text:
2020 Educational Staff
STAFF COORDINATOR - Christopher Feist
Christopher is beyond excited to be entering his 18th consecutive year with the Buccaneers (20th overall) and fifth full year as staff coordinator. He has been involved in the drum corps activity for more than thirty years as a performer, arranger, teacher, coordinator, consultant, and well-respected judge in the tri-state area. With a unique blend of leadership and teaching ability, Chris has become a stalwart presence in the Buccaneers, and his influence in the drum corps activity runs deep. He attributes this to the exposure and mentorship of so many HOF influences throughout his drum corps career. Feist eagerly accepts the challenge to be a positive liaison between our staff and administration in order to ensure the best possible experience for our membership. Christopher was inducted into the Buccaneers Hall of Fame in 2009. He is a proud twenty-three year employee of the USPS and happily lives in the Reading area with his fiancé Julia and their lab pup "Rowdy."
PROGRAM COORDINATOR AND VISUAL DESIGNER- Bobby Jones
Bobby Jones is a Visual Designer and Program Consultant for a multitude of high school and university marching bands, drum corps, winter guards, and indoor percussion ensembles throughout the country. In the past, Bobby has been the Visual Designer and Caption Head for the 2006 Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps (Allentown, PA) and the 2007 Hawthorne Caballeros Drum & Bugle Corps (Hawthorne, NJ). Currently, Bobby serves as the drill designer for the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps (Allentown, PA) and will be returning this upcoming season. Most notably Bobby has played an integral part in the success of the Reading Buccaneers Drum & Bugle Corps (Reading, PA) serving as Visual Designer and Caption Head in 2005 and from 2008-2011, and as Visual Designer and Program Coordinator from 2012 to the present. This past season, the Reading Buccaneers earned the 2017 World Championship title, making that Bobby's ninth world title with the corps. Bobby has been recognized by his peers and colleagues for his accomplishments and contributions to the drum corps community with induction into the Reading Buccaneers Hall of Fame in 2014 and into the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame in 2016. Bobby also works as a freelance adjudicator, judging for multiple indoor and outdoor circuits across the country, including WGI Percussion.
Bobby lives in New York with his wife Amy and pup pup Myron.
BRASS PROGRAM AND MUSIC CONSULTANT - Gino Cipriani
Gino Cipriani received his Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Education from the University of Mississippi and his Master of Science in Music Education from Towson University. Gino has served as a consultant to Marching Bands, Jazz Bands, Concert Bands as well as Drum and Bugle Corps across the United States, Japan, Thailand, England, Canada and Korea. In Korea, he had the pleasure of working with the Korean Armed Forces Bands in preparation of the World Cup Ceremonies in 2002. In addition, Gino serves as an adjudicator at marching band competitions throughout the United States.
Gino spent ten years, 1990 through 1999, as a brass instructor for the sixteen-time World Champion Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. In 2004, Gino held the brass caption head position for the six-time World Champion Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps. From 2001 to 2004, he headed the brass section of the five-time DCA champion Syracuse Brigadiers. From 2007 to 2010 he took the position of Brass Caption Head for the DCA world champion Reading Buccaneers. Gino served as the Brass Caption Supervisor with The Cadets in 2000 and 2001 and from 2005 through 2016. During his time with the Cadets, he led the brass program to three DCI World Championship titles in 2000, 2005 and 2011.
Currently, Gino works for Inspire Arts & Music as the Director of Music, which includes the role of Assistant Music Coordinator and Brass Caption Supervisor for the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps. He also holds the position of Associate Band Director at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA.
ENSEMBLE SUPERVISOR AND PROGRAM CONSULTANT - Mark Thurston
Mark's biography is coming soon!
BRASS ARRANGER - Dr. Mark Lortz
Dr. Mark Lortz has earned accolades a composer, arranger, performer and educator. In the fall of 2011, he was appointed as the Director of Bands at Stevenson University (Stevenson, MD). In addition to his position at Stevenson University, he is an adjunct Music Education Professor at McDaniel and Carroll Community Colleges. Prior to his Stevenson university appointment, Mr. Lortz was the Fine Arts Department Chair and Band and Orchestra director at Westminster High School (Westminster, Maryland) from 1996-2011. Under his leadership, the Westminster High School Music Department received awards from the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) and the Maryland Music Educators Association (MMEA) for exemplary music programs. The Westminster High School Marching Band won several Bands of America (BOA) Regional Marching Band Championship titles and the music department was selected as a national, semifinalist Grammy Signature School.
Dr. Lortz has earned a University Fellowship at the Boyer College of Music and Dance of Temple University, and is currently pursuing his Music Education doctoral degree. He has earned degrees in percussion performance, music education and music composition from The Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University. Versed in all styles of music, he served as Associate Music Director and Principal Percussionist for the North American tour of "Phantom of the Opera," and was the Principal Percussionist with The Dallas Brass. He has performed and recorded both as a member and soloist with many of the country's premier orchestras, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Lortz's original music has been premiered at the prestigious Mid West Band and Orchestra Clinic, Bands of America National Percussion Festival, College Band Directors National Association, universities, music schools, conservatories and high schools throughout the nation. In 2013, the World Champion Baltimore Ravens commissioned him to compose a new piece for the Baltimore Ravens Marching Band. This piece, "The Caw of the Wild" is now performed at every Ravens home football game. Mr. Lortz's music is published by the FJH, Northeastern and TRN music publishers and has been favorably reviewed by Gramophone and The Instrumentalist magazines. His compositions have been listed in Bandworld magazine's Top 100 list of band compositions, and the sheet music company JW Pepper has selected his music for their prestigious Editor's Choice list. Currently, he is the brass arranger for the world champion Drum Corps Associates Drum & Bugle Corps, The Reading Buccaneers, and has arranged marching band music for high schools and colleges throughout the country. Dr. Lortz is a Marching Percussion Specialist and Scholastic Educator for the Vic Firth Percussion Education Program. He has been recognized as one of the "50 Directors Who Make a Difference" by School Band & Orchestra magazine and has received composition awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Dr. Lortz is in demand as an adjudicator and guest conductor throughout the country.
mark.lortz@gmail.com
BATTERY ARRANGER AND PERCUSSION CAPTION HEAD - Johnny Trujillo
Johnny Trujillo is proud to be returning to the Reading Buccaneers for his 12th season. He began teaching the corp's percussion section in 2007 and became the caption supervisor and battery arranger in 2012. Johnny Trujillo's experience in drum corps started in 2001 marching 3 years in the Phoenix Drum and Bugle Corps (NJ), then 1 year (2004) in The Bushwhackers Drum and Bugle Corps (NJ). He spent his last 2 years (2005 and 2006) with the Cadets where he aged out. From 2011-2013, he also taught the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps as a part of the percussion instructional team.
