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Archive for the 'Studio Theatre' Tag
900 Granville Street – west side (2)
We've seen one building on this end of the west side of the 900 block of Granville Street in an earlier post – the Vermilyea Block (painted cream these days) – the fourth building along. Beyond it is a pair of warehouse-like buildings that today are Tom Lee Music. They're a Dalton and Eveleigh design for C H Wilson, and so were once known as the Wilson Block.
On the corner (and just showing on the right of the picture) is an early rooming house. We're reasonably certain this is another Parr and Fee building. A Granville and Smithe corner site was granted a building permit in 1906 for McCaulay & Nicolls, and those were still the owners of this building in 1915 and 1916 when two sets of repairs were carried out. Today they're known as the Gresham Hotel, and they are non-market housing, converted from Single Occupancy Rooms in 1993. When it was first built they were called the Gresham Apartments, and they don't seem to have been occupied until 1909. The 1912 insurance map for some reason mislabeled the building as the Gresman Apartments. The City Drug Store were the first tenants in the corner retail unit – in 1967 it was Electronic World, selling TVs and tape Recorders.
The developers, Macaulay & Nicolls, were insurance and real estate agents. We looked at John P. Nicoll's history when we featured his house on Seaton Street. Charles H Macaulay was from Nova Scotia, born into a family that left Scotland in the late 1700s. He was part of the Canadian Pacific development team, working for the railway from 1887. In the same year he partnered with John Nicoll, 1898, he married his wife Ethel, and they had four children, Donald, Douglas, Margaret and John. As well as being a member of the Board of Trade and a Freemason, Charles was a member of the Terminal City, Shaughnessy Heights Golf Club, Jericho Country Club and the Canadian Club.
Next door was once another rooming house, the Henley Rooms, built for Mr Musgrove in 1910, and also designed by Parr and Fee (although with a traditional sash arrangement in bay windows, rather than the centre-hung design they often favoured). Baynes and Horie built the $18,000 property. We don't know who Mr Musgrove was – there were only two people in the city with that name at the time, and neither seem a likely candidate for an $18,000 investment. The rooms went through a lot of changing management – in 1911 they were run by Mrs. Maud Sherman, an American who had arrived the year before the 1911 Census and who only one lodger that year, Edith Cochran who had also arrived from the USA in 1910 and was listed as having no occupation. In 1912 the rooms were run by Mrs. Maud Ogle, in 1913 John Pausche took over, replaced by Norman Andison in 1915, Paul Parent in 1916 and Thomas Dyde in 1918, who finally provided stable management through the early 1920s. The building was demolished to be replaced in 1993 with the smaller building there today designed by Gower, Yeung & Associates. In 1967 it featured Mr. Mike's $1.49 char broiled steaks.
Next door was the Studio Theatre, designed by H H Simmonds in 1948. It was one of his last designs, and he had been the architect for a series of theatres (really cinemas) from the early 1920s. It was still the Studio when this 1967 image was shot, (showing The Graduate), but not too long after it became the Eve, then the Lyric, and after that the Towne Cinema (with a protest outside the showing of Bob Guccione's Caligula) and finally the Paradise Cinema, before it closed and fell into disrepair. Buying a liquor licence that once belonged to the infamous Pony's Cabaret in the Downtown Eastside, David Kershaw and his partners transferred it to Granville and then began renovating the building as the Tonic Nightclub. More recently it became the oddly named Joe's Apartment (which was still a nightclub, despite the name). Earlier this year the establishment once again reverted to the Studio name, with a record store and live music venue combined, and a fabulously faithful replica of the original 1940s sign.
Image Source: City of Vancouver Archives CVA 780-53
Posted August 27, 2015 by ChangingCity in Downtown, Still Standing
Tagged with H H Simmonds, Parr and Fee, Studio Theatre


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\section{Introduction}

Filamentation is a propagation regime reached for short high power laser pulses propagating through transparent media. First, such pulses self-focus due to the optical Kerr effect until intensity becomes high enough to ionize the medium through multiphoton absorption and tunneling. From then on, a dynamic balance is established between, on the one hand, the Kerr effect and, on the other hand, non-linear absorption, plasma defocusing and diffraction, resulting in the beam maintaining a very high intensity in a thin channel of almost constant radius over several Rayleigh lengths \cite{Couairon2007}. In order to reach this peculiar propagation regime, however, pulses must have a peak power higher than a critical power $P_{cr} \sim \unit{10}{\giga\watt}$ in air at \unit{800}{\nano\metre}.

Once the laser pulse has left, it leaves in its trail a thin column of weakly ionized plasma, which recombines in less than \unit{10}{\nano\second} \cite{Tzortzakis2000}. During this process, energy from free electrons is transferred to rotational and translational degrees of freedom of air molecules. Two-photon Raman excitation of rotational states has also been shown to be a very efficient path of energy transfer from the laser pulse to the medium \cite{Stapelfeldt2003,Zahedpour2014}. Eventually, this energy is converted into heat of air molecules over a nanosecond timescale and it is mostly confined to the volume initially occupied by the filament \cite{Cheng2013}. Such a localized, fast energy deposition leads to the formation of an outward-propagating pressure wave and a central low-density channel presenting the same cylindrical geometry as the filament \cite{Tzortzakis2001,Wahlstrand2014}. The system gets back to its initial pressure over a microsecond timescale and the density hole decay is then governed by diffusion and can last for milliseconds \cite{Cheng2013}.

The formation of such low-density channels by filamentation has several interesting applications such as the formation of virtual optical waveguides \cite{Jhajj2014,Lahav2014}. These waveguides have the advantage to persist over the microsecond timescale, compared to filamentation-induced hydrodynamic plasma waveguides \cite{Wu2010}. It also plays a fundamental role in the field of filamentation-guided discharges. Indeed, the guiding effect and breakdown voltage reduction observed when using an ultrashort laser pulse to trigger high-voltage discharges is thought to result mostly from a standard, non-ionized air breakdown mechanism but at a lower density \cite{Vidal2000,Tzortzakis2001}. A better understanding and optimization of the formation of air underdense channels is then crucial for the development of applications of laser-guided discharges like the laser lightning rod \cite{Fontaine1999,Comtois2000,Schwarz2003,Forestier2012} or virtual plasma antennas \cite{Dwyer1984,Brelet2012}.

In this Article, we investigate the formation of underdense channels in air resulting from filamentation of a millijoule-level laser pulse. Air density profiles are recorded by means of transverse interferometry followed by Abel inversion. The full time evolution of low-density channels in the case of tight focusing ($f/35$) is recorded. In these conditions, we report the formation of channels lasting for more than \unit{90}{\milli\second}, which is almost enough to generate a permanent low-density channel with a \unit{10}{\hertz} repetition rate. Hydrodynamic simulations yield very good agreement with experiments, and enable us to estimate the initial maximum air temperature at \unit{1400}{\kelvin}. Influence of experimental parameters such as the focusing, wavelength and polarization of the laser pulse is also investigated. We find that energy transfer from the laser pulse to the medium is optimized using strong focusing, short wavelengths and linear polarization.

\section{Methods}

\subsection{Experimental methods}

We make use of transverse interferometry to record refractive index changes induced by filamentation in air. Our interferometer is build in a standard Mach-Zehnder configuration (figure \ref{fig_setup}). The probe laser (Quanta Ray GCR-290-10 from Spectra Physics) is a Nd:YAG Q-switched laser delivering $\sim \unit{100}{\micro\joule}$, \unit{8}{\nano\second} full width at half-maximum (FWHM) pulses at \unit{1064}{\nano\metre}. The probe beam is spatially cleaned and magnified by means of a \unit{100}{\micro\metre} pinhole placed in an afocal telescope, resulting in a quasi-Gaussian spatial profile with a \unit{8.3}{\milli\metre} FWHM.

The studied underdense channels are generated by ultrashort laser pulses undergoing filamentation. The chirped pulse amplification Ti:sapphire laser chain ENSTAmobile delivers \unit{50}{\femto\second} pulses at an energy up to \unit{250}{\milli\joule} at $\lambda = \unit{800}{\nano\metre}$. For this study, we kept the pulse energy at a reference level of \unit{5}{\milli\joule}, yielding a peak power $P = \unit{100}{\giga\watt} \approx 10~P_{cr}$. A $\lambda/4$ waveplate placed at the output of the laser enables us to shift at will between linear and circular polarization. We can also make use of a second harmonic potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystal to generate laser pulses centered at $\lambda = \unit{400}{\nano\metre}$. The pulse is focused using lenses of various focal lengths, collapsing to form a filament in one of the arms of the interferometer perpendicularly to the probe beam. A beam dump stops the filament before it reaches the reference arm, which could affect refractive index measurements. The probe laser is synchronized with the ENSTAmobile using the latter's internal clock, which grants us the possibility to set the pump/probe delay with a \unit{1}{\nano\second} precision and a \unit{1.5}{\nano\second} jitter.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width = .48 \textwidth]{figure_1.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{Schematic representation of the experimental setup.}
\label{fig_setup}
\end{figure}

