title: Leopard gecko

text: Leopard geckos are also known to have temperature-dependent sex determination. Embryos incubated in predominantly cool temperatures (about ) or very warm temperatures (about ) will develop as females, while embryos incubated at intermediate temperatures (about ) will develop as male. Determination of sex is believed to be set during the first two weeks of incubation. Females born in the higher temperatures differed from those who were born in the lower temperatures hormonally and behaviorally. Those born in the warmer temperatures expressed more aggressive behavior. These are known as "hot females" and are often determined to be infertile.


title: Leopard gecko

text: Leopard geckos are one of the most popular lizard pets, second only to the bearded dragon. They are possibly the first domesticated lizard species. They breed easily in captivity, so most sold are captive-bred rather than wild-caught. Due to extensive captive breeding and artificial selection, captive animals display a range of colors and patterns. Those found in the wild typically have more dull colorations than those kept in captivity as pets.


title: Toad

text: Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands.


title: Toad

text: A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientific taxonomy, but is common in popular culture (folk taxonomy), in which toads are associated with drier, rougher skin and more terrestrial habitats.


title: Toad

text: In scientific taxonomy, toads include the true toads (Bufonidae) and various other terrestrial or warty-skinned frogs.


title: Toad

text: Usually the largest of the bumps on the skin of a toad are those that cover the parotoid glands. The bumps are commonly called warts, but they have nothing to do with pathologic warts, being fixed in size, present on healthy specimens, and not caused by infection. It's a myth that handling toads causes warts.


title: Toad

text: Toads travel from non-breeding to breeding areas of ponds and lakes. Bogert (1947) suggests that the toads' call is the most important cue in the homing to ponds.


title: Toad

text: Toads, like many amphibians, exhibit breeding site fidelity (philopatry). Individual American toads return to their natal ponds to breed where they are likely to encounter siblings as potential mates. Although inbred examples within a species are possible, siblings rarely mate. Toads recognize and avoid mating with close kin. Advertisement vocalizations given by males appear to serve as cues by which females recognize kin. Kin recognition thus allows avoidance of inbreeding and consequent inbreeding depression.


title: Toad

text: In Kenneth Grahame's novel "The Wind in the Willows" (1908), Mr. Toad is a likeable and popular, if selfish and narcissistic, comic character. Mr. Toad reappears as the lead character in A. A. Milne's play "Toad of Toad Hall" (1929), based on the book.


The Preamble to the United States Constitution, beginning with the words We the People, is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. Courts have referred to it as reliable evidence of the Founding Fathers' intentions regarding the Constitution's meaning and what they hoped the Constitution would achieve.


title: Preamble to the United States Constitution

text: The preamble was mainly written by Founding Father Gouverneur Morris, a Pennsylvania delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.


text: The Preamble was placed in the Constitution during the last days of the Constitutional Convention by the Committee on Style, which wrote its final draft, with Gouverneur Morris leading the effort. It was not proposed or discussed on the floor of the convention beforehand. The initial wording of the preamble did not refer to the people of "the United States"; rather, it referred to people of the various states, which was the norm. In earlier documents, including the 1778 Treaty of Alliance with France, the Articles of Confederation, and the 1783 Treaty of Paris recognizing American independence, the word "people" was not used, and the phrase "the United States" was followed immediately by a listing of the states, from north to south. The change was made out of necessity, as the Constitution provided that, whenever the popularly elected ratifying conventions of nine states gave their approval, it would go into effect for those nine, irrespective of whether any of the remaining states ratified.


text: The Preamble serves solely as an introduction and does not assign powers to the federal government, nor does it provide specific limitations on government action. Due to the Preamble's limited nature, no court has ever used it as a decisive factor in case adjudication, except as regards frivolous litigation.


text: The courts have shown interest in any clues they can find in the Preamble regarding the Constitution's meaning. Courts have developed several techniques for interpreting the meaning of statutes and these are also used to interpret the Constitution. As a result, the courts have said that interpretive techniques that focus on the exact text of a document should be used in interpreting the meaning of the Constitution. Balanced against these techniques are those that focus more attention on broader efforts to discern the meaning of the document from more than just the wording; the Preamble is also useful for these efforts to identify the "spirit" of the Constitution.


text: Additionally, when interpreting a legal document, courts are usually interested in understanding the document as its authors did and their motivations for creating it; as a result, the courts have cited the Preamble for evidence of the history, intent and meaning of the Constitution as it was understood by the Founders. Although revolutionary in some ways, the Constitution maintained many common law concepts (such as "habeas corpus", trial by jury, and sovereign immunity), and courts deem that the Founders' perceptions of the legal system that the Constitution created (i.e., the interaction between what it changed and what it kept from the British legal system) are uniquely important because of the authority "the People" invested them with to create it. Along with evidence of the understandings of the men who debated and drafted the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention, the courts are also interested in the way that government officials have put into practice the Constitution's provisions, particularly early government officials, although the courts reserve to themselves the final authority to determine the Constitution's meaning. However, this focus on historical understandings of the Constitution is sometimes in tension with the changed circumstances of modern society from the late 18th century society that drafted the Constitution; courts have ruled that the Constitution must be interpreted in light of these changed circumstances. All of these considerations of the political theory behind the Constitution have prompted the Supreme Court to articulate a variety of special rules of construction and principles for interpreting it. For example, the Court's rendering of the purposes behind the Constitution have led it to express a preference for broad interpretations of individual freedoms.


text: An example of the way courts utilize the Preamble is "Ellis v. City of Grand Rapids". Substantively, the case was about eminent domain. The City of Grand Rapids wanted to use eminent domain to force landowners to sell property in the city identified as "blighted", and convey the property to owners that would develop it in ostensibly beneficial ways: in this case, to St. Mary's Hospital, a Catholic organization. This area of substantive constitutional law is governed by the Fifth Amendment, which is understood to require that property acquired via eminent domain must be put to a "public use". In deciding whether the proposed project constituted a "public use", the court pointed to the Preamble's reference to "promot[ing] the general Welfare" as evidence that "[t]he health of the people was in the minds of our forefathers". "[T]he concerted effort for renewal and expansion of hospital and medical care centers, as a part of our nation's system of hospitals, is as a public service and use within the highest meaning of such terms. "Surely this is in accord with an objective of the United States Constitution: '* * * promote the general Welfare."


text: On the other hand, courts will not interpret the Preamble to give the government powers that are not articulated elsewhere in the Constitution. "United States v. Kinnebrew Motor Co." is an example of this. In that case, the defendants were a car manufacturer and dealership indicted for a criminal violation of the National Industrial Recovery Act. The Congress passed the statute in order to cope with the Great Depression, and one of its provisions purported to give to the President authority to fix "the prices at which new cars may be sold". The dealership, located in Oklahoma City, had sold an automobile to a customer (also from Oklahoma City) for less than the price for new cars fixed pursuant to the Act. Substantively, the case was about whether the transaction in question constituted "interstate commerce" that Congress could regulate pursuant to the Commerce Clause. Although the government argued that the scope of the Commerce Clause included this transaction, it also argued that the Preamble's statement that the Constitution was created to "promote the general Welfare" should be understood to permit Congress to regulate transactions such as the one in this case, particularly in the face of an obvious national emergency like the Great Depression. The court, however, dismissed this argument as erroneous and insisted that the only relevant issue was whether the transaction that prompted the indictment actually constituted "interstate commerce" under the Supreme Court's precedents that interpreted the scope of the Commerce Clause.


text: The Preamble's reference to the "United States of America" has been interpreted over the years to explain the nature of the governmental entity that the Constitution created (i.e., the federal government). In contemporary international law, the world consists of sovereign states (or "sovereign nations" in modern equivalent). A state is said to be "sovereign," if any of its ruling inhabitants are the supreme authority over it; the concept is distinct from mere land-title or "ownership." While each state was originally recognized as sovereign unto itself, the Supreme Court held that the "United States of America" consists of only one sovereign nation with respect to foreign affairs and international relations; the individual states may not conduct foreign relations. Although the Constitution expressly delegates to the federal government only some of the usual powers of sovereign governments (such as the powers to declare war and make treaties), all such powers inherently belong to the federal government as the country's representative in the international community.


text: Domestically, the federal government's sovereignty means that it may perform acts such as entering into contracts or accepting bonds, which are typical of governmental entities but not expressly provided for in the Constitution or laws. Similarly, the federal government, as an attribute of sovereignty, has the power to enforce those powers that are granted to it (e.g., the power to "establish Post Offices and Post Roads" includes the power to punish those who interfere with the postal system so established). The Court has recognized the federal government's supreme power over those limited matters entrusted to it. Thus, no state may interfere with the federal government's operations as though its sovereignty is superior to the federal government's (discussed more below); for example, states may not interfere with the federal government's near absolute discretion to sell its own real property, even when that real property is located in one or another state. The federal government exercises its supreme power not as a unitary entity, but instead via the three coordinate branches of the government (legislative, executive, and judicial), each of which has its own prescribed powers and limitations under the Constitution. In addition, the doctrine of separation of powers functions as a limitation on each branch of the federal government's exercise of sovereign power.


text: One aspect of the American system of government is that, while the rest of the world now views the United States as one country, domestically American constitutional law recognizes a federation of state governments separate from (and not subdivisions of) the federal government, each of which is sovereign over its own affairs. Sometimes, the Supreme Court has even analogized the States to being foreign countries to each other to explain the American system of State sovereignty. However, each state's sovereignty is limited by the U.S. Constitution, which is the supreme law of both the United States as a nation and each state; in the event of a conflict, a valid federal law controls. As a result, although the federal government is (as discussed above) recognized as sovereign and has supreme power over those matters within its control, the American constitutional system also recognizes the concept of "State sovereignty," where certain matters are susceptible to government regulation, but only at the State and not the federal level. For example, although the federal government prosecutes crimes against the United States (such as treason, or interference with the postal system), the general administration of criminal justice is reserved to the States. Notwithstanding sometimes broad statements by the Supreme Court regarding the "supreme" and "exclusive" powers the State and Federal governments exercise, the Supreme Court and State courts have also recognized that much of their power is held and exercised concurrently.


