title: Cambridgeshire

text: Wicken Fen is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Wicken. A large part of it is owned and managed by the National Trust.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: Cambridgeshire contains all its green belt around the city of Cambridge, extending to places such as Waterbeach, Lode, Duxford, Little & Great Abington and other communities a few miles away in nearby districts, to afford a protection from the conurbation. It was first drawn up in the 1950s.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Cambridgeshire at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by "Office for National Statistics" with figures in millions of English Pounds Sterling.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: AWG plc is based in Huntingdon. The RAF has several stations in the Huntingdon and St Ives area. RAF Alconbury, three miles north of Huntingdon, is being reorganised after a period of obsolescence following the departure of the USAF, to be the focus of RAF/USAFE intelligence operations, with activities at Upwood and Molesworth being transferred there. Most of Cambridgeshire is agricultural. Close to Cambridge is the so-called Silicon Fen area of high-technology (electronics, computing and biotechnology) companies. ARM Limited is based in Cherry Hinton. The inland Port of Wisbech on the River Nene is the county's only remaining port.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: Cambridgeshire has a comprehensive education system with over 240 state schools, not including sixth form colleges. The independent sector includes Wisbech Grammar School, founded in 1379, it is one of the oldest schools in the country.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: Some of the secondary schools act as Village Colleges, institutions unique to Cambridgeshire. For example, Comberton Village College.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: In addition, Cambridge Regional College and Huntingdonshire Regional College both offer a limited range of higher education courses in conjunction with partner universities.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: These are the settlements in Cambridgeshire with a town charter, city status or a population over 5,000; for a complete list of settlements see list of places in Cambridgeshire.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: The town of Newmarket is surrounded on three sides by Cambridgeshire, being connected by a narrow strip of land to the rest of Suffolk.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: Cambridgeshire has seen 32,869 dwellings created from 2002 to 2013 and there are a further 35,360 planned new dwellings between 2016 and 2023.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: Cambridgeshire has a maritime temperate climate which is broadly similar to the rest of the United Kingdom, though it is drier than the UK average due to its low altitude and easterly location, the prevailing southwesterly winds having already deposited moisture on higher ground further west. Average winter temperatures are cooler than the English average, due to Cambridgeshire's inland location and relative nearness to continental Europe, which results in the moderating maritime influence being less strong. Snowfall is slightly more common than in western areas, due to the relative winter coolness and easterly winds bringing occasional snow from the North Sea. In summer temperatures are average or slightly above, due to less cloud cover. It reaches on around ten days each year, and is comparable to parts of Kent and East Anglia.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: Various forms of football have been popular in Cambridgeshire since medieval times at least. In 1579 one match played at Chesterton between townspeople and University of Cambridge students ended in a violent brawl that led the Vice-Chancellor to issue a decree forbidding them to play "footeball” outside of college grounds. During the nineteenth century, several formulations of the laws of football, known as the Cambridge rules, were created by students at the University. One of these codes, dating from 1863, had a significant influence on the creation of the original laws of the Football Association.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: Cambridgeshire is also the birthplace of bandy, now an IOC accepted sport. According to documents from 1813, Bury Fen Bandy Club was undefeated for 100 years. A member of the club, Charles Goodman Tebbutt, wrote down the first official rules in 1882. Tebbutt was instrumental in spreading the sport to many countries. Great Britain Bandy Association is based in Cambridgeshire.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: Fen skating is a traditional form of skating in the Fenland. The National Ice Skating Association was set up in Cambridge in 1879, they took the top Fen skaters to the world speedskating championships where James Smart (skater) became world champion.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: On 6–7 June 2015, the inaugural Tour of Cambridgeshire cycle race took place on closed roads across the county. The event was an official UCI qualification event, and consisted of a Time Trial on the 6th, and a Gran Fondo event on the 7th. The Gran Fondo event was open to the public, and over 6000 riders took part in the race.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: The River Cam is the main river flowing through Cambridge, parts of the River Nene and River Great Ouse lie within the county. In 2021 the latter was used as the course for The Boat Race. The River Cam serves as the course for the university Lent Bumps and May Bumps and the non-college rowing organised by Cambridgeshire Rowing Association.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: Cambridge is home to the Kettle's Yard gallery and the artist-run Aid and Abet project space. Nine miles west of Cambridge next to the village of Bourn is Wysing Arts Centre.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: Cambridge Open Studios is the region's large arts organisation with over 500 members. Every year, more than 370 artists open their doors to visitors during four weekends in July.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: The annual Fenland Poet Laureate awards were instigated for poets in the North of the county in 2012 at Wisbech & Fenland Museum.


title: Cambridgeshire

text: The county was visited by travelling companies of comedians in the Georgian period. These came from different companies. The Lincoln Circuit included, at various times, Wisbech and Whittlesey. The Wisbech Georgian theatre still survives as an operating theatre now known as The Angles Theatre.


title: Indus script

text: The Indus script, also known as the Harappan script, is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilisation. Most inscriptions containing these symbols are extremely short, making it difficult to judge whether or not they constituted a writing system used to record the as-yet unidentified language(s) of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Despite many attempts, the 'script' has not yet been deciphered, but efforts are ongoing. There is no known bilingual inscription to help decipher the script, and the script shows no significant changes over time. However, some of the syntax (if that is what it may be termed) varies depending upon location.


title: Indus script

text: The first publication of a seal with Harappan symbols dates to 1875, in a drawing by Alexander Cunningham. By 1992, an inscribed objects had been discovered, some as far afield as Mesopotamia, due to ancient Indus–Mesopotamia relations, with over 400 distinct signs represented across known inscriptions.


title: Indus script

text: Some scholars, such as G. R. Hunter, S. R. Rao, John Newberry, and Krishna Rao have argued that the Brahmi script has some connection with the Indus system. Raymond Allchin has somewhat cautiously supported the possibility of the Brahmi script being influenced by the Indus script. Another possibility for the continuity of the Indus tradition is in the megalithic culture graffiti symbols of southern and central India (and Sri Lanka), which probably do not constitute a linguistic script but may have some overlap with the Indus symbol inventory. Linguists such as Iravatham Mahadevan, Kamil Zvelebil, and Asko Parpola have argued that the script had a relation to a Dravidian language.


title: Indus script

text: By 1977 at least 2,906 inscribed objects with legible inscriptions had been discovered, and by 1992 a total of 4,000 inscribed objects had been found. Indus script symbols have primarily been found on stamp seals, pottery, bronze and copper plates, tools, and weapons. The majority of the textual corpus consists of seals, impressions of such seals, and graffiti markings inscribed on pottery. Seals and their impressions were typically small in size and portable, with most being just 2–3 centimetres in length on each side. No extant examples of the Indus script have been found on perishable organic materials like papyrus, paper, textiles, leaves, wood, or bark.


title: Indus script

text: Early examples of the Indus script have been found on pottery inscriptions and clay impressions of inscribed Harappan seals dating to around during the Early Harappan period, and emerging alongside administrative objects such as seals and standardised weights during the Kot Diji phase of this period. However, excavations at Harappa have demonstrated the development of some symbols from potter's marks and graffiti belonging to the earlier Ravi phase from .


title: Indus script

text: In the Mature Harappan period, from about , strings of Indus signs are commonly found on flat, rectangular stamp seals as well as written or inscribed on a multitude of other objects including pottery, tools, tablets, and ornaments. Signs were written using a variety of methods including carving, chiseling, embossing, and painting applied to diverse materials such as terracotta, sandstone, soapstone, bone, shell, copper, silver, and gold. , Iravatham Mahadevan noted that about 90% of the Indus script seals and inscribed objects discovered so far were found at sites in Pakistan along the Indus river and its tributaries, such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, while other sites located elsewhere account for the remaining 10%. Often, animals such as bulls, water buffaloes, elephants, rhinoceros, and the mythical "unicorn" accompanied the text on seals, possibly to help the illiterate identify the origin of a particular seal.


title: Indus script

text: The Late Harappan period, from , followed the more urbanised Mature Harappan period, and was a period of fragmentation and localisation which preceded the early Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent. Inscriptions have been found at sites associated with the localised phases of this period. At Harappa, the use of the script largely ceased as the use of inscribed seals ended around ; however, the use of the Indus script may have endured for a longer duration in other regions such as at Rangpur, Gujarat, particularly in the form of graffiti inscribed on pottery. Seals from the Jhukar phase of the Late Harappan period, centred on the present-day province of Sindh in Pakistan, lack the Indus script, however, some potsherd inscriptions from this phase have been noted. Both seals and potsherds bearing Indus script text, dated , have been found at sites associated with the Daimabad culture of the Late Harappan period, in present-day Maharashtra.


title: Indus script

text: Numerous artefacts, particularly potsherds and tools, bearing markings inscribed into them have been found in Central India, South India, and Sri Lanka dating to the Megalithic Iron Age which followed the Late Harappan period. These markings include inscriptions in the Brahmi and Tamil-Brahmi scripts, but also include non-Brahmi graffiti symbols which co-existed contemporaneously with the Tamil-Brahmi script. As with the Indus script, there is no scholarly consensus on the meaning of these non-Brahmi symbols. Some scholars, such as the anthropologist Gregory Possehl, have argued that the non-Brahmi graffiti symbols are a survival and development of the Indus script into and during the 1st millennium BCE. In 1960, archaeologist B. B. Lal found that a majority of the megalithic symbols he had surveyed were identifiably shared with the Indus script, concluding that there was a commonness of culture between the Indus Valley Civilisation and the later Megalithic period. Similarly, Indian epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan has argued that sequences of Megalithic graffiti symbols have been found in the same order as those on comparable Harappan inscriptions and that this is evidence that language used by the Iron Age people of south India was related to or identical with that of the late Harappans.