Johnny graduated from West Chester University in 2006 with a degree in music education and began his tenure at Norristown Area High School (PA) where he directed the concert band band, marching band, and indoor ensembles, as well as taught piano courses. He has also been an adjudicator (2010-present) for both USBANDS and Calvalcade of Bands in their outdoor and indoor circuits. In the spring of 2014, he earned his masters degree in education from Cabrini College (PA). Johnny is currently a middle school band director and general music teacher at East Norriton Middle School and resides with his wife and wonderful family in Phoenixville,
Meet Johnny's 2020 Percussion Staff
FRONT ENSEMBLE ARRANGER/COORDINATION AND SOUND DESIGNER - Grant Butters
Grant Butters is excited to enter his 3rd season with the Buccaneers. He earned his Bachelors Degree in music business from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania. As a performer, he was a member of DCA's Hawthorne Caballeros in 2009 and 2012. Grant also marched in DCI with the Glassmen in 2010. Throughout his performing career, Grant has had the privilege of being taught by Marc Garside, Conrad Alexander, David Dumont and Rob Ferguson. His most notable teaching experience was with the Penn State Indoor Drumline in 2013, the Hawthorne Caballeros from 2013-2015, the George Mason Indoor Drumline in 2015, and the Reading Buccaneers from 2018-present. Grant is currently a designer and consultant to numerous groups in the north east. Under his direction the South County indoor drumline has grown into a WGI Percussion Scholastic World Class Finalist. Grant is also on the board of directors for the Atlantic Indoor Association.
Grant Endorses Innovative Percussion Inc.
VISUAL CAPTION HEAD - David Caravella
Mr. David Mario Caravella is excited to be returning for his seventh year on the visual staff of the Reading Buccaneers and second year as visual caption head.
Dave has been involved with the drum & bugle corps activity since 2001 as a performer with corps such as the Raiders ('01-'03), Cadets of Bergen County ('04) and the Concord Blue Devils ('05-'06). After aging out, Dave went on to teach various drum corps including the Raiders in '07-'09 as a field technician and later returning to lead the visual team in '13-'14, the Cadets2 brass staff ('12), and the Reading Buccaneers ('10-'11, '15-present).
As a drill designer, Dave has been writing shows for numerous high school marching bands and drum corps in the New Jersey area including Kearny High School, Rahway High School, Livingston High School, Morris Knolls High School, the Raiders Drum & Bugle Corps ('14), and the Bushwackers Drum & Bugle Corps ('13-'14).
Mr. Caravella is an alumnus of Montclair State University Class of 2008, with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education. During his time at Montclair, he studied with renowned euphonium professors Dr. Mary Ann Craig and Mr. John Palatucci. He is also a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
Dave currently resides in Paramus, New Jersey and is the full time director of bands at Lincoln Middle School in Kearny as well as the director of the Kearny High School Marching Band. He is also an adjudicator of marching band contests with USBands.
Meet David's Visual Team for 2020
BRASS CAPTION HEAD - Victor Cummings
Victor Cummings is excited to begin his 8th season with the Buccaneers returning for his 3rd year as Brass Caption Head.
Victor went to The University of the Arts for Jazz Studies and West Chester University, where he received a Bachelor of Music Education degree, and Master of Trumpet Performance degree. After getting his undergraduate degree from WCU Victor started working in the Upper Darby School District where he taught for 11 1/2 years. He is currently the Band Director at Chichester High School where he teaches Concert Band, Jazz Band, Marching Band, AP Music Theory, Guitar, and Music Exploration.
Victor has marched with The Jersey Surf, in '98 (Baritone), '99 (Soprano), '02 (Mellophone), and '03 (Soprano), after which he joined the Reading Buccaneers from 2009-2011 on Trumpet. After his 3rd year marching with the Bucs he returned to tech the trumpet section for 2012 and 2013.
Victor currently resides in Upper Chichester, PA, plays with the rock band Whiskey Logic, and is a freelance trumpet player.
Meet Victor's 2020 Brass Staff
brass@readingbuccaneers.org
COLOR GUARD CAPTION HEAD AND DESIGNER - Nicholas Tavares
Nicholas Tavares returns to the Reading Buccaneers for his eleventh summer of involvement with the Reading Buccaneers. He spent three summers as a performer, three summers as a member of the Color Guard Tech Staff and 2019 will mark his fifth year as the Caption Head and Designer.
Nicholas resides in Wilmington, Delaware and is very involved in the color guard activity in the area. He is currently the director of guards at Middletown High School in Middletown, Delaware and has led the group to numerous award and accolades over the last seven years to include recently being named the TOB Group 3 Open High Auxiliary winner. After many successful seasons of the Reading Buccaneers Color Guard having an unofficial working partnership with Field of View (WGI Open Class), in the winter of 2019, Nicholas will be joining their design and technical staff.
In the past, Nicholas has been fortunate to have worked with a number of groups in the Mid-Atlantic region to including Cab Calloway School of the Arts, William Penn High School, McKean High School, Brandywine High School, Apex, Bpex and Cpex Winter Guard, Haverford High School, Ridley High School and Mount Pleasant High School. Nicholas has had an extensive marching career to include, Reading Buccaneers 2009-2011, Black Watch Color Guard 2009-2010, Apex Winter Guard 1999-2003, 2005-2008, Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps 2000 and Brandywine High School 1996-1998. During the fall of 2016, Nicholas began his judging career with the National Judges Association in the area of Auxiliary.
Nicholas holds a degree in Early Childhood Education and Development and is the Program Coordinator at the Siegel Jewish Community Center: Early Childhood Center in Wilmington, Delaware.
Nicholas is extremely passionate about the performing arts and is honored to continue working with the Buccaneers this summer.
Meet Nick's 2019 Color Guard Staff
COLOR GUARD CHOREOGRAPHER AND DESIGNER - Shannon Hall
Shannon Hall returns to the Reading Buccaneers for his 10th summer as the Color Guard Designer. This year also marks his 12th year of involvement with the corps, having been a performer for four years and caption head for three.
Shannon has performed with the Reading Buccaneers in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013. He has also performed with the Black Watch Color Guard from 2006-2010, and 2012-2016, and held the position of Captain since 2014.
Shannon has actively been involved in the marching arts across the Mid-Atlantic area through teaching and consulting with a variety of groups. He has worked with Pennsauken HS (NJ), Allentown HS (NJ), Broadneck HS (MD), and William Penn HS (DE) and the Black Watch Color Guard. Since 2013, Shannon has been a designer/choreographer for Middletown HS, in Middletown, Delaware, teaching their Cavaliers Marching Band, Independent Intermediate and Scholastic A Winter Guards. He has helped these groups achieve numerous awards and accolades, and will continue to develop and grow the Middletown programs. This winter will also mark Shannon's first year as a designer and choreographer for the Field of View Winter Guard.
Shannon is extremely excited to return to the Bucs, because he gets to work with such talented and educated instructors and world class performers.


