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Shania Twain Dishes on How Brad Pitt Inspired 'That Don't Impress Me Much'
Chris Trotman, Getty Images
It's nothing personal, Shania Twain says, but when Brad Pitt's nude photos sent the world into a frenzy two decades ago, she just wasn't that impressed. That lack of enthusiasm, though, gave birth to one of her biggest hits, "That Don't Impress Me Much."
One of Twain's late-1990s hits, "That Don't Impress Me Much" -- which was released in December of 1998, 20 years ago -- finds the country star dropping Pitt's name in one of its lines: "Okay, so you're Brad Pitt / That don't impress me much ..." As Twain explains to Billboard, she was inspired to use Pitt's name because of what was, at that time, a major scandal: Playgirl had published naked pictures of the actor and his then-girlfriend, Gwyneth Paltrow, leading Pitt to file a restraining order that forced the magazine to pull the issue.
"I remember I had a girlfriend visiting me, and it was near Christmas, and we were baking cookies," Twain recalls. "I was writing [for my album Come on Over], and there was a scandal of him and Gwyneth, where there was naked photos of him. And this was, like, all the rage. I just thought, 'I don't know what all the fuss is about' ... We see people naked every day."
"That Don't Impress Me Much" climbed to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a Top 10 hit on the country, adult contemporary and Top 40 charts, and a major hit in numerous other countries.
"I wasn't picking on Brad Pitt. But that was just the association in that moment and things we make fusses about and whatever," Twain adds. "Of course, it could have been any gorgeous guy."
Twain's Come On Over album is the best-selling country album of all time and the best-selling studio album by a woman of any genre.
Learn Shania Twain + Other Country Stars' Real Names
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Source: Shania Twain Dishes on How Brad Pitt Inspired 'That Don't Impress Me Much'
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Fitness Trackers and Smart Pedometers/Accelerometers (488) Personal Health Records, Patient-Accessible Electronic Health Records, Patient Portals (423) mHealth for Wellness, Behavior Change and Prevention (2216) Wearable Devices and Sensors (638)
Published on 4.1.2019 in Vol 7 , No 1 (2019) :January
Preprints (earlier versions) of this paper are available at https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/12070, first published August 31, 2018 .
Impact of Personal Health Records and Wearables on Health Outcomes and Patient Response: Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial
Jeong-Whun Kim 1 ; Borim Ryu 2 ; Seoyoon Cho 2 ; Eunyoung Heo 2 ; Yoojung Kim 3 ; Joongseek Lee 3 ; Se Young Jung 2, 4 ; Sooyoung Yoo 2
Jeong-Whun Kim1*, MD, PhD ;
Borim Ryu2*, MS ;
Seoyoon Cho2, MS ;
Eunyoung Heo2, MS ;
Yoojung Kim3, MS ;
Joongseek Lee3, MS ;
Se Young Jung2,4, MD, MPH ;
Sooyoung Yoo2, PhD
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
2Office of eHealth Research and Businesses, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
3Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Suwon, Republic of Korea
4Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea
Sooyoung Yoo, PhD
Office of eHealth Research and Businesses
Seoul National University Bundang Hospital
82 173rd Street
Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu
Seongnam, 13620
Email: [email protected]
Background: Although using the technologies for a variety of chronic health conditions such as personal health record (PHR) is reported to be acceptable and useful, there is a lack of evidence on the associations between the use of the technologies and the change of health outcome and patients' response to a digital health app.
Objective: This study aimed to examine the impact of the use of PHR and wearables on health outcome improvement and sustained use of the health app that can be associated with patient engagement.
Methods: We developed an Android-based mobile phone app and used a wristband-type activity tracker (Samsung Charm) to collect data on health-related daily activities from individual patients. Dietary record, daily step counts, sleep log, subjective stress amount, blood pressure, and weight values were recorded. We conducted a prospective randomized clinical trial across 4 weeks on those diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who had visited the outpatient clinic of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. The trial randomly assigned 60 patients to 3 subgroups including 2 intervention groups: (1) mobile app and wearable device users (n=20), (2) mobile app–only users (n=20), and (3) controls (n=20). The primary outcome measure was weight change. Body weights before and after the trial were recorded and analyzed during clinic visits. Changes in OSA–related respiratory parameters such as respiratory disturbance, apnea-hypopnea, and oxygenation desaturation indexes and snoring comprised the secondary outcome and were analyzed for each participant.
Results: We collected the individual data for each group during the trial, specifically anthropometric measurement and laboratory test results for health outcomes, and the app usage logs for patient response were collected and analyzed. The body weight showed a significant reduction in the 2 intervention groups after intervention, and the mobile app–only group showed more weight loss compared with the controls (P=.01). There were no significant changes in sleep-related health outcomes. From a patient response point of view, the average daily step counts (8165 steps) from the app plus wearable group were significantly higher than those (6034 steps) from the app-only group because they collected step count data from different devices (P=.02). The average rate of data collection was not different in physical activity (P=.99), food intake (P=.98), sleep (P=.95), stress (P=.70), and weight (P=.90) in the app plus wearable and app-only groups, respectively.
Conclusions: We tried to integrate PHR data that allow clinicians and patients to share lifelog data with the clinical workflow to support lifestyle interventions. Our results suggest that a PHR–based intervention may be successful in losing body weight and improvement in lifestyle behavior.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03200223; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03200223 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/74baZmnCX).
personal health record; lifestyle; sleep apnea, obstructive; delivery of health care; electronic health record; mobile health
Lifelog data or patient-generated health data, considered important for precision medicine initiative implementation, form the next frontier in patient engagement and customized health care [1,2]. Through the availability of numerous devices and compatible mobile apps, patients can collect their own health-related lifestyle data, which can be aggregated with their clinical data into their own personal health record (PHR) [3-6]. A lifelog is a detailed chronicle of a person's life involving large amounts of data. In recent years, the data are usually captured automatically by wearable technology or mobile devices. People who keep lifelogs about themselves are known as lifeloggers [7]. The purpose of lifelogging is to help users collect data for self-monitoring and reflection [8]. Technology has nearly reached the stage when all information, interesting or otherwise, generated in a lifetime by a single person can be assembled and queried relatively efficiently, creating a need for personal information management [9]. Lifelogging can be passive—one stores the by-products of the life one would have lived anyway—or active—one surrounds oneself with sensors and information capture tools to create as rich a picture of one's life as possible [10].
Clinical wearables can be defined as health technology that can be worn by the patient. The wearables contain sensors and use a wireless connection to pass data to a smartphone or similar devices. Wearables are being used in the health care industry to help health care practitioners collect, analyze, and leverage patient data for clinical trials while also significantly improving patient care and overall quality of life [11]. Recent technology advancements in health care have the potential to close the communication and information gap between patients and providers. This has created a mandate for more interactive, demand-responsive mobile health (mHealth) tools that empower consumers to actively manage their own health [12]. Currently, there is an increasing awareness of the health care system's responsibility to provide easily accessible ways for patients to be engaged in their own care by creating effective partnerships that lead to the patient's ability to make competent and well-informed decisions [13]. Although an electronic PHR tethered to an electronic health record (EHR), also known as a patient portal, is currently recognized as a promising mechanism to support greater patient engagement, questions remain about how health care leaders, policy makers, and designers can encourage adoption by both providers and patients and what factors might contribute to sustained utilization [14]. In addition to user-specific characteristics (eg, age, sex, and diagnosis), studies should be conducted on the modifiable factors that affect use duration, to facilitate activities that promote continued use [15].
In our previous study [16], we showed that patients with chronic diseases are more likely to use a PHR system that is integrated into a comprehensive EHR. We also showed that patients with more chronic diseases tend to use PHR more actively, employing the self-administration function. Furthermore, our other previous clinical trial study [17] primarily aimed to demonstrate the development of an EHR-tethered PHR system in which a comprehensive EHR system that can retrieve data from a wearable device has been operated successfully for over 12 years as well as the efficacy of such a system paired with a lifelog data–driven intervention modality [18].
Our clinical trial focused on patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is caused by complete or partial obstruction of the upper airway because OSA is closely related to individual lifestyle [19]. Obesity is the most important cause of OSA, and smoking and alcohol consumption are also important causes of OSA. Therefore, a better lifestyle can be a cornerstone of treatment for both obesity and OSA. The aim of the clinical trial was to help OSA patients to correct obesity through a healthier lifestyle and to obtain a better quality of sleep. Smartphone platforms (mHealth systems) are being considered as an innovative solution, thanks to the integration of the essential sensors to obtain clinically relevant parameters in the same device or in combination with wireless wearable devices [20,21]. A recent study from Cardiogram and the University of California, San Francisco, suggested that the Apple Watch can be used to test for OSA. This study indicates that wearable devices could provide an accessible, low-cost approach to evaluate OSA [22]. From the perspective of weight loss, there have been several studies trying to verify the effects of technology-based interventions. There were studies comparing in-person behavioral weight loss intervention with a technology-based system over a 3-month period in overweight adults [23,24]. A recent study tried a long-term observation with wearables during a 24-month study period [25]. The study stated that effective long-term treatments are needed to address the obesity epidemic and that numerous wearable technologies are unclear if these are effective in improving weight loss.
Our first clinical study was a preliminary study aimed at observing the weight loss impact for obesity patients of conventional care versus EHR-integrated PHR–based care after system development [17,23]. In particular, as a continuous development from previous studies, we aimed to reveal the effectiveness of a PHR–based health care app with 3 arms: mobile app and wearables, mobile app alone, and control. Furthermore, we examined the actual mobile lifelogs for each lifestyle categories: activity step counts, meals, sleep logs, and stress.
The primary objective of this more sophisticated 3-arm clinical trial design was to (1) explore the effect of a wearable device and mobile PHR app based on the patient's weight loss and sleep-related health outcome for a research reproducibility perspective, (2) observe patient response as a proxy measure for patient engagement in EHR-integrated PHR use, and (3) study health app usability based on patients' responses to automated lifestyle comments.
Design of Patient-Friendly Mobile Personal Health Record App
We designed a new mobile PHR app, MyHealthKeeper (Samsung Electronics Co, Seoul, South Korea), to be compatible with health data collection platforms of private companies and to be linked to our hospital EHR system. The user interfaces (Multimedia Appendix 1) were designed to be more patient-friendly when patients collect health-related lifestyle data on their own. A more sophisticated MyHealthKeeper PHR app to collect health-related lifestyle data was developed and tested in 2 different experimental patient groups (app and wearable user vs app-only user). The lifestyle data we tried to collect included weight, step counts as physical activity, food intake, sleep hours, and subjective strength of daily stress. The MyHealthKeeper app is largely composed of (1) logging according to the nature of the information and (2) screens registered in an accordion format, which can be used to navigate through the tabs. The app is composed of several subpages for recording daily meal, sleep log, stress, blood pressure, weight value, and synced activity step counts. When the user clicks the OK tab in the recording step, the objectives and guides, records, and daily span are presented, and the recording and modification functions are provided when each tab is clicked. The verification phase provides clinical advice that gives confirmation through weekly assessments. This clinician feedback comment is implemented on each page to improve communication between doctors and patients. The patient's response to automated comment logs as well as other usage logs was collected and analyzed for each group.
In particular, we designed our app to be compatible with the Samsung Health platform, which is one of the biggest worldwide mobile platforms, and to be linked to our EHR-tethered PHR system. This is the first approach to be aligned with a private company platform and a tertiary general university hospital PHR in Korea. Therefore, we could develop flexible data collection techniques that can leverage user lifestyle logs in both devices and smartphones from users (walking steps in this study). Samsung Health (originally S Health) is a free app developed by Samsung that tracks various aspects of daily life contributing to well-being such as physical activity, diet, and sleep [24]. The app was installed by default only on some smartphones of the brand. It could also be downloaded from the Samsung Galaxy Apps store. The app is obviously compatible with Samsung fitness trackers and smartwatches on Samsung phones. Users get health data from their preferred tools, reducing the burden of collection, and Samsung Charm (Samsung Electronics Co, Seoul, South Korea), which was developed by Samsung Electronics and was used to collect daily activity data in this study.
Design of a Clinical Trial
We conducted a prospective randomized clinical trial. Patients who visited the outpatient clinic of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH) were recruited from July 1 to August 31, 2017. We set the following inclusion criteria for enrollment in the trial: (1) diagnosis with OSA; (2) no cardiopulmonary disease, cancer, or other acute diseases; (3) body mass index (BMI) over 23 kg/m2; and (4) provision of prior consent to comply with self-management. We excluded patients who would not be able to use a mobile app and a wearable device and those who were pregnant. Figure 1 demonstrates the overall clinical trial design in this study. The participants had to follow the instructions of the app and wearable for 4 weeks, but they could use the app and wearable after 4 weeks on their own.
The participants were randomized into 3 groups: (1) app plus wearable group, (2) app-only group, and (3) control group. The app plus wearable group used the PHR app and Samsung Charm wearable activity tracker band. The step counts of the app-only group were collected from the mobile phone itself and delivered to the Samsung Health platform. The app plus wearable and app-only groups were instructed to use the apps as per the guideline. On the contrary, the control group was managed ad libitum. The control group did not receive the PHR app or the wearable device, and they did not use any other intervention than the verbal advice to lose weight during their visit to the clinician. All the participants in the 3 groups underwent sleep WatchPAT tests twice at weeks 0 and 4 to measure an objective respiratory parameter (apnea-hypopnea index per hour) during sleep. WatchPAT is a Food and Drugs Administration–approved portable diagnostic device that uniquely uses finger-based physiology and innovative technology to enable simple and accurate OSA testing while avoiding the complexity and discomfort associated with traditional airflow-based systems [25]. Body weight and height were also recorded twice at weeks 0 and 4.
This study was approved by the SNUBH Institutional Review Board (B-1504-296-302) and registered at the United States National Institutes of Health clinical trial registry (ClinicalTrails.gov registration number: NCT03200223).
Figure 1. Clinical trial study design. BMI: body mass index; OS: operating system.
Personal Health Record–Based Patient Lifelog Data Collection
All study participants completed a paper-based survey at the first and last day of the trial. Subjective respiratory parameters during sleep in the survey questions included snoring frequency, snoring intensity, sleep apnea witnessed frequency, and daytime sleepiness. Snoring frequency, sleep apnea witnessed frequency, and daytime sleepiness were asked to answer by days in a week in the questionnaire (eg, How many days of sleep apnea a week is found by you or your family?). Snoring intensity, sleep apnea severity, and daytime sleepiness severity were asked to answer by 0- to 10-point scale in the questionnaire (eg, How loud is the snoring sound?; degree from 0 to 10). Furthermore, objective WatchPAT test was performed to examine deep and light sleep amount (percentage), Peripheral arterial tonometry Rapid Eye Movement (pREM; percentage), sleep latency (minutes), sleep efficiency, and number of wakes.
Meanwhile, the MyHealthKeeper app is designed and developed to collect manually recorded lifelogs and apply them to individual health management. Lifelog data collected by the app are categorized as weight, stress, meal, and sleep logs. Weight value, subjective stress, sleep time, and sleep satisfaction logs should be recorded once a day, whereas meal logs are recorded 3 times a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Each meal record includes the input time and the amount on a 5-point scale. Physical activity is concerned with daily step counts, which are easily synced and delivered from the Samsung Health platform. The control group did not receive the lifestyle modification app and the wearable device. They received conventional care pertaining to lifestyle modification for achieving weight loss goals during the 4-week study period.
With MyhealthKeeper app, we calculated the average value of collected data from each lifelog such as physical activity, food intake, sleep time, daily stress, and weight. We simply combined all data logging scores for each patient. For example, if a user recorded every lifelog in a day, total score of the day is 5. Therefore, we could derive a star-shaped pentagon plot with 5 types of lifestyle log data. The mean area value for each plot is a range of 0 to 1 by every user. On the basis of this area value score, patients could be divided into 2 subgroups according to the median score. We defined a compliant subgroup with a score over 0.4 and noncompliant subgroup with a score under 0.4.
Clinical Study Outcome Measure
The primary outcome of the trial was collection of lifestyle data and weight change. Any decrease in body weight during the study period (4 weeks) was defined as successful weight reduction. The secondary outcomes were changes in the subjective and objective respiratory parameters during sleep.
Body weights before and after PHR–based clinical intervention were recorded and analyzed. The BMI of each participant is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height and is expressed in units of kg/m2; the difference between BMI before and after the study was analyzed at the end of the study period. Any decrease in body weight during the study period (4 weeks) was defined as successful weight reduction. It is very important that the measurement be taken using the same method and in the same conditions to ensure uniformity between participants and in the same participant over time. In our study, a skilled nurse helped to measure the patient's body weight in the hospital health checkup center using the conventional health checkup process (place and dress).
Statistical Analysis Method
Results are presented as means (SD). Differences in various parameters between the PHR–based intervention group and the control group were analyzed using the chi-square test as appropriate. Paired t test was used to examine changes in primary or secondary outcomes in the groups. All statistical analyses were performed using R version 3.0.2 developed by R Core Team (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna 2013), and a P value of <.05 was considered statistically significant.
Architecture of New MyhealthKeeper Linked to Samsung Health and Hospital Electronic Health Record
Our new PHR app, MyhealthKeeper, was developed to be compatible with the Samsung Health platform, which is one of the biggest worldwide mobile platforms, and to be linked to our hospital EHR system, Bestcare (ezCaretech Co, Seoul, South Korea; Figure 2).
The MyHealthKeeper interface was designed to work in the accordion format, which can be used to navigate through the tabs. The app was composed of several subpages for recording daily meal, sleep log, stress, blood pressure, weight value, and synced activity step counts. Weight value, subjective stress, sleep time, and sleep satisfaction logs were recorded once a day, whereas meal logs were recorded 3 times a day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Each meal record includes the input time and the amount on a 5-point scale. Daily step counts were collected through Samsung Health platform. Clinician feedback comments were implemented on each page to improve communication between doctors and patients (Figure 3). The patient's response to the comments as well as other subpage usage logs were collected and analyzed for each group.
General Characteristics of Clinical Trial Participants
Table 1 shows general characteristics of participants. A total of 60 patients (51 males and 9 females) were enrolled in this study. In addition, 43 patients (43 males) finished the study, whereas 17 patients (8 males and 9 females) were excluded because of withdrawal or incomplete follow-up sleep study. The analysis used a per-protocol methodology for the withdrawn patients. The mean age in app plus wearable, app-only, and control groups was 45.3, 41.5, and 40.5, respectively (P=.45). The BMI was 29.1, 30.8 and 28.7 in the app plus wearable, app-only, and control groups, respectively (P=.15). There were also no significant differences in demographics and smoking and drinking behaviors among the 3 groups.
Figure 2. MyHealthKeeper personal health record development.
Figure 3. Clinician's comment delivery on individual lifestyle.
Table 1. General characteristics of study participants.