title: Indus script

text: The characters are largely pictorial, depicting objects found in the ancient world generally, found locally in Harappan culture, or derived from the natural world. However, many abstract signs have also been identified. Some signs are compounds of simpler pictorial signs, while others are not known to occur in isolation, being known only to occur as components of more complex signs. Some signs resemble tally marks and are often interpreted as early numerals.


title: Indus script

text: The number of principal signs is over 400, which is considered too large a number for each character to be a phonogram, and so the script is generally believed to be logo-syllabic. The precise total number of signs is uncertain, as there is disagreement concerning whether particular signs are distinct or variants of the same sign. In the 1970s, the Indian epigrapher Iravatham Mahadevan published a corpus and concordance of Indus inscriptions listing 419 distinct signs in specific patterns. However, in 2015, the archaeologist and epigrapher Bryan Wells estimated that were around 694 distinct signs.


title: Indus script

text: Of the signs identified by Mahadevan, 113 are hapax legomena, 47 occur only twice, and 59 occur fewer than five times. Just 67 signs account for 80 percent of usage across the corpus of Indus symbols. The most frequently used sign is the "jar" sign, identified by Parpola as 'sign 311'.


title: Indus script

text: Most scholars agree that the Indus script was generally read from right to left, however, some exceptions wherein the script is written left to right or in a boustrophedon mode are also known. Although the script is undeciphered, the writing direction has been deduced from external evidence, such as instances of the symbols being compressed on the left side as if the writer is running out of space at the end of the row. In the case of seals, which create a mirror image impression on the clay or ceramic on which the seal is affixed, the impression of the seal is read from right to left, as is this case with inscriptions in other cases.


title: Indus script

text: Some researchers have sought to establish a relationship between the Indus script and Brahmi, arguing that it is a substratum or ancestor to later writing systems used in the region of the Indian subcontinent. Others have compared the Indus script to roughly contemporary pictographic scripts from Mesopotamia and the Iranian plateau, particularly Sumerian proto-cuneiform and Elamite scripts. However, researchers now generally agree that the Indus script is not closely related to any other writing systems of the second and third millennia BCE, although some convergence or diffusion with Proto-Elamite conceivably may be found. A definite relationship between the Indus script and any other script remains unproven.


title: Indus script

text: Researchers have compared the Indus valley script to the Brahmi and Tamil-Brahmi scripts, suggesting that there may be similarities between them. These similarities were first suggested by early European scholars, such as the archaeologist John Marshall and the Assyriologist Stephen Langdon, with some, such as G.R. Hunter, proposing an indigenous origin of Brahmi with a derivation from the Indus script.


title: Indus script

text: Researchers have also compared the Indus valley script with the Proto-Elamite script used in Elam, an ancient Pre-Iranian civilisation that was contemporaneous with the Indus Valley civilisation. Their respective scripts were contemporary to each other, and both were largely pictographic. About 35 Proto-Elamite signs may possibly be comparable to Indus signs. Writing in 1932, G.R. Hunter argued, against the view of Stephen Langdon, that the number of resemblances "seem to be too close to be explained by coincidence".


title: Indus script

text: Over the years, numerous decipherments have been proposed, but there is no established scholarly consensus. The few points on which there exists scholarly consensus are the right-to-left direction of the majority of the inscriptions, numerical nature of certain stroke-like signs, functional homogeneity of certain terminal signs, and some generally adopted techniques of segmenting the inscriptions into initial, medial, and terminal clusters. Over 100 (mutually exclusive) attempts at decipherment have been published since the 1920s, and the topic is popular among amateur researchers.


title: Indus script

text: Although no clear consensus has been established, there are those who argue that the Indus script recorded a Dravidian language. Early proponents included the archaeologist Henry Heras, who suggested several readings of signs based on a proto-Dravidian assumption.


title: Indus script

text: Based on computer analysis, the Russian scholar Yuri Knorozov suggested that a Dravidian language is the most likely candidate for the underlying language of the script. The Finnish scholar Asko Parpola led a Finnish team in the 1960s–80s that, like Knorozov's Soviet team, worked towards investigating the inscriptions using computer analysis. Parpola similarly concluded that the Indus script and Harappan language "most likely belonged to the Dravidian family". A comprehensive description of Parpola's work up to 1994 is given in his book "Deciphering the Indus Script". Supporting this work, the archaeologist Walter Fairservis argued that Indus script text on seals could be read as names, titles, or occupations, and suggested that the animals depicted were totems indicating kinship or possibly clans. The computational linguist Rajesh P. N. Rao, along with a team of colleagues, performed an independent computational analysis and concluded that the Indus script has the structure of a written language, supporting prior evidence for syntactic structure in the Indus script, and noting that the Indus script appears to have a similar conditional entropy to Old Tamil.


title: Indus script

text: These scholars have proposed readings of many signs; one such reading was legitimised when the Dravidian homophonous words for 'fish' and 'star', , were hinted at through drawings of both the things together on Harappan seals. In a 2011 speech, Rajesh P. N. Rao said that Iravatham Mahadevan and Asko Parpola "have been making some headway on this particular problem", namely deciphering the Indus script, but concluded that their proposed readings, although they make sense, are not yet proof.


title: Indus script

text: In his 2014 publication "Dravidian Proof of the Indus Script via The Rig Veda: A Case Study", the epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan identified a recurring sequence of four signs which he interpreted as an early Dravidian phrase translated as "Merchant of the City". Commenting on his 2014 publication, he stressed that he had not fully deciphered the Indus script, although he felt his effort had "attained the level of proof" with regards to demonstrating that the Indus script was a Dravidian written language.


title: Indus script

text: Perhaps the most influential proponent of the hypothesis that the Indus script records an early Indo-Aryan language is the Indian archaeologist Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao, who in his books, "Lothal and the Indus Civilization" and "The Decipherment of the Indus Script", wrote that he had deciphered the script. While dismissing most such attempts at decipherment, John E. Mitchiner commented that "a more soundly-based but still greatly subjective and unconvincing attempt to discern an Indo-European basis in the script has been that of Rao". S.R. Rao perceived a number of similarities in shape and form between the late Harappan characters and the Phoenician letters, and argued that the Phoenician script evolved from the Harappan script, and not, as the classical theory suggests from the Proto-Sinaitic script. He compared it to the Phoenician alphabet, and assigned sound values based on this comparison. Reading the script from left to right, as is the case with Brahmi, he concluded that Indus inscriptions included numerals and were "Sanskritic".


title: Indus script

text: S.R. Rao's interpretation helped to bolster Hindu nationalist and Aryan indigenist views propagated by writers, such as David Frawley, who hold the conviction that Indo-Aryan peoples are the original Bronze Age inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent and that the Indo-European language family originated in India. However, there are many problems with this hypothesis, particularly the cultural differences evident between the Indus River Civilisation and Indo-European cultures, such as the role of horses in the latter; as Parpola put it, "there is no escape from the fact that the horse played a central role in the Vedic and Iranian cultures". Additionally, the Indus script appears to lack evidence of prefixes, infixes, and inflectional endings, which Possehl has argued rules out an Indo-European language such as Sanskrit as the language of the Indus script.


title: Indus script

text: A less popular hypothesis suggests that the Indus script belongs to the Munda family of languages. This language family is spoken largely in Eastern India, and is related to some Southeast Asian languages. However, much like the Indo-Aryan language, the reconstructed vocabulary of early Munda does not reflect the Harappan culture, therefore, its candidacy for being the language of the Indus Civilisation is dim.


title: Indus script

text: An opposing hypothesis is that these symbols are nonlinguistic signs which symbolise families, clans, gods, and religious concepts, and are similar to components of coats of arms or totem poles. In a 2004 article, Steve Farmer, Richard Sproat, and Michael Witzel presented a number of arguments stating that the Indus script is nonlinguistic. The main ones are the extreme brevity of the inscriptions, the existence of too many rare signs (which increase over the 700-year period of the Mature Harappan civilisation), and the lack of the random-looking sign repetition that is typical of language.


title: Indus script

text: Asko Parpola, reviewing the Farmer "et al." thesis in 2005, stated that their arguments "can be easily controverted". He cited the presence of a large number of rare signs in Chinese and emphasised that there was "little reason for sign repetition in short seal texts written in an early logo-syllabic script". Revisiting the question in a 2008 lecture, Parpola took on each of the 10 main arguments of Farmer "et al.", presenting counterarguments for each.


title: Indus script

text: A 2009 paper published by Rajesh P.N. Rao, Iravatham Mahadevan and others in the journal "Science" also challenged the argument that the Indus script might have been a nonlinguistic symbol system. The paper concluded that the conditional entropy of Indus inscriptions closely matched those of linguistic systems like the Sumerian logo-syllabic system, Rig Vedic Sanskrit etc., but they are careful to stress that by itself does not imply that the script is linguistic. A follow-up study presented further evidence in terms of entropies of longer sequences of symbols beyond pairs. However, Sproat argued that there existed a number of misunderstandings in Rao "et al.", including a lack of discriminative power in their model, and argued that applying their model to known non-linguistic systems such as Mesopotamian deity symbols produced similar results to the Indus script. Rao "et al." argument against Sproat's arguments and Sproat's reply were published in "Computational Linguistics" in December 2010. The June 2014 issue of "Language" carries a paper by Sproat that provides further evidence that the methodology of Rao "et al." is flawed. Rao "et al." rebuttal of Sproat's 2014 article and Sproat's response are published in the December 2015 issue of "Language".


