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text:
Q: Best way to represent dynamic class member variable type? I am facing a design challenge with my classes and being new to C++ and OOP I am hoping I can get some advice on how this should be handled.
The situation is that for example I have 2 (and in the future more) variations of a Customer class that I want to treat as a single member variable of the Project class. The different Customer classes do not share much in common because they are intended to be used to store data pulled from different APIs.
The code for example purposes would be as follows (ignoring lack of constructors/destructors etc. for the purposes of discussion)
class Project
{
   Customer customer;  //???
}

class Customer1
{
   std::string name;
   std::string address;
}

class Customer2
{
   std::string name;
   std::string primary_contact
   bool approved;
}

My initial idea was to use polymorphism and create an abstract base class AbstractCustomer and make Customer1 and Customer2 derive from this base class. This way I would only have 1 member variable of AbstractCustomer* customer inside Project and be able to effectively build in logic to dynamically determine which Customer subclass is needed.
My dumb option was to simply have separate member variables e.g. Customer1* customer1 & Customer2* customer2 which are pointers and then effectively use a nullptr to indicate which ones are not in use. This however doesn't feel right and of course when more Customer class variations come up then I would need to keep adding more member variables to the Project class.
note: I am using these classes more for POD purposes and don't envisage having many methods, which is why I am unsure about using interfaces/abstract classes since it seems that's where the benefits of it lie.
Any advice/guidance is appreciated.

A: I think the major goal is to keep the complexities of the variant customers out of Project.  Customer is probably going to be gross, but if we keep all of that complexity in one place, then we're probably ok.
Option 1)
If the fields in the customer variants are all individually consistent, then you could probably use a template or a variant as others have mentioned in the comments.
What I mean by this is that each field is never interpreted differently based on what base type is.  Name is always used the same way, that's probably safe example.  Primary contact is always a primary contact, it doesn't mean a billing address for a BillingCustomer or a shipping address for a ShippingCustomer.
Then I would use type traits to return empty data if it's missing for that customer base type.  Project will have to assume the complexity of knowing what to do with a customer that doesn't have a primary contact.
I won't get into details of type traits and SFINAE, but you can find plenty of information in various questions and I'm sure others.
template<typename T>
Customer {
public:
  // invariant field, always available
  std::string getName() {return customerData.name;}

  // variant field, not always there
  std::optional<std::string> getPrimaryContact() {
    if constexpr (has_field<T,&T::primary_contact>::value) {
      return customerData.primary_contact;
    } else {
      return std::nullopt;
    }
  }
private:
  // Implementing this with std::variant would probably make Project
  //   cleaner.  It's a lot more boilerplate to illustrate the above
  //   concept though.
  T customerData;
};

Based on my experience of how businesses work, this option's criteria are very optimistic.  Most businesses will have really dirty modeling that will make this option much less attractive.
Option 2)
More generally, business rules are more complex and you have to do interpretation of field values based what the different types are.
In this case, I'd just make you decision making explicit.  This is going to feel like a ton of boring boilerplate and it is.  It's not dynamic logic though, the code is inert.  Bugs are identified quickly and resolved quickly.
This code is simple.
class Customer {
public:
  std::string getName();

  // Assuming there are cases where most optional fields won't exist
  std::optional<std::string> getPrimaryContact() {
    if (customer1) {
      return customer1->address;
    } else if (customer2) {
      return customer2->primary_contact;
    }
    // Eventually this will be relevant
    return std::nullopt;
  }
private:
  std::optional<Customer1> customer1;
  std::optional<Customer2> customer2;
};

