title: Tacko Fall

text: Due to his height and reach, Fall was one of the most highly scouted high school basketball centers in the nation. Fall first played for Jamie's House Charter School in Houston, where his team won the state championship. Fall played with ISTI all-stars summer travel team & for Each 1 Teach 1 on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) circuit where he played alongside fellow class of 2015 recruits Antonio Blakeney and Ben Simmons. He also played in several NCAA certified events, including the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Virginia. Fall then attended Liberty Christian Preparatory School in Tavares, Florida. As a senior in 2015, Fall averaged 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 5.1 blocks per game. Rated as a four-star and three-star recruit in the 2015 high school class and nearly forty different schools expressing interest in him, Fall committed to the University of Central Florida in Orlando, who officially signed him on October 28, 2014. He played with the UCF Knights under head coach Donnie Jones.


title: Tacko Fall

text: Fall played college basketball at University of Central Florida for Knights as a center. He faced fellow giant Senegalese center Mamadou N'Diaye (unrelated to the former NBA player of the same name), who stands at , in the tallest tip-off and match-up in US college basketball history in a game against University of California Irvine. Both men come from the same city, Dakar. By his sophomore year, after N'Diaye declared for the 2016 NBA draft, Fall became the tallest player in college basketball. During his sophomore season, Fall would make considerable improvements in his playing style. In 2017, Fall was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.


title: Tacko Fall

text: Fall grew to be an efficient player, ranking second nationally in field goal percentage as of January 2017. On 5 April 2017, Fall declared for the 2017 NBA draft, with the possibility of returning to Central Florida still available to him before the end of the draft lottery that year. On 24 May 2017, Fall withdrew his name from consideration for the NBA draft, to return to UCF for his junior year. During his junior year, Fall injured his shoulder, causing him to only play in 16 games, totaling 351 minutes. Coming into his senior season, Fall was named to the Preseason Second Team All-AAC. During his senior season, Fall helped lead the Knights to the 2019 NCAA tournament and secured their first victory in program history with a win over Virginia Commonwealth University. In his final game, Fall recorded 15 points and six rebounds in a losing effort against Duke University 77–76.


title: Tacko Fall

text: After the conclusion of his senior year, Fall was named one of 80 participants (40 representing the NBA draft hopefuls) for the NBA G League Elite Camp on May 12–14. By the end of the event, Fall later got transferred into the NBA Draft Combine as one of an additional 11 participants there. During the combine, he put up new records at the event, including height (which received comparisons to former NBA player Manute Bol), wingspan, and standing reach.


title: Tacko Fall

text: Despite going undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, Fall was signed to an Exhibit 10 Contract on June 21, 2019, by the Boston Celtics. Fall played for the Celtics during the 2019 NBA Summer League season, scoring six points in his first game alongside four rebounds; in his second game he tallied twelve points for his first double-digit scoring game, alongside another rebound. He had one blocked shot in each of his first two games. Fall concluded his 2019 Summer League run participating in all five games with the Celtics and averaging 7.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and shooting a team-high 77 percent from the field.


title: Tacko Fall

text: On July 25, 2019, the Celtics officially announced that they had signed Fall. On October 13, 2019, the Celtics officially announced that they had signed Fall to a two-way contract, splitting time between the Celtics and Maine Red Claws. Fall made his debut for the Celtics on October 26 during a game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. He played for four minutes, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds, with his first points coming from a standing dunk. On December 20, Fall recorded a season-high five points, along with two rebounds and one block, in a 114–93 win over the Detroit Pistons. On August 13, 2020, he logged season-highs of four rebounds and two blocks in a 90–96 loss to the Washington Wizards. Fall led the Celtics in field goal percentage during the 2019–20 season.


title: Tacko Fall

text: In the G League for the Red Claws, Fall averaged a double-double of 12.9 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. He earned All-Defensive Team honors, with averages of nearly three blocks per game.


title: Tacko Fall

text: On November 23, 2020, Fall re-signed with the Boston Celtics on a two-way contract, allowing him to play for the Celtics and Maine Red Claws in the 2020–21 season. On December 30, he made his season debut for the Celtics, recording two points, one rebound and two blocks in a 126–107 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. On January 15, 2021, Fall logged a season-high six points, along with five rebounds and one block, in a 124–97 blowout win over the Orlando Magic. On May 5, he recorded a season-high four blocks in a 132–96 blowout win over the Orlando Magic. On May 16, he grabbed a season-high eight rebounds in a 92–96 loss to the New York Knicks. Despite being under a two-way contract, Fall never played in the G League during the 2020–21 season due to the Red Claws not playing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also led the Celtics in field goal percentage for the second season in a row.


title: Tacko Fall

text: On September 27, 2021, Fall signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. On October 16, his deal was converted to a two-way contract with the Cleveland Charge. On November 11, Fall made his debut for the Charge, logging a G League career-high 23 points along with 12 rebounds and three blocks in 29 minutes of play. On December 22, Fall made his first career NBA start in a 111–101 loss to the Boston Celtics, where he grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and a season-high 4 points. On January 9, 2022, he was waived by the Cavaliers.


title: Tacko Fall

text: On August 24, 2022, Fall signed a one-year contract to play for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association.


title: Tacko Fall

text: Given his size, Fall plays the center position. His shoe size is 22 and his wingspan is and a standing reach of . He also has a max vertical leap of . Fall's hands measure at 10.5 inches in length and width.


title: Tacko Fall

text: Going into the 2019 NBA draft, Fall was viewed as a great shot blocker who was relatively lacking in lane agility and three-quarter-court sprinting speed.


title: Tacko Fall

text: Fall is a Muslim, and selected the jersey number 99 with the Celtics as a reference to the 99 Names of Allah. He is not the only tall member of his family; his younger brother was reportedly at age 7, while two of his uncles are , but his extreme height stands apart even among them. He maintained a 4.0 grade point average (GPA) in high school, while taking advanced mathematics and science classes. He became fluent in English within eight months and scored in the 95th percentile on the SAT. He was a computer science major at UCF and originally had aspirations of becoming an engineer for electronic companies such as Siemens or Microsoft.


title: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

text: Jonathan Taylor Thomas (born Jonathan Taylor Weiss; September 8, 1981) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Randy Taylor on "Home Improvement" and voicing young Simba in Disney's 1994 film "The Lion King" and Pinocchio in New Line Cinema's 1996 film "The Adventures of Pinocchio".


title: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

text: Thomas was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and later moved to Sacramento, California, and then to Los Angeles.


title: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

text: Thomas's uncle was playwright and actor Jeff Weiss. Thomas has Pennsylvania Dutch (German) and Portuguese ancestry.


title: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

text: In 2000, Thomas graduated with honors from Chaminade College Preparatory School in West Hills, California.


title: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

text: Upon graduation, he enrolled at Harvard University, where he studied philosophy and history and spent his third year abroad at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.


title: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

text: Thomas began his television career in 1990, playing the role of Kevin Brady, the son of Greg Brady, on "The Bradys", a spin-off of the 1970s TV show "The Brady Bunch". In 1991, Thomas appeared in three episodes of Fox's sketch comedy series "In Living Color". That same year, he was cast as Randy Taylor on ABC's sitcom "Home Improvement". Thomas remained with "Home Improvement" well into his teenage years but left the show in 1998 to focus on academics.


title: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

text: In early 2004, Thomas had a small guest role on "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter", another ABC sitcom, and appeared in the WB's "Smallville" in 2002 and 2004. In 2005, he appeared in UPN's high school detective drama "Veronica Mars" and was also featured on "The E! True Hollywood Story"s episode on "Home Improvement".


title: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

text: On March 22, 2013, Thomas guest-starred on the second-season finale of his third ABC sitcom, "Last Man Standing", and again in the fourth episode of the third season on October 11, 2013, reuniting with Tim Allen, his TV father from "Home Improvement". On January 10, 2015, Thomas again guest-starred on the twelfth episode of the fourth season of "Last Man Standing", this time as Randy, reuniting with his TV parents from "Home Improvement", Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson.


title: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

text: Thomas appeared in many films during and after his run on "Home Improvement". He had a few roles as a voice actor in his child years, including Disney's animated feature "The Lion King", in which he voiced the protagonist Simba as a cub.


title: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

text: He also appeared in live-action films. Among the ones he starred in are those from Disney: "Man of the House", "Tom and Huck", and "I'll Be Home for Christmas". Other live-action films starring Thomas are an adaptation of "The Adventures of Pinocchio" (in which he played and voiced the titular character), "Wild America", "Speedway Junky", and "Walking Across Egypt".


title: Toni Braxton

text: Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won seven Grammy Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards, and numerous other accolades. In 2011, Braxton was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In 2017 she was honored with the Legend Award at the Soul Train Music Awards.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In the late 1980s, Braxton began performing with her sisters in a music group known as The Braxtons; the group was signed to Arista Records. After attracting the attention of producers Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and being signed to LaFace Records, Braxton released her self-titled debut studio album in 1993. The album reached number one on the "Billboard" 200 chart and sold 10 million copies worldwide. In addition, the singles "Another Sad Love Song" and "Breathe Again" became international successes. The album brought Braxton three Grammy Awards, including the Grammy for Best New Artist.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton experienced continued success with the albums "Secrets" (1996), which included the U.S. #1 hit singles "You're Makin' Me High/Let It Flow" and "Un-Break My Heart"; and "The Heat" (2000), which opened at #2 on the "Billboard" 200 and included the U.S. #2 hit single "He Wasn't Man Enough". Braxton's subsequent studio albums, "More Than a Woman" (2002), "Libra" (2005) and "Pulse" (2010), were released amid contractual disputes and health issues. In 2014, Braxton and longtime collaborator Babyface released a duet album entitled "Love, Marriage & Divorce" that earned the duo a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album in 2015. Further label changes saw the release of "Sex & Cigarettes" (2018) under Def Jam/Universal and "Spell My Name" (2020) under Island.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton is also a television executive producer and personality. She competed in the seventh season of the reality competition series "Dancing with the Stars". She has executive produced and starred in "Braxton Family Values", a reality television series that has aired on We TV since 2011. Braxton was also an executive producer of "Tamar & Vince", a spinoff reality TV series starring her younger sister, Tamar.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Toni Michele Braxton was born in Severn, Maryland on October 7, 1967. Her father, Michael Conrad Braxton Sr., was a Methodist clergyman and power company worker, and her mother, Evelyn Jackson, a native of South Carolina, was a former opera singer and cosmetologist, as well as a pastor. Braxton's maternal grandfather was also a pastor.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton is the eldest of six siblings. She has a younger brother Michael Jr. (born 1968) and four younger sisters Traci Renee (1971 - 2022), Towanda Chloe (born 1973), Trina Evette (born 1974), and Tamar Estine (born 1977). They were raised in a strict religious household, and Braxton's first performing experience was singing in her church choir.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton attended Bowie State University to obtain a teaching degree, but decided to sing professionally after she was discovered by William E. Pettaway Jr., who reportedly heard her singing to herself while pumping gas.


