title: Perfect Dark

text: The game's science fiction setting was chosen due to the developers' interest in the genre. "The X-Files" television series inspired the incorporation of a gray alien character and the premise of aliens being investigated. Other influences on the setting, theme and plot included conspiracy theories and works such as the "Ghost in the Shell" manga, "Elektra" comic books, the films "Blade Runner" and "Judge Dredd", and the writing of author Philip K. Dick. Hollis and designer David Doak picked architectural and impressive sci-fi dystopian settings; the plot was then constructed around these locations. For example, the first level takes place in a skyscraper that lead artist Karl Hilton had always wanted to build, and features realistic environments like service stairs and an exterior area that can be explored. Although the game features a new fictional universe, it was still envisioned as a spy shooter like "GoldenEye 007". The developers' desires to expand upon its stealth mechanics, along with their admiration for the 1998 stealth game "Metal Gear Solid", led to the creation of gadgets such as the CamSpy and the data uplink device.


title: Perfect Dark

text: The decision to make the central character a woman was part of Hollis' belief that there should be more games starring women, considering the fact that "GoldenEye 007" already starred a man. To this end, the team created Joanna Dark, influenced by a number of fictional heroines: Kim Kimberly from the 1983 interactive fiction game "Snowball", the seductive spy Agent X-27 in the 1931 film "Dishonored", the eponymous femme fatale of the 1990 film "La Femme Nikita", and FBI agent Dana Scully from "The X-Files". The name "Joanna Dark" was taken from the French pronunciation of Joan of Arc as "Jeanne d'Arc", while the name of the in-game company dataDyne was inspired by Yoyodyne from the 1965 novella "The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon. The layout of the Air Force One level was inspired by the 1997 film of the same name because it was the only reference material the team had. In the game's Counter-Operative mode, the idea that the opposing player can take control of another opponent at any time was inspired by the 1999 film "The Matrix", where agents can reappear as another person in the film's simulated reality.


title: Perfect Dark

text: When production of the game started, the developers upgraded the "GoldenEye 007" game engine with new features and enhancements such as real-time lighting and support for bigger environments and more textures. According to Rare, only 30% of the original engine remained, providing a basic framework to construct levels and animate characters. A new movement system was constructed, allowing players to fall off edges. Other incremental improvements included better shattering glass effects, which would allow players to shoot out objects such as bottles of wine, and the inclusion of computer-controlled bots in multiplayer matches. The artificial intelligence was improved so that opponents could work as a team and draw a secondary weapon when disarmed. Death cries and more elaborate gore effects, which allow gunshots to disperse and stain enemies' blood onto nearby walls and objects, were also added.


title: Perfect Dark

text: Originally, Hollis hoped that the difference between light and dark would be a significant feature of the gameplay, and the title was intended to reflect this focus. A flashlight was implemented by software engineer Steve Ellis, who had been responsible for much of the multiplayer mode of "GoldenEye 007", but was ultimately not included in the game due to limitations of the Nintendo 64 hardware. In 2006, Hollis remarked that such aims were overambitious, stating that "even today, you can see game developers struggle to make light and dark foundational from a gameplay perspective". Nevertheless, the game features more advanced lighting than its predecessor. For example, lights can be shot out to create darkened areas, gunfire and explosions illuminate rooms dynamically, and the player can use infrared or night-vision goggles.


title: Perfect Dark

text: Hollis was involved with "Perfect Dark" for the first 14 months of its near three-year development cycle, during which progress was unsatisfactory. As he explained, "each of us was asking for more than the other could give. This situation ended with my departure, and with very deep regret I was unable to see "Perfect Dark" to completion". Hollis' decision came after his four-year contract with Rare was about to expire, which he chose not to renew as he wanted to pursue other interests. Shortly after his exit in September 1998, four additional members—Doak, Hilton, Ellis and composer Graeme Norgate—left Rare to form Free Radical Design, partially because they were unsatisfied with the working environment. This resulted in a loss of half of the workforce and led Rare to assign more people to the team remaining on the project, which eventually became three times bigger than "GoldenEye 007"s. Programmer Mark Edmonds was promoted to team leader because of his knowledge of the game engine. Although the story and ideas for the game were kept intact, the new team contributed so much to development that it was seen as a fresh start. The team worked in a very isolated and free environment and did not have a production manager, a schedule, meetings, commercial pressure, or any sort of deadlines. According to artist Brett Jones: "People would just do things they thought were cool and would work".


title: Perfect Dark

text: In spring 1999, Rare moved its headquarters from a country farmhouse in Twycross, Leicestershire to its current multi-million office complex. Although the locations are a few minutes away from each other, the move caused minor disruptions for some. Rare installed an in-house motion capture studio, which was used to capture hit animations and full walk cycles. Game designer Duncan Botwood wore a pair of heels to portray Joanna Dark in some sessions, but motion capture artist Laurie Sage performed most of her moves. Many of the game opponents were based on members of the development team, who also performed the motion capture required for their animation. Numerous secrets were added to the game to fuel the exploration efforts of players, including a piece of cheese hidden in every level. These were deliberately placed by one of the level editors as a graphical oddity for the player's confusion. The game has two hidden passwords: one found by picking up a necklace in one level and another by reaching the highest rank in the multiplayer mode. Rare had originally intended these details to access password-protected sections of promotional websites and use them for an alternate reality game.


title: Perfect Dark

text: As developers kept adding features, the game ended up using all the extra memory on their debug consoles and became too big to fit into the Nintendo 64's standard 4 MB of random-access memory (RAM). Because the developers were unable to optimise it, they made use of the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak, which increases the Nintendo 64's RAM from 4 MB to 8 MB. Although the Expansion Pak is required to access the game's campaign and most of the multiplayer features, a limited subset of deathmatch options are available without the device—around 35% of the game is playable without an Expansion Pak, as estimated on the game's instruction booklet. The Expansion Pak allows the game to optionally be played in a 480i "high-resolution" mode. The Counter-Operative mode proved to be difficult to implement and led the game to be delayed. The iterative nature of the game's development led Hollis to describe the ultimate number of multiplayer options as "a vast array of features I [had] never planned".


title: Perfect Dark

text: Cut from the game was a feature that allowed players to place a photograph of their choice onto the face of their multiplayer character. The photos would have been taken by the Game Boy Camera accessory and directly transferred to the game via a Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak. They could then be cropped or manipulated with an in-game editor and mapped onto the polygonal head of a multiplayer character. The photos could also be saved to the game cartridge or a Controller Pak for cross-game sharing. Although Rare's Nintendo-side producer Ken Lobb originally stated that the feature was removed due to technical difficulties, the actual reason was revealed to be sensitive issues surrounding the ability for players to attack images of real people. Rare's decision came after then-recent attacks such as the Columbine High School massacre, when new censorship laws were being introduced in the United States.


title: Perfect Dark

text: The soundtrack was primarily composed by Grant Kirkhope, who replaced Norgate after his departure. Writing sci-fi music was a new and enjoyable experience for Kirkhope, as he had mainly worked on "Banjo-Kazooie" at the time. While he took inspiration from "Blade Runner" and the whistling sound of "The X-Files" theme song, he reused much of Norgate's sample set, especially peculiar sci-fi noises he had created. One of Norgate's few contributions to the final "Perfect Dark" score was the theme of the first level. A third composer, David Clynick, composed the game's cinematic sequence while Kirkhope was working on "Donkey Kong 64" and "Banjo-Tooie". The game supports widescreen and Dolby surround sound, and features voice acting for all in-game and cutscene dialogue. Nintendo wanted an American actress to voice Joanna Dark, but the role ultimately went to composer Eveline Fischer. Because "Perfect Dark" features more than 45 minutes of voiced cutscenes, the game was shipped in a 32 MB cartridge.


title: Perfect Dark

text: Although a follow-up to "GoldenEye 007" was confirmed to be in development in early 1998, "Perfect Dark" was formally presented as Nintendo's lead game at E3 1998 in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally scheduled for a release in summer 1999 and later in December 1999, "Perfect Dark" was heavily trailed in video game magazines, with "Nintendo Official Magazine" predicting that it would be "the best shooting game this century". A working version of the game appeared at the European Computer Trade Show in September 1998; "N64 Magazine" described the preview as having "the kind of attention to detail that had everyone who saw [it] drooling". A more complete version was presented at E3 in May 1999, where the game's compatibility with the Game Boy Camera was announced, and at Nintendo Space World in August 1999, alongside Rare's "Donkey Kong 64" and "Jet Force Gemini". Shortly before release, Rare unveiled a website for the in-game company dataDyne to promote interest in the game's storyline. The game had a marketing budget of $10 million.


title: Perfect Dark

text: "Perfect Dark" was first released in North America on 22 May 2000. Nintendo arranged a number of publicity stunts, including hiring model Michele Merkin, who appeared as Joanna Dark in commercials and in-store promotions for the game. The game received a Mature rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, particularly for its graphic content and adult language. This generated some controversy because Nintendo has a reputation for family-friendly games. The European release followed on 30 June 2000. To supplement the game, Rare released a Game Boy Color counterpart, also titled "Perfect Dark", shortly afterwards. The Game Boy Color game features a compatibility mode that allows certain cheats within the Nintendo 64 game to alternatively be unlocked via the Transfer Pak. In Japan, "Perfect Dark" was released on 21 October 2000.


title: Perfect Dark

text: "Perfect Dark" features a different box art for each regional release. Rare's art director Kev Bayliss, who created the North American and European artworks, designed the North American version in one day because Rare needed it very quickly. He then created a more suitable Joanna Dark model for the European version and all the promotional material at the time. For the Japanese release, a completely different image was requested by Nintendo, who originally considered releasing the game in Japan under the title . "Perfect Dark" does not translate well into Japanese, and the title "Aka to Kuro" was considered sufficiently edgy. The game was ultimately released as , a transliteration of the Western title.


