title: Breast augmentation

text: At one week post-procedure, the patients resumed using the external vacuum tissue-expander for 10 hours daily, until the next fat grafting session; 2–5 outpatient procedures, 6–16 weeks apart, were required until the plastic surgeon and the patient were satisfied with the volume, form, and feel of the reconstructed breasts. The follow-up mammogram and MRI examinations found neither defects (necrosis) nor abnormalities (neoplasms). At six months post-procedure, the reconstructed breasts had a natural form, look, and feel, and the stable breast-volumes ranged 300–600 ml per breast. The post-procedure mammographies indicated normal, fatty breasts with well-vascularized fat, and few, scattered, benign oil cysts. The occurred complications included pneumothorax and transient cysts.


title: Breast augmentation

text: The autologous fat graft replacement of breast implants (saline and silicone) resolves medical complications such as: capsular contracture, implant shell rupture, filler leakage (silent rupture), device deflation, and silicone-induced granulomas, which are medical conditions usually requiring re-operation and explantation (breast implant removal). The patient then has the option of surgical or non-implant breast corrections, either replacement of the explanted breast implants or fat-graft breast augmentation. Moreover, because fat-grafts are biologically sensitive, they cannot survive in the empty implantation pocket, instead, they are injected to and diffused within the breast-tissue matrix (recipient site), replacing approximately 50% of the volume of the removed implantas permanent breast augmentation. The outcome of the explantation correction is a bust of natural appearance; breasts of volume, form, and feel, thatalthough approximately 50% smaller than the explanted breast sizeare larger than the original breast size, pre-procedure.


title: Breast augmentation

text: The outcome of a breast augmentation with fat-graft injections depends upon proper patient selection, preparation, and correct technique for recipient site expansion, and the harvesting, refining, and injecting of the autologous breast filler fat. Technical success follows the adequate external vacuum expansion of the recipient-site tissues (matrix) before the injection of large-volume grafts (220–650 cc) of autologous fat to the breasts. After harvesting by liposuction, the breast-filler fat was obtained by low G-force syringe centrifugation of the harvested fat to separate it, by density, from the crystalloid component. The refined breast filler then was injected to the pre-expanded recipient site; post-procedure, the patient resumed continual vacuum expansion therapy upon the injected breast, until the next fat grafting session. The mean operating room (OR) time was 2-hours, and there occurred no incidences of infection, cysts, seroma, hematoma, or tissue necrosis.


title: Breast augmentation

text: The breast-volume data reported in "Breast Augmentation with Autologous Fat Grafting: A Clinical Radiological Study" (2010) indicated a mean increase of 1.2 times the initial breast volume, at six months post-procedure. In a two-year period, 25 patients underwent breast augmentation by fat graft injection; at three weeks pre-procedure, before the fat grafting to the breast-tissue matrix (recipient site), the patients were photographed, and examined via intravenous contrast MRI or 3-D volumetric imaging, or both. The breast-filler fat was harvested by liposuction (abdomen, buttocks, thighs), and yielded fat-graft volumes of 220–650 cm per breast. At six months post-procedure, the follow-up treatment included photographs, intravenous contrast MRI or 3-D volumetric imaging, or both. Each woman had an increased breast volume of 250 cm per breast, a mean volume increase confirmed by quantitative MRI analysis. The mean increase in breast volume was 1.2 times the initial breast volume measurements; the statistical difference between the pre-procedure and the six-month post-procedure breast volumes was (P< 00.0000007); the percentage increase basis of the breast volume was 60–80% of the initial, pre-procedure breast volume.


title: Breast augmentation

text: In 2003, the Thai government endorsed a regimen of self-massage exercises as an alternative to surgical breast augmentation with breast implants. The Thai government enrolled more than 20 women in publicly funded courses for the teaching of the technique; nonetheless, beyond Thailand, the technique is not endorsed by the mainstream medical community. Despite the promising results of a six-month study of the therapeutic effectiveness of the technique, the research physician recommended to the participant women that they also contribute to augmenting their busts by gaining weight.


title: Breast augmentation

text: In every surgical and nonsurgical procedure, the risk of medical complications exists before, during, and after a procedure, and, given the sensitive biological nature of breast tissues (adipocyte, glandular), this is especially true in the case of fat graft breast augmentation. Despite its relative technical simplicity, the injection (grafting) technique for breast augmentation is accompanied by post-procedure complicationsfat necrosis, calcification, and sclerotic noduleswhich directly influence the technical efficacy of the procedure, and of achieving a successful outcome. The Chinese study "Breast Augmentation by Autologous Fat-injection Grafting: Management and Clinical analysis of Complications" (2009), reported that the incidence of medical complications is reduced with strict control of the injection-rate (cm/min) of the breast-filler volume being administered, and by diffusing the fat-grafts in layers to allow their even distribution within the breast tissue matrix. The complications occurred to the 17-patient group were identified and located with 3-D volumetric and MRI visualizations of the breast tissues and of any sclerotic lesions and abnormal tissue masses (malignant neoplasm). According to the characteristics of the defect or abnormality, the sclerotic lesion was excised and liquefied fat was aspirated; the excised samples indicated biological changes in the intramammary fat graftsfat necrosis, calcification, hyalinization, and fibroplasia.


title: Breast augmentation

text: The complications associated with injecting fat grafts to augment the breasts are like, but less severe, than the medical complications associated with other types of breast procedure. Technically, the use of minuscule (2-mm) incisions and blunt-cannula injection much reduce the incidence of damaging the underlying breast structures (milk ducts, blood vessels, nerves). Injected fat-tissue grafts that are not perfused among the tissues can die, and result in necrotic cysts and eventual calcificationsmedical complications common to breast procedures. Nevertheless, a contoured abdomen for the patient is an additional benefit derived from the liposuction harvesting of the adipocyte tissue injected to the breasts. (see abdominoplasty)


title: Breast augmentation

text: When the patient's body has insufficient adipocyte tissue to harvest as injectable breast filler, a combination of fat grafting and breast implants might provide the desired outcome. Although non-surgical breast augmentation with fat graft injections is not associated with implant-related medical complications (filler leakage, deflation, visibility, palpability, capsular contracture), the achievable breast volumes are physically limited; the large-volume, global bust augmentations realised with breast implants are not possible with the method of structural fat grafting. Global breast augmentation contrasts with the controlled breast augmentation of fat-graft injection, in the degree of control that the plastic surgeon has in achieving the desired breast contour and volume. The controlled augmentation is realised by infiltrating and diffusing the fat grafts throughout the breast; and it is feather-layered into the adjacent pectoral areas until achieving the desired outcome of breast volume and contour. Nonetheless, the physical fullness-of-breast achieved with injected fat-grafts does not visually translate into the type of buxom fullness achieved with breast implants; hence, patients who had plentiful fat-tissue to harvest attained a maximum breast augmentation of one bra cup size in one session of fat grafting to the breast.


title: Breast augmentation

text: A contemporary woman's lifetime probability of developing breast cancer is approximately one in seven; yet there is no causal evidence that fat grafting to the breast might be more conducive to breast cancer than are other breast procedures; because incidences of fat tissue necrosis and calcification occur in every such procedure: breast biopsy, implantation, radiation therapy, breast reduction, breast reconstruction, and liposuction of the breast. Nonetheless, detecting breast cancer is primary, and calcification incidence is secondary; thus, the patient is counselled to learn self-palpation of the breast and to undergo periodic mammographic examinations. Although the mammogram is the superior diagnostic technique for distinguishing among cancerous and benign lesions to the breast, any questionable lesion can be visualized ultrasonically and magnetically (MRI); biopsy follows any clinically suspicious lesion or indeterminate abnormality appeared in a radiograph.


title: Breast augmentation

text: Breast augmentation via autologous fat grafts allows the oncological breast surgeon to consider conservative breast surgery procedures that usually are precluded by the presence of alloplastic breast implants, e.g. lumpectomy, if cancer is detected in an implant-augmented breast. In previously augmented patients, aesthetic outcomes cannot be ensured without removing the implant and performing mastectomy. Moreover, radiotherapy treatment is critical to reducing cancerous recurrence and to the maximal conservation of breast tissue; yet, radiotherapy of an implant-augmented breast much increases the incidence of medical complicationscapsular contracture, infection, extrusion, and poor cosmetic outcome.


title: Breast augmentation

text: After mastectomy, surgical breast reconstruction with autogenous skin flaps and with breast implants can produce subtle deformities and deficiencies resultant from such global breast augmentation, thus the breast reconstruction is incomplete. In which case, fat graft injection can provide the missing coverage and fullness, and might relax the breast capsule. The fat can be injected as either large grafts or as small grafts, as required to correct difficult axillary deficiencies, improper breast contour, visible implant edges, capsular contracture, and tissue damage consequent to radiation therapy.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, "Carmen", which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire.


title: Georges Bizet

text: During a brilliant student career at the Conservatoire de Paris, Bizet won many prizes, including the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857. He was recognised as an outstanding pianist, though he chose not to capitalise on this skill and rarely performed in public. Returning to Paris after almost three years in Italy, he found that the main Parisian opera theatres preferred the established classical repertoire to the works of newcomers. His keyboard and orchestral compositions were likewise largely ignored; as a result, his career stalled, and he earned his living mainly by arranging and transcribing the music of others. Restless for success, he began many theatrical projects during the 1860s, most of which were abandoned. Neither of his two operas that reached the stage in this time—"Les pêcheurs de perles" and "La jolie fille de Perth"—were immediately successful.


