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67,256,737 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20Erysimum%20species | , Plants of the World Online accepted 267 species of Erysimum. Some taxa regarded as subspecies by Plants of the World Online are treated as full species by Flora Iberica, and are also listed below.
A
Erysimum absconditum O.E.Schulz
Erysimum aciphyllum Boiss.
Erysimum acrotonum Polatschek & Rech.f.
Erysimum adcumbens (Boiss.) Polatschek
Erysimum afghanicum Kitam.
Erysimum aitchisonii O.E.Schulz
Erysimum aksaricum Pavlov
Erysimum alaicum Novopokr. ex Nikitina
Erysimum altaicum C.A.Mey.
Erysimum amasianum Hausskn. & Bornm.
Erysimum ammophilum A.Heller
Erysimum anceps Steven ex Ledeb.
Erysimum andrzejowskianum DC.
Erysimum apenninum Peccenini & Polatschek
Erysimum arbuscula (Lowe) Snogerup
Erysimum arenicola S.Watson
Erysimum argyrocarpum N.Busch
Erysimum arkansanum Nutt.
Erysimum armeniacum (Sims) J.Gay
Erysimum artwinense N.Busch
Erysimum asperulum Boiss. & Heldr.
Erysimum asperum (Nutt.) DC.
Erysimum aucherianum J.Gay
Erysimum aureum M.Bieb.
Erysimum aurigeranum Jeanb. & Timb.-Lagr.
Erysimum aznavourii Polatschek
B
Erysimum babadagense Prima
Erysimum babataghi Korsh.
Erysimum baeticum (Heywood) Polatschek
Erysimum bagcii Yild.
Erysimum bastetanum (Blanca & C.Morales) Lorite, Perfectti & J.M.Gómez
Erysimum baytopiae Yild.
Erysimum belvederense Polatschek
Erysimum benthamii Monnet
Erysimum bicolor (Hornem.) DC.
Erysimum boissieri Polatschek
Erysimum bonannianum C.Presl
Erysimum boreale (C.A.Mey. ex Rupr.) Trautv.
Erysimum boryanum Boiss.
Erysimum brevistylum Sommier & Levier
Erysimum brulloi G.Ferro
Erysimum bulgaricum (Velen.) Ancev & Polatschek
Erysimum burnatii Vidal
C
Erysimum caboverdeanum (A.Chev.) Sunding
Erysimum caespitosum DC.
Erysimum californicum Greene
Erysimum callicarpum Lipsky
Erysimum calycinum Griseb.
Erysimum candicum Snogerup
Erysimum canum (Piller & Mitterp.) Polatschek
Erysimum capitatum (Douglas) Greene
Erysimum carium Boiss.
Erysimum carniolicum Doell.
Erysimum caucasicum Trautv.
Erysimum cazorlense (Heywood) Holub, syn. E. myriophyllum subsp. cazorlense (Heywood) Polatschek
Erysimum chazarjurti N.Busch
Erysimum cheiranthoides L.
Erysimum × cheiri (L.) Crantz
Erysimum coarctatum Fernald
Erysimum collinum (M.Bieb.) Andrz. ex DC.
Erysimum collisparsum Jord., syn. E. ruscinonense Jord.
Erysimum commatum Pancic
Erysimum concinnum Eastw.
Erysimum confine Jord.
Erysimum contractum Sommier & Levier
Erysimum corinthium (Boiss.) Wettst.
Erysimum crassicaule (Boiss.) Boiss.
Erysimum crassipes Fisch. & C.A.Mey.
Erysimum crassistylum C.Presl
Erysimum crepidifolium Rchb.
Erysimum cretaceum (Trautv.) Schmalh.
Erysimum creticum Boiss. & Heldr.
Erysimum croaticum Polatschek
Erysimum cuspidatum (M.Bieb.) DC.
Erysimum cyaneum Popov
Erysimum czernjajevi N.Busch
D–E
Erysimum damirliense Moazzeni & Mahmoodi
Erysimum deflexum Hook.f. & Thomson
Erysimum degenianum Azn.
Erysimum diffusum Ehrh.
Erysimum dincii Yild.
Erysimum dirmilense Yild. & Dinç
Erysimum drenowskii Degen
Erysimum duranii Yild.
Erysimum duriaei Boiss.
Erysimum echinellum Hand.-Mazz.
Erysimum eginense Hausskn. ex Bornm.
Erysimum ehrendorferi Polatschek
Erysimum elbrusense Boiss.
Erysimum elymaiticum Mozaff.
Erysimum erolii Yild.
Erysimum erosum O.E.Schulz
Erysimum etnense Jord.
Erysimum euphraticum Polatschek
Erysimum evinense Polatschek
Erysimum exaltatum Andrz. ex Besser
F–G
Erysimum favargeri Polatschek
Erysimum fitzii Polatschek, syn. E. nevadense subsp. fitzii (Polatschek) P.W.Ball
Erysimum flavum (Georgi) Bobrov
Erysimum forrestii (W.W.Sm.) Polatschek
Erysimum franciscanum Rossbach
Erysimum friedrichii Polatschek
Erysimum frigidum Boiss. & Hausskn.
Erysimum froehneri Polatschek
Erysimum funiculosum Hook.f. & Thomson
Erysimum geisleri Polatschek
Erysimum gelidum Bunge
Erysimum ghaznicum Cullen & Rech.f.
Erysimum ghiesbreghtii Donn.Sm.
Erysimum gladiiferum Boiss. & Hausskn.
Erysimum gomez-campoi Polatschek, syn. E. nevadense subsp. gomez-campoi (Polatschek) P.W.Ball
Erysimum gorbeanum Polatschek, syn. E. duriaei subsp. gorbeanum (Polatschek) P.W.Ball
Erysimum graecum Boiss. & Heldr.
Erysimum grandiflorum Desf.
Erysimum griffithianum Boiss.
Erysimum griffithii (Hook.f. & Thomson) Jafri
Erysimum guneri Yild.
Erysimum gypsaceum Botch. & Vved.
H–J
Erysimum hajastanicum Wissjul. & Bordz.
Erysimum handel-mazzettii Polatschek
Erysimum hedgeanum Al-Shehbaz
Erysimum hezarense Moazzeni
Erysimum hirschfeldioides Boiss. & Hausskn.
Erysimum horizontale Candargy
Erysimum huber-morathii Polatschek
Erysimum hungaricum Zapal.
Erysimum ibericum (Adam) DC.
Erysimum idae Polatschek
Erysimum ikizdereense Yild.
Erysimum incanum Kunze
Erysimum inconspicuum (S.Watson) MacMill.
Erysimum inense N.Busch
Erysimum insubricum Peccenini & Polatschek
Erysimum insulare (Greene) Greene
Erysimum iraqense Polatschek
Erysimum ischnostylum Freyn & Sint.
Erysimum jacquemoudii Yild.
Erysimum janchenii Fritsch
Erysimum jugicola Jord.
K–L
Erysimum kamelinii D.A.German
Erysimum kartalkayaense Yild.
Erysimum kazachstanicum Botsch.
Erysimum kerbabaevii Kurbanov & Gudkova
Erysimum ketenoglui Yild.
Erysimum koelzii Polatschek & Rech.f.
Erysimum korabense Kümmerle & Jáv.
Erysimum kostkae Polatschek
Erysimum kotschyanum J.Gay
Erysimum krendlii Polatschek
Erysimum krynitzkii Bordz.
Erysimum krynkense Lavrenko
Erysimum kuemmerlei Jáv.
Erysimum kurdicum Boiss. & Hausskn.
Erysimum kykkoticum Hadjik. & Alziar
Erysimum lagascae Rivas Goday & Bellot
Erysimum ledebourii D.A.German
Erysimum leptophyllum (M.Bieb.) Andrz. ex DC.
Erysimum leptostylum DC.
Erysimum leucanthemum (Stephan ex Willd.) B.Fedtsch.
Erysimum ligusticum Peccenini & Polatschek
Erysimum lilacinum Steinb.
Erysimum limprichtii O.E.Schulz
Erysimum linariifolium Tausch
Erysimum linifolium (Pers.) J.Gay
Erysimum lycaonicum (Hand.-Mazz.) Hub.-Mor.
M
Erysimum macilentum Bunge
Erysimum macrospermum Cullen & Rech.f.
Erysimum macrostigma Boiss.
Erysimum maderense Polatschek
Erysimum majellense Polatschek
Erysimum maremmanum Peccenini & Polatschek
Erysimum marschallianum Andrz. ex DC.
Erysimum × marshallii (Henfr.) Bois
Erysimum mediohispanicum Polatschek, syn. E. nevadense subsp. mediohispanicum (Polatschek) P.W.Ball
Erysimum melicentae Dunn
Erysimum menziesii (Hook.) Wettst.
Erysimum merxmuelleri Polatschek, syn. E. nevadense subsp. merxmuelleri (Polatschek) P.W.Ball
Erysimum metlesicsii Polatschek
Erysimum meyerianum (Rupr.) N.Busch
Erysimum mongolicum D.A.German
Erysimum montosicola Jord.
Erysimum munzuriense Polatschek
Erysimum mutabile Boiss. & Heldr.
Erysimum myriophyllum Lange
N–O
Erysimum nabievii Adylov
Erysimum nanum Boiss. & Hohen.
Erysimum nasturtioides Boiss. & Hausskn.
Erysimum naxense Snogerup
Erysimum nemrutdaghense Mutlu
Erysimum nevadense Reut.
Erysimum nuristanicum Polatschek & Rech.f.
Erysimum occidentale (S.Watson) B.L.Rob.
Erysimum ochroleucum (Haller f. ex Schleich.) DC.
Erysimum odoratum Ehrh.
Erysimum oleifolium J.Gay
Erysimum olympicum Boiss.
P–Q
Erysimum pachycarpum Hook.f. & Thomson
Erysimum pacificum (E.Sheld.) Polatschek
Erysimum parryoides (Kurz) Wettst.
Erysimum pectinatum Bory & Chaub.
Erysimum penyalarense (Pau) Polatschek
Erysimum perenne (S.Watson ex Coville) Abrams
Erysimum perofskianum Fisch. & C.A.Mey.
Erysimum persepolitanum Boiss.
Erysimum pignattii Peccenini & Polatschek
Erysimum pirinicum Ancev & Polatschek
Erysimum polatschekii Moazzeni, Assadi & Al-Shehbaz
Erysimum popovii Rothm.
Erysimum portugalense Polatschek
Erysimum pseudoatticum Ancev & Polatschek
Erysimum pseudocheiri Boiss.
Erysimum pseudocuspidatum Polatschek
Erysimum pseudopurpureum Polatschek
Erysimum pseudorhaeticum Polatschek
Erysimum pulchellum (Willd.) J.Gay
Erysimum purpureum J.Gay
Erysimum pusillum Bory & Chaub.
Erysimum quadrangulum Desf.
R–S
Erysimum raineri Polatschek
Erysimum raulinii Boiss.
Erysimum redowskii Weinm.
Erysimum repandum L.
Erysimum rhaeticum (Schleich. ex Hornem.) DC.
Erysimum rhodium Snogerup
Erysimum riphaeanum Lorite, Abdelaziz, Muñoz-Pajares, Perfectti & J.M.Gómez
Erysimum rizeense Yild.
Erysimum robustum D.Don
Erysimum rondae Polatschek, syn. E. nevadense subsp. rondae (Polatschek) P.W.Ball
Erysimum roseum (Maxim.) Polatschek
Erysimum salangense Polatschek & Rech.f.
Erysimum samarkandicum Popov
Erysimum scabrum DC.
Erysimum schlagintweitianum O.E.Schulz
Erysimum scoparium (Brouss. ex Willd.) Wettst.
Erysimum seipkae Polatschek
Erysimum semperflorens (Schousb.) Wettst.
Erysimum senoneri (Reut.) Wettst.
Erysimum serpentinicum Polatschek
Erysimum siliculosum (M.Bieb.) DC.
Erysimum sintenisianum Bornm.
Erysimum sisymbrioides C.A.Mey.
Erysimum sivasicum Yild.
Erysimum slavjankae Ancev & Polatschek
Erysimum smyrnaeum Boiss. & Balansa
Erysimum sorgerae Polatschek
Erysimum spetae Polatschek
Erysimum stenophyllum Boiss. ex Polatschek
Erysimum strictisiliquum N.Busch
Erysimum strophades Boiss.
Erysimum substrigosum (Rupr.) N.Busch
Erysimum subulatum J.Gay
Erysimum suffrutescens (Abrams) Rossbach
Erysimum sylvestre (Crantz) Scop.
Erysimum szowitsianum Boiss.
T–Z
Erysimum talijevii (Klokov) Mosyakin
Erysimum tenellum DC.
Erysimum teppneri Polatschek
Erysimum teretifolium Eastw.
Erysimum thyrsoideum Boiss.
Erysimum tuteliae Yild.
Erysimum ucranicum J.Gay
Erysimum uncinatifolium Boiss. & A.Huet
Erysimum vassilczenkoi Polatschek
Erysimum verrucosum Boiss. & Gaill.
Erysimum violascens Popov
Erysimum virescens (Webb ex Christ) Wettst.
Erysimum virgatum Roth
Erysimum vitekii Polatschek
Erysimum vitellinum Popov
Erysimum vuralii Yild.
Erysimum wardii Polatschek
Erysimum wilczekianum Braun-Blanq. & Maire
Erysimum witmannii Zaw.
Erysimum yaltirikii Yild.
Erysimum yildirimlii Dinç
Erysimum zeybekianum Yild.
References
Erysimum
Erysimum species | List of Erysimum species | [
"Biology"
] | 3,595 | [
"Lists of biota",
"Lists of plants",
"Plants"
] |
67,258,192 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research%20paper%20mill | In research, a paper mill is a business that publishes poor or fake journal papers that seem to resemble genuine research, as well as sells authorship.
In some cases, paper mills are sophisticated operations that sell authorship positions on legitimate research, but in many cases the papers contain fraudulent data and can be heavily plagiarized or otherwise unprofessional. According to a report from Nature, thousands of papers in academic journals have been traced to paper mills from China, Iran and Russia, and some journals are revamping their review processes." Chinese researchers have been identified as particularly prevalent customers of paper mill services. Differing estimates put the share of paper mill productions between 2% and 20% of published academic papers, with particularly severe problems in some areas of biomedicine.
It is a problem of research ethics and research integrity affecting academic publishing (academic writing, scientific writing and medical writing). It is an instance of academic dishonesty involving contract cheating and authorship, more specifically academic ghostwriting or medical ghostwriter. It may include data fabrication, leading to junk science, and sometimes to retractions in the scientific literature (scientific journals, academic journals, or medical journals).
Examples
In early 2022, Times Higher Education and the Science Magazine News department covered a report exposing a Russian paper mill company International Publisher Ltd. The report identified hundreds of published academic papers where positions for authorship had been sold through a Russian website allowing researchers to pay for academic prestige without requiring legitimate research contributions. During the three-year period analyzed, 419 articles were identified that were matched to manuscripts later published in many different academic journals, with a significant bias towards publications in predatory journals. While the paper mill targeted various journals, almost 100 papers were published in International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (Kassel University Press) alone, seemingly coordinated through the involvement of journal editors hosting Special Issues with space for coauthors auctioned off for anywhere from $180–5000 USD. In a separate network, guest editors and salaried academic editors for MDPI were found to coordinate sale of authorship across four different MDPI journals, totalling over 20 papers (picture, right). Beyond collusion between editors and International Publisher Ltd., many legitimate research papers also sold authorship unknown to the journal editors, and were ultimately accepted in journals published by Elsevier, Oxford University Press, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Wolters Kluwer, and Wiley-Blackwell. As of April 6, 2022, many of these publishers have opened an investigation into the matter.
In May 2024, the Wall Street Journal published a report on fake studies that affected New Jersey publisher Wiley. More than 11,300 papers were retracted, and 19 journals were reportedly closed. The problematic papers were linked to Hindawi, an Egyptian publisher of about 250 scientific journals that Wiley acquired in 2021. The article detailed how the research paper mill fraud worked, and highlighted individual efforts to identify and prevent future fraud. The article also warned that artificial intelligence was going to make fraud more difficult to detect.
See also
Academic mill (disambiguation)
Diploma mill
Essay mill
Predatory publishing
Publish or perish
References
Academic terminology
Scientific misconduct
Plagiarism in science
Ghostwriting in science | Research paper mill | [
"Technology"
] | 649 | [
"Scientific misconduct",
"Ethics of science and technology"
] |
49,215,828 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laccaria%20ochropurpurea | Laccaria ochropurpurea is an edible mushroom found under hardwood and conifers east of the Rocky Mountains. The pileus ranges from wide and the stipe from long.
References
External links
ochropurpurea
Fungi of North America
Fungus species
Taxa named by Miles Joseph Berkeley | Laccaria ochropurpurea | [
"Biology"
] | 60 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
49,215,965 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russula%20alutacea | Russula albidula is a species of mushroom in the genus Russula.
References
External links
alutacea
Fungi of Europe
Fungus species
Taxa named by Elias Magnus Fries | Russula alutacea | [
"Biology"
] | 35 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
49,215,995 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russula%20maculata | Russula maculata is a species of mushroom in the genus Russula.
References
External links
maculata
Fungi described in 1878
Fungi of Europe
Fungus species | Russula maculata | [
"Biology"
] | 31 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
49,216,832 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20128 | NGC 128 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Pisces. It is approximately 190 million light-years from the Sun and has a diameter of about 165,000 light-years.
Discovery
NGC 128 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on 25 December 1790 using a reflecting telescope with an aperture of 18.7 inches. At the time of discovery, its coordinates were recorded as 00h 22m 05s, +87° 54.6′ -20.0″. It was later observed by John Herschel
on 12 October 1827.
Visual appearance
The galaxy is described as "pretty bright", "very small" with a "brighter middle". It is approximately 165,000 light years in diameter and is elongated. The galaxy is famous for its (peanut shell)-shaped bulge, and in 2016 it was discovered that there are two such nested structures, possibly associated with two stellar bars.
Galaxy group information
NGC 128 is the largest member, and the namesake of, the NGC 128 group which also includes the galaxies NGC 127 and NGC 130. NGC 128 has a strong tidal bridge with NGC 127 and there is evidence of interaction between all three galaxies in the group. NGC 128 has a noticeable peanut shape that is likely to be caused by gravitational effects of the other two galaxies.
Gallery
See also
List of NGC objects (1–1000)
NGC 125
NGC 126
NGC 127
NGC 130
References
External links
Lenticular galaxies
0128
Astronomical objects discovered in 1790
Pisces (constellation) | NGC 128 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 299 | [
"Pisces (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
49,217,060 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%206905 | NGC 6905, also known as the Blue Flash Nebula, is a planetary nebula in the constellation Delphinus. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. The central star is 14.0 mag. The distance of the nebula, as with most planetary nebulae, is not well determined and estimates range between 1.7 and 2.6 kpc.
The shape of NGC 6905 is characterised by an internal shell with angular dimensions 47" ×34" and roughly conical extensions, with ansae-type formations along the major axis. The nucleus of the nebula possesses one of the most broad emission of OVI emission lines among planetary nebulae. Moreover, OVIII emission has been detected in NGC 6905. The ansae were particularly intense in NII. The total mass of gas in NGC 6905 falls between and .
The central star has a spectral type of [WO2], meaning it has a spectrum similar to those of Wolf–Rayet stars and is rich in oxygen; it is estimated to have a surface temperature of 150,000 K. The spectrum also shows signs of neon emission lines. Currently about 60% the mass of the Sun, before becoming a planetary nebula it had a mass of about . An analysis of Gaia data suggests that the central star may be a binary system.
NGC 6905 can be detected under dark skies with a 4-inch telescope, but it is better observed with larger instruments.
References
External links
Planetary nebulae
Delphinus
6905 | NGC 6905 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 304 | [
"Delphinus",
"Constellations"
] |
49,217,329 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local%20Government%20Category%20List | The Local Government Category List (LGCL), is a metadata standard controlled vocabulary of subject metadata terms related to local government, published in the UK. It has been superseded by the Integrated Public Sector Vocabulary (IPSV) but remains available for reference.
Development
The LGCL was developed by the Local Authority Websites National Project (LAWs), an initiative that aimed to meet the "requirement for a structured approach to information handling, publication and navigation". The LGCL was created as part of the Information Architecture & Standards project strand, the responsibility for which was delegated to the London Borough of Camden. Version 1.0 was released in October 2003 and version 1.01 in the following month. Version 1.02 was released in January 2004 and officially remains the current full version. Version 1.03 was published in March 2004 but is still considered to be a draft.
The LGCL was merged with the Government Category List, and the seamlessUK taxonomy to form the Integrated Public Sector Vocabulary (IPSV) as part of the UK Government e-GMS initiative. The LGCL has since been mapped back to the IPSV as well as having been mapped to the Government Category List and the Local Government Services List (the 'PID List') and the previous APLAWS Category List. The LGCL and mappings are published in XML, PDF and Word formats. LGCL is formally deprecated in favour of the IPSV.
Description
The LGCL comprises a poly-hierarchy of terms, comprising thirteen broad high-level terms divided into increasingly detailed sub-levels. The top-level terms are:
Business
Community and living
Council, government and democracy
Education and learning
Environment
Health and social care
Housing
Jobs and careers
Legal services
Leisure and culture
Policing and public safety
Social issues
Transport and streets
These top-level terms are each divided into two-level terms, some of which may be further subdivided into as many as four further sublevels of detail. Thus, for example, "Wheelchairs" appears as a sixth-level subdivision of Health and social care:
Health and social care
Health and medical care
Physical disability
Disability equipment
Mobility
Wheelchairs
Terms may be repeated at different levels but have consistent meanings, so, for example, "Cycling" appears as a type of transport route under "Transport and streets","Cycling, pedestrian and other pathways","Cycling" as well as an outdoor pursuit under "Leisure and culture","Sports","Types of sports", "Outdoor pursuits", "Cycling". Synonyms are provided for many of the preferred terms. The standard also includes a commitment that terms will never be removed from the list, but may change status or move position in the hierarchy between versions.
Use
One of the intended uses of the standard was to provide a default local authority Web site navigation hierarchy that could be used flexibly with an appropriate level of detail to meet local requirements. The standard was also recommended for use as the basis of records management system file plans.
Availability
The LGCL remains freely available "without guarantees and without licensing costs" and may be used and reproduced free of charge provided specific restrictions and appropriate attribution are respected.
References
External links
Where can I find the latest Local Government Category List (LGCL)?
Communications in the United Kingdom
E-government in the United Kingdom
Information systems
Local government in the United Kingdom
Metadata standards | Local Government Category List | [
"Technology"
] | 691 | [
"Information systems",
"Information technology"
] |
49,218,690 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-186b | Kepler-186b (also known as KOI-571.03) is an exoplanet located around 582 light-years away from Earth. Kepler-186b is orbiting a red dwarf known as Kepler-186, named after the space telescope that found it.
Kepler-186b is the innermost planet and the smallest of its system, and thus not suitable for life. The orbital period of this planet is just under four Earth days long due to its location near the parent star.
It is tidally locked. As a result, one hemisphere is in eternal daylight while the other hemisphere is in endless darkness.
The other planets in the system are Kepler-186c, d, e, and f, of which only Kepler-186f is within the habitable zone.
References
Transiting exoplanets
Exoplanets discovered in 2014
Kepler-186
186b
Cygnus (constellation) | Kepler-186b | [
"Astronomy"
] | 187 | [
"Cygnus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
49,219,456 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder%20ball | In integrated circuit packaging, a solder ball, also a solder bump (often referred to simply as "ball" or "bumps") is a ball of solder that provides the contact between the chip package and the printed circuit board, as well as between stacked packages in multichip modules; in the latter case, they may be referred to as microbumps (μbumps, ubumps), since they are usually significantly smaller than the former. The solder balls can be placed manually or by automated equipment, and are held in place with a tacky flux.
A coined solder ball is a solder ball subject to coining, i.e., flattening to a shape resembling that of a coin, to increase contact reliability.
Ball grid array, chip-scale package, and flip chip packages generally use solder balls.
Underfill
After the solder balls are used to attach an integrated circuit chip to a printed circuit board (PCB), often the remaining air gap between them is underfilled with epoxy.
In some cases, there may be multiple layers of solder balls—for example, one layer of solder balls attaching a flip chip to an interposer to form a BGA package, and a second layer of solder balls attaching that interposer to the PCB. Often both layers are underfilled.
Usage in flip chip method
See also
Head-in-pillow defect, a solder ball failure
References
Packaging (microfabrication)
Soldering | Solder ball | [
"Materials_science"
] | 315 | [
"Packaging (microfabrication)",
"Microtechnology"
] |
49,219,918 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAAAP%20family | The Hydroxy/Aromatic Amino Acid Permease (HAAAP) Family (TC# 2.A.42) is a member of the large Amino Acid-Polyamine-OrganoCation (APC) Superfamily of secondary carrier proteins. Members of the HAAAP family all function in amino acid uptake. Homologues are present in many Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, with at least one member classified from archaea (TC# 2.A.42.1.7, Thermococcus barophilus).
Structure
Proteins of the HAAAP family possess 403-443 amino acyl residues and exhibit eleven putative or established TransMembrane α-helical Spanners (TMSs). These proteins exhibit topological features common to the eukaryotic amino acid/auxin permease (AAAP) family (TC# 2.A.18). These proteins also exhibit limited sequence similarity with some of the AAAP family members. A phylogenetic relationship has been proposed between members of the HAP family and the APC family since they exhibit limited sequence similarity with one another.
As of early 2016, no crystal structural data is available for members of the HAAAP family in RCSB.
Members
The HAAAP family includes three well-characterized aromatic amino acid/H+ symport permeases of E. coli and two hydroxy amino acid permeases. The aromatic amino acid/H+ symport permeases are:
Mtr, a high affinity tryptophan-specific permease (TC# 2.A.42.1.2).
TnaB, a low affinity tryptophan permease (TC# 2.A.42.1.3).
TyrP, a tyrosine-specific permease (TC# 2.A.42.1.1).
The two hydroxy amino acid permeases are:
SdaC, the serine permease (TC# 2.A.42.2.1), of E. coli. SdaC of E. coli (TC# 2.A.42.2.1) is also called DcrA, and together with a periplasmic protein DcrB (P37620), has been reported to play a role in phage DNA uptake in conjunction with an outer membrane receptors of the OMR family (TC# 1.B.14).
TdcC, the threonine permease (TC# 2.A.42.2.2), of E. coli.
Thus, FhuA (TC# 1.B.14.1.4) transports phage T5 DNA while BtuB (TC# 1.B.14.3.1) transports phage C1 DNA (Samsonov et al., 2002). DcuB is a putative lipoprotein found only in enteric bacteria.
All members of the HAAAP family can be found in the Transporter Classification Database.
Transport Reaction
The generalized transport reaction catalyzed by proteins of the HAAAP family is:
Amino acid (out) + nH+ (out) → Amino acid (in) + nH+ (in).
References
Protein families
Membrane proteins
Transmembrane proteins
Transmembrane transporters
Transport proteins
Integral membrane proteins | HAAAP family | [
"Biology"
] | 695 | [
"Protein families",
"Protein classification",
"Membrane proteins"
] |
49,220,181 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary%20Br%C3%BCck | Mary Teresa Brück (née Conway; 1925–2008) was an Irish astronomer, astrophysicist and historian of science, whose career was spent at Dunsink Observatory in Dublin and the Royal Observatory Edinburgh in Scotland.
Early life
Mary Teresa Conway was born on 29 May 1925 in Ballivor, County Meath, Ireland, the eldest of eight children. She used the Irish form of her name, Máire Treasa Ní Chonmhidhe, while attending convent school, where she showed talents for mathematics, science and music, and at University College Dublin where she studied physics. She earned BSc and MSc degrees, in 1945 and 1946, respectively.
Astronomer
Mary Conway was a postgraduate at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), where she carried out research in solar astrophysics, culminating in the award of a PhD in 1950. Her doctoral supervisor was fellow Irish-born scientist Mervyn Archdall Ellison, then a principal scientific officer at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh.
Conway returned to Dublin to work at the Dunsink Observatory. The observatory had reopened as a research institute in 1947 when it was transferred to the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, and the German-born astronomer Hermann Brück (1905–2000) had been appointed as the new Director.
Conway and Hermann Brück, a widower with two children, married in 1951, after which she took the name Mary Brück. She had three additional children with him.
Hermann Brück was appointed Astronomer Royal for Scotland in 1957 and the family moved to Edinburgh. Brück was appointed a part-time lecturer at the University of Edinburgh in 1962. She subsequently became a full-time lecturer and was promoted to senior lecturer.
Mary Brück carried out research into stars, the interstellar medium and the Magellanic Clouds. Some of this made use of photographic observations from the United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring in Australia.
She used the numbers, brightnesses and colours of stars in the Magellanic Clouds to study the structure and evolution of these nearby galaxies. She published widely in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Publications of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, Nature and Astronomy and Astrophysics.
In 2001, she was awarded the Lorimer Medal of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh in recognition of meritorious work in diffusing the knowledge of Astronomy among the general public.
In July 2017, Dublin City University named a building after Dr. Mary Brück in recognition of her contributions to science.
The Mary Brück Building at the University of Edinburgh was also named in her honour.
Historian of science
Mary Brück collaborated with her husband on a biography of the 19th-century Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Charles Piazzi Smyth.
She developed a reputation as an historian of science, specialising in the work of women in astronomy, and the history of astronomy in Scotland and Ireland. She published articles in several different journals, including the Irish Astronomical Journal, the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage and the Antiquarian Astronomer. She sat on the editorial board of the Antiquarian Astronomer.
Mary Brück wrote a book on Agnes Mary Clerke, the prominent 19th-century Irish woman astronomer, author and commentator on science, Agnes Mary Clerke and the Rise of Astrophysics.
This was followed by Women in Early British and Irish Astronomy: Stars and Satellites, which described the work of women astronomers, many of whom had been overlooked previously.
Mary Brück contributed five articles to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and six to the Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers.
She is also the author of the classic 1965 Ladybird book, The Night Sky.
References
External links
Astronomer and historian of astronomy: Mary Brück The Scotsman, 17 February 2009
Brück, Máire Treasa : Death notice The Irish Times
Obituary: Dr. Mary Brück Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage (ISSN 1440-2807), Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 81 – 83 (2009).
1925 births
20th-century women scientists
20th-century Irish astronomers
20th-century Irish writers
20th-century Irish women writers
2008 deaths
Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society
Historians of astronomy
Irish non-fiction writers
Irish women non-fiction writers
Women astronomers
Women science writers
People from County Meath
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
20th-century non-fiction writers
Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Alumni of University College Dublin
Irish astrophysicists | Mary Brück | [
"Astronomy",
"Technology"
] | 882 | [
"History of astronomy",
"Astronomers",
"Historians of astronomy",
"Women science writers",
"Women astronomers",
"People associated with astronomy",
"Women in science and technology"
] |
49,221,628 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIAM%20Journal%20on%20Applied%20Mathematics | The SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics is a peer-reviewed academic journal in applied mathematics published by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), with Paul A. Martin (Colorado School of Mines) as its editor-in-chief. It was founded in 1953 as SIAM's first journal, the Journal of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and was given its current name in 1966. In most years since 1999, it has been ranked by SCImago Journal Rank as a second-quartile journal in applied mathematics. Together with Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics it has been called "one of the two greatest American entries in applied math".
References
Applied mathematics journals
SIAM academic journals
Academic journals established in 1953 | SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics | [
"Mathematics"
] | 147 | [
"Applied mathematics",
"Applied mathematics journals"
] |
49,222,617 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeRoLog | The European Working Group on Vehicle Routing and Logistics Optimization (also, EWG VeRoLog, or simply VeRoLog) is a working group within EURO, the Association of European Operational Research Societies whose objective is to promote the application of operations research models, methods and tools to the field of vehicle routing and logistics, and to encourage the exchange of information among practitioners, end-users, and researchers, stimulating the work on new and important problems with sound scientific methods.
History
VeRoLog is one of the working groups of EURO, the Association of European Operational Research Societies. The Group was founded in 2011 by Daniele Vigo, Marielle Christiansen, Angel Corberan, Wout Dullaert, Richard Eglese, Geir Hasle, Stefan Irnich, Frederic Semet and Maria Grazia Speranza.
Governance
The group is managed by a Coordinator and an Advisory Board including the founding members. The current coordinator is Daniele Vigo.
Membership
The group is suitable for people who are presently engaged in Vehicle Routing and Logistics, either in theoretical aspects or in business, industry or public administration applications. Currently (2015), the group has about 1,500 members from 67 countries.
Conferences
VeRoLog holds conferences on a regular basis (once a year during Summer) and issues every year an award to the best doctoral dissertation on vehicle routing and logistics optimization.
Publications
In most cases, the annual conference is followed by a peer reviewed special issue of an international journal, presenting a selection of the contributions presented at the meeting. Recent special issues appeared on European Journal of Operational Research, and Computers and Operations Research.
A newsletter is emailed to all members every month.
References
Operations research
Working groups
Organizations established in 2011 | VeRoLog | [
"Mathematics"
] | 348 | [
"Applied mathematics",
"Operations research"
] |
49,222,655 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzoate%3AH%20symporter | The benzoate:H symporter (BenE) family (TC# 2.A.46) is a member of the APC Superfamily. The BenE family contains only two functionally characterized and sequenced members, the benzoate permeases of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and E. coli. These proteins are about 400 residues in length and probably span the membrane 12 times. Some members of the BenE family can have as little as 7 TMSs (i.e., BenE of Frankia sp. Ccl3; TC# 2.A.46.1.6), or as many as 14 TMSs (i.e., BenE of Cellvibrio gilvus; TC# 2.A.46.1.4). BenE family members exhibit about 30% identity to each other and limited sequence similarity to members of the Aromatic Acid:H Symporter (AAHS) family (TC# 2.A.1.15) of the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS). The degree of similarity with the latter proteins is insufficient to establish homology. As of early 2016, no crystal structural data is available for members of the BenE family.
Transport reaction
The generalized transport reaction catalyzed by BenE of A. calcoaceticus is:
Benzoate (out) + H+ (out) → Benzoate (in) + H+ (in).
References
Protein families
Solute carrier family | Benzoate:H symporter | [
"Biology"
] | 317 | [
"Protein families",
"Protein classification"
] |
49,222,762 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peptide%20transporter%20carbon%20starvation%20family | The Peptide Transporter Carbon Starvation (CstA) Family (TC# 2.A.114) is a member of the APC superfamily and consists of proteins from bacteria and archaea. These proteins are of various sizes and topologies. For example, CstA of E. coli has 701 aas with 18 putative TMSs. It has a long N-terminal CstA domain and a short C-terminal DUF4161 domain. This protein is encoded by a carbon starvation inducible gene, cstA, that is under cyclic AMP-CRP control. Circumstantial evidence suggested that it may be a peptide transporter. A Campylobacter jejuni homologue has been shown to transport di- and tripeptides (see TC# 2.A.114.1.5). Proteins currently known to belong to the CstA family are listed in the Transporter Classification Database. As of early 2016, there is no crystal structural data available for members of the CstA family on RCSB.
See also
Cystatin A
References
Protein families
Solute carrier family | Peptide transporter carbon starvation family | [
"Biology"
] | 228 | [
"Protein families",
"Protein classification"
] |
49,222,911 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putative%20amino%20acid%20permease%20family | The putative amino acid permease (PAAP) family (TC# 2.A.120) belongs to the APC superfamily. The PAAP family consists of many proteins, all of a uniform topology with a 5 + 5 TMS repeat in a 2 + 3 + 2 + 3 arrangement. These proteins show similarity to members of the LIVCS family (TC# 2.A.26) in the APC Superfamily. A representative list of recognized members of the PAAP family is available in the Transporter Classification Database.
References
Solute carrier family
Protein families | Putative amino acid permease family | [
"Biology"
] | 117 | [
"Protein families",
"Protein classification"
] |
49,222,949 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%204762 | NGC 4762 is an edge-on lenticular galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It is at a distance of 60 million light years and is a member of the Virgo Cluster. The edge-on view of this particular galaxy, originally considered to be a barred spiral galaxy, makes it difficult to determine its true shape, but it is considered that the galaxy consists of four main components — a central bulge, a bar, a thick disc and an outer ring. The galaxy's disc is asymmetric and warped, which could be explained by NGC 4762 merging with a smaller galaxy in the past. The remains of this former companion may then have settled within NGC 4762's disc, redistributing the gas and stars and so changing the disc's morphology.
NGC 4762 contains a Liner-type active galactic nucleus, a highly energetic central region. This nucleus is detectable due to its particular spectral line emission, allowing astronomers to measure the composition of the region.
NGC 4762 forms a non-interacting pair with the galaxy NGC 4754.
References
External links
NED entry on NGC 4762
Lenticular galaxies
LINER galaxies
Virgo (constellation)
Virgo Cluster
4762
08016
43733 | NGC 4762 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 254 | [
"Virgo (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
49,223,016 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolithoautotroph | An electrolithoautotroph is an organism which feeds on electricity. These organisms use electricity to convert carbon dioxide into organic matter by using electrons directly taken from solid-inorganic electron donors. Electrolithoautotrophs are microorganisms which are found in the deep crevices of the ocean. The warm, mineral-rich environment provides a rich source of nutrients. The electron source for carbon assimilation from diffusible Fe2+ ions to an electrode under the condition that electrical current is the only source of energy and electrons. Electrolithoautotrophs form a third metabolic pathway compared to photosynthesis (plants converting light into sugar) and chemosynthesis (bacteria converting chemical energy into food).
References
Biological processes
Electricity
Metabolism
Organisms by adaptation
Trophic ecology | Electrolithoautotroph | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 163 | [
"Organisms by adaptation",
"Cellular processes",
"nan",
"Biochemistry",
"Metabolism"
] |
49,223,421 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weissman%20score | The Weissman score is a performance metric for lossless compression applications. It was developed by Tsachy Weissman, a professor at Stanford University, and Vinith Misra, a graduate student, at the request of producers for HBO's television series Silicon Valley, a television show about a fictional tech start-up working on a data compression algorithm. It compares both required time and compression ratio of measured applications, with those of a de facto standard according to the data type.
The formula is the following; where r is the compression ratio, T is the time required to compress, the overlined ones are the same metrics for a standard compressor, and alpha is a scaling constant.
The Weissman score has been used by Daniel Reiter Horn and Mehant Baid of Dropbox to explain real-world work on lossless compression. According to the authors it "favors compression speed over ratio in most cases."
Example
This example shows the score for the data of the Hutter Prize, using the paq8f as a standard and 1 as the scaling constant.
Limitations
Although the value is relative to the standards against which it is compared, the unit used to measure the times changes the score (see examples 1 and 2). This is a consequence of the requirement that the argument of the logarithmic function must be dimensionless. The multiplier also can't have a numeric value of 1 or less, because the logarithm of 1 is 0 (examples 3 and 4), and the logarithm of any value less than 1 is negative (examples 5 and 6); that would result in scores of value 0 (even with changes), undefined, or negative (even if better than positive).
See also
Benchmark
Coding theory
Information theory
Phred quality score
References
Benchmarks (computing)
Data compression
Silicon Valley (TV series)
Software metrics | Weissman score | [
"Mathematics",
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 387 | [
"Metrics",
"Quantity",
"Software metrics",
"Computing comparisons",
"Computer performance",
"Software engineering",
"Benchmarks (computing)"
] |
49,223,966 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International%20Journal%20of%20Behavioral%20Medicine | The International Journal of Behavioral Medicine is a quarterly peer-reviewed medical journal covering behavioral medicine. It was established in 1994 and is published by Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the International Society of Behavioral Medicine, of which it is the official journal. The editors-in-chief is Michael A. Hoyt. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2017 impact factor of 2.012.
References
External links
Academic journals established in 1994
Quarterly journals
Springer Science+Business Media academic journals
English-language journals
Academic journals associated with learned and professional societies
Behavioral medicine journals | International Journal of Behavioral Medicine | [
"Biology"
] | 117 | [
"Behavioural sciences",
"Behavior",
"Behavioral medicine journals"
] |
49,224,749 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony%20Zboralski | Anthony Zboralski is a French hacker, artist and internet entrepreneur.
Computer hacking
In 1994, Zboralski social engineered the FBI to connect to the internet and set up teleconferences with other hackers. Over a period of four months, Zboralski posed as its legal attaché in Paris, Thomas Baker, costing the FBI $250,000.
Zboralski was part of a group of hackers called w00w00. He went by the handles "gaius" and "kugutsumen".
Career
From 2011 to 2013, Zboralski worked as a managing consultant for IOActive. In 2014, Zboralski co-founded Belua Systems Limited.
Television
Surfez Couvert was a TV show co-written by Antoine Rivière and Zboralski in which Zboralski offered practical recommendations on how to protect our "life 2.0". It began airing on Game One in 2013 and was co-produced by Flair Production and MTV Networks France.
See also
Gameplay_of_Eve_Online#Developer_misconduct
Parmiter's School
References
External links
1975 births
Living people
French businesspeople
21st-century French male artists
Hackers | Anthony Zboralski | [
"Technology"
] | 248 | [
"Lists of people in STEM fields",
"Hackers"
] |
49,224,859 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russula%20medullata | Russula medullata is a species of mushroom in the genus Russula. It was officially described by French mycologist Henri Romagnesi in 1997.
See also
List of Russula species
References
External links
medullata
Fungi described in 1997
Fungi of Europe
Fungus species | Russula medullata | [
"Biology"
] | 56 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
49,226,157 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weak%20gravity%20conjecture | In theoretical physics, the weak gravity conjecture (WGC) is a conjecture regarding the strength gravity can have in a theory of quantum gravity relative to the gauge forces in that theory. It roughly states that gravity should be the weakest force in any consistent theory of quantum gravity. It was first proposed by Nima Arkani-Hamed, Luboš Motl, Alberto Nicolis, and Cumrun Vafa in 2007.
Gravity when compared to a U(1) gauge group interaction like electromagnetism, the mildest version of the weak gravity conjecture implies that there exist an object with electric charge q and mass m such that
where is the charge-to-mass ratio of an arbitrary large black hole.
The conjecture was originally motivated by the fact that black holes should be able to decay. This insensitivity of black hole evaporation to its electric charge suggests that black holes can violate global symmetries and violate global charge conservation.
See also
Fundamental interaction
Swampland (physics)
References
Quantum gravity
String theory
Conjectures | Weak gravity conjecture | [
"Physics",
"Astronomy",
"Mathematics"
] | 209 | [
"Astronomical hypotheses",
"Unsolved problems in mathematics",
"Unsolved problems in physics",
"Quantum mechanics",
"Quantum gravity",
"Conjectures",
"String theory",
"Mathematical problems",
"Physics beyond the Standard Model",
"Quantum physics stubs"
] |
49,228,683 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%20Carinae | The Bayer designations h Carinae and H Carinae are distinct.
for h Carinae, see HD 83183
for H Carinae, see HD 83095
Carinae, h
Carina (constellation) | H Carinae | [
"Astronomy"
] | 45 | [
"Carina (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
49,228,904 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Social%20Behaviour%2C%20Crime%20and%20Policing%20Act%202014 | The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (c. 12) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which consolidated and expanded law enforcement powers in addressing anti-social behaviour. One significant aspect of the act is that it replaced anti-social behaviour orders, the primary civil order in the United Kingdom since 1998, with criminal behaviour orders.
Background
The 2010 coalition government expressed its intention to replace ASBOs, citing the reasons that "breach rates are high, and the number issued has been steadily declining since 2005." In July 2010, Home Secretary Theresa May announced her intention to reform anti-social behaviour measures for England and Wales, with the abolition of ASBOs in due course in favour of alternative "community-based" social control policies.
In 2012, the government produced a white paper titled Putting victims first: more effective responses to anti-social behaviour, that outlined its intentions about reforming anti-social behaviour legislation. The white paper stated that it wanted to challenge "dangerous and yobbish behaviour of those who make victims’ lives a misery". Liberal Democrat objections prevented the implementation of the paper's proposals. The 2013 government paper, Reform of Anti-Social Behaviour Powers: Groups ‘Hanging Around’ mentioned specifically targeting certain types of youths behaviour. It mentioned that the government acknowledged that youths ‘hanging about’ might cause people to feel intimidated and fear for their safety regardless if their behaviour was anti-social. Government publications also revealed it was eager to deal with concerns about the perceived anti-social behaviour of people who are drunks, beggars, and irresponsible dog owners.
In May 2013, an Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill was introduced into the House of Commons, including a provision to create "injunctions to prevent nuisance and annoyance", replacing ASBOs in England and Wales. The bill was criticised for the broad and undefined scope of "nuisance and annoyance", and was rejected by the House of Lords in January 2014. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 was then introduced, and received royal assent on 13 March 2014.
Putting victims first
The focus for the act was on putting victims first, and the powers are designed to be quicker to implement so that victims get respite from anti-social behaviour faster. With the exception of the criminal behaviour order, the remainder can be processed through the civil courts which allows for a lower burden of proof and thus makes it easier for agencies to obtain. The act also set out an absolute possession enabling councils and housing associations to evict anti-social tenants already found guilty of anti-social behaviour.
To put victims first, there were also two measures introduced in this act to enable victims to have their say:
Community remedy – whereby victims can have a say in what type of punishment would be appropriate for the offender (e.g. clean up graffiti)
Anti-social behaviour case review – also called 'community trigger'. A victim can insist on a multi-agency review of their case if they have reported the problem three times in the past six months and yet the problem has not yet been resolved.
Consolidation
The focus of the Act was to streamline the tools and powers available to front-line agencies in dealing with anti-social behaviour. Previously there had been nineteen different powers, but these were reduced to a base of six.
The previous nineteen mechanisms were:
Anti-social behaviour injunctions
Anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs)
Closure orders (known as S.161)
Crackhouse closure orders
Criminal anti-social behaviour orders (CrASBOs)
Designated public place orders
Direction to leave orders (known as S.27)
Disposal orders (known as S.30)
Dog control orders
Drinking banning orders
Drinking banning orders (on conviction)
Gating orders
Graffiti/defacement removal notices
Individual support orders
Intervention orders
Litter cleaning notices
Noisy premises closure orders
Premises closure orders
Street litter cleaning notices
The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 consolidated them to:
Civil injunctions
Criminal behaviour orders
Dispersal powers
Community protection notices and remedial orders
Public spaces protection orders
Closure notices and orders
Absolute grounds for possession
The government produces statutory guidance about the use of the six new mechanisms. December 2017 is the latest revision of the guidance .
Civil injunctions
Part 1 of the Act empowers specified organisations to apply to the courts for a civil injunction against anyone aged 10 or over for actual or threatened anti-social behaviour. Suggested by the government is that civil injunctions might be used for aggressive begging, bullying, gangs, irresponsible dog ownership, noisy or abusive neighbours, public drunkenness, and vandalism. The injunction is a civil rather than a criminal order. A civil injunction can either prohibit or require a person to refrain from activities mentioned in the order. A court has the discretion if to include a power of arrest for breaches of the injunction. Breaches of an injunction are treated as contempt of court. Statutory government guidance provides four tests for using a civil injunction. On the balance of probabilities, the behaviour must be likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress (non-housing related anti-social behaviour); or conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance (housing-related anti-social behaviour); and just and convenient to grant the injunction to prevent anti-social behaviour.
Criminal behaviour orders
Dispersal powers
Part 3 of the Act covers police powers permitting the dispersal of people. The powers of dispersal require the authorisation of a police officer at least the rank of inspector. The act only allows authorising dispersal powers when members of the public in the locality are being harassed, alarmed or distressed, or when there is localised crime and disorder. The authorisation is limited to forty-eight hours. Authorising officers should consider the principles of the Human Rights Act. The statutory Government guidance requires consideration of the impact of vulnerable people, the displacement of the problems elsewhere, and if working in partnership with other agencies might provide a longer-term solution.
When authorised to do so, police officers and police community support officers, if permitted by their chief constable, can, in writing when feasible, direct a person to leave a geographical area and not return for a defined time period. The exceptions are people under ten years old, in which case if they are under sixteen the Children Act 2004 allows taking them to their home. A direction should not be given that prevents a person from going to their home, their place of employment, where they are receiving education or training, places where they are receiving medical treatment or any place they are required to attend by a court. The power exists to seize any articles that are connected to the anti-social behaviour. Failing to disperse or preventing the seizure of articles related to the anti-social behaviour is a criminal offence.
