text:
Euryanthe – A grand heroic-romantic opera in three Acts to a libretto by Helmine von Chezy, adapted from L'Histoire de Gérard de Neverset de la belle et vertueuse Euryanthe, sa mie [concert performance sung in German with English surtitles]
King Louis VI of France – Richard Wiegold
Adolar – Jonathan Stoughton
Euryanthe von Savoyen – Kirstin Sharpin
Lysiart – Stephen Gadd
Eglantine von Puiset – Camilla Roberts
Bertha – Melinda Hughes
Chorus & Orchestra of Chelsea Opera Group
Cameron Burns
Chelsea Opera Group at Cadogan Hall – Weber's Euryanthe
Saturday, November 23, 2013 Cadogan Hall, London
Reviewed by Richard Nicholson
In its newsletter, Chelsea Opera Group described the ideal COG opera as "one that is by an important composer but not in the repertoire of the major opera companies", adding that other factors were (preferably) a small cast of principals, the presence of a sizeable part for chorus and an orchestral score which could be performed with relatively few rehearsals. Euryanthe has never been heard at Covent Garden and only once been staged by English National Opera and at Glyndebourne. Euryanthe fulfils COG's criteria.
The factors which work against its inclusion in the international repertory are of less significance with a concert performance. They mainly relate to the libretto by Helmina von Chezy, more journalist than poet. Mechanical devices used in the plot such as ghosts imparting crucial information and a tussle with a serpent acting as an essential trial for the tenor hero have attracted justified criticism. The opera is long, even with the excision of some 500 bars by Weber himself. The third Act is particularly slow-moving. The inclusion of a hunting chorus was, I suppose, de rigueur, but it interrupts the action at a crucial point. The same could be said about Bertha's aria. There were further cuts in this performance, mostly of repeated material.
At the time of the Glyndebourne production of Euryanthe in 2002 Rodney Milnes wrote an impassioned and cogent defence of it. His main objection is that we are given too little information about the core of the plot, the business of Emma's suicide and redemption which motivates the eponymous heroine. Otherwise Milnes is entirely positive. The progress Weber sought to make from 'number opera' to the through-composed style is considerable. The scene in Act One where Lysiart delivers the challenge over Euryanthe's faithfulness is based on the flexible use of accompanied recitative sustained over many bars. Even Lysiart's dramatic aria does not stand alone: Eglantine's entrance and their duet proceed seamlessly thereafter. No less a figure than Schubert may have complained that the work was short of melody but in the fullness of time we can see Weber was starting to replace conventional, lightweight melodic forms by more sophisticated arioso. His development of harmony Milnes describes as "simply unbelievable for 1823". In Eglantine's fragmentary utterances in the wedding march tonality is largely abandoned. And that very piece is a perfect example of Weber's brilliance in orchestration: the wind band which he employs produces a raucous sound to suggest that the marriage of Eglantine and Lysiart is not one made in Heaven.
The tide has been turning, then, in Euryanthe's favour as far as musical esteem is concerned. For COG there remained perhaps the greatest stumbling-block of all, casting. The two leading female roles require singers of power and agility, the tenor has to scale a vertiginous tessitura while maintaining lyrical sweetness and the baritone role is first cousin to Wagner's Dutchman. COG was shrewd in its choice of soloists, only one of whom was short of a suitable voice and experience for the role. That was the tenor Jonathan Stoughton. He could not conceal his nervousness in Adolar's opening aria 'Unter blühenden Mandelbäumen'. The voice seemed on the large side for this straightforwardly lyrical piece. Soft notes were often insecure and the little turn upward to a top B flat was a trial each time it was heard. He was at his best when wounded and responding aggressively: his singing in the Act Two finale and in the final Act had considerable ring. Unfortunately, when he came to the second Act aria 'Wehen mir Lüfte Ruh' he sang at a monotonous forte. Steadiness of line was achieved at the expense of light and shade, while I detected a certain mechanical phrasing and the conductor seemed to be nursing him.
The female leads were quite slow to reveal their complete selves both dramatically and musically. Kirstin Sharpin sang Euryanthe's 'Cavatina' with purity of tone and vocal control. A finely floated top G climaxed her success in overcoming the technical challenges in this, her first aria. She defended herself in the Act Two finale with ample supplies of the tone which she had previously held in reserve and in the arioso in which Euryanthe gives a vivid account of Adolar's battle with the serpent she was able to add a layer to her lyric soprano without it becoming strident; indeed the tone remained suitably limpid in the ensuing 'Cavatina' before the dramatic singing returned for the ecstatic aria with chorus 'Zuihm! Zuihm!'
The first few pages of the duet for Eglantine and Euryanthe, and Eglantine's first aria 'O mein Leid ist unermessen' embedded within it are distinctly old-fashioned; the melodic line is foursquare and sticks slavishly to the uninspiring shape of the poetry, never climbing above a G. In the duet following Euryanthe's revelation of the secret there is an equally conventional allegretto grazioso passage 'Ja, es wallt', in which the two women's voices are united in thirds and fifths. The contrast with Eglantine's Scene in propria persona, as it were, is spectacular. The final section in which she calls down misfortune on Adolar for his rejecting her in favour of Euryanthe is characterised by a melody with heavy accent markings which drives powerfully to a top B and beyond, culminating in a breathtaking bravura semiquaver passage. Camilla Roberts may have been phlegmatic on the platform (all except Stephen Gadd were) but from the start she acted with the voice, a sizeable instrument which impressed increasingly as her contributions to the opera multiplied, a soprano with a substantial lower register in reserve.
The part of Lysiart requires a dark Heldenbariton. Gadd was ideally cast in the role, which he has performed at Glyndebourne and recoded in Poland. The contrast between the choral end of Act One and his aria at the beginning of Act Two is immense. Lacerating violin figures cut through the air like gigantic flashes of lightning, painful groans enacted by slow downward semitone progressions, cellos and double basses rearing up from below, all these introduce and in some cases punctuate Lysiart's initial fury. Gadd was a fearsome presence as he began the recitative; his thunderous voice tingled the spine. There was, however, a price to be paid in the cantabile of the aria: he struggled to control the voice in 'Schweigt, glühnden Sehnens wilde Triebe', much of which is placed between B and D. On into the aria itself and confidence returned with the rushing string demisemiquavers in the main section, concluding with his declaration of war on Adolar.
King Louis is little more than a cipher throughout the opera but Richard Wiegold's warm, pliant bass established the character's benevolent desire to ensure peace whenever faced with aggression. Melinda Hughes sang Bertha's aria attractively; one wished only that Weber had varied the accompaniment for each of the three verses, as he did so ingeniously for Adolar's aria in Act One. The chorus has much to occupy it in this opera, witnessing the dramatic public events, commenting on the action, sometimes partisanly, and celebrating in the Act One finale. The COG Chorus supplied plenty of volume and sang with notable enthusiasm and discipline, the ladies singing with grace, everyone enjoying themselves; only a minor slip at a tricky moment in the second Act betrayed them.
The conducting was fine in every respect. Cameron Burns managed his forces with obvious belief in the music but without unnecessary flamboyance. Sections and solo instruments were given their head. The prominent association which can often be detected between the character of Lysiart and the cellos and basses was given full emphasis. The significance of solo instruments such as the bassoon in Euryanthe's Act Three 'Cavatina', with its suggestion of desolate pathos, was colourfully brought out. The strings had one or two scratchy moments and the singers were occasionally covered by the orchestra but Burns never failed to appreciate, alongside the highlights, the continuity of the work. It is to be hoped that Euryanthe's fortunes, already on the way up, will be given a further boost by this outing.
Chelsea Opera Group www.chelseaoperagroup.org.uk


Kikos can thrive in rough conditions while producing meat efficiently. They cross well with Boers.
Use: The fast-growing, efficient Kikos are ideal for low-input goat farming. They shine under rough-country conditions.
History: Kikos hail from New Zealand where their name means "meat." Kiko development began in the early 1970s when a group of ranchers united to form The Goatex Group LLC. They collected and bred thousands of feral goats, reserving only the fastest maturing, meatiest, and most disease- and parasite-resistant goats from each generation to use as breeding stock, sending the balance to slaughter. They provided their herds with no supplementary feed, no shelter, no hoof trimming or vet care and no assistance at kidding. Only the toughest survived.
Conformation: Kikos have straight profiles; medium-length ears; and magnificent, up- and out-sweeping, spiraling horns; wide, strong frames with moderate bone size; and compact, muscular bodies. Most American Kikos are white, but Kikos come in a wide variety of colors. They have supple skin and short- to medium-length coats.
Special Considerations/Notes: Does are prolific, protective and require little or no assistance when kidding. Kiko kids are small at birth, but grow quickly; they are alert and active within minutes of being born. Some of the fastest maturing, most efficient meat goats in the world are created by crossing Boer and Kiko goats. A case in point: Crossbred kids created as part of The Goatex Group's experiments reached slaughter weight two months faster than either full-blooded breed. The American Kiko Goat Association maintains a herdbook for Genemaster goats, the crossbreed of Boer and Kiko goats. First generation crosses are created by breeding full-blood Kikos to full-blood Boer goats. The best from that generation are mated with fullblood Boers to create one-quarter Kiko and three-quarter Boer offspring. These animals are crossed with first generation Kiko and Boer crosses to create the three-eighths Kiko and five-eighths Boer Genemaster goat. The International Kiko Goat Association registers three Boer and Kiko crossbreeds: the BoKi (half Kiko, half Boer), the American MeatMaker (half Boki, half Kiko) and the International MeatMaker (half Boki, half Boer) goat.


text:
Caratteristiche tecniche
Giocava come difensore centrale, ottimo sulle palle alte e pericoloso sui calci piazzati.

Carriera

Club

Inizi
È cresciuto nelle giovanili della Pecciolese Alta Valdera, la squadra del suo paese, per passare poi nelle giovanili dell'Empoli. A 19 anni, nel 1998, passa al  dove rimane fino a gennaio 1999, senza mai giocare. Dopo la breve esperienza al , chiude la stagione alla . Nell'estate del 1999 va in prestito alla Fidelis Andria giocando 28 partite e segnando il suo primo gol da professionista, l'unico della stagione. A fine stagione il Lecce lo acquista in compartecipazione.

L'approdo in Serie A
Esordisce in Serie A il 18 febbraio 2001 in Roma-Lecce (1-0). A fine anno viene riscattato dall'Empoli che poi lo vende al Brescia.

Il 15 gennaio 2002 passa in prestito al Verona.

Terminato il prestito rientra a Brescia dove resta per due stagioni.

Fiorentina
Nell'estate 2004, a 25 anni, arriva alla neopromossa Fiorentina in compartecipazione per 2,5 milioni di euro. Il 19 settembre 2004 segna il suo primo goal sia con la maglia viola che in Serie A nella gara casalinga contro il Cagliari, segnando il gol vittoria al 90'. In questa stessa stagione colleziona 30 presenze e realizza altre 3 reti contro Inter, Juventus e .
A fine stagione la società riscatta l'altra metà del giocatore per 2 milioni di euro.

Dalla stagione seguente diventa il capitano della squadra.

