text:
\section{Introduction}
One of the major goals of high energy heavy-ion collisions
is to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting
nuclear matter at high temperature and density.
At large temperature $T$
and zero baryon chemical potential $\mu_B$, the lattice quantum chromodynamics (LQCD)
predicts a smooth cross-over transition from hadronic to a quark gluon plasma (QGP) phase~\cite{Aoki:2006we}.
While at large $\mu_B$ a first order phase transition is
expected~\cite{Asakawa:1989bq, Alford:1997zt, Ejiri:2008xt, Bowman:2008kc}.
Therefore, there should be a critical point (CP), the end point of the
first order phase boundary towards the crossover
region~\cite{Fodor:2004nz, Gavai:2004sd, Stephanov:2004wx}.
The beam energy scan (BES) program is currently ongoing at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider
(RHIC) facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory to locate the QCD CP.

Fluctuations of conserved charges in heavy-ion collisions like baryon number,
electric charge, strangeness quantum number are sensitive observables
for the CP search~\cite{Stephanov:1999zu, Stephanov:2008qz, Stephanov:2011pb, Gupta:2011wh}.
The non-monotonic variation of these quantities with the colliding
beam energy is regarded as one of the characteristic signature in
presence of the CP. The STAR collaboration at RHIC has measured the fluctuation
observables related to the net-proton (a proxy for net-baryon), net-charge and
net-kaon (a proxy for net-strangeness) distribution~\cite{Adamczyk:2013dal,
  Adamczyk:2014fia, Adamczyk:2017wsl}.
The product of $\it{S}\sigma$ and $\kappa\sigma^{2}$ for the measured net-proton
distribution in central Au-Au collisions qualitatively show non-monotonic dependence on the beam
energy.  Since uncertainties in the measurements at lower
$\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$ are large, the evidence for the existence of   a CP is not yet conclusive.
The product of moments of the net-number
  distributions are also related to the susceptibilities of conserved charges which can be computed in
LQCD~\cite{Gavai:2008zr,Cheng:2008zh, Gupta:2011wh,Bazavov:2012jq, Bazavov:2012vg, Borsanyi:2013hza} and in the
hadron resonance gas (HRG) models~\cite{Karsch:2010ck, Garg:2013ata, Fu:2013gga,
Bhattacharyya:2013oya, Alba:2014eba, Adak:2016jtk, Bluhm:2018aei,Bellwied:2018tkc}.

HRG model has several varieties.
Some of the HRG models consider interaction among the constituent
hadrons and some do not.
Different versions of this model and some of the recent work using
these models
may be found in Refs. \cite{Hagedorn:1980kb, Rischke:1991ke,Venugopalan:1992hy,
Cleymans:1992jz, BraunMunzinger:1994xr, Cleymans:1996cd, Yen:1997rv, BraunMunzinger:1999qy,
Cleymans:1999st, BraunMunzinger:2001ip, BraunMunzinger:2003zd, Karsch:2003zq, Tawfik:2004sw,
Becattini:2005xt, Andronic:2005yp, Andronic:2008gu,Begun:2012rf, Andronic:2012ut,
Tiwari:2011km,Wiranata:2013oaa, Fu:2013gga, Tawfik:2013eua, Garg:2013ata, Bhattacharyya:2013oya,
Bhattacharyya:2015zka,Chatterjee:2013yga,Chatterjee:2014ysa,Chatterjee:2014lfa,Becattini:2012xb,Bugaev:2013sfa,Petran:2013lja,
Vovchenko:2014pka,Bhattacharyya:2015pra, Kapusta:2016kpq,Begun:2016cva,Adak:2016jtk,
Xu:2016skm,Fu:2016baf,
Vovchenko:2015xja, Vovchenko:2015vxa, Vovchenko:2015pya,Broniowski:2015oha,Vovchenko:2015idt,
Redlich:2016dpb,Vovchenko:2016rkn,Alba:2016fku,
Samanta:2017ohm,Sarkar:2017ijd,Bhattacharyya:2017gwt,Chatterjee:2017yhp,Alba:2016hwx,
Vovchenko:2017zpj, Vovchenko:2017cbu,Dash:2018can, Dash:2018mep}.
The HRG model is successful in describing the zero chemical potential LQCD data on bulk
properties of the QCD matter up to temperatures $T \sim 150$ MeV
~\cite{Borsanyi:2011sw, Bazavov:2012jq, Bazavov:2014pvz,Bellwied:2013cta, Bellwied:2015lba}.
This model is also successful in describing the hadron yields,
created in central heavy ion collisions at different $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$
~\cite{BraunMunzinger:1994xr, Cleymans:1996cd, Cleymans:1999st,
Andronic:2005yp,Adamczyk:2017iwn}. Recently, van der Waals (VDW) type interaction with both attractive and repulsive
parts have been introduced in HRG model ~\cite{Vovchenko:2015xja, Vovchenko:2015vxa, Vovchenko:2015pya, Redlich:2016dpb,
Vovchenko:2016rkn, Samanta:2017yhh}. This model predicts a first order
liquid-gas phase transition along with a CP. Further, this
model can describe Lattice QCD data of different thermodynamical quantities
satisfactorily.
For the study of fluctuation of conserved charges,
the HRG model is generally used to obtain a
baseline for CP search in the experiments. In this regard, the VDWHRG model
may bring in additional dimensions, as it has the capability to
capture both the attractive interactions (important for CP physics)
and the repulsive interactions due to finite size of the hadrons.

In the present work, we have extracted attractive and repulsive
parameters in the VDWHRG model by fitting the experimental data on
net-proton number fluctuation measured by the STAR collaboration in
BES program at RHIC to the corresponding model results. This then allows for
the first time to get an estimate of the changes in the relative
contributions of the strength of repulsive and attractive interactions
with $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$ in Au-Au collisions at RHIC.

The paper is organized in the following manner. In the next section we
discuss ideal (non interacting) HRG and the VDWHRG models.
In Sec.~\ref{Sc.Fluctuation}, we discuss the experimental observables
related to the fluctuation of conserved charge.
Then in the Sec.~\ref{Sc:Extraction} we
discuss the methodology to extract van der Waals parameters of the VDWHRG model
and the results. Finally in Sec. \ref{Sc:Summary} we summaries our
findings.

\section{Model}
In this section we will briefly discuss the ideal HRG (IHRG) and the VDWHRG models.

\subsection{IHRG model}
In the ideal HRG model, the thermal system consists of non-interacting
points like hadrons and resonances.
The logarithm of the partition function of a hadron resonance gas
in the grand canonical ensemble can be written as
\begin {equation}
 \ln Z^{id}=\sum_i \ln Z_i^{id},
\end{equation}
where the sum is over all the hadrons and resonances.
$id$ refers to ideal {\it i.e.}, non-interacting HRG model.
For particle species $i$,
\begin{equation}\label{Eq:partition_fn}
 \ln Z_i^{id}=\pm \frac{Vg_i}{2\pi^2}\int_0^\infty p^2\,dp \ln[1\pm\exp(-(E_i-\mu_i)/T)],
\end{equation}
where $V$ is the volume of the system,
$g_i$ is the degeneracy, $E_i = \sqrt{p^2 + m_i^2}$
is the single particle energy, $m_i$ is the mass of the particle
and $\mu_i=B_i\mu_B+S_i\mu_S+Q_i\mu_Q$ is the
chemical potential. The $B_i,S_i,Q_i$ are respectively
the baryon number, strangeness and electric charge of the particle,
$\mu^,s$ are the corresponding chemical potentials.
The upper and lower signs of $\pm$ in Eq.~\ref{Eq:partition_fn}
correspond to fermions and bosons, respectively.
We have incorporated all the hadrons and resonances listed in the particle
data book up to a mass of 3 GeV~\cite{Patrignani:2016xqp}.
Once we know the partition function of the system
we can calculate other thermodynamic quantities.
The pressure is related to the partition function by the following relation:

\begin{align}\label{eq:p}
  \begin{split}
   p^{id}&=\sum_i \frac{T}{V}\ln Z_i^{id}\\
   &=\sum_i (\pm)\frac{g_iT}{2\pi^2}\int_0^\infty p^2\,dp \ln[1\pm\exp(-(E_i-\mu_i)/T)],
  \end{split}
\end{align}

The $\mathrm {n^{th}}$ order susceptibility can be calculated once we know the pressure
using the formula,
\begin{equation}\label{Eq:chi}
 \chi^n_q = \frac{\partial^n {((p/T^4))}}{\partial {(\frac{\mu_q}{T})}^n}
\end{equation}
where $\mu_q$ is the chemical potential for the charge $q$
which can be any conserved quantity like
B (baryon), S (strangeness), and Q (electric charge) etc.

\subsection{VDWHRG model}
In IHRG model, hadrons and resonances are point-like non-interacting particles.
However, interaction is needed especially at very high temperature or chemical
potential where ideal gas assumption becomes inadequate. Further
hadrons physically have finite sizes. To catch the basic
qualitative features of a strongly interacting system of gas of hadrons, van der Waals type
interaction is incorporated in the VDWHRG model.
The van der Waals equation in the canonical ensemble is given by
\cite{Book_griener}
\begin{equation}\label{eq:vanderWaals}
 \left(p + \left(\frac{N}{V}\right)^2 a \right) (V-Nb) = NT,
\end{equation}
where $p$ is the pressure of the system, $N$ is the number of particles
and $a,b$ (both positive) are the van der Waals parameters. The parameters
$a$ and $b$ describe the attractive and repulsive interaction
respectively. Higher the value of $a$, the greater the attraction between hadrons
and more probable for a phase transition.
The Eq. \ref{eq:vanderWaals} can be written as

\begin{equation}\label{eq:p}
 p(T,n) = \frac{NT}{V-bN} -a\left(\frac{N}{V}\right)^2 \equiv \frac{nT}{1-bn} - an^2,
\end{equation}
where $n \equiv N/V$ is the number density of particles.
The first term in the right-hand side of the Eq. \ref{eq:p}
corresponds to the excluded volume correction where
the system volume is replaced by the available volume $V_{av} = V -bN$,
where $b = \frac{16}{3} \pi r^3$ is the proper volume of particles with $r$
being corresponding hard sphere radius of the particle.
The second term in Eq. \ref{eq:p} corresponds to the attractive interaction between particles.
The importance of van der Waals equation is that this analytical model
can describe first-order liquid-gas phase transition of a real gas
which ends at the critical point.
Such a feature is also an expectation for the QCD phase diagram at
larger $\mathrm {\mu_{B}}$ which corresponds to lower  $\sqrt{\mathrm
  {s_{NN}}}$ in the experiments.

