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News Release 10-026
For Nanowires, Nothing Sparkles Quite Like Diamond
Diamond nanowires emit single photons, providing new options for high-speed computing, advanced imaging and secure communication
February 15, 2010
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
Diamonds are renowned for their seemingly flawless physical beauty and their interplay with light.Now researchers are taking advantage of the mineral's imperfections to control that light at the atomic scale, generating one photon at a time.
A team of engineers and applied physicists from Harvard University, the Technical University of Munich and Texas A&M has sculpted a novel nanowire from diamond crystal and shown that the wire can act as a source of single photons. The team reported its findings online Feb. 14 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
To create their diamond nanowire device, the researchers took advantage of the same physical processes that give some colored diamonds their hues. For example, when a diamond appears blue or yellow, the pure carbon of the diamond crystal has been sullied by scattered impurities that were incorporated into the carbon while the diamond was forming. Atoms of boron result in a blue diamond; atoms of nitrogen yield a yellow diamond.
The interloping atoms are trapped within their solid-state host, causing the perfect diamond latticework to bend to accommodate the imperfections and ultimately changing the electronic states in the atoms. In jewelry, the result is stunning color. In the nanowires, the result is a device that can generate a high flux of individual photons.
"The diamond nanowire device acts as a nanoscale antenna that funnels the emission of single photons from the embedded color center into a microscope lens," said lead researcher Marko Loncar of the School for Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) at Harvard.
For the device, the researchers focused on diamond engineered with Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers, where nitrogen atoms are adjacent to vacancies in the surrounding diamond crystal lattice. Researchers have known about NV centers for some time, and have demonstrated their utility for quantum communications, quantum computing, and nanoscale magnetic-field sensing. But until now, researchers had not engineered the diamond host, yielding a complete device that can be integrated into existing technologies.
"Using a standard manufacturing process, the team has achieved the unique combination of a nanostructure with an embedded defect, all within a commercially available crystal," said Dominique Dagenais, an expert in NSF's Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems who is familiar with the team's work. "The resulting device may prove easy to couple into a standard optical fiber, Dagenais added. "This novel approach is a key technological step towards achieving fast, secure computing and communication."
The current product is an array with thousands of diamond nanowires--each only a few millionths of a meter tall and 200 billionths of a meter in diameter--sitting on top of the macroscopic diamond crystal from which they came.
Because the NV centers are not uniformly distributed in the original diamond crystal, each wire has its imperfection in a different location, resulting in varied coupling between the NV centers and the diamond nanowire antennas. In the future, a technique called ion implantation could be used to generate the defect centers at predetermined locations, optimizing the devices.
"This exciting result is the first time the tools of nanofabrication have been applied to diamond crystals in order to control the optical properties of a single defect," said Loncar. "We hope that the greater diamond community will be able to leverage the excellent performance of this single photon source."
Loncar's co-authors included graduate student Tom Babinec, research scholar Birgit Hausmann, graduate student Yinan Zhang, and postdoctoral student Mughees Khan, all at SEAS; graduate student Jero Maze in the department of physics at Harvard; and faculty member Phil R. Hemmer at Texas A&M University.
The researchers acknowledge the following support: Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) grant from National Science Foundation (NSF), the NSF-funded Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center at Harvard (NSEC); the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); and a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship and National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. All devices have been fabricated at the Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS) at Harvard. Loncar is also the recipient of an NSF CAREER award.
Read more about the work in the Harvard University press release at http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/02/digging-deep-into-diamonds/.
Media Contacts
Joshua A. Chamot, NSF, (703) 292-7730, email: email@example.com
Michael Patrick Rutter, Harvard, 617-496-3815, email: email@example.com
Program Contacts
Dominique Dagenais, NSF, (703) 292-2980, email: email@example.com
Principal Investigators
Marko Loncar, Harvard, 617-496-3815, email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Tom Babinec, Harvard, 617-496-3815, email: email@example.com
The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.
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Creating Rich Interactive Web Apps With KnockoutJS – Part 1
With the advent of online games, social apps, Flash/AIR apps, and rich instant-feedback sites
like Google Search and GMail, consumers are demanding more and more interactivity.
While interacting with your app customer now expect:
- Browser-side processing (calculation, business rules, …)
- Instant validation
- Instant visual feedback: animation/effect while making changes (add/remove/update)
- Dynamic clues on what to do next
- More same / on page functionality (without the need to refresh or navigate to other pages)
For a while adding a sprinkling of AJAX and localized visual refresh using jQuery UI was sufficient.
But richer application interactions introduce more elaborate technical approaches:
- Present more related data at the same time
- Leverage graphs and other data visualization techniques
- Offer more on-page functionality
- Allow interactions with one panel to cause updates on other panels
- Support asynchronous back-end interactions
Extending the Model View Controller Pattern
Here is a reminder of what typically happens in a traditional MVC web app (e.g. Ruby On Rails, Ruby Camping, ASP.NET MVC, Cake PHP, Django Python, etc.):
- The routing engine identifies the appropriate controller
- The controller retrieves the model
- The view engine renders the view
- The view contains HTML, CSS, and Javascript code
- Rich browser-side applications typically have event handlers to allow page-level interactions to
handle validation, hide/show elements, perform some processing / calculations, executebusiness rules, invoke AJAX services, update content
Note that the last bullet represents quite a bit of logic (possibly in the 500 to several thousand lines of Javascript code).
The logic gets even more complex once you have multiple panels and sets of model elements.
If your AJAX services return complex objects you also need to keep track of these objects,
their binding to panel elements/controls, and their inter-dependencies / impact on each other when a change occurs.
Key take-away:
We need to organize our browser-side code (markup, CSS, and JS) according to their concern, i.e. model representation, business rules, display, user interaction, event handling, server interaction, etc..
This is where the notion of ViewModel and Observables come in to help us out.
Let's break things down:
- Partitioning: each page / page can have its own clean model
- Testability: the View and ViewModel can be tested independently from the server logic
- Modularity: ViewModels code can be namespaced and contained in their own .js file
- Each attribute of a ViewModel will be mapped to an Observable so that any value change can be broadcasted (a.k.a. "published" in the publish/subscribe terminology) to any interested subscriber. (So essentially a ViewModel attribute is what is called a Value Model)
- Fast UI: derived values or content can be produced on-the-fly based on observed attributes
- Increased responsiveness: asynchronous server interactions can be triggered in the background and cause ViewModels to be updated
- The scenario where a UI element subscribe to a ViewModel attribute (Value Model) is known as "Data-Binding".
This allows a clean separation between logic related to the ViewModel (calculations, derivations, retrieval, server interaction) and UI-specific presentation logic.
- Synchronization: HTML elements and ViewModel attributes are kept in synch
- Instant visual feedback: elements on the page can update visually as you interact / update data
Introducing KnockOutJS
KnockOutJS is a Javascript framework created by Steve Sanderson to provide support for ViewModel, Observable, and Data-Binding using jQuery.
For more details, check out the KnockOutJS site as well as the Learning Playground.
Let's dig into the basic infrastructure provided by KnockOutJS and then we'll build up to more complex scenarios.
- In KnockoutJS, a ViewModel is defined as a Javascript Object Literal. Value Models are defined using ko.observable() and an initial value as follows:
var viewModel = { savingGoalAmount: ko.observable(500), // dollars // ... more attributes ... };
The example ViewModel has one attribute: savingGoalAmount, with an initial value of 500.
- You can programmatically "subscribe" to changes in a ViewModel attribute (a Value Model) like this:
// Set up the ViewModel var viewModel = { savingGoalAmount: ko.observable(500), // dollars // ... more attributes ... }; viewModel.savingGoalAmount.subscribe(function(newValue) { // Show the updated value on the FireBug's console console.info("savingGoalAmount is now " + newValue); }); // Get KnockoutJS to apply bindings / subscriptions ko.applyBindings(viewModel); // Test by changing the amount viewModel.savingGoalAmount(600); // Should display in the console
The subscribe function takes a callback function it will invoke upon any change on the value of the savingGoalAmount Value Model.
The ko.applyBindings function tells KnockoutJS to start the dependency tracking. From that point on all subscribers will be notified of any changes.
- KnockoutJS makes it easy to setup data binding between any HTML element (e.g. INPUT) and a ViewModel attribute (Value Model) using the data-bind syntax and the value: keyword
KnockoutJS uses the data-bind attribute to let us specify the type of binding needed.
In this example we're binding the value of the INPUT element to the savingGoalAmount Value Model.
We'll see later on that there are other types of data-binding such as specific attributes, visibility, styling, etc. although you can see the full reference in the documentation.
Note that the data-bind syntax is just "syntactic sugar" for use in our markup. If you prefer a clean separation between markup and Javascript, you can declare your data-bindings like so:
$("#saving-goal-amount") .attr("data-bind","value: savingGoalAmount");
You just need to make sure these declarations are performed before you get KnockoutJS to apply the bindings (using ko.applyBindings).
You can play and run the examples above on this jsFiddle.net page.
Building Up
Now that we have a basic understanding of KnockoutJS, let's add a few more building blocks:
- If a ViewModel attribute needs to store an array, KnockoutJS provides a specialized type of Observable called an ko.observableArray:
var viewModel = { savingGoalObjectives: ko.observableArray([ 'Discretionary', 'Expensive Purchase', 'Investment']), // ... more attributes ... };
Adding / removing items in the array will cause KnockoutJS to trigger an update to all observers of this Value Model.
- In addition to attributes (Value Models), ViewModels can expose "behaviors" such as:
- Derived attributes, resulting from a calculation, or a business rule.
KnockoutJS refers to them as dependentObservables:
var viewModel = { savingGoalAmount: ko.observable(500), // dollars savingMaxDuration: ko.observable(6), // dollars // ... more attributes ... }; // Derived data viewModel.savingTargetPerMonth = ko.dependentObservable(function() { return this.savingGoalAmount() / this.savingMaxDuration(); }, viewModel)
Whenever either savingGoalAmount or savingMaxDuration change, the derived savingTargetPerMonth function will be re-evaluated.
If savingTargetPerMonth is data-bound to the UI, the corresponding element will redisplay.
Note that you can create dependentObservable functions on top of dependent observables or plain observables!
- Formatted version of the data
var viewModel = { savingGoalAmount: ko.observable(500), // dollars // ... more attributes ... }; // Derived formatted display data viewModel.savingGoalAmountAsCurrency = ko.dependentObservable(function() { return accounting.formatMoney(this.savingGoalAmount(), "$", 2, ",", "."); ; }, viewModel)
Above is an example using the Accounting.js library to format our savingGoalAmount Value Model within our dependent observable so that we can display a nicely formatted currency representation on the UI.
- Add / remove logic on arrays
var viewModel = { myItems: ko.observableArray(), // ... more attributes ... }; // Add / remove behaviors viewModel.addItem = function (newItem) { var valid = validateItem(newItem); // custom logic if (valid) { this.myItems.push(newItem); } }
In this example, addItem is a custom behavior attached to the ViewModel which can be invoked to add new valid items.
- Any other business logic related to an overall ViewModel
var viewModel = { savingGoalAmount: ko.observable(500), // dollars // ... more attributes ... }; viewModel.reset = function() { this.savingGoalAmount(500); }
- Derived attributes, resulting from a calculation, or a business rule.
- To allow other parts of our browser-side logic to access our ViewModels, we need to have a way to access them.
We can save ViewModels in the DOM, either at the document level or at a panel level using the jQuery.data API:
var viewModel1 = { } var viewModel2 = { } ko.applyBindings(viewModel1); ko.applyBindings(viewModel2); $(document).data("MyDocumentViewModel", viewModel1); $("#my-panel").data("MyPanelViewModel", viewModel2);
This allows us to access a specific ViewModel later, outside data-binding logic (e.g. in an event handler) like so:
var viewModel1 = $(document).data("MyDocumentViewModel"); var viewModel2 = $("#my-panel").data("MyPanelViewModel");
To keep our code organized we'll want to create accessor functions such as for example:
MyApp.Model.GetMyDocumentViewModel = function() { return $(document).data("MyDocumentViewModel"); } MyApp.Model.SetMyDocumentViewModel = function(viewModel) { $(document).data("MyDocumentViewModel", viewModel); }
So that we can just access our ViewModel from other modules:
// Initialization var viewModel = { } ko.applyBindings(viewModel); MyApp.Model.SetMyDocumentViewModel(viewModel); // Later on in a different module: MyApp.Model.GetMyDocumentViewModel() .savingGoalAmount.subscribe(myCallBackFunction);
- The attributes (Value Models) of the ViewModel can be updated using data returned by an AJAX call to a controller
$.getJSON('ajax/myapi.json', parms, function(data) { // Assumption: we have saved the original viewModel var viewModel = $(document).data("MyViewModel"); viewModel.savingGoalAmount(data.amount); });
- The ViewModel can also aggregate a subset of attributes from one or even several server-side [MVC] Models
- Arbitrary Javascript functions can also subscribe to Value Model changes:
// Set up the ViewModel var viewModel = { savingGoalAmount: ko.observable(500), // dollars // ... more attributes ... }; function GraphSavingScenario(newValue) { // some graphing logic } viewModel.savingGoalAmount.subscribe(GraphSavingScenario);
So What?
KnockoutJS can help organize browser-side logic by facilitating the creation of panels (Views),
each logically data-bound to ViewModels built on top of a local publish/subscribe mechanism using Observables.
Data-binding, combined with derived data / behaviors, and AJAX will boost the interactivity level of the application.
Part 2 of the series on "Creating Rich Interactive Web Apps" will be a tutorial on how to build a moderate complexity application with KnockoutJS.
We will cover the following topics:
- Enabling / disabling rules
- Condition display
- Leveraging jQuery templates
- Extracting views into templates
- … and more!
So stay tuned!
References and Resources
- Model View – ViewModel Pattern
- MVC Xerox Parc 1978-79
- MVC Pattern
- Observer Pattern
- Publish Subscribe Pattern
- Value Model Pattern
- Data Binding Pattern
Frameworks And Blogs
- KnockoutJS
- Learn KnockoutJS (Interactive Tutorial / Playground)
- jQuery
- jQuery UI
- jQuery Template
- jQuery Template API
- Knock Me Out (Steve Sanderson's Blog)
- Knock Me Out (Ryan Niemeyer's Blog)
- Patterns For Large-Scale Javascript Architecture (Addy Osmani)
Source Of The KnockoutJS Examples
You can find the examples on jsFiddle.net here:

