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Hwange Coal Deal Expose Govt's Feigned Attitude Towards Clean Energy Reform - Zimbabwe Today
Home/News/Hwange Coal Deal Expose Govt's Feigned Attitude Towards Clean Energy Reform
Hwange Coal Deal Expose Govt's Feigned Attitude Towards Clean Energy Reform
Government's recent awarding of two coal mining concessions to Chinese companies inside the Hwange National Park has laid bare Zimbabwe's feigned desire to meet carbon emission cuts in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Zimbabwe signed the agreement in 2016 pledging commitment to global efforts in mitigating climate change with the reduction of carbon emissions among the key areas of focus.
According to the Agreement targets, governments should cut on carbon emissions and limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030.
However, across the globe efforts to cut on greenhouse gas emissions remain far from satisfactory and for Zimbabwe in particular, government appears insincere in acting on its commitments.
Despite launching the National Renewable Energy Policy in March this year, the government continues to act otherwise, with a series of fossil energy projects in the pipeline.
The 600 Megawatt Hwange expansion project is testament that Zimbabwe will rely on coal for power generation for years to come.
This has been exacerbated by the recent awarding of coal mining concessions to Chinese companies on Hwange National Park despite the recent contract termination by government after a public outcry by wildlife conservationists.
While Zimbabwe is desperate for investment, the problem with the Chinese is that they have showed complete disregard of reducing carbon emissions and thus spending huge investments on coal projects globally.
According to Clean Coal Centre, China is bankrolling up to 60 proposed coal power plants in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America, and together they will emit as much CO2 as all of Spain and 11 of these coal plants are in Africa.
At this rate, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 2010 stated that by 2030 emissions will be 27 percent and 38 percent higher than is needed to limit warming to 2C and 1.5C, respectively.
According to Worldometer, global statistics provider, CO2 emissions per capita in Zimbabwe is equivalent to 0.72 tons per person (based on a population of 14,030,331 in 2016).
Despite the figures being relatively lower than they are in developed countries, environmentalists argue that each country has to play its part in cutting emissions.
This comes at a time other countries such as France, Portugal and UK are shutting down coal power stations and pouring more resources on clean energy projects.
In April this year, Sweden became the third European nation after Austria and Belgium to shut down its last coal power plant as more countries continue to cut their emissions.
In July this year, South Africa cancelled the proposed 600 MW Khanyisa coal-fired power plant in the Mpumalanga province.
However, for African countries, Zimbabwe included the costs of switching to clean energy alternatives remains the greatest challenge.
Paltry resources towards clean energy and misappropriation of funds by government has slowed the transition. One point of reference is the Gwanda solar project that has taken years to be completed due to corruption.
On a positive note, private sector has taken upon itself to spur the drive towards clean energy with corporates such a Econet Wireless, Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and plenty other industries setting up solar plants.
Zimbabwean government, to its credit, has also put in place measures to attract investment into clean energy by according them National Project status with incentives attached.
But with more and more coal projects still being pursuit in Zimbabwe and globally, UNEP predicts that the 1.5C temperature increase cap by 2030 as per the Paris Agreement will slip out of reach.
Zimbabwe: Hwange Coal Deal Expose Govt's Feigned Attitude Towards Clean Energy Reform
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On Make: Live's Hackerspace Roadshow episode, Becky and Matt visit with Hackerspaces from across the US. In this segment, they visit with i3 Detroit ( http://www.i3detroit.com/ ) in Ferndale, MI. This is an archived episode from Make: Live, which was originally broadcasted on 6/8/11. Go to makezine.com/live/ for information about the show, chat transcripts, and details on the next show.