title: Toni Braxton

text: On her appearance May 24, 2014 broadcast of NPR's "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!", she stated that she was not singing to herself at the gas station. Pettaway, working as an attendant at the Annapolis service station where she was refueling, recognized her from local performances and introduced himself, saying he wanted to produce her. Although skeptical, Braxton decided to, in her words, "take a chance" and accepted.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton and her four sisters Traci, Towanda, Trina, and Tamar began performing as The Braxtons in the late 1980s and were signed to Arista Records in 1989. Their first single, "Good Life", was released in 1990. Though the song was not successful, it attracted the attention of record executive Antonio "L.A." Reid and record producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. Reid and Babyface recruited her to record a demo of "Love Shoulda Brought You Home", a song that they had written for Anita Baker for the soundtrack of Eddie Murphy's film, "Boomerang". Baker, who was pregnant at the time, did not record the song but suggested that Braxton record it. Her recording was later included on the soundtrack along with "Give U My Heart", a duet by Braxton and Babyface. Braxton, meanwhile, was signed to Reid and Edmonds' Arista-distributed imprint, LaFace Records, and immediately began recording her solo debut album.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In July 1993, LaFace released Braxton's self-titled debut album. Primarily produced by Reid, Babyface, and Daryl Simmons, it peaked at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 and entered the top ten of the albums chart in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The first single, "Another Sad Love Song", peaked at number seven and number two on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts respectively. The album's second single, "Breathe Again", peaked in the top five of both the Hot 100 and R&B singles charts and no 2 in the UK. More singles from "Toni Braxton" were released in 1994, including "You Mean the World to Me", "Seven Whole Days", and "I Belong to You/How Many Ways".


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton's debut album won her several awards, including three Grammy Awards (for Best New Artist and two consecutive awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1994 and 1995). She won two American Music Awards (for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist and Favorite New Adult Contemporary Artist) in 1994 and another one in 1995 (for Favorite Soul/R&B Album). "Toni Braxton" was certified 8× platinum in USA and has sales of over 10 million worldwide.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In June 1996, Braxton released her second album "Secrets". Motivated "to include a little bit of everything," Braxton reteamed with Babyface, but also worked with R. Kelly, Tony Rich, and David Foster on the album, which she co-produced. A major success, it peaked at number two on the "Billboard" 200 and reached the top ten on most international charts. After 92 weeks in the charts, "Secrets" was certified 8× platinum, becoming Braxton's second straight 8 million-seller. Internationally, "Secrets" sold more than 15 million copies, further cementing Braxton's superstar status. The album's first single, "You're Makin' Me High", marked Braxton's first number-one hit on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, while follow-up "Un-Break My Heart", a ballad written and composed by Diane Warren, became the biggest hit of Braxton's career yet. It spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one on the Hot 100 and enjoyed worldwide top five success.


title: Toni Braxton

text: As a result, Braxton topped several of "Billboard"s year-end charts, and won two Grammy Awards; one for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Un-Break My Heart" and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "You're Makin' Me High" as well as two American Music Awards for Favorite Female Soul/R&B Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album. Still waiting on her financial rewards, Braxton eventually launched an unsuccessful lawsuit against Arista and LaFace Records. Soon after, she filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy. Public reaction to these events was very harsh, having been expressed most clearly in an interview on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton has appeared in two Disney Broadway shows: She made her Broadway debut as Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" beginning September 9, 1998 when she replaced Kim Huber. During her run in the show Alan Menken wrote and composed a new song for the musical, titled "A Change in Me", which he specially wrote and composed for Braxton, and was still being used in the musical as of late July 2014. She left the production on February 28, 1999, and was succeeded by Andrea McArdle. Her role in "Beauty and the Beast" marked the first (and only) time a black woman commanded the leading role of Belle on Broadway. (In the UK, Michelle Gayle played the role in the West End.) It also marked the first time a black woman would star in a Disney musical on Broadway. In 1999, the lawsuit against LaFace Records was settled and Braxton was given back all her possessions, giving her time to record "The Heat", her first album in four years.


title: Toni Braxton

text: After her three-year-long dispute with LaFace and Arista had been settled, Braxton signed a new $20 million contract. In April 2000, her third studio album, "The Heat" was released. Braxton took a more hands-on approach, co-writing and co-producing a handful of the tracks which saw her adapting a more urban sound. It opened at number two on the US "Billboard" 200 with 199,000 copies sold in its first week, eventually going double platinum in the United States, while selling over 4 million copies worldwide. Additionally, the album was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 2001 Grammy Awards, while uptempo lead single "He Wasn't Man Enough", a worldwide top ten hit, won for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and was nominated for Best R&B Song.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In 2001, Braxton made her movie acting debut in director Doug McHenry's comedy film "Kingdom Come" opposite an ensemble also starring LL Cool J, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Whoopi Goldberg A modest box-office success, it grossed $23.4 million worldwide. The same year, Braxton recorded and released the Christmas album "Snowflakes" which consisted R&B–led original songs co-penned with Keri Lewis and Babyface as well as several remixes and cover versions of Christmas standards and carols. It received a mixed reception by critics, many of whom compared its nature to Braxton's other work but found the stylized production and original material too contemporary to conjure images of Christmas, and failed to reach the upper half of the "Billboard" 200, eventually going gold in the United States.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In 2002, while gearing up for the release of her fourth studio album, Braxton discovered she was pregnant with her second child. Knowing that she would be unable to promote the album properly, she unsuccessfully lobbied Arista Records to get the label to postpone its release until after she was to give birth. In November 2002, "More Than a Woman" was released. Opening to an instant commercial disappointment, the album peaked at number 13 on the US "Billboard" 200, but was less successful internationally. The first single "Hit the Freeway" failed to impact, resulting in lackluster sales in general and the release of no further singles. "More Than a Woman" was eventually certified gold in the United States and sold more than 800,000 copies worldwide.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In April 2003, Braxton abruptly left Arista Records, having been there for 14 years, and immediately signed with Blackground Records, headed by Barry Hankerson, her manager at the time. She then starred in "Aida" as Aida beginning June 30, 2003 when she replaced actress Simone, until she left the cast on November 16, 2003. In April 2005, Braxton's new label, Blackground/Universal, released "Please", the first single from her fifth album, "Libra". The album was originally planned for a June release, but it was pushed back several times and was finally issued on September 27. "Libra" peaked at number four on the US "Billboard" 200, selling 114,593 copies in the first week, and peaked at number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album was certified gold in late 2005 and has since sold 679,000 copies worldwide.