subset: commoncrawl


text: Artist: Witchdoctor f/ OutKast Album: A S.W.A.T. Healin' Ritual Song: Dez Only 1 Typed by: firstname.lastname@example.com [Sample] Deep in the steaming jungle The eerie sound of the voodoo drums tell us that This is the night [Witchdoctor] My confess We sinners lord Dez only 1 [Chorus] Book you got cooked (x3) God sent you some warriors Plus we tellers of the stories (2x) Book you got cooked (x2) [Witchdoctor] Check it out, uh If in this life I strive to please Him In this day and night I'm not always right Even when I'm wrong You should be afraid to anger Him Cause you could be gone Him don't need us It's the other way round Do you know what I'm talking about When I say Him, clown? You can't look at nobody And say that's Him Cause He's invisible Yet visible, this is critical Relying on our own abilities you lose You need him To help make your bumpy ride a cruise Ask Magic about him Or any strong believer He's the quarterback We the receivers Catching blessings Better than touchdowns I seek him when Niggas wanna buck me down Him holds many holy titles Him has many names Him has many bibles The devil can't deal with Him, uh He tempted me but you see I'm still with Him Listen close All brothers are men Him is responsible for all colors and kin I bust with Him If only I can fully trust in Him I'm glad to be stuck with Him Rather have Him than money I'm serious He'll get you once you become curious Lord, give me happy, long life Real good sex with the wife No traveling with bodyguards It's just a real nigga godly entourage [Chorus] God sent you some warriors Plus we tellers of the stories Book you got cooked (x3) [Big Boi] See My relationship with the God Is kind of odd The nigga the B-I-G won't part Feeling the presence up in my heart But never no chicken to the nigga In on that style like that Talking about the way the Lord Be lifting these burdens up off my back Better that I bust raps The way that I cut that Ho you couldn't You trying too hard, you better find Him I'm hoping you understood it Could it be (What?) The niggas around the way Don't really be thinking about the consequences Under the circumstances Until you pinch them Then a nigga be one to listen (Why?) Cause you woke that ass up Yoke that ass up Proving the man in the sky That holds that ass up But it's over now He cut off Some niggas done broke you clean off But got to get on your knees And praise the only Now your soul lost [Andre Benjamin] Now, OK, now The sun shines The moon glows The wind blows The rain falls But that aint all My heart thumps on a rhythm y'all And birds call And two can fall madly in love Oh, I think grow They stop and stare in awe Because we in his likeness Hoping and praying that one-day In the lab they might just Stumble on some kind of way To create human beings So far Human kind is the only thing I'm seeing Dez only 1 God sent you some warriors Plus we tellers of the stories Book you got cooked (x3) (Repeat to fade out)


text:
Matmos is Drew Daniel and M. C. Schmidt. Having previously recorded for a variety of labels, as well as their own Vague Terrain imprint, and having remixed everyone from Kid 606 and Bjork to Otomo Yoshihide and Labradford, the San Francisco duo exemplify the promiscuous creativity and formal aberration of the California experimental electronic scene. In 2001, the duo began assisting Bjork on her albums, and also became a part of Bjork's touring ensemble.
With their tracks strongly rooted in a tight, conceptual form of concrete sampling, their source materials have included the sounds of: amplified crayfish nerve tissue, the pages of bibles turning, liposuction surgery, contact microphones on human hair, rat cages, electrical interference generated by laser eye surgery, whoopee cushions and balloons, latex fetish clothing, and solid gold coins spinning on bars of solid silver, to name just a very few.


text:
About Practical PhotoshopPractical Photoshop is the world's premier Photoshop magazine, a monthly guide to the best Photoshop techniques, tips and tricks. Inside each issue you'll find an array of inspirational tutorials and accompanying video lessons that will help you master Adobe's collection of industry standard photo-editing software. What's more, there's a selection of amazing images from the world's best Photoshop creatives, free downloadable content, and a beginner's guide to the basics. If you love photography and you want to learn more about digital imaging, then Practical Photoshop will help you to unleash your creative potential.
The number of issues included in a magazine subscription (frequency) is subject to change without notice. Additional double issues may be published, which count as 2 issues. Applicable sales tax will be added. Offer void in Vermont. Magazine covers are used for illustrative purposes only and you may not receive a copy of the particular issue depicted. Your subscription will include the most recent issue once your subscription begins. Magazine covers are the property of the publisher. This site is not officially affiliated with, associated with, or endorsed by Practical Photoshop or the publisher.


text: Krisanne Johnson (b. 1976) grew up in Xenia, Ohio. She graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Colorado and pursued postgraduate work in visual communications at Ohio University. She is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Since 2006, Krisanne has been working on long-term personal projects about young women and HIV/AIDS in Swaziland and South Africa's post-apartheid youth culture. Krisanne's work has been exhibited internationally and has appeared in various magazines and newspapers, including The New Yorker, TIME, The New York Times, Fader, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, US News & World Report, L'Espresso (Italy), Vanity Fair (Italy), D la Repubblica (Italy). She is represented by Prospekt Photo Agency in Milan, Italy. Apart from her documentary work, her fashion work has been shown during the International Center for Photography's Year of Fashion in the group exhibit, Weird Beauty: Fashion Photography Now, curated by Vince Aletti and Carol Squiers. In 2012, this work was also included in the group show, Black Gossamer, at the Glass Curtain Gallery in Chicago curated by Camille Morgan. Awards/Fellowships 2016 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship 2014 Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography 2013 Photo Urbanism Fellowship from the Design Trust for Public Space 2013 Pictures of the Year, Award of Excellence, Daily Life Single 2011 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography 2010 Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund Grant 2009 W. Eugene Smith Fellowship 2009 Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography 2005 World Press Photo, 2nd Place, Daily Life Single 2005 Pictures of the Year, 1st Place, Feature Single, 2nd Place, Magazine Feature Story Exhibitions 2015 I Love You Real Fast, FotoIstanbul, Turkey 2014 Post-Apartheid Youth, Festival Della Fotografia Etica, Lodi, Italy 2014 Post-Apartheid Youth, Projection, Visa Pour L'Image Festival, France 2014 Post-Apartheid Youth, Projection, Night of the Year, Les Rencontres D'Arles 2014 Personal Truths, Group Show, Picture Farm Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 2013 I Love You Real Fast, ART in Embassies, US Ambassador's Residence, Swaziland 2012 I Love You Real Fast, Visa Pour L'Image Festival, Perpignan, France 2011 I Love You Real Fast, Half King Gallery, NY, NY 2011 Black Gossamer, Group Show, Glass Curtain Gallery, Chicago, IL 2010 Action!, Group Show, Polka Galerie, Paris, France 2009 Weird Beauty: Fashion Photography Now, Group Show, The Museum at ICP 2008 I Love You Real Fast, Lumix Photo Festival, Hanover, Germany Collections Open Society Foundation Permanent Collection W. Eugene Smith Legacy Collection at the International Center of Photography Lectures/Workshops 2013 My Future, My Voice; Photo Workshop with the US Embassy in Swaziland 2012 Visa Pour L'Image Festival 2011 Half King Gallery


text:
Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
I have been trying to search my system and google but, I can't see where I should look. I have built a new system with new hard drives and I originallly stored my .id3 tags and I would like to import them back into system. I am not sure if this will work but, I want to try. So if you could please tell me all the locations where the .id3 tags are and how I update the database so I don't have to do all this again. Thank you. If this is a really easy answer I apologize I have been looking though.


