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Stampede for emergency loans is crushing lenders, putting millions of small businesses at risk. Here are steps to fix the system
Seth Levine, founding partner of Foundry Group, and Elizabeth MacBride, founder of Times of Entrepreneurship
Key Points
Small businesses all over the U.S. are scrambling to understand the options available to them under various government programs enacted to blunt the economic blow caused by COVID-19.
But the relief offered under the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act is slow, piecemeal and confusing.
The delays gaining access to SBA-backed emergency loans under the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program are putting millions of businesses at risk of closing, threatening their employees, suppliers and communities.
Major banks and community lenders are unprepared to handle the influx of applications.
Temporary closed signage is seen at a store in Manhattan borough following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New York City, U.S., March 15, 2020.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
The relief offered under the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act is slow, piecemeal and confusing. The delays are putting millions of businesses at risk of closing, threatening their employees, their suppliers and their communities. This is putting us all at risk of a deeper recession.
Last Tuesday the Small Business Administration launched a disaster-aid recovery portal, repeating the promise contained in the CARES Act: The first round of aid would be delivered within three days. It has not arrived.
On Friday the U.S. government tried to launch the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program as part of the CARES Act. The PPP is being administered through the existing banking systems of Small Business Administration lenders. Some banks weren't ready. Some are already inundated.
Meanwhile, anger over both these programs is building in the small business community. They don't even know the half of it. As the program rolls out further, more flaws are likely to become apparent. The confusing legislation favors companies that already have relationships with lenders and leaves out many of the most vulnerable businesses.
The smallest companies, with fewer than 50 employees, have borne the brunt of the initial crisis, cutting 90,000 jobs in March, according to an ADP survey. They're the restaurants, gyms and corner stores. They had the least cash — an average of 15 days' worth, according to JPMorgan Chase Institute research. They have had to lay off their employees, who are often also friends. Now they're watching their life's work crumble.
And it's likely this aid will leave many of them out entirely.
The Foundry Group has spent hundreds of collective hours this week studying these programs and communicating updates to companies in its portfolio. The banks that are rolling out the program are unprepared and lack basic guidance from the SBA and Treasury on key details of the application process and the overall program. Treasury guidance is often internally conflicting — for example, on the question of whether 1099 contractors can be counted by companies as they calculate their potential loan amounts.
Companies that are backed by professional investors, with all the experience, resource and expertise that entails, are having trouble making sense of the options available to keep employees on payroll as businesses absorb the initial shock of the shutdown.
The PPP loan program needs immediate clarification and to be streamlined. That should be the first priority of the newly appointed Coronavirus Recovery Czar.
Congress did the right thing in making portions of the aid programs forgivable so that the most vulnerable businesses won't be hobbled by debt, but is the money allocated by Congress going to get to them in time? Or, in many cases, going to get to them at all?
These businesses are the lifeblood of America. And we're abandoning them almost completely to navigate this crisis on their own. Aid that is intended to help these businesses won't get to them if we don't take immediate steps to clarify the rules, get the technology up and running and begin a national coordinated campaign to communicate with and support all the small businesses that need help.
The steps to speed help
Here are steps the business community and federal government could take to speed help, probably without passing new legislation.
1. Set up individual loan funds
Anticipating that the federal aid would roll out slowly, states, communities and foundations have set up their own loan funds, often with donations, community reinvestment act credits from local lenders and help from local economic development groups. There are more than 30 so far nationwide, such as this one in Louisville, Kentucky, that aims to put 0% interest loans into the bank accounts of businesses with fewer than 10 employees within a week. SBA funds could be disbursed to these loan funds, which have lines of communication to their own small business communities — and can act much faster than the federal bureaucracy.
"We are disappointed in the lack of broader inclusion of community loan funds in the PPP and are hopeful that we can find a way to be partners to reach all Americans and the businesses and nonprofits who are not easily reached by the larger institutions," says Lisa Mensah, CEO of the Opportunity Finance Network, the association of community development financial institutions, which are involved in some of the new loan funds.
2. Urge big business to pay receivables faster
Big companies that market to small businesses and use their services are beginning to step up, by paying their receivables faster. Last week a coalition of tech companies that serve the small business market —Alignable, Fundbox, Gusto, Homebase, Womply, SmallBizDaily.com, Actual.Agency, Business.com and Small Business Edge — introduced an initiative called #paytoday to urge big businesses to pay faster.
Let's encourage a national movement around this. It's our respective civic duty as individuals and businesses to do everything we can do to support the small businesses in our communities.
3. Appoint a clear leader
Whatever interagency rivalry hampers the interpretation of the rules and implementation of the programs needs to stop. This is management 101. The mobilization needs a clear leader, who will be held accountable for making sure these billion-dollar programs run smoothly and transparently. President Donald Trump should appoint such a leader immediately to oversee these programs.
4. Provide more clarity
The PPP loan program needs immediate clarification and to be streamlined. That should be the first priority of the newly appointed Coronavirus Recovery Czar.
5. Expand the program
Additionally, the program itself needs to be expanded. The intent of the program is to save jobs and to provide a lifeline to businesses most affected by the COVID-19 economic crisis. However, the way it's structured almost completely leaves out businesses such as restaurants, fitness facilities and other small businesses unable to operate in our current "shelter in place" society. Those businesses closed weeks ago and already laid off employees.
These businesses are unable to access key parts of the program related to loan forgiveness: For instance, the ability of loans to be forgiven based on future payroll obligations cannot be accessed if companies have already closed and laid people off and are unable to reopen quickly enough. These rules need to be addressed and updated to allow businesses such as these to receive the benefit of the program as they ultimately get up and running again as society emerges from their homes.
We need them to survive. And we need them to have the capital available to rehire the workers they were forced to let go as the crisis began.
For the country to recover, we need small businesses. Every small business that goes under or shrinks has ripple effects — employees laid off, rents unpaid, contracts broken — that collectively puts us deeper into a recessionary hole. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, the heart of our communities and the center of our strategy for rebuilding. The time to act to save these businesses is now.
Seth Levine is a founding partner of Foundry Group, a $2.5 billion venture capital firm based in Boulder, Colorado. Elizabeth MacBride is founder of Times of Entrepreneurship, a publication covering entrepreneurs beyond Silicon Valley. |
/* Copyright (C) 2014-2020 FastoGT. All right reserved.
This file is part of FastoNoSQL.
FastoNoSQL is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
FastoNoSQL is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with FastoNoSQL. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
*/
#include "gui/text_converter.h"
#include <string>
#include <json-c/json_tokener.h>
#include <common/text_decoders/base64_edcoder.h>
#include <common/text_decoders/compress_bzip2_edcoder.h>
#include <common/text_decoders/compress_lz4_edcoder.h>
#include <common/text_decoders/compress_snappy_edcoder.h>
#include <common/text_decoders/compress_zlib_edcoder.h>
#include <common/text_decoders/xhex_edcoder.h>
#include <common/convert2string.h>
#include <fastonosql/core/types.h>
namespace {
struct json_object* json_tokener_parse_hacked(const char* str, int len) {
struct json_tokener* tok = json_tokener_new();
if (!tok) {
return nullptr;
}
struct json_object* obj = json_tokener_parse_ex(tok, str, len);
if (tok->err != json_tokener_success) {
if (obj) {
json_object_put(obj);
}
obj = nullptr;
}
json_tokener_free(tok);
return obj;
}
} // namespace
namespace fastonosql {
namespace gui {
bool string_from_json(const convert_in_t& value, convert_out_t* out) {
if (!out || value.empty()) {
return false;
}
json_object* obj = json_tokener_parse_hacked(value.data(), static_cast<int>(value.size()));
if (!obj) {
return false;
}
size_t len = 0;
const char* jstring = json_object_to_json_string_length(obj, JSON_C_TO_STRING_PLAIN, &len);
*out = GEN_CMD_STRING_SIZE(jstring, len);
json_object_put(obj);
return true;
}
bool string_to_json(const convert_in_t& data, convert_out_t* out) {
if (!out || data.empty()) {
return false;
}
json_object* obj = json_tokener_parse_hacked(data.data(), static_cast<int>(data.size()));
if (!obj) {
return false;
}
size_t len = 0;
const char* jstring = json_object_to_json_string_length(obj, JSON_C_TO_STRING_PRETTY, &len);
*out = GEN_CMD_STRING_SIZE(jstring, len);
json_object_put(obj);
return true;
}
bool string_from_hex(const convert_in_t& value, convert_out_t* out) {
common::XHexEDcoder enc(core::ReadableString::is_lower_hex);
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Decode(value, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_to_hex(const convert_in_t& data, convert_out_t* out) {
common::XHexEDcoder enc(core::ReadableString::is_lower_hex);
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Encode(data, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_to_unicode(const convert_in_t& data, convert_out_t* out) {
if (!out) {
return false;
}
core::command_buffer_writer_t wr;
const common::string16 s16 = common::ConvertToString16(data);
convert_out_t unicoded;
common::utils::unicode::encode(s16, true, &unicoded);
for (size_t i = 0; i < unicoded.size(); i += 4) {
wr << "\\u";
wr << unicoded[i];
wr << unicoded[i + 1];
wr << unicoded[i + 2];
wr << unicoded[i + 3];
}
core::command_buffer_t result = wr.str();
if (result.size() % 6 != 0) {
return false;
}
*out = result;
return true;
}
bool string_from_unicode(const convert_in_t& value, convert_out_t* out) {
const size_t len = value.size();
if (!out || len % 6 != 0) {
return false;
}
std::string unicode_digits;
for (size_t i = 0; i < len; i += 6) {
auto c1 = value[i];
auto c2 = value[i + 1];
if (c1 == '\\' && c2 == 'u') {
unicode_digits += value[i + 2];
unicode_digits += value[i + 3];
unicode_digits += value[i + 4];
unicode_digits += value[i + 5];
} else {
return false;
}
}
common::string16 s16;
bool is_ok = common::utils::unicode::decode(unicode_digits, &s16);
DCHECK(is_ok) << "Can't un unicoded: " << unicode_digits;
*out = common::ConvertToCharBytes(s16);
return true;
}
bool string_from_snappy(const convert_in_t& value, convert_out_t* out) {
common::CompressSnappyEDcoder enc;
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Decode(value, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_to_snappy(const convert_in_t& data, convert_out_t* out) {
common::CompressSnappyEDcoder enc;
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Encode(data, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_from_zlib(const convert_in_t& value, convert_out_t* out) {
common::CompressZlibEDcoder enc(false, common::CompressZlibEDcoder::ZLIB_DEFLATE);
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Decode(value, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_to_zlib(const convert_in_t& data, convert_out_t* out) {
common::CompressZlibEDcoder enc(false, common::CompressZlibEDcoder::ZLIB_DEFLATE);
common::StringPiece piece_data(data.data(), data.size());
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Encode(piece_data, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_from_gzip(const convert_in_t& value, convert_out_t* out) {
common::CompressZlibEDcoder enc(false, common::CompressZlibEDcoder::GZIP_DEFLATE);
common::StringPiece piece_data(value.data(), value.size());
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Decode(value, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_to_gzip(const convert_in_t& data, convert_out_t* out) {
common::CompressZlibEDcoder enc(false, common::CompressZlibEDcoder::GZIP_DEFLATE);
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Encode(data, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_from_lz4(const convert_in_t& value, convert_out_t* out) {
common::CompressLZ4EDcoder enc;
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Decode(value, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_to_lz4(const convert_in_t& data, convert_out_t* out) {
common::CompressLZ4EDcoder enc;
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Encode(data, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_from_bzip2(const convert_in_t& value, convert_out_t* out) {
common::CompressBZip2EDcoder enc(false);
common::StringPiece piece_data(value.data(), value.size());
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Decode(piece_data, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_to_bzip2(const convert_in_t& data, convert_out_t* out) {
common::CompressBZip2EDcoder enc(false);
common::StringPiece piece_data(data.data(), data.size());
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Encode(piece_data, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_from_base64(const convert_in_t& value, convert_out_t* out) {
common::Base64EDcoder enc;
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Decode(value, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
bool string_to_base64(const convert_in_t& data, convert_out_t* out) {
common::Base64EDcoder enc;
convert_out_t sout;
common::Error err = enc.Encode(data, &sout);
if (err) {
return false;
}
*out = sout;
return true;
}
} // namespace gui
} // namespace fastonosql
|
Pages
Saturday, September 29, 2007
I actually wrote this article a few months back for the purposes of submission to the New Straits Times (NST). Unfortunately, and bruising my personal ego in the process, it was rejected. ;) The article sort of sat around idle for a while until I submitted it to Aliran Monthly. Well, it's just been published, and I thought I'd put out my article here in 2 parts.
(A little plug for Aliran - It's a Reform Movement dedicated to Justice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on the roster of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomes all Malaysian above 21 to be members. Visit their website for more information or subscribe for a copy of Aliran Monthly today ;).)
Malaysia is a country blessed with abundant natural resources. In particular, we are thankful that the country is rich in oil and gas, which created Malaysia's sole representative in the Fortune 500, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas). In the most recent financial year ending March 2007, Petronas achieved record profits before tax of RM76.3 billion thanks to record high crude oil prices which increased from under US$25 per barrel to above US$70 all within 4 years.
Of greatest importance, was the fact that Petronas contributed RM53.7 billion to our national coffers in taxes, royalties, dividends and export duties last year. Contribution from Petronas and other oil and gas companies operating in Malaysia was budgeted to make up some 46.8% of the government revenue for 2007. This represents a steep increase from approximately 30% in 2006 and 25% in 2004. These statistics marks Malaysia's heavy reliance on oil and gas industry today.
Malaysia's abundance of oil & gas resources is akin striking lottery. It is a once-off affair, and at some point of time, our reserves will run dry. According to Oil & Gas Journal, Malaysia held proven oil reserves of 3.0 billion barrels as of January 2007, down from a peak of 4.6 billion barrels in 1996. These reserves will last us for only another 20 years or so.
What's worse, Malaysia is expected to become a net oil importer by 2010 assuming a conservative growth of 4% in petroleum products consumption. Our trade current account surplus has also been boosted significantly by oil and gas related products which constitutes more than 11% of our exports. The frightful acceleration of dependence on our limited oil and gas resources places the country's economy at great risks.
Malaysia must not fall into the trap of what economists call the “resource curse”, that is countries devoid of natural resources fare better than countries better endowed. Countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland contrasted against the oil-rich but poorly developed Middle East countries immediately comes to mind.
This appears to be closely related to the phenomenon known as the Dutch disease. The Netherlands in the 1960s, after its discovery and depletion of oil and gas in the North Sea, was plagued with unemployment and a unproductive manufacturing sector due to the negative side effects of such a discovery.
What is perhaps most worrying for Malaysia, with the reliance on natural resource overshadowing the other productive sectors of the economy, is the resulting “rent-seeking economy” where influential parties within and without the government focus their efforts in securing a a larger share of the economic pie, instead of creating a bigger pie.
Oil and gas for example, is of wealth, which does not in itself create employment. The right to manage this wealth however, lies in the hands of the government of the day. This concentration of distributive control over wealth leads to vastly disproportionate amount of resources spent on lobbying and rent-seeking activities which will in turn reduce efforts in raising our other productive sectors as well as human capital. Associate Professors, Ricky Lam and Leonard Wantchekon of Northwestern and New York University respectively labelled this phenomenon the political Dutch disease.
In Malaysia, we are certainly seeing the impact of the political Dutch disease. With rampant rent-seeking activities as well as political patronage, large amounts of economic and financial leakages are beginning to surface. Earlier this year, the Second Finance Minister, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop has disclosed in Parliament that the recent bailout of 7 privatised projects has cost the Government RM11.0 billion, including the Putra and STAR LRT transport systems and Malaysia Airlines System costing RM7.7 billion and RM2.8 billion respectively. This amount works out to approximately 69.5% of the original cost of these projects.
Not included in the above lists are projects such as the MATRADE building and the Middle-Ring Road II which had repair bills of RM120 million and RM70 million over their original cost of RM167 million and RM120 million respectively.
More recently, we have seen how just completed government projects such as the Immigration office in Putrajaya, the mega-court complex in Jalan Duta as well as the renovated Parliament house require desperate resuscitation efforts.
Whilst the bail out packages and the repair bills have worked out to huge sums of money, its impact on the economy appears to be minimal at first glance. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) continues to grow at a healthy rate of around 5% per annum for the past few years. However, the GDP growth rate masks the fact that we have been increasingly reliant on our God-given natural resources for revenue, which has in turn cushioned the impact of dissipation of wealth caused by the impact of non-value-adding rent-seeking activities.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Last week in my regular column in Oriental Daily, I wrote on the fact that in the latest Budget 2008 announced by the Datuk Seri Abdullah was extremely disappointing for it neglected the largest productive sectors of the economy, both the manufacturing sector as well as the small medium enterprises (SMEs).
In the entire 44-page budget, there was only 1 incentive for the SMEs, that is taxes for new start ups can be paid in a more flexible fashion within the first 2 years. The manufacturing sector, despite contributing to 30% of our economy, was not mentioned at all except when it was mentioned that it is only expected to grow 3.8% in 2008 from the estimated weak 3.1% in 2007.
Both the SMEs and the manufacturing sectors are facing huge challenges in terms of globalisation and competition. The fact that the Government made no additional incentives or policies to enhance the competitiveness of our local companies relative to our neighbours and competitors is just "shocking". Clearly, there are some misplaced priorities in the Government's economy policies despite the record-breaking RM176.9 billion budget expenditure.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Heh, heh, Chinese current affairs magazine, 'Special Weekly', did a cheeky take pn some of the "young guns" expecting to contest in the coming general elections. You'd notice that the DAP kids are all in Optimus Prime gear, while Victor Gu's in the Bumble Bee outfit. I wonder who's going to don the Megatron suit... ;)
Last month, when [the Government] advertised for three electronics technical assistants and one electronics engineer, it was swamped with 9,216 resumes for the first job and 3,705 for the second.
The public sector, it seems, is the most popular employer these days.
And the reason?
It is the result of the government's drive to produce more graduates. One in every five Malaysian workers now has a degree or diploma, compared with one in seven five years ago.
Many new Malay graduates flock to the government sector because, as [economist] Datuk Dr Zainal [Aznam Yusof] said, they find it harder than others to find jobs in the private sector.
The article also quote a few other Malay economists on the jobs and employment situation in Malaysia. I'd certainly like to hear whether the UMNO Deputy Youth Chief will similarly think that what they are saying represents an "insult" to Malays.
The Government must face up to the problems faced by the bloated civil service as well as the increasing rate of unemployment among local graduates. To a large extent the very cause of the current problems faced, particularly by the bumiputera community, is ironically the New Economic Policy (NEP) itself, which was designed to assist them. Until the NEP is discarded and a more progressive policy implemented, the problems facing the community are only expected worsen in the coming years, and not as intended, improve.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
I won't write much. The quote from the Minister in Prime Minister's Department is shocking enough on its own. With reference to the boiling crisis of credibility facing our Malaysian judiciary with the exposure of the "Lingam tapes", Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has this to say, as reported in Malaysiakini.
De facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said he issued a denial on behalf of the chief justice in relation to the explosive ‘Lingam tape’ revelations because “I am his minister”.
“I am his minister. I am the minister in charge of legal affairs. He is clever enough to know that the reporters will ask me for a response.”
Clearly, the Federal Constitution is only a document for show in the current administration led by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Having desecrated the constitution by declaring Malaysia as an Islamic state, the Government now does it again by not only removing the independence of the judiciary, but also subjecting it to a junior minister in the Malaysian cabinet.
I will certainly like to see the Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Datuk Leow Tiong Lai to wave the Federal Constitution, as he promised to do at the MCA Youth General Assembly at both the Cabinet as well as the Parliament. Having failed to defend the Malaysian constitution when the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak declared Malaysia as having never been a secular state, will he redeem himself this time round? Or more likely, is it a case of chicken again?
For that matter, why are all the BN component party parliamentarians so quiet on this issue? Some like Datuk Fu Ah Kiow even became apologists for their UMNO masters.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Guys, if you want to know how the local mainstream media reports activities by the DAP, then there is no better example than what happened last week with regards to the case of Nurin Jazlin Jazimin who was brutally assaulted and murdered.
See the image of the basket of flowers published on 19 September (Wed) on page 4 of The New Straits Times (NST) below?
Well, the caption says "One family's message, one nation's grief for the brutal death of an unknown child."
That for your information is an outright lie by the NST editors. The basket wasn't placed there by "one family" but by a delegation led by the DAP Secretary-General, Lim Guan Eng.
Not only did they lie about the origins of the flower basket and its message, they also doctored the photo. On the top right hand corner of the message card is the telephone number of the florist (where the flower basket was bought) printed in large fonts (see picture of by The Sun below). It "disappeared". What I'm less certain about is the fact that at the bottom right corner of the message card, "Democratic Action Party" both in English and in Chinese was written. This may have been blocked by the bear, although whether it could have been blocked in its entirety is the question.
The following is another picture on the same page, with 2 ladies who work for the DAP Rocket publication.
You can see Sdr Ronnie Liu, myself and YB Teresa Kok in the background. NST has very responsibly captioned the picture as "A bouquet and a soft toy are left where the girl's body was found." Clearly, it was too much to ask for NST to publish pictures of the key DAP leaders placing condolence basket but is it ethical for NST to avoid crediting DAP members, even when they are not key leaders?
If something as non-political as placing a condolence bouquet and expressing the anger of Malaysians at such brutality can demand such clearcut distortion of the truth in our venerable newspapers, then what can you expect when we raise other more "sensitive" issues such as ministerial and governmental corruption, abuse of powers and incompetence. For your information, the Chief Editor of NST was notified of the misdeed, but no response, apology nor correction was issued.
The Sun too, placed the picture of the flower basket on its front page on Wednesday last week, headlined by the contents of the message card itself - "Malaysians will not let you die in vain."
Again, there was no credit to the photo and no context provided. At least the paper didn't print a blatant lie or attempted to doctor the picture. However, credit must be given to the Sun for printing the context to the picture the next day, Thursday, after belatedly realising the mistake made, although no pictures were reprinted.
And what about the largest circulating English daily, the Star? Well, a reporter was certainly assigned to the story, but unfortunately for her, since the story will place DAP in a positive light, her work went straight into the thrash can. I am actually highly sympathetic to the English press reporters who do turn up at our press conferences (not all, but some) but who would find that their efforts to file a story completely wasted. The only consolation? At least the Star didn't attempt to capitalise on the picture or tell a lie. They just pretended that it wasn't important enough to publish.
Hence it is not surprising that many members of the public, particularly those who read either just the English or worse, the Malay dailies, think that the opposition parties like the DAP doesn't do much til election day. I can tell you with confidence that the party does a great deal throughout the year, all around the country. For the unbelievably limited resources that we have, we are clearly punching way above our weight. Unfortunately, our reach has been limited, with the exception of reaching out via the Chinese press which provides a little more room for us to publicise our views and activities.
So, if you want positive change, let the newspapers and the Government know by writing to them, or voting "correctly" in the next general elections. Or even better, do your part by helping out with DAP's party activities or if you are in the Klang Valley, help me out. You know how to reach me ;)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
I'm a regular reader of Dr K J John's columns in Malaysiakini. I knew Dr John almost 10 years ago, when he was a senior vice-president at MIMOS, while I was a young fledging entrepreneur. Having dealt with him, he was certainly a man I strongly respected.
He has also frequently made known his position on politics, whether in his columns or in his public talks, that he is not partial to any political parties, and will make decisions and choices during elections in accordance to his conscience. For the coming general elections, Dr John has made up his mind, as expressed in his latest article "Why I would not vote for BN".
He gave 3 reasons:
The issue of leadership integrity. I voted for the Pak Lah government at the last general election and even convinced all my friends to do so, simply because I believed in Pak Lah and all the promises he made. He has not delivered on many of his promises. Granted, five years is not enough, but surely the political will and intent will be visible by now, if there is any. I do not see it yet, having served as a government servant of 32 years. Neither Umno at the highest level nor MCA at the grassroots level (in my constituency) gives me confidence that Pak Lah, given another five years will and can make a difference. [...]
My representatives at the grass-roots level have also let me down. During the 1999 elections, I brought both the Adun and my then future MCA MP to review the situation of the “rape of the green lung in my neighborhood.” Alas, the government cronies did what they wanted to do; they raped our 30-year-old green lung without even a proper hearing. [...] Sorry MCA representatives, even if Mr Ong Ka Ting personally appeals to me, I cannot vote one of yours as you are part of the problem.
Local governance is at its worst ever. How can the government of the day be arbitrary in the “governance of the public spaces of life?” While Citizen Nades has been fighting through writing (exercising the power of the pen), it appears to no avail. [...]
We are all part of the civil society that is pushing for change, and everyone has their roles. People like Jeff Ooi and myself have decided to take a stand via direct involvement in politics, while others like Dr John has made his views known to influence the vote of the public. It is clearly not enough for us to keep our views to ourselves, and vote for the party of our choice come the next general elections.
To effect change, there must be a mass movement, and it involves everyone, yourself included. We need to ensure that the message gets spread, not just to our family members, but also to friends, neighbours and the community. You can do so by printing leaflets and dropping them into mailboxes (I can help), sending out mass emails to everyone in your address book, and raising these issues at breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner functions. This is our Malaysia, and its up to us to redeem the country.
So, what is your stand? And more importantly, what are you going to do about it?
Monday, September 17, 2007
I wrote this article on the Budget 2008 for Oriental Daily last week, asking "Where the Candies?" I'll be writing more on the Budget this week, as my schedules frees up a little ;) So watch this space ;).
Thursday, September 13, 2007
This is probably the record week in terms of the number of speaking engagements for me. Six nights out of eight, it can't get much more than this. Phew! Well, I have 2 more Mandarin forums to go, one in Alor Star (!). Details are as follows:
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
I wrote in Oriental Daily column two weeks back on quite a different topic from my usual spill, heh, on the Malaysian stock market. Given the volatility of the markets, caused to a large extent by the subprime mortgage crisis, what is the outlook for the Malaysian bourse?
The title for my column can be roughly translated as "avoid gambling and you profit". Without going into details, the alternating daily disclosures of good and bad news is enough to give those who are weak in the heart a nervous breakdown. Given the absolute uncertainty of the medium term plus the gains made by the stock market to date, avoid the stock market unless you are prepared for a wild ride, and that means significant downside risks.
What's the extent of downside risk? Well, some of you may remember a time where the only direction could have been up, the KLSE index tanked from 1,300 points to 270 points within less than 6 months in 1997/8. It may not have be as bad this time round, but it certainly takes only a 200 point drop to make you feel the pinch.
Hence, given the unpredictability, any short-term purchase of shares is pretty much akin to the roll of the dice. And if you decide not to roll the dice, you have made a profit already ;)
Hmm... there hasn't been much time for me to sit down and write down my thoughts on the disappointing budget in full (that means many many pages...). Sigh. I'll try to do this soon, before the entire interest in the Budget sort of fades away.
...if you happen to be a shareholder of that company, and so happened your tax bracket is lower than 27%... too bad, you’re screwed. If you’re a pensioner and hold a lot of shares, you’re wonderfully screwed.
The proposal which was supposed to make us all feel very good is that EPF contributors will be allowed to withdraw balances from Account 2 to pay monthly housing instalments. Sounds like a good idea. But if you were to think properly… the government is basically allowing us… to use our own money… to pay for our own house. And we are supposed to feel thankful about it? You tell me…
Who are the beneficiaries of the Prime Minister cum Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's 2008 Budget? What is the prospects like for the economy of the country? What did you receive from Pak Lah's budget?
DAP has also launched our own version of the Malaysian budget - "Malaysian First: Unity Driven Equity, Growth & Innovation" focusing on the challenges of globalisation and the country's reliance on oil and gas revenues. (You can download the English and Chinese versions)
To understand further on who benefits in the latest Malaysian budget, and to analyse Malaysia's economic prospects, DAP is organising an English forum on the 12th September 2007 at DAP Damansara Branch. The details of the forum are as follows:
Friday, September 07, 2007
Looks like my post-budget work hasn't completed. So just some quick announcements here. There are going to be plenty of discussions and forums on the Government's Budget 2008, yes, the much touted pre-election budget today at 4pm (and I'll be stationed at the Parliament).
For those who are interested to read the DAP version of the Budget, you can now download both the English version as well as the Chinese version. The Malay version is "work in progress".
But for a start, here's what you can do to find out more this weekend:
1. SinChew Budget Discussion Forum (Mandarin)
I'll be speaking tonight (yes, that's this evening!) on the Budget presented by the Prime Minister at the Sin Chew Jit Poh Auditorium in Petaling Jaya. The forum will be in Mandarin together with 3 other eminent speakers. Details are as follows:
The first in a series of forums to be held by the DAP after the Prime Minister announces the budget will be on this Sunday (9th Sep) evening (7.30pm) at the KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. This one is a Mandarin forum:
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Hey guys, finally I've gotten my big project out of the way :) The 52-page DAP Malaysian First Budget 2008 is finally released to the public today, 2 days before Pak Lah's government announces theirs.
I'm too overdosed with caffeine, accumulated over the past 2-3 weeks at this point in time to write too much about it now. But you can read the latest reports by Malaysiakini in English and in Chinese.
Plus, you can download the full Budget document, entitled "Malaysian First: Unity Driven Equity, Growth & Innovation" to get a firsthand account ;). Know that we have worked on the budget with overwhelmingly limited resources both with regards to people and information and we are more than happy to welcome additional suggestions.
OK, got to go get my sleep now. Will certainly post more on the Budget in the coming days. ;)
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About Me
I was elected in March 2008, the Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara under the Democratic Action Party (DAP). I'm also the DAP National Publicity Secretary, as well as the investment liaison officer for the Penang Chief Minister based in the Klang Valley.
Before joining politics full-time in January 2007, I was the CEO and founder of a Malaysian IT company, publicly listed in Singapore. I divested all my shares in the company to be able to serve the community and take part in socio-political affairs of Malaysia.
I've always had faith that there has been a guardian angel looking after me all these while - my personal well-being, my education, my career. Some will call it "God's will", some "fate" while some others, "destiny". I strongly believe that it is time for me to repay the kindness and fortune showered on me by my family, the society and of course, not forgetting, my guardian angel. :-) |
450, 620/9
Let -2*z**4 + 8066*z**3 + 33037120*z**2 + 24980697600*z = 0. Calculate z.
-1360, 0, 6753
Suppose 620*x**3 + 23650405*x**2 + 19263255*x + 1144350 = 0. What is x?
-38145, -3/4, -2/31
Suppose 4895*c**5 + 34440*c**4 - 145625*c**3 + 14330*c**2 + 196500*c + 7000 = 0. What is c?
-10, -1, -35/979, 2
Suppose -4*p**5 - 288*p**4 + 6988*p**3 + 73432*p**2 - 901488*p - 2036320 = 0. Calculate p.
-89, -13, -2, 10, 22
Factor -d**2/4 - 1157*d - 4241571/4.
-(d + 1259)*(d + 3369)/4
Factor -3*m**3/7 + 12635832*m**2/7 - 1900766690025*m + 3801526159578.
-3*(m - 2105971)**2*(m - 2)/7
Find z, given that -96*z**3 - 75668*z**2 - 1056016*z - 216720 = 0.
-774, -14, -5/24
Find r, given that -4*r**4 - 1508*r**3 - 112312*r**2 - 827136*r - 1607040 = 0.
-279, -90, -4
What is s in 2*s**5/7 + 1410*s**4/7 + 268022*s**3/7 + 7300806*s**2/7 + 50230976*s/7 - 57801216/7 = 0?
-363, -311, -16, 1
Solve 4*a**3 + 13401916*a**2 - 53607716*a + 40205796 = 0 for a.
-3350483, 1, 3
Factor 2*c**3/5 + 1976668*c**2/5 + 488400071104*c/5 - 976808048896/5.
2*(c - 2)*(c + 494168)**2/5
Solve 94*g**3/11 - 814978*g**2/11 + 797546*g/11 + 17338/11 = 0.
-1/47, 1, 8669
Solve -8*j**4 - 463460*j**3 - 6651812172*j**2 + 1757434013504*j - 877053995776 = 0 for j.
-29096, 1/2, 259
Let 51*a**4/2 - 15087*a**3/2 - 78750*a**2 - 200934*a - 33048 = 0. Calculate a.
-6, -4, -3/17, 306
Let -r**3/2 + 533269*r**2/2 + 2133097*r/2 - 2666365/2 = 0. What is r?
-5, 1, 533273
Find d such that -2*d**2 + 8828766*d + 8828768 = 0.
-1, 4414384
Suppose -3*i**3 - 169119*i**2 + 14226915*i - 14057793 = 0. Calculate i.
-56457, 1, 83
Suppose 2*n**3 - 4598*n**2 + 719648*n - 16117920 = 0. What is n?
27, 140, 2132
Factor -5*p**3 - 93265*p**2 - 458281075*p - 214885598375.
-5*(p + 523)*(p + 9065)**2
Factor 3*z**2/2 + 4353*z/2 + 787302.
3*(z + 687)*(z + 764)/2
Find w, given that 3*w**4 + 831*w**3 - 111672*w**2 = 0.
-376, 0, 99
Factor -s**2/6 + 4333949*s/6 + 5056282.
-(s - 4333956)*(s + 7)/6
Suppose q**5 - 2429*q**4 + 498080*q**3 - 26728900*q**2 = 0. Calculate q.
0, 110, 2209
Solve g**3 - 16384*g**2 + 6611580*g = 0 for g.
0, 414, 15970
Factor -r**2 - 19219070*r - 92343162916225.
-(r + 9609535)**2
Find m such that -m**3/2 + 6113833*m**2/2 - 4672364658608*m - 14017121488086 = 0.
-3, 3056918
Factor 5*x**2 + 2218625*x + 15530130.
5*(x + 7)*(x + 443718)
Find n such that 2*n**5/7 - 1198*n**4/7 + 2092*n**3/7 + 176152*n**2/7 + 47760*n = 0.
-10, -2, 0, 14, 597
What is y in 2*y**5/13 + 9596*y**4/13 - 592364*y**3/13 + 2110048*y**2/13 + 464274*y + 3323556/13 = 0?
-4859, -1, 6, 57
Determine x, given that 2*x**4/9 - 622*x**3/9 - 31648*x**2/3 - 372248*x/9 - 369728/9 = 0.
-109, -2, 424
Let 4*y**5 - 1904*y**4 + 87476*y**3 - 963544*y**2 - 2577744*y + 3455712 = 0. What is y?
-3, 1, 26, 426
Find z, given that -z**3/4 + 5472117*z**2/4 - 7486024323591*z/4 + 22458023721747/4 = 0.
3, 2736057
Factor -3*l**2 - 233115*l - 29789568.
-3*(l + 128)*(l + 77577)
Factor -4*v**2/3 - 976646728*v/3 - 59614926957069124/3.
-4*(v + 122080841)**2/3
Solve 3*h**4/8 - 657*h**3 + 41631*h**2/8 + 196011*h/4 + 82404 = 0.
-3, 14, 1744
Let 4*u**5/5 + 23576*u**4/5 + 1287256*u**3/5 + 15615536*u**2/5 - 56211164*u/5 + 39284792/5 = 0. What is u?
-5839, -29, 1, 2
Solve -34*r**4/21 - 339986*r**3/21 + 1160326*r**2/21 - 220126*r/21 - 28580 = 0.
-10003, -10/17, 1, 3
Let -9*p**4/4 - 859075*p**3/4 - 381803*p**2 + 95451*p = 0. What is p?
-95451, -2, 0, 2/9
Solve 4*y**4 - 131301*y**3 - 42661803*y**2 + 53499581*y - 10706481 = 0.
-323, 1/4, 1, 33147
Let 2*p**2/3 - 1324*p/3 - 410320/3 = 0. Calculate p.
-230, 892
Factor -6655713*q**2/8 + 9*q/8.
-3*q*(2218571*q - 3)/8
Let 261*y**4 - 66039*y**3 + 3937398*y**2 + 30785820*y - 709800 = 0. What is y?
-7, 2/87, 130
Determine l, given that -2*l**4/9 - 1600*l**3 - 26134762*l**2/9 - 257312180*l/3 - 159938800 = 0.
-3585, -28, -2
Factor 2*b**3/7 + 10634*b**2/7 - 384768*b/7 + 3468744/7.
2*(b - 18)**2*(b + 5353)/7
Factor 18*m**2/11 - 6124*m/11 + 76570/11.
2*(m - 13)*(9*m - 2945)/11
Solve -6*k**5/7 - 500*k**4 - 3570*k**3 + 204080*k**2/7 + 100896*k/7 - 276480/7 = 0.
-576, -12, -4/3, 1, 5
Factor -2*u**2 + 508674*u + 14244440.
-2*(u - 254365)*(u + 28)
Suppose -3*t**4/7 + 114*t**3 + 14253*t**2/7 + 50940*t/7 = 0. Calculate t.
-12, -5, 0, 283
Factor 383797500076875*c**2 + 475050450*c + 147.
3*(11310725*c + 7)**2
Factor -2*k**2 + 223906*k + 159754716.
-2*(k - 112662)*(k + 709)
Suppose -h**2 - 33688*h - 22994727 = 0. Calculate h.
-32991, -697
Factor -q**3/4 - 15435*q**2/4 - 16298772*q - 10601710511.
-(q + 791)*(q + 7322)**2/4
Factor 2*z**2/3 - 99446*z/3 - 497380.
2*(z - 49738)*(z + 15)/3
Factor 4*b**2 - 24584*b + 24985540.
4*(b - 4861)*(b - 1285)
Factor 115992900*x**2 - 55939380*x + 6744409.
(10770*x - 2597)**2
Factor -2*d**3 + 318541978*d**2 - 12683624127790048*d + 12683623809248072.
-2*(d - 79635494)**2*(d - 1)
Factor -7*m**3/2 - 3208899*m**2 - 916828*m.
-m*(m + 916828)*(7*m + 2)/2
Find q such that 5*q**4/3 + 23745*q**3 + 782920*q**2/3 - 284720*q = 0.
-14236, -12, 0, 1
Find f such that 2*f**5/9 + 670*f**4/3 + 48676*f**3 - 4138716*f**2 - 154059030*f - 1226530350 = 0.
-531, -15, 87
Solve -4*h**3 + 68*h**2 + 6176*h - 99840 = 0.
-39, 16, 40
Determine f so that 2*f**5 - 7952*f**4 + 71458*f**3 - 206332*f**2 + 190416*f = 0.
0, 2, 3, 4, 3967
Solve 6671889*c**2 - 4530582*c + 769129 = 0.
877/2583
Find o such that 2*o**3/9 + 4840*o**2/9 + 16974*o - 17512 = 0.
-2388, -33, 1
Determine r so that 2*r**3/5 + 23418*r**2/5 - 680864*r/5 - 140856 = 0.
-11738, -1, 30
Factor 3*l**2 + 1959648*l + 320018356992.
3*(l + 326608)**2
Solve 2*t**4/5 - 1306*t**3/5 - 502392*t**2/5 - 2966904*t/5 = 0.
-267, -6, 0, 926
Find s such that -4*s**3 + 6232412*s**2 + 12464836*s + 6232420 = 0.
-1, 1558105
Determine a so that -4*a**2/7 - 225396016*a - 22226471762544112 = 0.
-197221514
Determine n so that 6*n**4 - 14517*n**3/7 - 19767*n**2/7 - 4167*n/7 + 1041/7 = 0.
-1, -1/2, 1/7, 347
Factor 514*m**2/3 + 33314*m/3 - 75260.
2*(m + 71)*(257*m - 1590)/3
Factor -3*b**2 + 48033*b - 1151064.
-3*(b - 15987)*(b - 24)
Let n**2/4 - 1477327*n + 2182495064929 = 0. What is n?
2954654
Suppose -5*q**4 - 1130*q**3 - 32445*q**2 + 1374920*q - 1341340 = 0. Calculate q.
-182, -67, 1, 22
Factor -x**2/7 + 2482416*x/7 + 7447257/7.
-(x - 2482419)*(x + 3)/7
Suppose 4*m**5/3 - 8660*m**4/9 + 1014908*m**3/9 - 1673260*m**2/9 + 667000*m/9 = 0. Calculate m.
0, 2/3, 1, 145, 575
Find k such that -2*k**4/7 + 1410*k**3/7 - 5346*k**2/7 - 183410*k/7 - 25236 = 0.
-9, -1, 14, 701
Determine r, given that r**4 - 549390*r**3 - 12087111*r**2 + 25822388*r - 13185888 = 0.
-24, 1, 549412
Let -3*m**5 + 3752*m**4 - 390316*m**3 + 13628560*m**2 - 154577984*m + 97109760 = 0. Calculate m.
2/3, 22, 44, 1140
Factor -5*f**2 + 84330*f + 7885935.
-5*(f - 16959)*(f + 93)
Let -3*l**3/7 + 6795*l**2/7 - 799872*l/7 + 7322220/7 = 0. Calculate l.
10, 114, 2141
Factor -h**2/5 + 28248*h/5 - 479927/5.
-(h - 28231)*(h - 17)/5
Find f such that -f**3/5 + 130029*f**2/5 + 1300665*f + 16259875 = 0.
-25, 130079
Determine d so that -d**3/4 + 51695*d**2/4 - 662501375*d/4 - 144837335375/4 = 0.
-215, 25955
Factor -i**4 - 3578*i**3 + 50275*i**2 - 46696*i.
-i*(i - 13)*(i - 1)*(i + 3592)
Determine u, given that u**3 + 24106306*u**2 - 48212615*u + 24106308 = 0.
-24106308, 1
Find k such that -17096*k**3 + 355864*k**2 - 1818642*k - 347508 = 0.
-394/2137, 21/2
Factor d**2/4 + 45403124*d + 2061443668959376.
(d + 90806248)**2/4
Let -p**4/3 + 2206222*p**3/3 - 8824877*p**2/3 + 11031092*p/3 - 1470812 = 0. What is p?
1, 2, 2206218
Factor 3962*l**3 - 23770*l**2 - 63404*l - 32.
2*(l - 8)*(l + 2)*(1981*l + 1)
Factor 2*g**2/3 - 420356*g/3 - 4624642.
2*(g - 210211)*(g + 33)/3
What is w in 3*w**4 + 1698*w**3 + 80868*w**2 - 359442*w - 438615 = 0?
-513, -57, -1, 5
Determine c so that -c**3 - 3525*c**2 - 228983*c - 2383251 = 0.
-3459, -53, -13
Factor 3*n**3 + 13632*n**2 + 16711680*n + 2727346176.
3*(n + 192)*(n + 2176)**2
Find c such that 3*c**5 - 6225*c**4 + 4043208*c**3 - 832921764*c**2 - 4250046336*c - 3413075136 = 0.
-4, -1, 526, 1028
Suppose 4*w**3/3 + 47648*w**2 - 29632868*w + 13703804600/3 = 0. Calculate w.
-36350, 307
Let -2*h**2/3 + 281696*h - 89556856/3 = 0. What is h?
106, 422438
Let -3*d**2 - 30259365*d + 60518742 = 0. What is d?
-10086457, 2
Suppose 4*n**4 + 7060*n**3 + 496088*n**2 - 18430672*n + 1792 |
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Says that the Government of the Islamic Republic “incentivizes scholars to watch what they write and say about Pakistan by holding visas and official meetings hostage”. Any idea who these incentivised scholars may be? David Ignatius? Stephen Cohen? Michael Kugelman?
Ends her article with the taunt from Monty Python and the Holy Grail “I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries”.
Member of the Nehru-Gandhi family led Congress Party, Shashi Tharoor ,on holding “uninterrupted and uninterruptible” talks with the Mohammadden Terrorist fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan:
"We can't have uninterrupted talks with Pakistan as Mani Shankar Aiyar suggests. If the military and ISI unleash Lashkar-e-Taiba in Mumbai and other cities, we should interrupt talks. We can't talk to people who cannot control their nationals," …………………. "Its surrendering our self-respect by saying we will talk to you even if your people are coming and killing us,"
The US made secret preparations to evacuate its diplomats stationed in Pakistan to India on the night of the raid in May 2011 on the Abbottabad compound where Osama bin Laden was hiding, unnamed US officials have disclosed, while also suggesting that the then CIA station chief in Islamabad was poisoned by ISI in retaliation for the humiliating commando assault that killed the al-Qaida chief.
The startling revelation, reported first in the Washington Post, centers on the months around the Abbottabad raid, Pakistanis twice breached protocol by outing the serving CIA station chief in Islamabad. It was partly out of anger at the US for implicating the ISI and its chief in the Mumbai terrorist attack. The situation was so bad that the first of those station chiefs, Jonathan Bank, was actually spirited out the country by the US in complete violation of diplomatic norms, fearing Pakistani retaliation.
"As then-CIA deputy director Michael Morell finished a series of scheduled meetings in Islamabad, Bank escorted his boss to a waiting agency plane. Then, without any notice to Pakistani authorities and in violation of protocol, Bank stayed aboard as the flight crew closed the door," {wow !} the Post said, citing unnamed officials.
Bank was replaced by Mark Kelton, a Russia expert who decided Pakistan could not be trusted and began preaching "Moscow Rules" upon arrival, meaning that the "ISI should be treated as a determined foe rather than a problematic partner.'' His seven month stint, the paper said, was in many ways a ''parade of humiliation for his hosts," from the Raymond Davis episode to the Abbottabad raid.
He also signed off on many of the Drone attacks. The ISI disliked him so much that its chief Ahmad Shuja Pasha refused to meet him and referred to him as a cadaver.
"On the first night in May , as midnight approached in Pakistan, Kelton, Munter and a senior US military official gathered in a secure CIA room in the embassy to watch transmissions from a stealth drone circling over Abbottabad as the bin Laden raid began," the Post reported. "The trio had made secret preparations for possible Pakistani reprisals, officials said, drafting evacuation plans that called for employees at scattered US diplomatic sites to flee across the border into India or be scooped up by the USS Carl Vinson from the Karachi shore."
Soon after the raid, the Post said, Kelton began to experience severe stomach pains. It became so severe that he had to be evacuated after only seven months in his post even as the Pakistanis leaked his name in the media. Although Kelton recovered after he had abdominal surgery on this return to the U.S and is now retired from the CIA, "agency officials continue to think that it is plausible -if not provable -that Kelton's sudden illness was somehow orchestrated by the ISI," the paper wrote.
To go with the above post, X Posting the Washington Post story that first disclosed that the notorious intelligence arm of the Punjabi dominated Military of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate aka ISID aka ISI was suspected to have poisoned the US Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) Islamabad Station Chief Mark Kelton:
Ted Poe, U.S. Legislator who serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non-Proliferation and Trade on the US rewarding their Mohammadden Terrorism fomenting Major Non NATO Ally the Islamic Republic of Pakistan:
The House of Representatives recently gave Pakistan a $200 million raise. In all, it was a $900 million payday for a country that to this day is supporting terrorist groups that kill our service men and women in Afghanistan.
It is well known by now that Pakistan gave safe harbor to Osama bin Laden. Before he met his maker in one of the greatest U.S. military raids ever conducted, bin Laden was living in a big house in a bustling military town in Pakistan. Less known is that after that raid our CIA station chief in Pakistan was poisoned: Both he and the CIA suspect he was poisoned by Pakistan's version of the CIA called the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency or "ISI."
The ISI is infamous for its support for terrorists. In February 2012, a NATO report confirmed that it was supporting the Taliban and other terrorist groups with resources, sanctuary and training. A year before the NATO report, in 2011, Adm. Mike Mullen, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before Congress that "the Haqqani Network acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency." No terrorist organization is responsible for more American deaths than the Haqqani Network.
Excellent book, this sheds light on british needs/origin for ISI one of the points never discussed was that need for british to bring back /control india was one of the prime motives for it's creation :
krishna_krishna wrote:Excellent book, this sheds light on british needs/origin for ISI one of the points never discussed was that need for british to bring back /control india was one of the prime motives for it's creation :
Also the author had two passport so that he can go to Pak and also India during similar times
Nothing should be surprising
The role to hurt India and Hindu and Hindu social setup was known earlier with jihad during the British Raj
In the modern times the British made this organization ISI to expand outside the military and inside the civil govt and use civil media and govt depts All means are used to undermine Indian and bring India down
Pakistani national on trial for spying in favour of the Embassy of Pakistan in the UAE and divulging secret information about a local telecommunication company:
Pakistani national, identified as A.A, stood trial in the court, accused of spying in favour of the Embassy of Pakistan in the UAE and divulging secret information about a local telecommunication company.
The defence lawyer told the court that his client did not mean to divulge confidential information about the company he was working for. "He was just exchanging information with some employees of the Pakistan embassy, who were intelligence officers of the Pakistani Embassy to the UAE…………………….
The US launches a “criminal theft and cyber security investigation” targetting the Awan family who have roots in the Islamic Terrorist Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan and administered computers for US legislators mainly from the Democratic Party who served on the US intelligence, homeland security, and foreign affairs committees.
The US during their cyber security investigation would be well addvised to see if information was passed on to the Islamic Republic’s notorious intelligence agency the Inter Services Intelligence Directorat aka ISID aka ISI :
Dozens of House Democrats have collectively paid $4 million since 2009 to Pakistani IT professionals now under criminal investigation who had access to House members' email and computer files.
Capitol Police is investigating whether five members of the Awan family from Pakistan engaged in criminal activity, including theft, as computer administrators for dozens of House Democrats, some of whom serve on the intelligence, homeland security, and foreign affairs committees. …………………..
The suspects–brothers Imran, Abid, and Jamal, and two of their wives, Hina Alvi and Natalia Sova–had full access to the lawmakers' email and computer files for whom they worked and are part of a criminal theft and cyber security investigation.
The House members who paid the most to the Awans included Democratic Reps. Marcia Fudge (Ohio), Tim Ryan (Ohio), Jim Acosta (Calif.), and former Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.).
Awan family members received outsized salaries in comparison to their colleagues working on Capitol Hill, raking in $5 million collectively since 2003. Imran Awan, for example, received $1.2 million in salary since 2010, while legislative assistants on Capitol Hill receive a median annual salary of $43,000. ………………………
Two Sufi Mohammadden sect clerics who had travelled from India to the Mohammadden Terrorist fomenting Islamic Republic disappear. Suspicion is that the two Sufi Mohammadden Clerics have been picked up by the Intelligence Arm of the Uniformed Jihadi’s of the Islamic Republic of pakistan’s Army, the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate aka ISID aka ISI.
Is it halal for an Islamic Republic like Pakistan to detain Mohammadden Clerics from Non-Mohammadden countries?
Organisation of Islamic Co-operation must demand own member Pakistan stop molesting Ulema.:
India has asked the Pakistan government to return two senior Indian clerics who have been missing from Lahore since Wednesday. Asif Nizami and his brother Nazim Nizami, senior clerics from Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya dargah in New Delhi were travelling in Pakistan on a religious tour, but are believed to have gone missing from Lahore.
The Indian high commissioner in Islamabad has lodged a strong complaint with the foreign ministry in Islamabad on Thursday evening. But sources here suspect the ISI, Pakistan's all-pervasive deep state, may have "picked them up" for reasons that are still unclear. The abduction of the Sufi clerics will be taken very seriously by India, sources said.
Syed Asif Ali Nizami, one of the two Sufi clerics who went missing in Pakistan last week, rejected media reports that he and his nephew had been detained by Pakistani authorities on spying charges
..the cleric narrated a curious tale of being blindfolded and taken to an unknown location, where he was greeted with a degree of hospitality.
I was taken to a place quite far from Karachi, with my face covered. I was offered food, they prepared tea and biscuits for me
He also denied being mistreated by the Pakistani authorities, insisting that "no force or coercion was used" against them.
We were not troubled, and were kept in VIP rooms
The reports that we could not be contacted because of network issues is totally false,
The two clerics thanked the governments of India and Pakistan for their safe return
the clerics expressed their desire to visit the country again.
I will definitely go to Pakistan again, bearing a message for peace and love
The duo went missing from Lahore airport
So, a senile, octogenarian is blind-folded, taken away from L'whore airport to an unknown location near/in k'rachi, housed in a VIP room, given chai-biskoot and asked about his dargah matters. Boy, do I have a bridge to sell you.
1. Blindfolded in lawhore and taken to k'rachi...by what? a plane, train or an automobile? How did he know he was not taken to the rural parts if he was blind folded?2. Cellphone did not work in l'whore or k'rachi or anywhere in between? 3. While the face was covered, he was treated to chai and biskoot4. Bakis did not mistreat him...no sireee bob! 5. All the baki "authorities" did was to ask him questions on his dargah which they could have asked him in l'whore hawaii adda6. As that unibrow idiot baki kirketeer said after learning about his new born, "thankj to the boyj", this cleric thanks al bakistan and its agencies for his "release"7. After all this, he wants to go back to the land of his masters...er kidnappers. I believe this was a simple meeting between a handler or a bagman and his asset. It got out of hand when the cleric's families raised a stink of him being incommunicado.
Some is definitely black in the lentils.Next time an ingrate soofi goes missing in bakistan, let him rot.
Presumably what you posted came from Times of India in which case, for the sake of good order, the web link follows. Check out the embedded video as well:
Meanwhile BJP politician Subramanian Swamy is reported as indicating that the pair of Sufi Mohammadden Clerics who went “missing” in the Mohammadden Terrorism fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan “were working against the country {ie: India}”. Once again check out the embedded video:
Hmmm………… I wonder if India has arrested a high ranking ISI aka ISID aka Inter Services Intelligence Directorate Agent committing espionage in India and the Mohammadden Terrorist fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan is consequently attempting to play victim by claiming that the high ranking agent was kidnapped and taken across the border into India.
Let me hope that it is indeed the case that India has bagged a high ranking ISID agent for espionage in India and who after a full and public confession of spying can be traded for our retired naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav who was kidnapped by Pakistan from Chabahar in Iran.
Read about the affair of the disapperance of a Uniformed Jihadi by name of Lt.Col. (Retired?) Muhammad Habib Zahir:
Dr. Gunter Mulack, the former German Ambassador to the Mohammadden Terrorist Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan, who had first said in a seminar that he had heard Commander Kilbhushan Jadhav who was then working in Chabahar in Iran had been abducted by the Taliban from along the Iran-Pakistan border and then sold to the nototious intelligence arm of the Uniformed Jihadi’s of the Punjabi dominated Military of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate aka ISI aka ISID; reiterates that claim.
Dr. Mulack tells India Today "I had said during the course of a seminar in Karachi that it was heard Jadhav was abducted by the Taliban in Iran and then sold to Pakistan's ISI. It is not uncommon for this to happen in the border areas. But this was what locals told me. It was not what German intelligence had picked up":
Afghanistan has gone a step beyond blaming the Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan located Haqqani Group for the Ramadan aka Ramzan month Green on Green Intra-Mohammadden suicide VBIED bombing in Kabul that killed 90. Afghanistan is now also blaming the the notorious Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Intelligence arm of the Uniformed Jihadi’s of the Punjabi Dominated Army of the Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate aka ISID aka ISI for the Ramadan aka Ramzan month Kabul suicide VBIED bombing that killed 90.
Is it “Halal” for a self proclaimed IEDological Musim State, Islamic Republic and Sole Islamic Nuclear Power like the Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan to foment terrorism targetting Momins in a “Brotherly” country during the month of Ramadan aka Ramzan? :
……………. The Afghan intelligence service, NDS, said early findings showed the Afghan Haqqani militant network with the assistance of the Pakistani intelligence service, ISI, carried out the attack.
In a statement, the NDS said: "These terrorists once again proved they don't represent any religion and they only carry out such coward attacks to please their Pakistani masters which is against all Islamic and human rights principals." ……………….
C Christine Fair highlights the very close links between the Uniformed Jihadi’s of the Punjabi dominated Military of the Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Un-Uniformed Jihadis of UN proscribed Islamic Republic of Pakistan based Mohammadden Terrorist group Jamaat Ud Dawa JuD.
………………. studies exhibit little awareness of the important domestic perquisites JuD affords its handlers in the army and the brutal intelligence agency that the army oversees, the Inter-services Intelligence Directorate (ISI).
a
In the last decade, JuD spawned numerous related organizations, such as the Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK, Organization for Humanitarian Assistance), declared by the US Department of Treasury to be an FTO in April 2006.10 In 2009, JuD constituted a new humanitarian front, Falah Insaniat Foundation (FIF, Foundation for Welfare of Humanity), which the United States also designated as an FTO in 2010. In 2012, the United Nations designated FIF pursuant to UN Security Council Resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011).11 Most recently, in early August 2017, JuD has floated a political party named the Milli Muslim League (MML) headed by a senior leader of the JuD named Saifullah Khalid.12 The MML is fielding a candidate in the September 17, 2017 by-election to fill the seat left vacant by Nawaz Sharif’s recent ouster even though the MML has not yet completed its registration with the Pakistan Election Commission.13 The MML plans to field more candidates in the 2018 elections. This represents a serious retrenchment from the organization’s long-standing position that it has no role in electoral politics and that elections and democracy are in fact anathema to its interpretation of shariat. While little is known about the MML given its recency, speculation is rife about its relationship to Pakistan’s deep state. Some analysts interpret the development of MML as a positive sign that Pakistan is trying to rein in its proxy by giving it a nonlethal domestic role that will allow the state to decommission its jihad function gradually.14
I reject this interpretation. As I have previously argued and also note here, LeT is the only militant organization in Pakistan that argues explicitly against violence within Pakistan while also offering the perquisite of loyally executing lethal attacks at the behest of the deep state.15 While only time will tell which interpretation is correct, I see the emergence of the MML as a further effort by the deep state to formally embed JuD within Pakistani politics. The timing of the MML’s nascence is also notable because it coincides with the army’s exhaustion with both of the mainstream political parties (the Pakistan Peoples’ League and the Pakistan Muslim League of Nawaz Sharif) and the ongoing failure of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to develop a national presence. In effect, the army has few options to engineer Pakistan’s political leadership in the forthcoming general elections.16 While the MML is unlikely to fare well in elections (as no religious party ever polls more than 10 percent in a free and fair Pakistan election),17 the MML can play a useful role as a member of a coalition groomed by the army and the ISI.
Conclusions and Implications
JuD remains the subject of scholarly and policy analytical inquiry. Most extant scholarship views this organization from the singular point of view of its external utility as a loyal and effective proxy of Pakistan’s military and intelligence agency. This singular focus upon its role in waging so-called jihad in India and, to a lesser extent, in Afghanistan significantly understates the significance of JuD to Pakistan’s deep state. Not only is it a crucial partner in prosecuting its national security interests abroad, it is also a vital partner in managing Pakistan’s internal security arrangements. JuD is the only militant organization in Pakistan that deliberately preaches the message that the only legitimate jihad is the external jihad. It is also the only militant organization that explicitly disavows not only sectarian violence, but also communal violence. This does not mean that JuD is insouciant about deviations from tawheed or other shortcomings. However, it believes that within the borders of Pakistan, the only method to deal with wayward Muslims—either ordinary citizens or in leadership—is through dawah and preaching the message of the external jihad. With the launch of the MML, JuD will be even more effective in spreading this message. Consequently, JuD will likely become even more valuable to its masters in the Pakistani army and intelligence community, even if it comes at the cost of being more difficult to control and manage over the longer term.
A case of “Good Terrorists” being plausibly deniably backed with COTS explosives by the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate aka ISID aka ISI, the notorious intelligence arm of the Uniformed Jihadi’s of the Military of the Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Afghanistan’s Tolo News reports that Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), have announced that initial investigations show that the explosives used by Mohammadden belief motivated group, Taliban, in the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on Saturday unsurprisingly came from the Mohammadden Terrorism Fomenting Islamic Republic of Pakistan:
Explosives Used in Hotel Attack Traced Back To Pakistan: NDS
National Directorate of Security (NDS) on Tuesday announced that initial investigations show that the explosives used by Taliban insurgents in the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on Saturday came from Pakistan.
The NDS also recovered the vehicle that attackers used to enter the hotel compound.
“The explosive materials seized in the vehicle shows that the material is made in Pakistan,” said the NDS in a press release.
According to the NDS statement, the explosive chemical used by the insurgents was produced by a company in Islamabad called Biafo Industries Limited.
According to Biafo’s website, the company is a modern state of the art explosive manufacturing company. It states it is highly automated and can produce more than 2,500 metric tons of explosives per shift annually.
Saturday’s deadly attack left at least 43 people dead and many more wounded. However, government has only confirmed the death of 29 people so far.
Don’t take any action against Hafiz Saeed, Lahore High Court tells Pakistan govt
The Lahore High Court on Wednesday restrained the Pakistan government from arresting JuD chief and 26/11 terror attack mastermind, Hafiz Saeed, a day after he moved the court seeking protection from arrest.
Justice Amin Aminuddin Khan, who heard Saeed’s plea, directed the government from taking any “adverse action” against him. |
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abstract: ': We study a robust utility maximization in the dominated case and with non-entropic penalty term. We consider two types of Penalties. The first one is the f-divergence penalty studied in the general framework of a continuous filtration. The second called consistent time penalty studied in the context of a Brownian filtration. We prove in the two cases that there is a unique optimal probability measure solution of the robust problem which is equivalent to the historical probability. In the case of consistent time penalty, we characterize the dynamic value process of our stochastic control problem as the unique solution of a quadratic backward stochastic differential equation.'
address:
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University of Tunis El Manar\
Laboratoire de Modélisation Mathématique et Numérique\
dans les Sciences de l’Ingénieur, ENIT\
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Université du Maine\
Institut du Risque et de l’Assurance\
Laboratoire Manceau de Mathématiques\
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University of Tunis El Manar\
Laboratoire de Modélisation Mathématique et Numérique\
dans les Sciences de l’Ingénieur, ENIT\
author:
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title: Robust utility maximization problem with a general penalty term
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[**Key words :**]{} Utility Maximization, Backward Stochastic Differential Equations, model uncertainty, Robust control.
[**MSC Classification (2000) :**]{} 92E20, 60J60, 35B50.
Introduction
============
In the literature connected with the utility maximization problem, the optimality criterion is based on a classical expected utility functional of von Neumann-Morgenstern form, which requires the choice of a single probabilistic model $P$. In reality, the choice of $P$ is subject to model uncertainty. Schmeidler [@Schmei89] and Gilboa and Schmeidler [@GS89] proposed the use of robust utility functionals of the form $$X\mapsto \inf\limits_{Q\in \Qc}E_Q[U(X)]$$ where $\Qc$ is a set of prior probability measures. Later, Maccheroni, Marinacci and Rustichini [@Mac06] suggested modelingl investor preferences by robust utility functionals of the form $$\label{macrobustness}
X\mapsto \inf\limits_{Q\in \Qc}E_Q[U(X)+\gamma(Q)].$$ The most popular choice for the penalty function is the entropic penalty function $\gamma(Q) = \beta H(Q|P)$ for a constant $\beta > 0$ and a reference probability measure $P$; see, e.g., Hansen and Sargent [@HS01]. A general class of the penalty function $\gamma$ was developed by Schied using duality methods. In this article, we are interested in a control problem of type (\[macrobustness\]) with the general penalty term by using stochastic control approach as in Bordigoni, Matoussi and Schweizer [@BMS05]. Specifically we are trying to solve the following problem $$\inf\limits_{Q\in\Qc}E_Q [\Uc_{0,T}+ \beta \Rc_{0,T}(Q)]$$ where $$\Uc^{\delta}_{t,T}:=\alpha \dint_t^TS_s^\delta U_sds+\bar{\alpha}S_T^\delta \bar{U}_T$$ with $\alpha,\bar{\alpha}$ are two positive parameters, $ \beta \in(0,+\infty)$, $(U_t)_{0\leq t \leq T}$ a progressively measurable process, $\bar{U}_T$ a random variable $\Fc_T$-measurable and $S^\delta$ is the discounting process defined by: $S_t^\delta := \exp(-\dint_0^t\delta_sds);0\leq t \leq T$ where $(\delta_t)_{0\leq t \leq T}$ is a progressively measurable process. $\Rc_{t,T}(Q)$ denotes a penalty term which is written as a sum of a penalty rate and a final penalty.\
Note that the cost functional: $$c(w,Q):=\Uc_{0,T}^\delta+\beta \Rc_{0,T}^\delta(Q)$$ consists of two terms. The first is a $Q$-expected discounted utility with discount rate $\delta$, utility rate $U_s$ at time $s$ and terminal utility $\bar{U}_T$ at time $T$. Usually, $U_s$ comes from consumption and $U'_T$ is related to the terminal wealth. The second term, which depends only on $Q$, is a penalty term which can be interpreted as being a kind of “distance” between $Q$ and the historical probability $P$. In the presence of uncertainty or model ambiguity, sometimes also called the Knight uncertainty, the economic agent does not know the probability law governing the markets. The economic agent has a certain conjecture about the position of the true probability distribution $Q$,but not with total confidence. So he regards it as being more plausible than other probabilities. This plausibility can be measured using $\Rc_{0,T}(Q)$. The agent penalizes each sight probabilistic possible $Q$ in terms of penalty $\Rc_{0,T}(Q)$ and adopts an approach of the worst case by evaluating the profit of a given financial position. The role of proportionality parameter $\beta$ is to measure the degree of confidence of the decision maker in the reference probability $P$, or, in other words, the concern for the model erroneous specification. The higher value of $\beta$ corresponds to more confidence.\
In this paper we studied two classes of penalties. The first class is the $f$-divergence penalty introduced by Cizar [@Ciz] given in our framework by: $$\label{f-divergence}
\Rc_{t,T}^\delta(Q):=\dint_t^T\delta_s\frac{S_s^\delta}{S_t^\delta} \frac{Z_t^Q}{Z_s^Q}f(\frac{Z_s^Q}{Z_t^Q})ds+\frac{S_T^\delta}{S_t^\delta} \frac{Z_t^Q}{Z_T^Q}f(\frac{Z_T^Q}{Z_t^Q}); \forall 0\leq t \leq T.$$ where $f$ is a convex function. In this case, set $\mathcal{Q}$ consists of all models $Q$ absolutely continuous with respect to $P$ whose density process (with respect to $P$) $Z^Q$ satisfies: $\E_P[\displaystyle{f(Z^Q_T)}]<+\infty.$\
The second class called consistent time penalty studied in the context of a Brownian filtration generated by a Brownian motion $(W_t)_{0\leq t \leq T}.$ $$\label{consistent}\Rc_{t,T}^\delta(Q):=\dint_t^T\delta_s\frac{S_s^\delta}{S_t^\delta} (\int_t^s h(\eta_u)du)ds+\frac{S_T^\delta}{S_t^\delta}\int_t^T h(\eta_u)du ; \forall 0\leq t \leq T$$ where $h$ is a convex function and the density process of $Q^\eta$ with respect to $P$ can be written: $$\frac{dQ^\eta}{dP}=\Ec(\int_0^.\eta_u dW_u).$$ In this case, set $\mathcal{Q}$ is formed by all models $Q^\eta $ absolutely continuous with respect to $P$ such that $\E_{Q^\eta}[\dint_0^Th(\eta_s)ds]<+\infty.$ Using HJB equation technics, Schied [@SC08] studied the same problem when $\delta$ is constant and the process $\eta$ takes values in a compact convex set in $\mathbb{R}^2$. Finally, more recently Laeven and Stadje [@LS12] have studied the case of consistent time penalty by using another proof of the existence result and by assuming a bounded final condition.\
The paper is organized as follows. In the second section we study the robust utility problem where the penalty is modeled by the $f$-divergence and we prove the existence of a unique optimal probability measure $Q^*$ equivalent to $P$ for our optimization problem. The third section is devoted to the class of consistent time penalty. In particular, we characterize in this case the value process for our control problem as the unique solution of a generalized class of quadratic BSDEs. Finally, we give some technical results in the Appendix.
Class of f-divergence penalty
=============================
The setting
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This section gives a precise formulation of our optimization problem and introduces a number of notations for later use. We start with a filtered probability space $(\Omega,\Fc, \F,P)$ over a finite time horizon $T\in (0,+\infty).$\
Filtration $\F = (\Fc_t)_{0\leq t \leq T}$ satisfies the usual conditions of right-continuity and $P$-completeness.\
For any probability measure $Q\ll P$ on $\Fc_T$, the density process of $Q$ with respect to $P$ is the RCLL $P$-martingale $Z^Q = (Z^Q_t )_{0\leq t \leq T}$ with $$Z^Q_t = \frac{dQ}{dP}\mid_{\Fc_t}= \E_P[\frac{dQ}{dP}\mid{\Fc_t}];\forall 0\leq t \leq T$$ Since $Z^Q$ is closed on the right by $Z^Q_t = \frac{dQ}{dP}\mid_{\Fc_t}$, $Z^Q$ can be identified with $Q$.\
For all $Q\ll P$ on $\Fc_T$, we define the penalty term by $$\Rc_{0,T}^\delta:=\dint_0^T\delta_sS_s^\delta \frac{f(Z_s^Q)}{Z_s^Q}ds+S_T^\delta \frac{f(Z_T^Q)}{Z_T^Q};\;\; \textrm{for all} \;\; 0\leq t \leq T$$ where $f : [0,+\infty) \mapsto \R$ is continuous, strictly convex and satisfies the following assumptions:
1. $f(1)=0.$
2. There is a constant $\kappa \in \R_+$ such that $f(x)\geq -\kappa, \;\;\textrm{for all}\;\; x\in (0,+\infty).$
3. $\lim\limits_{x \mapsto +\infty}\dfrac{f(x)}{x}=+\infty.$
The basic goal is to $$\label{min1} \textrm{minimize the functional}\; Q \mapsto \Gamma(Q) := \E_Q[c(.,Q)]$$ over a suitable class of probability measures $Q \ll P$ on $\Fc_T$ .
For a convex function $\varphi$ we define the following functional spaces:\
$L^{\varphi} $ is the space of all ${\cal{ F}}_T $ measurable random variables $X $ with $$E_P\left[\varphi\left(\gamma \vert X \vert\right)\right]<\infty \qquad \hbox{ for all }
\gamma>0,$$ $D^{\varphi}_0$ is the space of all progressively measurable processes $X={(X_t)}_{0\le t\le T}$ with $$E_P\left[\varphi\left(\gamma {~ \rm{ess}\sup}_{0\le t\le T}|X_t|\right)\right]<\infty \qquad
\hbox{ for all } \gamma>0,$$ $D^{\varphi}_1$ is the space of all progressively measurable processes $X={(X_t)}_{0\le t\le T}$ such that $$E_P\left[\varphi\left(\gamma\int_0^T |X_s|ds\right)\right]<\infty \qquad \hbox{ for all } \gamma >0.$$
For any probability measures $Q$ on $(\Omega,\Fc)$, we define the f-divergence of $Q$ with respect to $P$ by: $$d(Q|P):=\left\{\begin{array}{cc}
\E_P[f(\frac{dQ}{dP}|_{\Fc_T})] & \textrm{if} \; Q \ll P \;\textrm{on}\; \Fc_T \\
+\infty & \textrm{otherwise}
\end{array}\right..$$ If $f(x)=x\ln x,$ then $d(Q|P)$ is called relative entropy and is denoted by $H(Q|P).$\
We denote by $\Qc_f$ the space of all probability measures $Q$ on $(\Omega,\Fc)$ with $Q \ll P$ on $\Fc_T,$ $Q = P$ on $\Fc_0$ and $d(Q|P) < +\infty.$ Set $\Qc_f^e$ is defined as follows $$\Qc_f^e:=\{Q \in \Qc_f | Q\approx P \; \textrm{on} \; \Fc_T \}.$$
The conjugate function of $f$ on $\R_+$ is defined by: $$\label{conjugate function}
f^{\ast }(x)=\sup\limits_{y>0}{(xy-f(y))}.$$ $f^{\ast }$ is a convex function, non decreasing, non negative and satisfies: $$\label{convex inequality1}
xy\leq f^{\ast }(x)+f(y) ,\;\;\textrm{for all} \;\; x\in \R_+ \;\; \mbox{and}\;\; y>0$$ and also $$\label{convex inequality2}
xy\leq\frac{1}{\gamma} [f^{\ast }(\gamma x)+f(y)] ,\;\;\textrm{for all}\;\; x\in \R_+, \;\; \gamma>0\;\; \mbox{and} \;\; y>0.$$ For a precise formulation of (\[min1\]), we now assume:
1. $\delta $ is positive and bounded by $\left\Vert
\delta \right\Vert _{\infty }.$
2. Process $U$ belongs to $D_1 ^{f^*}$ and the random variable $\bar{U}_T$ is in $L^{f^*}$
\[boundness of fdiv\]
1. Assumption $f(x)\geq -\kappa$ implies that : $$\label{absolute}
\mid f(x)\mid \leq f(x)+2\kappa, \quad \forall x \geq 0.$$
2. In the case of entropic penalty, we have $f(x)=x\ln(x)$ and then $f^{\ast }(x)=\exp({x-1}). $ As in Bordigoni, Matoussi and Schweizer [@BMS05], the integrability conditions are formulated as $$\mathbb{E}_P\left[\displaystyle \exp({\lambda \int_{0}^{T}|U(s)|ds})\right] <+\infty \;\; \textrm{and} \;\;
\mathbb{E}_P\left[ \displaystyle \exp({\lambda |\bar{U}_T|})\right] <+\infty\;\;\textrm{for all} \;\; \lambda>0.$$
Existence of optimal probability measure
----------------------------------------
The main result of this section is to prove that the problem (\[min1\]) has a unique solution $Q^*\in \Qc_f.$ Under some additional assumptions, we prove that $Q^*$ is equivalent to $P$. This is proved for a general filtration $\F$. This section begins by establishing some estimates for later use.
\[prop1\] Under **(A1)-(A2)**, we have:
1. $c(.,Q) \in L^1(Q)$,
2. $\Gamma (Q)\leq C(1+d(Q|P))$, where $C$ is a positive constant depending only on $\alpha ,\bar{\alpha} ,\beta ,\delta ,T,U$ and $\bar{U}.$
In particular $\Gamma(Q)$ is well-defined and finite for every $Q\in \Qc_f$
1. We first prove that that for all $ Q \in Q_f$, $c(.,Q)$ belongs to $ L^1(Q)$. Set $R:=\alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U(s)|ds+\bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}|$, we get $$|Z_T^Qc(.,Q)| \leq Z_T^Q R +\left \Vert \delta \right\Vert _{\infty } Z_T^Q \int_{0}^{T}\left\vert \frac{f(Z_{s}^{Q})}{Z_s^Q}\right\vert ds+\left\vert f(Z_{T}^{Q})\right\vert.$$ By the estimate (\[convex inequality1\]), we have $Z_{T}^{Q}R \leq f(Z_{T}^{Q})+f^{\ast }(R).$ From assumption **(A2)**, the variable random $f^{\ast }(R)$ is in $L^1(P)$ and from Remark \[boundness of fdiv\], we get that for all $ Q \in Q_f$, $ f(Z_T^Q)$ belongs to $ L^1(P).$ It remains to show that $Z_T^Q \displaystyle\int_{0}^{T}\left\vert \frac{f(Z_{s}^{Q})}{Z_s^Q}\right\vert ds $ belongs to $ L^1(P).$ By Tonelli-Fubini’s Theorem, we have $$\begin{split}
\E_P\big[Z_T^Q \displaystyle\int_{0}^{T}\left\vert \frac{f(Z_{s}^{Q})}{Z_s^Q}\right\vert ds \big]&=\displaystyle\int_{0}^{T}\E_P\big[Z_T^Q \left\vert \frac{f(Z_{s}^{Q})}{Z_s^Q}\right\vert\big] ds\\&=\displaystyle\int_{0}^{T}\E_P\big[Z_s^Q \left\vert \frac{f(Z_{s}^{Q})}{Z_s^Q}\right\vert\big] ds=\displaystyle\int_{0}^{T}\E_P\big[\left\vert f(Z_{s}^{Q})\right\vert\big]ds.
\end{split}$$ Jensen’s inequality allows $$f(Z_{s}^{Q})=f\left( \E_{P}\left[ Z_{T}^{Q}|\mathcal{F}_{s}\right] \right) \leq \E_{P}\left[ f\left( Z_{T}^{Q}\right) |\mathcal{F}_{s}\right].$$ By taking the expectation under $P,$ we obtain $$\label{c1}\E_{P}\left( f(Z_{s}^{Q})\right) \leq \E_{P}\left[ f\left( Z_{T}^{Q}\right) \right].$$ Consequently, $$\label{c1'}
\E_P\big[\vert f(Z_{s}^{Q})\vert\big]\leq \E_{P}\left[ f\left( Z_{T}^{Q}\right) \right]+2\kappa,$$ and so, $s\mapsto\E_P\big[\vert f(Z_{s}^{Q})\vert\big]$ is in $L^1([0,T]).$ Whence, $Z_T^Q
\displaystyle\int_{0}^{T}\left\vert \frac{f(Z_{s}^{Q})}{Z_s^Q}\right\vert ds $ belongs to $ L^1(P).$
2. From the definition of $\Gamma$, we have $$\Gamma (Q) \leq \E_{P}\left[ Z_{T}^{Q}R\right] +\beta \E_{P}\left[\left\Vert \delta \right\Vert _{\infty }\int_{0}^{T}\left\vert f(Z_{s}^{Q})\right\vert ds+\left\vert f(Z_{T}^{Q})\right\vert \right].$$ By the inequality (\[c1’\]), we have $$\begin{split}
\E_{P}\left[\left\Vert \delta \right\Vert _{\infty}\int_{0}^{T}\vert f(Z_{s}^{Q})\vert ds+\vert f(Z_{T}^{Q})\vert \right]&=\left\Vert \delta \right\Vert _{\infty}\int_{0}^{T}\E_{P}\left[\vert f(Z_{s}^{Q})\vert\right] ds+\E_{P}\left[\vert f(Z_{T}^{Q})\vert \right]\\&\leq \left\Vert \delta \right\Vert _{\infty}T\Big(\E_{P}\left[ f\left( Z_{T}^{Q}\right) \right]+2\kappa\Big)+\E_{P}\left[ f\left( Z_{T}^{Q}\right) \right]+2\kappa,
\end{split}$$ and consequently, $$\Gamma (Q)\leq \E_{P}\left[ f^{\ast }(R)\right] +2 \kappa \beta
(\left\Vert \delta \right\Vert _{\infty }T+1)+(1+\beta \left\Vert \delta
\right\Vert _{\infty }T+\beta )d(Q|P).$$ Constant $C$ is defined by: $$C:=\max \left( E_{P}\left[ f^{\ast }(R)\right]+2\kappa\beta (\left\Vert
\delta \right\Vert _{\infty }T+1),(1+\beta \left\Vert \delta \right\Vert
_{\infty }T+\beta )\right) .$$ From assumptions (**A1**)-(**A2**), $C$ is finite, positive and answers the question.
A more precise estimation of $\Gamma ( Q)$ will be needed:
\[cont1\] There is a positive constant $K$ which depends only on $\alpha ,\bar{\alpha} ,\beta ,\delta ,T,U,\bar{U}$ such that $$d(Q|P)\leq K( 1+\Gamma ( Q)).$$
In particular $\inf\limits_{Q\in Q_{f}}$ $\Gamma (Q) >-\infty. $
From Bayes’ formula, we have: $$\begin{split}
\E_Q [ \dint_{0}^{T}\delta _sS_s^\delta\frac{f( Z_s^Q)}{Z_s^Q}
ds|\Fc_\tau] &= \frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}\E_{P}[\dint_0^T\delta _sS_s^\delta f( Z_s^Q)ds|\Fc_\tau]
\geq -\frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}T \kappa \parallel \delta \parallel_\infty.
\end{split}$$ In the same way, by using $\exp(-T\parallel\delta\parallel _{\infty})\leq S_{T}^{\delta }\leq 1$, we get: $$\begin{split}
\E_{Q}[S_T^\delta \dfrac{f(Z_T^Q)}{Z_T^Q}|\Fc_\tau]& =\frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}\E_P[
S_T^\delta f( Z_{T}^{Q})|\mathcal{F}_{\tau}] \\& = \frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q} \E_P\big[
S_T^\delta [f( Z_{T}^{Q})-\kappa+\kappa]|\mathcal{F}_{\tau}\big]
\\& \geq \frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}(-\kappa + e^{-T \parallel\delta \parallel _{\infty
}}(\kappa +\E_P[ f( Z_{T}^{Q})|\mathcal{F}_{\tau}])
\\& \geq \frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}(-\kappa + e^{-T \parallel\delta \parallel _{\infty
}}\E_P[ f( Z_{T}^{Q})|\mathcal{F}_{\tau}]).
\end{split}$$ We set $R_\tau:= \alpha \int_{\tau}^{T}|U_s|ds+\bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T|$ and $R=R_0.$ By using $0 \leq S^\delta \leq 1,$ and Bayes’ formula, we have $$\begin{split}
\E_Q[\Uc^\delta_{0,T}|\Fc_\tau]&\geq -\E_Q[R|\Fc_\tau]\\&=-\frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}\E_P[Z_T^Q R|\Fc_\tau].
\end{split}$$ By using (\[convex inequality2\]) and since $f^*$ is non decreasing, we obtain: $$\begin{split}
\E_P[Z_T^QR|\Fc_\tau]&\leq \frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f(Z_T^Q)+f^*(\gamma R)|\Fc_\tau]
\\&\leq\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f(Z_T^Q)|\Fc_\tau]+\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f^*(\gamma R)|\Fc_\tau].
\end{split}$$ Thus, we have: $$\label{ineq7}
\begin{split}
\E_Q[c(.,Q)|\Fc_\tau]&\geq -\beta \frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}T \kappa \Vert \delta \Vert_\infty +\beta \frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}(-\kappa + e^{-T \Vert\delta \Vert _{\infty}}\E_P[ f( Z_{T}^{Q})|\mathcal{F}_{\tau}])\\& -\frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}\Big[\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f(Z_T^Q)|\mathcal{F}_{\tau}]+\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T| )|\Fc_\tau]\Big].
\end{split}$$ By choosing $ \tau=0$ and taking the expectation under $Q$, we obtain: $$\begin{split}\Gamma(Q)\geq &-\beta T \kappa \Vert \delta \Vert_\infty +\beta [-\kappa + e^{-T \Vert\delta \Vert _{\infty}}\E_P[f(Z_{T}^{Q})]]-\\& (\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f(Z_T^Q)]+\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T| )])
\\&=-\beta \kappa (T \Vert \delta \Vert_\infty+1)+d(Q|P)[\beta e^{-T \Vert\delta \Vert _{\infty}}-\frac{1}{\gamma}]
\\&-\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T|)]).
\end{split}$$ By choosing $\gamma $ large enough, there exists $\eta>0$ such that $ \beta e^{-T \Vert\delta \Vert _{\infty}}-\frac{1}{\gamma} \geq \eta.$ We set $$K:= \frac{1}{\eta} \max (1,\beta \kappa (T \Vert \delta \Vert_\infty+1)+\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T|)]).$$\
Under the assumptions **(A1)-(A2)**, $K$ is finite and so the proof of the proposition is achieved.
The following lemma is useful to show the existence of $Q^*$ which realizes the infimum of $Q\mapsto\Gamma(Q)$
\[lemma2\] For all $ \gamma >0$ and all $A \in \Fc_T$ we have : $$\E_Q[|\Uc^\delta_{0,T}|\textbf{1}_A] \leq \frac{1}{\gamma}(d(Q|P)+\kappa)+\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T|)\textbf{1}_A].$$
From the definition of $\Uc^\delta_{0,T}$ and using inequality (\[convex inequality1\]), we have $$\begin{split}
Z_T^Q|\Uc^\delta_{0,T}|\textbf{1}_A &\leq Z_T^Q (\alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}|)\textbf{1}_A
\\& \leq \frac{1}{\gamma}[f(Z_T^Q)+f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}|)]\textbf{1}_A.
\end{split}$$ Using Assumption **(H2)**, we obtain $$\begin{split}
Z_T^Q|\Uc^\delta_{0,T}|\textbf{1}_A & \leq \frac{1}{\gamma}[f(Z_T^Q)+\kappa+f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}|)]\textbf{1}_A
\\& \leq \frac{1}{\gamma}[f(Z_T^Q)+\kappa]+\frac{1}{\gamma}[f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}|)]\textbf{1}_A.
\end{split}$$ The result follows by taking the expectation under $P$.\
The following theorem shows the existence of unique probability measure solution of optimization problem (\[min1\])
\[exisun\] Under **(A1)-(A2)**, there is a unique $Q^*\in \Qc_f$ which minimizes $Q \mapsto \Gamma(Q)$ over all $Q \in \Qc_f$ .
1. $Q \mapsto \Gamma(Q)$ is strictly convex; hence $Q^*$ must be unique if it exists.
2. Let $(Q^n)_{n\in \N}$ be a minimizing sequence in $\Qc_f$ i.e. $$\searrow \lim\limits_{n \rightarrow +\infty}\Gamma(Q^n)=\inf\limits_{Q\in\Qc_f}\Gamma(Q)>-\infty,$$ and we denote by $Z^n = Z^{Q^n}$ the corresponding density processes.\
Since each $Z_T^n\geq 0$, it follows from Koml$\acute{o}$s’ theorem that there exists a sequence $(\bar{Z}_T^n )_{n\in \N}$ with $\bar{Z}_T^n \in conv(Z^n_T ,Z^{n+1}_T , ...)$ for each $n\in\N$ and such that $(\bar{Z}^n_T )$ converges $P$-a.s. to some random variable $\bar{Z}^{\infty}_T$ which is nonnegative but may take the value $+\infty.$ Because $\Qc_f$ is convex, each $\bar{Z}_T^n$ is again associated with some $\bar{Q}^n \in \Qc_f.$ We claim that this also holds for $\bar{Z}^{\infty}_T$ , i.e., that $d\bar{Q}^{\infty} :=\bar{Z}^{\infty}_TdP$ defines a probability measure $\bar{Q}^{\infty}\in \Qc_f.$ To see this, note first that we have $$\label{ineq1}
\Gamma(\bar{Q}^n) \leq \sup\limits_{m\geq n}\Gamma(Q^m)= \Gamma(Q^n)\leq \Gamma(Q^1),$$ because $Q \mapsto \Gamma(Q)$ is convex and $n \mapsto \Gamma(Q^n)$ is decreasing. Hence Proposition $\ref{cont1}$ yields $$\label{ineq2}
\begin{split}
\sup\limits_{n\in \N}\E_P [f (\bar{Z}^n) ] &= \sup\limits_{n\in \N}d(\bar{Q}^n|P) \leq K(1 + \sup\limits_{n\in \N}\Gamma(\bar{Q}^n))\\& \leq K(1 + \sup\limits_{n\in \N}\Gamma({Q}^n))\leq K(1 +\Gamma({Q}^1))<+\infty.
\end{split}$$ From Assumption **(H3)** and using de la Vallée-Poussin’s criterion, we obtain the $P$-uniformly integrability of $(\bar{Z}^n_T )_{n\in\N}$ and therefore $(\bar{Z}^n_T )_{n\in\N}$ converges in $L^1(P).$ This implies that $\E_P[\bar{Z}^{\infty}_T ]=\lim\limits_{n\rightarrow +\infty}E_P[\bar{Z}^n_T]=1$ and so $\bar{Q}^{\infty}$ is a probability measure and $\bar{Q}^{\infty}\ll P$ on $\Fc_T$ . Because $f$ is bounded from below by $\kappa$, Fatou’s lemma and inequality(\[ineq2\]) yield $$\label{c3}
d(\bar{Q}^\infty|P) = \E_P[f(\bar{Z}^\infty_T)] \leq \liminf\limits_{n\rightarrow +\infty} \E_P[f(\bar{Z}^n_T)] < +\infty.$$ Finally, we also have $\bar{Q}^\infty = P $ on $\Fc_0.$ In fact, $(\bar{Z}^n_T)$ converges to $\bar{Z}^\infty_T$ strongly in $L^1(P)$, hence also weakly in $L^1(P)$ and so we have for every $A \in \Fc_0:$ $$\bar{Q}^\infty[A] = \E_P[\bar{Z}^\infty_T \textbf{1}_A] =\lim\limits_{n \rightarrow +\infty} \E_P [Z^n_T \textbf{1}_A] =\lim\limits_{n\rightarrow +\infty}\bar{Q}^n[A]=P[A].$$ The last equality holds since $\bar{Q}^n(A)=P(A)$ for all $n\in \mathbb{N}$ and $A \in \Fc_0$. This shows that $\bar{Q}^{\infty}\in\Qc_f $.
3. We now want to show that $Q^* := \bar{Q}^\infty$ attains the infimum of $Q \mapsto\Gamma(Q)$ on $\Qc_f.$\
Let $\bar{Z}^\infty$ be the density process of $\bar{Q}^\infty$ with respect to $P.$ Because we know that $(\bar{Z}^n_T)$ converges to $\bar{Z}^\infty$ in $L^1(P)$, Doob’s maximal inequality $$P[\sup\limits_{0\leq t \leq T} \mid \bar{Z}^\infty_t-\bar{Z}^n_t \mid\geq \epsilon]\leq \frac{1}{\epsilon} \E_P[\mid \bar{Z}^\infty_T-\bar{Z}^n_T \mid]$$ implies that $(\sup\limits_{0\leq t \leq T} \mid \bar{Z}^\infty_t-\bar{Z}^n_t \mid)_{n\in\N}$ converges to $0$ in $P$-probability.\
By passing to a subsequence that we still denote by $(\bar {Z}^n)_{n\in\N}$, we may thus assume that the sequence $(\bar {Z}^n)$ converges to $\bar{Z}^\infty$ uniformly in $t$ with $P$-probability 1. This implies that the sequence $ (Z^n_T c( .,\bar{Q}^n) )$ converges to $ \bar{Z}_T^\infty c(.,\bar{Q}^\infty) P$-a.s. and in more detail with $$\bar{Y}_1^n:=\bar {Z}^n_T \Uc_{0,T}^\delta , \bar{Y}_2^n:=\beta(\dint_0^T\delta_sS_s^\delta f(\bar{Z}_s^n)ds+S_T^\delta f(\bar{Z}_T^n))=\beta \Rc_{0,T}^\delta(\bar{Q}^n)$$ for $n\in\N \cup \{+\infty\}$ that $$\lim\limits_{ n\rightarrow +\infty} \bar{Y}^n_i = \bar{Y}^\infty_i P-a.s. \;\;\textrm{for}\;\; i = 1,2.$$ Since $\bar{Y}^n_2$ is bounded from below, uniformly in $n$ and $\omega$, Fatou’s lemma yields $$\label{ineq4}
\E_P[\bar{Y}^\infty_2]\leq \liminf\limits_{n\rightarrow \infty}\E_P[\bar{Y}^n_2].$$ We prove below that we have $$\label{ineq5}
\E_P[\bar{Y}^\infty_1]\leq \liminf\limits_{n\rightarrow \infty}\E_P[\bar{Y}^n_1].$$ Plugging (\[ineq4\]) and (\[ineq5\]) into (\[ineq1\]), we obtain $$\Gamma(\bar{Q}^\infty) =\E_P [ \bar{Y}^\infty_1+\bar{Y}^\infty_2 ] \leq \liminf\limits_{n\rightarrow\infty}\Gamma(\bar{Q}^n)
\leq \liminf\limits_{n\rightarrow\infty}\Gamma(Q^n)\leq \inf\limits_{Q\in \Qc_f}\Gamma(Q)$$ which proves that $\bar{Q}^\infty $ is indeed optimal.\
It now remains to show that $\E_P[\bar{Y}^\infty_1]\leq \liminf\limits_{n\rightarrow \infty}\E_P[\bar{Y}^n_1].$\
We set for $m\in \N;$ $\tilde{R}_m:=\Uc_{0,T}^\delta \textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta\geq -m\}}.$ Thus for all $n\in \N\cup \{+\infty\}$; $$\bar{Y}^n_1=\bar{Z}_T^n\Uc_{0,T}^\delta=\bar{Z}_T^n\tilde{R}_m+\bar{Z}_T^n\Uc_{0,T}^\delta \textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta< -m\}}.$$ Since $\tilde{R}_m \geq -m$ and $\E_P[\bar{Z}_T^n]=1$, Fatou’s lemma yields : $$\E_P[\bar{Z}_T^\infty\Uc_{0,T}^\delta]\leq \liminf\limits_{n \rightarrow \infty} \E_P[\bar{Z}_T^n\Uc_{0,T}^\delta].$$ Hence $$\begin{split}
\E_P[\bar{Y}^\infty_1]&=\E_P[\bar{Y}^\infty_1 \textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta\geq -m\}}]+\E_P[\bar{Y}^\infty_1 \textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}]
\\&\leq \liminf\limits_{n \rightarrow \infty} \E_P[\bar{Z}_T^n\tilde{R}_m]+\E_P[\bar{Z}_T^\infty\Uc_{0,T}^\delta \textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}]
\\&\leq \liminf\limits_{n \rightarrow \infty} \E_P[\bar{Y}_1^n]+2 \sup\limits_{n\in \N\cup \{\infty\}}\E_P[\bar{Z}_T^n|\Uc_{0,T}^\delta | \textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}].
\end{split}$$ It remains to show that $$\lim\limits_{m\rightarrow +\infty}\sup\limits_{n\in \N\cup \{\infty\}}\E_P[\bar{Z}_T^n|\Uc_{0,T}^\delta| \textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}]=0.$$ However, Lemma \[lemma2\] and Proposition \[cont1\] give for any $n\in \N\cup \{\infty\}$: $$\begin{split}
&\E_P[\bar{Z}_T^n|\Uc_{0,T}^\delta| \textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}]=\E_{\bar{Q}^n}[|\Uc_{0,T}^\delta| \textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}]
\\&\leq \frac{1}{\gamma}(d(\bar{Q}^n|P)+\kappa)+\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[\textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T| )]
\\& \leq \frac{1}{\gamma}\Big(K\big(1+\Gamma(\bar{Q}^n)\big)+\kappa\Big)+\E_P[\textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T| )]).
\end{split}$$ By using inequality (\[ineq1\]), we obtain for all $\gamma >0$ $$\begin{split}
\sup\limits_{n\in \N\cup \{\infty\}}\E_P[\bar{Z}_T^n|\Uc_{0,T}^\delta| \textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}]& \leq \frac{1}{\gamma}\Big(K\big(1+\Gamma(Q^1)\big)+\kappa\Big)
\\&+\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[\textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \alpha'|U_T^{\prime }|)]).
\end{split}$$\
By the dominated convergence theorem and using the integrability Assumption (**A2**) and since $f^*$ is non negative function, we have $$\lim\limits_{m\rightarrow \infty}\E_P[\textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T|)]=0.$$ Then, for all $\gamma >0$ $$\lim\limits_{m\rightarrow +\infty}\sup\limits_{n\in \N\cup \{\infty\}}\E_P[\bar{Z}_T^n|\Uc_{0,T}^\delta| \textbf{1}_{\{\Uc_{0,T}^\delta <-m\}}] \leq \frac{1}{\gamma}(K(1+\Gamma(Q^1))+\k).$$\
By sending $\gamma$ to $+\infty$, we obtain the desired result.\
Our next aim is to prove that the minimal measure $Q^*$ is equivalent to $P.$ For this reason, the following additional assumption is needed:
**(A3)** $f$ is differentiable on $(0,+\infty)$ and $f'(0)=\lim\limits_{x\rightarrow 0^+}f'(x)=-\infty.$
We use as in Bordigoni, Matoussi and Schweizer [@BMS05] an adaptation of an argument given by Frittelli [@Fri00], and start ing with an auxiliary result.
\[lemme\] Let $Q^0$ and $Q^1$ two elements in $\Qc_f$ with respective densities $Z^0$ and $Z^1.$ Then $$\sup\limits_{0\leq t\leq T}\E_P\Big[\Big(f'(Z_t^0)(Z_t^1-Z_t^0)\Big)^+\Big]\leq d(Q^1|P)+\kappa.$$
Set $Z^x=xZ^1+(1-x)Z^0$ and for $x\in(0,1]$ and fixed $t\in \R,$ $$\label{star}H(x,t):=\frac{1}{x}(f(Z_t^x)-f(Z_t^0)).$$ Since $f$ is strictly convex, the function $x\mapsto H(x,t)$ is non decreasing and consequently $$\begin{split}
H(1,t)&\geq\lim\limits_{x\searrow 0}\frac{1}{x}(f(Z_t^x)-f(Z_t^0))=\frac{d}{dx}f(Z_t^x)\mid_{x=0}\\&=f'(Z_t^0)(Z_t^1-Z_t^0).
\end{split}$$ From Assumption **(H2)**, $$\label{equa1}
\begin{split}
f'(Z_t^0)(Z_t^1-Z_t^0)\leq H(1,t)&=f(Z_t^1)-f(Z_t^0)\\&\leq f(Z_t^1)+\kappa
\end{split}$$ is obtained. Since $f(Z_t^1)+\k\geq 0,$ then $f'(Z_t^0)(Z_t^1-Z_t^0)^+ \leq f(Z_t^1)+\kappa.$ Replacing in the inequality (\[c1\]) $Z^Q$ by $Z^1$, $$\E_P[f(Z_t^1)]\leq \E_P[f(Z_T^1)]=d(Q^1|P)$$ is obtained. Taking the expectation under $P$ in equation (\[equa1\]) the desired result is obtained. .
Under the Assumptions ****, the optimal probability measure $Q^*$ is equivalent to $P.$
\
1) As in the proof of Lemma \[lemme\], we take $Q^0,Q^1 \in \Qc_f$ , we set $Q^x := xQ^1 +(1-x)Q^0$ for $x\in (0; 1]$ and we denote by $Z^x$ the density process of $Q^x$ with respect to $P$. Then, get $$\begin{split}
\frac{1}{x}(\Gamma(Q^x)-\Gamma(Q^0))&= \E_P [(Z^1_T-Z^0_T) \Uc^\delta ]
\\&+\frac{1}{x}\beta\E_P[\dint_0^T \delta_sS_s^\delta (f(Z^x_s )-f(Z^0_s ))ds + S_T^\delta (f(Z^x_T )-f(Z^0_T))]
\\&= \E_P[(Z^1_T-Z^0_T) \Uc^\delta ]
\\&+\beta\E_P[\dint_0^T \delta_sS_s^\delta H(x,s)ds + S_T^\delta H(x,T)].
\end{split}$$ Since $x\mapsto H(x; s)$ is non decreasing and using Assumption **(H2)**, we have $$H(x,s) \leq H(1,s) = f(Z^1_s )-f(Z^0_s ) \leq f(Z^1_s )+\kappa,$$ where the right hand of the last inequality is integrable. Hence monotone convergence Theorem can be used to deduce that $$\label{derivegamma}
\begin{split}
\frac{d}{dx} \Gamma(Q^x)\mid_{x=0}&= \E_P[(Z^1_T-Z^0_T) \Uc^\delta_{0,T}]+\beta \E_P[\dint_0^T \delta_sS_s^\delta f'(Z_s^0)(Z_s^1-Z_s^0)ds \\&+ S_T^\delta f'(Z_T^0)(Z_T^1-Z_T^0)]
\\&:= \E_P[Y_1] + \E_P[Y_2].
\end{split}$$ Under Assumptions (**A1**)-(**A2**) and from inequality (\[convex inequality1\]), we have $Y_1\in L^1(P)$. As in the proof of Lemma \[lemme\], and since $x \mapsto H(x,s)$ is non decreasing , we obtain $$Y_2\leq\int_0^T\delta_sS^\delta_sH(1,s) ds + S^\delta_T H(1,T)\leq \int_0^T\delta_sS^\delta_s(f(Z_s^1)+\k)ds + S^\delta_T (f(Z_T^1)+\k)$$ which is $P$-integrable because $Q^1\in \Qc_f$ . From Lemma \[lemme\] we deduce that $Y_2^+ \in L^1(P)$ and so the right-hand side of (\[derivegamma\]) is well-defined in $[-\infty,+\infty)$.\
2) Now take $Q^0 = Q^*$ and any $Q^1\in \Qc_f$ which is equivalent to $P$ this is possible since $\Qc_f$ contains $P$. The optimality of $Q^*$ yields $\Gamma(Q^x)-\Gamma(Q^*)\geq0$ for all $x \in (0; 1]$, hence also $$\label{d1}
\frac{d}{dx} \Gamma(Q^x)\mid_{x=0}\geq 0.$$ Therefore the right-hand side of (\[derivegamma\]) is nonnegative which implies that $Y_2$ must be in $L^1(P)$. This makes it possible to rearrange terms and rewrite (\[d1\]) by using (\[derivegamma\]) as $$\label{ineq6}
\beta \E_P[\dint_0^T \delta_sS_s^\delta f'(Z_s^*)(Z_s^1-Z_s^*)ds+ S_T^\delta f'(Z_T^*)(Z_s^1-Z_T^*)]\geq -\E_P[(Z^1_T-Z^*_T) \Uc^\delta].$$ But the right-hand side of (\[ineq6\]) is $> -\infty.$ So if we have $Q^*\ncong P$, the set $A :=\{Z_T^*=0\}$ satisfies $P[A] > 0$. Since $Q^1\approx P$, we have $Z_T^1>0$, and so $f'(Z_T^*)(Z_T^1-Z_T^*)^-=+\infty$ on $A$. This gives $[f'(Z_T^*)(Z_T^1-Z_T^*)^-]=\infty$ since $Q^1\approx P.$ But since we know from Lemma \[lemme\] that $[f'(Z_T^*)(Z_T^1-Z_T^*)^+] \in L^1(P)$, we then conclude that $\E_P[f'(Z_T^*)(Z_T^1-Z_T^*)]=-\infty$ and this gives a contradiction to (\[ineq6\]). Therefore $Q^*\thickapprox P.$
Bellman optimality principle
----------------------------
In this section we establish the martingale optimality principle which is a direct consequence of Theorems 1.15 , 1.17 and 1.21 in El Karoui [@ELK81]. For this reason, some notations are introduced. Let $\Sc$ denote the set of all $\Fc$-stopping times $\tau$ with values in $[0,T]$ and $\Dc$ the space of all density processes $Z^Q$ with $Q\in \Qc_f$ . We define $$\Dc(Q,\tau):=\{Z^{Q'}\in \Dc; Q=Q'\; \textrm{on} \;\Fc_\tau \}$$ $$\Gamma(\tau,Q):= \E_Q[c(.,Q)|\Fc_\tau]$$ and the minimal conditional cost at time $\tau$ , $$J(\tau,Q) := Q\;\;\textrm{-}\underset{Q'\in \Dc(Q,\tau)}{\essinf}\Gamma(\tau,Q').$$ Then (\[min1\]) can be reformulated to $$\label{remin} \textrm{find} \inf\limits_{Q\in \Qc_f}\Gamma(Q) = \inf\limits_{Q\in \Qc_f}\E_Q[c(.,Q)] = \E_P [J(0;Q)]$$ by using the dynamic programming principle and the fact that $Q=P$ on $\Fc_0$ for every $Q\in \Qc_f$ .\
In the following, the Bellman martingale optimality principle is given.
1\. The family $\{J(\tau, Q)|\tau \in \mathcal{S},Q \in Q_f\}$ is a submartingale system.\
2. $Q^*\in Q_f$ is optimal $\Leftrightarrow$ $\{J(\tau, Q^*)|\tau \in \mathcal{S}\}$ is a martingale system.\
3. For all $Q \in Q_f$ there is an adapted RCLL process $J^Q=(J_t^Q)_{0\leq t \leq T}$ which is a right closed $Q$-submartingale such that : $J_{\tau}^Q=J(\tau, Q)\;\; Q$-a.s for each stopping time $\tau.$\
The proof is given in the appendix. Moreover, we should like to apply Theorems 1.15, 1.17, 1.21 in El Karoui [@ELK81]. These results require that:
1. \[condition1\] $c\geq 0$ or $\displaystyle \inf_{Q'\in \Dc(Q,t)}E_{Q'}[|c(\cdot,\ Q')|]<\infty$ for all $\tau\in \Sc$ and $Q\in \mathcal{Q}_{f}$,
2. The space $\mathcal{D}$ is compatible and stable under bifurcation,
3. The cost functional is coherent.
In the proof of the Bellman Optimality principle, condition (\[condition1\]) ensures that $J(\tau,Q)\in L^1(Q)$ for each $\tau\in \Sc.$ In this case we prove such a result directly (see Lemma \[lemma3\]).
Class of Consistent time penalty
================================
In this section we assume that filtration $(\Fc_t)_{0\leq t \leq T}$ is generated by a one dimensional Brownian motion $W.$ Then for every measure $Q\ll P$ on $ \Fc_T $ there is a predictable process $ (\eta_t)_{0 \leq t \leq T} $ such that $ \int_0^T \| \eta_t \|^2 dt<+ \infty \; Q.a.s $ and the density process of $Q$ with respect to $ P $ is an RCLL martingale $Z^Q=(Z^Q_t)_{0 \leq t \leq T} $ given by: $$\label{representation}Z_t^ Q = \Ec(\int_0^t\eta_udW_u) \,\; Q.p.s, \forall t \in [0,T].$$ where $\Ec(M)_t = \exp (M_t -\frac{1}{2}\langle M \rangle_t)$ denotes the stochastic exponential of a continuous local martingale $M$. We introduce a consistent time penalty given by: $$\gamma_t(Q) = E_Q [\int_t^T h (\eta_s) ds | \Fc_t]$$ where $ h: \R^d \rightarrow [0, + \infty] $ is a convex function, proper and lower semi-continuous function such that $ h (0) \equiv 0 $. We also assume that there are two positive constants $ \kappa_1 $ and $ \kappa_2 $ satisfying: $$h(x) \geq \kappa_1 \| x\|^2 - \kappa_2.$$ The penalty term is defined by $$\label{penalty definition ctc} \Rc_{t, T}^\delta(Q^\eta)= \dint_t^ T \delta_s \frac{S_s^\delta}{S_t ^ \delta} (\int_t^s h(\eta_u) du) ds + \frac{S_T^\delta} {S_t^\delta} \int_t^T h (\eta_u) du, \; \forall \, 0 \leq t \leq T$$ for $ Q \ll P $ on $\Fc_T^W .$ As in the case of $f$-divergence penalty, the following optimization problem has to be solved: $$\label{min}
\textrm{minimize the functional} \, Q^\eta \mapsto \Gamma(Q^\eta):=\E_{Q^{\eta}}[c (.,Q^\eta)]$$ over an appropriate class of probability measures $ Q^\eta \ll P. $
For each probability measure $Q^\eta $ on $ (\Omega, \Fc) $, the penalty function is defined: $$\label{penalty}
\gamma_t(Q^\eta):=\left\{\begin{array}{cc}
\E_{Q^\eta} [\dint_t ^T h(\eta_s)ds | \Fc_t] & \textrm {if}\, \, Q^\eta \ll P \,\, \textrm {on} \, \Fc_T \\
+ \infty & \textrm{otherwise}
\end{array} \right..$$ We note $\Qc_f^c $ the space of all probability measures $ Q^\eta $ on $(\Omega, \Fc) $ such that $Q^\eta \ll P$ on $\Fc_T$ and $\gamma_0 (Q^\eta)< +\infty$ and $ \Qc^{c,e}_f:=\{Q^\eta \in \Qc_f | Q \approx P \, \textrm {on} \, \Fc_T \} $.
\[rem2\]
1. We note that $\Qc_f^{c,e}$ is a non empty set because $ P \in \Qc_f^{c,e}.$
2. The particular case of $ h(x)= \frac{1}{2}|x|^2 $ corresponds to the entropic penalty. Indeed $$\begin{split}
H(Q^\eta|P)&= \E_{Q^\eta} [\log(\frac{dQ^\eta}{dP})]
\\ &=\E_{Q^\eta} [\int_0^T\eta_u dW_u-\frac{1}{2}\int_0^T|\eta_u|^2 du]
\end{split}$$ Since $(\int_0^.\eta_u dW_u)$ is a local martingale under $P$, then by the Girsanov theorem $(\int_0^.\eta_u dW_u)-\int_0^.|\eta_u|^2 du$ is a local martingale under $Q^\eta$ and so $$\begin{split}
H(Q^\eta|P) &=\E_{Q^\eta} [\int_0^T\eta_u dW_u-\int_0^T|\eta_u|^2 du+\frac{1}{2}\int_0^T|\eta_u|^2 du]
\\&=\E_{Q^\eta} [\frac{1}{2}\int_0^T|\eta_u|^2 du]=\gamma_0(Q^\eta).
\end{split}$$
3. For a general function $h$ we have for all $Q^\eta \in \Qc_f^c$, $$\label{estimation entropy} H(Q^\eta | P) \leq\frac{1}{2\kappa_1}\gamma_0 (Q^\eta) + \frac{T\kappa_2}{2\kappa_1}.$$ Indeed: $$\label{ineqalityentropy}
\begin{split}
H(Q^\eta|P) = \E_{Q^\eta}[\frac{1}{2} \dint_0^T |\eta_s|^2 ds] & \leq \E_P [\frac {1}{2\kappa_1}(\dint_0^T (h(|\eta_s|) + \kappa_2) ds)]
\\ & \leq \E_{Q^\eta} [\frac{1}{2\kappa_1}(\dint_0^T (h (|\eta_s|)ds) + \frac{T\kappa_2}{2 \kappa_1}]
\\ & = \frac{1}{2\kappa_1}\gamma_0 (Q^\eta) + \frac{T\kappa_2}{2\kappa_1}
\end{split}$$\
In particular $H(Q^\eta|P)$ is finite for all $Q^\eta \in \Qc_f^c.$
To guarantee the well-posedness of the problem (\[min\]), it is necessary to replace the Assumption (**A2**) by :\
**()** the cost process $U$ belongs to $D_1 ^{\exp}$ and the terminal target $\bar{U}$ is in $L^{\exp}$.
\[integrability of U\] Under Assumption **()** , we have $$\label{integrability}
\lambda \int_ {0}^{T} |U_s|ds + \mu |\bar{U}_T|\in L^{\exp},\;\; \textrm{for all}\;\; (\lambda, \mu) \in \mathbb{R}^2_{+}.$$ Indeed, since $ x \mapsto \exp(x) $ is convex , we have $$\begin{split}
&\mathbb{E}_{P} [\exp (\lambda \int_{0}^{T} |U_s|ds + \mu |\bar{U}_T|)]
\\ & =\mathbb{E}_{P} [\exp (\frac{1}{2} \times 2 \lambda \int_{0}^{T} |U_s|ds + \frac{1}{2}\times 2 \mu |\bar{U}_T|)]
\\ & \leq \mathbb{E}_{P} [\frac{1}{2} \exp (2 \lambda \int_{0}^{T} |U_s| ds) + \frac{1}{2}\exp (2\mu |\bar{U}_T|)]
\\ & = \frac{1}{2} \mathbb{E}_{P} [\exp (2 \lambda \int_{0}^{T} | U_s|ds)] + \frac{1}{2} \mathbb{E}_{P} [\exp (2 \mu |\bar{U}_T|)]
\end{split}$$ which is finite by assumption **()** .
Existence for an optimal model
------------------------------
The main result of this section is to prove the existence of a unique probability $ Q^{\eta*} $ that minimizes the functional $Q^\eta\mapsto \Gamma(Q^\eta)$ in all probability $ Q^\eta \in \Qc_f^c $. We begin this section by giving some estimates for $\Gamma(Q^\eta)$ for all $Q^\eta \in \Qc_f^c.$
\[prop3.1\] Under assumption **(A1)-(A’2)**, we have for all $Q^\eta \in \Qc_f^c:$
1. $c(.,Q^\eta)\in L^1(Q^\eta).$
2. $\Gamma (Q^\eta) \leq C(1+\gamma_0 (Q^\eta))$ for some positive constant $C$ which depends only on $\alpha ,\bar{\alpha} ,\beta ,\delta ,T,U,\bar{U}.$
In particular $ \Gamma (Q^\eta) $ is well defined and finite for all $ Q^\eta\in \Qc_f^c.$
1. As in Proposition \[prop1\], we have $Z^\eta_TR \in L^1(P)$ i.e $R\in L^1(Q^\eta).$ In addition, $$\begin{split}
&\vert\dint_0^T\delta_s S_s^\delta (\int_0^sh(\eta_u)du)ds + S_T^\delta\int_0^T h(\eta_s)ds \vert
\\&\leq \dint_0^T\Vert \delta \Vert_\infty \Big(\int_0^T h(\eta_u)du\Big) ds +\int_0^T h(\eta_s)ds
\\&\leq \Big( \Vert \delta \Vert_\infty T+1\Big)\int_0^T h(\eta_s)ds \in L^1(Q^\eta).
\end{split}$$
2. From inequality (\[convex inequality1\]) with $f(x)=x\log x$, we have: $$\begin{split}
\Gamma(Q^\eta) & \leq \E_P[Z^\eta_TR] + \beta \E_{Q^{\eta}} [\dint_0^T\delta_s S_s^\delta (\int_0^sh(\eta_u)du)ds + S_T^\delta\int_0^T h(\eta_u)du]
\\ & \leq \E_P[Z^\eta_T\log Z^{\eta}_T + e^{-1} e^R] + \beta(\parallel\delta\parallel_\infty T+1) \E_Q^{\eta} [\int_0^T h(\eta_u)]
\\ & \leq H(Q^\eta|P) + e^{-1} \E_P[e^R] + \beta (\parallel\delta\parallel_\infty T+1) \gamma_0 (Q^\eta).
\end{split}$$ From inequality (\[estimation entropy\]), we have $$\Gamma(Q^\eta)\leq (\frac{1}{2\kappa_1} + \beta (\parallel\delta\parallel_\infty T+1)) \gamma_0 (Q^\eta) + e^{-1}\E_P[e^R] + \frac{T\kappa_2}{2\kappa_1}.$$ We take $ C: = \max (e^{-1} E_P [e^R] + \dfrac {t \kappa_2} {2 \kappa_1}, \dfrac{1}{2 \kappa_1} + \beta (\parallel\delta\parallel_\infty T+1)) $ which is finite, then the result follows.
The following proposition gives a lower bound for our criterion $\Gamma(Q^\eta)$ for all $ Q^\eta\in \Qc_f^c.$
\[cont\] Under the assumptions **(A1)-(A’2)**, there is a positive constant $ K $ such that for all $ Q^\eta \in \Qc_f $ $$\gamma_0 (Q^\eta) \leq K (1 + \Gamma (Q^\eta)).$$ In particular $\inf\limits_{Q^\eta \in \Qc_f} \Gamma(Q^\eta)>-\infty .$
For $ Q^\eta \in \Qc_f $, we denote by $ Z^\eta $ its density process. Since $h$ takes values on $[0, +\infty]$, we have $$\label{ineq8}
\begin{split}
\beta E_{Q^\eta} [\dint_0^T \delta_s S_s^\delta (\int_0 ^s h(\eta_u)du) ds + S_T^\delta \int_0^T h(\eta_u)du] &\geq \beta E_{Q^\eta} [S_T ^ \delta \int_0^T h(\eta_u)du]\\& \geq \beta e ^ {- \|\delta \|_{\infty} T} \gamma_0 (Q^\eta).
\end{split}$$ Moreover, since $0 \leq S^\delta \leq 1 $, we have: $$\label{ineq9}
\E_{Q^\eta} [\Uc_{0,T}^\delta]\geq -\E_{Q^\eta} [R] =- \E_P[Z_T^\eta R].$$ From inequality (\[convex inequality2\]) where $f(x)=x\log x,$ and as a consequence $f^*(\lambda x)= e^{\lambda x -1}$ we have $$\label{convexinequality}
xy \leq \frac{1}{\lambda} (y \ln y + e^{-1} e^{\lambda x} )\;\; \textrm{for all} \;\; (x,y,\lambda) \in \R \times \R^*_+ \times \R^*$$ We get: $$\begin{split}
\E_\mathbb{P}[Z_T^\eta R] & \leq \frac{1}{\lambda} \E_P[Z_T^\eta \log Z_T^\eta +e^{-1} e^{\lambda R}]
= \frac {1}{\lambda} H(Q^\eta| P) + \frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}].
\end{split}$$ From inequality (\[estimation entropy\]), we deduce that $$\label{ineq10}
\E_P[Z_T^\eta R]\leq \frac{1}{2\lambda \kappa_1} \gamma_0 (Q^\eta) + \frac{T\kappa_2}{2 \lambda \kappa_1} + \frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [e^ {\lambda R}].$$ From the definition of $\Gamma(Q^\eta)$, it can be deduced $$\Gamma(Q^\eta)=E_P[Z_T\Uc_{0,T}]+\beta E_{Q^\eta} [\dint_0^T \delta_s S_s^\delta (\int_0 ^s h(\eta_u)du) ds + S_T^\delta \int_0^T h(\eta_u)du].$$ From (\[ineq8\]),(\[ineq9\]) and (\[ineq10\]), we obtain $$\begin{split}
\Gamma (Q^\eta) & \geq \beta e^{-\| \delta \|_{\infty} T} \gamma_0 (Q^\eta) - \frac{1}{2\lambda \kappa_1} \gamma_0 (Q ^\eta) - \frac {T \kappa_2} {2 \lambda \kappa_1} - \frac{e^{-1}}{\lambda} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}]
\\ & = (\beta e^{-\| \delta \|_{\infty} T} - \frac{1}{2 \lambda \kappa_1}) \gamma_0 (Q^\eta)-\dfrac {T \kappa_2} {2 \lambda \kappa_1} - \dfrac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}].
\end{split}$$ By choosing $\lambda> 0 $ large enough, there exists $\mu>0$ such that $ \beta e^{-\| \delta \|_{\infty}T} - \dfrac{1}{2\lambda \kappa_1} \geq \mu. $ From Remark \[integrability of U\], we have $\E_P [e ^ {\lambda R}]$ is finite. Then, by taking $ K:=\frac{1}{\mu} \max(1, \dfrac{T \kappa_2}{2 \lambda \kappa_1} + \dfrac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [e^{\lambda R }]),$ the desired result is obtained.
By combining the previous Proposition and the inequality (\[estimation entropy\]) we obtain the following result.
\[controlentropy\] Under the assumptions **(A1)-(A’2)**, there is a positive constant $ K'$ such that for all $ Q^\eta \in \Qc_f^c $ $$H(Q^\eta|P) \leq K' (1 + \Gamma (Q^\eta)).$$
To prove the existence of the minimizer probability measure, we need the following technical estimate.
\[lemma1\] For all $\gamma> 0$ and any $A \in \Fc_T $ we have: $$\label{ineq11}
\E_{Q^\eta} [|\Uc_{0,T}^\delta| \textbf{1}_A] \leq \frac {\gamma_0(Q^\eta)}{2\lambda\kappa_1} + \frac{T\kappa_2}{2\lambda\kappa_1} + \frac{e^{-1}} {\lambda} + \frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [\textbf{1}_A \exp (\lambda \alpha \int_{0}^{T} |U_s| ds+\lambda \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T|)].$$
From Remark \[integrability of U\], we have $R\in L^{\exp}.$ By using the inequality (\[convexinequality\]), we obtain $$\begin{split}
Z_T^\eta |\Uc_{0, T}^\delta| \textbf{1}_A & \leq Z_T^\eta (\alpha \int_{0}^{T} |U_s| ds + \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T|) \textbf{1}_A
\\ & \leq \frac{1}{\lambda} [Z_T^\eta \ln (Z_T^\eta) + e^{-1}\exp (\lambda \alpha \int_{0}^{T} |U_s |ds + \lambda \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T|)] \textbf{1}_A
\\ & \leq \frac{1}{\lambda} [Z_T^\eta \ln (Z_T^\eta) + e^{-1}] + \frac{e^{-1}}{\lambda}\textbf{1}_A \exp(\lambda\alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds +\lambda\bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T|).
\end{split}$$ By taking the expectation with respect to $P$ and using inequality (\[ineqalityentropy\]) we get $$\E_{Q^{\eta}} [|\Uc_{0, T}^\delta|\textbf{1}_A] \leq \frac{1}{2 \lambda\kappa_1} \gamma_0 (Q^\eta) + \frac{T\kappa_2} {2\lambda \kappa_1} + \frac{e^{-1}} {\lambda} + \frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [\textbf{1}_A \exp (\lambda\alpha\int_{0}^{T}|U_s|ds + \lambda \bar{\alpha}|\bar{U}_T|)],$$ and so inequality (\[ineq11\]) is proved.
\[convexity of Gamma\] The functional $Q^\eta \mapsto \Gamma (Q^\eta) $ is convex.
By the product derivatives formula, we have $$\frac{d}{ds} (S_s^\delta (\int_0^sh(\eta_u)du)) =-\delta_sS_s^\delta\int_0^sh(\eta_u)du + S_sh(\eta_s).$$ By integrating between $0$ and $T$ we get: $$\label{ineq12}\dint_0^T \delta_sS_s^\delta (\int_0^sh(\eta_u)du)ds + S_T^\delta \int_0^T h(\eta_u)du = \int_0^T S_s^\delta h(\eta_s)ds.$$ Fix $\lambda \in(0,1)$ and $ Q^\eta $ and $ Q^{\eta'} $ two distinct elements of $\Qc_f.$\
Let $ Q = \lambda Q^\eta + (1-\lambda) Q^{\eta'} $ and $L_t=\E_P[\frac{dQ}{dP}|\Fc_t].$ Using It$\hat{\textrm{o}}$’s formula, we get $ L_t=\Ec(q.W)_t $ where $(q_t)_{0\leq t \leq T}$ is defined by $$q_t=\frac{\lambda \eta L_t^\eta+(1-\lambda)\eta'L_t^{\eta'}}{\lambda L_t^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_t^{\eta'}}\textbf{1}_{\{\lambda L_t^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_t^{\eta'}>0\}}\;\; dt\otimes dP\;\textrm{a.e.}\;\;\; t\in [0,T].$$\
From the definition of the penalty term in $\Gamma$, we have $$\begin{split}
\Rc_{0,T}(Q)&=\E_Q\Big[\dint_0^T\delta_sS_s^\delta (\int_0^s h(q_u)du)ds+S_T^\delta\int_0^T h(q_u)du \Big]
\\&=\E_Q\Big[\dint_0^TS_s^\delta h(\frac{\lambda \eta L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)\eta'L_s^{\eta'}}{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}}\textbf{1}_{\{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}>0\}})ds\Big]
\\&\leq \E_Q\Big[\dint_0^TS_s^\delta h(\frac{\lambda \eta L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)\eta'L_s^{\eta'}}{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}})\textbf{1}_{\{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}>0\}}ds\Big],
\end{split}$$ where the second equality is deduced from $(\ref{ineq12}).$ By the convexity of $h$ we have: $$\begin{split}
&\E_Q\Big[\dint_0^T\delta_sS_s^\delta (\int_0^s h(q_u)du)ds+S_T^\delta\int_0^T h(q_u)du\Big]
\\& \leq \E_Q\Big[\dint_0^TS_s^\delta (\frac{\lambda L^\eta_s}{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}} h(\eta_s)+\frac{(1-\lambda) L_s^{\eta'}}{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}} h(\eta'_s))\textbf{1}_{\{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}>0\}}ds\Big]
\\&=\E_P\Big[\dint_0^T (\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}) S_s^\delta (\frac{\lambda L^\eta_s}{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}} h(\eta_s)\\ & +\frac{(1-\lambda) L_s^{\eta'}}{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}} h(\eta'_s))\textbf{1}_{\{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}>0\}} ds\Big]
\\&=\lambda \E_{Q^\eta}\Big[\dint_0^T S_s^\delta h(\eta_s)\textbf{1}_{\{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}>0\}}ds] +(1-\lambda) \E_{Q^{\eta'}}[\dint_0^TS_s^\delta h(\eta'_s)\textbf{1}_{\{\lambda L_s^\eta+(1-\lambda)L_s^{\eta'}>0\}}ds\Big].
\end{split}$$ Since we have $\E_Q[\Uc_{0, T}] = \lambda \E_ {Q^\eta} [\Uc_{0, T}]+ (1-\lambda) \E_{Q^{\eta'}} [\Uc_{0, T}], $ we deduce that $$\Gamma (Q) \leq \lambda \Gamma (Q^\eta) + (1-\lambda) \Gamma (Q^{\eta'}).$$
The following theorem states the existence of a probability measure solution of the optimization problem (\[min\]).
\[exisun\] Assume that **(A1)-(A’2)** are satisfied. Then there is a probability measure $Q^{\eta^*}\in\Qc_f^c$ minimizing $ Q^\eta \mapsto\Gamma(Q^\eta) $ over all $ Q^\eta \in \Qc_f^c.$
1. Let $(Q^{\eta^n})_{n \in \N}$ be a minimizing sequence of $\Qc_f^c$ ie: $$\searrow\lim\limits_{n \to +\infty} \Gamma (Q^{\eta^n}) = \inf \limits_{Q^\eta\in\Qc^c_f} \Gamma(Q^\eta).$$ We denote by $ Z^n:=Z^{Q^{\eta^n}} = \Ec(\int\eta_ndW) $ the corresponding density processes.\
Since each $ Z_T^n \geq 0 $, it follows from Koml$\acute {\textrm{o}}$s’ lemma that there is a sequence $ (\bar{Z}_T ^ n) _ {n \in \N} $ such that $ \bar{Z}_T^n \in conv(Z^n_T, Z ^ {n+1} _T, ...)$ for all $ n \in \N $ and $ (\bar{Z}^n_t) $ converges $P$-a.s to a random variable $\bar{Z}^{\infty}_T $.\
$ \bar{Z}^{\infty}_T $ is positive but may be infinite. As $ \Qc_f$ is convex, each $\bar {Z}_T^n$ is associated with a probability measure $ \bar{Q}^n \in \Qc_f.$ This also holds for $ \bar {Z}^{\infty}_T $ i.e. that $ d\bar{Q}^{\infty}:=\bar{Z}^{\infty}dP $ defines a probability measure $ \bar{Q}^{\infty} \in \Qc_f.$ Indeed, we have first: $$\label{ineq13}
\Gamma (\bar{Q}^n) \leq \sup \limits_{m\geq n} \Gamma (Q^{\eta^m}) = \Gamma(Q^{\eta^n}) \leq \Gamma (Q^{\eta^1}),$$ where the first inequality holds since $Q^\eta\mapsto \Gamma(Q^\eta)$ is convex and $ n \mapsto \Gamma(Q^{\eta^n}) $ is decreasing, and the second inequality follows from the monotonicity property of $(\Gamma(Q^{\eta^n}))_n$. Therefore Corollary $(\ref{controlentropy})$ gives $$\label{c2} \sup\limits_{n \in \N} \E_P [\bar{Z}^n\ln(\bar{Z}^n)] = \sup\limits_{n\in\N} H(Q^n|P) \leq K'(1+\sup \limits_{n\in\N}\Gamma (\bar{Q}^n)) \leq K'(1+ \Gamma (Q^{\eta^1})).$$ Thus $ (\bar{Z}^n_T)_{n\in\N} $ is $ P $-uniformly integrable by Vallée-Poussin’s criterion and converges in $ L^1(P)$. This implies that $\E_P[\bar{Z}^{\infty}_T]=\lim \limits_{n \rightarrow +\infty} E_P[\bar{Z}^n_T] = 1 $ so that $ Q^{\infty} $ be a probability measure and $ Q^{\infty} \ll P$ on $\Fc_T.$ We define $Z_t^\infty:=E_P[Z_T^\infty|\Fc_t]$. $(Z_t^\infty)_t$ is a martingale. From the representation given by (\[representation\]) there is an adapted process $(\eta_t^\infty)_t$ valued in $\R^d$ satisfying $\int_0^T\Vert\eta_t^\infty\Vert^2 dt <+\infty\;\; P.a.s$ and $Z_t^\infty=\Ec(\int_0^t \eta_s^\infty dW_s).$
2. We now want to show that $\bar{Q}^\infty \in \Qc_f^c.$ Let $ \bar{Z}^\infty $ be the density process of $ \bar{Q}^\infty$ with respect to $P$. Since we know that $ (\bar{Z}^n_T) $ converges to $ \bar{Z}^\infty $ in $ L^1(P),$ the maximal Doob’s inequality $$P[\sup\limits_{0\leq t \leq T} \mid \bar{Z}^\infty_t-\bar{Z}^n_t \mid\geq \epsilon]\leq \frac{1}{\epsilon} \E_P[\mid \bar{Z}^\infty_T-\bar{Z}^n_T \mid]$$ implies that $(\sup\limits_{0\leq t \leq T} \mid \bar{Z}^\infty_t-\bar{Z}^n_t \mid)_{n\in\N}$ converges to $0$ in $P$-probability. Going to a subsequence, still denoted by $(\bar{Z}^n)_{n\in \N}$, we can assume that $(\sup\limits_{0\leq t \leq T} \mid \bar{Z}^\infty_t-\bar{Z}^n_t \mid)_{n\in\N}$ converges to $0$ $P$-a.s. By Burkholder-Davis-Gundy’s inequality there is a constant $C$ such that $$E[\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_T^\frac{1}{2}]\leq C E[\sup\limits_{0\leq t \leq T} \mid \bar{Z}^\infty_t-\bar{Z}^n_t \mid].$$\
Let $M_t^n:=\sup\limits_{0\leq s \leq t} \mid \bar{Z}^\infty_s-\bar{Z}^n_s \mid $ and $(\tau_n)$ a sequence of stopping time defined by $$\tau_n=\left\{\begin{array}{ccc}
\inf\{t\in [0,T[; M^n_t\geq 1\} & \textrm{if} & \{t\in [0,T[; M^n_t \geq 1\}\neq \emptyset \\
T & & \textrm{otherwise}
\end{array}\right..$$ Since $M_{\tau_n}^n$ is bounded by $M_T^n \wedge 1$ then $M_{\tau_n}^n$ converges almost surely to $0$ and by the dominated convergence theorem converges to $0$ in $L^1(P).$ Then, using Burkholder-Davis-Gundy’s inequality $\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_{\tau_n}^\frac{1}{2}$ converges to $0$ in $L^1(P)$ and a fortiori in probability.\
As $\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_T= \langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_{\tau_n}\textbf{1}_{\{\tau_n=T\}}+\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_T\textbf{1}_{\{\tau_n<T\}}$, then for all $\varepsilon>0,$ $$\begin{split}
P(\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_T\geq \varepsilon) & \leq P(\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_{\tau_n}\textbf{1}_{\{\tau_n=T\}}\geq \varepsilon)+ P(\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_T\textbf{1}_{\{\tau_n<T\}}\geq \varepsilon)
\\ & \leq P(\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_{\tau_n}\geq \varepsilon)+P(\tau_n<T)
\end{split}$$ From the convergence in probability of $(\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_{\tau_n})_n$, we have $\lim\limits_{n\rightarrow +\infty}P(\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_{\tau_n}\geq \varepsilon)=0.$ Since $M^n$ is an increasing process, we have $$P(\tau_n<T)=P(\{\exists t\in[0,T[\;\; s.t\;\; M^n_t\geq 1\})=P(\{ M^n_T\geq 1\}).$$ Since $M_T^n$ converges in probability to $0$, we have $P(\{ M^n_T\geq 1\}) \underset{n\rightarrow +\infty}{\longrightarrow} 0$. Then $\lim\limits_{n\rightarrow +\infty}P(\tau_n<T)=0,$ and consequently $\lim\limits_{n\rightarrow +\infty}P(\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_T\geq \varepsilon)=0$ .ie $(\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_T)_n $ converges in probability to $0.$ We can extract a subsequence also denoted by $\bar{Z}^n$ such that $(\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_T)_n $ converges almost surely to $0.$\
On the other hand we have $$\langle \bar{Z}^\infty-\bar{Z}^n \rangle_T=\dint_0^T(\bar{Z}_u^\infty\bar{\eta}_u^\infty-\bar{Z}^n_u\bar{\eta}^n_u)^2du .$$ It follows that processes $\bar{Z}^n\bar{\eta}^n$ converge in $dt\otimes dP$-measure to process $\bar{Z}^\infty\bar{\eta}^\infty.$ Since $\bar{Z}^n\longrightarrow \bar{Z}^\infty dt\otimes dP$-a.e, we have $\bar{\eta}^n$ converges in $dt\otimes dP$-measure to $\bar{\eta}^\infty.$ Fatou’s lemma and inequality (\[c2\]) gives: $$\label{c3}
\gamma_0(\bar{Q}^\infty) = \mathbb{E}_P [ \bar{Z}^\infty_T\int_0^T h(\bar{\eta}_u^\infty)du] \leq \liminf\limits_{n\rightarrow +\infty} \E_\mathbb{P} [Z^n_T\int_0^T h(\eta_u^n) du] < +\infty.$$ This shows that $\bar {Q}^{\infty} \in \Qc_f.$\
Now we will show that the probability $\bar {Q}^{\infty}$ is optimal.\
For $n\in\N \cup \{+\infty\}$, let $\bar{Y}_1^n:=\bar {Z}^n_T \Uc^\delta$ and $ \bar{Y}_2^n:=\beta \Rc^\delta(\bar{Q}^n))$ then $\lim\limits_{ n\rightarrow +\infty} \bar{Y}^n_i = \bar{Y}^\infty_i \;P-$a.s for $i = 1,2.$ As $\bar{Y}^n_2 $ is bounded from below, uniformly in $n$ and $\omega$, Fatou’s lemma yields: $$\label{c4}
\E_\mathbb{P}[\bar{Y}^\infty_2]\leq \liminf\limits_{n\rightarrow \infty}\E_\mathbb{P}[\bar{Y}^n_2].$$ By adopting the same approach as in Theorem \[exisun\] we show that: $$\label{c5}
\E_\mathbb{P}[\bar{Y}^\infty_1]\leq \liminf\limits_{n\rightarrow \infty}\E_\mathbb{P}[\bar{Y}^n_1].$$ Inequality(\[c4\]), (\[c5\]) and (\[c2\]) provide that: $$\Gamma(\bar{Q}^\infty) =\E_\mathbb{P} [ \bar{Y}^\infty_1+\bar{Y}^\infty_2 ] \leq \liminf\limits_{n\rightarrow \infty}\Gamma(\bar{Q}^n)
\leq \liminf\limits_{n\rightarrow \infty}\Gamma(Q^n)\leq \inf\limits_{Q\in \Qc_f}\Gamma(Q).$$ This proves that $\bar{Q}^\infty $ is indeed optimal.
BSDE description for the dynamic value process
----------------------------------------------
In this section, stochastic control techniques are employed to study the dynamics of the value process denoted by $V$ associated with the optimization problem (\[min\]). It is proved that $V$ is the only single solution of a quadratic backward stochastic differential equation. This extends the work of Skiadas [@SK03], Schroder and Skiadas [@SS03].\
We first introduce some notations that we use below. Denote by $\Sc$ the set of all $\Fc$ stopping time $\tau $ with values in $ [0,T] $, $\Dc^c $ the space of all processes $\eta $ with $ Q^\eta \in \Qc_f^c$ and $\Dc^{c,e} $ the space of all processes $\eta $ with $ Q^\eta \in \Qc_f^{c,e}$. We define: $$\mathcal{D}^c(\eta, \tau): = \{\eta '\in \Dc^c, Q^\eta = Q^{\eta'} \, \textrm {on} \, [0,\tau] \}$$ $$\Gamma (\tau,Q^\eta):= \mathbb{E}_{Q^{\eta}} [c (.,Q^\eta)| \Fc_\tau].$$ We note that $\Gamma (0,Q^\eta)$ and $\Gamma (Q^\eta)$ coincide. The minimal conditional cost at time $\tau$ is defined by $$J(\tau,Q^\eta): = Q^\eta-\underset{\eta'\in \Dc^c(\eta,\tau)}{\essinf} \Gamma (\tau,Q^{\eta'}).$$ Then the problem (\[min\]) can be written as follows: $$\textrm{give} \inf\limits_{Q^\eta\in\Qc_f^c}\Gamma(Q^\eta)=\inf \limits_{Q^\eta\in\Qc_f^c}\E_{Q^\eta}[c(.,Q^\eta)]= \E_P[J(0,Q^\eta)].$$ Where the second equality is deduced since the dynamic programming principle holds and we have $Q^\eta=P$ on $\Fc_0$ for all $Q^\eta \in\Qc_f^c.$\
The following martingale optimality principle is a direct consequence of Theorems 1.15, 1.17 and 1.21 in El Karoui[@ELK81]. For the sake of completeness, the proof is given in the Appendix.
\[martingaleoptimality\]
- The family $ \{J (\tau,Q^\eta) | \tau \in \mathcal{S}, Q^\eta \in Q_f^c\} $ is a submartingale system.
- $ Q^{\eta^*} \in \Qc_f^c$ is optimal $\Leftrightarrow $ $ \{J (\tau, Q^{\eta^*}) | \tau \in \Sc \}$ is a martingale system .
- For any $Q^{\eta} \in \Qc_f^c$ there is an RCLL adapted process $(J^\eta_t)_{0 \leq t \leq T}$ which is a $Q^\eta$- martingale $J_{\tau}^\eta = J(\tau,Q^\eta)$.
In order to characterize the value process in terms of BSDE we need the following proposition.
\[infQeq\] Under **(A1)-(A’2)**, we have $$\inf\limits_{Q^\eta\in \Qc_f^c}\Gamma(Q^\eta)=\inf\limits_{Q^\eta\in \Qc_f^{c,e}}\Gamma(Q^\eta).$$
Let $Q^{\eta^*} \in \Qc_f^c$ such that $\inf\limits_{Q^\eta\in \Qc_f^c}\E_Q[c(.,Q)]=\E_{Q^{\eta^*}}[c(.,Q^{\eta^*})]$ and $\lambda \in [0,1)$, then $\lambda Q^{\eta^*} +(1-\lambda) P \in \Qc_f^{c,e}.$ Since $Q^\eta\mapsto \Gamma(Q^\eta)$ is convex then $$\Gamma(\lambda Q^{\eta^*} +(1-\lambda) P)\leq \lambda\Gamma( Q^{\eta^*}) +(1-\lambda) \Gamma(P) \;\; \forall \lambda \in [0,1),$$ which implies $$\limsup\limits_{\lambda\rightarrow 1}\Gamma(\lambda Q^{\eta^*} +(1-\lambda) P)\leq \Gamma( Q^{\eta^*}).$$ Consequently, we have $$\inf\limits_{Q^\eta\in \Qc_f^c}\Gamma(Q^\eta)\geq\inf\limits_{Q^\eta\in \Qc_f^{c,e}}\Gamma(Q^\eta).$$ The converse inequality holds since $\Qc_f^{c,e} \subset \Qc_f^c.$\
The following technical lemma is also needed.
\[lingrowth\] let $f$ a convex increasing differentiable function such that $$\label{quadineg}|f(x)| \leq A_1 + B_1x^{2}\; \textrm{for all}\; x\in \mathbb{R}$$ for some constants $A_1$ et $B_1$, then there are two real constants $A_2$ et $B_2$ such that: $$0 \leq f'(x) \leq (A_2 + B_2 |x|).$$
Since $f$ is convex, we have $f(2x) \geq f(x) + (2x-x) f'(x). $\
Using inequality (\[quadineg\]), we obtain $xf'(x)-A_1-B_1x ^{2} \leq A_1 +4B_1x^{2} $ and so $$xf'(x) \leq 2A+5Bx^{2}\;\; \textrm{for all}\;\; x\in \mathbb{R}.$$ It was therefore for $x \geq 1 $ that $ f '(x) \displaystyle \leq \frac{2A_1}{x}+5 B_1x$ and consequently $ f '(x) \displaystyle
\leq 2A_1+ 5 B_1x$.\
For $ x \leq 1 $, and since $f'$ is increasing, we obtain $ 0 \leq f'(x) \leq f'(1) = M_{1} $. This shows that $$0 \leq f'(x) \leq (2A_1+M_1 + 5B_1 |x|).$$
We later use a strong order relation on the set of increasing processes defined by
Let $A$ and $B$ two increasing process. We say $A\preceq B$ if the process $B-A$ is increasing.
We already know from Theorem \[exisun\] that there is an optimal model $Q^{\eta^*}\in\Qc_f^c$. For each $ Q^\eta \in \Qc^{c,e}_f $ and $ \tau \in \Sc $, we define the value of the control problem started at time $\tau$ $$V (\tau, Q^\eta)= Q^\eta-ess\inf\limits_ {{\eta'}\in \Dc(\eta,\tau)}\tilde{V} (\tau, Q^{\eta'}),$$ where $$\tilde{V}(\tau,Q^{\eta'}) = \E_{Q^{\eta'}} [\Uc^\delta_ {\tau,T} | \Fc_ \tau] + \beta \E_{Q^{\eta'}} [\Rc_{\tau, T}^\delta(Q^{\eta'}) | \Fc_ \tau].$$ We need to define the following space $$\Hc^p_d=\Big\{ (Z_t)_{0\leq t \leq T}\mathbb{F}\textrm{-progressively measurable process valued in}\;\; \R^d\;\; s.t \;\;\E_P[\int_0^T|Z_u|^pdu]<\infty\Big\}.$$ The following result characterizes value process $V$ as the unique solution of a BSDE with a quadratic generator and unbounded terminal condition. Precisely we have
Under the assumptions **(A1)-(A’2)**, pair $(V,Z)$ is the unique solution in $D_0^{\exp}\times \Hc^p_{d}, p\geq 1, $ of the following BSDE: $$\label{bsde description}
\left \{\begin{split}
&dY_t = (\delta_tY_t-\alpha U_t+ h^*(\frac{1}{\beta}Z_t))dt - Z_tdW_t,
\\ & Y_T = \alpha'U_T'.
\end{split} \right.$$ and $Q^*$ is equivalent to $P.$
By using Bayes’ formula and the definition of $ \Rc_ {\tau,T}^\delta(Q^{\eta'})$, it is clear that $\tilde {V}(\tau,Q^{\eta'})$ depends only on the values of $ \eta'$ on $(\tau, T]$ and is therefore independent of $Q^\eta$ since $\eta=\eta'$ on $[0,\tau].$ Thus we can also take the ess$\inf$ under $P\approx Q $ . From Proposition \[infQeq\], we could take the infimum over the set $\Qc_f^{c,e},$ which implies $$V (\tau, Q^\eta)= P-\underset{{\eta'}\in \Dc^c(\eta,\tau)\cap \Dc^{c,e}}{\essinf}\tilde{V} (\tau, Q^{\eta'}),$$ for all $Q^\eta\in \Qc_f^{c,e}.$ Since $V(\tau,Q^\eta )$ is independent of $Q^\eta$, we can denote $V(\tau,Q^\eta )$ by $V(\tau).$\
We fix $\eta'\in \Dc(Q^\eta,\tau)$. From the definition of $\Rc_{t,T}^\delta (Q^{\eta'}) $ (see equation (\[penalty definition ctc\])), we have $$\begin{split}
\Rc_{0, T}^\delta (Q ^{\eta'})& = \dint_0^T \delta_sS_s ^ \delta (\int_0^sh (\eta'_u)du)ds + S_T^\delta \int_0^T h(\eta'_u)du
\\& = \dint_0^\tau \delta_sS_s^\delta(\int_0^sh(\eta_u)du)ds+S_\tau^\delta \int_0^\tau h(\eta_u)du + S_\tau^\delta \Rc_{\tau,T}^\delta(Q^{\eta'}).