With both options, you expect Project to have to manage missing data.
void Project::SendMailToCustomer(const Mail& mail) {
  auto primaryContact = customer.getPrimaryContact();
  if (primaryContact) {
    SendMailToAddress(mail, *primaryContact);
  } else {
    std::cout
      << "Did not send mail to customer with empty primary contact: "
      << customer.getName()
      << std::endl;
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Harry Brighouse, Ingrid Robeyns (eds.)
Measuring Justice: Primary Goods and Capabilities
Harry Brighouse and Ingrid Robeyns (eds.), Measuring Justice: Primary Goods and Capabilities, Cambridge University Press, 2010, 257pp., $29.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780521711470.
Reviewed by Cara Nine, University College Cork
This volume brings together state-of-the art essays on the debate between primary goods (or resourcist) and capabilities theories of justice.
Essays by Thomas Pogge and Erin Kelly lead the defence of the primary goods approach generally considered, and essays by Elizabeth Anderson and Richard Arneson argue in support of the capabilities approach. The volume contains five applied essays, which lend much-needed context to the debate. Norman Daniels argues that his opportunities approach to justice regarding health, originally written as an extension of Rawlsian primary goods theory, is largely compatible with capabilities theory. Lorella Terzi engages the central topic of disability in her essay. Not surprisingly, regarding the just treatment of disabled persons, she supports a capabilities metric of justice as a 'more promising, and to a certain extent, more just scheme' than a metric based on primary goods. (This position is not surprising, because the capability approach has been designed, to a certain extent, to deal with issues of justice surrounding differently-abled persons.)
The just treatment of children is addressed by Colin Macleod, who argues that neither the primary goods nor the capabilities approach adequately accounts for justice towards children, because both accounts rely on an account of human agency that is insensitive to the intrinsic goods of childhood. Macleod does not suggest that these are irreparable problems for either account, but rather that these accounts must re-think the primary role that assumptions regarding adult human agency play in the respective theories. Harry Brighouse and Elaine Unterhalter offer a soundly commonsensical approach to educational policy. Like Macleod, they argue that neither primary goods theory nor capabilities theory can independently determine the content of educational opportunities. Instead, the authors conclude that both theories can be jointly informative while acknowledging that more theoretical tools should be utilized. Ingrid Robeyns analyzes the two approaches through their application to gender inequalities. In her essay, she highlights the benefits and obstacles of each of the approaches applied to the case of gender. Finally, Robeyns proposes that a capability theory can better meet the challenges of assessing gender justice, if it is supplemented with certain principles.
The volume is appropriately concluded by Amartya Sen, who brings to the book an insightful, broad perspective on the debate. Sen's addition serves as a book review in itself, describing and assessing the volume as a whole and philosophically engaging with several of the pieces individually. In order to avoid redundancy with Sen's skilful review, I self-consciously take on the perspective of a political philosopher, but not as an expert on the intricacies of this debate. (This is a true description of my orientation to the topic.) A reader entrenched in the debate already will find Sen's review more helpful, perhaps. Indeed, this book itself is aimed at that expert audience.
My first expectation of this volume is that it tells me the difference between the primary goods approach and the capabilities approach. The difference is far from clear and seems to face two problems. First, each approach utilizes the other to a large extent. Second, different authors seem to characterize the views differently; one author's primary goods approach looks very little like another's.
However, Robeyns and Brighouse capture the distinction well, or as well as possible in their introduction. Political philosophy asks the question: 'What should we look at, when evaluating whether one state of affairs is more or less just than another?' That is, 'What is the metric of justice?'
On the primary goods approach, the metric of justice is the goods that one receives from the particular arrangement of social, political, and economic institutions. This approach, pioneered by John Rawls, measures the means (primary goods) for the individual achievement of a good life, while not looking closely at individuals' heterogeneous desires or abilities. By contrast, on the capabilities approach, the metric of justice is the ends. A 'capability' is the ability and opportunity that a person has to convert resources into a means to promote her needs and/or interests. The capabilities approach focuses on freedom and functioning. A functioning is the 'actual living' that a person is able to achieve. Yet the capabilities approach goes beyond a look at functioning and "also reflects the intuition that what matters is not merely achieving the functioning but being free to achieve it" (p. 2).
In simple terms, the distinction between the capabilities approach and the primary goods approach is that capability theorists focus on the ends (heterogeneous individual capabilities) as a measure of justice, while primary goods theorists focus on the means (fair distribution of resources) as a measure of justice. Not surprisingly, this distinction quickly blurs as soon as one delves into the actual workings of a theory of justice. We can hardly discuss the ends without worrying about the means, and vice versa. The more one reads of the debate between the two approaches, the more it seems that the two approaches cannot dispense with one another. For example, Anderson offers a capabilities solution to the problem of unjust stigmas and stereotypes. A capabilities approach, she says,
focuses on the ways informal social norms and expectations affect the ability of individuals to convert their resources into functionings that have democratic import … [it] can both recognize these injustices and suggest nonresourcist remedies. For example, public school curricula and student socialization policies can be revised to stress the importance of tolerance and cooperation across difference, and undermine false stereotypes about gays and lesbians, women, the disabled, blacks, Muslims, and other disadvantaged groups. Public institutions can also design affirmative action programs not merely to compensate victims for unjust resource deprivations, but to facilitate informal intergroup socialization and cooperation. (p. 90)
Despite Anderson naming it otherwise, it appears that this is a resourcist solution to a problem identified by a capabilities approach. In the example, public policies (by school officials or other institutions) address problems of political inequality. The use of public policies to create opportunities is a resourcist solution. Anderson argues that her solution is an indirect solution, and therefore not resourcist. However, it is hard to know what she has in mind here as the distinction between direct and indirect, and why a resourcist can't make use of both direct and indirect uses of resources to create more just institutions. Limiting the resourcist to only direct solutions seems to arbitrarily and needlessly hobble the primary goods theory.
In what seems like a contrast to Anderson's capabilities approach, the primary goods (or resourcist) approach is open to sharing theoretical space with capabilities. In his essay defending the resourcist approach, Pogge states, "an account of human capabilities can also play an important and evidentiary role [in a theory of justice]. The observed fact that many persons are lacking certain vital functionings may be good reason to revise our resourcist criterion of social justice" (p. 50). He continues, "Resources do not, after all, figure as the ultimate ends in human lives, but as a means for meeting human needs and, ultimately, for pursuing all the diverse ends that persons may set themselves" (p. 51). On this reading, capabilities and primary goods approaches do not appear to be alternative theories; rather, they are complementary parts of a larger theory of justice. However, there are still important differences between the two approaches to justice.
Pogge locates one important difference between the two approaches in their conceptions of inequality. While both approaches must account for the natural diversity between persons, according to Pogge, each approach has a different take on which natural diversity counts as inequality requiring distributive address. Under a capabilities view, any feature (natural or otherwise) that affects a person's capabilities is a relevant feature for theories of justice. The measure of justice on this view is the person's ability and freedom to achieve certain functionings. What matters is that obstacles to individual functioning are removed and opportunities to function are in place. On the primary goods view, by contrast, only a certain set of natural differences are relevant from the perspective of justice -- those differences that are disadvantaged by social arrangements. On this view, natural diversity becomes inequality only when manmade institutions treat persons with certain natural endowments unequally. This inequality should be addressed and/or compensated by social institutions. If an individual has a feature (such as a disability) that is disadvantaged by the social arrangements such that the individual has unequal opportunities to advance their ends, then the social arrangements should be changed to correct for this inequality.
Throughout the readings, it struck me that the above difference identified by Pogge and two other differences were important to the debate between capabilities and primary goods, or resourcist, theories. First, the resourcist approach deals first with the question of what is a fair share of goods, and then distributes that fair share to persons. In contrast, the capabilities approach deals first with what is necessary for human functioning, and then demands that each person be given the means to achieve that functioning. As Anderson points out, because of this difference, the resourcist approach will have a harder time identifying and correcting for inequalities. Because of the resourcist focus on goods, the theory cannot directly show concern for individual heterogeneity. Rather, according to Anderson's interpretation of the resourcist approach, "everyone is entitled to access to a standardized package of resources, unadjusted for individual variations in their needs and endowments" (p. 92). She illustrates with an example of disabled parking spaces. Disabled parking spaces are
wider than usual, to provide room to unfold a wheelchair next to the car door. Disabled persons have a just complaint against lots that lack such parking spaces: like buildings that lack wheelchair ramps, they are based on a biased conception of human needs and endowments, tailored to the fully ambulatory. Yet their claim cannot be accommodated by devising an 'unbiased' parking space, and then including that type of space in the standardized package of resources to which all are entitled to access, disregarding individual variations in need and endowment. (p. 92)
This is an extreme example, and I don't see any reason why a resourcist would accept that this is a consequence of her theory. One can have a conception of a standardized parking lot, without the conception of standardized parking spaces. The former would include spaces to meet the needs of most individuals represented in society. Some of the parking spaces would be larger to accommodate the needs of certain members of society, and most of the spaces would be smaller to meet the needs of others. The level at which standardization occurs (parking lot vs. parking space, e.g.) could allow for a great deal of customization for individual heterogeneity. A standardized place of business could include customization for the individuals who work or are expected to work in that place as part of its 'standard' package. For instance, as part of a 'standardized place of business' some resources could be set aside at each place of business to provide for relevant modifications when those became necessary for particular individuals.
However, I take Anderson's point to be that the provision of standardized sets of resources will never be as sensitive to the heterogeneous needs of individuals as the provision of means to individuals under a capability theory. This seems true, even if standardized sets can be customized.
Second, the resourcist approach is inherently entrenched in questions of the scope of political obligation and ownership, while the capability approach is not. The capability approach first examines the kinds of functionings that individuals are free and able to achieve. The duties that others have regarding these capabilities may be generated by moral as well as by political considerations. Regarding the capabilities of my daughter, I may have certain obligations. In traditional terms, this is not a political obligation toward my daughter; rather it is a moral one. The capability theorist may wish to limit duties generated by concern for capabilities to the political realm only -- but there is no inherent reason that this need be the case. In fact, that the theory reaches beyond the realm of traditional political obligations may be attractive for some. Robeyns seems to argue this point with regards to gender justice in the conclusion of her essay,
Gender justice can never appropriately be dealt with when justice is understood as only a political conception of justice, but needs to include the full scope of human life, including injustice in the family and the reproduction of injustice-generating social norms, also those (re-) produced with the Rawlsian 'voluntary associations' … the scope of Rawlsian justice is a serious limitation for the analysis of gender injustice. (p. 232)
The resourcist, by contrast, must deal directly with questions of the scope of political obligation and property. They examine first the division of particular goods among particular people. Inseparable from this investigation are the queries: (1) What particular goods are up for distribution, (2) which agents have an expectation regarding the distribution of those particular goods, and (3) what is the normative relationship between a particular good and an agent's legitimate expectation regarding that particular good. Answering the question of whether goods are distributed fairly will depend on which particular goods are available for distribution, which particular agents should be included in the distribution of those goods, and the normative relationship (individual property rights or collective resource rights) that agents have with the particular goods. For example, one society (e.g., Kuwait) has a set of legitimate expectations regarding their natural resources, and it is not legitimate (or at least it may not be legitimate) for the same set of expectations regarding the resources within Kuwaiti territory to be held by others (e.g., Iraq). If we ask whether goods are distributed justly in Iraq, we assume that we have prior knowledge of which particular goods are being assessed and that the relevant scope of distribution is to Iraqis. If the particular goods up for distribution are misidentified, or the scope inclusive of more persons, then the assessment of fairness could possibly be quite different. Questions of ownership and the scope of political obligation must be examined prior to the resourcist evaluation of justice in the distribution of goods.
I don't mean to say that these questions of ownership and scope are not important for the capability theorist; they are. However, it seems possible for a capability theorist to assess the justice of a situation prior to engaging these questions. The same is not true for a primary goods, or resourcist, theorist. The resourcist must address these questions prior to her assessment of the fair distribution of goods. This is not a criticism of the resourcist approach. I only mean to highlight what I see as a major difference between the approaches, especially in their application to global justice theory.
This volume on primary goods and capabilities theory pushes forward a debate on the foundations of justice. Needless to say, the foundation of justice is a wide and complicated topic, and many interesting and important issues will be left out of any one volume. The editors have done an excellent job collecting essays on a central debate in liberal political theory. In this review I have discussed mainly the abstract theoretical work. A benefit of this collection is its dedication to applied theory, which helps to clarify and deepen theoretical considerations. I recommend the volume for anybody interested in the intricacies of the debate between capability and primary goods approaches.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I am now stitching together the 2019 Memorial Exhibit tour schedule. We plan to visit another ten cities on the tour starting with a trip down the East Coast in March to New York City, Chapel Hill and Gainesville.
We are looking for hosts- Veterans for Peace chapters, Peace and Justice Centers, or other like-minded organizations – who will bring the exhibit to their city or town. Host members have a chance to work shoulder-to-shoulder to set up the exhibit, reach out to friends and allies, build programming around the exhibit to reach new audiences, promote their own projects. Hosts find venue space, handle the PR, help set up and break down the exhibit and pledge to financial support.