In questa stagione gioca 27 partite, più una in Coppa Italia, e segna un gol all'ultima giornata di campionato contro il Chievo, fissando il punteggio sul 2-0.
Tale risultato avrebbe dato ai viola la qualificazione alla UEFA Champions League, ma dopo i fatti di Calciopoli la Fiorentina viene penalizzata di 30 punti e retrocede al 9º posto.

L'anno successivo la Fiorentina subisce 31 gol, diventando la miglior difesa del campionato. A fine stagione rinnova il contratto fino al 2011.

Esordisce in Coppa UEFA il 25 ottobre 2007 giocando tutti i 90' di Villarreal-Fiorentina. Durante la competizione scende in campo sei volte raggiungendo la semifinale, poi persa ai calci di rigore con il Glagsow Rangers.
Non giocherà molto nel corso della stagione a causa di una non perfetta forma fisica dovuta principalmente alla pubalgia.

Il 13 agosto 2008 riprende il posto da titolare al centro della difesa in occasione della gara contro lo Slavia Praga nel terzo turno del preliminare di UEFA Champions League (2-0). Il 17 settembre 2008 esordisce in Champions League nella gara esterna con il Lione (2-2). Nel corso della stagione supera le 200 presenze in Serie A. Il 19 aprile 2009 segna la rete del momentaneo 1-2 nella partita di ritorno contro l'Udinese, partita poi persa 3-1. Il 1º maggio 2009, dopo la partita vinta 4-1 contro la Roma, il direttore sportivo Pantaleo Corvino, ospite a TVR Teleitalia su 7 Gold, afferma che Dainelli non verrà ceduto perché ritenuto importante per la difesa. Il 17 maggio 2009 subisce l'ennesimo infortunio stagionale, una lombalgia acuta nella gara casalinga contro la Sampdoria, gara poi vinta 1-0. Riesce a recuperare per la settimana successiva e gioca i secondi 45' nella gara esterna contro il Lecce, partita pareggiata 1-1 dando alla Fiorentina il punto per la matematica qualificazione ai preliminari di Champions League.

Il 18 agosto 2009 gioca la prima gara della stagione nella trasferta del preliminare contro lo Sporting Lisbona, gara pareggiata 2-2, nella quale viene ammonito. Il 4 novembre 2009 realizza anche il suo primo gol in Champions League nella vittoria per 5-2 contro il Debreceni, al Franchi.

Genoa
Dopo 5 stagioni e mezzo alla Fiorentina, il 12 gennaio 2010 passa a titolo definitivo per 2,5 milioni di euro al Genoa firmando un contratto triennale. Esordisce in campionato il 17 gennaio 2010 nella sconfitta contro la Roma per 3-0. Il 20 marzo 2011 in Bologna-Genoa segna il suo primo goal con i genovesi (1-1).

Chievo
Il 31 gennaio 2012 viene ceduto in prestito al Chievo Verona, nell'ultima giornata del calciomercato invernale, dove totalizza 6 presenze. Tornato al Genoa a fine prestito, rescinde consensualmente il contratto con la società ligure e viene tesserato definitivamente al Chievo Verona. La sua seconda stagione in maglia gialloblu la conclude con 34 presenze in campionato ed una in Coppa Italia.

Il 2 marzo 2014 segna il suo primo gol con un colpo di testa nella partita Atalanta-Chievo 2-1. Segna il goal vittoria di testa a Cagliari, che regala la salvezza al Chievo con una giornata d'anticipo. La sua stagione, caratterizzata anche da un infortunio a metà agosto, si conclude con 25 presenze e 2 reti in campionato ed un gettone in Coppa Italia.

Il 5 giugno 2015 rinnova fino al 30 giugno 2016 con il club veronese. Il 24 marzo 2016, nel corso dell'amichevole contro il , riporta la lesione del legamento crociato anteriore del ginocchio destro, terminando così anzitempo la stagione. Il 4 maggio seguente prolunga per un altro anno con i Mussi volanti. Dopo la salvezza conseguita nella stagione 2017-2018 Dainelli lascia il Chievo dopo 6 anni in gialloblù e più di 160 presenze, ricordato tra i migliori giocatori del club.

Livorno
Rimasto svincolato, lascia il Chievo nell'estate di 2018 dopo sei anni e mezzo e passa al , squadra allenata dal suo ex compagno di squadra al Lecce, Cristiano Lucarelli. Dopo il turno di riposo della sua squadra, fa il suo esordio assoluto in Serie B il 2 settembre 2018, a 39 anni, alla seconda giornata del campionato 2018-2019, sul campo del  (2-1 per gli abruzzesi).
Il 13 maggio 2019, dopo la salvezza ottenuta con i toscani, annuncia il ritiro dal calcio giocato a quasi 40 anni.

Nazionale
Dopo aver già giocato con l'Under-21, esordisce in Nazionale l'11 giugno 2005, a 26 anni, nella partita amichevole Italia-Ecuador (1-1), con Marcello Lippi, durante una tournée post-campionato degli Azzurri negli Stati Uniti. Viene poi convocato nel settembre 2006 con Roberto Donadoni per le gare di qualificazione agli Europei 2008 contro Lituania e Francia.

Dirigente
Dopo l'ultima stagione passata con la maglia del Livorno, il 10 luglio 2019 viene ufficializzato con il ruolo di supervisore dell'area tecnica della Fiorentina. Si tratta, quindi di un ritorno a Firenze dopo aver giocato 5 stagioni con la maglia gigliata ed esserne stato capitano. Nel frattempo consegue il patentino di allenatore UEFA B e la qualifica da direttore sportivo.

Statistiche

Presenze e reti nei club
Statistiche aggiornate all'11 maggio 2019.

Cronologia presenze e reti in nazionale

Vita privata
Sposato , ha tre figli.

Nel luglio 2007 ha aperto un ristorante nei pressi di Peccioli; il locale si chiama La Locanda Dell'Amicone.

Quando ancora giocava ha iniziato a produrre olio e vino nei suoi terreni di Peccioli  per poi arrivare ad avere una propria azienda vitivinicola, la Cantina Dainelli, a Cerreto Guidi nella quale si può anche cenare.

Note

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

Calciatori della Nazionale italiana

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Turning 16 years old is a big event, but the celebration doesn't have to be expensive to be special. Planning a Sweet 16 birthday party is like choosing a gift; the thought you put into it can mean much more than the amount of money you spend, and you can come up with an inexpensive but fun party idea the birthday girl will always remember.
Most party decorations are inexpensive, but particularly for a soon-to-be-adult, the traditional balloons and streamers can just look cheap. Keep the cost down but make the party impressive by choosing a theme that will make all of your decorations more cohesive. Theme ideas include a luau party, a Hollywood party or a rock star party.
The trick to having a successful buffet without spending a ton is to buy in bulk, but offer a variety. For example, popcorn is a great party snack and quite affordable. Buy plain popcorn in bulk, then serve it several different ways, buttered, with ranch seasoning, or drizzled with melted caramel. Chicken wings are also affordable. Buy them plain, then whisk up a few different sauces using butter, hot sauce, soy sauce, and various seasonings. Instead of a big, expensive cake, make a selection of cupcakes with various flavors and frosting, arranged on a big platter to spell 16.
Hiring a DJ is almost always expensive. However, if you have a decent stereo system at home, just ask the birthday girl and her guests to bring their favorite CDs or MP3 playlist. One guest may even want to act as DJ, picking and choosing songs for the others to dance to.
Teenagers need little to have a good time; being with their friends is usually enough to keep them laughing. Plan a few inexpensive party games like Truth or Lie, in which each guest writes down two lies and a truth about themselves, then reads them out loud to see if other guests can guess the truth. Another fun game is Orange Relay; divide teens into two teams and give each team an orange. Holding the orange under their neck, they must pass it to the next teammate without using their hands. The first team to get their orange to the end of the line without dropping it wins.


text:
#include <torch/extension.h>

#include "filtering/filtering.h"
#include "lltm/lltm.h"
#include "resample/pushpull.h"
#include "utils/resample_utils.h"

PYBIND11_MODULE(TORCH_EXTENSION_NAME, m) {
  // filtering
  m.def("bilateral_filter", &BilateralFilter, "Bilateral Filter");
  m.def("phl_filter", &PermutohedralFilter, "Permutohedral Filter");

  // lltm
  m.def("lltm_forward", &lltm_forward, "LLTM forward");
  m.def("lltm_backward", &lltm_backward, "LLTM backward");

  // resample bound mode
  py::enum_<monai::BoundType>(m, "BoundType")
      .value("replicate", monai::BoundType::Replicate, "a a a | a b c d | d d d")
      .value("nearest", monai::BoundType::Replicate, "a a a | a b c d | d d d")
      .value("border", monai::BoundType::Replicate, "a a a | a b c d | d d d")
      .value("dct1", monai::BoundType::DCT1, "d c b | a b c d | c b a")
      .value("mirror", monai::BoundType::DCT1, "d c b | a b c d | c b a")
      .value("dct2", monai::BoundType::DCT2, "c b a | a b c d | d c b")
      .value("reflect", monai::BoundType::DCT2, "c b a | a b c d | d c b")
      .value("dst1", monai::BoundType::DST1, "-b -a 0 | a b c d | 0 -d -c")
      .value("antimirror", monai::BoundType::DST1, "-b -a 0 | a b c d | 0 -d -c")
      .value("dst2", monai::BoundType::DST2, "-c -b -a | a b c d | -d -c -b")
      .value("antireflect", monai::BoundType::DST2, "-c -b -a | a b c d | -d -c -b")
      .value("dft", monai::BoundType::DFT, "b c d | a b c d | a b c")
      .value("wrap", monai::BoundType::DFT, "b c d | a b c d | a b c")
      //   .value("sliding", monai::BoundType::Sliding)
      .value("zero", monai::BoundType::Zero, "0 0 0 | a b c d | 0 0 0")
      .value("zeros", monai::BoundType::Zero, "0 0 0 | a b c d | 0 0 0")
      .export_values();

  // resample interpolation mode
  py::enum_<monai::InterpolationType>(m, "InterpolationType")
      .value("nearest", monai::InterpolationType::Nearest)
      .value("linear", monai::InterpolationType::Linear)
      .value("quadratic", monai::InterpolationType::Quadratic)
      .value("cubic", monai::InterpolationType::Cubic)
      .value("fourth", monai::InterpolationType::FourthOrder)
      .value("fifth", monai::InterpolationType::FifthOrder)
      .value("sixth", monai::InterpolationType::SixthOrder)
      .value("seventh", monai::InterpolationType::SeventhOrder)
      .export_values();

  // resample
  m.def("grid_pull", &monai::grid_pull, "GridPull");
  m.def("grid_pull_backward", &monai::grid_pull_backward, "GridPull backward");
  m.def("grid_push", &monai::grid_push, "GridPush");
  m.def("grid_push_backward", &monai::grid_push_backward, "GridPush backward");
  m.def("grid_count", &monai::grid_count, "GridCount");
  m.def("grid_count_backward", &monai::grid_count_backward, "GridCount backward");
  m.def("grid_grad", &monai::grid_grad, "GridGrad");
  m.def("grid_grad_backward", &monai::grid_grad_backward, "GridGrad backward");
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