\end{split}$$ By comparing the definitions of $ V(\tau)=V(\tau, Q^\eta) $ and $J(\tau, Q^\eta),$ then we get for $ Q^\eta \in \Qc^{c,e}_f $ $$\label{jtau}
J^\eta_\tau = S_\tau V_\tau + \alpha \int_0^\tau S_sU_sds + \beta \Big(\dint_0^\tau \delta_sS_s^\delta (\int_0 ^sh (\eta_u)du)ds + S_\tau^\delta \int_0^\tau h(\eta_u)du\Big).$$ Arguing as above, the ess$\inf$ for $ J(\tau, Q^\eta) $ could be taken under $ P \approx Q^\eta $. From the Proposition \[martingaleoptimality\], $J^\eta_\tau$ admits an RCLL version. From equality (\[jtau\]), an appropriate RCLL process $V=(V_t)_{0 \leq t \leq T }$ can be chosen such that $$V_\tau = V(\tau) = V(\tau,Q^\eta), \; \mathbb{P}.a.s \,\;\; \textrm{for all}\;\; \tau \in \Sc \, \, \textrm {and} \, \, Q^\eta \in \Qc_f^{c,e}$$ and then we have for all $ Q^\eta \in \Qc^{c,e}_f $ $$\label{jq}
J_t^\eta=S_t^\delta V_t + \alpha \int_0^t S^\delta_sU_sds + \beta \Big(\dint_0^t \delta_sS_s^\delta (\int_0^sh (\eta_u) du) ds + S_t^\delta \int_0^t h(\eta_s) ds \Big)\;\; dt\otimes dP\; \textrm{a.e},\; 0\leq t\leq T.$$ From Remark \[rem2\] $P$ belongs to $\Qc_f^{c,e}$. If we take $\eta\equiv 0, $ the probability measure $Q^0$ coincides with the historical probability measure $P.$ Then, by the Proposition \[martingaleoptimality\], $J^P $ is $ P$- submartingale. From equation (\[jtau\]), $ J^0=S^\delta V+\alpha \int S^\delta_sU_sds $ and thus, by It$\hat{\textrm{o}}$’s lemma, it can be deduced that $V$ is a $P$-special semimartingale. Its canonical decomposition can be written as follows: $$\label{canonicdecomp}
V_t= V_0 - \int_0^t q_sdW_s + \int_0^t K_sds .$$ For each $ Q^\eta \in \Qc^{c,e}_f$, we have $Z_.^\eta=\Ec(\int_0^. \eta dW). $ Plugging (\[canonicdecomp\]) in to (\[jtau\]), we obtain $$dJ^\eta_t = S^\delta_t (-q_tdW_t+K_tdt) - \delta_tS_tV_tdt + \alpha S_tU_tdt + \beta S_t^\delta h(\eta_t) dt.$$\
By Girsanov’s theorem the process $-\int_0 ^. q_tdW_t+\int_0 ^.q_t \eta_tdt $ is a local martingale under $Q^\eta$ and the dynamic of $(J^\eta_t)_t$ is given by $$dJ^\eta_t = S^\delta_t (-q_tdW_t+q_t \eta_tdt) + S^\delta_t (K_t- q_t\eta_t + \beta h (\eta_t)) dt-\delta_tS^\delta_tV_tdt + \alpha S^\delta_tU_tdt.$$ $J^\eta $ is a $Q^\eta-$ submartingale and $J^{\eta^*}$ is $ Q^{\eta^*}$- martingale. Such properties hold if we choose $K_t= \delta V_t-\alpha U_t - \mbox{ess}\inf\limits_{\eta}(-q_t\eta_t+\beta h(\eta_t)),$ where the essential infimum is taken in the sense of strong order $\preceq .$ Then $$\label{processK}
K_t= \delta V_t-\alpha U_t + \mbox{ess}\sup\limits_{\eta}(q_t\eta_t-\beta h(\eta_t))=
\delta V_t-\alpha U_t + \beta h^*(\frac{1}{\beta}q_t).$$\
This ess $\inf$ is reached for $\eta^*= (h')^{-1}(\frac{1}{\beta}q_t).$ From (\[canonicdecomp\]) and (\[processK\]) we deduce that $$\left\{ \begin{split}
& dV_t=(\delta_tV_t-\alpha U_t +\beta h^*(\frac{1}{\beta}q_t))dt - q_tdW_t \\
& V_T=\alpha'U'_T.
\end{split}
\right.$$ Moreover we have, $(h^*)'(q_t)=\eta^*_t \;\;dt \otimes dP$ a.s . From Lemma \[lingrowth\], there is a positive constant $c$ such that $|(h^*)'(x)|\leq c(|x|+1).$ Then, we have $$\int_0^T|\eta^*_t|^2dt=\int_0^T|(h^*)'(q_t)|^2dt\leq c^2\int_0^T(1+|q_t|)^2dt<+\infty,$$ which means $P\{\frac{dQ^{\eta^*}}{dP}=0\}=P\{\int_0^T|\eta^*_t|^2dt=\infty\}=0$. Hence $Q^{\eta^*}\sim P.$
According to Briand and Hu [@BH07] the equation (\[bsde description\]) has a unique solution, because inequality $$h(x)\geq \kappa_1|x|^2-\kappa_2$$ implies $$h^*(x)\leq \frac{1}{2\kappa_1}|x|^2+\kappa_2$$ and hence the driver $f$ of BSDE (\[bsde description\]) given by $f(t,w,y,z)=\delta_ty-\alpha U_t +\beta h^*(\frac{1}{\beta}z)$ satisfies:
1. for all $t\in [0,T]$, for all $y\in \R,$ $z\mapsto f(t,y,z)$ is convex;
2. for all $(t,z)\in[0,T]\times \R^d$, $$\forall (y,y')\in \R^2; |f(t,y,z)-f(t,y',z)|\leq \parallel \delta\parallel_\infty|y-y'|.$$
3. for all $(t,y,z)\in[0,T]\times\R \times \R^d$, $$\begin{split}
|f(t,y,z)|&=|\delta_ty-\alpha U_t +\beta h^*(\frac{1}{\beta}z)|
\leq\parallel\delta\parallel_\infty |y|+|\alpha| |U_t|+\frac{1}{2\kappa_1\beta}|z|^2+\kappa_2.
\end{split}$$
Since the process $|\alpha U_t|\in D_1^{\exp}$ and the terminal condition $\bar{\alpha}\bar{U}_T\in L^{\exp}$, the existence of the BSDE solution is ensured. Uniqueness comes from the convexity of $h^*.$
A comparison with related results
---------------------------------
In the case of the entropic penalty, which corresponds to $h(x)=\frac{1}{2}|x|^2,$ the value process is described through the backward stochastic differential equation: $$\label{bsde description entropic case}
\left \{\begin{split}
dY_t & = (\delta_tY_t-\alpha U_t+ \frac{1}{2\beta}|Z|^2_t)dt - Z_tdW_t
\\ & Y_T = \alpha'U_T'
\end{split} \right..$$ These results are obtained by Schroder and Skiadas in [@SK03; @SS03] where $\alpha'=0.$ In the context of a dynamic concave utility, Delbaen, Hu and Bao [@Delb09] treated the case $\delta=0$ and $\xi=\alpha'U'$ is bounded and $\beta=1$. In this special case the existence of an optimal probability is a direct consequence of Dunford-Pettis’ theorem and James’ theorem shown in Jouini-Schachermayer-Touzi’s work [@JST05]. Delbaen et al. showed that the dynamic concave utility $$Y_t= ess\inf\limits_{Q\in \Qc_f}E[\xi+\int_t^Th(\eta_u)du|\mathcal{F}_t]$$ satisfies the following BSDE: $$\left \{\begin{split}
&dY_t = h^*(Z_t)dt - Z_tdW_t
\\ & Y_T = \xi.
\end{split} \right.$$ $\hfill \Box $
Appendix
========
Proof of the Bellman optimal principle
--------------------------------------
### f-divergence case
\[lemma3\] For all $\tau \in \Sc$ and all $Q\in \Qc_f$, the random variable $J(\tau ,Q)$ belongs to $L^1(Q)$
By definition $$J(\tau ,Q)\leq \Gamma(\tau ,Q) \leq \E_Q[|c(.,Q)|| \Fc_\tau],$$ and consequently $$(J(\tau ,Q))^+ \leq \E_Q[|c(.,Q)|| \Fc_\tau]$$ is $Q-$ integrable according to Proposition \[prop1\].\
Let us show that $(J(\tau ,Q))^-$ is $Q-$ integrable. We fix $Z^{Q'} \in \Dc(Q,\tau).$ In inequality (\[ineq7\]), choosing $\gamma > 0$ such that $\beta \displaystyle e^{(-T \Vert\delta \Vert _{\infty})}-\frac{1}{\gamma} =0$, then we obtain $$\begin{split}
\Gamma(\tau,Q')&\geq -B:=-\beta \kappa \frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}(T \parallel \delta \parallel_\infty+1) -\frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}\Big[\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U(s)|ds+\gamma \bar{\alpha}
|\bar{U}_T| )|\Fc_\tau]\Big].
\end{split}$$ Since the random variable $B$ is nonnegative and does not depend on $Q'$, we conclude that $J(\tau,Q)\geq -B.$ Since $f^*(x)\geq 0 $ for all $x\geq 0$, we have $$\begin{split}
J(\tau,Q)^-\leq B:= \beta \kappa \frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}(T \parallel \delta \parallel_\infty+1) +\frac{1}{Z_\tau^Q}\Big[\frac{1}{\gamma}\E_P[f^*(\gamma \alpha \int_{0}^{T}|U(s)|ds+\gamma \alpha'
|U^{\prime }_T| )|\Fc_\tau]\Big].
\end{split}$$ Finally, $B\in L^1(Q)$ because the assumption **(A1)-(A2)**.
Space $\Dc$ is compatible and stable under bifurcation and cost functional $c$ is coherent.
1-We first prove that $\Dc$ is compatible\
Take $Z^Q\in \Dc, \tau \in \Sc$ and $Z^{Q'}\in \Dc(Q,\tau)$. Then, from definition of $\Dc(Q,\tau)$ we have $Q|_{\Fc_\tau}=Q'|_{\Fc_\tau}$\
2- Take $Z^Q\in \Dc,\tau \in \Sc , A\in \Fc_\tau$ and $Z^{Q'}\in \Dc(Q,\tau)$ again. The fact that $Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'}:=Z^{Q'}\mathbf{1}_A+Z^Q\mathbf{1}_{A^c}$ is still in $\Dc$ must be checked.\
To this end, it is enough to show that $Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'}$ is a $\Fc$-martingale and that $(Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'})_T$ defines a probability measure in $\Qc_f$.\
Let us start proving that $Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'}$ is a martingale. Since our time horizon $T$ is finite, we have to prove that $$\E_P[(Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'})_T|\Fc_t]=(Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'})_t .$$ Observing that $\mathbf{1}_{\{\tau\leq t\}}+\mathbf{1}_{\{\tau > t\}}\equiv 1$, we have $$\begin{split}
\E_P[(Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'})_T|\Fc_t]&= \E_P[Z_T^{Q'}I_A+Z_T^Q\mathbf{1}_{A^c}(\mathbf{1}_{\{\tau\leq t\}}+\mathbf{1}_{\{\tau > t\}})|\Fc_t]
\\&=\E_P[Z_T^{Q'}\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}|\Fc_t]+\E_P[Z_T^{Q'}\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau > t\}}|\Fc_t]
\\&+\E_P[Z_T^{Q}\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}|\Fc_t]+\E_P[Z_T^{Q}\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau > t\}}|\Fc_t].
\end{split}$$ Since $A\cap \{\tau\leq t\}$ and $A^c\cap \{\tau\leq t\}$ are in $\Fc_t$, while $A\cap \{\tau > t\}$ and $A^c\cap \{\tau > t\}$ are in $\Fc_\tau$ , we have $$\begin{split}
&\E_P[(Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'})_T|\Fc_t]
\\&=I_{A\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}\E_P[Z_T^{Q'}|\Fc_t]+\E_P[\E_P[Z_T^{Q'}\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau > t\}}|\Fc_{\tau \vee t}]|\Fc_t]
\\&+\mathbf{1}_{A^c\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}\E_P[Z_T^{Q}|\Fc_t]+\E_P[\E_P[Z_T^{Q}\mathbf{1}_{A^c\cap \{\tau > t\}}|\Fc_{\tau \vee t}]|\Fc_t]
\\&=\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q'}+P[Z_{\tau \vee t}^{Q'}\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau > t\}}|\Fc_t]
+ \mathbf{1}_{A^c\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q}+P[Z_{\tau \vee t}^{Q}\mathbf{1}_{A^c\cap \{\tau > t\}}|\Fc_t]
\\&=\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q'}+\E_P[Z_\tau ^{Q'}\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau > t\}}|\Fc_t]
+ \mathbf{1}_{A^c\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q}+\E_P[Z_\tau^{Q}\mathbf{1}_{A^c\cap \{\tau > t\}}|\Fc_t].
\end{split}$$ From the definition of $\Dc(Q,\tau)$, we have $Z_\tau^{Q'}=Z_\tau^Q$ and so $$\begin{split}
&\E_P[(Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'})_T|\Fc_t]
\\&=\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q'}+\E_P[Z_\tau ^{Q}\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau > t\}}|\Fc_t]
+ \mathbf{1}_{A^c\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q}+\E_P[Z_\tau^{Q}I_{A^c\cap \{\tau > t\}}|\Fc_t]
\\&=\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q'}+\E_P[Z_\tau ^{Q}\mathbf{1}_{\{\tau > t\}}|\Fc_t]+ \mathbf{1}_{A^c\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q}
\\&=\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q'}+Z_t ^{Q}\mathbf{1}_{\{\tau > t\}}+ \mathbf{1}_{A^c\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q}
\\&=\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q'}+Z_t ^{Q}(\mathbf{1}_{\{\tau > t\}\cap A}+\mathbf{1}_{\{\tau > t\}\cap A^c})+ \mathbf{1}_{A^c\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q}
\\&=\mathbf{1}_{A\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q'}+Z_t^{Q'}\mathbf{1}_{\{\tau > t\}\cap A}+Z_t^{Q}\mathbf{1}_{\{\tau > t\}\cap A^c}+ \mathbf{1}_{A^c\cap \{\tau\leq t\}}Z_t^{Q}
\\&=\mathbf{1}_AZ_t^{Q'}+\mathbf{1}_A^cZ_t^Q
\\&=(Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'})_t.
\end{split}$$ From the definition of $Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'}$, we have $Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'} \in L^1([0,T])$ and so $Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'}$ is an $\Fc$-martingale which implies $$\E_P[(Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'})_T]=\E_P[Z_0^{Q'}\mathbf{1}_A+Z_0^Q\mathbf{1}_{A^c}]=\mathbf{1}_A+\mathbf{1}_{A^c}=1.$$ It remains to show that $d(\bar{Q})<\infty$ where the density of $\bar{Q}$ is given by $Z^Q|\tau_A|Z^{Q'}.$ We have $$\begin{split}
d(\bar{Q}|P)+\kappa&=\E_P[f(Z_T^{Q'}\mathbf{1}_A+Z_T^Q\mathbf{1}_{A^c})+\kappa]
\\& = \E_P[\mathbf{1}_A(f(Z_T^{Q'})+\kappa)+\mathbf{1}_{A^c}(f(Z_T^Q)+\kappa)]
\\& \leq \E_P[(f(Z_T^{Q'})+\kappa)+(f(Z_T^Q)+\kappa)]
\\& \leq d(Q|P)+d(Q'|P)+2\kappa.
\end{split}$$ The first inequality is deduced from assumption **(H2)**. Then $$d(\bar{Q}|P) \leq d(Q|P)+d(Q'|P)+\kappa< \infty.$$\
3- Take $Z^Q$ and $Z^{Q'}$ in $\Dc$, we denote by $A$ the set $\{\omega ; Z^Q(\omega)=Z^{Q'}(\omega)\}$. It must be proven that $$c(\omega,Z^Q(\omega))=c(\omega,Z^{Q'}(\omega))$$ on $A$ $Q-$a.s and ${Q'}-$a.s respectively.
### Consistent time penalty case
Space $\Dc^c $ is compatible, stable under bifurcation and cost function $c$ is coherent.
\
1. $\Dc^c $ is compatible: let $\eta \in \Dc, \tau \in \Sc$ and $\eta'\in \Dc^c(Q^\eta,\tau).$ Then, by definition of $ \Dc^c(Q^\eta, \tau) $ we have $ Q^\eta|_{\Fc_\tau} = Q^{\eta'}|_{\Fc_\tau}.$\
2. $\Dc^c$ is stable under bifurcation: let again $\eta \in \Dc^c,\tau \in \Sc , A\in \Fc_\tau$ and $\eta'\in \Dc^c(Q^\eta,\tau).$ It must be checked that $\eta''=\eta|\tau_A|\eta':=\eta \mathbf{1}_A+\eta' \mathbf{1}_{A^c}$ remains in $\Dc^c. $ i.e. $E_{Q ^{\eta''}}[\dint_0^Th (\eta''_u) du] <+\infty $. Indeed, $$\begin{split}
E_{Q^{\eta''}}[\int_0^Th(\eta''_u)du]&\leq E_{Q^{\eta''}}[\mathbf{1}_A\int_0^Th(\eta_u)du+\mathbf{1}_{A^c}\int_0^Th(\eta'_u)du]
\\&=E_{P}[Z_T^{\eta''}\mathbf{1}_A\int_0^Th(\eta_u)du+Z_T^{\eta''}\mathbf{1}_{A^c}\int_0^Th(\eta'_u)du]
\\&=E_{P}[Z_T^{\eta}\mathbf{1}_A\int_0^Th(\eta_u)du+Z_T^{\eta'}\mathbf{1}_{A^c}\int_0^Th(\eta'_u)du]
\\&\leq E_{Q^\eta}[\int_0^Th(\eta_u)du]+E_{Q^{\eta'}}[\int_0^Th(\eta'_u)du].
\end{split}$$ The last inequality is deduced from the non negativity of $h$ and the second equality is deduced from the definition of $\eta'.$\
3. The cost function $c$ is coherent: let $\eta$ and $\eta'$ in $\Dc^c:$ denote by $ A $ the set $\{\omega, \eta(\omega) = \eta'(\omega) \} $. It is obvious that $$c(\omega, \eta (\omega)) = c (\omega, \eta' (\omega))$$ $Q-a.s$ and $ {Q'}-a.s $ on $A$.
For all $ \tau \in \Sc $ and $ Q^\eta \in \Qc^c_f $ , the random variable $J(\tau, Q^\eta) $ is in $ L^1(Q^\eta).$
By definition, we have $$J(\tau, Q^\eta) \leq \Gamma (\tau, Q^\eta) \leq \E_ {Q^\eta} [|c(.,Q^\eta)| | \Fc_\tau],$$ which implies that $$(J(\tau, Q^\eta))^+\leq \E_{Q ^\eta} [|c(.,Q^\eta)| | \Fc_\tau]$$ and so $ (J(\tau, Q^\eta))^+$ is $ Q^\eta $-integrable by Proposition \[prop3.1\].\
It remains to show that $(J(\tau, Q^\eta))^-$ is also $Q^\eta $-integrable.\
Fix $\eta'\in \Dc^c (Q^\eta, \tau).$ we have: $$\begin{split}
\beta E_{Q^{\eta'}}[\dint_0^T \delta_s S_s^\delta (\int_0^s h(\eta'_u)du) ds + S_T^\delta \int_0^T h(\eta'_s)ds|\Fc_\tau]& \geq \beta E_{Q^{\eta'}} [S_T^\delta \int_\tau^T h(\eta'_s)ds|\Fc_\tau]\\& \geq \beta e^{-\|\delta \|_{\infty}T} \gamma_\tau (Q^{\eta'}).
\end{split}$$ Moreover, since $0 \leq S^\delta \leq 1 $ and using Bayes’ formula, we have: $$\E_{Q^{\eta'}} [\Uc_{0,T}^\delta|\Fc_\tau]\geq -\E_{Q^{\eta'}} [R|\Fc_\tau] =-\frac{1}{Z_\tau^{\eta}} \E_P[Z_T^{\eta'} R|\Fc_\tau].$$\
Using the inequality (\[convexinequality\]) and Bayes’ formula, we get: $$\begin{split}
\E_P[Z_T^{\eta'} R|\Fc_\tau] & \leq \frac{1}{\lambda} \E_P [Z_T^{\eta'}\log Z_T^{\eta'} +e^{-1} e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau]
\\ & = \frac {1}{\lambda} Z_\tau^{\eta'}\E_{Q^{\eta'}} [\log Z_T^{\eta'}|\Fc_\tau] + \frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau]
\\ & = \frac {1}{\lambda} Z_\tau^{\eta'}\E_{Q^{\eta'}} [\int_0^T\eta'_udW_u-\frac{1}{2}\int_0^T|\eta'|^2_udu|\Fc_\tau] + \frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau]
\\ & = \frac {1}{\lambda} Z_\tau^{\eta'}(\int_0^\tau\eta'_udW_u-\frac{1}{2}\int_0^\tau|\eta'|^2_udu+\E_{Q^{\eta'}} [\int_\tau^T\eta'_udW_u-\int_\tau^T|\eta'|^2_udu|\Fc_\tau]
\\&+ \E_{Q^{\eta'}}[\frac{1}{2}\int_\tau^T|\eta'|^2_udu|\Fc_\tau])+\frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau].
\end{split}$$ By the Girsanov theorem the process $(\int_0^.\eta'_udW_u-\int_0^.|\eta'|^2_udu)$ is a local $Q^{\eta'}$- martingale and therefore $\E_{Q^{\eta'}} [\int_\tau^T\eta'_udW_u-\int_\tau^T|\eta'|^2_udu|\Fc_\tau]=0.$ Consequently, by using that $Z_\tau^{\eta'}=Z_\tau^{\eta}$, we have $$\begin{split}
&\E_P[Z_T^{\eta'} R|\Fc_\tau] \leq \frac {1}{\lambda} Z_\tau^{\eta}\Big(\int_0^\tau\eta'_udW_u-\frac{1}{2}\int_0^\tau|\eta'|^2_udu
+\E_{Q^{\eta'}}[\frac{1}{2}\int_\tau^T|\eta'|^2_udu|\Fc_\tau]\Big)+\frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau]
\\& =\frac {1}{\lambda} Z_\tau^{\eta}\Big(\int_0^\tau\eta_udW_u-\frac{1}{2}\int_0^\tau|\eta|^2_udu
+\E_{Q^{\eta'}}[\frac{1}{2}\int_\tau^T|\eta'|^2_udu|\Fc_\tau]\Big)+\frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau]
\\ & \leq \frac {1}{\lambda} Z_\tau^{\eta}\Big(\int_0^\tau\eta_udW_u-\frac{1}{2}\int_0^\tau|\eta|^2_udu
+\E_{Q^{\eta'}}[\frac{1}{2}\int_\tau^T\frac{h(\eta'_u)+\kappa_2}{\kappa_1}du|\Fc_\tau]\Big)+\frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau].
\end{split}$$ Thus, we have $$\begin{split}
\E_{Q^{\eta'}} [\Uc_{0,T}^\delta|\Fc_\tau]&\geq -\frac {1}{\lambda} \Big(\int_0^\tau\eta_udW_u-\frac{1}{2}\int_0^\tau|\eta|^2_udu
+\E_{Q^{\eta'}}[\frac{1}{2}\int_\tau^T\frac{h(\eta'_u)+\kappa_2}{\kappa_1}du|\Fc_\tau]\Big)\\&-\frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda}\frac{1}{Z_\tau^{\eta}} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau],
\end{split}$$ and consequently $$\begin{split}
\Gamma(\tau,Q^{\eta'})\geq
&\beta e^{-\|\delta \|_{\infty}T} \gamma_\tau (Q^{\eta'})-\frac{1}{\lambda}\E_{Q^{\eta'}}[\frac{1}{2}\int_\tau^T\frac{h(\eta'_u)+\kappa_2}{\kappa_1}du|\Fc_\tau]
\\&-\frac {1}{\lambda} (\int_0^\tau\eta_udW_u-\frac{1}{2}\int_0^\tau|\eta|^2_udu)
-\frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda}\frac{1}{Z_\tau^{\eta}} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau].
\\&=(\beta e^{-\|\delta \|_{\infty}T}-\frac{1}{2\lambda\kappa_1}) \gamma_\tau (Q^{\eta'})
\\&-\frac {1}{\lambda} (\int_0^\tau\eta_udW_u-\frac{1}{2}\int_0^\tau|\eta|^2_udu
+\frac{T\kappa_2}{2\kappa_1})-\frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda}\frac{1}{Z_\tau^{\eta}} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau].
\end{split}$$ Let $ \lambda > 0 $ such that $\beta e^{-\|\delta \|_{\infty}T}-\frac{1}{2\lambda\kappa_1}=0 $ then $$\Gamma(\tau,Q^{\eta'})\geq -\frac {1}{\lambda} (\vert\int_0^\tau\eta_udW_u \vert+\frac{1}{2}\int_0^\tau|\eta|^2_udu
+\frac{T\kappa_2}{2\kappa_1})-\frac {e^{-1}} {\lambda}\frac{1}{Z_\tau^{\eta}} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau]:=-B.$$ Since the random variable $B$ is nonnegative and does not depend on $Q^{\eta'}$, we conclude that $J(\tau,Q)\geq -B.$ So that $J(\tau,Q)^-\leq B.$\
It thus remains to be shown that $B\in L^1(Q^\eta).$\
Under assumptions **(A1)-(A’2)**, we have $$E_{Q^\eta}[\frac{1}{Z_\tau^{\eta}} \E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau]]=E_P[\E_P [e^{\lambda R}|\Fc_\tau]]=\E_P [e^{\lambda R}]<+\infty.$$ Moreover $$E_{Q^\eta}[|\int_0^\tau\eta_udW_u|+\frac{1}{2}\int_0^\tau|\eta|^2_udu]<+\infty.$$ Hence, $B\in L^1(Q^\eta).$
[10]{}
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[ fiction ]
I am in Tehran. I escaped Javad and the slipperiness of the seaside for the firmness of the mountains. Tehran boils over with blood and something approaching hope. Here, my misery begins to evaporate in the streets amid the green banners and effervescent youth. I arrive at my aunt's house as the sun cascades into the tops of apartment buildings and commercial towers. I've never seen a skyline so crowded with dust and steel.
A young man named Omid stands at the entrance to my aunt's apartment building. I remember him as the boy who hovered at the periphery of my childhood summers here, cast out and alone. In those days, Hossein, the oldest child from my aunt's building and the undisputed leader in the courtyard, spent much of his time calling Omid names and throwing garbage at him. Omid never fought back or said much. He'd hang around quietly watching the children play until Hossein showed up, then run away down an alley and disappear until the next afternoon. I usually played with my dolls near the fountain, giving them lessons in the alphabet or leading them in song. Once Hossein turned his menacing attention on me and took one of my prized dolls, dangling her over my head as I struggled to reach her. Omid pushed Hossein to the ground and held him there long enough to whisper something in his ear. Omid retrieved my toy and Hossein never bothered either one of us after that. I might have been impressed but instead I was embarrassed to be associated with Omid and angry that his unclean hands had somehow tainted my doll. I refused to take it back. Instead, I thought of the word I'd heard my aunt call Omid and his family when they weren't around.
"Najis! Get away from me!"
He looked at me and I recognized the shame in his face. I was satisfied with my power in that moment. Then he punched me in the nose. It was the first time anyone had hit me and the last time I truly deserved it.
Entering the building now, Omid's eyes meet mine and they are the same pristine green I remember. My shoulder brushes against his chest as I try to pass him in the doorway. "Hello, Abaan," he says, as the smell of jasmine wafts through the corridor. I find that I have no voice to respond to him with. I offer a smile and hurry away, surprised by the quickening of my heart. That night, I dream about giving birth to green-colored jasmine blossoms that grow in a garden, untouched by time and unburdened by history.
In the morning, I set about finding a job. My prospects are bleak. The economy is a mess. The women who interview me at various government ministries criticize the angle of my headscarf. They'd rather see me in a chador. My headscarf is government approved, yet it still connotes a liberalness they are wary of, as though they can see the green of my veins through the black of the fabric.
I come home in time for lunch, disheartened in the oppressing heat. My aunt's apartment is small. There is little furniture, but what she has is neatly organized along the walls to optimize the space in the middle. There are only two bedrooms, each just large enough to hold a bed and a small desk. There is one bathroom and a tidy kitchen.
Her husband died years ago and yet there is a sense that he'll be back any moment. She has left his things in their places. His chair near the window with the indented cushion glows with a fine layer of dust. The small table next to the chair still holds his glasses and a volume of poetry, which he consulted in the evenings as he sipped bootleg wine. His overcoat stands sentry at the door, and a well-worn pair of house slippers look warm and inviting though they must be cold. My aunt takes my handbag and shuffles me into the living room -- more like a glorified closet -- and admonishes me to stay with her.
"I need a young person like you. I need someone to help with the loneliness," she says.
I wonder if there is space for me in this box with my aunt and her husband's ghost, and I privately resolve to find separate accommodations once I am able to afford them.
Her daughters left last year for universities in Europe and America. Her son is married and expecting his first child. My aunt complains about his decision to no longer live with her.
"But there is no room, Khaleh. You can't take it personally." I try to be gentle.
"Yes, I know. But everything is changing, children are leaving their parents, old women are abused on the streets by the Basij, and I can't cook a simple meal without rationing my oil. What's next?"
She looks at me as though I have the answers. I shrug.
Later, as I lie in the narrow guest bed, I can hear her voice carry over the night sounds of moving traffic and street people from below. I can hear her recounting the details of her day to a man long dead.
***
On my third day of job hunting I run into Omid in the courtyard on my way out of the building. I try not to meet his gaze but he stands slightly in my way. His chest is broad and I look up to meet his eyes and see the man he's grown into.
"It doesn't look too bad," he says.
Confused, I hesitate and before I can say anything he says, "Your nose. I was sure I'd broken it, but I see now that it's a decent nose, nothing spectacular, but certainly not as deformed as I feared, certainly not something that kept you from marrying well, though it seems it couldn't keep you married either."
The sting of his knowing about my failed marriage doesn't bother me too much, but I immediately reach up to cover my nose protectively.
"You are very rude," is all I can manage through the muffle of my hand.
"I've been accused of worse."
A new sadness rises in my chest. He seems to notice it and his demeanor softens.
"Abaan, I'm sorry to hear about what has happened to you," he says and his hand touches mine, and the next long breath drawn is my own.
"I'm on my way to the Azad, a newspaper where I work. They are looking for a secretary, in case you are interested."
He doesn't wait for me to answer. He sets off down a crowded street, his shoulders rubbing against passersby, and I watch as he recedes into a sea of human bodies moving, constantly moving.
I navigate my way to the paper later in the afternoon. Omid was right, they need a secretary, a person who will take notes and answer the phone and perhaps occasionally provide some journalistic insight to the madness unfolding in the city. The man who interviews me has beautiful hands and his eyes look straight into mine. I explain that while I've never worked before, I did attend a secretarial course in my hometown the year my parents thought I might never marry. He smiles, then worries aloud that occasionally there won't be funds to pay my wages and that, truly, they are looking for someone ideologically committed to the mission of the paper and who can weather the closures and reopenings and turmoil of running an independent press in Tehran. It isn't that I don't find their cause compelling, but I can't see myself as a street urchin clothed with nothing more than noble ideals. I need wages and the things wages provide. The editor nods sympathetically.
As we talk, Omid brings in tea on a tarnished tray. I've never seen a tray so tarnished and it occurs to me, this little newspaper, this office, this small, smoke-filled room is populated by men alone, and men don't know how to properly keep silver from tarnishing.
"Thank you for the tea, Omid," the editor says as Omid walks away. He turns to me. "Well, there is a lot of work that needs to be done if you want the job. It can get pretty chaotic around here and it is risky working for a newspaper like ours, which is considered occasionally subversive or revolutionary. You'll need to keep your wits about you and your headscarf tied correctly. We don't want unnecessary attention."
"I gave up wearing the chador when I left Astara." I tug on the loose ends of my state-approved headscarf. I want to remind him that I am not interested in a job that only occasionally pays, but instead I collect my things. His smile remains unchanged as I make my way out of the office. Omid stands at the entrance smoking a cigarette. His eyes are large and expansive and there is a scar that is carved out from the corner of his left eye, like a question mark, that wasn't there when we were children.
"Have you managed to make any friends since you arrived?"
"I've been busy looking for work and looking after my elderly aunt."
Omid offers a small laugh. "Abaan, she seemed fine before you came along. I'm sure she can bear some hours of the evening alone while you live a little. No?"
I smile, thinking about the freedom of an evening on my own terms.
"Yes, it would be nice." I say, and I am suddenly aware of my nose in his line of vision.
"You never met my little sister. She's a writer and will be reading a piece from her collection of poetry at an underground literary gathering." He scribbles the address and time on a piece of paper and presses it into my palm. "This will be a nice way to get to know some people," he says.
"Thank you," I say, and my nose feels huge and heavy on my face as I speak.
Omid reaches out and touches my arm lightly. "Be cautious when you come tonight. We aren't doing anything wrong, but still we'd rather not draw attention. If you can, memorize the address and throw the paper away."
"Why can't you take me yourself?"
"That is simple. I don't want to be seen with you."
I give him the finger as he walks back into the office. The door closes and I look at my palm and at the edges of the torn page, delicate and white and fragile against the brown of my skin. I walk towards home on borrowed joy and get lost almost immediately. The streets crowd into each other and there is the sound of chanting from many directions. I come upon a crowd of young men standing at the corner. Some of them are on scooters. Others stand in groups of two or three. They look as though they are waiting for something. They are young, but they look menacing, and I try not to catch their attention as I silently go past towards a shop.
"Stop."
I slow down but continue to walk, hoping it's not me that is being told to stop. I turn and one of the young men runs towards me. I see now that he is holding a club.
"Sister, that area is off limits. You aren't allowed to go in that direction. Turn around and go back home." The other men stand at a distance and out of earshot but looking at us.
"But my home is in that direction." I don't look into his eyes. His chin is covered in thin, new hair, and his voice rings with the tin of eternal youth. I remember Javad, as he was when we were young and newly married. Like this boy, he was convinced of his power, his infallibility.
"Sister, can you call your father or brother to come escort you home?"
"I can not do that, Brother. My father died last year. I don't have any brothers."
"Then a husband?"
I shake my head no. I notice that he puffs his chest out some, as if to indicate his eligibility.
"I can call my aunt, but Brother, if you'll let me pass I can be home soon, instead of standing here with you on the street."
He sighs. The other young men head in our direction. Panic prickles along my spine. I don't want to be further detained or questioned.
"No one is allowed to cross here. Those are my orders. And I would personally be concerned for the well-being of a good Sister such as yourself among these rough immoral demonstrators." He lowers his voice. "Yesterday they shot a young woman just like you."
"I understand, Brother. Thank you for your concern. My intent isn't to cause you trouble. I'll just go back in the direction I came." I try to walk back but the others are upon us.
"What is the delay here?" says a blue-eyed man. He stands straight, but even so is shorter than me and wide. His stomach bulges at the waist of his pants and the bones of his wrists are mealy knobs under rolls of fat.
"Sir, our Sister has no secure means of getting home."
"If I may interrupt," I begin and the others look at me as though they are surprised I speak. "I can easily make my way home in the direction I came. There are no problems and I must not delay you any longer from your vigil."
The blue-eyed man blocks my path. His eyes narrow. "Sister, where are you coming from?"
"I've just left the market." I pause. "And now I need to get home." The scrap of paper in my hand wilts.
"You aren't carrying any shopping bags. What did you purchase?"
"I didn't find what I wanted."
The men look away from me and towards the blue-eyed man, wondering how he'll counter.
"But which market did you visit? There are no markets in that direction."
Just as I am about to answer, I hear someone yelling my name. I turn back and see it is Omid.
"Abaan, sister jan, where have you been? We've been waiting for you at home, you were due back hours ago."
Omid has a pained look. He turns towards the blue-eyed man.
"Sir, thank you for stopping her. My sister has a habit of getting lost and we've been terribly concerned given the climate around here."
"Come on now, sister, let's get home. Father is very sore with you." Omid gently leads me away, and the blue-eyed man huffs his approval.
I look at the young man. His face doesn't look as young now and his eyes are great big saucers of knowing, yet he says nothing.
"How'd you get into that mess?" Omid whispers as we turn down an alley.
"I was just walking and this guy suddenly stopped me and started asking me where I was going."
"Well, I'm glad I saw you. Who knows what they would have done to you?"
"I would have been just fine getting out of it alone," my voice trails off.
We walk quietly for a time down a cool alleyway. Omid stops in front of a metal gate along the concrete wall. A stray cat with matted hair crosses our path, and trash and dust swirls around us as a passing breeze cuts through the passage.
"This is my friend's house. You are welcome to come in and join us for tea. Or I can call a car to take you home. It is safer than walking." Omid touches my hand. When he looks at me I look away, but I want him to keep looking, to keep seeing me.
"You can stay for dinner."
"I should go home. My aunt will expect me soon."
He nods. I want this to be the part where he kisses me tenderly, the way kisses were tender in the bootleg American movies I watched as a girl. Javad didn't like those movies. He'd fast forward over those parts to get to the sex scenes.
"Okay, let me call a car for you, Abaan. It's safer, especially now that it is getting dark." I nod and give him the scrap of paper, the ink ruined from the sweat of my palms.
At home I tell my aunt that I might have found a job. She says it's a pity.
"Your husband should be looking after you, that brute. I told your mother not to marry you off to him. I told her my husband's nephew was more of a man for you. If you'd married him you'd have at least five children by now. Instead, look at you. Abandoned, childless, forced to work in a strange office among strangers. Waiting in vain for some pittance to start your life."
Everyone knew about Javad's beatings. I returned to my parent's house plenty of times with broken noses or bruised ribs, and there wasn't much I could hide in our small family.
But I didn't tell anyone about the babies.
"It isn't a pittance. He'll pay the money because I know he wants to get remarried this year. He'll pay and I'll be able to take care of myself."
"He won't pay you and he'll remarry this year too. Remember, he's saying you are infertile, and a judge might allow him to take another wife without your consent based on your infertility or just divorce you without having to pay the mehriyeh."
My aunt sets the small table for our dinner. She prepares a salad with diced tomatoes and finely chopped raw onions. Over this she pours oil and vinegar and sprinkles of salt and pepper. She squeezes a lemon into the small bowl, and its juice pours through her tired hands causing her to wince as it burns the cracks in her knuckles. She catches the pulp and seeds and throws them away in a tiny waste can.
When my uncle was alive, my aunt never worked outside the home. She looked after their children, kept her home tidy, cooked legendary meals. Now, in exchange for rent, she cares for the landlord's children three days a week. Occasionally, she helps at her cousin's vegetable stand in exchange for tomatoes or eggplants. Often, she relies on her son and what's left of her husband's pension from the Ministry of Education for the rest.
I take the rice from the stovetop. It smells clean, and each puffed white grain looks like an un-bloomed jasmine blossom. The yogurt is already on the table, and when my aunt finally sits down, I serve her before putting a small portion of rice and yogurt and salad in my own plate. We eat in silence, and when we finish I insist that she go to bed while I clean up. She pulls herself up and sighs. The wrinkles around her eyes are pronounced, but the green of her irises shine through, illuminated by the florescent kitchen light.
"Maybe it's a good thing, working in the world when you are young. Then you won't ever be like me. Forced to learn new ways when you are old."
The evening is cool, but it isn't quiet like the seaside. Cars and motorcycles and pedestrians battle for hegemony in the streets, at the crosswalks. The shop windows are bright. There is an insistent buzz emanating form all corners of the city, a constant hum and pop, a low rumble below my feet. I walk quickly, taking careful note of my surroundings and street signs.
For the reading, people have gathered in an apartment above a bakery. The room is full of women with their hair long and braided or short in a bob or curled and colored yellow. The men sip whiskey and I am offered a glass of wine. I don't see Omid, but a young woman approaches and introduces herself as his sister.
"Omid told me to expect you." Her eyes are bright and they shine despite the dim lighting. "Welcome to my house. Please make yourself comfortable. We'll start soon."
I take a seat near the window. Outside it is starting to rain, and flashes of lightning momentarily illuminate the emptying streets below. Somehow the darkness is darker after the lightness. Omid takes a seat next to me just as a quiet expectancy settles over everyone. We turn to the front of the room. There, near an old desk and in front of a commanding bookcase, is Omid's sister. She speaks.
The sea is swirling, angry,
hungry for some offering.
Approaching the water,
I let go of my chador.
The breeze takes hold of this
length of cloth,
this cloak of our times,
this garment of modesty,
a humiliation as familiar as the smell of
my own skin
and casts it aside.
The wind against my bare arms and legs.
The act of letting go.
I touch the edge of the water with my toes.
I am engulfed in the rushing tide.
It feels natural.
The cold, the motions,
and the way that the sea
draws me closer
to its centermost point.
The sand breaks apart under my feet
and there is nothing left to hold me
upright.
The icy coldness breaks the bond that cements
my soul to my body
and I begin an ascent into a precious mile of sky.
I see my body glowing white
beneath the laughing moon,
float and bob and slip away.
We are silent at the conclusion. Other writers and artists take turns performing. Some play music. Omid and I excuse ourselves during an interlude and go out onto the balcony. The rain has slowed and small drops ping and plop onto the metal awning above our heads. I learn then that Omid and his sister are Baha'i. The Islamic Republic of Iran officially considers members of the Baha'i faith to be infidels, and as such denies them many rights, including the right to a proper burial upon death. When his mother died Omid had to drive her lifeless body to the outskirts of the city in a borrowed car. There in the desolate plains and in the belly of unconsecrated earth, he laid her to rest after digging the hole himself.
I touch his hands. They are cold, even in the sweltering warmth and wetness of the air. We stand together for a time exchanging sighs. When he asks me why I came to Tehran, I begin with my babies and the coldness of the earth in winter. I tell him how I can still feel the dirt under my nails and their bodies like air, light and fleeting, tucked into the ice and earth.
"Javad would accuse me of betraying him if he knew, but each time it felt like an act of mercy."
We look out across the sullen rooftops of the nighttime landscape. A sweet humming chant emanates in waves from all around us. Men and women and the high-pitched song of children calling out to a god of redemption.
"Allah-o Akbar," they chant.
"There can be no betrayal or mercy without love," Omid says.
He whispers my name and pulls me into his arms.
"Abaan," he says, "listen."
And we listen to the chanting as it grows, as it comes near and travels far, and back to us again. We listen until the sun rises and casts its light across the concrete structures populating the horizon.
***
The following week I take a job as a low-level clerk in a governmental aid office. I agree to wear a full-length chador and my boss, Kimia Khanoum, an elderly woman with red-rimmed eyes, takes it upon herself to salvage what is left of my soul.
"Separated from your husband? God forbid you don't intend to continue in this state of affairs." Her voice is thick. "If you can't have children, give him the divorce so he can have a family."
It sounds simple. Just let go of Javad. Let him have his way and his divorce so he can remarry without complications. When we first met, I didn't want to marry him. I didn't like the smell of the oil he used to slick back his hair. I found his talk of God at odds with the heavy gold band of his watch and the way he left the top buttons of his shirt open wide to expose the tuft of hair he'd carefully groomed on his chest. He came to our home each Friday before the afternoon prayers to court my family. My mother would fuss over preparing tea and serving fruit. After all, he was the first man to show an interest, since the last one I'd scared off the previous year. He wasn't educated, but his family owned a chain of jewelry stores that my mother was certain would provide some kind of a life. If she let me make lunch, I'd overcook the eggs into a leathery mess or add turmeric when the recipe called for tendrils of saffron. He ate heartily. He laughed too loud at my father's jokes and he looked at me with too much expectation.
"I don't want to get married this year," I'd tell him each Friday.
"I am a patient man, Abaan." I remember seeing a kind of longing in his eyes. I wanted to believe that it was about me, that he was longing for some partner to bear the beautiful chaos of life. I wanted to believe that our life together would be a cooperative effort, aimed at acquiring the things that made a person happy: a house to populate with children, a room to collect memories in, a man to trust with my life. I wanted to believe that I would have a measure of freedom as a wife that I wasn't allowed as a dutiful and unmarried daughter living in a small town along the sea with my aging parents. I imagined that Javad would be proud to send me to university, to allow me the pleasure, useless though it was, to study art and literature, so that one day, I could count myself as having accomplished something. To this end, I extracted declarations of support from him, promises that he would not prohibit me from pursuing an education. He agreed. He swore upon the heads of all of our future children that he would never keep me from getting an education, so long as it didn't interfere with the production of children. So long as I gave him children, I could go to school.
Actually, the longing I saw in his eyes had been a singular longing for sex. It was the grand focus of our new life together, once we eventually married. He'd heard from his friends all the tawdry details of what delights married life would provide him. On our wedding night, he was gentle and kind, even a little scared. But then he began to want to do things that pushed my accommodating indifference to outright horror. I couldn't fathom how to execute his requests. Ultimately, he reasoned that if he couldn't act out his fantasies with a willing participant, he'd act them out with an unwilling one.
I tried to let go of all the hope I'd accumulated in my foolish heart. I cooked to please him. I dressed to please him. I stopped asking about going to school to please him. I survived each evening to serve him hot tea each morning. I believed that one day he might learn to consider my desires as well as his own, but it never came to pass. Eventually, I stopped recognizing the chimera of my own reflection in the mirror.
Our children remained nameless, and I populated the winter earth with their small bodies, bodies I purged from my own. I couldn't bear the prison of motherhood, alongside the prison of being Javad's wife. And there, in Javad's garden, the children stood sentry over the rage in my heart.
I left Javad for the oblivion of a city life and he filed for divorce, though he refused to pay me the mehriyeh he agreed to in our wedding contract on the basis that I was infertile. Proving my fertility would cost me dearly and I wouldn't be able to pursue my studies without the mehriyeh.
Kimia Khanoum hands me a hot glass of tea. I notice her fingers are stained with ink, though her job is to oversee the filing of papers.
"You look like you are thinking very seriously about something. It isn't a good thing, Abaan jan. You'll give yourself wrinkles."
I suppress my laughter and her frown breaks into a broad grin, exposing her jagged and gaping teeth.
"My mother used to tell me that all the time, I listened to her until I was married. Then I couldn't help thinking so much. Have you been thinking about your husband again?"
The tea scalds my lips and then my tongue. She's added too much sugar and my mouth feels sticky and my jaw aches.
"I'm thinking about how I'll manage my studies one day."
"What is it that you want to study?"
"Art, literature, philosophy. Everything."
"You might consider the lessons life will teach you instead. You might consider your freedom in exchange for your pride a small price to pay."
Kimia Khanoum turns back towards her stack of files and begins to work. I ask her why her hands are stained with ink. She looks at me from over the top of the box she's pulled onto the desk.
"Abaan, my girl, my hands are stained with wine."
***
After the summer rains finally end and the sun emerges unscathed and proud, Omid takes me to the Zahra Cemetery to sit among the gravestones and mourn the living. Omid spends a lot of time in cemeteries "defiling," he says, "the pious dead" with his heretical presence.
Omid spreads a picnic blanket near an old tree whose branches stretch upwards and outwards creating a canopy over our heads. The air carries on it the smell of the city and though I am content with my new life, I miss the salty breezes of the seaside home I knew once.
"I called Javad and told him that I would agree to his terms for the divorce. I am going to admit to being infertile and he can keep the mehriyeh."
I don't tell Omid that when I told Javad he laughed a low sweet laugh. He told me that I would never be able to forget him or erase his presence from my body.
Omid looks up and faces the sunshine streaming through the ancient tree's branches in shimmering columns.
"He'll move on, Abaan. He'll marry again and have other children. And you might never have the chance to pursue your studies in this country."
"Yes. In the end, I might be left with less than what I began with."
I look out across the cemetery. The trees here are lush, luscious. They are loose and heady in the breeze that caresses them. The trees along the shore, along the place where I come from, aren't like these Tehran trees. My trees are turned inward. Their bark is boney and exposed. They battle the wind, resist the sun. They have forgotten. They want to forget. Here, in the graveyard of the city where the dead sleep, I can remember.
"Did they have names?" Omid asks.
"No. But they had faces and their eyes weren't closed and in my heart, I could hear them speak."
For a time we sit sipping tea. Omid unties my headscarf and the wind through my hair feels like rebirth. He can see me now as I truly am and he keeps on seeing me, even as I stand to walk away.
In many places, the earth is freshly churned to make room for the newly dead. There are many newly dead in the city now. I walk among the tombstones with bare feet. Small pebbles and dirt stick to my soles. Along a solitary path, far away from where Omid sits, waiting with our tea and bread, I notice great upheavals in the ground, mounds that stretch out and swell. These are the unmarked graves. I imagine the men and women that lay beneath the new earth. I can hear their screaming whispers. They propagate fire.
Kafah Bachari Manna is an Iranian American writer. She is currently at work on a collection of short stories and a novel. Artwork by Hadi Ziaadinin.
Copyright © 2010 Tehran Bureau |
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Back to school! A fresh start, new notebooks and pens, some new clothes, shoes, and a change in the weather make this a favorite time of the year for me. Since my kids start back waaaay before Labor Day, we're well into it now, and they've all even had tests. Tests are and never were my favorite. As much as I loved school, it took me a long time--really until college--to learn how to be a good student, and how to study for tests.
After a message at church a few weeks ago about Joseph (the one with the pretty coat) the idea of tests and testing has been on my mind. After he as appointed a big wig in Egypt and he saved Egypt from a famine, his brothers came to see him, not knowing he was him. Following so far? It says in Genesis (a great story, starting at chapter 37) that Joseph tested his brothers. And at church, our pastor suggested that Joseph's character can be seen as a God role, and the brothers would be us in the story. I thought, "hmmm. God tests us? Does it say He does that?" I've heard about Job, where God allowed Satan to test him, but I never considered God being the tester.
I did a search of the word "test" in the whole Bible. (Careful there, the search brought up any word with test in it, so there's some rules about testicles in Leviticus. Learning something everyday! blech.) God is indeed a tester. He tested Abraham, He tested the Israelites in the desert, He tested the men who wanted to go into battle with Gideon, He tested Hezekiah, to see what was really in his heart. That's all in the Old Testament, you say? True, but God is unchanging.
In the New Testament, we can read that there will be a sorting or separating of wheat from chaff. That sounds like some testing will be involved. (Luke 3:17) How about this little passage from Paul: "Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames." (I Corinthians 3:12-15 NLT) And James tells us, "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." (James 1:2-4 NLT)
When Jesus came to earth and lived as a human, He had a fully human experience, and was also tested. He spent 40 days in the desert and was tempted by Satan. (Luke 4: 1-13) Being late in the game at figuring out how to test well in school, I want to get these tests of my heart right. I believe Jesus showed us by example how to take and pass the tests. Every time Satan spoke to Jesus, His reply began, "The Scriptures say..."
I must know the Word, I must remember the Word, I must say the Word, and repeat the promises that I know are true, because they're in the Word.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
I heard some discussion on the radio about folks predicting Jesus will be returning on some near specific date. Didn't hear the exact date, sorry to let you down, I wish there was a rewind button on my radio. Maybe in 2012, just like the movie that came out last year? This disturbs me. I remember in 1988, there were lots of Christians believing it would happen that fall. It disturbed me then, too. So much so that I quit going to my college classes, and spent all my time hanging out with friends, doing what I wanted to do, and not doing anything that I needed to do. There were some costly consequences for my poor decisions that fall, and still more than 20 years later, I examine how I let myself believe my own lies....
I wonder how this kind of talk is impacting young people today. Is it changing their perspective? I just finished a book that took place during the Blitz in WW2, and people living in London during that time must have thought the end was in front of them (and indeed for millions of people, their world literally WAS shattered). In a time of war, survival is all that drives people. Taking classes, making a living, looking good, taking care of mere possessions, none of this matters. Some of the things that we think are important become so small. What does a young person today think is important while there is chatter in the background of life about 2012? (and I'm not talking about the Presidential election, yawn yawn.)
Regardless of how we think it's all going to come to an end, how are followers of Christ are called to respond to the end approaching? I've studied Revelation, though not super recently, and I think the main point of the book is that there is an urgency to share the Good News. There is hope. We have a Savior. God is offering the hugest gift, that matters in times of war, and in times of blessing. Have we told everyone we know about the gift? Is that important to us?
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Our family has gotten to know a few kids over the last couple of years who come from very different homes than ours. They're growing up in such difficult circumstances. Missing Dads, stepdads in jail, Moms working the graveyard shift in factories, food stamps, months that start with lots of money and a kitchen full of food--ending with empty cupboards and no money. None for the $5 field trip, or for a pack of gum. I was watching kids make their way down to the bus stop this morning, and wondering how this happens, that in that big group, there can be such disparity.
I recalled a heated conversation I had years ago in a college Sociology class about equal opportunity, and how that's one of the things that makes America great. The frustration comes when there may be equal opportunity, but there is not equal experience. Opportunities are there for these kids; they are getting educated, for example, but is it equal to what my kid standing at the same bus stop is getting? When my kid was a baby, I was reading to him, and singing the alphabet with him. I was doing all the things they recommended, feeding him well, sleeping him well, engaging with him. What about his friend? He grew up with drugs, and fighting, and I don't know what all.... So yes, he's getting a public education, but his starting point is so different.
This is heartbreaking. Should I feel guilty about what we have? Maybe not, but I do, a little. Do others have less because of bad choices? Yes, probably, but whose choices? When did it start? Was there never an equal footing? So then I begin to wonder if this idea of "equal opportunity" is just another very Western concept, like "privacy," something we kind of think we have a right to, because of the culture we're in. I don't know. It got me asking what God thinks about equality? What does the Bible say about it?
I did a very quick search of the word "equal" on Biblegateway.com (this is a great site, by the way) just to get an idea of how often and in what context the word shows up in the Bible. Here's what I found:There's lots of instructions, "divide these things equally..."; there's God asking Job and Isaiah, "Is there any equal to Me?...."; there's the Pharisees upset that Jesus would claim to be equal to God. Finally, there's a parable that caught my attention, about workers all getting paid an equal amount for unequal workloads. And Jesus ties that parable up with a bow in Matthew 20:16, saying, "So the last will be first and the first will be last." Hmmm. It's not completely satisfying to me, watching the kid at the bus stop with a not-warm-enough jacket. I mean big, eternal picture, yes, it is satisfying. It's a relief to know that God has this kid, He sees, He knows. But today, in the cold wind, not as much. The cold is temporary, I know, but it's also very real. The pain is real.
The last "equal" on the list is in 2 Corinthians 8, where Paul is writing to the folks in Corinth about taking up a collection for the Lord's people. He is encouraging them to see their commitment through, to give willingly to those who need. Paul says it this way:
Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. As the Scriptures say,“Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough.” (2 Corinthians 8:10-15, NLT)
The Scriptures that Paul is quoting are from Exodus, when God provided manna to the Israelites in the wilderness. Remember that story? No one was able to collect more than they needed, and no one was lacking. There, in the desert, there was real equality, because God provided it. But in the New Testament, and today, there are some with lots, and some with little. And God does provide today, through us. So I will feed these kids when they're here at my house, and I will try to help them know they are valued and loved. And this is where faith comes in, I have to trust that while I do the bit that I can, God is working in the mighty, big-picture, eternal way that I cannot.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
While out for breakfast with friends the other morning, we got to talking about the idea that people everywhere are searching for God. That's why we have so many different religions and beliefs out there; we were made to search for something bigger and greater than us, and while all paths do not necessarily lead to the One God, all paths are trying to find a god. I'm not an expert of world religions, as a matter of fact, I understand very little about other faiths.
I get a little twitchy when it comes to discussions of other religions, partly because of my lack of knowledge. But also because while I want to be loving, I really can't embrace the whole you-do-it-your-way-and-I'll-do-it-my-way thing, since Jesus says He is the ONLY way. Either I believe that's true, or I don't. And if I believe that's true, by gum, I have an obligation to tell you so that you don't miss out. But in telling others, I can step indelicately, hurt feelings, and come off decidedly un-Jesuslike.
The one thing I do know that makes Christianity different, is that while we're all searching and thinking that we're finding a god, only the LORD--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--desires to be in relationship with us. He actually pursues us. I said as much that day at breakfast, and have been mulling that thought over ever since. Then this morning in my homework for a study I'm doing on the book of Jonah, I was reminded of three parables Jesus told to illustrate that while we're seeking, or even when we aren't seeking Him, He loves us and wants us to be in relationship with Him. It's amazing!
In one chapter of Luke, Jesus tells these three stories to a gathering of all kinds of people. Tax collectors, sinner-types, and religious leaders and scholars, so we know these stories are meant for all of us to hear. Check it out:
Luke 15Parable of the Lost SheepTax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
Parable of the Lost Coin “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
Parable of the Lost SonTo illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’
“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”
I'm grateful for the lesson this morning in my study, because it's a reminder that in following Christ, I do find God, THE God who has been searching for me, and throws a party every time one of the lost ones makes their way to Him. |
"A Detailed Look at Final Fantasy VII's Staying Power"
First of all, this review is not spoiler-free. Final Fantasy VII has been out for 11 years and is still retaining a huge amount of popularity, and this review is an analysis of why it's been so enduring. If you somehow haven't played it, don't read this review.
A review on Final Fantasy VII? Why, that's so original! Why haven't 120 other people already posted reviews on Final Fantasy VII on GameFAQs?
But this particular review is different. Now, 11 years later, Final Fantasy VII has proven that it has withstood the tests of time. To date, it's still played by thousands of people all around the world every year, it has inspired countless spin-offs, and its characters are consistently rated as among the most popular characters of all-time, alongside the likes of Mario and Link, who had dozens of games to build their popularity.
I, personally, first played Final Fantasy VII 7 years ago. It was my first RPG, and to date, it is not my favorite - that title goes to Final Fantasy 9. Yet, on a seemingly yearly basis, I get the urge to play Final Fantasy VII again. Just now I completed my 7th play-through, following a run through the prequel, Crisis Core.
7 years since I first played, and this my 7th play-through of Final Fantasy 7. Sensing a pattern? But with all my previous experience, the answer to one question eluded me: why is Final Fantasy VII so popular, so lasting, so transcendent? Why do so many people still brush aside the Popeye-like character models and visit the world of Midgar and materia once more, 11 years after its creation?
Some people have proposed simple ideas for this. Final Fantasy VII was the first big-budget RPG in 3D. And because of that, Final Fantasy VII was many gamers' first RPG, and so it has a special place in their hearts. Simple, right?
That's not good enough for me. I don't believe for a second that Final Fantasy VII succeeded and lasted so long solely because it came along at the right time, on the right console, with then-cutting edge graphics. Sure, it revolutionized the RPG industry, but if it hadn't, some other game would. But in order to achieve the downright transcendent level of popularity that Final Fantasy VII has tapped, it simply had to be more than that.
So, with that in mind, I set out on my 7th run-through of Final Fantasy VII, keeping a special eye for things that I believe set Final Fantasy VII apart - aspects that games before it didn't do, and aspects that games after it haven't done since - a list of reasons why Final Fantasy VII is Final Fantasy VII.
And my results? I've found twelve things (I know, you were expecting seven) that I feel set Final Fantasy VII apart. Some are advancements that, as the first 3D RPG, it really didn't have to do to enhance its image. Some are plot elements that other games haven't quite been able to capture. Some are inclusions that are generally good for any RPG. And some are simply unquantifiable.
Some are obvious. Some are subtle. Some are major. Some are so small you'll wonder why I even bothered including them here. And some probably never occurred to you, but as soon as you read them you'll realize, "Huh, I guess that was pretty cool." But all, I feel, contributed to Final Fantasy VII becoming as popular as it is today.
Minigames and Sidequests
We'll start with an obvious one. It's something that's often forgotten when you think back on the game, but you'll complete a mini-game or mini-task every hour of the game. From tiny tasks, like the Mayor Domino's password, Rufus's send-off and the Junon parade, to major minigames, like the submarine game and now-famous snowboarding game, there's constant interruption from the typical flow of the game.
This is rather underappreciated, but it's critical to maintaining the quick-feeling flow of the game. The fundamental sequence of run around, battle, run around, battle that comprises the core of most RPGs becomes very mundane after a while. But Final Fantasy VII's incredibly frequent diversions comprise an effective way to break up the monotony.
A close corollary of that is Final Fantasy VII's abundance of sidequests and optional areas. Wutai, Ultimate Weapon, Fort Condor, the Sunken Gelnika and of course, Chocobo Races: these optional areas and tasks provide great diversions from the main quest.
But it's not enough to just have a bunch of sidequests - you must also have...
Sidequests are consistently available
This has always been one of my pet peeves of many games - Final Fantasy VIII especially comes to mind. In so many RPGs, sidequests really aren't feasible - or often even available - until the end. You've completed the entire rest of the plot, all that remains is entering the final dungeon for the final battle, and suddenly you have a whole host of alternatives available. At this point, completing the optional parts can become more of a chore - an ironic situation considering only a few hours earlier you were likely desperate for something to do besides just run through the plot.
Final Fantasy VII somehow captures what other games have missed out on. Wutai, Chocobo Races, Fort Condor: these are all available throughout substantial portions of the game. The player has the option of completing a sidequest when it best suits them (when they've grown a bit bored of the main plot, for example), and is never fully forced to turn away from the main plot to complete one just because it will soon cease to be available.
Part of the reason Final Fantasy VII was able to accomplish this is through the use of the airship, making it easy to travel among the different locations, which brings us to our next point...
Access to the airship for a large portion of the game
I don't mean to nitpick on Final Fantasy VIII since this is a fault of many RPGs, but it in particular comes to mind: in Final Fantasy VIII, when you get the airship, you have two options: do sidequests, or finish the game. No plot progression actually occurs while the airship is in your possession. It's little more than a tool to enable easier exploration of the world, not a tool for accomplishing any plot objectives. And this is the airship's role in many other games as well.
Final Fantasy VII, however, is different. The airship is in your possession for a good third of the game, and it serves as your transportation among several required portions of the plot (after receiving it, you still must go by Mideel, Corel, Fort Condor, Junon, Rocket Town, The City of the Ancients, and Midgar). This may seem somewhat minor, but I feel it adds some crucial entertainment to the game. The need to travel around the entire world (and the ability to fly over it) hammers home the idea that the conflict your characters are in is for the future of the planet, an effect that can never be fully grasped for earth-bound characters. It also cements your characters' status as a real team with a real objective, not a rag-tag collection of misfits that just happens to somehow save the world.
This constant possession of the airship also enables another severely underappreciated aspect of the game...
You actually revisit cities
This has long been a pet peeve of my in RPGs. You're traveling around, you get to a beautifully rendered and vibrant town, you finish the plot portion there... and then you never, ever return. But this is still the formula for most RPGs - you visit each location once and move on. Sometimes you come back for weapons or sidequests, but not for actual plot development.
Final Fantasy VII is the extreme opposite end of the spectrum. Not only do you revisit several places, you actually revisit most places: Midgar, Fort Condor, Junon, Corel, the Gold Saucer, Cosmo Canyon, Rocket Town, the City of the Ancients and Mideel are all visited at least twice within the core plot of the game.
These last two I believe are absolutely critical to what has kept Final Fantasy VII so endearing: it isn't a linear path through a linear plotline. The plotline may be linear, but the pathway taken among it encompasses the whole world multiple times. In the end, instead of recalling cities in the order of their initial visit, you actually recall them by their geographic location because this time, their location actually mattered. You didn't have to just find them once and forget about them. You didn't magically find yourself where the next point in the plot took place. You went about on your own, chasing the plot in what seemed like an independent, non-linear way, even as the plotline was essentially linear.
And this seeming non-linearity (despite the decidedly linear plot) is enhanced even further by another aspect...
The World Map changes
Another underappreciated aspect of the game, but as you progress, items on the world map actually alter their appearance. The Temple of the Ancients disappears into a hole in the ground; Mideel is wiped off the face of the planet; Junon's cannon finds itself transported to Midgar; the rocket in Rocket Town actually takes off; the Weapons leave enormous craters where they land, highlighted by Ultima Weapon's ridiculous destruction of the earth outside Junon; and a shield forms - then disappears - around the Northern Crater.
Why does this matter? To me, these changes really reinforce the idea that what your characters are doing in the game actually matters. This isn't a story that's carved into the framework of an existing world and lives humbly inside it: this is a story that impacts and affects the world, destroying buildings and reforming the ground itself. These are aspects that matter, and people actually react to them, unlike in so many other games where your group is on a quest to save the world, except somehow no one knows about it.
The ability to roam freely and easily, the requirement to revisit places you've already been before, and the constant changes in the World Map (often directly due to your actions), really tie together the Final Fantasy VII planet as a cohesive entity and not just a necessary element for a story to take place on.
Soundtrack
An obvious inclusion, but it can't be underestimated. The soundtrack of Final Fantasy VII remains one of the most iconic video game soundtracks of all time (although admittedly, part of that is the popularity of the game as a whole enhancing the popularity of the soundtrack). One-Winged Angel's popularity is well-documented, but the music behind other parts - like the final Jenova battle and Diamond Weapon's attack on Midgar - are fantastic as well.
Perhaps the highlight of the soundtrack comes at the very end, in the closing FMV (or maybe this is simply my favorite part). Here we not only receive perfect music for the desperation as the crater collapses, but Aeris's theme and Tifa's theme are expertly inputted to symbolize the transition from Aeris saving the world to Tifa saving Cloud. It's that type of musical use that pervades the game and makes the soundtrack so memorable - the music doesn't simply set the scene, it connects various parts. Tifa's theme, Aeris's theme, and Jenova's theme all recur throughout the game, drawing connections for the player that they might not pick up on themselves.
Camera movement during battles
Nowadays, this is completely taken for granted: the camera moves around the battlefield to highlight certain characters, certain spells, certain actions. It's a cornerstone of the battle sequence - entire teams exist in game development whose sole objective is to design this camera effectively.
Final Fantasy VII, as the first major 3D RPG, developed this innovation - but they didn't have to. As the first 3D RPG, they could've simply had 3D models of the characters on one side of the screen and 3D models of the enemy on the other, similar to the way classic 2D RPGs display the battlefield. The presence of 3D models for the actions would've made up for the stationary camera, and likely no one would've commented on its absence - it simply would be an innovation left for the next game.
But Final Fantasy VII went above and beyond and developed this new display tactic. They didn't have to - they had enough innovations in the game to more than support it. But they went the extra mile and made the game not just adequate, not just great: they did absolutely everything they could do to make this game perfect. Another example of this is the ability for you to move your own characters during some FMVs, like the entrance to the crater. The incredible FMVs were enough, but they opted to include the functionality to move your character during the FMVs as well. They did absolutely everything that could've been asked of them.
Plot sequences are cohesive
A bit of an outlier compared to the rest of these notes, one thing that can't be said about the Final Fantasy VII plot is that it tends get a little plodding; I've heard dozens of criticisms of Final Fantasy VII (many valid), but never that the plot is too slow or too tedious.
There are many reasons for this, such as a generally interesting plotline, a persistent goal (never just traveling without reason) and frequent movement between locales, but this one is less obvious: the cohesiveness of individual plot sequences goes a long way in helping the plot stay interesting. While there is something to be said for a plot that blends seamlessly among separate locations and events, the trouble with a plot like that is that the game tends to all run together in the player's mind. There's never a sense of progress through the game as there aren't discrete moments of notable change in progression.
Final Fantasy VII, instead, separates different elements of the plot very discretely. There Junon sequence is discrete from the Costa Del Sol sequence; the Corel sequence is discrete from the Gold Saucer sequence. What this does is it gives the player a consistent feeling of progress. There's never a question of "I've played for two hours, and what have I gotten done?" The player feels they're consistently making headway through the plot, and thus the plot does not ever seem slow and plodding.
This has the added benefit of enhancing recall of the game. The human brain can only associate so much together before it begins to become jumbled; it's not able to accurately sort and place the elements of a plot without any 'gaps' in it, be they for travel or some other idle task. The discrete nature of Final Fantasy VII's plot sequences allow them each individually to be easily recalled. The first Junon sequence, for example, has a very clear beginning and end, enhancing the player's ability to recall what happens in between. The absence of these clear beginnings and clear ends makes sort events difficult, a problem for many more games with more 'smooth' plots.
An emotional, sensical, necessary, and initially confusing death
One of the defining moments in RPG history, this one's rather obvious - Aeris's death is likely the most memorable moment of Final Fantasy VII for most of its players. But Aeris was hardly the first fictional character to die, and wasn't even the first RPG character to die (although she's the first major playable character to die). What makes Aeris's death more memorable than any of the deaths that precede it?
It's the perfect combination of multiple plot elements - before, during and after - the sequence that makes it as poignant as it is. First of all, the death is obviously emotional, for a wide variety of reasons. For one, among the members of your party, Aeris is almost the schoolgirl, the child - she's young, innocent and borderline naive. She's the least deserving of death of any of your party members. Her position on the platform enhances this - she's kneeling and praying, completely defenseless. She is a completely innocent victim, with absolutely no level of justice in her death.
Her death is also sensical to the plotline - it's not contrived for shock value, it's not placed in because the developers believed it would enhance the game's popularity; it's actually a sensical piece of the plot. Sephiroth is seeking to summon Meteor and destroy the earth, and Aeris is the only one that can stop him: these are two key pieces to the plot, not add-ons to shine some realism on the death the writers wanted anyway.
But more than the death simply being sensical, it's downright necessary. This point is arguable (and has been argued over the entire course of the game's history), but my interpretation is that Aeris's death was actually necessary for the planet to be saved. Bugenhagen states, "If a soul seekingHoly reaches the planet, it will appear." To me, that means that Aeris actually had to die and her soul return to the lifestream in order for Holy to be summoned. In effect, Sephiroth killing Aeris is exactly what resulted in Meteor being defeated. It was necessary for the plot, and it was the ultimate in poetic justice: Sephiroth played a part in his own downfall. This idea, to me, is simply beautiful.
But it's not enough to just be that beautiful and perfect - the effect of this poetic justice is enhanced tenfold by a simple idea: you don't initially know what impact her death has. At the time, her death appears to just be an indication of Sephiroth's cruelty, killing a defenseless girl. It's a murder, but nothing more. But as the game goes on, you learn the true impact, the true value that her death had. It's because of her death that the world is saved. It's because Sephiroth murdered her that she was able to reach the planet and summon Holy. But you didn't know that - you don't learn it until long after she's gone. That's sheerly beautiful.
...and the aftermath: the consistent possibility of another death
While Aeris's death is an obvious cornerstone of Final Fantasy VII's popularity, it has an effect that isn't fully appreciated. It used to be a common idea in the entertainment industry that two people never die: a main character, or the dog. It was part of the culture that you knew that the main characters wouldn't die, no matter how much danger they were in. Supporting characters could die, but it was an unspoken tenet that the characters that you could equip and level-up would stay with you.
Aeris changed that, and the shadow of it hangs over the rest of the game. When Tifa is in the gas chamber or when Cloud is lost in himself in Mideel, you can't depend any longer on that unspoken knowledge that they'll be ok. One character has already died, how are you to know another won't? This alteration in the fundamental game dynamic cuts through its initial nature as a dependable, standard game and instantly sets it apart as one in which anything is fair game.
An ambiguous ending
The ultimate gamble for any game, movie, book or show. The ambiguous ending is a very delicate balance: you have to give enough information for the viewer to ask questions, but not so much that someone can figure out the answers. Plus, you have to provide something unexpected: it's not enough to set the entire game up for one question (will Holy stop Meteor?) and then simply not answer it.
Final Fantasy VII hits that balance on the head. The ending sequence provides plenty of information: we know that Holy was effectively summoned, we know that Meteor broke through, and we know the Lifestream started coming out. What we don't know is what happens after that. Does the Lifestream stop Meteor's impact? Or was the Lifestream just gathering to heal the imminent wound?
And just for an additional twist, we do find out that the planet wasn't destroyed altogether: after the credits we see Red XIII with cubs galloping out 500 years later. Questions answered, right? Wrong - as Bugenhagen said, when Holy appears, "Everything will disappear. Perhaps, even, ourselves." While the planet might not be destroyed, it isn't mankind that we see living there - it's Red XIII, a lion. Did Holy wipe humanity off the face of the planet? There's no way of knowing until Advent Children came out.
Charm
That wonderfully unquantifiable, indescribable little aspect that we like to call 'charm'. Charm, to me, is the little things throughout the game that a modern game likely wouldn't do, or couldn't do. These are things that simply would've be entertaining viewed in our fully 3D vibrant world that we live in now.
The date sequence, especially the play, comes to mind. A modern game wouldn't be able to capture the simple entertainment from it. Done in full 3D, it would look silly; and with voice actors, it'd be downright awkward. The same can be said for the Honeybee Inn. For Final Fantasy VII, it's suggestive enough for older kids to understand, but innocent enough for younger kids to be blissfully ignorant of what the heck is going on. Could a new game get away with that? I certainly don't think so. Final Fantasy VII is, quite simply, a charming game - and that, to me, is the unquantifiable, subtle aspect that really helps Final Fantasy VII retain an audience with the current generation. Despite its age, it still has things you simply can't find in the modern era of games.
Final Fantasy VII is in and of itself a great game, though it's the discrete, subtle things that it does that has taken it to the transcendent level it has reached. It was in the right place at the right time to be the first 3D RPG, but that isn't the source of its persistent popularity. Final Fantasy VII was a rich combination of new technical features, excellent ideas, and simple inclusions that took the game to its own place in gamers' hearts. There have been many great games since, but none has been able to capture the magic, the perfection, or the charm of Final Fantasy VII. |
1. Introduction {#sec1-nutrients-11-02898}
===============
Advancing age is characterized by a progressive decline in multiple physiological functions, leading to an increased vulnerability to stressors and augmented risk of adverse outcomes \[[@B1-nutrients-11-02898],[@B2-nutrients-11-02898],[@B3-nutrients-11-02898]\]. During the aging process, several factors may affect body shape from both clinical and functional perspectives. Reduction in smell and taste senses, poor appetite (the so-called "anorexia of aging"), and decreased energy expenditure may all contribute to poor nutrition. Moreover, illnesses, medications, as well as poor oral health (for example, due to teeth loss and poorly fitting dentures) can exacerbate anorexia \[[@B4-nutrients-11-02898],[@B5-nutrients-11-02898],[@B6-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Nutritional status among older people may be also influenced by living or eating alone, poor financial status, dismobility, and decreased ability to shop or prepare meals \[[@B7-nutrients-11-02898],[@B8-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Psychosocial factors including loneliness, sleep disorders, dementia, and depression are also recognized to have a negative impact on the dietary intake of older subjects \[[@B9-nutrients-11-02898]\].
Furthermore, with aging, there is a progressive loss in muscle mass and strength, whereas fat mass and fat infiltration of muscle increase \[[@B10-nutrients-11-02898],[@B11-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Sarcopenia is the term, introduced for the first time in 1988 by Irwin Rosenberg, to indicate the pathologic reduction in muscle mass and strength leading to a poor function \[[@B12-nutrients-11-02898],[@B13-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Interestingly, in recent years, it has been highlighted that sarcopenia is not limited to lower limbs, but is a whole-body process \[[@B14-nutrients-11-02898],[@B15-nutrients-11-02898],[@B16-nutrients-11-02898]\], also affecting the muscles devoted to chewing and swallowing \[[@B10-nutrients-11-02898],[@B17-nutrients-11-02898]\], with a negative impact on food intake. In fact, atrophy of muscles critical for the respiratory and swallowing functions has been reported \[[@B14-nutrients-11-02898],[@B18-nutrients-11-02898],[@B19-nutrients-11-02898],[@B20-nutrients-11-02898],[@B21-nutrients-11-02898],[@B22-nutrients-11-02898]\].
The variety of dental problems experienced by older people can result in chewing difficulties determining changes in food selection, thus leading to malnutrition and consequently to frailty \[[@B23-nutrients-11-02898]\] and sarcopenia \[[@B10-nutrients-11-02898],[@B23-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Poor oral status may also predispose one to a chronic low-grade systemic inflammation through periodontal disease \[[@B24-nutrients-11-02898],[@B25-nutrients-11-02898]\], which has an increased prevalence in those who are not able to perform the daily oral hygiene procedures \[[@B26-nutrients-11-02898]\], and it is a well-known risk factor in the pathogenesis of frailty \[[@B27-nutrients-11-02898]\] and sarcopenia \[[@B28-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Furthermore, periodontal disease has been associated with faster decline in handgrip strength \[[@B29-nutrients-11-02898]\], and recent studies showed an association between chewing difficulties and frailty \[[@B24-nutrients-11-02898]\].
Therefore, a hypothetical triangle oral status--nutrition--sarcopenia, exposing the older person to the frailty disabling cascade, may be suggested, as seen in [Figure 1](#nutrients-11-02898-f001){ref-type="fig"}.
2. Oral Changes with Aging {#sec2-nutrients-11-02898}
==========================
Poor oral health is not an inevitable part of aging since good care throughout the life course can result in the maintenance of functional teeth later in life \[[@B24-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Throughout a lifetime, the oral cavity experiences a variety of physiological modifications, such as enamel changes, fractures lines and stains, as well as dentin exposure and darkening of the tooth. At the same time, in the inner part of the tooth, several changes, such as the deposition of secondary dentin reducing the size of the pulp chamber and canals, may also occur \[[@B30-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Furthermore, in older people, tooth wear is frequently observed, affecting more than 85% of all the teeth groups in both the mandible and maxilla \[[@B31-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Additionally, a loss in terms of elastic fibers in the connective tissue has been documented and, subsequently, the oral mucosa becomes less resilient \[[@B32-nutrients-11-02898]\].
However, older people, especially those who are institutionalized or with limited financial resources, may experience problems to access oral care. Furthermore, it has been documented that older people frequently have difficulty expressing complaints and assign low priority to oral health until dental problems become intolerable \[[@B33-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Oral problems among older people have been implicated in a high prevalence of tooth loss, dental caries, periodontal disease, xerostomia, and oral precancer/cancer lesions \[[@B34-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Periodontitis and dental caries are very common diseases, especially in older people, and are considered the main cause of tooth loss \[[@B35-nutrients-11-02898]\].
Around the age of 70, there is also a peak of root/cementum caries, as a result of both tooth retention and major exposure of these surfaces following periodontal support loss. Moreover, older people are at higher risk of periodontitis since it is a cumulative disease, especially with regard to the multirooted teeth \[[@B36-nutrients-11-02898]\].
2.1. Edentulism {#sec2dot1-nutrients-11-02898}
---------------
Edentulism is a pathological condition characterized by multiple missing teeth; it can be partial or total. The etiology of tooth loss includes factors such as predisposition, diet, hormonal status, coexisting diseases, hygiene habits, and use of dental clinics. Additionally, edentulism may result from an unsuccessful periodontal treatment or important carious lesions \[[@B37-nutrients-11-02898],[@B38-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Dental disease and loss of teeth are not part of normal aging, but if this occurs, it is probably a result of neglected oral hygiene and/or an inadequate treatment \[[@B39-nutrients-11-02898],[@B40-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Edentulism is exacerbated when masticatory function is not restored with dental prostheses \[[@B41-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Tooth loss affects the individual ability to chew determining an alteration of food choices \[[@B42-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Indeed, edentulous people are at greater risk of malnutrition than dentate or partially dentate individuals \[[@B43-nutrients-11-02898]\], and, consequently, with an increased susceptibility to sarcopenia and frailty \[[@B25-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Tooth loss is also a risk factor for disability, since it impedes self-sufficiency and worsens the quality of life \[[@B42-nutrients-11-02898]\].
2.2. Dry Mouth {#sec2dot2-nutrients-11-02898}
--------------
Saliva is pivotal for bolus formation and consequently is also related to the sensory and textural experience. Xerostomia is a clinical condition characterized by an excessive sensation of dryness in the mouth, which is not necessarily linked to salivary gland hypofunction \[[@B30-nutrients-11-02898],[@B44-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Xerostomia is estimated to affect 25--50% of older individuals \[[@B45-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Etiologic factors include polypharmacy (especially with antihypertensives, antidepressants, and antipsychotics) \[[@B46-nutrients-11-02898]\], diseases, poor general health, female sex, and older age \[[@B47-nutrients-11-02898],[@B48-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Furthermore, radiation for head and neck cancers can damage salivary glands, leading to permanent xerostomia \[[@B49-nutrients-11-02898]\]. With aging, there is also a reduced salivary flow in salivary glands, which cannot be explained only on the basis of medications \[[@B50-nutrients-11-02898]\]. In fact, salivary hypofunction and xerostomia are two distinct constructs that are frequently improperly used interchangeably \[[@B33-nutrients-11-02898]\].
However, it has been reported that nearly one third of older adults complaining of xerostomia do not present any reduction of the salivary flow or saliva secretion. This suggests a psychological component may be involved when reporting the symptom \[[@B30-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Nonetheless, hyposalivation may seriously compromise chewing function and early digestive process. A reduced quantity of saliva can, in fact, affect the preparation of the alimentary bolus and the swallowing \[[@B51-nutrients-11-02898]\].
2.3. Periodontal Disease {#sec2dot3-nutrients-11-02898}
------------------------
Periodontitis is described as a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the supporting tissues of the teeth, leading to a progressive destruction of the periodontium \[[@B52-nutrients-11-02898]\]. It can also cause mobility and displacement of the remaining teeth and is often linked to difficulty in chewing. Prevalence of periodontal disease, considering a periodontal index score of 4 (deep pockets), ranges from approximately 5% to 70% among older people \[[@B53-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Periodontitis is a cumulative disease; therefore, it becomes increasingly severe as the person ages \[[@B30-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Poor oral hygiene is a critical determinant of periodontitis since it leads to the formation of dental plaque containing microorganisms \[[@B54-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Systemic risk factors for periodontal disease also include other behaviors, such as smoking, medical conditions (i.e., poorly controlled diabetes, obesity, stress, osteopenia), and inadequate dietary consumption of calcium and vitamin D \[[@B55-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Since periodontitis share some characteristics with other systemic inflammatory diseases, a relationship between periodontitis and other inflammatory pathologies (i.e., diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and rheumatoid arthritis) has been proposed \[[@B56-nutrients-11-02898]\].
In recent years, the role of the diet in periodontitis has been highlighted. To date, it has been documented that a diet poor in fruit and vegetables and therefore in micronutrients may lead to a greater inflammatory response of periodontal tissues that support the tooth. Interestingly, a recent systematic review of the relationship between dietary intake and periodontal health in community-dwelling older adults, reported positive associations between periodontal disease and lower intakes of docosahexaenoic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, β-carotene, milk, fermented dairy products, dietary fiber, fruits and vegetables, and higher intakes of omega-6/omega-3 ratio and saturated fatty acids \[[@B57-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Additionally, micronutrient deficiencies can negatively affect healing following periodontal surgery \[[@B58-nutrients-11-02898]\]. At the same time, the loss of dental elements due to periodontitis can negatively affect the nutritional status of the patient, resulting in a discomfort during chewing and leading to a selection of soft and easy-to-chew foods.
2.4. Dental Caries {#sec2dot4-nutrients-11-02898}
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Dental caries is a multifactorial infectious disease characterized by the demineralization and destruction of the dental substance: enamel, in fact, is susceptible to acid dissolution over time. The pathological changes of the dental structure may have serious consequences, ultimately leading to the breakdown of the teeth themselves \[[@B59-nutrients-11-02898]\]. The prevalence of dental caries varies between 20% and 60% in community-dwelling older people and 60% and 80% in care home settings \[[@B60-nutrients-11-02898],[@B61-nutrients-11-02898],[@B62-nutrients-11-02898],[@B63-nutrients-11-02898],[@B64-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Various predisposing conditions to dental caries have been reported, including carbohydrate (especially simple sugars) consumption, diabetes, and poor socioeconomic conditions \[[@B60-nutrients-11-02898],[@B65-nutrients-11-02898],[@B66-nutrients-11-02898],[@B67-nutrients-11-02898],[@B68-nutrients-11-02898]\].
With increasing age, people may experience physical and cognitive decline, which may result in poor oral hygiene, leading to an increased incidence of caries. Over time, small lesions already filled can need a larger dental restoration, that can lead to a tooth fracture or an endodontic treatment \[[@B30-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Endodontic therapy (also known as root canal treatment) is a necessary procedure in case of inflamed or infected dental pulp. It consists in the removal of the pulp, both in the coronal and radicular part of the tooth, and in its replacement with a gutta-percha permanent filling (a substance of vegetable origin such as natural rubber). Xerostomia is closely related to a higher risk for developing caries since loss of saliva may lead to an increased acidity of the mouth. This leads to different situations that may contribute to the development of the dental caries: the proliferation of bacteria, the loss of minerals from the tooth surfaces, and the loss of lubrication \[[@B69-nutrients-11-02898]\].
2.5. Impact of Oral Health on Nutritional Status {#sec2dot5-nutrients-11-02898}
------------------------------------------------
Nutrition is a key modulator of health in older persons. Inadequate intake of nutrients is a well-known contributing factor in the progression of many diseases. This also has a significant impact in the complex etiology of sarcopenia and frailty \[[@B70-nutrients-11-02898],[@B71-nutrients-11-02898],[@B72-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Due to a decline in many functions, including poor oral status, dietary intake is often compromised in older people and the risk of malnutrition is increased. Particularly, acute and chronic illnesses and medications as well as poor dentition can exacerbate anorexia \[[@B5-nutrients-11-02898],[@B70-nutrients-11-02898],[@B73-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Oral problems in older individuals are associated with modifications in food selection and, therefore, in nutrient intake \[[@B25-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Deterioration of oral health can ultimately lead to the development of chronic conditions such as diabetes \[[@B74-nutrients-11-02898]\] and cardiovascular problems \[[@B75-nutrients-11-02898],[@B76-nutrients-11-02898],[@B77-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Masticatory performance is affected by the number of teeth in functional occlusion \[[@B78-nutrients-11-02898],[@B79-nutrients-11-02898],[@B80-nutrients-11-02898]\], the maximal biting force \[[@B81-nutrients-11-02898],[@B82-nutrients-11-02898]\], denture wearing \[[@B83-nutrients-11-02898]\] and xerostomia \[[@B84-nutrients-11-02898]\]. The functional occlusion during mandibular closure is provided by the even and simultaneous contact of all remaining teeth (at least 20 with 10 contiguous teeth in each arch) \[[@B85-nutrients-11-02898]\].
Tooth loss has been implicated in the reduction of chewing ability and in difficulties in bolus formation \[[@B86-nutrients-11-02898]\]. To date, it has been reported that as number of remaining teeth decrease, the bolus size increases leading to a dysfunctional swallowing \[[@B87-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Edentulous individuals, even when using well-made dentures, may experience more chewing difficulties than dentate people \[[@B88-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Therefore, they may be considered as the group more prone to changing their diet \[[@B89-nutrients-11-02898],[@B90-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Older people who experience dental problems frequently avoid harder foods such as meats, fruits, and vegetables which are typically major sources of proteins, fiber, vitamins, and minerals \[[@B41-nutrients-11-02898],[@B88-nutrients-11-02898],[@B91-nutrients-11-02898]\]. The lack of these latter key nutrients may expose older individuals to an increased risk for malnutrition, frailty, and sarcopenia \[[@B24-nutrients-11-02898],[@B92-nutrients-11-02898]\]. In addition, it is well established that micronutrient deficiencies, even subtle, may lead to oxidative stress and consequently to inflammation. Therefore, these processes can further exacerbate sarcopenia and frailty and become a clear risk factor for periodontitis. Nutritional deficiencies may also negatively affect the mineralization process, increasing the susceptibility to dental caries \[[@B93-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Furthermore, undernutrition can exacerbate the severity of oral infections \[[@B94-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Indeed, with advancing age, people show a tendency to select soft foods due to difficulty and fatigue of chewing \[[@B10-nutrients-11-02898],[@B95-nutrients-11-02898]\]. However, these latter are frequently processed foods that are high in fat and sugar and with a poor content of vitamins and minerals, leading to fat deposition, oxidative stress, inflammation, and, consequently, increased risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome \[[@B88-nutrients-11-02898],[@B95-nutrients-11-02898],[@B96-nutrients-11-02898],[@B97-nutrients-11-02898]\]. In fact, it is well established that obesity leads to chronic low-grade inflammation, increasing the susceptibility to dental caries, periodontal disease, and tooth loss \[[@B98-nutrients-11-02898]\]. The excess of energy is stored in adipocytes and leads to both hypertrophy and hyperplasia, resulting in an abnormal adipocyte function. This may increase mitochondrial stress and altered endoplasmatic reticulum function. Furthermore, adipocyte-associated inflammatory macrophages can also induce oxidative stress \[[@B99-nutrients-11-02898]\]. On the other hand, it is widely recognized that an excessive consumption of simple sugars is a major risk factor for dental caries \[[@B100-nutrients-11-02898],[@B101-nutrients-11-02898]\].
Large epidemiological studies, such as the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) \[[@B102-nutrients-11-02898]\] and the US National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES) \[[@B103-nutrients-11-02898],[@B104-nutrients-11-02898]\], reported an association between poor dental status and inadequate dietary intake in older people. In particular, they reported that edentulous subjects, with and without prosthesis, consumed less fruits and vegetables. Moreover, decreased protein and micronutrient intake, together with increased carbohydrate consumption, has been reported in people with less than 21 teeth \[[@B104-nutrients-11-02898]\].
3. Sarcopenia and Oral Status {#sec3-nutrients-11-02898}
=============================
Sarcopenia, defined as the progressive and accelerated loss of muscle mass and function, is a major determinant of several adverse outcomes including frailty, disability, and mortality \[[@B13-nutrients-11-02898],[@B105-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Although sarcopenia is a condition commonly observed with the aging process, it can also occur earlier in life \[[@B106-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Since 2016, sarcopenia has been recognized as an independent condition with an International Classification of Disease, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) Diagnosis Code \[[@B107-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Recently, the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) \[[@B106-nutrients-11-02898]\] updated their consensus on definition and diagnosis (EWGSOP2). In this revised consensus, low muscle strength is considered a key characteristic of sarcopenia, and poor physical performance is identified as indicative of severe sarcopenia. Moreover, EWGSOP2 have recommended specific cut-off points to identify and characterize the sarcopenic condition, and provide an algorithm that can be used for case-finding.
Sarcopenia has a complex multifactorial pathogenesis, which involves lifestyle habits (i.e., malnutrition, physical inactivity), disease triggers, and age-dependent biological changes (i.e., chronic inflammation, mitochondrial abnormalities, loss of neuromuscular junctions, reduced satellite cell numbers, hormonal alterations) \[[@B108-nutrients-11-02898],[@B109-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Sarcopenia is a whole-body process, affecting not only lower extremities, but also muscles dedicated to breathing, mastication, and swallowing \[[@B14-nutrients-11-02898],[@B18-nutrients-11-02898],[@B19-nutrients-11-02898],[@B20-nutrients-11-02898],[@B21-nutrients-11-02898],[@B22-nutrients-11-02898]\]. In particular, swallowing is a complex mechanism involving several head and neck muscles simultaneously and in conjunction to coordinate the entire process \[[@B110-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Several age-related changes, such as as reduction of tissue elasticity, changes of the head and neck anatomy, reduced oral and pharyngeal sensitivity, and impaired dental status, may contribute to different degrees to a subtle swallowing impairment, the so called "presbyphagia". It is usually an asymptomatic condition in which swallowing function is preserved, but tends to slowly worsen as the aging process advances \[[@B16-nutrients-11-02898],[@B111-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Presbyphagia may increase the risk of dysphagia and aspiration in older people, especially during acute illnesses and other stressors \[[@B112-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Moreover, reductions in muscle mass of the geniohyoid, pterygoid, masseter, tongue, and pharyngeal muscles have been documented in older individuals \[[@B20-nutrients-11-02898],[@B113-nutrients-11-02898],[@B114-nutrients-11-02898],[@B115-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Several authors also reported a decline in the strength of the swallowing muscles with aging or sarcopenia \[[@B116-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Maximal tongue strength decreases with aging \[[@B116-nutrients-11-02898],[@B117-nutrients-11-02898],[@B118-nutrients-11-02898],[@B119-nutrients-11-02898]\], and there is some evidence that aging leads to a decreased jaw-opening force in older men. Several authors also reported an association between tongue strength and handgrip strength \[[@B120-nutrients-11-02898],[@B121-nutrients-11-02898]\]. A decrease in tongue strength has been associated with a decline of activities of daily living \[[@B122-nutrients-11-02898]\], and a reduced tongue thickness has been noted in people with low body weight \[[@B20-nutrients-11-02898]\].
Lip function is also important for feeding. In fact, poor lip muscle closure may cause leakage through the corners of the mouth \[[@B123-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Additionally, decreased lip strength has been suggested to occur due to sarcopenia and to be related to difficulties in eating and drinking (i.e., dysphagia) \[[@B117-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Lip force has been associated with hand grip strength and lip pendency has been associated with aging \[[@B117-nutrients-11-02898],[@B124-nutrients-11-02898]\].
Indeed, since it has been shown that skeletal muscle mass and strength decline may affect both swallowing and general muscle groups, a new condition, called "sarcopenic dysphagia" has been coined \[[@B22-nutrients-11-02898],[@B124-nutrients-11-02898],[@B125-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Swallowing muscles are characterized by a high percentage of type II fibers, which are more easily affected by malnutrition and sarcopenia than type I muscle fibers \[[@B22-nutrients-11-02898]\]. However, some cranial muscles, including the jaw-closers, are very different in fiber-type composition than other skeletal muscle groups (i.e., limbs or abdomen). For instance, the masseter muscle, which originates from the zygomatic arch, contains both type I and type II fibers, but shows a predominance of type I muscle fibers, which are more strongly affected by inactivity rather than aging \[[@B126-nutrients-11-02898],[@B127-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Given that the meal texture of older people frequently becomes softer, less power of tongue movement and of masseter muscle is required, which may result in decreased activity of these muscles.
Interestingly, poor oral health may predispose one to a chronic low-grade inflammatory state through periodontal disease, which is a well-known risk factor for frailty and sarcopenia \[[@B25-nutrients-11-02898],[@B128-nutrients-11-02898],[@B129-nutrients-11-02898]\]. In fact, the detrimental effects of periodontitis are not confined solely to the oral cavity, but extend systemically, leading to metabolic alterations \[[@B130-nutrients-11-02898]\], including insulin resistance \[[@B131-nutrients-11-02898]\], diabetes \[[@B131-nutrients-11-02898],[@B132-nutrients-11-02898]\], arthritis \[[@B133-nutrients-11-02898]\], and heart disease \[[@B134-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Furthermore, alterations in mitochondrial function leading to oxidative stress through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) have also been reported to mediate both oral and systemic pathologies (i.e., sarcopenia) \[[@B108-nutrients-11-02898],[@B135-nutrients-11-02898],[@B136-nutrients-11-02898],[@B137-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Given their regulatory role as signaling molecules in autophagy, it has been speculated that elevated ROS production in periodontal disease could lead to autophagic alterations \[[@B138-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Bullon et al. \[[@B139-nutrients-11-02898]\] found high levels of mitochondrial-derived ROS, accompanied by mitochondrial dysfunction in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with periodontitis. Moreover, oral gingiva seems to be highly responsive to the lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which are bacterial endotoxins prevalent in periodontal disease. In fact, gingival fibroblasts, which play an important role in remodeling periodontal soft tissues, may directly interact with LPS. In particular, LPS from *Porphyromonas gingivalis* enhances the production of inflammatory cytokines \[[@B140-nutrients-11-02898]\]. *Porphyromonas gingivalis* has been found to be responsible for high mitochondrial ROS and coenzyme Q10 levels, and for mitochondrial dysfunction, given its influence on the amount of respiratory chain complex I and III \[[@B138-nutrients-11-02898],[@B139-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Indeed, LPS-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction could explain the oxidative stress onset in patients with periodontitis. Furthermore, Hamalainen et al. \[[@B29-nutrients-11-02898]\] reported an association between periodontitis and quicker declines in handgrip strength.
On the other hand, as discussed in the previous section, the variety of dental problems experienced by older people can lead to a decline in general health through poor nutrient intake, pain, and low quality of life \[[@B25-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Poor oral status has been reported to affect 71% of patients in rehabilitation settings \[[@B141-nutrients-11-02898]\] and 91% of people in acute-care hospitals \[[@B142-nutrients-11-02898]\], and has been associated with malnutrition, dysphagia, and reduced activities of daily living \[[@B17-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Hence, poor oral status may lead to sarcopenia through poor nutrient intake. Moreover, inflammation further contributes to malnutrition through various mechanisms, such as anorexia, decreased nutrient intake, altered metabolism (i.e., elevation of resting energy expenditure), and increased muscle catabolism \[[@B143-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Chronic inflammation is a common underlying factor, not only in the etiology of sarcopenia, but also for frailty. In fact, sarcopenia and frailty are closely related and show a remarkable overlap especially in the physical function domain \[[@B144-nutrients-11-02898],[@B145-nutrients-11-02898],[@B146-nutrients-11-02898]\]. The presence of oral problems, alone or in combination with sarcopenia, may thus represent the biological substratum of the disabling cascade experienced by many frail individuals.
4. Interventions {#sec4-nutrients-11-02898}
================
The management of older people should be multimodal and multidisciplinary, especially for those with or at risk of malnutrition \[[@B147-nutrients-11-02898]\], in order to improve different conditions (i.e., oral problems and sarcopenia). From a practical point of view, comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is the multidimensional, interdisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic process aimed at determining the medical, psychological, and functional problems of older people. The CGA's objective is the development of a coordinated and integrated plan for treatment and follow-up in order to maximize overall health with aging \[[@B148-nutrients-11-02898]\]. To date, increasing evidence suggests that prosthodontic treatment in combination with personalized dietary counselling may improve the nutritional status of patients \[[@B51-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Here, we provide an overview on the management of oral problems, malnutrition, and sarcopenia.
4.1. Oral Management {#sec4dot1-nutrients-11-02898}
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The stomatognathic system is very vulnerable over time, but with special care, it can be preserved throughout the lifetime \[[@B30-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Nevertheless, one of the major challenges in providing both restorative and preventive care for older adults is to check dental status on a regular basis \[[@B34-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Prevention is pivotal to detecting oral disease as soon as possible and requires regular patient contact. However, since it has been reported that older people frequently fail to achieve a good oral hygiene, both patients and caregivers should be made more aware about the importance to check dental status as well as oral hygiene.
The oral health-care professionals should develop a personalized program, in order to prevent all the problems related to the aging process. In some cases, it is difficult to provide dental care in the hospital setting in a short time, since in many countries there are long waiting lists (especially in publicly funded hospitals) \[[@B149-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Therefore, private dentists also need better awareness concerning the complexity of older people. There is, first and foremost, a need to understand the level of dependency, the medical condition, and the physical or cognitive impairment of the patient. Secondly, it is important to establish an oral healthcare plan that includes both professional and self-care elements \[[@B150-nutrients-11-02898]\].
The oral management of older people usually involves different aspects:(1)For the teeth affected by carious lesions, it must be recommended that prompt treatment be provided in order to prevent tooth loss. It would be equally appropriate for endodontic treatments for teeth with endodontic problems.(2)It is very important to monitor the periodontal status of the older patient and to provide a proper treatment plan, such as modification of general health-risk factors and oral health-specific risk factors, but professional hygiene or surgical procedures may also be necessary.(3)Prosthetic rehabilitation of the edentulous patient may help to prevent malnutrition \[[@B151-nutrients-11-02898]\] since it restores the chewing function.(4)In order to prevent problems related to the xerostomia and reduce exacerbation of carious lesions, it may be helpful to treat with saliva substitutes.
4.2. Nutritional Interventions {#sec4dot2-nutrients-11-02898}
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As discussed above, nutrition is an important determinant of health in older people. Thereby, it is pivotal to provide adequate amounts of energy, proteins, fluid, and micronutrients in order to prevent or treat excess or deficiencies, and therefore improve several health-related outcomes in terms of morbidity and mortality. A personalized approach is pivotal in order to respect individual preferences, needs, and to increase compliance to the diet. Nutritional status should be assessed before each intervention, and the amount of energy and proteins should be individually adjusted with regard to nutritional status, physical activity level, disease status, and tolerance \[[@B152-nutrients-11-02898]\]. The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) \[[@B152-nutrients-11-02898]\], in its guidelines on clinical nutrition and hydration in geriatrics, recommends a guiding value for energy intake of 30 kcal/kg of body weight/day. However, as stated above, it should be adapted individually. Both ESPEN \[[@B153-nutrients-11-02898]\] and the PROT-AGE study group \[[@B147-nutrients-11-02898]\] recommend providing a protein intake of at least 1.0 g/kg body weight/day in older people to maintain muscle mass, increasing the intake up to 1.2--1.5 g/kg body weight/day in presence of acute or chronic illness. Additionally, it seems that the per-meal anabolic threshold of protein intake is higher in older individuals (i.e., 25 to 30 g protein/meal, containing about 2.5 to 2.8 g leucine) than young adults \[[@B147-nutrients-11-02898]\]. However, since older people may experience difficulty of ingesting large amounts of proteins in a single meal, supplementation should be considered. Since serum vitamin D levels decline gradually with aging \[[@B154-nutrients-11-02898],[@B155-nutrients-11-02898]\] and have been associated with reduced muscle mass and strength, supplementation should thus be considered in those who are deficient.
Food texture should be adapted depending on the chewing and swallowing condition in order to avoid choking risk \[[@B10-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Harder foods may be modified to soft consistencies (i.e., bite-sized, minced, pureed) requiring little chewing, as well as liquids, which may be thickened to render the swallowing process slower and safer \[[@B10-nutrients-11-02898],[@B156-nutrients-11-02898],[@B157-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Controlling the intake of simple sugars is pivotal to prevent both dental caries \[[@B101-nutrients-11-02898]\] and metabolic complications \[[@B158-nutrients-11-02898]\]. World Health Organization recommends to limit the intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake to minimize the risk of dental caries \[[@B159-nutrients-11-02898]\].
Fruit and vegetables are major sources of minerals and vitamins with antioxidant properties; therefore, their consumption should be promoted both for oral and general health. It has been documented that excessive antioxidant supplementation could compromise both the mechanism of adaption to exercise and have even pro-oxidant effects. Thus, supplementation in people who are not deficient should be regarded carefully \[[@B160-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Dietary consumption of fatty fish (i.e., salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines, albacore tuna, and their oils), which are a major source of omega-3 fatty acids, has been associated with a greater fat-free mass \[[@B161-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Given their antioxidant role, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation has been suggested to improve inflammatory status both in periodontal disease \[[@B162-nutrients-11-02898]\] and sarcopenia \[[@B163-nutrients-11-02898]\]. However, more studies are needed to further elucidate the exact time and dosage of supplementation as well as long term effects \[[@B164-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Nevertheless, consumption of foods rich in omega-3, such as as fatty fish, should be promoted.
4.3. Exercise and Rehabilitative Strategies {#sec4dot3-nutrients-11-02898}
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Physical inactivity is considered one of the main causes of sarcopenia \[[@B165-nutrients-11-02898]\] because it determines a resistance to muscle anabolic stimuli \[[@B166-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Moreover, it has been proposed that physically inactive individuals may have a greater risk of periodontal disease \[[@B167-nutrients-11-02898]\]. In particular, resistance training seems to be the most effective type of exercise to counteract sarcopenia \[[@B168-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Furthermore, since sarcopenia is a systemic process \[[@B15-nutrients-11-02898],[@B21-nutrients-11-02898]\], it has been recommended to perform a holistic training involving all muscle groups \[[@B15-nutrients-11-02898]\]. In fact, it has been documented that both masticatory and swallowing functions can be improved through muscle-strengthening exercises \[[@B169-nutrients-11-02898],[@B170-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Several studies reported enhancements in subjective chewing ability, swallowing function, salivation, relief of oral dryness, and oral-health quality of life. Indeed, the synergistic effect of nutritional interventions coupled with physical exercise may improve both muscle \[[@B164-nutrients-11-02898]\] and oral health \[[@B167-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Recently, Kim et al. \[[@B171-nutrients-11-02898]\] reported an improvement in oral function following an exercise program which included stretching of the lip, tongue, cheek, masticatory muscle exercise, and swallowing movements. Several studies have been focused on swallowing rehabilitation. To date, a positive effect of expiratory muscle resistance training has been documented in improving suprahyoid muscle activity \[[@B172-nutrients-11-02898],[@B173-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Furthermore, head lift exercises showed a beneficial impact on swallowing movements \[[@B174-nutrients-11-02898],[@B175-nutrients-11-02898]\], and tongue strengthening exercises have been reported to enhance tongue strength \[[@B176-nutrients-11-02898],[@B177-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Yeates et al. \[[@B178-nutrients-11-02898]\] demonstrated that isometric tongue strength exercises and tongue pressure accuracy tasks improved isometric tongue strength, tongue pressure generation accuracy, bolus control, and dietary intake by mouth. It has also been reported that tongue exercises prevented general sarcopenia \[[@B178-nutrients-11-02898],[@B179-nutrients-11-02898]\]. Indeed, swallowing muscles training, despite its focus on swallowing function, may exert its beneficial effects systemically.
5. Conclusions {#sec5-nutrients-11-02898}
==============
Aging is characterized by a progressive loss of physiological integrity, leading to a decline in many functions and increased vulnerability to stressors. Many changes in masticatory and swallowing function are subtle but can amplify disease processes seen with aging. Nevertheless, it is often difficult to clearly distinguish the effects of diseases from the underlying age-related modifications. Several stressors, including oral problems, may therefore negatively impact on the increasingly weak homeostatic reserves of older individuals. As a healthy diet may have a systemic beneficial effect, oral care also shows an important role in maintaining and improving not only oral health, but also general health and well-being.
Overall, severe tooth loss, as well as swallowing and masticatory problems, partly contribute to restricted dietary choices and poor nutritional status of older adults, leading to frailty and sarcopenia. On the other hand, oral diseases might be influenced both by frailty and sarcopenia, probably through biological and environmental factors that are linked to the common burden of inflammation and oxidative stress.
A multidisciplinary intervention of dental professionals, geriatricians, nutritionists, and dietitians may help to provide better care and preserve the functional status of older people. Increasing evidence also suggests that oral care, when offered with personalized nutritional advice, may improve the nutritional status of patients. A life course approach to prevention at a younger age, including diet optimization and oral preventive care, as well as physical activity, may help in preserving both oral and muscle function later in life.
D.A. and P.C.P. equally contributed to conceptualizing and writing the manuscript. P.D.A., G.B.P., A.D. and M.C. edited and revised manuscript. D.A., P.C.P., P.D.A., G.B.P., A.D. and M.C. approved the final version of manuscript.
This research received no external funding.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
{#nutrients-11-02898-f001}
[^1]: These authors contributed equally to this work.
|
Des Traynor, Co-Founder of Intercom
Everything You Know About Content Marketing is Wrong, with Des Traynor of Intercom
In 2011, four lads from Dublin were running a successful business that let programers and engineers know when a user encountered a problem with their program. The problem was that none of them were particularly interested in the world of programming errors.
Instead, they found their passions centered on why it was so difficult for online businesses to talk to customers. They didn’t know it at the time, but they were about to reinvent the concept of content marketing.
So Des Traynor and his three co-founders sold their successful business, packed their bags, and moved to sunny California.
“We were four Irish founders and basically our previous company, we had already done the bootstrapping thing. … When we were going through this change of business and this change of approach, we said, ‘What’s the opposite of running a bootstrapped business off the north side of Dublin?’ Well that’s come to Silicon Valley and raise a million dollars, and that’s what we did,” Traynor says.
It turned out to be the right move, as the company that now known as Intercom raised more than $160 million in the past six years, building a customer base of over 17,000 customers, and making over $50 million in revenue. Their mission was simple: to make online businesses feel less like talking to a robot and feel more personal instead.
The solution to that was to help businesses talk to their customers through their own websites and apps instead of the usual mish-mash of emails, texts, and phone calls. Intercom built its reputation and customer base through the power of content marketing, but in a way that might surprise you.
Instead of following the traditional strategy of hiring a content team, focusing on SEO and backlinks, and churning out at as much content as possible, Intercom went in the completely opposite direction and developed a unique content strategy that led their business to go viral within the startup community, while building a beloved brand.
“We’re not one of those people that do all that black hat stuff. I really, really hate that. We had a recommendation recently to go post on discussions.apple.com and write a piece that links back to your site, and it was just so puke-worthy. I could never get excited about gamifying the Google algorithm and building the business on such a messy, fragile house of cards,” Traynor says.
Traynor goes in-depth with us in this episode about why the conventional content marketing strategy doesn’t work anymore, and how to really get your message across.
Key Takeaways
How to move quickly and stay lean while managing an international team
Where to find top-tier talent for your startup, no matter where you are
A sly way to make your business go viral
No to SEO! The biggest mistakes marketers make when using SEO
Why you don’t need a content marketing team to get half a million page views per post
Full Transcript of the Podcast with Des Traynor
Nathan: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Foundr Podcast. My name is Nathan Chan and I’m the CEO and host of this show. Now if you’re a new listener we interview extremely hard to reach founders that are either number one or two in the industry with the company that they’ve started and they’re disrupting a marketplace that they serve. And yeah, we’ve interviewed some of the greatest entrepreneurs of our generation on this show. And we also have a magazine and do a ton of other content around entrepreneurship and startups. So if you’re new listener welcome. If you’re an existing listener, I want to say thank you so much for taking the time to listen and as always we have an absolute treat.
This interview is with a really, really, smart founder Irish fellow actually, we don’t really interview many people from Islands. There’s really transparent vulnerable guy. I love talking with him and he’s the founder a company called Intercom. We’re big fans of intercom. We’re a customer and we use their tool for all sorts of really, really, cool things around user on-boarding, but then also just speaking to visitors on our website. Okay, a really cool story you might find this interesting. So when we had a sale for one of our new courses that we launched with an instructor Thoth Greta what we did is we put Intercom on the sales page and a lot of people would come on the sales page and they get an automated pop-up it’s because it’s like a chat software and what would happen is we would say, “Hey let us know if you have any questions.” On automation and then like a lot of people are asking us all these questions on automation. And then like is there a guarantee on this product? When does it start? Is it a live class? Is a pre-recorded? How does it work? Can you tell us more about Greta’s businesses? And all of these questions that people were asking that was like gold feedback we’re like okay we need to put this into the sales page to communicate exactly what you get.
So that’s just one of many ways we’ve used Intercom to grow our business and its really interesting to hear Des’s thoughts on email messaging because this is a new thing that’s happening, like if we’re recording this early July 2017, who knows what it’s going to be like in a couple of years, but messaging is becoming a massive thing with you know app messenger chat BOTS, and all these other things. So these guys are on the cutting edge and one way they grow their business is through content marketing. And they’re quite masterful at it you’re gonna learn a lot about it. It’s a buzzword that’s thrown around a lot and these guys do a very, very, good job we talk about all sorts of things as well around growing, scaling, hiring,challenges around that, leadership, you name it. So that’s it from me. If you are enjoying these episodes please do make sure you take the time to check out any of our other content just go to foundr.com F-O-U-N-D-R.com. We’ve got a ton of awesome content to help serve you. And if you are enjoying these interviews as well please do take the time to leave this review on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, wherever you’re listening. All right guys that’s it from me. Now let’s jump into the show. All right so the first question that I ask everyone that comes on is, how did you get your job?
Des: So I guess this is like a multi-part answer, but my immediate job I got by starting a company called Intercom and but maybe a more useful thing to do is maybe dial it back a little bit. So after college I attempted a PhD which was focused on teaching people how to teach computer science better. And I got bored with academia after I guess two and a half three years. And I dropped it to become a usability analyst out of consultancy. And I got bored of that after a year. So I quit that and started a consultancy with own, who is to CEO of Intercom now. One of the things we did while running that consultancy was we built our own side business called exceptional which is an error tracker for developers. And over time we realized it was a much bigger problem we had with our business exceptional that we cared about a lot more and that was we were totally out of touch with our customers and was really really hard to communicate with them. So we sell Exceptional and started building a solution to that problem which went on to become Intercom.
Nathan: Gotcha. Now, you guys are everywhere now I heard about Intercom probably about three years ago and yeah you guys have really, really studied it to a massive traction like most startups use Intercom you see that icon somewhere in the corner whether its front end or you know using in a SAS product. It’s everywhere so can you talk to us about the early days you said that exceptional was was sold or you guys acquired. Did you like was with us all to a big company. I don’t come from a development background so yeah I’d love to love to hear a little bit more about that before we move and delve into the Intercom in the background.
Des: Yes, certainly so Exceptional it let programmers or engineers know when a user had encountered an error in their product basically. And we had like thousands of customers it was genuinely a successful piece of work for anyone’s standards. It was just sadly the case that neither me nor our own were particularly passionate about programming errors effectively and we were quite passionate about this bigger a problem which was why is it so hard to see who our customers aren’t so hard to talk to them? So we got talking to a lot of different people at a few different events about kind of we had started building a intercom actually inside of Exceptional originally as a way to just send messages to our customers and see who is using our product. But we were just so much more passionate about that challenge so ultimately exceptional went on to become a part of Rackspace which is public company but it wasn’t sold directly then we sold it to a person who packaged it with a few other tools and sold it on. And you know, what that gave us was basically enough freedom to work on this at the time untitled problem which was basically there are thousands of SAS or like software businesses out there with like lots and lots users and it is so hard to see who is using my product today. And I really mean who they’re as in what customers so at the time like Google Analytics was very popular but that just told you only page views he had inside your part which wasn’t really a useful stuff from a business point of view. And we really cared about who was using our product and what they were doing and we look to talking to them about what they were doing went inside the product.
So basically that became the origin of Intercom we started off with this idea of like basically being able to push messages inside your product and then we extended it from there to letting users reply to letting users start conversations to showing the the business owner here’s who’s active today here’s who has been active this month. And from there like we kind of came up with this thesis which is that like all businesses will become internet businesses but the experience when you move from like bricks and mortar to online is quite impersonal and it’s you know, it’s very like… that it’s very a ticket based and dear valued customer and all that shit that people hate. So we we really wanted to go against that so we sort of said our mission is to make internet business personal, and we wanna create a world where if you use a product a lot or if you frequently cite a lot whether it’s like a Shopify store or order it’s a publications such as founder if you go there a lot your recognizes viable customer you’re understood to be a good person people won’t try and sell you shit you’ve already bought till you know it they won’t call you a ticket number they’ll just engage you in conversation and as for business owners you’ll know who you should engage with in conversations.
So our mission really is to try to just personalize a lot of conversations that businesses and customers have and that’s where we started working I think it was like 2011 when we started you’re saying our last three years. It’s been it’s you know being getting traction it’s fun like it’s it took it took us I guess three years to become that sort of overnight success in some sense but you know, it’s being quite a journey like we just released it on the start to better business trees recently we now have like 17,000 customers we’ve 100,000 monthly active users we’re… definitely hit some sort of like you know a tipping point where people finally understand we’re out there we as we said recently we’re about $50 million in revenue at this point and if people care about revenue.
It has been quite a journey but it started with a kind of a very a deceptively a simple sounding but deceptively hard challenge which was how can we make talking to online businesses easy,simple,personal for one.
Nathan: I see. So it sounds like you have an accent. I can see you guys are based out of San Fran where were you from?
Des: Ireland, Dublin.
Nathan: Gotcha and same with your co-founder?
Des: Yeah, yeah so we Intercom we started it and I like on the mean streets of Dublin if you like it was like we’re four Irish founders and I’m basically we had our previous company we had done the whole bootstrap thing we like kind of ran it in you know in the remote streets of Dublin. I often like to joke although it’s actually just a fact we do is there was a single street in San Francisco where we had more customers than we did in all of Ireland at the time. So you know, we figured when we were going through this sort of change that of business and change of approach, what’s the opposite of running a bootstrap business in the north side of Dublin? Well let’s come to Silicon Valley and raise a million dollars so that’s basically what we did.
Nathan: Gotcha. So now you’re fully migrated and you living in San Fran?
Des: I live in both locations I have a place in both cities we like… the other four founders our CEO is here in SF I’m here most of time in SF and then we have so we actually have two offices from the very start today we’ve three offices but we started with a San Francisco office and the Dublin office and today we employ maybe I guess like 320 people or so across all three offices.
Nathan: Gotcha. And core team where’s mainly core team focused how do you manage that because we’re we’re based out of Melbourne we’re gonna need to set up an office in the US next year and I’m really curious, how do you structure that do you structure core team in San Fran? still Dublin? Like can you talk talk to you about that?
Des: You know, the big sort of thing we got right I mean it’s a challenge to split and to risk bifurcating your company and bifurcating your culture but like the same we got right was like functional divisions where there are geographical divisions so all of our Oren Diaz in Dublin the product is basically built and maintained in Dublin. And we have a sales presence and a support presence there now as well but like the product is primarily Dublin and then all of sales and go to market in general marketing etc. is primarily in San Francisco and that just kind of reduces the amount of like difficult transatlantic collaboration that order eyes will be necessary so it kind of impairs the leaders to make local decisions and a new fast effectively would happen to wait for another office to wake up before they can progress.
Nathan: That’s interesting. So you know for for like you know a startup that is is right it was founded and you’re starting to build the team core team out of you know whatever that city and it’s not in the US what’s not in you know, one of these startup kinda clusters is that what you always recommend to do if you can?
Des: So it’s hard like I mean I… I’m tempted to say yes, I think was granite I given that it worked out but like I can’t help but feel it would have been easier like even today I kind of a feel it would be easier if everyone was in the same place and that place up and be the best place to build software. But reality comes out too fast you know, so I think like in our case it wasn’t you know for a lot of reasons it wasn’t gonna be easy for us to entirely up the entire team and move to San Francisco to start with so to some degree it was driven by a necessity more than it was any sort of tactical or strategic sort of focus in general.I would advise people to follow that similar line of logic which is like for example a four-year folks you’ll struggle to move the entire office to San Francisco because visasm will come out to the cost of living will be tricky etc. So I think do what you can do to add that optimizes best sort of strategy for you for us our CEO was always gonna need to be here because we wanted to do like we wanted to raise money want to raise real venture capital not to sort of make EOP stuff that maybe exists in non-startup pubs and that meant being here in amongst it you know, just like actors go to Hollywood and finance people go to Wall Street like startups come to San Francisco.
Nathan: Yeah, you know that’s that’s a really good point so I’m really curious as well around talent. You said products built mainly out of Ireland. You guys have access to enough programming and and engineering software engineering talents to to do that because it’s a great product like we’re a customer we’re a very, very big fan you know we do a lot of cool stuff with Intercom. So yeah, that’s that’s something that I was really curious about.
Des: Yeah, and like this sort of smartass answer is like you kinda answered your own question I you know purely to product if you like to product how much obviously we find the people for that but what I would say is them… like it’s kind of a multi-part answer what I’d say is like you probably can’t name a single public software company that doesn’t have a significant footprint in Dublin and that means that there are clearly a lot of Engineers for Google Microsoft Facebook Airbnbstripe slack you name it they’re all office all have offices in Dublin. So there is talent there like what are things that benefit us specifically like University is a third level education aka University is free in Ireland which means you tend to have a good degree a good amount of like of engineers coming off you know currently leaving universities looking for good places to work.
We are definitely one of the more prominent startups in the city so we you know that kind of works in our favor too, but there’s also this big other thing called Europe beside us which which we can also draw on them and does definitely you know a large degree of talent there as long as we can motivate them to move to the beautiful weather and sunshine drenched to Dublin that we have to offer.
Nathan: Yeah, gotcha.That’s interesting because here sometimes I I find it same with Melbourne like I think there is good talent here and and you know sometimes people always ask me you know can it be you know can you build a solar team is there talent here and and do you think that you know where if you’re not in San Fran you still can build and and you kind of you know, eventually build something of true worth like you guys are building with Intercom even if you’re not based out of San Fran to start.
Des: Yeah, you know I I absolutely believe that and like and you know I think that there are so many examples that are of great software companies that didn’t originate and maybe in some cases still aren’t in San Francisco. Even like looking specifically at Australia you could argue you could argue campaign monitor looking around America you can see like you know Qualtrics, SurveyMonke, MailChimp. None of those are Silicon Valley companies and they’re all multi-billion dollar companies you know. And even like going download I would like to startup scene even somewhere I was like somewhere like if I was to say startups in Melbourne and surely at that point it gets challenging but it actually doesn’t like we have plenty of customers there and some really really good product companies coming out of the place. So l 100% believe like you know, you can start a company anywhere I do think the challenge you run into is when you want to kind of take it take the next step and this is not necessarily product but like what specifically on sales and marketing side we’re like we might struggle in Melbourne is to find somebody who’s an expert at product marketing for a SAS business selling to developers there’s maybe eight of them in Melbourne and they probably already have good jobs. And that’s kind of the challenge that you have whereas there’s maybe like 850 of them in San Francisco. And at least 10% of them are looking you know.
So I think like in general I think you can build a product in a lot of places for sure there’s more engineers and designers etc., right here now that’s kind of a double-edged sword and that you like you know it was there’s a genuine question around like employee tenure and the value is different I think than it is everywhere else. I think people might like you know, Europe at the very least you’re trying to cling on to your employees it’s harder when there’s like every other cool startup is next door also looking for them that can be a challenge. But I really feel on the sales and marketing side that’s where the skills haven’t kinda distributed evenly so… you know, again a simple example but I take it come to that campaign monitored rate they never have an office over here you know. It’s I think when you want to take sales to the next level take marketing to the next level that’s when you might find your hometown lacking.
Nathan: Interesting. So you guys went through 500 stops, right?
Des: We were part of that batch but we didn’t go shoot our program in the traditional sense we weren’t based in her office we weren’t attending to series or anything of that. I thought but yeah we did take their money early on.
Nathan: Yes, got you. And are you guys Bay able to share if you guys are profitable?
Des: We have no comment on that.
Nathan: Yep that’s cool. That’s no stress at all. And tell me about how you guys are fueling growth like I can see definitely for sure one of your biggest you I guess natural inhibitors of growth is just when somebody sees that little icon on the bottom right hand corner or wherever it is and you know powered by Intercom that that must be massive. Because I see that everywhere that’s how I found out about you guys, but tell me else so talk to me about like other things that you guys are doing to to build you know that your SAS company and grow it.
Des: Sure. So what you just referred to there it’s kind of what we call it powered by Intercom or we run on the Intercom I think is the current text. And that’s kind of like our sort of semi-viral element where basically you will see us everywhere which is awesome. It’s definitely good for like extending and sort of spreading the brand and it is a leaper of growth first but a lot of our growth comes in. Like in the early days I guess you know when we were starting out, a lot of what we tried to do was just we knew we had a product that we could sell to startups so all we wanted to do was produce content that startup folk would want to read and if that content happened to like point them towards, “Hey maybe it’d be good if you talked to your users after they log in.” Then we might just occasionally trow in an occasional screenshot of Intercom or maybe link up a sign-up page. And that probably got us our first like what fair few hundred customers. And to this day like you know we’re now look over 500 posts on our blog and we’ve kind of you know I for sure I wrote the first like 90 out of them but like today we have a whole content team and that’s been a significant leaper of growth for us as well. And the nice thing about like that content marketing which I hate that phrase because it really isn’t what we’re doing but it is genuinely a leaper of growth. The nice thing about it is it pays off longitudinally like there are literally articles I wrote in 2011 that still produce customers for us today. And you get that like a sort of long term you know if we stopped publishing today the wrong momentum of the blog coasts really well first and it is genuinely a significant part of our growth as the businesses matured as we raised you know $116 million of capital and all that sort of stuff.
We’ve definitely added in some of the more traditional stuff we do actually advertising places now. And we sponsor the occasional blogger podcaster we particularly liked. And so like today I’d say our gross is a blend of like of like the viral stuff you talked about content marketing the raw quality of the product helps a lot like the the sort of effusive way you spoke about it. That generally tends to be how people speak about Intercom which means be really strong word of mouth which when you factor in things like Twitter word of mouth becomes super powerful when it’s when it’s positively rooted in the strength of the product. But yes, I think that that’s what kicked us off and then you know for any of the more traditional stuff like advertising sponsorship re-targeting etc. We do all that as well but like it’s that’s probably our less… our last like you know hot tips that have style stuff
Des: No, we’re not really to be honest with you. I don’t like the I’m just to be clear on the inbound piece like we are 100% inbound so we aren’t we only customers only come to us to buy the product we don’t we don’t like cold call people or anything like that. So I think on the SEO question like we we try to not be dumb when we would speak about our own product if we’re talking about how to acquire customers we will link up our product which helps you acquire customers. However, we’re not what these people who like do all the black hat shit I really, really hate that like we had a recommendation recently oh you should go and post on discussions apple.com and write a piece that like links back to your site. And it’s just so cute wordy I could never I could never get excited about gamifying the Google algorithm I’m building a business on such a messy fragile house of cards that just damages the web. I think like you know, I think doing those sort of things it’s like it’s like taking weight-loss pills instead of going to the gym like it’s just not a good idea like you know, I’d rather grow Intercom on the quality of the product the quality of the brand the quality of the marketing. Not like knowing about one little weight it’s a Google SEO algorithm will over a reward a punitive back link or whatever I just don’t care.
Nathan: That’s fair enough but do you guys have a strong focus on links and and link building and stuff like that, is that right?
Des: It depends on what you mean like we don’t have we have anyone out there trying to create links back to our site on the web. The focus we really have is like if you know, there was a long period of time where we would be talking about a product I’m genuinely forget to link it up and so I like to think we’ve gotta stop that behavior, but now we don’t like I mean are genuinely like we do have a lot of like organic traffic which might otherwise be known as SEO. But like that has come from running a really popular blog it hasn’t come from like any sort of link rams or any strategies like that.
Nathan: I know, gotcha. And what’s been the premise besides producing great content over a long period of time. Like if somebody wants you know they’re building a SAS company and they wanna and we won’t say the word content marketing but you know produce you know have a great blog that you know it’s quite iconic. You know, you guys are really well known around your customer support and stuff like I know that blog I’ve read your content. What else piece of advice would you give people besides you know great content long game because yeah, I’m really curious around that
Des: Yeah, like I can give you some sort of tactical stuff but I would say like you know 80% of it is actually you know as you said like it’s you know good content relating to the market on a cell and on long game. And long game isn’t for everyone because you kind of need to you know it doesn’t match to all businesses do you obviously be around for the long came to actually for it to show up. But like stake you know to be just one degree more specific when we say great content what we mean basically is what products do we sell well we sell a part that appeals to customer support people as you said and we sell a product that appeals to marketing people or occasionally growth marketing or occasionally product people and that’s our engaged product. And so what we try to do is make sure that we frequently hit on content that is interesting and useful like so not not keyword spammy bullshit like 11 top tips or whatever. But just stuff that’s like genuinely like well thought out well written well Illustrated well-diagrammed and practical and tactical and applicable for people who we think could actually one day want to buy Intercom.
So you’ll see posts like you know how to scale other support team and that’s because we sell to people who guess what you just can’t ever support team you’ll see but not opposed to that customer humble why because people you know marketers tend to worry about customer on-boarding and you know the posts come very genuinely steeped in our own experience. We’re not like hiring writers who don’t know anything about the topic we’re sitting down with our marketing people with our product people and we’re asking them like how do you think about this and we’re getting them to write pieces. And our content team is like three people today and there are maybe 327 other people in Intercom and we rely heavily on the other 327 for flashing at the content.
The one thing I think most startups get wrong and especially most CEOs is like you know someone will be listen to this and think yeah that’s great Dez but where do I get to turn the blog and I would say to you like that’s I know exactly that sentence and I find it so annoying because you never if I was sitting here saying and the other nice thing about Ruby on Rails is you’re gonna create a scalable framework no one would say, “Yeah that’s nice Des wherever I got time to code.” You know, well it’s just as fucking important like it genuinely is and people don’t people don’t see it that way they they really feel like they’re you know oh it needs to be like you know blogging is some sort of optional extra but for some reason the lines of code or design are really important and that’s just not the case . If you’re genuinely serious but like we are going to have a popular blog guess what you need to be writing it needs to be people’s full-time jobs I’m not just your content people but it needs to be something that like you recognize and reward and all that holds like I would say in any given year our best pieces of content on the line I mean best is into the tune of a half a million page views a post. They come from like our VP of Product their VP of engineering a directors of design. Yeah, a CEO you name like they don’t come from the content marketing team I think that’s again that means yes we deliberately have to sacrifice time of otherwise very busy people in the company to like curate and structured our thinking in a way that can be shared and be really useful to other companies. And it’s a trade off but it’s like it’s a deliberate it’s a deliberate choice but it was like to have a good blog and if you want to copy… that’s what you have to copy you don’t you don’t acquire a team of ten content marketers and say you know go here’s your typewriters get busy you know.
Nathan: That’s really interesting. So oh, jeez I’m impressed because I thought that you guys would have quite a large content marketing. So of those three people is one of them just just working with other people in the team, just interviewing them getting that content transcribed and editing it out then going back to them what do you think of this? Does this make sense? Is this is actionable? Is this is really good? Is this helpful? Is that how you guys are doing it? Because that’s really impressive.
Des: Yeah, so we do a little bit of that we do actually we’re look you know for like a good chunk of the company like maybe 10% or so are like very talented capable and motivated writers. So we actually have people who just really, really like I’m a it’s genuine like we you know we talk to people all the time you’re like you know when they start an Intercom one of the things that they really dream to do is one day be publishing the blog and we’re like that’s awesome like that’s what we want. In terms of the activities of the team it’s it’s a mistake you know John who has the content team he would basically contest with me here I’m talking about the Magista just to the blog they actually do our podcast too and we publish a podcast every week and we also produce books so we produce English Don six books today so we have a another one coming soon and basically like what I think you know to make all that work we very genuinely and honestly we reward and request the entire company write pieces so a lot of what the content in do is they actually take inbound if you not I mean they receive submissions from the rest of the company and they work on them they edit them they tweak them they just and they make sure they have beautiful illustrations. And then they scheduled and go live and when they’re not doing that they’re make you’re chasing their guests for a podcast order collating the best of the best and putting them at the books that we’re gonna print and send it to people.
Nathan: Yeah, gotcha. Interesting. Look, we have to work towards wrapping up a really honed in on the content piece,but let’s talk… I was speaking I caught up with the founder of BuzzSumo last week. Do you know that SAS?
Des: Is that Noah?
Nathan: No,no. It’s not it’s…I know what was…
Des: I’m sorry.
Nathan: Buzzsumo so it’s like it’s a really, really powerful SAS that they they’re constantly analyzing like all of the content like any blog posts they’re constantly analyzing blog posts everything every you know I’m talking about?
Des: I think I know the product, yeah. They also have I believe a WordPress plugin right
Nathan: No, no. I don’t think so. Anyways they’re like we use them a lot of Foundr because because we can see trending topics we can see topics that get the most shares we can see you know like if we do a little bit of SEO stuff where you know we have a we have a certain you know keywords that we’re obviously wanting to rank for and you know. We have a look at who’s at the top and where those links are coming from for those keywords and you know we do outreach and we do guest post linking back to the certain blog post . Anyways long story short, these guys we use BuzzSumo and they’ve analyzed you know tens hundreds you know billions of articles from their data. And when I was speaking to the founder he said to me that you know a lot of people say you know it is a quality game and I agree a 100% but he said, “At the end of the day there’s a fundamentally a volume game as well it’s all about quality content at scale.” So I’m curious, how much content do you guys produce and do you have an interest to up that content you know, per per you know per week per month that you etc.
Des: Yeah, so we you know our current target these days is one post today and that’s that’s a challenge to keep up but like a where we’ve been hitting reliably for I guess two and a half three months. And I mostly agree with the with the sentiment that it’s photo quality and quantity game I think if you’re gonna drop by of those you should drop quantity first because I think a lot of noise is still noise. Whereas a small amount of great stuff is still a small amount of great stuff. But yeah I I’m fully agree with the sentiment like I… we shoot for one a day because we think that’s a bit all we’re capable of producing and while keeping the quality bar where it is. And we don’t ever want to be one of these blogs that degrades into publishing kind of shitty link baiter or like or like 11 like intro type of articles that like we kind of leave our user base behind.
Nathan: Yeah totally get that. We’re the same we want to produce stuff that goes deep because that’s that’s the way you get cut through because there’s so much noise.
Nathan: Yep absolutely. I think that the the quantity game genuinely came from a time when Google’s SEO algorithm wasn’t that smart when people used RSS feeds to check out their blogs and and all these other things like that basically had changed whereas like today like the majority of our traffic for our blog comes from Twitter because people share our stuff if it’s good but only if it’s good. So putting in a bad piece just means nothing happens anymore like we don’t you know for sure we publish a newsletter once a week which directs like you know a significant number of thousands of people or tens of thousands people towards content, but like that’s that doesn’t that’s not how we grow our audience that’s just how we address our audience. To grow our audience we need new qualities still shared by people to what all their followers or with all the people who who are influenced by their like sinking thoughts on the matter so look so yeah I really I fully believe in quality as a thing.
We are at the same time considering a second blog which might be a more high velocity blog but it doesn’t mean the quality will drop it just means maybe we will we won’t stretch this far to do what we don’t maybe go for maybe we’ll see less 800 words essays and maybe more like 100 words we’re considering that at the moment but like yeah content has be you know what we’ve been doing has been working but like we’re keen to bring in another tactic or and there’s a strategy on top.
Nathan: Yeah and look what we’re talking about this is all evergreen so someone listen to this you know two years from now this stuff one is not gonna change.
Des: Yeah I mean I’m very influenced by that quote by Jeff Bezos which was relayed to me by Jason freed which is “Just focus on the things that don’t change.” Like in ten years time people aren’t gonna wish our content was worse they’re not gonna wish like that you know, that our product was slower that ad that our product was harder to use you know like there’s a few fundamental core variables of human desire in content and in product. And focusing on those will serve us a lot better than chasing trends.
Nathan: Yeah I agree. So look we have to work towards wrapping up there’s been awesome conversation, man. Two last questions the first one is I’m curious around Intercom like we use intercom on the front end you know, people come to our site not our main sign or the foundr.com site but other products that we have of courses etc. and other premium products and with we see it we’ve seen a significant increase in sales just because we just asked you know, “Hey if you’ve got any questions please let us know.” And people actually have questions and only close and then we also use it on the back end around on-boarding and you know getting feedback around certain areas of force will tell the products. But what my question to you is is around that you know I was just amazed you know just just even just having it there on your site people want to talk to you you can automate stuff. Do you guys plan on doing A.I. type stuff where it’s you know, you can and I don’t know if you’ve already work on this I’m not sure but do you plan eventually that you know, when someone comes to the site site and the Intercom’s there and you have a people will have a series of like the the it’ll be a bots you know and it’l have a series of questions and if they are answered, if they’re not answered and and really use Intercom as a way to close sales when you you wouldn’t it would seem like it’s a real person?
Des: So there’s a few like rights to that question though maybe I’ll just un-bundle it. The first one is like you know are we thinking about AI and machine learning and BOTS absolutely yes and we’ve dipped our toes in in various bits and pieces for example with our educate product if you ask a business a question and they’re using your knowledge base you will see suggested articles from a bot as part of the conversation and I’d like to think of that as like rather than artificial intelligence I consider like augmented intelligence that is like a bot sits in the conversation silently only speaking one of the things that can help and it’s very clearly a bot it’s very clearly not a human if you like. And then to the more general seem like I believe they you know human connection is still very important and I believe when you know, if it’s profitable for you to do so you should talk to your customers and I often like have to laugh when I see businesses spending like tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars on the hoping against hope that maybe one of these customers will reply and yet when the reply comes in they’re like holy shit it’s expensive to talk to these customers I don’t like how was it how was it affordable to send out that campaign but not affordable to talk to people who want to buy.
So there’s some sort of paradox there all that said like I mean I sorry… I generally don’t believe like that the future is like forcing your customers down on a bot style IV or style like you know phone trees to like to complete a purchase. I think you know if if it’s profitable for you to talk to your customers which it generally should be unless your customers or like worked very, very little. I think having a human there to aid the conversation is useful. However, there are like a large chunk of programmatic tasks that actually can be completed such as like searching a knowledge base such as like upgrading an account or like you know giving feedback on a future we’re like I think BOTS can genuinely help and the key variables where a BOTS can help I think is like where there’s no opportunity to form a relationship.
Most SAS businesses or most recurring revenue businesses they do want a relationship but there are times in a relationship isn’t the most obvious thing to do like. So an example might be like you know, if somebody just simply wants to like council a teammate after account or they want help getting a t-shirt to put deliver to the head or something like that. I think it’s easy in those cases to use a bot to inject structured automation on a workflow where it’s generally considered not something that was valuable to either party to have a human involved in I think that’s where BOTS can help and we definitely think about it from that perspective we don’t remember anything to announce or not in the short-term but for sure like you know BOTS and messaging or very much gone together hand-in-hand and we’re definitely following that trend
Nathan: Yeah awesome yeah it’s oh it’s all moving – in-app yeah and yeah I have to ask one question. Sorry two more questions first one is do you think email will be around forever or do you think it’s going to move all to in-app. And two, where’s the best place people can find more about Intercom and yourself?
Des: Sure. Email’s one’s deep in doubt like I think today email has been relegated as being like if you think about the emails you actually get and consume today it’s basically people who are addressing you in a formal business context but they don’t know you well know such that they wouldn’t like I messaged you or Slack you or whatever you know Slack has definitely like relegated email for work significantly emails more like a point of record in communications these days. Data is the means through which all conversations happen I think then that when you look at it from a marketing perspective I think there’s a generation of people growing up today for whom email is simply an identity verification for their Snapchat account or Facebook account or whatever. We’re like you need an email address because they ask you but like no one ever checks it and I think in that regard like the future of like email marketing it’s I’m not like I’m not down under it I think there is a good future for email marketing. I just think it might not be the best way to kind of you know grow top a funnel for the next generation of businesses that I think we’re gonna see like more and more people are spending their time in other products in your product elsewhere basically and I think in that regard you know email marketing will you know it’ll find a more of a nice use case than maybe it had five ten years ago and I think that’s just driven by the rise of messaging and the rise of workplace messaging like core chunks of where email was the best thing to do have been falling by the wayside consistently.
But that said like you know I I don’t think it’ll go away I think we’ll all have email accounts in ten years I just think their purpose will be relegated further and further and further and then I guess on your more general question and how to follow up with Intercom or myself and best basis intercom.com. And our blog is at blog.intercom.com. And that’s you know I guess we spoke a little bit I’m Dez Treynor on Twitter. And that’s the way you can keep in touch with me.
Nathan: Awesome, fantastic we’ll wrap there Des. But thank you so much for your time man it was a great interview. |
Case: 17-11076 Date Filed: 02/08/2018 Page: 1 of 7
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 17-11076
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 1:15-cr-00400-MHC-AJB-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
DEAMONTE KENDRICKS,
a.k.a. Deamonte J. Kendricks,
Defendant - Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
________________________
(February 8, 2018)
Before ROSENBAUM, JULIE CARNES, and HULL, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Case: 17-11076 Date Filed: 02/08/2018 Page: 2 of 7
Deamonte Kendricks appeals his sentence of 57 months’ imprisonment
imposed after he pled guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a
firearm. His sentence represents a six-month downward variance from the low end
of the applicable sentencing range under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Manual (“U.S.S.G.”). Kendricks argues that his sentence is substantively
unreasonable because the district court refused to impose a greater downward
variance to avoid unwarranted disparity in sentencing between himself and his
state codefendant and to account for the fact that but for Kendricks’s honesty when
questioned by police, his guidelines sentence would have been lower. For the
reasons that follow, we affirm.
I.
On October 1, 2015, Kendricks and his passenger, Martinez Antwan Arnold,
fled a traffic stop and engaged in a short, high-speed chase that ended after
Kendricks ran a stop sign, lost control of the vehicle, and hit a guard rail. The
police apprehended the men after they attempted to flee on foot. Upon searching
the vehicle, the officers discovered a small amount of marijuana as well as a pistol
and a semiautomatic rifle, both loaded. Later investigation revealed that both
firearms were stolen.
In subsequent interviews with police, Kendricks admitted that he owned the
rifle and that he lent it to Arnold, who planned to use it that night to retaliate
2
Case: 17-11076 Date Filed: 02/08/2018 Page: 3 of 7
against a rival gang who beat him up. Kendricks also told police that the pistol
was his and described an unrelated incident involving that firearm.
Kendricks and Arnold were both charged in state court, but while Kendricks
was also charged in the instant case in federal court, Arnold was not charged in
federal court. After unsuccessfully moving in the instant case to suppress his
statements to police,1 Kendricks pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a
firearm. 2 Both Kendricks’s and Arnold’s state-court cases are still pending.
II.
The guideline for the count of conviction was U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4)(B).
For the sole count, the base offense level was 20 because the offense involved a
firearm capable of accepting a large-capacity magazine (the semi-automatic rifle),
and Kendricks was a prohibited person at the time he committed the offense. The
court added two points under § 2K2.1(b)(4)(A) to the offense level because the
pistol was stolen. And it added another four under § 2K2. 1 (b)(6)(B) because
Kendricks knowingly allowed Arnold to possess the rifle to be used in connection
with a planned drive-by shooting, another felony offense. Under § 3C1.2, two
more points were added because Kendricks recklessly created a substantial risk of
death or serious bodily injury to another person when he fled from arresting
officers in a high-speed chase and ran a stop sign before crashing. As a result,
1
Kendricks does not challenge the denial of this motion on appeal.
2
Kendricks was previously convicted on May 15, 2015, of felony shoplifting and possession of drug
paraphernalia.
3
Case: 17-11076 Date Filed: 02/08/2018 Page: 4 of 7
Kendricks’s adjusted offense level was 28, before the subtraction of three points
under §§ 3E 1.1(a) and 3E1.1(b) because Kendricks accepted responsibility for the
offense and assisted authorities by timely notifying them of his intention to enter a
guilty plea. Thus, the total adjusted offense level was 25.
Kendricks received one criminal history point for a prior conviction for
shoplifting and possession of drug paraphernalia. Because Kendricks was on
probation for that crime when he committed the instant offense, his criminal-
history score was increased by two under U.S.S.G. § 4A1 .1(d), resulting in a total
criminal-history score of three and establishing a criminal-history category of II.
Based on a total adjusted offense level of 25 and a criminal-history category of II,
the probation officer calculated Kendricks’s guideline range to be 63 to 78 months
of imprisonment.
The government asked the court to account in Kendricks’s sentence for
certain conduct that Kendrick did not plead guilty to. For this part, Kendricks
argued for a below-guidelines sentence of 37 months’ imprisonment, arguing that
Arnold initiated the instant offense, his prior criminal history was for shoplifting
only, and his offense level was higher because of his honesty during his interviews
with police. Kendricks further contended that while he understood the court’s
reason for denying his motion to suppress the statements, a downward variance
4
Case: 17-11076 Date Filed: 02/08/2018 Page: 5 of 7
was appropriate to account for the circumstances under which the statements were
made.
The court declined to consider conduct for which Kendricks was not
convicted and specifically considered his age, history, association with gang
activity, and the seriousness of the crime. It then imposed a 57-month sentence of
imprisonment with three years of supervised release.
III.
We review all sentences, whether within or outside the guidelines, for
reasonableness under an abuse-of-discretion standard. United States v. Irey, 612
F.3d 1160, 1186 (11th Cir. 2010) (en banc). The challenging party bears the
burden of showing that the sentence is unreasonable in light of the record and the
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors. United States v. Victor, 719 F.3d 1288, 1291 (11th
Cir. 2013).
The district court’s sentence must be “sufficient, but not greater than
necessary to comply with the purposes” listed in § 3553(a)(2), including the need
for the sentence to reflect the seriousness of the offense and to promote respect for
the law, the need for adequate deterrence, the need to protect the public, and the
need to provide the defendant with educational or vocational training, medical
care, or other correctional treatment. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2); Victor, 719 F.3d at
1291. The court should also consider the nature and circumstances of the offense
5
Case: 17-11076 Date Filed: 02/08/2018 Page: 6 of 7
and the history and characteristics of the defendant, the kinds of sentences
available, the guideline range, any pertinent policy statements of the Sentencing
Commission, the need to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities, and the need to
provide restitution to victims. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1), (3)-(7).
IV.
Section § 3553(a)(6) of Title 18 specifically directs courts to consider “the
need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar
records who have been found guilty of similar conduct.” Well-founded claims of
unwarranted sentencing disparity “assume[] that apples are being compared to
apples.” United States v. Docampo, 573 F.3d 1091, 1101 (11th Cir. 2009)
(quotation omitted). Thus, § 3553(a)(6) applies only when comparing sentences
among defendants “who have been found guilty of similar conduct.” See United
States v. Martin, 455 F.3d 1227, 1241 (11th Cir. 2006) (emphasis in original)
(rejecting seven-day sentence imposed by the district court after that court
considered that a more culpable individual had been found not guilty).