The van der Waals equation of state in the Grand canonical ensemble
can be written as \cite{Vovchenko:2015xja, Vovchenko:2015vxa}
\begin{equation}\label{Eq:p_VWD}
 p(T,\mu) = p^{id}(T,\mu^*) - an^2, ~~ \mu^* = \mu - bp(T,\mu) -abn^2 + 2an,
\end{equation}
where $n \equiv n(T,\mu)$ is the particle number density of the van der Waals gas:
\begin{equation}
n \equiv n(T,\mu) \equiv \left(\frac{\partial p}{\partial \mu}\right)_T = \frac{n^{id}(T,\mu^*)}{1 + bn^{id}(T,\mu^*)}.
\end{equation}
Susceptibilities in the VDWHRG model can be calculated by putting pressure
of Eq.~\ref{Eq:p_VWD} into the Eq.~\ref{Eq:chi}.
In the VDWHRG model, the interactions exist between all pairs of
baryons and all pair of anti-baryons only. The mesons are non-interacting
in this model.

Several methods have been proposed to fix the van der Waals parameters
in VDWHRG model.
In the Ref. ~\cite{Vovchenko:2015vxa} the VDW parameters $a$ and $b$ (or $r$) have
been fixed by reproducing the saturation density $n_0 = 0.16$ fm$^{−3}$ and
binding energy $E/N = $ 16 MeV of
the ground state of nuclear matter. The parameters thus obtained in this method
are $a = 329$ MeV fm$^3$ and $r = 0.59$ fm~\cite{Vovchenko:2015vxa}.
The model predicts a first order liquid-gas phase transition which has a CP
at $T = 19.7$ GeV and $\mu_B = 908$ MeV~\cite{Vovchenko:2015vxa}.
While in Ref.~\cite{Samanta:2017yhh}, $a$ and $r$ have been fixed
by fitting the LQCD data at zero chemical potential. The values of the VDW
parameters in this model are $a = 1250 \pm 150$ MeV
fm$^3$ and $r = 0.7 \pm 0.05$ fm. A liquid-gas phase transition is observed in this
model as well with a CP at $T = 62.1$ MeV and $\mu_B = 708$ MeV.

\begin{figure*}
\centering
 \includegraphics[width=0.32\textwidth]{a_r_new_all.eps}
 \includegraphics[width=0.32\textwidth]{chi2.eps}
 \caption{(Left) $1 \sigma$ contours of the
 van der Waals parameters in $r, a$ plane, at different $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$
extracted from the experimental data of
$\sigma^2/M$, $S\sigma$ and $\kappa\sigma^2$ of net-proton
(VDW parameter Set-1),
(Right) minima of the $\chi^2$ at different $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$.}
\label{fig:a_r_all}
 \end{figure*}

\begin{table}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|}
\hline
VDW parameter &Experimental data used\\
\hline
Set-1 &$\sigma^2/M, S \sigma, \kappa \sigma^2$ \\
Set-2 &$ S \sigma, \kappa \sigma^2$ \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{Sets of van der Waals parameters and the corresponding experimental
data of net-proton fluctuation used.}
\label{tableLabel1}
\end{table}

\section{Fluctuation observables}\label{Sc.Fluctuation}

\begin{figure*}
\centering
 \includegraphics[width=0.32\textwidth]{c21}
 \includegraphics[width=0.32\textwidth]{c32}
 \includegraphics[width=0.32\textwidth]{c42}
 \caption{ $\sigma^2/M$, $S\sigma$ and $\kappa\sigma^2$ of net-proton
 in the VDWHRG model with the parameter Set-1. Results are compared
 with the experimental data of net-proton fluctuations for $0-5 \%$
 Au + Au collisions measured by the STAR
collaboration at RHIC~\cite{Adamczyk:2013dal}.
Errors on data points are systematic and statistical errors added in quadrature and
errors on model results are obtained by considering the values at $\chi^2_{min}+1$.}
 \label{fig:ratio_cum_all}
 \end{figure*}

Experimentally fluctuations of conserved charges are obtained by
measuring the conserved number (net-charge or net-baryon or
net-strangeness) on the event-by-event basis within a certain
rapidity $y$ and transverse momentum $p_T$ acceptance.
The net-number of the conserved quantity takes different values for
each event and hence gives a distribution when measured for a large
number of events. Mean of the distribution is the event average of the net-number
of the conserved charge. i.e.,
\begin{equation}
M_q=\left\langle N_q \right \rangle.
\end{equation}
The $\mathrm {n^{th}}$ order central moment is defined as
\begin{equation}
 \delta{N_q}^n = \left\langle \left( N_q - \left\langle N_q \right\rangle \right)^n \right\rangle.
\end{equation}
The mean ($M_q$), variance
($\sigma_q^2$), skewness ($S_q$) and kurtosis ($\kappa_q$) of distribution
of the conserved charge
are related to the central moments of the distribution and also to
different order of the corresponding susceptibilities by
the following relations:
\begin{equation}\label{eq:mean}
M_q = VT^3\chi_q^1,
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eq:variance}
 \sigma_q^2=\left\langle(\delta{ N_q})^2\right\rangle=VT^3\chi_q^2,
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eq:skewness}
 S_q=\frac{\left\langle(\delta{ N_q})^3\right\rangle}{\sigma_q^3}=\frac{VT^3\chi_q^3}{(VT^3\chi_q^2)^{3/2}},
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eq:kurtosis}
 \kappa_q=\frac{\left\langle(\delta{ N_q})^4\right\rangle}{\sigma_q^4}-3=\frac{VT^3\chi_q^4}{(VT^3\chi_q^2)^2}.
\end{equation}
The mean, variance, skewness are respectively estimations of the most
probable value, width, asymmetry and the peakedness of the
distribution, respectively.
The kurtosis indicates the sharpness of a distribution compared
with the Gaussian distribution (for which all the moments higher than
second order are zero).
From Eqs. \ref{eq:mean} - \ref{eq:kurtosis}, volume independent ratios can be defined as:
\begin{subequations}
\label{allequations}
\begin{eqnarray}
&\sigma_q^2/M_q = \chi_q^2/\chi_q^1,\label{equationa}
\\
&S_q \sigma_q = \chi_q^3/\chi_q^2,\label{equationb}
\\
&\kappa_q \sigma_q^2 = \chi_q^4/\chi_q^2\label{equationc}.
\end{eqnarray}
\end{subequations}
The left-hand side quantities in Eqs. \ref{allequations} can be measured in the experiments while
the right hand-side quantities can be calculated in models like
VDWHRG. As already mentioned, non-monotonic variations of these quantities  with
beam energy ($\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$) are believed to be good signatures of a
phase transition and CP.
The STAR collaboration has published all of the above-mentioned
observables for the net-proton, net-charge and net-kaon distributions at different energies
ranging from $7.7$ GeV to $200$ GeV and at various centralities
\cite{Adamczyk:2013dal, Adamczyk:2014fia, Adamczyk:2017wsl}.
Similar observables for net-charge have been reported by
the PHENIX collaboration~\cite{Adare:2015aqk}. For the current study,
we use only the published results for the net-proton number
distribution in central Au-Au collisions
from the STAR experiment and not the
subsequent preliminary unpublished results (as these could be subject
to changes). We have not considered the net-kaon and
net-charge results as they have large uncertainties and
the later has dominant contributions from resonance decay
effects~\cite{Garg:2013ata}. We have also not used the net-charge results from the
PHENIX experiment as the acceptance for those
measurements ($|y| < 0.35$) are much smaller compared to STAR ($|y| < 0.5$).
Studies suggest, to capture the relevant physics processes like CP it is ideally required
to have acceptance of at least 1 unit in rapidity~\cite{Jeon:2000wg}. Further, it
has been suggested that net-proton number is a sensitive observable
for CP physics~\cite{Hatta:2003wn}.

\section{Extraction of van der Waals parameters from experimental data}\label{Sc:Extraction}

\begin{figure*}
\centering
 \includegraphics[width=0.32\textwidth]{a_r_new_3242.eps}
 \includegraphics[width=0.32\textwidth]{chi2_3242.eps}
 \caption{(Left) $1 \sigma$ contours of the van der Waals parameter
 in $r,a$ plane at different $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$
extracted from  $S\sigma$ and $\kappa\sigma^2$ of net-proton
(Set-2), (Right) minima of $\chi^2$ at different $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$.}
\label{fig:a_r_3242}
 \end{figure*}

\begin{figure*}
\centering
 \includegraphics[width=0.32\textwidth]{c21_3242.eps}
 \includegraphics[width=0.32\textwidth]{c32_3242.eps}
 \includegraphics[width=0.32\textwidth]{c42_3242.eps}
 \caption{ Same as Fig.~\ref{fig:ratio_cum_all} but for the
 parameter Set-2.}
 \label{fig:ratio_cum_3242}
 \end{figure*}

In this work, we have extracted the attractive and repulsive
parameters, $a$ and $r$, of the
VDWHRG model from the fluctuation observables of net protons measured
by the STAR collaboration~\cite{Adamczyk:2013dal}.
The $T$ and the $\mu_B$ at the chemical
freeze-out can be parametrized by the following functions~\cite{Cleymans:2005xv}:
\begin{equation}
 T (\mu_B) = a - b \mu_B^2 -c \mu_B^4,
\end{equation}
where $a = (0.166 \pm 0.002)$ GeV, $b = (0.139 \pm 0.016)~\text{GeV}^{-1}$,
$c = (0.053 \pm 0.021)~\text{GeV}^{-3}$ and
\begin{equation}
 \mu_B(\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}) = \frac{d}{1 + e \sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}},
\end{equation}
where $d = 1.308 \pm 0.028~\text{GeV}$ and $e = 0.273 \pm 0.008 ~\text{GeV}^{-1}$.
These chemical freeze-out parameters provide
a good quantitative description of the hadronic yields over a wide
range of $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$. At different $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$ we have used
the chemical freeze-out $T$ and $\mu_B$ from the above mentioned parametrized equations.
To extract the van der Waals parameters $a$ and $r$
at a particular $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$ we have used a $\chi^2$ minimization
technique where $\chi^2$ is defined as
\begin{equation}
\chi^2 = \frac{1}{N} \sum_i^N \frac{\left( O_i^{expt}-O_i^{model} \right)}{\left(\sigma_i^{expt}\right)^2}
\end{equation}
where $O_i^{model}$ is the $\mathrm {i^{th}}$ observable calculated in model
whereas $O_i^{expt}$ and $\sigma_i^{expt}$ are its
experimental value and uncertainty in the measurement respectively.
For the experimental uncertainties, we
have quadratically added the statistical and the systematic errors for the observables.
$N$ in the above equation is the number of observables
used to calculate $\chi^2$. The $1 \sigma$ error of the extracted parameters
correspond to $\chi^2_{min} + 1$.