It is important to maintain your household appliances in order to get the maximum use possible out of them, cleaning being a major part of the maintenance process. A regular cleaning keeps appliances running efficiently and gives them a chance at reaching their maximum life expectancy. This includes your washing machine.
Washing machines should get a thorough cleaning about twice a year. For the outside of any washing machine, dip a scrubbing sponge in a vinegar and water solution. Get in and clean all the nooks and crannies of your washer including the knobs, the lid, and all of the exterior. As for the inside, there are specific cleaning methods that work best for each type of washing machine.
Fill your washer with hot water and add 2 cups of vinegar. Let the washer run a complete cycle and repeat, this time using 2 cups of bleach. Then finally, run a complete cycle with just hot water. Remove the bleach and fabric softener dispensers and let them soak a while, then clean with an all-purpose spray cleaner.
Fill your washer with hot water and add one quart of bleach. Let the machine spin for about one minute, then let it sit for an hour or so. After one hour, allow the washer to run through its longest wash and spin cycle. Then fill the washing machine once again with hot water and add one quart distilled white vinegar. Repeat spin for a minute, and again, let it sit for one hour.
Inspect the gray seal area and wipe the area with a solution of 3/4 cup of liquid bleach and 1 gallon water. Run the cleaning cycle with the recommended washer cleaner. Usually you use one tablet per cleaning. If you are using liquid bleach, add 2/3 cup into the bleach compartment before starting the cleaning cycle. Keep the top open afterward for ventilation.
Each washing machine type will have its own unique set of problems. Front loading washer types tend to develop musty odors. They also capture dirt and debris within the door seals. A good practice to limit these problems is to keep the door open a while after running to allow the inside to dry. Also, wipe down the seal after washing each load. For top loading washers you may find that they do not drain as well.
Keeping your washing machine clean will keep all your clothing, linens, and other fabrics clean and sanitized. You want your clothing to be as clean as possible, and you don't want to have to buy a new washer prematurely. So, it only makes sense that you maintain a clean washer.
Click here to read our blog on 8 Indispensable Tips for Laundry Room Organization.
For plumbing installation and maintenance, contact Leak Geeks today!


text:
Gaming News Xbox September 30, 2021 0Comments Darrell K
Yesterday Ubisoft decided to release an Xbox Series X/S upgrade for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint. There wasn't much talk on this release but with all the promotion being placed on the release of Far Cry 6 next week it's not a surprise. It's also not the first game to see this happen.
Other Upgrades
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was upgraded for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S upgrade and that received no official announcement at the time. Though Ubisoft with Ghost Recon Breakpoint may upset a few people.
What is the problem with Ghost Recon Breakpoint?
Ubisoft has a few games which were upgraded for the new consoles and for free. Personally, I can list the following examples.
Watchdogs Legion
Now if you turn on your Xbox Series X/S and browse the recent releases you will find something interesting.
The Ultimate Edition is listed on the store with a September 29th release date. It's on sale on Xbox at 75% off. The price is £24.99/$35.99. And if you want the upgrade you have to rebuy the game. After the sale ends it reverts back to £99.99/$119.99. There is a cheaper option however if you miss the sale. That's the deluxe edition priced at £67.99/$69.99.
According to Ubisoft support on Twitter, there Is there no free upgrade for existing owners. I asked them directly. The response was not happy reading.
Hey Darrell. The new, optimized edition is now available to purchase on the Xbox Store. An upgrade from the original version is not currently available.
— Ubisoft Support (@UbisoftSupport) September 29, 2021
And the content in the upgrade when compared with the Death Stranding upgrade is quite poor.
A new performance mode was added to next gen consoles, such as the Xbox Series X/S. This improved frame rates as well as added boosts to resolution.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint Upgrade With Cost
That is what seems to be the case. When this launched I purchased the Ultimate Edition and after the sale ends the price for that edition is even dearer still. But they are only offering the upgraded version it seems on those two editions at the time of writing. When they are providing similar upgrades for other titles and in the case of Watchdogs Legion adding ray tracing all for free this upgrade path is greedy, to say the least. I have reached out to Xbox Support who stated they will contact Ubisoft to see if this is a permanent upgrade path.
What about PlayStation 5? Are owners on their facing a similar scenario?
At the time of writing, there is no listing on the store for a PlayStation 5 version.
No PlayStation 5 upgrade is available it appears at the moment.
So what are your thoughts on this? No doubt some will have an opinion on what appears to be the most unfriendly upgrade for a title. Especially for a company that was going to support Smart Delivery on Xbox.
👁 3,596
Week of November 2nd 2020 | LV1 Gaming News Update
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A Calvin and Hobbes strip once concluded that "Verbing weirds language". I would disagree. Since the advent of the digital age, it seems to be an indicator of success and popularity.
Many common actions have moved from the realm of noun to verb. "Access" used to be a noun which was granted or gained, now it is the action of using this access granted. Alt-Tabbing, bookmarking, Ctrl-Alt-Deleting and blacklisting all have become such common tasks that they are listed in dictionaries as verbs as well as nouns. Where a person used to send a text message, they now "text", "message" or "IM" their friends. "Verb" is itself a victim of this phenomenon.
Proper nouns are not exempt from the verbing spree. It is so common for websites to crash when featured on the tech news website Slashdot that being "slashdotted" has become a true test of the robustness of a web server. When something is "digged" it is not a misspelling, nor does it have anything to do with a shovel. Rather, it has been featured on digg.com. Facebook and MySpace are so integrated in certain segments of society that the terms "facebook me" and "myspace me" are not uncommon. One of the biggest victim of this trend is Google, who seems reluctant about the appropriation of their name as a general verb, but even they seem to be getting in on the action with google.it.
Perhaps this is the true test of success in the digital era. That something like YouTube can become a part of the general lexicon after only a year seems to be an indication that they have found their niche. Google has become so large that in mid 2005, "google" ecclipsed "search" in popularity. So bring on the verbs!
This article was posted 25 January 2007 by Justin Hileman, and is filed under musing, interweb, 404, blagosphere, success and verb. If you have any comments, please contact me or leave a comment on this article.


A potent and high-quality pure CBD Oil Tincture from CBDistillery.
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A dropper-full contains approximately 33mg of CBD.
Shake before use. If this is your first time using, Dr. Ganja recommends starting with a dropper full (about 33mg of CBD) and adjusting dosage as necessary after evaluating the initial dose effects.


text:
Red blood cells in which the malarial-fever parasite resides are eliminated from a person's body after 120 days. Because the parasite cannot travel to a new generation of red blood cells, any fever that develops in a person more than 120 days after that person has moved to a malaria-free region is not due to the malarial parasite.
Which is the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion above?
The fever caused by the malarial parasite may resemble the fever caused by flu viruses.
The anopheles mosquito, which is the principal insect carrier of the malarial parasite, has been eradicated in many parts of the world.
Many malarial symptoms other than the fever, which can be suppressed with anti-malarial medication, can reappear within 120 days after the medication is discontinued.
In some cases, the parasite that causes malarial fever travels to cells of the spleen, which are less frequently eliminated from a person's body than are red blood cells.
In any region infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes, there are individuals who appear to be immune to malaria.
The correct option is D In some cases, the parasite that causes malarial fever travels to cells of the spleen, which are less frequently eliminated from a person's body than are red blood cells.
Option (d)
The passage concludes that, because the malarial parasite cannot reside in red blood cells for more than 120 days, the malarial parasite cannot cause fever more than 120 days after infection. However, according to D, there is a site in the body where the parasite could reside for more than 120 days after infection. Therefore, D weakens the conclusion and is the best answer. The resemblance between malarial-fever symptoms and those of other diseases, the existence of other malarial symptoms, and the possibility of immunity to malaria are irrelevant to the issue of the conditions under which malarial fever can occur. B provides confirmation for the existence of malaria-free regions but does not otherwise bear on the conclusion.


text:
Clemizole is an H1 antagonist.

Synthesis
Benzimidazoles substituted with an alkylamine at position 2 have a venerable history as H1 antihistaminic agents. The standard starting material for many benzimidazoles consists of phenylenediamine, or its derivatives.

Reaction of that compound with chloroacetic acid can be rationalized by invoking initial formation of the chloromethyl amide. Imide formation with the remaining free amino group closes the ring to afford 2-chloromethyl benzimidazole (3). Displacement of halogen with pyrrolidine affords the alkylation product. The proton on the fused imidazole nitrogen is then removed by reaction with sodium hydride. Treatment of the resulting anion with α,4-dichlorotoluene gives the H1 antihistaminic agent clemizole (5).

See also
 Chlormidazole

References

Benzimidazoles
Chloroarenes
H1 receptor antagonists
Pyrrolidines


Custom Mosaic House Number 1670 in Teal and Rusty Red by Nutmeg Designs, 12×8″ on slate.
It is a bluish grey with darker charcoal grey roof, with dark teal and white trim. Inside, they've decorated with many items from Alaska trips, so the colors on the outside of their house remind me of weathered totem poles. I was thinking white numbers on a dark teal or teal and blue mixed field, maybe with contrasting details of dull red or yellow for the totem pole idea. . .
This made me think of one of my favorite artists, the Canadian Emily Carr(1871-1945), and some paintings from Emily Carr: An Introduction to her Life and Work by Anne Newlands. Emily Carr made totem poles a central part of her art, and in 1912 visited over 15 coastal First Nations villages in Northern British Columbia, drawing and painting the carvings. The watercolor that I remembered from Newlands' book was House Post, Tsatsinuchomi, BC, with the weathered blue-green and bits of red. Working on this house number commission was a delight, and several other clients have asked to have those colors in their signs.
Check out Ghir's Flickr Photos of her 2010 Trip to Alaska for more totem poles.
Order your House Number here at Nutmeg Designs Etsy Shop.
That turned out perfect! Not only does it reflect some of the totem pole inspiration, but it almost looks like holly berries decorating the numbers!
I love that image of holly berries!
It's beautiful. I love the colors and the inspiration.
Welcome! Thank you for the kind words about my mosaic. Your blog title "Sentient Marrow" is awesome–just wanted to let you know that!


YoutubeToFB.Me Make to Think Mobile Facebook Users. We using Facebook Instant Article Technology On Our Website. fblinker Converted youtube link load upto 10X faster than any others converter site. For fast load and big thumbnail it's more user friendly so more people click to view and share for their friends. So you can get more views..


text:
Maxx Fitness gyms to close after judge grants state's restraining order
by: Melanie DaSilva, Chelsea Jones
Posted: Dec 4, 2020 / 11:03 AM EST / Updated: Dec 4, 2020 / 10:56 PM EST
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A Superior Court judge on Friday granted the state's request for a temporary restraining order against Maxx Fitness Clubzz, meaning its locations in Lincoln and Warren have to shut down for the time being.
Owner Matthew D'Amico told 12 News that both gyms would be closing at 9 p.m. Friday.
The gyms had stayed open this week despite Gov. Gina Raimondo's two-week pause calling for all types of fitness centers to close. The pause began on Monday and lasts through Sunday, Dec. 13.
Rhode Island's 2-week pause: Here's what you need to know
On Wednesday, state inspectors visited both locations and issued them compliance orders and $500 citations.
D'Amico said if the gyms were forced to shut down again, they may not be able to reopen. He's hopeful they'll be able to when the pause lifts on Dec. 13.
The R.I. Department of Health said the temporary restrictions and closures are necessary to reduce transmission rates. The agency's attorney, Morgan Goulart, called Maxx Fitness staying open a direct threat to Rhode Islanders' health, with hospitals filling up and their staffs stretched thin.
But, the attorney representing Maxx Fitness, Charles Calenda, said the same things the Health Department claims are an issue can be addressed.
"The dangers can be mitigated by wearing face coverings, limiting in-person interactions as much as possible — particularly indoors — keeping a distance of six feet at all times between individuals, washing hands, cleaning, disinfecting," he explained.
Calenda also said it's unfair that other businesses like hair and nail salons and physical therapy can operate.
Gyms are not unique, however, because restaurants, movie theaters, and bowling alleys have also been hit hard by the pandemic, health officials noted.