title: Toni Braxton

text: On January 12, 2007, Braxton filed a $10 million lawsuit against her former manager Barry Hankerson, alleging "fraud, deception and double dealing", in addition to mismanaging her relationship with Arista Records. According to Braxton's lawsuit, Hankerson placed his personal financial interests ahead of hers by using 'double-talk' to compromise the relationship between Braxton and her former label, with Hankerson allegedly telling Arista that "Braxton no longer wanted to record for Arista," and telling Braxton that "Arista was not interested in working with her anymore". The suit was settled with Braxton being forced to return a $375,000 advance to Hankerson, who would also receive a percentage of the sales of her next album, and Hankerson releasing Braxton from her contract with him. The settlement also temporarily limited the companies with which Braxton could sign. Hankerson claimed that the problems initially arose due to a number of disputes with Braxton and her wish to include her husband in her music.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Following the abrupt cancellation of her "Toni Braxton: Revealed" show, Braxton experienced financial difficulties when insurance agency Lloyd's of London refused to honor her policy that she purchased for upwards of $70,000 that included financial compensations for financial losses. Lloyd's responded with a counter-suit seeking damages against her because of an unrelated heart condition that the company was not made aware of at the time the application was filed. While Braxton acknowledged that she did disclose her full medical history at the time, she got on the hook for all damages because of the cancelled shows, being sued by multiple companies, and had to once again file for bankruptcy. In September 2008, Braxton appeared on the seventh season of American dance competition series "Dancing with the Stars"; her partner was Alec Mazo. They were voted off in the fifth week of the competition.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In 2009, Braxton signed to Atlantic Records and began work on her next studio album. In February 2010, she was part of the supergroup Artists for Haiti who recorded "We Are the World 25 for Haiti", a remake of the 1985 hit "We Are the World", to help benefit the people of Haiti hollowing the magnitude 7.0 M earthquake. Three months later, "Pulse", her seventh studio album, was released. A collection of up-tempo songs and R&B ballads with production varying from smooth to dance-based styles, it debuted at number nine on the US "Billboard 200", selling 54,000 copies in its first week, and topped the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, becoming Braxton's fifth US top-ten album. A moderate chart success elsewhere, it reached the top ten in Switzerland, and the top 20 in Germany and Greece. While critical reception of "Pulse" was generally positive, its singles "Yesterday", "Hands Tied" and "Make My Heart" achieved moderate chart success.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In 2011, Braxton signed with WE tv for a reality series, "Braxton Family Values". Chronicling the lives of Braxton and her sisters Tamar, Traci, Towanda, and Trina, plus their mother Evelyn, the series debuted on April 12, 2011. It received favorable reviews from critics who recognized it as a "guilty pleasure" and spawned several seasons and spin-offs. In September 2011, Braxton parted ways with her long-time manager Vincent Herbert, husband of sister Tamar, and signed a new management deal with Los Angeles-based entertainment/production company The Collective. In March 2012, she released the standalone single "I Heart You", a dance-pop, EDM and house song that peaked at number one on the US Dance Club Songs. Also that year, Braxton played Rosalie Rosebud, a singer with an over-the-top personality, in the children's musical adventure comedy film "The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure" alongside Jaime Pressly and Cloris Leachman, and began filming a lead role in the Lifetime Movie Network film "Twist of Faith" which premiered the following year.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In 2013, Braxton and longtime creative music partner Babyface began work on their collaborative studio album "Love, Marriage & Divorce" which was released in February 2014 under Motown Records. It received favorable reviews from music critics, who labeled it as "high-quality R&B", and debuted at number 4 on the "Billboard" 200 and the top of the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with first-week sales of 67,000 copies. "Love, Marriage & Divorce" was nominated for World's Best Album at the 2014 World Music Awards and won for Best R&B Album at the 57th Grammy Awards. Lead single "Hurt You" reached number one on the US Adult R&B Songs, becoming Braxton's first song to do so since her 2000 release "Just Be a Man About It". The song also hit number 16 on "Billboard" Hot R&B/ Hip Hop Airplay chart.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In March 2014, Braxton, alongside Babyface, made her return to Broadway in the musical "After Midnight". The third in rotation in the role of "Special Guest Star" following Fantasia Barrino and KD Lang, they performed from March 18 to 31, 2014 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. In May 2014, Braxton published a memoir, "Unbreak My Heart: A Memoir", through Harper Collins Publishers. In it, Braxton discusses her career success and struggles and the self-healing she took charge of after her own diagnosis with the auto-immune disease lupus and her son's diagnosis with autism. In October 2015, Toni along with The Braxtons released the holiday album "Braxton Family Christmas" on Def Jam Recordings. Compromsing cover versions of Christmas standards and carols as well as several original songs, it debuted and peaked at number 27 on the US "Billboard" R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In January 2016, Lifetime premiered the biographical film "", based on Braxton's memoir. Actress Lex Scott Davis was cast to portray Braxton in the film. The biopic's premiere generated 3.6 million viewers. In July 2016, Braxton announced that she would embark on a concert tour, titled The Hits Tour, in late 2016. On October 3, five days before the first date of the tour, Braxton was hospitalized due to complications with lupus resulting in canceling the first two dates of the tour. On October 15, 2016, Braxton was admitted once again to hospital with complications with lupus, leading to another tour date cancellation, which was later rescheduled. In December, Braxton announced that the January 2017 concert dates were canceled.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In January 2018, Braxton starred in the Lifetime film "Faith Under Fire". In March, her eighth studio album "Sex & Cigarettes", her first solo album in eight years, was released on Def Jam Recordings. An adult contemporary R&B album with production from Fred Ball, Babyface, Dapo Torimiro, and Tricky Stewart, it debuted at number 22 on the US "Billboard" 200 and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. "Sex & Cigarettes" received mainly positive reviews from music critics, and was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Second single "Long as I Live" topped the US Adult R&B Songs, becoming Braxton's eighth chart topper, while breaking a tie with singers Maxwell and R. Kelly to give her sole possession of the second-most number-one's in the chart's 24-year history. It also received Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Also in 2018, Braxton and Uncle Bud's Hemp products created a joint marketing campaign for the latter's products, which Braxton noted as helpful in her battle against lupus. In April 2018, Braxton and her sisters Trina and Towanda appeared on their sister Traci's single "Broken Things". In November, Braxton and Towanda appeared in the holiday film "Every Day is Christmas", which premiered on Lifetime. The same month, she announced her As Long as I Live Tour, a joint concert tour with SWV, which took her to South Africa and the United Kingdom. In June 2019, Braxton headlined the 2019 Pittsburgh Pride festival.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In April 2020, it was announced that Braxton had signed with Island Records. She released the single, "Do It", her first song under the new deal on April 6, 2020. In May, Braxton released a remix EP for her second single "Dance". On June 26, 2020, Missy Elliott appeared on the official remix to the single "Do It".


title: Toni Braxton

text: Elliott co-produced the track alongside Hannon Lane. On August 4, 2020, Braxton released the music video for "Dance", directed by Mike Ho. On August 27, 2020, Braxton released the song "Nothin'". Braxton's tenth studio "Spell My Name" was released on August 28, 2020. On October 23, 2020, Braxton released a video for her song "Gotta Move On".


title: Toni Braxton

text: In 2021, Braxton competed on season six of "The Masked Singer" as "Pufferfish". She was the third to be eliminated during the two-night premiere alongside Dwight Howard as "Octopus" and Vivica A. Fox as "Mother Nature". Despite being unmasked, Braxton kept on a glittered KN95 cloth face mask over her mouth due to her lupus condition. Braxton is an executive producer and star in the 2022 Lifetime movie "The Fallen Angels Murder Club".


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton has been recognized for her distinctive contralto voice. Her voice has been called "husky, sultry, elegant and sexy." Due to the huskiness of her voice, Braxton often used male singers such as Michael McDonald, Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder as vocal style models. Chaka Khan and Anita Baker were two of the few female singers that she could stylize. Steve Huey of AllMusic cites a key to Braxton's success is the versatility of her voice, which he states as being "soulful enough for R&B audiences, but smooth enough for adult contemporary; sophisticated enough for adults, but sultry enough for younger listeners; strong enough in the face of heartbreak to appeal to women, but ravishing enough to nab the fellas."


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton began her career singing traditional R&B and soft rock ballads and love songs on her debut and second albums. However, hip-hop soul and dance music elements begun to get spun into her sound on "The Heat", "More Than a Woman", and "Pulse". She also showcased her classical training while performing in Broadway plays "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aida" as well as her duet with Il Divo, "The Time of Our Lives".


title: Toni Braxton

text: Toni Braxton became an R&B superstar after the release of her first album. LA Reid stated during an interview with VH1: "We called her the first lady of LaFace. She was our Diva. Clive had Whitney, Tommy had Mariah and we had Toni." BBC called the album "spiritedly, mature soul at its best – and just urban enough to make it the bedroom album for the hip hop generation." Over the span of her career Braxton has sold over 70 million records, including 40 million albums, worldwide. Her hit "Un-Break My Heart", the Diane Warren-penned ballad, spent 11-weeks at number 1. Bob McCann, author of "Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television" (2010), considered it "simply one of the most haunting R&B records ever made." Reviewer Mark Edward Nero named it one of the best R&B break-up songs and considered it Braxton's "finest moment". He further commented, "damn, this song is so sad it can make people cry for hours at a time." Braxton is a recipient of seven Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, and nine Billboard Music Awards. She has been cited as an influence by various artists, such as Beyoncé, sister Tamar Braxton, Billie Godfrey, Kelly Clarkson, Leela James, Keyshia Cole, Teyana Taylor, Kehlani and Anja Nissen.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton's career, she made several impacts on fashion, mostly for her high splits in her dresses. In 2011, Braxton topped the list for the Grammy Award's best dressed of the decade. "I've always gone a little risque with all my other award show outfits." In 2012, Braxton made the list for VH1's 50 Greatest Women in Music. Braxton's 2000 performance at Super Bowl XXXIV is ranked as one of the most memorable Super Bowl performances. Braxton is featured alongside other R&B and pop divas as a primary character on the popular web parody "". With her Las Vegas residency "Toni Braxton: Revealed", she became the first African American performer in Las Vegas to have her act enter the top ten Vegas shows charting. Braxton also made headlines for her Giantto Million Dollar Microphone that she performed every show with. Braxton said: "I think it's a great element to the show. You have to have a little sprinkle of Liberace and this is my little sprinkle of that." Braxton's prop was made up of white gold and encrusted with 650 karats of diamonds. The microphone reportedly cost $1 million.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton has also been seen as a gay icon, with some of her songs becoming gay anthems, such as "Un-Break My Heart", "He Wasn't Man Enough" and "Make My Heart". The singer stated that after the release of "Un-Break My Heart", she "recognized all the support. And it was really wonderful." When asked about her gay fans, Braxton said "I love my boys because my boys help me be a better girl. My choreographer and my video director are gay, and they’ve been my best friends since I started in the industry. They’re my favorite part of the whole industry".


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton met musician Keri Lewis when his group, Mint Condition, opened for her on tour; they married on April 21, 2001. In December 2001, she gave birth to their first child, a son named Denim Cole Braxton-Lewis. In 2002, while gearing up for the release of her fourth studio album, Braxton discovered she was pregnant with her second child; the complicated pregnancy confined her to bed rest. The couple's second son, Diezel Ky Braxton-Lewis, was born in March 2003. As Diezel has been diagnosed with autism, Braxton has become involved with Autism Speaks, serving as their International Spokesperson. In November 2009 Braxton announced that she and her husband had separated. The couple later divorced in July 2013.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In her early 30s, Braxton had an abortion after discovering she was pregnant by then-boyfriend Keri Lewis. In her memoir "Unbreak my Heart", Braxton discusses her abortion and guilt, saying that her son Diezel's autism was "God's payback".


title: Toni Braxton

text: In an October 2006 concert at the Flamingo Las Vegas, Braxton broke down in tears while announcing to the audience that just before the concert began she had been told that her son, Diezel, had been diagnosed with autism. Braxton has been outspoken regarding her doctor's failure to diagnose Diezel's condition earlier, contending that if he had been diagnosed earlier he could have received treatment earlier. As well as becoming a spokeswoman for Autism Speaks, she is also a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.


title: Toni Braxton

text: On July 8, 2015, Braxton's attorney, Antavius Weems, announced that Braxton had settled her contentious child support case with her former husband, Keri Lewis. On June 2, 2016, the city and county officials of Atlanta, Georgia, named June 2 as Toni Braxton Day.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton began dating rapper Birdman in May 2016, and the couple announced their engagement in February 2018. In January 2019, the couple called off the engagement. However, in April 2019, both Braxton and Birdman confirmed that they were still together.