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"The effect of IR laser pulses on t
[doi:10.1063/1.3631797]"
"The effect of IR laser pulses on the dielectric properties, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and IV characteristics of Makrofol-DE 1-1 CC polycarbonate has been investigated in the temperature and frequency ranges of 300-375K and 10 kHz-4 MHz, respectively. IR laser fluencies are set from 0.47 to 7.07 J/cm(2). Three relaxation processes namely, alpha, beta, and gamma have been obtained. The first process is due to the micro Brownian motion of the segmental parts of the main chain. The second process was assigned to the local motion of the dipoles within the crystalline phases of the sample. The third one was attributed
to the crank shaft motion along the main chains of check details the Makrofol. X-ray diffraction
and FTIR spectroscopy have revealed that the irradiation click here of Makrofol at the fluence range 0.94-7.07 J/cm(2) causes crosslinking formation inside the sample. Reduction in crystallinity of Makrofol at higher IR laser doses is due to the crosslinking formation taking place within polymer matrix. At higher voltage, the conduction mechanism of Makrofol-DE was identified as Shottky type. The attained results suggested strongly the applicability of Makrofol-DE in IR laser pulses dosimetry. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 124: 1-8, 2012″
"The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the prophylactic administration of vaginal progesterone would reduce the preterm birth rate in high-risk population including singleton and twin pregnancies.
This was a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study that included 150 high-risk pregnancies. Risk groups included
GSK461364 clinical trial prior spontaneous preterm birth, twin pregnancy, and uterine malformation. Micronized progesterone or placebo (100 mg) was administered daily by vaginal suppository between 24 and 34 weeks of gestation. We compared progesterone and placebo groups for incidence of preterm labor and preterm delivery. Data were compared by chi A(2) analysis and Fisher exact test.
There was a statistically significant difference in the rate of preterm labor between placebo and progesterone groups (45.7 vs. 25%, respectively; p < 0.05). More women delivered before 37 weeks in placebo group (57.2%) than in progesterone group (40%; p < 0.05). Administering progesterone also reduced the preterm birth before 34 weeks of gestation. The difference between placebo and progesterone group was statistically significant (24.3 vs. 8.8%; p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in neonatal death between placebo and progesterone groups.
Prophylactic vaginal progesterone reduced the rate of preterm labor and preterm delivery in high-risk pregnancies."
"A femtosecond laser-irradiated crystallizing technique is tried to convert amorphous Sb(2)Te(3) film into crystalline film.
Each case arm patient underwent two complete metabolic urinary in
Each case arm patient underwent two complete metabolic urinary investigations, whereas each control arm individual underwent one examination. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01246531.
RESULTS: A total of 51 subjects completed the clinical investigation: 25 in the case arm and 26 in the control arm. In total, 56% of the case arm patients had hypocitraturia (vs. 15.4% in the control
arm; p = 0.002). Hypernatriuria was detected in 64% of the case arm patients and in 30.8% of the controls (p = 0.017).
CONCLUSION: Hypocitraturia and hypernatriuria are the main metabolic disorders in elderly men with urolithiasis."
"Objectives: selleck kinase inhibitor To define clinical and laboratory characteristics of bilateral vestibulopathy (BV) and to propose diagnostic criteria of this disorder based on clinical and laboratory findings.
Study Design: Retrospective case series review.
Materials and Methods: We recruited 108 patients with a clinical suspicion of BV based on presenting symptoms (unsteadiness or oscillopsia during locomotion) and bedside (dynamic Savolitinib clinical trial visual acuity or head impulse tests) and laboratory (bithermal caloric or rotatory chair
tests) findings after excluding the patients with other disorders that may explain the symptoms. Definite diagnosis of BV was made when the patients showed abnormal findings on both bedside and laboratory tests in addition to the symptoms, whereas probable diagnosis was obtained when either the bedside or laboratory findings were abnormal along with the symptoms.
Results: All patients had unsteadiness, and 36 (33%) reported oscillopsia. Diminished vestibulo-ocular responses to head impulse in both horizontal directions were present
in 45 of the 100 patients evaluated. Dynamic visual acuity was impaired in 65 (95%) of the 68 patients who underwent testing. Fifty-one (57%) patients showed bilateral hyporesponsiveness during bithermal caloric tests. Forty-eight (53%) patients www.selleckchem.com/products/BKM-120.html had reduced gain of the vestibulo-ocular reflex during rotatory chair test. By adopting our diagnostic criteria, 93 patients (86%) were diagnosed as having BV, definite in 49 (45%), and probable in 44 (41%).
Conclusion: The proposed diagnostic criteria encompass the symptoms and findings of both bedside and laboratory evaluations and may provide a valuable tool for investigating BV."
"Study design: Retrospective follow-up study.
Objectives: To assess the occurrence of bladder stones in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Setting: Single SCI rehabilitation center in Switzerland.
Methods: We searched our database for SCI patients who had undergone surgery due to bladder stones between 2004 and 2012.
014 mg kg(-1) h(-1) in neonates, 0 05 mg kg(-1) h(-1) in a 1-year
014 mg.kg(-1).h(-1) in neonates, 0.05 mg.kg(-1).h(-1) in a 1-year-old, 0.06 mg
kg(-1).h(-1) MK-8931 supplier in a 5-year-old and 0.05 mg.kg(-1).h(-1) in a 12-year-old child. Age-related pharmacodynamic differences that will affect dose and the impact of active metabolites on response are not yet quantified."
"BACKGROUND: Triclosan is a biocide used in personal care products, and its presence in water bodies has been reported. This compound is suspected to be linked with the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In the present work, the enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was used to catalyze triclosan removal. RESULTS: The stoichiometric ratio of H2O2 to triclosan (0.83) was higher than the value predicted by the HRP catalytic cycle (0.5). During the reactions, HRP activity was gradually reduced, likely due to excess H2O2. The addition of veratryl alcohol, syringaldazine and p-coumaric acid (redox mediators) to the reaction medium, at a mediator/triclosan molar ratio of 1.0, increased triclosan removal from 45% (without a mediator) to 56%,
64% and 80%, respectively. The antibacterial activity of these mediators was much lower than that observed for triclosan. CONCLUSION: The antibacterial activity of triclosan solution was effectively reduced after enzymatic treatment. Moreover, the enzymatic process was proven to be technically feasible for removing triclosan at an environmental relevant HIF inhibitor concentration. (c) 2012 Society of Chemical Industry"
"The urinary concentrations of 8-isoprostane and 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), which are biomarkers of oxidative stress, were measured in 677 Japanese people without any diseases, and their correlations with lifestyle facotrs, lifestyle-related blood biochemical parameters, and dietary intake of antioxidative vitamins were investigated. The mean urinary concentration of 8-isoprostane and 8-OHdG was 0.58 ng/mg creatinine and 8.43 ng/mg creatinine,
respectively. Mean urinary 8-isoprostane was significantly different in terms of age, gender, smoking and alcohol consumption but not different in terms of body mass index (BMI) and exercise. By multiple regression analysis, urinary 8-isoprostane AZD6244 solubility dmso was significantly influenced by smoking and age. On the other hand, mean urinary 8-OHdG showed differences only by age group. Multiple regression analysis revealed that urinary 8-OHdG was significantly influenced by age, smoking, body weight, levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol in females, although it was significantly influenced by body weight in males. The present study shows that urinary 8-isoprostane is associated with lipid peroxidation related-lifestyles such as smoking, and urinary 8-OHdG is associated with arteriosclerosis related-factors such as Hs-CRP.
Our findings indicate a strong role for action rules in the obser
Our findings indicate a strong role for action rules in the observation and imitation of tool-use actions. We argue that, in order to account for these GSK1838705A findings, ideomotor theory needs to be extended to take mappings between bodily movements and environmental effects into account."
"The first part of this study, presented in a separate paper, focused on the early failure
mechanisms in down-flow electromigration. Since bimodality can occur at very small percentage levels, specific test structures were designed based on the Wheatstone Bridge technique. The use of these structures enabled a tested sample size past 800,000 for the 90 nm technology node, allowing a direct analysis of electromigration failure mechanisms at the single-digit ppm regime. The activation energy for the down-flow early failure mechanism was determined to be 0.83 +/- 0.01 eV, significantly lower than the usually reported
activation energy of about 0.90 eV for electromigration-induced diffusion along Cu/SiCN interfaces. Very short experimental lifetimes due to small, slit-shaped voids under vias were found to control the chip lifetime at operating conditions. In this second part of our large-scale, statistical study, we will discuss the electromigration GNS-1480 supplier scaling behavior across 90, 65, and 45 nm technologies. Results indicate that the early failure mechanism follows the expected dependency, i.e., the lifetimes scale with the interconnect line height and the critical
void size. The slitlike character of the early failure void morphology also raises concerns Sapitinib in vitro about the validity of the short-length effect for this mechanism. A very small amount of Cu depletion may cause failure even before a stress gradient is established. We therefore conducted large-scale statistical experiments close to the critical current density-length product (jL)(*). The results indicate that at very small failure percentages, the critical product extrapolates to about 2100 +/- 300 A/cm for SiCOH-based dielectrics in 90 nm technology. This value represents a decrease from the previously determined (jL)(*) product of about 3000 +/- 500 A/cm for the same dielectric material and technology node, acquired with single link interconnects. Utilizing the advantages of the Wheatstone Bridge technique, the total sample size encompassing 90, 65, and 45 nm technologies was increased past 1.2×10(6). (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3374702]"
"Urological complications after kidney transplantation may be serious and carry a high risk of graft loss. The purpose of this study was to compare urological complications with primary ureteroureterostomy versus conventional ureteroneocystostomy retrospectively. Between December 1993 and April 2008, 1287 kidney transplants were performed at our institution.
Ferulic acid inhibited CDV replicative cycle at the times 0 and 1
Ferulic acid inhibited CDV replicative cycle at the times 0 and 1 h. Our study revealed promising candidates to be considered in the treatment of CDV. Structural differences among compounds and correlation to their antiviral activity were also explored. Our analysis suggest that these compounds could be useful in order to design new antiviral drugs against CDV as well as other viruses
of great meaning in veterinary medicine. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved."
"Painful ophthalmoplegia is a rare pathologic condition caused by non-specific inflammation of the cavernous sinus, but other causes such as tumours, vasculitis, basal meningitis, neurosarcoidosis, diabetes can be responsible for the syndrome. Aim of this study is a review of the cases of painful ophthalmoplegia CGP 41251 admitted to our Institute in the last 20 years in order to verify the incidence of symptomatic versus benign forms in a clinical case series, with
particular focus on the cases in which a long term (at least 4 years) and detailed follow-up did not revealed spread of any systemic disease or other presumed causes for painful ophthalmoplegia. Twenty-three patients were retrospectively studied, 12 patients (52%) were classified as benign forms and their disease course was again evaluated and 11 cases (48%) were designated as symptomatic. The present study suggests that in the clinical practice the incidence ERK inhibitor chemical structure of benign forms among the painful ophthalmoplegias is more elevate than the symptomatic ones and underlines the need of a specific nosography for benign forms."
"NMR experiments on two kinds of Ce-based superconductors with noncentrosymmetry in the crystal structures were performed. They are CePt(3)Si and CeIr(0.65)Co(0.35)Si(3) with 0.75 and 0.55 K of T(c)'s, respectively. By annealing of the crushed sample, CePt(3)Si recovers two distinct phases, which are coexistent in the crystal, and one of two phases gets the improved
characters of single crystal. The angular dependence of an aligned axis and an applied magnetic field exhibits that the internal field must be parallel to the c-axis at Si site below T(N), which appears to be inconsistent with the results obtained by the neutron diffraction. On the other hand, a CeIr(0.65)Co(0.35)Si(3) sample with noncentrosymmetry also shows a clear Meissner diamagnetization at 0.55 selleck compound K under an ambient pressure and yields a clear Co NMR spectrum with an electric quadrupole splitting. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3365059]"
"Mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD). Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) delink ATP production from biofuel oxidation in mitochondria to reduce oxidative stress. UCP2 is expressed in brain, and has neuroprotective effects under various toxic insults. We observed induction of UCP2 expression by leptin in neuronal cultures, and hypothesize that leptin may preserve neuronal survival via UCP2.
4 3%-4 8% for T1 values, approximately, for pre/post blood and my
4.3%-4.8% for T1 values, approximately, for pre/post blood and myocardium values).
Conclusion: Based on phantom studies, T1 errors using MOLLI ranged from 6-14% across various MR scanners while errors for partition coefficient were less (6-10%). Compared with absolute T1 times, partition coefficient showed less variability across platforms and field strengths as well as higher precision."