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text:
Índice de Desarrollo del Servicio Civil
Results of the Civil Service Development Index (CSDI), obtained from diagnostics of the institutional quality of civil service systems in 16 Latin American countries. The IDB supported the design of a methodology that evaluates critical points to assess the civil services and carried out country evaluations in 2004. Between 2011 and 2013, a second group of diagnostics second group of diagnostics were completed (with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank, and in the case of Central American countries and Dominican Republic with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development –AECID- and the Central American Integration System-SICA). Scores are available for 2004, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 (year of second and/or third measurement varies per country). During the first assessment, 93 critical points were identified; each of those fed a subsystem and an index. In 2010 the methodology was simplified to 33 critical points and the base line was recalibrated to ensure comparability. The methodology is based in the identification of critical points that feed 8 subsystems: 1. Human Resources Planning, 2. Work Organization, 3. Employment management, 4. Performance management, 5. Compensation management, 6. Development management, 7. Human and social relations management, 8. HR Function organization; and 5 indexes: 1. Efficiency, 2. Merit, 3. Structural consistency, 4. Functional capacity, and 5. Integrating capacity.
Click here to access the data: https://mydata.iadb.org/d/ddw5-db4y
Temas uruguay república dominicana perú paraguay panamá y 13 más
Regional System of Standardized Indicators in Peaceful Coexistence and Citizen Security
The Regional system of standardized Indicators in peaceful coexistence and Citizen Security (RIC) is a project through which 15 countries and two capital cities of Latin America and the Caribbean, have partnered to improve and compare their statistics on crime and violence. This initiative has been promoted and financed by the Inter-American Development Bank - IDB through the Regional Public Goods program under the coordination and execution of CISALVA Institute at the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia. The citizen security indicators were designed, reviewed and approved by the project's partner countries, along with established definitions and methodologies for the standardizing of the collecting, processing and analyzing stages of the information flow in order to support the quality of the data published. These indicators were reviewed in various regional boards, resulting in the improvement of some of them and the selection of additional citizen security indicators. The indicators are obtained via administrative records and others via surveys. In order to ensure the comparability of the indicators, a standardization process of concepts relating to the variables of time, place, person and circumstance was developed.
Click here to access the data: https://mydata.iadb.org/idb/dataset/2gtw-dpqa
Temas citizen security; peaceful coexistence; crime; violence; latin america; caribbean
Temas productivity
Baseline Salud Mesoamerica Belize - LQAS Survey
Temas access; inequality; maternal health; mortality rate; poverty; healthcare systems; teenage pregnancy; sexual; reproductive; health
Latin America and the Caribbean Fiscal Burden Database
This database is an ongoing effort to update official fiscal data by the Bank and the Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations, and with the collaboration of OECD and ECLAC. The Equivalent Fiscal Pressure indicator makes use of a methodology that better reflects the particularities of the mobilization of fiscal resources in the region, and consists of three elements: 1) Traditional tax collection, which includes all taxes and fees levied at all levels of government; 2) Compulsory social security contributions, whether public or private, mostly to pension and health systems; and 3) Non-tax revenues derived from the exploitation of natural resources, whether renewable or not; i.e., fees, royalties, dividends paid and net profits from public enterprises. The information is presented broken down by type of tax at every level of government. The series are adjusted with updated GDP values for each country and information that becomes available for municipalities and social security, which tend to have a longer lag period compared to other tax statistics.
Click here to access the data: https://mydata.iadb.org/d/wjva-jgbh
Temas fiscal burden; latin america; caribbean; tax revenues; fiscal revenues; social security contributions; revenues from natural resources; taxation
Advanced Experiences in Cybersecurity Policies and Practices Data Set
This set comprises the data collected to inform the Discussion Paper: Advanced Experiences in Cybersecurity Policies and Practices- an Overview of Estonia, Israel, South Korea and the United States, result of the collaboration between Dr. James A. Lewis from the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The data is based on the Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model (CMM) jointly developed by the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank and the Global Cyber Security Capacity Center (GCSCC) at the University of Oxford and it supports the structured assessment of these four countries cybersecurity experiences and the lessons learned derived from them. This data set compliments the 2016 Cyber Security Report Data Set published in April 2016.
Click here to access the data: https://mydata.iadb.org/d/a9yc-jpsa
Temas united states south korea republic of corea israel e-government y 12 más
Informe MERCOSUR N° 20 (2014-2015)
El Informe MERCOSUR Nº 20 (julio de 2014-julio de 2015) analiza el panorama macroeconómico y los flujos comerciales y de inversión de los países del Mercado Común del Sur (MERCOSUR), así como también los rasgos principales de la agenda interna y externa del bloque. Se incluye un capítulo especial dedicado a la relación de los países miembros con China.
Click here to access the data: https://mydata.iadb.org/d/43te-gt9p
Temas international trade; china; mercosur
Dataset of Housing Indicators
The Dataset of Housing Indicators aims to give users access to quality information regarding urban housing and development, including policies and best practices related to housing conditions in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.
Temas housing indicators; urban development; housing; argentina; brazil; colombia; mexico
Structural Fiscal Balances Database for Latin America and the Caribbean
Temas fiscal balance; public finance; fiscal policy; latin america; caribbean; commodity prices; fiscal management;
The Early Years Child Well - Being And The Role Of Public Policy
Child well-being matters for both ethical and economic reasons as children who flourish in the early years are more likely to become healthy, productive citizens later in life. This year's edition of Development in the Americas (DIA) focuses on the well-being of children from conception to 8 years of age and makes the case for public intervention in improving child outcomes. The process of child development—physical, communicational, cognitive, and socio-emotional— does not unfold on its own, but is shaped by the experiences children accumulate at home, in daycare centers, and at school. Parents, relatives, other caregivers, teachers, and government all have a hand in shaping those experiences. This book offers suggestions for public policy to improve those experiences in ways that would certainly shape children's lives and the face of the societies they live in for years to come.
Click here to access the data: https://mydata.iadb.org/d/sg6f-m5te
Temas early childhood; child welfare; child development; early childhood education
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text:
Altered Hand Movements May Be Signs of Sport-related Concussions
News Dec 10, 2019 | Original story from the German Sport University Cologne
Credit: German Sport University
Concussions are a regular occurrence in sport but more so in contact sports such as American football, ice hockey or soccer. The problem of diagnosing concussion is often complicated if the collision happens during a competition or training. Dr. Ingo Helmich's current study suggests clear markers for a diagnostic criterion. Helmich has been able to show that nonverbal hand movements differ between athletes with and without concussion.
Ever since the German midfielder, Christoph Kramer suffered a black-out in the final of the 2014 Football World Cup there has been a growing number of debates around the question of sport-related concussion. The emphasis here is on correct diagnosis. There are plenty of symptoms, but these can be ambiguous.
Researchers of the Department of Neurology, Psychosomatics and Psychiatry of the Institute for Exercise Therapy and Movement-Oriented Prevention and Rehabilitation have now been able to find evidence for their hypothesis, that non-verbal hand movement behavior offers additional information concerning the state of health of the athletes, but specifically with respect to possible post-concussion symptoms.
Helmich and his team compared the hand movements of symptomatic and asymptomatic athletes after concussion. The findings show that non-verbal behavior and hand movements differ between the two groups, in that symptomatic athletes are more likely to perform so-called "motion quality presentation gestures" which provide information on the athletes' post-concussion motor sensory experience.
The study provides evidence of significant non-verbal gestures and behavior differences between people with and without concussion which can serve as behavioral markers for sports-related concussions and so improve diagnosis.
Helmich et al. (2019) Symptoms after sport-related concussions alter gestural functions. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2019.11.013
From Twitching Frogs to Brain Implants: 5 Key Technologies in Electrophysiology
How Does the Brain Know When It's Hungry?
Decision-making in the Zebrafish Brain
The Route to Neuromorphic Computers


