title: Rugby sevens

text: Women's rugby sevens has been dominated by New Zealand, with either the New Zealand team (1999–2001) or Aotearoa Maori Women's Rugby sevens team (playing as New Zealand), winning the annual Hong Kong Sevens tournament from 1997 until 2007. The United States won the Hong Kong Sevens in 2008 by defeating Canada in the final (New Zealand failed to send a team).


title: Rugby sevens

text: The inaugural Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament took place in Dubai together with the men's tournament during the first weekend of March 2009. England defeated Canada 12–0 in the Bowl final while Australia edged New Zealand 15–10 in extra-time to become the first to win the Women's Rugby World Cup.


title: Rugby sevens

text: WR, then known as the International Rugby Board (IRB), organised its first official women's sevens tournament outside of the World Cup as part of the 2011 Dubai Sevens. This was part of a plan to launch a full IRB International Women's Sevens Series for 2012–13. The international series was officially christened as the IRB Women's Sevens World Series in an IRB announcement on 4 October 2012. The series, as planned, launched for the 2012–13 season and initially featured events in Dubai, the US, China and the Netherlands. Two additional events were planned for the 2013–14 series, but in the end only one of these events, in Brazil, took place. For the 2014–15 series, China dropped from the schedule, while Canada and England hosted new events. The series was rechristened for 2014–15 as the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, following the November 2014 renaming of the IRB as World Rugby. The 2015–16 series included only five events; the England and Netherlands events were dropped and an event in France was added. The 2016–17 series returned to six events with the launch of an event in Japan.


title: Rugby sevens

text: Women's rugby sevens was included in the 2016 Olympic Games due to the IRB's successful bid to reintroduce rugby to the Summer games. Australia claimed the gold medal for the event, beating New Zealand in the final with a score of 24–17. Canada claimed the bronze medal after beating Great Britain 33–10 in the third place play-off. WR also successfully pushed for the inclusion of women's sevens in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.


title: Rugby sevens

text: As sevens has proven a commercial and competitive success, sevens is starting to become divorced from the 15-man game. Former Wales rugby union player and current pundit John Taylor wrote in 2010, stating:


title: County Sligo

text: County Sligo ( , ) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 65,535 at the 2016 census. It is noted for Benbulben Mountain, one of Ireland's most distinctive natural landmarks.


title: County Sligo

text: The county was officially formed in 1585 by Sir Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, but did not come into effect until the chaos of the Nine Years' War ended, in 1603. Its boundaries reflect the Ó Conchobhair Sligigh confederation of Lower Connacht () as it was at the time of the Elizabethan conquest.


title: County Sligo

text: This confederation consisted of the tuatha, or territories, of Cairbre Drumcliabh, Tír Fhíacrach Múaidhe, Tír Ollíol, Luíghne, Corann and Cúl ó bhFionn. Under the system of surrender and regrant each tuath was subsequently made into an English barony: Carbury, Tireragh, Tirerril, Leyny, Corran and Coolavin. The capital of the newly shired county was placed at Sligo.


title: County Sligo

text: A causewayed enclosure discovered in 2003 at Maugheraboy is one of the earliest indications of Neolithic farming activity on the Cúil Irra Peninsula. The nearby megalithic cemetery of Carrowmore forms part of a huge complex of Stone Age remains connecting Carrowkeel in south Sligo to the Ox Mountains, to the Cuil Irra Peninsula, where the passage tomb named after the legendary Queen Maeve, Miosgán Médhbh, dominates the western skyline from the crest of Knocknarea Mountain.


title: County Sligo

text: The Caves of Kesh, famous in Irish mythology, are in south County Sligo. A recent decoding of the work of Marinus of Tyre and Ptolemy shows Sligo as the likely location of Nagnata, an important place of assembly in the Iron Age. Famous medieval manuscripts written in the area include the "Book of Ballymote", written in the territory of Corran, the "Great Book of Lecan", and the "Yellow Book of Lecan", both written in Tir Fhiacrach. The patron of the "Annals of the Four Masters" was Fearghal Ó Gadhra of Coolavin in south County Sligo.


title: County Sligo

text: Sligo County Council is the governing body for the county. At the 2019 Sligo County Council election, it was divided into three local electoral areas (LEAs): Ballymote–Tobercurry (7 seats), Sligo–Strandhill (6 seats), and Sligo–Drumcliff (5 seats). Each of these form a municipal district, with the that containing Sligo–Strandhill known as the borough district of Sligo.


title: County Sligo

text: Under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, County Sligo was divided into the rural districts of Boyle No. 2, Dromore West, Sligo, and Tobercurry, and the urban district of Sligo. Unlike most urban districts, Sligo had retained its borough corporation. The rural districts were abolished in 1925. Sligo Borough Corporation became a borough council in 2002, before being abolished in 2014 in common with all borough and town councils in Ireland.


title: County Sligo

text: County Sligo is part of the Dáil constituency of Sligo–Leitrim (4 TDs). At the 2020 election, Martin Kenny (Sinn Féin), Frank Feighan (Fine Gael), Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fáil) and Marian Harkin (Ind) were elected.


title: County Sligo

text: This coat of arms was adopted by Sligo County Council in 1980. The design on the black shield, which shows an open book on which there is a Celtic Cross and a red rose, represents collectively the literary and cultural history of Sligo. These refer to such early works as the Books of Ballymote and Lecan, while the rose was a significant theme in the poetry of W.B.Yeats. The escallop shells sprinkled on the shield refer to the origin of the word Sligeach – "a place abounding in shells". The boar's head refers to the "wild boar of Benbulben" in the Diarmuid and Gráinne myth. The colour scheme of the crest incorporates the Sligo GAA colours of black and white.


title: County Sligo

text: County Sligo is the setting for a large number of the texts in the Mythological Cycles. The story of Diarmad and Grainne has its final act played out on Ben Bulben. The Second Battle of Moytirra is associated with Moytirra in South County Sligo. Other texts include Bruidean Ceise Corann, set on Keash Mountain. The rich array of megalithic monuments in the area has been an inspiration to artists and writers such as Sir Samuel Ferguson. The poet and Nobel laureate William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) spent much of his childhood in northern Sligo and the county's landscapes (particularly the Isle of Innisfree, in Lough Gill) were the inspiration for much of his poetry. Yeats said, "the place that has really influenced my life most is Sligo." He is buried in North County Sligo, "Under Ben Bulben", in Drumcliff. William Yeats' brother Jack, a painter, also was inspired by the Sligo landscape.


title: County Sligo

text: County Sligo has a long history of traditional music. The south of the county is particularly noted with such musical luminaries as James Morrison, Michael Coleman, Paddy Killoran, Fred Finn, Peter Horan, Joe O'Dowd, Jim Donoghue, Martin Wynne, Oisín Mac Diarmada (of Téada), tin-whistle player Carmel Gunning and the band Dervish. The county has many traditional music festivals and one of the most well-known is the Queen Maeve International Summer School, a traditional Irish Music summer school of music and dance which is held annually in August in Sligo Town. On the more contemporary music scene there are Westlife, Tabby Callaghan and The Conway Sisters who are from Sligo. Strandhill, about 9 km west of Sligo, hosts the Strandhill Guitar Festival each year, featuring a wide variety of guitar music and musicians.