title: Perfect Dark

text: According to NPD's Toy Retail Survey Tracking system, "Perfect Dark" was the second best-selling game of May 2000 in North America, behind "Pokémon Trading Card Game". The Japanese launch saw sales totalling 35,000 units in its first week. As a bestseller, "Perfect Dark" joined Nintendo's "Player's Choice" game selection on 21 December 2000. The game sold relatively well through the year's holiday season, reaching No. 23 on the all formats chart for the week of 24 December 2000. As of March 2003, "Perfect Dark" had sold almost 1.3 million copies in the United States and 77,000 copies in Japan. Total sales in the United States reached 1.5 million by December 2007. In a 2011 interview with "Eurogamer", game designer Chris Tilston revealed that lifetime sales for the game reached 3.2 million, but did not clarify if the figure accounted for units shipped to retailers.


title: Perfect Dark

text: "Perfect Dark" received critical acclaim from video game publications. The most praised aspects of the game were its graphics, artificial intelligence, and number of multiplayer options. "GameSpot" claimed that, as a console first-person shooter, "Perfect Dark" is "unparalleled", while "IGN" journalist Matt Casamassina remarked that its extensive features set the game apart from its peers. Similarly, "N64 Magazine" described "Perfect Dark" as "dauntingly huge", stating that it "takes everything that made its predecessor such an enduring favourite and does it bigger, better and more often". "Edge" concluded that, although the game fails to be as revolutionary as its predecessor, it refines its "phenomenal gameplay while massively developing its multiplayer components". "Nintendo Power" editors called the game "undeniably a work of art", suspenseful, "more compelling than most action movies and much deeper than any video game of its type".


title: Perfect Dark

text: The graphics were praised for their dynamic lighting, complex geometry, varied textures, and smooth animations. "IGN" remarked that levels were more detailed than in "GoldenEye 007", and that character models and weapons were well-animated. "GameRevolution" highlighted the game's semi-realistic look, saying that it "adds to the depth and addiction of the game". The game's voiced cutscenes, surround sound effects, and atmospheric score, which was described as a mixture between the "Blade Runner" soundtrack by Vangelis and "GoldenEye 007"s, were said to effectively bring the game to life. "The Electric Playground" credited Rare for being able to fit such a clear-sounding experience into the limited space of a Nintendo 64 cartridge.


title: Perfect Dark

text: The gameplay was praised for the challenging artificial intelligence of enemies and varied level design. The enemies were admired for their use of squad tactics, ability to wait for players to come back instead of obediently chasing after them, and for ducking around a corner for cover. As with "GoldenEye 007", the game's nonlinear approach to completing mission objectives was highlighted positively, giving players freedom to deal with situations as they see fit. The multiplayer mode was seen as the strongest aspect of the game. Reviewers noted that the flexibility of options, number of gameplay modes, "clever" weapons, number of unlockable features, and customisable computer-controlled bots give the game an unprecedented amount of replay value. "GamePro" called the game's Counter-Operative mode one of the "coolest multiplayer modes ever", stating that the player playing as Joanna never knows which enemy the opposing player controls.


title: Perfect Dark

text: The game's inconsistent frame rate was frequently criticised. According to "Trigger Happy" author Steven Poole, the game's "inadequate temporal resolution—owing to a wrongheaded choice to privilege visual detail over frame-rate—made it unplayable at higher difficulty levels". "IGN" editors observed that the frame rate can be choppy in large areas or environments with many characters on screen, but felt they were too frequently caught up in the game to notice it, or else were willing to forgive it. Poole described the "lazy sci-fi fetishism" of Joanna Dark's character design as "a blatant and doomed attempt to steal the thunder of Lara Croft", and argued that she illustrated the challenges of characterising the protagonists of first-person shooters, a problem that "GoldenEye 007" had avoided by using the already well-known character James Bond.


title: Perfect Dark

text: At their Best and Worst of 2000 awards, "GameSpot" editors awarded "Perfect Dark" Best Nintendo 64 Game and Best Shooting Game, and nominated it in the Best Multiplayer Game category. Rare was recognised for its work on the game and received the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Moving Images Award for 2000, and the Golden Satellite Award for Best Interactive Product in 2001.


title: Perfect Dark

text: Shortly after "Perfect Dark" was released, Rare planned to develop a "sister" title, called "Velvet Dark", for either the Nintendo 64 or its successor, the GameCube, but the project was ultimately abandoned. The name "Velvet Dark" references Joanna Dark's alleged sister, the character players assume the role of in the game's co-operative mode. Meanwhile, Free Radical Design released "TimeSplitters" for the PlayStation 2 in October 2000, a first-person shooter based around a completely new engine. "TimeSplitters" bears several gameplay and presentational similarities to "GoldenEye 007" and "Perfect Dark", including a similar aiming system and unlockable options through quick level completions. After Rare was purchased by Microsoft in 2002, the company released a prequel, "Perfect Dark Zero", as a launch title for the Xbox 360 in 2005. Although the game received generally positive reviews from critics, some publications felt it did not meet their expectations.


title: Perfect Dark

text: In a retrospective analysis, "Edge" acknowledged that the game's frame rate and other dated elements of its design rendered it "nigh-on unplayable". The magazine found the ambitious mentality which resulted in weapons and computer-controlled players being "designed for possibilities rather than balance", both one of "Perfect Dark"s most interesting aspects and the cause of its biggest problem: "Restraint [...] would have made "Perfect Dark" a tighter, more focused experience, helped with those framerate issues, and removed almost all of the fun". The magazine concluded that despite "Perfect Dark" not standing up as a good game to play in 2009, "its currency of ideas and provocation [...] remains sound". In 2015, "Den of Geek" considered "Perfect Dark" "a game that's done more for the shooter genre than often credited for", and said that the game was still ahead of time because no game had revitalised its ideas.


title: Perfect Dark

text: Since its release, the game has attracted a following of elite players who constantly try to speedrun its levels and break world records. These records are managed by their website and involve highly skilled players exploiting tiny gameplay inconsistencies. The game is occasionally cited as one of the greatest video games of all time by some publications. In 2006, "Perfect Dark" was placed at No. 15 on "IGN"s Readers Choice Top 100 Games Ever, while "Nintendo Power" included it in their list of Top 200 Nintendo games. In 2007, "IGN" editors placed the game at No. 86 on their list of Top 100 Games of All Time, noting that "Everything that "GoldenEye" made great, "Perfect Dark" did too, and then some." Similarly, "Edge" placed the title at No. 28 on their 2007 list of 100 Best Videogames (a list voted for by readers, "Edge" staff and gaming industry professionals). The magazine claimed that the game brought the Nintendo 64 era to a satisfying close. In 2009, "Official Nintendo Magazine" ranked it 37th on a list of 100 Best Nintendo Games.


title: Perfect Dark

text: In 2022, a fan by the name of Ryan Dwyer fully decompiled the original ROM image into C source code, allowing the game to be ported unofficially to various platforms. A reboot, also titled "Perfect Dark", is being developed by The Initiative.


title: Perfect Dark

text: A remaster of the game, also titled "Perfect Dark", was released in 2010 for the Xbox 360 through its Xbox Live Arcade download service, featuring improved frame rate, enhanced graphics and an online multiplayer. The remaster was developed by 4J Studios, the same studio that previously handled the Xbox 360 ports of Rare's platform games "Banjo-Kazooie" and "Banjo-Tooie". The game received generally favorable reviews from gaming publications. Some critics considered the relatively unchanged game to be outdated, but most agreed that the title was a solid revival of a classic. In 2015, the remaster was included in the "Rare Replay" video game compilation for Xbox One.


title: Pretzel Logic

text: Pretzel Logic is the third studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released on February 20, 1974, by ABC Records. It was written by principal band members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, and recorded at The Village Recorder in West Los Angeles with producer Gary Katz. It was the final album to feature the full quintet lineup of Becker, Fagen, Denny Dias, Jim Hodder, and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (who left to join The Doobie Brothers) and also featured significant contributions from many prominent Los Angeles-based studio musicians and the last to be made and released while Steely Dan was still an active touring band.


title: Pretzel Logic

text: The album was a commercial and critical success. Its hit single "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" helped restore Steely Dan's radio presence after the disappointing performance of their 1973 album "Countdown to Ecstasy". "Pretzel Logic" was reissued on CD in 1987 and remastered in 1999 to retrospective critical acclaim.


title: Pretzel Logic

text: "Pretzel Logic" was recorded at The Village Recorder in West Los Angeles. It was produced by Gary Katz and written primarily by Walter Becker and bandleader Donald Fagen, who also sang and played keyboard. The album marked the beginning of Becker and Fagen's roles as Steely Dan's principal members. They enlisted prominent Los Angeles-based studio musicians to record "Pretzel Logic", but used them only for occasional overdubs, except for drums, where founding drummer Jim Hodder was reduced to a backing singer, replaced by Jim Gordon and Jeff Porcaro on the drum kit for all of the songs on the album. Steely Dan's Jeff "Skunk" Baxter played pedal steel guitar and hand drums.


title: Pretzel Logic

text: The cover photo featuring a New York pretzel vendor was taken by Raeanne Rubenstein, a photographer of musicians and Hollywood celebrities. She shot the photo on the west side of Fifth Avenue and 79th Street, just above the 79th Street Transverse (the road through Central Park), at the park entrance called "Miners' Gate".


title: Pretzel Logic

text: "Pretzel Logic" has shorter songs and fewer instrumental jams than the group's 1973 album "Countdown to Ecstasy". Steely Dan considered it the band's attempt at complete musical statements within the three-minute pop-song format. The album's music is characterized by harmonies, counter-melodies, and bop phrasing. It also relies often on straightforward pop influences. The syncopated piano line that opens "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" develops into a pop melody, and the title track transitions from a blues song to a jazzy chorus.


title: Pretzel Logic

text: Steely Dan often incorporated jazz into their music during the 1970s. "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" appropriates the bass pattern from Horace Silver's 1965 song "Song for My Father", while "Parker's Band" features Charlie Parker–influenced riffs and a lyric that invites listeners to "take a piece of Mr. Parker's band." Baxter's guitar playing drew on jazz and rock and roll influences. On Duke Ellington's "East St. Louis Toodle-oo", he imitates a muted horn solo. Certain songs incorporate additional instrumentation, including exotic percussion, violin sections, bells, and horns. Music critic Robert Christgau wrote that the solos are "functional rather than personal or expressive, locked into the workings of the music".