Public spaces protection orders
Public spaces protection orders are orders which ban specific acts in a designated geographical area in England and Wales as set out in the act. It replaces the earlier designated public place orders, gating orders and dog control orders.
PSPOs are intended to prevent specific acts which would not otherwise be criminal offences. They have been criticised as restricting freedoms and having a disproportionately severe effect on people below the poverty line. As of December 2017, there were 388 active PSPOs in Wales alone.
Uses of PSPOs have ranged from Salford City Council's ban on foul and abusive language in the Salford Quays area, to the enactment by Kettering Borough Council of a curfew banning individuals under 18 from going outside alone between 11pm and 6am.
Research by The Manifesto Club found a 420% increase in PSPO fines from 2016 to 2018. In 2018 there were 9,930 fixed penalty notices issued, 60% of which were from four councils: Peterborough, Bedford, Hillingdon and Waltham Forest. These four councils use private contractors to issue the fines.
Community protection notices and remedial orders
Part 4 of the Act introduced community protection notices and remedial orders. The aim of them was to challenge ongoing nuisance problems detrimental to a community's quality of life. The use of community protection notices does not interfere with the obligation of local authorities to issue abatement notices for statutory nuisances.
A person over the age of sixteen, an organisation or business can be issued a community protection notice. The statutory guidance states that the vulnerability of a person should additionally be considered before issuing a notice. Before a notice is issued they must receive written notice warning them about the problem they are causing, and issuing a notice is an option being considered. It is issued by either giving it to a person, organisation or business, leaving at their address, or posting it to them. Community protection notices have three potential purposes, to stop or make them do something, or take reasonable steps towards an outcome. What is expected of them is written on the notice.
Failing to conform to a community protection notice is an offence. The liability of a person, organisation or business for the offence is negated by payment of a fixed penalty notice up to the value of £100. If a community protection notice is breached, a remedial order can be applied for at court.
Closure notices and orders
Part 4 of the act empowers the issuing of closure notices and closure orders. Both notices and orders can be applied to residential and other premises. Issuing a closure notice is usually the first resort to dealing with a problem. Closure notices can be issued if either nuisance or disorder has, or may occur at the premises. The notice is in force for a maximum of forty-eight hours. A closure notice can bar any person from accessing the premises, except any residents. The penalty for breaching a notice upon conviction is a maximum of three months’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.
Closure orders are usually issued in more serious instances. The criteria for issuing an order is that the premises must be connected to disorderly, offensive, or criminal behaviour, or disorderly behaviour in the near vicinity of it. It must be a serious nuisance to the public. An order can prohibit any person from entering the premises, including a resident. The maximum penalty for breaching a notice is up to six months imprisonment and an unlimited fine.
The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 created an offence of obstructing a person issuing an order or notice, officials entering the premises, or people securing it. The maximum penalty is three months imprisonment. The act did not consolidate all closure powers, for example, closure of licensed premises under the Licensing Act 2003, or closure of premises used for prostitution under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Additional offences
The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 included several additional provisions:
Dangerous dogs
Firearms
Protection from sexual harm, including sexual risk orders
Child sexual exploitation in hotels
Violent offending
Forced marriages
Policing, including the National College of Policing, and complaints against the police
Extradition
Criminal justice and court fees
Sexual risk orders
The Act also created sexual risk orders, which can require suspects to give police advanced notification of intention to engage in sexual activities or face prison sentences. The SROs, requested by police, are issued by magistrates.
Forced marriage
The Act also created several new offences relating to forced marriage:
breaching a forced marriage protection order (amendment to the Family Law Act 1996)
causing a forced marriage, i.e. using threats, violence or other coercion (not necessarily against the victim) to cause a person to marry without their full and free consent (or any person who lacks capacity to consent even without coercion)
using deception to cause a person to leave the UK to enter into a forced marriage.
The latter two offences are defined separately for England and Wales and for Scotland. They apply to any marriage ceremony even if not legally binding.
Amendments of the Extradition Act 2003
This bill also added a very important limitation to European Arrest Warrants, barring extradition in the "absence of prosecution decision" if there are reasonable grounds to believe, that the competent authorities in the country requesting the extradition have not made a decision to charge or have not made a decision to try the suspect. This amendment became famously known as "Lex Assange", because Julian Assange in fact never got charged in Sweden, but UK's highest courts still decided the extradition request to be legal.
Criticisms of the Act
A general criticism of the Act was it interfered with the rights of young people, making them feel unable to use public places as they wished, even if their behaviour and activities were lawful.
See also
Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Chav/ned
Criminal behaviour order
Presumption of guilt
Quality-of-life policing
References
External links
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, 2014 c. 12
2014 in England
2014 in Wales
Animal welfare and rights legislation in the United Kingdom
Anti-social behaviour
Dog law in the United Kingdom
English criminal law
Law enforcement in the United Kingdom
Sex crimes in the United Kingdom
Sexuality in the United Kingdom
Terrorism laws in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2014 | Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 | [
"Biology"
] | 2,625 | [
"Anti-social behaviour",
"Behavior",
"Human behavior"
] |
44,357,173 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaplan%E2%80%93Yorke%20conjecture | In applied mathematics, the Kaplan–Yorke conjecture concerns the dimension of an attractor, using Lyapunov exponents. By arranging the Lyapunov exponents in order from largest to smallest , let j be the largest index for which
and
Then the conjecture is that the dimension of the attractor is
This idea is used for the definition of the Lyapunov dimension.
Examples
Especially for chaotic systems, the Kaplan–Yorke conjecture is a useful tool in order to estimate the fractal dimension
and the Hausdorff dimension of the corresponding attractor.
The Hénon map with parameters a = 1.4 and b = 0.3 has the ordered Lyapunov exponents and . In this case, we find j = 1 and the dimension formula reduces to
The Lorenz system shows chaotic behavior at the parameter values , and . The resulting Lyapunov exponents are {2.16, 0.00, −32.4}. Noting that j = 2, we find
References
Dimension
Dynamical systems
Limit sets
Conjectures | Kaplan–Yorke conjecture | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics"
] | 219 | [
"Geometric measurement",
"Limit sets",
"Unsolved problems in mathematics",
"Physical quantities",
"Conjectures",
"Topology",
"Mechanics",
"Theory of relativity",
"Mathematical problems",
"Dimension",
"Dynamical systems"
] |
44,357,613 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A4ll%C3%A9n%20function | The Källén function, also known as triangle function, is a polynomial function in three variables, which appears in geometry and particle physics. In the latter field it is usually denoted by the symbol . It is named after the theoretical physicist Gunnar Källén, who introduced it as a short-hand in his textbook Elementary Particle Physics.
Definition
The function is given by a quadratic polynomial in three variables
Applications
In geometry the function describes the area of a triangle with side lengths :
See also Heron's formula.
The function appears naturally in the kinematics of relativistic particles, e.g. when expressing the energy and momentum components in the center of mass frame by Mandelstam variables.
Properties
The function is (obviously) symmetric in permutations of its arguments, as well as independent of a common sign flip of its arguments:
If the polynomial factorizes into two factors
If the polynomial factorizes into four factors
Its most condensed form is
Interesting special cases are
References
Kinematics (particle physics)
Triangles
Eponymous geometric shapes | Källén function | [
"Chemistry"
] | 208 | [
"Scattering",
"Kinematics (particle physics)"
] |
44,358,091 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC%2062682 | IEC 62682 is a technical standard titled Management of alarms systems for the process industries.
Scope
The standard specifies principles and processes for the management of alarm systems based on distribute control systems and computer-based Human-Machine Interface (HMI) technology for the process industries. It covers alarms from all systems presented to the operator, which can include basic process control systems, annunciator panels, safety instrumented systems, fire and gas systems, and emergency response systems. The practices are applicable to continuous, batch, and discrete processes. The process industry sector includes many types of manufacturing processes, such as refineries, petrochemical, chemical, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, and power.
Standard
The standard addresses all lifecycle phases (development, design, installation, and operation) for alarm management in the process industries. The standard defines the terminology and work processes recommended to effectively maintain an alarm system throughout the lifecycle. The standard was written as an extension of the existing ISA 18.2-2009 standard which utilized numerous industry alarm management guidance documents in its development such as EEMUA 191. Ineffective alarm systems have often been cited as contributing factors in the investigation reports following major process incidents. The standard is intended to provide a methodology that will result in the improved safety of the process industries.
See also
Butterfleye
External links
IEC 62682
Alarm Network
Safety
Alarms
Industrial processes
Electrical standards | IEC 62682 | [
"Physics",
"Technology"
] | 282 | [
"Electrical standards",
"Electrical systems",
"Alarms",
"Physical systems",
"Warning systems"
] |
44,358,555 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic%20acid | 15-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (also termed 15-HETE, 15(S)-HETE, and 15S-HETE) is an eicosanoid, i.e. a metabolite of arachidonic acid. Various cell types metabolize arachidonic acid to 15(S)-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15(S)-HpETE). This initial hydroperoxide product is extremely short-lived in cells: if not otherwise metabolized, it is rapidly reduced to 15(S)-HETE. Both of these metabolites, depending on the cell type which forms them, can be further metabolized to 15-oxo-eicosatetraenoic acid (15-oxo-ETE), 5(S),15(S)-dihydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acid (5(S),15(S)-diHETE), 5-oxo-15(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-oxo-15(S)-HETE), a subset of specialized pro-resolving mediators viz., the lipoxins, a class of pro-inflammatory mediators, the eoxins, and other products that have less well-defined activities and functions. Thus, 15(S)-HETE and 15(S)-HpETE, in addition to having intrinsic biological activities, are key precursors to numerous biologically active derivatives.
Some cell types (e.g. platelets) metabolize arachidonic acid to the stereoisomer of 15(S)-HpETE, 15(R)-HpETE. Both stereoisomers may also be formed as result of the metabolism of arachidonic acid by cellular microsomes or as a result of arachidonic acid auto-oxidation. Similar to 15(S)-HpETEs, 15(R)-HpETE may be rapidly reduced to 15(R)-HETE. These R,S stereoisomers differ only in having their hydroxy residue in opposite orientations. While the two R stereoisomers are sometimes referred to as 15-HpETE and 15-HETE, proper usage should identify them as R stereoisomers. 15(R)-HpETE and 15(R)-HETE lack some of the activity attributed to their S stereoisomers but can be further metabolized to bioactive products viz., the 15(R) class of lipoxins (also termed epi-lipoxins).
15(S)-HETE, 15(S)-HpETE, and many of their derivative metabolites are thought to have physiologically important functions. They appear to act as hormone-like autocrine and paracrine signaling agents that are involved in regulating inflammatory and perhaps other responses. Clinically, drugs that are stable analogs, and therefore mimic the anti-inflammatory actions of the lipoxins and drugs that block the production or actions of the pro-inflammatory eoxins may prove useful for treating acute and chronic inflammatory disorders.
Nomenclature and stereoisomers
15(S)-HETE is unambiguously designated by a shortened version of its IUPAC name viz., 15(S)-hydroxy-5Z,8Z,11Z,13E-eicosatetraenoic acid. In this terminology S refers to the absolute configuration of the chirality of the hydroxy functional group at carbon position 15. Its 15(R) enantiomer is designated 15(R)-hydroxy-5Z,8Z,11Z,13E-eicosatetraenoic acid. Z and E give the cis–trans isomerism about each double bond at carbon positions 5, 8, 11, and 13 with Z indicating cis and E indicating trans isomerism. Both stereoisomers are produced from their corresponding S and R 15-HpETE stereoisomers, i.e. 15(S)-hydroperoxy-5Z,8Z,11Z,13E-eicosatetraenoic acid (15(S)-HpETE) and 15(R)-hydroperoxy-5Z,8Z,11Z,13E-eicosatetraenoic acid (15(R)-HpETE).
Production
Human cells release arachidonic acid (i.e. 5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z-eicosatetraenoic acid) from its storage site in phospholipids by reactions that involve phospholipase C and/or lipase enzymes. This release is stimulated or enhanced by cell stimulation. The freed arachidonic acid is then converted to 15-hydroperoxy/hydroxy products by one or more of the following five pathways.
15-Lipoxygenase-1: Cells metabolize arachidonic acid with 15-lipoxygenase-1 (i.e., 15-LO-1, ALOX15) to form 15(S)-HpETE as a major product and 12(S)-hydroperoxy-5Z,8Z,10E,15Z-eicosatetraenoic acid (12(S)-HpETE) and 14(S),15(S)-trans-oxido-5Z,8Z,11Z-14,15-leukotriene A4 as minor products; 15(S)-HpETE and 12(S)-HpETE are rapidly converted to 15(S)-HETE and 12(S)-hydroxy-5Z,8Z,10E,15Z-eicosatetraenoic acid (12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid), (i.e. 12(S)-HETE), respectively, or further metabolized through other enzyme pathways; 14(S),15(S)-trans-oxido-5Z,8Z,11Z-14,15-leukotriene A4 is metabolized by 15-LO-1 to various isomers of 8,15(S)-dihydroxy-5S,8S,11Z,13S-eicosatetraenoic acids, e.g. 8,15(S)-LTB4's.
15-Lipoxygenase-2: Cells also used 15-lipoxygenase 2 (i.e. 15-LOX-2 or ALOX15B) to make 15(S)-HpETE and 15(S)-HETE. However this enzyme has a preference for metabolizing linoleic acid rather than arachidonic acid. It therefore forms linoleic acid metabolites (e.g. 13-hydoxyperoxy/hydroxy-octadecadienoic and 9-hydroperoxy/hydroxyl-octadecadienoic acids) in greater amounts than 15(S)-HpETE and 15(S)-HETE. 15-LOX-2 also differs from 15-LOX-1 in that it does not make 12(S)-HpETE or the leukotriene A4 isomer cited above.
Cyclooxygenase: Cells can use prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 1 (i.e. cyclooxygenenase-1 or COX-1) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (COX-2) to metabolize arachidonic acid primarily to prostaglandins but also to small amounts of 11(R)-HETE and a racemic mixture of 15-HETEs composed of ~22% 15(R)-HETE and ~78% 15(S)-HETE. When pretreated with aspirin, however, COX-1 is inactive while COX-2 attacks arachidonic acid to produce almost exclusively 15(R)-HETE along with its presumed precursor 15(R)-HpETE.
Microsome metabolism: Human and rat microsomal cytochrome P450s, e.g. CYP2C19, metabolize arachidonic acid to a racemic mixture of 15-HETEs, i.e., 15(R,S)-HETEs, >90% of which is the 15(R) stereoisomer.
Autoxidation: The spontaneous and non-enzymatically induced autoxidation of arachidonic acid yields 15(R,S)-hydroperoxy-5Z,8Z,11Z,13E-eicosatetraenoic acids. This non-enzymatic reaction is promoted in cells undergoing oxidative stress. Cells forming this racemic mixture of 15-hydroperoxy products may convert then to 15(R,S)-HETEs and other products. However, the uncontrolled overproduction of the 15-hydroperoxy products may react with other elements to produce cell injury.
Further metabolism
The newly formed products formed by the pathways cited in the previous section are bioactive but may also flow into down-stream pathways to form other metabolites with a different sets of bioactivity. The initially formed 15(S)-HpETE may be further metabolized by its parent cell or pass it to nearby cell by a process termed transcellular metabolism.
15(S)-HpETE may be:
Rapidly reduced to 15(S)-HETE by ubiquitous cellular peroxidase reactions including those possessed by prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase-1 and -2, prostacyclin synthase, thromboxane synthase, and various glutathione peroxidases.
Acylated into membrane phospholipids, particularly phosphatidylinositols and phosphatidylethanolamine. The 15(S)-HpETE is bound primarily at the sn-2 position of these phospholipids (see Phospholipase) and may be reduced to 15(S)-HETE thereby forming their 15(S)-HETE-bound phospholipoid analogs. Phosphatidylinositol phospholipids with 15(S)-HETE in the sn-2 position can be attacked by phospholipase C to form corresponding diglycerides with 15(S)-HETE at their sn-2 positions.
Metabolized by 15-LO-1 to its 14,15-trans-epoxide, 14,15-trans-epoxide-oxido-5Z,8Z,10E,13E-eicosatetraenoic acid (i.e., eoxin A4 or EXA4), and thereafter to 14(R)-glutothionyl-15(S)-hydroxy-5Z,8Z,10E,13E-eicosatetraenoic acid (i.e. eoxin C4 or EXC4) by leukotriene C4 synthase. EXC4 contains glutathione (i.e. γ-L-glutamyl-L-cysteinylglycine) bound in the R configuration to carbon 14. EXC4 is further metabolized by removal of the γ-L-glutamyl residue to form EXD4 which is in turn further metabolized by removal of the glycine residue to form EXE4. These metabolic transformations are similar to those in the pathway that metabolizes arachidonic acid to LTA4, LTC4, LTD4, and LTE4 and presumed to be conducted by the same enzymes (Eoxins are also termed 14,15-leukotrienes or 14,15-LTs).
Metabolized alternatively by 15-LO-1 to various 8,15-diHETEs including the two 8(R) and 8(S) diastereomers of 8,15(S)-dihydroxy-5,9,11,13-eicosatetraenoic acid (8,15-leukotrienes B4) and to two isomeric erythro-14,15-dihydroxy-5-cis-8,10,12-eicosatetraenoic acids (14,15-leukotrienes B4).
Metabolized by 15-LOX-2 to 11(S)-hydroxy-14(S),15(S)-epoxy-5(Z),8(Z),12(E)-eicosatrienoic acid and 13(R)-hydroxy-14(S),15(S)-epoxy-5(Z),8(Z),11(Z)-eicosatrienoic acid; these two products are novel hepoxilins produced by ALOX15 rather than ALOX12, the enzyme responsible for making the various other hepoxilins in humans. The two novel hepoxilins are termed respectively 14,15-HXA3 and 14,15-HXB3. 14,15-HXA3 can be further metabolized by glutathione transferases to 11(S),15(S)-dihydroxy-14(R)-glutathionyl-(5Z),8(Z),12(E)-eicosatrienoic acid (14,15-HXA3C) which is then further metabolized to 11(S),15(S)-dihydroxy-14(R)-cysteinyl-glycyl-(5Z),8(Z),12(E)-eicosatrienoic acid (14,15-HXA3D).
Isomerized to 15(S)-hydroxy-11,12-cis-epoxy-5Z,8Z,13E-eicosatrienoic acid (i.e., 15-H-11,12-EETA) by a hydroperoxide isomerase activity and then to 11,12,15-trihydroxy-5Z,8Z,12E-eicosatrienoic acid (i.e. 11,12,15-THETA) and 11,14,15-trihydroxy-5Z,8Z,12E-eicosatrienoic acid (i.e., 11,14,15-THETA) by a soluble epoxide hydrolase activity or, by acid in a non-enzymatic reaction (the R, S configuration of the hydroxy residues in the latter two metabolites has not been defined).
Isomerized to threo and erythro diastereoisomers of 13-hydroxy-14,15-cis-epoxy-5Z,8Z,11Z-eicosatrienoic acid (i.e., 15-H-11,12-EETA) by a hydroperoxide isomerase activity, possibly a cytochrome P450, i.e. CYP2J2.
Metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes such as CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP1B1, and CYP2S1 to 15-oxo-ETE.
Metabolized in skin epidermis by epidermis-type lipoxygenase 3 (eLOX3, encoded by the ALOXE3 gene) to make two products, hepoxilin A3 (HxA3, i.e., 13R-hydroxy-14(S),15(S)-epoxy-5Z,8Z,11Z-eicosatetraenoic acid) and 15-oxo-ETE).
Converted to its 14,15-epoxide derivative, eoxin A4, and further metabolized to eoxin C4, eoxin D4, and eoxin E4 (there is no eoxin B4).
Degraded non-enzymatically to various cell-injuring electrophiles such as 4-hydroxy-2(E)-nonenal and 4-oxo-2(E)-nonenal.
15(S)-HETE may be:
Oxidized to its keto analog, 15-oxo-ETE, by the same enzyme that converts prostaglandins of the A, E, and F series to their 15-keto analogs viz., NAD+-dependent 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase; 15-oxo-ETE, similar to 15(S)-HETE, may be acylated into membrane phosphatidylethanolamine or, similar to 15(S)-HpETE, conjugated with glutathione to form a 13-cysteinyl-glycyl-glutamine adduct viz., 13-glutatione,15-oxo-5(S),8(Z),11(E)-eicosatrienoic acid; the latter metabolite is attacked by γ-glutamyl-transferase to form 13-cysteinyl-glycine,15-oxo-5(S),8(Z),11(E)-eicosatrienoic acid.
Acylated into membrane phospholipids, particularly phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylethanolamine. Phospholipid products contain this 15(S)-HETE most likely at the sn-2 position. 15(S)-HETE-containing-phospholipids may also be made directly by the action of 15-LO-1 on membrane phosphatidylinositols or phosphatidylethanolamines containing arachidonic acid at the sn-2 positions. The phosphatidylethanolamine-bound 15-HETE may be converted to phosphatidylethanolamine-bound 15-oxo-ETE.
Oxygenated by 5-lipoxygenase (ALOX5) to form its 5,6-trans epoxide derivative which may then rearrange to the lipoxins (LX), LXA4 (i.e. 5(S),6(R),15(S)-trihydroxy-7E,9E,11Z,13E-eicosatetraenoic acid) and LXB4 (i.e., 5(S),14(R),15(S)-trihydroxy-6E,8Z,10E,12E-eicosatetraenoic acid) or to 5(S),15(S)-dihydroperoxy-6E,8Z,11Z,13E-eicosatetraenoate (i.e., 5(S),15(S)-diHETE). 5(S),15(S)-diHETE may then be oxidized to 5-oxo-15(S)-hydroxy-6E,8Z,11Z,13E-eicosatetraenoate (i.e., 5-oxo-15(S)-hydroxy-ETE). The latter two metabolites may also be made by 15-LO's metabolism of 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (i.e. 5-HETE) and 5-oxo-eicosatetraenoic acid (i.e. 5-oxo-ETE), respectively.
15(R)-HpETE may be:
Reduced to 15(R)-HETE by the same pathway that reduces 5(S)-HpETE to 15(S)-HETE.
Similar to 15(S)-HpETE, subject to decomposition to form various bifuctional potentially toxic electrophiles such as 4-hydroxy-2(E)-nonenal and 4-oxo-2(E)-nonenal.
15(R)-HETE may be:
Similar to 15(S)-HETE, oxidized by NAD-dependent 5-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase to form 15-oxo-ETE which product can be converted its 13-cysteinyl-glycyl-glutamyl and then 13-cysteinyl-glycine products as described above for 5(S)-HETE.
Similar to 15(S)-HETE, oxygenated by ALOX5 to form its 5,6-oxido derivative which then rearranges to the 15(R) diastereomers of LXA4 and (LXB4 viz., 15-epi-LXA4 5(S),6(R),15(R)-trihydroxy-7E,9E,11Z,13E-eicosatetraenoic acid) and 15-epi-LXB4 (i.e., 5(S),14(R),15(S)-trihydroxy-6E,8Z,10E,12E-eicosatetraenoic acid, respectively.
Activities
15(S)-HpETE and 15(S)-HETE
Most studies have analyzed the action of 15(S)-HETE but not that of its less stable precursor 15(S)-HpETE. Since this precursor is rapidly converted to 15(S)-HETE in cells, it is likely that the two metabolites share similar activities. In many studies, however, is not clear that these activities reflect their intrinsic action or reflect their conversion to the metabolites sited above.
15(S)-HpETE and 15(S)-HETE bind to and activate the G protein-coupled receptor, leukotriene B4 receptor 2, i.e. BLT2. This receptor activation may mediate, at least in part, certain cell-stimulating activities of the two metabolites. BLT2 may be responsible in part or whole for mediating the growth-promoting and anti-apoptosis (i.e. anti-cell death) activities of 15(S)-HETE in cultured human breast cancer cells; human cancer colon cells, human hepatocellular HepG2 and SMMC7721 cancer cells; mouse 3T3 cells (a fibroblast cell line); rat PA adventitia fibroblasts; baby hamster kidney cells; and diverse types of vascular endothelial cells. These growth-stimulating effects could contribute to the progression of the cited cancer types in animal models or even humans and the excess fibrosis that causes the narrowing of pulmonary arteries in hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension or narrowing of portal arteries in the portal hypertension accompanying liver cirrhosis. 15(S)-HETE may also act through BLT2 to stimulate an immediate contractile response in rat pulmonary arteries and its angiogenic effect on human umbilical and dermal vascular endothelial cells.
15(S)-HpETE and 15(S)-HETE also directly bind with and activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. This activation may contribute to the ability of 15(S)-HETE to inhibit the growth of cultured human prostate cancer PC-3, LNCaP, and DU145 cell lines and non-malignant human prostate cells; lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells; human colorectal cancer cells; corneal epithelial cells; and Jurkat T-cell leukemia cells. The decline in the level of 15(S)-HpETE-forming enzymes and consequential fall in cellular 15-HETE production that occurs in human prostate cancer cells may be one mechanism by which this and perhaps other human cancer cells (e.g. those of the colon, rectum, and lung) avoid the apoptosis-inducing actions of 15(S)-HpETE and/or 15(S)-HETE and thereby proliferate and spread. In this scenario, 15(S)-HETE and one of its forming enzymes, particularly 15-LOX-2, appear to act as tumor suppressors.
Some of the inhibitory effects of 15(S)-HpETE and 15(S)-HETE, particularly when induced by high concentrations (e.g. >1-10 micromolar), may be due to a less specific mechanism: 15(S)-HpETE and to a lesser extent 15(S)-HETE induce the generation of reactive oxygen species. These species trigger cells to activate their death programs, i.e. apoptosis, and/or are openly toxic to the cells. 15(S)-HpETE and 15(S)-HETE inhibit angiogenesis and the growth of cultured human chronic myelogenous leukemia K-562 cells by a mechanism that is associated with the production of reactive oxygen species.
Several bifunctional electrophilic breakdown products of 15(S)-HpETE, e.g. 4-hydroxy-2(E)-nonenal, 4-hydroperoxy-2(E)-nonenal, 4-oxo-2(E)-nonenal, and cis-4,5-epoxy-2(E)-decanal, are mutagens in mammalian cells and thereby may contripute to the development and/or progression of human cancers.
15(R)-HETE
Similar to 15(S)-HpETE and 15(S)-HETE and with similar potency, 15(R)-HETE binds with and activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. The precursor of 15(R)-HETE, 15(R)-HpETE may, similar to 15(S)-HpETE, break down to the mutagenic products 4-hydroxy-2(E)-nonenal, 4-hydroperoxy-2(E)-nonenal, 4-oxo-2(E)-nonenal, and cis-4,5-epoxy-2(E)-decanal and therefore be involved in cancer development and/or progression.
15-Oxo-ETE
In cultured human monocytes of the THP1 cell line, 15-oxo-ETE inactivates IKKβ (also known as IKK2) thereby blocking this cell's NF-κB-mediated pro-inflammatory responses (e.g. lipopolysaccharide-induced production of TNFα, interleukin 6, and IL1B) while concurrently activating anti-oxidant responses upregulated through the anti-oxidant response element (ARE) by forcing cytosolic KEAP1 to release NFE2L2 which then moves to the nucleus, binds ARE, and induces production of, e.g. hemoxygenase-1, NADPH-quinone oxidoreductase, and possibly glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier. By these actions, 15-oxo-ETE may dampen inflammatory and/or oxidative stress responses. In a cell-free system, 15-oxo-ETE is a moderately potent (IC50=1 μM) inhibitor of 12-lipoxygenase but not other human lipoxygenases. This effect could also have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects by blocking the formation of 12-HETE and hepoxilins. 15-Oxo-ETE is an example of an α,β unsaturated ketone electrophile. These ketones are highly reactive with nucleophiles, adducting to, for example, the cysteines in transcription and transcription-related regulatory factors and enzymes to form their alkylated and thereby often inactivated products. It is presumed that the preceding activities of 15-oxo-ETE reflect its adduction to the indicated elements. 15-Oxo-ETE, at 2-10 μM, also inhibits the proliferation of cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells and LoVo human colorectal cancer cells and at the extremely high concentration of 100 μM inhibits the proliferation of cultured MBA-MD-231 and MCF7 breast cancer cells as well as SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells. They may use a similar "protein-adduction" mechanism; if so the target protein(s) for these effects have not been defined or even suggested. This 15-oxo-ETE action may prove to inhibit the remodeling of blood vessels and reduce the growth of the cited cell types and cancers. At sub-micromolar concentrations, 15-oxo-ETE has weak chemotaxis activity for human monocytes and could serve to recruit this white blood cell into inflammatory responses.
5-Oxo-15(S)-hydroxy-ETE
5-Oxo-15(S)-hydroxy-ETE is properly a member of the 5-HETE family of agonists which binds to the oxoeicosanoid receptor 1, a G protein-coupled receptor, to activate its various target cells. As such, it is a potent stimulator of leukocytes, particularly eosinophils, as well as other OXE1-bearing cells including MDA-MB-231, MCF7, and SKOV3 cancer cells (see 5-Hydroxyicosatetraenoic acid and 5-Oxo-eicosatetraenoic acid).
It also binds with and activates PPARγ and thereby can stimulate or inhibit cells independently of OXE1.
Lipoxins
LXA4, LXB4, AT-LXA4, and AT-LXB4 are specialized proresolving mediators, i.e. they potently inhibit the progression and contribute to the resolution of diverse inflammatory and allergic reactions.
Eoxins
Eoxin A4, eoxin C4, eoxin D4, and eoxin E4 are analogs of leukotriene A4, C4, leukotriene D4, and E4. Formation of the leukotrienes is initiated by 5-lipoxygenase metabolism of arachidonic acid to form a 5,6-epoxide viz, leukotriene A4; the latter metabolite is then converted to C4, D4, and E4 in succession. Formation of the eoxins is initiated by a 15-lipoxyenase-mediated metabolism of arachiconic acid to a 14,15-epoxide, eoxin A4 followed by its serial conversion to epoxins C4, D4, and E4 using the same pathways and enzymes that metabolize leukotriene A4 to its down-stream products. Preliminary studies have found that the eoxins have pro-inflammatory actions, suggest that they are involved in severe asthma, aspirin-induced asthma attacks, and perhaps other allergic reactions. The production of eoxins by Reed-Sternburg cells has also led to suggestion that they are involve in the lymphoma of Hodgkins disease. Drugs blocking the 15-lipoxygenases may be useful for inhibiting inflammation by reducing the production of the eoxins.
See also
Epi-lipoxin
Eoxin
Specialized pro-resolving mediators
References
External links
15-LOX Gene Atlas entry
15-LOX BRENDA homo sapiens entry
Fatty acids
Eicosanoids
Cell biology
Immunology | 15-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid | [
"Biology"
] | 6,829 | [
"Immunology",
"Cell biology"
] |
44,358,770 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM%2050 | AM 50 is a Czech automatically launched assault bridge used by combat engineers for crossing narrow obstacles such as rivers, canals, and ditches. It is mounted on heavy vehicles (such as the unarmored or lightly armored Tatra 815 8×8 truck), and can bridge a gap up to .
The AM 50 was developed for the Czechoslovak Army in the late 1960s. Today it is in use in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, India and Pakistan.
See also
Armoured vehicle-launched bridge
Bailey bridge
References
Military bridging equipment
Armoured vehicle-launched bridges
Armoured fighting vehicles of Czechoslovakia
Year of introduction missing | AM 50 | [
"Engineering"
] | 122 | [
"Military bridging equipment",
"Military engineering"
] |
44,358,781 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointr | Pointr is a startup company based in London specialized in indoor positioning and navigation utilising iBeacons, which are Bluetooth Low Energy devices formalised by Apple Inc. Pointr have created a GPS-like experience with true position and turn-by-turn navigation that is supported by most modern smartphones operating on both Android and iOS. Analytics and messaging modules can be added on to help communicate with users and understand venue usage respectively.
The features are provided through a software package (SDK) which aims to improve user experience whilst connecting the online and offline worlds. Many of the features are available without an internet connection, including sending messages between users with a form of Mesh networking, however for intelligent offers and live analytics then an internet connection is required. The markets where the technology is most frequently used are retail, exhibition centres, airports and museums, but there are a number of uses in hospitals, warehouses, offices and entertainment venues as well. The majority of software development is done in their office in Istanbul, with specialist modules created in London. The technology is commonly used in permanent installations where the SDK is offered with a license fee model, however some installations have been temporary and hence one-off payments have been used.
History
Pointr was founded in November 2013 by Ege Akpinar under the name Indoorz; he was then joined by co-founders Axel Katalan, Chris Charles and Can Akpinar in early 2014. The software was developed for seven months before launching, allowing time to build and test the product. In November 2014 the company adopted its current name of Pointr after receiving a client question about whether it could work outdoors as well. Pointr raised its first round of angel funding in January 2015 and has grown steadily with its first customers in retail, warehouses, offices and libraries. In February 2015, Pointr was accepted onto the Microsoft Ventures accelerator program based in Liverpool Street, London. Pointr are also supported by Level 39 (the Fintech Accelerator programme for Canary Wharf Group) and have installed their technology there to locate colleagues and assist new users navigating the venue.
References
External links
2014 software
Android (operating system) software
IOS software
Indoor positioning system | Pointr | [
"Technology"
] | 441 | [
"Wireless networking",
"Wireless locating",
"Indoor positioning system"
] |
44,358,983 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural%20effects%20of%20the%20Western%20African%20Ebola%20virus%20epidemic | The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa has had a large effect on the culture of most of the West African countries. In most instances, the effect is a rather negative one as it has disrupted many Africans’ traditional norms and practices. For instance, many West African communities rely on traditional healers and witch doctors, who use herbal remedies, massage, chant and witchcraft to cure just about any ailment. Therefore, it is difficult for West Africans to adapt to foreign medical practices. Specifically, West African resistance to Western medicine is prominent in the region, which calls for severe distrust of Western and modern medical personnel and practices.
Similarly, some African cultures have a traditional solidarity of standing by the sick, which is contrary to the safe care of an Ebola patient. This tradition is known as "standing by the ill" in order to show one's respect and honor to the patient. According to the Wesley Medical Center, these sorts of traditional norms can be dangerous to those not infected with the virus as it increases their chances of coming in contact with their family member's bodily fluids. In Liberia, Ebola has wiped out entire families, leaving perhaps one survivor to recount stories of how they simply could not be hands off while their loved ones were sick in bed, because of their culture of touch, hold, hug and kiss.
Some communities traditionally use folklore and mythical literature, which is often passed on verbally from one generation to the next to explain the interrelationships of all things that exist. However the folklore and songs are not only of traditional or ancient historical origins, but are often about current events that have affected the community. Additionally, folklore and music will often take opposing sides of any story. Thus early in the Ebola epidemic, the song "White Ebola" was released by a diaspora based group and centers on the general distrust of "outsiders" who may be intentionally infecting people.
This initial misinformation increased the general distrust in foreigners, and the idea that Ebola was not in Africa before their arrival led to attacks on many health workers, as well as blockages of aid convoys blocked from checking remote areas. A burial team, which was sent in to collect the bodies of suspected Ebola victims from West Point in Liberia, was blocked by several hundred residents chanting: "No Ebola in West Point." Health ministries and workers started an aggressive Ebola information campaign on all media formats to properly inform the residents and allow aid workers safe access to the high risk areas. In Guinea, riots broke out after medics disinfected a market in Nzerekore. Locals rumored that the medics were actually spreading the disease. In nearby Womey, 8 people distributing information about Ebola were killed by the villagers.
West African cultural traditions and norms
The Ebola epidemic of 2014 has forced West Africans to face numerous difficulties on a daily basis regarding their traditional norms and practices. In essence, their traditions have been severely disrupted due to the Ebola virus. For instance, West Africans have had the tendency to remain close to their sick family members to nurse them during illness for centuries. Unfortunately for West African communities, many have been encouraged to keep their distance from their infected family members as potential contact could be fatal. In addition, it is part of their culture to touch the deceased at funerals and for the sister of the deceased's father to bathe, clean, and dress the corpse in a favorite outfit. When there is not an aunt to perform this task, a female elder in their community is then held responsible. Not only is it customary to wash and touch the deceased, but also to kiss those that have passed.
Specifically, funerals are considered to be major cultural events for families and friends to gather around to celebrate the deceased. The funeral performances, which involve wailing and dancing, is done out of care and respect for the dead. Funerals in West Africa often last for several days, depending on the status of the person who died. In other words, the more important the person who died was while they were alive, the longer the mourning will last. More importantly, there is a common bowl used for ritual hand washing towards the end of the ceremony, including a final kiss or touch on the face, which is to be bestowed on the dead. This is commonly referred to as a "love touch." The Wesley Medical Center has confirmed that prohibiting West African families from performing such rites is a disgrace as it insults the deceased, putting the remaining family in danger. Specifically, it is believed that the dead person's spirit, also known as "tibo," will cause harm and bring illness to the family as a result of an improper burial.
Resistance to Western medicine
Resistance to Western medicine is considered to be a significant barrier to battling the Ebola virus. The Wesley Medical Center claims that the interference with West African burial rituals caused by Western medical practices has prohibited them from properly honoring their loved ones. They believe that this may have been a reason for heightened distrust in medical professionals, and that the mistrust enhances each time family members of infected persons are prohibited from participating in the funeral or seeing the dead body in person. Due to the mistrust, Ebola-stricken communities in Liberia reportedly hid family members with Ebola from health care providers and held secret burials. In Sierra Leone, health workers made more progress because health measures were implemented according to WHO guidance, which advises health workers to heed the traditions of the threatened communities when attending to the dead. Therefore, funerals were held in agreement with the wishes of the families, but also gave health workers an opportunity to disinfect the bodies. In many of the Ebola infected areas in Africa, Western medicine is also believed either to be ineffective or to be the actual origin of the virus. In other words, there is a belief among the African community that Western doctors are intentionally killing their patients with their treatments. A conspiracy theory also says that the medical professionals are planning to harvest the organs of those dying from Ebola.
Resistance to Western medicine exists also because of the look of the hazmat suits, which are worn by healthcare workers to protect themselves from becoming infected with the Ebola virus. The protective equipment is said to frighten many West Africans and also believed to be hostile and intimidating to the West African families. Lastly, the interference in the family's care for the patient diminishes the honor of the patient as well as hindering the family's duty to provide comfort and care. Regardless of the existing resistance towards Western medicine, handling the bodies of the deceased poses a high risk of contagion as Ebola is contracted through physical contact with an infected person's bodily fluids. This is mainly because preparation for burial includes touching, washing, and kissing as is mentioned above. Those that are preparing for the funeral can become easily infected as they can easily become exposed to the infected person's blood, vomit, diarrhea, and other bodily fluids as these are the main symptoms of the virus.
Traditional medical practices
Apart from the fact that traditional West African healers have been using ritual and herbal remedies for many centuries, the West African people also trust these treatments and find the costs more affordable. Traditional procedures include the following: magic, biomedical methods, fasting, dieting, herbal therapies, bathing, massage, as well as surgery. Surgical procedures often involve cutting a patient's skin with unsterilized knives. Sometimes, traditional healers apply blood to the skin to rid them of their sickness. Despite the severe distrust of Africans in modern medicine, the Ebola virus has been said to spread rampantly across West Africa due to a shortage of healthcare workers and limited medical resources and facilities. The unsanitary conditions in the overall West African region have also made it easier for Ebola to spread.
Personal account of a West African student
Alakey Osei, a student and bank-teller from Freetown, Sierra Leone, described the Sierra Leonean capital as a ghost-town, as a result of the increasing death toll in the West African region caused by the Ebola epidemic. Osei states that "everyone is scared to be out of their houses. No one is going to church or mosque, no one is going to work, the kids are not going to school, [and] people are not even going to the market place". The fact that the city of Freetown has been completely abandoned is foreign to the student, because the nation is and has always been heavily reliant on physical contact and very close interaction. Osei has indicated that following the no touching rule that the medical personnel have been promoting is extremely difficult for her. Osei continues by saying that she does not even know how her people are surviving.
In her interview, Osei provides some insight about her childhood. She moved to US in 2008, when she was thirteen years old. She experienced extensive bullying for her obliviousness to American culture and simply for being the "uncivilized" African. For example, others had asked her if she was getting accustomed to wearing shoes since people do not wear shoes in Africa. She was also called names, such as monkey and pre-historic. As a result of this cruelty, she began to believe that American culture was very cold. She also noticed that Americans were "protective of their property", space, and time. She concluded that American society is "extremely individualistic". This truly made her miss living in Africa, "... where every woman is your mother and every man is your father, ... where you are never alone, because everyone is family and family is all around you".
As of October 2014, the Ebola virus had not reached her home-town back in Sierra Leone; however, she said that her family still living in the country claimed that Freetown did not "feel like the same place" anymore. Her aunt had told her that people were not sharing food anymore nor spending time at each other's houses as they used to because of the fear of becoming infected. Osei finds it heart-breaking that people in Sierra Leone have turned to isolation as a way to stay Ebola-free. Osei now says that "Freetown has become Fear-town", and that "Ebola has turned us into prisoners in our own country".
Bushmeat
The Ebola virus, for which the primary host is suspected to be fruit bats, has been linked to bushmeat, which is commonly consumed in areas of West Africa that use it as a protein source. Although primates and other species may be intermediates, evidence suggests people primarily get the virus from bats. Hunters usually shoot, net, scavenge or catapult their prey, and butcher the bats without gloves, getting bites or scratches and coming in contact with their blood.
In 2014, the suspected index case for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is a two-year-old child in Guéckédou in south-eastern Guinea, who was the child of a family that hunted two species of fruit bat, Hypsignathus monstrosus and Epomops franqueti. Some researchers suggested the case was caused by zoonotic transmission through the child playing with an insectivorous bat from a colony of Angolan free-tailed bats near the village.
Despite health organisations warning about risks of bushmeat, surveys pre-dating the 2014 outbreak indicate that people who eat bushmeat are usually unaware of the risks and view it as healthy food. Because of bushmeat's role as a protein source in Western Africa, it is traditionally associated with good nutrition, and efforts to outlaw the sale and consumption of bushmeat have been impossible to enforce and have met with suspicion from rural communities. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that between 30 and 80 percent of protein intake in rural households in Central Africa comes from wild meat.
One major Nigerian newspaper published a report about the widespread view that eating dog meat was a healthy alternative to bush meat. Dog meat was implicated in a June 2015 Liberian outbreak of Ebola, where three villagers who had tested positive for the disease had shared a meal of dog meat.
Ebola in print
Crisis in the Hot Zone
Article written for The New Yorker by Richard Preston. A short chronicle of how Marburg virus and Ebola virus may have entered the United States.
The Hot Zone
A non-fiction thriller also by Richard Preston, following a few of the incidents and origins of viral hemorrhagic fevers.
Ebola: A Documentary Novel of Its First Explosion in Zaire by a Doctor Who Was There
A self-written chronicle of American surgeon William Close's experiences during the 1976 Ebola outbreak.
Executive Orders
A fictional thriller by Tom Clancy, where a strain of Ebola virus is used as a biological weapon.
Ebola: Through the Eyes of the People
A novelization of individuals' experiences and reactions during the 1976 Ebola outbreak by William Close.
Ebola: Die Entfesselte Seuche
The September 2014 issue of the German magazine Der Spiegel cover featured Ebola-related graphic, and articles about the epidemic. One of the articles had an interview with Peter Piot, one of the discoverers of the Ebola disease in the 1970s.
Called for Life: How Loving Our Neighbor Led Us into the Heart of the Ebola Epidemic
A memoir by an American doctor and his wife about their experiences in Liberia and the United States during the 2013–2016 West African outbreak. Dr. Kent Brantly became the first American to return to the United States to be treated for Ebola virus disease.
Having and Fighting Ebola — Public Health Lessons from a Clinician Turned Patient
In February 2015, The New England Journal of Medicine published Dr Craig Spencer's self written account of his fight against Ebola, and the nationwide effects of his infection.
Ebola in film
Outbreak
A medical disaster film, loosely based on Richard Preston's book, The Hot Zone, that focuses on a fictional outbreak of an Ebola-like virus in Zaire and the United States.
Ebola Syndrome
A fictional film in which the antagonist gets infected by Ebola; however being immune he becomes a living carrier. He then infects many others through his further misdeeds.
Dasavathaaram
A science fiction disaster film where a bio weapon using a combination of Marburg and Ebola is created. It is eventually destroyed by a "large quantity of salt".
Ebola in music
"White Ebola"
A political song by Mr. Monrovia, AG Da Profit and Daddy Cool, centered on the general mistrust of foreigners.
"Ebola Is Real"
A hip hop tune done in collaboration with Liberian hipco artists F.A., Soul Fresh, DenG, Adolphus Scott (a Liberian communication specialist for UNICEF) and Liberia's Ministry of Health & Social.
"State of Emergency"
A hip hop tune by Tan Tan B and Quincy B, produced without government involvement.
"Ebola in Town"
A dance tune by D-12, Shadow and Kuzzy of 2 Kings, a group of West African rappers, warns people of the dangers of the Ebola virus and explaining how to react, became popular in Guinea and Liberia during the first quarter of 2014. A dance was developed in which no body contact was required, a rare occurrence in African dance. Some health care workers from the IFRC had concerns that the "Ebola In Town" song's warning "don't touch your friend" may worsen the stigma.
"Ebola est là" "(Ebola Is Here)"
A parody of Rihanna's "Umbrella" by Senegalese rapper Xuman. The song's lyrics warn locals that, "The disease is among our neighbours, Liberians and Guineans." The track was a hit.
"Africa Stop Ebola"
Features contributions from Malians Amadou & Mariam, Salif Keita, Oumou Sangaré, Kandia Kouyaté, Guinean Mory Kanté, Sia Tolno, Ivorian Tiken Jah Fakoly, Congolese Barbara Kanam and Senegalese Didier Awadi. It was recorded to raise awareness of Ebola and offers info on how people can protect themselves from the disease. The song is sung in several local languages, including English, French, Soussou, Bambara, Kissi and Lingala.
"Africa Must Stand and Fight Together Fight Ebola"
A George Weah and Ghanaian musician Sidney produced song to raise awareness about Ebola. All proceeds from the track been donated to the Liberian Health Ministry.
"Ebola Does Not Discriminate"
A song written and performed by Mohamed S Tyson Conteh ('Special C') with a music video produced by Future View Film Group, Purple Field Productions and WeOwnTV, asking Sierra Leoneans to follow the safe practices and precautions from the health authorities. The song also features a rap from local artist AOK.
"Lilies"
Grammy winner Lupe Fiasco released a song that includes Ebola as part of the lyrics, produced by The Buchanans and featuring Sirah.
"Do They Know It's Christmas?"
At a press conference on 10 November 2014, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure announced the Band Aid 30 project in aid of the Ebola crisis. Artists including One Direction, Bono, Chris Martin, Emeli Sande, Underworld, Sinéad O'Connor, Paloma Faith, Foals and Bastille recorded the adjusted lyrics for the song. On 16 November 2014 the song premiered in Britain's X Factor Sunday night results show, and was formally released on 17 November 2014.
"Ebola (La La)"
A controversial parody of Fergie's "L.A. Love (La La)", done by Rucka Rucka Ali.
"Let Us Live Together Again"
An anti-stigma track recorded by Lawrence Logan aka Marvellous, Abigail Vinton, Quincy Borrows and Florence Jlopeh in association with the Liberia Red Cross National Society and produced in collaboration with the Musicians Union of Liberia. The initiative, launched on 13 February 2015 aims to promotes tolerance, solidarity and compassion for the reintegration of Ebola survivors back into their communities.
Ebola in broadcasting
Friends
To break an awkward silence, Chandler Bing says, "So, the Ebola virus. That's gotta suck, huh?" In 2014, when Ebola reached America, some sources incorrectly said Chandler had predicted the Ebola outbreak, even though the disease had been discovered in 1976.
A 5-minute public service advert was carefully crafted by Adolphus Scott and others, to increase general Ebola awareness. The clip runs an estimated 5 times a day on Liberian local TV stations.
Liberian Radio programme directors have increased vernacular Ebola prevention programs' air time on 44 community radio stations to include most of the 30 minority languages used in the rural areas. Programmes of 30 minutes, 3 times a day, include commercials, phone-ins and news, broadcast in the local language. Only about 20% of Liberians understand English.
A Sierra Leone DJ, Amara Bangura, shares knowledge about Ebola in his weekly show which is transmitted on 35 stations in Sierra Leone. He takes selected questions from the text messages sent in and gets answers from health experts and government officials.