text:
As campaign-finance filings come out from 2012 Republican presidential candidates, the records show women are not big-money donors for this year's crop of hopefuls. Recent campaign-finance records evaluated by the Center for Responsive Politics reveal the median percentage of campaign cash over $200 from female donors to the GOP candidates is 27.5 percent. (For contributions under $200, donors' personal details are not publicly disclosed.)
Nearing the bottom of the pile is Herman Cain — only 25 percent of the former pizza chain magnate's donations above $200 have come from women. Both Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul have collected less from women (about 24 percent and 16 percent, respectively). About 33.5 percent and 29.6 percent of Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's donations have come from women, respectively.
Fittingly, the tax proposals released by the leading GOP candidates — Cain, Perry and Romney — disproportionately affect women in the way they raise taxes on lower- and middle-income Americans, eliminate poverty aids and cut child-insurance programs, according to various analyses of the plans and expert input gathered by The American Independent.
Thus far, only Cain and Perry have revealed the most detailed plans, and because women are disproportionately likely to be single parents and to have lower wages, smaller pensions and more medical problems, they are expected to fare worse under these plans than their male counterparts.
The gender-wage gap and its relevancy to tax-policy discussions
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (PDF), in 2010, women who were full-time wage and salary workers earned 81 percent of what men earned (median weekly earnings for women were $669, and $824 for men). The female-to-male earnings ratio has hovered around 80 to 81 percent since 2004, up from 62 percent in 1979.
Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report (PDF) showing women make up 49 percent of the total workforce but represent 59 percent of low-wage workers -– this despite the fact that more women than men finish high school and earn bachelor's degrees. And according to a new report (PDF) by the Martin Prosperity Institute, women hold 52.3 percent of "creative class" jobs –- engineers, doctors, lawyers, journalists, teachers, etc. -– but in these jobs, earn an average of $48,007, while men earn an average of $82,009. Controlling for hours worked and education, creative class men out-earn creative class women by 49.2 percent.
According to the 2008-2010 American Community Survey, about 29.2 percent of families whose income in the past 12 months was below the federal poverty level were families headed by single women. It gets worse depending on the presence of young children: 38.1 percent of women-run households with children under 18 were below poverty; 46.1 percent of households with children under 5 were below poverty. In comparison, only 10.5 percent of all American families — and only 5.1 percent of married-couple families — in this survey were making below the poverty level. The aforementioned GAO report found single women with children had an average household income of about $27,000.
Income disparities do not stop at wages, however. Women tend to live longer, they are more likely to outlive their savings and less likely to have significant retirement plans or to have the type of jobs that incur significant pensions. Thus, they disproportionately benefit from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), women represent about 57 percent of all Social Security beneficiaries age 62 and older and about 69 percent of beneficiaries over 85. In 2008, women 65 and older received an average of $11,377, compared with $14,822 for men.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (PDF), about 56 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries are women, and women are more likely than men to report having three or more chronic conditions.
How do women fare under '9-9-9'?
With the nation's attention focused on Cain's old sexual harassment charges, scrutiny of Cain's infamous "9-9-9″ Plan is stalled for the moment. According to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center, Cain's plan would make those earning under $50,000 pay a few thousand dollars more in taxes, while those making between half a million and $1 million would pay nearly $100,000 less in taxes. According to an analysis by the left-leaning Citizens for Tax Justice (PDF), if Cain's plan were to go into effect today, the richest 1 percent of taxpayers would pay $210,000 less in annual taxes, while the poorest 60 percent of taxpayers would pay $2,000 more in annual taxes.
At the same time, Cain's proposed plan is expected to raise about the same -– or potentially less –- revenue as the current tax system. Still, a recent poll of likely Iowa Caucus-goers conducted last month shows the average American making under $50,000 annually doesn't understand the plan and believes he or she would fare better under "9-9-9."
Cain's plan is actually a complicated three-step process. Replacing the current tax code with a 9-percent business flat tax (or value-added tax), a 9-percent individual flat tax and a 9-percent national sales tax is only the second step in the process. And as the Tax Policy Center summarizes, combined, the three taxes are equivalent to a 25.4-percent national sales tax, with adjustments for dividends paid to tax-exempt entities and charitable contributions.
The first step in Cain's plan, explained by The Washington Post, would actually be to cut individual and corporate tax rates to a top-25-percent rate, down from the current high of 35 percent. The third step would be to replace all federal taxes with a national sales tax.
Cain claims under "9-9-9," Americans who fall under the federal government's poverty level would be exempt from paying the individual income tax; however, he would eliminate the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), designed to help the working poor, and the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Additionally, he would eliminate payroll tax deductions for employers (except in unspecified "Opportunity Zones"), which currently serve as a hiring incentive. Helping out the wealthy, Cain would get rid of the estate tax and capital gains taxes. His plan, according to Edward D. Kleinbard of the Gould University of Southern California School of Law, involves a "disguised one-time 9 percent tax on existing wealth."
More from TaxVox, the Tax Policy Center blog:
A middle income household making between about $64,000 and $110,000 would get hit with an average tax increase of about $4,300, lowering its after-tax income by more than 6 percent and increasing its average federal tax rate (including income, payroll, estate and its share of the corporate income tax) from 18.8 percent to 23.7 percent. … In Cain's world, a typical household making more than $2.7 million would pay a smaller share of its income in federal taxes than one making less than $18,000. This would give Warren Buffet severe heartburn.
Cain's plan would eliminate the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which is a refundable credit designed to offset federal payroll and income taxes for low- and moderate-income working people.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), this year, working families with children with annual incomes below $36,000 to $49,000 (depending on marital status and dependents) may be eligible for the EITC. Single individuals without children who make less than $13,600 annually and married couples making less than $18,700 annually would qualify for a small EITC. In 2009, the average EITC was $2,770 for a household with children and $259 for a childless household. According to CBPP, families mostly use this tax credit to pay for necessities, home and vehicle repairs and, sometimes, additional education.
Cain would also kill the Child Tax Credit (CTC), which helps working families pay for child care costs.
According to the Urban Institute, high-working, low-income families spend $3,135 annually, or 12 percent of their income. The Institute estimates that 69 percent of children under 5 with low-income working mothers are cared for regularly by someone other than a parent, and 39 percent of these children are in child care for at least 35 hours per week.
"It would be horrifying to lose [the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit]," said Elizabeth Lower-Basch, a senior policy analyst for the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). "That would particularly affect women.
"We have a basically progressive tax code," she told TAI. "If we go to a flat code, it would significantly hurt low-income workers."
Joan Entmacher, vice president for Family Economic Security at the National Women's Law Center, where she works at promoting policies aimed at improving the economic security of low-income women and their families, told TAI that Cain's tax proposal appears to affect women worse than the other candidates because his plan is "much harder on lower-income Americans" in the way it would raise taxes on low- and middle-income earners.
Under Cain's plan, millionaires would get a 17.9-percent tax rate, or a 22-percent boost after taxes. But a single mother earning between $20,000 and $30,000? Her tax rate would be 24.9 percent. In other words, a single mom making $25,000 a year will have to give 25 percent of her income, or $6,250, to taxes.
Cain has proposed creating tax benefits to certain geographic areas in what he calls "Opportunity Zones" (PDF), but he has not been specific about where these zones would be or how they would work.
"Overall, you're going to be better off if you're making over $1 million in income, better than single mom trying to raise kids on $25,000 per year," Entmacher said.
Terry O'Neill, an attorney and professor who is the president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), told TAI that Cain is turning his back on women, many whom depend on the tax programs he wants to eliminate.
"When Mr. Cain wants to take away the Earned Income Tax Credit, he is punishing women who sometimes work two jobs full-time, minimum-wage jobs, just to pay for food and rent," O'Neill said.
Perry's postcard proposal cuts more than it balances
During his speech at the Corner Stone Action Dinner in Manchester, N.H., on Oct. 28, Perry repeatedly waved a blank postcard in explaining his tax and economic-policy plan. Like Cain's plan, Perry's plan (PDF) is more complicated than he lets on in speeches. Where they differ is in Perry's explicit details in how Americans would pay for the substantial tax breaks on the highest earners — by eliminating deductions and cutting specific entitlement programs that especially benefit lower-income earners, and women.
THE PLAN: 'Cut, Balance & Grow'
Taxpayers would be able to choose whether to file their taxes under the current tax code or under a new 20-percent "flat tax." What Perry has not emphasized is that taxpayers will have to spend time — and potentially money — calculating which plan benefits them more.
Like Cain, Perry has countered claims his plan will result in disproportionately higher taxes for lower- and middle-income families. As an example, Perry points to the provision in his 20-percent flat-tax plan, where families will be eligible for "generous" exemptions of $12,500.
In his proposal, Perry takes a dig at Cain's proposal to introduce a federal sales tax and a business value-added tax, which he calls "highly regressive," and uses the working poor to make his case:
When added to existing federal income taxes and state and local income sales taxes, a national sales tax would be highly regressive. Low-income families spend a much higher percentage of their incomes on food and gas than do those with considerable wealth. For example, a household earning $25,000 each year would spend roughly 40% of its income on food, utilities, and health care, while a household earning $130,000 each year would pay less than 15% of its income on those three items.
But because Perry would eliminate the EITC, lower- and middle-income earners would still pay more under his plan than they do now. Using calculations made by the Tax Policy Center, The New York Times estimates single parents with two children making $9,700 annually would pay no income taxes under Perry's plan but would not receive the $4,885 tax credit they receive under current tax law.
Perry, like Cain, would eliminate the capital gains tax.
To pay for the plan, Perry has suggested cuts in education and nutritional programs for poor children. He has offered various suggestions for reforming Medicare, which include gradually raising the age of Medicare eligibility, alongside a gradual retirement-age increase under Social Security; paying Medicare benefits on a sliding scale based on income; or by creating bundled premium support payments that would go directly to the individual. He has also proposed block-granting Medicaid payments.
Entmacher told TAI that under Perry's plan, taxes would go up for the working poor and what she calls the "true middle class" — households making no more than $75,000 per year.
"The Perry plan is particularly hard on single heads of households," Entmacher said. "They do worse than the working poor."
The others
As for the remaining GOP candidates in the pack, the one expected to win the nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, has a vague plan. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) have stated support for a flat tax, and all the candidates support eliminating the estate tax.
Romney's main tax proposal is to end taxes on interest and dividend income for people who earn less than $200,000 a year, but otherwise keep the existing tax system in place. Romney does not support a flat tax or a national sales tax, stating they would largely hurt the middle class. He supports extending most, if not all, of the Bush-era tax cuts.
All of the experts TAI spoke with agreed the tax code needs reforming. With GOP candidates vying for shorter rules in the name of simplicity, Lower-Basch thinks what the tax code actually needs is more tiers and brackets to be more fair, reasoning that households making $250,000 a year should not be taxed the same as those making $1 or $2 million a year.