title: Georges Bizet

text: After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, during which Bizet served in the National Guard, he had little success with his one-act opera "Djamileh", though an orchestral suite derived from his incidental music to Alphonse Daudet's play "L'Arlésienne" was instantly popular. The production of his final opera, "Carmen", was delayed because of fears that its themes of betrayal and murder would offend audiences. After its premiere on 3 March 1875, Bizet was convinced that the work was a failure; he died of a heart attack three months later, unaware that it would prove a spectacular and enduring success.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Bizet's marriage to Geneviève Halévy was intermittently happy and produced one son. After his death, his work, apart from "Carmen", was generally neglected. Manuscripts were given away or lost, and published versions of his works were frequently revised and adapted by other hands. He founded no school and had no obvious disciples or successors. After years of neglect, his works began to be performed more frequently in the 20th century. Later commentators have acclaimed him as a composer of brilliance and originality whose premature death was a significant loss to French musical theatre.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Georges Bizet was born in Paris on 25 October 1838. He was registered as Alexandre César Léopold, but baptised as "Georges" on 16 March 1840, and was known by this name for the rest of his life. His father, Adolphe Bizet, had been a hairdresser and wigmaker before becoming a singing teacher despite his lack of formal training. He also composed a few works, including at least one published song. In 1837, Adolphe married Aimée Delsarte, against the wishes of her family who considered him a poor prospect; the Delsartes, though impoverished, were a cultured and highly musical family. Aimée was an accomplished pianist, while her brother François Delsarte was a distinguished singer and teacher who performed at the courts of both Louis Philippe and Napoleon III. François Delsarte's wife Rosine, a musical prodigy, had been an assistant professor of solfège at the Conservatoire de Paris at the age of 13. At least one author has suggested that his mother was from a Jewish family but this is not substantiated in any of his official biographies.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Georges, an only child, showed early aptitude for music and quickly picked up the basics of musical notation from his mother, who probably gave him his first piano lessons. By listening at the door of the room where Adolphe conducted his classes, Georges learned to sing difficult songs accurately from memory and developed an ability to identify and analyse complex chordal structures. This precocity convinced his ambitious parents that he was ready to begin studying at the Conservatoire even though he was still only nine years old (the minimum entry age was 10). Georges was interviewed by Joseph Meifred, the horn virtuoso who was a member of the Conservatoire's Committee of Studies. Meifred was so struck by the boy's demonstration of his skills that he waived the age rule and offered to take him as soon as a place became available.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Bizet was admitted to the Conservatoire on 9 October 1848, two weeks before his 10th birthday. He made an early impression; within six months he had won first prize in solfège, a feat that impressed Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman, the Conservatoire's former professor of piano. Zimmerman gave Bizet private lessons in counterpoint and fugue, which continued until the old man's death in 1853. Through these classes, Bizet met Zimmerman's son-in-law, the composer Charles Gounod, who became a lasting influence on the young pupil's musical style—although their relationship was often strained in later years. He also met another of Gounod's young students, the 13-year-old Camille Saint-Saëns, who remained a firm friend of Bizet's. Under the tuition of Antoine François Marmontel, the Conservatoire's professor of piano, Bizet's pianism developed rapidly; he won the Conservatoire's second prize for piano in 1851, and first prize the following year. Bizet would later write to Marmontel: "In your class one learns something besides the piano; one becomes a musician".


title: Georges Bizet

text: Bizet's first preserved compositions, two wordless songs for soprano, date from around 1850. In 1853, he joined Fromental Halévy's composition class and began to produce works of increasing sophistication and quality. Two of his songs, "Petite Marguerite" and "La Rose et l'abeille", were published in 1854. In 1855, he wrote an ambitious overture for a large orchestra, and prepared four-hand piano versions of two of Gounod's works: the opera "La nonne sanglante" and the Symphony in D. Bizet's work on the Gounod symphony inspired him, shortly after his seventeenth birthday, to write his own symphony, which bore a close resemblance to Gounod's—note for note in some passages. Bizet never published the symphony, which came to light again only in 1933, and was finally performed in 1935.


title: Georges Bizet

text: In 1856, Bizet competed for the prestigious Prix de Rome. His entry was not successful, but nor were any of the others; the musician's prize was not awarded that year. After this rebuff, Bizet entered an opera competition which Jacques Offenbach had organised for young composers, with a prize of 1,200 francs. The challenge was to set the one-act libretto of "Le docteur Miracle" by Léon Battu and Ludovic Halévy. The prize was awarded jointly to Bizet and Charles Lecocq, a compromise which years later Lecocq criticised on the grounds of the jury's manipulation by Fromental Halévy in favour of Bizet. As a result of his success, Bizet became a regular guest at Offenbach's Friday evening parties, where among other musicians he met the aged Gioachino Rossini, who presented the young man with a signed photograph. Bizet was a great admirer of Rossini's music, and wrote not long after their first meeting that "Rossini is the greatest of them all, because like Mozart, he has all the virtues".


title: Georges Bizet

text: For his 1857 Prix de Rome entry, Bizet, with Gounod's enthusiastic approval, chose to set the cantata "Clovis et Clotilde" by Amédée Burion. Bizet was awarded the prize after a ballot of the members of the Académie des Beaux-Arts overturned the judges' initial decision, which was in favour of the oboist Charles Colin. Under the terms of the award, Bizet received a financial grant for five years, the first two to be spent in Rome, the third in Germany and the final two in Paris. The only other requirement was the submission each year of an "envoi", a piece of original work to the satisfaction of the Académie. Before his departure for Rome in December 1857, Bizet's prize cantata was performed at the Académie to an enthusiastic reception.


title: Georges Bizet

text: On 27 January 1858, Bizet arrived at the Villa Medici, a 16th-century palace that since 1803 had housed the French Académie in Rome and which he described in a letter home as "paradise". Under its director, the painter Jean-Victor Schnetz, the villa provided an ideal environment in which Bizet and his fellow-laureates could pursue their artistic endeavours. Bizet relished the convivial atmosphere, and quickly involved himself in the distractions of its social life; in his first six months in Rome, his only composition was a "Te Deum" written for the Rodrigues Prize, a competition for a new religious work open to Prix de Rome winners. This piece failed to impress the judges, who awarded the prize to Adrien Barthe, the only other entrant. Bizet was discouraged to the extent that he vowed to write no more religious music. His "Te Deum" remained forgotten and unpublished until 1971.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Through the winter of 1858–59, Bizet worked on his first envoi, an opera buffa setting of Carlo Cambiaggio's libretto "Don Procopio". Under the terms of his prize, Bizet's first envoi was supposed to be a mass, but after his "Te Deum" experience, he was averse to writing religious music. He was apprehensive about how this breach of the rules would be received at the Académie, but their response to "Don Procopio" was initially positive, with praise for the composer's "easy and brilliant touch" and "youthful and bold style".


title: Georges Bizet

text: For his second envoi, not wishing to test the Académie's tolerance too far, Bizet proposed to submit a quasi-religious work in the form of a secular mass on a text by Horace. This work, entitled "Carmen Saeculare", was intended as a song to Apollo and Diana. No trace exists, and it is unlikely that Bizet ever started it. A tendency to conceive ambitious projects, only to quickly abandon them, became a feature of Bizet's Rome years; in addition to "Carmen Saeculare", he considered and discarded at least five opera projects, two attempts at a symphony, and a symphonic ode on the theme of Ulysses and Circe. After "Don Procopio", Bizet completed only one further work in Rome, the symphonic poem "Vasco da Gama". This replaced "Carmen Saeculare" as his second envoi, and was well received by the Académie, though swiftly forgotten thereafter.


title: Georges Bizet

text: In the summer of 1859, Bizet and several companions travelled in the mountains and forests around Anagni and Frosinone. They also visited a convict settlement at Anzio; Bizet sent an enthusiastic letter to Marmontel, recounting his experiences. In August, he made an extended journey south to Naples and Pompeii, where he was unimpressed with the former but delighted with the latter: "Here you live with the ancients; you see their temples, their theatres, their houses in which you find their furniture, their kitchen utensils..." Bizet began sketching a symphony based on his Italian experiences, but made little immediate headway; the project, which became his "Roma" symphony, was not finished until 1868. On his return to Rome, Bizet successfully requested permission to extend his stay in Italy into a third year, rather than going to Germany, so that he could complete "an important work" (which has not been identified). In September 1860, while visiting Venice with his friend and fellow-laureate Ernest Guiraud, Bizet received news that his mother was gravely ill in Paris, and made his way home.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Back in Paris with two years of his grant remaining, Bizet was temporarily secure financially and could ignore for the moment the difficulties that other young composers faced in the city. The two state-subsidised opera houses, the Opéra and the Opéra-Comique, each presented traditional repertoires that tended to stifle and frustrate new homegrown talent; only eight of the 54 Prix de Rome laureates between 1830 and 1860 had had works staged at the Opéra. Although French composers were better represented at the Opéra-Comique, the style and character of productions had remained largely unchanged since the 1830s. A number of smaller theatres catered for operetta, a field in which Offenbach was then paramount, while the Théâtre Italien specialised in second-rate Italian opera. The best prospect for aspirant opera composers was the Théâtre Lyrique company which, despite repeated financial crises, operated intermittently in various premises under its resourceful manager Léon Carvalho. This company had staged the first performances of Gounod's "Faust" and his "Roméo et Juliette", and of a shortened version of Berlioz's "Les Troyens".


title: Georges Bizet

text: On 13 March 1861, Bizet attended the Paris premiere of Wagner's opera "Tannhäuser", a performance greeted by audience riots that were stage-managed by the influential Jockey-Club de Paris. Despite this distraction, Bizet revised his opinions of Wagner's music, which he had previously dismissed as merely eccentric. He now declared Wagner "above and beyond all living composers". Thereafter, accusations of "Wagnerism" were often laid against Bizet, throughout his compositional career.


title: Georges Bizet

text: As a pianist, Bizet had showed considerable skill from his earliest years. A contemporary asserted that he could have assured a future on the concert platform, but chose to conceal his talent "as though it were a vice". In May 1861 Bizet gave a rare demonstration of his virtuoso skills when, at a dinner party at which Liszt was present, he astonished everyone by playing on sight, flawlessly, one of the maestro's most difficult pieces. Liszt commented: "I thought there were only two men able to surmount the difficulties ... there are three, and ... the youngest is perhaps the boldest and most brilliant."


title: Georges Bizet

text: Bizet's third envoi was delayed for nearly a year by the prolonged illness and death, in September 1861, of his mother. He eventually submitted a trio of orchestral works: an overture entitled "La Chasse d'Ossian", a scherzo and a funeral march. The overture has been lost; the scherzo was later absorbed into the "Roma" symphony, and the funeral march music was adapted and used in a later opera. Bizet's fourth and final envoi, which occupied him for much of 1862, was a one-act opera, "La guzla de l'émir". As a state-subsidised theatre, the Opéra-Comique was obliged from time to time to stage the works of Prix de Rome laureates, and "La guzla" duly went into rehearsal in 1863. However, in April Bizet received an offer, which originated from Count Walewski, to compose the music for a three-act opera. This was "Les pêcheurs de perles", based on a libretto by Michel Carré and Eugène Cormon. Because a condition of this offer was that the opera should be the composer's first publicly staged work, Bizet hurriedly withdrew "La guzla" from production and incorporated parts of its music into the new opera. The first performance of "Les pêcheurs de perles", by the Théâtre Lyrique company, was on 30 September 1863. Critical opinion was generally hostile, though Berlioz praised the work, writing that it "does M. Bizet the greatest honour". Public reaction was lukewarm, and the opera's run ended after 18 performances. It was not performed again until 1886.