title: Toni Braxton

text: In August 2007, rumors surfaced that Braxton had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She stated to "Access Hollywood" that the breast cancer rumors were false and that her health was very good. However, in 2008, she had a benign lump removed from her breast. On April 8, 2008, near the end of her two-year run at the Flamingo Hotel, Braxton was briefly hospitalized and the remaining dates on the show, which was scheduled to end on August 23, 2008, were cancelled. Later, while appearing on Season 7 of "Dancing with the Stars", she stated, that she has been diagnosed with microvascular angina (small vessel disease).


title: Toni Braxton

text: On November 18, 2010, Braxton revealed to CBS News that she had been diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease.


title: Toni Braxton

text: Braxton's uncle died of complications from lupus. While taping her reality series "Braxton Family Values", she went into hospital for surgery. Braxton was hospitalized in Los Angeles in December 2012 because of "minor health issues" related to lupus.


title: Benzene

text: Benzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula CH. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar ring with one hydrogen atom attached to each. Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms, benzene is classed as a hydrocarbon.


title: Benzene

text: Benzene is a natural constituent of petroleum and is one of the elementary petrochemicals. Due to the cyclic continuous pi bonds between the carbon atoms, benzene is classed as an aromatic hydrocarbon. Benzene is a colorless and highly flammable liquid with a sweet smell, and is partially responsible for the aroma of gasoline. It is used primarily as a precursor to the manufacture of chemicals with more complex structure, such as ethylbenzene and cumene, of which billions of kilograms are produced annually. Although benzene is a major industrial chemical, it finds limited use in consumer items because of its toxicity.


title: Benzene

text: The word ""benzene"" derives from ""gum benzoin"" (benzoin resin), an aromatic resin known to European pharmacists and perfumers since the 16th century as a product of southeast Asia. An acidic material was derived from benzoin by sublimation, and named "flowers of benzoin", or benzoic acid. The hydrocarbon derived from benzoic acid thus acquired the name benzin, benzol, or benzene. Michael Faraday first isolated and identified benzene in 1825 from the oily residue derived from the production of illuminating gas, giving it the name "bicarburet of hydrogen". In 1833, Eilhard Mitscherlich produced it by distilling benzoic acid (from gum benzoin) and lime. He gave the compound the name "benzin". In 1836, the French chemist Auguste Laurent named the substance "phène"; this word has become the root of the English word "phenol", which is hydroxylated benzene, and "phenyl", the radical formed by abstraction of a hydrogen atom (free radical H•) from benzene.


title: Benzene

text: In 1845, Charles Blachford Mansfield, working under August Wilhelm von Hofmann, isolated benzene from coal tar. Four years later, Mansfield began the first industrial-scale production of benzene, based on the coal-tar method. Gradually, the sense developed among chemists that a number of substances were chemically related to benzene, comprising a diverse chemical family. In 1855, Hofmann used the word "aromatic" to designate this family relationship, after a characteristic property of many of its members. In 1997, benzene was detected in deep space.


title: Benzene

text: The empirical formula for benzene was long known, but its highly polyunsaturated structure, with just one hydrogen atom for each carbon atom, was challenging to determine. Archibald Scott Couper in 1858 and Johann Josef Loschmidt in 1861 suggested possible structures that contained multiple double bonds or multiple rings, but too little evidence was then available to help chemists decide on any particular structure.


title: Benzene

text: In 1865, the German chemist Friedrich August Kekulé published a paper in French (for he was then teaching in Francophone Belgium) suggesting that the structure contained a ring of six carbon atoms with alternating single and double bonds. The next year he published a much longer paper in German on the same subject. Kekulé used evidence that had accumulated in the intervening years—namely, that there always appeared to be only one isomer of any monoderivative of benzene, and that there always appeared to be exactly three isomers of every disubstituted derivative—now understood to correspond to the ortho, meta, and para patterns of arene substitution—to argue in support of his proposed structure. Kekulé's symmetrical ring could explain these curious facts, as well as benzene's 1:1 carbon-hydrogen ratio.


title: Benzene

text: The new understanding of benzene, and hence of all aromatic compounds, proved to be so important for both pure and applied chemistry that in 1890 the German Chemical Society organized an elaborate appreciation in Kekulé's honor, celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of his first benzene paper. Here Kekulé spoke of the creation of the theory. He said that he had discovered the ring shape of the benzene molecule after having a reverie or day-dream of a snake biting its own tail (this is a common symbol in many ancient cultures known as the Ouroboros or endless knot). This vision, he said, came to him after years of studying the nature of carbon-carbon bonds. This was seven years after he had solved the problem of how carbon atoms could bond to up to four other atoms at the same time. Curiously, a similar, humorous depiction of benzene had appeared in 1886 in a pamphlet entitled "Berichte der Durstigen Chemischen Gesellschaft" (Journal of the Thirsty Chemical Society), a parody of the "Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft", only the parody had monkeys seizing each other in a circle, rather than snakes as in Kekulé's anecdote. Some historians have suggested that the parody was a lampoon of the snake anecdote, possibly already well known through oral transmission even if it had not yet appeared in print. Kekulé's 1890 speech in which this anecdote appeared has been translated into English. If the anecdote is the memory of a real event, circumstances mentioned in the story suggest that it must have happened early in 1862.


title: Benzene

text: In 1929, the cyclic nature of benzene was finally confirmed by the crystallographer Kathleen Lonsdale using X-ray diffraction methods. Using large crystals of hexamethylbenzene, a benzene derivative with the same core of six carbon atoms, Lonsdale obtained diffraction patterns. Through calculating more than thirty parameters, Lonsdale demonstrated that the benzene ring could not be anything but a flat hexagon, and provided accurate distances for all carbon-carbon bonds in the molecule.


title: Benzene

text: The German chemist Wilhelm Körner suggested the prefixes ortho-, meta-, para- to distinguish di-substituted benzene derivatives in 1867; however, he did not use the prefixes to distinguish the relative positions of the substituents on a benzene ring. It was the German chemist Carl Gräbe who, in 1869, first used the prefixes ortho-, meta-, para- to denote specific relative locations of the substituents on a di-substituted aromatic ring (viz, naphthalene). In 1870, the German chemist Viktor Meyer first applied Gräbe's nomenclature to benzene.


title: Benzene

text: In the 19th and early 20th centuries, benzene was used as an after-shave lotion because of its pleasant smell. Prior to the 1920s, benzene was frequently used as an industrial solvent, especially for degreasing metal. As its toxicity became obvious, benzene was supplanted by other solvents, especially toluene (methylbenzene), which has similar physical properties but is not as carcinogenic.


title: Benzene

text: In 1903, Ludwig Roselius popularized the use of benzene to decaffeinate coffee. This discovery led to the production of Sanka. This process was later discontinued. Benzene was historically used as a significant component in many consumer products such as liquid wrench, several paint strippers, rubber cements, spot removers, and other products. Manufacture of some of these benzene-containing formulations ceased in about 1950, although Liquid Wrench continued to contain significant amounts of benzene until the late 1970s.


title: Benzene

text: Trace amounts of benzene are found in petroleum and coal. It is a byproduct of the incomplete combustion of many materials. For commercial use, until World War II, much of benzene was obtained as a by-product of coke production (or "coke-oven light oil") for the steel industry. However, in the 1950s, increased demand for benzene, especially from the growing polymers industry, necessitated the production of benzene from petroleum. Today, most benzene comes from the petrochemical industry, with only a small fraction being produced from coal. Benzene molecules have been detected on Mars.


title: Benzene

text: X-ray diffraction shows that all six carbon-carbon bonds in benzene are of the same length, at 140 picometres (pm). The C–C bond lengths are greater than a double bond (135 pm) but shorter than a single bond (147 pm). This intermediate distance is caused by electron delocalization: the electrons for C=C bonding are distributed equally between each of the six carbon atoms. Benzene has 6 hydrogen atoms, fewer than the corresponding parent alkane, hexane, which has 14. Benzene and cyclohexane have a similar structure, only the ring of delocalized electrons and the loss of one hydrogen per carbon distinguishes it from cyclohexane. The molecule is planar. The molecular orbital description involves the formation of three delocalized π orbitals spanning all six carbon atoms, while the valence bond description involves a superposition of resonance structures. It is likely that this stability contributes to the peculiar molecular and chemical properties known as aromaticity. To accurately reflect the nature of the bonding, benzene is often depicted with a circle inside a hexagonal arrangement of carbon atoms.


title: Benzene

text: Derivatives of benzene occur sufficiently often as a component of organic molecules, so much so that the Unicode Consortium has allocated a symbol in the Miscellaneous Technical block with the code U+232C (⌬) to represent it with three double bonds, and U+23E3 (⏣) for a delocalized version.


title: Benzene

text: Many important chemical compounds are derived from benzene by replacing one or more of its hydrogen atoms with another functional group. Examples of simple benzene derivatives are phenol, toluene, and aniline, abbreviated PhOH, PhMe, and PhNH, respectively. Linking benzene rings gives biphenyl, CH–CH. Further loss of hydrogen gives "fused" aromatic hydrocarbons, such as naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene, and pyrene. The limit of the fusion process is the hydrogen-free allotrope of carbon, graphite.


title: Benzene

text: In heterocycles, carbon atoms in the benzene ring are replaced with other elements. The most important variations contain nitrogen. Replacing one CH with N gives the compound pyridine, CHN. Although benzene and pyridine are "structurally" related, benzene cannot be converted into pyridine. Replacement of a second CH bond with N gives, depending on the location of the second N, pyridazine, pyrimidine, or pyrazine.


title: Benzene

text: Four chemical processes contribute to industrial benzene production: catalytic reforming, toluene hydrodealkylation, toluene disproportionation, and steam cracking etc. According to the ATSDR Toxicological Profile for benzene, between 1978 and 1981, catalytic reformates accounted for approximately 44–50% of the total U.S benzene production.


