title: One-nation conservatism

text: By the end of the 19th century, the Conservatives had moved away from their one-nation ideology and were increasingly supportive of unrestricted capitalism and free enterprise. During the interwar period between 1919 and 1939, public fear of Bolshevism restored the Conservative Party to one-nationism. It defined itself as the party of national unity and began to support moderate reform. As the effects of the Great Depression were felt in Britain, the party was drawn to even greater levels of state intervention. Conservative prime ministers Neville Chamberlain and Stanley Baldwin pursued an interventionist, one-nation approach which won support because of its wide electoral appeal. Throughout the post-war consensus of the 1950s and 1960s, the Conservative Party continued to be dominated by one-nation conservatives whose ideas were inspired by Disraeli. The philosophy was updated and developed by the new conservatism movement led by Rab Butler. New conservatism attempted to distinguish itself from the socialism of Anthony Crosland by concentrating welfare on those in need and encouraging people to help themselves, rather than foster dependency on the state.


title: One-nation conservatism

text: Until the mid-1970s, the Conservative Party was mostly controlled by one-nation conservatives. The rise of the New Right in conservative politics led to a critique of one-nation conservatism. The New Right thinkers contended that Keynesianism and the welfare state had damaged the economy and society. The Winter of Discontent of 1978–1979 in which trades unions took industrial action with a wide impact on daily life was portrayed by the New Right as illustrative of the over-extension of the state. Figures such as Margaret Thatcher believed that to reverse the national decline it was necessary to revive old values of individualism and challenge the dependency culture which they felt had been created by the welfare state. One-nation conservatives such as Edward Heath continued to criticise Thatcher's premiership during the early 1980s recession, but they lost influence after the party won the 1983 general election.


title: One-nation conservatism

text: The Conservative Party's 2010 general election manifesto contained a section on "One World Conservatism", including a commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on well-targeted aid. In 2006, Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Andrew Tyrie published a pamphlet which claimed that party leader David Cameron was following the one-nationist path of Disraeli. Phillip Blond, a British political theorist who has had past connections with the Conservative Party, has proposed a renewed version of one-nation conservatism.


title: One-nation conservatism

text: Also in 2010, the then London Mayor and prominent Conservative (and later prime minister) Boris Johnson explained his political philosophy as such:


title: Mister Negative

text: Mister Negative is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as an enemy of Spider-Man, the Punisher, and Cloak & Dagger. The character was created by Dan Slott and Phil Jimenez, and first appeared in "Swing Shift", a story in "Free Comic Book Day: The Amazing Spider-Man" #1 (May 2007). The name "Mister Negative" is a reference to photographic negative, as the colors of his skin, hair, and costume are inverted when he transforms into his alter ego.


title: Mister Negative

text: Originally a Chinese gangster and human trafficker, whose real name was never revealed, the man who would become Mr. Negative was captured by crime boss Silvermane to serve as a test subject, alongside the future Cloak & Dagger, for an experimental procedure involving a synthetic drug created by Simon Marshall. The experiment gave the character control over both the Darkforce and Lightforce, and led to the creation of two polar opposite personalities: Mister Positive, posing as a benevolent and kind philanthropist named Martin Li, who would go on to found the F.E.A.S.T. Project as a means to help homeless people; and the ruthless crime lord Mister Negative, who leads the Inner Demons gang in an attempt to take over New York's criminal underworld. Originally, the character was depicted as suffering from dissociative identity disorder, with one personality not maintaining the other's memories, but both personas were later shown to be fully aware of each other's existence. As Mister Negative, his powers include healing, mind-controlling others through "corruption", and charging regular weapons with his energy.


title: Mister Negative

text: Since his conception, the character has been adapted into several forms of media outside of comics, including animated series and video games.


title: Mister Negative

text: Created by Dan Slott and Phil Jimenez, Mister Negative first appeared in "Swing Shift", a story in "Free Comic Book Day: The Amazing Spider-Man" #1 (2007), which was set in the immediate aftermath of the "" storyline. Mister Negative then appeared in "The Amazing Spider-Man" #546 (Jan. 2008), the first issue of the follow-up storyline "".


title: Mister Negative

text: Martin Li is introduced with the backstory of an illegal Chinese immigrant from Fujian province who attempted to travel to America to be with his wife. His mode of transportation, the "Golden Mountain", was a slave ship operated by the Snakehead gang as a way to sell Fujian captives as overseas slaves in Kenya. During a storm, the ship's crew evacuated, leaving the captives alone to make a break for the New York shores. Li was the only survivor and spent the following years building a large fortune and dedicating himself to helping those less fortunate.


title: Mister Negative

text: The story is later revealed to be somewhat false, though only the Mister Negative persona appears aware of it. It is revealed that Mister Negative was actually one of the crew members of the "Golden Mountain". When the ship nearly crashed onto the New York shores, he stole the identity of one of the deceased Fujian slaves (the real Martin Li) who was heading to America for the aforementioned reasons. This gang member was eventually captured by the Maggia Don Silvermane and experimented on with a synthetic drug created by Maggia chemist Simon Marshall that could be more potent than heroin. He escaped with the help of two other experimental inmates and soon developed two personalities, the kind-hearted Martin Li and the villainous Mister Negative, the latter of the two developing the ability to generate a black electrical energy that could be used to heal, control others, or charge objects with his touch. The Mister Negative side dedicated himself to becoming Chinatown's Kingpin of Crime while the Martin Li side attempts to run the F.E.A.S.T. center with humility.


title: Mister Negative

text: Martin Li opens and operates a soup kitchen in Chinatown: the F.E.A.S.T. Project (Food, Emergency Aid, Shelter and Training), where Peter Parker's Aunt May volunteers. Neither Peter nor May are aware of Li's dual identity as a Chinatown crime boss under the Mister Negative name. Despite being a crime lord, Li is a seemingly kind and generous man. The F.E.A.S.T. Project has displayed healing powers for people of various illnesses, although the cause of this healing has yet to be revealed.


title: Mister Negative

text: During the first story of "" storyline, Mister Negative first comes into conflict with Spider-Man when he makes a power play toward taking control of New York's criminal underworld by attempting to wipe out all existing members of the Karnelli and Maggia crime families using a DNA specific bioweapon called the "Devil's Breath". In exchange for leaving the Maggia families' children alive, he takes a sample of Spider-Man's blood to use in a Devil's Breath formula. Mister Negative later tries to use the Devil's Breath formula to kill Spider-Man during a fight with the Maggia, but Spider-Man is able to hold his breath long enough to escape alive. Spider-Man then recruits the Black Cat to help steal Spider-Man's remaining blood from Mister Negative and replace it with a vial of pig blood so Mister Negative is unaware of his loss.


title: Mister Negative

text: Martin Li endorses Bill Hollister for mayor of New York City, putting him against Randall Crowne, adding him to a list of opponents (many of whom become targets of the villain Menace). It also causes him to become the target of a smear campaign by Dexter Bennet, editor of "The DB" and supporter of Crowne. After Menace is revealed to be Hollister's daughter and Hollister resigns as mayor, Li unsuccessfully runs in a special election, losing to J. Jonah Jameson.


title: Mister Negative

text: Mister Negative later recruits Hammerhead and offers to put the man's brain in a new robotic adamantium skeleton after having been shot point blank in the head by Underworld. Hammerhead agrees to that and Mister Negative has his surgeon Doctor Tramma perform the procedure.


title: Mister Negative

text: Mister Negative eventually comes across Eddie Brock, giving a job at his soup kitchen. A touch from him causes Brock's cancerous cells to completely disappear. Also, remnants of the Venom symbiote fused with Brock's white blood cells react with Mister Negative's power, causing Anti-Venom's existence during a conflict with Mac Gargan, the Venom Symbiote's host. After the F.E.A.S.T center is torn apart during the fight between the two, Li discovers from a group of sweatshop workers (from a shop owned by Crowne) that they were experimented on with drugs made at Oscorp. Later, Mister Negative and his Inner Demons encounter and battle Anti-Venom. In the aftermath, Brock watches Mister Negative turn into Li, becoming the first to be aware of his double identity.


title: Mister Negative

text: During the 2008–2009 "Dark Reign" storyline, Mister Negative refuses to submit to the Hood’s rule of conquest over New York's criminal underworld. During a meeting with Hood's henchman White Dragon, Mister Negative corrupts White Dragon and sends the man to attack the Hood's headquarters. In retaliation, the Hood decides to attack and kill him. H.A.M.M.E.R. seals Chinatown on Hood's behalf and an all out fight breaks out around Li's estate. Hood's gang gets the upper hand until Spider-Man arrives to rescue Martin. However, Spider-Man too is corrupted and sent into battle on Mister Negative's behalf. Spider-Man battles the members of Hood's gang who are attacking the villain's headquarters; Mister Negative then sends the web-slinger to kill Betty Brant who is interviewing the real Martin Li's widow and is coming close to finding out the truth. The Hood himself then confronts Mister Negative at his Chinatown headquarters and battles him. During the battle, Mister Negative tries to corrupt Hood but fails. Norman Osborn ends the blockade H.A.M.M.E.R. has on Chinatown when Hammerhead hands papers implicating Oscorp in the aforementioned drug tests on immigrants. An irate Hood decides to kill Mister Negative anyway but he escapes. A later conversation that Osborn has with his own darker Green Goblin side reveals that he now has an alliance with Mister Negative similar to the one with Hood. However, Spot slips in and steals back the evidence of Oscorp's tests, revealing being Mister Negative's mole in the Hood's gang under the promise that he will be cured once they get their revenge on the Maggia.


title: Mister Negative

text: In the X-Men storyline "Serve and Protect", Mister Negative and his Inner Demons are at San Francisco on attempting to murder a widowed woman who still have a child. When two unidentified heroes, then revealed to be the X-Men Rockslide and Anole in disguise, Mister Negative hired The Serpents, and devise a plan to lure them into their traps, then turning then into his pawn into attacking other X-Men as well. Although his plan foiled by Anole's strategy into using a temporary brainwashed Rockslide, Mister Negative releases the rock mutant hero and vow they will meet again on the other side.