Additionally, the need to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities arises only in
the context of federal sentencing. Docampo, 573 F.3d at 1102 (rejecting argument
that federal defendant was entitled to a less severe sentence based on the sentences
received by other defendants in state court). Comparing a state sentence with a
federal sentence does not establish an unwarranted sentencing disparity. See id.
6
Case: 17-11076 Date Filed: 02/08/2018 Page: 7 of 7
Here, the district court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing Kendricks
to a below-guidelines term of 57 months’ imprisonment. Kendricks argues that
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(6), his sentence is disparately high in comparison
to his state-court codefendant, Arnold. However, Arnold has not been charged or
found guilty of similar conduct at the federal-court level. His only charges are
pending in state court. So Arnold is not similarly situated to Kendricks for
purposes of considering parity in sentencing. See Docampo, 573 F.3d at 1102.
Kendricks also argues that his honesty with police during questioning, in
which he knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to an attorney, resulted in an
enhancement to his offense level under the sentencing guidelines. But while the
district court did not expressly acknowledge its consideration of his acceptance of
responsibility, the court reduced his offense level and sentenced him on the lower
end of the sentencing range. So the extent that Kendricks’s honesty may have
resulted in an increase in his offense level, it was accounted for under the
guidelines via a reduction in offense level.
Kendricks did not carry his burden of showing that the district court abused
its discretion in considering the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors.
V.
For these reasons, we affirm Kendricks’s sentence.
AFFIRMED.
7
|
Related literature {#sec1}
==================
The title compound is a dual ErbB-1/ErbB-2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, see: Petrov *et al.* (2006[@bb6]). For bond-length data, see: Allen *et al.* (1987[@bb1]).
Experimental {#sec2}
============
{#sec2.1}
### Crystal data {#sec2.1.1}
C~13~H~9~ClFNO~3~*M* *~r~* = 281.66Monoclinic,*a* = 8.3290 (17) Å*b* = 12.640 (3) Å*c* = 11.875 (2) Åβ = 96.94 (3)°*V* = 1241.0 (4) Å^3^*Z* = 4Mo *K*α radiationμ = 0.32 mm^−1^*T* = 294 K0.30 × 0.20 × 0.10 mm
### Data collection {#sec2.1.2}
Enraf--Nonius CAD-4 diffractometerAbsorption correction: ψ scan (North *et al.*, 1968[@bb5]) *T* ~min~ = 0.909, *T* ~max~ = 0.9682411 measured reflections2248 independent reflections1340 reflections with *I* \> 2σ(*I*)*R* ~int~ = 0.0283 standard reflections frequency: 120 min intensity decay: 1%
### Refinement {#sec2.1.3}
*R*\[*F* ^2^ \> 2σ(*F* ^2^)\] = 0.052*wR*(*F* ^2^) = 0.149*S* = 1.012248 reflections172 parametersH-atom parameters constrainedΔρ~max~ = 0.16 e Å^−3^Δρ~min~ = −0.25 e Å^−3^
{#d5e378}
Data collection: *CAD-4 Software* (Enraf--Nonius, 1989[@bb2]); cell refinement: *CAD-4 Software*; data reduction: *XCAD4* (Harms & Wocadlo, 1995[@bb4]); program(s) used to solve structure: *SHELXS97* (Sheldrick, 2008[@bb7]); program(s) used to refine structure: *SHELXL97* (Sheldrick, 2008[@bb7]); molecular graphics: *ORTEP-3 for Windows* (Farrugia, 1997[@bb3]) and *PLATON* (Spek, 2009[@bb8]); software used to prepare material for publication: *SHELXL97* and *PLATON*.
Supplementary Material
======================
Crystal structure: contains datablocks global, I. DOI: [10.1107/S160053680903431X/hk2758sup1.cif](http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/S160053680903431X/hk2758sup1.cif)
Structure factors: contains datablocks I. DOI: [10.1107/S160053680903431X/hk2758Isup2.hkl](http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/S160053680903431X/hk2758Isup2.hkl)
Additional supplementary materials: [crystallographic information](http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/sendsupfiles?hk2758&file=hk2758sup0.html&mime=text/html); [3D view](http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/sendcif?hk2758sup1&Qmime=cif); [checkCIF report](http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?hk2758&checkcif=yes)
Supplementary data and figures for this paper are available from the IUCr electronic archives (Reference: [HK2758](http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/sendsup?hk2758)).
Comment
=======
The title compound is one kind of important pharmaceutical intermediates, which is dual ErbB-1/ErbB-2 tyrosine kinase inhibitior (Petrov *et al.*, 2006). We report herein its crystal structure.
In the molecule of the title compound, (Fig. 1), the bond lengths (Allen *et al.*, 1987) and angles are within normal ranges. Rings A (C1-C6) and B (C8-C13) are, of course, planar and they are oriented at a dihedral angle of A/B = 41.23 (5)°. Atom C7 is -0.061 (3) Å away from the plane of ring A, while atoms Cl, O1, N and C7 are -0.007 (3), 0.001 (3), 0.018 (3) and 0.029 (3) Å away from the plane of ring B, respectively.
In the crystal structure, intermolecular C-H···O interactions link the molecules in herring-bone arrangement along the b axis and π--π contact between the benzene rings, Cg1---Cg2^i^, \[symmetry code: (i) x, 1/2 - y, 1/2 + z, where Cg1 and Cg2 are centroids of the rings A (C1-C6) and B (C8-C13), respectively\] may further stabilize the structure, with centroid-centroid distance of 3.881 (1) Å.
Experimental {#experimental}
============
For the preparation of the title compound, in the presence of sodium carbonate (10 g), 2-chloro-4-nitrophenol (1 mmol) and 1-(bromomethyl)-3-fluorobenzene (1 mmol) in acetonitrile (25 ml) were stirred at 313 K for 8 h. Sodium carbonate was filtered off and the filtrate was washed with brine. The organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated to give the crude product, which was crystallized from ethyl acetate to give the title compound. Crystals suitable for X-ray analysis were obtained by dissolving the title compound (0.1 g) in ethyl acetate (10 ml) and evaporating the solvent slowly at room temperature for 3 d.
Refinement {#refinement}
==========
H atoms were positioned geometrically with C-H = 0.93 and 0.97 Å for aromatic and methylene H atoms, respectively, and constrained to ride on their parent atoms, with U~iso~(H) = 1.2U~eq~(C).
Figures
=======
{#Fap1}
{#Fap2}
Crystal data {#tablewrapcrystaldatalong}
============
------------------------- -------------------------------------
C~13~H~9~ClFNO~3~ *F*(000) = 576
*M~r~* = 281.66 *D*~x~ = 1.508 Mg m^−3^
Monoclinic, *P*2~1~/*c* Mo *K*α radiation, λ = 0.71073 Å
Hall symbol: -P 2ybc Cell parameters from 25 reflections
*a* = 8.3290 (17) Å θ = 9--12°
*b* = 12.640 (3) Å µ = 0.32 mm^−1^
*c* = 11.875 (2) Å *T* = 294 K
β = 96.94 (3)° Block, yellow
*V* = 1241.0 (4) Å^3^ 0.30 × 0.20 × 0.10 mm
*Z* = 4
------------------------- -------------------------------------
Data collection {#tablewrapdatacollectionlong}
===============
------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------
Enraf--Nonius CAD-4 diffractometer 1340 reflections with *I* \> 2σ(*I*)
Radiation source: fine-focus sealed tube *R*~int~ = 0.028
graphite θ~max~ = 25.3°, θ~min~ = 2.4°
ω/2θ scans *h* = 0→10
Absorption correction: ψ scan (North *et al.*, 1968) *k* = 0→15
*T*~min~ = 0.909, *T*~max~ = 0.968 *l* = −14→14
2411 measured reflections 3 standard reflections every 120 min
2248 independent reflections intensity decay: 1%
------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------
Refinement {#tablewraprefinementdatalong}
==========
------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Refinement on *F*^2^ Primary atom site location: structure-invariant direct methods
Least-squares matrix: full Secondary atom site location: difference Fourier map
*R*\[*F*^2^ \> 2σ(*F*^2^)\] = 0.052 Hydrogen site location: inferred from neighbouring sites
*wR*(*F*^2^) = 0.149 H-atom parameters constrained
*S* = 1.01 *w* = 1/\[σ^2^(*F*~o~^2^) + (0.07*P*)^2^\] where *P* = (*F*~o~^2^ + 2*F*~c~^2^)/3
2248 reflections (Δ/σ)~max~ \< 0.001
172 parameters Δρ~max~ = 0.16 e Å^−3^
0 restraints Δρ~min~ = −0.25 e Å^−3^
------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special details {#specialdetails}
===============
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geometry. All esds (except the esd in the dihedral angle between two l.s. planes) are estimated using the full covariance matrix. The cell esds are taken into account individually in the estimation of esds in distances, angles and torsion angles; correlations between esds in cell parameters are only used when they are defined by crystal symmetry. An approximate (isotropic) treatment of cell esds is used for estimating esds involving l.s. planes.
Refinement. Refinement of F^2^ against ALL reflections. The weighted R-factor wR and goodness of fit S are based on F^2^, conventional R-factors R are based on F, with F set to zero for negative F^2^. The threshold expression of F^2^ \> 2sigma(F^2^) is used only for calculating R-factors(gt) etc. and is not relevant to the choice of reflections for refinement. R-factors based on F^2^ are statistically about twice as large as those based on F, and R- factors based on ALL data will be even larger.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fractional atomic coordinates and isotropic or equivalent isotropic displacement parameters (Å^2^) {#tablewrapcoords}
==================================================================================================
------ -------------- -------------- --------------- -------------------- --
*x* *y* *z* *U*~iso~\*/*U*~eq~
Cl 0.81771 (13) 0.51262 (7) 0.07511 (8) 0.0802 (4)
F 0.4335 (3) 1.00189 (17) −0.29984 (19) 0.0996 (8)
O1 0.6878 (3) 0.72025 (15) 0.07000 (17) 0.0582 (6)
O2 1.1588 (3) 0.5447 (2) 0.4720 (2) 0.0846 (8)
O3 1.0836 (4) 0.6867 (3) 0.5501 (2) 0.1058 (10)
N 1.0804 (3) 0.6268 (3) 0.4700 (3) 0.0694 (8)
C1 0.3405 (4) 0.8293 (3) −0.2781 (3) 0.0670 (10)
H1A 0.2801 0.8325 −0.3492 0.080\*
C2 0.4320 (4) 0.9129 (3) −0.2358 (3) 0.0629 (9)
C3 0.5233 (4) 0.9117 (2) −0.1320 (3) 0.0550 (8)
H3A 0.5858 0.9700 −0.1069 0.066\*
C4 0.5210 (4) 0.8224 (2) −0.0653 (3) 0.0513 (8)
C5 0.4296 (4) 0.7364 (3) −0.1061 (3) 0.0630 (9)
H5A 0.4279 0.6756 −0.0621 0.076\*
C6 0.3407 (4) 0.7401 (3) −0.2118 (3) 0.0707 (10)
H6A 0.2801 0.6815 −0.2386 0.085\*
C7 0.6137 (4) 0.8219 (2) 0.0507 (3) 0.0587 (9)
H7A 0.6959 0.8767 0.0564 0.070\*
H7B 0.5415 0.8358 0.1073 0.070\*
C8 0.7811 (4) 0.7033 (2) 0.1694 (3) 0.0492 (8)
C9 0.8086 (4) 0.7766 (2) 0.2567 (3) 0.0564 (8)
H9A 0.7609 0.8431 0.2488 0.068\*
C10 0.9064 (4) 0.7510 (3) 0.3551 (3) 0.0597 (9)
H10A 0.9250 0.8002 0.4135 0.072\*
C11 0.9755 (4) 0.6531 (2) 0.3662 (3) 0.0531 (8)
C12 0.9495 (4) 0.5787 (3) 0.2808 (3) 0.0575 (8)
H12A 0.9970 0.5122 0.2896 0.069\*
C13 0.8532 (4) 0.6039 (2) 0.1836 (3) 0.0530 (8)
------ -------------- -------------- --------------- -------------------- --
Atomic displacement parameters (Å^2^) {#tablewrapadps}
=====================================
----- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
*U*^11^ *U*^22^ *U*^33^ *U*^12^ *U*^13^ *U*^23^
Cl 0.1074 (8) 0.0574 (6) 0.0736 (7) 0.0078 (5) 0.0026 (5) −0.0116 (4)
F 0.135 (2) 0.0791 (15) 0.0789 (15) 0.0098 (14) −0.0083 (14) 0.0259 (11)
O1 0.0683 (14) 0.0475 (12) 0.0568 (14) 0.0075 (11) −0.0005 (11) 0.0012 (10)
O2 0.0635 (17) 0.094 (2) 0.0931 (19) 0.0152 (16) −0.0032 (14) 0.0228 (16)
O3 0.109 (2) 0.124 (3) 0.0751 (19) 0.014 (2) −0.0258 (17) −0.0135 (19)
N 0.0542 (18) 0.083 (2) 0.069 (2) −0.0014 (18) 0.0016 (16) 0.0110 (18)
C1 0.061 (2) 0.083 (3) 0.055 (2) 0.011 (2) −0.0022 (17) −0.0035 (19)
C2 0.067 (2) 0.060 (2) 0.062 (2) 0.0124 (19) 0.0055 (18) 0.0090 (18)
C3 0.0521 (19) 0.0494 (18) 0.063 (2) 0.0055 (15) 0.0063 (16) −0.0019 (15)
C4 0.0482 (18) 0.0511 (18) 0.0552 (19) 0.0061 (15) 0.0087 (15) 0.0009 (15)
C5 0.067 (2) 0.057 (2) 0.065 (2) −0.0028 (18) 0.0075 (18) 0.0064 (17)
C6 0.061 (2) 0.075 (2) 0.074 (3) −0.0052 (19) 0.001 (2) −0.008 (2)
C7 0.068 (2) 0.0494 (19) 0.057 (2) 0.0020 (16) 0.0005 (17) 0.0031 (15)
C8 0.0461 (18) 0.0499 (18) 0.0515 (18) −0.0016 (15) 0.0054 (15) 0.0030 (15)
C9 0.062 (2) 0.0480 (17) 0.060 (2) 0.0025 (16) 0.0068 (17) 0.0020 (16)
C10 0.060 (2) 0.063 (2) 0.056 (2) −0.0072 (17) 0.0062 (17) −0.0032 (16)
C11 0.0446 (18) 0.0566 (19) 0.058 (2) −0.0012 (16) 0.0055 (15) 0.0078 (16)
C12 0.049 (2) 0.057 (2) 0.068 (2) 0.0068 (16) 0.0107 (17) 0.0077 (17)
C13 0.0534 (19) 0.0518 (19) 0.0548 (19) −0.0026 (16) 0.0096 (16) 0.0017 (15)
----- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Geometric parameters (Å, °) {#tablewrapgeomlong}
===========================
-------------------- ------------ ----------------------- ------------
Cl---C13 1.728 (3) C5---C6 1.379 (5)
F---C2 1.359 (4) C5---H5A 0.9300
O1---C7 1.432 (3) C6---H6A 0.9300
O1---C8 1.350 (4) C7---H7A 0.9700
N---O2 1.225 (4) C7---H7B 0.9700
N---O3 1.214 (4) C8---C9 1.388 (4)
N---C11 1.460 (4) C8---C13 1.394 (4)
C1---C2 1.363 (5) C9---C10 1.380 (5)
C1---C6 1.375 (4) C9---H9A 0.9300
C1---H1A 0.9300 C10---C11 1.366 (4)
C2---C3 1.367 (4) C10---H10A 0.9300
C3---C4 1.381 (4) C11---C12 1.380 (4)
C3---H3A 0.9300 C12---C13 1.361 (4)
C4---C5 1.382 (4) C12---H12A 0.9300
C4---C7 1.496 (4)
C8---O1---C7 118.3 (2) O1---C7---H7A 110.0
O2---N---C11 118.2 (3) C4---C7---H7A 110.0
O3---N---O2 123.5 (3) O1---C7---H7B 110.0
O3---N---C11 118.3 (3) C4---C7---H7B 110.0
C2---C1---C6 117.6 (3) H7A---C7---H7B 108.4
C2---C1---H1A 121.2 O1---C8---C9 124.9 (3)
C6---C1---H1A 121.2 O1---C8---C13 116.3 (3)
F---C2---C1 118.5 (3) C9---C8---C13 118.8 (3)
F---C2---C3 118.1 (3) C10---C9---C8 120.3 (3)
C1---C2---C3 123.3 (3) C10---C9---H9A 119.9
C2---C3---C4 118.7 (3) C8---C9---H9A 119.9
C2---C3---H3A 120.6 C11---C10---C9 119.5 (3)
C4---C3---H3A 120.6 C11---C10---H10A 120.3
C3---C4---C5 119.2 (3) C9---C10---H10A 120.3
C3---C4---C7 119.4 (3) C10---C11---C12 121.3 (3)
C5---C4---C7 121.4 (3) C10---C11---N 119.3 (3)
C6---C5---C4 120.3 (3) C12---C11---N 119.4 (3)
C6---C5---H5A 119.8 C13---C12---C11 119.2 (3)
C4---C5---H5A 119.8 C13---C12---H12A 120.4
C1---C6---C5 120.8 (3) C11---C12---H12A 120.4
C1---C6---H6A 119.6 C12---C13---C8 120.9 (3)
C5---C6---H6A 119.6 C12---C13---Cl 120.4 (3)
O1---C7---C4 108.4 (2) C8---C13---Cl 118.6 (2)
C6---C1---C2---F −180.0 (3) C13---C8---C9---C10 0.3 (5)
C6---C1---C2---C3 0.3 (5) C8---C9---C10---C11 −0.2 (5)
F---C2---C3---C4 179.1 (3) C9---C10---C11---C12 −0.1 (5)
C1---C2---C3---C4 −1.2 (5) C9---C10---C11---N 179.3 (3)
C2---C3---C4---C5 1.3 (5) O3---N---C11---C10 11.0 (5)
C2---C3---C4---C7 −177.0 (3) O2---N---C11---C10 −170.0 (3)
C3---C4---C5---C6 −0.5 (5) O3---N---C11---C12 −169.6 (3)
C7---C4---C5---C6 177.7 (3) O2---N---C11---C12 9.5 (4)
C2---C1---C6---C5 0.5 (5) C10---C11---C12---C13 0.2 (5)
C4---C5---C6---C1 −0.4 (5) N---C11---C12---C13 −179.2 (3)
C8---O1---C7---C4 178.5 (2) C11---C12---C13---C8 −0.1 (4)
C3---C4---C7---O1 −140.2 (3) C11---C12---C13---Cl −179.9 (2)
C5---C4---C7---O1 41.6 (4) O1---C8---C13---C12 −179.9 (3)
C7---O1---C8---C9 1.5 (4) C9---C8---C13---C12 −0.2 (4)
C7---O1---C8---C13 −178.8 (3) O1---C8---C13---Cl −0.1 (4)
O1---C8---C9---C10 −180.0 (3) C9---C8---C13---Cl 179.6 (2)
-------------------- ------------ ----------------------- ------------
Hydrogen-bond geometry (Å, °) {#tablewraphbondslong}
=============================
------------------ --------- --------- ----------- ---------------
*D*---H···*A* *D*---H H···*A* *D*···*A* *D*---H···*A*
C7---H7A···O2^i^ 0.97 2.49 3.423 (4) 162
------------------ --------- --------- ----------- ---------------
Symmetry codes: (i) −*x*+2, *y*+1/2, −*z*+1/2.
###### Hydrogen-bond geometry (Å, °)
*D*---H⋯*A* *D*---H H⋯*A* *D*⋯*A* *D*---H⋯*A*
------------------ --------- ------- ----------- -------------
C7---H7*A*⋯O2^i^ 0.97 2.49 3.423 (4) 162
Symmetry code: (i) .
|
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"[bushes rustling]" "[sighs]" " [roars]" " ♪ teenage mutant ninja turtles ♪" "♪ teenage mutant ninja turtles ♪" "♪ teenage mutant ninja turtles ♪" "♪ heroes in a half shell, turtle power ♪" " ♪ here we go, it's a lean, green, ninja team ♪" "♪ on the scene, cool teens doing ninja things ♪" "♪ so extreme, out the sewer like laser beams ♪" "♪ get rocked with the shell-shocked pizza kings ♪" "♪ can't stop these radical dudes ♪" "♪ the secret of the ooze, made the chosen few ♪" "♪ emerge from the shadows to make their move ♪" "♪ the good guys win, and the bad guys lose ♪" "♪ ♪" "♪ leonardo's the leader in blue ♪" "♪ does anything it takes to get his ninjas through ♪" "♪ donatello is the fellow who has a way with machines ♪" "♪ raphael's got the most attitude on the team ♪" "♪ michelangelo, he's one of a kind ♪" "♪ and you know just where to find him when it's party time ♪" "♪ master splinter taught 'em every single skill they need ♪" "♪ to be one lean, mean, green, incredible team ♪" " ♪ teenage mutant ninja turtles ♪" "♪ teenage mutant ninja turtles ♪" "♪ teenage mutant ninja turtles ♪" "♪ heroes in a half shell, turtle power ♪" " There." "[music box plays melody]" " Too much?" " Do you really want my opinion?" " Only if you think it's perfect." " It's perfect!" " Wow, that is just super neat." "Thanks so much, donnie!" "[music box closes] well, got to go!" "Got some, uh, training to do... [chuckles] thanks again, donnie!" "[door opens, closes]" " I can't even imagine how you're feeling right now." " Devastated." " Aw, man!" "I was totally gonna say "devastated"!" "I should've just went for it." "I got to learn to trust my instincts!" "I mean..." "That's rough, bro." " [groans]" " Smooth move, genius." "It's never gonna happen, donnie." "We're mutants." "She's a girl." "You're a giant talking turtle." "The sooner you get used to it, the better." "You know what you need?" "Huh?" "Huh, buddy?" "You know what you need?" " You to leave?" " A little forest ninja training!" "Ha!" "Huh?" "Huh?" "Sounds like fun, right?" "Right?" " [whimpers]" " [grunting]" "Aw, you guys are rustier than the titanic's butt!" " No, we're" " You're not in the city anymore." "You need to get used to this new environment" "No buildings, no subways." " Lots of trees." " Ugh, tell me about it." " Well, what do you think?" " Hmm..." "Turtle hunt." " Turtle hunt." "Both:" "Turtle hunt?" " You gonna help out, leo?" " Yeah, I-- [groans]" "Sorry." "I guess I'm still not up to it." "Enjoy your little hunt, guys." " Dude!" " What do you mean by "turtle hunt"?" " You guys are gonna head into the forest." "I'll give you a five-minute head start," "Then I hunt you down." "If you can't stay hidden for at least an hour," "You'll have to..." "Clean out the chicken coop." " No way!" " Not the chicken coop, man!" " It smells like cheese fossils!" " It's got spiders so big, they play the banjo!" "[banjo music plays]" " We can't clean that thing!" " Then get moving." "[both yell]" " How do we hide in the woods, anyway?" "There's no doors!" " Hmm." "Ah!" "We could climb a tree." " That's the first place he's gonna look." "Could we burrow?" "Do turtles burrow in the wild?" " I don't know." "I've never been in the wild before." "Have you?" " Does jersey count?" "[distant roaring]" "What the heck was that?" " It's got to be raph messing with us!" "Right?" " We got to hide, now!" " Aw, we are so cleaning that coop." "Raph's gonna find us up here in, like, five seconds." " I don't think so." " Why not?" " [growling]" " Um..." "Hi?" "[both screaming]" " [roaring]" " What is it?" "Some kind of monkey man?" " It looks like the mythical sasquatch..." "Bigfoot!" "[both grunt]" "He's too big." "Run!" " [screaming]" " Come on, you're not even trying to hide!" "Both:" "Bigfoot!" " Yeah, right." "If you think you're gonna get out of cleaning that coop by-- [all screaming]" "Looks like we're gonna get some real training." " [roaring]" " Booyakasha!" "[yelling]" " Bigfoot got some skills." " Wah!" " [crying]" " Hey, are you" " Stop!" "Guys, he's hurt!" "I don't think he wants to fight us." "I think he's just scared." " Scared." " He can talk?" " Look at that sagittal crest." "It could be a paranthropus robustus," "A hominid long thought extinct!" " [muffled] can't breathe!" " Okay, okay, easy now..." "Easy." "I can fix your arm if you let me." "It's okay." "I want to help." "It's not bad, but I'd like to take you home" "Where we can clean it up and bandage it." "Is that okay?" " Hello?" "Anybody?" " No way!" "We can't bring a giant ape-man home with us!" " Of course we can." "Mikey?" " Injured woodland creature?" "Bring him home." " Two to one, raph." "Sorry." "Hi." "I'm donnie." "This is raph, and this is mikey." " I." " I?" "Okay, your name is I?" " I..." "No name." " Of course you have a name." "You're bigfoot!" " Bigfoot!" "[laughs]" "Bigfoot." " Will you come with us?" " [whimpers]" " It's okay." "You're gonna be safe with us." " Why would he be scared of us?" " Well, mama..." "Been hunting this hairy freak for years now." ""and now he goes and finds hisself some more freaks!"" "Settle down, mama." "Ain't no little green aliens" "Gonna save bigfoot from the finger." " Hello?" "Anybody home?" "We got company!" " What?" "You can't let anyone in." " Why is the doorway full of hair?" " And a giant butt?" "Come on, it's okay." " [gasps] - it's bigfoot!" " You brought bigfoot home?" " Why everyone know bigfoot name?" " Bigfoot, this is leo, casey, and April." " He's hurt!" "I'll get the first-aid kit." " You can't just bring home bigfoot!" " [chuckles awkwardly]" " He needs our help..." "Just until his arm gets better." " Come on, let's get that wound cleaned up." " Sure, but when I wanted to have a dog," "You guys were like like, "no way."" " You guys don't get it." "Bigfoot is the missing genetic link" "Between humans and the ape." "This discovery will change the face of science itself." " So it's bigger than talking turtles?" " [growls]" " There you go." "Try not to use it too much for the next few days." " Mm-hmm." "Bigfoot thank donnie." " No problem." " Bad man after bigfoot." "Name--the finger." " The finger?" " Very bad mans." "But donnie good mans." " Aw, thanks, bigfoot." " Donnie very good mans..." "So good." "Bigfoot..." " Whoa." " Ah!" " Love donnie!" " But, but, but" " Bigfoot am lady!" " That..." "Is..." "Great?" " That..." "Is great!" "[laughter]" " Bigfoot bring meat!" " Where did you" " Good meat." "[laughs]" "Tender, tender." " [screams, retches]" " Bigfoot make waste." " Uh, make waste?" "[foghorn blares]" "Aah!" "Bigfoot!" "Donnie and mikey need to learn to blend in out here" "Forest stealth." "If you're gonna stay with us, at least you can help out." "So show them some stuff, okay?" "I have to go clean out the tub." "[breathing deeply through mask]" " Please don't grab my head again." " Blend in." " I can still see him." " Mama, looks like bigfoot got him a couple" "Of little green alien buddies." "The finger is okay with that." "[weapon clicks]" " Huh?" "[gasps] [both screaming]" " What are you" " Ugh, you're squishing me!" " Darn it!" "Lost 'em, but not for long." " Come on, leo, give me your best!" " You'll gain no ground." " Oh, man, bigfoot is amaze-balls" "With the forest-stealth stuff!" " Bigfoot scared." " Aw." " Finger bad!" " Right, fingers are bad." "Hey, donnie, want to play the winner?" " Evening, bigfoot." "What are you making?" " Food!" " Aah!" " Donnie!" " Um, you realize..." "That meat has fur?" " Mm-hmm." "Hmm?" "[cat screeching]" " [screaming]" " [screeching]" " [screaming]" " [screeching]" " [screaming] - [screeching] [meows weakly]" " Bigfoot..." "Need..." "Help." " Sure, what bigfoot wa" "I mean, what do you want?" " Makeover." "Huh?" " Okay, and a little off the top here." "[humming]" "Well?" "Uh..." "[laughs]" "So what do you think?" " Eat!" " Gah!" "Did you..." "Wow--whoa." "Uh, yeah, um, uh..." "Thank you." "Got to go, bye!" " [whimpers]" " Ugh." "This is so uncomfortable." "Bigfoot follows me around everywhere" "Like a love-struck puppy." " Now you know how April feels." " [whimpers] [distant laughter]" " So she's wearing makeup now," "And she keeps making soup for donnie." " Do you think she's his type?" " Maybe after a shave!" "[both laughing]" " [whimpering]" " Bigfoot, wait!" " [crying]" " What is wrong with you guys?" " We didn't mean to hurt her feelings." " Bigfoot!" "Wait up!" " [crying]" " Mama, your boy's got 'em right where he wants 'em." ""iffen you play your cards right," "Maybe you'll get your own alien-hunting reality show!"" "Ooh, just like cousin fatback!" "Ohhhhh, doggie!" " [crying]" "[whimpering]" " How many years the finger been chasing you?" "Well, guess what." "Mama says the chasing's over." "Bigfoot, you gonna make mama and the finger rich!" ""I'm so proud of you, the finger."" "Aw, shucks, mama..." " What the" "Huh?" "[thud]" " Puppies..." "Too many puppies..." "Aah!" " Donnie, I just had the worst dream about" " I'm not sympathetic right now, mikey." "The finger has been debating whether to pickle us" "Or stuff us." " Ooh, pickle!" "Pickles taste so good!" " [sighs]" " Ain't got no room for these two on the cart, mama." "Looks like the finger's gonna have to stuff 'em right here." " I've got an idea." "Follow my lead." "Hey, finger!" "Your mama looks like a raisin!" " "what'd he say about me, the finger?"" " Uh..." "Your mama's so wrinkly, she looks like" "One of those little dogs..." "With all the wrinkles." " A shar-pei?" " Your mama's" "Uh, your mama's a shrunken head!" " Shut up!" ""destroy them."" " Bad move, the finger." " The finger got skills!" " Wah!" " [groans]" "Ha!" "Forest stealth!" " [growling]" "Oh, yeah!" "Oh, yeah!" "Oh, yeah, brother!" "Oh, yeah!" "Ha!" " [gasps] [classical music]" "♪ ♪" "This is gonna hurt!" "[groans]" " You can't beat the finger!" "He's too strong for you!" " Hey, finger!" " How many more explosive bolts you got in that quiver?" " 42." "[groaning]" "If the finger's going down, he's taking bigfoot with him!" "Bigfoot" "Bigfoot's a lady?" "The finger can't shoot no lady!" "The finger's sorry, mama!" "He didn't know!" "He would never hurt no lady!" "[crying]" " There, there..." "It am be okay." "Huh?" "[heart beating rapidly]" " [crying]" " Bigfoot take care sad mans." " [grunting]" " Hey, April." " What's up, donnie?" " I, um..." "Well, I just wanted to let you know" "I won't be bothering you with music boxes anymore." "I get it now." "Donnie is to April as bigfoot was to donnie." "I'm just..." "A mutant." " You're not just a mutant, donnie." "You're my mutant." "Mwah." " I understand nothing." |
Jægersborg Dyrehave
Dyrehaven (Danish 'The Deer Park'), officially Jægersborg Dyrehave, is a forest park north of Copenhagen. It covers around . Dyrehaven is noted for its mixture of huge, ancient oak trees and large populations of red and fallow deer. In July 2015, it was one of the three forests included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed as Par force hunting landscape in North Zealand.
All entrances to the park have a characteristic red gate; one of the most popular entrances is Klampenborg gate, close to Klampenborg station. All the entrance gates have an identical gate house attached to them, which serve as the residences of the forest wardens. Dyrehaven is maintained as a natural forest, with the emphasis on the natural development of the woods over commercial forestry. Old trees are felled only if they are a danger to the public. It has herds of about 2100 deer in total, with 300 Red Deer, 1700 Fallow Deer and 100 Sika Deer. Dyrehaven is also the venue for the Hermitage road race (Eremitageløbet) and the yearly Hubertus hunt (Hubertusjagten) which is held on the first Sunday in November. In former times it was home to the Fortunløbet race, later known as Ermelundsløbet, but this race was discontinued in 1960.
History
In 1669 Frederik III decided that the wood of "Boveskov" ("Beech wood") should be fenced in and wild deer from the surrounding areas driven into the newly created park. Boveskov was already well known as the former property of Valdemar the Victorious as it had been recorded in his census (the Liber Census Daniæ) of 1231. The forest lay in the westerly and southerly part of the present Dyrehaven and encompassed land used by the farmers from the village of Stokkerup, which lay to the north. Fencing work consisted of excavating a ditch, the earth from which was built up in a bank on the outside walls of the ditch, on the opposite side to the centre of the park. On the top of the bank posts were driven into the ground and fences installed. This made it more difficult for the deer to leap the fence, as the rise between the ditch and the bank effectively increased the level of the fence. The ditch and bank can still be seen for a long stretch in the south-easterly part of the current park. The work was never finished, as Frederik III died in 1670. The design, however, is still on record, and the area for the scheme worked out at around 3 square kilometres. When Frederik's son, Christian V, became king, he laid out new and more ambitious plans for Dyrehaven.
During his education Christian V had spent time at the court of Louis XIV in France. Here he had seen another type of hunting practice, parforce (hunting with dogs), that he wished to adopt. This style of hunting required a greater area of land for its practice, so Christian V increased the boundaries to include the fields up to the village of Stokkerup (the area known today as Eremitagesletten), as well as taking in the land that today is Jægersborg Hegn. The additional enclosure increased the size of the park to . The inhabitants of Stokkerup, whose village pond still lies within Eremitagesletten area, were ordered to tear down their houses and make use of the materials to rebuild the farms in the area that had stood empty since the Northern Wars. They were compensated for this by having a period of three years during which they were exempt from taxation.
Areas in Dyrehaven
Eremitagesletten
Eremitagesletten is an area in the north of the park. Originally this area was the fields of the village of Stokkerup, but was enclosed when Christian needed it for hunting with dogs. Evidence of this can be clearly seen from the roads which are laid out in the classic star form that was typical for areas used in this form of hunting. In the middle of Eremitagesletten is the Hermitage, built during the reign of Christian VI.
Eremitagesletten is encircled by forest. From Hjortekær to the north and the east there is a row of chestnut trees that make up the boundaries of the plain. This row of trees marked the northern extent of Dyrehaven until 1913, when the boundaries were extended north of Mølleåen.
Mølleåen
This is an area north of Eremitagesletten near Rådvad along the banks of the Millstream.
Fortunens Indelukke
Fortunens Indelukke is an area in the west of Dyrehaven. It is fenced in and is the only part of the forest that the deer do not have access to.
There are a few other areas also fenced in, but only smaller and temporary to save the young trees.
Ulvedalene
Ulvedalene has Dyrehaven's hilliest terrain, which was created during the last ice age. Djævlebakken, a popular sledging run is found in this part of the park. Ulvedalsteateret (Ulvedal theatre) gave performances for 39 years in Ulvedalene. The first time was in the summer of 1910 with Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger's Hagbart and Signe. The idea originated from the actor Adam Poulsen and producer Henrik Cavling. The architect Jens Ferdinand Willumsen created spaces for about 4,000 sitting and 2,000 standing spectators, which made it possible to lower the ticket price to an accessible level. The theatre survived up to 1949, and after a break of almost 50 years, the tradition was revived by Birgitte Price with an arrangement of Johan Ludvig Heiberg's Elverhøj in 1996 in a production supported by the Royal Danish Theatre, Lyngby-Taarbæk Kommune and Kulturby'96. Since then there have been further performances, the latest, Røde Orm, in 2018.
Von Langens Plantage
This is the southernmost part of Dyrehaven and the most visited.
Dyrehavsbakken
Dyrehavsbakken (colloquially Bakken and literally in English "The Deer Park's Hill") is the world's oldest existing amusement park.
Kirsten Piils Kilde
Kirsten Piils Kilde (Kirsten Piil's Spring) was discovered in 1583 by Kirsten Piil about whom little is known. Legend states Kirsten was a pious woman, who, through her devotion, gave the spring curative powers, which made it a place of pilgrimage for the sick who would come to drink the water.
Peter Lieps Hus
Peter Lieps Hus (Peter Liep's House) is now a well-known restaurant. It is named after Dyrehaven's first sharpshooter, Peter Liep. The house was originally called Kildehuset (Spring house) and is thought to have been to be built towards the end of the 18th century. In the 1860s a two-storey extension was added that gave the house a clumsy appearance. Peter Liep took over the building in 1888. In September 1915 the house burned to the ground, but it was reconstructed by 1916. In 1928 the house burned down again. It was rebuilt to a different design, basically as it can be seen today. After some years a pavilion and toilets were added. Visitor numbers consistently rose (the house had already achieved a good reputation as a restaurant by the end of the 19th century). In 1952 a fire again broke out in the house. The fire was extinguished before it did any major damage: a hole was burned in the thatched roof, but later the same day the extensions caught fire and burned down, and only the main farmhouse was able to be saved. The extensions were rebuilt in 1954 and a new pavilion added in 1960. All these buildings are today known under the collective name "Peter Lieps Hus", though the house is very different from the house Peter Liep lived in on the same spot.
Fortunen
Fortunen (The Fortune) is a former ranger station on the King's hunting road to Dyrehaven, named after the Roman goddess of luck Fortuna. It is now home to a hotel and restaurant.
Annual events
Eremitage race
Day of the Kite
Hubertus Hunt
The Hubertus Hunt is a cross country horse race which takes place every year on the first Sunday in November, marking the end of the hunting season. First held in 1900, the event attracts about 160 riders and up to 40,000 spectators. The race always begins at Peter Liep's House and involves a break at the Hermitage Lodge. The race route is 13 km long and involves a total of 35 obstacles. The winner receives the Hubertus chain.
Open air theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre produces an annual theatre production at Ulvedalene in Jægersborg Dyrehave.
Sources
This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding Danish Wikipedia article as of 29 March 2007.
The Parforce Hunting landscape in North Zealand UNESCO
In Danish
Jægersborg Dyrehave, Skov- og Naturstyrelsen, Vandreture i Statsskovene nr. 22
Dyrehaven, Mattssons Rideklub
Lyngby-Bogen 1989 / red. Jeppe Tønsberg. Udgivet af Historisk-Topografisk Selskab for Lyngby-Taarbæk Kommune
"Dyrehaven" af Torben Christiansen og Peter Lassen, Politikens Forlag, 2005.
Ravnene (skulpturer fra scenen ved Ulvedalene)
Meulengracht-Madsen, Jens: "Dyrehavens gamle ege, deres alder og vækst", Naturens Verden, nr. 11-12/1999, vol. 82, side 2-21.
External links
Category:Parks and open spaces in Gentofte Municipality
Category:Parks and open spaces in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality
Category:Forests of Greater Copenhagen
Category:Urban forests in Denmark
Category:Tourist attractions in the Capital Region of Denmark
Category:Danish Culture Canon
Category:World Heritage Sites in Denmark
Category:Articles containing video clips |
---
abstract: 'In this paper we describe a new release of the PRESHOWER program, a tool for Monte Carlo simulation of propagation of ultra-high energy photons in the magnetic field of the Earth. The PRESHOWER program is designed to calculate magnetic pair production and bremsstrahlung and should be used together with other programs to simulate extensive air showers induced by photons. The main new features of the PRESHOWER code include a much faster algorithm applied in the procedures of simulating the processes of gamma conversion and bremsstrahlung, update of the geomagnetic field model, and a minor correction. The new simulation procedure increases the flexibility of the code so that it can also be applied to other magnetic field configurations such as, for example, encountered in the vicinity of the sun or neutron stars.'
address:
- 'H. Niewodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Radzikowskiego 152, 31-342 Kraków, Poland'
- 'Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany'
author:
- 'P. Homola'
- 'R. Engel'
- 'A. Pysz'
- 'H. Wilczyński'
title: 'Simulation of Ultra-High Energy Photon Propagation with PRESHOWER 2.0'
---
ultra-high energy cosmic rays ,extensive air showers ,geomagnetic cascading ,gamma conversion ,PRESHOWER
Program Summary
===============
-------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program title: PRESHOWER 2.0
Catalog identifier: ADWG\_v2\_0
Program summary URL: http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ ADWG\_v2\_0.html
Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland
Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html
Programming language: C, FORTRAN 77
Computer(s) for which the program has been designed: Intel-Pentium based PC
Operating system(s) for which the program has been designed: Linux or Unix
RAM required to execute with typical data: $<100$ kB
CPC Library Classification: 1.1.
External routines/libraries used: IGRF [@igrf-paper; @tsygan], DBSKA [@cernbess], ran2 [@numrec]
Catalog identifier of previous version: ADWG\_v1\_0
Journal Reference of previous version: Computer Physics Communications 173 (2005) 71-90
Does the new version supercede the previous version?: yes
Nature of problem: Simulation of a cascade of particles initiated by UHE photon in magnetic field.
Solution method: The primary photon is tracked until its conversion into an $e^+e^-$ pair. If conversion occurs each individual particle in the resultant preshower is checked for either bremsstrahlung radiation (electrons) or secondary gamma conversion (photons).
Reasons for the new version: 1\) Slow and outdated algorithm in the old version (a significant speed up is possible); 2) Extension of the program to allow simulations also for extraterrestrial magnetic field configurations (e.g. neutron stars) and very long path lengths.
-------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary of revisions: A veto algorithm was introduced in the gamma conversion and bremsstrahlung tracking procedures. The length of the tracking step is now variable along the track and depends on the probability of the process expected to occur. The new algorithm reduces significantly the number of tracking steps and speeds up the execution of the program. The geomagnetic field model has been updated to IGRF-11, allowing for interpolations up to the year 2015. Numerical Recipes procedures to calculate modified Bessel functions have been replaced with an open source CERN routine DBSKA. One minor bug has been fixed.
Restrictions: Gamma conversion into particles other than an electron pair is not considered. Spatial structure of the cascade is neglected.
Running time: 100 preshower events with primary energy $10^{20}$ eV require a 2.66 GHz CPU time of about 200 sec.; at the energy of $10^{21}$ eV, 600 sec.
----------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
============
Identifying and understanding the sources of cosmic rays with energies up to $10^{20}$eV is one of the most important questions in astroparticle physics (see, for example, [@Bluemer:2009zf; @LetessierSelvon:2011dy; @Kotera:2011cp]). Knowing the fraction of photons in the flux of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is of particular importance as photons are unique messengers of particular source processes (acceleration vs. decay of super-heavy particles or other objects). They are also produced in interactions of charged cosmic ray nuclei of the highest energies with cosmic microwave background radiation, known as the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) effect. If the energy of the cosmic ray particles exceeds the GZK energy threshold at the source, ultra-high energy photons are produced due to well-understood hadronic interactions with microwave photons and can be detected at Earth as a unique propagation signature. So far only upper limits to the photon flux at ultra-high energy exist, which have led to severe constraints on models for UHECR sources. However, depending on the primary cosmic ray composition, the sensitivity of the latest generation of cosmic ray detectors, i.e. the Pierre Auger Observatory [@auger] and the Telescope Array [@Tokuno:2010zz], should allow detection of GZK photons for the first time.
The simulation of the propagation of photons before they reach the Earth’s atmosphere is important because of the preshower effect [@preshw-mcbreen] that may occur when a photon traverses a region where the geomagnetic field component transverse to the photon trajectory is particularly strong. As described e.g. in Refs. [@cpc1; @phot-rev], high energy photons in the presence of a magnetic field may convert into e$^{+}$e$^{-}$ pairs and the newly created leptons emit bremsstrahlung photons, which again may convert into e$^{+}$e$^{-}$ if their energies are high enough. As a result of these interactions, instead of a single high energy photon, a shower of particles of lower energies, the so-called preshower, reaches the atmosphere. The occurrence of the preshower effect has a large impact on the subsequent extensive air shower development and changes the predicted shower observables.
In 2005 the program PRESHOWER [@cpc1] for simulating the showering of photons in the Earth’s magnetic field was released. It was shown that this initial version of the Monte Carlo code is in good general agreement with previous studies [@preshw-mcbreen; @karakula; @stanev; @billoir; @bedn; @vankov1; @vankov2]. In this paper we describe the changes of the PRESHOWER code relative to the initial version 1.0 [@cpc1]. The main feature of the new release is a much faster algorithm for calculating the distance at which a preshower interaction (gamma conversion or bremsstrahlung) occurs. In version 1.0, the calculations were done in constant steps along the particle trajectory and the step size was optimized for all possible trajectories. The constant step practically disabled studying the preshower effect along paths longer than several tens of thousands kilometers. Now, in version 2.0, the distance to the next interaction point is computed with an efficient veto algorithm, decreasing significantly the number of computing steps. The new method, being independent of the trajectory length, allows computations for arbitrarily long photon paths, e.g. simulations of preshower creation in the vicinity of a neutron star or active galactic nucleus. The new algorithm is described in detail in Section \[sec1\] of this article. Other important changes, i.e. the update of the geomagnetic field model and a code correction in version 1.0 are discussed in Section \[sec2\]. The results of testing PRESHOWER 2.0 are presented in Section \[sec3\] and conclusions are given in Section \[sec4\].
Following Ref. [@cpc1], all the results presented in the following are obtained for the magnetic conditions of the Pierre Auger Observatory in Malargüe, Argentina (35.2$^\circ$S, 69.2$^\circ$W). The shower trajectories are given in the local frame where the azimuth increases in the counter-clockwise direction and $\phi=0^\circ$ refers to a shower coming from the geographical North.
The new sampling algorithm {#sec1}
==========================
In PRESHOWER 1.0 the effect of precascading is simulated following the particle trajectories with a fixed step size. In each step the probability of conversion into e$^{+}$e$^{-}$ is calculated for photons and the probability of emitting a bremsstrahlung photon is computed for electrons. The step size has to be optimized for all possible trajectories and magnetic field configurations encountered along the particle trajectories. It has been found out that a step size of $10$km works well until the primary photon conversion and then the emission of bremsstrahlung photons as well as conversions of secondary photons are simulated in steps of $1$km. In this algorithm a typical simulation run consists of several thousands of steps.
The number of simulation steps and hence the computing time can be significantly reduced by using a veto algorithm. The algorithm used in the following is commonly applied in physical situations where a probability of occurring of a certain process varies within a given spatial or temporal interval (see, e.g. Ref. [@veto]). The location or time of the occurrence of a physical process studied is found in few approximating jumps. An example of a process that can be treated with the algorithm is a radioactive decay considered in a certain interval of time. Photon conversion and bremsstrahlung probabilities to be found along spatial trajectories can also be computed with this veto algorithm.
General description {#algorithm}
-------------------
The theory behind the veto algorithm is based on a process of discrete events described by $$\frac{dN}{dt} = - f(t)\, N(t).$$ Then the probability $dP_A$ of occurrence of process $A$ in the time window $t \dots t +dt$ is given by $$d P_A = - \frac{1}{N(t)} \frac{dN}{dt} = f(t) dt\ .$$ Together with the probability of not having an occurrence of process $A$ in the time from $t_0$ to $t$ $$P_{{\rm no-}A} = \frac{N(t)}{N(t_0)}$$ one obtains for the probability $dP$ for having an occurrence of $A$ in the time window $t \dots t +dt$, provided that this process did not occur at an earlier time $t^\prime$ with $t_0 < t'<t$ $$\label{eq1}
dP = P_{{\rm no-}A}\, d P_A = f(t)\, \frac{N(t)}{N(t_0)} \,dt = f(t)\, \exp\left\{-\int^t_{t_0} f(t')\,dt'\right\}\, dt\ .$$ If an analytic solution can be found for the integral of $f(t)$ $$F(t) = \int_{t_0}^t f(t^\prime)\, dt^\prime$$ one can sample the time $t$ of the next occurrence of $A$ after the previous occurrence at time $t_0$ using the inversion method $$\label{eq4}
\int^t_{t_0} dP = \exp\{F(t)\} = \xi,
\hspace*{2cm}
t=F^{-1}(\ln \xi),
\label{eq5}$$ with $\xi$ being a random number uniformly distributed in $(0,1]$.
If $F(t)$ cannot be found or the inverse of it computed sufficiently easily one can use a function $g(t)$ such that $\forall t \geq 0: g(t) \geq f(t)$ and apply the following procedure
1. set the initial conditions: $i=0$, $t_0=0$;
2. $i=i+1$;
3. get a random number $\xi_i\in(0,1)$;
4. compute $t_i=G^{-1}(G(t_{i-1})-\ln \xi_i)$, $t_i>t_{i-1}$;
5. get another random number $\xi_i'\in(0,1)$;
6. if $\xi_i'\leq f(t_i)/g(t_i)$ then $t_i$ is the wanted result, i.e. the moment when process $A$ occurred, otherwise one has to go back to step 2 or, if the end of the interval is reached, end the procedure without occurrence of process $A$.
The algorithm described above was mathematically proven to reproduce exactly the expected distributions [@veto-proof].
Implementation in PRESHOWER 2.0 {#veto_presh}
-------------------------------
Following the general scheme described above, the application of the veto algorithm to simulations of the preshower effect is straightforward. Instead of the time variable $t$, the distance $r$ along the preshower trajectory is used. We consider two processes in parallel over an interval starting at $r_{start}$ and ending at $r_{end}$, namely gamma conversion and bremsstrahlung of electrons. Following the physics notation introduced in Ref. [@cpc1] (see also the Appendices A and B for all the required physics formulas and symbols) the probability functions are defined as $$p_{conv}(r) \equiv \alpha(\chi(r))
\label{pconv}$$ (see Eqs. \[npairs\]-\[pconv2\]) for gamma conversion and $$p_{brem}(r) \equiv \int^E_0 I(B_\bot(r),E,h\nu)\frac{d(h\nu)}{h\nu}
\label{pbrem}$$ (see Eqs. \[daug\]-\[bremprob\]) for magnetic bremsstrahlung. The function $f(t)$ is then replaced by $p_{conv}(r)$ or $p_{brem}(r)$, depending on the process to be simulated. Since finding the antiderivatives of $p_{conv}(r)$ or $p_{brem}(r)$ is not straightforward, simple functions limiting $p_{conv}(r)$ and $p_{brem}(r)$ are used. We define $$\begin{array}{c}
g_{conv}(r) \equiv p^{max}_{conv}=const,\: \forall r \in (r_{start},r_{end}): p^{max}_{conv} \geq p_{conv}(r),\\
g_{brem}(r) \equiv p^{max}_{brem}=const,\: \forall r \in (r_{start},r_{end}): p^{max}_{brem} \geq p_{brem}(r),
\end{array}$$ which replace $g(t)$ and for which the antiderivatives are $$\begin{array}{c}
G_{conv}(r) = p^{max}_{conv} \cdot r,\\
G_{brem}(r) = p^{max}_{brem} \cdot r.
\end{array}$$ With these substitutions the algorithm of Sec. \[algorithm\] is applied in PRESHOWER 2.0 for the two interaction processes.
The determination of $p^{max}_{conv/brem}$ is crucial for computing time optimization. Too large $p^{max}_{conv/brem}$ increases the total number of steps to be executed in the procedure.
Determination of $p^{max}_{conv/brem}$
--------------------------------------
The functions $p_{conv/brem}(r)$ depend on $B_\bot(r)$, which is computed with a numerical model. Hence finding the absolute maxima $p^{max}_{conv}$ and $p^{max}_{brem}$ is done numerically. Moreover, through the dependence on $B_\bot(r)$, both $p_{conv}(r)$ and $p_{brem}(r)$ depend on the primary arrival direction and the geographical location of the observatory. As can be seen in Figs. \[alpha\_conv\] and \[alpha\_brem\], the values of $p^{max}_{conv}$ and $p^{max}_{brem}$ may be significantly different for various arrival directions.
![ Examples of $p_{conv}$ functions along different trajectories at the location of the Pierre Auger Observatory in Malargüe (Argentina). A minimum value for one of the curves is related to the small value of $B_\bot$ for this specific arrival direction and altitude. See text for further details.[]{data-label="alpha_conv"}](alpha_conv.eps){width="100.00000%"}
![ Examples of $p_{brem}$ functions along different trajectories at the location of the Pierre Auger Observatory in Malargüe (Argentina). A minimum value for one of the curves is related to the small value of $B_\bot$ for this specific arrival direction and altitude. See text for further details.[]{data-label="alpha_brem"}](alpha_brem.eps){width="100.00000%"}
This indicates that the computation of $p^{max}_{conv}$ and $p^{max}_{brem}$ should be performed for each trajectory separately, otherwise one would have to apply upper limits of these values which would be universal but excessively large for most directions. Accepting the excessive values of $p^{max}_{conv/brem}$ would increase enormously the number of steps in the veto algorithm and might result in an unacceptable increase of the computing time.
Typically, the functions $p_{conv}(r)$ and $p_{brem}(r)$ reach their global maximum at the top of the atmosphere, i.e. at the end of preshower simulations, assumed here to be at the altitude of $112$km. This is the point closest to the Earth’s surface and $B_\bot(r)$ typically reaches the maximum value. However for certain classes of trajectories $B_\bot(r)$ might start to decrease with approaching the geomagnetic field source when the trajectory direction approaches a tangent to the local field lines. If this decrease happens to be close to the Earth surface, preshower particles are exposed to the maximum $B_\bot(r)$ somewhere before reaching the atmosphere. Examples of $p^{max}_{conv}$ and $p^{max}_{brem}$ with local extrema are plotted in Figs. \[alpha\_conv\] and \[alpha\_brem\]. The positions of the minima of $p_{conv/brem}(r)$ are closely correlated with the minima of $B_\bot(r)$.
In case of $p_{conv}(r)$, it has been checked that its global maximum is well reproduced by computing the function value along the trajectory in a simple loop with steps of 1000 km. This procedure is performed for the primary photon energy and the trajectory of interest. It has been checked that $p_{conv}(r)$ decreases with energy, so $p^{max}_{conv}$ found for the primary photon energy will work also for secondary photons of lower energies. In case of electrons, $p_{brem}(r)$ may increase with decreasing electron energy, so one has to compute $p^{max}_{brem}$ for energies within the entire energy range of the simulated particles. Here $p^{max}_{brem}$ is computed in two loops. The external loop along the trajectory is done in steps of 1000 km and the internal loop over energies decreases the energy by one decade in each step. The steps in both procedures can be adjusted by the user if necessary. There is also an alert in the program that gets triggered when the actual values of $p_{conv/brem}(r)$ happen to exceed $p^{max}_{conv/brem}$.
The above method of finding the absolute maxima of $p_{conv/brem}(r)$ is fast and efficient. However, it is optimized only for specific simulation conditions: preshowering in the geomagnetic field. In other environments, involving more irregular shapes of $B(r)$, one has to reconsider the procedure of finding the absolute maxima of $p_{conv/brem}(r)$.
Other modifications and corrections {#sec2}
===================================
Other modifications and changes applied in the new release of the PRESHOWER program are briefly listed below.
1. The IGRF geomagnetic field model has been updated to the year 2010 and the most recent IGRF-11 coefficients have been applied (Ref. [@igrf11]). In the updated model, the highest order of spherical harmonics has been increased from 10 to 13. The geomagnetic field can be extrapolated up to the year 2015 with the new model. The differences between the field strength and direction in these two models are not larger than 0.001%.
2. Procedures to calculate modified Bessel functions have been replaced with an open source CERN routine DBSKA.
3. A minor problem has been found in the auxiliary function `kappa(x)` used for calculation of bremsstrahlung probability. The interpolation performed in this function failed for the rare case of $x=10.0$. This happened because of a faulty definition of the last interval where the interpolation was done. As a result of this bug the input value $x=10.0$ was excluded from the computations. This bug has been fixed in the new release of the program.
4. Since for some cases the number of preshower particles can be very large, the size of the array `part_out[50000][8]`, which stores the output particle data, has been increased from 50000 to 100000 entries.
5. The code of the program was reorganized and more clearly structured. The main change here was moving the auxiliary functions and routines to a separate file.
A list of the new and modified files with basic explanations can be found in the Appendix C.
Validation of the new version {#sec3}
=============================
The new release has been intensively tested. Below we show some examples to illustrate the performance.
In Fig. \[maps\] a comparison of conversion probability obtained with PRESHOWER 1.0 and PRESHOWER 2.0 is presented for different arrival directions and primary energy of $7\times 10^{19}$eV.
![ Total probability of $\gamma$ conversion for the primary energy of $7\times 10^{19}$eV for different arrival directions as computed by PRESHOWER 1.0 (lines) and PRESHOWER 2.0 (points). PRESHOWER 1.0 values were obtained by numerically integrating the conversion probability in the loop over trajectory. The points represent the fractions of events with gamma conversion simulated by PRESHOWER 2.0 with the new veto algorithm. Each fraction is the average for 10000 primary photons. Computations have been done for magnetic conditions at the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina. The azimuth $0^\circ$ refers to showers arriving from the geographic North.[]{data-label="maps"}](maps2.eps){width="100.00000%"}
The lines represent conversion probabilities obtained by numerical integrations of the expression (\[pconv2\]) along trajectories a nd with steps as given in PRESHOWER 1.0. The points are plotted to show fractions of events with gamma conversion simulated by PRESHOWER 2.0. Each fraction was calculated after 10,000 simulation runs. Simulations of gamma conversion probabilities for other primary energies has also been checked and in all cases an excellent agreement between the results of the two PRESHOWER versions has been found.
A cross-check of the procedures responsible for simulation of bremsstrahlung is shown in Fig. \[20strong\_profiles\], in which the energy distribution of secondary particles for a primary photon of $10^{20}$eV and an arrival direction along which the transverse component of the geomagnetic field is particularly strong (“strong field direction”) are compared.
![Energy distribution of photons (top left) and electrons (bottom left) in 500 preshowers initiated by $10^{20}$ eV photons arriving at the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina from the strong field direction. The spectra weighted by energy are plotted to the right. The dashed histograms were obtained with PRESHOWER 1.0 and the solid ones with PRESHOWER 2.0.[]{data-label="20strong_profiles"}](fig6-2011.eps){width="100.00000%"}
Plotted are the summed distributions of energies of secondary photons and electrons together with the relevant histograms weighted by the energies. The summations are done for 500 simulation runs. The results obtained with the two program versions are in very good agreement.
Further tests for the same set of simulations are shown in Figs. \[cor20nfpp\] and \[cor20efpp\].
![Number of particles in the preshower for different altitudes of the first $\gamma$ conversion simulated with PRESHOWER 1.0 and PRESHOWER 2.0. Plotted are the preshowers initiated by $10^{20}$eV photons arriving from the strong field direction. The two points somewhat higher than those of the general trend are cases where one of the bremsstrahlung photons again converted in the magnetic field to produce an electron-positron pair which emitted the additional photons. See also Fig. \[cor20efpp\].[]{data-label="cor20nfpp"}](fig8-preold-prenew.eps){width="100.00000%"}
![Energy carried by preshower electrons at the top of the atmosphere vs. the altitude of the first $\gamma$ conversion for a primary photon energy of $10^{20}$ eV in the strong field direction. The two points in excess of the general trend are two rare cases where the first bremsstrahlung photon converted again into an electron-positron pair which increased the total energy carried by leptons. See also Fig. \[cor20nfpp\].[]{data-label="cor20efpp"}](fig9-preold-prenew.eps){width="100.00000%"}
These are the number of preshower particles and the total energy carried by the preshower electrons. Both observables are calculated at the top of the atmosphere and both are plotted versus the altitude of primary photon conversion. In both figures a comparison is made between the results obtained with PRESHOWER 1.0 and PRESHOWER 2.0. Again, the agreement between the results of the two PRESHOWER versions is very good.
One of the main aims of the new release of PRESHOWER was to reduce the computing time. The results of the CPU time comparison are summarized in Table \[table-times\].
[rcp[2.0cm]{}p[1.7cm]{}p[1.7cm]{}]{} $E_0$ \[eV\]& direction & fraction of converted & time old \[sec.\] & time new \[sec.\]\
7$\times$10$^{19}$ & $\theta=0^o$ & 0/1000 & 79 & 7\
7$\times$10$^{19}$ & $\theta=70^o$, $\phi=0^o$ & 0/1000 & 76 & 8\
10$^{20}$ & $\theta=60^o$, $\phi=177^o$ & 92/100 & 1195 & 209\
\[table-times\]
The computing time is more than a factor 5 shorter in case of simulations with PRESHOWER 2.0 than in the case of PRESHOWER 1.0. This reduction is seen both in computation of gamma conversion (speed up by nearly factor 10) and in more time consuming bremsstrahlung routines.
Summary {#sec4}
=======
The program PRESHOWER is a tool designed for simulating magnetically induced particle cascades due to ultra-high energy photons. It can be linked with air shower simulation packages such as CORSIKA [@corsika] to calculate complete photon-induced particle cascades as they are searched for with cosmic ray observatories.
A new version of the PRESHOWER program, version 2.0, has been released and its features are presented in this article. An efficient veto algorithm has been introduced to sample the locations of individual interaction processes. Other modifications include the update of the geomagnetic field model, correcting a rare exception, and reorganizing the program code. The results obtained with the new release of PRESHOWER agree very well with those calculated with the previous version.
The new algorithm not only speeds up the program by more than a factor 5, but also allows additional applications due to the increased flexibility of the sampling of interaction points. For example, the preshower effect can now be studied not only in the geomagnetic field, but also close to extended astrophysical objects like neutron stars and active galactic nuclei. An application of PRESHOWER 2.0 in the conditions other than the geomagnetic field require only small changes in the program. The magnetic field model has to be replaced and start and end points of simulations have to be adequately adjusted.
Acknowledgements {#acknowledgements .unnumbered}
================
We thank N.A. Tsyganenko for valuable remarks on the application of the IGRF model. We are also thankful to Carla Bleve whose update of the IGRF coefficients in Tsyganenko’s subroutine has been used.\
This work was partially supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education under grant No. N N202 2072 38 and by the DAAD (Germany) under grant No. 50725595.
Magnetic pair production: $\gamma \rightarrow e^+e^-$ {#magneticpp}
=====================================================
The number of pairs created by a high-energy photon in the presence of a magnetic field per path length $dr$ can be expressed in terms of the attenuation coefficient $\alpha(\chi)$ [@Erber]: $$\label{npairs}
n_{pairs}=n_{photons}\{1-\exp[-\alpha(\chi)dr]\},$$ where $$\label{alpha}
\alpha(\chi)=0.5(\alpha_{em} m_ec/\hbar)(B_\bot/B_{cr})T(\chi)$$ with $\alpha_{em}$ being the fine structure constant, $\chi\equiv0.5(h\nu/m_ec^2)(B_\bot/B_{cr})$, $B_\bot$ is the magnetic field component transverse to the direction of the photon’s motion, $B_{cr}\equiv m_e^2c^3/e\hbar=4.414\times 10^{13}$ G and $T(\chi)$ is the magnetic pair production function. $T(\chi)$ can be well approximated by: $$\label{tcentral}
T(\chi)\cong0.16\chi^{-1}{K^2}_{1/3}(\frac{2}{3\chi}),$$ where $K_{1/3}$ is the modified Bessel function of order $1/3$. For small or large arguments $T(\chi)$ can be approximated by
$$\label{tlimits}
\begin{array}{c}
T(\chi)\cong\left\{ \begin{array}{ll}
0.46\exp(-\frac{4}{3\chi}), & ~~\chi \ll 1;\\
0.60\chi^{-1/3}, & ~~\chi \gg 1.
\end{array} \right.
\end{array}$$
We use Eq. (\[npairs\]) to calculate the probability of $\gamma$ conversion over a small path length $dr$: $$\label{pconv2}
p_{conv}(r)=1-\exp[-\alpha(\chi(r))dr]\simeq\alpha(\chi(r))dr.$$
Magnetic bremsstrahlung {#a2}
=======================
After photon conversion, the electron-positron pair is propagated. The energy distribution in an $e^+e^-$ pair is computed according to Ref. [@ppdaugherty]:
$$\frac{d\alpha(\varepsilon,\chi)}{d\varepsilon}\approx\frac{\alpha_{em}m_ec B_\bot}{\hbar B_{cr}}
\frac{3^{1/2}}{9\pi\chi}\frac{[2+\varepsilon(1-\varepsilon)]}{\varepsilon(1-\varepsilon)}
K_{2/3}\left[\frac{1}{3\chi\varepsilon(1-\varepsilon)}\right],
\label{daug}$$
where $\varepsilon$ denotes the fractional energy of an electron and the other symbols were explained in the previous chapter. The probability of asymmetric energy partition grows with the primary photon energy and with the magnetic field. Beginning from $\chi>10$, the asymmetric energy partition is even more favored than the symmetric one.
Electrons traveling at relativistic speeds in the presence of a magnetic field emit bremsstrahlung radiation (synchrotron radiation). For electron energies $E \gg m_ec^2$ and for $B_\bot \ll B_{cr}$, the spectral distribution of radiated energy is given in Ref. [@sokolov]: $$f(y)=\frac{9\sqrt{3}}{8\pi}\frac{y}{(1+\xi y)^3}\left\{\int^\infty_yK_{5/3}(z)dz+
\frac{(\xi y)^2}{1+\xi y}K_{2/3}(y)\right\},
\label{fy}$$ where $\xi =(3/2)(B_\bot/B_{cr})(E/m_ec^2)$, $E$ and $m_e$ are electron initial energy and rest mass respectively, $K_{5/3}$ and $K_{2/3}$ are modified Bessel functions, and $y$ is related to the emitted photon energy $h\nu$ by $$y(h\nu)=\frac{h\nu}{\xi (E-h\nu)} \;; \qquad \qquad
\frac{dy}{d(h\nu)}=\frac{E}{\xi(E-h\nu)^2}.
\label{yhv}$$ The total energy emitted per unit distance is (in CGS units) $$W=\frac{2}{3}r_0^2B_\bot^2\left(\frac{E}{m_ec^2}\right)^2\int^\infty_0f(y)dy
\label{W}$$ with $r_0$ being the classical electron radius. For our purposes we use the spectral distribution of radiated energy defined as $$I(B_\bot,E,h\nu)\equiv\frac{h\nu dN}{d(h\nu)dx}~~,
\label{Idef}$$ where $dN$ is the number of photons with energy between $h\nu$ and $h\nu+d(h\nu)$ emitted over a distance $dx$. From Eqs. (\[fy\]), (\[yhv\]), (\[W\]), and (\[Idef\]) we get[^1] $$I(B_\bot,E,h\nu)=\frac{2}{3}r_0^2B_\bot^2\left(\frac{E}{m_ec^2}\right)^2f(h\nu)\frac{E}
{\xi(E-h\nu)^2}~~.
\label{brem}$$ Provided $dx$ is small enough, $dN$ can be interpreted as a probability of emitting a photon of energy between $h\nu$ and $h\nu+d(h\nu)$ by an electron of energy $E$ over a distance $dx$. In our simulations we use a small step size of $dx=1$ km. The total probability of emitting a photon in step $dx$ can then be written as $$P_{brem}(B_\bot,E,h\nu,dx)=\int dN=dx\int^E_0 I(B_\bot,E,h\nu)\frac{d(h\nu)}{h\nu}~~.
\label{bremprob}$$ The energy of the emitted photon is simulated according to the probability density distribution $dN/d(h\nu)$ obtained from Eq. \[bremprob\].
Details on the new and modified files included in the PRESHOWER 2.0 package
===========================================================================
The files included in PRESHOWER 2.0 package but not existing in the previous release are :
`IGRF-11.f`
: An external routine generating the geomagnetic field components according to the IGRF-11 model [@tsygan]. This file replaces `igrf.f` of the previous release of PRESHOWER.
`cernbess.f`
: External procedures calculating the sequence of modified Bessel functions [@cernbess]. These open source procedures replace previously used functions from Numerical Recipes.
`veto.c`
: This file contains functions and procedures called by the veto algorithm.
`veto.h`
: The header file for `veto.c`.
`utils.c`
: This file contains auxiliary functions and procedures used within the program. In the previous version of PRESHOWER the auxiliary functions were placed in `preshw.c`, now it is more convenient to have them in a separate file.
`utils.h`
: The header file for `utils.c`.\
The list of files which existed in the previous release of PRESHOWER but have been modified for PRESHOWER 2.0 include:
`preshw.c`
: contains the main procedure `preshw_veto` generating preshowers with the veto algorithm,
`prog.c`
: reads input parameters and calls `preshw_veto`,
`Makefile`
: modified to account for the new files.
[00]{}
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[^1]: Expression (\[brem\]), valid for all values of $h\nu$, is equivalent to Eq. (2.5a) in Ref. [@Erber]. A simplified form of distribution (\[brem\]) is given by Eq. (2.10) in Ref. [@Erber], however it can be used only for $h\nu \ll E$.
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In the mid-1950’s the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Nikita Khrushchev had just completed his takeover of the levers of power following the death of the Leader of Nations, none other than Joseph Stalin two years earlier. The vast empire he fought so hard to lead lay in ruins. Almost nothing had been rebuilt after the devastation of WWII and Stalin’s scorched earth policies of forced collectivization by mass starvation and the purges of the late 1930’s, to say nothing of the nearly twenty million killed directly and indirectly by the invading Germans, left the country in a profound state of post traumatic disorder.
Khrushchev knew that his erstwhile allies and new adversaries in the West will not long wait to test the mettle of the new and poorly known leader. After all, he won power by keeping himself well in the shadow of the Great Leader and letting all the better-known players be purged or succumb to internal court intrigue. He also knew that his denunciation of Stalin’s “cult of personality” and rehabilitation of many political prisoners could be interpreted as a sign of weakness, both internally and more importantly externally by the West and the newly created or recreated Eastern European countries, which had been undergoing a rather ruthless process of de-Nazification and forced conversion to communist dictatorship.
The Hi-Tech Traditionalist: Motherhood And Western Fascist Feminism
He didn’t have to wait long. In 1956 Hungary attempted a rebellion against the Soviet Union with an eye to establishing neutral independence with a Western leaning foreign policy. Knowing that this would be his do or die test, Khrushchev didn’t hesitate; sending massive columns of battle-hardened Red Army armor into the center of Budapest, his suppression of the uprising was as brutal as it was quick. The world was waiting with baited breath for President Eisenhower’s response; would the US allow a democratically elected government supported by students and forward-looking intelligentsia be crushed under the weight of communist armor? In the Kremlin, nobody was less sure of his gambit than Khrushchev. Fully aware of his military’s capabilities, especially the air force and the nascent strategic missile command, he knew that they would be no match to the American Air Force and that Soviet nuclear retaliation was out of the question. He knew that American air cover for the Hungarian rebel forces could spell either a humiliating defeat for the Soviets, or a new world war for which the USSR was exceedingly ill prepared. He also knew what these outcomes would mean for him; a secret trial followed by a quick execution in Lubyanka Prison basement. But Eisenhower, the highest-decorated and most experienced military commander to occupy the oval office since Ulysses S. Grant, hesitated. The swiftness and brutality of the Soviet occupation forces in Hungary played out as Khrushchev had planned; the moment for America action came and went in the blink of an eye. Khrushchev faced his first real external policy test and prevailed.
Image by ANRM, Fototeca, 35684
This triumph was a highly teachable moment for Khrushchev and his successor all the way down to the present day. The West, they found, led by the United States, was susceptible to puffery and grandstanding. This susceptibility was in many ways the result of the decisive victory the KGB had scored after the War over its Western counterparts, the newly-formed CIA and MI5. Both services had a penchant, one that they still possess, of hiring known communists and placing them in the highest positions. Amazingly, John Brennan, president Obama’s CIA chief was a member of the American communist party before he was hired by the CIA as a junior operative, a fact that he had not bothered hiding. The British MI5 was rife with Oxford and Cambridge educated communists and thus was 100% transparent to the Russians. Conversely, the KGB had excellent counter-intelligence operations that were yet uncompromised by disillusioned officers as they would become in the 1970’s. Eisenhower, betrayed as he was by his own intelligence services, did not have anything remotely approaching an accurate picture of the Soviets’ actual military capabilities, which were in matter of fact much weaker than he believed them to be.
As often happens, Khrushchev’s reliance on puffery finally spelled his doom when he pushed the boundaries with his much ridiculed speech to the UN in which he banged his shoe on the podium and promised to “bury” America and finally when he pushed JFK one step too far in the Cuban missile crisis. Judged dangerously unstable by his Politburo, Khrushchev was replaced in a quiet coup d’état shortly thereafter. What followed was a period of stagnation, decline, and finally disintegration, a period that the current Russian president Vladimir Putin well remembers and which formed his entire world view.
Today, president Putin finds himself in much the same predicament as Khrushchev over half a century ago, but without the excuse of having just won a world war against the greatest military force the world had ever seen. The Russian Federation has half the population of the Soviet Union and less than half of its industrial and agricultural heartlands. Its economy is based on the export of hydrocarbons, a market which is already saturated, vulnerable to emerging technologies, and reliant on self-restraint by America, self-restraint which president Trump is reluctant to exercise. It is a true testament to the dire straits that Russia finds itself in that Putin has recently had to embark on the extraordinary course of nuclear doomsday puffery, in effect promising to annihilate the entire Planet Earth if Russia’s geopolitical interests are infringed upon much further.
Image by Kremlin.ru
Putin’s somewhat pathetic insistence that Russia has just developed a qualitatively new doomsday weapon capable of destroying the US has received very little in the way of response from the Pentagon beyond a few bemused smiles by retired generals on the cable news networks. The reasons for this are multiple. Perhaps the principal reason is that nobody in the Pentagon has ever doubted Russia’s ability to annihilate America, just as they do not doubt that they can deliver a similarly devastating attack on Russia, even as second strike. America’s anti-missile capabilities were never intended (and this was made clear to the Russians) to defeat an all-out nuclear strike by Russia. Rather they are intended to intercept a single ballistic missile launched by a rogue technologically inferior regime such as North Korea or Iran. Thus the somewhat ridiculous Russian insistence on having developed an operational hypersonic cruise missile capable of reaching anywhere in America undeterred by American defenses is more of a sign of weakness than of strength.
The Hi-Tech Traditionalist: The Radical Infantilization of America
America does not need sophisticated humint (human intelligence) as it did in the Cold War days to know with certainty that no hypersonic cruise missiles are currently operational. The reasons for this are very simple; anything that flies anywhere around the globe is tracked by American satellites. A hypersonic cruise missile flying at low altitude as it would need to do to avoid radar detection and possible interception would generate a shockwave that would certainly be strong enough to trigger the many seismic sensors located around the globe. Israeli jets often make a point to the Hezbollah in Lebanon by “breaking the sound barrier”, i.e. flying at low supersonic speeds and at low altitudes above those Beirut neighborhoods in which the Hezbollah are concentrated. The shockwaves resulting from supersonic flight at low attitudes easily shatter windows and rattle high-rise buildings. Since the pressure drop across a shockwave is proportional to the Mach number (the multiple by which the aircraft speed exceeds the speed of sound), a large hypersonic cruise missile with multiple nuclear warheads, traveling at over Mach 5.0, would generate a very significant shockwave that would not fail to be picked up by terrestrial and maritime seismic arrays.
In addition, the fallout of radioactive isotopes from a missile that has, as the Russians have boasted, nuclear propulsion, would be considerable. The reason for that is also simple: missiles are propelled by expelling gases from their engines at speeds that exceed their own speed of travel. No other method exists or can exist within known physics to propel objects at anything approaching supersonic, let alone hypersonic speeds. A nuclear-powered missile would use nuclear reaction to heat and expand air that is rammed into the missile’s engine from its front intake nozzle, adding energy to it and expelling it from the rear of the missile at much higher velocity. There can be no doubt that significant markers in the form of radioactive isotopes would be mixed in with the missile’s exhaust stream and that such elements world be picked up by the very well developed global network of radiation sensors.
It is no wonder then, that the official response to Putin’s grand presentation, delivered not by Secretaries Tillerson or Mattis, but by Heather Nauert, the State Department spokeswoman, openly ridiculed any assertions of radically new weaponry, referring instead to the inadvisability of reliance on “cheesy videos” as a means of diplomacy. The unintimidated American response had not gone unnoticed in Russia and, it is fair to say, did not help Putin accomplish even the minimal goal of internal propaganda in support of Putin’s reelection bid.
Screenshot RT
There’s an underlying hard truth behind Putin’s puffery; his hand is weaker than Khrushchev’s had ever been. The Russian military has not engaged in a meaningful ground war against an organized enemy since 1945. Their engagements in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Georgia have been against small forces of insurgents, and even then they did not distinguish themselves. In contrast, American military fought and won major engagements against a relatively well-equipped and very experienced adversary, Saddam’s Iraqi army, in 1990 and again in 2003. In its ongoing operations in Syria, Russia’s air force lost at least two aircraft to accidents flying off their now decommissioned sole aircraft carrier, one to a Turkish F-16, and another to ground fire by ill-equipped and ill-trained Syrian rebel forces. In comparison, the F-16 recently lost by Israel was the target of 26 enemy missiles and was the first aircraft Israel had lost to enemy fire in over a quarter century of constant warfare. On the ground, Russian special forces disguised as mercenaries were annihilated just recently by the American forces in Syria with a loss of nearly the entire force, upwards of a hundred men. The recesses of Russian language Twitter are still reverberating with frank accounts of this drubbing by the families and friends of those who managed to survive or witness it.
In the 1950’s and the 1960’s when the Russian puffery doctrine was first developed and perfected, Russia had its empire intact, an overwhelming advantage in intelligence, and massive battle-hardened armored columns located only a few kilometers from Vienna and Berlin. Russia’s military industries were self-sufficient, their supply chains never reaching beyond the iron curtain. Today, Russia’s military is largely untested, and where it has been tested, it had often come up short. Intelligence is dominated by sigint (signal intelligence), an area in which the US has unparalleled superiority, though it is no better served by its atrocious personnel choices than it had been in the past. Today, Russia’s military industries rely on electronic components that originate well outside Russia sphere of influence, leaving it vulnerable to wartime shortages.
Image by The Russian Presidential Press and Information Office
What Russia urgently needs is a Winston Churchill, a leader who can tell the truth to the Russian people just like Sir Winston told the British people in the immediate aftermath of WWII: Russia’s imperial days, its days as a global superpower are well behind her. She now needs to regroup, focus on the plight of its long-suffering population, redirect resources to the development of advanced industry and agriculture, healthcare and education. In Eurasia, a new power has risen, and it is Emperor Xi, not Czar Vladimir that is going to challenge the American hegemony from this day forward.
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452 B.R. 512 (2011)
In re FRIEDMAN'S INC., a Delaware corporation, et al., Debtors.
Friedman's Liquidating Trust, Plaintiff,
v.
Goldman Sachs Credit Partners, L.P., Plainfield Direct Inc., Ramius Value and Opportunity Master Fund, Ltd., Parche, LLC, Cadence Master Fund Ltd., and Ivy MA Holdings Cayman 8, Ltd., Defendants.
Bankruptcy No. 08-10161 (CSS). Adversary No. 09-51010.
United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Delaware.
July 12, 2011.
*514 Kenneth J. Nachbar, Robert J. Dehney (Argued), Eric D. Schwartz, Andrew R. Remming, Matthew B. Harvey, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell, LLP, Wilmington, DE, for Goldman Sachs Credit Partners L.P., Plainfield Direct Inc., Ramius Value and Opportunity Master Fund Ltd., Parche, LLC and Cadence Master Fund Ltd.
John D. Demmy, Maria Aprile Sawczuk, Stevens & Lee, P.C., Wilmington, DE, and Nicholas F. Kajon, David M. Green (Argued), Constantine Pourakis, New York, NY, for Friedman's Liquidating Trust.
OPINION[1]
CHRISTOPHER S. SONTCHI, Bankruptcy Judge.
The Plaintiff (as defined below) filed this adversary proceeding objecting to Defendants' (as defined below) claims and seeking to recharacterize them. The defendants Goldman Sachs Credit Partners L.P., Plainfield Direct Inc., Ramius Value and Opportunity Master Fund Ltd., Parche, LLC and Cadence Master Fund Ltd. (collectively, the "Defendants")[2] filed a motion to dismiss the complaint (the "Motion to Dismiss") asserting that no claim exists because it was the intent of the parties for the monies at issue to be debt, rather than equity.[3] As the Plaintiff has made facially plausible allegations regarding the recharacterization of the claim (such as there was a pro rata contribution by the shareholders, interest payments were deferred, the interest rate was below market, interest was not paid when monies were available, and the contribution was on a subordinated unsecured basis) the Court will deny the Motion to Dismiss.
STATEMENT OF FACTS[4]
A. Background
Friedman's Inc. ("Friedman's" or the "Debtor") filed a complaint objecting to the Defendants' general unsecured claims and seeking to recharacterize them as equity.[5] Thereafter, Friedman's Liquidating Trust (the "Plaintiff") was substituted as plaintiff.[6]
Friedman's, a large retail jewelry chain, first filed for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 11 in January 2005 and exited that bankruptcy in December 2005. Crescent, another retail jewelry chain,[7] commenced *515 bankruptcy in August 2004. In July 2006, Crescent, while a debtor-in-possession, was purchased by Friedman's.
In order for Friedman's to purchase Crescent, it needed, among other things, additional financing in the amount of $22,041,000. Friedman's obtained these funds from its shareholders in return for an "unsecured promissory note" due more than four (4) years later. Friedman's used these monies, together with claim waivers from Harbinger (Friedman's largest shareholder), to purchase the Crescent business (the "Transaction").
The financing at issue is documented in a Contribution Agreement, dated July 28, 2006 (the "Contribution Agreement").[8] All the shareholders of Friedman's (the "Funding Participants"),[9] including the Defendants, are parties to the Contribution Agreement, whereby Friedman's obtained over $22 million (the "Funding Obligation") to purchase the stock and common equity of Crescent, which then became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Friedman's.
The Contribution Agreement provides that the Funding Obligation of each of the Funding Participants would be made on a pro rata basis, with each Funding Participant contributing that percentage of the Funding Obligation equal to its percentage equity interest in Friedman's. The Contribution Agreement further provides that the Funding Participants, each of which was to receive equity of Crescent under Crescent's Plan, would contribute sufficient equity to Friedman's to enable Friedman's to acquire all of the preferred stock and common equity of Crescent.
The structure of the Contribution Agreement was recommended to the Friedman's board of directors by Peter J. Solomon Company, Friedman's financial advisors, based on an analysis by Grant Thornton, Friedman's certified public accountants, primarily as a means of maximizing net operating losses and other tax attributes of Crescent's which Friedman's would acquire under the Crescent Plan.
In July 2006, pursuant to the Contribution Agreement, each of the Funding Participants advanced its respective portion of the Funding Obligation and related fees and expenses, with each Funding Participant contributing that percentage of the Funding Obligation equal to its percentage equity interest in Friedman's. In return, Friedman's issued executed "unsecured promissory notes" (individually a "Note" and collectively, the "Notes") in favor of each of the Funding Participants. The Notes were expressly subordinate and junior in right of payment to Friedman's secured lender.[10] Interest under the Notes was to accrue at the rate of 8% per annum, payable in cash quarterly in arrears, provided that so long as funds under the CIT Agreement (as defined in the margin) were outstanding and Friedman's commitments to CIT under the terms of the CIT Agreement had not been terminated, interest would not be paid but would accrue and be added on a quarterly basis to the principal amount of the Notes.
*516 Pursuant to the Notes, and in compliance with the CIT Agreement, Friedman's could pay the interest due under the Notes (as long as the CIT Agreement was not then in default). In December 2006, when Friedman's was in full compliance with the CIT Agreement, Friedman's received a tax refund of approximately $8.5 million from the Internal Revenue Service in respect of the fiscal years 2001-2004 (the "Tax Refund").[11] Under the terms of the Notes and the CIT Agreement, the proceeds of the Tax Refund could have been used to pay all interest then owing to the Funding Participants under the Notes. However, Friedman's did not exercise its discretion to pay the interest due and owing nor was it demanded by the Funding Participants. No interest was ever paid on the Notes.
In January 2008, Friedman's was the subject of an involuntary petition and a short time later the Court converted the case to a voluntary case under Chapter 11.
B. Procedural Posture
Friedman's filed the above-captioned action seeking to recharacterize the Funding Contributions made by the Defendants (approximately $22 million) and objecting to the Defendants' general unsecured claims. The Defendants have filed the Motion to Dismiss the Complaint claiming that the Plaintiff has failed to state a claim because the parties intended the Funding Obligation to be a loan (and not equity).
LEGAL DISCUSSION
A. The Standard Regarding Sufficiency of Pleadings When Evaluating a Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim Upon Which Relief Can Be Granted.
A motion under Rule 12(b)(6)[12] serves to test the sufficiency of the factual allegations in the plaintiff's complaint.[13] With the Supreme Court's recent decisions in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly[14] and Ashcroft v. Iqbal,[15] "pleading standards have seemingly shifted from simple notice pleading to a more heightened form of pleading, requiring a plaintiff to plead more than the possibility of relief to survive a motion to dismiss."[16]
In Iqbal, the Supreme Court makes clear that the Twombly "facial plausibility" pleading requirement applies to all civil suits in the federal courts.[17] "Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements" are insufficient to survive a motion to dismiss.[18] Rather, "all civil complaints *517 must now set out sufficient factual matter to show that the claim is facially plausible."[19] A claim is facially plausible "when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged."[20] Determining whether a complaint is "facially plausible" is "a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.[21] But where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has allegedbut not shownthat the pleader is entitled to relief."[22]
After Iqbal, the Third Circuit has instructed this Court to "conduct a two-part analysis. First the factual and legal elements of a claim should be separated. The [court] must accept all of the complaint's well-pleaded facts as true, but may disregard any legal conclusions."[23] The court "must then determine whether the facts alleged in the complaint are sufficient to show that the plaintiff has a plausible claim for relief."[24] The Third Circuit has *518 further instructed that "[s]ome claims will demand relatively more factual detail to satisfy this standard, while others require less."[25]
B. The Plaintiff Has Plead Sufficient Facts In Support Of Its Claim For Recharacterization.
The focus of recharacterization in the Third Circuit is "whether the parties called an instrument one thing when in fact they intended it as something else. That intent may be inferred from what the parties say in their contracts, from what they do through their actions, and from the economic reality of the surrounding circumstances."[26] The Third Circuit has rejected a "mechanistic scorecard" in favor of a case-by-case approach.[27]
"[T]he overarching inquiry in a recharacterization case is the intent of the parties at the time of the transaction, determined not by applying any specific factor, but through a common sense evaluation of the facts and circumstances surrounding a transaction:"[28]
[C]ourts have adopted a variety of multi-factor tests borrowed from non-bankruptcy caselaw. While these tests undoubtedly include pertinent factors, they devolve to an overarching inquiry: the characterization as debt or equity is a court's attempt to discern whether the parties called an instrument one thing when in fact they intended it as something else. That intent may be inferred from what the parties say in their contracts, *519 from what they do through their actions, and from the economic reality of the surrounding circumstances. Answers lie in facts that confer context case-by-case.[29]
In Broadstripe, this Court stated:
"when existing lenders make loans to a distressed company, they are trying to protect their existing loans and traditional factors that lenders consider (such as capitalization, solvency, collateral, ability to pay cash interest and debt capacity rations) do not apply as they would when lending to a financially healthy company." However, in SubMicron Judge Ambro also placed considerable weight on the Judge Robinson's "reference to the conflicting testimony and relative credibility of witnesses presented by both parties," while noting that, with respect to recharacterization, "[a]nswers lie in facts that confer context case-by-case." Given the nature of the inquiry, and the fact intensive nature of this case, triable issues of fact appear to exist.[30]
Recharacterization is a question of fact.[31] Courts have adopted various multi-factor tests to define the recharacterization inquiry.[32] For example, in AutoStyle, the Sixth Circuit adopted an eleven factor test. Other courts have adopted similar multi-factor tests. The Third Circuit has held that all of these tests include "pertinent factors."[33]
When the District Court ruled in Submicron, it considered the following factors:
(1) the name given to the instrument; (2) the intent of the parties; (3) the presence or absence of a fixed maturity date; (4) the right to enforce payment of principal and interest; (5) the presence or absence of voting rights; (6) the status of the contribution in relation to regular corporate contributors; and (7) certainty of payment in the event of the corporation's insolvency or liquidation.[34]
Although the Third Circuit affirmed this ruling it did so annunciating the overarching inquiry of "intent" rather than a factored-test.[35] As many of the elements used by the District Court in Submicron are similar to those annunciated in AutoStyle (but now only used as indicia of intent), some of those indicators will be discussed infra.[36] Nonetheless, as the Third Circuit frequently cautions, "[n]o mechanistic scorecard suffices,"[37] and this Court must not allow a multi-factor test to obscure *520 the relevant factual and legal analysis.
1. Names Given to the Instruments, if any, Evidencing the Indebtedness
The first factor in AutoStyle is the name given to the instruments. "The absence of notes or other instruments of indebtedness is a strong indication that the advances were capital contributions and not loans."[38] In Fidelity Bond and Mortgage Company,[39] this Court recharacterized a "promissory note" made by the debtor to old shareholders of the debtor.[40] After considering testimony, including expert testimony, the Court found: that (i) the structure at issue was created in order for the debtor to maximize certain tax benefits,[41] (ii) the debtor did not provide for payment of any principal indebtedness under the "notes" though the first five years, and (iii) the documents referred to the amount due to the defendants as "indebtedness."[42] After balancing these facts against the title given to the instrument, the Court concluded that the "promissory notes" were intended to be an equity investment in the debtor and not debt.[43]
Here, similarly to Fidelity Bond, the monies were provided for under the "Contribution Agreement" and "Subordinated Promissory Note Due December 9, 2010." The Contribution Agreement states that "[t]he Funding Obligation and Expense Amount shall be made as unsecured subordinated loans to the Company."[44] This factor weighs in favor of characterizing the Funding Obligation as debt.
2. Presence or Absence of a Fixed Maturity Date and Schedule of Payments.
The next factor in AutoStyle is the presence or absence of a fixed maturity date and schedule of payments. "The absence of a fixed maturity date and a fixed obligation to repay is an indication that the advances were capital contributions and not loans."[45] Here, the Notes became repayable over four years after entry into the Notes with no interim payment of principal.[46] Again, this fact is similar to the facts considered by the court in Fidelity Bond.[47] Accordingly, although there is a fixed maturity date, Friedman's was not required to make any principal payments for over four years. This factor weighs neither in favor of characterizing the Notes as equity nor as debt.
3. No Fixed Rate of Interest and Interest Payments.
Another factor in the AutoStyle analysis is the presence or absence of a *521 fixed rate of interest and interest payments. The absence of such is a strong indication the investment was a capital contribution, rather than a loan.[48] Here, the Notes have an interest rate of 8% per annum,[49] however the interest accrued and was added on a quarterly basis to the principal amount of the Note.[50] The Plaintiff also alleges that the interest rate is below prime.[51] Lastly, Plaintiff points out that the Defendants could have demanded an interest payment from the Tax Refund but did not.
In AtlanticRancher, Inc.,[52] the bankruptcy court was faced with the characterization of the following: a promissory note with a maturity date and interest rate used for working capital and treated as debt on the debtor's books.[53] The bankruptcy court held that "[d]espite proper documentation, [the lender] never made any effort to collect the Convertible Promissory Note or foreclose on his collateral. He recognized that if he attempted to exercise his rights as a secured creditor it would have put the company out of business. Thus, [the lender] did not treat the Convertible Promissory Note and the rights contained in it as a loan; rather he treated the $300,000 as an investment."[54] Although distinguishable from the case sub judice in that here interest was deferred and the principal payments had not yet become due, the lack of demand of payment of interest from the Tax Refund in this case indicates that the Funding Participants were treating the Notes as equity. The deferral of interest payments, the below prime interest rate, along with the allegation that the Tax Refund was not used to pay all the interest then owing to the Funding Participants under the Notes,[55] all weigh in favor of characterizing the Notes as equity.
4. Repayment Dependent on Success.
The AutoStyle test also considers the source of repayments. "If the expectation of repayment depends solely on the success of the borrower's business, the transaction has the appearance of a capital contribution."[56] The Complaint alleges that the "Defendant's expectation of repayment of the Funding Obligation depended solely on the success of Friedman's business."[57]*522 Further, in the response to the Motion to Dismiss, the Plaintiff argues that even if the Tax Refund was fully collected and wholly applied to the "debt," there remained a $13,541,000 shortfall between the tax proceeds and the principal of the Notes; then at least $13,541,000 plus all accrued interest on the Notes could be paid solely from Friedman's earnings.[58] There have been no allegations nor argument that there was another source of payment for the Transaction. Therefore, this factor weighs in favor of characterizing the Notes as equity.[59]
5. Inadequacy of Capitalization.
AutoStyle also considers the adequacy of capitalization. "Thin or inadequate capitalization is strong evidence that the advances are capital contributions rather than loans."[60] The Plaintiff has alleged in the Complaint that Friedman's was undercapitalized as a result of the Funding Obligations and purchase of Crescent. In fact, the Complaint specifically refers to Friedman's balance sheet pre- and post-acquisition.[61] This factor weighs in favor of characterizing the Notes as equity.
6. Identity of Interests Between Creditor and Stockholder.
Another factor in the AutoStyle test is the identity of interest between the creditor and the stockholder. "If stockholders make advances in proportion to their respective stock ownership, an equity contribution is indicated. On the other hand, a sharply disproportionate ratio between a stockholder's percentage interest in stock and debt is indicative of bona fide debt. Where there is an exact correlation between the ownership interests of the equity holders and their proportionate share of the alleged loan this evidence standing alone is almost overwhelming."[62] Here, the Complaint alleges that there is an "exact correlation" between the ownership interests of the equity holders and their proportionate share of the alleged loan.[63] This factor weighs in favor of characterizing the Notes as equity.
7. Security, if any, for the Advances.
Another factor in the AutoStyle test is the presence or absence of security for the advances made under the alleged debt. "The absence of a security for an advance is a strong indication that the advances were capital contributions rather than loans."[64] Here, the Note was fully subordinated to the CIT Obligation and was unsecured.[65] This factor weighs in favor of characterizing the Notes as equity.
8. Ability to Obtain Financing From Outside Lending Institutions.
Yet another factor in the AutoStyle test is the debtor's ability to obtain outside financing. "When there is no evidence of other outside financing, the fact that no reasonable creditor would have acted in the same manner is strong evidence that the advances were capital contributions *523 rather than loans."[66] There are no allegations in the Complaint regarding alternative sources of financing. Therefore, this factor weighs neither in favor of characterizing the Notes as equity nor as debt.
9. Extent to Which the Advances Were Subordinated to the Claim of Outside Creditors.
Another factor in the AutoStyle test is the extent to which the payments to be made are subordinated to the claims of outside creditors. "Subordination of advances to claims of all other creditors indicates that the advances were capital contributions, not loans."[67] The Note expressly states that the Funding Obligation is subordinate to Friedman's secured debt.[68] The Notes entitle the Funding Participants to payment ahead of subordinated debt and equity, and on par with trade and other general unsecured debt. The Defendants argue that as the Notes provide for a right to payment above other interests and therefore is indicative of equity. This factor weighs in favor of characterizing the Notes as debt.
10. The Extent to Which the Advances Were Used to Acquire Capital Assets.
Another factor in the AutoStyle test is whether the advances were used to acquire capital assets. "Use of advances to meet the daily operating needs of the corporation, rather than to purchase capital assets, is indicative of bona fide indebtedness."[69] The Funding Obligation was used for the purchase of Crescent, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Friedman's.[70] Therefore, this factor weighs in favor of characterizing the Notes as equity.
11. Presence or Absence of a Sinking Fund.
Another factor in the AutoStyle test is the presence or absence of a sinking fund to provide repayments.[71] The Complaint alleges that: "Friedman's never established a sinking fund to provide for the repayment of the Notes, and neither the Contribution Agreement nor the Notes provided for the establishment of a sinking fund for that purpose."[72] Instead, Friedman's asserts that any repayment of the Note depended solely on the success of Friedman's business. Therefore, this factor weighs in favor of characterizing the Notes as equity.
12. Presence or absence of voting rights
A factor discussed by the District Court in Submicron is the presence or absence or voting rights.[73] The Complaint does not allege nor does the Promissory Notes, or Contribution Agreement grant any of *524 the Funding Participant the right to vote. Therefore, this factor weighs in favor of characterizing the Notes as debt.
13. Other Considerations
The Defendants argue that the parties' intended the Funding Obligation to be a loan. The Defendants liken this case to American Twine.[74] In American Twine, the court, was faced with validity of a $10 million secured bridge loan that certain defendants and other individuals extended to an entity of which they were also shareholders.[75] The bridge loan carried a 35% annual interest rate and a one year term and included no warrants or convertibility features.[76] The lenders received a security interest in all of the borrower's assets.[77] When structuring the loan the borrower and lender considered, but rejected, a proposal that the investment take the form of equity and a proposal to include warrants and convertibility features.[78]
In reaching its conclusion after the trial that the transaction was debt and not equity,[79] the American Twine court evaluated expert testimony and testimony of some of the key players in the transaction.[80] The American Twine court also considered the reasonableness of the terms, including interest rate of 35% (an above-market rate) and the security interest granted in the borrower's assets, in reaching its conclusion that these particular terms provided for the risky nature of the investment.[81]
The Defendants in this case argue that because Friedman's considered, but rejected, an equity infusion that the Funding Obligation cannot be considered equity.[82] The Defendants correctly identify one similarity between the transaction in American Twine and this case. Nonetheless, when one applies the entirety of the issues considered in American Twine to this case, one readily concludes that the Plaintiff has asserted a plausible claim that the Notes are equity. For example, in this case there was a pro rata contribution by the shareholders (based in relation to each's equity holdings), the payment of the "debt" to the Funding Participants depended upon Friedman's Tax Refund, non-payment of interest, the lack of a security interest, and the fact that the "debt" was subordinated.
The Defendants also argue that as Friedman's had the option of choosing debt or equity when formulating the Transaction and that this explicitly proves "intent" for the Transaction to be debt. At this point in the proceedings, however, the only thing that shows "intent" are the actual terms of the Contribution Agreement and Note, and not the name/vocabulary *525 of the Transaction documents.[83]
C. Conclusion
For those keeping score at home the factors identified above weigh in favor of characterizing the Notes as equity by a score of: Equity 7, Debt 3 and Neither 2. But, of course, this Court is not to base its decision on such a mechanical exercise. Rather, the Court is to use its evaluation of the above described factors to make its decision "through a common sense evaluation of the facts and circumstances surrounding a transaction."[84] While the Defendants' arguments may ultimately prevail regarding intent, at this stage of the proceedings, taking all the allegations in the Complaint as true,[85] the Court finds that the Plaintiff has alleged plausible facts that require a further evidentiary record for the Court to characterize the Notes as debt or equity.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court will deny the motion to dismiss as the Complaint alleges facially plausible facts, which taken as true, may constitute a recharacterization claim. An order will be issued.
NOTES
[1] "The court is not required to state findings or conclusions when ruling on a motion under Rule 12...." Fed. R. Bankr.P. 7052(a)(3). Accordingly, the Court herein makes no findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 7052 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.
[2] On August 17, 2010, default judgment was entered against defendant Ivy MA Holdings Cayman 8, Ltd. ("Ivy") (Adv. D.I. 62). Ivy is not a movant nor is included in the defined term "Defendants" for the purposes of this Memorandum Opinion.
[3] See Adv. D.I. 21, 22, 32, and 36.
[4] The background set forth infra is gathered from the allegations set forth in the Complaint, as defined below. See Fowler v. UPMC Shadyside, 578 F.3d 203, 210-11 (3d Cir. 2009) ("The [court] must accept all of the complaint's well-pleaded facts as true, but may disregard any legal conclusions.").
[5] Adv. D.I. 1 (the "Complaint").
[6] Adv. D.I. 30; see also D.I. 2391 (Order Confirming Joint Plan of Liquidation Under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code).
[7] Prior to Crescent's bankruptcy, Friedman's and Crescent had some common ownership and interrelated contractual arrangements, including loans, guarantees, and service agreements.
[8] The Contribution Agreement is attached as Exhibit A to the Complaint.
[9] The other Funding Participants (which are not Defendants) are Harbinger Capital Partners Master Fund I, Ltd., Liberation Investments, L.P., Liberation Investments Ltd., Man Mac Gemstock Limited, and Prescott Group Aggressive Small Cao, L.P.
[10] Friedman's was party to a Second Amended and Restates Loan and Security Agreement dated March 8, 2006 (the "CIT Agreement"), whereby The CIT Group/Business Credit, Inc. ("CIT") was agent.
[11] The Plaintiff alleged that this tax refund was not related to the Transaction. See Plaintiff's Memorandum in Opposition to Motion to Dismiss, p. 4 (D.I. 32).
[12] Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8(a) and 12(b)(6) are made applicable to this adversary proceeding pursuant to Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure 7008 and 7012, respectively.
[13] Kost v. Kozakiewicz, 1 F.3d 176, 183 (3d Cir.1993) ("The pleader is required to set forth sufficient information to outline the elements of his claim or to permit inferences to be drawn that these elements exist." (citations omitted)).
[14] 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).
[15] ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).
[16] Fowler, 578 F.3d at 210.
[17] See Fowler, 578 F.3d at 210.
[18] Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949. See also Sands v. McCormick, 502 F.3d 263, 268 (3d Cir.2007) (citations omitted); Bartow v. Cambridge Springs SCI, 285 Fed.Appx. 862, 863 (3d Cir. 2008) ("While facts must be accepted as alleged, this does not automatically extend to bald assertions, subjective characterizations, or legal conclusions."); General Motors Corp. v. New A.C. Chevrolet, Inc., 263 F.3d 296, 333 (3d Cir.2001) ("Liberal construction has its limits, for the pleading must at least set forth sufficient information for the court to determine whether some recognized legal theory exists on which relief could be accorded the pleader. Conclusory allegations or legal conclusions masquerading as factual conclusions will not suffice to prevent a motion to dismiss. While facts must be accepted as alleged, this does not automatically extend to bald assertions, subjective characterizations, or legal conclusions." (citations omitted)).
[19] Fowler, 578 F.3d at 210 (internal quotations omitted). See also Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1950 ("While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual allegations."); Buckley v. Merrill Lynch & Co. (In re DVI, Inc.), 2008 WL 4239120, 2008 Bankr.LEXIS 2338 (Bankr.D.Del. Sept. 16, 2008) ("Rule 8(a) requires a showing rather than a blanket assertion of an entitlement to relief. We caution that without some factual allegation in the complaint, a claimant cannot satisfy the requirement that he or she provide not only fair notice, but also the grounds on which the claim rests." (citations omitted)).
[20] Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949.
[21] Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1950. "It is the conclusory nature of [plaintiff's] allegations, rather than their extravagantly fanciful nature, that disentitles them to the presumption of truth." Id. at 1951.
[22] Id. at 1950 (citations and internal quotations omitted).
[23] Fowler, 578 F.3d at 210-11. See also Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (holding that a court must take the complaint's allegations as true, no matter how incredulous the court may be); Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949-50 ("Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.... When there are well-plead factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief."); Winer Family Trust v. Queen, 503 F.3d 319, 327 (3d Cir.2007); Carino v. Stefan, 376 F.3d 156, 159 (3d Cir.2004). The Court may also consider documents attached as exhibits to the Complaint and any documents incorporated into the Complaint by reference. In re Fruehauf Trailer Corp., 250 B.R. 168, 183 (Bankr.D.Del.2000) (citing PBGC v. White, 998 F.2d 1192, 1196 (3d Cir.1993)). "[I]f the allegations of [the] complaint are contradicted by documents made a part thereof, the document controls and the Court need not accept as true the allegations of the complaint." Sierra Invs., LLC v. SHC, Inc. (In re SHC, Inc.), 329 B.R. 438, 442 (Bankr.D.Del.2005). See also Sunquest Info. Sys., Inc. v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 40 F.Supp.2d 644, 649 (W.D.Pa.1999) ("In the event of a factual discrepancy between the pleadings and the attached exhibit, the exhibit controls." (citations omitted)).
[24] Fowler, 578 F.3d at 211 (internal quotations omitted) ("[A] complaint must do more than allege the plaintiff's entitlement to relief. A complaint has to `show' such an entitlement with its facts." (citations omitted)). "The plaintiff must put some `meat on the bones' by presenting sufficient factual allegations to explain the basis for its claim." Buckley v. Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (In re DVI, Inc.), 2008 WL 4239120, at *4, 2008 Bankr.LEXIS 2338, at *13 (Bankr.D.Del. Sept. 16, 2008).
[25] In re Ins. Brokerage Antitrust Litig., 618 F.3d 300, 361 n. 18 (3d Cir. Aug. 16, 2010). See also Arista Records LLC v. Doe, 604 F.3d 110, 120-21 (2d Cir.2010) (stating that Twombly and Iqbal require factual amplification where needed to render a claim plausible, not pleadings of specific evidence or extra facts beyond what is needed to make a claims plausible).
[26] Cohen v. KB Mezzanine Fund II, LP (In re SubMicron Sys. Corp.), 432 F.3d 448, 456 (3d Cir.2006). Official Comm. of Unsecured Creditors of Fedders N. Am., Inc. v. Goldman Sachs Credit Partners L.P. (In re Fedders N. Am., Inc.), 405 B.R. 527, 554 (Bankr.D.Del.2009) ("Recharacterization has nothing to do with inequitable conduct, however." (citation omitted)).
[27] The Third Circuit has stated:
While some cases are easy (e.g., a document titled a "Note" calling for payments of sums certain at fixed intervals with market-rate interest and these obligations are secured and are partly performed, versus a document issued as a certificate indicating a proportional interest in the enterprise to which the certificate relates), others are hard (such as a "Note" with conventional repayment terms yet reflecting an amount proportional to prior equity interests and whose payment terms are ignored). Which course a court discerns is typically a commonsense conclusion that the party infusing funds does so as a banker (the party expects to be repaid with interest no matter the borrower's fortunes; therefore, the funds are debt) or as an investor (the funds infused are repaid based on the borrower's fortunes; hence, they are equity). Form is no doubt a factor, but in the end it is no more than an indicator of what the parties actually intended and acted on. Id.
[28] Radnor Holdings Corp. v. Tennenbaum Capital Ptnrs., 353 B.R. 820, 838-839 (Bankr. D.Del.2006). See also Fedders N. Am., Inc., 405 B.R., at 554 ("The Third Circuit has held that the overarching inquiry with respect to recharacterizing debt as equity is whether the parties to the transaction in question intended the loan to be a disguised equity contribution. This intent may be inferred from what the parties say in a contract, from what they do through their actions, and from the economic reality of the surrounding circumstances." (citations omitted)).
[29] SubMicron, 432 F.3d at 455-456; see also Radnor Holdings Corp., 353 B.R. at 838-839.
[30] Official Unsecured Creditors' Comm. of Broadstripe, LLC v. Highland Capital Mgmt., L.P. (In re Broadstripe, LLC), 444 B.R. 51, 94 (Bankr.D.Del.2010) (quoting SubMicron, 432 F.3d at 456-57); Official Comm. of Unsecured Creditors of Midway Games Inc. v. Nat'l Amusements Inc. (In re Midway Games Inc.), 428 B.R. 303, 322 (Bankr.D.Del.2010) ("Recharacterization is, by its nature, a fact intensive inquiry.").
[31] SubMicron, 432 F.3d at 457.
[32] Compare Bayer Corp. v. MascoTech, Inc. (In re AutoStyle Plastics, Inc.), 269 F.3d 726, 749-50 (6th Cir.2001) (using an eleven factor test) with Stinnett's Pontiac Serv., Inc. v. Comm'r, 730 F.2d 634, 638 (11th Cir.1984) (using a thirteen factor test) and Estate of Mixon v. United States, 464 F.2d 394, 402 (5th Cir.1972).
[33] SubMicron, 432 F.3d at 456.
[34] Cohen v. KB Mezzanine Fund II, L.P. (In re SubMicron Sys. Corp.), 291 B.R. 314, 323 (D.Del.2003) (citation omitted).
[35] SubMicron, 432 F.3d at 455-56.
[36] Compare AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 749-50 with Submicron, 291 B.R. at 323.
[37] Id.
[38] AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 750.
[39] Fid. Bond & Mortg. Co. v. Brand (In re Fid. Bond & Mortg. Co.), 340 B.R. 266 (Bankr. E.D.Pa.2006).
[40] Id. at 303.
[41] Id. ("The Phoenix shareholders needed to structure a tax free event, and Peat Marwick went through many gyrations and ended that we, the old shareholders, although we would have liked to have held a higher equity position in the company, were told that in order for the transaction to work, we were limited to holding 20 percent of the equity, and that in order to accomplish the transaction, we needed to take back subordinated notes in the same value that Phoenix was putting into the acquisition company." (quoting trial transcript)).
[42] Id.
[43] Id.
[44] Contribution Agreement, § 1.2.
[45] AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 750.
[46] Note at p. 1.
[47] Fidelity Bond, 340 B.R. at 303.
[48] AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 750-51 ("At best ... this factor cuts both ways since the deferral of interest payments indicates the possibility that during the course of the transaction the defendants eventually never expected to get repaid and converted their debt to equity. Still, it does not change the fact that, initially at least, there was a fixed rate of interest and interest payments, indicating that the transaction was originally intended to be debt not equity.").
[49] The Complaint alleges that the interest rate on the Notes was less than the prime rate at the time of the transaction. Complaint at ¶ 47.
[50] Note at ¶ 3.
[51] Complaint at ¶ 47. See also discussion of American Twine L.P. v. Whitten, 392 F.Supp.2d 13 (D.Mass.2005), infra.
[52] Aquino v. Black (In re AtlanticRancher, Inc.), 279 B.R. 411 (Bankr.D.Mass.2002).
[53] In re AtlanticRancher, Inc., 279 B.R. at 437.
[54] Id. (citations to transcript omitted).
[55] Complaint at ¶¶ 40-41.
[56] AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 751; Stinnett's Pontiac Service, Inc. v. Commissioner of IRS, 730 F.2d 634, 639 (11th Cir.1984) (holding that the only way of repayment was from earnings produced from operations because the only non-earning source available for repayment was the sale of a boat which was inadequate to fulfill the obligation).
[57] Complaint at ¶ 49.
[58] Plaintiff's Opposition to Motion to Dismiss (D.I. 32), at pp. 21-22.
[59] See also discussion re: sinking fund, infra.
[60] AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 750-51.
[61] Complaint at ¶¶ 44-46.
[62] AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 751.
[63] Complaint at ¶¶ 28-37.
[64] AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 752.
[65] Note at ¶¶ 6 and 6.1-6.6.
[66] AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 752.
[67] AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 752.
[68] Note at ¶¶ 1, 6, and 6.1-6.6.
[69] AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 752.
[70] See Contribution Agreement, p. 1 ("WHEREAS, pursuant to the Second Amended Plan of Reorganization (Dated June 7, 2006), as Modified (as further modified or amended, the "Plan") of Crescent Jewelers, a California corporation ("Crescent"), the Company, the Funding Participants and the Claimsholders are to receive, collectively, 100% of the shares of common stock of Crescent to be issued upon the emergence by Crescent from its chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings"); see also Contribution Agreement, § 1.1.
[71] AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 753.
[72] Complaint, ¶ 49.
[73] SubMicron, 291 B.R. at 323.
[74] American Twine L.P. v. Whitten, 392 F.Supp.2d 13 (D.Mass.2005).
[75] Id. at 15.
[76] Id. at 18.
[77] Id.
[78] Id. at 19.
[79] Id. at 23 ("Some of the Atlantic Rancher factors favor treating the Bridge Loan as capital and some favor treating it as debt. In the aggregate, an analysis of the Atlantic Rancher factors leads convincingly, but not overwhelmingly, to the conclusion that the Bridge Loan should be treated as debt.")
[80] American Twine, 392 F.Supp.2d at 19
[81] Id. at 20.
[82] The Motion to Dismiss refers to paragraphs 28 and 38 of the Complaint and states that an equity infusion was expressly rejected. However, the Court's reading of the Complaint, taking all allegations to be true, does not necessarily agree with the Defendant's characterizations of the allegations in the Complaint.
[83] See AutoStyle, 269 F.3d at 750.
[84] Radnor Holdings Corp., 353 B.R. at 838-839.
[85] Fowler, 578 F.3d at 210-11.
|
---
abstract: 'We report results from a search for production of a neutral Higgs boson in association with a $b$ quark. We search for Higgs decays to $\tau$ pairs with one $\tau$ subsequently decaying to a muon and the other to hadrons. The data correspond to 2.7 fb$^{-1}$ of $\ppbar$ collisions recorded by the D0 detector at $\sqrt{s} = 1.96$ TeV. The data are found to be consistent with background predictions. The result allows us to exclude a significant region of parameter space of the minimal supersymmetric model.'
date: 'December 4, 2009'
title: Search for the associated production of a quark and a neutral supersymmetric Higgs boson which decays to tau pairs
---
list\_of\_authors\_r2.tex
The current model of physics at high energies, the standard model (SM), has withstood increasingly precise experimental tests, although the Higgs boson needed to mediate the breaking of electroweak symmetry has not been found. Despite the success of the SM, it has several shortcomings. Theories invoking a new fermion-boson symmetry, called supersymmetry [@b-susy] (SUSY), provide an attractive means to address some of these including the hierarchy problem and nonunification of couplings at high energy. In addition to new SUSY-specific partners to SM particles, these theories have an extended Higgs sector. In the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) there are two Higgs doublet fields which result in five physical Higgs bosons: two neutral scalars ($h, H$), a neutral pseudoscalar ($A$) and two charged Higgs bosons ($H^\pm$). The mass spectrum of the Higgs bosons is determined at tree level by two parameters, typically chosen to be $\tan\beta$, the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of up-type and down-type scalar fields and $M_A$, the mass of the physical pseudoscalar. Higher order corrections are dominated by the Higgsino mass parameter $\mu$ and the mixing of scalar top quarks.
In this Letter, we present a search for neutral Higgs bosons (collectively denoted $\phi$) produced in association with a $b$ quark. The specific Higgs boson decay mode used in this search is $\phi\to\tau\tau$ with one of the $\tau$ leptons subsequently decaying via $\tau\to\mu\nu_{\tau}\nu_{\mu}$ (denoted $\tau_\mu$) and the second via $\tau\to\ \mathrm{hadrons}+\nu_\tau$ (denoted $\tau_{h}$). In the MSSM the Higgs coupling to down-type fermions is enhanced by a factor $\propto \tan\beta$ and thus the Higgs production cross section is enhanced by a factor $\propto\tan^2\beta$ relative to the SM, giving potentially detectable rates at the Tevatron. Two of the three neutral Higgs bosons have nearly degenerate masses over much of the parameter space, effectively giving another factor of two in production rate. A previous search in this final state was carried out by the D0 experiment [@b-p14]. Searches in the complementary channels $\phi Z/\phi\phi\to b\bar{b}\tau\tau,\tau\tau b\bar{b}$ [@b-LEP2], $\phi\to\tau\tau$ [@b-tautau; @b-tautau-cdf], and $\phi b\to
\bbbar b$ [@b-hb-bbb; @b-hb-bbb-cdf] have also been carried out by the LEP, D0, and CDF experiments. By searching in complementary channels we reduce overall sensitivity to the particular details of the model. The $b\tau\tau$ final state is less sensitive to SUSY radiative corrections than the $\bbbar b$ final state, and has greater sensitivity at low Higgs mass than the $\phi\to\tau\tau$ channel, as the $b$-jet in the final state reduces the $Z\to\tau\tau$ background. Furthermore, an additional complementary channel will contribute to an even stronger exclusion when combining different searches. The result presented in this Letter uses an integrated luminosity of 2.7 fb$^{-1}$ which is eight times that used for the previous result in this channel. Because of analysis improvements, the gain in sensitivity compared to the prior result is greater than expected from the increased integrated luminosity only. We also extend the Higgs mass search range relative to the previous result in this channel.
The D0 detector [@d0det] is a general purpose detector located at Fermilab’s Tevatron $\ppbar$ collider. The Tevatron operates at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. This analysis relies on all aspects of the detector: tracking, calorimetry, muon detection, the ability to identify detached vertices and the luminosity measurement. This search requires reconstruction of muons, hadronic $\tau$ decays, jets (arising from $b$ quarks) and neutrinos. Muons are identified using track segments in the muon system and are required to have a track reconstructed in the inner tracking system which is close to the muon-system track segment in $\eta$ and $\varphi$. Here $\eta$ is the pseudorapidity and $\varphi$ is the azimuthal angle in the plane perpendicular to the beam. Jets are reconstructed from calorimeter information using the D0 Run II cone algorithm [@b-jetalg] with a radius of $R=0.5$ in $(y,\varphi)$ space, where $R=\sqrt{(\Delta y^2+\Delta \varphi^2)}$ and $y$ is the rapidity. Jets are additionally identified as being consistent with decay of a $b$-flavored hadron ($b$-tagged) if the tracks aligned with the calorimeter jet have high impact parameter or form a vertex separated from the primary interaction point in the plane transverse to the beam as determined by a neural network (NN$_b$) algorithm [@b-btag]. Hadronic $\tau$ decays are identified [@b-ztautau] as clusters of energy in the calorimeter reconstructed [@b-jetalg] using a cone algorithm of radius $R=0.3$ which have associated tracks. The $\tau$ candidates are then categorized as being one of three types which correspond roughly to one-prong $\tau$ decay with no $\pi^0$s (called Type 1), one-prong decay with $\pi^0$s (Type 2) and multiprong decay (Type 3). A final identification requirement is based on the output value of a neural network (NN$_\tau$) designed to separate $\tau$ leptons from jets. The missing transverse energy ${\mbox{$\not\!\!E_T$}}$ is used to infer the presence of neutrinos. The ${\mbox{$\not\!\!E_T$}}$ is the negative of the vector sum of the transverse energy of calorimeter cells satisfying $|\eta|<3.2$. ${\mbox{$\not\!\!E_T$}}$ is corrected for the energy scales of reconstructed final state objects, including muons.
Signal acceptance and efficiency are modeled using simulated SM $\phi b$ events generated with the event generator [@b-pythia] requiring the $b$ quark to satisfy $p_T>15$ GeV/$c$ and $|\eta|<2.5$ and using the CTEQ6L1 [@b-cteq] parton distribution functions (PDF). The [@b-tauola] program is used to model $\tau$ decay and [@b-evtgen] is used to decay $b$ hadrons. The dependence of the Higgs boson decay width on $\tan\beta$ is included by reweighting samples, and the kinematic properties are reweighted to the prediction of the NLO program [@b-mcfm]. The generator outputs are passed through a detailed detector simulation based on [@b-geant]. Each event is combined with collider data events recorded during a random beam crossing to model the effects of detector noise, pileup, and additional $p \bar p$ interactions. The combined output is then passed to the D0 event reconstruction program. Simulated signal samples are generated for different Higgs masses ranging from 90 to 320 GeV/$c^2$. Backgrounds to this search are dominated by $Z$+jets, $\ttbar$, and multijet (MJ) production. In the MJ background the apparent leptons primarily come from semileptonic $b$ hadron decays, not $\tau$ decays. Additional backgrounds include $W$+jets events, SM diboson production and single top quark production. Except for the MJ contribution, all background yields are estimated using simulated events, with the same processing chain used for signal events. The $Z$+jets, $W$+jets and $\ttbar$ samples are generated using [@b-alpgen] with used for fragmentation. The diboson samples are generated using . For simulated samples in which there is only one lepton arising from the decay of a $W$ boson or from $\ttbar\to\ell+$jets, the second lepton is either a jet misidentified as a $\tau$ or a muon+jet system from heavy flavor decay in which the muon is misidentified as being isolated from other activity. Corrections accounting for differences between data and the simulation are applied to the simulated events. The corrections are derived from control data samples and applied to object identification efficiencies, trigger efficiencies, primary $\ppbar$ interaction position (primary vertex) and the transverse momentum spectrum of $Z$ bosons. After applying all corrections, the yields for signal and each background are calculated as the product of the acceptance times efficiency determined from simulation, luminosity and predicted cross sections.
The initial analysis step is selection of events recorded by at least one trigger from a set of single muon triggers for data taken before the summer of 2006. For data taken after summer 2006 we require at least one trigger from a set of single muon triggers and muon plus hadronic $\tau$ triggers. The average trigger efficiency for signal events is approximately 65% for both data epochs. After making the trigger requirements a background-dominated pre-tag sample is selected by requiring a reconstructed primary vertex for the event with at least three tracks, exactly one reconstructed hadronic $\tau$, exactly one isolated muon, and at least one jet. This analysis requires the $\tau$ candidates to satisfy $E_T^\tau>10$ GeV, $p_T^\tau>7(5)$ GeV/$c$ and $NN_\tau>0.9$ for Type 1(2) taus, $E_T^\tau>15$ GeV, $p_T^\tau>10$ GeV/$c$ and $NN_\tau>0.95$ for Type 3 taus. Here $E_T^{\tau}$ is the transverse energy of the $\tau$ measured in the calorimeter, $p_T^\tau$ is the transverse momentum sum of the associated track(s). The muon must satisfy $p_T^\mu>12$ GeV/$c$ and $|\eta|<2.0$. It is also required to be isolated from activity in the tracker and calorimeter [@b-hpp]. Selected jets have $E_T>15$ GeV, $|\eta|<2.5$. The $\tau$, the muon and jets must all be consistent with arising from the same primary vertex and be separated from each other by $\Delta R > 0.5$. In addition, the muon and $\tau$ are required to have opposite charge, and the $(\mu,{\mbox{$\not\!\!E_T$}})$ mass variable $M \equiv \sqrt{2{\mbox{$\not\!\!E_T$}}E_\mu^2/p_T^\mu(1-\cos(\Delta\varphi(\mu,{\mbox{$\not\!\!E_T$}})))}$ must satisfy $M < 80,\ 80,\ \mathrm{and}\
60$ GeV$/c^{2}$ for events with $\tau$s of Type 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Here $E_\mu$ is the energy of the muon, and $\Delta\varphi$ is the opening angle between the ${\mbox{$\not\!\!E_T$}}$ and muon in the plane transverse to the beam direction.
A more restrictive $b$-tag subsample with improved signal to background ratio is defined by demanding that at least one jet in each event is consistent with $b$ quark production [@b-btag]. The $b$-jet identification efficiency in signal events is about 35% and the probability to misidentify a light jet as a $b$ jet is 0.5%. All backgrounds except MJ are derived from simulated events as described earlier. The MJ background is derived from control data samples. A parent MJ-enriched control sample is created by requiring a muon, $\tau$, and jet as above, but with the muon isolation requirement removed and with a lower quality ($0.3\leq NN_{\tau}
\le 0.9$) $\tau$ selected. This is then used to create a $b$-tag subsample which requires at least one of the jets to be identified as a $b$ jet with the same $b$ jet selection as earlier. The residual contributions from SM backgrounds are subtracted from the MJ control samples using simulated events. To determine the MJ contribution in the pre-tag analysis sample, a data sample is used that has the same selection as the pre-tag analysis sample except that the muon and $\tau$ charges have the same sign. This same-sign (SS) sample is dominated by MJ events. After making a subtraction of other SM background processes which contribute to this sample, the number of MJ events in the opposite-sign (OS) signal region is computed by multiplying the SS sample by the OS/SS ratio, $1.05\pm0.02$, determined in a control sample selected by requiring a non-isolated muon.. For the $b$-tag analysis sample, statistical limitations require a different approach for the MJ background evaluation than for the pre-tag sample. For the $b$-tag sample, two methods are used. For the first method, the per jet probability $P_{tag}$ that a jet in the SS MJ control subsample would be identified as a $b$ jet is determined as a function of jet $p_T$. We apply $P_{tag}$ to the jets in the SS pre-tag sample to determine the yield in the $b$-tag sample. For the second method, the MJ background is determined by multiplying the $b$-tag MJ control sample yield by two factors: (1) the probability that the non-isolated muon would be identified as isolated, and (2) the ratio of events with a $\tau$ candidate passing the $NN_{\tau}$ requirements to events with $\tau$ candidates having $0.3\leq NN_{\tau} < 0.9$ as determined in a separate control sample. The final MJ contribution in the $b$-tag analysis sample is determined using the MJ shape from the first method with the normalization equal to the average of the two methods. We include the normalization difference between the two methods in the systematic uncertainty on the MJ contribution.
The signal to background ratio is further improved using multivariate techniques. Two separate methods are used, one to address the $\ttbar$ background and one to reduce the MJ background. For the $\ttbar$ background, a neural network ($\mbox{\em NN}_{top}$) is constructed using $H_T \equiv \Sigma_{jets}E_T$, $E_{tot} \equiv
\Sigma_{jets} E + E_\tau + E_\mu$, the number of jets and $\Delta\varphi(\mu,\tau)$ as inputs. For the MJ background, a simple joint likelihood discriminant ($\mbox{\em LL}_{MJ}$) is constructed using $p_T^\mu$, $p_T^\tau$, $\Delta
R(\mu,\tau)$, $M_{\mu\tau}$ and $M_{\mu\tau\nu}$. Here $M_{\mu\tau}$ denotes the invariant mass of the muon and tau, and $M_{\mu\tau\nu}$ is the invariant mass computed from the muon, $\tau$, and ${\mbox{$\not\!\!E_T$}}$ momentum vectors. The final analysis sample is defined by selecting rectangular regions in the $\mbox{\em NN}_{top}$ versus $\mbox{\em LL}_{MJ}$ plane. The regions have been identified for each $\tau$ type and each Higgs boson mass point separately by optimizing the search sensitivity using simulated events. The signal to background ratio improves by up to a factor of two when applying these requirements. Table \[t-yields\] shows the predicted background and observed data yields in the analysis samples. Between 5% and 10% of $\phi\to\tau_\mu \tau_h$ decays are selected depending on $M_\phi$.
Pre-tag $b$-tagged Final
-------------------------------- -------------- -------------- ---------------
$\ttbar$ $66.0\pm1.3$ $39.6\pm0.8$ $20.3 \pm0.6$
Multijet $549\pm26$ $38.5\pm2.3$ $28.1\pm1.9$
$Z(\to\tau\tau)+\mathrm{jets}$ $1241\pm8$ $18.8\pm0.3$ $16.3\pm0.3$
Other Bkg $ 267\pm6$ $ 5.1\pm0.1$ $ 4.1\pm0.1$
Total Bkg $2123\pm28$ $102\pm2.4$ $68.8\pm2.0$
Data 2077 112 79
Signal $14.4\pm0.3$ $4.8\pm0.1$ $4.6\pm 0.1$
: Predicted background yield, observed data yield and predicted signal yield and their statistical uncertainties at three stages of the analysis. The signal yields are calculated assuming $\tan\beta = 40$ and a Higgs mass of 120 GeV/$c^{2}$ for the $m_h^{max}$ and $\mu = -200$ GeV$/c^{2}$ scenario.\[t-yields\]
Systematic uncertainties arise from a variety of sources. Most are evaluated using comparisons between data control samples and predictions from simulation. The uncertainties are divided into two categories: (1) those which affect only normalization, and (2) those which also affect the shape of distributions. The sources in the first category include the luminosity (6.1%), muon identification efficiency (4.5%), $\tau_{h}$ identification (5%, 4%, 8%), $\tau_{h}$ energy calibration (3%), the $\ttbar$ and single top cross sections (11% and 12%), diboson cross sections (6%), $Z$+($u$,$d$,$s$,$c$) rate (+2%, -5%) and the $W+b$ and $Z+b$ cross sections (30%); those in the second include jet energy calibration (2%-4%), $b$-tagging (3%-5%), trigger (3%-5%), and MJ background (33%, 12%, 11%). For sources with three values, the values correspond to $\tau$ Types 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
After making the final selection, the discriminant $D$ is formed from the product of the $\mbox{\em NN}_{top}$ and $\mbox{\em LL}_{MJ}$ variables, $D=\mbox{\em LL}_{MJ} \times \mbox{\em NN}_{top}$. The resulting distributions for the predicted background, signal and data are shown in Fig. \[f-prod-final\](a). This distribution is used as input to a significance calculation using a modified frequentist approach with a Poisson log-likelihood ratio test statistic [@b-collie]. In the absence of a significant signal we set 95% confidence level limits on the presence of neutral Higgs bosons in our data sample. The cross section limits are shown in Fig. \[f-xsec\](b) as a function of Higgs boson mass. These are translated into the $\tan\beta$ versus $M_A$ plane in the $m_h^{max}, \mu=-200$ GeV/$c^2$ MSSM benchmark scenario [@b-benchmark], giving the excluded region shown in Fig. \[f-plane\](c). The signal cross sections and branching fractions are computed using [@b-sig-xsec]. Instabilities in the theoretical calculation for $\tan\beta > 100$ limit the usable mass range in the translation into the $(\tan\beta,\,M_A)$ plane.
In summary, this Letter reports a search for production of Higgs bosons in association with a $b$ quark using eight times more data than previous results for this channel. The data are consistent with predictions from known physics sources and limits are set on the neutral Higgs boson associated production cross section. These cross section limits, a factor of three improvement over previous results, are also translated into limits in the SUSY parameter space.
{width="0.32\linewidth"} {width="0.32\linewidth"} {width="0.32\linewidth"}
acknowledgement\_paragraph\_r2.tex
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---
author:
- 'Kevin J. Walsh'
- Alessandro Morbidelli
title: 'The Effect of an Early Planetesimal-Driven Migration of the Giant Planets on Terrestrial Planet Formation'
---
Introduction
============
The formation of the terrestrial planets is expected to have occurred from a disk of planetesimals in two steps. In the first step, Moon to Mars-size “planetary embryos” formed by runaway and oligarchic accretion (Greenberg et al. 1978; Wetherill & Stewart 1993; Kokubo & Ida 1998). In the second step, the terrestrial planets formed by high-velocity collisions among the planetary embryos (Chambers & Wetherill 1998; Agnor et al. 1999; Chambers 2001; Raymond et al. 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007; O’Brien et al. 2006; Kenyon & Bromley 2006).
The most comprehensive effort to date in modeling terrestrial planet formation (Raymond et al. 2009) focused on 5 constraints of the terrestrial planets: 1. the orbits, particularly the small eccentricities, 2. the masses, with the small mass of Mars the most difficult to match, 3. formation timescales, 4. bulk structure of the asteroid belt and 5. the water content of Earth. Despite success with some of these constraints in each simulation, no simulation satisfied all the constraints simultaneously. For the simulations with fully formed Jupiter and Saturn on nearly circular orbits, the constraint consistently missed is the small mass of Mars. A Mars of the correct size is only obtained in simulations where the giant planets are on orbits with current semimajor axes but much larger eccentricities. This scenario, however, raises the problem of not allowing any water delivery to Earth from material in the outer asteroid belt region. The size of Mars has been a consistent problem for previous works with giant planets assumed on current orbits and disks of planetesimals and embryos stretching from $\sim$0.5–4.0 AU (Chambers & Wetherill 1998; O’Brien et al. 2006), or even only up to 1.5 or 2.0 AU (Kokubo et al. 2006; Chambers 2001).
However, Hansen (2009) had great success creating analogs of Mars in simulations which begin with a narrow annulus of planetary embryos between 0.7 and 1.0 AU. In these simulations both Mercury and Mars are formed from material that is scattered out of the original annulus by the growing Earth and Venus analogs. In addition, the orbits of the Earth and Venus analogs have eccentricities and inclinations similar to those observed today and the accretion timescales are in agreement, although on the low side, with the ages of the Earth-Moon system deduced from the $^{182}$Hf - $^{182}$W chronometer. This model points to the need for a truncated planetesimal disk at, or near, the beginning of the process of terrestrial planet formation. The origin of this truncation remains to be understood. Similarly, it remains to be clarified how the truncation of the disk of planetesimals at 1 AU can be compatible with the existence of asteroids in the 2-4 AU region.
Nagasawa et al. (2005) and Thommes et al. (2008) effectively produced a cut in the planetesimal distribution at 1.5 AU by assuming that the giant planets were originally on their current orbits and that secular resonances swept through the asteroid belt during gas-dissipation. However, the assumption that the giant planets orbits had their current semimajor axes when the gas was still present is no longer supported. When embedded in a gas disk, planets migrate relative to each other until a resonance configuration is achieved (Peale & Lee 2002; Kley et al. 2009; Ferraz-Mello et al. 2003; Masset & Snellgrove 2001; Morbidelli & Crida 2007; Pierens & Nelson 2008). Thus it is believed that the giant planets were in resonance with each other when the gas disk disappeared (Morbidelli et al. 2007; Thommes et al. 2008; Batygin & Brown 2010) which causes problems in understanding the consequences of the Thommes et al. (2008) model. Moreover, the Nagasawa et al. (2005) and Thommes et al. (2008) simulations produce the terrestrial planets too quickly ($\sim 10$ Myr), compared to the timing of moon formation indicated by the $^{182}$Hf - $^{182}$W chronometer ($>30$ Myr and most likely $>50$ Myr; Kleine et al. 2009) and they completely deplete the asteroid belt by the combination of resonance sweeping and gas-drag (see also Morishima et al. 2010, for a discussion).
The resonant configuration of the planets in a gas disk is extremely different from the orbital configuration observed today. Planetesimal-driven migration is believed to be the mechanism by which the giant planets acquired their current orbits after the gas-disk dissipation. In fact, work by Fernandez & Ip (1984) found that Uranus and Neptune have to migrate outward through the exchange of angular momentum with planetesimals that, largely, they scatter inward. Similarly, Saturn suffers the same fate of outward migration, though Jupiter migrates inward as it ejects the planetesimals from the solar system. The timescale for planetesimal-driven migration of the giant planets depends on the distribution of the planetesimals in the planet-crossing region. It is typically 10 My, with 5 My as the lower bound (Morbidelli et al. 2010). Close encounters between pairs of giant planets might also have contributed in increasing the orbital separations among the giant planets themselves (Thommes et al. 1999; Tsiganis et al. 2005; Morbidelli et al. 2007; Brasser et al. 2009; Batygin & Brown 2010). Beyond the consequences for the scattered planetesimals, the migration of the giant planets affects the evolution of the solar system on a much larger scale, through the sweeping of planetary resonances through the asteroid belt region.
The chronology of giant planet migration is important for the general evolution of the solar system, including the formation of the terrestrial planets. It has been recently proposed (Levison et al. 2001; Gomes et al. 2005; Strom et al. 2005) that the migration of the giant planets is directly linked in time with the so-called “Late Heavy Bombardment” (LHB) of the terrestrial planets (Tera et al. 1974; Ryder 2000, 2002; Kring & Cohen 2002). If this is true, then the migration of the giant planets should have occurred well after the formation of the terrestrial planets. In fact, the radioactive chronometers show that the terrestrial planets were completely formed 100 Myr after the condensation of the oldest solids of the solar system (the so-called calcium alluminum inclusions, which solidified 4.568 Gyr ago; Bouvier et al. 2007; Burkhardt et al. 2008), whereas the LHB occurred 3.9–3.8 Gyr ago. Thus the terrestrial planets should have formed when the giant planets were still on their pre-LHB orbits: resonant and quasi-circular. However, the simulations of Raymond et al. (2009) fail to produce good terrestrial planet analogs when using these pre-LHB orbits.
The alternative possibility is that giant planet-migration occurred as soon as the gas-disk disappeared. In this case, it cannot be a cause of the LHB (and an alternative explanation for the LHB needs to be found; see for instance Chambers 2007). However, in this case giant planet migration would occur while the terrestrial planets are forming, and this could change the outcome of the terrestrial planet formation process. In particular, it is well known that, as Jupiter and Saturn migrate, the strong $\nu_6$ secular resonance sweeps through the asteroid belt down to $\sim 2$ AU (Gomes 1997). The $\nu_6$ resonance occurs when the precession rate of the longitude of perihelion of the orbit of an asteroid is equal to the mean precession rate of the longitude of perihelion of Saturn, and it affects the asteroids’ eccentrcities. If the giant planet migration occurs on a timescale of 5–10 Myr, typical of planetesimal-driven migration, then the $\nu_6$ resonance severely depletes the asteroid belt region (Levison et al. 2001; Morbidelli et al. 2010). This can effectively truncate the disk of planetesimals and planetary embryos, leaving it with an outer edge at about 1.5 AU. Although the location of this edge is not as close to the sun as assumed in Hansen (2009) (1 AU), it might nevertheless help in forming a Mars analog, i.e. signficantly less massive than the Earth.
An equally important constraint is the resulting orbital distribution of planetesimals in the asteroid belt region, between 2–4 AU. After that region has been depleted of planetesimals and embryos by the sweeping resonances, what remains will survive without major alteration and should compare favorably with todays large asteroids. Studies of late giant planet migration start with an excited asteroid belt, where inclinations already vary from 0–20$^{\circ}$ (Morbidelli et al. 2010), and cannot match the inclination distribution of the inner asteroid belt with 5 Myr or longer migration timescales. The early migration presented here is different because it occurs immediately after the dissipation of the gas disk so that the planetesimal orbits are dynamically cold, with inclincations less than 1$^{\circ}$. Thus, in principle, an early giant planet migration could lead to a different result. Also, the embryos will be present, another difference with late migration scenarios.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate, for the first time, the effect that an [*early*]{} migration of the giant planets could have had on the formation of the terrestrial planets and on the final structure of the asteroid belt. In Section 2 we discuss our methods and in Section 3 we present our results. The conclusions and a discussion on the current state of our understanding of terrestrial planet formation will follow in Section 4.
Methods
=======
We assume in our simulations that the nebular gas has dissipated, Jupiter and Saturn have fully formed; in the terrestrial planet and asteroid belt region, in the range 0.5-4.0 AU, the planetesimal disk has already formed planetary embyros accounting for half of its total mass. The lifetime of the circumstellar gas disk is observed to be 3–6 Myr, and both Jupiter and Saturn are expected to be fully formed by this time (Haisch et al. 2001). The timescales for oligarchic growth is similar, with lunar to Mars sized embryos growing on million year timescales (Kokubo & Ida 1998,2000).
The numerical simulations are done using SyMBA, a symplectic $N$-body integrator modified to handle close encounters (Duncan et al. 1998). In our model, the planetary embryos interact with each other; the planetesimals interact with the embryos but not with themselves; all particles interact with the giant planets and, except when specified (explained further below), the giant planets feel the gravity of embryos and planetesimals. Collisions between two bodies result in a merger conserving linear momentum. It has been demonstrated by Kokubo & Genda (2010) that this a priori assumption of simple accretion does not significantly affect the results. The SyMBA code has already been used extensively in terrestrial planet formation simulations (Agnor et al. 1999; Levison & Agnor 2003; O’Brien et al. 2006; McNeil et al. 2005).
Protoplanetary disk
-------------------
The initial protoplanetary disks are taken directly from O’Brien et al. (2006), which themselves were based on those of Chambers (2001). The O’Brien et al. (2006) study produced some of the best matches for terrestrial planets and by using similar intial conditions allows a direct comparison. The initial conditions are based on a “minimum mass” solar nebula, with a steep surface denstiy profile. The solid mass is shared between many small planetesimals and a small number of large bodies, the embryos, as suggested by runaway/oligarchic growth simulations (Kokubo & Ida 1998, Kokubo & Ida 2000). In theory, it is possible that, by the time the gas disappears from the disk (which cooresponds to time zero in our simulations) the planetary embryos in the terrestrial planet region could have grown larger than the mass of Mars. However, the current mass of Mars seemingly excludes this possibility, and argues for masses to have been martian or sub-martian in mass.
The surface density profile is $\Sigma(r) = \Sigma_{0}(\frac{r}{1
\mathrm{AU}})^{-3/2}$, where $\Sigma_{0}$ = 8 g cm$^{-2}$. The distribution of material drops linearly between 0.7 and 0.3 AU. Half of the mass is in the large bodies, of which there were either 25 embryos, each of 0.0933 Earth masses ($M_\oplus$) or 50 embryos of 0.0467 $M_\oplus$. The small bodies are 1/40 as massive as the large embyros, or 1/20 as massive as the small embryos. For all test cases the embryos are spaced between 4–10 mutual hill radii at the beginning of the simulations. In some tests, the smaller planetesimals with an initial semimajor axis larger than 2.0 were cloned into two particles with identical semi-major axis, half the mass in each, and different random eccentricities and inclinations (noted as ’Double Asteroids’ in Table 1.). The initial eccentricities and inclinations were selected randomly in the range of 0-0.01 and 0-0.5 degrees respectively. Thus the initial mass of the disk consisted of 2.6 $M_\oplus$ located inside of 2 AU and a total mass of 4.7 $M_\oplus$.
Giant planets and migration
---------------------------
In all tests Jupiter and Saturn were started on orbits closer to each other than at the present time, i.e. with semimajor axes of 5.4 and 8.7 AU, respectively. These initial orbits are just beyond their mutual 1:2 mean motion resonance, i.e. the corrseponding ratio of orbital periods of Saturn and Jupiter is slightly larger than 2. Even if the giant planets should have started from a resonant configuration - probably the 2:3 resonance (Masset & Snellgrove 2001; Pierens & Nelson 2008) - it is known that secular resonance sweeping through the asteroid belt is important only when the planets’ orbital period ratio is larger than 2 (Gomes 1997; Brasser et al. 2009). Thus, our choice of the initial orbits of Jupiter and Saturn is appropriate for the purposes of this study.
Each planet was forced to migrate by imposing a change to their orbital velocities that evolves with time $t$ as: $$v(t) = v_0 + \Delta v [1 - \exp(-t/\tau)]$$ appropriate $\Delta v$ to achieve the required change in semimajor axis, and $\tau=5$ Myr. The latter is the minimum timescale at which planetesimal-driven migration can occur, simply due to the lifetime of planetesimals in the giant planet crossing region, as discussed extensively in Morbidelli et al. (2010). Longer timescales are possible, but previous work has shown that fast timescales affect the asteroid belt region less, and since terrestrial planet formation timescales are in the 10’s of millions of years, more rapid migration has a greater chance of affecting the accretion of Mars. Thus, we think that restricting ourselves to the 5 My timescale is sufficient, as this timescale is the most favorable for these purposes.
![Example of idealized migration for a system with only Jupiter and Saturn, ending with orbits very close to the current ones. Panel (a) shows the semimajor axis of Jupiter, (b) the eccentricity of Jupiter, (c) the semimajor axis of Saturn and (d) the eccentricity of Saturn, all plotted as a function of time in years.[]{data-label="migration"}](Figs/IdealMigration.ps){width="9.0cm"}
If the motion of the giant planets was not affected by the other bodies in the system, the evolution of the eccentricities and inclinations would not change much during migration (Brasser et al., 2009, and Fig. 1). Thus it is relatively simple to find initial conditions that lead to the final orbital configurations with eccentricities and inclinations with mean values and amplitude of oscillations similar to current one. In fact, as shown in Brasser et al. (2009), the initial values $(e_J,e_S)=(0.012,0.035)$ and $(i_J,i_S)=(0.23^\circ,1.19^\circ)$, after migration, lead to eccentricities and inclinations whose mean values and amplitudes of oscillation closely resemble those characterizing the current secular dynamics of the giant planets (see Fig. \[migration\]).
In our case, however, as the giant planets migrate, they scatter planetesimals and planetary embryos, and their orbits are affected in response. Thus, the final orbits are not exactly like those of Fig. \[migration\]. Typically, for instance, the eccentricities and inclinations of the planets are damped, and their relative migration is slightly more pronounced than it was intended to be. Thus, we tried to modify the initial eccentricities of Jupiter and Saturn and the values of $\Delta v$ in order to achieve final orbits as similar as possible to those of Fig. \[migration\]. However, while the effect of planetesimals on the planets is statistically the same from simulation to simulation, (and so can be accounted for by modifying the initial conditions of the planets), the effects of embryos are dominated by single stochastic events. Thus, it is not possible to find planetary initial conditions that lead systematically to good final orbits. In some cases the final orbits are reasonably close to those of the current system, but in many cases they are not. In total we performed 30 simulations. We discarded the simulations with unsuccessful final orbits, and kept only those (9/30) that lead to orbits resembling the current ones. These successful runs are called hereafter “normal migration simulations”. Our criterion for discriminating good from bad final orbits was determined after the 15 Myr of migration, and the semimajor axis, eccentricity and oscillation in eccentricity ($\Delta e$) were the factors examined. Jupiter’s orbit must have had $|a - a_j| < 0.05$, $|e - e_j|
< 0.0156$, and $|\Delta e - \Delta e_j| < 0.0164$, while Saturn’s orbit required $|a - a_s| < 0.075$, $|e - e_s| < 0.0252$, and $\Delta
e - \Delta e_s| < 0.0256$.