Interferograms are recorded by the CCD camera (model TaperCamD-UCD12 from DataRay, Inc.) with a \unit{10.5}{\micro\metre} pixel size and a $1024\times1360$ pixel array, giving a field of view of more than \unit{1}{\centi\metre} in each direction. The CCD matrix is placed in the conjugated plane of the filament using a \unit{75}{\milli\metre} imaging lens and a $2f/2f$ layout.  A typical example of interferogram is given in figure \ref{fig_interferogram}. Full interferogram processing is explained in reference \cite{Point2014a}. Phase is first evaluated from the interferograms using a 1D continuous wavelet transform algorithm, and then unwrapped by a local, quality-guided phase unwrapping routine. Phase shift is obtained after removal of the background carrier phase from blank interferograms. In the single-shot regime, i. e. in the case of non-averaged data, we report a minimum RMS phase noise of \unit{2}{\milli\rad}. As the interaction length between the probe and the phase object is very short ($\sim\unit{100}{\micro\metre}$), we can completely neglect any probe deflection effect \cite{Point2014a}.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width = .4\textwidth]{figure_2.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{Example of interferogram recorded after the filamentation of a \unit{5}{\milli\joule}, \unit{50}{\femto\second} pulse at \unit{800}{\nano\metre} focused at $f/35$.}
\label{fig_interferogram}
\end{figure}

The relative dielectric constant of air, $\epsilon_{air}$, and number density $n_{n}$ are linked by the Gladstone-Dale relation, which is a simplified version of the Lorentz-Lorenz relation \cite{Born2001}:
\begin{equation}
\epsilon_{air} = \left(1+\frac{\beta}{n_{0}}n_{n}\right)^{2},
\end{equation}
where $\beta$ is the Gladstone-Dale constant. This modeling has been shown to be valid at least up to \unit{5000}{\kelvin} for air \cite{Alpher1959a}, which is far higher than typical temperatures encountered in this work. We used the empirical Ciddor equation \cite{Ciddor1996}, which links the air refractive index to pressure, temperature and humidity level, to have a precise estimation of air refractive index in the visible-near infrared range in our experimental conditions. At $p=\unit{1.013\times10^{5}}{\pascal}$ and $T=\unit{293.15}{\kelvin}$, we have $\beta = 2.7\times10^{-4}$ for a reference density $n_{0} = \unit{2.47\times10^{25}}{\rpcubic\metre}$. The recorded phase shift can then be expressed as:
\begin{equation}
\Delta\varphi = \frac{2\pi\beta}{\lambda n_{0}}\int_{s_{1}}^{s_{2}}(n_{n}(s)-n_{0})~\mathrm{d}s,
\end{equation}
where $s$ is the coordinate along the probe beam propagation axis. For a typical probed object of size $\sim \unit{100}{\micro\metre}$, we then estimate the density resolution of our interferometer to be $\sim \unit{3\times 10^{23}}{\rpcubic\metre}$, that is $\sim 0.01~n_{0}$.

Since we use a transverse geometry for our interferometric measurements, we can then recover radial density profiles using the inverse Abel transform technique. To this purpose, we use a Fourier-Hankel algorithm \cite{Smith1988}. As experimental data is never perfectly symmetric with respect to the center of the underdense channel, density is averaged between the right and the left part of inverted density profiles.

\subsection{Numerical methods}

We have solved numerically the compressible Euler equations for the fluid mass density, $\rho=n_{n} M/\mathcal{N}_A$ ($M$ being the molar mass and $\mathcal{N}_A$ the Avogadro's number), linear momentum density, $\rho\vv{v}$, and total energy per unit volume, $e$, in cylindrical coordinates neglecting azimuthal fluxes:
\begin{eqnarray}
&& \partial_tU+\vv{\nabla}\cdot F=S \\ &&
U=\left[\begin{array}{c}\rho \\ \rho\vv{v} \\ e\end{array}\right],\
F=\left[\begin{array}{c}\rho\vv{v} \\ \rho\vv{v}\otimes\vv{v}+p\hat I \\ \vv{v}[e+p]\end{array}\right] \\ &&
S=\left[\begin{array}{c}0 \\ \vec 0 \\ \vv{\nabla}[q\vv{\nabla} T]\end{array}\right], \ \hat I=\left[\begin{array}{cc}1 & 0\\ 0 & 1\end{array}\right].
\end{eqnarray}
Pressure, $p$, and temperature, $T$, are linked by the ideal gas equation of state (EOS) $p=\rho RT$ ($R=\unit{287.058}{\joule\cdot\kilo\rp\gram\cdot\rp\kelvin}$), and $q=\unit{2.4\times10^{-2}}{\watt\cdot\rp\metre\cdot\rp\kelvin}$ is the heat conductivity. Here $\vv{v}\otimes\vv{v}\equiv[v_r, \ v_z]^\top[v_r,\  v_z]$, where $\top$ denotes the vector transpose, and $v_{r}$ ($v_z$) is the radial (longitudinal) components of the fluid bulk velocity $\vv{v}\equiv[v_r, \ v_z]^\top$. The integration of the fluid equations is carried out by means of the Harten Lax van Leer first order Godunov method with restoration of the contact surface \cite{Toro2009}. This method is able to capture the shock wave formation, which threshold is observed to be around or below the typical peak temperatures involved in our simulations, $T\sim\unit{10^3}{\kelvin}$. The internal energy $\epsilon=e/\rho-|\vv{v}|^2/2$ and adiabatic coefficient $\gamma=1.4$ are used to compute the speed of sound, $a=\sqrt{\partial_\rho p\vert_\epsilon+p/\rho^2\partial_\epsilon p\vert_\rho}$, at each step, necessary to determine the fluxes, F. Our simulations are initialized with a Gaussian distribution of temperature. Plasma recombination occurs over a few hundreds of fs, an extremely short timescale compared to acoustic relaxation and thermal diffusion timescales ($\gtrsim$ 10 ns). We therefore assume that the heating of air occurs almost instantaneously after the laser pulse and that this yields no change in the gas density. Under this assumption the pressure and total energy are unequivocally defined and set the initial conditions.

\section{Filamentation-induced hydrodynamics}

\subsection{Experimental characterization}

To generally characterize the formation of underdense channels in air by filamentation, we study filaments generated by \unit{5}{\milli\joule}, \unit{50}{\femto\second}, linearly polarized pulses at \unit{800}{\nano\metre} focused at $f/35$. In this case, laser pulses collapse to form a single filament about \unit{2}{\centi\metre} long. We verified that we are indeed in the filamentation propagation regime by comparing this length, evaluated from the plasma luminescence profile (figure \ref{fig_luminescence}), with the Rayleigh length of our laser. To this purpose, we strongly attenuated the laser pulse as to be in the linear propagation regime. In the same focusing conditions, we recorded a quasi-Gaussian focal spot with waist $w_0 \sim \unit{26}{\micro\metre}$, resulting in a Rayleigh length $L_R = \unit{2.7}{\milli\metre}$, which is indeed far shorter than the plasma length.

The probing arm of the interferometer intercepts the filament around the lens geometric focus, where the plasma luminescence is the most intense, as highlighted by the light red rectangle in figure \ref{fig_luminescence}. Interferometric acquisitions are done in the single shot regime, and no subsequent multi-shot data averaging is done. The strength of our diagnostic lies in its ability to give unambiguous two-dimensional space-resolved density profiles thanks to the Abel inversion process. In figure \ref{fig_density_planes} are presented such two-dimensional profiles for three different delays: 0.5 (figure \ref{fig_density_planes}-(a)), 5 (figure \ref{fig_density_planes}-(b)) and \unit{500}{\micro\second} after the onset of filamentation (figure \ref{fig_density_planes}-(c)). Here, $r$ corresponds to the radial coordinate and $z$ to the laser propagation axis, that is the cylindrical symmetry axis.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width = .45\textwidth]{figure_3.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{$z$-evolution of the plasma luminescence (blue solid curve) and of the relative air density $n_n/n_0$ at $r = 0$ and \unit{500}{\nano\second} after the onset of filamentation of a \unit{5}{\milli\joule}, \unit{50}{\femto\second} laser pulse at \unit{800}{\nano\metre} focused at $f/355$ (red dashed curve). The area scanned by interferometry is represented by the light red rectangle.}
\label{fig_luminescence}
\end{figure}

Figure \ref{fig_density_planes}-(a) clearly shows the formation of a central underdense channel of $\sim \unit{350}{\micro\metre}$ FWHM and of minimum value $\sim \unit{8.5\times10^{24}}{\rpcubic\metre}$, that is a $60\%$ reduction with respect to $n_{0}$. This channel is surrounded by a annular overdense ridge centered around $r=\unit{330}{\micro\metre}$ of which amplitude is $\sim \unit{3\times10^{25}}{\rpcubic\metre}$. A simple evaluation of the $n_{l}$ parameter, that is the relative linear neutral density, defined as:
\begin{equation}
n_{l}(z) = \left|\frac{\displaystyle\int_{\mathbb{R}^{+}}(n_{n}(r,z)-n_{0})r~\mathrm{d}r}{\displaystyle\int_{\mathbb{R}^{+}}n_{0}r~\mathrm{d}r}\right|
\end{equation}
gives $\displaystyle\max_{z}(n_{l}) \sim 10^{-3}$, proving the conservation of the number of neutral molecules is respected.