// A certificate for www.paypal.com with a NULL byte in the common name.
// for all certificates that are Verified.
// the verified certificate chain.
// the verified certificate chain and detect known roots.
// Check that verification without revocation checking works.
// TODO(jnd): http://crbug.com/117478 - EV verification is not yet supported.
// A regression test for http://crbug.com/31497.
// explicit policy to be specified, even when anyPolicy is permitted.
// Test for bug 58437.
// pass if error == ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID.
// certificate revocation checking when running all of the net unit tests.
// status, i.e. that the revocation check is failing for some reason.
// weak size is 768. These could change in the future.
// algorithms and which are weak will pass this test.
// key_types="768-rsa 1024-rsa 2048-rsa prime256v1-ecdsa"
// Add the root that signed the intermediates for this test.
// Now test each chain.
// Regression test for http://crbug.com/108514.
// Test for bug 94673.
// against agl. See also PublicKeyHashes.
// The certse.pem certificate has been revoked. crbug.com/259723.
// against agl. See also TestKnownRoot.
// A regression test for http://crbug.com/70293.
// This certificate has two errors: "invalid key usage" and "untrusted CA".
// The certificate is issued by an unknown CA.
// internal CAs are not flagged.
// Construct the chain out of order.
// or part of the certificate chain being verified.
// Interject unrelated certificates into the list of intermediates.
// |ca_cert| is the issuer of |cert|.
// Now add the |ca_cert| to the |trust_anchors|, and verification should pass.
// Load root_ca_cert.pem into the test root store.
// But should not be marked as a known root.
// older GTE CyberTrust Root from its trusted root store.
// as already existing within its trust store.
// simulates Keychain removing support for the GTE CyberTrust Root.
// works. Only the first two certificates are included in the chain.
// the legacy GTE root are provided.
// First test blocking by SPKI.
// Test revocation by serial number of a certificate not under the root.
// on platform and alignment, may result in an invalid read.
// Ensure that MD4 and MD2 are tagged as invalid.
// Ensure that MD5 is flagged as weak.
// present (MD2, MD4, MD5).
// The signature algorithm of the root CA should not matter.
// The signature algorithm of intermediates should be properly detected.
// Disabled on NSS - MD4 is not supported, and MD2 and MD5 are disabled.
// The signature algorithm of end-entity should be properly detected.
// Incomplete chains should still report the status of the intermediate.
// preventing us from detecting/inspecting the verified chain.
// Incomplete chains should still report the status of the end-entity.
bool valid; // Whether or not |hostname| matches a subjectAltName.


text:
Mio (Michigan), dorp in de Verenigde Staten.
 Mio (Oost-Nusa Tenggara), dorp in Indonesië.
 Mio Technology, bedrijf uit Taiwan.
 Miljoen, afkorting, vooral in financiële documenten.


Unused hives as swarm traps?
Posted: Thu May 08, 2014 1:27 pm Post subject: Unused hives as swarm traps?
Is there a reason not to set up unused gear in the apiary with swarm lures in them?
I'm nearly done constructing a top bar hive, and have set out the first of several swarm traps I plan for this spring. But I wonder if the hive itself should be outside with a lure (not to mention, allure), rather than gathering dust in my basement, as I wait for bees.
I don't see why not. My Warre hive was left out after i built it last year and it attracted a swarm.
I have a "standard" nuc box (5 frame) hanging in my yard, it's my swarm box, but until I get a call to retrieve a swarm, I'm letting it hang in hopes of attracting one. There've been a few honeybees scoping it out today.


text:
\section{Introduction}

\IEEEPARstart{T}{he} linear-in-parameters nonlinear filtering
techniques, which possess the low computational complexity and
efficient learning capability, have been applied to diverse areas
such as the nonlinear system identification, nonlinear acoustic echo
cancellation (AEC), and nonlinear active noise control
\cite{Comminiello2018Adaptive}, and shown advantages over linear
approaches
\cite{jidf,jidf_echo,ccg,jio,intadap,saalt,jiols,ccmjio,wlmwf,wljio,jiomimo,sjidf,saabf,rrser,jiostap,locsme,oskpme,dce,mskaesprit,damdc,rdrls,dlmm}.
The most traditional nonlinear filters among them are the
trigonometric functional link network-based filter (TFLN)
\cite{Sicuranza2012BIBO}, and the second-order Volterra filter
(SOVF) \cite{Tan2001Adaptive}. Such input signals are expanded by
the trigonometric basis functions and the Volterra series to achieve
nonlinear mapping, respectively.

The conventional TFLN consisting of pure trigonometric polynomial
functions can effectively model the typical nonlinearities. It has
also been proved that the trigonometric functions with exponentially
varying amplitudes can further enhance the nonlinear modeling
capability \cite{Jensen2004Perceptual,Hermus2005Perceptual}.
Recently, a class of exponential functional link network
(EFLN)-based nonlinear filters has been constructed in
\cite{Patel2016Design}, which not only updates the weights but also
updates an exponential factor controlling the decay rate of
trigonometric basis functions. The least mean-square (LMS) approach
has been utilized to adapt the weights and the exponential factor of
EFLN-based filter, called the EFLN-LMS algorithm, where its
convergence behavior and performance analysis have been discussed in
\cite{Patel2020Convergence}. In the feedback cancellation scenarios,
the works in \cite{Vasundhara2018Decorrelated} and
\cite{Le2018Generalized} provided the EFLN-based filtering
structures to enhance the nonlinear noise mitigation capability.
Later, to improve the convergence performance and the modeling
accuracy, some improved versions of EFLN have been developed and
shown to provide better performance
\cite{Deb2020Design,Bhattacharjee2020Nonlinear}.

However, it is noteworthy that the impulsive interference may often
lead to severe performance degradation
\cite{Yu2020DCD,Yu2021Robust}. In order to perform well in the case
of impulsive noise, several robust algorithms have been developed.
Specifically, the lower-order statistics of the error signal were
utilized to combat impulsive interference, where the cost functions
included the mean absolute error \cite{Zheng2020Steady}, the mixed
error norm \cite{Zayyani2014Continuous}, etc. Some M-estimate
approaches were studied for the cost functions such as the Huber
functions to counteract the adverse effects of impulsive noise
\cite{Zhou2011New,Wang2020Constrained}. But such robust cost
functions cannot generally be smooth everywhere. Therefore, another
class of smoothly robust estimators was developed by using the
saturation property of error nonlinearities like the hyperbolic
tangent function \cite{Song2013Normalized}, and the maximum
correntropy criterion (MCC) \cite{Chen2014Steady}. The performance
of aforementioned EFLN-based algorithms would deteriorate under
impulsive interference. In \cite{Zhang2018Recursive}, a robust
recursive filtering algorithm based on EFLN and the Huber-norm was
proposed for nonlinear AEC against impulsive noise, but its
convergence analysis may be limited. Although the importance of the
robustness of the EFLN-based algorithm has been recognized, no
published works on robust EFLN-based filtering and its performance
analysis have been considered so far.

The above motivates this brief. In an attempt to further enhance the
performance of EFLN-based nonlinear filter in the presence of
impulsive interference, we introduce a new inverse square root (ISR)
cost function, which has smoothly saturating negative values and can
be more efficiently implemented \cite{Petersen2020Topological}.
Additionally, the theoretical analysis of the proposed EFLN-ISR
algorithm is strictly discussed in the mean-square sense. Finally,
the numerical and experimental studies are carried out to verify the
proposed EFLN-ISR algorithm.

\emph{Notations:} Notations in this brief are standard. At the time
index, the normal font letters with parentheses denote scalars, and
the lowercase boldface letters with parentheses denote column
vectors, respectively.

\section{System Model and EFLN-ISR Algorithm}

\subsection{System Model}

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=2.7in]{figure1.eps}
\caption{EFLN-based nonlinear system identification model.}
\label{fig:1}
\end{figure}

Consider an adaptive filter based on EFLN to model a nonlinear
system, where the block diagram is depicted in Fig. \ref{fig:1},
whose structure consists of an EFLN-based nonlinear functional
expansion block followed by a linear filter. The input signal is
represented by $u(i)$ at a sample $i$.
$\mathbf{u}(i)=[u(i),u(i-1),\dots,u(i-P+1)]^T\in\mathbb{R}^{P\times1}$
arises as the input vector of a tapped delay line with the taps
number $P$. Using EFLN with the $N$-order functional expansion, the
$P$-dimension input vector is expanded to $L=P(2N+1)$ dimensions.
Referring to \cite{Patel2016Design,Patel2020Convergence}, the
expanded input vector is expressed as
\begin{align*}
\begin{split}
\mathbf{g}(i) = \big[\mathbf{g}_1^T(i),\mathbf{g}_2^T(i),\dots,\mathbf{g}_{2N+1}^T(i)\big]^T \in \mathbb{R}^{L \times 1}
\end{split}
\end{align*}
where its subvectors and the EFLN-based nonlinear expansion functions with the exponential factor $q(i)$ are listed in Table \ref{tab:1}. The filtered output signal is given by $y(i)=\mathbf{g}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i)$, where $\mathbf{w}(i)=[w_1(i),w_2(i),\dots,w_L(i)]^T \in \mathbb{R}^{L \times 1}$ is the weights vector.

\begin{table}[!ht]\scriptsize
\centering
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.2}
\setlength{\abovecaptionskip}{0pt}
\setlength{\belowcaptionskip}{0pt}
\caption{EFLN-based nonlinear expansion functions.}
\label{tab:1}
\begin{tabular}{ll}
\hline
$\mathbf{g}(i)$ &  Elements\\
\hline
  $\mathbf{g}_1^T(i)$  &   $u(i),u(i-1),\dots,u(i-P+1)$  \\
  $\mathbf{g}_2^T(i)$  &   $e^{-q(i)|u(i)|}\sin\big(\pi u(i)\big),\dots,e^{-q(i)|u(i-P+1)|}\sin\big(\pi u(i-P+1)\big)$  \\
  $\mathbf{g}_3^T(i)$  &   $e^{-q(i)|u(i)|}\cos\big(\pi u(i)\big),\dots,e^{-q(i)|u(i-P+1)|}\cos\big(\pi u(i-P+1)\big)$  \\
  \dots  &  \dots  \\
  $\mathbf{g}_{2N}^T(i)$  &   $e^{-q(i)|u(i)|}\sin\big(N\pi u(i)\big),\dots,e^{-q(i)|u(i-P+1)|}\sin\big(N\pi u(i-P+1)\big)$  \\
  $\mathbf{g}_{2N+1}^T(i)$  &   $e^{-q(i)|u(i)|}\cos\big(N\pi u(i)\big),\dots,e^{-q(i)|u(i-P+1)|}\cos\big(N\pi u(i-P+1)\big)$ \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