title: Pretzel Logic

text: "Charlie Freak" recounts the tale of a vagrant drug-addict who sells his only possession, a gold ring, to the narrator, to buy the final fix that kills him.


title: Pretzel Logic

text: "Pretzel Logic" was released by ABC Records on February 20, 1974, to high sales. It charted at number eight on the "Billboard" 200 and became Steely Dan's third gold-certified album. After the disappointing performance of "Countdown to Ecstasy", the album restored their radio presence with the single "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", which became the biggest pop hit of their career and peaked at number four on the "Billboard" Hot 100. On September 7, 1993, "Pretzel Logic" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having shipped one million copies in the United States.


title: Pretzel Logic

text: "Pretzel Logic" was praised by contemporary critics. Bud Scoppa from "Rolling Stone" magazine found the album's "wonderfully fluid ensemble sound" unprecedented in popular music and said that the ambiguous lyrics "create an emotionally charged atmosphere, and the best are quite affecting." "Down Beat" asserted that "there are no better rock recording groups in America, and damn few worldwide." Christgau found the record innovative, writing in "Creem": "The music can be called jazzy without implying an insult, and Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are the real world's answer to Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia." In a mixed review, Noel Coppage of "Stereo Review" was impressed by the music, but said that "the lyrics baffle me; maybe they know what they're talking about, but I can't get a clue."


title: Pretzel Logic

text: At the end of 1974, "Pretzel Logic" was named "NME" magazine's album of the year, and it was also voted the second best record of 1974 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of prominent critics published by "The Village Voice". Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it number one in his own list. He later wrote that the album encapsulated Steely Dan's "chewy perversity as aptly as its title", with vocals by Fagen that "seem like the golden mean of pop ensemble singing, stripped of histrionics and displays of technique, almost ... sincere, modest."


title: Pretzel Logic

text: In "The All-Music Guide to Rock" (1995), Rick Clark gave it five stars and said that, with the album, Steely Dan "most successfully synthesized their love for jazz into their dense pop/rock sound." Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it their "richest album" and wrote that Becker and Fagen's songwriting had become "seamless while remaining idiosyncratic and thrillingly accessible." "Stylus Magazine"'s Patrick McKay said that the "superb" album found them "relying instead on crack studio musicians that could realize their increasingly complex compositions". Rob Sheffield, writing in "The Rolling Stone Album Guide" (2004), said "Steely Dan's songwriting and Fagen's singing were at their peak of fluid power: The whole album is flawless".


title: Pretzel Logic

text: "Pretzel Logic" has appeared on many professional listings of the greatest albums. In 1994, it was ranked number 67 in the "All Time Top 1000 Albums" by writer Colin Larkin, who felt the album's mix of jazz, R&B, and pop styles was "highly inventive" and "greater than the sum of its parts" (in the following edition of the ranking in year 2000, it fell to number 292). In 2003, "Rolling Stone" ranked "Pretzel Logic" at number 385 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 386 in 2012. Based on such rankings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists "Pretzel Logic" as the 403th-most acclaimed album in history, as well as the 114th-most from the 1970s and the seventh-most from 1974. The album was also included in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".


title: Aquatic plant

text: Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that grows in or near water and is either emergent, submergent, or floating. In lakes and rivers macrophytes provide cover for fish, substrate for aquatic invertebrates, produce oxygen, and act as food for some fish and wildlife.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Macrophytes are primary producers and are the basis of the food web for many organisms. They have a significant effect on soil chemistry and light levels as they slow down the flow of water and capture pollutants and trap sediments. Excess sediment will settle into the benthos aided by the reduction of flow rates caused by the presence of plant stems, leaves and roots. Some plants have the capability of absorbing pollutants into their tissue. Seaweeds are multicellular marine algae and, although their ecological impact is similar to other larger water plants, they are not typically referred to as macrophytes.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Aquatic plants require special adaptations for living submerged in water, or at the water's surface. The most common adaptation is the presence of lightweight internal packing cells, aerenchyma, but floating leaves and finely dissected leaves are also common. Aquatic plants can only grow in water or in soil that is frequently saturated with water. They are therefore a common component of wetlands. One of the largest aquatic plants in the world is the Amazon water lily; one of the smallest is the minute duckweed. Many small aquatic animals use plants such as duckweed for a home, or for protection from predators. Some other familiar examples of aquatic plants include floating heart, water lily, lotus, and water hyacinth.


title: Aquatic plant

text: The principal factor controlling the distribution of aquatic plants is the availability of water. However, other factors may also control their distribution including nutrient availability, disturbance from waves, grazing, and salinity. Some aquatic plants are able to thrive in brackish, saline, and salt water.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Aquatic plants have adapted to live in either freshwater or saltwater. Aquatic vascular plants have originated on multiple occasions in different plant families; they can be ferns or angiosperms (including both monocots and dicots). The only angiosperms capable of growing completely submerged in seawater are the seagrasses. Examples are found in genera such as "Thalassia" and "Zostera". An aquatic origin of angiosperms is supported by the evidence that several of the earliest known fossil angiosperms were aquatic. Aquatic plants are phylogenetically well dispersed across the angiosperms, with at least 50 independent origins, although they comprise less than 2% of the angiosperm species. Archaefructus represents one of the oldest, most complete angiosperm fossils which is around 125 million years old. These plants require special adaptations for living submerged in water or floating at the surface.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Although most aquatic angiosperms can reproduce by flowering and setting seeds, many have also evolved to have extensive asexual reproduction by means of rhizomes, turions, and fragments in general.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Submerged aquatic plants have more restricted access to carbon as carbon dioxide compared to terrestrial plants. They may also experience reduced light levels. The diffuse boundary layers (DBLs) around submerged leaves and photosynthetic stems. Aquatic plants have DBLs that vary based on the leaves' thickness, shape and density and they are the main factor responsible for the greatly reduced rate of gaseous transport across the leaf/water boundary and therefore greatly inhibit transport of carbon dioxide transport. To overcome this limitation, many aquatic plants have evolved to metabolise bicarbonate ions as a source of carbon.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Environmental variables affect the instantaneous photosynthetic rates of aquatic plants and the photosynthetic enzymes pigments. In water, light intensity rapidly decreases with depth. Respiration is also higher in the dark per the unit volume of the medium they live in.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Fully submerged aquatic plants have little need for stiff or woody tissue as they are able to maintain their position in the water using buoyancy typically from gas filled lacunaa or turgid Aerenchyma cells. When removed from the water, such plants are typically limp and loose turgor rapidly.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Those living in rivers do, however, need sufficient structural xylem to avoid being damaged by fast flowing water and they also need strong mechanisms of attachment to avoid being uprooted by river flow.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Many fully submerged plants have finely dissected leaves, probably to reduce drag in rivers and to provide a much increased surface area for interchange of minerals and gasses.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Some species of plants such as "Ranunculus aquatilis" have two different leaf forms with finely dissected leaves that are fully submerged and entire leaves on the surface of the water.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Some still-water plants can alter their position in the water column at different seasons. One notable example is "Water soldier" which rests as a rootless rosette on the bottom of the water body but slowly floats to the surface in late Spring so that its inflorescence can emerge into the air. While it is ascending through the water column it produces roots and vegetative daughter plants by means of rhizomes. When flowering is complete, the plant descends through the water column and the roots atrophy.


title: Aquatic plant

text: In floating aquatic angiosperms, the leaves have evolved to only have stomata on the top surface to make use of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Gas exchange primarily occurs through the top surface of the leaf due to the position of the stomata, and the stomata are in a permanently open state. Due to their aquatic surroundings, the plants are not at risk of losing water through the stomata and therefore face no risk of dehydration. For carbon fixation, some aquatic angiosperms are able to uptake CO from bicarbonate in the water, a trait that does not exist in terrestrial plants. Angiosperms that use - can keep levels satisfactory, even in basic environments with low carbon levels.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Due to their environment, aquatic plants experience buoyancy which counteracts their weight. Because of this, their cell covering are far more flexible and soft, due to a lack of pressure that terrestrial plants experience. Green algae are also known to have extremely thin cell walls due to their aquatic surroundings, and research has shown that green algae is the closest ancestor to living terrestrial and aquatic plants. Terrestrial plants have rigid cell walls meant for withstanding harsh weather, as well as keeping the plant upright as the plant resists gravity. Gravitropism, along with phototropism and hydrotropism, are traits believed to have evolved during the transition from an aquatic to terrestrial habitat. Terrestrial plants no longer had unlimited access to water and had to evolve to search for nutrients in their new surroundings as well as develop cells with new sensory functions, such as statocytes.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Terrestrial plants may undergo physiological changes when submerged due to flooding. When submerged, new leaf growth has been found to have thinner leaves and thinner cell walls than the leaves on the plant that grew while above water, along with oxygen levels being higher in the portion of the plant grown underwater versus the sections that grew in their terrestrial environment. This is considered a form of phenotypic plasticity as the plant, once submerged, experiences changes in morphology better suited to their new aquatic environment. However, while some terrestrial plants may be able to adapt in the short-term to an aquatic habitat, it may not be possible to reproduce underwater, especially if the plant usually relies on terrestrial pollinators.


title: Aquatic plant

text: An emergent plant is one which grows in water but pierces the surface so that it is partially exposed to air. Collectively, such plants are emergent vegetation.


title: Aquatic plant

text: This habit may have developed because the leaves can photosynthesize more efficiently in air and competition from submerged plants but often, the main aerial feature is the flower and the related reproductive process. The emergent habit permits pollination by wind or by flying insects.