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Photos by Coco of COCOCOZY
As I mentioned earlier this week, was in gorgeous tile store Ann Sacks over the weekend (when I should have been doing a million other things) dreaming about tile and doing over a bathroom. I happened upon this bathroom vignette with this light blue ceramic tile.
Love this tile! The carved maze like pattern, its translucent like quality that almost makes it look like glass, and the color…oh that soothing relaxing shade of blue. The tile is by Michael S. Smith for Ann Sacks and it is called Labyrinth. I think it is like $48 or $58 a square foot (can't remember but I'll call them later today and ask). So fantastic.
If you could re-do your bath right now, what colors might you use? What kind of tiles (glass, ceramic, marble mosaic)? What do you think of these beauties (you know what I think…)?
Happy Friday!
P.S. Am in Atlanta…running off to the Christian Mosso Associates (CMA) Showroom to show the COCOCOZY collection. Please stop by and say hi. Am wearing flats because yesterday, every single gate I had to walk from or to was a several mile walk it seemed and I chose to wear heels on the flight. Not smart. So today I am suffering. Am wearing sparkling flats and have some heels in my bag.
All photos in this post by Coco of COCOCOZY


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On December 28, 2008, Andy Bichler fell 12 feet while installing floodlights on his garage. He thought he was fine, but an hour later Andy was disoriented, dizzy and vomiting. His wife called 911 and four weeks later, Andy remembers waking up in Dodd Hall wondering where he was.
Andy, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple skull fractures, came to Dodd Hall on two separate occasions after having neurosurgery for brain hemorrhages.
"My neurosurgeon was Dr. John McGregor and I can't say enough about how wonderful he was throughout my ordeal," says Andy.
"Dodd Hall also saved my life. Without Dodd Hall, I might be laying in a bed in a nursing home," Andy observes. "I have nothing but tremendous things to say about my care there."
A middle school basketball coach for more than 30 years, Andy was used to pushing his players hard in practices and games. Now, it was his turn for the staff at Dodd Hall to get the most out of him during his many therapy sessions.
Andy talks about his time at Dodd Hall and his recovery
My rehabilitation in Dodd Hall was from January 14 to February 11, 2009 after 17 days in ICU and a craniectomy to relieve pressure inside the skull. I returned home after four weeks at Dodd Hall wearing a helmet. My cranioplasty, the surgery to replace the bone that had been removed from my forehead, was performed on February 27, but after returning home for three days, I experienced some additional brain hemorrhages, and had a second emergency cranioplasty because blood was pooling on the frontal lobe. Then I returned to Dodd Hall for an additional three weeks, which was followed by outpatient rehabilitation at Ohio State's Martha Morehouse Medical Plaza.
Therapies at Dodd Hall included physical, occupational, speech and recreational therapy. I remember walking the stairs and treadmill during physical therapy. They were relentless but they were pushing me so that I could get better. I enjoyed speech therapy where I worked mostly on my cognitive skills as my speech was not affected. During occupational therapy, I did a lot of cooking. I made a meal of potato pancakes for the therapists near the end of my first stay. I found my meetings with my psychologist, Dr. Steve Pruett, very helpful in coping with my new situation. He gave me a realistic picture of how serious my injury was and gave me direct answers to my questions. My wife and I stayed in the Independent Living Apartment before my first discharge. She found that very helpful and reassuring for our move back home.
The biggest factors in my successful rehabilitation were Dodd Hall, my family, friends and my school community. Everyone lent a lot of moral support. My wife attended every therapy session with me, learning as much as she could about brain injury. My daughters came in frequently from out of state to help when possible. Once you are home, one thing you really have to watch out for is feeling isolated and depressed. It really lifted my spirits when people called me and asked to take me to do something. Just getting out to go fishing can be a big thing.
To track my progress after my injury my family set up a blog several days after my accident to inform my students of my progress while I was in the hospital and at Dodd Hall. My students would leave words of encouragement for me and my wife. My wife still keeps the blog and will look back to see how much improvement has been made.
Frustrating moments during the process included not being able to drive and when my psychologist Dr. Pruett informed me he was leaving Ohio State because his post-doctoral work was finished. My peripheral vision on my left side was affected and prevented me from being able to drive again. However, my vision has improved and I plan to take the vision test again and try to get my license.
Two big milestones in my recovery were going back to substitute and continuing coaching. I retired in July 2009, but in November, I was hired to coach the eighth grade girls' basketball team and I was approved for the substitute teacher list at the middle school where I had taught. My basketball team came in first in the league and won the post-season tournament. I have been substitute teaching in the classroom several times a month.
My life after rehabilitation is almost back to normal. I am able to do just about everything I could before my injury except for driving. I can fix my own meals, stay by myself at home and am back to work part time. I can get lost more easily in new places and am not as confident as I used to be with doing some of the outside work that I used to do. I don't climb trees and remove branches with a chainsaw, for example. But other than those things, I feel I am almost 100 percent.
I owe everything I can do now to the neurosurgeons and Dodd Hall staff and physicians. Everyone worked together as a team to ensure that I was working to my potential as safely as possible.
For patients beginning the rehabilitation process I would advise being patient and listening to the therapists and doctors, because they know more about your medical condition than you do. After my injury, I really thought I would get up the next day and everything would be fine.
Every brain injury is different, but Dodd Hall therapists and doctors will get the best from you. You will continue to make improvements even after you go home. Don't give up.


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Holiday Wall Art & Wreaths
Bring a festive scene to your wall with a Christmas tapestry. Painterly (C)Thomas Kinkade scenes depict Victorian houses and snowy churches illuminated with fiber optic lights. Nativity scene wall art and other lighted canvases provide uplifting sights. Finally, for a pop of greenery, hang Christmas wreaths accented with glitter, ornaments, poinsettias, and more.
Hang a Christmas tapestry depicting a peaceful scene, and grace your walls with the wintertime quietude that surrounds the season. Browse our holiday wall art for a festive way to spruce up your Yuletide display.
Jacquard-woven and fashioned from polyester/cotton fabric, our Christmas wall tapestries feature sleepy, snow-laden villages and horse-drawn carriages and sleighs. Mounted over your staircase or near a well-ornamented tree, holiday wall art bestows a sense of wonderment on your surroundings.
Lend an ambient glow as well as a panoramic view with a lighted Christmas tapestry wall hanging from Touch of Class®. First, choose your favorite setting. For a low-key atmosphere, select a tapestry showing a hushed chapel or a spangled fir tree overlooking the December countryside. Multicolor Christmas lights woven into the fabric will enrapture your holiday guests.
Longing for a little hint of green in these long winter months? Then shop our exhaustive array of artificial Christmas wreaths for sale. Peppered with pine cones or faux poinsettias, these accents add a pop of color to your display. Some even feature pre-lit LED lights, so you can illuminate your foyer or staircase. Don't forget to pick up a wreath hanger personalized with your monogram. It's a perfect touch for over the front door, proclaiming your family initial to all.
LED canvas lighted Christmas pictures, on the other hand, grace your home with painterly prints. A snowman swaddled in a red scarf and black top hat smiles cheerfully at a songbird perched on his arm. With a scene like this, you can bring an instant boost to adorable woodland decor! Christmas LED canvas art also exhibits nativity scenes and Santa Claus sightings with twinkling LED lights to enrich the mood.
Discover a holiday wall plaque, metal wall sculpture, and more, when you shop our holiday wall art. Grant a bit of magic to your abode with a lighted Christmas tapestry wall hanging, or sneak the natural world indoors with Christmas swag decorations.


