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Clearstead Advisors, LLC : Jean Heath

Clearstead is pleased to announce that Jean Heath, CIMA®, has been named Senior Managing Director, Advisor Solutions National Sales and will lead sales efforts for the firm’s Advisor Solutions offering through Clearstead Advisory Solutions, a division of Clearstead Advisors, with offices in Norfolk and Roanoke, Virginia, as well as Raleigh, North Carolina. Before joining Clearstead, Ms. Heath served as Managing Director, Head of Asset Manager Network at Envestnet, Inc., after initially serving as a Managing Director of Enterprise Consulting, RIA Network. She was also previously a key member of the National Accounts team at Brinker Capital, successfully led a new business line, Brinker Investment Services, among other sales, marketing, and product development achievements. Throughout her career, Ms. Heath has demonstrated strong performance and deep relationships with Registered Investment Advisors (“RIAs”), regional bank trusts and regional broker dealers because of her nearly 20 years in sales, national accounts and product innovation with Brinker Capital. These attributes make her a valuable addition to the Clearstead team. Ms. Heath is currently a member of the Board of the Money Management Institute and holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®) designation.

Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature from New Jersey City University

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Miyares declares run for 2nd term as Va. AG

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares declared Monday he will run for a second term in 2025, leaving Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears a clear path to the nomination for governor.

Gov. , who is prohibited by state law from serving consecutive terms as governor, endorsed both candidates following Miyares’ announcement. A former Virginia Beach delegate and son of a Cuban refugee, Miyares is the first Hispanic person elected to statewide office in Virginia. He defeated Democratic incumbent Mark Herring in 2021’s sweep of Virginia’s top three statewide offices, along with Earle-Sears and Youngkin.

Miyares will likely face either former state Del. Jay Jones or Shannon Taylor, Henrico County’s commonwealth’s attorney, on the Democratic side.

Earle-Sears announced in September her candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor, following U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s declaration in November 2023 that she would seek the Democratic nomination. Miyares was also rumored to be considering a bid for governor, but his announcement Monday keeps Earle-Sears, the state’s first Black woman and immigrant to serve in a statewide office in Virginia, from having to run a potentially expensive primary campaign to win the GOP nomination. is unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

“In 2021 Winsome, Jason, and I ran as a team, and we have served Virginians as a team,” Youngkin said in a statement endorsing Earle-Sears and Miyares. “In 2025, Winsome and Jason will once again lead the Republican team as candidates for governor and . Both have been indispensable partners to advance our shared, commonsense conservative policies that have made Virginia the best state in America for business, backed the blue and cracked down on crime, stood strong for our military and veterans, and transformed education by raising teacher pay, re-establishing academic excellence, and empowering parents in their child’s education and life.”

 

Inova pays $2.37M to settle False Claims Act allegations

Three Inova entities have agreed to pay more than $2.37 million to settle claims that Inova submitted claims containing falsified information.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced on Friday the agreement with Foundation, Inova Services and Inova Physician Partners, settling the allegations.

The -based Northern Virginia regional health care system submitted written disclosures to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Virginia ‘s Office stating that between Jan. 1, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2020, it submitted claims to Medicaid for reimbursement — including resubmitted claims  — for sterilization and hysterectomy procedures containing improperly modified documentation. One or more Inova employees improperly modified the documentation or requested the modifications, according to the disclosure, resulting in falsified information in the claims.

After an internal investigation, Inova “took remedial actions” and agreed that more than $1.58 million it’d received from Medicaid was improper, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

In a statement, Inova said: “Inova identified an error in how certain Medicaid claims were submitted for reimbursement and we promptly self-reported and took corrective action to resolve the matter. As noted in the [] press release, ‘Inova received full credit under the Justice Department’s guidelines for taking disclosure, cooperation and remediation into account in False Claims cases.’”

The civil claims settled are allegations only, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and no determination of civil liability has been made.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General and the Control Unit in the Virginia Office of the Attorney General coordinated on the case, according to a news release.

has more than 24,000 employees across its five hospital campuses and multiple other care facilities, including Northern Virginia’s only Level 1 trauma center. The system treats more than 1 million patients a year, with more than 4 million patient visits annually.