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Bourbon Barrel Foods Pure Cane Sweet Sorghum is estate grown from a single crop, harvested by hand, and processed by their friend Danny Ray Townsend from Townsend's Sorghum Mill.
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Ingredients: 100% pure Kentucky Sorghum.
8 fl oz (240 ml) resealable can. Refrigerate after opening.


text:
Home / Blog / Florida Supreme Court disbars lawyer for, inter alia, making agreement with defendant for payment to make the case "go away" while representing victim
Florida Supreme Court disbars lawyer for, inter alia, making agreement with defendant for payment to make the case "go away" while representing victim
Hello everyone and welcome to this Ethics Alert blog (with a corrected title) which discusses the recent the Florida Supreme Court Order which upheld a referee's report and disbarred a Florida lawyer for, inter alia, making an agreement with a defendant in a criminal matter for payment to make the criminal case "go away" while representing the victim in the same case. The case is: The Florida Bar v. Mark F. Germain, SC12-1981 and SC12-2289 (July 8, 2014) and the Order is here: https://www.floridasupremecourt.org/clerk/dispositions/2014/07/12-1981_12-2289.pdf.
According to the referee's report, which was adopted by the Florida Supreme Court, Jeffrey Bowman was arrested in Lake County, Florida on or about July 1, 2011, following an alleged domestic battery on Bonnie DePaolo. Bowman was later released and ordered to have no contact with DePaolo as a condition of his pretrial release. An Assistant State Attorney met DePaolo on the day of Bowman's bond hearing and she said that she was very upset that Bowman was bonding out of jail.
According to testimony by the lawyer, Bowman was the subject of a 2007 injunction regarding DePaolo and she also went to the hospital after the incident for the injuries Bowman allegedly caused. DePaolo's sister, Rita Hazlett, testified that, while DePaolo was staying with, a Sheriff's deputy came to her house to warn her that Bowman had threatened to kill her and that he came into her yard, angry and waving a gun.
In early July 2011, the lawyer agreed to represent DePaolo, the victim in the matter. The lawyer then called the defendant, Bowman, and requested a meeting at a restaurant in order to make it "all go away." Bowman testified that they discussed getting his belongings back and dropping the prosecution for "cash." Bowman did not agree to this, and the settlement was not finalized.
The lawyer then called attorney John Bruce Bowman, the brother of Bowman, and suggested to him that Bowman pay a "substantial" amount of money to avoid prosecution. Attorney Bowman told him that the suggestion was extortion and he would not be a part of it. Attorney Bowman later reviewed a settlement agreement that was negotiated between Bowman and the lawyer. He also stated that the lawyer never discussed a civil settlement or claim and that the telephone call was about "saving money with a criminal lawyer and getting money to resolve a criminal matter."
The lawyer testified that the content of the proposed settlement agreement was in an e-mail he sent to Jeffrey Bowman and attorney Bowman; however, attorney Bowman apparently never received a copy of any e-mail because of a "faulty e-mail address". The lawyer also did not have DePaolo's medical bills at the time of the agreement, which later exceeded $3,000.00.
The lawyer tried to resolve the criminal case before a July 14, 2011 meeting between the Assistant State Attorney and DePaolo so that Bowman would not have to "spend money" on a criminal defense attorney. The lawyer testified that he was aware of the Bar rules prohibiting compensating people to drop criminal charges and that he did not call the Florida Bar Hotline during the preparation of the agreement.
The lawyer then prepared a settlement agreement in which DePaolo would sign an Intent Not to Prosecute and "in good faith make every effort to ensure that there is no prosecution." The agreement also contained the following statement: "I, attorney Mark F. Germain, hereby acknowledge receipt of $1,500 from Jeffrey ALLEN BOWMAN on behalf of BONNIE DEPAOLO as compensation for the concessions made herein." (emphasis supplied). The agreement was signed July 10, 2011, by both the lawyer and DePaolo; however, the lawyer never received the $1,500.00 from Jeffrey Bowman.
Soon after the agreement was signed, the lawyer called attorney James Hope, who was his supervising attorney for probation imposed in a previous Bar matter, regarding the agreement. "Mr. Hope dissuaded (the lawyer) from using the language in paragraph three, but (the lawyer) continued to press as to why he thought the language was appropriate. Mr. Hope told (the lawyer), 'I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole.' (The lawyer) then admitted that the agreement was not a proposal, and that he had already signed it."
The referee found that the lawyer did not competently in representing DePaolo, including the failure to obtain an injunction, which would have "greater enforceability and consequences for violation than a 'no contact' order from first appearance (an order prohibiting contact with Ms. DePaolo as a condition of pretrial release). He also waived her ability to seek personal injury damages, without knowing what those damages were, and then encouraged settlement for a sum of money far below the actual costs she incurred for medical treatment."
The referee also found "(the lawyer) also discouraged the criminal prosecution of the 'perpetrator' in this case, which prosecution may have resulted in further protections and restitution for Ms. DePaolo. He attempted to negotiate a settlement which was beneficial to Jeffrey Bowman and detrimental to Bonnie DePaolo, and he attempted to extort funds from Jeffrey Bowman in exchange for a declination of prosecution. In addition to the harm this caused to Ms. DePaolo, Respondent ultimately interfered with the State's prosecution of Jeffrey Bowman by negotiating terms encouraging Ms. DePaolo's non-participation as a witness in the case."
The referee also found that "(the lawyer) was misleading during the Bar's investigation of this matter. For example, he prepared two affidavits for Ms. DePaolo, which were at best self-serving testimony, and were not accurate. During the hearing, Ms. DePaolo could not even read portions of the Affidavits, and it was clear that the contents were not her testimony. These affidavits were prepared at critical points in the disciplinary process. (The lawyer) also gave deposition testimony that was not accurate."
After listing the Bar Rules that the lawyer violated, including 4-1.1, 4-1.7(a)(2), 4-3.4(b), 4-8.4(a), and 4-8.4(d), applying the Florida Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, mitigation and aggravation, and case law, the referee recommended that the lawyer be held in contempt of his probation and permanently disbarred. In a one page Order, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the referee's findings and found the lawyer in contempt; however, the Court reduced the permanent disbarment to a 5 year disbarment.
Bottom line: This is a somewhat bizarre set of facts to say the least and, according to the referee's report, the lawyer apparently knew that what he was doing was a violation of the Bar rules. He will now have 5 plus years to think about it.
Disclaimer: this Ethics Alert blog is not an advertisement and does not contain any legal advice and the comments herein should not be relied upon by anyone who reads it.
By Thomas Bonte | Published July 30, 2014 | Posted in Attorney discipline, Florida Lawyer Ethics and Professionalism, Joe corsmeier, Joseph Corsmeier, Lawyer disbarment, Lawyer discipline, Lawyer ethics, Lawyer Ethics and Professionalism, Lawyer lack of competence, Lawyer lack of diligence, Lawyer sanctions | Tagged Attorney Ethics, Bar ethics rules, corsmeier, Florida Bar, Florida Bar discipline, joseph corsmeier, lawyer discipline

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
package com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.rest;

import static com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.gson.GsonUtilities.jobject;
import static com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.gson.GsonUtilities.jstring;
import static com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.ConditionTesterImpl.trace;
import static java.util.Objects.requireNonNull;

import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Set;
import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
import java.util.concurrent.Future;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
import java.util.function.Function;

import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
import com.ibm.streams.flow.handlers.StreamHandler;
import com.ibm.streams.operator.Tuple;
import com.ibm.streamsx.rest.Instance;
import com.ibm.streamsx.rest.Job;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.TSink;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.TStream;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.context.StreamsContext;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.function.Consumer;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.context.remote.SubmissionResultsKeys;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.ConditionTesterImpl;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.TesterRuntime;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.conditions.ContentsUserCondition;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.conditions.CounterUserCondition;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.conditions.NoStreamCondition;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.conditions.StringPredicateUserCondition;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.conditions.UserCondition;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.fns.StringPredicateChecker;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.fns.TupleContents;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.internal.tester.fns.TupleCount;
import com.ibm.streamsx.topology.tester.Condition;

public class RESTTesterRuntime extends TesterRuntime {

    private int id;
    protected final MetricConditionChecker metricsChecker;
    private final Function<JsonObject, Callable<Instance>> instanceSupplier;

    public RESTTesterRuntime(ConditionTesterImpl tester, Function<JsonObject, Callable<Instance>> instanceSupplier) {
        super(tester);
        this.instanceSupplier = instanceSupplier;
        metricsChecker = new MetricConditionChecker();
    }

    @Override
    public void start(Object info) throws Exception {

        JsonObject deployment = (JsonObject) info;

        JsonObject submission = jobject(deployment, "submissionResults");
        requireNonNull(submission);

        String jobId = jstring(submission, SubmissionResultsKeys.JOB_ID);
        requireNonNull(jobId);

        trace.info("Testing topology:" +
            topology().getNamespace() + "::" + topology().getName() + " JobId:" + jobId);

        Job job = instanceSupplier.apply(deployment).call().getJob(jobId);

        metricsChecker.setup(job);
    }

    @Override
    public void shutdown(Future<?> future, TestState state) throws Exception {
        metricsChecker.shutdown(state);
    }

    @Override
    public void finalizeTester(Map<TStream<?>, Set<StreamHandler<Tuple>>> handlers,
            Map<TStream<?>, Set<UserCondition<?>>> conditions) throws Exception {

        // REST api does not support handlers.
        if (!handlers.isEmpty())
            throw new UnsupportedOperationException();

        for (TStream<?> stream : conditions.keySet()) {
            for (UserCondition<?> uc : conditions.get(stream)) {
                if (stream != null)
                    addConditionToStream(stream, uc);
                else
                    addNoStreamCondition((NoStreamCondition) uc);
            }
        }
    }

    /**
     * Add the conditions as for each operators that monitor the
     * condition and sets metrics.
     *
     * Then create a condition implementation that will monitor the
     * metrics using the REST api and link it to the user condition.
     */
    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    private void addConditionToStream(TStream<?> stream, UserCondition<?> userCondition) {

        MetricCondition<?> condition = null;
        String name = null;
        Consumer<Object> fn = null;

        if (userCondition instanceof CounterUserCondition) {

            CounterUserCondition uc = (CounterUserCondition) userCondition;

            name = "count_" + id++;
            fn = new TupleCount<Object>(name, uc.getExpected(), uc.isExact());

            condition = new CounterMetricCondition(name, uc);

        } else if (userCondition instanceof ContentsUserCondition) {
            ContentsUserCondition<Object> uc = (ContentsUserCondition<Object>) userCondition;

            name = "contents_" + id++;
            fn = new TupleContents<Object>(name, uc.isOrdered(), uc.getExpected());

            condition = new MetricCondition<Object>(name, (UserCondition<Object>) userCondition);
        } else if (userCondition instanceof StringPredicateUserCondition) {
            StringPredicateUserCondition uc = (StringPredicateUserCondition) userCondition;
            name = "stringChecker_" + id++;
            fn = new StringPredicateChecker(name, uc.getPredicate());
            condition = new MetricCondition<Object>(name, (UserCondition<Object>) userCondition);
        }

        if (metricsChecker == null)
            throw new UnsupportedOperationException(userCondition.toString());

        TStream<Object> os = (TStream<Object>) stream;
        TSink end = os.forEach(fn);
        end.operator().layout().addProperty("hidden", true);
        if (os.isPlaceable())
            end.colocate(os);

        metricsChecker.addCondition(name, condition);
    }

    private void addNoStreamCondition(NoStreamCondition userCondition) {

        String name = userCondition.getClass().getSimpleName() + id++;
        userCondition.addTo(topology(), name);

        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
        MetricCondition<?> condition =
                new MetricCondition<Object>(name, (UserCondition<Object>) userCondition);

        metricsChecker.addCondition(name, condition);
    }

    @Override
    public TestState checkTestState(StreamsContext<?> context, Map<String, Object> config, Future<?> jobSubmission,
            Condition<?> endCondition) throws Exception {
    	if (jobSubmission.isCancelled() || jobSubmission.isDone())
            return metricsChecker.checkTestState();