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Group Leader Therapies & Applications, Dept. Head of Dept. CVE
- work
- +49 241 80 47068
- Send Email
Cardiovascular disease is one of the most common diseases worldwide. The gold standard for the treatment of end-stage heart failure is heart transplantation. In 2016, only one third of patients in Europe and two thirds of patients in the US on the waiting lists received a heart transplant. As the shortage of donor organs continues to grow, waiting lists become longer and many patients die due to the lack of available donor organs. For these patients, there are no real alternative treatments, as the total artificial hearts available today are only designated for bridge to transplant and not for destination therapy.
A fully implantable total artificial heart that functions without any connection through the skin would be a breakthrough therapy for many of those end-stage heart failure patients.
System Overview
At the Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, initial research for the development of an artificial heart was started in the 1990s. Since 2009, a fully implantable heart with new and innovate features, called ReinHeart, has been under development. An interdisciplinary team of engineers, technicians and surgeons is working closely together to make this vision of a maintenance-free TAH that is small enough to be implanted in the majority of patients become reality.
The central element of the artificial heart system is the pumping unit which completely replaces the human heart. It includes an innovative, maintenance-free linear drive, which mimics the native heart function. The pumping chambers and the artificial valves imitate the function of the heart chambers. The drive unit is controlled by a separate implantable controller unit which contains an internal battery. A coil system attached to the controller unit allows energy transmission through the closed skin to charge the battery. The coil system consists of a receiver coil, which is implanted under the skin, and a transmitter coil, which is positioned on the skin outside of the body. The energy to power the system is provided by batteries that are worn externally.
Project Status
There are strict durability requirements for an artificial system that operates continuously without the option for repairs after implantation. The durability of the crucial components of the ReinHeart has been proven in extensive laboratory tests. These results can be contributed to the unique drive design. Additionally, the size and fit of the system has been optimized in anatomical studies.
The ReinHeart provides two major advantages for the patient. First, the use of the coil system to charge the internal battery eliminates the risk of infection due to skin incisions. In addition, the internal battery and the light weight external components provide the patient with a high degree of mobility, which contributes significantly to the quality of life. The functionality of the system has been tested in acute and first chronic in-vivo experiments.
The current priority is to validate these results through prolonged chronic in-vivo experiments as well as extensive full system durability tests. Based on the in-vivo results, a flow control system and the design of the external components will be completed.
The TAH is being developed as a cooperation project together with the ReinHeart TAH GmbH and was the winner of the competition "MedinNRW".
Animation of the function and implantation procedure of the ReinHeart
European Union and Land Nordrhein-Westfalen
|Cooperation Partner:
|ReinHeart TAH GmbH


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This isn't candy. Nor is it splinters of wood from a multi-colored tree. In fact, it's a false-colored scanning electron micrograph showing caffeine crystals in close-up detail. No wonder the stuff gets you going first thing in the morning.
Photographed by Annie Cavangh and David McCarthy, the image was one of the winners of this year's Wellcome Image Awards. This crystal group, formed on the end of a larger crystal, measured around 40 microns in length.
Consumed alone, caffeine is an extremely bitter compound—not that you probably notice that in your skinny soya latte. But while you're chugging your morning brew, you should take a look at more of the winners over in the Wellcome Collection's gallery—they combine wonderful imagery with some interesting science, too. [Wellcome Collection]
Image by Annie Cavangh and David McCarthy


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San Francisco Supervisor David Campos is about to introduce a law to end the city's 8-foot "bubble zone" around reproductive health clinics in favor of a new 25-foot "buffer zone."
It's hard to imagine City Hall entertaining a law to curb the free speech expression of union representatives, Critical Mass bicyclists or anti-war activists, but anti-abortion protest is not welcome in this town.
"We respect the right of people to have freedom of expression," Campos told the San Francisco Chronicle. "What is happening is more than that; it's intimidation."
One man's free speech is another man's intimidation. When I went by the Planned Parenthood clinic at 1650 Valencia yesterday, a kindly woman walked up to me and said, "I am here to tell you to use birth control so that you don't have to kill your baby."
Now, if I were pregnant and unhappy about it — instead of being too old to have children — I probably wouldn't have seen her as kindly. I might have considered her remark as intimidation. But as long as she's not blocking a woman's ability to get into a clinic, she still has free speech rights.
Campos told me he is highly sensitive to the First Amendment rights of abortion foes. A recently upheld Boston law creates a 35-foot buffer around reproductive clinics. He believes a 25-foot buffer protects the rights of anti-abortion activists without being overly restrictive. The problem with the 8-foot line, he said, is that "it's very hard to know where that begins and that ends. It is very difficult to enforce."
Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Adrienne Verrilli complained that protesters use legal "loopholes" — they generally don't walk up to people — when talking to clinic clients. Because police are not always available, clinic staffers have been forced to make citizen's arrests. After running the pro-life gantlet that occupies a considerable chunk of the narrow sidewalk in front of the clinic, women have been known to enter in tears.
"Most women are going to cry at some point in this process," Life Legal Defense Foundation attorney Katie Short responded. "And the fact that there are people who are on the sidewalk, and they are reaching out, saying, 'Please don't do this. There are other choices.' That's their message. Is that going to make some women cry? Yes. And some of those women will make another choice."
Campos and Verrilli also charged that some of the activists have videotaped clients and employees. I wouldn't like that, either, although the American Civil Liberties Union's Michael Risher tells me that videotaping people in public is constitutionally protected.
(So Planned Parenthood should try the same methods — recording illegal behavior and using it to prosecute violators, which Verrilli says staffers have done.)
Otherwise the worst episode they mentioned involved an activist who woke up a woman in the waiting room to urge her to give her child up for adoption — even though the overwhelming majority of clients do not go to the clinic for abortions.
Federal and California laws already prohibit opponents from blocking reproductive health clinics. There's no need for a new law.
Email Debra J. Saunders at: [email protected].


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Amazon Web Services, for another consecutive year, is running away with the IaaS cloud market, according to research firm Gartner, but unlike other years the competition - namely Microsoft, is giving the market leader a run for its money.
Gartner released its IaaS Magic Quadrant today outlining the IaaS market; it's hailed by some as a sort of benchmark for the industry to determine who is leading it. Perhaps the most surprising statistic in the report though is just how big AWS is. Gartner estimates that AWS has five times the compute capacity than all of the 14 other vendors analyzed in the report combined.
+ MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: OpenStack: Still waiting for the users | 12 Most Powerful Internet of Things Companies +
AWS is clearly the market leader in IaaS, Gartner says, calling the company a thought leader, extraordinarily innovative, exceptionally agile and responsive to the market. Its pure-play cloud offering is suitable for any virtualized workload or environment, although highly secure or compliant workloads require extra attention to architect correctly in the public cloud.
If there are any concerns with AWS, it is that the company may be growing too fast. It's intense popularity means that its sales staff is strapped and customers need to pay extra - up to 10% of their bill on average - to receive enterprise-grade support, leaving customers who do not pay for this charge unsatisfied with their consultation from the company. Its granular pay-as-you-go pricing structure can make for complicated billing too. "AWS currently has a multiyear competitive advantage, but is no longer the only fast-moving, innovative, global-class provider in the market," the report states. Microsoft is catching up.
Azure is ideal for Microsoft-centric IT organizations, but its biggest advantage over AWS may be the interoperability between the public cloud and its suite of on-premises software, such as Windows Server, Systems Center, Hyper-V and Active Directory, which are the components that can be used to build a private cloud that sits inside a company's firewall.
"Microsoft's brand, existing customer relationships, history of running global-class consumer Internet properties, deep investments in engineering, and aggressive road map have enabled it rapidly to attain the status of strategic cloud IaaS provider," Gartner says. "It is second in terms of cloud IaaS market share — albeit a distant second — but far ahead of its smaller competitors."
But there are reasons Microsoft isn't first in this market. AWS has the first-mover advantage of its cloud having been up and running for years. Azure is slightly newer so there are feature gaps, although Microsoft is closing those quickly. Gartner says these are most notable in networking and security functionality. Multiple services are still in "preview" with no timetable as to when fuller functionality will be built out. And AWS has a larger partner ecosystem of SaaS applications, optimization services and plug-ins that are built to run seamlessly on AWS's cloud; Microsoft is still building up its partner network.
Behind these two behemoths, there is everyone else in the market. There is no lack of providers in this market, but they all have their pros and cons. CenturyLink, for example, is a solid contender having bought Savvis and even more recently acquiring Tier 3, both IaaS-focused companies. Armed with a solidly engineered offering the company should be able to compete for enterprise workloads, but Gartner warns that over the long haul CenturyLink will be challenged to match the investments that AWS, Microsoft and Google will be able to make on their platforms.
CSC was a top contender in last year's Magic Quadrant but has lost some favor in this year's ranking. Gartner says the company does a good job at enabling enterprise workloads to run in a cloud environment. But, with the company's acquisition of ServiceMesh - which provides services for deploying workloads to multiple providers - CSC is becoming more of a cloud broker to competing clouds like AWS, Azure and others. Gartner questions what that will mean for CSC's internal resources being devoted to its cloud operations.
Google is seen as a strong contender, but its offering is relatively new and lacks features many mainstream enterprises may be looking for, and it has no hybrid cloud strategy, Gartner says. Verizon has a strong IaaS platform, and a network to back it up, but it's launching a new service at some point this year that is not generally available yet, so that too is young.
IBM is seen as a strong competitor too, especially given the company's acquisition of SoftLayer. But Gartner says IBM is "cloudwashing" its SoftLayer bare-metal dedicated hosting offering as cloud, and it says the company will have to differentiate on higher-level services compared to the commodity infrastructure offerings from SoftLayer. Those companies are each listed as visionaries by Gartner, but not market leaders.
HP is attempting to build up a hybrid cloud offering based on OpenStack, but it too is nascent and lacking some features. VMware has a new IaaS offering named vCloud Hybrid Service, which Gartner said is appealing to IT decision makers, but Gartner questions if developers will be as interested in the platform compared to offerings from AWS and Microsoft.
Rackspace, Dimension Data, Fujitsu, Go Grid and Joyent are each listed as "niche" players in the market with their own advantages and plenty of concerns as well.
The takeaway is that the IaaS market is still young given that AWS has such a huge lead, in a couple of years the market will be much more mature.
Senior Writer Brandon Butler covers cloud computing for Network World and NetworkWorld.com. He can be reached at email@example.com and found on Twitter at @BButlerNWW. Read his Cloud Chronicles here.


