title: Asda

text: The ASA ruled in 2011 that a television advertisement and two national press ads did not give sufficient prominence to the fact that exclusions applied.


title: Asda

text: Another advertisement from Asda, in which it featured World Cup related products and an Asda price guarantee was misleading as the World Cup related products were exclusive to Asda and not, therefore, available at Morrisons, Tesco or Sainsbury's.


title: Asda

text: In 2009, the ASA challenged whether a press ad which showed a large green arrow bearing down on a smaller yellow arrow with a crumpled tip and "Asda 2955 products cheaper" should set out how the general price claims made in the ads could be verified by consumers. Because it was not possible for consumers or competitors to check the products and prices used in the comparison using mySupermarket.co.uk, and because the ads did not set out how consumers and competitors could check that information for themselves, the ASA concluded that the ads did not satisfy the criterion of verifiability as defined in the 2006 European Court of Justice ruling, and were therefore in breach of the advertising Codes.


title: Asda

text: The ASA ruled that, due to the significant limitations and qualifications to the basis of the price comparison which were not included in the ad, or in the terms and conditions on Asda's website, the approach taken in making the comparisons was unfair and misleading.


title: Asda

text: A press ad, which appeared on 26 September 2011, was headlined "Only one supermarket is ... always 10% cheaper or we'll give you the difference guaranteed". However, at the top of the ad there was a banner that contained the claims "SALE", "Half Price", "Price Drop", "50% off", "1/2 price", "cheap" and that part of the headline claim "... always 10% cheaper" appeared in bold text in the middle of the ad. The ASA considered the banner, together with the headline was likely to be interpreted by consumers as claims that referred to the price of Asda goods. Since consumers could interpret that claim as one which guaranteed to refund the difference, should Asda not be the lowest on price, the ASA considered the presence of the claim "only one supermarket is always 10% cheaper" could create the impression that Asda were always 10% cheaper and would be interpreted as a 'lowest price' claim. The ASA therefore concluded that the advert was misleading. It also noted the footnote explaining the APG contradicted Asda's absolute claim that they were always the lowest on price, and that the disclaimer was also misleading.


title: Asda

text: In 2009, the ASA ruled that an advert for a proposed development in New Barnet was misleading, because it compared the floorspace of the development with the floorspace and additional buildings of a Sainsbury's store and with an unapproved Tesco plan.


title: Asda

text: In 2013, DNA tests revealed that horsemeat was present in Asda's Chosen By You fresh beef Bolognese sauce, the first instance during the 2013 meat adulteration scandal of horsemeat being found in fresh meat.


title: Truck

text: A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction, with a cabin that is independent of the payload portion of the vehicle. Smaller varieties may be mechanically similar to some automobiles. Commercial trucks can be very large and powerful and may be configured to be mounted with specialized equipment, such as in the case of refuse trucks, fire trucks, concrete mixers, and suction excavators. In American English, a commercial vehicle without a trailer or other articulation is formally a "straight truck" while one designed specifically to pull a trailer is not a truck but a "tractor".


title: Truck

text: The majority of trucks currently in use are still powered by diesel engines, although small- to medium-size trucks with gasoline engines exist in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The market-share of electrically powered trucks is growing rapidly, expected to reach 7% globally by 2027, and electric motive force already predominates among both the largest and smallest trucks. In the European Union, vehicles with a gross combination mass of up to are known as light commercial vehicles, and those over as large goods vehicles.


title: Truck

text: Trucks and cars have a common ancestor: the steam-powered "fardier" Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built in 1769. However, steam wagons were not common until the mid-19th century. The roads of the time, built for horse and carriages, limited these vehicles to very short hauls, usually from a factory to the nearest railway station. The first semi-trailer appeared in 1881, towed by a steam tractor manufactured by De Dion-Bouton. Steam-powered wagons were sold in France and the United States until the eve of World War I, and 1935 in the United Kingdom, when a change in road tax rules made them uneconomic against the new diesel lorries.


title: Truck

text: In 1895 Karl Benz designed and built the first internal combustion truck. Later that year some of Benz's trucks were modified to become busses by "Netphener". A year later, in 1896, another internal combustion engine truck was built by Gottlieb Daimler, the Daimler Motor Lastwagen. Other companies, such as Peugeot, Renault and Büssing, also built their own versions. The first truck in the United States was built by Autocar in 1899 and was available with engines. Trucks of the era mostly used two-cylinder engines and had a carrying capacity of . After World War I, several advances were made: electric starters, and 4, 6, and 8 cylinder engines.


title: Truck

text: Although it had been invented in 1897, the diesel engine did not appear in production trucks until Benz introduced it in 1923. The diesel engine was not common in trucks in Europe until the 1930s. In the United States, Autocar introduced diesel engines for heavy applications in the mid-1930s. Demand was high enough that Autocar launched the "DC" model (diesel conventional) in 1939. However, it took much longer for diesel engines to be broadly accepted in the US: gasoline engines were still in use on heavy trucks in the 1970s.


title: Truck

text: Electrically powered trucks predate internal combustion ones and have been continuously available since the mid-19th-century. In the 1920s Autocar Trucks was the first of the major truck manufacturers to offer a range of electric trucks for sale. Electric trucks were successful for urban delivery roles and as specialized work vehicles like forklifts and pushback tugs. The higher energy density of liquid fuels soon led to the decline of electric-powered trucks in favor of, first, gasoline, and then diesel and CNG-fueled engines until battery technology advanced in the 2000s when new chemistries and higher-volume production broadened the range of applicability of electric propulsion to trucks in many more roles. Today, manufacturers are electrifying all trucks ahead of national regulatory requirements, with long-range over-the-road trucks being the most challenging.


title: Truck

text: "Truck" is used in American English, and is common in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa, while "lorry" is the equivalent in British English, and is the usual term in countries like Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore and India.


title: Truck

text: The first known usage of "truck" was in 1611 when it referred to the small strong wheels on ships' cannon carriages, and comes from "Trokhos" (Greek) = "wheel". In its extended usage, it came to refer to carts for carrying heavy loads, a meaning known since 1771. Its expanded application to "motor-powered load carrier" has been in usage since 1930, shortened from "motor truck", which dates back to 1901.


title: Truck

text: "Lorry" has a more uncertain origin, but probably has its roots in the rail transport industry, where the word is known to have been used in 1838 to refer to a type of truck (a goods wagon as in British usage, not a bogie as in the American), specifically a large flat wagon. It might derive from the verb "lurry" (to carry or drag along, or to lug) which was in use as early as 1664, but that association is not definitive. The expanded meaning of "lorry", "self-propelled vehicle for carrying goods", has been in usage since 1911.


title: Truck

text: In the United States, Canada, and the Philippines, "truck" is usually reserved for commercial vehicles larger than regular passenger cars, but includes large SUVs, pickups, and other vehicles with an open load bed. In Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the word "truck" is mostly reserved for larger vehicles. In Australia and New Zealand, a pickup truck is frequently called a "ute" (short for "utility" vehicle), while in South Africa it is called a "bakkie" (Afrikaans: "small open container"). In the United Kingdom, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland, and Hong Kong "lorry" is used instead of "truck", but only for the medium and heavy types, while "truck" is used almost exclusively to refer to pickups.


title: Truck

text: Often produced as variations of golf cars, with internal combustion or battery electric drive, these are used typically for off-highway use on estates, golf courses, and parks. While not suitable for highway use some variations may be licensed as slow speed vehicles for operation on streets, generally as a body variation of a neighborhood electric vehicle. A few manufactures produce specialized chassis for this type of vehicle, while Zap Motors markets a version of their Xebra electric tricycle (licensable in the U.S. as a motorcycle).


title: Truck

text: Popular in Europe and Asia, many mini-trucks are factory redesigns of light automobiles, usually with monocoque bodies. Specialized designs with substantial frames such as the Italian Piaggio shown here are based upon Japanese designs (in this case by Daihatsu) and are popular for use in "old town" sections of European cities that often have very narrow alleyways.


title: Truck

text: Regardless of name, these small trucks serve a wide range of uses. In Japan, they are regulated under the Kei car laws, which allow vehicle owners a break in taxes for buying a smaller and less-powerful vehicle (currently, the engine is limited to 660 cc displacement). These vehicles are used as on-road utility vehicles in Japan. These Japanese-made mini trucks that were manufactured for on-road use are competing with off-road ATVs in the United States, and import regulations require that these mini trucks have a speed governor as they are classified as low-speed vehicles. These vehicles have found uses in construction, large campuses (government, university, and industrial), agriculture, cattle ranches, amusement parks, and replacements for golf carts.


title: Truck

text: Light trucks are car-sized (in the US, no more than ) and are used by individuals and businesses alike. In the EU they may not weigh more than and are allowed to be driven with a driving licence for cars. Pickup trucks, called utes in Australia and New Zealand, are common in North America and some regions of Latin America, Asia, and Africa, but not so in Europe, where this size of commercial vehicle is most often made as vans.


title: Truck

text: Medium trucks are larger than light but smaller than heavy trucks. In the US, they are defined as weighing between .


title: Truck

text: For the UK and the EU the weight is between . Local delivery and public service (dump trucks, garbage trucks and fire-fighting trucks) are normally around this size.


title: Truck

text: Heavy trucks are the largest on-road trucks, Class 8. These include vocational applications such as heavy dump trucks, concrete pump trucks, and refuse hauling, as well as ubiquitous long-haul 4x2 and 6×4 tractor units.


title: Truck

text: Road damage and wear increase very rapidly with the axle weight. The number of steering axles and the suspension type also influence the amount of the road wear. In many countries with good roads a six-axle truck may have a maximum weight of or more.


title: Truck

text: Off-road trucks include standard, extra heavy-duty highway-legal trucks, typically outfitted with off-road features such as a front driving axle and special tires for applications such as logging and construction, and purpose-built off-road vehicles unconstrained by weight limits, such as the Liebherr T 282B mining truck.


