44 Social Security 'Secrets' All Baby Boomers and Millions of Current Recipients Need to Know - Revised!
Social Security's Handbook has 2,728 separate rules governing its benefits. And it has thousands upon thousands of explanations of those rules in its Program Operating Manual System, called the POMS, which provides guidance on implementing the 2,728 rules. Talk about a user's nightmare!
As a young economist, I did a fair amount of academic research on saving and insurance adequacy. At the time, I thought I had a very good handle on the rules. Then I started a financial planning software company, which makes suggestions about what benefits to take from Social Security and when to take them to get the best overall deal. (see, in this regard, www.maximizemysocialsecurity.com and www.esplanner.com).
At that point, I realized I needed to quadruple check my understanding of Social Security's provisions. To do this, I established contacts with experts at Social Security's Office of the Actuary. I also hired a specialist whose only job is to audit my company's social security, Medicare premium, and federal and state income tax code.
The problem with this strategy is you can only check on things you know about. Over the years, I discovered things I had never heard of. I would then check with the Social Security actuaries who would say, "Oh yes, that's covered in the POMS section GN 03101.073!"
Mind you, a large share of the rules in Social Security's Handbook rules are indecipherable to mortal men and the POMS is often worse. But thanks to patience on the part of the actuaries, I've learned things which almost no current or prospective Social Security recipient knows, but which almost all should know.
Also, the folks at the local Social Security offices routinely tell people things that aren't correct about what benefits they can and can't receive and when they can receive them. Taking Social Security benefits – the right ones at the right time – is one of the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make, so you need to get it right.
Getting it right on your own, however, is neigh impossible. One of my engineers and I calculated that for an age-62 couple there are over 100 million combinations of months for each of the two spouses to take retirement benefits, spousal benefits, and decided whether or not to file and suspend one's retirement benefits. There are also start-stop-start strategies to consider. Each combination needs to be considered to figure out what choices will produce the highest benefits when valued in the present (measured in present value). For some couples who are very different in age, survivor benefits also come into play. In that case, the number of combinations can exceed 10 billion!
Whether or not you use our software, it's important to have as full a handle on Social Security's provisions as possible. Listed below are Social Security "secrets" I've learned over the years that you may not know or fully understand.
1. If you are already collecting your retirement benefit and are at or over full retirement age, you can tell Social Security you want to suspend further benefits and then ask them to restart your benefits at a later date, say age 70. Social Security will then apply its Delayed Retirement Credit to your existing benefit once you start collecting again. Hence, this is a means by which current Social Security recipients who aren't yet 70 can collect higher benefits, albeit at the cost of giving up their check for a while. But this trade off will, on net, often be very advantageous. For example, if you started collecting at 62 and are now at your full retirement age, i.e., 66, you can suspend benefits until 70 and then start collecting 32 percent higher benefits for the rest of your life. This benefit collection strategy can be called Start Stop Start. We are in the process of rolling out a new update of www.maximizemysocialsecurity.com, which incorporates Start Stop Start.
2. If you aren't now collecting and wait until 70 to collect your retirement benefit, your retirement benefit starting at 70 can be as much as 76 percent higher than your age-62 retirement benefit, adjusted for inflation. The reason is that your benefit is not reduced due to Social Security's Early Retirement Reduction; moreover, it's increased due to Social Security's Delayed Retirement Credit. For many people, the increase in the retirement benefit can be even higher if they continue to earn money after age 62 thanks to Social Security's Re-computation of Benefits.
3. But if you are married or divorced, waiting to collect your retirement benefit may be the wrong move. If you are the low-earning spouse, it may be better to take your retirement benefit starting at age 62 and then switch to the spousal benefit you can collect on your current or ex-spouse's account starting at your full retirement age. But beware of the Gottcha in item 5.
4. If you're married, you or your spouse, but not both, can receive spousal benefits after reaching full retirement age while deferring taking your retirement benefits and, thereby, letting them grow. This may require having one spouse file for retirement benefits, but suspend their collection. This is called the File and Suspend strategy.
6. Start Stop Start may also make sense for married workers who aren't already collecting and whose age differences are such they they can't take advantage of File and Suspend. Take, for example, a 62 year-old high earner, named Sally, with a 66-year old low earner spouse, named Joe. By starting retirement benefits early, Sally permits Joe to start collecting a spousal benefit immediately. The reason is that spouses aren't eligible to collect spousal benefits unless the worker is either collecting a retirement benefit or has filed for a retirement benefit, but suspended its collection. If Sally starts her retirement benefit at 62, Joe can apply just for his spousal benefit at 66 and then wait until 70 to collect his own retirement benefit, which will be at its highest possible value thanks to Social Security's Delayed Retirement Credit. As for Sally, she can suspend her retirement benefit at 66, when she reaches full retirement, and then restart it at 70, at which point her benefits will be 32 percent higher than what she was collecting. Even singles workers may opt for Start Stop Start to help with their cash flow problems.
7. If your primary insurance amount (your retirement benefit available if you wait until full retirement) is less than half that of your spouse and you take your own retirement benefit early, but are able to wait until full retirement age to collect your spousal benefit, your total check, for the rest of your life, will be less than one half of your spouse's primary insurance amount. Nonetheless, this may still be the best strategy. This reflects another Gotcha explained in 8.
8. On its website, Social Security states, "your spouse can receive a benefit equal to one-half of your full retirement benefit amount if they start receiving benefits at their full retirement age." This is true only if your spouse isn't collecting his/her own retirement benefit. If your spouse is collecting her own retirement benefit, his/her spousal benefit is calculated differently. Rather than equaling one half of your full retirement benefit, it's calculated as half of your full retirement benefit less your spouse's full retirement benefit. This difference is called the excess spousal benefit. The total benefit your spouse will receive is her retirement benefit, inclusive of any reduction, due to taking benefits early, or increment, due to taking benefits late, plus the excess spousal benefit. The excess spousal benefit can't be negative; i.e., its smallest value is zero.
Take Sue and Sam. Suppose they are both 62 and a) Sue opts to take her retirement benefit early and b) Sam opts to file and suspend at full retirement and take his retirement benefit at 70. Between ages 62 and 66 (their full retirement age), Sue collects a reduced retirement benefit, but is not forced to take her spousal benefit (which would be reduced) because Sam isn't collecting a retirement benefit during the years that Sue is 62 to 66. Now when Sue reaches age 66, she starts to collect an unreduced spousal benefit because Sam has qualified her to do so by filing and suspending for his retirement benefit. Ok, but her unreduced spousal benefit is calculated as 1/2 x Sam's full retirement benefit less Sue's full retirement benefit. Sue ends up getting a total benefit equal to her own reduced retirement benefit plus her unreduced excess spousal benefit. This total is less than half of Sam's full retirement benefit. To see this note that the total equals half of Sam's full retirement benefit plus Sue's reduced retirement benefit minus Sue's full retirement benefit. The last two terms add to something negative.
9. Are there are two different formulas for spousal benefits depending on whether the spouse is collecting his/her own retirement benefit? It sure seems that way because when the spouse is collecting a retirement benefit, the excess spousal benefit (potentially reduced for taking spousal benefits early) comes into play. And when the spouse isn't collecting a retirement benefit, the spousal benefit equals half of the worker's full retirement benefit. (Note, the spouse has to collect a retirement benefit before full retirement age if she applies for her spousal benefit.) The answer, in fact, is no. There is only one formula. The formula for the spousal benefit is always the excess benefit formula. But here's what happens to the application of that formula if the spouse is not collecting a retirement benefit. In that case, the spouse's full retirement benefit (also called the Primary Insurance Amount) is set to zero in calculating the excess spousal benefit. The reason, according to Social Security, is that a worker's Primary Insurance does not exist (i.e., equals zero) if the worker has not applied for a retirement benefit (and either suspended its collection or started to receive it). In other words, your Primary Insurance Amount is viewed as non-existant until you apply for a retirement benefit. This construct - the primary insurance amount doesn't exist until it's triggered by a retirement benefit application -- lets Social Security claim to have one formula for spousal benefits. But there are, in effect, two spousal benefit formulas and which one you -- the person who will collect a spousal benefit -- faces will depend on whether or not you take your retirement benefit early.
10. If you are divorced and were married for at least 10 years, both you and your ex can collect spousal benefits (on each other's work histories) after full retirement age, assuming your ex is over 62 and your were divorced for two or more years (or your ex has already filed for retirement benefits), while still postponing taking your own retirement benefits until, say, age 70, when they are as high as can be. This is an advantage for divorcees. But there's also a disadvantage. A divorcee who applies for spousal benefits before full retirement age will automatically be forced to apply for retirement benefits even if her/his ex isn't collecting retirement benefits. (But see 36. for an exemption to this rule if you are older than your ex or have been divorced for less than two years and your ex has not filed for his/her retirement benefit).
11. There is no advantage to waiting to start collecting spousal benefits after you reach your full retirement age.
12. There is no advantage to waiting to start collecting survivor benefits after you reach your full retirement age.
13. If you started collecting Social Security retirement benefits within the last year and decide it wasn't the right move, you can repay all the benefits received, including spousal and child benefits, and reapply for potentially higher benefits at a future date.
14. If you wait to collect your retirement benefit after you reach your full retirement age, but before you hit age 70, you have to wait until the next January to see your full delayed retirement credit show up in your monthly check.
15. Millions of Baby Boomers can significantly raise their retirement benefits by continuing to work in their sixties. This may also significantly raise the spousal, child, and mother and father benefits their relatives collect.
16. If you take retirement, spousal, or widow/widower benefits early and lose some or all of them because of Social Security's earnings test, Social Security will actuarially increase your benefits (under the Adjustment of Reduction Factor) starting at your full retirement age based on the number of months of benefits you forfeited. This is true whether the loss in benefits due to the earnings test reflects benefits based on your own work record or based on your spouse's work record. Consequently, you should not be too concerned about working too much and losing your own retirement benefits if you elected to take them early. On the other hand, if you lose spousal or child benefits due to the earnings test, they will just be lost. The Adjustment of the Reduction Factor does not apply to those benefits.
17. When it comes to possibly paying federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits, withdrawals from Roth IRAs aren't counted, but withdrawals from 401(k), 403(b), regular IRAs, and other tax-deferred accounts are. So there may be a significant advantage in a) withdrawing from your tax-deferred accounts after you retire, but before you start collecting Social Security, b) using up your tax-deferred accounts before you withdraw from your Roth accounts, and c) converting your tax-deferred accounts to Roth IRA holdings after or even before you retire, but before you start collecting Social Security.
18. Social Security's online benefit calculators either don't handle or don't adequately handle spousal, divorcee, child, mother, father, widow or widower benefits, or file and suspend options.
19. The default assumptions used in Social Security's online retirement benefit calculators is that the economy will experience no economy-wide real wage growth and no inflation going forward. This produces benefit estimates that can, for younger people, be significantly less than what they are most likely to receive.
20. Some widows/widowers may do better taking their survivor benefits starting at 60 and their retirement benefits at or after full retirement. Others may do better taking their retirement benefits starting at 62 and taking their widow/widowers benefits starting at full retirement age.
21. If you're below full retirement age and are collecting a spousal benefit and your spouse is below full retirement age and is collecting a retirement benefit, your spousal benefit can be reduced if your spouse earns beyond the Earnings Test's exempt amount. And it can also be reduced if you earn beyond the Earnings Test's exempt amount.
22. The Windfall Elimination Provision affects how the amount of your retirement or disability benefit is calculated if you receive a pension from work where Social Security taxes were not taken out of your pay, such as a government agency or an employer in another country, and you also worked in other jobs long enough to qualify for a Social Security retirement or disability benefit. A modified formula is used to calculate your benefit amount, resulting in a lower Social Security benefit than you otherwise would receive.
23. Based on the Government Pension Offset provision, if you receive a pension from a federal, state or local government based on work where you did not pay Social Security taxes, your Social Security spouse's or widow's or widower's benefits may be reduced. But the Government Pension Offset doesn't kick in until you start collecting your non-covered pension. So, ... it may behove you to wait to take your non-covered pension especially if the pension you can collect at a later date is actuarially increased.
24. If you have children, because you started having children late or adopted young children later in life, they can collect child benefits through and including age 17 (or age 19 if they are still in secondary school) if you or your spouse or you ex spouse are collecting retirement benefits.
25. If you have children who are eligible to collect benefits because your spouse or ex spouse is collecting retirement benefits, you can collect mother or father benefits until your child reaches age 16.
26. Your children can receive survivor benefits if your spouse or ex-spouse died and they are under age 18 (or age 19 if they are still in secondary school) or, independent of age, if they were disabled prior to attaining adulthood.
27. You can collect mother or father benefits if you spouse or ex-spouse died and you have children of your spouse or your ex-spouse who are under age 16.
28. There is a maximum family benefit that applies to the total benefits to you, your spouse, and your children that can be received on your earnings record.
29. If you choose to file and suspend in order to enable your spouse to collect a spousal benefit on your earnings record while you delay taking your benefit in order to collect a higher one later, make sure you pay your Medicare Part B premiums out of your own pocket (i.e., you need to send Social Security a check each month). If you don't, Social Security will pay it for you and treat you as waving (i.e., not suspending) your benefit apart from the premium and, get this, you won't get the Delayed Retirement Credit applied to your benefit. In other words, if you don't pay the Part B premiums directly, your benefit when you ask for it in the future will be NO LARGER than when you suspended its receipt. This is a really nasty Gotcha, which I just learned, by accident, from one of Social Security's top actuaries.
30. If you are collecting a disability benefit and your spouse tries to collect just his/her Social Security benefit early, she will be deemed to be filing for her spousal benefits as well. I.e., if your spouse takes his/her retirement benefit early, he/she won't be able to delay taking a spousal benefit early, which means both her retirement and spousal benefits will be permanently reduced thanks to the early retirement benefit and early spousal benefit reduction factors.
31. When inflation is low, like it is now, there is a disadvantage to delaying until, say 70, collecting one's retirement benefit. The disadvantage arises with respect to Medicare Part B premiums. If you collecting benefits (actually were collecting them last year), the increase in the Medicare premium this year will be limited to the increase in your Social Security check. This is referred to as being "held harmless." Hence, when inflation is low, the increase in your check due to the cost of living adjustment will be small, meaning the increase in your Medicare Part B premium will be limited. But, if you aren't collecting a benefit because you are waiting to collect a higher benefit later, tough noogies. You're Medicare Part B premium increase won't be limited. And that increase will be locked into every future year's Medicare Part B premium that you have to pay. You can wait to join Medicare until, say, age 70, but if you aren't working for a large employer, the premiums you'll pay starting at 70 will be higher and stay higher forever. So much for helping the government limit its Medicare spending!
32. Hold harmless -- the provision that your increase in Medicare Part B premium cannot exceed the increase in your Social Security check due to Social Security's Cost of Living Adjustment -- does not apply if you have high income and are paying income-related Medicare Part B premiums.
33. The thresholds beyond which first 50 percent and then 85 percent of your Social Security benefits are subject to federal income taxation are explicitly NOT indexed for inflation. Hence, eventually all Social Security recipients will be tax on 85 percent of their Social Security benefits.
34. If you take your retirement benefit early and your spouse takes his/her retirement benefit any time that is a month or more after you take your retirement benefit, you will NOT be deemed, at that point (when your spouse starts collecting his/her retirement benefit) to be applying for a spousal benefit. In other words, you can, in this situation, wait until your full retirement age to start collecting your unreduced excess spousal benefit. The retirement benefit collection status of your spouse in the month you file for early retirement benefits determines whether you are deemed to be also be applying for spousal benefits. This means that you should think twice about applying for retirement benefits in the same month as your spouse if one or both of you are applying early.
35. If you take your spousal benefit early, you will be deemed to be taking your retirement benefit as well with one exception -- if you have a dependent child in your care. In this case, you can just take your spousal benefits with no reduction. If you are under full retirement age when your children all reach their 16th birthday or leave your care, your unreduced spousal benefit will stop unless you file a "certificate of election for reduced spousal benefits." This will permit you to continue to receive spousal benefits which and if you are still below full retirement age, you will automatically be deemed to be applying for early retirement benefits. In addition, your spousal benefit will be reduced based on the number of months left before you reach your age of full retirement.
36. If you're divorced, but were married for 10 years, you can collect spousal benefits based on the earnings record of your ex-spouse, but you a) have to wait until your ex has reached age 62 and b) be divorced for two or more years if your ex hasn't yet filed for his/her retirement benefit. This means that if you are older than your ex and your ex was the higher earner, you'll be able to collect your reduced retirement benefit early without being forced to take your spousal benefit early, which would mean that it would be permanently reduced. Also, you won't be automatically deemed to be applying for spousal benefits when your ex reaches age 62. What's relevant for the deeming is the age he/she was at the time you first apply for your retirement benefit.
38. If you get divorced and then remarry, you will not be able to receive spousal based on your ex's work history. And you also won't be able to receive survivor benefits if you remarry and your ex spouse dies unless you remarry after age 60. Also, to receive spousal benefits based on your new spouse's work history, you need to stick it out with him/her (stay married to him/her) for 10 years. Hence, you need to think twice about getting remarried if you divorced someone who earned a lot more than you earned and are, say, over 50. And if you are close to 60 and are thinking of marrying a low earner and, again, your ex was a high earner relative to you, waiting until 60 to remarry will at least secure your survivor benefits. Another reason to think twice about remarrying applies if you have young children. If your ex dies while any of your children under your care are under age 16 (i.e., they haven't yet hit their 16th birthday) and you havent' remarried, you (in addition to your kids) can receive survivor benefits until you have no children under age 16 regardless of how old you are when your ex kicks. These benefits can, however, be lost due to Social Security's earnings test if you earn too much money.
39. Father and Mother benefits, available to surviving spouses who have a child under age 16 of a retired worker or a deceased worker, are available at any age and are not reduced based on age. If you reach age 60 and are eligible to receive a father or mother benefit, do not apply for your survivor (widow or widower) benefit, because you will end up getting your survivor benefit, instead of your mother/father benefit, and the survivor benefit will be permanently reduced, whereas, the mother or father benefit will not. This is another nasty Gotcha if you make the wrong move.
40. Mother and father benefits, available to widows/widowers of deceased workers when they have a child of the worker under age 16 under their care are eligible, are, as indicated in 39., not reduced. But this also means that if they are lost due to the earnings test, i.e., due to the surviving spouse earning too much money , they won't be increased in the future as in the case of retirement, spousal, and survivor benefits (benefits to widows/widowers who don't have a child of the deceased worker under 16 in their care).
41. If you take your retirement benefit early (before full retirement age), it will be reduced and if you die, your spouse's survivor benefit will equal the benefit you were receiving, so it too will be permanently reduced. Furthermore, if you widow/widower takes his/her survivor benefit early, this reduced survivor benefit will be reduced yet again due to the fact that the surviving spouse took her/his survivor benefit early. So this is a double whammy. If you don't take retirement benefits early and die before full retirement age, your surviving spouse's survivor benefit will equal your full retirement benefit. If you don't take retirement benefits until after full retirement, your surviving spouse's survivor benefit will equal the benefit you were receiving or would have received had you applied right before you died, namely your full retirement benefit augmented by the Delayed Retirement Credit.
42. The Government Pension Offset (see 23) provision will decline, in real terms, if your pension from non-covered employment is not fully indexed for inflation. Hence, you can lose all or some of your Social Security spousal or survivor benefits for some period of time, but ultimately start receiving either some benefits or larger benefits.
43. If you take your benefits early and then suspend them at or after full retirement age (you can't suspend them before full retirement age), the spousal benefit you will collect based on your living spouse's earnings record will not be half of his/her full retirement benefit. Instead, it will be what may be called an excess spousal benefit, which will equal A) half of his/her full retirement benefit less your full retirement benefit with any delayed retirement credits applied (notwithstanding your having suspended its collection multipled by a reduction factor if you took your spousal benefits early.
44. If you take your benefits early and then suspend them at or after full retirement age (you can't suspend them before full retirement age), the survivor benefit you will collect based on your deceased spouse's earnings record will not be half of his/her full retirement benefit. Instead, it will equal A) his/her actual retirement benefit if he/she died after beginning to collect retirement benefits or B) his/her full retirement benefit if he/she died before reaching full retirement age without having started to collect his/her retirement benefits or C) his/her retirement benefit, which would have been available had he/she started collecting at the time of his/her death, if he/she begins collecting after full retirement age less D) the retirement benefit you were collecting at the time you suspended your benefits. In other words, you will receive what may be called an excess widow/widower's benefit rather than a full widow/widower's benefit (which would be A, B, or C by itself).