Characteristics App + wearable (n=15) App-only (n=15) Control (n=13) P value
Age (year), mean (SD) 45.3 (9.5) 41.5 (11.8) 40.5 (7.4) .45
Weight (kg), mean (SD) 84.3 (5.6) 93.7 (22.3) 84.3 (12.1) .13
Body mass index (kg/m2), mean (SD) 29.1 (2.8) 30.8 (6.0) 28.7 (2.8) .15
Height (cm), mean (SD) 170.4 (6.7) 174.0 (5.7) 171 (7.0) .42
College or higher, n 13 12 13 .37
White collar, n 9 7 10 .36
Married, n 13 11 12 .44
Smokers, n 5 4 3 .77
Drink twice or more per week, n 5 6 6 .86
Changes in Health Outcome: Analysis of the Primary and Secondary Outcomes
Our clinical trial study results revealed a significant change in weight loss in both intervention groups (both wearable device users and PHR app–only users). Moreover, 2 PHR intervention group participants who used the MyHealthKeeper mobile app every day showed significantly larger changes in weight and BMI than those in the control group (Table 2; average: 1.4 kg and 2 kg; 95% CI: 0.9-1.9; P<.001) In this study, there were no statistically significant changes in subjective improvement of respiratory system test results (Table 3 and Figure 4).
Table 2. Primary outcome changes of each group.
Characteristics App + wearable (n=15) App-only (n=15) Control (n=13)
Pre, mean (SD) Post, mean (SD) P value Pre, mean (SD) Post, mean (SD) P value Pre, mean (SD) Post, mean (SD) P value
Weight (kg) 84.3 (5.6) 82.9 (5.6) 0.02 93.7 (22.3) 91.7 (22.9) 0.003 84.3 (12.1) 83.9 (12.6) 0.3
Body mass index (kg/m2) 29.1 (2.8) 28.7 (3.0) 0.02 30.8 (6.0) 30.1 (6.2) 0.002 28.7 (2.8) 28.6 (3.0) 0.34
Table 3. Subjective improvement of respiratory system.
Characteristics App + wearable (n=15) App-only (n=15) Control (n=13) P valuea
Pre, mean (SD) Post, mean (SD) P valueb Pre, mean (SD) Post, mean (SD) P valueb Pre, mean (SD) Post, mean (SD) P valueb
Snoring frequency (days/week) 5.9 (1.5) 4.7 (2.3) 0.11 5.4 (1.9) 4.2 (2.7) 0.04 6.2 (1.3) 4.3 (2.7) 0.02 0.79
Apnea witnessed (days/week) 3.7 (2.7) 2.9 (2.8) 0.36 3.9 (2.6) 3 (2.7) 0.25 4.2 (2.7) 2.8 (2.7) 0.11 0.92
Daytime sleepiness (days/week) 5.1 (1.9) 3.6 (2.2) 0.01 4.2 (2.4) 3.4 (2.4) 0.17 3.7 (2.7) 2.5 (2.4) 0.22 0.62
aP value: pre- and postcomparison among the 3 groups.
bP value: pre- and postcomparison within each group.
Figure 4. Pre- and postchanges in apnea-hypopnea index profile.
Patients' Response: Comparison of Step Counts Between App Plus Wearable and App-Only Groups
The average daily step counts (8165 steps) from the app plus wearable group were significantly higher than those (6034 steps) from the app-only group because they collected step-count data from different devices (P=.02). However, the diurnal hourly pattern of step counts was almost similar (Figure 5). Due to the nature of the collection devices, such as wrist wearable or mobile phone, the gait information was slightly different.
We assumed that each lifestyle data record is patient engagement reflection as patient response to PHR system and the clinician. The data collection record rate was calculated according to the records of 1 day. Study participants were moderately required to record daily weight, stress, snack, meal, and sleep logs. For daily diet records, which can be logged as breakfast, lunch, and dinner, if any of the 3 records were recorded, we processed as 1 record for that day.
The average rate of data collection was not different in physical activity (49.82% vs 49.96%; P=.99), food intake (32.67% vs 32.82%; P=.98), sleep (32.01% vs 32.45%; P=.95), stress (30.11% vs 27.33%; P=.70), and weight (32.82% vs 31.87%; P=.90) in the app plus wearable and app-only groups, respectively.
We combined all the lifestyle data and data logging scores for each patient and derived a star-shaped pentagon plot with 5 types of lifestyle log data. The mean area value for each plot is a range of 0 to 1 by every user (Table 4). According to the composite lifestyle scores, we calculated the star-shaped pentagon plot area ranging from 0 to 1 (Table 4), and the plots were drawn as shown in Figure 6. Patients could be divided into 2 subgroups: compliant versus noncompliant, based on the average median value as 0.4 (Table 4), star plot square measure over 0.4 grouped as compliant. The percentage of compliant patients was 63.64% and 36.36% in the app plus wearable and app-only groups, respectively (P=.26). Figure 7 demonstrates lifelog records per each group: red color stands for recorded days by app plus wearable users, whereas blue color stands for recorded days by app-only users, and gray color is used to maintain period days without intervention.
Figure 5. Changes in daily steps per group.
Table 4. Star-shaped pentagon plot area calculation with meal, snack, stress, and sleep log records. The area value was normalized between 0 to 1. Each intervention group participant's minimum, first quartile, median, mean, third quartile, and maximum value was described below.
Indices Minimum First quartile Median Mean Third quartile Maximum
App + wearable (n=15) 0.06 0.17 0.37 0.33 0.45 0.66
App-only (n=15) 0.01 0.09 0.14 0.25 0.4 0.67
Figure 6. Star plot based on recorded lifelog per each group.
Figure 7. The number of recorded lifelog data for weight, stress, meal, and sleep logs (red: recorded days by app plus wearable users; blue: recorded days by app-only users; and gray: maintain period days without intervention).
Patients' Response: Usability Reflecting Patients' Response to Automated Clinician Comments on Daily Lifestyle
To study health app usability based on patients' responses to automated lifestyle comments, we analyzed usage logs for clinician comment feedback, which is depicted in Figure 3. Figure 8 demonstrates patients' response to clinician feedback comment per each group as a satisfaction score. When a patient responded satisfied, the response was scored as 1, and 0 otherwise. App plus wearable users tend to answer more than app-only users in detail. Furthermore, these 2 intervention group participants showed increased answers between both weeks 2 and 3. At this point, patients visited to see their clinician and anthropometric measurement was done in the hospital, these actions may influenced to motivate PHR usage.
Figure 8. Patient response to clinician feedback comment.
The mobile phone–based PHR system in this study has a flexible and unique platform architecture to collect patient-generated health data and deliver patient response to EHR for the following reasons. First, the user can use PHR service in this study only if he or she has a smartphone, regardless of whether he or she has a wearable device or not. It was available to record daily health logs with Android OS app, as one of the nation's largest market share, and to connect the data with the most popular Samsung Health platform. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the system that links EHR-tethered PHR with conventional health platform such as Samsung Health. Second, the 3-arm clinical trial design, which targeted to observe the impact of wearable device and mobile app, revealed that the reduction of weight was because of the use of our PHR system, not the use of the wearable. Given that the majority of mobile phones already have a health platform function such as activity tracking, using the mobile phone health platform itself might be enough for PHR health care service without wearables. We suggest that a long-term prospective study including a larger number of participants be warranted to show whether patients require a higher precision in step count to make weight loss decisions. Third, with EHR-tethered PHR system, clinicians are available to show their patient's daily lifestyle and to deliver coaching feedback. Conventionally, clinicians just ask the patients to recall their lifelog or lifestyle to identify their lifestyles. Therefore, it seems to be quite inaccurate. The patient recall basis system is not enough for both patients and clinicians to pay much attention to the importance of lifestyle. However, the EHR-tethered PHR system may allow doctors and patients to check the patients' lifelog information together on EHR screen and to prescribe lifestyle for patients. Therefore, clinicians can review these data on the PHR module interface on the EHR and provide health-related lifestyle management feedback to the patients during the patient's visit to the clinic. From the experience using this system, patients are more likely to be interested in their lifelog data because the lifelog can be objectively summarized on the EHR and shared with their own clinicians.
Wearable biosensors are noninvasive devices used to acquire, transmit, process, store, and retrieve health-related data [26]. Biosensors have been integrated into various platforms, including watches, wristbands, skin patches, shoes, belts, textiles, and smartphones. Patients have the option to share data obtained by biosensors with their providers or social networks to support clinical treatment decisions and disease self-management [27]. In our previous study, we aimed to demonstrate the development of an EHR-tethered PHR app called MyHealthKeeper, which can retrieve data from a wearable device and deliver them to a hospital EHR system, and to study the effectiveness of PHR data–driven clinical intervention with clinical trial results [17]. We gathered this patient-generated lifestyle-related health information with a mobile app and activity tracking device and transferred it to a PHR data server to create a summary view based on the practical needs of the clinicians. Our first clinical study was a preliminary study aimed at observing the weight loss impact for obesity patients of conventional care versus EHR-integrated PHR–based care after system development.
The related previous study examined the patient usage logs with the 5-year use of a mobile PHR system distributed by a tertiary hospital in South Korea [15]. On the basis of actual mobile PHR usage data, they investigated the usage pattern and characteristics of the users of patient-generated health data services. This was the first approach to analyze long-term usage data in mobile PHR research [15]. In addition to user-specific characteristics (eg, age, sex, and diagnosis), the study suggested that more research should be conducted on the modifiable factors that affect use duration, to facilitate activities that promote continued use.
In this study, we aimed to observe the effects of a PHR–based health care app with 3 arms: the mobile app and wearables, mobile app alone, and control in patients with sleep apnea. We also aimed at examining the impact of the use of PHR and wearables on health outcome improvement and sustained use of the health app that can be associated with patient engagement. As a primary outcome, we observed OSA patient's weight loss, BMI, and other sleep-related parameters to examine health outcome changes. Moreover, 2 intervention group patients showed weight loss and BMI change during the trial period. We also collected and analyzed lifelogs, which are dependent on health behaviors influenced by patient engagement (meal habits, weight control, diet, and exercise). Patient response was analyzed by mobile app records. To analyze usability and patient response, we assumed patient engagement by proxy through feedback logs from automated clinician comments on each lifestyle, which reflects patient activation.
This study is a unique approach rather than other studies based on the following characteristics. First, we collected 2 types of intervention group users' (app + wearable vs app-only) actual usage data to investigate the difference. Although we did not find a statistical difference in sleep-related health outcome between the groups, this study design is thoroughly concerned with lifestyle-related disease and can be further examined as a long-term observation. Second, our analysis found the continuous usage pattern, including without intervention period. This intervention-free observation reflects the actual user pattern in mobile PHR app without consciousness.
This study could not provide a longitudinal observation of the EHR-tethered PHR system because of the practical constraints. Due to the short clinical trial period and the small number of study participants, it was difficult to determine a causal relationship, and the study did not provide information about the precise improvement in the health outcomes of PHR users. Nevertheless, we tried to observe the effect of PHR system for OSA patients, which is closely related to personal lifestyle-related sleep factor. Furthermore, with this integrated PHR system, we also expect longitudinal follow-up and continuous patient engagement in future studies. We hope to derive and apply many PHR features of an EHR-tethered PHR system for a variety of lifestyle-related disease management in further studies based on this study protocol.
This study was supported by the Creative Industrial Technology Development Program (10053249, Development of Personalized Healthcare System Exploiting User Life-Log and Open Government Data for Business Service Model Proof on Whole Life Cycle Care) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Korea). This study was approved by the SNUBH Institutional Review Board (B-1706/405-301) and was registered at the United States National Institutes of Health clinical trial registry (ClinicalTrails.gov registration number: NCT03200223).
JWK and BR analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript as the first authors. SC contributed to data analysis, and EH and SYJ helped in conducting the clinical trial and contributed to data discussions. YK and JL contributed the user experience (UX)-based PHR interface design development. SY supervised the overall study.
Supplementary image describes MyHealthKeeper mobile interfaces.
PNG File, 590KB
CONSORT-EHEALTH checklist (V 1.6.2).
Camara MA, Castillo Y, Blanco-Almazan D, Estrada L, Jane R. Lifelog Health. Patient Generated Health Data URL: https://lifeloghealth.com/patient-generated-health-data/ [accessed 2018-12-06] [WebCite Cache]
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Zomorodi B. HIT Consultant. 2018 Sep 4. How do Clinical Wearables Impact Patient Care and Quality of Life? URL: https://hitconsultant.net/2018/04/09/clinical-wearables-revolutionizing-care/ [accessed 2018-12-06] [WebCite Cache]
Liquid State. 2018 Mar 2. The State of Patient Engagement: 4 Trends to Watch in 2018 URL: https://liquid-state.com/state-patient-engagement-trends-2018/ [accessed 2018-12-06] [WebCite Cache]
Kupchunas WR. Personal health record: new opportunity for patient education. Orthop Nurs 2007;26(3):185-191. [CrossRef] [Medline]
Irizarry T, DeVito Dabbs A, Curran CR. Patient portals and patient engagement: a state of the science review. J Med Internet Res 2015 Jun 23;17(6):e148 [FREE Full text] [CrossRef] [Medline]
Park YR, Lee Y, Kim JY, Kim J, Kim HR, Kim Y, et al. Managing patient-generated health data through mobile personal health records: analysis of usage data. J Med Internet Res Mhealth Uhealth 2018 Apr 9;6(4):e89 [FREE Full text] [CrossRef] [Medline]
Jung SY, Lee K, Hwang H, Yoo S, Baek HY, Kim J. Support for sustainable use of personal health records: understanding the needs of users as a first step towards patient-driven mobile health. J Med Internet Res Mhealth Uhealth 2017 Feb 23;5(2):e19 [FREE Full text] [CrossRef] [Medline]
Ryu B, Kim N, Heo E, Yoo S, Lee K, Hwang H, et al. Impact of an electronic health record-integrated personal health record on patient participation in health care: development and randomized controlled trial of MyHealthKeeper. J Med Internet Res 2017 Dec 7;19(12):e401 [FREE Full text] [CrossRef] [Medline]
Yoo S, Lee KH, Lee HJ, Ha K, Lim C, Chin HJ, et al. Seoul National University Bundang Hospital's electronic system for total care. Healthc Inform Res 2012 Jun;18(2):145-152 [FREE Full text] [CrossRef] [Medline]
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Camara MA, Castillo Y, Blanco-Almazan D, Estrada L, Jane R. mHealth tools for monitoring Obstructive Sleep Apnea patients at home: Proof-of-concept. 2017 Jul 11 Presented at: 39th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC); July 11-15, 2017; Seogwipo, South Korea.
Villanueva JA, Suarez MC, Garmendia O, Lugo V, Ruiz C, Montserrat JM. The role of telemedicine and mobile health in the monitoring of sleep-breathing disorders: improving patient outcomes. Smart Homecare Technol TeleHealth 2017 Feb 3;4:1-11. [CrossRef]
Ballinger B, Hsieh J, Singh A, Sohoni N, Wang J, Tison GH, et al. DeepHeart: semi-supervised sequence learning for cardiovascular risk prediction. 2018 Presented at: Thirty-Second AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence; February 2-7, 2018; Louisiana, USA URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/8094275 [CrossRef]
Kim Y, Ji S, Lee H, Kim JW, Yoo S, Lee J. "My Doctor is Keeping an Eye on Me!": Exploring the Clinical Applicability of a Mobile Food Logger. In: Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2016 May 07 Presented at: CHI '16; May 07-12, 2016; San Jose, California, USA p. 5620-5631. [CrossRef]
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EHR: electronic health record
OSA: obstructive sleep apnea
PHR: personal health record
SNUBH: Seoul National University Bundang Hospital
Edited by G Eysenbach; submitted 31.08.18; peer-reviewed by JH Lee, SY Shin, H Feldman; comments to author 21.09.18; revised version received 14.11.18; accepted 22.11.18; published 04.01.19
©Jeong-Whun Kim, Borim Ryu, Seoyoon Cho, Eunyoung Heo, Yoojung Kim, Joongseek Lee, Se Young Jung, Sooyoung Yoo. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 04.01.2019.
Kim J, Ryu B, Cho S, Heo E, Kim Y, Lee J, Jung SY, Yoo S |
VIDEO: 10-Year-Old 'DJ Switch' From Ghana Will Melt Your Heart
By Malaka Gharib
"Forget all your worries and let's party."
It's an irresistible command from a 10-year-old girl standing on a box behind a DJ booth, tapping her feet and shaking her hips.
Her name is Erica Armah Bra-Bulu Tandoh, also known as DJ Switch, and she's the subject of a video released on Monday by BBC News Africa. It currently has 8.3 million views on Facebook and nearly 4.5 million views on Twitter.
According to her personal website, Tandoh is from Suaman Dadieso in the western region of Ghana. Even before the BBC video, she's had her share of fame. Last year, she won top prize on a TV program in Ghana called TV3 Talented Kids. In April, she dropped this music video collab with her mama (who has a lovely voice!) called "Deceiver." And in May, she deejayed at the Ghana DJ Awards, entering the stage on a horse and a pink-feathered jacket.
In addition to her DJ chops, she also raps, dances and plays trumpet and keyboards. She loves school and would like to be a gynecologist when she grows up "to help women," she told the BBC. Oh, and her favorite food, according to her website, is "rice ball with ground nut soup."
"I picked the name DJ Switch because I switch up people's happiness," she told the BBC.
She certainly made the editors at Goats and Soda smile. And we hope she'll make you smile, too.
Malaka Gharib
Malaka Gharib is the deputy editor and digital strategist on NPR's global health and development team. She covers topics such as the refugee crisis, gender equality and women's health. Her work as part of NPR's reporting teams has been recognized with two Gracie Awards: in 2019 for How To Raise A Human, a series on global parenting, and in 2015 for #15Girls, a series that profiled teen girls around the world.
See stories by Malaka Gharib |
At least 30 people killed in suicide blast in North West Frontier Province town.
"A restaurant and many shops have collapsed. It's chaos here. There's huge devastation," Ibn-e-Ali, a former judge and resident of the area, said.
"My house is 1km away but the blast was so huge it felt as if it was next door."
Police said that rescue workers were searching the rubble for any survivors.
Asmat Ullah, another police official, said that the Shia Muslim-owned Hikmat Ali Hotel, which was badly damaged in Friday's blast, could have been the target of the bombing.
However, Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from the capital, Islamabad, cautioned that any motive for the attack was unlikely to be "sectarian".
"[But] this was an indiscriminate attack against civilians in an open market and perhaps a warning by the militants who are trying to destabilise Pakistan."
It was the second attack in Kohat in two days after a bomb planted outside a shop injured six people on Thursday.
Pakistan's military launched a major offensive against the Taliban in North West Frontier Province in April.
Sporadic attacks continue to take place, despite Yusuf Reza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, saying that Taliban fighters had been "eliminated" in the region.
"The Pakistani troops have made substantial gains against the Taliban, but they will also tell you that it is virtually impossible to stop a suicide bomber," Al Jazeera's Hyder said.
"The fact that there has been less bombings since the military went on the offensive indication [of their success], but the other side still have the capacity to hit back." |
SMEs unhappy with the government's performance as global uncertainty reigns
Dominic Powell
Two recent surveys of SME owners across the country have revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the federal and state governments.
In a survey of over 1000 business owners in Australia, accounting software company MYOB found only 22% of SMEs are satisfied with the federal government's performance.
Thirty-three percent claimed they were dissatisfied, and the remaining 44% were on the fence, being neither satisfied or dissatisfied.
Read more: Trump speech gives Aussie dollar a boost, but market uncertainty remains
Those dissatisfied with state governments was at 40% overall, but opinions varied from state to state. Queensland SME operators were the most unhappy with their state politicians, with 51% being dissatisfied, while only 29% of Victorian business owners said they were displeased.