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Danny Thomas
Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz (later Americanized to Amos Jacobs Kairouz)
January 6, 1912
Deerfield, Michigan, U.S.
|February 6, 1991 (aged 79)
|Other names
|Amos Jacobs "Eggs"
|Years active
Rose Marie Mantell Thomas
(m. 1936)
|3, including Tony and Marlo Thomas
Danny Thomas (born Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz; January 6, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was an American actor, singer, nightclub comedian, producer, and philanthropist. He created and starred in the Danny Thomas Show. In addition to guest roles on many of the comedy, talk, and musical variety programs of his time, his legacy includes a lifelong dedication to fundraising for charity. Most notably, he was the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, a leading center in pediatric medicine with a focus on pediatric cancer. St. Jude now has affiliate hospitals in eight other American cities as of early 2020.
Already a successful entertainer, Thomas began his film career in 1947, playing opposite child actress Margaret O'Brien in The Unfinished Dance (1947) and Big City (1948). He then starred in the long-running television sitcom Make Room for Daddy (later, The Danny Thomas Show from the fourth season onwards) from 1953 to 1964, in which he played the lead role of Danny Williams. He was the father of Marlo Thomas, Terre Thomas, and Tony Thomas.[2]
One of 10 children, Danny Thomas was born Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz (Arabic: اموس موزياد ياقوب كايروز) on January 6, 1912, in Deerfield, Michigan, to Charles Yaqoob Kairouz and his wife Margaret Taouk.[3] His parents were Maronite Catholic immigrants from Bsharri, Lebanon.[4] Thomas was raised in Toledo, Ohio, attending St. Francis de Sales Church, Woodward High School, and finally the University of Toledo, where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.[5] Bishop Samuel Stritch of Toledo confirmed Thomas in the Catholic Church. Stritch, a native of Tennessee, was a lifelong spiritual advisor for Thomas, and would later advise him to locate the St. Jude Hospital in Memphis.[6][7] He married Rose Marie Cassaniti in 1936, a week after his 24th birthday.
In 1932, Thomas began performing on radio in Detroit at WMBC on The Happy Hour Club. Thomas first performed under his anglicized birth name, "Amos Jacobs Kairouz." After he moved to Chicago in 1940, Thomas did not want his friends and family to know he went back into working clubs where the salary was better, so he came up with the pseudonym "Danny Thomas" (after two of his brothers).[8]
He was living in Ward 6, Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, according to the 1920 United States Census as Amos Jacobs, the same in the 1930 Census, and in 1940 living in Ward 2, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, as Amos J. Jacobs, a radio and theatrical artist. Further, the 1930 Census states his parents were born in Syria; while the 1920 census states that they were born in "Seria," and that their mother tongue is "Serian."[9] At the time, Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire (until 1920) and Lebanese immigrants were identified as Syrians in most of the world and as Turks in Latin America.
Thomas first reached mass audiences on network radio in the 1940s playing shifty brother-in-law Amos in The Bickersons, which began as sketches on the music-comedy show Drene Time, starring Don Ameche and Frances Langford. Thomas also portrayed himself as a scatterbrained Lothario on this show. His other network radio work included a stint as Jerry Dingle the postman on Fanny Brice's The Baby Snooks Show. In the early 1950s he made several appearances on the popular NBC variety program, The Big Show, hosted by stage legend Tallulah Bankhead.
Thomas also had his own radio program, The Danny Thomas Show. The 30-minute weekly variety show was on ABC from 1942 to 1943 and on CBS from 1947 to 1948.[10]
After his two late 1940s films with Margaret O'Brien, Thomas appeared with Betty Grable in the musical Call Me Mister (1951). He portrayed songwriter Gus Kahn opposite Doris Day in the 1951 film biography I'll See You in My Dreams. He then starred in The Jazz Singer opposite the popular contemporary vocalist Peggy Lee, a 1952 remake of the 1927 original.
In 1952, Thomas recorded several Arabic folk songs with Toufic Barham for a Saint Jude Hospital Foundation fundraiser record. The songs later appeared on the re-issue album The Music of Arab-Americans: A Retrospective Collection.[11][12] From 1952 through 1974, Thomas also recorded a number of vocal albums on his own, as well as participating on other albums.[13]
Thomas enjoyed a successful 11-year run (1953–1964) on Make Room for Daddy, later known as The Danny Thomas Show. Jean Hagen, Sherry Jackson, and Rusty Hamer were his first family. The Hagen character died offscreen in 1956 and was replaced by Marjorie Lord; Angela Cartwright also joined the cast at this time playing Danny's stepdaughter. Sherry Jackson left the series in 1958, and Penny Parker replaced her in the 1959–1960 season. Parker was written out of the series with her marriage to the character Patrick Hannigan, played by comedian Pat Harrington, Jr.
On January 1, 1959, Thomas appeared with his other Make Room for Daddy child stars, Angela Cartwright and Rusty Hamer, in an episode of NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.
The show was produced at Desilu Studios, where Lucille Ball was appearing alongside Desi Arnaz in I Love Lucy, and it featured several guest stars who went on to star in their own shows, including Andy Griffith (The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry RFD), Joey Bishop, and Bill Bixby (My Favorite Martian and others). He also scored a major success at the London Palladium, in the years when many big American stars appeared there. In 1963, in an episode called "Oh, the Clancys," the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem appeared as Marjorie Lord's Irish cousins and sang "Brennan on the Moore."[14]
In 1970, the program was revived for a season under the title Make Room for Granddaddy.
Angela Cartwright (who spoke about her on- and off-camera relationship with her television stepfather, Danny Thomas, on a groundbreaking ABC TV show, Make Room for Daddy) had said: "I thought Danny was hilarious and he was always cracking me up. He was loud and gregarious, nothing like my real dad who is far more reserved than that. So, it was fun to be able to make smart remarks and get away with it. I would never have talked to my real parents that way, but in the make-believe world of the Williams family I got away with that." Cartwright also added that by the time Thomas' show had ended, she wanted to join the cast of The Sound of Music: "I went on an interview for the part of Brigitta. I was still filming The Danny Thomas Show, but I knew the series was coming to an end. After several auditions, I was the first von Trapp cast. I asked Danny Thomas if he would let me out of my contract so I could be in the movie and he was very gracious to let me out of the last show of the season. He didn't have to do that and I am very grateful he did."[15]
In 1965 and 1966, Thomas presented The Wonderful World of Burlesque, featuring Lucille Ball, Jerry Lewis, Don Adams, Carol Channing, Andy Griffith, Sheldon Leonard, and Shirley Jones.[16]
The Danny Thomas Hour is an American anthology television series that was broadcast on NBC during the 1967–1968 television season.
Thomas became a successful television producer (with Sheldon Leonard and Aaron Spelling among his partners) of The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, That Girl and The Mod Squad. Thomas also produced three series for Walter Brennan: The Real McCoys, The Tycoon, and The Guns of Will Sonnett on ABC during the late 1950s and 1960s. Thomas often appeared in cameos on shows he produced, including his portrayal of the tuxedoed, droll alien Kolak, from the planet Twilo, in the Dick Van Dyke Show science-fiction spoof, "It May Look Like a Walnut".
Thomas was responsible for Mary Tyler Moore's first "big break" in acting. In 1961, Carl Reiner cast her in The Dick Van Dyke Show after Thomas personally recommended Moore. Reiner had remembered her as "the girl with three names" whom he had turned down earlier, but rediscovered her after a lengthy search through photos and records.
In the early 1970s, Thomas reunited most of his second Daddy cast (Marjorie Lord, Rusty Hamer, and Angela Cartwright) for a short-lived update of the show, Make Room for Granddaddy. Premised around Danny and Kathy Williams caring for their grandson by daughter Terry, who was away with her husband who was serving in the Military, and stationed in Japan, the show lasted one season.
By the mid-1970s, Thomas' son Tony had become an accomplished television producer. Tony, along with Paul Junger Witt, formed Witt/Thomas Productions in 1975, and was responsible for his father's next three (and ultimately final) starring vehicles. Thomas returned to series TV in the NBC sitcom, The Practice, from January 1976 to January 1977, and after that I'm a Big Girl Now, which aired on ABC from 1980 to 1981.
Thomas was guest of honor in The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast that aired December 15, 1976, on NBC. He guest-starred in "In Full Command," the March 18, 1978, series finale of the long-running detective drama Kojak, as a corrupt superior officer in the police department, in an episode directed by series star Telly Savalas. He also appeared in the 1988 TV movie Side by Side, opposite Milton Berle and Sid Caesar.
The last series in which Thomas was a headlining star was One Big Family, which aired in syndication during the 1986–1987 season. The situation comedy's premise was set around a semi-retired comedian whose grandchildren were orphaned after their parents were killed in a car accident.[17]
Thomas, like many actors prominent in television, endorsed commercial products. In particular, two companies that featured him in their advertising were Maxwell House, whose instant coffee he endorsed (though it had no decaffeinated variant at the time, he later claimed he had been endorsing a "decaffeinated" instant coffee and the coffee he actually drank had a high caffeine content),[citation needed] and Philips Norelco's "Dial-A-Brew" version of its short-lived "Better Cup Of Coffee" line of electric drip coffee-makers. One of his other "commercials" was actually a public-service message, with fund-raising goals, for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
As a "starving actor", Thomas had made a vow: If he found success, he would open a shrine dedicated to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes. After becoming a successful actor in the early 1950s, his wife joined him and began traveling the United States to help raise funds to build St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.[18] He fervently believed "no child should die in the dawn of life."[19] With help from Dr. Lemuel Diggs and close friend Anthony Abraham, an auto magnate in Miami, Florida, Thomas founded the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1962. Since its inception, St. Jude has treated children from all 50 states and around the world, continuing the mission of finding cures and saving children. Dr. Peter C. Doherty of St. Jude's Immunology Department, was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 for key discoveries on how the immune system works to kill virus-infected cells.[20]
St. Jude's has grown to include eight affiliate hospitals across the United States. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with annual expenses, as of 2018, of over $1.4 billion funded by nearly $1.5 billion in donations.[21] Further, the World Health Organization has named St. Jude's as its first "Collaborating Center for Childhood Cancer" to help increase survival rates on rare pediatric cancer from 20% to as much as 60% by 2030.[21]
Danny Thomas was a struggling young comic when he met Rose Marie Mantell (born Rose Marie Cassaniti) (1914–2000), who had a singing career with her own radio show in Detroit, Michigan, and was the daughter of Marie "Mary" Cassaniti (1896–1972), a drummer and percussionist for "Marie's Merry Music Makers". They were married on January 15, 1936, and had three children, Margaret Julia ("Marlo"), Theresa ("Terre"), and Charles Anthony ("Tony") Thomas. The Thomas children followed their parents into entertainment in various capacities—Marlo as an actress and producer, Tony as a television producer, and Terre as an accomplished singer-songwriter. Danny's brother, Thomas Yaqoob, using the name Tom Jacobs, appeared on Make Room For Daddy and The Andy Griffith Show.
Thomas was initiated to the Freemasonry[22] in Prudence Lodge No. 958, Chicago,[23][24] passed, and raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason at Gothic Lodge #270 F&AM[25] located at Hamilton Square, New Jersey, on March 15, 1984, by special dispensation of the New Jersey Grand Master. During May 1985, he was made a 32° Mason and also a Noble in Al Malaikah Shrine located at Los Angeles, California. Thomas also filmed the introduction to the Masonic Service Association's movie, When the Band Stops Playing.[citation needed]
A devout Roman Catholic,[8] Thomas was named a Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre by Pope Paul VI in recognition of his services to the church and the community. He was a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California.[26] In 1983, President Ronald Reagan presented Thomas with a Congressional Gold Medal honoring him for his work with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Thomas was one of the original owners of the Miami Dolphins, along with Joe Robbie, but he sold his share soon after the purchase. He was an avid golfer, claimed a ten golf handicap, and competed with Sam Snead in a charity event.[27] Two PGA Tour tournaments bore his name: the Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic in south Florida in 1969 and, along with co-founder Vernon Bell, the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic from 1970 to 1984. He was also the first non-Jewish member of the Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles.[28]
In 1990, Danny Thomas was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.[29]
In 1991, Thomas died after a heart attack at his home in Beverly Hills, a hospital spokesman said. Two days previously he had celebrated St. Jude Hospital's 29th anniversary and filmed a commercial,[30] which aired posthumously. He is interred in a mausoleum on the grounds of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, alongside his wife.[31]
A park in Toledo, Ohio, bears Thomas' name and a monument.
A stretch of roadway in Memphis is locally known as Danny Thomas Boulevard. The road, built in the 1960s to partially reroute U.S. Highway 51 around downtown, runs from E.H. Crump Boulevard (U.S. 70/79/64) to North Parkway/A.W. Willis Avenue (Tennessee State Route 1), passing through St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's campus on a viaduct.
For Thomas' contribution to the television industry, in February 1960 he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard.[32]
Thomas was a posthumous recipient of the 2004 Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.[33]
In 1965, Danny Thomas was appointed as a Special Deputy Sheriff by Ben Clark, who was a long standing Riverside County Sheriff and a recognized "trail blazer" in terms of professionalizing the law enforcement profession in California and the United States.[34][2]
On February 16, 2012, the United States Postal Service issued a first-class forever stamp honoring Thomas as an entertainer and humanitarian. The Danny Thomas Forever Stamp shows an oil-on-panel painting depicting a smiling, tuxedo-clad Thomas in the foreground and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the background.[19]
|The Unfinished Dance
|Mr. Paneros
|Big City
|Cantor David Irwin Feldman
|Call Me Mister
|I'll See You in My Dreams
|Gus Kahn
|The Jazz Singer
|Jerry Golding
|Looking for Love
|Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title
|Diner Customer
|Journey Back to Oz
|The Tin Man
|That's Life
|Side by Side
|Charlie Warren
((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)