title: Truck

text: Australia has complex regulations over weight and length, including axle spacing, type of axle/axle group, rear overhang, kingpin to rear of trailer, drawbar length, ground clearance, as well as height and width laws. These limits are some of the highest in the world, a B-double can weigh and be long, and road trains used in the outback can weigh and be long.


title: Truck

text: The European Union also has complex regulations. The number and spacing of axles, steering, single or dual tires, and suspension type all affect maximum weights. Length of a truck, of a trailer, from axle to hitch point, kingpin to rear of trailer, and turning radius are all regulated. In additions, there are special rules for carrying containers, and countries can set their own rules for local traffic.


title: Truck

text: The United States Federal Bridge Law deals with the relation between the gross weight of the truck, the number of axles, the weight on and the spacing between the axles that the truck can have on the Interstate highway system. Each State determines the maximum permissible vehicle, combination, and axle weight on state and local roads.


title: Truck

text: Uniquely, the State of Michigan has a gross vehicle weight limit of , which is twice the U.S. federal limit. A measure to change the law was defeated in the Michigan Senate in 2019.


title: Truck

text: Almost all trucks share a common construction: they are made of a chassis, a cab, an area for placing cargo or equipment, axles, suspension and roadwheels, an engine and a drivetrain. Pneumatic, hydraulic, water, and electrical systems may also be present. Many also tow one or more trailers or semi-trailers.


title: Truck

text: The "cab", or "cabin" is an enclosed space where the driver is seated. A "sleeper" is a compartment attached to or integral with the cab where the driver can rest while not driving, sometimes seen in semi-trailer trucks.


title: Truck

text: A further step from this is the side loading forklift that can be described as a specially fabricated vehicle with the same properties as a truck of this type, in addition to the ability to pick up its own load.


title: Truck

text: Most small trucks such as sport utility vehicles (SUVs), vans or pickups, and even light medium-duty trucks in North America, China, and Russia use gasoline engines (petrol engines), but many diesel engined models are now being produced. Most of the heavier trucks use four-stroke diesel engines with a turbocharger and intercooler. Huge off-highway trucks use locomotive-type engines such as a V12 Detroit Diesel two stroke engine. A large proportion of refuse trucks in the United States employ CNG (compressed natural gas) engines for their low fuel cost and reduced carbon emissions.


title: Truck

text: A significant proportion of North American manufactured trucks use an engine built by the last remaining major independent engine manufacturer (Cummins) but most global OEMs such as Volvo Trucks and Daimler AG promote their own "captive" engines.


title: Truck

text: Small trucks use the same type of transmissions as almost all cars, having either an automatic transmission or a manual transmission with synchromesh (synchronizers). Bigger trucks often use manual transmissions without synchronizers, saving bulk and weight, although synchromesh transmissions are used in larger trucks as well. Transmissions without synchronizers, known as "crash boxes", require double-clutching for each shift, (which can lead to repetitive motion injuries), or a technique known colloquially as "floating", a method of changing gears which doesn't use the clutch, except for starts and stops, due to the physical effort of double-clutching, especially with non-power-assisted clutches, faster shifts, and less clutch wear.


title: Truck

text: Double-clutching allows the driver to control the engine and transmission revolutions to synchronize so that a smooth shift can be made; for example, when upshifting, the accelerator pedal is released and the clutch pedal is depressed while the gear lever is moved into neutral, the clutch pedal is then released and quickly pushed down again while the gear lever is moved to the next higher gear. Finally, the clutch pedal is released and the accelerator pedal pushed down to obtain the required engine speed. Although this is a relatively fast movement, perhaps a second or so while the transmission is in neutral, it allows the engine speed to drop and synchronize engine and transmission revolutions relative to the road speed. Downshifting is performed in a similar fashion, except the engine speed is now required to increase (while the transmission is in neutral) just the right amount in order to achieve the synchronization for a smooth, non-collision gear change. "Skip changing" is also widely used; in principle, the operation is the same as double-clutching, but it requires neutral be held slightly longer than a single-gear change.


title: Truck

text: Common North American setups include 9, 10, 13, 15, and 18 speeds. Automatic and automated manual transmissions for heavy trucks are becoming more and more common, due to advances both in transmission and engine power. In Europe, 8, 10, 12, and 16 gears are common on larger trucks with a manual transmission, while conventional automatic or automated manual transmissions would have anything from 5 to 12 gears. Almost all heavy truck transmissions are of the "range and split" (double H shift pattern) type, where range change and so‑called half gears or splits are air operated and always preselected before the main gear selection.


title: Truck

text: A truck frame consists of two parallel boxed (tubular) or C‑shaped rails, or beams, held together by crossmembers. These frames are referred to as ladder frames due to their resemblance to a ladder if tipped on end. The rails consist of a tall vertical section (two if boxed) and two shorter horizontal flanges. The height of the vertical section provides opposition to vertical flex when weight is applied to the top of the frame (beam resistance). Though typically flat the whole length on heavy-duty trucks, the rails may sometimes be tapered or arched for clearance around the engine or over the axles. The holes in rails are used either for mounting vehicle components and running wires and hoses or measuring and adjusting the orientation of the rails at the factory or repair shop.


title: Truck

text: The frame is usually made of steel, but can be made (whole or in part) of aluminum for a lighter weight. A tow bar may be found attached at one or both ends, but heavy tractors almost always make use of a fifth wheel hitch.


title: Truck

text: Box trucks ("tilts" in the UK) have walls and a roof, making an enclosed load space. The rear has doors for unloading; a side door is sometimes fitted.


title: Truck

text: Chassis cab trucks have a fully-enclosed cab at the front, with bare chassis frame-rails behind, suitable for subsequent permanent attachment of a specialized payload, like a fire-truck or ambulance body.


title: Truck

text: Concrete mixers have a rotating drum on an inclined axis, rotating in one direction to mix, and in the other to discharge the concrete down chutes. Because of the weight and power requirements of the drum body and rough construction sites, mixers have to be very heavy duty.


title: Truck

text: Dump trucks ("tippers" in the UK) transport loose material such as sand, gravel, or dirt for construction. A typical dump truck has an open-box bed, which is hinged at the rear and lifts at the front, allowing the material in the bed to be unloaded ("dumped") on the ground behind the truck.


title: Truck

text: Flatbed trucks have an entirely flat, level platform body. This allows for quick and easy loading but has no protection for the load. Hanging or removable sides are sometimes fitted.


title: Truck

text: Refrigerator trucks have insulated panels as walls and a roof and floor, used for transporting fresh and frozen cargo such as ice cream, food, vegetables, and prescription drugs. They are mostly equipped with double-wing rear doors, but a side door is sometimes fitted.


title: Truck

text: Refuse trucks have a specialized body for collecting and, often, compacting trash collected from municipal, commercial, and industrial sites. This application has the widest use of the cab-over configuration in North America, to provide better maneuverability in tight situations. They are also among the most severe-duty and highest GVWR trucks on public roads.


title: Truck

text: Tank trucks ("tankers" in the UK) are designed to carry liquids or gases. They usually have a cylindrical tank lying horizontally on the chassis. Many variants exist due to the wide variety of liquids and gases that can be transported.


title: Truck

text: Wreckers ("recovery lorries" in the UK) are used to recover and/or tow disabled vehicles. They are normally equipped with a boom with a cable; wheel/chassis lifts are becoming common on newer trucks.


title: Truck

text: In many countries, driving a truck requires a special driving license. The requirements and limitations vary with each different jurisdiction.


title: Truck

text: In Australia, a truck driver's license is required for any motor vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) exceeding . The motor vehicles classes are further expanded as:


title: Truck

text: There is also a heavy vehicle transmission condition for a license class "HC", "HR", or "MC" test passed in a vehicle fitted with an automatic or synchromesh transmission; a driver's license will be restricted to vehicles of that class fitted with a synchromesh or automatic transmission. To have the condition removed, a person needs to pass a practical driving test in a vehicle with non-synchromesh transmission (constant mesh or crash box).


title: Truck

text: Driving licensing has been harmonized throughout the European Union and the EEA (and practically all European non-member states), so that common rules apply within Europe (see European driving licence). As an overview, to drive a vehicle weighing more than for commercial purposes requires a specialist license (the type varies depending on the use of the vehicle and number of seats). For licenses first acquired after 1997, that weight was reduced to , not including trailers.


title: Truck

text: Since 2013, the C1 license category allows driving vehicles over 3.5 and up to 7.5 tonnes. The C license category allows driving vehicles over 3.5 tonnes with a trailer up to 750 kg, and the CE category allows driving category C vehicles with a trailer over 750 kg.


title: Truck

text: To drive any vehicle with a GVM exceeding , a code C1 drivers license is required. Furthermore, if the vehicle exceeds a code C license becomes necessary.


title: Truck

text: To drive any vehicle in South Africa towing a trailer with a GVM more than , further restrictions apply and the driver must possess a license suitable for the GVM of the total combination as well as an articulated endorsement. This is indicated with the letter "E" prefixing the license code.


title: Truck

text: In addition, any vehicle designed to carry goods or passengers may only be driven by a driver possessing a Public Driver's Permit, (or PrDP) of the applicable type. This is an additional license that is added to the DL card of the operator and subject to annual renewal unlike the five-year renewal period of a normal license.


title: Truck

text: In the United States, a commercial driver's license is required to drive any type of commercial vehicle weighing or more. The federal government regulates how many hours a driver may be on the clock, how much rest and sleep time is required (e.g., 11 hours driving/14 hours on-duty followed by 10 hours off, with a maximum of 70 hours/8 days or 60 hours/7 days, 34 hours restart ) Violations are often subject to significant penalties. Instruments to track each driver's hours must sometimes be fitted.


title: Truck

text: There is a shortage of willing trained long-distance truck drivers. Part of the reason for this is the economic fallout from deregulation of the trucking industry. Michael H. Belzer, associate professor, in the economics department at Wayne State University and co-author of "Sweatshops on Wheels: Winners and Losers in Trucking Deregulation", argues that low pay, bad working conditions and unsafe conditions have been a direct result of deregulation. The book cites poor working conditions and an unfair pay system as responsible for high annual employee turnover in the industry.