title: Mister Negative

text: During the 2009 storyline "The Gauntlet", Mister Negative corrupts May Parker when the woman walks in on him punishing an Inner Demon. May manages to break free from Mister Negative's corruption when Peter went to May for moral support after the Lizard devoured Billy Connors and essentially 'killed' Curt Connors.


title: Mister Negative

text: During the 2010 "Shadowland" storyline, Mister Negative takes the advantage of the conflict against the Hand in a plot to set up a criminal establishment there, only for him and his Inner Demons to run afoul of Spider-Man and Shang-Chi.


title: Mister Negative

text: Mister Negative later has an encounter with Jackpot and Boomerang. During the "Origin of the Species" storyline, Mister Negative was among the supervillains assembled by Doctor Octopus to secure some items.


title: Mister Negative

text: During the "Big Time" storyline, Mister Negative is targeted by both Anti-Venom and the new Wraith. When they, along with Spider-Man, interrupt a heroin-smuggling operation, Wraith uses visual recognition software, linked to every television broadcast in New York, to publicly out Mister Negative as Martin Li. When the police approach, Mister Negative and his men retreat. Li is later seen locked in a room by Mister Negative's men who wait for him to change back into their master.


title: Mister Negative

text: During the 2011 "Spider-Island" storyline, Mister Negative is told of a prophecy that he is destined to be killed by Dagger.


title: Mister Negative

text: During the 2012 "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, Mister Negative and his henchmen invade a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility as a way of taking an advantage of the war between the Avengers and the Phoenix Five, but Hawkeye and Spider-Woman defeat them while having a discussion about their relationship. It is later revealed that they were informed about Mister Negative's plan by Madame Hydra who wanted to get rid of the competition.


title: Mister Negative

text: During the 2014 "Original Sin" storyline, Mister Negative is seen meeting with the self-proclaimed Goblin King (Phil Urich) who is now leading the Goblin Underground's remnants when it came to them awaiting for Eel II to help divide the criminal underground following the original Goblin King's defeat. Their meeting is crashed by Black Cat and Electro who demand their share of the plan. When Mister Negative and Urich refuse to listen to Black Cat, the woman reminds them that they were all outed by Spider-Man and will succeed in the goal of defeating Spider-Man.


title: Mister Negative

text: Following the 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline, Martin Li is arrested at some point. He is rescued by Cloak and Dagger who have been corrupted by his touch and are using patches of the drug known as "Shade" to stimulate the effects of Mister Negative's touch and "remain" loyal to him. After the two break Mister Negative out of the prison ship where Li is being held and revert him to his Negative form, he leads an assault on Parker Industries' Japan branch, which leads to a confrontation with Spider-Man, whom Negative manages to touch. Although Peter exhibits an immunity to Negative's corruption power, Negative escapes to his Hong Kong headquarters and reverts to Li. Li later sees a video message from Negative that he is targeting a philanthropist named Shen Quinghao, the former leader of the criminal Snakehead Syndicate which controlled the slave ship where Li became Mister Negative, and makes a proposal to Li, which Li accepts. His plan fails, and after Cloak and Dagger are eventually freed from Negative's control, they vow to remain in Hong Kong to protect it from Negative's future efforts.


title: Mister Negative

text: During the "Sins Rising" arc, a revived Sin-Eater steals the powers of Mister Negative and uses it to corrupt the guards at Ravencroft when he targets Norman Osborn. He also uses the powers to corrupt the clone of Ashley Kafka into releasing Juggernaut.


title: Mister Negative

text: A man claiming to be "Martin Li" shows up at the FEAST building seeking help as the Inner Demons attack. This "Martin Li" later surrenders to the Inner Demons. Mister Negative meets with Mayor Wilson Fisk and informs him that they will need the sister counterpart of the Tablet of Life and Destiny called the Tablet of Death and Entropy. As Mister Negative has the item, he states to Mayor Fisk that their desired function can only be used when both items are together. Mayor Fisk allows Mister Negative to control Chinatown and the Lower East Side. Obtaining the Tablet of Life and Destiny from Spider-Man and Boomerang puts Mister Negative in completion with Black Mariah, Crime Master, Diamondback, Hammerhead, Madame Masque, Owl, Silvermane, and Tombstone.


title: Mister Negative

text: It initially appears that Martin Li has no knowledge of his evil side. During "New Ways To Die", Li took Eddie Brock into a back room he calls his inner sanctuary, where he claims to play a game of Go day by day against an unknown opponent who he has never seen, claiming that he has "learned that it's okay to enjoy the game". When he transforms into Mr. Negative, Li's appearance resembles that of a photographic negative. He also speaks in a reverse colored speech balloon, although this does nothing to the sound of his voice.


title: Mister Negative

text: Prior to his transformation, "Martin Li" was a member of the Snakehead gang, whose true name has not yet been revealed. Both the Martin Li and Mr. Negative personas are the result of experimental drug tests done by Maggia chemist Simon Marshall, the same tests that powered Cloak and Dagger (namely Cloak's association with the Darkforce). Unlike the two heroes, who were each given a power over light and dark, the gang member was given both a light and dark side. As such, Mr. Negative considers himself an embodiment of black and wickedness and both of his personas view the balance of good and evil as a necessary part of the universe. The two halves, while fully aware of one another's existence, take no steps to interfere with one another, with the Martin Li persona even taking such drastic steps as allowing his bad side to corrupt May Parker to keep it a secret.


title: Mister Negative

text: During an encounter in "The Amazing Spider-Man" #621, Mr. Negative displays a degree of superhuman strength high enough to send Spider-Man flying through two buildings with a single blow. Mr. Negative also demonstrates superhuman reflexes during his battle with the Hood, dodging bullets or cutting them in half with his sword. He also has the power to charge up knives and swords with black electrical energy, a form of Darkforce energy, and he can corrupt people he touches in the same manner, bringing them under his control. A corrupted person's clothes change his colors to his photographic negatives, and all who are corrupted praise their new master with proclamations like "Mr. Negative was never born, so he is ever living", or "He is attached to nothing, thus he is one with all." The effectiveness of his corruption varies depending on how good the affected person was before their conversion: White Dragon, a villain himself, gained vastly increased stamina and endurance, but was still easily dispatched (his clothes reverted to normal once he was killed). Conversely, Spider-Man, a hero in every respect, was corrupted into a spiteful and angry villain, despising every value he held dear (even his Uncle Ben's memory) and no more above killing. Spider-Man is able to break the hold his malevolent side has over him when he is on the verge of killing Betty Brant, as he remembers the love he once had for her upon getting close. Mr. Negative's corrupting touch appears to be ineffective against beings with supernatural powers, as Hood is unaffected when Negative attempts to corrupt him; Mr. Negative claims that this is because the Hood's soul belongs to Dormammu, a being even darker than he is. It has since been revealed that while Negative can renew his influence on others, he cannot corrupt someone once that individual has broken free of his influence already, allowing Peter Parker to infiltrate his plan by using the fact that he had been corrupted by Negative as Spider-Man without his foe knowing his secret identity.


title: Mister Negative

text: Mr. Negative's alternate Martin Li persona seems to have the power to cure others: in "The Amazing Spider-Man" #568, a simple touch from Li completely cures Eddie Brock of his cancer, and combines the remnants of the Venom symbiote in his blood with his white blood cells, creating a new symbiote named Anti-Venom that possesses similar healing powers. Aside from this, homeless people who have stayed at Martin Li's shelter have rapidly recovered from any illnesses or injuries they suffered from. It is possible that his healing touch is supposed to be the opposite of Mr. Negative's corrupting touch. It is revealed that Anti-Venom can be affected by Mr. Negative's energy because it negates his healing ability.


title: Mister Negative

text: Mr. Negative also has access to advanced technology and secret laboratories, in which he is able to give his subjects medical care far more advanced than that available to the general public.


title: Mister Negative

text: In the 2018 "Spider-Man" game, Mr. Negative also possesses the ability to project powerful electricity-like blasts of negative energy from his hands.


title: Mister Negative

text: Mister Negative is often accompanied by several henchmen, known as his Inner Demons, who wear Chinese opera masks and use high tech electrified versions of swords, knuckles and various other Asian weaponry such as gun staffs and nunchakus. They are able to regenerate from even the most lethal wounds within a matter of seconds, as they have been shown almost immediately recovering from impalement, gunshots to the head, and even getting torn apart or decapitated. It has been implied that the Inner Demons can be killed under the right circumstances: at one point, Anti-Venom claims to have killed some of them, possibly by suffocation, which he later notes to be an effective tactic against them. Mr. Negative also orders the murder of two Inner Demons who have failed him.


title: Mister Negative

text: In Warp World, a world folded in half during the "Infinity Wars" event, Dagger Li (a combination of Dagger and Martin Li) is a member of the occult paramilitary group named the Midnight Guns. They were attacked in their base in Salem by Weapon Hex (a combination of X-23 and Scarlet Witch) and Hellhound (a combination of Magik and Sabretooth) on behalf of Herbert Wyndham to steal the Storm Sigil from team-member Hellfire (combination of Punisher and Daimon Hellstrom). The two attackers made quick work of the Midnight Guns and left no survivors.


title: Mister Negative

text: The Spider-Ham incarnation of Mr. Negative is a tiger called Mr. Negatiger. This version has not appeared in any media outside of the 2022 Spider-Ham graphic novel, Hollywood May-ham. Like the comics, he employs the Inner Demons (who are curiously all human) as his emissaries. He is captured and webbed up by Spider-Ham in the opening of the story. In the last chapter, it is revealed the cops did not capture Mr. Negatiger and he has escaped once more.