Va. casinos report $57M in October revenue

Gaming revenues for Virginia’s three casinos totaled $57.04 million in October, according to data the released Friday.

Last month, the temporary : Future Home of reported about $13.41 million in adjusted gaming revenues (wagers minus winnings), of which about $11.16 million came from its 898 slots and about $2.26 million from its 29 table games. The Virginia Lottery Board approved HR Bristol’s casino license in April 2022, and the ‘s temporary facility opened in July 2022, making it the first operating casino in Virginia. The permanent opened Thursday.

After the lottery board approved its license in November 2022, opened as Virginia’s first permanent casino in January 2023. In October, the casino generated more than $17.72 million from its 1,419 slots and over $7.70 million from its 85 table games, for a total AGR of $25.42 million.

The temporary in Danville, which received its casino license in April 2023 and opened in May 2023, reported $18.21 million in AGR last month. Approximately $13.39 million of that came from its 826 slots, and more than $4.81 million came from its 36 table games. The $750 million permanent facility is set to open Dec. 12.

October’s casino gaming revenues were a $481,535 increase from the $56.56 million reported for September.

Virginia law assesses a graduated tax on a casino’s adjusted gaming revenue. For the month of October, taxes from casino AGRs totaled about $11.54 million.

Under Virginia law, 6% of a casino operator’s AGR goes to its host locality until the operator passes $200 million in AGR for the year, at which point the host locality’s tax rate rises to 7%. If an operator passes $400 million in AGR in the calendar year, that rises to 8%.

For October, Portsmouth received 7% of the Rivers Casino Portsmouth’s AGR, getting more than $1.78 million. Danville received 6% of the Caesars Virginia casino’s adjusted gaming revenue, amounting to roughly $1.1 million. For the Bristol casino, 6% of its adjusted gaming revenue — $804,831 last month — goes to the Regional Improvement Commission, which the General Assembly established to distribute Bristol casino tax funds throughout Southwest Virginia.

The Problem Treatment and Support Fund receives 0.8% of total taxes — about $92,313 last month. The Family and Children’s Trust Fund, which funds family violence prevention and treatment programs, receives 0.2% of the monthly total, which was approximately $23,078 in October.

The team behind the delayed Norfolk casino — which has had a change in ownership and in name — held a groundbreaking ceremony for the casino Oct. 30. The Pamunkey Indian Tribe remains a partner, but Boyd Gaming replaced investor Jon Yarbrough. The entities have scrapped the name HeadWaters Resort & Casino and now refer to it as the Norfolk Casino Resort.

In November, more than 80% of Petersburg voters said yes to the city’s casino referendum.

Smithfield Foods to pay $2M to settle child labor claims

A subsidiary of Virginia-based has agreed to pay $2 million to settle allegations it hired children to work at a meat packaging plant in .

According to the , Smithfield’s operation in Minnesota allegedly employed at least 11 children between the ages of 14 and 17 during the audit period of April 2021 through April 2023, three of whom started working for Smithfield when they were 14.

All 11 children “performed hazardous work for Smithfield, including: working near chemicals or other hazardous substances; operating power-driven machinery, including meat grinders, slicers and power-driven conveyor belts; and operating nonautomatic elevators, lifts or hoisting machines, including motorized pallet jacks and lift pallet jacks,” the department said in a Nov. 14 news release.

Nine of the children are alleged to have worked at night after the hours allowed by state law, according to the news release. Smithfield Packaged Meats is located in St. James, Minnesota, southwest of Minneapolis. Smithfield agreed to pay the $2 million within 30 days of the consent order.

“It is unacceptable for a company to employ minor children to perform hazardous work late at night. This illegal behavior impacts children’s health, safety and well-being and their ability to focus on their education and their future. Combating unlawful child in Minnesota is a priority for DLI and it will continue to devote resources to addressing and resolving these violations,” Minnesota DLI Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach said in a statement. “DLI’s resolution with Smithfield sends a strong message to employers, including in the meat processing industry, that violations will not be tolerated in Minnesota.”