title: Benzene

text: In catalytic reforming, a mixture of hydrocarbons with boiling points between 60 and 200 °C is blended with hydrogen gas and then exposed to a bifunctional platinum chloride or rhenium chloride catalyst at 500–525 °C and pressures ranging from 8–50 atm. Under these conditions, aliphatic hydrocarbons form rings and lose hydrogen to become aromatic hydrocarbons. The aromatic products of the reaction are then separated from the reaction mixture (or reformate) by extraction with any one of a number of solvents, including diethylene glycol or sulfolane, and benzene is then separated from the other aromatics by distillation. The extraction step of aromatics from the reformate is designed to produce aromatics with lowest non-aromatic components. Recovery of the aromatics, commonly referred to as BTX (benzene, toluene and xylene isomers), involves such extraction and distillation steps.


title: Benzene

text: In similar fashion to this catalytic reforming, UOP and BP commercialized a method from LPG (mainly propane and butane) to aromatics.


title: Benzene

text: Toluene hydrodealkylation converts toluene to benzene. In this hydrogen-intensive process, toluene is mixed with hydrogen, then passed over a chromium, molybdenum, or platinum oxide catalyst at 500–650 °C and 20–60 atm pressure. Sometimes, higher temperatures are used instead of a catalyst (at the similar reaction condition). Under these conditions, toluene undergoes dealkylation to benzene and methane:


title: Benzene

text: If the raw material stream contains much non-aromatic components (paraffins or naphthenes), those are likely decomposed to lower hydrocarbons such as methane, which increases the consumption of hydrogen.


title: Benzene

text: A typical reaction yield exceeds 95%. Sometimes, xylenes and heavier aromatics are used in place of toluene, with similar efficiency.


title: Benzene

text: This is often called "on-purpose" methodology to produce benzene, compared to conventional BTX (benzene-toluene-xylene) extraction processes.


title: Benzene

text: Given that demand for "para"-xylene ("p"-xylene) substantially exceeds demand for other xylene isomers, a refinement of the TDP process called Selective TDP (STDP) may be used. In this process, the xylene stream exiting the TDP unit is approximately 90% "p"-xylene. In some systems, even the benzene-to-xylenes ratio is modified to favor xylenes.


title: Benzene

text: Steam cracking is the process for producing ethylene and other alkenes from aliphatic hydrocarbons. Depending on the feedstock used to produce the olefins, steam cracking can produce a benzene-rich liquid by-product called "pyrolysis gasoline". Pyrolysis gasoline can be blended with other hydrocarbons as a gasoline additive, or routed through an extraction process to recover BTX aromatics (benzene, toluene and xylenes).


title: Benzene

text: Although of no commercial significance, many other routes to benzene exist. Phenol and halobenzenes can be reduced with metals. Benzoic acid and its salts undergo decarboxylation to benzene. The reaction of the diazonium compound derived from aniline with hypophosphorus acid gives benzene. Alkyne trimerisation of acetylene gives benzene. Complete decarboxylation of mellitic acid gives benzene.


title: Benzene

text: Benzene is used mainly as an intermediate to make other chemicals, above all ethylbenzene (and other alkylbenzenes), cumene, cyclohexane, and nitrobenzene. In 1988 it was reported that two-thirds of all chemicals on the American Chemical Society's lists contained at least one benzene ring. More than half of the entire benzene production is processed into ethylbenzene, a precursor to styrene, which is used to make polymers and plastics like polystyrene. Some 20% of the benzene production is used to manufacture cumene, which is needed to produce phenol and acetone for resins and adhesives. Cyclohexane consumes around 10% of the world's benzene production; it is primarily used in the manufacture of nylon fibers, which are processed into textiles and engineering plastics. Smaller amounts of benzene are used to make some types of rubbers, lubricants, dyes, detergents, drugs, explosives, and pesticides. In 2013, the biggest consumer country of benzene was China, followed by the USA. Benzene production is currently expanding in the Middle East and in Africa, whereas production capacities in Western Europe and North America are stagnating.


title: Benzene

text: Toluene is now often used as a substitute for benzene, for instance as a fuel additive. The solvent-properties of the two are similar, but toluene is less toxic and has a wider liquid range. Toluene is also processed into benzene.


title: Benzene

text: As a gasoline (petrol) additive, benzene increases the octane rating and reduces knocking. As a consequence, gasoline often contained several percent benzene before the 1950s, when tetraethyl lead replaced it as the most widely used antiknock additive. With the global phaseout of leaded gasoline, benzene has made a comeback as a gasoline additive in some nations. In the United States, concern over its negative health effects and the possibility of benzene entering the groundwater has led to stringent regulation of gasoline's benzene content, with limits typically around 1%. European petrol specifications now contain the same 1% limit on benzene content. The United States Environmental Protection Agency introduced new regulations in 2011 that lowered the benzene content in gasoline to 0.62%.


title: Benzene

text: The most common reactions of benzene involve substitution of a proton by other groups. Electrophilic aromatic substitution is a general method of derivatizing benzene. Benzene is sufficiently nucleophilic that it undergoes substitution by acylium ions and alkyl carbocations to give substituted derivatives.


title: Benzene

text: Approximately 24,700,000 tons were produced in 1999. Highly instructive but of far less industrial significance is the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene (and many other aromatic rings) using an alkyl halide in the presence of a strong Lewis acid catalyst. Similarly, the Friedel-Crafts acylation is a related example of electrophilic aromatic substitution. The reaction involves the acylation of benzene (or many other aromatic rings) with an acyl chloride using a strong Lewis acid catalyst such as aluminium chloride or Iron(III) chloride.


title: Benzene

text: Using electrophilic aromatic substitution, many functional groups are introduced onto the benzene framework. Sulfonation of benzene involves the use of oleum, a mixture of sulfuric acid with sulfur trioxide. Sulfonated benzene derivatives are useful detergents. In nitration, benzene reacts with nitronium ions (NO), which is a strong electrophile produced by combining sulfuric and nitric acids. Nitrobenzene is the precursor to aniline. Chlorination is achieved with chlorine to give chlorobenzene in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst such as aluminium tri-chloride.


title: Benzene

text: Via hydrogenation, benzene and its derivatives convert to cyclohexane and derivatives. This reaction is achieved by the use of high pressures of hydrogen in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts, such as finely divided nickel. Whereas alkenes can be hydrogenated near room temperatures, benzene and related compounds are more reluctant substrates, requiring temperatures >100 °C. This reaction is practiced on a large scale industrially. In the absence of the catalyst, benzene is impervious to hydrogen. Hydrogenation cannot be stopped to give cyclohexene or cyclohexadienes as these are superior substrates. Birch reduction, a non catalytic process, however selectively hydrogenates benzene to the diene.


title: Benzene

text: Benzene is an excellent ligand in the organometallic chemistry of low-valent metals. Important examples include the sandwich and half-sandwich complexes, respectively, Cr(CH) and [RuCl(CH)].


title: Benzene

text: Benzene is classified as a carcinogen, which increases the risk of cancer and other illnesses, and is also a notorious cause of bone marrow failure. Substantial quantities of epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory data link benzene to aplastic anemia, acute leukemia, bone marrow abnormalities and cardiovascular disease. The specific hematologic malignancies that benzene is associated with include: acute myeloid leukemia (AML), aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).


title: Benzene

text: The American Petroleum Institute (API) stated in 1948 that "it is generally considered that the only absolutely safe concentration for benzene is zero". There is no safe exposure level; even tiny amounts can cause harm. The US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) classifies benzene as a human carcinogen. Long-term exposure to excessive levels of benzene in the air causes leukemia, a potentially fatal cancer of the blood-forming organs. In particular, acute myeloid leukemia or acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (AML & ANLL) is caused by benzene. IARC rated benzene as "known to be carcinogenic to humans" (Group 1).


title: Benzene

text: As benzene is ubiquitous in gasoline and hydrocarbon fuels that are in use everywhere, human exposure to benzene is a global health problem. Benzene targets the liver, kidney, lung, heart and brain and can cause DNA strand breaks and chromosomal damage. Benzene causes cancer in animals including humans. Benzene has been shown to cause cancer in both sexes of multiple species of laboratory animals exposed via various routes.


title: Benzene

text: According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) (2007), benzene is both a synthetically-made and naturally occurring chemical from processes that include: volcanic eruptions, wild fires, synthesis of chemicals such as phenol, production of synthetic fibers, and fabrication of rubbers, lubricants, pesticides, medications, and dyes. The major sources of benzene exposure are tobacco smoke, automobile service stations, exhaust from motor vehicles, and industrial emissions; however, ingestion and dermal absorption of benzene can also occur through contact with contaminated water. Benzene is hepatically metabolized and excreted in the urine. Measurement of air and water levels of benzene is accomplished through collection via activated charcoal tubes, which are then analyzed with a gas chromatograph. The measurement of benzene in humans can be accomplished via urine, blood, and breath tests; however, all of these have their limitations because benzene is rapidly metabolized in the human body.


title: Benzene

text: OSHA regulates levels of benzene in the workplace. The maximum allowable amount of benzene in workroom air during an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek is 1 ppm. As benzene can cause cancer, NIOSH recommends that all workers wear special breathing equipment when they are likely to be exposed to benzene at levels exceeding the recommended (8-hour) exposure limit of 0.1 ppm.


title: Benzene

text: The United States Environmental Protection Agency has set a maximum contaminant level for benzene in drinking water at 0.0005 mg/L (5 ppb), as promulgated via the U.S. National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. This regulation is based on preventing benzene leukemogenesis. The maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG), a nonenforceable health goal that would allow an adequate margin of safety for the prevention of adverse effects, is zero benzene concentration in drinking water. The EPA requires that spills or accidental releases into the environment of 10 pounds (4.5 kg) or more of benzene be reported.


title: Benzene

text: The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a permissible exposure limit of 1 part of benzene per million parts of air (1 ppm) in the workplace during an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek. The short term exposure limit for airborne benzene is 5 ppm for 15 minutes. These legal limits were based on studies demonstrating compelling evidence of health risk to workers exposed to benzene. The risk from exposure to 1 ppm for a working lifetime has been estimated as 5 excess leukemia deaths per 1,000 employees exposed. (This estimate assumes no threshold for benzene's carcinogenic effects.) OSHA has also established an action level of 0.5 ppm to encourage even lower exposures in the workplace.