text: The phrase "People of the United States" has been understood to mean "nationals and citizens." This approach reasons that, if the political community speaking for itself in the Preamble (""We" the People") includes only U.S. nationals and citizens, by negative implication it specifically excludes non-citizens in some way. It has also been construed to mean something like "all under the sovereign jurisdiction and authority of the United States." The phrase has been construed as affirming that the national government created by the Constitution derives its sovereignty from the people, (whereas "United Colonies" had identified external monarchical sovereignty) as well as confirming that the government under the Constitution was intended to govern and protect "the people" directly, as one society, instead of governing only the states as political units. The Court has also understood this language to mean that the sovereignty of the government under the U.S. Constitution is superior to that of the States. Stated in negative terms, the Preamble has been interpreted as meaning that the Constitution was not the act of sovereign and independent states.


text: The Constitution claims to be an act of "We the People." However, because it represents a general social contract, there are limits on the ability of individual citizens to pursue legal claims allegedly arising out of the Constitution. For example, if a law were enacted which violated the Constitution, not just anybody could challenge the statute's constitutionality in court; instead, only an individual who was negatively affected by the unconstitutional statute could bring such a challenge. For example, a person claiming certain benefits that are created by a statute cannot then challenge, on constitutional grounds, the administrative mechanism that awards them. These same principles apply to corporate entities, and can implicate the doctrine of exhaustion of remedies.


text: In this same vein, courts will not answer hypothetical questions about the constitutionality of a statute. The judiciary does not have the authority to invalidate unconstitutional laws "solely" because they are unconstitutional, but may declare a law unconstitutional if its operation would injure a person's interests. For example, creditors who lose some measure of what they are owed when a bankrupt's debts are discharged cannot claim injury, because Congress' power to enact bankruptcy laws is also in the Constitution and inherent in it is the ability to declare certain debts valueless. Similarly, while a person may not generally challenge as unconstitutional a law that they are not accused of violating, once charged, a person may challenge the law's validity, even if the challenge is unrelated to the circumstances of the crime.


text: The Preamble has been used to confirm that the Constitution was made for, and is binding only in, the United States of America. For example, in "Casement v. Squier", a serviceman in China during World War II was convicted of murder in the United States Court for China. After being sent to prison in the State of Washington, he filed a writ of "habeas corpus" with the local federal court, claiming he had been unconstitutionally put on trial without a jury. The court held that, since his trial was conducted by an American court and was, by American standards, basically fair, he was not entitled to the specific constitutional right of trial by jury while overseas.


text: The Supreme Court held in 1901 that since the Preamble declares the Constitution to have been created by the "People of the United States", "there may be places within the jurisdiction of the United States that are no part of the Union." The following examples help demonstrate the meaning of this distinction:


text: The phrase "to form a more perfect Union" has been construed as referring to the shift to the Constitution from the Articles of Confederation. The contemporaneous meaning of the word "perfect" was complete, finished, fully informed, confident, or certain. The phrase has been interpreted in various ways throughout history based on the context of the times. For example, shortly after the Civil War and the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court said that the "Union" was made "more perfect" by the creation of a federal government with enough power to act directly upon citizens, rather than a government with narrowly limited power that could act on citizens only indirectly through the states, e.g., by imposing taxes. Also, the institution was created as a government over the States and people, not an agreement (union) between the States.


text: In the 21st century, following a pivotal, widely reported speech entitled "A More Perfect Union" by then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008, the phrase has also come to mean the continual process of improvement of the country.


text: The phrase has also been interpreted to support the federal supremacy clause as well as to demonstrate that state nullification of any federal law, dissolution of the Union, or secession from it, are not contemplated by the Constitution.


title: Hello, My Twenties!

text: Hello, My Twenties! () is a South Korean television series starring Han Ye-ri, Han Seung-yeon, Park Eun-bin, Ryu Hwa-young, Park Hye-su, Ji Woo and Choi Ara. It aired on JTBC from July 22, 2016 to October 7, 2017.


title: Hello, My Twenties!

text: A slice-of-life story about five girls who live together in a sharehouse called "Belle Epoque" and how they connect over the growing pains in their youth. It is based on the issues that younger generations are likely to face in South Korea.


title: Hello, My Twenties!

text: On February 16, 2017, the series was renewed for a second season. It was announced that Ryu Hwa-young would only make a cameo appearance, and that a new actress would be cast as the fifth girl of the Belle Epoque.


title: Hello, My Twenties!

text: Originally, it was expected that all five main roles would be the same from the previous season. However, early on Ryu Hwa-young was removed from the main cast. Instead, a new character, Jo Eun, was created to fill the five-person dynamic of the show. Park Hye-soo was also supposed to be part of the main cast, but due to a scheduling conflict, she stepped down from the role. Unlike Ryu Hwa-young, this happened late into pre-production and it was decided that another actress would play her character Yoo Eun-jae; Ji Woo was cast.


title: Hello, My Twenties!

text: Onew was originally cast in the role of Kwon Ho-chang, but he stepped down in light of controversy surrounding him ten days before the drama's premiere, and was replaced with Lee Yoo-jin.


title: Toad in the hole

text: Toad in the hole or sausage toad is a traditional English dish consisting of sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter, usually served with onion gravy and vegetables. Historically, the dish has also been prepared using other meats, such as rump steak and lamb's kidney.


title: Toad in the hole

text: Batter puddings became popular in the early 18th century. Cookery writer Jennifer Stead has drawn attention to a description of a recipe identical to toad in the hole from the middle of the century. At this time, Northerners tended to use dripping to make their puddings crispier, whereas Southerners made softer Yorkshire puddings.


title: Toad in the hole

text: Dishes like toad in the hole appeared in print as early as 1762, where it was described as a "vulgar" name for a "small piece of beef baked in a large pudding". Toad in the hole was originally created as a way to stretch out meat in poor households. Chefs therefore suggested using the cheapest meats in this dish. In 1747, for example, Hannah Glasse's "The Art of Cookery" listed a recipe for "pigeon in a hole", calling for pigeon rather than the contemporary sausages. In 1861 Isabella Beeton listed a similar recipe using rump steak and lamb's kidney, while Charles Elmé Francatelli's 1852 recipe mentions "6"d". or 1"s"." worth of any kind of cheap meat. This recipe was described as "English cooked-again stewed meat" ("lesso rifatto all'inglese") or "toad in the Hole", in the first book of modern Italian cuisine, which stressed that meat was to be leftover from stews and re-cooked in batter.


title: Toad in the hole

text: The dish with leftover meat was originally not called toad in the hole. In the 1787 book "A Provincial Glossary", for example, it was referred to as "meat boiled in a crust". The first mention of the word "hole", outside of "Pigeons in a Hole" found in the cookbook by Hannah Glasse, appeared in the 1900 publication "Notes & Queries", which described the dish as a "batter-pudding with a hole in the middle containing meat". Despite popular belief, there is no record of the dish ever being made with toad. The origin of the name is unclear, but it may refer to the way toads wait for their prey in their burrows, making their heads visible in the earth, just like the sausages peep through the batter. It may also derive from the "entombed animal" phenomenon of live frogs or toads being found encased in stone, which was a scientific fad of the late 18th century.


title: Secret Garden (South Korean TV series)

text: Secret Garden () is a 2010 South Korean television drama starring Ha Ji-won, Hyun Bin, Yoon Sang-hyun, and Kim Sa-rang. It aired on SBS from November 13, 2010 to January 16, 2011 on Saturdays and Sundays at 22:00 for 20 episodes.


title: Secret Garden (South Korean TV series)

text: The drama received positive response from critics and audience for its story, comedy, performance of cast especially of leads Hyun Bin, Yoon Sang-hyun and Ha Ji-won and production values. "Secret Garden" was a huge ratings success, with an estimation of more than 20 billion won worth of economic effect. Hyun Bin's portrayal as Kim Joo-won created a ""Hyun Bin" Syndrome" as his name and face were plastered everywhere, from newspapers to television and the internet. It won a number of awards at both the 2010 SBS Drama Awards and the 47th Baeksang Arts Awards, including "Grand Prize (Daesang)" for Hyun Bin.


title: Secret Garden (South Korean TV series)

text: A rationalizing Cinderella story between Gil Ra-im (Ha Ji-won), a stuntwoman, and Kim Joo-won (Hyun Bin), a high-end department store CEO.


title: Secret Garden (South Korean TV series)

text: While trying to resolve a scandal involving Joo-won's cousin, Oska (Yoon Sang-hyun), (a famous singer), Ra-im and Joo-won meet and he finds himself stunned by her coolness. Joo-won does not understand why Ra-im is constantly on his mind, and decides to pursue her. Though she initially is repelled by him, Ra-im gradually starts reciprocating his feelings.


title: Secret Garden (South Korean TV series)

text: As two different worlds collide, Ra-im and Joo-won gradually learn about each other's worlds. Joo-won's mother does not want them to love each other. Despite his mother's objections, they get married.


title: Secret Garden (South Korean TV series)

text: Meanwhile, Oska reunites with his first love, Yoon Seul (Kim Sa-rang), who has made a successful directing career for herself. However, Yoon Seul wants nothing to do with Oska, and instead has her eyes set on Joo-won. The story gets even more complicated and when Ra-im and Joo-won magically start switching bodies.