These results from MYOB echo results from a similar survey of over 500 SMEs from business management software company Sage. According to Sage, 46% of small business owners feel they are not adequately represented by politicians.
On top of this, 19% believed a lack of business infrastructure would be a challenge for Australian businesses in 2017, along with 12% claiming too much red tape to be an issue as well.
Nearly three-quarters of businesses surveyed felt they dedicated too much time to administration, wanting to focus on tasks to benefit growth instead.
Uncertainty contributing to lack of confidence
Chief executive of MYOB Tim Reed told SmartCompany a lack of confidence in government is generally tied to high levels of uncertainty.
"Lack of faith in our government is linked to a reasonably high level of uncertainty with business owners who typically like certainty," Reed says.
"Some of that uncertainty is global, but some is directed at the Australian political system. Although SMEs may like the policies put through by the government, they're often unsure if the bills will get through the senate."
Co-founder of contracting job platform ConX and Sydney subcontracting business Ocean Carpentry Keith Moore told SmartCompany uncertainty in politics both locally and globally is "really making people question the system".
Moore is calling for more support from the government surrounding payment security in the construction sector, calling the legislation "fragmented".
"Australia has fragmented legislation to deal with security of payments in the construction industry. We need to be better supported by the government, so we can focus on doing the job, and getting paid for it," Moore says.
Instant asset write-off a winner
Reed believes the government has been putting forward "great legislation" for SMEs, like the $20,000 instant asset write-off, implemented almost two years ago. Calls have been made to extend the scheme an additional 12 months, with small business minister Michael McCormack pushing for this in the lead up to the budget.
A massive 68% of business owners surveyed by MYOB supported keeping the asset write off as a permanent policy, a move Reed is also pushing for.
"Widespread support for the instant asset write-off has been in our survey's top findings since the policy was introduced, and it's easy to see why," he says.
"Business owners we speak to say the legislation makes perfect sense, and it shows the government understands the cashflow implications for businesses."
When it comes to other policies that help his business directly, Moore believes more action should be taken on workers' compensation and business insolvency rates.
"SMEs in the construction industry are under increasing pressure, with rising costs and increased operational risks," Moore says.
"The cost of workers' compensation is crippling small businesses, and the unacceptably high rate of business insolvency is impacting stakeholders from the top right down to solo-tradie."
Other key findings in MYOB's survey show significant support for government incentives to employ both older and younger workers. Fifty-nine percent of respondents supported incentive bonuses for hiring workers over fifty, and 51% supported offering a wage subsidy for getting younger workers on board.
"Jobs change, so there might be some reskilling needed for workers over 50 if they've been out of the workplace for a period of time," Reed says.
"A government-supported one off investment in their skills could deter businesses from hiring one worker over another."
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For contracts printing in Dallas TX, you need Kwik Kopy Printing Dallas. Contracts set the "terms and conditions" of a business arrangement and are indispensable for a wide range of businesses and service providers. Kwik Kopy Printing Dallas can help with the graphic design and layout of your contracts, and maintain them in a secure digital format so that they can be easily edited in the future if needed. We can print your contracts on regular paper or duplicating carbonless paper, an easy way to provide both parties with an instant copy of the contract that they just signed. Contact the helpful print experts at Kwik Kopy Printing Dallas for all of your contracts printing needs in Dallas TX! |
Starlight U.S. Multi-Family Fund continues push with Houston buy
The Starlight U.S. Multi-Family Core Fund concluded a busy five months with a US$14.35-million purchase of a 35 per cent interest in a Houston apartment complex, using up the $48 million in proceeds raised from its April initial public offering in the process.
"We are fully deployed, we have invested all the proceeds that we raised in our first fund," said fund president Evan Kirsh. "We are just trying to figure out where we go going forward, but we would like to grow."
That will likely see the Starlight fund going back to the market to raise more money for investors. The fund is traded on the TSX Venture exchange (TSX.V: UMF.A, UMF.U).
Riding the U.S. recovery
Starlight's philosophy is similar to two Canadian-traded REITs (Milestone Apartment REIT and Pure Multi-Family REIT) which have targeted the Southern U.S. multi-res market: there are plenty of properties to buy and prices look attractive compared to Canada, and rents look like they have room to rise in an improving U.S. economy.
Where the Starlight vehicle is a bit different is in just how choosey it is about what it buys.
"Our strategy is we buy Class-A garden style," said Kirsh. "It tends to be suburban and we only buy properties that are stabilized – which means they are fully occupied – and properties that are built within the last five years.
"We don't do fixer-uppers. We are kind of new to the U.S. and that is a little ambitious for us to start and our view is the simplest thing to start with is properties that are fully occupied (and new)."
A typical purchase
Starlight Multi-Family's Houston purchase is fairly typical of what it wants to buy: The Alexan Eagle Creek property is a 412-unit, garden-style, Class-A apartment complex built in 2009 in a rapidly growing area of North Houston (picture on left).
The fund took the minority stake because Daniel Drimmer, a director and the chief executive officer of Starlight U.S. Multi-Family, purchased the remaining 65% interest.
Eagle Creek consists of 19, three-storey walk-up buildings on a 22.13-acre site made up of one- and two-bedroom suites with high-end features.
It's a multi-res property type that simply does not exist in Canada and stands to benefit from the economy recovery, facts which have prompted the likes of Pure Multi-Family, Milestone and Starlight to buy a piece of the action.
"There you have the clubhouse, the pools, the fitness centres and a big piece of land," said Kirsh. "You have a big piece of land; generally the properties we are buying are 10 acres or 20 acres. You don't really have a lot of 20-acre sites in Toronto or Calgary."
With the acquisition of Eagle Creek, the Starlight Fund now operates and owns interests in a portfolio made up of 1,368 multi-family real estate suites located in Dallas-Fort Worth and in Houston.
Starlight's universe
The Starlight fund is part of Starlight Investments Ltd., which was created in 2011 by real estate investor Daniel Drimmer. He founded TransGlobe Property Management Services Ltd. in 1995 and grew its portfolio from only a few residential real estate assets to the third-largest multi-family owner in Canada.
Drimmer also founded TransGlobe Apartment REIT (TSX: TGA) and completed its initial public offering in May 2010. In 2011, TransGlobe REIT was privatized in a $1-billion deal and many of its properties were acquired by Starlight.
Today, Starlight includes:
• a joint venture partnership with a major Canadian pension fund
• publicly traded real estate investment trusts
– True North Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust
– True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust
• publicly traded real estate investment funds
– Starlight U.S. Multi-Family Core Fund
• assets owned by private investors
Kirsh hinted more news will be coming soon: "You may see something soon. Keep checking the website."
Paul is a writer, editor and media trainer based in Toronto with over 25 years of experience as a business reporter. He has written for Canada's major news services on… |
M&S wins 13-year dispute with tax man over tea cakes
Marks & Spencer has finally won a 13-year battle with the taxman over the status of the seemingly innocuous marshmallow tea cake.
The M&S milk chocolate teacake Photo: PA
By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor
7:00AM GMT 05 Feb 2009
After an estimated £2 million in legal fees, £3.5 million in damages, eight trips to court, and a referral to the European court of Justice, the retailer won the final stage of its tortuous dispute against HM Revenue & Customs in the House of Lords on Wednesday.
The row between the retailer and the taxman originally centred on whether the marshmallow tea cake was a cake - as M&S contended - or a chocolate-covered biscuit.
Under complex VAT rules, cakes are zero rated while chocolate-covered biscuits are not. The theory is that most 'food', including cakes and plain biscuits, should be free from tax, while 'snacks', including chocolate-covered biscuits, are considered a luxury and incur VAT.
The rules have led to complex, and often absurd, cases with food companies challenging the tax man over flapjacks, smoothies, cereal bars and Pringles crisps.
McVities won a famous victory more than ten years ago when it successfully argued a Jaffa Cake was a cake, rather than a biscuit.
Ready salted crisps knocked off perch by cheese and onion
Judges: Pringles are potato crisps
McVitie's ups cuteness stakes with baby animal Christmas advert
Sainsbury's delivery drivers told to whisper
Aldi chocolates named product of the year, beating Green & Blacks
M&S won its central point back in 1994 – that a tea cake was indeed a cake – but since then has been fighting the tax man for the right to claim the tax all the way back to 1973, when VAT was introduced by Edward Heath's administration. The retailer said it was owed £3.5 million.
Since then HM Revenue & Customs has argued that it should not pay back such a large amount, pointing out that M&S shoppers, rather than the company, had picked up the tab for the higher price of the tea cakes during the period.
On Wednesday, three Law Lords affirmed last year's decision by the European Court of Justice that M&S was entitled to a full refund.
It is understood that M&S will be submitting a claim for its costs, which one source said, "would be surprising if they were under the £2 million barrier, considering they used the top VAT barrister in the country as well as the best solicitors".
M&S's final victory this week means it will not only receive the full £3.5 million, it will also win back interest and, probably, costs.
Paddy Behan, a VAT specialist at accountants Vantis, said: "This will end up being a very valuable judgement for M&S."
A spokesman for the retailer would not comment on the how much the case had cost the company over the years, but said: "After 13 years of litigation we're pleased this matter has finally concluded."
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Cape York Peninsula parks Tropical North Queensland
Cape York Peninsula features landscapes of unsurpassed beauty and immense diversity, rich with Aboriginal traditions and customs and European history. Parks throughout the peninsula protect diverse landscapes including river systems, rainforests, beaches, grasslands and wetlands. Travelling in this vast and remote area requires detailed preparation and planning. See links to each park for more detailed information.
National parks, national parks (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal land (CYPAL)) and regional parks are scattered over eastern and central parts of the peninsula, from the iconic Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park (CYPAL), 340km north of Cairns, to the northern-most parks, Jardine National Park and Heathlands Resources Reserve, 900km north of Cairns.
Park alerts for Cape York Peninsula parks are published on individual park pages 2 April 2019 to 30 September 2021 |
The Mityaev have new rivals. The Russian marriage will not be the only one to compete at the Ultramarathon of the Transvulcania Naviera Armas 2019 with real options of winning the race. The Dutch runner Ragna Debats and the Catalan Pere Aurell will also participate in the next edition of the Transvulcania, becoming both of them real candidates for the win.
Debats, two times World Champion, has an amazing curriculum, which makes her one of the favourites in the women's category. Some of her results are being the Skyrunning World Champion, as well as being the Skyrunning World Champion in the modality of SkyExtra. The Dutch runner, who lives in Spain, has dominate with authority the last season, finishing her best sporting year ever.
On the other hand, Pere Aurell, the Spanish athlete, already knows what a winner of the Transvulcania feels, as he won last year's edition, where he fought until the end with Dmitry Mityaev. The "bajada del Time" was the decisive point where Aurell broke away from his rival to win the race. Aurell completed a magnificent year, after winning the Pirin Ultra, finishing in the second place in the Tromso Skyrace, and ending up third in the Trofeo Kima. Consequently, Aurell finished the season in the first position of the Migu Run Skyrunner World Series, beating his rival of the Transvulcania, Dmitry Mityaev, who finished second in the rankings.
"We are very proud to announce the participation in the Transvulcania Naviera Armas 2019 of Debats and Aurell, as both of them had incredible results last season in a very hard discipline like the mountain races", said the sports counsellor of La Palma, Ascensión Rodríguez. "It is very pleasant to count with Aurell, who will ensure his desire and passion to win as we saw in last year's edition, and with Debats, who is a double World Champion and is one of the references in this sport". |
Game Design Concepts, gameplay, Gamer Culture, Player Behavior, Role Playing
The playthrough paradox: why we play games multiple times
Posted by Andrew Mantilla on November 10, 2016 November 9, 2016
What's in a playthrough?
A playthrough is considered starting a fresh game and completing the main objective or at least the critical path of progression. For some, known as completionists, it is about finishing every single game task before reaching an end condition such as the final boss. For others playthroughs are simply means of experimentation, they never tire of the same story, the same missions, for those players they are interested in understanding every mechanic and strategy. Lastly, and this is a bit of a sore point for the video game industry, a majority of players never complete a playthrough, they play a game for a while and if they get through to the end great, but if they only ever spend a few dozen hours enjoying the mechanics within the game world, that's fine too.
I for one have had my fair share of games in which I lost interest when the difficulty spiked and I didn't feel like grinding my way through the challenge, or others which gave me all of the gameplay mechanics I wanted early on, removing the desire to progress beyond what I had unlocked and enjoyed.
I have fallen somewhere in between those who just want to complete a playthrough if possible, and those who focus not on completing playthroughs but on experimenting with different mechanics and playstyles, even if that means starting 20 different characters and taking them all to level 10 instead of one to level 200.
(My main character within Fallout 4 , you can read my full article about that playthrough experience in my article The world that he wants: the aftermath of siding with Shaun)
Rethinking playstyles and playthroughs
When I started writing about video games, I began to use up my well of game design knowledge and gameplay experiences that I had accumulated over a lifetime of playing games. This meant that I needed to start playing new games, playing games I had never played before, and even returning to old favorites and playing them in ways that were contrary to my typical playstyle.
Although I felt it necessary to be topical and knowledgeable with the gaming trends by playing all of the latest and greatest titles released, there was something personally satisfying about discussing my gameplay experiences in depth, in hopes that they would resonate with other gamers.
(I spent some time roleplaying as a normal person in GTA obeying traffic laws and walking from place to place, you can read my full article about that playthrough experience in my article GTA RPG: the joy of roleplaying as a normal person)
Intimate knowledge of a gameplay experience stems from the player's immersion and enjoyment of said experience. I have found those stories to come from the games I spent weeks playing, as opposed to hours analyzing. As I returned to some of my old favorites with an analytical eye I began to see the games differently, I had a foundation of deep understanding of the game due to my time spent playing it, but there were also new opportunities for me to explore.
This change in perspective was partially due to the expansion of games I was playing and the exploration into, and questioning of, my own personal playstyle. In playing different games I approached each new system with an interest in discovering how different games awarded players using strategies that were not the most powerful or viable, i.e. peaceful / diplomatic means of victory as opposed to combat, as can be seen in my articles Peaceful victory: why more games should feature diplomacy, Forge of Empires: progression and maintaining culture, and my character series Pom Pom the Illusionist.
(Pom Pom is a peaceful character, who throughout my playthrough with her has developed into a pacifist protection mage who focuses on calming enemies to pacify them and healing and buffing her allies)
As I experimented with different playstyles that were not an expression of my personality but expressions of my investigation into the design of games, and whether or not they limited the player, I began to see different sides to my favorite games which I never would have seen without a different approach.
After returning to my favorite games with this perspective in mind I was surprised at how much more these games had to unpack, some of my favorites include Skyrim Special Edition, GTA V, and Fallout 4, which have endless ways of playing them and interacting with the world that create unique outcomes.
Since then I have enjoyed the process of thinking up playthroughs and playstyles much more. Now, they serve as spaces to commit to ideas that are strange or quirky, which I would never commit to if I were looking to only have a single playthrough, but can commit to if it is with the understanding that I am using each playthrough to investigate the systems of a game, to unearth the possibility of playing it in an unconventional manner, and to discover more about myself.
What do you focus on in your playthroughs? Are you a completionist, a one and done kind of player, or is completing a playthrough not that important to you? Have you ever played a game wildly different from your typical playstyle? Was it out of boredom with your usual MO, or curiosity in what a game had to offer? I welcome discussion on this topic and if you have experiences of your own you wish to share please do so in the comments below, or write in to [email protected].
Andrew Mantilla is a ludologist and video game journalist for Play Professor. You can check out more of his content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.
Andrew Mantillacompletecompletionistcritical pathendexperimentationexplorationgamegameplaygamesnarrativeplayplay professorplayerplaystyleplaythroughprofessorreplayreplayabilitystoryvideo games
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Home » NEWS » TRAI extends last date for selecting TV channels till March 31
TRAI extends last date for selecting TV channels till March 31
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday extended the deadline for selection of TV channels by both cable and Direct-to-Home (DTH) subscribers till March 31. The decision comes after the regulator held a meeting with DTH operators and multi-system operators (MSO) on Monday, the TRAI said in a statement.
The new framework came into force on February 1 and several consumers who did not migrate to the new tariff norms complained about paid channels being deactivated. The TRAI also told the operators to design a "best fit plan" for the subscribers who have not migrated to the new framework, the statement said.
"The 'best fit plan' shall be designed based on consumers' usage pattern, language spoken and popularity of channels. It should preferably be a blended combination of various genres. While making 'best fit plan' for a subscriber, DPOs (distribution platform operators) should ensure that payout per month of the 'best fit plan' generally does not exceed the payout per month of existing tariff plan of the subscriber," it said. Subscribers will be free to change their "best fit plan" until July 31, 2019.
All network operators and broadcasters are required by TRAI to have a base package with 100 standard definition channels. Customers can choose these free-to-air (FTA) channels from a list of several bouquet offers. This will cost the viewers a maximum of Rs 130, excluding Goods & Service Tax (GST).
There are 330 pay TV channels and 535 FTA channels……Read More>>
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Senior music student Ashlyn Christensen will present a degree horn recital with faculty artist Polina Khatsko, piano. This event is free and open to the public.
Join us for a Spotlight Series Concert! These featured performances highlight the best of the best in our robust music program. For more information click here. |
Samsung Themes latest APK 4.2.28.81212 (422881212) comes with best themes to apply on device. There are also icon pack, material design dashboard, and more too. You don't have to stare at the same looking Android forever if you don't want to. It is boring after all and people would wish to see something new from their phone. Well, you don't need to buy new Android either. After all, you can change the look of your Android with theme app.
In order to beautify your Android in style, it is not just about the theme that we need. You can consider changing your app icons as well. You can rely on this app for that, so rest assured. This app has icon pack for Launcher to offer. Not to mention, they are all that of HD quality. Even when you want to apply them, this app makes things easy and quicker by single click only. Now, you can change the look of Android anytime anywhere you want in a flash. Don't you think it is convenient?
Of course, we can't leave out the theme here. We need the best themes for the best looking Android after all. Without doubt, this is what Samsung Themes for Android can promise to give for you. All you need to do is to pick the one you wish to have on your Android.
Also, there is this material design dashboard coming with the app as well. By applying them all, your Android would look way different than when you first bought it. You would want to look at it more often then. |
The Landon wood coffee table combines style and modern simplicity. Featuring four wooden rectangles being held together by a center frame. The minimalist legs and beautiful wood create an airy and light piece that is perfect for smaller spaces. Part of the Landon collection includes a matching end table, sold separately. |
On asteroids, the moon and in space station labs, interstellar research is increasingly performed by private companies. In this issue, we look at how these off-world innovators are bending the rules of IP. Back on planet earth, we delve into diplomacy's dark arts, where IP is leveraged in geopolitical disputes from Saudi Arabia to Peru. And critics of President Trump say his combative trade policy with China is damaging US interests, but is he legitimately using all the tools in his arsenal? |
Virginia's 81st House of Delegates district elects one of 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the state's bicameral legislature. District 81, in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, Virginia, has been represented by Republican Barry Knight since 2010.
