There are times when you plan to go short, but the situation dictates a quick, accurate shot at medium- to long-range distances and few of us practice enough with the irons to be proficient. The solution? You need the best of both worlds; you need a quality red dot for CQB ranges and a magnifier on a flip mount to stretch your effective distance.
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Hard until now that is. Aimpoint has announced three new accessory magnifiers to keep you on target and in the X-ring. Here is the full announcement from Aimpoint.
Aimpoint has announced the addition of three new accessory magnifiers to their product line. Designed to work in conjunction with the company’s electronic reflex sights, these new magnifiers are being offered in 3X and 6X magnification, in both a standard grade for use by civilian shooters, as well as professional grade models.
The new Aimpoint magnifiers feature diopter adjustment, allowing each optic to be individually adapted to the operator’s eye. All are protected by shock absorbing protective rubber covers that also provide an ergonomic grip surface. The Aimpoint magnifiers may be used with the company’s quick-detach TwistMount, or with the newly launched Aimpoint FlipMount, which allows the magnifier to be quickly flipped in or out of the optical axis, or removed from the firearm completely.
“These magnifiers open up some interesting new opportunities for users of Aimpoint sights,” said Matt Swenson, VP of Sales at Aimpoint Inc. “Our standard grade 3X-C is a great magnifier at a very reasonable price point. On the professional side, the Aimpoint 6XMag offers 50% more magnification than existing U.S. military combat optics, and allows an operator to quickly transition back to their non-magnified Micro T-2 sight for CQB.”


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The Hawker Sea Hawk was a British single-seat jet fighter of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its origins stemmed from earlier Hawker piston-engined fighters, the Sea Hawk became the company's first jet aircraft.
Following the type's acceptance in the RN, the Sea Hawk proved to be a reliable and sturdy workhorse. A considerable number were also produced for the export market, and were operated from aircraft carriers in both Dutch and Indian service. The last operational Sea Hawks, operated by the Indian Navy, were retired in 1983.
Design and development
In the final years of the Second World War, Hawker's design team explored jet engine technology, initially looking at "stretching" and modifying the existing Hawker Fury/Sea Fury by fitting a mid-fuselageRolls-Royce Nene jet engine and moving the cockpit to the extreme front of the fuselage, creating the P.1035. With encouragement from the Air Ministry, the design was altered substantially, with the wing losing the elliptical shape of the Fury and featuring wing-root air intakes and short bifurcated jet exhausts (which gained the name "trouser legs"). This redesign culminated in building the private ventureP.1040.
The unusual bifurcated jet pipe reduced jet pipe power loss and freed up space in the rear fuselage for fuel tanks, allowing the aircraft to have a longer range than many other early jets. The aircraft's fuselage fuel tanks were fore and aft of the engine giving a stable centre of gravity in flight. Initially, the P.1040 was intended for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as an interceptor, even though a top speed of only 600 mph was forecast. When in 1945 the RAF showed little interest in the project because it offered insufficient advance over jet fighters already in service such as the Gloster Meteor and de Havilland Vampire, the P.1040 was offered to the Admiralty as a fleet support fighter, the P.1046.
The P.1040 prototype (VP401), sometimes called the Hawker N.7/46 after the naval specification flew on 2 September 1947, piloted by Bill Humble. Aerodynamic-related teething problems were encountered early on, such as airframe vibrations and tail buffeting, and thus led to a redesign of the rear jetpipe fairings and the addition of a bullet fairing on the tail. Other minor issues were addressed, including high stick forces and windshield distortion, while a long takeoff run was attributed to the low-powered Nene 1 that had been not rated for its full power settings.
The P.1040 prototype VP401
A fully navalised prototype, VP413 equipped with folding wings, catapult spools and full armament did not fly until 31 August 1948. A third prototype which flew in 1949 incorporated a number of modifications from the second prototype, including the fitting of a longer arrester hook when a number of "bolters" were experienced in the dummy deck trials. After the longer hook was incorporated, the modification was carried though the remaining production runs. The first carrier trials occurred aboard the fleet aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious that same year. VP401, the first prototype continued in the flight test programme and before being retired, was involved in two significant events. On 1 August 1949, the Royal Navy entered VP401 in the National Air Races, winning the SBAC Challenge Cup Race, beating a Vampire 3 andDH 108. The prototype was later converted into the Hawker P.1072 with the addition of an auxiliary rocket engine, becoming the first British rocket-powered aircraft.After a few flights were made in 1950, the rocket engine blew up during a test and although repaired, the airframe was scrapped.
The third prototype joined a specially prepared Vampire Mk 21 in testing the feasibility of operating without an undercarriage utilizing a flexible deck. Flying fromFarnborough, VP413 successfully completed both catapult launches and "rubber sheet" deck landings, with the undercarriage remaining retracted throughout the flights. Although the system was proved, the project was abandoned in 1950 when more powerful engines precluded the need to radically adapt the design to the concept of combat aircraft without undercarriages.
Over 100 aircraft of a production model, named Sea Hawk, were subsequently ordered by the Royal Navy. The first production Sea Hawk F1 was WF143, which flew on 14 November 1951 with 39 ft (12 m) wingspan and a tailplane of increased area. Unlike its rival, the Supermarine Attacker, which had been the first jet to enter service with the FAA, the Sea Hawk had a tricycle undercarriage rather than a tail-wheel, making it easier to land on carriers. It was a fairly conventional design however, while other contemporary aircraft, e.g. the F-86 Sabre, had adopted swept wings, the Sea Hawk had straight wings. Swept wing versions (P.1052 and P.1081) were built and experience gained with the latter was instrumental in developing the Hawker Hunter design. The Sea Hawk was still a reliable and elegant aeroplane though its cautious design meant it would only have a brief career before being superseded by more advanced aircraft.
A Sea Hawk of 899 Squadron on HMS Eagle
during the Suez Crisis.
Sea Hawks of 898 Squadron at RNAS Brawdy, in 1954.
The first production Sea Hawk was the F 1, which first flew in 1951, entered service two years later with 806 Squadron, first based at Brawdy, then transferred to theHMS Eagle. Just over 30 were actually built by Hawker. At that time, Hawker was also producing the Hawker Hunter for the RAF and so production and further development of the Sea Hawk was switched to Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, part of the Hawker group. The F 1 was armed with four 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk Vcannons. It was powered by a single 5,000 lbf (22 kN) thrust Rolls-Royce Nene 101 turbojet. The F 1 had a maximum speed of 599 mph (964 km/h) at sea level and a range of 800 mi (1,287 km) on internal fuel. The second fighter variant was the F 2 which introduced power-boosted aileron controls as well as other modifications, including to its structure.
The next variant of the Sea Hawk was developed into a fighter-bomber, the FB 3 - Fighter-Bomber Mark 3 -(over 100 built) and differed only slightly from its predecessors. Its structure was strengthened to allow it to carry a wide array of equipment and weaponry. Its new armament consisted of two 500 lb (227 kg) bombs and 16 unguided rockets. The fourth Sea Hawk was a fighter ground-attack variant, the FGA 4, with increased weapons capability. The fifth Sea Hawk was a fighter-bomber variant, the FB 5, basically FB 3 and FGA 4s re-engined with the new Rolls-Royce Nene 103. The final Sea Hawk was a fighter ground-attack variant, FGA 6, and was exactly the same as its immediate predecessor, though they were new builds rather than re-engined, with just under 90 built. All Sea Hawks were in service by the mid-1950s and eventually over 500 were built.
Although Australia and Canada both initially expressed interest in the Sea Hawk, to the extent that examples were tested by each country's naval forces, the first export version was the Sea Hawk Mk 50, a ground-attack variant for the Royal Netherlands Navy; 22 aircraft were in service between 1957 and 1964. The next export variant was the Sea Hawk Mk 100, a strike fighter variant for the German Bundesmarine, the Navy of West Germany. The final German export version was theSea Hawk Mk 101, a night fighter, reconnaissance variant for the Bundesmarine. The Sea Hawk served into the mid-1960s, until its replacement by the F-104 Starfighter. The last export customer was India who ordered a mix of 24 new-build Sea Hawks and 12 refurbished ex-FAA Mk 6s in 1959, following up with 30 additional airframes reconstructed from West German stocks, among others.