title: Georges Bizet

text: In 1862, Bizet had fathered a child with the family's housekeeper, Marie Reiter. The boy was brought up to believe that he was Adolphe Bizet's child; only on her deathbed in 1913 did Reiter reveal her son's true paternity.


title: Georges Bizet

text: When his Prix de Rome grant expired, Bizet found he could not make a living from writing music. He accepted piano pupils and some composition students, two of whom, Edmond Galabert and Paul Lacombe, became his close friends. He also worked as an accompanist at rehearsals and auditions for various staged works, including Berlioz's oratorio "L'enfance du Christ" and Gounod's opera "Mireille". However, his main work in this period was as an arranger of others' works. He made piano transcriptions for hundreds of operas and other pieces and prepared vocal scores and orchestral arrangements for all kinds of music. He was also, briefly, a music critic for "La Revue Nationale et Étrangère", under the assumed name of "Gaston de Betzi". Bizet's single contribution in this capacity appeared on 3 August 1867, after which he quarrelled with the magazine's new editor and resigned.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Since 1862, Bizet had been working intermittently on "Ivan IV", an opera based on the life of Ivan the Terrible. Carvalho failed to deliver on his promise to produce it, so in December 1865, Bizet offered it to the Opéra, which rejected it; the work remained unperformed until 1946. In July 1866, Bizet signed another contract with Carvalho, for "La jolie fille de Perth", the libretto for which, by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges after Sir Walter Scott, is described by Bizet's biographer Winton Dean as "the worst Bizet was ever called upon to set". Problems over the casting and other issues delayed its premiere for a year before it was finally performed by the Théâtre Lyrique on 26 December 1867. Its press reception was more favourable than that for any of Bizet's other operas; "Le Ménestral's" critic hailed the second act as "a masterpiece from beginning to end". Despite the opera's success, Carvalho's financial difficulties meant a run of only 18 performances.


title: Georges Bizet

text: While "La jolie fille" was in rehearsal, Bizet worked with three other composers, each of whom contributed a single act to a four-act operetta "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre". When the work was performed at the Théâtre de l'Athénée on 13 December 1867, it was a great success, and the "Revue et Gazette Musicale's" critic lavished particular praise on Bizet's act: "Nothing could be more stylish, smarter and, at the same time, more distinguished". Bizet also found time to finish his long-gestating "Roma" symphony and wrote numerous keyboard works and songs. Nevertheless, this period of Bizet's life was marked by significant disappointments. At least two projected operas were abandoned with little or no work done. Several competition entries, including a cantata and a hymn composed for the Paris Exhibition of 1867, were unsuccessful. "La Coupe du Roi de Thulé", his entry for an opera competition, was not placed in the first five; from the fragments of this score that survive, analysts have discerned pre-echoes of "Carmen". On 28 February 1869, the "Roma" symphony was performed at the Cirque Napoléon, under Jules Pasdeloup. Afterwards, Bizet informed Galabert that on the basis of proportionate applause, hisses, and catcalls, the work was a success.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Not long after Fromental Halévy's death in 1862, Bizet had been approached on behalf of Mme. Halévy about completing his old tutor's unfinished opera "Noé". Although no action was taken at that time, Bizet remained on friendly terms with the Halévy family. Fromental had left two daughters; the elder, Esther, died in 1864, an event which so traumatised Mme. Halévy that she could not tolerate the company of her younger daughter Geneviève, who from the age of 15 lived with other family members. It is unclear when Geneviève and Bizet became emotionally attached, but in October 1867, he informed Galabert: "I have met an adorable girl whom I love! In two years she will be my wife!" The pair became engaged, although the Halévy family initially disallowed the match. According to Bizet they considered him an unsuitable catch: "penniless, left-wing, anti-religious and Bohemian", which Dean observes are odd grounds of objection from "a family bristling with artists and eccentrics". By summer 1869, their objections had been overcome, and the wedding took place on 3 June 1869. Ludovic Halévy wrote in his journal: "Bizet has spirit and talent. He "should" succeed".


title: Georges Bizet

text: As a belated homage to his late father-in-law, Bizet took up the "Noé" manuscript and completed it. Parts of his moribund "Vasco da Gama" and "Ivan IV" were incorporated into the score, but a projected production at the Théâtre Lyrique failed to materialise when Carvalho's company finally went bankrupt, and "Noé" remained unperformed until 1885. Bizet's marriage was initially happy, but was affected by Geneviève's nervous instability (inherited from both her parents), her difficult relations with her mother and by Mme. Halévy's interference in the couple's affairs. Despite this, Bizet kept on good terms with his mother-in-law and maintained an extensive correspondence with her. In the year following the marriage, he considered plans for at least half a dozen new operas and began to sketch the music for two of them: "Clarissa Harlowe" based on Samuel Richardson's novel "Clarissa", and "Grisélidis" with a libretto from Victorien Sardou. However, his progress on these projects was brought to a halt in July 1870, with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War.


title: Georges Bizet

text: After a series of perceived provocations from Prussia, culminating in the offer of the Spanish crown to the Prussian Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, the French Emperor Napoleon III declared war on 15 July 1870. Initially, this step was supported by an outbreak of patriotic fervour and confident expectations of victory. Bizet, along with other composers and artists, joined the National Guard and began training. He was critical of the antiquated equipment with which he was supposed to fight; his unit's guns, he said, were more dangerous to themselves than to the enemy. The national mood was soon depressed by news of successive reverses; at Sedan on 2 September, the French armies suffered an overwhelming defeat; Napoleon was captured and deposed, and the Second Empire came to a sudden end.


title: Georges Bizet

text: The new government did not sue for peace, and by 17 September, the Prussian armies had surrounded Paris. Unlike Gounod, who fled to England, Bizet rejected opportunities to leave the besieged city: "I can't leave Paris! It's impossible! It would be quite simply an act of cowardice", he wrote to Mme Halévy. Life in the city became frugal and harsh, although, by October, there were efforts to re-establish normality. Pasdeloup resumed his regular Sunday concerts, and on 5 November, the Opéra reopened with excerpts from works by Gluck, Rossini, and Meyerbeer.


title: Georges Bizet

text: An armistice was signed on 26 January 1871, but the departure of the Prussian troops from Paris in March presaged a period of confusion and civil disturbance. Following an uprising, the city's municipal authority was taken over by dissidents who established the Paris Commune. Bizet decided that he was no longer safe in the city, and he and Geneviève escaped to Compiègne. Later, they moved to Le Vésinet where they sat out the two months of the Commune, within hearing distance of the gunfire that resounded as government troops gradually crushed the uprising: "The cannons are rumbling with unbelievable violence", Bizet wrote to his mother-in-law on 12 May.


title: Georges Bizet

text: As life in Paris returned to normal, in June 1871, Bizet's appointment as chorus-master at the Opéra was seemingly confirmed by its director, Émile Perrin. Bizet was due to begin his duties in October, but on 1 November, the post was assumed by Hector Salomon. In her biography of Bizet, Mina Curtiss surmises that he either resigned or refused to take up the position as a protest against what he thought was the director's unjustified closing of Ernest Reyer's opera "Erostrate" after only two performances. Bizet resumed work on "Clarissa Harlowe" and "Grisélidis", but plans for the latter to be staged at the Opéra-Comique fell through, and neither work was finished; only fragments of their music survive. Bizet's other completed works in 1871 were the piano duet entitled "Jeux d'enfants", and a one-act opera, "Djamileh", which opened at the Opéra-Comique in May 1872. It was poorly staged and incompetently sung; at one point the leading singer missed 32 bars of music. It closed after 11 performances, not to be heard again until 1938. On 10 July Geneviève gave birth to the couple's only child, a son, Jacques.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Bizet's next major assignment came from Carvalho, who was now managing Paris' Vaudeville theatre and wanted incidental music for Alphonse Daudet's play "L'Arlésienne". When the play opened on 1 October, the music was dismissed by critics as too complex for popular taste. However, encouraged by Reyer and Massenet, Bizet fashioned a four-movement suite from the music, which was performed under Pasdeloup on 10 November to an enthusiastic reception. In the winter of 1872–73, Bizet supervised preparations for a revival of the still-absent Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette" at the Opéra-Comique. Relations between the two had been cool for some years, but Bizet responded positively to his former mentor's request for help, writing: "You were the beginning of my life as an artist. I spring from you".


title: Georges Bizet

text: In June 1872, Bizet informed Galabert: "I have just been ordered to compose three acts for the Opéra-Comique. [Henri] Meilhac and [Ludovic] Halévy are doing my piece". The subject chosen for this project was Prosper Mérimée's short novel, "Carmen". Bizet began the music in the summer of 1873, but the Opéra-Comique's management was concerned about the suitability of this risqué story for a theatre that generally provided wholesome entertainment, and work was suspended. Bizet then began composing "Don Rodrigue", an adaptation of the El Cid story by Louis Gallet and Édouard Blau. He played a piano version to a select audience that included the Opéra's principal baritone Jean-Baptiste Faure, hoping that the singer's approval might influence the directors of the Opéra to stage the work. However, on the night of 28–29 October, the Opéra burned to the ground; the directors, amid other pressing concerns, set "Don Rodrigue" aside. It was never completed; Bizet later adapted a theme from its final act as the basis of his 1875 overture, "Patrie".


title: Georges Bizet

text: Adolphe de Leuven, the co-director of the Opéra-Comique most bitterly opposed to the "Carmen" project, resigned early in 1874, removing the main barrier to the work's production. Bizet finished the score during the summer and was pleased with the outcome: "I have written a work that is all clarity and vivacity, full of colour and melody". The renowned mezzo-soprano Célestine Galli-Marié (known professionally as "Galli-Marié") was engaged to sing the title role. According to Dean, she was as delighted by the part as Bizet was by her suitability for it. There were rumours that he and the singer pursued a brief affair; his relations with Geneviève were strained at this time, and they lived apart for several months.