Looking at the density profiles for the \unit{5}{\micro\second} delay (figure \ref{fig_density_planes}-(b)), we see the low-density channel is now shallower and wider, reaching the level of $\unit{10^{25}}{\rpcubic\metre}$ for a \unit{400}{\micro\metre} FWHM. As for the overdense ring, it has propagated outwards, being now around $r = \unit{2.2}{\milli\metre}$. We can thus roughly estimate the speed of this hydrodynamic wave at $u \sim \unit{415}{\metre\cdot\rp\second}$, that is slightly more than the speed of sound in standard pressure and temperature conditions $a = \unit{343}{\metre\cdot\rp\second}$. This wave completely attenuates and results in a negligible contribution to the phase shift after a few tens of microseconds. After \unit{500}{\micro\second} (figure \ref{fig_density_planes}-(c)), the underdense channel continues to resorb by diffusion, enlarging and decreasing in amplitude at \unit{800}{\micro\metre} and $\sim\unit{1.8\times10^{25}}{\rpcubic\metre}$ respectively.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\begin{center}
\subfloat{\includegraphics[width=.43\textwidth]{figure_4_a.pdf}}\\
\subfloat{\includegraphics[width=.43\textwidth]{figure_4_b.pdf}}\\
\subfloat{\includegraphics[width=.43\textwidth]{figure_4_c.pdf}}
\end{center}
\caption{Two-dimensional $(r,z)$ neutral density profiles resulting from the filamentation of a \unit{5}{\milli\joule}, \unit{50}{\femto\second} laser pulse at \unit{800}{\nano\metre} focused at $f/35$ at delay \unit{500}{\nano\second} (a), \unit{5}{\micro\second} (b) and \unit{500}{\micro\second} (c).}
\label{fig_density_planes}
\end{figure}

We can see that, at all times, air density at the center of the underdense channel is not uniform along $z$. This phenomenon undoubtedly results from a inhomogeneous laser energy deposition in the medium. However, as seen in figure \ref{fig_luminescence}, the amplitude of the underdense channel at early times (\unit{500}{\nano\second}) and of the plasma luminescence are only weakly correlated, the channel extension in $z$ being obviously far larger than the luminescent channel. As luminescence is related to the presence of plasma, we can thus assert that ionization as a channel for energy transfer to the medium is very localized in space, and that rotational absorption obviously occurs long before and far after plasma generation along the beam propagation axis. This observation agrees well with the simulations recently done by Rosenthal \textit{et al.} with similar pulse peak power \cite{Rosenthal2014}.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=.45\textwidth]{figure_5.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{$z$-averaged density profiles for short (a) and long delays (b) resulting from the filamentation of a \unit{5}{\milli\joule}, \unit{50}{\femto\second} laser pulse at \unit{800}{\nano\metre} focused at $f/35$.}
\label{fig_density_profiles}
\end{figure}

A clearer picture of the whole phenomenon can be obtained with one-dimensional density profiles. To this purpose, data from density planes is averaged along $z$, yielding the curves displayed in figure \ref{fig_density_profiles}. It is notably easier to follow the propagation of the single-cycle sound wave and its progressive attenuation with time in figure \ref{fig_density_profiles}-(a). The strong density gradients encountered in this wave and its supersonic speed are characteristic of a shock wave, a very interesting feature which was not seen in the case of less energetic laser pulses \cite{Cheng2013,Wahlstrand2014}.

Long-time dynamics (figure \ref{fig_density_profiles}-(b)) are characterized by the persistence of the underdense channel, which slowly resorbs by diffusion. We could still record a phase shift on the order of a few tens of milliradians at a delay of \unit{90}{\milli\second}, but the channel is then so large that it affects the whole field of view of the camera and prevents the Abel inversion of the profile to recover density. It might then be possible, in these conditions, to witness the appearance of a cumulative effect and the formation of a permanent low-density channel with a laser frequency of only \unit{10}{\hertz}, much in the same way it was observed by Cheng \textit{et al.} for low energy laser pulses at a \unit{1}{\kilo\hertz} cadence \cite{Cheng2013}.

We have been able to fully characterize filamentation-induced hydrodynamics in air by means of a two-dimensional space resolved diagnostic. We now can investigate the influence of different experimental parameters on these effects. For the sake of clarity, we will only be using $z$-averaged density profiles, resulting in 1D data sets.

\subsection{Numerical reconstruction}
\label{sec_num_recons}

Two-dimensional simulations of the experimentally observed cylindrical geometry showed identical results as the 1D case (neglecting axial dynamics). We therefore show the latter case for the sake of transparency. Simulations were initialized using a Gaussian temperature profile, yielding two variable parameters: maximum initial temperature $T_{max}$ and spatial standard deviation $\sigma$. The best fit overall between numerically computed profiles and experimental profiles over the first \unit{10}{\micro\second} was obtained for an initial temperature profile of amplitude \unit{1400}{\kelvin} and of standard deviation $\sigma = \unit{85}{\micro\metre}$. By varying the width in about $\pm \unit{15}{\micro\metre}$ and the peak temperature by $\pm \unit{200}{\kelvin}$, the overall agreement worsens significantly in terms of the sound wave position and amplitude.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width = .45\textwidth]{figure_6.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption
(a): density profiles for the same times as in figure \ref{fig_density_profiles}-(a) from the best fit simulation. (b): evolution of the on-axis density with time from the best fit simulation shown in (a).}
\label{fig_simu}
\end{figure}

Figure \ref{fig_simu}-(a) displays five different density profiles from the best fit taken at the same times as in figure \ref{fig_density_profiles}-(a). The strong central heating results in the formation of a supersonic shock wave and of a central underdense channel in a very similar way as witnessed in the experiment. The position of the wave is in excellent agreement in the two cases. Moreover, the peak and minimum neutral densities here encountered are also very close to their experimental counterparts, at about $\unit{3\times10^{25}}{\rpcubic\metre}$ and $\unit{8\times10^{24}}{\rpcubic\metre}$ respectively. Also, as seen in figure \ref{fig_simu}-(b), which displays the time evolution of on-axis density, the minimum density is reached around \unit{1}{\micro\second}, corresponding to what was actually seen experimentally. After this point, density goes up very slowly, eventually reaching $\unit{2.3\times10^{25}}{\rpcubic\metre}$ after \unit{5}{\milli\second}.

To verify the physical validity of an initial temperature on the order of \unit{1000}{\kelvin}, we measured the total deposited laser energy in the medium, yielding $\unit{780 \pm 160}{\micro\joule}$ (measured over 500 shots). Considering that heat is released in a isochore fashion, we can then link the variation of energy of the system to the variation of temperature through the first law of thermodynamics:
\begin{equation}
\Delta E = c_v N \Delta T,
\end{equation}
where $c_v$ is the isochore molar heat capacity of air and $N$ the number of involved air molecules. If we consider the limit case for which all the deposed energy is converted into heat (that is, we neglect radiative losses and energy storage in the internal degrees of freedom of air molecules), using a hot channel of length $\sim \unit{2}{\centi\metre}$ and of radius $\sim \unit{120}{\micro\metre}$ (corresponding to what was used in the simulation), we find:
\begin{equation}
\Delta T \sim \unit{1000}{\kelvin}.
\end{equation}

In summary, the simulation is in excellent agreement with experimental results and thus we can estimate the initial temperature induced by the laser energy deposition in air to be about \unit{1400}{\kelvin}. Note this is achieved with multi-millijoule pulses and the heating is one order of magnitude higher than previously estimated temperatures achieved with $\sim\unit{100}{\micro\joule}$ \cite{Cheng2013}.

\section{Influence of experimental configuration on underdense channels}

\subsection{Influence of focusing conditions}

External focusing conditions of an ultrashort laser pulse have been shown to have a strong impact on the resulting filament. Moderate to strong focusing (up to $\sim f/60$) results in a gentle enlargement of the filament core and a rise of the plasma density \cite{Theberge2006}. Under stronger focusing conditions ($\sim f/10$), it is even possible to reach very high plasma densities up to the optical breakdown of air \cite{Kiran2010a,Liu2010}. This is attributed to the increase of laser energy at the center of the beam due to the lens-imposed phase which, in turn, increases peak intensity and plasma density. As a new dynamic balance between focusing, self-focusing, non-linear absorption and plasma defocusing is reached, the intense core of the filament swells to compensate for the increase in electron density.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=.4\textwidth]{figure_7.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{Evolution of the on-axis neutral density (a) and of the channel FWHM (b) with time for different focusing conditions for a \unit{5}{\milli\joule}, \unit{50}{\femto\second} pulse at \unit{800}{\nano\metre}.}
\label{fig_lens}
\end{figure}

To study the influence of the external focusing on filamentation-generated underdense channels, we followed the evolution of density profiles with time in the case of moderate ($f/85$), strong ($f/60$) and very tight focusing ($f/35$). Corresponding results are plotted in figure \ref{fig_lens}. Figure \ref{fig_lens}-(a) shows the time evolution of the on-axis air density, that is the depth of the underdense channel, while figure \ref{fig_lens}-(b) gives an estimation of the radial extension of the channel in time. Laser energy deposition was also measured for each case, giving $\unit{570 \pm 150}{\micro\joule}$ for the $f/85$ case, $\unit{590 \pm 130}{\micro\joule}$ for the $f/60$ case and $\unit{780 \pm 160}{\micro\joule}$ for the $f/35$ case (statistics over 500 shots). It appears that the stronger the focusing, the deeper and wider the low-density channel. More specifically, we notice that at first, the channel width remains almost constant while its depth increases dramatically. As the focusing is further tightened, the underdense channel marginally deepens but, this time, widens significantly.

These results are a direct consequence of the evolution of plasma density with different focusing conditions. Indeed, heating of air arises mainly from two different effects: the first one is the Raman rotational excitation of air molecules, and the other one the conversion of plasma electron kinetic energy to molecular rotational, vibrational and translational thermal energy. Since peak intensity varies slowly between tight and moderate focusing conditions due to the effect of plasma defocusing and multiphoton absorption, the only vector for energy transfer from the laser pulse to the medium that is strongly affected by the focusing parameter is plasma generation.