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Export 3 results:Author [ Title] Type Year
Filters: Keyword is Animals and Author is Yin, Ao [Clear All Filters]
"Expression of components of Wnt and Hedgehog pathways in different tissue layers during lung development in Xenopus laevis.", Gene Expr Patterns, vol. 10, no. 7-8, pp. 338-44, 2010.,
"Wnt signaling is required for early development of zebrafish swimbladder.", PLoS One, vol. 6, no. 3, p. e18431, 2011.,
"The interaction of epithelial Ihha and mesenchymal Fgf10 in zebrafish esophageal and swimbladder development.", Dev Biol, vol. 359, no. 2, pp. 262-76, 2011.,


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IT'IS Foundation – Innovative scientific research to shape the future for the safe and beneficial application of electromagnetic (EM) energy in health and information technologies.
Founded in 1999, activities at IT'IS encompass interconnected initiatives ranging from engineering to medicine – EM Research, the Virtual Population, and IT'IS for Health.
IT'IS is the master for evaluations of near-field EM emissions, including those near radiating structures or inside the human body, from static fields to millimeter wave frequencies.
The IT'IS Virtual Population is the best detailed and validated library of computational human anatomical phantoms available for in silico device design, optimization, and evaluation
To bridge the gap from bench to bedside, IT'IS focuses on multi-physics, multi-scale simulation methods to optimize individual diagnostic, treatment planning, and therapeutic techniques
IT'IS also applies its knowhow and infrastructure to provide customized research solutions to academia, the wireless/medical device industries, governments, and regulatory bodies.


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Wait! It's not suppose to install fear in your hearts and mind (nor your wallet)! But, you feel that every looming dark cloud of holiday stress starting to trail your steps, right? I know I do!
Christmas in July – to me that rings the bell that we are to start preparing for the holiday season. And I think if we do start now we have a great chance of having a DEBT FREE Christmas (head on over to Enemy of Debt to join the challenge).
My family's recent challenge has me thinking of how to meet our needs in a frugal manner; to not charge our Credit Cards or steal from our Savings. To live within our means (and still have fun).
I am determined to stay within my financial boundries! And I have a feeling you want to do the same. There are plenty of lists for frugal Christmas gift ideas, but they lack a personal touch. I wanted to find frugal, fun gifts that:
- instill warm holiday wishes and love
- use items I already have in the house (start asking for paper bags at the grocery store)
- and are easiest enough to accomplish even if one lacks in artistic talent
Without further adieu, I present to you my 2009 Frugal Christmas Gift Ideas (click links for tutorials):
potato (or celery) stamp + brown paper grocery bags + acrylic paint = christmas wrap
potato stamp + fabric paint + plain pillow cases = A set of Nice pillow cases
potato stamp + plain cards + acrylic paint = Christmas cards
1 yd novelty fabric + little sewing skills + Raffia = 4 Cloth Napkins (full size or cocktail) tied cute
Dollar store frames + cute fabric + pretty satin ribbon = Tres Chic Fabric Frames (would be really cute to give a set of these with one of the frames containing a family picture)
Ceramic Tiles + Paper Napkins + a little pizzaz = Set of Coasters
Dollar store Christmas container + baking skills = Yummy treats
A few 2/$1 Hallmark card(s) (from the $1 store) + Dollar store Christmas tin or homemade box = Holiday/Party Cards to be used throughout the year (I'm always in need of a birthday card last minute!)
Tip: by something small at Michael's and you receive a '40% off regular item' coupon. Then get the more expensive item and use in the same store trip.
Tip: Look at Michael's clearance or $1 aisle. You'd be amazed what you can find for stocking stuffers. Wonderful aisle.
If you have any great ideas or tips, please leave a comment with your idea. I would like to compile a big list!


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In one of last Friday's episodes of Tyler Perry's House of Payne, titled "God Bless the Paynes," Calvin (Lance Gross) was shot by the man who'd earlier harassed Miranda (Keshia Knight Pulliam). He's rushed to the hospital but his fate is unknown.
We've received a few emails from readers who believe that next week's episodes will be the end of the series and the death of Calvin. While House of Payne has been "cancelled," there are a lot more episodes still to come.
In April 2011, TBS announced that they were ending the venerable sitcom, in part to make way for Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse. At that time, we understood the final episode total for House of Payne to be 220 installments.
In late September, Perry posted on his Facebook page that TBS had ordered 42 more episodes. In December, the cast and crew had a wrap party that celebrated the completion of 254 episodes. It's unclear if they'll be going back into production now that the holidays are over but, based on the numbers we have, it seems like they still have at least eight more installments to make.
In the meantime, we do know that this Friday's episodes of House of Payne aren't the last. Two new episodes will air each Friday night for the next six weeks. Episodes 223 and 224 will air on February 17th and that will leave about 30 episodes left in the series.
In the meantime, you should know that Calvin does not die from his gunshot wounds. He lives and, at least in the next couple episodes, has to worry about paying his hospital bills because he doesn't have insurance.
What do you think? Are you a fan of House of Payne? Are you glad to know there are more episodes on the way?
Image courtesy TBS.