title: Georges Bizet

text: When rehearsals began in October 1874, the orchestra had difficulties with the score, finding some parts unplayable. The chorus likewise declared some of their music impossible to sing and were dismayed that they had to act as individuals, smoking and fighting onstage rather than merely standing in line. Bizet also had to counter further attempts at the Opéra-Comique to modify parts of the action which they deemed improper. Only when the leading singers threatened to withdraw from the production did the management give way. Resolving these issues delayed the first night until 3 March 1875 on which morning, by chance, Bizet's appointment as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour was announced.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Among leading musical figures at the premiere were Jules Massenet, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Charles Gounod. Geneviève, suffering from an abscess in her right eye, was unable to be present. The opera's first performance extended to four-and-a-half hours; the final act did not begin until after midnight. Afterwards, Massenet and Saint-Saëns were congratulatory, Gounod less so. According to one account, he accused Bizet of plagiarism: "Georges has robbed me! Take the Spanish airs and mine out of the score and there remains nothing to Bizet's credit but the sauce that masks the fish". Much of the press comment was negative, expressing consternation that the heroine was an amoral seductress rather than a woman of virtue. Galli-Marié's performance was described by one critic as "the very incarnation of vice". Others complained of a lack of melody and made unfavourable comparisons with the traditional Opéra-Comique fare of Auber and Boieldieu. Léon Escudier in "L'Art Musical" called the music "dull and obscure ... the ear grows weary of waiting for the cadence that never comes". There was, however, praise from the poet Théodore de Banville, who applauded Bizet for presenting a drama with real men and women instead of the usual Opéra-Comique "puppets". The public's reaction was lukewarm, and Bizet soon became convinced of its failure: "I foresee a definite and hopeless flop".


title: Georges Bizet

text: For most of his life, Bizet had suffered from a recurrent throat complaint. A heavy smoker, he may have further undermined his health by overwork during the mid-1860s, when he toiled over publishers' transcriptions for up to 16 hours a day. In 1868, he informed Galabert that he had been very ill with abscesses in the windpipe: "I suffered like a dog". In 1871, and again in 1874, while completing "Carmen", he had been disabled by severe bouts of what he described as "throat angina", and suffered a further attack in late March 1875. At that time, depressed by the evident failure of "Carmen", Bizet was slow to recover and fell ill again in May. At the end of the month, he went to his holiday home at Bougival and, feeling a little better, went for a swim in the Seine. On the next day, 1 June, he was afflicted by high fever and pain, which was followed by an apparent heart attack. He seemed temporarily to recover, but in the early hours of 3 June, his wedding anniversary, he suffered a fatal second attack. He was 36 years old.


title: Georges Bizet

text: The suddenness of Bizet's death, and awareness of his depressed mental state, fuelled rumours of suicide. Although the exact cause of death was never settled with certainty, physicians eventually determined the cause as "a cardiac complication of acute articular rheumatism". News of the death stunned the Paris musical world, and because Galli-Marié was too upset to appear, that evening's performance of "Carmen" was cancelled and replaced with Boieldieu's "La dame blanche".


title: Georges Bizet

text: More than 4,000 people were present at the funeral on 5 June, at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité, just to the north of the Opéra. Adolphe Bizet led the mourners, who included Gounod, Thomas, Ludovic Halévy, Léon Halévy and Massenet. An orchestra, under Jules Pasdeloup, played "Patrie", and the organist improvised a fantasy on themes from "Carmen". At the burial which followed at the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Gounod gave the eulogy. He said that Bizet had been struck down just as he was becoming recognised as a true artist. Towards the end of his address, Gounod broke down and was unable to deliver his peroration. After a special performance of "Carmen" at the Opéra-Comique that night, the press, which had almost universally condemned the piece three months earlier, now declared Bizet a master.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Bizet's earliest compositions, chiefly songs and keyboard pieces written as exercises, give early indications of his emergent power and his gifts as a melodist. Dean sees evidence in the piano work "Romance sans parole", written before 1854, of "the conjunction of melody, rhythm and accompaniment" that is characteristic of Bizet's mature works. Bizet's first orchestral piece was an overture written in 1855 in the manner of Rossini's "Guillaume Tell". Critics have found it unremarkable, but the Symphony in C of the same year has been warmly praised by later commentators who have made favourable comparisons with Mozart and Schubert. In Dean's view, the symphony has "few rivals and perhaps no superior in the work of any composer of such youth". The critic Ernest Newman suggests that Bizet may at this time have thought that his future lay in the field of instrumental music, before an "inner voice" (and the realities of the French musical world) turned him towards the stage.


title: Georges Bizet

text: After his early Symphony in C, Bizet's purely orchestral output is sparse. The "Roma" symphony over which he laboured for more than eight years compares poorly, in Dean's view, with its juvenile predecessor. The work, says Dean, owes something to Gounod and contains passages that recall Weber and Mendelssohn. However, Dean contends that the work suffers from poor organisation and an excess of pretentious music; he calls it a "misfire". Bizet's other mature orchestral work, the overture "Patrie", is similarly dismissed: "an awful warning of the danger of confusing art with patriotism".


title: Georges Bizet

text: The musicologist Hugh Macdonald argues that Bizet's best orchestral music is found in the suites that he derived from the 12-movement "Jeux d’enfants" for piano four-hands (1871) and the "musique de scène" for Daudet's play "L’Arlésienne" (1872): "Jeux" resulted in the "Petite suite" of 1873, which has five movements "(Marche—Berceuse—Impromptu—Duo—Galop)", while the "musique de scène" resulted in two suites, one from the year of the premiere compiled by Bizet "(Prélude—Menuet—Adagietto—Carillon)" and the other from 1879 compiled posthumously by Guiraud "(Pastorale—Intermezzo—Menuet—Farandole)". According to Macdonald, in all three Bizet demonstrates a maturity of style that, had he lived longer, might have been the basis for future great orchestral works.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Bizet's piano works have not entered the concert pianist's repertoire and are generally too difficult for amateurs to attempt. The exception is the above-described "Jeux d’enfants" duet suite; here Bizet avoids the virtuoso passages that so dominate his solo music. The early solo pieces bear the influence of Chopin; later works, such as the "Variations chromatiques" or the "Chasse fantastique", owe more to Liszt.


title: Georges Bizet

text: Most of Bizet's songs were written in the period 1866–68. Dean defines the main weaknesses in these songs as an unimaginative repetition of the same music for each verse, and a tendency to write for the orchestra rather than the voice. Much of Bizet's larger-scale vocal music is lost; the early "Te Deum", which survives in full, is rejected by Dean as "a wretched work [that] merely illustrates Bizet's unfitness to write religious music."


title: Georges Bizet

text: Bizet's early one-act opera "Le docteur Miracle" provides the first clear signs of his promise in this genre, its sparkling music including, according to Dean, "many happy touches of parody, scoring and comic characterisation". Newman perceives evidence of Bizet's later achievements in many of his earliest works: "[A]gain and again we light upon some touch or other in them that only a musician with a dramatic root of the matter in him could have achieved." Until "Carmen", however, Bizet was not essentially an innovator in the musical theatre. He wrote most of his operas in the traditions of Italian and French opera established by such as Donizetti, Rossini, Berlioz, Gounod, and Thomas. Macdonald suggests that, technically, he surpassed all of these, with a feeling for the human voice that compares with that of Mozart.


title: Georges Bizet

text: In "Don Procopio", Bizet followed the stock devices of Italian opera as typified by Donizetti in "Don Pasquale", a work which it closely resembles. However, the familiar idiom is interspersed with original touches in which Bizet's fingerprints emerge unmistakably. In his first significant opera, "Les pêcheurs de perles", Bizet was hampered by a dull libretto and a laborious plot; nevertheless, the music in Dean's view rises at times "far above the level of contemporary French opera". Its many original flourishes include the introduction to the cavatina" Comme autrefois dans la nuit sombre" played by two French horns over a cello background, an effect which in the words of analyst Hervé Lacombe, "resonates in the memory like a fanfare lost in a distant forest". While the music of "Les pêcheurs" is atmospheric and deeply evocative of the opera's Eastern setting, in "La jolie fille de Perth", Bizet made no attempt to introduce Scottish colour or mood, though the scoring includes highly imaginative touches such as a separate band of woodwind and strings during the opera's Act III seduction scene.


title: Georges Bizet

text: From Bizet's unfinished works, Macdonald highlights "La coupe du roi de Thulé" as giving clear signs of the power that would reach a pinnacle in "Carmen" and suggests that had "Clarissa Harlowe" and "Grisélidis" been completed, Bizet's legacy would have been "infinitely richer". As Bizet moved away from the accepted musical conventions of French opera, he encountered critical hostility. In the case of "Djamileh", the accusation of "Wagnerism" was raised again, as audiences struggled to understand the score's originality; many found the music pretentious and monotonous, lacking in both rhythm and melody. By contrast, modern critical opinion as expressed by Macdonald is that "Djamileh" is "a truly enchanting piece, full of inventive touches, especially of chromatic colour."


title: Georges Bizet

text: Ralph P. Locke, in his study of "Carmen's" origins, draws attention to Bizet's successful evocation of Andalusian Spain. Grout, in his "History of Western Music", praises the music's extraordinary rhythmic and melodic vitality, and Bizet's ability to obtain the maximum dramatic effect in the most economical fashion. Among the opera's early champions were Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and particularly Wagner, who commented: "Here, thank God, at last for a change is somebody with ideas in his head." Another champion of the work was Friedrich Nietzsche, who claimed to know it by heart; "It is music that makes no pretensions to depth, but it is delightful in its simplicity, so unaffected and sincere". By broad consent, "Carmen" represents the fulfilment of Bizet's development as a master of music drama and the culmination of the genre of opéra comique.