title: County Sligo

text: The county is home to League of Ireland Premier Division club Sligo Rovers, who have played home matches at The Showgrounds since they were founded in 1928 and won the league on 3 occasions. Their colours are red and white, hence their nickname the 'Bit 'O' Red'. Brother Walfrid, the founder of Celtic Football Club, was born in Ballymote, in the south of the county.


title: County Sligo

text: The county is represented in Gaelic Games by Sligo GAA. Their colours are black and white. Sligo has won the Connacht Championship 3 times.


title: County Sligo

text: Sligo is the 22nd largest of Ireland's 32 counties in area and the 26th largest in terms of population. It is the fourth largest of Connacht's 5 counties in size and third largest in terms of population. The County borders County Mayo to the west, County Roscommon to the south and south-east and County Leitrim to the northeast.


title: County Sligo

text: The Dublin–Sligo railway line is operated by Iarnród Éireann in Ireland. It starts in Dublin Connolly station, terminating at Sligo Mac Diarmada railway station in Sligo. In the county there are stations at Ballymote and Collooney.


title: Jean Kasem

text: Jean Thompson Kasem (born May 21, 1954) is a former American actress. She is the widow of radio personality and actor Casey Kasem.


title: Jean Kasem

text: Jean Thompson was one of five children born to Irene Celia Thompson and Herbert Owens Thompson Sr. (deceased). She is of Norwegian heritage on her mother's side. She was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she lived before her civil-servant father moved the family to Guam in 1963. She attended the University of Guam at age 16, but after marrying a U.S. Navy lieutenant when she was 17, she left to work as a waitress and saleswoman on U.S. military bases throughout the Pacific Ocean to which her husband was posted. The marriage lasted six years. She moved to California and unsuccessfully attempted to find work in broadcast journalism. Frustrated, she joined an acting workshop and soon found roles on such TV series as "Matt Houston", "Fantasy Island" and "Alice".


title: Jean Kasem

text: Kasem played the recurring role of Loretta Tortelli, the wife of Nick Tortelli (Dan Hedaya) on "Cheers" and as a cast-member of the short-lived spinoff "The Tortellis". She has also worked as voice actor for such animated television series as "Darkwing Duck", "2 Stupid Dogs", "Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!", "Johnny Bravo", and "Mother Goose and Grimm".


title: Jean Kasem

text: She made guest appearances in several movies and television shows, including "Growing Pains", "Cybill", "Hunter", "Family Feud", "Hollywood Squares", "My Two Dads", "Hope & Gloria" and others. She holds twelve patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, all pertaining to crib and canopy design, developed for her crib business, Little Miss Liberty Round Crib Company.


title: Jean Kasem

text: She was married to radio personality Casey Kasem from 1980 until his death in 2014, and they had one child together, Liberty Jean Kasem.


title: Jean Kasem

text: In 1989, Casey Kasem purchased a house built in 1954, previously owned by developer Abraham M. Lurie, as a birthday present for her.


title: Jean Kasem

text: Casey Kasem had three children from a previous marriage: Kerri, Julie, and Mike Kasem. In October 2013, Kerri Kasem said that her father was suffering from Parkinson's disease; a few months later, she said Casey Kasem had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, which is often difficult to differentiate from Parkinson's. Owing to his condition, he was no longer able to speak.


title: Jean Kasem

text: On October 1, 2013, Kerri Kasem, her siblings, their uncle, Casey's brother, as well as numerous friends and colleagues protested outside Casey and Jean Kasem's home, saying Jean Kasem had been preventing contact with Casey Kasem for three months. Six days later, Julie Kasem and her husband, Dr. Jamil Aboulhosn, filed a conservatorship petition to place Casey Kasem under their care. The court denied their petition.


title: Jean Kasem

text: On May 12, 2014, Kerri Kasem was granted conservatorship over Jean Kasem's objection. The court ordered an investigation into Casey Kasem's whereabouts, after Jean Kasem's attorney argued the court had no jurisdiction as he was "no longer in the United States," but did not give any information to the court about Kasem's whereabouts. But after Casey was located in Washington state, Kerri Kasem was given custody.


title: Jean Kasem

text: Casey Kasem died on June 15, 2014, aged 82. His widow was given her husband's body for funeral arrangements, and Casey Kasem was buried in the Vestre Gravlund cemetery in Oslo, Norway.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: According to the museum, it is thought that the person had been sitting on the stone step waiting for the bank to open when the heat from the bomb burned the surrounding stone white and left their shadow. A black deposit was also found on the shadow. A piece of stone containing the artifact (3.3 meters wide by 2 meters high) was cut from the original location and moved to the museum.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: In January 1971, the museum acquired the stone on which the human shadow had become indistinct due to weathering. In April 1975, the museum began research into preserving the shadow. In 1991, the museum reported that earnest investigation of preservation methods had commenced. At present, the stone is surrounded by glass.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: It is thought that the person depicted in the stone died immediately with the flash of the atomic bomb, or after falling down after the explosion. Some people stated that they saw the person sitting at the entrance just before the bombing. A former soldier testified that he had recovered the person's body. However, the person's identity is still unknown. As of 2016, the museum exhibit states that "Several people have suggested that the person could be a member of their family". In the past, the museum exhibit contained a statement that the person was a 42-year-old woman named Mitsuno Ochi (越智ミツノ). As a result of these previous statements, some conclusions in the literature state that she was the person depicted in the stone.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: According to museum staff, many visitors to the museum believe that the shadow is the outline of a human vaporized immediately after the bombing. However, the possibility of human vaporization is not supported from a medical perspective. The ground surface temperature is thought to have ranged from 3,000 to 4,000 degrees Celsius just after the bombing. Exposing a body to this level of radiant heat would leave bones and carbonized organs behind. While radiation could severely inflame and ulcerate the skin, complete vaporization of the body is impossible.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: Human Shadow Etched in Stone was originally part of the stone steps at the entrance of the Hiroshima Branch of Sumitomo Bank, located 260 meters from ground zero. The current location of the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Hiroshima Branch is Kamiya-cho 1 Chome.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: The bank was built in 1928. It was designed by at the department of engineering of Sumitomo Group (now Nikken Sekkei), and was constructed by the Obayashi Corporation. The building was constructed out of reinforced concrete, with four floors above ground and one below with an open ceiling up to the third floor. The rooms for business, reception and coinage were on the first floor, the meeting rooms and cafeteria on the fourth floor, and the boiler room in the basement. It was built south of the head office of Geibi Bank (Now head office of ,) which had been built the year before and was almost the same size. It was designed in a general Romanesque architectural style, and was characterized by a large arch with molding on its front facade.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: It was not totally destroyed in the bombing of August 6, 1945. While the interior was destroyed, the exterior remained. The coin room was not damaged, and the cash and passbooks remained. Papers inside the building were blown as far away as by the blast.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: On the morning of the bombing, the bank was to be open as usual. Most of the employees were on their way to the office when the bomb was dropped. There were 29 employees killed immediately (including those in the branch and those on their way to work), 40 were injured and none missing. Some of the survivors died within a few days from radiation sickness, while others worked until retirement. Passersby took refuge in the building as it was close to ground zero, and a large number of bodies were recovered.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: The branch reopened after the war, and the entrance soon became a famous landmark of the damage caused by the atomic bombing. It was officially recognized by Hiroshima City as an A-bomb site. In those days, the shadow was called "Human Shadow of Death". According to a testimony, it was the second most famous sight next to the Atomic Bomb Dome. Sumitomo Bank went to great lengths to preserve the shadow. In 1959 they built a fence surrounding the stone, and in 1967 they covered the stone with tempered glass to prevent deterioration.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: In 1971, the Hiroshima Branch was planned to be rebuilt. The stone around the shadow was cut out and donated to the museum.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: According to (1947–), a radiology scientist, in his childhood he heard that the shadow had been generated by "human vaporization". "Journal on the damage of atomic bombing in Hiroshima" (広島原爆戦災誌), published by Hiroshima City in 1971, also contains a description implying human vaporization, which is now proven to be impossible.