title: Secret Garden (South Korean TV series)

text: In the tables below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.


title: Secret Garden (South Korean TV series)

text: It aired on GMA Network from May 2, 2011 to July 29, 2011, on weeknights at 10:00 PM PST. Each episode runs 45 minutes including commercial breaks. The entire series was dubbed in Filipino.


title: Secret Garden (South Korean TV series)

text: Big Bang made a parody based on this drama with the title "Secret Big Bang", starring by G-Dragon as Ji Ra-im and T.O.P as Kim Joo-tap.


title: Secret Garden (South Korean TV series)

text: In China, a film remake with the same title is released in 2012 starring Wallace Chung, Tan Weiwei and Korean singer Kangta.


title: Secret Garden (South Korean TV series)

text: In Thailand, a remake with the title "Secret Garden Thailand" is released in 2016 starring Ananda Everingham and Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Nanda dynasty ruled in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent during the fourth century BCE, and possibly during the fifth century BCE. The Nandas overthrew the Shaishunaga dynasty in the Magadha region of eastern India, and expanded their empire to include a larger part of northern India. Ancient sources differ considerably regarding the names of the Nanda kings and the duration of their rule, but based on the Buddhist tradition recorded in the "Mahavamsa", they appear to have ruled during "circa" 345–322 BCE, although some theories date the start of their rule to fifth century BCE.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Nandas built on the successes of their Haryanka and Shaishunaga predecessors, and instituted a more centralised administration. Ancient sources credit them with amassing great wealth, which was probably a result of introduction of new currency and taxation system. Ancient texts also suggest that the Nandas were unpopular among their subjects because of their low status birth, excessive taxation, and their general misconduct. The last Nanda king was overthrown by Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya empire, and the latter's mentor Chanakya.


title: Nanda Empire

text: Modern historians generally identify the ruler of the Gangaridai and the Prasii mentioned in ancient Greco-Roman accounts as a Nanda king. While describing Alexander the Great's invasion of north-western India (327–325 BCE), the Greco-Roman writers depict this kingdom as a great military power. The prospect of a war against this kingdom, coupled with the exhaustion resulting from almost a decade of campaigning, led to a mutiny among Alexander's homesick soldiers, putting an end to his Indian campaign.


title: Nanda Empire

text: Both Indian and Greco-Roman traditions characterize the dynasty's founder as of low birth. According to Greek historian Diodorus (1st century BCE), Porus told Alexander that the contemporary Nanda king was thought to be the son of a barber. Roman historian Curtius (1st century CE) adds that according to Porus, this barber became the former queen's paramour thanks to his attractive looks, treacherously assassinated the then king, usurped the supreme authority by pretending to act as a guardian for the then princes, and later killed the princes.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Jain tradition, as recorded in the "Avashyaka Sutra" and "Parishishta-parvan", corroborates the Greco-Roman accounts, stating that the first Nanda king was the son of a barber. According to the 12th century text "Parishishta-parvan", the mother of the first Nanda king was a courtesan. However, the text also states that the daughter of the last Nanda king married Chandragupta, because it was customary for Kshatriya girls to choose their husbands; thus, it implies that the Nanda king claimed to be a Kshatriya, that is, a member of the warrior class.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Puranas name the dynasty's founder as Mahapadma, and claim that he was the son of the Shaishunaga king Mahanandin. However, even these texts hint at the low birth of the Nandas, when they state that Mahapadma's mother belonged to the Shudra class, the lowest of the varnas.


title: Nanda Empire

text: Since the claim of the barber ancestry of the dynasty's founder is attested by two different traditions—Greco-Roman and Jain, it appears to be more reliable than the Puranic claim of Shaishunaga ancestry.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Buddhist tradition calls the Nandas "of unknown lineage" ("annata-kula"). According to "Mahavamsa", the dynasty's founder was Ugrasena, who was originally "a man of the frontier": he fell into the hands of a gang of robbers, and later became their leader. He later ousted the sons of the Shaishunaga king Kalashoka (or Kakavarna).


title: Nanda Empire

text: K. N. Panikkar suggested that the Nandas were the sole Kshatriyas in India "at the time of the Mauryas" and M. N. Srinivas suggested that the "other Kshatriya castes have come into existence through a process of caste mobility from among the lower castes".


title: Nanda Empire

text: There is little unanimity among the ancient sources regarding the total duration of the Nanda reign or their regnal period. For example, the "Matsya Purana" assigns 88 years to the rule of the first Nanda king alone, while some manuscripts of the "Vayu Purana" state the total duration of the Nanda rule as 40 years. The 16th century Buddhist scholar Taranatha assigns 29 years to the Nandas.


title: Nanda Empire

text: It is difficult to assign precise date for the Nanda and other early dynasties of Magadha. Historians Irfan Habib and Vivekanand Jha date the Nanda rule from c. 344–322 BCE, relying on the Sri Lankan Buddhist tradition which states that the Nandas ruled for 22 years. Historian Upinder Singh dates the Nanda rule from 364/345 BCE to 324 BCE, based on the assumption that Gautama Buddha died in c. 486 BCE.


title: Nanda Empire

text: According to another theory, based on astronomical calculations, the first Nanda king ascended the throne in 424 BCE. Proponents of this theory also interpret the Hathigumpha inscription to mean that "Nandaraja" (the Nanda king) flourished in year 103 of the Mahavira Era, that is, in 424 BCE.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The 14th century Jain writer Merutunga, in his "Vichara-shreni", states that king Chandra Pradyota of Avanti died on the same night as the Jain leader Mahavira. He was succeeded by his son Palaka, who ruled for 60 years. After that, the Nandas rose to power at Pataliputra and captured the Avanti capital Ujjayini. The Nanda rule, spanning the reigns of nine kings, lasted for 155 years, after which the Mauryas came to power. According to the Shvetambara Jain tradition, Mahavira died in 527 BCE, which would mean that the Nanda rule—according to Merutunga's writings—lasted from 467 BCE to 312 BCE. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, while all the chronological details provided by Merutunga cannot be accepted without corroborative evidence, they cannot be dismissed as entirely unreliable unless contradicted by more reliable sources.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Buddhist, Jain, and Puranic traditions all state that there were 9 Nanda kings, but the sources differ considerably on the names of these kings.


title: Nanda Empire

text: According to the Greco-Roman accounts, the Nanda rule spanned two generations. For example, the Roman historian Curtius (1st century CE) suggests that the dynasty's founder was a barber-turned-king, and that his son was the dynasty's last king, who was overthrown by Chandragupta. The Greek accounts name only one Nanda king—Agrammes or Xandrames—who was a contemporary of Alexander. "Agrammes" may be a Greek transcription of the Sanskrit word "Augrasainya" (literally "son or descendant of Ugrasena", Ugrasena being the name of the dynasty's founder according to the Buddhist tradition).


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Puranas, compiled in India in c. 4th century CE (but probably based on earlier sources), also state that the Nandas ruled for two generations. According to the Puranic tradition, the dynasty's founder was Mahapadma: the "Matsya Purana" assigns him an incredibly long reign of 88 years, while the "Vayu Purana" mentions the length of his reign as only 28 years. The Puranas further state that Mahapadma's 8 sons ruled in succession after him for a total of 12 years, but name only one of these sons: Sukalpa. A "Vayu Purana" script names him as "Sahalya", which apparently corresponds to the "Sahalin" mentioned in the Buddhist text "Divyavadana". Dhundiraja, a commentator on the "Vishnu Purana", names one of the Nanda kings as Sarvatha-siddhi, and states that his son was Maurya, whose son was Chandragupta Maurya. However, the Puranas themselves do not talk of any relation between the Nanda and the Maurya dynasties.


title: Nanda Empire

text: According to the Sri Lankan Buddhist text "Mahavamsa", written in Pali language, there were 9 Nanda kings – they were brothers who ruled in succession, for a total of 22 years. These nine kings were:


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Nanda capital was located at Pataliputra (near present-day Patna) in the Magadha region of eastern India. This is confirmed by the Buddhist and Jain traditions, as well as the Sanskrit play "Mudrarakshasa". The Puranas also connect the Nandas to the Shaishunaga dynasty, which ruled in the Magadha region. The Greek accounts state that Agrammes (identified as a Nanda king) was the ruler of the Gangaridai (the Ganges valley) and the Prasii (probably a transcription of the Sanskrit word "prachya"s, literally "easterners"). According to the later writer Megasthenes (c. 300 BCE), Pataliputra (Greek: Palibothra) was located in the country of the Prasii, which further confirms that Pataliputra was the Nanda capital.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Nanda empire appears to have stretched from present-day Punjab in the west to Odisha in the east. An analysis of various historical sources – including the ancient Greek accounts, the Puranas, and the Hathigumpha inscription – suggests that the Nandas controlled eastern India, the Ganges valley, and at least a part of Kalinga. It is also highly probable that they controlled the Avanti region in Central India, which made it possible for their successor Chandragupta Maurya to conquer present-day Gujarat western India. According to the Jain tradition, the Nanda minister subjugated the entire country up to the coastal areas.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Puranas state that the Nanda king Mahapadma destroyed the Kshatriyas, and attained undisputed sovereignty. The Kshatriyas said to have been exterminated by him include Maithalas, Kasheyas, Ikshvakus, Panchalas, Shurasenas, Kurus, Haihayas, Vitihotras, Kalingas, and Ashmakas.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Amaravathi hoard of Punch marked coins have revealed imperial standard coins dating back to the Nandas besides other dynasties of Magadha, including the Mauryas; but it is not certain when this region was annexed by the Magadhan rulers.