title: Georges Bizet

text: After Bizet's death, many of his manuscripts were lost; works were revised by other hands and published in these unauthorised versions so that it is often difficult to establish what is authentic Bizet. Even "Carmen" was altered into grand opera format by the replacement of its dialogue with recitatives written by Guiraud, and by other amendments to the score. The music world did not immediately acknowledge Bizet as a master and, apart from "Carmen" and the "L'Arlésienne" suite, few of his works were performed in the years immediately following his death. However, the 20th century saw increased interest. "Don Procopio" was revived in Monte Carlo in 1906; an Italian version of "Les pêcheurs de perles" was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 13 November 1916, with Caruso in the leading tenor role, and it has since become a staple at many opera houses. After its first performance in Switzerland in 1935, the Symphony in C entered the concert repertory and has been recorded by, among many others, Sir Thomas Beecham. Excerpts from "La coupe du roi de Thulé", edited by Winton Dean, were broadcast by the BBC on 12 July 1955, and "Le docteur Miracle" was revived in London on 8 December 1957 by the Park Lane Group. "Vasco da Gama" and "Ivan IV" have been recorded, as have numerous songs and the complete piano music. "Carmen", after its lukewarm initial Paris run of 45 performances, became a worldwide popular success after performances in Vienna (1875) and London (1878). It has been hailed as the first opera of the verismo school, in which sordid and brutal subjects are emphasised, with art reflecting life—"not idealised life but life as actually lived".


title: Georges Bizet

text: The music critic Harold C. Schonberg surmises that, had Bizet lived, he might have revolutionised French opera; as it is, verismo was taken up mainly by Italians, notably Puccini who, according to Dean, developed the idea "till it became threadbare". Bizet founded no specific school, though Dean names Chabrier and Ravel as composers influenced by him. Dean also suggests that a fascination with Bizet's tragic heroes—Frédéri in "L'Arlésienne", José in "Carmen"—is reflected in Tchaikovsky's late symphonies, particularly the B minor ""Pathetique"". Macdonald writes that Bizet's legacy is limited by the shortness of his life and by the false starts and lack of focus that persisted until his final five years. "The spectacle of great works unwritten either because Bizet had other distractions, or because no one asked him to write them, or because of his premature death, is infinitely dispiriting, yet the brilliance and the individuality of his best music is unmistakable. It has greatly enriched a period of French music already rich in composers of talent and distinction."


title: Georges Bizet

text: In Bizet's family circle, his father Adolphe died in 1886. Bizet's son Jacques committed suicide in 1922 after an unhappy love affair. Jean Reiter, Bizet's elder son, had a successful career as press director of "Le Temps", became an Officer of the Legion of Honour, and died in 1939 at the age of 77. In 1886, Geneviève married Émile Straus, a rich lawyer; she became a famous Parisian society hostess and a close friend of, among others, Marcel Proust. She showed little interest in her first husband's musical legacy, made no effort to catalogue Bizet's manuscripts and gave many away as souvenirs. She died in 1926; in her will, she established a fund for a Georges Bizet prize, to be awarded annually to a composer under 40 who had "produced a remarkable work within the previous five years". Winners of the prize include Tony Aubin, Jean-Michel Damase, Henri Dutilleux, and Jean Martinon.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: The Mikoyan Project 1.44/1.42 (; NATO reporting name: Flatpack) was a multirole fighter technology demonstrator developed by the Mikoyan design bureau. It was designed for the Soviet Union's MFI ("Mnogofunksionalni Frontovoy Istrebitel", "Multifunctional Frontline Fighter") project for the I-90 ("1990s fighter") program, the answer to the U.S.'s Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF). The MFI was to incorporate many fifth-generation jet fighter features such as supermaneuverability, supercruise, and advanced avionics, as well as some degree of radar signature reduction.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: The design's development was a protracted one, characterised by repeated and lengthy postponements due to a chronic lack of funds after the collapse of the Soviet Union; the MiG 1.44 made its maiden flight in February 2000, nine years behind schedule, and was cancelled later that year. The MFI project was replaced by the more modern and affordable PAK FA program, which resulted in the Sukhoi Su-57.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: The MiG 1.44 had its origins in the early 1980s, when the U.S. Air Force began developing a successor to the F-15 Eagle under the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) project, which would eventually result in the supermaneuverable and stealthy, albeit costly, F-22 Raptor that first flew in 1997. Consequently, the Soviet government tasked its fighter design bureaus the job of developing a fighter with which to counter the perceived American threat, and replace the Sukhoi Su-27. In 1983, the project was formally approved as the I-90 (, ); at this time, the attributes of the next generation of fighter aircraft were still not well defined, and the Soviet direction emphasized supermaneuverability at high angles-of-attack, increased supersonic endurance, and "multifunctionality", or multirole capability. Mikoyan occupied itself with two concurrent projects, one of which focused on a heavy multirole design designated MFI, the other a light tactical fighter named LFI ("Lyogkiy Frontovoy Istrebitel", "Light Frontline Fighter"). To minimise costs, both designs were to share as many components as possible.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: However, as the research and development phase for the two projects progressed, costs escalated due to the complexity normally associated with advanced aircraft projects. As a result, the Soviet government created the Combined Task Programme in 1983 with the aim of maximising efficiency and developing technologies to be used for all classes of aircraft. Mikoyan became the primary contractor for the programme, the importance of which was illustrated with its inclusion into the Soviet five-year economic plan. The design bureau soon formulated initial specifications for the new fighters.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: Mikoyan proceeded with the preliminary design of both the MFI and LFI with participation from numerous institutions, which assisted in the progressive definition of the designs. TsAGI ("Tsentralniy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut", "Central Aero- and Hydrodynamic Institute") was responsible for collecting wind tunnel test results, which, along with theoretical studies, were vital during this phase of development. The institution recommended that Mikoyan include canards for the MFI, since it offers great agility and lift, the latter important as the MFI was a statically unstable design. The delta wings then had a wing leading edge sweep of 40–45°. During this period, engineers undertook wind tunnel testing to refine the MFI's aerodynamics and verify its radar cross-section (RCS).


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: The MFI would have a variable engine intake ramp located under the front fuselage, reminiscent of the Eurofighter Typhoon; this was particularly important with the nature of the aircraft, since it allows for sustained air flow into the engine during sudden manoeuvres. As for the engine themselves, research was conducted on thrust vectoring, allowing for markedly improved maneuverability and short take-off and landing performance. Besides the mechanical and aerodynamic aspects of the design, engineers investigated hundreds of issues to refine the layout and specifications. In 1987, Mikoyan and the associated institutions submitted the MFI and LFI proposals for review.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: The MFI production version 1.42 was intended to feature a weapons bay to decrease the radar cross section, however, the technology demonstrator 1.44 was not equipped with one.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: While both MFI and LFI designs passed critical review, due to budgetary constraints, Mikoyan shelved the latter to free up funds for the development of the MFI, which had by then been redesignated "Izdeliye" (product) "1.42". Under the leadership and coordination of Chief Project Engineer Gheogiy A. Sedov, Mikoyan embarked on major design effort. Because the LFI was shelved, 1.42 had by then assumed the multi-role approach, meaning that it had to fulfill both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. TsAGI was still a part of the design effort, having tested radio-controlled models for research into stability and handling characteristics, particularly at high angles of attack. It was later confirmed that the 1.42 is still controllable at angles of attack of up to 60°.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: By now the specifications were being firmed. Engineers from various establishments had settled on a definite design, having refined the flight-control software, verified all wind tunnel test results, and checked important systems using test rigs and modified aircraft. In 1988, Mikoyan was issued a specific operational requirement for the 1.42. Three years later, the design passed the Soviet Air Force's critical review. This paved the way for the construction of a flyable technology demonstrator, and so Mikoyan issued specifications to specialized factories tasked with such roles.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: The technology demonstrator, bearing the designation "1.44", would be used to verify the aerodynamic layout and flight control system of the design. Construction of it was halfway when the collapse of the Soviet Union brought a halt to further funding. Inevitably the scheduled first flight of the almost-complete aircraft slipped indefinitely. However, full-scale mock-ups and sections of the 1.44 were built in support of static tests, while factories were gearing up for the construction of prototypes. Mikoyan lobbied the government to declassify the project so it could display the aircraft at various air shows. In June 1995, MiG's Deputy General Designer Anatoliy Belosvet announced that the prototype could be displayed at that year's MAKS Airshow; in the end, the government refused. The company tried in 1997, to no avail.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: In early 1994, the incomplete aircraft was transported to Zhukovsky Airfield, where it would undertake flight tests. Ground tests began later that year, culminating in the first high-speed runs with Mikoyan's Chief Test Pilot Roman Taskayev at the controls. As the test program's tempo increased, the programme was postponed as the design bureau did not have sufficient funds to purchase the remaining components still missing on the demonstrator. This would be the main factor in the indefinite postponement of the program for the next few years. In 1997, the Russian government cancelled production of the design due to its unacceptably high unit cost. Mikoyan was financially insecure, resulting with the change in the management during the years leading up to 2000; this opened up other sources of funds.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: The change in the company's management also brought many changes. The Russian government revealed the project's existence in late 1998. On 24 December 1998, the "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" published a brief article on the fighter, accompanied by several photos. During 1999, final preparations were made for first flight. The aircraft was finally completed. It underwent ground tests, including high-speed taxis during which the aircraft was rotated. On 12 January 1999, the 1.44 was officially rolled out in the presence of top-ranking Russian military and government personnel, international journalists and other dignitaries. Until then, the status of the 1.44 was largely a secret; the previous day, however, "Aviation Week & Space Technology" published a photo taken from the roof of the hangar in which the demonstrator was parked.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: On 29 February 2000, the aircraft performed its first flight at the hands of Vladimir Gorboonov. During the 18-minute flight, the 1.44 reached a maximum height of and reached speeds of . The aircraft touched down at 11:43 am Moscow Time, amid tight security. Gorboonov later described the aircraft as docile. After the 22-minute second flight on 27 April, engineers probably uncovered some problems, since there were no reported flights thereafter. The program has since been cancelled, with the sole prototype known residing at Gromov Flight Research Institute, it was later restored/refurbished and was displayed at MAKS 2015.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: The MiG MFI was a delta wing, twin-tailed, fifth-generation air superiority/strike fighter design that incorporated advanced technology to theoretically give the aircraft excellent stealth and fighting attributes. It featured a close-coupled canard layout which, when working with the thrust vectoring engine nozzles, gave the aircraft remarkable maneuverability. The aircraft had a tricycle landing gear system, with a single, dual-wheel landing gear in the front, and two single wheels in the rear. The MFI had relaxed stability and was controlled by a fly-by-wire flight control system. Mikoyan made use of weight-saving materials in the construction of the aircraft, with aluminum-lithium alloys making up 35% of the empty weight, steel and titanium alloys (30%), composites (30%) and others (5%).