We have to extract values of two parameters and we have three experimental
observables $\sigma^2/M, S \sigma$ and $\kappa \sigma^2$ of net-proton
distribution for 7 different $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$. Two sets of van
der Waals parameters ($a$ and $r$) have been extracted by fitting the fluctuation observables
in our present analysis which are listed in the Table.~\ref{tableLabel1}.
For the first set  (Set-1), we use $\sigma^2/M, S \sigma$ and
$\kappa \sigma^2$ of net-proton distributions at 0-5 \% centrality in Au + Au collisions measured by the STAR
Collaboration at RHIC~\cite{Adamczyk:2013dal}. For the second set
(Set-2) we have
used the $S \sigma$ and $\kappa \sigma^2$ data. The $S \sigma$ and $\kappa \sigma^2$
are common for both the sets. It may be noted that these two
observables are expected to be more sensitive to the CP physics~\cite{Stephanov:2008qz}.
Net-proton fluctuations were experimentally measured at
mid-rapidity ($|y| < 0.5$) and within the transverse momentum
range $0.4 < p_T < 0.8$ GeV. To incorporate acceptance
cuts in our model, we have written the
$d^3p$ and the single particle energy $E$ as
$d^3p = 2\pi~p_T~m_T~\cosh~y~dy~dp_T$,
and $E = m_T~\cosh y$ where $m_T = \sqrt{p_T^2 +m^2}$.
Then the interaction ranges in $y$ and $p_T$ are chosen
as $-0.5$ to 0.5 and 0.4 to 0.8 GeV respectively to make
the model results comparable with the experimental data.

The left plot of Fig.~\ref{fig:a_r_all} shows the $1 \sigma$ contours of the
van der Waals attractive and repulsive parameters, $a, r$, for Set-1 at
different $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$ from 7.7 GeV up to 200 GeV.
We find that both $a$ and $r$ shows a possibility of reaching maxima at
$\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}} = 19.6$ GeV. It may be noted that the experimental data of $\kappa
\sigma^2$ shows a minimum around this energy. We also find that the repulsive
parameter strength increases as we go down from $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}} = 200$ GeV
to 19.6 GeV. The attractive parameter strength ranges are of similar
order for these energies. However for $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$ = 7.7 GeV to 11.5
GeV both the strengths of $a$ and $r$ shows a decrease relative to
19.6 GeV.
Right plot of Fig.~\ref{fig:a_r_all} shows the minima of the
$\chi^2$ at different $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$.

In Fig.~\ref{fig:ratio_cum_all} we show the variations of
$\sigma^2/M, S\sigma$ and $\kappa \sigma^2$ from the VDWHRG model using the parameter obtained by
fitting the net-proton experimental data Set-1. We also compare the model results with the experimental
data. We observe that with this parameter set, VDWHRG model can
describe $\sigma^2/M$ and $S\sigma$ at all the energies within the
uncertainties.
In addition, the measured $\kappa \sigma^2$ of net-proton distribution can also be described
qualitatively. At $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}= $ 19.6 and 27 GeV, VDWHRG model with
parameters obtained using the data in Set-1 slightly overestimate the
experimental values of $\kappa \sigma^2$ and at all other energies
model and data agree within the uncertainties.

$1 \sigma$ contours of the VDW parameters using the data in Set-2 for different $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$ are
shown in left plot of Fig.~\ref{fig:a_r_3242}.  The data in Set-2 are more
sensitive to CP physics. Here we observe that the attractive VDW
parameter strength becomes large for $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$ = 19.6 and 27
GeV relative to the values obtained at  $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$ = 7.7, 11.5,
39, 62.4 GeV.
The values of the attractive VDW parameter in Set-2 are relatively larger compared to Set-1.
Particularly, at $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}} = 19.6$ GeV, value of $a$ in Set-2 is
double compared to that for Set-1. The larger values of $a$ for the Set-2
indicates that, the higher order fluctuation observables, $S\sigma$ and $\kappa \sigma^2$ are more
sensitive to the attractive interaction than $\sigma^2/M$.
Further, large increase of the attractive interaction near $19.6$ GeV
might be due to the existence of a physics processes where attractive
interactions are dominant such as a CP.
The repulsive VDW parameter varies approximately within 0.4 to 0.75 fm at all the $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$
except $7.7$ GeV where the value $r$  is not well constrained due to
large uncertainties in the measurement.
The maxima of $r$ observed at $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}} = 19.6$ GeV in Set-2 is
comparable to that from the Set-1.
This indicates that sensitive to the  repulsive interaction is of the same order for
the various choice of observables.
Right plot of Fig.~\ref{fig:a_r_3242} shows the minima of the
$\chi^2$ at different $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}}$.

Figure~\ref{fig:ratio_cum_3242} shows the variations of
$\sigma^2/M, S\sigma$ and $\kappa \sigma^2$ of net-proton in VDWHRG
model using the parameters obtained from the fit to data given in Set-2.
We compare the model results with the experimental data.
It can be seen that, with this parameter set, $\sigma^2/M$ of
net-proton distribution can be described in all the energies except for 200 GeV
where model underestimates the data.
Further, this parameter set can describe $S\sigma$ and $\kappa \sigma^2$
of net-proton distribution measured in all the energies from 7.7 to 200 GeV.

\section{Summary}\label{Sc:Summary}
We have extracted the van der Waals attractive and repulsive
parameters, $a$ and $r$, by fitting the experimental data of fluctuation
observables of net protons measured by the STAR Collaboration using VDWHRG
model. The variation of VDW parameters reflective of the attractive and
repulsive nature of the interactions for the QCD matter produced in
heavy-ion collisions with collision energy has been discussed.
Two sets of ($a, r$) parameters have been extracted. In the
first set (Set-1), we have used $\sigma^2/M, S\sigma$ and $\kappa \sigma^2$
of net-proton. In another set (Set-2) we have used only  $S\sigma$ and $\kappa \sigma^2$
of net-proton. We have incorporated the proper experimental acceptances in our
calculation.  We have observed that the higher order fluctuation observables $S\sigma$
and $\kappa \sigma^2$ are more sensitive to the attractive interaction.
Large increases in the attractive interaction (i.e., $a$)
is observed near $\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}} = 19.6$ GeV, indicates change in
equation-of-state near this energy. Further, we observe that with the
parameter Set-1, VDWHRG model can describe
$\sigma^2/M$ and $S\sigma$ of net-proton in all the energies studied
in this work. The $\kappa \sigma^2$ of net-proton can also
be described qualitatively. On the other hand, with the parameter Set-2,
VDWHRG model can describe $\sigma^2/M$ of net-proton from
$\sqrt{\mathrm {s_{NN}}} = 7.7$ to 62.4 GeV. Not only that,
the $S\sigma$ and $\kappa \sigma^2$ of
net-proton can be described within the error bars
by VDWHRG model in all the energies.

\section*{Acknowledgement}
SS acknowledges financial support from DAE, Government of India. BM
acknowledges support from DST through J. C. Bose Fellowship for this work.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Bill Withers and Lean On Me fill the top chart song spot this week. Song Sung Blue by Neil Diamond finds the runner-up spot. At number three this week is Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose with Too Late To Turn Back Now.


This is a collection of all the files related to the 1.0.0.15 patch. All languages.
This is a collection of all the files related to the 1.5 patch. All languages.
This is a collection of all the files related to the 1.1.0.35 patch. All languages.


text:
Reported by Time
The Woman Who Discovered the Cause of Global Warming Was Long Overlooked. Her Story Is a Reminder to Champion All Women Leading on Climate
We can't let that happen to women working on climate science today, writes Katharine Wilkinson
'He's Got His Own Style.' Handsome Goat Is One of the Most Stylish Guys to Grace Your Eyeballs Lately
Take a lesson in posing for the camera from this farm animal/model
Pamplona's Bull Runs Have a Controversial Past. Do They Still Have a Future?
It takes about three and a half minutes to complete what's perhaps the world's most controversial race. Each year in the second week of July, six bulls are released every day at 8 a.m. into the narrow streets of Pamplona, a city in Spain's northern region of Navarre. Several hundred people set off after them,
It's Time to Remember Stephen Colbert's Highly Amusing Interview With John Paul Stevens
The U.S. Supreme Court Justice stopped by The Colbert Report
El Chapo, the Notorious Drug Kingpin, Has Been Sentenced to Life in Prison in the U.S.
Guzman, 62, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole—the mandatory sentence after he was found guilty in February of all charges stemming from his role in trafficking billions of dollars worth of drugs into the U.S. as a top boss within the Sinaloa cartel.
E.U. Investigates Amazon Over Use of Retailer Info To Gain Competitive Edge
The EU said it was taking "very close look at Amazon's business practices"
How Will Season 2 of Big Little Lies End? These Are the Most Convincing Theories
Here are the most convincing theories about how 'Big Little Lies' could end
U.K. Labour Party Members Take Out Newspaper Advert Accusing Leader of 'Allowing Antisemitism to Grow'
More than 60 members of the UK Labour party have taken out a newspaper advert accusing their leader Jeremy Corbyn of failing to tackle anti-Semitism. The full page advert, published in the Guardian newspaper on Wednesday, was signed by 67 members of the House of Lords. Addressing Corbyn directly, the advert states he has "failed
Here's How the New 'Lion King' Is Different From the Original
From new jokes to Beyoncé's music
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian Imprisoned in Iran, Has Been Moved to a Psychiatric Ward
Her husband fears she may be under pressure to sign denouncements
Pakistan Has Arrested the Suspected Mastermind of the Mumbai Attacks, Days Before Prime Minister Visits U.S.
The arrest comes days ahead of Prime Minister Imran Khan's trip to Washington
A Man Tried to Smuggle Cocaine Into Spain by Hiding It Under His Toupee
His nervous appearance and unusually large hairpiece aroused suspicion