"BackgroundThe infant gut's ability to suppress immunologic reactions to food proteins could be influenced by levels of TGF in breast milk. We hypothesized that lower levels
of TGF(1) in the breast milk (BM) of mothers in the WHEALS birth cohort are associated with atopy at infant age 2-3yrs.
MethodsWe used data collected during infancy in addition to the results of skin prick tests (SPT+) and measures of specific IgE >0.35IU/ml (spIgE) to milk, egg, and peanut at infant age 2-3 years. Infants were classified as food allergic (FA) based on parental report Fosbretabulin ic50 of infant symptoms/diagnoses and information from clinical assessments.
ResultsData for 304 cohort members were analyzed. Among non-black infants, BM-TGF(1) was lower for those classified as FA (vs. no FA) and those SPT+ (vs., SPT-), geometric mean=1100pg/ml vs. 1417pg/ml, p=0.081; FDA approved Drug Library ic50 and 1100pg/ml vs. 1415pg/ml,
p=0.064, respectively. Among infants of non-atopic mothers, BM-TGF(1) was lower for those with elevated (vs. not elevated) sIgE, geometric mean=1347pg/ml vs. 1651pg/ml, p=0.047. Using logistic regression, adjusted odds ratios describing the association of BM-TGF(1) to the presence of atopic indicators in the infant were in the hypothesized direction only for non-black infants of non-atopic mothers: aORs for FA, sIgE and SPT+ were 0.08, 0.34, and 0.26 respectively; p=0.091, 0.13, and 0.23.
ConclusionImmune benefit of BM-TGF(1) could inform prevention strategies. Evidence of an association appears greatly
influenced by infant race and maternal atopy. More research can determine if these relationships represent a modifiable risk factor for the development click here of food allergy in certain subgroups."
"Searching for a visual object is known to be adaptable to context, and it is thought to result from the selection of neural representations distributed on a visual salience map, wherein stimulus-driven and goal-directed signals are combined. Here we investigated the neural basis of this adaptability by recording superior colliculus (SC) neurons while three female rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) searched with saccadic eye movements for a target presented in an array of visual stimuli whose feature composition varied from trial to trial. We found that sensory-motor activity associated with distracters was enhanced or suppressed depending on the search array composition and that it corresponded to the monkey's search strategy, as assessed by the distribution of the occasional errant saccades.
Conclusion: This
study has demonstrated that the presence
study has demonstrated that the presence and abundance An. farauti larvae are influenced by environmental factors within the large streams. Understanding these parameters will allow for targeted cost effective implementation of source reduction and larviciding to support the frontline malaria control measures i.e. indoor residual spraying (IRS) and distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs)."
"A 55-year-old man underwent catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) after anterior myocardial infarction. Although electrophysiological study suggested that the VT originated from the septum, biventricular endocardial irrigated radiofrequency ablation failed to interrupt the VT. Epicardial ablation at the site located halfway between the lesions in the right and left ventricles via a pericardial approach eliminated the Buparlisib VE821 VT, suggesting that the VT likely originated from the top of the septum. When VTs originating from the upper septum are refractory
to endocardial ablation, epicardial mapping and ablation may be considered because only that site may be accessible with an epicardial approach. (PACE 2012; 35:e116e119)"
"The aim of this study was to isolate enterococci and Escherichia coli from faeces collected from commercial and communal pigs, and to characterise these isolates using antibiotic susceptibility profiles. Enterococcus selective agar and eosin methylene blue this website lactose agar were used for enterococci and E. coli isolation, respectively.
Gram staining, API 20 Strep and API 20E were used for identification of enterococci and E. coli, respectively. Three-hundred-and-four enterococci and 208 E. coli were identified. The most prevalent enterococci species were Enterococcus faecium (58%) and Enterococcus gallinarum (23%). A large proportion of enterococci (62.5% to 100%) and E. coli (88.5 to 100%) were resistant to erythromycin, oxytetracycline and sulphamethoxazole. No vancomycin-resistant enterococci were found and PCR analysis for vanA, vanB and vanC-1 were all negative. Less than 7% of enterococci were resistant to ampicillin and amoxicillin, whereas 45% of E. coli isolates were resistant to the same antibiotics. Antibiotic susceptibility tests and clustering patterns showed some similarities among these isolates. From the results, a common origin of the isolates or histories of antibiotic use among these farms was proposed. It could also be concluded that vancomycin-resistant enterococci were not present in pigs on these two farms."
"Donation after cardiac death (DCD) offers an alternative pathway to donation for some donors. Successful recovery of organs for transplantation following DCD requires that organ recovery surgery commence as soon as possible after death has occurred. This limits the amount of time that family and friends can spend with the donor prior to surgery. The aim of this study was to identify community views about the timing of organ recovery in DCD.
Gates Glidden burs (Maillefer Instruments, Ballaigues, Switzerlan
Gates Glidden burs (Maillefer Instruments, Ballaigues, Switzerland) were used to flare the coronal two thirds of the canal. All canals were dried with paper points and then obturated using cold lateral condensation (except for the positive controls) of gutta-percha points and AH plus (Dentsply DeTrey, Konstanz,
Germany). All 40 roots were sectioned 3 mm from the apex. Forty teeth were assigned randomly into 1 of 4 experimental groups of 10 teeth each: in group 1, the teeth were resected apically (90 degrees angle) and the cavities were obturated with mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA); in group GSK1210151A cell line 2, after apical resection (90 degrees angle), a root-end cavity was prepared using ultrasonic diamond retrotips and the cavities were obturated with MTA; in group 3, the teeth were resected apically (similar to 45 degrees angle) and the cavities were obturated with MTA; and in group 4, after apical resection (similar to 45 degrees angle), a root-end cavity was prepared using ultrasonic diamond retrotips and the cavities were obturated with MTA. AS1842856 concentration An additional 6 teeth were used as controls (3 each, negative and positive controls). Apical leakage was measured using a computerized fluid filtration meter with a laser system.
Results. The mean apical microleakage
was 2.0 +/- 0.4 x 10(-4), 1.6 +/- 0.6 x 10(-4), 1.6 +/- 0.9 x 10(-4), and 1.8 +/- 0.7 x 10(-4) mu L/cmH(2)O/min(-1) at 1.2 atm, in groups 1 to 4, respectively. Although the mean apical microleakage was greater in group 1, the differences among the 4 groups were not statistically significant buy MS-275 (P > .05).
Conclusions. The results of these in vitro studies showed that when an adequate retrograde cavity depth is prepared, variation in the root-end cutting angle does not necessarily cause any difference in microleakage. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2011;111:e50-e55)"
"The first measurements of heat capacity of high-density polyethylene have been obtained for
melts in the high-temperature region of 180-260 degrees C. A heat-flow twin calorimeter was used. Abrupt transitions are noticed at 212 and 228 degrees C, analogous to transitions seen earlier with rheological and surface tension measurements. Possible explanations for these phenomena are offered. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012″
"Water vapor was added to the feeding gas of a continuous atmospheric argon (Ar) microwave plasma jet to study its influence on plasma shape, plasma gas temperature, and OH radical concentrations. The plasma jet was created by a 2.45 GHz microwave plasma source operating at constant power of 104 W with H2O-Ar mixture flow rate of 1.7 standard liter per minute (slm). With an increase in the H2O/Ar ratio from 0.0 to 1.9%, the plasma jet column length decreased from 11 mm to 4 mm, and the plasma jet became unstable when the ratio was higher than 1.
The idea of using tactic carriers in drug
delivery applic
delivery applications can be justified by the fact that cancer sites in the living body have different physiological characters (lower pH and higher resting temperature) compared to normal cells. check details The proposed ""bottom-up"" design method for self-propelled objects at small scales for targeted drug delivery applications could realize the original designation of nanoscience proposed 50 years ago by Richard Feynman. (C) Versita Sp. z o.o."
"The aim of this study was to compare the differences between anterolateral thigh perforator free flaps (ALTFF) and pectoralis major myocutaneous flap (PMMF) for reconstruction in oral cancer patients.
Method and Patients: who received free flap or PMMF reconstruction after ablation surgeries were eligible for the current study.
find more The patients' demographic data, medical history, and quality of life scores(Medical Outcomes Study-Short Form-36 (MOS SF-36) and the University of Washington Quality of Life (UW-QOL) questionnaires were collected.
Results: 81 of 118 questionnaires were returned (68.64%). There was significant differences between two groups in the gender (P<0.005). Patients reconstructed with ALTFF had better appearance domains and better shoulders domains, in addition to better role emotion domains.
Conclusions: Using either PMMF or ALTFF for reconstruction of oral defects after cancer resection significantly influences a patient's quality of life. Data from this study provide useful information for physicians and patients during their discussion of reconstruction modalities for oral cancers."
"Ventricular Anlotinib supplier septal defect (VSD) is the most prevalent type of congenital heart disease and a major cause for the significantly increased morbidity and mortality
among infants. Aggregating evidence indicates that genetic defects are involved in the pathogenesis of congenital VSD. Nevertheless, VSD is genetically heterogeneous, and the genetic determinants for VSD in the majority of patients remain to be identified. In this study, the entire coding region of GATA4, a gene encoding a zinc finger transcription factor essential for normal cardiac morphogenesis, was sequenced in 160 unrelated patients with VSD. The available relatives of the index patient harboring the identified mutation and 200 unrelated control individuals were subsequently genotyped. The disease-causing potential of a sequence alteration was evaluated by MutationTaster, and the functional effect of the mutation was characterized using a luciferase reporter assay system. As a result, a novel heterozygous GATA4 variation, p.R43W, was identified in a proband with VSD, that was absent in control subjects. Genetic analysis of the family members of the variation carrier showed that the substitution co-segregated with VSD. The p.
HP infection and CagA status were determined by ELISA
and Western blotting; semen analysis was performed following WHO guidelines. The amino acid sequence of human enzymes involved in glycolysis and oxidative metabolism were ""blasted"" with peptides expressed by HP J99. Thirty-seven patients (42.5%) were seropositive for CagA. Sperm motility (18% versus Dibutyryl-cAMP supplier 32%; P < 0.01), sperm vitality (35% versus 48%; P < 0.01) and the percentage of sperm with normal forms (18% versus 22%; P < 0.05) in the CagA-positive group were significantly reduced versus those in the CagA-negative group. All the considered enzymes showed partial linear homology with HP peptides, but four enzymes aligned with four different segments of the same cag island protein. We hypothesize a relationship between infection by strains expressing CagA and decreased sperm quality. Potentially increased systemic levels of inflammatory cytokines that occur in infection by CagA-positive strains and autoimmune phenomena that involve molecular NSC23766 molecular weight mimicry could explain the pathogenetic mechanism of alterations
"P>During adaptation and developmental processes cells respond through nonlinear calcium-decoding signaling cascades, the principal components of which have been identified. However, the molecular mechanisms generating specificity of cellular responses remain poorly understood. Calcineurin B-like (CBL) proteins contribute to decoding calcium signals by specifically interacting with a group of CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs). Here, we report
the subcellular localization of all 10 CBL proteins from Arabidopsis and provide a cellular localization matrix of a plant calcium signaling network. Our findings suggest that individual CBL proteins decode calcium signals not only at the plasma membrane and the tonoplast, but also in the cytoplasm and nucleus. We found that distinct targeting signals located in the N-terminal domain of CBL proteins determine the spatially discrete localization of CBL/CIPK complexes by COPII-independent targeting VS-6063 concentration pathways. Our findings establish the CBL/CIPK signaling network as a calcium decoding system that enables the simultaneous specific information processing of calcium signals emanating from different intra- and extracellular stores, and thereby provides a mechanism underlying the specificity of cellular responses."
"Insulin resistance is the main clinical and pathogenetic feature of the metabolic syndrome, one of the major health problems worldwide. Chronic liver diseases may induce insulin resistance. The hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome is nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Insulin promotes the storage of energy in the fed state by stimulation of glycogen synthesis, lipogenesis, suppression of gluconeogenesis and VLDL formation. Epidemiological studies have shown that chronic hepatitis C induces insulin resistance.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Save array data in variable I use function to solve Huffman coding algorithm but the function take string variable as data but i want it to take array when i write array.ToString() the function out print some unneeded result because i put array no variable.
this is function code
public static void GenerateCode(Node parentNode, string code)
{
    if (parentNode != null)
    {
        GenerateCode(parentNode.leftChild, code + "0");