title: Benzene

text: The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) revised the Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) concentration for benzene to 500 ppm. The current NIOSH definition for an IDLH condition, as given in the NIOSH Respirator Selection Logic, is one that poses a threat of exposure to airborne contaminants when that exposure is likely to cause death or immediate or delayed permanent adverse health effects or prevent escape from such an environment. The purpose of establishing an IDLH value is (1) to ensure that the worker can escape from a given contaminated environment in the event of failure of the respiratory protection equipment and (2) is considered a maximum level above which only a highly reliable breathing apparatus providing maximum worker protection is permitted. In September 1995, NIOSH issued a new policy for developing recommended exposure limits (RELs) for substances, including carcinogens. As benzene can cause cancer, NIOSH recommends that all workers wear special breathing equipment when they are likely to be exposed to benzene at levels exceeding the REL (10-hour) of 0.1 ppm. The NIOSH short-term exposure limit (STEL – 15 min) is 1 ppm.


title: Benzene

text: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) adopted Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) for benzene at 0.5 ppm TWA and 2.5 ppm STEL.


title: Benzene

text: Several tests can determine exposure to benzene. Benzene itself can be measured in breath, blood or urine, but such testing is usually limited to the first 24 hours post-exposure due to the relatively rapid removal of the chemical by exhalation or biotransformation. Most people in developed countries have measureable baseline levels of benzene and other aromatic petroleum hydrocarbons in their blood. In the body, benzene is enzymatically converted to a series of oxidation products including muconic acid, phenylmercapturic acid, phenol, catechol, hydroquinone and 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene. Most of these metabolites have some value as biomarkers of human exposure, since they accumulate in the urine in proportion to the extent and duration of exposure, and they may still be present for some days after exposure has ceased. The current ACGIH biological exposure limits for occupational exposure are 500 μg/g creatinine for muconic acid and 25 μg/g creatinine for phenylmercapturic acid in an end-of-shift urine specimen.


title: Benzene

text: Even if it is not a common substrate for metabolism, benzene can be oxidized by both bacteria and eukaryotes. In bacteria, dioxygenase enzyme can add an oxygen to the ring, and the unstable product is immediately reduced (by NADH) to a cyclic diol with two double bonds, breaking the aromaticity. Next, the diol is newly reduced by NADH to catechol. The catechol is then metabolized to acetyl CoA and succinyl CoA, used by organisms mainly in the citric acid cycle for energy production.


title: Benzene

text: The pathway for the metabolism of benzene is complex and begins in the liver. Several enzymes are involved. These include cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1), quinine oxidoreductase (NQ01 or DT-diaphorase or NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (quinone 1)), GSH, and myeloperoxidase (MPO). CYP2E1 is involved at multiple steps: converting benzene to oxepin (benzene oxide), phenol to hydroquinone, and hydroquinone to both benzenetriol and catechol. Hydroquinone, benzenetriol and catechol are converted to polyphenols. In the bone marrow, MPO converts these polyphenols to benzoquinones. These intermediates and metabolites induce genotoxicity by multiple mechanisms including inhibition of topoisomerase II (which maintains chromosome structure), disruption of microtubules (which maintains cellular structure and organization), generation of oxygen free radicals (unstable species) that may lead to point mutations, increasing oxidative stress, inducing DNA strand breaks, and altering DNA methylation (which can affect gene expression). NQ01 and GSH shift metabolism away from toxicity. NQ01 metabolizes benzoquinone toward polyphenols (counteracting the effect of MPO). GSH is involved with the formation of }phenylmercapturic acid.


title: Benzene

text: Genetic polymorphisms in these enzymes may induce loss of function or gain of function. For example, mutations in CYP2E1 increase activity and result in increased generation of toxic metabolites. NQ01 mutations result in loss of function and may result in decreased detoxification. Myeloperoxidase mutations result in loss of function and may result in decreased generation of toxic metabolites. GSH mutations or deletions result in loss of function and result in decreased detoxification. These genes may be targets for genetic screening for susceptibility to benzene toxicity.


title: Benzene

text: The paradigm of toxicological assessment of benzene is shifting towards the domain of molecular toxicology as it allows understanding of fundamental biological mechanisms in a better way. Glutathione seems to play an important role by protecting against benzene-induced DNA breaks and it is being identified as a new biomarker for exposure and effect. Benzene causes chromosomal aberrations in the peripheral blood leukocytes and bone marrow explaining the higher incidence of leukemia and multiple myeloma caused by chronic exposure. These aberrations can be monitored using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with DNA probes to assess the effects of benzene along with the hematological tests as markers of hematotoxicity. Benzene metabolism involves enzymes coded for by polymorphic genes. Studies have shown that genotype at these loci may influence susceptibility to the toxic effects of benzene exposure. Individuals carrying variant of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), microsomal epoxide hydrolase (EPHX) and deletion of the glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1) showed a greater frequency of DNA single-stranded breaks.


title: Benzene

text: One way of understanding the carcinogenic effects of benzene is by examining the products of biological oxidation. Pure benzene, for example, oxidizes in the body to produce an epoxide, benzene oxide, which is not excreted readily and can interact with DNA to produce harmful mutations.


title: Benzene

text: Outdoor air may contain low levels of benzene from automobile service stations, wood smoke, tobacco smoke, the transfer of gasoline, exhaust from motor vehicles, and industrial emissions. About 50% of the entire nationwide (United States) exposure to benzene results from smoking tobacco or from exposure to tobacco smoke. After smoking 32 cigarettes per day, the smoker would take in about 1.8 milligrams (mg) of benzene. This amount is about 10 times the average daily intake of benzene by nonsmokers.


title: Benzene

text: Inhaled benzene is primarily expelled unchanged through exhalation. In a human study 16.4 to 41.6% of retained benzene was eliminated through the lungs within five to seven hours after a two- to three-hour exposure to 47 to 110 ppm and only 0.07 to 0.2% of the remaining benzene was excreted unchanged in the urine. After exposure to 63 to 405 mg/m of benzene for 1 to 5 hours, 51 to 87% was excreted in the urine as phenol over a period of 23 to 50 hours. In another human study, 30% of absorbed dermally applied benzene, which is primarily metabolized in the liver, was excreted as phenol in the urine.


title: Benzene

text: Under specific conditions and in the presence of other chemicals benzoic acid (a preservative) and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) may interact to produce benzene. In March 2006, the official Food Standards Agency in United Kingdom conducted a survey of 150 brands of soft drinks. It found that four contained benzene levels above World Health Organization limits. The affected batches were removed from sale. Similar problems were reported by the FDA in the United States.


title: Benzene

text: In 2005, the water supply to the city of Harbin in China with a population of almost nine million people, was cut off because of a major benzene exposure. Benzene leaked into the Songhua River, which supplies drinking water to the city, after an explosion at a China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) factory in the city of Jilin on 13 November 2005.


title: Monkeypox

text: Monkeypox (also called mpox by the WHO) is an infectious viral disease that can occur in humans and some other animals. Symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over. The time from exposure to onset of symptoms ranges from five to twenty-one days. The duration of symptoms is typically two to four weeks. There may be mild symptoms, and it may occur without any symptoms being apparent. The classic presentation of fever and muscle pains, followed by swollen glands, with lesions all at the same stage, has not been found to be common to all outbreaks. Cases may be severe, especially in children, pregnant women or people with suppressed immune systems.


title: Monkeypox

text: The disease is caused by the monkeypox virus, a zoonotic virus in the genus "Orthopoxvirus". The variola virus, the causative agent of smallpox, is also in this genus. Of the two types in humans, cladeII (formerly West African clade) causes a less severe disease than the Central African (Congo basin) type. It may spread from infected animals by handling infected meat or via bites or scratches. Human-to-human transmission can occur through exposure to infected body fluids or contaminated objects, by small droplets, and possibly through the airborne route. People can spread the virus from the onset of symptoms until all the lesions have scabbed and fallen off; with some evidence of spread for more than a week after lesions have crusted. Diagnosis can be confirmed by testing a lesion for the virus's DNA.


title: Monkeypox

text: There is no known cure. A study in 1988 found that the smallpox vaccine was around 85% protective in preventing infection in close contacts and in lessening the severity of the disease. A newer smallpox and monkeypox vaccine based on modified vaccinia Ankara has been approved, but with limited availability. Other measures include regular hand washing and avoiding sick people and animals. Antiviral drugs, cidofovir and tecovirimat, vaccinia immune globulin and the smallpox vaccine may be used during outbreaks. The illness is usually mild and most of those infected will recover within a few weeks without treatment. Estimates of the risk of death vary from 1% to 10%, although few deaths as a consequence of monkeypox have been recorded since 2017.


title: Monkeypox

text: Several species of mammals are suspected to act as a natural reservoir of the virus. Although it was once thought to be uncommon in humans, the quantity and severity of outbreaks has significantly increased since the 1980s, possibly as a result of waning immunity since the stopping of routine smallpox vaccination. The first cases in humans were found in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). There have been sporadic cases in Central and West Africa, and it is endemic in the DRC. The 2022 monkeypox outbreak represents the first incidence of widespread community transmission outside of Africa, which was initially identified in the United Kingdom in May 2022, with subsequent cases confirmed in at least 74 countries in all continents except Antarctica. On 23 July 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) with more than 53,000 reported cases in 75 countries and territories.


title: Monkeypox

text: It is possible for a person to be infected with monkeypox without showing any symptoms. Monkeypox symptoms tend to begin 5 to 21 days after infection, with early symptoms including headache, muscle pains, fever and fatigue, initially resembling influenza. Within a few days of the fever, lesions characteristically appear on the face before appearing on the trunk then elsewhere such as palms of the hands and soles of the feet. The disease can resemble chickenpox, measles and smallpox but is distinguished by the presence of swollen glands which may appear behind the ear, below the jaw, in the neck or in the groin, before the onset of the rash. Many cases in the 2022 monkeypox outbreak presented with genital and peri-anal lesions, fever, swollen lymph nodes, and pain when swallowing, with some patients manifesting only single sores from the disease.