District officeholders
References
External links
Virginia House of Delegates districts
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Chesapeake, Virginia |
The HDP02 technology demonstrator is a remote controlled eVTOL aircraft that does not carry any test pilot (only dead weight simulating a pilot) with eight propellers, eight electric motors and uses only battery packs for its power source. The HDP02 flew until the end of January 2021 which provided valuable data to the team. The flight time for the technology demonstrator is approximately 15 minutes.
This prototype is the second in a line of the company's full-scale working prototypes. The HDP02 is an open framed aircraft made out of light weight aluminium (6061-T6) with the VTOL propellers in the four corners of the aircraft. A seat is in the middle of the aircraft where dead weight is placed during test flights and the demonstrator has fixed skid type landing gear.
The inventor is also developing some eVTOL subsystems such as a web-based flight panel, a ground station, joystick flight control and a visual computing system for future autonomous flying. Safety features for this prototype include distributed electric propulsion (DEP) and redundancy in its sub-systems.
HDP02 eVTOL technology demonstrator before assembly with inventor Marcelo Lavrador
Piloting: Remote control
Capacity: No passengers, only dead weight simulating a person's weight
Fuselage: Open-framed aluminium 6061-T6 with TIG welding
Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), provides safety through redundancy for its passengers and/or cargo. DEP means having multiple propellers (or ducted fans) and motors on the aircraft so if one or more propellers (ducted fans) or motors fail, the other working propellers (or ducted fans) and motors can safely land the aircraft. There are redundancies built into the sub-systems of the aircraft.
Video: The Human Drone Project - The (unmanned) flight of the second prototype, Marcelo Lavrador, Feb. 1, 2021
Video: The Human Drone Project - 2nd Prototype: Quick tests to check controllability with 40" propellers., Marcelo Lavrador, Dec. 23, 2021
Video: The Human Drone Project - 2nd Prototype: Another quick test with 32" propellers and lower CG., Marcelo Lavrador, Dec. 23, 2021
Video: Finding the right parameters for the Human Drone, Marcelo Lavrador, Dec. 23, 2021
Video: Human Drone flying test with a 40 kg payload., Marcelo Lavrador, Dec. 23, 2021 |
Leopoldov (před rokem 1948 Mestečko; maďarsky: Lipótvár, později Újvároska; německy: Leopoldstadt) je slovenské město ležící v Trnavském kraji v okrese Hlohovec. Žije zde obyvatel a je důležitým železničním uzlem. V povědomí Čechů ulpělo díky tomu, že je zde věznice Leopoldov, v níž byli v 50. letech komunistickou vládou vězněni a likvidováni političní vězni.
Historie
Leopoldov byl založen v roce 1664 z iniciativy Leopolda I., po němž dnes nese jméno. Založení pevnostního města (městský status udělen zároveň se zprovozněním pevnosti v roce 1669) bylo součástí císařových snah zastavit pronikání Osmanské říše do hloubi Horních Uher. Leopoldovská pevnost začala postupně ztrácet svůj vojenský význam na konci 17. a počátku 18. století po sérii zdrcujících porážek, které Habsburkové Osmanské říši uštědřili a které způsobily, že se hranice posunuly daleko na jih. Pevnost pak našla uplatnění jen jako méně významná vojenská základna při vzpourách proti Habsburkům. V roce 1855 byla vlastní pevnost přestavěna na věznici, která smutně proslula zejména v 50. letech 20. století, kdy v ní českoslovenští komunisté věznili a likvidovali politické vězně. Věznice byla zdrojem proslulosti města i po roce 1989 – např. díky vzpouře vězňů z roku 1990 a útěku 7 vězňů doprovázeném vraždou 5 dozorců (1991).
Památky
Leopoldovská pevnost (dnes věznice pro těžké zločince)
kostel sv. Ignáce z Loyoly
Odkazy
Reference
Související články
Věznice Leopoldov
Externí odkazy
Oficiální stránky města
Informace o městě na mesto.sk
Železničná stanica Leopoldov na Rail.sk
Města na Slovensku
Obce v okrese Hlohovec
Města v regionu Dolní Pováží
Sídla nazvaná po osobách
Sídla na Váhu |
Problem set 14 | Business & Finance homework help
Petersen & Peterson Company is a 6-year-old company founded by Jackson Peterson and Mary Peterson to exploit metamaterial plasmonic technology to develop and manufacture miniature microwave frequency directional transmitters and receivers for use in mobile Internet and communications applications. The technology, although highly advanced, is relatively inexpensive to implement and their patented manufacturing techniques require little capital in comparison to many electronic fabrication ventures. Because of the low capital requirement, Jackson and Mary have been able to avoid issuing new stock and thus own all the business shares. Because of the explosion in demand for its mobile Internet applications, the company must now access outside equity capital to fund its growth and the couples have decided to take the company public. Until now, Jackson and Mary have paid themselves reasonable salaries but routinely reinvested all after-tax earnings in the firm, so dividend policy has not been an issue.
However, before talking with potential outside investors, they must decide on a dividend policy. Your supervisor at the consulting firm Ernst Young & Associates, which has been retained to help the company prepare for its initial public offering, has asked you to make a presentation to Jackson and Mary in which you plan to review the theories of dividend policy and discuss capital structure decisions.
1. Explain to the Petersons the term a "distribution policy"?
2. Describe the following theories of dividend payout preferences and how they will affect dividend policy of Peterson & Peterson Company:
i. dividend irrelevance theory
ii. bird-in-the-hand theory
iii. tax effect theory, and
iv. information content hypothesis (signaling theory)
3. Define clientele effect and explain how it affects dividend policy.
4. Peterson & Peterson Company plans to undertake a massive capital expansion project next year that will require $10 million investment. The company's target capital structure consists of 60% debt and 40% equity. Peterson has 1million shares of stock outstanding. If net income next year is $6 million and the company follows a residual distribution policy with all distributions as dividends, determine the following:
i. the company's dividend per share for next year
ii. the company's forecasted dividend payout ratio
iii. the amount of equity financing and long-term debt needed to finance the project
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the company's residual policy? (Hint: do not neglect signaling and clientele effects.)
6. Peterson Company plans to repurchase some of its own outstanding stock in the future if it sees that its stock price is undervalued in the market and more specially to reorganize its capital structure. Identify three advantages and three disadvantages of stock repurchases.
7. Boehm Corporation produces satellite earth stations that sell for $150,000 each. The firm's fixed costs are $1.5 million, 20 earth stations are produced and sold each year. Profits are $400,000 and the firm's assets (all equity financed) are $5million. Due to technological advances in the industry the firm estimates that it can change its production process by adding $10 million to assets and $500,000 to fixed operating costs. This change will reduce variable costs per unit by $5,000 and increase output by 30 units. However, the sales price on all units must be lowered to $140,000 to permit sales of the additional units. Boehm Corporation has tax carryforwards that render its tax rate zero, its cost of equity is 18% and it has no debt in its capital structure. Thus, the company's profit is equal to earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)
i. Determine the company's variable cost per unit and break-even quantity under the initial plan.
ii. Determine the company's variable cost per unit and break-even quantity under the proposed plan.
iii. Another firm Cruz Corporation has fixed operating costs of $100,000 and variable costs of $4 per unit. If the company sells its product for $6 per unit, what is the break-even quantity?
Submit your answers in a Word document.
https://customhubwriting.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Untitled-1-Recovered-300x75.png 0 0 CustomhubWriting https://customhubwriting.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Untitled-1-Recovered-300x75.png CustomhubWriting2023-01-23 08:58:052023-01-23 08:58:05Problem set 14 | Business & Finance homework help
Sensing theory | Psychology homework help What about fathers? or teen sexuality discussion |
This is a beautiful, decorative and ornate cross to hang on the wall of your home. The cross features the words "The Lord bless you and keep you" distributed on the ends of the four arms of the cross sending a lovely message to anyone who reads the prayful words. This Lord bless you cross is made of antiqued pewter and designed after the fashion of the Jerusalem or Crusader'j;s cross as seen in particular by the ornate smaller cross in the center. The smaller size of the Lord bless you cross allows it to be hung in just about any area no matter how small while adding an ornate and decorative touch to the area. The Lord bless you cross will make a lovely wedding or housewarming gift and is sure to be received with pleasure. The Lord bless you cross would also give comfort to someone who is ill if the cross is placed and displayed in their room. Whether for yourself or to give as a gift, this unique Lord bless you cross is a thoughtful gift that will be treasured for years to come. |
WB De Lane Lea moves home after 47 years, expands offering
Audio post production house, Warner Bros. De Lane Lea is moving to a brand new home in Soho after 47 years at its current Dean Street address and is significantly growing its offer with new colour grading suites among other changes.
The company, bought by Warner Brothers Studios five years ago, is working in partnership with Soho Estates and will develop a new "world class" sound and picture post facility within Ilona Rose House, a new development currently under construction in Greek Street.
From its new address, the company will create a "cutting-edge", 25,000 sq ft facility which will offer a wide range of creative talent and services. "This purpose-built facility, along with our world class talent, will open up a new level of creativity and client servicing for the UK post production community," said Dan Dark, SVP and md, Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden. "This is a rare opportunity to take a new site in the heart of Soho."
John James, MD of Soho Estates said: "We at Soho Estates see this as a worthwhile contribution to the legacy of the film industry in Soho which, without such investment, could be lost to Soho forever."
The new location will include four sound re-recording stages, one of which is on a scale that "rivals those operated in Hollywood." Additional facilities will be colour grading suites for feature films and TV, 40 picture cutting rooms and an ADR stage all complemented by client lounges and a cafe/bar.
Kim Waugh, SVP Worldwide Post Production Services, Warner Bros. Studio Facilities said: "This marks a significant growth in our business as we take this opportunity to expand our services for television and feature clients with the introduction of new colour grading facilities thus ensuring we can offer our clients a full range of post-production creative services. As we celebrate our 70th anniversary, it's fitting that we have secured the future of the company in the heart of Soho, for many years to come. Under the leadership of Cara Sheppard we will continue our heritage of creative excellence by attracting and retaining award winning talent."
Philip Thompson, Investment and Development Director of Soho Estates added: "This has been a genuinely collaborative partnership and we are delighted that the resulting facility will be an exceptional addition to our portfolio."
WBDLL is expecting to move in 2021 when Ilona Rose House opens and will continue to operate in its current location at 75 Dean Street until that time.
Haque in as interim BBC3 channel editor
BBC commissioning editor, Nasfim Haque, has joined BBC Three as Channel Editor until the summer as the channel gears up for a return to broadcast TV on February 1st. Fiona Campbell is currently overseeing the Factual, Arts >>> |
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Significant UPGs
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For up to date blogs, visit https://globalgatesinfo.wordpress.com/. Muslims in Metro New YorkI recently completed a fresh research update on the Muslim population of Metro New York. There are nine separate blogs complete with... read more
An open door
Fifteen years ago, the relationship between Saudi Arabia, homeland of Islam, and the United States was cool at best. Opportunities for Christians to live there were... read more
A whole new Perspective
The Colombian man works a late shift washing dishes in a busy restaurant surrounded by Bengali people. He has picked up a few words of... read more
Unreached People Group Communities
As a follow-up on the ethNYcity people profiles below, we have identified 69 unreached/least-reached people group communities in Metro New York. These communities are often "hidden" from Christian interaction and engagement. Please consider printing off the .pdf version and regularly praying for these communities in your home, small group, or church. 69 Most Significant Unreached People Group Communities in Metro New York. For more information on regularly praying for specific people group communities, visit globalgates.info/prayer.
The ethNYcity people profiles below (and on our app and widgets) feature the most significant ethnic groups in Metro New York. As a result, not all of these are unreached, but the ones that have a significant Christian presence can play a vital role in reaching out to unreached peoples in Metro New York.
Germans in Metro New York
Place of Origin: Germany
Location in Metro New York: Queens (Ridgewood); Brooklyn (Gerritsen Beach); Manhattan (Washington Heights, Yorkville); Westchester (White Plains)
Population in Metro New York: 1,754,074 (ACS 2010 Total Ancestry Reported); 57,127 (ACS 2010 Born in Germany)
Population in New York City: 256,797 (ACS 2010 Total Ancestry Reported); 19,841 (ACS 2010 Born in Germany)
Primary Religion: Christianity (Roman Catholic, Lutheran)
Secondary Religion: Nonreligious, Judaism
Status of Christian Witness: Greater than or equal to 2% evangelical. Less than 5% evangelical.
Primary Languages: German, English
Bio: On a sunny Wednesday in June 1904, 1,300 church members of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Manhattan's Little Germany, mostly mothers and children, boarded the steamship The General Slocum to travel to their annual Sunday school picnic. Forty minutes into the trip, fire broke out, and the ship burned to the water line. Just over one thousand were killed. It was the deadliest disaster in New York City's history until the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and it devastated New York's German community. At the time, many believed New York to be the third-largest German-speaking city in the world after Berlin and Vienna. Following the disaster, shattered families fled the German enclave on the Lower East Side, trying to escape sad memories. In the next few decades, the role of Germany in the two World Wars and the Holocaust brought further pain and shame upon German-Americans. Although Metro New York has the largest concentration of people of German descent in the US, currently estimated to be 1.8 million (ACS 2010), the German population has steadily declined as few newcomers arrive and the older generation passes away. Between 2000 and 2008, the number of German-born residents decreased by 17,500. Pastor Muenich, who recently retired from a German Lutheran church in Manhattan, saw this firsthand. "In the 1990s, we had fifty to sixty people coming to our German services. It shrank to only ten to fifteen in the last few years," he explained.
When Did They Come to New York? Germans have been coming to Metro New York since colonial times. Those who died on The General Slocum were part of the massive influx of nearly six million Germans who arrived in the US between 1820 and 1920. The last major wave was in the 1950s and '60s, when over 750 thousand came to the US to escape bleak post-war Germany. With Germany's current prosperity, few are immigrating to the US although thousands come on temporary work assignments with German or multinational corporations.
Where Do They Live? It is difficult to find a German enclave in Metro New York today, as most Germans are fully assimilated. After their exit from the Lower East Side following The General Slocum disaster, many Germans settled along 2nd Avenue in Yorkville on the Upper East Side. Others migrated out to Ridgewood, Queens, joining a large community of Germans who worked in Brooklyn's breweries. Around the same time, German Jews left the ghettos of the Lower East Side for Washington Heights. Ridgewood soon became the new German center of Metro New York, remaining seventy percent German until the 1960s. Today, Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn and White Plains in Westchester, home to the German School of New York, have small concentrations of Germans.
What Do They Believe? "In the past, going to church and believing in God was just second nature for Germans," explained Pastor Wasserman, who serves one of the remaining German Lutheran churches in New York. "But younger Germans are very secular and materialistic, they have no need for church in their lives." Since the Reformation, the German population has been evenly divided between Protestants and Catholics, plus a small Jewish minority, but Pastor Muenich believes one-third of Germans in Metro New York today adhere to no religion. A few churches hold German services and reach out to the German community, including St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Yorkville and the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul on West 22nd Street.
What Are Their Lives Like? Most New Yorkers know at least one German word, "Oktoberfest!", the annual celebration of German food, beer, and music. Metro New York still has dozens of German cultural clubs, even though many are fading from lack of interest. "Germans who came in the fifties and sixties really needed these clubs to stay connected. The younger generations don't need it as much," said Pastor Wasserman. Fewer families enroll children in German language and dance classes, and most of these activities are viewed as recreational rather than intense training in language and culture.
Significant Notes:
One in seven Americans claims German ancestry.
Included in Pope Benedict XVI's New York itinerary in 2008 was a visit to St. Joseph's Church, established in 1873 to serve the German community.
In the mid-1800s, German Jews started the Reform movement, the most liberal form of Judaism.
The German-American Steuben Parade is held each September in Manhattan. The parade honors General von Steuben, a German who fought alongside the Americans in the Revolutionary War.
How To Pray: Although Germans such as Martin Luther played a pivotal role in restablishing biblical Christianity, Germans today are disassociating themselves from the Christian faith. Pray that the spirit of the Reformation would be rekindled and draw many Germans back to Christ.
copyright 2012 ethNYcity
website by LiveTree Creative |
News Airports
Ripple effects from airport delays
June 8, 2022 By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal
THUNDER BAY, ONT. — Landing in Toronto on a flight after an effortless tour of Europe, Erika and Edward Maki sat on their plane for 30 minutes before they could disembark and head through Canadian customs.
"Everything was going well and then they flagged my passport with a pink sticker for a random COVID test," Edward said.
With a few minutes to spare, they arrived at the boarding gate to learn the flight will only take half of the passengers because there is bad weather in Thunder Bay. Minutes later, they were told the plane will take everyone.
"I remember looking out the window and noticed the suitcase buggy sitting by the plane with all our luggage . . . and it drives away, with our luggage, then arrives back a few minutes later," Edward said.
"They start loading about six pieces of the luggage and stop. The worker listens to his radio and they start taking the luggage back off the plane. That's when everybody's phone started going off with the message saying that they were cancelling the flight to Thunder Bay."
Edward noticed the departure and arrival board and said, "It was just red — all flights cancelled — and I'm guessing I don't think there are storms everywhere."
By 8:30 p.m., they learned they were flying out of Toronto the next day and began to search for a hotel room. The only room available near the airport cost $1,000 and up so they decided to rent a vehicle to drive further from the airport.
"We went to every car rental place in the airport, and they had no cars available and we thought, `what do we do?"'
The Maki couple jumped on a bus and went to Brampton where friends put them up for the night.
Flight cancellations and lengthy delays in Canada's largest airports are causing plenty of anxiety for travellers. With many COVID-19 pandemic restrictions still in place, there isn't enough personnel to receive the large capacity of people who are once again travelling.
Charla Robinson, president of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, says there is a domino effect that develops around the delays that strand travellers across the country, particularly in Canada-U.S. border airports. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has been working with the standing committee in Parliament on transportation infrastructure trying to find ways to make air travel work better.
"There have been major delays and then that's delaying the folks trying to get the connecting flights to smaller communities like Thunder Bay," Robinson said. "You could be sitting on a plane for an hour waiting to disembark because of the long lines (inside) going through the various checks that are in place."
She says the multiple checks now required at all the security points are causing major gridlock in the airport, which is restricting the planes that are coming in and out because there just isn't capacity to have that many passengers in the terminal.
"The chamber is pushing the government to look at what restrictions are still required and what can be removed. A lot of other countries have removed a variety of these restrictions that are now creating a barrier to travel in our country," she said.
More challenges arise with the new COVID-19 security requirements that have added time to process passengers.
Robinson said perhaps technology can play a bigger part in alleviating long lineups by expediting travellers automatically through the screening system.
Adjusting COVID-19 restrictions or even developing a trusted traveller program for frequent flyers might help with the problems.
Lines, delays eased at Pearson airport
International flight delays at Pearson airport jump by factor of 275
UK airport warns COVID related delays could last months
German airport strike causes flight cancellations, delays
Chartright Air Group
Lebanon to launch tender for $70 million airport terminal
Runway work begins at Thunder Bay Airport |
Finca Mangüeiro is located in Sta. Cristina de Cobres, City Council of Vilaboa, in the Rías Baixas, province of Pontevedra.
It is a rural, full-rent, traditional house on the ground floor, renovated in 2003. It has three double rooms with bathroom and a double room with bathroom attached to the house, fully equipped kitchen cozy living room with fireplace.