title: Human Shadow Etched in Stone

text: In the 1994 Committee on Health and Welfare of the House of Councillors, mentioned the stone, saying "One was vaporized and vanished immediately. Only the shadow remained."


title: Food additive

text: Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance taste, appearance, or other sensory qualities. Some additives have been used for centuries as part of an effort to preserve food, for example vinegar (pickling), salt (salting), smoke (smoking), sugar (crystallization), etc. This allows for longer-lasting foods such as bacon, sweets or wines. With the advent of processed foods in the second half of the twentieth century, many additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin. Food additives also include substances that may be introduced to food indirectly (called "indirect additives") in the manufacturing process, through packaging, or during storage or transport.


title: Food additive

text: To regulate these additives and inform consumers, each additive is assigned a unique number called an "E number", which is used in Europe for all approved additives. This numbering scheme has now been adopted and extended by the "Codex Alimentarius" Commission to internationally identify all additives, regardless of whether they are approved for use.


title: Food additive

text: E numbers are all prefixed by "E", but countries outside Europe use only the number, whether the additive is approved in Europe or not.


title: Food additive

text: For example, acetic acid is written as E260 on products sold in Europe, but is simply known as additive 260 in some countries. Additive 103, alkannin, is not approved for use in Europe so does not have an E number, although it is approved for use in Australia and New Zealand. Since 1987, Australia has had an approved system of labelling for additives in packaged foods. Each food additive has to be named or numbered. The numbers are the same as in Europe, but without the prefix "E".


title: Food additive

text: The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lists these items as "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS); they are listed under both their Chemical Abstracts Service number and FDA regulation under the United States Code of Federal Regulations.


title: Food additive

text: Food additives can be divided into several groups, although there is some overlap because some additives exert more than one effect. For example, salt is both a preservative as well as a flavor.


title: Food additive

text: With the increasing use of processed foods since the 19th century, food additives are more widely used. Many countries regulate their use. For example, boric acid was widely used as a food preservative from the 1870s to the 1920s, but was banned after World War I due to its toxicity, as demonstrated in animal and human studies. During World War II, the urgent need for cheap, available food preservatives led to it being used again, but it was finally banned in the 1950s. Such cases led to a general mistrust of food additives, and an application of the precautionary principle led to the conclusion that only additives that are known to be safe should be used in foods. In the United States, this led to the adoption of the Delaney clause, an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, stating that no carcinogenic substances may be used as food additives. However, after the banning of cyclamates in the United States and Britain in 1969, saccharin, the only remaining legal artificial sweetener at the time, was found to cause cancer in rats. Widespread public outcry in the United States, partly communicated to Congress by postage-paid postcards supplied in the packaging of sweetened soft drinks, led to the retention of saccharin, despite its violation of the Delaney clause. However, in 2000, saccharin was found to be carcinogenic in rats due only to their unique urine chemistry.


title: Food additive

text: In 2007, Food Standards Australia New Zealand published an official shoppers' guidance with which the concerns of food additives and their labeling are mediated. In the EU it can take 10 years or more to obtain approval for a new food additive. This includes five years of safety testing, followed by two years for evaluation by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and another three years before the additive receives an EU-wide approval for use in every country in the European Union. Apart from testing and analyzing food products during the whole production process to ensure safety and compliance with regulatory standards, Trading Standards officers (in the UK) protect the public from any illegal use or potentially dangerous mis-use of food additives by performing random testing of food products.


title: Food additive

text: There has been significant controversy associated with the risks and benefits of food additives. Natural additives may be similarly harmful or be the cause of allergic reactions in certain individuals. For example, safrole was used to flavor root beer until it was shown to be carcinogenic. Due to the application of the Delaney clause, it may not be added to foods, even though it occurs naturally in sassafras and sweet basil.


title: Food additive

text: Periodically, concerns have been expressed about a linkage between additives and hyperactivity, however "no clear evidence of ADHD was


title: Food additive

text: In 2012, the EFSA proposed the tier approach to evaluate the potential toxicity of food additives. It is based on four dimensions: toxicokinetics (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion); genotoxicity; subchronic (at least 90 data) and chronic toxicity and carcinogenity; reproductive and developmental toxicity. Recent work has demonstrated that certain food additives such as carboxymethylcellulose may cause encroachment of microbes from the gastrointestinal tract into the protective mucus layer that lines the intestines. Additional preclinical work suggests that emulsifiers may disrupt the gut microbiome, cause or exacerbate inflammation, and increase intestinal permeability. Other food additives in processed foods, such as xanthan gum, have also been shown to influence the ecology of human gut microbiomes and may play a role in the divergence of gut microbiomes in industrialized societies as compared to pre-industrialized societies. Although still controversial, some scientists hypothesize that these changes to human gut microbiomes may be a contributing factor to the rise in chronic inflammatory diseases in industrialized populations.


title: Food additive

text: A subset of food additives, micronutrients added in food fortification processes preserve nutrient value by providing vitamins and minerals to foods such as flour, cereal, margarine and milk which normally would not retain such high levels. Added ingredients, such as air, bacteria, fungi, and yeast, also contribute manufacturing and flavor qualities, and reduce spoilage.


title: Food additive

text: The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines a food additive as “any substance the intended use of which results or may reasonably be expected to result directly or indirectly in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any food”. In order for a novel food additive to be approved in the U.S., a food additive approval petition (FAP) must be submitted to the FDA. The identity of the ingredient, the proposed use in the food system, the technical effect of the ingredient, a method of analysis for the ingredient in foods, information on the manufacturing process, and full safety reports must be defined in a FAP. For FDA approval of a FAP, the FDA evaluates the chemical composition of the ingredient, the quantities that would be typically consumed, acute and chronic health impacts, and other safety factors. The FDA reviews the petition prior to market approval of the additive.


title: Food additive

text: ISO has published a series of standards regarding the topic and these standards are covered by ICS 67.220.