Smithfield issued a statement Thursday: “Smithfield contested DLI’s claims and denies that we knowingly hired anyone under the age of 18 to work in our St. James facility. We have not admitted liability as part of this ; however, in the interest of preventing the distraction of prolonged litigation, we have agreed to settle this matter.”

According to Smithfield, it screens all new hires through E-Verify, the system that validates hiring eligibility of U.S. citizens and noncitizens based on records available to the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.

“Each of the 11 alleged underage individuals passed the E-Verify system by using false identification,” Smithfield said. “Each used a different name to obtain employment with Smithfield than the name by which DLI identified them to Smithfield.”

The company says it has taken steps to enforce prohibition of the employment of minors, including additional signage, HR training, and inspection protocols for temporary workers and employees of third-party sanitation contractors.

The largest producer in the United States, Smithfield has about 35,000 employees nationwide, according to a company spokesperson.

In Virginia, the U.S. Department of Labor announced in September 2023 it was investigating Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods facilities in Accomack County on the Eastern Shore over allegations of child labor violations recounted in a New York Times story last year. It appeared to be the first time that the federal agency had attempted to hold companies liable for alleged child labor violations by a subcontractor. A Department of Labor spokesperson said Friday that the investigations are still open.

According to the Times story, a 14-year-old Guatemalan boy’s arm was permanently injured in a 2022 conveyor belt incident at a Perdue plant in Accomack, where he was hired to work by a cleaning contractor. In May, a federal court approved a consent order between Fayette Industrial, a cleaning contractor that was contracted for overnight sanitation shifts in Perdue’s plants in Accomack, and the federal Department of Labor, with nearly $650,000 in penalties.

Specialty coils manufacturer to expand in Chesterfield

Super Radiator Coils, an and company based in , will invest $22 million to expand in , creating an estimated 160 jobs, ‘s office announced Friday.

The company will upgrade machinery and add about 80,000 square feet to its existing approximately 160,000-square-foot facility at 451 Southlake Blvd.

The plant has about 400 employees, and the 160 new jobs will be office and shop positions, according to company vice president Matt Holland, who runs its Richmond division. Office positions include engineering, management and supervision, procurement and administrative roles, and shop manufacturing positions include equipment operators, welders, brazers and entry-level assembly roles.

has previously expanded the facility three times, most recently in 2022. The company announced its most recent expansion, representing a $9 million investment, in March 2021.

“This expansion builds on a 44-year history of Super Radiator Coils in the commonwealth and strengthens Virginia’s position as a leader in advanced manufacturing,” Youngkin said in a statement.

Super Radiator Coils manufactures heat exchangers and specialty coils for generation, commercial and industrial HVAC, data center cooling, military and other industrial uses.

“I’m hugely proud of the growth of our Chesterfield facility over the last 40-plus years,” Super Radiator Coils President and CEO Rob Holt said in a statement. “And this latest expansion will allow us to continue our mission of unleashing the power of thermodynamics to improve our world. … We take our role as a growing Central Virginia employer seriously and can’t wait to see the impact of this latest growth.”

The company has two other manufacturing facilities — one in Chaska, Minnesota, and one in Phoenix. Virginia competed with Minnesota and Arizona for the expansion project, according to a news release.

The Virginia Partnership worked with Chesterfield County to secure the project. Youngkin approved a $610,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the county. VEDP will support Super Radiator Coils through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, a collaboration between VEDP and the Virginia Community College System that provides free customizable recruitment and training services.

Paragon Systems fined $52M for alleged fraud

Herndon-based contractor agreed Tuesday to pay $52 million to resolve allegations by the U.S. that Paragon used its own subsidiaries to fraudulently win set-aside contracts, violating the federal False Claims and Anti- acts.

The company is one of the ‘s largest providers of security, fire and emergency response and mission support services, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s news release, and former top officials at Paragon allegedly directed female relatives and friends to “serve as figurehead owners of purported small businesses” to win set-aside contracts from the Department of Homeland Security that were meant to go to woman-owned small businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, as well as other types of small businesses.