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\section{Introduction\label{sec:intro}}
It has been known for some time that the broad band structure of optical and
near infrared (NIR) extinction curves varies with location in the Galaxy
\citep[see][for a review]{2016ApJ...821...78S}. Likewise, spatially-variable
narrow band extinction features, called diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs),
have also been studied extensively \citep[e.g.][]{1995ARA&A..33...19H}. In
contrast, weak structure in optical and NIR extinction curves over
intermediate wavelength intervals (i.e., several hundred to $\sim$1000~\AA)
is known to exist, but has received far less attention. This structure was
first reported by \cite{1966ApJ...144..305W} and termed ``very broad
structure'', or VBS. The VBS is typically identified as a broad depression
(i.e., reduced extinction) in extinction curves over the region $1.5 \lesssim
\lambda^{-1} \lesssim 2.0$ \invmic\ \citep{1976MNRAS.177..625W,
1977AJ.....82..337S, 1980PASP...92..411W}. However, \cite{1971ApJ...166...65Y}
and \cite{1973IAUS...52...83H} recognized that it could also be a minimum
associated with larger, more complex structure. In this paper, we
collectively refer to these features, including the VBS, as intermediate scale
structure, or ISS. Interestingly, there is little evidence for DIBs or ISS in
the UV or far UV \citep[e.g.][]{2003ApJ...592..947C, 2009ApJ...705.1320G}.
Recently, \citet[][hereafter Paper VII]{2019ApJ...886..108F} have constructed
\defcitealias{2019ApJ...886..108F}{Paper VII}
a set of high signal-to-noise spectrophotometric extinction curves which are
ideal for studying the nature of the relatively weak ISS. In this paper,
we utilize the \citetalias{2019ApJ...886..108F} data to examine the nature and
variability of the ISS in detail. We do this using two distinct
approaches. The first is purely empirical and does not rely on any
assumptions about the form of the structure. The second approach uses a
parameterization of the curves in order to quantify the features
identified in the empirical analysis.
Section~\ref{sec:sample} describes our sample of stars and the data used in
the analysis. Section~\ref{sec:measure} presents our empirical measurements
of the ISS. Section~\ref{sec:modeling} utilizes a simple, {\it ad hoc}
model for the structure in order to derive physically meaningful
measurements. Finally, section~\ref{sec:summary} summarizes our findings.
\section{The Sample}\label{sec:sample}
We begin with the sample of 72 early-type stars described in
\citetalias{2019ApJ...886..108F}. These stars all have HST/STIS G430L and
G750L spectra, covering the wavelength range $2900 \leq \lambda \leq
10270$~\AA, with a resolution ($\lambda/\Delta\lambda$) ranging from 530 to
1040. Additionally, all have been observed previously by the {\it
International Ultraviolet Explorer} {\it IUE} satellite, providing
ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometry. The stars range in spectral type from B9
to O6 and luminosity class from V to III. They have color excesses spanning
the range $0.12 \leq E(B-V) \leq 1.11$ mag. \citetalias{2019ApJ...886..108F}
derived extinction curves for each star using a procedure that matches stellar
lines to model atmospheres. The method is similar to the one employed by
\cite{2007ApJ...663..320F} except that it concentrates on the optical spectrum
\citepalias[see][for details]{2019ApJ...886..108F}. We excluded
GSC03712-01870 from this original sample because it lacked an {\it IUE}\/
long wavelength spectrum and, thus, information on the strength of its
2175~\AA\/ extinction bump. This left a sample of 71 stars.
For our analysis, we rebinned all of the optical curves for these stars
onto a uniform wavelength scale, covering $3010 \leq \lambda \leq 8000$~\AA\
and sampled at 5~\AA\ intervals. Wavelengths longer than 8000~\AA\ were
ignored since the available TLUSTY model atmospheres \citep{2003ApJS..146..417L}
used to produce many of the curves do not include the upper Paschen lines.
The final data set thus consists of 71 normalized extinction curves. These
curves are expressed as color excesses relative to the monochromatic flux at
5500~\AA, $E(\lambda -55)$ and normalized by the excess between 4400 and
5500~\AA, $E(44-55)$, i.e.,
\begin{equation}
k(\lambda -55) \equiv E(\lambda -55)/E(44-55)
\end{equation}
sampled at $M_\lambda = 999$ evenly spaced wavelength points. These
monochromatic excesses and curves are nearly identical to those expressed
in the usual photometric $B$ and $V$ bands. The major difference is that
the monochromatic expressions are immune to the magnitude of the reddening
\citepalias[see][for further details]{2019ApJ...886..108F}. Nevertheless,
we will often use ebv\ or $R(V)$ as general measures of the color excess
and the ratio of total to selective extinction.
Figure~\ref{fig:mean_quartic} shows the mean of the 71 rebinned, normalized
optical extinction curves, along with a quartic fit to the mean (smooth blue
curve). To demonstrate the magnitude of the features to be studied in this
paper, we also show the difference between the mean curve and the quartic
fit, magnified by a factor of ten. These residuals reveal the ISS.
\begin{figure*}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth, angle=180]{figSTRUCTURE.pdf}
\end{center}
\vspace{-0.75in}
\caption{Mean of 71 MW curves determined by \citetalias{2019ApJ...886..108F}
and described in detail in \S \ref{sec:sample}, along with a quartic fit
(blue curve) to the mean and $10\times$ the mean of the residuals. The
residuals for individual curves in the sample can be nearly twice as large
or almost nonexistent. The vertical dotted lines give the positions of the
strong DIBs listed in Table~\ref{tab:ism} (given in \S~\ref{sec:measure}).
\label{fig:mean_quartic}}
\end{figure*}
\section{Empirical Measurements of the ISS}\label{sec:measure}
In this section, we fit the curves with a low order polynomial. We then
examine the residuals of the polynomial fits, i.e., the ISS. We analyze the
variability of the residuals in two ways. First, we quantify its strength
and demonstrate that it is related to the amplitude of the 2175~\AA\ bump
\citep[a result anticipated by][]{1980PASP...92..411W}. Second, we analyze
variations in the shape of the ISS and show that most of it can be captured
by only three parameters.
To begin, we interpolate the curves over the locations of interstellar
lines and those DIBs from the list given by \cite{1995ARA&A..33...19H} that
we could identify in our spectra. This allows our analysis to concentrate
only on ISS features. The interstellar features removed are listed in
Table~\ref{tab:ism}. The curves were then smoothed by a Gaussian with a
FWHM of 100~\AA. Smoothing accomplishes two things: 1) it suppresses
features with characteristic widths less than 100~\AA\ (eliminating any
residual influence of DIBs) and, 2) it reduces the ``offset error''
described below.
We can also use the smoothed and unsmoothed data to derive a measure of
the mean error affecting the data. First, we subtract each 999 point
spectrum with the ISM features removed from the version of itself
convolved with the 100~\AA\ FW Gaussian. This difference should capture
most of the high frequency, random noise in the data. Next, the RMS of
these differences at each wavelength for all of the observations is
used to provide a representation of the wavelength dependence of the
errors for the entire sample. Finally, the RMS of this wavelength
array is used to derive a ``representative'', mean error affecting the
data. The value that results from this process is $\sigma_{obs} = 0.0373$.
\begin{table}[h]
\begin{center}
\caption{Interstellar Features}
\begin{tabular}{lcc}
\label{tab:ism}
Type & $\lambda$ (\AA) & $\lambda^{-1}$ (\invmic)\\ \hline
Ca II & 3933.66 & 2.54 \\
Ca II & 3968.47 & 2.52 \\
Na I & 5889.95 & 1.70 \\
Na I & 5895.92 & 1.70 \\
K I & 7664.91 & 1.30 \\
K I & 7698.97 & 1.30 \\ \hline
DIB & 4428.00 & 2.26 \\
DIB & 4882.00 & 2.05 \\
DIB & 5450.30 & 1.83 \\
DIB & 5487.50 & 1.82 \\
DIB & 5535.00 & 1.81 \\
DIB & 5780.45 & 1.73 \\
DIB & 6283.86 & 1.59 \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{table}
\subsection{Magnitude of the ISS}
We assume that the curves can be represented by a set of $N_f$ feature
profiles, $\phi(\lambda -55)_i$, whose shapes are unspecified, and a
background continuum that can be characterized by a polynomial of order
$N_p$. In this case, an extinction curve can be expressed as
\begin{equation}
k(\lambda -55) = \sum_{i=1}^{N_f} a_i^0 \phi(\lambda -55)_i +
\sum_{j=0}^{N_p} b_j^0 \lambda^j
\label{eq:flux}
\end{equation}
Without model profiles for guidance, weak, broad structures, such as the
ISS, are difficult to quantify. Unlike sharp features, such as DIBs,
choosing continuum points is problematic. It is difficult to decide where
the ``continuum'' begins and ends and whether a perceived continuum point
is actually affected by the overlap of nearby features. In the end, any
such procedure becomes highly subjective. Because of these difficulties, we
begin our analysis with a different approach for measuring the ISS. Instead
of attempting to fit the features with a set of profiles or to determine the
underlying continuum, we examine the magnitudes of the residuals of the
curves after they are fit by low order polynomials. Specifically, the
residuals, $r(\lambda-55)$, are given by
\begin{equation}
r(\lambda -55) = k(\lambda-55) - \sum_{j=0}^{N_p} b_j \lambda^j
\label{eq:resid}
\end{equation}
where the $b_j$ differ from the $b^0_j$ because they are fits to the entire
curve, including the ISS. Consequently, they are affected by the ISS at
some level. Experimentation showed that a fourth order polynomial (a
quartic) adequately captures the overall shape of the curves and that higher
order polynomials do not improve the fits.
After the smoothing and the removal of a quartic continuum,
the features in the residuals have full widths between about 100 and 1200~\AA,
where the upper limit is the total wavelength interval divided by 4 (for
the 4 zeros of a 4-th order polynomial). Features larger than 1200~\AA\
are captured by the polynomial coefficients, while features less than
100~\AA\ are lost, but should stand out in the raw spectra (the ISM lines
and DIBs). As expected from \citetalias{2019ApJ...886..108F}, the
coefficients of the linear and quadratic terms are correlated with $R(V)
\equiv A(V)/E(B-V)$, and we return to this correlation in \S~\ref{sec:relations}.
Figure~\ref{fig:kperps} shows the individual residuals and
their mean. The dotted curves are for stars with $E(44-55) < 0.5$ mag,
where the effect of mismatches between the observations and the best
fitting model atmospheres used to create the curves are exaggerated
\citep[see][for a discussion of mismatch errors]{1983ApJ...266..662M}.
A few things are immediately apparent. First, the general structure is
repeatable and present at some level in all of the well defined curves.
Second, the broad depression in the extinction between $1.5 \lesssim x
\lesssim 2.0$ \invmic (where $x \equiv \lambda^{-1}$), which is normally
associated with the VBS, is clearly present. Third, the VBS depression is
actually a minimum surrounded by at least three distinct peaks, near $x =
1.6$, 2.05, and 2.25 \invmic ($\lambda = $4400, 4800 and 6600~\AA). This
is the same general structure first reported by \cite{1973IAUS...52...83H}.
Finally, we note that the three distinct peaks in the ISS occur in the
vicinity of the three strong DIBs at 4428, 4882 and 6384~\AA\ (see
Table~\ref{tab:ism}).
The repeatability of the features validates the approach used in
\citetalias{2019ApJ...886..108F} to construct the curves, since the same
features appear in curves derived from stars with very different physical
parameters and a wide range in color excesses -- indicating that these
features are not a result of spectral mismatch between observed spectra
and model flux calculations. The large scatter between $x = 2.7$ and 2.9
\invmic\ results from small mismatches between the models and the
observations in the vicinity of the Balmer Jump, which are amplified in
curves produced from stars with smaller $E(B-V)$\ values. It appears that
the models or our fitting procedures may need to be refined in this region.
\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{all_mean.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{Individual $r(\lambda-55)$ curves (black) and their mean (red)
plotted against inverse wavelength. Dotted and solid lines are used to
denote curves derived from stars with $E(44-55)$ less than or greater than
0.5 mag, respectively.
\label{fig:kperps}}
\end{figure}
We now require an objective means to measure the strength of the ISS. For
lack of a better measure, we adopt the root mean square (RMS) of the
residuals to measure its total strength. This is given by
\begin{equation}
RMS[r(\lambda-55)] \equiv \sqrt{\frac{1}{M_\lambda}\sum_{k=1}^{M_\lambda}
r(\lambda_k-55)^2}
\label{eq:meas}
\end{equation}
where $M_\lambda = 999$. Note that $RMS[r(\lambda-55)]$ is also influenced
by random, point to point measurement errors which create an additive term
under the radical. This term creates an ``offset error'' (referred to above),
in the sense that the measure can never be exactly zero, due to the random
contribution. Further, in very noisy data the random errors can dominate
the measurements. This was the motivation for aggressively smoothing the
data with a 100~\AA\ Gaussian, which should minimize the random contribution.
Without the smoothing, there would be an additional term under the
radical in equation~(\ref{eq:meas}) of order $\sigma_{obs}$. This term
would introduce considerable scatter in Figure~\ref{fig:bump} and prohibit
curves with no features whatsoever from approaching zero.
We next examine correlations between $RMS[r(\lambda-55)]$ and $R(V)$
and properties of the 2175~\AA\ bump. \cite{1986ApJ...307..286F}
parameterize the 2175~\AA\ bump with a constant, $c$, times a Drude profile
of the form
\begin{equation}
D(x, x_i, \gamma_i) = \frac{x^2}{(x^2 - x_i^2)^2 +x^2\gamma_i^2}
\label{eq:drude}.
\end{equation}
The maximum value, or amplitude, of the term is $a(2175) = c/\gamma^2$ and
its area is $\pi c/(2 \gamma)$ \citep[see][]{1986ApJ...307..286F}.
Figure~\ref{fig:bump} shows the relations between $RMS[r(\lambda-55)]$ and
$R(V)$\ (top) and $a(2175)$ (bottom). Values of $a(2175)$, and $R(V)$ are
from \citetalias{2019ApJ...886..108F}. It is clear that $RMS[r(\lambda-55)]$
is poorly correlated with $R(V)$. In contrast, our measure of the ISS
structure is strongly correlated with $a(2175)$. Considering the crudeness
of our current measure, this seems rather remarkable.
\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=0.9\linewidth]{rms_rv.pdf}\vfill
\includegraphics[width=0.9\linewidth]{rms_bump.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{$RMS[r(\lambda-55)]$ plotted against $R(V)$ (top) and bump
amplitude, $a(2175)$\ (bottom). Large, filled symbols are for values
derived from curves with $E(44-55) \geq 0.5$ mag, which should be most
accurate.
\label{fig:bump}}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{pcs.pdf}
\end{center}
\vspace{-0.2in}
\caption{The effects of the three largest principal components of
$r(\lambda-55)$ on the sample mean plotted against inverse wavelength. Each
pair of curves shows the effect of adding (black) and subtracting (red) the
PC to the mean. The zero point of each set of curves is shown by the large
tick marks and the curves are arranged with the largest PC at the bottom.
The variations caused by the PCs are scaled by the magnitude of their
variances.
\label{fig:pcs}}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure*}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{stacks_2.pdf}
\end{center}
\vspace{-0.3in}
\caption{Plots of the $r(\lambda-55)$ at 5~\AA\ sampling for the 10 most
reddened stars in our sample as functions of inverse wavelength. The name
of the star and its $E(B-V)$\ are given for each curve. The red curves are
approximations using the sample mean and the first three PCs. The sample
mean (dotted blue) is over plotted on each curve for comparison and the
dashed lines indicate the zero point for each curve. The sharp peaks are
due to the interstellar features listed in Table~\ref{tab:ism}.
\label{fig:stacks}}
\end{figure*}
\subsection{Wavelength dependence of the ISS variations}
We next examine the systematic variations in the ISS using principal
component decomposition \cite[see][for a discussion of the use of component
analysis to characterize extinction]{1980AJ.....85.1651M}. In this analysis,
the data were binned even further, to 50~\AA, which is the minimum possible
sampling for the data, which are smoothed by a 100~\AA\ Gaussian. The
result is a set of 99 point spectra. These were used to construct a
covariance matrix of excesses. We use excesses, $E(44-55) r(\lambda-55)$,
because they give larger weight to the more well defined curves, derived
from stars with larger reddenings. The covariance matrix is given by
\begin{eqnarray}
S_{ij} & = & \frac{1}{N-1}\sum_{n=1}^{N} [r(\lambda_i -55)^{(n)} -\langle
r(\lambda_i -55)\rangle] E(44-55)^{(n)} \nonumber \\
& & \times [r(\lambda_j -55)^{(n)} -\langle r(\lambda_j -55)\rangle]
E(44-55)^{(n)}
\end{eqnarray}
where $N = 71$, the number of stars in the sample, $i$ and $j$ vary from 1
to $N_\lambda = 99$, the number of wavelength points, and
\begin{equation}
\langle r(\lambda_i -55)\rangle = \sum_{n=1}^{N} r(\lambda_i -55)^{(n)}
E(44-55)^{(n)}/\sum_{n=1}^N E(44-55)^{(n)}
\end{equation}
is the weighted mean. The $N_\lambda$ eigenvalues, $e_i$, and eigenvectors
(or principal components, PCs), $v(\lambda)_i$, of this matrix give the
magnitudes and shapes of the variations, in order of the magnitudes of the
variances. We note that the matrix $S_{ij}$ is singular, since there are
more wavelength points than objects in the sample. However, this simply
means that the $N_\lambda -N = 32$ smallest eigenvalues are zero.
A given residual, $r(\lambda-55)^{(n)}$, can be approximated in terms of
a specified number, $N_{pc}$, of PCs as
\begin{equation}
r(\lambda-55)^{(n)} \approx \sum_{i=1}^{N_{pc}} \alpha_i^{(n)} v(\lambda)_i
\end{equation}
where the relation is exact when $N_{pc} = N_\lambda$, and the coefficients
are given by
\begin{equation}
\alpha_i^{(n)} = \sum_{k=1}^{N_\lambda} v(\lambda_k)_i r(\lambda_k-55)^{(n)}
\end{equation}
For any criterion of the significance of the principal components, some
estimate of the observational errors is required. For this purpose, we
adopt $\sigma_{obs}/\sqrt{10} = 0.0118$, where the numerical radical
accounts for the rebinning to 99 points. This value can be compared to
the magnitudes of the eigenvalues derived from the sample covariance
matrix. The ratio of the square roots of the 5 largest eigenvalues to
this value are: 4.92, 3.93, 2.26, 1.57 and 1.34. Consequently, we see
that the variance along the first 3 components are larger than twice
the expected mean error, and these are considered significant.
Furthermore, if we define the fraction of the total variance due to a
particular component, $e_i$, as $e_i/\sum_1^{N_\lambda} e_n$, the first
three components account for 44, 31 and 10\% of the total variance,
respectively, for a total of 85\%. In contrast, the fourth component
accounts for less than 4\%, a value more representative of the expected
random errors. Figure~\ref{fig:pcs} shows how the three largest PCs
affect the mean residual. The effect of each PC has been scaled by the
magnitude of its associated eigenvalue. The first PC appears to describe
the relative strength of the two peaks near 2.1 \invmic\ relative to the
minima near 1.8 and 2.8 \invmic. The major effects of the second PC are
changing the relative strengths of the two peaks near 2.1 \invmic\ and
making the minimum near 2.8 \invmic\ weaken in concert with the short
wavelength 2.1 \invmic\ peak. The dominant effect of the third component
is to change the relative strengths of the two minima, weakening the one
near 1.8 \invmic\ while strengthening the one near 2.8 \invmic. It is
difficult to interpret the variability at the shortest wavelengths. It
could be due to the wing of another feature with a peak at $\lambda <
3000$~\AA, or an artifact of the continuum fitting.