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: The MiG MFI was unconventional in its layout, in an effort to improve in-flight efficiency and stealth characteristics. Efforts were made to minimize surface-area, possibly to reduce drag. The wings were of delta planform, with leading-edge sweep at 52°. At the tips were dielectric fairings which housed electronic countermeasures/electronic support measures. The wings had full-span leading-edge flaps. The canards, meanwhile, had a leading-edge sweep of 58°, and had prominent dogtooth which improved airflow over the wings at high alpha (angles of attack). Russian aviation experts claim that the unorthodox design, use of radar-absorbent materials (RAM), and internally mounted weapons, gave a radar cross-section (RCS) of less than , comparable to that of the F-22 Raptor. The RCS falls to with the use of a plasma shield.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: Two Lyul'ka Saturn AL-41F afterburning turbofans produced of thrust, giving the MFI a top speed of Mach 2.35. The engines are variable cycle, which increased supersonic dry thrust and allowed the jet to supercruise at Mach 1.5. The axisymmetrical engines could be vectored in both pitch and yaw planes. The nozzle's inner petals were lined with ceramic tiles to reduce infrared signature. The engines, through serpentine ducts covered in RAM, were fed by a double intake ramp with a splitter plate underneath the front fuselage. Weapons and fuel drop tanks could be carried under the wings as well.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: The fighter is equipped with a glass cockpit and features a Pulse-Doppler radar. The N014 radar, with a range of and target detection from to , was able to track up to 40 targets and shoot against 20. The radar system has a passive electronically scanned array antenna and is linked to a fire-control system. The 1.42/1.44 fighter is believed to have evolved into the Mikoyan LMFS fifth-generation light fighter project.


title: Mikoyan Project 1.44

text: Some Russian military analysts believe that the Chinese fifth generation Chengdu J-20 drew heavy inspiration from or was fundamentally based on the MiG 1.44, citing similarities in its canards, tail section, and "duck like" aerodynamic design.


title: Disco Dancer

text: Disco Dancer is a 1982 Indian dance film, written by Rahi Masoom Raza and directed by Babbar Subhash. It stars Mithun Chakraborty and Kim in leading roles, with Om Puri, Gita Siddharth and Karan Razdan in supporting roles with Rajesh Khanna in a friendly appearance.


title: Disco Dancer

text: The film tells the rags-to-riches story of a young street performer from the slums of Bombay. The film is known for its filmi disco Bollywood songs, composed by Bappi Lahiri and written by Anjaan and Faruk Kaiser. Popular songs include "Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja" sung by Parvati Khan, "I am a Disco Dancer" sung by Vijay Benedict, "Yaad Aa Raha Hai" sung by Bappi Lahiri, and "Goro Ki Na Kaalo Ki" sung by Suresh Wadkar with Usha Mangeshkar.


title: Disco Dancer

text: The film was a worldwide success, with its popularity extending across Asia, the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa. "Disco Dancer" was also the second highest-grossing film ever in the Soviet Union and the highest-grossing foreign film. "Disco Dancer" established Mithun as a household name across South Asia and the Soviet Union and many countries in Africa where Jimmy has become a more popular name for Mithun Chakraborty. The soundtrack album was also a success, having gone Platinum in India and received a Gold Award in China. Adjusted for inflation, it is still one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.


title: Disco Dancer

text: Anil (Mithun Chakraborty), a street performer and wedding singer from the slums of Bombay, is scarred by the memory of the rich P. N. Oberoi (Om Shivpuri) beating his mother (Gita Siddharth) in an incident during his childhood. When manager David Brown (Om Puri) is fed up with the tantrums of current Indian disco champion Sam (Karan Razdan) and looks for some new talent, he happens to see Anil dance-walking across a street. Rebranded as 'Jimmy', the rising disco star must take the throne from Sam and win the heart of Rita (Kim), Oberoi's daughter.


title: Disco Dancer

text: All seems to be going well until Oberoi hires men to connect Jimmy's electric guitar to 5,000 volts of electricity, causing Jimmy's mother to die in a tragic accident. Jimmy gets guitar phobia after witnessing his mother's death. Later, Oberoi's goons break his legs. With help from Rita, Jimmy begins to walk.


title: Disco Dancer

text: Jimmy must claim first place for Team India at the International Disco Dancing Competition amidst strong competition from Team Africa (Disco King and Queen) and Paris (Disco King and Queen). Jimmy is reluctant to dance, but Rita persuades him to do so. Sam arrives with a guitar to scare Jimmy. Rita manages to drag the show to encourage Jimmy to sing but to no avail. The crowd pelts him with stones which hit his head. Jimmy's uncle Raju (Rajesh Khanna) arrives and advises him to infuse his mother and his music; he throws the guitar to Jimmy, after which Jimmy begins to sing. Oberoi's goons kill Raju, after which Jimmy travels to their lair and beats them up. In the ensuing fight, Oberoi is electrocuted.


title: Disco Dancer

text: The title song "I am a Disco Dancer" was shot at Natraj Studio in Mumbai over three days, where scenes featuring Mithun Chakrobarty's signature moves were filmed. Thereafter, the shooting featured crowds scenes at Filmistan Studio in Mumbai.


title: Disco Dancer

text: The music for all the songs were composed by Bappi Lahiri and the lyrics were penned by Anjaan and Faruk Kaiser. The tracks on the 1982 soundtrack album are as follows:


title: Disco Dancer

text: The song "Yaad Aa Raha Hai" has been described as a synthesized, minimalist, high-tempo, electronic disco song. Geeta Dayal described it as a "disco anthem for the ages, and one of the best songs Lahiri ever did."


title: Disco Dancer

text: The song "Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja" has similarities to 1980 French disco song "T’es OK" by Ottawan. The song "Auva Auva" (picturized on Karan Razdan's character Sam) was inspired by the 1979 synthpop hit "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. The song "Cerrone's Paradise" by Cerrone was used in the scene when David Brown discovers Anil who is dance-walking down a street. The song "Krishna Dharti Pe Aaja Tu" was inspired by "Jesus" by Tielman Brothers. This version was used in the movie where Jimmy is practicing dance.


title: Disco Dancer

text: The "Disco Dancer" soundtrack was popular worldwide, particularly in India, the Soviet Union, and China. The soundtrack went Platinum in India, equivalent to 1million sales, and received a Gold Award in China.


title: Disco Dancer

text: In India, the film grossed in 1982. It was the 7th or 14th highest-grossing film at the domestic Indian box office in 1982, with its strongest commercial performance in the West Bengal state, home to actor Mithun Chakraborty and composer Bappi Lahiri.


title: Disco Dancer

text: In the Soviet Union, the film released in 1984, with 1,013 prints. It drew an audience of 60.9million viewers in 1984, becoming the most successful film at the Soviet box office that year, the biggest foreign hit in the 1980s, the fourth biggest box office hit of the decade, the eighth biggest foreign hit of all time, and one of the top 25 biggest box office hits of all time. Including re-runs, the film sold an estimated 120.0million tickets in the Soviet Union. In terms of gross revenue, it earned 60 million Soviet rubles (US$75.85 million, 94.28 crore), the highest for an Indian film, surpassing "Awaara"s 29 million roubles. This made it the highest-grossing Indian film overseas up until it was surpassed by the over 100 crore overseas gross of "My Name is Khan" (2010) and "3 Idiots" (2009).


title: Disco Dancer

text: "Disco Dancer" was also a success in China, when it released there in 1983. The song "Jimmy Jimmy" was popular there. According to Aamir Khan, Mithun Chakraborty is famous in China due to the song.


title: Disco Dancer

text: Worldwide, "Disco Dancer" grossed a combined 100.68 crore (US$82.39 million) in India and the Soviet Union. This surpassed the 35 crore gross of "Sholay" (1975), making "Disco Dancer" the highest-grossing Indian film worldwide up until it was surpassed by the 135 crore gross of "Hum Aapke Hain Koun" (1994). "Disco Dancer" was the first Indian film to gross 100 crore worldwide.


title: Disco Dancer

text: It was remade in Tamil as "Paadum Vaanampadi" with Anand Babu, and in Telugu as "Disco King" with Nandamuri Balakrishna.


title: Disco Dancer

text: Upon release, "Disco Dancer" was a phenomenon, both domestically and internationally. Prior to the film's release, Bollywood was dominated by "angry young man" Bombay underworld films, an action crime film genre pioneered by screenwriter duo Salim–Javed a decade earlier in the early 1970s. These films often explored socialist and "hero versus system" themes, often presented a poor hero's journey from rags-to-riches, and involved violent revenge plots against villains. "Disco Dancer" took the "angry young man" genre and subverted it: instead of having Jimmy fight the villains or get revenge through violence, he instead gets revenge and defeats the villains through disco dancing. This led to a wave of disco-themed Bollywood musicals in India, and it become a global phenomenon outside of India. It was a blockbuster in Asia and the former Soviet Union, and drew a large global cult following, from Japan where a Jimmy statue was built in Osaka, to the West where "Disco Dancer" became the defining example of a stereotypical "Bollywood" film. Retrospectively, the film has received a polarizing critical reception, with praise for its music and dance numbers but criticism towards its plot, with Anuvab Pal calling it an ironic comedy film.


title: Disco Dancer

text: The British Sri Lankan alternative rapper M.I.A. covered "Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja" as "Jimmy" in 2007 for her album "Kala". There have been cover versions of "Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja" from other international musicians, including the 1998 hit "" by Russian techno group Ruki Vverh, "Jimmy Jimmy" by Russian artists DJ Slon and Angel-A, and a cover version by Tibetan artist Kelsang Metok.


title: Disco Dancer

text: The music from "Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja" was used in the final fight scene in the Adam Sandler film "You Don't Mess with the Zohan".


title: Disco Dancer

text: In 2010, the songs "I Am a Disco Dancer" and "Yaad Aa Raha Hai" were used in the 2010 Bollywood comedy film, "Golmaal 3", directed by Rohit Shetty. The songs were relevant to the performance of Mithun Chakraborty's character Pritam, who reflected on his past as a young mega-hit disco dancer.


title: Disco Dancer

text: Aamir Khan's special appearance as Disco Fighter in the Imran Khan starrer 2011 film "Delhi Belly" is inspired by Mithun Chakraborty's role in "Disco Dancer".


title: Disco Dancer

text: "Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja" and "I Am a Disco Dancer" are very popular in countries such as Mongolia and post-Soviet states such as Russia, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan.


title: Disco Dancer

text: Baimurat Allaberiyev, an ethnic Uzbek from Tajikistan, became an internet sensation by singing "Goron Ki Na Kalon Ki" and "Jimmy Aaja" in a warehouse. The 2008 video recorded on a mobile phone got over 1 million views on YouTube. He landed an acting role in a Russian comedy film, "Six Degrees of Celebration" (2010).