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The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) enthusiastically endorses Mr. George Mulley for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Edward McGaffigan Jr. Public Service Award. As an independent non-profit that investigates and exposes corruption and other misconduct in order to achieve a more accountable federal government, POGO worked extensively with both Commissioner McGaffigan and Mr. Mulley for many years and we can not think of a better tribute to both men.
Mr. Mulley demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to public service and exemplified the integrity, professional dedication, and moral courage that Commissioner McGaffigan exhibited. Even though POGO certainly did not see eye to eye with Commissioner McGaffigan on every issue, we always respected his clear commitment to doing what he believed was right. We believe he would be proud to have his award go to Mr. Mulley.
Our Senior Investigator Mr. Peter Stockton has worked with Mr. Mulley since the 1980s, when Mr. Stockton was with the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In fact, the Committee played a major role in creating the Office of Inspector General at the NRC. Mr. Stockton witnessed Mr. Mulley pursue issues seriously and with courage. It was a good thing Mr. Mulley had a sense of humor, because Mr. Stockton and his coworkers used to verbally beat him up if he did not share their view on an issue, or if he wasn't as aggressive as they would like. In fact, former House Staffer Henry Myers regularly called Mr. Mulley expletives, yet Mr. Mulley took this all in stride, keeping his head high and pursuing his work professionally and with integrity. During those years, Mr. Mulley did great work on a number of the issues of concern to the Congress, including Thermo-Lag, Watts Barr, Comanche Peak , and TVA.
POGO's interaction with Mr. Mulley started in the mid-1990s when we were working on exposing long-standing safety issues at nuclear power plants. Our General Counsel, Scott Amey, an investigator at the time, attended nuclear whistleblower conferences and witnessed first hand the trust and respect that those insiders had for Mr. Mulley. In fact, he was the only NRC employee that was invited to the conferences and the only person those whistleblowers trusted to hear their complaints and act on them. Trusting government officials was not easy for those insiders, because many of them had been the targets of retaliation at the hands of the utility companies and feared the NRC.
Since those conferences, POGO worked with Mr. Mulley on numerous security issues. Again, like the whistleblowers before us, Mr. Mulley was one of the only NRC officials that POGO trusted with our sources and the information that we had gathered. Our relationship with Mr. Mulley grew stronger through the years and we continually turned to him because of his strong ethic, character, and desire to prevent wrongdoing. Over the years, Mr. Mulley has immeasurably strengthened the NRC OIG, and therefore the entire NRC. Most recently, a great example is the excellent investigation into the sleeping guards at Peach Bottom and the NRC's handling of the matter, which is resulting both in increased security across the complex, as well as improved NRC handling of whistleblower allegations.
Without hesitation, we recommend Mr. Mulley for the Edward McGaffigan Jr. Public Service Award. We cannot think of another applicant who will better honor the life and career of the NRC's longest-serving Commissioner.


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Pareiorhaphis stephanus is een straalvinnige vissensoort uit de familie van de harnasmeervallen (Loricariidae). De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort is voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 1999 door Oliveira & Oyakawa.

Harnasmeervallen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


We've been waiting patiently for any kind of Western release of the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack CDs for quite some time now. But now it sounds like our prayers will finally be answered – Tokyopop has announced that it will be publishing a domestic US version of the soundtrack this coming February.
The CD release will not be exactly the same as the Japanese Multi-Dimensional release, instead consisting of a single CD containing 26 tracks. But, we understand that the US release will come with some exclusive remixes not available on the original Japanese version, as well as lyric sheets for each song.
SEGA is apparently also designing a special cover for the US soundtrack that 'showcases each of the game's colorful main characters'. Sounds nice.


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Yessica Diaz Roman, DrPH, MPH
Dr. Roman is actively involved in the San Diego community and has focused her efforts on promoting diversity and improving the health and well-being of those in need. She teaches at Southwestern College (SWC) in the Behavioral Sciences Department and serves on the Academic Senate for the School of Arts, Communication and Social Sciences. Her commitment to mentoring students continues as a mentor for SWC's Puente Program and as a member of the Outreach Committee for the Association of Women in Science in San Diego. As a board member for Latinas in Medicine, she supports the organization's mission to promote and contribute to the advancement of Latinas pursuing a career in medicine. Dr. Roman is a board member for Columbia University's Alumni Association of San Diego and member of Lead San Diego's Advance Class of 2020. She holds a Doctorate in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health and a joint Master's in Public Health and Social Work from the University of Michigan.
Veronica N. Palomino, MD, MPH
Partner with Latinas in Medicine
Since our beginning, individuals, companies and philanthropic foundations sponsor our program. Most corporate partners host interactive events and mentorship, offering students a truly immersive experience.
Latinas In Medicine, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in August of 2016 for the specific purpose of promoting and contributing to the advancement of Latina women in medicine.
LatinasInMedicine@gmail.com
Latinas in Medicine Newsletter
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Cette adaptation quelque peu bancale du roman de Hunter S. Thompson (FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS) repose sur un scénario anecdotique et superficiel. Des dialogues inspirés rehaussent le niveau de l'ensemble, mais la réalisation incertaine semble incapable d'imposer ton et rythme.
Sans parler de succès ou d'échec, le résultat demeure plus qu'honnête, ce qui est déjà beaucoup pour un projet aussi casse-gueule.
Si l'on est donc loin du chef d'œuvre, on n'est heureusement pas déçu.
The trouble with The Rum Diary, on page and screen, is that it's only a tease, a curio of a time when Thompson wasn't ready yet to rip the world in half and start again.
The Rum Diary is a mediocre movie made with the best of intentions.
Fréquemment drôle, souvent juste et parfois inspirée, voici une oeuvre qui malheureusement ne tient pas ses promesses et laisse, malgré ses bons coups, l'impression d'une occasion ratée.
S'il est loin d'être parfait, il émane néanmoins de ce film un charme très réel, lié sans doute à la grande sincérité des artisans qui l'ont fabriqué.
For Depp, this is a welcome return to the rebellious character actor he used to be (long before he became a billion-dollar savior for Disney), and I'd like to see him continue to explore Thompson's work on-screen. He's the perfect surrogate for the man, and there's a lot more material to use.
The tale was no doubt meant to convey Kemp/Thompson's boozy aimlessness, but the film feels disjointed and meandering as a result.
Against that very busy canvas, Depp quietly paints Kemp's many interior occupations — the journalist observing the scene, taking it all in, ruminating, then struggling to putting it all down in words. It just isn't quite enough to take off the rough edge — for that, I guess, there is always the rum.
Robinson adequately captures the stranger-in-a-strange-land mood in the early scenes, but fails to push it to its hallucinatory limits. One gets the sense that he's tiptoeing around the material, lest he set Thompson spinning in his grave.