    	// Waiting for job submission
    	try {
    	    jobSubmission.get(2, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
    	} catch (TimeoutException te) {
    	}

    	return TestState.NOT_READY;
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Sno-Tubz is the newest arrival into our Shave Ice premium brand family. The Sno-Tubz concept was developed for our indoor customers during the winter seasons, many of our operators found that although the Shave ice product is not seasonal, the Hawaiian Ice branding with its Summery warm Surf vibe somewhat was. So it was decided that we would have a winter themed product for the colder seasons, and the Sno-Tubz brand was born.
We also found that indoor places were concerned that customers may drop ice onto the floor whilst eating the products, so we developed the Sno-Tubz containers which fully containerises the product with a domed lid featuring a large hole through which the product can be eaten.
The Sno-Tubz branding and wintery vibe has grown and become a fully established and massively popular addition to the shave Ice family, synonymous with Winter, Snow boarding and extreme sports Sno-Tubz are certainly cool in more than one way.
The Sno-Tubz brand provides our customers with a great alternative to Hawaiian ice and Snow cones, although if you decide to purchase the Hatsuyuki ice shaver you will have the capability to sell all three Shave Ice brands, which will enable you to sell which ever Shave Ice brand you choose at your own discretion, for example during the summer months changing your point of sale and boards over to the Hawaiian Ice brand, all whilst still keeping those huge 75%-85% profit margins.
also available is the stylish Sno Pod. This cart is easily portable and carries ice supplies and a full range of flavours. This eye catching push cart can literally be taken anywhere to trade and with its unique look draws the customer right toward you. Shave Ice also supply a number of innovative, practical retail solutions for selling Shave Ice products.
With the product being containerised we also we also customised our Sno-Tubz with Jellied sweets, Candy and Sprinkles and for braver customers even a drizzle of our super sour syrup!
Typically retailing at around £2.50-£3.50 with fantastic 75%-85% profit margins, Sno-Tubz are always a great seller, with fantastic repeat custom guaranteed to keep your till topped up.
With its practicality, great look, great vibe and even greater taste Sno-Tubz is the coolest product out there right now.
Begin your Sno-Tubz Shave Ice journey today.
Start your Sno-Tubz journey today.


text:
Oluwayemi Samuel Mayowa
(Chinese Instructor)
My name is Oluwayemi Samuel Mayowa, I am called "Malong马龙" by my Chinese colleagues. While studying for a degree in Computer sciences at University of Lagos, I developed interest in learning Chinese language, enrolled at Confucius institute and took HSK(汉语水平考试) certification exams from Confucius Headquarters Beijing, China. 2017, after graduating at University of Lagos, attaining a bachelor's degree in computer sciences, I continued learning about the language and culture of the Chinese people.
I participated in different Chinese competitions, honoured with outstanding prizes. I later proceeded to Hebei Normal University, Hebei China, for intensive study of the language and culture, while in China I visited lots of historical sites that explains the uniqueness of China.
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Book 3 of this trilogy, "Finding Love at the Eiffel Tower," continues the story of Alexandra (Alex) Gabriel, an adjunct English instructor and aspiring novelist, who has endured the suicide of her husband, Tony, and who has become the primary caretaker of her mother. She's almost forgotten about her romanticized dreams to write novels and to travel to Paris, France, to view the Eiffel Tower.
But after the death of her mother, Alex's sister encourages her to "take this time in your life to do something for yourself." So Alex decides to take an extended vacation to visit her lifelong dream's destination – Paris, France. Upon arrival, she is overwhelmed by its beauty. The Eiffel Tower takes her breath away when she spies it for the first time. Each day, she learns more about the city, its people, and its vast history. As she falls in love with her surroundings, she begins to write her first novel. One day while writing and lunching close to the Eiffel Tower, she meets an interesting American – a minister. Over the course of hours and days spent together, they fall in love with the promise of a future together.
It is her Christian faith, her beloved sister, and friends that have provided the support, comfort, and sustenance throughout Alex's dark times and who are there to support her through this journey of love and promise. At the end of Book 3, as Alex and the Minister are planning a future together, she receives notification that her novel has been accepted for publication. This story is sprinkled with themes of faith, hope, joy, persistence, and love. Travel, love, romance, the experiences of a struggling writer, and Parisian history are incorporated.