        if (parentNode.leftChild == null && parentNode.rightChild == null)
        Console.WriteLine(parentNode.data + "{" + code + "}");

        GenerateCode(parentNode.rightChild, code + "1");

    }
}

This is my calling for the function in the main:
GenerateCode(parentNode1,array.ToString());

This is photo with the result:

I need don't show System.Int[]

A: You want to use string.Join().
GenerateCode(parentNode1, string.Join("", array));

A: What you need to do is pass in a string representation of your int array.
You can use:
GenerateCode(parentNode1, String.Join("", array));

Which will concatenate all your ints into a string like 10001010101010111011101

A: The problem is that array.ToString() isn't overridden by the language. Instead, you probably want to use another function, like string.Concat:
GenerateCode(parentNode1, string.Concat(array));

The result you were getting is because the default implementation of ToString() (object.ToString(), that is) prints out type information.

Although if you do have control over the GenerateCode method, I would strongly suggest modifying its parameter type to accept an IEnumerable<T> or array. Converting to a string, unless necessary, will lose some major benefits of strong-typing. I would make that conversion in the method, not before it. That will allow you to change the implementation later on without worrying about what parameters you pass.
Furthermore, I'd be tempted to write your values to a StringBuilder rather than the console, since that will be way more useful in a majority of real-world applications.
public static void GenerateCode(StringBuilder builder, Node parentNode, IEnumerable<int> values)
{
    if (parentNode != null)
    {
        GenerateCode(builder, parentNode.leftChild, Concat(values, 0));

        if (parentNode.leftChild == null && parentNode.rightChild == null)
            builder.AppendLine(string.Format("{0}{{{1}}}", parentNode.data, string.Concat(values));

        GenerateCode(builder, parentNode.rightChild, Concat(values, 1));
    }
}

private static IEnumerable<T> Concat(IEnumerable<T> coll, T obj)
{
    foreach (var v in coll)
        yield return v;

    yield return obj;
}

Then you can call it, of course, like this.
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
GenerateCode(builder, parentNode1, array);
Console.Write(builder.ToString());

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


WAN Optimization is about getting better network performance for less cost. Earlier, we wrote about the challenges of WAN Management and the specific limitations of traditional WAN solutions. Here we explain how Software Controlled Networking (SCN) virtualizes the network to create more cost efficient high performance networks and deliver the enitire stack of optimization features as-a-service.
We'll start with a quick look at the challenge of Network Virtualization and the need to optimize both WAN & Internet while addressing the importance of bringing software control to Network Access.
From there we'll explain the benefits of Over-the-Top Quality-of-Service and the efficiency of using a Cloud Portal for Enterprise Class monitoring and control. Finally, we can describe how this enables a full stack of managed WAN Optimization features as-a-service that overcome the limitations of the traditional WAN Solutions.
Virtualization: In computer science, can be described in three distinct areas including Compute, Storage and Network. Compute and storage functions have already demonstrated their benefits of virtualization within the cloud.
Network Virtualization has proven more difficult requiring the participation of Routers and Switches in the network path. As a result, the industry seems to be waiting on a new generation of network switches and routers supporting Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), which will require a new round of capital expenditures for us to finally reap the benefits of network virtualization in the future.
Fortunately, Software Controlled Networking (SCN) is here today offering a Multi-Patented and Market Proven Network Virtualization alternative that's compatible with existing Routers and Switches in the path. SCN works with existing infrastructures and is easily deployed at the point of access. It works Over-the-Top of any Service Provider links regardless of the circuit type, and doesn't require upgrades to existing provider equipment.
SCN creates a virtual network session Over-the-Top of existing Carrier Infrastructures that controls all WAN traffic and Internet services. Connections can be made with any combination of IP circuits using diverse local Carriers and circuit types. SCN keeps track of circuit conditions such as latency, jitter, and loss to intelligently manage traffic. Advanced capabilities include link aggregation, pre-emptive failover and a patented bi-directional IP Quality of Service (IPQoS) that brings MPLS type functionality to Public Broadband.
More than just monitoring, SCN provides consistent metrics across the network, regardless of the local Carrier and circuit type. Advanced Network analytics process this Big Data into visualizations that show end-to-end user Quality of Experience (QoE) for all networks and key applications at-a-glance. Network Virtualization helps you find problems quickly and provides the ability to fix issues remotely using a single sign-on Cloud Management Portal.
Service Providers can use SCN to seamlessly integrate WAN features like VPN Encryption, WAN Acceleration and WAN Aggregation into their WAN service offerings and manage them all through a single CPE that's remotely controlled using a Cloud Management Portal.
Conclusion: Software Controlled Networking creates a virtual network and revolutionizes WAN Performance Optimization. Through Network & WAN Virtualization, a wide range of optimization features can be managed using a single CPE at the customer location. This reduces the cost and complexity compared to traditional WAN solutions that required multiple devices. SCN provides advanced WAN aggregation that easily scales both WAN and Internet bandwidth to any site using low cost Public Broadband links, and the bi-directional IPQoS ensures there's no sacrifice in quality for both WAN & Internet compared to traditional MPLS based services.
SCN improves WAN performance monitoring and management by providing more consistent network analytics across all sites regardless of local carrier and connection type, with advanced capabilities to repair the virtual network from a single login Cloud Management Portal. These features make Software Controlled Networks ideal for multi-site, multi-carrier WAN design.
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Thomas and his wife Helen help their children Alex and Sarah come to a greater understanding of the importance of learning about the lives of the saints. In this episode, explore the life, ministry, and martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe, one of the great apostles of Marian Devotion. 1 DVD. 30 mins. English and Spanish audio.


As the single fully weighted piece of work for the 3D Graphics module during my second year of my Computer Science degree at Hull University I had to create an OpenGL graphics simulation. Despite having had little prior experience of using 3D graphics frameworks, I am very pleased with the outcome and look forward to continuing to spend a lot more time with both the OpenGL and DirectX API's; in particular my final year project looks to be a ray-tracing renderer (potentially CUDA) which should give me additional exposure to what is becoming a more and more promising technology for gaming.
I created a report accompanying the finished program which I'll simply include bits of below to explain the project and how the simulation works.
The Column is a 3D graphics simulation designed around a series of stacked boxes containing cylinders. Balls are emitted at the top of the stack and interact with both the geometry and each other via way of collisions and response. In addition, the simulation features a "Sphere of Doom", a large sphere near the bottom of the stack that absorbs balls, shrinking their size and mass. A portal lies at the bottom of the stack that transports any balls that enter, back to the top of the column. The entire simulation is made using OpenTK (OpenGL) in C#. All geometry and physics are rendered mathematically.
The specification determined that one emitter should emit balls with the approx density of aluminium, the second one, copper and the third, gold.
The program simulates a dynamic system through various means. The balls use an Euler integration method with a gravitational constant that combined with calculated velocity, mass and density of each ball, simulates the motion of the balls falling down the column.
Ball to ball collision response is handled via "elastic collisions" based on the mass of balls and perpendicular velocities from the collision point, thus a heavier ball will knock a lighter ball out of the way. Additionally the angle of impact effects the amount of force transferred.
Rendering is performed via OpenGL using version 3.1 and Vertex Buffer objects. All primitive 3D models have been constructed manually or mathematically. I use GLSL vertex and fragment shaders for "Phong Shading" based ambient, diffuse and specular lighting calculations that provide interpolated lighting of geometry between vertices. My scene uses 3 point light sources and has built in support for both directional and spot lights if desired.
I have implemented a particle system object that emits particles of a given shape. I have used simple quad planes for the simulation for performance optimisation and rotate them for added effect combined with the lighting. The particles are highly customisable in lifetime, movement, scale and quantity and can be added for any desired event. I use them specifically for collisions with the Sphere of Doom and upon spawning of balls from emitters.
My portals use a Frame Buffer Object which renders the scene from the desired camera position to a texture. I then switch to the Display Frame Buffer and render the entrance and exit portals using the respective textures to give the effect of seeing through the portals to their destination, which in turn is updated in real-time.
I have spent considerable time optimising the simulation to maximise the overall frame rate. Much of this has been achieved by streamlining the shader structure to avoid dynamic branching, specifically with the avoidance of "IF" statements , the use of step functions and moving as many calculations as possible to the vertex shader. The fragment lighting calculations are easily the most intensive part of the simulation and reducing my lights to a maximum of 3 per fragment has also helped greatly.
With a simulation such as this, there is always something that could be improved on, tweaked, optimised or added. Suffice to say I am very satisfied however with the quality of the finished product which has more than surpassed my initial expectations and I feel I have learned very useful and contemporary skills that will be essential for the future. Perhaps most importantly, I have thoroughly enjoyed the assignment.
I'll get a video uploaded of it in motion at some point. I'm currently looking at improving my portals a bit by potentially using an asymmetric frustrum.
This entry was posted in 3D Graphics, Programming, Simulation and tagged 3D Graphics, collision, computer science degree, coursework, Hull University, lighting, OpenGL, OpenTK, particles, phong, physics, Programming, simulation by Alex Rodgers. Bookmark the permalink.
This is brilliant. I've been trying to dabble with OpenGL but haven't come very far. Is there any chance I can take a look at the source code for this?
Hi, the problem is this project is still potentially used as coursework by my University so I haven't wanted to put the source code online. However after I finish my MSc in a few months I may do so.
Also, I recommend once you have the basics down to get a copy of the OpenGL red book. It's not tutorial exactly, but it's a useful reference guide for when you want to implement specific things.


I am an engineer. Confident about what I know, and simply not bothered bout the rest. I don't believe in volume. Volume is good for Music. When it comes to my trap, the lower the better. I know what I m doing. I know why I do it. If the others go flabbergasted about why I did something the way I did it, its their problem.
I take responsibility. Responsibility which I have been entrusted with. Responsibility which I have taken up. I don't believe in blaming others. Come to think of it. I advise ….only….if and only if the other is not wise to learn it on his own. In short, I think of solutions, Solutions to the madness around.
If people don't want my solutions…. That's again… their problem. I have nothing to lose. A share of the limelight has never been on the "To grab" list for me.
Some of the reasons, which have kept me away from Class Participation, the phenomenon that's the rage of the season. The fight to see who can be the loudest. They are awarded marks for that!!! Somehow leaves me astounded…… marks for volume in class… Now what kind of pedagogy is that?
I don't mind being a sucker. Like I said, I know what I m. The others view aint my problem. It is quite a life. Being the sucker, has its share of fun… in fact more.. than its share. Carrying it with me will be the hard part. A tribute to Sir Percy Blakeney.