In October 2014, Sierra Leone launched a school by radio program, that will be transmitted on 41 of the local radio stations as well as on the only local TV station. There will be a variety of subjects on the 6 day a week, 4 hour shows. Education Minister Minkailu Bah raised concerns on the difficulty of reaching many of the school children with a 25% radio ownership and less than 2% TV. However schools are not expected to open until early 2015.
A 1-minute animated public service advert was produced by International SOS and MultiChoice. It was created for broadcast on the African satellite service that covers most of Africa. The pay-TV service had 8 million subscribers in Africa at that time.
#KickEbolOutOfSierraLeone
A group of Sierra Leonean filmmakers, Future View Film Group, put together several educational videos about Ebola. In November Prince William expressed his support in a quick video backed by the Ebola Does Not Discriminate track.
Surviving Ebola
On 8 October 2014, the US PBS debuted a television show which included first-hand interviews with Ebola survivors.
Today
Six US Ebola survivors were interviewed together on the show.
Alternative Christmas message
A former Ebola patient who recovered from Ebola after being infected while working as a nurse in West Africa, delivered the UK's Channel 4 Christmas message including info about the spread of the disease.
Ebola conspiracies
The Liberian Observer, a major Liberian newspaper, has repeatedly published Ebola-related conspiracy theories. In September 2014 it published an article claiming that Ebola and the AIDS virus are genetically modified organisms to be used as bio-weapons on Africans in an attempt to reduce Africa's population. In October the story went viral on social media.
As the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa developed in 2014, a number of popular self-published and well-reviewed books containing sensational and misleading information about the disease appeared in electronic and printed formats. The authors of some such books admitted that they lacked medical credentials and were not technically qualified to give medical advice. The World Health Organization and the United Nations stated that such misinformation had contributed to the spread of the disease.
In Liberia, some body-collection teams dispatched to collect the Ebola dead have collected bribes to issue falsified death certificates to family members, stating that their dead relative did not die from Ebola. The body of the Ebola victim would also be left with relatives. Ebola carries a stigma in Liberia, and some families do not want to admit that their relative died of Ebola. Another factor is that families wish to give their relative a traditional burial.
In late October 2014, it was reported that harassment of gay Liberians in Monrovia was occurring after some church leaders said that "God was angry with Liberians over corruption and immoral acts such as homosexuality, and that Ebola was a punishment". The harassment included car windows being smashed and some gay people were forced from their homes and had to go into hiding.
"The Ebola outbreak was sparked by a bewitched aircraft that crashed in a remote part of Sierra Leone, casting a spell over three West African countries – but a heavily alcoholic drink called bitter Kola can cure the virus."
"Some members of the community thought it was a bad spirit, a devil or poisoning."
At the beginning of the outbreak, many did not believe that the disease existed. "I thought it was a lie (invented) to collect money because at that moment I hadn't seen people affected in my community."
General
There are a number of Ebola-themed jokes circulating in West Africa to spread awareness.
In July 2014, the Liberian Football Association made an announcement that all soccer related activities would be put on hold "indefinitely to protect players and fans." In September 2014, in a joint venture between FIFA and WHO, the Antoinette Tubman Stadium was converted into an Ebola treatment center.
The 2015 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) was temporarily put on hold when the original hosts, Morocco, asked the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to postpone the final games till 2016, due to the Ebola outbreak. CAF eventually moved the finals to Equatorial Guinea, which eliminated Morocco from the game as hosts, and brought Equatorial Guinea in, even though they had been eliminated prior.
However the qualifiers for 2015 AFCON have been influenced by many countries' fear of Ebola, with many refusing to enter or allow entry of teams from affected countries. In July 2014, Seychelles refused entry to the Sierra Leone team. CAF ruled that Seychelles forfeited the game, giving Sierra Leone an automatic pass to the next stage. Lesotho refused to send the Under-20 team to Nigeria. CAF again ruled that Lesotho forfeited the game, sending Nigeria through to the finals.
In August 2014, CAF also decided to forbid any official games in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. For Liberia, who had already been eliminated, this was not of concern. Sierra Leone managed to move some home games to the visiting team's home; both home and away games against DR Congo were played in Lubumbashi, and both games against Cameroon were played in Yaounde. Guinea managed to get their home games moved to Casablanca, Morocco.
Even after calls to have the 2015 AFCON postponed, the Equatorial Guinea government and CAF organisers have downplayed these concerns, and insisted that they would have ample measures in place, including:
Temperature check for all passengers arriving at the international airports.
Photograph and fingerprints of international passengers.
Immunization certificates with detailed medical history.
Hand sanitizer to be used at all stadium turnstiles.
30 specialist doctors on standby.
On 7 August 2014, a social media hoax message was doing the rounds in Nigeria. It urged readers to "bath with hot water and salt before daybreak" and to drink as much of it as possible. On 8 August, the person who started the joke message to see how many of their friends would fall for it, identified it as such and posted an apology. The hoax message quickly went viral when "several gullible, unsophisticated opinion leaders" repeated the hoax message. Within days many were hospitalized due to excessive salt intake, with 2 deaths in Jos, Plateau, 2 deaths in Makurdi, Benue and at least 3 deaths in Bauchi.
It is ironic that these deaths all happened in states that had no known EVD infected people. In fact only Lagos State and Rivers State had any infected. Furthermore, the unconfirmed death toll of the hoax cure is as many as the EVD death toll for Nigeria, with 8 deaths each.
In two separate incidents in October, flights have been delayed from disembarking because of an Ebola joke. On 8 October 2014, US Airways flight 845 from Philadelphia to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic was held up for two hours on the tarmac when an American passenger sneezed, then announced "I have Ebola. You're all screwed," during the flight. After landing, he was escorted off the plane by four emergency personnel wearing blue hazmat suits, and detained until medical tests cleared him. On 30 October 2014, during the Aer Lingus flight EI 433, from Milan, Italy to Dublin, Ireland a passenger wrote "'Attenzione Ebola'" ("Attention Ebola") on a coffee lid before handing it to his daughter. The container and lid were discreetly disposed of, however a flight attendant noticed, and alerted the captain. The passenger was arrested, and later pleaded guilty to "engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behavior on an airplane contrary to the Air Navigation and Transport Act", and was fined 2500 euros.
See also
Ebola-chan
Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa
References
External links
Ebola and the Culture Makers
2015 Africa Cup of Nations
West African Ebola virus epidemic
West African Ebola virus epidemic
West African Ebola virus epidemic | Cultural effects of the Western African Ebola virus epidemic | [
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] | 5,564 | [
"Health-related conspiracy theories",
"Science and technology-related conspiracy theories"
] |
44,360,676 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octotiamine | Octotiamine (INN, JAN; Gerostop, Neuvita, Neuvitan), also known as thioctothiamine, is an analogue of vitamin B1 which is used in Japan and Finland.
See also
Vitamin B1 analogue
References
Thiamine | Octotiamine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 58 | [
"Organic compounds",
"Organic compound stubs",
"Organic chemistry stubs"
] |
44,360,803 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin%20B1%20analogues | {{DISPLAYTITLE:Vitamin B1 analogues}}
Vitamin B1 analogues are analogues of vitamin B1, thiamine. They typically have improved bioavailability relative to thiamine itself, and are used to treat conditions caused by vitamin B1 deficiency. These conditions include beriberi, Korsakoff's syndrome, Wernicke's encephalopathy and diabetic neuropathy.
List of vitamin B1 analogues
Vitamin B1 analogues include:
See also
B vitamins
Thiamine pyrophosphate, a thiamine derivative
References
Thiamine | Vitamin B1 analogues | [
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] | 125 | [
"Organic compounds",
"Organic compound stubs",
"Organic chemistry stubs"
] |
44,362,530 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paroxypropione | Paroxypropione, also known as paraoxypropiophenone, is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen which has been used medically as an antigonadotropin in Spain and Italy but appears to no longer be marketed. It was first synthesized in 1902. The antigonadotropic properties of the drug were discovered in 1951 and it entered clinical use shortly thereafter.
Pharmacology
Pharmacodynamics
Paroxypropione is closely related structurally to p-hydroxybenzoic acid and parabens such as methylparaben, and also bears a close resemblance to diethylstilbestrol (which, in fact, produces paroxypropione as an active metabolite) and alkylphenols like nonylphenol, all of which are also estrogens. The drug possesses relatively low affinity for the estrogen receptor and must be given at high dosages to achieve significant estrogenic and antigonadotropic effects, for instance, 0.8 to 1.6 g/day. It possesses 0.1% of the estrogenic activity and less than 0.5% of the antigonadotropic potency of estrone.
Chemistry
Synthesis
The highest reported yield, approximately 96%, is from the between phenol and propionyl chloride. The mechanism is likely to involve initial esterification to give phenyl propionate, which then undergoes a Fries rearrangement.
Derivatives
Paroxypropione is a precursor in the chemical synthesis of diethylstilbestrol and dienestrol.
Society and culture
Names
Brand names Frenantol, Frenormon, Hypophenon, Paroxon, Possipione, Profenone, numerous others; former developmental code name NSC-2834, also known as paroxypropiophenone (P.O.P.) or 4'-hydroxypropiophenone.
Research
Paroxypropione was studied and used in the treatment of breast cancer.
References
Further reading
Abandoned drugs
Antigonadotropins
Antioxidants
Aromatic ketones
Synthetic estrogens
Substances discovered in the 1900s | Paroxypropione | [
"Chemistry"
] | 459 | [
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
44,362,569 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HR%206819 | HR 6819, also known as HD 167128 or QV Telescopii (abbreviated QV Tel), is a double star system in the southern constellation of Telescopium. It is in the south-western corner of the constellation, near Pavo to the south and Ara to the west. The system appears as a variable star that is dimly visible to the naked eye with an apparent magnitude that ranges from 5.32 down to 5.39, which is comparable to the maximum brightness of the planet Uranus. It is about from the Sun, and is drifting farther away at a rate of . Due to its location in the sky, it is visible only to observers south of 33°N latitude.
A May 2020 study hypothesized that the system contained two stars and a black hole, which would have been the closest known black hole, and the first one in a system visible to the naked eye. A study in July of the same year concluded that rather than a triple system it was much more likely to be a black hole and a star orbiting at one distance from here and another star at a different distance. Three further papers in 2020 and one in 2022 concluded that HR 6819 is simply a binary system with two main-sequence stars and no black hole at all.
Nomenclature
HR 6819 is the Bright Star Catalogue designation for this star. It also has the Henry Draper Catalogue designation HD 167128 and the Hipparcos designation HIP 89605. The General Catalogue of Variable stars includes this system as a variable similar to but not properly of the Gamma Cassiopeiae type, with the variable star designation QV Telescopii, indicating that it is the 330th confirmed variable star (excluding stars with Bayer designations) in the constellation Telescopium.
History of discoveries
HR 6819 was originally considered a single star but it was noted by astronomers Dachs and Slettebak that its absorption spectrum displays characteristics of both Be and B3III stars. In 2003, Monika Maintz concluded that the spectrum of HR 6819 contained the signatures of two stars, though there were not enough observations to deduce an orbital period. Further observations by Rivinius et al. in 2009 were able to disentangle the spectra of the two stars, and the same team conducted thorough radial velocity measurements in 2019 and proposed the presence of an unseen stellar-mass black hole within the system. This triple star hypothesis was challenged in 2020 by Mohammadtaher Safarzadeh, Sivia Toonen, and Abraham Loeb.
According to the interpretation of Rivinius et al. in 2019, HR 6819 was a hierarchical triple containing a classical Be star in a wide orbit of unknown period around an inner 40.3 day binary consisting of a B3 III star and a non-emitting (non-accreting) black hole (), designated Ab.
Assuming that the two stars have similar masses would mean that there is a third, invisible, body in the system, as the other component in the 40-day orbit. Analysis of the orbital parameters then indicated that the third body was so massive that it could only be a black hole.
However, later work found another explanation, namely that the moving star is actually much lighter, but emitting a similar amount of light. In that case there is no need to invoke the presence of a black hole. This explanation is supported by the detection of motion in the hydrogen disk surrounding the other star, with the 40-day period. The model with a Be star and a stripped giant star, but no black hole, has been confirmed in a further paper published in 2022.
System
The spectrum of HR 6819 contains both narrow and broadened lines. The broad lines originate from a rapidly-rotating Be star (a B-class star with emission lines in its spectrum), while the narrow lines are from a more slowly-rotating B-class star. The radial velocity variations of the lines indicate that the normal B-class star is in a 40-day orbit, but the Be star does not show detectable radial velocity oscillation.
Although the HR 6819 system has been described as a member of the Sco OB2 association of co-moving stars, a more recent analysis indicates it is an older system and not part of the association.
B-class giant
One component in the system is a B3 III blue star. If it were a normal star of this type, it would have a mass of approximately , but if it is a stripped-down helium star it has a mass of around .
The spectral type of this component is well-defined at about B3 from the distinct narrow lines in the composite spectrum. Its temperature is around .
Be star
The second stellar component is a Be star with a stellar classification of B3IIIpe. The 'e' suffix indicates emission lines in its spectrum. It is a rapidly rotating blue-white star with a hot decretion disk surrounding it. It is estimated to be 50 million years old, with a projected rotational velocity of .
The emission lines in the spectrum are strong, but absorption lines from the Be star are weak and so the exact spectral type is difficult to determine. Overall the spectral class is similar to the other blue giant, but the relative weakness of some luminosity-dependent lines suggest that it could be a main sequence star. It appears to be slightly hotter and slightly less luminous than the other giant star, but the exact properties are difficult to determine due to its rapid rotation, the weak absorption lines, and the presence of strong emission lines from the disk.
See also
LB-1, a binary system with a B star and possibly a non-accreting black hole or a neutron star, similar to the hypothesis of Rivinius et al. for HR6819.
References
External links
(Friday, 2020 May 22)
B-type giants
Be stars
Telescopium
Durchmusterung objects
167128
089605
6819
Telescopii, QV | HR 6819 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 1,232 | [
"Telescopium",
"Constellations"
] |
44,362,623 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciclafrine | Ciclafrine (; developmental code names Go 3026A, W-43026A) is a sympathomimetic and antihypotensive agent of the phenethylamine family that was never marketed.
Chemistry
Ciclafrine is a substituted phenethylamine and belongs to the class of hemiaminal ethers.
Synthesis
Ciclafrine can be prepared by the reaction of norfenefrine with cycloheptanone.
See also
Berefrine
References
Abandoned drugs
Antihypotensive agents
Phenylethanolamine ethers
Oxazolidines
Spiro compounds | Ciclafrine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 130 | [
"Organic compounds",
"Spiro compounds",
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
44,362,658 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine%20industry | The machine industry or machinery industry is a subsector of the industry, that produces and maintains machines for consumers, the industry, and most other companies in the economy.
This machine industry traditionally belongs to the heavy industry. Nowadays, many smaller industrial manufacturing companies in this branch are considered part of the light industry. Most machine tool manufacturers in the machinery industry are called machine factories.
Overview
The machine industry is a subsector of the industry that produces a range of products from power tools, different types of machines, and domestic technology to factory equipment etc. On the one hand the machine industry provides:
The means of production for businesses in the agriculture, mining, industry and construction.
The means of production for public utility, such as equipment for the production and distribution of gas, electricity and water.
A range of supporting equipment for all sectors of the economy, such as equipment for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning of buildings.
These means of production are called capital goods, because a certain amount of capital is invested. Much of those production machines require regular maintenance, which becomes supplied specialized companies in the machine industry.
On the other end the machinery industry supplies consumer goods, including kitchen appliances, refrigerators, washers, dryers and a like. Production of radio and television, however, is generally considered belonging to the electrical equipment industry. The machinery industry itself is a major customer of the steel industry.
The production of the machinery industry varies widely from single-unit production and series production to mass production. Single-unit production is about constructing unique products, which are specified in specific customer requirements. Due to modular design such devices and machines can often be manufactured in small series, which significantly reduces the costs. From a certain stage in the production, the specific customer requirements are built-in, and the unique product is created.
History
The machinery industry came into existence during the Industrial Revolution. Companies in this emerging field grew out of iron foundries, shipyards, forges and repair shops. Often companies were a combination of machine factory and shipyard. Early in the 20th century several motorcycle and automobile manufacturers began their own machine factories.
Prior to the industrial revolution a variety of machines existed such as clocks, weapons and running gear for mills (watermill, windmill, horse mill etc.) Production of these machines were on much smaller scale in artisan workshops mostly for the local or regional market. With the advent of the industrial revolution manufacturing began of composite tools with more complex construction, such as steam engines and steam generators for the evolving industry and transport. In addition, the emerging machine factories started making machines for production machines as textile machinery, compressors, agricultural machinery, and engines for ships.
18th century
During the first decades of the industrial revolution in England, from 1750, there was a concentration of labor usually in not yet mechanized factories. Many new machines were invented, which were initially made by the inventors themselves. Early in the 18th century, the first steam engines, the Newcomen engine, came into use throughout Britain and Europe, principally to pump water out of mines.
In the 1770s James Watt significantly improved this design. He introduced a steam engine easy employable to supply a large amounts of energy, which set the mechanization of factories underway. In England certain cities concentrated on making specific products, such as specific types of textiles or pottery. Around these cities specialized machinery industry arose in order to enable the mechanization of the plants. Hereby late in the 18th century arose the first machinery industry in the UK and also in Germany and Belgium.
19th century
The Industrial Revolution received a further boost with the upcoming railways. These arose at the beginning of the 19th century in England as innovation in the mining industry. The work in coal mines was hard and dangerous, and so there was a great need for tools to ease this work. In 1804, Richard Trevithick placed the first steam engine on rails, and was in 1825 the Stockton and Darlington Railway was opened, intended to transport coals from the mine to the port. In 1835 the first train drove in continental Europe between Mechelen and Brussels, and in the Netherlands in 1839 the first train drove between Amsterdam and Haarlem. For the machinery industry this brought all sorts of new work with new machinery for metallurgy, machine tool for metalworking, production of steam engines for trains with all its necessities etc.
In time the market for the machine industry became wider, specialized products were manufactured for a greater national and often international market. For example, it was not uncommon in the second half of the 19th century that American steelmakers ordered their production in England, where new steelmaking techniques were more advanced. In the far east Japan would import these product until the early 1930s, the creation of an own machinery industry got underway.
20th century to now
The term "machinery industry" came into existence later in the 19th century. One of the first times this branch of industry was recognized as such, and was investigated, was in a production statistics of 1907 created by the British Ministry of Trade and Industry. In this statistic the output of the engineering industry, was divided into forty different categories, including for example, agricultural machinery, machinery for the textile industry and equipment, and parts for train and tram.
The inventions of new propulsion techniques based on electric motors, internal combustion engines and gas turbines brought a new generation of machines in the 20th century from cars to household appliances. Not only the product range of the machinery industry increased considerably, but especially smaller machines could also deliver products in much greater numbers fabricated in mass production. With the rise of mass production in other parts of the industry, there was also a high demand for manufacturing and production systems, to increase the entire production.
Shortage of labor in agriculture and industry at the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, raised the need for further mechanization of production, which required for more specific machines. The rise of the computer made further automation of production possible, which in turn set new demands on the machinery industry.
Classification
The machinery industry produces different kind of products, for example, engines, pumps, logistics equipment; for different kind of markets from the agriculture industry, food & beverage industry, manufacturing industry, health industry, and amusement industry till different branches of the consumer market. As such companies in the machine industry can be classified by product of market.
In the world of today, all kinds of Industry classifications exists. Some classifications recognize the machine industry as a specific class, and offer a subdivision for this field. For example, the Dutch Standard Industrial Classification of 1993, developed by the Statistics Netherlands, give the following breakdown of the machinery industry:
This composition of the machinery industry has been significantly altered with the latest revision of the Dutch Standard Industrial Classification of 1993. The Standard Industrial Classification of 1974 broke down the machinery industry into nine sectors:
Agricultural machine industry
Metalworking Machine - Industry and machine tool factories
Manufacturers of machinery and equipment for the food, chemical and allied industries
Manufacturers of machinery and equipment for the rubber and plastics
Manufacturers of gears, gearing and driving elements
Manufacturers of machinery and equipment and wood furniture etc.
Manufacturers of steam boiler, and power tools industry
Office machinery industry
Other machinery and equipment industry
It may be clear that classification is by markets, and the more recent classification is by product.
Products of the machine industry
The machine industry makes a very diverse range of products. A selection:
Machine industry in different countries
ASEAN
In ASEAN, the machine industry is a vital part of the region's economic structure. As of 2023, the industry employed approximately 2.5 million people across member countries. The sector generated a combined turnover of around $120 billion, with about 65% of this revenue coming from exports.
The ASEAN region is home to roughly 12,000 active companies in the machine industry, with the majority being small and medium-sized enterprises. Around 90% of these companies employ fewer than 500 people. On average, each employee in this sector generates approximately $48,000 in revenue annually.
Prominent companies in the ASEAN machine industry include ST Engineering (Singapore), Aikawa Iron Works (Thailand), and San Miguel Corporation (Philippines). The industry's significant growth can be attributed to favorable macroeconomic policies, open trade regimes, and increasing demand for manufactured goods both within the region and globally.
ASEAN's machine industry has been significantly influenced by advancements in automation and digital infrastructure, contributing to increased productivity and competitiveness on a global scale
Germany
In Germany, in 2011 about 900,000 people were employed in the machine industry and an estimated of 300,000 abroad. The combined turnover of the sector was €238 billion, of which 60% came from export. There were about 6,600 active companies, and 95% of those companies employed less than 500 people. Each employee generated an average of 148,000 Euro. Some of the largest companies in Germany are DMG Mori Seiki AG, GEA Group, Siemens AG, and ThyssenKrupp.
France
In the French machinery industry in 2009 about 650,000 people were employed, and the sector generated a turnover of 44 billion euros. Because of the crisis, the turnover of the sector had fallen by 15 percent. Due to stronger consumer spending and continuing demand from the energy sector and transport sector, the damage of the crisis was still limited.
Alternatively, some companies decided to focus their request on used industrial equipment. This guarantee attractive prices and better time delivery.
Japan
In Japan, the machine industry plays a significant role in the economy, employing a considerable number of people and generating substantial revenue. As of 2023, approximately 1.5 million people were employed in the machine tool industry. The combined turnover of the sector was estimated to be around $60 billion, with about 70% of the revenue coming from exports.
Japan is home to about 3,000 active companies in the machine industry, with 85% of these companies employing fewer than 500 people. The average revenue generated per employee in the industry is approximately $40,000. Some of the largest and most influential companies in Japan's machine industry include Fanuc Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, and DMG Mori Seiki Co., Ltd.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands in 1996, a total of some 93,000 workers were employed in the machinery industry, with approximately 2,500 companies present. In 1000 of these companies there were working 20 or more employees. In the Netherlands, according to the Chamber of Commerce in this subsector of the industry in 2011 some 15,000 companies were active. Some of the largest companies in the Netherlands are Lely, Philips and Stork B.V.
United States
U.S. machinery industries had total domestic and foreign sales of $413.7 billion in 2011. The United States is the world’s largest market for machinery, as well as the third-largest supplier. American manufacturers held a 58.5 percent share of the U.S. domestic market.
See also
Outline of industrial machinery
Automotive industry
Machine factory
Machine shop
Machine tool
Machine tool builder
References
Further reading
Brewster, John M. "The machine process in agriculture and industry." Journal of Farm Economics 32.1 (1950): 69-81.
Florian Geiger. Mergers & Acquisitions in the Machinery Industry. 2010.
Rees, John, Ronald Briggs, and Raymond Oakey. "The adoption of new technology in the American machinery industry." Regional Studies 18.6 (1984): 489-504.
Rosenberg, Nathan. "Technological change in the machine tool industry, 1840–1910." The Journal of Economic History 23.04 (1963): 414-443.
External links
Machine shop in Abu Dhabi
Industries (economics)
Machines
Manufacturing
Secondary sector of the economy | Machine industry | [
"Physics",
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 2,355 | [
"Physical systems",
"Machines",
"Manufacturing",
"Mechanical engineering"
] |
44,362,670 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berefrine | Berefrine (, ), also known as burefrine, is a sympathomimetic and mydriatic medication that was never marketed. It is described as an oxazolidine prodrug of phenylephrine and hence would act as a selective α1-adrenergic receptor agonist.
See also
Ciclafrine
References
Abandoned drugs
Alpha-1 adrenergic receptor agonists
Oxazolidines
Phenethylamines
3-Hydroxyphenyl compounds
Prodrugs
Sympathomimetics
Tert-butyl compounds | Berefrine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 127 | [
"Chemicals in medicine",
"Drug safety",
"Prodrugs",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
44,362,740 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pivenfrine | Pivenfrine (), also known as pivalylphenylephrine or phenylephrine pivalate, is a sympathomimetic and mydriatic agent which was never marketed. It is the 3-pivalyl ester of phenylephrine. Pivenfrine has much greater lipophilicity than phenylephrine. Higher lipophilicity is known to greatly improve corneal permeability, as in dipivefrine (epinephrine dipivalate). Another related compound is etilefrine pivalate (ethylnorphenylephrine pivalate).
References
Abandoned drugs
Alpha-1 adrenergic receptor agonists
Ophthalmology drugs
Phenylethanolamines
Pivalate esters
Prodrugs
Sympathomimetics | Pivenfrine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 184 | [
"Chemicals in medicine",
"Drug safety",
"Prodrugs",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
44,362,809 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetry%20%28geometry%29 | In geometry, an object has symmetry if there is an operation or transformation (such as translation, scaling, rotation or reflection) that maps the figure/object onto itself (i.e., the object has an invariance under the transform). Thus, a symmetry can be thought of as an immunity to change. For instance, a circle rotated about its center will have the same shape and size as the original circle, as all points before and after the transform would be indistinguishable. A circle is thus said to be symmetric under rotation or to have rotational symmetry. If the isometry is the reflection of a plane figure about a line, then the figure is said to have reflectional symmetry or line symmetry; it is also possible for a figure/object to have more than one line of symmetry.
The types of symmetries that are possible for a geometric object depend on the set of geometric transforms available, and on what object properties should remain unchanged after a transformation. Because the composition of two transforms is also a transform and every transform has, by definition, an inverse transform that undoes it, the set of transforms under which an object is symmetric form a mathematical group, the symmetry group of the object.
Euclidean symmetries in general
The most common group of transforms applied to objects are termed the Euclidean group of "isometries", which are distance-preserving transformations in space commonly referred to as two-dimensional or three-dimensional (i.e., in plane geometry or solid geometry Euclidean spaces). These isometries consist of reflections, rotations, translations, and combinations of these basic operations. Under an isometric transformation, a geometric object is said to be symmetric if, after transformation, the object is indistinguishable from the object before the transformation. A geometric object is typically symmetric only under a subset or "subgroup" of all isometries. The kinds of isometry subgroups are described below, followed by other kinds of transform groups, and by the types of object invariance that are possible in geometry.
By the Cartan–Dieudonné theorem, an orthogonal transformation in n-dimensional space can be represented by the composition of at most n reflections.
Reflectional symmetry
Reflectional symmetry, linear symmetry, mirror symmetry, mirror-image symmetry, or bilateral symmetry is symmetry with respect to reflection.
In one dimension, there is a point of symmetry about which reflection takes place; in two dimensions, there is an axis of symmetry (a.k.a., line of symmetry), and in three dimensions there is a plane of symmetry. An object or figure for which every point has a one-to-one mapping onto another, equidistant from and on opposite sides of a common plane is called mirror symmetric (for more, see mirror image).
The axis of symmetry of a two-dimensional figure is a line such that, if a perpendicular is constructed, any two points lying on the perpendicular at equal distances from the axis of symmetry are identical. Another way to think about it is that if the shape were to be folded in half over the axis, the two halves would be identical as mirror images of each other. For example. a square has four axes of symmetry, because there are four different ways to fold it and have the edges match each other. Another example would be that of a circle, which has infinitely many axes of symmetry passing through its center for the same reason.
If the letter T is reflected along a vertical axis, it appears the same. This is sometimes called vertical symmetry. Thus one can describe this phenomenon unambiguously by saying that "T has a vertical symmetry axis", or that "T has left-right symmetry".
The triangles with reflection symmetry are isosceles, the quadrilaterals with this symmetry are kites and isosceles trapezoids.
For each line or plane of reflection, the symmetry group is isomorphic with Cs (see point groups in three dimensions for more), one of the three types of order two (involutions), hence algebraically isomorphic to C2. The fundamental domain is a half-plane or half-space.
Point reflection and other involutive isometries
Reflection symmetry can be generalized to other isometries of -dimensional space which are involutions, such as
in a certain system of Cartesian coordinates. This reflects the space along an -dimensional affine subspace. If = , then such a transformation is known as a point reflection, or an inversion through a point. On the plane ( = 2), a point reflection is the same as a half-turn (180°) rotation; see below. Antipodal symmetry is an alternative name for a point reflection symmetry through the origin.
Such a "reflection" preserves orientation if and only if is an even number. This implies that for = 3 (as well as for other odd ), a point reflection changes the orientation of the space, like a mirror-image symmetry. That explains why in physics, the term P-symmetry (P stands for parity) is used for both point reflection and mirror symmetry. Since a point reflection in three dimensions changes a left-handed coordinate system into a right-handed coordinate system, symmetry under a point reflection is also called a left-right symmetry.
Rotational symmetry
Rotational symmetry is symmetry with respect to some or all rotations in -dimensional Euclidean space. Rotations are direct isometries, which are isometries that preserve orientation. Therefore, a symmetry group of rotational symmetry is a subgroup of the special Euclidean group E+().
Symmetry with respect to all rotations about all points implies translational symmetry with respect to all translations (because translations are compositions of rotations about distinct points), and the symmetry group is the whole E+(). This does not apply for objects because it makes space homogeneous, but it may apply for physical laws.
For symmetry with respect to rotations about a point, one can take that point as origin. These rotations form the special orthogonal group SO(), which can be represented by the group of orthogonal matrices with determinant 1. For = 3, this is the rotation group SO(3).
Phrased slightly differently, the rotation group of an object is the symmetry group within E+(), the group of rigid motions; that is, the intersection of the full symmetry group and the group of rigid motions. For chiral objects, it is the same as the full symmetry group.
Laws of physics are SO(3)-invariant if they do not distinguish different directions in space. Because of Noether's theorem, rotational symmetry of a physical system is equivalent to the angular momentum conservation law. For more, see rotational invariance.
Translational symmetry
Translational symmetry leaves an object invariant under a discrete or continuous group of translations . The illustration on the right shows four congruent footprints generated by translations along the arrow. If the line of footprints were to extend to infinity in both directions, then they would have a discrete translational symmetry; any translation that mapped one footprint onto another would leave the whole line unchanged.
Glide reflection symmetry
In 2D, a glide reflection symmetry (also called a glide plane symmetry in 3D, and a transflection in general) means that a reflection in a line or plane combined with a translation along the line or in the plane, results in the same object (such as in the case of footprints). The composition of two glide reflections results in a translation symmetry with twice the translation vector. The symmetry group comprising glide reflections and associated translations is the frieze group p11g, and is isomorphic with the infinite cyclic group Z.
Rotoreflection symmetry
In 3D, a rotary reflection, rotoreflection or improper rotation is a rotation about an axis combined with reflection in a plane perpendicular to that axis. The symmetry groups associated with rotoreflections include:
if the rotation angle has no common divisor with 360°, the symmetry group is not discrete.
if the rotoreflection has a 2n-fold rotation angle (angle of 180°/n), the symmetry group is S2n of order 2n (not to be confused with symmetric groups, for which the same notation is used; the abstract group is C2n). A special case is n = 1, an inversion, because it does not depend on the axis and the plane. It is characterized by just the point of inversion.
The group Cnh (angle of 360°/n); for odd n, this is generated by a single symmetry, and the abstract group is C2n, for even n. This is not a basic symmetry but a combination.
For more, see point groups in three dimensions.
Helical symmetry
In 3D geometry and higher, a screw axis (or rotary translation) is a combination of a rotation and a translation along the rotation axis.
Helical symmetry is the kind of symmetry seen in everyday objects such as springs, Slinky toys, drill bits, and augers. The concept of helical symmetry can be visualized as the tracing in three-dimensional space that results from rotating an object at a constant angular speed, while simultaneously translating at a constant linear speed along its axis of rotation. At any point in time, these two motions combine to give a coiling angle that helps define the properties of the traced helix. When the tracing object rotates quickly and translates slowly, the coiling angle will be close to 0°. Conversely, if the object rotates slowly and translates quickly, the coiling angle will approach 90°.
Three main classes of helical symmetry can be distinguished, based on the interplay of the angle of coiling and translation symmetries along the axis:
Infinite helical symmetry: If there are no distinguishing features along the length of a helix or helix-like object, the object will have infinite symmetry much like that of a circle, but with the additional requirement of translation along the long axis of the object—to return it to its original appearance. A helix-like object is one that has at every point the regular angle of coiling of a helix, but which can also have a cross section of indefinitely high complexity, provided only that precisely the same cross section exists (usually after a rotation) at every point along the length of the object. Simple examples include evenly coiled springs, slinkies, drill bits, and augers. Stated more precisely, an object has infinite helical symmetries if for any small rotation of the object around its central axis, there exists a point nearby (the translation distance) on that axis at which the object will appear exactly as it did before. It is this infinite helical symmetry that gives rise to the curious illusion of movement along the length of an auger or screw bit that is being rotated. It also provides the mechanically useful ability of such devices to move materials along their length, provided that they are combined with a force such as gravity or friction that allows the materials to resist simply rotating along with the drill or auger.
n-fold helical symmetry: If the requirement that every cross section of the helical object be identical is relaxed, then additional lesser helical symmetries would become possible. For example, the cross section of the helical object may change, but may still repeat itself in a regular fashion along the axis of the helical object. Consequently, objects of this type will exhibit a symmetry after a rotation by some fixed angle θ and a translation by some fixed distance, but will not in general be invariant for any rotation angle. If the angle of rotation at which the symmetry occurs divides evenly into a full circle (360°), then the result is the helical equivalent of a regular polygon. This case is called n-fold helical symmetry, where n = 360° (such as the case of a double helix). This concept can be further generalized to include cases where is a multiple of 360° – that is, the cycle does eventually repeat, but only after more than one full rotation of the helical object.
Non-repeating helical symmetry: This is the case in which the angle of rotation θ required to observe the symmetry is irrational. The angle of rotation never repeats exactly, no matter how many times the helix is rotated. Such symmetries are created by using a non-repeating point group in two dimensions. DNA, with approximately 10.5 base pairs per turn, is an example of this type of non-repeating helical symmetry.
Double rotation symmetry
In 4D, a double rotation symmetry can be generated as the composite of two orthogonal rotations. It is similar to 3D screw axis which is the composite of a rotation and an orthogonal translation.
Non-isometric symmetries
A wider definition of geometric symmetry allows operations from a larger group than the Euclidean group of isometries. Examples of larger geometric symmetry groups are:
The group of similarity transformations; i.e., affine transformations represented by a matrix that is a scalar times an orthogonal matrix. Thus homothety is added, self-similarity is considered a symmetry.
The group of affine transformations represented by a matrix with determinant 1 or −1; i.e., the transformations which preserve area.
This adds, e.g., oblique reflection symmetry.
The group of all bijective affine transformations.
The group of Möbius transformations which preserve cross-ratios.
This adds, e.g., inversive reflections such as circle reflection on the plane.
In Felix Klein's Erlangen program, each possible group of symmetries defines a geometry in which objects that are related by a member of the symmetry group are considered to be equivalent. For example, the Euclidean group defines Euclidean geometry, whereas the group of Möbius transformations defines projective geometry.
Scale symmetry and fractals
Scale symmetry means that if an object is expanded or reduced in size, the new object has the same properties as the original. This self-similarity is seen in many natural structures such as cumulus clouds, lightning, ferns and coastlines, over a wide range of scales. It is generally not found in gravitationally bound structures, for example the shape of the legs of an elephant and a mouse (so-called allometric scaling). Similarly, if a soft wax candle were enlarged to the size of a tall tree, it would immediately collapse under its own weight.
A more subtle form of scale symmetry is demonstrated by fractals. As conceived by Benoît Mandelbrot, fractals are a mathematical concept in which the structure of a complex form looks similar at any degree of magnification, well seen in the Mandelbrot set. A coast is an example of a naturally occurring fractal, since it retains similar-appearing complexity at every level from the view of a satellite to a microscopic examination of how the water laps up against individual grains of sand. The branching of trees, which enables small twigs to stand in for full trees in dioramas, is another example.
Because fractals can generate the appearance of patterns in nature, they have a beauty and familiarity not typically seen with mathematically generated functions. Fractals have also found a place in computer-generated movie effects, where their ability to create complex curves with fractal symmetries results in more realistic virtual worlds.
Abstract symmetry
Klein's view
With every geometry, Felix Klein associated an underlying group of symmetries. The hierarchy of geometries is thus mathematically represented as a hierarchy of these groups, and hierarchy of their invariants. For example, lengths, angles and areas are preserved with respect to the Euclidean group of symmetries, while only the incidence structure and the cross-ratio are preserved under the most general projective transformations. A concept of parallelism, which is preserved in affine geometry, is not meaningful in projective geometry. Then, by abstracting the underlying groups of symmetries from the geometries, the relationships between them can be re-established at the group level. Since the group of affine geometry is a subgroup of the group of projective geometry, any notion invariant in projective geometry is a priori meaningful in affine geometry; but not the other way round. If you add required symmetries, you have a more powerful theory but fewer concepts and theorems (which will be deeper and more general).
Thurston's view
William Thurston introduced a similar version of symmetries in geometry. A model geometry is a simply connected smooth manifold X together with a transitive action of a Lie group G on X with compact stabilizers. The Lie group can be thought of as the group of symmetries of the geometry.
A model geometry is called maximal if G is maximal among groups acting smoothly and transitively on X with compact stabilizers, i.e. if it is the maximal group of symmetries. Sometimes this condition is included in the definition of a model geometry.
A geometric structure on a manifold M is a diffeomorphism from M to X/Γ for some model geometry X, where Γ is a discrete subgroup of G acting freely on X. If a given manifold admits a geometric structure, then it admits one whose model is maximal.
A 3-dimensional model geometry X is relevant to the geometrization conjecture if it is maximal and if there is at least one compact manifold with a geometric structure modelled on X. Thurston classified the 8 model geometries satisfying these conditions; they are listed below and are sometimes called Thurston geometries. (There are also uncountably many model geometries without compact quotients.)
See also
Fractal
Symmetric relation
References
External links
Calotta: A World of Symmetry
Dutch: Symmetry Around a Point in the Plane
Symmetry | Symmetry (geometry) | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics"
] | 3,639 | [
"Geometry",
"Symmetry"
] |
44,363,785 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxifentorex | Oxifentorex (INN) is an amphetamine described as an anorectic which does not appear to have ever been marketed.
References
Substituted amphetamines
Anorectics
Norepinephrine-dopamine releasing agents
Stimulants
Amine oxides | Oxifentorex | [
"Chemistry"
] | 60 | [
"Amine oxides",
"Functional groups"
] |
44,363,873 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flucetorex | Flucetorex (INN) is an amphetamine. It was investigated as an anorectic, but does not appear to have been marketed. It is related to fenfluramine.
See also
Benfluorex
Fludorex
Tiflorex
References
Acetamides
Substituted amphetamines
Anorectics
Trifluoromethyl compounds
Serotonin releasing agents
Abandoned drugs | Flucetorex | [
"Chemistry"
] | 83 | [
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
44,364,282 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaglycodol | Metaglycodol (INN) is a drug described as a tranquilizer which was never marketed.
See also
Phenaglycodol
Fenpentadiol
References
Vicinal diols
3-Chlorophenyl compounds
Sedatives
Abandoned drugs | Metaglycodol | [
"Chemistry"
] | 55 | [
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
44,364,819 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph%20Glickauf | Joseph Simon Glickauf Jr. (January 15, 1912 – July 9, 2005), was an American-born engineer, inventor and corporate executive known as one of the first advocates of the use of computers in business and industry and the "father" of the computer consulting industry.
Glickauf graduated from Hyde Park High School in Chicago and attended Illinois Institute of Technology. He joined the United States Navy in 1942 and was assigned to the Research Division of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts. He became a lieutenant. After leaving the navy, he was hired by Arthur Andersen Co. immediately in 1946 and was tasked with initiating the use of the freshly invented computer for his employer. Glickauf became familiar with the capabilities of the UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) and immediately saw the far-reaching implications of computers for business. To demonstrate the computer to Arthur Andersen’s employees he built the Arthur Andersen Demonstration Computer known as "Glickiac". The company management was quick to see the potential and made resources available for future development.
In 1953 General Electric Appliances hired Arthur Andersen to automate GE's payroll. Glickauf lead the effort and recommended GE the installation of a UNIVAC I computer and printer. The project was initially a failure but it started what is now known as "computer consulting".
He is buried at Plum Lake Cemetery, Sayner, Wisconsin.
References
1912 births
2005 deaths
American computer scientists
History of computing
Illinois Institute of Technology alumni
United States Navy officers | Joseph Glickauf | [
"Technology"
] | 303 | [
"Computers",
"History of computing"
] |
44,365,437 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%93-Hydroxybutyraldehyde | γ-Hydroxybutyraldehyde is the organic compound with the formula HOCH2CH2CH2CHO. It is a colorless liquid. The compound occurs in nature and is produced commercially.
Occurrence
It is a chemical intermediate in the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitter γ-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) from 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BD). Like 1,4-BD, it also behaves as a prodrug to GHB when taken exogenously. However, as with all aliphatic aldehydes, γ-hydroxybutaldehyde is caustic and is strong-smelling and foul-tasting; thus, actual ingestion of this compound is likely to be unpleasant and result in severe nausea and vomiting.
See also
γ-Aminobutyraldehyde
1,6-Dioxecane-2,7-dione
3-Hydroxybutanal
Aceburic acid
Ethyl acetoxy butanoate
References
Foul-smelling chemicals
GABA analogues
GABAB receptor agonists
GHB receptor agonists
Hydroxy aldehydes
Prodrugs
Sedatives | Γ-Hydroxybutyraldehyde | [
"Chemistry"
] | 260 | [
"Chemicals in medicine",
"Prodrugs"
] |
44,366,667 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vts1 | Vts1 is a post-transcriptional regulator that has RNA-binding Sterile alpha motif (SAM) domain. The protein is found in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and several eukaryotes. In Saccharomyces the Vts1 impacts vesicular transport and sporulation.
Interactions
Protein-protein interactions through SAM domains participate in different regulatory activities such as signal transduction. Proteins having such domains were also shown to recognize and interact with RNA structures of similar shape to the Smaug response element (SRE). Vts1 binds to RNA targets that have CUGGC on hairpin loops.
References
Protein domains
Protein complexes | Vts1 | [
"Biology"
] | 136 | [
"Protein domains",
"Protein classification"
] |
44,367,046 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal%20profiles | Metal profile sheet systems are used to build cost efficient and reliable envelopes of mostly commercial buildings. They have evolved from the single skin metal cladding often associated with agricultural buildings to multi-layer systems for industrial and leisure application. As with most construction components, the ability of the cladding to satisfy its functional requirements is dependent on its correct specification and installation. Also important is its interaction with other elements of the building envelope and structure. Metal profile sheets are metal structural members that due to the fact they can have different profiles, with different heights and different thickness, engineers and architects can use them for a variety of buildings, from a simple industrial building to a high demand design building.
Trapezoidal profiles are large metal structural members, which, thanks to the profiling and thickness, retain their high load bearing capability. They have been developed from the corrugated profile. The profile programme offered by specific manufacturers covers a total of approximately 60 profile shapes with different heights.
Cassettes are components that are mainly used as the inner shell in dual-shell wall constructions. They are mainly used in walls today, even though they were originally designed for use in roofs.
History
Trapezoidal profiles and cassettes have been known in Europe for around 100 years. Today's characteristic profile shape came to Europe from the USA in the 50s and has gained relevance since about 1960. At present the proportion of load bearing, room sealing trapezoidal profiles used in the overall area of new and slightly sloping roofs amounts to 90%. Above all else the wide acceptance has resulted from the simple constructive training, fast assembly, and the low costs of the trapezoidal profile construction.
Specification of the metal profile
Weathertightness
The primary function of the cladding system is to provide a weathertight building envelope, suitable for the intended use of the building.
Trapezoidal metal roof sheets with through fix fasteners are generally suitable for slopes of 4% or steeper. This limit is critical to the performance of the cladding. For shallower pitches, down to 1.5%, a fix system with no exposed through fasteners, special side laps and preferably no end laps should be used. For low pitch roof, ponding is a potential problem that must be considered at the design stage in order to avoid the deleterious effects of prolonged soaking and the increased loading, due to the weight of the water.
Building appearance
Building envelope made from metal sheet provide builders and architects with products, which meet all of the highest demand regarding construction characteristics and design. The steel from which profiled cladding sheets are made is available pre-coated in a wide range of colors and textures, allowing architects to choose a finish that best suits the location and function of the building. Profile shape is also a characteristic that can be adapted to the demand of the architects.
Thermal performance
Buildings are responsible of the 40% of European energy consumption, consequently, improving the thermal performance of the cladding and associated components is very important. The elemental U-value (thermal transmittance, W/m2K) of a cladding panel, depends on the conductivity and thickness of the insulation which is added, the profile shape and the presence of thermal bridges.
So, metal profile sheets can achieve thermal performance regulations thanks of insulations and profile shape.
It is very important to analyze and avoid all possible thermal bridges within the roof and wall cladding assembly, to minimize local heat/cold losses.
Acoustics
Roofs constructed with trapezoidal profiles have excellent sound suppression characteristics. Sound has been found to be reduced to by up to 53 dB.
The measured sound reduction for wall constructions using cassettes has been assessed at an RW of 57 dB.
The acoustic performance of a particular cladding system will depend on the insulation material, the weather sheet and liner sheet profiles and the method of assembly.
To minimize reverberation architects may take advantage of the sound absorbing properties of the cladding insulation layer by replacing the standard liner sheet with a perforated liner.
Durability
In order to ensure that the building envelope remains fully functional throughout its design life, it is important that it receives regular maintenance, including inspection, removal of debris, cleaning and repair of damage. Inspection can include man-made or natural wear. Weather exposure, natural movement, installation error and manufacturing defects are examples. The need of maintenance may be greatly reduced using specific coating depending on the weather conditions, this coating guarantee the expected design life of the cladding. The commonly used 302 stainless steel alone is resistant to acetic acid, acetone and boric acid, among others.
Sustainability
Metal profiles sheets have a high recycled scrap steel content and all steel is recyclable. Many steel components can be unbolted and even reused for future applications. The possibility of reusing building elements makes steel construction even more sustainable than the already significant contribution of today's simple material recycling. Steel can be repeatedly recycled because it does not lose any of its inherent physical properties as a result of the recycling process. Stainless steel fasteners have excellent corrosion resistance and durability, as well as being a sustainable material. Custom fasteners in this material make for the utmost of sustainability with high recyclability.
Structural performance
Metal cladding systems are required to carry externally applied loads, such as snow and wind loading without deflecting excessively or compromising the other performance requirements. The individual characteristic loads (actions) should be obtained from the appropriate part of EN 1991, taking into account the building geometry and location as applicable. These individual actions should then be combined using the appropriate safety factors from EN 1990 to obtain the load cases used in design.
Permanent actions:
For most application of metal cladding technology, the only permanent action which the roof cladding needs to be designed is its own self-weight.
For wall cladding, it is not normally necessary to consider permanent actions, since the self-weight acts in the plan of the cladding.
Variable actions:
In addition to its self-weight, the roof cladding must also be designed for the following variable actions as specified in the appropriate parts of EN 1991:
-Access for cleaning and maintenance.
-A uniformly distributed load due to snow over the complete roof area. The value of this load will depend on the building's location.
-Asymmetric snow load and loading due to snow drifts.
-Wind loading due to pressure and suction.
Deflections:
Care must be taken on site to avoid excessive local deflection. Typical deflection limits imposed on the cladding are depend on the loading regime considered, the location of the structural component and whether a brittle material is present. Deflection limits may be specifies by National regulation.