text:
The role of air pollution and lung function in cognitive impairment
Anke Hüls, Andrea Vierkötter, Dorothea Sugiri, Michael J. Abramson, Ulrich Ranft, Ursula Krämer, Tamara Schikowski
European Respiratory Journal 2018 51: 1701963; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.01963-2017
Anke Hüls
IUF-Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Düsseldorf, Germany
Andrea Vierkötter
Dorothea Sugiri
Michael J. Abramson
School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Ulrich Ranft
Ursula Krämer
Tamara Schikowski
For correspondence: tamara.schikowski@iuf-duesseldorf.de
Air pollution has been associated with impaired lung and cognitive function, especially impairment in visuo-construction performance (VCP). In this article, we evaluate whether the effect of air pollution on VCP is mediated by lung function.
We used data from the SALIA cohort (baseline 1985–1994 and follow-up 2007–2010) including 587 women aged 55 years at baseline. Particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exposures at baseline were estimated via land-use regression models. Lung function was characterised by averages between baseline and follow-up. We used age- and height-controlled Global Lung Initiative (GLI) z-scores of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1/FVC. VCP was assessed at follow-up with the CERAD-Plus neuropsychological test battery and causal mediation analysis was conducted.
An increase of one interquartile range in FEV1 and FVC was positively associated with VCP (β=0.18 (95% CI 0.02–0.34) and β=0.23 (95% CI 0.07–0.39), respectively). The proportion of the association between NO2 on VCP mediated by FEV1 was 6.2% and this was higher in never smokers (7.2%) and non-carriers of the APOE-ε4 allele (11.2%). However, none of the mediations were statistically significant.
In conclusion, air pollution associated VCP was partially mediated by lung function. Further studies on the mechanisms underlying this pathway are required to develop new strategies to prevent air pollution induced cognitive impairment.
Lung function predicts later cognitive function and partially mediates air pollution effects on cognitive function http://ow.ly/K7GH30hoj5X
Ambient air pollution exposure has been linked to impaired lung function [1] and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the elderly [2]. Impaired lung function has also been associated with impaired cognitive function in both adults and children [3, 4]. Accordingly, cognitive decline is highly prevalent in people with impaired lung function and COPD [5, 6]. Various studies investigating the association between midlife pulmonary function and cognitive function in old age have shown that pulmonary dysfunction in midlife is associated with an increased risk of poor cognition later in life [7–9]. The influence of pulmonary function on cognitive decline may result from various factors including hypoxia, reduced neurotransmitter function, increased systemic inflammation, or a combination of these processes [10].
There is emerging epidemiological evidence of an association between exposure to air pollution and cognitive decline [11, 12], especially with impaired visuo-construction performance (VCP; copying geometrical figures) [13]. Epidemiological studies showing a relationship between distance to major roads and cognitive decline suggest that particles from traffic sources can, due either to their size or composition, have detrimental effects on cognition [14, 15].
However, while the associations between respiratory health and cognitive function are well established, the relationships between air pollution, impaired lung function and cognitive decline remain unclear. Air pollution and reduced pulmonary function also inflict high oxidative stress on the body [16] and hence can potentially accelerate age-related changes in the brain. It is possible that air pollution induced impaired lung function causes changes in the central nervous system (CNS) through processes such as vascular diseases resulting from inflammation, impaired fibrinolytic activity, or oxidative stress and other cardiovascular risk factors [4, 17]. A common approach to investigating such a causal pathway in epidemiological studies is to use causal mediation analysis [18].
The objective of the current study was to investigate whether impaired lung function was not only a risk factor for cognitive decline but also if it mediated the association between air pollution exposure and cognitive decline. We used data from the Study on the influence of Air pollution on Lung function, Inflammation and Aging (SALIA) cohort.
Study design and study population
The SALIA study was initiated in the early 1980s by the North Rhine–Westphalia State Government as part of the Clean Air Plan to investigate the effect of air pollution exposure in women. The study population was a sample of women from the Ruhr area and two rural areas in Southern Münsterland. Between 1985 and 1994, health examinations were conducted in 4874 women who were 55 years of age at the time of their baseline investigations. These examinations included lung function measurements in 2785 women and details of the baseline investigation have been described elsewhere [19]. A follow-up examination was conducted between 2007 and 2010 [13]. Women who had lung function measured at baseline were invited in a randomised manner from the Ruhr area cities of Duisburg, Dortmund, Essen and Gelsenkirchen, as well as from the rural county of Borken. In total, 834 women participated who were then aged 70 to 80 years. The Ethical Committee of the University of Bochum approved the study. We received written informed consent from all participants.
Assessment of respiratory health and pulmonary function
Spirometry was performed according to the American Thoracic Society (ATS)/European Respiratory Society (ERS) recommendations [20] at both investigations. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were measured. Three to four manoeuvres were performed under the direction of trained personnel and the values used were those where the maximal FEV1 was reached. All measuring instruments were calibrated prior to testing, the technical personnel were specially trained and a pulmonary physician reviewed all results. To control for age and height-dependency of lung function, we calculated z-scores from the Global Lung Initiative (GLI) reference values. In a previous publication, we showed that the GLI z-scores fitted cross-sectionally and longitudinally with FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC measured in our SALIA cohort [21]. To evaluate long term lung function during follow-up and to reduce measurement errors, we calculated the average GLI z-scores between baseline and follow-up investigation.
Assessment of cognitive function
Participants were tested for cognitive function using the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) neuropsychological test battery (Memory Clinic University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland, 2005). The CERAD-Plus test battery consists of 18 items which measured 10 subtests: 1) verbal fluency, 2) the Boston naming test, 3) phonetic fluency, 4) word list learning, 5) word list recall, 6) word list recognition discriminability (recognising previously learned words), 7) VCP (copying geometrical figures), 8) recall (recalling previously presented figures), 9) the trail making test (A, B, B/A) and 10) the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The test battery is described in detail elsewhere [22].
Each subtest examines various cognitive functions in the brain to obtain a complete picture of an individual's cognition. The integrated standardisation programme of the German version of CERAD-Plus transformed subtest scores into normalised z-scores standardised for age and level of education (measured in years). In this publication, we focused on VCP, a subtest which has previously been associated with air pollution [13].
Assessment of potential confounders
We gathered questionnaire-based information about known risk factors. Information was collected regarding age, body mass index (BMI), socio-economic status, current and past smoking habits and passive smoking exposure at home or at work, as well as other risk factors. We classified socio-economic status into three categories at baseline using the highest school level achieved by either the woman or her husband. These were low (<10 years), medium (10 years) or high (>10 years). Additionally, we gathered information regarding depression by using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) questionnaire with a cut-off of 22 points to indicate a depressive state [23].
The apolipoprotein-ε4 allele (APOE-ε4) is the most prevalent genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease [24]. DNA was extracted from each individual with a QIAamp DNA Mini Kit (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany) using a standard procedure. DNA amplification and genotyping of the APOE polymorphisms rs429358 and rs7412 were performed by LCG/KBioscience (Hoddesdon, UK) using a Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping system with an error rate of less than 0.3% to define the APOE-ε4 isoform.
Assessment of air pollution
Outdoor air pollution concentrations were assessed according to the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE) protocol [25, 26]. Each participant was assigned an annual average concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM) at home (PM2.5 and PM10 for particulates, where PMx indicates particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of x µm). Air pollution was monitored over 1 year (2008–2009) in the Ruhr area and in adjacent Münsterland. Three 2-week measurements were performed at 40 monitoring sites (20 sites for PM measurement), one each in cold, warm and intermediate seasons, and results were adjusted for temporal variation using a reference station which measured during the whole period. The measured concentrations were associated with the characteristics of land-use at the monitoring sites to obtain a regression equation. Data on nearby traffic, ports or industry, as well as population/household density derived from Geographic Information Systems (GIS), were included in the equations. The models reached high adjusted R2 values of 0.85 for PM2.5 mass, 0.66 for PM10 mass and 0.88 for NO2. They were applied to the home addresses of participants to get individual exposure concentrations.
To characterise long-term exposure at baseline (1985–1994) we back-extrapolated these exposure concentrations using the exact recruitment date as well as data for the year before and after. For each study participant's home address, the back-extrapolated concentration was obtained by multiplying the modelled ESCAPE annual mean concentration with the ratio between average annual concentrations as derived from a routine monitoring site for the period in the past and for the ESCAPE measurement period time, which was used as a reference [27].
The implicit assumption of proportional spatial contrasts over time was tested with data from six routine monitoring stations situated in the investigation area and covering the investigation period. The trend concordance was good (R2 values between 0.42 and 0.84).
We analysed the association of individual long-term exposure to air pollution at baseline with average lung function between baseline and follow-up and with VCP at follow-up. Next, we investigated the association between average lung function and VCP at follow-up, as well as the interaction between air pollution exposure and average lung function on VCP. We used multiple linear regression analysis throughout. Linear regression coefficients (β) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals were estimated for increases of one interquartile range in baseline exposure or in the respective lung function parameter.
Furthermore, we analysed whether the average level of lung function between baseline and follow-up mediated the effect of air pollution exposure on VCP. Causal mediation analysis from a counterfactual perspective with possible exposure-mediator interaction was performed by using the R [28] package "mediation" [29], an approach that relies on the quasi-Bayesian Monte Carlo method based on normal approximation [30]. Using the counterfactual framework allows for definition of direct and indirect effects and a total effect as the sum of direct and indirect effects, even in models with interactions. The indirect effect refers to the effect through the mediator under study. The direct effect refers to the remaining effect that is not through the mediator [18]. The proportion of the indirect effect in the total effect was used to assess the extent to which the association between air pollution and VCP was mediated through impaired lung function as an intermediate pathway [31].
The proportion of air pollution associated VCP mediated by lung function might differ in subgroups defined by the presence of strong risk factors for impaired lung function or Alzheimer's disease. The robustness of the results considering these potential effect modifications was examined through sensitivity analyses in which we excluded smokers and APOE-ε4 carriers (strong risk factors for impaired lung function and Alzheimer's disease, respectively).