title: Truck

text: Like cars, trucks contribute to air, noise, and water pollution. Unlike cars, , most trucks run on diesel, and diesel exhaust is especially dangerous for health. Some countries have different vehicle emission standards for trucks and cars.


title: Truck

text: NOx and particulates emitted by trucks are very dangerous to health, causing thousands of early deaths annually in the US alone. As older trucks are usually the worst, many cities have banned 20th century trucks. Air pollution also threatens professional truck drivers.


title: Truck

text: Over a quarter of global transport emissions are from road freight, in 2021 over 1700 million tonnes from medium and heavy trucks, so many countries are further restricting truck emissions to help limit climate change. Many environmental organizations favor laws and incentives to encourage the switch from road to rail, especially in Europe. Several countries have pledged that 30% of sales of trucks and buses will be zero emission by 2030.


title: Truck

text: With respect to noise pollution, trucks emit considerably higher sound levels at all speeds compared to typical cars; this contrast is particularly strong with heavy-duty trucks. There are several aspects of truck operations that contribute to the overall sound that is emitted. Continuous sounds are those from tires rolling on the roadway and the constant hum of their diesel engines at highway speeds. Less frequent noises, but perhaps more noticeable, are things like the repeated sharp-pitched whistle of a turbocharger on acceleration, or the abrupt blare of an exhaust brake retarder when traversing a downgrade. There has been noise regulation put in place to help control where and when the use of engine braking retarders are allowed.


title: Truck

text: A truck cab is a hazard control that protects the truck operator from hazardous airborne pollutants. As an enclosure, it is an example of an engineering control. Enclosed operator cabs have been used on agriculture, mining, and construction vehicles for several decades. Most modern-day enclosed cabs have heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for primarily maintaining a comfortable temperature and providing breathable air for their occupants. Various levels of filtration can be incorporated into the HVAC system to remove airborne pollutants such as dusts, diesel particulate matter (DPM), and other aerosols.


title: Truck

text: Two key elements of an effective environmental enclosure are a good filtration system and an enclosure with good integrity (sealed isolation from the outside environment). It is recommended that a filtration system filter out at least 95% or greater of airborne respirable aerosols from the intake airflow, with an additional recirculation filtering component for the inside air. Good enclosure integrity is also needed to achieve positive pressure to prevent wind-driven aerosol penetration into the enclosure"," as well as to minimize air leakage around the filtration system. Test methods and mathematical modeling of environmental enclosures are also beneficial for quantifying and optimizing filtration system designs, as well as maintaining optimum protection factor performance for enclosure occupants.


title: Truck

text: Commercial trucks in the US pay higher road use taxes on a state level than other road vehicles and are subject to extensive regulation. A few reasons commercial trucks pay higher road use taxes: they are bigger and heavier than most other vehicles, and cause more wear and tear per hour on roadways; and trucks and their drivers are on the road for more hours per day. Rules on use taxes differ among jurisdictions.


title: Truck

text: The life of a pavement is measured by the number of passes of a vehicle axle. It may be evaluated using the Load Equivalency Factor, which states that the damage by the pass of a vehicle axle is proportional to the 4th power of the weight, so a ten-ton axle consumes 10,000 times the life of the pavement as a one-ton axle. For that reason, loaded trucks cost the same as thousands of cars in pavement costs, and are subject to higher taxes and highway tolls.


title: Truck

text: Primary liability insurance coverage protects the truck from damage or injuries to other people as a result of a truck accident. This truck insurance coverage is mandated by U.S. state and federal agencies, and proof of coverage is required to be sent to them. Interstate trucks in the U.S. are required to have a minimum of $75,000 in liability insurance. This includes motor carriers operating vehicles with a gross weight rating in excess of (which transport non-hazardous materials). All motor carriers operating vehicles transporting materials classified as hazardous, and which have a gross weight rating in excess of must have a minimum of $1,000,000 in liability insurance. All motor carriers operating vehicles such as hopper-type cargo vehicles or tankers with a capacity in excess of must have a minimum of $5,000,000 in liability insurance. Pricing is dependent on region, driving records, and history of the trucking operation.


title: Truck

text: Motor truck cargo insurance protects the transporter for his responsibility in the event of damaged or lost freight. The policy is purchased with a maximum load limit per vehicle. Cargo insurance coverage limits can range from $10,000 to $100,000 or more. Pricing for this insurance is mainly dependent on the type of cargo being hauled.


title: Truck

text: In 2002 and 2004, there were over 5,000 fatalities related to trucking accidents in the United States. The trucking industry has since made significant efforts in increasing safety regulations. In 2008, the industry had successfully lowered the fatality rate to just over 4,000 deaths, but trucking accidents are still an issue that causes thousands of deaths and injuries each year. Approximately 6,000 trucking accident fatalities occur annually in the United States. Fatalities are not the only issue caused by trucking accidents. Here are some of the environmental issues that arise with trucking accidents:


title: Truck

text: Following increased pressure from "The Times" "Cities Fit For Cycling" campaign and from other media in Spring 2012, warning signs are now displayed on the backs of many heavy goods vehicles (HGV). These signs are directed against a common type of accident that occurs when the large vehicle turns left at a junction: a cyclist trying to pass on the nearside can be crushed against the HGV's wheels, especially if the driver cannot see the cyclist. The signs, such as the winning design of the InTANDEM road safety competition launched in March 2012, advocate extra care when passing a large vehicle on the nearside.


title: Truck

text: In-vehicle speed limitation is required applying a 90 km/h limit to commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.


title: Truck

text: Trucks must be fitted with blind-spot mirrors that give drivers a wider field of vision than conventional mirrors.


title: Thiamine

text: Thiamine, also known as thiamin and vitamin B, is a vitamin, an essential micronutrient, that cannot be made in the body. It is found in food and commercially synthesized to be a dietary supplement or medication. Phosphorylated forms of thiamine are required for some metabolic reactions, including the breakdown of glucose and amino acids.


title: Thiamine

text: Food sources of thiamine include whole grains, legumes, and some meats and fish. Grain processing removes much of the vitamin content, so in many countries cereals and flours are enriched with thiamine. Supplements and medications are available to treat and prevent thiamine deficiency and disorders that result from it include beriberi and Wernicke encephalopathy. They are also used to treat maple syrup urine disease and Leigh syndrome. Supplements and medications are typically taken by mouth, but may also be given by intravenous or intramuscular injection.


title: Thiamine

text: Thiamine supplements are generally well tolerated. Allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, may occur when repeated doses are given by injection. Thiamine is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is available as a generic medication, and in some countries as a non-prescription dietary supplement.


title: Thiamine

text: Thiamine is one of the B vitamins and is also known as vitamin B. It is a cation that is usually supplied as a chloride salt. It is soluble in water, methanol and glycerol, but practically insoluble in less polar organic solvents. In the body, thiamine can form derivatives; the most well-characterized of which is thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP), a coenzyme in the catabolism of sugars and amino acids.


title: Thiamine

text: The chemical structure consists of an aminopyrimidine and a thiazolium ring linked by a methylene bridge. The thiazole is substituted with methyl and hydroxyethyl side chains. Thiamine is stable at acidic pH, but it is unstable in alkaline solutions and from exposure to heat. It reacts strongly in Maillard-type reactions. Oxidation yields the fluorescent derivative thiochrome, which can be used to determine the amount of the vitamin present in biological samples.


title: Thiamine

text: Well-known disorders caused by thiamine deficiency include beriberi, Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome, optic neuropathy, Leigh's disease, African seasonal ataxia (or Nigerian seasonal ataxia), and central pontine myelinolysis. Symptoms include malaise, weight loss, irritability and confusion.


title: Thiamine

text: In Western countries, chronic alcoholism is a risk factor for deficiency. Also at risk are older adults, persons with HIV/AIDS or diabetes, and those who have had bariatric surgery. Varying degrees of thiamine insufficiency have been associated with the long-term use of diuretics.


title: Thiamine

text: Five natural thiamine phosphate derivatives are known: thiamine monophosphate (ThMP), thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP), thiamine triphosphate (ThTP), adenosine thiamine diphosphate (AThDP) and adenosine thiamine triphosphate (AThTP). They are involved in many cellular processes. The best-characterized form is TPP, a coenzyme in the catabolism of sugars and amino acids. While its role is well-known, the non-coenzyme action of thiamine and derivatives may be realized through binding to proteins which do not use that mechanism. No physiological role is known for the monophosphate.


title: Thiamine

text: Thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP), also called thiamine diphosphate (ThDP), participates as a coenzyme in metabolic reactions, including those in which polarity inversion takes place. Its synthesis is catalyzed by the enzyme thiamine diphosphokinase according to the reaction thiamine + ATP → TPP + AMP (EC 2.7.6.2). TPP is a coenzyme for several enzymes that catalyze the transfer of two-carbon units and in particular the dehydrogenation (decarboxylation and subsequent conjugation with coenzyme A) of 2-oxoacids (alpha-keto acids). The mechanism of action of TPP as a coenzyme relies on its ability to form an ylide. Examples include:


title: Thiamine

text: The enzymes transketolase, pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (OGDH) are important in carbohydrate metabolism. The cytosolic enzyme transketolase is central to the pentose phosphate pathway, a major route for the biosynthesis of the pentose sugars deoxyribose and ribose. The mitochondrial PDH and OGDH are part of biochemical pathways that result in the generation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the main energy transfer molecule for the cell. PDH links glycolysis to the citric acid cycle, while the reaction catalyzed by OGDH is a rate-limiting step in the citric acid cycle. In the nervous system, PDH is also involved in the synthesis of myelin and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.


title: Thiamine

text: ThTP was long considered a neurone-specific form of thiamine. It is implicated in chloride channel activation in mammals and other animals, although its precise role is not completely understood. Recently, ThTP has been found in bacteria, fungi and plants, suggesting that it also has a much more general cellular role. In "Escherichia coli", it is implicated in the response to amino acid starvation.