text:
\section{Introduction}
Single-photon detectors based on single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) are a versatile tool for various applications ranging from quantum information and communication \cite{Mig04, Sas11, Pee09, Pirandola2020, Xu2020} to optical time domain reflectometry \cite{Med17}, biomedical research \cite{Kar17, Bru19}, time-of-flight laser ranging \cite{McC13, Ren11} and applications in the automotive industry \cite{Chan19}. These detectors are threshold detectors operating in Geiger mode. Consequently their responses inherently are highly non-linear with the mean number of photons \cite{Hadfield2009}.\\Applications typically aim at high count rates, e.g. to maximize the transmission rate in quantum communication \cite{Zha09, Dix08} or in satellite optical communication \cite{Liao2017, Val16}, or the sampling speed in laser ranging applications \cite{Du18}. \\The calibration of single-photon detectors' detection efficiency, defined as the probability that a photon impinging on the armed detector will produce a count, on the other hand typically is performed using strongly attenuated laser light at low count rates to avoid distortion effects in photon counting statistics due to unresolved multi-photon events and due to the holdoff time ('dead time') of the detector \cite{Had09, Tit19}. The calibration procedure consists in comparing the number of events registered by the single-photon detector per second to the mean incident power determined from a reference analogue detector. Typically a classical detection efficiency $\eta_{class}$ is modeled and determined, i.e. a response proportional to the impinging mean optical power \cite{lopez2015}. This is analogous to the substitution method employed in classical radiometry \cite{IEC61315,goebel1997}, and it does not account for the distortion effect on count statistics induced e.g. by the detectors' holdoff time and their inability to resolve the number of incident photons. The traditional approach usually assumes that these low-rate results are representative of the quantum behavior of the detector. This includes the tacit assumption that the intrinsic detection efficiency $\eta$ of the device, which is independent of the statistics of the incoming light, within the stated uncertainty is constant for all detection rates. Here, we scrutinize this assumption by measuring the intrinsic detection efficiency of commercial detectors based on InGaAs-SPADs, operated in free-running mode, using a pulsed laser over a broad range of mean photon numbers, focusing in particular on high event rates.\\A statistical model for the detection rate of such free-running detectors illuminated by pulsed sources was published recently \cite{georgieva2021}. The model was shown to describe well the change in 'click probability' and dark counts for mean photon numbers covering three orders of magnitude. It is applicable to setups where no information concerning the state of the single-photon detector with respect to its holdoff state is available, e.g. from a heralding event or an 'armed'-signal of the detector itself \cite{Brida2000, Brida2005, Castelletto2006, Min15}. Here we apply that model, and an improved version of it, to recover the quantum efficiency of single-photon detectors based on avalanche diodes, and compare the results to a software-based method that \textit{ex post} identifies and extracts only valid trigger events from time-stamped data . This latter approach should be an almost ideal one, as it is able to realize the definition of the intrinsic detection efficiency by eliminating the distortion effects due to the holdoff time. We consider only events within a few nanoseconds wide time window, which is small relative to the average dark count rate, thus minimizing the number of background counts mistaken as signal counts. In our measurements we find that, in the high rate regime, the quantum efficiency is not a constant parameter of the detector, but depends on the event rate. This suggests that future calibrations of the detection efficiency need to explicitly investigate this effect in order to avoid misconceptions which, among others, may induce security loopholes in quantum communication.