Main uses
Metal profile sheets due to their versatility mechanical and design properties can be used as roof and roof cladding, as external walls and wall cladding and also as floors. They are used in industry and in residential sector, and the two sectors can be used in both new construction and rehabilitation. Some of the applications where metal profile sheets are used are:
industrial buildings,
commercial buildings,
public buildings,
sport buildings,
educational buildings,
offices and administration buildings,
multi-story buildings
power plants,
residential house,
high design demand buildings,
etc.
See also
Profile (engineering)
Hollow structural section
Eurocode
Insulation
Architecture
References
Building engineering
Building insulation materials
Building materials
Composite materials | Metal profiles | [
"Physics",
"Engineering"
] | 1,489 | [
"Building engineering",
"Composite materials",
"Architecture",
"Construction",
"Materials",
"Civil engineering",
"Matter",
"Building materials"
] |
47,447,111 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deauville%20Criteria | The Deauville 5-point scoring system is an internationally accepted and utilized five-point scoring system for the fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) avidity of a Hodgkin lymphoma or Non-Hodgkin lymphoma tumor mass as seen on FDG positron emission tomography:
Score 1: No uptake above the background
Score 2: Uptake ≤ mediastinum
Score 3: Uptake > mediastinum but ≤ liver
Score 4: Uptake moderately increased compared to the liver at any site
Score 5: Uptake markedly increased compared to the liver at any site
Score X: New areas of uptake unlikely to be related to lymphoma
Scores of 1 and 2 are considered to be negative and 4 and 5 are considered to be positive. "Score 3 should be interpreted according to the clinical context but in many Hodgkin Lymphoma patients indicates a good prognosis with standard treatment."
History
Deauville score was developed at Guy's and Saint Thomas Hospital in London after an international meeting at Deauville, France in 2009.
References
Hodgkin lymphoma
Positron emission tomography | Deauville Criteria | [
"Physics"
] | 249 | [
"Antimatter",
"Positron emission tomography",
"Matter"
] |
47,447,385 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyan%20Engineering | Cyan Engineering was an American computer engineering company located in Grass Valley, California. It was founded by Steve Mayer and Larry Emmons. The company was purchased in 1973 by Atari, Inc. and developed the Atari Video Computer System console, which was released in 1977 and renamed the Atari 2600 in November 1982. It also carried out some robotics research and development work on behalf of Atari, including the Kermit mobile robot, originally intended as a stand-alone product intended to bring a beer. The company also programmed the original "portrait style" animatronics for Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre pizza chain in 1977.
Further reading
References
Defunct computer companies of the United States
Defunct computer hardware companies
Defunct robotics companies of the United States
1978 in robotics
Atari | Cyan Engineering | [
"Technology"
] | 155 | [
"Computing stubs",
"Computer company stubs"
] |
47,447,624 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillium%20rubefaciens | Penicillium rubefaciens is a species of fungus in the genus Penicillium which has been isolated from sandy soil.
References
Further reading
rubefaciens
Fungi described in 1982
Fungus species | Penicillium rubefaciens | [
"Biology"
] | 43 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
47,448,696 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transdermal%20drug%20delivery | Transdermal drug delivery techniques include:
Cream
DMSO solution
Hydrogel
Iontophoresis (using electricity)
Jet injector
Liniment
Lip balm
Liposomes
Lotion
Medicated shampoo
Ointment
Paste
Thin-film drug delivery
Topical cream
Topical gel
Transdermal patch
Transdermal spray
Transfersome vesicles
Routes of administration | Transdermal drug delivery | [
"Chemistry"
] | 73 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Routes of administration"
] |
47,448,699 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillium%20rubidurum | Penicillium rubidurum is an anamorph, monoverticillate species of fungus in the genus Penicillium.
References
Further reading
rubidurum
Fungi described in 1973
Fungus species | Penicillium rubidurum | [
"Biology"
] | 46 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
47,449,212 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan%20Journal%20of%20Environmental%20and%20Administrative%20Law | The Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law is a student-run law review published at the University of Michigan School of Law. The journal publishes articles, notes, comments, and essays relating to administrative and environmental law.
History and overview
The journal was established in 2012 after "years of advocacy [by] environmental law students" at the University of Michigan School of Law. The journal's founding editors had the goal of "prompt[ing] new scholarship and the development of sound public policy approaches in both environmental law and administrative law." In 2016, Washington and Lee University's Law Journal Rankings placed the journal among the top three environmental, natural resources, and land use law journals with the highest impact factor.
Abstracting and indexing
The journal is abstracted or indexed in EBSCO databases, HeinOnline, LexisNexis, Westlaw, and the University of Washington's Current Index to Legal Periodicals. Tables of contents are also available through Infotrieve and Ingenta, and the journal posts past issues on its website.
See also
List of law journals
List of environmental law journals
References
External links
American law journals
Academic journals established in 2012
English-language journals
Environmental law journals
Law journals edited by students
University of Michigan
Journal
Biannual journals | Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law | [
"Environmental_science"
] | 256 | [
"Environmental science journals",
"Environmental social science stubs",
"Environmental social science",
"Environmental science journal stubs"
] |
47,449,480 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human%E2%80%93animal%20hybrid | A human–animal hybrid and animal–human hybrid is an organism that incorporates elements from both humans and non-human animals. Technically, in a human–animal hybrid, each cell has both human and non-human genetic material. It is in contrast to an individual where some cells are human and some are derived from a different organism, called a human-animal chimera. (A human chimera, on the other hand, consists only of human cells, from different zygotes.)
Examples of human–animal hybrids mainly include humanized mice that have been genetically modified by xenotransplantation of human genes. Humanized mice are commonly used as small animal models in biological and medical research for human therapeutics.
Human–animal hybrids are the subject of legal, moral, and technological debate in the context of recent advances in genetic engineering.
Human–animal hybrids have existed throughout social cultures for a long time (particularly in terms of mythology), being a part of storytelling across multiple continents, and have also been incorporated into comic books, films, video games, and other related mass media in recent decades.
Terminology
Defined by the magazine H+ as "genetic alterations that are blendings [sic] of animal and human forms", such hybrids may be referred by other names occasionally such as "para-humans". They may additionally may be called "humanized animals". Technically speaking, they are also related to "cybrids" (cytoplasmic hybrids), with "cybrid" cells featuring foreign human nuclei inside of them being a topic of interest. Possibly, a real-world human-animal hybrid may be an entity formed from either a human egg fertilized by a nonhuman sperm or a nonhuman egg fertilized by a human sperm.
Examples
Artificially created human-animal hybrids include humanized mice that have been xenotransplanted with human gene products, so as to be utilized for gaining relevant insights in the in vivo context for understanding of human-specific physiology and pathologies. Humanized mice are commonly used as small animal models in biological and medical research for human therapeutics including infectious diseases and cancer. For example, genetically modified mice may be born with human leukocyte antigen genes in order to provide a more realistic environment when introducing human white blood cells into them in order to study immune system responses.
Moral discussions
Advances in genetic engineering have generally caused a large number of debates and discussions in the fields related to bioethics, including research relating to the creation of human-animal hybrids. Although the two topics are not strictly related, the debates involving the creation of human-animal hybrids have paralleled that of the debates around the stem-cell research controversy.
The question of what line exists between a "human" being and a "non-human" being has been a difficult one for many researchers to answer. While animals having one percent or less of their cells originally coming from humans may clearly appear to be in the same boat as other animals, no consensus exists on how to think about beings in a genetic middle ground that have something like an even mix. "I don't think anyone knows in terms of crude percentages how to differentiate between humans and nonhumans," U.S. patent office official John Doll has stated. Critics of increased government restrictions include scientists such as Dr. Douglas Kniss, head of the Laboratory of Perinatal Research at Ohio State University, who has remarked that formal laws aren't the best option since the "notion of animal-human hybrids is very complex." He's also argued that their creation is inherent "not the kind of thing we support" in his kind of research since scientists should "want to respect human life".
In contrast, notable socio-economic theorist Jeremy Rifkin has expressed opposition to research that creates beings crossing species boundaries, arguing that it interferes with the fundamental 'right to exist' possessed by each animal species. "One doesn't have to be religious or into animal rights to think this doesn't make sense," he has argued when expressing support for anti-chimera and anti-hybrid legislation. As well, William Cheshire, associate professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic's Florida branch, has called the issue "unexplored biologic territory" and advocated for a "moral threshold of human neural development" to restrict the destroying a human embryo to obtain cell material and/or the creation of an organism that's partly human and partly animal." He has said, "We must be cautious not to violate the integrity of humanity or of animal life over which we have a stewardship responsibility".
Legality
While laws against the creation of hybrid beings have been proposed in U.S. states and in the U.S. Congress, several scientists have argued that legal barriers might go too far and prohibit medically beneficial studies into human modification.
In terms of scientific ethics, restrictions on the creation of human–animal hybrids have proved a controversial matter in multiple countries. While the state of Arizona banned the practice altogether in 2010, a proposal on the subject that sparked some interest in the United States Senate from 2011 to 2012 ended up going nowhere. Although the two concepts are not strictly related, discussions of experimentation into blended human and animal creatures has paralleled the discussions around embryonic stem-cell research (the 'stem cell controversy'). The creation of genetically modified organisms for a multitude of purposes has taken place in the modern world for decades, examples being specifically designed foodstuffs made to have features such as higher crop yields through better disease resistance.
President George W. Bush brought up the topic in his 2006 State of the Union Address, in which he called for the prohibition of "human cloning in all its forms", "creating or implanting embryos for experiments", "creating human-animal hybrids", and also "buying, selling, or patenting human embryos". He argued, "A hopeful society has institutions of science and medicine that do not cut ethical corners and that recognize the matchless value of every life." He also stated that humanity "should never be discarded, devalued or put up for sale."
A 2005 appropriations bill passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Bush contained specific wording forbidding any patents on humans or human embryos. In terms of outright bans on hybrid research in the first place, a measure came up in the 110th Congress entitled the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2008. Congressman Chris Smith (R, NJ-4) introduced it on April 24, 2008. The text of the proposed act stated that "human dignity and the integrity of the human species are compromised" if such hybrids exist and set up the punishment of imprisonment for up to ten years as well as a fine of over one million dollars. Though attracting support from many co-sponsors such as then Representatives Mary Fallin, Duncan Hunter, Joseph R. Pitts, and Rick Renzi among others, the Act failed to get through Congress.
A related proposal had come up in the U.S. Senate the prior year, the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2007, and it also had failed. That effort was proposed by then-Senator Sam Brownback (R, KS) on November 15, 2007. Featuring the same language as the later measure in the House, its bipartisan group of cosponsors included then Senators Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, and Mary Landrieu.
A localized measure designed to ban the creation of hybrid entities came up in the state of Arizona in 2010. The proposal was signed into law by then Governor Jan Brewer. Its sponsor stated that it was needed to clarify important "ethical boundaries" in research.
In myth
For thousands of years, these hybrids have been one of the most common themes in storytelling about animals throughout the world. The lack of a strong divide between humanity and animal nature in multiple traditional and ancient cultures has provided the underlying historical context for the popularity of tales where humans and animals have mingling relationships, such as in which one turns into the other or in which some mixed being goes through a journey. Interspecies friendships within the animal kingdom, as well as between humans and their pets, additionally provides an underlying root for the popularity of such beings.
In various mythologies throughout history, many particularly famous hybrids have existed, including as a part of Egyptian and Indian spirituality. The entities have also been characters in fictional media such as in H. G. Wells' work The Island of Doctor Moreau, adapted into the popular 1932 film Island of Lost Souls. In legendary terms, the hybrids have played varying roles from that of trickster and/or villain to serving as divine heroes in very different contexts, depending on the given culture.
Legendary historical and mythological human-animal hybrids
Beings displaying a mixture of human and animal traits while also having a similarly blended appearance have played a vast and varied role in multiple traditions around the world. Artist and scholar Pietro Gaietto has written that "representations of human-animal hybrids always have their origins in religion". In "successive traditions they may change in meaning but they still remain within spiritual culture", Gaietto has argued, when looking back in an evolution-minded point of view. The beings show up in both Greek and Roman mythology, with various elements of ancient Egyptian society ebbing and flowing into those cultures in particular. Prominent examples in ancient Egyptian religion, featuring some of the earliest such hybrid beings, include the canine-like god of death known as Anubis and the lion-like Sphinx. Other instances of these types of characters include figures within both Chinese and Japanese mythology. The observation of interspecies friendships within the animal kingdom, as well as the bonds existing between humans and their pets, have been a source of the appeal in such stories.
A prominent hybrid figure that's internationally known is the mythological Greek figure of Pan. A deity that rules over and symbolizes the untamed wild, he helps express the inherent beauty of the natural world as the Greeks saw things. He specifically received reverence by ancient hunters, fishermen, shepherds, and other groups with a close connection to nature. Pan is a Satyr who possesses the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat while otherwise being essentially human in appearance; stories of his encounters with different gods, humans, and others have been a part of popular culture in several different cultures for many years. The human-animal hybrid has appeared in acclaimed works of art by figures such as Francis Bacon, also being mentioned in poetic pieces such as in John Fletcher's writings. Specifically, the human-animal hybrid has appeared in acclaimed works of art by figures such as Francis Bacon. Additional famous mythological hybrids include the Egyptian god of death, named Anubis, and the fox-like Japanese beings that are called Kitsune.
In Chinese mythology, the figure of Chu Pa-chieh () undergoes a personal journey in which he gives up wickedness for virtue. After causing a disturbance in heaven from his licentious actions, he is exiled to Earth. By mistake, he enters the womb of a sow and ends up being born as a half-man/half-pig entity. With the head and ears of a pig coupled with a human body, his already animal-like sense of selfishness from his past life remains. Killing and eating his mother as well as devouring his brothers, he makes his way to a mountain hideout, spending his days preying on unwary travelers unlucky enough to cross his path. However, the exhortations of the kind goddess Kuan Yin, journeying in China, persuade him to seek a nobler path, and his life's journey and the side of goodness proceeds on such that even he is ordained a priest by the goddess herself. Remarking on the character's role in the religious novel Journey to the West, where the being first appears, professor Victor H. Mair has commented that "[p]ig-human hybrids represent descent and the grotesque, a capitulation to the basest appetites" rather than "self-improvement".
Several hybrid entities have long played a major role in Japanese media and in traditional beliefs within the country. For example, a warrior god known as Amida received worship as a part of Japanese mythology for many years; he possessed a generally humanoid appearance while having a canine-like head. However, the god's devotional popularity fell in about the middle of the 19th century. A Tanuki resembles a raccoon dog, but its shape-shifting talents allow it to turn into humans for the purposes of trickery, such as impersonating Buddhist monks. The fox-like creatures known as Kitsune also possess similar powers, and stories abound of them tricking human men into marriage by turning into seductive women.
Other examples include characters in ancient Anatolia and Mesopotamia. The latter region has had the tradition of a malevolent human-animal hybrid deity in Pazuzu, the demon featuring a humanoid shape yet having grotesque features such as sharp talons. The character picked up revived attention when an interpretation of it appeared in William Peter Blatty's 1971 novel The Exorcist and the Academy Award winning 1973 film adaption of the same name, with the demon possessing the body of an innocent young girl. The movie, regarded as one of the greatest horror films of all time, has a prologue in which co-protagonist Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) visits an archaeological dig in Iraq and ominously discovers an old statue of the monstrous being.
Theriocephaly studies
"Theriocephaly" (from Greek θηρίον therion 'beast' and κεφαλή kefalí 'head') is the anthropomorphic condition or quality of having the head of an animal with a body either mostly or entirely looking human – the term being commonly used to refer the depiction of deities or otherwise specially able individuals. An entity with such qualities is said to be "theriomorphous". Many of the gods and goddesses worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, for example, were commonly depicted as being theriocephalic. This phenomenon partly represented an intermediate step in a longer process of anthropomorphization of former animal deities (e.g. the goddess Hathor in her earliest form was depicted as a cow and in her latest manifestation as a woman with cows ears and sometimes a hairstyle resembling cows horns). But the form of depiction sometimes depended also on the aspects of a deity an artist wanted to accentuate (e.g. Ba, the aspect of personality of a human soul, was depicted as a bird with a humans head). This can also be seen in the different hieroglyphs that could be used to write the name of a single deity.
Other notable examples include:
Horus features the head of a falcon.
Anubis has a jackal's head.
Set, often depicted with the head of an unknown creature, gets associated with a being referred to as the "Set animal" by Egyptologists.
Khonsu, (god of the moon disc) depicted as a man with a falcons head and or as a human child, both with a moon disc on top of the head.
Examples from other geographic areas include:
Cernunnos, a historic Celtic deity, has been adapted as the Horned God in Wicca tradition.
The Minotaur menaces people in Greek mythology.
In some Eastern Orthodox Church icon traditions, some saints, particularly St. Christopher, get depicted as having the head of a dog.
In Hinduism, Ganesha features an elephant head.
In Abenaki mythology, a part of the history of the indigenous peoples of the United States, the spirit Pamola was a being who possessed the head of a moose as well as the wings and taloned feet of an eagle.
In fiction
Many prominent pieces of children's literature over the past two centuries have featured humanized animal characters, often as protagonists in the stores. In the opinion of popular educator Lucy Sprague Mitchell, the appeal of such mythical and fantastic beings comes from how children desire "direct" language "told in terms of images— visual, auditory, tactile, muscle images". Another author has remarked that an "animal costume" provides "a way to emphasize or even exaggerate a particular characteristic".
The anthropomorphic characters in the seminal works by English writer Beatrix Potter in particular live an ambiguous situation, having human dress yet displaying many instinctive animal traits. Writing on the popularity of Peter Rabbit, a later author commented that in "balancing humanized domesticity against wild rabbit foraging, Potter subverted parental authority and its built in hypocrisy" in Potter's child-centered books. Writer Lisa Fraustino has cited on the subject R.M. Lockley's tongue-in-cheek observation: "Rabbits are so human. Or is it the other way around— humans are so rabbit?"
Writer H. G. Wells created his famous work The Island of Doctor Moreau, featuring a mixture of horror and science fiction elements, to promote the anti-vivisection cause as a part of his long-time advocacy for animal rights. Wells' story describes a man stuck on an island ruled over by the titular Dr. Moreau, a morally depraved scientist who has created several human-animal hybrids referred to as 'Beast Folk' through vivisection and even by combining parts of other animals for some of the 'Beast Folk'. The story has been adapted into film several times, with varying success. The most acclaimed version is the 1932 black-and-white treatment called Island of Lost Souls. Wells himself wrote that "this story was the response of an imaginative mind to the reminder that humanity is but animal rough-hewn to a reasonable shape and in perpetual internal conflict between instinct and injunction," with the scandals surrounding Oscar Wilde being the impetus for the English writer's treatment of themes such as ethics and psychology. Challenging the Victorian era viewpoints of its time, the 1896 work presents a complex situation in which enhancing animals into hybrids involves both terrifying violence and pain as well as appears essentially futile, given the power of raw instinct. A pessimistic view towards the ability of human civilization to live by law-abiding, moral standards for long thus follows.
The 1986 horror film The Fly features a deformed and monstrous human-animal hybrid, played by actor Jeff Goldblum. His character, scientist Seth Brundle, undergoes a teleportation experiment that goes awry and fuses him at a fundamental genetic level with a common fly caught besides him. Brundle experiences drastic mutations as a result that horrify him. Movie critic Gerardo Valero has written that the famous horror work, "released at the dawn of the AIDS epidemic", "was seen by many as a metaphor for the disease" while also playing on bodily fears about dismemberment and coming apart that human beings inherently share.
The science fiction film Splice, released 2009, shows scientists mixing together human and animal DNA in the hopes of advancing medical research at the pharmaceutical company that they work at. Calamitous results occur when the hybrid named Dren is born.
The H. P. Lovecraft–inspired movie Dagon, released in 2001, additionally features grotesque hybrid beings. In terms of comic books, examples of fictional human-animal hybrids include the characters in Charles Burns' Black Hole series. In those comics, a set of teenagers in a 1970s era town become afflicted by a bizarre disease; the sexually transmitted affliction mutates them into monstrous forms.
Multiple video games have featured human-animal hybrids as enemies for the protagonist(s) to defeat, including powerful boss characters. For instance, the 2014 survival horror release The Evil Within includes grotesque hybrid beings, looking like the undead, attacking main character Detective Sebastian Castellanos. With partners Joseph Oda and Julie Kidman, the protagonist attempts investigate a multiple homicide at a mental hospital yet discovers a mysterious figure who turns the world around them into a living nightmare, Castellanos having to find the truth about the criminal psychopath.
Heroic character examples of human-animal anthropomorphic characters include the two protagonists of the 2002 movie The Cat Returns (Japanese title: 猫の恩返し), with the animated film featuring a young girl (named "Haru") being transformed against her will into a feline-human hybrid and fighting a villainous king of the cats with the help of a dashing male cat companion (known as the "Baron") at her side.
On a more everyday life tone, featuring human-animal hybrids of mythological beings having common human experiences, A Centaur's Life, known in Japan as , is a Japanese slice of life comedy manga series by Kei Murayama. The series has been serialized in Tokuma Shoten's Monthly Comic Ryū magazine since February 2011, and is published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment. An anime television series adaptation by Haoliners Animation League aired in Japan from July to September 2017.
With general U.S. popular culture and its various subcultures, the furry fandom consists of individuals interested in a variety of artistic materials, this often featuring "furry art... [that] depicts a human-animal hybrid in everyday life". Specific people involved in creative media will frequently come up with a "fursona" depicting a version or versions of themselves as a hybrid creature. This practice functions as an outlet based on "personal ideas of self-expression" (self-realization).
See also
References
External links
"Chinese Human-animal Hybrid Embryo Experiments Have Been Interrupted" – Sina.com report
"The First Individual Animal-hybrid Embryos Are from China" – Xinhua News Agency report
Animals in folklore
Animals in mythology
Anthropomorphic animals
Fantasy creatures
Genetic engineering
Human–animal interaction
Science fiction themes
Transhumanism | Human–animal hybrid | [
"Chemistry",
"Technology",
"Engineering",
"Biology"
] | 4,503 | [
"Biological engineering",
"Animals",
"Genetic engineering",
"Transhumanism",
"Ethics of science and technology",
"Human–animal interaction",
"Humans and other species",
"Molecular biology"
] |
47,450,863 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/FRD-10 | The AN/FRD-10 is a United States Navy circularly disposed antenna array (CDAA), built at a number of locations during the Cold War for high frequency radio direction finding (HF/DF) and signals intelligence. In the Joint Electronics Type Designation System, FRD stands for fixed ground, radio, direction finding. 14 sites were originally constructed as a part of the "Classic Bullseye" program. Two AN/FRD-10 systems were later installed in Canada. AN/FRD-10 systems were originally constructed in the early 1960s, but after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the systems began to be shut down and demolished. The Naval Security Group operated and maintained the U.S. Navy AN/FRD-10 systems. The system had several nicknames including Fred-10 and Elephant or Dinosaur cages. As of 2015, none of the US Navy AN/FRD-10 sites are extant, but the two Canadian sites remain in service. The AN/FLR-9 was a system with a similar design and function, but operated by the US Air Force and Army.
Bullseye
The program to install and operate the radio direction finding network was known as Bullseye, Clarinet Bullseye and Classic Bullseye at various points over its life cycle. The word Classic was likely added later when permanently assigned "first words" were created for two-word nicknames. Classic was the word used to designate programs related to the Naval Security Group and Clarinet was used for programs related to the Chief of Naval Operations.
Classic Bullseye was also related to the Centerboard and Flaghoist programs. Centerboard was a network for processing HF/DF information. The security classification guide that covered all three programs was cancelled in January 2009. Later, the programs Unitary DF and Crosshair sought to unify the military's HF direction finding information into a single data collection network. Crosshair, an HF/DF geolocation network, is apparently still in use c. 2015, employing small fixed or mobile HF/DF systems instead of large circular arrays.
Development
The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) led development of the technology that was used in the AN/FRD-10. Three developments were critical to the FRD-10, the ability to record portions of the frequency spectrum for future analysis, the Circularly Disposed Antenna Array (CDAA) and the computer control system that allowed rapid triangulation across multiple sites. NRL funded research at a test site built in 1955 by the University of Illinois at the Bondville Road Field Station in Scott Township, Champaign County, Illinois, south of Bondville, Illinois. The AN/FRD-10 antenna was a scaled-up version of the NRL prototype antenna array.
Construction and cost
In 1959, the Navy awarded a contract to ITT Federal Systems to construct a network of AN/FRD-10 systems. The first AN/FRD-10 to be constructed was at NSGA Hanza in Okinawa, but future FRD-10 sites had different antenna dimensions. The High band reflector was reduced from 120 ft to 90 ft in later sites. Additionally, the outer high band antenna ring at Hanza was from the center with later sites being around . For the remaining sites, the outer antenna elements were spaced every 3 degrees around the circle and the outer reflector was tall. The inner antenna elements were spaced every 9 degrees and the inner reflector was tall. One site was short lived. NSGA Marietta, Washington closed in 1972 and reverted to a Lummi reservation. Marietta was the first FRD-10 site to shut down and operated less than 10 years.
The 1970 estimate to construct a CDAA was just under $900,000 ($ today) with electronics at the site estimated at $20 million ($ today). The system had 120 high band antennas and 40 low band antennas which had to be positioned within +/- two minutes of arc and +/- 3 inches of their intended distance from the center of the array. 160 75 ohm coaxial transmission lines were used to carry signals from the antennas had to be electrically matched to within 3/4 of a degree at 10 MHz. This task was estimated at 300 to 400 man hours to complete. There was also an extensive grounding system used at the FRD-10 sites. This included 360 ground radials made of 8 AWG wire, long, extending from the outer antenna ring. It also included a massive ground grid, made of 10 AWG wire bonded together to create a mesh with squares. It was laid underground up to the radials in the area between the high and low antennas.
Weather proved to be a challenge for the FRD-10 antennas. For example, the antenna at NSGA Winter Harbor had problems due to frost heaving the ground and shifting the reflector screens out of alignment. Digging up the affected poles and replacing them was costly and was estimated at $240,000 in the late 1970s. An alternative method was discovered that modified the poles to allow readjustment of the screen instead of the costly removal and replacement that had been done in the past. The arrays were also vulnerable to high winds. Antenna arrays at Homestead, Florida and Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico were heavily damaged by Hurricanes Andrew and Georges, respectively.
Capabilities
The AN/FRD-10 had an estimated range of and was used to monitor and triangulate single or double hop high frequency (HF) signals between 2 and 32 MHz. Site locations were likely chosen based on HF hop distances for their intended surveillance targets. The FRD-10 was designed to locate HF transmissions especially from submarines and was managed by the Naval Security Group. The Navy also claimed over the years that the direction finding sites were used primarily for air and sea rescue operations and Naval communications in the case of the pair of FRD-10s at Sugar Grove Station.
The FRD-10 used a goniometer to rapidly scan through all the antennas around the circle. This electronically "rotated" the antenna 360 degrees several times a second allowing fast and accurate direction finding. This was needed because Soviet submarines began to use wide-band burst transmissions in the early 1960s to make themselves more difficult to pinpoint. Initially, these signals were too rapid for Bullseye's predecessor, Boresight, to locate, but the AN/FRD-10 was able to locate even very brief transmissions.
Sites in the Classic Bullseye network were connected by communications links to facilitate "near instantaneous" triangulation of received signals if two or more sites received the same signal. Signals could also be recorded for later direction finding. The system was four times more accurate than the prior Navy AN/GRD-6 system with bearing accuracy better than 0.5 degrees.
The Navy AN/FRD-10 was slightly smaller and had a narrower frequency range compared to the Air Force AN/FLR-9 system. The FRD-10 had only 2 antenna rings, and diameters. The Navy system was vertically instead of horizontally polarized. The FRD-10 was also said to be closer to omnidirectional than to the FLR-9 due to complications added by having three sets of reflectors and with FLR-9 array looking inward rather than outward. On the FRD-10 the high band elements were on the outside, vs inside.
Smaller AX-16 Pusher antenna arrays were developed with about half the diameter of the AN/FRD-10 and were used at sites that required a smaller footprint, like Diego Garcia and other sites in the United Kingdom. The pusher systems were found to have lower performance, but not primarily due to the reduced antenna size. Most of the excess signal loss and higher noise floor was attributed to problems with the RF distribution network and higher transmission line losses due to the RG-8 coaxial cable that the pusher systems used.
Former locations of FRD-10 sites
Atlantic
Pacific
Other
NAVRADSTA Sugar Grove Station, Sugar Grove, West Virginia () (two adjacent variants of the AN/FRD-10), not operated by the NSG. Demolished prior to December 31, 2002, aerial imagery.
Gallery
See also
High-frequency direction finding
Radio direction finder
Radio direction finding
Direction finding
Signals intelligence (SIGINT)
List of military electronics of the United States
References
External links
Automatic identification and data capture
Military radio systems of the United States
Radio frequency antenna types
Radio-frequency identification
Surveillance
Military electronics of the United States
Antennas (radio)
Telecommunications equipment of the Cold War
Military equipment introduced in the 1960s | AN/FRD-10 | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 1,749 | [
"Radio-frequency identification",
"Radio electronics",
"Data",
"Automatic identification and data capture"
] |
47,451,366 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential%20monomorphism | In mathematics, specifically category theory, an essential monomorphism is a monomorphism i in an abelian category C such that for a morphism f in C, the composition is a monomorphism only when f is a monomorphism. Essential monomorphisms in a category of modules are those whose image is an essential submodule of the codomain. An injective hull of an object A is an essential monomorphism from A to an injective object.
References
Category theory | Essential monomorphism | [
"Mathematics"
] | 101 | [
"Functions and mappings",
"Mathematical structures",
"Category theory stubs",
"Mathematical objects",
"Fields of abstract algebra",
"Mathematical relations",
"Category theory"
] |
47,451,878 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suillus%20subacerbus | Suillus subacerbus is a species of bolete fungus in the family Suillaceae. Described as new to science in 1968 by mycologist Robert Francis Ross McNabb, it is found in New Zealand, where it grows in association with Pinus radiata.
Description
Its fruitbodies produce convex to flattened caps measuring in diameter. The cap colour is quite variable, ranging from creamy yellow to olive grey initially, later becoming ochre, brown, or reddish orange (sometimes streaked) as the fruitbody matures. The pore surface on the cap underside is dull yellow, later becoming darker. Pores are small and angular, about 0.75–1 mm in diameter. The stipe measures long by up to wide, and lacks a ring.
The spore print is yellowish brown. Spores are smooth elliptical, with typical dimensions of 7.8–9.1 by 3.0–3.6 μm.
The complex of species that include Suillus granulatus, S. pungens, and S. acerbus appear to be closely related. McNabb suggests that Suillus subacerbus is "probably of North American origin".
References
External links
subacerbus
Fungi described in 1968
Fungi of New Zealand
Fungus species | Suillus subacerbus | [
"Biology"
] | 259 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
47,451,953 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone%206s | The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are smartphones that were designed, developed, and marketed by Apple. They are the ninth generation of the iPhone. They were announced on September 9, 2015, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco by Apple CEO Tim Cook, with pre-orders beginning September 12 and official release on September 25, 2015. They were succeeded by the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus on September 7, 2016 and were discontinued with the announcement of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR on September 12, 2018.
The iPhone 6s has a similar design to the iPhone 6 but includes updated hardware, including a strengthened 7000 series aluminum alloy chassis and upgraded Apple A9 system-on-chip, a new 12-megapixel rear camera that can record up to 4K video at 30fps (A first in the series), can take dynamic "Live Photos", the first increase in front camera photo resolution since the 2012 iPhone 5, and also features for the first time front facing "Retina Flash" which brightens up the display three times of its highest possible brightness for selfies, 2nd generation Touch ID fingerprint recognition sensor, LTE Advanced support, and "Hey Siri" capabilities without needing to be plugged in. The iPhone 6s also introduces a new hardware feature known as "3D Touch", which enables pressure-sensitive touch inputs. The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are also the first smartphones to use the fastest high end flash storage NVM Express (NVMe). The 6s and 6s Plus, alongside the 1st generation SE, are the longest supported iPhones ever released, through seven major versions of iOS from iOS 9 to iOS 15. They do not support iOS 16 due to hardware limitations.
History
Before the official unveiling, several aspects of the iPhone 6s were rumored, including the base model having 16 gigabytes of storage, the pressure-sensitive display technology known as 3D Touch, and a new rose gold color option.
iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were officially unveiled on September 9, 2015, during a press event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Pre-orders began September 12, with the official release on September 25.
On September 7, 2016, Apple announced the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus as respective successors to the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, although they continued to be sold at a reduced price point as entry-level options in the iPhone lineup.
On March 31, 2017, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were released in Indonesia alongside the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, following Apple's research and development investment in the country.
The iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and first-generation iPhone SE were the last iPhone models to feature a standard 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack, and were discontinued on September 12, 2018, with the release of the iPhone XR.
Specifications
Hardware
Design
The iPhone 6s is nearly identical in design to the iPhone 6. In response to the "bendgate" design flaws of the previous model, changes were made to improve the durability of the chassis: the 6s was constructed from a stronger, 7000 series aluminum alloy, "key points" in the rear casing were strengthened and reinforced, and touchscreen integrated circuits were re-located to the display assembly. Alongside the existing gold, silver, and space gray options, a new rose gold color option was also introduced.
Chipsets
The iPhone 6s is powered by the Apple A9 system-on-chip, which the company stated is up to 70% faster than Apple A8, and has up to 90% better graphics performance. The iPhone 6s has 2 GiB of RAM, twice as much as any previous iPhone, and also supports LTE Advanced. The Touch ID sensor on the 6s was also updated, with the new version having improved fingerprint scanning performance over the previous version.
Batteries
While the capacities of their non-user-replaceable batteries are slightly smaller (1715 mAh and 2750 mAh respectively), Apple rates the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus as having the same average battery life as their respective predecessors (1810 mAh and 2915 mAh). The A9 system-on-chip was dual-sourced from TSMC and Samsung. Although it was speculated that the Samsung version had worse battery performance than the TSMC version, multiple independent tests have shown there is no appreciable difference between the two chips. Although the device was not promoted as such, the iPhone 6s has a degree of water resistance because of a change to its internal design, which places a silicone seal around components of the logic board and an adhesive gasket around the display assembly to prevent them from being shorted by accidental exposure to water.
Displays
Their displays are the same sizes as those of the iPhone 6, coming in 4.7-inch 750p and 5.5-inch 1080p (Plus) sizes. The iPhone 6s features a technology known as 3D Touch; sensors are embedded in the screen's backlight layer that measure the firmness of the user's touch input by the distance between it and the cover glass, allowing the device to distinguish between normal and more forceful presses. 3D Touch is combined with a Taptic Engine vibrator to provide associated haptic feedback. Although similar, this is distinct from the Force Touch technology used on the Apple Watch and the trackpad of the Retina MacBook, as it is more sensitive and can recognize more levels of touch pressure than Force Touch. Due to the hardware needed to implement 3D Touch, the iPhone 6s is heavier than its predecessor.
Cameras
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus feature a 12-megapixel (4032×3024 pixels) rear-facing camera, an upgrade from the 8-megapixel (3264×2448) unit on previous models, as well as a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, compared to 1.3 megapixels of the iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, 6 Plus and iPhone SE.
Their rear camera can record 4K video (3840×2160p) for the first time on an iPhone, as well as FullHD (1920×1080p) video at 30, 60 and now 120 frames per second, the latter also for the first time on an iPhone. The camera was well received by many critics of the phone. When the camera takes a 4K video recording, it can use the storage on the phone rapidly. The 16 gigabyte version of the phone was only capable of holding 40 minutes of 4K video (bit rate: 6 MB/s or 48 Mbit/s).
Still photos with 6.5 megapixels (3412×1920) can be captured during video recording.
Storage
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were originally offered in models with 16, 64, and 128 GB (14.9, 59.6 or 119.2 GiB) of internal storage. Following the release of iPhone 7 in September 2016, the 16 and 64 GB models were dropped and replaced by a new 32 GB (29.8 GiB) option. Some of this storage space is used by preinstalled software, resulting in usable storage of 11.5, 27.5, 56.5 and 114 GiB. For improved storage performance, iPhone 6s utilizes NVM Express (NVMe), resulting in a maximum average read speed of 1,840 megabytes per second.
Others
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are the first iPhones to feature Raise to Wake.
Software
The iPhone 6s originally shipped with iOS 9; the operating system leverages the 3D Touch hardware to allow recognition of new gestures and commands, including "peeking" at content with a light touch and "popping" it into view by pressing harder, and accessing context menus with links to commonly used functions within apps with harder presses on home screen icons. The camera app's "Retina Flash" feature allows the display's brightness to be used as a makeshift flash on images taken with the front camera, while "Live Photos" captures a short video alongside each photo taken.
The iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and first-generation SE support iOS 12, which was first released on September 17, 2018. They also support iOS 13, unveiled on June 3, 2019, and was released to the public on September 19, 2019; as well as iOS 14, unveiled on June 22, 2020, and iOS 15, unveiled on June 7, 2021. These phones support most of the main features of iOS 13, including dark mode. Along with the iPhone SE, the 6s and 6s Plus are the oldest iPhones to support iOS 13, iOS 14 and iOS 15.
On June 6, 2022, after iOS 16 was announced at the WWDC 2022, it was revealed that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus along with the first-generation iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus will not be compatible with this new version of the operating system.
Reception
The iPhone 6s had a generally positive reception. While performance and camera quality were praised by most reviewers, the addition of 3D Touch was liked by one critic for the potential of entirely new interface interactions, but disliked by another critic for not providing users with an expected intuitive response before actually using the feature. The battery life was criticized, and one reviewer asserted that the phone's camera was not significantly better than the rest of the industry. The iPhone 6s set a new first-weekend sales record, selling 13 million models, up from 10 million for the iPhone 6 in the previous year. However, Apple saw its first-ever quarterly year-over-year decline in iPhone sales in the months after the launch, credited to a saturated smartphone market in Apple's biggest countries and a lack of iPhone purchases in developing countries.
Nilay Patel of The Verge in 2015 described the 6s, in particular the Plus model, as "right now the best phone on the market. ... There just aren't other companies that can roll out a feature like 3D Touch and make it work in a way that suggests the creation of entirely new interface paradigms, and every other phone maker needs to figure out exactly why Apple's cameras are so consistent before they can really compete." Samuel Gibbs of The Guardian commented that the phone "has the potential to be the best smaller smartphone on the market, but its short battery life is deeply frustrating" and described the camera as "not leagues ahead of the competition anymore". Tom Salinger of The Register praised performance, noting that "we're now using phones with the performance of current PCs", but described 3D Touch as "just a glorified vibrator" and "no good ... you still don't know quite what's going to happen until you try it". Ryan Smith and Joshua Ho of AnandTech awarded the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus its Editors' Choice Gold Award, based largely on the phone's performance and the addition of 3D Touch.
Sales
On the Monday following the iPhone 6s's launch weekend, Apple announced that they had sold 13 million models, a record-breaking number that exceeded the 10 million launch sales of the iPhone 6 in 2014. In the months following the launch, Apple saw its first-ever quarterly year-over-year decline in iPhone sales, attributed to a saturated smartphone market in Apple's biggest sales countries and consumers in developing countries not buying iPhones.
As of 2019, the iPhone 6s has sold over 174.1 million units worldwide.
Release dates by region
September 25, 2015
October 9, 2015
October 10, 2015
October 16, 2015
October 23, 2015
October 30, 2015
November 6, 2015
November 13, 2015
March 31, 2017
Hardware issues
Unexpected battery shutdowns
In November 2016, Apple announced that a "very small number" of iPhone 6s devices manufactured between September and October 2015 have faulty batteries that unexpectedly shut down. While Apple noted that the battery problems were "not a safety issue", it announced a battery replacement program for affected devices. Customers with affected devices, which span "a limited serial number range", were able to check their device's serial number on Apple's website, and, if affected, receive a battery replacement free of charge at Apple Stores or authorized Apple Service Providers.
In December 2016, Apple revealed new details about the issue, stating that the affected devices contained a "battery component that was exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have been before being assembled into battery packs".
See also
Comparison of smartphones
History of iPhone
List of iPhone models
Timeline of iPhone models
References
External links
– official site
Computer-related introductions in 2015
Mobile phones introduced in 2015
Products and services discontinued in 2018
Mobile phones with 4K video recording
Mobile phones with pressure-sensitive touch screen
Discontinued flagship smartphones | IPhone 6s | [
"Technology"
] | 2,655 | [
"Discontinued flagship smartphones",
"Flagship smartphones"
] |
47,452,370 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suillus%20subaureus | Suillus subaureus is a rare species of bolete fungus in the family Suillaceae. It is found in North America, where it associates with deciduous trees. Originally described in 1887 by Charles Horton Peck, it was transferred to genus Suillus by Wally Snell in 1944. Fruitbodies are pale yellow—reflecting its specific epithet subaureus, which means "somewhat golden yellow". The spore print is olive brown. Spores are smooth and inamyloid, and measure 7–10 by 2.7–3.5 μm. It has also been recorded in Taiwan.
A recent study of this species indicates that S. subaureus associates with both deciduous and conifer trees in eastern North American forests. The spores of S. subaureus will not germinate in the presence of only deciduous tree roots. Instead, they require the presence of a conifer host tree (preferably Pinus) to germinate, but will then colonize and persist on deciduous hosts via mycelial extension.
The species is edible.
See also
List of North American boletes
References
External links
subaureus
Edible fungi
Fungi described in 1887
Fungi of Asia
Fungi of North America
Taxa named by Charles Horton Peck
Fungus species | Suillus subaureus | [
"Biology"
] | 251 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
47,452,829 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suillus%20holomaculatus | Suillus holomaculatus is a species of bolete fungus in the family Suillaceae. Found in Mauritius, where it grows in association with Pinus radiata, it was described as new to science in 2008.
References
External links
holomaculatus
Fungi of Mauritius
Fungi described in 2008
Fungus species | Suillus holomaculatus | [
"Biology"
] | 66 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
47,452,894 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suillus%20chiapasensis | Suillus chiapasensis is a species of bolete fungus in the family Suillaceae. Found in Mexico, it was described as new to science in 1973 by mycologist Rolf Singer. The type collection was made in Chiapas, west of San Cristóbal de las Casas, on 2 August 1969.
See also
List of North American boletes
References
External links
chiapasensis
Fungi of Mexico
Fungi described in 1973
Fungi without expected TNC conservation status
Fungus species | Suillus chiapasensis | [
"Biology"
] | 100 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
47,453,475 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraunhofer%20Institute%20for%20Telecommunications | The Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute, HHI, also known as Fraunhofer HHI or Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, is an organization of the Fraunhofer Society based in Berlin. The institute engages in applied research and development in the fields of physics, electrical engineering and computer sciences.
Competencies
The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute develops mobile and stationary broadband communication networks and multimedia systems. Focal points of independent and contract research conducted by Fraunhofer HHI are photonic components and systems, fiber optic sensor systems, and image signal processing and transmission. Future applications for broadband networks are developed as well. Research in this area focuses on 3D displays, UHD panorama video production, human-machine interaction through gesture control, optical satellite communication and data transmission technologies such as visible light communications.
Scientists at the institute work together with national and international research and industry partners. For example, institute researchers were involved in the development of the H.264 AVC video compression standard and its successor H.265 HEVC as part of the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and the Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG). Work on the various video compression standards received the Technology and Engineering Emmy award multiple times.
Research
The research and development work of the Fraunhofer HHI takes place in six departments.
The research focus of the Photonic Networks and Systems department are high-performance optical transmission systems for use in in-house, access, metropolitan, wide-area and satellite communication networks. The focus is on increasing the capacity as well as improving security and energy efficiency.
The Photonic Components department develops optoelectronic semiconductor components as well as integrated optical circuits for data transmission. Another focus is on infrared sensor systems, terahertz spectroscopy and high-performance semiconductor lasers for industrial and medical applications.
The research on novel photonic sensors used in measuring and control systems for early hazard detection, energy management, robotics and medical technology is a focus of the Fiber Optical Sensor Systems department (branch). The sensors are characterized by extreme miniaturization, excellent communication and network capabilities and high energy efficiency.
The research focus of the Wireless Communications and Networks department is on radio-based information transmission. The department provides contributions to the theory and technical feasibility of radio systems and develops hardware prototypes. This is supplemented by scientific studies, simulations and evaluations at the link and system levels.
The Video Coding & Analytics department is researching actively the efficient encoding, transport, processing and analysis of video signals as well as machine learning.
The focus in the Vision & Imaging Technologies department is on complex 2D/3D analysis and synthesis methods, on computer vision as well as innovative camera, sensor, display and projection systems. The department is researching for the entire video processing chain from content creation to playback.
Partnerships
Fraunhofer HHI employees hold professorships at the following universities:
Technische Universität Berlin (image communication, optical and opto-electric integration, network information theory)
Clausthal University of Technology (applied photonics)
Humboldt University of Berlin (visual computing)
University of Potsdam (embedded systems architectures for signal processing)
Fraunhofer HHI is a member of the following internal Fraunhofer groups and alliances
Fraunhofer ICT Group
Fraunhofer Group for Microelectronics
Fraunhofer Group for Defense and Security
Fraunhofer Alliance Ambient Assisted Living (AAL)
Fraunhofer Alliance Big Data
Fraunhofer Innovation Cluster Secure Identity
Fraunhofer Innovation Cluster Life Cycle Engineering
Fraunhofer Alliance Digital Media
Fraunhofer Alliance Embedded Systems
Fraunhofer Alliance Vision
Infrastructure
The total budget of Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute in 2015 was around EUR 49.2 million. The external funding ratio was 75 percent. 49.8 percent of the budget came from industrial revenues, 13 percent from federal and state contract research, and 6.5 percent from funds provided by the European Union. Around 270 employees and 140 students worked at the institute in 2015.
History
Establishment of the institute
The founding phase of the Heinrich Hertz Institute began on 1 August 1927 with the written intention of the Study Society for Oscillation Research to establish an institute for the research on electrical and acoustic oscillation at the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg (now Technische Universität Berlin). Members of this society were the German Reichspost, the Prussian Ministry of Science, Art and National Education, the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft, the Technische Hochschule zu Berlin, the large corporations of the electrical industry, and the German Electrical Engineering Association.
Effectively, the institute was founded on 23 February 1928 as Heinrich Hertz Institute for Oscillation Research. The opening took place in 1930 in Berlin-Charlottenburg, Franklinstrasse 1, with four departments: High-Frequency Engineering, Telecommunications and Telegraph Technology, Acoustics and Mechanics. Research focused on radio and television technology, room acoustics and electronic music among other things.
The institute was reorganized in 1936 and the name Heinrich Hertz was wiped out from its designation in the course of National Socialist "cleansing" in the interest of the Third Reich.
Post World War II
After the institute building was entirely destroyed in 1945, the Heinrich Hertz Institute for Oscillation Research was newly founded in the same year by Gustav Leithäuser with the former department structure. During the time of the currency reform and Berlin Blockade in 1950, the institute was split into an eastern section (Berlin-Adlershof) and a western section (Berlin-Charlottenburg, Jebensstrasse 1). In 1968 the institute moved into the new building at Einsteinufer 37 in Berlin.
Institute with state and federal participation
The institute was renamed to Heinrich-Hertz-Institut for Nachrichtentechnik Berlin GmbH (Heinrich-Hertz Institute for Communication Technology) in 1975 with the state of Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany as shareholders. Realignment of the entire HHI research profile by Horst Ohnsorge. Systematic work on current problems of modern communication technology. Vision of a universal broadband communication network on a fiber optics basis. 5 specialist departments: General Principles; System Structures; Image and Sound; Relaying and Transmission; Planning. Support for optical communication engineering as a key technology at HHI in the 1980s. Restructuring of the institute with formation of two divisions: Communication Systems with the departments of Relaying and Transmission, Signal Processing and Terminal Equipment, Economic and Social Sciences Accompanying Research, and Human Engineering, and the division: Integrated Optics.
In the 1990s research focused on the following fields: photonic networks, electronic imaging technology for multimedia, mobile broadband systems, and integrated optics.
Transition to the Fraunhofer Society
The institute became part of the Fraunhofer Society in 2003 and received today’s name, Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute, HHI. The institute has been cooperating with the neighboring Technische Universität Berlin for decades.
A data transmission system was successfully developed in 2006 with a never-before-seen speed of 2560 Gb/s, which means transmitting a data volume corresponding to the content of 60 DVDs takes one second. What’s more, a breakthrough was achieved in video compression making it possible to store motion pictures in the high-resolution HDTV format with 2 million pixels per image on DVD.