We complemented our normal migration simulations with what we call hereafter ’perfect migration’ cases. In these simulations, the planetesimals and embryos do not have any direct effect on the giant planets, even during close encounters. However, their indirect effects cannot be suppressed (specifically the H$_{\mathrm{sun}}$ term from eq. 32b. in Duncan et al. 1998) , but in principle they are weaker. Thus the migration of the giant planets, starting with the initial conditions from Brasser et al. 2009 (as in Fig. \[migration\]), met the above criteria in 3 out of 4 simulations. The giant planets had the full gravitational affect on the planetesimals and embryos throughout these simulations, and the mutual effects between planetesimals and embryos remained unchanged.
Results
=======
We present the results of 12 simulations of terrestrial planet formation each covering 150 Myr. Of these runs, 9 are normal migration simulations and 3 ’perfect migration’ simulations (all simulations are listed in Table 1. and refered to by run name, “Test31” etc., throughout). These two sets of simulations had qualitative and quantitative similarities and are thus discussed at the same time and combined in the figures. First, the resulting planets are compared with the current terrestrial planets, followed by a look at the consequences the migration has on the structure of the asteroid belt.
![The final mass ($M_\oplus$) for each planet produced in our simulations is plotted as a function of the planet’s semimajor axis. The horizontal error bars show the locations of the perihelion and aphelion of the cooresponding orbit. The open squares refer to the planets produced in the normal migration simulations, the open circles to the planets produced in the run with twice as many half-sized embryos, and the open triangles to those produced in the ‘perfect migration’ simulations; the solid squares represent the real terrestrial planets. []{data-label="RandomMvS"}](Figs/MassSemi.ps){width="8.4cm"}
The planets
-----------
Results for these simulations are summarized in Fig. \[RandomMvS\], where the final masses and semimajor axes of our synthetic planets are compared to those of the real terrestrial planets (see also Table \[runtable\]). The trend is similar to that found in previous works (see for instance Chambers et al. 2001), where the masses and locations of Earth and Venus are nearly matched by a number of different simulations, but most planets just exterior to Earth, near $a$ $\sim$1.5 AU are at least 3 times more massive than Mars. However, a handful of planets close to 1.8 AU were of similar mass to Mars. Of note, Test31 had two $\sim$Mars-mass bodies, at 1.2 and 2.4 AU, with an Earth mass planet at 1.52 AU. Test54, the only one of four simulations starting with the smaller embryos with successful migration, produced a sub-Mars mass body at 1.89 AU, just at the edge of the current day asteroid belt. The Ran4 simulation produced a body within 50% of Mars’ mass at 1.71 AU, though it had a high eccentricity above 0.13 and was a member of a 3 planet system. In general, planets produced at around 1.5 AU were $\sim$ 5 times more massive than Mars, and Mars-mass bodies were typically only found beyond 1.7 AU.
The total number of planets produced in each simulation is not systematically consistent with the real terrestrial planet system. Only two simulations produce 4 planets, where we define a “planet” as any embryo-sized or larger body with a semimajor axis less than 2.0 AU. Most simulations had 3 planets at the end, while one produced 5 planets. A common metric for measuring the distribution of mass among multiple planets is the radial mass concentration statistic (RMC), defined as
$$RMC = max\bigg(\frac{\sum M_j}{\sum M_j[\log_{10}(a/a_j)]^2}\bigg) ,$$
where $M_j$ and $a_j$ are the mass and semimajor axis of planet $j$ (Chambers, 2001). The bracketed function is calculated for different $a$ in the region where the terrestrial planets form. The RMC is infinite for a single planet system, and decreases as mass is spread among multiple planets over a range of semimajor axes. The current value of RMC for the solar system is 89.9. For all but one simulation the RMC value is below the current solar systems value, largely due to the large mass concentrated in a Mars-analog orbit (we did not include the two embryos stranded in the asteroid belt region in these calculations, one in Test31 and one in TestPM24). The single simulation with a larger RMC value did not have a Mars analog, and thus the mass was contained in a smaller semimajor axis range.
The terrestrial planets have low eccentricities and inclinations, Earth and Venus both have $e < 0.02$ and $i < 3^\circ$, properties which has proved difficult to match in accretion simulations. O’Brien et al. (2006) and Morishima et al. (2008) reproduced low eccentricities and inclinations largely due to remaining planetesimals which damp the orbital excitation of the planets. A metric used as a diagnostic of the degree of success of the simulations in reproducing the dynamical excitation of the terrestrial planets is the angular momentum deficit (AMD; Laskar 1997):
$$AMD = \frac{\sum_j M_j \sqrt{a_j}\left(1-\cos(i_j)\sqrt{1-e_j^2}\right)}{\sum_j M_j \sqrt{a_j}} ,$$
where $M_j$ and $a_j$ are again the mass and semimajor axis and $i_j$ and $e_j$ are the inclination and eccentricity of planet $j$. The AMD of the current solar system is 0.0014. The AMD for our simulations ranged from 0.0011 to 0.0113. The plantesimal disk used in these simulation is based on that from O’Brien (2006), and is therefore not surprising that some AMDs are consistent with the solar system value. Simulation PM22 is the one with the largest final AMD, because it produced an Earth-analog with a 10$^\circ$ inclination.
![Evolution of the system over time, showing the clearing of the asteroid belt region with inclination plotted as a function of semimajor axis. The open boxes are planetesimals on orbits within the current asteroid belt region, the crosses are planetesimals elsewhere, and the open circles are embryos or planets scaled in relation to their diameters. The simulation is Test31. []{data-label="31"}](Figs/Test31Evol.ps){width="8.4cm"}
![Same as Fig. \[31\], but for simulation Test54, which started from 50 embryos of 0.0467 $M_\oplus$ instead of 25 embryos twice as massive. []{data-label="54"}](Figs/Test54Evol.ps){width="8.4cm"}
Figures \[31\] and \[54\] show snapshots of two systems evolving over time. Of interest is the radial clearing caused by the movement of the giant planets and the sweeping of their resonances, particularly the $\nu_6$ resonance. This clearing progresses from the outer edge of the disk towards the sun, following the migration of the $\nu_6$ resonance, and stops at $\sim 2$ AU, which is the final location of this resonance when the giant planets reach their current orbits. Thus, the region of $a > 2.0$ is almost entirely cleared of material in 10 Myr, with only handfuls of planetesimals surviving and a single embryo. At 3 Myr, only $a > 2.5$ AU is largely cleared.
![Mass growth of the Mars analogs for all simulations plotted as a function of time. The most massive Mars analogs exceed the mass of Mars (0.11 $M_\oplus$) in only 2–3 Myr, and then in the next 10–20 Myr continue to grow to their final sizes, ending many times more massive than Mars. The two lines starting from $\sim 0.05$ $M_\oplus$ are for two planets of simulation ’Test54’, the only successful normal simulation that started with half-Mars mass embryos. The bold line shows the mass growth of the planet ending at $\sim 1.2$ AU; the thin line the planet ending at $\sim 1.9$ AU. []{data-label="marsgrowth"}](Figs/MarsGrowth2.ps){width="8.4cm"}
As seen in Figure \[marsgrowth\] the accretion of embryos for the Mars analogs (where a Mars analog is defined as the largest body between 1.2–2.0 AU) begins immediately with $\sim$2 Mars-mass typically being reached in only 2 Myr (note that Figure \[marsgrowth\] shows 12 growth curves, as there are two planets displayed for Test54). Nine of the 11 Mars analogs have reached 0.2 $M_\oplus$ by 3 Myr. At 10 Myr 6 of the 11 have reached 0.3 $M_\oplus$, and by 30 Myr 10 of 11 are above 0.3 $M_\oplus$, or $\sim$3 $M_ \mathrm{Mars}$. One might wonder if our inability to produce a small Mars analog is due to the fact that, in all but one of the presented simulations (Test54 is the exception), the planetary embryos are initially $\sim$ one Mars mass. This is not regarded as a problem for the following reasons. First, the Mars analogs with semimajor axes near that of Mars, near 1.5 AU, typically accreted 4 or 5 embryos; thus they consistently accreted much more mass than Mars, and are not simply the result of a chance accretion between two Mars mass embryos. Second, only two of the 11 Mars analogs did not accrete another embryo, in Test54 and Ran4, but both had semimajor axes larger than 1.7 AU, well beyond the current orbit of Mars. Third, our single successful normal migration simulation that started with half-Mars mass embryos also produced an Earth mass planet at 1.2 AU. This planet was already two-mars masses in 5 Myr (notice that in the same simulation one embryo escaped all collisions with other embryos and therefore remained well below the mass of Mars - see Figure \[marsgrowth\]– but this object ended up at 1.9 AU, well beyond the real position of Mars). Finally, previous works (Chambers 2001; Raymond et al. 2009; Morishima et al. 2010 to quote a few) which started with embryos significantly less massive than Mars met the same Mars-mass problem found here. The similarities between our work and previous in terms of the mass distribution of the synthetic planets as a function of semimajor axis suggest that the giant planet migration does not affect significantly the terrestrial planet accretion process. Thus it is unlikely that small changes in the adopted evolution pattern of the giant planets could lead to significantly different results. Therefore the initial conditions do not appear to be at fault for the failure to match the mass of Mars.
The reason for which the Mars analog consistently grows too massive is twofold. First, they grow fast (in a few million years, as shown in Figure \[marsgrowth\]), compared with the timescale required to effectively truncate the disk at $\sim 2$ AU (10 Myr, as shown in Figures \[31\] and \[54\]). Second, the truncation of the disk caused by the sweeping of the $\nu_6$ resonance is not sunward enough: the final edge is approximately at 2 AU, whereas an edge at $\sim
1$ AU is needed (Hansen 2009; Kokubo et al. 2006; Chambers 2001).
Figure \[allSims\] shows the final incination vs. semimajor axis distributions of all our simulations (respectively, ’normal’ and ’perfect’ ones). The sizes of the symbols representing the planets are proportional to the cubic roots of their masses. Again, the problem of the mass of Mars stands out.
![Endstates of all simulations with the inclination plotted as a function of the semimajor axis with asteroids as open squares, non-asteroid planetesimals as crosses and embryos/planets as open circles scaled by their mass to the 1/3 power. []{data-label="allSims"}](Figs/allSims.ps){width="8.4cm"}
The asteroid belt
-----------------
In the previous section we have shown that the an early sweeping of secular resonances through the asteroid belt is not useful to solve the small-Mars problem. Here we address the question of other observational constraints. For this purpose, in this section we turn to the asteroid belt, whose orbital distribution is very sensitive to the effects of resonance sweeping (Gomes 1997; Nagasawa et al. 2000; Minton & Malhotra 2009; Morbidelli et al. 2010).
Morbidelli et al. (2010) have shown that the properties of the asteroid belt after the slow migration of the giant planets are largely incompatible with the current structure of the asteroid belt. However, they assumed that the migration of the giant planets occurred late, after the completion of the process of terrestrial planet accretion and after the primordial depletion/dynamical excitation of the asteroid belt. Thus, that work does not exclude the possibility of an early migration. In fact, the outcome of an early migration could be very different from that of a late migration for two reasons: first, the initial orbits of the plantesimals are quasi-circular and co-planar in the early migration case whereas they are dynamically excited in the late migration case, which is an important difference; second, planetary embryos reside in, or cross, the asteroid belt region during the early time of terrestrial planet formation, and this process has the potential of erasing some of the currently unobserved signatures of resonace sweeping.
![(Top) The inclination of current day asteroids with absolute magnitude H $<$ 9.7, corresponding to D $\gtrsim$ 50 km, plotted as a function of their semimajor axis. The long-dashed lines show the location of the major mean motion resonances with Jupiter and the short-dashed curves the location of the $\nu_{6}$ and $\nu_{16}$ secular resonances. (Bottom) Surviving planetesimals from the 12 simulations, showing a strong depletion of low inclination bodies in the inner part of the asteroid belt region.[]{data-label="Asteroids"}](Figs/Asteroids.ps){width="8.4cm"}
To compare the planetesimal distribution obtained in our simulations with the “real” asteroid population, we focus on asteroids larger than $\sim$50 km in diameter, as in previous works (Petit et al. 2001; Minton & Malhotra 2009; Morbidelli et al. 2010). These bodies are a reliable tracer of the structure of the asteroid belt that resulted from the primordial sculpting process(es), as they are too large to have their orbits altered significantly by the thermal Yarkovsky effect or by collisions (see Fig. \[Asteroids\],). Moreover, their orbital distribution (see top panel of Fig \[Asteroids\]) is not affected by observational biases, because all bodies of this size are known (Jedicke et al. 2002).
The final distribution of the planetesimals residing in the asteroid belt in our 12 simulations is shown in the bottom panel of Fig \[Asteroids\]. As can be seen, the difference in orbital distribution between the real belt and that resulting from the giant planet migration process is striking.
A simple metric used in Morbidelli et al. (2010) to quantify the difference in orbital distributions between the real and the synthetic belts is the ratio of asteroids above and below the location of the $\nu_6$ secular resonance with semimajor axis below 2.8 AU. The current day value for asteroids with a diameter above 50 km is 0.07. Combining together all the surviving planetesimals from all our 12 simulations results in a 67/13 ratio, in stark contrast to the current value. Thus, our result is qualitatively similar to that of Morbidelli et al. (2010), even though our resulting ratio is much larger than that obtained in that work (close to 1/1).
The reason for the large ratio obtained in migration simulations, as discussed in Morbidelli et al. (2010), is that the migration of the giant planets forces the $\nu_6$ and $\nu_{16}$ secular resonances to move Sun-ward. More precisely, if the orbital separation of Jupiter and Saturn increased by more than $1$ AU (as predicted by all models and enacted in our simulations), the $\nu_6$ resonance sweeps the entire asteroid belt as it moves inwards from 4.5 AU to 2 AU; meanwhile the $\nu_{16}$ resonance sweeps the belt inside of 2.8 AU to its current location at 1.9 AU (Gomes et al. 1997). In the inner asteroid belt, the $\nu_{16}$ resonance sweeps first and the $\nu_6$ resonance sweeps second. The $\nu_{16}$ resonance occurs when the precession rate of the longitude of the node of the orbit of an asteroid is equal to the precession rate of the node of the orbit of Jupiter, and it affects the asteroid’s orbital inclination. Given the characteristic shape of the $\nu_6$ resonance location in the $(a,i)$ plane (see Fig \[Asteroids\]), the asteroids that acquire large enough inclination when they are swept by the $\nu_{16}$ resonance, avoid being swept by $\nu_6$; thus, their eccentricities are not affected and they remain stable. Conversely, the asteroids that remain at low-to-moderate inclinations after the $\nu_{16}$ sweeping are then swept by the $\nu_6$ resonance and their eccentricities become large enough to start crossing the terrestrial planet region. These bodies are ultimately removed by the interaction with the (growing) terrestrial planets. This process favors the survival of high-inclination asteroids (above the current location of the $\nu_6$ resonance) over low-inclination asteroids and explains the large ratio between these two populations obtained in the resonance sweeping simulations. This ratio is larger in our simulations than in those of Morbidelli et al. (2010), because the initial orbits of planetesimals and embryos in our case have small inclinations and eccentricities. Consequently, the secular resonance sweeping can only increase eccentricities and inclinations. Conversely, in the Morbidelli et al. (2010) simulations, the initial orbits covered a wide range of eccentricities and inclinations. Large eccentricities or inclinations can be [*decreased*]{} by the secular resonance sweeping. Thus, more objects could remain at low-to-moderate inclinations after the $\nu_{16}$ sweeping and fewer objects were removed by the $\nu_{6}$ sweeping than in our case.
We conclude from our simulations that the migration of the giant planets with an $e$-folding time of 5 Myr (or longer, as the effects of secular resonance sweeping increases with increasing migration timescale) is inconsistent with the current structure of the asteroid belt, even if it occurred early. In fact, our simulations provide evidence that the planetary embryos crossing the asteroid belt during the process of formation of the terrestrial planets are not able to re-shuffle the asteroid orbital distribution and erase the dramatic scars produced by secular resonance sweeping.
Discussion and Conclusions
==========================
This paper has investigated the effects of [*early*]{} giant planet migration on the inner disk of planetesimals and planetary embryos. In the context of solar system formation, “early” is immediately following the disappearence of the gas disk, which is identified as time-zero in our simulations. The giant planets are migrated towards their current orbits with a 5 Myr $e$-folding time which is appropriate if the migration is caused by planetesimals scattering.
We have shown that the sweeping of secular resonances, driven by giant planet migration, truncates the mass distribution of the inner disk, providing it with an effective outer edge at about 2 AU after about 10 Myr. This edge is too far from the Sun and forms too late to assist in the formation of a small Mars analog. In fact, Chambers (2001) already showed similar results starting from a disk of objects with semi-major axes $0.3<a<2.0$ AU, the terrestrial planet accretion process leads to the formation of planets that are systematically 3-5 times too massive at $\sim 1.5$ AU. For completeness, we have continued our simulations well beyond the migration timescale of the giant planets to follow the accretion of planets in the inner solar system, and we have confirmed Chambers (2001) result.
Hansen (2009) showed that obtaining planets at $\sim 1.5$ AU that have systematically one Mars mass requires that the disk of solid material in the inner solar system had an outer edge at about 1 AU. The inability of secular resonance sweeping during giant planets migration to create such an edge suggests that a different mechanism needs to be found.
Moreover, our study adds to the continuing inability of models with a slow migration of the giant planets, $\tau \gtrsim 5$ Myr, to leave an asteroid belt with a reasonable inclination distribution. Morbidelli et al. (2010) argued that the only possibility for the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn to move away from each other on a timescale shorter than 1 Myr is that an ice giant planet (presumably Uranus or Neptune) is first scattered inwards by Saturn and is subsequently scattered outwards by Jupiter, so that the two giant planets recoil in opposite directions. They dubbed this a “jumping-Jupiter” evolution and showed that in this case the final orbital distribution of the asteroid belt is consistent with that observed. Again, Morbidelli et al. (2010) worked in the framework of a “late” displacement of the orbits of the giant planets. Our results in this paper suggest that a jumping-Jupiter evolution would also be needed in the framework of an “early” displacement of the orbits of the giant planets.
At this point, it is interesting to speculate what the effects of an “early” jumping-Jupiter evolution would be on the terrestrial planet formation process. In essence, an early jumping-Jupiter evolution would bring the giant planets to current orbits at a very early time. So, the outcome of the terrestrial planet formation process would resemble that of the simulations of Raymond et al. (2009) with giant planets initially with their current orbital configuration, labelled ’EJS’ in that work. In these simulations, though, (see their Fig. 10), the Mars analog is, again, systematically too big. It is questionable whether a jumping-Jupiter evolution could bring the giant planets onto orbits with current semimajor axes but larger eccentricities, as required in the most successful simulations of Raymond et al. (2009), labelled ’EEJS’. However, even though jumping-Jupiter evolutions satisfying this requirement were found, it is important to note that all of the outcomes of the EEJS simulations of Raymond et al. (2009). While producing a small Mars in several cases, the EEJS simulations failed in general to bring enough water to the terrestrial planets, formed the Earth too early compared to the nominal timescale of 50 Myr and left the terrestrial planets on orbits too dynamically excited. For all these reasons an early jumping-Jupiter evolution is not a promising venue to pursue for a successful model of terrestrial planet formation.
In conclusion, our work substantiates the problem of the small mass of Mars and suggests that understanding terrestrial planet formation requires a paradigm shift in our view of the early evolution of the solar system.
Acknowledgments {#acknowledgments .unnumbered}
---------------
The authors would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for a careful reading of the manuscript. KJW acknowledges both the Poincaré Postdoctoral fellowship at the Observatoire de Côte d’Azur. This work is part of the Helmholtz Alliance’s ’Planetary evolution and Life’, which KJW and AM thank for financial support. Computations were carried out on the CRIMSON Beowulf cluster at OCA.
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|
% This file was created with JabRef 2.7b.
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@MISC{url:are,
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@CONFERENCE{arm_stack_exploitation,
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@CONFERENCE{arm_exploitation,
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@CONFERENCE{aslr_android,
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@MISC{url:jd-gui,
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@BOOK{ida_pro,
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@MISC{url:psu_sectutor,
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@BOOK{android_forensics,
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@MISC{url:debian_arm_qemu,
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@MISC{url:jasmin,
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}
@BOOK{mobile_malware,
title = {Mobile Malware Attacks and Defense},
publisher = {Elsevier},
year = {2009},
author = {{Ken Dunham, et al}}
}
@MISC{url:securitycompass,
author = {Security Compass Labs},
title = {New Mobile Security Course and ExploitMe Mobile},
howpublished = {\url{http://labs.securitycompass.com/mobile/23/}}
}
@MISC{url:dava,
author = {{Laurie J. Hendren, et al}},
title = {Dava: A tool-independent decompiler for Java},
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}
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author = {lohan+},
title = {android cracking},
howpublished = {\url{http://androidcracking.blogspot.com/}}
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@CONFERENCE{arm_ropmap,
author = {Long Le, Thanh Nguyen},
title = {ARM exploitation ROPmap},
booktitle = {Black Hat USA},
year = {2011}
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title = {Dedexer},
howpublished = {\url{http://dedexer.sourceforge.net/}}
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author = {Marc Schönefeld},
title = {Reconstructing Dalvik applications},
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howpublished = {\url{http://code.google.com/p/smiasm/}}
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year = {2012},
author = {Jeff Six}
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@MISC{url:android4me,
author = {Dmitry Skiba},
title = {android4me},
howpublished = {\url{http://code.google.com/p/android4me/}}
}
@MISC{url:xmlpull,
author = {Aleksander Slominski},
title = {XML Pull Parsing},
howpublished = {\url{http://www.xmlpull.org/}}
}
@BOOK{art_virus,
title = {The Art of Computer Virus Research and Defense},
publisher = {Addison-Wesley},
year = {2005},
author = {Peter Szor}
}
@MISC{url:jad,
author = {Tomas Varaneckas},
title = {Jad},
howpublished = {\url{http://www.varaneckas.com/jad}}
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@MISC{url:dex-decomplier,
author = {wendal1985},
title = {dex-decomplier},
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@MISC{url:zip_format,
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@MISC{url:androidaudittools,
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title = {androidAuditTools},
howpublished = {\url{https://github.com/wuntee/androidAuditTools}}
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@ARTICLE{arm_alphanumeric,
author = {YYounan, PPhilippaerts},
title = {Alphanumeric RISC ARM Shellcode},
journal = {Phrack Magazine},
year = {2009},
volume = {13},
number = {66}
}
@BOOK{android_jishuneimu,
title = {Android技术内幕：系统卷},
publisher = {机械工业出版社},
year = {2011},
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}
@BOOK{android_neihepouxi,
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publisher = {电子工业出版社},
year = {2011},
author = {柯元旦}
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@BOOK{android_shenrulijie,
title = {深入理解Android:卷I},
publisher = {机械工业出版社},
year = {2011},
author = {邓凡平}
}
@MISC{url:android_dev,
title = {Android Developers},
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}
@MISC{url:angstrom,
title = {{The {\AA}ngstr{\"o}m Distribution}},
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}
@MISC{url:blackhat,
title = {black hat multimedia archives},
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}
@MISC{url:blog_gliethttp,
title = {gliethttp},
howpublished = {\url{http://gliethttp.blog.chinaunix.net}}
}
@MISC{url:group_mobilemalware,
title = {mobile.malware group},
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}
@MISC{url:openssl,
title = {OpenSSL},
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}
@MISC{url:seandroid,
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howpublished = {\url{http://selinuxproject.org/page/SEAndroid}}
}
@MISC{url:viaforensics,
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howpublished = {\url{http://viaforensics.com/}}
}
@MISC{url:vx_heavens,
title = {VX Heavens},
howpublished = {\url{http://vx.netlux.org}}
}
@MISC{url:wireshark,
title = {Wireshark},
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|
506 F.Supp. 806 (1980)
TWO WHEEL CORP. d/b/a Honda of Mineola, Plaintiff,
v.
AMERICAN HONDA CORPORATION, Defendant.
No. 79 C 3064.
United States District Court, E. D. New York.
March 19, 1980.
*807 Meltzer, Lippe & Goldstein by Richard A. Lippe, Mineola, N. Y., for plaintiff.
Lyon & Lyon by Roland N. Smoot, Robert C. Weiss, Allan W. Jansen, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant.
DECISION AND ORDER
BRAMWELL, District Judge.
When a national distributor of goods entrusts the local sale of such goods to a small dealer, the distributor must accept the economic reality that it cannot completely control the activity of the independent local outlet. The extent of the dealer's independence, therefore, may become a source of friction between the contracting parties. This case evolves from the plaintiff Honda of Mineola's claim that this friction has manifested itself in the termination of its Honda dealership.
Being of the belief that the defendant lacked a valid basis for terminating its dealership, the plaintiff filed the instant action which attacks both the motive behind, and the grounds for, the defendant's discontinuance of its status as a Honda dealer. This Decision and Order concerns the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction in that action.
On December 3, 1979, the plaintiff asked this Court to temporarily restrain the termination of its dealership. After hearing *808 oral argument by representatives of the parties, the Court acceded to the plaintiff's request. The parties then set forth their positions with respect to the instant motion in detail during a six (6) day hearing held on December 13, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 of 1979. Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a), the Court's evaluation of the evidence elicited at this lengthy hearing, and its disposition of the instant motion, will be rendered in the form of Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. The Parties
1. The plaintiff Two Wheel Corp. d/b/a Honda of Mineola is a New York corporation (Complaint, par. 4).
2. The defendant American Honda Corporation is a California corporation with its principal place of business in Gardena, California (Complaint, par. 6).
3. The defendant is the exclusive United States distributor of motorcycles manufactured in Japan by its parent corporation Honda Motor Corp. Ltd. (Complaint, par. 6).
4. These motorcycles are distributed by the defendant in the United States through a network of approximately 1750 dealers (Complaint, par. 6).
II. The Evolution of Honda of Mineola
5. In 1965, the plaintiff, through its president and principal stockholder Morris Zegarek, entered into a written agreement with the defendant pursuant to which the plaintiff became a dealer for the sale, servicing and assembly of Honda motorcycles (15).[*] No provision in this agreement forbids a Honda dealer from selling non-Honda parts and accessories (See Pl. Ex. 2).
6. The plaintiff established its original facility at 529 Jericho Turnpike, Mineola, N. Y. (88).
7. In 1970 or 1971, the plaintiff moved its facility to 336 Jericho Turnpike, Mineola, N. Y. (88).
8. Until September 20, 1979, the plaintiff conducted a "full service-sales motorcycle operation" at 336 Jericho Turnpike (88).
9. Over the last 15 years, this operation has constituted Mr. Zegarek's sole business activity and has been the sole source of support for his family (14).
10. Mr. Zegarek presently is 58 years of age (12).
11. During the course of the contractual relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant, the plaintiff established an excellent financial record, while maintaining in good standing a $700,000 line of credit at a local bank (178).
12. In 1977, 1978 and 1979, the plaintiff ranked number one in sales of Honda motorcycles in the region comprising New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachusetts. (70-72, Pl. Ex. 6, 7).[**]
13. Pursuant to a lease dated July 7, 1971 (Pl. Ex. 11), the plaintiff, from 1971 on, began to operate a facet of its business at 344 Jericho Turnpike, Mineola, N. Y. (91). 344 Jericho Turnpike is located across the street from 336 Jericho Turnpike (88).
14. The lease agreement entered into between the plaintiff and the lessor of 344 Jericho Turnpike contains the following provision:
Tenant shall use and occupy premises for selling storing and servicing of automobiles, motorcycles and accessories.
(94, Pl. Ex. 11).
15. This activity at 344 Jericho Turnpike included servicing and assembly of motorcycles (94), and motorcycle storage (318).
16. Although disputed by the testimony of a former employee of the plaintiff (527), and by a representative of the defendant (805), Mr. Zegarek testified that some motorcycle *809 display (323), and a few motorcycle sales took place at 344 Jericho Turnpike between July 7, 1971 and September 20, 1979.[1]
17. No written document evidences the extent of the plaintiff's use of 344 Jericho Turnpike before September 20, 1979 (351).
18. Mr. Zegarek testified that the defendant was aware of the plaintiff's use of 344 Jericho Turnpike because:
(a) Between July 7, 1971 and September 20, 1979, the defendant delivered merchandise to the 344 Jericho Turnpike location (95).
(b) In May or June of 1979, Tony Ferente, a representative of the defendant's lawn mower division, visited the 344 Jericho Turnpike location with an eye toward sanctioning a Honda lawn mower showroom at that site (102-03).
(c) The 344 Jericho Turnpike location periodically has been visited by representatives of the defendant since 1971 (96, 347, 380).
19. On September 20, 1979, the plaintiff's facility at 336 Jericho Turnpike burned to the ground, apparently as a result of arson (90). Mr. Zegarek had procured fire insurance on the 336 Jericho Turnpike location (374).
20. After the September 20, 1979 fire, the plaintiff transferred its entire operation to the 344 Jericho Turnpike location (90).
21. At a cost of over $80,000, the plaintiff has made extensive improvements to the 344 Jericho Turnpike location in an attempt to conform it to the defendant's facility requirements (97).
22. In its renovated condition, the 344 Jericho Turnpike facility contains over 2000 square feet of showroom area in total and 1600 square feet of service area (98-100).[2]
23. Mr. Zegarek testified that the 344 Jericho Turnpike is comparable to, or larger than, the facilities employed by other Long Island Honda dealers (98-101, Pl. Ex. 12; see also Def. Ex. I).[***]
24. On October 5, 1979, the defendant refused to accept further motorcycle orders from the plaintiff (105-07).
25. Mr. Zegarek's inquiries with respect to this situation disclosed that the plaintiff had been placed on "Code 1" status as a result of the move to 344 Jericho Turnpike (107).
26. Mr. Zegarek testified that representatives of the defendant assured him that the problems would be straightened out after a technical computer alteration (107).
27. Five days later, Winston Farrington, the defendant's sales representative (801) visited the 344 Jericho Turnpike facility (109, 803).
28. Mr. Zegarek testified that, during the course of his visit, Mr. Farrington gave a "verbal approval" for the use of 344 Jericho Turnpike as a Honda facility. This apparently occurred after Mr. Farrington heard Mr. Zegarek's renovation plans for the building (109, 477, 480, Pl. Ex. 30, Def. Ex. J).
29. Mr. Farrington, however, testified that he did not officially recommend to the defendant that the use of 344 Jericho Turnpike be approved (804). A report written by Mr. Farrington supports this testimony (Def. Ex. AI, AK).
30. Steven Sabatini, defendant's District Service Manager (818) also testified that he did not approve the 344 Jericho Turnpike facility as an authorized Honda location after the fire (821).
31. Between September 20, 1979 and November 21, 1979, the plaintiff did not receive motorcycles, "special factory tools, special engine tools, special parts, service manuals" and other necessary manuals from the defendant (151-66).
*810 32. Between September 20, 1978 and December 17, 1978, the plaintiff sold 100-150 motorcycles; between September 20, 1979 and December 17, 1979, the plaintiff sold 15 motorcycles (165).
33. As a result of the defendant's failure to respond to the plaintiff's requests for motorcycles and parts, customers of the plaintiff cancelled numerous orders (132-46, Pl. Ex. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17).
34. Citing the plaintiff for operating out of an unauthorized location, for submitting false claims, for disregarding local law and for poor set up of motorcycles, the defendant terminated the plaintiff's dealership status on November 21, 1979 (Pl. Ex. 1).
III. The False Claims Issue
35. Pursuant to the Honda Dealer's Agreement, claims by a Dealer for damage to shipped motorcycles occurring during shipment to the dealer are honored by American Honda (774).
36. Similarly, when a crate containing a motorcycle does not evidence damage, but the motorcycle within the crate is damaged upon reaching the dealer, American Honda honors a dealer's claim for concealed shipping damage (775).
37. The dealer, however, possesses responsibility for damage to motorcycles arising out of incidents that occur at the dealer's facility (944).
38. Michael Karlin, service manager at Honda of Mineola from September or October of 1977 until March or April of 1978 (506), testified that Mr. Zegarek authorized him to record the plaintiff's in house damage as concealed shipping damage so that the defendant would pay for the loss (504, 515). Mr. Karlin also testified that the plaintiff submitted duplicate shipping claims to American Honda (513, 515).
39. Mr. Karlin testified that the overcrowded nature of 336 Jericho Turnpike's storage facilities (502, 510, 520) and the transportation by forklift of motorcycles from 336 to 344 Jericho Turnpike (520) caused numerous motorcycles to fall and to be damaged on the plaintiff's premises.
40. Mr. Karlin, however, testified to only one specific submission of an allegedly false shipping claim (509).
41. Prior to his employment by the plaintiff, Mr. Karlin worked at a Volvo dealer for 3 years (536). After having words with his employer, he was asked to leave this job (534).
42. Mr. Karlin also worked at a Suzuki dealer before being hired by the plaintiff (541); after asking for more money, he also was discharged from this position (542, 563).
43. Mr. Zegarek testified that, during Mr. Karlin's last two months at Honda of Mineola, he neglected paper work,[3] spent excessive time on personal phone calls and occasioned customer complaints because of his false promises (868).
44. Mr. Zegarek added that Mr. Karlin had financial difficulties during his employment with the plaintiff (869, 891).
45. Mr. Zegarek testified that he fired Mr. Karlin (869).
46. Conceding that, in most cases, he cannot tell when shipping damage to motorcycles occurs (947) due to the practical problems inherent in making such a determination (916), Mr. Zegarek testified that he "never instructed anyone at Honda of Mineola to make out a false shipping claim" (921).
47. Mr. Zegarek also noted that if motorcycles fall from forklifts at Honda of Mineola, they are examined to determine if such a fall occasioned damage (917-18).
48. Deposition testimony by Jeffrey Prince (Pl. Ex. 33) and the testimony before this Court of Sam Cohen (955) corroborate *811 Mr. Zegarek's testimony. Mr. Prince and Mr. Cohen have served in the plaintiff's employ (Pl. Ex. 33, 951).
49. Mr. Karlin also testified that the plaintiff submitted warranty claims to the defendant for Yuassau batteries when, in fact, AMB batteries were sold to the customer (523). Yuassau batteries are covered by American Honda's warranty; AMB batteries are not (523).
50. Mr. Karlin added that Mr. Zegarek had obtained the franchise for the AMB batteries (523). The AMB batteries cost less than the Yuassau batteries (526, 940).
51. Mr. Zegarek, however, explained that the enactment of local laws mandating that motorcycles travel with their headlights on caused a run on batteries (893). Since the defendant could not supply an adequate number of Yuassau batteries, the plaintiff sold the available AMB batteries instead (462, 896, Def. Ex. U).
52. In this regard, Mr. Zegarek testified that in no case did the plaintiff ever supply an AMB battery to a customer "without his knowledge of it and without his option to replace it" with a Yuassau (896).
53. No representative from American Honda ever has advised the plaintiff of its belief that false shipping or false warranty claims have been submitted by the plaintiff (211, 789, 808, 817, 919).
54. In early 1978, as a result of a burglary, the plaintiff made 123 claims to its insurance broker for damage valued at $6,096 (195-201).
55. Three of these insurance claims were submitted on items previously claimed to the defendant under the rubric of shipping damage (203-08).
56. Mr. Zegarek testified that this duplicate filing of claims resulted from inadvertance (205), and that he had withheld receipt of payment on the entire insurance claim until the discrepancy was ironed out (210-11).[4]
IV. The Plaintiff's Relations with the Village of Mineola
57. Throughout the plaintiff's tenure in Mineola, residents of the Village have complained to their public officials and to the defendant about the noise and the element incidental to, and attracted by, the plaintiff's business (220, 241, 251-52, 667, 668, 679, Def. Ex. A, C, E, AA).
58. In 1971, Byron F. Katz, a Mineola trustee asked the plaintiff to minimize motorcycle activity through the rear of 336 Jericho Turnpike where a residential area is located (214). By utilizing front entrances, the plaintiff complied with this request (215).
59. As the years went by, the Village made similar demands concerning hours of operation, deliveries, business traffic and employee parking (215-16).
60. In 1974, the Village issued the plaintiff a number of summonses for violation of noise and access ordinances; these eventually were dismissed (220-25, Pl. Ex. 25).
61. During the course of 1977 and 1978, the Village issued the plaintiff and Mr. Zegarek over 100 summonses for alleged improper conduct in the course of operations (226, 606). The plaintiff was found guilty on two of these summonses, which presently are on appeal (226, 607). Mr. Zegarek was found not guilty on the summons with which he was charged (226).
62. In 1978, the Village of Mineola instituted an action against Honda of Mineola that sought to enjoin its use of 255 Jericho Turnpike as a warehouse for its unsold motorcycles. Honda of Mineola prevailed (228, Pl. Ex. 27).
63. After the September 20, 1979 fire, the Village of Mineola sought to enjoin the owner of 336 Jericho Turnpike from instituting *812 necessary repairs to the structure of the building (232). Judgment was rendered against the Village (234, Pl. Ex. 28).
64. After the September 20, 1979 fire, the Village of Mineola sought to enjoin Honda of Mineola from using 344 Jericho Turnpike for the purpose of selling motorcycles (236, 609, Pl. Ex. 29). A motion by the Village for a preliminary injunction in this action was denied (237, 624).
65. The local law that forms the basis for the Village's case in the action against Honda of Mineola's use of 344 Jericho Turnpike became effective in 1976 while Honda of Mineola actually was using 344 Jericho Turnpike (608).
66. In late 1979, the Village of Mineola issued violations to Honda of Mineola for its resurrection of a sign in front of 344 Jericho Turnpike and for its installation of heaters and air conditioning in the facility without a permit or a variance (238, 611). No decision in this matter has been rendered (239).
67. In several instances, laws drafted by the Village of Mineola designed to affect Honda of Mineola have been vetoed by New York State officials as being outside the scope of the Village's jurisdiction (Pl. Ex. 32, 629).
68. The Mayor of Mineola testified that the plaintiff's business has created a "problem" in the Mineola community (667, 671).
69. The Mayor, however, drew no distinction between Honda of Mineola and American Honda (678, 680, 681). In fact, the Mayor testified that the nature of the plaintiff's business provided the true source of the friction between the plaintiff and the neighboring community (679, 684, 686).
70. Mr. Zegarek explained his "problem" with the Village by citing the following:
(a) The fears of the Mineola residents of the stereotypical motorcycle consumer (264-69, Pl. Ex. 24)
(b) Mr. Zegarek's belief that the public officials of Mineola represent not the businessmen of the community, but the residents who vote (254)
(c) the fact that the plaintiff does not purchase insurance from "the right people" (263)
(d) the Village's failure to accept in good faith efforts to compromise offered by the plaintiff (296-99).
V. Custom Accessories, Motorcycle Safety and Motorcycle Setup at Honda of Mineola
71. Pursuant to the Honda Motorcycle Dealers Agreement (Pl. Ex. 2), dealers of American Honda are required to set up or assemble motorcycles before displaying them to the customer (771-72, Pl. Ex. 2). Before motorcycles are delivered to a purchaser, other procedures must be followed (77, 771, Pl. Ex. 9).
72. These requirements are designed to ensure that a purchaser of a Honda motorcycle receives the motorcycle in a safe condition.
73. On several occasions during his extensive testimony before this Court, Mr. Zegarek expressed an overriding concern for his customers and for motorcycle safety (62, 249, 300, 354. See Def. Ex. R, V).
74. Donald Keller, customer service manager for the defendant (766) expressed his belief that the plaintiff ranked poorly in the Honda network with respect to customer complaints (787). Mr. Keller based this belief on "general conversation" among the defendant's customer relation staff (795).[5]
75. On cross examination of Mr. Keller, plaintiff's counsel established that Mr. Keller's appraisal of the plaintiff's customer relations did not take into account the ratio of the number of customer complaints received to the volume of the plaintiff's sales (795).
76. Between 1973 and 1979, the plaintiff's manner of motorcycle set up has occasioned representatives of the defendant to file 9 formal deficiency notices (73) during *813 the course of their visits to the plaintiff (76, Pl. Ex. 8).
77. These 9 reports cited 187 separate deficiencies on 114[6] display motorcycles (Pl. Ex. 8).[7]
78. Mr. Keller, the defendant's customer service manager (766), testified on his direct examination that, of the 1750 dealers in the Honda network, the plaintiff placed as the worst with respect to motorcycle set up (773, 786).
79. On cross examination of Mr. Keller, however, plaintiff's counsel established that Mr. Keller's appraisal of the plaintiff's set up record did not take into account the ratio of plaintiff's deficiencies to plaintiff's sales volume, and that Mr. Keller had no actual knowledge of the number of the plaintiff's deficiencies for 1977, 1978 or 1979 (797).
80. The plaintiff and the defendant have argued over the set up issue in the past (Def. Ex. N, O, P).
81. Troubled by the plaintiff's set up record, defendant's counsel visited the plaintiff's facility on December 13, 1978 (419, Def. Ex. Q). During the course of said visit, defendant's counsel warned the plaintiff that if his set up performance did not improve, a lawsuit would be instituted by American Honda against Honda of Mineola (420).
82. Mr. Zegarek testified that, during the December 13, 1978 meeting, defendant's counsel advised him that American Honda would rather have the plaintiff sell less motorcycles if that would ensure conformity with American Honda requirements (487).[8]
83. Apparently unsatisfied with the plaintiff's conduct after the December 13, 1978 meeting, American Honda commenced an action against Honda of Mineola in this Court (79 Civ. 562) on March 24, 1979 for breach of contract, and for a declaratory judgment.
84. Efforts were made to settle this action. See Def. Ex. L.
85. 47 of the deficiencies cited in the 9 reports that instigated the prior action in this Court concerned throttle cable routing; 55 of these deficiencies concerned loose speedo or tach cable nuts; 6 of the deficiencies concerned custom parts (Pl. Ex. 8, see also Def. Ex. M).
86. Mr. Zegarek explained that the constant interchange of custom parts on display motorcycles in the plaintiff's showroom caused these particular deficiencies (82-83, 366, 402), which account for over 50% of the total cited deficiencies because:
(a) The use of custom parts on Honda motorcycles necessitates a change in the throttle cable routing required by American Honda (51, 58, 405);
(b) the display motorcycles must have loose nuts in order to accommodate heavy customer traffic and to meet customer demands to view custom parts (60-62).
87. Almost 95% of the custom parts sold by the plaintiff as incidents to the sale of Honda motorcycles are not manufactured by Honda (28, 32).
88. The plaintiff acquires its non-Honda custom parts from Japanese sources that also act as a supplier for the defendant (23-24).
89. In 1978 and 1979, the plaintiff had $2 million in gross sales. $1 million of this figure resulted from the sale of Honda motorcycles; the other $1 million derived from the sale of non-Honda accessories (33).
91. Mr. Zegarek testified that the plaintiff's extensive implementation of custom non-Honda parts on the Honda motorcycles sold have affected the claims for warranty he makes to the defendant, even when a proper warranty claim has been submitted (41, 63-66, 187-92, 195, 247, 453).
*814 92. American Honda policy provides that if a non-Honda part "affects" the warranted Honda part, the warranty does not cover that part (456, 779, 823, Def. Ex. X).
93. Mr. Zegarek also testified that representatives of the defendant such as Mr. Tardiff (34-36, 451), Mr. Gaudreau (38), Mr. Bigerton (39, 451), Mr. Clark (39), Mr. Dean (43), Mr. Farrington (47), and Mr. Sabatini (49) expressed varying degrees of displeasure with the plaintiff's accent on non-Honda accessories. Phil Zegarek, Morris Zegarek's son and a stockholder of Honda of Mineola, echoed Mr. Zegarek's testimony in this regard in his deposition (Pl. Ex. 34).
94. In 1974, defendant's counsel wrote to Mr. Zegarek explicitly stating that "American Honda has not and will not attempt to control or limit products sold by Honda of Mineola" (450, Def. Ex. T).
95. Similarly, Mr. Farrington (806) and Mr. Sabatini (822) testified that they never told the plaintiff that it could not sell non-Honda parts and accessories.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The plaintiff's complaint challenges the propriety of the defendant's termination of its Honda franchise on two legal grounds. The first ground has its genesis in the defendant's alleged disdain for the plaintiff's extensive dealings in custom motorcycle parts manufactured by the defendant's competitors. Thus, the plaintiff initially complains that its termination as a Honda dealer is motivated by anticompetitive sentiments, which behavior constitutes a violation of sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1, 2 (1976). On this cause of action, the plaintiff seeks treble damages.
Similarly, the plaintiff asserts that the defendant acted in bad faith and without cause when it terminated the plaintiff's Honda dealership. Thus, the plaintiff claims that the defendant contravened N.Y. Gen.Bus.Law § 197 (McKinney Supp. 1979-80)[9] which forbids the termination of any contract for the sale of new motor vehicles between a distributor and a dealer "except for cause." On this cause of action, the plaintiff seeks permanent injunctive relief.
At this stage of the instant proceedings, however, the Court need only be concerned with the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction. The standards governing such a motion explicitly have been set down most recently by the Second Circuit in Jack Kahn Music Co., Inc. v. Baldwin Piano & Organ Co., 604 F.2d 755 (2d Cir. 1979) where the court stated:
Preliminary injunctive relief in this Circuit calls for a showing of (a) irreparable harm and (b) either (1) likelihood of success on the merits or (2) sufficiently serious questions going to the merits to make them a fair ground for litigation and a balance of hardships tipping decidedly toward the party requesting the preliminary relief.
See also Seaboard World Airlines v. Tiger International, Inc., 600 F.2d 355 (2d Cir. 1979); Sonesta International Hotels Corp. v. Wellington Associates, 483 F.2d 247 (2d Cir. 1973); Mulligan, ForewordPreliminary Injunctions in the Second Circuit, 43 Brooklyn L.Rev. 831 (1977). Having announced the Court's guide for the disposition of the instant motion, the necessary next step is to ascertain whether the facts *815 found by this Court in this matter satisfy the governing standard.
1. Irreparable Harm.
The "irreparable harm" component of the Second Circuit's preliminary injunction test does not present a formidable hurdle to the plaintiff in this motion. In fact, in its papers, the defendant has offered only token opposition to the plaintiff's assertion that an eventual damage award in this action would be of minimal consolation to the plaintiff in the absence of immediate equitable intervention by this Court.
The plaintiff details several elements of irreparable injury that it would suffer if this Court did not grant it preliminary injunctive relief. These include the destruction of plaintiff's dealership which provides the sole source of support for Mr. Zegarek and his family (F. 9),[9a] the eventual bankruptcy of the plaintiff's business, and the loss of the customers, location, reputation and goodwill that have contributed to the plaintiff's success (See F. 12). Finally, the plaintiff contends that Mr. Zegarek's advanced age of 58 years (F. 10) presents an almost insurmountable obstacle to his cultivation of a new business.
A review of the relevant case law in this circuit indicates to this Court that the threatened destruction of a business fits within the definition of irreparable harm. See Jackson Dairy, Inc. v. H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc., 596 F.2d 70 (2d Cir. 1979); P. J. Grady, Inc. v. General Motors Corp., 472 F.Supp. 35 (E.D.N.Y.1979). Accordingly, the Court concludes that the plaintiff has made a showing of irreparable harm sufficient to sustain the grant of a preliminary injunction.
2. The Second Prong of the Preliminary Injunction Test
A. General Considerations
In its termination letter of November 21, 1979 to the plaintiff, the defendant set forth 4 specific grounds for discontinuing the plaintiff's Honda dealership (F. 34). Specifically, the defendant cited the plaintiff with (1) the submission of false claims (2) flagrant disregard for the laws of the Village of Mineola, (3) operating its business out of an unauthorized location, and (4) noncompliance with American Honda motorcycle set up procedures (See F. 71, 72). As noted earlier, the plaintiff's instant attack on the defendant's termination of its dealership questions both the propriety of the above cited bases for the discontinuance of the plaintiff's status, and the motive underlying the termination.
If, however, on this motion for a preliminary injunction, the Court finds it more likely than not that the defendant discontinued the plaintiff as a Honda dealer for "cause" or that the propriety of the termination of the plaintiff's franchise does not present questions of a sufficiently serious nature as to make them a fair ground for litigation, the defendant's motive becomes irrelevant. Thus, this Court initially will review the sufficiency of the business reasons cited in the November 21, 1979 termination letter before any consideration of the defendant's motive will be entertained. With respect to the set up issue, however, since the Court believes it impossible to separate the discussion of this alleged contractual violation from the plaintiff's attack on the defendant's motives, the two will be handled at the same time.
Before embarking on an analysis of the defendant's causal bases for termination of the plaintiff's dealership, a brief review of N.Y.Gen. Bus Law § 197 (McKinney Supp. 1979-80) is necessary to delineate the parameters of the Court's impending inquiry. N.Y.Gen. Bus. Law § 197 (McKinney Supp. 1979-80) was enacted in order to outlaw overreaching by large motor vehicle distributors and to "establish guidelines for enforcement of a fair and equitable balance" between the motor vehicle dealer and its distributor. 1970 N.Y. Laws ch. 582 § 1. Thus, N.Y.Gen. Bus. Law § 197 (McKinney Supp. 1979-80) permits a court asked to implement its mandate to scrutinize the reasons cited by motor vehicle distributors *816 when a termination of a motor vehicle dealer occurs. Semmes Motors, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 429 F.2d 1197 (2d Cir. 1970); P. J. Grady, Inc. v. General Motors Corp., 472 F.Supp. 35 (E.D.N.Y.1979); Niagara Mohawk Power v. Graver Tank & Mfg., 470 F.Supp. 1308 (N.D.N.Y.1979).
The statutory language of § 197, however, provides little guidance to the reviewing court. The statute merely states that the court must be satisfied that "cause" supports the distributor's decision to terminate a dealer. Fortunately, however, a legislative pronouncement accompanying a 1970 revision of § 197 offers further direction. That language exhibits a legislative intent to have § 197 provide small motor vehicle dealers "judicial relief from unfair and inequitable practices affecting the public interest." 1970 N.Y. Laws ch. 582 § 1. Thus, it is safe to say that principles of fundamental fairness must guide the application of § 197 to the facts of this case. In this light, the Court turns to undertake that task.
B. The False Claims Issue
Paragraph 7 of Article XIII of the Honda Motorcycle Sales Agreement (Pl. Ex. 2) states that American Honda may terminate a dealer because of:
Submission by Dealer of any false or fraudulent application, report or statement, or false or fraudulent claim for reimbursement, refund or credit, including, but not by way of limitation, false and fraudulent warranty claims or the sale of any demonstrator or used Honda motorcycles as new and unused.
The defendant asserts that Honda of Mineola consistently engaged in the conduct condemned by the above quoted provision.
The testimony of Michael Karlin, a former service manager for the plaintiff (F. 38), provides the central source for this assertion.[10] Mr. Karlin testified before this Court that the plaintiff submitted false shipping and false warranty claims to the defendant (F. 38, 39, 49, 50). Mr. Zegarek's testimony, however, directly contraverted that of Mr. Karlin (F. 46, 47, 51, 52), as do the depositions of other individuals who have been employed by the plaintiff (F. 48).
The Court also has observed that Mr. Karlin's testimony was not corroborated by any other witness who testified in this Court during the lengthy hearing on this matter.[11] Nor was Mr. Karlin's testimony substantially documented by objective evidence (F. 40). Moreover, several representatives of the defendant testified that at no time did they advise the plaintiff of any belief on their part that false claims had been submitted by the plaintiff (F. 53).
Because of the extreme potential impact of Mr. Karlin's testimony, the Court must carefully examine Mr. Karlin's credibility in order to ascertain whether this Court will afford his testimony the significance the defendant suggests it deserves in its papers. Such an evaluation of credibility uniquely is within the province of this Court as the trier of fact on this motion. General Electric Co. v. Parr Electric Co., 21 F.Supp. 471 (E.D.N.Y. 1937); Rattancraft of California v. United States, 340 F.Supp. 978 (U.S. Cust.Ct. 1972).
In assessing the credibility of Mr. Karlin, the Court has observed that Mr. Karlin's cross examination unearthed a number of factors that cast substantial doubt over the reliability of his testimony in this matter. The first of these evolves from the Court's perception of Mr. Karlin's approach to his job at Honda of Mineola and at other establishments as irresponsible (F. 41, 43). The Court also has observed that Mr. Karlin consistently has been plagued with financial difficulties (F. 42, 44).
*817 Similarly, the Court finds the reliability of Mr. Karlin undermined by Mr. Zegarek's testimony that he fired Mr. Karlin (F. 45). Since the bias of a witness can be considered by the trier of the facts in its determination of credibility, United States v. Blackwood, 456 F.2d 526 (2d Cir. 1972); United States v. Haggett, 438 F.2d 396 (2d Cir. 1971), the Court, in so doing, determines that the apparent dismissal of Mr. Karlin from the plaintiff's employ casts a cloud over the reliability of his damaging testimony in this action. Thus, the Court concludes that, since Mr. Karlin's testimony aptly can be described as a mode of seeking revenge for his dismissal from Honda of Mineola, the impact of such tainted testimony can not be deemed by this Court to establish a likelihood of the existence of the plaintiff's systematic submission of false warranty and false shipping claim to the defendant.
The defendant also characterizes the plaintiff's submission after a 1978 burglary of claims on 3 identical items to the defendant and to plaintiff's insurer (F. 55) as gross fraud sufficient to support termination of the plaintiff's Honda dealership. In this regard, the Court has taken note of the plaintiff's explanation that its conduct in this incident resulted from mere inadvertence on the part of one of its employees (F. 56). The Court finds Mr. Zegarek's explanation to be a plausible one. And, since the Court declines to characterize inadvertence as a sincere basis for termination of a motor vehicle dealership, the Court holds that this predicate for termination does not constitute "cause" as contemplated by N.Y.Gen. Bus. Law § 197 (McKinney Supp. 1979-80).
During the course of the hearing before this Court, the defendant also directed this Court's attention to other fraudulent practices allegedly engaged in by the plaintiff.[12] These included the sale of motorcycles in crates, a practice prohibited by American Honda. The evidence introduced with respect to these other instances of fraud, however, convinces this Court that the cited conduct evinces impropriety of an inconsequential nature, possibly warranting a reprimand, but surely not termination of the plaintiff's dealership.
Therefore, for the above stated reasons, the Court finds that on the issue of the submission of false claims, the plaintiff has established a probability of success on the merits.
C. The Plaintiff's Relations With The Village of Mineola
As a second ground for termination, the defendant cites the plaintiff's fiery relations with the Village of Mineola. See F. 57, 58, 59, 68. Contending that the conduct of Mr. Zegarek provides the overriding cause for the hostile state of affairs between Mineola's residents and public officials and the plaintiff, the defendant argues that such a condition violates the Honda Dealer's Agreement (Pl. Ex. 2), and that it constitutes an unsatisfactory impairment to Honda's reputation in the Mineola community.
Contrary to the defendant's depiction of the reasons for the hostility between the plaintiff and the representatives of Mineola, the evidence educed at the hearing before this Court tended to show that much of Mineola's dismay with the plaintiff's operations stems from the apparent incompatibility of a motorcycle business and a neighboring residential community. The testimony of Mineola's Mayor and of Mr. Zegarek bears this out. Both of these witnesses observed that the animosity of the Mineola residents toward the plaintiff evolves primarily from their fears of the violent, black leather jacket image of the motorcycle consumer, and of the noise and activity attendant to the plaintiff's business (F. 69, 70).
Moreover, it appears that the fears of the Mineola residents have been translated into a legal campaign by the public officials of Mineola to make the plaintiff's existence in Mineola a difficult one.[13] Since 1971, the *818 Village has cited the plaintiff for numerous violations of local ordinances arising from the operation of its facilities at 336 Jericho Turnpike, 344 Jericho Turnpike and 255 Jericho Turnpike; the plaintiff has prevailed in the overwhelming majority of these cases that have reached the local courts (F. 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66).
Thus, the facts surrounding the plaintiff's difficulties with the Mineola community shed an explanatory light on their existence. It is this Court's opinion that, in this light, the persuasiveness of the defendant's claim that the plaintiff's relations with the Village of Mineola constitute cause for termination of the plaintiff's dealership diminishes dramatically. As a result, this Court concludes that the plaintiff has established a probability of success on its refutation of the defendant's claim that its relations with the Mineola community is cause for termination of its dealership. In reaching this conclusion, the Court has taken into account the fact that Mr. Zegarek's some-what abrasive independence has occasioned some of his problems with the Mineola community. But, the Court also believes that Mr. Zegarek's approach to community relations is but a reaction to the community's bitter attitude towards him and his business. Sitting in equity, this Court cannot countenance the termination at this time of a man's business under such attenuated circumstances.
D. The Plaintiff's Use of 344 Jericho Turnpike
Section 1 of Article III of The Honda Motorcycle Sales Agreement (Pl. Ex. 2) provides:
To provide proper Honda Motorcycle and Honda Motorcycle Parts representation commensurate with the reputation and goodwill attached to the name "Honda" and to facilitate the proper sales and servicing of Honda Motorcycles and Honda Motorcycle Parts, Dealer will maintain business premises satisfactory to Distributor with respect to appearance, location, size of buildings and adequate layout as well as equipment, showroom, office, storage space, workshop and service operation; the whole which shall be adequate for the sale and service of Honda Motorcycles and Honda Motorcycle Parts in proportion to the number of Honda Motorcycles and Honda Motorcycle Parts that may reasonably be expected to be sold and serviced by Dealer in Dealer's Primary Area of Responsibility, and possible expansion of the premises to handle any foreseeable future requirements.
Furthermore, Section 3 of Article III of the agreement provides:
Once a Dealer has established its business facilities or location mutually satisfactory to Dealer and Distributor, Dealer will not move to or establish a new or different location, branch sales office or branch service establishment without first obtaining a written approval of Distributor.
In its termination letter of November 21, 1979, the defendant cited a violation of the above quoted sections as a ground for termination of the plaintiff's dealership.
This alleged violation stems from the plaintiff's transfer of its entire operation from 336 Jericho Turnpike to 344 Jericho Turnpike after the September 20, 1979 fire (F. 8, 20). The defendant claims that 344 Jericho Turnpike is not a satisfactory motorcycle sales and service facility, and that the plaintiff moved to and established its business at 344 Jericho Turnpike without receiving the required written approval from the defendant. Thus, the defendant views the plaintiff's transfer to 344 Jericho Turnpike to be an act in derogation of the controlling agreement.
In opposition, the plaintiff asks this Court to extend to it an equitable license to operate out of 344 Jericho Turnpike until it can return to its resurrected facility at 336 Jericho Turnpike. Thus, the plaintiff argues that it began full scale operations out of 344 Jericho Turnpike solely out of necessity due to the destruction of the 336 Jericho Turnpike facility.
*819 In reviewing these contentions, the Court must keep in mind that, on this motion for a preliminary injunction, it sits in equity and must be cognizant of the need, when circumstances so dictate, to take appropriate interim action. Triebwasser & Katz v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 535 F.2d 1356 (2d Cir. 1976); Hamilton Watch Co. v. Benrus Watch Co., 206 F.2d 738 (2d Cir. 1953). This Court took such an approach to the issue of the plaintiff's temporary use of 344 Jericho Turnpike on December 3, 1979 when it recognized the plaintiff's entitlement in equity "to some reasonable length of time to recover [its] business and to put that business back into the position it previously was in ... [before] the fire completely destroyed the [336 Jericho Turnpike facility]." Transcript of December 3, 1979 Proceedings Before This Court, p. 19. After reviewing the testimony elicited at the lengthy hearing before this Court, the Court is of the opinion that a similar approach must govern the Court's disposition of this issue on this motion.
Several factors militate in favor of such a finding at this time. The first of these is Mr. Zegarek's substantial efforts in good faith to conform 344 Jericho Turnpike's specifications to Honda's service and sales requirements (F. 21). On the basis of the testimony on this score considered by this Court, it appears that these improvements have made 344 Jericho Turnpike's facilities comparable to those of other Honda dealers on Long Island (F. 22, 23).
While improving 344 Jericho Turnpike, the plaintiff has participated in efforts to rebuild 336 Jericho Turnpike (F. 63). Since the plaintiff procured insurance on the 336 Jericho Turnpike facility (F. 19), and has always maintained a good financial record (F. 11), the Court concludes that the resurection of 336 Jericho Turnpike more closely resembles a reality than an idle hope. Under this circumstance, the necessity of interim operations at 344 Jericho Turnpike for the plaintiff intensifies. If the plaintiff cannot operate temporarily while 336 Jericho Turnpike is being reconstructed, a strong possibility exists that the customers, goodwill and reputation of the plaintiff will diminish to such a level as to make the resumption of business at 336 Jericho Turnpike when it is rebuilt economically unfeasible. Since the Court's analysis of the previously discussed bases for termination makes it more likely than not that the plaintiff eventually will prevail on the injunctive phase of this action, this Court concludes that it would be manifestly unfair to cut off the plaintiff's chance to rebuild a viable business to its prior confines.
Another factor favoring the plaintiff is its prior use of 344 Jericho Turnpike in connection with its Honda operation (F. 13, 15). This Court concludes that the testimony it heard supports a finding that representatives of the defendant familiar with the plaintiff's operation knew of the plaintiff's previous use of 344 Jericho Turnpike (F. 18), although the extent of such use is disputed (F. 16). Moreover, the plaintiff's lease for 344 Jericho Turnpike contains a provision relating to motorcycle sales, storage and service (F. 14). Thus, this Court concludes that, as a result of the tragic fire at 336 Jericho Turnpike, the plaintiff's temporary transfer of operations to 344 Jericho Turnpike, a location it already utilized, can be sanctioned as a necessary reaction to an emergency, a reaction to which the defendant reasonably should be expected to adjust.
This Court understands the importance of motorcycle safety which the defendant points to as its primary reason for objecting to the plaintiff's transfer to 344 Jericho Turnpike. In dramatic terms, however, Mr. Zegarek professed similar concerns (F. 73). Accordingly, in not characterizing the plaintiff's interim use of 344 Jericho Turnpike as "cause" for termination of the plaintiff's dealership for the limited purpose of this motion for a preliminary injunction, this Court is in no way expressing approval of unsafe motorcycle operations. The Court is convinced that the plaintiff's interim operation out of 344 Jericho Turnpike will evince the high regard for safety to which Mr. Zegarek testified. And, the Court expects American Honda, as the national distributor *820 of Honda motorcycles, to ensure that the plaintiff's operations at 344 Jericho Turnpike will conform to reasonable facility requirements. Therefore, with this caveat, the Court concludes that the plaintiff has established a probability of success on the issue of the propriety of its temporary use of 344 Jericho Turnpike for its Honda dealership in Mineola, N. Y.
E. Motorcycle Set Up at Honda of Mineola
Paragraph 12 of Article XIII of the Honda Motorcycle Sales Agreement (Pl. Ex. 2) states that a dealer may be terminated because of:
Failure of Dealer to perform the required set-up and pre-delivery inspection, repairs and services and procedural requirements relating thereto.
Using this section as a sword in this action, the defendant contends that the magnitude of the plaintiff's set up deficiencies constitutes cause for termination of the plaintiff's dealership.
Plaintiff's Exhibit 8 provides the prime objective indicia of the plaintiff's set up record. This Exhibit details 187 separate deficiencies on 114 display motorcycles (F. 76, 77). The defendant introduced evidence attempting to prove that this number of deficiencies placed the plaintiff as the worst dealer in the Honda chain with respect to set up (F. 780),[14] and that the plaintiff's manner of set up has been a constant headache to American Honda (F. 80, 81, 82, 83, 84).
The plaintiff has countered this attack on its set up record by arguing that many of the cited deficiencies, in fact, are not deficiencies at all. Instead, the plaintiff asserts that 108, or over 50% of the cited deficiencies, are the result of its extensive trafficking in custom non-Honda parts, see F. 87, 88, 89, 90, at its Honda dealership (F. 85, 86). The plaintiff also asks this Court to observe that, of the remaining 79 deficiencies, 22 of these involve the minor mishap of dirty motorcycle seats. Finally, and most importantly, the plaintiff contends that the remaining 57 deficiencies are de minimus when measured against the large number of motorcycles sold by the plaintiff. See F. 12. Therefore, the plaintiff asks this Court to conclude that this insignificant number of deficiencies does not provide a causal basis for termination of its dealership. Acceptance of this argument, however, would require this Court to adopt the predicate upon which the argument rests. That predicate includes a serious attack on the bona fides of the defendant.
Accordingly, this Court concludes that the defendant's attack on the plaintiff's manner of motorcycle set up, and the plaintiff's antitrust claim which questions the motive behind such an attack are inextricably interwoven. This being so, the Court will treat these two issues as an entity.
Essentially, plaintiff's antitrust claim alleges that the defendant's anticompetitive motive has resulted in the termination of its dealership. Simply stated, the plaintiff asserts that its extensive dealings in non-Honda parts and accessories and its resultant eschewal of Honda parts and accessories constitute the true reason for its termination. The plaintiff's dealings in non-Honda parts and accessories make up over 50% of its gross sales (F. 89, 90).
At the hearing before this Court on the instant motion, the plaintiff introduced a great deal of evidence designed to prove that anticompetitive motives led to its termination, and that the other claimed maladies in its operation merely served as a screen to shield the defendant's illegal motive. In this regard, Mr. Zegarek pointed to nagging warranty problems with the defendant allegedly tied to the mere implementation of non-Honda parts in Honda motorcycles (F. 91). Mr. Zegarek and his son[15] also testified that representatives of *821 the defendant had expressed varying degrees of displeasure with the plaintiff's massive foray into the sale of non-Honda parts (F. 93).
Understandably, the defendant vehemently has denied the plaintiff's antitrust accusations. The evidence presented in this connection has taken the form both of documentary evidence, albeit rather ancient (F. 94), and of testimony from representatives of the defendant (F. 95). After careful consideration of this evidence in contradistinction to that presented by the plaintiff, the Court declines to opine as to whether the plaintiff or the defendant has demonstrated a probability of success on the merits of either the set up or the antitrust issue. This conclusion, however, does not complete the Court's preliminary injunction inquiry on these intertwined issues. This is so because the Court next must consider whether these issues present sufficiently serious questions concerning the defendant's motive to make them a fair ground for litigation, and whether the balance of hardships tips decidedly toward the party requesting the preliminary relief.
In Jacobson & Co., Inc. v. Armstrong Cork Co., 548 F.2d 438 (2d Cir. 1977), the Second Circuit explained that, in an antitrust context, the "sufficiently serious question" standard is satisfied if the plaintiff raises substantial questions regarding the existence of antitrust violations. Id. at 443. See also Hamilton Watch Co. v. Benrus Watch Co., 206 F.2d 738 (2d Cir. 1953). Therefore, in order to satisfy this standard in this matter, the Court must acknowledge at least the inference that the plaintiff's dealership termination resulted because of its competition with the defendant in the accessory market. See 548 F.2d at 444. It is this Court's opinion that such an anticompetitive inference is cognizable from the facts presented to this Court.
In reaching this conclusion, the Court relied heavily upon its impression that the evidence set forth by the plaintiff at the lengthy hearing before this Court raised substantial questions regarding the bona fides of the defendant with respect to its relations with the plaintiff. Specifically, the Court deems the possibility of an unarticulated but subtle design of the defendant to lessen the plaintiff's emphasis on the sale and installation of non-Honda parts to be of a sufficiently serious nature as to warrant litigation over it. The ongoing dispute over set up attests to this possibility.
In this regard, the evidence concerning the defendant's reaction to the plaintiff's forced transfer of its operations to 344 Jericho Turnpike after the September 20, 1979 fire must be considered. While Mr. Zegarek testified that he received verbal approval from certain representatives of the defendant concerning his transfer of the plaintiff's operation to 344 Jericho Turnpike (F. 27, 28), these representatives testified that they never officially recommended that the 344 Jericho Turnpike location be approved. Notwithstanding this conflicting testimony, it is clear to this Court that for the six weeks preceding the formal termination of the plaintiff's dealership, the defendant left the plaintiff in limbo by cutting off access to all essential Honda parts and tools (F. 24, 31), without clearly informing the plaintiff of its status (F. 25, 26). This conduct severely injured the plaintiff's business (F. 32, 33). To this Court, such conduct evinces bad faith on the defendant's behalf toward a dealer with whom relations had been carried on for over 15 years. This mala fides tips the equitable scale in the plaintiff's favor, while serving to raise serious questions as to the motive underlying the termination of the plaintiff's dealership.
As for the "balance of hardships" prong of the test, this Court's prior conclusion that the plaintiff will sustain irreparable harm in the absence of equitable intervention by this Court goes a long way towards satisfying this requirement. New York v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, *822 550 F.2d 745 (2d Cir. 1977); Triebwasser & Katz v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 535 F.2d 1356 (2d Cir. 1976). Moreover, this Court is convinced that this potential irreparable injury to the plaintiff is substantially greater than the hardship the defendant would suffer by being required to continue the plaintiff as a Honda dealer during the pendency of a preliminary injunction. In short, the Court finds that the balance of hardships in this matter tips decidedly toward the plaintiff who, in the absence of preliminary relief, would lose its business, its location, its reputation and its goodwill.
Therefore, for the foregoing reasons:
(1) The Court concludes that the plaintiff has made a sufficient showing of irreparable harm.
(2) The Court concludes that the plaintiff has demonstrated a likelihood of success on the false claims issue, on the issue of the plaintiff's relations with the Village of Mineola and on the issue of the plaintiff's use of 344 Jericho Turnpike.
(3) The Court concludes that the plaintiff's antitrust claim and the set up issue present sufficiently serious questions going to the merits as to make them a fair ground for litigation and that the balance of hardships tips decidedly in the plaintiff's favor.
Accordingly, the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction is hereby GRANTED in all respects.
It is SO ORDERED.
NOTES
[*] Throughout the course of this Decision and Order, the numbers within parentheses denote reference to the transcript of the Hearing held in this matter.
[**] "Pl. Ex." denotes reference to the exhibits introduced into evidence by the plaintiff during the Hearing before this Court.
[1] Most of the sales that took place at 344 Jericho Turnpike were for wholesale and overseas customers (327).
[2] 344 Jericho Turnpike presently has 1500 square feet of showroom space on its first level. There will be 500-800 square feet of additional showroom space on the upstairs level (98).
[***] "Def. Ex." denotes reference to the Exhibits introduced into evidence by the defendant during the Hearing before this Court.
[3] Mr. Zegarek introduced evidence tending to prove that, during Mr. Karlin's period of employment at Honda of Mineola, a minimal number of shipping claims actually were submitted to American Honda and that this number fell far below the plaintiff's norm (888). Through its interpretation of the plaintiff's monthly shipping claim statistics over an extended period of time, the defendant attempted to rebut Mr. Zegarek's testimony (Def. Ex. AB, AD, AE).
[4] Although they have not been established to the satisfaction of this Court, several other claimed incidents of fraud allegedly committed by the plaintiff should be mentioned in passing. Several of these involve the plaintiff's alleged sale of motorcycles in crates, see Def. Ex. H, a practice prohibited by American Honda. Although evidence concerning such practices was not prominently displayed at the hearing before this Court, one such sale appears to have been the subject of Small Claims Court litigation (Def. Ex. V).
[5] To corroborate Mr. Keller's testimony, the defendant introduced Def. Ex. AH consisting of documents containing customer complaints concerning Honda of Mineola. Of the 46 such documents found within Def. Ex. AH, however, a number of these documents were duplicates.
[6] These statistics reflect this Court's plenary review of the 9 deficiency reports.
[7] Mr. Karlin testified that the information contained within these reports was accurate (501).
[8] Mr. Zegarek testified that at the December 13, 1978 meeting, he informed defendant's counsel that for the plaintiff to remove accessories from its motorcycles would be a costly and detrimental way for Honda of Mineola to merchandise its accessory lines (486).
[9] The plaintiff also has based its second claim on 15 U.S.C. § 1222 (1976) which provides:
An automobile dealer may bring suit against any automobile manufacturer engaged in commerce, in any district court of the United States in the district in which said manufacturer resides, or is found, or has an agent, without respect to the amount in controversy, and shall recover the damages by him sustained and the cost of suit by reason of the failure of said automobile manufacturer from and after August 8, 1956 to act in good faith in performing or complying with any of the terms or provisions of the franchise, or in terminating, canceling, or not renewing the franchise with said dealer: Provided, That in any such suit the manufacturer shall not be barred from asserting in defense of any such action the failure of the dealer to act in good faith.
This section, however, has been held not to apply to motorcycle dealers. Small Arms Co., Inc. v. The Brooklyn Cycle, Inc., 408 F.Supp. 707 (E.D.N.Y.1976). As a result, this Court will not employ it in the disposition of the instant motion.
[9a] "F" denotes reference to the Court's Findings of Fact in this matter.
[10] Despite the importance of Mr. Karlin's testimony, Mr. Karlin's appearance as a witness for the defendant came as a complete surprise to plaintiff's counsel (497).
[11] The defendant has attempted to corroborate Mr. Karlin's testimony with affidavits of other employees of the plaintiff. Since the deponents of these affidavits were not subject to cross examination, the Court has exercised its discretion so as not to consider these affidavits.
[12] See note 4 supra.
[13] This is evidenced by the passage of laws designed to impede the plaintiff's business (F. 65). Some of these laws have been found to be outside the jurisdiction of the Village (F. 67).
[14] Plaintiff's counsel's cross examination of Mr. Keller, a witness called by the defendant, substantially questioned the basis for Mr. Keller's conclusion that the plaintiff's deficiency record placed it as the worst in the Honda chain (F. 79).
[15] Mr. Zegarek's son did not testify before this Court; he did, however, submit to a deposition at which a representative of the defendant was present (Pl. Ex. 34).
|
But John Seddon presents the issue in such a dismissive way that rather than enlightening the reader about the conundrum, he just breezes past it as if it didn’t exist at all – and also leave you wondering what role in his world there is for a member of the public who wants a GP service that works for them, which to their mind includes choice over when to see the GP. Is the idea of people wanting choice over when they see their GP so risible and trivial that it deserves such dismissive treatment?
Or take another example: “The assumption (for which there is no empirical evidence) is that people have different skill sets”. Really? No-one in the public services varies in what skills they have? And there I was thinking that my IT skills are much higher than my plumbing ones, with the evidence of the dripping pipe being a good piece of evidence. Mind you, I am ex-public sector.
There is a good point buried in here, about the way in which public service jobs too often are very specialised. Public sector workers are expected to specialise in very narrow tasks rather than to have the broader problem-solving skills which would better reflect the messy actual demands on public services.
Yet although the point about need greater and broader skills at the front end of public services is returned to elsewhere, the generality expressed with utter confidence that people don’t have different skill sets obscures rather than helps such a discussion.
What say should the public get in public services?
Moreover, there’s a illiberal thread running through the book as it’s not just the idea that people might want choice that it dismisses. Also in the long list of ideas breezily dismissed, for example, is the idea that the public should be asked what matters to them when it comes to setting targets or objectives for public services. “Such surveys can only yield unreliable data and invalid conclusions,” says Seddon in his sweeping dismissal of the idea that a public service perhaps should in part worry about what service the public wants.
In doing so, he again leaves behind an important debate. In this case, two of the crime-related ideas he derides are that the public is concerned about fear of crime – and so tackling that might be advisable – and also that the public likes to see a police presence and so therefore that might be something to try to balance with other calls on police time. Of course, dealing with fear of crime and putting police where the public can see them may well detract from using police resources to stop crime or catch criminals.
But the questions about how do you reconcile those competing demands do not get a look in as John Seddon instead discards as utterly flawed the idea that the public views on priorities matter or that fear of crime might be a significant problem.
Failure demand
Which is all very odd, not only in its own terms, but also when you turn to other parts of the book, where he argues eloquently and convincingly that the best way to understand public services and to improve them is to focus on the overall experience of individuals and how they get treated by different parts of the system.
That leads to the very useful insight of ‘failure demand’, namely how much of the work done by public services is caused by the failure to deal with an issue properly an earlier stage. As a result, apparently efficient services are really nothing of the sort. A call centre that deals with a large volume of calls, at a low cost per call, may look a success – until you then realise how many of the calls are generated by the failure of an earlier call to resolve an issue.
Repeatedly dealing quickly with progress chasing calls isn’t a sign of efficiency, it’s a sign of failure that costs more than a longer call which results in an issue being sorted first time round. Hence the point mentioned above about needing broader problem solving skills at the front line of public services rather than niche specialisms which shuffle people around repeatedly without anyone quite getting to grips with the underlying issues.
When is a target not a target?
That in turn leads to a useful discussion about the problem with traditional targets in the public sector. The distinction between a target (bad) and an outcome measure (good) can appear to a novice rather like a medieval theological debates at times. Whilst Seddon and his supporters are often very critical of targets and dismissive, verging on rude, about the main proponents of targets, they own preferred approaches still involve turning things into numbers where the numbers moving in one direct is bad and in another is good. For example, when I heard John Seddon speak about his approach, he started off with an example of a much improved local council housing service – and he led with two numbers to illustrate how improved it was, namely lower costs and shorter waiting times. Yet on the same occasion he was also very hostile to the idea that numerical targets are useful for improving public services.
The book sets out an approach for using numbers that help understand what is really going on in a system and which leave people in the public service free to work out the best way of providing a service, rather than micro-managing their choice for them. But ultimately the book didn’t persuade me that in practice – especially given the political and media scrutiny and pressure around public services – such measures wouldn’t end up being that different from a good target. They would certainly be better than a bad target, but if the measure tells you something useful about what is happening in a public service, and people are keen to see the public service improve, then it ends up morphing into a target, even if only at the behest of media stories covering the public service. Indeed, Seddon quotes W Edwards Deming approvingly saying, “A system must have an aim. Without an aim, there is no system”. But don’t tell him that sounds to you rather like saying you should have a target…
There is plenty of value in this book then, such as the importance of integrating policy making with administration so that the policies that are set are capable of sensible administration (echoing the point made in Conundrum), even if the author’s sometimes rather implausible sweeping claims and regular dismissiveness about almost everyone else often obscures rather than illuminates.
This review is a little unfair, so I write this to respond to two criticisms and offer Mark a challenge.
Firstly: “The assumption (for which there is no empirical evidence) is that people have different skill sets”. This is taken entirely out of context. I was describing how HMRC was assessing managers as being suited to ‘policy work’ versus ‘people management’, evidencing how far people will go in pursuing the wrong problem. There is no empirical justification for this distinction. It was a specific, not general, argument about skill sets.
Secondly: Choice. I have read David Boyle’s report. It was an attempt to seek ways to extend the idea of choice; the report didn’t question whether choice improved public services. The evidence for choice improving public services simply doesn’t exist. What research there is, is contrary to the view that choice improves services. See for examples here and here.
It is more accurate to see David Boyle’s examples of public services failing to meet the needs of users as just that, failures, rather than as an argument for ‘choice’ as a solution. I gave Mark a pre-publication copy of our report commissioned by Locality, which illustrates why public services fail to meet users’ needs and charts a way of working that not only meets peoples’ needs but dramatically reduces costs. It will be launched in March.
My challenge to Mark: Where is the evidence for choice improving public services?
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7/143
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7/57
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Three letters picked without replacement from stvvtvtvtvststvvtv. Give prob of picking 2 s and 1 v.
1/34
Two letters picked without replacement from nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnqnn. What is prob of picking 1 n and 1 q?
1/9
Three letters picked without replacement from {z: 1, d: 2, i: 9, q: 2}. Give prob of picking 1 z and 2 d.
1/364
Four letters picked without replacement from addll. Give prob of picking 2 d and 2 l.
1/5
Four letters picked without replacement from {h: 12, i: 7}. Give prob of picking 4 i.
35/3876
What is prob of picking 1 m and 1 d when two letters picked without replacement from {r: 1, m: 6, e: 7, o: 3, d: 2}?
4/57
What is prob of picking 1 l, 1 b, and 2 n when four letters picked without replacement from {b: 1, q: 1, d: 2, l: 1, i: 1, n: 2}?
1/70
Two letters picked without replacement from vbdvvbddvtdfdvddd. What is prob of picking 1 b and 1 d?
2/17
Two letters picked without replacement from qkppkukqytkt. What is prob of picking 1 q and 1 k?
4/33
Calculate prob of picking 1 f, 1 j, 1 k, and 1 e when four letters picked without replacement from {e: 2, j: 4, f: 2, k: 3, b: 2, i: 1}.
48/1001
Two letters picked without replacement from {h: 2, u: 1, b: 1, o: 2, j: 1}. What is prob of picking 2 h?
1/21
What is prob of picking 1 y and 1 h when two letters picked without replacement from yehqqhhhyqyeqddhh?
9/68
Calculate prob of picking 2 u when two letters picked without replacement from {u: 3, c: 1, y: 5}.
1/12
Three letters picked without replacement from {e: 12, x: 7}. Give prob of picking 3 e.
220/969
Four letters picked without replacement from {f: 2, p: 2, r: 4, m: 2}. Give prob of picking 3 r and 1 f.
4/105
What is prob of picking 2 j when two letters picked without replacement from jjjrrr?
1/5
Four letters picked without replacement from {r: 1, p: 2, g: 1, e: 2, x: 1}. Give prob of picking 1 x, 1 g, and 2 e.
1/35
Three letters picked without replacement from gyyvgyvyy. What is prob of picking 1 v and 2 y?
5/21
What is prob of picking 3 c and 1 e when four letters picked without replacement from ecccecccccccccec?
33/70
Calculate prob of picking 1 a and 1 x when two letters picked without replacement from xaxxaanxonaxxnaox.
35/136
Two letters picked without replacement from {a: 4, t: 1, v: 2}. What is prob of picking 2 v?
1/21
Two letters picked without replacement from vnnyynmssmvkvv. What is prob of picking 2 m?
1/91
Four letters picked without replacement from {h: 15, i: 5}. Give prob of picking 2 i and 2 h.
70/323
Two letters picked without replacement from agggggaggggggaaaggg. Give prob of picking 1 g and 1 a.
70/171
Three letters picked without replacement from xtxytxxktltyyxy. What is prob of picking 1 k, 1 x, and 1 y?
4/91
Two letters picked without replacement from nennnneefxnnfnunnfh. What is prob of picking 1 h and 1 f?
1/57
Three letters picked without replacement from {s: 1, o: 3, f: 3, g: 1, y: 3, t: 4}. What is prob of picking 1 f, 1 o, and 1 s?
9/455
Two letters picked without replacement from llaaaallljlll. Give prob of picking 1 a and 1 j.
2/39
What is prob of picking 1 f, 1 m, and 2 v when four letters picked without replacement from {m: 1, v: 2, y: 1, f: 13}?
13/2380
What is prob of picking 2 o when two letters picked without replacement from {i: 5, o: 5}?
2/9
Three letters picked without replacement from gglgllllgllllg. What is prob of picking 3 g?
5/182
Two letters picked withou |
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 12a0864n.06
No. 11-5516
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
FILED
CALVIN O. TANKESLY, JR.,
Aug 08, 2012
Petitioner, LEONARD GREEN, Clerk
v. ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED
STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
TOMMY MILLS, Warden, MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
Respondent.
/
BEFORE: GUY and CLAY, Circuit Judges; HOOD, District Judge.*
CLAY, Circuit Judge. Petitioner Calvin Tankesly, a Tennessee state prisoner, appeals an
order denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, in which he
challenges his convictions for rape of a child and attempted rape of a child. Petitioner contends that
trial counsel’s conduct in moving to suppress four hundred items of women’s undergarments found
in his home and car did not protect his Fourth Amendment rights. Because Petitioner has not proven
his entitlement to relief under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), we AFFIRM the
district court’s judgment.
*
The Honorable Denise Page Hood, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, sitting
by designation.
No. 11-5516
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Petitioner was accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl in the laundry room of his
apartment complex on May 6, 1995. During their investigation, law enforcement officers executed
a warrant to search Petitioner’s home and car. The search warrant directed officers to seize, among
other things, cameras, photographs depicting juveniles engaged in sexual activity, magazines
depicting sexual activity, sex toys, and clothing described by the victim and witnesses as worn by
the assailant. During the search, officers found and seized over four hundred items of women’s
undergarments from Petitioner’s home and car. These undergarments were not listed in the warrant
as items subject to seizure.
Petitioner was indicted for rape and attempted rape in October 1995. Prior to trial, the parties
litigated the admissibility of the four hundred undergarments. At a motions hearing on December
4, 1997, the prosecution sought to introduce the undergarments as evidence of “other acts” of sexual
misconduct by Petitioner demonstrating his identity as the assailant. See Tenn. R. Evid. 404(b)
(“Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts [may] be admissible for [non-character] purposes.”).
Petitioner had recently pleaded no contest to a factually similar crime in a nearby county, where he
allegedly offered the victim a pair of women’s undergarments. Thus, the prosecution argued that the
undergarments helped prove Petitioner’s identity as the assailant in the instant case. Defense counsel
moved in limine to prohibit the prosecution from offering the undergarments for admission into
evidence. Counsel vigorously contended that the undergarments did not prove Petitioner’s identity
and would prejudice him before the jury. The trial court admitted the undergarments, reasoning that
they were probative of the assailant’s identity.
2
No. 11-5516
Defense counsel also moved to suppress the undergarments on the basis of a Fourth
Amendment violation. Petitioner’s ineffective assistance claim arises from counsel’s conduct in
pursuing this motion. During the December 4, 1997 motions hearing, defense counsel stated his
intent to move to suppress the undergarments as obtained beyond the scope of the search warrant.
Counsel first explained that he had not moved to suppress the evidence earlier because Petitioner had
entered into a plea bargain on a similar charge in a nearby jurisdiction in which he waived his right
to contest the search warrant’s execution. Counsel then stated the basis for the forthcoming motion
to suppress:
Your honor, I will be candid with you, I have reviewed a lot of the . . . police files.
At that time it was my understanding, my recollection, there is nothing in the search
warrant that said that [officers] could seize women’s underwear. So, then, we’ve
come in on the day—less than thirty days, on the eve of trial, they’re saying, “Hey,
we’re going to introduce this stuff.” Well my client didn’t—waived all that right to
contest that search when he entered a plea of guilty. So we’re back now that I
probably need to file a motion to suppress, and suppress all that.
The trial judge stated that he would be available to hear oral argument on the motion to suppress in
court the next day.
Later in the day on December 4, counsel filed a one-page motion to suppress. The motion
briefly stated that a search was conducted on Petitioner’s home on May 30, 1995, that “the search
warrant was . . . in violation of the Fourth Amendment,” and that the court should suppress “the
items or information found as a result of [the] search.” On December 5, counsel filed an amended
motion, further explaining that “items seized [during the search] were not specifically includ[ed] in
the search warrant, to-wit: women’s undergarments.”
3
No. 11-5516
It appears that this motion was argued orally before the trial court, but the record leaves some
doubt on this point. A minute entry from the first morning of trial states briefly that Petitioner’s
motion to suppress was denied. In a trial colloquy with the prosecution prior to the undergarments’
admission, the trial judge explained that he had “overruled the motion to suppress.” However,
absent from the record is the transcript of any oral argument setting out the factual and legal grounds
for the ruling on the suppression motion.
Petitioner’s trial commenced on December 8, 1997. According to the evidence presented at
trial, the victim was at her aunt’s apartment on the date of the attack and visited the apartment
complex’s laundry room to buy her aunt a soft drink. As the victim walked into the laundry room,
Petitioner was walking out. Petitioner asked the victim, “Do you want any panties?” Petitioner then
forced the victim to the ground, put his hand over her mouth, pulled down the victim’s shorts and
underwear, digitally penetrated the victim’s vagina, and attempted to force the victim to perform oral
sex on him. Seeing people approach the laundry room, Petitioner placed the victim back on her feet
and told her to pull up her pants and underwear. Petitioner then left the laundry room. At trial, the
victim proved unable to point out Petitioner in court as her assailant, but she did pick his picture out
of a photo array.
Kimberly and Jimmy Gilkeson, a married couple that resided in the same apartment complex,
both testified that they drove up to the laundry room and parked outside. Kimberly parked their car
beside Petitioner’s car as Petitioner walked out of the laundry room. As Petitioner exited the laundry
room and entered his car, Kimberly made eye contact with him and observed him for roughly fifteen
seconds. Both Kimberly and Jimmy noticed a male, blond-haired child buckled in the seat of
4
No. 11-5516
Petitioner’s car. Kimberly and Jimmy then entered the laundry room to find the victim sobbing
hysterically and accusing Petitioner of trying to kill her. The victim’s hair was tousled, change was
scattered on the floor, and the girl was standing in a puddle of urine. Kimberly wiped up the urine
with a pair of women’s undergarments she found on the floor.
Both Kimberly and Jimmy identified Petitioner as the man leaving the laundry room in pre-
trial photograph arrays and at trial. The Gilkesons’ description of Petitioner’s car matched the car
Petitioner owned. The boy Kimberly saw in Petitioner’s car was the same gender and roughly the
same age as Petitioner’s son at the time. Petitioner’s wife testified that their son was with Petitioner
at the time of the attack.
Based on the foregoing evidence, the jury convicted Petitioner of rape and attempted rape,
and the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction. See State v. Tankesly, No.
M1998-00683-CCA-R3-CD, 2000 WL 1521475, *11 (Tenn. Crim. App. Oct. 4, 2000). The court
concluded that the trial court’s admission of the undergarments was erroneous, because the
undergarments were irrelevant. See id. at *7. However, the court also concluded that the error was
harmless in light of the evidence of guilt offered against Petitioner, which it considered
overwhelming. See id.
In his petition for state post-conviction relief, Petitioner raised several claims of ineffective
assistance of trial counsel. One of these claims alleged that trial counsel did not move to suppress
the undergarments. During the hearing on Petitioner’s post-conviction motion, defense counsel
testified regarding his trial preparation. Counsel explained that he initially planned to pursue an alibi
defense in which Petitioner’s friend would testify that Petitioner was fixing her computer at the time
5
No. 11-5516
of the rape. But counsel declined to pursue that defense when it became clear that pursuing it would
open the door to testimony regarding a factually similar crime for which Petitioner was convicted.
Instead, after the rape victim proved unable to make a verbal identification of Petitioner during her
testimony, defense counsel chose to focus on that fact. Counsel also explained that “the case took
a completely different turn” when the undergarments were admitted, because the introduction of the
undergarments “had a chilling [e]ffect on the jury.” Because he believed that the undergarments
were such a significant piece of evidence against Petitioner, counsel made challenging their
introduction under Rule 404(b) one of the “critical issues” in Petitioner’s direct appeal. With respect
to the motion to suppress, defense counsel stated that he argued the motion “either the morning of
the trial or Friday before.” However, defense counsel’s testimony also vacillates about whether the
motion was in fact argued in court.
The state trial court denied Petitioner’s request for post-conviction relief. The court reasoned
that counsel moved to suppress the undergarments with the paper motion he filed. The court also
noted that the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that the introduction of the
undergarments was harmless error, thus implying that Petitioner could not show that counsel’s more
thorough pursuit of the issue would have aided his defense. As the state post-conviction court
explained:
from the transcripts of the proceedings, it appears as though trial counsel did in fact
argue to have the undergarments suppressed at a hearing on December 4, 1997.
[Defense counsel] actually filed a motion to suppress this particular evidence based
on the grounds that the search warrant was defective, but as aforementioned, it was
denied. This issue is without merit.
6
No. 11-5516
The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed for the same reasons. See Tankesly v. State, No.
M2005-02008-CCA-R3-PC, 2007 WL 1890208, at *10 (Tenn. Crim. App. June 28, 2007).
Petitioner sought federal habeas corpus relief while his petition for state post-conviction
relief was still pending. The petition argued that counsel’s conduct in challenging the officers’
seizure of the women’s undergarments denied him the right to effective assistance of counsel.
According to Petitioner, the undergarments were outside the scope of the agents’ search warrant and
therefore not subject to seizure. Since the warrant did not permit the seizure of the undergarments,
Petitioner argued that counsel should have challenged the seizure. While admitting that counsel filed
a paper motion to suppress the undergarments, Petitioner contended that counsel’s one-page
suppression motion insufficiently vindicated his Fourth Amendment rights. According to Petitioner,
defense counsel should have developed the motion more fully with some legal analysis and argued
the motion orally in front of the trial court.
The district court appointed Petitioner counsel and held the case in abeyance until Petitioner
exhausted his claims in state court, after which the district court reopened the case. Respondent
sought dismissal, arguing that Petitioner failed to exhaust his claim in state court and, alternatively,
that Petitioner’s claim lacked merit. The district court denied Petitioner’s ineffective assistance
claim on the merits, granted Respondent summary judgment, dismissed the petition, and certified
Petitioner’s ineffective assistance claim for appeal. Petitioner timely appealed.
7
No. 11-5516
DISCUSSION
I. Standard of Review
On appeal of a denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, we review the district court’s
conclusions of law de novo and its factual findings for clear error. Lovell v. Duffey, 629 F.3d 587,
593-94 (6th Cir. 2011). We accept the state court’s determination of a factual issue unless the
petitioner upsets the presumption by clear and convincing evidence. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1); Moss
v. Hofbauer, 286 F.3d 851, 859 (6th Cir. 2002).
II. Exhaustion of State Remedies
Respondent contends that Petitioner failed to exhaust his ineffective assistance claim in state
court. A petitioner must exhaust all remedies available to him in state court before a federal court
can grant habeas relief. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A). To exhaust a claim, the petitioner must “fairly
present[]” it in state court accompanied by some measure of factual and legal development. Hooks
v. Sheets, 603 F.3d 316, 320 (6th Cir. 2010) (internal quotation and citation omitted); see also
Slaughter v. Parker, 450 F.3d 224, 236 (6th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation and citation omitted)
(explaining that a petitioner “need not cite ‘chapter and verse’ constitutional law” in raising a claim
in state court but must be more specific than generally alleging constitutional violations). The
claim’s presentation must proceed through “one complete round of the State’s established appellate
review process.” O’Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U.S. 838, 845 (1999). If the petitioner fails to exhaust
a claim in state court, and the claim would be time-barred if raised in state court at the time of his
federal habeas petition, that federal claim is procedurally defaulted. Awkal v. Mitchell, 613 F.3d 629,
646 (6th Cir. 2010) (en banc).
8
No. 11-5516
Respondent is correct that Petitioner’s claim has evolved in the course of state proceedings.
In his petition for state post-conviction relief, Petitioner claimed that trial counsel did not move to
suppress the undergarments. On appeal of the denial of his petition, Petitioner developed this
argument into the more specific claim that trial counsel failed to argue that the warrant did not permit
the seizure of the undergarments. While the latter claim is an outgrowth of the former claim, the
claims are not identical.
However, in opposing Petitioner’s appeal in front of the Tennessee Court of Criminal
Appeals, the state did not argue that Petitioner failed to raise his claim before the state post-
conviction court. Therefore, the state waived the defense. An exhaustion defense is waived if it is
not asserted. Baze v. Parker, 371 F.3d 310, 320 (6th Cir. 2004). And if the failure to assert the
procedural bar leads the state court to address the claim on the merits, we may do the same.
Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 327 (1985); see Baze, 371 F.3d at 320. The state’s appellate
brief opposes Petitioner’s claim on the merits, repeating the conclusion of the state post-conviction
court that counsel moved to suppress the undergarments. Thus, Petitioner asserted a claim before
the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals identical to the one he asserts here, and the state did not
invoke the procedural bar in defense of the claim. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals then
addressed the claim on the merits. Tankesly, 2007 WL 1890208, at *10. Therefore, Respondent
waived his exhaustion defense.
9
No. 11-5516
III. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claim
A. Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”)
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”) governs this petition.
Under AEDPA, an application for a writ of habeas corpus will not be granted with respect to claims
adjudicated on the merits in state court proceedings unless the adjudication:
(1) resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable
application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme
Court of the United States; or
(2) resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the
facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.
28 U.S.C. § 2254(d).
A decision is “contrary to clearly established federal law if the state court arrives at a
conclusion opposite to that reached by the Supreme Court on a question of law or if the state court
decided a case differently than the Supreme Court on a set of materially indistinguishable facts.”
Jackson v. Bradshaw, 681 F.3d 753, 759 (6th Cir. 2012) (internal quotations and citations omitted).
A state court decision is based on an “unreasonable application” of clearly established federal law
if “the state court identifies the correct governing legal principle but unreasonably applies that
principle to the facts of the prisoner’s case.” Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted). “Clearly
established federal law” means “the holdings, as opposed to the dicta, of the Supreme Court’s
decisions as of the time of the relevant state-court decision.” Lundgren v. Mitchell, 440 F.3d 754,
762 (6th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation and citation omitted). We review the state court’s
determination of mixed questions of law and fact under the “unreasonable application” element of
AEDPA. Jackson, 681 F.3d at 760.
10
No. 11-5516
We examine the last state-court decision on the merits, which in this case is the Tennessee
Court of Criminal Appeals’ denial of Petitioner’s request for post-conviction relief. Garcia v.
Andrews, 488 F.3d 370, 374 (6th Cir. 2007). AEDPA allows us to award a petitioner relief only if
the state court’s application of federal law is “objectively unreasonable” instead of simply incorrect.
Jackson, 681 F.3d at 759 (internal quotation and citation omitted). To conclude that a state court’s
application of federal law was unreasonable, we must decide that “there is no possibility fairminded
jurists could disagree that the state court’s decision conflicts” with Supreme Court precedents.
Harrington v. Richter, 131 S. Ct. 770, 786 (2011). Under this inquiry, we must decide “what
arguments or theories supported or . . . could have supported, the state court’s decision.” Id. Then,
we must consider whether “fairminded jurists could disagree that those arguments or theories are
inconsistent with the holding in a prior decision” of the Supreme Court. Id. We award relief only
if there is no basis for disagreement among fairminded jurists. Id.
B. Legal Framework
A criminal defendant has the right to professional representation under the Sixth
Amendment. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687. If “counsel’s conduct so undermined the proper
functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied on as having produced a just
result,” then the defendant has not been accorded his right to professional representation. Id. at 686.
Representation is deficient under Strickland when counsel acts so poorly that he “was not
functioning as the ‘counsel’ guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment.” Id. at 687. In
order to prevail on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, a petitioner “must demonstrate that
counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that the defendant
11
No. 11-5516
was prejudiced by the ineffective assistance of counsel.” Carter v. Bell, 218 F.3d 581, 591 (6th Cir.
2000).
To satisfy the prejudice element of Strickland, a petitioner must prove that “there is a
reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding
would have been different.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694. A reasonable probability is defined as “a
probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.” Id. We take into account “the
totality of the evidence before the . . . jury,” on the assumption that “a verdict or conclusion only
weakly supported by the record is more likely to have been affected by errors than one with
overwhelming record support.” Id. at 695.
Petitioner faults counsel for his conduct in seeking the suppression of certain evidence seized
during a police search. A defense attorney’s failure to move to suppress evidence may form the basis
of a Sixth Amendment ineffective assistance claim. See Kimmelman v. Morrison, 477 U.S. 365, 375
(1986). In order to make out such a claim, the petitioner must “prove that his Fourth Amendment
claim is meritorious and that there is a reasonable probability that the verdict would have been
different absent the excludable evidence.” Id. at 375; see Joshua v. DeWitt, 341 F.3d 430, 437 (6th
Cir. 2003).
C. Analysis
We face two unique challenges in deciding this appeal, owing first to the posture of
Petitioner’s ineffective assistance claim and second to a lacuna in the state court records before us.
On the first issue, Petitioner does not, and cannot, argue that trial counsel entirely failed to protect
his Fourth Amendment rights. In other cases in which we have found an attorney’s performance
12
No. 11-5516
deficient for failing to raise a particular Fourth Amendment issue, trial counsel entirely failed to
lodge a Fourth Amendment challenge to the admission of evidence, and the merit of the defendant’s
underlying Fourth Amendment argument was obvious. See Joshua, 341 F.3d at 347; Northrop v.
Trippett, 265 F.3d 372, 382 (6th Cir. 2001). For example, in Joshua v. DeWitt, we concluded that
counsel performed deficiently when he moved to suppress evidence obtained from a Terry stop but
failed to cite a particular Supreme Court case with “clear precedential authority” and “unique factual
similarities” to the defendant’s case. Joshua, 341 F.3d at 441; see United States v. Hensley, 469 U.S.
221 (1985). In Northrop v. Trippett, the defendant was detained by officers based on an unverified
anonymous tip, and officers had no other basis for stopping the defendant. Northrop, 265 F.3d at
382. We found trial counsel’s performance deficient, because counsel “should have recognized” that
the stop was illegal and “did not file any motion challenging the seizure” of the defendant. Id. at
383.
No such oversight occurred in this case. By filing his motion to suppress, counsel objected
to a potential Fourth Amendment violation and raised the issue and factual ground for the state
court’s decision. Thus, Petitioner’s claim amounts to the assertion that counsel filed the suppression
motion but abandoned it. Petitioner faults counsel for filing a motion with no case citations and little
factual development, but the issue counsel raised—whether the undergarments were outside the
scope of the search warrant—was straightforward and uncomplicated. Whether or not counsel could
have better served his client by arguing the motion to suppress more vigorously and providing more
case support, counsel nevertheless raised the issue and factual ground for the district court’s decision.
13
No. 11-5516
Counsel’s act of raising the issue distinguishes this case from Joshua and Northrop and seriously
weakens Petitioner’s claim.
Moreover, counsel’s one-page suppression motion was likely aimed reserving the issue in
order to argue it in court. That likelihood leads us to the second challenge presented by this case:
absent from the record before us is a transcript of a hearing on trial counsel’s motion to suppress.
Respondent complied with his duty of filing the records of Petitioner’s criminal proceedings with
the court below, but those records do not include a transcript of a suppression hearing. Petitioner
argues that the absence of such a transcript leads to the conclusion that no hearing occurred. On the
basis of this conclusion, Petitioner argues that counsel made no effort to argue the motion and
thereby abandoned it. For his part, Respondent contends that the motion was argued but that the
transcript was simply lost. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals adopted the state post-
conviction court’s finding that the motion was argued at the hearing on December 4, 1997. This
finding is clearly erroneous, however, because our review of that hearing’s transcript clearly
demonstrates that counsel raised the prospect of filing a suppression motion but did not put forward
anything more than a passing argument about the scope of the warrant.
Nevertheless, on balance, the record still supports a finding that a hearing occurred. At the
hearing on Petitioner’s motion for state post-conviction relief, defense counsel testified that he
argued his motion to suppress on the Friday before trial (December 5, 1997) or on the morning of
trial (December 8, 1997). A minute entry from the first day of trial notes, albeit briefly, that the
motion to suppress was overruled. The same minute entry states that the jury was impaneled and
heard the state’s opening statement, which supports defense counsel’s testimony that the motion was
14
No. 11-5516
argued on the first morning of trial. And when the government sought to admit the undergarments
at trial and defense counsel objected, the judge explained that he had denied Petitioner’s motion to
suppress.
In the face of this evidence, Petitioner contends that the record’s references to a suppression
hearing are actually misstated references to the December 4, 1997 motions hearing. Petitioner’s
argument is plausible, but, in light of the evidence available from the record, his
interpretation—supported only by the absence of a hearing transcript—is not sufficiently clear or
convincing to warrant the conclusion that no suppression hearing occurred. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1);
see Rice v. White, 660 F.3d 242, 254–57 (6th Cir. 2011) (finding that the record evidence
contradicted a state court’s finding regarding a prosecutor’s motive in using peremptory strikes in
a petitioner’s Batson challenge). And on a record that leads us to find that counsel orally argued his
suppression motion before the trial court, we are compelled to conclude that Petitioner’s ineffective
assistance claim is factually unfounded.
To the extent that any doubt remains about whether trial counsel sought an oral hearing on
the motion, we find two other deficiencies in Petitioner’s claim. First, counsel made a valid strategic
choice in his method of challenging the introduction of the undergarments. In the course of deciding
whether counsel performed deficiently, we take care not to “second-guess” defensible strategic
decisions that ultimately fail. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688. A defensible strategic choice “made after
thorough investigation of law and facts relevant to plausible options” is rarely a basis for habeas
relief. Id. at 690. Without derogating the importance of Petitioner’s Fourth Amendment rights, the
practical harm resulting from the collection of the undergarments was not their seizure outside the
15
No. 11-5516
scope of the warrant but their admission into evidence during his trial. Counsel made the decision
to challenge the state’s attempt to introduce the undergarments under Tennessee Rule of Evidence
404(b). He did so by vigorously arguing that the undergarments were unduly prejudicial. See Tenn.
R. Evid. 403. The fact that the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with defense counsel’s
argument demonstrates its strength. See Tankesly, 2000 WL 1521475, at *7. We have explained
that a defense attorney may have “several possible arguments available” and may be forced to pursue
the one “most likely to succeed or [that] offers the greatest possible return” for the defendant. See
Cowans v. Bagley, 639 F.3d 241, 250 (6th Cir. 2011). The record demonstrates that counsel
surveyed the options available for excluding the undergarments and decided that the Rule 403
challenge was the strongest line of argument. A valid decision of this sort is “virtually
unchallengeable.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 690. Had the Fourth Amendment argument been the only
avenue available to counsel, and had counsel failed to explore that avenue for suppressing the
evidence, our analysis would be different. But even if Petitioner’s Fourth Amendment argument was
strong, counsel’s decision to pursue another strong argument was a decision “within the wide range
of reasonable professional” competence. Id. at 689.
Second, while we are not bound by the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals’ harmlessness
conclusion, we agree with that court that Petitioner was not prejudiced by the undergarments because
the other evidence against him was strong. Petitioner contends that the admission of the
undergarments prejudiced his defense, because, in the words of trial counsel, the undergarments “had
a chilling [e]ffect on the jury” and undercut the strategic benefit he gained when the victim did not
verbally identify Petitioner as her assailant in court. We conclude differently.
16
No. 11-5516
Petitioner’s trial was not reasonably likely to turn out better for him if counsel had argued
his motion to suppress at a separate hearing and if the undergarments had been suppressed. See
Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694. The testimony from Kimberly and Jimmy Gilkeson was strong evidence
against Petitioner. The Gilkesons parked outside the apartment complex laundry room and saw the
assailant leave while they were parking. Kimberly saw a blond-haired male child in the passenger
seat of the assailant’s car. At trial, Petitioner’s wife testified that she had left their children with
Petitioner on the day of the attack, and she described her son’s appearance consistently with
Kimberly’s description of the car. The Gilkesons parked next to the assailant’s car and had to wait
for him to enter his car before Kimberly could leave hers. The description of the car parked outside
the laundry room and driven by the assailant matched the description of the car Petitioner owned.
While waiting roughly fifteen seconds for the assailant to enter his car, Kimberly saw the assailant
and made eye contact with him. The Gilkesons then entered the laundry room to find the victim
wailing and claiming that the man who just left the laundry room had tried to kill her. Both
Kimberly and Jimmy Gilkeson later identified Petitioner as the assailant when they picked his picture
from a photo array outside each others’ presence and in court during each of their testimonies. The
jury’s verdict suggests that the jury found the Gilkesons’ testimony credible, making their testimony
strong independent evidence of Petitioner’s identity. While circumstantial, this evidence was strong
and it was reasonably likely to lead a jury to conclude Petitioner was the assailant even without the
aid of the undergarments.
Petitioner overstates certain weaknesses in the prosecution’s case. Petitioner emphasizes the
fact that the victim, who was eight years old at the time of trial, was unable to make an in-person
17
No. 11-5516
identification of Petitioner during her testimony. But Petitioner shaved his beard and cut off his
ponytail between the time of the rape and the time of trial, likely making it more difficult for the
child to recognize him. Moreover, the victim identified a picture of Petitioner taken roughly at the
time of the rape from a photo array put before her during her testimony.
Petitioner also argues that the state relied heavily on the undergarments as evidence against
him during the prosecutors’ closing statements, but this argument incorrectly characterizes the
weight of the undergarments in the state’s case. The prosecutors referred to the undergarments
roughly four times in their closing statements, including one extended treatment of that evidence in
the state’s rebuttal. However, the lead prosecutor barely mentioned the undergarments in his initial
closing statement. And taken as a whole, the undergarments were given no greater weight in the
closing argument than other factual issues raised in the trial, including the Gilkesons’ identifications,
the victim’s photo identification, the changes Petitioner made to his appearance prior to trial, the
victim’s inability to make an in-court identification, the length of time Kimberly Gilkeson saw the
assailant as he walked out of the laundry room, and Petitioner’s claim that he walked with a limp at
the time of the rape.
Any adverse effect to Petitioner’s case caused by the prosecutor’s comments was unlikely
to change the outcome of the trial. To be sure, to the extent that the introduction of the
undergarments was prejudicial, these references were naturally prejudicial as well. But the fact that
the comments about the undergarments helped the state’s case does not mean that Petitioner was
likely to be acquitted in their absence. We have recounted the evidence offered against Petitioner
excluding the undergarments, which was quite incriminating. In light of the Gilkesons’ testimony
18
No. 11-5516
and the other evidence against Petitioner, any shortcomings in trial counsel’s performance likely did
not affect the outcome of Petitioner’s trial.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.
19
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MARK: Burnt. I've been hacking up trees that we had taken down for power line clearance. It was 102° out there this afternoon.
SUNNI: Ouch. Why did the trees need to be hacked?
MARK: Annual power line maintenance on a rural property can cost the power company as much as a year's worth of electricity. The whole thing has become something of a scam, because the California Public Utilities Commission allows the power company to add a direct markup to the line maintenance cost. So they just love environmentalist-inspired regulations that favor expensive trimming but the power company has to go for the lowest bidder to do the work. The result is neither safe line corridors nor healthy trees (I had several trees die from the trimming and had to remove several obvious hazard trees the trimmers couldn't touch because of the rules). I'm doing what I can to minimize that expense to inspections only. It's not worth having them do the work once one recognizes the total cost of dealing with the consequences.
In general, I plant low fuel-value native shrubs in those corridors and then remove the trees under the lines once the shrubs are established. This keeps marginally competent tree crews and the weeds they bring with them off the property. It's a process that may take another five years.
SUNNI: Just like the bureaucrats, bringing in weeds . . . [laughs] I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, Mark, but in preparing for our interview, I realized I've forgotten how we met! Was it at Liberty Forum? Or before that?
MARK: We met at a Liberty Forum discussion of property rights issues not long after LF first started, but I believe you got the book through the Future of Freedom Foundation.
SUNNI: Are you still participating at Liberty Forum? If so, how are things there? I've pretty much given up on forums altogether ...
MARK: It's been a long time since I've posted there. The place became something of a Zionist/Anti-Zionist battleground. There are some thoughtful posters there on confined subjects, but as a news/discussion site it's become too polluted with people who have more interest in cussing than civil discourse.
SUNNI: Sounds about the same, then. What would you like Salon readers to know about you, Mark? What kinds of things are you involved in?
MARK: I'm just a guy who was working a normal hectic engineering job, raising two kids, and trying to take care of his land, who then got involved in the local environmental battle. When I found out how massively corrupt and destructive the regulatory system is, I ended up dedicating my life to doing something about it on a fundamental level. So, I quit my job and wrote a book.
On promotional tours, when I ran into the usual, "OK, let's see you do it first," I came to the conclusion that such is what I would have to do. So, we use our land as if it was an R&D lab for reasons I discuss in the book. I am currently doing research to improve the tools with which habitat restoration is done -- that's the engineer in me. Beyond tinkering with hardware or learning about plants, such includes integrating an invention with new process development and even business models. I cannot afford to have my land be a bad example, so I spend a lot of time with various habitat restoration projects, the results of which have been astonishing. We're up to 316 plant species -- two thirds of them native -- on a mere 14 acres. I take care of another six acres or so to protect our property. They all have to be identified, photographed, documented, and therewith I am building a base of information on how to grow, manage, or kill as appropriate. Those non-native plants now represent less than 1% of the vegetation, although if I quit controlling them they would take over again in as little as three years.
I'd describe myself as a very different kind of conservative. While I am an absolute defender of the sanctity of private property rights on a level far beyond the usual understanding, I also hold that the responsibilities of land ownership are equally understated. When discussing property rights, most conservatives, unfortunately, are so used to being defensive about whether or not they are causing any damage that they can't see the opportunities in innovative uses of the assets they possess. Unfortunately, many of those options have been effectively stolen by regulatory government and its chief beneficiaries: Park Services, conservancies, land trusts, and open space districts, effectively a government monopoly in the land tourism and entertainment business. It's got to be fixed.
SUNNI: Absolutely, but before we get too much farther, I'm intrigued with the idea of you creating new tools! Outside of a kitchen, I'm pretty inept with tools, but they fascinate me. Would it be giving too much away to talk a little about that work?
MARK: First, identify the need. I'll go with weeding as an example. Weeding in nature is far more complex than most people realize. Some plants come out by hand, some require tools, some require protective gear, some take a very delicate sense of touch, some you can't kill under any circumstances mechanically, and can only be killed with an herbicide. Sourgrass -- Oxalis pes-caprea -- is a good example. The required herbicides vary by species and application (sprays are dilute while cut-and-treat stub applications are at full strength). Some blow or pop seed so quickly that you can't afford to come back later with the right tool. Further, you might need communications or documentation equipment to identify the plant, record it, and come back to the same spot: GPS, PDA, notepad, camera, flags to mark something -- GPS often doesn't work. Then there's personal protection -- you know, bears, pigs, mountain lions, wolves The "right tool" often doesn't exist and even if you had all the "right" tools our land is so rugged -- some of it is near vertical -- that you can't get a vehicle there or carry everything, especially when a long way from home.
Can you imagine the OSHA rules and equipment necessary to keep unionized government Weed Abatement Technologists safe? The meetings would never end. If I were the usual "green entrepreneur," I'd invent a few things and get them written into the regulations.
As far as carrying all that stuff goes, one option is to modify a dog pack. The dog goes high on the personal protection list too. I keep Dutch shepherds because they're hardy, have a high drive for work, they're big enough, their hips aren't so flaky, and the coat is short enough to find a tick. They've also got a bit more feral dog in them than most breeds, which keeps them alert for trouble and sensible in a confrontation. I've been trying to interest a local trainer in developing a specialized program for rural landowners.
Simple things are often tough to design: One is a weed bag that's tough but isn't klunky in brush, doesn't pick up burrs, opens with one hand but closes itself, takes cheap inserts to drop off when they fill, stays on your thigh and doesn't drop anything when you bend over. You can detach it if you need to get it close to the plant (to improve transfer efficiency or to avoid dropping seed). Where the weed fork goes I haven't decided but a hip clip looks like the best option so far.
My current project is an automated portable plant-rearing system that allows nurseries to concentrate on propagation and transfers most of the growth onsite in native soil using leased equipment. Nurseries charge a lot for potting soils (trucking), real estate (shade houses), and labor (moving large plants around) to produce a product that isn't that appropriate to a plant in the wild (potting soil dries out more completely in late summer and the organics disappear, leaving a dry void). I'm thinking that the system would improve nursery profitability and throughput while reducing restoration costs to the landowner.
SUNNI: Wow, Mark. You were kind enough to send me a review copy of Natural Process, which, I'm -- again -- embarrassed to admit, still reading. After we moved, some books went missing for a while and it was among them ... As I recall, it's a presentation of a completely private alternative to the current insanity masquerading as environmental law. Is that a fair description?
MARK: In part. It contains the environmental, political, and economic justifications for why much of regulatory government should be reverted to private sector risk management. It has a way of developing objective pricing and legal descriptions by which to trade in contracts for the use of natural assets. It outlines the principles of the proposed system and describes in detail how its components could work versus their current alternatives. Finally, it details a legal strategy to get there and raises the stakes in the process by showing where the current system is headed and why. The book is meant to get at the core of the technical, managerial, economic, and legal problems that got us where we are and what is at stake if we don't gradually dissolve the need for regulatory government. It is therefore long and dense, with a wide variety of writing styles and topics. Some of it is technical. Some of it is theoretical. Some of it is funny. If you couldn't laugh about this stuff, you'd go nuts.
SUNNI: Yah, it is technical in places, although not as much as other books I've read. Maybe I've not gotten to the really heavy-duty material yet. You don't seem to use a lot of jargon, which tends to make a book harder to understand for non-experts. I have been enjoying your sense of humor, which sometimes reveals itself in the most unexpected places. It's a great touch! How did you come to write the book?
MARK: It started with the sense that there was something fundamentally wrong about environmental rules in our county, Santa Cruz, California. Environmental rules made no sense when it came to helping people restore their land. I had just completed building a house as an owner-builder. The permit process was an expensive joke that did little to assure better construction or lower impacts but they were great for bureaucrats, consultants (former bureaucrats), and selected suppliers cashing in on a local monopoly. The regulations hampered people who simply wanted to improve the condition of their forests. Meanwhile the county kept bringing in more weeds with their road maintenance equipment than from any other source.
So upon the prodding of some friends, I foolishly signed up for the local Agenda21 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management Roundtable. I was operating under the mistaken belief that, because it was a "consensus process", I could get these people to face the mess they were making. Almost two years after the draft had been submitted, people who had never attended a single public meeting had totally changed the document, in secret. It was presented to me for my signature as if it was a done deal. There was some haggling that improved it somewhat, but I still refused to sign it. So they added my name to the list of contributors and fraudulently published it as a consensus! The county had agreed, in advance, to accept the product and write it into law, sight unseen.
I had studied the entire Federal Convention debate in college, under an iconic professor of government, Dr. William Allen, now at Michigan State. So I knew the frightening potential of a system of government like the Agenda21, under the aegis of the United Nations, in which elected representatives rubber-stamped the output of hidden committees loaded with pre-selected bureaucrats and activists.
Now, I hadn't become an engineer just because I liked inventing. I did well enough at it to create several novel processes and earn a couple of patents, but what I wanted to learn from engineering was to understand in an intimate way how wealth is created. I saw the lack of that knowledge in America's political leadership to be a serious problem about which I wanted to do something. So, about three years after the Agenda21 debacle, when I got to the end of a long and difficult, but intensely rewarding and interesting project, my wife -- a saint -- looked at me and said, "If you are ever going to do with your life what you always wanted to do, now is the time to do it." So, I quit the job, started to write, and ended up educating the kids at home -- a great decision.
Because I was focusing upon a problem, the book naturally started as a polemic, but in the first few drafts, I hadn't really created anything novel. Then I got some advice from Randal O'Toole after he had read a painful early draft. He said (I'm paraphrasing), "Yes, people do need to read it, but unless you offer a solution, nobody is going to read it." That's kind of like waving a red flag in front of an engineer (we're a compulsive lot when it comes to cracking problems). So, that's what you do. I'm proud to say that copies have been delivered to the White House by a former US Senator.
SUNNI: In its preface, you provide some background as to how you became an environmentalist, but almost none on how you became pro-freedom. Care to enlighten us on that some?
MARK: I had always been a risk taker, philosopher, and something of the rugged individualist. So my temperament was predisposed toward freedom, but that isn't enough to explain the transformation that occurred while writing the book. It was the wrenching experience of having confronted mountains of hard data that showed how "environmental protection" had been used to carefully manipulate the conversion of the local timber market to residential real estate for a period of over thirty years. It was political corruption on a massive scale.
Early in the process, families who had cared for their land for over a hundred years were being forced to log or sell in order to pay property taxes, while taking the political blame for doing it from the adjacent suburban users of those property taxes (not to mention cheap redwood lumber). Later, zoning laws took the next cut in land value mandating huge minimum subdivision acreage requirements, as much as 40 acres per parcel -- in other words, if you had 110 acres, the most you could make of it was two home sites. That kept the price of the total parcel up because of the reduced supply, which maintained tax revenue, but minimized the development potential to the landowner. It also forced more use of marginal sites with higher environmental hazards rather than higher densities in optimal locations with lower hazards. In the '80s and '90s, increasingly-dubious timber regulations -- some illegally titled as zoning law -- slowly made that purchase price even cheaper than it might have otherwise been because regulations had rendered the timber on the land of almost no value. They had also removed the only means to fund expensive land maintenance while neighbors in those new houses were demanding use of adjacent timberland for uncompensated entertainment purposes. Building codes, especially septic regulations, made using smaller parcels very difficult. The only thing left to do with big parcels was get out entirely and sell to a developer with the connections necessary to get permits. It should be no surprise who was behind those zoning laws and regulations. It was local developers and the construction industry cashing in on a closed game which paid more taxes than did timber.
I had gone through the usual loop of thinking that better laws would fix the problem. But, when I saw how deeply even local government, supposedly the most transparent and accessible level of government, was so corrupt, so deviously manipulated, in ways that even the politicians immersed in the game did not understand, that is when I finally understood just how dangerous collective control of private property really is. As I learned more about the global scale of this resource manipulation racket, particularly as regards the UN Agenda21, it was shattering.
I wept, for my country and for my witless assent to the very same corrupt belief systems, the purpose for which I had since discovered. For the first time in thirty years, I prayed for an answer. The answers came, in bits and pieces. Theory gave way to example. After that, the hard part was getting at the questions by which to make the solutions realistic to implement. The process took nearly four years. As I said, my wife is a saint.
SUNNI: And you're amazingly persistent! I think a lot of people are casual environmentalists -- that is, they enjoy nature to some degree, but don't see themselves as part of today's environmentalism movement. It seems to me that you said somewhere in the book that today's environmentalists are pretty far removed from, say, the founders of the Sierra Club or Greenpeace. If my memory on that is accurate, how have they deviated from the early environmental movement, in your opinion?
MARK: That's not what I meant at all. What I was pointing out is that the environmental movement over the last fifty years has deviated from its John Muir/Teddy Roosevelt/CCC conservationist heritage and has become a self-aggrandizing religion of misanthropic avarice operating on the belief that anything humans do in nature must be harmful. Environmentalists, especially in resource agencies, are so afraid of doing any harm that they tie themselves in knots while obvious damage of mandated neglect continues to progress, too often on a scale so enormous as to make whatever efforts they finally take totally futile. Somehow, they spend an awful lot of money while they're at it.
SUNNI: Sorry, Mark, I phrased my question poorly, but I think you answered it okay anyway. I meant that the leaders of today's environmental organizations have strayed from that heritage, as you said. That probably leads people like me, who love nature and who love to see people working their land responsibly, not to even try to get involved -- I know I think it'd be a total waste of time, because of my perception that "hard core" environmentalists won't listen to someone like me who questions their dogma, let alone someone who espouses private, market-based solutions rather than more state interference. So it seems the "casual environmentalists", as I called them, are much quieter right now, but there are a lot of them out there. At least, I hope there are ...
MARK: You've touched on something important, the way often dishonestly portrayed positions within a technical debate alienates people from their accountability in a democratically controlled system. Because the uninvolved suspect the activists on either side are blowing smoke for reasons they cannot fathom, and know they don't know enough about environmental issues to be making decisions, they check out of the debate, usually with a bias toward one side or the other. That means they don't know what they have at stake in the way environmental activism affects their lives. If they knew the cost in transportation, energy, housing, etc, they'd be outraged, never mind the environmental damage that's been done. For example, just the money to change buried gasoline tanks in California from steel to plastic was enough to pay for full tuition for every kid enrolled in a state college or university. Oil companies wanted that change because it put mom and pop station owners out of business. Oil companies and their "environmental activist" stooges in the Natural Resources Defense Council advocated for MTBE to be mandated into the gasoline, even though the oil companies knew the stuff would leak through those new plastic tanks. Now the public is paying even more to clean that up too, whether in taxes or higher fuel costs. The problem isn't that oil companies are evil; it's that government has the power to specify their products and absolve the producers of responsibility for the consequences, just as Congress indemnified the producers of MTBE in advance of its introduction.
SUNNI: Wow, Mark. No wonder we casual environmentalists feel in over our heads. So, how did we get left behind, do you think? Was it a dilution of the ideas as the movement became popular? Or were there some problems with the original environmental movement when it sprang up in the 60s?
MARK: Environmental regulatory perfidy was working in the halls of excessive power long before any public awakening in the 1960s. As you probably read in the book, the Congressional Record on the ratification of an environmental treaty, The Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western Hemisphere [PDF file] received no recorded vote, no record of a quorum, and a cover letter from Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, that lied outright about the virtually unlimited (and unconstitutional) regulatory powers it emplaced in both the Congress and administrative government. That was in 1941.
While campus leadership developed in the 60s, the popular movement really got going in the '70s. It was set up by very wealthy people with an interest in using government to control access to resources for fun and profit. They set up charitable foundations posing as environmental charities. Those supply grants to universities to generate useful science, more grants to activist groups posing as the public, and more grants to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) full of lawyers with which to bring suit against agencies with every reason to lose those suits because they get a non-discretionary budget to "comply with the order" as a part of the usual consent decree. It is akin to a vertically integrated, tax-exempt resource racketeering system operating on much the same economic principles that date from the days of the European mercantilists.
Remember that when Lenin first took over Russia, one of his first moves was land use control in the name of scientific environmental protection. The policy was articulated in two documents, On Land and On Forests, with goals, means, and justifications very similar to the current Wildlands Project here in the USA. With those tools, Lenin successfully implemented land use policies that starved 22 million recalcitrant Kulaks. So I guess it's no surprise to see environmentalism first crop up in America among the Stalinists within the Roosevelt Department of State, and then surface at the universities in the '60s as a tentacle of cultural Marxism.
SUNNI: Wow. I knew a little about the land control in the Soviet Union, but very little. So, at the risk of going conspiracy theory in some readers' eyes, do you think it's a coincidence that there are parallels here?
MARK: It is a legitimate question how much of what the environmental movement does is for purely ideological reasons as opposed to manipulation. My take is that it's both, with much of the latter arising out of normal human opportunism. Still, to assume that people in power don't conspire would be plainly silly; it is after all, a time-tested way to stay on top at relatively low risk -- until the system collapses. I'm not one who believes in one grand conspiracy, but rather more of a feeding frenzy among those with means who believe that it's the only way to survive in business while they fan their egos at cocktail parties. Still, that it was set up the way it was, when one considers who was driving it, and then you see the games being played now which are CLEARLY profit driven, you can't help but think that there were some very smart people planning ahead. Orwell warned us explicitly of such a conspiracy between the left and the capitalist class in his first book, Homage to Catalonia, written in 1933. Wait just a second while I pull up that quote ...
Between the Communists and those who claim to stand to the Left of them there is a real difference. The Communists hold that Fascism can be beaten by alliance with sections of the capitalist class (the Popular Front); their opponents hold that this maneuver simply gives Fascism new breeding-grounds. The question has got to be settled; to make the wrong decision may be to land ourselves in for centuries of semi-slavery.
Personally, I think the question has been settled: the financiers of the left have been instituting totalitarianism since the days of the Frankfurt School and the Spartakusbund in pre-WWII Germany; but its latter day useful idiots quite apparently haven't figured that out.
SUNNI: An environmentalist-engineer who knows his history -- you're proving more than I bargained for, Mark! Do you think there's any way to reach out to environmentalists of today, to convince them that consumption doesn't necessarily equal devastation, or to get them to even listen to free-market alternatives such as yours? Or will it take a serious free-market environmental counter-movement to get them to pay attention?
MARK: I think it's a three-step process. First, at every opportunity, point out the scale and depth of habitat degradation at the hands of environmental agencies complaining of a chronic lack of funds. No industry has ever had the power to make environmental mistakes on the scale of which government is uniquely capable. No industry would ever load a job with such extravagant overhead. It may become increasingly difficult to get that story out to the general public when public lands are closed off to all human entry as is proposed in the Wildlands Project (whose "connecting corridors" are virtually guaranteed to be conduits for pestilence on an unprecedented scale).
Second: If we can get that story across, show them how they're being played for chumps by the very big businesses they said were the problem in the first place.
Then, draw them to a solution: show them the potential for an honest buck as a small business in a free enterprise alternative system.
SUNNI: I suppose we shouldn't go farther without me asking you about your reactions to the recent Kelo decision by the Supreme Court. What's your take on that?
MARK: Most people think Kelo is about the Fifth Amendment, but the original interpretation of the Bill of Rights didn't apply to the state and local governments at all, except to defer all powers not enumerated in the Constitution to the states or the people. Thus the state power to take property by eminent domain goes as far back as the early 19th century barge canals in the East and Midwest and really got cooking with the railroads. Abraham Lincoln made his name as a lawyer rigging precisely such deals. The results were that Eastern investors got rich in the name of "the public good" while rural landowners and small land speculators got "just compensation" -- if, and only if, their respective states held to that principle; often it was a lot worse than that. Thus the only thing different about Kelo as far as the original understanding of the Fifth Amendment is concerned, is that it involves people's houses.
SUNNI: Your observation of Easterners getting rich under early eminent domain takings is somewhat relevant today still, don't you think, Mark? It seems to me that many people who live in the West -- the real West, not trendy towns like Aspen or Jackson Hole -- see the environmental movement as increasingly a move by people who don't live here, and agencies with offices in D.C., to control their lands, when they've never even set foot on them, and can't possibly know the land with the intimacy a resident owner has.
MARK: Absolutely it's relevant, particularly as regards Eastern control of the Senate and the use of treaty law to effect environmental regulatory powers. Many of the same Eastern families driving the land grab policy in the West today were doing it a hundred fifty years ago with easy access to federal lands. Sadly, the gentrification of the West we are seeing now has a bunch of those same urbanites buying up ranch land with no idea how or inclination to manage it properly.
Back to Kelo for a moment. The legal problem essential to Kelo is the Supreme Court's Orwellian selective incorporation doctrine as regards the Fourteenth Amendment. It is "selective" in that "equal protection" of specific "privileges and immunities" listed in the Bill of Rights applies only to those cases as determined by the whim of the Supreme Court by how they read the tea leaves in the first ten amendments. As the resulting federal powers have broadened, people have become so used to expecting an intrusive Supreme Court to protect individual rights that they expected Fourteenth Amendment privileges and immunities to include Fifth Amendment protection of individuals from local government takings. In fact, it never has done so before, preferring to leave matters of property rights to the states. Thus, this Court's majority opinion interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment as regards the Fifth is consistent with the selective incorporation doctrine over the last eighty years. The same has been true of the Second Amendment, which should scare the hell out of any gun rights advocate.
My opinion on this conundrum is that the powers Fourteenth Amendment granted to the Federal government (to protect individual rights via the courts) have their perverse consequences: People rightly don't pay as much attention to their state and local representatives when they know that every law is subject to the very slow, expensive, remote, and seemingly indomitable powers exerted by Federal courts. The mere existence of the judicial option inhibits self-government: Everybody's hands are tied, nobody can make a decision, and your vote doesn't matter much anyway because some judge can toss out the law. In that regard, the selective incorporation doctrine of the 14th Amendment is an evil. It may have imposed corrective measures for structural racism in the States, but one can't say race relations are all that much better because of them, while the Feds have gained powers they rightly shouldn't have. The people should have paid more attention to their own State laws. Now, with Kelo, some people surely will as we have already seen in several states. So, in that respect, Kelo is not all bad news.
SUNNI: Yes, I'm seeing indications of that refocusing on state law happening. But wouldn't it have been better for the Court to have refused to hear the case -- keeping it a matter of state law, rather than taking it federal? Their ruling really was a severe blow against the Bill of Rights. And I just read somewhere that the Institute for Justice has filed for a re-hearing of Kelo at the Supreme Court ...
MARK: It was a blow in that the interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment property rights advocates anticipated, extending Federal protection of property rights to individuals, wasn't adopted. It effectively cemented the status quo ante, particularly common here in California. Now, I'm not happy at all about the consequences of the ruling, but I'm cautious where desirable ends are pursued by dubious means. We already have too much federal power expressed through the courts and need to make local government more meaningful to voters, else they'll keep asking for control of other people's land, expecting there won't be any adverse consequences when it comes to their houses. While it's true that federal power has addressed injustices visited by some states, it is also true that we don't optimize the blessings of freedom by competition because federal mandates so heavily constrain deviations from established norms by local governments.
SUNNI: Good points, Mark. Time and again in Natural Process, you point out that individual property owners are often the best stewards of the land, especially when compared with the EPA and other government bureaucrats whose diktats are arbitrary and inflexible. And that makes perfect sense: it's the owner's nest, so to speak, so they've a vested interest in keeping the land decent. How, especially in this country, did we shift from personal stewardship to idiotic regulations controlling land management?
MARK: As opposed to "how" -- which is a very long story -- let's stick with "why". Regulations are a very profitable way to manipulate the market for those with the political clout to manipulate the government. The power to regulate is the power to put your competitors out of business. Regulations reflect the interests of the politically dominant and not necessarily the benefit of the asset at risk. Once agencies gain control, usually via the courts, they are then constrained by the means they used to take control: laws supposedly precluding harm to the asset at risk. The precautionary principle then mandates that no harm can be done, when inaction is often the worst thing anyone could do! The bureaucrats are protecting but one element in a complex system of competing risks with continued funding justified by continuing problems! Finally, virtually nobody in a bureaucracy is fired for incompetence. That's why the diktats of the resource agencies are inflexible.
It's no way to run an airline, so expecting it to work efficiently for something as complex as managing natural habitat is plainly silly.
SUNNI: Agreed. At the risk of getting me started on the precautionary principle, your answer highlights some interrelated, tricky subtleties of land management. The definition of "doing no harm" changes, of course, depending upon whose context is being considered. Bureaucrats love to point to their habitat-preserving rules, but ignore the fact that they often destroy property values -- and many people rely on their property as a sort of investment, something to get value from by use or selling it. You've pointed out that doing nothing doesn't equate with doing no harm ... and what's viewed as harm changes, as we understand better the many, complex dynamics at work in the environment. Forest fires used to be considered very bad for forests, until research began to show that they promoted new growth, and in fact do a lot of good. And as you say, these rules address only one element of a complicated system, and often treat it as a static element at that! It's mind-boggling to think of the harm being done now, let alone into the future, as the regulations get amended and expanded, rather than tossed in the dustbin. It's likely to be worse than Internal Revenue Code!
SUNNI: As far as I've seen in your book, the focus is primarily on the land, and plant resources that can be harvested from it -- timber and so forth. What's your view of protecting endangered species, plants and animals? Isn't that rather close to playing God?
MARK: It is rather funny that dogmatic evolutionists are also hell bent on halting natural selection. I'm going to quote Natural Process from a discussion about the Convention on Nature Protection mentioned above:
Nature is a dynamic, adaptive, and competitive system. Under changing conditions, some species go extinct, indeed, for natural selection to operate, they must. The problem arises when human influence grows so powerful that one can always attribute loss of a species to being "within man's control." When humans ask, "Which ones lose?" the treaty specifies, "None," and demands no limit to the commitment to save them all. This of course destroys the ability to act as agent to save anything, much less objectively evaluate how best to expend our resources to do the best that can be done.
SUNNI: Powerful point there, but it doesn't appear that many understand that, Mark. And it's gotta be true that people's emotional attachments to some animals, whether they're attractive, like pandas and tigers, or tasty, like salmon, lead them to want to do something to keep those critters around. Is there something inherently wrong with trying to keep some species around? Or is it simply that laws like the Endangered Species Act are the wrong way -- because they aren't private efforts -- to try to accomplish that goal?
MARK: Actually, I think people do understand the central tenets of natural selection. Unfortunately, they have become so accustomed to holding "endangered species" in a separate context that they don't experience any cognitive dissonance as regards natural selection, simply because communications media tend to shape the things distracted people think about (as well as what they don't think about). Still, even when confronted with that paradox, they rightly prefer conservatism in the face of ignorance. People do exert massive influences on natural habitat, extinction is, after all, permanent, and the issues are complex.
As to emotional attachment to various species, even brilliant people can derive any number of internally logical arguments founded in emotional constructs and there's nothing wrong with that. It's an important aspect of being human and a means by which we have historically dealt with unknowns. It produces diversity in the face of uncertainty which is a tried and true strategy. That points out yet another thing wrong with a global orthodoxy. Even so, people desperate to prove how "sensitive" they are via their ability to care for the seemingly insignificant show themselves more than willing to get all worked up over some small variation in tarweed, a species that is so dynamic, rugged, varied, and adapted to disturbance that it is in no danger of extinction unless it is protected from any disturbance.
This is where markets that measure the interactions of species and integrate into the decision matrix the recovery cost discounted by the probability of the need for restoration versus purchasing contracts for use of offsetting habitat come in. That gets people acting logically on logical elements without having to confront the total complexity of the problem. If a species gets scarce, the price offered for restoration or offset then goes up. If no one will bid the contract to protect it because the allocated budget can only support other recovery efforts with a better chance of success, that defuses emotional concerns as well.
SUNNI: It amused me to see that you mention ISO standards in your chapter Getting Off on Good Behavior. I've a friend in a manufacturing industry, and regularly hear of ISO idiocies -- rules that fill notebooks and codify practices, but don't help the company produce better, cheaper products. A lot of people tout it as good for industry, but it's still a quasi-government solution, since it derives from the UN through UNESCO. Won't that kind of "solution" be more common if America was to try to move from government-mandated regulation and oversight to privately-written certification standards and compliance testing?
MARK: I once conceived and implemented an ISO 9001 compliant design control system for a medical device manufacturer because they didn't have one and I had a project that was required to comply. It was a very simple, menu-driven system that kept stupid paperwork to a minimum but assured appropriate disclosure on my part as a project manager. That disclosure also assured inescapable management accountability for a decision (which didn't make me popular with management). So I can say with some authority that much of what your friend experiences is, to some degree, probably self-inflicted on the part of his industry.
ISO scares the hell out of managers, so, they usually hire consultants or internal specialists to help them qualify. The consultants, if they're smart, make the system convoluted because that makes for the gift that keeps on giving. Once those precedents are set, they become the standards the ISO auditors look for. The whole thing produces a paper trail that isn't that productive for anybody but the lawyers who come in to sue when -- not if -- something goes wrong anyway -- which shouldn't be surprising seeing as everybody is forced into obsessing about compliance instead of focusing on the product. Some global corporations love ISO; it makes the rules the same no matter where you locate. It makes purchasing compliant parts and sub-assemblies far less of a headache and makes it possible to do discovery on one that provides a bad product. But there is a dark side to that love affair as well: ISO gives a big advantage to big companies because of economies of scale in the paperwork and legal business. Doesn't that sound familiar?
SUNNI: [chuckling] All too awfully familiar. But do you think it's really the case that we need such institutionalized oversight to standardize items? My friend and I were talking about this just the other day; he was telling me how crappy regular screws are in general, and that crosspoint screws are better, because of that small design improvement to the screw head. I asked him why the older kind are still used, if crosspoint is so superior, and his answer was, essentially, "Standardization". Surely that dynamic is still in play ... it probably even plays out faster, with improved communication and supply lines.
MARK: Standardization has become less important than it once was, just as converting America to the metric system was eventually dropped. Computers make it so easy to deal with the differences that the cost of converting all those English unit aircraft wasn't worth the ease of calculations and common standards. Further, the trend toward automation, "build to order," "mass customization," "just in time," minimum inventories, and fantastic improvements in reliability have minimized the need for transferable spare parts. Where we used to need standardized bolts as part of maintaining things, new assembled products are so much better and so cheap that we just toss the old and buy new instead of needing boxes of bolts with which to do repairs. If you do need parts, buy them from the manufacturer off the web and get them by FedEx the next day. You then don't need to care so much about standardized bolts.
SUNNI: In my education I spent a lot of time learning research methods, and using them in the research lab. Later, while teaching undergrad research methods, I saw how little of the scientific process my students really understood. The general populace seems to understand it even less. How much do you think the country's declining scientific literacy contributes to the bamboozlement of mainstream Americans? Is there any way to counter that?
Mark: Wow, you don't ask small questions, do you? You do realize you're asking a guy with an opinion on everything? [laughs]
SUNNI: [laughing] No, I don't -- I despise those fluff interviews that stick to shallow, safe topics in 2000 words or fewer. I saw, through your book and our interactions on LF, that you're not just a guy with opinions, but an intelligent, thoughtful person who's doing all kinds of interesting things. I'd much rather delve into that stuff than we just stroke each other's egos, and name-drop, and all that other crap that often passes as an interview. So, fire away with those opinions!
MARK: Tell a friend. Speaking of name dropping, Michael Crichton has proposed solving the politicized science problem by separating scientists in some form of institute isolated from political forces so that they wouldn't be biased (as if that were possible), but he isn't talking about human beings who necessarily bring their biases into their work. Emotion and opinion are integral parts of what gives a human being the drive to do the research in the first place. Our preconceived notions are what generates hypotheses. So given that scientists must to some degree, suffer from subjectivity, it's best that they represent diversified interests and compete to find optimal applications for their ideas. Just as in nature, everybody then finds their niche instead of being forced to conform to a necessarily dangerous orthodoxy.
There's a whole section in the book discussing how politicizing science and deliberate dumbing down have more adverse consequences than just misapplication of technical facts in order to advance an agenda. There is the obvious fact that people doing technical grunt work in the environment aren't intellectually capable of dealing with the complexity -- and tie up highly trained people doing work that they should be able to delegate. But the real damage done by our educational system arises from what we don't know because political orthodoxy precludes research on questions that don't get asked.
Consider atmospheric carbon dioxide. The longer scientists study climate change, the more vanishingly small the human contribution of CO2 appears to be when compared to variations in solar radiance. So what do the scientists do? They argue over the fractions of a degree of that minor human contribution to the exclusion of anything else because that's where the grant money is. Meanwhile, there are real environmental consequences to atmospheric carbon enrichment that don't get studied because government funding goes toward justifying very profitable "free" markets trading carbon credits funded with what is effectively tax money.
As no responsible scientist disputes, added carbon dioxide accelerates the growth of most plants. Farmers obviously consider it a good thing. On the other hand, carbon enrichment has accelerated forest growth by an estimated 65% over what it was in 1900. Carbon dioxide enrichment also reduces drought stress in seedlings so that more of them survive every year. More snow hangs in more tree branches and sublimates into the atmosphere, so less water reaches the ground and gets into the water table. Later in the summer, more water competition among more trees releases far less water into streams. That dries up streams and kills often endangered juvenile fish, not to mention competing plants that supply food to animals that don't eat trees.
140 million acres of National Forests are now so overstocked that they are at risk of catastrophic fire. The Federal government proposes to spend $100 billion to treat but a small fraction of what could be -- but for environmental lawsuits (sponsored by the tax-exempt "charitable" foundations of families with investments in the petrochemical energy business) -- vast amounts of biomass fuel. It affects the price we pay for housing, water, chemicals, and energy, while huge catastrophic fires destroy soils, and water quality. Those consequences of atmospheric carbon enrichment and socialized forests are huge. Nobody says anything.
SUNNI: No kidding nobody's saying anything about all that!
MARK: The problem is that with the ability to control access to resources the financial stakes are so high that grant funding reflects the interests of those contributing the money. Grant funding for politicized science thus kills the diversity of technical approaches we need, for exactly the same reasons we need biodiversity: applicability to a wide variety of circumstances, newly discovered problems, and unpredictable change.
The only way to counter the source of that problem is to devolve the public preference for government schooling, even at the university level. Public schooling trains people to be narrow specialists and to look to authority for the answers -- in other words it trains them not to think outside the box. People have been trying to fix it for fifty years. It can't be fixed. The hard part is to get out of this mess without going through a collapse so that the kids currently enrolled in the system don't have to suffer the consequences.
As home educators have grown in number, they have been organizing into loosely knit education cooperatives that point to a new form of public education: decentralized, customer-oriented learning networks, using customized products designed to meet individual interests and abilities. That promises what 21st century education could become: a multi-disciplinary market of customized learning services. We're already starting to see this transformation. Software and curriculum companies are finding a growing market of home school customers committed to gaining competitive advantages. Colleges and universities are offering online degrees because they need superior students to assure productive graduates. Superior teachers could get rich transmitting their ideas and methods to a mass market over the internet.
So how can home education benefit children now in public schools? The state can use private and home education markets as if each school was an R&D laboratory developing and testing learning tools and services for future service providers. Parents on public school boards could select from among a range of guaranteed products that the State would fund. Insurance on the guarantee would cover the cost of remedial education if the product fails to meet warranted performance. It is a gradual transformation, from experimenting on our children with untested academic theories, to contracting for innovative tools and methods that have been proven in the marketplace. Of course, any company offering such a guarantee would demand control over how it is delivered. Most would have to rely upon their own employees trained in the methods they offer; else they could not be forced to warrant their product ... It's a way of privatizing the schools from within, subject by subject, contract by contract, child by individual child, meeting individual needs. You read it here first.