In the process of modeling, the noisy desired signal $d(i)$ is represented by
\begin{align*}
d(i)=y_o(i)+ \eta(i)= \mathbf{g}_o^T(i)\mathbf{w}_o + \eta(i)
\end{align*}
where $y_o(i) = \mathbf{g}_o^T(i)\mathbf{w}_o$ represents the system output signal, $\mathbf{g}_o(i)$ is the expanded input vector with the optimal exponential factor $q_o$, $\mathbf{w}_o \in \mathbb{R}^{L \times 1}$ is the optimal weights vector, and $\eta(i)$ is a zero-mean additive noise. Additionally, the \emph{a priori error} $\xi(i)$ and the error signal $e(i)$ are respectively defined as
\begin{align*}
\begin{split}
\xi(i) &= y_o(i)-y(i) = \mathbf{g}_o^T(i)\mathbf{w}_o - \mathbf{g}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i) \\
e(i) &= d(i) - y(i) = \xi(i) + \eta(i)  .
\end{split}
\end{align*}

\subsection{Proposed EFLN-ISR Algorithm}

The existing EFLN-based filters always minimize $e^2(i)$ to get the
corresponding EFLN-LMS algorithms, but they may perform poorly under
impulsive interference. To make the EFLN-based algorithm with
preferable robustness, we thus define a new ISR cost function as
follows
\begin{align}\label{eq:costf}
Q\big(e(i)\big)={ \textstyle \frac{1}{2} }e^2(i)[1+\lambda e^4(i)]^{-\frac{1}{2}}
\end{align}
where $\lambda >0$ is a scalar parameter. Taking the derivative of \eqref{eq:costf} results in
\begin{align*}
r\big(e(i)\big) = {\textstyle \frac{\partial Q\left (e(i)\right )}{\partial e(i)} }= e(i)[1+\lambda e^4(i)]^{-\frac{3}{2}}.
\end{align*}

The curves of $Q\big(e(i)\big)$ and its derivative $r\big(e(i)\big)$ with different $\lambda$ are described in Fig. \ref{fig:2}, which show that the evolutions of $Q\big(e(i)\big)$ are concave around zero and flat away from it. Clearly, the slope curves approach zero with increasing errors, which will reduce the sensitivity to large outliers. When $\lambda$ is larger, the evaluations of slope curves away from zero will be smaller, which demonstrates strong robustness against impulsive interference. So the appropriate $\lambda$ plays a significant role for the robustness and performance.
\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=3in]{figure2.eps}
\caption{(a) Curves of the ISR cost function with different $\lambda$. (b) Slope curves of the ISR cost function with different $\lambda = \{0.1, 1, 10, 100, 1000\}$.}
\label{fig:2}
\end{figure}

Taking advantage of the gradient descent criterion to derive the proposed EFLN-ISR algorithm, the learning rules of the weights vector and the exponential factor are updated as
\begin{align*}
\mathbf{w}(i+1) &= \mathbf{w}(i) - \mu_w {\textstyle \frac{\partial Q\left (e(i)\right )}{\partial \mathbf{w}(i) } }\\
q(i+1) &= q(i) - \mu_q {\textstyle \frac{\partial Q\left (e(i)\right )}{\partial q(i) }  }
\end{align*}
where $\mu_w$ and $\mu_q$ denote the step sizes. The gradients with respect to $\mathbf{w}(i)$ and $q(i)$ can be calculated by the derivative chain rule, and thus the iterative learning rules of the EFLN-ISR algorithm can be derived as
\begin{align}
\mathbf{w}(i+1) &= \mathbf{w}(i) + \mu_w e(i)\big[1+\lambda e^4(i)\big]^{-\frac{3}{2}} \mathbf{g}(i)\label{eq:w}\\
q(i+1) &= q(i) + \mu_q e(i)\big[1+\lambda e^4(i)\big]^{-\frac{3}{2}} \mathbf{h}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i) \label{eq:q}
\end{align}
where $\mathbf{h}(i)= {\textstyle \frac{\partial \mathbf{g}(i)}{\partial q(i)}=\Big[\frac{\partial \mathbf{g}_1^T(i)}{\partial q(i)},\frac{\partial \mathbf{g}_2^T(i)}{\partial q(i)},\dots,\frac{\partial \mathbf{g}_{2N+1}^T(i)}{\partial q(i)} \Big]^T\in \mathbb{R}^{L \times 1} }$ with its elements being listed in Table \ref{tab:2}.
\begin{table}[!ht]\normalsize
\centering
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.2}
\setlength{\abovecaptionskip}{0pt}
\setlength{\belowcaptionskip}{0pt}
\caption{Elements of $\mathbf{h}(i)$.}
\label{tab:2}
\resizebox{\linewidth}{!}{
\begin{tabular}{ll}
\hline
$\mathbf{h}(i)$ &  Elements\\
\hline
  $\partial \mathbf{g}_{1}^T(i)/\partial q(i)$  &   $0,0,\dots,0$  \\
  $\partial \mathbf{g}_{2}^T(i)/\partial q(i)$  &   $-|u(i)|e^{-q(i)|u(i)|}\sin\big(\pi u(i)\big),\dots,-|u(i-P+1)|e^{-q(i)|u(i-P+1)|}\sin\big(\pi u(i-P+1)\big)$  \\
  $\partial \mathbf{g}_{3}^T(i)/\partial q(i)$  &   $-|u(i)|e^{-q(i)|u(i)|}\cos\big(\pi u(i)\big),\dots,-|u(i-P+1)|e^{-q(i)|u(i-P+1)|}\cos\big(\pi u(i-P+1)\big)$  \\
  \dots  &  \dots  \\
  $\partial \mathbf{g}_{2N}^T(i)/\partial q(i)$  &   $-|u(i)|e^{-q(i)|u(i)|}\sin\big(N\pi u(i)\big),\dots,-|u(i-P+1)|e^{-q(i)|u(i-P+1)|}\sin\big(N\pi u(i-P+1)\big)$  \\
  $\partial \mathbf{g}_{2N+1}^T(i)/\partial q(i)$  &   $-|u(i)|e^{-q(i)|u(i)|}\cos\big(N\pi u(i)\big),\dots,-|u(i-P+1)|e^{-q(i)|u(i-P+1)|}\cos\big(N\pi u(i-P+1)\big)$ \\
\hline
\end{tabular} }
\end{table}

\section{Performance Analysis}

We present the theoretical analysis of the EFLN-ISR algorithm in this section. The following assumptions are made throughout this brief.
\begin{assumption}\label{as:iid}
The zero-mean additive noise $\eta(i)$ is independent of $\mathbf{u}(i),\mathbf{w}(i)$ and $q(i)$.
\end{assumption}
\begin{assumption}\label{as:each}
$\mathbf{u}(i), \mathbf{w}(i)$ and $q(i)$ are mutually statistically independent.
\end{assumption}
\begin{assumption}\label{as:priori}
$\xi(i)$ is asymptotically uncorrelated with $||\mathbf{g}(i)||^2$ and $|\mathbf{h}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i)|^2$ at steady-state.
\end{assumption}

According to \eqref{eq:w}, \eqref{eq:q} and some mathematical operations, as well as Assumptions \ref{as:iid} and \ref{as:each}, we have
\begin{align*}
\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E}\{\mathbf{w}(i)\} = \mathbf{w}_o~\mathrm{and}~\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E}\{q(i)\} = q_o
\end{align*}
at steady-state. The detailed derivations for this mean analysis are provided in supplementary material.

As a performance metric in the mean-square sense, the steady-state excess mean-square error (EMSE) is defined as
\begin{align*}
\begin{split}
\mathrm{EMSE}(\infty)=\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E}\{\xi^2(i)\}=\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E}\Big\{\big[\mathbf{g}_o^T(i)\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i)+ \tilde q(i) \mathbf{h}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i)\big]^2\Big\}
\end{split}
\end{align*}
where $\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i) = \mathbf{w}_o-\mathbf{w}(i)$ denotes the weights vector error, and $\tilde q(i) = q_o-q(i)$ denotes the exponential factor error, respectively. It is significant that we focus on the steady-state EMSE, and let $\xi_w(i)=\mathbf{g}_o^T(i)\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i)$ and $\xi_q(i)=\tilde q(i) \mathbf{h}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i)$. In the following, the theoretical evaluation of $\mathrm{EMSE}(\infty)$, i.e., $\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E}\{\xi^2(i)\}$ will be derived.

\subsection{Mean-Square Performance of $\mathbf{w}(i)$}

Inserting \eqref{eq:w}, the weights vector error is evaluated as
\begin{align}\label{eq:we}
\begin{split}
\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i+1) =\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i)-\mu_w r(e(i))\mathbf{g}(i)  .
\end{split}
\end{align}
Calculating the energy of two sides of \eqref{eq:we} and making the expectation operation for the energy relation, one has
\begin{align*}
\begin{split}
\mathbb{E}\big\{||\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i+1)||^2\big\} =&~\mathbb{E}\big\{||\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i)||^2\big\}-2\mu_w\mathbb{E}\big\{r(e(i))\mathbf{g}^T(i)\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i)\big\}\\
&~+\mu_w^2\mathbb{E} \big\{r^2(e(i))||\mathbf{g}(i)||^2\big\}   .
\end{split}
\end{align*}
It is noting that $\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E}\big\{||\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i+1)||^2\big\} = \lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E}\big\{||\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i)||^2\big\}$ holds, thus resulting in
\begin{align}\label{eq:wss}
\begin{split}
2\mathbb{E}\big\{r(e(i))\mathbf{g}^T(i)\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i)\big\}=\mu_w\mathbb{E} \big\{r^2(e(i))||\mathbf{g}(i)||^2\big\}   .
\end{split}
\end{align}
At steady-state for $i\rightarrow\infty$, assuming that $q(i)\rightarrow q_o$, then $\mathbf{g}(i) \rightarrow \mathbf{g}_o(i)$, we have $e(i)\approx\xi_w(i) + \eta(i)$. The following Taylor expansion of $r(e(i))$ has been taken as
\begin{align*}
\begin{split}
r(e(i)) = r(\eta(i))+r'(\eta(i))\xi_w(i)+{ \textstyle \frac{1}{2}  } r''(\eta(i))\xi_w^2(i)+ h.o.t  .
\end{split}
\end{align*}
Using Assumption \ref{as:iid} and considering the above Taylor expansion, the left side of \eqref{eq:wss} results in
\begin{align}\label{eq:wls}
\begin{split}
2\mathbb{E}\big\{r(e(i))\mathbf{g}^T(i)\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i)\big\}= 2\mathbb{E}\{r'(\eta(i))\}\mathbb{E}\{\xi_w^2(i)\}  .
\end{split}
\end{align}
By Assumption \ref{as:priori}, the right side of \eqref{eq:wss} can be calculated as
\begin{align}\label{eq:wrs}
\begin{split}
&~\mu_w\mathbb{E} \big\{r^2(e(i))||\mathbf{g}(i)||^2\big\} \\
=&~\mu_w \mathbb{E} \big\{ r^2(\eta(i))\big\}\mathbb{E} \big\{||\mathbf{g}(i)||^2\big\}+\mu_w \big [ \mathbb{E} \big\{ r'^2(\eta(i))\big\}\\
&~+\mathbb{E} \big\{ r(\eta(i))r''(\eta(i))\big\}\big]\mathbb{E} \big\{||\mathbf{g}(i)||^2\big\}\mathbb{E} \big\{\xi_w^2(i)\big\}   .
\end{split}
\end{align}
Inserting \eqref{eq:wls} and \eqref{eq:wrs} and concerning the steady-state for $i\rightarrow\infty$, we can obtain
\begin{align}\label{eq:wssv}
\begin{split}
\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E} \big\{\xi_w^2(i)\big\} = \frac{ \mu_w  E_1 \mathbb{E} \{||\mathbf{g}(i)||^2\} }{ 2 E_2 -\mu_w E_3 \mathbb{E} \{||\mathbf{g}(i)||^2\} }
\end{split}
\end{align}
where we denote as $E_1 \triangleq \mathbb{E} \{ r^2(\eta(i)) \} = \mathbb{E}\{\eta^2(i)[1+\lambda \eta^4(i)]^{-3}\}$, $E_2 \triangleq \mathbb{E} \{ r' (\eta(i)) \}=\mathbb{E}\{ [1-5\lambda \eta^4(i)][1+\lambda \eta^4(i)]^{-\frac{5}{2}} \}$, and $E_3 \triangleq  \mathbb{E}  \{ r'^2(\eta(i)) \} +\mathbb{E} \{ r(\eta(i))r''(\eta(i)) \}=\mathbb{E} \{ [1-5\lambda \eta^4(i)]^2[1+\lambda \eta^4(i)]^{-5}   \} +\mathbb{E} \{ -30\lambda \eta^4(i)[1-\lambda \eta^4(i)]   [1+\lambda \eta^4(i)]^{-5}\}$.