On 10 November 2016 scientists of the Fraunhofer HHI established a bidirectional 1.7 Tbit/s free-space optical communications link over the air. The eye-safe optical beam transmission was transmitted over a distance of 380 meters. Eye-safe operation through 380-m air was successfully demonstrated at a total antenna output power of less than 10 mW. The signals in both directions consisted of 40 wavelength channels of 43 Gbit/s.
List of directors
Karl Willy Wagner, founding director (1927–1936)
Willi Willing (provisional February 1936–March 1937)
Heinrich Fassbender (1937–1945)
Gustav Leithäuser (1945–1953)
Friedrich-Wilhelm Gundlach (1957–1972)
Horst Ohnsorge (1975–1980)
Wolfgang Grunow (1980–1982)
Clemens Baack (1982–2002)
Joachim Hesse (provisional with Mr. Mrowka 2002–2004)
Hans-Joachim Grallert (2004–2013) and Holger Boche (2004–2010)
Martin Schell (since 2014) and Thomas Wiegand (since 2014)
References
External links
Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications
Telecommunications engineering
Fraunhofer Society
Research institutes in Berlin | Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,752 | [
"Electrical engineering",
"Telecommunications engineering"
] |
47,453,921 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legonmycin | Legonmycins are a group of chemical compounds that belong to the pyrrolizidine family of naturally occurring alkaloids. Discovered by a joint team of researchers from University of Ghana, University of Aberdeen, and Wuhan University, the compounds were isolated from Streptomyces microorganisms in Legon, a suburb of Accra, Ghana. Laboratory syntheses of legonmycin A and legonmycin B have been reported.
References
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids | Legonmycin | [
"Chemistry"
] | 107 | [
"Pyrrolizidine alkaloids",
"Alkaloids by chemical classification"
] |
47,454,037 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical%20aromaticity | In organic chemistry, spherical aromaticity is formally used to describe an unusually stable nature of some spherical compounds such as fullerenes and polyhedral boranes.
In 2000, Andreas Hirsch and coworkers in Erlangen, Germany, formulated a rule to determine when a spherical compound would be aromatic. They found that those with 2(n+1)2 π-electrons could display aromatic properties, as spherical molcular orbitals are filled when there are 2(n+1)2 π-electrons for some positive integer n. For example, in buckminsterfullerene (C60) this happens for the species C6010+, which has 50 π-electrons: 50/2 = 25, which is a perfect square.
In 2011, Jordi Poater and Miquel Solà expanded Hirsch's rule to open-shell spherical compounds, which have unfilled outer shells but are still aromatic. They found that spherical compounds with 2n2+2n+1 π-electrons with spin S = (n + 1/2) would also display aromatic properties, sometimes more aromatic than comparable closed-shell species. This corresponds to the outer shell being half-filled, and is similar to Baird's rule. For example buckminsterfullerene with one additional electron, (C601–) is aromatic, with S = 11/2 and a bond-length alternation of 0.2 pm.
See also
Fullerene chemistry
Carborane
Boranes
References
External links
Spherical Aromaticity: Recent Work on Fullerenes, Polyhedral Boranes, and Related Structures
Physical organic chemistry
Supramolecular chemistry | Spherical aromaticity | [
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science"
] | 334 | [
"Aromatic compounds",
"Organic compounds",
"nan",
"Physical organic chemistry",
"Nanotechnology",
"Supramolecular chemistry"
] |
47,457,234 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline%20of%20fungi | The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fungi and mycology:
Fungi – "Fungi" is plural for "fungus". A fungus is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes unicellular microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as multicellular fungi that produce familiar fruiting forms known as mushrooms. Biologists classify these organisms as a kingdom, Fungi, the second highest taxonomic rank of living organism beneath the Eukaryota domain; other kingdoms include plants, animals, protists, and bacteria. One difference that places fungi in a different kingdom is that their cell walls contain chitin, unlike the cell walls of plants, bacteria and some protists. Similar to animals, fungi are heterotrophs, that is, they acquire their food by absorbing dissolved molecules, typically by secreting digestive enzymes into their environment. Growth is their means of mobility, except for spores (a few of which are flagellated), which may travel through air or water. Fungi function as the principal decomposers in ecological systems.
Types of fungi
By form
Molds
Aspergillus (list)
Fusarium (list)
Mushrooms
Agaricus (list)
Amanita (list)
Armillaria (list)
Boletus (list)
Coprinellus (list)
Coprinopsis (list)
Cortinarius (list)
Entoloma (list)
Gymnopilus (list)
Gymnopus (list)
Hebeloma (list)
Hygrocybe (list)
Hygrophorus (list)
Inocybe (list)
Lactarius (list)
Lactifluus (list)
Lepiota (list)
Leucoagaricus (list)
Leccinum (list)
Marasmius (list)
Pleurotus (list)
Yeasts
Other
Cyathus (list)
By activity
Carnivorous fungi
Pathogenic fungi
Poisonous fungi
Poisonous mushrooms
List of poisonous mushrooms
List of deadly mushrooms
By aspect
Bioluminescent fungi
Deadly fungi
By use
Medicinal fungi
Edible fungi
Edible molds
Penicillium camemberti – used in the production of Brie cheese and Camembert cheese
Penicillium glaucum – used in making Gorgonzola cheese
Penicillium roqueforti – used in making Roquefort cheese, Danish Blue cheese, and also recently Gorgonzola
Edible mushrooms
Symbiotic life forms of which fungi are a part
Lichen – composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi in a symbiotic relationship. Lichens are classified by the fungal component. Lichen species are given the same scientific name (binomial name) as the fungus species in the lichen. Lichens are being integrated into the classification schemes for fungi.
Caloplaca (list)
Cladonia (list)
Lecanora (list)
Study of fungi
Mycology
Branches of mycology
Lichenology (outline)
Mycotoxicology
History of fungi
History of mycology
Fungi-related publications
Books about fungi
Mycology journals
Fungal Biology
Fungal Genetics and Biology
Medical Mycology
Mycologia
Mycological Progress
Mycoscience
Mycoses
Mycotaxon
Sydowia
Persons influential in fungi
List of mycologists
See also
Outline of biology
Outline of lichens
References
External links
Tree of Life web project: Fungi
Mushroom Observer (mushroomobserver.org), a collaborative fungus recording and identification project
Fungi
Fungi | Outline of fungi | [
"Biology"
] | 732 | [
"Fungi"
] |
65,787,329 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuffle-exchange%20network | In graph theory, the shuffle-exchange network is an undirected cubic multigraph, whose vertices represent binary sequences of a given length and whose edges represent two operations on these sequence, circular shifts and flipping the lowest-order bit.
Definition
In the version of this network introduced by Tomas Lang and Harold S. Stone in 1976, simplifying earlier work of Stone in 1971, the shuffle-exchange network of order consisted of an array of cells, numbered by the different binary numbers that can be represented with bits. These cells were connected by communications links in two different patterns: "exchange" links in which each cell is connected to the cell numbered with the opposite value in its lowest-order bit, and "shuffle" links in which each cell is connected to the cell whose number is obtained by a circular shift that shifts every bit to the next more significant position, except for the highest-order bit which shifts into the lowest-order position. The "exchange" links are bidirectional, while the "shuffle" links can only transfer information in one direction, from a cell to its circular shift.
Subsequent work on networks with this topology removed the distinction between unidirectional and bidirectional communication links, allowing information to flow in either direction across each link.
Applications
The advantage of this communications pattern, over earlier methods, is that it allows information to be rapidly transferred through a small number of steps from any vertex in the network to any other vertex, while only requiring a single bit of control information (which of the two communications links to use) for each communications step. Fast parallel algorithms for basic problems including sorting, matrix multiplication, polynomial evaluation, and Fourier transforms are known for parallel systems using this network.
Layout area
If this network is given a straightforward layout in the integer lattice, with the vertices placed on a line in numerical order, with each lattice edge carrying part of at most one communication link, and with each vertex or crossing of the network placed at a lattice point, the layout uses area , quadratic in its number of vertices. However, more compact and asymptotically optimal layouts with area were described by F. Thomson Leighton in his 1981 doctoral dissertation.
Related networks
A related communications network, the "omega network" or multi-stage shuffle-exchange network, consists of a given number of stages, each consisting of vertices, with the shuffle links connecting pairs of vertices in consecutive stages and the exchange links connecting pairs of vertices in the same stage as each other.
The same operations on binary words, of rotation and flipping the first bit, can also be used to generate the cube-connected cycles, a different cubic parallel communications network with a greater number of vertices. Instead of having the binary words themselves as its vertices, the vertices of the cube-connected cycles represent operations on words that can be generated by rotation and flipping, and the edges represent the composition of one of these operations with an additional rotation or flip.
References
Network topology
Parametric families of graphs
Regular graphs | Shuffle-exchange network | [
"Mathematics"
] | 604 | [
"Network topology",
"Topology"
] |
65,787,597 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curb%20cut%20effect | The curb cut effect is the phenomenon of disability-friendly features being used and appreciated by a larger group than the people they were designed for. The phenomenon is named for curb cuts miniature ramps comprising parts of sidewalk which were first made for wheelchair access in particular places, but were also welcomed by people pushing strollers, carts or luggage. Curb cuts are now ubiquitous and no longer widely recognized as a disability-accessibility feature. Another example is hearing people using television closed captioning.
The curb cut effect is a subset of universal design, which is the purposeful design of an environment so that it is accessible to all people regardless of ability or disability. The curb cut effect differs slightly from universal design as the curb cut phenomenon is often unintentional rather than purposeful, but results in a similar outcome.
Examples
Below are some examples of the curb cut effect.
Closed captioning used by hearing people.
Game accessibility features in video games used by players with no disabilities.
Text-to-speech applications used by people without visual impairment or mutism, whether as an alternative to a human voiceover or for artistic purposes (see Vocaloid).
Implications
The curb cut effect has become a prominent phenomenon as society focuses more on designing accessible and inclusive environments. Implications of the curb cut effect include an increased awareness around universal design within the general population. The fact that many features explicitly designed to be disability-friendly have been utilized and enjoyed by people outside of the initial target population has encouraged inclusive design. The curb cut effect has helped prove that there could be economic benefits derived from including or developing accessibility accommodations in a business setting. Among positive implications, the curb cut effect has also resulted in negative changes, such as the lack of individualized design for disabled populations.
See also
Universal design
Inclusive design
Angela Glover Blackwell
References
Assistive technology
Disability rights
Accessibility
Sociological theories | Curb cut effect | [
"Engineering"
] | 370 | [
"Accessibility",
"Design"
] |
65,788,670 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminar%20set%20family | In combinatorics, a laminar set family is a set family in which each pair of sets are either disjoint or related by containment. Formally, a set family {S1, S2, ...} is called laminar if for every i, j, the intersection of Si and Sj is either empty, or equals Si, or equals Sj.
Let E be a ground-set of elements. A laminar set-family on E can be constructed by recursively partitioning E into parts and sub-parts. In particular, the singleton family {E} is laminar; if we partition E into some k pairwise-disjoint parts E1,...,Ek, then {E, E1,...,Ek} is laminar too; if we now partition e.g. E1 into E11, E12, ... E1j, then adding these sub-parts yields another laminar family; etc. Hence, a laminar set-family can be seen as a partitioning of the ground-set into categories and sub-categories.
The same notion can be applied to hypergraphs to define "laminar hypergraphs" as those whose set of hyperedges forms a laminar set family.
References
Families of sets | Laminar set family | [
"Mathematics"
] | 280 | [
"Families of sets",
"Combinatorics stubs",
"Basic concepts in set theory",
"Combinatorics"
] |
65,790,632 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call%20setup | In telecommunication, call setup is the process of establishing a virtual circuit across a telecommunications network. Call setup is typically accomplished using a signaling protocol.
The term call set-up time has the following meanings:
The overall length of time required to establish a circuit-switched call between users.
For data communication, the overall length of time required to establish a circuit-switched call between terminals; i.e., the time from the initiation of a call request to the beginning of the call message.
Note: Call set-up time is the summation of: (a) call request time—the time from initiation of a calling signal to the delivery to the caller of a proceed-to-select signal; (b) selection time—the time from the delivery of the proceed-to-select signal until all the selection signals have been transmitted; and (c) post selection time—the time from the end of the transmission of the selection signals until the delivery of the call-connected signal to the originating terminal.
Success rate
In telecommunications, the call setup success rate (CSSR) is the fraction of the attempts to make a call that result in a connection to the dialled number (due to various reasons not all call attempts end with a connection to the dialled number). This fraction is usually measured as a percentage of all call attempts made.
In telecommunications a call attempt invokes a call setup procedure, which, if successful, results in a connected call. A call setup procedure may fail due to a number of technical reasons. Such calls are classified as failed call attempts. In many practical cases, this definition needs to be further expanded with a number of detailed specifications describing which calls exactly are counted as successfully set up and which not. This is determined to a great degree by the stage of the call setup procedure at which a call is counted as connected. In modern communications systems, such as cellular (mobile) networks, the call setup procedure maybe very complex and the point at which a call is considered successfully connected may be defined in a number of ways, thus influencing the way the call setup success rate is calculated. If a call is connected successfully but the dialled number is busy, the call is counted as successful.
Another term, used to denote call attempts that fail during the call setup procedure, is blocked calls.
The call setup success rate in conventional (so-called land-line) networks is extremely high and is significantly above 99.9%. In mobile communication systems using radio channels the call setup success rate is lower and may range for commercial networks between 90% and 98% or higher. The main reasons for unsuccessful call setups in mobile networks are lack of radio coverage (either in the downlink or the uplink), radio interference between different subscribers, imperfections in the functioning of the network (such as failed call setup redirect procedures), overload of the different elements of the network (such as cells), etc.
The call setup success rate is one of the key performance indicators (KPIs) used by the network operators to assess the performance of their networks. It is assumed to have direct influence on the customer satisfaction with the service provided by the network and its operator. The call setup success rate is usually included, together with other technical parameters of the network, in a key performance indicator known as service accessibility.
The operators of telecommunication networks aim at increasing the call setup success rate as much as practical and affordable. In mobile networks this is achieved by improving radio coverage, expanding the capacity of the network and optimising the performance of its elements, all of which may require considerable effort and significant investments on the part of the network operator.
See also
Clearing (telecommunications)
References
Communications protocols
Computer networking
Teletraffic | Call setup | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 757 | [
"Computer networking",
"Computer engineering",
"Computer standards",
"Computer science",
"Communications protocols"
] |
65,790,730 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Siesta%20%28Van%20Gogh%29 | The Siesta (in French, La méridienne or La sieste) is an oil on canvas painting by Vincent van Gogh painted between December 1889 and January 1890 while he was interned in a mental asylum in the French town of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. It is part of the permanent collection of the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris.
Van Gogh chooses as his theme the siesta, while referring directly to the painting by the same name by French painter Jean Millet. Even despite the peaceful nature of the subject, the paintings radiates Van Gogh's renowned artistic intensity.
Also known in French as La méridienne, Van Gogh's The Siesta has been considered one of his masterpieces.
See also
List of works by Vincent van Gogh
References
1890 paintings
Paintings by Vincent van Gogh
Paintings of Auvers-sur-Oise by Vincent van Gogh
Musée d'Orsay
Oil on canvas paintings
Sleep | The Siesta (Van Gogh) | [
"Biology"
] | 193 | [
"Behavior",
"Sleep"
] |
65,791,339 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversity-generating%20retroelement | Diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs) are a family of retroelements that were first found in Bordetella phage (BPP-1), and since been found in bacteria (e.g.Treponema denticola and Legionella pneumophila), Archaea, Archaean viruses (e.g. ANMV-1), temperate phages (e.g. Hankyphage and CrAss-like phage), and lytic phages. DGRs benefit their host by mutating particular regions of specific target proteins, for instance, phage tail fiber in BPP-1, lipoprotein in legionella pneumophila ( the pathogen behind Legionnaires disease), and TvpA in Treponema denticola (oral-associated periopathogen). An error-prone reverse transcriptase is responsible for generating these hypervariable regions in target proteins (Mutagenic retrohoming). In mutagenic retrohoming, a mutagenized cDNA (containing substantial A to N mutations) is reverse transcribed from a template region (TR), and is replaced with a segment similar to the template region called variable region (VR). Accessory variability determinant (Avd) protein is another component of DGRs, and its complex formation with the error-prone RT is of importance to mutagenic rehoming.
DGRs are beneficial to the evolution and survival of their host. A large fraction of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii phages contain DGRs that are believed to have a role in phage adaptability to the digestive system, as patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), have more phages, but less F.prausnitzii in their stool samples compared to healthy individuals, suggesting that these phages activate during the illness, and that they may trigger F.prausnitzii depletion. Several tools have been implemented to identify DGRs, such as DiGReF, DGRscan, MetaCSST, and myDGR
See also
Retron
References
Mobile genetic elements
Molecular biology | Diversity-generating retroelement | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 451 | [
"Biochemistry",
"Molecular genetics",
"Mobile genetic elements",
"Molecular biology"
] |
65,792,544 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic-maturational%20model%20of%20attachment%20and%20adaptation | The dynamic-maturational model of attachment and adaptation (DMM) is a biopsychosocial model describing the effect attachment relationships can have on human development and functioning. It is especially focused on the effects of relationships between children and parents and between reproductive couples. It developed initially from attachment theory as developed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, and incorporated many other theories into a comprehensive model of adaptation to life's many dangers. The DMM was initially created by developmental psychologist Patricia McKinsey Crittenden and her colleagues including David DiLalla, Angelika Claussen, Andrea Landini, Steve Farnfield, and Susan Spieker.
A main tenet of the DMM is that exposure to danger drives neural development and adaptation to promote survival. Danger includes relationship danger. In DMM-attachment theory, when a person needs protection or comfort from danger from a person with whom they have a protective relationship, the nature of the relationship generates relation-specific self-protective strategies. These are patterns of behavior which include the underlying neural processing. The DMM protective strategies describe aspects of the parent–child relationship, romantic relationships, and to a degree, relationships between patients/clients and long-term helping professionals.
History
Out of the development of attachment theory, British psychiatrist John Bowlby coalesced a coherent theory and is generally credited with creating the foundation for modern attachment theory. Mary Ainsworth, an American-Canadian psychologist, started working with Bowlby in 1950. Ainsworth completed her doctoral thesis in 1940 under William Blatz, who had developed security theory, a precursor to attachment theory. Blatz believed the core nature of the relationship between a (to use his colloquial terms) mother and child involved the development of a trusted and secure relationship to function as a safe base for a child's need to explore. This set an initial foundation for the developing theory of attachment as involving a two-pattern model, security vs insecurity, centered on safety and play.
However, throughout the 1950s, both Ainsworth and Bowlby began developing a three-pattern model centered on danger and survival. In the 1960s, Ainsworth developed the first scientific method to assess attachment, called the strange situation. The results of her assessments confirmed a three-pattern model. Staying with a secure vs insecure framework, Ainsworth identified one secure pattern and two completely different insecure patterns. She labeled these with the letters A, B, C, with B representing the secure pattern.
Ainsworth's graduate students, including Mary Main and Patricia "Pat" Crittenden, made important developments to attachment science and theory. Both Main and Crittenden realized that the criteria Ainsworth was using did not allow for the attachment classification of a significant number of children. Main initially described most of this group as being disorganized, unable to organize an attachment strategy to help them meet their attachment system needs for safety. Main and Solomon later redefined disorganized attachment. Decades of research were dedicated to exploring the concept of disorganized attachment, but ultimately the concept proved almost completely unhelpful.
Crittenden studied under Ainsworth in the 1980s, ten years after Main. Because Crittenden initially focused on danger and saw the attachment system as promoting survival, she rejected the idea that a significant portion of children could fail to organize an attachment strategy to survive. Thus, she looked for other explanations about the apparent shortcomings in Ainsworth's initial model. As she did, she expanded the A, B, C patterns of attachment, and with the help of Andrea Landini they organized the patterns into what eventually became the DMM.
She also started her work after John Bowlby wrote the third book in his Attachment and Loss trilogy in 1980, Loss: Sadness and Depression. In Chapter 4 of that book, Bowlby outlined his view that attachment was intimately connected with information processing and the defensive exclusion of information to survive psychological danger. He argued that common psychological defense mechanisms were actually efforts to keep certain types of unwanted information out of one's mind during experiences and while considering issues and making decisions. Crittenden centered her work on how humans develop self-protective strategies and patterns of information processing in the context of danger.
In a sense, Crittenden began where Bowlby and Ainsworth left off. While moving away from some of the older concepts such as secure vs insecure and internal working models, she kept and refined the three-pattern model. The DMM continues to evolve and Fonagy describes it as ″the most clinically sophisticated model that attachment theory has to offer at the present time.″
DMM-attachment
Basic definition of DMM-attachment
Attachment describes a system which involves a person's need to be protected from danger, and comforted especially after exposure to danger, and a relationship with an attachment figure who can provide protection from danger and comfort. As a system centered on survival, it also involves a person's need to increase reproductive opportunities and protect progeny.
Particularly when the attachment system involves a caregiver and child, the relational interactions associated with attachment needs shapes neural development and emotional and biological regulation processes in children. Thus, a child's relational environment, and parenting environment, has lifelong impacts.
An attachment figure for children may be one or both parents or other close caregiver, and for adults a romantic partner. An attachment figure is someone to whom a person is most likely to turn to under stress. That person may be a stronger, wiser, and trusted (even if not always safe or protective) person. An attachment-influencing relationship has the qualities of being affectively charged and involving the regulation or dysregulation of emotions. It also involves protecting a person from being forced to handle something outside their developmental ability (their zone of proximal development). An optimal attachment figure is sensitively attuned and responsive to the person's communications and needs and encourages curiosity and the exploration of new information.
Helping professionals, clergy, lawyers, probation officers, teachers, club leaders, friends and other people may function as an auxiliary attachment figure, or transitional attachment figure (TAF), to help people get through a difficult experience.
Danger can be objective (deep water, cliff edges, snakes) or subjective and relevant to only particular attachment patterns. For people who tend to use self-protective A-strategies, danger can include aggressive or dismissive parental responses, not doing the right thing, doing the wrong thing, expressing feelings especially if negative, relying on others to meet needs, and being in conflict. For people who tend to use self-protective C-strategies, danger can include an inconsistent or lack of parental response, not expressing and satisfying feelings especially if negative, following someone else's rules which don't satisfy feelings, compromising, relying on the self to meet needs, and not being in conflict or a struggle.
DMM contributions to the development of attachment theory
Crittenden and colleagues have advanced attachment knowledge in numerous ways. Crittenden and Landini describe many of these in their 2011 book Assessing Adult Attachment: A Dynamic-Maturational Approach to Discourse Analysis.
Focus on danger: The DMM focus on danger, rather than safety, orients an understanding of the attachment system in a way that is practical and useful for understanding response to threat and conflict. Bowlby focused on danger, but other subsequent models changed the focus to safety. The DMM focus on danger is consistent with other biopsychosocial models, such as the polyvagal theory which describes opposing nervous system features which activate in contexts of safety or danger.
Clarification of terminology: The DMM avoids older attachment terms such as secure vs insecure, attachment categories and measures, attachment disorders, disorganized attachment, internal working models, and top level terms such as avoidant and ambivalent. It uses terms such as pathways of development instead of developmental trajectories.
Development of lifespan attachment assessments: Crittenden and colleagues developed a comprehensive lifespan set of attachment assessments (described below), and enhanced existing assessments. Since theory leads scientific inquiry, and scientific findings add to theory, DMM assessments contributed to more detailed theory.
Maturational and changeable: DMM-attachment recognizes that humans are able to utilize more and more sophisticated self-protective attachment strategies as they age. Hence, attachment patterns can become increasingly complex with age. Infants begin with instinctive strategies such as smiling and reaching, and through behavioral learning develop an increasing array of ways to gain protection from danger from their caregivers. Thought and communication patterns are eventually added to a person's available strategies. People can change their primary strategy, add additional strategies, and reorganize from an A-C strategy to a B strategy.
Strategies: Strategies are the ways people get their needs met. Self-protective strategies are not diagnoses or mental health disorders. The strategies may be quite functional in certain types of relationships, and dysfunctional in other relationships if not adjusted. Selecting a specific response in a specific situation is not necessarily dictated by a strategy preference, it is situation and context driven, which Crittenden describes as a dispositional representation (DR). Crittenden expanded and more finely defined attachment strategies (or patterns), as noted below.
Detailed strategies: The DMM described known behaviors with more specificity, identified new attachment behaviors, and new attachment patterns.
Compulsive compliance was first identified in 1988, and was added into the DMM patterns as A4 in 1992. It describes a child's adaptation to a harsh or controlling parent by learning to inhibit behavior disagreeable to the parent and compulsively engaging in behaviors which please the parent, but may be boring or harmful to the child.
(FPA) describes the use of inappropriate positive affect when negative affect would be more appropriate. An example is overbright smiling or laughing in the context of present danger or while experiencing pain. Victoria Climbié is considered a good case example. At age eight she was murdered by caregiver abuse and neglect. Her physical scars and other signs of abuse were seen by multiple professionals and agencies, including doctors, nurses, social workers, and clergy, who all failed to recognize the extreme danger she was in. At the same time, she was described by a number of people as happy, friendly, "twirling up and down the ward", "had the most beautiful smile that lit up the room", and "you could beat her and she wouldn't cry... she could take the beatings and pain like anything." In the ABC+D model, this behavior is theorized as a marker of disorganized attachment.
Shame is identified by adult attachment interviews (below) conducted with the DMM method as a particularly sensitive emotion in A-patterns. Shame is defined as having an intrapersonal quality involving the fear of failing to meet an external standard, often too high a standard, set by others, along with self-blame and over-attribution of responsibility.
Adaptive and strategic function of behavior: Attachment behaviors and communication styles are developed through adaptation to danger and function to promote survival in a given relationship.
Every DMM-attachment pattern involves both adaptive and maladaptive behaviors. A person using B3 "balanced" strategies may fail to predict danger or access a self-protective strategy and end up being harmed. A person using A-strategies may focus on cooperating and avoiding conflict to the exclusion of protecting their children or financial interests. A person using C-strategies may focus on satisfying their own feelings to the exclusion of cooperation and conflict resolution even to the detriment of their children or financial interests.
Individual behaviors can be seen in all attachment strategies, but serve different functions. For example, bright smiling can serve several self-protective purposes. In A-strategies it can function to hide pain and take attention away from in-the-moment negative experiences. In C-strategies it can function to disarm prior or following aggression.
Dimensional: Strategies are described as dimensional rather than categorical. As demonstrated on the DMM circumplex, they range from exposing people to more and more risk (moving down the outside of the circumplex), and more or more intensity (moving from the center of the circumplex to the outer rim). The DMM eschews the terms secure and insecure, although it is used in various DMM literature.
DMM foundations and support
The DMM has and continues to incorporate all relevant disciplines. It incorporates all the disciplines Bowlby utilized, including psychoanalytic, ethology, systems psychology, evolutionary biology, cognitive information processing, and cognitive neurosciences. It incorporates all the disciplines Ainsworth utilized, including naturalistic observation, and empirical grounding of attachment theory. DMM additions include genetics, epigenetics, neurobiology, sociology, developmental psychology, Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, behavioral learning theory, social learning theory, theory of mind, cognitive psychology, Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, Vygotsky and Bronfenbrenner's social ecological model, transactional theory, family systems theory, polyvagal theory, mindfulness theory, and functional somatic syndrome theory.
The DMM is supported by the International Association for the Study of Attachment (IASA). The Family Relations Institute (FRI) is the primary organization teaching DMM theory and assessments. The attachment studies programme at University of Roehampton, U.K., includes the DMM and some of its assessments, as does the Barnard Center for Infant Mental Health and Development at the University of Washington in Seattle.
IASA maintains a list of publications describing the DMM. There are over 500 such publications.
DMM attachment patterns
DMM attachment patterns can viewed several different ways.
In its simplest form, the DMM offers a 3-part model using Ainsworth's basic A, B, C patterns.
Some populations of clients tend to be heavily oriented to either a cognitive or affective information processing pattern, such as clinical populations. In these contexts, the DMM offers a basic 2-part model.
The DMM circumplex graphically depicts 22 adult patterns. There are some sub-patterns, such as A3- (compulsive attending) and A4- (compulsive performance), and A and C patterns can be combined, such as A4/C5-6 or A3-4/C2. In the table below, the cognitive A and affective C-patterns are arranged from the middle out, where the patterns in the middle (B1-5, A1-2 and C1-2) represent the least at risk patterns (lower number in the classification) to most at risk (higher number). The B1-2 patterns are somewhat cognitively organized, the B4-5 patterns are somewhat affectively organized. The A1-2 and C1-2 patterns are not considered "insecure," rather normal strategies involving only slight transformations of information.
The DMM can be used as a 4-part model (or a multi-part model depending on its application), as demonstrated in the left and right columns in the table above. The odd-numbered strategies share elements in common which differ from the even-numbered strategies.
Odd-numbered A-patterns (A1-7) tend to focus on idealizing others while even-numbered A-patterns (A2-8) tend to focus on negating the self. In relations with important authorities, the higher odd-numbered A-patterns can involve compulsive caretaking and the even-numbered A-patterns compulsive compliance.
C-patterns organize self-protective strategies around feelings. Odd-numbered C-patterns focus on feelings of anger, increasing in intensity in the higher numbers. Even-numbered patterns focus on desire for comfort and fear, with increasing intensity of fear in the higher numbers. Higher C-odd patterns can involve obsessive coercion. Higher C-even patterns can involve increasing amounts of rage which may escape notice because of simultaneous exaggeration of innocence and vulnerability.
The odd-even split can also be seen from diagonal corners to reflect the opposite functioning of similar elements. The odd-numbered A-strategies in the upper left quadrant (A1-7) all involve some sort of tendency to focus care outward to the needs of others, which differs from the C2-8 patterns which tend to focus care inward to the emotions of the self. The even-numbered A-patterns (A2-8) patterns all involve some sort of tendency to express anger inward to the self, whereas the C1-7 patterns tend to express anger outward toward objects or others.
As noted above, the self-protective strategy patterns are adaptive, and dimensional rather than categorical. For example, a person may primarily utilize C1 strategies to manage danger, but on occasion use higher forms of C strategies such as C3, C4, or C5. This could result from exposure to higher forms of danger or be a response to unresolved trauma or loss.
All the attachment strategies can be impacted by a variety of additional factors, such as unresolved trauma, unresolved loss, depression, and family triangulation.
Information processing and transformation
The DMM is fundamentally an information processing model, and self-protective attachment strategies develop around two primary sources of information available to humans: cognitive and affective.
Cognitive information is described as temporally sequenced, as illustrated with "if/then" statements. Affective information is described as being emotionally intense experiences. Attachment A-strategies tend to emphasize cognitive information and de-emphasize or exclude affective information. Attachment C-strategies do the opposite, emphasizing affective information and de-emphasizing or excluding cognitive information. Attachment B-strategies tend to blend both types of information as they process experiences in the world, although they can emphasize one or the other.
Crittenden describes information processing as involving four main steps:
Perceive the information, or not;
Interpret the information in some way, or not;
Select response of some sort, or not; and
Implement behavior of some sort, or not.
An example involves a child who is feeling a strong emotion:
Will the parent perceive their child's emotion?
If so, will they interpret it as the child needing help to process the emotion, or as the child being weak, overly-needy, or interrupting what they are doing?
Will the parent consider selecting a response, and if so which one?
Will the parent implement a response, or get distracted or decide to ignore their child's emotional experience?
Transformation of information
At each stage of information processing, information is transformed as it is converted from what it is, to a representation of what it is in the mind. A test result, a smile, and divorce papers, come to mean something in the mind through a neural process. The DMM currently identifies seven ways information can be transformed, each of which represents increased transformation: true, erroneous, distorted, omitted, falsified, denied, delusional.
A parent's processing of information about a child's strong negative emotion, continuing with that example, could be seen as:
True, and provide information which helps the parent ease the child's distress.
Erroneous, over- or under-interpreted, such that a parental response might be non-productive, such as giving too much or not enough attention to the distress.
Distorted, where some portion of the information is emphasized and the other de-emphasized, such as acknowledging the distress but emphasizing that it will go away on its own when it won't easily do so.
Omitted, so that some portion of the information is discarded, such as the reason for the distress.
Falsified, where the emotion is changed from one thing to another, such as distressed to hungry.
Denied, where the emotion is actively avoided.
Delusional, where new and incorrect information is created to replace the true information, such as thinking the child is laughing or is signaling a desire to play.
Memory systems
DMM assessments look for memory system function as described by memory researchers such as Endel Tulving and Daniel Schacter. Eight memory systems assessed by the DMM method are body talk, somatic, procedural, semantic, imaged, connotative, episodic, and reflective integration.
As with information processing, attachment patterns can involve the use, or bias of, various memory systems as sources of information. Attachment A-strategies tend to utilize information from procedural and semantic memory systems, and de-emphasize or exclude information from imaged and connotative systems. Attachment C-strategies do the opposite and emphasize information from imaged and connotative systems and de-emphasize or exclude information from procedural and semantic systems. Attachment B-strategies tend to have better access to all memory systems. Each attachment pattern has its own strength in various circumstances where different memory systems may be advantageous.
DMM attachment assessments
Attachment measures, or assessments, assess the self-protective strategy of a person. In infancy and early childhood, it is assessed with respect to specific attachment figures whereas beginning in the school years a generalized strategy is assessed. Assessments generally use a video-recorded interaction or an audio-recorded interview. In observed assessments behavior is assessed, and with interviews the discourse, or manner of speech, is primarily assessed. Crittenden and others have modified existing attachment assessments and developed others to create a range of DMM assessments intended to cover the lifespan. Assessments generally assess individuals, caregivers (usually parents) and/or children, and can assess non-primary caregivers such as close grandparents and foster parents. DMM assessments can be used for research, clinically, forensically, and personally.
Some DMM assessments are considered valid and reliable, and others are still in a development and validation phase which generally takes at least 10 years. IASA considers an assessment valid and reliable if it has a minimum of five published studies supporting it, including studies that the author of the assessment did not author, and that address several of the following:
Concurrent validity
Longitudinal validity
Face validity
Predictive validity
Clinical utility
IASA's Family Court Protocol requires that assessments in a development phase should not be used forensically, particularly in court cases where children and parents could lose access to each other. IASA also argues that individual assessments are only reliable if the assessor (coder) is qualified by having passed a standardized reliability test and maintained their qualification.
Infant Care-Index (ICI)
The ICI consists of a 3-minute interaction of a caregiver and child (a 2-person, or dyadic, relationship) aged from birth to 15 months. The ICI assesses interaction, not attachment (which does not develop until 9–11 months of age). The ICI assesses a dyad's interpersonal functioning under non-threatening play conditions and clusters dyads as sensitive to good enough, at mild risk of parenting difficulties, or at high risk of parenting difficulties, including infant neglect and maltreatment. It was developed by Crittenden with input from Ainsworth and Bowlby. The ICI is considered a valid and reliable assessment and has more than 60 published studies.
Strange Situation Procedure (SSP)
The SSP is the classic assessment of attachment developed by Ainsworth. Almost all other assessments of attachment are validated against it. The SSP consists of eight episodes over 21–23 minutes. Unlike the ICI which assesses only dyadic synchrony under the favorable condition of play, the SSP uses threat to elicit the infant's pattern of attachment. Threat, or relationship danger, comes in several forms such as the stranger coming into the observation room with parent and child (episode 3), the parent leaving the child in the room with the stranger (episode 4), the parent later leaving the child in the room alone (episode 6), and the stranger re-entering the room without the parent (episode 7). The parent returns and the stranger leaves in the eighth and final episode. The infant's behavior on the parent's return is the primary basis for classification into one of three major strategies, labeled A, B, and C.
The SSP was developed for 11-month-old infants. It has been used for older infants, but, as infants age, their tolerance for separation increases and the behavioral markers defined by Ainsworth fit less well, resulting in higher proportions of infants classified as secure, including maltreated infants. In the DMM, this problem was resolved by limiting the age range to 11–15 months, and developing, with Ainsworth's assistance, an alternating A/C classification and pre-compulsive and pre-coercive patterns. These include A1-2 or C1-2 patterns, and clear evidence for A+ or C+ patterns (which involves more intense use of self-protective strategies). These expansions of the Ainsworth categories have been associated with maltreated infants and infants of depressed mothers.
Preschool Assessment of Attachment (PAA)
The PAA is a version of Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), adapted to 2–5-year-old children. It assesses the child's self-protective strategies used with the adult involved in the assessment. It also uses a video recorded 8-segment process over a structured 21–23 minute adult-child interaction. The PAA is valid and reliable, with more than 30 studies using it.
School-age Assessment of Attachment (SAA)
The SAA involves an audio recorded interview which is transcribed and analyzed with discourse analysis techniques, for children aged 6–13 years. In the assessment, a child is given story cards which represent increasing levels of danger, and they are asked to make up a story that describes what is depicted on the card, and then, if they had any similar experience in their life, asked a series of exploratory questions. It assesses the child's generalized attachment pattern, self-protective strategies, pattern of information processing, level and type of risk, and possible unresolved trauma and loss. It was initially developed in 1997 by Crittenden, has been tested in eight research studies, and is considered to provide discriminate validity. The SAA was the subject of a special section of Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry in July 2017.
Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
The AAI is considered one of the most comprehensive attachment assessments, and is well validated. It was initially created by Carol George and Nancy Kaplan in, and later developed with Mary Main in 1985. Crittenden and Landini slightly modified it with DMM theory in 2011. It assesses self-protective attachment strategies, patterns of information processing, a possible unresolved trauma and loss which distort behavior and information processing, an over-riding condition which causes information distortion such as depression and triangulation in childhood, memory system usage, and reflective function. The assessment involves asking a person a series of structured questions, transcribing the audio recording, and applying a complex set of discourse analysis techniques. The interview takes 60–90 minutes, and it can take hours or days to analyze. Learning to code reliably generally takes several years.
The coding manual for the DMM-AAI is Assessing Adult Attachment: A Dynamic-Maturational Approach to Discourse Analysis (2011) and is publicly available.
DMM Assessments undergoing the validation process
The following assessments have not been validated with three or more studies and are not considered by IASA to be acceptable for use forensically under their Family Court Protocol.
Toddler Care-Index (TCI)
The TCI video records a 5-minute interaction of a caregiver and child aged from 15 to 72 months. It assesses the general attachment characteristics of a specific dyad, such as mother and child or father and child. The TCI is considered a useful assessment, but has not been validated by research. It was developed by Crittenden.
Transition to Adulthood Attachment Interview (TAAI)
The TAAI is a modified version of the AAI for adolescents aged about 14–25 years old. It was modified from the AAI by Crittenden in 2005 and 2020.
Meaning of the Child interview (MotC)
The MotC is an interview of a parent which is transcribed and assessed with discourse analysis techniques similar to the AAI. The MotC assesses a parent's general pattern of caregiving, sensitivity and level of responsiveness to their child, the degree and forms of control a parent may utilize, and self-reflective function (mentalization). It examines how caregiving is shaped by a parent's pattern of attachment and need for self protection. In a validation study, the way parents talked about their children in the MotC was found to predict how they behaved with their child in a CARE-Index video. The MotC has also been used to research the parent–child relationships of parent of autistic children. It was developed by Ben Grey and Steve Farnfield in 2011, and uses DMM theory and methods.
Child Attachment and Play Assessment (CAPA)
The CAPA assesses the attachment and exploration systems of children aged 7–11. It uses an interview process similar to the SAA. The CAPA currently has one published validation study demonstrating convergence with other attachment procedures. It was developed by Steve Farnfield, and uses DMM theory and methods.
Applications
DMM Integrative Treatment
DMM concepts have been used to develop DMM specific treatment interventions for mental health, family, and criminal problems. The DMM has been applied to models of psychotherapy, attachment narrative therapy, family therapy, and criminal behavior.
DMM integrative treatment can include a focus on how information is processed and transformed, especially in response to danger. It can include DMM concepts such as adaptations to relational danger (for both individuals and families), developmental processes and learned patterns of information processing.
DMM Integrative treatment involves five principles;
Define problems in terms of response to danger.
The professional acts as a transitional attachment figure.
Explore the family's past and present responses to danger.
Work progressively and recursively with the family.
Practice reflective integration with the client as a form of teaching reflective integration.
DMM Family Functional Formulation (DMM FFF) describes a comprehensive approach to a wide array of mental health problems. Crittenden and colleagues argue that psychological diagnosis and systems psychology have proven substantially ineffective in treating a wide array of mental health problems. A clinical formulation, which is a broad-based analysis and explanation of the problem, is an alternative approach. Crittenden argues the DMM can contribute to a more effective case formulation when the entire family is consulted and understood using DMM assessments.
Law
The DMM and its methods are useful for discourse and argument analysis, client counseling, understanding shortcomings in client and witness memory recall, forensic purposes, criminal justice, probation, and conflict management. At its heart, attachment theory describes the conflict of contradictory information and needs, and information processing and decision making with biased information.
Because information processing involves the defensive exclusion and inclusion of information, it can affect how people make decisions and communicate. The DMM-AAI discourse analysis method is specifically designed to "understand the meanings behind unclear communication ... distorted communication and dysfunctional behavior".
Attachment assessments can be used in court cases and forensically if done by a trained and reliable coder. The IASA Family Court Protocol is designed to promote attachment information in a way that is as comprehensive and reliable as attachment assessments can allow, and which also supplements other information about individuals, family members, and family systems. FRI's Family Functional Formula is a comprehensive and valuable, if expensive, method to assess a family system.
DMM perspectives on attachment and information processing are useful for understanding neglectful and harmful parenting,
domestic violence
and criminal behavior.
Medicine – somatic symptoms
Kozlowska argues that functional somatic symptoms are impacted by disrupted or chronically challenged attachment relationships. The DMM assessment method, especially for children, specifically identifies and assesses nonverbal communications and somatic expressions. Two large studies, which Kozlowska relied on, found a strong association between low quality attachment relationships and functional somatic symptoms later in life. Kozlowska's own research showed children with functional neurological disorders (FND) almost universally used higher attachment strategies (A3-4, A5-6, C3-4, and C5-6).
Occupational therapy
Occupational therapists can apply the DMM directly, and in conjunction with other modalities. Kozlowska describes incorporating occupational therapy with pediatric medicine, hypnosis, physiotherapy, neurology, and DMM-Attachment theory. Occupational therapists can increase a child's day-to-day functioning and manage emotional arousal. They can also address Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), which she found almost always involved children's use of higher DMM self-protective strategies. DMM theory helps integrate different modalities around the concepts of protection from danger, the impact of interpersonal relationships and family environments, and the use of transitional attachment figures.
Meredith, using non-DMM attachment assessments designed for research rather than clinical purposes, has found associations between pain, sensory processing and distress and adult attachment patterns. She argues that occupational therapists are in a good, if not unique position to utilize attachment theory to guide interventions. Kozlowska uses DMM theory to specifically guide assessment and intervention.
In a University of Roehampton dissertation paper, Gounaridis describes a successful pilot project combining a sensory integration approach, a DMM-attachment assessment (CAPA), and vagal tone measurements as described by the polyvagal theory.
In an Arizona State University dissertation paper, Taggart described how occupational therapists can use Éadaoin Bhreathnach's Sensory Attachment Intervention (SAI) approach, which is informed by the DMM, together with trauma and polyvagal theory informed perspectives, to help children improve emotional expression.
Psychotherapy
The DMM is not necessarily a therapy model, rather it provides a framework to better understand clients, improve communication, and assist with selecting appropriate therapy models. It can help therapists:
Assess or formulate the client's self-protective attachment strategies;
Identify response to dangers from the past and in the present;
Focus the therapeutic alliance around the concept of being a transitional attachment figure;
Determine how the client functions interpersonally (including with the therapist);
Identify a client's patterns of information processing and information bias;
Identify failures of self-protective strategies which lead to psychological and/or somatic problems;
Be mindful to practice reflective integration for its own value and for modeling;
Help clients build a coherent narrative of their experiences.
For therapists using a family systems approach, it can help identify self-protective strategies between the parents, between each child and parent, and between children, to provide more insight into the functioning of the family system. It can help therapists avoid blame and reframe negative emotions to honesty and more appropriate contexts. It can help a therapist move a client's strong negative emotions such as anger and a desire for revenge to softer and more manageable emotions such as sadness and vulnerability. Play therapy, the polyvagal theory, and DMM theory were combined in Hadiprodjo's doctoral thesis. Combining the DMM with the Assessment of Parent-Child Interactions (ACPI, a music theory-based assessment), can allow the application of music theory to understand family attunement and nonverbal communication in the context of self-relevant dangers within a family context. The DMM has been used in a public service context, and informs therapists how to be a safe base and improve the therapeutic alliance.
The DMM provides insight into various mental health issues, such as working with emotions, adolescent challenges, trauma and neurobiological impacts, PTSD, ADHD, autism, borderline personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, eating disorders, conversion disorders, somatic/factitious/fabricated illnesses, shutdown states in children, drug addiction, psychopathy, child abuse, sex abuse, effects of institutionalization, and depression. It offers an alternate view of personality disorders.
Research
The DMM theory and assessment methods are useful for conducting attachment assessments. Because there are DMM assessments to cover the lifespan, they can be used to assess an individual and a family system. The DMM approach appears to provide more precise results with populations of people whose childhood involved adverse childhood experiences or parents who consistently used cold, inconsistent, harsh or controlling parenting techniques or engaged in parental conflict or failed to protect or comfort their children. It appears that between the DMM and Berkeley assessment methods, the DMM method can better delineate between secure and insecure attachment classifications, and also the quantity of A, C, and mixed AC patterns. This is likely because the DMM is focused on a person's response to danger and fear, and describes the attachment system's primary purpose as being to organize self-protective responses.
Comparison to other attachment models
Ainsworth developed the ABC model in the 1960s and 1970s. It was the foundation for the ABC+D (sometimes called Berkeley) model and the DMM.
The newer ABC+D and DMM models both describe the attachment system, use Ainsworth's basic ABC patterns, and use the SSP and AAI attachment assessments. Both models reject the single-person focus of psychiatric models such as the DSM and ICD, instead focusing on how a parent-child (dyadic) relationship affects each person, and that childhood attachment patterns represent a child's best attempt to deal with the caregiving environment. Both find the most effective attachment-informed interventions in family problems is to focus on improving sensitivity of the child's primary caretaker. Both are based on principles of human development.
Ainsworth's ABC model ultimately described 9 subcategories, A1, A2, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, C1, and C2. The newer models went on to identify additional basic subcategories, 24 in the adult version of the ABC+D model and 29 in the DMM, and each describe additional AC combinations.
While they both describe the effect of the attachment system on information processing and memory function, and both describe the impacts of trauma and loss, the DMM provides more focus and detail on these elements. The DMM utilizes more memory systems and considers more types of trauma. In the ABC+D model meaning is assigned to behavior, whereas the DMM looks for the function of behavior to define its meaning.
The ABC+D model has historically focused on safety, attachment security vs insecurity, is categorical, describes linear developmental trajectories, describes attachment with different concepts and terms for children and adults, and uses Bowlby's "internal working model" concept. The DMM is focused on danger, focuses on risk instead of security-insecurity, is dimensional, describes potentially branching developmental pathways, describes the maturational development of self-protective strategies, and describes neurobiological systems and processes.
Landa and Duschinsky offer a theory about the historical development of both models to provide an explanation about why and how they differ. The ABC+D model initially relied on normative (average) research populations. Initial DMM research utilized both normative and maltreated populations, so it had a richer data set to work from. Each model also makes different foundational assumptions. The DMM (and others) assumes, as did Bowlby and Ainsworth, that a primary purpose of the attachment system for children is to maintain the attachment figure's availability. In the ABC+D model, as defined by Mary Main and Judith Solomon, the purpose is to maintain proximity. (Not all attachment theorists who use the ABC+D model use the same definitions as Mary Main. Increasingly, they use terms and definitions identical, or nearly so, to Crittenden's.)
The DMM rejects the concept of disorganized attachment, instead arguing that people can organize a response to almost all forms of danger, even if the response is increased aggression or ignoring physical and psychological pain. Granqvist and 42 other attachment experts, including Mary Main, agreed that the concept of disorganized attachment, as understood in 2017, has little or no utility, and may not be used clinically or forensically.