title: Indus script

text: The Indus symbols have been assigned the ISO 15924 code "Inds". Michael Everson submitted a completed proposal for encoding the script in Unicode's Supplementary Multilingual Plane in 1999, but this proposal has not been approved by the Unicode Technical Committee. , the Script Encoding Initiative still lists the proposal among the list of scripts that are not yet officially encoded in the Unicode Standard (and ISO/IEC 10646).


title: Indus script

text: The Indus Script Font is a Private Use Areas (PUA) font representing the Indus script. The font was developed based on a corpus compiled by Sindhologist Asko Parpola in his book "Deciphering the Indus Script". Amar Fayaz Buriro, a language engineer, and Shabir Kumbhar, a developer of fonts, were tasked by the National Fund for Mohenjo-daro to develop this font, and they presented it at an international conference on Mohenjo-daro and the Indus Valley Civilisation on 8 February 2017.


title: Craig Jones (musician)

text: Craig Jones (born February 11, 1972), also known as 133, is an American musician. He is the sampler and keyboardist for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #5. Jones joined the band in early 1996, shortly after the band had finished the recording of its demo album "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.". Initially, he was brought in to replace Donnie Steele, one of the two original guitarist, though he quickly moved on to the role of sampling and keyboards. Following the departure of fellow bandmate and drummer Joey Jordison in 2013, Jones is the second-longest-serving member in the band.


title: Craig Jones (musician)

text: Jones joined Slipknot in early 1996, replacing original guitarist Donnie Steele after the recording of the band's debut demo "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat." He was enlisted to the band by drummer Joey Jordison, with whom Jones had previously worked (alongside guitarist Josh Brainard) in the band Modifidious. However, shortly after joining the band, the "electronics and computer genius" moved over to the role of sampler due to the increase in sound effects, background noises/programmed samples and media samples used in the band's music. Mick Thomson replaced him on guitar. Jordison claimed that Jones was happy with the change, noting that "he liked doing that anyway, coming up with all these noises and sounds". Jones' contribution to the band has been described by BBC Music as "provid[ing] samples, speeches and noises as a kind of audio garnish in the band's dark maelstrom".


title: Craig Jones (musician)

text: Jones was given the nickname "133" as a reference to the processor speed of his computer, 133 MHz, which author Joel McIver claims "was considered the state of the art" at the time.


title: Craig Jones (musician)

text: In September 2004, it was announced that Jones would not be performing with Slipknot for a short period of the band's European tour due to a "medical emergency". A statement on the band's official website explained that "Craig Jones #133 (#5) has been suffering incredible pain during the first week of our European tour and has been unable to eat or sleep properly. Therefore, a decision was made for him to return to the States for emergency dental surgery". Speaking about the situation, guitarist Jim Root explained that "We're filling his spot, we've got a picture of him in the dressing room and we miss him every day, [but] we couldn't cancel the tour".


title: Craig Jones (musician)

text: Upon joining the band as a guitarist, Jones initially wore women's pantyhose on his head when performing, which was said to give his face a "compressed, robber-like look". This was later changed to an astronaut space helmet with long nails hammered through it. The helmet was later replaced by a bondage mask, and a zipper was also added over the mouth area.


title: Craig Jones (musician)

text: Along with those of Jordison, Root and Thomson, Jones' mask has been acknowledged by fans as having stayed very much consistent over the course of Slipknot's career. For the group's 2019 album "We Are Not Your Kind", his mask was slightly modified, with the nails being replaced by screws and being longer at the top of the mask, achieving a mohawk effect.


title: Craig Jones (musician)

text: Jones is often identified by the media as the most quiet and private member of Slipknot, earning him the nickname "The Quiet One". Vocalist Corey Taylor has commented on his demeanour by describing him as "the quietly scary type". "Slipknot" producer Ross Robinson has added that he "would try to get him to talk and he would just sit and stare at [him]". Loudwire's Graham Hartmann noted that he "almost never speaks" and "keeps people at a distance", theorising that these qualities inspired the style of his mask. Ian Gittins of "The Guardian" described Jones as "patently a strange individual", as well as quoting the band's manager's dubbing of the sampler as "the Unabomber", a reference to terrorist Ted Kaczynski.


title: Craig Jones (musician)

text: When asked early in his career about what job he might be working at if not in Slipknot, Jones responded that he'd likely be "driving forklifts in a warehouse all day long", although he has also joked that he would "probably be out killing people", which has earned him the nickname "The Killer". According to Robinson, the latter comment was the first the sampler made in an interview, and it inspired a number of complaints from readers of the publication to which it was made.


title: Judy Geeson

text: Judith Amanda Geeson(born 10 September 1948) is an English film, stage, and television actress. She began her career primarily working on British television series, with a leading role on "The Newcomers" from 1965 to 1967, before making her major film debut in "To Sir, with Love" (1967). She starred in a range of films throughout the 1970s, from crime pictures to thriller and horror films, including "The Executioner" (1970), "Fear in the Night" (1972), "Brannigan" (1975) and "The Eagle Has Landed" (1976).


title: Judy Geeson

text: Geeson appeared in several stage productions in the 1980s, including two for the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as an Off-Broadway production of "The Common Pursuit" (1986). After relocating to the United States she returned to television, playing the recurring character of Maggie Conway in the American series "Mad About You" from 1992 until 1999, as well as a recurring role on "Gilmore Girls" in 2002. In 2012 and 2016, she appeared in Rob Zombie's "The Lords of Salem" and "31", respectively.


title: Judy Geeson

text: Judy Geeson was born in Arundel, Sussex. Her father was an editor for the National Coal Board magazine. Her sister Sally Geeson, also an actress, is known for her roles in British television sitcoms of the 1970s. Geeson attended Corona Stage Academy and made her stage debut in 1957.


title: Judy Geeson

text: Geeson's professional acting career started in July 1962, with an appearance in an episode of the television series "The Probation Officer". Her first major film appearances came in 1967, with roles in "To Sir, with Love" and "Berserk!". She followed these films with the comedy "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" (1968). Geeson became well known as a result of a regular role in the BBC early-evening soap opera "The Newcomers". She also had a major role in the mid-1970s costume drama "Poldark" as Caroline Penvenen (later Caroline Enys).


title: Judy Geeson

text: Geeson's other films include "Prudence and the Pill" (1968), "Three into Two Won't Go" (1969), "10 Rillington Place" (1970), "Doomwatch" (1972), "Brannigan" (1975), starring John Wayne, and "The Eagle Has Landed" (1976). In the TV series "Danger UXB" (1979) she played the female lead, Susan Mount, opposite Anthony Andrews. She also had the lead role of Fulvia in the science fiction series "Star Maidens" (1976).


title: Judy Geeson

text: In addition to her film and television work during this time, Geeson also performed in theatrical productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company as Lavinia in "Titus Andronicus" and as Viven 532 in "Section Nine" (both 1973). She also had roles in stage productions of "Next Time I'll Sing to You" (1980) and "The Real Thing" (1985), both in London, before making her Off-Broadway debut in "The Common Pursuit" in 1987.


title: Judy Geeson

text: Geeson relocated from London to Los Angeles in 1984; there she began appearing in American television, including a role as a series regular in the sitcom "Mad About You", playing the hostile neighbour, Maggie Conway, from 1992 to 1999. She also played the role of Sandrine in the "" episodes "" and "".


title: Judy Geeson

text: Having appeared in a number of horror films during the 1970s and 1980s, including "Fear in the Night" (1972), "A Candle for the Devil" (1973), "Dominique" (1978) and "Inseminoid" (1981), Geeson returned to the horror genre in "The Lords of Salem" (2012), directed by Rob Zombie. The film marked her return to acting following a nine-year absence. She portrayed Sister Dragon in Rob Zombie's slasher film "31" which was released in 2015.


title: Judy Geeson

text: In the 1970s, Geeson lived with set designer Sean Kenny until his death in 1973. She was married to actor Kristoffer Tabori from 1985 until their divorce in 1989. In a 2015 interview, Geeson stated that she had resided in Los Angeles, California, for the past 30 years.


title: Sejm

text: The Sejm ( , ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: "Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej"), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.


title: Sejm

text: The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the transition of government in 1989. Along with the upper house of parliament, the Senate, it forms the national legislature in Poland known as National Assembly (). The Sejm is composed of 460 deputies (singular "deputowany" or "poseł" – "envoy") elected every four years by a universal ballot. The Sejm is presided over by a speaker called the "Marshal of the Sejm" ("Marszałek Sejmu").


title: Sejm

text: In the Kingdom of Poland, the term ""Sejm"" referred to an entire two-chamber parliament, comprising the Chamber of Deputies (), the Senate and the King. It was thus a three-estate parliament. The 1573 Henrician Articles strengthened the assembly's jurisdiction, making Poland a constitutional elective monarchy. Since the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939), ""Sejm"" has only referred to the lower house of parliament.


title: Sejm

text: "Sejm" (an ancient Proto-Lechitic word meaning "gathering" or "meeting") traces its roots to the King's Councils – "wiece" – which gained authority during the time of Poland's fragmentation (1146-1295). The 1180 Sejm in Łęczyca (known as the 'First Polish parliament') was the most notable, in that it established laws constraining the power of the ruler. It forbade arbitrary sequestration of supplies in the countryside and takeover of bishopric lands after the death of a bishop. These early "Sejm"s only convened at the King's behest.


title: Sejm

text: Following the 1493 "Sejm" in Piotrków, it became a regularly convening body, to which indirect elections were held every two years. The bicameral system was also established; the "Sejm" then comprised two chambers: the "Senat" (Senate) of 81 bishops and other dignitaries; and the Chamber of Deputies, made up of 54 envoys elected by smaller local "sejmik" (assemblies of landed nobility) in each of the Kingdom's provinces. At the time, Poland's nobility, which accounted for around 10% of the state's population (then the highest amount in Europe), was becoming particularly influential, and with the eventual development of the Golden Liberty, the "Sejm"'s powers increased dramatically.