domain: aerospace


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April 2019, Volume 139, Issue 4, pp 553–560|
Boyce, L., Prasad, A., Barrett, M. et al. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg (2019) 139: 553. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-019-03127-5
The outcomes of total knee arthroplasty in morbidly obese patients: a systematic review of the literature
The increasing prevalence of obesity has led to an increase in total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) being undertaken in patients with a higher body mass index (BMI). TKA in morbidly obese patients can be technically challenging due to numerous anatomical factors and patient co-morbidities. The long-term outcomes in this patient group are unclear. This systematic review aims to compare the long-term revision rates, functional outcomes and complication rates of TKAs in morbidly obese versus non-obese patients.
A search of PubMed, EMBASE and PubMed Central was conducted to identify studies that reported revision rates in a cohort of morbidly obese patients (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2) that underwent primary TKA, compared to non-obese patients (BMI ≤ 30 kg/m2). Secondary outcomes included Knee Society Objective Scores (KSOS), Knee Society Functional Scores (KSFS), and complication rates between the two groups. The difference in revision rates was assessed using the Chi-squared test. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare pre-operative and post-operative functional scores for each group. KSOS and KSFS for morbidly obese and non-obese patients were compared using the Mann–Whitney test. Statistical significance was defined as p ≤ 0.05.
Nine studies were included in this review. There were 624 TKAs in morbidly obese patients and 9,449 TKAs in non-obese patients, average BMI values were 45.0 kg/m2 (range 40–66 kg/m2) and 26.5 kg/m2 (range 11–30 kg/m2) respectively. The average follow-up time was 4.8 years (range 0.5–14.1) and 5.2 years (range 0.5–13.2) respectively, with a revision rate of 7% and 2% (p < 0.001) respectively. All functional scores improved after TKA (p < 0.001). Pre- and post-operative KSOS and KSFS were poorer in morbidly obese patients, however, mean improvement in KSOS was the same in both groups and comparable between groups for KSFS (p = 0.78). Overall complication rates, including infection, were higher in morbidly obese patients.
This review suggests an increased mid to long-term revision rate following primary TKA in morbidly obese patients, however, these patients have a functional recovery which is comparable to non-obese individuals. There is also an increased risk of perioperative complications, such as superficial wound infection. Morbidly obese patients should be fully informed of these issues prior to undergoing primary TKA.
Total knee arthroplasty TKA Total knee replacement TKR Morbid obesity Obesity Non-obese Revision rate Knee Society Objective scores KSOS Knee Society Functional scores KSFS Complications Complication rates Infection Infection rates Prosthetic infection Superficial wound infection Wound healing problems Wound healing delay Quality of life Functional outcome
Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is one of the most commonly performed orthopaedic procedures in the UK with 108,713 TKAs carried out in 2016 . This number is expected to rise to 118,666 by 2035 . The prevalence of obesity is also increasing, with UK trends predicting a rise from 26% in 2008 to 41–48% in men and 35–43% in women by 2035 . As obesity is a risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA), especially in the knee , the increase in prevalence has led to an increased number of TKAs being performed on obese patients . In the UK, obese patients comprised 56% of primary TKAs in the 2016 . Whilst the exact mechanism is not known, excessive joint loading in obese patients is thought to alter gait and movement strategies, resulting in joint malalignment and cartilage degeneration . In addition, obesity-related dyslipidaemia has been shown to induce joint damage through the actions of pro-inflammatory adipokines and cytokines .
The long-term outcome of TKA in obese patients remains a debated issue. Whilst some studies have shown favourable results [8, 9], others have not [10, 11]. Studies attempting to compare the outcome of primary TKA in obese versus non-obese patients have also shown mixed results [10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]. Some studies reported increased revision rates, lower functional scores and increased complication rates, including infection [10, 12, 15], whilst others failed to demonstrate any significant difference [13, 14, 16]. This lack of evidence has influenced recent policy-making within the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom, with some Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) imposing restrictions on offering TKA to obese patients .
This systematic review aims to compare the long-term outcomes of TKA in morbidly obese versus non-obese patients. The primary outcome measure was the revision rate and secondary measures included the functional outcome and incidence of complications.
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed . An electronic database search of PubMed, EMBASE and PubMed Central was conducted, to search for studies reporting revision rates of TKAs in morbidly obese patients. The following search string was used: “(total knee replacement OR total knee arthroplasty) AND morbid obesity”. This search returned relevant studies published between the time of inception of the databases to June 2017.
The inclusion criterion was agreed upon by authors LB, AP and SH prior to the identification phase. Studies were included that reported revision rate in morbidly obese patients (BMI > 40 kg/m2) who had undergone primary TKA versus a non-obese group. Studies with a mean follow-up period of less than 2 years and those not published in English were excluded. Studies that did not directly report revision rates were included if they provided sufficient data from which revision rate could be calculated.
Screening was performed in three phases to identify relevant titles, abstracts and full texts. Two reviewers (LB, AP) extracted the data through a standardized data collection form. Three reviewers (LB, AP, SH) checked the data for accuracy and any inconsistent results were handled by discussion. The following data: number of patients, number of knees, revision rates, overall complication rates, rates of superficial wound infection, prosthetic joint infection and wound healing problems, mean pre- and postoperative Knee Society scores (KSS) and the mean and range for BMI, age and follow-up were extracted.
Non-parametric tests were used for statistical analyses. The significance of the difference between revision rates in the morbidly obese and non-obese groups was calculated using the Chi-squared test. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare pre-operative and post-operative functional scores for each group separately. The Mann–Whitney test was used to compare pre-operative morbidly obese and non-obese functional scores and post-operative morbidly obese and non-obese functional scores. Statistical significance was defined as p ≤ 0.05.
The PRISMA flowchart for study selection is shown in Fig. 1. The initial PubMed search returned 110 abstracts which were screened for eligibility. After removal of duplicates, and studies that did not fit our eligibility criteria, nine studies were included for review [15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26].
Patient demographics for each study are summarised in Table 1. The total reported number of knees in the morbidly obese and non-obese groups across all studies was 624 and 9449, respectively. The mean BMI for morbidly obese patients was 45.0 kg/m2 (range 40–66 kg/m2) and 26.5 kg/m2 (range 11–30 kg/m2) for non-obese patients. The average morbidly obese patient underwent their TKA at a younger age (62.9 years) than the average non-obese patient (66.2 years). Bordini et al. only provided a mean age for all patients (72 years) . The most common indication for surgery was osteoarthritis. The average follow-up time was 4.8 years (range 0.5–14.1 years) in the morbidly obese and 5.2 years (range 0.5–13.2 years) in non-obese patients (Table 2). Naziri et al. did not report mean follow-up time in the control group but stated that the follow-up times were matched with the morbidly obese patients within four months . Bordini et al. only provided a mean follow-up time for all patients (3.1 years) .Table 1
Mean BMI (and range) and mean age (and range) for morbidly obese (MO) and non-obese (NO) patients in each study
|Study||Year||Mean BMI, kg/m2 (range)||Mean age, years (range)|
|Spicer et al. ||2001||NR (> 40)||NR (< 30)||63 (41–78)||70 (35–83)|
|Foran et al. ||2004||43 (40–47)||26 (18–30)||65 (32–84)||70 (42–84)|
|Amin et al. ||2006||43 (40–61)||27 (23–30)||62 (40–80)||63 (42–80)|
|Ersozlu et al. ||2007||42 (40–45)||27 (24–30)||60 (NR)||67 (NR)|
|Krushell et al. ||2007||44 (40–53)||26 (20–29)||67 (48–81)||69 (39–82)|
|Bordini et al. ||2009||NR (> 40)||NR (< 30)||72 (71.8–72.1)||72 (71.8–72.1)|
|Dewan et al. ||2009||44 (> 40)||25 (20–29)||58 (NR)||66 (NR)|
|Naziri et al. ||2013||54 (50–66)||28 (25–30)||60 (43–74)||59 (45–75)|
|Chen et al. ||2016||NR (> 40)||NR (< 30)||61 (NR)||68 (NR)|
NR not reportedTable 2
Number of patients, number of knees, mean follow-up time (and range) and revision rate for morbidly obese (MO) and non-obese (NO) patients in each study
|Study||Year||Patients (knees)||Mean follow-up, years (range)||Revision rate, %||pvalue|
|Spicer et al. ||2001||NR (59)||371 (425)||6.1 (4–12)||6.3 (4–12)||5||3||NR|
|Foran et al. ||2004||11 (12)||68 (78)||6.6 (5–8.9)||6.9 (5–10.3)||8||0||0.02|
|Amin et al. ||2006||38 (41)||38 (41)||3.2 (0.5–5.5)||3.7 (0.5–5.6)||26||0||0.01|
|Ersozlu et al. ||2007||21 (42)||20 (40)||2.7 (2–3.3)||2.7 (2–3.3)||0||0||NR|
|Krushell et al. ||2007||NR (39)||NR (39)||7.5 (5.2–14.1)||7.5 (5–13.2)||5||0||NR|
|Bordini et al. ||2009||NR (172)||NR (6532)||3.1 (1.5–6)||3.1 (1.5–6)||2||2||NR|
|Dewan et al. ||2009||31 (41)||67 (85)||4 (NR)||6 (NR)||7||5||0.816|
|Naziri et al. ||2013||95 (101)||95 (101)||5.2 (3–7.1)||NR||7||3||0.28|
|Chen et al. ||2016||117 (117)||2108 (2108)||NR (2–10)||NR (2–10)||2||1||0.703|
NR not reported
The mean revision rates were 7% in the morbidly obese and 2% in non-obese patients (p < 0.001) (Table 2). Two studies reported revision rates directly [21, 26], while in eight studies [15, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24] the rates were calculated as the percentage of knees that underwent revision during follow-up.