The ABC+D model was widely accepted by the research community from about 1990–2017, although Main was calling for caution in the use of disorganized attachment in clinical and forensic settings by at least 2011. In 2018 van IJzendoorn et al. pointed out the replication crisis of ABC+D-based attachment assessments, and called for the ABC+D attachment community to revisit its foundations.
Criticisms
After Granqvist, and 42 other authors (2017), clearly identified the limits and misapplication of the disorganized attachment category, Van IJzendoorn, et al., and Crittenden and Spieker exchanged a series of comments and criticisms about the ABC+D and DMM attachment models in the November/December 2018 issue of Infant Mental Health Journal. Van IJzendoorn criticized the DMM for having too many classifications, 29 basic patterns, compared to the ABC+D model (which has 24). While conceding that assessments using the ABC+D attachment model cannot be used forensically, he argued neither could DMM assessments since they did not meet the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard required in court. However, "more likely than not" is the correct standard in civil (non-criminal) court cases. Van IJzendoorn argued DMM assessments lack validity as much as ABC+D assessments do, which Crittenden (and others) dispute. Van IJzendoorn found fault with Crittenden's position that the DMM is still developing. Crittenden responded that a complex and transdisciplinary model of human development must always continue to add new information and develop.
Forslund and 68 other authors subsequently discussed the use of attachment assessments in court proceedings. They described limitations and the appropriate use of assessments using the ABC+D model. Some authors argued they could never be used in court proceedings, and some argued they could. However, the article, while making side references to Crittenden, did not clarify that it was only addressing the problems of assessments using the ABC+D model.
Other people echo Van IJzendoorn's point about complexity in terms of becoming a reliable coder and being able to use a DMM-assessment to testify forensically about a particular person's self-protective strategies in a particular context, or for a family assessment using the DMM Family Functional Formulation method. The PAA and SAA can take a year or more to learn The AAI can take several years. In fact, there are few people in the world who can use DMM-assessments forensically, particularly under the requirements of IASA's Family Court Protocol. (Neither IASA nor FRI list any available forensic coders on their websites as of November 2021.)
David Pocock found the DMM useful, and powerful, and at the same raising the risk of reductionism and reification. The DMM attempts to make it clear that people are not reduced to "a C3" or "an A4", instead they are described as using strategies from those patterns. Reification involves making something abstract concrete, turning an attachment strategy used in one situation into what completely defines the person. He echoes common concerns that attachment, and the DMM in particular, is such a powerful model it is potentially easy to fall into the use of counterproductive shortcuts.
References
Bibliography
Introductory reading materials
Atkins, Louise, (2020), Why Attachment Matters: Dynamic Maturational Model (DMM) of attachment theory, medium.com.
Crittenden, Patricia M. (2002), Attachment, information processing, and psychiatric disorder, World Psychiatry, 1:2.
Crittenden, Patricia. M. (2006). A dynamic-maturational model of attachment. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 27, 105–115.
Farnfield, Steve, Holmes, Paul (2014). The Routledge Handbook of Attachment: Assessment. London: Routledge.
Hautamäki, Airi (Ed.), (2014). The Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation – Theory and Practice. University of Helsinki, SSKH, Skrifter, 37.
Purnell, C. (2010). Childhood trauma and adult attachment, Healthcare Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal, 10, 1–7.
Spieker, Susan J. and Crittenden, Patricia M. (2018), Can attachment inform decision making in child protection and forensic settings?. Infant Mental Health Journal, 39: 625–641.
Advanced reading materials
Baldoni, Franco, Minghetti, Mattia, Craparo, Giuseppe, Facondini, Elisa, Cena, Loredana, & Schimmenti, Adriano (2018). Comparing Main, Goldwyn, and Hesse (Berkeley) and Crittenden (DMM) coding systems for classifying Adult Attachment Interview transcripts: an empirical report, Attachment and Human Development, 20:4, 423–438, DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2017.1421979.
Crittenden, Patricia M. (2016). Raising parents: Attachment, representation, and treatment, 2nd edition. London: Routledge.
Crittenden, Patricia M., Dallos, Rudi, Landini, Andrea, & Kozlowska, Kasia (2014). Attachment and family therapy. London: Open University Press.
Crittenden, Patricia M., & Landini, Andrea (2011). Assessing Adult Attachment: A Dynamic-Maturational Method of Discourse Analysis. New York: Norton.
Crittenden, Patricia M. & Newman, Louise (2010). Comparing models of borderline personality disorder: Mothers' experience, self-protective strategies, and dispositional representations. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 15,433-452.
Crittenden, Patricia M., Robson, Katrina, Tooby, Alison, Fleming, Charles (2017), Are mothers' protective attachment strategies related to their children's strategies? Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 22:3, 358-377 (Note: this article uses three DMM attachment assessments, the PAA, SAA, and AAI, and offers a comprehensive and longitudinal review of attachment strategies in mother-child pairs.)
Kozlowska, Kasia; Scher, Stephen; Helgeland, Helene (2020). Functional Somatic Symptoms in Children and Adolescents: A Stress-System Approach to Assessment and Treatment, Palgrave Macmillan. PDF and Kindle versions available free as open access textbook.
Landa, Sophie & Duschinsky, Robbie (2013) Letters from Ainsworth: Contesting the "Organization" of Attachment. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 22, 172–177.
Landa, Sophie, & Duschinsky, Robbie (2013). Crittenden's dynamic–maturational model of attachment and adaptation. Review of General Psychology, 17, 326–338. doi:10.1037/a0032102
Strathearn, Lane, Fonagy, Peter, Amico, Janet A., & Montague, P. Read (2009). Adult attachment predicts mother's brain and peripheral oxytocin response to infant cues. Neuropsychopharmacology, 34, 2655–66.
Attachment theory
Conflict (narrative)
Evolutionary biology
Forensic psychology
Interpersonal relationships
Occupational therapy
Psychological models
Somatic psychology | Dynamic-maturational model of attachment and adaptation | [
"Biology"
] | 9,819 | [
"Evolutionary biology",
"Behavior",
"Interpersonal relationships",
"Human behavior"
] |
65,793,181 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian%20Oil%20and%20Petrochemical%20Union | The Norwegian Oil and Petrochemical Union (, NOPEF) was a trade union representing workers in the oil and petrochemical sector in Norway.
The union was founded in 1977, and immediately affiliated to the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions. By 1996, it had 12,334 members.
In 2006, it merged with the Norwegian Union of Chemical Industry Workers, to form Industri Energi.
Presidents
1977: Lars Anders Myhre
2000: Leif Sande
References
External links
Chemical industry trade unions
Trade unions established in 1977
Trade unions disestablished in 2006
Trade unions in Norway | Norwegian Oil and Petrochemical Union | [
"Chemistry"
] | 118 | [
"Chemical industry trade unions"
] |
65,794,256 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moto%20G%205G%20Plus | Moto G 5G Plus and Motorola One 5G are Android phablets developed by Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Lenovo. The Moto G 5G Plus was announced in July 2020 for Europe; the Motorola One 5G was announced in September 2020 for the United States. A version with mmWave support followed in October, exclusive to Verizon.
References
Android (operating system) devices
Mobile phones introduced in 2020
Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras
Motorola smartphones
Mobile phones with 4K video recording | Moto G 5G Plus | [
"Technology"
] | 103 | [
"Mobile technology stubs",
"Mobile phone stubs"
] |
65,795,181 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar%20hydrogen%20panel | A solar hydrogen panel is a device for artificial photosynthesis that produces photohydrogen from sunlight and water. The panel uses electrochemical water splitting, where energy captured from solar panels powers water electrolysis, producing hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is discarded into the atmosphere while the hydrogen is collected and stored. Solar hydrogen panels offer a method of capturing solar energy by producing green hydrogen that can be used in industrial and transportation applications.
Theory
Solar hydrogen panels operate via photovoltaic−electrochemical (PV-EC) water splitting with two components: the photovoltaic cell and the electrochemical cell (or electrolyzer). The photovoltaic cell uses solar energy to generate electricity, which it sends to an electrochemical cell. This electrochemical cell uses electrolysis to split the water electrolyte, creating hydrogen (H2) at the cathode and oxygen (O2) at the anode.
With the development of photovoltaic cells and electrolysis devices, the efficiency of solar hydrogen panels has been optimized to over 10%. In the photovoltaic component, the Shockley-Queisser limit restricts the efficiency of the solar cells. The efficiency of the electrolytic component depends on the catalyst chosen, with efficiencies ranging from 59 to 70%.
Alternative
Another method of solar hydrogen generation is the photoelectrochemical cell (PEC), where solar energy is captured by a semiconductor immersed in a water electrolyte. The photoelectrochemical cell is favored for its lower complexity and cost; however, it has lower efficiencies than PV-EC and cannot be contained within a panel.
History
In 1970, South African electrochemist John Bockris claimed that hydrogen as a fuel source could be supplied by a chemical reaction between water and solar energy. In his 1975 book, Energy, the Solar Hydrogen Alternative, Bockris formally explain the process by which hydrogen could theoretically be extracted from solar energy. In this book, Bockris included his suggestions on using hydrogen as a medium of energy and the potential of harnessing the sun to synthesize hydrogen.
The world's first solar-powered hydrogen production plant became operational in 1990 in Neunburg vorm Wald, a town in southern Germany.
In 2019, chemists and physicists at The University of Tokyo and Tokyo Metropolitan University made improvements in the material construction and efficiency of water-splitting solar panels, showing one square meter of sunlight-exposed area with a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 0.4%; the research claims to be viable for scalable and cheap renewable solar hydrogen production.
Also in 2019, scientists at KU Leuven’s Center for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis in Leuven, Belgium created a solar hydrogen panel which produced hydrogen with a 15% solar-to-hydrogen efficiency, a leap from their maximum efficiency of 0.1% a decade earlier. This 15% efficiency is also the current world record for solar hydrogen panels.
The University of Michigan reported developing a panel with a water-to-hydrogen efficiency of 9% in 2023.
Commercialization
While solar hydrogen panels are currently not sophisticated enough to be sold to the general public, there are multiple companies leading the market in solar hydrogen panel production. SunHydrogen is a public company that has been working on the development of efficient solar hydrogen panels since 2009. On 19 February 2021, exactly 2 years after the reveal of their world-record panel, KU Leuven launched the Solhyd Project, an effort to make their panel commercially available.
Future applications
Of the current 50 million tons of hydrogen produced annually, over 25% is directly used to produce nitrogen-based fertilizers, such as ammonia, nitrate, and urea, via the Haber-Bosch process. For ammonia, over 80% of the 175 million tons produced in 2020 were used as fertilizers and feedstocks for agricultural growth. Because the production of nitrogen-based fertilizers will continue to grow to meet population growth needs, further developments in solar hydrogen panel technology can aid the increased hydrogen needs of ammonia production.
Solar hydrogen panel technology can be beneficial for the space industry. Liquid hydrogen is utilized as rocket engine fuel, such as the BE-3PM engine on Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle. For orbital launch vehicles, the large mass of fuel and oxidizer required for launch necessitates in-space fuel production for return missions. Usage of solar hydrogen panels may offer a lightweight option to produce fuel for both hydrogen and methane-powered rocket engines.
Solar hydrogen panel technologies can be arranged in a distributed approach, where the site of hydrogen production is independent of the energy production. Existing electrical grids can be used to drive the electricity transport from solar hydrogen panels to hydrogen production plants, avoiding the need for hydrogen transport. By producing and storing hydrogen during periods of high solar insolation when the cost of electricity is low, the system could be incredibly cost and energy-efficient. The hydrogen could be stored for usage during periods of low solar insolation when electricity costs are higher. However, this method would require powered electronics for electricity transport, such as DC–DC converters and AC–DC inverters, that further reduce the system's efficiency. Further advancements would be needed to reduce the cost of grid electrolysis technologies and increase the efficiency of electricity transport to make the system viable on a larger scale.
Challenges
Challenges hindering the development and large-scale adoption of this technology mostly relate to high monetary costs for panel production. Specifically, the manufacturing of photovoltaic cells remains expensive, keeping the cost of solar-based H2 production higher than H2 production from fossil fuels.
Environmental impacts of the process of creating these cells include the production of large amounts of CO2 and SO2, contributing to global warming and ocean acidification. These impacts may offset the realized environmental benefits of the technology.
Additional obstacles relate to the lack of infrastructure for hydrogen storage and transportation. As hydrogen possesses a low volumetric energy density and high flammability, a network of specialized containers and pipelines is required to enable safe, widespread hydrogen production and use.
Another notable challenge revolves around the technology’s dependence on sunlight for operation. As solar energy can only be produced during the day, the system undergoes daily startup and shutdown sequences, which hinders the durability and efficiency of the conversion process over time. Scientists have not yet found an electrolyzer material that possesses sufficient durability to perturbations such as frequent on/off cycles.
See also
Hydrogen infrastructure
Timeline of hydrogen technologies
Liquid hydrogen
Compressed hydrogen
Hydrogen vehicle
Fuel cell vehicle
Hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicle
Hydrogen-powered aircraft
Biohydrogen
References
.
External links
Official website of the Solhyd Project by KU Leuven
A news article 'Green energy breakthrough thanks to KU Leuven scientists' at stories.kuleuven.be (2019-10-02)
(2019-03-25)
An interview 'Looking past the hype: KU Leuven researchers shed more light on their hydrogen panel' with Johan Martens and Tom Bosserez at nieuws.kuleuven.be (2019-03-25)
'Surface Chemistry and Catalysis: Characterisation and Application Team (COK-KAT)' in the organizational chart of kuleuven.be
Solar System Installation
Photochemistry
Hydrogen production
Hydrogen technologies
Environmental chemistry
Environmental science | Solar hydrogen panel | [
"Chemistry",
"Environmental_science"
] | 1,515 | [
"Environmental chemistry",
"nan"
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65,796,827 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International%20Center%20for%20Ethnobotanical%20Education%2C%20Research%20and%20Service | The International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS) is a non-profit organization (NPO), headquartered in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). ICEERS is dedicated to transforming society's relationship with psychoactive plants by engaging with some of the fundamental issues resulting from the globalization of ayahuasca, iboga, and other ethnobotanicals. Founded in 2009, ICEERS is registered as a non-profit organization, and has charitable status in the Netherlands and Spain, and through partner organizations in the US and UK. ICEERS also has consultative status with the United Nations' ECOSOC.
Vision
ICEERS envisions a future where psychoactive plant practices are valued and integrated parts of society. Dedicated to turning challenges into opportunities, their vision is that of a future where society's relationship with these plants is transformed – where every individual and each community is granted the right to pursue healing and self-empowerment, where indigenous cultures are respected, and where bridges are built between traditional knowledge and science. ICEERS is dedicated to bridging the ethnobotanical knowledge of indigenous peoples with modern science and therapeutic practice, responding to the urgent need for efficient tools for personal and social development.
According to their website, the organization's mission includes:
Conducting scientific research around the therapeutic use of psychoactive plants;
Studying and promoting policies in the fields of psychedelic science and drug policy, based on scientific evidence and human rights;
Developing the field of support and integration for people wishing to access treatment or experiences with plant teachers;
Convening community events and gatherings with the aim of bridging knowledge; and
Offering legal information and support to people experiencing legal challenges related to transport or use of ayahuasca or other psychoactive plants.
History
The International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service (ICEERS) was founded on May 20, 2009, by Benjamin De Loenen (director of the 2014 documentary Ibogaine - Rite of Passage) as a philanthropic, tax-exempt non-profit organization (charity) dedicated to the integration of ayahuasca, iboga and other traditional plants as therapeutic tools in modern society, and the preservation of indigenous cultures that have been using these plant species since antiquity.
According to its founder and executive director, Benjamin de Loenen, "Over time more people joined the team with scientific and drug policy reform backgrounds, and we started to broaden our scope and address the subject matter from these different angles. Right now, we do scientific research, we also try to make science understandable for policy makers and broader audiences. We educate through the website, offering harm reduction and risk reduction information, and we are involved in policy reform."
ICEERS has grown since 2009 from having a few volunteers and no budget at that time, to 14 staff in 2019. In 2010, ICEERS offered their first training to health departments about ibogaine, as well as organizing a conference about this subject at the Catalan Health Department in that same year. They have also engaged in relationship building and advocacy with decision-makers and international bodies at the United Nations. In 2010, in a letter responding to an ICEERS' query, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) confirmed that "no plant or concoction containing DMT, including ayahuasca, is currently under international control." Moreover, ICEERS has participated in the development of important guidelines for human rights and drug policy, led by the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy, co-published by the WHO, UNDP and UNAIDS. They have also organized side-events at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna for several years and have engaged several times at the UN Human Rights bodies in Geneva.
Between 2016 and 2019, the team supported more than 120 legal cases with plant medicine in 27 countries through their legal defense program, the Ayahuasca Defense Fund, creating positive legal precedents.
ICEERS has built a united, culturally diverse and international community through the World Ayahuasca Conference, held in Ibiza, Spain, in 2014, Rio Branco, Brazil, in 2016, and in Girona, Spain, in 2019. The 2019 edition was the largest ever ayahuasca event in history with 1400 participants from 35 countries.
ICEERS has also seeded community self-regulatory processes in different countries fostering collective responsibility, ethics, safety and efficient strategies towards regulation.
In Catalonia and Spain, ICEERS has played a leading role advancing an integral cannabis regulation and creating spaces for the voices of medical cannabis patients and medical doctors in the political debate.
Moreover, they have published dozens of scientific peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and other educational materials. ICEERS has organized events at the United Nations, EMCDDA, numerous government agencies, and has presented at conferences worldwide. In 2019, the Catalan Health Department commissioned ICEERS to write and publish a new informative guide on ayahuasca, which is a compilation of basic ethical and security standards for the use of ayahuasca in non-Amazonian contexts and deals with areas of legality and both individual and collective responsibility.
Through their support service they have helped hundreds of people who have faced challenging or adverse experiences after the use of psychoactive plants and are leaders in developing approaches to the integration of psychedelic experiences. Apart from that, they are committed to learning new ways of reciprocal alliance building with indigenous peoples, and gaining and sharing deeper understandings of the indigenous knowledge that surrounds these plants. They collaborate with the Union of Indigenous Yagé Doctors of the Colombian Amazon, an organization created in 1999 that includes five indigenous ethnicities from southwestern Colombia that works to preserve the Amazon rainforest and to revitalize and protect cultures and ancestral medicines.
Initiatives
Ayahuasca Defense Fund (ADF)
ICEERS has a decade of legal defense experience, which was formalized in 2016 with the launch of the Ayahuasca Defense Fund program. By September 2019, they had offered support in over 56 cases in 22 countries, several of which set positive legal precedents, and negative precedents were avoided in most other cases. From 2008 to 2017, the ADF noted a significant increase in the legal incidents across the globe. The ADF continues providing assistance around legal incidents, creating new supporting documents for legal teams, updating their online legal information, and developing new legal and human rights arguments based on previous casework.
Crisis Support
This service provides integration psychotherapy sessions for people in challenging situations after experiencing non-ordinary states of consciousness. ICEERS' support program has helped people worldwide to integrate challenging or adverse experiences since 2013. This donation-based offering was a pioneer in offering integration services and has provided a unique perspective into why and how these situations occur. Over time, they have analyzed and consolidated these key learnings in order to develop training programs and an integration manual for practitioners and integration specialists.
CANNABMED
ICEERS is a generally trusted reference point for information on science and socio-political transformation. They have organized three CANNABMED conferences in 2016, 2018 and 2020. Through this process, they successfully supported cannabis patients to self-organize (they now have their own patient's organization, the Patients Union for Cannabis Regulation) and also bringing medical professionals together so that they can work together collectively.
CANNABMED has promoted the creation of a patient association and a clinical society of professionals interested in the therapeutic potential of cannabis. Hundreds of people with health problems have found a benchmark from CANNABMED and have organized to fight for their rights.
CANNABMED events have provided a framework for civil society, health professionals and politicians to meet, discuss, and build relationships. Since the first event, ICEERS has led several community development processes that resulted in the creation of two new actors in the cannabis regulation scene. First, a patient's union, and in 2019, a health professional NGO that is now operating autonomously (the Endocannabinology Clinical Society). The first CANNABMED Congress was held at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the second one at the College of Physicians of Barcelona, and the third at the College of Pharmacists of Barcelona.
ICEERS has authored and collaborated in several publications about the topic of the Cannabis Social Clubs in Spain.
PsychēPlants
In 2017, ICEERS received an EU Commission grant for a project called PsychēPlants, through which they developed a series of reports about psychoactive plants, fungi and animal secretions as well as a risk-reduction website to share this important information. This funding also resourced their support service for 18 months and funded a 4-hour course for the EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction), as well as an online course for health professionals.
World Ayahuasca Conference
The first World Ayahuasca Conference was held in 2014 in Ibiza, Spain, and the second in 2016 in Rio Branco, capital of Acre, in Brazil. The third edition took place in Girona, Spain, from May 31 to June 2, 2019.
According to their website, the World Ayahuasca Conference is "much more than a conference. It is an instrument for social change – an opportunity to create alignment within the community so that we can co-create a positive future for these plant practices. It's an opportunity to cross-pollinate between different social movements, seeding new collaborations. And, importantly, it's an opportunity to shine a light on the intrinsic connection between the globalization of ayahuasca and the on-going resistance being waged by indigenous peoples against the destruction of sacred land – the Amazon rainforest – so essential for ecological balance."
Iboga/ine Community Engagement Initiative
Practices with iboga and ibogaine are expanding. The cultural, social, and political contexts surrounding the human relationship to this plant and its alkaloids, are complex and ICEERS has sought to bring careful consideration to the impacts of their globalization. The Iboga/ine Community Engagement Initiative sought to engage with the global community to crowdsource opinions and ideas about what an ideal future looks like for iboga and ibogaine in global society – from African and international stakeholders.
Biocultural conservation, regeneration and alliance building
ICEERS has been working to develop strategies to leverage more interest and capacity for efforts to conserve and regenerate the plants and indigenous knowledge systems of the Amazon, Gabon and beyond. This work is enabled through collaborations with Dr Bronner's, RiverStyx Foundation, and the Union of Indigenous Yagé Doctors of the Colombian Amazon.
Research
ICEERS builds bridges between traditional knowledge and science to address some of society's most challenging health conditions and to build a more connected society. ICEERS conducts scientific studies on the potential benefits of psychoactive plants, principally cannabis, ayahuasca, and ibogaine, public health, and the role of traditional medicine practices in Global Mental Health. In order to embrace the complex systems in which these ethnobotanicals are embedded, the research team has carried out several studies from a multidisciplinary approach, effectively combining different disciplines ranging from the biomedical research in lab settings to ethnographic explorations.
ICEERS, in collaboration with other institutions, published the Ayahuasca Technical Report, as well as the most complete study about neuropsychiatric long-term effects of ayahuasca, the first study showing brain changes in long-term ayahuasca ceremony participants, studies about ayahuasca therapeutical potential, theoretical reflections regarding therapeutic potential of ethnobotanicals, and research in cannabis therapeutic potential for chronic diseases, among others. ICEERS collaborates closely with the group of the Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, with the Medical Anthropology Research Center (MARC) at the Rovira i Virgili University, Tarragona, and with the Autonomous University of Madrid. ICEERS is initiating the first-ever clinical trials with ibogaine for opioid dependence in collaboration with Tre Borràs Cabacés from the Hospital Sant Joan de Reus.
References
Cannabis law reform organizations
Drug control law
Drug culture
Drug policy
Drug policy organizations
Entheogens
Iboga
International medical and health organizations
International charities
Lysergic acid diethylamide
Medicinal use of cannabis organizations
Mental health
Organizations established in 2009
Political controversies
Psilocybin
Psychedelic drug research
Public health organizations | International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service | [
"Chemistry"
] | 2,523 | [
"Drug control law",
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65,797,150 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer%E2%80%93BioNTech%20COVID-19%20vaccine | The Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, sold under the brand name Comirnaty, is an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by the German biotechnology company BioNTech. For its development, BioNTech collaborated with the American company Pfizer to carry out clinical trials, logistics, and manufacturing. It is authorized for use in humans to provide protection against COVID-19, caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The vaccine is given by intramuscular injection. It is composed of nucleoside-modified mRNA (modRNA) that encodes a mutated form of the full-length spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which is encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles. Initial guidance recommended a two-dose regimen, given 21 days apart; this interval was subsequently extended to up to 42 days in the United States, and up to four months in Canada.
Clinical trials began in April 2020; by November 2020, the vaccine had met the primary efficacy goals of the phaseIII clinical trial, with over 40,000 people participating. Interim analysis of study data showed a potential efficacy of 91.3% in preventing symptomatic infection within seven days of a second dose and no serious safety concerns. Most side effects are mild to moderate in severity and resolve within a few days. Common side effects include mild to moderate pain at the injection site, fatigue, and headaches. Reports of serious side effects, such as allergic reactions, remain very rare with no long-term complications documented.
The vaccine is the first COVID19 vaccine to be authorized by a stringent regulatory authority for emergency use and the first to be approved for regular use. In December 2020, the United Kingdom was the first country to authorize its use on an emergency basis. It is authorized for use at some level in the majority of countries. On 23 August 2021, the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine became the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in the US by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The logistics of distributing and storing the vaccine present significant challenges due to the requirement for its storage at extremely low temperatures.
In August 2022, a bivalent version of the vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent) was authorized for use as a booster dose in individuals aged twelve and older in the US. The following month, the BA.1 version of the bivalent vaccine (Comirnaty Original/Omicron BA.1 or tozinameran/riltozinameran) was authorized as a booster for use in the UK. The same month, the European Union authorized both the BA.1 and the BA.4/BA.5 (tozinameran/famtozinameran) booster versions of the bivalent vaccine. In August 2024, the FDA approved and granted emergency authorization for a monovalent Omicron KP.2 version of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The approval of Comirnaty (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) (2024-2025 Formula) was granted to BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH. The EUA amendment for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (2024-2025 Formula) was issued to Pfizer Inc.
Medical uses
The Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is used to provide protection against COVID-19, caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, by eliciting an immune response to the S antigen. The vaccine is used to reduce morbidity and mortality from COVID-19.
The vaccine is supplied in a multidose vial as "a white to off-white, sterile, preservative-free, frozen suspension for intramuscular injection". It must be thawed to room temperature and diluted with normal saline before administration.
The initial course consists of two doses. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends an interval of three to four weeks between doses. Delaying the second dose by up to twelve weeks increases immunogenicity, even in older adults, against all variants of concern. Authors of the Pitch study think that the optimal interval against the Delta variant is around eight weeks, with longer intervals leaving receptors vulnerable between doses.
A third, fourth, or fifth dose can be added in some countries.
Effectiveness
A test-negative case-control study published in August 2021, found that two doses of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer) vaccine had 93.7% effectiveness against symptomatic disease caused by the alpha (B.1.1.7) variant and 88.0% effectiveness against symptomatic disease caused by the delta (B.1.617.2) variant. Notably, effectiveness after one dose of the Pfizer vaccine was 48.7% against alpha and 30.7% against delta, similar to effectiveness provided by one dose of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine.
In August 2021, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a study reporting that the effectiveness against infection decreased from to when the Delta variant became predominant in the US, which may be due to unmeasured and residual confounding related to a decline in vaccine effectiveness over time.
Unless indicated otherwise, the following effectiveness ratings are indicative of clinical effectiveness two weeks after the second dose. A vaccine is generally considered effective if the estimate is ≥50% with a >30% lower limit of the 95% confidence interval. Effectiveness is generally expected to slowly decrease over time.
In November 2021, Public Health England reported a possible but extremely small reduction in effectiveness against symptomatic disease from the Delta sublineage AY.4.2 at longer intervals after the second dose.
Preliminary data suggest that the effectiveness against the Omicron variant starts to decline in about 10 weeks, either after the initial two-dose regimen or after the booster dose. For other variants, the effectiveness of the initial doses starts to decline in about six months. A case-control study in Qatar from 1 January to 5 September 2021 found that effectiveness against infection peaked at in the first month after the second dose, followed by a slow decline that accelerated after the fourth month, reaching 20% at months 5 to 7. A similar trajectory was observed against symptomatic disease and against specific variants. Effectiveness against severe disease, hospitalization and death was more robust, peaking at in the second month and remaining almost stable through the sixth month, declining thereafter.
In October 2021, a phase III trial showed that a booster dose given approximately 11 months after the second dose restored the protective effect to the efficacy level against symptomatic disease from the Delta variant.
In December 2021, Pfizer and BioNTech reported that preliminary data indicated that a third dose of the vaccine would provide a similar level of neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant as seen after two doses against other variants.
In December 2021, private health insurer Discovery Health, in collaboration with the South African Medical Research Council, reported that real-world data from more than 211,000 cases of COVID-19 in South Africa, of which 78,000 were of the Omicron variant, indicate that effectiveness against the variant after two doses is about 70% against hospital admission and 33% against symptomatic disease. Protection against hospital admission is maintained for all ages and groups with comorbidities.
A study of the bivalent booster effectiveness against severe COVID-19 outcomes in Finland, September 2022–January 2023, has shown that it reduced the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes among the elderly. By contrast, among the chronically ill 18–64-year-olds the risk was similar among those who received bivalent vaccine and those who did not. Among the elderly a bivalent booster provided highest protection during the first two months after vaccination, but thereafter signs of waning were observed. The effectiveness among individuals aged 65–79 years and those aged 80 years or more was similar.
Specific populations
Based on the results of a preliminary study, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that pregnant women get vaccinated with the COVID19 vaccine.
A statement by the British Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) reported that the two agencies had reached a conclusion that the vaccine is safe and effective in children aged between 12 and 15 years.
In May 2021, experts commissioned by the Norwegian Medicines Agency concluded that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the likely cause of ten deaths of frail elderly patients in Norwegian nursing homes. They said that people with very short life expectancies have little to gain from vaccination, having a real risk of adverse reactions in the last days of life and of dying earlier.
A 2021 report by the New South Wales Government (NSW Health) in Australia found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is safe for those with various forms of immunodeficiency or immunosuppression, though it does note that the data on said groups is limited, due to their exclusion from many of the vaccine earlier trials held in 2020. It notes that the World Health Organization advises that the vaccine is among the three COVID-19 vaccines (alongside that of Moderna and AstraZeneca) it deems safe to give to immunocompromised individuals, and that expert consensus generally recommends their vaccination. The report states that the vaccines were able to generate an immune response in those individuals, though it does also note that this response is weaker than in those that are not immunocompromised. It recommends that specific patient groups, such as those with cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and various liver diseases be prioritised in the vaccination schedules over other patients that do not have said conditions.
In September 2021, Pfizer announced that a clinical trial conducted in more than 2,200 children aged 5–11 has generated a "robust" response and is safe.
Adverse effects
In Phase III trials for the vaccine, there were no safety concerns and few adverse events.
Most side effects of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID19 vaccine are mild to moderate in severity, and are gone within a few days. They are similar to other adult vaccines and are normal signs that the body is building protection to the virus. During clinical trials, the common side effects affecting more than one in 10 people are (in order of frequency): pain and swelling at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle aches, chills, joint pain, fever or diarrhea. Fever is more common after the second dose.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) regularly reviews the data on the vaccine's safety. The safety report published on 8 September 2021 by the EMA was based on over 392million doses administered in the European Union. According to the EMA "the benefits of Comirnaty in preventing COVID19 continue to outweigh any risks, and there are no recommended changes regarding the use of this vaccine." Rare side effects (that may affect up to one in 1,000 people) include temporary one sided facial drooping and allergic reactions, such as hives or swelling of the face.
Allergy
Documented hypersensitivity to polyethylene glycol (PEG) (a very rare allergy) is listed as a contraindication to the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine. Severe allergic reaction has been observed in approximately eleven cases per million doses of vaccine administered. According to a report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 71% of those allergic reactions happened within 15 minutes of vaccination and mostly (81%) among people with a documented history of allergies or allergic reactions. The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) advised on 9December 2020 that people who have a history of "significant" allergic reaction should not receive the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID19 vaccine. On 12 December, the Canadian regulator followed suit, noting that: "Both individuals in the U.K. had a history of severe allergic reactions and carried adrenaline auto injectors. They both were treated and have recovered."
Myocarditis
In June 2021, the Israel's Ministry of Health announced a probable relationship between the second dose and myocarditis in a small group of 16–30-year-old men. Between December 2020 and May 2021, there were 55 cases of myocarditis per 1million people vaccinated, 95% of which were classified as mild and most spent no more than four days in the hospital. Since April 2021, increasing number of cases of myocarditis and pericarditis have been reported in the United States in about 13 per 1million young people, mostly male and over the age of 16, after vaccination with the Pfizer–BioNTech or the Moderna vaccine. Most affected individuals recover quickly with adequate treatment and rest. Since February 2022, the German Standing Committee on Vaccination recommends aspiration for COVID-19 vaccination as precautionary measure.
Pharmacology
The BioNTech technology for the BNT162b2 vaccine is based on use of nucleoside-modified mRNA (modRNA) which encodes a mutated form of the full-length spike protein found on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, triggering an immune response against infection by the virus protein.
Sequence
The modRNA sequence of the vaccine is 4,284 nucleotides long. It consists of a five-prime cap; a five prime untranslated region derived from the sequence of human alpha globin; a signal peptide (bases 55–102) and two proline substitutions (K986P and V987P, designated "2P") that cause the spike to adopt a prefusion-stabilized conformation reducing the membrane fusion ability, increasing expression and stimulating neutralizing antibodies; a codon-optimized gene of the full-length spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 (bases 103–3879); followed by a three prime untranslated region (bases 3880–4174) combined from AES and mtRNR1 selected for increased protein expression and mRNA stability and a poly(A) tail comprising 30 adenosine residues, a 10-nucleotide linker sequence, and 70 other adenosine residues (bases 4175–4284). The sequence contains no uridine residues; they are replaced by 1-methyl-3'-pseudouridylyl. The 2P proline substitutions in the spike proteins were originally developed for a Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) vaccine by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Vaccine Research Center, Scripps Research, and Jason McLellan's team (at the University of Texas at Austin, previously at Dartmouth College).
Chemistry
In addition to the mRNA molecule, the vaccine contains the following inactive ingredients (excipients):
ALC-0315, ((4-hydroxybutyl)azanediyl)bis(hexane-6,1-diyl)bis(2-hexyldecanoate)
ALC-0159, 2-[(polyethylene glycol)-2000]-N,N-ditetradecylacetamide
1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC)
cholesterol
dibasic sodium phosphate dihydrate
monobasic potassium phosphate
potassium chloride
sodium chloride
sucrose
water for injection
The first four of these are lipids. The lipids and modRNA together form nanoparticles that act not only as carriers to get the modRNA into the human cells, but also as adjuvants. ALC-0159 is a polyethylene glycol conjugate, i.e., a PEGylated lipid.
Manufacturing
Pfizer and BioNTech are manufacturing the vaccine in their own facilities in the United States and in Europe. The license to distribute and manufacture the vaccine in China was purchased by Fosun, alongside its investment in BioNTech.
Manufacturing the vaccine requires a three-stage process. The first stage involves the molecular cloning of DNA plasmids that code for the spike protein by infusing them into Escherichia coli bacteria. For all markets, this stage is conducted in the United States, at a small Pfizer pilot plant in Chesterfield, Missouri (near St. Louis). After four days of growth, the bacteria are killed and broken open, and the contents of their cells are purified over a week and a half to recover the desired DNA product. The DNA is bottled and frozen for shipment. Safely and quickly transporting the DNA at this stage is so important that Pfizer has used its company jet and helicopter to assist.
The second stage is being conducted at a Pfizer plant in Andover, Massachusetts, in the United States, and at BioNTech's plants in Germany. The DNA is used as a template to build the desired mRNA strands, which takes about four days. Once the mRNA has been created and purified, it is frozen in plastic bags about the size of a large shopping bag, of which each can hold up to 10million doses. The bags are placed on trucks which take them to the next plant.
The third stage is being conducted at Pfizer plants in Portage, Michigan (near Kalamazoo) in the United States, and Puurs in Belgium. This stage involves combining the mRNA with lipid nanoparticles, then filling vials, boxing vials, and freezing them. Croda International subsidiary Avanti Polar Lipids is providing the requisite lipids. As of November 2020, the major bottleneck in the manufacturing process is combining mRNA with lipid nanoparticles. At this stage, it takes only four days to go from mRNA and lipids to finished vials, but each lot must then spend several weeks in deep-freeze storage while undergoing verification against 40 quality-control measures.
Before May 2021, the Pfizer plant in Puurs was responsible for all vials for destinations outside the United States. Therefore, all doses administered in the Americas outside of the United States before that point in time required at least two transatlantic flights (one to take DNA to Europe and one to bring back finished vaccine vials).
In February 2021, BioNTech announced it would increase production by more than 50% to manufacture 2billion doses in 2021, raised again at the end of March to 2.5billion doses in 2021.
In February 2021, Pfizer revealed that the entire sequence initially took about 110 days on average from start to finish, and that the company is making progress on reducing the time to 60 days. More than half the days in the production process are dedicated to rigorous testing and quality assurance at each of the three stages. Pfizer also revealed that the process requires 280 components and relies upon 25 suppliers located in 19 countries.
Vaccine manufacturers normally take several years to optimize the process of making a particular vaccine for speed and cost-effectiveness before attempting large-scale production. Due to the urgency presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, Pfizer and BioNTech began production immediately with the process by which the vaccine had been originally formulated in the laboratory, then started to identify ways to safely speed up and scale up that process.BioNTech announced in September 2020, that it had signed an agreement to acquire a manufacturing facility in Marburg, Germany, from Novartis to expand their vaccine production capacity. Once fully operational, the facility would produce up to 750million doses per year, or more than 60million doses per month. The site will be the third BioNTech facility in Europe that produces the vaccine, while Pfizer operates at least four production sites in the United States and Europe.
The Marburg facility had previously specialized in cancer immunotherapy for Novartis. By the end of March 2021, BioNTech had finished retrofitting the facility for mRNA vaccine production and retraining its 300 staff, and obtained approval to begin manufacturing. Besides making mRNA, the Marburg facility also performs the step of combining mRNA with lipids to form lipid nanoparticles, then ships the vaccine in bulk to other facilities for fill and finish (i.e., filling and boxing vials).
In April 2021, the EMA authorized an increase in batch size and associated process scale up at Pfizer's plant in Puurs. This increase is expected to have a significant impact on the supply of the vaccine in the European Union.
Logistics
The vaccine is delivered in vials that, once diluted, contain 2.25 mL of vaccine, comprising 0.45 mL frozen and 1.8 mL diluent. According to the vial labels, each vial contains five 0.3 mL doses, however excess vaccine may be used for one, or possibly two, additional doses. The use of low dead space syringes to obtain the additional doses is preferable, and partial doses within a vial should be discarded. The Italian Medicines Agency officially authorized the use of excess doses remaining within single vials. The Danish Health Authority allows mixing partial doses from two vials. As of 8January 2021, each vial contains six doses. In the United States, vials will be counted as five doses when accompanied by regular syringes and as six doses when accompanied by low dead space syringes.The vaccine can be stored at for thirty days before use and at or for up to two hours before use. During distribution the vaccine is stored in special containers that maintain temperatures between .
Low-income countries have limited cold chain capacity for ultracold transport and storage of a vaccine. The necessary storage temperatures for the vaccine are much lower than for the similar Moderna vaccine. The head of Indonesia's Bio Farma Honesti Basyir said purchasing the vaccine is out of the question for the world's fourth-most populous country, given that it did not have the necessary cold chain capability. Similarly, India's existing cold chain network can handle only temperatures between , far above the requirements of the vaccine.
History
Before COVID19 vaccines, creating a vaccine for an infectious disease from scratch had never before been produced in less than the five years it had taken in 1967 when Maurice Hilleman had set the modern record with a vaccine for mumps, followed by the vaccine for Ebola also taking five years.
As of 2019 no vaccine existed for preventing a coronavirus infection in humans. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID19, was detected in December 2019,
The development of the Pfizer- BioNTech COVID19 vaccine began when BioNTech founder and CEO Uğur Şahin while at his home in Mainz on Friday 24 January 2020, was checking out his regular websites when he noted a report in the science section of Der Spiegel website about novel respiratory illness that had affected approximately 50 people in Wuhan.
He then came across a submission from Hong Kong-based researchers on the website of the medical journal The Lancet in which they discussed a cluster of pneumonia associated with coronavirus and an indication of person-to-person transmission that had affected a family that had recently returned from Wuhan. The authors of the submission were of the opinion that they were observing the early stages of an epidemic,
While no infectious disease expert Şahin did some quick calculations based on Wuhan's population and transport links and came to the conclusion that if this virus was possible of person-to-person transmission then it could cause a morality rate somewhere between 0.3 and 10 out of every 100 inflected people to give a best case scenario of two million deaths worldwide. This would expose him, his family, colleagues to danger. At the time there were 1,000 internationally confirmed cases of the virus. Later that day he sent an email to Helmut Jeggle, chairman of BioNTech to alert him of his conclusions. The next day he discussed it with his wife Özlem Türeci and his belief that once it reached Germany local schools would be closed by April. During a telephone call with Jeggle that same day he discussed potential impact of such a virus.
Şahin and Türeci had previously identified that the mRNA vaccine technology that the company had been developing offered the possibly of being used to create a suitable vaccine.
While the company had a small team which had started developing vaccines for infectious disease and had collaborating with Pfizer on a flu vaccine BioNTech was after 11 years of financial losses totalling more than €400 million was concentrating its efforts on developing mRNA as a means of fighting cancer.
However, realizing the risk and believing that the company's proprietary mRNA technology at now at the stage where they had the tools to create a vaccine Şahin after discussing it with his wife, spent that weekend outlining the technical construction of eight possible vaccine candidates based on the company's mRNA platforms. He was assisted in his work by the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences having been previously published on 11 January 2020 by Edward C. Holmes in association with Zhang Yongzhen, a professor at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on open-source website Virological.org. This triggered an urgent international response to prepare for an outbreak and hasten development of preventive vaccines.
On Monday 27 January Şahin had a series of meetings with the company's few infectious experts and the leaders of most of the departments to discuss his concerns about the virus and to announce his decision to establish a new project called 'Lightspeed' that would use all of the company's available resources to develop a vaccine. He also decided that rather than follow the traditional method of developing a single prototype and then discard it if it didn't work and then start again they would develop and test multiple vaccines in parallel. They would then discard the least promising.
BioNTech approaches Pfizer about collaborating
At the board meeting the next day Şahin received permission to spend over the next weeks a limited amount of money that the company and its 1,300 personnel investigating the development of a vaccine, after which they would reevaluate whether to continue. The board then considered whether to build up their capability to fully manufacture, document, sell and distribute any potential vaccine they decided that this would take too long and it would be better to partner with a pharma giant. Since the company had been collaborating with Pfizer since 2018 on developing a mRNA vaccine for influenza. Şahin called Pfizer's chief scientific officer, Phil Dormitzer later that Tuesday to tell them what they were doing and ask if they were interested in collaborating with BioNTech. Dormitzer was lukewarm as he felt that this new virus would be able to controlled and confined to China by public health measures and a few hours later confirmed on behalf of Pfizer that they were not interested.
Consulting the Paul Ehrlich Institute
Prior to contacting Pfizer, Şahin had contacted Klaus Cichutek at the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) in Langen, which was Germany's drug regulator to ask for his assistance in arranging a meeting with a panel of experts to discuss a vaccine development strategy and to determine what needed to be done to receive authorisations to undertake a clinical trial. As it was taking the Wuhan developments very seriously PEI was more than willing to help and had already initiated a vaccine development programme and was providing emergency advice to other drug makers and waiving its administration fees. it was more than willing to assist BioNTech and came back two days later to say that provided a detailed briefing dossier could be delivered in time would meet with them the next week.
Corinna Rosenbaum who was the lead project manager on the BioNTech flu project was asked to prepare what eventually was a 50-page dossier detailing how the company had the expertise and technology to create a safe vaccine. Crucial to the delivery of an mRNA vaccine to its cellular destination via an injection into a human muscle was the availability of a suitable wrapper made of lipid nano particles to protect it from the body's enzymes. The company had no experience in them they approached Acuitas Therapeutics whose proprietary wrapper technology was already being used in human trials and for which all of the necessary safety data was available. This would assist in gaining PEI approval. This small Canadian company of 25 staff was led by Tom Madden. An advantage of using Acuitas Therapeutics was that their ALC-0315 lipid formulation was already available at Polymun which was one of the only companies which had the expertise to immediately combine lipids with mRNA. Polymun was located near Vienna in Austria, an eight-hour drive from BioNTech's headquarters, which would be make it easier for material had to transported between the two companies. On Monday 3 February Acuitas Therapeutics agreed to assist. With Acuitas Therapeutics on board the briefing dossier was able to be completed and was sent to PEI late on Tuesday, 4 February, six days after work had commenced on compiling it.
On 6 February Şahin, Türeci and Rosenbaum together with Tom Madden and Chris Barbosa from Acuitas Therapeutics met with PEI who were happy with what BioNTech proposed, with the only point of contention being PEI rejecting BioNTech proposal to either skip altogether or run toxicology studies in parallel with clinical trials before human trials could begin.
This was important as while the individual components had been shown by trials to not cause any significant issues in humans there was no safety data on the combination of mRNA and lipids. Toxicology studies on mice or rats normally took five months. At this point in time PEI main concerns were about whether there were any benefits in speeding up the normal process.
For the vaccine to work it needed to deliver a stable accurate replica of the virus's spike protein so that the body's immune system could recognize and react to COVID19 if they became infected. In developing a stable replica, the team was assisted by advice from Barney S. Graham who had been studying the MERS virus, which was approximately 54% identical to the uploaded COVID-19 genetic code.
There were two options, one was to reproduce a full likeness of entire spike protein which would contain approximately 1,200 amino acids (protein building blocks) increase the risk of antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) complications. The other was to reproduce only the tip of the spike protein which was known as binding domain receptor (RBD). RDB was simpler as it would contain approximately 200 amino acids and risk of ADE would be reduced. Şahin decided that BioNTech would explore both methods.
Development of parallel candidates
BioNTech decided to simultaneously develop in parallel in their laboratory in Mainz 20 possible COVID19 vaccine permutations in different doses based on all four versions of synthetic mRNA platforms that they had developed, modified mRNA (modRNA), uridine RNA (uRNA), self-amplifying mRNA (saRNA) and trans-amplifying mRNA (taRNA).
Using the genetic sequences that were available on Virological.org a team at BioNTech led by Stephanie Hein used gene synthesis to create DNA hardcopies, which were to be used to create the templates to make the mRNA. These hardcopies each contained up to 4,000 nucleotides, which were assembled from 50 to 80 smaller building blocks.
Once these DNA templates was produced another team created the actual mRNA vaccine candidates, the first batch of which was produced on 2 March. This was then poured into a 50 ml bag, frozen to minus 70 degrees Celsius and dispatched by a waiting car to Polymun to be combined with the lipids, a process that was to followed by the rest of the 20 candidates.
Once the first vials containing the lipid wrapped mRNA candidates were revied back in Mainz on 9 March a team led by Annette Vogel began testing them to determine which using at various dosage amounts induced the best immune responses, first in glass dishes and then at a separate location, in mice. Each of the candidates was tested in three dosages, low, medium and high with each given to eight mice, with their blood then sampled and analyzed over the next six weeks. The blood was analyzed by a team led by Lena Kranz and Mathias Vormehr to check to see if the mice's T-cells reacted and carried out the required immune response. These tests showed that all 20 candidates produced an immune response in the mice.
In parallel Annette Vogel was also using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to determine using a virus neutralisation test (VNT) if the candidates were inducing sufficient neutralising antibodies. Because of the risk that COVID19 posed this testing had to be done in a biosafety level three (BSL-3) laboratory, which BioNTech didn't have. Fortunately, they were able to get around this by creating a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) pseudovirus to replace the harmful elements with the isolated spike proteins from SARS-CoV-2. A working prototype pseudovirus test was ready by 10 March. This meant the laboratory security requirements could be downgraded to BSL-1, which the company had onsite.
To obtain a return on its investment in 'Project Lightspeed Helmut' Jeggle was of the opinion that the company had to take advantage of the massive demand by being among the first three to the market with a vaccine. To do this BioNTech needed the evolvement of either GSK, Johnson & Johnston, Merck, Pfizer or Sanofi, who alone had the financial resources, manufacturing ability and territorial coverage to undertake the massive Phase 3 trials needed to prove to the regulators that the vaccine was safe.