title: Sejm

text: Over time, the envoys in the lower chamber grew in number and power as they pressed the king for more privileges. The "Sejm" eventually became even more active in supporting the goals of the privileged classes when the King ordered that the landed nobility and their estates (peasants) be drafted into military service.


title: Sejm

text: The Union of Lublin in 1569, united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as one single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and thus the "Sejm" was supplemented with new envoys from among the Lithuanian nobility. The Commonwealth ensured that the state of affairs surrounding the three-estates system continued, with the "Sejm", Senate and King forming the estates and supreme deliberating body of the state. In the first few decades of the 16th century, the Senate had established its precedence over the "Sejm"; however, from the mid-1500s onwards, the "Sejm" became a very powerful representative body of the "szlachta" ("middle nobility"). Its chambers reserved the final decisions in legislation, taxation, budget, and treasury matters (including military funding), foreign policy, and the confirment of nobility.


title: Sejm

text: The 1573 Warsaw Confederation saw the nobles of the "Sejm" officially sanction and guarantee religious tolerance in Commonwealth territory, ensuring a refuge for those fleeing the ongoing Reformation and Counter-Reformation wars in Europe.


title: Sejm

text: Until the end of the 16th century, unanimity was not required, and the majority-voting process was the most commonly used system for voting. Later, with the rise of the Polish magnates and their increasing power, the unanimity principle was re-introduced with the institution of the nobility's right of "liberum veto" (Latin: "free veto"). Additionally, if the envoys were unable to reach a unanimous decision within six weeks (the time limit of a single session), deliberations were declared void and all previous acts passed by that "Sejm" were annulled. From the mid-17th century onward, any objection to a "Sejm" resolution, by either an envoy or a senator, automatically caused the rejection of other, previously approved resolutions. This was because all resolutions passed by a given session of the "Sejm" formed a whole resolution, and, as such, was published as the annual "constituent act" of the "Sejm", e.g. the ""Anno Domini" 1667" act. In the 16th century, no single person or small group dared to hold up proceedings, but, from the second half of the 17th century, the "liberum veto" was used to virtually paralyze the "Sejm", and brought the Commonwealth to the brink of collapse.


title: Sejm

text: The "liberum veto" was abolished with the adoption of the Constitution of 3 May 1791, a piece of legislation which was passed as the "Government Act", and for which the "Sejm" required four years to propagate and adopt. The constitution's acceptance, and the possible long-term consequences it may have had, is arguably the reason for which the powers of Habsburg Austria, Russia and Prussia then decided to partition the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, thus putting an end to over 300 years of Polish parliamentary continuity. It is estimated that between 1493 and 1793, a "Sejm" was held 240 times, the total debate-time sum of which was 44 years.


title: Sejm

text: After the fall of the Duchy of Warsaw, which existed as a Napoleonic client state between 1807 and 1815, and its short-lived "Sejm" of the Duchy of Warsaw, the "Sejm" of Congress Poland was established in Congress Poland of the Russian Empire; it was composed of the king (the Russian emperor), the upper house (Senate), and the lower house (Chamber of Deputies). Overall, during the period from 1795 until the re-establishment of Poland's sovereignty in 1918, little power was actually held by any Polish legislative body and the occupying powers of Russia, Prussia (later united Germany) and Austria propagated legislation for their own respective formerly-Polish territories at a national level.


title: Sejm

text: The Chamber of Deputies, despite its name, consisted not only of 77 envoys (sent by local assemblies) from the hereditary nobility, but also of 51 deputies, elected by the non-noble population. All deputies were covered by Parliamentary immunity, with each individual serving for a term of office of six years, with third of the deputies being elected every two years. Candidates for deputy had to be able to read and write, and have a certain amount of wealth. The legal voting age was 21, except for those citizens serving in the military, the personnel of which were not allowed to vote. Parliamentary sessions were initially convened every two years, and lasted for (at least) 30 days. However, after many clashes between liberal deputies and conservative government officials, sessions were later called only four times (1818, 1820, 1826, and 1830, with the last two sessions being secret). The "Sejm" had the right to call for votes on civil and administrative legal issues, and, with permission from the king, it could also vote on matters related to the fiscal policy and the military. It had the right to exercise control over government officials, and to file petitions. The 64-member Senate on the other hand, was composed of "voivodes" and "kasztelans" (both types of provincial governors), Russian envoys, diplomats or princes, and nine bishops. It acted as the Parliamentary Court, had the right to control "citizens' books", and had similar legislative rights as did the Chamber of Deputies.


title: Sejm

text: In the Free City of Cracow (1815–1846), a unicameral Assembly of Representatives was established, and from 1827, a unicameral provincial "sejm" existed in the Grand Duchy of Poznań. Poles were elected to and represented the majority in both of these legislatures; however, they were largely powerless institutions and exercised only very limited power. After numerous failures in securing legislative sovereignty in the early 19th century, many Poles simply gave up trying to attain a degree of independence from their foreign master-states. In the Austrian partition, a relatively powerless "Sejm" of the Estates operated until the time of the Spring of Nations. After this, in the mid to late 19th century, only in autonomous Galicia (1861–1914) was there a unicameral and functional National "Sejm", the "Sejm" of the Land. It is recognised today as having played a major and overwhelming positive role in the development of Polish national institutions.


title: Sejm

text: In the second half of the 19th century, Poles were able to become members of the parliaments of Austria, Prussia and Russia, where they formed Polish Clubs. Deputies of Polish nationality were elected to the Prussian "Landtag" from 1848, and then to the German Empire's "Reichstag" from 1871. Polish Deputies were members of the Austrian State Council (from 1867), and from 1906 were also elected to the Russian Imperial State "Duma" (lower chamber) and to the State Council (upper chamber).


title: Sejm

text: After the First World War and re-establishment of Polish independence, the convocation of parliament, under the democratic electoral law of 1918, became an enduring symbol of the new state's wish to demonstrate and establish continuity with the 300-year Polish parliamentary traditions established before the time of the partitions. Maciej Rataj emphatically paid tribute to this with the phrase: "There is Poland there, and so is the "Sejm"".


title: Sejm

text: During the interwar period of Poland's independence, the first Legislative "Sejm" of 1919, a Constituent Assembly, passed the Small Constitution of 1919, which introduced a parliamentary republic and proclaimed the principle of the "Sejm"'s sovereignty. This was then strengthened, in 1921, by the March Constitution, one of the most democratic European constitutions enacted after the end of World War I. The constitution established a political system which was based on Montesquieu's doctrine of separation of powers, and which restored the bicameral "Sejm" consisting of a chamber of deputies (to which alone the name of ""Sejm"" was from then on applied) and the Senate. In 1919, Roza Pomerantz-Meltzer, a member of the Zionist party, became the first woman ever elected to the "Sejm".


title: Sejm

text: The legal content of the March Constitution allowed for "Sejm" supremacy in the system of state institutions at the expense of the executive powers, thus creating a parliamentary republic out of the Polish state. An attempt to strengthen executive powers in 1926 (through the August Amendment) proved too limited and largely failed in helping avoid legislative grid-lock which had ensued as a result of too-great parliamentary power in a state which had numerous diametrically-opposed political parties sitting in its legislature. In 1935, the parliamentary republic was weakened further when, by way of, Józef Piłsudski's May Coup, the president was forced to sign the April Constitution of 1935, an act through which the head of state assumed the dominant position in legislating for the state and the Senate increased its power at the expense of the "Sejm".


title: Sejm

text: On 2 September 1939, the "Sejm" held its final pre-war session, during which it declared Poland's readiness to defend itself against invading German forces. On 2 November 1939, the President dissolved the "Sejm" and the Senate, which were then, according to plan, to resume their activity within two months after the end of the Second World War; this, however, never happened. During wartime, the National Council (1939–1945) was established to represent the legislature as part of the Polish Government in Exile. Meanwhile, in Nazi-occupied Poland, the Council of National Unity was set up; this body functioned from 1944 to 1945 as the parliament of the Polish Underground State. With the cessation of hostilities in 1945, and subsequent rise to power of the Communist-backed Provisional Government of National Unity, the Second Polish Republic legally ceased to exist.


title: Sejm

text: The "Sejm" in the Polish People's Republic had 460 deputies throughout most of its history. At first, this number was declared to represent one deputy per 60,000 citizens (425 were elected in 1952), but, in 1960, as the population grew, the declaration was changed: The constitution then stated that the deputies were representative "of" the people and could be recalled "by" the people, but this article was never used, and, instead of the "five-point electoral law", a non-proportional, "four-point" version was used. Legislation was passed with majority voting.


title: Sejm

text: Under the 1952 Constitution, the Sejm was defined as "the highest organ of State authority" in Poland, as well as "the highest spokesman of the will of the people in town and country." On paper, it was vested with great lawmaking and oversight powers. For instance, it was empowered with control over "the functioning of other organs of State authority and administration," and ministers were required to answer questions posed by deputies within seven days. In practice, it did little more than rubber-stamp decisions already made by the Communist Polish United Workers Party and its executive bodies. This was standard practice in nearly all Communist regimes due to the principle of democratic centralism.


title: Sejm

text: The "Sejm" voted on the budget and on the periodic national plans that were a fixture of communist economies. The "Sejm" deliberated in sessions that were ordered to convene by the State Council.