Figure~\ref{fig:stacks} shows the residuals of the 10 most reddened stars
in our sample. For each star, the plots show: the unsmoothed residuals, the
representation of the residuals given by the mean and the three largest PCs
and, the sample mean residual for comparison. Note that the first three PCs
produce excellent fits to all of the curves, except for the interstellar
lines and DIBS listed in Table~\ref{tab:ism}. This suggests that there may
be no more than three parameters influencing the ISS. As expected from
Figure \ref{fig:kperps}, the features can vary significantly in strength
(compare HD~29647 and HD~199216), and the strengths of all three peaks vary
relative to one another (compare HD~147889 and HD~228969). The feature
widths also vary, with the feature near 1.6 \invmic\ (which could have
more than one component) showing the largest variation (compare
BD$+44^\circ 1080$ and CPD$-59^\circ 2591$). The position of the broad
minimum near 1.8 \invmic, which is normally attributed to the VBS, appears
to shift depending on the relative strengths of the three peaks. This
leads us to believe that its position is influenced by the wings of the
surrounding absorption peaks.
\section{Modeling the ISS}\label{sec:modeling}
In this section, we describe an {\it ad hoc} model which enables us to
isolate and quantify the major features seen in the residuals. Unlike the
previous section, we use the resampled, but unsmoothed curves. Inspection
of the mean residual curve shown in Figure~\ref{fig:kperps} and the
individual residuals shown in Figure~\ref{fig:stacks} suggests that the most
prominent aspects of the curves can be represented by a smooth background
extinction and 3 distinct features centered near the strong DIBs at 4428,
4882, and 6383~\AA. The upswings in the residuals at each end of the
wavelength interval are most likely artifacts of the polynomial background
fit. We also search for correlations among the parameters used to fit the
data, and discuss how such correlations might arise.
\subsection{Fitting the curves}
Each of the three strongest features are modeled as a Drude profile of the
form given by equation~(\ref{eq:drude}). Drude functions are appealing
because they have a solid physical basis and have been shown to provide
excellent representations of dust extinction \citep{1986ApJ...307..286F}
and emission \citep[e.g.][]{2001ApJ...551..807D}. As previously stated,
a quartic adequately describes the overall shapes of the curves.
Consequently, we fit each curve with the following function
\begin{equation}
k(\lambda-V) = \sum_{i=1}^3 c_i D(x, x_i, \gamma_i) + \sum_{j=0}^4 d_j x^j
\label{eq:fit}
\end{equation}
Altogether, this model contains 9 free parameters to describe the features:
three $c_i$, $x_i$, and $\gamma_i$. These, along with the five $d_j$, were
determined by non-linear least squares, using the Interactive Data Language
(IDL) procedure MPFIT developed by \citet{2009ASPC..411..251M}.
We also use the notation $a(\lambda_i) = c_i/\gamma_i^2$, where $\lambda_i
= x_i^{-1}$, to denote the amplitude (maxima) of the profiles. Because all
of the stars have been fit in the UV as well \citepalias[][]{2019ApJ...886..108F},
parameters for the 2175~\AA\ Drude profile are available for each.
Consequently, we were able to remove the contribution to the curves of the
long wavelength tail of the 2175~\AA\ Drude profile (although this had
little influence on the results). The regions of interstellar lines and
the strong DIBs listed in Table~\ref{tab:ism} were given zero weight. In
contrast, the regions near the Drude peaks were given 9 times the weight of
the surrounding regions. This restrains the fitting routine from using the
tails of the Drude profiles to help the overall agreement of purely
continuum regions and emphasizes the influence of the positions and widths
of the profiles \footnote{The regions emphasized by the weights were $1.45
\leq \mu^{-1} \leq 1.75$ for the position of the long wavelength feature
and $1.9 \leq \mu^{-1} \leq 2.45$ for both short wavelength positions.
The values determined by the fitting procedure were well within these
limits in all cases.}. We also constrained the $\gamma_i$ to be $\leq
0.5$ \invmic. This constraint keeps the Drude profiles from getting so
wide that they become entangled in the continuum fitting.
We note that equation~(\ref{eq:fit}) is, in fact, an approximation. The
observed curves actually have the form
\begin{eqnarray}
k(\lambda -55) & = & \frac{E(\lambda-55)_D +E(\lambda-55)_B}{E(44-55)_D +
E(44-55)_B} \label{eq:excess} \\
& \simeq & \left[\frac{E(\lambda-55)_D}{E(44-55)_B} +
k(\lambda-55)_B \right] \nonumber \\
& & \times \left[1 -\frac{E(44-55)_D}{E(44-55)_B} \right] \label{eq:final}
\end{eqnarray}
where the subscripts $D$ and $B$ refer to the Drude and background
contributions, and equation (\ref{eq:final}) follows since $E(44-55)_D <<
E(44-55)_B$. The term inside the first set of brackets in
equation~(\ref{eq:final}) can be rewritten as
\begin{eqnarray}
\frac{E(\lambda-55)_D}{E(44-55)_B} +k(\lambda-55)_B & = & \sum_i \frac{c^0_i
}{E(44-55)_B} D(\lambda -55)_i \nonumber \\
& & + k(\lambda-55)_B
\end{eqnarray}
which has the same form as equation (\ref{eq:fit}). We see that the
second term in this equation cannot affect the Drudes and that the
$c_i$ determined from the fits to equation (\ref{eq:fit}) are actually
proportional to $c^0_i/E(44-55)_B$. The second bracketed term in equation
(\ref{eq:final}) is a multiplicative constant for each line of sight which
is $\lesssim 1$. Consequently, it can rescale everything but it cannot
affect the $x_{0i}$, $\gamma_i$, or the ratios of the $c_i$.
Consequently, equation (\ref{eq:fit}) is a good approximation, but we need
to keep in mind that the $c_i$ derived from the fits are actually
$\simeq c_i^0/E(44-55)_B$, where the $c^0_i$ can be directly related to
physical parameters described in \S~\ref{sec:relations}.
Table~\ref{tab:params} lists some properties of the fit parameters for the
24 stars in our sample with $E(44-55) \geq 0.5$ (values for the entire
sample are very similar). For each parameter listed in the first column,
the Table gives: mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, and range,
defined as $100\times$(max--min)/mean. It is immediately apparent that the
$x_i$ values are quite robust and that their total ranges vary by only a
few percent. Consequently, we refer to them as the 4370, 4870 and 6800~\AA\
features hereafter. In contrast, all of the other parameters have ranges
that vary by more than a factor of 2.
\begin{figure*}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{profiles_2.pdf}
\end{center}
\vspace{-.4in}
\caption{Plots of the profile fits for the 10 most reddened stars in our
sample as functions of inverse wavelength. The name of the star and its
$E(B-V)$\ are given for each curve. The thick red curves are the Drude fits,
the dotted blue curve is the sample mean fit, the black curve is the data
and the dashed lines give the zero point for each profile. The arrows
show the positions of interstellar absorption lines (which appear as
excess extinction) and the vertical dotted red lines show the positions of
the strong DIBs listed in Table~\ref{tab:ism}.
\label{fig:fits}}
\end{figure*}
\begin{longrotatetable}
\begin{deluxetable*}{lllllllllllllll}
\tablecaption{Fit Parameters\label{tab:fitparams}}
\tablewidth{700pt}
\tabletypesize{\scriptsize}
\tablehead{\colhead{Star} & \colhead{$a_l \times 10^3$} & \colhead{$a_2
\times 10^3$} &
\colhead{$a_3 \times 10^3$} & \colhead{$\gamma_1$} & \colhead{$\gamma_2$} &
\colhead{$\gamma_3$} & \colhead{$x_{10}$} & \colhead{$x_{20}$} &
\colhead{$x_{03}$} & \colhead{$b_0$} & \colhead{$b_1$} & \colhead{$b_2$} &
\colhead{$b_3$} & \colhead{$b_4$}
}
\startdata
BD+44 1080 & 4.608 & 3.005 & 4.009 & 0.300 & 0.230 & 0.262 & 1.636 & 2.065 & 2.285 & 9.408 & -27.801 & 14.10 & 18.91 & -17.21 \\
BD+56 517 & 2.140 & 6.139 & 6.854 & 0.176 & 0.209 & 0.251 & 1.569 & 2.057 & 2.290 & 5.270 & -4.389 & -34.87 & 63.59 & -32.06 \\
BD+56 518 & 8.050 & 7.058 & 8.537 & 0.300 & 0.231 & 0.300 & 1.577 & 2.052 & 2.301 & 6.000 & -7.353 & -31.61 & 63.44 & -32.85 \\
BD+56 576 & 1.664 & 6.462 & 3.377 & 0.151 & 0.205 & 0.195 & 1.564 & 2.057 & 2.285 & 5.071 & -2.996 & -37.72 & 65.43 & -32.17 \\
BD+69 1231 & 0.423 & 3.985 & 1.087 & 0.083 & 0.182 & 0.109 & 1.573 & 2.068 & 2.281 & 12.913 & -54.559 & 86.42 & -63.74 & 16.75 \\
BD+71 92 & 11.018 & 10.219 & 1.806 & 0.300 & 0.256 & 0.158 & 1.609 & 2.068 & 2.273 & 6.851 & -8.928 & -40.25 & 87.38 & -48.11 \\
CPD-41 7715 & 0.228 & 2.048 & 1.225 & 0.086 & 0.171 & 0.148 & 1.571 & 2.052 & 2.290 & 3.684 & 4.846 & -51.30 & 72.90 & -32.61 \\
CPD-57 3507 & 7.548 & 0.543 & 0.304 & 0.275 & 0.088 & 0.056 & 1.585 & 2.058 & 2.305 & 2.203 & 15.575 & -78.23 & 100.73 & -42.57 \\
CPD-57 3523 & 0.937 & 1.057 & 10.445 & 0.148 & 0.108 & 0.300 & 1.668 & 2.069 & 2.307 & 4.789 & -2.619 & -35.72 & 61.84 & -30.92 \\
CPD-59 2591 & 0.439 & 0.791 & 3.192 & 0.121 & 0.114 & 0.218 & 1.569 & 2.056 & 2.289 & 1.918 & 15.054 & -72.46 & 92.24 & -39.88 \\
CPD-59 2600 & 0.277 & 1.113 & 4.024 & 0.085 & 0.118 & 0.216 & 1.579 & 2.053 & 2.307 & 3.477 & 4.449 & -46.34 & 64.44 & -28.96 \\
CPD-59 2625 & 7.622 & 4.809 & 0.015 & 0.300 & 0.232 & 0.010 & 1.621 & 2.040 & 2.236 & 3.714 & 8.139 & -67.51 & 98.29 & -45.67 \\
HD13338 & 2.480 & 9.761 & 8.707 & 0.174 & 0.230 & 0.271 & 1.561 & 2.059 & 2.284 & 5.317 & -5.032 & -33.28 & 62.44 & -32.01 \\
HD14250 & 1.869 & 13.452 & 8.031 & 0.162 & 0.268 & 0.278 & 1.561 & 2.049 & 2.296 & 5.512 & -5.677 & -33.09 & 63.22 & -32.53 \\
HD14321 & 1.147 & 4.361 & 4.823 & 0.139 & 0.187 & 0.232 & 1.565 & 2.056 & 2.288 & 6.718 & -14.099 & -9.58 & 34.12 & -19.36 \\
HD17443 & 0.003 & 0.218 & 2.180 & 0.006 & 0.073 & 0.192 & 1.664 & 2.084 & 2.265 & 15.595 & -70.847 & 124.15 & -103.36 & 32.81 \\
HD18352 & 1.682 & 5.501 & 13.092 & 0.154 & 0.194 & 0.300 & 1.563 & 2.054 & 2.285 & 7.070 & -17.966 & 1.55 & 21.90 & -14.74 \\
HD27778 & 6.604 & 1.408 & 3.910 & 0.300 & 0.152 & 0.224 & 1.622 & 2.072 & 2.269 & 6.868 & -11.659 & -25.22 & 61.91 & -34.78 \\
HD28475 & 6.932 & 4.309 & 1.314 & 0.300 & 0.178 & 0.127 & 1.570 & 2.061 & 2.286 & 3.113 & 9.944 & -69.94 & 100.94 & -46.48 \\
HD29647 & 2.711 & 0.249 & 0.656 & 0.300 & 0.100 & 0.142 & 1.628 & 2.093 & 2.314 & 8.650 & -26.976 & 24.81 & -7.42 & -1.38 \\
HD30122 & 10.780 & 3.551 & 12.304 & 0.300 & 0.169 & 0.300 & 1.578 & 2.072 & 2.289 & 2.382 & 14.026 & -80.90 & 115.66 & -53.95 \\
HD30675 & 9.493 & 0.307 & 11.180 & 0.300 & 0.092 & 0.288 & 1.625 & 2.079 & 2.302 & 3.324 & 8.898 & -69.30 & 102.72 & -48.55 \\
HD37061 & 0.080 & 0.060 & 0.048 & 0.056 & 0.035 & 0.051 & 1.545 & 2.050 & 2.306 & 2.082 & 14.118 & -66.36 & 78.32 & -30.74 \\
HD38087 & 0.468 & 13.017 & 0.331 & 0.101 & 0.300 & 0.085 & 1.565 & 2.005 & 2.281 & 1.108 & 24.079 & -103.18 & 133.32 & -59.14 \\
HD40893 & 6.185 & 3.415 & 14.550 & 0.255 & 0.160 & 0.300 & 1.593 & 2.053 & 2.294 & 4.220 & 2.928 & -56.07 & 91.87 & -45.83 \\
HD46106 & 1.137 & 5.244 & 5.596 & 0.132 & 0.200 & 0.229 & 1.566 & 2.051 & 2.291 & 5.836 & -9.891 & -15.82 & 36.12 & -18.25 \\
HD46660 & 3.057 & 2.170 & 8.377 & 0.237 & 0.146 & 0.275 & 1.585 & 2.054 & 2.304 & 5.574 & -7.491 & -24.70 & 50.10 & -25.77 \\
HD54439 & 5.813 & 1.690 & 10.967 & 0.288 & 0.119 & 0.300 & 1.594 & 2.062 & 2.308 & 6.653 & -14.204 & -8.62 & 32.39 & -17.83 \\
HD62542 & 5.204 & 0.590 & 2.163 & 0.300 & 0.116 & 0.253 & 1.679 & 2.057 & 2.280 & 7.013 & -10.168 & -32.61 & 72.73 & -40.38 \\
HD68633 & 0.569 & 4.630 & 0.607 & 0.118 & 0.280 & 0.115 & 1.555 & 2.014 & 2.301 & 2.569 & 13.145 & -72.42 & 95.08 & -41.13 \\
HD70614 & 1.230 & 8.159 & 1.201 & 0.137 & 0.237 & 0.150 & 1.562 & 2.034 & 2.287 & 1.234 & 22.737 & -100.07 & 130.06 & -56.67 \\
HD91983 & 2.926 & 0.521 & 10.432 & 0.247 & 0.076 & 0.300 & 1.642 & 2.080 & 2.281 & 8.464 & -29.332 & 34.71 & -18.44 & 2.71 \\
HD92044 & 3.435 & 2.221 & 11.762 & 0.251 & 0.163 & 0.300 & 1.597 & 2.069 & 2.292 & 6.795 & -19.126 & 13.28 & -1.02 & -1.94 \\
HD93028 & 0.344 & 1.130 & 1.966 & 0.087 & 0.108 & 0.146 & 1.562 & 2.055 & 2.283 & 5.167 & -5.312 & -27.06 & 50.09 & -26.23 \\
HD93222 & 0.002 & 0.842 & 4.427 & 0.004 & 0.108 & 0.222 & 1.593 & 2.061 & 2.308 & 5.783 & -15.826 & 14.78 & -11.54 & 4.41 \\
HD104705 & 0.113 & 0.776 & 8.002 & 0.049 & 0.104 & 0.281 & 1.594 & 2.062 & 2.289 & 6.839 & -18.225 & 7.30 & 11.19 & -9.15 \\
HD110336 & 4.604 & 0.476 & 2.660 & 0.264 & 0.111 & 0.182 & 1.580 & 2.092 & 2.294 & 6.591 & -15.057 & -2.17 & 20.12 & -11.60 \\
HD110946 & 8.130 & 4.056 & 6.718 & 0.300 & 0.188 & 0.300 & 1.567 & 2.057 & 2.267 & 4.475 & 1.333 & -48.36 & 76.06 & -35.86 \\
HD112607 & 0.255 & 1.595 & 1.861 & 0.081 & 0.158 & 0.146 & 1.566 & 2.072 & 2.278 & 7.202 & -18.444 & 3.87 & 17.13 & -12.11 \\
HD142096 & 0.488 & 0.189 & 0.015 & 0.085 & 0.045 & 0.010 & 1.550 & 2.055 & 2.295 & 4.061 & 3.028 & -47.11 & 67.80 & -30.44 \\
HD142165 & 0.034 & 0.386 & 0.243 & 0.023 & 0.060 & 0.054 & 1.550 & 2.055 & 2.288 & 15.724 & -78.050 & 159.93 & -162.83 & 64.44 \\
HD146285 & 0.146 & 7.655 & 0.214 & 0.070 & 0.283 & 0.067 & 1.561 & 2.033 & 2.285 & 7.644 & -20.264 & 7.74 & 11.79 & -9.42 \\
HD147196 & 1.997 & 0.004 & 4.262 & 0.158 & 0.007 & 0.300 & 1.655 & 2.073 & 2.171 & 10.089 & -39.121 & 61.55 & -56.01 & 22.40 \\
HD147889 & 6.211 & 0.592 & 13.005 & 0.300 & 0.129 & 0.300 & 1.583 & 2.076 & 2.305 & 1.700 & 13.447 & -63.59 & 78.67 & -33.07 \\
HD149452 & 0.332 & 6.188 & 7.209 & 0.093 & 0.239 & 0.277 & 1.575 & 2.034 & 2.308 & 3.698 & 5.096 & -54.50 & 80.27 & -37.41 \\
HD164073 & 1.019 & 6.958 & 0.012 & 0.114 & 0.295 & 0.011 & 1.592 & 1.950 & 2.325 & 4.140 & 4.783 & -55.60 & 80.46 & -37.24 \\
HD172140 & 3.504 & 0.706 & 8.434 & 0.226 & 0.087 & 0.231 & 1.577 & 2.058 & 2.303 & 4.687 & -6.024 & -16.05 & 26.81 & -10.86 \\
HD193322 & 0.378 & 6.065 & 1.764 & 0.099 & 0.230 & 0.154 & 1.563 & 2.038 & 2.294 & 5.682 & -3.931 & -42.85 & 78.98 & -41.00 \\
HD197512 & 3.506 & 7.942 & 6.571 & 0.207 & 0.224 & 0.253 & 1.562 & 2.064 & 2.276 & 5.575 & -6.276 & -31.69 & 62.14 & -32.22 \\
HD197702 & 0.910 & 7.500 & 16.113 & 0.112 & 0.222 & 0.300 & 1.601 & 2.074 & 2.285 & 9.736 & -36.463 & 47.57 & -26.77 & 3.71 \\
HD198781 & 0.192 & 1.661 & 8.966 & 0.077 & 0.140 & 0.300 & 1.553 & 2.050 & 2.274 & 6.670 & -17.209 & 5.45 & 10.85 & -7.69 \\
HD199216 & 6.576 & 11.963 & 12.661 & 0.278 & 0.272 & 0.300 & 1.562 & 2.069 & 2.295 & 7.772 & -22.748 & 12.66 & 10.66 & -10.44 \\
HD204827 & 3.547 & 1.745 & 10.317 & 0.300 & 0.183 & 0.300 & 1.591 & 2.079 & 2.307 & 10.212 & -37.766 & 48.84 & -28.49 & 5.28 \\
HD210072 & 7.334 & 2.680 & 4.819 & 0.300 & 0.169 & 0.251 & 1.616 & 2.048 & 2.269 & 10.181 & -33.035 & 27.94 & 1.98 & -9.11 \\
HD210121 & 0.088 & 0.452 & 1.629 & 0.059 & 0.108 & 0.164 & 1.546 & 2.079 & 2.286 & 14.630 & -64.916 & 112.03 & -94.18 & 30.96 \\
HD217086 & 0.605 & 5.127 & 11.475 & 0.113 & 0.204 & 0.300 & 1.573 & 2.052 & 2.297 & 5.083 & -4.333 & -32.83 & 59.93 & -30.56 \\
HD220057 & 5.044 & 1.226 & 1.557 & 0.241 & 0.121 & 0.141 & 1.566 & 2.064 & 2.293 & 6.119 & -9.277 & -21.49 & 45.39 & -22.93 \\
HD228969 & 1.390 & 15.484 & 5.905 & 0.162 & 0.300 & 0.300 & 1.577 & 2.033 & 2.304 & 4.088 & 8.469 & -78.76 & 123.01 & -59.90 \\
HD236960 & 10.749 & 5.502 & 13.059 & 0.300 & 0.206 & 0.300 & 1.591 & 2.058 & 2.293 & 4.703 & -1.371 & -41.20 & 69.07 & -33.43 \\
HD239693 & 10.237 & 3.043 & 10.555 & 0.300 & 0.174 & 0.299 & 1.569 & 2.064 & 2.294 & 3.735 & 5.604 & -59.06 & 88.99 & -41.62 \\
HD239722 & 9.571 & 1.526 & 14.170 & 0.300 & 0.147 & 0.300 & 1.619 & 2.077 & 2.298 & 5.025 & -1.484 & -46.51 & 81.58 & -41.37 \\
HD239745 & 1.359 & 7.758 & 10.689 & 0.153 & 0.245 & 0.300 & 1.561 & 2.057 & 2.294 & 5.649 & -8.412 & -22.11 & 47.34 & -24.92 \\
HD282485 & 3.507 & 2.253 & 9.103 & 0.222 & 0.166 & 0.249 & 1.616 & 2.085 & 2.303 & 6.738 & -15.299 & -7.34 & 34.74 & -21.25 \\
HD292167 & 0.387 & 2.690 & 14.033 & 0.081 & 0.158 & 0.300 & 1.588 & 2.053 & 2.297 & 5.649 & -10.217 & -13.57 & 34.76 & -19.09 \\
HD294264 & 3.908 & 7.970 & 0.006 & 0.300 & 0.300 & 0.012 & 1.605 & 1.989 & 2.290 & -2.057 & 43.472 & -144.91 & 171.47 & -72.25 \\
HD303068 & 10.141 & 7.196 & 5.626 & 0.300 & 0.260 & 0.248 & 1.651 & 2.061 & 2.323 & 2.078 & 21.228 & -107.95 & 152.48 & -71.17 \\