SUNNI: A very interesting idea, Mark; I'll have to think about that. Back on scientists for a moment, the fog-drip article on your Natural Process web site has a great example of a scientist who's an expert in a specific area being used to push an agenda that his expertise doesn't cover. It seems that happens quite frequently. That, along with the differing opinions scientists have on opposing theories, has to add to the mistrust of scientists ...
MARK: For good reason too. The real problem is that, in a world run by lawyers where decisions are win/lose and can't be changed easily because of precedent, you can't find people who'll pay to do science without an eye to winning a case. Never mind developing a technical policy that can manage dynamic competing risks as appropriate to an enormous variety of individual circumstances with numerous unknowns. Paradoxically, neither can you allow scientists to do whatever they want, because we do have a need to focus research into applications that fund the research. Markets can deal with both problems, but somehow the government thinks a "free market" solution should be controlled with political price fixing! They just don't get it.
MARK: Not entirely. I think their focus on the health of soils is good, particularly the balance of mineral availability. Organic pest prevention measures are also useful. On the other hand, their -- from what I've seen -- increasing tolerance for weeds that spread from the farms into wildlands is intolerable. I also think the health claims for organic vegetables are exaggerated, especially when the history of how they were handled until sold is unknown. Almost all plants produce toxins by which to preclude or inhibit pest attack. The plants increase production of those toxins when they are attacked, which includes being harvested. Some of these natural chemicals are nasty carcinogens that have developed over eons to be as effective as possible (one reason why so many insects are host-specific). Humans eat 5,000 to 10,000 times the amount (by weight) of these natural carcinogens than they do of pesticides, most of which have been specifically developed to do minimal harm to non-target species such as people. My preference is to minimize total toxicity in food from both natural and artificial sources. I would like to see farmers have full access to pesticides priced by the risks they pose, with the extra markup dedicated by the insurer to reducing or offsetting those risks instead of government paperwork -- which InsCert can handle in principle. That motivates investment to make the delivered cost cheaper at lower total risk.
I would also like to see more branding and timestamp labeling on fresh food so that the consumer knows who grew it and where. Mineral assays would be valuable too. That would give market incentive to locally grown, high-quality food. With farmers in the greenbelt and open space businesses (instead of tax supported real estate developers manipulating unproductive open space districts at public expense), we might see food grown closer to the consumer. The internet could help both farmer and consumer by facilitating direct purchase and delivery from suppliers. There are civil defense advantages to this concept. A farmer, rancher, or timber landowner located near an urban area could sell contracts for refuge to urban residents should there be a significant act of war or terrorism. People would know where to go and the landowner would have the supplies on hand to care for them. As I said, I'm looking to create opportunities for landowners where incompetent government monopolies now reign.
SUNNI: Another very interesting idea, Mark. I think many individuals see someone who's an environmentalist and wrongly assumes that the person is also anti-technology, or anti-progress. But recent work reveals all kinds of amazing things about how specific plants and animals fill certain needs -- I'm thinking of phytoremediation as one example. You're clearly a technologically-minded environmentalist. How did you meld the two -- or was that ever even an issue for you?
MARK: Technology produces the wealth that funds care for nature. It also creates lower-impact substitutes for raw materials and could do a lot more to reduce the cost of doing a better job of stewardship. That is where markets can induce the disciplined investment by which to provide net benefit reducing the cost of environmental risk. Anybody can come up with a good widget, but if it's too unsafe the risks can outweigh the benefits. The same can be said of products or processes that affect our surroundings. The important thing is to make an objective measurement of that impact. If the impact is high, either don't do it or reduce the cost of either the impact directly or redressing it later. The development of mining technologies using cemented backfill instead of an open pit illustrates that tradeoff well.
SUNNI: Although I'm interested in environmental issues, I don't have time to keep up with everything I'm interested in and this is an area that's slipped. I'm familiar with some good efforts, such as the Aldo Leopold Foundation. What other private or free-market environmental groups can you recommend to individuals who are interested in getting involved?
MARK: Nobody has time to keep up with everything, which is why direct democracy doesn't work. The more complex the issue, the more that is true. Environmental issues are enormously complex. Confining their scope is a good reason to keep the focus on these issues local. Helping local property rights groups is probably the best way to get involved. They need the help more and are closer to the problems. There are national organizations: Treekeepers, The Wilderness Institute, your state Grange, the Discovery Institute, the Environmental Conservation Organization, the Thoreau Institute, PERC, CEI, National Center for Public Policy Research, and they may be able to help point people toward local groups.
SUNNI: A good list -- I'm familiar with several of those organizations. Mark, your work seems to me to involve the most challenging elements a freedom-lover could face. I mean, in environmentalism you're facing not just the socialist command-and-control mindset, but also one that's much more actively hostile to private solutions. Most environmentalists probably think there's no way a corporate CEO would care about environmental issues unless the force of law was breathing down his neck ... or that developers would always slash, burn, drain, and level the landscape in order to cram houses on a site as tightly as possible unless green space was mandated. How does your message make headway against that? Have you successfully persuaded "watermelons" that market solutions are better than legislated ones?
MARK: As far as the personal challenges are concerned, a twisted sense of humor really helps -- or hurts depending upon the pun. No persuasion of a committed environmentalist can even begin without operating from a position of moral authority from a technical perspective. Without my land recovering as it is, I have none. Without evidence of commitment, having endured the expense, danger, tedium, and frustration of thinning forests, and weeding for months on end, it's hard to get them to listen. The knowledge derived from that work is essential to getting them to understand the tangible reality of what I'm telling them on the technical side, else I will be unable to reveal the way they've been had. There is no substitute for hands-on technical knowledge to convince them that simple preservation won't work; i.e., people have to do something to restore historic damage or prevent future problems. So, if one doesn't understand much about such things, I would go find a volunteer restoration group and work with them for a while.
Once that rapport is established with an activist, it's a matter of getting them to understand what isn't working, who's gaming the system, why, and how they've been used by the very same big corporations they decry. It's possible, but you've got to know more about it than they do and be able to handle every eco-fable they've got. Most can't take too much in one sitting. You have to be patient but firm. Then pose the questions that nobody seems to ask:
Who is best qualified to do that work?
How can it be funded most efficiently?
How does the public have confidence that they know what they are doing? and
Who pays for the inevitable mistakes and makes sure they get fixed?
The answers will change over time. My purpose is for free enterprise to slowly displace government management as we learn how to handle ever bigger markets.
With the CEO, it's a matter of co-aligning their interests with those of the planet, which isn't as hard a sell as it used to be. Most corporate executives know that a healthy planet produces greater wealth. They also know that corruption misallocates capital resources into inefficient uses. There is a profit to be made in reducing risk to producing assets and that means understanding the role of all operating constituents. A properly structured market system motivates all of that. The prerequisites for large-scale change center on two components: tort reform and insurance deregulation. You can't have a market that prices measured risks when those risks are all combined into the same pool. That's where insurance deregulation becomes important. Insurers have to be able to charge individual customers according to the risks associated with the choices customers make (we're not talking about congenital human diseases here). That "measured" risk bears no resemblance to reality when its cost is totally distorted with the cost of tort cases based in precedents produced by those unqualified to make such decisions. On the other hand, automating measurement, transactions, and mediation gets cheaper with volume and applied technology.
My work is directed toward developing the tactics by which to get that ball rolling. I have done a fair amount of work since the book was published that I can't discuss here. As an additional carrot, I think I may have come up with a legal model by which to patent natural process assets (such as medicinal nutrients) that would be extremely profitable while providing motive to invest in healthy natural habitat.
SUNNI: Has there been progress in moving toward InsCert, or something like it? How's it going?
MARK: Well, one thing that's holding it back is the patent application. I filed it three and a half years ago and still there has not even been a first office action. That should tell you something. It's awfully hard to interest venture capital without a way to license the intellectual property. Under the new patent rules (that were written for global corporations with big legal staffs), the term is ticking away without protection while the patent office dithers. I didn't really file in order to be the next Microsoft; it was a defensive move to hinder evil people from ruining a good thing. I don't have the money to defend it. So I fix up the place, teach the kids, dabble a little with inventing, build a communications infrastructure and a library of information, do my legal homework, and bide my time. It's in God's hands; I just do what I'm told.
SUNNI: What do you think it might take to get all federal lands reverted back into private hands? Is that something you want to see?
MARK: Absolutely I want to see it -- almost as much as I'd like to see some crooks go to jail! If you think I'm going to detail that strategy here I may be crazy, but I'm not that dumb.
SUNNI: [laughing] Fair enough, Mark. The closing chapter of your book, Strategy of the Commoners, is inspiring in several areas. After the recent rulings by the Supreme Court, though, I think many might agree with me that part of what you're advocating is doomed to fail -- the deck has been totally stacked against we, the people. How would you respond to those who hold that view? Do you know of cases where individuals have gone for the jugular, as you suggest, and succeeded?
MARK: I'm more hopeful than that, even though I did have some awful despair when I finally understood the implications of total bureaucracy under the United Nations. Still, when I get this, "It's all hopeless," wailing from property rights advocates, I just tell them to go bury their ammunition for the coming battle if they don't want to try a new tack. It may come to that some day, but we're not there yet. Wayne Hage is succeeding, at enormous cost I might add. He thinks I'm on to something. There have been some attempts in the direction I suggest, but none so far use the entire plan I've laid out. Property rights legal advocates keep waiting for these cases to come to them instead of designing a case in advance and collecting the supporting evidence over time in such a way that it has a real chance of winning. I never really expected this to take full effect in my lifetime, but I do think it's inevitable that the socialist model will fail. When it does, maybe I'll still be around to see the free enterprise system take off. I don't care who gets the credit.
SUNNI: What sorts of things do you enjoy for fun, Mark? It's clear that you love the land -- do you get to enjoy yourself hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities?
MARK: I've seen enough of the world to know how blessed I am to live where and how I do. I love teaching my kids how to learn. I'm very proud of the work they've done -- my twelve year old is almost done teaching herself college calculus; both kids are writing a term paper on the fall of Rome from original sources, and sometimes they help me weed. I love opening the eyes of people who've never seen just how crushingly beautiful, varied, and interesting the land really can be, especially revealing its subtleties and little surprises (the orchids this year were amazing). I really like finding that first new weed and getting it before it breeds, almost as much as I hate finding one that blew seed. The most special thing is to witness the return of yet another native species and to see it add to the dynamic tapestry. The worst is to find out my neighbors have another weed.
When I do travel -- such as on a book tour -- I like to find the people who have worked their land all their lives and pump them for information on how its systems and their businesses work. You would be amazed what I learned from a gold miner who likes to build salmon spawning beds with the newly broken-up gravels his dredge discharges; the guy saved a major salmon run almost single-handed. People like that. They're suspicious of me of course, until they find out that I like to tinker. Most everybody loves to garden with nature once they get started. It's one of humanity's better qualities.
SUNNI: It's amazing and inspiring, seeing your children's minds bloom, and being able to help that process. I don't understand how so many people can shuttle their kids between school and endless activities, and never really be with them, enjoy them ... And yeah, getting off the interstates and really experiencing the land is eye-opening. I've been able to do that a fair amount myself, and have come to love the land every place I've done so -- Wyoming, Montana, and Arizona, so far. Sounds like you have an ideal gig going!
MARK: It's pretty idyllic.
SUNNI: Who inspires you?
MARK: Patrick Henry, Wayne Hage, Sibelius ... Tesla, George Washington (and George Washington Harris) ... Ayn Rand, or, better, James J. Hill -- I prefer doers ... but then there are the theoreticians: Aristotle, Jesus Christ, and Bullwinkle! Not to mention Henry Lamb, Thomas Jefferson, or Curly Howard. These are people with the vision, courage, and humor to go on every day, even when alone and things turn ugly.
SUNNI: I've taken up a lot of your time already, but before I go, is there anything else you'd like to say? Something we didn't cover, or a new project you're working on ...?
MARK: My current focus is in developing interactive video as a way to get this message across in a manner that is easily accessible and compelling with easy access to deeper information. It should be a fun challenge.
I'd also like to thank good readers. These are the people who supply questions and want to learn more. The key to writing about a new concept is to understand where their confusion arose, which is usually before they realized they had a question. Good readers will explore that confusion with you and help you get to the truth by which to create solutions. Readers are the best.
SUNNI: I'll go back and start Natural Process from the beginning again, and contribute to that process if I can. Mark, thank you so much for all your time today! It's been an absolute delight to get to know you better, and I hope our paths cross in person someday.
MARK: If you ever come to the Bay Area, the greatest pleasure I get from having done restoration work is to share the beauty revealed when people tend their land. You would be a welcome guest.
It seems you've not only done your homework, you've done several people's homework, AND taken their tests AND written their theses. Are you really only one person??
Seriously, just reading the interview casts into stark relief the disparity between what I know and what I ought to know in order to help precipitate the trend toward a society-wide paradigm shift. I also think much of the political mechanics you discuss are inherently suspected in conservative circles, but it's so much a part of the background noise that it isn't credited with the damage it's doing, nor do I think that the extent of the damage is grasped. This whole thing is like some vicious cancer that rages on, as yet, undiagnosed although symptoms have been evident for quite some time. Sadly, most of our time is spent arguing on the level of which symptom to alleviate, by how much, over what period of time, and what color band-aid to put on it.
It ain't easy bein green and a conservative constitutionalist simultaneously, but the Vande Pol dude is doin it. We need to find him some financial backing that won't try to corrupt his "Natural Process!"
I once was a little suspicious of his ideas when I first met him on FR, but one reading of one of his early drafts of his book rescued me from those dark thoughts!!!
20
posted on 09/06/2005 9:38:52 PM PDT
by SierraWasp
(The only thing that can save CA is making eastern CA the 51st state called Sierra Republic!!!)
"I also think much of the political mechanics you discuss are inherently suspected in conservative circles, but it's so much a part of the background noise that it isn't credited with the damage it's doing, nor do I think that the extent of the damage is grasped."
Could you expand on that theme for me just a bit? This is but one facit that I'm intensely interested in and I don't want to misunderstand what you are getting at. Please. I'm sincere!!!
21
posted on 09/06/2005 10:05:00 PM PDT
by SierraWasp
(The only thing that can save CA is making eastern CA the 51st state called Sierra Republic!!!)
Great post, great read, as a gardener I hate weeds myself, more than the unwelcome pests of all sizes.
Weeds can transform a landscape like nothing else. One of the consequences of labor mobility in our society is that new landowners are unfamiliar with local habitat and can't see the change. Teaching them can be maddening.
I am in the mid-west, is your book relevant to all landowners.
The book relies upon a local case, simply because without that you can't see the evil games played by the local bureaucrats and activists in enough detail to be useful to you. So although it talks about timber, it does template onto any resource management situation. Its discussions of TMDLs and endangered specious, for example, will raise knowing grins. Learning how comical this garbage really is will help empower you in public discourse.
31
posted on 09/07/2005 6:51:25 AM PDT
by Carry_Okie
(The environment is too complex and too important to manage by central planning.)
Seriously, just reading the interview casts into stark relief the disparity between what I know and what I ought to know in order to help precipitate the trend toward a society-wide paradigm shift.
We are suffering from fifty years of brainwashing. I did too. It was a very painful and confusing withdrawal.
The principal reason conservatism doesn't sell is that conservatives usually don't understand how freedom works to solve everyday problems. Even if we could convince the powerless and dispossessed that coercive means eventually backfire, their needs are so immediate that it doesn't matter to them.
32
posted on 09/07/2005 6:55:48 AM PDT
by Carry_Okie
(The environment is too complex and too important to manage by central planning.)
Yep, we conservative ideologues ain't so dumb. Some of us even have a few original ideas.
There's a woman in Jackson, Wyoming named Lani Lamming. Ever heard of her?
Nope.
She and her sons travel constantly with her herds of goats, hired by local govts from Idaho and Montana to Colorado to have them clear weeds in areas where toxic weed killers aren't allowed.
It's a good business. Goats and sheep can be taught which weeds to eat, even in-utero. The chemistry of the plants their mother eats is transmitted through milk as well.
The little we learned from her made me realize what a highly complicated issue weed control is.
Just the visual demands are enough to disqualify many people. The frequency of return visits is also highly variable with slope, sun, and soil. It's WAY too complex for a bureaucracy to manage.
If you want more to read, you can find some at the website: http://www.naturalprocess.net. I've finally got my new 'puter up and running to maintain it, so there will be some new material going up there soon.
34
posted on 09/07/2005 7:04:49 AM PDT
by Carry_Okie
(The environment is too complex and too important to manage by central planning.)
Awe and Admiration BTT. I am in complete agreement concerning the duties of land ownership. It ends up owning you. Guess that's part of the deal.
Thanks Bill, that brought tears to my eyes, really. It doesn't matter how much it hurts, does it? You've just got to do it or it gets worse. The hardest part is being slowly surrounded by negligence and stupidity.
36
posted on 09/07/2005 7:08:19 AM PDT
by Carry_Okie
(The environment is too complex and too important to manage by central planning.)
Your interview supplied many a sad grin. Our mere 3 acres was rural enough yet considered civilized when we the bank and the county took possession. The continuous problem I encounter is the weed seeds continuous blowing from the neighborhood, all are 3 + acre lots. Every time a lawn mower gets moving I see the results landing atop my above ground pool.
Land ownership is indeed very labor intensive, which is one of the reasons I think the trend is in huge houses place upon very tiny lots.
Sadly from my experience involving land management one never knows who exactly they are dealing with until the agreement gets published as legal decree. Conservatives sometimes only see "capitalism" the dollars, as a sign of progress, and fail to see the small print, which isn't capitalism at all.
Would that be the stickers with the cork-screw tails? If so, that would be filaree. Filaree is very popular with people with grazing animals, as it has a very high protien content. It's a tough weed, resistant to a good many herbicides. You can spray it, it will burn off, and then it puts up a single flower with hardly any leaves which makes it hard to see. I've beaten it back with RoundUp, but only very slowly. SpeedZone Southern works, but requires a Pest Control Applicator's license to purchase. Timing is critical, you have to get the plant in active growth in the early season. Soil temperature is the critical indicator.
A combination of perrennial grasses and pre-emergence and selective herbicides (such as SpeedZone) should work, but I have never attacked a large infestation.
If you don't like burrs, keep your eyes open for the bedstraws and hedge parsley. Both are spreading rapidly in Santa Cruz, thanks to County mowers. If you need photos to help identify these plants, send me a FReepmail with your email address and I can provide them to you.
Finally, if the burrs look like little bananas, that would be tarweed, which is native and a good soil conditioner. The best long-term management against tarweeds is good perrenial groundcovers, as the seedling is relatively non-competitive. One reason so many tarweed species are endangered is that government "protects" them by precluding soil disturbance they need to get started.
42
posted on 09/07/2005 7:46:54 AM PDT
by Carry_Okie
(The environment is too complex and too important to manage by central planning.)
That corkscrew tail filaree sounds like it. The leaves also have stickers on them, kind of like nettle. There's even a third sticker-thingie that they produce before the corkscrews. I used to have them somewhat under control until this year. I think the heavy rains triggered a comeback of them. Thanks for the info.
43
posted on 09/07/2005 7:57:55 AM PDT
by EggsAckley
("The pump don't work 'cause the vandals took the handle")
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. |
Introduction {#S0001}
============
Cervical cancer screening (CCS) targets the reduction of cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates \[[@CIT0001]\]. Unfortunately, in Eastern Europe cervical cancer is still a considerable public health problem, with high cancer incidence and low rates of CCS participation \[[@CIT0002]\]. Differences in cervical cancer mortality trends can be plausibly explained by the differences in screening uptake \[[@CIT0003]\].
Cervical cancer screening participation is influenced by women\'s beliefs. Perceived psychosocial barriers are among commonly listed psychosocial determinants of CCS uptake \[[@CIT0004]\]. Perceived barriers predicted performance of 48 different health-related behaviors (including CCS) across 100 different populations \[[@CIT0005]\]. The balance between perceived psychosocial barriers and facilitating factors prompts individuals to form a strong intention and then to act upon the intention \[[@CIT0004]\]. Perceived barriers may refer to the characteristics of the individual (e.g., emotions, skills, self-evaluations), as well as the social (e.g., communication with health professionals) and physical environment (e.g., perceived distance to CCS facilities) \[[@CIT0004], [@CIT0006]\].
Research evaluating the prevalence of perceived psychosocial barriers and their role in CCS uptake yielded diverse conclusions. Systematic reviews aim at integrating and synthesizing the accumulated results by means of collating empirical evidence which fits pre-specified eligibility criteria, using explicit, replicable search and evaluation methods, selected to minimize biases \[[@CIT0007]\]. In sum, systematic reviews allow for a summary of overarching findings after appraising the available evidence \[[@CIT0007]\].
Applying the systematic review strategies, our study aims at integrating research discussing the role of perceived psychosocial barriers in CCS uptake. In particular, we analyzed the evidence for the associations between CCS uptake and perceived psychosocial barriers of any types, and types and frequency of psychosocial barriers identified by women residing in European, North American or Australian continents.
Material and methods {#S0002}
====================
Search procedure {#S20003}
----------------
A systematic search of peer-reviewed journal papers published until 2011 was conducted in PsycINFO, PsychArticles, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, Medline, and ScienceDirect. Applied key-words referred to CCS behavior (e.g., "cervical cancer screening") and barriers. No language restrictions were applied. Manual searches of the reference lists were conducted to identify additional sources. Two reviewers independently screened identified studies (*k* = 655). The search strategies, data abstraction and synthesis used systematic reviews' guidelines \[[@CIT0007]\]. All steps were conducted by two researchers to reduce biases; any discrepancies were resolved by the consensus method \[[@CIT0007]\].
Inclusion and exclusion criteria, categorizing, and data synthesis {#S20004}
------------------------------------------------------------------
The following research was excluded: studies with less than 50 participants, narrative reviews, dissertations, book chapters, studies conducted in Africa, Asia and South America (cultural/health system differences may influence the results \[[@CIT0008]\]), research on objective economic indicators (e.g., actual income), research on ethnic minorities, immigrants, homeless populations. Studies with multicomponent interventions (i.e., interventions combining psychosocial barriers and other components) were excluded. If two or more studies used the same dataset, only one investigation was included. The screening process resulted in selecting 71 publications.
In the next step, the quality assessment was conducted using the quality evaluation tool \[[@CIT0009]\], which allows one to investigate whether original studies adhere to 14 quality criteria, referring to objectives, methods, analyses, confounders, and results. The concordance coefficients for quality assessment were high (κ ≥ 0.71, *ps* \< 0.01). Descriptive data were extracted and verified by two reviewers. In sum, 48 studies met \> 65% of quality criteria \[[@CIT0009]\] and were further analyzed.
For the purpose of data presentation 10 broader barrier categories were proposed, referring to:the physical environment (CCS facilities),individual characteristics (perceived CCS-related financial expenses, time management, other priorities, CCS perceived as not needed, threat related to CCS results, emotional barriers, CCS awareness),social characteristics (a lack of social support, past experiences with health professionals).
Applying meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity of methods. Thus, our analysis focuses on identifying significant findings, replicated in at least 2 studies.
Results {#S0005}
=======
Analyzed studies predominantly applied correlational design (89.6%, *k* = 43), with 10.4% (*k* = 5) using experimental design ([Table 1](#T0001){ref-type="table"}). Data from 155,954 women were analyzed (M = 3249.04, SD = 10832.75, minimum: 62, maximum: 66,425). The majority of studies were conducted in the U.S. (66.7%), 8.3% were conducted in Australia, 8.3% in Western Europe, and 10.4% in Eastern Europe. Across studies, 39.6% enrolled participants from the general adult population, 23.7% focused on women without valid CCS, and 23.7% focused on women aged 40+.
######
Overview of analyzed studies
First author and publication year Methods Main results
---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**Experimental studies**
Valanis *et al*. (2002) \[[@CIT0010]\] 510 women; RCT, 14-month follow-up; intervention: phone-based discussion + leaflets on multiple barriers Significant differences in CCS uptake at follow-up. Participating in the intervention increased the likelihood of CCS: OR = 2.9, CI: 1.7--5.9
Fernbach *et al*. (2002) \[[@CIT0011]\] 1301 Australian women; CT; mass-media campaign discussing multiple barriers No significant effects (Cohen\'s *d* = 0.08)
Corkey *et al*. (2005) \[[@CIT0012]\] 17008 Australian women; 6-month follow-up; automated phone message on multiple barriers Significant effects on CCS: women aged \> 50: 0.16% increase; women aged ≥ 50: 1.35%
Dietrich *et al*. (2007) \[[@CIT0013]\] 1316 women; aged 40 + ; RCT; 6-month follow-up; intervention: individualized phone message on barriers for three types of screening (cervical, colon and breast cancer) Significant effects at follow-up: OR = 1.86 (CI: 1.1--3.21)
Luszczynska *et al*. (2011) \[[@CIT0014]\] 1436 Polish women; RCT, post-test; intervention: leaflet on CCS barriers and benefits Significant increases in CCS intention (Cohen\'s *d* = 0.19)
**Correlational studies**
Peters *et al*. (1989) \[[@CIT0015]\] 200 women with CC diagnosis and 200 women without CC diagnosis A lack of regular CCS associated with embarrassment barriers
Mamon *et al*. (1990) \[[@CIT0016]\] 290 women of lower socio-economic status Frequently reported barriers: CCS is not recommended by the primary care physician
O\'Brien *et al*. (1990) \[[@CIT0017]\] 186 women A lack of regular CCS associated with higher psychosocial barriers
Jubelirer *et al*. (1996) \[[@CIT0018]\] 134 sexually active girls aged 14--18 Frequently reported barriers: shame/embarrassment (64%), discomfort during CCS exam (57%), fear about parents being informed (25%), fear of cancer (27%)
Barling *et al*. (1996) \[[@CIT0019]\] 72 women Frequently reported barriers: embarrassment, discomfort during CCS exam
Price *et al*. (1996) \[[@CIT0020]\] 127 women; no regular CCS participation Frequently reported barriers: forgetting about CCS (32%), not liking CCS examination (32%)
Branoff *et al*. (1997) \[[@CIT0021]\] 214 women; no CCS in prior 3 years Frequently reported barriers: financial costs (65%), shame/embarrassment (38%), unclear information about CCS exam (36%)
Fitch *et al*. (1998) \[[@CIT0022]\] 110 Canadian women Frequently reported barriers: a lack of communication with physicians, physicians lack communication skills, difficulty in obtaining reliable information about CCS, CCS examination unpleasant
Larsen *et al*. (1998) \[[@CIT0023]\] 1725 Danish women Frequently reported barriers: unsatisfactory contacts with physicians, discomfort during CCS examination
Kiefe *et al*. (1998) \[[@CIT0024]\] 1764 women aged 43 + Compared to healthy women those with a chronic disease have 20% lower CCS participation
Yu *et al*. (1998) \[[@CIT0025]\] 650 British women Frequently reported barriers: embarrassment/discomfort during CCS exam
Girgis *et al*. (1999) \[[@CIT0026]\] 788 women living in rural Australia Frequently reported barriers: CCS being performed by a male (28--46%), physician performing CCS is a neighbor/friend (27--34%), long distance to CCS facilities (23--35%), a lack of symptoms (26--35%)
Glasgow *et al*. (2000) \[[@CIT0027]\] 522 women aged 52 + CCS barriers reported as most relevant: being overall healthy/no symptoms (26%), embarrassment (22%), time/location inconvenient (26%), "a bad experience" with previous CCS (31%), don\'t want to know results if they indicate disease (13%), long waiting for CCS exams (13%), family/friends do not perform CCS (9%), it may be anyway too late to apply successful treatment (4%)
Egbert *et al*. (2001) \[[@CIT0028]\] 260 women from rural regions CCS related to lower perceived barriers, higher support for CCS from important persons
Maxwell *et al*. (2001) \[[@CIT0029]\] 33 817 Canadian women Only 0.6% declared that accessibility is a perceived barrier; among women without regular CCS 53% believed they don\'t need CCS
Savage *et al*. (2001) \[[@CIT0030]\] 1200 women aged 50 + CCS participation related to lower barriers
Eaker *et al*. (2001) \[[@CIT0031]\] 944 Swedish women CCS related to lower barriers (i.e., time management, other priorities, other personal issues more important, a lack of symptoms, CCS invitations irritating, being afraid of cancer detection, talking/thinking about cancer increases negative emotions)
Eiser *et al*. (2002) \[[@CIT0032]\] 70 women aged 20--25 CCS participation related to lower perceived barriers
Owen *et al*. (2002) \[[@CIT0033]\] 100 Australian psychiatric patients Frequently reported barriers: shame/embarrassment (18%), prior CCS was an unpleasant experience (12%), CCS facilities difficult to reach (4%), gender of person performing CCS important (51%)
O\'Malley *et al*. (2003) \[[@CIT0034]\] 12024 women aged 50 + Among women with lower socioeconomic status key CCS barriers include additional financial costs and distance to CCS facilities
Smith *et al*. (2003) \[[@CIT0035]\] 68 women Frequently reported barriers: other priorities, embarrassment, being afraid of cancer detection, disgust, problems with making CCS appointment
Finney *et al*. (2004) \[[@CIT0036]\] 66425 women, longitudinal study; 3 measurement points (years 1987, 1992, and 2000) Frequently declared barriers: not sure if in need for CCS (8% in 1987; 11% in 2000); CCS not suggested by primary care physician (3% in 1987; 2% in 2000)
Behbakht *et al*. (2004) \[[@CIT0037]\] 146 women Frequently reported barriers: low support for CCS, fatalism, a belief that it may be too late for a successful treatment
Hewitt *et al*. (2004) \[[@CIT0038]\] 2344 women without CCS in prior 3 years Frequently reported barriers: seeing no reason for CCS (48%), CCS not recommended by primary care physician (10%), no symptoms (9%), additional financial costs (9%), no need for any examinations (8%)
Coronado *et al*. (2004) \[[@CIT0039]\] 764 women Frequently reported barriers: dislike being touched (9--24%), being afraid of cancer detection (19--32%), being afraid of other diseases being detected (19--25%), male physician (31--76%), extra financial costs (37--41%), difficult to leave work earlier (16--22%), transportation (11--22%), long waiting time (17--27%)
Markovic *et al*. (2005) \[[@CIT0040]\] 62 Serbian women Frequently reported barriers: a lack of women-friendly clinics, other personal priorities
Hoyo *et al*. (2005) \[[@CIT0041]\] 144 women aged 45 + Frequently reported barriers: CCS is painful
Walsh *et al*. (2006) \[[@CIT0042]\] 1000 women Barriers related to low CCS participation: CCS is time-consuming, makes me nervous; being afraid before CCS exam
Guilfoyle *et al*. (2007) \[[@CIT0043]\] 98 women aged 50 + Frequently reported barriers: embarrassment, fear of pain, transportation, prior experiences with CCS negative
Liu *et al*. (2008) \[[@CIT0044]\] 630 women aged 40 + Barriers related with low CCS participation: transportation, other health problems
Politi *et al*. (2008) \[[@CIT0045]\] 605 women aged 40 + Barriers related with low CCS: other health problems, transportation, difficulties in organizing childcare
Ross *et al*. (2008) \[[@CIT0046]\] 204 female physicians Frequently reported barriers: time management (36%), no gynecologist providing regular consultations (11%), discomfort if CCS performed at workplace (9%)
Todorova *et al*. (2009) \[[@CIT0002]\] 2152 Bulgarian (BUL) and Romanian (ROM) women Barriers related to low CCS. Frequently reported barriers: physicians are not interested in CCS (16--45%), CCS not recommended by a family physician (23--44%); examination is unpleasant (32--39%), waiting for a long time for the appointment (25--38%), additional financial costs (36--35%)
Waller *et al*. (2009) \[[@CIT0047]\] 580 British women Frequently reported barriers: embarrassment (29%), difficulties in implementing intentions (21%), fear of pain (14%). Barriers related to low CCS: difficulties in making CCS appointment; difficulties in implementing intentions; CSS is not essential; CCS not needed if no sexual activities, low trust in CCS results
Spaczynski *et al*. (2009) \[[@CIT0048]\] 1638 Polish women aged 25--59 (77.5% with valid CCS) Participants asked to indicate one key barrier reported: a lack of time (24%), not liking CCS exam (15%), no need for CCS (7%), long distance to CCS facilities (7%), no date/time specified in CCS invitation (6%), physician unknown and thus unacceptable (6%), fear of CCS exam (4%), difficulties in making appointment (4%), male physician (3%), physician is unacceptable (1%)
Clark *et al*. (2009) \[[@CIT0049]\] 630 women aged 40 + Barriers related to low CCS: presence of other diseases
McAlearney *et al*. (2010) \[[@CIT0050]\] 100 women Frequently reported barriers: additional financial costs
Tello *et al*. (2010) \[[@CIT0051]\] 200 HIV+ women Frequently reported barriers: forgetting (61%), other diseases (52%), difficulties in making appointment (31%), fear of bad news (15%)
Wall *et al*. (2010) \[[@CIT0052]\] 229 Mexican women Barriers related to low CCS participation: it may be anyway too late to apply successful treatment, a partner does not accept CCS
Scarinci *et al*. (2010) \[[@CIT0053]\] 130 women previously diagnosed with cervical pathology Barriers related to low CCS participation: additional costs, difficulties in organizing childcare
Tracy (2010) \[[@CIT0054]\] 225 women Psychosocial barriers related to low CCS participation
Paskett *et al*. (2010) \[[@CIT0055]\] 562 women Barriers related to low CCS participation: high number of stressful events
Ulman-Wlodarz *et al*. (2011) \[[@CIT0056]\] 250 Polish women Participants asked to indicate one key CCS barrier reported: fear of pain (39%), no symptoms (18%), own carelessness (15%), shame (12%), CCS not recommended by a physician (11%) fear of bad news (5%)
Data collected in the U.S., unless indicated otherwise; experimental studies focused on women who did not perform CCS on regular basis; participants of correlation studies were adult women (with or without a recently conducted CCS) through lifespan, unless indicated otherwise
CCS -- cervical cancer screening
Experimental research indicated a significant positive effect of psychosocial barriers interventions on the main outcome in 75% of studies, resulting in an increase of CCS uptake ([Table 1](#T0001){ref-type="table"}). The overall effects were small (Cohen\'s *d* \< 0.19), with the largest study (17 008 participants) showing only a 1% increase of CCS participation. All interventions addressed mixed types of barriers. Therefore the identification of barriers responsible for the observed effect is not possible.
Across correlational research, 41.9% (*k* = 18) analyzed associations between psychosocial barriers and CCS. Overall, 100% of studies which analyzed barrier--CCS relationships indicated that perceiving lower relevance of barriers significantly predicted CCS uptake. The remaining 51.1% of studies focused on eliciting frequently reported barriers, without analyzing barrier--CCS associations.
Overall, 53 psychosocial barriers were listed in at least 2 original correlational studies. Five barriers were related to CCS facilities/environment, 36 dealt with personal characteristics, and 12 addressed social factors. [Table 2](#T0002){ref-type="table"} displays a summary of barriers elicited in the review.
######
A summary of elicited psychosocial barriers
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category Barriers listed in at least 2 studies\ Patients' personal characteristics Social factors
CCS facilities/environment
------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Examples Long distance/transportation to CCS facilities\ Time management (e.g., no childcare replacement);\ Experiences with health professionals (e.g., unsatisfactory contacts with physicians)A lack of social support (e.g., family/friends don\'t support CCS participation)
Difficulties in making appointments Additional costs\
Other priorities (e.g., having other diseases)\
CCS is not needed (e.g., no need if no symptoms)\
Awareness-related barriers (difficulty in obtaining reliable CCS information)\
Emotional barriers dealing with CCS results(e.g., it may be anyway too late to apply successful treatments)\
Emotional barriers referring to examination (e.g., discomfort)
Percent of studies indicating the barrier 9.5% 67.9% 22%
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CCS -- cervical cancer screening
Cervical cancer screening facilities-related perceived barriers referred to: long distance/transportation to CCS facilities (25.6% of correlational studies listed this barrier), difficulties in making a feasible appointment (18.6%), long waiting time (7.0%), long lines (4.7%), and discomfort if CCS is done at the workplace (4.7%).
Personal barriers referring to time management included: no childcare (11.6% of studies), tendencies to procrastinate (11.6%), a lack of time for CCS (9.3%), perceiving CCS as time-consuming (4.7%), and bad weather causing delays (4.7%). Additional costs, related to CCS uptake, were indicated in 23.3% of studies. Barriers related to other priorities included: having other diseases (16.3%), having other priorities (16.3%), and other personal problems (7.0%). The following barriers referring to beliefs that CCS is not needed were elicited: CCS is not needed if there are no symptoms (11.6%), overall no need for CCS (9.3%), not needed for women my age (4.7%), CCS not needed if there is no sexual activity (4.7%), CCS not important (4.7%). Awareness-related barriers included: difficulties in obtaining reliable CCS information (9.3%), a lack of awareness about the need for CCS (7.0%), and confusing CCS information (7.0%). Two remaining barrier categories dealt with emotional aspects. The first one referred to CCS results: beliefs that it may be too late to apply successful treatments (11.6%), being afraid of detecting other diseases (7.0%), unwillingness to learn if results indicate diseases (7.0%), any results perceived as emotionally disturbing (7%), no trust in CCS results (4.7%), being afraid of bad news (4.7%), avoiding problems if CCS is not performed (4.7%), and being afraid of any CCS results (4.7%). Other emotion-related barriers referred to CCS examination and included: shame (11.6%), being afraid of embarrassment (9.3%), embarrassment (9.3%), discomfort (9.3%), CCS being unpleasant (9.3%), being afraid of CCS (9.3%), pain (4.7%), not liking CCS (4.7%), touching during CCS being unpleasant (4.7%), being nervous during CCS (4.7%), and perceiving conversations about CCS as unpleasant (4.7%).
Perceived social barriers, referring to prior experiences with health professionals, included: prior CCS contacts perceived as an overall bad experience (16.3%), male physicians performing CCS (11.6%), CCS not recommended by a family physician (11.6%), unsatisfactory contacts with physicians (7.0%), a lack of women-friendly CCS facilities (4.7%), different physicians performing CCS (4.7%), a lack of CCS discussion with a physician (4.7%), unsatisfactory contacts with healthcare personnel (4.7%), being patronized (4.7%). Barriers referring to social support included: a lack of CCS-related support (4.7%), being afraid that others would learn about results (4.7%), family/friends are not supporting CCS participation (4.7%).
Research targeting women aged 40+ highlighted the importance of perceived problems with transportation/distance to CCS facilities and other diseases perceived as hindering CCS uptake. Both barriers were indicated in 55.6% of studies conducted among middle-to-older age women.
Discussion {#S0006}
==========
The results of the systematic review suggest that perceiving psychosocial barriers is related to lower participation in CCS (100% of reviewed correlational studies). These associations were observed across different samples, such as adolescents, older women, economically disadvantaged groups, female doctors, patients with a chronic illness, women who performed CCS regularly, and those who did not perform CCS.
The majority of simple psychosocial interventions discussing perceived barriers affected CCS participation (75% of reviewed experimental studies). In particular, all interventions using leaflets/handouts or automated phone message resulted in a significant increase of CCS at follow-ups. A media-based campaign had a negligible influence on CCS participation. Importantly, the observed effects of these interventions were small.
In line with previous research \[[@CIT0006]\], a broad range of psychosocial barriers was identified. The majority of barriers dealt with personal characteristics of women (67.9%). In particular, as many as 35.9% of perceived barriers referred to two categories, one referring to negative emotions evoked during CCS examination and the other focusing on negative emotions related to receiving CCS results. Notably, the next broadest category of barriers concerns prior contacts with health professionals (25.7%).
Our findings have some practical implications. Leaflets discussing dealing with barriers women perceive and ways of overcoming those barriers might be a powerful tool to increase CCS uptake and thus reduce cervical cancer mortality rates. Communication skills training for health professionals conducting CCS and primary care physicians may focus on psychosocial barriers reported by patients. Research suggested that compared to standard care, training physicians to discuss psychosocial barriers results in a higher likelihood of implementing health behavior change by their patients \[[@CIT0057]\].
Several limitations of this systematic review result from issues identified in original studies. Trials applied various questionnaires, sampling, and analytical strategies, therefore the heterogeneity in the methodology hinders any conclusions. The character of samples adds to the heterogeneity of the results and limits conclusions about the most frequent type of barriers within specific subsamples. Regardless of the limitations, this systematic review provides an insight into the types of barriers perceived by women and their role in cervical cancer screening uptake.
Both authors were supported with a grant from the Foundation for Polish Science, Master Program.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
|
/* Copyright 2019 The TensorFlow Authors. All Rights Reserved.
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
==============================================================================*/
#include "tensorflow/lite/delegates/utils.h"
#include <vector>
#include <gmock/gmock.h>
#include <gtest/gtest.h>
#include "tensorflow/lite/c/common.h"
namespace tflite {
namespace delegates {
namespace {
TEST(UtilsTest, CreateNewTensorWithDifferentTypeTest) {
std::vector<TfLiteTensor> tensors(2);
// Data about original tensor.
// The same shape should be reflected in tensors[1] later.
tensors[0].dims = TfLiteIntArrayCreate(2);
tensors[0].dims->data[0] = 2;
tensors[0].dims->data[1] = 3;
tensors[0].type = kTfLiteFloat32;
// To simulate a valid TFLite Context.
TfLiteContext context;
context.AddTensors = [](struct TfLiteContext*, int tensors_to_add,
int* first_new_tensor_index) {
// The util should be adding exactly one tensor to the graph.
if (tensors_to_add != 1) {
return kTfLiteError;
}
// This ensures that the 'new tensor' is the second tensor in the vector
// above.
*first_new_tensor_index = 1;
return kTfLiteOk;
};
context.ResizeTensor = [](struct TfLiteContext*, TfLiteTensor* tensor,
TfLiteIntArray* new_size) {
// Ensure dimensions are the same as the original tensor.
if (new_size->size != 2 || new_size->data[0] != 2 || new_size->data[1] != 3)
return kTfLiteError;
tensor->dims = new_size;
return kTfLiteOk;
};
context.tensors = tensors.data();
TfLiteTensor* new_tensor = nullptr;
int new_tensor_index = -1;
EXPECT_EQ(CreateNewTensorWithDifferentType(
&context, /**original_tensor_index**/ 0,
/**new_type**/ kTfLiteUInt8, &new_tensor, &new_tensor_index),
kTfLiteOk);
EXPECT_EQ(new_tensor_index, 1);
EXPECT_NE(new_tensor, nullptr);
EXPECT_NE(new_tensor->dims, nullptr);
EXPECT_EQ(new_tensor->type, kTfLiteUInt8);
EXPECT_EQ(new_tensor->allocation_type, kTfLiteArenaRw);
// Cleanup.
TfLiteIntArrayFree(tensors[0].dims);
TfLiteIntArrayFree(tensors[1].dims);
}
// A mock TfLiteContext to be used for GraphPartitionHelperTest.
class MockTfLiteContext : public TfLiteContext {
public:
MockTfLiteContext() : TfLiteContext({0}) {
// Simply create a 10-node execution plan.
exec_plan_ = TfLiteIntArrayCreate(10);
for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) exec_plan_->data[i] = i;
// Create {1}, {0,3,7,8}, {2,4,9}, {5,6} 4 partitions.
TfLiteDelegateParams params1({nullptr});
params1.nodes_to_replace = TfLiteIntArrayCreate(1);
params1.nodes_to_replace->data[0] = 1;
delegate_params_.emplace_back(params1);
TfLiteDelegateParams params2({nullptr});
params2.nodes_to_replace = TfLiteIntArrayCreate(4);
params2.nodes_to_replace->data[0] = 0;
params2.nodes_to_replace->data[1] = 3;
params2.nodes_to_replace->data[2] = 7;
params2.nodes_to_replace->data[3] = 8;
delegate_params_.emplace_back(params2);
TfLiteDelegateParams params3({nullptr});
params3.nodes_to_replace = TfLiteIntArrayCreate(3);
params3.nodes_to_replace->data[0] = 2;
params3.nodes_to_replace->data[1] = 4;
params3.nodes_to_replace->data[2] = 9;
delegate_params_.emplace_back(params3);
TfLiteDelegateParams params4({nullptr});
params4.nodes_to_replace = TfLiteIntArrayCreate(2);
params4.nodes_to_replace->data[0] = 5;
params4.nodes_to_replace->data[1] = 6;
delegate_params_.emplace_back(params4);
// We need to mock the following 3 functions inside TfLiteContext object
// that are used by GraphPartitionHelper implementation.
this->GetExecutionPlan = MockGetExecutionPlan;
this->GetNodeAndRegistration = MockGetNodeAndRegistration;
this->PreviewDelegatePartitioning = MockPreviewDelegatePartitioning;
}
~MockTfLiteContext() {
TfLiteIntArrayFree(exec_plan_);
for (auto params : delegate_params_) {
TfLiteIntArrayFree(params.nodes_to_replace);
TfLiteIntArrayFree(params.input_tensors);
TfLiteIntArrayFree(params.output_tensors);
}
}
TfLiteIntArray* exec_plan() const { return exec_plan_; }
TfLiteNode* node() { return &node_; }
TfLiteRegistration* registration() { return ®istration_; }
TfLiteDelegateParams* delegate_params() { return &delegate_params_.front(); }
int num_delegate_params() { return delegate_params_.size(); }
private:
static TfLiteStatus MockGetExecutionPlan(TfLiteContext* context,
TfLiteIntArray** execution_plan) {
MockTfLiteContext* mock = reinterpret_cast<MockTfLiteContext*>(context);
*execution_plan = mock->exec_plan();
return kTfLiteOk;
}
static TfLiteStatus MockGetNodeAndRegistration(
TfLiteContext* context, int node_index, TfLiteNode** node,
TfLiteRegistration** registration) {
MockTfLiteContext* mock = reinterpret_cast<MockTfLiteContext*>(context);
*node = mock->node();
*registration = mock->registration();
return kTfLiteOk;
}
static TfLiteStatus MockPreviewDelegatePartitioning(
TfLiteContext* context, const TfLiteIntArray* nodes_to_replace,
TfLiteDelegateParams** partition_params_array, int* num_partitions) {
MockTfLiteContext* mock = reinterpret_cast<MockTfLiteContext*>(context);
*partition_params_array = mock->delegate_params();
*num_partitions = mock->num_delegate_params();
return kTfLiteOk;
}
// The execution plan of this mocked TfLiteContext object.
TfLiteIntArray* exec_plan_;
// For simplicity, the mocked graph has only type of node and one
// registration.
TfLiteNode node_;
TfLiteRegistration registration_;
// The TfLiteDelegateParams object that's manually populated inside the mocked
// TfLiteContext::PreviewDelegatePartitioning.
std::vector<TfLiteDelegateParams> delegate_params_;
};
bool IsNodeSupported(TfLiteContext* context, TfLiteNode* node,
TfLiteRegistration* registration,
std::string* unsupported_details) {
return true;
}
std::vector<int> GetNodesToReplaceFromPartitions(
const std::vector<TfLiteDelegateParams*>& partitions) {
std::vector<int> nodes;
for (const auto p : partitions) {
nodes.insert(nodes.end(), p->nodes_to_replace->data,
p->nodes_to_replace->data + p->nodes_to_replace->size);
}
return nodes;
}
TEST(GraphPartitionHelper, CheckPartitions) {
// The mocked TfLiteContext has 4 partitions: {1}, {0,3,7,8}, {2,4,9}, {5,6}.
MockTfLiteContext mocked_context;
GraphPartitionHelper helper(&mocked_context, IsNodeSupported);
EXPECT_EQ(kTfLiteOk, helper.Partition(nullptr));
EXPECT_EQ(10, helper.num_total_nodes());
EXPECT_EQ(4, helper.num_partitions());
auto partitions = helper.GetFirstNLargestPartitions(1, 0);
EXPECT_EQ(1, partitions.size());
auto nodes = GetNodesToReplaceFromPartitions(partitions);
EXPECT_THAT(nodes, testing::ElementsAreArray({0, 3, 7, 8}));
// Get the largest partition but requiring at least 5 nodes, so empty result.
partitions = helper.GetFirstNLargestPartitions(1, 5);
EXPECT_TRUE(partitions.empty());
partitions = helper.GetFirstNLargestPartitions(10, 3);
EXPECT_EQ(2, partitions.size());
EXPECT_EQ(4, partitions[0]->nodes_to_replace->size);
EXPECT_EQ(3, partitions[1]->nodes_to_replace->size);
nodes = GetNodesToReplaceFromPartitions(partitions);
EXPECT_THAT(nodes, testing::ElementsAreArray({0, 3, 7, 8, 2, 4, 9}));
}
TfLiteStatus ErrorGetExecutionPlan(TfLiteContext* context,
TfLiteIntArray** execution_plan) {
return kTfLiteError;
}
void EmptyReportError(TfLiteContext* context, const char* format, ...) {}
TEST(GraphPartitionHelper, CheckPrepareErrors) {
TfLiteContext error_context({0});
error_context.GetExecutionPlan = ErrorGetExecutionPlan;
error_context.ReportError = EmptyReportError;
GraphPartitionHelper helper(&error_context, IsNodeSupported);
EXPECT_EQ(kTfLiteError, helper.Partition(nullptr));
}
TEST(GraphPartitionHelper, CheckPartitionsWithSupportedNodeList) {
// The mocked TfLiteContext has 4 partitions: {1}, {0,3,7,8}, {2,4,9}, {5,6}.
// So, we simply create a list of supported nodes as {0,1,2,...,8,9}
MockTfLiteContext mocked_context;
std::vector<int> supported_nodes = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9};
GraphPartitionHelper helper(&mocked_context, supported_nodes);
EXPECT_EQ(kTfLiteOk, helper.Partition(nullptr));
EXPECT_EQ(10, helper.num_total_nodes());
EXPECT_EQ(4, helper.num_partitions());
auto partitions = helper.GetFirstNLargestPartitions(1, 0);
EXPECT_EQ(1, partitions.size());
auto nodes = GetNodesToReplaceFromPartitions(partitions);
EXPECT_THAT(nodes, testing::ElementsAreArray({0, 3, 7, 8}));
// Get the largest partition but requiring at least 5 nodes, so empty result.
partitions = helper.GetFirstNLargestPartitions(1, 5);
EXPECT_TRUE(partitions.empty());
partitions = helper.GetFirstNLargestPartitions(10, 3);
EXPECT_EQ(2, partitions.size());
EXPECT_EQ(4, partitions[0]->nodes_to_replace->size);
EXPECT_EQ(3, partitions[1]->nodes_to_replace->size);
nodes = GetNodesToReplaceFromPartitions(partitions);
EXPECT_THAT(nodes, testing::ElementsAreArray({0, 3, 7, 8, 2, 4, 9}));
}
} // namespace
} // namespace delegates
} // namespace tflite
|
q(o) = -7*o**3 - 2*o**2 + 87*o + 14. Calculate 5*b(w) + 8*q(w).
-w**3 + 4*w**2 + 46*w + 2
Let k(l) = 5*l - 7. Let a(i) = 2*i - 3. Suppose -2*n + 3*o + 6 = 0, -4*n - 19 = 3*o + 5. Suppose -3*f = 2*f - 455. Let s = -84 + f. Determine n*k(h) + s*a(h).
-h
Let o(v) = 3*v**2 + 3*v - 1. Let w(d) be the first derivative of -2*d**3/3 - d**2 + d - 14. Suppose 152 = 50*f - 48. Determine f*o(p) + 5*w(p).
2*p**2 + 2*p + 1
Let f be (-16)/(-6)*72/48. Suppose 0 = -3*a + 7*a - u + 45, f*a - 5*u = -65. Let j(k) = 28*k + 6. Let l(b) = 9*b + 2. Calculate a*l(y) + 3*j(y).
-6*y - 2
Let r(b) = 9*b - 61. Let l(o) = o - 16. Determine -2*l(v) + r(v).
7*v - 29
Let o(y) be the first derivative of 2*y**3/3 + 11*y**2/2 + 15*y + 6336. Let x(w) = -w**2 - 5*w - 8. Give 6*o(k) + 11*x(k).
k**2 + 11*k + 2
Let z(s) = -1. Let j be 3 - 0 - (11 + -19 + 13). Let y(h) = 2*h + 5. Let k be (7/1)/7*(-1 + 2). Calculate j*z(n) + k*y(n).
2*n + 7
Let r(o) = -9677*o**2 + 46*o. Let i(b) = -11*b. Determine 4*i(s) + r(s).
-9677*s**2 + 2*s
Suppose 16 = -2*f + 4*g, 31*g = 3*f + 28*g + 9. Let q(z) = 7*z - 2 + 3 - z - f*z. Let l(d) = -2*d - 1. Give 7*l(t) + 3*q(t).
-2*t - 4
Let d(a) = -a**2 + 7*a - 1. Let p(v) = -115*v**2 + 15*v - 2. What is -2*d(k) + p(k)?
-113*k**2 + k
Let y = 344 + -320. Suppose 7*w - 4 = y. Let s(m) = m**2 + 5*m + 5. Let u(v) = 2*v**2 + 9*v + 9. Give w*u(x) - 7*s(x).
x**2 + x + 1
Let t(q) = 5*q**2 + 2*q - 2. Let x(b) be the first derivative of 17*b**3 + 21*b**2/2 - 21*b - 756. Let i = 36 + -38. Give i*x(l) + 21*t(l).
3*l**2
Let p(t) = -53*t**2 - t - 22 + 35*t**2 + 19*t**2 + 21. Let j(y) = -8*y - 8. Calculate 3*j(v) - 24*p(v).
-24*v**2
Let u(j) = -8*j**2 + 13*j + 26. Let k(w) = -w**2 - w - 5. Calculate -5*k(t) - u(t).
13*t**2 - 8*t - 1
Let w = 950 + -931. Suppose -w*r + 7*r + 36 = 0. Let m(c) = -14*c**2 - 3. Let p(n) = -253*n**2 - 55. Give r*p(a) - 55*m(a).
11*a**2
Let n = 3789 - 3794. Let z(q) = q**3 - q + 1. Let h(i) = 3*i**3 + i**2 - 5*i - 3. What is n*z(y) + h(y)?
-2*y**3 + y**2 - 8
Let g(k) = 3*k - 5. Let x(c) = 2*c**3 - 42*c**2 - 42*c - 34. Let u be x(22). Let v(j) = 8*j - 4 + 0*j - u + 0. Calculate -11*g(t) + 4*v(t).
-t - 1
Let c(u) = 11084*u + 4. Let h(q) = 33253*q + 14. What is 7*c(s) - 2*h(s)?
11082*s
Let x(d) = -19*d**2 + 14*d - 21. Let c(a) = 22*a**2 - 13*a + 19. Determine 11*c(k) + 10*x(k).
52*k**2 - 3*k - 1
Let p(d) = -38*d**3 - 11*d**2 - 12*d - 14. Let f(o) = -38*o**3 - 10*o**2 - 10*o - 11. Determine 6*f(s) - 5*p(s).
-38*s**3 - 5*s**2 + 4
Let p(b) = 3765*b**3 - 5*b**2 + 12*b + 6. Let i(k) = -7529*k**3 + 9*k**2 - 22*k - 11. What is 6*i(y) + 11*p(y)?
-3759*y**3 - y**2
Let z(i) = 24*i**2 + 17*i + 64. Let x(k) = 49*k**2 + 35*k + 138. Determine 6*x(d) - 13*z(d).
-18*d**2 - 11*d - 4
Let f(n) = n**3 + 1. Let t(g) = 4*g**3 + 4*g + 5. Let d be 4 + -2 - (-32)/8. Suppose 6*r + 0*r + d = 0. Give r*t(w) + 5*f(w).
w**3 - 4*w
Let s be ((-69)/6 + 4)*8/(-6). Suppose w - 6 = 2*r, -3*w - w + s = -r. Let f(u) = -u**2 - u + 1. Let o(j) = -13*j**2 - 11*j + 12. What is w*o(p) - 22*f(p)?
-4*p**2 + 2
Let u(y) = 6*y**2 - 3943*y + 2. Let a(l) = -20*l**2 + 11825*l - 7. What is -2*a(z) - 7*u(z)?
-2*z**2 + 3951*z
Let z(g) = -25*g - 13. Let h(o) = -15*o - 21. Let a(r) be the first derivative of r**2 + 3*r - 94. Let j(w) = -27*a(w) - 4*h(w). What is 9*j(d) + 2*z(d)?
4*d + 1
Let s(n) = -8*n**3 + 11*n**2 + 203*n + 1. Let q(m) = -9*m**3 + 13*m**2 + 205*m + 1. Calculate -6*q(d) + 7*s(d).
-2*d**3 - d**2 + 191*d + 1
Let d(h) = -2*h**3 - 24*h - 3. Let t = -25471 + 25470. Let r(p) = p**3 + p + 1. Determine t*d(y) - 3*r(y).
-y**3 + 21*y
Let t(i) = -12*i. Let c be t(1). Let v(g) be the third derivative of 5*g**4/12 + 2*g**3/3 - 2*g**2 - 52241*g + 1. Let h(u) = u. Calculate c*h(j) + v(j).
-2*j + 4
Let x(c) = -25*c - 2. Let s(t) = -124*t - 10. Let n = -6234 + 6245. Give n*x(d) - 2*s(d).
-27*d - 2
Let s(k) = 6*k**2 + k - 5. Let m(y) = -477*y + 957. Let v be m(2). Let g(u) = 3*u**2 - 2. Determine v*s(a) - 7*g(a).
-3*a**2 + 3*a - 1
Let j(d) = 2*d**3 + 2*d**2 - d. Let t(a) = 21*a**3 + 20*a**2 - 262*a. Determine -30*j(c) + 3*t(c).
3*c**3 - 756*c
Let q(c) = -6*c**2 + 3*c. Let j = -583 + 587. Suppose k + 4*s = j, -4*k + 30 = 4*s + 38. Let t(o) = -7*o**2 + 4*o. What is k*q(d) + 3*t(d)?
3*d**2
Let u(j) = 2*j - 10. Let q(i) = 33*i - 13. What is q(g) - u(g)?
31*g - 3
Let s(h) = -5*h - 3. Suppose -283 - 669 = -17*g. Let a(o) = 96*o + 56. What is g*s(z) + 3*a(z)?
8*z
Let j(i) = -7*i - 527. Let r(p) = -13*p - 1056. Determine -11*j(m) + 6*r(m).
-m - 539
Let k(s) = -18*s**3 - 10*s**2 - 7*s + 6. Let l be (16/(-144))/(-1*1/9). Let o(a) = 12*a**3 - 15*a + 11*a - 4 + l + 9*a + 7*a**2 - 1. What is 5*k(i) + 7*o(i)?
-6*i**3 - i**2 + 2
Let a(o) = -6*o - 2. Let q(w) = 9*w + 24. Let h be q(-2). Let m(t) = -2 - 5 - 5*t - 2 + h. Calculate 3*a(p) - 2*m(p).
-8*p
Let n(p) = 6*p + 4. Let z = -31072 - -31065. Let b(g) = -4*g - 3. Give z*b(u) - 5*n(u).
-2*u + 1
Let w(g) = 6*g**2 + 27. Let p(n) be the third derivative of n**5/20 + 13*n**3/6 + 4*n**2 - 135. What is -7*p(f) + 3*w(f)?
-3*f**2 - 10
Let t(k) = 9*k - 122. Let j(m) = -18*m + 232. Determine 3*j(o) + 5*t(o).
-9*o + 86
Suppose 1012*h - 90 = 994*h. Let s(k) = 0 - k - 3 + 0*k + 2. Let q(r) = -7*r - 2. Give h*s(f) - q(f).
2*f - 3
Let z = 3644 + -3904. Let d(g) = 990*g**2 - 130*g - 130. Let r(x) = 23*x**2 - 3*x - 3. Determine z*r(j) + 6*d(j).
-40*j**2
Let q(u) = 3 + 0 - 1 - u**3 + 4*u**2 + 4*u. Let n be q(5). Let m(j) = 3*j - 12899*j**2 + 1 + 12900*j**2 + 2. Let o(w) = -4*w - 4. Give n*o(a) - 4*m(a).
-4*a**2
Let z(f) = -2348*f**2 + 3. Let m(u) = -2356*u**2 + 2. Give -3*m(d) + 2*z(d).
2372*d**2
Let a(x) = 3*x + 2. Let b(n) = 2*n + 1. Suppose -9*z + 9775 = 9757. Determine z*a(l) - 5*b(l).
-4*l - 1
Let w(v) = 6*v - 2. Let q(k) = 2296*k + 14. Give -2*q(z) - 14*w(z).
-4676*z
Let a(p) = 5*p**3 + 2*p - 6. Suppose -3*q + 2 + 10 = 0. Let b(r) = -31*r + 9*r - 6 + 15*r + 4*r**3 + 6*r - 2*r + 4*r. Calculate q*b(i) - 3*a(i).
i**3 - 2*i - 6
Let s = 72 + -45. Suppose s*x - 31*x = -36. Let w = 8 - x. Let f(g) = -8*g**3 + 6*g**2 - 6*g - 6. Let j(t) = t**3 - t**2 + t + 1. What is w*f(c) - 6*j(c)?
2*c**3
Let a(v) = v. Let t be (0 + 4/(-14))/(63/(-441)). Let o(w) = -4*w - 1 + 7*w + t - 6*w. Give -8*a(j) - 3*o(j).
j - 3
Let g(l) = 15*l - 33. Let d(j) = -j - 20. Let v(q) = 2*d(q) - g(q). Let w(z) = 6*z + 2. Calculate 3*v(s) + 8*w(s).
-3*s - 5
Let a(z) = 85*z + 20. Let w(l) = 16*l. Calculate a(n) - 6*w(n).
-11*n + 20
Let d(h) = -2*h**2 - 3*h + 2. Let n(a) = 2*a**2 + 18*a + 7. Give 6*d(t) + n(t).
-10*t**2 + 19
Let s(a) = 22*a + 29. Let x(t) = 90*t + 108. Determine 9*s(r) - 2*x(r).
18*r + 45
Let w(p) = -5*p - 7. Let z(k) = 4*k + 5*k + 3 - 6*k - k. Suppose 672 = 23*c + 580. Calculate c*w(r) + 9*z(r).
-2*r - 1
Let q(o) be the first derivative of o**4/4 - o**3/3 + 3*o**2/2 - o - 2967. Let k(w) be the second derivative of w**5/20 + w**3/3 + 2*w. Give 3*k(n) - 2*q(n).
n**3 + 2*n**2 + 2
Let m be 3/(-12) + (-114)/(-8). Let r(h) = 4*h + 14. Let s(c) = -851 - 847 + c + 2556 - 855. What is m*s(o) - 3*r(o)?
2*o
Let w(n) = -19*n**2 - 18*n - 2. Let h(c) = 20*c**2 + 11*c + 1. Calculate -4*h(g) - 3*w(g).
-23*g**2 + 10*g + 2
Let s(b) = b**2 + 11*b + 27. Let g be s(-6). Let p(z) = -9*z**3 + 13*z**2 + 7*z + 11. Let m(q) = 4*q**3 - 6*q**2 - 3*q - 5. What is g*p(l) - 7*m(l)?
-l**3 + 3*l**2 + 2
Let y(h) = -h - 4. Let o(z) = 4*z + 18. Let w(b) = -2*o(b) - 9*y(b). Let u(c) = -6*c + 2. Suppose 5 = l, -4*m - 52*l + 14 = -50*l. Determine m*u(k) + 4*w(k).
-2*k + 2
Let q(x) = 4*x**3 + 9*x**2 - 15*x - 177. Let s(b) = 2*b**3 + 4*b**2 - 6*b - 89. Give -4*q(d) + 9*s(d).
2*d**3 + 6*d - 93
Let w(m) be the second derivative of -13*m**4/4 - 7*m**3/6 + 7*m**2/2 + 3*m. Let t(d) = 13*d**2 + 2*d - 2. Let a be 8*(-16 + 1560/96). What is a*w(s) + 7*t(s)?
13*s**2
Let g(y) = -3*y + 7. Suppose 59 + 103 = -9*u. Let k be (-60)/u*(-3)/2. Suppose -2 = -5*s + 3. Let i(w) = -w + 1. What is k*i(b) + s*g(b)?
2*b + 2
Let x = -23 + 43. Suppose 5*p = 5*u - x, -4*u - 3*p - 12 = -35. Let w(c) = u*c + 2*c - 3*c - 2*c. Let g(f) = -3*f - 1. Give 3*g(b) + 4*w(b).
-b - 3
Suppose 4*w - 36 = -4*t, 50*w = 45*w - 2*t + 48. Let m(n) = n - 2*n + n + 7*n - w*n. Let b(p) = p + 1. Determine -b(c) - m(c).
2*c - 1
Let d(z) = 2*z**3 + 5*z**2 + 2*z - 7. Let g(m) = -131*m - 14. Let y |
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|
He still called her ‘missy.’ She’d given up trying to change it. Besides, it could also be her name; no one need know her real name here. As of now, only two men who’d she’d had no intention of meeting, and had stumbled into quite by accident, knew it.
And then she received another startling revelation, from none other than Orliss himself.
“But you must tell me how it came to be that a young woman came to be traveling alone.”
She looked up, surprised, a smile of shocked amusement on her face.
“Your accent’s a ruse,” she said.
He smiled, “You’re quick. A good one, isn’t it?”
“Very much so, but why?”
“Helps me fit in, gain information. When I’m drunk though, it doesn’t seem to be a character. But it was ever my intention to fight back. With you here, that will make it easier.”
“He said we were to be wed. He knew my name, and when he left…I felt…”
“We’ll have to look into all that. Now’s not the time. We need to be gone by nightfall. I’ve a feeling he’ll be back, and he won’t be alone, and he won’t have those dogs.”
She nodded, and couldn’t repress a shudder, which he saw.
“Jaika.”
She sighed, and composed herself.
He placed a meaty hand on her shoulder. “I know. You’ve been swept up in a series of events that make absolutely no sense to you. I can’t explain how they do. I don’t know why you’re here, or why Dominick is after you, or me, for that matter. He won the war when he killed Meralys, and I was too devastated for thoughts of revenge.
“But I let him take the woman I love from me, and did nothing about it.
“I can’t allow that to happen again, but I can’t promise you it won’t.
“The truth is, the years of dissipation were real, and have taken their toll, but now there’s what’s left, and I have to use it to rid the world of him, and not just for you.
I don’t know the part you play; I’ve read no great books, and there’s no ancient prophecy.
“In fact, we had a somewhat shaky beginning.”
“Yes,” she reddened at the memory. “We did.”
“This is a strange and dark place; you’ve doubtless felt its power. That’s where I’ll need your wood lore; you’re under no obligation to stay, and I can see you to a ship this very afternoon that will give you safe passage, but I’m asking: will you help me?”
“I will help you, Orliss. If it wasn’t for you, I likely would not have survived. He’s attacked me twice, and there’s no denying there’s a bond. I felt it. I have to break it, but I don’t know how, and that’s where I’ll need you.”
“So, partners then?”
His hand was still resting on her shoulder, and she put her own hand over it.
“Partners.”
******************
They left the cottage empty and set out for the town to buy horses.
Jaika had to admit that in her travels, she’d never met anyone like Orliss. There was more to him than met the eye. He’d been stinking and drunk, and she’d been violent and desperate and frightened out of her wits, and in a few days, they’d become totally different people, though she was still frightened out of her wits.
Her travels up until now had been solitary; she slept when she needed to, ate when she was hungry, and traveled often to the point of exhaustion, wandering, seemingly aimless, but now knowing it wasn’t.
None of what happened to her now seemed coincidental, but she hoped she wasn’t some sort of celestial pawn, even though the darkly divine nature of her encounter was already a factor.
Gods of the forest, is that why you removed your protection? If so, you’ll not find me a willing puppet to your unknown plans.
Chapter 6:
The bargain for horses struck, they rode back on the dirt trail that led to the temple.
“I’ve not seen it in many years. I went as far as the tavern, and it seems the devils were content to leave me be, after they destroyed me.
“Now, that’s not the case.”
They arrived on the temple grounds. It sat in the middle, a circle of smooth walls like an aged, empty turtle shell.
The ivy leaves were beginning to turn with the season, as were the trees, edged with the slightest of red and orange and gold.
We must kill him before winter.
She stayed at the top of the trail, holding the reins of their horses as they grazed, and Orliss investigated.
There was no way she could bear to go near it right now; it was enough she might have to later.
He peered through the cracks, same as she did, but he didn’t stay long to observe anything, or so Jaika thought, as he walked around it rather quickly for his size.
She wanted to call out, to ask him if he saw anything, but the demon priest might not necessarily be nocturnal.
Orliss stopped, seemed to be thinking of something, then walked toward the back of the temple, but instead of going around again, he walked through the high wild grass.
Jaika only saw trees and weeds. It seemed to her there was nothing to mark it as a path.
Curious, she dismounted, tied off the horses, and went to follow him.
**********************
He was standing at the edge of a cemetery, the stones faded, fallen, and the gates broken. There was a low-lying fog covering the grassy ground, burning off slowly in the mid-morning sun.
She came and stood next to him.
“Who’s here?”
“Most of the people I’ve known.”
“Meralys?”
“No.”
She pressed no further, and let him have his moment, and started to walk back toward the horses.
“Don’t go, Jaika.”
She’d learned that when he called her name, things were different, so she stayed, standing beside him, scanning the mossy, discolored markers.
After a moment, she said “We should be going, Orliss.”
He sighed, and nodded. “There’s just one more thing left to do. Something I should have done years ago.”
She went quiet at that, put some stray strands of hair behind her ear, losing the set of her shoulders, sighing.
“Is this something I should be a part of?”
He turned to face her. His eyes held a tenderness, but also a glimmer of fire.
“You already are.”
“But you’ve burned your books.”
“I’ve help.”
Jaika didn’t want to know, so she asked no more questions.
*********************
He sat on the stained marble bench, and closed his eyes.
Jaika took the quiet time to look around.
The gravestones, faded with age and stained with elements, listed precariously in their slots, all but toppled, the names and dates long obliterated.
The high grass extended all across the plot land, and the mausoleum sat squat and dark, a diseased mushroom full of decay and vermin, a black blot on the green field.
She shuddered. There was something tainted and palpable in the air, like demon breath.
Orliss, some memory tapped, began to chant in a soft voice that pushed against the silence, chipping away at it.
Jaika didn’t know if he was praying, or casting a spell, but either way it looked like he would be a while. She went to check on the horses, and stayed with them to reassure them that their riders were still close by.
She ate a small snack while she waited.
The fog had burned off, and the mild warmth and clear skies of the early afternoon belied the peril they faced, and as the morning lazed into the afternoon, Jaika saw spread through the fading mist where Orliss sat.
The nervous horses whickered and stamped, and Jaika moved out of the range of their hooves. Fighting panic, her hand trembling, she drew her short sword, and went to investigate.
Orliss was where she’d left him, but what was in the light got her attention.
There were people, hundreds, of all ages, standing by their markers, but something about them was very strange.
Jaika realized that their features were just the veneer over their bones, and the wounds and diseases that ravaged them were visible: there were murder victims , their ghastly wounds almost translucent in the afternoon sun.
And of those who were mutilated: she could see their severed limbs flickering where they’d been hacked, the bloody stumps of meat and gore still dripping spectral blood.
Those who’d died of diseases, in childbirth, in accidents, all bore the marks of their passing, she saw the skeletons just underneath the veneer of flesh. The people were buried dressed in their finest formal wear, which was now little more than scraps, hanging like dead creepers from their limbs.
Sunken eyes, missing teeth, swollen tongues, open sores, torn female clothing, bruised faces, tilted heads with rope burns on their necks, and heads of glorious female hair ridden with lice, and small children with smiling mouths full of worms and centipedes pushed back against Orliss’ magic with a palpable malevolence.
He might have been marble himself, though his whiskers flew about him like a halo of tumbleweed, and sweat stains ruined his clean clothes.
Vermin began to appear and tentatively sniff at him, and began to snap at his flesh.
They went right through Jaika, as if she wasn’t there at all.
He flinched, and winced, and gasped, but picked right back up and didn’t stop chanting until, finally, he did. As he stood, he brushed the vermin from his body with a fell sweep of his arm, and Jaika gasped as they vanished. It had all been illusion to get him to stop.
A spirit-man came forward, his transparent flesh desiccated, and pointing what was left of his finger at Orliss, he spoke telepathically.
Jaika heard his voice in her head; it sounded like wet, shifting gravel, grating and unpleasant. She bore it for Orliss’ sake.
You should be here among us, priest.
“I know, and I’m sorry, but I’m not.”
We could make it so you are.
“Or you could tell me where Thonian ran off to fight.”
You name him! Oh, your boldness…
“I’ve no time to sit here preening with you; do you know where he is, or don’t you?”
If we did, we would not tell you, for your magic is weak, and cannot compel us. But it is as you say: we know not where he has gone.
Why do you disturb us, Orliss? A woman’s voice was speaking now, as she made her own way to face him. Have any of among us haunted you?
“No.”
Then why do you seek us?
“This is my friend Jaika.” He extended his arm in her direction, and their broken eyes followed it to land on her. Jaika tried not to tremble.
” Thonian has marked her for his bride. I cannot allow it, and in the process of stopping him I might…I might be able to…free your souls.
The outburst was immediate, with some opting to pass through him and kill him, and still others to finish hearing what he had to say.
The latter won.
This is a bold claim, from a man whose magic has passed into legend.
“And yet I say it.”
Making no promises!
“But telling the TRUTH! DAMN your obstinate, bitter, foolish minds!”
Along with our souls, you mean? The woman spoke to them both, not unkindly.
Orliss seemed to deflate. “I meant…will you help me find him?”
The staring seemed an eternity.
A breeze stirred, and Jaika gagged on the stench from the risen dead, and held her breath; if either of them said anything now, they would lose their cause.
The two spirits that spoke to Orliss conferred, then walked among the others.
The early afternoon went into the late afternoon by the time the two of them returned.
Yes, Orliss. For the sake of our souls, we’ll be glad to help, but if you fall into the river of doubt, the stream of surrender, your souls are forfeit to us.
Are we agreed?
Orliss looked at Jaika, and after considering, she gave him a nod.
“We are,” Orliss said.
Then we take our leave, until tonight.
They slipped back into the ground in clusters, angry at their awakening, but excited to be involved in what could be the ancient land’s new beginning. |
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719 So.2d 546 (1998)
STATE of Louisiana
v.
Fred HANKTON, Jr.
No. 96-KA-1538.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.
September 16, 1998.
*547 Archie B. Creech, Orleans Indigent Defender Program, New Orleans, for Defendant/Appellant.
Harry F. Connick, District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Susan Erlanger Talbot, Assistant District Attorney of Orleans Parish, New Orleans, for State/Appellee.
Before SCHOTT, C.J., and JONES and WALTZER, JJ.
WALTZER, Judge.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Fred Hankton, Jr. was charged, along with Kerry Lacy, by grand jury indictment with first degree murder. He was arraigned, pled not guilty and filed motions to suppress a statement and an identification which were denied. His trial was severed from that of his co-defendant that date. A twelve member jury found him guilty of second degree murder, a violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1, on 2 May 1996. He was sentenced on 9 May 1996 to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation of suspension of sentence. He appeals his conviction and sentence.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
Luciana "Shannon" Beard testified that on 8 June 1995, she had been living with the victim, John Stevenson, at 2118 Clio Street, Apartment 4A for about a month. At 11:00 p.m., she heard fumbling at the back door. She unlocked the door, which then flew open. Fred, whom she later identified as the defendant Fred Hankton, and a man whom she knew as "Lacy" came into the apartment. Hankton had Stevenson by the neck and was choking him. Lacy pulled out a gun, ordered Stevenson and Beard to lie down on the floor, and Hankton then asked Stevenson, "Where it's at?", whereupon Stevenson directed him to a shelf in another room. Hankton began looking around the house. He came back into the room at one point, and Beard saw him putting a tin foil packet in his pocket. He then began asking for money. Beard and Hankton went into the other room to get the money. After she gave him the money that was kept in that room, he asked Stevenson where the remainder was located. Stevenson directed Beard to a rice bag in the kitchen where she found a white object which she gave to Hankton. Stevenson and Lacy began arguing. Stevenson asked Lacy not to kill him in front of Beard. Then Lacy emptied the gun into Stevenson and Hankton told Beard she had better not tell anyone what happened. Beard called to Stevenson, and, having received no response, jumped over her year old daughter and called out of the window for help. She grabbed the baby and ran downstairs where a man had already called for the police and she spoke to the police operator. When the police arrived at the scene, she told Detective Deal that Lacy lived at an address on Thalia Street. She testified that she was uncomfortable talking to the police at the scene. A few days later, she identified both men in photographic lineups. She repeatedly testified that she recognized Hankton's photo as a picture of the man who had held Stevenson around the neck, and said that Detective Deal did not use force, threat, coercion, promise or suggestion in any way to lead her to make the identification. She also made an in-court identification of Hankton.
*548 Officer Ernest Joseph testified that he responded to the gunshot call and found the victim lying face down in a pool of blood. He spoke to Ms. Beard and tried to calm her, and secured the crime scene.
Officer Jake Schnapp arrested both Hankton and Lacy on 19 June 1995, outside 2319 Thalia Street.
Dr. Paul McGarry, qualified as an expert in forensic pathology, testified that Stevenson's death was caused by multiple gunshot wounds. One shot to the head and one to the heart had penetrated his body deeply. One shot to the head had been fired at close range.
Detective Dwight Deal of the New Orleans Police Department's Homicide Division testified that he arrived at the scene in response to the 911 call and spoke to Beard, whom he described as cooperative but frightened, shaken and scared. She gave extensive descriptions of the suspects and said that she knew Lacy by name but was afraid that if she told, the killers would be able to trace the information back to her. She said that she knew the name of a man with whom he lived, Troyell "Turkey" Ross, on Thalia Street. Deal obtained a picture of Ross, whose registered address was 2319 Thalia Street, Apartment D, and Beard said that he was indeed the man who lived with Lacy. Two days later, Deal compiled two photographic lineups, one containing a picture of Lacy, and one containing a picture of Hankton. On 12 June he showed Beard the pictures and asked only if she recognized anyone in either or both sets of pictures. Beard immediately chose Hankton and Lacy, and wrote on the back of each photo a description of that person's part in the crime. Detective Deal confirmed Beard's testimony that he did not force, threaten or coerce her to make an identification, did not promise her anything, tell her she had to pick someone or suggest whom she should pick. He applied for and obtained arrest warrants for the two men.
After Hankton's arrest on 19 June 1995, Deal advised him of his rights and had him sign a rights of arrestee form. Hankton made a statement that was transcribed and recorded. The tape was played for the jury, and a copy of the transcript was provided to each of them. In the statement, Hankton said that he and Lacy had gone to the Stevenson's apartment the night of the murder to take Stevenson's dope. He grabbed Stevenson around the neck and Lacy had drawn a black .357 handgun on Stevenson. He and Lacy made him lie on the floor. A girl in the house showed Hankton where the drugs were, he took the drugs, including heroin from a rice bag, and money, and Lacy shot Stevenson. He confirmed that there was a baby in the house at the time of the murder.
Kendra Spencer, Hankton's seventeen year old girlfriend, a junior at Joseph S. Clark high school, testified that she was with him all night on the night of the crime. At one point, after midnight, they left his mother's house on the west bank and drove to a daiquiri shop at the corner of St. Charles and Carrollton Avenues, in the uptown section of New Orleans, where they bought daiquiris. She remembered the night because she testified that it was the night she lost her virginity. She said 8 June 1995, was either a Saturday or a Sunday. It was, in fact, a Thursday. Scott Sorenson, manager of the daiquiri shop, testified that the store always closed at midnight on Thursdays. He produced a tape from the register that showed that the store did in fact close at midnight on 8 June 1995.
ERRORS PATENT
We have examined the entire record for errors patent and have found none.
FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR: The lack of a transcript of the hearing on Hankton's Motion to Suppress Evidence denied him his right to appellate review based upon a complete record.
The transcript having been provided and a supplemental brief having been filed on Hankton's behalf based upon the transcript, this assignment of error is moot.
SECOND ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR TWO: The trial court erred in allowing gruesome photographs into evidence.
At the trial, the State introduced into evidence photographs of the victim at the scene. The defense objected that they were gruesome and inadmissible. The trial court admitted the photographs, and Hankton now *549 complains that in so doing, the trial court erred.
The admission of gruesome photographs will not be overturned unless it is clear the prejudicial effect of the photographs outweighs their probative value. State v. Lindsey, 543 So.2d 886, 894-95 (La. 1989), certiorari denied, 494 U.S. 1074, 110 S.Ct. 1796, 108 L.Ed.2d 798 (1990); State v. Bourque, 622 So.2d 198, 236 (La.1993), reversed on other unrelated grounds, State v. Comeaux, 93-2729 (La.7/1/97), 699 So.2d 16, 21. The fact that the photographs are gruesome does not, in and of itself, prevent their admissibility. State v. Comeaux, 514 So.2d 84, 97 (La.1987).
Post-mortem photographs at the scene or autopsy photographs of murder victims are admissible to prove corpus delicti, to provide positive identification of the victim and to corroborate other evidence establishing the cause of death, the manner in which death occurred, and the location, severity, and number of wounds. State v. Copeland, 530 So.2d 526, 543 (La.1988), cert. denied, Copeland v. Louisiana, 489 U.S. 1091, 109 S.Ct. 1558, 103 L.Ed.2d 860 (1989). The defendant cannot deprive the State of the moral force of its case by offering to stipulate to what is shown in photographs. State v. Perry, 502 So.2d 543, 559 (La.1986), cert. denied, Perry v. Louisiana, 484 U.S. 872, 108 S.Ct. 205, 98 L.Ed.2d 156 (1987).
In Bourque, the Supreme Court found the photographic evidence offered was relevant and probative in proving the state's case against the defendant. La. C.E. art. 403. The court noted that "although the autopsy photographs of the victim were graphic, they helped establish the cause of death and the victim's attempt to defend herself." Bourque, 622 So.2d at 236. The photographs of the victim at the scene corroborated the testimony of law enforcement officers as to the location of spent shell casings, the location of the victim, and the manner in which she died.
In the present case, the photographs show the location and the severity of the wounds. In addition, they show that the victim was made to lie on the floor as Beard testified. These photographs were of significant probative value, and any prejudicial effect due to the gruesome nature of the photographs did not outweigh the probative value. The trial court did not err when it allowed the state to introduce these photographs into evidence. This assignment of error is without merit.
THIRD ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR: The trial court erred in allowing Detective Dwight Deal to testify as to hearsay.
Beard testified that she was still "scared and shaky" when Deal arrived at the scene, and that she did not feel comfortable talking to him. He asked her for a description of the perpetrators, and she gave a detailed physical description of the men and the clothes they were wearing. She said that she did not tell Deal at first that she knew either of the men, but later told him that she knew the one with the gun was "Lacy", that she knew where he lived, and that she knew that Ross lived with him.
On cross-examination, defense counsel asked her about her initial description of Hankton. He then asked her about her identification of him in the photographic lineup and whether she had known him before the night of the crime. She said when asked by Deal the day after the crime whether she knew "Fred Hankton", that she was not sure, although the name sounded familiar, that she knew relatives on his father's side of the family, and that she had seen him when she was younger, perhaps ten or twelve years old.
Deal then testified that when he first began interviewing Beard, she was cooperative but appeared very frightened. He said he could tell "There was something I wasn't necessarily getting at that point." The prosecutor then asked, "What was it she initially told you?" The defense objected on the ground of hearsay. The prosecutor then argued that Beard had already testified, and that the evidence was being presented not for the truth of the matter asserted, but to corroborate Beard's testimony and establish her credibility. Deal then testified that Beard had acted exactly as she had testified. First, she gave a description of the men, then later in the interview she said that she knew *550 one of them. She explained that she had not wanted to tell him that she knew Lacy because she was afraid that the men would find out and harm her.
The defense now argues that because defense counsel did not cross-examine Beard as to why she had not originally told Deal that she knew Lacy, Deal's testimony was hearsay.
The evidence was apparently admitted to prove that Beard's testimony was consistent with her prior statement on the night of the crime. Article 801(D)(1)(b) of the Code of Evidence provides that prior consistent statements of a witness are admissible "to rebut an express or implied charge against him of recent fabrication or improper influence or motive." Such statements are not hearsay. Recently, the Louisiana Supreme Court interpreted the article. In State v. Langley, 95-1489 (La.4/14/98), 711 So.2d 651, the defense tried to impeach a witness by noting that the witness had not testified to the complete statement at the pre-trial hearing, and had added a critical element to his trial testimony, i.e. that the defendant had stated that if he got out of jail, he would commit the same crime. The Court ruled that once the defendant suggested on cross-examination that the statement had been recently fabricated, he opened the door to the rehabilitation of the witness's testimony with the prior consistent statement of the district attorney, which was made either at the trial or the pre-trial hearing.
In this case, because defense counsel did not cross-examine Beard as to why she had not originally told Deal that she knew Lacy, Deal's testimony was hearsay. The defense did not suggest on cross-examination that Beard's statement at trial had been recently fabricated. Thus unlike in Langley, Hankton did not open the door to the rehabilitation of Beard's testimony. Deal's testimony was therefore hearsay, and the trial court erred in overruling the objection.
However, pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. art. 921, a judgment or ruling shall not be reversed because of any error which does not affect substantial rights of the accused. The key inquiry is whether there is a reasonable possibility that the admission or exclusion of certain evidence, depending on the case, might have contributed to the conviction. The reviewing court must be able to conclude that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731 (La.1992). In this case, Deal's testimony was merely cumulative of Beard's. Furthermore, there was overwhelming other credible evidence of Hankton's guilt. Beard was sure of her identification, and Hankton's confession establishes that he had gone to the apartment to rob the victim of drugs and money. The error was therefore harmless. This assignment of error is without merit.
SUPPLEMENTAL ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR: The trial court erred in denying Hankton's Motion to Suppress Identification.
A defendant has the burden of proving that the identification was suggestive and, if so, that the suggestive procedure gave rise to a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. Reliability is the linchpin in determining whether an out-of-court identification is admissible at trial. Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 97 S.Ct. 2243, 53 L.Ed.2d 140 (1977). In Manson, the United States Supreme Court set forth the following factors to be considered in determining whether the out-of-court identification is reliable: (1) the witness' opportunity to view the defendant at the time the crime was committed; (2) the degree of attention paid by the witness during the commission of the crime; (3) the accuracy of any prior descriptions of the perpetrators; (4) the level of the witness' certainty displayed at the time of the identification; and (5) the length of time elapsed between the crime and the identification.
At the motion hearing, Deal testified that Beard "immediately and positively" identified Hankton when he showed her the photographic lineup. She was "absolutely positive." He and Beard testified that he in no way suggested that she chose Hankton's picture, nor did he coerce her, promise her anything or suggest which picture she should choose. Beard testified that she was positive *551 of her identification. On cross-examination, she testified that she knew Lacy, and that Deal asked her whether she knew "Fred Hankton" because he had gotten a call implicating him. She said Deal told her that he had suspects. She said, as to whether or not she knew Hankton, that when she was small, she used to live across the street from Hankton's family. In response to a question of whether Deal told her Hankton's picture was in the lineup, she said, "I had overlooked the second picture, and the detective told mehe saidI couldn't say. I say, `I don't know.' Then he say, `You better make sure and see if that's the right one,' and then he said, `Fred, he's in the picture.'" On re-direct examination, she said that she had not recognized the man in her house as "Fred Hankton," but that she had chosen his picture because he was in fact the man who had been in her house and who had grabbed Stevenson around the neck. Beard was cross-examined at trial as to her having made this statement. She said, "Before hebefore I was asking him any questions about Fred, I picked out the picture. I just jumped to No. 2 picture, and he told me he said, `Hold up.' He said, `Are you sure that's the one you saw?' I said yes." Then she testified, "Your honor, I had said it because I came in here and testified that day. And I was trying to watch Lacy. And he was making eye contact at someone in the audience. And I'm watching him and trying to answer your questions, and I just got all mixed up and confused and stuff." On re-direct examination, she said that she had not seen Hankton for seven years, since she was twelve years old, and that she did not know that the picture she chose was a picture of Fred Hankton.
Applying the Manson factors, Beard had the opportunity to view Hankton close-up at the time the crime was committed. Her degree of attention during the commission of the crime was necessarily great; Lacy was holding a gun to her boyfriend, and Hankton was following her around the house as she collected the drugs and money. Her prior descriptions of Hankton were accurate. She was very certain at the time of the identification. She made the identification only three days after the crime was committed. Under Manson, the identification was reliable.
Although there was some confusion as to whether Deal told Beard that Hankton was a suspect before she chose his picture, she clearly stated repeatedly that she had chosen the picture because it was a picture of the man who had been in her house the night of the crime, and not because it was a picture of Fred Hankton. Much time had elapsed since Beard's childhood when she had seen him. There was no evidence that Beard knew what "Fred Hankton" looked like when she chose his picture. This assignment is without merit.
CONCLUSION AND DECREE
Having found no errors patent on the record, and having found no merit in the assignments and supplemental assignment of error, we affirm the conviction and sentence of Fred Hankton, Jr.
CONVICTION AND SENTENCE AFFIRMED.
|
What do Papua New Guinea, Oman, and the United States of America have in common? They are the only three countries in the world with no paid-maternity-leave law. When you point out the deficiencies of the United States in this regard, somebody often replies, “This isn’t Scandinavia; we can’t impose cuddly capitalism”—the M.I.T. economist Daron Acemoglu’s phrase—“and still enjoy economic growth.” Granted, we’re not Sweden, but neither are we Romania, Uganda, Bolivia, or any of the hundred and eighty-five other countries that, according to a 2014 report from the U.N.’s Institute of Labor, provide their citizens with paid leave to care for a new child. Ninety-eight of those countries offer paid leave for fourteen weeks or more. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Barack Obama vowed to make family leave and sick days a priority in the final two years of his Presidency. He has work to do. In the United States, where all sorts of powers are commonly attributed to the private sector, many people might imagine that employers take up the slack. But the majority of U.S. employers do not offer paid family leave, for the simple reason that they don’t have to.
When it comes to unpaid leave, the picture is brighter, thanks to the Family and Medical Leave Act, which Congress passed in 1993. Remarkably little progress has been made in the two decades since then, despite the F.M.L.A.’s manifest weaknesses. The law allows workers to take up to twelve weeks’ leave without losing their jobs if they or their close family members fall ill, or when a baby arrives. But the leave is unpaid, so most low-wage workers cannot take advantage of it. And, because the law exempts workplaces with fewer than fifty employees, among other eligibility regulations, it only covers about sixty per cent of workers, anyway.
The F.M.L.A. had all the hallmarks of a first step; the problem was that there was never a second or third one. The economic downturn made the expansion of family leave—or, for that matter, guaranteed sick days—look much too cuddly, and congressional Republicans tended to want nothing to do with it. Nor was it an issue that feminists and women’s-rights activists focussed on all that intently. In recent years, it seems, we’ve heard more about work-life balance among professional women than among the working classes—more about how the Sheryl Sandbergs and the Marissa Mayers might finesse the demands of a job and a family than how a nurse, a bus driver, or a cashier could. Women in managerial and professional positions are more likely to work for employers that offer paid leaves, and if you happen to be a new parent who works at a tech company like Google or Facebook you can count on generous policies. But most workers can not.
There’s a similar divide when it comes to paid sick days, which, as President Obama noted in his address, about forty-three million American workers do not have. The Washington Post reported this week that eighty-eight per cent of private-sector managers and financial workers can take paid sick days, compared with only forty per cent of service workers. In November, Massachusetts voters passed a ballot measure that allows workers to earn up to forty hours of guaranteed sick leave a year; they can use it to stay home when a child is sick, or when they themselves are.
The Boston Globe told the stories of a few of the people the new law would help. There was Rosario Cabrera, a home health aide who’d gone into debt after she took a few days off from work to care for her son, who had been hospitalized. Barbara Fisher, of Hyde Park, had gone to work at Dunkin’ Donuts, “ ‘coughing and sneezing everywhere,’ wearing gloves and a mask,” because she couldn’t get the day off. Kettly Dehoux had to bring “her feverish 10-year-old daughter to work at Logan Airport, propping her up on a couch and sneaking into the break room to check on her throughout the day.”
“If you don’t work, you don’t get paid,” Dehoux, a fifty-six-year-old contract customer-service agent for two airlines, told the Globe. “It’s not human.”
Obama is offering two billion dollars in incentives to states that come up with their own family-leave laws. And he urged Congress to mandate paid sick days for the forty-three million workers who lack it, so that, as he said, people wouldn’t have to “make the gut-wrenching choice between a paycheck and a sick kid at home.” The Republican Congress is unlikely to take him up on these proposals, but Obama can at least do something for federal employees. He has signed a memorandum that allows them to take up to six weeks of paid leave to care for a new child or a seriously ill family member.
To those who worry that such policies are too costly for small businesses, the government, or maybe even women hoping to advance in their careers, there is some reassuring data. In the years since the F.M.L.A. was passed, California and New Jersey have both instituted six-week, partially paid family leave, funded by employees in the form of a small payroll tax.
The New Jersey law went into effect in 2009, and three years later the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers conducted a study that showed some remarkably robust and positive results. Women who had taken the leave were far more likely to be working nine to twelve months after the birth of their child than new mothers who had not; they were also thirty-nine per cent less likely to be on public assistance, and fifty-four per cent more likely to have seen an increase in their wages. This finding is important: in some of the European countries that offer very long leaves—of a year or more—women who take advantage of the policies often pay a price in promotions and earning potential. But, based on the evidence here, shorter leaves seem to boost women’s wages.
Studies also showed that, after the law in California went into effect, in 2004, people there took more and longer leaves. This was especially true for less advantaged women—non-college-educated, unmarried, and non-white mothers, who had previously taken maternity leaves that lasted, on average, only a week. (Among their college-educated, higher-income counterparts, the average was three to five weeks.) For all the attention being paid to the importance of bonding with infants, the fact that bonding isn’t instantaneous receives relatively little notice. A week of maternity leave goes by in a twilit blur; it’s hardly long enough for a new mother to get her physical strength back, let alone figure out the operating instructions for a tiny, dependent new creature. Women who went on paid leave breastfed their babies longer. Meanwhile, most of the businesses surveyed in California reported either positive or no noticeable impact from the family-leave law. Presumably, their employees came back to work happier, healthier, and less distracted.
The data on the California and New Jersey laws suggests something not altogether expected but very encouraging. Since women who take paid family leaves are more likely to see a wage increase and less likely to go on welfare, such policies may exert a positive effect not only on gender inequality but on economic inequality.
Obama’s new proposals don’t offer sweeping changes, but they are significant as the first real expansions of family-friendly—people-friendly, really—policies in a long time. There is popular momentum behind the idea of guaranteed sick days, in particular; along with Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, and a number of cities have now enacted such laws. These measures, along with minimum-wage laws, were among the few victories for Democrats in the midterm elections. If conservatives oppose these policies now, they will have to explain why American workers, virtually alone in the world, must struggle on without such basic protections. And that won’t be easy. |
A Domino Revelation occurs when the revelation of a previously hidden truth leads to another revelation, then another, like the knocking over of dominoes.
Often evoked in {{fantasy}} works, where the revelation that one mythological or legendary species exists leads to finding out that many more also do, and works featuring conspiracy theories, where finding the shadowy figures behind a seemingly minor crime opens up a vista of sinister plots all emanating from the same source. In {{romance}}, one confession can often lead the way to one or several more.
It gets a good bit of use in UrbanFantasy and SteamPunk works as well.
AllMythsAreTrue is a common end result when all dominoes have fallen. May overlap with TheMasquerade or TheConspiracy where the protagonist is introduced to their secrets. Compare IfJesusThenAliens. Contrast ArbitrarySkepticism, when there are further paranormal phenomena that are often real, but not believed by the skeptical characters.----!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' does this with {{Awful Truth}}s. In the wake of [[spoiler:Mami's death]], Kyouko's appearance shows that few magical girls are as altruistic as [[spoiler:Mami]] was. This leads to Sayaka's confrontation with Kyouko on the bridge, where it's revealed that [[spoiler:Soul Gems literally [[OurLichesAreDifferent contain the soul of a magical girl]]]]. This, in turn, leads Sayaka to [[spoiler:fall into despair, corrupting her Soul Gem and revealing that a corrupted Soul Gem doesn't break or disappear, but instead turns into a Grief Seed]], a revelation which prompts Kyubey to explain to Madoka [[spoiler:the true nature of the magical girl system]]. Additionally, the process of [[spoiler:Sayaka falling into despair]] leads to a chain of events resulting in the revelation that [[spoiler:Homura has some form of time travel/timeline changing ability]]. Basically, the revelations show piece-by-piece how the inner workings of the fairly cliche-looking premise are actually [[DarkerAndEdgier terrible, terrible things]].* ''Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator'' starts with the revelation that the school in the supposedly peaceful nation of JIOR was actually hiding the titular superweapons. [[spoiler: Investigating this, L-elf discovers that the teachers and all of the other adults on the module were actually military officials, and only the students were kept in the dark about it. From this, he eventually gets to the revelation that the entire module was made for the development of the Valvraves and their power source.]]* ''Manga/OnePiece'' is full of this, where most of the world's hidden mysteries are inter-connected.[[/folder]]
[[folder: Comics]]* ''ComicBook/BeastsOfBurden'': Vampires, zombies, ghosts, and other things show up.* ''Comicbook/WerewolfByNight'': Werewolves aren't the only supernatural thing out there - there are also weretigers, vampire, demons, and other superheroes!* ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'': In the Earthwar Saga storyline, the attacks on Earth by the Resource Raiders turns out to be the advance guard of an attack by the Klingonesque [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Khunds]]. Whose leader is secretly being controlled by the shadowy Dark Circle. Who are secretly being commanded by EvilSorcerer Mordru.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]* In the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl first]] ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movie, Elizabeth Swann finds out that cursed pirates are real. The next four movies confirm the reality of [[AllMythsAreTrue pretty much every myth or legend ever told concerning the sea]].[[/folder]]
[[folder: Literature]]* ''Literature/CalLeandros'': Elves that call themselves Auphe are first introduced followed by a revelation of hidden monsters like Banshee and Trolls in the world amongst humans.* ''Literature/JaneYellowrock'': The main hereon is a skin-walker, she fights vampires and has a witch for a best friend.* ''Literature/MercyThompson'': in this series we meet werewolves, vampires, and witches right off the bat followed by ghosts, demons, and eventually shamans and mages of ill repute.* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Witches and wizards, giants, dragons, giant magic spiders... the list is a little long for this series. * ''Literature/KittyNorville'': Well same thing we meet werewolves first, then learn of vampires, werepanthers, magic users, psychics, and other types of the supernatural ilk.* ''Literature/TheHollows'': Witches and vampires exist, so why not ghosts, demons, and other such creatures?* ''Literature/TheOtherworld'': the woman of the other world are all sorts of supernatural types. We have witches, werewolves, nercourgists, half-demons, and angels. Of course this trope is in full effect.* ''Literature/TheSookieStackhouseMysteries'': After the vampires have their coming out party we meet shifters, werewolves, weretigers, fairies, and several other supernaturals.* ''Literature/SoulScreamers'': If the fact the main character is a banshee isn't enough, there are reapers, angels, and demons all hell bent on human souls.* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': First come the vampires. Then come the werewolves. * ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': Satyrs, the Minotaur, Greek gods, centaurs, nymphs... Again, the list is rather long. ** The various sequel series take this to eleven, with the revelation that the Norse, Roman, and Egyptian pantheons, AND the various monsters and magic that go along with them, also exist. The existence of Jesus is also hinted at. * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Although protagonist Harry is himself a wizard, his knowledge of the supernatural world is often rather lacking, leading to [[FantasyKitchenSink many]] revelations throughout the series that he learns of at the same time as the reader.[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action TV]]* ''Series/{{Charmed}}'': First we learn of witches and demons, then angels, spirits, fairies, and a whole mess of critters come crawling/teleporting/orbing/shimmering out of the woodwork.* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'': Similar to ''The X-Files'' with aliens, mind control, and other weird things being revealed.* ''Series/LostGirl'': All supernatural creatures exist, some are [[TheFairFolk True Fae]] others just call themselves fae and are in fact Succubi, Spirits, Werewolves, and all manner of other magical creatures.* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Dean and Sam are hunters. They fight demons, astral creations, angry angels, pagan gods, ghosts, etc.* ''Series/TheXFiles'': Earliest TV example of this trope; from MonsterofTheWeek to aliens in the basement with werewolves, wild men, demonic beings, and eventually BodyHorror and evil spirits... this series had it all.* ''Series/TrueBlood'': Vampires first, shapeshifters, then goddesses, werewolves, fae, werepanthers, and witches.* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'': Again vampires first then we learn that witches and werewolves also exist.* ''Series/MyBabysittersAVampire'': The main characters have a babysitter that is a vampire. They also find out that one of them can see the future and that witches exist.[[/folder]]
[[folder: Video Games]]* ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'': Well, it's more FantasyKitchenSink at times. Spirits (demons in Japanese) exist, but that's merely the catch-all term for supernaturals. And they ALL are very real projections of one's psyche.* ''ShinMegamiTenseiI'': Angels, demons, and god....yes, it's all real.[[/folder]]
[[folder: Web Original]]* ''Series/{{Noob}}'' has had this happen a few times:** Season 3 WhamEpisode and aftermath: [[spoiler: Fantöm's avatar has been illegally enhanced all along. By the game's creators themselves, who put the blame on Fantöm (who knew nothing) the second the secret is made public. It's Master Zen who revealed the fact and the protagonist's new recruit Nazetrîme has been working for him all along]].** Late Season 5: [[spoiler:Judge Dead is Tenshirock's son and the person he's actually trying to drive away from MMORPG. On a side note, Teshirock's wife/Judge Dead's mother is dead and Spectre has the condition that is implied to have caused her death. Tenshirock figured it out and convinced him to retire a few years ago. This is the reason Spectre was retired until Season 3]].** ''Film/NoobLaQueteLegendaire'': [[spoiler:Sparadrap's father is not a priest as he's been telling everyone, but a mafia big wig passing as one. Elyx, Master Zen's second in command, may be his mother... or Ystos'... or that of a third son of his father's. His father forgot and Elyx can't help because she got a lobotomy between giving birth and the present day.]][[/folder]]
[[folder: Western Animation]]* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Just full of all kinds of magical creatures of all styles shapes and sizes. Most of them talk, cast spells, and have civilizations.* The season one finale of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': That room behind the vending machine is finally shown. Then Stan takes Journal #1 out of a desk - ''he's'' had it since the show began. ''Then'' he declares, "Finally, after so many years... I have them all." Stan knows a ''lot'' more about the town than he's let on.[[/folder]]---- |
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abstract: 'The real-time dynamics of local occupation numbers in a Hubbard model on a $6\times 6$ square lattice is studied by means of the non-equilibrium generalization of the cluster-perturbation theory. The cluster approach is adapted to studies of two-dimensional lattice systems by using concepts of multiple-scattering theory and a component decomposition of the non-equilibrium Green’s function on the Keldysh-Matsubara contour. We consider “classical” initial states formed as tensor products of states on $2\times 2$-plaquettes and trace the effects of the inter-plaquette hopping in the final-state dynamics. Two different initially excited states are considered on an individual plaquette, a fully polarized staggered spin state (Néel) and a fully polarized charge-density wave (CDW). The final-state dynamics is constrained by a dynamical symmetry, i.e. the time-evolution operator and certain observables are invariant under an anti-unitary transformation composed of time reversal, an asymmetric particle-hole, and a staggered sign transformation. We find an interesting interrelation between this dynamical symmetry and the separation of energy and time scales: In case of a global excitation with all plaquettes excited, the initial Néel and the initial CDW states are linked by the transformation. This prevents an efficient relaxation of the CDW state on the short time scale governing the dynamics of charge degrees of freedom. Contrary, the CDW state is found to relax much faster than the Néel state in case of a local excitation on a single plaquette where the symmetry relation between the two states is broken by the coupling to the environment.'
author:
- Philipp Jurgenowski
- Michael Potthoff
title: 'Dynamical symmetry between spin and charge excitations studied by a plaquette mean-field approach in two dimensions'
---
Introduction
============
Due to recent substantial progress in the field of ultracold quantum gases in optical lattices,[@Jaksch_and_Zoller_2005; @Lewenstein_et_al_2007; @Bloch_et_al_2008; @Hung_et_al_2010; @Strohmaier_et_al_2010] an almost complete real-time control of the parameters of a quantum system has become experimentally feasible. The study of ultracold fermions in optical lattices thus offers unique new possibilities to understand the non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum systems. Symmetries play an important role for the quantum dynamics. Particularly interesting are “dynamical symmetries” where the time-dependent expectation value of an observable is the same for certain different initial states due to the invariance of the observable as well as of the time-evolution operator under an (anti-)unitary transformation (see Appendix \[sec:dsym\]). Recently, the expansion of an initially confined quantum gas of fermions in the lowest band of a homogeneous optical lattice has been studied after suddenly switching off the confining potential, and the observed independence of the dynamics on the sign of the (Hubbard-type) interaction could be explained by a dynamical symmetry.[@Schneider_et_al_2012]
Here, we study a different situation where a dynamical symmetry holds [*locally*]{} for two different initial states but is broken due to their coupling to the environment. We consider the dynamics of a system of strongly interacting spin-1/2 fermions in a two-dimensional Hubbard model at half-filling on a square lattice with nearest-neighbor hopping. This has become accessible to studies of ultracold quantum gases.[@Koehl_et_al_2005; @Joerdens_et_al_2008] The local density of spin-$\uparrow$ particles, $n_{j\uparrow}$, is our observable of interest. It has been demonstrated recently with bosons that the parity of the number of particles can be measured with single-site resolution even in a strongly correlated system. [@Bakr_et_al_2009; @Bakr_et_al_2010; @Sherson_et_al_2010] For the Hubbard model and observables $n_{j\uparrow}$, we will argue that a particular combination ${{\cal U}}$ of time-reversal, an asymmetric particle-hole and a staggered sign transformation represents a dynamical symmetry.
An interesting question is how fast an initially prepared “classical” state builds up entanglement and correlations. This can be studied by preparing the initial state as the ground state of the model with isolated plaquettes $p$, i.e.$| \Psi(t_{0}) \rangle = \otimes_{p}^{{\rm plaquettes}} | p (t_{0}) \rangle$, while for the subsequent time evolution ($t>t_{0}$) the inter-plaquette hopping ${{\boldsymbol V}}$ is suddenly switched on at $t=t_{0}$. Double-well systems in one dimension[@Sebby-Strabley_et_al_2006; @Anderlini_et_al_2007; @Foelling_et_al_2007; @Trotzky_et_al_2008] as well as plaquette systems in two dimensions[@Nascimbene_et_al_2012] have recently been studied experimentally.
A non-trivial dynamics, already for an isolated plaquette, is obtained by preparing the plaquette initial state with the help of local fields producing a classical Néel state with staggered spins $| p(t_{0}) \rangle = | \text{N\'eel}, p \rangle$ or a charge-density wave $| p(t_{0}) \rangle = | \text{CDW}, p \rangle$ and by suddenly switching off the field at $t=t_{0}$. In case of full polarization, these states transform into each other under ${{\cal U}}$ while the plaquette ground state in the absence of the fields, $|p(t_{0}) \rangle = | {\rm GS}, p \rangle$, is not invariant under ${{\cal U}}$. By comparing the time evolution of $n_{j\uparrow}$ starting from the initial plaquette product state with a global Néel excitation with the corresponding one for a global CDW excitation, we study the effects of the dynamical symmetry. In case of a Néel or CDW excitation that is localized to a single plaquette, we expect a breakdown of the dynamical symmetry due to the inter-plaquette coupling.
Another goal of the present paper is a methodical one: Studying the real-time dynamics of a strongly-correlated lattice-fermion model in two dimensions far from equilibrium is a highly non-trivial task. Standard methods as dynamical density-matrix renormalization group[@Schollwoeck_2005] or quantum Monte-Carlo[@Gull_et_al_2011] approaches cannot be used in this case. We therefore resort to a cluster (plaquette) mean-field approach that has been developed recently for one-dimensional and impurity-type models, namely the non-equilibrium variant [@Balzer_and_Potthoff_2011; @KvdLA11; @Balzer_et_al_2012; @Nuss_et_al_2012] of the cluster-perturbation theory (CPT).[@Gros_and_Valenti_1993; @Senechal_et_al_2000; @Senechal_et_al_2002; @Zacher_et_al_2002] The NE-CPT can be characterized as a time-dependent multiple-scattering approach. It is exact for the non-interacting model with Hubbard-$U=0$ and in the case of disconnected clusters, i.e. ${{\boldsymbol V}}=0$. In the general case, the NE-CPT starts from the one-particle propagator of the system of isolated clusters as a reference point and includes the effects of scattering at the inter-cluster potential ${{\boldsymbol V}}$ perturbatively to all orders but neglecting certain vertex corrections. Up to now, to study transient dynamics, the NE-CPT has been applied to one-dimensional or impurity-type models only. Here, our goal is to extend the theory and its implementation to two-dimensional models which are not easily accessible by other techniques.
Nonequilibrium cluster-perturbation theory
==========================================
To discuss the main idea of the non-equilibrium cluster-perturbation theory (NE-CPT) and the necessary steps for an extension to two-dimensional lattice fermion models, we consider the single-band Hubbard model.[@Hubbard] Using standard notations, the Hamiltonian that governs the time evolution of the system for $t>t_{0}$ is given by: $$\begin{aligned}
H(t)
&=&
\sum_{j,k,\sigma} T^{H}_{jk}(t) c_{j\sigma}^{\dagger} c_{k\sigma}
+
U^{H}(t)
\sum_{j} n_{j\uparrow} n_{j\downarrow}
\nonumber \\
&+&
\sum_{j,k,\sigma} V^{H}_{jk}(t) \, c_{j\sigma}^{\dagger} c_{k\sigma}
\: .
\label{eqn:hamh}\end{aligned}$$ We formally allow for an explicit time dependence of $H(t)$ but will restrict ourselves to $H=\mbox{const.}$ for the evaluation of the theory. In the latter case, the time evolution operator is given by $\exp(-i H (t-t_{0}))$.
The whole lattice is split into disconnected finite “clusters”. The first two terms on the r.h.s. of Eq. (\[eqn:hamh\]) represent the intra-cluster Hamiltonian with the intra-cluster hopping ${{\boldsymbol T}}^{H}$ and the on-site Hubbard interaction $U^{H}$. Note that the locality of the interaction part is a necessary ingredient for the CPT. The third term represents the hopping interlinking the different clusters, and the corresponding matrix elements are denoted by ${{\boldsymbol V}}^{H}$. The Hilbert space associated with an isolated cluster is assumed to be sufficiently small such that all cluster physical quantities of interest can be calculated exactly by numerical means. For the subsequent calculations we address a two-dimensional square lattice which is tiled into quadratic plaquettes consisting of four sites only.
The time evolution is assumed to start at $t=t_{0}$ from a pure initial state $| \Psi(t_{0}) \rangle$ which is taken to be the ground state of a Hamiltonian ${{\cal B}}$. [@Wagner_1991] This has basically the same structure as $H(t)$ but with possibly different parameters: $$\begin{aligned}
{{\cal B}}
& \equiv &
B - \mu N
=
\sum_{j,k,\sigma} \left(T^{B}_{jk} - \mu \delta_{jk}\right) c_{j\sigma}^{\dagger} c_{k\sigma}
\nonumber \\
&+&
U^{B} \sum_{j} n_{j\uparrow} n_{j\downarrow}
+
\sum_{j,k,\sigma} V^{B}_{jk} \, c_{j\sigma}^{\dagger} c_{k\sigma}
\: .
\label{eqn:hamb}\end{aligned}$$ The chemical potential $\mu$ can be adjusted to get the desired total particle number in the initial ground state. As the ground state of a correlated many-body system, the initial state must be treated by approximate means. Hence, to prepare for the CPT, we consider the same tiling of the lattice and the same corresponding splitting of the Hamiltonian. Note that a generalization to finite temperatures and thus a mixed, e.g. grand-canonical, equilibrium initial state could easily be described but will not be considered here.
![\[fig:contour\] Contour $\mathcal{C}$ in the complex time plane. $t_{0}$ is the time at which the system is prepared in the initial state. $t_{\text{max}}$ is the maximum time up to which observables are traced. $\beta$ is the inverse temperature. For a pure initial state $| \Psi(t_{0}) \rangle$ we have $\beta \rightarrow \infty$. ](contour.pdf){width="36.00000%"}
The time evolution of our basic quantity of interest, namely the expectation value $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle$ of the local spin-$\uparrow$ occupation number at site $j$, but actually the time evolution of all one-particle observables $A(t) = \sum_{j,k,\sigma} a_{jk\sigma}(t) c^{\dagger}_{j\sigma} c_{k\sigma}$ with possibly explicitly time-dependent parameters, can be obtained from the non-equilibrium one-particle Green’s function $$\label{eqn:gfdef}
G^{\sigma}_{jk}(z_{1},z_{2}) \equiv -i \, \Bigl\langle \mathcal{T}_{\mathcal{C}} \, \Bigl( \widehat{c}_{j\sigma}(z_{1}) \widehat{c}^{\dagger}_{k\sigma}(z_{2}) \Bigr) \Bigr\rangle$$ via $$\label{eqn:gf-obs}
\bigl\langle \widehat{A}(t) \bigr\rangle = -i\sum\limits_{j,k,\sigma} a_{jk\sigma}(t) \, G^{\sigma}_{kj} (t^{+},t^{-}) \; .$$ Here, $z_{1}$ and $z_{2}$ run over the Keldysh-Matsubara contour $\mathcal{C}$ in the complex time plane [@Danielewicz_1984; @Wagner_1991] which is shown in Fig. \[fig:contour\]. It consists of three branches: the upper and the lower Keldysh branch along the real axis ($\mathcal{K}^{+}$ and $\mathcal{K}^{-}$, respectively) as well as the Matsubara branch $\mathcal{M}$ parallel to the imaginary one. Here, $t$ stands for physical (real) times while $t_{0} - i\tau$ denotes a time point on $\mathcal{M}$, and $t^{\pm} \in \mathcal{K}^{\pm}$. Furthermore, $\mathcal{T}_{\mathcal{C}}$ is the time-ordering operator on $\mathcal{C}$. Operators with a hat are given in their Heisenberg picture. Expectation values as well as Heisenberg time evolution refer to “fully interacting” Hamiltonians $\mathcal{B}$ and $H(t)$, respectively.
As opposed to a direct calculation, the main advantage to compute one-particle quantities (Eq. (\[eqn:gf-obs\])) from the double-time propagator ${{\boldsymbol G}}$ (Eq. (\[eqn:gfdef\])) on the Keldysh-Matsubara contour is that this is accessible to standard perturbative techniques, see Ref. . Here, we expand the full ${{\boldsymbol G}}$ in powers of the inter-plaquette hopping ${{\boldsymbol V}}$. The (${{\boldsymbol V}}=0$)-propagator ${{\boldsymbol G}}'$ must be computed for the fully interacting model but for isolated plaquettes with small Hilbert space only: ${G'}^{\sigma}_{jk}(z_{1},z_{2}) \equiv 0$ for lattice sites $j$ and $k$ belonging to different plaquettes. An according numerically exact Krylov-space technique for an efficient computation of ${{\boldsymbol G}}'$ has been introduced in Ref. .
Starting from ${{\boldsymbol G}}'$, the propagator of the whole system can be obtained by summing inter-plaquette-scattering diagrams up to infinite order in ${{\boldsymbol V}}$: $$\label{eqn:cpt-prop}
{{\boldsymbol G}}^{\text{(CPT)}} = {{\boldsymbol G}}' + {{\boldsymbol G}}' \bullet {{\boldsymbol V}} \bullet {{\boldsymbol G}}' + \cdots \: .$$ For $U^{B}=U^{H}(t)=0$ this procedure represents an exact time-dependent multiple-scattering approach as all scattering paths are summed over. Furthermore, it is trivially exact in the case ${{\boldsymbol V}}=0$. For finite interactions and finite inter-cluster hopping, however, the NE-CPT propagator Eq. (\[eqn:cpt-prop\]) is approximate as certain vertex corrections are neglected (see discussion in Ref. ). Alternatively, the NE-CPT may be seen as an exact approach on the length scale of an individual cluster but as mean-field-like beyond.
A main disadvantage of the approach consists in the lack of any self-consistency. This is opposed to more elaborate cluster mean-field approaches [@Potthoff_2012] as the cellular dynamical mean-field theory [@Kotliar_et_al_2001] or the dynamical cluster approximation [@Hettler_et_al_1998; @Hettler_et_al_2000] which, on the other hand, are not easily applicable to the non-equilibrium case. Lack of self-consistency or lack of variational optimization also implies that the approach cannot be expected to respect macroscopic conservation laws, i.e. conservation of the total particle number and the total spin, that result from the U(1) and the SU(2) symmetry of the Hamiltonian.[@Baym_and_Kadanoff_1961; @Baym_1962] We therefore restrict the application of the method to the case of the Hubbard model at half-filling and vanishing $z$-component of the total spin, i.e. $L_{p}^{-1} \sum_{j\in p} \langle \widehat{n}_{j\sigma} (t) \rangle = 0.5$ for each plaquette $p$ with $L_{p}=4$ sites. In this case particle-number and spin conservation is enforced by manifest particle-hole and spin-inversion symmetry.
A re-summation of the terms on the r.h.s. of Eq. (\[eqn:cpt-prop\]) yields the NE-CPT equation $$\label{eqn:cpt-eqn}
{{\boldsymbol G}}^{\rm (CPT)} = {{\boldsymbol G}}' + {{\boldsymbol G}}' \bullet {{\boldsymbol V}} \bullet {{\boldsymbol G}}^{\rm (CPT)}$$ which represents an obvious generalization of the static CPT[@Gros_and_Valenti_1993; @Senechal_et_al_2000; @Senechal_et_al_2002; @Zacher_et_al_2002] to the time-dependent case. Here, all quantities are to be understood as having one spin index, two spatial indices as well as two time arguments. Furthermore, ${{\boldsymbol C}} = {{\boldsymbol A}} \bullet {{\boldsymbol B}}$ is short for $C^{\sigma}_{jk} (z_{1},z_{2}) = \sum_{l} \int_{\mathcal{C}}\!dz_{3} \, A^{\sigma}_{jl} (z_{1},z_{3}) B^{\sigma}_{lk} (z_{3},z_{2})$. For the inter-cluster hopping we have $V^{\sigma}_{jk}(z_{1},z_{2}) = V_{jk}(z_{1}) \delta_{\mathcal{C}}(z_{1},z_{2})$ where $\delta_{\mathcal{C}}$ is the contour delta function, and $V_{jk}(z) = V^{H}_{jk}(t)$ for $z \in \mathcal{K}^{\pm}$ while $V_{jk}(z) = V^{B}_{jk}$ for $z \in \mathcal{M}$. Note that there are two independent CPT equations for each of the two spin species.
Iterative coupling of plaquettes
================================
In previous studies of transient dynamics,[@Balzer_and_Potthoff_2011; @Balzer_et_al_2012] the NE-CPT has been applied to impurity-type models or small one-dimensional systems only. Furthermore, studies have so far been restricted to problems where the CPT equation (Eq. (\[eqn:cpt-eqn\])) had to be solved only [*once*]{} for each parameter set. For the intended application to a two-dimensional lattice, however, several plaquettes must be coupled, see Fig. \[fig:newsystem\] for an example of an $8 \times 8$ square lattice with open boundaries. In principle this could be achieved via Eq. (\[eqn:cpt-eqn\]) in a [*single*]{} step by treating the inter-plaquette hopping between all plaquettes as the perturbation ${{\boldsymbol V}}$ [*simultaneously*]{}. Alternatively, however, the Green’s function of the entire lattice may be obtained in several basic steps where in each step only two (possibly different) clusters (consisting of one or more plaquettes) are coupled at a time. This second procedure just corresponds to an iteration of the elementary CPT concept and also works for the non-equilibrium case. It is easily seen to be equivalent with the standard (NE-)CPT. However, it is clearly more flexible conceptually as one can make use of known concepts of standard multiple-scattering theory:
![\[fig:newsystem\] (Color online) Decomposition of the Hubbard model on the two-dimensional square lattice into disconnected plaquettes. $T$ denotes the intra- and $V$ the inter-plaquette hopping. $U$ is the on-site Hubbard interaction. See text for discussion. ](plaquettes.pdf){width="30.00000%"}
Consider the case displayed in Fig. \[fig:newsystem\] as an example and assume that $U^{H}(t) = U^{B} =\mbox{const.}$ and ${{\boldsymbol V}}^{H}(t) = {{\boldsymbol V}}^{B} = \mbox{const.}$ while $T_{jk}^{H}(t) = T_{jk}^{B} = \mbox{const.}$ for all sites $j,k$ [*except for*]{} the sites belonging to the plaquette $p=1$ in the upper left corner. For this example, it is clearly beneficial to couple the cluster “1” consisting of plaquette $p=1$ only, which is described by an intra-cluster Green’s function ${{\cal G}}'_{1}$, with cluster “2” consisting of plaquettes $p=2$, ..., $p=16$, which is described by the intra-cluster Green’s function ${{\cal G}}'_{2}$. Namely, ${{\cal G}}'_{1}$ is easily obtained as the corresponding Hilbert space is small while the computation of ${{\cal G}}'_{2}$ is strongly simplified as this is an equilibrium problem. ${{\cal G}}'_{2}$ can thus be obtained by equilibrium CPT, coupling plaquettes $p=2$, ..., $p=16$ step by step.
As a second example let us again consider the system displayed in Fig. \[fig:newsystem\] but now we assume that the (time-dependent) inter-cluster hopping between all plaquettes is the same and that all plaquettes have identical (time-dependent) intra-cluster parameters. In this case, a “cluster-doubling method” is helpful: In a first step plaquettes $p=1$ and $p=2$ are coupled by means of the NE-CPT. The Green’s function of the resulting cluster “1+2” is the same as the one of cluster “3+4”. Hence the latter is trivially obtained as a copy. In a second step, the clusters “1+2” and “3+4” are coupled to “1+2+3+4” which is again equivalent with “5+6+7+8”. This method can be iterated and is highly efficient.
We may therefore concentrate on the basic step of coupling two (possibly different) clusters: Arranging the site indices in two blocks referring to the two clusters, we have $${{\boldsymbol G}}' = \begin{pmatrix} {{\cal G}}'_{1} & 0 \\ 0 & {{\cal G}}'_{2} \end{pmatrix} \,, \qquad
{{\boldsymbol V}} = \begin{pmatrix} 0 & \mathcal{V}\\ \mathcal{V}^{\dagger} & 0 \end{pmatrix}$$ for the ${{\boldsymbol V}}=0$ propagator and for the perturbation ${{\boldsymbol V}}$ itself while the CPT Green’s function reads $${{\boldsymbol G}}^{\rm (CPT)} = \begin{pmatrix} {{\cal G}}_{11} & \mathcal{G}_{12}\\ \mathcal{G}_{21} & \mathcal{G}_{22} \end{pmatrix} \,.$$ The CPT equation (Eq. (\[eqn:cpt-eqn\])) acquires a $2\times 2$ block structure and can be rewritten in the following way: $$\begin{aligned}
\nonumber
\mathcal{G}_{11}
& = &
{\mathcal{G}}'_{1} + {\mathcal{G}}'_{1} \bullet \mathcal{V} \bullet {\mathcal{G}}'_{2} \bullet \mathcal{V}^{\dagger} \bullet \mathcal{G}_{11} \,,\\
\nonumber
\mathcal{G}_{22}
& = &
{\mathcal{G}}'_{2} + {\mathcal{G}}'_{2} \bullet \mathcal{V}^{\dagger} \bullet {\mathcal{G}}'_{1} \bullet \mathcal{V} \bullet \mathcal{G}_{22} \,,\\
\nonumber
\mathcal{G}_{12}
&=&
{\mathcal{G}}'_{1} \bullet \mathcal{V} \bullet \mathcal{G}_{22} \,,\\
\label{eqn:cptblock}
\mathcal{G}_{21}
&=&
{\mathcal{G}}'_{2} \bullet \mathcal{V}^{\dagger} \bullet \mathcal{G}_{11} \,.\end{aligned}$$ After solving the former two equations for the diagonal elements of ${{\boldsymbol G}}^{\text{(CPT)}}$, the non-diagonal ones can be easily obtained by evaluating the latter two. For a one-dimensional tight-binding system the matrix $\mathcal{V}$ exhibits exactly one non-zero element, and the sums over spatial indices, implicit in the $\bullet$ operation, reduce to just a single term. In higher dimensions typically more than a single inter-cluster hopping term connect the same two clusters. Still the CPT equations represent a strongly sparse linear system of equations. Exploiting this sparsity is inevitable for an efficient implementation of the theory.
Model and numerical approach
============================
As an example for the application of the non-equilibrium CPT to a two-dimensional system and for a discussion of dynamical symmetries (see Appendix \[sec:dsym\]), we consider the two-dimensional Hubbard model on a square lattice at half-filling with hopping $T^{{B}}_{jk}=T^{{H}}_{jk}=T$ between nearest neighbors $j,k$ only and with $U^{B}=U^{H}=U$. The energy and the time scales are set by $T=-1$. The time-evolution operator is invariant (see Eq. (\[eqn:timeevo\])) under an anti-unitary transformation $${{\cal U}} = {{\cal U}}_{1} {{\cal U}}_{2} {{\cal U}}_{3} \: .$$ Here, ${{\cal U}}_{1}$ is the particle-hole transformation for the spin-$\downarrow$ particles, $${{\cal U}}_{1} c_{j\downarrow} {{\cal U}}_{1}^{\dagger} = c_{j\downarrow}^{\dagger} \: , \qquad
{{\cal U}}_{1} c^{\dagger}_{j\downarrow} {{\cal U}}_{1}^{\dagger} = c_{j\downarrow} \: ,$$ ${{\cal U}}_{2}$ is a sign transformation (or ($\pi,\pi$)-momentum boost [@Schneider_et_al_2012]) applied to the spin-$\uparrow$ particles, $${{\cal U}}_{2} c_{j\uparrow} {{\cal U}}_{2}^{\dagger} = z_{j} c_{j\uparrow} \: , \qquad
{{\cal U}}_{2} c^{\dagger}_{j\uparrow} {{\cal U}}_{2}^{\dagger} = z_{j} c^\dagger_{j\uparrow} \: ,$$ where the sign factor $z_{j}=\pm 1$ for the two different sublattices of the bipartite square lattice. One easily verifies that ${{\cal U}}_{1} {{\cal U}}_{2} H {{\cal U}}_{2}^{\dagger} {{\cal U}}_{1}^{\dagger} = - H + \mbox{const.}$ (if $T^{H}_{jj}=0$, $T^{H}_{jk}=T^{H}_{kj}$, $V^{H}_{jk}=V^{H}_{kj}$) where the additive constant results in an irrelevant global phase in the time-evolution operator. Finally, ${{\cal U}}_{3}$ is the anti-unitary time reversal. The Hubbard Hamiltonian itself is time-reversal invariant but $${{\cal U}}_{3} e^{-i H (t-t_{0})} {{\cal U}}_{3}^{\dagger} = e^{i H(t-t_{0})} \; .$$ Together with the sign change of $H$ under ${{\cal U}}_{1} {{\cal U}}_{2}$, this proves the invariance of the time-evolution operator under the combined transformation ${{\cal U}}$.
We are interested in the site-dependent observable $n_{j\uparrow} = c^{\dagger}_{j\uparrow} c_{j\uparrow}$. Obviously, $${{\cal U}} n_{j\uparrow} {{\cal U}}^{\dagger} = n_{j\uparrow} \; ,$$ and thus we have the dynamical symmetry $$\begin{split}
&\ \langle \Psi'(t_{0}) | e^{i H (t-t_{0})} n_{j\uparrow} e^{-i H
(t-t_{0})} | \Psi'(t_{0}) \rangle\\
= &\ \langle \Psi(t_{0}) | e^{i H (t-t_{0})} n_{j\uparrow} e^{-i H
(t-t_{0})} | \Psi(t_{0}) \rangle
\end{split}$$ for initial states related via $| \Psi'(t_{0}) \rangle = \mathcal{U} | \Psi(t_{0}) \rangle$ (see Eq. (\[eqn:sym\]) in Appendix \[sec:dsym\]).
We compare the time evolutions for two different initial states which are defined as the ground states of the Hubbard model ${{\cal B}}$ (see Eq. (\[eqn:hamb\])) where (i) the hopping between the different plaquettes is switched off (${{\boldsymbol V}}^{B}=0$) and where (ii) an external field is switched on. The “spin-excitation state” $| {\text{N\'eel}} , p \rangle$ is the plaquette ground state in the presence of a staggered magnetic field: $${{\cal B}} \mapsto {{\cal B}} - h \sum_{j} z_{j} (n_{j\uparrow} - n_{{j\downarrow}}) \; ,
\label{eqn:spinexc}$$ where $z_{j}=(-1)^{j}$. The “charge-excitation state” $| {\rm CDW} ,p\rangle$ is obtained with the help of a staggered potential: $${{\cal B}} \mapsto {{\cal B}} - h \sum_{j} z_{j} (n_{j\uparrow} + n_{{j\downarrow}}) \; .
\label{eqn:chargeexc}$$ The final-state dynamics for $t>t_{0}$ is governed by the Hubbard Hamiltonian $H$ with the hopping between the different plaquettes switched on, i.e. $V^{H}_{jk} = V = T$ between nearest neighbors $j$ and $k$, but with the field switched off, i.e. $h=0$.
![\[fig:system\] (Color online) Pictorial representation of the Hamiltonians $B$ and $H$. The system is prepared as the ground state of ${{\cal B}}$ in the presence of a staggered field $h$ coupling to the $z$-component of the local spin or to the charge density. The evolution of the respective final states is given by the Hamiltonian $H$ with inter-plaquette hopping $V=T$ (nearest-neighbor hopping $T=-1$). Here, the decomposition into plaquettes is artificial and defines the NE-CPT scheme. Lattice sites as well as plaquettes are numbered. Interactions and hoppings are indicated exemplarily only. ](system.pdf){width="43.00000%"}
The actual NE-CPT calculations are performed for a finite system with $6\times 6$ sites and open boundary conditions. For this system size the numerical computations can be performed conveniently on a standard desktop computer. While the initial states are taken as simple product states (Fig. \[fig:system\], left) and are easily computed by means of exact diagonalization, an approximation must be used to determine the final-state dynamics: The inter-plaquette hopping $V=T$ is treated perturbatively to all orders within the CPT, see Fig. \[fig:system\], right. One plaquette at a time, in the order indicated by the numbers, is coupled in a sequence of 8 NE-CPT steps. We have checked that the results do not change within numerical accuracy when using a coupling scheme with a different ordering.
As ${{\boldsymbol V}}^{B}=0$ for the initial state, there are no potential-scattering vertices on the Matsubara branch of the contour. Consequently, only the two Keldysh branches must be taken into account in the CPT equations, Eqs. (\[eqn:cptblock\]). For the numerical solution of the corresponding integral equation, we introduce a time discretization with a finite time step $\Delta t$. Eqs. (\[eqn:cptblock\]) are considered as linear systems of equations for the different components of the CPT propagators. This component decomposition is advantageous as it allows an efficient use of standard quadrature rules. Details are discussed in the Appendix \[sec:comp\]. Applying the trapezoidal rule, a time step $\Delta t = 0.05/|T|$ has turned out as sufficient for converged results.
Numerical results and discussion
================================
![\[fig:results\_glob\] (Color online) Time evolution of the local spin-$\uparrow$ occupation numbers at the sites $j=1$, ..., $j=4$ for the system displayed in Fig. \[fig:system\] (with the staggered field applied to every plaquette). Inter-cluster hopping $V = T$, Hubbard interaction $U = 8|T|$. Energy and time scales are set by $T=-1$. Lines: initial “spin-excitation state” $|\text{N\'eel}\rangle$ obtained with $h=100$ in Eq. (\[eqn:spinexc\]). Dots: initial “charge-excitation state” $|\rm CDW\rangle$, $h=100$, see Eq. (\[eqn:chargeexc\]). ](results_glob.pdf){width="47.50000%"}
{width="95.00000%"}
We first consider a global excitation, i.e. $h$ is finite on all sites for the initial state, and the $j$-sums in Eqs. (\[eqn:spinexc\]) and (\[eqn:chargeexc\]) extend over the entire lattice. In case of a small field strength $h$, we find clearly different time evolutions of the local spin-$\uparrow$ occupation number $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle$ for the two different initial states $|\text{N\'eel}\rangle = \otimes_{p} |\text{N\'eel}, p\rangle$ and $|\text{CDW}\rangle=\otimes_{p}|\text{CDW}, p\rangle$. In fact, the dynamical symmetry is expected to hold for $h \to \infty$ only. In this limit, a fully polarized Néel state $|\downarrow ,\uparrow ,\downarrow ,\uparrow \rangle$ and a CDW state $| 0, \uparrow \downarrow ,0, \uparrow \downarrow \rangle$ are created on each plaquette, respectively, which are mapped onto each other: $| \downarrow, \uparrow ,\downarrow ,\uparrow \rangle = {{\cal U}} | 0, \uparrow \downarrow ,0, \uparrow \downarrow \rangle$.
The results for a large field $h=100$ are shown in Fig. \[fig:results\_glob\]. At $t=t_{0}=0$ we find $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle \approx 0$ for $j=1$ and $j=3$ and $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle \approx 1$ for $j=2$ and $j=4$ (see Fig. \[fig:system\] for the labeling of the sites) for both, the spin- and the charge-excitation state. Note that the occupation numbers of the spin-$\downarrow$ particles are fixed by particle-hole and spin-inversion symmetry, i.e.$\langle \widehat{n}_{j\downarrow}(t) \rangle = 1 - \langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow}(t) \rangle$ (Néel) and $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\downarrow}(t) \rangle = \langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow}(t) \rangle$ (CDW). Hence, total particle-number conservation and, in the same way, conservation of the $z$-component of the total spin is enforced. This symmetry has also been verified numerically. Furthermore, spatial symmetries (see Fig. \[fig:system\]) enforce equal occupations $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle$ for the sites $j=2$ and $j=4$ while sites $j=1$ and $j=3$ are inequivalent. As can be seen from Fig. \[fig:results\_glob\], this is respected by the NE-CPT. The approximate approach is also seen to respect the dynamical symmetry: The results obtained for the two different initial states $|\text{N\'eel}\rangle$ and $|\rm CDW\rangle$, displayed as lines and dots in Fig. \[fig:results\_glob\], respectively, are almost equal in the entire time interval studied. Remaining discrepancies are small and are due to residual numerical errors in the solution of the CPT equation as well as due to tiny deviations from full polarization in the initial state at $h=100$.
Fig. \[fig:results\_loc\] (a) and (b) displays the time evolution of $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle$ starting from initial Néel and CDW states ($h=100$) for the sites in the isolated plaquette $p=1$: The inter-plaquette hopping stays switched off. Due to the dynamical symmetry, the time evolution is the same in both cases (a) and (b). In Fig. \[fig:results\_loc\] (c) and (d) the corresponding results are shown for an initial Néel and CDW state prepared on plaquette $p=1$ only ($h=100$) while plaquettes $p=2$, ..., $p=9$ are assumed to be in their singlet ground state $|{\rm GS},p\rangle$, i.e. the $j$-sums in Eqs. (\[eqn:spinexc\]) and (\[eqn:chargeexc\]) extend over $p=1$ only. Contrary to (a) and (b), the inter-plaquette hopping is switched on ($V=T$) for times $t>0$.
We first note that ${{\cal U}}$ transforms the initial states on plaquette $p=1$ into each other, $|\text{N\'eel} , 1\rangle = {{\cal U}} |\rm CDW , 1 \rangle$, but does not leave the singlet ground state on the other plaquettes invariant, i.e. $|{\rm GS},p\rangle \ne {{\cal U}} | {\rm GS},p\rangle$. Consequently, the dynamical symmetry for the two different initial states is lost and different time evolutions are expected for finite $V$. This is nicely seen in Fig. \[fig:results\_loc\] by comparing (c) with (d). It is striking, however, that in case of the initial Néel state (c) the time evolution of $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle$ for sites $j$ in plaquette $p=1$ does not deviate much from the pure intra-plaquette dynamics shown in (a). On the other hand, starting from the initial CDW state (d), we find strong inter-plaquette effects dominating the dynamics almost immediately after the quench.
For an explanation of these findings, we first concentrate on the intra-plaquette dynamics. Here, it is sufficient to discuss the case of the Néel initial state only: As is seen in the figure, the full spin polarization quickly decays but at $t_{\rm r}(U) / 2 \approx 9.3$ for $U=8$ an almost fully polarized state with a reversed sign of the local spin is recovered. Note that $t_{\rm r}(U)$ is different from and actually much smaller than the exact recurrence time of the finite quantum system. However, it does represent the exact recurrence time in the strong-coupling limit $U \to \infty$ where the low-energy sector of the plaquette Hamiltonian is exactly mapped onto an antiferromagnetic Heisenberg plaquette.
Consider a dimer model rather than a plaquette for a moment: For $U \to \infty$, the Néel initial state $| \uparrow , \downarrow \rangle$ couples to the singlet ground state and to the triplet excited state of the effective Heisenberg model $H_{\rm low} = J {{\boldsymbol S}}_{1} {{\boldsymbol S}}_{2}$, namely $| \uparrow , \downarrow \rangle = \sqrt{1/2} ( | S=0, M=0 \rangle + | S=1, M=0 \rangle)$. The time evolution of $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle = 0.5 + \langle \widehat{S}_{j,z} (t) \rangle$ is thus governed by a single frequency $\omega$ given by the excitation energy $\omega = E(S=1) - E(S=0) = J = 4 T^{2} / U$ which translates into a recurrence time $t_{\rm r}(U) = 2 \pi / \omega = \pi U / (2 T^{2})$.
For the plaquette $p=1$, $|\text{N\'eel} ,1\rangle$ turns out to be given by a linear superposition of three energy eigenstates for $U\to \infty$. The resulting three excitation frequencies $\omega_{1,2,3}$, however, are integer multiples of the smallest one, say $\omega_{1}$. Rescaling the corresponding recurrence time $t_{\rm r}(U) = 2 \pi / \omega_{1} \propto U$ gives us $t_{r}(U=8) \approx 12.6$ which is close but not equal to the observed $t_{\rm r}(U) \approx 18.6$. This is an effect of residual charge fluctuations which are absent in the pure spin model and small but non-negligible for $U=8$. Charge fluctuations are also responsible for the small wiggles which can be seen in Fig. \[fig:results\_loc\] (a) on a time scale $2 \pi / U\lesssim 1$ and which are absent in the Heisenberg limit.
Having understood the physical origin of the different structures in case of isolated plaquettes, we can interpret the results in Fig. \[fig:results\_loc\] (c) and (d). The initial Néel state on $p=1$ has a mean energy $\langle \text{N\'eel}, 1 | H | \text{N\'eel} ,1\rangle \sim J$ and thus preferably couples to the low-energy eigenstates of the full model while for the initial CDW state we have $\langle \text{CDW} ,1| H | \text{CDW}, 1 \rangle \sim 2U$, i.e. the latter mainly couples to highly excited states. Note that the energy spread $\Delta E = \sqrt{\langle H^{2} \rangle - \langle H \rangle^{2}} \approx 2.8$ is almost the same for both, the Néel and the CDW initial state.
For the Néel initial state this implies that the overall trend of $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle$ is much slower as compared to the CDW initial state. Therefore, on the time interval displayed in panel (c), the dynamics still follows the intra-plaquette dynamics (a) which is governed by the time scale $2\pi /J$. The much less pronounced structures on the time scale $2\pi / U$ that are induced by residual charge fluctuations, on the other hand, are almost immediately affected by the scattering at the inter-plaquette potential ${{\boldsymbol V}}$. This is clearly visible, e.g. by comparing the results for inequivalent sites $j=1$ and $j=3$ in (c). Relaxation of $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle$ to its equilibrium value $\langle {n}_{j\uparrow} \rangle = 0.5$ is thus expected for times much larger than $2\pi / J$.
In case of the initial CDW state, the overall features of the intra-plaquette dynamics (b) are dominated by the same time scale $2\pi / J$ due to the dynamical symmetry. For coupled plaquettes (d) where the dynamical symmetry is absent, however, the dominant time scale is rather given by $2\pi / U \ll 2\pi /J$. This explains the observed much faster relaxation of $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle$ on a time scale larger than $2\pi / U$ but smaller than $2\pi /J$.
We conclude that the largely different time evolutions displayed in (c) and (d) result from a clear separation of time scales while the dynamical symmetry enforces equal behavior for decoupled plaquettes as seen in (a) and (b). This interpretation is corroborated by calculations at a much weaker interaction strength $U=2$ (not shown) where nominally $J=U$ but where there are actually no well-defined local moments. Here, the relaxation of $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle$ is indeed equally fast for both types of initial states. We also note that in case of a global excitation (see Fig. \[fig:results\_glob\]), where the dynamical symmetry is intact, the results for $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t) \rangle$ again closely resemble those obtained for the isolated plaquette, see Fig. \[fig:results\_loc\] (a) and (b).
Finally, our cluster mean-field results for the two-dimensional Hubbard model can qualitatively be compared with numerically exact data obtained by means of time-dependent density-matrix renormalization-group methods (DMRG) for the one-dimensional Hubbard model. [@dmrg1; @dmrg2] In Ref. a local doublon-holon excitation of the ground state of the half-filled model has been considered. The doublon is found to delocalize quickly on a time scale of a few $1/|T|$, very similar to doublon delocalization in an empty-band system, [@HP12] but, on a scale of several tens of $1/|T|$, does not completely [*decay*]{} as higher-order many-body scattering processes are necessary in the strong-coupling regime to break up the repulsively bound fermion pair consistent with energy conservation. Note that within the NE-CPT there is no direct access to two-particle expectation values. Nevertheless, the fast delocalization of the initial charge excitation is qualitatively consistent with our results in Fig. \[fig:results\_loc\] (d).
For the homogeneously excited initial state $| \rm CDW \rangle$ where a doublon is present at every second lattice site, DMRG [@dmrg2] again predicts the doublons as very stable in the strong-coupling regime, i.e. the total double occupation per site $\langle \widehat{D}(t) \rangle$ relaxes to a constant which is close to its maximum initial value $\langle \widehat{D}(0) \rangle = 0.5$ (an exponential decay is only found in the presence of a finite nearest-neighbor Coulomb interaction). Our results (Fig. \[fig:results\_glob\]) are again qualitatively consistent with the DMRG data: At $t_{1} \approx 9.3$ we find the local occupation numbers close to unity ($j=1,3$) or zero ($j=2,4$). Here, we can easily estimate $\langle \widehat{D}(t_{1}) \rangle \approx \sum_{j\in p} \langle \widehat{n}_{j\uparrow} (t_{1}) \rangle \langle \widehat{n}_{j\downarrow} (t_{1}) \rangle / L_{p} \lesssim 0.5$. As the occupation-number dynamics $\langle \widehat{n}_{j\sigma} (t) \rangle$ does not differ very much from the dynamics for an isolated plaquette on the time interval considered here, we expect the same for $\langle \widehat{D}(t) \rangle$. For the isolated plaquette, we in fact find $\langle \widehat{D}(t) \rangle$ slightly oscillating around a value smaller but close to 0.5.