\subsection{Mean-Square Performance of $q(n)$}

Similarly, subtracting both sides of \eqref{eq:q} from $q_o$ yields
\begin{align}\label{eq:qe}
\begin{split}
\tilde q (i+1) =\tilde q (i)-\mu_q r(e(i))\mathbf{h}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i)  .
\end{split}
\end{align}
Evaluating the energy of two sides of \eqref{eq:qe} and taking expectation, and noting that $\mathbb{E}\big\{\tilde q ^2(i+1)\big\} = \mathbb{E}\big\{\tilde q^2(i)\big\}$ at steady-state, it yields
\begin{align}\label{eq:qss}
\begin{split}
2\mathbb{E}\big\{r(e(i))\xi_q (i) \big\}=\mu_q \mathbb{E} \big\{r^2(e(i))|\mathbf{h}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i)|^2 \big\} .
\end{split}
\end{align}
Assuming in this phase that $\mathbf{w}(i)\rightarrow \mathbf{w}_o$ as $i\rightarrow\infty$, and thus we have $e(i)\approx\xi_q(i) + \eta(i)$. Then, according to the above discussions, the both sides of \eqref{eq:qss} are calculated as
\begin{align}\label{eq:qls}
\begin{split}
2\mathbb{E}\big\{r(e(i))\xi_q(i)\big\}\approx 2\mathbb{E}\{r'(\eta(i))\}\mathbb{E}\{\xi_q^2(i)\}
\end{split}
\end{align}
and
\begin{align}\label{eq:qrs}
\begin{split}
&~\mu_q\mathbb{E} \big\{r^2(e(i))|\mathbf{h}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i)|^2\big\} \\
=&~\mu_q \mathbb{E} \big\{ r^2(\eta(i))\big\}\mathbb{E} \big\{|\mathbf{h}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i)|^2\big\}+\mu_q \Big [ \mathbb{E} \big\{ r'^2(\eta(i))\big\}\\
&~+\mathbb{E} \big\{ r(\eta(i))r''(\eta(i))\big\}\Big]\mathbb{E} \big\{|\mathbf{h}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i)|^2\big\}\mathbb{E} \big\{\xi_q^2(i)\big\}  .
\end{split}
\end{align}

Substituting \eqref{eq:qls} and \eqref{eq:qrs} into \eqref{eq:qss} and evaluating them at steady-state for $i\rightarrow\infty$, we obtain
\begin{align}\label{eq:qssv}
\begin{split}
\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E} \big\{\xi_q^2(i)\big\} = \frac{ \mu_w  E_1 \mathbb{E} \big\{|\mathbf{h}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i)|^2\big\}  }{ 2 E_2 -\mu_w E_3 \mathbb{E} \big\{|\mathbf{h}^T(i)\mathbf{w}(i)|^2\big\}  }  .
\end{split}
\end{align}

\subsection{Steady-State EMSE}
Taking into account the definition of steady-state EMSE, we can derive as
\begin{align*}
\begin{split}
\mathrm{EMSE}(\infty)&=\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E}\big\{\big[\xi_w(i)+\xi_q(i)\big]^2\big\} \\
&=\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E} \big\{\xi_w^2(i)\big\} +2\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E} \big\{\xi_w(i)\xi_q(i)\big\} +\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E} \big\{\xi_q^2(i)\big\}  .
\end{split}
\end{align*}
Since $\mathbf{w}(i) \rightarrow \mathbf{w}_o$ and $q(i) \rightarrow q_o$ at steady-state, it implies that
\begin{align*}
\begin{split}
\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E} \big\{\xi_w(i)\xi_q(i)\big\}=\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathrm{Tr}\big[\mathbb{E}\{\tilde {\mathbf{w}}(i)\mathbf{w}^T(i)\} \mathbb{E}\{\tilde q(i)\mathbf{h}(i)\mathbf{g}_o^T(i)\} \big]=0   .
\end{split}
\end{align*}
Thus, the steady-state EMSE is
\begin{align*}
\begin{split}
\mathrm{EMSE}(\infty) =\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E} \big\{\xi_w^2(i)\big\} +\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}\mathbb{E} \big\{\xi_q^2(i)\big\}
\end{split}
\end{align*}
where this theoretical value can be provided by \eqref{eq:wssv} and \eqref{eq:qssv}.

\section{Simulation and Experimental Studies}

\subsection{Case 1: Verification of Analysis}

Consider an unknown nonlinear system based on EFLN expansion, which is given by $\mathbf{g}_o(i)=\big[u(i),e^{-q_o|u(i)|}\sin\big(\pi u(i)\big),$ $e^{-q_o|u(i)|}\cos\big(\pi u(i)\big),~e^{-q_o|u(i)|}\sin\big(2\pi u(i)\big),~e^{-q_o|u(i)|}\cos\big(2\pi u(i)\big),$ $u(i-1),~e^{-q_o|u(i-1)|}\sin\big(\pi u(i-1)\big),~e^{-q_o|u(i-1)|}\cos\big(\pi u(i-1)\big),$ $e^{-q_o|u(i-1)|}\sin\big(2\pi u(i-1)\big),e^{-q_o|u(i-1)|}\cos\big(2\pi u(i-1)\big) \big]^T$, and the optimal weight vector and the exponential factor are given by $\mathbf{w}_o=[0.3,0.6,-0.2,0.05,-0.27,-0.3,0.4,-0.1,0.01,0.25]^T$ and $q_o=-0.2$, respectively.

In this study, $u(i)$ is extracted from the Gaussian signal with the mean 0 and the variance 1. Fig. \ref{fig:3} checks the analysis results of EFLN-ISR under Gaussian interference. The expectations involved in the theoretical steady-state value, given by \eqref{eq:wssv} and \eqref{eq:qssv}, are calculated as the average of the final 1,000 samples over 50 independent trials. The simulated value is also obtained by averaging over 50 independent runs. As can be seen, a good agreement compared with the theoretical and simulated findings is quite apparent.
\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=3.4in]{figure3.eps}
\caption{Theoretical and simulated $\mathrm{EMSE}(\infty)$ under Gaussian interference. (a) $\mathrm{EMSE}(\infty)$ versus step sizes $\mu_w=\mu_q=\{0.004,0.007,\dots,0.04\}$, with SNR = 30dB. (b) $\mathrm{EMSE}(\infty)$ versus SNRs $=\{5,10,\dots,55\}$dB, with $\mu_w=\mu_q=0.01$.}
\label{fig:3}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Case 2: Under Impulsive Interference}

In this case, we consider a nonlinear system describing the asymmetric loudspeaker distortion \cite{Patel2016Design,Patel2020Convergence}, whose input-output relation is expressed as $y_o(i) = \beta \big [1/\big( 1+e^{-\rho \kappa(i)} \big)-0.5  \big ]$, where $\beta =2$ is the system gain, and $\rho$ represents the slope parameter given by $\rho=4$ if $\kappa(i)>0$ and $\rho=0.5$ if $\kappa(i)\le 0$ with $\kappa(i)=1.5u(i)-0.3u^2(i)$. The input $u(i)$ is employed by a uniformly distributed signal over the interval $[-0.5,0.5]$. We consider that the $\alpha$-stable distribution is used to characterize the additive noise with its impulsive nature, whose characteristic function is given by $\psi(t) = e^{-\gamma^\alpha|t|^\alpha}$, where the characteristic parameter is $0< \alpha \le 2$ with the minor $\alpha$ resulting in more outliers, and the dispersion parameter is $\gamma>0$.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=3in]{figure4.eps}
\caption{Comparison of different nonlinear filtering algorithms under impulsive interference, with $\alpha=1.6,\gamma=0.05$ and SNR = 30dB.}
\label{fig:4}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=3in]{figure5.eps}
\caption{Comparison of EFLN-ISR with different $\lambda = \{0.1, 1, 10, 100, 1000\}$ under impulsive interference, with $\alpha=1.6,\gamma=0.05$ and SNR = 30dB.}
\label{fig:5}
\end{figure}
In the nonlinear system identification task, the performance of EFLN-ISR is compared with that obtained using the EFLN-LMS, EFLN based on maximum correntropy criterion (EFLN-MCC), EFLN based on hyperbolic tangent function (EFLN-TANH), SOVF based on ISR (SOVF-ISR) and TFLN based on ISR (TFLN-ISR) algorithms. For a fair comparison, the simulation parameters of all algorithms are taken to hold the same initial convergence. Fig. \ref{fig:4} shows the results of nonlinear filtering algorithms against impulsive interference. It is clear that the proposed EFLN-ISR algorithm has much smaller steady-state error than others under the same initial convergence. In addition, the performance of EFLN-ISR with different $\lambda$ is investigated in Fig. \ref{fig:5}. We can also find that if the parameter $\lambda$ is smaller, the convergence will be faster but it increases the steady-state error. Nevertheless, when $\lambda$ is too large, it results in the slower convergence.