title: Sejm

text: The "Sejm" also chose a "Prezydium" ("presiding body") from among its members. The "Prezydium" was headed by the speaker, or Marshal, who was always a member of the United People's Party. In its preliminary session, the "Sejm" also nominated the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers of Poland, and members of the State Council. It also chose many other government officials, including the head of the Supreme Chamber of Control and members of the State Tribunal and the Constitutional Tribunal, as well as the Ombudsman (the last three bodies of which were created in the 1980s).


title: Sejm

text: When the Sejm was not in session, the State Council had the power to issue decrees that had the force of law. However, those decrees had to be approved by the Sejm at its next session. In practice, the principles of democratic centralism meant that such approval was only a formality.


title: Sejm

text: The Senate was abolished by the referendum in 1946, after which the "Sejm" became the sole legislative body in Poland. Even though the "Sejm" was largely subservient to the Communist party, one deputy, Romuald Bukowski (an independent) voted against the imposition of martial law in 1982.


title: Sejm

text: After the end of communism in 1989, the Senate was reinstated as the second house of a bicameral national assembly, while the "Sejm" remained the first house. The "Sejm" is now composed of 460 deputies elected by proportional representation every four years.


title: Sejm

text: Between 7 and 19 deputies are elected from each constituency using the d'Hondt method (with one exception, in 2001, when the Sainte-Laguë method was used), their number being proportional to their constituency's population. Additionally, a threshold is used, so that candidates are chosen only from parties that gained at least 5% of the nationwide vote (candidates from ethnic-minority parties are exempt from this threshold).


title: Universal health care

text: Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized around providing either all residents or only those who cannot afford on their own, with either health services or the means to acquire them, with the end goal of improving health outcomes.


title: Universal health care

text: Universal healthcare does not imply coverage for all cases and for all people – only that all people have access to healthcare when and where needed without financial hardship. Some universal healthcare systems are government-funded, while others are based on a requirement that all citizens purchase private health insurance. Universal healthcare can be determined by three critical dimensions: who is covered, what services are covered, and how much of the cost is covered. It is described by the World Health Organization as a situation where citizens can access health services without incurring financial hardship. Then-Director General of the WHO Margaret Chan described universal health coverage as the "single most powerful concept that public health has to offer" since it unifies "services and delivers them in a comprehensive and integrated way". One of the goals with universal healthcare is to create a system of protection which provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest possible level of health. Critics say that universal healthcare leads to longer wait times and worse quality healthcare.


title: Universal health care

text: As part of , United Nations member states have agreed to work toward worldwide universal health coverage by 2030.


title: Universal health care

text: The first move towards a national health insurance system was launched in Germany in 1883, with the Sickness Insurance Law. Industrial employers were mandated to provide injury and illness insurance for their low-wage workers, and the system was funded and administered by employees and employers through "sick funds", which were drawn from deductions in workers' wages and from employers' contributions. This social health insurance model, named the Bismarck Model after Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, was the first form of universal care in modern times. Other countries soon began to follow suit. In the United Kingdom, the National Insurance Act 1911 provided coverage for primary care (but not specialist or hospital care) for wage earners, covering about one-third of the population. The Russian Empire established a similar system in 1912, and other industrialized countries began following suit. By the 1930s, similar systems existed in virtually all of Western and Central Europe. Japan introduced an employee health insurance law in 1927, expanding further upon it in 1935 and 1940. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Soviet Union established a fully public and centralized health care system in 1920. However, it was not a truly universal system at that point, as rural residents were not covered.


title: Universal health care

text: In New Zealand, a universal health care system was created in a series of steps, from 1938 to 1941. In Australia, the state of Queensland introduced a free public hospital system in 1946.


title: Universal health care

text: Following World War II, universal health care systems began to be set up around the world. On July 5, 1948, the United Kingdom launched its universal National Health Service. Universal health care was next introduced in the Nordic countries of Sweden (1955), Iceland (1956), Norway (1956), Denmark (1961) and Finland (1964). Universal health insurance was introduced in Japan in 1961, and in Canada through stages, starting with the province of Saskatchewan in 1962, followed by the rest of Canada from 1968 to 1972. A public healthcare system was introduced in Egypt following the Egyptian revolution of 1952. Centralized public healthcare systems were set up in the Eastern bloc countries. The Soviet Union extended universal health care to its rural residents in 1969. Kuwait and Bahrain introduced their universal healthcare systems in 1950 and 1957 respectively (prior to independence). Italy introduced its "Servizio Sanitario Nazionale" (National Health Service) in 1978. Universal health insurance was implemented in Australia in 1975 with the "Medibank", which led to universal coverage under the current Medicare system from 1984.


title: Universal health care

text: From the 1970s to the 2000s, Western European countries began introducing universal coverage, most of them building upon previous health insurance programs to cover the whole population. For example, France built upon its 1928 national health insurance system, with subsequent legislation covering a larger and larger percentage of the population, until the remaining 1% of the population that was uninsured received coverage in 2000. Single payer healthcare systems were introduced in Finland (1972), Portugal (1979), Cyprus (1980), Spain (1986) and Iceland (1990). Switzerland introduced a universal healthcare system based on an insurance mandate in 1994. In addition, universal health coverage was introduced in some Asian countries, including South Korea (1989), Taiwan (1995), Singapore (1993), Israel (1995) and Thailand (2001).


title: Universal health care

text: Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia retained and reformed its universal health care system, as did other now-independent former Soviet republics and Eastern bloc countries.


title: Universal health care

text: Beyond the 1990s, many countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, including developing countries, took steps to bring their populations under universal health coverage, including China which has the largest universal health care system in the world and Brazil's SUS which improved coverage up to 80% of the population. India introduced a tax-payer funded decentralised universal healthcare system that helped reduce mortality rates and malnutrition. A 2012 study examined progress being made by these countries, focusing on nine in particular: Ghana, Rwanda, Nigeria, Mali, Kenya, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.


title: Universal health care

text: Currently, most industrialized countries and many developing countries operate some form of publicly funded health care with universal coverage as the goal. According to the National Academy of Medicine and others, the United States is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not provide universal health care. The only forms of government-provided healthcare available are Medicare (for elderly patients as well as for some disabilities), Medicaid (low income), the Military Health System (active, reserve, and retired military personnel and dependants), and the Indian Health Service (members of federally recognized Native American tribes).


title: Universal health care

text: Universal health care in most countries has been achieved by a mixed model of funding. General taxation revenue is the primary source of funding, but in many countries it is supplemented by specific charge (which may be charged to the individual or an employer) or with the option of private payments (by direct or optional insurance) for services beyond those covered by the public system. Almost all European systems are financed through a mix of public and private contributions. Most universal health care systems are funded primarily by tax revenue (as in Portugal, India, Spain, Denmark and Sweden). Some nations, such as Germany, France, and Japan, employ a multi-payer system in which health care is funded by private and public contributions. However, much of the non-government funding comes from contributions from employers and employees to regulated non-profit sickness funds. Contributions are compulsory and defined according to law. A distinction is also made between municipal and national healthcare funding. For example, one model is that the bulk of the healthcare is funded by the municipality, specialty healthcare is provided and possibly funded by a larger entity, such as a municipal co-operation board or the state, and medications are paid for by a state agency. A paper by Sherry A. Glied from Columbia University found that universal health care systems are modestly redistributive and that the progressivity of health care financing has limited implications for overall income inequality.


title: Universal health care

text: This is usually enforced via legislation requiring residents to purchase insurance, but sometimes the government provides the insurance. Sometimes there may be a choice of multiple public and private funds providing a standard service (as in Germany) or sometimes just a single public fund (as in the Canadian provinces). Healthcare in Switzerland is based on compulsory insurance.


title: Universal health care

text: In some European countries where private insurance and universal health care coexist, such as Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, the problem of adverse selection is overcome by using a risk compensation pool to equalize, as far as possible, the risks between funds. Thus, a fund with a predominantly healthy, younger population has to pay into a compensation pool and a fund with an older and predominantly less healthy population would receive funds from the pool. In this way, sickness funds compete on price and there is no advantage in eliminating people with higher risks because they are compensated for by means of risk-adjusted capitation payments. Funds are not allowed to pick and choose their policyholders or deny coverage, but they compete mainly on price and service. In some countries, the basic coverage level is set by the government and cannot be modified.


title: Universal health care

text: The Republic of Ireland at one time had a "community rating" system by VHI, effectively a single-payer or common risk pool. The government later opened VHI to competition, but without a compensation pool. That resulted in foreign insurance companies entering the Irish market and offering much less expensive health insurance to relatively healthy segments of the market, which then made higher profits at VHI's expense. The government later reintroduced community rating by a pooling arrangement and at least one main major insurance company, BUPA, withdrew from the Irish market.


title: Universal health care

text: In Poland, people are obliged to pay a percentage of the average monthly wage to the state, even if they are covered by private insurance. People working under a employment contract pay a percentage of their wage, while entrepreneurs pay a fixed rate, based on the average national wage. Unemployed people are insured by the labor office.


title: Universal health care

text: Among the potential solutions posited by economists are single-payer systems as well as other methods of ensuring that health insurance is universal, such as by requiring all citizens to purchase insurance or by limiting the ability of insurance companies to deny insurance to individuals or vary price between individuals.


title: Universal health care

text: Single-payer health care is a system in which the government, rather than private insurers, pays for all health care costs. Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from private organizations, or own and employ healthcare resources and personnel (as was the case in England before the introduction of the Health and Social Care Act). In some instances, such as Italy and Spain, both these realities may exist at the same time. "Single-payer" thus describes only the funding mechanism and refers to health care financed by a single public body from a single fund and does not specify the type of delivery or for whom doctors work. Although the fund holder is usually the state, some forms of single-payer use a mixed public-private system.