title: Ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS

text: This table contains the final ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS, which were in use from April 1942 to May 1945, in comparison to the Wehrmacht. The highest ranks of the combined SS () was that of and ; however, there was no Waffen-SS equivalent to these positions.


title: Master sergeant

text: A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries.


title: Master sergeant

text: The (abbreviated "", master sergeant) is a non-commissioned officer () rank in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Because the IDF is an integrated force, they have a unique rank structure. IDF ranks are the same in all services (army, navy and air force). The ranks are derived from those of the paramilitary developed in the British Mandate of Palestine period to protect the . This origin is reflected in the slightly-compacted IDF rank structure.


title: Master sergeant

text: Master sergeant is used by the Armed Forces of the Philippines as a non-commissioned officer rank. It is used by the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force and the Philippine Marine Corps (under the Philippine Navy. The rank is below Senior master sergeant and above Technical sergeant.


title: Master sergeant

text: As of February 8, 2019, a new ranking classification for the Philippine National Police was adopted, eliminating confusion of old ranks. Master sergeant is one of the new classification for non-commissioned officer rank. The rank stands above the Police Staff sergeant and below the Police Senior master sergeant.


title: Master sergeant

text: In the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), master sergeant is the highest rank amongst the specialist corps, ranking above staff sergeant and below third warrant officer. In the Singapore Army, master sergeants are usually instructors, staff specialists, or sergeants major of battalion or company-sized units. They are addressed as "master" or "master sergeant".


title: Master sergeant

text: In the National Cadet Corps (NCC), the rank of master sergeant is awarded to outstanding NCC cadets who have contributed greatly to their unit. The insignia of MSG (NCC) is the same as the SAF's, except that the letters 'NCC' are below the insignia, to differentiate SAF and NCC master sergeants.


title: Master sergeant

text: Master sergeant is a senior non-commissioned officer rank used within the United States Armed Forces by the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force. It is ranked differently depending on the service branch. The Civil Air Patrol also has the rank of master sergeant.


title: Master sergeant

text: Master sergeant (MSG) is the eighth enlisted grade (E-8), ranking above sergeant first class and below sergeant major, command sergeant major, Sergeant Major of the Army, and equal in grade but not authority to a first sergeant. It is abbreviated as "MSG" and indicated by three chevrons above three inverted arcs, commonly referred to as "rockers".


title: Master sergeant

text: A master sergeant may be assigned as a brigade-level section noncommissioned officer in charge and serves as the subject matter expert in their field, but may also hold other positions depending on the type of unit. The equivalent-grade first sergeant is the senior noncommissioned officer of a company, battery, or troop.


title: Master sergeant

text: When holding the position of first sergeant, while uncommon, the master sergeant is referred to as "first sergeant"; however, when not in the position of first sergeant, master sergeants are addressed as "sergeant". This is the standard address for all pay grades E-5 through E-8. Use of the term "top" or "master sergeant" is not a requirement, but is considered courteous, and remains to be at the discretion of the one addressing the master sergeant, though "top" is preferred, due to the long tradition of its use in the U.S. Army, which has, since the Civil War, emphasized the importance of senior NCOs closely advising and instructing newly-commissioned second lieutenants, first lieutenants and captains.


title: Master sergeant

text: In 1920, the Army combined several regimental level "staff" NCO ranks, including four grades of sergeant major, three grades of quartermaster sergeant, regimental supply sergeant, senior ordnance sergeant, senior band sergeant, four grades of senior master sergeant, and seven additional master-level technical and specialist ranks into the new master sergeant rank. Master sergeant then became the senior enlisted rank, ranking above technical sergeant and first sergeant (a positional rank/title for the senior technical sergeant in a company/battery/troop), while "sergeant major" became a "courtesy title" for the senior master sergeant in a battalion/squadron or higher headquarters.


title: Master sergeant

text: In 1942, the rank of first sergeant was elevated one grade and was then considered as a junior version of master sergeant, because while first sergeants served as senior NCOs at the company/battery/troop level, master sergeants held positions as the senior NCO in their MOS at battalion/squadron and higher level headquarters. In 1958, both first sergeant and master sergeant were elevated one grade to the new E-8 pay grade, while the rank of sergeant major was restored as the senior enlisted rank at the new pay grade of E-9.


title: Master sergeant

text: The eighth enlisted grade, ranking above gunnery sergeant and below master gunnery sergeant, sergeant major, and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. It is equal in grade to first sergeant, and is abbreviated "MSgt" In the U.S. Marine Corps, master sergeants provide technical leadership as occupational specialists at the E-8 level.


title: Master sergeant

text: Most infantry master sergeants serve as the operations chief of a weapons company, in place of the gunnery sergeant found in the company headquarters of a rifle company. Infantry master sergeants also serve as the assistant operations chief in the S-3 section of the headquarters of an infantry regiment and Marine Expeditionary Unit and in the G-3 section of the headquarters of a Marine Expeditionary Brigade. The Marine division and Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters contains two infantry master sergeants, one as the training SNCO and the other as the readiness chief.


title: Master sergeant

text: Some combat support battalions have master sergeants at the company level (e.g., one as the tank leader, again replacing the company gunnery sergeant, in the operations section of the tank company headquarters, and two in the company headquarters of an assault amphibian company, one master sergeant as the company gunnery sergeant in the headquarters section and the other as the section leader of the company headquarters AMTRAC Section).


title: Master sergeant

text: In Marine aircraft squadrons MSgts usually serve as SNCOICs of the ordnance and avionics divisions in the aircraft maintenance department. The Aircraft Maintenance Chief/SNCOIC is usually a MGySgt (q.v.), and there are eight aviation-related MSgt billets in each Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron (MALS). (A MALs is organic to each Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) and performs intermediate aviation supply, aircraft maintenance (including aviation life support equipment and avionics), and aviation ordnance support for its supported aircraft squadrons.)


title: Master sergeant

text: Most non-infantry master sergeants serve as section chief/SNCOIC of their MOS type staff section in a battalion or higher level headquarters. General command leadership at this paygrade is provided by the separate rank of first sergeant.


title: Master sergeant

text: Only in the Marine Corps are master sergeants required to be addressed by their full rank. In the Marine Corps, master sergeants may be referred to by the nickname of "Top". This usage is an informal one, however, and would not be used in an official or formal setting. Use of this nickname by Marines of subordinate rank is at the rank holder's discretion. In the U.S. Armed Forces, all master sergeants (Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps) are senior non-commissioned officers (i.e., pay grades E-7 through E-9). However, in the U.S. Marine Corps, the non-commissioned officer ranks of staff sergeant and above, are classified as Staff Non-Commissioned Officers (SNCOs), a classification that is unique in U.S. usage to the USMC.


title: Master sergeant

text: The seventh enlisted grade, ranking above technical sergeant and below senior master sergeant. It is abbreviated as "MSgt". Advancement to master sergeant is one of the most significant promotions within the enlisted Air Force and Space Force. At the rank of master sergeant, the airman enters the senior non-commissioned tier and transitions his or her duties from front line technicians and supervisors to operational leaders. An operational leader develops his or her leadership and management skills since this rank carries increased broad leadership, supervisory, and managerial responsibilities rather than technical performance.


title: Master sergeant

text: Per Air Force Instruction 36–2618, master sergeants do serve in positions as squadron superintendents, flight chiefs, section chiefs, and non-commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC). Master sergeants are the lowest pay grade in the Air Force and Space Force at which one can hold the special duty position and responsibilities of a first sergeant. Air Force first sergeants occupy the pay grades of E-7 through E-9 and are referred to officially as "first sergeant" regardless of pay grade, and unofficially as "first shirt" or "shirt".


title: Master sergeant

text: In 1991, the Air Force changed its NCO insignia so that a maximum of five stripes, or rockers, were placed on the bottom of the chevrons. The master sergeant rank insignia was changed by removing the bottom (sixth) rocker, and relocating it above as a single chevron, on top of the five lower stripes. The single chevron above visually identifies Senior NCO status for E-7 master sergeants along with two chevrons above for E-8 senior master sergeants and three chevrons above for E-9 chief master sergeants in the Air Force NCO insignia. In 2015, the Air Force announced its promotion overhaul and newly established boards for master sergeant.


title: Master sergeant

text: The Civil Air Patrol (CAP), a non-profit corporation Congressionally chartered to operate as the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, has a quasi-military structure which includes the rank of master sergeant. The grade of master sergeant is below senior master sergeant and above technical sergeant. Former military enlisted personnel who held the rank of master sergeant in the United States Armed Forces may retain that rank as members of the CAP.


title: Master sergeant

text: On February 1, 2021, the United States Space Force announced its permanent rank structure, establishing the grade of master sergeant as its permanent E-7 grade. This continued its usage from the Air Force. The grade of master sergeant is above technical sergeant and beneath senior master sergeant.


title: Massaman curry

text: Massaman curry (, , ) is a rich, flavourful, and mildly spicy Thai curry. It is a fusion dish, combining ingredients from Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and the Malay Archipelago (e.g. cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cumin, bay leaves, nutmeg, and mace) with ingredients more commonly used in native Thai cuisine (e.g. chili peppers, coriander, lemongrass, galangal, white pepper, shrimp paste, shallots, and garlic) to make massaman curry paste. The substance of the dish is usually based on chicken or other meat, potatoes, onions, and peanuts. The richness comes from the coconut milk and cream used as a base, as for many Thai curries.


title: Massaman curry

text: In 2011, CNNGo ranked massaman curry as the #1 most delicious food in an article titled "World's 50 most delicious foods". However, by a reader's survey, it ranked number ten. It remained at number one in the official, updated 2018 version.