title: Thiamine

text: AThTP is present in "E. coli", where it accumulates as a result of carbon starvation. In this bacterium, AThTP may account for up to 20% of total thiamine. It also exists in lesser amounts in yeast, roots of higher plants and animal tissue.


title: Thiamine

text: During pregnancy, thiamine is sent to the fetus via the placenta. Pregnant women have a greater requirement for the vitamin than other adults, especially during the third trimester. Pregnant women with hyperemesis gravidarum are at an increased risk of thiamine deficiency due to losses when vomiting. In lactating women, thiamine is delivered in breast milk even if it results in thiamine deficiency in the mother.


title: Thiamine

text: Thiamine is important not only for mitochondrial membrane development, but also for synaptic membrane function. It has also been suggested that a deficiency hinders brain development in infants and may be a cause of sudden infant death syndrome.


title: Thiamine

text: The US National Academy of Medicine updated the Estimated Average Requirements (EARs) and Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for thiamine in 1998. The EARs for thiamine for women and men aged 14 and over are 0.9 mg/day and 1.1 mg/day, respectively; the RDAs are 1.1 and 1.2 mg/day, respectively. RDAs are higher than EARs to provide adequate intake levels for individuals with higher than average requirements. The RDA during pregnancy and for lactating females is 1.4 mg/day. For infants up to the age of 12 months, the Adequate Intake (AI) is 0.2–0.3 mg/day and for children aged 1–13 years the RDA increases with age from 0.5 to 0.9 mg/day.


title: Thiamine

text: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) refers to the collective set of information as Dietary Reference Values, with Population Reference Intakes (PRIs) instead of RDAs, and Average Requirements instead of EARs. For women (including those pregnant or lactating), men and children the PRI is 0.1 mg thiamine per megajoule (MJ) of energy in their diet. As the conversion is 1 MJ = 239 kcal, an adult consuming 2390 kilocalories ought to be consuming 1.0 mg thiamine. This is slightly lower than the US RDA.


title: Thiamine

text: Neither the National Academy of Medicine nor EFSA have set an upper intake level for thiamine, as there is no human data for adverse effects from high doses.


title: Thiamine

text: Thiamine is generally well tolerated and non-toxic when administered orally. There are rare reports of adverse side effects when thiamine is given intravenously, including allergic reactions, nausea, lethargy, and impaired coordination.


title: Thiamine

text: For US food and dietary supplement labeling purposes, the amount in a serving is expressed as a percent of Daily Value. Since May 27, 2016, the Daily Value has been 1.2 mg, in line with the RDA.


title: Thiamine

text: Thiamine is found in a wide variety of processed and whole foods, including lentils, peas, whole grains, pork, and nuts. A typical daily prenatal vitamin product contains around 1.5 mg of thiamine.


title: Thiamine

text: Some countries require or recommend fortification of grain foods such as wheat, rice or maize (corn) because processing lowers vitamin content. As of February 2022, 59 countries, mostly in North and Sub-Saharan Africa, require food fortification of wheat, rice or maize with thiamine or thiamine mononitrate. The amounts stipulated range from 2.0 to 10.0 mg/kg. An additional 18 countries have a voluntary fortification program. For example, the Indian government recommends 3.5 mg/kg for "maida" (white) and "atta" (whole wheat) flour.


title: Thiamine

text: Thiamine biosynthesis occurs in bacteria, some protozoans, plants, and fungi. The thiazole and pyrimidine moieties are biosynthesized separately and are then combined to form ThMP by the action of thiamine-phosphate synthase.


title: Thiamine

text: The pyrimidine ring system is formed in a reaction catalysed by phosphomethylpyrimidine synthase (ThiC), an enzyme in the radical SAM superfamily of iron–sulfur proteins, which use S-adenosyl methionine as a cofactor.


title: Thiamine

text: The starting material is 5-aminoimidazole ribotide, which undergoes a rearrangement reaction via radical intermediates which incorporate the blue, green and red fragments shown into the product.


title: Thiamine

text: The thiazole ring is formed in a reaction catalysed by thiazole synthase (EC 2.8.1.10). The ultimate precursors are 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate, 2-iminoacetate and a sulfur carrier protein called ThiS. An additional protein, ThiG, is also required to bring together all the components of the ring at the enzyme active site.


title: Thiamine

text: The final step to form ThMP involves decarboxylation of the thiazole intermediate, which reacts with the pyrophosphate derivative of phosphomethylpyrimidine, itself a product of a kinase, phosphomethylpyrimidine kinase.


title: Thiamine

text: The biosynthetic pathways differ among organisms. In "E. coli" and other enterobacteriaceae, ThMP is phosphorylated to the cofactor TPP by a thiamine-phosphate kinase (ThMP + ATP → TPP + ADP). In most bacteria and in eukaryotes, ThMP is hydrolyzed to thiamine and then pyrophosphorylated to TPP by thiamine diphosphokinase (thiamine + ATP → TPP + AMP).


title: Thiamine

text: The biosynthetic pathways are regulated by riboswitches. If there is sufficient thiamine present in the cell then the thiamine binds to the mRNAs for the enzymes that are required in the pathway and prevents their translation. If there is no thiamine present then there is no inhibition, and the enzymes required for the biosynthesis are produced. The specific riboswitch, the TPP riboswitch, is the only known riboswitch found in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms.


title: Thiamine

text: In the first total synthesis in 1936, ethyl 3-ethoxypropanoate was treated with ethyl formate to give an intermediate dicarbonyl compound which when reacted with acetamidine formed a substituted pyrimidine. Conversion of its hydroxyl group to an amino group was carried out by nucleophilic aromatic substitution, first to the chloride derivative using phosphorus oxychloride, followed by treatment with ammonia. The ethoxy group was then converted to a bromo derivative using hydrobromic acid. In the final stage, thiamine (as its dibromide salt) was formed in an alkylation reaction using 4-methyl-5-(2-hydroxyethyl)thiazole.


title: Thiamine

text: Merck & Co. adapted the 1936 laboratory-scale synthesis, allowing them to manufacture thiamine in Rahway in 1937. However, an alternative route using the intermediate Grewe diamine (5-(aminomethyl)-2-methyl-4-pyrimidinamine), first published in 1937, was investigated by Hoffman La Roche and competitive manufacturing processes followed. Efficient routes to the diamine have continued to be of interest. In the European Economic Area, thiamine is registered under REACH regulation and between 100 and 1,000 tonnes per annum are manufactured or imported there.


title: Thiamine

text: Many vitamin B analogues, such as Benfotiamine, fursultiamine, and sulbutiamine, are synthetic derivatives of thiamine. Most were developed in Japan in the 1950s and 1960s as forms that were intended to improve absorption compared to thiamine. Some are approved for use in some countries as a drug or non-prescription dietary supplement for treatment of diabetic neuropathy or other health conditions.


title: Thiamine

text: In the upper small intestine, thiamine phosphate esters present in food are hydrolyzed by alkaline phosphatase enzymes. At low concentrations, the absorption process is carrier-mediated. At higher concentrations, absorption also occurs via passive diffusion. Active transport can be inhibited by alcohol consumption or by folate deficiency.


title: Thiamine

text: The majority of thiamine in serum is bound to proteins, mainly albumin. Approximately 90% of total thiamine in blood is in erythrocytes. A specific binding protein called thiamine-binding protein has been identified in rat serum and is believed to be a hormone-regulated carrier protein important for tissue distribution of thiamine. Uptake of thiamine by cells of the blood and other tissues occurs via active transport and passive diffusion. Two members of the family of transporter proteins encoded by the genes SLC19A2 and SLC19A3 are capable of thiamine transport. In some tissues, thiamine uptake and secretion appear to be mediated by a Na-dependent transporter and a transcellular proton gradient.


title: Thiamine

text: Human storage of thiamine is about 25 to 30 mg, with the greatest concentrations in skeletal muscle, heart, brain, liver, and kidneys. ThMP and free (unphosphorylated) thiamine are present in plasma, milk, cerebrospinal fluid, and, it is presumed, all extracellular fluid. Unlike the highly phosphorylated forms of thiamine, ThMP and free thiamine are capable of crossing cell membranes. Calcium and magnesium have been shown to affect the distribution of thiamine in the body and magnesium deficiency has been shown to aggravate thiamine deficiency. Thiamine contents in human tissues are less than those of other species.


title: Thiamine

text: Thiamine and its metabolites (2-methyl-4-amino-5-pyrimidine carboxylic acid, 4-methyl-thiazole-5-acetic acid, and others) are excreted principally in the urine.


title: Thiamine

text: The bioavailability of thiamine in foods can be interfered with in a variety of ways. Sulfites, added to foods as a preservative, will attack thiamine at the methylene bridge, cleaving the pyrimidine ring from the thiazole ring. The rate of this reaction is increased under acidic conditions. Thiamine is degraded by thermolabile thiaminases present in some species of fish, shellfish and other foods. The pupae of an African silk worm, "Anaphe venata", is a traditional food in Nigeria. Consumption leads to thiamine deficiency. Older literature reported that in Thailand, consumption of fermented, uncooked fish caused thiamine deficiency, but either abstaining from eating the fish or heating it first reversed the deficiency. In ruminants, intestinal bacteria synthesize thiamine and thiaminases. The bacterial thiaminases are cell surface enzymes that must dissociate from the cell membrane before being activated; the dissociation can occur in ruminants under acidotic conditions. In dairy cows, over-feeding with grain causes subacute ruminal acidosis and increased ruminal bacteria thiaminase release, resulting in thiamine deficiency.


title: Thiamine

text: From reports on two small studies conducted in Thailand, chewing slices of areca nut wrapped in betel leaves and chewing tea leaves reduced food thiamine bioavailability by a mechanism that may involve tannins.


title: Thiamine

text: Bariatric surgery for weight loss is known to interfere with vitamin absorption. A meta-analysis reported that 27% of people who underwent bariatric surgeries experience vitamin B deficiency.


title: Thiamine

text: Thiamine was the first of the water-soluble vitamins to be isolated. The earliest observations in humans and in chickens had shown that diets of primarily polished white rice caused beriberi, but did not attribute it to the absence of a previously unknown essential nutrient.