In 2020, Securitas Critical Infrastructure Services (SCIS) rebranded under its subsidiary Paragon Systems’ name. Paragon is a subsidiary of the Swedish security giant Securitas, which announced in September it had set a provision of $53 million to pay the costs.

“The investigation relates to alleged misconduct by certain former employees and to Paragon’s relationship with various small business entities which were a direct or indirect party to contracts with the U.S. government starting around 2012,” Securitas said in a statement then. “Paragon is cooperating fully with the investigation.” According to a news release Thursday, the settlement will be paid throughout 2025.

In the alleged scheme, Paragon executives controlled Maryland-based limited liability companies Athena Services International and Athena Joint Venture Services, and these purported small businesses “surreptitiously paid substantial sums of money” — more than 300 payments totaling more than $11 million — as “consulting payments” to the former Paragon executives.

According to the DOJ, Paragon’s president, vice president of business development, vice president of operations, compliance manager and contracts manager were allegedly involved.

“Those who fraudulently procure, or assist others to fraudulently procure, small business set-aside contracts will be held accountable,” Principal Deputy Assistant Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement. “When ineligible companies obtain contracts reserved for veteran owned or socially or economically disadvantaged businesses, they prevent the small business community from receiving the contracting opportunities that Congress intended.”

Athena Services International and Athena Joint Venture Services and their owner, Alisa Silverman, along with Paragon, agreed to pay more than $1.6 million to resolve their liability, as well as the allegations that ASI improperly received a Paycheck Protection Program loan that was forgiven in full. The DOJ filed a complaint against another purported small business, Patronus Systems, and its owner, Mabel O’Quinn, the news release said.

“This settlement is the largest civil recovery in over a decade by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG),” DHS Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari said. “The settlement sends a clear message that the federal government will continue to investigate and prosecute , waste and abuse to protect small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans and other socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. I am grateful for the continued partnership with the Department of Justice and for the who initiated the complaint.”

Whistleblower Todd Pattison is set to receive more than $9 million as part of the settlement, the DOJ said.

Appalachian Power plans small nuclear reactor in Campbell

Appalachian , an electric subsidiary of which serves more than one million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and , announced plans Thursday to bring a small modular () project to Campbell County.

The company, which has its headquarters in Charleston, West Virginia, has identified a potential site for the project on property it already owns in Joshua Falls near the James River and outside . A 765-kilovolt substation is already located at Joshua Falls and nearby roads are adequate to support moving equipment to the site, according to .

“Advanced nuclear power is at the heart of Virginia’s All-American, All-of-the Above Plan, a plan that prioritizes abundant, reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean power to fuel our thriving and growing economy,” Gov. stated in an Appalachian Power news release. “I am grateful that Appalachian Power is taking this next step to support Virginia’s nuclear future.”

SMRs are designed to generate up to 300 megawatts per unit, about one-third the capacity of conventional nuclear reactors, according to the International Atomic Energy Association. As of now, only two SMRs are in operation — one in Russia and the other in China.

In 2022, Youngkin announced Virginia would build a SMR within a decade. The next year, the governor and the General Assembly created the Virginia Power Innovation Fund, which provides $4 million for research and development of innovative energy technologies.

“Appalachian Power is committed to generating clean, always-on power to meet Virginia’s future demand,” Appalachian Power President and CEO Aaron Walker stated in a release. “We are grateful to the Virginia General Assembly and Gov. Youngkin for embracing SMR technology. This announcement would not have been possible without their forward-thinking support.”

The largest SMRs can produce enough energy for 250,000 to 500,000 homes, according to George Porter, a spokesperson for Appalachian Power. The SMR in Campbell County would generate power for Appalachian Power customers in Virginia, he stated.

In October, Amazon.com and Dominion Energy Virginia entered into an agreement to explore development of small modular nuclear reactors at North Anna Power Station in Louisa County.

Appalachian Power plans to file an application with the Virginia State Corporation Commission in spring 2025. The company intends to apply for the U.S. Department of Energy’s $900 million grant program that is designed to accelerate the deployment of SMRs.