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is a 2009 American action gothic horror film directed by Patrick Tatopoulos and starring Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, Rhona Mitra, Steven Mackintosh, and Kevin Grevioux. It is the third (chronologically, the first) installment in the "Underworld" franchise and a prequel to the 2003 film "Underworld". The film focuses primarily on the origins of the characters and the events that lead up to the Vampire–Lycan war. Kate Beckinsale, who starred in the previous "Underworld" movies, appears briefly at the end of the movie.


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: Two decades have passed since a war began between a legion of vampires and the first clan of werewolves, a breed unable to take human form. Lucian is the first werewolf born capable of taking human form and the first to be called a Lycan. Viktor, a vampire elder, raises the child, envisioning a race of Lycan slaves guarding the coven's fortress during the day and working as laborers for the vampires at night. The countryside is filled with savage werewolves born from William's rampage, and human nobles beg Viktor for protection against the beasts: he grants it in exchange for tributes of silver, which enables him to keep his slaves under control. As Lucian grows up, he and Viktor's daughter Sonja fall in love, and in their adult years they begin a secretive intimate relationship. Sonja is reckless and insubordinate, and one night Lucian escapes the shackles preventing him from turning werewolf and rescues Sonja from his werewolf brethren. Despite acknowledging that Lucian rescued his daughter, Viktor cannot forgive the escape and has Lucian whipped and imprisoned.


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: By trading her seat on the vampire council, Sonja enlists the help of Andreas Tanis in orchestrating Lucian's release. Lucian, unable to flee alone, liberates the other Lycans as he escapes. Sonja remains, planning to meet Lucian in three days. As she prepares to leave she is visited by her father. Viktor asks if she assisted in Lucian's escape: she denies it, but he discovers the truth by biting her neck and reading her memories through her blood. Discovering her relationship with Lucian, he imprisons her. Lucian recruits both human slaves and werewolves to build a force against the vampires. In the fortress, the vampire council and nobles demand that Viktor recapture Lucian, as his Lycans have been attacking human estates, freeing their slaves and offering them immortality as Lycans themselves. Viktor replies that he is confident Lucian will return as he has something Lucian wants: Sonja.


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: Lucian learns about Sonja's imprisonment and rescues her from her room, but they are stopped from escaping by Viktor. Sonja, hoping to spare Lucian's life, reveals to Viktor that she is pregnant with Lucian's child. Disgusted, Viktor overpowers her and imprisons both her and Lucian. Sonja is unanimously sentenced to death by the council at a trial presided over by her father, and is executed by exposure to sunlight in Lucian's presence.


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: An enraged and heartbroken Lucian turns werewolf, but his attempt to escape the fortress is thwarted by the Death Dealers. He is able to communicate with and control the wild werewolves, however, and summons them to storm the fortress. A melee ensues in which vampire council members, their aides and lesser vampire nobles are killed. Realizing that Viktor intends to flee, Lucian pursues him and they fight. Lucian traps Viktor by exposing him to shafts of sunlight and then stabs him through the mouth with a sword and pushes his body down into a nearby body of water. With the battle over, Lucian's deputy Raze declares that "it is finished", but Lucian knows this victory is only the beginning of what will become a war between the races. On a vampire ship fleeing the fortress, Viktor is revealed to have survived his wound and is sealed in an elder hibernation chamber by Tanis.


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: The opening scene of the first "Underworld" film is then shown with the voice of vampire Kraven revealing to Selene that it was Viktor who killed her family, not the Lycans. Kraven adds that Viktor spared Selene's life because she reminded him of his executed daughter Sonja. Selene, unaware of the truth, dismisses Kraven's statement as "lies".


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: In September 2003, shortly after the release of "Underworld", production companies Screen Gems and Lakeshore planned to release a prequel as the third film following "Underworld"s sequel, "" (2006). Kate Beckinsale, who portrayed Selene in "Underworld", expressed interest in reprising her role for the sequel and the prequel.


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: In December 2005, "Underworld: Evolution" director Len Wiseman explained that the "Underworld" franchise was originally conceived as a trilogy. Wiseman said, "We sort of mapped out an entire history and story... a massive collection of ideas and stories that we're putting out at certain times." Wiseman anticipated creating a third installment for the franchise based on the audience's reception of "Underworld: Evolution", which would be released the following month.


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: In a June 2006 interview, Wiseman said, "The third film is going to be a prequel. It will be the origin story and we find out things we didn't know about Lucian; he'll have a much bigger part in it. It will be about the creation [of the races] and what started the war. It will be a period piece. The movie will also focus for the first time through the Lycans' point of view." The director also shared, "In terms of the writing, a lot of the writing has been done. We've been developing "Underworld 3" for a while. I won't be directing "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans"; I'm just going to be producing and writing." When asked if Kate Beckinsale would reprise her role as Selene in the prequel, Wiseman said, "It will be in the time period before, but it will overlap into the creation of her as well. We're in the process of seeing how far we go with that." The following October, actor Michael Sheen, who portrays Lucian in the film series, expressed interest in being part of the prequel.


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" was distributed to 2,942 theatres on its opening day (23 January 2009) in the United States and grossed an estimated US$8,050,000, debuting at number 1 at the box office. On its opening weekend, the film was ranked second at the box office behind "" with $20.7 million, which is lower than the amount earned by "Underworld" and "Underworld: Evolution" ($21.8 million and $26.9 million respectively) on their opening weekends. 59% of the audience at the premiere was male, while 55% was over 25 years old. Overall, the limited day-and-date launch of "Rise of the Lycans" in the week ending 23 January 2009 accumulated $3.5 million in two dozen markets outside the US, at 455 theatres, a third of which was earned at the Australian box office. In the United Kingdom, the film was distributed to 339 theatres and obtained $1.4 million at the box office on its opening day, ranking as the second-best opener of the week behind "Valkyrie". As of 26 April 2009, the film has grossed an estimated $45,802,315 in North America and $92,100,370 at the box office worldwide.


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" received mostly mixed reviews. According to the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, as of January 2012, 29% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 76 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Despite the best efforts of its competent cast, "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" is an indistinguishable and unnecessary prequel." Most of the acclaim is attributed to Michael Sheen's performance. At the website Metacritic the film has received an average score of 44, based on 14 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Joe Leydon of "Variety" gave a positive review, stating that director Patrick Tatopoulos "offers a satisfyingly exciting monster rally that often plays like a period swashbuckler" and that the film is "notably less frenetic (and appreciably more coherent) than its predecessors". He also praised the lead actors for their performances. Leydon described Rhona Mitra's performance as "more than adequate" but says that "her Sonja never achieves the pop-icon impact of Beckinsale's Selene"; he felt that Michael Sheen "hits all the right notes in a star-powered performance that will amuse, if not amaze, anyone who only knows the actor as Tony Blair or David Frost", and that Bill Nighy "offers a sly and stylish turn as Viktor". Similarly, Michael Rechtshaffen of "The Hollywood Reporter" stated that the film "rises to the occasion" and that it "finds more life left than would be expected in the darkly stylized if dramatically flawed vampires vs. werewolves saga." He credited this to the "sturdy performances" of Sheen and Nighy and the "tidy, unfussy direction" by Tatopoulos. Also giving the film a positive review was Claudia Puig of "USA Today", who thought that the film was "surprisingly campy fun, mostly succeeding through the power of its lead performances".


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" commented that the film "offers few surprises other than Mr. Sheen's vigorous, physical performance", articulating that Sheen is "the movie's greatest asset" and that his commitment to his role demonstrated that there is "some benefit to having a real performance even in a formulaic entertainment like this". Clark Collis of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a C+ grade, describing the film as "basically Were-Spartacus, though that makes the humorless, scare-free result sound much more fun than it is". He says, "Sheen and Nighy do their best with the material, but this is easily the worst "Underworld" so far." While he described the franchise as "grimly competent", Glenn Whipp of "Los Angeles Times" criticized "Rise of the Lycans" on its action sequences, which "accent incomprehensibility". Kim Newman of "Empire" rated the film one out of five stars and called it a "needless threequel", saying that it is unlikely for an audience who has not seen "Underworld" to "follow the tosh this passes off as a plot". He adds, "In former effects man Patrick Tatopoulos' vision, these Dark Ages were really dark – so dark, in fact, you can barely see the monster action or register why Sheen and Nighy felt the need to sign up." Richard Corliss of "Time" described the film as "sluggish when it's not grinding toward the preposterous" and that it "just wasn't that memorable". He noted further that the "Brit cast attempts to camouflage the silliness by swanning it up, as if the Royal Shakespeare Company had gotten communally drunk and staged an impromptu production of "Dracula Meets the Wolfman"."