title: Thiamine

text: In 1884, Takaki Kanehiro, a surgeon general in the Imperial Japanese Navy, rejected the previous germ theory for beriberi and suggested instead that the disease was due to insufficiencies in the diet. Switching diets on a navy ship, he discovered that replacing a diet of white rice only with one also containing barley, meat, milk, bread, and vegetables, nearly eliminated beriberi on a nine-month sea voyage. However, Takaki had added many foods to the successful diet and he incorrectly attributed the benefit to increased protein intake, as vitamins were unknown at the time. The Navy was not convinced of the need for such an expensive program of dietary improvement, and many men continued to die of beriberi, even during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904–5. Not until 1905, after the anti-beriberi factor had been discovered in rice bran (removed by polishing into white rice) and in barley bran, was Takaki's experiment rewarded. He was made a baron in the Japanese peerage system, after which he was affectionately called "Barley Baron".


title: Thiamine

text: The specific connection to grain was made in 1897 by Christiaan Eijkman, a military doctor in the Dutch East Indies, who discovered that fowl fed on a diet of cooked, polished rice developed paralysis that could be reversed by discontinuing rice polishing. He attributed beriberi to the high levels of starch in rice being toxic. He believed that the toxicity was countered in a compound present in the rice polishings. An associate, Gerrit Grijns, correctly interpreted the connection between excessive consumption of polished rice and beriberi in 1901: He concluded that rice contains an essential nutrient in the outer layers of the grain that is removed by polishing. Eijkman was eventually awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1929, because his observations led to the discovery of vitamins.


title: Thiamine

text: In 1910, a Japanese agricultural chemist of Tokyo Imperial University, Umetaro Suzuki, isolated a water-soluble thiamine compound from rice bran, which he named "aberic acid". (He later renamed it "Orizanin".) He described the compound as not only an anti-beriberi factor, but also as being essential to human nutrition; however, this finding failed to gain publicity outside of Japan, because a claim that the compound was a new finding was omitted in translation of his publication from Japanese to German. In 1911 a Polish biochemist Casimir Funk isolated the substance from rice bran (the modern thiamine) that he called a "vitamine" (on account of its containing an amino group). However, Funk did not completely characterize its chemical structure. Dutch chemists, Barend Coenraad Petrus Jansen and his closest collaborator Willem Frederik Donath, went on to isolate and crystallize the active agent in 1926, whose structure was determined by Robert Runnels Williams, in 1934. Thiamine was named by the Williams team as a portmanteau of "thio" (meaning sulfur-containing) and "vitamin". The term "vitamin" coming indirectly, by way of Funk, from the amine group of thiamine itself (although by this time, vitamins were known to not always be amines, for example, vitamin C). Thiamine was also synthesized by the Williams group in 1936.


title: Thiamine

text: Sir Rudolph Peters, in Oxford, used pigeons to understand how thiamine deficiency results in the pathological-physiological symptoms of beriberi. Pigeons fed exclusively on polished rice developed opisthotonos, a condition characterized by head retraction. If not treated, the animals died after a few days. Administration of thiamine after opisthotonos was observed led to a complete cure within 30 minutes. As no morphological modifications were seen in the brain of the pigeons before and after treatment with thiamine, Peters introduced the concept of a biochemical-induced injury. In 1937, Lohmann and Schuster showed that the diphosphorylated thiamine derivative, TPP, was a cofactor required for the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar (born April 29, 1960), commonly known as "El Güero Palma", is a Mexican former drug trafficker and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel alongside Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. After the brutal murder of his family ordered by his boss Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Palma engaged in a string of vicious crimes to avenge his lost ones. Palma was arrested on June 23, 1995, and extradited to the United States where he served a jail sentence until June 2016. He was then deported back to Mexico and charged with a double homicide for having murdered two Nayarit police officers back in 1995. Palma is currently incarcerated at the Altiplano Prison, near Mexico City.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: Jesús Héctor Luis Palma Salazar was born in Noria de Abajo, Mocorito, Sinaloa, on April 29, 1960. He began his life of crime as a car thief and eventually worked as a gunman for Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, under the umbrella of the Guadalajara Cartel. Palma rose up the ranks, along with Abelardo "El Lobito" Retamoza Machado, eventually became a co-leader of the cartel. He was associated with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: Following the loss of a large cocaine shipment which was blamed on El Chapo and Palma, on 1988 El Lobito Retamoza was killed but Palma spared. Following El Lobito's death, Palma contacted and created an alliance with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán of the Sinaloa Cartel.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: Palma splintered from the group, which was handed down to Felix Gallardo's nephews in Tijuana, who later formed the Tijuana Cartel (also known as the Arellano Félix Organization). Palma, along with a Venezuelan trafficker named Rafael Enrique Clavel, the one-time boyfriend of Palma's sister Minerva Palma, began operating their own cartel.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: In 1978, Palma was arrested in Arizona for drug trafficking and sentenced to eight years in a U.S. prison. Upon his release, he discovered his wife, Guadalupe Leija Serrano, had run off with Clavel and taken her and Palma's two children.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: Clavel forced Guadalupe to withdraw US$7 million from a bank account and later decapitated her and shipped her head back to Palma. The two young children, Jesús (aged 5) and Nataly (aged 4), were taken to Venezuela and thrown off a bridge named 'Puente de la Concordia', located in the city of San Cristóbal,Táchira, about 40 kms from the border with Colombia.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: Soon afterward, Clavel began working for the Tijuana Cartel. In retaliation, Palma executed Gallardo's lawyer and Clavel's three children. Clavel would later be arrested and soon be murdered in jail by an inmate on Palma's orders.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: Palma returned to trafficking, this time within the Sinaloa Cartel, sharing leadership with Adrián Palma Reyes and Joaquin Guzmán Loera (El Chapo) would later become the leader of the Sinaloa cartel while Adrian Palma Reyes became a lieutenant of Guzman and leader of the Badiraguato plaza in Sinaloa with the Reyes family as his armed wing.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: Palma was arrested on June 23, 1995, after a 12-seat Lear jet he was flying on to attend a wedding party crash-landed. He was traveling from Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, to Guadalajara, Jalisco, when the jet was diverted and unable to locate a new landing strip in time. Palma survived the crash-landing and was later arrested by Mexican military officers; he originally evaded capture by traveling in full uniform as a Federal Judicial Police (PJF) officer complete with identification and an armed caravan of PJF personnel.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: After serving nine years in the Atwater Federal Prison, Palma was extradited back to Mexico in June 2016, when he was charged with a double murder of police officers in 1995, in Nayarit. He is currently incarcerated at the Altiplano Prison, near Mexico City.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: On 2 June 2003, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned Palma under the "Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act" (sometimes referred to simply as the "Kingpin Act") for his involvement in drug trafficking, along with six other international criminals and three entities. The act prohibited U.S. citizens and companies from doing any kind of business activity with him and virtually froze all his assets in the U.S.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: Palma had managed to insert himself into the depths of the Mexican Federal Judicial Police (PJF), evading detection by posing as one in complete uniform, with identification, and traveling in a heavily armed caravan of PJF officers. It was later discovered he was able to evade capture by staying at the home of the local police commander.


title: Héctor Luis Palma Salazar

text: The corruption within the police force has been documented to have spread to the judicial system. By bribing judges, the Sinaloa Cartel has repeatedly evaded prosecution. In 2004, 18 men were arrested in possession of 28 machine guns, 2 hand guns, 223 magazines, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, 12 grenade launchers, 18 hand grenades, smoke grenades and bulletproof vests. The men were set free by Judge José Luis Gómez Martínez, who said there was no evidence they were part of any criminal organization.


title: Catharsis

text: Catharsis (from Greek , , meaning "purification" or "cleansing" or "clarification") is the purification and purgation of emotions through dramatic art, or it may be any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration. In its literal medical sense, it refers to the evacuation of the "catamenia"—the menstrual fluid or other reproductive material from the patient. But as a metaphor it was originally used by Aristotle in the "Poetics", comparing the effects of tragedy on the mind of a spectator to the effect of catharsis on the body.


title: Catharsis

text: In psychology, the term is associated with Freudian psychoanalysis and specifically relates to the expression of buried trauma, bringing it into consciousness and thereby releasing it permanently. However, there is considerable debate as to its therapeutic usefulness. Social catharsis may be regarded as the collective expression of extreme emotion.


title: Catharsis

text: Catharsis is a term in dramatic art that describes the effect of tragedy (or comedy and quite possibly other artistic forms) principally on the audience (although some have speculated on characters in the drama as well). Nowhere does Aristotle explain the meaning of "catharsis" as he is using that term in the definition of tragedy in the "Poetics" (1449b21-28). G. F. Else argues that traditional, widely held interpretations of catharsis as "purification" or "purgation" have no basis in the text of the "Poetics", but are derived from the use of catharsis in other Aristotelian and non-Aristotelian contexts. For this reason, a number of diverse interpretations of the meaning of this term have arisen. The term is often discussed along with Aristotle's concept of anagnorisis.


title: Catharsis

text: D. W. Lucas, in an authoritative edition of the "Poetics", comprehensively covers the various nuances inherent in the meaning of the term in an Appendix devoted to "Pity, Fear, and Katharsis". Lucas recognizes the possibility of catharsis bearing some aspect of the meaning of "purification, purgation, and 'intellectual clarification,'" although his approach to these terms differs in some ways from that of other influential scholars. In particular, Lucas's interpretation is based on "the Greek doctrine of Humours," which has not received wide subsequent acceptance. The conception of catharsis in terms of purgation and purification remains in wide use today, as it has for centuries. However, since the twentieth century, the interpretation of catharsis as "intellectual clarification" has gained recognition in describing the effect of catharsis on members of the audience.


title: Catharsis

text: In his works prior to the "Poetics", Aristotle had used the term "catharsis" purely in its literal medical sense (usually referring to the evacuation of the "katamenia"—the menstrual fluid or other reproductive material) from the patient. The "Poetics", however, employs "catharsis" as a medical metaphor.