Age, height, BMI, socio-economic status, current and former smoking habits, exposure to second-hand smoke, living in an urban area versus a rural area, APOE-ε4 incidence, physical activity and depression were associated with air pollution, lung function or VCP in univariate analyses and were included as covariates in the models to adjust for potential confounding. All statistical analyses were carried out with R 3.4.1 for Windows [28].
Description of study participants, outcome and air pollution
The characteristics of the study participants are described in table 1. Of the 834 women who participated in the follow-up examination, 520 had complete information about air pollution exposure, lung function at baseline and follow-up, and the covariates included in the statistical analysis. The average age of these women at the time of the baseline investigation (1985–1994) was 54.3 years and at follow-up (2007–2010) it was 73.3 years. The majority of women had a school education of 10 or >10 years. Results from the CES-questionnaire indicated 3.5% of the women were depressed in the last week before the examination. The average GLI z-score for FEV1 from the baseline and follow-up values was 0.0±0.9 and the average z-score for FVC was 0.1±0.8. The mean z-score of the CERAD subtest (figure copying) was −0.9±1.3.
Description of the Study on the influence of Air pollution on Lung function, Inflammation and Aging (SALIA) population at baseline and at follow-up
We compared baseline characteristics of participants with non-participants in a univariate analysis. Significant risk factors for loss to follow-up were a high BMI, a low socio-economic status, high levels of air pollution and low lung function values at baseline (see supplementary table S1). Within the follow-up sample, more women living in the rural area with lower levels of air pollution were included in the analyses (n=520) than those not included (n=314) (see supplementary table S1).
The distributions of air pollutants back-extrapolated to the baseline investigation are presented in table 2. The median of the baseline concentration was 33.0 μg·m−3 for PM2.5, 49.8 μg·m−3 for PM10 and 33.5 μg·m−3 for NO2.
Distribution of air pollution concentrations back-extrapolated to baseline metrics according to European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE) protocols
Association between air pollution and lung function
Higher concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 at baseline were associated with lower average z-scores for FEV1 and FEV1/FVC between baseline and follow-up (figure 1). Associations with FVC as well as associations of NO2 were not significant.
Association between air pollution exposure at baseline and average lung function between baseline and follow-up examination (average Global Lung Initiative z-scores for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1/FVC). Linear regression coefficients (β) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals were estimated for increases of one interquartile range (IQR) in baseline exposure. All models were adjusted for age, height, body mass index, socio-economic status, current and former smoking habits, exposure to second-hand smoke, living in an urban area versus a rural area and physical activity.
Association between VCP and air pollution or lung function
Air pollution exposure at baseline and average lung function from the baseline and follow-up values (mean GLI z-scores of FEV1 and FVC) showed an association with the follow-up test of VCP (table 3). Cognitive test performance was decreased with increasing air pollution as well as with decreasing lung function; however, there was no evidence for an association with the FEV1/FVC ratio. Interactions between air pollution and lung function on VCP were only moderate. Participants with high average levels of FVC were slightly more susceptible to air pollution-induced VCP impairment than participants with low average levels of FVC. None of these interactions (with the exception of FVC and NO2) was significant.
Association between visuo-construction performance (VCP) and air pollution at baseline, average lung function and the interaction between air pollution and lung function
Mediation of the association between air pollution and VCP by lung function
The mediation analysis focused on the mediating effect of average lung function on the previously shown association between air pollution exposure and the VCP subtest (table 3). The largest mediated proportion was found for FEV1. For the association between NO2 and VCP, 6.2% was mediated by FEV1 (table 4). Mediated proportions were higher in never smokers (7.2%) and non-APOE-ε4 carriers (11.2%); however, none of the mediations were statistically significant. Mediated proportions did not change when including an exposure-mediator interaction term. The indirect, direct and total effects resulting from the mediation analyses are summarised in supplementary tables S2–S4.
Mediation analysis in all participants, never smokers and non-APOE-ε4 carriers
In the present study, we showed that average lung function between middle and late adulthood was associated with the development of mild cognitive impairment later in life among elderly women who were followed for more than 20 years. We also showed that the association between air pollution and VCP was partially mediated by impaired lung function (up to 11% for non-APOE-ɛ4 carriers).
Our study extends previous epidemiological studies which showed that pulmonary function was an independent risk factor for poor cognitive function [4, 7]. However, most of these studies used either a single lung function parameter, namely FEV1, or investigated a younger cohort. Poor respiratory function is related to a number of adverse health effects as well as mortality [32] and is associated with socio-economic status [4] and lifestyle factors such as smoking and air pollution. However, we adjusted for all these factors and the association remained stable.
Poor pulmonary function has also been related to an increased risk of hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart disease and stroke [33, 34], all of which are risk factors for the development of mild cognitive impairment and have been associated with air pollution [11, 35]. A possible biological explanation for the association between impaired lung function and cognitive decline is that impaired pulmonary health can have a detrimental effect on cognitive function later in life through hypoxia and oxidative damage through systemic inflammation. It has been postulated that hypoxia impairs the metabolism of the central neurotransmitters [36]. Chronic undersupply of oxygen to the brain may cause oxidative stress and defective adenosine triphosphate production [7]. However, this explanation might only be plausible for individuals with severe lung impairment and diseases such as COPD [37]. It has been suggested that lung and cognitive function operate under common regulatory processes. Respiratory and cardiovascular control systems require the integrity of brain structures at many levels of the neuraxis [38].
Our mediation analysis suggested that only a small part of the association between air pollution and VCP was mediated by average lung function (6% for NO2, FEV1 and VCP). The mediated proportion was slightly higher in never smokers (7% for NO2, FEV1 and VCP) and non-APOE-ε4 carriers (11% for NO2, FEV1 and VCP), indicating that after controlling for residual confounding and effect modifications, the mediated proportion increased. One explanation for the small part that was mediated by impaired lung function might be that spirometric measurements are only a rough proxy for lung inflammation and VCP only covers a small aspect of cognitive impairment.
Various pathways have been discussed as to how air pollution can damage the brain. Data from controlled animal studies suggest that PM can infiltrate the brain via the circulatory system [39] or translocate via the olfactory nerve [40]. Our findings support the hypothesis that at least a portion of the particles might infiltrate the brain via the circulatory system. However, the major part of the association between air pollution and VCP could not be explained by air pollution induced lung function impairment.
Strengths and limitations
The strength of our study was the long follow-up period and the availability of repeated lung function measurements as well as a range of potential confounders on which information was collected over a period of time. Furthermore, air pollution exposures were assessed by using state of the art air pollution modelling gained from the ESCAPE campaign in 2009. In addition, we used the most recent spirometric reference values (GLI z-scores) to control for age- and height-dependencies and conducted a prevailing approach for causal mediation analysis allowing an interaction term between exposure and mediator [31]. Furthermore, our long-term cohort study enabled us to consider the chronological order of exposure, mediating event and outcome, which makes our findings more reliable than using only a cross-sectional design.
One limitation of our study was the cross-sectional investigation of cognitive function. It is possible that women with a severe cognitive impairment also performed worse in the lung function testing at follow-up due to a comprehension problem. However, since we evaluated average lung function measurements between baseline and follow-up, this would only have a small impact on our findings. Furthermore, the women who were lost to follow-up were less well educated, smoked more heavily, were exposed to higher levels of air pollution and their respiratory health was worse than those who did participate. These factors have already been shown to be predictors for cardiovascular mortality in the SALIA cohort [19] and this could have led to non-responder bias in the prevalence data. Additionally, there might be some non-responder bias in the air pollution effect and in our mediation analysis. Since air pollution levels in the analysed sample were lower than in the whole baseline sample, the effects of air pollution might have been underestimated in our study. Furthermore, our analysed sample included fewer smokers than the baseline sample and, given that the mediation effect was more pronounced in non-smokers, it might be stronger in our analysed sample than it would have been in the whole baseline sample.
Another limitation of our study is the strong set of assumptions in the causal mediation analysis. This analysis assumes no unmeasured confounding of the treatment–mediator relationship [31]. We considered all potential confounders available in our study sample but we cannot totally exclude the possibility of unmeasured confounding. Furthermore, the sample size of our study population was relatively small, which could reduce the ability to detect significant mediating effects. In this regard, our findings need to be replicated in other cohorts.
Our study provides indications about the mechanisms underlying the association between air pollution and cognitive decline-an association that is partly mediated by impaired lung function. We found that lung function throughout adulthood and later in life was an important predictor for the development of mild cognitive impairment in the elderly. It thus appears that maintenance of good lung function through adulthood is important for healthy brain ageing.
Please note: supplementary material is not edited by the Editorial Office, and is uploaded as it has been supplied by the author.
Supplementary material ERJ-01963-2017_Supplement
We thank all study members and staff involved in data collection in each cohort and also the respective funding bodies for SALIA. Study directorate: R. Dolgner, U. Krämer, U. Ranft, T. Schikowski, A. Vierkötter. Scientific team at baseline: A.W. Schlipköter, M.S. Islam, A. Brockhaus, H. Idel, R. Stiller-Winkler, W. Hadnagy, T. Eikmann. Scientific team at follow-up: D. Sugiri, A. Hüls, B. Pesch, A. Hartwig, H. Käfferlein, V. Harth, T. Brüning, T. Weiss. Study nurses: G. Seitner-Sorge, V. Jäger, G. Petczelies, I. Podolski, T. Hering, M. Goseberg. Administrative team: B. Schulten, S. Stolz. During the last decades many scientists, study nurses and laboratories were involved in conducting the study. We are most grateful for all the women from the Ruhr area and Borken who participated in the study over decades and the local Health Departments for organising the study.
This article has supplementary material available from erj.ersjournals.com
Support statement: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; HE-4510/2-1, KR 1938/3-1, LU 691/4-1), the Ministry of the Environment of the state of North Rhine–Westphalia (Düsseldorf, Germany), the Federal Ministry of the Environment (Berlin, Germany), DGUV (German statutory accident assurance) VT 266.1, the European Community's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2011) under grant agreement number 211250 and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of manuscript. Funding information for this article has been deposited with the Crossref Funder Registry.
Conflict of interest: M.J. Abramson has received investigator initiated grants for unrelated research from Pfizer and Boehringer-Ingelheim, and reimbursement for congress attendance from Sanofi.
Accepted December 19, 2017.
Copyright ©ERS 2018
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text:
Кокон — щільна оболонка з тонких волокон, яку роблять комахи і павуки
 «Кокон» — американський науково-фантастичний фільм режисера Рона Говарда