\subsection{Case 3: Hysteresis System Identification}

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=3.2in]{figure6.eps}
\caption{Block diagram of the nonlinear model identification of PEA.}
\label{fig:6}
\end{figure}
To certify the validity of the proposed EFLN-ISR algorithm, EFLN-ISR has been applied to the practical hysteresis system identification. As shown in Fig. \ref{fig:6}, the use of EFLN-ISR to model the piezoelectric actuator (PEA), whose input-output relation has hysteretic effect, is implemented in the experimental platform controlled by the dSPACE system. In this experiment, a type of PSt150/7/60VS12 PEA is utilized for the identified plant, which can move the 58.83\textmu m displacements. A dSPACE DS1006 processor board is adopted to transfer the input voltage and output displacement between the PEA and the computer. The input voltages are processed by a dSPACE DS2103 board provided with 32$\times$14-bits D/A converter channels, and further driven by a PEA servo power amplifier. The output displacements are measured by an eddy current sensor with 8mV/\textmu m resolution ratio, and recorded by a dSPACE DS2002 board provided with 32$\times$16-bits A/D converter channels. The sampling frequency of the whole experimental process is taken as 10kHz, and the dSPACE ControlDesk environment visually presents the experimental results in real time.

We set a sinusoidal signal $u(i)$ as the input voltage of PEA. The hysteresis model of PEA is identified by the EFLN-ISR and SOVF-ISR algorithms, whose parameters are chosen as $P=7,N=2,\mu_w=\mu_q=0.02$ and $\lambda=1$. To further evaluate the identification precision of adaptive algorithms, the sinusoidal signals with the single and complex frequency have been taken as the input voltages of PEA. Moreover, the root mean-square error $\mathrm{RMSE} = \scriptstyle \sqrt{\sum_{i=1}^M e^2(i)/M}$, the relative error $\mathrm{RE} = {\scriptstyle \sqrt{\sum_{i=1}^M e^2(i)/\sum_{i=1}^M d^2(i)}  }\times 100\%$ and the maximum absolute error $\mathrm{MAE}=\max |e(i)|$ with $M$ sample data are used to conduct the quantitative evaluation. Fig. \ref{fig:7} shows the comparison of the experimental data and filtered outputs with the input signal of the single and complex frequency. Results of identification precision for the EFLN-ISR and SOVF-ISR algorithms are listed in Table \ref{tab:3}. From experimental results through the proposed EFLN-ISR algorithm, we can see that the measured displacement and the filtered output are almost the same, and the RMSE, RE and MAE indicators are reduced as compared with the SOVF-ISR algorithm.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=3.3in]{figure7.eps}
\caption{Comparison of the output displacement measured by experiment data and that estimated by the EFLN-ISR algorithm. (a) With the single frequency of 5Hz. (b) With the single frequency of 10Hz. (c) With the complex frequency of 10/20/40Hz. (d) With the complex frequency of 5/25/45/65/85Hz.}
\label{fig:7}
\end{figure}
\begin{table}[!ht]\scriptsize
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.2}
\caption{Identification Precision of the EFLN-ISR and SOVF-ISR Algorithms}
\label{tab:3}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
\multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\multirow{2}{*}{ \makecell{Input \\Frequency/Hz} } } & \multicolumn{2}{c|}{RMSE/\textmu m}    & \multicolumn{2}{c|}{RE}    & \multicolumn{2}{c|}{MAE/\textmu m}  \\
\cline{2-7}
\multicolumn{1}{|c|}{}       & \multicolumn{1}{c|}{EFLN} & \multicolumn{1}{c|}{SOVF} & \multicolumn{1}{c|}{EFLN}& \multicolumn{1}{c|}{SOVF} & \multicolumn{1}{c|}{EFLN}& \multicolumn{1}{c|}{SOVF}     \\
\hline
5               & 0.4721           & 0.4836          & 1.47\%          & 1.51\%         & 1.4450          & 1.5951      \\
\hline
10              & 0.5267           & 0.5680          & 1.59\%          & 1.71\%         & 1.4625          & 1.9246      \\
\hline
10/20/40        & 0.5580           & 0.6742          & 1.97\%          & 2.38\%         & 1.8423          & 3.0757      \\
\hline
5/25/45/65/85   & 0.6754           & 0.7406          & 2.23\%          & 2.45\%         & 2.9915          & 5.5706      \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\section{Conclusion}

This brief proposed an EFLN-based nonlinear filtering algorithm derived by minimizing a new ISR cost function, which possesses preferable robustness under impulsive interference. The steady-state performance analysis was rigorously given. Simulation studies validate the performance findings. Besides, the validity of the proposed EFLN-ISR algorithm is confirmed by the practical results of hysteresis system identification.

\bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
Nat Rev Cancer. 2006 Jul;6(7):535-45.
Photodynamic therapy and anti-tumour immunity.
Castano AP1, Mroz P, Hamblin MR.
Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) uses non-toxic photosensitizers and harmless visible light in combination with oxygen to produce cytotoxic reactive oxygen species that kill malignant cells by apoptosis and/or necrosis, shut down the tumour microvasculature and stimulate the host immune system. In contrast to surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy that are mostly immunosuppressive, PDT causes acute inflammation, expression of heat-shock proteins, invasion and infiltration of the tumour by leukocytes, and might increase the presentation of tumour-derived antigens to T cells.
10.1038/nrc1894
The mechanism of action on tumours in photodynamic therapy
The photosensitizer (PS) absorbs light and an electron moves to the first short-lived excited singlet state. This is followed by intersystem crossing, in which the excited electron changes its spin and produces a longer-lived triplet state. The PS triplet transfers energy to ground-state triplet oxygen, which produces reactive singlet oxygen (1O2). 1O2 can directly kill tumour cells by the induction of necrosis and/or apoptosis, can cause destruction of tumour vasculature and produces an acute inflammatory response that attracts leukocytes such as dendritic cells and neutrophils.
Photodynamic therapy and anti-tumour immunity
Nat Rev Cancer. ;6(7):535-545.
Photodynamic therapy induces activation of antigen-specific T cells
When light (hν) is delivered to a photosensitizer (PS)-loaded tumour it induces both apoptotic and necrotic cell death. These cells are phagocytosed by dendritic cells (DCs) that have accumultated owing to the acute inflammatory response which is triggered by photodynamic therapy (PDT). DCs mature after stimulation by cytokines, which are released at the site of inflammation, and home to the regional lymph nodes where they present antigens to the T lymphocytes. Activated T lymphocytes become effector T cells and, attracted by chemokines, migrate to the tumour and kill the tumour cells.
Consequences of photodynamic therapy-induced inflammation
Damage to endothelial cells (ECs) activates a casade of events that lead to local inflammation, vessel dilatation and platelet aggregation. Much of this is caused by the release of thromboxane (TBX), cytokines such as interleukin 1β (IL1β), IL6 and IL8, the production of tumour-necrosis factor-α (TNFα), and infiltration of the treated tumour by cells of the immune system. Necrotic and apoptotic tumour cells express heat-shock proteins (HSPs) and provide antigens to dendritic cells (DCs) that migrate to lymph nodes. hν, light; PDT, photodynamic therapy.
Combination of photodynamic therapy with immunostimulants
The intratumoral injection of various Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands: bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG), Mycobacterial cell-wall extract (MCWE), OK432, zymosan, schizophyllan (SPG) or Corynebacterium parvum (CP), effectively activates dendritic cells (DCs) and increases antigen presentation and local inflammation. The injection of various cytokines, such as granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GMCSF), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) and tumour-necrosis factor-α (TNFα), results in increased infiltration by macrophages, activation of neutrophils, and direct destruction of tumour vessels, respectively. hν, light; PDT, photodynamic therapy.
Mechanism of photodynamic therapy-induced immune suppression
Contact hypersensitivity (CHS) is induced by the application of a hapten, such as dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB), to the skin, and is mediated by the expression of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I on keratinocytes (KC). A subsequent rechallenge with DNFB elicits an inflammatory response caused by the cytotoxic T cells. Delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) is induced by the injection of cellular antigens such as foreign proteins, and is mediated by MHC class II expressed by dendritic cells (DCs) that are recognized by T-helper (CD4+) lymphocytes. CHS is suppressed by photodynamic therapy (PDT) using blue light that does not penetrate the skin and red light that does penetrate. Only by using red light does the suppression of CHS depend on the secretion of interleukin 10 (IL10). DTH is not suppressed by PDT, whereas ultraviolet light (UVB) suppresses both CHS and DTH. These differences might explain the paradoxical observation that PDT can both simultaneoulsy stimulate and suppress parts of the immune system, whereas UVB is only found to be immunosuppressive. APC, antigen-presenting cells; CTL, cytotoxic T cells; Th, T-helper cells.
Combined Modality Therapy
Immunotherapy*
Lymphocyte Activation/immunology
Neoplasms/immunology*
Neoplasms/therapy*
Photochemotherapy*
R01 CA083882-03/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
Cancer Immunotherapy - MedlinePlus Health Information


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text:
Q: I can't alias def $?="type $? || echo 'varible not defined' " I want to create an alias called def that takes a varible and checks if it's defined.
If it isn't def prints 'the varible is not defined.

A: The following function will print an error message if the given the name of a variable that is null or undefined:
def() { : "${!1:? "Variable not defined."}" ; }

Examples:
$ def PATH
$ def NONESUCH
bash: !1:  Variable not defined.

This function requires bash.
Explanation:
The body of the function consists of one command which is given one argument.  The command is : which acts like a no-operation.  The argument to that command is "${!1:? "Variable not defined."}".  In bash, the construct ${!1} returns the value of the variable whose name is given by $1, the first argument to the function. If the variable whose name is $1 is set and not null, then "${!1:? "Variable  not defined."}" returns its value.  Its value is ignored by : because : is a no-op.  If the variable with that name is either unset or null, then, because of the :? parameter expansion construct, the given error message is returned.
Improved Output Format
The above function did not return exactly the message that you asked for.  We can fix that:
$ def() { ( : "${!1:? "Variable  not defined."}" ) 2>&1 | sed 's/^bash: !1:  //'; }
$ def NONESUCH
Variable not defined.

Or,
$ def() { ( : "${!1:?}" ) 2>/dev/null || echo "Variable not defined"; }
$ def NONESUCH
Variable not defined

A: Since Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (and perhaps a bit before that, but not as far back as 10.04 LTS), the bash version in Ubuntu has been at least 4.2. Thus it supports the -v operator for the test, [, and [[ builtins.
If you only learn one way to test if variables are defined in bash, it should probably be the parameter expansion technique used in John1024's excellent answer. Even though Ubuntu systems using bash 4.1 and earlier are becoming increasingly uncommon, 10.04 still has limited server support, and earlier versions of bash are much more common on some other GNU/Linux systems (and other Unix-like OSes).
But if you have bash 4.2 or higher, the "improved output format" from John1024's answer can be further simplified to:
def() { [ -v "$1" ] || echo 'Variable not defined'; }

Note that if foo is the name of the variable you're interested in, [ -v foo ]--not [ -v $foo ]--tests if it's defined. In this case, I have $1 because the first positional parameter passed to def will contain the name of the variable to be tested as its value. (The $ in my example achieves the same additional level of indirection achieved by ! in the ${...} expression of John1024's example.)
ek@Ilex:~$ def() { [ -v "$1" ] || echo 'Variable not defined'; }
ek@Ilex:~$ def PATH
ek@Ilex:~$ def NONESUCH
Variable not defined

Both my and John1024's def implementations will print Variable not defined:

*

*when no variable by the name passed as the function's first argument exists

*but also when no first argument is passed to def.