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CIA Funding Arm Gave Encrypted App Wickr $1.6 Million
The funding solidifies Wickr's position as an encrypted chat platform for government agencies.
October 12, 2021, 1:51pm
Image: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Hacking. Disinformation. Surveillance. CYBER is Motherboard's podcast and reporting on the dark underbelly of the internet.
In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit investment firm started by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), recently poured more than $1.6 million into encrypted messaging platform Wickr, according to public disclosure records reviewed by Motherboard.
The $1.6 million was transferred before Amazon purchased the company, but highlights Wickr's continuing position as an end-to-end encrypted messaging app for government agencies. Beyond the In-Q-Tel investment, Wickr also has a specific product approved by the Department of Defense, and as Motherboard reported last month, a new $900,000 contract with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Jack Poulson, executive director of Tech Inquiry, first flagged the money transfer to Motherboard. As he pointed out, one of In-Q-Tel's Form 990s, which describes compensation paid to outside contractors, mentions a payment to a company called "W I." That company's address—1459 18th Street, San Francisco—is identical to that of Wickr Inc., according to other public corporate records.
The description of services for the funds is listed as "TECH DEVELOP," according to the filing. The Form 990 is for the fiscal year ending in March 2020.
Do you work at Wickr? We'd love to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, or email joseph.cox@vice.com.
The form does not explicitly specify whether the $1.6 million paid to Wickr was for an investment into the company or purchasing a Wickr product. But a section of the form reads that "The hallmark of IQT's strategic an agile model is the development effort—aka work program—where the company collaborates with the startup to tailor a company's technology to specific government requirements and invests funds towards that work program."
Wickr did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent to its media email address. Amazon Web Services, which acquired Wickr in June, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Carrie Sessine, senior vice president of marketing and communications at In-Q-Tel told Motherboard in an email when asked about the Wickr funding that "In-Q-Tel is a prolific strategic investor, making more than 50 investments each year. Our website features the majority of our portfolio investments. There will always be companies that are not announced publicly, which is common practice in the investment community. In-Q-Tel serves multiple agencies committed to national security including the CIA, FBI, NSA, NGA, NRO, DHS (specifically Customs and Border Protection), DIA, and Air Force." Wickr is not listed on In-Q-Tel's public portfolio page on its website.
Customs and Border Protection to Use Encrypted App Wickr Widely
Joseph Cox
Wickr is an encrypted communications platform, with end-to-end encrypted text messaging and calls, and a feature that automatically deletes messages after a certain period of time. The company offers a free app called WickrMe that anyone can download, which, in Motherboard's direct experience, is notably popular in organized crime communities, likely in part because it does not require a phone number to sign up with. General members of the public also use the app; the Android version has been downloaded over 5 million times, according to figures on the Google Play Store.
Wickr makes its money from selling versions of that platform to corporate and government clients, such as Wickr Pro and Wickr Enterprise, which can include additional features for logging communications if necessary for auditing or legal reasons. Wickr RAM is built specifically for military customers and is accredited by the Department of Defense.
In-Q-Tel was established in 1999 as an organization "to help the CIA and broader U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) identify, adapt, and deliver cutting-edge technologies that address national security needs," the Form 990 adds. In-Q-Tel runs almost all investment decisions by the CIA, according to a 2016 Wall Street Journal profile of the organization.
"Do you have a product or technology that can contribute to national security?" a section of In-Q-Tel's website reads. "We want to hear from you. In-Q-Tel scouts the global market for commercially focused technologies with the potential to contribute to national security."
Gilman Louie, the founder and first CEO of In-Q-Tel, serves as a co-chair of Wickr's board. Louie previously invested in Wickr. Disgraced Blackwater founder and mercenary Erik Prince invested in Wickr, Foreign Policy reported in 2017.
Subscribe to our cybersecurity podcast CYBER, here.
Tagged:CYBERencryption[encrypted]End-To-Endend to end encryptionworld privacyworldnews


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Q: System of linear n-th order Ivp Can someone please help me in explaining this question?

Write the linear $n$-th order IVP  $$x^{n} + a_{1}(t) x^{n-1} + \dots
+ a_{n}(t) x = b(t)$$ $$x(t_{0}) = x_{0}, \quad x'(t_{0}) = x_{1}, \quad \dots, \quad x^{n-1}(t_{0}) = x_{n-1}$$ as a system. Prove that
  it admits a unique solution.


We propose our new Android malware dataset here, named CICAndMal2017. In this approach, we run our both malware and benign applications on real smartphones to avoid runtime behavior modification of advanced malware samples that are able to detect the emulator environment. We collected more than 10,854 samples (4,354 malware and 6,500 benign) from several sources. We have collected over six thousand benign apps from Googleplay market published in 2015, 2016, 2017.
Installation: The first state of data capturing which occurs immediately after installing malware (1-3 min).
Before restart: The second state of data capturing which occurs 15 min before rebooting phones.
After restart: The last state of data capturing which occurs 15 min after rebooting phones.
For feature Extraction and Selection, we captured network traffic features (.pcap files), and extracted more than 80 features by using CICFlowMeter-V3 during all three mentioned states (installation, before restart, and after restart). See our publicly available Android Sandbox.
Arash Habibi Lashkari, Andi Fitriah A. Kadir, Laya Taheri, and Ali A. Ghorbani, "Toward Developing a Systematic Approach to Generate Benchmark Android Malware Datasets and Classification", In the proceedings of the 52nd IEEE International Carnahan Conference on Security Technology (ICCST), Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2018.


Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Alex Smithies has now completed his move to Queens Park Rangers in a �2million deal.
Smithies, 25, came through the academy at Huddersfield Town and went on to make 274 appearances for the club.
The Huddersfield-born goalkeeper could be in line to face Town when QPR visit the John Smith's Stadium on August 29.
Rangers had been in discussion with chairman Dean Hoyle on Friday and the two parties agreed a fee, leading to Smithies missing the draw against Blackburn Rovers last weekend and Brighton on Tuesday night.
The deal has now been completed, which is understood to be around £2m, and Hoyle has promised the money will be reinvested in the team.
We all wish Alex all the best for the future and he has been a great servant for Huddersfield Town.
Why not discuss QPR sign Smithies on our Huddersfield Town FC forums? Click here to visit the Cowshed or post a comment above. Or, alternatively, why not browse through our Huddersfield Town story archive to find archived HTFC content?


This site is about an expat writer living in Istanbul.
As an Englishman who has been living in Turkey for the past 25 years, I am appalled at the situation re Turkey and migrants. Why does Europe seem to hold Turkey responsible for this terrible and unfortunate situation. One has to look no further than Merkel's totally irresponsible statement saying. "All migrants who reach our borders will be welcome." It was this that one crazy statement that led to hundreds of thousands of people living in a variety of countries to leave and head for Germany. Now that it is too late, the German government appears to be saying they will return all migrants who have not come from Syria. It is a great pity for all concerned that Merkel did not say this before opening the floodgates, and giving hope to countless numbers of people. It is, therefore, Merkel's problem to resolve not Turkey, who already has over 2.6 million Syrians living in camps set up in Turkey. It is I think due to all the thousands of immigrants passing through Turkey that has resulted in numerous terrorists entering the country and then passing into Europe, carrying out attacks in Turkey, but also in Paris and now in Belgium.
My deepest sympathy goes out to all the families who lost loved ones and to all those injured. Unfortunately, Muslims are being blamed for these attacks, although these terrorists are killing far more Muslims than foreigners. Religion is just being used as a reason to kill indiscriminately, no matter race or religion.


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Lady Washington will soon set sail for Whidbey. (Photo submitted)
Tall ship Lady Washington sails into Langley Sept. 19
Tuesday, September 3, 2019 5:06pm
Lady Washington, the "official tall ship of Washington state," will visit Langley Sept. 19-22 and offer vessel tours and sailings at the marina.
Launched in March 1989 as part of the state's centennial celebration, the Lady Washington was built in Aberdeen by Grays Harbor Historical Seaport, a nonprofit public development authority.
The new Lady Washington is a full-scale replica of the original ship.
Constructed as a brig, Lady Washington was thoroughly researched by historians and traditionally constructed by skilled shipwrights.
In 1787, after the Revolutionary War, the original Lady Washington was given a major refit to prepare her for an unprecedented trading voyage around Cape Horn. In 1788, she became the first American vessel to make landfall on the west coast of North America.
A pioneer in Pan-Pacific trade, she was the first American ship to visit Honolulu and Japan, opening the black pearl and sandalwood trade between Hawaii and Asia when King Kamehameha became a partner in the ship.
Over the years, Lady Washington has appeared in several motion pictures and television shows, including "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "Star Trek: Generations," "Once Upon A Time," and "Revolution."
Guests will embark on sailing experiences as it was done for hundreds of years. Join in a sea shanty, enjoy breathtaking views and meet the modern day crew.
A ticket is required for all passengers, including babies. Children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
Refreshments are not provided, but people are welcome to bring their own — no glass please.
You can book tickets at www.historicalseaport.org/public-tours-sails
9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19. Available for education programming.
9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20. Available for education programming. Vessel tours: 4-6 p.m. $5 donation.
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21. Vessel tours are $5 donation. Adventure sail: 2-4 p.m. $49-$59.
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22. Vessel tours are $5 donation. Adventure sail: 2-4 p.m. $49-$59.
Viva Las Langley! Artist Tim Leonard's neon signs are lighting up the village
Passenger injured in Aug. 17 crash dies | Corrected
Ex-county inmate sues over jail fall
An inmate at Clallam Bay Corrections Center is suing Island County over… Continue reading
Man sentenced for assaults, resisting arrest
A Clinton man who assaulted a woman and teenage girl and wrestled… Continue reading
$1 million in state historic preservation grants awarded in Ebey's Reserve
A $1-million grant from the state will go a long ways toward… Continue reading
Fellow Clinton resident challenges Smith
A longtime nurse and Whidbey resident is challenging incumbent Rep. Norma Smith,… Continue reading
Four seek board seat in conservation district
Whidbey voters registered with the county will have a chance to decide… Continue reading
MLK event focuses on Poor People's Campaign
Most school children in the United States learn about Martin Luther King… Continue reading
Freeland pot shop makes big donation to coalition
Last month, Island Herb offered the Whidbey Homeless Coalition the challenge of… Continue reading
Whidbey crafters sew pouches for Australian wildlife
In some cases, social media really can serve as the great unifier.… Continue reading
Neighbors oppose improved trail access
A proposed trail and parking project to improve access to a trail… Continue reading
FEMA threat draws rebuke from county
Island County commissioners are "aghast" at recent actions taken by the Federal…
South Whidbey High School band set to compete nationally
The South Whidbey High School's jazz band has been chosen as one…
A Clinton man who assaulted a woman and teenage girl and wrestled…
An inmate at Clallam Bay Corrections Center is suing Island County over…
Most school children in the United States learn about Martin Luther King…
Last month, Island Herb offered the Whidbey Homeless Coalition the challenge of…
Whidbey voters registered with the county will have a chance to decide…
© 2020, South Whidbey Record and Sound Publishing, Inc.