At first, deposited laser energy does not vary significantly between the $f/85$ and $f/60$ cases. However, plasma luminescence was measured to be only \unit{6}{\centi\metre} long in the latter case, to be compared with \unit{12}{\centi\metre} in the former case. As a consequence, as the channel width is the same in both cases, we should witness an underdense channel about two times deeper at $f/60$ than at $f/85$. This prediction is indeed verified experimentally. Note that this phenomenon has already been witnessed by Théberge \textit{et al.} in the case of a $2.5~P_{cr}$ laser pulse, with a peak plasma density increasing two-fold between $f/120$ and $f/60$ \cite{Theberge2006}. For an even stronger focusing at $f/35$, deposited energy becomes significantly larger while the plasma length is reduced to \unit{2}{\centi\metre}. This absorption undoubtedly originates from the tremendously increased plasma generation which, in turn, raises the gas temperature to the \unit{1000}{\kelvin} level. This results in the formation of a shock wave instead of a sound wave (as seen in section \ref{sec_num_recons}) and, therefore, in an underdense channel much larger than in previous cases, but only marginally deeper.

\subsection{Influence of the wavelength}

The same comparative study is performed for \unit{5}{\milli\joule}, \unit{500}{\femto\second} pulses focused at $f/35$ at both 800 and \unit{400}{\nano\metre}. The corresponding results are displayed in figure \ref{fig_wavelength}.

As it can be seen in \ref{fig_wavelength}-(a), blue filaments are responsible for the generation of a slightly deeper underdense channel than in the case of infrared filamentation, which however takes a longer time to develop. This channel also appears larger in the \unit{400}{\nano\metre} case (figure \ref{fig_wavelength}-(b)). We report a minimum density level of $\unit{4\times10^{24}}{\rpcubic\metre}$ reached at \unit{10}{\micro\second}, that is a density reduction of more than $75\%$ with respect to $n_{0}$.

These results are in good agreement with what was observed by Zhang \textit{et al.} \cite{Zhang2009b}. They characterized the filamentation of focused and collimated \unit{6}{\milli\joule}, \unit{170}{\femto\second} pulses at \unit{400}{\nano\metre}, which almost corresponds to the same regime as ours. They found blue filaments focused at $f/35$ resulted in a $\sim\unit{160}{\micro\metre}$ wide plasma channel with a typical density $\unit{2\times10^{23}}{\rpcubic\metre}$, where infrared filaments had a FWHM of only \unit{110}{\micro\metre} in the same conditions. We can also estimate from the work of Théberge \textit{et al.} that infrared filaments obtained with similar focusing have a density around $\unit{10^{23}}{\rpcubic\metre}$ \cite{Theberge2006}. Therefore, plasma columns generated by blue filamentation are slightly larger and denser than their infrared counterpart, which corresponds to what we observed studying the resulting underdense channels.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=.4\textwidth]{figure_8.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{Evolution of the on-axis neutral density (a) and of the channel FWHM (b) with time for a \unit{5}{\milli\joule}, \unit{50}{\femto\second} laser pulse at $\lambda = \unit{800}{\nano\metre}$ (red circles) and $\lambda = \unit{400}{\nano\metre}$ (blue squares) focused at $f/35$.}
\label{fig_wavelength}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Influence of the polarization}

Polarization dynamics in the field of laser filamentation are not well elucidated. It is agreed that critical power in case of circularly polarized pulses is higher than for linear pulses, and that multiple filamentation is more difficult to achieve in these conditions \cite{Kolesik2001a,Fibich2003}. Numerical studies in the case of $\sim 3P_{cr}$ pulses have shown that the generated plasma is less dense for circular polarisation than for linear polarization \cite{Kolesik2001a}. However, experiments, both at filamentation threshold at higher power ($\sim 20~P_{cr})$ gave either a similar electron density in both cases \cite{Diels2010}, or a higher plasma density with circularly polarized pulses \cite{Petit2000}.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=.4\textwidth]{figure_9.pdf}
\end{center}
\caption{Evolution of the on-axis neutral density (a) and of the channel FWHM (b) with time for a \unit{5}{\milli\joule}, \unit{50}{\femto\second} laser pulse at \unit{800}{\nano\metre} with linear polarization (red circles) and and circular polarization (green triangles).}
\label{fig_polarization}
\end{figure}

However one also has to bear in mind that energy transfer from the laser pulse to the plasma in these two different configurations is not the same. First, as evidenced by previous experimental results, the total number of electrons produced at the center of the filamentation channel for circular polarization is equal or superior to that in the case of linear polarization. In a similar volume, more laser energy is then transferred to the medium in the form of free electron potential energy for circular polarization. Moreover, it has been calculated that on average, electron kinetic energy in the case of circular polarization is well defined around a value almost proportional to the laser intensity, since electron mostly acquire energy through ponderomotive interaction \cite{Zhou2011}. This value can reach up to \unit{15}{\electronvolt}, as evidenced by the existence of collision-assisted population inversion of the triplet manifold of molecular nitrogen in plasma filaments \cite{Mitryukovskiy2014}. On the other hand, in the case of linear polarization, the electron energy distribution is peaked at low energy and weakly extends up to only a few electronvolts. As a consequence, plasma generation should then be a better vector for energy transfer from the laser pulse to the medium in the case of circular polarization.

The results of our experiments are presented in figure \ref{fig_polarization}. Figure \ref{fig_polarization}-(a), which displays the minimum neutral density in the underdense channel with time, does not show a strong difference between the two polarizations. Regarding the channel size (figure \ref{fig_polarization}-(b)), experimental observations are however different with a noticeably larger channel for the linear case than for the circular one. We can explain these results as follows: according to Petit \textit{et al.}, a higher intensity is reached in a filament with circularly polarized light because of a weaker multiphoton absorption. Consequently, beam self-focuses over a longer distance than for linear polarization \cite{Petit2000}. This leads to a smaller filament transverse size, as observed in figure \ref{fig_polarization}-(b). But since electron energy is higher in the case of circular polarization, heating is very efficient, which explains why a similar channel depth is reached in the two cases.

\section{Summary and conclusions}

We implemented a sensitive interferometric diagnostic for the characterization of the underdense channels generated by laser filamentation in the millijoule regime. We characterized the evolution of this channel over several orders of magnitude in time in the case of a \unit{5}{\milli\joule}, \unit{50}{\femto\second} laser pulse focused at $f/35$. These results are well reproduced by hydrodynamic simulations. We found that in these conditions, filamentation generates an underdense channel lasting for more than \unit{90}{\milli\second} and could result in the formation of a permanent density hole with laser repetition frequencies as low as \unit{10}{\hertz}. Moreover, numerical estimation of the initial air temperature following filamentation plasma recombination gives a value of \unit{1100}{\kelvin}, much higher than was previously reported in the case of low-energy filamentation.

We then investigated the influence of focusing conditions, of the wavelength and of the polarization of the laser pulse on the low-density channel. We were able to link the observed behaviors to the diffent sizes and densities of the plasma columns generated in each scenario. Energy transfer from the laser pulse to the medium thus appears optimized in case of strong focusing, with shorter wavelengths and using linear polarization, resulting in an important and spatially broad heating. We link underdense channel characteristics to the post-recombination temperature profile resulting from laser energy deposition in the medium. This opens perspectives for optimizing energy deposition in air by tailoring filamentation \cite{Panagiotopoulos2010,Suntsov2013}. According to the present analysis and results, the use of superfilaments \cite{Point2014b}, where the electron density is significantly higher than in standard multifilaments over several Rayleigh lengths, should result in an extended air column at very high temperature.

\acknowledgments{The authors thank Jérôme Carbonnel for technical assistance, and acknowledge financial support from the french DGA (grants n\textsuperscript{o} 2013.95.0901, n\textsuperscript{o} 2012.60.0011 and n\textsuperscript{o} 2012.60.0013).  Carles Mili\'{a}n and Arnaud Couairon thank Dr. Robin Huart for insightful discussions.}

\bibliographystyle{apsrev4-1}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
'''
The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Erika Jonell (xevrem)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.
'''

import asyncio
from paws.paws import get
from paws.pahttp import HttpRequest
from time import time
import signal
import uvloop
from multiprocessing import Process

start = 0.0
finish = 0.0
count = 100000
num_procs = 4
num = int(count/num_procs)

async def do_get():
    data = await get(url='http://localhost/hello', port=8080, ssl_context=False,
        headers={}, debug=False)
    req = HttpRequest(data)
    #finish = clock()
    #print("req complete...")

def do_test():
    asyncio.set_event_loop_policy(uvloop.EventLoopPolicy())
    loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
    for i in range(num):
        foo = asyncio.ensure_future(do_get())
        loop.run_until_complete(foo)

def main():
    procs = []

    def finished(signum, frame):
        total = finish-start
        print("total time: {} ms/req".format(total * 1000))

        for proc in procs:
            if proc:
                proc.terminate()

    signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, finished)

    start = time()

    for i in range(num_procs):
        p = Process(target=do_test)
        procs.append(p)
        p.start()

    for proc in procs:
        proc.join()

    finish = time()

    total = finish-start
    print("total time: {} ms".format((total * 1000)))
    print("reqs per sec: {}".format((num*num_procs)/total))

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I have in home business with 3 lines (1 personal, 1 fax/phone, 1 line with 2 800#) I currently have two phone systems, one cordless with 2 lines and the other not cordless 4 line. when a customer calls one of the 800# it is ans with a recording, the customer has 4 choices for extension of person they would like to speak with ext.#201-202-203 or 204. with your system how would the customer get to those ext.#'s? also, if person is not at that extension, current system then forwards the call to their cell or other outside phone number, how can we do that with ooma?
Second : my ooma is hooked up and working fine. but I had to call 3x's for assistance with installation. the first two times 15 min on hold, second time 8 min on hold, third time a charm. You need help on your desk to take care of tech questions with our waiting so long. I hung up both times.
Third: How do I get different voice mail for each number?
fourth: Do I call my local phone company and tell them to stop billing me monthly for the numbers I am using with ooma?
Interesting setup description - out of the 3 lines, which one are you currently using with ooma (check what's plugged into the WALL port)? Do you plan on porting any of your numbers to ooma? If you plan to use ooma with your landline, you'll need to still keep basic landline phone service with your phone company.
Currently ooma does not have an IVR system with extensions. We do support private extensions with additional ooma Scouts (up to four can be connected to an ooma system). Each private device has its own voicemail and the the ability to call forward (with Multi-Ring) to any phone number you choose. We currently don't support call forwarding with a specific timeout.