title: Universal health care

text: In tax-based financing, individuals contribute to the provision of health services through various taxes. These are typically pooled across the whole population unless local governments raise and retain tax revenues. Some countries (notably Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Italy, Brazil, Portugal, India and the Nordic countries) choose to fund public health care directly from taxation alone. Other countries with insurance-based systems effectively meet the cost of insuring those unable to insure themselves via social security arrangements funded from taxation, either by directly paying their medical bills or by paying for insurance premiums for those affected.


title: Universal health care

text: In a social health insurance system, contributions from workers, the self-employed, enterprises and governments are pooled into single or multiple funds on a compulsory basis. This is based on risk pooling. The social health insurance model is also referred to as the Bismarck Model, after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who introduced the first universal health care system in Germany in the 19th century. The funds typically contract with a mix of public and private providers for the provision of a specified benefit package. Preventive and public health care may be provided by these funds or responsibility kept solely by the Ministry of Health. Within social health insurance, a number of functions may be executed by parastatal or non-governmental sickness funds, or in a few cases, by private health insurance companies. Social health insurance is used in a number of Western European countries and increasingly in Eastern Europe as well as in Israel and Japan.


title: Universal health care

text: In private health insurance, premiums are paid directly from employers, associations, individuals and families to insurance companies, which pool risks across their membership base. Private insurance includes policies sold by commercial for-profit firms, non-profit companies and community health insurers. Generally, private insurance is voluntary in contrast to social insurance programs, which tend to be compulsory.


title: Universal health care

text: In some countries with universal coverage, private insurance often excludes certain health conditions that are expensive and the state health care system can provide coverage. For example, in the United Kingdom, one of the largest private health care providers is BUPA, which has a long list of general exclusions even in its highest coverage policy, most of which are routinely provided by the National Health Service. In the Netherlands, which has regulated competition for its main insurance system (but is subject to a budget cap), insurers must cover a basic package for all enrollees, but may choose which additional services they offer in supplementary plans; which most people possess .


title: Universal health care

text: The Planning Commission of India has also suggested that the country should embrace insurance to achieve universal health coverage. General tax revenue is currently used to meet the essential health requirements of all people.


title: Universal health care

text: A particular form of private health insurance that has often emerged, if financial risk protection mechanisms have only a limited impact, is community-based health insurance. Individual members of a specific community pay to a collective health fund which they can draw from when they need medical care. Contributions are not risk-related and there is generally a high level of community involvement in the running of these plans. Community-based health insurance generally only play a limited role in helping countries move towards universal health coverage. Challenges includes inequitable access by the poorest that health service utilization of members generally increase after enrollment.


title: Universal health care

text: Universal health care systems vary according to the degree of government involvement in providing care or health insurance. In some countries, such as Canada, the UK, Spain, Italy, Australia, and the Nordic countries, the government has a high degree of involvement in the commissioning or delivery of health care services and access is based on residence rights, not on the purchase of insurance. Others have a much more pluralistic delivery system, based on obligatory health with contributory insurance rates related to salaries or income and usually funded by employers and beneficiaries jointly.


title: Universal health care

text: Sometimes, the health funds are derived from a mixture of insurance premiums, salary-related mandatory contributions by employees or employers to regulated sickness funds, and by government taxes. These insurance based systems tend to reimburse private or public medical providers, often at heavily regulated rates, through mutual or publicly owned medical insurers. A few countries, such as the Netherlands and Switzerland, operate via privately owned but heavily regulated private insurers, which are not allowed to make a profit from the mandatory element of insurance but can profit by selling supplemental insurance.


title: Universal health care

text: Universal health care is a broad concept that has been implemented in several ways. The common denominator for all such programs is some form of government action aimed at extending access to health care as widely as possible and setting minimum standards. Most implement universal health care through legislation, regulation, and taxation. Legislation and regulation direct what care must be provided, to whom, and on what basis. Usually, some costs are borne by the patient at the time of consumption, but the bulk of costs come from a combination of compulsory insurance and tax revenues. Some programs are paid for entirely out of tax revenues. In others, tax revenues are used either to fund insurance for the very poor or for those needing long-term chronic care.


title: Universal health care

text: A critical concept in the delivery of universal healthcare is that of population healthcare. This is a way of organizing the delivery, and allocating resources, of healthcare (and potentially social care) based on populations in a given geography with a common need (such as asthma, end of life, urgent care). Rather than focus on institutions such as hospitals, primary care, community care etc. the system focuses on the population with a common as a whole. This includes people currently being treated, and those that are not being treated but should be (i.e. where there is health inequity). This approach encourages integrated care and a more effective use of resources.


title: Universal health care

text: The United Kingdom National Audit Office in 2003 published an international comparison of ten different health care systems in ten developed countries, nine universal systems against one non-universal system (the United States), and their relative costs and key health outcomes. A wider international comparison of 16 countries, each with universal health care, was published by the World Health Organization in 2004. In some cases, government involvement also includes directly managing the health care system, but many countries use mixed public-private systems to deliver universal health care.


title: Universal health care

text: Critics of universal healthcare say that it leads to longer wait times and a decrease in the quality of healthcare. Critics of implementing universal healthcare in the United States say that it would require healthy people to pay for the medical care of unhealthy people, which they say goes against the American values of individual choice and personal responsibility; it would raise healthcare expenditures due to the high cost of implementation that the United States government supposedly cannot pay; and represents unnecessary government overreach into the lives of American citizens, healthcare, the health insurance industry, and employers' rights to choose what health coverage they want to offer to their employees.


title: Universal health care

text: Most contemporary studies posit that a single payer universal healthcare system would benefit the United States. According to a 2020 study published in "The Lancet", the proposed Medicare for All Act would save 68,000 lives and $450 billion in national healthcare expenditure annually. A 2022 study published in the "PNAS" found that a single-payer universal healthcare system would have saved 212,000 lives and averted over $100 billion in medical costs during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in 2020 alone. Roughly 16% of all officially recorded COVID-19 deaths occurred in the US, despite having only 4% of the world's population.


title: Cone snail

text: Until fairly recently, over 600 species of cone snails were all classified under one genus, "Conus", in one family, the Conidae. However, in recent years, it was suggested that cone snails should occupy only a subfamily that should be split into a very large number of genera. A 2014 paper attempted to stabilize a newer classification of the group, significantly reducing the number of new genera but keeping a fairly large number of subgenera. Although the taxonomy has changed significantly several times during recent years, in the 2015 version of the taxonomy of these snails and their close relatives, cone snails once again compose the entire family Conidae.


title: Cone snail

text: Fossils of cone snails are known from the Eocene to the Holocene epochs. Cone snail species have shells that are more or less conical in shape (hence their common name). Many species have colorful patterning on the shell surface. Cone snails are almost all tropical in distribution.


title: Cone snail

text: All cone snails are venomous and capable of "stinging" humans; if live ones are handled their venomous sting will occur without warning and can be fatal. The species most dangerous to humans are the larger cones, which prey on small bottom-dwelling fish; the smaller species mostly hunt and eat marine worms. Cone snails use a hypodermic needle-like modified radula tooth and a venom gland to attack and paralyze their prey before engulfing it. The tooth, which is sometimes likened to a dart or a harpoon, is barbed and can be extended some distance out from the head of the snail, at the end of the proboscis.


title: Cone snail

text: Cone snail venoms are mainly peptides. The venoms contain many different toxins that vary in their effects; some are extremely toxic. The sting of small cones is no worse than a bee sting, but the sting of a few of the larger species of tropical cone snails can be serious, occasionally even fatal to humans. Cone snail venom is showing great promise as a source of new, medically important substances.


title: Cone snail

text: There are over 900 different species of cone snails. Cone snails are typically found in warm and tropical seas and oceans worldwide, and they reach their greatest diversity in the Western Indo-Pacific region. However, some species are adapted to temperate/semi tropical environments, such as the Cape coast of South Africa, the Mediterranean, or the cool subtropical waters of southern California ("Californiconus californicus"), and are endemic to these areas.


title: Cone snail

text: Cone snails are found in all tropical and subtropical seas, from the intertidal zone to deeper areas, living on sand or among rocks or coral reefs. When living on sand, these snails bury themselves with only the siphon protruding from the surface. Many tropical cone snails live in or near coral reefs. Some species are found under rocks in the lower intertidal and shallow subtidal zones.


title: Cone snail

text: This group of sea snails shows a large variety of colors and patterns, and local varieties and color forms of the same species often occur. This has led to the creation of a large number of known synonyms and probable synonyms, making it difficult to give an exact taxonomic assignment for many snails in this genus. As of 2009, more than 3,200 different species names had been assigned, with an average of 16 new species' names introduced each year.


title: Cone snail

text: The shells of cone snails vary in size. The shells are shaped more or less like a cone, as one might expect from the popular and scientific name. The shell is many-whorled and in the form of an inverted cone, the anterior end being the narrow end. The protruding parts of the top of the whorls that form the spire are more or less in the shape of another, much more flattened, cone. The aperture is elongated and narrow. The horny operculum is very small. The outer lip is simple, thin, and sharp, is without a callus, and has a notched tip at the upper part. The columella is straight.


title: Cone snail

text: The larger species of cone snails can grow up to in length. The shells of cone snails are often brightly colored and have interesting patterns, although in some species the color patterns may be partially or completely hidden under an opaque layer of periostracum. In other species, the topmost shell layer is thin periostracum, a transparent yellowish or brownish membrane.


title: Cone snail

text: Cone snails are carnivorous and predatory. They hunt and eat prey such as marine worms, small fish, molluscs, and even other cone snails. Cone snails are slow-moving, and use a venomous harpoon (called a toxoglossan radula) to capture faster-moving prey, such as fish. The venom of a few larger species, especially the piscivorous ones, is powerful enough to kill a human.