title: Massaman curry

text: Due to its Muslim roots and therefore Islamic dietary laws, this curry is most commonly made with chicken, but there are also variations on this dish using duck, beef, venison, mutton, goat, or, less commonly, pork. As pork is "haram" (forbidden) in Islam, this last variant is not eaten by observant Thai Muslims. Vegetarians and vegans have created their own versions of this dish, such as using tofu and substituting any shrimp paste or fish sauce used.


title: Massaman curry

text: The Muslim roots of the dish are evident in many of the flavors of the massaman curry paste ("nam phrik kaeng matsaman") that come from spices not frequently used in other Thai curries. Cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cumin, bay leaves, nutmeg and mace would, in the 17th century, have been brought to Thailand from the Malay Archipelago and South Asia by foreigners, a trade originally dominated by Muslim traders from the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, and from the archipelago itself, but increasingly undertaken by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the French East India Company.


title: Massaman curry

text: These foreign spices and flavors are then combined with local produce and flavors commonly used in native Thai cuisine such as dried chili peppers, cilantro (coriander) seeds, lemongrass, galangal, white pepper, shrimp paste, shallots, and garlic to make the "massaman" curry paste.


title: Massaman curry

text: The curry paste is first fried with coconut cream, and only then are meat, potatoes, onions, fish sauce or salt, tamarind paste, sugar, coconut milk and peanuts added. "Massaman" is usually eaten with rice together in a meal with other dishes. There are also traditional versions using oranges, orange juice, or pineapple juice as additional ingredients.


title: Massaman curry

text: The name "massaman" is a corruption of the term "mosalman", an archaic word derived from Persian, meaning "Muslim". Hence, many earlier writers from the mid-19th century called the dish "Mussulman curry".


title: Massaman curry

text: According to Thai journalist and scholar Santi Sawetwimon, as well as Thai food expert David Thompson, the dish originated in 17th century central Thailand at the cosmopolitan court of Ayutthaya, through the Persian merchant Sheik Ahmad Qomi, from whom the noble Thai Bunnag family descends. Most theories contend that "massaman" is a southern Thai dish influenced by Malay and Indian cuisine.


title: Massaman curry

text: The curry is extolled in the poem "Kap He Chom Khrueang Khao Wan" from the end of the 18th century, attributed to Prince Itsarasunthon of Siam (now Thailand), the later King Rama II (1767-1824). It is dedicated to a lady who is thought to be Princess Bunrot, the later Queen Sri Suriyendra, wife of King Rama II. The second stanza of the poem reads:


title: Massaman curry

text: The first-ever recorded recipe for massaman curry by Lady Plean Passakornrawong in 1889: "Chicken Massaman curry with bitter orange juice", with "Massaman" spelled "Matsaman" (หมัดสมั่น).


title: Brief Encounter

text: Brief Encounter is a 1945 British romantic drama film directed by David Lean from a screenplay by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play "Still Life".


title: Brief Encounter

text: Starring Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, and Joyce Carey, it follows a passionate extramarital affair in England shortly before World War II. The protagonist is Laura, a married woman with children, whose conventional life becomes increasingly complicated after a chance meeting at a railway station with a married stranger with whom she subsequently falls in love.


title: Brief Encounter

text: The film premiered in London on 13 November 1945, and was theatrically released on 25 November to widespread critical acclaim. It received three nominations at the 19th Academy Awards, Best Director, Best Actress (for Johnson), and Best Adapted Screenplay.


title: Brief Encounter

text: Many critics, historians, and scholars cite the film as one of the greatest of all time. In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked it as the second-greatest British film of all time. In 2017, a "Time Out" poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers, and critics ranked it the 12th-best British film ever.


title: Brief Encounter

text: Laura Jesson, a respectable middle-class British woman in an affectionate but rather dull marriage, tells her story while sitting at home with her husband, imagining that she is confessing her affair to him.


title: Brief Encounter

text: Like many women of her class at the time, Laura visits a nearby town every Thursday for shopping and a matinée movie. Returning from one such excursion to Milford, while waiting in the railway station's refreshment room, she is helped by another passenger, who solicitously removes a piece of grit from her eye. The man is Alec Harvey, an idealistic general practitioner who also works Thursdays as a consultant at the local hospital. Both are in their late thirties or early forties, married, and with children (although Alec's wife Madeleine and their two sons are unseen).


title: Brief Encounter

text: The two accidentally meet again outside Boots the Chemist, and then on a third meeting share a table at lunch, then, both having free time, go to an afternoon performance at the Palladium Cinema. They are soon troubled to find their innocent and casual relationship developing into something deeper, approaching infidelity.


title: Brief Encounter

text: They meet openly until they run into friends of Laura's and the perceived need to deceive others arises. The second lie comes more easily. They eventually go to a flat belonging to Stephen, a friend of Alec's and a fellow doctor, but are interrupted by Stephen's unexpected and judgmental return. Humiliated and ashamed, Laura runs down the back stairs and into the streets. She walks and walks, and sits on a bench for hours, smoking, until a concerned policeman encourages her to get out of the cold. She arrives at the station just in time for the last train home.


title: Brief Encounter

text: The recent turn of events makes the couple realise that an affair or a future together is impossible. Understanding the temptation and not wishing to hurt their families, they agree to part. Alec has been offered a job in Johannesburg, South Africa, where his brother lives.


title: Brief Encounter

text: Their final meeting occurs in the railway station refreshment room, now seen for a second time with the poignant perspective of their story. As they await a heart-rending final parting, Dolly Messiter, a talkative acquaintance of Laura's, invites herself to join them and begins chattering away, oblivious to the couple's misery.


title: Brief Encounter

text: As they realise that they have lost their chance for a final goodbye, Alec's train arrives. With Dolly still chattering, Alec departs without the passionate farewell for which they both long. After shaking Dolly's hand, he discreetly squeezes Laura on the shoulder and leaves. Laura waits for a moment, anxiously hoping that Alec will walk back into the refreshment room, but he does not. As the train is heard pulling away, Laura is galvanised by emotion, and, hearing an approaching express train, dashes out to the platform. The train's lights flash across her face as she conquers a suicidal impulse. She then returns home to her family.


title: Brief Encounter

text: Laura's kind and patient husband, Fred, shows that he has noticed her distance, though whether he has guessed the reason is not clear. He thanks her for coming back to him. She cries in his embrace.


title: Brief Encounter

text: The film is based on Noël Coward's one-act play "Still Life" (1936), one of ten short plays in the cycle "Tonight at 8.30", designed for Gertrude Lawrence and Coward himself, and to be performed in various combinations as triple bills. All scenes in "Still Life" are set in the refreshment room of a railway station (the fictional Milford Junction).


title: Brief Encounter

text: As is common in films based on stage plays, the film depicts only places mentioned in the play: Dr. Lynn's flat, Laura's home, a cinema, a restaurant and a branch of Boots the Chemist. There are also several scenes that are not in the play: a scene on a lake in a rowing boat where Dr Harvey gets his feet wet; Laura wandering alone in the dark, sitting down on a park bench, smoking in public and being confronted by a police officer; and a drive in the country in a hired car.


title: Brief Encounter

text: Some scenes are made less ambiguous and more dramatic in the film. The scene in which the two lovers are about to commit adultery is toned down: in the play it is left for the audience to decide whether they actually consummate their relationship; in the film it seems that they do not. In the film, Laura has only just arrived at Dr Lynn's flat when the owner returns and is immediately led out by Dr Harvey via the kitchen service door. Later, when Laura seems to want to throw herself in front of an express train, the film makes the intention clearer by means of voice-over narration.


title: Brief Encounter

text: Also, in the play, the characters at the Milford station—Mrs Baggot, Mr Godby, Beryl and Stanley—are very much aware of the growing relationship between Laura and Alec, and sometimes mention it in an offhand manner; in the film, they take barely any notice of them or what they are doing. The final scene of the film, showing Laura embracing her husband after he shows that he has noticed her distance in the past few weeks and perhaps even guessed the reason, is not in the original Coward play.


title: Brief Encounter

text: There are two editions of Coward's original screenplay for the film adaptation, both listed in the bibliography.


title: Brief Encounter

text: Much of the film version was shot at Carnforth railway station in Lancashire, then a junction on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. While a busy station, it was far enough away from major cities to avoid the blackout for film purposes, shooting taking place in early 1945 before World War II had ended. At two points in the film, the station location is indicated by platform signs referring to local destinations including Leeds, Bradford, Morecambe and Lancaster. Coward makes the station announcements in the film. The station refreshment room was a studio recreation. Carnforth Station still retains many of the period features present at the time of filming and remains a place of pilgrimage for fans of the film. Some of the urban scenes were shot in London, Denham, and Beaconsfield, near Denham Studios, where the film was made.


title: Brief Encounter

text: The country bridge the lovers visit twice (including on their final day) is Middle Fell Bridge at Dungeon Ghyll in Cumbria.


title: Brief Encounter

text: The poem that Fred asks Laura to assist him with for his crossword is by John Keats: "When I have Fears that I may Cease to Be". The quote Fred recites is "When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face, huge cloudy symbols of a high romance".


title: Brief Encounter

text: In addition to the Keats reference, there is a visual reference to an Arabic love poem. In Dr Lynn's apartment, a wall hanging is prominently displayed twice. When Laura enters, there is a shot of it over the dining table. Later, when Stephen confronts Alec, it is seen over Alec's left shoulder.


title: Brief Encounter

text: Excerpts from Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 recur throughout the film, played by the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Muir Mathieson with pianist Eileen Joyce. There is also a scene in a tearoom where a salon orchestra plays "Spanish Dance No. 5 (Bolero)" by Moritz Moszkowski.