The utility serves about 550,000 customers in an 11,000 square-mile territory in central and southwestern Virginia. It will hold a community open house to discuss the project on Dec. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance.

 

Youngkin announces plan to grow workforce housing

At the Governor’s Conference in Virginia Beach Thursday, Gov. unveiled the Investment Program, an initiative at Virginia Housing that will invest $75 million over five years to spur the creation of -priced housing.

The funding holds the potential, according to a news release from the Governor’s Office, to “catalyze $750 million and build 5,000 units of workforce housing in conjunction with projects in the commonwealth.”

Additionally on Thursday, Youngkin issued an executive order directing the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Department of Housing and Community Development to coordinate with Virginia Housing — which was created by the General Assembly in 1972 to help Virginians attain affordable housing — to ensure business site investment decisions take into account nearby localities’ plans to foster housing development.

Virginia has a housing supply of about 3.6 million residential units but has a housing demand of 4.1 million units, according to an analysis performed by the Department of Housing and Community Development. The current shortage of workforce housing in Virginia is 41,000 homes, according to the executive order.

The executive order also notes that an analysis from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership found Virginia’s metro areas are building new housing units at a lower rate than metro areas in competing states. Metro areas outside of Virginia are also issuing permits for new residential units at a faster rate than the commonwealth’s metro areas, according to the order.

“With record employer relocations and expansions in the commonwealth, over $85 billion in capital investment, nearly 250,000 jobs created, and a reversal of recent trends on net-out migration, it is clear that Virginia is growing and we need to make sure the supply of housing can meet our surging demand,” Youngkin stated. “The private sector is ready to step in and meet the needs of our growing workforce with much-needed workforce housing, and today’s announcement advances these efforts by accelerating workforce housing development and requiring local governments to support the housing growth that Virginia needs.”

Under the Workforce Housing Investment Program, Virginia Housing will provide loans, loan subsidies and grants up to $3 million to localities and nonprofits to develop housing for workers earning between 80% and 120% of the area median income, or up to 150% in rural areas.

To be eligible, a locality must be located within a 30-minute drive of a business adding new jobs. For a locality that isn’t economically distressed, that business must add 100 jobs. For a distressed locality — a locality with an unemployment rate above the state average or with a poverty rate above the statewide average poverty rate — the business must add 50 jobs. For a double-distressed locality — a locality with both an unemployment rate above the state average and with a poverty rate above the statewide average — the business must add 25 jobs.

The Virginia Governor’s Housing Conference, which opened Wednesday and continues through Friday, attracts more than 900 affordable housing advocates, providers and policy makers.

Permanent Hard Rock Bristol casino opens

The bright lights of shine considerably brighter now following the opening of Virginia’s second full-fledged .

Thursday heralded the grand opening of the $515 million-plus Hotel & Casino Bristol, Virginia’s first hotel/casino combo. Symphonies of sounds, from music to slot machines, indicated the site’s time for business had arrived.

“This brand is now 54 years old, [with] 60,000 employees in 74 countries,” said Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International. “I hope we have collectively created something that everyone is proud of.”

Located near downtown Bristol, the ‘s dominant features include a 45-foot-tall guitar at the entrance to the 303-room (including 56 suites) concave-shaped hotel. The 620,000-square-foot facility opened with the Hard Rock tradition of The Who-like smashing of guitars inside Hard Rock Live Bristol, an indoor flexible capacity venue that can seat up to 2,000 people.

There’s a spa in the hotel, nearly 1,500 slot machines in the casino, 38,000 original miles on Faith Hill’s vintage Rudolph red Corvette on the casino floor, and countless grins on the faces of those who made the place happen.

“It was a moonshot,” said Jim McGlothlin, chairman of Bristol-based United Co. A joint venture between Hard Rock, McGlothlin and Par Ventures President Clyde Stacy developed Bristol’s Hard Rock.

“With Hard Rock, we went to work in Bristol,” McGlothlin added. “We’re changing a lot of lives here.”