\section{Setup and methods}

\subsection{Experimental setup}
To assess the statistical model-based approaches in retrieving the single-photon detector efficiency, we measured and analyzed the signal detection probability of two SPAD-based single-photon detectors having a nominal detection efficiency of $0.1$, and operated in free-running mode using a pulsed laser.\\The trigger signals to the laser were referenced to PTB's 10 MHz-standard frequency (see fig. \ref{fig:setup} for a sketch of the setup), and they were registered by a time tagging card. The laser is fibre-coupled and emits pulses at a nominal wavelength of 1548 nm with a nominal pulse width $<$ 100 ps (FWHM), where the setting of the mean power was kept constant for all measurements. A cooled, calibrated photodiode served as a power monitor. The diode's photocurrent $ i_\mathrm{mon}$ was measured and logged by a Femto-/Picoamp\`eremetre to calculate the mean photon number per pulse for each measurement run according to
\begin{equation}
n_\mathrm{ph} =\frac{ i_\mathrm{mon}\cdot q\cdot \alpha}{f\cdot s\cdot h\cdot \nu}.
\end{equation}
Here, $i_\mathrm{mon}$ is the photocurrent measured at a beam splitter's monitor output, $q$ is the ratio between the photocurrents measured at the monitor output and measured after the optical attenuator (at nominally 0 dB attenuation), $\alpha$ is its total linear attenuation (relative to nominally 0 dB), $f$ is the signal pulse repetition rate, $s$ is the calibrated sensitivity of the diode ($s= (1.0486\pm0.0063$) A/W ($k=1$)), $h$ is the Planck constant and $\nu$ is the optical frequency of the photons. The ratio of the photocurrents at the output of the second attenuator (both attenuators set to nominally 0 dB) and the monitor output of the fibre beamsplitter was  $q = 3.211$ (standard deviation $\sigma=0.008$). We found the combined relative standard uncertainty in mean photon number per pulse to be within the range $6.5\cdot 10^{-3}$ to $6.8\cdot 10^{-3}$ throughout the measurements, including only statistical variations for $i_\mathrm{mon}$ and $\alpha$ here.\\
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=12.9cm]{figure_setup.pdf}
\caption{Experimental Setup. A waveform generator referenced to PTB's 10 MHz standard frequency triggers a pulsed fibre-coupled laser (1548 nm, nominal pulse width $<$100 ps (FWHM)). After passing two variable attenuators, the laser pulse is detected by a single-photon detector based on an avalanche diode. Both the trigger pulses and the detector output signal are registered by a time tagging card.}
\label{fig:setup}
\end{figure}
The pulses passed an optical attenuation stage consisting of two fibre coupled variable attenuators in series. For our measurements, the total attenuation $\alpha$ covered a range from 56 dB to 72 dB.\\
We measured two commercial single-photon detectors based on InGaAs-SPADs (labeled as 'A', and 'B'), where the devices were nominally identical, i.e. both being of the same type and brand. For the measurements we employed user-set, nominal holdoff times of 10~$\mu$s and 20~$\mu$s. The background count levels, observed when the laser was not triggered, were around 820 counts/s and around 870 counts/s for devices A, and B, respectively, for a nominal holdoff time of 20~$\mu$s, and around 830 counts/s and around 910 counts/s for a nominal holdoff time of 10  ~$\mu$s.\\A time tagging card (Picoquant TimeHarp 260) attributed a time stamp with a nominal resolution of 250 ps to each event and streamed the events to hard disk for later analysis. For offline data analysis we used a software developed in-house.
\subsection{Data analysis}
For the retrieval of $\eta$, as a first approach we employed the statistical model presented in \cite{georgieva2021} (`original model') accounting for holdoff time and dark counts; here the signal detection rate $N_{click}$ is:
\begin{equation}
N_\mathrm{click} = f \frac{p_0}{1+m\cdot p_0}\exp\left(-N_\mathrm{dark,exp}D\right)+N_\mathrm{dark,exp}\left(1-\frac{p_0}{1+m\cdot p_0}\cdot f \cdot D\right),
\label{eq:model-overcycling}
\end{equation}
where $ N_\mathrm{dark,exp}$ is the darkcount rate measured in the absence of any signal pulses, $f$ is the pulse repetition frequency,
\begin{equation}
p_0 = 1-\exp(-n_\mathrm{ph}\eta),
\label{eq:Poisson}
\end{equation}
and $m$ is the integer part of the holdoff time $D$ divided by the pulse repetition interval. This takes into account 'overcycling', i.e. a repetition rate larger than the inverse of the holdoff time. The factor $\exp\left(-N_\mathrm{dark,exp}D\right)$ accounts for the probability of not having a dark count within the holdoff time prior to the detection event. According to eq. \ref{eq:model-overcycling}, $\eta$ can be estimated as:
\begin{equation}
\eta_\mathrm{orig.model} = -\frac{1}{n_\mathrm{ph}}\ln\left(1-\frac{a}{1-m\cdot a}\right),
\end{equation}
where
\begin{equation}
a = \frac{(N_\mathrm{click}-N_\mathrm{dark,exp})/f}{\exp\left(-N_\mathrm{dark,exp}D\right)-N_\mathrm{dark,exp}D},
\end{equation}
and $N_\mathrm{click}/f$ corresponds to the probability of observing a 'click' per laser pulse (click probability).\\In the following, we will observe that $\eta_\mathrm{orig.model}$ leads to a substantial overestimation in the regimes of high mean photon number per pulse and high repetition rate. For this reason, we amended the model in eq. \ref{eq:model-overcycling} by replacing the simple factor $\exp\left(-N_\mathrm{dark,exp}D\right)$ by an expression that also takes the effect of the signal detections in the estimation of the dark count rate into account (`amended model'). In this amended model the detection rate of eq. \ref{eq:model-overcycling} becomes:
\begin{equation}
\begin{split}
N_\mathrm{click} &= f \frac{p_0}{1+m\cdot p_0}\exp\left(-N_\mathrm{dark,exp}D\left(1-\frac{p_0}{1+m\cdot p_0}\cdot D\right)\right)\\
 &+N_\mathrm{dark,exp}\left(1-\frac{p_0}{1+m\cdot p_0}\cdot f \cdot D\right).
\end{split}
\label{eq:model-overcycling-adapted}
\end{equation}
It is not straightforward to estimate the quantum efficiency from eq. \ref{eq:model-overcycling-adapted} since this is a transcendental equation in $\eta$. Thus, we decided to solve it numerically.\\To validate the models for the estimation of quantum efficiency, where in both cases only lumped count rates are considered, we took advantage of each detection event being time-stamped individually. This allowed for establishing a software-based \emph{ex post}-validation of each trigger event to directly determine the 'true' click probability as a reference (`ground truth'). Using the detector's holdoff time as determined experimentally from several histograms for each detector, the software moved through the data stream in chronological order and flagged all trigger signals being 'shadowed' by the holdoff time of any previous detection event as being invalid. It then calculated the 'true' click probability as
\begin{equation}
p_{\mathrm{click, true}} = \frac{n_\mathrm{signal}}{n_\mathrm{trigger}-n_\mathrm{trigger,inv}}=1-e^{-n_\mathrm{ph}\eta},
\label{eq:groundtruth}
\end{equation}
where $n_\mathrm{signal}$ is the total number of detections within the signal detection window, $n_\mathrm{trigger}$ is the total number of registered trigger signals and $n_\mathrm{trigger,inv}$ is the number of triggers marked as being invalid. The \textit{ex post}-validation ensured that the non-linear detection effect induced by the holdoff time on the detection probability was eliminated. Furthermore, the effect of dark counts was largely suppressed as trigger pulses occuring during the holdoff time following a dark count are discarded as well.\\ In the following section we present experimental results for the retrieval of the single-photon detection efficiency $\eta$ according to the models given by eqs. \ref{eq:model-overcycling} and \ref{eq:model-overcycling-adapted}, as well as from the reference method based on \textit{ex post}-validation of trigger events.