Operating a e-Commerce website begins with understanding how the buiness runs and thinking how your potential customer thinks. When people shop online they generally have a specific product or type of product in mind. There are 2 key thoughts they have: Trust and Price.
So with that in mind here are some tips to make your eCommerce site more likely to convert sales… TRUST 1. First of all, don't build your own website, unless you are already a web designer, don't try to take the time to learn how to design a website. There are people who spend every day doing that they are going to be better than you at doing. Building a website incorrectly can hurt your chances of ranking in the search engines and putting up a "homemade" looking site can hurt your trust factor. Authority SEO has a team of website designers to taylor a website to your needs. It takes an investment, but one that will yield more sales and a stronger business.
2. There are some elements you can easily add to your site that will instantly make you appear more trustworthy. An 800 number in the header. This gives the feel that you are a bigger company, even if you're running it from your kitchen table. And people often assume that a "bigger" company is a "safer" company, and they'll want to buy from you. A trust seal and credit card logos. Again this gives the look and feel of being a bigger professional company online. Also people often assume that if you have these elements then other people are buying from you too. The credit card logos instill trust. Essentially, you're borrowing trust from the credit card companies. Each of these elements has been tested and by adding them to your site and you will see your conversions increase.
BEST PRICE: You'll have more success selling online if you're selling what people are already buying. But that means you'll also be selling what other websites are selling. So when your customers begin price-shopping, how do you compete without cutting your prices? Position your products as unique with unique content. Most marketers make this mistake. They take the photo and description provided by the supplier and use them as is. If instead you'll take a little extra time, it'll pay off in huge dividends. Start by changing the stock photo. Test different photos. Avoid using the same photo everyone else is using. Also re-write the descpription so it's unique. You can even give your products a unique name so that when people price shop products from your site, they won't find any other products with the same name.
Don't give away your merchandise. Trying to be the cheapest source rarely works for long. Every new website owner thinks I'll get the customer in with the lowest price and raise them later. There are millions of websites that have tried this tactic and they are all out of business now. Also there will always be someone else to come along who's willing to sell the same items cheaper than you. Instead try bundling related items into greater bargains for your prospects. Doing this not only allows you to set the price you want, it also makes your offer unique. These are just a few tips for making your eCommerce site more profitable. But there are literally dozens of different ways, just like this, that you can use to have a higher converting site. Authority SEO is constantly working to help sites increase their conversion ration and generate more revenue.


This book of recipes was compiled in 1971. I found it at Goodwill, and had to pick it up because of the adorable homemade felt cover with a watermelon applique. I know someone in the area would love to come across this little gem, so I plan to release it in the Cahaba Heights area.


text:
Lung cancer screening of seniors: Should CMS regulate?
By Eric Barnes, AuntMinnie.com staff writer
June 24, 2014 -- A just-published proposal in the Annals of Internal Medicine seeks to balance the benefits and harms of CT lung cancer screening by limiting the screening of Medicare beneficiaries to lung cancer screening centers that would be accredited based on still-evolving society-based guidelines.
The proposal would address some of the concerns raised during an April 30 meeting of the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC), which issued a vote of low confidence in low-dose CT (LDCT) lung screening. Among the panel's concerns was whether screening would be performed at sites qualified to do it.
The author of the new study, Dr. Renda Soylemez Wiener, believes that while the MEDCAC panel erred by overemphasizing harms and underemphasizing the benefits of lung screening, screening can be made more effective to address the panel's concerns. Lung cancer screening experts we spoke to expressed some support for the idea of limiting scans to accredited centers, but remained wary of how the details might shake out.
MEDCAC shock
Wiener noted that clinicians were "shocked" by the MEDCAC panel's decision, which came after the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) showed a mortality benefit for screening and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) gave screening a positive review.
In addition, multiple guidelines recommend LDCT screening for high-risk persons, wrote Wiener, who is an assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. Private payors will have to start covering the scans for high-risk smokers ages 55 to 80 starting in 2015 due to the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Annals of Internal Medicine, June 24, 2014).
Dr. Renda Soylemez Wiener from Boston University.
But in her editorial, Wiener acknowledged that there are important reasons for caution before the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implements screening on a widespread basis, concluding that it would be safer for Medicare patients to be screened only at accredited centers.
"There are important benefits of CT screening for lung cancer, but there are also potential harms, and it's very important to have a program with the infrastructure to ensure the necessary elements to protect patients," she told AuntMinnie.com in an interview.
For example, only one-quarter of the NLST participants were older than 65 years, and none were older than 74, she wrote in her paper. The harms of screening are real and likely to be more serious in older individuals because they have higher rates of complications from biopsy of nodules, and mortality rates from nodule resection.
"These harms may be magnified in the community, where interpretations of screening CT results, use of invasive procedures, and complications of such procedures can vary widely with resulting harms from overtesting and overtreatment," Wiener wrote.
In addition, the competing risks for death from other causes rise with age and the development of comorbidities, diminishing the potential benefits of extending life through LDCT screening, she wrote. Finally, CMS will incur substantial costs both for screening and downstream evaluation of nodules, extrapulmonary incidentalomas, and cancer.
But despite these risks, there is good reason to believe that low-dose CT screening for lung cancer can be performed well outside of the few high-powered academic centers designated by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, Wiener said. Several early-adopting programs in smaller settings have proved their worth, she added.
"For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs has their eight-site demonstration program project that's really kind of an ideal model for how these programs can work," she said. The Lahey Clinic in Burlington, MA, also has very well-designed programs "that demonstrate that screening can be done in other settings and done well," Wiener said.
But the experience with annual prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, which turned out to be of limited prognostic value, shows that screening programs can be botched, she wrote.
"To avoid the hard lessons learned from overzealous implementation of prostate cancer screening, we must get implementation of LDCT screening right from the outset," she added. "A CMS determination that LDCT screening will only be covered in qualified facilities may provide the perfect opportunity to do so."
Requiring all screening centers to be accredited by these still-evolving standards will ensure that the benefits outweigh the harms, "addressing the concerns that MEDCAC had," according to Wiener.
"It's sort of an intermediate ground between not offering it at all to Medicare beneficiaries, which I think would be a terrible thing, and rolling it out to everybody, which also may not be the best idea," she said. "There has to be an infrastructure in place to make sure that the quarter of patients who have a pulmonary nodule detected through screening have the infrastructure in place to have that appropriately evaluated."
From the ground up at Lahey
Massachusetts' Lahey Clinic, which Wiener cited as an example of a well-managed smaller lung screening program, used its successful mammography program as a model, according to Dr. Andrea McKee, who chairs Lahey's department of radiation oncology.
The highly regulated mammography screening framework offers a good example for a lung cancer screening program, McKee told AuntMinnie.com. "There are actually a lot of good parts of mammography that allow us to do population-based radiographic screening in a very quality-focused manner ... and we built our program around that," she said.
Two years and 2,300 patients ago, the Lahey Clinic actually developed the Lung-RADS criteria that the American College of Radiology (ACR) has since adopted. "We've also trained eight radiologists in Lung-RADS, and we feel we've been able to mimic the results seen in the National Lung Screening Trial," she said.
More to the point, Lahey developed its program without any prior experience in lung cancer screening, according to McKee.
"So we feel this is very doable at centers who decide to take it seriously," she said. "And that's what's happening right now. Centers are reaching out across the country to talk to others [about] the experience, to learn from the ACR, to figure out how to do lung screening appropriately."
Lahey also has plenty of experience in screening Medicare-aged patients, including a multidisciplinary team that evaluates the images and the patients carefully before deciding whether to intervene. In contrast to the practice in breast screening, "you don't rush in and biopsy everything" when evaluating lung cancer patients, McKee said.
Who makes the rules?
Wiener cautioned that she was neither advocating that screening be limited to a few centers of excellence, nor prescribing a set of standards on her own.
"What exactly those standards turn out to be has yet to be defined," she said, stating that several organizations, including ACR, the American Thoracic Society, and the American College of Chest Physicians, are working to define the necessary elements that should be in place to ensure a high-quality program.
Dr. Ella Kazerooni, professor of radiology at the University of Michigan, and chair of the ACR committee on lung cancer screening, said those stakeholder organizations have settled on most of the elements required for effective screening, beginning with adoption of the Lung-RADS criteria to rate the malignant potential of a CT finding.
"We all agree on the core principles necessary to bring screening to bear across the U.S. safely, appropriately, and to minimize the harms, and have over 40 organizations that have signed on with us now," Kazerooni told AuntMinnie.com in an email.
She believes that the viability of Wiener's proposal might rest on its interpretation of what qualifies as a screening center.
"The key is what is a 'certified, comprehensive, patient-centered program' and who would do that," Kazerooni said. "If that means only at sites with multidisciplinary programs, that is no way to roll out a population health management tool. Like screening mammography, it must be accessible to people in towns and cities small and large, urban and rural."
Multidisciplinary teams everywhere?
To Wiener, multidisciplinary teams at every screening center aren't necessarily critical, but they are valuable.
"I think it would be ideal to have the disciplines all in one place that could really manage patients from the time of screening through evaluation of the screen-detected abnormalities until diagnosis is made, and that would necessitate having everyone in the same place," she said.
But while Kazerooni agrees with the need to provide access to specialists and multidisciplinary teams, she believes it would be impractical to staff every screening center with a full multidisciplinary team.
"When abnormalities are in the highest risk category, like 4 Lung-RADS, then they should be referred to a specialist and a multidisciplinary team," she said. "Most abnormalities do not require that level of care. Practices should have access to specialists and multidisciplinary teams, but they don't need to be in every place where screening is done; referral arrangements are fine."
MEDCAC's fundamental error
The driving force behind the desire to regulate lung cancer screening practice comes from MEDCAC's fundamental misinterpretation of what NLST found and what it shows, said Dr. David Yankelevitz from Mount Sinai Medical Center.
"When you think the benefits are marginal and the risks are pretty high, then people start getting very concerned about populations and costs, etc.," Yankelevitz told AuntMinnie.com. MEDCAC "failed to understand" that the 20% mortality reduction is a floor, not a ceiling, and was set up as a criterion for stopping the trial; in reality, NLST results aren't incompatible with an 80% reduction in mortality.
"MEDCAC didn't understand that, or they would never have asked questions like, 'Is there evidence that screening is beneficial after three years?' " he said.
As for screening Medicare-aged patients, sites in the International Early Lung Cancer Action Program (I-ELCAP) and community centers have performed as well as the larger academic centers, Yankelevitz noted, and ACR has shown good leadership. Screening must be taken seriously, and it can't be a free-for-all, but the idea that screening is only marginally beneficial comes from MEDCAC and others' "exaggeration of the harms and minimization of the benefits" of screening, he said.
"I think [MEDCAC panelists] were correct in acknowledging that there are potential harms for screening and that we need to be cognizant of those," Wiener said. "I don't necessarily agree that the harms outweigh the benefits, which is essentially what they said. If it's done carefully, I think it can be done so that the benefits outweigh the harms."
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We are excited to add the Cutera Genesis Laser to our available treatments for toenail fungus. This new laser is FDA approved and has been available in our office since September 2011. The treatment is painless and takes 30 minutes for all 10 toenails.. The protocols for this laser include 3 treatments scheduled at 3 month intervals, dependent on severity of fungal infection. The cost is between $400 and $700, and can be paid in installments. We have found the new laser to be more effective, and are pleased to be able to offer it to patients.
This procedure requires no blood tests, oral medications, or anesthesia. Laser treatment has been shown to be as effective as any other fungal nail treatment, but with less risk. It will still take up to 1 year for the nails to grow out healthy. Call our office for more information, or to schedule a complimentary consultation.
The light passes through the toenail, killing the fungus underneath without causing damage to the nail or skin around it. As the nail grows out (9-12 months), the new nail may grow out as normal.
Treatments are done over a year timeframe. Usually, 3 to 5 treatments are needed. Appointments are scheduled at 3 month intervals.
No, there is no pain. You may feel a little warmth on the toe, but no pain.
Why doesn't insurance cover this procedure?
Insurance companies do not cover laser procedures for skin and nail problems.
Payment is required at the time of treatment. We accept all major credit cards, cash or flexible spending accounts.
The initial consultation is free. During that visit, the doctor evaluates your condition to determine if you are a candidate for this or any other treatment. If you decide to have the treatment, the cost is between $400 to $700.
You will be instructed on preventive care techniques to reduce recurrence of the infection. Some individuals are more likely to become re-infected than others and may require additional treatments.
Laser treatments have been available at Tatar Podiatry since 2009.