Knee Society Objective Scores (KSOS) are shown in Table 3 and Knee Society Function scores (KSFS) in Table 4. Seven studies reported KSOS and KSFS [15, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26]. All functional scores showed a significant improvement after TKA (p < 0.001). Mean preoperative KSOS were 43 (range 0–78) and 47 (range 0–83) (p = 0.65) and mean postoperative KSOS were 87 (range 32–100) and 91 (range 45–100) (p = 0.04) in morbidly and non-obese patients, respectively. Mean improvement in KSOS was 44 in both morbidly and non-obese groups. Mean preoperative KSFS were 40 (range 0–85) and 47 (range 0–97) (p = 0.20), mean postoperative KSFS were 67 (range 0–100) and 76 (range 20–100) (p = 0.20) and mean improvement in scores were 27 and 29 (p = 0.78) in morbidly and non-obese patients, respectively.Table 3
Mean pre- and postoperative Knee Society Objective scores (KSOS) and improvement in KSOS for morbidly obese (MO) and non-obese (NO) patients in each study
|Study||Year||Mean preoperative KSOS (range)||pvalue||Mean postoperative KSOS (range)||pvalue||Mean improvement in KSOS||pvalue|
|Spicer et al. ||2001||45 (NR)||48 (NR)||NR||86 (NR)||91 (NR)||NR||41||43||NR|
|Amin et al. ||2006||28 (0–57)||30 (0–56)||0.5||86 (32–97)||91 (45–100)||0.08||58||61||NR|
|Ersozlu et al. ||2007||61 (42–76)||70 (61–83)||NR||87 (57–94)||91 (64–97)||NR||26||21||NR|
|Krushell et al. ||2007||30 (14–65)||34 (13–70)||NR||91 (50–100)||94 (50–100)||NR||61||60||NR|
|Dewan et al. ||2009||53 (NR)||55 (NR)||0.737||85 (NR)||89 (NR)||0.244||32||34||NR|
|Naziri et al. ||2013||53 (23–78)||50 (35–69)||0.0899||91 (58–100)||94 (66–100)||0.1161||42||44||NR|
|Chen et al. ||2016||33 (30–36)||40 (39–40)||< 0.001||83 (81–85)||85 (84–85)||0.013||50||45||0.003|
NR not reportedTable 4
Mean pre- and postoperative Knee Society Function scores (KSFS) and improvement in KSFS for morbidly obese (MO) and non-obese (NO) patients in each study
|Study||Year||Mean preoperative KSFS (range)||pvalue||Mean postoperative KSFS (range)||pvalue||Mean improvement in KSFS||pvalue|
|Spicer et al. ||2001||20 (NR)||30 (NR)||0.003||60 (NR)||68 (NR)||NR||40||38||NR|
|Amin et al. ||2006||51 (0–75)||52 (10–80)||0.5||76 (30–100)||83 (35–100)||0.01||25||31||NR|
|Ersozlu et al. ||2007||46 (39–74)||56 (64–97)||NR||80 (55–83)||86 (60–100)||NR||46||30||NR|
|Krushell et al. ||2007||31 (0–50)||38 (0–80)||NR||44 (0–90)||64 (20–100)||< 0.005||13||26||NR|
|Dewan et al. ||2009||42 (NR)||46 (NR)||0.119||68 (NR)||66 (NR)||0.313||26||20||NR|
|Naziri et al. ||2013||52 (0–85)||54 (35–70)||0.1589||82 (30–100)||90 (64–100)||0.004||30||36||NR|
|Chen et al. ||2016||39 (36–42)||53 (52–54)||< 0.001||58 (55–62)||74 (73–75)||< 0.001||19||21||0.736|
NR not reported
Morbidly obese patients had higher overall complication rates, and higher rates of superficial wound infection, prosthetic joint infection, wound healing problems or delay compared to non-obese patients in all studies (Table 5). Four studies reported overall complication rates [15, 21, 24, 26], four studies reported superficial wound infections [15, 19, 21, 24], two studies reported prosthetic joint infections [15, 21], two studies reported wound healing problems or delay [23, 24]. Dewan et al. only reported infection rates . Morbidly obese patients also had higher rates of aseptic and radiographic loosening, and osteolysis or wear (Table 5). Three studies reported aseptic loosening [15, 23, 24], two studies reported radiographic loosening [15, 21], one study reported osteolysis or wear .Table 5
Complication rates for morbidly obese (MO) and non-obese (NO) patients in each study
|Amin et al. ||2006||Overall complication rate: 32%||Overall complication rate: 0%|
|Superficial wound infections: 17%||Superficial wound infections: 0%|
|Prosthetic joint infections: 10%||Prosthetic joint infections: 0%|
|Radiographic loosening: 4.9%||Radiographic loosening: 0%|
|Aseptic loosening: 9.8%||Aseptic loosening: 0%|
|Ersozlu et al. ||2007||Overall complication rate: 30%||Overall complication rate: 25%|
|Superficial wound infections: 19%||Superficial wound infections: 5%|
|Prosthetic joint infections: 0%||Prosthetic joint infections: 0%|
|Radiographic loosening: 0%||Radiographic loosening: 0%|
|Krushell et al. ||2007||Wound-healing problems: 20.5%||Wound-healing problems: 0%|
|Aseptic loosening: 2.6%||Aseptic loosening: 0%|
|Osteolysis or wear: 2.6%||Osteolysis or wear: 0%|
|Bordini et al. ||2009||Superficial wound infections: 0%||Superficial wound infections: 0%|
|Dewan et al. ||2009||Overall complication rate: 26%||Overall complication: 15%|
|Infection: 7%||Infection: 4%|
|Naziri et al. ||2013||Overall complication rate: 14%||Overall complication rate: 5%|
|Superficial wound infection: 1%||Aseptic loosening: 0%|
|Delayed wound healing: 1%|
|Aseptic loosening: 4%|
This review has shown that morbidly obese TKA patient have significantly higher revision rates (p < 0.001) and greater complication rates, including higher rates of infection and wound healing problems, compared with their non-obese counterparts. However, morbidly obese and non-obese patients experience similar improvements in KSOS and KSFS after TKA. All patients undergoing TKA benefit to the same extent from improvements in knee-related function and quality of life, regardless of BMI.
Global obesity trends predict 20% of the world adult population could be obese by 2030, equating to 1.12 billion individuals. In high-income OECD countries, including the UK, US, France and Germany, 37% of adults are expected to be obese by 2030 . Obesity is a risk factor for osteoarthritis and contributes to the demand for TKA in these patients. These projections indicate that an increasing number of morbidly obese patients will warrant TKA in the future.
Morbid obesity has been widely reported to increase the risk of perioperative complications during TKA, including superficial wound infections and prosthetic joint infections [12, 28, 29]. Whilst the exact mechanism is unclear, this may be partly explained by a weakened immune response in obese patients. The number of monocytes that mature to macrophages was found to be significantly less in obese patients . Impaired release of lymphocyte migration-inhibiting factor has also been found in insulin-resistant, non-ketotic diabetic and non-hyperglycaemic obese patients . Furthermore, obesity is strongly associated with reduced subcutaneous tissue oxygenation, which is in turn linked to higher rates of infection . Our review finds a higher incidence of complications in morbidly obese patients. Amin et al. found the greatest difference in complication rate . No complications were reported in their control group, while 32% of morbidly obese knees experienced complications; 17% were superficial wound infections, and 5% were prosthetic joint infections . This may in part be due to surgery in morbidly obese patients being more technically demanding, resulting in longer operative time which increases the risk of postoperative infections [33, 34].
The association between BMI and the long-term outcome of TKA is unclear. Studies have shown increased revision rates and lower functional scores in obese patients [35, 36, 37] whilst other studies have reported similar outcomes regardless of BMI [9, 38, 39]. Gaillard et al. found that obesity did not affect mid-term implant survival, though their results indicated poorer functional outcomes and a risk of postoperative complications in obese patients . This review suggests that revision rates are greater in morbidly obese patients. Amin et al. reported the greatest difference in revision rates between morbidly obese and non-obese patients, where survivorship rates were 26% and 0%, respectively . A common assumption is that overloading of the knee occurs in patients with high BMI, resulting in greater impact loading across the tibial component, therefore, increased component loosening and poorer implant survival [15, 24, 41]. In spite of this, it has been suggested that a more sedentary lifestyle in morbidly obese patients counterbalances the increased rate of prosthesis wear, which may explain the small difference in revision rate reported in the review [15, 42]. Patient-specific guide technology has also been shown to reliably correct mechanical alignment in obese patients without adversely affecting outcomes .
Mean pre- and postoperative overall KSOS and KSFS were consistently lower in morbidly obese patients, though, and perhaps more importantly, the mean score improvements were comparable between the two groups. Chen et al. studied the largest number of patients, 117 morbidly obese and 2108 non-obese patients, and found comparable KSFS between the two groups as well as superior improvements in KSOS . The authors of this study suggest sample sizes in other studies are too small to detect true differences in functional scores. Krushell et al. reported the poorest mean improvement in KSFS of 13 in the morbidly obese group versus 26 in the non-obese group . Though this improvement may seem insignificant numerically, it is approximately equivalent to being housebound preoperatively, and able to walk 400 metres postoperatively . These findings suggest TKA offers substantial benefits to morbidly obese patients in terms of pain relief, knee stability, range of movement, walking distance and climbing stairs.
Limitations to this review include the large range in BMI within both study groups and the small sample sizes. Follow-up times ranged from 0.5 to 14.1 years, therefore, making it difficult to compare short, medium and long-term implant survivorship. Other confounding variables included comorbidities, prosthesis type, population heterogeneity, activity level, laterality and surgical technique. Individual ages were not reported in the included studies, therefore, statistical significance could not be calculated. Six studies were retrospective, and therefore, susceptible to selection bias [19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 35]. Our statistical analyses were limited to non-parametric methods, because a normal distribution could not be assumed from the reported data. More randomised controlled trials and prospective cohort studies are required to assess long-term outcomes in morbidly obese patients.
This review indicates that revision rate of TKA in morbidly obese individuals is increased compared with non-obese patients [7% vs. 2% (p < 0.001)]. There is also an increased risk of perioperative complications, mainly superficial wound infections. Nevertheless, all patients regardless of BMI experience comparable improvements in knee function. In conclusion, obese patients should be counselled regarding the increased risk of failure and inferior functional outcome, and should be encouraged to lose weight prior to undergoing TKA. These patients, however, should not be refused TKA based on their BMI value alone, as the procedure is likely to offer them a significant improvement in functional outcome and quality of life.
There is no funding source.
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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About this article
CrossMarkCite this article as:Boyce, L., Prasad, A., Barrett, M. et al. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg (2019) 139: 553. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-019-03127-5
- Received20 June 2018
- First Online16 February 2019
- Publisher NameSpringer Berlin Heidelberg
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- Online ISSN1434-3916