\section{Results and Discussion}
\subsection{Measurements and retrieval of the quantum efficiency}
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=17.2cm]{figure_pclick.pdf}
\caption{Click probability; experimental data for both commercial SPAD-based single-photon detectors considered here. The graphs show the observed probability of a detection event within a 6 ns wide signal detection time window versus mean photon number per pulse, without corrections being applied.}
\label{fig:pclick}
\end{figure}
Figure \ref{fig:pclick} shows the observed mean click probabilities of the devices, i.e. the mean probability of registering an event within the signal detection window after registering a trigger, over a wide range of mean photon numbers and pulse repetition rates. Here, repetition rates below 100~kHz (50~kHz) correspond to a repetition interval larger than the dead time of around 10~$\mu$s (20~$\mu$s). The applied pulse repetition rates covered a range of the ratio $m$ of holdoff time ('dead time') to pulse interval of $m=0,1,2$ (see eqs. \ref{eq:model-overcycling}, \ref{eq:model-overcycling-adapted}, and \cite{georgieva2021}). The click probability, as expected, dropped significantly whenever the repetition rate became larger than an integer multiple of the inverse holdoff time. From the model, for a given $m$ the curves are expected to overlap. However, at e.g. 20~$\mu$s holdoff time and for repetition rates of 10~kHz and 30~kHz, both corresponding to $m=0$, a shift to lower click probability with higher repetition rate was visible (panels b) and d); similar in panel a), where for device A also for 10~$\mu$s holdoff time a measurement at 10~kHz repetition rate was done). This cannot be explained by the `overcycling' effect but hints at the presence of some other effect.\\Figures \ref{fig:eta-nphoton-A} and  \ref{fig:eta-nphoton-B} display the intrinsic detection efficiency (single-photon detection efficiency) $\eta$ retrieved for device A and B, respectively. The reconstruction of $\eta$ based on the original model of eq. \ref{eq:model-overcycling} (panels a and b) exhibits a visible upward slope with increasing mean photon number and increasing repetition rate compared to the reconstructions based on the amended model (eq. \ref{eq:model-overcycling-adapted}, panels c and d) as well as compared to the reference values (`ground truth', panels e and f). This underlines that the effect of pulse rate and signal detection probability on the background count rate needs to be included into the statistical model as is done in eq. \ref{eq:model-overcycling-adapted}.\\
However, most notably we found that the values of $\eta$ spread out and in general show an overall decrease with increasing mean photon number and with increasing pulse repetition rate. In particular this was also true for the values of $\eta$ estimated from the \emph{ex post}-validated data. To assess if this is an artefact of the reconstruction, e.g. due to afterpulses not being accounted for in the models, a closer look at the devices' background counts is required.
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=17.2cm]{figure_experiment_A.pdf}
\caption{Experimental data: Recovery of the intrinsic detection efficiency using the various methods for device A at nominal holdoff times of 10~$\mu$s (panels a, c, e) and 20~$\mu$s (panels b, d, f). }
\label{fig:eta-nphoton-A}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=17.2cm]{figure_experiment_B.pdf}
\caption{Experimental data: Recovery of the intrinsic detection efficiency using the various methods for device B, at nominal holdoff times of 10~$\mu$s (panels a, c, e) and 20~$\mu$s (panels b, d, f).}
\label{fig:eta-nphoton-B}
\end{figure}
\clearpage
\subsection{Assessing the  background count dynamics}
As the models do not include dynamic changes of the background counts such as afterpulsing, one might conclude that the devices' dark count dynamics causes the observed behaviour. To characterize these dynamics, we performed a measurement at a low repetition rate of 2~kHz and at a high mean photon number of around 20 photons per pulse. Figure \ref{fig:histograms} shows histograms of the dark count probability for each of the devices for time bins with a width of $\Delta t = 10$ ns. We considered only events that occured within the repetition interval of 500~$\mu$s after each trigger, filtered for triggers where an event was detected within a given 6 ns wide signal detection window ('successful trigger'). We divided the total number of events in each bin by the number of signal detections to obtain the conditional dark count probability.
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=17.2cm]{figure_histograms.pdf}
\caption{Histograms of the dark count probability conditional on a successful signal detection, at a nominal holdoff time of 10~$\mu$s (panels a,c) and 20~$\mu$s (panels b,d) for the single-photon detectors considered here (10 ns bins). All data were taken at a pulse repetition rate of 2~kHz and a mean photon number of around 20 photons/pulse (measurement time 120 s each).}
\label{fig:histograms}
\end{figure}
As is visible in a qualitative manner already from the histograms of this (conditional) dark count probability, both device A and B exhibited a rather low afterpulsing in particular for nominal holdoff times of 20~$\mu$s. In general, when applying the original or the amended model to time-unresolved data, the conditions of operating the single-photon detector should be chosen such that afterpulsing is minimized as it is not included into the models. However, in most situations, and also in the measurements presented here, it cannot be avoided entirely. Consequently, our measurements did include the effect of very small afterpulsing.\\
For visualizing the dark count dynamics following a signal detection, we first calculated the mean value $\bar{p}_{\mathrm{dc}}$ of the dark count probabilities over the last 5000 bins (50~$\mu$s) of each histogram as a long-term reference value. We subtracted $\bar{p}_{\mathrm{dc}}$ from each bin and summed up the residual probability over the time bins to arrive at the integrated surplus-darkcount probability relative to the respective reference value:
\begin{equation}
P_{\mathrm{dc,surplus}}(t) = \sum_{i = 0}^{i=t/\Delta t} \left(p_{\mathrm{i,dc}}(\Delta t)-\bar{p}_{\mathrm{dc}}\right)
\end{equation}
 An elevated count level e.g. due to afterpulsing, will increase this quantity with integration time, while a count level lower than the respective reference value will lead to a decrease of the integrated surplus-darkcount probability. Counts fluctuating around the reference value will on average not contribute to the sum.\\The integrated surplus darkcount probability, fig. \ref{fig:surplusdarkcounts}, allowed for a more quantitative comparison as well as for detecting subtle differences in the dynamics between device A and B. The surplus dark count probability for device B leveled off at a click probability of less than 0.8~\% (less than 0.3~\%) after less than 100~$\mu$s for a nominal holdoff time of 10~$\mu$s (20~$\mu$s). Device A exhibited a maximum surplus-darkcount probability of 0.5~\% ($<0.05~\%$) at a nominal holdoff time of 10~$\mu$s (20~$\mu$s) followed by a steady decrease. This decrease indicates that the dark count probability on average was below the mean value of that in the last 50~$\mu$s of the 500~$\mu$s interval. This is consistent with observations made separately, where we saw a suppression of background counts for that device after a detection event, followed by a long-term 'recovery' of the background count level. The surplus-darkcount probability is a convenient means to visualize such subtle differences in background dynamics e.g. when comparing nominally identical devices.\\
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=17.2cm]{figure_darkcount_dynamics.pdf}
\caption{Sum of the surplus-darkcount probability, e.g. due to afterpulsing, at a nominal holdoff time of 10~$\mu$s (panels a,c) and 20~$\mu$s (panels b,d), calculated over the time elapsed since a detection event within the signal detection time window (see figure \ref{fig:histograms}).}
\label{fig:surplusdarkcounts}
\end{figure}
\clearpage
\subsection{Retrieving $\eta$ from simulations}
To further assess the fidelity of retrieving the intrinsic detection efficiency using the models as well as the \emph{ex post}-validation, in particular in view of the observed background count dynamics, we additionally performed an analysis of simulated data streams. To obtain a realistic scenario, we made use of the dark count dynamics observed experimentally. In the simulation, the probability of a dark count occuring after a signal 'detection' was governed by the dark count probabilities shown in fig. \ref{fig:histograms}. Hence, weak afterpulsing and even dark count suppression was included into the simulations.\\We set the simulated detector's efficiency to exactly $\eta=0.1$, and iterated in time steps of 10 ns. For each step, we checked if a multiple of the simulated signal pulse repetition interval was reached. If not, we allowed for the possibility of a dark count according to the corresponding time bin of the experimental dark count probability (for larger time intervals than 500~$\mu$s, again the mean value of the last 5000 histogram bins was used as a constant probability value). If, on the other hand, the time step reached a multiple of the simulated pulse repetition interval, we first allowed for the possibility of a signal detection to occur with a probability of  $p_0 = 1-\exp(-n_\mathrm{ph}\eta)$ before allowing for the possibility of dark count ($n_\mathrm{ph}$: simulated mean photon number per pulse). For each mean photon number, we simulated the data streams over a total number of time steps corresponding to a total time of 100 s. \\The results of retrieving $\eta$ from the simulated data are shown in figs. \ref{fig:simulationA} and \ref{fig:simulationB}. We found that despite low afterpulsing probabilities, see fig. \ref{fig:simulationA}, panels a) and b), the reconstruction of the intrinsic detection efficiency based on original model from \cite{georgieva2021} indeed tended to overestimate $\eta$ for all but the lowest repetion rates and/or low mean photon numbers, where this overestimate increased with mean photon number and pulse repetition rate.  The amended model, on the other hand, which takes the backaction of signal detections on the dark count rate into account, largely suppressed the deviation exhibited by the original model. For very small mean photon numbers both models yielded largely similar results. When applying the \emph{ex post}-validation of the trigger pulses followed by the  evaluation of eq. \ref{eq:Poisson}, the correct value of $\eta$ was recovered faithfully for all repetition rates and mean photon numbers. We verified the insensitivity of the \emph{ex post}-validation to background count dynamics further by also performing simulations based on histograms obtained from a different device suffering from strong afterpulsing (including higher-order afterpulsing).  Also in these simulations, an \emph{ex post}-validation allowed for a successful retrieval of $\eta$, very similar to the simulations shown here. We therefore conclude that the results obtained via an \emph{ex post}-validation are not affected significantly by afterpulsing but yield a meaningful reference value ('ground truth') for $\eta$, when applying the models to experimental data.\\Therefore, we are led to conclude that, unlike the upward slope of $\eta$ for the original model, the experimentally observed spread and variation of $\eta$ is not an artefact of the reconstruction but a property of the devices under test. Contrary to the general assumption, their intrinsic detection efficiency $\eta$ at least in the range covered here cannot be considered as being a constant.
\\
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=17.2cm]{figure_simulation_A.pdf}
\caption{Simulation, device A: Intrinsic detection efficiency recovered with the various reconstruction methods from a simulated stream of detection events, where the simulation of dark counts is based on the dark count probabilities shown in figure \ref{fig:histograms} (here: $\eta = 0.100$).}
\label{fig:simulationA}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=17.2cm]{figure_simulation_B.pdf}
\caption{Simulation, device B: Intrinsic detection efficiency recovered with the various reconstruction methods from a simulated stream of detection events, where the simulation of dark counts is based on the dark count probabilities shown in  figure \ref{fig:histograms} (here: $\eta = 0.100$). }
\label{fig:simulationB}
\end{figure}
\clearpage
\subsection{Time-interval dependence of the quantum efficiency}
As the variation of $\eta$ with mean photon number and repetition rate lends itself to the idea of a possible time dependence, we tentatively plotted the estimated values of $\eta$ retrieved from the \textit{ex post}-validated data over the mean time interval between a signal detection event to the last preceding event (background count or signal), see fig. \ref{fig:eta-deltat}. In particular at high rates, where the background counts are negligible (see also \cite{georgieva2021}), this essentially corresponds to the inverse of the mean detection rate. The error bars indicate the combined standard uncertainty of $\eta$. The observed relative standard deviation of the mean time interval monotonically grows with decreasing mean photon number for both devices to values of up to $3.8\cdot10^{-3}$. \\
To assess the significance of the variation in the recovered intrinsic detection efficiency, we refer to a recent international pilot study regarding the calibration of a SPAD-based single-photon detector's efficiency \cite{lopez2020}, which stated expanded relative uncertainties between 2.7~\% and 5.3~\%. We include a dashed (dash-dotted) line indicating a decrease of $\eta$, relative to its long-interval value by around 3~\% (around 5~\%) .\\
\begin{figure}
\includegraphics[width=17.2cm]{figure_eta_time.pdf}
\caption{Displaying the experimental values for the intrinsic detection efficiency (retrieved after \emph{ex post}-validation of the time-stamped data) versus the mean time to the previous event for each measurement on a semi-logarithmic scale. Panels a) and b) display $\eta$ over mean time to the previous event for the signal detections by device A and B, respectively. The dashed (dash-dotted) line indicates a relative decrease of approximately 3~\% (5~\%) relative to the value recovered for the intrinsic detection efficiency at the longest inter-detection time intervals. The relative standard deviation of the mean time since the  previous event is $<3.8\cdot 10^{-3}$ for all cases. Panels c) and d) displays $\eta$ recovered from the amended overcycling model in comparison to the 'ground truth' from the \textit{ex post}-validated data. }
\label{fig:eta-deltat}
\end{figure}
For both detectors, we found that the reconstructed values of $\eta$ largely overlap and follow a common curve, where the intrinsic detection efficiency decreased with decreasing mean inter-detection time interval (increasing detection rate). Here, the decrease in observed quantum efficiency became significant for mean time intervals below 100~$\mu$s, roughly corresponding to detection rates around 10~kHz. For a nominal holdoff time of 10~$\mu$s, this corresponds to about 10~\% of the maximum detectable event rate. We note that at this rate the repetition intervals were much larger than the holdoff time, i.e. the observed effect was not due to pulses sampling the partial recovery of the device at the end of its holdoff time. Towards the respective holdoff time we found a steepening slope, leading to a kind of 'bifurcation' between the 10~$\mu$s and the 20~$\mu$s data below 30~$\mu$s. This may possibly be a hint to the mechanisms that lead to the observed behaviour, or may indeed be due to sampling the mentioned recovery period. When comparing the values of the quantum efficiency as reconstructed using the amended model to the reference values of $\eta$ retrieved after \textit{ex post}-validation of the data, we found that they substantially overlap. For both approaches we consistently observed a significant variation of the intrinsic detection efficiency, which would not have been noted in measurements at low event rates.