title: Competition law

text: Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust law (or just antitrust), trust busting (particularly in the United States), anti-monopoly law, and trade practices law.


title: Competition law

text: The history of competition law reaches back to the Roman Empire. The business practices of market traders, guilds and governments have always been subject to scrutiny, and sometimes severe sanctions. Since the 20th century, competition law has become global. The two largest and most influential systems of competition regulation are United States antitrust law and European Union competition law. National and regional competition authorities across the world have formed international support and enforcement networks.


title: Competition law

text: Modern competition law has historically evolved on a national level to promote and maintain fair competition in markets principally within the territorial boundaries of nation-states. National competition law usually does not cover activity beyond territorial borders unless it has significant effects at nation-state level. Countries may allow for extraterritorial jurisdiction in competition cases based on so-called "effects doctrine". The protection of international competition is governed by international competition agreements. In 1945, during the negotiations preceding the adoption of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947, limited international competition obligations were proposed within the "Charter for an International Trade Organisation". These obligations were not included in GATT, but in 1994, with the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of GATT multilateral negotiations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was created. The "Agreement Establishing the WTO" included a range of limited provisions on various cross-border competition issues on a sector specific basis.


title: Competition law

text: Substance and practice of competition law varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Protecting the interests of consumers (consumer welfare) and ensuring that entrepreneurs have an opportunity to compete in the market economy are often treated as important objectives. Competition law is closely connected with law on deregulation of access to markets, state aids and subsidies, the privatization of state owned assets and the establishment of independent sector regulators, among other market-oriented supply-side policies. In recent decades, competition law has been viewed as a way to provide better public services. Robert Bork argued that competition laws can produce adverse effects when they reduce competition by protecting inefficient competitors and when costs of legal intervention are greater than benefits for the consumers.


title: Competition law

text: An early example was enacted during the Roman Republic around 50 BC. To protect the grain trade, heavy fines were imposed on anyone directly, deliberately, and insidiously stopping supply ships. Under Diocletian in 301 A.D., an edict imposed the death penalty for anyone violating a tariff system, for example by buying up, concealing, or contriving the scarcity of everyday goods. More legislation came under the constitution of Zeno of 483 A.D., which can be traced into Florentine municipal laws of 1322 and 1325. This provided for confiscation of property and banishment for any trade combination or joint action of monopolies private "or" granted by the Emperor. Zeno rescinded all previously granted exclusive rights. Justinian I subsequently introduced legislation to pay officials to manage state monopolies.


title: Competition law

text: Legislation in England to control monopolies and restrictive practices was in force well before the Norman Conquest. The Domesday Book recorded that "foresteel" (i.e. forestalling, the practice of buying up goods before they reach market and then inflating the prices) was one of three forfeitures that King Edward the Confessor could carry out through England. But concern for fair prices also led to attempts to directly regulate the market. Under Henry III an act was passed in 1266 to fix bread and ale prices in correspondence with grain prices laid down by the assizes. Penalties for breach included amercements, pillory and tumbrel. A 14th-century statute labelled forestallers as "oppressors of the poor and the community at large and enemies of the whole country". Under King Edward III the Statute of Labourers of 1349 fixed wages of artificers and workmen and decreed that foodstuffs should be sold at reasonable prices. On top of existing penalties, the statute stated that overcharging merchants must pay the injured party double the sum he received, an idea that has been replicated in punitive treble damages under US antitrust law. Also under Edward III, the following statutory provision outlawed trade combination.


title: Competition law

text: In continental Europe, competition principles developed in "lex mercatoria". Examples of legislation enshrining competition principles include the "constitutiones juris metallici" by Wenceslaus II of Bohemia between 1283 and 1305, condemning combination of ore traders increasing prices; the Municipal Statutes of Florence in 1322 and 1325 followed Zeno's legislation against state monopolies; and under Emperor Charles V in the Holy Roman Empire a law was passed "to prevent losses resulting from monopolies and improper contracts which many merchants and artisans made in the Netherlands". In 1553, Henry VIII of England reintroduced tariffs for foodstuffs, designed to stabilize prices, in the face of fluctuations in supply from overseas. So the legislation read here that whereas,


title: Competition law

text: Around this time organizations representing various tradesmen and handicrafts people, known as guilds had been developing, and enjoyed many concessions and exemptions from the laws against monopolies. The privileges conferred were not abolished until the Municipal Corporations Act 1835.


title: Competition law

text: The English common law of restraint of trade is the direct predecessor to modern competition law later developed in the US. It is based on the prohibition of agreements that ran counter to public policy, unless the reasonableness of an agreement could be shown. It effectively prohibited agreements designed to restrain another's trade. The 1414 "Dyer's" is the first known restrictive trade agreement to be examined under English common law. A dyer had given a bond not to exercise his trade in the same town as the plaintiff for six months but the plaintiff had promised nothing in return. On hearing the plaintiff's attempt to enforce this restraint, Hull J exclaimed, "per Dieu, if the plaintiff were here, he should go to prison until he had paid a fine to the King". The court denied the collection of a bond for the dyer's breach of agreement because the agreement was held to be a restriction on trade. English courts subsequently decided a range of cases which gradually developed competition related case law, which eventually were transformed into statute law.


title: Competition law

text: Europe around the 16th century was changing quickly. The new world had just been opened up, overseas trade and plunder was pouring wealth through the international economy and attitudes among businessmen were shifting. In 1561 a system of Industrial Monopoly Licenses, similar to modern patents had been introduced into England. But by the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the system was reputedly much abused and used merely to preserve privileges, encouraging nothing new in the way of innovation or manufacture. In response English courts developed case law on restrictive business practices. The statute followed the unanimous decision in "Darcy v. Allein" 1602, also known as the Case of Monopolies, of the King's Bench to declare void the sole right that Queen Elizabeth I had granted to Darcy to import playing cards into England. Darcy, an officer of the Queen's household, claimed damages for the defendant's infringement of this right. The court found the grant void and that three characteristics of monopoly were (1) price increases, (2) quality decrease, (3) the tendency to reduce artificers to idleness and beggary. This put an end to granted monopolies until King James I began to grant them again. In 1623 Parliament passed the Statute of Monopolies, which for the most part excluded patent rights from its prohibitions, as well as guilds. From King Charles I, through the civil war and to King Charles II, monopolies continued, especially useful for raising revenue. Then in 1684, in "East India Company v. Sandys" it was decided that exclusive rights to trade only outside the realm were legitimate, on the grounds that only large and powerful concerns could trade in the conditions prevailing overseas.