title: Cone snail

text: The osphradium (a chemoreceptory organ) is more highly specialized than the same organ in any other group of gastropods. It is through this sensory modality that cone snails become aware of the presence of a prey animal, not through vision. The cone snails immobilize their prey using a modified, dartlike, barbed radular tooth, made of chitin, along with a venom gland containing neurotoxins. Small species of these cone snails hunt small prey, such as marine worms, whereas larger cone snails hunt fish.


title: Cone snail

text: Molecular phylogeny research by Kraus "et al." (2010) based on a part of "intron 9" of the gamma-glutamyl carboxylase gene has shown that feeding on fish has evolved at least twice independently in the group.


title: Cone snail

text: Cone snails use a radula tooth as a harpoon-like structure for predation. Each of these harpoons is a modified tooth, primarily made of chitin and formed inside the mouth of the snail, in a structure known as the toxoglossan radula. (The radula in most gastropods has rows of many small teeth, and is used for grasping at food and scraping it into the mouth.) Each specialized cone snail tooth is stored in the radula sac (an everted pocket in the posterior wall of the buccal cavity), except the tooth that is currently ready to be used. The radular-tooth structures differ slightly according to the feeding mode of vermivorous, molluscivorous and piscivorous species.


title: Cone snail

text: The tooth is hollow and barbed, and is attached to the tip of the radula in the radular sac, inside the snail's throat. When the snail detects a prey animal nearby, it extends a long flexible tube called a proboscis towards the prey. The radula tooth is loaded with venom from the venom bulb and, still attached to the radula, is fired from the proboscis into the prey by a powerful muscular contraction. The venom paralyzes small fish almost instantly. The snail then retracts the radula, drawing the subdued prey into the mouth. After the prey has been digested, the cone snail will regurgitate any indigestible material, such as spines and scales, along with the then-disposable harpoon. There is always a dart stored in the radular sac. A dart may be used in self-defense when the snail feels threatened.


title: Cone snail

text: The venom of cone snails contains hundreds of different compounds, and its exact composition varies widely from one species to another. The toxins in these various venoms are called conotoxins. These are various peptides, each targeting a specific nerve channel or receptor. Some cone snail venoms also contain a pain-reducing toxin, which the snail uses to pacify the victim before immobilising and then killing it.


title: Cone snail

text: The bright colors and patterns of cone snails are attractive, hence people sometimes pick up the live animals. This is risky, because the snail often fires its harpoon in these situations. The harpoons of some of the larger species of cone snail can penetrate gloves or wetsuits.


title: Cone snail

text: The sting of many of the smallest cone species may be no worse than a bee or hornet sting, but the sting of a few of the larger tropical fish-eating species, especially "Conus geographus", "Conus tulipa" and "Conus striatus", can be fatal. Other dangerous species are "Conus pennaceus", "Conus textile", "Conus aulicus", "Conus magus" and "Conus marmoreus". According to Goldfrank's "Toxicologic Emergencies", about 27 human deaths can be confidently attributed to cone snail envenomation, though the actual number is almost certainly much higher; some three dozen people are estimated to have died from geography cone envenomation alone.


title: Cone snail

text: Most of the cone snails that hunt worms rather than fish are probably not a risk to humans, with the possible exception of larger species. One of the fish-eating species, the geography cone, "Conus geographus", is also known colloquially as the "cigarette snail", a gallows humor exaggeration implying that, when stung by this creature, the victim will have only enough time to smoke a cigarette before dying.


title: Cone snail

text: Symptoms of a more serious cone snail sting include intense, localized pain, swelling, numbness and tingling and vomiting. Symptoms can start immediately or can be delayed for days. Severe cases involve muscle paralysis, changes in vision, and respiratory failure that can lead to death.


title: Cone snail

text: The appeal of the cone snail's venom for creating pharmaceutical drugs is the precision and speed with which the various components act; many of the compounds target a particular class of receptor, to the exclusion of any other. This means that, in isolation, they can reliably and quickly produce a particular effect on the body's systems without side effects; for example, almost instantly reducing heart rate or turning off the signaling of a single class of nerve, such as pain receptors.


title: Cone snail

text: Ziconotide, a pain reliever 1,000 times as powerful as morphine, was initially isolated from the venom of the magician cone snail, "Conus magus". It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2004 under the name "Prialt". Other drugs are in clinical and preclinical trials, such as compounds of the toxin that may be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, and epilepsy.


title: Cone snail

text: Many peptides produced by the cone snails show prospects for being potent pharmaceuticals, such as AVC1, isolated from the Australian species, the Queen Victoria cone, "Conus victoriae". This has proven very effective in treating postsurgical and neuropathic pain, even accelerating recovery from nerve injury.


title: Cone snail

text: Geography cone and tulip cone are known to secrete a type of insulin to cause hypoglycaemic shock in nearby fish, paralyzing them. They are the only two species known to use insulin as a natural weapon. This is interesting for biochemists for determining structure-function relationships in this protein. The cone snails' insulin-like venom, also known as cone snail insulin, is capable of binding to human insulin receptors, and researchers are studying its use as a potent fast-acting therapeutic insulin.


title: Cone snail

text: Other therapeutic uses of cone snail venom are also under examination as potential treatments for and inhibitors of various diseases and the side effects produced by drugs treating those diseases. While cone snail venom is primarily utilized to paralyze the host of the snail, the venom has shown to provide relief to human diseases. By deconstructing the highly potent peptides and proteins present in cone snail venom, scientists have been able to produce drugs to treat chronic pain, such as Ziconotide. The peptides and proteins are released through the venom gland of the cone snail and target the membrane proteins of the host. The conotoxins contain target specificity and short sequences. An example of this phenomenon is ω-MVIIA which targets Ca2+ channels and has a specificity for N-type calcium channels. There are multiple known conotoxin peptides which code for specific receptors such as: Contulakin-G, χ-MrIA, α-Vc1.1, Conantokin-G, κ-PVIIA, and μO-MrVIB. Most of these peptides have been shown to inhibit pain receptors in patients undergoing treatment for cancer and HIV.


title: Cone snail

text: "Conus gloriamaris", the "Glory of the Seas" cone, was, in earlier centuries, one of the most famous and sought-after seashells, with only a few specimens in private collections. This apparent rarity meant that shells of this species fetched very high prices, until finally the habitat for this cone was discovered. Sizable populations were then located, and this brought the price down dramatically as shells were harvested.


title: Cone snail

text: Naturally occurring, beach-worn cone shell "tops" (the broken-off spire of the shell, which usually end up with a hole worn at the tip) can function as beads without any further modification. In Hawaii, these natural beads were traditionally collected from the beach drift to make puka shell jewelry. Since it is difficult to obtain enough naturally occurring cone tops, almost all modern puka shell jewelry uses cheaper imitations, cut from thin shells of other species of mollusk, or made of plastic.


title: Cone snail

text: Until 2009 all species within the family Conidae were placed in one genus "Conus". Testing in order to try to understand the molecular phylogeny of the Conidae was begun by Christopher Meyer and Alan Kohn, and continued, particularly with the advent of nuclear DNA testing in addition to mDNA testing.


title: Cone snail

text: In 2009, J.K. Tucker and M.J. Tenorio proposed a classification system consisting of three distinct families and 82 genera for the living species of cone snails. This classification was based on shell morphology, radular differences, anatomy, physiology, and cladistics, with comparisons to molecular (DNA) studies. Published accounts of genera within the Conidae that use these new genera include J.K. Tucker & M.J. Tenorio (2009), and Bouchet et al. (2011). Tucker and Tenorio's proposed classification system for the cone shells and their allies (and the other clades of Conoidean gastropods) is shown in Tucker & Tenorio cone snail taxonomy 2009.


title: Cone snail

text: Some experts, however, preferred to use the traditional classification, where all species are placed in "Conus" within the single family Conidae: for example, according to the November 2011 version of the World Register of Marine Species, all species within the family Conidae were placed in the genus "Conus". The binomial names of species in the 82 genera of living cone snails listed in Tucker & Tenorio 2009 were recognized by the World Register of Marine Species as "alternative representations". Debate within the scientific community regarding this issue continued, and additional molecular phylogeny studies were being carried out in an attempt to clarify the issue.


title: Cone snail

text: In 2015, in the "Journal of Molluscan Studies", Puillandre, Duda, Meyer, Olivera & Bouchet presented a new classification for the old genus "Conus". Using 329 species, the authors carried out molecular phylogenetic analyses. The results suggested that the authors should place all cone snails in a single family, Conidae, containing four genera: "Conus", "Conasprella", "Profundiconus" and "Californiconus". The authors group 85% of all known cone snail species under "Conus". They recognize 57 subgenera within "Conus", and 11 subgenera within the genus "Conasprella".


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: Nightow first published a one-shot chapter in Shueisha's "shōnen" manga magazine "Jump Square" in May 2008. A 3-chapter series, with the subtitle "Mafūgai Kessha", was published in the same magazine from January to March 2009. "Blood Blockade Battlefront" was later serialized in "Jump SQ.19" from May 2010 to February 2015, when the magazine ceased publication; Shueisha collected its chapters in 10 "tankōbon" volumes. A direct sequel, titled "Blood Blockade Battlefront: Back 2 Back" was serialized in "Jump SQ.Crown" from July 2015 to January 2018, when the magazine ceased publication, and the series was transferred to "Jump SQ.Rise", where it ran from April 2018 to April 2022; its chapters were collected in 10 "tankōbon" volumes. A third series, titled "Blood Blockade Battlefront: Beat 3 Peat" started in "Jump SQ.Rise" in October 2022.