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Q: Assembly Language Stack and Subroutine I'm really confused as to how stack pointers and byte pointers work. Here is the segment of code the problem is referencing:
    .data
v1  db  'AB'
v2  db  'CD'
v3  db  'EF

    .code
start:
     mov  ax,@data
     mov  ds,ax
     mov  sp,0100h

;call the subroutine
     mov  ax,offset v1
     push ax
     mov  ax,offset v2
     push ax
     call subr
retsub:

The subroutine is:
subr:
     push bp
     mov  bp,sp
     mov  si,[bp+6]
     add  si,1
     mov  dl,[si]
     mov  ah,2
     int  21h
     pop  bp
     ret

The three review questions associated with this problem have these answers:
1. After mov bp,sp in the subroutine, the value of the hex value in bp is 00F8.
2. The subroutine writes a single ASCII character to the standard output. It writes B.
3. The hex value in the sp register after the subroutine returns to the main program at the instruction at the label retsub is 00FC.
Can anyone walk me through the steps so that I can understand this process a little better?
The offset data table that I have is:
offset  00  01  02  03  04  05
data    41  42  43  44  45  46

The way that I approach this problem in my head is:
mov  sp,0100h      ;sp = 0100
mov  ax,offset v1  ;ax = 4142
push ax            ;4142 is pushed onto the stack
mov  ax,offset v2  ;ax = 4344
push ax            ;4344 is pushed onto the stack
call subr

stack
------
|4344|
------
|4142|
------

This is as far as I understand and I'm sure I'm not even doing this part right. If you can, please break it down with what bp and sp is with each step so that I can follow along and hopefully apply this to another review problem.

A: Every push decrements sp by the size of the pushed element. Every pop increments sp similarly.
So, you begin with sp = 100h, then you

*

*subtract 2 with push ax

*subtract 2 with push ax

*subtract 2 with call subr because call pushes the return address and it's 16-bit here

*subtract 2 with push bp and arrive at sp = 0F8h

*add 2 with pop bp

*add 2 with ret and remove the 16-bit return address and arrive at sp = 0FCh

A:
After mov bp,sp in the subroutine, the value of the hex value in bp is 00F8

Yes, because sp is initialized with 100h then two word sized arguments are pushed (push ax), the subroutine is called which pushes the 2-byte return address onto the stack, and last push bp is executed which decrease sp with another 2 bytes. So we have 100h-2-2-2-2 = 00F8h. Stack grows downwards in memory on Intel CPUs.

The hex value in the sp register after the subroutine returns to the main program at the instruction at the label retsub is 00FC.

This is because the subroutine exits with a "pop bp" instruction, then a ret instruction which pops (read from and increase sp) an return address from the stack. So 00F8+2+2=00FC.


Our core art and ranking system is Taekwondo. However students learn practical concepts, techniques, skill sets and tools to help them become well rounded practitioners. It's old school MMA the traditional way - take downs, throws, basic submissions and arresting techniques, many found within form applications, boxing, kickboxing and more. If you are looking for formal traditional training with 21st century methodology, and benefits, we will be a good fit for your children and you.Tradition, and evolution in learning, along with an eclectic knowledge base, do not have to be exclusive of one another.
For almost two decades, Modern Samurai has offered traditional martial arts instruction. Our students stay fit, active and healthy while achieving their self defense goals. We are here to help you reach all of your individual and personal fitness goals. Regardless of whether you've ever set foot in a martial arts school before, our staff will listen to your needs and develop a customized workout for you to achieve your goals.


The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World par Jacques Bosser est disponible au téléchargement en format PDF et EPUB. Ici, vous pouvez accéder à des millions de livres. Tous les livres disponibles pour lire en ligne et télécharger sans avoir à payer plus.
All libraries in the world - whether they are small or large, public or private - serve the same purpose: to preserve, cherish and show off riches that have often been neglected. From El Escorial in Spain to the Congress in Washington, from Trinity College, Cambridge to the Abbey of Saint-Gall, this volume reveals an exceptional heritage: nearly 20 shrines to culture, entirely devoted to the presentation of knowledge, stacked with writings and shrouded in silence.


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CredibleNewsPost.com Travel Airbnb Ending Its COVID Cancelation Policy, Here's Why
Airbnb Ending Its COVID Cancelation Policy, Here's Why
With the number of Covid-19s declining across the country, Airbnb is updating its policies at the heart of the epidemic.
Major changes are being made to the extending situation policy to cover both infected guests and hosts. Over the last 2 years, guests can cancel and get a full refund, and hosts can cancel penalty-free upcoming reservations.
"As a result of this new Lifestyle approach, starting May 31, we are updating our Outgoing Situation Policy to no longer cover COVID-19 related situations as a reason for refunds for bookings made on or after this date," the company said. A statement
Airbnb officials noted that many companies in the travel industry completed similar programs months ago.
"After consulting with our medical advisers, as well as with our community, we think now is the right time to take the same action," the company said.
It also mentions that about two-thirds of hosts offer a moderate or flexible cancellation policy that includes a full refund for cancellations made 5 days in advance – and in some cases, up to 24 hours before check-in.
"As we have seen the heroic efforts of the health authorities and medical advances around the world, almost two-thirds of the world's population has received at least one vaccine against COVID-19," Airbnb noted. "And many countries have now implemented Living with the COVID-19 plan, because it has become part of our world."
The change will not affect Airbnb's many other COVID-16 policies over the past few years. Among them:
Frontline stays in place, allowing hosts to share their home with frontline staff and first responders.
Five-step advanced hygiene practices will be mandatory for all hosts.
An online tool for tracking travel restrictions and official advice is still available to guests before booking.
The SuperFund Relief Program provides $ 17 million in grants to those struggling financially as a result of the epidemic.
"The safety of our community is our priority, and we continue to monitor the situation closely," Airbnb concluded.
Be sure to stay tuned for all our breaking travel news:
Neil Patrick Harris Is Reluctantly 'Uncoupled' And Single In The City On Netflix Series
3 Kids in Indonesia Die of Acute Hepatitis


The Islamic State just published a remedial step-by-step pictorial for lone jihadists on how to use a heavy vehicle to kill, walking would-be terrorists through how to acquire a vehicle and which targets to strike.
ISIS' monthly Rumiyah magazine, which publishes online in 10 languages including English, last covered vehicle attacks in their November issue "Just Terror Tactics" segment, using Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who plowed a cargo truck through a crowd of Bastille Day revelers in Nice, France, last summer, as their key example.
In that article, ISIS encouraged shying away from budget sedans and "off-roaders, SUVs, and four-wheel drive vehicles" that "lack the necessary attributes required for causing a blood bath" as "smaller vehicles lack the weight and wheel span required for crushing many victims." They recommended trucks with double wheels for "giving victims less of a chance to escape being crushed by the vehicle's tires." Long semi trucks were discouraged because of the possibility of jack-knifing.
The terror group encouraged jihadists to find a vehicle with a "metal outer frame which are usually found in older cars, as the stronger outer frame allows for more damage to be caused when the vehicle is slammed into crowds, contrary to newer cars that are usually made of plastics and other weaker materials." A picture of a U-Haul truck was shown with the caption "an affordable weapon." A picture of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade was shown with the words "an excellent target."
Shortly after the article was published, a ram-and-stab attack by Ohio State student Abdul Razak Ali Artan on a sidewalk full of students and faculty caused several injuries, but no fatalities. He used a silver sedan in the attack.
In December, Anis Amri hijacked a Polish semi truck and killed the driver, then plowed the big rig into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 11.
This March, Khalid Masood rented the Hyundai Tuscon he used to run over five pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before crashing into the palace fence and stabbing a police officer. Last month, Rakhmot Akilov stole a beer truck and drove it down a busy Stockholm shopping street, killing four.
Eager to build on those attacks no matter the IQ of the jihadist, ISIS this week published the how-to with pictures -- trying to steer terrorists toward vehicles more like Berlin and Stockholm.
"The ideal vehicle," says the page, has a "slightly raised chassis and bumper," is a "double-wheeled, load-bearing truck" that "large in size, heavy in weight" and is "fast in speed or rate of acceleration."
The suggestions for ideal targets also illustrates examples. Corresponding to "large outdoor festivals, conventions, celebrations, and parades" is a photo of an LGBT event.
A busy London street next to an Underground stop is shown as the "pedestrian-congested streets" example. After "outdoor markets," ISIS suggests "outdoor rallies," and uses a photo of a 2012 May Day rally in Paris.
After the Ohio State attack in which no one suffered life-threatening wounds, ISIS published a similar remedial pictorial telling lone jihadists how to go on stabbing sprees.
In the December issue of Rumiyah, ISIS told knife jihadists to aim for the neck, chest or stomach and to pick a suitable blade while not choosing targets above their skill level.


According to a recent survey regarding the customer experience, 76 percent of customers see customer service as the true test of value. About 70 percent of clients say they do not forgive a bad service experience, leaving a low client forgiveness rate following a negative experience. The high-cost associated with losing a loyal customer is causing companies to realize that optimizing customer service is a critical priority. In order to keep their customer base loyal and happy, companies are investing in opportunities that ensure delivery of a consistently positive customer experience.
Change can be difficult, especially for a seasoned veteran. Whether it's a sales territory, product line, company structure or even a technology change, your company's long-time salespeople will not be enthusiastic about adjusting to the use of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. These seasoned veterans have created a system based on the processes they know and changing that system typically is not a task they enjoy doing.


