEO of Meritage III.
"We are excited to be working with Meritage as a well-established midstream service provider for CIOC. Meritage has an outstanding team, and based on their strong ability to execute and provide their customers with the highest level of service in other basins, we have a high degree of confidence in their abilities. They have a track record as business partners and problem solvers who are there to create value for their customers. That approach is very meaningful in any environment, particularly a challenging one," said CIOC President and CEO Scott Sobie.
Based in Denver with offices opening soon in Calgary, Meritage Midstream Services III provides oil and gas producers in Western Canada with a full complement of midstream services. Capabilities include the gathering, compression, treating, processing, fractionation, storage, transportation and marketing of natural gas, NGLs and condensate; crude oil gathering, blending, storage, transportation and marketing; and transportation and handling for frac sand and produced water. The company's senior management team has more than 250 years of collective experience in the midstream business. Meritage Midstream III is backed by $300 million in equity commitments from funds managed by Riverstone Holdings LLC. Visit www.meritagemidstream.com for more information.


TEHRAN – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday that his country plans to engage in trade with Iran, China and Russia using national currencies to be able to stand against economic threats.
TEHRAN – Iran has discussed trade in national currencies with Russia and Turkey in order to reduce the impact of U.S. dollar on the three countries' trade and economies, ILNA reported on Saturday quoting Central bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati.
TEHRAN – Mohammad-Hossein Adeli, the secretary general of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), has said that Iran and Turkey's decision to trade in national currency is technically feasible particularly for bilateral energy trade.


With the abrupt change in weather and frigid winds blowing heaps of snow around outside, there couldn't be a more appropriate time to hole up indoors and make a batch of gnocchi (pronounced nyoh-kee). These fluffy pasta dumplings are of Tuscan Italian origin. The first written reference to the pastas, whose literal meaning is "lumps," dates back to the 14th century; they were, as per Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, made with breadcrumbs and flour before the arrival of the potato in Italy. Ingredient variations can differ greatly: ricotta, spinach, and pumpkin all make a fine base for gnocchi. The following recipe uses potatoes.
The components are simple and affordable: potatoes, flour, egg yolks, and salt. Unlike other pasta recipes, gnocchi require very little in the kitchen tool department — though a potato ricer is a useful aid. Allot two hours for preparation (including baking time for the potatoes), and by all means, remember patience — the end result will be worth the time. These pillows of pasta pair nicely with a classic pesto, rich tomato sauce, or freshly grated parmesan and butter. Or, simply saute them in a splash of olive oil until they're a light golden brown and then add a pat of butter.
Use Idaho or Russet potatoes. (They are drier and you don't want much moisture in your dough.) Old potatoes are traditionally preferred over newer potatoes, for their lower water and higher starch content.
Be careful of over kneading dough.
Boil water rapidly before dropping them in.
Bake potatoes at 350ºF for one hour (add 15 minutes if large).
Remove, split, and spoon out flesh.
Press through potato ricer, or press the bottom of a fork into the potatoes to break them apart. The goal is a fluffy heap of potatoes.
Make a small hole in the center. Add ½ cup flour, followed by egg yolks.
Add another ½ cup flour and salt.
Cut up and mix using a dough scraper or a rubber spatula (again, not overworking the dough). Add flour as needed to prevent stickiness.
Pull off a section. Roll out onto lightly floured space, making a long rope, until dough is ½- to 1-inch thick.
Using a sharp knife, cut ½-inch pieces off dough rope and set aside (dip the knife in flour as needed and cut with confidence – edges of gnocchi should be clean). Continue until you've used all of the dough.
If you aren't going to consume your gnocchi immediately, line baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly flour. Position gnocchi in rows and freeze. Once they've solidified in freezer, place in airtight bag. They will keep for several weeks in the freezer. When you plan to use, simply follow the next step.
Boil a large pot of lightly salted water. Drop gnocchi in, in groups of 25 at a time.
Once they float, they're done. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in large bowl of ice water. Let them cool for a few minutes, remove from water, and dry on kitchen towel.
The one difference that I noted is that we were instructed to use a slightly more waxy potato — specifically a Yukon Gold — and to boil them, rather than bake them. I googled around and it seems that there is some disagreement on using Russets vs. Yukon Gold. Anyway, the ones we made with Yukon Gold were extremely light and fluffy, and did not fall apart. I think the key is to not over-boil them.
Took Chris' advice & picked up Yukon Golds & boiled them whole first. Kind of a a wild time in the kitchen tonight. Had fun.
Each time I've made store bought gnocchi I sauteed them instead of boiling them. Wasn't sure if par-boiling them was necessary, but that's what I did & I didn't get something quite right (could have been that I didn't transfer them to ice water afterwards).
Tried sauteing them but they didn't hold up. I had some scraps left over that didn't end up in the pot so I sauteed those & they turned out good.
I prolly need to give gnocchi another couple times in the kitchen before I'd invite people over & serve these with confidence. The art here is getting them airy & light enough. Like a good challenge, though! Thanks Heavy Table.
Ive done the baked potatoe way,, but I have often used my family's tradition especially after the holidays when theres a big bowl of leftover mashed potatoes.