title: Aquatic plant

text: There are many species of emergent plants, among them, the reed ("Phragmites"), "Cyperus papyrus", "Typha" species, flowering rush and wild rice species. Some species, such as purple loosestrife, may grow in water as emergent plants but they are capable of flourishing in fens or simply in damp ground.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Submerged macrophytes completely grow under water with roots attached to the substrate (e.g. "Myriophyllum spicatum") or without any root system (e.g. "Ceratophyllum demersum"). Helophytes are plants that grows in a marsh, partly submerged in water, so that it regrows from buds below the water surface. Fringing stands of tall vegetation by water basins and rivers may include helophytes. Examples include stands of "Equisetum fluviatile", "Glyceria maxima", "Hippuris vulgaris", "Sagittaria", "Carex", "Schoenoplectus", "Sparganium", "Acorus", yellow flag ("Iris pseudacorus"), "Typha" and "Phragmites australis".


title: Aquatic plant

text: Floating-leaved macrophytes have root systems attached to the substrate or bottom of the body of water and with leaves that float on the water surface. Common floating leaved macrophytes are water lilies (family Nymphaeaceae), pondweeds (family Potamogetonaceae).


title: Aquatic plant

text: Free-floating macrophytes are found suspended on water surface with their root not attached to the substrate, sediment, or bottom of the water body. They are easily blown by air and provide breeding ground for mosquitoes. Example include "Pistia" spp. commonly called water lettuce, water cabbage or Nile cabbage.


title: Aquatic plant

text: The many possible classifications of aquatic plants are based upon morphology. One example has six groups as follows:


title: Aquatic plant

text: Macrophytes perform many ecosystem functions in aquatic ecosystems and provide services to human society. One of the important functions performed by macrophyte is uptake of dissolved nutrients including Nitrogen and Phosphorus. Macrophytes are widely used in constructed wetlands around the world to remove excess N and P from polluted water. Beside direct nutrient uptake, macrophytes indirectly influence nutrient cycling, especially N cycling through influencing the denitrifying bacterial functional groups that are inhabiting on roots and shoots of macrophytes. Macrophytes promote the sedimentation of suspended solids by reducing the current velocities, impede erosion by stabilising soil surfaces. Macrophytes also provide spatial heterogeneity in otherwise unstructured water column. Habitat complexity provided by macrophytes tends to increase diversity and density of both fish and invertebrates.


title: Aquatic plant

text: The additional site-specific macrophytes' value provides wildlife habitat and makes treatment systems of wastewater aesthetically satisfactory.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Some aquatic plants are used by humans as a food source. Examples include wild rice ("Zizania"), water caltrop ("Trapa natans"), Chinese water chestnut ("Eleocharis dulcis"), Indian lotus ("Nelumbo nucifera"), water spinach ("Ipomoea aquatica"), and watercress ("Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum").


title: Aquatic plant

text: A decline in a macrophyte community may indicate water quality problems and changes in the ecological status of the water body. Such problems may be the result of excessive turbidity, herbicides, or salination. Conversely, overly high nutrient levels may create an overabundance of macrophytes, which may in turn interfere with lake processing. Macrophyte levels are easy to sample, do not require laboratory analysis, and are easily used for calculating simple abundance metrics.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Phytochemical and pharmacological researches suggest that freshwater macrophytes, such as "Centella asiatica", "Nelumbo nucifera", "Nasturtium officinale", "Ipomoea aquatica" and "Ludwigia adscendens", are promising sources of anticancer and antioxidative natural products.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Hot water extracts of the stem and root of "Ludwigia adscendens", as well as those of the fruit, leaf and stem of "Monochoria hastata" were found to have lipoxygenase inhibitory activity. Hot water extract prepared from the leaf of "Ludwigia adscendens" exhibits alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity more potent than that of acarbose.


title: Aquatic plant

text: Macrophytes have an essential role in some forms of wastewater treatment, most commonly in small scale sewage treatment using constructed wetlands or in polishing lagoons for larger schemes.


title: Aquatic plant

text: The introduction of non-native aquatic plants has resulted in numerous examples across the world of such plants becoming invasive and frequently dominating the environments into which they have been introduced. Such species include Water hyacinth which is invasive in many tropical and sub-tropical locations including much of the southern US, many Asian countries and Australia. New Zealand stonecrop is a highly invasive plant in temperate climates spreading from a marginal plant to encompassing the whole body of many ponds to the almost total exclusion of other plants and wildlife


title: Aquatic plant

text: Other notable invasive plant species include floating pennywort, Curly leaved pondweed, the fern ally Water fern and Parrot's feather. Many of these invasive plants have been sold as oxygenating plants for aquaria or decorative plants for garden ponds and have then been disposed of into the environment.


title: Aquatic plant

text: In 2012, a comprehensive overview of alien aquatic plants in 46 European countries found 96 alien aquatic species. The aliens were primarily native to North America, Asia, and South America. The most spread alien plant in Europe was "Elodea canadensis" (Found in 41 European countries) followed by "Azolla filiculoides" in 25 countries and "Vallisneria spiralis" in 22 countries.


title: Aquatic plant

text: The countries with the most recorded alien aquatic plant species were France and Italy with 30 species followed by Germany with 27 species, and Belgium and Hungary with 26 species.


title: Aquatic plant

text: The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization has published recommendations to European nations advocating the restriction or banning of the trade in invasive alien plants.


title: Tyrrhenian Sea

text: The Tyrrhenian Sea (; , , , , , ) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy.


title: Tyrrhenian Sea

text: The sea is bounded by the islands of Corsica and Sardinia (to the west), the Italian Peninsula (regions of Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata, and Calabria) to the north and east, and the island of Sicily (to the south). The Tyrrhenian Sea also includes a number of smaller islands like Capri, Elba, Ischia, and Ustica.


title: Tyrrhenian Sea

text: The Tyrrhenian Sea is situated near where the African and Eurasian Plates meet; therefore mountain chains and active volcanoes such as Mount Marsili are found in its depths. The eight Aeolian Islands and Ustica are located in the southern part of the sea, north of Sicily.


title: Tyrrhenian Sea

text: The Tyrrhenian Basin is divided into two basins (or plains), the Vavilov plain and the Marsili plain. They are separated by the undersea ridge known as the Issel Bridge, after Arturo Issel.


title: Tyrrhenian Sea

text: The Tyrrhenian Sea is a back-arc basin that formed due to the rollback of the Calabrian slab towards South-East during the Neogene. Episodes of fast and slow trench retreat formed first the Vavilov basin and, then, the Marsili basin. Submarine volcanoes and the active volcano Mount Stromboli formed because trench retreat produces extension in the overriding plate allowing the mantle to rise below the surface and partially melt. The magmatism here is also affected by the fluids released from the slab.


title: Tyrrhenian Sea

text: Its name derives from the Greek name for the Etruscans, first mentioned by Hesiod in the 8th century BC who described them as residing in central Italy alongside the Latins. The Etruscans lived along the coast of modern Tuscany and northern Latium and referred to the water as the "Sea of the Etruscans".


title: Tyrrhenian Sea

text: The main ports of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Italy are: Naples, Palermo, Civitavecchia (Rome), Salerno, Trapani, and Gioia Tauro. In Corsica, the most important port is Bastia.


title: Tyrrhenian Sea

text: Note that even though the phrase "port of Rome" is frequently used, there is in fact no port in Rome. Instead, the "port of Rome" refers to the maritime facilities at Civitavecchia, some to the northwest of Rome.


title: Tyrrhenian Sea

text: Giglio Porto is a small island port in this area. It rose to prominence, when the "Costa Concordia" ran aground near the coast of Giglio and sank. The ship was later refloated and towed to Genoa for scrapping.


title: Tyrrhenian Sea

text: In Greek mythology, it is believed that the cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea housed the four winds kept by Aeolus. The winds are the Mistral from the Rhône valley, the Libeccio from the southwest, and the Sirocco and Ostro from the south.


title: Never Say Die!

text: Never Say Die! is the eighth studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath, released on 29 September 1978. It was the last studio album with the band's original lineup and the last studio album to feature original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne until the 2013 album "13". It was certified Gold in the U.S on 7 November 1997 and as of November 2011 has sold 133,000 copies in the United States since the SoundScan era. The album received mixed reviews, with critics calling it "unbalanced" and insisting its energy was scattered in too many directions.


title: Never Say Die!

text: At the time of the recording of "Never Say Die!" the members of Black Sabbath were all heavily involved in drug and alcohol abuse. Prior to recording, vocalist Osbourne briefly quit the band and was temporarily replaced by former Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Dave Walker. In 1992, guitarist Tony Iommi explained to "Guitar World", "We never wanted him to leave, and I think he wanted to come back – but no one would tell the other how they felt. So we had to bring in another singer and write all new material." The band wrote a handful of songs with Walker, with that short-lived line-up even performing an early version of what would become "Junior's Eyes" on the BBC programme "Look Hear".


title: Never Say Die!

text: Osbourne eventually rejoined, refusing to sing any of the songs written with Walker. Iommi elaborated in the 1992 "Guitar World" piece,


title: Never Say Die!

text: Osbourne also refused to sing on "Breakout", which remained an instrumental. The songs with Walker were redone; "Junior's Eyes" was rewritten to be about the then-recent death of Osbourne's father.


title: Never Say Die!

text: "We had a few internal problems," Osbourne admitted to "Sounds" magazine. "My father was dying, so that put us out for over three months with the funeral and everything. I left the band for three months before we got back together to record it." However, the writing was on the wall, with Osbourne stating in his memoir "I Am Ozzy": "No one really talked about what had happened. I just turned up in the studio one day – I think Bill had been trying to act as peacemaker on the phone – and that was the end of it. But it was obvious things had changed, especially between me and Tony. I don't think anyone's heart was in it anymore."


title: Never Say Die!

text: The album was recorded at Sounds Interchange Studios in Toronto. "We went to Toronto to record it, and that's when the problems started," Iommi recalled. "Why Toronto? Because of the tax, really. The studio was booked through brochures because people thought it might be a good one. We got there and it had a dead sound – totally wrong. We couldn't get a real live sound. So what we had to do was rip the carpet up and try to make it as live as we could. They were okay about it, but it took time to get it exactly right. There were no other studios available."


title: Never Say Die!