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Hello, guys! We are pleased to announce that the fourth issue of our Bona Fide Local Guide is out!


Hollins faculty writers read from their exciting new work to raise money for the hungry. One hundred percent of the proceeds will be donated directly to Feeding America Southwest Virginia. Tickets will be available at the door. If you wish to support this worthy project even if you can't attend, please call 540-362-6317 or email english@hollins.edu. General admission: $10; students: $5 or a nonperishable food item.


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Spearing targets Bees' second line
Having put pen to paper on a new deal at Bracknell Bees, forward Scott Spearing is already setting his sights high for the 2012/13 season.
Scott Spearing. Picture by Bob Swann
Although he featured quite heavily on the powerplay last season, left-winger Spearing, 26, was limited to appearances mainly on Bees' third line. However, following the departure of Slovakian import Peter Jasik, Spearing is aiming to make a spot on the second line his own this year.
He managed just nine points last season, two goals and seven assists, but his disruptive influence on the opposition has made him not only a firm fans' favourite, but also an integral part of coach Gareth Cox's plans.
And although Spearing is targeting more points in the upcoming campaign, he insists he won't be changing his boisterous playing style.
"I'm definitely not a player that is going to be among the top British points scorers, but I can do things in the changing rooms and out on the ice which other players maybe can't do," he said.
"I can help the team in other ways, like drawing penalties and causing grief.
"I gain a lot of powerplays for the team and that allows the likes of Masa and Smital to go out there and score the goals.
"There's a time and place for it, but if there's a player I know who is silly enough to be drawn into a penalty then I will try to do that.
"It's also good fun watching players come after me with their sticks in the air!
"I would like to see my numbers go up. I was quite limited on the third line last year and I am really looking to move up to the second line.
"I've had decent points in previous seasons on the first and second lines so I know I've got the ability to play there.
"I've been training really hard this summer to try and muscle my way onto the second line.
"Hopefully if I can get on there and stay there then I will rack up the points."
Aiming to return in peak physical condition, Spearing has been training hard alongside Martin Masa, Lukas Smital, Sam Oakford and Lewis Turner, as they utilise the club's links with local personal training company, JW Training.
The group can be seen around Bracknell on many nights of the week, running and 'flipping tyres'.
It is all part of Spearing's plan to help Bees break a three-season duck of failing to make the play-offs, a run the club are desperate to put right.
Bees have looked for continuity in a bid to reverse their fortunes, with 11 of the 14 players already signed to the club for the new season returning from last year.
The only new faces are forward Ollie Bronniman, as well as defencemen Sam Oakford and Marcel Petran, but a couple more new players are expected to sign before the season begins in two and a half months time.
And although Spearing insists it is too early to tell exactly how the season will go for Bees, he believes their new signings, especially the Brits, are a step in the right direction.
"The squad has remained quite similar in that we have a really good core of guys," he said.
"It certainly helped that Lukas (Smital) and Marty (Masa) came back as that encourages other guys to stay at the club.
"But Sam Oakford is a really skilfull and calm player on the puck and he will really help in defence.
"He'll be an influential player for us.
"Ollie Bronniman is a really good lad. He'll bring a few smiles to the changing room, but he's also an out-and-out goalscorer with great skill."
Bracknell Bees


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Jere Hester accepts the ONA award.
"The Missing," a NYCity News Service project that tells the stories of missing New Yorkers, won an Online Journalism Award Saturday at the national Online News Association conference in Los Angeles.
The special report took top honors in the Student Projects/Large category, beating out finalists that included another NYCity News Service effort: "Counterfeit Ed," which examines the controversial for-profit college industry.
CUNY J-School Director of News Products and Projects Jere Hester accepted the award, which was handed out in the packed ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Century Hotel. It marked the first OJA victory for the News Service, which had been a finalist three previous times since 2009.
"The Missing" was produced by J-School students Lisa Brown, Mack Burke, Aliza Chasan, Emrys Eller, Asia Ewart, Mia Garchitorena, Justin Joffe, Tionah Lee, Lena Masri, Danni Santana, Annamarya Scaccia, Levi Sharpe and Kanyakrit Vongkiatkajorn, under the direction of Profs. Tim Harper and Chris McKenna. Portions of the project were published by City Limits.
The OJA kudos came a week after the NYCity News Service won the Society of Professional Journalists' first-ever MOEy award – a best-in-show honor – at the national Excellence in Journalism confab in Orlando. J-School news outlets won three other national SPJ awards, including Best Independent Online Student Publication honors for the News Service for the third time in five years.
The NYCity News Service feeds student stories on New York City neighborhoods and issues to news outlets of various types and sizes, and produces multimedia special reports, sometimes in collaboration with professional news organizations.
The Online Journalism Awards (OJAs), which launched in 2000, are billed as the only comprehensive set of journalism prizes honoring excellence in digital journalism around the world.