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Conspiracy Theories that Would Shock Shane Dawson
Arts & Culture, The Latest
February 12, 2020 by Evelyn Sharma
The world is a complicated place filled with mysteries and coincidences. While people often turn to trusted evidence and logic to address these topics, there is also an underworld of conspiracy theories ranging from thought-provoking to very strange. While you might have heard theories about a faked moon landing, a flat Earth, or alien research at Area 51, there are many more creative and obscure ideas out there. With this in mind, here are four interesting conspiracy theories that you can decide if you believe in for yourself.
1.Keanu Reeves is Immortal
The actor Keanu Reeves is only 53 years old, but due to his resemblance to historical figures such as Charlamagne and Paul Monet, many theorize that he is immortal. In addition to Keanu Reeves, there are many other similar conspiracies of immortality revolving around other celebrities as well. Celebrities who are believed to be immortal or inhuman include stars like Will Smith, Nicholas Cage, and Ariana Grande, who some have speculated is an alien.
2. There is a Reptilian Elite Secretly Running the World
There is a very interesting conspiracy theory that claims there are shape-shifting humanoid reptilians living among us, posing as everyday people with the intent of taking over the world. Conspiracists believe that these humanoids occupy varying identities, from actors and celebrities to leaders with positions of power in our governments. According to Time.com, these reptilians, called Annunaki, " have controlled humankind since ancient times; they count among their number Queen Elizabeth, George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, Bill and Hillary Clinton and Bob Hope." Interesting…
3. Paul McCartney is Dead
Now that he's a bit older, this isn't so shocking, but it would have been in 1966 when Beatles fans theorized that Paul McCartney secretly died. Theorists claim that the band decided to cover up his death because the Beatles were at the height of their success, employing someone who looked and sounded like Paul. Many read into lyrics of famous songs, believing that the band continued to reference Paul McCartney's death in multiple songs of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band. One example of this theory are the words "Paul is dead, miss him, miss him" played backwards in "A Day in the Life." According to Content.time.com, others note that at the end of "Strawberry Fields Forever," it sounds like John Lennon says "I buried Paul." However, Lennon has denied this, claiming he was actually saying "cranberry sauce."
4. The Titanic
The tragic sinking of the Titanic in 1912 was a historic event, and its influential impact prompted many conspiracies. According to History.com, theories include that the real Titanic never really sank and that the ship that capsized was a fake, that a mummy's curse brought on the sinking of the ship, and that "J.P. Morgan planned the disaster to kill his rivals."
These theories are just a few of the many interesting and unorthodox conspiracies out there. Questioning the world around us is human nature, and theories like these can widen our perspectives, and if not, serve as a thought-provoking and entertaining pastime.
(Copyright 2020 Evelyn Sharma)
Evelyn Sharma is a sophomore and writer for the Oracle whose passions include music, reading, art, and anything else you can express yourself creatively through.
Spotify Club Launched
How to Get a Date
Which Chocolate is the Best Chocolate?
I Can't Breathe
Yay! Food!
The Real Blair Dress Code: A Guide to Dressing Like a Blair Student


text:
You are at:Home»Afghanistan»Reality check: Nearly 40 Marines killed in Sangin since September
Reality check: Nearly 40 Marines killed in Sangin since September
By Dan Lamothe on	 January 24, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, Sangin
Hospitalman Stephen Wescott, of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, provides security during a Jan. 10 patrol in Sangin, Afghanistan. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Dexter S. Saulisbury)
Greetings, readers. It was a slow week on Battle Rattle last week while I covered SHOT Show in Las Vegas for sister blog Gear Scout, but things are back to normal now.
I'd like to start by pointing out the excellent piece published yesterday by the Los Angeles Times about the sacrifices made and dedication show by Marines in Sangin, Afghanistan. It's can't-miss reading for anyone following the war there with any interest.
Several details in the story, by longtime military correspondent Tony Perry, stuck out as noteworthy or relatively new. Some are heartbreaking. Others are heartening. Consider the following:
The report puts the number of casualties in 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., at 24. An additional 140 others have been wounded, with numerous Marines losing limbs and a handful becoming triple-amputees.
Four additional Marines from battalions clearing roads and detonating IEDs in the area also have been killed, Perry reports. Not noted in the story: 3/5 was preceded in Sangin by 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif. That unit had a relatively quiet deployment until it was called on to take over Sangin from British forces in September. They sustained five casualties and more than 150 wounded there, before turning the area over in October, 3/7 Marines said.
A rifle company from 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., was redeployed a month ago to Sangin. Three Marines with the company died within days. The unit has been based mostly in and around Marjah, the former Taliban stronghold in central Helmand where firefights were common last summer before Marines began to tame the area.
As previously reported on Battle Rattle, Marines with the 26th MEU — primarily 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines — will soon deploy to the Sangin area.
That's a lot for anyone to wrap their head around. In total, it also means that nearly 40 Marines have died in Sangin since 3/7 took over for British forces in September.
One last note: A concerned writer noted recently on the Wounded Times blog that a "Prayer Request for Darkhorse" that circulated widely through social networking sites like Facebook included inaccuracies. The request appeared to be based on my October story about the initial casualties that 3/5 sustained.
I don't know how, why or where my initial story with accurate names was adapted, but I assume it was by somebody with the best of intentions. The important thing to note is that while 3/5 did sustain nine casualties in lightning-quick fashion in October, the Marines in Sangin are still in a life-and-death struggle, and deserve to be kept in our thoughts and prayers.
"The enemy is … on the run:" Afghan National Army declares victory amid fighting in Sangin
Pimp My Ride: Afghanistan Edition
Arlington at 150 — Celebrating America's Heroes
K Evans on January 24, 2011 9:41 pm
I asked my son who is in the 3/5 if he had any prayer requests. Yes. PROTECTION! And he and his fellow Marines greatly appreciate everyone's prayers and support. It keeps them going and gives them the strength and motivation to keep doing their missions, even as their friends are killed or severely injured.
chris o on January 24, 2011 11:09 pm
My husband will be there in sangin soon and I am praying for the men and women in 3/5 everyday! I also pray that my husbands deployment will be a safe return!
more or les on January 25, 2011 8:32 am
thanks dan. godspeed to all our marines in sangin and all of our military in afghan and iraq.
3/5 mom
Jodi on January 25, 2011 12:41 pm
Not the article I wanted to read as my 3/8 son heads there, but I appreciate the information and appreciate the prayers even more. Looks like we will all be needing them.
Dan Lamothe on January 25, 2011 12:45 pm
A small update and maybe some good news for you. I'm told that 3/8 will deploy to northern Helmand, where Sangin is, but that they will not be in Sangin. Instead, they're likely to be in the Gereshk Valley, which is a bit farther south and closer to Lashkar Gah, the province's capital. There's more here:
http://blogs.militarytimes.com/battle-rattle/2011/01/25/video-a-salute-to-35s-wounded-warriors/
That's what we were hearing – thank you!
Lee on January 25, 2011 10:55 pm
thats my boy stevie badd ass in that pic! cant wait till you get home bud!
Sully Sullivan on January 26, 2011 12:18 pm
Hey Dan. Read all your postings. I responded 2 or 3 times to that article, was by namguardianangle. she used copy of yours along with her own opinions and was hard to figure the who and what of it had no idea of accurace of names, but the prayer requests were being posted on TWS probably near same time as your article which had been question. she was questioning 9 verses list of twelve listed, 3 of 12 were not marines so much for the math. TWS has all military included in their prayers. We happen to know some of the 3/5 and message them often.
I had just sent moto mail to the squad that I adopted in Echo 2/1 because I felt it important they know whats a
happening with other units. In Nam we hardly had info on the other platoons in my company
keep updating its value and appreciated. email if you want
S/F SULLY
Ashley on January 28, 2011 3:32 pm
Stephen is my cousin! I am so proud of him!
Susan on January 29, 2011 12:31 am
My son was with 2/9 Echo who redeployed to Sangin. Definitely not a place you would like for your loved one to be. I am resting easy as he is finally out of there and will be home next month. I will continue to pray for those who have to be there.
Ken on January 29, 2011 9:15 am
My son was attached to the 3/7. You are correct that the 3/7 moved from Nimroz to Sangin near the end of their deployment. However, I don't think it is correct that they had 6 KIA in Sangin. I read the DOD press releases every day, and my recollection is that the 3/7 suffered 4 KIA during the whole deployment; 3 of those were early in the deployment, as is, unfortunately, typical. Perhaps there were 6 Marine casualties during the time that the 3/7 was in Sangin? If so, those were other units, not 3/7 Marines.
Dan Lamothe on January 29, 2011 1:05 pm
I doublechecked with Marine officials at Camp Leatherneck. They have five 3/7 casualties recorded in Sangin. I've updated the story. Several rank-and-file 3/7 Marines had told us it was six.
Ken on January 30, 2011 1:52 pm
Well, unless I am completely deranged, I have to assume that this includes Marines, such as Engineers, who maybe were embedded with or attached to the 3/7, but not identified as 3/7 in the DOD casualty announcement. The DOD did identify a 3/7 Marine, Lcpl Robert Newton, who died on August 23, but no casualty in September or October was identified as 3/7. Other Marines who made the ultimate sacrifice during these months are identified as 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Combat Assault Battalion, etc. Lcpl Ralph Fabbri from the 1MarDiv HQ Btn died on 09/28. I assume some of these Marines must have been with the 3/7 in Sangin. In which case, I'm glad I did not know this while my son was still in Sangin.
Tom Mitchell on January 31, 2011 10:58 am
Godspeed my 3/5 Brothers and Semper Fi!
Doc Mitchell
K&L 3/5, RVN, 1969
Pingback: Battle Rattle - A Marine Corps Times Blog – 3/4 Marines deploy to Afghanistan
Gracie on April 14, 2011 9:44 pm
I should not have read this article… my fiance is in 3/4 and it sounds like they might be heading to Sangin during this deployment.
cwascovich on June 12, 2011 10:42 pm
how about prayers for the marines of 2/9 who had "cleared up" margrah and then re-deployed to Sangin for the 3/5 and ending up dying 3 weeks short of coming home..1 was my son & why…we heard from men in 2/9
cwascovich on July 18, 2011 9:18 pm
the 2/9
had 15 KIA, 3 after being redeployd to Sangin…they should not have been redeployed..my son died there when his family had made plans for his home coming..they had only 2 weeks before being pulled back..why couldn't the 3/5 have defended themselves
william b greaney on August 4, 2011 4:42 pm
echo 2/8 deployed to sangin in mid january, to give support to 3/5 marines. echo remained in sangin for there entire deployment. in transit as we speak back to N.C. WELL DONE! SAFE HOME
Pingback: Battle Rattle - A Marine Corps Times Blog – 3/4 Marines will be replaced in Afghanistan by British forces
john g gato on August 16, 2011 7:14 pm
My thoughts and prayers go out to all military men and women and their families deployed around the world. My son is in Sangin with 1/5 , since he has been there he has become a father of a baby girl and will spend his 36th birthday there before returning home in October. I know there are hundreds/thousands of such stories like that could be told. All these men and women are making great sacrifices, some have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Pingback: Battle Rattle - A Marine Corps Times Blog – Afghanistan mission for 2/7 Marines evolves