When M&A transactions are being prepared, insight into key business data relating to the company being acquired is crucial. A number of legal service providers such as Legadex are increasingly using the scope provided by artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics in particular, to prepare virtual datarooms, business divestments and legal due diligence analyses. So what do advisers working on post-deal integrations think about the use of business data and AI to enhance the quality of their services? Luc van Daele (Legadex) and Tim Jansen asked Harold de Bruijn and Evert Oosterhuis, both partners in IntegrationPeople.
Research shows that as many as 60-80% of acquisitions don't generate any long-term economic value. Harold de Bruijn and Evert Oosterhuis are convinced that this percentage can be reduced if preparations for the integration are started during the DD process and more use is made of data analysis and artificial intelligence. "Buying a company is often a testosterone-fuelled event," says Oosterhuis. "You've therefore got to back decisions with hard data, since emotion isn't a good basis for decision-making," De Bruijn adds.
Acquisition agreements often include earn-out arrangements and client retention clauses. The problem, however, is that there is often uncertainty about the underlying measurement intervals or methods, according to the IntegrationPeople partners. They therefore recommend agreeing clear definitions at an early stage, during the integration DD, and 'freezing' the datasets as soon as the deal is closed in order to establish the baseline. "Put simply, you want to be able to say: if the number of clients goes down by X within timeframe Y, then the reduction on the purchase price will be Z. Such agreements require a lot of data to take a reliable snapshot of the company. Once you've got that, it takes away all the haggling over the post-closing conditions, leaving you to focus fully on the integration itself," De Bruijn maintains.
Ideally, you want to know which customers are at risk. Then when the acquisition has been completed you can pursue a targeted policy to keep these clients on board to maintain the value of the business you've acquired.
Reaching clear agreements of this kind requires a fundamentally different approach to (vendor) due diligence, Oosterhuis adds. "At the moment, you have to get all the information you need from the vendor. As an adviser, you may need to contact the sales department in another country, such as Brazil, to gather information about the company's local turnover and cost evolution," says Oosterhuis. "That potentially brings you up against two problems. First, you can't tell your contacts anything about the deal, which means you also can't ask them anything. Second, they may have an interest in presenting the data in an overly positive light. By massaging productivity definitions or manipulating timeframes, they may make the data look a lot better, perhaps in the hope of saving their own jobs or the local production plant." If, on the other hand, you have access to source data as a basis for data analysis, you can circumvent these office politics in both the pre- and post-transaction phase.
"This shifts the balance of power in a transaction and increases transparency," says De Bruijn, who remembers a case where the availability of source data proved decisive. Two companies negotiating a merger each had a long-term relationship with a different tyre supplier. Both parties put forward unsubstantiated arguments for hanging on to their own supplier following the transaction. One claim was that the tyres produced by the acquiree's supplier wouldn't fit the acquirer's trucks. This turned out to be nonsense. Since all the data on both suppliers was available, it was quickly established that they both produced tyres of similar quality but that one was significantly cheaper. In this case, the availability of hard data made it easy to decide which supplier to go with.
In order to improve the integration process, De Bruijn says it's essential to appoint an integration manager who's already been involved in the due diligence. At the moment, those involved usually tend to focus mainly on closing the deal, with little attention given to the post-deal integration aspects. "An integration manager will ensure the continued availability of relevant data, which can speed up and facilitate the integration process." According to De Bruijn, CEOs often say they'll 'fit in' the integration process around their other duties once the deal's been completed.
"The trouble is that after the deal's been signed, their time is often completely taken up by issues that have previously had to take a back seat. A designated integration manager can bring the knowledge of those who weren't involved with the deal up to speed more quickly, ensure decisions are based on facts/data, mitigate risks identified in the integration DD phase and maintain momentum, which will accelerate the integration and make synergies easier to achieve.
Put hard data alongside emotion. Rational arguments aren't always given the weight they deserve in integration processes, for example because of loyalty to existing suppliers. Data can be helpful in cutting through these emotional factors in order to make swift, objective decisions.
Data analysis accelerates decision-making. Many decisions taken during the acquisition and integration process need to be based on facts. AI boosts the quality of the available information and with it the speed of the process.
Appoint an integration manager who has been involved in the due diligence during the initial phase of the acquisition. This will improve and speed up the transfer of knowledge from deal-makers to the existing organisation.
Use AI to compile analytical 'snapshots' of the company. If the parties agree on the shared factual basis underlying the negotiations, this will prevent disagreements in the post-deal phase.
Use AI as a fact-finding tool to monitor the progress of the integration process. Issues will be highlighted sooner and can be tackled consistently by the organisations involved.
Use data analysis and AI to get to know your target as fully as possible. AI is becoming increasingly effective in the automated classification of unsorted documentation, searching documents in response to relevant questions and the identification of links between data.
According to the partners, carve-outs pose specific problems. "It's generally not very clear exactly what is being sold," Oosterhuis points out. The relationship between the activities to be divested and the parent organisation often hasn't been fully mapped out. "This includes aspects such as software licences, permits or the reallocation of employees who work for both organisations and the associated costs," De Bruijn adds. The acquirer will want to have a clear picture of these operational risks, since any uncertainties will result in a reduced offer price. A thorough data analysis in advance makes it easier to separate and market different components of a business and ensure operational continuity after the deal has been completed.