text: In 2001 Iommi elaborated to Dan Epstein of "Guitar World", "I booked a studio in Toronto, and we had to find some place to rehearse. So we had this cinema that we'd go into at 10 o'clock in the morning, and it was freezing cold; it was in the heart of winter there, really awful. We'd be there, trying to write songs during the day and go and record them at night." In the same article bassist Geezer Butler added, ""Never Say Die" was a patch-up kind of an album ... People didn't realize that it was sort of tongue-in-cheek, the "Never Say Die!" thing. Because we knew that was it; we just knew it was never going to happen again. We did this 10th anniversary tour with Van Halen in 1978, and everybody's going 'Here's to another 10 years!' And I'm going, (rolls eyes) 'Yeah, sure!'"


title: Never Say Die!

text: Butler was growing impatient with Osbourne's criticism of his lyrics, telling "Guitar World" in 1994: "I used to hate doing it towards the end of the Ozzy era. He'd say, 'I'm not singing that.' So you'd have to rethink the whole thing." In the 2004 book "How Black Was Our Sabbath", Iommi is quoted as saying, "We were all into silly games ... and we were getting really drugged out ... We'd go down to the sessions and have to pack up because we were too stoned. Nobody could get anything right. We were all over the place. Everybody was playing a different thing."


title: Never Say Die!

text: "With "Never Say Die!", we were down on our luck," Osbourne reflected to "Spin" magazine. "We were just a fucking bunch of guys drowning in the fucking ocean. We weren't getting along with each other and we were all fucked-up with drugs and alcohol. And I got fired. It was just a bad thing. You try to lift your head up above water, but eventually the tide sucks you under."


title: Never Say Die!

text: "They were supposed to be really wild," remarked keyboardist Don Airey. "Tony Iommi had a reputation for hitting people. So I got quite a shock when they turned out to be the nicest people I ever worked with. The first thing Ozzy did was make me a cup of tea."


title: Never Say Die!

text: In the liner notes for 1998's live "Reunion", Ward defended the album: "In the circumstances, I thought we did the best we could. We were taking care of business ourselves, we didn't have millions from the record company and, despite the booze and Ozzy's departure, we tried to experiment with jazz and stuff the way we had in the early days. Songs like 'Johnny Blade' and 'Air Dance' I still like." Osbourne vehemently disagrees in his autobiography, at least as far as the jazz experiments went, calling the instrumental "Breakout" "a jazz band going "da-dah-da-dah, DAH", and I just went, Fuck this, I'm off ... The bottom line was that 'Breakout' was stretching it too far for me. With tracks like that on the album, we might as well have been called Slack Haddock, not Black Sabbath. The only impressive thing about a jazz band as far as I was concerned was how much they could drink."


title: Never Say Die!

text: While Butler received credit for the lyrics of "Swinging the Chain," they were actually composed by Ward.


title: Never Say Die!

text: The sleeve was the band's second (following "Technical Ecstasy") to be designed by Hipgnosis. The US and UK releases differed slightly in the faint images of British military pilots seen in the sky. The inner bag featured graphics in keeping with the sleeve and credits, but no lyrics. The aeroplane on the cover appears to be a North American T-6 Texan. The band had rejected an alternate Hipgnosis design featuring masked doctors – an image eventually used for Rainbow's 1981 album "Difficult to Cure".


title: Never Say Die!

text: In the UK the title track, released well ahead of the album as the band's first UK picture sleeve single, reached No. 21 in the chart and gave the band its first "Top of the Pops" appearances since 1970. In the UK the album reached No. 12, one place higher than its predecessor "Technical Ecstasy". In the US it peaked at number 69 on the "Billboard" Pop Album chart. In the UK, "Hard Road" was released as the second single from the album and reached the UK Top 40, 25,000 copies being pressed in a limited-edition purple-vinyl. There was no picture-sleeve release but a video for "A Hard Road" was made during the "Never Say Die!" Tour to promote the single. The song marks the first and last time guitarist Tony Iommi sings backing vocals. Iommi explains in his autobiography "Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven & Hell With Black Sabbath", that when he sang, bassist Geezer Butler couldn't keep a straight face. The album received mostly negative reviews and is not held in high esteem today, with AllMusic referring to the album as "unfocused", saying it "will hold little interest to the average heavy metal fan". "Rolling Stone" says it was "not a blaze of glory for the original foursome" but added that it may be "better than people might remember". In 2013 Phil Alexander of "Mojo" referred to the album as "disastrous".


title: Never Say Die!

text: Speaking in October 1978 of the new album, Osbourne said, "It's a combination of what we've all been through in the last 10 years. It's a very varied album. Like, we started out playing in blues clubs, because British blues – like John Mayall and early Fleetwood Mac – was the thing at the time. We were into a twelve-bar trip and early Ten Years After-style stuff. So it's part of that sort of trip. Then there's the heavy thing and the rock thing. It's not just steamhammer headbanging stuff all the way through ... We got rid of all our inner frustrations: what each of us individually wanted to put down over the years but couldn't because of the pressures of work. So we put a lot of painstaking hours into developing this album." However, Osbourne quickly soured on the LP, telling "After Hours" in a 1981 interview "The last album I did with Sabbath was "Never Say Die!" and it was the worst piece of work that I've ever had anything to do with. I'm ashamed of that album. I think it's disgusting". He went on to claim that the band flew to Toronto in January during sub-zero temperature "purely because the Rolling Stones had recorded a live album there." In 2013, Osbourne told "Mojo", "I'd go down to the studio and I heard what sounded like a jazz band playing. Is this really Black Sabbath? I'd just fuck off." Osbourne was fired by the band eight months later.


title: Never Say Die!

text: Despite the negative reception, Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil cited "Never Say Die!" as one of his favourite Black Sabbath albums. Megadeth covered the title track for the 2000 tribute album "Nativity In Black II", with singer Dave Mustaine telling Nick Bowcott in 2008, "The simplicity of Iommi's style makes this rhythm progression one of my all-time favorites: fast, classic English riff-stylings with a climactic arrangement." Andy LaRocque, guitarist for King Diamond, was influenced by the album in the making of the melodic guitar part of "Sleepless Nights", from the "Conspiracy" album.


title: Never Say Die!

text: In March 2017, Jon Hadusek of "Consequence of Sound" ranked "Never Say Die!" 10th out of 19 Black Sabbath studio albums.


title: Never Say Die!

text: Black Sabbath's Never Say Die! Tour opened on 16 May 1978 in Sheffield with Van Halen as their opening act, who'd just scored a hit in the United States with a cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me." Ward's drum tech Graham Wright and Osbourne's personal assistant David Tangye, who write extensively about the tour in their 2004 book "How Black Was Our Sabbath", reveal that relations between the bands got off to a shaky start at the 22 May show at the Apollo Theatre in Manchester. After Sabbath finished their soundcheck, Van Halen "hit the stage and started to play Sabbath tunes. It was their way of paying tribute to the Sabs, but Tony Iommi was annoyed by it. He may have misinterpreted the gesture as a piss-take, which it certainly was not. Van Halen were in awe of Sabbath, and their lead guitarist, Eddie Van Halen, was a big fan of Tony. The unwitting faux pas was soon forgotten. The two bands came to get along very well together, and Alex Van Halen would often sit ... behind Bill's drum kit, watching and listening to him play onstage." On the US leg of the tour, Van Halen's presence had a major influence on ticket sales since they were a much bigger draw at home than they were in the UK. Wright and Graham also recount two riots that occurred on the "Never Say Die!" tour, the first happening in Neunkirchen am Brand, Germany, in front of a hall crammed with "thousands of extremely stoned, drunk and rowdy GIs" when, three songs into a show, Iommi stalked off the stage because of a buzzing from his guitar stack. When the audience realized the band had quit the gig they wrecked the hall. Another riot ensued at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville when Osbourne didn't show up and the band had to cancel; it later came to light that Osbourne had "slept right round the clock, woken up, seen that it was six o'clock, and thinking that it was still the evening before, had got ready for the show. Even more incredibly, he'd been sleeping in the wrong room." A video from this period, professionally recorded on the UK tour at the Hammersmith Odeon in June 1978, can be seen on the Sanctuary Visual Entertainment DVD, also entitled "Never Say Die".


title: Never Say Die!

text: With the success of the "Never Say Die!" single, Black Sabbath was invited to perform on "Top of the Pops". The band twice appeared live in the studio, miming to a pre-recorded version of the song. One of these appearances was included on the official "The Black Sabbath Story, Vol. 1" video release. In his autobiography, Osbourne remembers the appearance fondly "'cos we got to meet Bob Marley. I'll always remember the moment he came out of his dressing room – it was next to ours – and you literally couldn't see his head through the cloud of dope smoke. He was smoking the biggest, fattest joint I'd ever seen – and believe me, I'd seen a few. I kept thinking, He's gonna have to lip-synch, "no one" can do a live show when they're that high. But no – he did it live. Flawlessly, too." In his autobiography, Iommi reveals that because drummer Bill Ward had his hair in braids at the time, "everybody thought he was taking the mickey out of Bob (Marley). It wasn't like that at all; it was just the way he happened to have his hair in those days."


title: Never Say Die!

text: Note: track four is titled "Hard Road" on the releases by Vertigo (the UK and Europe) and "A Hard Road" on the ones released by Warner (the US and Canada).