Прізвище
 Яннік Кокон ( 1986) — французький фігурист

Див. також
 Коконопряди

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One of the apps, Live Transcribe, turns live speech into real-time captions by using a phone's microphone; the other, Sound Amplifier, improves a phone's sound output.
It has a type-back keyboard for users who can't or don't want to speak, and works with external microphones to improve transcription accuracy.
Once on a phone, it can be activated from the Accessibility settings and launched from the Accessibility button on Android's navigation bar.
Although Live Transcribe doesn't have some of the features of competing products, a big part of its appeal will be simplicity.
"It doesn't have bells and whistles, but is really darn good at its core function -- to provide captions to what is spoken around you," said Christian Vogler, director of the technology access program in the department of communication studies at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.
"It doesn't require any setup before it is ready to go, and it is always on, available from anywhere in Android at the touch of a button," Vogler told TechNewsWorld.
"Most competitors I have tried and am aware of can't do this," he explained. "They require multiple steps, more or less complex configuration, or a combination of those. By the time you're ready to use it, the moment very well may have passed."
Such situations include one-to-one or small group conversations where it's difficult to lip-read or understand a speaker even with hearing devices on.
"Every person with hearing loss knows situations where they just nod and smile and hope that they wouldn't get called out on their pretense of understanding. Typically, if we struggled, we would just give up," he said.
"You can also use the app to get a quick idea of what people in close proximity are talking about and jump in if you so desire. Personally, that is something I never ever have been able to do before, and it is incredibly liberating," added Vogler. "For me personally, it has been a complete game changer in many ways."
One of the biggest challenges to Google's app will be noise.
"Anything that is using speech-to-text software is going to rely on a good signal," said Tina Childress, an audiologist in Champaign, Illinois, and late deafened adult with cochlea implants.
"Trying to do live transcription in a noisy restaurant is going to be more difficult than doing it in a quiet place," she told TechNewsWorld.
The app needs a way to single out a person and transcribe what they're saying, and cut out all the hubub, said H. Kennedy Hudner, a retired attorney with impaired hearing who lives in Glastonbury, Connecticut.
"That's called the 'Restaurant Syndrome,'" he told TechNewsWorld. "It's still the single most difficult situation for hard-of-hearing people, even when they have good hearing aids."
"Whenever I try to verbally do a Gmail, it's always fascinating to see how the transcriber there completely mangles what I try to say," Hudner observed.
"Speech recognition is a lot better than it used to be, but I would not want to rely on that for things like news," she said. "There are too many things that can go wrong. You need to rely on the accuracy of a live captioner."
Live Transcribe doesn't work well in environments where the background noise is so loud people have to raise their voices to be heard, Vogler acknowledged.
"If two people with hearing loss use it for communicating with each other, and if their voices have a 'deaf accent,' this would be a challenge," he said.
Google showed it is aware of the noise problem by adding a visual indicator to Live Transcribe that displays the signal-to-noise ratio of a phone's surroundings, so an operator can gauge if the app is going to perform effectively or not.
Although just released, Sound Amplifier initially was unveiled at last year's Google I/O conference, the company's annual developers forum.
Sound Amplifier makes a phone's audio clearer and easier to hear.
"Sound Amplifier enables an Android phone to be used as a sound booster, so you could use it to amplify speech or other sounds in your direct vicinity," noted Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, a technology advisory firm in Hayward, California.
"It's a bit similar to TV Ears hearing devices -- so you might use it with a pair of earbuds or headphones to increase the volume of TV or music without disturbing the people around you," he told TechNewsWorld.
There's been an increase in integration between smartphones and certain devices, like hearing aids, King noted.
That's usually accomplished via a Bluetooth connection that allows phone calls, music and podcasts to be streamed directly to the hearing aids, he explained.
"The problem is that most hearing aids are expensive, and streaming features are typically available on high-end and high-priced products," he said.
"Live Transcribe and Sound Amplifier add hearing assistance capabilities to Android phones freely, so you can't beat the price," he observed.
"More broadly speaking, the apps provide valuable access to disabled people and communities. That's frankly an area that most IT vendors fail to put much investment or effort into," King noted. "Google deserves kudos for these apps in that regard."


text:
Q: HTML 5 Canvas jCanvas/KineticJS when image is draggable, canvas/stage is unresponsive for clicks/touch on an iPad I've tried this with both jCanvas and KineticJS. When an added image is made draggable:
var image = new Kinetic.Image({
  image: imageObj,
  id: imageName,
  x: parseInt(CoordX),
  y: parseInt(CoordY),
  draggable: true
});

The canvas/stage become unresponsive for clicks on an iPad.
The only place where it recognises click/tap is on the border.
Has anyone faced similar issue and how did you resolve this?

A: UPDATE:  @user1950497, for jCanvas, the key to making an image draggable is to make sure to set the layer property to true (http://jsfiddle.net/dksmiffs/YdPpy/):
$("canvas").drawImage({
  source: "http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Gadsden_flag.svg/320px-Gadsden_flag.svg.png",
  x: 200, y: 150,
  layer: true,
  draggable: true
});

Thanks to @Caleb531 who guided me to the answer in jCanvas issue #74.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Coastal and Marine Waste Management ForumKnowledge Hub
The World Environment Day Webinar Series from SLYCAN Trust
SLYCAN Trust
June 04, 2020 - Ahead of World Environment Day tomorrow, Friday, June 05 2020, SLYCAN Trust has organised a series of webinars that will take place throughout the day. We would be delighted if you are able to partake with us, either on ClickMeeting or on facebook.com/SLYCANTrust
10:00 am IST / 04:30 am GMT Alokparna Sengupta from Humane Society International / Humane Society India on 'Environmental Cost of Animal Abuse'
https://slycantrust.clickmeeting.com/wed-environmental-cost-of-animal-abuse
12:00 pm IST / 06:30 am GMT Dr Bremley Lyngdoh from Worldview Impact Foundation on 'Restoring the Balance on Earth'
https://slycantrust.clickmeeting.com/wed-restoring-the-balance-of-earth
02:00 pm IST / 08:30 am GMT Dr Prithiviraj Fernando on 'Human-elephant Coexistence as a Solution to Human-elephant Conflict'
https://slycantrust.clickmeeting.com/wed-human-elephant-coexistence-as-a-solution-to-hec
04:00 pm IST / 10:30 am GMT Vositha Wijenayake on 'Civil Society and Environment'
https://slycantrust.clickmeeting.com/wed-civil-society-and-environment
If you are interested in taking part in either or all of the sessions, drop a mail to info@slycantrust.org to confirm your participation.
SLYCAN Trust is a non-profit think tank. It has been a registered legal entity in the form of a trust since 2016, and a guarantee limited company since 2019. The entities focus on the thematic areas of climate change, adaptation and resilience, sustainable development, environmental conservation and restoration, social justice, and animal welfare. SLYCAN Trust's activities include legal and policy research, education and awareness creation, capacity building and training, and implementation of ground level action. SLYCAN Trust aims to facilitate and contribute to multi-stakeholder driven, inclusive and participatory actions for a sustainable and resilient future for all.


text:
Q: preg_match problem I'm trying to get some stuff from a string in php. In RegexBuddy and Regular expression tester (firefox addon) it works good, but php gives me the following:

Warning: preg_match()
  [function.preg-match]: Compilation
  failed: unmatched parentheses at
  offset 34 in
  D:\path\example.php
  on line 62

my pattern is "/.{4}_tmp\\([A-Za-z0-9.\\]*)\(([0-9]*)\) : (.*)/i"
an example string: C:\Temp\browseide\projects\32\821C_tmp\SourceFiles\main.c(8) : error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before 'for'
what RegexBuddy gets:
821C_tmp\SourceFiles\main.c(8) : error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before 'for'
Group 1:    SourceFiles\main.c
Group 2:    8
Group 3:    error C2143: syntax error : missing ';' before 'for'

A: You need to escape the backslashes in the PHP string:
"/.{4}_tmp\\\\([A-Za-z0-9.\\\\]*)\\(([0-9]*)\\) : (.*)/i"

A: You need to escape the back-slash again, once PHP string parses that string you end up with:
/.{4}_tmp\([A-Za-z0-9.\]*)\(([0-9]*)\) : (.*)/i

Try echo "/.{4}_tmp\\([A-Za-z0-9.\\]*)\(([0-9]*)\) : (.*)/i";
You should have \\\\ inside your double quotes if you want a \\ in the pattern


Fortune Fish in Minneapolis and its Coastal Seafoods stores in the Twin Cities will be selling the product.
Nordic Blu Salmon, raised by Salten Aqua in Norway and the first ever marine net pen farmed Atlantic salmon rated "green" by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, is now available at retailers in the United States.
Nordic Blu Salmon will be brought to North America exclusively by seafood supplier CleanFish.
"This is a huge deal," said Keane Amdahl, marketing director for Fortune Fish & Gourmet Minnesota.
With a score of 7.17 from Seafood Watch, Nordic Blu is the highest rated farmed Atlantic salmon in the world. In addition, all sites and farms are Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and Global G.A.P. certified.
"We're proud to be the chosen partner of Salten Aqua Group in bringing this remarkable salmon and the Nordic Blu brand to North America," said Mike Moniz, managing director of CleanFish.