text:
GTE 2013 Hublot's Zebra Stripes
Last week I blogged about watch companies and their pets. My mind is still whirling with animal themes watches so when spotted the Hublot's Big Bang Zebra Bang, I thought it a wonderful addition to my mental menagerie of animal themes. It seems Hublot is sliding down the food chain by unveiling a harmless grazer for its GTE 2013 timepiece. Read more about the Geneva Trade Show which runs from January 21st-25th. As you recall the previous two animal themed timepieces were the Leopard Bang and Boa bang. Stylistically Hublot is right on target with this one.
Zebra Stripes are a fashion mainstay with a history dating back to the late 1800's. In fact in 1793, a striped clothing frenzy became known as the "zebra period." In the 19th century it was prisoners who donned the zebra stripes, not out of whim ,of course, but rather a disgruntled obedience. Take a leap to the "now" and one will find zebra stripes accessorizing many a wardrobe. From leggings to handbags to scarves and even commanding an entire outfit whether by night or by day.
Hublot's Zebra Stripes 41mm ceramic timepiece for the ladies is punctuated with feminine graces. The bezel surrounding the leopard print dial is set with 48 topazes and baguette-cut spinels.
If you are not familiar with the term Spinal, don't be to disheartened, Spinals are precious gems in themselves - thought to be part of the Corundum family. The red spinals are often confused with rubies, but in fact are quite different stones. Spinals are found in a variety of colors - the red and cobalt blue spinal. The purple color spinal owe its hue to iron and chromium. Spinals require very little treatment as in nature they are flawless and transparent.
6 signature H shaped titanium screws are embedded, polished and locked upon the bezel.
Eight bezel set diamonds serve as hour markers and add a glamorous glitter to the dial. A trapezoid date aperture is placed at the 4.30 mark.
The dial is protected by a scratch resistant sapphire crystal coated on the interior with an anti-reflective treatment.
A zebra print calfskin strap affixed to a supreme comfort rubber makes for a highly comfortably and flexible strap. Without a doubt the sense of style and fashion afforded by the Hublot Zebra Stripes is impeccable, to say the least, it is the drive beneath its zebra coat which demands a mention.
The watch is powered by a HUB4300 Automatic Mechanical chronograph movement comprising of 278 components, beating at 28,800 vph, baring 37 jewels and equipped with a 42 hour power reserve. The efficiency of the automatic winding mechanism is heightened due to a rare super hard high density chemical element segment known as tungsten affixed to the rotor. (chemical symbol W and atomic number 74). As a result of its high density, tungsten is often as weights and counterweights.
The HUB4300 is equipped with a Glucydur hairspring. The hairspring and balance wheel regulate the entire watch mechanism and thus determining the precision of the timepiece. However the functioning of the hairspring is highly sensitive to change in temperature thus many higher end modern watches use an alloy of beryllium, copper, and iron known as Glucydur. Glucydur (or beryllium bronze) is non-magnetic and is resistant to deformation resulting from temperature change. In addition it has superior shock resistance than steel.
Companies like Omega prefer a silicon Balance Spring - read A look at Omega's Silicon balance Spring.
This watch is water resistant to 100 meters; however, I am not sure if the strap can take a good swim.
I apologize if my posts are few and far between, but Hurricane Sandy effected by internet connection and it took longer than I thought to get back on track. However things are returning to normal and posts should be coming on a more regular basis.
Please contact me at rikivanh@gmail.com if you would like me to review a certain watch; link to your webpage, advertise on my site or contact me about writing articles or blogs. Any other comments or criticism are welcome too.
Thanks Vicky
Labels: Hublot
Watch Companies and Their Pets
Boucheron Grenoui
Representation of animals on peoples possessions have been around since the dawn of mankind. From the earliest cave paintings to the latest cyber pets, humans are fixated on animal motifs.
Exquisite depictions of creatures are found on many a watch. Cartier Prowls around with a Panther; Maurice Lacrox harbors a starfish and Boucheron has a thing for frogs and feathered friends. MB & F took a Panda for a ride atop its Thunderbolt HM4 for the Only Watch Auction 2011, while Urwerk lurks in crevices with its Tarantula Timepieces. Urwerk is not the only one with a fascination for venomous arachnids, the Ladoire Black Widow has quite a bite. Concord has let its Black Spider out the cage, while Urwek heeds the call of the Phoenix. Parmigiani summons in a dragon for the Chinese New Year and Cartier captures a croc. Vacheron Constantin lets loose a flock of birds or fish if you wish, while Hermes and Angular Momentum both reign in a herd of horses. Serpents slither across the dial of a Richard Mille RM 026 tourbillon and Piaget's glittering birds perch upon a branch in a Piaget Limelight Garden Party.
Van Cleef & Arpels needs special mention in this regard, as superb enameling creates creatures of extraordinary splendor. In the 1950's Van Cleef & Arpels wanted to increase its elite customer base and cater to a larger group of admirers. The result was a lovely catalog named "La Boutique" in 1954 featuring brooches of 'Curious Creatures". These playful whimsical creatures were somewhat affordable and highly collectible. With the purchase of the Cat Brooch one wanted the lion or the giraffe ,the adorable bunny brooch or the monocled bulldog. Van Cleef & Arpels used its whimsical representation of creatures to win the hearts of many.
Lady Arpels African Landscape
To this day, Van Cleef & Arpels has been adorning the watch dials with animals of all kinds. Many gracing the face of Van Cleef & Arpels Extraordinary dials.
Check out my all time favorites.
Van Cleef & Arpels took great inspiration from the pioneer of science fiction, Jules Verne, and created dial landscapes of incredible wonder based on his tales. The "Les Voyages" collection and Poetry of Time Collection. Born and bred on the African soil, I always gravitate towards African themed depictions.
A Van Cleef & Arpel dial is not simply a beautiful image surrounded by a frame. A Van Cleef & Arpel dial exudes an emotional atmosphere activating a variety of sensory experiences. The giraffe themed dial creates a vivid sense of the dry hot Savannah sun where rainfall is seasonal and dappled shade is cast from small leaved trees. A bejeweled giraffe protects her offspring against the backdrop of the yellow sand and pale blue sky. The elephant and his young one resides in a rather more tropical area where rain is abundant and the sky is often stormy with sudden storms.
It takes rare talent to create dials such as these and each dial undergoes many processes such as inlaying, stone selection, cutting and setting, lacquering, hand engraving and enameling to create an "Extraordinary Dial."
One of the latest Van Cleef & Arpels Collection is the Extraordinary Dials Hummingbird Collection reminding me always of a Springtime garden tea party. There are quite a few models all beautifully created and full of life. Three techniques were used in creating these dials: setting of precious stones, champleve enamelling, as well as three-dimensional enameling. One thing I love about these watches is the 830p mechanical movement. Often times watch companies, especially when it comes to women's watches, create a wonderful dial of magnificent splendor and then place a quartz movement within the case. However for the Poetry of Time timepieces and Extraordinary Dials, Van Cleef & Arpels goes mechanical.
Another Van Cleef & Arpels dial I simply love is this adorable depiction of mother and baby hippo wallowing in the water. The intricate alternating shades of watery greens epitomizes the exquisite skill of craft applied to the dial.
From the hot African sun to the frigid Antarctic air - Van Cleef & Arpels utilizes a variety of colors, precious stones, materials and techniques to create the desired look. The ability to create a still image into a living segment of time, well that's Extraordinary.
Labels: Van Cleef and Arpels
Romain Jerome Celebrates Day of the Dead
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS Romain Jerome watch reveals a strangely "festive" timepiece for the a holiday revered in Mexico "The Day of The Dead" The busy festive skull plastered on a signature Titanic DNA Romain Jerome case and dial captures the celebratory festivities honoring the departed. The skull is actually a representation of the traditional Mexican decorations known as "calaveras" such as wooden masks or skulls made of sugar associated with this day. The tradition is of ancient beginnings dating back 3000 years to the Aztecs. Back then, until the Spaniards came town 500 years ago - give or take, the day was celebrated on the 9th month of the Aztec Solar Calender presided over by goddess Mictecacihuatl or "Lady of the Dead". She died at birth, but her legacy lives on.
The Spaniards not liking this so called Pagan ritual, but unable to stymy this tradition moved the date to November 1st and 2nd so it coincided with "All Saints Day" and "All Souls Day".
Unlike Halloween which evokes ghouls, ghosts and other ghastly depictions, DIA DE LOS MUERTOS honor the dead in celebration. Brightly colored skull masks, skull confections and skull puppets decorate the day, much of which is spent at the graveside of loved ones. The graves are often decorated with marigold flowers and candles. Some build alters in their home for offering love and remembrance to the departed.
With so many skull motifs out there - think of Bell & Ross skull watch representing the Second World War Airborne paratroopers (Death From Above) or Corum's obsession with the creepier side of skulls - it is necessary to clearly distinguish the motif of skull representation. I think Romain Jerome has done an exemplary job in this regard. The brightly colored skull skillfully hand-crafted in colorful applique with champlevé decoration and cold enameled in seven symbolic colors, is clearly the skull depiction of "DIA DE LOS MUERTOS" or "Day of the Dead". The seven skull colors signify the seven stages a departed soul must travel before finding eternal peace. The 46mm black PVD coated steel case encases an in-house Caliber RJ001 Mechanical self-winding movement. Beneath the skull on the mirror polished dial, Romain Jerome has placed its signature X shape engraving extending to the four black ceramic "paws" placed on the black ceramic bezel on either side of the lugs. Below the 3 'o'clock position resides a polished Romain Jerome logo. The blackness of the dial, case and strap serve as an intense backdrop to the striking brightness of the skull.
Black Satin brushed skeletonized hands are coated with a C1 Superluminova "blue emission" for read out in the dark.
A "Día de los Muertos" medallion is engraved on the case back. The watch is affixed to the wrist with a black hornback alligator strap
Two models, one with a cross and one without, will be available in a limited edition of 25 pieces per model.
The retail price is 15,900 US Dollars
Krieger Tidal Wave Chronoscope Watches Tells the Tide
Krieger Tidal Wave Chronoscope
With the weather the way its been on my side of the US, I have taken a new interest in the tides. In the passed, pre- Hurricane Sandy I should say, I dismissed this oceanic encroachment as a fisherman's concern, but now with a Nor'easter baring down on us and "Coastel Flood Warnings" in effect, my entire view of tides has changed. I am not only aware of the tides, I am preoccupied by them. Obsessed if you will. Who can blame me. My house is still in the dark, thanks to a water logged and likely ruined substation. I shouldn't complain. A couple blocks from my house, the sidewalk is punctuated by heaped piles of sodden mattresses, salted electronics, molding carpets and household brick and brack. It's almost as if the houses themselves have become awful queasy and threw up the colorful contents.
My tidal obsession together with my "where to find the shortest gas line" obsession, demands that I find a timepiece which tells the tides.
"What about a cellphone app?" , you may ask with helpful ignorance.
"Ha! Ha!" I laugh in near hysteria - ," cellphones don't work in my watery pitch dark neighborhood!"
So if you've managed to get through my long winded introduction blatantly brimming with self pity, you will find that I happened upon a brand of watches actually created by a guy called Ira Krieger who in 1987 created the very first Tidal Chronometer. His wristwatch was clever enough to predict high and low tides. UREKA!! Ira Krieger was effected by high tides too. No his power did not go out nor did his house flood, but it was aggravation non the less. As a result of an unexpected high tide, his family boat could not fit under a bridge and thus could not return to the marina. So that's when his tidal obsession began. Ira Krieger did not sit and mope about the tides, but rather set about a way to track them. Ira Krieger in listed the help of his step son, now president of Miami-based Krieger Watch Company, who suggested a watch displaying when they could leave or return to the marina. With the help of a Swiss Watch Company, they created the Krieger Tidal Chronometer.
WARNING Off topic here - reminds me of that Chinese King Su Song - who in the time of the dragon - oh about 1000 years ago, came to a meeting a full month early. He was peeved about waiting around for a month (who wouldn't be) and commissioned the building of "Su Song Heavenly Clock Tower"
Both Su Song and Ira Krieger dealt with miscalculations of facotrs by devising a way to track them.
Although Krieger has a large selection of Tidal Wave Watches, I have chosen the models that are highly resilient and not prone to water damage. The Swiss Quartz Movement watch is constructed either from an indestructible special construction matte and high polish 44mm case or Steel with PVD processing (left). A Carbon Fiber Solar Powered Bezel is engraved with a solar compass.
To commemorate 20 years of tidal prediction, Krieger unveiled the Tidal Wave Chronoscope, which accurately predicts the hours to the next high and low tide. Tiny microscopic gears are utilized to ensure maximum precision. The large tide indicator baring a signature Krieger counter balance points to the level of tide. A handy sub dial also indicates the tidal range, neap and spring tides. The tides and moon phase can be set via screw in push buttons. Of course the tide is influenced by the the moon so a sub dial moon phase is in order. The Krieger Tidal Wave is so in tune with the world at sea that its water resistance is measured in miles. The Tidal Wave is capable of almost half a mile of water resistance or 2640 feet. The dial is protected by a double dome sapphire crystal coated with an anti-reflective treatment.
The 20mm Rubber straps fashioned in a unique divers cut are available in a variety of colors adding an individual touch to the watch. Bracelets for the Tidal Wave Chronoscope are available in Stainless Steel polished or Matte. The dial is available in a variety of colors too, allowing one to mix and match to hearts content.
Editions are limited to 2000 a model, and reasonably priced at $1,850.00.
Labels: Krieger Watches
The End of the Mechanical Voting Era
By the time you read this post you've either voted, on your way to vote or not going to vote at all.
If you have voted, depending on where you are, you may have voted via arduous paper ballots aided by scanners and special pens, fancy up to date Touch-screen machines or older electronic versions of the same. Depending on your current State, some machines will provide you with a Voter verified paper record, some will not.
Upon entering their usual polling station, New Yorkers will notice the absence of the Mechanical Hand Lever Machine and will vote instead on a ES & S DS200 Ballot Scanner able to read and tally a paper ballot marked with a very special marking pen. Or they may vote via an ES AutoMark.
Voters in 16 states are using electronic voting equipment which do not provide a voters verification receipt of any kind. There is absolutely no paper trail if discrepancy arises. One does not have to be a statistician, or number cruncher to know paper trails are crucial for validity.
These machines are known as direct-recording electronic (DRE) machines purchased from companies like Sequoia and Diebold.
On October 25th, 2012 President Obama cast his ballot on a 15 inch touchscreen Sequoia AVC edge, and being that he voted in Illinois, he was provided with a Verification of his vote.
So here comes the debate... Mechanical vs Electronic. Sounds a little like the luxury watch debate, but unlike luxury mechanical watches which pulled through the "quartz scare" of the 1970's when quartz watches almost extinguished mechanical watches, the trusty Mechanical Hand Lever voting machines of the 1960's did not survive the new electronic voting systems. A push to change the individual voting process to the electronic age was made by Congress in 2002 with the "Help America Vote Act", which spent $3.9 billion on assisting states to disown the mechanical voting way.
In 2010, New York City was the last to give up the Mechanical Lever Voting Machine - which according to Forbes Staffer, Frederick E. Allen - seems not to have been the best idea. Read " New York's New Voting System is a Disaster" .
The Mechanical Lever Voting Machine was used when JFK beat Richard M. Nixon by 0.1% where over half of the 56 million voters cast their ballots with this method. The Mechanical Lever Voting Machine has an array of levers in the front of the machine, each candidate is assigned a particular lever which is marked with the candidates name by a strip of paper. The levers are Horizontal in the unvoted position. The entire machine is situated inside a privacy curtain. The voter pulls down the lever and exits the curtain, the lever automatically returns to its horizontal position. As the lever returns, a connected counter wheel turns one-tenth of a full rotation, the tens counter drives a hundreds counter. At the end of election day, the counter for that lever indicated the amount of votes cast for that ballot. If the Mechanical Lever Voting Machine is in good working condition, it is quite reliable in that the machine is simple and a voter will have less of a chance of "pulling the lever in error" than touching a screen. However these machines are no longer being manufactured . Most states have opted for the newer more efficient electronic touch screens or direct recording electronic machines.
While many election officials rushed to embrace the new voting technology, especially those subjected to peering at Chads from punch card ballots, many people are skeptical of the security and the reliability of the electronic systems. Many of the electronic systems are unverified. In West Virginia, Colorado, Tennessee and Texas voters have reported that in the past touch screen machines registered their vote for the wrong party or candidate. Some say the electronic systems may be susceptible to hackers. Many electronic machines do not produce a hard copy of the votes cast making it almost impossible to verify disputed results. Some touch-screen equipment used in half of Ohio's 88 counties "dropped" votes in past election when memory cards were uploaded to computer servers. Others say these electronic machines can be easily manipulated.
Hanging Chad
There two major flaws in the "Help America Vote Act":
1) No paper trails required - this issue has turned from a DRE debate to an outright "DRE war"
2) No rules requiring electronic equipment replacement. Thus outdated electronic equipment from a decade ago are still approved for 2012 elections. These decade old voting systems do not provide a voters receipt.
The DRE system is wrought with problems such as electronic malfunctions, purposeful flipping of votes or vanishing votes.
In 2010 primary and general New York State Elections, overheating of a New York City's South Bronx machine invalidated hundreds of votes because the machine misread the optically scanned ballots. Would that have happened with the good old Mechanical Lever Voting Machine?
When a place like New York City or any other large city votes, its is almost impossible to prove a voting error; however, at a local election in a tiny NJ County like Cumberland, glitches can be glaring even without a paper trail.
When this occurred, the rightful "victors" became the "losers".
28 voters signed affidavits that they had voted for the losing party; however, oddly the Sequoia AVC Advantage machine showed only 10 voters cast a ballot for the losers. The court ordered the election to be tossed out and a new election conducted. Of course this is impossible in a National Presidential Election where voters must assume their voice is heard.
States like Maine test and retest the machines for reliability. An excellent procedure assuming integrity of all individuals involved.
On the flip side who can forget the unfortunate "hanging chad" saga smothering the 2000 elections in a cloud of uncertain confetti. It was after these elections that the Federal Government pushed for the electronic systems; however concerns of security breaches and tainted numbers shadow the electronic voting era.
States like Maryland and New Jersey are well aware of the implications of a paperless voting system and have even passed laws requiring a paper copy, but budget constraints have hampered the paper copy from becoming a reality. In Virginia ,a hot battleground state, passed this law too, but as a result of its large financial burden, the law was overturned.
33 states now require a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) or a Verified Paper Record (VPR) and 16 states do not. States that do not have paperless machine and thus no independent proof of vote cast are:
Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia
Machines that have an audit or paper trail include:
AccuVote TSX with printer
AVC Edge with VeriVote Printer
Sequoia Voting Systems' Edge2Plus
Sequoia Voting Systems' AdvantagePlus
eSlate with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail
IVotronic Real Time Audit Log
It is going to be an interesting Election and in light of this post, I hope that the voting goes well with as few hitches as possible. Of course the good old Mechanical relics will be sorely missed as New York State stands in line to vote for the next President of the United States.
By: V. Van Halem
Labels: Election 2012
A Wristwatch Tribute to the New York Spirit
Vacheron Constantin New York Boutique Watch
Romain Jerome Lady of Liberty Watch
Piaget Polo Tourbillon Relatif New York circa 2011
Movado Andy Warhol Times/5 circa 1988
Piaget Protocole XXL Watch Collection Circa 2008
Officine Panerai Luminor 1950 10 Days GMT
Micheal Kors NY Limited Edition Runway Watch circa 2012
Itay Noy City Square Columbus Circle NY circa 2009
Official NYC MTA Subway Timepiece
Krieger Tidal Wave Chronoscope Watches Tells the T...