\section{Conclusion}
In this paper, using simulated and experimental data, we tested a model of the detection rates from \cite{georgieva2021} as well as the amended version presented here to recover the intrinsic detection efficiency $\eta$. We compared the results to values of $\eta$ retrieved from \textit{ex post}-validated, time-stamped data, where only trigger events were considered, that were separated from a previous event by more than the detector's holdoff time. We found that the original model may lead to a significant overestimate of $\eta$ compared to the \textit{ex post}-validated data. This overestimate increased systematically with a longer holdoff time and with increasing mean photon number per pulse. This systematic variation was strongly suppressed for the values of $\eta$ as recovered by the amended model and not observed using \textit{ex post}-validated data (`ground truth').\\Retrieving $\eta$ from experimental data, and corroborated by the simulations, we observed a significant decrease of $\eta$ with increasing mean photon number and repetition rate. For the devices considered here, this can largely be regarded as a function of the mean time of a signal detection to the previous detection event. We found that, for time intervals corresponding to detection rates of around 10~kHz or more, the quantum efficiency dropped significantly by more than 5~\% relative to its low-rate value, and by up to around 20~\% close to the maximum rate. We therefore conclude that the intrinsic detection efficiency of single-photon detectors in general cannot be regarded as having a constant value. This rather unexpected result is of utmost importance for quantum technologies, since consequently,  any calibration of $\eta$, in particular in view of high-rate applications, needs to cover a wide range of conditions and regimes to make sure that it does not miss unexpected behaviour that might affect the intended quantum technological application. For example, an unknown change of a detector's quantum efficiency under certain conditions might open a security loophole in quantum cryptography leaving the quantum key distribution (QKD) system vulnerable to attacks \cite{Diamanti2016,ETSIWP27}. For systems that employ multiple detectors, also a test and characterization of the difference in detection efficiency is necessary to avoid detection efficiency mismatch attacks \cite{Lo2014, Makarov2006}. Guidelines published by bodies such as the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) \cite{etsi} include definitions and methods to measure the detection efficiency of SPAD-based single-photon detectors \cite{ETSI11}. Based on the results presented here, we strongly recommend an amendment to the guidelines to include the investigation of a possible variation of the quantum efficiency for any future calibration of devices used in quantum communications.

\section{Acknowledgments}
The work reported here was funded by the projects EMPIR 19NRM06 METISQ and EMPIR 20FUN05 SEQUME. These projects received funding from the EMPIR programme co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.\\The name of any manufacturer or supplier by PTB or INRIM in this scientific journal shall not be taken to be PTB's or INRIM's endorsement of specific samples of products of the said manufacturer; or recommendation of the said supplier.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


In every song the player skips a few seconds of te song and its anoying.
In which device is this happening? I can see that you've joined the conversation on our Huawei topic. If so, thank you for being patient while we're investigating the problem.
yes I reinstalled the app, but the problem is still there. As I discovered now, it is not when playing Deezer on the laptop, but only when I use the Sonos app, where I added Deezer. Quite annoying because I would like to make use of the complete sound system at home. So maybe it is a problem with Sonos after they updated their app.
Since it's with Sonos - check this topic for updates. We're working on it.
Thanks for pointing this out to me, I will follow that topic for updates!