title: Nanda Empire

text: Some Kuntala country (North Mysore) inscriptions suggest that the Nandas also ruled it, which included a part of present-day Karnataka in southern India. However, these inscriptions are relatively late (c. 1200 CE), and therefore, cannot be considered as reliable in this context. The Magadha empire included parts of southern India during the reign of the Mauryas – the successors of the Nandas – but there is no satisfactory account of how they came to control this area. For example, an inscription discovered at Bandanikke states:


title: Nanda Empire

text: Alexander the Great invaded north-western India at the time of Agrammes or Xandrames, whom modern historians generally identify as the last Nanda king – Dhana Nanda. In the summer of 326 BCE, Alexander's army reached the Beas River (Greek: Hyphasis), beyond which the Nanda territory was located.


title: Nanda Empire

text: According to Curtius, Alexander learned that Agrammes had 200,000 infantry; 20,000 cavalry; 3000 elephants; and 2,000 four-horse chariots. Diodorus gives the number of elephants as 4,000. Plutarch inflates these numbers significantly, except the infantry: according to him, the Nanda force included 200,000 infantry; 80,000 cavalry; 6,000 elephants; and 8,000 chariots. It is possible that the numbers reported to Alexander had been exaggerated by the local Indian population, who had the incentive to mislead the invaders.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Nanda army did not have the opportunity to face Alexander, whose soldiers mutinied at the Beas River, refusing to go any further in the east. Alexander's soldiers had first started to agitate to return to their homeland at Hecatompylos in 330 BCE, and the stiff resistance that they had met in north-western India in the subsequent years had demoralised them. They mutinied, when faced with the prospect of facing the Nanda army, forcing Alexander to withdraw from India.


title: Nanda Empire

text: Little information survives on the Nanda administration today. The Puranas describe the Nanda king as "ekarat" ("single ruler"), which suggests that the Nanda empire was an integrated monarchy rather than a group of virtually independent feudal states. However, the Greek accounts suggest the presence of a more federated system of governance. For example, Arrian mentions that the land beyond the Beas River was governed by "the aristocracy, who exercised their authority with justice and moderation." The Greek accounts mention the Gangaridai and the Prasii separately, although suggesting that these two were ruled by a common sovereign. Historian H. C. Raychaudhuri theorises that the Nandas held centralised control over their core territories in present-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, but allowed considerable autonomy in the frontier parts of their empire. This is suggested by Buddhist legends, which state Chandragupta was unable to defeat the Nandas when he attacked their capital but was successful against them when he gradually conquered the frontier regions of their empire.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Nanda kings appear to have strengthened the Magadha kingdom ruled by their Haryanka and Shaishunaga predecessors, creating the first great empire of northern India in the process. Historians have put forward various theories to explain the political success of these dynasties of Magadha. Pataliputra, the capital of Magadha, was naturally protected because of its location at the junction of the Ganges and the Son rivers. The Ganges and its tributaries connected the kingdom with important trade routes. It had fertile soil and access to lumber and elephants of the adjacent areas. Some historians have suggested that Magadha was relatively free from the Brahmanical orthodoxy, which may have played a role in its political success; however, it is difficult to assess the veracity of this claim. D. D. Kosambi theorised that Magadha's monopoly over iron ore mines played a major role in its imperial expansion, but historian Upinder Singh has disputed this theory, pointing out that Magadha did not have a monopoly over these mines, and the iron mining in the historical Magadha region started much later. Singh, however, notes that the adjoining Chota Nagpur Plateau was rich in many minerals and other raw materials, and access to these would have been an asset for Magadha.


title: Nanda Empire

text: According to the Jain tradition, Kalpaka was the minister of the first Nanda king. He became a minister reluctantly, but after assuming the office, he encouraged the king to adopt an aggressive expansionist policy. The Jain texts suggest that the ministerial offices of the Nanda Empire were hereditary. For example, after the death of Shakatala, a minister of the last Nanda king, his position was offered to his son Sthulabhadra; when Sthulabhadra refused the offer, Shakatala's second son Shriyaka was appointed as the minister.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The "Brihatkatha" tradition claims that under the Nanda rule, the city of Pataliputra not only became the abode of the goddess of material prosperity (Lakshmi), but also of the goddess of learning (Sarasvati). According to this tradition, notable grammarians such as Varsha, Upavarsha, Panini, Katyayana, Vararuchi, and Vyadi lived during the Nanda period. While much of this account is unreliable folklore, it is probable that some of the grammarians who preceded Patanjali lived during the Nanda period.


title: Nanda Empire

text: Several historical sources refer to the great wealth of the Nandas. According to the "Mahavamsa", the last Nanda king was a treasure-hoarder, and amassed wealth worth 80 "kotis" (800 million). He buried these treasures in the bed of the Ganges river. He acquired further wealth by levying taxes on all sorts of objects, including skins, gums, trees, and stones.


title: Nanda Empire

text: A verse by the Tamil poet Mamulanar refers to "the untold wealth of the Nandas", which was "swept away and submerged later on by the floods of the Ganges". Another interpretation of this verse states this wealth was hidden in the waters of the Ganges. The 7th-century Chinese traveller Xuanzang mentions the "five treasures of king Nanda's seven precious substances".


title: Nanda Empire

text: Greek writer Xenophon, in his "Cyropaedia" (4th century BCE), mentions that the king of India was very wealthy, and aspired to arbitrate in the disputes between the kingdoms of West Asia. Although Xenophon's book describes the events of the 6th century BCE (the period of Cyrus the Great), historian H. C. Raychaudhuri speculates that the writer's image of the Indian king may be based on the contemporary Nanda king.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The "Kashika", a commentary on Panini's grammar, mentions "Nandopakramani manani" – a measuring standard introduced by the Nandas. This may be a reference to their introduction of a new currency system and punch-marked coins, which may have been responsible for much of their wealth. A hoard of coins found at the site of ancient Pataliputra probably belongs to the Nanda period.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Nanda Empire's population included adherents of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The Nandas and the Mauryas appear to have patronised the religions originating in the Greater Magadha region, namely Jainism, Ajivikism, and Buddhism. However, the rulers of the empire never engaged in conversion of their subjects to other religions and there is no evidence that these rulers discriminated against any contemporary religion.


title: Nanda Empire

text: In the pre-Nanda period, the Vedic Brahmanism was supported by several smaller kings, who patronised the Brahmin priests. The declining power of these kings under the more centralised Nanda and Maurya rule appears to have deprived the Brahmins of their patrons, resulting in the gradual decline of the traditional Vedic society.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Jain tradition suggests that several Nanda ministers were inclined towards Jainism. When Shakatala, a minister of the last Nanda king, died, his son Sthulabhadra refused to inherit his father's office, and instead became a Jain monk. Sthulabhadra's brother Shriyaka accepted the post.


title: Nanda Empire

text: A granite stone fragment of an arch discovered by K. P. Jayaswal from Kumhrar, Pataliputra has been analysed as a pre Maurya-Nanda period keystone fragment of a trefoil arch of gateway with mason's marks of three archaic Brahmi letters inscribed on it which probably decorated a Torana. The wedge-shaped stone with indentation has Mauryan polish on two sides and was suspended vertically.


title: Nanda Empire

text: According to K. P Jayaswal, Nanda era is mentioned in three sources. Kharavela's Hathigumpha inscription mentions Nandaraja constructing canal 103 year in Nanda period. According to Al beruni The Sriharsha era was being used in areas of Kannauj and Mathura and there was a difference of 400 years between sriharsha era and Vikrama era which would make it 458 BC, the attributes of which matched with the Nanda kings. According to 12th century Yedarava inscription of Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI, Nanda era along with vikram era and Shaka era were extent which were abolished in favour of a new Chalukyan era, but other scholars have opined that evidences are too meager to make anything conclusive.


title: Nanda Empire

text: All historical accounts agree that the last Nanda king was unpopular among his subjects. According to Diodorus, Porus told Alexander that the contemporary Nanda king was a man of "worthless character", and was not respected by his subjects as he was thought to be of low origin. Curtius also states that according to Porus, the Nanda king was despised by his subjects. According to Plutarch, who claims that Androkottos (identified as Chandragupta) met Alexander, Androkottos later declared that Alexander could have easily conquered the Nanda territory (Gangaridai and Prasii) because the Nanda king was hated and despised by his subjects, as he was wicked and of low origin. The Sri Lankan Buddhist tradition blames the Nandas for being greedy and for imposing oppressive taxation. The Puranas of India label the Nandas as "adharmika", indicating that they did not follow the norms of "dharma" or righteous conduct.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Nanda dynasty was overthrown by Chandragupta Maurya, who was supported by his mentor (and later minister) Chanakya. Some accounts mention Chandragupta as a member of the Nanda family. For example, the 11th century writers Kshemendra and Somadeva describe Chandragupta as a "son of the genuine Nanda" ("purva-Nanda-suta"). Dhundiraja, in his commentary on the "Vishnu Purana", names Chandragupta's father as Maurya; he describes Maurya as a son of the Nanda king Sarvatha-siddhi and a hunter's daughter named Mura.