title: Competition law

text: The development of early competition law in England and Europe progressed with the diffusion of writings such as "The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith, who first established the concept of the "market economy". At the same time industrialisation replaced the individual artisan, or group of artisans, with paid labourers and machine-based production. Commercial success increasingly dependent on maximizing production while minimizing cost. Therefore, the size of a company became increasingly important, and a number of European countries responded by enacting laws to regulate large companies that restricted trade. Following the French Revolution in 1789 the law of 14–17 June 1791 declared agreements by members of the same trade that fixed the price of an industry or labour as void, unconstitutional, and hostile to liberty. Similarly, the Austrian Penal Code of 1852 established that "agreements ... to raise the price of a commodity ... to the disadvantage of the public should be punished as misdemeanours". Austria passed a law in 1870 abolishing the penalties, though such agreements remained void. However, in Germany laws clearly validated agreements between firms to raise prices. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, ideas that dominant private companies or legal monopolies could excessively restrict trade were further developed in Europe. However, as in the late 19th century, a depression spread through Europe, known as the Panic of 1873, ideas of competition lost favour, and it was felt that companies had to co-operate by forming cartels to withstand huge pressures on prices and profits.


title: Competition law

text: While the development of competition law stalled in Europe during the late 19th century, in 1889 Canada enacted what is considered the first competition statute of modern times. The "Act for the Prevention and Suppression of Combinations formed in restraint of Trade" was passed one year before the United States enacted the most famous legal statute on competition law, the Sherman Act of 1890. It was named after Senator John Sherman who argued that the Act "does not announce a new principle of law, but applies old and well recognised principles of common law".


title: Competition law

text: The Sherman Act of 1890 attempted to outlaw the restriction of competition by large companies, who co-operated with rivals to fix outputs, prices and market shares, initially through "pools" and later through "trusts". Trusts first appeared in the US railroads, where the capital requirement of railroad construction precluded competitive services in then scarcely settled territories. This trust allowed railroads to discriminate on rates imposed and services provided to consumers and businesses and to destroy potential competitors. Different trusts could be dominant in different industries. The Standard Oil Company trust in the 1880s controlled several markets, including the market in fuel oil, lead and whiskey. Vast numbers of citizens became sufficiently aware and publicly concerned about how the trusts negatively impacted them that the Act became a priority for both major parties. A primary concern of this act is that competitive markets themselves should provide the primary regulation of prices, outputs, interests and profits. Instead, the Act outlawed anticompetitive practices, codifying the common law restraint of trade doctrine. Prof Rudolph Peritz has argued that competition law in the United States has evolved around two sometimes conflicting concepts of competition: first that of individual liberty, free of government intervention, and second a fair competitive environment free of excessive economic power. Since the enactment of the Sherman Act enforcement of competition law has been based on various economic theories adopted by Government.


title: Competition law

text: Section 1 of the Sherman Act declared illegal "every contract, in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations." Section 2 prohibits monopolies, or attempts and conspiracies to monopolize. Following the enactment in 1890 US court applies these principles to business and markets. Courts applied the Act without consistent economic analysis until 1914, when it was complemented by the Clayton Act which specifically prohibited exclusive dealing agreements, particularly tying agreements and interlocking directorates, and mergers achieved by purchasing stock. From 1915 onwards the "rule of reason" analysis was frequently applied by courts to competition cases. However, the period was characterized by the lack of competition law enforcement. From 1936 to 1972 courts' application of antitrust law was dominated by the "structure-conduct-performance" paradigm of the Harvard School. From 1973 to 1991, the enforcement of antitrust law was based on efficiency explanations as the Chicago School became dominant, and through legal writings such as Judge Robert Bork's book "The Antitrust Paradox". Since 1992 game theory has frequently been used in antitrust cases.


title: Competition law

text: With the Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, mergers and acquisitions came into additional scrutiny from U.S. regulators. Under the act, parties must make a pre-merger notification to the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission prior to the completion of a transaction. As of February 2, 2021, the FTC reduced the Hart-Scott-Rodino reporting threshold to $92 million in combined assets for the transaction.


title: Competition law

text: Competition law gained new recognition in Europe in the inter-war years, with Germany enacting its first anti-cartel law in 1923 and Sweden and Norway adopting similar laws in 1925 and 1926 respectively. However, with the Great Depression of 1929 competition law disappeared from Europe and was revived following the Second World War when the United Kingdom and Germany, following pressure from the United States, became the first European countries to adopt fully fledged competition laws. At a regional level EU competition law has its origins in the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) agreement between France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany in 1951 following the Second World War. The agreement aimed to prevent Germany from re-establishing dominance in the production of coal and steel as it was felt that this dominance had contributed to the outbreak of the war. Article 65 of the agreement banned cartels and article 66 made provisions for concentrations, or mergers, and the abuse of a dominant position by companies. This was the first time that competition law principles were included in a plurilateral regional agreement and established the trans-European model of competition law. In 1957 competition rules were included in the Treaty of Rome, also known as the EC Treaty, which established the European Economic Community (EEC). The Treaty of Rome established the enactment of competition law as one of the main aims of the EEC through the "institution of a system ensuring that competition in the common market is not distorted". The two central provisions on EU competition law on companies were established in article 85, which prohibited anti-competitive agreements, subject to some exemptions, and article 86 prohibiting the abuse of dominant position. The treaty also established principles on competition law for member states, with article 90 covering public undertakings, and article 92 making provisions on state aid. Regulations on mergers were not included as member states could not establish consensus on the issue at the time.


title: Competition law

text: Today, the Treaty of Lisbon prohibits anti-competitive agreements in Article 101(1), including price fixing. According to Article 101(2) any such agreements are automatically void. Article 101(3) establishes exemptions, if the collusion is for distributional or technological innovation, gives consumers a "fair share" of the benefit and does not include unreasonable restraints that risk eliminating competition anywhere (or compliant with the general principle of European Union law of proportionality). Article 102 prohibits the abuse of dominant position, such as price discrimination and exclusive dealing. Regulation 139/2004/EC governs mergers between firms. The general test is whether a concentration (i.e. merger or acquisition) with a community dimension (i.e. affects a number of EU member states) might significantly impede effective competition. Articles 106 and 107 provide that member state's right to deliver public services may not be obstructed, but that otherwise public enterprises must adhere to the same competition principles as companies. Article 107 lays down a general rule that the state may not aid or subsidize private parties in distortion of free competition and provides exemptions for charities, regional development objectives and in the event of a natural disaster.


title: Competition law

text: Leading ECJ cases on competition law include "Consten & Grundig v Commission" and "United Brands v Commission".


title: Competition law

text: India responded positively by opening up its economy by removing controls during the Economic liberalisation. In quest of increasing the efficiency of the nation's economy, the Government of India acknowledged the Liberalization Privatization Globalization era. As a result, Indian market faces competition from within and outside the country. This led to the need of a strong legislation to dispense justice in commercial matters and the Competition Act, 2002 was passed. The history of competition law in India dates back to the 1960s when the first competition law, namely the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act (MRTP) was enacted in 1969. But after the economic reforms in 1991, this legislation was found to be obsolete in many aspects and as a result, a new competition law in the form of the Competition Act, 2002 was enacted in 2003. The Competition Commission of India, is the quasi judicial body established for enforcing provisions of the Competition Act.


title: Competition law

text: The Anti Monopoly Law of China came into effect in 2008. For years, it was enforced by three different branches of government, but since 2018 its enforcement has been the responsibility of the State Administration for Market Regulation. The "People's Daily" reported that the law had generated 11 billion RMB of penalties between 2008 and 2018.