the first time I heard this I was thinking if I will have to fight a scary boss or something,this song setted the mood for the level.
I am a slave to this track. Ten. No less.
This is amazing when you turn the knob all the way up. If you dont your missing like all of it. It is just SO EPIC!!!!


text:
Hear DED's Anthemic New Two-Song EP 'Mannequin Eyes'
Photo by Travis Shinn
Published on: Mar 12, 2020, 4:45 PM
Based on the smash success of their 2017 debut LP, Mis-An-Thrope, Arizona-based alt-rock quartet DED are already a force to be reckoned with. They're out to back up that claim with their new hard-hitting EP, Mannequin Eyes, which the band offered up today, March 12th, via Suretone Records. Leading off the two-track release is the roaring radio single "A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby)" while the anthemic "Eyes Sewn Shut" closes out the affair, which serves as an early taste of the group's upcoming second album. The new full-length was produced by master boardsmith Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Disturbed) and is set to drop late this year. The as-yet-untitled full-length will be the first release under Suretone Records' renewed, multiple-year deal with ADA Worldwide for exclusive distribution.
Fresh off the release of Mannequin Eyes, at the end of this month, DED will hit the road in North America with In This Moment, Black Veil Brides and Raven Black. See the full routing below. For all tickets and more info, swing by dedband.com.
DED tour dates:
3/24 — Orlando, FL — House Of Blues
3/26 — Atlanta, GA — Tabernacle
3/27 — Birmingham, AL — Sloss Furnaces
3/28 —Cherokee, NC — Harrah's Cherokee Events Center
3/30 — Richmond, VA — The National
3/31 — Silver Spring, MD — Fillmore
4/1 — New York, NY — Terminal 5
4/3 — Stroudsburg, PA — Sherman Theatre
4/4 — Cleveland, OH — The Agora Ballroom
4/5 — Pittsburgh, PA — Stage AE
4/7 — Nashville, TN — Marathon Music Works
4/9 — Columbus, OH — Express Live!
4/10 — Detroit, MI — Fillmore
4/11 — Chicago, IL — Aragon Ballroom
4/13 — Louisville, KY — Palace Theatre
4/14 — Ft. Wayne, IN —The Clyde Theatre
4/15 — Grand Rapids, MI — 20 Monroe Live
4/17 — Minneapolis, MN — Myth Live
4/18 — Milwaukee, WI — Eagles Ballroom
4/19 — Columbia, MO — Blue Note (Outdoor Stage)
4/21 — Kansas City, MO — Arvest Bank Center at The Midland Theatre
4/23— Dallas, TX — Southside Ballroom
4/24 — Oklahoma City, OK — Criterion
4/25 — Lubbock, TX — Lonestar Events Center
4/27 — Phoenix, AZ — Comerica Theatre
4/28 — Anaheim, CA — House Of Blues
4/29 — Los Angeles, CA —The Novo
5/1 — Las Vegas, NV — House Of Blues
5/2 — Reno, NV — Grand Theatre – Grand Sierra Resort
5/3 — San Francisco, CA — The Warfield
5/5 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Complex
5/6 — Boise, ID — Revolution Center
5/7 — Portland, OR — Roseland Ballroom
5/8 — Kennewick, WA — Toyota Center: Retter & Company Theatre
5/10 — Seattle, WA — Paramount Theatre
5/11 — Vancouver, BC — Queen Elizabeth Theatre
5/13 — Calgary, AL — MacEwan Hall
5/15 — Billings, MT — First Interstate Arena
5/16 — Casper, WY — Casper Events Center
5/17 — Morrison, CO — Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Watch Lacuna Coil's High-Octane New "Save Me" Live Video
Tattoo Stories: Luggage's Luca Cimarusti on First, Next, Most Painful Tattoos
Hear In This Moment's Ominous New Song "Hunting Grounds" Featuring DED's Joe Cotela
Alt-metal stars In This Moment are gearing up to release their highly anticipated seventh album, Mother, which is due out March 27th via Roadrunner/Atlantic, and ahead of the big date, they've unveiled the LP's second […]


Hearing jewelry is among the most typical products there's. Although lots of people may connect hearing jewelry along with ear-rings, there are various designs to match each and every type of appear you can picture. Combined with the quantity of designs presently there should be discovered, there's also designs to match both women and men. Nevertheless this short article may concentrate particularly upon hearing jewelry for ladies. Whenever taking a look at the actual kinds of hearing jewelry that are offered, you need to additionally appear the actual kinds of hearing piercings you will find because you will see various designs to visit using the various kinds of piercings.
Lobe Piercing — This is actually the most widely used kind of hearing piercing and it is probably the most flexible. Having a lobe piercing you are able to put on many types associated with hearing jewelry such as bands, studs as well as loops. These types of are available in a wide variety of designs that is nearly impossible to operate from option. This kind of piercing would work for nearly anyone, regardless of whether you need to put on the unobtrusive set of ear-rings towards the workplace, some thing much more flashy for any particular date or simply some thing enjoyable.
Commercial Piercing — When you move away from lobe piercing, the actual kinds of hearing jewelry you will find could be more suitable for much less official style developments for example medieval, emo, option and so on. For instance you'd not really discover an individual putting on commercial kind jewelry towards the workplace or even in the theater. Nevertheless for individuals who tend to be more bold there are plenty associated with excellent bits of jewelry you'll find within the commercial design. Because this kind of piercing is performed within 2 locations at the end the surface of the hearing edge, the kind of jewelry you will find tend to be pubs along with little items positioned on all of them.
Orbital Piercing — This kind of piercing is performed through placing 2 little openings within the exact same the main hearing. This enables with regard to loops along with little bits of jewelry in it to become mounted on the actual hearing. Without very because bold because commercial piercing, a person nevertheless would not discover this kind of jewelry upon show inside a official environment.
Pinna Piercing — This kind of piercing is performed about the external hearing edge, towards the top of the actual hearing. It is a really flexible kind of piercing since it enables you to put on a great selection of jewelry such as studs, cuffs as well as pubs.