title: Nanda Empire

text: The Buddhist text "Milinda Panha" mentions a war between the Nanda general Bhaddasala (Sanskrit: Bhadrashala) and Chandragupta. According to the text, this war led to the slaughter of 10,000 elephants; 100,000 horses; 5,000 charioteers; and a billion foot soldiers. While this is obviously an exaggeration, it suggests that the overthrow of the Nanda dynasty was a violent affair.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: Mother () is a 2009 South Korean thriller film directed by Bong Joon-ho, starring Kim Hye-ja and Won Bin. The plot follows a mother who, after her intellectually disabled son is accused of the murder of a young girl, attempts to find the true killer in order to get her son freed.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: The film premiered on 16 May 2009 at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, and was released in South Korea on 28 May 2009. It received critical acclaim from critics, who praised Kim's performance, the direction and screenplay, and the film's uniqueness.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: An unnamed widow lives alone with her only son, selling medicinal herbs in a small town in southern South Korea while conducting unlicensed acupuncture treatments for the town's women on the side. Her son, Yoon Do-joon, is shy, but prone to attacking anyone who mocks his intellectual disability. She dotes on him and scolds him for hanging out with Jin-tae, a local thug. When Do-joon is nearly hit by a car, he and Jin-tae vandalize the car and attack the driver and passengers as revenge. Jin-tae blames Do-joon for the damage done to the car, and Do-joon is sued. His mother struggles with the burden of the debt.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: On his way home from a bar late at night, Do-joon sees a high school girl named Moon Ah-jung walking alone and follows her to an abandoned building. The next morning, she is discovered dead on the rooftop, shocking the town and pressuring the incompetent police to find the killer. Only circumstantial evidence places Do-joon near the scene of the crime, but the police arrest the boy anyway. He is tricked into signing a confession and faces a long prison sentence. His mother, believing him innocent, tries to prove he is not the murderer. However, she is unsuccessful, as the lawyer she hires is self-absorbed and unhelpful and the community unanimously blames Do-joon for the crime.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: The mother suspects Jin-tae of committing the murder and breaks into his house to look for evidence. She takes a golf club, which she believes has blood on it, but when she turns it over to the police and Jin-tae is confronted about it, it becomes clear that the "blood" is just smeared lipstick. Despite her accusation, Jin-tae agrees to help the mother solve the casefor a fee.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: The mother fires her lawyer and questions the people in town about Ah-jung. They tell her the girl was sexually promiscuous and in a relationship with a boy known as Jong-pal, who had escaped a sanatorium.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: Do-joon attacks another prisoner who calls him "retard". On one of his mother's prison visits, Do-joon recalls a memory of her attempt to kill him and then herself when he was five by lacing their drinks with a pesticide. She tries to apologize, saying she wanted to free them both from hardship. She offers to remove his pain by using her unique knowledge of an acupuncture point that erases bad memories, but he tells her he never wants to see her again.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: The mother learns from a camera-shop worker that Ah-jung had frequent nosebleeds and had pictures on her cellphone that she wanted to have printed. Ah-jung's friend is attacked by two young men who are looking for the phone, but the mother rescues her and then pays Jin-tae to interrogate the men, who claim that Ah-jung accepted rice in exchange for sex (and was nicknamed "the rice cake girl"). They say she used her phone to secretly take pictures of her partners, thus making it a potential tool for blackmailing. The mother tracks down the phone, which is hidden at Ah-jung's grandmother's house.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: Do-joon remembers seeing an elderly man in the abandoned building on the night of Ah-jung's death and identifies him in one of the pictures on Ah-jung's phone. The mother recognizes the man as a junk collector she once bought an umbrella from and goes to his home to find out what he saw, on the pretense of offering him charity medical services. The junk collector reveals that he has been troubled since he saw Do-joon kill Ah-jung. He witnessed the two have a short conversation, during which Ah-jung called Do-joon a "retard", and Do-joon then threw a large rock into the shadows in which Ah-jung was standing, hitting her in the head and inadvertently killing her. Do-joon then dragged her to the rooftop.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: The mother is unable to accept the truth. She frantically tells the junk collector that he is wrong and the case is going to be reopened and Do-joon will be released, which prompts him to pick up the phone to finally report what he had seen to the police. Fearing for her son, the mother bludgeons the junk collector with a wrench and sets fire to his house.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: Later, the police tell the mother that they have found the "real" killer: Jong-pal, who is being presumed guilty after Ah-jung's blood was found on his shirt. The police assume it got there during the murder, but the mother knows Jong-pal's story, that the blood is the result of Ah-jung's nose bleeding during consensual sex, is true. Feeling guilty, she visits Jong-pal, who is even more intellectually disabled than her son, and cries for him when she hears he does not have a mother to fight for him, knowing he is going to jail for a crime he did not commit.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: Do-joon is freed from prison and Jin-tae picks him up. They pass the junk collector's burned-down house on the way home and stop to pick through the rubble. During dinner, Do-joon muses to his mother that Jong-pal probably dragged Ah-jung up to the roof so that someone would see she was hurt and help her.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: As the mother is about to depart from a bus station on a "Thank-You Parents" tour, Do-joon returns her acupuncture kit, which he found in the remains of the junk collector's house, and tells her to be more careful. She tearfully walks away, jarred by his discovery. On the bus, she sits in shock before placing one of the acupuncture needles in the point that erases bad memories. She stands up and dances with the other passengers.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: "Mother" competed in the Un Certain Regard category at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. In South Korea, it attracted 3,003,785 admissions nationwide and grossed a total of , becoming the 6th most-attended domestic film of 2009, and 10th overall. The film had its U.S. premiere in February 2010 as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and it received a limited U.S. theatrical release by Magnolia Pictures in March 2010. In March 2015, the film was re-released in the US at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York, as part of their Bong Joon-ho Retrospective (along with "Memories of Murder", "The Host", and "Snowpiercer"). A black-and-white version of the film was released in 2013.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: The film was reported to have been made with a $5 million budget and went on to be the sixth highest grossing film in South Korea in 2009.


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96% based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 7.88/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "As fleshy as it is funny, Bong Joon-Ho's "Mother" straddles family drama, horror and comedy with a deft grasp of tone and plenty of eerie visuals." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" praised the performance by Kim Hye-ja and described the film as "alternately dazzling and frustrating".


title: Mother (2009 film)

text: The film was selected as South Korea's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later symptoms may include abnormal vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain or pain during sexual intercourse. While bleeding after sex may not be serious, it may also indicate the presence of cervical cancer.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Human papillomavirus infection (HPV) causes more than 90% of cases; most women who have had HPV infections, however, do not develop cervical cancer. HPV 16 and 18 strains are responsible for nearly 50% of high grade cervical pre-cancers. Other risk factors include smoking, a weak immune system, birth control pills, starting sex at a young age, and having many sexual partners, but these are less important. Genetic factors also contribute to cervical cancer risk. Cervical cancer typically develops from precancerous changes over 10 to 20 years. About 90% of cervical cancer cases are squamous cell carcinomas, 10% are adenocarcinoma, and a small number are other types. Diagnosis is typically by cervical screening followed by a biopsy. Medical imaging is then done to determine whether or not the cancer has spread.


title: Cervical cancer

text: HPV vaccines protect against two to seven high-risk strains of this family of viruses and may prevent up to 90% of cervical cancers. As a risk of cancer still exists, guidelines recommend continuing regular Pap tests. Other methods of prevention include having few or no sexual partners and the use of condoms. Cervical cancer screening using the Pap test or acetic acid can identify precancerous changes, which when treated, can prevent the development of cancer. Treatment may consist of some combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Five-year survival rates in the United States are 68%. Outcomes, however, depend very much on how early the cancer is detected.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Worldwide, cervical cancer is both the fourth-most common type of cancer and the fourth-most common cause of death from cancer in women. In 2012, an estimated 528,000 cases of cervical cancer occurred, with 266,000 deaths. This is about 8% of the total cases and total deaths from cancer. About 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of deaths occur in developing countries. In low-income countries, it is one of the most common causes of cancer death. In developed countries, the widespread use of cervical screening programs has dramatically reduced rates of cervical cancer. Expected scenarios for the reduction of mortality due to cervical cancer worldwide (and specially in low-income countries) have been reviewed, given assumptions with respect to the achievement of recommended prevention targets using triple-intervention strategies defined by WHO. In medical research, the most famous immortalized cell line, known as HeLa, was developed from cervical cancer cells of a woman named Henrietta Lacks.


title: Cervical cancer

text: The early stages of cervical cancer may be completely free of symptoms. Vaginal bleeding, contact bleeding (one most common form being bleeding after sexual intercourse), or (rarely) a vaginal mass may indicate the presence of malignancy. Also, moderate pain during sexual intercourse and vaginal discharge are symptoms of cervical cancer. In advanced disease, metastases may be present in the abdomen, lungs, or elsewhere.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Symptoms of advanced cervical cancer may include: loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, pelvic pain, back pain, leg pain, swollen legs, heavy vaginal bleeding, bone fractures, and (rarely) leakage of urine or feces from the vagina. Bleeding after douching or after a pelvic exam is a common symptom of cervical cancer.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Infection with some types of HPV is the greatest risk factor for cervical cancer, followed by smoking. HIV infection is also a risk factor. Not all of the causes of cervical cancer are known, however, and several other contributing factors have been implicated.


title: Cervical cancer

text: HPV types 16 and 18 are the cause of 75% of cervical cancer cases globally, while 31 and 45 are the causes of another 10%.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Women who have sex with men who have many other sexual partners or women who have many sexual partners have a greater risk.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Of the 150-200 types of HPV known, 15 are classified as high-risk types (16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68, 73, and 82), three as probable high-risk (26, 53, and 66), and 12 as low-risk (6, 11, 40, 42, 43, 44, 54, 61, 70, 72, 81, and CP6108).