title: Monkeypox

text: Three-quarters of affected people have lesions on the palms and soles, more than two-thirds in the mouth, a third on the genitals and one in five have lesions in the eyes. They begin as small flat spots, before becoming small bumps which then fill with at first clear fluid and then yellow fluid, which subsequently burst and scab over, persisting for around ten days. There may be a few lesions or several thousand, sometimes merging to produce large lesions. After healing, the lesions may leave pale marks before becoming dark scars.


title: Monkeypox

text: Complications include secondary infections, pneumonia, sepsis, encephalitis, and loss of vision with severe eye infection. If infection occurs during pregnancy, still birth or birth defects may occur. The disease may be milder in people vaccinated against smallpox in childhood. Patel and colleagues, in the BMJ, demonstrate that this virus can produce severe symptoms, particularly in HIV-positive people. The descriptive case series reveal that symptoms can be so severe that hospitalization is required in 10% of cases. The study also shows that 75% of patients (15 out of 20 participants) admitted to the hospital were HIV-positive individuals. Overall, the study depict a new variety of clinical manifestations including proctitis and rectal perforation. The pictures of genital lesions published in the BMJ show the severity of monkeypox, which is often described as causing moderate symptoms.


title: Monkeypox

text: The disease has also been reported in dormice, tree squirrels, rope squirrels and non human primates. Rodents such as rats and mice are likely susceptible but not known.


title: Monkeypox

text: Signs and symptoms in animals vary among different species. Monkeypox infected Gambian pouched rats may have mild symptoms. During the 2003 US outbreak, affected prairie dogs presented with fever, cough, sore eyes, poor feeding and rash. Non-human primates present similarly. They may have breathing problems, facial swelling, mouth ulcers and swollen glands. In cynomolgus monkeys, the time from exposure to symptoms was noted to be around a week. Rabbits and rodents typically present with fever, cough, runny nose, sore eyes and swollen glands. They develop small bumps that fill with yellow fluid and may have patches of hair loss and pneumonia.


title: Monkeypox

text: Spread among animals occurs via the fecal-oral route and through the nose, through wounds and eating infected meat. Death is more likely in baby monkeys. The CDC recommend that animals exposed to monkeypox be quarantined for six weeks.


title: Monkeypox

text: Monkeypox in both humans and animals is caused by infection with the monkeypox virus – a double-stranded DNA virus in the genus "Orthopoxvirus", family "Poxviridae". The virus was first identified in captive monkeys and is found mainly in tropical rainforest regions of Central and West Africa. The two subtypes of virus are cladeI and cladeII (formerly Congo Basin and West African clades, matching the geographical areas).


title: Monkeypox

text: In addition to monkeys, the virus has been identified in Gambian pouched rats ("Cricetomys gambianus"), dormice ("Graphiurus" spp.) and African squirrels ("Heliosciurus", and "Funisciurus"). The use of these animals as food may be an important source of transmission to humans.


title: Monkeypox

text: Humans can be infected by an animal via a bite or scratch, bush meat preparation, or by contact with an infected animal’s bodily fluids or lesion material. The virus is thought to enter the body through broken skin, the respiratory tract, or the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, or mouth.


title: Monkeypox

text: Once a human is infected, transmission to other humans is common, with family members and hospital staff at particularly high risk of infection. The virus can spread by respiratory (airborne) contact or by direct contact with an infected person's bodily fluids or during pregnancy from mother to fetus. There are indications that transmission can occur during sexual contact, with infectious monkeypox virus able to be isolated from semen samples. Prolonged shedding in seminal fluids has raised the possibility of a genital reservoir for monkeypox virus. It is not known if the virus can spread through vaginal fluids.


title: Monkeypox

text: The virus can also spread via fomites or through indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated bedding, even with standard personal protective equipment, likely through inhalation. Risk factors for transmission include sharing a bed or room, or using the same utensils as an infected person. Increased transmission risk is associated with factors involving the introduction of virus to the oral mucosa. It is not yet known if people without symptoms of monkeypox can spread the virus.


title: Monkeypox

text: Further research about the transmission of the strain responsible for the 2022 outbreak is ongoing, but it is not thought to be different from other strains of the cladeII.


title: Monkeypox

text: According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, 41% of cases of monkeypox were among HIV-positive patients (136 out of 334 patients) between May and July 2022. "The New England Journal of Medicine" (NEJM) also looked at more than 500 cases from different countries and found that 41% of them were among HIV patients. In addition, a study that looked at nearly 200 cases in Barcelona and Madrid discovered that 40% were HIV-positive. Patel and colleagues observed 197 patients from sexual health centres in south London between May and July 2022. They reported 35.5% patients had HIV-1 co-infection. 91.4% of these participants were receiving antiretroviral therapy and 78.6% had an undetectable HIV-1 viral load (<200 copies). The median CD4 count was 664 cells (interquartile range 522-894 cells). The proportion of HIV-positive individuals in these reports is significantly higher than the HIV rate among men who have sex with other men.


title: Monkeypox

text: Clinical differential diagnosis must consider other rash illnesses, such as chickenpox, measles, bacterial skin infections, scabies, syphilis and medication-associated allergies. Lymphadenopathy during the prodromal stage of illness can distinguish monkeypox from chickenpox or smallpox. Diagnosis can be verified by testing for the virus.


title: Monkeypox

text: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of samples from skin lesions is the preferred laboratory test. PCR blood tests are usually inconclusive because the virus remains in blood only a short time. To interpret test results, information is required on date of onset of fever, date of onset of rash, date of specimen collection, current stage of rash, and patient age.


title: Monkeypox

text: Vaccination against smallpox is assumed to protect against human monkeypox infection because they are closely related viruses, and the vaccine protects animals from experimental lethal monkeypox challenges. This has not been conclusively demonstrated in humans because routine smallpox vaccination was discontinued following the eradication of smallpox.


title: Monkeypox

text: Smallpox vaccine has been reported to reduce the risk of monkeypox among previously vaccinated persons in Africa. The decrease in immunity to poxviruses in exposed populations is a factor in the prevalence of monkeypox. It is attributed to waning cross-protective immunity among those vaccinated before 1980, when mass smallpox vaccinations were discontinued, and to the gradually increasing proportion of unvaccinated individuals.


title: Monkeypox

text: The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that persons investigating monkeypox outbreaks and involved in caring for infected individuals or animals should receive a smallpox vaccination to protect against monkeypox. Persons who have had close or intimate contact with individuals or animals confirmed to have monkeypox should also be vaccinated. However, the CDC does not recommend pre-exposure vaccination for unexposed veterinarians, veterinary staff, or animal control officers, unless such persons are involved in field investigations. No smallpox or monkeypox vaccine has been approved for use during pregnancy. The CDC recommends that healthcare providers don a full set of personal protective equipment (PPE) before caring for an infected person. This includes a gown, mask, goggles, and a disposable filtering respirator (such as an N95). An infected person should be isolated in preferably a negative air pressure room or at least a private exam room to keep others from possible contact.


title: Monkeypox

text: Monkeypox prevention cannot be simplified to just providing a vaccine. There are more pressing challenges to address, such as access to treatment, veracity and availability of information, and quality of health care. Public health messaging is perhaps the most important challenge. The multiple levels of interconnectivity and negotiated social meanings inherent to the disease require cooperation between medical professionals and patients to achieve correct public health communication. Therefore, Scalvini argues in the BMJ that it is necessary a "new ethic of shared responsibility" to educate people about dangers and give people from underprivileged groups the tools they need to make better decisions.


title: Monkeypox

text: In the European Union and the United States, tecovirimat is approved for the treatment of several poxviruses, including monkeypox. BMJ Best Practice recommends tecovirimat or the smallpox treatment brincidofovir as the first line antiviral treatment if required, alongside supportive care (including antipyretic, fluid balance and oxygenation). Empirical antibiotic therapy or aciclovir may be used if secondary bacterial or varicella zoster infection is suspected, respectively.


title: Monkeypox

text: After healing, the scabs may leave pale marks before becoming darker scars. The risk of death in those infected ranges from 0% to 11%, depending on the type of monkeypox and location in the world. Fatality rates have been reported as around 3.6% in West Africa and 10.6% in Central Africa. Most reported deaths have occurred in young children and people with HIV infection.


title: Monkeypox

text: In 1970, monkeypox was first associated with an illness as a disease in humans in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), in the town of Basankusu, Équateur Province.


title: Monkeypox

text: Although it was once thought to be uncommon in humans, cases increased since the 1980s, possibly as a result of waning immunity since the stopping of routine smallpox vaccination.


title: Monkeypox

text: Between 1981 and 1986 WHO surveillance in DRC/Zaire recorded 338 confirmed cases and 33 deaths (CFR 9.8%). In 1996–1997, a second outbreak of human illness was identified in DRC/Zaire and between 1991 and 1999, 511 cases were reported in DRC/Zaire. CladeI of disease remains endemic in DRC and has a higher CFR than the other genetic clade in Western Africa.


title: Monkeypox

text: By May 2022, the case fatality rate (CFR) of past outbreaks was around , while the CFR of the 2022 outbreak remains below 1%. No human-to-human transmission was documented until the 2022 monkeypox outbreak in Europe. CladeII had an outbreak – the first outbreak of monkeypox outside of Africa – in Midwestern United States among owners of pet prairie dogs in 2003. Seventy-one people were reportedly infected, of whom none died.


title: Monkeypox

text: As of 2018, monkeypox was traditionally restricted to the ecology of tropical rainforests. although the pattern was broken in 2005, when 49 cases were reported in Sudan (areas now South Sudan), with no fatalities. The genetic analysis suggested that the virus did not originate in Sudan but was imported, most likely from DRC.