title: Brief Encounter

text: According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction". It was the 21st most popular film at the British box office in 1946. According to "Kinematograph Weekly" the 'biggest winner' at the box office in 1946 Britain was "The Wicked Lady", with "runners up" being "The Bells of St Marys", "Piccadilly Incident", "The Road to Utopia", "Tomorrow is Forever", "Brief Encounter", "Wonder Man", "Anchors Away", "Kitty", "The Captive Heart", "The Corn is Green", "Spanish Main", "Leave Her to Heaven", "Gilda", "Caravan", "Mildred Pierce", "Blue Dahlia", "Years Between", "O.S.S.", "Spellbound", "Courage of Lassie", "My Reputation", "London Town", "Caesar and Cleopatra", "Meet the Navy", "Men of Two Worlds", "Theirs is the Glory", "The Overlanders", and "Bedelia".


title: Brief Encounter

text: "Brief Encounter" was acclaimed upon its release, although there were doubts that it would be "generally popular". It was voted one of the 10 greatest films ever made in two separate 1952 critics' polls. The film was a great success in the UK and such a hit in the US that Celia Johnson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1999 the film was given the #2 slot on the British Film Institute's BFI Top 100 British films.


title: Brief Encounter

text: Today, the film is widely praised for its black-and-white photography and the mood created by the steam-age railway setting, both of which were particular to the original David Lean version. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 8.60/10. The website's critical consensus reads: ""Brief Encounter" adds a small but valuable gem to the Lean filmography, depicting a doomed couple's illicit connection with affecting sensitivity and a pair of powerful performances." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 92 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Brief Encounter

text: In her book "Noël Coward" (1987), Frances Gray says that "Brief Encounter" is, after the major comedies, the one work of Coward that almost everybody knows and has probably seen; it has featured frequently on television and its viewing figures are invariably high. Its story is that of an unconsummated affair between two married people [...] Coward is keeping his lovers in check because he cannot handle the energies of a less inhibited love in a setting shorn of the wit and exotic flavour of his best comedies [...] To look at the script, shorn of David Lean's beautiful camera work, deprived of an audience who would automatically approve of the final sacrifice, is to find oneself asking awkward questions (pp. 64–67).


title: Brief Encounter

text: "Brief Encounter" holds a 91% "fresh" rating at review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. In 1999 it came second in a British Film Institute poll of the top 100 British films. In 2004, the magazine "Total Film" named it the 44th greatest British film of all time. Derek Malcolm included the film in his 2000 column "The Century of Films". The British historian Thomas Dixon notes that "Brief Encounter" "has become a classic example of a very modern and very British phenomenon—weeping over the stiff upper lip, crying at people not crying. The audiences for these wartime weepies could, through their own tears, provide something that was lacking in their own lives as well as those of the on-screen stoics they admired."


title: Brief Encounter

text: The British play and film "The History Boys" features two of the main characters reciting a passage of the film. (The scene portrayed, with Posner as Johnson and Scripps as Raymond, is in the closing minutes of the film where Laura begins, "I really meant to do it.")


title: Brief Encounter

text: Director Robert Altman's wife Kathryn Altman said, "One day, years and years ago, just after the war, [Altman] had nothing to do and he went to a theater in the middle of the afternoon to see a movie. Not a Hollywood movie: a British movie. He said the main character was not glamorous, not a babe. And at first he wondered why he was even watching it. But twenty minutes later he was in tears, and had fallen in love with her. And it made him feel that it wasn't just a movie." The film was "Brief Encounter".


title: Brief Encounter

text: The episode "Grief Encounter" of the British comedy series "Goodnight Sweetheart" features the Coward character and shooting a similar scene in Milford railway station. "Mum's Army", an episode of "Dad's Army", also seems loosely inspired by "Brief Encounter".


title: Brief Encounter

text: "Brief Encounter" serves as a plot device in "Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont", a 2005 comedy-drama film based on the 1971 novel by Elizabeth Taylor. The aging widow Mrs. Palfrey reminisces that "Brief Encounter" was her and her deceased husband's favorite film, which leads her young friend, the writer Ludovic Meyer, to meet and bond with his eventual girlfriend.


title: Brief Encounter

text: In the 2012 "Sight & Sound" polls of the world's greatest films, "Brief Encounter" received the votes of 11 critics and three directors.


title: Brief Encounter

text: Frances Gray acknowledges a common criticism of the play: why do the characters not consummate the affair? Gray argues that their problem is class consciousness: the working classes can act in a vulgar way, and the upper class can be silly; but the middle class is, or at least considers itself, the moral backbone of society—a notion whose validity Coward did not really want to question or jeopardise, as the middle classes were his principal audience.


title: Brief Encounter

text: But in her narration, Laura stresses that what holds her back is her horror at the thought of betraying her husband and her morals, tempted though she is by the force of her feelings. Indeed, this very tension has made the film such an enduring favourite.


title: Brief Encounter

text: The values Laura precariously, but ultimately successfully, clings to were widely shared and respected (if not always observed) at the time of the film's original setting (the status of a divorced woman, for example, remained sufficiently scandalous in the UK to cause Edward VIII to abdicate in 1936). Updating the story might have left those values behind and with them vanished the plot's credibility, which may be why the 1974 remake could not compete.


title: Brief Encounter

text: The film was released amid the social and cultural context of the Second World War, when 'brief encounters' were considered commonplace and women had far greater sexual and economic freedom than before. In "British National Cinema" (1997), Sarah Street argues that ""Brief Encounter" thus articulated a range of feelings about infidelity which invited easy identification, whether it involved one's husband, lover, children or country" (p. 55). In this context, feminist critics read the film as an attempt at stabilising relationships to return to the status quo.


title: Brief Encounter

text: In his 1993 BFI book on the film, Richard Dyer notes that owing to the rise of homosexual law reform, gay men also saw the characters' plight as comparable to their own social constraints in forming and maintaining relationships. Sean O'Connor considers the film an "allegorical representation of forbidden love" informed by Coward's experiences as a closeted gay man.


title: Brief Encounter

text: "Brief Encounter" was adapted as a radio play on 20 November 1946 episode of "Academy Award Theater", starring Greer Garson. It was presented three times on The Screen Guild Theater, on 12 May 1947 with Herbert Marshall and Lilli Palmer, on 12 January 1948 with Marshall and Irene Dunne, and on 11 January 1951 with Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr. It was also adapted to Lux Radio Theater on 29 November 1948 with Garson and Van Heflin and on 14 May 1951 with Olivia de Havilland and Richard Basehart.


title: Brief Encounter

text: On 30 October 2009, as part of the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the BBC's Maida Vale Studios, Jenny Seagrove and Nigel Havers starred in a special Radio 2 production of "Brief Encounter", performed live from Maida Vale's studio 6 (MV6). The script used was a 1947 adaptation for radio by Maurice Horspool, which had been in the BBC's ownership and had never been used or performed since then. In addition, there were two "Theatre Guild on the Air" broadcasts of "Brief Encounter" in its original form, "Still Life". The first version aired on 6 April 1947 over ABC with Ingrid Bergman, Sam Wanamaker and Peggy Wood. The second one was presented over NBC on 13 November 1949 and starred Helen Hayes and David Niven.


title: Brief Encounter

text: A 1974 television remake of the film, shown in the US on the "Hallmark Hall of Fame", starred Richard Burton and Sophia Loren, but was not well received.


title: Brief Encounter

text: The first adaptation of "Brief Encounter" to source both the screenplay and Coward's original stage material was adapted by Andrew Taylor and starred Hayley Mills. The first national tour took place in 1996 and later transferred into the West End (Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue) in 2000 starring Jenny Seagrove.


title: Brief Encounter

text: The Kneehigh Theatre production, produced by David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers, was adapted for the stage and directed by Emma Rice and is a mixture of the film and the stage play, with additional musical elements. It premiered at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in October 2007 and the West Yorkshire Playhouse later that month before opening in February 2008 at the Haymarket Cinema in London, which was converted into a theatre for the play. The 2008 London cast included Amanda Lawrence and Tamzin Griffin, with Tristan Sturrock and Naomi Frederick in the lead roles. The production ran until November 2008 and then toured the UK for 27 weeks from February to July 2009, with venues including the Oxford Playhouse, Marlowe Theatre and the Richmond Theatre and with the two leads played by Hannah Yelland and Milo Twomey. The US premiere at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, CA ran from September to October 2009. The adaptation was performed in Brooklyn, New York at St. Ann's Warehouse in December 2009 and January 2010 and at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in February–April 2010.


title: Brief Encounter

text: A Roundabout Theatre Company production of the Kneehigh adaptation opened at Studio 54 in New York City on 28 September 2010 starring Hannah Yelland, Tristan Sturrock, and other members of the London cast. The limited engagement closed on 2 January 2011, after 21 previews and 119 performances, including a four-week extension.


title: Brief Encounter

text: After an Australian tour in autumn 2013, Kneehigh's production of "Brief Encounter" appeared at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills and the Shakespeare Theater in Washington in spring 2014.


title: Brief Encounter

text: The production returned to the UK, opening at Birmingham Repertory Theatre (where the production originally premiered) and The Lowry, Salford, in February 2018 before returning to the Haymarket Cinema in London from March to September 2018.


title: Brief Encounter

text: In May 2009 Houston Grand Opera premiered the two-act opera "Brief Encounter" based on the film's story, with music by André Previn from a libretto by John Caird.


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is an American superhero animated television series by Marvel Animation in cooperation with Film Roman, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. The show debuted on Disney XD and online in the fall of 2010, starting with a 20-part micro-series that were later broadcast as five television episodes. In the second season, it was one of the inaugural shows of the Marvel Universe programming block alongside "Ultimate Spider-Man".


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: The series originally features a team based on the roster for the original Avengers, composed of Iron Man, Giant-Man, Hulk, Thor, and Wasp. The team is later joined by Captain America, Black Panther, and Hawkeye in the first season, and Ms. Marvel and Vision in the second season. In terms of overall tone and style, the series is based principally on the original stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The series also uses material from all eras of the comic's run as well as other sources, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: Following a mass S.H.I.E.L.D. prison breakout, earth's mightiest heroes unite to form the Avengers, a team comprising Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Black Panther, and Hawkeye. The Avengers are forced to battle the world's most dangerous supervillains, including Baron Zemo, the Leader, Kang the Conqueror, and Ultron, as well as the criminal organizations Hydra and A.I.M. It is ultimately revealed that Loki orchestrated the breakout so that the Enchantress could form the Masters of Evil to defeat the Avengers and conquer Earth.