Lone Star College-CyFair Associate of Arts in Teaching Department fully supports the importance of meeting the teacher shortages. Our program will not only focus on increasing enrollment, but helping our pre-service educators develop a passion for students, for teaching and for service. We believe that the teaching profession is a worthy occupation that will make a significant difference in children's lives. Through incorporating project-based and service learning, students will make a firm decision to join the teaching profession.
LSC-CF AAT program's mission is to provide a solid foundation of essential concepts in education, to develop servant leadership, and to nurture a passion for student success. Upon acquiring these skills, students can seamlessly transition to an Educator Preparation Program (a 4-year university) to obtain a Texas Educator Certificate.
Incorporates active learning strategies that include visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic techniques.
Provides opportunities for students to meet teachers within the field from all different types of schools and teaching environments.
Offers Diverse curriculum through linked courses and learning communities with other disciplines, such as English and Math.
Promotes civic engagement by incorporating service learning within our courses.
Engages our students with national and local teacher education organizations.
Includes interactive technology, such as polling software and iPads, that allows our pre-service teachers to view these modalities as ways to engage their future students.
Integrates current trends in teaching, such as the Flipped Classroom, Whole Brain Teaching, and others.
Demonstrates the importance of professionalism in the field of education.


Netizentown: Baeksang Awards celebrate 33 unknown actors with an emotional stage performance "I am also an Actor"
Baeksang Awards celebrate 33 unknown actors with an emotional stage performance "I am also an Actor"
A song was performed at the ceremony by 33 actors who played small roles in films released over the last year.
[+2175, -15] This was so touching. Please do not give up on the non famous actors!!
[+1850, -7] There is no obscurity forever. And vice versa.
[+1396, -13] I really teared up when I saw this... Do not give up on your dreams... Fighting!
[+219, -11] I do not hate idols but these stages are more meaningful than celebrating an idol acting. If you are still working towards your dreams, please do not give up.
[+204, -8] Yesterday, the awards ceremony was meaningful in so many ways. I cried together with Ra Mi Ran sshi at the tribute for Kim Young Ae sshi... and then this footage and performance came out and my heart ached some more.


system business case is to recognize the factors driving the need for technology upgrades.
As treasury management systems make significant advancements in the cloud era, they continue to fulfill their core purpose of consolidating numerous forms of data to deliver the "single source of truth" that many vendors promote. The systems do so while automating cash management, payments, forecasting, investment and debt processes, hedging, reporting, compliance, and related treasury activities, notes Michael Kolman, chief strategy officer for ION Systems.
Increasingly, banks are installing application programming interfaces (APIs) as a new mode of connecting treasury clients to banking technology platforms. This behind-the-scenes update replaces previous connectivity protocols, such as file transfer protocol (FTP) and SWIFT, which typically deliver account and balance information once a day. Using APIs makes possible "more real-time interactions between the bank and your treasury systems," Stark explains.
This access to real-time account and balance information enables a treasury function to enhance the precision of cash management activities and, ultimately, the value generated by cash-positioning decisions. Rather than sitting idle, excess cash can be fully utilized by the treasury team, either to invest or to pay down debt. This prospective benefit can be quantified and should be included in the business case's ROI calculations.
case for investment, and that the project's goals dovetail with broader organizational objectives.


text:
Our Holistic Therapies
Yoga with Mourad
Mourad Sahoune is a Kundalini Yoga instructor, passionate about Yoga and its philosophy. He has been practicing intensively for the last 16 years.
He immersed himself in a 9 months' teacher training in 2010 in the UK under the supervision of SKY (School of Kundalini Yoga) and has been happily teaching for the last past 5 years in London and now in Andalusia.
He is also a Massage Therapist specialized in: Thai Massage; Ayurveda; Foot Reflexology; Hot Stone; Relaxing Fusion Massage and in Harmonyum Healing level 1 and 2 (Energy work). He has lived in France (Marseille, Paris), in the United States (New York), Thailand (Chang Mai), India (Goa) and now in Spain (Marbella).
Mourad previously worked in the hospitality industry for almost 30 years as a chef in restaurants and privately, and as restaurant manager in Paris, New York and London. He is passionate about conscious food and how to heal ourselves with it. A lover of nutrition he also worked at the Wellbeing Resort: Shanti- Som in Marbella, assisting the in-house nutritionist on the Juice Fast Detox Programme and the Weight Loss Programme. Mourad organises and runs yoga retreats in Andalusia and elsewhere in Europe with groups of people sharing the tools to a better life, combining yoga and nutrition.
Mourad wrote of his last Yoga retreat here, "Not only is your place unique but your energy, your smiles and your welcome are beyond unique."
"What an amazing stay….very inspiring for everyone here." Stephania, retreat participant, July 2015
"I loved spending time here and keep this energy in my heart." Caroline, retreat participant, July, 2015
"We have all been so comfortable and cared for here. You are an inspiration in terms of consciousness and harmony and a source of profound happiness." Pilar, facilitator of a Mindfulness retreat here, 2015.
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My ink will burn fingers of political morons discarding women value to dust bins of poverty,my metaphors will eat their political phalluses like gangrene.
Fantastic post, dear Mbizo !
Bravo sister ,lets move it.