title: Monkeypox

text: Many more monkeypox cases have been reported in Central and West Africa, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo in particular: 2000 cases per year are known between 2011 and 2014. The collected data is often incomplete and unconfirmed, which hinders realistic estimations of the number of cases of monkeypox over time. Nevertheless, it was suggested that the number of reported monkeypox cases had increased and the geographical occurrence broadened as of 2018.


title: Monkeypox

text: In May 2003, a young child became ill with fever and rash after being bitten by a prairie dog purchased at a local swap meet near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In total, 71 cases of monkeypox were reported through 20 June 2003. All cases were traced to Gambian pouched rats imported from Accra, Ghana, in April 2003 by a Texas exotic animal distributor. No deaths resulted. Electron microscopy and serologic studies were used to confirm that the disease was human monkeypox.


title: Monkeypox

text: People with monkeypox typically experienced prodromal symptoms of fever, headaches, muscle aches, chills, and drenching sweats. Roughly one-third of infected people had nonproductive coughs. This prodromal phase was followed 1–10 days later by the development of a papular rash that typically progressed through stages of vesiculation, pustulation, umbilication, and crusting. In some people, early lesions had become ulcerated.


title: Monkeypox

text: Rash distribution and lesions occurred on head, trunk, and extremities. Many of the people had initial and satellite lesions on palms, soles, and extremities. Rashes were generalized in some people. After onset of the rash, people generally manifested rash lesions in different stages. Everyone affected reported direct or close contact with prairie dogs, later found to be infected with the monkeypox virus.


title: Monkeypox

text: According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), between 1971 and 1978, only 10 human monkeypox infections were reported in the country.


title: Monkeypox

text: In September 2017, human monkeypox re-emerged in Nigeria, 39 years since it had been last reported. The subsequent 2017–18 Nigerian human monkeypox outbreak was, at that time, the largest ever outbreak of cladeII of the virus, with 118 confirmed cases. Unlike previous outbreaks of this clade, infection was predominantly among young male adults and human-to-human transmission appears to have readily occurred. Seven deaths (5 male, 2 female, case fatality rate of 6%) were reported, including a baby and four HIV/AIDS patients. Additionally, a pregnant woman in her second trimester had a spontaneous miscarriage due to monkeypox infection.


title: Monkeypox

text: The Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital reported that a substantial number of its young adult cases had concomitant genital ulcers, syphilis and HIV infection.


title: Monkeypox

text: Monkeypox spread around southeast and south Nigeria with some states and the federal government of Nigeria seeking ways to contain it. By December 2017 it spread to Akwa Ibom, Abia, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers and Federal Capital Territory. The outbreak started in September 2017 and remained ongoing across multiple states as of May 2019.


title: Monkeypox

text: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported cases of American travelers contracting Monkeypox upon return from Lagos and Ibadan. Agam Rao, a medical officer in the Division of Pathogens and High Consequence Pathology at the CDC, said that since 2018 all cases reported outside Africa have come from Nigeria.


title: Monkeypox

text: In a 2021 article Oyewale Tomori pointed out that the number of monkeypox infections in Nigeria through 2021 was likely to be under-represented, because much of the Nigerian population had been avoiding healthcare facilities due to fear of contracting COVID-19.


title: Monkeypox

text: In May 2022, the Nigerian government released a report stating that between 2017 and 2022, 558 cases were confirmed across 32 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The Rivers State was the most affected by monkeypox followed by Bayelsa and Lagos. There were 8 deaths reported, making for a 3.5% Case Fatality Ratio. In 2022, NCDC implemented a National Technical Working Group for reporting and monitoring infections, strengthening response capacity.


title: Monkeypox

text: In September 2018, the United Kingdom's first case of monkeypox was recorded. The person, a Nigerian national, is believed to have contracted monkeypox in Nigeria before travelling to the United Kingdom. According to Public Health England, the person was staying in a naval base in Cornwall before being moved to the Royal Free Hospital's specialised infectious disease unit. People who had been in contact with the person since he contracted the disease were contacted.


title: Monkeypox

text: A second case was confirmed in the town of Blackpool, with a further case that of a medical worker who cared for the case from Blackpool. A fourth case occurred on 3 December 2019, when monkeypox was diagnosed in a person in south west England. They were travelling to the UK from Nigeria.


title: Monkeypox

text: In May 2019, a 38-year-old man who travelled from Nigeria was hospitalised in an isolation ward at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in Singapore, after being confirmed as the country's first case of monkeypox. As a result, 22 people were quarantined. The case may have been linked to a simultaneous outbreak in Nigeria.


title: Monkeypox

text: In May 2021, in the UK, three cases of monkeypox from a single household were identified by Public Health Wales. The cases were also announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock while addressing MPs. The index case was diagnosed on 24 May after traveling from Nigeria. The second case was reported on 2 June, and the third on 24 June. One of the three patients, an adult female, was treated with tecovirimat. On day 7 of tecovirimat, she was discharged from hospital to complete her second week of treatment at home.


title: Monkeypox

text: In July 2021, in the US, an American returning from a trip in Nigeria was diagnosed with monkeypox. Subsequent testing identified the virus as belonging to cladeII. The patient was hospitalized and treated with tecovirimat and was discharged after 32 days, at which time monkeypox virus DNA could no longer be detected in residual skin lesions.


title: Monkeypox

text: Monkeypox was first identified as a distinct illness in 1958 among laboratory monkeys in Copenhagen, Denmark.


title: Monkeypox

text: The first documented cases in humans was in 1970, in six unvaccinated children during the smallpox eradication efforts; the first being a 9-month old boy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). The others, including three who were playmates, were in Liberia and Sierra Leone. It was noted to be less easily transmissible than smallpox. From 1981 to 1986, over 300 cases of human monkeypox were reported in the DRC, the majority being due to contact with animals. In 1996, the disease reemerged in the DRC with 88% of cases resulting from human-to-human transmission. Small viral outbreaks with a death rate in the range of 10% and a secondary human-to-human infection rate of about the same amount occur routinely in equatorial Central and West Africa. In humans, the disease remained confined to the rain forests of Western and Central Africa until 2003, when an outbreak of monkeypox occurred in the US. All cases were traced to sick rodents imported from Ghana. Local prairie dogs caught the infection and passed it onto their owners. The disease was found to be mild and there were no deaths. Between 1970 and 2019 the disease was reported in 10 African countries; mostly in Central and West Africa.


title: Monkeypox

text: In 2018, cases of monkeypox were diagnosed in the UK in two unrelated travellers from Nigeria. That year the first human-to-human transmission outside of Africa was confirmed in the UK. This person was a healthcare worker who possibly contracted the disease from contaminated bedlinen. Cases were also reported in travellers to Israel and Singapore. The UK saw further cases in 2019 and 2021.


title: Monkeypox

text: On 31 July 2022, the first death from monkeypox was recorded in India: a 22-year-old man who had returned from the UAE died.


title: Monkeypox

text: On 28 November 2022, the World Health Organization announced it "will adopt the term "mpox" in its communications, and encourages others to follow these recommendations". It expects a transition period of a year during which mpox and monkeypox would be synonyms. The name "monkeypox" was criticised for being a misnomer (monkeys are not the main host or reservoir of the virus), for reinforcing stigma about African countries as a source of disease, and encouraging racist stereotypes that compared Black people with primates. The change followed an open letter, by two dozen African scientists, warning that these issues were harming the fight to contain the disease outbreak.


title: ICloud

text: iCloud is a cloud service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011 as a successor to MobileMe. , the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016.


title: ICloud

text: iCloud enables users to sync their data to the cloud, including mail, contacts, calendars, photos, notes and files, to collaborate on documents, backup an iPhone or iPad, and track lost devices. It is built into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, and a more limited version can be downloaded for Windows.


title: ICloud

text: In December 2022, Apple announced an upcoming option to enable end-to-end encryption for iCloud Backups, Photos, Notes, and more.


title: ICloud

text: iCloud was announced on May 31, 2011 in a press release. On June 6, 2011, during the WWDC 2011 keynote, Steve Jobs announced that iCloud would replace MobileMe, which had been widely seen as a "failure", a fact which Steve Jobs acknowledged during the announcement. iCloud was released on October 12, 2011, and MobileMe was discontinued on June 30, 2012. Previous MobileMe users could keep their @mac.com and @me.com email addresses as aliases to their new @icloud.com address.


title: ICloud

text: iCloud had 20 million users in less than a week after launch. It received early criticism for bugs, especially with Core Data syncing. These issues were addressed in iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks.


title: ICloud

text: Since its launch, iCloud was partly hosted on Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. In 2016, Apple replaced Azure with Google Cloud Platform. In 2021, "The Information" reported that Apple was storing 8 million TB of data on Google's cloud, and was on track to spend $300 million that year. Apple also operates its own data centers, including one in Maiden, North Carolina.


title: ICloud

text: In June 2021, Apple introduced iCloud+, which added Private Relay, Hide My Email and custom email domains to paid users of the services, as well as an unlimited storage limit for video from cameras added through HomeKit Secure Video.


title: ICloud

text: In March 2022, Apple settled a class-action lawsuit alleging that it had misled users by storing data on non-Apple servers.


title: ICloud

text: iCloud is a free service, and come with 5 GB of cloud storage. Users can subscribe to iCloud+ for additional storage up to 2 TB (or 4 TB for users of Apple One Premier plan who also buy an additional 2 TB of storage).


title: ICloud

text: Some of iCloud's features are accessible not only through apps built-into macOS, iOS and iPadOS, but also on iCloud.com. These include:


title: ICloud

text: iCloud is also built-in as a backend to many Apple apps and system features, where it can sync users' data and settings. This includes:


title: ICloud

text: Third-party iOS and macOS app developers can implement iCloud functionality in their apps through the iCloud API.


title: ICloud

text: iCloud allows users to back up the settings and data on iOS devices running iOS 5 or later. Data backed up includes photos and videos in the Camera Roll, device settings, app data, messages (iMessage, SMS, and MMS), ringtones, and Visual Voicemails. Backups occur daily when the device is locked and connected to Wi-Fi and a power source. In case of a malfunction of any Apple device, during the restoration process, iCloud offers to restore all data along with App data only if the device was synced to iCloud and backed up.