text:
Zumba Mania game
Description: Zumba Mania
The game "Zumba Mania" is very similar to the previously known game "Zuma". You've probably heard about it and maybe even played. The meaning of the game is very simple. In the center of the game is a toad that can shoot balls of different colors. Moreover, the balls fly out of her mouth. And she needs to shoot at the snake of colored balls that crawl past her. The main task of the toad is to make three or more balls in a row so that they disappear from the field. After all, if this is not done, then the little train of balls will easily reach the end of the path and the game will be lost.
The controls in the game are pretty simple. Use the mouse or your finger to make the toad shoot a ball into a chain of balls, making sequences of balls of the same color. If you get three balls of the same color, then they will explode and disappear. If you have nowhere to insert the current ball, you can shoot it past the chain.
Played: 4446. Added: 3-04-2021, 01:55.. Categories: Action html5 games

Zumba Mania
Click here to play this game
Game screenshots:
Zumba Mania game.
Lama and the golden world game
Urban Gipsy Style dressup game
Happy Easter Links game
Baby Hazel Kitchen Time game
BFF Pink Makeover game
Cake Hunting game


text:
Art - Winifred Knights at Dulwich Picture Gallery
Dulwich Picture Gallery presents the first major retrospective of work by Winifred Knights (1899-1947), an award-winning Slade School artist and the first British woman to win the Prix de Rome...
The exhibition will establish Knights as one of the most original women artists of the first half of the 20th century, bringing together her most ambitious works and preparatory studies for the first time since they were created, including the apocalyptic The Deluge, 1920, which attracted critical acclaim as 'the work of a genius'.
Knights' admiration for the Italian Quattrocento was the inspiration for a highly distinctive and painstakingly executed body of work. The smooth surface, contemplative mood and harmoniously restricted palette of her paintings consciously recall early Renaissance frescoes, adapted to everyday subjects from her own time. Knights' works are deeply autobiographical: presenting herself as the central protagonist and selecting models from her inner circle, she consistently re-wrote and re-interpreted female figures of fairy-tale and legend, Biblical narrative and Pagan mythology to create documents of her own lived experience.
Arranged chronologically Winifred Knights (8 June – 18 September) will highlight the key periods in the artist's career, beginning with the work she produced at the Slade School before charting her stylistic developments at the British School at Rome. The exhibition will also explore significant themes that run throughout Knights' oeuvre including women's independence, modernity and her experiences of wartime England. Over 70 preparatory studies will provide a true insight into Knights' working process, displayed alongside her large-scale paintings to reveal an artist of supreme skill with meticulous attention to detail.
Sacha Llewellyn, curator of the exhibition, commented, "Although never part of the modernist avant-garde, Knights engaged with modern-life subjects, breathing new life into figurative and narrative painting to produce an art that was inventive and technically outstanding. She explored form and colour to create a mood of calmness and reflection that impacts directly on our senses. Like so many women artists, heralded and appreciated in their own day, she has disappeared into near oblivion. This exhibition, in bringing together a lifetime of work, will create an irrefutable visual argument that she was one of the most talented and striking artists of her generation."
Knights attended the Slade School from 1915-16 and 1918-20, four years that would prove definitive in terms of her artistic development. Under the rigorous tuition of Henry Tonks and Philip Wilson Steer, she learnt the importance of meticulous compositional discipline which included the use of scale drawings, full-size sketches and life studies, a large selection of which will be exhibited to highlight her early development as an artist and offer a fascinating account of art education at the Slade during this time.
Early works reflect Knights' growing awareness of women's rights, due in part to her close relationship with her aunt Millicent Murby who is sensitively portrayed in the pencil drawing Portrait of Millicent Murby, 1917. A prominent campaigner for women's emancipation and the right for married women to work, Murby's writings had a profound influence on Knights' early compositional work. The seminal work,The Potato Harvest, 1918, is the first of Knights' compositions to portray the harmonious interaction of male and female workers. Leaving the Munitions Works,1919, records female munitions workers where, albeit momentarily, progress in the economic emancipation of women was evident. A Scene in a Village Street, with Mill-hands Conversing, 1919, shows a female trade unionist arguing for better conditions for women's labour at Roydon Mill, Essex.
In 1920 Knights became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome scholarship in Decorative Painting awarded by the British School at Rome with one of the most enduring images in the history of the competition, The Deluge, 1920. Chosen on the insistence of John Singer Sargent, Knights' painting was seen to possess 'a rare command of technique in hue, figure and composition, and a meticulous care in detail'.
This epic work will be displayed alongside the numerous studies Knights made in preparation including Compositional Study for the Deluge, 1920, which shows the initial ideas for the painting. The final composition brings together 21 figures who clamber towards and up a mountain, soon to be submerged by the flood. Among the present-day men and women in the scene, Knights appears as the central figure. While Knights avoided making any overt reference to the war, this painting is imbued with its presence. The disposition of the fleeing figures is likely to have drawn upon her first-hand experience of the zeppelin raids over Streatham and the sense of panic in the painting may have reflected this traumatic experience. The picture shows the influence of the war paintings of a previous generation of Slade students including Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer and C. R. W. Nevinson.
The impact of the five years Knights spent in Italy was the strongest unifying force in her work, fuelling her imagination in works such as Italian Landscape, 1921 and View to the East from the British School at Rome, 1921. She saw Italy as a living landscape that revitalised her creative spirit and as a result she produced some of the most evocative pictures to come out of the British School at Rome: The Marriage at Cana, 1923, Edge of Abruzzi; boat with three people on a lake, 1924-30, and The Santissima Trinita, 1924-30, all of which bridged Renaissance techniques with modernism to create the highly individual language that was her own. In The Marriage at Cana, Knights appears several times as one of the wedding guests, as does her future husband, Thomas Monnington. The meticulous planning of every scene is recorded in a large number of preparatory studies which will be on display including Study of Gigi il Moro, three- quarter rear view reclining, for The Marriage at Cana, 1922, a renowned model from the village of Anticoli Corrado.
Although she had previously outshone her male contemporaries at the Slade and the British School at Rome, when Knights returned to England in 1926 she struggled with the conventional chauvinism that then dominated the art world. In 1928 she was awarded a prestigious commission to design an altarpiece for the St. Martin's chapel in Canterbury Cathedral, on which she worked for five years. The finished piece, Scenes from the Life of Saint Martin of Tours, 1928-33, is profoundly autobiographical, expressing Knights' anguish upon giving birth to a stillborn son in January 1928. Among the onlookers are Knights' mother Mabel and Knights, with Monnington standing alongside. The fixed and melancholic gaze of the three figures records their shared sense of loss.
When World War II broke out, Knights became distraught and her only concern was for the safety of her son. This brought her already intermittent work to a standstill. She only began working again in 1946, a few months before she died of a brain tumour at the age of 48.
The exhibition is guest curated by Sacha Llewellyn, a freelance writer and curator, and Director at Liss Llewellyn Fine Art, specialising in figurative art between the wars.
Winifred Knights (1899-1947) is part of Dulwich Picture Gallery's Modern British series, a programme of exhibitions devoted to critically neglected Modern British artists.
Exhibition dates: 8 June - 18 September 2016
Images - Dulwich Picture Gallery
Find out more and book tickets