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text:
Steins, New Mexico – A Railroad Ghost Town
Steins, New Mexico Town Site by Kathy Alexander.
Called the Kimball Mining District, several mining camps, with names like Kimball, Pocahontas, and Beck, sprang up along the base of the Peloncillo Range in the late 1870s after the discovery of mixed deposits of gold, silver, lead, and copper, at which time the area began to crawl with prospectors. Steins, however, would be known as a railroad town.
Steins, New Mexico Sign by Kathy Alexander.
In 1878, the Southern Pacific Railroad began to blast away at the rock bluffs of the area, developing a quarry and taking away tons of rock for a new railroad bed. During this time, some 1,000 Chinese railroad workers lived at the foot of Steins Peak.
By 1880, the railway was completed through the area, and the railroad stabled a station near what would become the town of Steins at Steins Pass. For more than a decade, the area was dotted with little more than ramshackle cabins and prospector tents, though Beck's Camp sported a store and a hotel, with buckboard service to the Southern Pacific Station. A Post Office was established at Steins Pass to serve the area in January 1888.
On December 9, 1897, the mining camps were bursting with excitement when the Southern Pacific Sunset Limited was held up at Steins Pass by the Black Jack Ketchum Gang. In the robbery attempt, a trainman named Edward Cullen was killed, and the bandits could escape; however, they made off with no money.
There has been confusion over whether a Stage Station for Butterfield's Overland Mail Company (1858-1861) was located in Steins. According to the research by Gerald T. Ahnert, an authority on the history of this famous line, that confusion probably comes from the fact there was a "Steins Stage Station" at the foot of Stein's Peak, a few miles from the town. The Overland Mail Company ran through Doubtful Canyon, three and a half miles north of town. To confuse things further, the town of Steins is by Steins Mountain and Steins Pass, not Steins Peak.
Steins Area Map, Gerald Ahnert
Although there are many government records from 1858 to 1861 published in Senate Documents by the Postmaster General and reports from newspaper correspondents who were passengers on a Butterfield stage that describe the route and stations, one of the best Ahnert recommends is The Butterfield Overland Mail, Only Through Passenger on the First Westbound Stage, by Waterman L. Ormsby, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Ormsby was a correspondent for the New York Herald.
It is also alleged that the San Antonio & San Diego Mail Route (a.k.a. The Jackass Mail or Birch Stage) operated by James E. Birch also had a station at the same location where Steins would develop. However, it too went through Doubtful Canyon to the north of town starting in July of 1857, and for a brief time during Overland Mail service in 1858, and didn't have a station in the area.
Steins, New Mexico Mercantile, by Kathy Alexander, February 2015.
In 1902, the area around the town of Steins only had 35 registered voters but sported a schoolhouse for the children. A couple of years later, the Southern Pacific Railroad built a new station east of the older one at Steins Pass, and the town of Steins grew fast around it, with the post office moving there in 1905.
By 1905, the settlement boasted about 100 people, a mercantile store, a restaurant, and a saloon. Acting as a headquarters for a few mining companies, the town grew to about 200, most of whom worked in the nearby mines or in the rock quarry.
At its high point in 1919, it is estimated that the surrounding area supported more than 1,000 residents. By this time, the town also had a boarding house, two bordellos, a dance hall, more stores, two more saloons, and a hotel. But, for those early pioneers, life was tough in the desert region, as there was no water source, and had to be brought into the area on the train, selling as high as $1.00 per barrel.
For Steins (pronounced 'steens' by some), prosperity would be short-lived. In 1925, the rock quarry closed, putting dozens of men out of work, and at the end of World War II, the Southern Pacific Railroad discontinued its stop in Steins, giving the town notice that it would no longer deliver water and the station would be closed.
Spelling certain death for the town, the railway offered the residents free transportation to wherever they might like to go. The vast majority of its inhabitants took the offer, leaving many of their possessions behind. In time Steins was completely abandoned. The post office was discontinued in 1944. In 1964 a fire destroyed many of the historic deserted buildings.
Warren Garrison after arriving to rebuild Steins, NM
Around 1976, a man named Warren Garrison says he took on the task to "rebuild" Steins after his parents purchased the land. About his experience in the 1970s, Garrison wrote:
'I remember the very first morning I stayed there, a man came up and sat down in the window. "Good morning; how you doing?" and I was just waking up. "So what's going on, what are you doing here?" I said, "well, I've always wanted to do something here and I guess this is it." He kind of laughed and gave me $5 and said he'd check on me again someday when he passed through again and left. That was the first bit of encouragement that I got from anyone. During that first night a rattler had crawled into the room and my little dog Spooky had barked and tipped me off, kinda scary but I got up and I do remember having a flashlight so I got it and put it in a big barrel that was there at Steins.'
Garrison says during the next 13 years; he worked many days at nearby Shakespeare for Manny and Janaloo Hough to get money to support his renovation project, building a following for the Ghost Town along the way. He tells us that after a while, he had three to four hundred visitors a week coming in to experience the "Old West" realism he had created.
Steins, New Mexico by Kathy Alexander.
In 1988 Garrison decided to sell the place to Larry and Linda Link, and says since then the Link's managed to write him out of Steins history. Indeed, while researching this article, some describe Garrison not by name but only as "a mysterious fellow who lived there alone." Regardless of the feud between Garrison and the Links, Steins continued to host tourists until the Links retired in 2008, then continued tours by appointment for another few years.
In June of 2011, Larry Link was murdered, a crime that, as of this writing, is still unsolved. Link was shot five times by an unknown assailant who left an untraceable gun behind. Police think it was a break-in gone wrong that potentially involved drug cartels, but Pamela Link, Larry's daughter, told ABC Television affiliate KVIA in May of 2015 that she thinks it was someone local who knew him.
In June 2013, family members announced they would no longer open the ghost town to the public regularly. We noticed in 2016 that a family member has tried to revive the tours and, though he doesn't open it to the public regularly, takes appointments.
What's left of the community includes several adobe ruins and about ten restored buildings, including a tack shop, a community kitchen, and "Girdie's Garter." Nearby is an old cemetery dotted with a few worn and weathered tombstones.
Though its many residents are gone, the Southern Pacific locomotives still make their way past the town daily, whistling away as a reminder of a more prominent time.
Steins is 19 miles west of Lordsburg, New Mexico, just off I-10 at Exit #3, just east of the Arizona–New Mexico border.
© Kathy Alexander, Dave Alexander, with additional information/edits from Gerald T. Ahnert, Warren Garrison, updated September 2022.
Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of New Mexico, James E. Sherman, Barbara Sherman, the University of Oklahoma Press, 1975
Shakespeare, New Mexico – Born Again and Again
Black Jack Ketchum
The Railroad in the American West
Ghost Towns of New Mexico
New Mexico Ghost Towns Photo Print Gallery
Ghost Towns Main Page


text:
Ashley Graham Claps Back at Critic and Sparks Viral Body-Positive Photo Challenge
The model stood up to a hater with an empowering call to action.
Dec 21, 2022 11:40 AM EST
Ashley Graham.
Samir Hussein/Getty Images
Ashley Graham is not here for body shamers. After the model posted a stunning photo of herself in a gold backless dress last week, Twitter user Sameera Khan reposted two images of Graham in a now-deleted tweet that said, "The fat positivity movement is getting out of hand."
It didn't take long for the 35-year-old to clap back at her critic. On Monday, Dec. 19, she tweeted a photo of herself rocking the gold POSTER GIRL mini dress with a call to action.
"Quote tweet this with a photo of you taking 'fat positivity' too far. I'll start," read Graham's tweet.
Graham's post, which has received 142,000 likes, was flooded with women praising her and sharing their own body-positive photos in the comments section.
One follower commented, "Yes curvy queen!," while another person shared a personal anecdote: "How dare I love this picture of me jumping gleefully into the Mediterranean, on my dream anniversary trip to the Amalfi Coast, with the love of my life. How dare I take things so far as to experience unbridled joy (and unbridled pasta) and self love in this middle aged mom body?"
The mom of three's challenge also prompted fans and followers to share similar photos on Instagram, where Graham posted a few to her Stories.
"There were soooooooooooo many beautiful women posting themselves. The twitter thread is incredible. I love ya'll so much I hope you remember to love yourself just as much," she wrote on a Story.
Fellow SI Swimsuit model Irina Shayk posted a photo of Graham's 2016 SI Swimsuit Issue cover on her own IG Story that said, "Studies actually show that 👑 is the 👑... Anddddd there is nooooo one standard of beauty or one perfect size ✋."
Graham was the first size 16 model to appear on the SI Swimsuit cover. A year later, she continued breaking barriers when she became the first plus-size model to appear on the cover of Vogue.
"It's amazing that Sports Illustrated has always been the forefront of size diversity... and then to see even more curvy girls, I mean duh, it's amazing," she told SI Swimsuit in an interview. "And it's not just your typical hourglass body types, we got all kinds up in there."
The model recently helped spread 2021 Swim Search finalist Ella Halikas's message of all-inclusive body confidence in a recent TikTok—see it here.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
NBC's Chuck Todd and TMJ4's Charles Benson talk about 2022 midterm worries for Democrats and Republicans
TMJ4's Charles Benson talks one-on-one with Meet the Press Moderator.
By: Charles Benson
MILWAUKEE — We are midway to the 2022 midterm elections and NBC's Chuck Todd says there's a lot to digest here after Republicans pulled off an upset Tuesday in the Virginia Governor's race and Democrats had a close call in the New Jersey governor's race.
Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Democratic Governor Phil Murphy survived a closer-than-expected race to win a second term in New Jersey.
Midterm elections generally don't turn out well for the political party in power at the White House, and right now that's the Democrats.
TMJ4's long time political reporter Charles Benson asked Todd if 2022 is starting to look like 2010 when political newcomers like Ron Johnson rode a red wave into office.
NBC's Chuck Todd and TMJ4's Charles Benson discuss 2022 midterm worries.
"I think the trajectory of where this is headed, is number one, that if the economy improves before the summer, because it always is a lag. It always takes time for it to really impact voters, said Todd. "But if we get this post COVID economic boom starting in April, May (or) June, that could change the mindset of voters."
The other unknown or wild card in 2022 is former President Donald Trump.
"If Donald Trump decides to get more involved, it complicates Republicans," said Todd. "When he's less involved, they're able to focus it about the Democrats."
Senator Johnson has yet to decide if he's going to run for a third term, but Trump is encouraging Johnson to run.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers is running for a second term. Evers beat a crowded field of Democratic rivals in 2018 to take on and beat Republican Scott Walker in an election decided by a margin of 1.1% of the vote.
The new Marquette Law School Poll indicates perils for both Johnson and Evers. Voters were asked who they would vote for in 2022 and more than half responded "someone else."
Voter turnout is also key in any election, but midterms tend to be lower turnouts. To measure voter enthusiasm in 2022, NBC and Meet The Press will focus on Dane County as one of many across the country. While Dane County is a solid blue county, Todd says it will still be a bellwether on what Democrats are thinking.
"So what I'm curious about, is this frustration with leadership translate into a dampened turnout among young voters? Look, that's a recipe for Democrats to lose if that happens," Todd said.
You can watch Todd on Meet The Press every Sunday on TMJ4 at 8 a.m.
Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip


text:
Mezinárodní den Romů, připomínaný 8. dubna, je dnem, který oslavuje romskou kulturu a rozšiřuje povědomí o problémech, kterým Romové čelí.

Vznik
Mezinárodní den Romů připadá na 8. duben, což je den vzniku Mezinárodní romské unie (International Romani Union, zpočátku pod názvem World Romani Union). Ta byla založena 8. dubna 1971 na kongresu v Londýně. Kongres se konal z iniciativy Grattana Puxona a Donalda Kenricka z Velké Británie, Matéo Maximoffa z Francie, Jarko Jovanoviće z bývalé Jugoslávie a dalších. Delegáti kongresu, kterých byly necelé tři desítky, se tehdy dohodli na vzhledu romské vlajky a romské mezinárodní hymny. Dohodli se také na preferenci označení Rom před Cikán.

Romové slaví Mezinárodní den Romů každoročně od roku 1990, kdy byl ustanoven na 4. kongresu Mezinárodní romské unie ve Varšavě. V České republice se slaví od roku 2001.

Reference

Externí odkazy

 Mezinárodní den Romů 2014: Přehled akcí konaných v Česku

Mezinárodní svátky
Romové
8. duben
Vzniklo 1990

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
2012 and beyond: Economic outlook clouded by a myriad of new challenges for veterinary practices
Alicia Karapetian
Economic outlook clouded by a myriad of new challenges for veterinary practices.
NATIONAL REPORT — Small-animal practices have a numbers problem.
Patient visits are dropping, pet health is declining, client incomes are down and unemployment is up. With all of these challenges going into 2012, it's easy to become disheartened.
"Someone asked me the other day: 'If you knew what it would be like now, would you do it again?'" recalls Dr. Lee Stuart of Safe Haven Veterinary Hospital in Palm Coast, Fla. "I said, I'm not so sure it's worth it anymore."
Stuart, like so many other veterinarians—and Americans—is operating his business in an area engulfed with a foreclosure crisis and high unemployment. During the boom, his practice was growing, and construction was king, prompting Stuart to move his business to a larger space —from a leased office to a building he purchased. The local area had three small-animal practices in the early 2000s and now has eight. But as residents' incomes have dropped or people have moved out of town, business at Stuart's clinic is down some 40 percent. "Somehow we're finding a way to keep our doors open," he says. "We're trying to recreate the practice as we go."
Retooling the client experience, reinforcing the importance of preventive care and tweaking a practice's focus may be just the ticket for veterinarians to combat the increasingly strong industry headwinds next year and beyond, experts say. "Veterinarians are not at the top of their game in terms of monitoring business metrics and managing practices as well as they could," says John Volk of Brakke Consulting, which, along with Bayer Animal Health and the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues, conducted the Bayer Veterinary Care Usage Study released earlier this year. "Veterinarians have relied too heavily on fee increases and not improving the performance of the practice from an efficiency standpoint. Now it's starting to come back to bite them."
Enhancing business efficiency will be a key to future success, agrees Karen Felsted, MS, CPA, DVM, CVPM, chief executive officer with the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues (NCVEI). She says that while the recession certainly has hurt veterinarians, simply blaming the economy isn't productive. "Just because there's a recession doesn't mean veterinary practices can't do well financially," she notes. "Doctors will have to see more patients, staff will have to work more efficiently and (practices) will have to watch prices. Significant price increases are not sustainable, and (veterinarians) have to link price more closely with value."
Creating—and communicating—value
To that end, Volk notes that if a pet owner truly understands the importance of taking a pet to the clinic and what exactly occurs while the animal is there, consumers may be more willing to spend money with a veterinarian. Dr. Mike Cavanaugh, executive director of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), agrees. "Look at the bottled-water industry," he says. "People spend millions of dollars (on it) because people think it's better and convenient. People are willing to spend money, even during tight economic times, as long as they feel like there is value there."
At the heart of the value proposition is emphasizing the physical exam, Cavanaugh says. "In doing so, you're able to emphasize that vaccinations are important, but an examination is where you're buying a veterinarian's expertise."
Although a veterinarian knows she is examining a pet's skin and hair or checking the health of internal organs during a physical exam, it may appear to a client as a doctor holding the animal or petting it. Communicating what exactly is occurring during an exam while it occurs will help clients appreciate the importance of bringing a cat or dog to the clinic and having a veterinarian examine its health. Veterinarians also should tell clients "what constitutes finding signs of good health and potential problems," Volk notes.
He further explains that many veterinarians think they are doing this well and, when surveyed, say they are talking through the exam with a client. However, when pet owners were questioned on this topic, they say they don't know what is happening during the exam.
"Veterinary medicine is a mystery to people," adds Felsted. "We need to communicate specific kinds of veterinary care and why it is important." That, she says, will help create a high-value experience.
In-depth explanations are also essential to recommending a procedure and communicating why it is important. Instead of simply telling a client that Fluffy needs a dental, Felsted recommends explaining that Fluffy has a lot of plaque and that the procedure will enhance her breath and reduce the chance of an infection or other systemic problems. Cavanaugh adds that veterinarians should make firm recommendations and emphasize their professional expertise. "A lot of veterinarians," he says, "will give (a client) five or six options, but are not firm in saying, 'Here's what I think we should do.'"
Emphasizing wellness
The Partnership for Preventive Pet Healthcare was established in July, and by September 1 the group, which is made up of 19 veterinary associations and other industry-related companies and parties, published canine and feline preventive healthcare guidelines. The group and the guidelines were founded, in large part, due to the highly revealing statistics gleaned from studies published this year, including the Bayer/Brakke study and the Banfield State of Pet Health 2011 report. The upshot of that research is obvious to most practicing companion-animal veterinarians: Visits are down and pets are coming into the clinic sicker.
While the lagging economy may not be solely to blame for veterinary practices' challenges, the preceding boom may have made certain service gaps less noticeable, Cavanaugh contends. "If you go back a few years, all practices were busy and the economy was strong. Things start to fall through the cracks: You don't have as many cats coming in. People aren't paying as much attention to vaccinations, fecal exams, etc."
As first reported by DVM Newsmagazine, Banfield's data revealed that several preventable diseases and conditions are on the upswing. Parasites have been on the rise in cats and dogs for the last five years. The prevalence of fleas and ticks on pets has increased, and both dental disease and ear infections are also up, among other common conditions.
Moving forward, many think promoting the idea of preventing problems before they start and ensuring pets have routine care will not only enhance the pet population's overall health, but also help spur veterinary visits. According to Volk, the Bayer/Brakke study found that when a practice had a strong belief in the importance of wellness exams, that drove visits. "If veterinarians can educate pet owners on the need for preventive care, and even more attention as pets get older, and that those routine visits can keep pets healthier, there's a great opportunity there," says Volk.
Especially as pets age, he adds, there is a large disconnect between owners' beliefs about the importance of pet healthcare and what is actually necessary. "Part of that goes back to the vaccination issue," Volk says, noting that many owners surveyed associated visits with vaccinations. "Owners don't appreciate that older pets need more medical attention. You would think it would be intuitive because as people get older we need more medical attention, but not everybody makes that leap."
The preventive pet healthcare guidelines should be a key tool in every practitioner's arsenal, adds Felsted. "To me, one of the best things is that veterinarians could use them as a mantra when educating clients."
Thorough preventive care is commonplace among Dr. Kate Knutson's patients. At her practice, Pet Crossing Animal Hospital and Dental Clinic in Bloomington, Minn., she often sees patients many times throughout the course of a year for routine care. Annually, Knutson and her staff develop an individualized healthcare plan for a patient that consists of needed vaccinations, nutritional and dental assessments and baseline values, which include body films, dental radiographs, blood work and urinalysis. A pet's behavior is also evaluated.
"With us, we have a niche market, and it's preventive healthcare. We weed people out before they even come (to us)," she says. "We market to people whose pets are part of their family. My clients would give up smoking or Starbucks or cable to care for their pets."
This approach has been successful for Knutson's business, though she acknowledges it's not appropriate for all pet owners. Volk agrees.
"Pet owners are not all alike," he says. "There are different segments of the population that shop for groceries at Aldi or Sam's (Club) and others who shop at Whole Foods. I think we'll see veterinarians responding to pet owners and the different requirements they have."
To meet those demands, Volk predicts that practices may evolve to focus on low-cost basic services or more comprehensive medical offerings, along with some staying in the middle, to offer a wider variety of choices for clients.
Felsted notes that, in fact, there is a need for some practices to zero in on serving those owners with limited incomes. "The average household income in the United States is less than $50,000 for about 2.3 people," she says. "It's hard for people in a household like that to go (to the veterinarian) and write a $150 check. Those people are probably never going to do a total hip, but they still want to take care of their pets."
Even if a practice markets itself to those with average incomes, financial success is possible. After all, Felsted says, "Walmart makes a fortune."
Refining the business model has been a necessity for Safe Haven Veterinary Hospital's Stuart. As numerous low-cost vaccine and spay/neuter providers have moved into his practice area, Stuart says he focuses on wellness and higher-end offerings as well as the fact that his clinic is the only AAHA-certified hospital in the county. "We have people come here and say (they) go elsewhere for less-expensive stuff, but that they want to come here when they have a problem," he says. "We try to maintain a higher standard and a better array of diagnostics."
But business is tough, and he is not alone. "Once upon a time the standard was veterinarians wouldn't go out of business. We're definitely in different times."
As the veterinary industry moves into 2012, here are four key trends to watch next year and beyond:
1. Niche markets: "Everyone's trying to be all things to all people," says Karen Felsted, DVM, CPA, MS, CVPM, and chief executive officer of the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues. "You have to decide: Who is my market? It's impossible to provide high-end medicine and high-end service and charge minimal fees. It's the difference between shopping at Nieman Marcus and Walmart."
2. Focus on preventive care: The creation of the Partnership for Preventive Pet Healthcare and its recently released guidelines should offer a niche for a rally. "For a couple of years here, the emphasis is going to be back to basics," says American Animal Hospital Association Executive Director Dr. Mike Cavanaugh.
3. Referrals: As practices evolve to find a financial sweet spot, look for more practices that focus on basic veterinary services to develop stronger relationships with specialized practitioners to create a pet healthcare team. "Just like in human medicine, where your doctor may send you to a specialist or an imaging center," notes Cavanaugh, there is a place for such an infrastructure in veterinary medicine.
4. Mergers: Although some independent practitioners have sold their businesses to consolidators, Cavanaugh says that he expects to see independent practices thrive through mergers of one- or two-doctor practices with like-sized entities to create mid-sized businesses.
Communication keys
Using simple communication techniques can enhance a client's experience during a veterinary visit, which could encourage them to continue to bring their pet to the clinic, says American Animal Hospital Association Executive Director Dr. Mike Cavanaugh.
Tailor your questions. During an exam, ask a client open-ended questions and allow the client ample opportunity to speak. After hearing a client's response, use reflective listening during the dialogue. For example, say, "If I'm understanding you correctly…" and restate what the client explained to be sure both parties are on the same page. "It gives the client the opportunity to know they are being heard, but also [to find out] if something has been misrepresented," Cavanaugh says.
Sit down. When a person is standing, it conveys to the other party that he or she is about to leave. "You could spend 15 minutes with someone, and if you're sitting down versus standing, they'll think you've spent more time than you have," Cavanaugh says. A stool offers a simple fix.
Eliminate barriers. "If a veterinarian has to turn their back to type on a computer or if there is a large examination table between the client and the veterinarian all the time, that's a barrier," Cavanaugh says.
Emphasize shared decision making. When making recommendations, talk through the finer points so a client fully understands what needs to be done. That way, a client will feel like they have a say in what is occurring and that he and the veterinarian are working together to take care of the pet.
Market TrendsCareer DevelopmentPractice FinancesBreaking News
Shortage of veterinary professionals may be blessing in disguise for the profession