BioNTech reapproaches Pfizer about collaborating
Despite the earlier rebuff from Pfizer the company still preferred to partner with them. In the meantime they were able to reach what was in effect a licensing agreement on 16 March with Shanghai-based Fosun.
On 3 March Şahin was able to contact Kathrin Jansen, head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer that BioNTech who by now was of the opinion that mRNA was the best means of creating a COVID19 vaccine. She took the idea of a collaboration to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. While the two companies had been working together since 2018 on developing a mRNA vaccine for influenza, it was only now that their two chief executives became personally acquainted.
After a few phone calls, Bourla agreed that Pfizer would work with BioNTech on the development of BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine a with work commencing immediately, with no formal written legal agreement in place to govern the new collaboration. BioNTech transferred its know-how to Pfizer the next day. Bouria agreed on the 50:50 partnership that Şahin proposed with each company equally sharing costs and any potential profits. Because of BioNTech's limited financial ability Pfizer agreed to fund Biontech's cost which was expected to be $190 million which would be paid back. As far as Bourla was concerned COVID19 was so important that he had told his staff that they had an “open cheque”.
On 13 March it was formally announced that BioNTech was collaborating with Pfizer with a letter of intent being signed on 17 March. However it wasn't until January 2021the formal commercial agreement between Pfizer and BioNTech for the COVID-19 vaccine was signed.
The release of news of the partnership bought BioNTech publicity that resulted the company receiving letters and telephone calls containing racists views and often death threats. Security was tightened and board members were offered personal protection.
Funding
According to Pfizer, research and development for the vaccine cost close to billion.
BioNTech received a investment from Fosun on 16 March 2020, in exchange for 1.58million shares in BioNTech and the future development and marketing rights of BNT162b2 in China and surrounding territories.
In April 2020, BioNTech signed a partnership with Pfizer and received $185million, including an equity investment of approximately $113million.
In June 2020, BioNTech received () in financing from the European Commission and European Investment Bank. The Bank's deal with BioNTech started early in the pandemic, when the Bank's staff reviewed its portfolio and came up with BioNTech as one of the companies capable of developing a COVID19 vaccine. The European Investment Bank had already signed a first transaction with BioNTech in 2019.
In September 2020, the German government granted BioNTech () for its COVID19 vaccine development program.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said he decided against taking funding from the US government's Operation Warp Speed for the development of the vaccine "because I wanted to liberate our scientists [from] any bureaucracy that comes with having to give reports and agree how we are going to spend the money in parallel or together, etc." Pfizer did enter into an agreement with the US for the eventual distribution of the vaccine, as with other countries.
Clinical trials
PhaseI–II Trials were started in Germany on 23 April 2020, and in the U.S. on 4May 2020, with four vaccine candidates entering clinical testing. The vaccine candidate BNT162b2 was chosen as the most promising among three others with similar technology developed by BioNTech. Before choosing BNT162b2, BioNTech and Pfizer had conducted phaseI trials on BNT162b1 in Germany and the United States, while Fosun performed a PhaseI trial in China. In these PhaseI studies, BNT162b2 was shown to have a better safety profile than the other three BioNTech candidates.
The Pivotal PhaseII–III Trial with the lead vaccine candidate "BNT162b2" began in July. Preliminary results from PhaseI–II clinical trials on BNT162b2, published in October 2020, indicated potential for its safety and efficacy. During the same month, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) began a periodic review of BNT162b2.
The study of BNT162b2 is a continuous-phase trial in phaseIII as of November 2020. It is a "randomized, placebo-controlled, observer-blind, dose-finding, vaccine candidate-selection, and efficacy study in healthy individuals". The study expanded during mid-2020 to assess efficacy and safety of BNT162b2 in greater numbers of participants, reaching tens of thousands of people receiving test vaccinations in multiple countries in collaboration with Pfizer and Fosun.
The phase III trial assesses the safety, efficacy, tolerability, and immunogenicity of BNT162b2 at a mid-dose level (two injections separated by 21 days) in three age groups: 12–15 years, 16–55 years or above 55 years. The PhaseIII results indicating a 95% efficacy of the developed vaccine were published on 18 November 2020. For approval in the EU, an overall vaccine efficacy of 95% was confirmed by the EMA. The EMA clarified that the second dose should be administered three weeks after the first dose.
At 14 days after dose 1, the cumulative incidence begins to diverge between the vaccinated group and the placebo group. The highest concentration of neutralizing antibodies is reached 7 days after dose 2 in younger adults and 14 days after dose 2 in older adults.
The ongoing phase III trial, which is scheduled to run from 2020 to 2022, is designed to assess the ability of BNT162b2 to prevent severe infection, as well as the duration of immune effect.
High antibody activity persists for at least three months after the second dose, with an estimated antibody half-life of 55 days. From these data, one study suggested that antibodies might remain detectable for around 554 days.
Specific populations
Pfizer and BioNTech started a PhaseII–III randomized control trial in healthy pregnant women 18 years of age and older (NCT04754594). The study will evaluate 30mcg of BNT162b2 or placebo administered via intramuscular injection in two doses, 21 days apart. The PhaseII portion of the study will include approximately 350 pregnant women randomized 1:1 to receive BNT162b2 or placebo at 27 to 34 weeks' gestation. The PhaseIII portion of this study will assess the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of BNT162b2 or placebo among pregnant women enrolled at 24 to 34 weeks' gestation. Pfizer and BioNTech announced on 18 February 2021 that the first participants received their first dose in this trial.
A study published in March 2021, in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology came to the conclusion that messenger RNA vaccines against the novel coronavirus, such as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were safe and effective at providing immunity against infection to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. Furthermore, they found that naturally occurring antibodies created by the mother's immune system were passed on to their children via the placenta and/or breastmilk, thus resulting in passive immunity among the child, effectively giving the child protection against the disease. The study also found that vaccine-induced immunity among the study's participants was stronger in a statistically significant way over immunity gained through recovery from a natural COVID19 infection. In addition, the study reported that the occurrence and intensity of potential side effects in those undergoing pregnancy or lactating was very similar to those expected from non-pregnant populations, remaining generally very minor and well tolerated, mostly including injection site soreness, minor headaches, muscles aches or fatigue for a short period of time.
In January 2021, Pfizer said it had finished enrolling 2,259 children aged between 12 and 15 years to study the vaccine's safety and efficacy.
On 31 March 2021, Pfizer and BioNTech announced from initial PhaseIII trial data that the vaccine is 100% effective for those aged 12 to 15 years of age, with trials for those younger still in progress.
A research letter published in JAMA reported that the vaccines appeared to be safe for immunosuppressed organ transplant recipients, but that the resulting antibody response was considerably poorer than in the non-immunocompromised population after only one dose. The paper admitted the limitation of only reviewing the data following the first dose of a two-dose cycle vaccine.
In November 2021, journalist Paul D. Thacker alleged there has been "poor practice" at Ventavia, one of the companies involved in the phase III evaluation trials of the Pfizer vaccine. The report was enthusiastically embraced by anti-vaccination activists. David Gorski commented that Thacker's article presented facts without necessary context to misleading effect, playing up the seriousness of the noted problems.
Authorizations
Although jointly developed with Pfizer, Comirnaty is based on BioNTech's proprietary mRNA technology, and BioNTech holds the Marketing Authorization in the United States, the European Union, the UK, and Canada; expedited licenses such as the US emergency use authorization (EUA) are held jointly with Pfizer in many countries.
Expedited
The United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) gave the vaccine "rapid temporary regulatory approval to address significant public health issues such as a pandemic" on 2December 2020, which it is permitted to do under the Medicines Act 1968. It is the first COVID19 vaccine to be approved for national use after undergoing large scale trials, and the first mRNA vaccine to be authorized for use in humans. The United Kingdom thus became the first Western country to approve a COVID19 vaccine for national use, although the decision to fast-track the vaccine was criticized by some experts.
After the United Kingdom, the following countries and regions expedited processes to approve the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID19 vaccine for use: Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Panama, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Vietnam.
The World Health Organization (WHO) authorized it for emergency use.
In the United States, an emergency use authorization (EUA) is "a mechanism to facilitate the availability and use of medical countermeasures, including vaccines, during public health emergencies, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic", according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Pfizer applied for an EUA on 20 November 2020, and the FDA approved the application three weeks later on 11 December 2020. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) approved recommendations for vaccination of those aged sixteen years or older. Following the EUA issuance, BioNTech and Pfizer continued the PhaseIII clinical trial to finalize safety and efficacy data, leading to application for licensure (approval) of the vaccine in the United States. On 10 May 2021, the US FDA also authorized the vaccine for people aged 12 to 15 under an expanded EUA. The FDA recommendation was endorsed by the ACIP and adopted by the CDC on 12 May 2021. In October 2021, the EUA was expanded to include children aged 5 through 11 years of age. In June 2022, the EUA was expanded to include children aged six months through four years of age.
In February 2021, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) in South Africa issued Section 21, Emergency Use Approval for the vaccine.
In May 2021, Health Canada authorized the vaccine for people aged 12 to 15. On 18 May 2021, Singapore's Health Sciences Authority authorized the vaccine for people aged 12 to 15. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) followed suit on 28 May 2021.
In June 2021, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) came to a similar decision and approved the use of the vaccine for people twelve years of age and older.
Standard
In December 2020, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) granted temporary authorization for the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID19 vaccine for regular use, two months after receiving the application, saying the vaccine fully complied with the requirements of safety, efficacy and quality. This is the first authorization under a standard procedure.
In December 2020, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended granting conditional marketing authorization for the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID19 vaccine under the brand name Comirnaty. The recommendation was accepted by the European Commission the same day.
In February 2021, the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency approved the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID19 vaccine under its standard marketing authorization procedure. In June 2021, the approval was extended to those aged twelve or over. Pfizer's negotiation process with Brazil (and other Latin American countries) was described as "bullying". The contract prohibits the state of Brazil from publicly discussing the existence or the terms of their agreement with Pfizer–BioNTech without the former's written consent. Brazil was also restricted from donating or receiving donations of vaccines.
In July 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted priority review designation for the biologics license application (BLA) for the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine with a goal date for the decision in January 2022. On 23 August 2021, the FDA approved the vaccine for use for those aged sixteen years and older.
The Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine was authorized in Canada in September 2021, for people aged twelve and older.
In July 2022, the FDA approved the vaccine for use for those aged twelve years and older.
In September 2022, the CHMP of the EMA recommended converting the conditional marketing authorizations of the vaccine into standard marketing authorizations. The recommendation covers all existing and upcoming adapted Comirnaty vaccines, including the adapted Comirnaty Original/Omicron BA.1 (tozinameran/riltozinameran) and Comirnaty Original/Omicron BA.4/5 (tozinameran/famtozinameran).
Administering of the first non-clinical doses
The first dose administered outside of a clinical trial was given to 90-year-old Margaret Keenan in the outpatient ward at Coventry University Hospital on 8 December 2020. The vial and syringe used for her injection was subsequently sent for display to the Science Museum in London. The first dose administered outside of a clinical trial in the United States was given to Sandra Lindsay on 14 December 2020.
Further development
Homologous prime-boost vaccination
In July 2021, Israel's Prime Minister announced that the country was rolling out a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to people over the age of 60, based on data that suggested significant waning immunity from infection over time for those with two doses. The country expanded the availability to all Israelis over the age of 12, after five months since their second shot. On 29 August 2021, Israel's coronavirus czar announced that Israelis who had not received a booster shot within six months of their second dose would lose access to the country's green pass vaccine passport. Studies performed in Israel found that a third dose reduced the incidence of serious illness.
In August 2021, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a plan to offer a booster dose eight months after the second dose, citing evidence of reduced protection against mild and moderate disease and the possibility of reduced protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) authorized the use of an additional mRNA vaccine dose for immunocompromised individuals at that time. Scientists and the WHO noted in August 2021, the lack of evidence on the need for a booster dose for healthy people and that the vaccine remains effective against severe disease months after administration. In a statement, the WHO and Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) said that, while protection against infection may be diminished, protection against severe disease will likely be retained due to cell-mediated immunity. Research into optimal timing for boosters is ongoing, and a booster too early may lead to less robust protection.
In September 2021, the FDA and CDC authorizations were extended to provide a third shot for other specific groups.
In October 2021, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) stated that a booster shot of the vaccine could be given to healthy people, aged 18 years and older, at least six months after their second dose. It also stated that people with "severely weakened" immune systems can receive an extra dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or the Moderna vaccine starting at least 28 days after their second dose. The final approval to provide booster shots in the European Union will be decided by each national government.
In October 2021, the FDA and the CDC authorized the use of either homologous or heterologous vaccine booster doses.
In October 2021, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) provisionally approved a booster dose of Comirnaty for people 18 years of age and older.
In January 2022, the FDA expanded the emergency use authorization to provide for the use of a vaccine booster dose to those aged 12 through 15 years of age, and it shortened the waiting period after primary vaccination to five months from six months.
In May 2022, the FDA expanded the emergency use authorization to provide for the use of a vaccine booster dose to those aged 5 through 11 years of age.
In August 2022, the FDA revoked the emergency use authorization for the monovalent vaccine booster for people aged twelve years of age and older and replaced it with an emergency use authorization for the bivalent vaccine booster dose for the same age group.
Heterologous prime-boost vaccination
In October 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) authorized the use of either homologous or heterologous vaccine booster doses. The authorization was expanded to include all adults in November 2021.
Bivalent booster vaccination
In August 2022, the "Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent (Original and Omicron BA.4/BA.5)" (in short: "COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent") received an emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as a booster dose in individuals aged twelve years of age and older. One dose contains 15mcg of "a nucleoside-modified messenger RNA (modRNA) encoding the viral spike (S) glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan-Hu-1 strain (Original)" and 15mcg "of modRNA encoding the S glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant lineages BA.4 and BA.5 (Omicron BA.4/BA.5)".
The bivalent vaccine authorized in the United States is different from the one that was authorized for use in the United Kingdom as the latter contains as second modRNA component 15mcg of modRNA enocoding the S gylcoprotein of the earlier BA.1 variant.
In September 2022, the European Union authorized both the BA.1 and the BA.4/BA.5 booster versions of the bivalent vaccine for people aged twelve years of age and older.
While the Omicron BA.1 vaccine has been tested in a clinical study, the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 vaccine was only tested in pre-clinical studies. According to the published presentation, the neutralization responses of Omicron BA.4/BA.5 monovalent, Omicron BA.1 mononvalent, Omicron BA.4/BA.5 bivalent and the original BNT162b2 vaccine have been explored in a study with BALB/c-mice.
In October 2022, the FDA amended the authorization for the bivalent booster to cover people aged five years of age and older.
In December 2022, the FDA amended the authorization for the bivalent booster to be used as the third dose in people aged six months through four years of age.
XBB.1.5 monovalent vaccine
In September 2023, the FDA approved an updated monovalent (single) component Omicron variant XBB.1.5 version of the vaccine (Comirnaty 20232024 formula) as a single dose for individuals aged twelve years of age and older; and authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine 20232024 formula under emergency use for individuals aged 6 months through 11 years of age. The approvals and emergency authorizations for the bivalent versions of the vaccine were revoked. Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant, monovalent COVID19 vaccine in September 2023. The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approved the used of the Comirnaty Omicron XBB.1.5 vaccine in September 2023.
JN.1 monovalent vaccine
Comirnaty JN.1 contains bretovameran, an mRNA molecule with instructions for producing a protein from the Omicron JN.1 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2. It is under evaluation in Australia.
KP.2 monovalent vaccine
In August 2024, the FDA approved and granted emergency authorization for a monovalent Omicron KP.2 version of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. In June 2024, the FDA advised manufacturers of licensed and authorized COVID-19 vaccines that the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formula) should be monovalent JN.1 vaccines. Based on the further evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and a rise in cases of COVID-19, the agency subsequently determined and advised manufacturers that the preferred JN.1-lineage for the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formula) is the KP.2 strain. It was approved for use in the European Union.
Society and culture
About 649million doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, including about 55million doses in children and adolescents (below 18 years of age) were administered in the EU/EEA from authorization to 26 June 2022.
Brand names
BNT162b2 was the code name during development and testing, tozinameran is the international nonproprietary name (INN), and Comirnaty is the brand name. According to BioNTech, the name Comirnaty "represents a combination of the terms COVID19, mRNA, community, and immunity".
Famtozinameran is the INN for the BA.5 variant in the bivalent version of the vaccine.
Raxtozinameran is the INN for the XBB 1.5 variant version of the vaccine.
Economics
Pfizer reported revenue of million from the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in 2020, $36 billion in 2021, and $11.220 billion in 2023.
In July 2020, the vaccine development program Operation Warp Speed placed an advance order of with Pfizer to manufacture 100million doses of a COVID19 vaccine for use in the United States if the vaccine was shown to be safe and effective. By mid-December 2020, Pfizer had agreements to supply 300million doses to the European Union, 120million doses to Japan, 40million doses (10million before 2021) to the United Kingdom, 20million doses to Canada, an unspecified number of doses to Singapore, and 34.4million doses to Mexico. Fosun also has agreements to supply 10million doses to Hong Kong and Macau.
Pfizergate investigation
Accounts of how Pfizer's got its way into a large deal to provide 1.8 billion doses of its vaccine to the European Union were described by The New York Times as "a striking alignment of political survival and corporate hustle". Shots worth €4 billion were reportedly wasted before the deal was re-negotiated. In early 2023, Belgian prosecutors began investigating European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. The case was taken over in 2024 by the European Public Prosecutor's Office citing "interference in public functions, destruction of SMS, corruption and conflict of interest."
Access
Pfizer has been accused of hindering vaccine equity. In 2021, Pfizer delivered only 39% of the contractually agreed doses to the COVAX programme, a number that equals 1.5% of all vaccines produced by Pfizer. The company sold 67% of their doses to high-income countries and sold none directly to low-income countries.
Pfizer actively lobbied against the temporary lift of intellectual property rights which would allow the vaccine to be produced by others without having to pay a royalty fee.
Misinformation
Videos on video-sharing platforms circulated around May 2021 showing people having magnets stick to their arms after receiving the vaccine, purportedly demonstrating the conspiracy theory that vaccines contain microchips, but these videos have been debunked.
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Global Information About Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (also known as BNT162b2 or as Comirnaty) by Pfizer
Comirnaty Safety Updates from the European Medicines Agency
Product information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
BioNTech
American COVID-19 vaccines
German COVID-19 vaccines
Pfizer
Products introduced in 2020
RNA vaccines
COVID-19 vaccination in the United States
2020 in biotechnology
2020 in medicine
Withdrawn drugs | Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 12,537 | [
"Drug safety",
"Withdrawn drugs"
] |
65,799,363 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin%20Goranko | Valentin Feodorov Goranko (born 22 September 1959 in Sofia, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian-Swedish logician, Professor of Logic and Theoretical Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy, Stockholm University.
Currently, he is the President of the Division for Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology (DLMPST) of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology under the International Science Council (ISC).
Education and academic career
Goranko studied mathematics (M.Sc. 1984) and obtained Ph.D. in Mathematical Logic at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" in 1988. Before joining Stockholm University in 2014, he has had several academic positions at universities in Bulgaria (until 1992), South Africa (1992-2009), Denmark (2009-2014) and Sweden (since 2014) and has taught a wide variety of courses in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Logic.
Research fields
Goranko has a broad range of research interests in the theory and applications of Logic to artificial intelligence, multi-agent systems, philosophy, computer science, and game theory, where he has published 4 books and over 140 research papers and chapters in handbooks and other research collections.
Professional service
President (2024–2027) of the Division of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology (DLMPST) of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IUHPST)
President (since 2018) of the Scandinavian Logic Society
Past president (2016-2020) of the Association for Logic, Language and Information (FoLLI)
Editor-in-chief (Logic) of the FoLLI Publications series on Logic, Language and Information, a sub-series of Springer LNCS.
Executive member of the Board of the European Association for Computer Science Logic EACSL
Editor-in-chief on the journal Logics
Associate Editor of the ACM Transactions on Computational Logic and member of the editorial boards of several other scientific journals.
Published books
2015 Logic and Discrete Mathematics: A Concise Introduction
2016 Temporal Logics in Computer Science
2016 Logic as a Tool: A Guide to Formal Logical Reasoning
2023 Temporal logics
References
1959 births
Bulgarian logicians
Logicians
Mathematical logicians
Living people | Valentin Goranko | [
"Mathematics"
] | 459 | [
"Mathematical logic",
"Mathematical logicians"
] |
57,707,341 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace%20Stream | Ace Stream is a peer-to-peer multimedia streaming protocol, built using BitTorrent technology. Ace Stream has been recognized by sources as a potential method for broadcasting and viewing bootlegged live video streams. The protocol functions as both a client and a server. When users stream a video feed using Ace Stream, they are simultaneously downloading from peers and uploading the same video to other peers.
History
Ace Stream began under the name TorrentStream as a pilot project to use BitTorrent technology to stream live video. In 2013 TorrentStream, was re-released under the name ACE Stream.
References
Computer networking
Applications of distributed computing
Cloud storage
Digital television
Distributed algorithms
Distributed data storage
Distributed data storage systems
File sharing networks
Film and video technology
Internet broadcasting
Streaming television
Multimedia
Peer-to-peer computing
Streaming media systems
Video hosting
Video on demand services | Ace Stream | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 170 | [
"Computer networking",
"Computer engineering",
"Computer systems",
"Streaming media systems",
"Computer science",
"Telecommunications systems"
] |
57,707,553 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazy%20FP%20state%20restore | Lazy FPU state leak (), also referred to as Lazy FP State Restore or LazyFP, is a security vulnerability affecting Intel Core CPUs. The vulnerability is caused by a combination of flaws in the speculative execution technology present within the affected CPUs and how certain operating systems handle context switching on the floating point unit (FPU). By exploiting this vulnerability, a local process can leak the content of the FPU registers that belong to another process. This vulnerability is related to the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities that were publicly disclosed in January 2018.
It was announced by Intel on 13 June 2018, after being discovered by employees at Amazon, Cyberus Technology and SYSGO.
Besides being used for floating point arithmetic, the FPU registers are also used for other purposes, including for storing cryptographic data when using the AES instruction set, present in many Intel CPUs. This means that this vulnerability may allow for key material to be compromised.
Mechanism
The floating point and SIMD registers are large, and not used by every task (or thread) in the system. To make context switching faster, most common microprocessors support lazy state switching. Rather than storing the full state during a context switch, the operating system can simply mark the FPU "not available" in the hopes that the switched-to task will not need it. If the operating system has guessed correctly, time is saved. If the guess is wrong, the first FPU or SIMD instruction will cause a trap to the operating system, which can then save the state to the previous task and load the correct state for the current task.
In out-of-order CPUs, the "FPU not available" condition is not detected immediately. (In fact, it almost cannot be detected immediately, as there may be multiple fault-causing instructions executing simultaneously and the processor must take the first fault encountered to preserve the illusion of in-order execution. The information about which is first is not available until the in-order retire stage.) The processor speculatively executes the instruction using the previous task's register contents, and some following instructions, and only later detects the FPU not available condition. Although all architectural state is reverted to the beginning of the faulting instruction, it is possible to use part of the FPU state as the address in a memory load, triggering a load into the processor's cache. Exploitation then follows the same pattern as all Spectre-family vulnerabilities: as the cache state is not architectural state (the cache only affect speed, not correctness), the cache load is not undone and the address, including part of the previous task's register state, can later be detected by measuring the time taken to access different memory addresses.
It is possible to exploit this bug without actually triggering any operating system traps. By placing the FPU access in the shadow of a forced branch misprediction (e.g. using a retpoline) the processor will still speculatively execute the code, but will rewind to the mispredicted branch and never actually execute the operating system trap. This allows the attack to be rapidly repeated, quickly reading out the entire FPU and SIMD register state.
Mitigation
It is possible to mitigate the vulnerability at the operating system and hypervisor levels by always restoring the FPU state when switching process contexts. With such a fix, no firmware upgrade is required. Some operating systems already did not lazily restore the FPU registers by default, protecting those operating systems on affected hardware platforms, even if the underlying hardware issue existed. On Linux operating system using kernel 3.7 or higher, it is possible to force the kernel to eagerly restore the FPU registers by using the eagerfpu=on kernel parameter. Also, many system software vendors and projects, including Linux distributions, OpenBSD, and Xen have released patches to address the vulnerability.
Notes
See also
Speculative execution CPU vulnerabilities
References
External links
LazyFP: Leaking FPU Register State using Microarchitectural Side-Channel, by Julian Stecklina and Thomas Prescher (Research paper)
Intel LazyFP vulnerability: Exploiting lazy FPU state switching, by Thomas Prescher, Julian Stecklina and Jacek Galowicz (Cyberus Technology)
Lazy FP state restore (Intel Security Advisory)
Theo de Raadt of OpenBSD explains Lazy FPU state vulnerability on YouTube
Transient execution CPU vulnerabilities
2018 in computing | Lazy FP state restore | [
"Technology"
] | 920 | [
"Computer security stubs",
"Computing stubs",
"Transient execution CPU vulnerabilities",
"Computer security exploits"
] |
57,708,117 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMS-641988 | BMS-641988 is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen which was developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb for the treatment of prostate cancer but was never marketed. It acts as a potent competitive antagonist of the androgen receptor (AR) (Ki = 10 nM; = 56 nM). The drug was found to have 20-fold higher affinity for the AR than bicalutamide in MDA-MB-453 cells, and showed 3- to 7-fold the antiandrogenic activity of bicalutamide in vitro. It may have some weak partial agonist activity at the androgen receptor. BMS-641988 is transformed by CYP3A4 into BMS-570511, and this metabolite is then reduced to BMS-501949 by cytosolic reductases. All three compounds show similar antiandrogenic activity. In addition to its antiandrogenic activity, BMS-641988 shows activity as a negative allosteric modulator of the GABAA receptor, and can produce seizures in animals at sufficiently high doses. It also shows some drug-induced QT prolongation. BMS-641988 reached phase I clinical trials prior to the discontinuation of its development. The clinical development of BMS-641988 was terminated due to the occurrence of a seizure in a patient during a phase I study.
References
Abandoned drugs
GABAA receptor negative allosteric modulators
Hormonal antineoplastic drugs
Nitriles
Nonsteroidal antiandrogens
Prostate cancer
Sulfonamides
Trifluoromethyl compounds
Imides | BMS-641988 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 347 | [
"Drug safety",
"Functional groups",
"Imides",
"Nitriles",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
57,708,167 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dadeumi | Dadeumi () or dadeumijil () is a Korean traditional ironing method where two women knelt on the floor, facing each other across a smoothing stone, beating out a rhythm on the cloth to press out its wrinkles and soften it. Dadeumi requires dadeumitbangmangi () and dadeumitdol (다듬잇돌). The former is a bat that pounds on the cloth, and the latter is the stone under the cloth.
Also, the cloth is wrapped in a thick round bat, hongdukkae (홍두깨), and dadeumi is performed. It is used to trim a thin cloth, such as ramie fabric () or silk.
Similar practices also existed elsewhere in Asia, including in Japan, where it is known as .
History
The 18th-century book, Gyuhap chongseo, details how to do dadeumi and care for fabrics. It is estimated that it would have been used from the 17th to the 18th century. Since ancient times, in Korea, people thought it was a good three sounds to hear the crying of baby, reading a book, and the dadeumi sound. These three sounds are called samhuiseong (). It is because the cheerful sound when doing dadeumi remind people of healthy vitality, the diligence and stability of everyday life.
Form and characteristics
Dadeumidol are made of granite, agalmatolite, marble, etc. They are also sometimes made of solid wood such as birch wood or zelkova. In Chungcheong Province and Hamgyeong Province, they were dadeumitdae (다듬잇대) and made of birch wood. The shape is a thick rectangle. The upper surface touching the fabric is made to be slightly wider and smoother than the underside so that the fabric does not hurt. There are four short legs on the four corners of the underside, and both of side have grooves for carrying. It is also called chimseok (). Dadeumitbangmangi is a pair of two, made of wood.
Method
First, women dry the starched clothes. Then, women make the clothes wet with water by spraying it with mouth or hand. Women fold the laundry soaked in water into the wrapping cloth, wait until the water spreads evenly, then fold it back. After that, women place the laundry wrapped in a cloth on top of the dadeumitdol and beat it with a dadeumitbangmangi. When there is one person, grab a bat in both hands and beat. When there are two people, sit face to face with the dadeumitdol in the middle. After a certain amount of beat, repeat unfolding and folding, wrinkles of clothes spread and shine. Fabric such as fine silk is arranged on the dadeumitdol in the primary, then wrap it in hongdukkae and beat it.
Dadeumi nori
Dadeumi nori () is a tradition from Namwon, North Jeolla Province where the activity is turned into a game. It is a competition in which two women face each other across the dadeumitdol and compare their skills in the activity. As part of this, they use various techniques to change the pitch of each strike. As laundry methods have modernized, the game is now rarely played.
Social and cultural significance
Korean did dadeumi in late autumn and winter. Until late at night, the sound of two people tapping the cloth to the tone with four bats was one aspect of Korean customs. Dadeumi also meant correcting the mind to the white-clad folk. In other words, it is sometimes referred to as an ingochim (), which means that the pain of the heart that is too much to bear is tolerated with the dadeumi. Each dadeumitdol has a different tone. Because there is a favorite sound in each area, it is carved to make a unique sound like a percussion instrument. There are also colorful paintings and colored dadeumitdol, and there are also dadeumitdol with details of the dead. It was a reflection of the preference and culture of the time. Dadeumi was also useful for making cloth for windbreak. When making hanbok, starched clothes and did dadeumi, the fibers spread and the starched clothes well so that the wind could be blocked well. Furthermore, the surface became less dirty because it became smooth and it was easy to wash because the dirt was falling well. In modern times, the range used in everyday life is reduced, but dadeumi performances are performed at festivals.
In popular culture
"Sound of Dadeumi" () is a poem by Yang Ju-dong that depicts the lives and feelings of women who do dadeumi. Yangpyeong folk song (양평민요) expresses a woman who does dadeumi in simple language.
See also
Waulking song, Scottish folksongs sung by women as the worked cloth together
Fulling, the pounding of woollen cloth
Washing paddle
References
External links
Culture of South Korea
Laundry equipment
Hand tools
Gendered occupations | Dadeumi | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,033 | [
"Human–machine interaction",
"Hand tools"
] |
57,708,253 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EM-5854 | EM-5854 is a steroidal antiandrogen which was under development by Endoceutics, Inc. (formerly Endorecherche, Inc.) for the treatment of prostate cancer. It was first described in a patent in 2008, and was further characterized in 2012. EM-5854 reached phase I/II clinical trials for the treatment of prostate cancer but development was discontinued in March 2019.
The drug acts as a potent and selective competitive antagonist of the androgen receptor (AR). Unlike other steroidal antiandrogens like cyproterone acetate, but similarly to nonsteroidal antiandrogens like bicalutamide and enzalutamide, EM-5854 is a pure or silent antagonist of the AR and shows no intrinsic partial androgenic activity. EM-5854 and its metabolite EM-5855 show 3.7-fold and 94-fold higher affinity for the human AR than bicalutamide (0.66% and 17% of the of metribolone, respectively, compared to 0.18% for bicalutamide). They also show dramatically increased antiandrogenic potency relative to bicalutamide in in vivo assays. On the basis of the available research, it has been said that EM-5854 may possibly have 70- to 140-fold the antiandrogenic potency of bicalutamide in humans. EM-5854 and EM-5855 show little to no affinity for other steroid hormone receptors including the estrogen, progesterone, and glucocorticoid receptors. EM-5854 bears a cyano phenyl group, the structural motif of the nonsteroidal antiandrogens.
References
External links
EM-5854 - AdisInsight
Research programme: androgen receptor antagonists (EM-4350, EM-5855, EM-6537) - AdisInsight
Abandoned drugs
Tertiary alcohols
Estranes
Experimental cancer drugs
Fluoroarenes
Hormonal antineoplastic drugs
Nitriles
Prostate cancer
Pyridinium compounds
Steroidal antiandrogens | EM-5854 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 440 | [
"Nitriles",
"Drug safety",
"Functional groups",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
57,708,462 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate%20change%20in%20Greenland | Climate change in Greenland is affecting the livelihood of the Greenlandic population. Geographically Greenland is situated between the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean, with two thirds of the island being north of the Arctic Circle. Since the middle of the 20th century, the Arctic has been warming at about twice the global rate. Rising temperatures put increasing pressure on certain plant and tree species and contribute to Greenland's melting ice sheet. This affects and changes the livelihood of the Greenlandic population, particularly the Greenlandic Inuit, which make up to 80 percent of the total population. Besides the decline of fish stocks, the country's landscape is changing: the melting ice reveals minerals, oil and gas. This has attracted interest from local and foreign investors for potential resource extraction. As new industries are accompanied by new job opportunities and potential wealth, lifestyles are changing. Greenland is in transition, in terms of biophysical as well as cultural and social conditions.
Impacts on the natural environment
Temperature and weather changes
Since the middle of the 20th century, the Arctic has been warming at about twice the global rate. Rising temperatures put increasing pressure on certain plant and tree species and contribute to Greenland's melting ice sheet.
Sea level rise
Due to its geographical location and global climatic patterns such as the North Atlantic Oscillation and volcanic activity, Greenland is exposed to high levels of fluctuations in the natural environment. The Greenland ice sheet is the second largest in the world. Consequently, its melting has a significant impact on a global scale. According to the European Environmental Agency "the cumulative ice loss from Greenland from 1992 to 2015 was 3 600 Gt (Gigatonnes) and contributed to global sea level rise by approximately 10 mm." The mass loss of Greenland over 2009-2018 was likely more than seven times higher than over 1992-2001. The anticipated warming of the oceans and resulting sea level rise result in coastal erosion, melting of permafrost and decreased sea ice thickness. The areas impacted most in Greenland are those with the highest population density.
Impacts on people
Economic impacts
In July 2017, Greenland's population was 57,713. This number is expected to decline to 54,800 by 2030. Historically, the movement of people and the accompanying change of social conditions is nothing unusual for Greenlanders. Recorded shifts were primarily driven by the search for resources (of e.g. seals and cod). At the beginning of the 21st century, climate change has an unprecedented impact on Greenland. The melting ice sheet enables an easier access to oil, gas and minerals, the exploitation of which creates new economic opportunities. This prospect of new jobs, purchasing power, new shipping routes and the possibly resulting entrance into the global market system is linked to the potential of gaining greater independence from Denmark. Putting a damper on previously displayed optimism, the versatility of global commodity markets also poses potential threats.
Besides potential for tourism development which comes with numerous challenges, in south Greenland the melting ice provides more grazing opportunities for farmers. However, there is also apprehension particularly amongst smaller villages that rely on hunting and fishing (primarily Inuit communities), that climate change will contribute to the end of their traditional lifestyles.
Extraction industry
Although becoming increasingly autonomous, Greenland remains dependent on the Kingdom of Denmark since its colonisation in 1721. In 1979, the Home Rule Government was established in Greenland. It gained further rights in 2009, which moved Greenland towards self-rule. The government is financially dependent on Denmark which provides 60% of Greenland's annual budget revenue. One of the country's greatest challenges is to ensure modern life styles introduced primarily through the industrialisation processes and triggered by intensive fishery while pursuing economic wealth creation and further independence. It is for this reason or rather the desire to phase out Denmark's financial support entirely that the Home Rule Government strongly supports and even promotes arising opportunities in the extraction industry. The United States Geological Survey estimated a total of 141 billion barrels of hydrocarbons (approximately 13% of the world's undiscovered oil and 30% of the undiscovered natural gas) to be held beneath Greenlandic surfaces. In 2009, the Greenlandic Government published a lifecycle assessment for the production of aluminium in an Alcoa smelter. The construction of the aluminium smelter is planned in the town of Maniitsoq. In addition, in 2013 the government decided to lift the ban on the extraction of radioactive minerals such as uranium.
Impacts on indigenous people
Because of climate change, the Tunumiit Inuit, who reside in east Greenland, are seeing changes to their food systems and cultural interpretations as well. There has been a general change from seal hunting to fishing. Unlike seal hunting, fishing is deemed as a low-status activity to the Tunumiit. Before recent years, the Tunumiit would equate lack of ecological resources to a paucity of collective human respect. This cultural tradition no longer carries the same weight because the Tunumiit believe they are losing agency in controlling the unpredictable weather. Many traditional hunters are shifting towards the tourism sector because they can no longer provide for their families through traditional forms of hunting. Catering to tourists has modified their culture, relationship with food, and increased global carbon dioxide emissions by encouraging more travel to east Greenland.
Traditional ecological knowledge
Widely discussed in academic literature since the 1980s, traditional ecological knowledge cumulatively consists of knowledge, practices and beliefs about the interaction of living beings and their environment. In Greenland, traditional knowledge does not only underpin the life of subsistence hunters and fishermen but also more broadly community life and culture. While climate change is making practical aspects such as the prediction of weather or animal migration more difficult, it also highlights the importance of traditional knowledge for adaptive capacity building in other areas e.g. the recognition of approaching hazards and survival skills. The process of knowledge transfer between generations for building resilience is also important to address as it is weakened by trends of urbanisation and alternative livelihoods. Such trends can further lead to the alienation of people from their environment. This increases the need for the management of ecosystems which are the base of Greenland's economic activities, cultural characteristics and natural services.
The concept of anticipation
Greenlandic Inuit as a societal group are academically recognised for their "finely tuned ability to be flexible, to innovate, and to seize opportunities in the environment." This means that a successful adaptation to changing climatic conditions is attributed to a specific ontology which includes the ability to relate to one's world, making sense of it and reflecting on expectations about it; anticipation. In Greenlandic the term 'anticipation' is divided into two meanings which are primarily used by subsistence hunters and fishermen: neriguaa ("to hope for, or to be hopeful of something") and aarleraa ("to be fearful, especially of bad weather"). This distinction of meanings carries the acceptance of uncertainty as well as potential disappointments and failure.
Mitigation and adaptation
Adaptation
Since the 1950s a stark rise in global temperatures has been observed. As climate change, whether natural or anthropogenic, impacts the livelihoods of people across the globe, responses i.e. ways to prepare and adjust under changing vulnerabilities become important. Such responses are commonly discussed under the term adaptation, "the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects", as defined by the IPCC.
In order to identify and implement effective measures of adaptation, current developments, such as demographic change and other non-climatic factors of change must be considered simultaneously. A study conducted by the AMAP, a working group of the Arctic Council, distinguishes between short-term and long-term adaptation measures, as well as climate-centered and vulnerability-centered options. In the short-term, adaptation measures can focus on immediate challenges caused by increased extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfalls or melting permafrost (climate-centered). In the long-term, other developments, such as the effects of demographic, social and economic change must be considered when determining how climate change will affect the population (vulnerability-centered).
Greenlandic Government
At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the then Greenlandic Minister for Finance, Mineral Resources and Foreign Affairs, Vittus Qujaukitsoq described climate change adaptation in Greenland as being a policy priority. He underlined the importance of incorporating the knowledge and experience of the Inuit to gain an all-encompassing understanding of the ongoing climatic changes.
The government's website Climate Greenland is both a resource tool to find relevant organizations or stakeholders, as well as information on the impacts of climate change on Greenland and how the country is responding to it. It focuses on the four areas 'citizen', 'trade', 'municipality' and 'education'. Climate Change Adaptation is defined as "being prepared for the challenges caused by the climate changes and about relating to possibilities as well as challenges." The Government publishes adaptation reports for sectors, such as fisheries, hunting or tourism.
In 2009 the Greenland Climate Research Centre was set up in the capital of Greenland, Nuuk. The centre received a grant of DKK 35 million by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. The aim of the centre is to study the impact of climate change on Greenland and the Arctic and the consequences for nature and society. It is linked to the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and the University of Greenland, Ilisimatusarfik. Traditional knowledge is important for weather and animal migration, as well as for adaptive capacity building in areas such as the recognition of approaching hazards and survival skills.
Arctic Council
In 2008, following increased media attention for the Arctic, the five countries adjacent to the Arctic Ocean (Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Russia and the United States) published the Ilulissat Declaration. This proclaims the Arctic states' responsibility to protect the ecosystem of the Arctic Ocean. In addition, the Council's Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) has published a series of reports one of which looks at adaptation in particular. The 2017 Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic (AACA) Report covers the Baffin Bay/Davis Strait region which includes the western part of Greenland aiming to offer information "to assist local decision makers and stakeholders [...] in developing adaptation tools and strategies to better deal with climate change [...]." Following extensive stakeholder dialogues, the report identified seven themes of local adaptation:
Living resources
Non-living resources (e.g. mineral extraction)
Education
Human health and well-being
Tourism
Shipping
Infrastructure
The report concludes that it is crucial to consider the cumulative and cascading effects of change in order to build adaptive capacities. Suggested measures are structural/physical, social as well as institutional. Lastly, as a precursor to adaptation measures, the AACA points out six factors (political leadership, institutional organisation, local and regional leadership, the need for usable science and sufficient funding and public support) to build adaptive readiness.
See also
Geography of Greenland
Climate change in the Arctic
External links
Institute for Natural Resources
Climate Research Centre
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme
References
Sources
Climate of Greenland
Effects of climate change
Environment of the Arctic
Arctic Sea, Global warming
Climate change adaptation
Greenland | Climate change in Greenland | [
"Physics"
] | 2,252 | [
"Physical phenomena",
"Earth phenomena",
"Sea ice"
] |
57,709,053 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MK-434 | MK-434 is a 5α-reductase inhibitor which was under development in the 1990s by Merck & Co for the treatment of a variety of androgen-dependent conditions including benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostate cancer, pattern hair loss, excessive hair growth, acne, and seborrhea but was never marketed. It acts as a selective inhibitor of 5α-reductase type 2. The drug has been found to decrease circulating dihydrotestosterone levels by a maximum of approximately 50% in men. MK-434 is a synthetic 4-azasteroid and is structurally related to other 5α-reductase inhibitors like finasteride.
See also
List of 5α-reductase inhibitors
References
External links
MK-434 - AdisInsight
5α-Reductase inhibitors
Abandoned drugs
Androstanes
Anti-acne preparations
Hair loss medications
Hair removal
Hormonal antineoplastic drugs
Ketones
Prostate cancer | MK-434 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 200 | [
"Ketones",
"Functional groups",
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
57,709,305 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrawide%20formats | Ultrawide formats refers to photos, videos, and displays with aspect ratios greater than 2. There were multiple moves in history towards wider formats, including one by Disney, with some of them being more successful than others.
Cameras usually capture ultra-wide photos and videos using an anamorphic format lens, which shrinks the extended horizontal field-of-view (FOV) while saving on film or disk.
Historic Ultrawide Cinema
Historically ultrawide movie formats have varied between ~2.35 (1678:715), ~2.39 (1024:429) and 2.4. To complicate matters further, films were also produced in following ratios: 2.55, 2.76 and 4.
Developed by Rowe E. Carney Jr. and Tom F. Smith, the Smith-Carney System used a 3 camera system, with 4.6 (1737:370) ratio, to project movies in 180°. Disney even created a 6.85 ratio, using 5 projectors to display 200°. The only movie filmed in Disney's 6.85 ratio is Impressions de France.
Wide aspect ratios
Suggested by Kerns H. Powers of SMPTE in USA, the 16:9 aspect ratio was developed to unify all other aspect ratios. Subsequently it became the universal standard for widescreen and high-definition television.
Around 2007, cameras and non-television screens began to switch from 15:9 (5:3) and 16:10 (8:5) to 16:9 resolutions.
Extra-wide aspect ratios
Univisium is an aspect ratio of 2:1, created by Vittorio Storaro of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) originally intended to unify all other aspect ratios used in movies.
It is popular on smartphones and cheap VR displays. VR displays halve the screen into two, one for each eye. So a 2:1 VR screen would be halved into two 1:1 screens. Smartphones began moving to this aspect ratio since late 2010s with the release of Samsung Galaxy S8, advertised as 18:9.
Ultra-wide aspect ratios
21:9 is a consumer electronics (CE) marketing term to describe the ultra-widescreen aspect ratio of 64:27 (21:9) = 1024:432 for multiples of 1080 lines. It is used for multiple anamorphic formats and DCI 1024:429 (21.:9), but also for ultrawide computer monitors, including 43:18 (21:9) for resolutions based on 720 lines and 12:5 (21:9) for ultrawide variants of resolutions based either on 960 pixels width or 900 lines height.
The 64:27 aspect ratio is the logical extension of the existing video aspect ratios 4:3 and 16:9. It is the third power of 4:3, whereas 16:9 of widescreen HDTV is 4:3 squared. This allows electronic scalers and optical anamorphic lenses to use an easily implementable 4:3 (1.3) scaling factor.
21:9 movies usually refers to 1024:429 ≈ 2.387, the aspect ratio of digital ultrawide cinema formats, which is often rounded up to 2.39:1 or 2.4:1
Ultrawide resolution can also be described by its height, such as "UW 1080" and "1080p ultrawide" both stands for the same 2560×1080 resolution.
Super-wide aspect ratios
In 2016, IMAX announced the release of films in Ultra-WideScreen 3.6 format, with an aspect ratio of 18:5 (36:10). A year later, Samsung and Phillips announced 'super ultra-wide displays', with aspect ratio of 32:9, for "iMax-style cinematic viewing". Panacast developed a 32:9 webcam with three integrated cameras giving 180° view, and resolution matching upcoming 5K 32:9 monitors, 5120x1440. In 2018 Q4, Dell released the U4919DW, a 5K 32:9 monitor with a resolution of 5120x1440, and Phillips announced the 499P9H with the same resolution. 32:9 Ultrawide monitors are often sold as an alternative to dual 16:9 monitor setups and for more inmersive experiences while playing videogames, and many are capable of displaying 2 16:9 inputs at the same time.
32:9 aspect ratio is derived from 16:9 being twice as large. Some manufacturers therefore refer to the resulting total display resolution with a D prefix for dual or double.
Super wide resolutions refers to that with aspect ratio greater than 3.
Ultra-WideScreen 3.6 video never spread, as cinemas in an even wider ScreenX 270° format were released.
4:1 (36:9)
Abel Gance experimented with ultrawide formats including making a film in 4:1 (36:9). He made a rare use of Polyvision, three 35 mm 1. images projected side by side in the 1927 film Napoléon.
AT NAB 2019, Sony introduced a 19.2-metre-wide by 5.4-metre-tall commercial 16K display. It is made up of 576 modules (48 by 12) each 360 pixels across, resulting in a 4:1, 17280x4320p screen.
Multi-Screen Theaters
Developed by CJ CGV in 2012, ScreenX uses three (or more) projectors to display 270° content, with an unknown aspect ratio above 4. Walls on both sides of a ScreenX theatre are used as projector screens.
Developed by Barco N.V. in 2015, Barco Escape used three projectors of 2.39 ratio to display 270° content, with an aspect ratio of 7.17. The two side screens were angled at 45 degree in order to cover peripheral vision. Barco Escape shut down in February 2018.
Comparison
See also
14:9 aspect ratio
Display resolution standards
Angle of view
Field of view in video games
Dot pitch
Pixel density
References
Ratios
Media formats
Television technology
Computer display standards
Video game hardware | Ultrawide formats | [
"Mathematics",
"Technology"
] | 1,254 | [
"Information and communications technology",
"Arithmetic",
"Television technology",
"Ratios"
] |
57,709,360 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinalbuphine%20sebacate | Dinalbuphine sebacate (DNS), also known as nalbuphine sebacate or as sebacoyl dinalbuphine ester (SDE) and sold under the brand name Naldebain, is a non-controlled opioid analgesic which is used as a 7-day long-acting injection in the treatment of moderate to severe postoperative pain.
The compound is a diester of nalbuphine (Nubain) joined via a sebacic acid linker, and acts as a long-lasting prodrug of nalbuphine via slow hydrolysis. It was developed to extend the duration of action of nalbuphine, which has a short duration and requires frequent injections. Whereas nalbuphine must be injected every 4 to 6 hours, a single injection of DNS lasts for up to 7 to 10 days.
It was invented by professor Oliver Yoa-Pu Hu (National Defense Medical Center) and codeveloped with Lumosa Therapeutics. Naldebain received market approvals from Taiwan FDA in March 2017, Health Sciences Authority of Singapore in December 2020, the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand in December 2021, the Drug Control Authority of Malaysia in 2022, State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drugs Control and Brunei Darussalam Medicines Control Authority (BDMCA) in 2023. Development is ongoing in the United States, China, Korea, and the Philippines.