It is important to take regular, loving breaks for ourselves. But it is also important to balance that out with regular, loving activities for ourselves. If all we ever did was sit on the park bench, our lives may soon feel flat and uninspiring.
We can provide new activities and experiences for ourselves whenever we are ready for them. We can make them exciting, like water skiing, snow boarding, mountain biking or even bungee jumping. We can hike up a trail and find a waterfall. Let's start to think about doing things we never thought about doing before. We can have an open mind and when something feels exciting and right to us, we can pursue it.
Start exploring things that you never thought you could do. It can add excitement whenever your life feels a little flat.


The powerful writing team of Douglas E. Wagner and Charlotte Lee has once again captured the excitement of the very first Christmas Eve in this original carol. With its cascading voices, non-stop accompaniment, and punctuating bells, this easily learned anthem promises to be a favorite of both your choir and congregation. Everyone will want to run to the manger to greet the newborn King!


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Heavy metals and harmful chemicals 'poison Europe's seas'
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Heavy metals and a cocktail of dangerous chemicals continue to poison Europe's seas, with more than three-quarters of areas assessed showing contamination, according to a report.
The sea worst affected was the Baltic, where 96% of the assessed areas showed problematic levels of some harmful substances, according to the European Environment Agency. Similar problems were found in 91% of the Black Sea and 87% of the Mediterranean. In the north-east Atlantic, unsafe levels of chemicals or metals were found in 75% of assessed areas.
However, in most areas the situation was improving, as many of the toxic substances that have washed into the seas – such as the pesticide DDT and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – are now subject to bans or severe restrictions. The improvement in the breeding success of the white-tailed sea eagle in the Baltic, for instance, is attributed to the decline in DDT. A continuing problem is with flame-retardant chemicals, which are still used and still found in waterways, and DDT from Africa is still leaching into the Mediterranean.
Europe's environmental watchdog called for greater controls on the way chemicals are used, and better monitoring of marine health. As well as the damage to human health, the toxins found in Europe's seas are affecting marine animals.
Johnny Reker, lead author of the EEA report, told the Guardian it was important to be vigilant about potential new contaminants, as well as the existing ones. "Every two and a half minutes a new chemical is created, and we do not know the effects," he said. "New pharmaceuticals are coming all the time, and getting into waste water. This is an emerging problem but we do not know what the effects will be."
He cited the example of Germany, where young men have been found to produce only a third of the sperm that German men did 30 years ago. He said: "It remains difficult to prove a causal link between specific contaminants and the reduction of fertility. However, results from animal experiments and human health monitoring programmes indicate that the presence of endocrine disruptors in the environment, such as PCBs, may be partially responsible for this reduction in fertility."
Mercury from coal-fired power stations continued to pollute Europe's seas, despite the closure of many plants and technology to reduce mercury emissions, said Reker. "These things do not disappear when they get into the sea," he said.
Dioxin has also been found in the waters of the Baltic, where it accumulates in the flesh of fatty fish such as salmon and herring. Pregnant women have been advised not to eat these as a result, or cut down their intake, as dioxin can restrict growth, cause cancer and adversely affect the immune system. Phthalates, used in plastics, which can act as endocrine disruptors, have been found in the Baltic and Atlantic.
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Tags: chemicals, Europe's, harmful, Heavy, Metals, Poison, Seas
Senators Press U.S. Arms Control Officials On Fate Of Treaties
China's rover peeks under the crust of the far side of the moon
US deploys 1000 more troops to Middle East, citing 'hostile behaviour' from Iran
Farming UK
UK POLLING


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Earlier this week, I joined with business, education and government partners at an important announcement by Mayor Jonathan Rothschild: Tucson would join more than two dozen major U.S. cities in the Cities for Citizenship initiative.
The mayor explained that people who want to become U.S. citizens can face educational and financial hurdles, and that Cities for Citizenship would support those who want to take on the rights and responsibilities that citizenship entails.
The announcement was made at the College's El Pueblo Liberty Learning Center. It was an appropriate venue, as PCC has for years been a provider of effective citizenship education.
After the announcement, Xail Hernandez, a PCC instructor in English Language Acquisition for Adults who also works with our AmeriCorps program, shared information.
Our citizenship classes are part of our Adult Basic Education for College & Career division. All of our classes, including citizenship classes, are free and open to everyone. This year 366 students received more than 3,300 hours on Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship instruction at classes taught at the El Pueblo Liberty Learning Center, El Rio Learning Center, and the 29th Street Coalition Center, as well as several area libraries.
Citizenship instructors are trained volunteers who get ongoing support and professional development. We have some who have volunteered with us for over 15 years.
About 60 of our students have become citizens this year, and two were acknowledged during the announcement of the initiative.
This topic is personal for me. My mother came to the U.S. from South Korea in the 1960s, seeking her vision of the American Dream. My family's story is, at its essence, similar to hundreds of millions of stories in our great country. As one speaker put it, virtually all of us are descended from immigrants.
PCC is eager to help provide the education component to the Cities for Citizenship initiative. We are proud to join with the Mayor's Office, Chicanos Por La Causa, Citi, Vantage West Credit Union, Pima County Library and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to empower new citizens who contribute to the ongoing prosperity and sustainability of our nation.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Adult Education, AmeriCorps, Chicanos Por La Causa, Citi, Cities for Citizenship, citizenship, English Language Acquisition for Adults, Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, Pima County Library], U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services, Vantage West Credit Union on November 18, 2016 by pimachancellor.