title: Cervical cancer

text: Genital warts, which are a form of benign tumor of epithelial cells, are also caused by various strains of HPV. However, these serotypes are usually not related to cervical cancer. Having multiple strains at the same time is common, including those that can cause cervical cancer along with those that cause warts. Infection with HPV is generally believed to be required for cervical cancer to occur.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Cigarette smoking, both active and passive, increases the risk of cervical cancer. Among HPV-infected women, current and former smokers have roughly two to three times the incidence of invasive cancer. Passive smoking is also associated with increased risk, but to a lesser extent.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Smoking has also been linked to the development of cervical cancer. Smoking can increase the risk in women a few different ways, which can be by direct and indirect methods of inducing cervical cancer. A direct way of contracting this cancer is a smoker has a higher chance of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN3) occurring, which has the potential of forming cervical cancer. When CIN3 lesions lead to cancer, most of them have the assistance of the HPV virus, but that is not always the case, which is why it can be considered a direct link to cervical cancer. Heavy smoking and long-term smoking seem to have more of a risk of getting the CIN3 lesions than lighter smoking or not smoking at all. Although smoking has been linked to cervical cancer, it aids in the development of HPV, which is the leading cause of this type of cancer. Also, not only does it aid in the development of HPV, but also if the woman is already HPV-positive, she is at an even greater likelihood of contracting cervical cancer.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Long-term use of oral contraceptives is associated with increased risk of cervical cancer in women who have had HPV. Women who have used oral contraceptives for 5 to 9 years have about three times the incidence of invasive cancer, and those who used them for 10 years or longer have about four times the risk.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Having many pregnancies is associated with an increased risk of cervical cancer. Among HPV-infected women, those who have had seven or more full-term pregnancies have around four times the risk of cancer compared with women with no pregnancies, and two to three times the risk of women who have had one or two full-term pregnancies.


title: Cervical cancer

text: The Pap test can be used as a screening test, but produces a false negative in up to 50% of cases of cervical cancer. Other concerns is the cost of doing Pap tests, which make them unaffordable in many areas of the world.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Confirmation of the diagnosis of cervical cancer or precancer requires a biopsy of the cervix. This is often done through colposcopy, a magnified visual inspection of the cervix aided by using a dilute acetic acid (e.g. vinegar) solution to highlight abnormal cells on the surface of the cervix, with visual contrast provided by staining the normal tissues a mahogany brown with Lugol's iodine. Medical devices used for biopsy of the cervix include punch forceps. Colposcopic impression, the estimate of disease severity based on the visual inspection, forms part of the diagnosis. Further diagnostic and treatment procedures are loop electrical excision procedure and cervical conization, in which the inner lining of the cervix is removed to be examined pathologically. These are carried out if the biopsy confirms severe cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Often before the biopsy, the doctor asks for medical imaging to rule out other causes of woman's symptoms. Imaging modalities such as ultrasound, CT scan, and MRI have been used to look for alternating disease, spread of the tumor, and effect on adjacent structures. Typically, they appear as heterogeneous mass on the cervix.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Interventions such as playing music during the procedure and viewing the procedure on a monitor can reduce the anxiety associated with the examination.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, the potential precursor to cervical cancer, is often diagnosed on examination of cervical biopsies by a pathologist. For premalignant dysplastic changes, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grading is used.


title: Cervical cancer

text: The naming and histologic classification of cervical carcinoma precursor lesions has changed many times over the 20th century. The World Health Organization classification system was descriptive of the lesions, naming them mild, moderate, or severe dysplasia or carcinoma "in situ" (CIS). The term cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) was developed to place emphasis on the spectrum of abnormality in these lesions, and to help standardize treatment. It classifies mild dysplasia as CIN1, moderate dysplasia as CIN2, and severe dysplasia and CIS as CIN3. More recently, CIN2 and CIN3 have been combined into CIN2/3. These results are what a pathologist might report from a biopsy.


title: Cervical cancer

text: These should not be confused with the Bethesda system terms for Pap test (cytopathology) results. Among the Bethesda results: Low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL). An LSIL Pap may correspond to CIN1, and HSIL may correspond to CIN2 and CIN3, but they are results of different tests, and the Pap test results need not match the histologic findings.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Though squamous cell carcinoma is the cervical cancer with the most incidence, the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the cervix has been increasing in recent decades. Endocervical adenocarcinoma represents 20–25% of the histological types of cervical carcinoma. Gastric-type mucinous adenocarcinoma of the cervix is a rare type of cancer with aggressive behavior. This type of malignancy is not related to high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV).


title: Cervical cancer

text: Noncarcinoma malignancies which can rarely occur in the cervix include melanoma and lymphoma. The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage does not incorporate lymph node involvement in contrast to the TNM staging for most other cancers. For cases treated surgically, information obtained from the pathologist can be used in assigning a separate pathologic stage, but is not to replace the original clinical stage.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Cervical cancer is staged by the FIGO system, which is based on clinical examination rather than surgical findings. Prior to the 2018 revisions to FIGO staging, the system allowed only these diagnostic tests to be used in determining the stage: palpation, inspection, colposcopy, endocervical curettage, hysteroscopy, cystoscopy, proctoscopy, intravenous urography, and X-ray examination of the lungs and skeleton, and cervical conization. However, the current system allows use of any imaging or pathological methods for staging.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Checking cervical cells with the Papanicolaou test (Pap test) for cervical pre-cancer has dramatically reduced the number of cases of, and mortality from, cervical cancer. Liquid-based cytology may reduce the number of inadequate samples. Pap test screening every three to five years with appropriate follow-up can reduce cervical cancer incidence up to 80%. Abnormal results may suggest the presence of precancerous changes, allowing examination and possible preventive treatment, known as colposcopy. The treatment of low-grade lesions may adversely affect subsequent fertility and pregnancy. Personal invitations encouraging women to get screened are effective at increasing the likelihood they will do so. Educational materials also help increase the likelihood women will go for screening, but they are not as effective as invitations.


title: Cervical cancer

text: According to the 2010 European guidelines, the age at which to start screening ranges between 20 and 30 years of age, but preferentially not before age 25 or 30 years, and depends on burden of the disease in the population and the available resources.


title: Cervical cancer

text: In the United States, screening is recommended to begin at age 21, regardless of age at which a woman began having sex or other risk factors. Pap tests should be done every three years between the ages of 21 and 65. In women over the age of 65, screening may be discontinued if no abnormal screening results were seen within the previous 10 years and no history of CIN2 or higher exists. HPV vaccination status does not change screening rates.


title: Cervical cancer

text: A number of recommended options exist for screening those 30 to 65. This includes cervical cytology every 3 years, HPV testing every 5 years, or HPV testing together with cytology every 5 years. Screening is not beneficial before age 25, as the rate of disease is low. Screening is not beneficial in women older than 60 years if they have a history of negative results. The American Society of Clinical Oncology guideline has recommend for different levels of resource availability.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Pap tests have not been as effective in developing countries. This is in part because many of these countries have an impoverished health care infrastructure, too few trained and skilled professionals to obtain and interpret Pap tests, uninformed women who get lost to follow-up, and a lengthy turn-around time to get results. Visual inspection with acetic acid and HPV DNA testing have been tried, though with mixed success.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Barrier protection or spermicidal gel use during sexual intercourse decreases, but does not eliminate risk of transmitting the infection, though condoms may protect against genital warts. They also provide protection against other sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV and "Chlamydia", which are associated with greater risks of developing cervical cancer.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Three HPV vaccines (Gardasil, Gardasil 9, and Cervarix) reduce the risk of cancerous or precancerous changes of the cervix and perineum by about 93% and 62%, respectively. The vaccines are between 92% and 100% effective against HPV 16 and 18 up to at least 8 years.


title: Cervical cancer

text: HPV vaccines are typically given to age 9 to 26, as the vaccine is most effective if given before infection occurs. The duration of effectiveness and whether a booster will be needed is unknown. The high cost of this vaccine has been a cause for concern. Several countries have considered (or are considering) programs to fund HPV vaccination. The American Society of Clinical Oncology guideline has recommendations for different levels of resource availability.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Since 2010, young women in Japan have been eligible to receive the cervical cancer vaccination for free. In June 2013, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare mandated that, before administering the vaccine, medical institutions must inform women that the ministry does not recommend it. However, the vaccine is still available at no cost to Japanese women who choose to accept the vaccination.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Vitamin A is associated with a lower risk as are vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-Carotene.


title: Cervical cancer

text: The treatment of cervical cancer varies worldwide, largely due to access to surgeons skilled in radical pelvic surgery, and the emergence of fertility-sparing therapy in developed nations. Less advanced stages of cervical cancer typically have treatment options that allow fertility to be maintained, if the patient desires. Because cervical cancers are radiosensitive, radiation may be used in all stages where surgical options do not exist. Surgical intervention may have better outcomes than radiological approaches. In addition, chemotherapy can be used to treat cervical cancer, and has been found to be more effective than radiation alone. Evidence suggests chemoradiotherapy may increase overall survival and reduce the risk of disease recurrence compared to radiotherapy alone. There is low-certainty evidence that peri-operative care approaches, such as 'fast-track surgery' or 'enhanced recovery programmes' may lower surgical stress and improve recovery after gynaecological cancer surgery.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Microinvasive cancer (stage IA) may be treated by hysterectomy (removal of the whole uterus including part of the vagina). For stage IA2, the lymph nodes are removed as well. Alternatives include local surgical procedures such as a loop electrical excision procedure or cone biopsy. A systematic review concluded that more evidence is needed to inform decisions about different surgical techniques for women with cervical cancer at stage IA2.


title: Cervical cancer

text: If a cone biopsy does not produce clear margins (findings on biopsy showing that the tumor is surrounded by cancer free tissue, suggesting all of the tumor is removed), one more possible treatment option for women who want to preserve their fertility is a trachelectomy. This attempts to surgically remove the cancer while preserving the ovaries and uterus, providing for a more conservative operation than a hysterectomy. It is a viable option for those in stage I cervical cancer which has not spread; however, it is not yet considered a standard of care, as few doctors are skilled in this procedure. Even the most experienced surgeon cannot promise that a trachelectomy can be performed until after surgical microscopic examination, as the extent of the spread of cancer is unknown. If the surgeon is not able to microscopically confirm clear margins of cervical tissue once the woman is under general anesthesia in the operating room, a hysterectomy may still be needed. This can only be done during the same operation if the woman has given prior consent. Due to the possible risk of cancer spread to the lymph nodes in stage 1B cancers and some stage 1A cancers, the surgeon may also need to remove some lymph nodes from around the uterus for pathologic evaluation.