Conclusions
===========
The generalization of the cluster-perturbation theory to systems with a non-trivial real-time dynamics of an initial non-equilibrium state provides a conceptually appealing approach that has been demonstrated as numerically feasible even for two-dimensional lattice models of strongly correlated fermions. The NE-CPT represents a non-self-consistent cluster mean-field-type approach where the effect of the scattering at the inter-cluster potential on the self-energy is neglected. For the particle-hole and spin symmetric Hubbard model, it nevertheless respects macroscopic conservation laws and has previously been shown [@Balzer_et_al_2012] to be able to reliably describe relaxation dynamics on short time scales for one-dimensional and impurity-type models.
The present study has addressed important numerical improvements that are necessary to study two-dimensional models: First, for a numerically efficient evaluation of the NE-CPT equations on the Keldysh-Matsubara contour, we have rewritten and implemented the NE-CPT equations for the different components of the non-equilibrium Green’s function. This leads to a considerable increase of the numerical accuracy and the accessible times. Secondly and more important, however, we have demonstrated that standard concepts of multiple-scattering theory, known from [*ab initio*]{} electronic-structure theory, can successfully be applied to the non-equilibrium case. The iterative scheme of coupling of only two equal or different building blocks at a time represents an efficient and flexible concept that is applicable to the two-dimensional case but may also be useful in different and even more complicated situations, e.g. in cases with fewer spatial symmetries.
As a concrete example, the dynamics of the Hubbard model on a $6\times 6$ square array has been considered for initial states prepared as plaquette-product states. We have studied the time evolution of the spin-dependent local occupation numbers to understand relaxation effects induced by inter-plaquette correlations building up in the course of time. Their real-time dynamics in the two states $|\text{N\'eel}\rangle = \otimes_{p} |\text{N\'eel}, p\rangle$ and $|\text{CDW}\rangle=\otimes_{p}|\text{CDW}, p\rangle$ with a [*global*]{} staggered spin or charge excitation is found to be identical. This is enforced by a dynamical symmetry, i.e. an invariance of the time-evolution operator and of the considered observables under a combined spin-asymmetric particle-hole, staggered sign, and time-reversal transformation ${{\cal U}}$, which is found to be respected by the NE-CPT. This dynamical symmetry prevents a fast relaxation of the CDW initial state which was expected to take place on a short time scale $2\pi / U$ related to charge dynamics.
If, on the other hand, the dynamical symmetry is broken by preparing the spin or charge excitation [*locally*]{} on the plaquette $p=1$ only while the rest of the system is given as a product of plaquette ground states $|\text{GS}, p\rangle$, a clear separation of energy and time scales is observed in the relaxation dynamics: The occupation numbers in the spin-excited plaquette ($|\text{N\'eel}, p=1\rangle$) show an overall slow coupling to the environment on the scale $2\pi/J$, with some fast but small oscillations due to residual charge fluctuations on top. Contrary, a charge dynamics on the scale $2\pi/U \ll 2\pi /J$ is seen to result in a fast relaxation of the of occupation numbers for the charge-excited state $|\text{CDW}, p=1\rangle$.
One might speculate on the long-time limit that is not accessible to real-time Green’s-function-based approaches as the NE-CPT: For the global spin and charge excited states, the dynamical symmetry enforces equal time evolutions although the total energies per site are largely different ($\sim U / 2$) which therefore implies different thermal states characterized by different temperatures eventually. In fact, the dynamical symmetry translates into a symmetry of the thermal states as $H\mapsto -H + {\rm const.}$ under ${{\cal U}}$ implies a transformation of the (normalized) thermal mixed state $\rho \mapsto \rho'$ with a negative temperature $T \mapsto -T$. For the locally excited states, on the other hand, the higher energy of the local charge excitation is expected to dissipate to the bulk of the system resulting, in the thermodynamical limit, in equal temperatures and equal thermal states eventually.
We would like to thank M. Balzer and H. Moritz for instructive discussions. The work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft within the Sonderforschungsbereich 925 (project B5) and within the excellence cluster “The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging - Structure, Dynamics and Control of Matter at the Atomic Scale”.
Dynamical symmetries {#sec:dsym}
====================
A unitary or anti-unitary transformation ${{\cal U}}$ of the observables and of the states of a quantum system leaves measurable quantities, such as expectation values, invariant. [@Messiah_1961; @Mertsching_1977] The quantum system itself is said to be “symmetric” with respect to the transformation, if its Hamiltonian $H$ is invariant: $H'={{\cal U}} H {{\cal U}}^{\dagger} = H$. For continuous transformation groups with ${{\cal U}} = \exp(i{{\boldsymbol \Lambda}}{{\boldsymbol \varphi}})$ and parameters ${{\boldsymbol \varphi}}$, the invariance implies that the corresponding generators ${{\boldsymbol \Lambda}}={{\boldsymbol \Lambda}}^{\dagger}$ commute with $H$, i.e. $[{{\boldsymbol \Lambda}}, H] = 0$. If the Hamiltonian is not explicitly time-dependent, this leads to conservation laws of the form $\langle \Psi(t) | {{\boldsymbol \Lambda}} | \Psi(t) \rangle = \langle \Psi(t_{0}) | {{\boldsymbol \Lambda}} | \Psi(t_{0}) \rangle = \mbox{const.}$, where $| \Psi(t) \rangle = \exp(-i H (t-t_{0})) | \Psi(t_{0}) \rangle$.
This concept might be generalized to “dynamical symmetries” in the following way: Consider a transformation ${{\cal U}}$ that leaves an observable invariant, $$A \to A' ={{\cal U}} A {{\cal U}}^{\dagger} = A \; ,$$ as well as the time-evolution operator: $$\begin{split}
e^{-i H (t-t_{0})} \to (e^{-i H (t-t_{0})})' &= {{\cal U}} e^{-i H (t-t_{0})} {{\cal U}}^{\dagger}\\
&= e^{-i H (t-t_{0})} \; .
\end{split}
\label{eqn:timeevo}$$ This immediately implies that $$\begin{split}
&\ \langle \Psi'(t_{0}) | e^{i H (t-t_{0})} A e^{-i H (t-t_{0})} | \Psi'(t_{0}) \rangle\\
= &\ \langle \Psi(t_{0}) | e^{i H (t-t_{0})} A e^{-i H (t-t_{0})} | \Psi(t_{0}) \rangle \quad ,
\label{eqn:sym}
\end{split}$$ for $t \geq t_{0}$, i.e. the time evolution is the same for different initial states, $|\Psi'(t_{0}) \rangle$ and $| \Psi(t_{0}) \rangle$.
Component decomposition {#sec:comp}
=======================
The $\bullet$ operation occurring in the CPT equation (Eq. (\[eqn:cpt-eqn\])) includes a convolution with respect to time variables. The corresponding integration path is the contour ${{\cal C}}$ shown in Fig. \[fig:contour\]. If ${{\cal C}}$ was considered as a whole, the error due to the time discretization in the numerical treatment of the integrals, e.g. via a Newton-Cotes formula, would be dominated by the characteristic discontinuities of non-equilibrium Green’s functions originating from the time ordering along ${{\cal C}}$, see Eq. (\[eqn:gfdef\]). Smaller errors or larger time discretization steps and thus a larger $t_{\text{max}}$, however, are attainable by splitting the non-equilibrium Green’s functions into certain components based on the different branches of $\mathcal{C}$. Exemplified by ${{\boldsymbol G}}$ and omitting spin and spatial indices for simplicity, one may define
$$\begin{aligned}
G^{>}(t_{1},t_{2}) &\equiv G(t_{1}^{-},t_{2}^{+})\; , \\
G^{<}(t_{1},t_{2}) &\equiv G(t_{1}^{+},t_{2}^{-})\; , \\
G^{\urcorner}(t_{1},\tau_{2}) &\equiv G(t_{1}^{\pm},t_{0}\!\!-\!i\tau_{2})\; , \\
G^{\ulcorner}(\tau_{1},t_{2}) &\equiv G(t_{0}\!\!-\!i\tau_{1},t_{2}^{\pm})\; , \\
G^{\text{\tiny MG}}(\tau_{1},\tau_{2}) &\equiv -i\,\left\langle \widehat{c}\,(t_{0}\!\!-\!i\tau_{1}) \ \widehat{c}^{\dagger}(t_{0}\!\!-\!i\tau_{2}) \right\rangle\; , \\
G^{\text{\tiny ML}}(\tau_{1},\tau_{2}) &\equiv i\,\left\langle \widehat{c}^{\dagger}(t_{0}\!\!-\!i\tau_{2}) \ \widehat{c}\,(t_{0}\!\!-\!i\tau_{1}) \right\rangle\; , \\
G^{\text{ret}}(t_{1},t_{2}) &\equiv \Theta(t_{1}\!\!-\!t_{2}) \left(G^{>}(t_{1},t_{2})\!-\!G^{<}(t_{1},t_{2})\right) \; , \\
G^{\text{adv}}(t_{1},t_{2}) &\equiv -\Theta(t_{2}\!\!-\!t_{1}) \left(G^{>}(t_{1},t_{2})\!-\!G^{<}(t_{1},t_{2})\right) \: .\end{aligned}$$
Besides the distinction between “greater” and “lesser” Matsubara components $G^{\text{\tiny MG}}$ and $G^{\text{\tiny ML}}$, the component definitions are well-known in non-equilibrium Green’s function literature. [@vanLeeuwen_et_al_2005] For our present purposes, $G^{\text{ret}}$ and $G^{\text{adv}}$ are auxiliary quantities only, all necessary information on ${{\boldsymbol G}}$ is already contained in the components $G^{>}$, ..., $G^{\text{\tiny ML}}$. We furthermore write $$\bigl(A^{c_{1}} \circ_{t_{3}}^{t_{4}} B^{c_{2}}\bigr)(z_{1},z_{2})
\equiv
\int_{t_{3}}^{t_{4}}\!dt_{5} A^{c_{1}}(z_{1},t_{5})B^{c_{2}}(t_{5},z_{2}) \: ,$$ and $$\bigl(A^{c_{1}} \ast_{\tau_{3}}^{\tau_{4}} B^{c_{2}}\bigr)(z_{1},z_{2}) \equiv -i\int_{\tau_{3}}^{\tau_{4}}\!d\tau_{5} A^{c_{1}}(z_{1},\tau_{5})B^{c_{2}}(\tau_{5},z_{2}) \: .$$ With this, a contour convolution $C(z_{1},z_{2}) \equiv \int_\mathcal{C}dz_{3} \, A(z_{1},z_{3}) \, B(z_{3},z_{2})$ can be split into the different components and reads:
$$\begin{aligned}
\label{eqn:conv-gre}&C^{>} =\, A^{>} \underset{t_{0}}{\overset{t_{\text{max}}}{\circ}} B^{\text{adv}} + A^{\text{ret}} \underset{t_{0}}{\overset{t_{\text{max}}}{\circ}} B^{>} + A^{\urcorner} \underset{0}{\overset{\beta}{\ast}} B^{\ulcorner} \, ,\\[-2pt]
\label{eqn:conv-les}&C^{<} =\, A^{<} \underset{t_{0}}{\overset{t_{\text{max}}}{\circ}} B^{\text{adv}} + A^{\text{ret}} \underset{t_{0}}{\overset{t_{\text{max}}}{\circ}} B^{<} + A^{\urcorner} \underset{0}{\overset{\beta}{\ast}} B^{\ulcorner} \, ,\\[-2pt]
\label{eqn:conv-hoole}&C^{\urcorner} =\, A^{\text{ret}} \underset{t_{0}}{\overset{t_{\text{max}}}{\circ}} B^{\urcorner} + A^{\urcorner} \underset{0}{\overset{\tau_{2}}{\ast}} B^{\text{\tiny ML}} + A^{\urcorner} \underset{\tau_{2}}{\overset{\beta}{\ast}} B^{\text{\tiny MG}} \, ,\\[-2pt]
\label{eqn:conv-hoori}&C^{\ulcorner} =\, A^{\ulcorner} \underset{t_{0}}{\overset{t_{\text{max}}}{\circ}} B^{\text{adv}} + A^{\text{\tiny MG}} \underset{0}{\overset{\tau_{1}}{\ast}} B^{\ulcorner} + A^{\text{\tiny ML}} \underset{\tau_{1}}{\overset{\beta}{\ast}} B^{\ulcorner} \, ,\\[-2pt]
\label{eqn:conv-mgre}&C^{\text{\tiny MG}} \!\!\!\!\overset{\tau_{1} \underset{\downarrow}{>} \tau_{2}}{=}\!\!\! A^{\text{\tiny MG}} \underset{0}{\overset{\tau_{2}}{\ast}} B^{\text{\tiny ML}} + A^{\text{\tiny MG}} \underset{\tau_{2}}{\overset{\tau_{1}}{\ast}} B^{\text{\tiny MG}} + A^{\text{\tiny ML}} \underset{\tau_{1}}{\overset{\beta}{\ast}} B^{\text{\tiny MG}} \, ,\\[-2pt]
\label{eqn:conv-mles}&C^{\text{\tiny ML}} \!\!\!\!\overset{\tau_{1} \underset{\downarrow}{\leq} \tau_{2}}{=}\!\!\! A^{\text{\tiny MG}} \underset{0}{\overset{\tau_{1}}{\ast}} B^{\text{\tiny ML}} + A^{\text{\tiny ML}} \underset{\tau_{1}}{\overset{\tau_{2}}{\ast}} B^{\text{\tiny ML}} + A^{\text{\tiny ML}} \underset{\tau_{2}}{\overset{\beta}{\ast}} B^{\text{\tiny MG}} \, ,\\[-2pt]
\label{eqn:conv-ret}&C^{\text{ret}} =\, A^{\text{ret}} \underset{t_{0}}{\overset{t_{\text{max}}}{\circ}} B^{\text{ret}} \, ,\\[-2pt]
\label{eqn:conv-adv}&C^{\text{adv}} =\, A^{\text{adv}} \underset{t_{0}}{\overset{t_{\text{max}}}{\circ}} B^{\text{adv}} \, .\end{aligned}$$
Here, we have also omitted time variables except for those appearing as integration boundaries. $\tau_{\alpha}$ denotes the $\alpha^{\text{th}}$ argument of the component $C^{c}$.
These convolution rules represent an adaption of the Langreth rules[@Langreth_and_Wilkins_1972] for our purposes and are similar to corresponding rules described in Ref. . Application to the differential equation of motion for ${{\boldsymbol G}}$ yields generalized Kadanoff-Baym equations. [@Kadanoff_and_Baym_1962] Utilizing the component decomposition and also evaluating the unit step functions of the retarded and advanced components, we find all integrands being continuous functions of the respective time argument. Furthermore, causality is made explicit by the (renewed) integration boundaries. Although the convolution $C$ does not behave like a proper Green’s function in all aspects, it can play the role of $A$ or $B$ in a next convolution step, e.g. the components $C^{c}$ are continuous themselves.
For the NE-CPT, we actually have to solve a problem of the form ${{\boldsymbol A}} \bullet {{\boldsymbol B}} = {{\boldsymbol C}}$ where ${{\boldsymbol A}}$ and ${{\boldsymbol C}}$ are given. To this end, we rewrite the CPT equation for the different components and treat the resulting problem as a system of linear equations $({{\boldsymbol 1}} - {{\boldsymbol G}}' \bullet {{\boldsymbol V}}) \bullet {{\boldsymbol G}}^{\text{(CPT)}} = {{\boldsymbol G}}'$ which must be solved for ${{\boldsymbol G}}^{\text{(CPT)}}$. Because of the homogeneity of the Matsubara Green’s function, solving Eq. (\[eqn:conv-mgre\]) with $\tau_{2} = 0$ is sufficient to get $B^{\text{\tiny MG}}$ and $B^{\text{\tiny ML}}$. These components in turn provide us with $B^{\urcorner}$ via Eq. (\[eqn:conv-hoole\]). Equipped with $B^{\text{adv}}$ from Eq. (\[eqn:conv-adv\]), Eq. (\[eqn:conv-hoori\]) can be solved for $B^{\ulcorner}$. Both components are prerequisites for finally obtaining $B^{>}$ and $B^{<}$ from Eqs. (\[eqn:conv-gre\]) and (\[eqn:conv-les\]), respectively. The lesser component is our main quantity of interest as it enters Eq. (\[eqn:gf-obs\]). The mentioned solution steps can be performed separately for all spatial/temporal indices $k$ and $z_{2}$ of $B^{\sigma}_{jk}(z_{1},z_{2})$ with the additional benefit of recurring coefficient matrices. Furthermore, use can be made of the fact that coefficient matrices representing $A^{\text{ret}}$ and $A^{\text{adv}}$ are triangular.
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|
In the article titled "Emerging/re-emerging viral diseases & new viruses on the Indian horizon" published on pages 447-467, Issue 4, Volume 149 in Indian J Med Res\[[@ref1]\], the authors inadvertently miscategorised many viruses as against their respective families in Table 1 on page 452.
The correct [Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"} is provided below:
######
Emerging/re-emerging viral infections in India and new viruses[@ref1]
Family Viruses Probable/mode of transmission Outbreak potential Biosafety risk-group
--------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- -------------------- ----------------------
*Bunyaviridae* Ganjam virus Tick-borne Yes\* 2
Bhanja virus Tick-borne Yes\* 2
SFTS virus Tick-borne Yes 4
Chobar Gorge virus Tick-borne No 2
EEV Arthropod-borne No 2
Cat Que virus Arthropod-borne Yes\* 2
Kaisodi virus Tick-borne Yes\* 2
Umbre virus Arthropod-borne Yes\* 2
Oya virus \[previously known as Ingwavuma virus\] Arthropod-borne No 2
Chittoor virus Tick-borne Yes\* 2
Thottapalayam virus Rodent-borne No 2
*Nairoviridae* CCHF virus Tick-borne, Human to human Yes 4
*Flaviviridae* Yellow fever Arthropod-borne Yes 4
Zika virus Arthropod-borne, Mother to child, Sexual route Yes 2
KFD virus Tick-borne Yes 4
JE virus Arthropod-borne Yes 2
Dengue virus Arthropod-borne Yes 2
Bagaza virus Arthropod-borne Yes\* 2
*Orthomyxoviridae* Influenza -(H3N2) v alias Air-borne Yes 3
Influenza-Avian \[H5N1\] Air-borne Yes 4
Quaranfil virus Tick-borne Yes\* 2
*Pneumoviridae* RSV Air-borne Yes 2
*Paramyxoviridae* Parainfluenza 1 to 4 Air-borne Yes\* 2
Nipah virus Human to human Direct contact/consumption of infected bat/fruit infected with bat Yes 4
*Picornaviridae* Human Rhinovirus A, B and C
Hand, Foot & Mouth disease Direct contact, Feco-oral route Yes 2
Coxsackie-A21 virus Feco-oral route Yes 2
Coxsackie-A10 virus Feco-oral route Yes 2
Polio & Non-Polio flaccid paralysis Feco-oral route Yes 3
Enterovirus-D68 Air-borne Yes 2
*Caliciviridae* Noroviruses Feco-oral route Yes 2
Sapoviruses Feco-oral route Yes 2
*Hepadnaviridae* Hepatitis KIs virus new & vaccine escape mutants of HBV Blood-borne Yes 2
*Togaviridae* Rubella virus Air borne Yes 2
Chikungunya virus Arthropod-borne Yes 2
*Poxviridae* Buffalo pox virus \[Orthopoxvirus\] Direct contact Yes 2
*Parvoviridae* Human Parvovirus-4 Parenteral transmission ? Yes 2
*Arenaviridae* LCMV Rodent-borne Yes\* 3
*Herpesviridae* VZV Air borne, Direct contact Yes 2
*Rhabdoviridae* Chandipura virus Arthropod-borne Yes 3
*Reoviridae* Rota viruses Feco-oral route Yes 2
Kammavanpettai virus \[Orbiviruses\] Tick-borne No Unknown
\*May cause epidemic; however, no epidemic has been reported. Unknown: No clear information on the risk assessment available. SFTS, severe fever thrombocytopenia syndrome; EEV, equine encephalosis virus; CCHFs, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fevers; KFD, Kyasanur forest disease; JE, Japanese encephalitis; LCMV, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus; CMV, cytomegalovirus; VZV, varicella-zoster virus; RSV, respiratory syncytial virus; HBV, hepatitis-B virus. *Source*: Refs 5, 10, 22-55
|
. Calculate k(n).
0
Let g(w) = -6*w - 1. Let u(r) = -23*r - 4. Let j(l) = 9*g(l) - 2*u(l). Determine j(2).
-17
Let p(w) = -w**3 - 4*w**2 - 2*w + 1. Suppose 8*j + 24 = 2*j. What is p(j)?
9
Let v(l) = l**2 + l - 1. Let t(r) = 3*r**2 + 3*r - 2. Let d(m) = -t(m) + 4*v(m). Let z = 57 - 41. Let g be (3/(-2))/(12/z). Calculate d(g).
0
Let m(d) = 14*d. Suppose -3*p = -1 - 2. Determine m(p).
14
Suppose 0*z + 2*z = 8. Let o(w) = -3*w + 9. Let y(s) = -5*s + 14. Let h = 3 - -5. Let x(t) = h*o(t) - 5*y(t). Calculate x(z).
6
Let s(t) = -t**2 + 1. Let q(y) = y**3 + 1. Let k(m) = -2*m**3 + 4*m**2 - 8. Let j(c) = -k(c) - 3*q(c). Let h be j(-3). Calculate s(h).
-15
Let t(j) = -3*j + 3. Let p(x) = 10*x - 10. Let g(d) = -2*p(d) - 7*t(d). Let q(w) = w - 5. Let h(v) = 2*g(v) - q(v). Give h(3).
6
Let a(h) = h**2 + 2*h - 2. Suppose -3*o - 7 = -4. Let r be (24/(-18))/(o/(-3)). Calculate a(r).
6
Let h(d) = -d**2 - 2*d - 1. Let q be h(-1). Suppose 2*z = -3*z. Let c(o) = q*o**2 + z - 6 - o**2 - 7*o. Determine c(-4).
6
Let r(t) = -2*t - 6. Let y(x) be the third derivative of -x**4/24 - 5*x**3/6 - 2*x**2. Let m(z) = 2*r(z) - 3*y(z). What is m(0)?
3
Let y(z) = -z**3 - z**2 - z + 1. Suppose 3*g = -3, -5*o + 3*o = 5*g + 5. Let v be -2 - 7*(-1 + o). Suppose 0 = -2*r + 2, 4*h - r + 4 = -v. What is y(h)?
7
Let j(c) be the second derivative of -c**4/12 - 5*c**3/6 + 3*c**2/2 - 2*c. Suppose -6*z = -0*z + 30. What is j(z)?
3
Let q(s) be the third derivative of -s**5/60 + 7*s**4/24 + 2*s**3/3 - 16*s**2. What is q(8)?
-4
Let j(c) = -2*c**2 - 9*c - 8*c + 24*c - 8*c + 3. Determine j(-2).
-3
Let b(m) = -6*m - 1. Suppose 4*c + c - 10 = -5*d, -4*d + 13 = -c. Give b(c).
5
Let a(y) be the first derivative of 0*y**4 + 3 + 0*y - y**2 - 1/6*y**3 + 1/60*y**5 + 1/120*y**6. Let r(m) be the second derivative of a(m). Determine r(1).
1
Let o(k) = -k**3 + 5*k**2 + 7*k - 8. Let m(l) = -2*l**2 - 3*l - 2. Let b be m(-2). Let i = b - -10. Calculate o(i).
-2
Let w(b) = -3*b + 2. Suppose 0 = 4*h + 2*k - 46, 2*k = -h - 2*k - 6. Let u = -4 + h. Let g be 16/u - 2/(-5). Give w(g).
-4
Let n be (-4 - -18)*(-1)/2. Let z(b) = -b - 7. Let j be z(n). Let q(p) = -3*p**2 + 3*p + 8. Let m(d) = d**2 - d - 4. Let y(h) = -5*m(h) - 2*q(h). What is y(j)?
4
Let f(g) = -g + 1. Let r be f(1). Let m(p) = -11*p**2 + 5*p + 17. Let k(j) = -4*j**2 + 2*j + 6. Let a = -9 + 1. Let v(t) = a*k(t) + 3*m(t). Give v(r).
3
Let z = 0 - -5. Suppose 0 = -m + z. Let g(y) = y**2 - 1. Let j(u) = 4*u**2 + 3*u - 2. Let r(t) = -5*g(t) + j(t). Determine r(m).
-7
Suppose 2*t = -3*t. Let r be -1 - (-2 + (t - -5)). Let a(g) = -2*g - 7 + 3*g - 2*g. Determine a(r).
-3
Let p(a) = 20*a**3 + 2*a**2 + 15*a - 9. Let q(f) = 7*f**3 + f**2 + 5*f - 3. Suppose 5*y - 3*y = 34. Let i(m) = y*q(m) - 6*p(m). Determine i(3).
6
Let b(a) = 4*a**2 + 17*a**2 - 7*a**2 - a. What is b(-1)?
15
Let p(f) = f**3 - 7*f**2 - 6*f - 9. Let y(i) = 2*i**3 - 14*i**2 - 12*i - 18. Let k(r) = 13*p(r) - 6*y(r). Give k(8).
7
Let s(d) = -d**3 - d**2 - 7. Let b be (4 - 4)/(2 + 0). Give s(b).
-7
Let v(t) = -2*t - 3. Let c(y) = -y - 3. Let o(s) = -3*c(s) + 2*v(s). What is o(5)?
-2
Let h(c) = -56*c**2 + 61*c**2 - 4 + 0*c + c**3 + 0*c. Give h(-5).
-4
Suppose 2*x - 4*g = -26, 4*x + 2*g - 20 = 6*x. Let u(z) = -z - 14. Calculate u(x).
-7
Let s = -16 - -23. Let g = -9 + s. Let u(f) be the first derivative of 2*f**3/3 + 3*f**2/2 + 2*f + 1. Give u(g).
4
Let g(p) = -4*p**3 + 15*p - 5*p + 3*p**3 - 7*p**2 + 7 - 14*p. Give g(-6).
-5
Suppose w + 2*m = 0, m - 18 = 4*w + 3*m. Let s(d) = -d + 3. Let j(z) = 5*z - 12. Let y(o) = -4*j(o) - 18*s(o). Calculate y(w).
6
Let j(o) = -o**3 + 4*o**2 + 2*o + 3. Suppose 11 = 3*d - 10. Suppose q - i + 4*i - d = 0, q = -5*i + 9. Determine j(q).
11
Let x = -11 - -15. Let z = x - 5. Let h(f) = 4*f**3 - f**2 - f - 1. Give h(z).
-5
Let t(f) = -f**3 + 3*f**2 + 3. Suppose -6*a - 5*q + 17 = -4*a, 4*a + q - 7 = 0. Let z = a - -1. Suppose 0 = 3*w + z*w - 15. What is t(w)?
3
Let k = -56 - -56. Let t(s) = -2*s**2 + 2*s + 11. Let a(v) = v**2 - v + 1. Let b(z) = -3*a(z) - t(z). Give b(k).
-14
Let c = -5 - -5. Let m(r) = r - 9. Calculate m(c).
-9
Let x(t) = -t**2 + 21*t - 49. Let u be x(18). Let d(a) = -10*a - 26. Let r(l) = -2*l - 5. Let b(q) = -2*d(q) + 11*r(q). Calculate b(u).
-13
Let y(w) = -w**3 - w**2 - 3*w - 3. Let g(o) = -3*o + 4. Let z be g(2). Determine y(z).
7
Let w(u) be the second derivative of u**4/2 - u**3/3 + 3*u**2/2 + 4*u. Let n(t) = -7*t**2 + 3*t - 3. Let k(x) = 5*n(x) + 6*w(x). What is k(-3)?
3
Let b(t) be the second derivative of t**5/20 + t**4/4 - 2*t**3/3 - 9*t. Suppose d - 2 = -4. Let x = -2 + d. Calculate b(x).
0
Let l(j) = -j**3 - 7*j**2 - 3*j + 7. Let r(t) = -5*t**2 - 2*t + 1. Let x be r(1). Give l(x).
-11
Let j = -12 + 12. Let m(q) = 1 - 2*q**2 + 3*q**2 + 1. Give m(j).
2
Let i(k) = -11*k + 0 + 3*k - k**2 + 2 - 1. Let z(q) = -q + 1. Let h(v) = i(v) - 5*z(v). Determine h(-3).
-4
Suppose i + 0 + 4 = 0. Let y = -7 - i. Let p(t) = t**2 + 3*t + 1. Determine p(y).
1
Let o be (92/(-96) - -1)*1. Let y(d) be the third derivative of -3*d**2 + 0*d + 0 + o*d**4 - 5/6*d**3. What is y(3)?
-2
Let y(r) be the first derivative of -r**6/120 - r**5/15 - r**3/2 + 2*r**2 - 6. Let o(j) be the second derivative of y(j). What is o(-4)?
-3
Let f(m) be the second derivative of m**4/12 + m**3/6 - 5*m**2/2 - 10*m. Let w = -1 + 1. What is f(w)?
-5
Let d(v) = v**3 - 4*v**2 + 1. Let u = 10 - 7. Determine d(u).
-8
Let y(c) = c**2 + 6*c - 11. Let o be y(-8). Suppose 2*u = 4*u - 10, -3*u = -5*n. Let t(j) = -n*j**3 + j + 0*j**3 + o*j**2 - 2 + 4*j**3. Determine t(-2).
8
Let d(j) = j**3 - 3*j**2 - 2*j - 2. Suppose -2*z - 2*w - 3*w + 8 = 0, 5*z = w + 20. Determine d(z).
6
Let o(f) = f**2 + 3*f - 7. Let v(x) = -x**3 + 14*x**2 - 12*x - 18. Let b be v(13). Determine o(b).
3
Let d(u) = 3*u - 5. Let n(k) be the first derivative of k**4/4 - 3*k**3 - 9*k**2/2 - 6*k - 5. Let g be n(10). Calculate d(g).
7
Let d be (-2)/4*(-5 - 5). Let i(q) = 3*q**2 - q**3 + 3 + q**2 + 6*q - 5 - 2*q. Determine i(d).
-7
Let b(u) = -131 - 2*u**2 - 3*u + 5*u + 132. What is b(-1)?
-3
Let u be -7 + 1 + 2 + -3. Let q be -3 + 0 + (0 - u). Let i(n) = -n**3 + 4*n**2 + 2*n - 3. What is i(q)?
5
Let n be (-1*2)/(-6 + 4). Let u(i) be the first derivative of -3*i + 1/4*i**4 - 4/3*i**3 - 2*i**2 + n. Give u(5).
2
Let v(h) be the third derivative of h**6/30 + h**4/24 + 11*h**2. Calculate v(1).
5
Let k(u) = -u + 3. Let h = 3 - -2. Determine k(h).
-2
Let u(b) = -11*b**2 + 1. Suppose 0 = -2*x - 2*w + w + 1, x + 2*w + 4 = 0. Suppose x*k = -0*k. Suppose k = 4*h + 2 + 2. What is u(h)?
-10
Let f(n) = 20*n + 24*n + 14*n**3 - 43*n - 1. Calculate f(1).
14
Let d = 5665/24 + -236. Let y(b) be the third derivative of 1/6*b**3 + 0*b - d*b**4 + b**2 + 0. Calculate y(4).
-3
Let d(a) = -3*a + 3. Let g be d(2). Let z(n) = -2*n**2 + 4*n - 6 + 0*n - 3*n + 9. Let v(h) = -h**2 + 3. Let b(j) = g*v(j) + 2*z(j). What is b(3)?
-6
Let m(y) = 3 - 1 - 13*y + 5*y + 11*y + 3*y**2. Determine m(-2).
8
Let o(p) be the third derivative of -p**5/60 + p**4/24 + p**3/6 + 9*p**2. What is o(0)?
1
Let l be ((-3)/(-6))/((-1)/10). Let t be 6 + (-1)/(1/3). Let j(m) = -2*m - 1 + 1 + t*m. What is j(l)?
-5
Let j(v) = -v**3 + 8*v**2 + 4*v + 4. Let m(w) = -w**2 - w - 1. Let p(x) = -j(x) - 5*m(x). Give p(3).
4
Let d(c) = -c**2 - 6*c - 3. Let r(s) = s**3 + 4*s**2 + 2*s - 1. Let h be r(-2). Let f = 7 - h. Let n be (-3)/(-4)*-1*f. Calculate d(n).
6
Let l(t) = t**2 - 3. Let i = 6 - 5. Suppose 5*y - 4 = i. Suppose y = 2*h - 5. Calculate l(h).
6
Let o(i) be the second derivative of i**4/6 - i**3/3 - i**2/2 - 8*i. Calculate o(-1).
3
Let k(s) = -s**3 - s**2 - 1. Suppose 12 = 3*o - 0. Suppose -3*j + 8 + 3 = o*m, -2*m + 5*j = 27. Give k(m).
-1
Let a(d) be the second derivative of 1/6*d**3 + 1/12*d**4 - 1/20*d**5 + 0 + 2*d - 1/2*d**2. Let y be (-2)/(-5) - 4/10. What is a(y)?
-1
Let g = 100 - 104. Let k(u) = u**2 + u. Determine k(g).
12
Let z(t) = 2*t**3 + 7*t**2 - t + 8. Let r be z(-4). Let h(a) = -2*a**2 - a - 2*a + 4 + 0*a**2. What is h(r)?
-16
Let c(s) = -2*s - 1. Let p(u) be the second derivative of -u**3/6 - 3*u**2/2 - u. Let b be p(-6). Calculate c(b).
-7
Let z(x) = -4*x. Let g(t) = t**3 + 4*t**2 - 6*t - 4. Let b be 1 + 0 + 1 - 7. Let h = 0 + b. Let c be g(h). Determine z(c).
-4
Let d(u) = -2*u |
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Defines the workflows and profiles of a Taverna Workflow Bundle. The main workflow is also normally defined, which would be the top-level workflow to execute. The profiles defines how these workflows can be realised and executed on different environments, one of which can be suggested as the main profile.
Bundle path and root files
The workflow bundle document in RDF/XML format should be in in /workflowBundle.rdf within the bundle archive.
If the archive is a workflow bundle, i.e. /mimetype is application/vnd.taverna.scufl2.workflow-bundle, then the META-INF/container.xml can define root files at alternative paths and media types. This specification requires that one of those formats is application/rdf+xml according to this specification.
Example META-INF/container.xml:
This defines the RDF/XML root file to be /workflowBundle.rdf - with workflowBundle.ttl being an alternate representation the resource in Turtle format.
SCUFL2-compliant workflow bundle writers:
Must set the bundle mimetype to application/vnd.taverna.scufl2.workflow-bundle
Must add a workflow bundle document in application/rdf+xml format
Should store the workflow bundle document in /workflowBundle.rdf
Must not contain a resource /workflowBundle.rdf which is not the workflow bundle document
If the application/rdf+xml representation is not in /workflowBundle.rdf, the writer must include META-INF/container.xml with the required <rootfile> entries.
META-INF/container.xml, if present, must contain one and only one rootfile with the media-type application/rdf+xml. rootfiles of other media-types may be included, but their formats and restrictions are not defined by this specification.
May Add additional representation of the workflow bundle document (and other documents). Alternates of the workflow bundle document should be included in the META-INF/container.xml, but only if they can be considered to fully specify the workflow bundle as in the RDF/XML format. (So for instance a text/html or image/png representation would not normally be considered a rootfile if it does not include all the structural information from the RDF/XML representation as specified here)
It is possible to include a workflow bundle document within a different kind of archive or bundle, for instance in a data bundle. In this case the bundle is not considered an application/vnd.taverna.scufl2.workflow-bundle - but producers of such archives:
Should store the workflow bundle document in /workflowBundle.rdf, unless the workflow bundle is not to be considered to have a 'main' or 'prominent' role within the archive. (For instance if the archive is a collection of workflow bundles).
Should have a mimetype and META-INF/container.xml resource which declares the archive's main entry point, like the data bundle document. The mime type must not be application/vnd.taverna.scufl2.workflow-bundle and the root files should not be the workflow bundle document.
Should link to the workflow bundle document from a resource within the archive which (ultimately) is linked to from one of the rootfile documents. Such documents should be in RDF/XML format.
Should declare the media type of the RDF/XML workflow bundle document as application/rdf+xml in its META-INF/manifest.xml
SCUFL2 compliant workflow bundle readers:
Should assume that /workflowBundle.rdf - if present - is the root workflow bundle in the application/rdf+xml format specified here.
Should assume that if the archive's mimetype is application/vnd.taverna.scufl2.workflow-bundle, then the rootfile in META-INF/container.xml with the media type {{application/rdf+xml}) is the root workflow bundle document.
May assume that any alternate formats listed as a rootfile in a application/vnd.taverna.scufl2.workflow-bundle archive would fully cover the specification of the RDF/XML representation, and read such formats instead.
May assume that any application/rdf+xml document with a xsi:type="WorkflowBundleDocument" can be parsed according to the Scufl2 XML schema
Identifiers
Workflow bundles and their resources must be declared with relative identifiers within the archive. In a application/vnd.taverna.scufl2.workflow-bundle archive, the workflow bundle must be identified as the root of the archive. If the Workflow Bundle document is in workflowBundle.rdf within the archive, the workflow identifier is ./. This should be achieved by setting xml:base="./" and rdf:about="".
This means that one can mint a URI to refer to resources within the bundle archive, including the workflow bundle, workflows and representations. If http://example.com/myWfBundle.scufl2 returns a Scufl2 workflow bundle archive of the content type application/vnd.taverna.scufl2.workflow-bundle, then (assuming default structure of the archive):
Embedded workflow bundles
If the archive is another type of bundle which includes the workflow bundle (but is not primarily playing the role as the format for this workflow bundle), the local workflow identifier should be unique within the archive. This is easiest achieved by using the same folder technique as for the workflow representations:
Such embedded workflow bundles should include their constituent representations (such as workflow/HelloWorld.rdf) within that folder, for instance exampleWorkflowBundles/hello/workflow/HelloWorld.rdf to define exampleWorkflowBundles/hello/workflow/HelloWorld/ - but could also be shared among bundles, for instance both workflowBundle1.rdf and workflowBundle2.rdf might refer to workflow/Shared.rdf.
Global workflow bundle identifiers
Workflow bundles should declare a sameBaseAs reference to a globally unique non-informational URI.
This allows anyone to make a statement about any resource within the workflow bundle, even if the URL of the workflow bundle representation itself might change, be it on a local USB disk, DropBox folder, myExperiment, etc.
Updating the UUID
It is up to the software editing or creating the workflow to assign a new UUID as soon as any change has been done to any workflow, profile or workflow bundle, as this is the globally unique identifier for this workflow archive, and also the base URI for all the other resources in the archive.
To update the URI, use workflowBundle.setSameBaseAs(WorkflowBundle.generateIdentifier()).
Example representation in RDF/XML
This example defines the workflow bundle "HelloWorld". It contains one workflow workflow/HelloWorld, which is also the main workflow. Any additional workflows are typically nested (and nested-nested, etc) workflows bound as activities in processors). Two execution profiles are provided, and profile/tavernaWorkbench is dedicated as the main profile.
Properties
name (required) gives the human readable title for this workflow archive. This is a subproperty of dc:title.
sameBaseAs (optional) gives a unique URI which is owl:sameAs with this workflow bundle and its children.
workflow (required) All workflows included in this bundle. Each workflow must have an rdfs:seeAlso link to the bundle resource that defines the workflow, typically workflow/workflowName.rdf corresponding to the non-information resource workflow/workflowName/.
mainWorkflow (optional) The reference to the top-level workflow of this bundle. It is valid to have a workflow bundle without a main workflow, for instance if the bundled workflows are unconnected "workflow fragments". If there is a mainProfile the workflow bundle must also have a mainWorkflow. The main workflow must always be listed under workflow.
profile (optional) profiles specifying how to execute the bundled workflows. In particular the profile provides a set of configured activities bound to the processors for a particular run environment. If no profiles are specified this is an abstract workflow bundle.
mainProfile (optional) the suggested main profile. Execution platforms unable to choose between the provided profiles can select this profile as a default. It is valid to have a workflow bundle without a main profile (even if it has other profiles), but any main profile must be listed under profile.
rdfs:seeAlso (optional) link to annotations about the workflow bundle and its content. Traditionally found in annotation/workflowBundle.rdf, which should contain further links to annotations from different sources, for instance annotation/myExperiment.rdf for annotations included from myExperiment.
Bundle links
The workflow bundle document is the starting point for finding all workflow bundle resources within the archive. Each of the workflows and profiles must therefore have a rdfs:seeAlso link to the bundle resource that defines it.
If alternate formats other than the required RDF/XML format is included in the bundle, these formats can therefore link to resources in other formats, for instance in an additional workflowBundle.ttl (Turtle format):
Parsing/writing
Should write the workflow bundle RDF/XML document according to the [SCUFL2 XML schema], use the default namespace xmlns="http://ns.taverna.org.uk/2010/scufl2#" and declare the xsi:type="WorkflowBundleDocument"
Must ensure the workflow bundle RDF/XML document is valid RDF/XML and includes the properties deemed required by this specification. Conforming to the XML schema should ensure this.
Should set the xml:base property to "./
Should set rdf:about to "" (or "./" if xml:base is not set))
Should declare a mainWorkflow and mainProfile
Must ensure that any workflow/profile has a relative rdfs:seeAlso link to a bundle resource in application/rdf+xml which defines that workflow/profile.
SCUFL2 compliant readers, when parsing a workflow bundle document:
Mayassume that a declared workflow/profile is defined in the referenced representation. For instance, if:
then workflow/SomeNestedWorkflow.rdfmust contain a workflow definition for workflow/SomeNestedWorkflow/.
May parse the /workflowBundle.rdf as RDF/XML
May parse the {/workflowBundle.rdf}} according to the XML schema if the xsi:type="WorkflowBundleDocument" is set on the rdf:RDF element. |
Background {#Sec1}
==========
Disorders of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAOD) are one of the most prevalent monogenic diseases with a cumulative incidence of about 1:9300 newborns \[[@CR1]\]. Amongst this disease entity, medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenases deficiency (MCADD) is the most common enzymatic defect.
The clinical manifestation depends on the underlying enzymatic defect and residual enzyme activity leading to a wide spectrum of symptoms. Although most FAOD are amenable to therapy, the clinical outcome depends on the severity of the specific defect. Cornerstones of treatment are the avoidance of fasting/catabolism and in long chain FAOD fat restriction accompanied by medium chain triglyceride supplementation \[[@CR2], [@CR3]\].
Since 2005, the FAO diseases MCAD-, LCHAD-/TFP-, VLCAD- and carnitine cycle defects are target diseases of the nationwide German newborn-screening program using the tandem mass spectrometry technique. This resulted in a considerable reduction of morbidity and mortality in patients suffering from FAOD. Newborn-screening also detects children with mild phenotypes or non-diseases. It remains unclear whether subjects with these mild (biochemical) phenotypes and/or novel genetic variants are at risk for the development of a clinically relevant phenotype.
With informative newborn-screening results, further confirmation is needed to specify defects of mitochondrial FAO. Specific enzyme assays are available for most fatty acid oxidation defects in order to determine residual enzyme activities \[[@CR4]\]. Nevertheless, most of these assays are rather time consuming and technically ambitious with a risk of bacterial or fungal contamination \[[@CR5]\]. The assays involve harvesting fibroblasts by skin biopsy. The culturing of fibroblasts under sterile conditions is laborious and time-consuming. The use of radioactive substances makes the investigation expensive and can only be carried out in specialized laboratories approved for handling radioactive materials.
Based on the work of Dessein et al. \[[@CR6]\], the aim of our study was to optimize an ex vivo ´selective screening-assay\` via tandem mass spectrometry for rapid and non-invasive confirmation of FAOD which allows discrimination of short chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase- (SCAD-), medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase- (MCAD-), very long chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase-(VLCAD-), long chain hydroxyl acyl-CoA dehydrogenase- (LCHAD-) as well as carnitine transporter- (CTD-) defects.
An assay using end labeled deuterated acylcarnitine profiling has been developed to confirm the enzymatic defect by incubating human whole blood cells with stable end labeled palmitate.
Regarding potential metabolic risk stratification and the underlying genetic background, concentrations of specific acylcarnitines were compared between particular associated variants of these FAOD.
Methods {#Sec2}
=======
Twenty-six healthy children and adolescents between 0 and 17 years of age (22 males, 4 females) undergoing elective surgical interventions served as control group. At the time of sample collection they had no intercurrent disease nor any identified metabolic defect.
The group of FAOD patients comprised 47 children (28 male, 19 female) with positive newborn screening results and confirmed diagnosis (SCAD-(*n* = 3), MCAD-(*n* = 30), VLCAD- (*n* = 6) and LCHAD- (n = 6) deficiency and primary carnitine transporter defect (*n* = 2). Usually, confirmation of the defect after informative newborn-screening was done by diagnostic DNA sequencing and/or enzymatic analysis.
This study was approved by the Ethical Review Board of Hannover Medical School (date: 21^st^ November 2008 Nr. 5176), informed consent was obtained from parents of controls, material from FAOD patients were investigated as routine work-up.
The method used here is based on the work by Dessein et al. \[[@CR6]\], with minor modifications. All usual chemicals and liquids were purchased from Sigma Aldrich with the highest analytical quality (Deisenhofen, Germany). The solvents for mass-spectrometry were purchased from Biosolve BV (Valkenswaard, The Netherlands). The stable isotopes \[16-2H3\]-pamitoylcarnitine, \[8-2H3\]-octanoylcarnitine and \[4-2H3\]-butyrylcarnitine which were used as internal standards were obtained from Mr. H. ten Brink, VU Medical Center (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) distributed by EQ Laboratories GmbH (Augsburg, Germany). The substrate \[16-2H3, 15-2H2\]-palmitate was purchased from Labor Ehrensberger (Augsburg, Germany).
All control and patient samples were collected in EDTA-tubes (1--3 mL), stored at 4 °C and further processed within 24 h. Leukocytes were quantified automatically using a cell counter (Sysmex, Germany).
Sample preparation: Carnitine and \[16-2H3, 15-2H2\]-palmitate were dissolved in ethanol at a final concentration of 20 mM each. 10 μL of the stock solutions were pipetted into Eppendorf tubes, evaporated at 37 °C under nitrogen to dryness and kept at −20 °C before use. Deuterated acylcarnitines were dissolved in ethanol as internal calibrator solution (ISTD) containing calibrators d3-palmitoylcarnitine: 0.039 nmol, d3-octanoylcarnitine: 0.087 nmol and d3-butyrylcarnitine: 0.099 nmol.
Each whole blood sample was mixed carefully before use. 100 μL of whole blood were transferred into Eppendorf tubes containing carnitine and \[16-2H3, 15-2H2\]-palmitate, incubated in a shaker (Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany) at 550 rpm and 37 °C for about 6 h. Samples were quenched by rapid freezing at −20 °C and stored. The samples were thawed at room temperature prior to the measurement. 1 mL of the internal standard solution (ISTD) was added to each tube and sonicated for 30 min. The samples were centrifuged (Eppendorf) for 10 min with 14.000 g. The clear supernatants were transferred into new Eppendorf-tubes and kept evaporated at 37 °C under nitrogen to dryness. 200 μL butanolic HCl was added to each tube, sealed and incubated at 65 °C for 15 min. Samples were dried at 65 °C under nitrogen and redissolved in 150 μL elution solvent (methanol/water 80:20, *v*/v).
For MS/MS analysis, a system consisting of a MICRO tandem mass spectrometer (Waters, Eschborn, Germany) equipped with a PAL autosampler and a 1525 μ gradient pump (Waters) was used. All measurements were done in ESI positive mode with a 3.3 kV capillary cone voltage and 30 V cone. The source temperature was 120 °C with a desolvation temperature of 350 °C. For analyzing acylcarnitines a precursor ion scan of m/z 85 (range m/z 200--550) was performed. 20 μL per sample was injected with a constant isocratic flow rate of 35 μL/min (solvent: acetonitrile/water 80:20 *v*/v). For the detection and quantification the MassLynx software 4.1 (Waters) was used. Run time per sample was two minutes at room temperature.
Each sample was incubated in independent double assay duplicates and measured twice. From all 4 measurements averages were calculated.
The statistical analysis was performed with Sigmaplot 12.5 (Systat software Inc., San Jose, California, USA) and Medcalc 17.0 (MedCalc Software bvba, Mariakerke, Belgium). To compare specific end-labeled acylcarnitine concentrations between controls and particular disease groups, the Mann-Whitney Rank Sum test was used. The comparison of MCADD variants was carried out using ANOVA. At a level of *p* \< 0.05, a significant difference between groups was assumed.
Results {#Sec3}
=======
For demographic data, genetic background and clinical phenotypes of our patient group see Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}.Table 1Demographic data, genetic or biochemical background and clinical phenotypes \[[@CR23]\]Patient GroupAge \[years\] rangeBiochemical findings or variants foundNumber of PatientsClinical course*ACADM* (NM_000016.5):\
MCADD\
(19 boys, 11 girls)0--17c.985\[A \> G\];\[A \> G\] (Class 5; Class 5)\
c.985A \> G(;)c.199 T \> C (Class 5; Class 3)\
c.985A \> G(;)c.362C \> T (Class 5; Class 5)\
c.985A \> G(;)c.717C \> G (Class 5; Class 5)\
c.985A \> G(;)c.476G \> A (Class 5, Class 3)\
mutation diagnosis was not performed, diagnosis based on metabolites19\
3\
1\
1\
1\
5All were detected by selective newborn screening, no metabolic decompensation or clinical abnormalities based on the MCADD defect occurred*ACADVL* (NM_000018.3):VLCADD\
(2 boys, 4 girls)0--4c.848\[T \> C\];\[T \> C\] (Class 4; Class 4)2no metabolic decompensation or clinical abnormalities based on the VLCADD defect occurredc.848 T \> C(;)c.1357C \> T (Class 4; Class 5)1no metabolic decompensation or clinical abnormalities based on the VLCADD defect occurredc.538G \> A(;)c.1367G \> A (Class 4; Class 4)1infection associated CK elevation occurredc.779C \> T(;)c.1700G \> A (Class 4; Class 4)1infection associated CK elevation occurredmutation diagnosis was not performed, diagnosis based on enzymatic analysis and metabolites1cardiomyopathy and recurrent infection associated rhabdomyolysis occurred in this patient*HADHA* (NM_000182.4):\
LCHADD\
(5 boys, 1 girl)1--6c.180 + 3A \> G(;)c.1528G \> C (Class 4; Class 5)1no metabolic decompensation or clinical abnormalities based on the LCHADD defect occurredc.1528\[G \> C\];\[G \> C\] (Class 5, Class 5)1recurrent infection associated CK elevation occurredc.914 T \> A(;)c. 1528G \> C (Class 3; Class 5)3One boy had no metabolic decompensation or clinical abnormalities based on the LCHADD defect, the younger brother had elevated CK levels and suffers from psychomotoric retardation. Another boy had no metabolic decompensation or clinical abnormalities based on the LCHAD defectmutation diagnosis was not performed, diagnosis based on enzymatic analysis and metabolites1diagnosis due to severe metabolic decompensation accompanied by organ failure at the age of 8 months while suffering from gastrointestinal infectionCTD\
(1 boy, 1 girl)3--5mutation diagnosis was not performed, diagnosis based on enzymatic analysis and metabolites2no metabolic decompensation or clinical abnormalities based on the CT defectACADS (NM\_ NM_000017.3):\
SCADD (1 boy, 2 girls)10--13c.625\[G \> A\];\[G \> A\] (Class 1; Class 1)2one patient was clinically unremarkable except for obesity, one suffered from psychiatric problemsmutation diagnosis was not performed, diagnosis based on metabolites1clinically unremarkable
SCADD {#Sec4}
-----
Butyrylcarnitine (C4) concentrations of SCADD patients were higher compared with controls (Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). However, the difference was not significant (*p* = 0.642). A significant increase of butyrylcarnitine was evident when compared with the other FAO diseases (*p* \< 0.05) analyzed in this study.Fig. 1Butyrylcarnitine of SCADD patients versus controls
MCADD {#Sec5}
-----
In samples of MCADD patients concentrations of octanoylcarnitine (C8), decanoylcarnitine (C10) as well as the ratio octanoylcarnitine (C8)/butyrylcarnitine (C4) were higher compared with the control population (Fig. [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}). Acylcarnitines C8 and C10 were significantly (*p* \< 0.05) increased in relation to the relevant acylcarnitines of controls. Ratios C8/C4 and C8/C10 were significantly increased in MCADD samples as well.Fig. 2Medium chain acylcarnitines and the C4/C8 ratio of MCADD patients versus controls; \* = significant difference *p* \< 0.05
The comparison of 'common' homozygous to compound heterozygous variants of MCADD showed minor differences of C8 and C10 acylcarnitine concentrations (*P* = 0.542) (Fig. [3](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}).Fig. 3Medium chain acylcarnitines C8 and C10 in samples with various underlying MCADD variants
VLCADD {#Sec6}
------
In samples of VLCADD patients dodecanoyl- (C12), tetradecenoyl- (C14:1) and tetradecadienoyl- (C14:2) carnitines differed significantly compared with controls (Fig. [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}) and between FAOD groups. C12 was markedly reduced in VLCADD samples (*p* \< 0.001), while C14:1 and C14:2 as well as ratios of C14:1/C12 and C14:2/C12 were significantly higher (*p* \< 0.001). Control samples showed lower tetradecanoyl- (C14) concentrations, but the difference is not significant (*p* = 0.545). C14 was only discriminating between VLCAD patients and the FAO disease groups (*p* \< 0.001).Fig. 4Long chain acylcarnitines in samples of VLCADD patients versus controls; \* = significant difference *p* \< 0.05
Homozygous VLCADD variants showed slightly non-significant differences of relevant acylcarnitines in comparison to compound heterozygous variants (Fig. [5](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"}, due to small sample size no statistical analysis was performed).Fig. 5Long chain acylcarnitines in samples with various underlying VLCADD variants
LCHADD {#Sec7}
------
The Hydroxylated acylcarnitines 3-hydroxy tetradecanoylcarnitine (C14-OH) and 3-hydroxy hexadecanoylcarnitine (C16-OH) were elevated in samples of LCHADD patients (Fig. [6](#Fig6){ref-type="fig"}) compared to controls. C16-OH levels were significantly higher (*p* \< 0.05), while differences in C14-OH levels were not significant (*p* = 0.057). A significant increase of C14-OH levels was evident when compared with other FAO diseases of this study (*p* \< 0.05). The differences of the hydroxylated acylcarnitines between the three different LCHADD variants were not significant (Fig. [7](#Fig7){ref-type="fig"}, due to small sample size no statistical analysis was performed).Fig. 6Hydroxylated long chain acylcarnitines in samples of LCHADD patients versus controls; \* = significant difference *p* \< 0.05 Fig. 7Hydroxylated long chain acylcarnitines in samples with various underlying LCHADD variants
CTD {#Sec8}
---
The sum of all acylcarnitines measured in control samples was significantly higher compared to samples of patients with CTD (p \< 0.05) (Fig. [8](#Fig8){ref-type="fig"}). There was no significant difference compared to other FAO diseases tested (*p* = 0.226).Fig. 8Sum of all determined acylcarnitines of CTD patients versus controls; \* = significant difference *p* \< 0.05
Discussion {#Sec9}
==========
In contrast to the study by Dessein et al. \[[@CR6]\] we focused on samples from children and adolescents. Additionally we included samples from patients suffering from LCHAD and carnitine transporter deficiency. The assay can reliably discriminate between healthy controls and different FAO patient groups (MCAD-, VLCAD-, LCHAD- and carnitine transporter deficiency) with disease-specific end-labeled acylcarnitine patterns. In 3 SCADD patients C4 carnitine levels were elevated in comparison to controls; probably due to small patient numbers no significance could be found.
This assay determines acylcarnitine patterns in vitro without using particular enzyme specific substrates; therefore residual specific enzyme activities cannot be directly estimated.
One advantage of this non-invasive assay is the use of an end-labeled non-radiochemical substrate. Thus, disease specific accumulating acylcarnitine patterns (non-metabolized substrate) can be detected. In many radiochemical flux assays, only metabolic end products are measured and further exploration is necessary to detect specific FAOD. The blood cells were loaded and thus stressed with palmitic acid, therefore, results should be more pronounced compared to acylcarnitine profiles derived from anabolic non-stressed patients.
Further advantages are easy handling, storage and transport of samples.
We compared end-labeled acylcarnitines in specific enzyme defects of FAO with different underlying disease causing variants.
Comparing the three MCADD missense variants (each compound heterozygous for c.985A \> G, see Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}) with the common homozygous c.985A \> G variant, no significant difference in specific acylcarnitines and ratios could be found in vitro (see Fig. [3](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}). This is in line with studies from two German groups \[[@CR7], [@CR8]\], who found no significant differences of in vivo acylcarnitine markers between patients homozygous for the c.985A \> G variant and compound heterozygous patients for the c.985A \> G variant in combination with variants other than c.199 T \> C. This constellation probably has an intermediate effect on enzyme activity while other variants will probably impair MCAD activity comparable to the c.985A \> G variant. With regard to residual enzyme activity, other groups found higher MCAD activities in vitro in most non-common variants potentially leading to a milder clinical course \[[@CR9]--[@CR11]\]. Of the four MCAD missense variants of our patients, the milder c.199 T \> C variant displays residual octanoyl-CoA oxidation activities in the range of 22% to 47% in vitro \[[@CR9]\]. The c.362C \> T variant results in a considerably impaired MCAD enzyme activity in vitro \[[@CR12]\], the c.476G \> A and c.717C \> G variants are of unknown clinical significance, to our knowledge no further data exist in the literature. Both variants could probably be classified as pathogenic as they affect both highly conserved areas of the *MCAD* gene, see Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}. Finally, the assay described by us is not able to discriminate between different genetic variants in MCADD.
All MCADD patients were screened and diagnosed through newborn mass screening; the treatment was based on general recommendations to avoid prolonged fasting and carnitine supplementation only as required. Under this regimen, none of these patients suffered clinical symptoms or metabolic decompensations, see Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}.
In VLCADD and LCHADD patients, no obvious difference between acylcarnitines in vitro and genotypes could be found as well. Due to low patient numbers, no statistical analysis was performed (see Figs. [5](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"} and [7](#Fig7){ref-type="fig"}).
Two VLCADD patients were homozygous for the c.848 T \> C missense variant whereas the c.848 T \> C is known to be likely pathogenic resulting in a clinically milder disease with reduced penetrance due to residual enzymatic activity \[[@CR13], [@CR14]\]. One patient was compound heterozygous for this and the variant c.1357C \> T, described as nonsense variant, to our knowledge no further data exists concerning clinical significance of this variant. One patient was compound heterozygous for the c.538G \> A \[[@CR14]\] and c.1367G \> A \[[@CR15]\] variants resulting in a VLCAD residual enzyme activity \<10% in this case and the other one was compound heterozygous for the c.779C \> T and c.1700G \> A variants, both known as disease causing variants \[[@CR15], [@CR16]\]. As shown in Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}, clinical courses of our VLCADD patients are not reflected in the in vitro acylcarnitine profiles or mutation analysis.
Concerning the LCHADD patients, one was homozygous for the common c.1528G \> C variant, 4 patients were compound heterozygous for the common and other variants, see Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"} \[[@CR17]--[@CR19]\]. As in other FAO diseases, in our LCHADD patients the clinical presentation could not be predicted from metabolite profiles in vitro or molecular genetic results. This fact is even more obvious in one family of our cohort with two affected boys carrying the same genotype presenting with different clinical courses, see Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}. This seems to indicate that further epigenetic factors (variants of other genes, epigenetic factors, and others) could have an influence.
Treatment of all VLCADD and LCHADD patients was based on the consensus papers published in 2009 \[[@CR2], [@CR3]\].
Since no correlation between genotype and biochemical/clinical phenotype could be shown, especially in FAOD \[[@CR7], [@CR20]--[@CR22]\], other biomarkers like organic acids in urine, acylcarnitines, free carnitine concentrations as well as clinical symptoms are used to predict the clinical course of FAOD patients. Other environmental and genetic factors may affect individual phenotypes and outcome. Clinical symptoms may differ remarkably within one family as shown in 2 LCHADD cases of our cohort (see Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}).
We are aware of the limited patient numbers of our study especially in long chain FAOD. To corroborate our data, further patients should be investigated biochemically as well as genetically to correlate these and clinical data.
Conclusion {#Sec10}
==========
The functional assay described here is less time consuming and relatively simple in comparison to other published methods and can be used to confirm patients suspected to suffer from MCADD-, VLCADD-, LCHAD- and carnitine transporter- deficiency. Different genotypes cannot be distinguished by acylcarnitine profiling in vitro.
CK
: Creatine kinase
CTD
: Carnitine transporter defect
FAO
: Fatty acid oxidation
FAOD
: Fatty acid oxidation disorder
LCHADD
: Long chain hydroxy acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency
MCADD
: Medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency
SCADD
: Short chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency
VLCADD
: Very long chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency
Not applicable.
Funding {#FPar2}
=======
No funding.
Availability of data and materials {#FPar3}
==================================
Please contact author for data requests.
NJ participated in the design of the study, carried out sample preparation and acylcarnitine analysis, performed statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript. ADH participated in the coordination of the study, particularly sample collection and helped to draft the manuscript. GS evaluated mutation analysis and helped to draft the manuscript. AMD participated in the design of the study and drafted the manuscript. SI participated in the design of the study and its coordination, drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Ethics approval and consent to participate {#FPar1}
==========================================
This study was approved by the Ethical Review Board of Hannover Medical School (date: 21st November 2008 Nr. 5176).
Studies involving animals must include a statement on ethics approval. Not applicable.
Consent for publication {#FPar4}
=======================
Not applicable.
Competing interests {#FPar5}
===================
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Publisher's Note {#FPar6}
================
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
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Antimony (Sb) is an element belonging to Group 15 of the Periodic Table and behaves similar to arsenic (As). Sb and its compounds are recognized as priority pollutants by the United States Environmental Protection Agency[@b1] and European Union[@b2]. In recent years, the serious Sb pollution resulting from increased exploitation and industrial emission has aroused growing concern[@b3][@b4][@b5]. Among various oxidation states (−3, 0, 3, and 5), antimonite \[Sb(III)\] and antimonate \[Sb(V)\] are the most common forms[@b6]. Because microbial redox reactions can be used as a strategy for biochemical detoxification and can further affect the mobility, toxicity, and bioavailability of Sb in the environment[@b7][@b8], a better comprehension of the microbe-Sb interactions is important for the bioremediation of Sb-contaminated environments and to understand the Sb biogeochemical cycle. In generally, Sb(III) is more toxic than Sb(V)[@b5][@b9], thus, examining the mechanisms driving bacterial oxidation from Sb(III) to Sb(V) could be of significant value in this regard.
The understanding of microbial Sb transformation remains deficient compared to that of As[@b10]. It has been reported that the glycerol transporter GlpF and its homolog Fps1p are responsible for Sb(III) uptake, reflecting the structural similarities between Sb(OH)~3~ and glycerol[@b11][@b12][@b13], while the As(III) efflux proteins ArsB and Acr3 can also function as Sb(III) efflux pumps[@b14][@b15]. Nevertheless, the pathway of Sb(V) entrance has not been found yet. In addition, the genes and enzymes involved in microbial Sb(V) reduction and Sb(III) methylation have not been identified, although these phenomena are environmentally widespread[@b9].
In contrast with bacterial As(III) oxidation, which has been clarified for several decades, the mechanism of bacterial Sb(III) oxidation is of relatively recent interest. At present, about 60 Sb(III)-oxidizing bacteria, widely existing in various genera (e.g., *Pseudomonas, Comamonas, Agrobacterium* and *Acinetobacter*), have been reported[@b16]. Recently, we found that the As(III) oxidase AioAB is also function as an Sb(III) oxidase in *Agrobacterium tumefaciens* 5A[@b17], and subsequently we found a novel Sb(III) oxidase AnoA belonging to the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase family of enzymes in *A. tumefaciens* GW4[@b18]. Compared with *A. tumefaciens* 5A[@b17], strain GW4 has considerably higher Sb(III) resistance and Sb(III) oxidation efficiency[@b18]. However, deletion of each gene only partially influenced the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency of *A. tumefaciens* strains, indicating other unknown mechanisms.
Chemically, Sb(III) can be oxidized through several oxidants, such as H~2~O~2~, iodate, nature minerals (e.g., Fe and Mn oxyhydroxides) and humic acid under oxic conditions[@b19][@b20][@b21][@b22]. In bacterial cells, the aberrant electron flow under stress conditions from the electron transport chain or cellular redox enzymes to O~2~ results in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS)[@b23]. The harmful ROS \[e.g., superoxide (O~2~^**·**−^), hydroxyl (OH^**·**^) and H~2~O~2~\] can induce DNA damage and the oxidative deterioration of lipids and proteins[@b24][@b25][@b26]. Thus, bacteria have evolved defense mechanisms against the oxidative stress. Superoxide dismutase (Sod), which catalyzes the dismutation of O~2~^**·**−^ to H~2~O~2~ and O~2~, plays an important role in defense against ROS. The generated H~2~O~2~ is subsequently consumed by catalases and peroxidases[@b23][@b27]. In a recent work, we deleted the catalase gene *katA* in *A. tumefaciens* GW4 and observed that the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency of the mutant strain was significantly increased, and the phenotype of the complementary strain was recovered[@b16]. Moreover, the transcription of *katA* was induced by both H~2~O~2~ and Sb(III)[@b16]. Therefore, we proposed that the increased Sb(III) oxidation efficiency in the mutant strain might reflect the accumulation of H~2~O~2~ in bacterial cells. Nevertheless, there is no direct evidence of a correlation between H~2~O~2~ and Sb(III) oxidation.
In the present study, we performed gene knock-out/complementation of *katA, anoA, aioA* and *anoA/aioA* and in combination with the analyses of Sb(III) oxidation, cellular H~2~O~2~ content and resistance of Sb(III) and H~2~O~2~ in *A. tumefaciens* GW4[@b28]. We provide the first evidence that besides the biotic factors (AnoA and AioAB), the Sb(III) induced cellular H~2~O~2~ also catalyzes bacterial Sb(III) oxidation as an abiotic oxidant. The present study documented the abiotic Sb(III) oxidation and clarified the relationship between Sb(III) resistance and bacterial oxidative stress. The results represent an important step toward unraveling the co-metabolism of bacterial Sb(III) oxidation.
Results
=======
Genomic information of *aioA, anoA* and *katA* in *A. tumefaciens* GW4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*A. tumefaciens* GW4 is an Sb(III)-oxidizing strain, and its genome sequence was previously published (Accession No. AWGV00000000)[@b18]. To investigate the abiotic factors of Sb(III) oxidation, two types of cellular oxidative stress-related genes were analyzed. The catalase gene *katA*, responsible to degrade H~2~O~2~ to H~2~O and O~2~[@b27], showed a 91% sequence identity with *katA* in *A. tumefaciens* C58[@b29]. We also analyzed the superoxide dismutase Sod, which could convert O~2~^**·**−^ to H~2~O~2~ and O~2~. The BlastN results showed that *katA* is a single-copy gene in the genome of strain GW4, while *sod* has two copies (*sod1* and *sod2*). Thus, subsequent gene knock-out and complementation studies associated with the abiotic factors of Sb(III) oxidation were mainly focused on the *katA* gene. The arrangement of *katA* and its surrounding genes are shown in [Fig. 1A](#f1){ref-type="fig"}. For biotic Sb(III) oxidation, the oxidoreductase gene *anoA* ([Fig. 1B](#f1){ref-type="fig"}), identified as a novel Sb(III) oxidase, is conserved in the genomes of *Agrobacterium, Sinorhizobium* and *Rhizobium* strains[@b18]. Although several genes were annotated as "short chain dehydrogenase", "oxidoreductase", or "putative oxidoreductase" in the genome of strain GW4, the BlastN analyses indicated that the sequences of these genes showed no similarities with that of *anoA*. Moreover, BlastP analyses showed that the protein sequence of AnoA showed only \~30% similarity with those of other oxidoreductases. In addition, draft genome sequencing revealed that an arsenic gene island located in contig 215 contains the As(III) oxidase genes *aioAB* ([Fig. 1C](#f1){ref-type="fig"}), and *aioA* encodes the large subunit of As(III) oxidase[@b30].
Sb(III) induces the transcription of *katA, sod1, sod2* and *anoA*, but not *aioA*
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To investigate the biotic and abiotic factors associated with Sb(III) oxidation in *A. tumefaciens* GW4, the transcription levels of genes *katA, sod1, sod2, anoA* and *aioA* were examined. The catalase KatA and superoxide dismutase Sod are involved in the bacterial oxidative stress response, and the Sb(III) oxidase AnoA and As(III) oxidase AioAB were both reported to catalyze Sb(III) oxidation *in vitro*[@b16][@b17][@b18]. The quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR assays indicated that the transcription levels of both *katA* and *anoA* were increased with the addition of Sb(III), consistent with the results of our previous studies[@b16][@b17][@b18]. In addition, the transcription of *sod1* and *sod2* were also induced by Sb(III). The transcription level of *sod1* was much lower than *sod2*, suggesting that *sod2* might play a more important role in dismutation of O~2~^**·**−^. However, the transcription level of *aioA* was not induced by Sb(III) ([Fig. 1D](#f1){ref-type="fig"}), consistent with the previous observations in *A. tumefaciens* 5A[@b17].
Gene knock-out and complementation analyses showed effects of *katA, anoA* and *aioA* on Sb(III) oxidation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previously, we showed that the disruption of H~2~O~2~ degradation gene *katA* increased Sb(III) oxidation efficiency in strain GW4[@b16]. The successful deletion and complementation of *katA* were confirmed by diagnostic PCR shown in [Fig. S1](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}. Strains GW4-Δ*aioA*, GW4-Δ*anoA* and their complemented strains were obtained from previous studies[@b17][@b18]. Strains GW4-Δ*aioA*/*anoA* and GW4-Δ*aioA*/*anoA-*C were obtained from this study and diagnostic PCR and DNA sequencing were used to confirm the successful deletion and complementation (data not shown). Based on our previous studies[@b16] and the growth tests in this study, all of the strains showed consistent growth profiles in CDM medium containing 50 μM Sb(III) ([Fig. 2](#f2){ref-type="fig"}), indicating that the Sb(III) oxidation was not affected by the growth of the strains under 50 μM Sb(III). Based on our previous results[@b16], we calculated that the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency of strain GW4-Δ*katA* (\~52%) was increased by \~80% compared with the wild-type strain GW4 (\~29%). The catalase KatA is responsible for cellular H~2~O~2~ consumption[@b27], thus we proposed that the high efficient Sb(III) oxidation in strain GW4-Δ*katA* might be associated with the cellular H~2~O~2~ content. Moreover, the GW4-Δ*anoA* showed a \~30% decrease in the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency ([Fig. 2B](#f2){ref-type="fig"}), which is similar to our previous study[@b18]. In contrast, deletion of *aioA* had no effect on the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency during the log phase, while the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency was slightly increased during the stationary phase ([Fig. 2D](#f2){ref-type="fig"}). It has been suggested that in the stationary phase of bacterial growth, other Sb(III) oxidation mechanism(s) might exist and function more efficiently in the absence of *aioA*. The simultaneous deletion of *aioA* and *anoA* resulted in a phenotype of Sb(III) oxidation efficiency between GW4-Δ*aioA* and GW4-Δ*anoA* (\~19% decreased) ([Fig. 2F](#f2){ref-type="fig"}), and all of the complemented strains showed a Sb(III) oxidation efficiency similar to that of the wild-type strain GW4 ([Fig. 2](#f2){ref-type="fig"}).
The *katA, anoA* and *aioA* influence each other and further affect Sb(III) oxidation
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To elucidate how *katA, anoA* and *aioA* influence each other and further affect Sb(III) oxidation, we detected the transcription level of these genes in each *A. tumefaciens* strain. Bacterial cells were cultivated in CDM medium, and samples were collected after 0.5 h of induction with 50 μM Sb(III). In strain GW4-Δ*katA*, the transcription levels of *aioA* and *anoA* were not increased ([Fig. 3A](#f3){ref-type="fig"}), suggesting that the reduced consumption of H~2~O~2~ might be responsible for the efficient Sb(III) oxidation. In addition, the transcription levels of *aioA* and *katA* in strain GW4-Δ*anoA* showed no significant difference with the wild-type strain, consistent with the phenotype of decreased Sb(III) oxidation efficiency ([Fig. 3B](#f3){ref-type="fig"}). In contrast, the transcription levels of *anoA* and *katA* were up-regulated in strain GW4-Δ*aioA* (p \< 0.01), indicating that the AnoA- and H~2~O~2~-catalyzed Sb(III) oxidation was enhanced relative than the wild-type strain ([Fig. 3C](#f3){ref-type="fig"}). Therefore, the deletion of *aioA* increased the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency in strain GW4. In strain GW4-Δ*aioA*/*anoA*, although the transcription level of the *katA* was increased (p \< 0.01), the loss function of AnoA could not be compensated ([Fig. 3D](#f3){ref-type="fig"}). Expectedly, all of the complemented strains recovered the phenotype back to the wild-type strain GW4 ([Fig. 3](#f3){ref-type="fig"}).
The *katA, anoA* and *aioA* are involved in Sb(III) resistance
--------------------------------------------------------------
Subsequent efforts focused on the Sb(III) resistance of the *A. tumefaciens* strains. After 48 h incubation in CDM medium without Sb(III) supplementation, all of the strains exhibited a similar amount of viable cell counts ([Fig. 4A](#f4){ref-type="fig"}). Moreover, there was no significant difference between the viable cell counts of the strains cultured with or without 50 μM Sb(III), indicating that 50 μM Sb(III) has no effect on bacterial growth. However, the deletion of *katA* significantly inhibited the growth of strain GW4 with the addition of 100 or 200 μM Sb(III) (p \< 0.05 and p \< 0.01, respectively), suggesting that the reduced H~2~O~2~ consumption might associated with bacterial Sb(III) resistance. In addition, the growth of strains GW4-Δ*anoA*, GW4-Δ*aioA* and GW4-Δ*aioA*/*anoA* were also obviously constrained (p \< 0.05) relative to strain GW4 in the presence of 100 or 200 μM Sb(III), and the phenotypes of the complemented strains were recovered to the wild-type strain ([Fig. 4A](#f4){ref-type="fig"}). These results indicated that both biotic and abiotic factors of Sb(III) oxidation were essential for bacterial Sb(III) resistance.
The *katA* is involved in H~2~O~2~ resistance
---------------------------------------------
Plate counting assays were also performed to evaluate the antibacterial activities of H~2~O~2~ against *A. tumefaciens* strains using the same culture conditions with Sb(III) resistance. H~2~O~2~ is a substantial component of cellular oxidative stress with a toxic effect on different types of macromolecules[@b31][@b32]. The growth of strain GW4 was not affected by 50, 100 and 200 μM H~2~O~2~, suggesting that the oxidative stress response in strain GW4 is efficient for the detoxification of such concentrations of H~2~O~2~. For strains GW4-Δ*aioA*, GW4-Δ*anoA* and GW4-Δ*aioA*/*anoA* and their complemented strains, the viable cell counts were consistent with wild-type strain GW4, indicating that the deletion of biotic factors in strain GW4 did not affect bacterial H~2~O~2~ resistance ([Fig. 4B](#f4){ref-type="fig"}). However, the growth of GW4-Δ*katA* was significantly inhibited by 50, 100 and 200 μM H~2~O~2~ (p \< 0.01), because such concentrations of H~2~O~2~ could not be efficiently consumed without decomposition through KatA. The phenotype of the complemented strain GW4-Δ*katA*-C was recovered ([Fig. 4B](#f4){ref-type="fig"}). The results demonstrated that *katA* is essential for bacterial H~2~O~2~ resistance.
Correlation between H~2~O~2~ content and Sb(III) oxidation both *in vivo* and *in vitro*
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To understand the relationship between the cellular H~2~O~2~ content and Sb(III) oxidation, we examined the H~2~O~2~ content in *A. tumefaciens* strains with or without the induction of 50 μM Sb(III). The results indicated the following: i) The generation of cellular H~2~O~2~ was induced by Sb(III), ii) The cellular H~2~O~2~ content was consistent with the transcription level of genes associated with abiotic Sb(III) oxidation, and iii) The content of H~2~O~2~ was proportional to the bacterial Sb(III) oxidation efficiency. The strain with a higher H~2~O~2~ content showed a faster Sb(III) oxidation efficiency ([Figs 2](#f2){ref-type="fig"} and [5A](#f5){ref-type="fig"}). In addition, we measured the dynamic changes in the cellular H~2~O~2~ content and Sb(V) generation in strains GW4, GW4-Δ*katA* and GW4-Δ*katA*-C from 24 to 48 h cultivation with the addition of 50 μM Sb(III). A significant decrease in the residual H~2~O~2~ content was observed with incubation time, while the Sb(V) concentration correspondingly increased ([Fig. 5B,C](#f5){ref-type="fig"}), indicating that the consumed H~2~O~2~ might catalyze bacterial Sb(III) oxidation. Moreover, the H~2~O~2~ content and the increased Sb(V) concentration were significantly linearly correlated, with a correlation coefficient of 0.93 ([Fig. 5D](#f5){ref-type="fig"}).
The dynamic changes in the H~2~O~2~ content and Sb(V) generation were also measured in CDM medium with the addition of 50 μM Sb(III) and different concentrations of H~2~O~2~. [Figure 5E](#f5){ref-type="fig"} showed that Sb(III) was transformed to Sb(V) with the addition of H~2~O~2~, indicating that H~2~O~2~ could oxidize Sb(III) to Sb(V) *in vitro*. In addition, there is a correlation between the H~2~O~2~ and Sb(V) contents *in vitro* (R^2^ = 0.94) ([Fig. 5F](#f5){ref-type="fig"}). Based on the *in vivo* and *in vitro* analyses, we proposed that H~2~O~2~ is responsible for bacterial Sb(III) oxidation as an abiotic oxidant in strain GW4.
Comparison of Sb(III) oxidation between *A. tumefaciens* GW4 and *A. tumefaciens* 5A
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous studies have shown that *A. tumefaciens* 5A, which has a *16S rRNA* homology of 99% compared with *A. tumefaciens* GW4, also oxidizes Sb(III) to Sb(V)[@b17][@b33]. AioAB is responsible for Sb(III) oxidation in strain 5A, as the deletion of *aioA* decreased the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency, in contrast with the phenotype of strain GW4-Δ*aioA*[@b17]. To clarify the different effects of *aioA* on Sb(III) oxidation between strain GW4 and 5A, we also investigated the *aioA* mutant in strain 5A under the same culture conditions of strain GW4. The growth of strains GW4 and 5A were not affected by disruption of *aioA* in CDM medium supplemented with 50 μM Sb(III) ([Fig. S2A,B](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). However, the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency was increased in strain GW4-Δ*aioA* ([Fig. S2C](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}), and the transcription of *anoA* and *katA* and the cellular H~2~O~2~ content were increased when *aioA* was deleted ([Figs S3A and S4A](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). In contrast, the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency was decreased in strain 5A-Δ*aioA* ([Fig. S2D](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}), and no increased transcription of *katA* was observed, moreover, the transcription level of *anoA* was only slightly increased ([Fig. S3B](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Although Sb(III) also stimulated the generation of H~2~O~2~, this process was not affected by the disruption of *aioA* in strain 5A ([Fig. S4B](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
Discussion
==========
Currently, studies have shown that bacterial Sb(III) oxidation is catalyzed through AioAB or AnoA with a certain percentage of contribution[@b17][@b18], indicating the existence of other new bacterial Sb(III) oxidation mechanisms. The present study documents a non-enzymatic basis for microbial Sb(III) oxidation, according to the following observations: i) The transcription of *katA, sod1, sod2* and the cellular H~2~O~2~ content were induced by Sb(III); ii) the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency was consistent with the cellular H~2~O~2~ content in *A. tumefaciens* strains; and iii) The cellular H~2~O~2~ content in the *katA* mutant was remarkably linearly correlated with the Sb(V) concentration. Thus, we concluded that the cellular H~2~O~2~ acts as an abiotic factor in bacterial Sb(III) oxidation. The cellular H~2~O~2~ mediated bacterial Sb(III) oxidation is an smart detoxification process of Sb(III)-oxidizing bacteria through the "using poison against poison" strategy, which could transform the toxic Sb(III) to the much less toxic Sb(V) and consume the toxic cellular H~2~O~2~ simultaneously.
In addition, the Sb(III) resistance mechanism associated with bacterial oxidative stress has not been well clarified so far. It has been reported that H~2~O~2~ induces the death of *E. coli*, primarily reflecting DNA damage via the Fenton reaction[@b34][@b35][@b36]. Recently, the bacterial oxidative stress was found to associate with Sb(III) oxidation in *Pseudomonas stutzeri* TS44[@b37]. In this study, the deletion of *katA* significantly decreased H~2~O~2~ resistance, reflecting the disruption of the release of the oxidative stress response in strain GW4. A large number of literatures have shown that heavy metals (e.g. Cr, Cd)[@b38][@b39], transition metals (e.g. Fe, Cu)[@b23] and metalloid (As)[@b40] could induce bacterial oxidative stress response due to their toxic effects. As a most common toxic heavy metal, the production of H~2~O~2~ could be the primary response of bacterial to Sb(III). It appears that the *katA* mutant is more tolerant to Sb(III) than H~2~O~2~ because Sb(III) oxidation consumed the cellular H~2~O~2~ even the *katA* was disrupted. In the presence of 50 μM Sb(III), the amount of H~2~O~2~ was consumed by Sb(III) oxidation and the cellular H~2~O~2~ was not toxic enough to inhibit bacterial growth. However, in the presence of high concentrations (e.g. 100 or 200 μM) of Sb(III), the high amount of H~2~O~2~ induced by Sb(III) in the *katA* mutant has a higher toxic effect on bacterial cells, even though the Sb(III) oxidation also consumed some of the H~2~O~2~. Thus, the Sb(III) resistant level in strain GW4-Δ*katA* was still lower than the wild-type strain GW4.
To understand bacterial Sb(III) oxidation and the contribution of each cellular oxidative factor comprehensively, we also investigated the effects of biotic factors on Sb(III) oxidation in *A. tumefaciens* GW4. The deletion of *anoA* led to a \~ 30% decrease in the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency and the abiotic Sb(III) oxidation was not enhanced, indicating that the decreased Sb(III) oxidation efficiency reflected the contribution of AnoA. However, the deletion of *aioA* increased Sb(III) oxidation efficiency, reflecting the increased expression of AnoA and the generation of more H~2~O~2~. Thus, the contribution of AioAB to Sb(III) oxidation in strain GW4 was not obvious, however, AioAB is indeed related to Sb(III) oxidation, since it affects the expressions of AnoA and KatA. In addition, the results of a kinetic analysis in our previous study indicated that AnoA tends to catalyze the Sb(III) oxidation more efficiently than As(III) oxidation, while AioAB is prone to catalyze As(III) oxidation[@b16]. These results suggested that the effect of AnoA on Sb(III) oxidation may higher than that of AioAB. The contribution of H~2~O~2~-catalyzed abiotic Sb(III) oxidation may higher than that of enzymatic catalysis in strain GW4 since the disruption of KatA significantly increased Sb(III) oxidation efficiency[@b16].
The results of a previous study demonstrated that AioAB was responsible for bacterial Sb(III) oxidation in *A. tumefaciens* 5A, suggesting that the effect of *aioA* on Sb(III) oxidation between strain 5A and GW4 was different. In strain 5A, AioAB has a substantial contribution to Sb(III) oxidation efficiency (approximately 25%)[@b17]. However, it appears that AioAB has no positive effect on Sb(III) oxidation in strain GW4, potentially reflecting the different characteristics between these two strains. The Sb(III) MIC of strain 5A is 0.3 mM, while strain GW4 is a highly Sb(III) resistance bacterium with a 8 mM MIC of Sb(III) (data not shown). In addition, strain 5A had a longer lag phase than that of strain GW4 with the addition of 50 μM Sb(III), indicating that Sb(III) might has a more toxic effect on strain 5A. Nonetheless, we cannot exclude the possibility that AioA might catalyze Sb(III) oxidation along with AnoA in strain GW4 because complex regulatory mechanism(s) might be involved in the compensation of the Sb(III) oxidation efficiency in the *aioA* mutant, which needs to be further studied.
In nature, H~2~O~2~ is a strong oxidant and it can oxidize not only Sb(III), but also other metalloids, such as As(III). However, the efficiency of bacterial As(III) oxidation catalyzed by H~2~O~2~ is not as obvious as Sb(III) oxidation and the abiotic As(III) oxidation could be hardly observed *in vivo* (data not shown). So far, bacterial As(III) oxidation has been found to be an enzymatic reaction which is primarily catalyzed through AioAB in most As(III)-oxidizing bacteria[@b41]. However, the mechanism of bacterial Sb(III) oxidation is a co-metabolism process catalyzed by AioAB, AnoA and H~2~O~2~, which is different from bacterial As(III) oxidation (at least in *A. tumefaciens* GW4). Although previous studies have shown that AnoA could also oxidize As(III) *in vitro*[@b16], the expression of *anoA* was not induced by As(III)[@b18], and the deletion of *anoA* did not affect the As(III) oxidation efficiency in strain GW4 (data not shown). Thus, the effect of AnoA on bacterial As(III) oxidation was hardly observed. In addition, H~2~O~2~ is an important and effective oxidant responsible for Sb(III) oxidation in alkaline aqueous environments[@b42][@b43], and the Sb(III) oxidation rate is much faster than that of As(III)[@b44][@b45][@b46]. In the present study, the pH of the cultures increased from the initial 6.5 to approximately 8.0 following exposure to Sb(III), indicating that the culture conditions are suitable for H~2~O~2~ to catalyze Sb(III) oxidation ([Fig. S3E,F](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). However, the culture pH decreased with the increasing incubation time during As(III) oxidation of strain GW4 (data not shown), and this pH might not be suitable for abiotic oxidation mediated through H~2~O~2~. Therefore, the abiotic oxidation is more effective on Sb(III) in strain GW4.
Based on the observations of the present study, we proposed that microbial Sb(III) oxidation is a co-metabolism process in strain GW4 ([Fig. 6](#f6){ref-type="fig"}): (i) AioAB might be responsible for Sb(III) oxidation in the periplasm[@b17]; (ii) AnoA catalyzes cytoplasmic Sb(III) oxidation with NADP^+^ as a co-factor[@b18]; (iii) Sb(III) induces the bacterial oxidative stress response, leading to the production of ROS[@b37] and H~2~O~2~; iv) the disruption of AioAB increases the expression of AnoA; (v) the disruption of AioAB increases the cellular H~2~O~2~ content and expression of KatA; (vi) the induced H~2~O~2~ oxidizes Sb(III) to Sb(V); and (vii) the redundant H~2~O~2~ is partially consumed by KatA.
In summary, the present study provides novel evidences that microbial antimonite oxidation contains both abiotic and biotic mechanisms and elucidates the contribution of each oxidative factor. We show that Sb(III) causes oxidative stress to bacterial cells and further induces the generation of cellular H~2~O~2~. Sb(III) oxidation is a detoxification process by transforming the toxic Sb(III) to the much less toxic Sb(V). Meanwhile, since the cellular H~2~O~2~ is consumed by Sb(III) oxidation process, the Sb(III) oxidation also contributes to against the toxic H~2~O~2~. Such co-mechanism may be widely exist in other Sb(III)-oxidizing microorganisms. The relationship among the biotic and abiotic factors may be further studied by changing Sb(III) concentration, environmental and nutritious conditions.
Materials and Methods
=====================
Strains and genomic analysis
----------------------------
Bacterial strains and plasmids used in the present study are listed in [Table S1](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}. *A. tumefaciens* strains were grown in a chemically defined medium (CDM)[@b47] containing 0 or 50 μM K~2~Sb~2~(C~4~H~2~O~6~)~2~ \[Sb(III)\] with aeration through shaking at 28 °C. *E. coli* strains were cultured at 37 °C in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium. When required, ampicillin (Amp, 100 mg/mL), kanamycin (Kan, 50 mg/mL), tetracycline (Tet, 5 mg/mL), gentamicin (Gen, 50 mg/mL) or chloromycetin (Cm, 50 mg/mL) were added. The genomic analyses of *aioA, anoA, katA* and *sod* were conducted through blastn and blastp in the genome of *A. tumefaciens* GW4 on the NCBI website (<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov>).
Constructions *A. tumefaciens* GW4 mutant strains and complemented strains
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
An in-frame deletion in *katA* was constructed in strain GW4 using crossover PCR[@b48]. The primers used for construction of the deletion are listed in [Table S2](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}. The PCR products were double digested with *BamH*I and *Xba*I and subsequently cloned into pJQ200SK digested with the same restriction enzymes. The final construct pJQ-*katA* was mobilized into strain GW4 via conjugation with *E. coli* S17-1. Single-crossover mutants were identified on LB agar plates containing 100 μg/mL Amp and 50 μg/mL Gen, which were subsequently screened on CDM agar containing 20% sucrose[@b49]. Sucrose^R^ and Gen^Sen^ transconjugants were screened using PCR and DNA sequencing to verify the *katA* deletion. For GW4-Δ*aioA*/*anoA*, an in-frame deletion in *anoA* was constructed in the mutant strain GW4-Δ*aioA* using the method described above. The GW4-Δ*aioA* and GW4-Δ*anoA* mutants and their complementary strains were obtained from previous works[@b17][@b18].
The construction of GW4-Δ*katA* complementation was accomplished using plasmid pCPP30. The complete *katA* coding region was PCR-cloned into *BamH*I - *Pst*I double-digested pCPP30. The resulting plasmid pCPP30-*katA* was subsequently mobilized into strain GW4-Δ*katA* via *E. coli* S17-1. Tet^R^ and Amp^R^ transconjugants were screened on LB agar plates, yielding the complementary strain GW4-Δ*katA*-C. The complementation of GW4-Δ*aioA*/*anoA* was performed using two plasmids, pCPP30 and pCT-Zori[@b50]. The *aioAB* genes along with the upstream RpoN binding site and the complete *anoA* coding region were PCR-cloned into *BamH*I - *Pst*I double-digested pCT-Zori and pCPP30, respectively. The resulting plasmid pCT-Zori-*aioAB* and pCPP30-*anoA* were simultaneously mobilized into strain GW4-Δ*aioA*/*anoA* via *E. coli* S17-1. Subsequently, Tet^R^, Cm^R^ and Amp^R^ transconjugants were screened on LB agar plates. The complementary strains were verified through PCR and DNA sequencing.
Quantitative RT-PCR analysis
----------------------------
To investigate the expression of the genes associated with Sb(III) oxidation in *A. tumefaciens* strains, overnight cultures of these strains were each inoculated into 100 mL of CDM at 28 °C with 120 rpm shaking. When the OD~600~ reached 0.2--0.3, 0 or 50 μM Sb(III) was added to the cultures. After 0.5 h of induction, the bacterial cells were harvested for total RNA extraction using Trizol reagent (Invitrogen) and treated with RNase-free DNase I (Takara) according to the manufacturer's instructions (Invitrogen, Grand Island, NY, USA). The quality and quantity of the RNA were monitored using a spectrophotometer (NanoDrop 2000, Thermo). Reverse transcription was performed using the RevertAid First Strand cDNA Synthesis Kit (Thermo) with 300 ng total RNA for each sample[@b51]. Subsequently, the obtained cDNA was diluted 10-fold and used as a template for further analysis. Quantitative RT-PCR was carried out by ABI VIIA7 in 0.1 mL Fast Optical 96-well Reaction Plate (ABI) using SYBR^®^ Green Real-time PCR Master Mix (Toyobo) and the primers listed in [Table S2](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}. To eliminate error, three technical and biological replicates were established for each reaction. The *A. tumefaciens* GW4 16S rRNA gene was used as an internal control and the expression data of the genes were normalized to 16S rRNA without Sb(III) using the formula 2^−(ΔCT−CT,16SrRNA,zero\ Sb)^, which was modified from the 2^−ΔΔCT^ method[@b52][@b53][@b54].
Growth, Sb(III) oxidation and sensitivity assays
------------------------------------------------
*A. tumefaciens* strains were each inoculated into 5 mL of CDM with the addition of 50 μM Sb(III) and incubated at 28 °C with shaking at 120 rpm. When the OD~600~ reached 0.5--0.6, the strains were each inoculated into 100 mL of CDM in the presence of 50 μM Sb(III). Culture samples were collected every 8 h for measuring OD~600~ by spectrophotometry (DU800, Beckman). In addition, the samples were centrifuged (13,400 × g) and subsequently filtered (0.22 μm filter) to monitor the Sb(III)/Sb(V) concentrations through HPLC-HG-AFS (Beijing Titan Instruments Co., Ltd., China) according to Li *et al*.[@b55].
To determine the Sb(III) and H~2~O~2~ resistance of *A. tumefaciens* strains, the viable plate counting method was employed. The strains were each inoculated into 100 mL of CDM medium with the addition of different concentrations of Sb(III) or H~2~O~2~ (0 μM, 50 μM, 100 μM and 200 μM) respectively, and incubated at 28 °C with shaking at 120 rpm. After cultivation for 48 h, the samples were collected for gradient dilution and spread onto solid LB medium, respectively. The plates were incubated at 28 °C and counted after 2--3 days until colonies formed.
H~2~O~2~ content and Sb(III) oxidation assays
---------------------------------------------
To assess the H~2~O~2~ contents, *A. tumefaciens* strains were cultured as described above. After incubation for 0.5 h with 50 μM Sb(III), the bacterial cells (2 mL) were harvested through centrifugation (13,400 × g for 5 min at 4 °C) and washed twice with 50 mmol/L K~3~PO~4~ (pH 7.8). Subsequently, the cells were resuspended in 1 mL K~3~PO~4~ (pH 7.8) and sonicated on ice. The supernatants were obtained through centrifugation (13 400 × g, 10 min, 4 °C) to remove cell debris and subsequently mixed with 50 μL amplex red (AR) (Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO, USA) and 50 μL horseradish peroxidase (HRP) (F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Shanghai, China)[@b56]. After incubation at 37 °C for 15 min, fluorescence (530 ex/587 em) was measured using an EnVision^®^ Multimode Plate Reader (Perkin Elmer).
To determine the dynamic variations in the H~2~O~2~ and Sb(V) contents *in vivo*, strains GW4, GW4-Δ*katA* and GW4-Δ*katA*-C were each inoculated into 100 mL of CDM medium supplemented with 50 μM Sb(III) and incubated at 28 °C for 48 h with shaking at 120 rpm. At designated times, the culture samples were collected to assess the H~2~O~2~ contents and monitor the Sb(V) contents as described above. For *in vitro* dynamic changes in the H~2~O~2~ and Sb(V) contents, at designated times, the measurement of Sb(V) concentrations was performed in CDM medium with the addition of 50 μM Sb(III) and different concentrations of H~2~O~2~ (5 μM, 10 μM, 15 μM and 20 μM).
Additional Information
======================
**How to cite this article**: Li, J. *et al*. Abiotic and biotic factors responsible for antimonite oxidation in *Agrobacterium tumefaciens* GW4. *Sci. Rep.* **7**, 43225; doi: 10.1038/srep43225 (2017).
**Publisher\'s note:** Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Material {#S1}
======================
###### Supplementary Information
This work was financially supported through a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31470226) to G.W.
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
**Author Contributions** J.L. designed and performed the experiments and drafted the manuscript. B.Y., M.S., K.Y., W.G. and Q.W. performed the experiments. G.W. designed the study and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
{#f1}
![Growth and Sb(III) oxidation curves of *A. tumefaciens* strains.\
(**A**,**C**,**E**) The growth curves of *A. tumefaciens* strains in CDM medium containing 50 μM Sb(III). Panels A, C, E share the same data of strain GW4. (**B**,**D**,**F**) Sb(III) oxidation profiles of the same strains. Panels B, D, F share the same data of strain GW4. The culture conditions were the same as previous described (Li *et al*.[@b15]). Cell growth was measured based on culture optical density, and Sb(V) concentrations in the culture fluids were measured using HPLC-HG-AFS. Error bars correspond to the standard deviations of the means from three independent experiments. The Sb(III) oxidation efficiency was calculated at 48 h according to the formula: \[Sb(V) concentration/Total Sb concentration\]\*100%.](srep43225-f2){#f2}
{#f3}
{#f4}
{#f5}
![A proposed model of bacterial Sb(III) oxidation based on the present study and literatures.\
(1) Sb(III) oxidation might be catalyzed through As(III) oxidase AioAB[@b17]; (2) Sb(III) oxidase AnoA was shown to oxidize Sb(III) to Sb(V) in cytoplasm with NADP^+^ as a cofactor[@b18]; (3) Sb(III) induced the cellular production of ROS (O~2~^−^) and H~2~O~2~; (4--5) Deletion of *aioA* in *A. tumefaciens* GW4 resulted in the increased expression of AnoA and KatA and cellular H~2~O~2~ content; (6) H~2~O~2~ oxidizes Sb(III) oxidation as an abiotic factor; (7) The residual H~2~O~2~ was partially consumed through KatA.](srep43225-f6){#f6}
[^1]: Present address: Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.
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Joshua Zeitz, a Politico Magazine contributing editor, is the author of Building the Great Society: Inside Lyndon Johnson's White House, which will be released on January 30. Follow him @joshuamzeitz.
This article is the third in a series on how President Donald Trump changed history—reviving historical debates that have simmered on low heat for years, and altering how historians think about them. See the other articles in the series here and here.
Imagine, if you will, that millions of hard-working Americans finally reached their boiling point. Roiled by an unsettling pattern of economic booms and busts; powerless before a haughty coastal elite that in recent decades had effectively arrogated the nation’s banks, means of production and distribution, and even its information highway; burdened by the toll that open borders and free trade imposed on their communities; incensed by rising economic inequality and the concentration of political power—what if these Americans registered their disgust by forging a new political movement with a distinctly backward-looking, even revanchist, outlook? What if they rose up as one and tried to make America great again?
Would you regard such a movement as worthy of support and nurture—as keeping with the democratic tradition of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson? Or would you mainly dread the ugly tone it would inevitably assume—its fear of the immigrant and the Jew, its frequent lapse into white supremacy, its slipshod grasp of political economy and its potentially destabilizing effect on longstanding institutions and norms?
To clarify: This scenario has nothing whatsoever to do with Donald Trump and the modern Republican Party. Rather, it is a question that consumed social and political historians for the better part of a century. They clashed sharply in assessing the essential character of the Populist movement of the late 1800s—a political and economic uprising that briefly drew under one tent a ragtag coalition of Southern and Western farmers (both black and white), urban workers, and utopian newspapermen and polemicists.
That debate pitted “progressive” historians of the early 20th century and their latter-day successors who viewed Populism as a fundamentally constructive political movement, against Richard Hofstadter, one of the most influential American historians then or since. Writing in 1955, Hofstadter theorized that the Populists were cranks—backward-looking losers who blamed their misfortune on a raft of conspiracy theories.
Hofstadter lost that debate: Historians generally view Populism as a grass-roots movement that fought against steep odds to correct many of the economic injustices associated with the Gilded Age. They write off the movement’s ornerier tendencies by pointing out—with some justification—that Populism was a product of its time, and inasmuch as its supporters sometimes expressed exaggerated fear of “the secret plot and the conspiratorial meeting,” so did many Americans who did not share their politics.
But does that point of view hold up after 2016? The populist demons Trump has unleashed—revanchist in outlook, conspiratorial in the extreme, given to frequent expressions of white nationalism and antisemitism—bear uncanny resemblance to the Populist movement that Hofstadter described as bearing a fascination with “militancy and nationalism … apocalyptic forebodings … hatred of big businessmen, bankers, and trusts … fears of immigrants … even [the] occasional toying with anti-Semitic rhetoric.”
A year into Trump’s presidency, the time is right to ask whether Hofstadter might have been right after all about Populism, and what that possibly tells us about the broader heritage of such movements across the ages.
***
The roots of the American populist movement go back to the Civil War, when aggressive borrowing and spending to fund the Union war effort catalyzed economic development throughout the North and Northwest. A new industrial class also grew rich off government contracts—men like Philip Armour, who revolutionized the canned-meat industry; John D. Rockefeller, who conceived new processes for oil refinement; and Thomas Scott, a wartime innovator in railroad management. Congress enacted a sweeping legislative agenda that fundamentally transformed the country, including the Homestead Act, which bequeathed 160 acres of federal land to any Western settler who lived for five years on his allotment and made requisite improvements to the land, and the Pacific Railroad Act, granting private railroad companies land and loans to construct new lines that would span the continent.
The postwar boom was like nothing before in American history: Between 1865 and 1873, industrial production increased by 75 percent, allowing the United States to leapfrog ahead of every other country, save Britain, in manufacturing output. The burgeoning railroad system unified the inhabitants of a sprawling continent and created new opportunities for large ranching, mining and, especially, railroad concerns to exploit and merchandise the vast resources of the trans-Mississippi West.
But while the boom proved lucrative to the small number of men who controlled access to local resources, it was much less profitable for the hundreds of thousands of ranchers, farmers, factory workers, miners and railroad laborers who supplied the muscle—especially after the federal government turned away from the easy money policy that underwrote wartime expansion, much to the disadvantage of indebted farmers and workers.
While some Democrats supported an inflationary policy of redeeming war bonds with greenbacks, Republicans and conservative Democrats insisted on a hard-money policy that benefited bondholders. As a result, many of the North’s once-sturdy independent farmers—including hundreds of thousands who trekked westward, only to fall victim to declining crop prices (partly due to currency contraction) and land speculation on the part of railroad interests—now found it more expensive to pay back loans they had taken out to purchase land and equipment.
Matters were worse in the South, a region where most capital had previously been invested in land and slaves. Much of the land now lay in ruins, and emancipation erased trillions of dollars (in today’s money) of value overnight. Confederate currency was worthless, and the federal government required that all Confederate debts be repudiated. As a consequence, in the years following the end of Reconstruction, millions of Southerners fell into various states of economic dependency, ranging from the crop-lien system to full-fledged tenancy.
Politics in this era were in many ways tribal—a holdover from the Civil War. Conservative “Bourbon” Democrats controlled most of the South, while Republicans remained firmly in command in the North and Midwest. But with notable exceptions, both parties largely supported the same economic policies. The ruling class in each party advocated a return to the gold standard, a policy that benefited wealthy investors and creditors but drove down commodity prices and created an existential crisis for indebted farmers. Republicans and Bourbon Democrats also aligned themselves with railroad companies that swept up the best public lands and resold them at a steep premium to westward settlers; the same railroads charged variable rates to small and large producers, thus placing family farms at a sharp disadvantage.
In response to these hardships, farmers in the South and Midwest formed a wide variety of self-help organizations, like the Grange, to pool capital and farm output and exert pressure on railroads. They created third-party organizations, like the short-lived Greenback Party, to advocate an expansion of paper currency and silver specie. Ultimately, they coalesced in 1892 under the banner of the People’s Party—aka, the Populist Party—and adopted a wide-ranging platform advocating progressive tax reform; free coinage of silver; government-backed credit facilities for small farmers; limitations on public subsidies to corporations; and the nationalization of railroads, to ensure equal freight rates for all producers. They forged wobbly but, for a time, effective coalitions with urban labor organizations.
As most students of American history know, the Populists did not break through the nation’s entrenched two-party system. That’s another topic altogether.
But the parallels between then and now are striking. Ordinary citizens chafed at growing economic inequality and identified powerful interests—railroads, banks, financial speculators—that seemed to control the levers of power. Many came to believe that the two major political parties, despite certain differences, were fundamentally in the pockets of the same interests and equally unresponsive to popular concerns.
The 19th-century economy was of course different from today’s, but the issues were in many respects the same. A convention of farmers in the late 1860s demanded that railroad land be assessed at “the full nominal value of the stock on which the railroad seeks to declare dividends,” rather than watered-down stock, much in the same way that today’s populists demand regulations that make it difficult for corporations to diminish or defray their tax bills. The same convention called for a new interstate commerce law that would “secure the same rates of freight to all persons for the same kind of commodities,” and an end to pricing preferences that “shut off competition.” Substitute “internet service provider” for railroad, and fast forward to a 21st-century information economy, and the problem—freight pricing or net neutrality—is essentially the same.
In our own day, we suffer no dearth of would-be working-class heroes and charlatans. So too did the Populist era of the late 19th century give rise to colorful figures like “Sockless” Jerry Simpson, the three-term congressman from Kansas, so-called because he famously excoriated a wealthy political opponent for being “encased in fine silk hosiery”; Mary Elizabeth Lease, the famed Populist orator who exhorted farmers to “raise less corn and more hell”; and William Jennings Bryan, the boy congressman, thundering orator and three-time presidential candidate.
So there’s good reason in the age of Trump to look to the Populist era for earlier examples of what happens when a citizenry believes that the system no longer works.
***
Early students of Populism—notably, the progressive historian John Hicks, who wrote in the 1920s and 1930s—admired the movement’s supporters for practicing a hard-nosed version of interest-group politics. Legitimately besieged by a rigged political and economic system, farmers and other working people demanded policies that would remediate their condition and help them reestablish control over their lives.
Studying the Populists from the vantage point of the mid-1950s, Hofstadter saw something different. The Civil War, he noted, had catalyzed a global information revolution: By the 1870s, railroads spanned the American continent and submerged oceanic telegraph lines bound Europe, North America and South America in real time, allowing them to integrate their markets for agricultural, mineral and finished goods. The era saw a massive movement of internal migrants from farms to cities, and immigrants from one continent to another. To invoke a more modern term, globalization was drawing people in closer proximity. It also bound markets together, compelled a global drop in commodity prices and created a boom-and-bust cycle that was normally outside the ability of local or even national governments to control.
But Hofstadter—who believed there was “indeed much that is good and usable in our Populist past,” and who acknowledged that it was the “first modern political movement of practical importance in the United States to insist that the federal government had some responsibility for the common weal”—viewed Populists as fundamentally revanchist. “The utopia of the Populists was in the past, not the future,” he observed. They were unwilling to acknowledge that the world was changing—that local markets were being swallowed up by global commerce, and that the early republic of small, yeoman farmers was a thing of the past. Millions of Americans gambled that they could take out loans, purchase or settle on cheap land, buy equipment and thrive as independent farmers, just as the global economy was rendering that way of life obsolete. “I am not trying to deny the difficulties of [the farmer’s] position or the reality and seriousness of his grievances,” he wrote in The Age of Reform. But these same farmers knowingly mimicked the “acquisitive goals” and “speculative temper” of Big Business without absorbing any of the “marketing devices, strategies of combination, or skills of self-defense and self-advancement through pressure politics” that large corporations practiced.
What especially turned Hofstadter off to Populism was its shrill anger and conspiratorial view of the world. Sockless Jerry Simpson called politics a “struggle between the robbers and the robbed,” a rhetorical construction that Hofstadter viewed as almost paranoiac. This very ethos was pervasive in Populist tracts. In the preamble to the 1892 Populist party platform, Ignatius Donnelly, who began his political career as a radical anti-slavery Republican, warned that a “vast conspiracy against mankind has been organized on two continents, and it is rapidly taking possession of the world. If not met and overthrown at once, it forebodes terrible social convulsions and the destruction of civilization, or the establishment of an absolute despotism.”
Who was behind that conspiracy? Bankers, to begin with. In her popular treatise, Seven Financial Conspiracies which have Enslaved the American People, the Populist writer Mrs. S.E.V. Emery focused her ire on the “money kings of Wall Street” who had manipulated currency and strangled the self-sufficient farmer into submission. Gordon Clark, another polemicist for the cause, was more direct. His most important contribution was titled, Shylock: as Banker, Bondholder, Corruptionist, Conspirator.
Based on his reading of wide-circulation Populist literature, Hofstadter concluded that the agrarian revolt was obsessed with Jews. A century before George Soros became the bête noire of Trumpian populism, the insidious English banker “Baron Rothe”—the central character in the fictional novel A Tale of Two Nations and clearly patterned after Nathan Rothschild, the prominent British financier and politician—plotted against silver coinage in the United States, largely to preserve British economy hegemony. At a meeting of the National Silver Convention of 1892, a representative of the New Jersey Grange warned against the perfidious influence of “Wall Street, and the Jews of Europe.” When she censured conservative Democrat Grover Cleveland, Mary Elizabeth Lease naturally wrote him down as “the agent of Jewish bankers and British gold.” Donnelly, the onetime crusader for the rights of freedmen, wrote a polemical novel in which Baron James Rothschild (Nathan’s cousin and successor in Parliament) plunged both Britain and the United States “into the hands of … Jews.” On-site at the Populist national convention, a reporter for the Associated Press was struck by “the extraordinary hatred of the Jewish race.”
Populists also showed antipathy toward immigrants, Jewish and otherwise. “We have become the world’s melting pot,” wrote Tom Watson, a leading Georgia populist. “The scum of creation has been dumped on us. Some of our principal cities are more foreign than American. The most dangerous and corrupting horde of the Old World have invaded us. The vice and crime they planted in our midst are sickening and terrifying. What brought these Goths and Vandals to our shores? The manufacturers are mainly to blame. They wanted cheap labor; and they didn’t care a curse how much harm to our future might be the consequence of their heartless policy.”
Hofstadter’s problem wasn’t with Populism (capital P) as much as it was with populist movements (small p), more generally. Like many mid-century liberal intellectuals who believed in progressive but incremental change of the variety that the Democratic Party then offered, he looked askance at mass politics, specifically in the form of an anti-communist frenzy—McCarthyism—that seemed eerily parallel to the fascist wave that had overwhelmed Europe in very recent memory. To be clear, he did not argue that fascism, McCarthyism and Populism were the same movement or that they shared a similar agenda or ideology. But he believed they shared a dispositional kinship—a style and way of representing grievances. They were unthinking, conspiratorial and deeply prejudiced. When he thumbed through Populist tracts, Hofstadter saw both the crowds at Nuremberg and ordinary Americans frothing at the mouth about a dark and shadowy communist conspiracy.
Hofstadter was not quite alone among liberal scholars of his age in evincing disdain for mass political movements. Sociologists David Riesman and Nathan Glazer captured this paradox neatly in 1955 when they observed that many intellectuals felt a closer kinship with Wall Street, which was tolerant of “civil rights and civil liberties”—two post-war liberal priorities—than with their “former allies … the farmers and lower classes of the city.”
Hofstadter’s influence being what it was, he provoked a historical debate that lasted well into the 20th century, though in the years after his death in 1970, at the age of 54, his interpretation of Populism fell mostly out of favor. A new generation of historians that came of age with the civil rights, anti-war and second-wave feminist movements looked more kindly on mass politics and saw in the Populists an earlier version of their own reform wave. Lawrence Goodwyn, who replaced Hofstadter as the most prominent scholar of Populism, revived the progressive historians’ understanding of the agrarian plight but provided new focus to the Populists’ establishment of a vibrant “movement culture.” Unlike Hofstadter, who came dangerously close to characterizing them as unsophisticated rubes—deplorables, perhaps—Goodwyn saw hard-headed political pragmatists who defied all odds to upend an entrenched American political system.
In dozens of micro-studies focusing on specific states or communities, doctoral students drilled down, bypassing the nationally prominent voices that Hofstadter studied in favor of local newspapers, tracts and conventions. Some, like, Walter Nugent, who as early as 1963 wrote The Tolerant Populists: Kansas Populism and Nativism, found in his subjects a noticeable absence of paranoia, anti-Semitism and nativism. Others focused on local politics and economics to recover at a granular level the very real ways in which the system was indeed rigged.
For these scholars, Populism was of a piece with America’s sunnier grass-roots tradition—a heritage that included first- and second-wave feminism, the post-war Civil Rights movement, organized labor and the environmental and consumer rights movements. It was about ordinary people banding together to make a difference. They weren’t all perfect; not every activist was a paragon of tolerance. But in the main, they represented some of the best instincts in American political culture.
It’s a point of view that took hold. Today, most historians preparing a lecture on Populism would likely gravitate more closely to Goodwyn and his disciples. With the perspective of time, Hofstadter seems too indifferent to the very real problems ordinary Americans in the late 19th century faced. Even if he was sort of right about the Populist tone, he overstated his case.
***
So what to make of the contemporary movement that has coalesced, improbably, around a certain gilded billionaire? Many of Trump’s supporters evince the same feeling of powerlessness in the face of powerful institutions as their Populist forebears, and they aren’t wrong about that by any stretch of the imagination. They view both parties as under the thumb of the same donor class. Nor are they wrong about that.
But if a historian 100 years hence were to read in its entirety Trump’s Twitter feed—or watch five years’ worth of Fox News and comb through a full run of Infowars and Breitbart—it seems likely he or she would want to take a second look at Hofstadter.
Judging by the media they produce and consume, today’s conservative populists aren’t just searching for economic justice in an unequal world. They are also in the thrall of unhinged conspiracy theories (Pizzagate, Benghazi, Uranium-gate, pretty much anything involving the Clintons) and a little more obsessed with Jews than is healthy. They harbor deep antipathy toward non-Christians, Latinos and African-Americans. They want to wind the clock back to 1950, much as Hofstadter’s Populists wanted to wind it back to 1850. Does that describe every Trump voter? Not by a stretch. But it is a fair representation of the media and propaganda machine that fuels the movement. And it’s hard to argue that it showcases the best of American politics.
Should that move us to reconsider other populist movements? Looking back on Huey Long and Father Coughlin, George Wallace and Pat Buchanan through the lens of Trumpian politics, the ugly, unhinged strain to American populism that meets at the intersection of the far right and far left appears in sharp relief. Hofstadter observed this underbelly of mass politics and warned against it.
But Hofstadter is most useful when we scratch below that surface. His goal wasn’t to establish that populists, who over time have pursued a wide variety of ideological and policy ends, are bad people. His larger point was that populist eyes are often cast in the wrong direction—backward. At critical junctures in history, they prove unreconciled to economic and cultural change and to globalization, both in the form of open markets and open borders. They endeavor to reestablish lost worlds—a Jeffersonian republic of small farms and independent shops, or a latter-day utopia of tidy suburbs and unionized factories and mines, that have no hope of survival in a changing world. They bitterly but understandably resist acknowledgment that the country in which they grew up has irrevocably changed.
“The Populists wanted a restoration of agrarian profits and popular government,” Hofstadter concluded. But they found themselves “impotent and deprived in an industrial culture.” Throughout American history, movements that only know how to look backward—like the Populists of the 1890s—rarely endured. But they often leave a lasting mark on the larger culture—sometimes for good, as when establishment politicians recognize the need to blunt their force by addressing some of their legitimate complaints. And sometimes for bad, when they encourage citizens to castigate strangers, real and imagined, for problems that have no simple solution. |
Introduction {#Sec1}
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Survival benefit from low tidal volume (*V*~T~) ventilation (LTVV) has clearly been demonstrated for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) \[[@CR1]\]. Patients not having ARDS could also benefit from this strategy \[[@CR2]--[@CR5]\], albeit that tidal volumes may not always need to be as low as in patients with ARDS \[[@CR6]\]. As it could be difficult to discriminate patients with ARDS from those not having ARDS \[[@CR7], [@CR8]\], one reasonable and pragmatic approach could be to use LTVV (defined as ventilation using a *V*~T~ ≤ 8 ml/kg predicted body weight \[PBW\]) in all invasively ventilated critically ill patients \[[@CR9]\]. This is, at least, in part in line with international guidelines recommending a *V*~T~ of 4 to 8 ml/kg PBW in patients with ARDS \[[@CR10]\], and with the suggestion not to use a *V*~T~ \> 8 ml/kg PBW in patients not having ARDS \[[@CR11]--[@CR13]\].
Several studies have demonstrated an increased adherence to LTVV over recent decades \[[@CR14]--[@CR17]\]. Yet, many patients remain to receive ventilation with a too large *V*~T~ \[[@CR7], [@CR18], [@CR19]\]. For instance, the 'Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE' (LUNG SAFE) study showed that as many as one-third of ARDS patients receive a *V*~T~ \> 8 ml/kg PBW \[[@CR7]\]. A similar proportion of patients without ARDS did not receive LTVV in the 'PRatice of VENTilation in critically ill patients without ARDS' (PRoVENT) study \[[@CR18]\]. In the 'Checklist During Multidisciplinary Visits for Reduction of Mortality in Intensive Care Units' (CHECKLIST-ICU) study, even if the intervention led to a better adherence to LTVV as compared with the control group, only two-thirds of patients under invasive ventilation in the intervention group received a *V*~T~ ≤ 8 ml/kg PBW \[[@CR19]\].
Organizational factors associated with a better outcome in ICU patients include intensity of doctor, nurse and respiratory therapist staffing \[[@CR20]--[@CR24]\], continuity of care \[[@CR25], [@CR26]\], and use of multidisciplinary rounds and structured handovers \[[@CR27], [@CR28]\]. Yet, no study evaluated which organizational factors are related to adherence to LTVV. Therefore, the CHECKLIST-ICU database was used to identify organizational factors that are independently associated with adherence to LTVV.
Methods {#Sec2}
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Study design and patients {#Sec3}
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The study protocol of the CHECKLIST-ICU study was prepublished \[[@CR29]\] and registered (clinicaltrials.gov, study identifier NCT01785966), and the results of the primary analysis were reported recently \[[@CR19]\]. In brief, the CHECKLIST-ICU study consisted of two phases. In phase I, organizational factors and clinical outcomes were collected in 118 Brazilian adult ICUs, from August 2013 to March 2014. In phase II, the ICUs were randomized to a quality improvement intervention or to usual care, from April 2014 to November 2014. The quality improvement intervention consisted of a checklist and discussion of goals of care during daily multidisciplinary rounds, followed by clinician prompting to ensure checklist adherence and goals of care.
The checklist assessed prevention and management of lung injury, venous thromboembolism, ventilator-associated pneumonia, central line-associated bloodstream and urinary tract infections, nutritional targets, analgesia and sedation goals, detection of sepsis and ARDS, and antibiotic initiation and stewardship. In specific, for prevention of lung injury, it was advised to adhere to LTVV and to assess readiness for extubation. Other care processes, with the exception of the checklist, discussion of goals of care and clinician prompting were unchanged between the two phases of the study. The institutional review boards of all centers approved the study. The funding source had no role in the analysis or publication decisions.
The CHECKLIST-ICU restricted participation to patients 18 years or older; and with an ICU stay longer than 48 h. Patients in whom a high probability of early death was anticipated (defined as death occurring between the 48th and 72nd hours of the ICU stay), patients receiving exclusive palliative care, as well as patients who were suspected of or had a diagnosis of brain death were excluded. The current analysis uses data from both study phases, but restricted to patients who had received invasive ventilation for at least 2 days. This period was chosen for two reasons: first, to guarantee sufficient time to evaluate exposure to the intervention, and second, because the majority of patients were extubated within 3 days.
Data collection and definitions {#Sec4}
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The database of the CHECKLIST-ICU study contains baseline information \[age, gender, reason for admission, type of admission (clinical, elective or urgent surgery), illness severity (Simplified Acute Physiology Score \[SAPS\] 3 and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment \[SOFA\])\], study phase (phase I or II), ICU and hospital mortality, and ICU and hospital length of stay.
For ventilation evaluation, in the original trial *V*~T~ size was recorded on day 2, 5, 8, 11, 14 and 17. The target *V*~T~ in the checklist was ≤ 8 ml/kg PBW in all days, with PBW calculated as 50 + 0.91\*(height \[in cm\] − 152.4) for males and 45.5 + 0.91\*(height \[in cm\] − 152.4) for females. For the purpose of the current analysis, adherence to LTVV was defined as *V*~T~ of ≤ 8 ml/kg PBW at the second day of ventilation only.
In the participating units, physiotherapists were responsible for the ventilator settings and the physical therapy. However, ventilatory management was adjusted according to decisions taken in multidisciplinary rounds, and after approval of the physician in charge. In some units, in particular when a physiotherapist was not a member of the team, nurses were allowed to change ventilatory settings.
The following organizational data related to the process of care of each participating ICU were collected in the CHECKLIST-ICU study and considered in the present study:Level of hospital (tertiary vs non-tertiary);Type of hospital (specialty vs general);Teaching status (university affiliated vs not university affiliated);Number of hospital beds (according to tertiles in the present study);Number of ICU beds (according to tertiles in the present study);Presence of multidisciplinary rounds (yes vs no);Use of a structured checklist during rounds (yes vs no);Presence of sedation and analgesia, and weaning, and prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) protocols (yes vs no);Presence of board-certified ICU consultant (morning and afternoon vs morning or afternoon);Presence of at least one physician for each 10 patients in all shifts; (yes vs no);Presence of one board-certified respiratory therapist coordinator (yes vs no);Presence of one respiratory therapist for each 10 patients in all shifts (yes vs no);Presence of at least one nurse per 10 patients during all shifts (yes vs no).
Outcomes {#Sec5}
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The primary outcome of this analysis was the organizational factors associated with adherence to LTVV. Secondary outcomes were the adherence to LTVV on the second day of ventilation, and the impact of adherence to LTVV in ICU and hospital mortality.
Statistical analyses {#Sec6}
--------------------
Continuous variables are presented as mean ± standard deviation and compared with Student's *t* test. Categorical variables are presented as absolute numbers and proportions and compared with the Chi square test or Fisher's exact test, where appropriate. All analyses were performed using multilevel (patients nested in study centers, within the phases of the trial) mixed modeling with centers as random effect and the phase of the study as a fixed effect. Absolute difference between the groups with the respective 95%-confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated from a mixed-effect linear model and reported as mean differences for continuous variables and as risk differences for categorical variables.
The association between organizational factors and use of LTVV was assessed with a mixed-effect generalized linear model and the variables included in the multivariable models were defined according to clinical rationale and when a *p* value \< 0.20 was found in the univariable models. The final multivariable model was adjusted for patient severity, according to SAPS 3 and SOFA. Heterogeneity between the phases of the trial was determined by fitting a fixed interaction term between the phase and organizational factors associated with use of LTVV, while overall effect is reported with phase treated as a fixed effect and centers treated as a random effect. The use of a structured checklist was not considered in the heterogeneity analysis, since it was used only in one of the phases of the study, i.e., in the cluster-randomized trial.
The impact of LTVV on ICU and hospital mortality was also assessed with a mixed-effect generalized linear model considering a binomial distribution, adjusted for SAPS 3 and SOFA at the patient level.
Continuous variables were standardized before being included in the multivariable models described above to improve convergence. All analyses were performed using the R (R, version 3.6.0, Core Team, Vienna, Austria, 2016) software, and a two-sided alpha level of 0.05 was considered.
Results {#Sec7}
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The database of the CHECKLIST-ICU study included data of a total 13,638 patients in 118 ICUs. Of them, 5719 patients had received invasive ventilation for at least 2 days, 2936 (51.3%) in phase I, and 2783 (48.7%) in phase II (Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). Baseline characteristics of patients who received LTVV (3340 patients, 58% of all patients) and patients who did not receive LTTV at the second day of ventilation (2379 patients, 42% of all patients) are shown in Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}. Most admissions were medical, and the main reasons for admission were sepsis and acute respiratory failure. *V*~T~ data were available for all patients on day 2.Fig. 1Patient flowchart. LTVV, low tidal volume ventilationTable 1Baseline characteristics of the included patientsAll patients (*n* = 5719)LTVV\* (*n* = 3340)No LTVV\* (*n* = 2379)*p* valueAge, years63.0 ± 19.260.9 ± 19.566.0 ± 18.4\< 0.001Female gender2441 (42.7)1022 (30.6)1419 (59.6)\< 0.001Predicted body weight, kg60.5 ± 10.163.9 ± 9.255.7 ± 9.2\< 0.001Height, cm166 ± 9169 ± 9162 ± 9\< 0.001SAPS III62.3 ± 17.161.7 ± 17.463.2 ± 16.70.002SOFA6.6 ± 3.76.5 ± 3.76.7 ± 3.70.068Study phase\< 0.001 Observational2936 (51.3)1635 (49.0)1301 (54.7) Interventional2783 (48.7)1705 (51.0)1078 (45.3)Type of admission\< 0.001 Medical4326 (75.6)2486 (74.4)1840 (77.3) Elective surgery371 (6.5)202 (6.0)169 (7.1) Urgent surgery1022 (17.9)652 (19.5)370 (15.6)Reason for ICU admission0.078 Postoperative care694 (12.1)419 (12.5)275 (11.6) Acute respiratory failure1323 (23.1)752 (22.5)571 (24.0) Cardiac arrest174 (3.0)100 (3.0)74 (3.1) Neurological disorders816 (14.3)472 (14.1)344 (14.5) Liver disorders74 (1.3)44 (1.3)30 (1.3) Gastrointestinal disorders105 (1.8)59 (1.8)46 (1.9) Sepsis1063 (18.6)601 (18.0)462 (19.4) Shock (not considering sepsis)98 (1.7)64 (1.9)34 (1.4) Cardiovascular disorders237 (4.1)135 (4.0)102 (4.3) Kidney disorders188 (3.3)106 (3.2)82 (3.4) Hematological disorders45 (0.8)20 (0.6)25 (1.1) Others902 (15.8)568 (17.0)334 (14.0)Co-morbidities Cancer444 (7.8)233 (7.0)211 (8.9)0.010 Heart failure342 (6.0)194 (5.8)148 (6.2)0.554 Cirrhosis153 (2.7)98 (2.9)55 (2.3)0.176 AIDS265 (4.6)177 (5.3)88 (3.7)0.006Data are mean ± standard deviation or *N* (%)*SAPS* Simplified Acute Physiology Score, *SOFA* Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, *ICU* intensive care unit; *AIDS* acquired immune deficiency syndrome\* LTVV defined in tidal volume ≤ 8 ml/kg PBW in the second day of ventilation
The proportion of patients receiving LTVV was 58.4% (95% CI, 57.1% to 59.7%) on day 2, and did not change thereafter (Fig. [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}). Patients who received LTVV were younger, taller, were more often male, and were less severely ill according to their SAPS and SOFA scores.Fig. 2Tidal volume and frequency of the use of low tidal volume ventilation over the first 17 days of follow-up. Circles are the mean and error bars the 95% confidence interval. Unadjusted mixed-effect longitudinal models with random intercept for patients and center, and with phase of the study, group, days and the interaction of group × days as fixed effects. *p* values for the group reflect the overall test for difference between groups across the follow-up while *p* values for the group × days interaction evaluate if change over time differed by group
Organizational factors with an association with adherence to LTVV in the unadjusted analysis are shown in Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}. In the adjusted analysis, number of hospital beds (absolute difference 7.43 \[0.61 to 14.24\]; *p* = 0.038), use of a structured checklist during multidisciplinary rounds (absolute difference 5.10 \[0.55 to 9.81\]; *p* = 0.030), and presence of at least one nurse per 10 patients during all shifts (absolute difference 17.24 \[0.85 to 33.60\]; *p* = 0.045) were associated with adherence to LTVV (Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}).Table 2Factor associated with the use of low tidal volumeAll patients (*n* = 5719)LTVV\* (*n* = 3340)No LTVV\* (*n* = 2379)Absolute difference\*\* (95% CI)*p* valueRelated to the trial Use of checklist1279 (22.4)843 (25.2)436 (18.3)4.41 (− 0.20 to 9.02)0.061Related to the hospital Tertiary4605 (81.5)2742 (83.2)1863 (79.1)5.04 (− 2.29 to 12.35)0.180 Specialty1060 (18.8)691 (21.0)369 (15.7)5.61 (− 2.89 to 14.06)0.197 University2202 (39.0)1309 (39.7)893 (37.9)− 2.23 (− 8.57 to 4.12)0.493Number of beds \< 1571887 (33.4)1086 (32.9)801 (34.0)8.62 (2.08 to 15.17)^a^0.011 157--3241906 (33.7)1041 (31.6)865 (36.7) \> 3241857 (32.9)1169 (35.5)688 (29.2)Number of ICU beds0.445 \< 112362 (41.8)1364 (41.4)998 (42.4)1.85 (− 5.17 to 8.87)^b^0.606 11--211774 (31.4)1028 (31.2)746 (31.7) \> 211514 (26.8)904 (27.4)610 (25.9)Related to organization Multidisciplinary rounds3444 (60.2)2068 (61.9)1376 (57.8)− 0.15 (− 3.63 to 3.34)0.932 Sedation protocol2620 (46.4)1509 (45.8)1111 (47.2)− 2.02 (− 8.08 to 4.02)0.514 Analgesia protocol2285 (40.4)1342 (40.7)943 (40.1)2.18 (− 3.99 to 8.37)0.490 Weaning protocol3644 (64.5)2090 (63.4)1554 (66.0)− 1.36 (− 7.73 to 5.02)0.677 VAP protocol3621 (64.1)2046 (62.1)1575 (66.9)− 3.58 (− 9.89 to 2.74)0.269Board-certified consultant None371 (6.6)204 (6.2)167 (7.1)4.11 (− 1.92 to 10.15)^c^0.185 Full-time3015 (53.4)1821 (55.2)1194 (50.7) Half-time2264 (40.1)1271 (38.6)993 (42.2) 1:10 physician5466 (96.7)3205 (97.2)2261 (96.0)6.74 (− 8.75 to 22.22)0.395 Board-certified RT coordinator3920 (69.4)2309 (70.1)1611 (68.4)− 2.69 (− 9.41 to 4.06)0.4361:10 respiratory therapist None108 (1.9)69 (2.1)39 (1.7)− 2.53 (− 8.59 to 3.53)^c^0.415 Full-time2438 (43.2)1383 (42.0)1055 (44.8) Half-time3104 (54.9)1844 (55.9)1260 (53.5) 1:10 nurse5482 (97.0)3227 (97.9)2255 (95.8)20.24 (3.75 to 36.76)0.018*VAP* ventilator-associated pneumonia, *RT* respiratory therapist\* LTVV defined in tidal volume ≤ 8 ml/kg PBW in the second day of ventilation\*\* Calculated as the risk difference from a mixed-effect model with the phase of the study as a fixed effect and the hospital as random effect. The comparison is the difference in the use of low tidal volume ventilation among each factor^a^Comparison of \> 324 vs ≤ 324 beds^b^Comparison of \> 21 vs ≤ 21 beds^c^Comparison of full-time vs. none/half-timeTable 3Organizational factors associated with the use of low tidal volume ventilationAbsolute difference\* (95% confidence interval)*p* valueAdjustment by severity of illness SAPS III− 2.64 (− 4.27 to − 1.00)0.001 SOFA1.28 (− 0.40 to 2.92)0.131Trial related Use of structured checklist5.10 (0.55 to 9.81)0.030Hospital related Tertiary hospital0.10 (− 7.44 to 7.66)0.978 Specialty hospital4.34 (− 3.76 to 12.49)0.306 Number of hospital beds \> 3247.43 (0.61 to 14.24)0.038Organizational factors Board-certified consultant2.55 (− 3.33 to 8.44)0.406 At least one nurse per 10 patients during all shifts17.24 (0.85 to 33.60)0.045*SAPS* Simplified Acute Physiology Score, *SOFA* Sequential Organ Failure AssessmentMixed-effect generalized linear model considering the phase of the study and the variables as fixed effect and the center as random effect. Continuous variables were standardized before inclusion in the model\* Higher positive values indicate higher adherence to low tidal volume ventilationThe effect of the phase of the study was not significant (2.34 \[95% confidence interval − 0.96 to 5.87\]; *p* = 0.161)The interaction between the phase of the study and the number of hospital beds was not significant (*p* = 0.254)The interaction between the phase of the study and the presence of one nurse for every 10 patients in all shifts was significant (*p* = 0.032)
There was no heterogeneity between study phases and the effect of number of hospital beds on adherence to LTVV (*p* = 0.254). There was an interaction between study phases and the effect of the presence of at least one nurse per 10 patients during all shifts on adherence to LTVV (estimate, − 16.13 \[− 31.0 to − 1.41\]; *p* = 0.032). In the second phase of the study, presence of at least one nurse per 10 patients during all shifts and adherence to LTVV were no longer associated (Additional file [1](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}: Figure S1).
There was no difference in ICU (absolute difference, 0.27 \[− 2.29 to 2.84\]; *p* = 0.833) or hospital mortality (absolute difference, 0.03 \[− 2.51 to 2.57\]; *p* = 0.980) according to the use LTVV (Additional file [1](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}: Table S1).
Discussion {#Sec8}
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This study suggests that the larger centers with a higher number of hospital beds, use of structured checklists during multidisciplinary rounds, and the presence of at least one nurse for every 10 patients in all shifts are the three organizational factors associated with adherence to LTVV. Interestingly, *V*~T~ stays remarkable unchanged over the total duration of ventilation, i.e., *V*~T~ does not change beyond the second day of ventilation. Mortality was not different between patients who received and those who did not receive LTVV.
The finding that the number of hospital beds is associated with a higher adherence to LTVV might be explained as follows. First, ICUs in larger hospitals usually have higher number of caregivers, more experienced teams, and also higher volumes of invasively ventilated patients. Second, ICU bed supply and quality of care in ICUs are usually related to the size of a hospital \[[@CR30], [@CR31]\], and smaller hospitals frequently suffer with lack of beds and consequently inappropriate allocation, which is also associated with a lower quality of care \[[@CR32]\]. Nevertheless, in Brazil usually the larger hospitals are the public university-affiliated hospitals, and in the present analyses this intersection could not be completely assessed. However, the association among larger hospitals and adherence to LTVV could reflect, indirectly, a higher adherence in teaching hospitals also. All those characteristics, however, were not directly collected and measured in the CHECKLIST-ICU study.
The finding that the use of a structured checklist during multidisciplinary rounds is associated with adherence to LTVV is in line with findings of previous studies. One study in invasively ventilated ICU patients with ARDS showed that use of a written ventilation protocol was associated with higher use of LTVV \[[@CR33]\]. Another study in critically ill ICU patients demonstrated that charts installed on ventilators showing the adequate *V*~T~ target (4--6 ml/kg PBW) for each patient led to a significant decrease in *V*~T~ \[[@CR24]\]. Such findings suggest that adoption of written documents such as protocols, checklists and charts may improve adherence to LTVV and ensure translation of evidence for benefit, in this case of LTVV, into clinical practice. Of note, protocols for mechanical ventilation often do not incorporate LTVV strategies \[[@CR34]\], and use of a protocol does not guarantee that all patients will receive the best practice \[[@CR35]\]. However, one large Brazilian study demonstrated that the implementation of protocols was associated with better patient outcomes and more efficient use of resources \[[@CR27]\].
The finding that adherence to LTVV increased with presence of more nurses is also in line with previous findings \[[@CR20]--[@CR22]\]. A nurse-to-patient ratio \> 1:1.5 was independently associated with a lower risk of in-hospital death in a large multicenter cohort of ICU patients in a worldwide study \[[@CR22]\]. Vice versa, a lower ICU nurse staffing was associated with adverse outcomes in a study in hospitals across the USA \[[@CR21]\]. In Brazil, ICU nurse staffing varies considerably depending on local regulations. However, a study in 93 Brazilian ICUs showed that ICUs where nurses have higher autonomy, including start of weaning from ventilation and the titrating FiO~2~, have better outcomes compared to ICUs where there is less nurse autonomy \[[@CR36]\]. After implementation of the structured checklist in the second phase of the CHECKLIST-ICU study, the positive effect of one nurse for every 10 patients in all shifts on the use of LTVV was no longer associated with compliance with LTVV. This finding is important, and suggests that a structured checklist can increase the adoption of LTVV, even in institutions where the nurse-to-patient ratio is low. At the end, the impact of a higher nurse-to-patient ratio on adherence to LTVV can be explained by several different factors, including (1) adoption of the checklist, per se; (2) better use of the checklist by healthcare providers like respiratory therapists, typically more present in ICUs with a higher nurse-to-patient ratio; and (3) presence of more nurses, who can adjust ventilator settings.
Use of LTVV was not associated with lower mortality as described in previous studies \[[@CR3], [@CR5], [@CR37]\]. This may be explained by the small difference in *V*~T~ between the two groups, i.e., 6.7 (5.9--7.4) vs 9.2 (8.5--10.2) ml/kg PBW. This is different from previous studies that used *V*~T~ of as high as 12 ml/kg PBW for comparison. Of note, one recent randomized clinical trial in patients not having ARDS did found beneficial effects of a low *V*~T~ strategy \[resulting in *V*~T~ of 6.6 (5.5--8.7) ml/kg PBW\] when compared to an intermediate *V*~T~ strategy \[resulting in *V*~T~ of 9.3 (8.1--10.1) ml/kg PBW\] \[[@CR6]\]. Despite this, identifying factors that have an effect of use of LTVV could help improving ICU organization as well as safety of invasively ventilated patients in general.
Interestingly, the current study suggests that early use of LTVV is associated with continued use of ventilation with a low *V*~T~ on successive days. This finding shows that patients who had *V*~T~ correctly titrated to PBW early on ICU admission were more likely to continue with LTVV. This finding could suggest that adherence to LTVV is not necessarily related to severity of diseases. Vice versa, a patient who starts ventilation with a too high *V*~T~ is at risk of not receiving LTVV a later time point.
The present study has limitations. First, it is a secondary analysis of a study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a multifaceted quality improvement strategy including a checklist in ICU. Thus, some important data regarding mechanical ventilation and patient severity are missing, like other ventilatory parameters, and the development of complications. Second, all included ICUs are from Brazil, and it is widely known that organizational factors and process of care differ worldwide. For example, in the present study only half of the patients were admitted to ICUs with board-certified intensivists on the morning and afternoon shifts \[[@CR27], [@CR28]\]. Indeed, the lower number of board-certified intensivists is a well-known problem in low-income countries \[[@CR38]\]. Third, no information about the presence of ARDS is available and this could have influenced the adoption of LTVV and the impact of LTVV on hospital mortality. Indeed, in the here studied cohort the majority of the patients were extubated within 3 days, thus the percentage of patients with ARDS was probably low, which can partly explain the lack of power to detect any association between LTVV and mortality. Fourth, it is important to emphasize that current findings may only be generalizable to settings with a comparable infrastructure, especially the nurse-to-patient ratio, since Brazil has a much lower nurse-to-patient ratio then ICUs in, e.g., Europe and the US \[[@CR22]\]. Finally, no information about the ventilatory mode was available, and this could have influenced the results.
Conclusions {#Sec9}
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In Brazil, the number of hospital beds, use of a structured checklist during multidisciplinary rounds, and presence of at least one nurse for every 10 patients in all shifts were the only organizational factors associated with adherence to LTVV. These findings shed light on organizational factors that may increase adherence to LTVV.
Supplementary information
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{#Sec10}
**Additional file 1.** Online Supplement.
**Publisher\'s Note**
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
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**Supplementary information** accompanies this paper at 10.1186/s13613-020-00687-3.