title: Catharsis

text: F. L. Lucas opposes, therefore, the use of words like "purification" and "cleansing" to translate "catharsis"; he proposes that it should rather be rendered as "purgation". "It is the human soul that is purged of its excessive passions." Gerald F. Else made the following argument against the "purgation" theory:


title: Catharsis

text: Lessing (1729–1781) sidesteps the medical attribution. He interprets "catharsis" as a purification (),


title: Catharsis

text: an experience that brings pity and fear into their proper balance: "In real life", he explained, "men are sometimes too much addicted to pity or fear, sometimes too little; tragedy brings them back to a virtuous and happy mean."


title: Catharsis

text: Tragedy is then a corrective; through watching tragedy, the audience learns how to feel these emotions at proper levels.


title: Catharsis

text: In the twentieth century a paradigm shift took place in the interpretation of catharsis: a number of scholars contributed to the argument in support of the intellectual clarification concept. The clarification theory of catharsis would be fully consistent, as other interpretations are not, with Aristotle's argument in chapter 4 of the "Poetics" (1448b4-17) that the essential pleasure of mimesis is the intellectual pleasure of "learning and inference".


title: Catharsis

text: It is generally understood that Aristotle's theory of mimesis and catharsis represent responses to Plato's negative view of artistic mimesis on an audience. Plato argued that the most common forms of artistic mimesis were designed to evoke from an audience powerful emotions such as pity, fear, and ridicule which override the rational control that defines the highest level of our humanity and lead us to wallow unacceptably in the overindulgence of emotion and passion. Aristotle's concept of catharsis, in all of the major senses attributed to it, contradicts Plato's view by providing a mechanism that generates the rational control of irrational emotions. Most scholars consider all of the commonly held interpretations of catharsis, purgation, purification, and clarification to represent a homeopathic process in which pity and fear accomplish the catharsis of emotions like themselves. For an alternate view of catharsis as an allopathic process in which pity and fear produce a catharsis of emotions unlike pity and fear, see E. Belfiore's, "Tragic Pleasures: Aristotle on Ploting and Emotionalism".


title: Catharsis

text: There have been, for political or aesthetic reasons, deliberate attempts made to subvert the effect of catharsis in theatre.


title: Catharsis

text: For example, Bertolt Brecht viewed catharsis as a pap (pabulum) for the bourgeois theatre audience, and designed dramas which left significant emotions unresolved, intending to force social action upon the audience. Brecht then identified the concept of catharsis with the notion of identification of the spectator, meaning a complete adhesion of the viewer to the dramatic actions and characters. Brecht reasoned that the absence of a cathartic resolution would require the audience to take political action in the real world, in order to fill the emotional gap they had experienced vicariously. This technique can be seen as early as his agit-prop play "The Measures Taken", and is mostly the source of his invention of an "epic theatre", based on a distancing effect (Verfremdungseffekt) between the viewer and the representation or portrayal of characters.


title: Catharsis

text: Catharsis before the 6th century BCE rise of tragedy is, for the Western World, essentially a historical footnote to the Aristotelian conception. The practice of purification had not yet appeared in Homer, as later Greek commentators noted: the "Aithiopis", an epic set in the Trojan War cycle, narrates the purification of Achilles after his murder of Thersites. Catharsis describes the result of measures taken to cleanse away blood-guilt—"blood is purified through blood", a process in the development of Hellenistic culture in which the oracle of Delphi took a prominent role. The classic example—Orestes—belongs to tragedy, but the procedure given by Aeschylus is ancient: the blood of a sacrificed piglet is allowed to wash over the blood-polluted man, and running water washes away the blood. The identical ritual is represented, Burkert informs us, on a "krater" found at Canicattini, wherein it is shown being employed to cure the daughters of Proetus from their madness, caused by some ritual transgression. To the question of whether the ritual obtains atonement for the subject, or just healing, Burkert answers: "To raise the question is to see the irrelevance of this distinction".


title: Catharsis

text: In Platonism, catharsis is part of the soul's progressive ascent to knowledge. It is a means to go beyond the senses and embrace the pure world of the intelligible. Specifically for the Neoplatonists Plotinus and Porphyry, catharsis is the elimination of passions. This leads to a clear distinction in the virtues. In the second tractate of the first Ennead, Plotinus lays out the difference between the civic virtues and the cathartic virtues and explains that the civic, or political, virtues are inferior. They are a principle of order and beauty and concern material existence. ("Enneads", I,2,2) Although they maintain a trace of the Absolute Good, they do not lead to the unification of the soul with the divinity. As Porphyry makes clear, their function is to moderate individual passions and allow for peaceful coexistence with others. ("Sentences", XXXIX) The purificatory, or cathartic, virtues are a condition for assimilation to the divinity. They separate the soul from the sensible, from everything that is not its true self, enabling it to contemplate the Mind ("Nous").


title: Catharsis

text: In psychology, the term was first employed by Sigmund Freud's colleague Josef Breuer (1842–1925), who developed a cathartic method of treatment using hypnosis for persons who have intensive hysteria. While under hypnosis, Breuer's patients were able to recall traumatic experiences, and through the process of expressing the original emotions that had been repressed and forgotten, they were relieved of their hysteric symptoms. Catharsis was also central to Freud's concept of psychoanalysis, but he replaced hypnosis with free association.


title: Catharsis

text: The term "cathexis" has also been adopted by modern psychotherapy, particularly Freudian psychoanalysis, to describe the act of expressing, or more accurately, "experiencing" the deep emotions often associated with events in the individual's past which had originally been repressed or ignored, and had never been adequately addressed or experienced.


title: Catharsis

text: There has been much debate about the use of catharsis in the reduction of anger. Some scholars believe that "blowing off steam" may reduce physiological stress in the short term, but this reduction may act as a reward mechanism, reinforcing the behavior and promoting future outbursts. However, other studies have suggested that using violent media may decrease hostility under periods of stress. Legal scholars have linked "catharsis" to "closure" (an individual's desire for a firm answer to a question and an aversion toward ambiguity) and "satisfaction" which can be applied to affective strategies as diverse as retribution, on one hand, and forgiveness on the other. There's no "one size fits all" definition of "catharsis", therefore this does not allow a clear definition of its use in therapeutic terms.


title: Catharsis

text: Emotional situations can elicit physiological, behavioral, cognitive, expressive, and subjective changes in individuals. Affected individuals often use social sharing as a cathartic release of emotions. Bernard Rimé studies the patterns of social sharing after emotional experiences. His works suggest that individuals seek social outlets in an attempt to modify the situation and restore personal homeostatic balance.


title: Catharsis

text: Rimé found that 80–95% of emotional episodes are shared. The affected individuals talk about the emotional experience recurrently to people around them throughout the following hours, days, or weeks. These results indicate that this response is irrespective of emotional valence, gender, education, and culture. His studies also found that social sharing of emotion increases as the intensity of the emotion increases.


title: Catharsis

text: Affect scientists have found differences in motives for social sharing of positive and negative emotions.


title: Catharsis

text: A study by Langston found that individuals share positive events to capitalize on the positive emotions they elicit. Reminiscing the positive experience augments positive affects like temporary mood and longer-term well-being. A study by Gable et al. confirmed Langston's "capitalization" theory by demonstrating that relationship quality is enhanced when partners are responsive to positive recollections. The responsiveness increased levels of intimacy and satisfaction within the relationship. In general, the motives behind social sharing of positive events are to recall the positive emotions, inform others, and gain attention from others. All three motives are representatives of capitalization.


title: Catharsis

text: Rimé studies suggest that the motives behind social sharing of negative emotions are to vent, understand, bond, and gain social support. Negatively affected individuals often seek life meaning and emotional support to combat feelings of loneliness after a tragic event.


title: Catharsis

text: If emotions are shared socially and elicits emotion in the listener then the listener will likely share what they heard with other people. Rimé calls this process "secondary social sharing". If this repeats, it is then called "tertiary social sharing".


title: Catharsis

text: Collective emotional events share similar responses. When communities are affected by an emotional event, members repetitively share emotional experiences. After the 2001 New York and the 2004 Madrid terrorist attacks, more than 80% of respondents shared their emotional experience with others. According to Rimé, every sharing round elicits emotional reactivation in the sender and the receiver. This then reactivates the need to share in both. Social sharing throughout the community leads to high amounts of emotional recollection and "emotional overheating".


title: Catharsis

text: In the first stage, a state of "emergency" takes place in the first month after the emotional event. In this stage, there is an abundance of thoughts, talks, media coverage, and social integration based on the event.


title: Catharsis

text: In the second stage, the "plateau" occurs in the second month. Abundant thoughts remain, but the amount of talks, media coverage, and social integration decreases.


title: Catharsis

text: This cathartic release of emotions is often believed to be therapeutic for affected individuals. Many therapeutic mechanisms have been seen to aid in emotional recovery. One example is "interpersonal emotion regulation", in which listeners help to modify the affected individual's affective state by using certain strategies. Expressive writing is another common mechanism for catharsis. Joanne Frattaroli published a meta-analysis suggesting that written disclosure of information, thoughts, and feelings enhances mental health.


title: Catharsis

text: However, other studies question the benefits of social catharsis. Finkenauer and colleagues found that non-shared memories were no more emotionally triggering than shared ones. Other studies have also failed to prove that social catharsis leads to any degree of emotional recovery. Zech and Rimé asked participants to recall and share a negative experience with an experimenter. When compared with the control group that only discussed unemotional topics, there was no correlation between emotional sharing and emotional recovery.


title: Catharsis

text: Some studies even found adverse effects of social catharsis. Contrary to the Frattaroli study, Sbarra and colleagues found expressive writing to greatly impede emotional recovery following a marital separation. Similar findings have been published regarding trauma recovery. A group intervention technique is often used on disaster victims to prevent trauma-related disorders. However, meta-analysis showed negative effects of this cathartic "therapy".