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: Liquid hydrogen (LH2 or LH) is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecular H form.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: To exist as a liquid, H must be cooled below its critical point of 33 K. However, for it to be in a fully liquid state at atmospheric pressure, H needs to be cooled to . A common method of obtaining liquid hydrogen involves a compressor resembling a jet engine in both appearance and principle. Liquid hydrogen is typically used as a concentrated form of hydrogen storage. Storing it as liquid takes less space than storing it as a gas at normal temperature and pressure. However, the liquid density is very low compared to other common fuels. Once liquefied, it can be maintained as a liquid in pressurized and thermally insulated containers.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: There are two spin isomers of hydrogen; liquid hydrogen consists of 99.79% parahydrogen and 0.21% orthohydrogen.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: In 1885, Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski published hydrogen's critical temperature as 33K; critical pressure, 13.3 atmospheres; and boiling point, 23K.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: Hydrogen was liquefied by James Dewar in 1898 by using regenerative cooling and his invention, the vacuum flask. The first synthesis of the stable isomer form of liquid hydrogen, parahydrogen, was achieved by Paul Harteck and Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer in 1929.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: Parahydrogen, in which the two nuclear spins are antiparallel, is more stable than orthohydrogen, in which the two are parallel. At room temperature, gaseous hydrogen is mostly in the ortho isomeric form due to thermal energy, but an ortho-enriched mixture is only metastable when liquified at low temperature. It slowly undergoes an exothermic reaction to become the para isomer, with enough energy released as heat to cause some of the liquid to boil. To prevent loss of the liquid during long-term storage, it is therefore intentionally converted to the para isomer as part of the production process, typically using a catalyst such as iron(III) oxide, activated carbon, platinized asbestos, rare earth metals, uranium compounds, chromium(III) oxide, or some nickel compounds.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: Liquid hydrogen is a common liquid rocket fuel for rocketry applications — both NASA and the United States Air Force operate a large number of liquid hydrogen tanks with an individual capacity up to 3.8 million liters (1 million U.S. gallons). In most rocket engines fueled by liquid hydrogen, it first cools the nozzle and other parts before being mixed with the oxidizer — usually liquid oxygen (LOX) — and burned to produce water with traces of ozone and hydrogen peroxide. Practical H–O rocket engines run fuel-rich so that the exhaust contains some unburned hydrogen. This reduces combustion chamber and nozzle erosion. It also reduces the molecular weight of the exhaust, which can actually increase specific impulse, despite the incomplete combustion.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: Liquid hydrogen can be used as the fuel for an internal combustion engine or fuel cell. Various submarines (Type 212 submarine, Type 214 submarine) and concept hydrogen vehicles have been built using this form of hydrogen (see DeepC, BMW H2R). Due to its similarity, builders can sometimes modify and share equipment with systems designed for liquefied natural gas (LNG). Liquid hydrogen is being investigated as a zero carbon fuel for aircraft. However, because of the lower volumetric energy, the hydrogen volumes needed for combustion are large. Unless direct injection is used, a severe gas-displacement effect also hampers maximum breathing and increases pumping losses.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: Liquid hydrogen is also used to cool neutrons to be used in neutron scattering. Since neutrons and hydrogen nuclei have similar masses, kinetic energy exchange per interaction is maximum (elastic collision). Finally, superheated liquid hydrogen was used in many bubble chamber experiments.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: The product of hydrogen combustion in a pure oxygen environment is solely water vapor. However, the high combustion temperatures and present atmospheric nitrogen can result in the breaking of N≡N bonds, forming toxic NOx if no exhaust scrubbing is done. Since water is often considered harmless to the environment, an engine burning it can be considered "zero emissions". In aviation, however, water vapor emitted in the atmosphere contributes to global warming (to a lesser extent than CO). Liquid hydrogen also has a much higher specific energy than gasoline, natural gas, or diesel.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: The density of liquid hydrogen is only 70.85 g/L (at 20 K), a relative density of just 0.07. Although the specific energy is more than twice that of other fuels, this gives it a remarkably low volumetric energy density, many fold lower.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: Liquid hydrogen requires cryogenic storage technology such as special thermally insulated containers and requires special handling common to all cryogenic fuels. This is similar to, but more severe than liquid oxygen. Even with thermally insulated containers it is difficult to keep such a low temperature, and the hydrogen will gradually leak away (typically at a rate of 1% per day). It also shares many of the same safety issues as other forms of hydrogen, as well as being cold enough to liquefy, or even solidify atmospheric oxygen, which can be an explosion hazard.