title: Competition law

text: By 2008 111 countries had enacted competition laws, which is more than 50 percent of countries with a population exceeding 80,000 people. 81 of the 111 countries had adopted their competition laws in the past 20 years, signaling the spread of competition law following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the expansion of the European Union. Currently competition authorities of many states closely co-operate, on everyday basis, with foreign counterparts in their enforcement efforts, also in such key area as information / evidence sharing.


title: Competition law

text: In many of Asia's developing countries, including India, Competition law is considered a tool to stimulate economic growth. In Korea and Japan, the competition law prevents certain forms of conglomerates. In addition, competition law has promoted fairness in China and Indonesia as well as international integration in Vietnam. Hong Kong's Competition Ordinance came into force in the year 2015.


title: Competition law

text: As part of the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community, the member states of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) pledged to enact competition laws and policies by the end of 2015. Today, all ten member states have general competition legislation in place. While there remains differences between regimes (for example, over merger control notification rules, or leniency policies for whistle-blowers), and it is unlikely that there will be a supranational competition authority for ASEAN (akin to the European Union), there is a clear trend towards increase in infringement investigations or decisions on cartel enforcement.


title: Competition law

text: At a national level competition law is enforced through competition authorities, as well as private enforcement. The United States Supreme Court explained:


title: Competition law

text: In the European Union, the Modernisation Regulation 1/2003 means that the European Commission is no longer the only body capable of public enforcement of European Union competition law. This was done to facilitate quicker resolution of competition-related inquiries. In 2005 the Commission issued a Green Paper on "Damages actions for the breach of the EC antitrust rules", which suggested ways of making private damages claims against cartels easier.


title: Competition law

text: Some EU Member States enforce their competition laws with criminal sanctions. As analysed by Professor Whelan, these types of sanctions engender a number of significant theoretical, legal and practical challenges.


title: Competition law

text: Chapter 5 of the post war Havana Charter contained an Antitrust code but this was never incorporated into the WTO's forerunner, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1947. Office of Fair Trading Director and Professor Richard Whish wrote sceptically that it "seems unlikely at the current stage of its development that the WTO will metamorphose into a global competition authority". Despite that, at the ongoing Doha round of trade talks for the World Trade Organization, discussion includes the prospect of competition law enforcement moving up to a global level. While it is incapable of enforcement itself, the newly established International Competition Network (ICN) is a way for national authorities to coordinate their own enforcement activities.


title: Competition law

text: Under the doctrine of laissez-faire, antitrust is seen as unnecessary as competition is viewed as a long-term dynamic process where firms compete against each other for market dominance. In some markets, a firm may successfully dominate, but it is because of superior skill or innovativeness. However, according to laissez-faire theorists, when it tries to raise prices to take advantage of its monopoly position it creates profitable opportunities for others to compete. A process of creative destruction begins which erodes the monopoly. Therefore, government should not try to break up monopoly but should allow the market to work.


title: Competition law

text: The classical perspective on competition was that certain agreements and business practice could be an unreasonable restraint on the individual liberty of tradespeople to carry on their livelihoods. Restraints were judged as permissible or not by courts as new cases appeared and in the light of changing business circumstances. Hence the courts found specific categories of agreement, specific clauses, to fall foul of their doctrine on economic fairness, and they did not contrive an overarching conception of market power. Earlier theorists like Adam Smith rejected any monopoly power on this basis.


title: Competition law

text: In "The Wealth of Nations" (1776) Adam Smith also pointed out the cartel problem, but did not advocate specific legal measures to combat them.


title: Competition law

text: By the latter half of the 19th century, it had become clear that large firms had become a fact of the market economy. John Stuart Mill's approach was laid down in his treatise "On Liberty" (1859).


title: Competition law

text: After Mill, there was a shift in economic theory, which emphasized a more precise and theoretical model of competition. A simple neo-classical model of free markets holds that production and distribution of goods and services in competitive free markets maximizes social welfare. This model assumes that new firms can freely enter markets and compete with existing firms, or to use legal language, there are no barriers to entry. By this term economists mean something very specific, that competitive free markets deliver allocative, productive and dynamic efficiency. Allocative efficiency is also known as Pareto efficiency after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto and means that resources in an economy over the long run will go precisely to those who are willing and able to pay for them. Because rational producers will keep producing and selling, and buyers will keep buying up to the last marginal unit of possible output – or alternatively rational producers will be reduce their output to the margin at which buyers will buy the same amount as produced – there is no waste, the greatest number wants of the greatest number of people become satisfied and utility is perfected because resources can no longer be reallocated to make anyone better off without making someone else worse off; society has achieved allocative efficiency. Productive efficiency simply means that society is making as much as it can. Free markets are meant to reward those who work hard, and therefore those who will put society's resources towards the frontier of its possible production. Dynamic efficiency refers to the idea that business which constantly competes must research, create and innovate to keep its share of consumers. This traces to Austrian-American political scientist Joseph Schumpeter's notion that a "perennial gale of creative destruction" is ever sweeping through capitalist economies, driving enterprise at the market's mercy. This led Schumpeter to argue that monopolies did not need to be broken up (as with Standard Oil) because the next gale of economic innovation would do the same.


title: Competition law

text: Contrasting with the allocatively, productively and dynamically efficient market model are monopolies, oligopolies, and cartels. When only one or a few firms exist in the market, and there is no credible threat of the entry of competing firms, prices rise above the competitive level, to either a monopolistic or oligopolistic equilibrium price. Production is also decreased, further decreasing social welfare by creating a deadweight loss. Sources of this market power are said to include the existence of externalities, barriers to entry of the market, and the free rider problem. Markets may fail to be efficient for a variety of reasons, so the exception of competition law's intervention to the rule of "laissez faire" is justified if government failure can be avoided. Orthodox economists fully acknowledge that perfect competition is seldom observed in the real world, and so aim for what is called "workable competition". This follows the theory that if one cannot achieve the ideal, then go for the second best option by using the law to tame market operation where it can.


title: Competition law

text: A group of economists and lawyers, who are largely associated with the University of Chicago, advocate an approach to competition law guided by the proposition that some actions that were originally considered to be anticompetitive could actually promote competition. The U.S. Supreme Court has used the Chicago school approach in several recent cases. One view of the Chicago school approach to antitrust is found in United States Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner's books "Antitrust Law" and "Economic Analysis of Law".


title: Competition law

text: Robert Bork was highly critical of court decisions on United States antitrust law in a series of law review articles and his book "The Antitrust Paradox". Bork argued that both the original intention of antitrust laws and economic efficiency was the pursuit "only" of consumer welfare, the protection of competition rather than competitors. Furthermore, only a few acts should be prohibited, namely cartels that fix prices and divide markets, mergers that create monopolies, and dominant firms pricing predatorily, while allowing such practices as vertical agreements and price discrimination on the grounds that it did not harm consumers. Running through the different critiques of US antitrust policy is the common theme that government interference in the operation of free markets does more harm than good. "The only cure for bad theory," writes Bork, "is better theory." Harvard Law School professor Philip Areeda, who favours more aggressive antitrust policy, in at least one Supreme Court case challenged Robert Bork's preference for non-intervention.