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Iraq's Oil-Fueled Comeback Story Threatened by Anbar Violence
The violent uprising that has erupted in Iraq's Anbar province in recent weeks is a scary reminder of the high risk of investing in a volatile country that is banking on improved security to drive economic growth.
As the U.S. steps up much-needed support for the Maliki government in Baghdad, the latest instability could scuttle Iraq's attempt to build out oil exports, the centerpiece of any economic expansion.
The evolving situation also threatens to drive up energy prices around the world and create new geopolitical headaches for the U.S.
"Iraq has not only a weak economy, but a fracturing political system and social fabric," said Paul Christopher, chief international strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors (NYSE:WFC).
Iraq's economy had been showing signs of stability and prospects for increased oil production in 2014.
In fact, a special report issued by the International Energy Agency in late 2012 predicted Iraq would more than double its oil production of three million barrels per day by 2020 and reach over eight million barrels by 2035, overtaking Russia as the world's No. 2 oil exporter.
The IEA forecasted such growth would translate to nearly $5 trillion in oil export revenue through 2035, funds Iraq could use to transform itself following decades of hardship.
Hopes for oil-fueled growth have tantalized Western investors, some of whom have gobbled up shares in its less-than-liquid stock market and risky currency, the dinar.
"If they could get the political and security situation under control, Iraq could have tremendous upside advantage for investors. It would be a fantastic growth story," said Helima Croft, senior geopolitical strategist at Barclays (NYSE:BCS). "Oil is the main lifeline for this country. If you have anything that disrupts the oil story, it's going to have huge effects for the rest of the economy."
Civil War Fears Resurface
That's why all eyes are now on Anbar province, where last week Al Qaeda-affiliated groups seized control of the pivotal cities of Fallujah and Ramadi -- representing the first time these groups had captured Iraqi territory since U.S. troops withdrew in 2011.
"The political schism has never gone away. It's always been there," said Christopher.
While Iraqi troops have recaptured Ramadi, they are still planning an offensive to take back Fallujah, where U.S. military personnel were involved in some of the fiercest fighting during the Iraq War.
"The Maliki government is now facing an resurgent insurgency without the help of the U.S. The last time we saw this you had 100,000 U.S. troops there," said Croft. "Is the Iraqi military capable of handling a revitalized Sunni-Al Qaeda insurgency?"
The U.S. has ruled out sending troops to help root out the insurgency in Anbar, but Washington does plan to provide support in the form of military hardware like Hellfire missiles and low-tech surveillance drones.
"They don't have the security or even the political consensus to develop an Iraqi oil industry."
The worst-case scenario is that the delicate situation in Anbar spirals out of control and turns into an all-out civil war.
The United Nations estimates 8,868 people were killed in attacks in Iraq in 2013, making it the deadliest year since the end of the civil war in 2008. Almost 8,000 of the deaths were civilian, more than doubling the level of 2012.
In a research note, Croft wrote that a key indicator to watch over the coming months is whether Iraq's Shiite militias carry out retaliatory attacks on Sunni civilians on a "significant scale and push the country to the brink of civil war."
Pivotal Oil Build-Out at Risk
Even if Iraq avoids a civil war, the deteriorating security situation is likely to further slow the expansion of the country's energy infrastructure.
Hurt by bad weather and contractor delays caused by infrastructure and payment issues, Iraq's southern region has exported a weaker-than-expected 2.1 million barrels per day of oil over the past three months.
Now that situation could be worsened by the need to focus attention and, more importantly, resources on Anbar. The IEA report estimated Iraq will need $530 billion of energy investment through 2035 to meet its anticipated levels of oil, gas and power supply.
It's also possible that oil facilities in southern Iraq will be hit by an attack that spooks Western contractors and drives up energy prices.
"You just have to be lucky once with a southern oil facility. The market will be shocked if you have (an attack) down there," said Croft.
Energy contractors have not forgotten the deadly siege by terrorists on a remote gas field in Algeria owned by BP (NYSE:BP) almost exactly a year ago. The hostage crisis resulted in the deaths of at least 67 people, including 29 militants.
"Algeria was a wake-up call," said Croft. "People will always be able to take risks in frontier economies, but if we are slipping back into a civil war situation, a lot of companies will say, 'I'm not willing to put my workers at risk.'"
Oil Firms, China Watch Closely
There are a number of Western oil companies that have a stake in Iraq's future, including U.S. heavyweight ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), which owns 25% of a major oil project near Basra.
Exxon recently agreed to sell major stakes in the project, West Qurna-1, to a group of investors that includes PetroChina. The $50 billion project produces about 510,000 barrels of crude per day and one day could churn out three million barrels a day.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX) has signed at least three deals in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, angering the central government in Baghdad, which has banned the U.S. company in other parts of the country.
While U.S. companies struggle to deal with the Maliki government and grapple with security concerns, China has made little secret of its interest in getting a piece of Iraq's 141.4 billion barrels of proved reserves.
Despite the fact that it was the U.S.-led coalition that toppled Saddam Hussein, China has been the biggest foreign winner of the opening up of Iraq's oil markets.
Needing to feed its fast-growing economy, China recently indicated it wants to boost its purchases of Iraqi oil by more than two-thirds to 850,000 barrels per day in 2014.
The IEA projected that by 2020, 80% of Iraq's oil will be shipped to Asia, including 1.5 million barrels per day to China, which could eventually import two million barrels per day by 2035.
Iraqi Dinar: Still the Wild West of Currencies
The developments in Anbar province are likely to alarm bold investors who have scooped up Iraqi assets in hopes the country would be able to capitalize on its immense oil reserves.
"They don't have the security or even the political consensus to develop an Iraqi oil industry. It looks like it's going to devolve into the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis taking what they can," said Christopher.
Some investors have bought up the Iraqi dinar, betting an economic resurgence would lead to a revaluation of the currency, which currently trades at 1,165 dinar per U.S. dollar and is still shunned by most U.S. banks.
"This is a very significant blow to the hopes of a revaluation," said Christopher, who said Wells Fargo "strongly advises" investors against investing in the Iraqi currency.
Countries typically revalue their currencies only after their economies are strong enough to tolerate the resulting hit to exports.
"Iraq is not at that point. In fact, Iraq is the diametric opposite spectrum. The people who bought the dinar have made a huge mistake," said Christopher.


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image source : pinterest.com


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Greek language
In the Greek language, Greek is spelled ελλινικά and in capitals ΕΛΛΙΝΙΚΑ, something that has always confused us non-Grecians. Greeks completely misspelled the name of their language to piss off the Romans. If the Roman invaders ever learned the language of Hellenia, then all the pixies would come and kill the Greeks. So, the Greeks, with this method, confused the Romans, until the Romans conducted a siege of Greece.
No one actually speaks Classical Greek. Experts agree, no one could possibly make up something this stupid and not implode from sheer idiocy midway through conceiving such an unintelligible, broken dialect. Instead, the Greek language was designed, as are most things of Greek origin, to irritate and confuse American Tourists. This has freed the Greeks from having to provide directions to the British Museum, as well as answer questions such as:
"How do I pronounce the word Gyro?"
"Why do you all shave your chests?"
"That's not really a language, is it?"
The Alphabet[edit]
The word alphabet is a Greek word. Alphabet = Αλφάβητο. (But it's Greek to me!)
Their modernistic alphabet goes, sung in tune with twinkle twinkle little star (for it is the most popular pop song in most post-apocalyptic Greece):
Ελληνικά Λέττερ (English Equivalent)
Άλφα (Alpha Centauri)
Βήτα (Beta Rays)
Γάμα (Ray's Gamma)
Δέλτα (Delta of the Nile)
Έψιλον (Epsilon like a dead person, Έψιλον Literally means: 'Plain E')
Ζήτα (most commonly found as Ζήνα)
Ήτα (Kheta - argh, river in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia)
Θήτα (Θ is pronounced θ, it fits nicely)
Iώτα (Yogurt-a)
Kάπα (When Kappa met Κάππα)
Λάμδα (Lamb's Baaaa)
Mι (The 1st of the three triplets: Me)
Νι (The 2nd of the three triplets: Knee)
Ξι (The 3rd of the three triplets: Xee)
Όμικρον (Όμικρον Literally means: 'Small O', somebody ever found it in microscope?)
Πι (Pronounced 'pie' or 'pee' or '3.14')
Ρο (--Ro--wling Pin)
Σίγμα (Also a TV station)
Tαφ (Also a cow with testicles)
Ύψιλον (Oopsiedaisies! Ύψιλον Literally means: 'Plain U')
Φι (Feeeeeee...)
Xι (Hee-hee-hee)
Ψι (Psi-beams from my brain)
Ωμέγα (Ωμέγα Literally means: 'Big O')
Can be found on the missing piece of Rosetta Stone, but somehow used by some nerds to produce ERRORS:
Can be found in a room painted with pink paint everywhere, crying, with a broken doll in her hand:
Ϛήϛα (Sista, not to be confused with sigma)
Greek spelling[edit]
English spelling sucks, because according to linguists one letter can have about 7,000 different sounds. Greek spelling, however, sucks, because they stick one sound with multiple letters.
- The sound "ee" can be made the following ways: ι, υ, η, ει, οι, υι, ιι, υυ, ηη, ειι, εοι, οει, υει, υειι, ιιιιιιι, οιοιοιοιοιοιοιοιοιοιοιοιοιοι, υοιυοιυοιυοιυοιυοιυοιυιουιυουιοι and so on, just like OI boneheads.
Geek Greek[edit]
Many people think that Greek is the language of Geeks. Well done to everyone who said that! The people of ancient Geece did, in fact, speak Greek, although they laced the language with references to obscure memes, such as base ownership, the human-robot-stairs relationship, and missing steps involved in profiting from a given plan.
to CheckGeek if (TypeHumanYou = Geek ; display dialog "You can understand this" buttons "OK" ; quit ) if (PossibleUnderstandThis = Yes ; Make $howInfo 1 ; quit ) if ($howInfo = 1 ; ShowInfo ; quit ) end
to ShowInfo print [Greek is a language used by Geeks. This is an example of Greek.] continue1 end
This is an example of Greek.
to continue1 print [$omething] end
The Neo-Greek language is a cross between crap and death. Most linguists are still debating this. Some say that crap = death so perhaps a cross between crap and death would be crap times death or crap squared or crap X death so something that is perpendicular to both ideas. As I said, it's undecided.
Neo-Greek is spoken by people who are stuck in the late nineties, and pretend they have very large testicles. The fact of the matter is, they don't! Many Neo-Greek speakers have stopped talking Neo-Greek because they have realized that they have no testicles. Or brains.
The Neo-Greek people who inhabits the big universities are often forms clubs with Greek alphabets. These people are also called 'Geeks'. Stay away from them!
The Neo-Greek alphabet goes:
- авгдеӡиѳіклмнѯопрстуфхѱѡ.
Άσε μας μωρέ! Κυριλλικό!
Γκρίκλις (Greeklish[from English])[edit]
Greeklish is a language of teenagers who got bored changing the automatic language in their computer and started writing in Greek with English characters. Greeklish started to change (like a mutant) and became a shitty-language whick you can't understand unless you are an expert (or a greek n00b). They have made their words shorter because their also bored writing. For example:
- mlk-->means "μαλάκας" (jerk, stupid, jackass, asshole, etc)
- brm-->means "βαριέμαι" (I'm bored)
- gtp-->means "για τον πούτσο" (for the dick, commonly used to express something useless)
- tpt-->means "τίποτα" (nothing)
and many more...
During 2007-2008, Greek teenage GIRLS invented a new type of Greeklish, which is more like Greek, because not only it's dammit difficult to write, but you also can't understand it if you aren't Greek. And 14 years old. And gay. Or a girl. Or just lesbian.
A fine example of this type of writing, is the very commonly used "p@p@w c, a2p m, x0ax0ax0a", which stands for "Σε αγαπάω (p@p@w c -> c papaw -> se agapaw -> se agapao) αγάπη μου (a2p m -> azp m -> agp m -> agaph mou -> agapi mou), χαχαχα (nobody ever found out why the hell they put a 0 between h and a to form hahaha)", which means "I love you my love, hahaha".
Relationship with the Russian and Arabic languages[edit]
Contrary to popular belief, Greek actually has origins from Russian and Arabic; the Greeks however, claim the opposite, stating that "Russians were ACTUALLY Greek!", before breaking off and creating their own language out of being purely pissed off and influenced by the strong beautiful sounds of Arabic.