title: Liquid hydrogen

text: Due to its cold temperatures, liquid hydrogen is a hazard for cold burns. Elemental hydrogen as a liquid is biologically inert and its only human health hazard as a vapor is displacement of oxygen, resulting in asphyxiation. Because of its flammability, liquid hydrogen should be kept away from heat or flame unless ignition is intended.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins (born 28 October 1984) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is known for his speed on the ball. After leaving Nigeria for Italy at age 16, he has since played for a number of top-division clubs around Europe. He began his senior career in 2002 at Serie A club Inter Milan, before he moved to Premier League club Newcastle United in 2006, and then to Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg in 2009. Having joined Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan in July 2010, they loaned him to Birmingham City in January 2011. He spent a season with La Liga club Levante, he played for Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer from 2013 to 2015, scoring 40 goals, before spending several years in China with Shanghai Shenhua and Wuhan.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: In club football, Martins has won the Serie A title, the Italian Cup (twice), and the Italian Super Cup, all with Inter. With Birmingham he scored the winning goal in the 2011 Football League Cup Final. He has played European football with Inter, Newcastle and Wolfsburg, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup with Newcastle. His highest scoring league seasons so far have seen him score 11 goals in the 2004–05 Serie A, and 17 in both the 2006–07 Premier League and 2014 MLS. In international football, Martins has been in the Nigerian squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010, and for the FIFA World Cup in 2010.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Martins joined the local football club F.C. Ebedei, having been scouted by manager Churchill Oliseh while playing on the streets of his hometown. After a year with the club, Serie C side A.C. Reggiana made a move for the player. After a three-month trial, Martins and fellow Ebedei teammate Stephen Makinwa signed youth contracts with the club in 2000. His first season in Italy saw Martins break into the first team squad, and later in the year Serie A sides Perugia and Inter Milan made offers for the forward.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Martins was signed by Inter Milan in 2001 for a €750,000 transfer fee, and in his first season he scored 23 goals for the youth team, helping them to win the Campionato Nazionale Primavera in 2001–02 season. His form for the youth side led to his first-team league debut the following season, starting in a match against Parma on 22 December 2002 which was won by Inter 2–1.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Martins didn't become a regular member of the first team squad until the 2002–03 season. During this season he was given his first UEFA Champions League appearance by manager Héctor Cúper, entering as a substitute against his future employers, Newcastle United, at St James' Park. He scored his first Champions League goal in a match against Bayer 04 Leverkusen to secure Inter's place in the quarter finals; footage of his celebratory somersaults were subsequently used by UEFA to advertise the following season's competition. He scored again in the semi-final match against Inter's arch-rivals Milan, but couldn't prevent the club losing out on away goals to the competition's eventual winners. In the championship, he scored once in four appearances.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Martins signed a long-term contract with Inter Milan in 2005 which ran until 2010 and was worth around €2.5 million annually. By scoring in the 3–1 win at Anderlecht in the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League group stage, Martins become the first ever teenage to score in three consecutive Champions League seasons. He was also protagonist in team's successful run in Coppa Italia, scoring six goals, including a hat-trick against Bologna, as the tournament ended in conquest. Martins amassed 22 goals in 45 matches across all competitions, setting a new personal best; his good form for Inter earned him a spot in Nigeria's 2006 Africa Cup of Nations squad.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Although he had some success with Inter, scoring 28 goals for the club in 88 league games as well as 11 goals in European competitions, he was sold in August 2006. This was due to Inter bringing in two new strikers; first Argentinian Hernán Crespo was brought in on loan from Chelsea and then the Swede Zlatan Ibrahimović was bought by Inter from Juventus.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: After Martins submitted a transfer request, Premier League club Newcastle United completed a deal with Inter for the striker on 24 August 2006 for €15 million. Martins signed a five-year deal. He was paraded in front of the Geordie fans before their UEFA cup tie against FK Ventspils, and inherited the club's cherished number 9 shirt, vacated after the retirement of the club-record goalscorer Alan Shearer in April.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Martins made his Premier League debut on 27 August, in the 2–0 defeat to Aston Villa, in which he was stretchered off with a knee injury. It turned out that Martins suffered a severe dead leg and internal bleeding. His unremarkable first few appearances for Newcastle caused manager Glenn Roeder to speak out in his defence.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: However, on 17 September, Martins scored his first goal for Newcastle. It was the second goal in a 2–0 victory over West Ham United at Upton Park, and from there his goalscoring form began to improve steadily.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Reports in January 2007 suggested that Chelsea were considering making an offer for Martins' services after his impressive form. These reports were later rubbished by Martins himself, and Roeder stated that although he was interested in signing a Chelsea player, he would not allow Martins to leave Newcastle.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 14 January, in a 2–3 away win against Tottenham Hotspur, Martins' 20-yard shot rocketed into the net. This strike was clocked by Sky Sports at a speed of 84 mph (135 km/h), making it unofficially the ninth hardest shot ever recorded in football according to the "Guardian" website. This was his tenth goal for Newcastle. Martins ended his first season on Tyneside with 17 goals in 46 games.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: His second season was somewhat mixed. With new manager Sam Allardyce preferring to play Michael Owen and Mark Viduka up front, Martins found himself being used as an impact substitute for the first half of the season. Despite this he managed to score consistently, and when Allardyce was sacked and Kevin Keegan was appointed, Martins found himself being used as part of a three pronged attack along with Owen and Viduka. Martins scored fewer goals in his second season with Newcastle, mainly due to him no longer being the focal point of all their attacks as he was in his first season with them, as well as his season being interrupted with the African Cup of Nations participation with Nigeria in December.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Martins scored six goals in 12 league games during the first half of the 2008–09 season before a torn hamstring ruled him out for several games. It was confirmed on 7 January 2009, that Martins would undergo hernia surgery in Germany the next Monday. He was operated on by renowned specialist Dr. Ulrike Muschaweck. He did make it back in time for the last two games of the season, scoring in a relegation six-pointer derby against Middlesbrough. However, he could not stop Newcastle being relegated to the Championship. He initially reiterated his desire to stay and help the club return to the Premier League for the 2009–10 season, but he eventually left for VfL Wolfsburg. His last game was in a preseason friendly against Leyton Orient, which Newcastle lost 6–1.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: During his three-year spell on Tyneside, Martins amassed 35 goals in all competitions from 104 games.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 29 July 2009, Newcastle accepted a £9 million bid from Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg, the transfer was confirmed on 31 July with Martins signing a four-year contract. For his debut, Martins came on as a second-half substitute against 1. FC Köln at the Rhein Energie Stadion, with his team deadlocked at 1–1. He helped in the buildup to the second goal and capped off his first appearance in the Bundesliga with a well-taken goal after dribbling past two onrushing defenders and then coolly finishing from six yards out, slotting the ball past the goalkeeper to the far post.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 9 July 2010, Martins was sold for a reported €17 million to reigning Russian Premier League champions Rubin Kazan. He signed a three-year contract and told BBC Sport: "I am joining a team of champions and I hope to bring my best to the club to make them even greater." Martins' agent, Nicola Walter, revealed that Rubin met all of the player's requirements and that manager Kurban Berdyev had a "massive role" for him to play, following the departure of striker Aleksandr Bukharov. Martins was able to make his debut with Rubin after 1 August, when the transfer window was opened. On 9 May 2012, Rubin Kazan won the Russian Cup giving Martins his first trophy in Russia.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Following the birth of his child, Martins requested a move to England to be nearer to his family. On 31 January 2011, he joined Premier League club Birmingham City on loan until the end of the season, with the option of a £5 million permanent deal in the summer of 2011. He made his debut, which had been delayed by the formalities of obtaining a working visa, in the starting eleven against Stoke City on 12 February; he played for 75 minutes as Birmingham won 1–0. He scored his first goal for the club, 17 minutes into the FA Cup fifth-round defeat of Sheffield Wednesday, after a strong run.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Martins scored the winning goal in the 2011 Football League Cup Final as Birmingham beat Arsenal 2–1 at Wembley Stadium, having been brought on as an 83rd-minute substitute. With one minute remaining in normal time, there was a moment of confusion between Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny and defender Laurent Koscielny as they attempted to deal with a headed knock down from Birmingham's Nikola Žigić. Martins passed the resulting loose ball into the empty net from near the penalty spot. Martins described it as "the easiest goal I've ever scored in my career". After two more Premier League appearances, he spent several weeks out with an injury eventually diagnosed as a stress fracture of the left tibia. After surgery in late April, he faced a recovery period estimated at three to four months.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 13 September 2012, Martins moved to Levante on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract. He made his league debut on 23 September 2012, where he scored his first goal, and the winning goal, in a 2–1 home win against Real Sociedad. Martins scored a brace for Levante in their 3–1 home victory over Granada on 28 October, sending his side into fourth place in the La Liga standings.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 11 March 2013, it was announced that Martins signed with MLS club Seattle Sounders FC as a Designated Player after the club paid a $4 million buyout clause in Martins' contract with Levante. The move concluded weeks of speculation of a possible Martins move to Seattle. Levante had been hesitant to lose Martins mid-season, and had threatened Sounders FC with a tampering lawsuit. On 15 March 2013, the club announced that the signing was official. Martins scored his first goal for the club on 20 April 2013, performing his signature back-flip goal celebration.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 24 October 2014, Martins signed a new three-year contract extension with Seattle, nearly doubling his annual salary to more than $3 million. The following day, Martins provided an assist for Marco Pappa's first goal as Seattle defeated the Galaxy 2–0 to win the Supporters' Shield. The assist meant that Martins finished with 17 goals during the regular season, a club record, as well as notching 13 assists, a joint-club record held with Mauro Rosales.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Martins had a very successful 2014 season with the Sounders, his second with the club, and was named as one of three MLS MVP finalists. Martins was named to the MLS Best XI and the Sounders won every game in which he scored. He also won MLS Goal of the Year for a looping goal he shot from an extremely tight angle near the end line into the far netting over Earthquakes keeper Jon Busch.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 18 February 2016, Martins was signed for Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua. On 15 May 2016, he scored his first goal with Shanghai as a late substitute in a 5–1 win over Guangzhou R&F. Martins scored the only goal in the first leg of the 2017 Chinese FA Cup final and scored a spectacular goal in the second. Although their opponents, Shanghai SIPG, won the second leg 3–2, Shanghai Shenhua won the trophy on away goals.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 31 March 2018, Martins scored his first hat-trick for Shenhua in a 4–2 home win against Hebei China Fortune. However, he suffered a partial rupture of tendon of quadriceps femoris at his right knee in the fifth group stage match of 2018 AFC Champions League against Kashima Antlers on 3 April 2018, which ruled him out for at least six months. On 1 June 2018 it was announced that Martins had been waived from Shenhua.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: He suffered a torn hamstring in May 2019, and in November 2019 said that he was seeking a new club following his recovery from injury.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 15 July 2020, it was announced that Martins returned to Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 20 September 2020, after his Shanghai Shenhua contract was terminated, Martins joined Chinese Super League club Wuhan Zall on a short-term deal until the end of the season.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Martins made his debut for Nigeria in 2004 at the age of 19 in the 2004 Unity Cup scoring the second goal, in the tri-nations Unity Cup tournament in London. He was a part of the Nigerian team that finished third in the 2006 African Cup of Nations. Martins scored two goals in the competition, both coming against Senegal in the first round.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: His future for the national team has been placed in doubt on numerous occasions after separate incidents of controversy. In August 2006, the Nigerian FA (NFA) website had his date of birth down as 1 May 1978, which would have made him 28 years of age rather than 21. The NFA soon confirmed that it had been an administrative error and apologised for the confusion it had caused. However Martins threatened to quit playing for the national team after the blunder had initially put his move to Newcastle in doubt.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 6 February 2007, Martins failed to turn up for the 4–1 friendly defeat against Ghana, despite being ordered to play. He later explained his absence was due to the fact he had travelled to Lagos to visit his sick mother.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: The Nigerian caretaker coach Augustine Eguavoen was furious with Martins and threatened to ban him from the national team. On 14 February 2007, Martins apologised for missing the game but said he believed his mother's health was more important. He also said that he would be available to play for Nigeria in the future. He made his return to the national side on 24 March 2007, playing the full match against Uganda in an African Cup of Nations Qualifying match and won.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Following the end of Nigeria's 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign, Nigeria faced Mexico in Ciudad Juárez for a friendly match. Martins scored two goals in a 2–2 draw.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: On 17 November 2007, Martins captained Nigeria for the first time, in a friendly match against Australia for his 19th appearance. On 12 November 2009 he scored a spectacular goal in the 83rd minute against Kenya in Nairobi, thus ensuring Nigeria's qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. At the finals in South Africa, Martins played in just two games for a total of 71 minutes, without scoring. In the first group game, he came on as a 52nd-minute substitute for Victor Obinna. In the third game he was used as a 57th-minute substitute for Nwankwo Kanu. Nigeria exited the tournament bottom of Group B with only one point.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: A fast, diminutive, and agile left-footed striker, who is quick on the ball, Martins is primarily known for his outstanding pace, mobility, and athleticism as a footballer, as well as his striking power, strength, and his elevation, despite his small stature; he has also stood out for his acrobatic goal celebrations.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Martins had two brothers who also played football professionally. His elder brother, Oladipupo Martins, played for Reggiana, Partizan and Innsbruck before retiring from football in 2009 due to heart problems. He died on 8 August 2011 of a suspected heart attack in Lagos, Nigeria. Martins' younger brother is John Ronan Martins. The name "Obafemi" translates literally to "the king loves me" in the Yoruba language.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: Martins received his U.S. green card in 2015 which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: He is married to Ghanaian-Italian Abigail Barwuah, sister of Mario Balotelli. The couple have one child named Kendrick, born in 2013.


title: Obafemi Martins

text: His elder son Kevin Maussi Martins (born 31 January 2005) followed on his father's footsteps and is currently part of Inter Milan's youth setup, as well as being a youth international for Italy.


title: .357 SIG

text: The .357 SIG (designated as the 357 Sig by the SAAMI and 357 SIG by the C.I.P. or 9×22mm in unofficial metric notation) is a bottlenecked rimless centerfire handgun cartridge developed by the Swiss-German firearms manufacturer SIG Sauer, in cooperation with ammunition manufacturer Federal Premium. The cartridge is used by a number of law enforcement agencies.


title: .357 SIG

text: The .357 SIG is based on a necked-down 10mm Auto case. Other than specialized competition cartridges like the 9×25mm Dillon (1988), which necked a 10mm Auto case down to a 9 mm bullet, the .357 SIG (1994) was the first modern bottleneck commercial handgun cartridge since the early 1960s, when Winchester introduced a .257 caliber round based on the .357 Magnum, the now obsolete .256 Winchester Magnum (1960). Then Remington introduced the unsuccessful .22 Remington Jet (1961), which necked a .357 Magnum case down to a .22 caliber bullet, and the .221 Remington Fireball (1963), a shortened version of their .222 Remington.


title: .357 SIG

text: Due to its expense, as .357 SIG practice ammo is about twice the cost of 9mm and around 50% more than .40 S&W, .357 SIG never achieved widespread adoption like .40 S&W.


title: .357 SIG

text: Several sources have published contradicting information regarding .357 SIG headspacing. This is due to the cartridge having been originally designed as a .357 (9.02mm) round, but then rapidly adapted to the .355 (9mm) bullet. According to the official C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente Pour L'Epreuve Des Armes A Feu Portatives) 2008 revised documents, the .357 SIG headspaces on the case mouth (H2). Some US sources are in conflict with this standard. However, the cartridge and chamber drawing in the ANSI/SAAMI American National Standards also clearly shows the cartridge headspacing on the case mouth. Likewise, US reloading supplier Lyman has published that the .357 SIG headspaces on the case mouth.


title: .357 SIG

text: According to the C.I.P. rulings the .357 SIG case can handle up to 305 MPa (44,236 psi) piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries every pistol cartridge combo has to be proofed at 130% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers.<br>


title: .357 SIG

text: While it is based on a 10 mm case necked down to accept bullets, the .357 SIG cartridge case is slightly longer than .40 S&W by to total. Most .40 S&W pistols can be converted to .357 SIG by replacing the barrel, but sometimes the recoil spring must also be changed. Pistols with especially strong recoil springs can accept either cartridge with a barrel change. Magazines will freely interchange between the two cartridges in most pistols. .357 SIG barrel kits have allowed this cartridge to gain in popularity among handgun owners.