title: God of War: Ascension

text: God of War: Ascension is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). The game was first released on March 12, 2013, for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console. It is the seventh installment in the "God of War" series and a prequel to the entire series. Loosely based on Greek mythology, it is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist, Kratos, the former servant of the God of War Ares, who tricked Kratos into killing his wife and daughter. In response to this tragedy, Kratos renounced Ares, breaking his blood oath to the god. Kratos was, therefore, imprisoned and tortured by the three Furies, guardians of honor and enforcers of punishment. Helped by the oath keeper, Orkos, Kratos escapes his imprisonment and confronts the Furies, aiming to free himself of his bond to Ares.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: The gameplay is similar to previous installments, focusing on combo-based combat with the player's main weapon, the Blades of Chaos, and other weapons acquired by the game's World Weapons mechanic. It continues the use of quick time events from previous entries but also utilizes a promptless free-form system. Four magical attacks and a power-enhancing ability can be used as alternative combat options, and the game features puzzles and platforming elements. The game also features a redesigned combat system, gameplay mechanics not available in previous installments, and downloadable content. Notably, "Ascension" is the only installment in the series to include multiplayer, which is online-only and features modes for both competitive and cooperative play. From October 2012 to March 2013, a social experience was available online in the form of a graphic novel titled "Rise of the Warrior", a prequel story that tied into the game's single-player and multiplayer modes. "Ascension" was the last game in the series to be based on Greek mythology and also the last one to feature Terrence C. Carson as the voice of Kratos as the franchise shifted to Norse mythology with 2018's "God of War" and Christopher Judge took over the role of Kratos.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: "God of War: Ascension" received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised its fundamental gameplay and spectacle as true to the series, although the story was deemed to be less compelling than in previous installments. The game's multiplayer element received mixed responses: although reviewers found that the gameplay translated well into the multiplayer setting, they criticized the balance and depth of combat. "Ascension" sold less well than its predecessors and received no awards, but it did receive several nominations, including "Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing" at the Writers Guild of America Videogame Awards and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences award for "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design".


title: God of War: Ascension

text: In both of "God of War: Ascension"s single-player and multiplayer elements, it is primarily a third-person video game viewed from a fixed camera perspective. Some scenes in the single-player campaign feature a first-person camera view. In single-player mode, the player controls the character Kratos in combo-based combat, platforming, and puzzle games. The enemies are an assortment of creatures, most of whom are drawn from Greek mythology, including cyclopes, cerberuses, empusas, Sirens, Gorgons, satyrs, harpies, and centaurs. Other monsters were created specifically for the game, such as the juggernauts, wraiths, and manticores. Many of the monsters also appear in the multiplayer mode. Platforming elements require the player to climb walls and ladders, jump across chasms, and slide down walls to proceed through sections of the game. The game features a variety of puzzles, ranging from simple to complex.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Kratos' main weapon is the Blades of Chaos, a pair of short swords attached to chains that are wrapped around his wrists and forearms. In gameplay, the blades can be swung offensively in various maneuvers. Introduced in "Ascension" is a weapons mechanic called the World Weapon system and it allows Kratos to pick up weapons scattered throughout game locations or to take them from defeated foes, and to use these for a limited time. There are five World Weapons (sword, club, javelin, sling, shield) that can be collected randomly, although Kratos may possess only one at any time. When a World Weapon is not equipped, Kratos may punch or kick foes as part of the reworked combat system. Another mechanic introduced is that Kratos can tether enemies, referred to as grappling; he can hold an enemy in place with one blade while he attacks other enemies with the other blade, and he can throw the tethered enemy.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Four magical disciplines are acquired, including the Fire of Ares, the Ice of Poseidon, the Lightning of Zeus, and the Soul of Hades, which, depending on the magic equipped, imbues the Blades of Chaos with that elemental property. For example, the Soul of Hades imbues the Blades with purple flames and can unleash souls of the Underworld to briefly attack enemies. The Ice of Poseidon also enables Kratos to breathe underwater, a necessary ability as substantial time is spent there. The Rage ability called Rage of the Gods that was featured in previous games is included, but in this game, its meter is filled by landing attacks on enemies and the ability is automatically activated once the meter has reached maximum capacity. It remains activated until Kratos is attacked or stops attacking for an extended period of time, after which, the meter must be refilled. The Rage ability is also affected by the magic equipped, allowing Kratos to use different Rage attacks, such as the lightning-based Rage of Zeus.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Three relics, the Amulet of Uroborus (Life Cycle mechanic), the Oath Stone of Orkos, and the Eyes of Truth, are acquired and needed for game progression. The Amulet of Uroborus allows Kratos to manipulate time by decaying or healing an object; examples include reconstructing broken pathways and using it during puzzle-solving. Construction can be paused or reversed if needed. The amulet can also be used against enemies to briefly slow their movements. The Oath Stone of Orkos gives Kratos the ability to create a "shadow" duplicate of himself that can depress plates, hold levers, or attack enemies. The Eyes of Truth remove illusions created by the Furies and cast a blinding light on enemies. As well as the quick time event (QTE) mechanic featured in the previous games, "Ascension" added a promptless free-form system that allows players to choose when to attack or dodge based on the enemy's actions. When certain foes, such as a cyclops or a juggernaut, have been sufficiently weakened, the player may jump on their back and briefly force them to attack other foes.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Other extra features include ten artifacts hidden in the game world that provide more abilities during New Game Plus, such as unlimited magic. This mode also allows players to change Kratos' costume, but trophies are disabled. A feature absent from previous installments but added in "Ascension" is "Chapter Select", which allows players to select and replay previously completed levels. Unlike previous installments, in which behind-the-scenes videos are unlocked after completing the game, these videos are already available from the main menu.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: "God of War: Ascension" is the only installment in the series to offer a multiplayer feature, which is online-only, and up to eight players can take part. Before entering multiplayer battles, each player is introduced to a warrior, who, like Kratos, is an oath-breaker and is imprisoned in the Prison of the Damned—the warrior's backstory is explored in "Rise of the Warrior". The player takes control of the warrior and aligns with one of the four deities: Ares, Hades, Zeus, or Poseidon. The main objective for players is to take control of a map to earn rewards from the gods. Each god offers a unique combat play-style and in-battle abilities. The attack style of the god with whom the player aligns is critical to their warrior's path. Players who ally with Ares are brute force experts with an up-close focus. Players who ally with Zeus are magical experts with a focus on space control. Players who ally with Poseidon are supports with a focus on team synergy and self-sustenance. Players who ally with Hades are versatile, unlike the other three, featuring other unique mechanics such as lifesteal, stealth, and curses. Players can create a total of four warriors to have a champion representing each god.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Players can unlock special magic abilities, new and upgraded armor, weapons, relics, and other treasures as they earn experience points (XP) to level-up their warrior. Players may also complete "Labors", which are challenges from the gods that rewards armor and weapons. Throughout multiplayer matches, players receive buffs and debuffs, and there is a color-coding system, called flashes, where a player's character will flash a certain color indicating a special property, such as vulnerability or invulnerability. A prestige feature called "Ascension", added in the June 10, 2013 update, allows players to reset their allegiance progression when they reach Level 40, and receive in-game currency for "Godly" armor and weapons—the "most valuable and powerful items in the game". They are classified as a Hero the first time they ascend and then a Demigod the second time and keep that title from then on.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: There are five multiplayer modes: Team Favor of the Gods, Match of Champions, Trial of the Gods, Capture the Flag, and Bout of Honor. Team matches randomly assign players to compete on either the Spartan or Trojan team. The "signature" multiplayer mode is Team Favor of the Gods, in which two teams of two-to-four players try to win by accumulating a target quantity of points. Points, known as Favor, are earned by killing and other methods. When players are not on the offensive, they may help their team earn points by capturing altars, collecting red orbs from chests, and setting traps for opposing players. The non-team version, Match of Champions, is a four-to-eight-player deathmatch with a similar goal to Team Favor of the Gods. Trial of the Gods is a two-player, cooperative (co-op), time-trial mode in which the duo faces five waves of mythological monsters concluding with a boss fight. A single-player version is also available. In Capture the Flag, two teams of four players battle to capture the opposing team's flag and return it to their base until a target number of flags have been obtained. In Bout of Honor, added in the July 11, 2013 update, players test their skills in a best-of-seven-rounds one-on-one fight.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: All but two of the fifteen multiplayer maps are based on locations explored throughout the "God of War" series, with eight of those based on locations explored in "Ascension"; for example, Desert of Lost Souls is from the original "God of War", Bog of the Forgotten is from "God of War II", and Labyrinth of Daedalus, Forum of Hercules, and Chamber of the Flame are from "God of War III". The two original maps are the Coliseum of Persia and the Walls of Troy (which features the Trojan Horse). Every map features special power-ups awarded by the gods for earning points, such as the Boots of Hermes for acceleration and running attacks. Maps also have environmental obstacles or objectives to complete for more points. For example, on the Desert of Lost Souls map, the cyclops Polyphemus may attack nearby players and killing him with the Spear of Olympus will grant bonus points for that team.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: As with previous games, "God of War: Ascension" is set in an alternate version of ancient Greece populated by the Olympian gods, Titans, and other beings from Greek mythology. Game events are set six months after Kratos killed his family, and ten years before the original "God of War" (2005). The next game chronologically would be "Chains of Olympus" (2008), which takes place some time between "Ascension" and "God of War" (2005). The game's narrative takes place over four weeks; it shifts between the present (the fourth week) and past (the preceding three weeks), while the player controls Kratos in both. Several locations, including the Prison of the Damned and some real-world locations—including the village Kirra, the city Delphi, and the island Delos—are explored in the game.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: The Prison of the Damned is the Furies' massive prison to house all oath-breakers. Kirra is an abandoned village that lost its water supply after its water wheel and aqueduct were destroyed. Other than monsters, the only life is in its harbor, where the tamed Harbor Master guides vessels in and out of the port. Delphi is located in the snowy mountains north of Kirra and features the Tower of Delphi. After activating three massive, mechanical pythons, the Tower allows access to the Temple of Delphi, home of the Oracle. Delos features a Titan-sized statue of Apollo, constructed by the inventor Archimedes to honor the god.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: The game's protagonist is Kratos (voiced by Terrence C. Carson), a Spartan warrior who broke his blood oath to the god Ares after being tricked into killing his family by his former master. The main antagonists are the three Furies: Megaera (Nika Futterman), Tisiphone (Debi Mae West), and the Fury Queen, Alecto (Jennifer Hale). The Furies are the guardians of honor and the bane of traitors, who punish those they deem guilty. They were spawned from the eons-long war between the Primordials, the beings who created the Earth. Other characters include the oath keeper Orkos (Troy Baker), the son of Ares and Alecto, who was disowned by the god as he was not the perfect warrior that Ares sought; Aletheia (Adrienne Barbeau), the Oracle of Delphi with prophetic sight; the corrupted Prophet Castor (David W. Collins) and his conjoined twin Pollux (Brad Grusnick), who usurped the oracle, deciding who can consult her; and the Scribe of Hecatonchires (Robin Atkin Downes), the first mortal imprisoned by the Furies who has been keeping records to maintain his sanity. Kratos' wife Lysandra (Jennifer Hale) and his daughter Calliope appear in an illusion created by Alecto, and the King of Sparta (Crispin Freeman) and the Village Oracle (Susan Blakeslee) appear in an illusion created by Tisiphone with the help of her familiar, Daemon.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: In the game's multiplayer mode, Zeus (Corey Burton), the King of the Olympian Gods, Ares (Steven Blum), the God of War, Poseidon (Gideon Emery), the God of the Sea, and Hades (Fred Tatasciore), the God of the Underworld, appear as statues at the Rotunda of Olympus where the player selects one to align to, after which the chosen god will communicate with the player during gameplay. Castor and Pollux, the demigod Hercules, the Titan cyclops Polyphemus, the Gorgon Stheno, and the giant scorpion Skorpius also appear in the multiplayer as bosses and/or environmental obstacles.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: The game begins with Kratos, who is imprisoned, chained, and tormented by the Furies for breaking his blood oath to Ares. The Fury Megaera tortures Kratos, but he manages to break free. Chasing her through the prison, he discovers that the prison itself is Aegaeon the Hecatonchires, the first traitor of the Furies who had broken a blood oath to Zeus; he was turned into the Prison of the Damned as punishment. Overcoming an illusion created by the Fury Tisiphone and her familiar Daemon, Kratos finds and kills Megaera, retrieving the Amulet of Uroborus, which the Furies had confiscated from him when he was imprisoned.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: The narrative shifts to three weeks before Kratos' imprisonment. Confronted by Orkos in the Village of Kirra, Kratos is advised that the visions he has been experiencing are mind tricks created by the Furies, and instructs him to find the Oracle of Delphi. Upon arrival at the Temple of Delphi, he overcomes Castor and Pollux, who tried to kill the Oracle. In her dying breath, the Oracle instructs Kratos to travel to Delos to retrieve the Eyes of Truth. Taking the Amulet of Uroborus from the now-dead Castor and Pollux, Kratos travels to Kirra's harbor, where he again encounters Orkos. The oath keeper reveals that Ares wanted a perfect warrior to help him overthrow Zeus, so Ares helped Kratos against the barbarians to make him into a perfect warrior. Orkos became the oath keeper and did not question the Furies until Ares tricked Kratos into killing his own family. Armed with this knowledge, Kratos takes a ship to Delos.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: A week later, Kratos arrives at the island of Delos and explores the ruined statue of Apollo. He is attacked by all three Furies and is eventually captured. Orkos appears and frees Kratos, transporting him to another location. Orkos gives Kratos his Oath Stone and reveals that he and Aletheia tried to warn Zeus of Ares' and the Furies' plan. In retaliation, they took the Oracle's eyes, the objects Kratos seeks. After a perilous journey, Kratos uses the Amulet of Uroborus to restore the statue and retrieve the eyes. On completing the Trials of Archimedes, Kratos is ambushed and captured by the Furies, who confiscate all his items.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Back in the present time, Tisiphone and Daemon cast another illusion to deceive Kratos, who overcomes it and retrieves the Oath Stone of Orkos. He encounters the Scribe of Hecatonchires, who reveals that the Furies were originally fair in their punishment, but devolved into ruthless beings because of Ares. Continuing his pursuit of the Furies, Kratos reaches the door to Alecto's Chamber, but seemingly returns home to his wife and daughter: another illusion, this time cast by the Fury Queen Alecto. She tries to convince Kratos he can live within this illusion if he rejoins Ares, but he refuses. Enraged, Alecto and Tisiphone attack Kratos, who retrieves the eyes, and Alecto transforms into a Charybdis. After a brutal battle, Kratos uses the eyes to break through the Furies' illusions before killing them both, which destroys the prison.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: Kratos returns to Sparta, where he is met by Orkos. He praises Kratos' victory over the Furies, but reveals that Kratos will not be free from Ares' bond unless he kills Orkos, whom the Furies made Kratos' oath keeper again before Kratos killed them. He begs Kratos to give him an honorable death, which will free them both from Ares. Kratos initially refuses out of regret for killing so many innocents, but Orkos' continuing pleas ultimately force Kratos to kill him. Afterward, Kratos experiences the first of many nightmares—previously masked by his bond—and discovers his path to redemption through continual service to Olympus. Kratos burns down his house with the corpse of Orkos inside and leaves, beginning his path towards becoming the champion of the gods.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: In January 2010, Santa Monica's studio director John Hight told video-gaming blog Joystiq that "while "God of War III" will conclude the trilogy, it won't spell the end of the franchise" and said "We're going to be really careful about what we do next." From April 2011 until April 2012, several sources claimed that a fourth main entry would release sometime in 2012 and would feature an online component. On April 12, 2012, Sony released a teaser image on its official PlayStation Facebook page, which was followed by the game's announcement on April 19, though Amazon leaked the announcement the day before. The trailer announced Todd Papy, who had worked as a designer on "God of War" and "God of War II" and as Design Director on "God of War III", as Game Director. David Jaffe confirmed that "God of War III" Game Director Stig Asmussen did not return to direct this game because he was working on another project at Santa Monica. The announcement trailer was narrated by Linda Hunt; it refers to a time before Kratos became the Ghost of Sparta and was not "bound in blood". The announcement officially confirmed that the game's title would be "God of War: Ascension". Papy said the game was not titled "God of War IV" to avoid confusion because it is a prequel, rather than a sequel, to the trilogy. The name was chosen because it complements the story and the additional multiplayer component; according to Papy, in this mode, players are "basically ascending from an unknown hero to a god".<ref name="4/30"></ref>