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and UMD on May 12, 2009. The DVD is a one-disc set that includes:


title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

text: First week sales of the DVD stand at 1,241,875 copies with over $24.82 million in revenue. As of November 1, 2009 almost 2.2 million copies have been sold and $43,407,017 in revenue generated for Sony Pictures.


title: Bivouac shelter

text: A bivouac shelter is any of a variety of improvised camp site, or shelter that is usually of a temporary nature, used especially by soldiers, or people engaged in backpacking, bikepacking, scouting, or mountain climbing. It may often refer to sleeping in the open with a bivouac sack, but it may also refer to a shelter constructed of natural materials like a structure of branches to form a frame, which is then covered with leaves, ferns, and similar material for waterproofing and duff (leaf litter) for insulation. Modern bivouacs often involve the use of one- or two-man tents but may also be without tents or full cover. In modern mountaineering the nature of the bivouac shelter will depend on the level of preparedness, in particular whether existing camping and outdoor gear may be incorporated into the shelter. A bivouac shelter is colloquially known as a bivvy (also spelled "bivy" or "bivvi" or "bivi").


title: Bivouac shelter

text: The word "bivouac" is French and ultimately derives from an 18th-century Swiss German usage of "Beiwacht" ("bei" by, "Wacht" watch or patrol). It referred to an additional watch that would be maintained by a military or civilian force to increase vigilance at an encampment. Following use by the troops of the British Empire the term became also known as "bivvy" for short.


title: Bivouac shelter

text: Artificial bivouacs can be constructed using a variety of available materials from corrugated iron sheeting or plywood, to groundsheets or a purpose-made basha. Although these have the advantage of being speedy to erect and resource-efficient, they have relatively poor insulation properties.


title: Bivouac shelter

text: There are many different ways to put up a bivouac shelter. The most common method is to use one bivouac sheet as the roof of the shelter and a second as the groundsheet. The 'roof' flysheet is suspended along in its ridge line by a cord tied between two trees which are a suitable distance apart. The four corners of the flysheet are then either pegged out or tied down to other trees. Care must be taken to leave a gap between the ground and the sheet to ensure that there is enough air flow to stop condensation.


title: Bivouac shelter

text: A basha is a simple tent, made from one or two sheets of waterproof fabric and some strong cord. Generally a basha is made of reinforced nylon with eyelets and loops or tabs located along all four sides of the sheet and sometimes across the two central lines of symmetry. The basha is an extremely versatile shelter that can be erected in many different ways to suit the particular conditions of the location. (The word also sometimes refers to a special type of bivouac sack described below).


title: Bivouac shelter

text: A bivouac sack is a smaller type of bivouac shelter. Generally it is a portable, lightweight, waterproof shelter, and an alternative to larger bivouac shelters. The main benefit of a bivouac sack shelter is speed of setup and ability to use in a tiny space as compared to tent-like shelters. A bivouac sack is therefore a common choice for hikers, cyclists or climbers who have to camp in tight areas, or in unknown areas. A bivouac sack will usually have a thin waterproof fabric shell that is designed to slip over a sleeping bag, providing an additional 5 to 10 °C of insulation and forming an effective barrier against wind chill and rain.


title: Bivouac shelter

text: A drawback of a simple bivouac sack is the humidity that condenses on the inner side, leaving the occupant or the sleeping bag moist. Moisture severely decreases the insulating effect of sleeping bags. This problem has been alleviated somewhat in recent years with the advent of more waterproof, but breathable fabrics, such as Gore-Tex, which allow some humidity to pass through the fabric while blocking most external water. A traditional bivouac bag typically cinches all the way down to the user's face, leaving only a small hole to breathe or look through. Other bivouac sack have a mesh screen at the face area to allow for outside visibility and airflow, while still protecting from insects. Fully zipping up a bivouac sack is poor practise, both from the obvious risk of hypoxia, and the dramatically increased levels of condensation that will form inside the bag.


title: Bivouac shelter

text: In the German region of Saxon Switzerland in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains climbers refer to overnighting in the open air as "Boofen" (pronounced "bo-fen"). The spot selected for overnight stays usually comprises an overhang in the sandstone rock or a cave, the so-called "Boofe" ("bo-fe"). This has often been adapted with a sleeping area and fireplace. In the national park itself, "Boofen" is only permitted at designated sites and only in connection with climbing, although in this case lighting fires is absolutely forbidden. The colloquial Saxon word "boofen" was derived from "pofen" (= sleep soundly and for a long time).


title: Bivouac shelter

text: Count Henry Russell-Killough, the “hermit of the Pyrenees”, is broadly accredited with the invention of the bivouac in extreme, inhospitable places. He would bivouac in the open, creating a blanket of rocks and earth or using a simple bag.


title: Bivouac shelter

text: An example of a bivouac being made in a time of urgency was shown when the climber Hermann Buhl made his ascent of Nanga Parbat in 1953 and was forced to bivouac alone on a rock ledge at 8000 m altitude, in order to survive until the following morning.


title: Bivouac shelter

text: Modern bivouacs have evolved to offer heightened levels of comfort for climbers and explorers. Modern portaledges (the vertical camping version of a tent) are a more comfortable, safer, and sturdier option to hanging hammocks.


title: Angad Bedi

text: Angad Singh Bedi (born 6 February 1983) is an Indian actor and former model. He made his debut with "Kaya Taran" in 2004, an adaptation of a Malayalam short story by N. S. Madhavan, "Vanmarangal Veezhumpol (When the Big Trees Fall)". He has done the film "F.A.L.T.U" in 2011 and known for his roles in Pink (2016), Dear Zindagi (2016) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017).


title: Angad Bedi

text: Bedi was born to former Indian cricket captain Bishan Singh Bedi. Angad Bedi has one elder sister, Neha, and two older half-siblings from Bishan's previous marriage – a half-sister named Gillinder and a half-brother named Gavasinder. He played cricket up to Under-19 level for Delhi. He studied at Gyan Bharati School, Saket, New Delhi and graduated from St. Stephen's College, Delhi. Subsequently, he began a career in modelling, and ventured into acting.


title: Angad Bedi

text: Bedi started his career with the film "Kaya Taran," directed by Sashi Kumar in 2004. The film was set against the backdrop of 2002 Gujarat riots and 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The film won the "Aravindan Puraskaram", given to the best maiden film-maker, for 2004 and Bedi's performance in the film was appreciated.


title: Angad Bedi

text: In 2005, he appeared in a cooking show called "Cook Na Kaho" on Star One as a host. He hosted "Extraaa Innings T20" in 2010, a show telecasted in between the match sessions during the Indian Premier League (IPL) along with Ayushmann Khurrana. He appeared as a contestant in Season 3 of Colors' show "". He also hosted the first season of the reality television show "Emotional Atyachar" on UTV Bindass before being replaced by Pravesh Rana.


title: Angad Bedi

text: He returned to Bollywood in 2011 with the film F.A.L.T.U, directed by Remo D'Souza. Angad is best known for his performances in works such as "Ungli" (2014) and "PINK" (2016). He was also seen In "Tiger Zinda Hai" with Salman Khan.


title: Angad Bedi

text: He was also a part of the film , the biopic of the Indian Air Force Pilot Gunjan Saxena, where he played the role of her brother as well as the film Soorma, the biopic of Sandeep Singh, the former captain of the Indian Hockey Team, where he played the role of his brother as well. The actor has been the part of "The Zoya Factor".


title: Angad Bedi

text: In 2012, Bedi got arrested in a case of allegedly consuming drugs at a rave party at a Suburban Juhu Hotel. He tested positive along with 85 others for the consumption of cannabis and ecstasy and was later released on bail.


title: Angad Bedi

text: Angad Bedi began dating Neha Dhupia and the couple decided to get married in a private ceremony at a Gurudwara on 10 May 2018. The couple have a daughter born on 18 November 2018 and a son born on 3rd October 2021.


title: Colgate (toothpaste)

text: Colgate is an American brand principally used for oral hygiene products such as toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes and dental floss. Manufactured by Colgate-Palmolive, Colgate's oral hygiene products were first sold by the company in 1873, sixteen years after the death of the founder, William Colgate. The company originally sold soap.


title: Colgate (toothpaste)

text: Colgate toothpaste was sold in glass jars since 1873. Tubes, as pioneered by Kalodont, Johnson & Johnson (Zonweiss) and Sheffield, were introduced in 1896.


title: Colgate (toothpaste)

text: Colgate became popular in the 1950s, with the slogan "It Cleans Your Breath While It Cleans Your Teeth", written by copywriter Alicia Tobin.


title: Colgate (toothpaste)

text: In 2007, the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK told Colgate that it could no longer make the claim that four out of five dentists recommended Colgate. The investigation showed that the study had telephone surveyed dentists to list the toothpaste they recommended, and their competitors were recommended at similar rates. The claim was deemed deceptive.


title: Colgate (toothpaste)

text: As of 2015, oral care products (principally produced under the Colgate brand) were the Colgate-Palmolive company's largest source of income, making up around US$7.5 billion, or 47% of net sales globally (with personal care products such as shampoos making up 20%, home care products such as laundry detergents 19% and pet nutrition making up the remaining 14%). It also commanded approximately 70% of the oral care market in Brazil.


title: Colgate (toothpaste)

text: In 2018, Colgate licensed Kolibree technology from Paris-based Baracoda Daily Healthtech, launching the Colgate Smart Electric toothbrush. They currently offer connected toothbrushes for children and adults under the Hum brand umbrella.


title: Colgate (toothpaste)

text: In January 2020, Colgate registered the label for toothpaste containing hemp seed oil with the U.S. government.


title: Colgate (toothpaste)

text: In February 2020, Colgate's parent company announced an agreement to purchase Hello Products, a New Jersey company that had earlier in the month introduced toothpaste, mouthwashes, and lip balms containing cannabidiol (CBD).


title: Colgate (toothpaste)

text: As of June 2022, Colgate Tooth Powder was still being manufactured and marketed, and could still be purchased.


title: Colgate (toothpaste)

text: According to a 2015 report by market research company Kantar Worldpanel, Colgate is the only brand in the world purchased by more than half of all households. Colgate has a global market penetration of 67.7% and a global market share of 45%. Despite this, it maintained the highest growth rate of all brands in the survey, with 40 million new households purchasing Colgate-branded products in 2014.


title: Mercedes Martinez

text: Jazmin Benitez (born November 17, 1980) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Mercedes Martinez. She also appears for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH), where she is a former ROH Women's World Champion. She is also known for her time in WWE, primarily on the NXT brand.


title: Mercedes Martinez

text: Prior to going to WWE in 2020, Martinez was a mainstay on the independent circuit, winning numerous titles - including three WSU Championships, two Shimmer Championships, one Shine Championship and one Phoenix of Rise Championship.


title: Mercedes Martinez

text: Jazmín Benítez was born on November 17, 1980 in Waterbury, Connecticut. She is of Puerto Rican descent. In high school, she played both basketball and softball. She then attended college at Teikyo Post University, where her major was criminal justice.