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: A 12-episode anime television series produced by Bones was broadcast from April to October 2015. A 12-episode second season was broadcast from October to December 2017.


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: In North America, the manga has been licensed for English language release by Dark Horse Comics, while the anime series has been licensed by Funimation. Both the manga and anime were well received by publications due to its story and characters.


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: "Blood Blockade Battlefront" centers around the crime fighting organization "Libra" and their battles in Hellsalem's Lot, formerly known as New York City. Hellsalem's Lot was created when a portal to the "Beyond" opened, becoming a paranormal melting pot of monsters, magic and the everyday mundane life, and it is up to Libra to clear the streets of trouble and prevent the horrors of this city from spreading to the outside world.


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: "Blood Blockade Battlefront" is written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. Nightow first published a one-shot chapter in Shueisha's "shōnen" manga magazine "Jump Square" on May 2, 2008. It only featured very few members of the final cast and had a much different tone, with more emphasis on it being a vampire hunting story in a contemporary city. A three-chapter series, titled , was serialized in "Jump Square" from January 5 to March 4, 2009. Another one-shot chapter was published in "Jump SQ.M" ("Jump Square Masterpiece") vol.002, released on October 23, 2009. "Blood Blockade Battlefront" was then serialized in the then brand new magazine "Jump SQ.19", which first issue was released on May 19, 2010. The series finished with the 18th and last issue of "Jump SQ.19", released on February 19, 2015. Shueisha collected its chapters in ten "tankōbon" volumes, released from January 4, 2010, to April 3, 2015. In 2010, the series was licensed for English release by Dark Horse Comics.


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: A direct sequel, titled "Blood Blockade Battlefront: Back 2 Back", started in the first issue of "Jump SQ.Crown" on July 17, 2015. The magazine ceased publication on January 19, 2018, and "Blood Blockade Battlefront: Back 2 Back" continued publication in the first ever issue of "Jump SQ.Rise", released on April 16, 2018. The series finished on April 28, 2022. Shueisha collected its chapters in ten "tankōbon" volumes, released from January 4, 2016, to August 4, 2022.


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: A third series, titled "Blood Blockade Battlefront: Beat 3 Peat", started in "Jump SQ.Rise" on October 26, 2022.


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: The manga was adapted into an anime television series produced by studio Bones and directed by Rie Matsumoto as first announced in May 2014. The first volume was released on January 4, 2010; ten volumes have been released as of April 3, 2015. Funimation licensed the series to stream on its official website. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll. The anime adaptation premiered on April 4, 2015. The series was licensed by Madman Entertainment and AnimeLab for an English release. The final episode was originally scheduled for broadcast on July 4, but was delayed further due to exceeding the length of its normal 30 minute timeslot. It was eventually scheduled for October 4, 2015. A 25-minute original video animation titled "King of the Restaurant of Kings" was bundled with the official Blood Blockade Battlefront guidebook that was released on June 3, 2016.


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: A second season was announced in December 2016. It was broadcast from October 7, 2017 to December 24, 2017, running for 12 episodes. A 24-minute original animation DVD was bundled with the fifth volume of the "Blood Blockade Battlefront Back 2 Back" manga which was released on July 4, 2018, with Shigehito Takayanagi and Bones returning from the second season of the anime series to direct and animate the OAD, respectively.


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: In the sixth volume of "Blood Blockade Battle Front Back 2 Back", it was revealed that a live action stage play inspired by the manga was being produced. It ran at The Galaxy Theatre in Tokyo from November 2 to 10, 2019 and at Umeda Arts Theater Dramacity from November 14 to 17, 2019. Daisuke Nishida ("Hakuōki", "Sengoku Basara", "Blue Exorcist" stage productions) directed and wrote the play.


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: The manga series of "Blood Blockade Battlefront" received generally good critical response. Brigid Alverson from MTV Geek criticized the artwork for being hard to follow and stated "it boils down to a matter of taste. Blood Blockade Battleground is a good choice for readers who like a lot of action and don't mind being dropped into the middle of the story, without a lot of setup." On the other hand, The Fandom Post's John Rose praised the artwork more specifically the monsters' designs. He highly recommended it to "Trigun"s readers as well as superhero comic reader, sci-fi hero and "Futurama" fans. Several of the volumes have also appeared in rankings for bestselling manga.


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: The anime adaptation of the series has received generally positive reviews. Jacob Hope Chapman from Anime News Network praised the cast and studio Bones' work. Additionally, he liked the consistency in quality and commented "The contiguous threads laced through these episodic adventures are beginning to converge fast, and while I can't see the full picture yet, I know Rie Matsumoto is building the anime-original material of Leo's romance into something special. The animation continues to be jaw-dropping. The music continues to be soul-warming. There's never enough time in one writeup to talk about everything that makes the episode so damn good. Blood Blockade Battlefront continues to be The Very Best." Jarius Taylor from the Fandom Post called it "both ridiculously cool and ridiculously weird" and praised the cast like Chapman. In a later review he said "It’s still not entirely clear what this show is going for yet but for now it’s a good ride and I have more than enough faith in the people behind it to believe the destination will be worthwhile." Rachael Verret, a writer from The Mary Sue, gave the series a perfect score having pointed out its "energy and joviality" seen through the cast and the ending sequences which reminded her of another series, "Baccano!". Similarly, Chapman wrote an article titled "Three Reasons Why Blood Blockade Battlefront is the Best Show of the Spring" commenting "It's the coolest, cutest, and cleverest anime I've seen in a long time, easily the best new show of the Spring 2015."


title: Blood Blockade Battlefront

text: The first DVD of the series sold 4,784 units during its debut. Meanwhile, the first Blu-ray sold 12,171 units in its first week of release. For the "Newtype" preliminary awards for 2015, the series was sixth in the category "Sound" while fourth in the category "Theme Song" for "Sugar Song to Bitter Step." In the category "Best Mascot", Sonic ranked first. In another poll by the Japanese magazine "Entermix", the series was voted as the second most popular one.


title: Default mode network

text: In neuroscience, the default mode network (DMN), also known as the default network, default state network, or anatomically the medial frontoparietal network (M-FPN), is a large-scale brain network primarily composed of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus and angular gyrus. It is best known for being active when a person is not focused on the outside world and the brain is at wakeful rest, such as during daydreaming and mind-wandering. It can also be active during detailed thoughts related to external task performance. Other times that the DMN is active include when the individual is thinking about others, thinking about themselves, remembering the past, and planning for the future.


title: Default mode network

text: The DMN was originally noticed to be deactivated in certain goal-oriented tasks and was sometimes referred to as the task-negative network, in contrast with the task-positive network. This nomenclature is now widely considered misleading, because the network can be active in internal goal-oriented and conceptual cognitive tasks. The DMN has been shown to be negatively correlated with other networks in the brain such as attention networks.


title: Default mode network

text: Evidence has pointed to disruptions in the DMN of people with Alzheimer's disease and autism spectrum disorder.


title: Default mode network

text: Hans Berger, the inventor of the electroencephalogram, was the first to propose the idea that the brain is constantly busy. In a series of papers published in 1929, he showed that the electrical oscillations detected by his device do not cease even when the subject is at rest. However, his ideas were not taken seriously, and a general perception formed among neurologists that only when a focused activity is performed does the brain (or a part of the brain) become active.


title: Default mode network

text: But in the 1950s, Louis Sokoloff and his colleagues noticed that metabolism in the brain stayed the same when a person went from a resting state to performing effortful math problems suggesting active metabolism in the brain must also be happening during rest. In the 1970s, David H. Ingvar and colleagues observed blood flow in the front part of the brain became the highest when a person is at rest. Around the same time, intrinsic oscillatory behavior in vertebrate neurons was observed in cerebellar Purkinje cells, inferior olivary nucleus and thalamus.


title: Default mode network

text: In the 1990s, with the advent of positron emission tomography (PET) scans, researchers began to notice that when a person is involved in perception, language, and attention tasks, the same brain areas become less active compared to passive rest, and labeled these areas as becoming "deactivated".


title: Default mode network

text: In 1995, Bharat Biswal, a graduate student at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, discovered that the human sensorimotor system displayed "resting-state connectivity," exhibiting synchronicity in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans while not engaged in any task.


title: Default mode network

text: Later, experiments by neurologist Marcus E. Raichle's lab at Washington University School of Medicine and other groups showed that the brain's energy consumption is increased by less than 5% of its baseline energy consumption while performing a focused mental task. These experiments showed that the brain is constantly active with a high level of activity even when the person is not engaged in focused mental work. Research thereafter focused on finding the regions responsible for this constant background activity level.


title: Default mode network

text: Raichle coined the term "default mode" in 2001 to describe resting state brain function; the concept rapidly became a central theme in neuroscience. Around this time the idea was developed that this network of brain areas is involved in internally directed thoughts and is suspended during specific goal-directed behaviors. In 2003, Greicius and colleagues examined resting state fMRI scans and looked at how correlated different sections in the brain are to each other. Their correlation maps highlighted the same areas already identified by the other researchers. This was important because it demonstrated a convergence of methods all leading to the same areas being involved in the DMN. Since then other networks have been identified, such as visual, auditory, and attention networks. Some of them are often anti-correlated with the default mode network.


title: Default mode network

text: Until the mid-2000s, researchers labeled the default mode network as the "task-negative network" because it was deactivated when participants had to perform external goal-directed tasks. DMN was thought to only be active during passive rest and inactive during tasks. However, more recent studies have demonstrated the DMN to be active in certain internal goal-directed tasks such as social working memory and autobiographical tasks.