title: God of War: Ascension

text: The game features a retooled "God of War III" engine, enabling online multiplayer battles for up to eight players. Papy said to allow customization, Kratos and other known gods would not be included as playable characters in the multiplayer modes because the developers did not want "red Kratos, blue Kratos, yellow Kratos", and selecting gods would lock players into established roles. This decision was made "to balance the game when players are pitted against each other". Papy also said there would be no female characters because each character in the multiplayer mode is based on Kratos' animation model. The first demonstration of the game's multiplayer element featured the Team Favor of the Gods mode running on the map Desert of Lost Souls, which features the Titan cyclops Polyphemus. Multiplayer had been discussed for past games, but had never been implemented as previous game directors felt that "God of War" was a single-player-only experience; in "Chains of Olympus"s case, it was cut due to time constraints during development. For "Ascension", the development team made the decision to invest in multiplayer after a simple version, tested using two Kratoses, turned out to be "a lot of fun" for the game testers.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: The development team faced challenges in adding multiplayer to an established single-player franchise. Other established franchises had been criticized for sub-par multiplayer implementations, so Santa Monica felt they had to prove to critics that their multiplayer mode would not be "tacked on". Since multiplayer was new to the team, new staff were hired who specialized in multiplayer, engineering, and design, but Santa Monica did not realize the amount of work required for the experience they had envisioned. Development was delayed because multiplayer mode required several rewrites. The player navigation code had to be changed for online play, which was initially designed for co-op; the team eventually decided this was unsatisfactory, and the changed approach cost significant development time. Local co-op was also explored, but the team decided to keep multiplayer online-only. The team finally "found the heart of [the] final multiplayer game" shortly before the first press show. Development focus switched back and forth between single-player and multiplayer; single-player received less attention while the team were preparing multiplayer for the first press announcement, but when single-player mode was reemphasized prior to its public debut, multiplayer mode suffered.


title: God of War: Ascension

text: David Jaffe, creator and Game Director of the original "God of War", spoke with "NowGamer" prior to the first press announcement in late April. He said that if he had worked on "Ascension", he would have incorporated three specific elements: different myths, a co-star, and "look to the "Zelda" structure as a jumping off point". He liked the idea of a cooperative mode, and added "I'd love to see player one be Kratos and player two be this stupid annoying sidekick that—for some to be determined story reason—Kratos is stuck with for the whole adventure and in the end, once the main quest is over, Kratos just snaps the poor kid's neck". In May 2012, Jaffe spoke with IGN about the multiplayer element: "I think it looks cool. It looks like another great, impeccably executed Sony Santa Monica game", and added, "If it turns out to be the case that the single player is watered down because of [multiplayer], then I think they have some justification. But I don't see any evidence of that, and I don't see evidence of that based on the team they are."


title: God of War: Ascension

text: At Sony's 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) press conference, the North American release date was confirmed as March 12, 2013. A single-player demo was shown, revealing new gameplay mechanics and combat systems. An encounter with the sea monster Charybdis was included in the demo, but this sequence was cut from the final game. Charybdis was recast as the creature that Alecto transforms into during the final fight of the game. The same day, Papy confirmed on PlayStation.Blog that a collector's edition of the game would be released. He said "Ascension" was being developed to feature stereoscopic 3D,<ref name="06/04"></ref> but it was ultimately cut. At Gamescom 2012, new multiplayer footage was shown, followed by the announcement of a multiplayer beta.