title: Competition law

text: When firms hold large market shares, consumers risk paying higher prices and getting lower quality products than compared to competitive markets. However, the existence of a very high market share does not always mean consumers are paying excessive prices since the threat of new entrants to the market can restrain a high-market-share firm's price increases. Competition law does not make merely having a monopoly illegal, but rather abusing the power that a monopoly may confer, for instance through exclusionary practices.


title: Competition law

text: First, it is necessary to determine whether a firm is dominant, or whether it behaves "to an appreciable extent independently of its competitors, customers and ultimately of its consumer". Under EU law, very large market shares raise a presumption that a firm is dominant, which may be rebuttable. If a firm has a dominant position, then there is "a special responsibility not to allow its conduct to impair competition on the common market". Similarly as with collusive conduct, market shares are determined with reference to the particular market in which the firm and product in question is sold. Then although the lists are seldom closed, certain categories of abusive conduct are usually prohibited under the country's legislation. For instance, limiting production at a shipping port by refusing to raise expenditure and update technology could be abusive. Tying one product into the sale of another can be considered abuse too, being restrictive of consumer choice and depriving competitors of outlets. This was the alleged case in "Microsoft v. Commission" leading to an eventual fine of million for including its Windows Media Player with the Microsoft Windows platform. A refusal to supply a facility which is essential for all businesses attempting to compete to use can constitute an abuse. One example was in a case involving a medical company named "Commercial Solvents". When it set up its own rival in the tuberculosis drugs market, Commercial Solvents were forced to continue supplying a company named Zoja with the raw materials for the drug. Zoja was the only market competitor, so without the court forcing supply, all competition would have been eliminated.


title: Competition law

text: Forms of abuse relating directly to pricing include price exploitation. It is difficult to prove at what point a dominant firm's prices become "exploitative" and this category of abuse is rarely found. In one case however, a French funeral service was found to have demanded exploitative prices, and this was justified on the basis that prices of funeral services outside the region could be compared. A more tricky issue is predatory pricing. This is the practice of dropping prices of a product so much that one's smaller competitors cannot cover their costs and fall out of business. The Chicago school considers predatory pricing to be unlikely. However, in "France Telecom SA v. Commission" a broadband internet company was forced to pay $13.9 million for dropping its prices below its own production costs. It had "no interest in applying such prices except that of eliminating competitors" and was being cross-subsidized to capture the lion's share of a booming market. One last category of pricing abuse is price discrimination. An example of this could be a company offering rebates to industrial customers who export their sugar, but not to customers who are selling their goods in the same market.


title: Competition law

text: According to The World Bank's "Republic of Armenia Accumulation, Competition, and Connectivity Global Competition" report which was published in 2013, the Global Competitiveness Index suggests that Armenia ranks lowest among ECA (Europe and Central Asia) countries in the effectiveness of anti-monopoly policy and the intensity of competition. This low ranking somehow explains the low employment and low incomes in Armenia.


title: Competition law

text: A merger or acquisition involves, from a competition law perspective, the concentration of economic power in the hands of fewer than before. This usually means that one firm buys out the shares of another. The reasons for oversight of economic concentrations by the state are the same as the reasons to restrict firms who abuse a position of dominance, only that regulation of mergers and acquisitions attempts to deal with the problem before it arises, "ex ante" prevention of market dominance. In the United States merger regulation began under the Clayton Act, and in the European Union, under the Merger Regulation 139/2004 (known as the "ECMR"). Competition law requires that firms proposing to merge gain authorization from the relevant government authority. The theory behind mergers is that transaction costs can be reduced compared to operating on an open market through bilateral contracts. Concentrations can increase economies of scale and scope. However often firms take advantage of their increase in market power, their increased market share and decreased number of competitors, which can adversely affect the deal that consumers get. Merger control is about predicting what the market might be like, not knowing and making a judgment. Hence the central provision under EU law asks whether a concentration "would", if it went ahead, "significantly impede effective competition... in particular as a result of the creation or strengthening off a dominant position..." and the corresponding provision under US antitrust states similarly,


title: Competition law

text: What amounts to a substantial lessening of, or significant impediment to competition is usually answered through empirical study. The market shares of the merging companies can be assessed and added, although this kind of analysis only gives rise to presumptions, not conclusions. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index is used to calculate the "density" of the market, or what concentration exists. Aside from the maths, it is important to consider the product in question and the rate of technical innovation in the market. A further problem of collective dominance, or oligopoly through "economic links" can arise, whereby the new market becomes more conducive to collusion. It is relevant how transparent a market is, because a more concentrated structure could mean firms can coordinate their behavior more easily, whether firms can deploy deterrents and whether firms are safe from a reaction by their competitors and consumers. The entry of new firms to the market, and any barriers that they might encounter should be considered. If firms are shown to be creating an uncompetitive concentration, in the US they can still argue that they create efficiencies enough to outweigh any detriment, and similar reference to "technical and economic progress" is mentioned in Art. 2 of the ECMR. Another defense might be that a firm which is being taken over is about to fail or go insolvent, and taking it over leaves a no less competitive state than what would happen anyway. Mergers vertically in the market are rarely of concern, although in "AOL/Time Warner" the European Commission required that a joint venture with a competitor Bertelsmann be ceased beforehand. The EU authorities have also focused lately on the effect of conglomerate mergers, where companies acquire a large portfolio of related products, though without necessarily dominant shares in any individual market.


title: Competition law

text: Competition law has become increasingly intertwined with intellectual property, such as copyright, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and in some jurisdictions trade secrets. It is believed that promotion of innovation through enforcement of intellectual property rights may promote as well as limit competitiveness. The question rests on whether it is legal to acquire monopoly through accumulation of intellectual property rights. In which case, the judgment needs to decide between giving preference to intellectual property rights or to competitiveness:


title: Competition law

text: Some scholars suggest that a prize instead of patent would solve the problem of deadweight loss, when innovators got their reward from the prize, provided by the government or non-profit organization, rather than directly selling to the market, see Millennium Prize Problems. However, innovators may accept the prize only when it is at least as much as how much they earn from patent, which is a question difficult to determine.


title: Indoctrination

text: Indoctrination is the process of inculcating a person with ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or professional methodologies (see doctrine).


title: Indoctrination

text: Humans are a social animal species inescapably shaped by cultural context, and thus some degree of indoctrination is implicit in the parent–child relationship, and has an essential function in forming stable communities of shared values, and thus should not be regarded as harmful, and is probably good or prosocial.


title: Indoctrination

text: The precise boundary between education and indoctrination often lies in the eye of the beholder. Some distinguish indoctrination from education on the basis that the indoctrinated person is expected not to question or critically examine the doctrine they have learned. As such the term may be used pejoratively or as a buzz word, often in the context of political opinions, theology, religious dogma or anti-religious convictions. The word itself came about in its first form in the 1620s as


title: Indoctrination

text: "endoctrinate", meaning to teach or to instruct, and was modeled from French or Latin. The word only gained the meaning of imbuing with an idea or opinion in the 1830s.