domain: statistics


text:
English champions, Liverpool booked their passage to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League after a 2-0 win and 4-0 aggregate win over German side, RB Leipzig at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.
Liverpool, who are on a poor run of form domestically were made to work hard for their result in the game before two goals in five second half minutes secured their last 8 ticket. Egyptian forward, Mohamed Salah found the net to open the scoring after 70 minutes, before Senegalese forward Sadio Mane added a second four minutes later to secure a flawless 4-0 aggregate victory for the 2019 Champions League winners.
Liverpool have now qualified for the quarterfinals of this season’s Champions League as the title remains one of their only realistic chances of winning silverware this season. They join Borussia Dortmund, FC Porto and Paris St Germain as those already confirmed for the draws for the quarterfinals.

domain: sports


text:
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domain: relationship


text:
Winter Covers for Outdoor Plants
The Winter Covers for Outdoor Plants helps to extend the flowering and harvest seasons. These covers are available in various roll sizes.
Shipping estimates shown on the map pertain to this specific product only. Frost Protectoin Fabric orders typically ship same day if the order is placed before 12:00 noon CST. Transit times displayed in the map are listed in business days, and are approximate. Transit times are subject to stock levels at regional warehouses. The day that the order is shipped is not counted as a transit day.
Weather can be unpredictable from autumn through winter and in some cases even spring! The temperatures can dip bringing in freezing weather than suddenly turn warmer. It can be difficult to plan how to take care of your plants and continue to enjoy the harvest for a longer period of time. It's actually quite normal for temperatures to drop below freezing in late September and early October, depending on your location. When temperatures fluctuate without warning, it can be very difficult to plan ahead.
In many regions, it's quite common for plants to come out of dormancy in late March and early April then followed by freezing weather that will destroy your plants if they are not protected. If you keep up with the weather, you can protect your plants during the first frost or an unexpected freeze event allowing you to continue enjoying your harvest just a little bit longer.
In this article, we will go over some tips for protecting your garden from freezing temperatures in fall and spring.
Frost Blankets Used in Winter
Frost develops when ice crystals form on the surface of a leaves' surface even if the temperature is above freezing. What's happened, the plant surface will cool down to the level of freezing and if plants, especially sensitive plants, break dormancy due to warmer temperatures, buds and flowers can be killed.
A Freeze can be more destructive than frost. Freezing will take place when the air and the interior of the plant drops below 32°F. When a freeze hits, plant cells can freeze damaging the cellular tissue and causing the plant's tissue to turn brown or black, wilt, and then collapse.
Some freezes are not alike. Advection freezes are formed when a mass of dry, cold air mass enters an area followed by windy conditions. A radiation freeze happens during clear, calm evenings. Radiation freeze will occur when cold air settles on the ground and warm air disappears into the upper atmosphere.
Everything from vegetables, to annuals, that are grown outside need a lot of protection during an early frost or if it freezes.
On the other hand, perennials, woody shrubs, roses, small trees, and other woody plants are not that necessary to protect. These plants need to experience cold temperatures in order to enter dormancy. Also, most perennials and woody plants can tolerate temperatures at or just below freezing with very little damage.
Once September hits, it's a good idea to keep an eye on the forecast and pay attention to the temperatures overnight. When the temperatures fall around 30s °F, you will have to bring in plants and cover other plants, using cold frames and hoop tunnels.
When the weather gets really bad, bring your plants inside, it's the easiest way to protect them. Potted tropical and annual containers can be placed in a heated room, an inside porch, or other protected room including a garage to keep them safe overnight.
If you have plants that you cannot move easily, you can protect them with coverings such as sheets, blankets, towels, tarps, frost fabric, or other materials. Plant covers collect heat from the ground preventing frost from forming on leaves and reduce the chance of plants freezing.
While covering, use stakes, posts, saw horses, loops, or other structures to lift the covers so they will not hit the foliage. The next day when the temperature is above freezing, remove the covers.
Cold frames and Hoop tunnels will trap heat from the soil to prevent frost from forming and damaging vegetables and other plants. The covers should be opened or removed during the daylight hours then pulled shut before the temperature drops below freezing.
Garden With Frost
Vegetables and annuals will also suffer from frost or freeze in early spring. Protecting spring bulbs or perennials are not issues you need to worry about. Perennials, tulips, or other plants with bulbs are able to withstand temperatures in the upper 20s and lower 30s. Some of these plants will be fine in cold temperatures including catmint and columbine. Unfortunately, developing buds on flowers and new foliage on fruit trees along with other trees and shrubs can be damaged by frost and freezes. This is even more likely when cold weather is followed by longer spells of warmer temperatures. Warmer temperatures can lead to the growth of flowers and fruits too soon leading to harm and impairing their appearance over the year.
Early spring can give you false hope if you plant too soon. You could experience a late frost or freeze that will harm your plants. You should hold off planting warm-weather vegetables like tomatoes, green beans, and peppers until all threats are gone. Annuals like begonias, marigolds, and petunias should wait until the threat of frost is behind you.
If your heart is set on planting vegetables, choose cool-season vegetables such as cabbage, spinach, beets, collards, kale, carrots, Brussels sprouts, radish, lettuce, chard, and onion for early spring. Cool season annuals should include pansies, sweet alyssum, and snapdragons These annuals and veggies can withstand a light frost with temperatures down to 28°F or 26°F without being damaged.
Annual plants like vegetable transplants, perennials grown in a greenhouse or indoors need to adjust to cooler temperatures before planting them outside. Hardened plants are more likely to survive an unexpected light freeze or a frost without being harmed, unlike plants that have not been hardened.
When there is a forecast for below-freezing temperatures, protect your plants by bringing them inside or covering them with blankets, using cold frames, or growing tunnels.
Plant Covered in Frost Blanket
Gardeners and farmers who live in colder climates are always on the lookout for remedies when planting their spring crops earlier in the year. Unfortunately, nothing is etched in concrete. Gardeners and farmers have spent many years caring for and growing their plants by paying attention to weather forecasts and realizing they will enjoy an abundance of great crops if they apply a little patience.
There are many new products on the market to help you protect your vegetables, flowers, and other plants but caution must play a big part. The best advice, keep an eye out for weather forecasts during early spring or late fall. Be ready to bring plants inside if an unforeseen frost or freeze hits your area, and have plant protection products at hand to ensure you will have a great growing season ahead of you.