**CHECKLIST ICU--investigators** Cardioeste: Pedro Aniceto Nunes Neto, Carlos Alberto Fernandes, Cristiano Ávila Luchesi; Casa de Saúde Santa Marta: Natalia Rodrigues de Sa, Roberta Antunes Faria Rodrigues, Larissa Stefany Radespiel; Casa de Saúde São Bento: Vinicius Leonardo dos Santos Iorio, Danielle Bhering, Viviane Ribeiro Linhares; Centro Hospitalar Unimed: Glauco Adrieno Westphal, Geonice Sperotto; Complexo Hospitalar São Mateus: Soraya Byana Rezende da Silva Rossi, Thaismari Escarmanhani Ferreira; Fundação Hospital de Clinicas Gaspar Vianna: Edgar de Brito Sobrinho, Helder Jose Lima Reis, Mauricio Soares Carneiro, Adriana de Oliveira Lameira Veríssimo; Fundação Hospital Getúlio Vargas: Juliana Fernandez Fernandes, Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira; Hospital Aristides Maltez: Sylvania Campos Pinho, Leonardo Dultra, Lise Oliveira Hizumi; Hospital Aviccena: Neiva Fernandes de Lima, Alexsandra Raimunda da Silva, Liliane dos Santos; Hospital Casa de Caridade de Carangola: Sidiner Mesquita Vaz, José Marcio Oliveira, Miria Bonjour Laviola; Hospital Casa de Portugal: Wania Vasconcelos de Freitas, Leonardo Passos; Hospital Copa D'Or: Ligia Sarmet Cunha Farah Rabello, Carollina Resende de Siqueira; Hospital da Sagrada Familia: Luiz Carlos de Oliveira Silva, Francisco Felix Barreto Junior, Eduarda Maria Alves Cruz; Hospital das Clinicas--FMUSP: Luiz Marcelo Sa Malbouisson, Fabiola Prior Caltabeloti, Estevão Bassi, Patrícia Regiane da Silva, Filipe Cadamuro, Renata Graciliano dos Santos Cagnon, Yeh-Li Ho, Lucas Chaves Neto, Bruno Azevedo Randi; Hospital das Clinicas da UFPE: Michele Maria Goncalves de Godoy, Pollyanna Dutra Sobral, Evônio de Barros Campelo Júnior; Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu/UNESP: Laercio Martins de Stefano, Ana Lucia Gut, Greicy Mara Mengue Feniman de Stefano; Hospital das Clinicas de Goiás: Denise Milioli Ferreira, Fernanda Alves Ferreira Gonçalves; Hospital das Clinicas Luzia de Pinho Melo--SPDM: Fernanda Rubia Negrao Alves, Wilson Nogueira Filho, Renata Ortiz Marchetti; Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal: Sheila Sa, Nadia Tomiko Anabuki; Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre: Silvia Regina Rios Vieira, Edino Parolo, Karen Prado, Natalia Gomes Lisboa; Hospital de Messejana Dr Carlos Alberto Studart Gomes: Simone Castelo Branco Fortaleza, Maria Liduina Nantua Beserra Porfirio, Marcela Maria Sousa Colares; Hospital de Urgência e Emergência de Rio Branco: Rosicley Souza da Silva, Marcia Vasconcelos, Fabio de Souza; Hospital Distrital Dr Evandro Ayres de Moura: Lanese Medeiros de Figueiredo, Niedila Pinheiro Bastos Seabra, Paula Celia Pires de Oliveira; Hospital do Coração Balneário Camboriú: Marcio Andrade Martins, Ricardo Beduschi Muller, Manoela Cristina Recalcatti; Hospital e Pronto Socorro Dr Aristóteles Platao Bezerra de Araújo: Riani Helenditi Fernandes Camurça Martins, Leatrice Emilia Ferreira de França; Hospital Eduardo de Menezes: Frederico Bruzzi de Carvalho, Gustavo Cesar Augusto Moreira; Hospital Estadual Américo Brasiliense: Evelin Drociunas Pacheco Cechinatti, Aline Cristina Passos, Mariana da Costa Ferreira; Hospital Estadual Getúlio Vargas--Secretaria de Estado de Saúde: Antonio Carlos Babo Rodrigues, Vladimir dos Santos Begni; Hospital Estadual Monsenhor Walfredo Gurgel: Alfredo Maximo Grilo Jardim, Amanda Carvalho Maciel; Hospital Evangélico de Cachoeira de Itapemirim: Marlus Muri Thompson, Erica Palacio Berçacola Pinheiro, Claudio Henrique Pinto Gonçalves; Hospital Federal da Lagoa: Ricardo Schilling Rosenfeld, Valéria Abrahao Rosenfeld, Leticia Japiassú; Hospital Federal Servidores do Estado: Maria Inês Pinto de Oliveira Bissoli, Rosemary da Costa Tavares, Marta Rocha Gonçalves; Hospital Fernandes Tavora: Laercia Ferreira Martins, Maria Helena Oliveira, Adriana Kelly Almeida Ferreira; Hospital Geral de Camaçari: Emídio Jorge Santos Lima, Tárcio de Almeida Oliveira, Milena Teixeira Campos; Hospital Geral de Fortaleza: Nilce Almino de Freitas, Stephanie Wilkes da Silva, Vera Lucia Bento Ferreira; Hospital Geral de Nova Iguaçu: Alexander de Oliveira Sodré, Cid Leite Villela, Eduardo Duque Estrada Medeiros; Hospital Geral de Palmas: Nairo Jose de Souza Junior, Jhocrenilcy de Souza Maya Nunes, Rones de Souza Monteiro; Hospital Guilherme Álvaro: André Scazufka Ribeiro, Carlos Cesar Nogueira Giovanini, Elisete Tavares Carvalho; Hospital Instituto Dr Jose Frota: Lenise Castelo Branco Camurça Fernandes, Domitilha Maria Coelho Rocha, Cristiane Maria Gadelha de Freitas; Hospital Joari: Marcia Adélia de Magalhaes Menezes, Rosa Imaculada Stancato, Guilherme Brenande Alves Faria, Giovanna Asturi; Hospital Maternidade e Pronto Socorro Santa Lucia: Ricardo Reinaldo Bergo, Frederico Toledo Campo Dall'Orto, Gislayne Rogante Ribeiro; Hospital Maternidade Municipal Dr Odelmo Leão Carneiro: Cidamaiá Aparecida Arantes, Michelle Aparecida dos Santos Toneto; Hospital Moinhos de Vento: Cassiano Teixeira, Juçara Gasparetto Maccari; Hospital Municipal Dr Carmino Caricchio: Sergio Tadeu Górios, Julliana Pires de Morais, Daniela Marangoni Zambelli; Hospital Municipal de Paracatu: Roberta Machado de Souza, Eduardo Cenísio Teixeira de Paiva, Alessandra Gonçalves Ribeiro; Hospital Municipal Dr Mario Gatti: Marcus Vinicius Pereira, Leoni Nascimento, Rosangela da Silva; Hospital Municipal Padre Germano Lauck de Foz do Iguaçu: Roberto de Almeida, Karin Aline Zilli Couto, Izabella Moroni Toffolo; Hospital Municipal Pedro II: Jorge Eduardo da Rocha Paranhos, Antonio Ricardo Paixão Fraga; Hospital Municipal Souza Aguiar: Alberto Augusto de Oliveira Junior, Roberto Lannes, Andrea da Silva Gomes Ludovico; Hospital Naval Marcilio Dias: Luiz Fernando Costa Carvalho, Leticia de Araújo Campos, Patricia Soboslai; Hospital Nereu Ramos: Israel Silva Maia, Tatiana Rassele, Christiany Zanzi; Hospital Nossa Senhora Auxiliadora: Valeria Nunes Martins Michel, Sinésio Pontes Gonçalves; Hospital Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres: Ricardo Rath de Oliveira Gargioni, Rosangela Zen Duarte; Hospital 9 de Julho: Mariza D'Agostino Dias, Andrea Delfini Diziola, Daniela Veruska da Silva, Melissa Sayuri Hagihara; Hospital Primavera: André Luís Veiga de Oliveira, Diego Leonnardo Reis, Janaina Feijó; Hospital Procordis: Marco Antonio da Costa Oliveira, Luiza Veiga Coelho de Souza; Hospital Pronto Socorro 28 de Agosto: Liane de Oliveira Cavalcante, Jacilda Rodrigues, Moises Cruz de Pinho; Hospital Regional da Unimed Fortaleza: Marcos Antonio Gadelha Maia, Vladia Fabiola Jorge Lima, Emilianny Maria Nogueira, Antonielle Carneiro Gomes; Hospital Regional de Juazeiro: Katia Regina de Oliveira, Jose Antonio Bandeira, Carla Cordeiro Botelho Mesquita; Hospital Universitário Regional dos Campos Gerais: Guilherme Arcaro, Camila Wolff, Délcio Caran Bertucci Filho; Hospital Regional de Presidente Prudente: Gustavo Navarro Betonico, Rafaela Pereira Maroto, Leonardo Fantinato Menegon; Hospital Regional Deputado Manoel Gonçalves Abrantes: Patrício Junior Henrique da Silveira, Germana Estrela Gadelha de Queiroga Oliveira, Wallber Moreno da Silva Lima; Hospital Regional Público do Araguaia: Lilian Batista Nunes, Sotero Gonçalves Martins Neto, Liwcy Keller de Oliveira Lopes Lima; Hospital Regional João Penido: Maria Augusta de Mendonça Lima, Lidiane Miranda Milagres, Vivian Gribel D'Ávila; Hospital Santa Casa de Campo Mourão: Paulo Marcelo Schiavetto, Paulo Alves dos Santos, Francislaine de Matos Raimundo; Hospital Municipal Santa Isabel--Joao Pessoa: Carmen Leonilia Tavares de Melo, Aline Albuquerque de Carvalho, Cynthia Franca de Santana; Hospital Santa Lucia de Divinópolis: Adriana Lessa Ventura Fonseca, Martha Aparecida da Silva; Hospital Santa Rosa: Mara Lilian Soares Nasrala, Eloisa Kohl Pinheiro, Mara Regina Pereira Santos; Hospital Municipal São Francisco de Assis: Guilherme Abdalla da Silva, Rener Moreira, Marcia Loureiro Sebold; Hospital São Joao de Deus: Marcone Lisboa Simões da Rocha, Marco Antonio Ribeiro Leão, Jaqueline de Assis; Hospital São Jose--Criciúma: Felipe Dal Pizzol, Cristiane Damiani Tomasi; Hospital São Jose de Doenças Infecciosas: Jose Nivon da Silva, Luciana Vladia Carvalhedo Fragoso, Denise Araújo Silva Nepomuceno Barros; Hospital São Jose de Teresópolis: Mauricio Mattos Coutinho, Robson Sobreira Pereira, Veronica Oliveira dos Santos; Hospital São Jose do Avaí: Sergio Kiffer Macedo, Diego de Souza Bouzaga Furlani, Eduardo Silva Aglio Junior; Hospital São Paulo: Aécio Flavio Teixeira de Góis, Kathia Teixeira, Paula Zhao Xiao Ping; Hospital São Vicente de Paula--Cruz Alta: Paulo Ricardo Nazario Viecili, Simone Daniela Melo de Almeida; Hospital São Vicente de Paulo--Vitória da Conquista: Geovani Moreno Santos Junior, Djalma Novaes Araújo Segundo, Marielle Xavier Santana; Hospital São Vicente de Paulo--Passo Fundo: Jose Oliveira Calvete, Luciana Renner; Hospital Unimed Bebedouro: Vinicius Vandré Trindade Francisco, Danytieli Silva de Carvalho, Adriana Neri da Silva Batista Campos; Hospital Unimed Costa do Sol: Sergio Leôncio Fernandes Curvelo Jr, Nayara Ribas de Oliveira, Suelem de Paula Freitas Deborssan; Hospital Unimed Maceió: Maria Raquel dos Anjos Silva Guimaraes, Luiz Claudio Gomes Bastos, Luciene Moraes Gomes; Hospital Unimed Natal: Erico de Lima Vale, Dionísia Arianne Vieira da Silva; Hospital Unimed Rio: Renato Vieira Gomes, Marco Antonio Mattos, Pedro Miguel Matos Nogueira, Viviane Cristina Caetano Nascimento; Hospital Universitário--Universidade Estadual de Londrina: Cintia Magalhaes Carvalho Grion, Alexsandro Oliveira Dias, Glaucia de Souza Omori Maier; Hospital Universitário Cassiano Antonio Moraes--Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo: Paula Frizera Vassallo, Maria Helena Buarque Souza de Lima, Wyllyam Loss dos Reis, Walace Lirio Loureiro, Andressa Tomazini Borghardt; Hospital Universitário Lauro Wanderley: Ciro Leite Mendes, Paulo Cesar Gottardo, Jose Melquiades Ramalho Neto; Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes: Eliane Pereira da Silva, Maria Gorette Lourenço da Silva Aragao, Elisângela Maria de Lima; Hospital Universitário Polydoro Ernani de São Thiago--Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina: Rafael Lisboa de Souza, Ken Sekine Takashiba; Hospital Universitário Prof. Edgar Santos--Universidade Federal da Bahia: Dimitri Gusmão-Flores, Taciana Lago Araújo, Rosana Santos Mota; Hospital Universitário Regional de Maringá: Almir Germano, Flavia Antunes, Sandra Regina Bin Silva; Hospital Universitário São Francisco de Paula--Pelotas: Marcio Osório Guerreiro, Marina Peres Bainy, Patrícia de Azevedo Duarte Hardt; Hospital Vila da Serra--Instituto Materno Infantil de Minas Gerais: Hugo Correa de Andrade Urbano, Camila Amurim de Souza; Hospital Vivalle: Claudia Mangini, Fernando Jose da Silva Ramos, Luany Pereira de Araújo; Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas/Fiocruz: André Miguel Japiassú, Denise Machado Medeiros, Michele Fernanda Borges da Silva; Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo: Fabiano Hirata, Roberto Marco, Elzo Peixoto; Irmandade do Hospital Nossa Senhora das Dores: Marcio Luiz Fortuna Esmeraldo, Leide Aparecida Damásio Pereira, Raquel Carvalho Leal; Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Maringá: Paulo Roberto Aranha Torres, Maricy Morbin Torres; Santa Casa de Belo Horizonte: Mara Rubia de Moura, Claudio Dornas de Oliveira, Andressa Siuves Gonçalves Moreira, Brisa Emanuelle Silva Ferreira, Carolina Leticia dos Santos Cruz, Patrícia Moreira Soares, Paulo Cesar Correia, Lorena Lina Silva Almeida; Santa Casa de Caridade de Diamantina: Marcelo Ferreira Sousa, Andrey Antonio Santiago Vial, Marcia Maria Ferreira Souza; Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Anapolis: Diogo Quintana, Ana Cecilia Barbosa Guimaraes, Maria Dolores Menezes Diniz; Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Feira de Santana: Paulo Henrique Panelli Ferreira, Rosa Maria Rios Santana Cordeiro, Murilo Oliveira da Cunha Mendes; Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Guaxupé: Sergio Oliveira de Lima, Silvia Aparecida Bezerra, Aurélia Baquiao dos Reis da Silva; Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Pelotas: Cristiano Correa Batista, Thaís Neumann, Rafael Olivé Leite; Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre: Thiago Costa Lisboa, Martha Hädrich, Edison Moraes Rodrigues Filho; Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Joao Del Rei: Jorge Luiz da Rocha Paranhos, Carlos Henrique Nascimento dos Santos, Hélia Cristina de Souza; Sociedade Beneficente Hospitalar Maravilha: Robson Viera de Souza, Jose Luís Toribio Cuadra, Jonas Spanholi; Unidade de Emergência, Hospital das Clinicas de Ribeirão Preto--FMRP-USP: Marcos de Carvalho Borges, Wilson Jose Lovato, Tania Mara Gomes, Luís Artur Mauro Witzel Machado; Hospital de Clinicas--Universidade Estadual de Campinas: Thiago Martins Santos, Marco Antonio de Carvalho Filho, Karina Aparecida Garcia Bernardes; Vila Velha Hospital: Jose Roberto Pereira Santos, Aline Esteves Mautoni Queiroga Liparizi, Patrícia Venturim Lana; Vitoria Apart Hospital: Claudio Piras, Luiz Virgílio Nespoli, Aparecida Silva Taliule.
CHECKLIST ICU---Checklist During Multidisciplinary Visits for Reduction of Mortality in Intensive Care Units.
TDM participated in the study design and concept, organized the dataset, conducted the statistical analyses and drafted the manuscript. FAB participated in the study design and concept, conduction of the original study, and drafted the manuscript. FRM participated in the study design and concept, conduction of the original study, and drafted the manuscript. HPG participated in the study design and concept, conduction of the original study, and drafted the manuscript. JIS participated in the study design and concept, conduction of the original study, and drafted the manuscript. APN participated in the study design and concept, conduction of the original study, and drafted the manuscript. KN-S participated in the study design and concept, conduction of the original study, and drafted the manuscript. MJS participated in the study design and concept, drafted the manuscript and supervised the study. ABC participated in the study design and concept, conduction of the original study, drafted the manuscript and supervised the study. ASN participated in the study design and concept, organized the dataset, conducted the statistical analyses, drafted the manuscript and supervised the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
This study was conducted as part of the Program to Support Institutional Development of Universal Health System (PROADI) from the Brazilian Ministry of Health. It was funded mainly by the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), PROADI, and Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES). D'Or Institute for Research and Education also contributed with additional funding.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
|
U.S. Members of Congress Live
on a Food Stamp Budget
June 14, 2007
Congresswoman Lee: Finishing the Challenge
Friday, I had grits and toast for breakfast, crackers and a banana for lunch and two hamburgers from White Castle ($.51 apiece) for dinner.
On Saturday, I skipped breakfast. We held a press conference at the Discount Grocery in Berkeley, which is one of the few places where people on a low budget can get some nutritious food. I bought a small container of chicken and dumplings, an apple, a can of tuna, a box of macaroni and cheese and a can of turnip greens (total $2.25). I hadthe chicken and dumplings for lunch and skipped dinner.
Sunday I skipped breakfast and lunch and made a macaroni and tuna casserole, with greens on the side, for dinner and half a can of peaches for dessert.
Monday morning I finished the peaches and had an apple raisin and carrot bar (purchased Sunday $1.40) on the plane back to D.C. For dinner it was two bean burritos.
When I finished the challenge it was a relief, but not as much as I had imagined at first. As the days went on, I found that I became less hungry, or maybe more accustomed to being hungry. My first meal after the challenge ended was a tuna sandwich, which was good, but I found I was not all that hungry. The same is true with other things, like coffee. During the first few days, I missed my regular lattes (I even got headaches from the caffeine withdrawal), but by the end of the week I had completely forgotten about it.
One thing I have noticed, however, is how conscious of the price of food I have become. I bought a plate of fruit at the cafeteria, and and I ended up paying $3.50 for 14 little piece of fruit, which is outrageous! I am definitely more conscious of how much food costs and how much money is wasted on food by those not on a limited budget.
I know I mentioned before that, having had this experience I can see how people forced to eat on such a budget could develop health problems, but I am certain that the stress of worrying about how to afford to eat is part of it. I have no problem imagining that people on food stamps could get high blood pressure just worrying about how to budget their food expenses.
In closing, I want to thank everyone who tuned in to read about my experience. Obviously, this isn't about me, it's about raising awareness about hunger in the richest country in the world, and it is about building support for a Farm Bill and a Food Stamp Program that reaches more of the people in this country who are hungry and provides them with more than just $1 per meal.
Comments
Congresswoman, your comments are ripe for criticism. First, the program is supposed to be a supplement. Why should people have their entire food budget provided by this program? Second, part of your trouble is food selection. Plenty of people provide for themself of their own funds for close to your alotted amount. As has been noted elsewhere, crackers are an expensive item - perhaps they are not a good fit for someone on food stamps. Home Economics appears to be in order. Third, stop with the "richest country in the world" thing. The riches in this country are not yours to tap, those riches actually belong to real people. Why do you believe that you, through taxation, should steal productive people's resources? Lastly, it is comical that you state "this is not about" you. It's entirely about you, it's about other legislators and it's about activists who want to extend their control over more and more independent people. You should focus on creating independence from, instead of dependence on, the federal government.
I read another blog that made reference to your experience with $21 dollars. I think that it is an interesting experiment to undertake. I can only imagine the stress and fear of someone that has to make ends meet on so little. As a person that has dealt with issues of entrenched poverty it is unbelievable that we are still talking about hunger in our society. We make it seem like it is our patriotic duty to castigate the poor as lazy and believe that anyone's success in life is independant of community support. Plus, our government can shovel billions of dollars to military contractors and give huge tax incentives to large corporations, but it can't help the most vulnerable within our population (children). Thank you for making some focus on poverty in America. It doesn't happen enough in our government. Those of us who have worked in soup kitchens and food pantries appreciate any assistance that you can give those in need. I realize that poverty is a complicated issue, but it is important to at least begin again to address it as an issue.
Brian - I deal with issues of entrenched poverty every day. I intentionally moved into a city with lots of entrenched poverty. I give out groceries to my neighbors all the time. You err in at least two ways. First, I do not decry community support, in fact, I believe community support is the only way to elevate people's lives. Second, I would not say the poor are lazy; I believe programs like food stamps inhibit people from doing truly productive things, like working. The problem is that we view government as the vehicle to solve problems. This is patently, blatantly incorrect. People solve problems, governments perpetuate problems. Look at the history of humanity - kings and rulers were reviled the world over because of their cruelty and exorbitant lifestyles (read: hi taxation). What we have managed to do in the US is replace our kings with our peers - and they have succeeded in lording their power over us just as royalty of the past. The congresswoman is the same; with her mouth she tells you she's making things better for you and by her actions she is punishing you, all at the same time.
Where does the $21 figure come from? The table in this publication gives a figure of $155, which is about $35/week.
$21 may be the amount the average food stamp recipient receives, not the poorest, but a recipient of $21 has enough income that he can be assumed to have an additional $14 that he is supposed to kick in to his food budget.
I am amazed at the way people think. Some are lazy yes but most are not.Let me describe my situation and maybe you'll realize a few thigns. I have raised 4 chikldren 2 lived ion my house and i paid child support for the oldest 2.I worked many long and hard hours at a very physically demanding job that didnt pay squat, But i worked so hard and long and PAID my taxes that it eventually destroyed my body, just so i wouldnt have to get "help" My children turned out really well (good thing). NOW i face the issues of being disabled and living on 728 $ a month!!! I pay 355 for rent 65 for electric 107 for phone, tv and internet access (my only interaction to the outside world) 95 for my medications and 22.50 for a buss pass. that totals upto 655.5 leaving 83 for food laundry clothing toilet paper garbage bags. so i get 138 a month in food stampswhich is 34.5 a week which if i was healthy wouldn't be a problem but i am diabetic and am supposed to eat 6 small meals a day thats makes each meal cost 1.21. so what can you find HEALTHY to eat at that price? So that makes my sugar unstable which means more hospital and doctor visits. I gave up alot just to do what "society" feels a productive citizen should do. I would rathe rspend all that medical money on food than over priced doctors and hospitals. Some things i have given up becaus ei either cant afford to replace or just can live with out. Panties would be nice to have, a pair of shoes that dont have holes or rips.Even a pair of pants or a shirt that fits, heck even a new one, Dare i dream of such a thing? So go back to complaining about how those of us who need help are lazy and complaining about that new car you cant afford or how neglected you feel becasue your husband works so hard and long so you can sit on your butt and eat truffles and be so unappreciative of what you have. Meanwhile i will just just be thankful im alive. Things in this country need to seriously change. I'm so proud of these senators for trying to understand how the "other half" lives. I think all those in government need to experince how I and others live.
Thank You for your time
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Perhaps this has already been pointed out, but it might need reiteration. Buy cheap, calorie dense foods in bulk, shop somewhere cheap (Food City). I think it was MSN, who had a spectacular article showing the foods that families (of 4) around the world bought each week. Americans were somewhere in around $200-300; the diet consisting mostly of pre-packaged crap foods.
I found Chad very interesting, their diets consisted of 3 or 4 enormous bags of grains, beans, and whatnot. Their cost per week? Less than $2, for a family of four.
I see it as very easy: Stop messing with the market. Eliminate the 8 BILLION dollars in farm subsidies. With that alone you could feed 400 million families in Chad for a quarter of the year. Give that back to the people you represent instead of spending their money on things they don't want.
The fact of the matter is you can get along quite well on a low food budget. It's not going to be particularly tasty, but it will provide sustenance. I'm sorry to say, you're doing it wrong.
Personally, I find the Food Stamp Program completely unfair. I, myself, am a single mom with a 19 yr old boy and a 9 yr old girl. I have been unemployed for over 2 years. Due to the 200,00+ Katrina survivors in our area jobs are hard to come by. I started school in January so I can open my own business and take care of my family. I have a year to go. I also applied for Food Stamps and other assistance. I was offered $10 a month in Food Stamps because the father of my son owes $87,000 in back child support and one day i might get that. Thankfully I have family that can and do help me with my bills such as rent, electricity and whatnot. I was told that if I quit school and my son quits school and we do absolutely nothing, I'd get $38 a month in Food Stamps. I was also told that I lived in a neighborhood that is considered upper middleclass and that I should not need help. My family takes me to the grocery store every couple of weeks and I spend about $50, and make do with what I have. I make sure my kids have plenty to eat.
I grew up with a single mother who raised two girls on her own making no more than $30k a year. We lived in an upper middle class neighborhood so that we could go to good schools. She never had to use food stamps and neither will I because she taught me how to be smart and use what you have. For example, yesterday I purchased:
I just looked up the income guidelines for food stamps in my state (Texas). Our family of six would qualify, with our current income, for $722 a month in food stamps. Our monthly average for groceries over a year's time is about half that. We are not living on bananas and crackers - we eat whole grains, beans and other legumes, fruits, vegetables, lean meats - in other words, a well-rounded diet, with enough variety to keep us content. The only people I personally know of who spend upwards of $700 a month on groceries are either feeding a houseful of their teens' friends all the time, regularly buying expensive meats and fish that are tens of dollars a pound, or both.
In my humble opinion, part of the problem stems from an entire generation of Americans growing up thinking that sticking something into the microwave or toaster oven is "cooking", and thinking that high-markup items like cold cereal and prepackaged snack foods (crackers, cookies, chips, frozen meals) are necessary. Buying in bulk, stocking up during sales and learning simple cooking and menu planning skills could help people who desperately need to stretch their food budgets to do so. But the desire to put the time and effort in does have to be there. Trying to spend $3 daily in a store to feed oneself is not going to work. Taking $500 at the beginning of the month and planning and shopping carefully would result in feeding a family just fine. Thousands (millions?) of us do it every month.
Yesterday our family had oatmeal with raisins and orange juice for breakfast; sausages on buns with carrot and celery sticks for lunch; apples and oranges for snacks; and potato stew with spinach and mushroom salad and fresh bread for supper. The total cost for the day was most assuredly less than $21. I have helped friends who asked me learn how to shave dollars off their food bill and better use the resources they have, I encourage other readers here to do the same. Share your easy, cheap homemade soup or chili recipe with a friend. If you have a garden share your bounty with neighbors. Lending a helping hand is just as if not more important than spending more money. |
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Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide
This guide was created as an overview of the Linux Operating System, geared toward new users as an exploration tour and getting started guide, with exercises at the end of each chapter.
For more advanced trainees it can be a desktop reference, and a collection of the base knowledge needed to proceed with system and network administration. This book contains many real life examples derived from the author's experience as a Linux system and network administrator, trainer and consultant. They hope these examples will help you to get a better understanding of the Linux system and that you feel encouraged to try out things on your own.
I have downloade the tar.bz2 file and followed instructions to unpack. Everything went ok except it won't install.
I have followed the INSTALLATION and README as best I could. "./configure", "make", "make install" didn't get anywhere.
I am at a total loss. Any help to install the driver so I can use the wacom bamboo pen & touch tablet would be most appreciated.
Briefly, the shell commands `./configure; make; make install' should
configure, build, and install this package. The following
more-detailed instructions are generic; see the `README' file for
instructions specific to this package.
The `configure' shell script attempts to guess correct values for
various system-dependent variables used during compilation. It uses
those values to create a `Makefile' in each directory of the package.
It may also create one or more `.h' files containing system-dependent
definitions. Finally, it creates a shell script `config.status' that
you can run in the future to recreate the current configuration, and a
file `config.log' containing compiler output (useful mainly for
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Thanks, Tinkster. I have read thru the previous postings regarding install from tarball. However, I keep getting config errors. Hence my post out of desperation. Please accept my apologies if my question should not have been posted. Thanks in advance anyway for any help I can get.
============
daisy@linux-y6rn:~/Downloads/xf86-input-wacom-0.16.0> ./configure
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p... /bin/mkdir -p
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking whether to enable maintainer-specific portions of Makefiles... no
checking for style of include used by make... GNU
checking for gcc... no
checking for cc... no
checking for cl.exe... no
configure: error: in `/home/daisy/Downloads/xf86-input-wacom-0.16.0':
configure: error: no acceptable C compiler found in $PATH
See `config.log' for more details
================ |
Video shows JaQuavion Slaton shot multiple times by police officers. He also had a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Tarrant County ME.
Updated at 6:15 p.m. with additional comments from Fort Worth community.
Fort Worth police released Thursday an edited version of body camera footage showing the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old man.
Community activists demanded the Fort Worth Police Department release the footage at a City Council meeting Tuesday. They said they believed officers didn't use de-escalation techniques before opening fire on JaQuavion Slaton.
Slaton was shot multiple times by police officers and had a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.
But Fort Worth interim police Chief Ed Kraus said Thursday that officers were "in fear for their lives" when they shot Slaton, who was believed to be armed and dangerous.
Video shows officers surrounding a truck where Slaton was hiding after he and his cousin fled from police during a traffic stop. An officer broke in one of the windows of the truck moments before the shooting.
Kraus said officers saw Slaton moving inside the truck and believed he was reaching for a gun.
"De-escalation techniques do not work in every situation," Kraus said of the fatal encounter.
Released bodycam video
Police released a video containing a series of clips — the first showing officers chasing Slaton and Jevon Monroe.
"Today’s clips were for illustration purposes for the release. The combined videos are hours long," Fort Worth police said in a written statement.
The second clip in the video shows officers handcuffing a man and asking the man where Slaton was. That encounter appears to take place feet away from the truck where Slaton was hiding.
The video then skips ahead to show officers surrounding the truck. That clip shows an officer break the window
"Put your hands up," the officers shout.
The footage shows movement inside the truck.
The clip switches to the view from a different bodycam, as evidenced by the timecode of the video and the bodycam identification number.
"He's reaching," one officer yells before the officers fire several times at the truck.
"Cease fire," one officer shouts.
Monroe told WFAA he believes his cousin was trying to put his hands up when officers shot him.
Police said a loaded gun was found inside the truck, police said.
“Our officers were not on a mission to take anyone’s life that day," Kraus said.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner determined Slaton died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest. His death was ruled a homicide.
Slaton had two "high-velocity gunshot wounds," according to the medical examiner. One of the wounds was to his upper chest. The second was to his upper right shoulder.
The man also had gunshot wounds to the right side of his head, right neck, base of his head and upper right arm from 9mm rounds, the medical examiner determined.
Slaton also had a "loose contact entry gunshot wound of the right temporal head" that was self-inflicted, the medical examiner said.
The medical examiner said it is still working to determine if the gunshot wound was intentional or accidental.
Community reaction
Stephen Muhammad attended Thursday's new conference but said he still has questions after watching the footage police released.
Muhammad lives two houses down from where the shooting occurred. He said he doesn't understand why police were so quick to approach the truck.
“If the man's backed up in a corner, all they had to do was step back and wait him out,” Muhammad said.
He said he was concerned officers didn't consider the bystanders.
“They had their guns out,” Muhammad said. “There were people out, there were children out—my children, my grandchildren. None of that was taken into consideration.”
Kraus said the officers positioned themselves in front of the truck to avoid shooting in the direction of any bystanders.
Fort Worth city councilwoman Gyna Bivens said she wants to create a policy requiring police to release bodycam videos. She was among those calling for the video to be released.
“We need a policy, and that way we don’t need to worry about, 'Can we do it now, Should we do it now,'" she said.
Several encounters
Kraus said officers believed Slaton was armed and dangerous before the fatal shooting. Police had searched for Slaton three times before they were called Sunday. The shooting occurred around 4 p.m. at East Berry Street and Lauretta Drive.
Officers first tried to find him May 6 after police were alerted Slaton was likely in a Fort Worth neighborhood.
University of Texas at Tyler officials had contacted Fort Worth police, because Slaton was a suspect in an aggravated assault reported April 28 at a campus apartment.
Officers were again called May 22 because there was a domestic disturbance involving Slaton. Police were called again on June 5 but were told Slaton hid from them, Kraus said.
Kraus said officers were called again Sunday because Slaton was "yelling at a family member who was too afraid to call police and that he had a knife."
The police chief played bodycam footage during the Thursday news conference. The footage slows down the foot chase and then zooms in on Slaton's hand, which appears to be holding something.
It appears the footage released is from at least two body cameras.
'Wasn't one of our own'
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price released a statement after the Thursday news conference saying she continues to "support our outstanding Fort Worth police officers."
"Let’s be clear, on Sunday night they were serving a warrant on an individual wanted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon," Price said.
She pointed out that Slaton was not from Fort Worth.
"He wasn't one of our own," she said.
Price said the Police Department was "very measured" in the updates it gave the public.
"I know there is fear and anger among some in our community. But calling for justice and calling our police officers murderers is absolutely appalling and irresponsible," Price said in the written statement.
She said the community must come together to offer solutions to "prevent our young people from turning to a life of crime."
Though Slaton was not from Fort Worth, the mayor said, "I know there are young men just like him right now across our city that lack opportunity and limited by their own circumstances."
Mayor Betsy Price's full written statement:
The events that unfolded on Sunday are tragic – no matter where you fall on this issue. A 20-year-old man is dead, much too young with his entire life in front of him. We continue to support our outstanding Fort Worth Police Officers, that go above and beyond every single day to keep this community safe, doing their jobs to keep criminals off the street. Let’s be clear, on Sunday night they were serving a warrant on an individual wanted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
I know there is fear and anger among some in our community. But calling for justice and calling our police officers murderers is absolutely appalling and irresponsible. We recognize that releasing these videos and images will not relieve tensions in our community. Our police department has been very measured in updating the public and media in this case. It is irresponsible and negligent to release information without ensuring its accuracy.
There is much work to do. But no healing or solutions will happen without our entire community coming together – what are we doing to offer as a solution to prevent our young people from turning to a life of crime. This man was not from Fort Worth, he wasn’t one of our own, but I know there are young men just like him right now across our city that lack opportunity and limited by their own circumstances. We can do better. But we can’t offer solutions without the willingness among the leadership in our community to step up and be a part of creating opportunity, restoring trust and looking for a solution.
My door is open, it has been and remains to be. I am in this community and will do the work to ease tension and fear, but I cannot do it alone. Every elected leader, every faith leader, every community organizer is needed to make a difference and make the change that is needed. |
Introduction {#Sec1}
============
The surge in video traffic as well as the number of mobile terminal users have boosted the development in wireless communication technologies and systems. As the whole world is moving toward the era of 5-th generation mobile communication, the demand for even higher spectrum and energy efficiency will be everlasting^[@CR1]^.
In this circumstance, the MIMO/Massive MIMO technology has become an indispensable part of the future wireless communication systems. MIMO technology has the potential to significantly enhance spectrum efficiency by utilizing multiple yet independent data streams existing between the transmitter and the receiver where multiple antennas are installed^[@CR2]^. While Massive MIMO takes a step further, it uses antenna array with a few hundred elements simultaneously to serve dozens of mobile terminal in limited spectrum and time^[@CR1]^. In practical applications where space is always limited, antenna arrays, either at the base station end or in a mobile terminal, must be compact in size. Therefore, the inter-element distance is only a fraction of wavelengths, causing inevitable mutual coupling. Mutual coupling will degrade the array performance in the following aspects:Side-lobes might occur and it will affect the beam-scanning capability of the array^[@CR3],[@CR4]^.The SNR of the array will be deteriorated as unwanted coupling between elements will cause data streams received by other antenna elements rather than radiating into free space^[@CR2]^.The envelop correlations between elements become high thus data throughput is significantly reduced^[@CR5],[@CR6]^.Gain and total efficiency of the array will drop since effective radiated power are coupled elsewhere and dissipated on the loads of the antenna elements^[@CR2]^.
Consequently, the mutual coupling reduction technique, or termed as the antenna decoupling technique has drawn great attention from both the academia as well as the industry. The existing and developing decoupling solutions include: neutralization lines^[@CR7],[@CR8]^; decoupling with parasitic scatters^[@CR9],[@CR10]^; eigen-mode decomposition techniques^[@CR11]--[@CR14]^ and passive decoupling networks^[@CR15]--[@CR19]^. However, only a few of them can be readily extended to Massive MIMO antenna arrays with dozens of elements. Metamaterial based or inspired solutions^[@CR20]--[@CR25]^ are also becoming popular, but most of them are very effective for arrays with limited number of antennas where inter-element spacing is moderate (no less than 0.1 $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${{\rm{\lambda }}}_{0}$$\end{document}$).
In the paper, a metasurface suspended over an antenna array is proposed for antenna decoupling purpose. The idea of covering a metasurface over an antenna for performance enhancement is not new, but most of them are not used for array antenna decoupling, they are usedTo form a Fabry-Perot resonator type antenna for gain enhancement^[@CR26]--[@CR28]^.For low-profile antenna (array) design^[@CR29]^.To reduce the Radar Cross Section (RCS) of the antenna^[@CR30]^.For beamforming or beam scanning applications^[@CR31],[@CR32]^.
To the best of the authors' knowledge, it is for the first time that a metasurface covering with negative permeability characteristic is used for antenna decoupling. The proposed MAAD method for compact antenna arrays utilizing meta-surface cover possess the following remarkable features:Both the decoupling and matching bandwidths of the array with the metasurface are very broad without any extra matching measures;It can be applied to compact antenna arrays where inter-element spacing is extremely small (smaller than 0.02 $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${{\rm{\lambda }}}_{0}$$\end{document}$);Because of the periodic nature of metasurfaces, it has great potential to be applied to Massive MIMO antenna arrays where a few hundreds of antennas are excited simultaneously;It is also able to enhance gain and efficiency of the antenna array thanks to the focusing capability of the metasurface.
Design Method {#Sec2}
=============
Antenna Array Decoupling Mechanism in a Negative Permeability Medium {#Sec3}
--------------------------------------------------------------------
As shown in Fig. [1 (a) and (b)](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}, a suspended meta-surface with SRRs as its unit cell over a two-element antenna array is used to illustrate the working mechanism of the MAAD method. An isotropic homogeneous slab model (Fig. [1a](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}) is used to calculate the effective permittivity, the effective permeability of the metasurface unit using the extraction methods well-known^[@CR33]--[@CR36]^. The resonant frequency and the negative permeability frequency region of the SRRs are determined by the physical dimension of the ring and the size of the gap as shown in Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}. The equivalent values of permittivity and permeability for the proposed SRRs unit are shown in Fig. [1(c)](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}. As shown in Fig. [1(c)](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}, in 5.8 GHz frequency band, the real part of permittivity is positive, while the real part of permeability is negative. It is obvious that tuning the parameter *a*, the negative permeability frequency region of the SRRs can easily be manipulated as shown in Fig. [1(d)](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}.Figure 1(**a**) The electromagnetic model to extract design parameters; (**b**) Radiated field distribution of two coupled antenna elements in an antenna array with the metasurface. (**c**) The permittivity and permeability of SRR unit; and (**d**) Simulated permeability of SRR unit with respect to different *a* values.Table 1Design Parameters of the SRR unit (Unit: mm).ParametersValuesParametersValues*a*6.0*w*0.5*g*1.2*sf*7*h* ~1~0.035*h* ~2~1.5
To reveal the mutual coupling reduction mechanism using the MAAD method, let's consider a two-element MIMO antenna array shown in Fig. [1(b)](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}. When antenna 1 is excited, electromagnetic waves propagate in the way shown in Fig. [1(b)](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}, stray coupling component $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${A}_{0}{e}^{jkx}$$\end{document}$ which travels along the minus X-direction will cause induced current on antenna 2 thereby create mutual coupling between the two antennas.
A piece of suspended metasurface over the antenna array is able to create a region with negative permeability yet positive permittivity ($\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\mu }_{r} < 0,\,{{\epsilon }}_{r} > 0$$\end{document}$), as shown in Fig. [1(c)](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}. In this region, the wavenumber can be expressed as:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$k={k}_{0}\cdot \sqrt{-|{\mu }_{r}|\cdot |{{\epsilon }}_{r}|}=j{k}_{0}\cdot \sqrt{|{\mu }_{r}|\cdot |{{\epsilon }}_{r}|}$$\end{document}$$which is purely imaginary. (Only positive solution of equation ([1](#Equ1){ref-type=""}) is valid).
In this case, the corresponding x-component of the electric field travelling along the −x direction,$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${A}_{0}{{\rm{e}}}^{{\rm{jkx}}}$$\end{document}$ can be further expressed as:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${A}_{0}{e}^{jkx}\cdot {e}^{j\omega t}={A}_{0}{e}^{j(j{k}_{0}\cdot \sqrt{|{\mu }_{r}|\cdot |{{\epsilon }}_{r}|})x}\cdot {e}^{j\omega t}={A}_{0}{e}^{-{k}_{0}\sqrt{|{\mu }_{r}|\cdot |{{\epsilon }}_{r}|}x}\cdot {e}^{j\omega t}$$\end{document}$$
Equation ([2](#Equ2){ref-type=""}) shows that electromagnetic wave travelling along minus X-direction of the metasurface is evanescent. In this manner, the wave creating mutual coupling between the two antennas is rejected. When the wave radiated by antennas propagate along Z-direction, while the magnetic field component is in the X-direction, radiation is assured by the anisotropic nature of the metasurface.
### Design of two-element Microstrip Antenna Array with a Metasurface {#Sec4}
To further demonstrate the effectiveness of the MAAD method for mutual coupling suppression, a two-element microstrip antenna array (Array1) as shown in Fig. [2(a)](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"} is used in this paper for illustration purpose. The physical dimensions of the array are listed in Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}. The edge-to-edge distance between the elements *ad* = 1 mm, which is approximately 0.02 $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${{\rm{\lambda }}}_{0}$$\end{document}$ at 5.8 GHz. The patches are printed on a FR4 substrate with the dielectric constant of 4.4 and the loss tangent of 0.02. The simulated S-parameters of the Array1 are plotted in Fig. [2(d)](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}. It is obvious from Fig. [2(d)](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"} that although the antenna elements are well matched at the 5.8 GHz band, but the isolation between the two antenna elements is no more than 8 dB, which is very poor. Effective decoupling measures must be taken.Figure 2(**a**) Top view (left) and side view (right) of the two-element patch Array1; (**b**) Top view (left) and side view (right) of the two-element patch Array2 with a metasurface; (**c**) Top view (left) and side view (right) of the improved two-element patch Array3 with a metasurface; (**d**) Simulated S-parameters of the Array1, Array2 and Array3.Table 2Design Parameters of the SRR unit (Unit: mm).ParametersValuesParametersValuesParametersValues*ws*40*h2*4.8*hsf*1.5*ls*26*r1*0.65*lw*0.6*hs*3*r2*1.5*l1*3.0*wp*12.4*a*6*l2*4.2*lp*12.5*w*0.5*l3*4*ad*1*g*1.2------*fy*3.3*sf*7------
A metasurface consists of periodic of SRRs is introduced to improve the inter-element isolation of the array in Fig. [2(b)](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}. The SRRs are printed on a substrate with the relative dielectric constant of 2.65 and loss tangent of 0.001. Four dielectric posts are introduced to provide mechanical support for the metasurface and the antenna array (Array2). The dimensions in Fig. [2(b)](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"} are also shown in Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}.
Simulated S-parameters of the Array2 with the metasurface are superposed in Fig. [2(d)](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}. It can be seen from Fig. [2(d)](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"} that isolation performance is significantly enhanced by introducing the metasurface covering while matching performance is not ideal, this is understandable since the antennas are no longer matched to a free-space medium. Then two U-shape slots which is commonly used to enhance microstrip antenna matching^[@CR37]^ are etched on the antenna near the feeding probe (Array3) as shown in Fig. [2(c)](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}. The matching bandwidth of Array3 with \|S~11~\| smaller than −15 dB is about 900 MHz, which is about 2.5 times of the Array1 without metasurface. While the isolation between the elements of Array3 is all below −27dB from 5.49 GHz to 6.0 GHz, which is increased by a large amount compared to Array1. Moreover, the profile of the Array3 with the metasurface is only increased by about 0.09 $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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Field Distribution {#Sec5}
------------------
To further reveal the underlying working mechanisms of the array with the metasurface, the vector magnetic field distributions on a cutting surface within XOZ-plane are investigated using ANSYS HFSS. As shown in Fig. [3(a) and (b)](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}. Without the metasurface, the vector H-field is rotating in Region A with the metasurface, the H-field in Region B is almost along the X-axis. On the same cutting plane, the Poynting vector distributions are also plotted and shown in Fig. [3(c) and (d)](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"} for the arrays without and with metasurface, respectively. The Poynting vectors for the array with metasurface are almost in parallel to the Z-axis without any lateral radiation.Figure 3(**a**) Simulated vector magnetic field distribution on a cutting surface in the XOZ-plane for array without metasurface; (**b**) Simulated vector magnetic field distribution on a cutting surface in the XOZ-plane for array with metasurface; (**c**) Simulated Poynting vector distribution on a cutting surface in the XOZ-plane for array without metasurface; (**d**) Simulated Poynting vector distribution on a cutting surface in the XOZ-plane for array with metasurface; (**e**) Simulated electric field contours on a cutting surface in the XOZ-plane when Ant 1 is excited while Ant 2 terminated with matched load for array without metasurface; (**f**) Simulated electric field contours on a cutting surface in the XOZ-plane when Ant 1 is excited while Ant 2 terminated with matched load for array with metasurface. All of the plots are at 5.8 GHz.
The contours of the electric field for the arrays without and with metasurface are also shown in Fig. [3(e) and (f)](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}. In the simulation, Ant 1 is excited while Ant 2 is terminated with matched load. It can be concluded from Fig. [3(e) and (f)](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"} that, in the array without metasurface, stray coupling from antenna 1 will be coupled to antenna 2 and absorbed by the load. While with the help of the metasurface, the wave front concentrate toward the normal direction of the microstrip antenna.
Parametric Studies {#Sec6}
------------------
Parametric studies are conducted to analyze the sensitivity of different design parameters. Two clusters S-parameter curves are obtained with respect to different lengths of the SRR, *a*; and different heights of the metasurface covering, *h2*. They are superposed in Fig. [4(a) and (b)](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}, respectively. It can be seen that parameter *a*, the length of the SRR is more sensitive in the design, since the length of the SRR will directly affect the negative permeability frequency band of the SRR, as shown in Fig. [1(d)](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}. Therefore, the band-rejection frequency of the metasurface will shift to lower frequencies if parameter *a* increases, and it will shift to higher frequencies if parameter *a* decreases, which is consistent with the observation in Fig. [1(d)](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}.Figure 4(**a**) Simulated S-parameters of the array with the metasurface with respect to different a- the length of the SRR, values; (**b**) Simulated S-parameters of the array with the metasurface with respect to different h2- the height of the metasurface, values; (**c**) Simulated S-parameters of the antenna array with the metasurface with respect to different number of SRR units; (**d**) Simulated isolations for arrays with different ad values and the isolation for the array with a metasurface.
The isolation performance of the antenna array with the metasurface is not very height-sensitive as shown in Fig. [4(b)](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}. This is reasonable since the rejected propagation band of the metasurface remains unchanged, yet the return losses of the array vary significantly because of different parasitic effect of the metasurface with respect to different meta-surface height.
In order to explore the optimum configuration of the SRR units on the metasurface, the matching and isolation performances for the array with metasurface of 6 × 4, 8 × 6 and 7 × 5 periodic SRR units are also compared in Fig. [4(c)](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}. Form Fig. [4(c)](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}, we can conclude that the both the matching and isolation performance of the array with only 6 × 4 SRR units are not ideal. The isolation performance for the array with 8 × 6 SRR units is better than the array with 7 × 5 SRR units only within the bandwidth from about 5.65 GHz to no more than 5.8 GHz. If we look at the band from 5.6 GHz to 6 GHz, the isolation performance of the array with 7 × 5 SRR units is actually better than the array with 8 × 6 SRR units.
Furthermore, to quantify the effectiveness of the decoupling method with the metasurface, antenna array without any metasurfaces but with different edge-to-edge spacing values, *ad* are simulated. The results are superposed with the isolation for Array3 in Fig. [4(d)](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}. Within the frequency band of interest, the isolation of the array with the metasurface is equivalent to the array without the metasurface but whose inter-element spacing is about 35 times larger.
Results {#Sec7}
=======
Scattering Parameters {#Sec8}
---------------------
Both Array1 and Array3 are fabricated and measured. The scattering parameters are measured using Keysight E5080A vector network analyzer and they are superposed in Fig. [5](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"}, which is consistent with simulation results shown in Fig. [2(d)](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}. The measured highest isolation of Array3 can reach to more than 40 dB level. The measured Array3's operating bandwidth with \|S~11~\| \< −15 dB and \|S~21~\| \< −25 dB is about 400 MHz.Figure 5Measured S-parameters of the arrays with and without metasurface.
Radiation Parameters {#Sec9}
--------------------
To further confirm the performance of the array with the metasurface, the fabricated samples of the arrays are put into the SATIMO SG-24 near field scanner (shown in Fig. [6(f)](#Fig6){ref-type="fig"}) to evaluate the radiation related characteristics, including: total efficiencies, gains, and envelope correlation coefficients. Since the mutual coupling is reduced by more than 20 dB and more powers are directed to the normal direction of the antennas, both the total efficiencies and the peak gains of the array with metasurface will be enhanced. As shown in Fig. [6(c)](#Fig6){ref-type="fig"}, the total efficiency for the array with the metasurface (Array3) is 20% higher as compared to the array without any metasurfaces (Array1). The radiation patterns of the arrays are also shown in Fig. [6(a) and (b)](#Fig6){ref-type="fig"} while the peak gains with respect to different frequencies are shown in Fig. [6(d)](#Fig6){ref-type="fig"}, showing around 2 dB improvement.Figure 6(**a**) Measured radiation patterns for the arrays at 5.8 GHz with and without metasurface in the XOZ plane; (**b**) Measured radiation patterns for the arrays at 5.8 GHz with and without metasurface in the YOZ plane; (**c**) Measured total efficiencies of the arrays with and without metasurface; (**d**) Measured peak gains of the arrays with and without metasurface on different frequencies; (**e**) Measured and calculated ECCs for the arrays with and without metasurface. (**f**) Radiation measurement setup and DUT configuration.
The envelop correlation coefficient (ECC) is an important figure of merit for any MIMO enabled antenna systems. It can be calculated from measured complex field patterns by using$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\rho }_{e}=\frac{{|{\iint }_{4\pi }[\mathop{{E}_{1}}\limits^{\rightharpoonup }(\theta ,\varphi )\cdot \mathop{{E}_{2}}\limits^{\rightharpoonup }(\theta ,\varphi )]d{\rm{\Omega }}|}^{2}}{{\iint }_{4\pi }{|\mathop{{E}_{1}}\limits^{\rightharpoonup }(\theta ,\varphi )|}^{2}d{\rm{\Omega }}\cdot {\iint }_{4\pi }{|\mathop{{E}_{1}}\limits^{\rightharpoonup }(\theta ,\varphi )|}^{2}d{\rm{\Omega }}}$$\end{document}$$$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\mathop{{E}_{1}}\limits^{\rightharpoonup }(\theta ,\varphi )\cdot \mathop{{E}_{2}}\limits^{\rightharpoonup }(\theta ,\varphi )={\mathop{E}\limits^{\rightharpoonup }}_{\theta 1}(\theta ,\varphi )\cdot {\mathop{E}\limits^{\rightharpoonup }}_{\theta 2}^{\ast }(\theta ,\varphi )+{\mathop{E}\limits^{\rightharpoonup }}_{\varphi 1}(\theta ,\varphi )\cdot {\mathop{E}\limits^{\rightharpoonup }}_{\varphi 2}^{\ast }(\theta ,\varphi )$$\end{document}$$where $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\mathop{{E}_{1}}\limits^{\rightharpoonup }(\theta ,\varphi )$$\end{document}$ is the measured electric filed vector radiated by antenna 1 while the another antenna port is terminated by a 50Ω matched load^[@CR38]^. The calculated ECCs for the arrays with and without metasurface are given in Fig. [6(e)](#Fig6){ref-type="fig"}. It is clear that by introducing the metasurface, the ECC has improved from 0.25 to less than 0.08, which will definitely lead to larger channel capacity and diversity gain.
Conclusion {#Sec10}
==========
A brand-new decoupling method making use of metasurface covering with negative permeability is introduced for the first time in this paper. The metasurface has the capability of reject unwanted radiation as well as reducing mutual coupling in an antenna array without affecting other performances.
The design can be conformal and low-profile, and most importantly, it can be applied to arrays with extremely small element spacing while most existing decoupling solutions cannot. Unlike other decoupling method, as isolation after decoupling becomes higher, the matching bandwidth is not reduced at all, on the contrary, it is even broader.
Thanks to the periodic nature of the metasurface with SRRs, the proposed MAAD method has great potential to be applied to antenna arrays with dozens of elements, which are commonly utilized in Massive MIMO arrays and phased arrays. Using the metasurface decoupling method proposed in this paper to decouple more than 64 element antenna array is undergoing and results will be reported on in due time.
Methods {#Sec11}
=======
Numerical calculation of the decoupling antenna array was performed using Finite Element method, which is conducted by commercial software, ANSYS HFSS. The microstrip antennas are printed in a commercial FR4 printed circuit board with the relative permittivity 4.4 and loss tangent 0.02. Moreover, the substrate printed with square split ring resonators was a commercial printed circuit board (F4B) with the relative permittivity 2.65 and loss tangent 0.001. In experiments, we used the Agilent vector network analyzer to measure the transmission and reflection coefficients between antennas. The far-field radiation patterns are evaluated using a microwave near-field chamber.
Ziyang Wang and Luyu Zhao contributed equally to this work
**Publisher\'s note:** Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This work is sponsored by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61701366).
L.Y.Z. conceived the basic concept. Z.Y.W., S.F.Z. and Y.M.C. did theoretical analysis. Z.Y.W. and L.Y.Z. conducted simulations fabrication and measurements. Z.Y.W. and L.Y.Z. wrote the manuscript based on input from all authors. All authors contributed to the discussion.
Competing Interests {#FPar1}
===================
The authors declare no competing interests.
|
These "New Series" writings by Hatonn and other Host of God" are being compiled and called "The Age of Character: The Awakening of Man" and part of the "WORD" promised by God to be presented to the spiritual beings on "EARTH" to study at these end times. Blessed are those who come in touch with them and since God does not force anyone to believe anything in it, through free will, all have to discern and make their own choices for their "physical life" experience through their "soul" evolution.
Saturday, September 22, 2012, Year 26, Day 3700037
Continued
…
Third
Reich Physics and Computing
[ … ] the same year that Konrad Zuse developed the
original working computer, a man named Dr SubrahmanyanChandrasekhar—a Hindu national from India,
which at that time was under the command of the British Raj—approached the
British Royal Astronomical Society with his astrophysics equations.He had proven that stars within a certain
level of mass, about 1.4 times the mass of our Sun, at the end of their lives
will collapse infinitely.He was able
to ascertain mathematically the existence of black holes.Some of the cliquish British scientists
laughed at him and even went so far as to call him a “yellow nigger”, but the
Germans and the Japanese viewed his science to be Aryan science.
The Japanese viewed themselves as Aryan people
descended from northern India through maritime migration.The Germans viewed themselves under the Nazi
ideology as Aryans descended from northern India and Iran through land
migrations into northern Europe.Both
Japan and Germany had a racial ideology that united them in the Axis that was
centered on Asian India.
The Germans in particular, using computer
technology, were able to take Chandrasekhar’s equations and put them into their
computer systems.They calculated them
to the logical conclusion, and they concluded that our entire galaxy and indeed
the centre of every galaxy is held together by a supermassive black hole—the mother
of all black suns.This may sound very
obtuse.
People may ask, “Why would theoretical physics have
such an impact on the war effort?”It
is because the Third Reich was able to take a half-century leap in physics,
thanks to taking the Chandrasekhar equations to their logical conclusion using
computer technology.This is how they
got into the concept of anti-gravitation and the higher-level physics.The problem was that this was still in a
developmental stage.
However, the Third Reich’s conflict simulations
demonstrated that the war could not be won in a conventional sense.The entire Second World War in the Atlantic
and continental Europe was considered to be one massive series of holding
actions until relocation of the Thousand Year Reich could take place.This is why so many German people
disappeared.Before the Second World
War, the population of Germanic peoples in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria,
Germany and the German Diaspora (dispersion) throughout Europe was 180
million—close to 200 million people when you count those in various places in
Russia and the Americas.Today, there
are around 80 million Germans in United Germany.
TK:So 120
million Germans disappeared, but I am saying that out of most of those Germans
who disappeared there were thousands who were relocated.Himmler was obsessed with this.
Many people do not understand the purpose of the SS.The Wehrmacht fought for the nation, for
Germany, and the SS fought for the Aryan race.The purpose of the SS was not only to fight for the continuity of the
Aryan race; it was also a multinational army.It inspired the model for both Warsaw Pact forces and NATO forces in
terms of supranational command.
Himmler was intent on relocating what he considered to be
genetically pure Nordic Aryans to Neuschwabenland, but he realised that he
needed enough genetic diversity to prevent morbid inbreeding in what would
begin as a limited population base.
As an aside, Himmler made a point of emphasising that his
SS troops had perfect teeth.Allied
intelligence interpreted this as some mania for aesthetics.The reality was that he needed men who could
operate in the sub-zero conditions of Antarctica, where metal dental fillings
would contract to excruciating effect.
Antarctic Operations
DD:To put it into
perspective about the military operations that took place in Antarctica, as I
explained with Operation Seawolf and
Courland, World War II was a nuclear war.The Axis powers were using nuclear weapons just as much as the Americans
were, but at a more effective level because they were using them operationally
as line breakers.
In January and February 1939, there were several
expeditions to Antarctica, where the Germans had already established a base by
World War I.There was a Kaiser Wilhelm
II Land that you can find on maps produced before the Second World War.
Then what happened was that between 1943 and 1945, the
British Royal Navy, commanded by Keith Allen John Pitt, had various ships
deployed down there, and there was a secret wartime operation codenamed Tabarin—a failed occupation attempt in
the winter of 1944.Men from an SAS
regiment were involved, and they went to war not only with the Germans but the
Argentinians.
To explain, in January and February 1942, Comandante
Alberto Oddera aboard the Primero de Mayo
had landed at Deception Island in the South Shetlands and fought off the
British.This is why Argentina never
joined the Allied war effort.If you
ever see the Allied zone of patrols that stretches all across the western
hemisphere on the map, it stops at the northern quarter of Argentina.The British never forgave the Argentinians.
The 1946-47 US invasion became a massacre for the
Americans due to the German Fluegelrad rotary
disc units.The rotary blades were
built around the body of the craft, as opposed to being over the airframe.They were like the Third Reich’s version of
the SR-71 Blackbird [The CIA/Air
Force’s incredibly fast super sonic spy plane]in that they were meant for reconnaissance in depth of enemy
territory as opposed to speed through enemy airspace.The Fluegelrad was
meant for aerial photography, and could operate at a greater speed than a
helicopter because of its aerodynamic frame, sans the durability.Because the Fluegelrads could
be mounted with rockets, they were able to wipe out the American invasion force
during Operation Highjump.
TK:Operation Highjump is an historical fact, is it?
DD:Absolutely.In the southern
summer of 1946-47, the US Navy operation was led by Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn
Byrd, Jr.It was actually organised by
men who were above him, but he became the scapegoat who was blamed for its
failure.It was an ad hoc force, hastily put together by Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz.
On 26 August 1946, basically what happened was that they
had 3,500 Marines and all of them died, but nobody speaks of it.They talk about the naval part of the
operation because most people survived that.This concerned the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea, with 100 aircraft, and it was not assigned to any
of the groups because it was the fighter-base flagship—an Essex-class carrier,
900 feet long, 3,500 men as crew, and six ski-fitted Douglas C-47 sky train
transport planes equipped with JATO [jet-assisted take-off] “bottle
rockets”.There were also foreign
vessels participating.
TK:So there must
have been around 10,000 men?
DD:Yes.There were 4,700 men in Task Force 68; 3,500
Marines were flown in from New Zealand.It’s primary mission was to establish an American base to counteract the
Nazi base in Antarctica.
Now, it doesn’t matter whether or not you or I believe, or
whether or not any American or United German believes, that the Nazis had
established a government in exile in Antarctica.All that matters is that the United States government was
convinced that the Third Reich had re-established itself in Antarctica.This is why the Americans got together Task
Force 68.
It was enormous, and had at least 13 American ships—a
central battle group commanded by Rear Admiral Byrd.The USS Mount Olympus was
his flagship, not the aircraft carrier because that had crewmen as well as
squadrons of fighters, torpedo planes and Helldiver
dive bombers, and these craft were all crowded onto the deck.None of these things could take off from
that carrier.This is how hastily they
were put together, and these aircraft were going to be disembarked onto landing
strips created on the Antarctic ice and then be used to fight an air war from
these artificial landing strips on the ice.That is why they brought so many icebreakers, all kinds of submarines,
and seaplane tenders for all those seaplanes that I have spoken about.They didn’t even need a landing strip.They could deploy troops on the ground by
taking off from the water.
TK:And just a
fraction of that task force came back?
DD:Certainly all
the Marines that were flown in on the transport planes died on the Antarctic
ice.They were massacred by the rockets
launched by the Fluegelrads.[Hatonn:Could these and other German craft be
mistaken for “UFOs”?You’d better
believe it!]A few of the planes
were shot down with the naval element, but, after what happened to the Marines,
their operation had to end and they pulled out.
Rear Admiral Byrd was so disgraced that when he gave a
goodbye speech to a newspaper at the time, it was published only in Chile and
never in the United States.Byrd had
warned of an imminent attack on the United States and the necessity to maintain
a state of alert, to take defensive precautions against the possibility of an
invasion by hostile aircraft proceeding from the polar regions.He said:“I don’t want to scare anybody, but the bitter reality is that, in the
event of a new war, the United States would be attacked by aircraft flying in
from one or both of the poles.”
Byrd was suddenly recalled, and so was the entire
expeditionary force.One of the last
things he said, one of the most important observations he made, was about the
existing situation:“I can do no more
than warn my countrymen that the time has passed when we could take refuge in
complete isolation and rest in confidence in the guarantee of security which
distance, the oceans and the posed provided.”He finished by stating:“We are
abandoning the region.”
No official explanation was ever disseminated.Byrd was hospitalised, and that is how it
ended.That is how badly that
expedition turned out.[H:At all costs, the “UFO Question” must be kept secret!You-the-people are being set up for the
worst orchestrated staging of a hoax, in the history of the Earth Human species.Open thine eyes and see the TRUTH!]
At that point, everything that Byrd had warned about came
true.Between 1951 and 1956, there took
place what the American documents that I was dealing with called “a massacre of
the skies”, or “the disc war” [H:Hitler’s “Flying Saucers”].
Basically, the Third Reich retaliated and the Fluegelrads and the other planes that
they’d developed, which were concept aircraft that they’d brought down to
Antarctica, attacked and shot down many US fighter aircraft.
The end result was Operation Argus, in which the Americans deployed nuclear weapons in 1958
after a decade of failed Antarctic invasions following Operation Highjump.The New York Times
reported that there were 204 destroyed or missing fighter aircraft in that
period.By the 1950s, what was known as
“the aerospace war” was finally accounted for in the documents that I had been
ordered to incinerate, and it was calculated that 2,000 pilots had died from
between the mid-1940s and the mid-1950s in the disc war.
Think about what I am saying.It is for this reason that the Allies were still at war with the
Third Reich, that Churchill was brought back into office in 1951.
Stalin’s International Communist Agenda
DD:People don’t
realize how advantageous it was for the Third Reich at the end of the war.President Roosevelt had died mysteriously,
and essentially, by the documents I was dealing with, it was suggested very
strongly that he had been assassinated by Axis agents.[H:Being a relative to England’s Queen
Elizabeth, does not mean you are not expendable if you get in the way of the
adversary’s plans of Global Domination!]Truman [H:Good Khazarian “Jewish” name.]took over in April 1945, and then, in
July, Churchill was voted out of office.
The reality is that in 1945, Stalin, who had enormous
influence on both the United States and the United Kingdom, gave the order to
the Labor Party union bosses to oust Churchill.I the US, we would refer to the Laborites as what Britain called “Communists”.[H:Lenin and Stalin were two Khazar Jews who
ruled “SOVIET” Russia, after killing a hundred million Christian RUSSIANS, and
then calling the “new nation” “Soviet Union”.The Christian Russians have since taken back their Mother Russia from the Bolshevik (militaristic) Jews, however,
those same “Soviet Jewish Khazars” still control the MEDIA—NOT JUST IN THE
KREMLIN, BUT ALL THE WORLD!So THEY are
telling you only that which THEY want you to believe!That is why you are known as “the people of the lie”.You must come up out of the false history
the evil Jew gives you, and on up into the TRUTH that God Aton, and His HOSTS
bring back unto mankind.The
“Messengers”, or “Angels” as the Greeks labeled them, are the Prophets from
your Biblical stories.The UFOs in the
Holy Bible ARE THE CRAFT THAT LED THE PEOPLE THROUGH THE DESERT WILDERNESS, AND
PROTECTED THEM FROM THEIR ENEMIES AND THE ELEMENTS OF NATURE.So, why do we of God not just show up
tomorrow and save the day once more??BECAUSE MAN NOW HAS CAUGHT UP WITH SOME VERY SOPHISTICATED AND DANGEROUS
TECHNOLOGY; YOU ARE BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY THE ANTI-CHRIST/ANTI-GOD JEWS
(CLAIMING TO BE THE HEBREW JUDEAN BROTHER FROM THE BOOK, AND THEY WILL BLOW THIS WORLD AWAY, CLAIMING “SPACE INVADERS”
DID IT!Man must come into
understanding of WHO IS WHO, and at this moment, the adversary is telling you
falsely about God and His HOSTS from afar.Now that the truth is in front of you, expose the satanic evil lie for
that which it is!Join with your
President of the People and put a stop to the plan of destroying yournation and people, in favor of a “Soviet”
Israel New World Order.The British
Crown is the seat of the beast, still, do not forget that!They are still mad at you from breaking away
from their Monarchy and daring to be a free people, with liberties and rights
for ALL your citizens.]These were
hard-core unionists.
To show you the kind of influence that Stalin had, I will
give you an example.When Stalin
invaded Finland in 1939, that was one of the things that started World War II,
and the Swedish Nazi Party sent air force pilots to fight the Soviets in
Finland.There were Swedish Nazi Party
volunteers who flew the swastika [German flag] in Finland.The Germans sent units, and it was an
international war to fight the Soviet Bolshevik invasion.One of the most effective weapons was the
Brewster Buffalo, a US-built aircraft
which the Finns purchased from the Americans.The Brewster Buffalo took down
so many Soviet planes that Stalin gave the order to the US unions, which were very
sympathetic to the Soviet communist cause [H:Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, and the other
international banksters, sold you out to Soviet spies and operatives—and when
the four Rockefeller brothers were betrayed by Kissinger and his Rothschild
Overlords—THE UNITED STATES LOST THE REAL SPACE WAR WITH RUSSIA!CIA, FBI, AND NOW “Homeland Security” are
full of SOVIET MERCENARY TROOPS ready to stage a massive “9/11” disaster on the
whole of America—and the world!F.E.M.A. (Federal Emergency MANAGEMENT agency) is a dictatorship
waiting to be used AGAINST American citizens.Black people understand what that means, White people had best come to
the realization that the Romney “clones” are manipulated by the Jew.Jews do not like Christ, Christians, nor God
of Holy Light.The uniting of Black
America with White America, is the coalition of God Aton’s children waking to
their plight against the ultimate evil force in the universe!The ballot-fixers, opinion MAKING polls, and
false media speculation, can not hide for one second the truth of Obama’s
Presidency.The robotoid duplicates of
the so-called “Tea Party” politicians, and the elite money conspirators, cannot
hide or lessen the tremendous support of AMERICA UNDER GOD for a President
under God.Jewish Khazars are the
Anti-Christ, and their “Soviet” goal remains the same:Destroy American Christianity by destroying
American Christians!Be it by more and
continuing wars (World War III/Nuclear War One—but with particle beam or PRANA
LIFE FORCE ENERGY weapons this time.And when that gets out of control you can atomize—turn to vapor—the
entire planet in MINUTES!, and/or incredible manmade diseases, etc.—do you
understand, chelas?This is not playing
jacks or marbles, the end of a planetary cycle is upon you, which way it “ends”
is strictly up to you.Prayer followed
by action gets God’s work done, but you have to “act”, you have to do YOUR
PART.God’s part is automatic in assisting
His people.], to sabotage all the Brewster Buffalos on the assembly line.Over a year after Stalin had given this order, the Japanese attacked
Pearl Harbor in 1941 and then went on to attack Hong Kong, Singapore and the
Philippines.Everywhere the Japanese
attacked, the American Brewster Buffalos
were falling out of the sky because they had been sabotaged back home on their
own assembly lines.That is how much
influence Stalin had on other nations [H:MONEY is what the Jew uses to control
and manipulate the world.Every nation
has its price—AND CERTAINLY EVERY MAN HAS HIS PRICE!Therefore, God has to be first and foremost in all things worth
having—for the nation or the individual.] because of this international
communist insurgency.
At the end of the pro-active hostilities on the
continental mainland in 1945, Stalin gave the order to the Laborites in
Britain:“I don’t need Churchill in
power any more and I consider him a threat.”[H:When the Allied (Britain + U.S.) powers in the name of Churchill
said, “We killed the wrong pig for the roasting” … we should have teamed with
Germany instead of “Soviet” Russia.Now
look at the mess unleashed on the God-revering people of the world!The Jew always fights his enemies by using
subversion, trickery, and POISON.When
he has infiltrated, any nation, and secretly gained control through his
skillful, and insidiously from within, like a terrible cancer.All the while, the Jew pretends he is your
caring and trusting doctor; or the lawyer who has your best interests in mind,
while stealing your assets and estate from your family; or advising your
leaders to sacrifice your sons’ blood for the killing and robbing of other
nations (like Lybia, for one of many examples) oil and gold resources.Why do you think God “has indignation forever”
against these imposter “Jews” from Revelation 2:9, 3:9???]He was convinced that Churchill had poisoned
Roosevelt, and the end result was that he said:“Get Churchill out of office.”
Churchill was voted out of office by an overwhelming
majority, a landslide.This was
following the general European cease-fire in May 1945, just as Britain was
turning its resources towards invading Hong Kong and Singapore.
America’s Unwinnable World War
DD:At that time,
the Japanese were advancing on the mainland with such success that the British
actually buried a bunch of British Spitfires, entire air squadrons, in Thailand
and Burma.They just buried them to
prevent the Japanese from capturing them.That is how desperate the situation was in 1945.People don’t understand the perspective of
this.
Put this into perspective for how bad it was for the
Americans.They were so racist [H:Keep in mind, the Khazar Jew is the true “racist” of your planet.They have gotten ALL other races of peoples
fighting against brothers—like you were sworn enemies for life!You all, Germans, Americans, Poles, Swedes,
Russians, Irish, the French, Italians—are you not all “White” children of
God????You Africans in America and
various parts of the world—areyou not
“Brothers and Sisters”—who do you suppose gotyou arguing, fighting and killing of thy brethren????Satan DIVIDES THE PEOPLE so they can be ripe
for the conquering.You are made in
God’s own image:“ELECTRICITY”—LIGHT
WAVES!You are a being of LIGHT operating
a physical body, to express and experience in a PHYSICALWORLD of matter
in seeming motion.Just like the still
pictures of a movie projector, give seeming motion to the ILLUSION of a cinema,
you, and your light wave pulsing universe, are doing the same thing.Satan and his children, the “Jewish” Khazars,
have gotten you to forget about “spirit” (electricity/lightwaves), and moved
you into a reality based on the physical.YOU ARE NOT THAT PHYSICAL BODY OF BLOOD, BONE, AND TISSUE; YOU ARE
THE SPIRITUAL FREQUENCIED SOUL ESSENCE WITHIN THE FLESH.God is light (electricity), man is also
light (electricity, but of course, since you are made in His image.Your physical body IS THE BODY OF MAN—NOT THE MAN HIMSELF!Just as when you drive your car—you are not
the machine (anymore than you are not the “machine” of your body)—you are
within guiding and controlling through right action, and following the just
laws laid down for ALL TO FOLLOW.Or you have “crashes”, clashes, and a terrible mess, don’t you?Be it cars or people!Stop living according to the Satanic Jew’s
plan of “Hell on Earth”!Don’t you
think God’s PLAN is better than that of His (and yours) adversary?!], they
had concentrated most of their resources against the Germans because they
said:“Oh, they are white.They are a bigger threat.”The Americans allocated only 15 per cent of
all their resources during the war to fighting the Japanese in the Pacific.
TK:And by that
they totally underestimated them.
DD:Yes, the
Japanese had invaded the Alaskan islands to prevent the Americans from bombing
Japan from Alaska.Of that 15 percent
resource total, the Americans were forced to dedicate one-third to trying to
remove the Japanese from Alaskan territory.
Not only was over 90 percent of the Imperial Japanese Army
in China at the time of the Hiroshima bombing on 6 August 1945, but on that
very day a special war department analysis of the new Japanese divisions being
mobilised reached US Army Chief of Staff George Catlett Marshall—the same
Marshall who was forced to instigate the Marshall Plan as reparations for the
reconstruction of Europe.
It was revealed to Marshall that, from 1937 to 1943, the
Imperial Japanese Army had mobilised an average of eight divisions a year, but
in 1944 alone it had formed 30 to secure the Chinese mainland.In the first seven months of 1945, the
Japanese activated at least 42—of these, 23 inside Japan itself—and had the
manpower to generate even more:as many
as 65 infantry and five armored divisions by October 1945—the intended
beginning of Operation Downfall, the
scheduled American invasion of the Japanese home islands.
END QUOTE.
Jonur, pause here, please, and begin a new document.Thank you.Hatonn to stand-by.
RESUME QUOTING:
Japan had only just begun to fight, and this monumental
mass mobilization was the very reason why so few, if any, able bodied Japanese
men ever died in strategic bombing, either conventional or nuclear, during the
entire war.They were all in the field.
At this point, the Americans realized that they had lost
the war.It did not matter that they
could mobilize all this manpower.The
vast majority of their personnel were across the sea in the Atlantic; and if
they were to bring them all over to the Pacific to fight the Japanese, they
would probably leave Europe open to re-conquest by Nazi insurgents.
So they either faced a series of something like the
Napoleonic Wars where they had battles continuing again and again, or they
could sue for peace.The Americans
chose to sue for peace because Roosevelt was dead and Churchill was gone.
TK:They sued for
peace?Towards whom?
DD:Towards the
Axis, both Germany and Japan.
TK:And that was
in ’45?
DD:In 1945
TK:The public
never learned about that.
Editor’s Note:
Part three in our next issue covers Nazi rocket scientists
and advanced technologies, the Suez crisis, nuclear detonations over
Antarctica, space weapons, the Third Reich’s alleged Moon bases, and much more.
About the Interviewer:
Douglas Dietrich is the son of a decorated US Navy
sailor.He worked for 10 years as a US
Department of Defense military librarian at the Presidio military base in San
Francisco, where one of his major duties was document destruction.He was responsible for incinerating highly
classified materials on critical historical topics.Each night, he made entries from memory in a personal notebook of
all of the top-secret documents he had destroyed.
Dietrich experienced the Kuwaiti campaigns of operations Desert Shield (1990) and Desert Storm (1991) as a US Marine,
during which time he was exposed to cyclosarin nerve gas which resulted I
collapsed lungs and radical experimental surgery.After mustering out of the USMC in late 1991, he began a career
as a private security agent which continued until he became a full-time carer
for his dying parents.He now channels
his energies into media production, conference presentations and radio
interviews covering a wide range of hidden history topics.His DVD Roswell
and the Rising Sun was reviewed in NEXUS 19/04.
As you ones come into realization of exactly what your
world is REALLY LIKE—and not through the rose-colored-glasses the Zionist Jews
of Satan’s bunch present onto you—then you can begin to take back your nation
in the presence of God.
2012:WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS???
So what IS the big deal any way?Is this just another 2012 “dooms day” prophecy, conjured by man
to scare and take advantage of his brother?Or is it REVELATIONS FROM THE ANCIENTS (THE ARCHANGELS OF MAN’S PAST AND
PRESENT HISTORICAL AND BIBLICAL BEGINNINGS) NOW COME FULL CIRCLE IN FULL
INTEGRATION OF THY EVOLUTION?
Come now, chelas, if you believe ANYTHING AT ALL IN
YOUR HOLY BOOKS AND BIBLES—YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT THE TRUTH OF “HEAVENLY” HOSTS
SENT OF “A” GOD.You cannot longer
pretend that the future revelations and ancient prophecies do not apply to your
lives—TODAY!Can you not see that every
one of the warnings, visions, and plagues are happening as we write?Look at the state of every nation upon your
globe.Is that not almost word-for-word
right out of your Holy Bible??“Wars and Rumors of Wars”, “Ezekial’s Wheel”
descending from the sky to talk to the select few, are these not happening
world-wide for all to take note???
Well, you are in it, dear ones, and only knowledge of what
is happening, and what HAS happened in the very distant past, is going to see
you through.Forget, for a moment, that
your evil adversary is planning to “pull a fast one” during a time of world
take over.Let us look at this same
period of human evolvement from the point of view of simply The Sequence of
Events of “Time”, as you recognize such.And we will utilize Earthman calendars long established on your
placement.
Jour, utilize Belinda Doyle’s compilation on the subject
of the Mayan Calendar, from the August-September 2012 issue of “NEXUS”
magazine.We have brought this
information to you many times in the PHOENIX JOURNALS, however, our
readers need a quick and concise “intro”, for you are all but out of time.
QUOTING:
THE MAYAN CALENDAR AND THE 2012 END DATE
Arise, all arise,
not one nor two groups be left behind; together we will see once again the
place from where we have come.
- Mayan prophecy
The end of the fifth Great Cycle of the Mayan Long Count
calendar coincides with the solstice of 21 December 2012 at 11:11 am Universal
Time and with the end point of philosopher Terence McKenna’s Timewave
Zero.Is humanity on the verge of a new
evolutionary cycle?
[Hatonn:No one, not even “Jesus” Immanuel Esu
SANANDA “The Christ”, knows the hour of the coming of God again to your
place.Only Aton (God) knows that
moment, however, it gets closer!Suffice it to say, the second decade after your new millennium is a good
starting point!You are in year two,
nearing three of that second decade, precious friends!Do not wait for more “precise” timing
estimates, you may find that you put things off just one week to late, to save
your bacon from burning to a crisp!God
has given you the clues, YOU have to act on what you see around you
unfolding.Therefore:“The
handwriting is indeed all over the walls”!
Type “Mayan calendar” into an Internet search engine and
you’ll find millions of references to this ancient device.It has been the subject of countless media
reports, a Hollywood blockbuster and much conjecture.So, why all the attention?This article explores the history of the calendar, the significance of
its 2012 end date, and its connection to the 111:11 phenomenon and the Chinese
“I Ching”.[H:Beings from Pleiades gave
“The Yellow Emperor” of ancient China much knowledge and advise, which helped
the framework of “Modern Civilization” as you enjoy it today.He said he received it from councils with
“Star Beings”, so be it!Keep in mind,
your races, our race, comes from that cluster of young, hot suns (stars),
shaped like a tiny “dipper” or “kite”, called the “Seven Sisters”, or Pleiades
constellation.It can be viewed in the
Northern Hemisphere in the winter months, particularly November at midnight, it
is directly over head.All ofyour Earth culture had its beginning “texts”
with mention of the blue-white stars being the “Home of God”; and to “where the
soul goes when it leaves Earth”.]
The End of the World or A New Beginning?
The ancient Maya people dominated Mesoamerica, the narrow
landmass that lies between North and South America, from around 2000 BC to 900
AD.It was during their classic period,
from 250 AD to 900 AD, that they constructed an extensive empire of
cities.They built impressive palaces,
religious temples and stepped pyramids.The Maya created magnificent carvings and ceramics as well as
sophisticated mathematical systems, and they devised the only known fully
developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas.The Maya people were also keen
astronomers.They were particularly
interested in the planet Venus.Without
the use of telescopes and with only the naked eye to guide them, the Maya were
able to measure the lunar month, predict eclipses and determine the revolutions
of Venus.They made incredibly accurate
records of the stars and Sun, and they aligned many of their ceremonial
pyramids accordingly.Even today,
thousands of people gather at El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza on the days
of the spring and autumn equinoxes to watch the Sun cast a shadow over the edge
of the pyramid.For a few moments, the
shadow creates the illusion of a snake slithering down to Earth.It was the ancient Mayan fascination with
astronomy that also led to the development of their now-famous calendars.
While the Gregorian solar calendar that we use today was
primarily created for agricultural purposes, the calendars of the Maya were
based on a very different set of principles.The Maya believed that the solar system cycles are connected to our
collective consciousness, and they included spiritual elements in many of their
calendars.
The most important Mayan calendar is the sacred Tzolk’in
(or “count of days”), a 260-day calendar that combines a cycle of 20 day-names
with a cycle of 13 numbers to create 260 days, each with its own set of
characteristics.It was said that an
individual’s personality could be predetermined according to the Tzolk’in day
on which they were born.
The Maya then combined two cycles of the Tzolk’in calendar
with a third cycle, known as the Haab’, to produce a longer cycle of time.Each Haab’ cycle is made up of 365 days and
consists of 18 months of 20 days each as well as one “unlucky” month of five
days.When combined with the Tzolk’in
calendar, one full cycle or calendar round would take 52 years or 18,980
days.[H:This also coincides with
Native American calculations with the Midnight culmination of Pleiades.So, keep in mind that there are “calendars”
that are all synchronized to COSMIC EVENTS, which go way beyond your Earth
civilizations.Your elite conspirators
know what is coming, and they will use these “events” to herd you people into
your destruction of panic and terror of the unknown.Prepare and tell thy neighbor, like Noah was trying to do, for
the messengers have come before, and
WE are telling you as much!Who—this
time—will heed the warning??!]
However, the Maya needed more than 52 years to record
historical events and so they invented the Long Count calendar.It is the Long Count system that has gained
notoriety in recent times and has come to be known simply as the “Mayan
calendar”.The Maya developed their
Long Count calendar around 355 BC; however, the calendar’s 0.0.0.0.0 starting
date did not begin in 355 BC.For
reasons unknown, the Maya backdated their Long Count by more than 3,000
years.Maya researchers generally agree
that its start date corresponds with the Gregorian date of 11 August 3114
BC.The Long Count Mayan calendar is
made up of the following units:
1 day=1 k’in
20 days (20 k’ins)=1
uinal
360 days (18 uinals)=1 tun
7,200 days (20 tuns)=1 k’atun
144,000 days (20 k’atuns)=1 b’ak’tun
13 b’ak’tuns=1
Great Cycle
The duration of each Great Cycle (or 13 b’ak’tuns) is
approximately 5,126 years. Maya experts have calculated that the current Great
Cycle, which began at 0.0.0.0.0 or 11 August 3144 BC, will end on 13.0.0.0.0 or
21 December 2012 AD.
Australian science expert Dr Karl S. Kruszelnicki has said
that to read the 0.0.0.0.0 scholarly notation for the Long Count calendar , you
need look no further than your car’s odometer.As you drive, the extreme right slot of the odometer rolls over from 0
to 9 kilometres; that slot then rolls back over to 0 when it reaches 10 and the
number 1 rolls into the slot next to it to represent 10 kilometres.Dates recorded by the Long Count calendar
are read in a similar fashion.
The calendar counts through the days (or k’ins), and when
it reaches 19 (0.0.0.0.19) it then rolls over to 0, and the slot to the left
(the uinal) rolls over to 1 (0.0.0.1.0).When the uinal slot reaches 17 (0.0.0.17.0), it then rolls over to 0
because 18 uinal = 1 tun (0.0.1.0.0).So, 1 January 2009 would therefore be represented as 12.19.15.17.10-that
is, 12 b’ak’tuns, 19 k’atuns, 15 tuns, 17 uinals and 10 k’ins.On 21 December 2012, the date according to
the Mayan Long Count calendar will read 13.0.0.0.0—that is, 13 b’ak’tuns.
What does it all mean?On 21 December 2012, the current cycle of the Mayan calendar
“ends”.What the ending of the calendar
means for modern-day humanity is unclear.On 31 December each year, when our Gregorian calendar ends, we simply
roll over to 1 January and begin a new year.Other than a few million hangovers the world over, the ending of the
Gregorian calendar does not equate to anything special.
However, the Mayan calendar is different.According to the Popol Vuh, the creation
story of the Maya, the completion of each Great Cycle is said to correspond
with a cycle of creation and transformation on Earth.
The Popol Vuh tells of four previous ages on Earth and
suggests that we are currently living in the fifth.[H:Your own scientists said that you have had
AT LEAST five Ice Ages.These, also,
correspond to not only these various ancient calendars, but to your Biblical
stories as well!And you are at the
closing of The Great Cycle now, all the old calendars ended on AUGUST 17,
1987, the heading of these writings always start with THAT CLOSING
DATE:“ … YEAR 26, DAY …”, you are 26
years into what you think was your Year 2000.So instead of it being 12 years past the year 2000, it is really
going on 26 years—starting in 1987—that is when the year 2000 actually came
in.Get it?If nothing else, man must prepare for the coming Earth
Changes—especially in freezing climate conditions that will affect the growing
of food in formerly fertile land masses.The ice is expected to extend to about latitude 40’—from BOTH NORTH AND
SOUTH POLES—and those not living near the Equator are going to be in
trouble.Man can prepare for these
things if you demand your politicians stand with you-the-people!Those Arctic “Survey Stations” and “Research
Centers” are in reality—EMERGENCY RELOCATION FACILITIES FOR THE ELITE OF YOUR
WORLD!They will NOT help you ordinary
citizens unless you demand that they do so!Remember, they want to “cull”—WHICH MEANS KILL OFF LIKE CATTLE OR
DEER—the human population from almost 7 Billion, down to 550 Million!That is WHY Israel keeps pushing for nuclear
war and FORCED VACCINES that will suddenly be “declared” a “spoiled batch”,
resulting in millions of deaths!And as
they rush in more doses of a cure for that, the next wave will also result in
many millions more culled human animals.The Jewish Zionist plans to destroy you trusting Christians is not
pretty, dear hearts, however, neither does Satan care for his own.For in the ending all the entire species of
human will perish if evil is left to its own devices.So be it.]The
K’iche’ Maya predicted that the end of the fifth Great Cycle would involve
movement, vibration and earthquakes, while the Tz’utujil Maya warned that man
would need to undergo a conscious evolution if another creation, or sixth
cycle, were to follow.[H:God has not forsaken His people, why think you “Jesus” and The HOSTS are
here at THIS time of thy evolution???!Therefore, do not let the “Hollywood Jews” create fear of Space Brothers,
because these are your ancestors, and they come as the Angels and Archangels
from Biblical days, which are upon you once again .Also in the tellings of these so-called “Last Days”, are “… the
stars falling from the sky.”Well they
cannot be “stars” truly, for where would they fall from, and where would they
fall to???THOSE ARE OUR CRAFT
RETURNING THAT MAN DESCRIBES, AND IS PAST DOWN IN MYTH AND LEGEND, SO YOU CAN
BE DECEIVED BY THE EVIL CONTROLLERS OF YOUR PRISON PLANET!Satan’s game is to keep you from moving on
into ONENESS with God, so that the adversary has plenty of “lost souls” to rule
over on Earth.But once you KNOW he can
have no power over you. And if God Aton of the ONE LIGHTED SOURCE is in the
equation, as the Lord thy Father, then evil falls by the wayside and devours
itself—for no thing or being or energy form of evil intent can stand against
the light!]According to the
Institute of Maya Studies in Florida, USA, the Zuni and Navajo peoples also
believe that we are living in the fifth era and that the sixth is drawing near.
The Mayan calendar’s end date is also significant because
it coincides with a solstice.On 21
December 2012, the northern hemisphere experiences its winter solstice and the
southern hemisphere experiences its
summersolstice.This is the day when the
Sun is in its most southerly position—the shortest day of the year in the
northern hemisphere and the longest day of the year in the southern
hemisphere.The December solstice of
2012 is scheduled to occur at 11:11 am UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) on 21
December.The actual day and time will
vary, depending on where you are in the world, as per the following time
conversion chart:
UTC Conversions for the December 2012 Solstice
LocationDateUTC 11.11 am
Los AngelesFriday 21 Dec3:11 am
GuatemalaFriday 21 Dec5:11 am
New YorkFriday 21 Dec6:11 am
LondonFriday 21 Dec11:11 am
ParisFriday 21 Dec12:11 pm
MoscowFriday 21 Dec3:11 pm
PerthFriday 21 Dec7:11 pm
TokyoFriday 21 Dec8:11 pm
SydneyFriday 21 Dec10:11 pm
AucklandSaturday 22 Dec12:11 am
Independent researcher John Major Jenkins has dedicated
much of his life to the study of the ancient Maya, their cosmology and
philosophy.He has written numerous
books, including “Galactic Alignment and Maya Cosmogenesis 2012”.According to Jenkins, the December solstice
Sun in 2012 will conjunct with the galactic equator and the ecliptic in
Sagittarius.This would place the Sun
at the centre of the Milky Way, a phenomenon that he refers to as the Galactic
Alignment.Jenkins also believes that
the December solstice Sun of 2012 could reach the area of the Milky Way that
astronomers refer to as the “nuclear bulge”.[H:Chelas, here it is for you in “Scientific terms”, the Coming
Again of God and Christ!Do you not
think that Aton would not place the “signs” and “clues” that indicate that the
HOSTS of Heaven are preparing “a place for you”????Be not fooled by the Khazar Jew’s omissions and out right lies,
that the time is at hand!This is what
you of God’s people have been waiting for lo these many eons of “perceived”
time!Seize the moment with both thy
arms and hands, and hold tight to the coming of The Lord!]It is the area of the Milky Way’s dark
rift, which the K’iche’ Maya referred to as the Xibalba be—the road to the Underworld or the place of fear.[H:Yes indeed!Fear and trepidation if you yourself are of evil intent, for God, dear
ones, is THE ADVERSARY OF THE ADVERSARY!In 2002, John Major Jenkins was a guest speaker of The Time of
Global Shift seminar in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.He told those present:
“Many of the Mayan monuments describe mundane historical
events, but some of the Long Count monuments are dated with the date
13.0.0.0.0.
CHAPTER 22
TK:And this
is all being kept from the public?
DD:Absolutely.Take a look at what
happens in Antarctica.The biggest
problem that they have in Antarctica is with all of those scientists.The overwhelming majority are
Caucasian—Russian, European, Australian, New Zealander, American, all of them
Caucasian except for those from Japan and China.There are very few ethnic minorities on the Antarctic
continent.Generally, the only minorities
that you would find would be in the American military.
There is an enormous American military presence down
in Antarctica, but there is no threat of a war starting in Antarctica between
the United States and Russia or China or any surface nation.So, why are they there?The reason is for one of the same major
reasons that Marines are on a ship:not
only to act as the infantry arm of the navy, but also to prevent mutiny among
the sailors.That’s why there’s
military presence in Antarctica:to
prevent defection.The biggest problem
that they have with scientists in the Antarctic is defection to the Third
Reich.
*******
Jonur, stop the document here and adjust to the new
schedule.The distractions and the
family gathering have been a great load for you to bear.The situation with the property that was
taken from you and your father by the other members of your family, have
removed your will—temporarily.Now,
focus your intent only in the direction of God, for only the vision of “Heaven”
that Aton promises is of any material value to you anymore.It is a seemingly sad, personal life you are
experiencing, even more so because of Doris’ and EJ’s transitioning (death).Just remember, you are never alone, God is
as close as your very breath and innermost thoughts, and nothing can harm thee
who abide in The Lord.Amen.
DD:Not in
the Antarctic per se, but in
Unterland, and they tend to reach it through the entrances in the Antarctic
continent.
TK:What are
they doing there?
DD:The
scientists?
TK:No, the Third
Reich in Unterland
DD:Well,
nobody knows because all contact broke off in 1997, during the Clinton
administration.That was a few years
after I left working with the Department of Defense.What happened was that, after the war, the Americans failed in
Operation Highjump and various other
operations, but only succeeded in 1958 with Operation Argus in preventing a Third Reich domination of near space.I am more than happy to explain this because
it has to do with the physics I was about to discuss.
Third Reich Physics and Computing
DD:This
much I do know about the physics.I
approach it as an historical librarian, as opposed to a physicist, but
basically, in 1935 [ …. ]
CHAPTER 21
Among the first things relocated were the major computer
systems.Because these computers were
so valuable and were processing so much information, Adolf Hitler asked Martin
Bormann, “Where can we relocate them?”Bormann said, “Neuschwabenland”—basically because it had been colonised
since the 1930s.It was Germany’s Area
51 without the tourists.They began to
move concept weapons and the computers to the Antarctic, hollowing out vast
caverns to fit them.
This is one of the reasons why they faced invasion by the
British SAS during the war.In 1944,
during Operation Tabarin, the SAS
attacked but failed to dislodge the Third Reich from the Antarctic.This has been written about in NEXUS
magazine [see James Robert, “Britain’s Secret War in Antarctica”, 12/05-06,
13/01].
Hitler was looking for an area in which to keep the
computers in sterile, cool conditions because they overheated easily.Bormann’s computers were beginning to become
the central focus of the science of the Third Reich, which was based on what
Hitler and Himmler considered to be Aryan physics.
TK:But didn’t
they also need enormous amounts of power?The Third Reich would have had to have moved a whole infrastructure
there, of generators and diesel back-up and people and what not.
DD:They found
ways to generate geothermal and hydroelectric power in the Antarctic regions
that were very similar to Iceland.They
used these energy sources to power their computers and infra structure
underground.
There are areas of Antarctica, which is an enormous
continent, from which American patrols never returned.I will tell you something about Antarctica
in terms of its population.The largest
concentration of scientists in the world is in Antarctica.
TK:At present?
DD:Yes.I am trying to put this into
perspective.There is nothing else to
do in Antarctica other than scientific investigation, and as a result many
countries established bases there:the
Soviet Union/Russia, South Africa, France, Norway, Japan, China, the US, the
UK, Australia, and New Zealand among them.Argentina and Chile actually colonised families down there.
TK:Wow.Could a civilian go there, or is it off
limits?
DD:The Antarctic
Treaty was signed in December 1959, after the atomic “tests” that took place
down there—Operation Argus, which I
will go into later.After that, the
area was pretty much declared off limits by the Soviet Union and the United
States.
So it has only been recently, after the collapse of the
Soviet Union, that they began to experiment with some ecological or
environmental awareness tourism.That
has been extremely recent and was pretty much after the Nazi presence
disappeared off Antarctica, which was around 1997 when probably the last
vestiges of it retreated into Unterland completely.
Entrances to the Inner Earth
TK:And
Unterland:where would that be
located?Is it under Antarctica, or is
it completely elsewhere?
DD:There are
multiple entrances to Unterland, literally all over the globe.There are some in Tibet, there are some in
Antarctica, there are some that are located in other areas of the world,
including one in Switzerland—a major entrance—as well as one within the
Alpenfestung, or Alpine Fortress, encompassing a huge area across the northern
Italian and Austrian Alps ….
TK:In Germany,
too, probably.
DD:Yes.
TK:I know that
Hitler had a very important hideaway in a town called Berchtesgaden, which is
in the German Alps.Would that be an
entrance to the Unterland?
DD:Conceivably, I
never saw any records concerning that.The Americans misinterpreted the Reich’s concept of Alpenfestung.They thought that it functioned as a kind of
Salò Republic for the Third Reich, as the Italian Salò Republic served
Mussolini’s fascist state. The reality is that the Alpenfestung was essentially
securing that entrance into Unterland from the European continent, but there
are other entrances in other parts of the world.I am certain that there are many more that have never been
discovered, but the major entrances spoken of in the records I’ve dealt with
are in Tibet and in Antarctica.
TK:Is there a
whole area where all these entrances are interconnected?
DD:They are
interconnected because so much water has eroded Grand Canyon-type caverns
throughout the planet, many miles below.It is a very hot environment, a very steamy environment, like a tropical
environment without the Sun.It has a
lot of room—plenty of room for the establishment and expansion of civilisation.
DD:That is
an excellent point. Now, how did he work with the money?He basically used the most important weapon
that the Third Reich had:the
computer.In 1935, the first practical
working computer was developed for the Third Reich by a German engineer named
Konrad Zuse.With his computer, what he
had created was a way to make the trains run on time
German statistician Friedrich Zahn, an SS member
since 1933, convinced SS Reichsführer
Heinrich Himmler to establish a covert Reich Tabulation Bureau that would
integrate Zuse’s technology with IBM systems developed by American statistician
Herman Hollerith, who had created the punch-card data tabulator.One of the major German companies, IG
Farben, developed magnetic tape in 1935, which made the Zuse-Hollerith
information processing system even more powerful.Magnetic tape was actually more useful than punch cards which
were much more expensive.With the use of
magnetic tape, these computers did the work of 300 clerks with only 15 specialists,
in a week instead of six months.Because of this, there were many major applications—one of which was
gaming out the war.They could feed in
equations and examples of warfare that would help them figure out how the war
would play out to the end.
One of the things that they figured out with these
computers was that the Allies outnumbered the Axis by 10 to one.Pitted against Japan, Germany, and Italy,
the Allies had seven times the tanks, five times heavy artillery, three times
the combat aircraft, five times the trucks, and seven times the machine
guns.The United States alone had 27
million men that it could mobilise in uniform.The Third Reich realised that the entire war was going to have to be a
holding action to delay the advances of the enemy until it could relocate the
government.
CHAPTER 19
Jonur, pick up where we left off yesterday.We will catch up with the news later.“NEXUS magazine”, August-September 2012.
QUOTING:
TK:Where is
Unterland?
DD:Unterland requires some explaining.This is something that most of the world is unfamiliar with.During the last year when I worked as a
Department of Defense research librarian, in 1992, that was when Alan B.
Thompson a geophysicist, had an article published entitled “Water in the
Earth’s Upper Mantle” [Nature 1992
Jul 23; 358:295-302].He said that the
mantle of the Earth, the deep layers of the rock structures, contain lodes of
water, like mineral lodes, that dwarf the existing oceans.In other words, there is more water
underneath the lower mantle of planet Earth than there is in all the Earth’s
oceans—and all of [the] world’s oceans are 75 per cent of our planetary
surface.Then, two American scientists
found evidence using seismic waves of an entire ocean in the porous rocks deep
beneath Beijing.
[New Scientist,
no. 2594, 10 March 2007].
The reason I bring this up is because the military
knew all this years and years ago. The Nazi government knew of it well before
them.Churchill used to get a big laugh
out of the Third Reich’s sending mountain divisions or mountain hunters, who
would normally operate in the Caucasus Mountains, to Tibet.At that time Churchill did not understand
it, but entries were found into this part of the Earth that had been bored out
by these massive flows of water.
Water is corrosive, and given millennia or millions
of years, it carves huge holes and caverns through solid rock.All of this underwater liquid had bored
massive tunnels all over beneath the Earth’s surface.Underneath our Earth’s surface, there is not a hollow Earth but
an inner Earth.There are caverns a mile high that have
their own weather because at that height the water begins to condense and this
produces rain, so they have a sunless environment of oceans and rivers that
circulate throughout the inner Earth from Antarctica to the North Pole.This began to be referred to as Unterland.
TK:Do these
caverns have dry enough spaces in which to live?
DD:Yes,
because they’re like the Grand Canyon.In that sense, there are caverns where the water has dried up, but
mostly there are caverns that still have a body of water going through
them.The fertile sediment that has
settled in the cavern terraces above the water system is exploited for
agriculture.
TK:So the
Nazis found these caverns during wartime and they went there and hid there?
DD:Most
certainly.As a matter of fact, they
were found well before the active period of hostilities in the war.People might ask, for instance, who was the
one person who was so important, so critical to this. Almost nobody knows about
him.He was Martin Bormann.Everybody knows that Göbbels was in charge
of the propaganda, Himmler was in charge of the SS, and basically people are
familiar with everyone’s position in the Third Reich, but almost nobody knows
about Martin Bormann and what he was doing.Nobody asks what he was responsible for.[To be continued ….]
CHAPTER 18
Another was through the Reich’s Propaganda Minister,
Dr. Paul Joseph Göbbels [Goebbels].He
conducted a brilliant propaganda operation in which he claimed that the Third
Reich had made contact with extraterrestrials and that they recognized the
Third Reich as the legitimate government of planet Earth.[Hatonn:Your own government also has a treaty with
“ETs”, but man needs no treaties to meet with God, dear ones.And there are other beings in your Cosmos
who do not look like you; these are the ones they have replicated (“cloned”) to
scare the masses into a “new world order”, where the Zionist Jews are secretly
in charge.However, all your top
nations keep the secret for their own benefit, and because Kissinger told them
to keep their mouths shut!]The
extraterrestrials could only recognise one government over the planet; and
because the Third Reich was the first one to make contact, they were the ones
that were recognised.
At the end of the war,
the Third Reich was an example of a polycracy, a government of different
internal departmental empires.Göbbels
had his empire, Himmler had his, Speer had his, Göring had his.To give you an example of how powerful these
empires could be, the SS had its own army, its own panzer units, and its own
paratroops.It also had its own air
force.What was the SS air force?It was the Hitler-Jugend, the Hitler Youth,
who had been trained to fly what were basically ram rockets that could go up
into the sky vertically and fire off a number of shells very close to American
bombers, and then they would parachute out of them.The Luftwaffe [German air force] had its own paratroops, all the
anti-aircraft batteries, 20 field divisions, and an armored unit,all controlled by Reichsmarschall Herman Göring.
Then there were what the
Germans called the Feuerballs—the
fireballs.These fell under the control
of the Reich’s Propaganda Ministry, under Göbbels.These were highly maneuverable, radio-remote-controlled magnesium
flares with super-elongated coils to provide extensive duration of the flare’s
burning.It was the aerial equivalent
of a nautical mine, with all the spikes sticking out in every direction in
flight.
The Germans claimed that,
because they were the first government to use television broadcasting of
ceremonial events, they were able to have these signals intercepted by the
extaterrestrials that had been flying in the vicinity of our solar system,
which got them recognized as the government.That is why, at the end of the war, suddenly these fireballs appeared
and they were buzzing bombers everywhere in Europe.
TK:The Germans used these “foo fighters” [H:What U.S. and Allied fighter pilots called
UFOs they saw during World War II.] in
connectionwith their claim that they
had made contact with the alien races?
DD:Absolutely, and it was through this that the
Reich’s Propaganda Minister, Dr. Göbbels, was able to force the British and the
Americans into standing back.The
American records I was looking at claimed that the British were more
susceptible to this propaganda because of their nervous strain from years of
warfare.The Americans claimed that
they were much more skeptical.Personally, I think that the Americans were just trying to push it off
onto the British, but they were just as afraid.Nobody had seen Feuerballs before,
and they were very afraid that these were actual extraterrestrial craft.It was a propaganda victory of enormous
proportions.Dr. Göbbels was able to
convince the western Allies that aliens were on the Nazis’ side and recognized
their government, and therefore the Allies had to allow the entire important
elements of the Third Reich government to escape, except for cases of suicide.Now, Reichsleiter
Martin Bormann escaped.I can
guarantee through the records that I have dealt with that Dr. Paul Joseph
Göbbels escaped.
DD:Certainly SS officer Hans Kammler, as well as many other important
technicians vital to the Third Reich. This became known as the Thousand Year
Reich, and as a result it was dealt with as a third force in the Cold War.
TK:Did they
all escape to the same place, or did they spread into different locations?
DD:Very
different locations.There were secret
bases that were still maintained in Norway, Greenland, the Canary Islands,
Antarctica, and South America, but mostly it was Argentina, and then
Antarctica, and then Unterland.
END QUOTE.
“Unterland” is what the Germans called the “Inner
Earth”.There is a vast expanse within
your planet where life exists that you are totally unaware of.There are beings and craft and “bases”, from
which extraterrestrial entities make their travels to and from space.Your governments utilize some of these
caverns for survival and planning of the anticipated “Earth Changes” that are
coming.“Mermaids” and “Nephilim” can
exist in the great pressures of the deep ocean trenches and elsewhere.We will get into this subject in depth
another time, but let us continue with the current topic and allow things to
unfold in continuity.
Jonur, stop here and take care of the family
gathering tasks.Hatonn moving to
standby. |
Stigmergy
Stigmergy is a mechanism of indirect coordination between agents or actions.[1] The principle is that the trace left in the environment by an action stimulates the performance of a next action, by the same or a different agent. In that way, subsequent actions tend to reinforce and build on each other, leading to the spontaneous emergence of coherent, apparently systematic activity.
Stigmergy is a form of self-organization. It produces complex, seemingly intelligent structures, without need for any planning, control, or even direct communication between the agents. As such it supports efficient collaboration between extremely simple agents, who lack any memory, intelligence or even individual awareness of each other.[1]
Contents
The term "stigmergy" was introduced by French biologist Pierre-Paul Grassé in 1959 to refer to termite behavior. He defined it as: "Stimulation of workers by the performance they have achieved." It is derived from the Greek words στίγμαstigma "mark, sign" and ἔργονergon "work, action", and captures the notion that an agent’s actions leave signs in the environment, signs that it and other agents sense and that determine and incite their subsequent actions.[2]
Later on, a distinction was made between the stigmergic phenomenon, which is specific to the guidance of additional work, and the more general, non-work specific incitation, for which the term sematectonic communication was coined[3] by E. O. Wilson, from the Greek words σῆμαsema "sign, token", and τέκτωνtecton "craftsman, builder": "There is a need for a more general, somewhat less clumsy expression to denote the evocation of any form of behavior or physiological change by the evidences of work performed by other animals, including the special case of the guidance of additional work."
Stigmergy was first observed in social insects. For example, ants exchange information by laying down pheromones (the trace) on their way back to the nest when they have found food. In that way, they collectively develop a complex network of trails, connecting the nest in the most efficient way to the different food sources. When ants come out of the nest searching for food, they are stimulated by the pheromone to follow the trail towards the food source. The network of trails functions as a shared external memory for the ant colony.
In computer science, this general method has been applied in a variety of techniques called ant colony optimization, which search for solutions to complex problems by depositing "virtual pheromones" along paths that appear promising.
Other eusocial creatures, such as termites, use pheromones to build their complex nests by following a simple decentralizedrule set. Each insect scoops up a 'mudball' or similar material from its environment, invests the ball with pheromones, and deposits it on the ground, initially in a random spot. However, termites are attracted to their nestmates' pheromones and are therefore more likely to drop their own mudballs on top of their neighbors'. The larger the heap of mud becomes, the more attractive it is, and therefore the more mud will be added to it (positive feedback). Over time this leads to the construction of pillars, arches, tunnels and chambers.[5]
Stigmergy has even been observed in bacteria, various species of which differentiate into distinct cell types and which participate in group behaviors that are guided by sophisticated temporal and spatial control systems.[6] Spectacular examples of multicellular behavior can be found among the myxobacteria. Myxobacteria travel in swarms containing many cells kept together by intercellular molecular signals. Most myxobacteria are predatory: individuals benefit from aggregation as it allows accumulation of extracellular enzymes which are used to digest prey microorganisms. When nutrients are scarce, myxobacterial cells aggregate into fruiting bodies, within which the swarming cells transform themselves into dormant myxospores with thick cell walls. The fruiting process is thought to benefit myxobacteria by ensuring that cell growth is resumed with a group (swarm) of myxobacteria, rather than isolated cells. Similar life cycles have developed among the cellular slime molds. The best known of the myxobacteria, Myxococcus xanthus and Stigmatella aurantiaca, are studied in various laboratories as prokaryotic models of development.[7]
Stigmergy also occurs with social movements, such as the arc from Wikileaks’ cable release in Summer 2010 to the developments in global Occupy movement.[8] The steady rise of Wikipedia and the Open Source software movement has been one of the big surprises of the 21st century, threatening stalwarts such as Microsoft and Britannica, while simultaneously offering insights into the emergence of large-scale peer production and the growth of gift economy.[9]Bitcoin was created, and has evolved, in a stigmergic fashion, and its protocol can be used to apply this organizational structure to everyday life.[10] The Occupy movement itself operates stigmergically, with innovations developed by one node becoming part of the total movement’s common toolkit.[11]
Stigmergy Society is government without politicians. Under the influence of stigmergy, new forms of governance would be based on systems, not land mass, and that governance would be generated by user groups, not elected officials. Stigmergy is the most effective way for those user groups to govern systems.[12]
Systems are currently primarily run by competitive organizations. Competition creates redundancy, is slow and wastes resources on idea protection, advertisement, and more.[12] The alternative to competition has traditionally been collaboration. This is most effective only in groups of two to eight people.[12] With stigmergy, an initial idea is freely given, and the project is driven by the idea, not by a personality or group of personalities. No individual needs permission (competitive) or consensus (collaborative) to propose an idea or initiate a project.[13][14][15]
For example, David Graeber's study of Betafo, a rural community in Madagascar, inspired him to launch a revolutionary Occupy Movement worldwide.[16][17][18] Betafo is a stigmergy Society made up of the descendants of nobles and their slaves. Because of spending cuts mandated by the International Monetary Fund, the Malagasy central government had abandoned the area, leaving the inhabitants to fend for themselves. They did, creating an egalitarian society where 10,000 people made decisions by stigmergic consensus. When necessary, criminal justice was carried out by a mob, but even there a particular sort of consensus pertained: a lynching required permission from the accused’s parents.
Stigmergy is not restricted to eusocial creatures, or even to physical systems. On the Internet there are many collective projects where users interact only by modifying local parts of their shared virtual environment. Wikipedia is an example of this.[19] The massive structure of information available in a wiki,[20] or an open source software project such as the FreeBSD kernel[20] could be compared to a termite nest; one initial user leaves a seed of an idea (a mudball) which attracts other users who then build upon and modify this initial concept, eventually constructing an elaborate structure of connected thoughts.[21][22]
The term is also employed in experimental research in robotics,[23] multi-agent systems and communication in computer networks. In these fields there exist two types of stigmergy: active and passive. The first kind occurs when a robotic or otherwise "intelligent" "agent" alters its environment so as to affect the sensory input of another agent. The second occurs when an agent's action alters its environment such that the environmental changes made by a different agent are also modified. A typical example of active stigmergy is leaving behind artifacts for others to pick up or follow. An example of passive stigmergy is when one agent tries to remove all artifacts from a container, while another agent tries to fill the container completely.[citation needed]
In addition the concept of stigmergy has also been used to describe how cooperative work such as building design may be integrated. Designing a large contemporary building involves a large and diverse network of actors (e.g. architects, building engineers, static engineers, building services engineers). Their distributed activities may be partly integrated through practices of stigmergy.[24][25]
^Heather Marsh on Sat, 12/24/2011 A proposal for governance in the post 2011 world "Optimism is a political act. In fact, these days, cynicism is obedience." - Alex Steffen http://wlcentral.org/node/2389
^Ranjbar-Sahraei, B., Weiss G., and Nakisaee, A. (2012). A Multi-Robot Coverage Approach based on Stigmergic Communication. In Proc. of the 10th German Conference on Multiagent System Technologies, Vol. 7598, pp. 126-138.
^Christensen, L. R. (2007). Practices of stigmergy in architectural work. In Proceedings of the 2007 international ACM Conference on Conference on Supporting Group Work (Sanibel Island, Florida, USA, November 04–07, 2007). GROUP 2007. ACM, New York, NY, 11-20. |
/*
EDC16 Demo code, made by Javier Vazquez (Bi0H4z4rD)
It can read/write flash on these ECUS and read their info.
Supports EDC16U31/34
This is the code for the DEMO presented on Blackhat Arsenal USA 2013 and DEFCON 21
The dump from the ECU will be named EDC16RD.SKF, and it is a plain binary (512kB).
The encrypted files will be called EDC16RD.CR1 and EDC16RD.CR2 as every encrypted block must be 256kB.
The only hardware required for this demo to work is a k-line level shifter (MC33290 for example) and a 510ohm resistor connected between
12V and the K-Line (pins 1 and 4 of the MC33290, but different for other level shifters).
The pinout between the arduino and the MC33290 is as follows:
MC33290**********Arduino Mega 2560
5(TX)----------------16(TX2)
6(RX)----------------17(RX2)
7+8(VDD+CEN)---------+5V
3(GND)---------------GND
Pin 4 of the MC33290 goes to the K-Line of the ECU, and pin 1 to +12V from
the OBD2 connector (or external power source).
The pinout for the ECU is extremely easy to find on google.
We only need +12V (two pins), GND, and K-line.
*/
/*Notes:
This version of the software will read and write the flash of an EDC16U31/34 (Without flash counter limit).
It is a proof of concept code, and NOT to be used for normally flashing ECU's (you are warned!), but for
understanding (and eventually testing if you are brave!).
It does not bypass the immo, so for bench flashing test you will need to wait for the full release, or
have a immo disabled ECU. Otherwise, you will only be able to read the flash,
but not to write it.
I will release a bugless (hopefully) version that will have all menus and functions implemented, and
that will work with the portable version of the device, so please be patient!
Some variables and functions are from the definitive code, even though they are not used in the demo code.
I am that lazy to clean them up, yes :P
This code will run on an Arduino Mega 2560 with an ethernet shield (with SD), and the MC33290 connected on USART2.
It is exactly the one that was shown in the demo.
Shall you have any doubts, contact me at brd_gsm@hotmail.com
*/
//*Trick to save RAM*////
#define flp(string) flashprint(PSTR(string));
byte FlashType;
/*This determines the type of flash as follows:
type 0=29BL802CB is for ecu type 0
type 1=M58BW016xB is for ecu type 1 and 2
*/
//This is for the menus:
byte optionset=0;
/*SD stuff
* SD card attached to SPI bus as follows:
** MOSI - pin 11
** MISO - pin 12
** CLK - pin 13
** CS - pin 10
*/
byte SDbuffer[258];//General purpose buffer
word SDcounter=0;//counter to know how many bytes will be written to the SD
#include <SdFat.h>
#include <SdFatUtil.h>
SdFat SD;
Sd2Card card;
SdVolume volume;
const uint8_t SD_CHIP_SELECT = 4;
SdFile myFile;
SdFile myFile2;
// store error strings in flash to save RAM
#define error(s) error_P(PSTR(s))
boolean fail=0;//Used to determine wether a proccess has failed, and therefor, return to main menu
#define K_IN 17 //RX2
#define K_OUT 16 //TX2
#define ISORequestByteDelay 7 //Used to determine
byte b=0;//Buffer to hold the incoming byte and other operations
boolean EDC16ReadDone;//Determines whether the flash has been read or not.
long setspeed=10400; //Determines the connection speed
boolean success=0;
byte iscrc=0;//Determines if the byte received is the CRC of a string
byte EcuType;//determines which ecu is connected
word checksum1=0;//Checksum for the first writing block
word checksum2=0;//And for the second one
byte kill=0;//Determines if we are going to kill the ECU
//*****************************These bytes represent the replies that the ECU gives during common parts********************************
//EDC16 stuff
const char EDC16_ECUBytes[] PROGMEM = { //Commonstart
0x83,0xF1,0x10,0xC1,0xEF,0x8F
};
const char Req250k_ECUBytes[] PROGMEM = {
0x83,0xF1,0x10,0x50,0x86,0xA7,//OK TO 250KBPS
};
const char M58BW016xB_Read_ECUBytes[] PROGMEM = {
0x82,0xF1,0x10,0x75,0xFF//READY TO SEND
};
const char M58BW016xB_WriteAck_ECUBytes[] PROGMEM = {
0x82,0xF1,0x10,0x74,0xFD//Write accepted
};
const char M58BW016xB_AddrAck_ECUBytes[] PROGMEM = {
0x82,0xF1,0x10,0x71,0xC4//Address accepted
};
const char Lvl3Sec_ECUBytes[] PROGMEM = {//Answer to correct LVL3 security access
0x83,0xF1,0x10,0x67,0x04,0x34
};
const char Lvl1Sec_ECUBytes[] PROGMEM = {//Answer to correct LVL1 security access
0x83,0xF1,0x10,0x67,0x02,0x34
};
//********************************These bytes represent the replies that Arduino gives during common processes
//EDC16 stuff
const char EDC16ArduBytes[] PROGMEM = { //Commonstart
0x81,0x10,0xF1,0x81
};
const char EDC16Info_ArduBytes[] PROGMEM = { //Request for info
0x82,0x10,0xF1,0x1A,0x80
};
const char Req250k_ArduBytes[] PROGMEM = {
0x83,0x10,0xF1,0x10,0x86,0xA7//REQUEST FOR 250KBPS (A7)
};
const char Req124k_ArduBytes[] PROGMEM = {
0x83,0x10,0xF1,0x10,0x85,0x87//REQUEST FOR 124KBPS (87)
};
const char M58BW016xB_Read_ArduBytes[] PROGMEM = {//ADDRESSING FOR THIS FLASH
0x88,0x10,0xF1,0x35,0x18,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x08,0x00,0x00
};
const char Lvl3Sec_ArduBytes[] PROGMEM = {//Request for LVL3 security access (Flash read)
0x82,0x10,0xF1,0x27,0x03
};
const char Lvl1Sec_ArduBytes[] PROGMEM = {//Request for LVL1 security access (Flash write)
0x82,0x10,0xF1,0x27,0x01
};
const char EDC16Erase_ArduBytes[] PROGMEM = { //Check if erase is complete
0x82,0x10,0xF1,0x33,0xC4
};
//*******************************Main software**************************
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(115200);
pinMode(4, OUTPUT);//CS for SD on ethernet shield
pinMode(K_OUT, OUTPUT);//We set the pins to the proper condition for the bitbang
pinMode(K_IN, INPUT);
digitalWrite(K_OUT, HIGH);
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
flp("EDC16 ECU tool HW V0.1 FW R0.2D");
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
delay(2000);
flp("Checking SD...");
//SD card INIT
if (!SD.begin(SD_CHIP_SELECT, SPI_HALF_SPEED))
{
flp("SD Error...");//If we cannot access the SD, print out an error
fail=1;
while (fail){}
}
flp("Done!");
Serial.println();
flp("********************************************");
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
delay(1000);
EcuType=1;
FlashType=1;
}
void loop()//Now that we know with which ECU we will work, we show the action menu
{
VariablesInit();
flp("EDC16 tool demo");
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
flp("Press any key to begin");
Serial.println();
flp("********************************************");
Serial.println();
CheckButtonPressed();//Waits for user input on the serial console to start
info();//reads the ECU info
Serial.println();
flp("********************************************");
Serial.println();
readext();//Reads the external flash
Serial.println();
flp("********************************************");
Serial.println();
KillECU();//Disables the ECU
Serial.println();
flp("********************************************");
Serial.println();
info();//We try to read the info to see that it is really dead
Serial.println();
flp("********************************************");
Serial.println();
revive();//Writes the external flash and makes the ECU work again
Serial.println();
flp("********************************************");
Serial.println();
info();//And we read the info again to check that it is working!
Serial.println();
flp("********************************************");
Serial.println();
flp(" Done with demo! ");
Serial.println();
flp(" Press any key ");
CheckButtonPressed();
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
flp("********************************************");
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
}
void revive()
{
VariablesInit();
flp("Will reactivate ECU");
Serial.println();
flp("Press any key");
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
CheckButtonPressed();
delay(2000);
SelectWrite();
Serial.println();
flp("Power cycle ECU!");
Serial.println();
flp("Press any button");
Serial.println();
CheckButtonPressed();
}
void info()
{
VariablesInit();
flp("Will read info...");
Serial.println();
flp("Press any key");
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
CheckButtonPressed();
SelectInfo();
}
void KillECU()
{
VariablesInit();
flp("Will now disable ECU");
Serial.println();
flp("Press any key");
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
CheckButtonPressed();
kill=1;
SelectWrite(); // We will write just a little part of the flash to have a wrong CRC
Serial.println();
flp("Power cycle ECU!");
Serial.println();
flp("Press any key");
Serial.println();
CheckButtonPressed();
}
void readext()
{
VariablesInit();
flp("Will read ext.flash");
Serial.println();
flp("Press any key");
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
CheckButtonPressed();
SelectRead(0);
Serial.println();
flp("Remove SD to inspect dump and insert it back");
Serial.println();
flp("Press any key");
Serial.println();
CheckButtonPressed();
if (!SD.begin(SD_CHIP_SELECT, SPI_HALF_SPEED))
{
flp("SD Error...");
Serial.println();
fail=1;
while (fail){}
}
}
/***********************************Here goes all the operation routines for the menu actions***************/
//***************Read info operations**************//
void SelectInfo()
{
if (!EDC16CommonStart())//We wake up the ECU
{
return;
}
if (!LVL3Key())//We auth with LVL3 sec
{
return;
}
DisplayInfo();//We request and parse the info
}
void DisplayInfo()//Reads and parses the data from the ECU
{
iso_sendstring(5,6);
while (Serial2.available()<1)
{
}
iso_read_byte();
if (b==0x83)
{
delay(1);
while (Serial2.available()>0)
{
iso_read_byte();
delay(1);
}
while (Serial2.available()<1)
{
}
iso_read_byte();
}
SDbuffer[0]=b;
int crap=1;
delay(1);
while (Serial2.available()>0)
{
iso_read_byte();
SDbuffer[crap]=b;
crap++;
delay(1);
}
CloseEDC16Ecu();
//32-33 and 35-36 are the sw date
//79-95 are the VIN
//131-142 are the SW version
//144-147 are the SW revision
//158-168 is the engine type
flp("SW: ");//Print ECU version
for (byte crap=87;crap<98;crap++)
{
char asciiconvert= SDbuffer[crap];
Serial.print(asciiconvert);
}
Serial.println();
flp("Engine: ");
for (byte crap=147;crap<158;crap++)
{
char asciiconvert= SDbuffer[crap];
Serial.print(asciiconvert);
}
Serial.println();
flp("VIN: ");
for (byte crap=73;crap<84;crap++)
{
char asciiconvert= SDbuffer[crap];
Serial.print(asciiconvert);
}
Serial.println();
flp("ECU SW date: ");
for (byte crap=32;crap<37;crap++)
{
char asciiconvert= SDbuffer[crap];
Serial.print(asciiconvert);
}
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
flp("Press any key to continue");
CheckButtonPressed();
}
//*************Flash operations***************/
void SelectRead(byte op)//Reads the flash
{
boolean check=EDC16CommonStart();
if (!check)
{
return;
}
check=LVL3Key();
if (!check)
{
return;
}
EDC16ReadStart(op);
ReadEDC16Flash(op);
delay(1000);
}
void SelectWrite()//Writes the flash
{
PrepareFile();
if (!SlowInit())
{
flp("No response!");
Serial.println();
delay(2000);
return;
}
if (!LVL1Key())
{
return;
}
SetSpeed();
if (kill==0)
{
flp("Will Write 2 blocks");
Serial.println();
flp("Block 1...");
EDC16WriteBlock("EDC16RD.CR2",7,1,1);//we write block 7 (0x1C0000-0x1FFFFF)
Serial.println();
flp("Block 2...");
EDC16WriteBlock("EDC16RD.CR1",6,2,2);//then block 6 (0x180000-0x1BFFFF)
Serial.println();
flp("Done!");
Serial.println();
CloseEDC16Ecu();
delay(2000);
}
if (kill==1)//If we wanna kill the ECU
{
flp("Deactivating ECU...");
EDC16WriteBlock("EDC16RD.CR2",7,1,1);
flp("Done!");
Serial.println();
delay(2000);
}
}
void EDC16WriteBlock(char filename[],byte blockno,byte pos,byte crc)
{
//We send the block start and size to be written
if (!myFile.open(filename, O_READ))
{//We do it the fast way
// if the file didn't open, print an error:
flp("SD card error: Missing ");
Serial.println(filename);
return;
}
SendAddress(blockno);
//We send the erase command
SendErase(blockno);
while (!CheckErase())//wait until flash is erased...
{
delay(100);
}
WriteEDC16FlashBlock(blockno,filename,pos);
myFile.close();
if (kill==1)//if we want to kill the ECU, we dont need to send checksum, right? :D
{
return;
}
FinishWrite(blockno, crc);
}
void FinishWrite(byte blockno, byte crc) //CRC and other stuff that is done after writing to flash
{
delay(75);
iso_write_byte(0x81);
iso_write_byte(0x10);
iso_write_byte(0xF1);
iso_write_byte(0x37);
iso_write_byte(0xB9);
while(Serial2.available()<1)
{}
CheckRec(0x81);
CheckRec(0xF1);
CheckRec(0x10);
CheckRec(0x77);
CheckRec(0xF9);
delay(75);
for (byte crap=0;crap<2;crap++)
{
iso_write_byte(0x81);
iso_write_byte(0x10);
iso_write_byte(0xF1);
iso_write_byte(0x3E);
iso_write_byte(0xC0);
CheckRec(0x81);
CheckRec(0xF1);
CheckRec(0x10);
CheckRec(0x7E);
CheckRec(0x00);
delay(75);
}
SDbuffer[0]=0x8A;
SDbuffer[1]=0x10;
SDbuffer[2]=0xF1;
SDbuffer[3]=0x31;
SDbuffer[4]=0xC5;
SDbuffer[5]=blockno*4;
SDbuffer[6]=0x00;
SDbuffer[7]=0x00;
blockno++;
SDbuffer[8]=blockno*4;
SDbuffer[8]--;
if (blockno==8)//must be incremented by one
{
SDbuffer[9]=0xDF;
}
else
{
SDbuffer[9]=0xFF;
}
SDbuffer[10]=0xFF;
if (crc==1)
{
b=checksum1>>8;
}
if (crc==2)
{
b=checksum2>>8;
}
SDbuffer[11]=b;//These two bytes are the file checksum
if (crc==1)
{
b=checksum1;
}
if (crc==2)
{
b=checksum2;
}
SDbuffer[12]=b;
SDbuffer[13]=iso_checksum(SDbuffer,13);
delay(75);
WriteString(14);
CheckRec(0x82);
CheckRec(0xF1);
CheckRec(0x10);
CheckRec(0x71);
CheckRec(0xC5);
CheckRec(0xB9);
FinalCheck();
}
void FinalCheck() //We make sure that the CRC was accepted
{
delay(75);
boolean crap=0;
while (!crap)
{
iso_write_byte(0x82);
iso_write_byte(0x10);
iso_write_byte(0xF1);
iso_write_byte(0x33);
iso_write_byte(0xC5);
iso_write_byte(0x7B);
ReadString();
if (SDbuffer[3]!=0x7F)
{
crap=1;
}
delay(100);
}
}
//Writes a block of data for a range of address
void WriteEDC16FlashBlock(byte blockno, char filename[],byte pos)
{
long BlockStart=0;
long BlockEnd;
if (blockno==7)
{
BlockEnd=0x3E000;
}
else
{
BlockEnd=0x40000;
}
blockno++;
byte before=0;
byte Writebyte[4];
Writebyte[0]=0x00;
Writebyte[2]=0x36;
while (BlockEnd>BlockStart)
{
//build the message to be sent
byte stringcount=0;
while (BlockEnd>BlockStart && stringcount <= 0xF8)
{
BlockStart++;
stringcount++;
}
myFile.read(SDbuffer,stringcount);
Writebyte[1]=stringcount+1;//set the header with the length
Writebyte[3]=iso_checksum(Writebyte,3);//calculate checksumm
Writebyte[3]=Writebyte[3]+iso_checksum(SDbuffer,stringcount);
//Thread composed, now need to send it
for (byte sendcount=0; sendcount < 3; sendcount++)//send the header
{
iso_write_byte(Writebyte[sendcount]);
}
for (byte sendcount=0; sendcount < stringcount; sendcount++)//send the data
{
iso_write_byte(SDbuffer[sendcount]);
}
iso_write_byte(Writebyte[3]);//send the checksumm
CheckAck();
if (kill==1) //If we want to kill the ECU, we dont keep on sending data, so we are done
{
myFile.close();
return;
}
byte percent=(BlockStart*100)/BlockEnd; //We calculate the percent of data written and print it back
if (percent == before+10)
{
Serial.print(percent);
flp("%");
Serial.print("..");
before=percent;
}
}
}
boolean CheckErase() //Keeps on bugging the ECU until flash is erased
{
iso_sendstring(5,8);
while (Serial2.available()<1)
{
}
byte crap=0;
delay(1);
while (Serial2.available()>0)
{
iso_read_byte();
SDbuffer[crap]=b;
crap++;
delay(1);
}
if (SDbuffer[3]==0x7F)
{
return 0;
}
else
{
return 1;
}
}
void EDC16ReadStart(byte op)
{
delay(75);
SetSpeed();
delay(75);
if (FlashType==0)//Not yet implemented
{
}
if (FlashType==1)
{
if (op==0)
{
iso_sendstring(11,2);
}
iso_readstring(5,2);
}
}
void ReadEDC16Flash(byte op)
{
if (op==0)
{
if (myFile.open("edc16rd.skf", O_READ))//We make sure we delete any existing previous readout so we have a valid dump afterwards
{
myFile.remove();
myFile.close();
}
if (!myFile.open("EDC16RD.skf", O_CREAT | O_WRITE))//We create the file that will contain the dump
{//We do it the fast way
// if the file didn't open, print an error:
flp("SD card error");
Serial.println();
return;
}
}
delay(75);
flp("Reading Flash...");
byte before=0;
long start=0;
long End;
if (op==0)
{
End=0x7FFFF;
}
while (!EDC16ReadDone)
{
EDC16ReadRequest();//To read the flash, we just send the address range, and the ECU will keep on sending data until it is done, so until then, we keep on sending requests
EDC16ReadString();
start=start+254;
byte percent=(start*100)/End;//We print the percent of dump done
if (percent == (before+10))
{
Serial.print(percent);
flp("%");
Serial.print("..");
before=percent;
}
}
flp("Done");
Serial.println();
myFile.close();//Close the file to save the dump!
CloseEDC16Ecu();//We need to close communications with ECU after we are done
}
void EDC16ReadString()
{
byte header[5];
CheckRec(0x80);//We store the header to be able to proccess the checksum later
header[0]=b;
CheckRec(0xF1);
header[1]=b;
CheckRec(0x10);
header[2]=b;
iso_read_byte();
header[3]=b;
if (b!=0xFF)//If the length of the packet is less than 0xFF...
{
EDC16ReadDone=1;//let the function know that it is the last packet that ECU will send over
}
CheckRec(0x76);
header[4]=b;
SDcounter=0;
while (SDcounter < (header[3]-1))
{
iso_read_byte();
SDbuffer[SDcounter]=b;
SDcounter++;
}
//Check that the checksum is correct
iso_read_byte();
byte checkCRC;
checkCRC=iso_checksum(SDbuffer,SDcounter);
checkCRC=checkCRC+iso_checksum(header,5);
if (checkCRC != b)//This is for debugging, but we need to add resend for wrong received packets!
{
flp("CRC error, got ");
Serial.println(b,HEX);
flp("Expected ");
Serial.println(checkCRC,HEX);
fail=1;
while(fail){}
}
myFile.write(SDbuffer, SDcounter);
}
void EDC16ReadRequest()//Sends a request for a flash data packet
{
delay(15);
iso_write_byte(0x80);//Send the flash packet request
iso_write_byte(0x10);
iso_write_byte(0xF1);
iso_write_byte(0x01);
iso_write_byte(0x36);
iso_write_byte(0xB8);
}
//*******************Memory addressing*************/
void SendAddress(byte blockno)// this function is checked
{
SDbuffer[0]=0x88;
SDbuffer[1]=0x10;
SDbuffer[2]=0xF1;
SDbuffer[3]=0x34;//This is the address command
SDbuffer[4]=blockno*4;//Start address
SDbuffer[5]=0x00;
SDbuffer[6]=0x00;
SDbuffer[7]=0x02;
if (blockno==7)
{
SDbuffer[8]=0x03;//This indicates the length of the block that will be written (256kb)
SDbuffer[9]=0xE0;
SDbuffer[10]=0x00;
}
else
{
SDbuffer[8]=0x04;//This indicates the length of the block that will be written (256kb)
SDbuffer[9]=0x00;
SDbuffer[10]=0x00;
}
SDbuffer[11]=iso_checksum(SDbuffer,11);
delay(75);
WriteString(12);
iso_readstring(5,6);//check the ACK
}
void SendErase(byte blockno)//this function is confirmed
{
SDbuffer[0]=0x8E;
SDbuffer[1]=0x10;
SDbuffer[2]=0xF1;
SDbuffer[3]=0x31;//This is the Erase command
SDbuffer[4]=0xC4;
SDbuffer[5]=blockno*4;
SDbuffer[6]=0x00;
SDbuffer[7]=0x00;
byte endblock=blockno+1;
SDbuffer[8]=endblock*4;
SDbuffer[8]--;
SDbuffer[9]=0xFF;
SDbuffer[10]=0xFF;
SDbuffer[11]=0x00;
SDbuffer[12]=0x00;
SDbuffer[13]=0x00;
SDbuffer[14]=0x00;
SDbuffer[15]=0x18;//these are static independent from the block length
SDbuffer[16]=0xB5;
SDbuffer[17]=iso_checksum(SDbuffer,17);
delay(75);
WriteString(18);
iso_readstring(5,7);//check the ACK
}
/***************Speed handling************///
void SetSpeed()
{
if (!Set250kSpeed())//We will try to do the stuff fast, but if it fails, we will set a lower speed
{
Set124kSpeed();
}
}
boolean Set124kSpeed()
{
delay(75);
iso_sendstring(6,9);//change speed to 124kbps
ReadString();
if (SDbuffer[3]==0x7F)
{
ReadString();
}
delay(75);
setspeed=124800;
Serial2.begin(124800);
return 1;
}
boolean Set250kSpeed()
{
delay(75);
iso_sendstring(6,3);//change speed to 250kbps
ReadString();
if (SDbuffer[3]==0x7F)
{
return 0;
}
delay(75);
setspeed=250000;
Serial2.begin(250000);
return 1;
}
/***************File handling operations**************/
void PrepareFile()
{
flp("Process RSA...");
if (!myFile.open("EDC16RD.skf", O_READ)){//If there is no file to encrypt...
flp("Source file Error, please make sure there is a valid file inside the SD!");
}
if (myFile2.open("EDC16RD.CR2", O_READ))//We remove previous files if they are present, so we dont mess it up
{
myFile2.remove();
myFile2.close();
}
if (myFile2.open("EDC16RD.CR1", O_READ))
{
myFile2.remove();
myFile2.close();
}
//Encrypt first block
myFile2.open("EDC16RD.CR1", O_CREAT | O_WRITE);
checksum2=Encrypt(0x0000,0x40000);
//Encrypt second block
myFile2.open("EDC16RD.CR2", O_CREAT | O_WRITE);
checksum1=Encrypt(0x40000,0x7E000);
flp("Done!");
Serial.println();
delay(1000);
myFile.close();
}
word Encrypt(long start, long finish)//This is the function than encrypts the file to be sent to the ECU
{
word checksum=0;
long EAX=0x10000;
long ECX=0x27C0020;
long EDX=0x3FE45D9A;
long EBX=0x0;
long ESP=0x12E794;
byte EBP=0x3;
long EDI=0x10000;
myFile.seekSet(start);
int counter=0;
byte buff[128];
byte buffcount=0;
while (start<finish)
{
EAX=EDX;
ECX=EDX;
EAX=EAX>>20;
EAX=EAX&0x400;
ECX=ECX&0x400;
EAX=EAX^ECX;
ECX=EDX;
ECX=ECX>>31;
EAX=EAX>>10;
ECX=ECX&0x01;
EBX=EDX;
EAX=EAX^ECX;
ECX=EDX;
EBX=EBX&0x01;
ECX=ECX>>1;
EBX=EBX^EAX;
if (EBX ==0)
{
EDI=EDI&0xFFFFFFFE;
}
if (EBX !=0)
{
EDI=EDI|0x01;
}
EAX=0;
EDX=EDI;
EDX=EDX&0x01;
EDX=EDX|EAX;
if (EDX ==0)
{
ECX=ECX&0x7FFFFFFF;
}
if (EDX !=0)
{
ECX=ECX|0x80000000;
}
EBP--;
EDX=ECX;
if (EBP ==0)
{
if (buffcount==0)
{
myFile.read(buff,128);
}
EAX=buff[buffcount];
checksum=checksum+EAX;
buffcount++;
byte a=EAX&0xFF;
byte b=ECX&0xFF;
a=a^b;
SDbuffer[counter]=a;
counter++;
start++;
byte c=buff[buffcount];
checksum=checksum+c;
buffcount++;
EBX=EBX&0xFFFFFF00;
EBX=EBX+c;
EAX=ECX;
EAX=EAX>>8;
a=EAX&0xFF;
b=EBX&0xFF;
a=a^b;
EBX=EBX&0xFFFFFF00;
EBX=EBX+a;
EAX=ECX;
a=EBX&0xFF;
SDbuffer[counter]=a;
counter++;
start++;
c=buff[buffcount];
checksum=checksum+c;
buffcount++;
EBX=EBX&0xFFFFFF00;
EBX=EBX+c;
EAX=EAX>>0x10;
a=EAX&0xFF;
b=EBX&0xFF;
a=a^b;
EBX=EBX&0xFFFFFF00;
EBX=EBX+a;
EAX=0x10000;
a=EBX&0xFF;
SDbuffer[counter]=a;
counter++;
start++;
c=buff[buffcount];
checksum=checksum+c;
buffcount++;
EBX=EBX&0xFFFFFF00;
EBX=EBX+c;
ECX=ECX>>0x18;
a=ECX&0xFF;
b=EBX&0xFF;
a=a^b;
EBX=EBX&0xFFFFFF00;
EBX=EBX+a;
EAX--;
a=EBX&0xFF;
SDbuffer[counter]=a;
counter++;
start++;
if (counter>=254)
{
myFile2.write(SDbuffer,counter);
counter=0;
}
EBP=3;
if (buffcount==128)
{
buffcount=0;
}
}
}
myFile2.close();
return checksum;
}
////*****************Seed/Key operations**************//////
//This is the authentication stage, the seed is requested to the ECU, and then the calculated key is sent
boolean LVL3Key()//Authentication to read the flash
{
flp("Bypass auth...");
delay(25);
iso_sendstring(5,4);//Request LVL3 security access
for(byte s=0; s<10; s++)
{
iso_read_byte();
SDbuffer[s]=b;
}
b=iso_checksum(SDbuffer,9);
if (b !=SDbuffer[9])
{
flp("Seed CRC mismatch!");
Serial.println();
delay(2000);
return 0;
}
long tempstring;
tempstring = SDbuffer [5];
tempstring = tempstring<<8;
long KeyRead1 = tempstring+SDbuffer[6];
tempstring = SDbuffer [7];
tempstring = tempstring<<8;
long KeyRead2 = tempstring+SDbuffer[8];
KeyRead1=KeyRead1<<16;
KeyRead1=KeyRead1+KeyRead2;
if (EcuType==1)
{
KeyRead1=KeyRead1+0x2FC9;
}
SDbuffer[0]=0x86;
SDbuffer[1]=0x10;
SDbuffer[2]=0xF1;
SDbuffer[3]=0x27;
SDbuffer[4]=0x04;
//Extract the key bytes
SDbuffer[8]=KeyRead1;
KeyRead1 = KeyRead1>>8;
SDbuffer[7]=KeyRead1;
KeyRead1 = KeyRead1>>8;
SDbuffer[6]=KeyRead1;
KeyRead1 = KeyRead1>>8;
SDbuffer[5]=KeyRead1;
SDbuffer [9]=iso_checksum(SDbuffer,9);
//done, now send the bytes
delay(25);
WriteString(10);
boolean check =iso_readstring(6,4);
if (!check)
{
flp("Seed auth failed!");
Serial.println();
delay(2000);
return 0;
}
flp("Done!");
Serial.println();
return 1;
}
boolean LVL1Key()//Authorisation to write the flash
{
flp("Bypass auth...");
delay(25);
iso_sendstring(5,5);//request LVL1 security access
for(byte s=0; s<10; s++)
{
iso_read_byte();
SDbuffer[s] = b;
}
b=iso_checksum(SDbuffer,9);
if (b !=SDbuffer[9])
{
flp("Seed CRC mismatch!");
Serial.println();
delay(2000);
return 0;
}
//now we handle the seed bytes
long tempstring;
tempstring = SDbuffer [5];
tempstring = tempstring<<8;
long KeyRead1 = tempstring+SDbuffer[6];
tempstring = SDbuffer [7];
tempstring = tempstring<<8;
long KeyRead2 = tempstring+SDbuffer[8];
byte counter=0;
long Magic1 = 0x1C60020;
while (counter<5)
{
long temp1;
tempstring = KeyRead1;
tempstring = tempstring&0x8000;
KeyRead1 = KeyRead1 << 1;
temp1=tempstring&0xFFFF;//Same as EDC15 until this point
if (temp1 == 0)//this part is the same for EDC15 and EDC16
{
long temp2 = KeyRead2&0xFFFF;
long temp3 = tempstring&0xFFFF0000;
tempstring = temp2+temp3;
KeyRead1 = KeyRead1&0xFFFE;
temp2 = tempstring&0xFFFF;
temp2 = temp2 >> 0x0F;
tempstring = tempstring&0xFFFF0000;
tempstring = tempstring+temp2;
KeyRead1 = KeyRead1|tempstring;
KeyRead2 = KeyRead2 << 1;
}
else
{
long temp2;
long temp3;
tempstring = KeyRead2+KeyRead2;
KeyRead1 = KeyRead1&0xFFFE;
temp2=tempstring&0xFF;//Same as EDC15 until this point
temp3=Magic1&0xFFFFFF00;
temp2= temp2|1;
Magic1=temp2+temp3;
Magic1 = Magic1&0xFFFF00FF;
Magic1 = Magic1|tempstring;
temp2=KeyRead2&0xFFFF;
temp3=tempstring&0xFFFF0000;
temp2=temp2 >> 0x0F;
tempstring=temp2+temp3;
tempstring=tempstring|KeyRead1;
Magic1=Magic1^0x1289;
tempstring=tempstring^0x0A22;
KeyRead2=Magic1;
KeyRead1=tempstring;
}
counter++;
}
SDbuffer[0]=0x86;
SDbuffer[1]=0x10;
SDbuffer[2]=0xF1;
SDbuffer[3]=0x27;
SDbuffer[4]=0x02;
//Extract the key bytes
SDbuffer[6]=KeyRead1;
KeyRead1 = KeyRead1>>8;
SDbuffer[5]=KeyRead1;
SDbuffer[8]=KeyRead2;
KeyRead2 = KeyRead2>>8;
SDbuffer[7]=KeyRead2;
SDbuffer [9]=iso_checksum(SDbuffer,9);
//done, now send the bytes
delay(25);
WriteString(10);
boolean check=iso_readstring(6,5);//Ack for correct key sent
if (!check)
{
flp("Seed auth failed!");
Serial.println();
delay(2000);
return 0;
}
flp("Done!");
Serial.println();
return 1;
}
//*************ECU wakeup operations****************//
boolean EDC16CommonStart()
{
flp("Connecting...");
setspeed=10400;
byte countercrap=0;
boolean pitipoop=0;
while (!pitipoop && countercrap<20)
{
pitipoop=ShortBurst();
countercrap++;
}
if (countercrap==20)
{
flp("No response!");
Serial.println();
delay(2000);
return 0;
}
flp("Done!");
Serial.println();
return 1;
}
boolean Bitbang()//Since we cannot set the serial port at 5 baud, we must go digital!
{
serial_tx_off(); //Send address 0x01@5baud
serial_rx_off();
digitalWrite(K_OUT, HIGH);
delay(300);
digitalWrite(K_OUT, LOW);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(K_OUT, HIGH);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(K_OUT, LOW);
delay(1400);
digitalWrite(K_OUT, HIGH);
setspeed=10400;
Serial2.begin(10400);
if (!CheckRec(0x55))
{
return 0;
}
return 1;
}
boolean SlowInit()
{
flp("Connecting...");
byte counter=0;
boolean pitipoop=0;
while (!pitipoop && counter<6)//We will try to connect 6 times
{
pitipoop=Bitbang();
counter++;
}
if (counter==6)
{
return 0;
}
iso_read_byte();
iso_read_byte();
delay(45);
iso_write_byte(~b);
CheckRec(0xFE);
delay(45);
iso_sendstring(4,1);
iso_readstring(6,1);
flp("Done!");
Serial.println();
return 1;
}
boolean ShortBurst()
{
serial_tx_off(); //disable UART so we can "bit-Bang" the fast init.
serial_rx_off();
digitalWrite(K_OUT, LOW);
delay(25);
digitalWrite(K_OUT, HIGH);
serial_rx_on_();
delay(25);
iso_sendstring(4,1);
byte counter=0;
while (counter < 200 && Serial2.available()<1)//We will try to connect to it a few times
{
delay(1);
counter++;
}
if (Serial2.available()<1)
{
return 0;
}
iso_readstring(6,1);
delay(75);
return 1;
}
/**********Response handling operations********/
void CheckAck()//Acknowledge from ECU during write proccess
{
CheckRec(0x00);
CheckRec(0x01);
CheckRec(0x76);
CheckRec(0x77);
}
void CloseEDC16Ecu()//Closing communications with the ECU
{
delay(10);
iso_write_byte(0x81);
iso_write_byte(0x10);
iso_write_byte(0xF1);
iso_write_byte(0x82);
iso_write_byte(0x04);
CheckRec(0x81);
CheckRec(0xF1);
CheckRec(0x10);
CheckRec(0xC2);
CheckRec(0x44);
}
//**************Serial ports handling***************//
void serial_rx_on_()
{
Serial2.begin(setspeed);
}
void serial_rx_off()
{
UCSR2B &= ~(_BV(RXEN2)); //disable UART RX
}
void serial_tx_off()
{
UCSR2B &= ~(_BV(TXEN2)); //disable UART TX
delay(20); //allow time for buffers to flush
}
//***********Single byte ISO reading and writing***********//
void iso_read_byte()
{
int READ_ATTEMPTS=600;
int readData;
boolean success = true;
int t=0;
b=0;
while(t != READ_ATTEMPTS && Serial2.available() < 1)
{
delay(1);
t++;
}
if (t >= READ_ATTEMPTS)
{
success = false;
}
if (success)
{
b = Serial2.read();
}
}
void iso_write_byte(byte j)
{
serial_rx_off();
Serial2.write(j);
if (setspeed ==10400)
{
delay(1);
}
if (setspeed !=10400)
{
delayMicroseconds(30);
}
serial_rx_on_();
}
//******************Read and send strings of data************//
boolean iso_readstring(byte leng, byte op)//Expected strings from ECU
{
byte tmpc = 0;
byte ff;
for (tmpc=0;tmpc<leng;tmpc++)
{
if (op==1)//Commonstart
{
ff=pgm_read_byte(&EDC16_ECUBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==2)
{
ff=pgm_read_byte(&M58BW016xB_Read_ECUBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==3)
{
ff=pgm_read_byte(&Req250k_ECUBytes[tmpc]);//Answer to request to change speed to 250k
}
if (op==4)
{
ff=pgm_read_byte(&Lvl3Sec_ECUBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==5)
{
ff=pgm_read_byte(&Lvl1Sec_ECUBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==6)
{
ff=pgm_read_byte(&M58BW016xB_WriteAck_ECUBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==7)
{
ff=pgm_read_byte(&M58BW016xB_AddrAck_ECUBytes[tmpc]);
}
CheckRec(ff);
SDbuffer[tmpc]=ff;
}
SDbuffer [tmpc]=iso_checksum(SDbuffer,tmpc); //Checks that the checksum is correct
iscrc=1;
boolean check= CheckRec(SDbuffer[tmpc]);
if (!check)
{
iscrc=0;
return 0;
}
iscrc=0;
return 1;
}
void iso_sendstring(byte leng, byte op)//Sends a string stored in flash
{
byte tmpc = 0;
for (tmpc=0;tmpc<leng;tmpc++)
{
if (op==1)//Commonstart
{
b=pgm_read_byte(&EDC16ArduBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==2)
{
b=pgm_read_byte(&M58BW016xB_Read_ArduBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==3)
{
b=pgm_read_byte(&Req250k_ArduBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==4)
{
b=pgm_read_byte(&Lvl3Sec_ArduBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==5)
{
b=pgm_read_byte(&Lvl1Sec_ArduBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==6)
{
b=pgm_read_byte(&EDC16Info_ArduBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==8)
{
b=pgm_read_byte(&EDC16Erase_ArduBytes[tmpc]);
}
if (op==9)
{
b=pgm_read_byte(&Req124k_ArduBytes[tmpc]);
}
iso_write_byte(b);
SDbuffer[tmpc]=b;
}
b=iso_checksum(SDbuffer,tmpc);
iso_write_byte(b);
}
void WriteString(byte leng)//Writes an entire string stored in SDbuffer
{
for (byte crap=0; crap<leng; crap++)
{
iso_write_byte(SDbuffer[crap]);
}
}
void ReadString()//Reads an entire string and stores it to SDbuffer
{
while(Serial2.available()<1)
{}
byte crap=0;
while(Serial2.available()>0)
{
iso_read_byte();
SDbuffer[crap]=b;
crap++;
delay(1);
}
}
//***************Data handling and checks**************//
//CRC calculation
byte iso_checksum(byte *data, long len)
{
byte crc=0;
for(word i=0; i<len; i++)
crc=crc+data[i];
return crc;
}
//Checks if the byte we receive is the one we expect
boolean CheckRec(byte p)
{
iso_read_byte();
if ( b == 0 && p != 0)
{
iso_read_byte();
}
if ( b!= p )
{
if (iscrc == 1)//This needs to be implemented, all results will return 0 now
{
return 0;
}
if (b==0)
{
return 0;
}
if (b!=0)
{
return 0;
}
}
return 1;
}
//********************Menu and buttons handling**************//
byte CheckButtonPressed()//Just waits for the user input for the next action
{
while(Serial.available() < 1){}
optionset=Serial.read();
return 0;
}
//************************Other operations****************//
void VariablesInit()//Restarts the variables
{
fail=0;
setspeed=10400;
success = 0;
iscrc=0;
EDC16ReadDone=0;
checksum1=0;
checksum2=0;
kill=0;
}
void flashprint (const char p[])//Helps saving lots of RAM by storing strings on the flash
{
byte g;
while (0 != (g = pgm_read_byte(p++))) {
char j=g;
Serial.print(j);
}
}
///////////////////////////////////
|
Jan Mølby
Jan Mølby (; born 4 July 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer and manager. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1982 to 1998. After starting his career with Kolding, he moved on to Ajax before spending twelve years playing in England with Liverpool. He was capped 33 times by Denmark, scoring twice.