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: Following Loki's defeat, the Avengers track down the remnants of the Masters of Evil. The team is joined by Ms. Marvel and the Vision as they face new enemies including Doctor Doom, Thunderbolt Ross, and the Red Skull, as well as alien threats such as the Skrulls, the Kree, and Galactus. The season alludes to a developing storyline in which Surtur, now free of his imprisonment in Muspelheim, slowly gathers his strength to oppose the Avengers as a prelude to Ragnarök.


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: Numerous other Marvel Comics characters make guest appearances, such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Scott Lang (the second Ant-Man) and his daughter Cassandra, the Heroes for Hire, Crossfire, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Quake, Beta Ray Bill, the Falcon, and the Winter Soldier.


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: Josh Fine and a number of other creators of "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" were initially developing a series based on the Hulk. However, it never made it past the scripting stages before the team was brought on to create a new series based on the Avengers.


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: Marvel announced in October 2008 that its Marvel Animation division and the outside studio Film Roman would produce an Avengers animated TV series, "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes", for planned broadcast in 2010. Fifty-two episodes have been confirmed as being in production. The show's executive producers include Simon Philips and Eric S. Rollman. Joshua Fine serves as supervising producer and Christopher Yost serves as story editor on the show. A 20-part micro-series debuted on September 22, 2010, on Disney XD, focusing on each hero's backstory and the events that lead to the main series. The idea behind the micro-episodes came after the success of "". The series started airing on Marvel's sister network, Disney XD in the United States on October 20, 2010, and on Teletoon in Canada on October 22, 2010, in English and March 2011 in French. According to Jeph Loeb, season 2 would presumably begin around October 2011, same as season 1 and producer Josh Fine tweeted in April 2011 that 13 episodes have been completed. Ciro Nieli, one of the show's developers, also had a hand in creating "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!".


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: At the 2011 New York Comic-Con, Marvel TV director, Jeph Loeb contradicted his earlier statement of season 2 launch in late 2011. Loeb announced at the panel at New York Comic-con that ""Avengers" Season 2 will be coming in early 2012 (to coincide with "Ultimate Spider-Man")." This date would later get clarified to April 1, 2012. Dong Woo Animation, Lotto Animation and Noxxon Enterprise has contributed some of the animation for this series.


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" was not renewed for a third season and was succeeded by a new Avengers show called "Avengers Assemble" in 2013. On Saturday, July 14, 2012, at the 2012 Marvel Television Presents panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Jeph Loeb, Head of Marvel Television, said of the relationship between the two shows:


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: The only voice actors to reprise their roles for "Avengers Assemble" are Fred Tatasciore and James Matthis III as the Hulk and Black Panther, respectively. Additionally, Drake Bell returned to voice Spider-Man for guest appearances, while the other members of the team share their voices with their counterparts in the separate "Ultimate Spider-Man" series.


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: With an executive shift in direction for the latter half of the second season, the producers were given new orders over what direction the series was going to take. Red Skull's story was originally planned to span across Season Three and a possible Season Four before being compressed into the second season's latter half. Other plans for Season Three included the continuation of the Ragnarok story focusing on Thor and a story inspired by "Avengers vs. X-Men".


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: Character designer Thomas Perkins did a series of concept art illustrations in 2012 of what a third season could have looked like. Characters appearing in the art included the New Avengers, Impossible Man, Mockingbird, Human Fly, Rom the Spaceknight, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Daimon Hellstrom.


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: In September 2020, Christopher Yost revealed his plans for each episode for the cancelled Season Three that included characters that never made it into the show including Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Magneto. Josh Fine commented that this while he was very entertained by the synopsis he read, they were not discussed by the original writing team.


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: After the abrupt cancellation leaving the producers unhappy, and while accepting that it would still be unlikely, Chris Yost and Josh Fine have since discussed their renewed interest in continuing the series.


title: The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

text: "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" comic book series, written by Christopher Yost, and artwork by Scott Wegener, Christopher Jones and Patrick Scherberger was published to accompany the series. It was a four-issue limited series. An ongoing comic book series titled "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Adventures" debuted in April 2012, alongside the "Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures" series. Christopher Yost returned as the main writer, with Adam Dekraker serving as the comic's creative team, while Nuno Plati provided artwork.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Coccidioidomycosis (, ), commonly known as cocci, Valley fever, as well as California fever, desert rheumatism, or San Joaquin Valley fever, is a mammalian fungal disease caused by "Coccidioides immitis" or "Coccidioides posadasii". Coccidioidomycosis is endemic in certain parts of the United States in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and northern Mexico.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: "C. immitis" is a dimorphic saprophytic fungus that grows as a mycelium in the soil and produces a spherule form in the host organism. It resides in the soil in certain parts of the southwestern United States, most notably in California and Arizona. It is also commonly found in northern Mexico, and parts of Central and South America. "C. immitis" is dormant during long dry spells, then develops as a mold with long filaments that break off into airborne spores when it rains. The spores, known as arthroconidia, are swept into the air by disruption of the soil, such as during construction, farming, low-wind or singular dust events, or an earthquake. Windstorms may also cause epidemics far from endemic areas. In December 1977, a windstorm in an endemic area around Arvin, California led to several hundred cases, including deaths, in non-endemic areas hundreds of miles away.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Coccidioidomycosis is a common cause of community-acquired pneumonia in the endemic areas of the United States. Infections usually occur due to inhalation of the arthroconidial spores after soil disruption. The disease is not contagious. In some cases the infection may recur or become chronic.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: It was reported in 2022 that valley fever had been increasing in California's Central Valley for years (1,000 cases in Kern county in 2014, 3,000 in 2021); experts said that cases could rise across the American west as the climate makes the landscape drier and hotter.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: After "Coccidioides" infection, coccidioidomycosis begins with Valley fever, which is its initial acute form. Valley fever may progress to the chronic form and then to disseminated coccidioidomycosis. Therefore, coccidioidomycosis may be divided into the following types:


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: An estimated 60% of people infected with the fungi responsible for coccidioidomycosis have minimal to no symptoms, while 40% will have a range of possible clinical symptoms. Of those who do develop symptoms, the primary infection is most often respiratory, with symptoms resembling bronchitis or pneumonia that resolve over a matter of a few weeks. In endemic regions, coccidioidomycosis is responsible for 20% of cases of community-acquired pneumonia. Notable coccidioidomycosis signs and symptoms include a profound feeling of tiredness, loss of smell and taste, fever, cough, headaches, rash, muscle pain, and joint pain. Fatigue can persist for many months after initial infection. The classic triad of coccidioidomycosis known as "desert rheumatism" includes the combination of fever, joint pains, and erythema nodosum.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: A minority (3–5%) of infected individuals do not recover from the initial acute infection and develop a chronic infection. This can take the form of chronic lung infection or widespread disseminated infection (affecting the tissues lining the brain, soft tissues, joints, and bone). Chronic infection is responsible for most of the morbidity and mortality. Chronic fibrocavitary disease is manifested by cough (sometimes productive of mucus), fevers, night sweats and weight loss. Osteomyelitis, including involvement of the spine, and meningitis may occur months to years after initial infection. Severe lung disease may develop in HIV-infected persons.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Serious complications may occur in patients who have weakened immune systems, including severe pneumonia with respiratory failure and bronchopleural fistulas requiring resection, lung nodules, and possible disseminated form, where the infection spreads throughout the body. The disseminated form of coccidioidomycosis can devastate the body, causing skin ulcers, abscesses, bone lesions, swollen joints with severe pain, heart inflammation, urinary tract problems, and inflammation of the brain's lining, which can lead to death.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Rain starts the cycle of initial growth of the fungus in the soil. In soil (and in agar media), "Coccidioides" exist in filament form. It forms hyphae in both horizontal and vertical directions. Over a prolonged dry period, cells within hyphae degenerate to form alternating barrel-shaped cells (arthroconidia) which are light in weight and carried by air currents. This happens when the soil is disturbed, often by clearing trees, construction or farming. As the population grows, so do all these activities, causing a potential cascade effect. The more land that is cleared and the more arid the soil, the riper the environment for "Coccidioides". These spores can be easily inhaled unknowingly. On reaching alveoli they enlarge in size to become spherules, and internal septations develop. This division of cells is made possible by the optimal temperature inside the body. Septations develop and form endospores within the spherule. Rupture of spherules release these endospores, which in turn repeat the cycle and spread the infection to adjacent tissues within the body of the infected individual. Nodules can form in lungs surrounding these spherules. When they rupture, they release their contents into bronchi, forming thin-walled cavities. These cavities can cause symptoms including characteristic chest pain, coughing up blood, and persistent cough. In individuals with a weakened immune system, the infection can spread through the blood. The fungus can also, rarely, enter the body through a break in the skin and cause infection.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Coccidioidomycosis diagnosis relies on a combination of an infected person's signs and symptoms, findings on radiographic imaging, and laboratory results.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: The disease is commonly misdiagnosed as bacterial community-acquired pneumonia. The fungal infection can be demonstrated by microscopic detection of diagnostic cells in body fluids, exudates, sputum and biopsy tissue by methods of Papanicolaou or Grocott's methenamine silver staining. These stains can demonstrate spherules and surrounding inflammation.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: With specific nucleotide primers, "C. immitis" DNA can be amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). It can also be detected in culture by morphological identification or by using molecular probes that hybridize with "C. immitis" RNA. "C. immitis" and "C. posadasii" cannot be distinguished on cytology or by symptoms, but only by DNA PCR.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: An indirect demonstration of fungal infection can be achieved also by serologic analysis detecting fungal antigen or host IgM or IgG antibody produced against the fungus. The available tests include the tube-precipitin (TP) assays, complement fixation assays, and enzyme immunoassays. TP antibody is not found in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). TP antibody is specific and is used as a confirmatory test, whereas ELISA is sensitive and thus used for initial testing.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: If the meninges are affected, CSF will show abnormally low glucose levels, an increased level of protein, and lymphocytic pleocytosis. Rarely, CSF eosinophilia is present.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Chest X-rays rarely demonstrate nodules or cavities in the lungs, but these images commonly demonstrate lung opacification, pleural effusions, or enlargement of lymph nodes associated with the lungs. Computed tomography scans of the chest are more sensitive than chest X-rays to detect these changes.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Preventing Valley fever is challenging because it is difficult to avoid breathing in the fungus should it be present; however, the public health effect of the disease is essential to understand in areas where the fungus is endemic. Enhancing surveillance of coccidioidomycosis is key to preparedness in the medical field in addition to improving diagnostics for early infections. Currently there are no completely effective preventive measures available for people who live or travel through Valley fever-endemic areas. Recommended preventive measures include avoiding airborne dust or dirt, but this does not guarantee protection against infection. People in certain occupations may be advised to wear face masks. The use of air filtration indoors is also helpful, in addition to keeping skin injuries clean and covered to avoid skin infection.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: In 1998–2011, there were 111,117 cases of coccidioidomycosis in the U.S. that were logged into the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS). Since many U.S. states do not require reporting of coccidioidomycosis, the actual numbers may be higher. The United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called the disease a "silent epidemic" and acknowledged that there is no proven anticoccidioidal vaccine available. A 2001 cost-effectiveness analysis indicated that a potential vaccine could improve health as well as reducing total health care expenditures among infants, teens, and immigrant adults, and more modestly improve health but increase total health care expenditures in older age groups.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Raising both surveillance and awareness of the disease while medical researchers are developing a human vaccine can positively contribute towards prevention efforts. Research demonstrates that patients from endemic areas who are aware of the disease are most likely to request diagnostic testing for coccidioidomycosis. Presently, Meridian Bioscience manufactures the so-called "EIA test" to diagnose the Valley fever, which however is known for producing a fair quantity of false positives. Currently, recommended prevention measures can include type-of-exposure-based respirator protection for persons engaged in agriculture, construction and others working outdoors in endemic areas. Dust control measures such as planting grass and wetting the soil, and also limiting exposure to dust storms are advisable for residential areas in endemic regions.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Significant disease develops in fewer than 5% of those infected and typically occurs in those with a weakened immune system. Mild asymptomatic cases often do not require any treatment. Those with severe symptoms may benefit from antifungal therapy, which requires 3–6 months or more of treatment depending on the response to the treatment. There is a lack of prospective studies that examine optimal antifungal therapy for coccidioidomycosis.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: On the whole, oral fluconazole and intravenous amphotericin B are used in progressive or disseminated disease, or in immunocompromised individuals. Amphotericin B was originally the only available treatment, but alternatives, including itraconazole and ketoconazole, became available for milder disease. Fluconazole is the preferred medication for coccidioidal meningitis, due to its penetration into CSF. Intrathecal or intraventricular amphotericin B therapy is used if infection persists after fluconazole treatment. Itraconazole is used for cases that involve treatment of infected person's bones and joints. The antifungal medications posaconazole and voriconazole have also been used to treat coccidioidomycosis. Because the symptoms of coccidioidomycosis are similar to the common flu, pneumonia, and other respiratory diseases, it is important for public health professionals to be aware of the rise of coccidioidomycosis and the specifics of diagnosis. Greyhound dogs often get coccidioidomycosis; their treatment regimen involves 6–12 months of ketoconazole taken with food.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: A particular severe case of meningitis caused by valley fever initially received several incorrect diagnoses such as sinus infections and cluster headaches. The patient became unable to work during diagnosis and original search for treatments. Eventually the right treatment was found—albeit with severe side effects—requiring four pills a day and medication administered directly into the brain every 16 weeks.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Conventional "amphotericin B desoxycholate" (AmB: used since the 1950s as a primary agent) is known to be associated with increased drug-induced nephrotoxicity impairing kidney function. Other formulations have been developed such as lipid-soluble formulations to mitigate side-effects such as direct proximal and distal tubular cytotoxicity. These include liposomal amphotericin B, "amphotericin B lipid complex" such as Abelcet (brand) "amphotericin B phospholipid complex" also as "AmBisome Intravenous", or "Amphotec Intravenous" (Generic; Amphotericin B Cholesteryl Sul), and "amphotericin B colloidal dispersion", all shown to exhibit a decrease in nephrotoxicity. The latter was not as effective in one study as "amphotericin B desoxycholate" which had a 50% murine (rat and mouse) morbidity rate versus zero for the AmB colloidal dispersion.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: The cost of the nephrotoxic AmB deoxycholate, in 2015, for a patient of at 1 mg/kg/day dosage, was approximately US$63.80, compared to $1318.80 for 5 mg/kg/day of the less toxic liposomal AmB.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Coccidioidomycosis is endemic to the western hemisphere between 40°N and 40°S. The ecological niches are characterized by hot summers and mild winters with an annual rainfall of 10–50 cm.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: The species are found in alkaline sandy soil, typically 10–30 cm below the surface. In harmony with the mycelium life cycle, incidence increases with periods of dryness after a rainy season; this phenomenon, termed "grow and blow", refers to growth of the fungus in wet weather, producing spores which are spread by the wind during succeeding dry weather. While the majority of cases are observed in the endemic region, cases reported outside the area are generally visitors, who contact the infection and return to their native areas before becoming symptomatic.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: In the United States, "C. immitis" is endemic to southern and central California with the highest presence in the San Joaquin Valley. "C. posadassi" is most prevalent in Arizona, although it can be found in a wider region spanning from Utah, New Mexico, Texas, and Nevada. An estimated 150,000 infections occur annually, with 25,000 new infections occurring every year. The incidence of coccidioidomycosis in the United States in 2011 (42.6 per 100,000) was almost ten times higher than the incidence reported in 1998 (5.3 per 100,000). In area where it is most prevalent, the infection rate is 2-4%.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Incidence varies widely across the west and southwest. In Arizona, for instance, in 2007, there were 3,450 cases in Maricopa County, which in 2007 had an estimated population of 3,880,181 for an incidence of approximately 1 in 1,125. In contrast, though southern New Mexico is considered an endemic region, there were 35 cases in the entire state in 2008 and 23 in 2007, in a region that had an estimated 2008 population of 1,984,356, for an incidence of approximately 1 in 56,695.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Infection rates vary greatly by county, and although population density is important, so are other factors that have not been proven yet. Greater construction activity may disturb spores in the soil. In addition, the effect of altitude on fungi growth and morphology has not been studied, and altitude can range from sea level to 10,000 feet or higher across California, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: In California from 2000 to 2007, there were 16,970 reported cases (5.9 per 100,000 people) and 752 deaths of the 8,657 people hospitalized. The highest incidence was in the San Joaquin Valley with 76% of the 16,970 cases (12,855) occurring in the area. Following the 1994 Northridge earthquake, there was a sudden increase of cases in the areas affected by the quake, at a pace of over 10 times baseline.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: There was an outbreak in the summer of 2001 in Colorado, away from where the disease was considered endemic. A group of archeologists visited Dinosaur National Monument, and eight members of the crew, along with two National Park Service workers were diagnosed with Valley fever.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: California state prisons, beginning in 1919, have been particularly affected by coccidioidomycosis. In 2005 and 2006, the Pleasant Valley State Prison near Coalinga and Avenal State Prison near Avenal on the western side of the San Joaquin Valley had the highest incidence in 2005, of at least 3,000 per 100,000. The receiver appointed in "Plata v. Schwarzenegger" issued an order in May 2013 requiring relocation of vulnerable populations in those prisons.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: The incidence rate has been increasing, with rates as high as 7% during 2006–2010. The cost of care and treatment is $23 million in California prisons. A lawsuit was filed against the state in 2014 on behalf of 58 inmates stating that the Avenal and Pleasant valley state prisons did not take necessary steps to prevent infections.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: There are several populations that have a higher risk for contracting coccidioidomycosis and developing the advanced disseminated version of the disease. Populations with exposure to the airborne arthroconidia working in agriculture and construction have a higher risk. Outbreaks have also been linked to earthquakes, windstorms and military training exercises where the ground is disturbed. Historically, an infection is more likely to occur in males than females, although this could be attributed to occupation rather than being sex-specific. Women who are pregnant and immediately postpartum are at a high risk of infection and dissemination. There is also an association between stage of pregnancy and severity of the disease, with third trimester women being more likely to develop dissemination. Presumably this is related to highly elevated hormonal levels, which stimulate growth and maturation of spherules and subsequent release of endospores. Certain ethnic populations are more susceptible to disseminated coccidioidomycosis. The risk of dissemination is 175 times greater in Filipinos and 10 times greater in African Americans than non-Hispanic whites. Individuals with a weakened immune system are also more susceptible to the disease. In particular, individuals with HIV and diseases that impair T-cell function. Individuals with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes are also at a higher risk. Age also affects the severity of the disease, with more than one-third of deaths being in the 65-84 age group.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: The first case of what was later named coccidioidomycosis was described in 1892 in Buenos Aires by Alejandro Posadas, a medical intern at the Hospital de Clínicas "José de San Martín". Posadas established an infectious character of the disease after being able to transfer it in laboratory conditions to lab animals. In the U.S., Dr. E. Rixford, a physician from a San Francisco hospital, and T. C. Gilchrist, a pathologist at Johns Hopkins Medical School, became early pioneers of clinical studies of the infection. They decided that the causative organism was a "Coccidia"-type protozoan and named it "Coccidioides immitis" (resembling "Coccidia", not mild).