domain: biology


text:
LAHORE: Former Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Najam Sethi has said that the nation should not expect much from the team in the World Cup, ARY Sports reports.
Najam Sethi, speaking to media in Lahore, said that the performance of the team is affected when playing under pressure.
He added that Pakistan has also a World T20 champion and have defeated Australia and South Africa earlier as well.
Sethi further said that there is a lack of frontline pacers and spinners in the team. He urged the selectors to keep an eye out for the players’ performances in the team camp.

domain: topicality


text:
No fewer than six cars had a real shot of winning the 24 Hours of Daytona with just more than six hours remaining in the race. In the end, Chip Ganassi Racing in partnership with Felix Sabates notched up a unique Daytona hat trick. Ganassis Riley-Lexus, driven by Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Dario Franchitti and Juan Pablo Montoya, wasnt the fastest car during Grand-Ams season opener, but it was the most reliable.
Six Daytona Prototypes remained on the lead lap as dawn broke over the 3.56-mile circuit, but one by one, Ganassis rivals dropped out of contention during the final hours. The race boiled down to a two-way fight with just more than three hours to go, when the best Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford, driven at the time by Burt Frisselle, straight-lined the bus-stop chicane after a rear suspension failure. Frisselle smoked his way to the pits for lengthy repairs.
A race that had promised a thrilling fight all the way to the finish was as good as over.
The 11th-hour dramas for Ganassis challengers take nothing away from the teams third win in as many years, a 24 Hours of Daytona record. (The Brumos Racing team won three straight Daytona enduros in the 1970s, but not in consecutive years, as the energy crisis meant no race was held in 1974.) This win followed the template the team laid down in 2007: a race free of mechanical problems, while the drivers stayed on-track.
Just like last year, we had zero problems, Pruett said. We didnt hit anyone, and we didnt touch anyone.
There was one difference compared with 2007, however. Last year, we always felt we had a car that was fast enough to win, reckoned Montoya. This year was different.
The first of Ganassis rivals to fall off the lead lap was the Riley-Pontiac driven by Marc Goossens, Jim Matthews, Johnny OConnell and Ryan Hunter-Reay, which was delayed by a hole in its radiator. Next to hit trouble was the similarly powered Riley entered by Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing, in which last years DP champions, Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, were joined by NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and open-wheel veteran Jimmy Vasser. The car lost 10 minutes (six laps) during gearbox repairs.
The next front-runner fell by the wayside in dramatic fashion. Joao Barbosa had just taken the lead in the Brumos Riley-Porsche in the 21st hour when the rear suspension failed on Daytonas banking. The Portuguese driver, who shared the car with J.C. France, Hurley Haywood and Terry Borcheller, could do nothing.
There was no vibration or any warning, Barbosa said. The car just snapped around on me when the suspension broke.
The Crawford-Porsche of Alex Job Racing--the only non-Riley among the front-runners--hit trouble later in the same hour. The engines power dropped off for some time before an internal failure put the car, driven by Joey Hand, Bill Auberlen, Patrick Long and Andy Wallace, out of the race.
That left only the lead Michael Shank Racing entry to take the fight to Ganassi, though in reality, Ganassi was taking the fight to the car driven by A.J. Allmendinger, Frisselle, Ian James and John Pew. There was little doubt that Shanks two Riley-Fords, which monopolized the front row of the grid, were the fastest cars around Daytona both in qualifying and in race trim.
The combination of the Yates-prepared Ford V8 and the latest low-drag Riley bodywork, which only three teams chose to run, gave the Shank cars an edge over the other Riley runners. Team boss Michael Shank had no doubts that his car would have had the legs of Ganassis Riley in the run to the flag.
We had a plan to put A.J. in for the final two and a half hours, said Shank. I dont think Scott could have beaten him.
Shanks suspension problem allowed Ganassi driver Franchitti to back right off. The engine temperatures were coming up, he said, and we didnt really clean the radiators properly until Scott got in the car for the final time.
That extended pit stop for Ganassi brought the delayed Gainsco car, which was now back to second, one lap nearer. It gained back another lap under the pace car and then moved to within two laps as Pruett eased off with one eye on his temperature gauge during the final two hours.
The third-place Riley suffered overheating problems. The Pontiac-engined Mk XI run by Penske in combination with Wayne Taylor Racing was in the mix until 3 a.m., when the engine temperature went sky high. A water leak, possibly from a crack in the engine block, meant that Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Kurt Busch needed frequent stops to replenish the water system over the races remainder.
Fourth place went to the best of Krohn Racings Riley-Pontiacs, driven by Nic Jonsson, Ricardo Zonta and Darren Turner. Zonta took the car into the lead in the fourth hour, but an unscheduled stop to fix a water leak dropped it off the all-important lead lap. A minor off-track excursion, a seized brake caliper and then more overheating problems left the car seven laps off the lead.
The regular Wayne Taylor Racing Riley-Pontiac, driven by Max Angelelli, Michael Valiante and father and son Wayne and Ricky Taylor, ended up fifth after two significant delays. The first occurred when an unidentified electrical glitch stranded Taylor Sr. at the end of the pit lane early in hour seven, the second when a rear brake caliper seized.
The Shank car in which Oswaldo Negri Jr. beat Allmendinger to the pole position finished sixth. It dropped back in the ninth hour after Mark Patterson, who joined Negri, Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal, went off and damaged the front aerodynamic splitter.
The team lost more time when it incorrectly anticipated a rain shower, put Wilson on wet tires and then had to bring his car straight back in to change back to slicks.
A mistake from Wilson late in the race resulted in suspension damage and dropped the car behind the Krohn and Taylor Rileys.
The Shank car also suffered a series of punctures; the fragility of Grand-Ams new Pirelli control tire was one of the events talking points.
Pirelli racing boss Pierluigi de Cancellis insisted that on-track debris caused the majority of the punctures, while teams running on flat-spotted tires caused the other problems. Tire management was definitely a skill, and it was no coincidence that the top teams mastered it. The winning Ganassi car, it bears noting, did not suffer a single puncture.
In the GT class, Mazda overcame Porsches might to win by seven laps. The factory-backed SpeedSource RX-8 wasnt the fastest GT, but a clockwork run, interrupted only by a couple of spins, ensured that Porsche failed to win a class at Daytona for the first time since 1993.
SpeedSource boss Sylvain Tremblay, Nick Ham, team engineer David Haskell and 2007 Champ Car Atlantic Series champion Raphael Matos won despite falling a couple of laps behind just before half-distance. But SpeedSources rivals started to hit trouble shortly after the 12-hour mark.
The fastest two of seven Porsche 911 GT3 Cups entered by the Racers Group sat atop the GT leader board when an overheating problem that was never fully explained forced the drivers to back off, opening the door for SpeedSource.
New Porsche factory driver Richard Westbrook, who finished second with Andy Lally, Bryce Miller and Ted Ballou, suggested that the radiators had become clogged with wet sand.
It seems the water and sand have created a kind of clay over the radiators that we cant shift, he said. Its a shame, because we had the pace to beat the Mazda.
The third-place car of the Racers Group, driven by Emmanuel Collard, Roman Dumas, Bryan Sellers, Spencer Pumpelly and Tim George Jr., was similarly afflicted.
Such problems are anathema to the Ganassi team. It just doesnt do silly problems, just as it doesnt do technical problems. The Ganassi teams drivers, at least those in its lead car, dont make mistakes. Its third-straight win was a lesson to its rivals in how to run a 24-hour race--without needing the fastest car.

domain: automotive


Note from Eric Briggs (Toronto Centre):
I feel this is timely bearing in mind the closure of the Canadian Air and Space Museum at that location in late September . The names on the program for the 26 Oct 1961 symposium (50 years ago yesterday!) reads like a who's who of experts in Canadian aerospace history:
- Gordon Patterson founded the University of Toronto Institute of Aerodynamics (later UTIAS).
- Irvine Glass later participated in the rescue of Apollo 13 as a member of UTIAS.
- P.A. Lapp was systems engineer at the guided missiles division of De Havilland Aircraft. The flyer also mentions the Special Projects Division of De Havilland, which built the Alouette satellite and later the Canadarm (Alouette was built at the Downsview site, Canadarm not.)
- J.T. Wilson contributed to the theory of plate tectonics and later became the director of the Ontario Science Centre. D.C. Rose later produced the "Rose Report" post-mortem on the Queen Elizabeth 5-meter Telescope program for the Trudeau government.
- J.F. Heard and D.A. MacRae should need no introduction.