NGC 2244 11 & 1.543 & 2.904 & 10.803 & 0.148 & 0.151 & 0.280 & 1.565 & 2.056 & 2.298 & 5.715 & -10.921 & -9.84 & 27.09 & -13.89 \\
NGC 2244 23 & 8.349 & 2.255 & 5.931 & 0.300 & 0.156 & 0.247 & 1.594 & 2.058 & 2.292 & 2.755 & 13.427 & -80.73 & 114.42 & -52.42 \\
Trumpler 14 & 0.666 & 0.530 & 7.158 & 0.122 & 0.097 & 0.300 & 1.604 & 2.065 & 2.289 & 3.506 & 3.749 & -43.21 & 59.35 & -25.85 \\
Trumpler 14 & 1.215 & 1.883 & 5.946 & 0.181 & 0.167 & 0.300 & 1.599 & 2.068 & 2.309 & 4.253 & 0.117 & -37.12 & 55.30 & -25.09 \\
VSS VIII-10 & 7.541 & 6.278 & 3.586 & 0.300 & 0.300 & 0.300 & 1.678 & 1.960 & 2.194 & 6.582 & -6.723 & -40.22 & 77.67 & -40.98 \\
\enddata
\end{deluxetable*}
\end{longrotatetable}
Figure~\ref{fig:fits} shows the profile portion of the fits, i.e., the fit
minus the quartic contribution, for the 10 most reddened stars in our
sample. The overall quality of the fits is good, but it is also apparent
that some aspects of the curves are not fit particularly well by our simple
model (e.g., the blue edge of the curves and the blue wing of the 4370~\AA\
profile). While all the features are, in general, rather weak, their
strengths vary significantly, from $\lesssim 0.05$ in HD~29647, to $\gtrsim
0.20$ in HD~199216 and HD~239722, where the first has a very weak 2175~\AA\
bump and the latter two quite strong ones \citepalias[see][]{2019ApJ...886..108F}.
Plots of correlations among the individual fit parameters show that the
amplitudes of the features, $a(4370)$ and $a(4870)$, correlate well with
$a(2175)$, but that $a(6300)$ does not. Figure~\ref{fig:fitbump} shows the
correlation between $a(4370) + a(4870)$ and $a(2175)$. Although there is a
clear correlation between these two quantities, the relation is not quite
as strong as the one between the RMS of the residuals and $a(2175)$ shown
in Figure~\ref{fig:bump}. This is, no doubt, because our simple model does
not capture all of the more complex structure that is related to $a(2175)$
and because the derived parameters may be influenced by the continuum fit.
\subsection{Relations among the fit parameters\label{sec:relations}}
Since 3 PCs can explain 85\% of the variability, there should be several
constraints among the 9 fit parameters used to fit the three profiles.
Three constraints can be found by fixing the central positions of the three
$x_{0i}$, since their variance is so small. When this is done, the quality
of the fits is hardly affected. We searched for additional relations
among the other parameters and noticed that the scale factors, $c_i$ and the
widths, $\gamma_i$ are related. Figure~\ref{fig:llall} shows the $c_i -
\gamma_i$ relations for all three features. A different constant for each
feature has been added to the $\log \gamma$, vertically shifting the points,
so that each feature can be seen to follow a simple linear relation, which
has a slope 3. Notice that several of the points for the 6630~\AA\ feature
and a few for the 4370~\AA\ one, form horizontal lines near $\log \gamma
\simeq -0.6$. This is due to the constraint enforced on $\gamma_i$
in the fitting routine described above. Nevertheless, over most of the
range, the vast majority of the points fall along a line, which implies that
there are constants, $A_i$, such that
\begin{equation}
c_i = \frac{c_i^0}{E(44-55)_B} = A_i \gamma_i^3 \;\;,
\label{eq:relate}
\end{equation}
where $A_i = 0.35, 0.70,$ and 0.45, for the 6300, 4870, and 4370~\AA\
features, respectively. These relations can be used to eliminate the $c_i$,
leaving the $\gamma_i$ as the only free parameters in the fits. When this
was done, the fits degraded significantly. However, when the constraints
were only applied to the 4870 and 4370~\AA\ features, and both $c$ and
$\gamma$ were allowed to be free for 6300~\AA, the quality of the fits
became comparable to that obtained when no constraints are applied. As a
result, we can find 5 constraints, implying that only 4 free parameters are
needed to fit all three optical features.
The question that naturally arises is whether the parameters of the 2175~\AA\
bump follow the same relation. Figure~\ref{fig:plus2175} extends the
range shown in Figure~\ref{fig:llall}, to include the 2175~\AA\ bump. In
this case, $A = 4.0$. Although there is considerable scatter, it appears
that the lower envelope of the 2175~\AA\ parameters also follows a line of
slope 3.
We now consider what the $c \propto \gamma^3$ relations might imply. To
begin, we adopt a very simplistic model which consists of one grain size
of Drude absorbers and one grain size of background absorbers along each
line of sight. For a single population of Drude particles, $N_D \propto
c^0/\gamma$, where $N_D$ is the number of absorbers \citep[see][]{1983asls.book.....B}.
We also assume that $N_B \propto E(B-V)_B$, where $N_B$ is the number of
background absorbers. As a result, equation(\ref{eq:relate}) becomes
$N_D/N_B \propto \gamma^2$. In the Drude model, $\gamma \propto 1/r_D$,
where $r_D$ is the radius of the absorbers and their geometric cross
section is $a_D \propto r_D^2$. This gives $N_D/N_B \propto a_D^{-1}$.
If we also assume that $N_B$ is fixed, then the previous relation implies
that when the Drude grains are small, there are relatively more of them
along the line of sight compared to background absorbers and when they are
large, there are relatively fewer. In addition, the total mass in Drude
grains, $M_D$, is related to $r_D$ by $M_D \propto \rho N_D r_{D}^3$.
Utilizing the previous result, that $N_{D} \propto r_D^{-2}$\ implies that
$M_D \propto r_D$, i.e., there is less mass in the Drude grains when they are
smaller. Thus, the empirical relations given by eq.\ (\ref{eq:relate})
imply that the relative number of Drude absorbing grains may be similar
along all Milky Way lines of sight, but that less total mass resides in the
Drude grains when they are smaller. We emphasize that this model is
extremely simplistic and only meant to illustrate how the constraints could
influence a more comprehensive grain model.
\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=0.9\linewidth]{a2175-a4430-a4880.pdf}
\end{center}
\vspace{-0.1in}
\caption{Combined amplitudes of the 4370 and 4870~\AA\ features plotted
against the amplitude of the 2175~\AA\ UV bump. Large, filled symbols are
for values derived from curves with $E(44-55) \geq 0.5$ mag, which should
be most accurate.
\label{fig:fitbump}}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=1.\linewidth]{test_optical.pdf}
\end{center}
\vspace{-0.2in}
\caption{Log-log plot of the $\gamma$s versus the scale factors for all of
the features. Symbols are: crosses for 4370~\AA, filled circles for 4870~\AA\
and open circles for 6300~\AA. The line has a slope of 3, which represents a
cubic. To align the data, a single constant was added to all of the $\log
\gamma$ data for each wavelength. Note that a few of the $\gamma$s for the
6300 and 4870~\AA\ fits ran into the upper limit in the non-linear least
squares routine, causing a horizontal row of points near $\log \gamma =
-0.65$.
\label{fig:llall}}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=1.\linewidth]{allgammas.pdf}
\end{center}
\vspace{-.2in}
\caption{Log-log plot of the $\gamma$s versus the scale factors for all of
the features {\it including} the UV 2175~\AA\ bump. Symbols for the optical
features are the same as in Figure \ref{fig:llall} and the triangles
represent the 2175~\AA\ data. As in Figure \ref{fig:llall}, the line has a
slope of 3 and the a single constant was added to all of the $\log \gamma$
data for each feature.
\label{fig:plus2175}}
\end{figure}
We also performed principal component analysis on the continuum polynomials
derived for each curve. The two largest PCs account for nearly 90\% of the
continuum variation, 51 and 37\%, respectively. The upper plot in
Figure~\ref{fig:cont} shows the wavelength dependence of the two largest
PCs, as well as a scaled version of the mean polynomial fit. The lower plot
shows the relationship between the coefficients of the largest PC and $R(V)$.
The excellent correlation should not be surprising, since it is well known
that curves which ``roll over'' in the optical, i.e., are strongly
influenced by the shape of the largest PC, are typically associated with
large $R(V)$ values. We note that the maximum of the largest PC lies very
near the maximum in the $d k(\lambda-55)/d R(55)$ curve given by
\citetalias{2019ApJ...886..108F}. However, it is shortward of the maximum
in the second PC derived by \cite{2016ApJ...821...78S}. This difference is
most likely the result of the very different wavelength baselines used.
\vfill\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=0.9\linewidth]{cont-pcs.pdf}\vfill
\includegraphics[width=0.9\linewidth]{cont-pc-rv.pdf}
\end{center}
\vspace{-0.2in}
\caption{Top: The largest (solid) and second largest (dashed) principal
components of the continuum fits, compared to a scaled version of the
mean curve (dotted). Bottom: The components of the largest PC plotted
against $R(V)$. Large, filled symbols are for values derived from curves
with $E(44-55) \geq 0.5$ mag.
\label{fig:cont}}
\end{figure}
\begin{table
\begin{center}
\caption{Parameter properties}
\begin{tabular}{cccllr}
\label{tab:params}
Name & Mean & $\sigma$ & Min & Max & Range\\ \hline
& (mag) & (mag) & (mag) & (mag) & (\%) \\
$a(4370)$ & 0.102 & 0.043 & 0.018 & 0.188 & 166 \\
$a(4870)$ & 0.107 & 0.046 & 0.030 & 0.194 & 153 \\
$a(6300)$ & 0.077 & 0.037 & 0.023 & 0.170 & 190 \\ \hline
& ( \invmic) & ( \invmic) & ( \invmic) & ( \invmic) & (\%) \\
$x_1$ & 2.288 & 0.012 & 2.26 & 2.31 & 2.2 \\
$x_2$ & 2.054 & 0.013 & 2.08 & 2.01 & 3.6 \\
$x_3$ & 1.587 & 0.027 & 1.66 & 1.55 & 6.7 \\
$\gamma_1$ & 0.243 & 0.011 & 0.019 & 0.400 & 156 \\
$\gamma_2$ & 0.179 & 0.007 & 0.030 & 0.288 & 144 \\
$\gamma_3$ & 0.243 & 0.148 & 0.080 & 0.400 & 132 \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{table}
\section{Summary}\label{sec:summary}
We have verified the reality of ISS features in extinction curves by
demonstrating two properties. First, its strength is independent of the
physical parameters of the star used to create a curve. This can be seen
by comparing the features for HD~147889 (B2 V), and HD~149452 (O8 V) in
Figures~\ref{fig:stacks} and \ref{fig:fits}. Second, the strength of the
ISS correlates with an interstellar feature, the strength of the 2175~\AA\
bump. Further, as with the 2175 \AA\ feature, curves of stars in the same
region tend to have the same ISS strength. We then proceeded to determine
the magnitude, wavelength dependence and variability of the ISS in two
different ways.
In the first approach, we examined the residuals of the extinction curves
relative to a smooth background that is modeled by a quartic. It was shown
that the residual curves have three strong peaks whose relative strengths
and widths vary substantially from one sight line to another, but whose
central positions are relatively stable and located near the strong DIBs at
4428, 4882 and 6284~\AA, suggesting a possible relation. It was also
apparent that the VBS is actually a local minimum between absorption
features. Next, we demonstrated that the magnitudes of the root mean square
of the residuals -- which give a crude measure of the strength of the ISS
-- are poorly correlated with $R(V)$, but strongly correlated with the strength
of the 2175~\AA\ bump. Finally, principal component analysis was used to
reveal that most of the ISS variations can be captured by the first three
PCs of the residuals, suggesting that as few as three physical parameters
might be able to explain the variations.
In the second approach, we modeled the ISS with three Drude profiles in
order to quantify its major structures. This simple model provides a
reasonable fit to the ISS, although it has some small inadequacies. The
fits showed that the feature locations are very stable, near $\lambda =
4370$, 4870 and 6300~\AA\, and that the features contribute anywhere from a
few percent to 20\% of the extinction in those regions. Further analysis
showed that the strengths of the 4370 and 4870~\AA\ features correlate with
the strength of the 2175~\AA\ UV bump, but the 6300~\AA\ feature does not,
and that none of the features correlate with $R(V)$. We found relations among
the model parameters which can reduce them from 9 to 4, without a major
loss of accuracy. Interpretation of these relations in terms of a simple
dust model suggests that the density of dust producing the ISS is similar
along all lines of sight, but distributed in different grain sizes. In
addition, we verified that the strongest variation in the continuum
extinction is the curvature, and that its strength is related to $R(V)$.
While it is hoped that our results will be useful for developing physical
models of dust grains, they also have practical importance. Although the
ISS is small, it should be taken into consideration if one wishes to achieve
accurate fits to the SEDs of reddened stars. Also, the relation between
the ISS features and the strength of the 2175~\AA\ bump could be useful for
estimating the strength of the 2175~\AA\ bump in objects whose optical SEDs
are either intrinsically smooth or well modeled but whose UV SEDs are poorly
determined.
\acknowledgments
Support for program \#13760 was provided by NASA through a grant from
the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association
of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS
5-26555. We also thank the referee for a thorough and insightful review of
the manuscript, which improved the final version of the paper.
\bibliographystyle{aasjournal}
|
Arab Parliament Concludes Meeting in Cairo
Published On - June 19, 2019 Category - Education
Cairo, Under the Chairmanship of Arab Parliament President Dr. Mishaal Al-Salami, the Arab Parliament concluded its fourth session here today.
Following the session, the Arab Parliament issued a decision regarding 'the terrorist attack on civilian installations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and commercial vessels in the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates and the Sea of Oman'.
The Arab Parliament classified Houthi militia as a terrorist group, calling on the Arab League and the United Nations to classify the militia as a terrorist group for its deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian installations.
The Arab Parliament condemned in the strongest terms the attack by Houthi militia targeting two oil pumping stations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Abha International Airport.
The Arab Parliament also denounced the direct or indirect Iranian interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries.
The Arab Parliament appreciated the leading and pivotal role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as the great efforts exerted by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in hosting the Arab and Gulf extraordinary summits held in Makkah on May 29, 2019, to protect the Arab national security and defend the interests of Arab countries.
اقتراح من محمد علي وأملاك لإنشاء الهرم الأدرياني المتوسطي ليكون موقعًا للمعرفة يربط أوروبا بأفريقيا
ارتفاع تصنيف الجامعات الرائدة في المنطقة العربية في آخر إصدار من QS World University Rankings (تصنيف QS العالمي للجامعات) 2020
King Abdulaziz University, Malaysian Petronas University Discuss Framing Research-relating Cooperation, Technology Transfer Ways
Closure of the June 2019 Issuance under the Saudi Arabian Government SAR-denominated Sukuk Program
In line with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Directive: HRH Crown Prince Leads KSA Delegation to G20 States' Leaders' Summit, in Japan, Royal Court Announces |
mA-style Architects have designed the Outotunoie House in Fujieda, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
Normally, We make a plan in rural area that have large land compare with urban. It tend to make us feel small about the site in scenery. Therefore, we have to think borderless architectural style that well matched around it. We felt serene from its atmosphere when we saw the surroundings first. Although here is residential area, there are some vacant land and sounds quiet. In the north from the site, we can see large paddy field.