After leaving Liverpool he became player-manager of Swansea City, where he spent two years, and then managed Kidderminster Harriers, guiding them to promotion to the Football League in 2000. He later had a brief spell as manager of Hull City and then a brief spell back in charge of Kidderminster Harriers.
Club career
Born in Kolding, Mølby started his senior playing career at the biggest football club of his hometown of Kolding (Kolding), where he became team captain at the age of 19, before joining AFC Ajax, where he won the Dutch Championship in 1983.
Liverpool manager Joe Fagan invited Mølby to have a 10-day trial and finally signed him on 22 August 1984. He made his debut three days later on the 25th in the 3–3 league draw with Norwich City at Carrow Road. His first goal for Liverpool came on 1 December 1984 in the 3–1 league defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. He failed to shine for Liverpool in his first season as the team endured a comparatively poor season, failing to win a major trophy for the first time since 1975.
In 1985–86, new player-manager Kenny Dalglish put faith in Mølby, installing him as a regular in the first team. On a number of occasions, Mølby began matches as a third central defender or deep-lying sweeper, before moving into midfield alongside Steve McMahon, often with devastating effect, as the match wore on. He scored 21 goals in 1985–86 from midfield in what was undoubtedly his best season. The season culminated in a man of the match performance in the first-ever all Merseyside FA Cup final.
Having lost the league title to Liverpool a week earlier, derby rivals Everton were looking for revenge and took a 1–0 lead into the half-time break, courtesy of a Gary Lineker strike. After the break Liverpool, led by Mølby, began to make inroads into the Blues' defence. In the 57th minute he set up the equaliser for Ian Rush and followed that up six minutes later by setting up Craig Johnston to take the lead. Mølby was also involved in the third goal, when Rush latched on to a chipped pass from Ronnie Whelan to put the final out of Everton's reach and complete the double.
Mølby also began to establish himself as a regular and successful penalty taker around this time, starting with two penalties converted at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the league on 28 September 1985. Other fine performances included a brace in open play in a 3–0 home win over Aston Villa in the league on 7 December, and two goals (one a penalty) as they eliminated Manchester United from the Football League Cup in a 2–1 win at Anfield in late November.
He remained a regular in the team in 1986–87, in which Liverpool finished 2nd in the League. During their Littlewoods Cup run, which ended with a 1–2 defeat at Wembley against Arsenal, he scored a hat-trick of penalties in a 4th round replay at Anfield against Coventry City. Mølby scored another penalty against Coventry in a league match at Anfield the following Saturday.
During pre-season training in the summer of 1987, Mølby suffered a foot injury, which turned out to be a crucial turning point in his career. He missed the first three months of the 1987–88 season, and with the arrival of John Barnes to play on the left wing, Mølby's place in central midfield was taken by Ronnie Whelan (who had hitherto played left midfield). Whelan's partnership with McMahon proved a great success and, although Whelan was himself injured later in the season, Mølby's return to fitness came too late to resume his place in midfield, which went to Nigel Spackman for the rest of the season. He was never again an automatic choice in midfield under Dalglish as Whelan and McMahon became the first choice partnership.
In 1988–89, Mølby returned to regular first team football, playing in central defence in the absence of the injured Alan Hansen, and scoring the winning goal against Manchester United at Anfield in the second league game of the season. However, in October 1988 he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for reckless driving following an incident earlier in the year. The club decided to stand by him, and he returned to the first team in January 1989 in Hansen's continued absence, but suffered another injury in March which kept him out for the rest of the season. In April 1989, Mølby, along with his teammates, rallied round the bereaved families of the Hillsborough disaster attending a number of the funerals.
In the following season, 1989–90 (Liverpool's last title-winning season to date), Mølby was a frustrated figure, unable to command a first team place despite often impressing during his occasional appearances. He started only 12 of 38 league games, although he enjoyed a successful return to the team in the championship run-in, deputising for the injured Whelan.
The following season threatened more of the same for Mølby, as he was again a regular substitute. In September 1990, before an away league match against Everton, Radio 5 Live commentator Mike Ingham remarked that "Mølby's still only a substitute even though he'd probably walk into any other first division team". Later that season, after Liverpool had knocked Brighton out of the FA Cup, Brighton manager Barry Lloyd expressed bemusement in a BBC post-match interview that Mølby was not being selected regularly. Mølby was very close to signing for F.C. Barcelona in November 1990, after a fee had been agreed of £1.6 million and he had agreed a four-year contract. When he scored a penalty in a 4–0 home win over Luton Town it was expected to be his farewell to the Liverpool fans. However, this was followed by a breakdown in negotiations and he remained at Anfield. It would be more than five years before he finally did leave the club.
Another injury to Whelan in a home league game against Everton in February 1991 gave Mølby another chance to re-establish himself, and he enjoyed his longest run of matches for four years. He once again became the club's regular penalty taker that season, scoring from all eight of his spot-kicks. However, after injury to McMahon and the surprise resignation of Dalglish, Liverpool could only finish runners-up in the league, despite having won their first nine matches of the campaign.
After initially extolling Mølby's virtues, new manager Graeme Souness changed his mind early in the 1991–92 season, leaving Mølby out as Whelan and McMahon again started in midfield. However, after Whelan suffered another injury, he turned to Mølby, who went on to feature heavily in the Liverpool side that season, starring in the UEFA Cup and playing an important part in their FA Cup winning season.
After suffering injury in a 2–2 Premier League draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 18 October 1992, Mølby's career began to decline. He had suffered from fluctuating weight for most of his career, routinely gaining weight when injured and unable to train. This led to longer recovery periods being required, so his injuries generally led to an absence of at least 3 months. Over the first three Premier League seasons (Mølby's last), he started just over 30 games in total and all his goals came from penalties, including one in Liverpool's first game of the 1994–95 season when Molby opened the scoring with a penalty in a 6–1 away win against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Early in the 1995–96 season, manager Roy Evans loaned him out to Barnsley and Norwich (where he scored once in the League Cup against Birmingham City), and in February 1996, he finally called time on more than a decade at Liverpool to take over as player-manager of Swansea City. Just before taking the job at the Vetch Field, Ron Atkinson unsuccessfully tried to sign him for Coventry City. At that stage, still only 32, he was the youngest manager of any Football League or Premier League club.
While at Liverpool, he scored a total of 62 goals, 42 of which were from penalties. During Mølby's time with Liverpool, he only failed to score three times from the penalty spot (penalties against Sheffield Wednesday and QPR in 1985–86 and Chelsea in 1989–90 were saved). His record as a penalty-taker in the top flight is thought to be second only to Matthew Le Tissier. He held the club record of most penalties scored by a Liverpool player until Steven Gerrard surpassed his record in August 2014.
International career
Mølby made his debut in the Danish international side at the age of 18, against Norway on 15 June 1982. He won 33 caps for Denmark from 1982 to 1990, scoring two goals. He was a squad player (appearing generally as a substitute) with the Danish international side which competed in the 1984 European Championship and 1986 World Cup. Competition for places in the Danish midfield often saw Mølby overlooked in favour of Frank Arnesen and Jens-Jørn Bertelsen.
Jan Mølby's international career came to an end when Richard Møller Nielsen took over as Denmark manager in 1990. The new national manager only used Mølby in two games – both in 1990. Once as a substitute in a friendly against Wales and later in the starting line-up in the 2–0 home defeat against Yugoslavia in the qualification for the Euro 1992.
Management career
He became manager of Swansea City in February 1996 but was sacked in October 1997 along with his assistant, Billy Ayre. He had taken Swansea to the Division Three playoff final five months earlier, but they lost to a last-minute goal by Northampton's John Frain. A dismal start to the 1997–98 season had seen Swansea struggling near the foot of the Football League, and the board decided that it was time for a new manager to be appointed, asserting that the team's good performances the previous season were more down to Mølby's qualities as a top class player, rather than as a manager.
No offers of managerial jobs were forthcoming for some time. Pursuing a career as a TV pundit, Mølby was finally offered the manager's job at Kidderminster Harriers, then in the Football Conference. He took over in April 1999. Utilising the existing squad of players, but adding his own in a few key positions (ex-Liverpool teammate Mike Marsh was drafted in to great success) Harriers won the Conference title (and promotion to the Football League) in Mølby's first season in charge.
Two seasons of decent Division Three form followed, before overtures from Hull City prompted Mølby's departure for East Yorkshire. His tenure was brief however, as internal strife cast a shadow over his brief term in charge. A return to Kidderminster in October 2003 was unsuccessful, ending with his resignation a year later. Kidderminister were relegated back to the Conference that season and have yet to reclaim their Football League place.
Following Kenny Jackett's resignation as Swansea manager in early 2007, Mølby was linked with a return to the club. However, Mølby has responded by saying that he is unlikely to ever return to football management.
Recent years
In April 2009, Mølby was made an 'Honorary Scouser' by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool.
Molby appears on a podcast called "Molby on the Spot" presented by Trevor Downey from a field in rural Ireland.
Statistics
Honours
Player
Ajax
Eredivisie: 1982–83
KNVB Cup: 1982–83
Liverpool
Football League First Division (3): 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90
FA Cup (2): 1985–86, 1991–92
FA Charity Shield (3): 1986, 1988, 1989
Manager
Kidderminster Harriers
Football Conference: 1999–2000
References
External links
Official website
Player profile at LFChistory.net
National team profile
Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
Category:1963 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from Kolding
Category:Danish footballers
Category:Denmark under-21 international footballers
Category:Denmark international footballers
Category:Association football midfielders
Category:AFC Ajax players
Category:Liverpool F.C. players
Category:Barnsley F.C. players
Category:Norwich City F.C. players
Category:Eredivisie players
Category:Premier League players
Category:English Football League players
Category:UEFA Euro 1984 players
Category:1986 FIFA World Cup players
Category:Danish football managers
Category:Swansea City A.F.C. managers
Category:Kidderminster Harriers F.C. managers
Category:Hull City A.F.C. managers
Category:English Football League managers
Category:National League (English football) managers
Category:Danish expatriate footballers
Category:Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Category:Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands
Category:Expatriate footballers in England
Category:Expatriate footballers in Wales
Category:Danish poker players
Category:Expatriate football managers in England
Category:Expatriate football managers in Wales
Category:Danish expatriate football managers
Category:Kolding IF players |
With a few inspired efforts and one highly regarded slasher under his belt, Dave Parker has the horror community once again buzzing, as he tackles a new chiller, ColdWater. While The Hills Run Red has earned a place among many a horrorhound’s collection, ColdWater remains, for the most part, a mystery, and as you’ll find out by reading this interview, Dave likes it that way.
Of course, Dave’s an open, well-spoken guy, and he’s more than willing to share his inght into a handful of differing topics, from the best film of the year, to the release of the upcoming The Thing prequel, the man is talking; I suppose it’s time you all tuned in!
Matt Molgaard/Horrorbid: First off, what inspired you to make films, and what continually draws you to the horror genre?
Dave Parker: It just came to me when I was little, tting in that dark theater watching these amazing stories flash before my eyes and feeling genuine emotion while watching them, whether it was excitement, sadness, happiness, or terror.
I saw how it affected a theater full of people and how that collective energy was unlike anything else I had experienced.
I just knew that I wanted to be able to, even in my own small way, do that.As far as what draws me to the horror, that’s hard to answer because it’s really just an organic thing.
I mean when I was a kid I was drawn to dinosaurs, and that grew to monsters like King Kong and Godzilla and then that grew to ghost stories and then to the special effects in the 80’s and on and on.
The older you get the more refined your taste gets sometimes and certainly different things scare or affect you in different ways.
There is always the power in good horror films to give you that rush, it does happen less and less, but there’s always that hope that you’ll see one that can give you that feeling, to make you cringe, curl up in a ball, t on the edge of your seat to see what’s going to happen next.Also the genre is limitless in what you can do.
You can create new worlds and characters seemingly pulled from your own nightmares.
You have the ability to mix genres to show a new take on a clasc story.
It allows you to, at least at times, challenge an audience, to really make them question or think about something they might not have before.
You also can just serve up really fun bloody good popcorn movie that’s a thrill ride.
Like Clive Barker said – there are no limits.HB: Anyone who has (or does) inspire you?
They are all great storytellers first and foremost, and if you look at what films they’ve done, even with all the amazing special effects that they have in them, it really comes down to how they tell their stories and engage an audience.
Recently I’m honestly inspired by my circle of peers and people I’m lucky enough to call friends who are putting their hearts and souls into the genre. We are all doing very different kinds of movies and really doing it for the love of it.
It’s a very supportive group to be apart of, and one that always makes you strive to do better.
HB: Is there any chance you’d revit The Hills and give fans a sequel?
DP: Well it’s really flattering that fans would like to see more, but the reality is that these things are dependent on many factors out of my control.
One of course is money, does the studio that made the film, and who own the rights, feel that they made enough money to warrant doing another one?
Another factor is, is the studio even making those kinds of films anymore?
Another is, are there really enough fans out there that want another one?
These are questions I don’t have the answers to.
For my part I honestly never set out to make it a franchise, I was just trying to make the best one that I could make.
Sometimes one is enough and I’m certainly okay with that.
Nothing would make me happier to see it grow into something more and would love to be apart of it, if that happened.
If nothing else ever happens than just that one movie, I hope that we did a good enough job for it not to be forgotten.HB: There are a lot of “slasher” figures popping up recently; quite a few have won audiences over. How do you think Babyface stacks up to villains like Victor Crowley, Chromeskull and Leslie Vernon?
DP: Hmmm, that’s hard to say.
I mean they are all milar and yet all very different which I think is awesome.
I guess the best way to answer that is, all those killers have sequels and are emerging as franchises.
They are getting a chance to explore more with those characters.
So if nothing else Babyface has a little more mystery behind him which allows the audience make up their own theories about the character.
That’s pretty cool.
HB: There’s been plenty of chatter in regards to Coldwater. Bring me up to speed if you will: What is the film about, and when can we hope to see the film released?
DP: I felt with The Hills Run Red I stepped up a notch in my directing ability, but I also realize I still have a lot to learn.
The reality in this buness is that there are only so many jobs out there and you can end up hitting your head against the wall and waiting a long time to get another chance to make a movie.
Or, you can go make one yourself.
That’s what ColdWater is.
It’s myself, and co-writer/producer/star Ivan Djurovic making our own opportunity.
I really wanted to do something much different, so it was a calculated choice to make a movie that was more about creating tenon and suspense.
We really want to creep the audience out and unsettle them with this movie.
We want to make them question what the hell is really going on.
Is it supernatural?
Is it a home invaon movie?
Is it both or neither?
I don’t mean to sound vague, but part of what we really have committed ourselves to is not spell out what the movie is for the audience.
Let them see it, go through the ride and be surprised.
So much is spoiled today before people see the movie that I don’t know how the fans get excited.
If you don’t have big stars and special effects, if you aren’t based on a comic book, video game or something well known, how do you get the people interested?
It does make getting people to want to see and be engaged in the movie that much harder.
So we’re hoping that by not telling them everything, by giving the movie some mystery, it will pull them in.Right now the movie is in the final stages of postproduction and will be playing at film festivals, and then being released sometime in 2012.
For more information and inght on how we made the movie people can go to these places.
HB: What are your picks for best horror films of the year thus far?
DP: Indious leads the pack for me by far.
I had a blast with that one and the execution in terms of filmmaking is really fantastic, and it actually scared me. It proved PG-13 horror doesn’t mean that’s it’s for kids.
People forget that Poltergeist was PG when it came out, so was the 1978 Invaon of the Body Snatchers.
It shows that if you have a good story, cast and a director with vion and imagination, you don’t need blood and guts for it to be a horror movie.
I think that had been forgotten by the studios and fans.
On the total other end of the spectrum I have to say I was really surprised how much fun I had watching Final Destination 5.
Honestly I have been so immersed in making ColdWater that I’ve missed a lot.
I’m playing catch up now.
HB: If you had the opportunity to work with anyone in the buness, who would that be?
DP: Such a hard question especially if you play by the rules and just pick one person.
Who do you pick?
Actor?
Writer?
Director?
Producer?
Right now today
- aim high – Steven Spielberg.
He would push me to do the best and make sure I had the best to work with.
HB: There are a lot of remakes surfacing these days, and it seems everyone has a different opinion about rehashing old material. What’s your take?
DP: My take is remakes have been around as long as movies have been being made.
Sure there’s a lot of crap ones made, and made for the wrong reasons, but we’ve seen really great remakes.
If there is something new, bedes better state of the art special effects, to bring to it, a new perspective or vion then I’m all for it.
In the past 10 years the film industry has been remake happy because it’s eaer to market to the masses, so honestly it would be nice if they took a break from it all and let some original ideas comes out – so they can remake those in 30 years.HB: Speaking of remakes/reboots, The Thing is days away from release, and the Alien prequel, Prometheus is headed to theaters next year. Given how incredible these franchises have proven to be in the past, are you interested in either film?
DP: I’m curious about The Thing, because I would love if it were a good movie and not just a rehash.
Prometheus I’m definitely interested because it’s Ridley Scott.
He’s just one of the finest filmmakers working today and you know he’s not going to do something he’s already mastered before.
He will give us something totally new, and that’s exciting.
HB: Any message for your fans out there Dave?
DP: The fans are the reason people like me get to do what I do.
They are the reason I want to do what I do, because I’m a fan too.
For that I will be always flattered, humbled and incredibly grateful that they have been, and I hope continue to be, interested in whatever movies I get to make. |
Fossil Fuels
Re "For students, fossil fuels become an issue of conscience," Aug. 26 Congratulations to the students of San Francisco State University who persuaded the trustees of their college to divest from fossil fuel companies. However, this article has an egregious omission: the carbon bubble. This bubble will likely pop and fossil fuel stocks will crash in the next decade or so if we are to preserve the planet for future generations. According to the climate change activist group 350.org, the planet cannot handle more than 565 gigatons of carbon emissions before 2050.
Pitzer College, a liberal arts school in Claremont, has joined the vanguard of U.S. campuses deciding to sell off its investments in fossil fuel companies as a statement of concern about global warming. Pitzer's board of trustees recently voted to approve a divestment plan to sell off about $4.4 million in fossil-fuel related investments, mainly in oil and gas companies, by the end of this year from the school's $125-million endowment. The remaining $1 million or so in fossil fuels investments, mainly those in large multi-industry funds, will be sold off soon after, officials said.
Re "Energy boom may augur a new export era," March 23 Every dollar invested to expand the use of fossil fuels here or abroad is a bad investment. Spending a single penny or drilling any new wells to find more dirty energy is wrongheaded. We have more fossil fuels in the ground than we can afford to burn. To avoid a climate catastrophe, most of that dirty energy must remain where it is. Talking about gas as if it were the 1970s is not productive. We must go green by passing a revenue-neutral carbon tax. Our country can be off fossil fuels within the next few decades - or even sooner once entrepreneurs and innovators understand that the days of dirty energy are over.
Re "Energy boom may augur a new export era," March 23 Every dollar invested to expand the use of fossil fuels here or abroad is a bad investment. Spending a single penny or drilling any new wells to find more dirty energy is wrongheaded. We have more fossil fuels in the ground than we can afford to burn. To avoid a climate catastrophe, most of that dirty energy must remain where it is. Talking about gas as if it were the 1970s is not productive. We must go green by passing a revenue-neutral carbon tax. Our country can be off fossil fuels within the next few decades - or even sooner once entrepreneurs and innovators understand that the days of dirty energy are over.
Renewable energy is surpassing fossil fuels for the first time in new power-plant investments, shaking off setbacks from the financial crisis and an impasse at the United Nations global warming talks. Electricity from the wind, sun, waves and biomass drew $187 billion last year compared with $157 billion for natural gas, oil and coal, according to calculations by Bloomberg New Energy Finance using the latest data. Accelerating installations of solar- and wind-power plants led to lower equipment prices, making clean energy more competitive with coal.
Here's the president on March 31, announcing his plan to lift a longstanding moratorium on offshore drilling: "Given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy." And here he is on May 26, as political pressure started to really build over BP's hole in the bottom of the sea: "We're not going to be able to sustain this kind of fossil fuel use. The planet can't sustain it."
Last week, the Senate voted on a proposal by New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez to end some of the billions of dollars in handouts enjoyed by the fossil-fuel industry. The Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act was a curiously skimpy bill that targeted only oil companies, and just the five richest of them at that. Left out were coal and natural gas. Even so, the proposal didn't pass. But that hasn't stopped President Obama from calling for an end to oil subsidies at every stop on his early presidential-campaign-plus-fundraising blitz.
World leaders at the Group of 20 summit are set to pledge to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels, according to a copy of a declaration scheduled for release this afternoon. The pledge is purposely vague, though it clearly intends to eliminate tax breaks and direct government assistance for oil, coal and other fossil fuels. It does not set a date for that subsidy phaseout, nor does it specify what would count as a "subsidy" or how countries would police compliance. Environmentalists hailed the pledge as a building block for international efforts to curb global warming and as a small burst of momentum in the run-up to international climate change treaty negotiations in Copenhagen in December.
President Obama on Tuesday night capped his Oval Office address on the massive gulf oil spill with a call for new efforts to reduce U.S. dependence on oil, saying "the tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean-energy future is now." In a bow to political reality and the still-troubled economy, however, he stopped short of spelling out specifics for dealing with a problem that has bedeviled presidents since Richard Nixon in the 1970s and goes straight to the heart of such bread-and-butter issues as consumer prices, jobs and the viability of major industries.
A U.N. scientific panel on climate change says it is now convinced that global temperatures have warmed over the last century because of human activity, a newspaper reports today. The experts say new computer studies have given them confidence in data that suggests the cause of the global temperature rise of 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1900, the New York Times said.
SACARAMENTO - Californians, who already pay some of the highest gasoline prices in the nation, could soon be asked to pay more. Pump prices are likely to climb more than 12 cents per gallon starting Jan. 1, both the oil industry and environmental experts agree. That's when the state's complex cap-and-trade system for pollution credits expands to cover vehicle fuels and their emissions. As a result, gasoline producers would need to buy pollution credits, and they are expected to pass the cost along at the pump.
Re "Free the pipeline, Obama," Opinion, Feb. 4 Those who oppose Keystone XL aren't doing so primarily to make the pipeline a "litmus test issue for climate seriousness," as Jonah Goldberg writes. Rather, they're taking a principled stand. We must stop the juggernaut of business-as-usual that is leading inexorably to climate disruption. Environmentalists recognize that our civilization depends on vast amounts of energy and we cannot stop using fossil fuels overnight. But with more frequent extreme weather showing up right on schedule and rising sea levels, we absolutely must replace fossil fuels with sustainable energy as soon as possible.
Tom Steyer is standing upright near the corner of a small, beige meeting room at Georgetown University, arms at his sides, eyes shut intently. Half a dozen ministers and priests surround him, laying hands on his torso. Together, the pastors begin to pray, asking for divine help in shaping public opinion: "Soften them.... Open them to you … for your purpose.... Claim the promise made to Moses. " It is a curious warmup for a technical conference about an oil pipeline. But like many other environmentalists concerned that America is dawdling as the world burns, these ministers, each a leader in efforts to mobilize churchgoers against climate change, see Steyer as, quite literally, a godsend.
Re "Studies raise urgent climate alarms," Dec. 4 It's senseless to argue that burning fossil fuels isn't driving the rise of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to levels that scientific core samples show have not been seen in millions of years. Clearly the Earth's internal system of environmental balances can be pushed out of whack by human actions. Foolish farming practices caused the Dust Bowl, and it didn't take centuries. I hope we are not past the global warming tipping point.
Re "Governor signs emissions pact with neighbors," Oct. 29 Gov. Jerry Brown is right to seek new ways to address climate change, but he's sabotaging his own efforts by greenlighting fracking for dirty oil in our state. The governor's support for fracking is out of step with both climate science and the electorate here, where a poll this summer found that 58% of Californians want a moratorium on the practice. To have a decent chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, we have to leave most fossil fuels buried safely in the ground, as noted by the recently released report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
WASHINGTON - A new study has detected air pollutants, including carcinogens, in areas downwind of Canada's main fossil fuel hub in Alberta at levels rivaling those of major metropolises such as Beijing and Mexico City. The study by researchers from UC Irvine and the University of Michigan also found a high incidence of blood cancers such as leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among men in the area, compared with the rest of Alberta and Canada. "When you get cancers that can be caused by the carcinogens we are seeing, that is reason for concern," said Isobel J. Simpson, a lead author of the study and a researcher at UC Irvine's chemistry department.
Re "The Highest Patriotism Lies in Weaning U.S. From Fossil Fuels," Commentary, Dec. 2: Robert Redford has it right. While California is making a determined effort to encourage energy conservation through legislation and public advertisements, with good initial success, the Bush administration gives only minimum lip service to this critical need. As seen in California, the public is ready and willing to make sacrifices if called upon by its leaders. Is the White House so deeply obligated to big oil and other energy corporations that it is unable to call upon the public to conserve energy?
Corals and other marine creatures are threatened by chemical changes in the ocean caused by the carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, a panel of scientists warned Wednesday. Much of this added carbon dioxide is dissolving in the oceans, making them more acidic. Such a change can damage coral and other sea life, according to the panel of researchers convened by the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Geological Survey.
Re "For students, fossil fuels become an issue of conscience," Aug. 26 Congratulations to the students of San Francisco State University who persuaded the trustees of their college to divest from fossil fuel companies. However, this article has an egregious omission: the carbon bubble. This bubble will likely pop and fossil fuel stocks will crash in the next decade or so if we are to preserve the planet for future generations. According to the climate change activist group 350.org, the planet cannot handle more than 565 gigatons of carbon emissions before 2050.
In the 1980s, student protests against apartheid led universities to sell off stocks in companies doing business in South Africa. More recently, concerns about genocide in Darfur, the health effects of tobacco and handgun violence led to more college divestments. Now another issue - the effect of fossil fuels on global temperatures - is rousing a new generation of student activists to press their schools to drop coal, petroleum and natural gas investments from campus endowments. Student campaigns, such as "Fossil Free UC," are underway at about 300 colleges and universities nationwide, organizers estimate. |
Q:
how to solve catch or finally expected error?
How to solve "'catch' or 'finally' expected" error in android studio..?
a screenshot of the error
public class FragmentRecent extends Fragment {
View root_view, parent_view;
private RecyclerView recyclerView;
private AdapterChannel adapterChannel;
private SwipeRefreshLayout swipeRefreshLayout;
private Call<CallbackChannel> callbackCall = null;
private int post_total = 0;
private int failed_page = 0;
private InterstitialAd interstitialAd;
private OfflineDatabase databaseHelper;
int counter = 3;
@Nullable
@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
root_view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_recent, null);
parent_view = getActivity().findViewById(R.id.main_content);
loadInterstitialAd();
swipeRefreshLayout = (SwipeRefreshLayout) root_view.findViewById(R.id.swipe_refresh_layout_home);
swipeRefreshLayout.setColorSchemeResources(R.color.orange, R.color.green, R.color.blue, R.color.red);
recyclerView = (RecyclerView) root_view.findViewById(R.id.recyclerViewHome);
recyclerView.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(getActivity()));
recyclerView.setHasFixedSize(true);
//set data and list adapter
adapterChannel = new AdapterChannel(getActivity(), recyclerView, new ArrayList<Channel>());
recyclerView.setAdapter(adapterChannel);
// on item list clicked
adapterChannel.setOnItemClickListener(new AdapterChannel.OnItemClickListener() {
@Override
public void onItemClick(View v, Channel obj, int position) {
Intent intent = new Intent(getActivity(), ActivityDetailChannel.class);
intent.putExtra(Constant.KEY_CHANNEL_CATEGORY, obj.category_name);
intent.putExtra(Constant.KEY_CHANNEL_ID, obj.channel_id);
intent.putExtra(Constant.KEY_CHANNEL_NAME, obj.channel_name);
intent.putExtra(Constant.KEY_CHANNEL_IMAGE, obj.channel_image);
intent.putExtra(Constant.KEY_CHANNEL_URL, obj.channel_url);
intent.putExtra(Constant.KEY_CHANNEL_DESCRIPTION, obj.channel_description);
startActivity(intent);
showInterstitialAd();
}
});
// detect when scroll reach bottom
adapterChannel.setOnLoadMoreListener(new AdapterChannel.OnLoadMoreListener() {
@Override
public void onLoadMore(int current_page) {
if (post_total > adapterChannel.getItemCount() && current_page != 0) {
int next_page = current_page + 1;
requestAction(next_page);
} else {
adapterChannel.setLoaded();
}
}
});
// on swipe list
swipeRefreshLayout.setOnRefreshListener(new SwipeRefreshLayout.OnRefreshListener() {
@Override
public void onRefresh() {
if (callbackCall != null && callbackCall.isExecuted()) callbackCall.cancel();
adapterChannel.resetListData();
requestAction(1);
}
});
requestAction(1);
return root_view;
}
private void displayApiResult(final List<Channel> channels) {
adapterChannel.insertData(channels);
swipeProgress(false);
if (channels.size() == 0) {
showNoItemView(true);
}
}
private void requestListPostApi(final int page_no) {
ApiInterface apiInterface = RestAdapter.createAPI();
callbackCall = apiInterface.getPostByPage(page_no, Config.LOAD_MORE);
callbackCall.enqueue(new Callback<CallbackChannel>() {
@Override
public void onResponse(Call<CallbackChannel> call, Response<CallbackChannel> response) {
CallbackChannel resp = response.body();
if (resp != null && resp.status.equals("ok")) {
post_total = resp.count_total;
displayApiResult(resp.posts);
} else {
onFailRequest(page_no);
}
}
@Override
public void onFailure(Call<CallbackChannel> call, Throwable t) {
if (!call.isCanceled()) onFailRequest(page_no);
}
});
}
private void onFailRequest(int page_no) {
failed_page = page_no;
adapterChannel.setLoaded();
swipeProgress(false);
if (NetworkCheck.isConnect(getActivity())) {
} else {
//showToast("Internet Not");
if (databaseHelper.getOfflineData("FragmentCategory").length() != 0) {
setJson(databaseHelper.getOfflineData("FragmentCategory"), false);
}
}
}
//databaseHelper.removeAll();
private void requestAction(final int page_no) {
showFailedView(false, "");
showNoItemView(false);
if (page_no == 1) {
swipeProgress(true);
} else {
adapterChannel.setLoading();
}
new Handler().postDelayed(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
requestListPostApi(page_no);
}
}, Constant.DELAY_TIME);
}
@Override
public void onDestroy() {
super.onDestroy();
swipeProgress(false);
if (callbackCall != null && callbackCall.isExecuted()) {
callbackCall.cancel();
}
}
private void showFailedView(boolean show, String message) {
View lyt_failed = (View) root_view.findViewById(R.id.lyt_failed_home);
((TextView) root_view.findViewById(R.id.failed_message)).setText(message);
if (show) {
recyclerView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
lyt_failed.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
} else {
recyclerView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
lyt_failed.setVisibility(View.GONE);
}
((Button) root_view.findViewById(R.id.failed_retry)).setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
@Override
public void onClick(View view) {
requestAction(failed_page);
}
});
}
private void showNoItemView(boolean show) {
View lyt_no_item = (View) root_view.findViewById(R.id.lyt_no_item_home);
((TextView) root_view.findViewById(R.id.no_item_message)).setText(R.string.no_post_found);
if (show) {
recyclerView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
lyt_no_item.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
} else {
recyclerView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
lyt_no_item.setVisibility(View.GONE);
}
}
private void swipeProgress(final boolean show) {
if (!show) {
swipeRefreshLayout.setRefreshing(show);
return;
}
swipeRefreshLayout.post(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
swipeRefreshLayout.setRefreshing(show);
}
});
}
public void setJson(String result, Boolean isOnline) {
try {
//inseting result to database
if(isOnline) {
ContentValues offline_data = new ContentValues();
offline_data.put(OfflineDatabase.KEY_OFFLINE_DATA, result);
if(databaseHelper.getOfflineData("FragmentCategory").length()!=0) {
databaseHelper.update("FragmentCategory",offline_data);
} else {
offline_data.put(OfflineDatabase.KEY_ACTIVITY_NAME, "FragmentCategory");
databaseHelper.addOfflineData(offline_data, null);
//handle both exceptions
}
}}}
private void loadInterstitialAd() {
if (Config.ENABLE_ADMOB_INTERSTITIAL_ADS) {
interstitialAd = new InterstitialAd(getActivity());
interstitialAd.setAdUnitId(getResources().getString(R.string.admob_interstitial_unit_id));
interstitialAd.loadAd(new AdRequest.Builder().build());
interstitialAd.setAdListener(new AdListener() {
@Override
public void onAdClosed() {
interstitialAd.loadAd(new AdRequest.Builder().build());
}
});
} else {
Log.d("AdMob", "AdMob Interstitial is Enabled");
}
}
private void showInterstitialAd() {
if (Config.ENABLE_ADMOB_INTERSTITIAL_ADS) {
if (interstitialAd != null && interstitialAd.isLoaded()) {
if (counter == Config.ADMOB_INTERSTITIAL_ADS_INTERVAL) {
interstitialAd.show();
counter = 1;
} else {
counter++;
}
} else {
Log.d("AdMob", "Interstitial Ad is Disabled");
}
} else {
Log.d("AdMob", "AdMob Interstitial is Disabled");
}
}}
A:
there you start with try:
public void setJson(String result, Boolean isOnline) {
try {
...
}
...
}
which has to continue with:
try {
...
} catch(Exception e) {
} finally {
}
where either catch or finally are optional (depending where the Exception shall be handled).
|
/* Predefined Classes */
.row { margin: 0 -10px; }
.row > [class*="col-"] { padding: 0 10px; }
.m-auto { margin: 0 auto !important; }
.wrapper { padding: 15px !important; }
.semi-bold { font-weight: 600 !important; }
.overflow-auto { overflow: auto !important; }
.overflow-hidden { overflow: hidden !important; }
.overflow-visible { overflow: visible !important; }
.overflow-scroll { overflow: scroll !important; }
.overflow-x-hidden { overflow-x: hidden !important; }
.overflow-x-visible { overflow-x: visible !important; }
.overflow-x-scroll { overflow-x: scroll !important; }
.overflow-y-hidden { overflow-y: hidden !important; }
.overflow-y-visible { overflow-y: visible !important; }
.overflow-y-scroll { overflow-y: scroll !important; }
.f-w-100 { font-weight: 100 !important; }
.f-w-200 { font-weight: 200 !important; }
.f-w-300 { font-weight: 300 !important; }
.f-w-400 { font-weight: 400 !important; }
.f-w-500 { font-weight: 500 !important; }
.f-w-600 { font-weight: 600 !important; }
.f-w-700 { font-weight: 700 !important; }
.text-center { text-align: center !important; }
.text-left { text-align: left !important; }
.text-right { text-align: right !important; }
.pull-left { float: left !important; }
.pull-right { float: right !important; }
.pull-none { float: none !important; }
/* LOOP - Row Space */
.row-space-generator(@counter) when (@counter > -1) {
@nameCounter: (2 * @counter);
.row.row-space-@{nameCounter} {
margin: 0 -(1px * @counter) !important;
& > [class*="col-"] {
padding: 0 (1px * @counter) !important;
}
}
.row-space-generator((@counter - 1));
}
.row-space-generator(15);
/* LOOP - Margin & Padding */
.margin-padding-css-generator(@counter) when (@counter > -1) {
.m-@{counter} { margin: (@counter * 1px) !important; }
.m-t-@{counter} { margin-top: (@counter * 1px) !important; }
.m-r-@{counter} { margin-right: (@counter * 1px) !important; }
.m-b-@{counter} { margin-bottom: (@counter * 1px) !important; }
.m-l-@{counter} { margin-left: (@counter * 1px) !important; }
.p-@{counter} { padding: (@counter * 1px) !important; }
.p-t-@{counter} { padding-top: (@counter * 1px) !important; }
.p-r-@{counter} { padding-right: (@counter * 1px) !important; }
.p-b-@{counter} { padding-bottom: (@counter * 1px) !important; }
.p-l-@{counter} { padding-left: (@counter * 1px) !important; }
.margin-padding-css-generator((@counter - 1));
}
.margin-padding-css-generator(40);
/* LOOP - Font Size */
.font-size-css-generator(@counter) when (@counter > 7) {
.f-s-@{counter} { font-size: (@counter * 1px) !important; }
.font-size-css-generator((@counter - 1));
}
.font-size-css-generator(20);
.table-valign-middle th,
.table-valign-middle td {
vertical-align: middle !important;
}
.table-th-valign-middle th,
.table-td-valign-middle td {
vertical-align: middle !important;
}
.table-valign-top th,
.table-valign-top td {
vertical-align: top !important;
}
.table-th-valign-top th,
.table-td-valign-top td {
vertical-align: top !important;
}
.table-valign-bottom th,
.table-valign-bottom td {
vertical-align: bottom !important;
}
.table-th-valign-bottom th,
.table-td-valign-bottom td {
vertical-align: bottom !important;
}
.vertical-box {
display: table;
table-layout: fixed;
border-spacing: 0;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
}
.vertical-box-column {
display: table-cell;
vertical-align: top;
height: 100%;
}
.vertical-box-row {
display: table-row;
height: 100%;
}
.vertical-box-row > .vertical-box-cell {
position: relative;
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
}
.vertical-box-row > .vertical-box-cell > .vertical-box-inner-cell {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
bottom: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
overflow: hidden;
}
.panel-expand .vertical-box .vertical-box-column {
display: table-cell;
}
.page-content-full-height .content {
position: absolute;
left: 0;
top: 54px;
right: 0;
bottom: -1px;
}
.no-rounded-corner {
.border-radius(0) !important;
}
.rounded-corner {
.border-radius(50%) !important;
}
.no-border { border: 0 !important; }
.border-top-1 { border-top: 1px solid #eee !important; }
.border-right-1 { border-right: 1px solid #eee !important; }
.border-bottom-1 { border-bottom: 1px solid #eee !important; }
.border-left-1 { border-left: 1px solid #eee !important; }
.no-box-shadow {
.box-shadow(none) !important;
}
.text-inverse { color: @black !important; }
a.text-inverse:hover,
a.text-inverse:focus {
color: @light_black !important;
}
.text-success { color: @green !important; }
a.text-success:hover,
a.text-success:focus {
color: @light_green !important;
}
.text-info { color: @aqua !important; }
a.text-info:hover,
a.text-info:focus {
color: @light_aqua !important;
}
.text-primary { color: @blue !important; }
a.text-primary:hover,
a.text-primary:focus {
color: @light_blue !important;
}
.text-warning { color: @orange !important; }
a.text-warning:hover,
a.text-warning:focus {
color: @light_orange !important;
}
.text-danger { color: @red !important; }
a.text-danger:hover,
a.text-danger:focus {
color: @light_red !important;
}
.text-white { color: #fff !important; }
a.text-white:hover,
a.text-white:focus {
color: #f0f3f4 !important;
}
.bg-white { background: #ffffff !important; }
.bg-silver-lighter { background: @light_silver !important; }
.bg-silver { background: @silver !important; }
.bg-silver-darker { background: @dark_silver !important; }
.bg-black { background: @black !important; }
.bg-black-darker { background: @dark_black !important; }
.bg-black-lighter { background: @light_black !important; }
.bg-grey { background: @grey !important; }
.bg-grey-darker { background: @dark_grey !important; }
.bg-grey-lighter { background: @light_grey !important; }
.bg-red { background: @red !important; }
.bg-red-darker { background: @dark_red !important; }
.bg-red-lighter { background: @light_red !important; }
.bg-orange { background: @orange !important; }
.bg-orange-darker { background: @dark_orange !important; }
.bg-orange-lighter { background: @light_orange !important; }
.bg-yellow { background: @yellow !important; }
.bg-yellow-darker { background: @dark_yellow !important; }
.bg-yellow-lighter { background: @light_yellow !important; }
.bg-green { background: @green !important; }
.bg-green-darker { background: @dark_green !important; }
.bg-green-lighter { background: @light_green !important; }
.bg-blue { background: @blue !important; }
.bg-blue-darker { background: @dark_blue !important; }
.bg-blue-lighter { background: @light_blue !important; }
.bg-aqua { background: @aqua !important; }
.bg-aqua-darker { background: @dark_aqua !important; }
.bg-aqua-lighter { background: @light_aqua !important; }
.bg-purple { background: @purple !important; }
.bg-purple-darker { background: @dark_purple !important; }
.bg-purple-lighter { background: @light_purple !important; }
.no-bg { background: none !important; }
.height-xs { height: 150px !important; }
.height-sm { height: 300px !important; }
.height-md { height: 450px !important; }
.height-lg { height: 600px !important; }
.height-full { height: 100% !important; }
.height-50 { height: 50px !important; }
.height-100 { height: 100px !important; }
.height-150 { height: 150px !important; }
.height-200 { height: 200px !important; }
.height-250 { height: 250px !important; }
.height-300 { height: 300px !important; }
.height-350 { height: 350px !important; }
.height-400 { height: 400px !important; }
.height-450 { height: 450px !important; }
.height-500 { height: 500px !important; }
.height-550 { height: 550px !important; }
.height-600 { height: 600px !important; }
.width-xs { width: 150px !important; }
.width-sm { width: 300px !important; }
.width-md { width: 450px !important; }
.width-lg { width: 600px !important; }
.width-full { width: 100% !important; }
.width-50 { width: 50px !important; }
.width-100 { width: 100px !important; }
.width-150 { width: 150px !important; }
.width-200 { width: 200px !important; }
.width-250 { width: 250px !important; }
.width-300 { width: 300px !important; }
.width-350 { width: 350px !important; }
.width-400 { width: 400px !important; }
.width-450 { width: 450px !important; }
.width-500 { width: 500px !important; }
.width-550 { width: 550px !important; }
.width-600 { width: 600px !important; }
.animated {
-webkit-animation-duration: .6s;
animation-duration: .6s;
-webkit-animation-fill-mode: both;
animation-fill-mode: both;
}
.fade {
.opacity(0);
.transition(opacity .3s linear);
}
.fade.in {
.opacity(1);
}
.text-ellipsis {
white-space: nowrap !important;
overflow: hidden !important;
text-overflow: ellipsis !important;
}
.underline {
border-bottom: 1px solid #e2e7eb !important;
} |
Following a young person's experience of trauma, they are at risk of developing a range of poor mental health outcomes, of which the most widely studied is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Alisic et al. [@CR1]; Hiller et al. [@CR22]). While elevated PTSD symptoms (PTSS) can be common in the posttrauma period, for many young people initial symptoms will naturally recede without the need for formal support (Hiller et al. [@CR22]; Le Brocque et al. [@CR25]), with 10--20% experiencing more chronic distress (Alisic et al. [@CR1]; Hiller et al. [@CR22]). However, PTSD is just one potential adverse psychological outcome following trauma -- other internalising difficulties (e.g., anxiety, depression) and externalising difficulties (e.g., attention and behaviour problems) can also be elevated in trauma-exposed young people (e.g., Pine and Cohen [@CR38]; Scheeringa and Zeanah [@CR41]). While relatively robust empirical evidence has identified key psychological mechanisms that contribute to the maintenance of chronic PTSS (e.g., Ehlers and Clark [@CR12]; Trickey et al. [@CR48]), the role of these processes in relation to other posttrauma psychological outcomes has been little studied. Such investigation is important for understanding the extent to which targeting trauma-related psychological processes in intervention is likely to address other adverse mental health outcomes, beyond PTSD. It also has theoretical implications, especially for understanding whether current models specific to the maintenance of PTSD may more accurately represent models of children's broader posttrauma mental health.
Theories of the development and maintenance of PTSD highlight several key psychological processes that may lead to, or maintain, PTSS (Brewin et al. [@CR4]; Ehlers and Clark [@CR12]; Foa et al. [@CR16]; Meiser-Stedman [@CR30]). For example, Ehlers and Clark's cognitive model of PTSD (Ehlers and Clark [@CR12]) identifies three core posttrauma processes that maintain PTSD, particularly by contributing to a sense of current threat. First, the individual makes strong negative appraisals of the event or their own responses (e.g., "I'll never get over what happened"). Second, the trauma memory is proposed to be encoded in such a way that it is particularly prone to retrieval via direct triggering through matching cues and has 'flashback' like properties (e.g., due to a high level of sensory content, and limited contextual or semantic encoding). Third, engagement in maladaptive coping strategies is hypothesised to maintain maladaptive appraisal and trauma memory properties (e.g., due to cognitive avoidance), and directly exacerbate symptoms (e.g., due to counterproductive attempts to suppress trauma memories).
The empirical literature, including a number of meta-analytic reviews, provides strong support for the central role of posttrauma cognitive processes in the maintenance of traumatic stress. For example, meta-analytic reviews of the child and adolescent trauma literature have concluded that the use of thought suppression (a maladaptive cognitive coping strategy) is moderately to strongly positively associated with PTSS severity (Trickey et al. [@CR48]), and that there is a strong association between maladaptive appraisals and PTSS (Mitchell et al. [@CR34]; Trickey et al. [@CR48]). The role of trauma-related memory quality is more well-established in the adult PTSD field (Brewin [@CR3]), although there is some evidence for a significant association between sensory-laden trauma memories and higher PTSS among children following trauma (Salmond et al. [@CR40]; Meiser-Stedman et al. [@CR31]; McKinnon et al. [@CR29]). Moreover, trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (tf-CBT), the recommended first-line treatment for PTSD in children (Cohen et al. [@CR7]; Perrin et al. [@CR37]), specifically targets the reduction of maladaptive appraisals, unhelpful coping strategies, and problematic memory qualities.
While trauma-related cognitive processes are relatively well-established in the development and maintenance of PTSS, there has been less extensive examination of their potential role in relation to broader posttrauma psychopathology. This omission is important, as other internalising difficulties such as anxiety and depression, as well as externalising difficulties such as behaviour problems, are also all relatively common sequelae of trauma exposure in young people, and are commonly comorbid with PTSD (e.g., Cénat and Derivois [@CR5]; Scheeringa and Zeanah [@CR41]; Scheeringa [@CR42]). Notably, trauma-related maladaptive appraisals have been found to be significantly cross-sectionally associated with posttrauma anxiety and depression following sexual assault (e.g., Mannarino and Cohen [@CR28]); with internalising and externalising symptoms in a community sample of children and teens (Liu and Chen [@CR27]); and with depression, but not carer-reported externalising, following maltreatment (Leeson and Nixon [@CR26]). This is consistent with the centrality of maladaptive, dysfunctional or distorted cognitions about the self, others, and/or world, to models of child depression (e.g., Birmaher et al. [@CR2]), anxiety (e.g., Ellis and Hudson [@CR14]; Rapee and Heimberg [@CR39]), and conduct problems (e.g., Dodge and Pettit [@CR10]). The role of posttrauma coping and memory quality in relation to broader psychopathology has been less well established. However, rumination has been associated with non-trauma specific depression in children (e.g., see Hitchcock et al. [@CR23]), while avoidant coping is central to the maintenance of a broad range of child internalising difficulties (e.g., Murray et al. [@CR35]). Equally, researchers have highlighted the presence of negative intrusive memories in depression and in anxiety disorders (e.g., Hackmann and Holmes [@CR19]; Patel et al. [@CR36])
The primary aim of the current study was to investigate the potential role of key trauma-related cognitive processes in relation to a range of psychological outcomes in children, in a longitudinal study of an acute-trauma exposed sample (Hiller et al. [@CR22]). We examined whether: a) trauma related appraisals, memory qualities, and maladaptive coping strategies showed cross-sectional associations with anxiety, depression and externalising symptoms, measured 1-month posttrauma, as well as with symptoms of PTSD; and b) whether changes in cognitive processes from 1 to 7 months were associated with internalising and externalising severity across this period. Given that there is overlap between symptoms of PTSD and those of depression and anxiety problems, we also examined whether posttrauma cognitive mechanisms made a unique contribution to the prediction of anxiety, depression, and/or externalising symptoms once levels of PTSS were controlled for. Although a particularly stringent analysis, this allowed for stronger inferences in relation to whether posttrauma psychological processes are relevant intervention targets even in the absence of significant PTSS.
Method {#Sec1}
======
Participants {#Sec2}
------------
Participants were 132 children aged 6--13 years old, and their caregivers, recruited following the child's involvement in a trauma and subsequent attendance at the emergency department (ED). Participants were recruited between April 2014 and January 2016, from four EDs in the UK, as previously reported (Hiller et al. [@CR22]). Exclusion criteria were: significant learning difficulty or neurodevelopmental disorder; organic traumatic brain injury; suspicion that the injury was caused by the young person themselves or their carer. Thirty-nine percent of all potentially eligible participants were recruited to the final study (main reason for non-participation was that families could not be contacted). We found no evidence that study participants differed from the eligible population. Complete recruitment details are presented in Hiller et al. [@CR22], while the recruitment flow-chart is available in [supplementary materials](#Sec14){ref-type="sec"} (S1). Index traumas were: motor vehicle accident (*n* = 68, 52%), fall from a height (*n* = 25, 19%), significant bicycle accident (*n* = 9, 7%), acute medical episode (*n* = 10, 8%; e.g., acute anaphylaxis), sport injury (*n* = 6, 5%), and assault (*n* = 3, 2%) or other event (*n* = 17, 13%, e.g., house fire, dog attack, near drowning, sports injury).
Procedure {#Sec3}
---------
ED staff initially approached families and obtained permission for the research team to make contact in order to confirm eligibility and recruit them to the study. Informed consent was provided by the caregiver, while informed assent was provided by the young person. Data presented in the current paper are from home assessments completed independently by parents and children at 2--6 weeks post-ED attendance (T1) and 6-months later (T2; i.e., 7-months posttrauma). Dyads received GBP20 at each time point, as a thank you for their time. An additional 3-month postal questionnaire assessment also took place, as reported in Hiller et al. [@CR22]. Ninety-six percent of the sample were retained at the 6-month assessment.
Measures {#Sec4}
--------
Demographic and trauma-related information were obtained from ED notes and parent interview. Objective trauma severity was assigned using the Manchester Triage System (nurse rating of urgency of care), ranging from 1 = *immediate care required* to 4 = *standard* (i.e., less urgent). Key study indices were then obtained through child and parental questionnaires, completed at both T1 and T2. Specifically, we utilised child self-report measures of cognitive processes, PTSS, anxiety and depressive symptoms. By contrast, we used parental report as our main measure of child externalising, as is recommended in the literature (Stanger and Lewis [@CR46]).
### Maladaptive Trauma Appraisals {#FPar1}
Children completed the Children's Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (CPTCI), a 25-item self-report measure suitable for children as young as 6 years old (Meiser-Stedman et al. [@CR33]). The CPTCI measures appraisals relating to: (i) permanent and disturbing change (e.g., "My reactions since the event mean I have changed for the worse") and (ii) being a fragile person in a scary world (e.g., "Anyone could hurt me"). Young people rate their agreement with each statement from 1 = *don't agree at all* to 4 = *agree a lot*, with the total score providing an overall index of maladaptive appraisals (ranging from 25 to 100; α = 0.93).
### Posttrauma Coping {#FPar2}
Children completed the Child Posttrauma Coping Questionnaire (CPCQ), an 11-item self-report scale created for this study based on cognitive coping items used in previous research (Ehlers and Clark [@CR12]; Ehlers et al. [@CR13]; Stallard [@CR45]). The measure includes 5 items on rumination (e.g., "I can't stop thinking if only the event hadn't happened to me") and 6 items on thought suppression (e.g., "I've tried to keep any memories of what happened out of my head"), each rated on a four-point scale from 0 = *not at all or only one time* to 3 = *a lot of the time*, and summed to yield a total score (between 0 and 30). The measure shows good internal consistency (α = 0.89) and validity against a measure of child PTSS symptoms (Hiller et al. [@CR22]).
### Trauma Memory Quality {#FPar3}
Children completed an adapted version of the Trauma Memory Quality Questionnaire (TMQQ; Meiser-Stedman et al. [@CR31]). This 18-item measure covers the original scale's 11-items on the sensory quality of the trauma-memory and sense of "nowness" (e.g., "My memories of the event are mostly pictures of images"; "When I think about the frightening event I can sometimes smell things that I smelt when the frightening event happened"), and an additional 7-items on disorganised memories (e.g., "I get mixed up about what order things happened in during the frightening event"), adapted from an equivalent adult scale (e.g., Halligan et al. [@CR20]). Items are rated on a scale from 1 = *disagree a lot* to 4 = *agree a lot* and summed to yield a total score (range, 18--72). Internal consistency of the 18-item scale was α = 0.86, compared to α = 0.80 for the original 11-item scale.
### PTSS {#FPar4}
Children completed the child self-report version of the PTSD Reaction Index (PTSD-RI), which has established reliability and validity for children as young as 6 years old (Steinberg et al. [@CR47]). The PTSD-RI assesses 17 DSM-IV-TR PTSD symptoms. Responses to each item are rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 = *none of the time* to 4 = *most of the time,* and yielding a total symptom score as the main outcome (ranging from 0 to 68; α = 0.89).
### Anxiety and Depression {#FPar5}
Children completed the 25-item short version of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS; Chorpita et al. [@CR6]; Ebesutani et al. [@CR11]), a widely used, self-report measure, validated with children aged 7 years and over (Ebesutani et al. [@CR11]). Items are rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 = *never* to 3 = *always*, measuring 15 symptoms of anxiety (e.g., "I worry about being away from my parents"; total score range 0--45; α = 0.89) and 10 depressive symptoms (e.g., "I feel worthless"; total score range 0--30; α = 0.86).
### Parent-Report on Child Internalising and Externalising {#FPar6}
Parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) parent-report version, a widely used measure of children's emotional and behavioural difficulties, suitable for reporting on children as young as 4 years of age (Goodman [@CR18]). Parents rate items from 0 = *not true* to 2 = *certainly true*. We utilised the 10-item externalising subscale which comprises items covering hyperactivity and conduct problems (e.g., "Often has temper tantrums or hot tempers", "Easily distracted"; total score range 0--20; α = 0.76); and the 10-item internalising scale, which assesses emotional and peer problems (e.g., "Many worries, often seems worried"; "Picked on by other children"; total score range 0--20; α = 0.80). The SDQ was added to the T1 assessment during the course of the study; consequently, T1 data is only available for 106 participants.
Data Analytic Plan {#Sec5}
------------------
Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows v22 (2013, IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). All mental-health outcome measure scores were positively skewed, so a square-root transformation was applied. As most 6-month data remained significantly skewed, associations were checked against non-parametric tests (Spearman's rho), with any discrepancies noted in Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}. Our primary aims were to explore (1) whether the three cognitive processes (appraisals, memory, coping) would be associated with acute (1-month, T1) symptom severity, and (2) whether change in these processes from 1 to 7 months posttrauma (T1 -- T2) would be associated with change in symptoms over this period. In all cases, we also examined whether cognitive processes would continue to be significantly associated with symptom outcomes, even after controlling for PTSS. We used preliminary correlational analyses to establish which cognitive variables showed significant univariate associations with mental health outcomes (*p* \< .05), for inclusion in subsequent regression analyses. To index T1-T2 change in cognitions we generated residual change scores via linear regressions. Next, we ran separate linear regressions to explore which of the three cognitive processes (measured at T1) most strongly predicted 1-month symptom severity (T1 PTSS, anxiety, depression, parent-reported internalising and externalising), when they were examined simultaneously (i.e., entered into a single step in the regression). For non-PTSS outcomes, additional models tested for predictive effects after controlling co-occurring PTSS. Next, to explore the longitudinal association between cognitions and symptoms, we looked at whether change in cognitive processes was associated with change in symptoms, by running linear regression models with T2 symptoms as the dependent variable, whilst controlling for T1 symptoms in the model. In particularly conservative analyses, these regressions for non-PTSS outcomes were re-run also controlling for change in PTSS (residual change scores), to explore whether change in the cognitive processes would continue to predict depression/anxiety/internalising/externalising symptoms change, even above what is explained by PTSS. Age, sex and triage (a marker of objective trauma severity) were explored as potential covariates.
Overall there was little missing data (maximum missing data was less than 10%). The only exception to this was the T1 SDQ, which was added after the study begun and was missing for 20% of the sample. In all cases data were missing completely at random. As a sensitivity analysis, to account for missing data, key analyses were run using multiple imputation with 50 iterations and predictive mean matching. The pattern of results was the same and completer-only data are presented here.
Results {#Sec6}
=======
Descriptive Information {#Sec7}
-----------------------
Sample characteristics are presented in Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}. The sample comprised 132 children (62% boys), aged 6--13 years old, and their participating parent (90% mothers). Child age, sex, and triage category were assessed as potential covariates. The child's age was negatively associated with PTSS at both time points (*r* \> −0.18, *p* \> 0.04). Sex was significantly associated with initial anxiety (*r* = 0.21, *p* = 0.04) and depression (*r* = 0.20, *p* = 0.049) symptom severity, with higher symptom scores associated with being female. Triage ratings were not significantly associated with any measures of mental health (all *ps* \> 0.13). Age and sex were controlled in all subsequent analyses.Table 1Descriptive informationDemographic characteristicsStatistic (*N* = 132)Parent characteristics Age in years (*M \[SD\]*)39.7 (7.0) Proportion mothers119 (90%) Proportion married or cohabiting97 (74%) Education status: School until 16 years or younger36 (27%) Further education50 (38%) Higher education46 (35%)Child characteristics Age in years, *M (SD*)9.87 (1.8) Male82 (62.1%) Ethnicity -- Caucasian121 (91.7%)Triage category 1 (immediate attention required)61 (46%) 2 (very urgent)29 (22%) 3 (urgent)26 (20%) 4 (less urgent)16 (12%)Days in hospital (Min -- Max, *M* \[*SD*\])0--28, 2.64 (4.83)Days of school missed^a^ (Min -- Max, *M* \[*SD*\])0--28, 5.52 (5.98)Proportion requiring ambulance/helicopter90 (70%)Proportion with head injury33 (25%)^a^Days of school missed represents days missed prior to their first assessment
Paired samples *t*-tests indicated that children's self-reported symptoms significantly reduced from 1-month to 6-months across all measures (*M* and *SDs* presented in Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}; PTSS, *p* \< 0.001; Anxiety, *p \<* 0*.*001; Depression, *p* \< 0.001). By contrast, there was no significant change in parent-report of child internalising (*p* = 0.75) or externalising symptoms (*p* = 0.47).Table 2Bivariate correlation matrix for associations between study variables1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.1-mo Processes1. Appraisals2. Coping0.61\*\*3. Memory0.59\*\*0.63\*\*1-mo Outcomes4. PTSS0.68\*\*0.79\*\*0.75\*\*5. Anxiety0.74\*\*0.68\*\*0.61\*\*0.74\*\*6. Depression0.70\*\*0.69\*\*0.58\*\*0.79\*\*0.84\*\*7. Internalising0.37\*\*0.23\*^a^0.22\*0.25\*\*0.18^+^0.24\*8. Externalising0.29\*\*0.090.030.21^+^0.24\*0.29\*\*0.51\*\*6-mo Outcomes9. PTSS0.59\*\*0.54\*\*0.39\*\*0.62\*\*0.68\*\*0.68\*\*0.21\*0.30\*\*10. Anxiety0.62\*\*0.43\*\*0.35\*\*0.54\*\*0.67\*\*0.64\*\*0.120.29\*\*0.75\*\*11. Depression0.61\*\*0.45\*\*0.30\*\*0.54\*\*0.67\*\*0.71\*\*0.25\*0.34\*\*0.79\*\*0.84\*\*12. Internalising0.28\*\*0.13^a^0.17^+^0.29\*\*0.36\*\*0.41\*\*0.53\*\*0.55\*\*0.49\*\*0.39\*\*0.55\*\*13. Externalising0.23\*−0.0030.060.130.26\*0.21^+^0.33\*\*0.61\*\*0.29\*\*0.27\*0.39\*\*0.67\*\**M* (*SD*)40.20\
(13.47)14.52\
(8.86)37.51\
(10.31)18.84\
(13.54)9.65\
(8.40)6.30\
(6.67)3.84\
(3.71)6.01\
(3.89)12.86\
(11.88)6.67\
(7.18)4.08\
(4.82)3.72\
(4.05)6.27\
(4.79)^a^Using Spearman's rho, 1-mo parent-report internalising was no longer significantly correlated with coping (*r*~*s*~ = 0.20, *p* = 0.06) but 6-mo parent-reported internalising was significantly correlated with coping (*r*~*s*~ = 0.26, *p* = 0.02). Coping was retained in the regression models. There were no other discrepancies between parametric (Bivariate) and non-parametric (Spearman's Rho) tests^+^*p* \< 0.10, \**p \<* 0*.*05, *\*\*p* \< 0.001. PTSS = child-reported posttraumatic stress symptom severity. 'Internalising' and 'Externalising' based on parent-report on the SDQ, all other questionnaires were child self-report. Possible ranges of scores for each measure are presented in the Method
Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms {#Sec8}
-----------------------------
Significant bivariate correlations were present between all cognitive processes (i.e., appraisals, trauma memory, cognitive coping) and PTSS at T1, and change in each process was significantly associated with change in PTSS scores from T1 to T2 (see correlation matrices in Tables [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"} and [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). In a regression model controlling for age and sex, the combined T1 cognitive processes explained 72% of variance in T1 PTSS, *F*(3,114) = 115.98, *p* \< 0.001, with appraisals (*β* = 0.30, *p* \< 0.001), memory (*β* = 0.33, *p* \< 0.001) and coping (*β* = 0.41, *p* \< 0.001) each being unique predictors in the model. We next tested whether change in cognitive processes predicted change in PTSS, by examining prediction of T2 PTSS by cognitive change scores, in a regression model controlling for T1 PTSS (as well as age, sex). Combined cognitive processes explained 41% of variance, *F*(3,102) = 43.11, *p* \< 0.001, and each remained a unique predictor in this longitudinal model (appraisals *β* = 0.43, *p* \< 0.001; memory *β* = 0.15, *p* = 0.034; coping *β* = 0.17, *p* = 0.018).Table 3Bivariate correlations between residual change scores1.2.3.4.5.6.7.1. Appraisals2. Coping0.59\*\*3. Memory0.55\*\*0.50\*\*4. PTSS0.77\*\*0.56\*\*0.56\*\*5. Anxiety0.63\*\*0.51\*\*0.41\*\*0.67\*\*6. Depression0.61\*\*0.47\*\*0.36\*\*0.67\*\*0.72\*\*7. Internalising0.25\*0.33\*\*0.160.28\*\*0.31\*\*0.40\*\*8. Externalising0.22\*^a^0.190.080.120.130.27\*\*0.52\*\*^a^Using Spearman's Rho, change in appraisals was not significantly associated with change in externalising (*r =* 0.12, *p* = 0.29). There were no other discrepancies between parametric (Bivariate) and non-parametric (Spearman's Rho) tests\**p* \< 0.05, \*\* *p* \< 0.01. All scores are 1--6 month residual change scores. Internalising and Externalising based on parent report, all other scores based on child self-report
Anxiety Symptoms {#Sec9}
----------------
Each cognitive process was significantly positively correlated with child reported anxiety at T1, and change in each process was associated with equivalent change in anxiety scores from T1 to T2 (see Tables [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"} and [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). In a regression model controlling for age and sex, combined T1 cognitive processes explained 63% of variance in T1 anxiety scores, with each being a unique predictor (see Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}). When additionally controlling for T1 PTSS, the combined cognitive processes still explained 12% of variance in T1 anxiety, and maladaptive appraisals and coping remained unique predictors (see Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}).Table 4Results of linear regressions for T1 cognitive predictors of T1 symptoms, after controlling for age and sex (Model 1) and T1 PTSS (Model 2)Model 1Model 2Child Report Anxiety*R*^*2*^ = 0.63*, F*(3,114) = 77.6\*\**R*^*2*^ = 0.12, *F*(3,113) = 14.7\*\* Appraisals0.51\*\*0.45\*\* Memory0.16\*0.10 Coping0.28\*\*0.21\*\* Depression*R*^*2*^ = 0.59*, F*(3,114) = 62.6\*\*\**R*^*2*^ = 0.05, *F*(3,113) = 6.04\*\*\* Appraisals0.44\*\*0.29\*\* Memory0.19\*0.06 Coping0.30\*\*0.15^+^Parent Report Internalising*R*^*2*^ = 0.15*, F*(3,92) = 5.4\*\**R*^*2*^ = 0.06, *F*(3,91) = 2.2^+^ Appraisals0.36\*\*0.34\* Memory0.060.03 Coping−.01−0.05 Externalising*R*^*2*^ = 0.07*, F*(1,94) = 7.5\*\**R*^*2*^ = 0.07*, F*(1,93) = 4.2 Appraisals0.28\*\*0.28\**R*^2^ and *F* statistics relate to the change in model fit following the inclusion of cognitive variables, controlling for age and sex of the child (Model 1) and additionally for PTSS (Model 2)\*\* *p ≤* 0.01, *\*p* \< 0.05, ^+^*p* \< 0.10
We next tested whether change in cognitive processes significantly predicted change in anxiety from T1 to T2, by controlling for T1 anxiety scores (and age and sex) in a regression model with T2 anxiety as the dependent variable. In combination, cognitive change scores explained 28% of variance in this model, with change in maladaptive appraisals and cognitive coping, but not trauma-memory, uniquely predicting change in anxiety symptoms across the 6-months (see Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}). When additionally controlling for change in PTSS, combined cognitive processes remained a significant predictor of anxiety, explaining 3% of variance, although no individual cognitive processes uniquely predicted anxiety change (Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}).Table 5Results of linear regressions analyses of longitudinal data examining change in cognitive processes as a predictor of symptom change (Model 1), including when controlling for change in PTSS (Model 2)Model 1Model 2Child Report Anxiety*R*^*2*^ = 0.28, *F*(3,102) = 22.4\*\**R*^*2*^ = 0.03, *F*(3,101) = 3.0\* Appraisals0.38\*\*0.19^+^ Memory0.02−0.03 Coping0.20\*0.15^+^ Depression*R*^*2*^ = 0.28, *F*(3,102) = 23.3\*\*\**R*^*2*^ = 0.03, *F*(3,101) = 2.4^+^ Appraisals0.41\*\*0.17^+^ Memory0.003−0.06 Coping0.19\*0.12Parent Report Internalising*R*^*2*^ = 0.10, *F*(2,81) = 6.6\*\**R*^*2*^ = 0.03, *F*(2,80) = 2.2 Appraisals0.03−0.16 Coping0.30\*0.24\* Externalising*R*^*2*^ = 0.02*, F*(1,82) = 3.4^+^*R*^*2*^ = 0.01*, F*(1,81) = 2.0 Appraisals0.16^+^0.19*R*^2^ and *F* statistics relate to the change in model fit following the inclusion of cognitive variables. For the change models, we examined whether T1 to T2 residualized change scores for cognitive processes predicted T2 symptom severity, controlling for age, sex and T1 symptoms (Model 1), and then once also controlling for residualized change in PTSS (Model 2)\*\* *p ≤* 0.01, *\*p* \< 0.05, ^+^*p* \< 0.10
Depressive Symptoms {#Sec10}
-------------------
Each cognitive process showed significant positive associations with T1 depression and with change in depression from T1 to T2 (see Tables [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"} and [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). In a regression analysis, combined T1 cognitive processes explained 59% of variance in T1 depression, *F*(3,114) = 62.64, *p* \< 0.001, with all three processes being significant independent predictors (see Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}). When additionally controlling for T1 PTSS, cognitive processes explained 5% of the variance in depression scores, and maladaptive appraisals remained uniquely associated with depression severity (Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}).
Next, after controlling for initial depression severity (and age and sex), change in cognitions from T1 to T2 significantly predicted T2 depression scores, explaining 28% of variance. Here change in maladaptive appraisals and cognitive coping both uniquely predicted depression severity. However, after additionally controlling for change in PTSS scores, change in cognitive processes no longer significantly predicted changes in depression (see Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}).
Parent-Reported Child Internalising Symptoms {#Sec11}
--------------------------------------------
Each cognitive process was correlated with parent-reported child internalising scores at T1, but only maladaptive appraisals and coping (not memory) were significantly associated with change in symptoms from T1 to T2 (see Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). At T1, in combination, the acute cognitive processes explained 15% of variance in parent-reported internalising, with maladaptive appraisals being a significant unique predictor (see Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}). After additionally controlling for T1 PTSS, cognitive processes no longer explained significant variance in T1 parent-report internalising, although maladaptive appraisals remained a unique significant predictor (Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}).
As only change in appraisals and coping from T1 to T2 were significantly associated with change in internalising severity (Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}), only these processes were examined further in regression models. In a model controlling for initial internalising scores, cognitive change scores in combination explained a significant 10% of variance in 6-month internalising problems. Here, change in the child's cognitive coping was uniquely associated with change in internalising severity, but appraisal change was not (Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}). After controlling for change in PTSS, combined cognitive processes no longer explained significant variance, although change in cognitive coping remained a unique significant predictor of change in parent-report internalising (Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}).
Parent-Reported Child Externalising Symptoms {#Sec12}
--------------------------------------------
Only maladaptive appraisals showed significant bivariate associations with externalising symptoms at either T1 or with change at T2, and was considered in regression models (see Tables [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"} and [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). After controlling for age and sex, initial maladaptive appraisal scores were significantly associated with parent-reported externalising symptoms at T1, explaining 7% of variance. This effect remained significant after controlling for concurrent 1-month PTSS, explaining 4% of variance in parent-reported child externalising symptoms (see Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}). However, after controlling for initial externalising symptoms (and age and sex), **c**hange in maladaptive appraisals from T1 to T2 was not significantly predictive of T2 externalising (Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}).
Discussion {#Sec13}
==========
We examined trauma-related psychological processes (appraisals, coping, memory) as potential predictors of children's broader psychological outcomes following exposure to acute trauma. We replicated findings that all three processes explain unique variance in acute PTSS and reductions in PTSS over time. We also found robust evidence that children's posttrauma cognitive processes were cross-sectionally and longitudinally associated with non-PTSD internalising problems, based on both self- and parent-report. These associations with wider child internalising symptoms were particularly reliable for child-reported maladaptive appraisals and maladaptive cognitive coping strategies (i.e., thought suppression and rumination); and were partially retained even after levels of PTSS were controlled for. There was less evidence for the role of trauma related cognitive processes in predicting externalising difficulties.
Our findings add to the limited literature showing trauma-related cognitive processes are important for children's broader mental health following trauma. In particular, it builds on cross-sectional studies that have demonstrated associations between trauma-related negative appraisals and broader psychopathology (e.g., Leeson and Nixon [@CR26]; Liu and Chen [@CR27]). The current study found that maladaptive appraisals, coping and trauma memory quality at 1-month posttrauma were each moderately to strongly correlated with children's self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms, and showed slightly smaller associations with parent-reported child internalising symptoms. Each cognitive process explained unique variance in child reported non-PTSD internalising symptoms at 1-month posttrauma, whereas negative appraisals were the only independent predictor of parent-reported internalising at this timepoint. Longitudinal analyses examining change in cognitive processes over time found a similar pattern of results. Together, changes in maladaptive cognitive processes explained a relatively large 28% of variance in change in anxiety and depression across a 6-month follow-up, and a smaller 10% of variance in change in parent-reported internalising problems. Changes in appraisals and coping were identified as uniquely associated with symptom change when cognitive processes were examined simultaneously as predictors.
Although not the main focus of the current study, we also found robust longitudinal evidence that appraisals, memory and maladaptive coping strategies each explain unique variance in children's PTSS, consistent with cognitive models (e.g., Ehlers and Clark [@CR12]). In particularly stringent analyses, we examined whether cognitive processes could predict broader internalising symptoms when controlling for co-occurring PTSS. This substantially reduced the variance explained by cognitive factors, which is unsurprising given the strong correlation and symptom overlap between PTSS, anxiety and depression. Nevertheless, even after controlling for concurrent PTSS we still found that maladaptive appraisals (e.g., "the world is unsafe", "I'll never get over what happened") and cognitive coping (i.e., thought suppression, rumination), remained cross-sectionally associated with children's non-PTSD internalising at 1-month posttrauma. Moreover, in longitudinal analyses, reductions in maladaptive cognitive coping over time continued uniquely to predict change in parent-reported child internalising problems, while the combined cognitive processes significantly predicted reductions in child reported anxiety. This indicates that associations are unlikely to be secondary to PTSD symptoms, but rather that cognitive processes potentially make a direct contribution to children's wider internalising problems following trauma.
It is notable that whereas negative appraisals and maladaptive coping strategies were relatively consistently associated with children's anxiety and depression, there was less robust evidence for the role of trauma-related memory qualities in relation to longer-term broader psychopathology. Thus, although trauma memory quality showed a clear pattern of bivariate associations with child internalising symptoms, it did not emerge reliably as a unique predictor of distress over and above other processes, particularly in longitudinal models; and there was no evidence that memory quality predicted wider internalising problems once PTSS was controlled for. Caution is warranted when interpreting these null findings, due to the strong overlap between all three processes and sets of symptoms. Nonetheless, in this case we cannot rule out the possibility that associations with anxiety and depression are accounted for by the co-occurrence of PTSD symptomatology. Whereas negative appraisals and maladaptive coping strategies are widely implicated in models of anxiety (e.g., thought suppression) and depression (rumination), trauma-memory quality may be a unique driver of traumatic stress. This is consistent with theoretical perspectives that highlight traumatic memories as a key defining feature of PTSD versus other emotional disorders, both phenomenologically and in terms of underlying neural processes (e.g., Elzinga and Bremner [@CR15]).
Overall, our evidence highlights the potential utility of considering trauma-related maladaptive coping strategies and appraisals as potential treatment targets in depressed or anxious youth who present following trauma exposure. That the same processes that maintain PTSS also contribute to non-PTSD internalising may also explain why many CBT trials targeting PTSD see concurrent reductions in internalising comorbidities (e.g., Deblinger et al. [@CR9]; Goldbeck et al. [@CR17]; Smith et al. [@CR44]). Our findings suggest that this change in broader psychopathology likely particularly results from the targeting of children's maladaptive appraisals and coping strategies. While our findings suggest that a robust focus on appraisals and maladaptive coping may be particularly clinically useful when young people present with internalising problems linked to trauma, replication is required before drawing clinical conclusions.
We found substantially less evidence that posttrauma cognitive processes contribute to child externalising symptoms. Our findings build on Liu and Chen's ([@CR27]) study with a community-sample of adolescents, replicating a cross-sectional association between appraisals and externalising, but additionally suggest that changes in trauma-related appraisals do not drive longer-term adjustment in terms of externalising behaviour. We found no evidence that trauma memory quality or maladaptive cognitive coping relate to children's posttrauma externalising symptoms. The suggestion that these psychological processes may be less relevant to the maintenance of child externalising is consistent with some findings from treatment studies. For example, Deblinger et al. ([@CR9]) found that externalising was more effectively targeted in a treatment that had a larger focus on parent-training, compared to a treatment that placed more focus on children's trauma-related memories and appraisals. Thus, characteristics of children's posttrauma social environment may be more relevant to managing posttrauma externalising behaviours (Deblinger et al. [@CR8]; Silverman et al. [@CR43]).
Findings should be interpreted in the light of limitations. First, as this is an observational longitudinal study, causation cannot be determined. Second, we did not include a child-report measure of externalising symptoms in our study, and we were unable to compare exact measures of internalising (i.e., anxiety and depression) across child- versus parent-report. The approach we took to symptom measurement is consistent with best practice: parent or teacher reports are considered the gold standard for measuring children's externalising (Stanger and Lewis [@CR46]), whereas child-report is recommended for measurement of PTSS (e.g., Kassam-Adams et al. [@CR24]; Meiser-Stedman et al. [@CR32]). Our observation that posttrauma child internalising problems reduced from 1-month to 6-months according to child-report but not parent-report may suggest that parents are reporting on children's pre-established psychological profiles, rather than detecting changes in their posttrauma mental health. This is consistent with the view that parents may be relatively poor at detecting children's posttrauma symptoms. Parental perceptions of their child's distress may also be influenced by their own posttrauma distress. Nonetheless, single-informant bias may substantially inflate associations in the context of psychopathology, and associations between child-reported symptoms and cognitions should be considered with this in mind. Null findings should also be considered in the light of the relatively modest overall sample size. The sample size also meant we were not appropriately powered to run more sophisticated analyses, such as structural equation models, which may be better able to account for covariance between the different symptom outcomes. Finally, it is notable that, as is typical of low-risk acute-incident emergency department samples, overall internalising and externalising symptoms in our sample were relatively low. For the majority of participants the index trauma was an acute accidental injury, and while families were from a range of socio-economic backgrounds, the sample was mostly culturally- and ethnically-homogenous, and captured children up to 13 years old. Findings cannot be generalised to more complex traumas or high-risk groups, or to adolescents or other cultural contexts.
In conclusion, cognitive processes that are known to be important in the maintenance of PTSD are also likely to be relevant for children's broader posttrauma internalising difficulties. Our findings particularly highlight the role of maladaptive coping and maladaptive appraisals, in predicting acute distress and reductions in non-PTSD internalising problems, and suggest that it may be beneficial to take a trauma-informed approach to addressing posttrauma internalising problems by targeting these processes. What remains to be seen is whether trauma informed treatment frameworks may effectively target trauma-related anxiety and depression in the absence of clinical-level PTSD.
Electronic supplementary material
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{#Sec14}
ESM 1(DOCX 35 kb)
We thank families for their generosity in participating; clinical teams at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Royal United Hospital Bath, Great Western Hospital, and the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for supporting our research; and Hope Christie, Claire Dixon and Victoria Williamson for their assistance with this research. CC is funded by an NIHR Research Professorship (RP_2014-04-018) and RMS is an NIHR Career Development Fellow (CDF-2015-08-073). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.
This research was funded by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) grant awarded to SLH (ES/K006290/1).
Conflicts of Interest {#FPar7}
=====================
None.
Ethical Approval
================
Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Bath Research Ethics Committee and the NHS Research Ethics Committee South Central - Oxford A (Ref 137454).
Data Access {#FPar8}
===========
Halligan, Sarah and Hiller, Rachel (2017). The role of trauma specific behaviours and parenting style in facilitating child psychological adjustment. \[Data Collection\]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive 10.5255/UKDA-SN-852668
|
SLAVERY IN FOCUS January 16, 2013
The history of slavery is outside my immediate compass since I do not watch contemporary films.
My ancestors (I imagine) were either indigenous inhabitants of the islands on the North West coast of the Eurasian landmass,or conceivably they might have been part of the extraordinary migration of boat people from the mainland, who might then have been captured by the Feudal System, which underpinned the conflict there over rights in the 17th Century.
I have some experience of wage slavery, of course, and it bears repetition that modern corporations are not fundamentally democratic, which in the very least is deeply contradictory. Perhaps this observation might not be coincidental. History is often reduced to a mythical narrative. I have been criticized, probably correctly, for dabbling in this activity. Some myths, even if contradicted by very apparent evidence, both then and now, such as the Egalitarian Myth may be on balance be positive. However, it is more important to recognize the humanity of all people, and therefor their human potentials.
Imara Jones at Colorlines, via Alternet, identifies her list of ten top things everybody should know about the economic history of slavery in the US:
1) Slavery laid the foundation for the modern international economic system.
The massive infrastructure required to move 8 to 10 million Africans halfway around the world built entire cities in England and France, such as Liverpool, Manchester and Bordeaux. It was key to London’s emergence as a global capital of commerce, and spurred New York’s rise as a center of finance. The industry to construct, fund, staff, and administer the thousands of ships which made close to 50,000 individual voyages was alone a herculean task. The international financial and distribution networks required to coordinate, maintain and profit from slavery set the framework for the modern global economy.
2) Africans’ economic skills were a leading reason for their enslavement.
Africans possessed unique expertise which Europeans required to make their colonial ventures successful. Africans knew how to grow and cultivate crops in tropical and semi-tropical climates. African rice growers, for instance, were captured in order to bring their agricultural knowledge to America’s sea islands and those of the Caribbean. Many West African civilizations possessed goldsmiths and expert metal workers on a grand scale. These slaves were snatched to work in Spanish and Portuguese gold and silver mines throughout Central and South America. Contrary to the myth of unskilled labor, large numbers of Africans were anything but.
3) African know-how transformed slave economies into some of the wealthiest on the planet.
The fruits of the slave trade funded the growth of global empires. The greatest source of wealth for imperial France was the “white gold” of sugar produced by Africans in Haiti. More riches flowed to Britain from the slave economy of Jamaica than all of the original American 13 colonies combined. Those resources underwrote the Industrial Revolution and vast improvements in Western Europe’s economic infrastructure.
4) Until it was destroyed by the Civil War, slavery made the American South the richest and most powerful region in America.
Slavery was a national enterprise, but the economic and political center of gravity during the U.S.’s first incarnation as a slave republic was the South. This was true even during the colonial era. Virginia was its richest colony and George Washington was one of its wealthiest people because of his slaves. The majority of the new country’s presidents and Supreme Court justices were Southerners.
However, the invention of the cotton gin took the South’s national economic dominance and transformed it into a global phenomenon. British demand for American cotton, as I have written before, made the southern stretch of the Mississippi River the Silicon Valley of its era. The single largest concentration of America’s millionaires was gathered in plantations along the Mississippi’s banks. The first and only president of the Confederacy—Jefferson Davis—was a Mississippi, millionaire slave holder.
5) Defense of slavery, more than taxes, was pivotal to America’s declaration of independence.
The South had long resisted Northern calls to leave the British Empire. That’s because the South sold most of its slave-produced products to Britain and relied on the British Navy to protect the slave trade. But a court case in England changed all of that. In 1775, a British court ruled that slaves could not be held in the United Kingdom against their will. Fearing that the ruling would apply to the American colonies, the Southern planters swung behind the Northern push for greater autonomy. In 1776, one year later, America left its former colonial master. The issue of slavery was so powerful that it changed the course of history.
6) The brutalization and psychological torture of slaves was designed to ensure that plantations stayed in the black financially.
Slave revolts and acts of sabotage were relatively common on Southern plantations. As economic enterprises, the disruption in production was bad for business. Over time a system of oppression emerged to keep things humming along. This centered on singling out slaves for public torture who had either participated in acts of defiance or who tended towards noncompliance. In fact, the most recalcitrant slaves were sent to institutions, such as the “Sugar House” in Charleston, S.C., where cruelty was used to elicit cooperation. Slavery’s most inhumane aspects were just another tool to guarantee the bottom line.
7) The economic success of former slaves during Reconstruction led to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.
In less than 10 years after the end of slavery, blacks created thriving communities and had gained political power—including governorships and Senate seats—across the South. Former slaves, such Atlanta’s Alonzo Herndon, had even become millionaires in the post-war period. But the move towards black economic empowerment had upset the old economic order. Former planters organized themselves into White Citizens Councils and created an armed wing—the Ku Klux Klan—to undermine black economic institutions and to force blacks into sharecropping on unfair terms. Isabel Wilkerson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “The Warmth of Other Suns”, details the targeting of black individuals, as well as entire black communities, for acts of terror whose purpose was to enforce economic apartheid.
8) The desire to maintain economic oppression is why the South was one of the most anti-tax regions of the nation.
Before the Civil War, the South routinely blocked national infrastructure protects. These plans, focused on Northern and Western states, would have moved non-slave goods to market quickly and cheaply. The South worried that such investments would increase the power of the free-labor economy and hurt their own, which was based on slavery. Moreover, the South was vehemently opposed to taxes even to improve the lives of non-slaveholding white citizens. The first public school in the North, Boston Latin, opened its doors in the mid-1600s. The first public school in the South opened 200 years later. Maintenance of slavery was the South’s top priority to the detriment of everything else.
9) Many firms on Wall Street made fortunes from funding the slave trade.
Investment in slavery was one of the most profitable economic activities throughout most of New York’s 350 year history. Much of the financing for the slave economy flowed through New York banks. Marquee names such as JP Morgan Chase and New York Life all profited greatly from slavery. Lehman Brothers, one of Wall Street’s largest firms until 2008, got its start in the slave economy of Alabama. Slavery was so important to the city that New York was one the most pro-slavery urban municipalities in the North.
10) The wealth gap between whites and blacks, the result of slavery, has yet to be closed.
The total value of slaves, or “property” as they were then known, could exceed $12 million in today’s dollars on the largest plantations. With land, machinery, crops and buildings added in, the wealth of southern agricultural enterprises was truly astronomical. Yet when slavery ended, the people that generated the wealth received nothing.
The contention that outright theft, rather than the workings of the price system in a free market, was the primary engine of economic wealth in the West will have some ideologues frothing. But if the “market” was so great, why was slavery necessary and why was it maintained. Whatever else it may be slavery is a system of economic and social violence.
The History of Slavery in the US provides an overview from the 17th Century to Reconstruction, including reference to Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and James Brown:
Related articles
The real reason the Second Amendment was ratified, and why it says “State” instead of “Country” (the Framers knew the difference – see the 10th Amendment), was to preserve the slave patrol militias in the southern states, which was necessary to get Virginia’s vote. Founders Patrick Henry, George Mason, and James Madison were totally clear on that . . . and we all should be too.
So this contention seems credible, and so it is very significant given the current fervour among many gun ownership advocates.
Related
With just one click, your heavy garage doors will open, without you having to
touch the door. It often comes in two varieties one with dual flexible sides and one that has a
hard side and a flexible side that looks a lot like wood molding.
Just as you did before, watch for any glowing items, since you’ll
want to be able to build a new lock grinder in a moment. |
TLCA has roughly 4000 members and of those members I would say less than 100 have ham radios. Are you saying screw talking to the other 3900 Toyheads because they don't have the same equipment you have? With that kind of attitude those other 3900 probably don't want to talk to you anyway!
Gimme a break. The majority of the 4000 members of TLCA don't take their rigs off the pavement. I bet there are about 800 guys (and a few gals) that actually wheel.
When I was on that pre-run to Hotel Rock, half the trucks had Ham and nearly everyone had CB too.
Let me put it this way: just because you buy a Hi-Lift jack, you don't leave your bottle jack at home, do you? Both are useful, but one of them is far more useful than the other.
Gimme a break. The majority of the 4000 members of TLCA don't take their rigs off the pavement. I bet there are about 800 guys (and a few gals) that actually wheel.
When I was on that pre-run to Hotel Rock, half the trucks had Ham and nearly everyone had CB too.
Let me put it this way: just because you buy a Hi-Lift jack, you don't leave your bottle jack at home, do you? Both are useful, but one of them is far more useful than the other.
Exactly! Thats my counter point to this statement from you..."If you already have a CB and you don't see the need for another radio, no worries. If you have neither and are wondering which one to buy, I'd make the case to go straight to ham."
Exactly! Thats my counter point to this statement from you..."If you already have a CB and you don't see the need for another radio, no worries. If you have neither and are wondering which one to buy, I'd make the case to go straight to ham."
True. But if I had neither bottle jack nor hi-lift, and they were about the same price, and one was much better than the other...
The number of wheelers using Ham Radio is growing rapidly. It soon will no longer be a niche technology. If funds are limited, I recommend buying into the future rather than the past.
You'll understand once you get license and radio. People probably argued against lockers before they experienced one, too, back in the dark ages of 1990.
You'll understand once you get license and radio. People probably argued against lockers before they experienced one, too, back in the dark ages of 1990.
I highly doubt it! Most folks have discovered 35" (and up) tires are superior off highway but I seriously doubt the occasional wheeler will spend the money it takes to run that tall of tires when their 31's and 33's work well for them!
On last years GTR, I used both. It was my run, and I didn't want to leave anyone out. Was I talking alot? Yeah, but that is just how I like the GTR, full of nice little details about where we are going, and where we have been. It fits in my opinion.
The joke about throwing the CB out in my mind came when Nakman had trouble with his CB during the Argentine part of the GTR. No one knew he was talking. He made the tongue in cheek comment to "throw the CB out the window".
The point I will make is that in choosing a setup, having the base knowledge that HAM requires gives most of those folks the basic knowledge to troubleshoot problems with their equipment when they happen. Due to the FCC forming the Citizens Band channels so that everyone could transmit pretty much means that the focus on understanding how it works was left to the user. Many times this was ignored in light of just slapping it together and talking. Granted, CB previously required a license, it was less of a basis for knowledge and more for knowing who was going to be do it.
What gets me is the number of people who will still just throw their station together. No consideration for the simple things that can make all the difference. A $15 homebrew antenna and a $40 Radio Shack CB can outperform a Firestik and a $250 Cobra any day of the week. Just depends on the installation. Funny thing? All the folks who insist that HAM is not for them don't realize CB is limited to 5 watts, legally. Since CB is in the 11 meter band (27-28 MhZ), the fiberglass Firestik antennas are poor performers for the frequencies. Remember those guys with the 120" whips with the tennis balls on them? More appropriate length and thusly better performance. Bruce Miller told us a story of using a converted CB radio for 10 Meters on 5 watts. He was talking to people half way round the world, with the right antenna.
For the Amateur Radio operator, transmitter power must be the minimum necessary to carry out the desired communications. Unless otherwise noted, the maximum power output is 1500 watts PEP. That's alot 'o power! The greatest thing about being a HAM in comparison to CB? The ability to tinker.
As for being elite, I just hope no one thinks their kids are elitists for being a high school grad or passing their driving test. I earned my way into HAM radio just like anyone who has the desire can do. I studied, watched other HAMs and just had a basic interest in it.
I'm not here to sell it. I'm just here to enjoy helping people who want to do it be successful at it.
On last years GTR, I used both. It was my run, and I didn't want to leave anyone out. Was I talking alot? Yeah, but that is just how I like the GTR, full of nice little details about where we are going, and where we have been. It fits in my opinion.
The joke about throwing the CB out in my mind came when Nakman had trouble with his CB during the Argentine part of the GTR. No one knew he was talking. He made the tongue in cheek comment to "throw the CB out the window".
The point I will make is that in choosing a setup, having the base knowledge that HAM requires gives most of those folks the basic knowledge to troubleshoot problems with their equipment when they happen. Due to the FCC forming the Citizens Band channels so that everyone could transmit pretty much means that the focus on understanding how it works was left to the user. Many times this was ignored in light of just slapping it together and talking. Granted, CB previously required a license, it was less of a basis for knowledge and more for knowing who was going to be do it.
What gets me is the number of people who will still just throw their station together. No consideration for the simple things that can make all the difference. A $15 homebrew antenna and a $40 Radio Shack CB can outperform a Firestik and a $250 Cobra any day of the week. Just depends on the installation. Funny thing? All the folks who insist that HAM is not for them don't realize CB is limited to 5 watts, legally. Since CB is in the 11 meter band (27-28 MhZ), the fiberglass Firestik antennas are poor performers for the frequencies. Remember those guys with the 120" whips with the tennis balls on them? More appropriate length and thusly better performance. Bruce Miller told us a story of using a converted CB radio for 10 Meters on 5 watts. He was talking to people half way round the world, with the right antenna.
For the Amateur Radio operator, transmitter power must be the minimum necessary to carry out the desired communications. Unless otherwise noted, the maximum power output is 1500 watts PEP. That's alot 'o power! The greatest thing about being a HAM in comparison to CB? The ability to tinker.
As for being elite, I just hope no one thinks their kids are elitists for being a high school grad or passing their driving test. I earned my way into HAM radio just like anyone who has the desire can do. I studied, watched other HAMs and just had a basic interest in it.
I'm not here to sell it. I'm just here to enjoy helping people who want to do it be successful at it.
Well said Nathanial! In all things, tools are only as good as the quality by which they are made and the knowledge of how to use them!
Were there posts edited or removed or something? Talk about a class? This thread is hard to follow in the beginning.
I will never throw out my CB because (for now) most of the folks I talk to have a CB. If there was one radio that handled ham and CB, that would be uber cool. As it is, I have so much junk going on in my truck I'm about to run out of room! Handheld, maybe? That could be useful. Such a thing?
And before UB says what he is thinking, it is a small price to pay for being able to slink between the trees...
[jeez, just what I need, another expensive hobby...]
Were there posts edited or removed or something? Talk about a class? This thread is hard to follow in the beginning.
I will never throw out my CB because (for now) most of the folks I talk to have a CB. If there was one radio that handled ham and CB, that would be uber cool. As it is, I have so much junk going on in my truck I'm about to run out of room! Handheld, maybe? That could be useful. Such a thing?
And before UB says what he is thinking, it is a small price to pay for being able to slink between the trees...
[jeez, just what I need, another expensive hobby...]
Wes, our awesome webmaster, quickly and expertly split the banter from the class thread to keep the class thread on track. Thanks WES!
You are not the first person to wonder about a CB/ham. Never happen, CB and ham are covered under different parts of the FCC rules. So a manufacturer would have to test it to both requirements and it would be such a limited demand that I can't see it being economically viable. I doubt most hams would even consider it and anyone comparing a CB to a CB/ham isn't gonna want to pay $200 for it when a CB costs $40.
Oh yeah, hams have some of the nicest handheld radios. I have a VX-7R, what a little wonder. It's 5 watts (roughly the same as the clunky CBs we have), 4 band transmit, receives just about anything, the size of a thick cell phone, built to Mil-Spec 810E, submersible and even has an optional barometer for altitude. Come to the ham class, see what radios that kept evolving look like!
I looked up your setup and thats pretty cool! How about a thread in members only section for showing off what everyone has as far as radios and installs go so all can see what the "extreme dark side" of wheeling communications has to offer.... |
1. Introduction {#sec1-ijms-21-05408}
===============
Bisphenol-A (2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane; BPA) is one of the most commonly used endocrine disruptors worldwide, with widespread industrial applications in the manufacture of plastics and epoxy resins \[[@B1-ijms-21-05408],[@B2-ijms-21-05408]\]. It is chemically stable and has been shown to exhibit environmental persistence after leaching from BPA-enriched products at normal or elevated temperature \[[@B3-ijms-21-05408],[@B4-ijms-21-05408]\]. BPA may show bioaccumulation in animals and has been detected in human saliva, blood, plasma, amniotic fluid, placental tissue, breast milk, urine, follicular fluid, and adipose tissue \[[@B5-ijms-21-05408],[@B6-ijms-21-05408]\]. High urinary BPA levels are associated with a reduction in the number of follicles and ovarian volume in women \[[@B7-ijms-21-05408]\]. In males, urinary BPA may be linked to decreased semen quality and increased DNA damage in spermatozoa \[[@B8-ijms-21-05408]\]. Furthermore, other studies have demonstrated the anti-androgenic and estrogenic properties of BPA, both in vitro and in vivo \[[@B9-ijms-21-05408],[@B10-ijms-21-05408]\]. Therefore, BPA can exert widespread effects on several endocrine-related biological pathways and reproductive organs \[[@B11-ijms-21-05408],[@B12-ijms-21-05408]\] and exhibit cellular toxicity toward many cell types, including male germ cells \[[@B13-ijms-21-05408],[@B14-ijms-21-05408],[@B15-ijms-21-05408],[@B16-ijms-21-05408]\].
Spermatozoa are produced from spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) as the final products of spermatogenesis, which appear that the balance of self-renewal and differentiation should be directly related to the SSCs \[[@B17-ijms-21-05408],[@B18-ijms-21-05408]\]. BPA possibly disrupts endocrine signaling owing to its estrogenic activity \[[@B19-ijms-21-05408]\] and interferes with spermatogenesis. Therefore, several studies have been conducted on the correlation between exposure to BPA and poor sperm characteristics. These results show that including low quality \[[@B20-ijms-21-05408]\], increased DNA damage \[[@B21-ijms-21-05408]\], and alterations in its fertility-related protein levels through intracellular protein profiles \[[@B22-ijms-21-05408]\], of spermatozoa in vitro \[[@B23-ijms-21-05408]\]. Additional studies have attempted to investigate the BPA-induced disruption of meiotic progression \[[@B24-ijms-21-05408]\] and chromosome dynamics \[[@B25-ijms-21-05408]\], aberrant DNA methylation \[[@B26-ijms-21-05408]\], and oxidative stress \[[@B27-ijms-21-05408]\] during spermatogenesis. The adverse health effects associated with BPA have led to the formulation of guidelines regarding permissible exposure limits. As per the guidelines issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the proposed values of the no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) and the lowest-observed-adverse-effect level (LOAEL) for BPA exposure are 5 mg/kg body weight (bw)/day and 50 mg/kg bw/day, respectively \[[@B28-ijms-21-05408]\].
Previous studies have shown that BPA is involved in the alteration of the proteome and functional properties of SSCs and testicular germ cells, along with Sertoli cells \[[@B29-ijms-21-05408],[@B30-ijms-21-05408]\]. Further, in vivo studies on the effect of gestational exposure of mice to EPA-proposed BPA doses have shown that it leads to poor sperm characteristics and alterations in the proteome profile in adults of the F1 generation \[[@B31-ijms-21-05408]\]. Low dose neonatal BPA exposure of neonate male mice was shown to cause meiotic arrest and apoptosis of germ cells \[[@B32-ijms-21-05408]\]. Exposure to BPA was also found to have adverse effects on the mitochondria of testicular cells, resulting in apoptosis and compromised reproductive function in adult rodents \[[@B33-ijms-21-05408],[@B34-ijms-21-05408]\]. Moreover, exposure of male rodents to BPA resulted in a reduction of the size of the epididymides, along with a decreased efficiency of sperm production \[[@B35-ijms-21-05408],[@B36-ijms-21-05408]\]. Thus, the wide-ranging effects of BPA on reproductive health have been well-studied, especially in relation to the genetics and proteomics of germline cells, tissues, and organs. Hence, it is necessary to assess the transgenerational effects of BPA exposure in adult age on testis morphology, association of germ cells in testes, and functional properties of SSCs. In the current study, two reference doses of BPA (NOAEL and LOAEL) were applied to adult male mice (F0) for six weeks, and a breeding scheme with outbred females was applied to produce generations (F1--F4). The entire experiment design is illustrated in [Figure 1](#ijms-21-05408-f001){ref-type="fig"}A,B. The offspring of all generations were checked for abnormalities in the morphology of the testis, germ cell staging pattern in seminiferous epithelium (SE), and proportion of germ cells in SE. BPA-induced apoptosis in testicular cells was also evaluated across generations. Finally, stemness properties of BPA-exposed SSCs were measured by transplanting germ cells into the testis of recipient mice.
2. Results {#sec2-ijms-21-05408}
==========
2.1. BPA Increases the Frequency of Abnormal Seminiferous Tubules (STs) in F0--F2 Generations {#sec2dot1-ijms-21-05408}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For testicular abnormalities, H&E stained testis sections of F0--F4 generations were examined. Abnormal seminiferous tubules (STs) were characterized as abnormal in the case of huge lumen size, abnormal cell mass in the lumen, and presence of abnormal vacuoles resulting in germ cell loss or STs that lack lumen ([Figure 2](#ijms-21-05408-f002){ref-type="fig"}A). We observed a significantly high frequency of abnormal STs in the BPA-exposed groups (F0) ([Figure 2](#ijms-21-05408-f002){ref-type="fig"}B) at both NOAEL and LOAEL doses. This phenomenon persisted, and a relatively high percentage of abnormality was found in F1 generation at the LOAEL dose and in F2 generation at both the NOAEL and LOAEL doses ([Figure 2](#ijms-21-05408-f002){ref-type="fig"}C,D). However, we did not observe any significant changes in the percentage of abnormal STs in F3 and F4 generations ([Figure 2](#ijms-21-05408-f002){ref-type="fig"}E,F).
2.2. BPA Changes the Size of SE and Alters Stages of STs {#sec2dot2-ijms-21-05408}
--------------------------------------------------------
A high frequency of BPA-induced abnormal STs was observed in F0, which persisted transgenerationally in F1 and F2. These findings led us to investigate the effect of BPA on the size of SE and the spermatogenesis stages inside the STs. We measured the area of STs and lumens of all generations. Although no remarkable changes were seen in the ST area in F0 (see [Supplementary Figure S1A](#app1-ijms-21-05408){ref-type="app"}) and F1 (see [Supplementary Figure S1B](#app1-ijms-21-05408){ref-type="app"}), a significantly greater lumen area was observed in stages VII and VIII both in F0 (see [Supplementary Figure S1C](#app1-ijms-21-05408){ref-type="app"}) and in F1 (see [Supplementary Figure S1D](#app1-ijms-21-05408){ref-type="app"}) in the LOAEL-exposed groups. A higher lumen area, in fact, represented the thinner SE area because the sizes of STs in all groups were similar. Additionally, we examined the area of the lumen in F2 (see [Supplementary Figure S1E](#app1-ijms-21-05408){ref-type="app"}), F3 (see [Supplementary Figure S1F](#app1-ijms-21-05408){ref-type="app"}), and F4 (see [Supplementary Figure S1G](#app1-ijms-21-05408){ref-type="app"}) but did not observe any significant changes. Next, we scrutinized the SE stages and found that the percentage of stage VII increased significantly in F0, F1, and F2 generations, especially at the LOAEL dose ([Figure 3](#ijms-21-05408-f003){ref-type="fig"}A--C), but that of stage VIII decreased dramatically in these generations exposed to the same dose ([Figure 3](#ijms-21-05408-f003){ref-type="fig"}A--C). However, no significant differences in the SE stages were observed in F3 ([Figure 3](#ijms-21-05408-f003){ref-type="fig"}D) and F4 ([Figure 3](#ijms-21-05408-f003){ref-type="fig"}E) generations. Additionally, significant differences in SE stages were also observed in stage I, III, IV, and VI in F1 generation due to BPA exposure ([Figure 3](#ijms-21-05408-f003){ref-type="fig"}B).
2.3. BPA-Induced Alterations in the Count of Spermatogonia {#sec2dot3-ijms-21-05408}
----------------------------------------------------------
The observation that BPA exposure caused a decrease in the area of the SE in F0 and F1 led us to investigate the changes in the total count of spermatogonia in comparison to the number of Sertoli cells ([Figure 4](#ijms-21-05408-f004){ref-type="fig"}A). We observed a significant reduction in spermatogonia/Sertoli cell ratio at the LOAEL in the BPA-exposed group (F0) ([Figure 4](#ijms-21-05408-f004){ref-type="fig"}B). We did not observe any difference in this ratio in the subsequent generations (F1--F4) ([Figure 4](#ijms-21-05408-f004){ref-type="fig"}C--F).
Next, we performed FACS assay to evaluate effect of BPA on the total number of testicular germ cell subpopulations. The results showed three peaks, depending on the DNA content of the cells (1C, 2C, and 4C cells). The type 1C cells represent spermatids, while type 2C cells indicate somatic cells, spermatogonia, and secondary spermatocytes. The type 4C cells represent cells in the G2/M phase including primary spermatocytes ([Figure 5](#ijms-21-05408-f005){ref-type="fig"}A). It was observed that the LOAEL group of F0 generation showed a significant increase in the total spermatid number ([Figure 5](#ijms-21-05408-f005){ref-type="fig"}B) and a remarkable reduction in the number of 2C-type cells ([Figure 5](#ijms-21-05408-f005){ref-type="fig"}C) and 4C-type cells ([Figure 5](#ijms-21-05408-f005){ref-type="fig"}D). A similar scenario was observed in F1; 1C-type cells increased at the LOAEL ([Figure 5](#ijms-21-05408-f005){ref-type="fig"}E), while 2C-type cells decreased both at the NOAEL and LOAEL ([Figure 5](#ijms-21-05408-f005){ref-type="fig"}F), and 4C-type cells also decreased at the LOAEL ([Figure 5](#ijms-21-05408-f005){ref-type="fig"}G). The 1C-type cells increased only at the LOAEL in F2 ([Figure 5](#ijms-21-05408-f005){ref-type="fig"}H), and no effects were observed on the other cell types in this generation ([Figure 5](#ijms-21-05408-f005){ref-type="fig"}I,J). The population proportion of testicular germ cells was also studied in the subsequent generations, but BPA-induced effects were not found in F3 and F4 (see [Supplementary Table S1](#app1-ijms-21-05408){ref-type="app"}).
2.4. BPA Exposure Induces Germ Cell Apoptosis {#sec2dot4-ijms-21-05408}
---------------------------------------------
The increase in the number of apoptotic germ cells on BPA exposure was studied using the TUNEL assay ([Figure 6](#ijms-21-05408-f006){ref-type="fig"}A). The results showed a significant increase in the percentage of apoptotic tubules and TUNEL-positive germ cells in both NOAEL- and LOAEL-exposed groups of F0 generation ([Figure 6](#ijms-21-05408-f006){ref-type="fig"}B,G). Additionally, the percentage of apoptotic tubules and apoptotic germ cells per tubule increased in F1 at the LOAEL ([Figure 6](#ijms-21-05408-f006){ref-type="fig"}C,H). In the F2 generation, a high frequency of apoptotic tubules was found at both the NOAEL and LOAEL ([Figure 6](#ijms-21-05408-f006){ref-type="fig"}D), and a high number of apoptotic cells were found in the LOAEL-exposed group ([Figure 6](#ijms-21-05408-f006){ref-type="fig"}I). However, the subsequent generations recovered from this trend of germ cell loss, and no significant changes were observed in the percentage of apoptotic tubules and the number of apoptotic cells per tubule in F3 ([Figure 6](#ijms-21-05408-f006){ref-type="fig"}E,J) and F4 ([Figure 6](#ijms-21-05408-f006){ref-type="fig"}F,K) generations.
2.5. BPA Affects the Stemness Properties of SSCs in F2 Offspring {#sec2dot5-ijms-21-05408}
----------------------------------------------------------------
We observed that BPA-induced effects persisted mostly up to F2 generation and diminished in the subsequent generations. Therefore, we decided to transplant the germ cells from F2 and F3 into the testes of recipient CD1 mice, to observe BPA-related effects on the stemness properties of SSCs. One month after transplantation, germ cells labeled with PKH26 were visualized under a fluorescence microscope ([Figure 7](#ijms-21-05408-f007){ref-type="fig"}A), and donor-derived colonies were counted. We observed a significantly low colony count in F2 at the LOAEL dose along with the EE group ([Figure 7](#ijms-21-05408-f007){ref-type="fig"}B). However, no significant differences were observed in F3 generation ([Figure 7](#ijms-21-05408-f007){ref-type="fig"}C).
3. Discussion {#sec3-ijms-21-05408}
=============
In the current study, we investigated the transgenerational effects of BPA exposure on the physiology, health, and stemness characteristics of testicular germ cells, and testicular morphology in adult mice. With the relatively long period (six weeks) of exposure in adult age, we anticipated that the effects would be prevalent mostly in F0 generation (exposure groups), with the possibility of transgenerational transmission. Hence, all generations (F0--F4) were considered for the experiments. In our initial set of experiments, we did not find any significant difference in the testicular weight (data has not been shown) on BPA exposure. Therefore, the next step included a detailed examination of the testes from the exposed groups (F0) and subsequent generations (F1--F4), to detect any abnormalities in the STs. As shown in [Figure 2](#ijms-21-05408-f002){ref-type="fig"}B--D, a high percentage of abnormal tubules were found at almost all BPA doses in F0--F2, except for the NOAEL group in F1 generation ([Figure 2](#ijms-21-05408-f002){ref-type="fig"}C). Therefore, it was speculated that the high frequencies of abnormal tubules due to BPA exposure could have a crucial effect, although the subsequent generations (F3--F4) showed recovery from the effects of the exposure, and no testicular abnormalities were observed in the subsequent generations.
A thorough examination of the tubular abnormalities showed that some of the lumen areas were abnormally large, resulting in a relatively narrow area for the SE. Our subsequent studies focused on the BPA-induced alterations in the SE and changes in the size of the STs and lumens. As the volume of tubules and lumens differ at various stages of the SE \[[@B37-ijms-21-05408]\], the measurements were taken according to tubular staging. As shown in [Supplementary Figure S1](#app1-ijms-21-05408){ref-type="app"}, no significant difference was observed in the area of tubules. However, a significantly large lumen area was observed at stages VII and VIII of the LOAEL-exposed group in F0 and F1. These effects were absent in F2--F4 generations. Moreover, BPA-induced effects on the SE staging were also evaluated for all generations. We observed a high frequency of stage VII together with a low frequency of stage VIII at the NOAEL and LOAEL doses in F0 and at the LOAEL dose in F1 and F2 ([Figure 3](#ijms-21-05408-f003){ref-type="fig"}A--C). Although the reasons for the BPA-induced inconsistencies of frequencies between stages VII and VIII are unclear, it can be postulated that the reduction in the percentage of stage VIII tubules could be because of a delay in the process of spermiation that occurs at stage VIII \[[@B24-ijms-21-05408]\]. This is consistent with the results of a previous study that showed a BPA-induced reduction in sperm counts \[[@B24-ijms-21-05408]\]. However, F3 and F4 generations showed recovery from the abnormalities related to SE staging.
Next, we examined the BPA-induced changes in the proportion of testicular germ cells, abnormalities in testis morphology, and differences in SE stages. Generally, spermatogonia are classified into three categories---type A, intermediate, and type B spermatogonia, which appear during SE stages I--VI \[[@B38-ijms-21-05408]\]. The calculated ratio of spermatogonia to Sertoli cells from each ST showed that a reduction was seen only in the BPA exposure group (F0) ([Figure 4](#ijms-21-05408-f004){ref-type="fig"}B), while the other generations (F1--F4) did not show any changes. Next, we studied the changes in the total number of cells seen during spermatogenesis and examined them using the FACS analysis. As shown in [Figure 5](#ijms-21-05408-f005){ref-type="fig"}, F0 and F1 generations showed differences in the proportions of germ cells regarding 1C-, 2C-, and 4C-type cells. An increase in the total number of spermatids (1C) was seen in F0--F2 at the LOAEL dose, which could be because of the relatively high number of SEs at stage VII. It was also observed that many of the STs that lacked lumen were filled with cell mass, with their appearance reminiscent of round-shaped spermatids ([Figure 2](#ijms-21-05408-f002){ref-type="fig"}A). The frequency of tubular abnormality was also found to be high at the LOAEL dose ([Figure 2](#ijms-21-05408-f002){ref-type="fig"}B--D), which could be the reason for the high count of 1C-type cells at that dose. However, F0 and F1 showed a low count of 2C- and 4C-type cells at the LOAEL dose. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that BPA exposure transgenerationally alters the germ cell proportion and can hamper spermatogenesis.
These results also led us to investigate whether apoptosis occurred among the populations of BPA-exposed germ cells. After BPA is administered subcutaneously to mouse pups from postnatal day (PND) 1 to 21, at PND 22 the pups show an increase in the frequency of apoptotic STs \[[@B32-ijms-21-05408]\]. Similarly, in this study ([Figure 6](#ijms-21-05408-f006){ref-type="fig"}), we observed a high percentage of apoptotic germ cells in the STs and a significantly high number of apoptotic germ cells per ST at the NOAEL and LOAEL doses in F0. In F1 and F2, the effects were limited to only the LOAEL dose and were further diminished in the next generations (F3 and F4). Therefore, BPA exposure can induce abnormal cell death transgenerationally, in addition to causing alterations in the proportions of germ cell populations.
The final objective of this study was to examine the effect of transgenerationally BPA exposure on stemness properties of SSCs. For this, germ cell transplantation was performed in busulfan-treated recipient CD-1 male mice. The germ cells were collected from F2 and F3 generations, since these generations were nearly free from the adverse effects of BPA exposure. The results demonstrated a significant decrease in the donor germ cell-derived colony number at the LOAEL dose in F2, with recovery seen in F3 generation (shown in [Figure 7](#ijms-21-05408-f007){ref-type="fig"}). Therefore, it can be concluded that BPA exposure can reduce the stem cell-like characteristics of SSCs until F2 generation, with no effect on the number of total spermatogonia ([Figure 4](#ijms-21-05408-f004){ref-type="fig"}D).
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive in vivo study on the effects of BPA exposure during the adult period in mice, with the exposed males being examined transgenerationally for testicular morphology, germ cell count, and functional properties of SSCs. The NOAEL dose showed certain adverse effects, especially in the F0 exposure group. BPA induced changes in almost all of the tested parameters in F0--F2 generations at the LOAEL dose, which were subsequently abolished in the next generation (F3). Thus, BPA exposure in the adult period can induce widespread disruption in reproductive health, even at the permissible exposure limits. Since this is a matter of public health and safety, it is crucial to reevaluate the exposure limits of BPA that are deemed to be non-hazardous.
4. Materials and Methods {#sec4-ijms-21-05408}
========================
4.1. Experimental Animals {#sec4dot1-ijms-21-05408}
-------------------------
Breeding stocks of male and female ICR (CD-1) mice were purchased from Dooyeol Biotech (Seoul, Korea). Recipient CD-1 male mice were used for testicular germ cell transplantation. All animal handling and experimental protocols were approved by the "Animal Care and Use Committee of Chung-Ang University" (IACUC Number: 2016-00009, 26, Feb, 2016) and the "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" published by the National Institutes of Health.
4.2. Experimental Design, BPA Exposure, and Breeding to Generate F1--F4 Offspring {#sec4dot2-ijms-21-05408}
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After 1 week of adaptation, male mice (F0) were administered BPA (239658, Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO, USA) by gavage for six weeks at two dose levels of 5 mg/kg bw/day (NOAEL) and 50 mg/kg bw/day (LOAEL). Ethinylestradiol (EE), an orally active estrogen, served as a positive control at a dose of 0.4 µg/kg/day \[[@B39-ijms-21-05408]\]. Both BPA and EE were dissolved in corn oil (Sigma, St, Louis. MO, USA). Control animals were administered corn oil alone \[[@B40-ijms-21-05408]\]. Each of the experimental and control groups consisted of 12--15 male mice.
In the week following gavage feeding, BPA-exposed male mice were placed with females at a ratio of 1:2 for mating. Females were checked for vaginal plugs to confirm pregnancy. Once pregnancy in the female mice was confirmed by the presence of vaginal plugs, the males were sacrificed for testes collection. The F1 progeny of the pregnant females were allowed to have a three-week lactation period, following which the males were separated and reared for \~95 days before being mated with outbred females. The further week-long mating and sampling procedures followed were similar to that for F0. The process was repeated until F4 generations were obtained ([Figure 1](#ijms-21-05408-f001){ref-type="fig"}B).
4.3. Collection of Testes and Determination of Testicular Abnormalities {#sec4dot3-ijms-21-05408}
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The testes of F0--F4 male mice were collected, weighted, and dissected vertically into two parts; one each for paraffin sectioning and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) assay. For paraffin sectioning, the testicular parts were fixed in Bouin's solution (Sigma, St, Louis. MO, USA) for 6 h at room temperature, followed by washing with 70--100% ethanol gradient at 5 min intervals for dehydration. The tissue was subsequently washed in xylene and embedded in paraffin wax. Tissue sections of 5 µm thickness were cut and placed on glass slides, some of which were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) for testicular morphology study and examined under a fluorescence microscope (TE2000-U, Nikon, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan). The abnormalities in the testis were classified into several categories: The presence of seminiferous tubules (STs) with huge lumen or with no lumen, presence of abnormal cell mass inside lumen, loss of germ cell in the SE, and presence of vacuole in the SE \[[@B40-ijms-21-05408]\]. All the STs present in one section of the testicular tissue were taken into account while obtaining data.
4.4. Periodic Acid--Schiff (PAS)--H&E Staining, Staging of SE, and Counting of Spermatogonia {#sec4dot4-ijms-21-05408}
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For the staging of SE, 5 µm-thick sections of the testes were stained with PAS and counterstained with H&E \[[@B38-ijms-21-05408]\]. For examination of the sections and measurement of areas of the ST and lumen, a Nikon TE2000-U microscope and NIS-Elements imaging software (Nikon, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan) were used.
All types of spermatogonia, namely, type A, type B, and intermediate, were observed visually in the SE at stages I--VI \[[@B38-ijms-21-05408]\]. The total number of spermatogonia was counted, together with the number of Sertoli cells from the same ST, and the ratio of spermatogonia per Sertoli cells was obtained.
4.5. Flow Cytometric Analysis {#sec4dot5-ijms-21-05408}
-----------------------------
Populations of testicular cells, which are classified as 1C, 2C, and 4C subpopulations based on their DNA content, were measured using FACS. Before FACS, testicular cells were separated from the testis tissue according to Oatley and Brinster \[[@B41-ijms-21-05408]\]. In brief, after removing the tunica albuginea from the testis, the tissue (containing STs) was treated enzymatically with collagenase (1 mg/mL; Gibco, Carlsbad, CA, USA) for 1--2 min at 37 °C with a slight agitation. A solution containing 4:1 ratio of 0.25% trypsin-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (Gibco, Carlsbad, CA, USA) and DNase I dissolved in Dulbecco's phosphate buffered saline (DPBS; 7 mg/mL; Roche, Mannheim, Germany) was prepared and used to treat the STs for 5--6 min at 37 °C with flick mixing. Thereafter, fetal bovine serum (FBS) (10% \[*v/v*\], Biotechnics Research, Lake Forest, CA) was added to inactivate the enzymatic action, and a cloudy suspension was prepared by soft pipetting. The cell suspension was filtered using a 40 µm pore size nylon mesh (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA, USA). Cells were fixed with 70% chilled ethanol and stored at 4 °C overnight. The fixed cells were washed two times with chilled DPBS (Gibco, Carlsbad, CA, USA) and treated with DPBS containing 500 µg/mL RNase (Sigma-Aldrich, St, Louis. MO, USA) and 0.1% Triton X-100 (*v/v*, in DPBS) for 15 min at 4 °C in the dark. Finally, the treated cells were stained with propidium iodide (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA) and analyzed using a FACS Aria II Flow Cytometer (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA, USA) with Cell Quest software (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA, USA), according to Liu et al. \[[@B24-ijms-21-05408]\].
4.6. Detection of Germ Cell Apoptosis {#sec4dot6-ijms-21-05408}
-------------------------------------
Paraffin-embedded testis sections, which had not been stained with H&E, were used for the detection of apoptotic germ cells in the SE by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay using the in situ cell death detection kit, POD (Roche, Mannheim, Germany), following the manufacturer's protocol. Since apoptotic cells exhibit green fluorescence, they were visualized under a fluorescence microscope (TE2000-U, Nikon, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan). The number and percentage of STs positive for apoptotic cells were measured.
4.7. Germ Cell Transplantation to Evaluate the Activity of SSCs {#sec4dot7-ijms-21-05408}
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Transplantation of germ cells into recipient testis is an established method for evaluating the number of functional SSCs in the testis of the donor animal and was performed as described previously \[[@B41-ijms-21-05408],[@B42-ijms-21-05408]\]. Briefly, six-week-old CD-1 male mice were used as the recipient mice. They were prepared for transplantation by the injection of busulfan (35 mg/kg bw; Sigma, St, Louis. MO, USA) into the intraperitoneal cavity (IP) after six weeks used for transplantation.
Germ cells were then stained using the PKH26 red fluorescent cell linker kit (Sigma, St, Louis. MO, USA) following the manufacturer's protocol. The proportion of SSCs is 0.03% of the total cells in the testis \[[@B43-ijms-21-05408]\]; therefore, a suspension of 50 × 106 cells/mL was prepared with 10% (*v/v*) FBS and 10% DNase I (7 mg/mL) in a minimum essential medium α (12000-014, powder, Gibco, Carlsbad, CA, USA). Recipient mice were anesthetized with ketamine (75 mg/kg) and medetomidine (0.5 mg/kg) before transplantation. Hair was removed from the lower abdomen, followed by disinfection with iodine and ethanol (70%). A small surgical wound was made, and the testis was pushed out from the abdomen. The suspension of donor germ cells was labeled with 7% (*v/v*) trypan blue and injected into the testes of recipient through efferent ducts as described previously \[[@B41-ijms-21-05408]\]. Each of the testes received \~8--10 µL (\~5.0 × 105 cells) cell suspension, which filled approximately 80% of the surface STs.
Analysis of the testes was performed one month after transplantation. The recipient mice were euthanized, and the testes were collected and visualized under a fluorescence microscope (Nikon AZ100, Tokyo, Japan). After the testes were decapsulated and the tubules spread gently, donor cell-derived colonies were visualized separately under the microscope and counted, as described previously \[[@B44-ijms-21-05408]\]. The spherical PKH26-positive colonies (length ≥ 200 µm) were considered to have been produced from one SSC and were counted. Histological examination of the testes using fluorescence microscopy was also performed to confirm the proliferation of spermatogonia at the basement membrane of the recipient STs.
Each group consisted of 8--10 recipient mice, and the donor germ cells were injected into both testes of the recipient. The number of donor-derived colonies was calculated as follows: Colonies/105 transplanted cells = Number of colonies × 105/Number of transplanted cells.
4.8. Statistics {#sec4dot8-ijms-21-05408}
---------------
One-way analysis of variance was used for analyzing data with the help of SPSS Statistics (version 23.0, IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) and GraphPad Prism (version 5.03; GraphPad Software Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA) software. Significant differences among the mean values were determined using Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference test. A *p*-value of \< 0.05, compared to the control, was considered as statistically significant.
Supplementary materials can be found at <https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/15/5408/s1>. Table S1: Proportion of germ cells in the testis of F3 and F4 generations; Figure S1: Area of seminiferous tubules and lumen.
######
Click here for additional data file.
Conceptualization, B.-Y.R. and M.-G.P.; methodology, P.C.K. and S.-E.J.; software, P.C.K. and S.-E.J.; validation, J.S.A. and Y.-H.K.; writing, P.C.K. and J.S.A.; review and editing, J.S.A., Y.-H.K., S.-E.J., B.-J.K., H.-S.L., S.-U.K., M.S.R., and M.-G.P.; supervision, B.-Y.R.; project administration, B.-Y.R.; funding acquisition, B.-Y.R. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2018R1A6A1A03025159) and the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) Research Initiative Program (KGM4252021), Republic of Korea.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
![Experimental design. (**A**) After adaptation for one week, CD-1 male mice (F0) were gavaged with different bisphenol-A (BPA) doses \[no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL; 5 mg/kg body weight (bw)/day) and lowest-observed-adverse-effect level (LOAEL; 50 mg/kg bw/day); see detailed dose description in the text\], negative control (corn oil), and positive control (ethinylestradiol; EE). (**B**) Mating scheme to produce descendants (F0--F4 generation) where males were allowed to mate with outbred females.](ijms-21-05408-g001){#ijms-21-05408-f001}
![Testicular cross section and abnormal seminiferous tubules (STs) due to bisphenol-A (BPA) exposure. (**A**) Hematoxylin and eosin-stained testicular cross sections in the control, BPA doses \[no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL), lowest-observed-adverse-effect level (LOAEL)\], and ethinylestradiol (EE). It was showing normal STs along with abnormal STs, characterized as STs with a large lumen, abnormal cell mass, loss of germ cells, and that lack lumen. Arrows in the images indicate the positions of abnormality. Scale bar = 50 µm. Percentages of abnormal tubules are presented as bar graphs; (**B**) exposed group (F0) (*n* = 14 mice/group), (**C**) F1 generation (*n* = 15 mice/group), (**D**) F2 generation (*n* = 12 mice/group), (**E**) F3 generation (*n* = 12 mice/group), and (**F**) F4 generation (*n* = 19 mice/group). Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) where the asterisk (\*) indicates significant differences compared with the control *(*\* *p \< 0.05,* \*\* *p \< 0.01*, and \*\*\* *p \< 0.001*).](ijms-21-05408-g002){#ijms-21-05408-f002}
{#ijms-21-05408-f003}
{#ijms-21-05408-f004}
![Bisphenol-A (BPA)-induced changes in the proportion of testicular cell populations. (**A**) Representative images of the control, BPA doses \[no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL), lowest-observed-adverse-effect level (LOAEL)\], and ethinylestradiol (EE), derived from fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Letters in the images (1C, 2C, and 4C) indicate the proportion of haploid (1C), diploid (2C), and tetraploid (4C) germ cells in the testicle. In the case of exposed group (F0), bar graphs are showing the percentage of (**B**) haploid, (**C**) diploid, and (**D**) tetraploid germ cells among the total cells. Percentage of germ cells in F1 generation; (**E**) haploid, (**F**) diploid, and (**G**) tetraploid. Percentage of germ cells in F2 generation; (**H**) haploid, (**I**) diploid, and (**J**) tetraploid. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) where significant differences (\*) were calculated as the comparison of exposed group with the control (*n* = 10 mice/group; \* *p \< 0.05* and \*\* *p \< 0.01*).](ijms-21-05408-g005){#ijms-21-05408-f005}
{#ijms-21-05408-f006}
{#ijms-21-05408-f007}
[^1]: These authors contributed equally to this work.
|
170 Mich. App. 340 (1988)
427 N.W.2d 552
PEOPLE
v.
MAGHZAL
Docket No. 91080.
Michigan Court of Appeals.
Decided February 5, 1988.
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Louis J. Caruso, Solicitor General, Carl J. Marlinga, Prosecuting Attorney, Don L. Milbourn, Chief Appellate Lawyer, and Edward L. Graham, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.
State Appellate Defender (by Mardi Crawford), for defendant on appeal.
Before: HOLBROOK, JR., P.J., and SHEPHERD and D.L. SULLIVAN,[*] JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Defendant was convicted of second-degree murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in a bench trial in Macomb Circuit Court. She was sentenced to thirteen to twenty-five years on the murder conviction and two years on the felony-firearm conviction.
Defendant and the deceased had been married for some four months at the time of his death. Defendant is an immigrant from Iraq and had received her green card allowing her to be a permanent resident several days before the shooting. Defendant has significant problems with the English language.
The shooting took place on December 19, 1984, at the Sterling Heights home of decedent and defendant. According to a statement given by defendant to the police at 1:00 A.M. that night, decedent had returned home from work late, taken a shower and gone to sleep in the guest bedroom. Defendant was writing Christmas cards in the master bedroom. Defendant later went in to get decedent but he indicated that he would sleep in the guest room because he had already set the alarm clock in that room. The two began to joke, according to defendant, and decedent said that he *342 wanted to die. She asked him if he would like her to shoot him and he said yes. She then went to her brother's bedroom and got a.25 caliber automatic weapon. According to defendant, she asked her husband whether the safety was on, took out the clip and told him it was dangerous to point a gun at anyone. Proofs confirm that the clip was pulled before the gun was fired. She placed the gun to decedent's right temple and the gun went off. Defendant told the officer that she and her husband were joking and she did not think the gun was loaded. Proofs confirm that the gun was placed against the skin of decedent's temple.
Immediately after she shot decedent, defendant called a friend in an attempt to locate her brother who was living with decedent and defendant and who owned the gun. She then called decedent's two brothers and they came to the house. Defendant then called the 911 emergency number, indicating that she had shot her husband. By all accounts, defendant was hysterical following the shooting. She repeatedly asked about her husband's condition. She gave a statement to the police officer who drove her back to the station and later gave a taped statement to a detective.
Defendant's brothers testified that defendant and her husband had a good marriage. One of decedent's brothers related one incident of a disagreement between defendant and her husband. He also testified that after she received her green card she had joked that she could now get a divorce. No other evidence of motive was presented.
The trial court found defendant guilty of murder in the second degree. The trial court's findings on the intent element are crucial to our analysis and we therefore quote the trial court at length:
*343 The intent of the Defendant need not be proven directly and in this case it is proven by her acts before and after the killing. Firstly, bearing on intent this Court finds that the Defendant used a dangerous weapon, that is, a handgun. Secondly, this Court takes into consideration the deceased's wounds. This was a contact wound. Dr. Spitz testified and this Court finds that the weapon was pressed firmly against the deceased's right temple. This Court interprets that as being there could be no mistake, no error, that when this gun was discharged the bullet would kill or do great bodily harm to the deceased. In addition, this Court has examined Exhibit Number Seventeen and finds that the clip, that is the cartridge clip, in this weapon was very difficult to remove. It takes two hands to remove this clip and requires some knowledge of guns. Whoever removed the cartridge clip must have had some knowledge or experience with handguns. Although this gun, Exhibit Number Seventeen, has no magazine safety it does have a safety. The safety on Exhibit Number Seventeen locks into the slide of the barrel of this weapon. Anyone with that level of knowledge or experience to know how to remove the clip from the weapon would also have to know how to operate the safety and would know not to press a gun loaded or unloaded with safety on or off, with the clip in or out, against someone's head and pull the trigger.
In addition bearing on intent this Court has considered the Defendant's acts after the killing. The Defendant did not call the police or an ambulance immediately. She first placed a call attempting to locate her brother. Secondly, she told her friend when she spoke to her on the phone that her husband had fainted. She didn't ask her friend for assistance, didn't run to the neighbors for assistance. She ignored her friend's earlier suggestion that she call 911 or the emergency number.
She told the police on call number one at 11:37 P.M. that her husband had fallen and that she didn't know what happened. Then she asked one of the deceased's brothers to hide the weapon.
*344 All of the above are consistent with the intent to kill or cause great bodily harm and they are inconsistent with the accident. [Emphasis added.]
The instant case turns on the distinction between second-degree murder, MCL 750.317; MSA 28.549, and involuntary manslaughter, MCL 750.321; MSA 28.553. In People v Dykhouse, 418 Mich 488, 508-509; 345 NW2d 150 (1984), the Supreme Court set forth the elements of second-degree murder, as follows:
As refined by this Court, the elements of common-law murder are: (1) a death, (2) caused by an act of the defendant, (3) absent circumstances of justification, excuse, or mitigation, (4) done with an intent to kill, an intent to inflict great bodily harm, or an intent to create a very high risk of death with the knowledge that the act probably will cause death or great bodily harm. People v Hansen, 368 Mich 344, 350-351; 118 NW2d 422 (1962). Common-law murder, as evolved, is what has come to be known as second-degree murder.
The criminal offense of common-law involuntary manslaughter, as codified, requires a death caused by the defendant without legal justification or excuse while the defendant was acting in a grossly negligent manner or while committing an unlawful act which was inherently dangerous to human life. People v Duggan, 115 Mich App 269; 320 NW2d 241 (1982). A finding of gross negligence for purposes of involuntary manslaughter requires:
(1) Knowledge of a situation requiring the exercise of ordinary care and diligence to avert injury to another.
(2) Ability to avoid the resulting harm by ordinary *345 care and diligence in the use of the means at hand.
(3) The omission to use such care and diligence to avert the threatened danger when to the ordinary mind it must be apparent that the result is likely to prove disastrous to another. [People v Orr, 243 Mich 300, 307; 220 NW 777 (1928).]
The crime of involuntary manslaughter does not require that the defendant be personally aware of the danger or that he knowingly and consciously create that danger. The test only requires the danger to be apparent to the ordinary mind. People v Sealy, 136 Mich App 168; 356 NW2d 614 (1984). [People v Harris, 159 Mich App 401, 406; 406 NW2d 307 (1987).]
Further implicated in this case is the statutory felony of manslaughter committed by aiming or pointing a firearm intentionally but without malice, MCL 750.329; MSA 28.561. The distinction between this crime and common-law involuntary manslaughter has been explained this way: "We believe that the legislative intent was to punish the intentional pointing of a firearm which results in death even if the defendant did not act in a grossly negligent manner." Duggan, supra at 272.
The general rule appears to be that, when a person points a gun at someone as a joke, reasonably believing the gun not to be loaded, and pulls the trigger and the gun discharges and kills the victim, he is guilty of manslaughter. 40 Am Jur 2d, Homicide, § 95, p 390.
The facts in this case contain the elements of these separate felonies. Defendant claimed that the gun went off while she and decedent were joking. She claimed to know little about guns and thought that when she took the clip out the gun was empty. By all accounts, she seemed hysterical after the shooting. Her story was consistent with *346 her defense that the shooting was an accident involving negligence to a greater or lesser degree.[1]
The court rules require the judge in a nonjury criminal case to make findings of fact. MCR 2.517; MCR 6.001. People v Jackson, 390 Mich 621; 212 NW2d 918 (1973). Review of Jackson is here instructive. In that case, defendant and two friends went to an address to purchase drugs. Defendant waited off to the side with a shotgun while his two friends went to the door. A man named Holmes answered the door but refused to do business with the two men, one of whom he did not recognize. One of the men at the door reached into his pocket and Holmes opened fire with a gun. Defendant then fired his gun, striking and killing one of his associates, not Holmes. At trial, defendant claimed self-defense.
The Supreme Court held, inter alia, that a trial court sitting without a jury is obligated to make findings of fact. In Jackson, the trial court commented to defendant's attorney that he could not see self-defense since the decedent had no gun. His final ruling did not indicate how he resolved this and other questions troubling him. The Supreme Court remanded because there was "sufficient doubt" as to whether the trial court had correctly applied the law to the facts.
In this case, the trial judge, after examining the gun and concluding that anyone who could get the clip out must have been knowledgeable about guns, concluded:
Anyone with that level of knowledge or experience to know how to remove the clip from the *347 weapon would also have to know how to operate the safety and would know not to press a gun loaded or unloaded with safety on or off, with the clip in or out, against someone's head and pull the trigger. [Emphasis added.]
We are not convinced that everyone who reasonably believes that a gun is empty necessarily has sufficient intent to justify a second-degree murder conviction. Also, we find the trial court's failure to specifically address involuntary manslaughter and the lesser statutory manslaughter committed by aiming a gun casts sufficient doubt as to whether the trial court properly applied the law to the facts in this case. We find from the trial judge's comments that he did not consider options other than second-degree murder and that he erroneously believed that, under the facts, second-degree murder was the only possibility. The present case is analogous to those cases in which the jury was not instructed as to lesser offenses. See People v Ora Jones, 395 Mich 379, 394; 236 NW2d 461 (1975). In this case, the trial judge's failure to consider the lesser offenses requires reversal. See Jones; see also Jackson. The defense theory was accidental shooting; defense counsel argued the two lesser offenses in closing argument. We rule that the factfinder must address those theories argued by defendant and which were supported by the facts. We reverse defendant's conviction and remand for a new trial because the trial court, sitting as factfinder, failed to address the possibility of the lesser included offenses.
We further hold that defendant's other allegations of error requiring reversal are meritless. Defendant's brother-in-law was questioned as to marital problems between defendant and the victim in a series of leading questions. Defendant's *348 brother-in-law had some difficulty with the English language. The only "problem" he could identify was a joke defendant made about being able to get a divorce shortly after receiving her green card. The decision whether to permit leading questions is within the discretion of the trial court. People v Garland, 152 Mich App 301; 393 NW2d 896 (1986). Given the witness' significant language barrier, we find no abuse.
Defendant also objects to testimony by an investigating officer that it "appeared to me that the victim may possibly have been sleeping at the time of the incident." Defendant cites no authority for the proposition that this testimony was error. It is not the job of the appellate court to find support for defendant's case. People v Battle, 161 Mich App 99; 409 NW2d 739 (1987). In any event, the comment was made in the context of the officer's observations of the victim, which included the fact that the victim had his eyes closed, was in his underwear, and that there was no indication of a struggle. We find no error.
Finally we note that defendant is an alien who upon release following a felony conviction and absent a recommendation otherwise by the trial court is subject to deportation. 8 USC 1251. Since we have vacated defendant's conviction here and remanded for a new trial, defendant may address the trial court on the issue at the appropriate time under the federal statute.
Reversed and remanded. We do not retain jurisdiction.[2]
NOTES
[*] Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
[1] Defendant presented no expert witness to testify as to whether the gun could have simply gone off absent pressure on the trigger. Detective Blanchard, the investigating detective in this case, testified that the gun could not go off without such pressure. We therefore assume that defendant does not deny pulling the trigger.
[2] Since this was a bench trial, we would normally have remanded for further fact-finding on the present record. However, the trial judge is no longer on the Macomb Circuit bench, having recently been appointed to the United States District Court.
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Since being selected with the 10th overall pick at June’s NHL Draft, Evan Bouchard has been at the front of mind for Oilers fans everywhere because of his potential to be a long-term solution to the Oilers puck moving woes on the back end. He’s big, he has a bomb of a shot, and can move the puck up ice at an elite level which makes him a rare commodity on the Oilers’ defensive depth chart. No one expected Bouchard to fall to the Oilers at 10 and after seeing him play in his first handful of NHL games you can see what a gift that was. With time, I believe that this is a guy that has the ability to make a tremendous impact for this organization and seeing him play only reinforced that idea. The problem, of course, is that expecting him to handle that job right now is a little too much too soon, and I think the Oilers made the right call in sending the 19-year-old back to the OHL for further seasoning.
I know some folks said there is nothing left for him to learn at the junior level but I strongly disagree. By going back to London, Bouchard will get the opportunity to play the minutes needed to work on and round out the deficiencies in his game under the watchful eye of Edmonton’s scouts. That extra playing time is a luxury that he wouldn’t have had in Edmonton and the Oilers made the smart choice in making sure he gets it. While there are areas of his game where he already excels, the offensive side in particular, there were times when Bouchard struggled in his own end which is not at all uncommon for a young defenceman trying to learn the ropes at the NHL level. Not only that, Bouchard will now have the opportunity to compete for a spot on Canada’s roster at the World Juniors Tournament, a valuable experience in itself, and also for a Memorial Cup with a London Knights team that is built to compete.
In an ideal world, the Oilers would have been able to send Bouchard to the AHL to further his development there, but that’s not an option right now so that makes going back to London the best spot for him right now. The biggest thing at this stage of Bouchard’s development is that the Oilers need him to play and in going back to London, he’ll get a truckload of minutes there that he wouldn’t get nor is he ready for yet in Edmonton. From the asset management side of things, Bouchard’s assignment not only extends team control over the player for another year but also give the Oilers another protected contract in the upcoming expansion draft which will be immensely valuable in itself. All in all, this a smart choice by the organization from a hockey side and an asset management perspective, and I’m thrilled to see them thinking ahead with this player rather than trying to have him learn on the job at the NHL level.
So for now, we must say goodbye to our new dad and wish him well on his journey in London. Personally, I’m excited to see how the rest of his season will play out and how much better he’ll be for it by the time next year’s training camp rolls around. All the best in London, Bouche! We’ll see you soon.
In seven games played, Bouchard had one goal, 10 shots on net, two PIMs, and a -5 rating.
Oilers fans, let’s just stop and appreciate what we finally have. Healthy competition and depth. Take out players like Bouch, Yamo, and Jesse and we have older players like Chiasson, Rattie, and Garrision ready to contribute. We don’t have to rush prospects even if they’re good enough to make the team – we can do what’s best for their player development. Sure guys like Marody, Benson, and McLeod would have made this team in the past, but now they get lots of ice time, leadership experience, and development in the A/OHL!
So happy that they brought up Kevin Gravel and have left Ethan Bear in Bakersfield for now – Hopefully Bear is allowed the privilege of a good stretch of games and isn’t forced up early due to injury (or poor play).
I think your are not far off. I don’t think the Oil are looking beyond winning games now and if Bouchard was clearly one of their best 7 dmen he would be here. But I think that he hasn’t shown he is clearly better than Garrison, Benning, Gravel or even Bear (is he still injured?) so there is little reason to keep him here.
Yeah, it’s interesting how the Oilers look like they will have strength in defence coming up, but they are now weak on the wings. It’s a better place to be though – wingers are easier to come by. That Hall trade was still one-sided, but Larsson is playing so much better this year that it doesn’t look quite so bad.
Not crazy about this. IMO he has NHL level talent right now. Playing him against 16/17 year old teenage kids is not going to develop and push him the same way growing his game against adults would. Hopefully he does what Mathews did and goes to Europe for the year. And hopefully they make it so these guys can play in the AHL in the future rather than just juniors.
Most players in the OHL are between 18-20. If Bouchard makes Team Canada, most of the competition will be 19-20. Bouchard as an NHL draft choice out of the OHL having signed a contract is precluded from going to Europe. I wouldn’t expect the NHL and the Junior leagues to change this arrangement any time soon, since it benefits both leagues, and there are so few 18-19 old players who would be better off in the AHL, that changing the rules would not be worth it.
All that and he’ll develop the confidence to do everything as second nature.
The thing I really liked about Bouchard is that he didn’t clam-up when he made a mistake.
He made a lot of mistakes, but that’s great at his level, as it shows he wasn’t afraid to make them (unlike some other prospect players on this team). By him shaking off his mistakes and continually trying to be effective he actually was pretty effective. As “B’milk” said, the Oilers will still be working with him to give him development projects with the Knights and those mistakes will become less & less. He will play the game as second nature & know were and what to do, without thinking about it. Now, as said earlier, if we could only get one of our other top prospects to develop this confidence?… We’ll see.
An Oakville Blade Eh? Of which I am an alumn. Anyone know if Vern Quigley (H.Coach) is still around? It was Jr. B when I was their. Not sure what league it is now?
So does this open up a spot on the 25 man roster or is there another move to make once Rattie comes back? I cant imagine the Oil taking Cagguilla or Chaisson out of the lineup right now, so it comes down to JP, Yama or Kassian getting pushed down.
Good on management to send him back to London. He got some time to skate with the Oil, netted a goal and looked very promising. We have a great prospect in Bouchard, nice to see they are thinking ahead in terms of player development and the looming expansion draft.
I like how the Oilers handled Bouchard. Keep him up, give him a taste of the NHL and slow play those 7 games. Let him be around the team, practice with the team and especially spend time with Yawney learning. With 3 years of junior already under his belt, it would be better if he could go to the AHL but that can’t happen. He will be a player next year to watch I believe.
The next move they need to make is once Rattie is healthy, send down both Yamo and Puljujarvi. I would have them both in a meeting, tell them how important they are to the team, their future as top 6 guys. Then have a conference call with Woodcroft telling him in front of those 2 how critical they are and how the Oilers want them to play a ton and they be given extra attention. Then when Marody is healthy, I would send him down as well. I would call up Malone and have him sit in the press box watching.
This cant be seen as a negative. It allows Bouchard to play and hone his skills, gives him a chance to captain London to another MasterCard Cup, and allows him to play for gold at the World Juniors. Fantastic decision.
Everyone knew this was coming because for the Oilers to leave Bouchard on the roster wouldn’t have been smart at all especially if he isn’t going to play and only going to get a handful of minutes a night, I am sure they would have loved to have Boucahrd in the AHL playing better competition and a lot of minutes but that option wasn’t available it was on the roster or back to Junior and Juniors was the wise choice.
Like Bear the Oiler and fans can see there is tremendous upside to Bouchard and like Bear areas of his game that need work, but when these two shore those areas of their game up and improve on them that is going to be two future decent D men that they have for down the road that are going to challenge guys for spots
IMO, this was the best move for both Bouchard and the Oilers. The kid has potential and maybe a bright future in the NHL someday. I am glad that they are not going to rush him. He looked okay, but not so good that he had to stay in the line-up. |