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Xi Jinping in His Own Words
What China’s Leader Wants—and How to Stop Him From Getting It
On June 29, 2014, the Islamic State (also called ISIS) declared the “State of the Islamic Caliphate,” which adherents and supporters regard as nothing less than a restoration of the earliest model of the caliphate. Banners throughout the lands ruled by ISIS proclaim it the khilafa ʿala minhaj al-nubuwwa—or the “caliphate in the prophetic method”—that is, the model set out by Muhammad himself 1,400 years ago.
More remarked on by Western observers, of course, have been ISIS’ gruesome public beheadings, mass executions, immolations, and its slave markets and cryptic apocalyptic notions. Its spectacular and seemingly arbitrary violence has spawned an obsession with dramatic questions: Is ISIS truly “Islamic”? Or is it better compared to modern nihilists and exotic apocalyptic death cults?
Although such questions make for interesting thought experiments, they do not bring the world closer to understanding how ISIS governs tens of thousands of square miles and millions of people. Indeed, whatever ISIS believes about the apocalypse, it sees itself as creating a distinctive and authentic legal order for the here and now, one that is based not only on a literal (if selective) reading of early Islamic materials but also on a long-standing theory of statecraft and legal authority.
It isn’t surprising that ISIS makes claims derived from Islamic law or that a group controlling territory should enact lawlike structures of governance. After all, states are built on legal institutions that legitimize the regime’s monopoly on violence, resource extraction, and political authority. So what is ISIS actually doing and saying on the ground in the areas it controls? Ongoing research shows that ISIS is using Islamic law not simply to terrorize foreign hostages and non-Muslim groups, such as Christians or Yazidis, but also to establish a social contract with the Muslim population it aspires to govern. Despite suggestions that ISIS has “peaked” or is already in “decline,” its concern for establishing a law-based political order indicates that the group has aspirations for long-term governance—aspirations that should be taken seriously.
ISIS aims to establish scrupulous legality for itself, from its very “constitutional” foundations to its narrowest public policies. This process, in fact, began up to a year before the declaration of the caliphate in a series of texts laying the groundwork for the future state, and it continues today with administrative guidelines for groups and individuals that wish to pledge allegiance to the caliphate. Allegiance (bayʿa) documents are frequently published online and reveal a consistency in language and substance.
Here, three points are worth noting. First, these texts aim to prove that Muslims have an unavoidable religious obligation not just to create any ordinary state governed by sharia but to restore the specific office of the caliphate. “Without the condition of the caliphate being realized,” ISIS clarified in its official public declaration of the caliphate, “all power is simply worldly kingship, domination and governance, accompanied by destruction, corruption, injustice, coercion and fear, and the degradation and decline of humans to the level of animals. This is the truth of the succession to God, for which God has created us.” Second, the group takes pains to justify the legality of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s own personal election to the office. The doctrinal basis for this was laid at least a year in advance, for example in the document “Madd al-ayadi li-bayʿat al-Baghdadi,” which was released July 22, 2013. That work describes the classical conditions of eligibility for the caliph and then outlines Baghdadi’s fulfillment of them. Finally, ISIS leaders appear bent on avoiding some of the problematic features of modern Islamic lawmaking—namely, the ubiquitous tendency to issue codes of law and formal constitutions. Instead, the group has refused to codify any but the most widely known Islamic legal rules in order to avoid the emulation of modern nation-states. For ISIS, God’s law can already be found in the primary texts of revelation (with some support from medieval scholars where necessary), and it is the job of worthy judges to enforce it.
Likewise, the caliph is seen as a custodian of divine law. His power is not portrayed as absolute, but he does have plenty of room to issue laws and policies. The system follows a classical Islamic theory of statecraft known as siyasa sharʿiyya. The term means “religiously legitimate governance,” but it implies more than just the application of formal sharia. Instead, it sets up a kind a dualistic model of law and governance. On the one hand, the system requires sharia courts for the application of Islamic legal rules in routine matters for which specific rules exist. But it recognizes that rules do not exist for every conceivable matter. And so the “siyasa sharʿiyya” theory posits that there are legitimate authorities—from market inspectors to military commanders and governors up to the caliph himself—that have the right to make lawlike decisions as long as those decisions are issued solely with the welfare (maslaha) of the Muslim community in mind and do not violate known laws.
Within the framework of this theory, ISIS has established both sharia courts for unexceptional Islamic rulings over civil and some criminal matters and other kinds of courts that deal with military discipline or complaints from the population, including grievances against ISIS fighters (many of whom have actually been punished after such complaints).
LAW AND ORDER
Within the siyasa sharʿiyya system, ISIS has been able to create rules and regulations to govern civilians, discipline its own fighters, and control territory. Such regulations often deal with matters that were not directly addressed by the revelatory texts (for example, fines for traffic violations). But they are ultimately anchored in an Islamic legal order nonetheless. For evidence, look to four of the most important areas of regulation—citizenship, land, trade, and war.
The ISIS legal system purports to establish a relationship between government and the people that is based on accountability and Islamic justice, according to which the caliph himself can be removed by the Shura council if he fails to fulfill his obligations.The theory of the caliphate implies a law-based social contract with reciprocal obligations and rights between the caliph and the people, whom ISIS calls “subjects” (riʿaya, or simply “the Muslims”). The group issues a variety of rules and regulations designed to enforce those subjects’ compliance with their obligations. It also guarantees a limited number of legally enforceable rights—for example, the right to file complaints or charges against ISIS combatants or officials. As one propaganda brochure from Raqqa states, “The Islamic State is just and there is no distinction between a soldier and a Muslim [civilian]. In the shariacourts, all are held accountable and no one has immunity.” Additionally, ISIS claims that its subjects have the right to equal treatment before the law of God: “The people are as equal as the teeth of a comb. There is no difference the rich and the poor and the strong and the weak. The holder of a right has redress, and the grievance of an injured party will be answered.”
Different legal obligations apply to Muslims and non-Muslims. Christians and Jews are allowed to live and work in the caliphate in exchange for paying an annual tax, which in Iraq was recently set at a rate of four gold dinars for the wealthy, two dinars for middle-income, and one dinar for the poor. At the same time, ISIS has also developed legal justifications for the extermination of certain classes of non-Muslim minorities within the caliphate’s territory. Prior to the capture of Sinjar in Iraq, ISIS claims, its religious scholars conducted research on the Yazidis to determine whether they should legally be considered an unbelieving group “by origin” (asli) or one that was originally Muslim and only later apostatized. Ultimately, ISIS determined that the Yazidis were a polytheist group by origin and therefore concludes, “Unlike the Jews and Christians, there was no room for jizyah payment … and [the Yazidis] can only be given an ultimatum to repent or face the sword.”
Of course, all residents of the caliphate, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, are prohibited from engaging in criminal activity or other forms of misconduct. ISIS publishes specific guidelines for the punishment of crimes that are specifically defined in the Koran (known as “hadd crimes”), but it also metes out discretionary punishments (“taʿzir”) for ones that are not. Based on data collected on ISIS courts and policing activities, we have identified three main categories of punishable crimes and misconduct: crimes threatening the state and public order, including espionage, treason, collaborating with foreign interests, embezzlement of public funds; crimes against religion or public morality, including adultery, sodomy, blasphemy, apostasy, pornography, selling or consuming drugs and alcohol, and witchcraft; and crimes or torts against particular individuals, which include theft, burglary, home invasion, rape, armed robbery, and murder.
In addition to rules regulating subjects’ behavior, ISIS issues rules designed to expand the population and socialize children with Islamic values. Such regulations include mandatory education through the ninth grade (girls and boys are educated in different schools) and prohibitions on the use of birth control. These rules are generally oriented toward increasing the population of the caliphate and producing obedient subjects who can be easily governed and conscripted as fighters.
In terms of land laws, establishing a legal basis for territorial conquest is important to ISIS for both ideological and practical reasons. First, on an ideological level, ISIS purports to be reclaiming lands that were unlawfully expropriated from Muslims by Crusaders and colonial powers. It needs a legal foundation to justify those claims.
Second, on a practical level, ISIS is attempting to establish territorial control under conditions of war in which land rights are at best uncertain and at worst a subject of violent conflict. It is impossible to govern such contested territory without a legitimate claim to sovereignty and rules for property ownership and land use.