title: Cervical cancer

text: A radical trachelectomy can be performed abdominally or vaginally and opinions are conflicting as to which is better. A radical abdominal trachelectomy with lymphadenectomy usually only requires a two- to three-day hospital stay, and most women recover very quickly (about six weeks). Complications are uncommon, although women who are able to conceive after surgery are susceptible to preterm labor and possible late miscarriage. A wait of at least one year is generally recommended before attempting to become pregnant after surgery. Recurrence in the residual cervix is very rare if the cancer has been cleared with the trachelectomy. Yet, women are recommended to practice vigilant prevention and follow-up care including Pap screenings/colposcopy, with biopsies of the remaining lower uterine segment as needed (every 3–4 months for at least 5 years) to monitor for any recurrence in addition to minimizing any new exposures to HPV through safe sex practices until one is actively trying to conceive.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Early stages (IB1 and IIA less than 4 cm) can be treated with radical hysterectomy with removal of the lymph nodes or radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is given as external beam radiotherapy to the pelvis and brachytherapy (internal radiation). Women treated with surgery who have high-risk features found on pathologic examination are given radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy to reduce the risk of relapse. A Cochrane review has found moderate-certainty evidence that radiation decreases the risk of disease progression in people with stage IB cervical cancer, when compared to no further treatment. However, little evidence was found on its effects on overall survival.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Larger early-stage tumors (IB2 and IIA more than 4 cm) may be treated with radiation therapy and cisplatin-based chemotherapy, hysterectomy (which then usually requires adjuvant radiation therapy), or cisplatin chemotherapy followed by hysterectomy. When cisplatin is present, it is thought to be the most active single agent in periodic diseases. Such addition of platinum-based chemotherapy to chemoradiation seems not only to improve survival but also reduces risk of recurrence in women with early stage cervical cancer (IA2–IIA). A Cochrane review found a lack of evidence on the benefits and harms of primary hysterectomy compared to primary chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer in stage IB2.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Advanced-stage tumors (IIB-IVA) are treated with radiation therapy and cisplatin-based chemotherapy. On 15 June 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a combination of two chemotherapy drugs, hycamtin and cisplatin, for women with late-stage (IVB) cervical cancer treatment. Combination treatment has significant risk of neutropenia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia side effects.


title: Cervical cancer

text: There is insufficient evidence whether anticancer drugs after standard care help women with locally advanced cervical cancer to live longer.


title: Cervical cancer

text: For surgery to be curative, the entire cancer must be removed with no cancer found at the margins of the removed tissue on examination under a microscope. This procedure is known as exenteration.


title: Cervical cancer

text: No evidence is available to suggest that any form of follow‐up approach is better or worse in terms of prolonging survival, improving quality of life or guiding the management of problems that can arise because of the treatment and that in the case of radiotherapy treatment worsen with time. A 2019 review found no controlled trials regarding the efficacy and safety of interventions for vaginal bleeding in women with advanced cervical cancer.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Prognosis depends on the stage of the cancer. For intraepithelial cervical neoplasmas the prognosis is good. With treatment, the five-year relative survival rate for the earliest stage of invasive cervical cancer is 92%, and the overall (all stages combined) five-year survival rate is about 66%. These statistics may be improved when applied to women newly diagnosed, bearing in mind that these outcomes may be partly based on the state of treatment five years ago when the women studied were first diagnosed.


title: Cervical cancer

text: With treatment, 80–90% of women with stage I cancer and 60–75% of those with stage II cancer are alive 5 years after diagnosis. Survival rates decrease to 58% for women with stage III cancer and 17% or fewer of those with stage IV cancer five years after diagnosis. Recurrent cervical cancer detected at its earliest stages might be successfully treated with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or a combination of the three. About 35% of women with invasive cervical cancer have persistent or recurrent disease after treatment.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Regular screening has meant that precancerous changes and early-stage cervical cancers have been detected and treated early. Figures suggest that cervical screening is saving 5,000 lives each year in the UK by preventing cervical cancer.


title: Cervical cancer

text: About 1,000 women per year die of cervical cancer in the UK. All of the Nordic countries have cervical cancer-screening programs in place. The Pap test was integrated into clinical practice in the Nordic countries in the 1960s.


title: Cervical cancer

text: In Africa outcomes are often worse as diagnosis is frequently at a latter stage of disease. In a scoping review of publicly-available cervical cancer prevention and control plans from African countries, plans tended to emphasize survivorship rather than early HPV diagnosis and prevention.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Worldwide, cervical cancer is both the fourth-most common cause of cancer and deaths from cancer in women. In 2018, 570,000 cases of cervical cancer were estimated to have occurred, with over 300,000 deaths. It is the second-most common cause of female-specific cancer after breast cancer, accounting for around 8% of both total cancer cases and total cancer deaths in women. About 80% of cervical cancers occur in developing countries. It is the most frequently detected cancer during pregnancy, with an occurrence of 1.5 to 12 for every 100,000 pregnancies.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Australia had 734 cases of cervical cancer in 2005. The number of women diagnosed with cervical cancer has dropped on average by 4.5% each year since organised screening began in 1991 (1991–2005). Regular twice-yearly Pap tests can reduce the incidence of cervical cancer up to 90% in Australia, and save 1,200 Australian women from dying from the disease each year. It is predicted that because of the success of the primary HPV testing programme there will be fewer than four new cases per 100 000 women annually by 2028.


title: Cervical cancer

text: In Canada, an estimated 1,300 women will have been diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2008 and 380 will have died.


title: Cervical cancer

text: In India, the number of people with cervical cancer is rising, but overall the age-adjusted rates are decreasing. Usage of condoms in the female population has improved the survival of women with cancers of the cervix.


title: Cervical cancer

text: In the European Union, about 34,000 new cases per year and over 16,000 deaths due to cervical cancer occurred in 2004.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Cervical cancer is the 12th-most common cancer in women in the UK (around 3,100 women were diagnosed with the disease in 2011), and accounts for 1% of cancer deaths (around 920 died in 2012). With a 42% reduction from 1988 to 1997, the NHS-implemented screening programme has been highly successful, screening the highest-risk age group (25–49 years) every 3 years, and those ages 50–64 every 5 years.


title: Cervical cancer

text: An estimated 13,170 new cervical cancers and 4,250 cervical cancer deaths will occur in the United States in 2019. The median age at diagnosis is 50. The rates of new cases in the United States was 7.3 per 100,000 women, based on rates from 2012 to 2016. Cervical cancer deaths decreased by approximately 74% in the last 50 years, largely due to widespread Pap test screening. The annual direct medical cost of cervical cancer prevention and treatment prior to introduction of the HPV vaccine was estimated at $6 billion.


title: Cervical cancer

text: Epidemiologists working in the early 20th century noted that cervical cancer behaved like a sexually transmitted disease. In summary:


title: Cervical cancer

text: These historical observations suggested that cervical cancer could be caused by a sexually transmitted agent. Initial research in the 1940s and 1950s attributed cervical cancer to smegma (e.g. Heins "et al." 1958). During the 1960s and 1970s it was suspected that infection with herpes simplex virus was the cause of the disease. In summary, HSV was seen as a likely cause because it is known to survive in the female reproductive tract, to be transmitted sexually in a way compatible with known risk factors, such as promiscuity and low socioeconomic status. Herpes viruses were also implicated in other malignant diseases, including Burkitt's lymphoma, Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Marek's disease and the Lucké renal adenocarcinoma. HSV was recovered from cervical tumour cells.


title: Cervical cancer

text: A description of human papillomavirus (HPV) by electron microscopy was given in 1949, and HPV-DNA was identified in 1963. It was not until the 1980s that HPV was identified in cervical cancer tissue. It has since been demonstrated that HPV is implicated in virtually all cervical cancers. Specific viral subtypes implicated are HPV 16, 18, 31, 45 and others.


title: Cervical cancer

text: In work that was initiated in the mid-1980s, the HPV vaccine was developed, in parallel, by researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center, the University of Rochester, the University of Queensland in Australia, and the U.S. National Cancer Institute. In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first preventive HPV vaccine, marketed by Merck & Co. under the trade name Gardasil.


title: Cervical cancer

text: In November 2020, the World Health Organization, under backing from the World Health Assembly, set out a strategy to eliminate cervical cancer by 2050. The strategy involves vaccinating 90% of girls by the age of 15, screening 70% of women by the age of 35 and again by the age of 45, and treating 90% of women identified with cervical disease.


title: Cervical cancer

text: In Australia, Aboriginal women are more than five times more likely to die from cervical cancer than non-Aboriginal women, suggesting that Aboriginal women are less likely to have regular Pap tests. There are several factors that may limit indigenous women from engaging in regular cervical screening practices, including sensitivity in discussing the topic in Aboriginal communities, embarrassment, anxiety and fear about the procedure. Difficulty in accessing screening services (for example, transport difficulties) and a lack of female GPs, trained Pap test providers and trained female Aboriginal Health Workers are also issues.


title: Cervical cancer

text: The Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation (ACCF), founded in 2008, promotes 'women's health by eliminating cervical cancer and enabling treatment for women with cervical cancer and related health issues, in Australia and in developing countries.' Ian Frazer, one of the developers of the Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine, is the scientific advisor to ACCF. Janette Howard, the wife of the then-Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1996, and first spoke publicly about the disease in 2006.