text:
Q: iOS: Your passcode is required to enable Touch ID Occasionally, when unlocking my iPhone or iPad, I get the following message:

Your passcode is required to enable Touch ID

Now this is not after a number of failed attempts or turning the device off. The device was used within the last 12 hours. Two of the devices are less than 2 months old, and one is a year old. Everything is up to date. It appears to be happening more-or-less at random.
Does anybody know why this message might appear?

A: There are certain rules that iOS uses that govern when your iPhone will prompt you for your passcode, and one of these relates to an 8hr period during which Touch ID has not been used. That alone would explain the scenario in your question (i.e. some nights you're getting 8+ hrs of sleep, and other nights you're not).
All of the Touch ID rules can be found in Apple's iOS Security Guide. In summary though, the rules governing when a passcode is required instead of your fingerprint, are as follows:

*

*The passcode has not been used to unlock the device in the last six days

*Your fingerprint has not been used to unlock the device in the last eight hours 1

*You have just powered up (or rebooted) your device

*Your device has not been unlocked for more than 48 hours

*You've unsuccessfully tried to use your fingerprint on five consecutive attempts

*Whenever you add a fingerprint to your Touch ID settings

*Your device has received a remote lock command

Regarding that last point, this refers to iCloud's Lost Mode function. For more info you can read iCloud: Use Lost Mode.
See more details: http://www.macworld.com/article/3072181/ios/new-touch-id-rules-why-you-have-to-enter-your-passcode-when-you-wake-up.html
1 This is most likely the cause in your situation most of the time.

A: FWIW, I experienced the same thing on an iPad mini 4 on 9.2.1 today. Was using the iPad < 12 hrs before. The wording was identical to above. When I restart the device different wording is used: iPad requires your passcode after restarting.
This implies something happening with Touch ID itself, rather than a date/time bug or the device restarting. Perhaps Touch ID or a related service is crashing unseen.

A: Maybe you have been accidentally touching the Touch ID sensor without realizing it and it locked up. This has happened to me before without a restart and apparently it had been trying to get my fingerprint in my pocket...
Also, perhaps another culprit (maybe a child or loved one) has been messing with Touch ID.

A: This is a software bug in iOS 9. It happens to me at least twice a week on my iPad. You could submit a bug report to Apple, but I would imagine it will be fixed with either iOS 9.3 next month or iOS 10 in September.

A: Are we talking of phones that are in your (jeans) pocket? It happens to me if I accidentally hit the touch ID sensor when reaching into my pocket. The other culprit in my case is my daughter playing with my phone when I don't watch.

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Home The Debate 5 killed in a Maoist attack in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. Why are the #UrbanNaxalsSilent?
5 killed in a Maoist attack in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. Why are the #UrbanNaxalsSilent?
Shouldn't India wipe out Maoists instead of 'talking to them'?


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PluriME Brand Identity - Headfirst Creative | Advertising | Web Design | Marketing | Ideas that sell. Brands that win.
A new company planning a suite of web- and mobile-based business tools asked us to create a set of logos for each of their inter-related service offerings. All four logos had to be able to stand on their own, yet have similar characteristics so users could quickly see the visual relationship between all four logos.
Logo Design, Brand Development, Information Technology.
– Debra J. Kalish, VP of Marketing & Sales, PCF, Inc.


text:
Apple starts assembling iPhones in India in play for the world's fastest growing smartphone market
Apple has taken an important step in its longstanding goal of penetrating the world's second largest smartphone market. The Wall Street Journal first reported that the company has completed its first trial run assembly of the iPhone SE in India – a key step in gaining a foothold for a market that has thus far proven elusive for the smartphone maker.
The company has since confirmed the move with TechCrunch, writing in a statement, "We are beginning initial production of a small number of iPhone SE in Bengaluru. iPhone SE is the most popular and powerful phone with a four-inch display in the world and we'll begin shipping to domestic customers this month."
Chief competitor Samsung has dominated the ranks in recent years, with around a quarter of the market by various analyst estimates. The rest of the top five is monopolized by Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, Lenovo and Vivo. Apple has managed to see some growth in the country, but it's been a tough sell in a market where the average handset runs $150, according to numbers from IDC.
The four-inch SE is Apple's least expensive model, running $399 in the States. Some retailers in the country have managed to undercut the cost, lower the entry level price of the handset by around $80 – but even at that price, it's still substantially more expensive than most. In spite of its relatively low pricing, the SE doesn't appear to have made quite the splash Apple was initially anticipating in the country.
Apple has long been working to move production to the country, hoping, in part, to retake some of the market it has lost in China in recent years, as domestic handset sales have grown. Locals are hoping that such a move could reduce the retail cost of the SE even further, by as much as $100. But while $220 is certainly a lot more palatable, that still marks a substantial premium over the average handset price.
The fact that Apple looks to keep pricing relatively consistent across markets could also serve as something of a hurdle. Though perhaps its aggressive push in recent years, along with an embrace of lower cost devices could stem the tide. After all, the India smartphone market is big and only getting bigger.
It's the world's fastest growing market, having recently surpassed the U.S. to claim the number. The Indian market is expected to generate somewhere in the neighborhood of one billion smartphone sales over the next half-decade.
In spite of its rapid growth, however, little actual manufacturing is occurring in India. Recent numbers have domestic manufacturing and assembly at around six-percent in the country. The addition of a large global name like Apple has been regarded by a big win by the government as it brings more jobs to the country, through initiatives like the Prime Minister-sponsored Make in India program.
Article by Brian Heater from Techcrunch
https://precept.it/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/iPhone.jpg 492 738 James Smyth https://precept.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/precept-it-PNG-transparent-300x87.png James Smyth2017-05-18 09:30:322017-05-18 09:30:32Apple starts assembling iPhones in India in play for the world's fastest growing smartphone market
AMD reveals 16-core monster Ryzen processor destined for 'world's fastest'... Apple Pay is now available in Italy


These handy Bridge Score Pads are a convenient way to keep track of your games. Each pad typically containts 50 sheets of non-smearing and uncoated paper, for individual scoring. Bridge scoring information is usually printed on the inside of the top cover, or on the back cover.
Bridge Score Pads go great with Bridge Tallies, and are often included as part of Bridge Gift Sets.


text:
Q: Returned UDP packets lacking port and fail to arrive Golang application with a client and server.
Server uses net.ListenUDP -- client also uses net.ListenUDP, connects to server and sends a packet with conn.WriteToUDP with the server address.
Server receives the packet with ReadFromUDP and grabs the return address.  Using this return address, it then sends a large number of packets back to the client.
When running both client and server on local machine, this works perfectly. Using Wireshark I can inspect the UDP packets and see that they contain the source and destination ports - and in the application I can see that they arrive and my various checksum tests show the data is accurate.
I then moved the server off site to a remote machine.  The application stops working.  I can successfully send the first message from the client to server - this is received just fine.  The server sends the response back 'toward' the client - but the client never receives them.
Using Wireshark, I can see that the packets do arrive back on the local machine with the correct IP address.  It appears that my network router has performed NAT on the outgoing packets - and has correctly re-addressed response packets to the internal IP.. BUT there is no port.
So I have UDP packets arriving on the correct machine, but no port - so the client application does not receive them. Application times out on ReadFromUDP.
I don't know if it is relevant, but on local machine, Wireshark labels the packets as BT-uTP Utorrent packets.  When they come in from remote server, this is what I see in Wireshark - note the lack of Port.