That is:
ek@Ilex:~$ def
Variable not defined

If you'd prefer a separate message in that situation, you can handle the case of def receiving no arguments separately:
def() {
    if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
        echo 'error: too few arguments' >&2
        return 1
    elif [ ! -v "$1" ]; then
        echo 'Variable not defined'
    fi
}

I've written that based on the idea that having def's first argument exist, whether or not it names a defined variable, is considered normal operation, and not an error. In contrast, passing no arguments to def is an error and I've treated it as such:

*

*>&2 sends the output of echo to standard error.

*return 1 makes def return with nonzero exit status, indicating failure. (This is mainly useful for when a call to def will appear instead a compound statement or script, though the exit status of the last command may also be checked with echo $?.)
In other cases def will return the default exit status of 0 (unless of course there's some other error, such as echo being unable to write Variable not defined to standard output).
ek@Ilex:~/source$ def NONESUCH
Variable not defined
ek@Ilex:~/source$ def
error: too few arguments

A: According to Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide:

In a script, aliases have very limited usefulness. It would be nice if
  aliases could assume some of the functionality of the C preprocessor,
  such as macro expansion, but unfortunately Bash does not expand
  arguments within the alias body. [117] Moreover, a script fails to
  expand an alias itself within "compound constructs," such as if/then
  statements, loops, and functions. An added limitation is that an alias
  will not expand recursively. Almost invariably, whatever we would like
  an alias to do could be accomplished much more effectively with a
  function.

This is why you should follow Eliah Kagan or John1024 answer.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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I really must get back to BMS, DCS is good but the campaign is rubbish compared to Falcon, and even EECH for that matter.
Yeah, there's really nothing that touches F4's campaign - EECH/EEAH is 2nd best if you like modern-era mud moving on a smaller scale, and also still well-supported. But the scale of what Falcon does is pretty breathtaking.
Took me forever to get back into BMS and I dreaded having to re-learn the ropes, but within a couple of days I brushed up on it enough that I'm now flying campaign missions again and it feels like I'd never been away. I've been playing F4 since a few months after it was first released, and I don't think it ever left my HD since then.
Originally Posted by CCIP (Post 2205738)
I must admit, I never ramp start, I got most of the hang of the F16 in AF but BMS is a whole different kettle of fish.
Haha, it's a habit thing :) I managed to get it down to a 21-item checklist that I keep in front of me - works pretty clean and I'm usually ready to roll in only 5 minutes (though the INS takes about 8 to align fully). The data cartridge system (especially if you use WDP to configure it outside of Falcon) really takes a lot of work out of the initial config. I always actually found the DCS A-10 to be more work in startup.
Windows for Warthog is a pain in the arse, I agree, although I think I've managed to get it down to a rough start without using the checklist, the error board helps, sometimes it's a case of working until the board is empty. I always forget the EAC switch though and Arclight or Raptor has to remind me where it is. :haha:
The data cartridge is an awesome piece of kit, but yeah, a bit of work to set up, but handy for putting in additional steerpoints for quick target location. :up:
You can have a lot of things, but you can never have too many F-16s :D
http://i.imgur.com/m1RPgaB.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/j05iXza.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ln6LMso.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/wilPitJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/dHdnSbt.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Aj7lfSb.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/yPkjZcG.jpg
Damn those ground textures are sexy, where did you get those?
Those are Tom's Korea 2014 textures, from right here: http://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/s...oms-Korea-2014
(download link from that thread just in case: http://www.mediafire.com/download/ce...2014-FINAL.rar )
Great simple little mod (just drag and drop, really) and no impact on performance :up:
Not your daddy's rifle shot :D
http://i.imgur.com/vwsIgOI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DRd0PSd.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WijdD1p.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fgJkqWy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/9Y53nt9.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/matbt23.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QclZFJA.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/0rZOldQ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/dfaH3t2.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/IKIpg6t.jpg
More action over the front...
http://i.imgur.com/K2MUSB4.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/f1IoDhP.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/vJq0DHE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/7xonMX3.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/e5B2AH1.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YYIoZVW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/w1xgB3u.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/KhRGXna.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JX9VW73.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/cr4NoZq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/aQYUczu.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jikhW9x.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jzvMFpG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/OCSMIMo.jpg
Managed to avoid the Wall of MiGs (TM) so far then. :03:
Haha, the wall of MiGs is long gone! :D
In my current campaign, the DPRK air force lasted all of six hours. They definitely put up a fight at the start, but were hopelessly out-fought in the air and on the ground (and that's despite the difficulty sliders maxed out to balance out for them). After that, every single one of their air bases was not only obliterated, but would continue to receive a going-over by a strike every couple of hours. Every once in a while a base or two comes back online and sends out a few packages, but they're picked up and blasted out of the sky right away.
Now it seems the same has more or less happened to their ground forces - without any air cover, they just basically got torn to shreds by A-10s & co. It's afternoon on Day 2 now and I don't think they'll last much longer here!
I've always wondered, what year OOB is the campaign set around? I know there's the default Korea campaign and...Korea 2000 I think, but is there a more recent one?
Haha, yeah, the answer is... I don't know anymore :dead:
My sense is that the current BMS default is still set somewhere in the early 2000s, albeit with a reduced commitment of allied units at the start for balance. I mean, there are only 4 USAF combat squadrons (3 F-16, 1 A-10) in the campaign at the start; it takes about 30 hours for the first carrier to arrive, and some of the ROKAF units are also not active until Day 2 - and so far I haven't seen any strategic air power arrive at all, and the only USAF combat squadrons are still the ones attached to USFK. It seems to be set up for a sort of balance more than anything, probably to prevent the game from generating too many allied flights.
There's all sorts of other flavours too, both mod and default. The "Iron Fortress" scenario in current BMS looks interesting since it has a lot of other NATO units brought in.
http://i.imgur.com/t5KoLEc.jpg
Hornets pulling what could be best described as some low-altitutde BS :O:
http://i.imgur.com/1zPxc6r.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YVFDsA0.jpg
MiG-31 dodging missiles...
http://i.imgur.com/neyK6yY.jpg
...unsuccessfully
http://i.imgur.com/gdL4HlX.jpg
Flanker doing the same thing
http://i.imgur.com/r9VxzHo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/SLh46p3.jpg
If there is any lesson to be learned from this...
http://i.imgur.com/F2uka80.jpg
...it's that you probably don't mess with Slammers
http://i.imgur.com/K5NF9yE.jpg
Knowing when to quit...
http://i.imgur.com/NUQxbue.jpg
...is an important life skill!
http://i.imgur.com/eBa0mqZ.jpg
Smoke rises from an intense artillery battle on the ground below
http://i.imgur.com/hBv5Zqs.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img840/9576/k0jj.jpg
http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/-...or-science.png
http://i.imgur.com/NZEadcA.jpg?1
How could this possibly not go any other way than complete success I ask you?
http://i.imgur.com/Pku9Oto.jpg?1
Well...that's one way it could go...
http://i.imgur.com/OHdL8m5.jpg?1
Michael Bay lied to me! :nope:
http://i.imgur.com/U4OMdx4.jpg?1
Another victory for science!
http://i.imgur.com/Neb2cVv.jpg?1
I break the atom whilst Task Force prepares to take-off
http://i.imgur.com/SjkpLa8.jpg?1
Hunter shoots down Task Force with a Sidewinder from his Tempest
http://i.imgur.com/DlNQDn6.jpg?1
Task Force removes non-vital components to save weight.
http://i.imgur.com/Ws6mALf.jpg?1
And so do I...
http://i.imgur.com/ewzqmll.jpg?1
The carrier, by this time, has had enough of our constant abuse
http://i.imgur.com/v7yxg3I.jpg?1
So I teach it a lesson by landing on it
http://i.imgur.com/MqE6y1x.jpg?1
Then IL2 itself broke....
http://wiki.falloutstudios.org/images/0/0e/SCIENCE.gif
A few odds and ends from my past couple of months of flight simming...
http://i.imgur.com/hflB22j.jpg
TAM A320 on an evening departure from Rio
http://i.imgur.com/Aeeb1De.jpg
Gear coming down on approach to Belo Horizonte
http://i.imgur.com/iqWYsVt.jpg
Midnight sun - a JAL 787 cruising at midnight at 68N latitude on the way from Tokyo to Boston
http://i.imgur.com/PSSGyL0.jpg
JAL 787 arriving in Boston after a 13-hour flight
http://i.imgur.com/BcGaMsM.jpg
Classic 747 cockpit on morning approach into Adelaide, Australia
http://i.imgur.com/GJwvOiO.jpg
Cloudy south Australian winter
http://i.imgur.com/qN4oVZj.jpg
Finals into Adelaide
http://i.imgur.com/WKICFeS.jpg
Jetstar A320 departing from Sydney
http://i.imgur.com/gbpYZdN.jpg
Jestar A320 descending over the mountains of New Zealand
http://i.imgur.com/xL6lrZz.jpg
Qantas 747s at Brisbane
Part 2...
http://i.imgur.com/F9aLrsK.jpg
Sunrise over California's coast
http://i.imgur.com/Tyt5APj.jpg
Two US Airways Boeing 737-400s at Charlotte - the last of their kind. This is exactly as many as are left in their fleet now, and their last (real-world) flight is scheduled for August 19th.
http://i.imgur.com/36uwR01.jpg
Little newer - Airbus aircraft at Charlotte
http://i.imgur.com/nponGEv.jpg
Arriving in smoggy Atlanta
http://i.imgur.com/TdqRTdQ.jpg
Taxiing to the gate at Atlanta
http://i.imgur.com/6N5Qp9s.jpg
New colours - passing an American 767 at cruise level somewhere over Arizona
http://i.imgur.com/Zn1hLrf.jpg
A California classic - smiling PSA jet at LAX
http://i.imgur.com/4Mg7PtP.jpg
Descending over a cloudy Malibu
http://i.imgur.com/JH1FHPi.jpg
Typical smoggy Los Angeles
http://i.imgur.com/EFPbWl7.jpg
The now-retired America West/US Airways Dash-8 over the AMARG boneyard at Davis-Monthan airforce base
Part 3/3
http://i.imgur.com/RzzCN1D.jpg
Same Dash-8 arriving at Vegas
http://i.imgur.com/R1AW9lE.jpg
A Reno Air MD-87, passing a UPS 757 freighter over the Grand Canyon
http://i.imgur.com/LBRmiBU.jpg
Arriving at Denver - an MD-11 and DC-10 conveniently lined up at the runway for size comparison!
http://i.imgur.com/05Rvf67.jpg
Early morning arrival into Dallas-Ft.Worth
http://i.imgur.com/GcX6YDs.jpg
The Windy City!
http://i.imgur.com/SDQwF41.jpg
Departing Chicago-O'Hare on a typically windy day
http://i.imgur.com/BW2OtaP.jpg
Taking off from LAX
http://i.imgur.com/hDya2pC.jpg
American Airlines MD-82
http://i.imgur.com/xN4a991.jpg
Leaving the big hub at DFW
http://i.imgur.com/ObL5RMN.jpg
And arriving at Albuquerque


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