Accordingly, ISIS has articulated elaborate rules for property and land. For example, it has laws for the seizure of war booty, stating that jihadists should take only what is necessary to advance the objectives of jihad. ISIS has also issued a fatwa justifying the expropriation of agricultural businesses that previously belonged to apostates before the group captured them, and additional regulations for the distribution of such confiscated property as charity for the poor and to recruits. One propaganda magazine illustrates the importance of property as an incentive for recruitment: “Do not worry about money or accommodations for yourself and your family. There are plenty of homes and resources to cover you and your family.” Meanwhile, ISIS has also attempted to regulate agriculture and environmental protection. For example, a recent announcement from Deir ez-Zor in Syria prohibits fishermen from using electrical current, poison, or dynamite to kill fish, out of concern that such methods cause congenital defects in minnows and are also detrimental to the health of human consumers.
In terms of trade law,ISIS makes clear that the preferred vocation for subjects is jihad and that it frowns on peaceful alternatives such as farming. Propaganda advises Muslims to earn a living “by performing jihād and then taking from the agriculture of his kāfir enemies, not by dedicating his life to agriculture like his enemies do.” However, in recognition of the reality that the caliphate’s economy will rely on other forms of productive work, the group has developed rules to regulate labor and commerce. It requires fighters who “abandon jihad and work to improve their wealth and land” to pay taxes that will further the fight. Taxation is thus a justification for otherwise impermissible forms of commerce, and it also serves to reinforce the concept of a social contract in which residents of the caliphate perform obligations in exchange for assurances of accountable government and legally enforceable rights. In some places, the group taxes at a rate of 2.5 percent on real estate, clothing, food, vehicles, and more. In addition, ISIS sets prices for housing rents, medications sold at pharmacies, and childbirth operations performed in its hospitals, and has even issued a fatwa requiring that the price of counterfeit goods be lower than the price of the authentic product.
Finally, there are the rules related to war. Here, ISIS claims to follow Islamic laws of armed conflict. And, according to ISIS propaganda, the caliph is personally obligated to ensure combatants’ compliance with them: “The leader is required to ensure that he and his soldiers are held responsible for the rights that Allah has made obligatory and the limits that He has set.” ISIS has published guidelines, either as official fatwas or legal opinions authored by ISIS-affiliated clerics, specifying the conditions under which enemy combatants may be targeted, tortured, mutilated, or killed as well as rules governing the ransom of non-Muslim hostages. So ISIS can claim that its combatants are acting lawfully according to the group’s own rules, even though the United Nations has reported that “ISIS is violating binding international humanitarian law.” ISIS also has laws for the provision of security guarantees, called “aman documents,” for journalists and humanitarian workers seeking access to ISIS-controlled areas. Rules for the treatment of prisoners and slaves do include certain limitations, such as a prohibition on separating a mother from her young children, but they also permit sexual slavery as a legally permissible alternative to adultery. ISIS also regulates and censors fighters’ communication through, for example, a decree that prohibits combatants from publishing photographs of enemies killed in battle and a ban on using Apple products and other GPS-enabled devices that, ISIS leaders worry, the U.S.-led coalition could use to help target airstrikes.
ISIS enforces its rules and regulations through its internal security sector and two separate police units. One of the police forces, called the “Islamic police,” is responsible for ordinary law enforcement and public safety. Its responsibilities include conducting inspections at checkpoints and issuing tickets for traffic violations. According to ISIS propaganda, this force contains legal specialists who report to a senior jurist, who in turn serves as a direct link to judges in the courts. When dealing with interpersonal disputes, such jurists will first attempt to resolve the conflict through informal mediation. But if mediation fails, the jurist can refer the dispute to an ISIS court.
The second police force is a religious morals unit called the “hisba.” The mandate of this body is to “promote virtue and prevent vice to dry up sources of evil, prevent the manifestation of disobedience, and urge Muslims toward well-being.” Activities include enforcing the prohibition on commercial activity during prayer time, responding to reports of drug or alcohol use, and destroying banned materials (including musical instruments, cigarettes, or polytheistic idols). The religious police are also responsible for investigating alleged violations of sharia and may refer more serious crimes to courts.
ISIS has established official courts in Syria, Iraq, and Libya, and proto-courts are reportedly operating in the recently annexed Sinai province as well as border areas of Lebanon. Although ISIS claims to control territory in parts of Algeria and Nigeria through its annexation of other jihadist groups (Jund al-Khilafah and Boko Haram) that have pledged allegiance, courts have not been established in these areas—yet. But as ISIS begins to communicate instructions and guidance to its distant franchises, these groups may come under pressure to establish the kinds of legal and judicial institutions that characterize ISIS governance in Syria and Iraq.
In general, the ISIS judiciary is organized into three main branches: a division for complaints (mazalim), including grievances against ISIS public officials and combatants; Islamic courts, including the Supreme Islamic Court located in Mosul, which deals with violations of ISIS laws and government matters; and the Diwan al-Hisba, which adjudicates crimes or misconduct referred by the morality police.
ISIS regulates its judiciary through a top-down bureaucratic chain that starts with the Sharia Council, which is headed by Baghdadi himself. Under the authority of the Sharia Council, each wali (the governor of a regional administrative division called a wilaya) oversees a shariadeputy who in turn supervises the wilaya-level shariacommission. The shariacommissions (hayʾat al-shari‘a) are responsible for overseeing courts and the work of judges. ISIS disciplines and even executes its own judges when they refuse to support the caliphate’s official position on legal questions. For example, one judge was removed from his post and is expected to face trial for voicing opposition to the legal ruling justifying the immolation of a Jordanian pilot. Another ISIS judge was “disappeared” in Deir ez-Zor after he objected to the torture of prisoners in ISIS jails. Still others have been executed on charges of treason and collaborating with foreign governments.
In addition to punishing its own judges, ISIS has executed independent jurists when they issue unauthorized fatwas that are deemed too radical. For example, in one case, ISIS executed one such jurist after convicting him of spreading fitna (strife or discord) by advocating excessive “takfīr” of other Muslim jihadists (takfir, in Islamic law, is the practice of declaring someone to be an apostate and therefore a legitimate target for killing).
ISIS operates numerous prisons in connection with its court system. Although precise statistics are not available, Amnesty International reported in December 2013 that ISIS was operating at least seven detention facilities in Raqqa and Aleppo provinces alone. One of the functions of these prisons is to rehabilitate criminals for eventual reintegration into society; ISIS employs clerics in prisons to visit with and educate the inmates. Although the organization claims to guarantee certain rights for detainees, including a pretrial detention limit of seven days before the accused person is entitled to a court hearing, reports of arbitrary arrests and torture in prisons are widespread, and in some ISIS-controlled areas, civilians have staged protests to demand the release of detainees.
It is too early to tell how long the caliphate will last, but its radicalism—the group’s effort to base its authority on what it thinks is the “prophetic method”—seems more easy to sustain in times of war and emergency. In peacetime, ISIS would have only two paths: first (and more likely), it could move toward the increasingly arbitrary corrupt rule of warlords governing an impoverished and enclosed territory; and second, it could become an increasingly “normal” state, in which the simplicity of rules and institutions plucked out of early Islamic history gives way to bureaucratic administration and positive law.
For now, ISIS’ ideas have filled a hole both in governance in Iraq and Syria and in the global Salafi-jihadist political imagination. In the long run, the ISIS legacy will be not only its gruesome record of sadistic violence but also its profound challenge to existing Islamist thinking. It is a rebuttal to the long-standing Islamist view that modern, centralized states can be “Islamized” within their existing institutions merely by substituting codified positive laws with codified “Islamic” laws. It also contravenes the al Qaeda–style strategy of spectacular violence directed at Western and Muslim targets without long-term governance of territory in which Muslims are the majority. It would not be surprising if ISIS’ legal strategy enhances its own global prestige at the expense of al Qaeda and gives inspiration to groups seeking to govern immediately over whatever territories they manage to seize by establishing shariacourts, hisba patrols, and military and administrative courts. Authority in these territories can be ratified after the fact as “delegated” from the caliph in Mosul. In the end, victory in the jihadist imagination will look less and less like the glorious toppling of dictators in national capitals such as Amman, Cairo, and Rabat, and more and more like the declaration of liberated wilayat until those isolated patches are woven into a single mantle covering the entire ummah.