text:
Beijing's Reaction To East Asia's Changing Alliances
Publication: China Brief Volume: 4 Issue: 15
July 22, 2004 12:00 AM Age: 17 years
If China had sufficient economic and military prowess, there seems little doubt the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership would "go teach the U.S. a lesson" for the wrongs it had allegedly inflicted upon on the country. Previous CCP administrations had used similar clauses of indignation – and the assertion of a moral high ground based on self-defense and the preservation of sovereign rights – when they went to war with nations including India, Russia and Vietnam. And while the Chinese party and military leadership may for the time being be deterred by America's superpower status from trying out something rash, tension between China on the one hand, and the U.S. and many Asian countries on the other, is expected to rise in the foreseeable future.
Much has been written about how the Taiwan issue – particularly Beijing's perception that Washington is providing ever more substantial military and diplomatic backing to the separatist President Chen Shui-bian government – has contributed to the marked deterioration in Sino-U.S. ties. Yet the leadership under President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and ex-president Jiang Zemin actually sees China's national and geopolitical security as being simultaneously undermined on different fronts. And while many of China's worst fears are Taiwan-related, tension over the Strait is but a symptom and manifestation of the much more fundamental clash between the world's only superpower and would-be superpower. Beijing is also perturbed by the fact that its so-called "peaceful rise" has raised such a high level of alarm in many Asian capitals that the latter have become more willing to abet Washington's time-honored "anti-China containment policy."
First and foremost is the party and military leaderships' belief that Washington is re-orienting its troop strength and power projection from Europe and the Middle East to the Far East. The official China News Service (CNS) pointed out last week that "the focus and emphasis of America's forces have shifted to East Asia" with the eventual goal of "tackling" China. The on-going Operation Summer Pulse – an unprecedented large-scale series of naval and air exercises held by the U.S. and its allies throughout the Pacific – is seen as the first salvo in Pentagon's go-east game plan, which was originally conceived in early 2001. Chinese strategists are convinced that while the war on terrorism has delayed this military and geo-political readjustment, the George W. Bush administration is eager to pick up the threads now that Iraqi-related pressure on the U.S. has waned to some extent.
America's apparent efforts to turn Taiwan into an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" serves the overall goal of what the China Daily recently called "maintaining Asia-Pacific stability under U.S. domination." The CNS quoted an article in Wide Angle, a Chinese-affiliated Hong Kong magazine, which asserted that the U.S. and Taiwan had "formed a surreptitious military alliance." The publication claimed that on-going military drills in Taiwan were "co-directed" by Taiwan officers and U.S. advisors – and that "the possibilities of the U.S. re-opening bases in Taiwan have increased." Moreover, Beijing anticipates formal military alliances between the U.S. and traditional American allies such as Japan, Australia and the Philippines to become much stronger in the coming years.
At the same time, Beijing is disturbed by a recent spate of disputes with its Asian neighbors. This is despite the fact that the Hu-Wen leadership has put even more emphasis than its predecessors on implementing a "good-neighborly policy." Moreover, Beijing's willingness to open more of its market to Asia, as well as pro-active steps it has taken to cement formal free-trade schemes with ASEAN and other Asian countries, has played up China's "benevolent elephant" image in the entire region.
The on-going crisis in Sino-Singaporean ties, however, is just one instance of the malaise affecting overall China-Asian relationship. Again, Taiwan seems to be the bone of contention. Beijing has gone ballistic over prime minister-designate Lee Hsien-loong's "private visit" to Taipei earlier this month. This was the first time that a senior cabinet member of a country that does not recognize Taiwan had paid a visit to China's "renegade province." The official International Herald Leader noted that Lee's visit could set off a "domino effect," meaning other Asian countries might follow suit. And Tsinghua University international affairs expert Yan Xuetong has accused the Singapore government of "using 'Taiwan independence' to blackmail and to rein in China."
But why do Singapore and quite a few other Asian countries, which are increasingly dependent on fat trade surpluses with China, dare to play the Taiwan card against the Middle Kingdom? One explanation is the fear that if Beijing were to use the military option against Taiwan, all of Asia would suffer grave economic and military collateral damages. Yet a much more fundamental factor is growing fears on the part of China's neighbors about a fast-rising quasi-superpower that seems bent on monopolizing manufacturing, trade, and particularly energy resources.
Even as China's energy crunch becomes more pronounced – and with crude prices tipped to stay high in the foreseeable future – Beijing's cadres, diplomats, and generals have gone about all guns blazing buttressing the country's "petroleum security." Unfortunately for China's neighbors, this includes asserting sovereignty rights over oil and gas supplies buried under islands and continental shelves that are claimed by two or more countries. Not too long ago, Beijing was eager to underscore its "peaceful rise" commitment by agreeing, for example, to set aside territorial disputes with Japan and ASEAN countries. Since early this year, however, Beijing has waged an ugly war of words with Tokyo over oil rights in the East China Sea. Bitter diplomatic exchanges have taken place since the spring between China and other claimants to the Spratly Islands including Vietnam and the Philippines.
For oil or other reasons, many Asian countries won't be unhappy to see the U.S. beefing up its military profile in the Pacific region. Not just full-fledged American allies such as Japan, but countries like Singapore – which has been gravitating toward China since the late 1990s – are willing to provide more naval and air bases for American troops. And it was Singapore's apparent support of U.S. naval patrol of the Strait of Malacca earlier this year – through which more than three-quarters of China's oil import passes – that first infuriated the Chinese leadership. (For the past decades, only forces from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia can regulate security and related matters in the narrow Strait.)
Of course, the convoluted relationships among China, Taiwan, the U.S. and Asia in general may yet improve if a new page can be turned in the ties of the two main players: China and the U.S. However, the results of perhaps one of the last few Sino-American high-level exchanges before U.S. presidential polls in November – Condoleezza Rice's fence-mending mission to Beijing earlier this month – have been disappointing. And an assessment of the Rice trip says much about whether Sino-U.S. and Sino-Asian ties are heading toward a vicious cycle.
According to diplomatic sources, the National Security Adviser addressed three main points during her meetings with President Hu Jintao and ex-president Jiang Zemin. Firstly, Rice tried to reassure the CCP leadership that there was no substance to allegations about Washington spearheading a containment policy against China. On the issue of North Korea, she expressed frustration with the fact that Beijing had not put enough pressure on the Kim Jong-Il regime to dismantle weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. side also voiced disappointment at Beijing's apparent failure to work closely together with the American team during the Six-Party Talks last month. Lastly, on the Iraqi issue, Rice indicated Washington would be appreciative of Beijing using its clout with the Middle East and other Muslim nations to help ensure the viability of the new Baghdad administration as well as stability in the war-torn country.
It is understood that the Beijing leadership refused to make any tangible commitments on either the North Korean or the Iraqi issue – and that privately, the senior cadres dismissed Rice's expression of goodwill as being based on the White House's desire that "Beijing doesn't rock the boat or make more trouble" in the run-up to the November U.S. elections. A party source familiar with Beijing's American policy said in their separate meetings with Rice, Jiang and Hu concentrated their firepower on the Taiwan question – as well as Washington's alleged anti-China encirclement conspiracy. "The central authorities have characterized talks with Rice as a 'showdown over Taiwan'," the source said. "The leaders told Rice frankly that U.S. policy toward Taiwan would immensely raise the possibility of war in the Taiwan Strait, into which America would inevitably be dragged." He added Jiang and Hu stressed that while China did not want a military conflict of any scale with the U.S., the CCP leadership would not be cowed by American might – and that it would not acquiesce in any more U.S.-aided steps taken by the Chen administration toward independence.
Yet one more tricky element in Beijing's foreign affairs in general and relations with the U.S. in particular is the growing diplomatic role that ex-president Jiang Zemin is playing. Political sources in Beijing say it is now certain that the 78-year-old veteran will stay as Central Military Commission Chairman until the 17th CCP Congress in late 2007. Since early this year, Jiang has not only promoted a number of his protégés to senior positions in the People's Liberation Army but also laid down important instructions on relations with Taiwan and the U.S. This is despite the fact that the primary policy-making role should go to President Hu, who heads the party's Leading Group on Foreign Affairs and Leading Group on Taiwan Affairs.
For example, the Chinese-run Hong Kong daily, Wen Wei Po, last week quoted Jiang as saying in a recent CMC meeting that Beijing should lay down a "time-table" of up to 20 years for national reunification. Jiang also repeated what the Chinese leadership had told top U.S. officials the past few months: "China has no desire to get into direct conflict with America; but if foreign powers are to interfere with and support Taiwan independence, we can only resort to a military resolution." Analysts say with the intensification of the nearly two-year-old power struggle between the so-called Hu-Wen faction and the Jiang-led Shanghai Clique, members of either camp have a tendency to adopt hawkish rhetoric and action to pre-empt criticisms of being soft on defending national sovereignty.
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Militant Leadership Monitor – September 2019
The September 2019 issue of Militant Leadership Monitor features a brief on Syed Salahuddin, the Hizbul Mujahideen chief who might still be able to affect the ongoing crisis in Kashmir; an examination of the 'swashbuckling' millionaire-turned-politician Sheikh Khamis Farhan Ali al-Khanjar al-Issawi in Sunni Iraq; a look at the... MORE


> calculation. I used 2 conformations and 5 orientations for this purpose.
> Then I ran the RED for the charge calculation.
Then, each time I get such ERROR message from R.E.D.
"ERROR: Scratch directory is NOT empty"
I execute "rm $SCR" and then I re-run R.E.D.
> directory to *.pun; after the gamess.00.x execution is over.
but simply read the FAQ-39.
> See the file(s) "JOB2-gam1-(X).pun"
> See the file(s) "JOB2-gam2-(X).pun"
> RED-vII.pl file to .pun but still it ended with the same error.
> there anyother way by which we can handel these problems?
from the RESP program itself.
same time this means that the number of center increase a lot.
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text:
Seznam bangladeških politikov.

A
 Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad
 Shahabuddin Ahmed
 Tajuddin Ahmed

E
 Hussain Mohammed Ershad

R
 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
 Ziaur Rahman

S

 Abdus Sattar

W

 Sheikh Hasina Wajed

Z
 Begum Khaleda Zia

politik


If you're using pianobar on Mac OS X (Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion) you might have updated Xcode or homebrew and ended up with a broken pianobar, something along the lines of: $ pianobar dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/local/lib/libgnutls.26.dylib Referenced from: /usr/local/bin/pianobar Reason: image not found This isn't actually a problem with libgnutls.26.dylib but more of an issue that you need to update pianobar. The first thing I tried was running these two commands: brew update ( That updates the list of available libraries for homebrew ) brew upgrade ( That actually upgraes homebrew and the available libraries ) It's possiblel that your pianobar will work now, but if not there are a few more things you can try. If you installed Piano Bar with homebrew you can try: brew uninstall pianobar (remove pianobar) brew install pianobar (reinstall pianobar) If you did not use homebrew to install pianobar you can download pianobar from the repo on github and then build it using xcode via the command line: make clean && make CFLAGS="-O2 -DNDEBUG -W64″ I actually have a complete tutorial How to install Pianobar on Mac OS X that you can check out, too.