title: Cervical cancer

text: A 2007 survey of American women found 40% had heard of HPV infection and less than half of those knew it causes cervical cancer. Over a longitudinal study from 1975 to 2000, it was found that people of lower socioeconomic census brackets had higher rates of late-stage cancer diagnosis and higher morbidity rates. After controlling for stage, there still existed differences in survival rates.


title: Shaun Toub

text: Shaun Toub (; ; born February 15, 1958) is an Iranian-born American actor. He has played the character Yinsen in "Iron Man" (2008) and "Iron Man 3" (2013); Farhad in "Crash" (2004); Rahim Khan in "The Kite Runner" (2007); Majid Javadi in the Showtime television series "Homeland;" and Faraz Kamali in the Apple TV+ Israeli series "Tehran" (2020).


title: Shaun Toub

text: Toub was born to an Iranian Jewish family, in Tehran,Imperial State of Iran. His parents were both podiatrists. At age 2, he moved to Manchester, England, where his mother attended podiatry school. He returned to Iran, where he lived until he was 13, before moving to Switzerland. He moved to Nashua, New Hampshire to finish his last year of high school. He decided at age 5 he wanted to become an actor.


title: Shaun Toub

text: He has been a recipient of the Cinema Sepharad award at the 2022 Los Angeles Sephardic Film Festival.


title: Shaun Toub

text: His filmography includes his performance in Michael Bay's "Bad Boys" with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, John Woo's "Broken Arrow" with John Travolta and Christian Slater and Mick Jackson's "Live from Baghdad" starring Michael Keaton and Helena Bonham Carter for HBO. His performance as Farhad in Paul Haggis's Oscar-winning film "Crash" received positive reviews. He played the part of the Virgin Mary's father in "The Nativity Story". He also played Rahim Khan in "The Kite Runner" (2007).


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Ernő Rubik (; born 13 July 1944) is a Hungarian inventor, architect and professor of architecture. He is best known for the invention of mechanical puzzles including the Rubik's Cube (1974), Rubik's Magic, , and Rubik's Snake.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: While Rubik became famous for inventing the Rubik's Cube and his other puzzles, much of his recent work involves the promotion of science in education. Rubik is involved with several organizations such as Beyond Rubik's Cube, the Rubik Learning Initiative and the Judit Polgar Foundation all of whose aim is to engage students in science, mathematics, and problem solving at a young age.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Ernő Rubik was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 13 July 1944, during World War II, and has lived all of his life in Hungary. His father, Ernő Rubik, was a flight engineer at the Esztergom aircraft factory, and his mother, Magdolna Szántó, was a poet. He has stated in almost every interview that he got his inspiration from his father.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: His father, Ernő, was a highly respected engineer of gliders. His extensive work and expertise in this area gained him an international reputation as an expert in his field. Ernő Rubik has stated that:


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Rubik studied sculpture at the Academy of Applied Arts and Design in Budapest and architecture at the Technical University, also in Budapest. While a professor of design at the academy, he pursued his hobby of building geometric models. One of these was a prototype of his cube, made of 27 wooden blocks; it took Rubik a month to solve the problem of the cube. It proved a useful tool for teaching algebraic group theory, and in late 1977 Konsumex, Hungary's state trading company, began marketing it. By 1980 Rubik's Cube was marketed throughout the world, and over 100 million authorized units, with an estimated 50 million unauthorized imitations, were sold, mostly during its subsequent three years of popularity. Approximately 50 books were published describing how to solve the puzzle of Rubik's Cube. Following his cube's popularity, Rubik opened a studio to develop designs in 1984; among its products was another popular puzzle toy, Rubik's Magic.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: From 1958 to 1962, Rubik specialized in sculpture at the Secondary School of Fine and Applied Arts. From 1962 to 1967, Rubik attended the Budapest University of Technology where he became a member of the Architecture Faculty. From 1967 to 1971, Rubik attended the Hungarian Academy of Applied Arts and was in the Faculty of Interior Architecture and Design.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Rubik considers university and the education it afforded him as the decisive event which shaped his life. Rubik stated, "Schools offered me the opportunity to acquire knowledge of subjects or rather crafts that need a lot of practice, persistence, and diligence with the direction of a mentor."


title: Ernő Rubik

text: From 1971 to 1979, Rubik was a professor of architecture at the Budapest College of Applied Arts ("Iparművészeti Főiskola"). It was during his time there that he built designs for a three-dimensional puzzle and completed the first working prototype of the Rubik's Cube in 1974, applying for a patent on the puzzle in 1975. In an interview with CNN, Rubik stated that he was "searching to find a good task for my students."


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Starting with blocks of wood and rubber bands, Rubik set out to create a structure which would allow the individual pieces to move without the whole structure falling apart. Rubik originally used wood for the block because of the convenience of a workshop at the university and because he viewed wood as a simple material to work with that did not require sophisticated machinery. Rubik made the original prototypes of his cube by hand, cutting the wood, boring the holes and using elastic bands to hold the contraption together.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Rubik showed his prototype to his class and his students liked it very much. Rubik realized that, because of the cube's simple structure, it could be manufactured relatively easily and might have appeal to a larger audience. Rubik's father possessed several patents, so Rubik was familiar with the process and applied for a patent for his invention. Rubik then set out to find a manufacturer in Hungary, but had great difficulty due to the rigid planned economy of communist Hungary at the time. Eventually, Rubik was able to find a small company that worked with plastic and made chess pieces. The cube was originally known in Hungary as the Magic Cube.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Rubik licensed the Magic Cube to Ideal Toys, a US company in 1979. Ideal rebranded The Magic Cube to the Rubik's Cube before its introduction to an international audience in 1980. The process from early prototype to significant mass production of the Cube had taken over six years. The Rubik's Cube would go on to become an instant success worldwide, winning several Toy of the Year awards, and becoming a staple of 1980s popular culture. To date, over 350 million Rubik's Cubes have been sold, making it one of the best selling toys of all time. It became very famous and today, there are many sizes from 2x2 to 21x21.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: In addition to Rubik's Cube, Rubik is also the inventor of Rubik's Magic, Rubik's Snake and Rubik's 360 among others.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: In the early 1980s, he became the editor of a game and puzzle journal called "..És játék" ("...And games"), then became self-employed in 1983, founding the Rubik Stúdió, where he designed furniture and games. In 1987 he became a professor with full tenure; in 1990 he became the president of the Hungarian Engineering Academy ("Magyar Mérnöki Akadémia"). At the Academy, he created the International Rubik Foundation to support especially talented young engineers and industrial designers.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: He attended the 2007 World Championship in Budapest. He also gave a lecture and autograph session at the "Bridges-Pecs" conference ("Bridges between Mathematics and the Arts") in July 2010.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: In the 2010s, Rubik has recently spent much of his time working on "Beyond Rubik's Cube", a Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM fields) based exhibition, which would travel the globe over the next six years. The grand opening of the exhibit was held on 26 April 2014 at the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey. At the exhibition, Rubik gave several lectures, tours, and engaged with the public and several members of the speedcubing crowd in attendance, including Anthony Michael Brooks, a world-class speedcuber.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Ernő Rubik has listed several individuals who, as he has said, "exerted a great influence over me through their work." These include Leonardo da Vinci, whom Rubik regards as "the" Renaissance man; Michelangelo, whom he respects as a polymath, painter, and sculptor; and artist M. C. Escher, who drew impossible constructions and grappled with explorations of infinity. As regards to philosophers and writers, Rubik admires Voltaire, Stendhal, Thomas Mann, Jean-Paul Sartre, Hungarian poet Attila József, Jules Verne, and Isaac Asimov. In the field of architecture, Rubik is an admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Rubik admits to being a lifelong bibliophile and has stated, "Books offered me the possibility of gaining knowledge of the world, nature and people." Rubik has stated that he has a special interest in science fiction.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Rubik is fond of outdoor activities such as walking through nature, playing sports, and sailing on Lake Balaton. Rubik is also an avid gardener and has stated that "collecting succulents is my favourite pastime."


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Co-author of "The Rubik's Cube Compendium" (written by David Singmaster, Ernő Rubik, Gerzson Kéri, György Marx, Tamás Varga and Tamás Vekerdy), Oxford University Press, 1987.


title: Ernő Rubik

text: Author of "Cubed – The Puzzle of Us All", Flatiron Books/Orion Publishing Group /Hachette UK/Libri, 2020.


title: Prototype (video game)

text: Prototype (stylized as [PROTOTYPE]) is a 2009 action-adventure video game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Activision. It was released in June 2009 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. In July 2015, the game was re-released alongside its sequel as the "Prototype Biohazard Bundle" for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Separate versions of the two games became available in August 2015. In "Prototype", players control an amnesiac shapeshifter named Alex Mercer as he attempts to stop an outbreak of a virus called Blacklight in Manhattan, which mutates individuals into powerful, violent monsters. Alex also attempts to uncover his mysterious past while coming into conflict with both the US military and a black operations force called Blackwatch. Outside of the main story, players can freely explore the game's open world and engage in several different side activities.


title: Prototype (video game)

text: The game was well received by critics following its release, gaining praise for its originality, storytelling, and engaging gameplay, while being criticized for its control scheme and scenery. Several reviewers compared and contrasted it with "Infamous", a game released one month prior which had many elements similar to "Prototype". It was also a commercial success, selling 2.1 million copies by March 2012. A tie-in comic book miniseries, which serves as a prequel to the events of the game, was published by DC Comics. A sequel, "Prototype 2", was released in April 2012.


title: Prototype (video game)

text: "Prototype" is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective and set in an open world based on modern-day Manhattan. The game's setting remains mostly faithful to the real city and includes all of its famous landmarks, including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, 40 Wall Street, 28 Liberty Street, the Conde Nast Building, the Metlife Building, One New York Plaza, and the New York Life Building, among others.