domain: law


360° Endless Panning and Tilting between –25° and 205° is available, thanks to the high-performance Pan/Tilt Mechanism. Wide Range Monitoring can be performed only with a Single Camera.
The Panning/Tilting Speed is widely adjustable between 0.065°/sec and 120°/sec, when controlling it manually.
The Auto Pan Function allows operation with the Camera (Lens Direction) keeping on rotating horizontally when needed.
* Upper limit viewing Angle : -44° ~ 224°
A desired Camera direction can be registered as a Preset Position, the Camera will move to this position, only by clicking the corresponding Preset Button. Up to 256 Preset Positions can be registered.
Thumbnail images representing 8 Preset Positions can be displayed on another window. By clicking a thumbnail image, live image from the corresponding Preset Position will be displayed.
The camera rotates 45° horizontally 8 times and 8 thumbnail images will be displayed on another window. By clicking a thumbnail image, the Camera will move to a position, corresponding to the selected lens direction and live image from that direction will be displayed.
Thanks to the dome cover less structure,
the WV-SC588 can capture the subjects directly, and provide clearer images without noises.
Moreover, the WV-SC588 has a dust-resistant design to cover its gears inside.
The 30x Optical Zoom Lens offers enlarged image display, without deterioration of high image quality. In addition, the Ex Optical Zoom function offers up to 60x Optical Zoom and up to 1080x Optical Zoom which is available when using together with the Digital Zoom.
* The Ex Zoom Function is available only when the image capture size setting is set to "640 x 360" pixels.
* When using the Digital Zoom, image quality will be deteriorated as the zoom factor increases.
The WV-SC588 is equipped with a 2.4 megapixel high sensitivity MOS Sensor, creating high resolution 2.4 megapixel JPEG (1920 x 1080) and Panasonic high profile H.264 compression Full HD (1920 x 1080) 30fps images to meet a wide range of surveillance requirements. JPEG/H.264 multiple streaming transmission is also supported. A minimum illumination of 0.5 lux allows colour images even in minimal lighting. The Electronic Sensitivity Enhancement and Day/Night features enhance this capability even further to 0.03 lux (Colour)/0.004 lux (BW) when filming in the dark, making these Cameras ideal for 24-hour surveillance.
The WV-SC588 combines high sensitivity design and electronic sensitivity enhancement functions, enabling it to capture colour images even when the lighting is dim. If the situation is too dark, the Day/Night Switching feature automatically switches the Camera from colour to black & white, perfect for 24-hour surveillance.
The Mega Super Dynamic function corrects illumination difference in images, making it easier to see objects in more natural conditions when monitoring and recording. It also detects human faces and makes them easy to identify.
Improved visibility of images in fog or smoke, using the Fog / Smoke Reduction function.
The data volume of the overall video can be reduced by filming sections with movement that need to be monitored in high definition, while filming unchanging sections in low resolution.
Two areas (total of up to 40% of the overall image) can be indicated as high-resolution monitoring sections.
Data volume can be reduced by a total of 50%* by using Enhanced UniPhier® (up to 30%) and 2-Area VIQS (up to 20%). Reducing the data volume decreases the load on the network. It also uses less space on the disc in the Recorder, meaning that more images can be stored on a disc of the same size with the same image settings.
* Compared with WV-NP502. Reduction may vary depending on object and image quality settings.
Select from four modes to suit conditions such as the image being filmed in the monitoring environment. This allows for optimal performance for image quality, movement, network load reduction, recording space and more. In addition to "Constant Bitrate" which provides the best picture quality, "Frame Rate" provides the best capturing of objects and movement and "Best Effort" changes the settings according to network conditions. A new function "Advanced VBR (Variable Bitrate)" has also been added. The Advanced VBR secures recording space on the Recorder, while maintaining a constant image quality and can even film complex scenes without decreasing image quality.
Sections within the capture area that you do not want to capture, or that must not be captured, can be masked. The mask is applied to the Camera so that the masked area does not appear on the monitoring screen, and is also not recorded in the data stored on the Recorder. Up to 32 Privacy Zones can be set.
An SD Memory Card can be installed in the Camera to record images. The Camera can be set to record images to the SD Memory Card if a network problem causes a loss of communication between the Camera and Recorder, or when an alarm is detected.
Monitoring can even be done from Smartphones, or Tablet Computers. The image is optimised to suit the screen. This makes it possible to monitor an area, even while away, or in transit.
* iPad, iPhone, iPod touch (iOS 4.2.1 or later) , Android™ Mobile Terminals
For further information about Compatible Devices, click on the link below.
It is possible to make the Camera take the following actions when a motion, or sound is detected in an area registered on the monitoring window, or detected by a sensor connected to the external interface.
1. Display the [Alarm Occurrence Indication] button on the "Live" page
2. Notifications of alarm occurrences to the device connected to the alarm output connector
3. Save images on the SD Memory Card
4. Automatically send images to an ftp server
5. Notifications of detections to the administrator by e-mail
6. Notifications of alarm occurrences to the designated IP addresses (Panasonic Alarm Protocol Notification)


text:
ND delegation: Farm bill could come in early January
A farm bill won’t become reality before the first of the year, but all three members of the North Dakota political delegation on Friday sounded optimistic that legislation would be agreed upon early next month.
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text:
Are you Dr. Lloyd Tinianow?
Dr. Lloyd Tinianow MD
Dr. Lloyd Tinianow is a Neonatal-Perinatal Physician practicing in Stratford, NJ. Dr. Tinianow cares for the critically ill newborn and premature infants. Neonatal-Perinatal Physicians treat conditions such as breathing disorders, birth defects, infections, and any other life-threatening medical problems. They coordinate with their young patients families and other physicians to determine appropriate treatment.
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domain: health


- Local switch, Remote unit, Tablet and Smart phone.
- Remote switch which is used together with Remote unit to turn on/off the Lighting remotely. It can be programmed to turn on/off in advance for one time of the day or everyday operation.
- Smart switch which can be programmed to use as Group or Scene switch application.
- When programmed through the Smart phone or Tablet, the Lighting equipments can be set to turn on/off at 4 events on each calendar day.
All Home Solution 3 components are internally inter-connected with RS-485 cable and using our own i-NET protocol. They can also be connected to WLAN system or the Internet so that the Lighting equipments can be controlled by Tablet or Smart phone.
PS-1212 Power supply
is a switching type Power supply in a DIN-rail box. It converts the electricity from 220 V to 12 Vdc and can supply up to 4 boxes of Xi-NET and Dio-04 components.
Xi-NET is a Control module in a DIN-rial box which can control the electrical equipments up to 64 circuits (16 Dio-04 modules).
Communication between Dio-04 module and Smart switch is by i-NET bus which is user friendly and fast response.
There is an Ethernet port connected to LAN (wire or wi-fi) for the communication with Tablets & Smart phones.
Dio-04 Lighting module
Dio-04 is a module in a DIN-rail box connected to Xi-NET and send the command to Relays. Each module can
Relay & Sockets
Relay is placed on DIN-rail socket which is connected to Output connectors of Lighting module. It is used for ON/OFF operation of the equipment. There is a LED showing the status and can manually override.
- Group switch which can turn on/off several lighting circuits in a group.
- Scene switch which is used for Scene application. For example, it is programmed to control several lighting circuits with a predetermined dimming level of each circuit.


text:
I don't own Naruto.
Kabuto saw the Genin enter. They were loud. But one in particular. A blonde hair, blue eyes Konoha ninja. Kabuto walked up to the rookies.
"Better be quiet." He said. "These guys are serious contenders."
"Who are you?" The blonde haired ninja, who was called Naruto, asked.
Rude, isn't he? "Name's Kabuto Yakushi. I'm…" Kabuto looking into Naruto's serious blue eyes. "Um…I'm a…spy."
Kabuto blinked. Wait. Why did I say that?! I'm not supposed to reveal that! "Um…uh…"
Naruto suddenly laughed. "Listen to this guy! Saying he's a spy. You're hilarious!"
Kabuto forced a laugh. "Yeah. I was just…uh…joking."
Even to this day, Kabuto doesn't understand why he revealed he was a spy to Naruto.

domain: literature