The new resort casino replaces the temporary Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock, which opened in July 2022 as Virginia’s first operating casino. Since then, a permanent facility in Portsmouth and a temporary casino in Danville have opened. Located inside the former Bristol Mall, the 30,000-square-foot temporary casino featured 900 slot machines, 29 table games and a sportsbook.

Today, Hard Rock Bristol maintains about 1,400 permanent jobs, nearly 1,500 slots and 50 table games.

“Today is the day we go from operating a casino to operating a Hard Rock,” said Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol President Allie Evangelista.

The development team previously pushed back the opening of the permanent casino at 500 Gate City Highway, which had been expected in July, in favor of opening the full casino resort, the nation’s eighth Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

TN Ward and BurWil Construction are the contractors for the Bristol Hard Rock project. Some construction work remains to be done, which will increase the team’s capital investment, Evangelista said Tuesday, adding, “Right now, I think it’s at $515 million, but we’re not done.”

In its first year of operation, the temporary Bristol casino’s net gaming revenues totaled $157 million, while the Rivers Casino Portsmouth, which opened in January 2023, made almost $250 million in gaming revenue during its first year. The temporary in Danville opened May 2023; in its first six months, the Danville casino racked up about $145 million in gaming revenue.

In 2023, Virginia generated $554.87 million in adjusted gaming revenues, based on monthly reports from Virginia Lottery. The Bristol casino represented $160.49 million of the annual total.

Virginia’s three casinos reported a total of $56.56 million in gaming revenues for September. Of that, about $14.09 million came from the temporary Bristol casino.

Thus far, the Bristol Hard Rock has paid more than $68 million in taxes to the and has hosted more than 3 million guests.

Marcellus Osceola Jr., chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which acquired Hard Rock in 2007, said the company takes pride in the incorporation of local flavor within their properties. “We pride ourselves in immersing ourselves in a community,” Osceola said. “We love all — we serve all. That’s our motto.”

Love, in the form of music, abounds inside Bristol’s Hard Rock. Myriad examples of Bristol, Virginia, and music history are displayed throughout the site.

“That’s very important to us,” Evangelista said. “We want to connect with Bristol because it is the Birthplace of Country Music.”

A hallway connects the casino and dining area. One side of the hall depicts musicians from Virginia. The other, Tennessee. There’s a framed autograph from Winchester’s Patsy Cline and an autographed album from Castlewood’s 49 Winchester.

Labyrinths of music memorabilia weave like straw through the Hard Rock Café and casino to form basketfuls of iconic imagery. Examine Glen Campbell’s guitar where it resides near Hard Rock Live. Marvel at Bob Dylan’s harmonica. Lean in and read the details on Johnny Cash’s passport.

“I loved the Ozzy Osbourne display,” said Ali Randolph, a country musician from Burnsville, North Carolina. “Old school metal; you can’t beat it.”

Randolph will perform at the Hard Rock Café Bristol on Nov. 27. There are four stages for live music — rock and otherwise — within the complex.

“Hard Rock is not just about rock music,” Evangelista said. “We have about $1 million of music memorabilia on site.”

Then again, Hard Rock earned its name because it does rock — at least on occasion. Grand opening night features country music star Blake Shelton at Hard Rock Live Bristol. Rock veterans Soul Asylum, purveyors of such 1990s generational hits as “Runaway Train,” appear in the 23,000-square-foot venue on Saturday.

“We’ll be there for the grand opening, the christening of the Hard Rock in Bristol,” Dave Pirner, lead singer of Soul Asylum, said by phone on Monday from an airport in Minneapolis.

Hard Rock features more than gaming and music. Seven restaurants, from the dining of Council Oak Steaks & Seafood to the finger of Street Tacos, occupy various spaces on the outer edges of the casino.

An Appalachian merry-go-round, adults grinned like children in a cotton candy glow on opening day. That was music to perk the ears of McGlothlin and his Hard Rock brethren.

“It’s Bristol, baby!” McGlothlin said. “The casino is our winning lottery number.”

Associate Editor Katherine Schulte contributed to this article.