Medical uses
Naldebain is indicated for the relief of moderate to severe acute postsurgical pain, administered intramuscularly. The product is available in single-use vials; 2 mL single use vial (75 mg/mL) for IM injection is packaged in a carton.
Pharmacology
Pharmacodynamics
Nalbuphine, and hence DNS, acts as a mixed agonist/antagonist opioid modulator, or more specifically as a moderate-efficacy partial agonist or antagonist of the μ-opioid receptor and as a high-efficacy partial agonist of the κ-opioid receptor.
Pharmacokinetics
The release mechanism of dinalbuphine sebacate (DNS) upon IM injection is as follows:
Upon intramuscular injection, Naldebain first forms an oil depot in the muscle
The oil depot gradually disperses as small droplets in the surrounding tissues
The prodrug dinalbuphine sebacate gradually diffuses out from the droplets, after which it gets hydrolyzed to the active ingredient nalbuphine via two different mechanisms:
a small portion of the prodrug gets hydrolyzed by esterases to release the active ingredient, nalbuphine, in the surrounding tissue cells
the majority of the prodrug enters the bloodstream through local tissue lymph drainage and gets hydrolyzed to nalbuphine in the blood
References
External links
Naldebain information - Lumosa Therapeutics website
Analgesics
Cyclobutyl compounds
4,5-Epoxymorphinans
Ethers
Kappa-opioid receptor agonists
Mu-opioid receptor agonists
Mu-opioid receptor antagonists
Hydroxyarenes
Semisynthetic opioids
Tertiary alcohols | Dinalbuphine sebacate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 667 | [
"Organic compounds",
"Functional groups",
"Ethers"
] |
57,711,620 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levchin%20Prize | The Levchin Prize for real-world cryptography is a prize given to people or organizations who are recognized for contributions to cryptography that have a significant impact on its practical use. The recipients are selected by the steering committee of the Real World Crypto (RWC) academic conference run by the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) and announced at the RWC conference.
The award was established in 2015 by Max Levchin, a software engineer and businessman who co-founded the financial technology company PayPal, and first awarded in January 2016.
Two awards are presented every year, each on its own topic. While there is no formal rule, every year so far as of 2024, one of the two awards has recognized one or more individuals for theoretical advancements to cryptographic methods with a practical impact, while the other has recognized one or more individual or an organization for either the construction of practical systems or practical advancements in cryptanalysis.
Recipients
The following table lists the recipients of the Levchin Prize.
See also
List of computer science awards
References
Awards established in 2016
Cryptographers
History of cryptography
Computer science awards | Levchin Prize | [
"Technology"
] | 229 | [
"Science and technology awards",
"Computer science",
"Computer science awards"
] |
57,712,031 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GABAA%20receptor%20negative%20allosteric%20modulator | {{DISPLAYTITLE:GABAA receptor negative allosteric modulator}}
A GABAA receptor negative allosteric modulator is a negative allosteric modulator (NAM), or inhibitor, of the GABAA receptor, a ligand-gated ion channel of the major inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). They are closely related and similar to GABAA receptor antagonists. The effects of GABAA receptor NAMs are functionally the opposite of those of GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) like the benzodiazepines, barbiturates, and ethanol (alcohol). Non-selective GABAA receptor NAMs can produce a variety of effects including convulsions, neurotoxicity, and anxiety, among others.
Selective NAMs (or "inverse agonists") of α5 subunit-containing GABAA receptors, such as basmisanil and α5IA, do not have convulsant or anxiogenic effects but instead show cognitive- and memory-enhancing or nootropic-like effects. They are under investigation for the treatment of cognitive impairment in conditions like Down syndrome and schizophrenia. In addition, the selective α5 subunit-containing GABAA receptor NAMs L-655,708 and MRK-016 have been found to produce rapid-acting antidepressant effects in animals similar to those of the NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine, and are of interest for the potential treatment of depression. Additional selective α5 subunit-containing GABAA receptor NAMs include PWZ-029, Ro4938581, and TB-21007.
Certain drugs show weak GABAA receptor NAM activity as an off-target activity that is responsible for undesirable side effects like anxiety, insomnia, and seizures. Examples include fluoroquinolone antibiotics like ciprofloxacin, β-lactam antibiotics like penicillin, ceftriaxone, and imipenem, nonsteroidal antiandrogens like enzalutamide and apalutamide, and the antidepressant bupropion.
Other GABAA NAMs, mostly non-selective, include amentoflavone, bemegride, bilobalide, cicutoxin, dieldrin, FG-7142, fipronil, flurothyl, iomazenil, laudanosine, lindane, oenanthotoxin, pentylenetetrazol, phenylsilatrane, picrotoxin, radequinil, Ro15-4513, sarmazenil, suritozole, terbequinil, tetramethylenedisulfotetramine (TETS), and ZK-93426 as well as the endogenous neurosteroids dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), pregnenolone sulfate, epipregnanolone, and isopregnanolone. Some naturally occurring GABAA receptor NAMs like cicutoxin and picrotoxin are considered to be toxins. Other GABAA receptor NAMs like dieldrin and fipronil are used as insecticides (IRAC group 2), and TETS is used as a rodenticide, and yet other GABAA receptor NAMs like bemegride, flurothyl, and pentylenetetrazol are used for clinical purposes.
See also
GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulator
AMPA receptor positive allosteric modulator
List of investigational antidepressants
References
Convulsants
Pesticides | GABAA receptor negative allosteric modulator | [
"Biology",
"Environmental_science"
] | 789 | [
"Biocides",
"Toxicology",
"Pesticides"
] |
57,712,174 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/500%20Women%20Scientists | 500 Women Scientists is a non-profit group dedicated to making science open, inclusive, and accessible. To achieve this mission, they work to increase scientific literacy through public engagement, advocate for science and equity, and provide self-identifying women with the tools and support they need to reach their full potential. The organization began with an open letter in November 2016 and was officially recognized as a 501(c)3 in May 2018.
History
500 Women Scientists launched with an open letter signed by 500 women scientists after the United States 2016 presidential election. The letter pledged to speak out not only against policies that go against scientific evidence, but also against inequality, sexism, xenophobia, and other forms of discrimination against marginalized communities. Within two months, the pledge received over fifteen thousand signatures from women and allies in 109 countries.
In concert with the 2017 Women's March, women scientists and supporters who signed the pledge organized themselves into groups to march together. The local marches became the basis for forming local chapters, or "Pods", where local women scientists meet regularly. Pods function both as a support system and as a vehicle to focus on and organize around issues that resonate in their own communities, in line with 500 Women Scientists core mission and values.
In 2023, due to issues with funding, the organization was forced to scale back operations, including ending a fellowship and letting go of paid staff. Some organizers within the project blamed an unstable grant funding environment that led to the reduction of the organization.
Programs and initiatives
Request a Woman Scientist
To increase representation of women on conference panels and in high-profile science journalism stories, 500 Women Scientists launched a Request a Woman Scientist database for self-identifying women with expertise in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) fields. The database currently contains over 6,000 women in 104 countries.
Sci Mom Journey
500 Women Scientists launched the Sci Mom Journey campaign to share the journeys of parents in science, specifically mothers, who face institutional challenges when it comes to issues such as accessible lactation rooms and parental leave.
Fellowship for the Future
In 2019, 500 Women Scientists launched the Fellowship for the Future program to recognize and support women of color who are leading initiatives in the STEM community that work towards promoting equity, inclusiveness, and accessibility in STEM in line with the organization's mission. In 2023, the organization was forced to end their fellowship due to budgetary constraints.
Public engagement
500 Women Scientists often uses science writing as a means of communicating their expertise and values to the public at large, with pieces featured in outlets like Science, Scientific American, and The Seattle Times. The global leadership team has authored a number of opinion pieces on topics as varied as calling for evidence-based policy-making at the Environmental Protection Agency, recommending policy reforms to combat sexual harassment in academia, and encouraging journal editors to think carefully about fostering equity and inclusion in their editorial pages. Local Pods have also written about issues facing their own communities, ranging from the effect of President Trump's border wall on California wildlife to the need to stop burning coal in the Puget Sound.
See also
500 Queer Scientists
#IfThenSheCan
Timeline of women in science
Women in STEM fields
References
External links
501(c)(3) organizations
Organizations established in 2016
Women in science and technology
Science advocacy organizations
Organizations for women in science and technology | 500 Women Scientists | [
"Technology"
] | 675 | [
"Organizations for women in science and technology",
"Women in science and technology"
] |
57,712,865 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical%20looping%20reforming%20and%20gasification | Chemical looping reforming (CLR) and gasification (CLG) are the operations that involve the use of gaseous carbonaceous feedstock and solid carbonaceous feedstock, respectively, in their conversion to syngas in the chemical looping scheme. The typical gaseous carbonaceous feedstocks used are natural gas and reducing tail gas, while the typical solid carbonaceous feedstocks used are coal and biomass. The feedstocks are partially oxidized to generate syngas using metal oxide oxygen carriers as the oxidant. The reduced metal oxide is then oxidized in the regeneration step using air. The syngas is an important intermediate for generation of such diverse products as electricity, chemicals, hydrogen, and liquid fuels.
The motivation for developing the CLR and CLG processes lies in their advantages of being able to avoid the use of pure oxygen in the reaction, thereby circumventing the energy intensive air separation requirement in the conventional reforming and gasification processes. The energy conversion efficiency of the processes can, thus, be significantly increased. Steam and carbon dioxide can also be used as the oxidants. As the metal oxide also serves as the heat transfer medium in the chemical looping process, the exergy efficiency of the reforming and gasification processes like that for the combustion process is also higher as compared to the conventional processes.
Description
The CLR and CLG processes use solid metal oxides as the oxygen carrier instead of pure oxygen as the oxidant. In one reactor, termed the reducer or fuel reactor, the carbonaceous feedstock is partially oxidized to syngas, while the metal oxide is reduced to a lower oxidation state as given by:
CHaOb + MeOx → CO + H2 + MeOx-δ
where Me is a metal. It is noted that the reaction in the reducer of the CLR and CLG processes differs from that in the chemical looping combustion (CLC) process in that, the feedstock in CLC process is fully oxidized to CO2 and H2O. In another reactor, termed the oxidizer, combustor or air reactor (when air is used as the regeneration agent), the reduced metal oxide from the reducer is re-oxidized by air or steam as given by:
MeOx-δ + O2 (air) → MeOx + (O2 depleted air)
MeOx-δ + H2O → MeOx + H2
The solid metal oxide oxygen carrier is then circulated between these two reactors. That is the reducer and the oxidizer/combustor are connected in a solids circulatory loop, while the gaseous reactants and products from each of the two reactors are isolated by the gas seals between the reactors. This streamlining configuration of the chemical looping system possesses a process intensification property with a smaller process footprint as compared to that for the traditional systems.
Oxygen carriers
The Ellingham diagram that provides the Gibbs free energy formation of a variety of metal oxides is widely used in metallurgical processing for determining the relative reduction-oxidation potentials of metal oxides at different temperatures. It depicts the thermodynamic property of a variety of metal oxides to be used as potential oxygen carrier materials. It can be modified to provide the Gibbs free energy changes for metals and metal oxides under various oxidation states so that it can be directly used for the selection of metal oxide oxygen carrier materials based on their oxidation capabilities for specific chemical looping applications. The modified Ellingham diagram is given in Fig 1a. As shown in Fig 1b, the diagram can be divided into four different sections based on the following four key reactions:
Reaction line 1: 2CO + O2 → 2CO2
Reaction line 2: 2H2 + O2 → 2H2O
Reaction line 3: 2C + O2 → 2CO
Reaction line 4: 2CH4 + O2 → 2CO + 4H2
The sections identified in Fig 1b provide the information on metal oxide materials that can be selected as potential oxygen carriers for desired chemical looping applications. Specifically, highly oxidative metal oxides, such as NiO, CoO, CuO, Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 belong to the combustion section (Section A) and they all lie above the reaction lines 1 and 2. These metal oxides have a high oxidizing tendency and can be used as oxygen carriers for the chemical looping combustion, gasification or partial oxidation processes. The metal oxides in Section E, the small section between the reaction lines 1 and 2, can be used for CLR and CLG, although a significant amount of H2O may present in the syngas product. The section for syngas production lies between reaction lines 2 and 3 (Section B). Metal oxides lying in this region, such as CeO2, have moderate oxidation tendencies and are suitable for CLR and CLG but not for the complete oxidation reactions. Metal oxides below reaction line 3 (Sections C and D) are not thermodynamically favored for oxidizing the fuels to syngas. Thus, they cannot be used as oxygen carriers and are generally considered to be inert. These materials include Cr2O3 and SiO2. They can, however, be used as support materials along with active oxygen carrier materials. In addition to the relative redox potentials of metal oxide materials illustrated in Fig 1b, the development of desired oxygen carriers for chemical looping applications requires to consider such properties as oxygen carrying capacity, redox reactivity, reaction kinetics, recyclability, attrition resistance, heat carrying capacity, melting point, and production cost.
Process configurations
The CLR and CLG processes can be configured based on the types of carbonaceous feedstocks given and desired products to be produced. Among a broad range of products, the CLG process can produce electricity through chemical looping IGCC. The syngas produced from the CLR and the CLG can be used to synthesize a variety of chemicals, liquid fuels and hydrogen. Given below are some specific examples of the CLR and CLG processes.
Steam methane reforming with chemical looping combustion (CLC-SMR)
Hydrogen and syngas are currently produced largely by steam methane reforming (SMR). The main reaction in SMR is:
CH4 + H2O → CO + 3H2
Steam can be further used to convert CO to H2 via the water-gas shift reaction (WGS):
H2O + CO → CO2 + H2
The SMR reaction is endothermic, which requires heat input. The state-of-art SMR system places the tubular catalytic reactors in a furnace, in which fuel gas is burned to provide the required heat.
In the SMR with chemical looping combustion (CLC-SMR) concepts shown in Fig 2, the syngas production is carried out by the SMR in a tubular catalytic reactor while the chemical looping combustion system is used to provide the heat for the catalytic reaction. Depending on which chemical looping reactor is used to provide the SMR reaction heat, two CLC-SMR schemes can be configured. In Scheme 1 (Fig 2a), the reaction heat is provided by the reducer (fuel reactor). In Scheme 2 (Fig 2b), the reaction heat is provided by the combustor (air reactor). In either scheme, the combustion of metal oxide by air in the chemical looping system provides the heat source that sustains the endothermic SMR reactions. In the chemical looping system, natural gas and the recycled off-gas from the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) of the SMR process system are used as the feedstock for the CLC fuel reactor operation with CO2 and the steam as the reaction products. The CLC-SMR concepts have mainly been studied from the perspective of the process simulation. It is seen that both schemes do not engage directly the chemical looping system as a means for syngas production.
Chemical looping reforming (CLR)
Chemical looping systems can directly be engaged as an effective means for syngas production. Compared to the conventional partial oxidation (POX) or autothermal reforming (ATR) processes, the key advantage of the chemical looping reforming (CLR) process is the elimination of the air separation unit (ASU) for oxygen production. The gaseous fuel, typically natural gas, is fed to the fuel reactor, in which a solid metal oxide oxygen carrier partially oxidizes the fuel to generate syngas:
CH4 + MeOx → CO + 2H2 + MeOx-δ
Steam can be added to the reaction in order to increase the generation of H2, via the water-gas shift reaction (WGS) and/or steam methane reforming.
The CLR process can produce a syngas with a H2:CO molar ratio of 2:1 or higher, which is suitable for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, methanol synthesis, or hydrogen production. The reduced oxygen carrier from the reducer is oxidized by air in the combustor:
MeOx-δ + O2 (air) → MeOx
The overall reaction in the CLR system is a combination of the partial oxidation reaction of the fuel and the WGS reaction:
CH4 + O2 + a H2O → CO + (2+a) H2
It is noted that the actual reaction products for such reactions as those given above can vary depending on the actual operating conditions. For example, the CLR reactions can also produce CO2 when highly oxidative oxygen carriers such as NiO and Fe2O3 are used. The carbon deposition occurs particularly when the oxygen carrier is highly reduced. Reduced oxygen carrier species, such as Ni and Fe, catalyze the hydrocarbon pyrolysis reactions.
Fig 3 shows a CLR system that has been studied experimentally by Vienna University of Technology. The system consists of a fluidized bed reducer and a fluidized bed combustor, connected by loop seals and cyclones. Commonly used oxygen carriers are based on NiO or Fe2O3. The NiO-based oxygen carriers exhibit excellent reactivity, as shown by the high conversion of natural gas. The Fe2O3-based oxygen carriers have a lower material cost while their reactivity is lower than that of the NiO-based ones. Operating variables such as temperature, pressure, type of metal oxide, and molar ratio of metal oxide to gaseous fuel will influence the fuel conversion and product compositions. However, with the effects of the back mixing and distributed residence time for the metal oxide particles in the fluidized bed, the oxidation state of the metal oxide particles in the fluidized bed varies that prevents a high purity of the syngas to be produced from the reactor.
The moving bed reactor that does not have the effects of back mixing of the metal oxide particles is another gas-solid contact configuration for CLR/CLG operation. This reactor system developed by Ohio State University is characterized by a co-current gas-solid moving bed reducer as given in Fig 4. The moving bed reducer can maintain the uniform oxidation state of the exit metal oxide particles from the reactor. thereby synchronizing the process operation to achieve the thermodynamic equilibrium conditions. The CLR moving bed process applied to the methane to syngas (MTS) reactions has the flexibility of co-feeding CO2 as a feedstock with such gaseous fuels as natural gas, shale gas, and reducing tail gases, yielding a CO2 negative process system. The CLR-MTS system can yield a higher energy efficiency and cost benefits over the conventional syngas technologies. In a benchmark study for production of 50,000 barrels per day of liquid fuels using the natural gas as the feedstock, the CLR - MTS system for syngas production can reduce the natural gas usage by 20% over the conventional systems involving the Fischer–Tropsch technology.
Chemical looping gasification (CLG)
Chemical looping gasification (CLG) differs from the CLR in that it uses solid fuels such as coal and biomass instead of gaseous fuels as feedstocks. The operating principles for the CLG is similar to CLR. For solid feedstocks, devolatilization and pyrolysis of the solid fuel occur when the solid fuels are introduced into the reducer and mixed with the oxygen carrier particles. With the fluidized bed reducer, the released volatiles, including light organic compounds and tars, may channel through the reducer and exit with the syngas. The light organic compounds may reduce the purity of the syngas, while the tars may accumulate in downstream pipelines and instruments. For example, the carbon efficiency using the coal CLG fluidized bed reducer may vary from 55% to 81%, whereas the carbon efficiency using the coal moving bed reducer can reach 85% to 98%. The syngas derived from the biomass CLG fluidized bed reducer may consist of up to 15% methane, while the syngas derived from the biomass CLG moving bed reducer can reach a methane concentration of less than 5%. In general, increasing the temperature of the CLG system can promote volatile and char conversion. This may also promote the full oxidation side reaction resulting in an increased CO2 concentration in the syngas. Additional equipment for gas cleanup including scrubber, catalytic steam reformer and/or tar reformer may be necessary downstream of the CLG system in order to remove or convert the unwanted byproducts in the syngas stream. Char, the remaining solid from the devolatilization and reactions, requires additional time for conversion. For a fluidized bed reducer with particle back mixing, unconverted char may leave the reducer with the reduced metal oxide particles. A carbon stripper may be needed at the solid outlet of the fluidized bed reducer to allow the unconverted char to be separated from the oxygen carriers. The char can be recycled back to the reducer for further conversion.
In a similar operating scheme to the CLR - MTS system given in Fig 4, chemical looping gasification (CLG) of solid fuels carried out in a co-current moving bed reducer to partially oxidize solid fuels into syngas can reach an appropriate H2/CO ratio for downstream processing. Coal ash is removed through in-situ gas-solid separation operation. The moving bed prevents the channeling or bypassing of the volatiles and chars, thereby maximizing the conversion of the solid fuel. The full oxidation side reactions can be impeded through the control of the oxidation state formed for the oxygen carriers in the moving bed reactor. The CLR moving bed process applied to the coal to syngas (CTS) reactions also has the flexibility of co-feeding CO2 as a feedstock with coal yielding a CO2 negative process system with a high purity of syngas production. In a benchmark study for production of 10,000 ton/day of methanol from coal, the upstream gasification capital cost can be reduced by 50% when the chemical looping moving bed gasification system is used.
Broader context
In a general sense, the CLR and CLG processes for syngas production are part of the chemical looping partial oxidation or selective oxidation reaction schemes. The syngas production can lead to the hydrogen production from the downstream water-gas shift reaction. The CLG process can also be applied to electricity generation, resembling the IGCC based on the syngas generated from the chemical looping processes. The chemical looping three-reactor (including reducer, oxidizer and combustor) system using a moving bed reducer for metal oxide reduction by fuel followed by a moving bed oxidizer for the water splitting to produce hydrogen is given in Fig 5. For coal-based feedstock applications, this system is estimated to reduce the cost for electricity generation by 5-15% as compared to conventional systems.
The selective oxidation based chemical looping processes can be used to produce directly in one step value-added products beyond syngas. These chemical looping processes require the use of designed metal oxide oxygen carrier that has a high product selectivity and a high feedstock conversion. An example is the chemical looping selective oxidation process developed by DuPont for producing maleic anhydride from butane. The oxygen carrier used in this process is vanadium phosphorus oxide (VPO) based material. This chemical looping process was advanced to the commercial level. Its commercial operation, however, was hampered in part by the inadequacies in the chemical and mechanical viability of the oxygen carrier VPO and its associated effects on the reaction kinetics of the particles.
Chemical looping selective oxidation was also applied to the production of olefins from methane. In chemical looping oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), the oxygen carrier selectively converts methane into ethylene.
References
looping reforming and gasification
Chemical process engineering
Industrial gases
Synthetic fuel technologies | Chemical looping reforming and gasification | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 3,496 | [
"Chemical engineering",
"Petroleum technology",
"Chemical processes",
"Industrial gases",
"Synthetic fuel technologies",
"nan",
"Chemical process engineering"
] |
57,712,889 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-adaptive%20mechanisms | Self-adaptive mechanisms, sometimes simply called adaptive mechanisms, in engineering, are underactuated mechanisms that can adapt to their environment. One of the most well-known example of this type of mechanisms are underactuated fingers, grippers, and robotic hands. Contrary to standard underactuated mechanisms where the motion is governed by the dynamics of the system, the motion of self-adaptive mechanisms is generally constrained by compliant elements cleverly located in the mechanisms.
Definition
Underactuated mechanisms have a lower number of actuators than the number of degrees of freedom (DOF). In a two-dimensional plane, a mechanism can have up to three DOF (two translations, one rotation), and in three-dimensional Euclidean space, up to six (three translations, three rotations). In the case of self-adaptive mechanisms, the lack of actuators is compensated by passive elements that constrain the motion of the system. Springs are a good example of such elements, but other can be used depending on the type of mechanisms.
One of the earliest example of self-adaptive mechanism is the flapping wing proposed by Leonardo da Vinci in the Codex Atlanticus.
Underactuated hands
The first commonly known underactuated finger was the Soft-Gripper designed by Shigeo Hirose in the late 1970s. The most common type of transmission mechanisms used in self-adaptive hands are linkages and tendons.
Kinetostatics
Underactuated fingers and hands are usually analyzed with respect to their kinetostatics (negligible kinetic energy, static analysis of a mechanism in motion) rather than the dynamics of the system, as the kinetic energy of these systems is generally negligible compared to the potential energy stored into the passive elements. The forces applied by each phalanx of an underactuated finger can be computed with the following expression:
where F is the vector made of the forces applied, J is the Jacobian matrix of the finger, T* is the transmission matrix, and t is the torque vector made (actuator and passive elements).
Applications
A self-adaptive robotic hand, SARAH (Self-Adaptive Robot Auxiliary Hand), was designed and built to be part of the Dextre’s toolbox. Dextre is a robotic telemanipulator that resides at the end of CANADARM-2 on the International Space Station. The Yale OpenHand is an example of open source self-adaptive mechanisms that can be found online. Some companies are also selling self-adaptive hands for industrial purposes. Prosthetics is another application for self-adaptive hands. One known example is the SPRING (Self-Adaptive Prosthesis for Restoring Natural Grasping) hand.
Other examples
Self-adaptive mechanisms can be used for other applications, such as walking robots.
Compliant mechanisms are another example of self-adaptive mechanisms, where the passive elements and the transmission mechanism are a single monolithic block.
References
Mechanical engineering | Self-adaptive mechanisms | [
"Physics",
"Engineering"
] | 594 | [
"Applied and interdisciplinary physics",
"Mechanical engineering"
] |
57,713,069 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%201267 | NGC 1267 is an elliptical galaxy located about 220 million light-years away in the constellation Perseus. NGC 1267 was discovered by astronomer Heinrich d'Arrest on February 14, 1863. NGC 1267 is a member of the Perseus Cluster and is possibly interacting with the spiral galaxy NGC 1268.
See also
List of NGC objects (1001–2000)
NGC 4567 and NGC 4568
Eyes Galaxies
References
External links
Perseus Cluster
Perseus (constellation)
Elliptical galaxies
Interacting galaxies
1267
12331
2657
Astronomical objects discovered in 1863 | NGC 1267 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 116 | [
"Perseus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
57,714,678 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K2-239 | K2-239 (also designated EPIC 248545986) is a small red dwarf star in the constellation Sextans, about 32 parsecs (101 light-years) away from Earth. Observed by the Kepler Space Telescope during Campaign 14 of its K2 "Second Light" mission, it was found to have three hot, likely rocky Earth-sized planets in orbit around it.
Stellar characteristics
K2-239 is a small red dwarf star of spectral class M3V. It is 40% the mass and 36% the radius of the Sun with just 0.016 times the luminosity. It has a temperature of 3420 K and its age is unknown. For comparison, the Sun has a temperature of 5778 K and is 4.5 billion years old. K2-239 has a visual magnitude of 14.549, far too dim to see with the unaided eye. It is also one of the closer systems found by Kepler, only about 101 light-years away from Earth.
Planetary System
K2-239 has a system of three small, Earth-sized planets in a tight 2:3:4 orbital resonance chain. All of them are between 1.0 and 1.1 times the size of Earth, meaning they are very likely to be rocky. The discovery team estimated their masses to range from 0.9 to 1.4 , consistent with a rocky composition for each of the planets. Due to their proximity to K2-239 they are all hot; however, because the host star is just 1.6% as luminous as the Sun, they are much cooler than if they were placed around the Sun. For albedoes of 0 they would have equilibrium temperatures of for K2-239b, for K2-239c, and for K2-239d. None of them are cool enough to host liquid water or be considered potentially habitable.
See also
K2-148b
References
M-type main-sequence stars
Exoplanets discovered by K2
Sextans | K2-239 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 414 | [
"Sextans",
"Constellations"
] |
57,716,049 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pen-Strep | Pen-Strep (also known as penicillin-streptomycin) is a mixture of penicillin G and streptomycin that is widely used in mammalian cell culture media to prevent bacterial contamination. The solution contains 5,000 units of penicillin G (sodium salt) which acts as the active base, and 5,000 micrograms of streptomycin (sulfate) (base per milliliter), formulated in 0.85% saline. In general, 50-100 units of Pen-Strep per milliliter of media is used to avoid contamination in cell culture. Thus, the retail product is generally 100 times more concentrated. It is recommended for use in cell culture applications at a concentration of 10 ml per liter. It is the most common antibiotic solution for the culture of mammalian cells and it does not have any adverse effects on the cells themselves. It was first introduced in 1955 in cell culture.
Penicillin is a beta-lactam antibiotic that is effective in inhibiting Gram-positive bacteria, whereas streptomycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic which is effective against most Gram-negative bacteria.
Advantages and disadvantages
Penicillin is a narrow spectrum antibiotic against Gram-positive bacteria and is relatively inexpensive, but penicillin can cause hypersensitivity reactions and is unstable in acid and alkaline pH environments. Streptomycin is a broad spectrum antibiotic against Gram negative bacteria and is also relatively inexpensive, but can be rapidly destroyed at alkaline pH environments. The cell culture media is generally neutral in pH which is why Pen-Strep is still widely used in mammalian cell culture. For the purpose of contamination control in cell culture, gentamicin sulfate or kanamycin sulfate are also commonly used.
References
Penicillins
Antibiotics | Pen-Strep | [
"Biology"
] | 380 | [
"Antibiotics",
"Biocides",
"Biotechnology products"
] |
57,716,248 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daridorexant | Daridorexant, sold under the brand name Quviviq, is an orexin antagonist medication which is used for the treatment of insomnia. Daridorexant is taken by mouth.
Side effects of daridorexant include headache, somnolence, and fatigue. The medication is a dual orexin receptor antagonist (DORA). It acts as a selective dual antagonist of the orexin receptors OX1 and OX2. Daridorexant has a relatively short elimination half-life of 8hours and a time to peak of about 1 to 2hours. It is not a benzodiazepine or Z-drug and does not interact with GABA receptors, instead having a distinct mechanism of action.
Daridorexant was approved for medical use in the United States in January 2022 and became available in May 2022. It was approved in the European Union in April 2022, and is the first orexin receptor antagonist to become available in European Union. The medication is a schedule IV controlled substance in the United States and may have a modest potential for misuse. Besides daridorexant, other orexin receptor antagonists, like suvorexant and lemborexant, have also been introduced.
Medical uses
Daridorexant is indicated for the treatment of adults with insomnia characterized by difficulties with sleep onset and/or sleep maintenance. The medication has been found to significantly improve latency to persistent sleep (LPS), wake after sleep onset (WASO), and subjective total sleep time (TST) in regulatory clinical trials. At doses of 25 to 50mg and in terms of treatment–placebo difference, it reduces LPS by 6 to 12minutes, reduces WASO by 10 to 23minutes, and increases subjective TST by 10 to 22minutes. Daridorexant has also been found to improve daytime functioning at a dose of 50mg but not at 25mg.
Network meta-analyses have assessed the sleep-promoting effects of orexin receptor antagonists and have compared them between one another as well as to other sleep aids including benzodiazepines, Z-drugs, antihistamines, sedative antidepressants (e.g., trazodone, doxepin, amitriptyline, mirtazapine), and melatonin receptor agonists. A major systematic review and network meta-analysis of insomnia medications published in 2022 found that daridorexant had an effect size (standardized mean difference (SMD)) against placebo for treatment of insomnia at 4weeks of 0.23 (95% –0.01 to 0.48). This was similar to but numerically lower than the effect sizes at 4weeks for suvorexant (SMD 0.31, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.62) and lemborexant (SMD 0.36, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.63). Benzodiazepines and Z-drugs generally showed larger effect sizes than orexin receptor antagonists (e.g., SMDs of 0.45 to 0.83). The review concluded on the basis of daridorexant's small effect size that it did not show an overall material benefit in the treatment of insomnia. Conversely, it concluded that lemborexant—as well as the Z-drug eszopiclone—had the best profiles overall in terms of efficacy, tolerability, and acceptability among all of the assessed insomnia medications.
Orexin receptor antagonists are not used as first-line treatments for insomnia due to their costs and concerns about possible misuse liability.
Population pharmacokinetic modeling indicates that differences between subjects do not require dose adjustments, and that lean body weight and fat mass effect the pharmacokinetics of daridorexant better than other body size descriptors.
Treatment with daridorexant is generally safe and well tolerated for up to one year, with improvements in sleep and daytime functioning persisting throughout treatment.
The Department of Defense (DOD) is testing the effectiveness of daridorexant in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the link between insomnia and PTSD is well established.
Available forms
In the United States and Canada, daridorexant is available in the form of 25 and 50mg oral tablets. It is provided as the salt daridorexant hydrochloride, with each tablet containing 27 or 54mg of this substance (equivalent to 25 or 50mg daridorexant).
Contraindications
Daridorexant is contraindicated in people with narcolepsy. It is not recommended in people with severe hepatic impairment, whereas a lower maximum dose is recommended in people with moderate hepatic impairment. Concomitant use of daridorexant with strong CYP3A4 inhibitors and moderate to strong CYP3A4 inducers is not recommended and should be avoided due to unfavorable modification of daridorexant exposure.
Side effects
Side effects of daridorexant include headache (6% at 25mg vs. 7% at 50mg vs. 5% for placebo), somnolence or fatigue (includes somnolence, sedation, fatigue, hypersomnia, and lethargy) (6% at 25mg vs. 5% at 50mg vs. 4% for placebo), dizziness (2% at 25mg vs. 3% at 50mg vs. 2% for placebo), and nausea (0% at 25mg vs. 3% at 50mg vs. 2% for placebo). No residual effects have been found after administration of 25mg daridorexant in the evening to either young or elderly individuals. However, daridorexant may cause next-morning driving impairment at the start of treatment or in some individuals. Orexin receptor antagonists like daridorexant may have less or no propensity for causing tolerance compared to other sedatives and hypnotics based on animal studies. Daridorexant did not produce signs of withdrawal or dependence upon discontinuation in animal studies and clinical trials, and orexin receptor antagonists are not associated with rebound insomnia. Loss of sleep-promoting effectiveness occurs rapidly upon discontinuation of daridorexant. Preclinical research has suggested that orexin antagonists may reduce appetite, but daridorexant and other orexin antagonists have not been associated with weight loss in clinical trials. Daridorexant may have a small risk of suicidal ideation.
Orexin receptor antagonists can affect the reward system and produce drug-liking responses in humans. Daridorexant at a dose of 50mg (the maximum recommended dose) showed significantly greater drug liking than placebo but significantly less drug liking than zolpidem (30mg) and suvorexant (150mg) in recreational sedative drug users. At higher doses of 100 and 150mg (greater than the recommended maximum dose), drug liking with daridorexant was similar to that with zolpidem (30mg) and suvorexant (150mg). In other studies, suvorexant showed similar drug liking compared to zolpidem but lower misuse potential on other measures (e.g., overall rate of misuse potential adverse events of 58% for zolpidem and 31% for suvorexant in recreational drug users). No reports indicative of misuse liability were observed in clinical trials with daridorexant, although these studies excluded participants with history of drug or alcohol misuse.
Overdose
There is limited clinical experience with overdose of daridorexant. Overdose of the medication at a dose of up to four times the maximum recommended dose may result in adverse effects including somnolence, muscle weakness, cataplexy-like symptoms, sleep paralysis, attention disturbances, fatigue, headache, and constipation. There is no specific antidote to overdose of daridorexant.
Interactions
CYP3A4 inhibitors and inducers can increase and decrease exposure to daridorexant, respectively. The weak CYP3A4 inhibitor ranitidine (150mg) is predicted to increase overall exposure to daridorexant by 1.5-fold; the moderate CYP3A4 inhibitor diltiazem (240mg) increased exposure to daridorexant by 2.4-fold; and the strong CYP3A4 inhibitor itraconazole, on the basis of physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling, would be expected to increase daridorexant exposure by more than 4-fold. Conversely, the moderate CYP3A4 inducer efavirenz (600mg) decreased daridorexant overall exposure by 35 to 60% and the strong CYP3A4 inducer rifampin similarly decreased daridorexant exposure by more than 50%. Concomitant use of daridorexant with strong CYP3A4 inhibitors or with moderate or strong CYP3A4 inducers should be avoided, while it is recommended that the maximum dose of daridorexant be reduced with moderate CYP3A4 inhibitors.
Examples of important CYP3A4 modulators which are expected to interact with daridorexant include the strong CYP3A4 inhibitors boceprevir, clarithromycin, conivaptan, indinavir, itraconazole, ketoconazole, lopinavir, nefazodone, nelfinavir, posaconazole, ritonavir, saquinavir, telaprevir, and telithromycin (concomitant use not recommended); the moderate CYP3A4 inhibitors amprenavir, aprepitant, atazanavir, ciprofloxacin, diltiazem, dronedarone, erythromycin, fluconazole, fluvoxamine, fosamprenavir, grapefruit juice, imatinib, and verapamil (lower doses of daridorexant recommended); and the strong CYP3A4 inducers apalutamide, carbamazepine, efavirenz, enzalutamide, phenytoin, rifampin, and St. John's wort (expected to decrease daridorexant effectiveness).
Gastric pH modifiers like famotidine can decrease peak levels of daridorexant without affecting total exposure. Alcohol and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like citalopram have not shown significant pharmacokinetic interactions with daridorexant. Coadministration of daridorexant with other sedatives like benzodiazepines, opioids, tricyclic antidepressants, and alcohol may increase the risk of central nervous system depression and daytime impairment.
Daridorexant has not been found to significantly influence the pharmacokinetics of other drugs including midazolam (a CYP3A4 substrate), rosuvastatin (a BCRP substrate), and the SSRI citalopram (primarily a CYP2C19 substrate).
Pharmacology
Pharmacodynamics
Daridorexant acts as a selective dual antagonist of the orexin (hypocretin) receptors OX1 and OX2. The affinities (Ki) of daridorexant for the orexin receptors are 0.47nM for the OX1 receptor and 0.93nM for the OX2 receptor. Its Kb values for the human orexin receptors have been reported to be 0.5nM for the OX1 receptor and 0.8nM for the OX2 receptor. Hence, daridorexant is approximately equipotent in its antagonism of the orexin receptors. Daridorexant is selective for the orexin receptors over many other targets. In contrast to certain other sedatives and hypnotics, daridorexant is not a benzodiazepine or Z-drug and does not interact with GABA receptors.
Mechanism of action
The endogenous orexin neuropeptides, orexin A and orexin B, are involved in the regulation of sleep–wake cycles and act to promote wakefulness. Deficiency of orexin signaling is thought to be the primary cause of the sleep disorder narcolepsy. Disturbances in orexin signaling may also be involved in insomnia. Research suggests that orexin signaling may change with age, and this has been implicated in age-related sleep disturbances. By blocking the actions of orexins and modulating sleep–wake cycles, orexin receptor antagonists like daridorexant reduce wakefulness and improve sleep. The sleep-promoting effects of dual orexin receptor antagonists are thought to be mediated specifically by blockade of the OX2 receptor in the lateral hypothalamus. Although narcoleptic symptoms were a theoretical concern during the development of orexin receptor antagonists, this has not been observed in clinical trials of these agents.
Pharmacokinetics
Absorption
The absolute bioavailability of daridorexant is 62%. The poor aqueous solubility of daridorexant limits its bioavailability. It reaches peak concentrations within 1 to 2hours following a dose. Food prolonged the time to peak by 1.3 to 2hours and decreased the peak concentrations by 16 to 24%, but did not affect area-under-the-curve concentrations.
Distribution
The volume of distribution of daridorexant is 31L. Its plasma protein binding is 99.7%. The plasma-to-blood ratio of daridorexant is 0.64. Daridorexant is a lipophilic molecule and effectively crosses the blood–brain barrier in animals.
Metabolism
Daridorexant is extensively metabolized primarily by CYP3A4 (89%). Other cytochrome P450 enzymes contribute individually to less than 3% of the clearance of daridorexant. Daridorexant has 77 identified metabolites. Its major metabolites are less active than daridorexant as orexin receptor antagonists.
Recently, a study was carried out using human liver microsomes reported that daridorexant underwent 3 reaction; hydroxylation at the methyl group of the benzimidazole moiety, oxidative O-demethylation of the anisole to the corresponding phenol, and hydroxylation to a 4-hydroxy piperidinol derivative. Researchers proved that the chemical structures of the benzylic alcohol and the phenol are products of standard CYP450 reactions; while the latter hydroxylation product was incompatible with the initially postulated hydroxylation of the pyrrolidine ring, hence they suggested that human monooxygenase CYP3A4 catalyzes the intramolecular rearrangement of daridorexant. In detail, they proposed the following mechanism, hydroxylation in 5-position of the pyrrolidine ring initially will yield a cyclic hemiaminal which subsequently will hydrolyze to a ring-open amino aldehyde. Afterwards, cyclization of the latter onto one of the nitrogen atoms of the benzimidazole moiety will yield the final 4-hydroxy piperidinol metabolite.
Elimination
Daridorexant is eliminated primarily by feces (57%) then by urine (28%). It is excreted mainly in the form of metabolites, with only trace amounts of the parent compound identified.
The medication has an elimination half-life of about 8hours or of 6 to 10hours. The half-life of daridorexant may be longer in elderly individuals compared to young adults (9–10hours in the elderly versus 6hours in young adults). Its half-life is shorter than that of other orexin receptor antagonists such as suvorexant (12hours) and lemborexant (~18–55hours). The relatively short half-life of daridorexant may allow for reduced daytime sedation. The duration of action of daridorexant in terms of sedative effects is approximately 8hours with a 50mg dose.
Chemistry
Daridorexant is a small-molecule compound. The chemical name of daridorexant is (S)-(2-(5-chloro-4-methyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-2-methylpyrrolidin-1-yl)(5-methoxy-2-(2H-1,2,3-triazol-2-yl)phenyl)methanone. Its molecular formula is C23H23N6O2Cl and its molecular weight is 450.93g/mol (or 487.38g/mol for the hydrochloride). Daridorexant hydrochloride is a white to light yellowish powder. Daridorexant is a lipophilic compound and daridorexant hydrochloride is very slightly soluble in water.
History
Daridorexant was originated by Actelion Pharmaceuticals and was further developed by Idorsia. It was patented in 2013 and was first described in the scientific literature in 2017. It was in development for 25 years by the husband-wife team Jean-Paul and Martine Clozel. Daridorexant was approved for medical use in the United States in January 2022 and became available in May 2022.
On 24 February 2022, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the medicinal product Quviviq, intended for the treatment of insomnia. On 29 April 2022, daridorexant was authorized for use in the European Union. It was the first orexin receptor antagonist to become available for use in the European Union. (The earlier orexin receptor antagonists suvorexant and lemborexant are not available in the European Union.) Regulatory review is also ongoing in Canada and Switzerland and is planned for the United Kingdom.
Society and culture
Legal status
Daridorexant is a schedule IV controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act in the United States.
Daridorexant (Quviviq) was approved for medical use in the European Union in April 2022.
Daridorexant (Quviviq) was approved by Health Canada in April 2023.
References
Further reading
Benzimidazoles
Chlorobenzene derivatives
Ethers
Hypnotics
Orexin antagonists
Pyrrolidines
Triazoles | Daridorexant | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 4,028 | [
"Hypnotics",
"Behavior",
"Functional groups",
"Organic compounds",
"Ethers",
"Sleep"
] |
57,716,650 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyldiazinol | Methyldiazinol (also known as 3,3-azo-17α-methyl-5α-dihydrotestosterone, 3-azi-17α-methyl-DHT, or 3,3-azo-17α-methyl-5α-androstan-17β-ol) is a synthetic and orally active androgen/anabolic steroid (AAS) which was never marketed. It is a 17α-methylated derivative of dihydrotestosterone (DHT); specifically, it is the C3 azi (i.e., 3,3-azo) analogue of mestanolone (17α-methyl-DHT). The drug has been found to possess a high ratio and dissociation of myotrophic to androgenic activity; relative to methyltestosterone, its ratio was 15 (3:0.2), among the highest observed.
See also
List of androgens/anabolic steroids
References
Abandoned drugs
Tertiary alcohols
Anabolic–androgenic steroids
Androstanes
Hepatotoxins
Diazirines | Methyldiazinol | [
"Chemistry"
] | 243 | [
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
57,717,208 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gannet%20oil%20and%20gas%20field | Gannet is an oil and gas field located in the United Kingdom's continental shelf in the North Sea. It is east of Aberdeen, and the water depth at the Gannet offshore installation is . The field is located in Blocks 22/21, 22/25, 22/26 and 21/30. It is half-owned by Royal Dutch Shell (50%) and partly by ExxonMobil (50%) and has been operated by Shell UK Ltd since ‘first oil’ in November 1993. The Gannet A installation is the host platform for subsea tiebacks designated Gannet B to G. Like most Shell fields in the central and northern North Sea the field is named after a sea bird the gannet.
The Gannet reservoirs
The Gannet reservoirs are located at a depth of between and extend over several blocks. They comprises good quality turbiditic sands of a Tertiary age (Tay, Rogaland, Forties, Lista and Andrew Formations) and were discovered in 1973. The formation comprises a mixture of hydrocarbon reservoirs.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Gannet oil and gas reservoirs
!
!Location from Gannet A installation
!Reservoir type
!API gravity
!Reserves
!Wells
|-
|Gannet A
|––
|Oil rim with a gas cap
|40°
|68 million barrels of oil and condensate; 411 billion cubic feet of gas
|11 wells
|-
|Gannet B
|5 km north-west
|Gas/condensate
|
|3 million barrels of condensate; 139 billion cubic feet of gas
|2 subsea wells
|-
|Gannet C
|5 km south-west
|Oil rim with a gas cap
|40°
|60 million barrels of oil; 140 billion cubic feet of gas
|6 horizontal oil wells plus 2 gas production wells
|-
|Gannet D
|16 km north-east
|Unsaturated oil without a gas cap
|40°
|31 million barrels of oil; 30 billion cubic feet of gas
|5 subsea wells
|-
|Gannet E
|14 km
|Unsaturated heavy oil without a gas cap
|20°
|23 million barrels of heavy crude
|Subsea well with electric submersible pump
|-
|Gannet F
|11 km
|Unsaturated oil without a gas cap
|40°
|19 million barrels of oil
|
|-
|Gannet G
|
|Unsaturated oil without a gas cap
|40°
|13 million barrels of oil
|2 subsea wells
|}
Design
The topsides for Gannet were designed by Matthew Hall Engineering which was also responsible for procurement and construction and commissioning assistance. They were awarded the contract in July 1989. Initially there were facilities for 15 oil production wells, two gas production wells and seven spare slots; there was also provision for 39 subsea risers. The production capacity was 56,000 barrels of oil per day and 4.0 million standard cubic metres of gas per day. There are four production trains for both oil and gas processing. Electricity generation is powered by two 21-megawatt Rolls-Royce RB211 gas turbines. The topside accommodation was for 40 people. The integrated deck topsides (9600 tonnes) are supported by a four leg steel jacket (lift weight 8400 tonnes). The topsides were fabricated by Redpath Offshore North; and the jacket by RGC Offshore at Methil.
Operation
Oil from the platform wellheads and subsea wells is routed to one of the three horizontal first stage 3-phase separators. Oil from the separators is combined and fed to common second, third and fourth stage 3-phase separators. Processed oil is exported by pipeline to the Fulmar A installation and thence via Norpipe to Teesside. Gas from the second, third and fourth stage separators is compressed to the operating pressure of the first stage separators with which it is combined and further compressed. Gas from the Gannet A gas wellheads and from the Gannet B and C subsea wells flows to one of the two vertical separators. Gas is co-mingled with the off-gas from the oil separators is dehydrated through counter-current contact with Triethylene glycol. Gas is compressed for export to St Fergus via the Fulmar gas pipeline. There are also facilities for gas injection into Gannet A, B and C reservoirs and for gas lift to oil production wells on reservoirs, A, C, D, E, F and G. Produced water is treated prior to overboard disposal.
Oil export capacity is 88,000 barrels per day. Gas compression and dehydration capacity is 246 million standard cubic feet per day. Gannet A has a gas lift capacity of 130 million standard cubic feet per day and a produced water handling capability of 60,000 barrels per day. Shell have indicated that there is greater than 25% ullage of the total system capability available in the plant for additional third party processing and transportation. Peak production was: Gannet A 1 million tonnes per year (1999); Gannet B 0.8 billion cubic metres per year (1996); Gannet C 1.6 million tonnes per year (1993); Gannet D 0.5 million tonnes per year (1994).
East of Gannet and Montrose Fields MPA(NC)
In 2014 of sea to the east of Gannet and the neighbouring Montrose oil field was declared a Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area under the title East of Gannet and Montrose Fields MPA(NC). The sands and gravels that form most of the seabed within the MPA are the preferred habitat for ocean quahog, which bury themselves deep into the sand to escape predation. When buried ocean quahog can survive long periods of time without food or oxygen, and are one of the longest living creatures on Earth, having a lifespan of more than 400 years.
The MPA also includes a band of offshore deep-sea mud which form a habitat for many species of worm and mollusc, who live buried in the mud.
See also
Energy policy of the United Kingdom
Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
References
North Sea energy
Natural gas platforms
Oil and gas industry in Scotland
Oil fields of Scotland
Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas of Scotland
Shell plc oil and gas fields
ExxonMobil oil and gas fields | Gannet oil and gas field | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,297 | [
"Structural engineering",
"Natural gas platforms"
] |
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