I measure ZC by connecting both leads of the twinlead together and measuring the impedance to ground. Next I connect wire 2 to ground and measure the impedance between wire 1 and ground and call this Za. Reversing the connections, by grounding wire 1 and measuring between wire 2 and ground gives Zb.
An adapter was used to allow measurement of Zz, ab, and Zc reported below. Above, it is attached to a FA-VA5 antenna analyser… the worst instrument I have ever used, but never mind, it might get fixed with firmware updates over the coming years… though experience says that is probably wishful thinking.
The antenna system is a reasonably symmetric Inverted V configuration of the G5RV with tuned feeders, where the feed line to the point of measurement is 10m of 560Ω open wire line.
Above are the direct measured values and calculated results.
The calculations are a bit tedious, a handy online calculator can perform them more conveniently.
The unbalance impedance Zu is not trivial, though the real component is small, the imaginary component is significant suggesting that although the wires are symmetric, there is some asymmetry perhaps due to ground height variation, soil type, soil water content, vegetation etc.
The unbalance impedance Zu is not trivial, and worse that the previous case. again a significant imaginary component suggesting that although the wires are symmetric, there is some asymmetry perhaps due to ground height variation, soil type, soil water content, vegetation etc.
Readers will often see back of the envelope calculations of the effectiveness of a common mode choke. The article Using Ohms law on antenna baluns deals with some of the junk science that masquerades as fact. Some back of the envelope analyses assume the common mode driving voltage is that of a 50Ω unbalanced source, and the load is simply a common mode choke whereas if an ATU is between the 50Ω point and feed line, voltages and currents are transformed, the series common mode impedance of the ATU and any balun(s) are relevant as is ZC of the antenna system as measured above.
To obtain valid results, the model must be valid, and that starts with including all of the elements that are relevant. Such a model can give a good prediction of the impact of a common mode choke of known Zcm at the point at which the measurements were made.
Such models are complex, and mathematical (high school maths + complex numbers), but solvable with the requisite knowledge.
A simpler approach is to simply directly measure the common mode current, and try common mode chokes with high Zcm to reduce it to an acceptable level. In most cases, the priority in addressing high common mode current is to examine the root cause, can the system symmetry be improved?


Instructions on how to sign up are located on the Campus Recreation and the IM Registration page.
All sports are free to play and open to all LUC students of any skill level!
For more information, contact Alex Horn, Program Coordinator, at mhorn2@luc.edu or 773-508-2604.


Expect The Lion King to rule this week's Blu-ray sales, with three editions being released.
This is the first time Disney's 1994 'toon titan has been offered in high definition and/or 3D.
The Diamond 2D or 3D editions include a filmmakers' commentary, deleted/alternate and extended scenes, and an interactive Blu-ray gallery.
There's also an eight-disc Ultimate Edition that combines both Blu-ray versions with the movie's direct-to-video sequels in HD (as well as DVD copies).
Whichever option you choose, The Lion King "looks downright fantastic in every frame" – "brimming with colour and detail, the sharp and immaculate picture is a feast for the eyes".
There are more animal antics in Water for Elephants, which has a "high-end transfer" and "stomps" the DVD with three times as many extras.
Back-catalogue horror Drag Me to Hell also bows on Blu-ray this week, as do seasons two of Glee and Modern Family.
The visuals in season two of Modern Family are "just as fabulous" as season one, although Kiwi fans will never know as season one is offered here only on DVD.
"While Glee looks strong, it doesn't look absolutely amazing", although "colours are deeply saturated, black levels are impeccable, and there is hardly any digital noise to be found".
Rescheduled from last week is Stargate: Atlantis – The Complete Series, going straight to disc is the WWE thriller, Inside Out, and new on the concert front is Usher – OMG Tour Liver From London.


How about a property so close to the beach that all you need to get there is a stroll? Check out this 4,000 square foot villa with all the shades of luxury and situated at an overlooking distance from the magnificent Costa Ballena (Whale Coast). Located in Isla Ballena (Whale Island), this property offers a perfect blend of a rich local feel and a masterpiece Balinese architectural style.
You are assured of uninterrupted privacy on this property sitting on about 10 acres of tropical rainforest. This mansion offers a wide range of luxury amenities, including a private helipad with trails leading up to the home, three pools, a swim-up bar, and cathedral ceilings. Other features include a slate flooring, a couple of garages, and handcrafted wooden doors.


Lima beans are members of a family known as edible legumes coming originally from Central America where lima bean growth is part of the countries staple crops. They have been cultivated easily from seeds for hundreds of years and eaten as vegetables all over the world. They are commonly known as the lima or butter beans.
The earlier varieties of lima beans were tough. They were raised for the dried beans within the pods and required long cooking times. It was only during the mid-19th century that they were considered for green beans. They are also a good crop because of their nutritional value including iron.
Because they need a warm climate, these beans are not as tough as most other beans. They need to be planted in late spring-after the cool days/night and in order to get the full benefit of the summer warmth. Soil temperature for lima bean growth needs to be at least 65 degrees F in order for beans to get the full benefit of proper germination.
Lima bean growth is fairly easy. They grow best in fertile soil in temperatures between 70-80 degrees and should be bright green and round before harvesting. Each plant yields several dozen beans - take that into consideration when planting. Many people grow plenty because they pressure can and freeze well. Be sure to keep the beans picked from the plants to keep bean production at its peak.
Fertilize beans with a good all purpose 20-20-20 blend then avoid adding additional nitrogen. Lima beans as well as other legumes have nitrogen nodules built into their root systems and once established produce their own nitrogen. You will know that there is too much nitrogen when flowering is delayed and excess vine growth occurs.
Though lima bean growth usually requires the average amount of water, limas do prefer a well-drained soil. Water as usual but do not let water stand around the plants as their root systems are shallow. If bean plants dry out their flowers could fall off before producing fruit.
Lima bean growth takes roughly 70 days from planting to maturity when conditions are right-full sun is plentiful and seeds have been planted about 1½" deep, 2-5" apart. When plants begin to germinate, thin them to 4-6" apart. As far as pests go, lima beans are susceptible to root maggots and vulnerable to bacterial and/or fungal foliar disease. Cutworms have a preferable taste for the beans also.
Like most legumes, limas are a rich source of fiber. Fiber lowers cholesterol and helps to prevent blood sugars from rising too quickly after a meal has been eaten. Their fiber is water soluble and good for preventing such conditions as constipation and digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and diverticulitis. They are an excellent source of protein, as well and free of animal fat, making it a good choice for people with certain medical conditions- such as diabetes. Because they have this ability lima beans provide a steady energy lasting several hours.


text:
City of Cleveland disputes it owes HUD for Afford-A-Home problems
By Mark Gillispie, The Plain Dealer
PD file Chris Warren, the city of Cleveland's chief of regional development, says the city's disputes audit findings over the Afford-A-Home program.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland officials dispute that the city owes hundreds of thousands of dollars for sloppy oversight of a federally funded mortgage program.
An audit report released last month by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says the city lacked adequate controls over its Afford-A-Home program.
The report concludes that the city could owe as much as $900,000 for failing to properly substantiate the income of borrowers, for making loans to people who were not eligible for the program and for not recovering loan proceeds after houses sold at sheriff's sale.
Cleveland has until the end of April to provide documentation to show why it does not owe the entire amount.
"It is our hope that we can work out most of these issues within the next 120 days," said Chris Warren, Mayor Frank Jackson's chief of regional development.
Warren said the city has agreed that it owes at least $20,000 for loans given to people whose income exceeded HUD-established limits.
Afford-A-Home loans are second mortgages given to low-income homebuyers. The loans, typically $10,000, become interest-free after five years and are forgiven completely after 30 years if the borrower remains in the home that entire time.
The HUD audit was triggered in part by Plain Dealer articles in December 2009 that detailed problems in the city's Afford-A-Home program. The paper found that the program had wasted millions of federal dollars because it had helped too many people buy homes that were later lost to foreclosure.
The articles also prompted a criminal investigation of a home rehab company that sold hundreds of homes to buyers who received Afford-A-Home loans and a city employee who managed the program. The city is fully cooperating with that investigation, Warren said.
Previous Plain Dealer coverage
Under orders from Warren, the Department of Community Development subsequently tightened its oversight of the program, including procedures for approving loans.
Despite the past problems, Warren disagreed with the audit's contention that the city should repay the entire $900,000.
Most of the money the city potentially owes resulted from what HUD said were improper procedures for verifying income.
The audit, which was based on a review of 71 loans, said Cleveland should have gathered three months of pay stubs from applicants to verify income. The city instead asked for two pay stubs, W-2 forms and the previous year's federal tax return.
Warren said HUD officials said nothing about the city's income-verification procedures during monitoring visits in 2006, 2007 or 2008 and thought they were adequate. Cleveland has since changed its procedures to follow HUD rules.
The city also disputes HUD's contention that Cleveland owes money for houses sold at sheriff's sale. The report said mortgage documents did not include specific language that would limit how much the city could recover. Without the language, the report said, the city is on the hook for the loan money when a property sells at sheriff's sale.
Warren said city officials were unaware of the rule and have since added the language to promissory notes.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mgillispie@plaind.com, 216-999-4738