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Dr. William Ophüls, a professor at Stanford University Hospital (San Francisco), discovered that the causative agent of the disease that was at first called "Coccidioides" infection and later coccidioidomycosis was a fungal pathogen, and coccidioidomycosis was also distinguished from Histoplasmosis and Blastomycosis. Further, "Coccidioides immitis" was identified as the culprit of respiratory disorders previously called San Joaquin Valley fever, desert fever, and Valley fever, and a serum precipitin test was developed by Charles E. Smith that was able to detect an acute form of the infection. In retrospect, Smith played a major role in both medical research and raising awareness about coccidioidomycosis, especially when he became dean of the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley in 1951.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: "Coccidioides immitis" was considered by the United States during the 1950s and 1960s as a potential biological weapon. The strain selected for investigation was designated with the military symbol OC, and initial expectations were for its deployment as a human incapacitant. Medical research suggested that OC might have had some lethal effects on the populace, and "Coccidioides immitis" started to be classified by the authorities as a threat to public health. However, "Coccidioides immitis" was never weaponized to the public's knowledge, and most of the military research in the mid-1960s was concentrated on developing a human vaccine. Currently, it is not on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's list of select agents and toxins.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: In 2002, "Coccidioides posadasii" was identified as genetically distinct from "Coccidioides immitis" despite their morphologic similarities and can also cause coccidioidomycosis.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: As of 2013, there is no vaccine available to prevent infection with "Coccidioides immitis" or "Coccidioides posadasii", but efforts to develop such a vaccine are underway.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: In dogs, the most common symptom of coccidioidomycosis is a chronic cough, which can be dry or moist. Other symptoms include fever (in approximately 50% of cases), weight loss, anorexia, lethargy, and depression. The disease can disseminate throughout the dog's body, most commonly causing osteomyelitis (infection of the bone), which leads to lameness. Dissemination can cause other symptoms, depending on which organs are infected. If the fungus infects the heart or pericardium, it can cause heart failure and death.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: In cats, symptoms may include skin lesions, fever, and loss of appetite, with skin lesions being the most common.


title: Coccidioidomycosis

text: Other species in which Valley fever has been found include livestock such as cattle and horses; llamas; marine mammals, including sea otters; zoo animals such as monkeys and apes, kangaroos, tigers, etc.; and wildlife native to the geographic area where the fungus is found, such as cougars, skunks, and javelinas.


title: United Nations geoscheme

text: The United Nations geoscheme is a system which divides 249 countries and territories in the world into six regional, 17 subregional, and nine intermediate regional groups. It was devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) based on the M49 coding classification. The creators note that "the assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories".


title: United Nations geoscheme

text: The schema was created for statistical analysis and consists of macro-geographical regions arranged to the extent possible according to continents. Within each region, smaller geographical sub-regions and sometimes intermediate regions contain countries. Countries are also grouped nongeographically into selected economic and other sets.


title: United Nations geoscheme

text: Antarctica is the only geographical region which does not comprise any sub-regions or country-level areas.


title: United Nations geoscheme

text: The UNSD geoscheme does not set a standard for the entire United Nations System, and it often differs from geographical definitions used by the autonomous United Nations specialized agencies for their own organizational convenience. For instance, the UNSD includes Cyprus and Georgia in Western Asia, yet the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and UNESCO include them in Europe. This "statistical" definition also differs from United Nations Regional Groups


title: United Nations geoscheme

text: Other alternative groupings include the World Bank regional classification, CIA World Factbook regions and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers Geographic Regions.


title: Georgian architecture

text: Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, George III, and George IV—who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830. The so-called great Georgian cities of the British Isles were Edinburgh, Bath, pre-independence Dublin, and London, and to a lesser extent York and Bristol. The style was revived in the late 19th century in the United States as Colonial Revival architecture and in the early 20th century in Great Britain as Neo-Georgian architecture; in both it is also called Georgian Revival architecture. In the United States the term "Georgian" is generally used to describe all buildings from the period, regardless of style; in Britain it is generally restricted to buildings that are "architectural in intention", and have stylistic characteristics that are typical of the period, though that covers a wide range.


title: Georgian architecture

text: The Georgian style is highly variable, but marked by symmetry and proportion based on the classical architecture of Greece and Rome, as revived in Renaissance architecture. Ornament is also normally in the classical tradition, but typically restrained, and sometimes almost completely absent on the exterior. The period brought the vocabulary of classical architecture to smaller and more modest buildings than had been the case before, replacing English vernacular architecture (or becoming the new vernacular style) for almost all new middle-class homes and public buildings by the end of the period.


title: Georgian architecture

text: Georgian architecture is characterized by its proportion and balance; simple mathematical ratios were used to determine the height of a window in relation to its width or the shape of a room as a double cube. Regularity, as with ashlar (uniformly cut) stonework, was strongly approved, imbuing symmetry and adherence to classical rules: the lack of symmetry, where Georgian additions were added to earlier structures remaining visible, was deeply felt as a flaw, at least before John Nash began to introduce it in a variety of styles. Regularity of housefronts along a street was a desirable feature of Georgian town planning. Until the start of the Gothic Revival in the early 19th century, Georgian designs usually lay within the Classical orders of architecture and employed a decorative vocabulary derived from ancient Rome or Greece.


title: Georgian architecture

text: In towns, which expanded greatly during the period, landowners turned into property developers, and rows of identical terraced houses became the norm. Even the wealthy were persuaded to live in these in town, especially if provided with a square of garden in front of the house. There was an enormous amount of building in the period, all over the English-speaking world, and the standards of construction were generally high. Where they have not been demolished, large numbers of Georgian buildings have survived two centuries or more, and they still form large parts of the core of cities such as London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Newcastle upon Tyne and Bristol.


title: Georgian architecture

text: The period saw the growth of a distinct and trained architectural profession; before the mid-century "the high-sounding title, 'architect' was adopted by anyone who could get away with it". This contrasted with earlier styles, which were primarily disseminated among craftsmen through the direct experience of the apprenticeship system. But most buildings were still designed by builders and landlords together, and the wide spread of Georgian architecture, and the Georgian styles of design more generally, came from dissemination through pattern books and inexpensive suites of engravings. Authors such as the prolific William Halfpenny (active 1723–1755) had editions in America as well as Britain.


title: Georgian architecture

text: A similar phenomenon can be seen in the commonality of housing designs in Canada and the United States (though of a wider variety of styles) from the 19th century down to the 1950s, using pattern books drawn up by professional architects that were distributed by lumber companies and hardware stores to contractors and homebuilders.


title: Georgian architecture

text: From the mid-18th century, Georgian styles were assimilated into an architectural vernacular that became part and parcel of the training of every architect, designer, builder, carpenter, mason and plasterer, from Edinburgh to Maryland.


title: Georgian architecture

text: Georgian succeeded the English Baroque of Sir Christopher Wren, Sir John Vanbrugh, Thomas Archer, William Talman, and Nicholas Hawksmoor; this in fact continued into at least the 1720s, overlapping with a more restrained Georgian style. The architect James Gibbs was a transitional figure, his earlier buildings are Baroque, reflecting the time he spent in Rome in the early 18th century, but he adjusted his style after 1720. Major architects to promote the change in direction from Baroque were Colen Campbell, author of the influential book "Vitruvius Britannicus" (1715–1725); Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and his protégé William Kent; Isaac Ware; Henry Flitcroft and the Venetian Giacomo Leoni, who spent most of his career in England.


title: Georgian architecture

text: Other prominent architects of the early Georgian period include James Paine, Robert Taylor, and John Wood, the Elder. The European Grand Tour became very common for wealthy patrons in the period, and Italian influence remained dominant, though at the start of the period Hanover Square, Westminster (1713 on), developed and occupied by Whig supporters of the new dynasty, seems to have deliberately adopted German stylistic elements in their honour, especially vertical bands connecting the windows.


title: Georgian architecture

text: The styles that resulted fall within several categories. In the mainstream of Georgian style were both Palladian architecture—and its whimsical alternatives, Gothic and Chinoiserie, which were the English-speaking world's equivalent of European Rococo. From the mid-1760s a range of Neoclassical modes were fashionable, associated with the British architects Robert Adam, James Gibbs, Sir William Chambers, James Wyatt, George Dance the Younger, Henry Holland and Sir John Soane. John Nash was one of the most prolific architects of the late Georgian era known as The Regency style, he was responsible for designing large areas of London. Greek Revival architecture was added to the repertory, beginning around 1750, but increasing in popularity after 1800. Leading exponents were William Wilkins and Robert Smirke.


title: Georgian architecture

text: In Britain, brick or stone are almost invariably used; brick is often disguised with stucco. The Georgian terraces of Dublin are noted for their almost uniform use of red brick, for example, whereas equivalent terraces in Edinburgh are constructed from stone. In America and other colonies wood remained very common, as its availability and cost-ratio with the other materials was more favourable. Raked roofs were mostly covered in earthenware tiles until Richard Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn led the development of the slate industry in Wales from the 1760s, which by the end of the century had become the usual material.


title: Georgian architecture

text: Versions of revived Palladian architecture dominated English country house architecture. Houses were increasingly placed in grand landscaped settings, and large houses were generally made wide and relatively shallow, largely to look more impressive from a distance. The height was usually highest in the centre, and the Baroque emphasis on corner pavilions often found on the continent generally avoided. In grand houses, an entrance hall led to steps up to a "piano nobile" or mezzanine floor where the main reception rooms were. Typically the basement area or "rustic", with kitchens, offices and service areas, as well as male guests with muddy boots, came some way above ground, and was lit by windows that were high on the inside, but just above ground level outside. A single block was typical, with perhaps a small court for carriages at the front marked off by railings and a gate, but rarely a stone gatehouse, or side wings around the court.