Any thoughts how I can solve this.  I didn't think this was a UDP hole punching problem because although I am establishing a connection across a NAT it is with a server not a peer.

A: This packet is fragmented, You can see this under Internet Protocol Version 4 > Flags.
If you look at the frame as shown on the bottom of the picture you provided you should see the ports.
net.ListenUDP doesn't appear to support fragmentation at the socket level.
Do you have a PPPoe connection? You may need to reduce your packet size being sent by 8 bytes or change the MTU on the routers external interface of the remote side. You may also need to change the local routers MTU if it's on a PPPoe interface.


There was a grand rainstorm today; it caused the power lines on our road to collapse, due to the colossal impact of a withered old oak tree. For almost four hours, we were bereft of technology's 'affectionate' touch. Well, a house seems somber and gloomy without the cheerful, hospitable air of artificial orange-red lights, so we went out for a drive. The sky lit with the strange pulsations of an amber sunset, and a tapestry of His intricacy unspooled over the velvety horizon; the clouds of the sky sang with mysterious, mournful hues of turquoise, periwinkle and aquamarine, and a peculiar shade of rosy sepia made sensual love to the orange mesas of the storm-filled clouds. Clarisse was one of the only people, in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, to see those sunsets, and to think about their beauty. Every other character was trapped within the thrall of their 'family', and the walls within which their technology constructed their reality. Clarisse meditated on the meaning and profundity of the natural world, and for this she was murdered. "I sometimes think that drivers don't know what grass is, or flowers, because they never see them…" (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451).
While I write this, I contemplate what I'm using to write it: a 27-inch iMac that has a 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 processor. This computer, like my iPhone, is constructed of tiny little microchips, and I am guided through everyday tasks by a helpful lady named Siri who has enough artificial intelligence to tell me what to eat for dinner and how to get there. My iMac and my iPhone record and track everything I do; when I think about it, I realize that they might call them friendly little things like "cookies," but nothing I do on the Internet is private, and nothing I do on this computer is safe from surveillance. Maybe I sound paranoid, but sometimes I imagine a million beady invisible eyes watching me. They crawl up into my skin and pluck out my eyes; and then they are my eyes, and I see only what they allow me to, for beauty and truth indeed are in the eye of the beholder. They burrow deep beneath the drooping skin of my shadow-stained eyelids, and the sleep they have stolen from me conquers my worn visage. I can't cry out or plead for some ridiculous, ill-begotten mercy because I'm too blind to realize that they're eating me from the outside in. I am frozen in time now, and the artificial twinkling of Their bug eyes pervade the timeless fibers of my immortal soul. It is a cure, a gift, a prize, they proclaim; and I must trust the elastic skull-tight beached bleached blonde model on the grain-coarse screen, mustn't I?
When I touch the fake, flimsy Flexiglass screen of my cell phone, a century's worth of my intelligence filters away like dewdrops from a hot blade of viridescent green grass. The virtual ghosts of the future ensnare humanity—we just aren't Ebenezer Scrooge. We don't need to improve ourselves, or change from a miser to a lovely benefactor; we need to wake up and burn the bugs away before they claw their slimy infectious way into the cord-grey of our moldering brains.
Nanotechnology has arrived in the U.S.A., but it's not like democracy. It doesn't allow people to learn, or flourish, or demonstrate any sign of individuality. It's not freedom; it's a sort of mind-slavery that will never truly go away unless we as a people battle it. It's not just some nightmarish monster looming over the cavernous shadows of humanity's future; it's festering within the very marrow of our world today.
Whenever our phones blare a scarlet '1' from System Preferences, we are given a new software update—an update that only welcomes more of the monsters into our hardware. Whenever we download the latest app updates from App Store, we are exchanging parcels of ourselves—but for what? For whom? We are not receiving anything in return, except for the manacles of false pleasure. Do we surrender to the vivid lights and secretive bugs embedded within the very threads of our subconscious because we're bored?
It's a quotidian action in these dying times to choose the colorful, simpler meme or post, rather than expend the effort and manna to open a tome of majestic knowledge; to live in these times is to exist as an amusement addict, addicted to useless information and biased propaganda; we are in the need of the next meme or vine or tweet to bring laughter to our dimming brains and synthetic perverse gems to our corrugated hearts. Nanotechnology has created the fabled handheld computer; cell phones can hold thousands of images, whereas the older, larger PC—which would consume an entire room, while cell phones take up the space of a palm and nothing more—could only retain one-fourteenth of the common electronic photograph.
People are forgetting compassion as a result of nanotechnology. They tap away at their keyboards, or the alphabets super-imposed upon their flickering touch screens, and they say cruel things to others—and, since they cannot see that their malice is hurting an actual person, they feel entitled to say whatever comes to their mind, whether it is 'do cows snort up milk while laughing like humans do,' or something else far worse. Recently, a sixteen-year-old sophomore girl who was part of the high school's choir went missing. An adult Facebook Friend of mine shared a press release that stated: "Human remains were found;" but she did not speak of the situation with love or compassion. She said that the community needed to have a 'loud, open' discussion about gun safety and where gun owners should store their guns. The death is believed to have been a self-inflicted gun wound. Not once in her post did she offer prayers or sorrow or blessings to the family of the deceased girl; not once did she speak of the sadness or agony this family who has lost a child must be suspended within; no, she merely used the death of this girl to further her own political agenda. Unfortunately, this lack of empathy and terrible selfishness is not an isolated occurrence. Nanotechnology waters the worst within a person and drowns the goodness in a harmful pestilence, for which the cure is almost impossible to find.
As Clarisse says, "Sometimes I'm ancient. I'm afraid of children my own age. They kill each other. Did it always use to be that way?…I'm afraid of them and they don't like me because I'm afraid." (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451). Children these days, like the people Clarisse fears in Fahrenheit 451, would rather laugh about Fortnite than try to better themselves and their dying world. Fortnite is the incorrect spelling of 'fortnight', or a two-week period of time, and another epidemic brought upon the world with the rise of the Nanobot Age is 'text-talk', or illiteracy; it's easier to watch an artificial screen of pixels, isn't it? In all honesty, I find it easier to peruse social media than write; instead of creating new worlds with my words, I am furnished with a web of lies—and lies are silkier than truth; lies aren't as hard to create. Lies obscure pulchritudinous pathways bordered with real flowers. Reality, virtual reality…if I swallow the red pill, won't I be BORED? After all, life seems monotonous and colorless, what with all the iridescence and vivid hues of the virtual web the nanobots have enfolded us within.
How does nanotechnology affect the natural world? In order to obtain the resources necessary to create our phones and computers, and to power the "Cloud" in which all of our Google and other documents are stored, massive amounts of energy are used. Take a data farm in Northern Dulles, Virginia. It's a massive institution, storing hard drives that collect and record our data. How much oil and coal is drained from the land, just to fuel this single farm? Multiply that single farm by hundreds or even thousands, because at least that many are needed to contain our virtual "Cloud" of information. And what of the resources used to build our semiconductor chips and other tiny bits that are used to send, store and receive our data? Each so-called "bit" requires energy. The land we live on fuels the creation of all this energy. At some point, the calculus of this land-pillage will become too great of a problem for humans to solve. Then we'll call in our CPU's and robots, and they will be in charge of our blue Earth.
There is an alternative. Come to my garden with me, and look at the yellow flowers; spring has at last arrived, and the lovely sun-yellow flowers resemble a lady's fine slippers. These are real, and these are good. Watch the lilac trees and crape myrtles flirt with the glimmering cerulean sky while they sway to and fro in the wind; feel the light, frivolous teasings of the soft, flimsy flower blossoms while they swoosh past, buoyed along on the zephyrs of time summoned by the Vernal Equinox. None of these are unreal; and all of these are good. All of these are true; one does not need a substitute.
I still feel the teensy bugs, devouring every ounce of the natural world. I mourn for the ethereal emerald-azure hue of Mother Earth's precious oceans, for it has little time remaining before it grows rancid, infected by the acid rain and smog and waste the nanotechnology has left behind in its apocalyptic wake. Soon, the nanotechnology will conquer the oceans too. Nanotechnology is fueled by the consumption of fossil fuels, whose production destroys this good Earth. The cloudless cerulean sky of a flawless gay day—will it not also succumb to pillars of dark smog and spirals of dying birds? Will the birds soon cease to chirp and sing everlasting choruses of truth, love and hope? And, as these things crest and trough like the tides of the waning ocean, people will be too addicted to their handheld devices and matrixes of un-thought to even notice; they will not even be able to raise a protest.
I never liked the sensation of being watched. And yet here I am, wondering how long it will take for the bugs to burrow beneath humanity's eyelids; have they not done so already? How much longer do we have left before this dangerous dance ends with our souls exposed to their wicked darkness? We have no 'red pill'; no crimson magic to rescue us from our failings; for the vibrant flashings of the screens have made us color blind. We have only our lackluster human shells and the looming specter of nanotechnology. Burrowing, burrowing…and we cannot even feel the pain, for the nanotechnology has already devoured us. What will be left?
 As it may have been noted, this essay is in electronic format. This only demonstrates the 'efficiency' of nanotechnology—it is faster to type this into a computer than to interact with a pen and a sheet of paper.


Our February Story Slam is "Love and Hate!"
It's February, do you feel the love?
Our February 28th Story Slam is themed "Love and Hate!" Join us at Tellus360 for our second Story Slam of the season. We start telling stories at 8pm, but arrive early to grabe some food and a pint - and to secure the best seats! Grab your tickets by clicking HERE.
What type of stories fit "Love and Hate?"
We are open to stories about love, and stories about hate, and stories about your love/hate relationships. We love certain people but at times we may hate them also, it's okay to admit it. Perhaps your story is a about a difficult relationship with a parent, or a former lover. Maybe you found yourself in a loveless marriage and are piecing together what went wrong. Some people find love after leaving a hateful situation. We aren't just talking about romantic love, but we want to hear stories about platonic love/hate, parental love/hate. Did you hate your life and move cross-country to find yourself? Did you realize you were looking for love in all the wrong places? There are so many ways to take this theme!
If you have a story, sign up when you arrive and we'll drop your name in the hat. If you don't have a story, you should still come out just to listen! Save the date - Tuesday, February 28th at 8pm at Tellus360!