Also, the mountain range extended western and eastern in the distance. For a local people, these are familiar site but it's so beautiful and can not help feeling generous nature. We thought we have to make a plan that harmonize each other house and sight. To do so, we tried to remove the border between inside and outside. By encountering architecture and nature, I tried to find the possibility to bring out both attraction.
The reason why the client chose this site is the scenery extending all over the north.The answer to bring out the attraction of this architecture was making the space that enable to see the whole scenery.To do so, we planned to set the space on purpose. Some place squeezes, and other place opens, and so on. First, we created plane construction that place 2 boxes on the side of the road. These 2 boxes is connected by slab. Then parking space was settled between the boxes. In the 2 boxes, we placed the entrance, children's room, bedroom and wet area that includes kitchen and bath room.
We kept in mind that play the role each other by checking line of flow that easy to live.In addition it, we created panoramic space by protruding cantilever that is supported by 2 boxes. Also, we made big opening as we could for getting wide view. It looks conversely, we made on south side by hollowing slab. Then, courtyard which sunlight and winds are going to and fro, was born. The panoramic space that can see whole direction enabled to feel the nature in daily life.Our client was warred about the water level of the river that flow close to the site.So we lifted up the level of ground line of 2 boxes. The approach is skip floor to panoramic space.
Visit the mA-style Architects website – here. |
It's the same as setting up any business while you're setting up UK based childcare business or daycare business. So, we're here to help you if you're going to start the child care services anytime. What you need first to this business is your wish to establish the visibility. Also, you need suitable people with childcare qualifications and you have access to suitable premises. Moreover, if the service you are planning is the service required by the public, you may also wish to carry out market research to check. But, you can't go without a child care business plan, which plays a vital role to make you successful.
What is UK Based Childcare Business?
In general, UK based childcare business is to care for children under the age of eight on non-domestic location. That is where the period on the premises exceeds two hours in any day during which the children have looked after.
Child care services have many different types, such as full-day care, seasonal care, out of school care; crèches etc. it's to ensure that the setting gives children the best care possible, childcare provides work with carers and parents. It means that if you're doing childcare, you have to do a variety of creative activities. These include making sure they are having fun whilst they are learning and taking them out on trips. From childminders to day nurseries, there are all kinds of settings.
As it's important to know how much demand there is in your area for a new business or service, so you have to do market research. This is also important because all area is not suitable for all type of business. As a result, it's one of the must-to-do things for the UK based childcare business.
Non-domestic premises childcare: This is the type where is not used as a home. Here use a playgroup, pre-school, day nursery, after-school club or breakfast club, and crèche at a gym or shopping center.
Domestic premises childcare: On domestic premises, four or more people looking after children on domestic premises along with childminders and supporting persons.
Childminders: It's not the home of any of the children being cared for where individuals are looking after children on domestic premises.
Home childcarer: It's being cared by a nanny or au pair at home of one or more of the children.
It's important to decide on the age range that you're going to care for the children or young people. Also, different age groups have different requirements of Ofsted. You'll need a good framework if you're caring for children aged between birth and five years old. It sets out the learning requirements, education, and welfare. You can visit the EYFS website for more information. You may want to offer free early education if you're caring for children aged between two and four years old. It's a great benefit to parents because this entitles some two-year-olds and every three and four years old to free part-time early education.
You'll need to get budgets and cash flow forecasts for the business plan. Besides, you have to prepare a good child care business plan along with financial management.
You're legally and financially liable for the decisions you or your organization make if you're starting a business, either as a voluntary management committee or a sole trader, partnership. Also, your personal assets and money could be at risk when you take out insurance that may not cover you completely. So, if you change the legal status of your business to a limited company, you can limit your liability.
It'll depend upon the usable space inside your premises, the number of children you can look after. So, depending on their ages, the "EYFS" framework document tells you how much space is needed for each child. You'll need plenty of storage space for your equipment and enough toilets and washbasins for the children and you should ensure that access is available for those with physical disabilities. Also, they need to play each day in an outside play area. You might like to set up a forest school if your premises have access to nearby woodland.
Besides, you may want to hire a hall for a playgroup or preschool. The list of the halls and venues that are available to hire, will available in the local "District or Borough Council". You'll also find the conditions and the costs there. As it's often available during the daytime because they are often nonprofit making enterprises, you can consider properties including sports pavilions and uniformed youth organizations HQ buildings. Moreover, your hire fees will benefit the whole community and help them as well.
In addition, you can try a local estate agent who deals with commercial properties or tries searching online when you're thinking about buying a property to use. But, remember you may have pay VAT on top of the rent before you rent a commercial property. You may need to apply for planning consent for change of use because commercial premises need to have a D1 Business use classification.
You have to make an estimate of how many staff you need to employ. It depends on how old they are and how many children you look after. For details see EYFS from page 22, section 3.31. Besides, except in a small number of circumstances, your businesses offering childcare must register with Ofsted. If you want to learn details, follow the website of the Ofsted. This organization manages two registrations, such as Childcare Register and the Early Years Register. There are the Compulsory Childcare Register and the Voluntary Childcare Register in the Childcare Register.
If you want to market your business effectively, you must think of the good ways. This is because the marketing of any business draws the attraction of customers. And without customers, you can't run your business anymore. For the startup costs, you may need a lot of money to cover things like staff costs, equipment, premises, and marketing when you're setting up a business. If you need, you can apply for our start-up grant for the childcare business.
When you're thinking of starting a new the UK based childcare business, you have to consider a lot of things. We have made a good arrangement of them as above. If you follow them, you'll get success definitely. So, starting a childcare business is easy if you can do these correctly. Also, let us know if you need anything more to know. And share your experience by commenting in the comment section below. Till then Good Luck! |
Who does not know Yoplait and its policy to ensure that it enables its customers to afford just about every of its commodities? They have done it again with their Yoplait smoothie coupons. These coupons have got several features that make them very adorable and ones to look out for. The truth is that smoothies are liked by many young ones and the elderly. Sometimes parents may shun passing by places where smoothies are sold openly for fear of being pressured into buying some for their kids. Of course, they know that their kids will not agree to be told that they can only eat the smoothies next time; what they see now is what they should get. Such are the rules for children and rules of this nature really frustrate parents. But the time for frustrations is over; it is now time to turn to Yoplait smoothie coupons.
These coupons will save you from those headaches you have over spending too much on smoothies for your kids. When you buy these coupons you will be entitled to buy any flavor of the smoothie at a reduced price. Smoothies come in different flavors and all these flavors will be yours at a giveaway price for as long you have the coupon right at your finger-tips.
Yoplait smoothie coupons are usually printable. This means that you can print them out from any website that has the coupon print icon. If you are wondering about how to find the coupon, then you can go to the internet and simply type the coupon in any search engine of your choice. Several locations or websites offering the coupon will be revealed to you and it will be up to you to choose the coupon of your choice.
If you are looking for more Yoplait smoothie coupons, then do no worry. All you have to do is go to any coupon website and search for Yoplait coupons. This is because the coupons are one of the most renowned, so finding them is not an issue. Besides, the coupons have got very inviting offers for every customer out there. For example, using these coupons a customer is entitled to a saving of up to $1 for every frozen smoothie that they buy. The direct meaning of this offer is that if you want to purchase 20 smoothies, you will walk away with $20 worth of extra money.
Some people may not come to an understanding of why the Yoplait smoothie coupons are important. But this is because they do not know the nutrition value that is associated with the frozen smoothies. The truth is that a single smoothie is as good as a serving of a full fruit. Since they come in three flavors, it is entirely up to you to take your pick. Whether you like it or not, smoothies are a great substitution for ice cream of any kind. From the smoothies, you can get a lot of Vitamin C; which is good as an antioxidant. |
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Two wrongs don't make a right
Ghassan Khatib
The horrible murder that took place in the Israeli settlement of Itamar in the West Bank and the killing of a family, including three Israeli children, by an unknown assailant was condemned in the strongest possible language by many Palestinian officials, opposition and opinion leaders and journalists.
The exploitation of the deaths of those children for a political agenda, however, is terrible.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the rest of his right-wing government launched a further expansion of settlements as a response to that murder. They used this human tragedy to justify further building illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, which is simply another wrong.
The other Israeli response to this murder was to accuse the Palestinian Authority of incitement, which Israel said was responsible for such an act. In fact, this is not a responsible attitude as much as it is itself a form of incitement against Palestinians by the Israeli government–incitement that has been leading to the increased settler violence that has marked the last two or three months.
The Palestinian Authority has shown a firm and long-standing commitment to non-violence. It has achieved a sustained period of stability, one acknowledged by the international community and, in many cases, by Israeli officials themselves. In addition, the Palestinian Authority has acted against incitement in ways mentioned by commentators in the international community.
Israelis need to be reminded that the most obvious and effective form of incitement for the Palestinian people is the Israeli occupation and its daily practices. The capricious Israeli control regime, the humiliation of the Israeli army, the continuous killing of innocent Palestinian civilians, the ongoing burning and uprooting of trees and other forms of restrictions and violence is the real contributor to increasing hostility and hatred.
There are two choices in front of the Israeli people and its leadership. One is to continue consolidating the occupation and encouraging and facilitating growing racism in Israel and among Israeli settlers in the occupied territories. This path means legitimizing the illegal and violent activities of the settlers, which will definitely contribute to further deepening the hostilities between the two sides and encourage both Israelis and Palestinians to pursue illegal and violent activities, attitudes and expressions.
The other choice is to adopt a strategy of rolling back the occupation and reeducating Israelis on the basis of the two-state solution and the need for mutual respect and recognition between Israelis and Palestinians. This means telling the Israeli public that Israel can have peace only within its own borders, not while infringing on the basic rights of the Palestinians.
Bilateral relations and negotiations have so far failed in this direction. And the tolerance of the international community for Israel's attitudes has contributed.
Incitement, a charge periodically raised by Israelis, is one example. The Israelis have their own definition of incitement that is applied to Palestinians without any acknowledgment of obvious Israeli policies and practices that incite Israelis (particularly settlers) and encourage aggressive and violent tendencies.
The Palestinian leadership has responded by challenging Israel to agree to the establishment of a committee that would include a third-party representative of the international community, with the task of developing incitement definitions and applying it equally to both sides.
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Ghassan Khatib is minister of labor in the Palestinian Authority cabinet and has served for many years as a political analyst and media contact. He is featured on Media Monitors Network (MMN) with the courtesy of "Bitter Lemons."
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Archiproducts is the Archipassport group portal dedicated to Design and Architecture. Over 3,500 international brands have already chosen to publish their catalogs on Archiproducts for them to be available to a qualified audience and make contact with professionals and enthusiasts throughout the world. The community of Archiproducts has over 1.7 million registered users looking for the perfect product to use in their projects or, more simply, something to acquire to complement the décor of the home or professional environments. With a series of specials on the most important international trade fairs, a magazine updated daily with the latest news from the world of design and architecture and product selections curated by a team of experts, Archiproducts is an online reference for those who want to be inspired, plan and purchase only 100% original design.
What can I do on Archiproducts?
On Archiproducts you can: Browse and download online catalogs of over 3,500 international brands, buy the product you desire directly on Archiproducts Shop, find out about the latest news from the world of Design and Architecture by consulting the Magazine and Trade Fairs sections, creating your own personal wish-list in MyProducts and be inspired by the selections chosen by an international team of professionals.
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To stay updated on the latest news from the world of Design by browsing within the Magazine and Trade Fairs sections you don't need to be a registered user. To purchase, request information, download company catalogs and BIM product models and take advantage of special offers and discount codes in the Archiproducts Shop, however, you must be a registered user on Archiproducts. You can create your own profile free of charge at any time by clicking Sign In.
Archiproducts is the Archipassport group portal dedicated to Design and Architecture. Over 3,500 international brands have already chosen to publish their catalogs on Archiproducts to make them available to a qualified audience and make contact with professionals and enthusiasts throughout the world. The community of Archiproducts has over 1.7 million registered users looking for the perfect product to use in their projects or, more simply, something to acquire to complement home décor or professional environments. With a series of Specials on the most important international trade fairs, a magazine updated daily with the latest news from the world of Design and Architecture and product selections curated by a team of experts, Archiproducts is an online reference for those who want to be inspired, plan and purchase only 100% original design.
What does the Archiproducts membership include?
The Archiproducts Membership includes annual publishing of an unlimited number of product sheets, realization of your 3D models, translation of content and visibility in 10 languages, editorial coverage, focus signaling, the ability to directly sell your products on Archiproducts Shop, creation of your own virtual showroom, references and tagging of your products in projects posted on Archilovers and periodic updates with statistics and relative data on the performance of your brand and your products. To activate an Archiproducts membership and discover all the benefits of your subscription please contact our team.
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Copy-pasting of data between different formats is extremely resource-intensive work. At 3SPL, we provide cost-friendly copy paste services and other data-processing services. Our trained and qualified teams, strong process methodologies, security measures and quality assurance processes assure you of accurate and reliable copy-paste services. Stop spending time, money and staff on data copy-paste services when there is an easy, cost-effective way to do it!
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Our story began like many of yours. We are Millennials born between 1980 and 2000 into a world full of futuristic technological advances, a labor market that values intellectual over physical prowess, and psychological climate that emphasized the importance of high self-esteem and sharing our feelings to resolve conflicts.
Our parents, many of whom are Baby Boomers, grew up during a time of significant social turmoil and began rejecting the norms their parents had instilled in them. Although they still value hard work and loyalty to an organization, Boomers also raised their children to value creativity and independence, and to believe in their own sense of specialness. For the younger members of our Millennial cohort with Gen X parents, these parenting values are especially common.
So by the time we reach adulthood, we have a firm subconscious belief that we can achieve anything and (due to the instant gratification culture we grew up in) that instant success is a real thing we deserve and can expect in our lives.
We are idealistic, creative, and greatly value meaningful work. Many of us are driven by our passions and our dreams, but because we have often been protected from failure by our folks or our educational system via "participation trophies" and grading curves, we subconsciously find ourselves giving up on our dreams because we interpret failure as a bad thing.
In online communities, the persistent social comparison in which we engage simultaneously inflates and demolishes our sense of "specialness," leaving us feeling both validated and wanting more. The truth is, in many ways the human desire to be liked and feel community is exacerbated by our ability to connect with millions of people of over the world. Expending energy pursuing an overabundance of potential connections can ironically leave us feeling deprived of meaningful community and relationships.
While social media can be used as a beautiful tool, the quantification of our popularity and the rise of internet stardom further distort our sense of true self-worth, self-love and self-compassion.
The good news is, there is hope! Honestly, when we are asked to describe the Millennial generation, the characteristic we highlight is hope. Many of us came of age through 9/11 and the economic downturn, which left us with a desire to serve, to make the world a better place, and to forge ahead in the face of financial adversity.
This means many of us are willing to take low-paying jobs so we can pursue our creativity, our dreams, or whatever gives our lives purpose and meaning. Millennials have a foundation for success, in large part because we believe it is possible!
This is where the story of Motivational Millennial begins. We (Ivy and Blake) left stable careers in the pursuit of our dreams and over the course of time have come up against struggles for which we were totally unprepared.
The worst challenges of all have been internal. Being told our whole lives "You can achieve anything!" gave us a firm sense of idealism but also left us subconsciously believing that achievement should be easy. Let's face it: members of our generation often feel that if something is hard it means we aren't meant to do it, and we end up changing our paths dozens of times.
What we weren't taught often enough is that failure is a part of the process. Every single successful person has experienced failure before reaching their goals, and most of the time they've experienced it more than once! When you have a dream and a firm understanding that the path will be harder than you expect, you are more capable of maintaining the emotional resilience and fortitude that result in true success.
At Motivational Millennial, we want to foster the bravery and idealism that Millennials already have and provide tools to help them figure out what gives them a sense of purpose in life. We also want to guide them in designing and achieving their dreams, no matter what obstacles they face.
As personal development professionals, we value personal growth, authentic self-reflection, community, and the courage to move forward in the face of fear. On our journey to build and grow successful companies, we have learned many insights and strategies, and we will only continue to acquire more!
Join us and other Millennials who are living life with a sense of purpose and achieving their goals! |
UG Parliament: Majority Caucus petitions Speaker over academic, residential fees increment
Published by admin on December 8, 2022
The Majority Caucus of the University of Ghana's Parliament has petitioned the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana to intervene in a proposed 50% increment in academic and residential fees in public universities for the 2022/2023 academic year.
In a letter to the Parliament of Ghana, they said the timing of the fees increment is unfortunate and unfavourable taking into consideration the prevailing harsh economic condition in the country.
They noted among other things that, "the 40.4% inflation rate for October 2022 has contributed negatively to the standard of living of families whose wages are not meaningful. An increment in academic and residential fees by 50% will mean that these families will have to crack the nut to be able to fend for the academic needs of their wards in public universities in Ghana."
They are thus calling on the Parliament of Ghana to engage the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission on the proposed fees increment.
"That even if there is still the need for an increment in academic and residential fees for the 2022/2023 academic year, it should not be anything more than a 10% to 15%," the petition added.
See the full petition below;
Source: JoyOnline |
Q: Hive error TSocket read 0 bytes and TTransportException I am busy upgrading our AWS EMR cluster to a newer version and I have started running into issues.
The errors are only occur on the newer version (Hive 3.1.3).
All my queries run fine on the older version (Hive 2.8.5)
The error I get when trying to insert into or insert overwrite is:
Could not connect to any of [('IP', port)] (code THRIFTTRANSPORT): TTransportException("Could not connect to any of [('IP', port)]",)
AND
TSocket read 0 bytes
I use Hive to do some ETL.
We host an EMR cluster that uses Hive, Hue, Tez, Pig.
The tables are build as external tables on parquet files stored in S3.
Some of these tables are partitioned.
On the current version, these are the sets I use before running the queries:
SET hive.vectorized.execution.enabled = true;
SET hive.vectorized.execution.reduce.enabled = true;
SET hive.vectorized.execution.reduce.groupby.enabled = true;
SET hive.cbo.enable=true;
SET hive.compute.query.using.stats=true;
SET hive.stats.fetch.column.stats=true;
SET hive.stats.fetch.partition.stats=true;
SET hive.execution.engine=mr;
SET hive.exec.parallel=true;
SET hive.exec.dynamic.partition.mode=nonstrict;
SET hive.exec.max.dynamic.partitions=10000;
SET hive.exec.max.dynamic.partitions.pernode=10000;
SET hive.exec.max.created.files=500000;
SET hive.metastore.sasl.enabled = true; --Newly add this but still getting these errors
On the later version this set no longer works:
SET hive.stats.fetch.partition.stats=true;
Current Version:
Release label:emr-5.27.0
Hadoop distribution:Amazon 2.8.5
Applications:Hive 2.3.5, Hue 4.4.0, Tez 0.9.2, Pig 0.17.0, Hadoop 2.8.5
Wanted version:
Release label:emr-6.7.0
Hadoop distribution:Amazon 3.2.1
Applications:Hive 3.1.3, Hue 4.10.0, Tez 0.9.2, Pig 0.17.0, Hadoop 3.2.1
Are there SET's that I am missing or is there something else I am missing?
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
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