text:
Feature Sep 27, 2018
Little Bits of Paper Everywhere: An Oral History of Snipehunt Magazine and Kathy Molloy
by Joshua James Amberson
Snipehunt 1994, No. 19. Cover art by Sean Tejaratchi
In the Portland of the late '80s and '90s, there was one publication that influenced and guided the music and arts community more than any other: a free, wildly designed, oversized newsprint magazine called Snipehunt.
Started in 1988 by now-famed poster artist Mike King, the magazine came into its own when contributor Kathy Molloy took the helm a couple years in. During these years, Portland was a very different city: The arts community was small, still finding its footing, and looking to grow.
"I used to beg good bands that I liked to move here," long-time Portland radio DJ Brandon Lieberman told me. "And back then almost no one wanted to."
The scene that inspired Snipehunt featured bands that weren't getting media coverage and writers and artists without an outlet. The magazine soon became a breeding ground for local creators, and its contributor list is a peek at the kind of local talent and energy emerging during that time: novelist and screenwriter Jon Raymond, current Portland city commissioner Chloe Eudaly, filmmaker and installation artist Vanessa Renwick, local writer and publisher Kevin Sampsell, novelist Rene Denfeld, Crap Hound and Liar Town creator Sean Tejaratchi. For many of the contributors, Snipehunt was their first publication, their first opportunity to regularly try out their ideas on an audience.
A typical issue of Snipehunt had interviews with local and national bands, pages of comics from independent artists, scene reports from West Coast cities, oddball prose pieces, political action coverage, and pages of reviews—albums, zines, live shows, films, and books. It was a broad take on DIY culture, loosely based in the punk scene but covering artists and subjects far beyond the imposed limitations of that world.
With the magazine's history largely absent from the internet, its name unfamiliar to the majority of current Portlanders, and physical evidence of its existence difficult to come by, I reached out to a couple dozen of its contributors to provide me—and the rest of new Portland—with a much-needed history lesson.
1996, No. 27
Snipehunt in the Community
Filmmaker Vanessa Renwick: You couldn't wait 'til Snipehunt came out. The paper published so infrequently, and since there was nothing like it at all, when it finally came out it was just bursting at the seams with so many good things inside. It was like someone jumping out of a birthday cake 10 million times. They would just keep coming: these incredible things popping out at you.
Author Jon Raymond: It was amazing how lively it was... an explosion of people and images. I loved the size and the color, the texture of it. It was just an amazing object. And having a big print component of the scene felt kind of glamorous. Like, "look at this multimedia thing happening here. We can do a lot of different things."
DJ/Writer Ted Thieman: Snipehunt was pretty integral [to the scene]. Kathy had it everywhere—in the record stores, in the clubs. And it was right around the time that X-Ray [Café] was happening. A band would get into Snipehunt and their next show would be packed.
Voodoo Doughnut/X-Ray Café Co-Founder Tres Shannon: Everything was smoke signals and secret passwords back then. And Snipehunt was that smoke signal and secret password. If you got a Snipehunt, you knew what was going on.
Writer Richard Martin: It had a persona to it. Before the word "brand" became a dirty word, it was a good brand. Snipehunt was just cool. And it was just such an original publication. Things that came out after it, like Vice or some of these other sort of irreverent magazines, could never be what Snipehunt was.
Tres Shannon: It had so much information. I mean it would take you fucking three months to read it. By the time you finally got through the whole thing, the next one was available.
Kathy Molloy's column
Kathy Molloy—The Heart Of Snipehunt
Early on in my interviews, I learned that any history of Snipehunt also had to be a profile of Kathy Molloy. The people I interviewed often talked about Snipehunt and Molloy interchangeably—their relationship to the publication intertwining and shifting with their relationship to her. Even though Snipehunt had hundreds of contributing writers and artists over the years, Molloy and Snipehunt are inseparable. In my interview with contributor and former New Bad Things member Matthew Hattie Hein, he captured what everyone seemed to feel: "I guess the right thing to do is to talk about Snipehunt and not Kathy—but to me they're the same."
While the magazine under Kathy maintained the punk-fanzine aesthetic Mike King had established, and stayed generally music-focused, it was just as likely you'd open an issue to a review of the latest Guided by Voices album as you would an article about dismantling the patriarchy. Molloy served as both an arbiter of taste and a moral compass for her community—regularly criticizing the corporate influences seeping into the Northwest DIY community in the wake of early '90s grunge. As writer Kathleen McConnell noted, "Kathy said Snipehunt wasn't just about music and documenting music events or music projects. It was about creating a whole way of life."
Following the end of Snipehunt in late 1996/early 1997, Molloy began cutting people out of her life, and in the early 2000s moved to rural British Columbia. She's largely managed to keep any evidence of herself off the internet and, of the more than 25 people I spoke with for this story, no one had heard from her in over a decade. I tried contacting her, as did many of those I interviewed, without any luck. While Molloy's voice is notably absent from this history, everyone I interviewed made sure her presence was felt.
1994, No. 19. Cover art by Sean Tejaratchi. A portrait of Kathy Molloy with Snipehunt writers as severed heads.
Artist Eliza Tuli Pierson: Kathy always had either bright pink, purple, or blue hair. And she was covered in tattoos, nose piercings. She was very sturdily built; pale skin. You couldn't miss her. And she wore the most interesting clothing. She'd wear all purple one day. She'd wear a skirt made out of nice silk with a tank top printed for her by a friend, a scarf, and a leather jacket. She had great taste.
Print Artist Alec "Icky" Dunn: She was an awesome person. Really charismatic. Going to clubs with her—I mean, she wouldn't even have to be on the guest list, she'd just walk in. It was kind of an entourage situation. Drinks were free. You'd go backstage to interview a band and they'd be like, "Who's this weird lady?"
Richard Martin: She knew exactly what she wanted and what was going to be in Snipehunt, and if it didn't fit into her world-view it probably wasn't going in there.
Musician Matthew Hattie Hein: There was a lot of not-doing in Portland in the '90s. There's a lot of hanging out on the porch and waking up at noon. I'm certainly guilty of it. I spent a lot of time doing crosswords and smoking cigarettes. The D part of DIY—that's a very unique feature when I think of what a huge operation [Snipehunt] was. And that lines up with Kathy submitting ideas to [other] zines. Just suggesting: You can do this yourself. Here's how.
Eliza Tuli Pierson: [Molloy and Snipehunt] gave people the sense they could do something that would be taken seriously if they took themselves seriously—because Kathy had such a work ethic. And she was tough on people if they were flaky. She was like, "You say you're going to do this, so you better show up, you better do it, you better be there." She was a very intense person. But people became really motivated around her, because you couldn't resist her energy.
Portland Commissioner Chloe Eudaly: My fondest memories of Kathy are as a hub for so many people. Whether it was people in Portland or the West Coast or the entire country who were involved in similar efforts—indie bands, DIY publishing, visual art—they came together around her. She wasn't the most nurturing person, so I don't think I'd call her a "mother hen," but she did bring people together. And those figures are kind of rare. She had a huge impact.
Eliza Tuli Pierson: She was like a politician. Not in a full-of-shit way, but she just had this way of connecting with people. You felt like what she was doing was important and she made you feel important. She was like the punk mayor of Portland.
Writer Ana Helena: I ended up being kind of Kathy's personal servant. I think that's why she was a goddess, because she could make you serve her. Everyone around her.
Idaho scene report in issue 11, 1992.
How it Worked
The Snipehunt office was initially in Kathy's rental house in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Northeast Portland, but relocated when she bought a home a few miles away on Albina Avenue, where Atlas Tattoo is located today. The entire main floor of the house was dedicated to producing Snipehunt, and its always-open door made it a community hub.
While finding circulation numbers for Snipehunt isn't easy, Molloy noted in her introduction to a 1992 issue that she'd made 7,000 copies, and in 1994 mentioned it was up to 13,000. Given that issues from 1995 and 1996 are the ones I came across most often in archives and people's collections, it's likely that its circulation kept growing until the end. While these aren't huge numbers in terms of local magazines or newspapers, they're impressive when you consider it was a magazine without a formal distribution system being run out of a living room.
"We'd get them delivered and it would take up the whole front room," Dunn told me. "There would just be stacks and stacks."
To most people, Snipehunt probably wouldn't look much different than today's average alt-weekly: It's slightly bigger, folds horizontally across the middle, and has a more playful aesthetic. But it managed to pack more in with far fewer ads. Today, for something similar to be free, it would almost certainly be funded by Red Bull, or at least littered with as many ads as articles. Part of what makes Snipehunt so impressive now is the ambition: It was giant, filled with voices, free, and produced without a parent company, board of directors, editorial team, or corporate ad dollars.
Writer Fred Landeen: Going to her compound was always surprising. You'd always see someone you knew from Satyricon or from a band or from another zine. They'd stopped in to drop something off and she'd put them to work. They'd be gluing bits of paper to the layout sheet or trying to typeset something on an early Mac. There were little bits of paper everywhere. Everywhere. They were stuck on the floor, ceiling, walls.... Every surface had little cut marks from where an X-ACTO knife had gone through a page or off the edge of some cardboard. There were spray-painted stencils and screen-printed things. Everything was a visual riot of color and bits of paper. If you dropped your contact lens in there, forget it.
Snipehunt reviews section header.
"Going to her compound was always surprising. You'd always see someone you knew from Satyricon or from a band or from another zine. They'd stopped in to drop something off and she'd put them to work. They'd be gluing bits of paper to the layout sheet or trying to typeset something on an early Mac. There were little bits of paper everywhere. Everywhere."—Fred Landeen
Kevin Sampsell: It seemed kind of ramshackle. Not in a bad way, but because that's the way it was in 1991 to '93. I just brought my reviews in on paper, or maybe a floppy disc, and she put them on her computer. I can't remember. It was right around the cusp of when people started using email. I don't really remember any sort of editing going on.
Ana Helena: When the magazine was close to publication, it was a frenzy. Everyone working at all hours. We all learned layout. It was like journalism class every three months.
Graphic Artist Sean Tejaratchi: It was quarterly, so every couple months there would be this flurry of activity and all these people would sort of coalesce—come out of the woodwork and do their thing, then part ways and come back for the next one. People and bands from out of town would always stay with her, and she would often involve them in the assembly. There were a lot of guest creators. So it was a social as well as a practical thing.
Artist Dwayne Hedstrom: When the magazine came out, we'd drive up the I-5 corridor [from Vancouver, B.C., to San Francisco], dropping it off in places like Mount Vernon, Bellingham, Everett... wherever there was a weird record store in a small town.
Ana Helena: [When a new issue came out] I'd drive [Molloy] to the post office and she'd send Snipehunt to people all over the world. She'd be like, "Oh man, they're so far away and so cut off from civilization. They have no idea what's going on." It was like her love letter to the world.
Through the Oregon Historical Society, I came across the paste-ups for Snipehunt—the home-assembled master copies that would be sent to the printer. While in some ways the paste-ups revealed it to be more humble than the printed version let on, they also showed the sheer amount of physical labor that went into a single issue—remnants of hot wax and X-ACTO knife debris cling to the pages, and each issue contains spreads with multiple transparency overlays marked with Post-It notes indicating color gradients.
Among the paste-ups, I found a half-sheet form Molloy had created for putting an issue together. On it, there were the names of nearly 60 contributors, the name of their article, column, comic, or department, each of their respective phone numbers, and whether they'd submitted their piece yet. This small piece of paper was more telling than the paste-ups themselves: Snipehunt may have been ramshackle, but it was a huge operation. As Helena put it, "Snipehunt was a volunteer effort. But it was the king of the volunteer efforts."
A Platform
Snipehunt was rare in that it was a magazine with a wide and ever-growing audience that always gave new writers and artists a chance. Some of this was simple economics: Molloy had a lot of space to fill and was unable to pay anyone aside from the occasional cover artist. But Snipehunt fostered a community of people who otherwise wouldn't have come together and, in many cases, helped launch their careers.
Jon Raymond: [From the outside] it felt like a circus. But it was pretty easy to find your way into that world. I came back here from college in '94. By that time most of my friends were deep into the music world, but I was more in a writing mindframe. And Snipehunt was just one of the most easily accessible places to do anything.
Ana Helena: It definitely gave me a platform that I never had access to before... like interviewing Team Dresch. Just being like, "I'm writing for Snipehunt, I want to do an interview. Can we do this?" And then being put on the front cover of a highly anticipated quarterly magazine—[my] interview with my favorite band at the peak of their game.
Kevin Sampsell: They were the first magazine I wrote for. And it was just exciting to get my name in print somewhere and get a chance to write about books and music.
Kathleen Marie
Chloe Eudaly: It was my first experience having my writing published. I've kind of forgotten after 30 years that that's a big deal... but it is.
Matthew Hattie Hein: We learned so much from Snipehunt because it was kind of professional. It actually had deadlines and a distribution network, and columns and departments, like a weekly magazine.
Sean Tejaratchi: If I hadn't been involved in Snipehunt I would've never done Crap Hound. Well, I don't know about never... but Crap Hound was a direct result of working on it. Just realizing that, "Oh, this is accessible and anyone can do it." If a bunch of fucking people in bands can get together and create this publication every two-and-a-half months, I can do my thing without too much effort or money. So it was a huge thing personally, even though I wasn't involved in the music scene directly.
Jon Raymond: It's actually really embarrassing reading some of the things I wrote for Snipehunt. They were politically in a good place—I was writing about gentrification, renter's rights, and stuff like that. But it was really pretentious cultural criticism, kind of pseudo-academic articles. They didn't care, I could do whatever. I was really against music at that time, just because everyone I knew was just purely music, and I thought something else was being underrepresented. So my stuff was really highbrow in its aspirations—it makes me cringe looking at them now. But I was learning.
Even as a music nerd who grew up immersed in the Northwest music scene, my favorite moments of Snipehunt are the articles that have nothing to do with music. It held so many oddball pieces of writing that wouldn't make sense in an alt-weekly, a literary journal, or even most zines.
Vanessa Renwick's jarring prose piece about attending a seatbelt class and being shown a slideshow of car wrecks and bodies; Tres Shannon's article about traveling to Super Bowl XXX; Curt Schultz's semi-apocryphal history of Pez and Pez dispenser obsession; Jennifer Gleach's "Crush Corner" column which approached the concept of the crush as a playful philosophical challenge; dishwasher Pete Jordan's "Regular Folks" article about meeting people on his pilgrimage to wash dishes in all 50 states. These are the kinds of things that now seem so wonderfully strange, full of life, and maybe only possible in the pages of Snipehunt.
Ending and Disappearing
In early 1997, Molloy and crew put together a final farewell issue of Snipehunt. Dozens of writers submitted pieces, artists submitted art, and advertisers placed their ads. The whole issue was laid out—but it never went to print. No one was sure if there was a lack of money, or if Molloy was just burnt out, but it was soon clear to everyone involved that there wasn't going to be a big announcement or a send-off party. Snipehunt was just over.
Looking back at Molloy's "My Eye" column suggests the magazine's ending had been coming since the beginning—a years-long accumulation of factors that began adding up when the Northwest became a place of national media attention in the early 1990s.
In a 1995 issue, a year or so into being a homeowner, Molloy writes about suddenly not being able to relate to Snipehunt readers.
"I worry about money for experimental plumbing, not experimental music," she writes. "I guess it's my reaction to these modern times, when every 14-year-old with braces has green hair and plays drums in a rock band. Being weird is the norm. Party's over, time to pay property tax."
And in the second-to-last issue of Snipehunt, in spring of 1996, she wrote possibly the closest thing to a farewell that Snipehunt readers would get.
"It's not enough anymore to tell people what kind of music they should listen to," Molloy wrote. "I want to tell people how they should live their lives. Information that is useful like where to buy your food, how to fix your bicycle, and how to make the first move and still smash the patriarchy. Real life matters, not rock journalism."
Soon after, Molloy began to change. Again and again, people told me that one day she was one of their best friends and the next she wasn't. If it was someone she wasn't particularly close with, she just stopped talking to them. But most of her close friends she cut off after minor indiscretions—a pile of stuff left in her basement, a comment at a party.
"When Kathy left, it was kind of a scorched earth situation," Eudaly said. "A lot of us were left a little bewildered by what had happened. And we missed her and missed the sense of community she created for us."
A snipe hunt is a prank. A search for a creature that doesn't exist. I think of the magazine as being a snipe hunt for elusive bits of the underground, or of a particular way of life. Every find is a clue, a piece, but there's ultimately no snipe—as soon as you arrive at the best underground artist or band, the mainstream absorbs them. As soon as you get one piece of your ideal life in place, another part breaks.
As I was working on this, a friend pointed out that my attempt to write a history of Snipehunt had become a snipe hunt for Kathy Molloy. When I started, I had no idea how impossible it would be to untwine Molloy from Snipehunt; it was such a huge publication, I never imagined one person could have so much influence over it. But I felt a partial history was better than no history at all. So I kept going, hoping that publishing this would bring her out of hiding long enough to say that a Snipehunt history is incomplete without her, that I was a fool to try, and that—before disappearing again—she would set the record straight.
Author's note: Many of the people who helped get the facts straight for this story didn't make it into the piece. Some of the unheard voices include: Sam Coomes, Charles R. Cross, Peter Jacobson, Pete Jordan, Mike King, Fiona Smyth, and Lindsey Thrasher. Also, big thanks to Chloe Eudaly, Vanessa Renwick, and Kevin Sampsell for helping connect the Mercury with so many of the people who made this piece possible.
How Portland's Brazilian Community Saved Brazilian House
by Suzette Smith
Judith Arcana's Biography of Activist Grace Paley Sees Her Whole Life
Immigrant-Run Food Carts Face Unknown Future in Downtown Portland
by Alex Zielinski