This is the groups' first album of 2019.
After many teasers and hints, Korean pop boy band, BTS, dropped their new album "Map of the Soul: Persona," on Friday Apr. 12, starting the next chapter in their musical journey. The title of the new album is fitting as BTS captures different places around the globe with their diverse tracks and collaborations.
Fans of the group dig deep into the meaning of this new beginning and have unveiled that the album's title was inspired by "Jung's Map of the Soul," a study written by psychoanalyst Dr. Murray Stein, providing a philosophical touch to the album.
The album features all 7 members; rappers, RM, Suga, and J-Hope, and vocalists, Jin, Jimin, V and Jungkook. In total there are 7 tracks, the album opening up with "Intro: Persona," a hard-hitting, confident solo rap by RM.
The group's title track, "Boy with Luv," features American singer, Halsey, in a funky dance track. Accompanied by an energetic and colorful music video, the song opens up with a woozy tune accompanied by lively strings. "Boy with Luv" is smooth and upbeat, as the 7 members and Halsey sing about being the nominal male trying out a new love.
Every track gives off a different vibe, with a wide array of sounds and styles. The calm EDM vibes of "Mikrokosmos" tie in perfectly with the cross of pop and R&B that is present in the following song, "Make it Right," written by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.
"HOME" brings on the most contrasting tune, an old-school groove. The track contains multiple languages, a bit of Spanish, as well as English and Korean. With meaningful lyrics that hold gratitude for their current success, BTS dedicates "Home" to their fans.
The boys change it up a bit and introduce a new sub-unit consisting of J-Hope, Jin and Jungkook who feature on the sixth track, "Jamais Vu." Titled after a phrase in French that refers to a feeling or place that seems familiar but is not, the song captures a reflective heartbreak. The lyrics "Please give me a/ A remedy, a melody/ A memory that's left behind just for me," transport listeners into the feeling of falling apart, with the tiniest bit of hope left.
The last track, "Dionysus" holds a dynamic sound with a mix of rock and hip-hop. The song incorporates traditional Korean folk music and the Greek god of wine to create the feeling of drunkenness in the song.
Each track in the album tells a different story, however they all come together to take on the same theme. "Map of the Soul: Persona" successfully carries listeners through an exploration of BTS' philosophy towards love, individuality, their fans and their career.


text:
Division of Chemical Sciences
Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit (SSCU)
NMR based Studies and Applications of Molecular Interactions : From Small Moleculecules to Bio-nanoconjugates
G28256.pdf (7.817Mb)
Pal, Indrani
The work described in this thesis involves the study of weak interactions by NMR spectroscopy and using them to develop novel applications. The two different applications chosen are i) using molecular interactions for chiral discrimination and ii) understanding the nature of the interaction between peptide and nanoparticles to develop potent antibacterial agents. The thesis, which is divided into five chapters starts with a general introduction of NMR spectroscopy for the study of molecular interactions in conjunction with other techniques. The remaining four chapters focus on four different areas/projects that I have worked on. Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter reviews different kinds of molecular interactions along with the introduction to NMR spectroscopy and other techniques used for all the studies. Starting with the application of chiral discrimination the chapter proceeds to the general introduction of antimicrobial peptides, silver nanoparticles and the strategy for peptide resonance assignment. Chapter 2: Chiral discrimination for versatile functionalities There are many chiral agents available for discriminating enantiomers which mainly target specific functional groups. In this study, we have explored a strategy involving ternary complexation to investigate chiral discrimination of different kind of functional groups by NMR spectroscopy. The proposed protocol was employed for the enantiodiscrimination of molecules containing functional groups, such as amino alcohols, secondary alcohols, cyanohydrins, oxazolidones, diols, thiones and epoxides, using a phosphorous based three component mixture. The simple mixing and shaking of enantiopure 1,1'-binaphthyl-2,2'-diyl hydrogenphosphate (BNPA), 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP) and a chiral analyte in the solvent CDCl3 served as a chiral solvating agent and resulted in well-dispersed peaks for each enantiomer in the 1H NMR spectrum. Discrimination was achieved not only for the proton at the chiral center but also for multiple proton sites. The J-resolved technique was used for alleviating the spectral complexity pattern to accurately measure the chemical shift difference. The devised approach also permitted the precise measurement of the enantiomeric excess (ee). Chapter 3: Simultaneous discrimination of secondary alcohols and carboxylic acids In this chapter, I describe two novel ternary ion-pair complexes, which serve as chiral solvating agents (CSA), for enantio discrimination of secondary alcohols and carboxylic acids. The superiority of CSA over other auxiliaries arises due to the formation of diastereomeric complexes through non-covalent interactions with the analyte. By exploiting the acid-base interaction strategy and employing DMAP, which further enhanced the hydrogen bonding efficiency the discrimination for both carboxylic acids and secondary alcohols were achieved. The protocol for discrimination of secondary alcohols is designed by using one equivalent mixture each of enantiopure mandelic acid, 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) and a chiral alcohol. For discrimination of carboxylic acids, the ternary complex is obtained by one equivalent mixture each of enantiopure chiral alcohol, DMAP, and a carboxylic acid. Furthermore, the formation of the complex was supported by calculating the energy-minimized structure of the proposed complex by density functional theory (DFT). The designed protocols also permit accurate measurement of the enantiomeric composition. Chapter 4: Enhanced potency of nanoparticle-antimicrobial peptide conjugates Antibiotic resistance is emerging as the new global health problem. Due to the blatant misuse and overuse of these drugs has resulted in the bacteria becoming resistant to a wide range of antibiotics. Researchers have found an alternative of current antibiotics which are a group of peptides known as antimicrobial peptides (AMP). But using these molecules as drug is rather costly due to high synthesis cost. Further the antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticle is well established. However, due to its toxic nature after, it cannot be used in high concentration. The conjugation of nanoparticles with antimicrobial peptides is emerging as a promising route to achieve superior anti-microbial activity. However, the nature of peptide-nanoparticle interactions in these systems remains unclear. This study describes the interactions of antimicrobial peptide with silver nanoparticles by NMR spectroscopy in conjunction with other biophysical techniques to completely understand the underlying mechanism of interaction between nanoparticles and peptide. It reveals that the conjugation process involves dynamic interaction between the nanoparticle and the peptide. This study also confirms the enhanced antibacterial efficiency of the nano-conjugate towards bacterial killing compared to the nanoparticle or the peptide alone. Chapter 5: Mechanistic insights into the action of nano-conjugates It is well established that antimicrobial peptides act as pore-formers to rupture the bacterial cells. This chapter is focused on studying the mechanism of action of the nano-conjugate with bacterial membrane mimic models. This study for the first time reveals the details of nanoconjugate membrane interaction at an atomic level. The pore formation mechanism and the enhanced efficiency of the nanoconjugate were explored using fluorescence spectroscopy, CD spectroscopy, and NMR spectroscopy. Structural changes of the peptide and the nanoparticle bound peptide have been captured which infers the propensity of the peptide to form a helical structure upon interacting with the membrane. The calculated structure of the peptide and nanoparticle bound peptide remains almost identical in presence of the membrane mimic environment. In the case of the nanoconjugate, the increase in local positive charge concentration makes the system to penetrate the bacterial membrane faster which further allows the nanoparticle to access the intercellular organelles easily. This dual mode of mechanism thus makes this nano-conjugate a promising antibacterial agent towards multi drug resistant bacteria. In summary, the thesis has focused on the studies of weak intermolecular interactions in different chemical and biological systems using NMR spectroscopy. It is demonstrated that in certain chemical systems, such interactions can be exploited to discriminate enantiomers and determine the enantiopurity of compounds by NMR. In the case of biomolecules, such weak interactions exist when protein or peptides interact with nanoparticles. Using silver nanoparticles, it is shown that such interactions result in a stable conjugate system. NMR spectroscopy provides valuable insights into the structure and dynamics of the system. Further, by using anti-microbial peptides conjugated with silver nanoparticles, new superior antibacterial agents can be developed.
Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit (SSCU) [136]