title: .357 SIG

text: The table below shows common performance parameters for several .357 SIG loads. Bullet weights ranging from have been offered. Loads are available with energies from to , and penetration depths from to over are available for various applications and risk assessments. Note: Underwood now also offers a standard pressure 65 gr .357 SIG Xtreme Defender (XD) round with a muzzle velocity of 2100 fps, muzzle energy of 636 ft. lbs. and a penetration depth of 17.5 inches.


title: .357 SIG

text: Because of its relatively high velocity for a handgun round, the .357 SIG has an unusually flat trajectory, extending the effective range. However, it does not quite reach the performance of the .357 Magnum with bullets heavier than . Offsetting this general slight disadvantage in performance is that semi-automatic pistols tend to carry considerably more ammunition than revolvers.


title: .357 SIG

text: The Virginia State Police has reported that attacking dogs have been stopped dead in their tracks by a single shot, whereas the former 147 grain 9 mm duty rounds would require multiple shots to incapacitate the animals. Proponents of the hydrostatic shock theory contend that the energy available in the .357 SIG is sufficient for imparting hydrostatic shock with well-designed bullets. Users have commented, "We're really impressed with the stopping power of the .357 SIG round."


title: .357 SIG

text: The "Accurate Powder" reloading manual claims that it is "without a doubt the most ballistically consistent handgun cartridge we have ever worked with."


title: .357 SIG

text: The goal of the .357 SIG project was to offer a level of performance equal to the highly effective .357 Magnum load. Measurements of standard factory .357 SIG cartridges loaded with bullets showed approximate muzzle velocities of out of a barrel, which is essentially identical to the .357 Magnum with the same bullet weight and barrel length. These measurements were performed with a Thompson Center Encore 1842 break-action, single-shot pistol/rifle, preventing differing barrel length definitions between semi-automatic pistols and revolvers giving revolvers a potential muzzle velocity advantage.


title: .357 SIG

text: With a simplistic approach to physics, recoil being directly proportional to "muzzle velocity × bullet mass" (due to conservation of momentum), the recoil of the .357 SIG is equal to or slightly less than that of the .40 S&W, and less than that of the full-power 10mm Auto loads or the original .357 Magnum, This simple approach to recoil is incomplete since the properties of the bullet alone do not determine the felt recoil, but also the rocket-like blast of propellant gases coming out of the barrel after the bullet leaves the muzzle. A more accurate view on recoil is that it is proportional to the mass of all ejecta × velocity of ejecta.


title: .357 SIG

text: In comparing the energy levels of premium self-defense ammunition, the muzzle energy of of the .357 SIG load is greater than either the generated by a Speer GoldDot .40 S&W load or the generated by a Speer GoldDot .40 S&W load.


title: .357 SIG

text: In 1994, Sig released the P229 pistol, the first production handgun introduced that was chambered in .357 SIG and specifically designed to handle the higher pressures of that round.


title: .357 SIG

text: However, in 2013 the Texas DPS decided to replace their .357 SIG handguns with 9mm handguns. The ability to carry more rounds per magazine (9mm vs. .357 SIG) in a lighter gun were among the stated reasons for the change. That transition was suspended after recruits in the A-2014 class, the first to train with the new S&W M&P 9mm polymer handguns, experienced numerous malfunctions with those weapons.


title: .357 SIG

text: The newer SIG Sauer P229 in .357 SIG has been adopted for use by agents and officers of the following national and state law enforcement organizations (LEO):


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Dexmedetomidine, sold under the trade name Precedex among others, is a medication used for sedation. It is also used to treat acute agitation associated with schizophrenia or bipolar I or II disorder.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Similar to clonidine, it is a sympatholytic drug that acts as an agonist of α-adrenergic receptors in certain parts of the brain. Veterinarians use dexmedetomidine for similar purposes in treating cats, dogs, and horses. It was developed by Orion Pharma.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Studies suggest dexmedetomidine for sedation in mechanically ventilated adults may reduce time to extubation and ICU stay.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Compared with other sedatives, some studies suggest dexmedetomidine may be associated with less delirium. However, this finding is not consistent across multiple studies. At the very least, when aggregating many study results together, use of dexmedetomidine appears to be associated with less neurocognitive dysfunction compared to other sedatives. Whether this observation has a beneficial psychological impact is unclear. From an economic perspective, dexmedetomidine is associated with lower ICU costs, largely due to a shorter time to extubation.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Dexmedetomidine can also be used for procedural sedation such as during colonoscopy. It can be used as an adjunct with other sedatives like benzodiazepines, opioids, and propofol to enhance sedation and help maintain hemodynamic stability by decreasing the requirement of other sedatives. Dexmedetomidine is also used for procedural sedation in children.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: It can be used for sedation required for awake fibreoptic nasal intubation in patients with a difficult airway.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Dexmedetomidine may be useful for the treatment of the negative cardiovascular effects of acute amphetamines and cocaine intoxication and overdose. Dexmedetomidine has also been used as an adjunct to neuroaxial anesthesia for lower limb procedures.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: In 2022 it was approved by the FDA for the treatment of agitation in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: There are no known contraindication to the use of dexmedetomidine. It has a biphasic effect on blood pressure with lower readings at lower drug concentrations and higher readings at higher concentrations. Common side effects include: hypotension, hypertension, with slight decreases in heart rate, arrhythmias, and hypoxia. Toxic doses may cause first-degree or second-degree atrioventricular block. These adverse events usually occur briefly after administering a loading dose of the drug. Thus, adverse effects may be reduced be omitting a loading dose.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Dexmedetomidine may enhance the effects of other sedatives and anesthetics when co-administered. Similarly, drugs that lower blood pressure and heart rate, such as beta blockers, may also have enhanced effects when co-administered with dexmedetomidine.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective α-adrenergic agonist. It possesses an α:α selectivity ratio of 1620:1, making it eight times more selective for the α-receptor than clonidine. Unlike opioids and other sedatives such as propofol, dexmedetomidine is able to achieve its effects without causing respiratory depression. Dexmedetomidine induces sedation by decreasing activity of noradrenergic neurons in the locus ceruleus in the brain stem, thereby increasing the downstream activity of inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus. In contrast, other sedatives like propofol and benzodiazepines directly increase activity of gamma-aminobutyric acid neurons. Through action on this endogenous sleep-promoting pathway the sedation produced by dexmedetomidine more closely mirrors natural sleep (specifically stage 2 non-rapid eye movement sleep), as demonstrated by EEG studies. As such, dexmedetomidine provides less amnesia than benzodiazepines. Dexmedetomidine also has analgesic effects at the spinal cord level and other supraspinal sites.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Intravenous dexmedetomidine exhibits linear pharmacokinetics with a rapid distribution half-life of approximately 6 minutes in healthy volunteers, and a longer and more variable distribution half-life in ICU patients. The terminal elimination half-life of intravenous dexmedetomidine ranged 2.1 to 3.1 hours in healthy adults and 2.2 to 3.7 hours in ICU patients. Plasma protein binding of dexmedetomidine is about 94% (mostly albumin).


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Dexmedetomidine is metabolized by the liver, largely by glucuronidation (34%) as well as by oxidation via CYP2A6 and other Cytochrome P450 enzymes. As such, it should be used with caution in people with liver disease.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Dexmedetomidine was approved in 1999 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a short-term sedative and analgesic (<24 hours) for critically ill or injured people on mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit (ICU). The rationale for its short-term use was due to concerns over withdrawal side effects such as rebound high blood pressure. These effects have not been consistently observed in research studies, however.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: Dexmedetomidine, under the trade name Dexdomitor (Orion Corporation), was approved in the European Union in for use in cats and dogs in 2002, for sedation and induction of general anesthesia. The FDA approved dexmedetomidine for use in dogs in 2006 and cats in 2007.


title: Dexmedetomidine

text: In 2015, the European Medicines Agency and the FDA approved an oromucosal gel form of dexmedetomidine marketed as Sileo (Zoetis) for use in dogs for relief of noise aversion.


title: Bruise

text: A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur close enough to the epidermis such that the bleeding causes a visible discoloration. The bruise then remains visible until the blood is either absorbed by tissues or cleared by immune system action. Bruises which do not blanch under pressure can involve capillaries at the level of skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscle, or bone. Bruises are not to be confused with other similar-looking lesions. (Such lesions include petechia (less than , resulting from numerous and diverse etiologies such as adverse reactions from medications such as warfarin, straining, asphyxiation, platelet disorders and diseases such as "cytomegalovirus"), purpura (, classified as palpable purpura or non-palpable purpura and indicates various pathologic conditions such as thrombocytopenia), and ecchymosis (more than , caused by blood dissecting through tissue planes and settled in an area remote from the site of trauma or pathology such as periorbital ecchymosis , e.g. "raccoon eyes", arising from a basilar skull fracture or from a neuroblastoma).


title: Bruise

text: As a type of hematoma, a bruise is always caused by internal bleeding into the interstitial tissues which does not break through the skin, usually initiated by blunt trauma, which causes damage through physical compression and deceleration forces. Trauma sufficient to cause bruising can occur from a wide variety of situations including accidents, falls, and surgeries. Disease states such as insufficient or malfunctioning platelets, other coagulation deficiencies, or vascular disorders, such as venous blockage associated with severe allergies can lead to the formation of purpura which is not to be confused with trauma-related bruising/contusion. If the trauma is sufficient to break the skin and allow blood to escape the interstitial tissues, the injury is not a bruise but bleeding, a different variety of hemorrhage. Such injuries may be accompanied by bruising elsewhere.


title: Bruise

text: Bruises often induce pain immediately after the trauma that results in their formation, but small bruises are not normally dangerous alone. Sometimes bruises can be serious, leading to other more life-threatening forms of hematoma, such as when associated with serious injuries, including fractures and more severe internal bleeding. The likelihood and severity of bruising depends on many factors, including type and healthiness of affected tissues. Minor bruises may be easily recognized in people with light skin color by characteristic blue or purple appearance (idiomatically described as "black and blue") in the days following the injury.