text:
Семигула Шагиевич Миндубаев (1896 год, Казанская губерния — 1981, Грозный) — передовик производства, мастер подземного ремонта скважин нефтепромыслового управления «Октябрьнефть» объединения «Грознефть». Герой Социалистического Труда (1948).

Биография
Родился в 1896 году в одной из деревень в окрестностях Казани. Трудовую деятельность начал с 12-летнего возраста. Участвовал в Гражданской войне. В 1920 году переехал в Грозный, где стал работать на нефтяных промыслах. С 1925 года работал в тресте «Октябрьнефть» буровым рабочим, мастером по насосам и бригадиром подземного ремонта скважин. Одним из первых применил метод опускания глубинного насоса в скважину. Во время Великой Отечественной войны работал на нефтяных разработках месторождения Доссор в Гурьевской области.

После войны, работая бригадиром подземного ремонта скважин управления «Октябрьнефть», восстанавливал нефтяные промыслы в окрестностях Грозного. В 1948 году был удостоен звания Героя Социалистического Труда за участие в восстановлении и образцовое выполнение задач по добыче нефти.

В 1956 году вышел на пенсию.

Похоронен в Грозном на кладбище Октябрьского района. Захоронение является памятником регионального значения. По данным от 2010 года находится в неудовлетворительном состоянии.

Награды
 Герой Социалистического Труда — указом Президиума Верховного Совета СССР от 8 мая 1948 года;
 Орден Ленина
 Медаль «За оборону Кавказа»
 Медаль «За доблестный труд в Великой Отечественной войне 1941—1945 гг.»

Примечания

Литература

 Биография, Сборник «Профессионалы нефтегазовой отрасли. Книга 1»: ОАО Типография «Нефтяник», 1996.

Ссылки
 «Из истории развития нефтяной и газовой промышленности», 19 выпуск, Москва ЗАО "Издательство «Нефтяное хозяйство», 2006

Нефтяники СССР

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


"If you're looking for a crime thriller to keep you on the edge of your seat right to the very last page, look no further.
It's 1976. Despite fierce international controversy over whether in vitro fertilization should ever be performed in humans, doctors around the world race to be first to produce a baby by this procedure.
Dr. Colin Sanford, a brilliant, ambitious obstetrician in the Pacific Northwest city of Emerald, has a plan. He recruits Dr. Giselle Hearn, an experienced laboratory geneticist-embryologist at the University. Drs. Sanford and Hearn, working secretly, set out to put their names in history books.
Several months later, Dr. Sanford's patient, Joyce Kennett, gives birth to a healthy boy, and Sanford prepares to make an announcement at a press conference. But before it convenes, Ms. Kennett's marginally schizophrenic husband kills Dr. Hearn and then himself.
But is that what happened? A simple case of murder/suicide brought on by a man who forgot to take his medication? The Chief of Police seems to think so, and suggests the case be closed.
But Detective Bernie Baumgartner thinks otherwise when he discovers an irregularity when Hearn's chair at the University OBGYN department Dr. L. Gerald Camnitz, who opposed the technique under moral and legal grounds, has vanished.
Increasingly, Baumgartner also suspects that Sanford and Hearn were in fact doing IVF, that they succeeded with the Kennetts, and that murder, suicide, and other crimes may well have resulted because of their action. The fact that his investigation is being deliberately hampered by influential people at the University galvanizes Baumgartner into finding the truth, come hell or high water. A cat-and-mouse game quickly develops between Sanford and the tenacious Baumgartner, but there can only be one winner. . . .
Interestingly, this fast-paced story is told from the viewpoint of both protagonist and antagonist. In lesser hands, it would be muddled and disconcerting, but thankfully, Larry Karp has mastered the technique fluently with not a bump in sight.
Detective Bernie Baumgartner is a fascinating and compelling character, and no doubt we will be seeing more of him in future books. If you're looking for a crime thriller to keep you on the edge of your seat right to the very last page, look no further.
A Perilous Conception is just what the doctor ordered.


text:
Hebrew University scientists reveal steps leading to "flesh-eating" necrotizing fasciitis
7:57 January 19, 2014
How does Streptococcus pyogenes, or Group A streptococcus (GAS) — a bacterial pathogen that can colonize humans without causing symptoms or can lead to mild infections — also cause life-threatening diseases such as necrotizing fasciitis (commonly known as flesh-eating disease) and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome?
This mystery has intrigued many researchers in the field. Now, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Medicine have discovered how this bacterium turns deadly. This opens the door to possible future treatments to curb this and other potentially fatal bacteria.
Annually, GAS infections lead to at 500,000 deaths worldwide and cause severe consequences to those infected. The flesh-eating disease, in particular, is an extremely vicious infection which progresses rapidly throughout the soft tissues of the body, often leaving doctors with little time to stop or delay its progress. The main treatments include administration of antibiotics and surgical removal of infected tissues. Yet despite prompt treatment, the bacteria disseminate and cause death in approximately 25% of patients.
In probing how GAS progresses, Prof. Emanuel Hanski of the Institute of Medical Research Israel Canada at the Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine, together with Ph.D. student Moshe Baruch and an international research team, discovered a novel mechanism that influences GAS virulence at the early steps of the infection. The results of their study are published in the scientific journal Cell.
They found that when GAS adheres and infects the host's cells, it delivers into these cells two streptolysin toxins. These toxins impair the body's mechanism for quality control of protein synthesis. This in turn triggers a defensive stress response which, among other things, also increases the production of the amino acid asparagine. GAS senses the increased asparagine level and alters its gene expression profile — and its rate of proliferation, which can be deadly in the host.
The research team further discovered that asparaginase, a protein that digests asparagine and is a widely-used chemotherapeutic agent against leukemia, arrests GAS growth in human blood and in a mouse model of human bacterial infection. Asparginase has never before been used to treat GAS infections.
The findings of this study constitute a major advance of the concept that understanding the metabolic changes occurring between the pathogen and its host during infection can lead to development of new and more effective treatments against infectious diseases.
Yissum Research Development Company, the technology transfer arm of the Hebrew University, registered a patent for the discovery and is seeking commercial partners to help develop effective therapies against invasive streptococcus infections.
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