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Nevada case shows former Wynn executives knew…
Nevada case shows former Wynn executives knew of harassment
By State House News Service |
PUBLISHED: February 5, 2019 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: July 11, 2019 at 12:00 a.m.
BOSTON — Wynn Resorts has admitted in a settlement with Nevada gaming regulators that some of its former executives were aware of sexual misconduct allegations against former CEO Steve Wynn and did not take steps to investigate the claims.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board detailed a series of allegations against Steve Wynn dating back to 2005 and continuing as recently as 2014, including allegations that Wynn raped a Wynn Salon employee in 2005 and sexually harassed three other employees who gave him massages. In each instance, Nevada regulators concluded that specific executives at Wynn Resorts became aware of the allegations but "failed to initiate and/or conduct an investigation."
The settlement, announced Monday, comes while the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is sitting on a report detailing the findings of its own investigation into the allegations against Steve Wynn and whether Wynn Resorts failed to properly act on the allegations and disclose to them to Massachusett regulators.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission's report will be the foundation upon which regulators decide whether to revoke the Greater Boston area casino license awarded to Wynn Resorts in 2014. The report is on hold pending the outcome of a lawsuit Steve Wynn filed against the commission, but Wynn Resorts' roughly $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor casino in Everett is 90 percent complete and plans to open this summer.
"The MGC is closely reviewing the investigative conclusions issued by the Nevada Gaming Control Board," Gaming Commission Director of Communications Elaine Driscoll said. "We are committed to and actively engaged in resolving the litigation in Nevada. We remain eager to present our investigatory findings publicly as soon as possible."
The Nevada Gaming Control Board said its investigation "discovered multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and/or sexual harassment against Mr. Wynn." The complaint details the alleged 2005 rape of a manicurist by Wynn and the subsequent $7.5 million settlement — which was not disclosed to Massachusetts regulators during the licensing process.
Nevada regulators concluded that former Wynn president and chief operating officer Marc Schorr, former vice president Doreen Whennen and former senior vice president Arte Nathan were aware of the allegation at or around the time they were initially made.
State House News Service
Spicy! State Rep. Vanna Howard hosts spice drive at Lowell pantry
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Chairmen Broun and Harris Probe Impacts of Delays and Cost Overruns on Nation's Weather Satellites
Posted: Thursday, June 28, 2012
Washington, D.C. - Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight Chairman Paul Broun (R-GA) and Subcommittee on Energy and Environment Chairman Andy Harris (R-MD) held a hearing today on the status of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) polar-orbiting and geostationary weather satellites.
Two Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports on the respective satellite systems were released at the hearing:
- Geostationary Weather Satellites, Design Progress Made, but Schedule Uncertainty Needs to be Addressed (GAO-12-576)
- Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellites, Changing Requirements, Technical Issues, and Looming Data Gaps Require Focused Attention (GAO-12-604)
Speaking to the GAO finding that there may be a data gap in coverage for both polar-orbiting and geostationary weather satellites, Chairman Broun noted that "A gap in one program is bad enough. A gap in both programs would be catastrophic."
NOAA previously partnered with the Department of Defense (DoD) to operate a constellation of satellites in three separate polar orbits (early morning, midmorning, and afternoon) so that measurements are no more than six hours old. In 2010, the Administration split the program so that NOAA would fly a satellite only in the afternoon polar orbit and continue to rely on the European MetOp satellites for the mid morning polar orbit. The DoD has since canceled its plans for a follow-on program, and NOAA indicated that they would not supply sensors to the MetOp follow-on program. The GAO report states, "recent events have made the future of this constellation uncertain."
The GAO also indicated during the hearing that further Congressional oversight would be needed for the polar-orbiting weather satellites in three areas; 1) how NOAA will deliver the system under the life-cycle cost cap of $12.9 billion when recent cost estimates indicate $14.6 billion for the full program; 2) the planning for additional free flyer satellites; and 3) the future health of the entire constellation.
Chairman Harris also questioned the witnesses about alternatives to the troubled programs. At a prior hearing this year on NOAA weather data, a panel of outside experts all recommended that NOAA undertake an OSSE (Observing System Simulation Experiment), which would quantitatively evaluate different capabilities and options to determine the best mix of systems NOAA should pursue. Chairman Harris said, "Absent an OSSE, NOAA is basing its weather data planning mostly on subjective opinions... While there are no easy answers to this dilemma, and the choices we make will require significant effort and evaluation, we must accept the status quo cannot continue."
The following witnesses testified today:
The Honorable Kathryn Sullivan, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction and Deputy Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Mr. Marcus Watkins, Director, Joint Agency Satellite Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mr. David A. Powner, Director, Information Technology Management Issues, Government Accountability Office


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Racial Profiling Paper
Racial profiling is a biased practice where law enforcement agents or officials target some defined individuals as being suspects to criminal activities. The law enforcement officials use a person's religion, ethnicity, race or nation of origin as the defining factors in conducting a racial profiling. In United States, racial profiling is a common practice.
It is most common in the policing department. Racial profiling came into the limelight in the 1990s when the media published how the issue is deep rooted in the police force. The media claimed that the police use a person's race, religion and country of origin as the prime aspects in determining individuals most likely to involve in criminal activities. It made most of the color communities living in the United States label the phenomena of racial profiling as "driving while black" or "driving while brown"
According to several surveys done in the United States of America, most Americans regardless of their religion, race or country of origin reported that racial profiling exists, and it forms one of the many social problems experienced in America. Racial profiling is deep rooted in the police departments and followed by employed guards both in public and private organizations. Road blocks police and highway patrol police officers often stops and requests communities of color to pull over for closer scrutiny. Most importantly, many of African American citizens who drive in United States complain that police officers often make them stop for no apparent reason. They believe that they are stopped by police officers in the streets and roads simply because of their race. Kolender et al. v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352 (1983).
Why Racial Profiling Is Common
The justification given by law enforcement officers, such as the police and private or public guards for conducting racial profiling is that communities of color in America are more in criminal activities. According to them, this is evident in the composition of inmates in prisons. In most of the American detention centers, communities of color living in the United States form a large percentage of inmates serving jail terms. This makes many of the law enforcement officials treat communities of color with more caution. They thoroughly scrutinize them on road blocks or other vital security check points such as in airport. Kolender et al. v. Lawson. 1983
Racial profiling intensified in America due to an increase in street crimes and international terrorism. Racial profiling became something of more concern after September 9th terrorist attacks in America. Racial profiling for individuals of Arab descent became heightened because it was assumed that people of Arabic origin were responsible for this attack. They were placed under extreme inspection by law enforcement officials.
Reason Why Racial Profiling Should Not Be Practiced
Racial profiling should not be encouraged in American. Race, ethnicity, and religion are not supposed to be used as the parameters of determining or identifying people who pose a security threat in America as there have been whites who have been found guilty of more solemn offenses. Even whites have the capability to commit domestic terrorist attacks. Furthermore, foreign terrorists targeting America may collaborate with local white Americans to conduct their terrorism activities on United States soil. All people should thus be put under the same scrutiny so as to counter criminal activities in the United States.
Impact of the Supreme Court Decision in Whren v. United States
The Supreme Court has the final say in the interpretation of any law in the constitution. The Supreme Court interpretation of legal practices allowing traffic stops by police officers was made in 1996 court case of Whren V. United States. In this case, the court was asked to determine whether a vehicle search was constitutional. In its response, the court said that a traffic offence by any driver is enough to warrant a search. The court mentioned that this was regardless of the law enforcement officer true motivations or intentions of the search. This ruling by the Supreme Court had an impact on racial profiling. It allowed or gave a go ahead for a pretextual stop by a law enforcement officer. An officer will stop an individual simply because of race, ethnicity or country of origin. Then, the officer will use a minor traffic infraction as a reason for stopping an individual. In the real sense, the officer will have stopped the person due to his race, ethnicity, or religion. Whren et al. v. United States, 1996.
Sociology and History
Should State or Federal Law Regulate Assisted Reproduction
Gainsharing Programs
Gambling and Crime
End-User Privacy in HCI


Patano Studio developed this affordable housing concept for a housing trust located in the Methow Valley. The trust was looking for a plan that would be energy efficient, durable, safe, healthy, economical, designed to create a "sense of place," and foster community amongst its neighbors. Additionally, they requested project be phased with the goal of building five affordable homes by the end of 2018. Eventually, the site is proposed to have 15 homes that are ADA ready or adaptable, and are a mix of 2-Bedroom/1 bath (<900ft2) and 3-Bedroom/1 bath (<1,100ft2) homes.
The phenomenal, walkable site, allowed for a maximum of 16 dwellings per acre. Given the growing regional demand for affordable housing and the trust's tight budget – Patano Studio proposed a scheme that fulfills and exceeds all of their requested criteria. The studio proposed that the trust build groups of Passive House townhouses that would be organized along community gardens and green spaces. The erection of townhomes would reduce construction costs, increase the development capacity of the lot without exceeding 33% lot coverage, simplify meeting the demanding Passive House standard while maximizing community/open space.
The Passive House approach is defined by its rigorous energy efficiency standards ensuring occupant comfort, durability, and energy savings. While Passive House is relatively new in the United States it is currently being implemented across Europe in vast numbers of affordable and social housing developments with the potential of being de rigueur for all. It is a physics-based approach, rather than an ineffective checklist standard. It verifies that the building's efficiency works comprehensively, and is backed by decades of building science.
The surface area-to-volume ratio of 1- and 2-story cottages is high, increasing both construction and energy costs. In order to meet the construction budget and provide a buoy against energy poverty in the face of climate change and rising energy costs, Patano Studio recommends that the townhouses meet the rigorous Passive House standard. Passive House is an ultra-low energy standard that far exceeds the Washington State Energy Code, and would ensure that the project meets the minimum requirements of the Evergreen checklist on the energy portion alone, even before adding renewables. This approach would also significantly increase durability for the life of the building. The reduction of thermal bridging and the superinsulated roof required to meet Passive House would prevent ice dams from forming on the roof. Which provides an additional strategy to reduce long term maintenance costs and ensure project durability.
Thermal Bridge-Free Construction: Optimized structural connections, eliminating potential for mold growth and rot. Comfort Ventilation w/ Heat Recovery: Fresh, filtered, pre-heated air ensuring a high level of occupant comfort.
Airtight Construction: Measures to eliminate air leakage, reduce drafts, and ensure long term durability of the building. Thermal Insulation: Optimized insulation to reduce heat loss and ensure high levels of occupant comfort.
High Performance Windows: Triple pane windows reduce heat loss and air leakage, and condensation buildup.
By meeting the Passive House standard, heating costs for the 900 SF homes will be below $80 per year at present Okanogan PUD residential rates, and below $100 per year for the 1100 SF homes. Total energy costs anticipated for larger-sized unit would be under $280 per year (4,172 kWh * $0.06648/kWh), but this is dependent upon resident education and driven largely by plug loads. This means a 3kWh photovoltaic system would produce as much energy as consumed for the 900 SF homes, and a 4kWh photovoltaic system for the 1100 SF homes.


STOP ON BY AND SEE THE NEW PLACE!!
but updates will continue to be made as our budget allows.
The photos below are of the new property BEFORE construction was started.
There have been MANY updates since then!


And more importantly, passionate about lashes? If you have answered yes to any of the above and you want to be a part of our awesome team, we would love to hear from you!
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Please note: We cannot guarantee 100% approval for everyone due to the limited amount of FREE products we will be giving away. However, once you've submitted your info & qualification, we will always keep you in mind for future opportunities. Look forward to hearing from you!