title: Indoctrination

text: The term is closely linked to socialization; however, in common discourse, "indoctrination" is often associated with negative connotations, while "socialization" functions as a generic descriptor conveying no specific value or connotation (some choosing to hear socialization as an inherently positive and necessary contribution to social order, others choosing to hear socialization as primarily an instrument of social oppression). Matters of doctrine (and indoctrination) have been contentious and divisive in human society dating back to antiquity. The expression attributed to Titus Lucretius Carus in the first century BCE "quod ali cibus est aliis fuat acre venenum" (what is food to one, is to others bitter poison) remains pertinent.


title: Indoctrination

text: In the political context, indoctrination is often analyzed as a tool of class warfare, where institutions of the state are identified as "conspiring" to maintain the status quo. Specifically the public educational system, the police, and mental health establishment are a commonly cited "modus operandi" of public pacification. In the extreme, an entire state can be implicated. George Orwell's book "Nineteen Eighty-Four" famously singled out explicit, state-mandated propaganda initiatives of totalitarian regimes. Opinions differ on whether other forms of government are less doctrinaire, or merely achieve the same ends through less obvious methods.


title: Indoctrination

text: Religious indoctrination, the original sense of "indoctrination", refers to a process of imparting doctrine in an authoritative way, as in catechism. Most religious groups among the revealed religions instruct new members in the principles of the religion; this is now not usually referred to as "indoctrination" by the religions themselves, in part because of the negative connotations the word has acquired. Mystery religions require a period of indoctrination before granting access to esoteric knowledge. (cf. Information security)


title: Indoctrination

text: As a pejorative term, "indoctrination" implies forcibly or coercively causing people to act and think on the basis of a certain ideology. Some secular critics believe that all religions indoctrinate their adherents, as children, and the accusation is made in the case of religious extremism. Sects such as Scientology use personality tests and peer pressures to indoctrinate new members. Some religions have commitment ceremonies for children 13 years and younger, such as Bar Mitzvah, Confirmation, and Shichi-Go-San. In Buddhism, temple boys are encouraged to follow the faith while young. Some critics of religion, such as Richard Dawkins, maintain that the children of religious parents are often unfairly indoctrinated.


title: Indoctrination

text: However, indoctrination can occur, and often does occur with great frequency, in non-religious or anti-religious contexts. For example, in the 20th century, the former People's Socialist Republic of Albania and the former USSR instituted programs of government-sponsored atheistic indoctrination in order to promote state atheism, specifically Marxist–Leninist atheism, within their citizenry. Sabrina P. Ramet, a professor of political science, documented that "from kindergarten onward children [were] indoctrinated with an aggressive form of atheism" and "to denounce parents who follow religious practices at home." However, after the death of Albania's leader, Enver Hoxha in 1985, his successor, Ramiz Alia, adopted a relatively tolerant stance toward religious practice, referring to it as "a personal and family matter." Émigré clergymen were permitted to reenter the country in 1988 and officiate at religious services. Mother Teresa, an ethnic Albanian, visited Tirana in 1989, where she was received by the foreign minister and by Hoxha's widow. In December 1990, the ban on religious observance was officially lifted, in time to allow thousands of Christians to attend Christmas services (see Freedom of religion in Albania).


title: Indoctrination

text: Similarly, in the former Soviet Union, "science education [in] Soviet schools [was] used as a vehicle for atheistic indoctrination", with teachers being instructed to prepare their course "so as to conduct anti-religious educations at all times," in order to comport with state-sanctioned Marxist–Leninist values. However, in 1997, several years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian government passed a law recognizing religion as being important to Russian history with Orthodox Christianity (Russian: Православие Pravoslaviye), Russia's traditional and largest religion, declared a part of Russia's "historical heritage."


title: Indoctrination

text: The initial psychological preparation of soldiers during training is referred to (non-pejoratively) as indoctrination.


title: Indoctrination

text: In the field of information security, indoctrination is the initial briefing and instructions given before a person is granted access to secret information.


title: Matthew Maher (actor)

text: Matthew Maher (born 1971/1972 in Arkabutla, Mississippi) is an American television and theater actor who has appeared in, among other works, "John from Cincinnati", "Outer Range", and "Our Flag Means Death".


title: Matthew Maher (actor)

text: He has also worked in such theaters as The Public Theater, New York Shakespeare Festival, Soho Rep, Berkeley Rep, and Actors Theater of Louisville. He has also appeared occasionally in feature films, including "Captain Marvel", "Funny Pages", and a number of films directed by Ben Affleck.


title: White lighter myth

text: The white lighter curse or white lighter myth is an urban legend based on the 27 Club in which it is claimed several musicians and artists died while in possession of a white lighter, leading white lighters to become associated with bad fortune. The myth is primarily based on the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain. The myth has been integrated with cannabis culture.


title: White lighter myth

text: In 2017, published an article discrediting the theory, noting that Bic did not begin producing white disposable lighters until several years after the deaths of members of the 27 Club (including Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, and Winehouse) and that disposable lighters produced by other companies were not widely available at that time.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: A mammy is a U.S. historical stereotype depicting black women who work in a white family and nurse the family's children. The fictionalized mammy character is often visualized as a larger-sized, dark-skinned woman with a motherly personality. The origin of the mammy figure stereotype is rooted in the history of slavery in the United States. Black slave women were tasked with domestic and childcare work in white American slaveholding households. The mammy stereotype was inspired by these domestic workers. The mammy caricature was used to create a narrative of black women being happy within slavery or within a role of servitude. The mammy stereotype associates black women with domestic roles and it has been argued it, combined with segregation and discrimination, limited job opportunities for black women during the Jim Crow era, approximately 1877 to 1966.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: The mammy caricature was first seen in the 1830s in antebellum proslavery literature as a way to oppose the description of slavery given by abolitionists. One of the earliest fictionalized versions of the mammy figure is Aunt Chloe in Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", first published in 1852.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: Some scholars see the mammy figure as rooted in the history of slavery in the United States. Slave African American women were tasked with the duties of domestic workers in white American households. Their duties included preparing meals, cleaning homes, and nursing and rearing their owners' children. Out of these circumstances arose the image of the mammy.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: While originating in the slavery period, the mammy figure rose to prominence during the Reconstruction Era. Some scholars feel that in the Southern United States, the mammy played a role in historical revisionism efforts to reinterpret and legitimize their legacy of chattel slavery and racial oppression. The mammy image became especially prominent in the era of racial segregation, and reproductions of it persisted into the 21st century.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: In 1923, the United Daughters of the Confederacy proposed the erection of a mammy statue on the National Mall. The proposed statue would have been dedicated to "The Black Mammy of the South". The bill received a standing ovation in the Senate, where it passed with bipartisan consensus, but died in committee in the House following written protests from thousands of black women.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: The historicity of the mammy figure is questionable. Historical accounts point to the identity of most female domestic servants as teenagers and young adults, not "grandmotherly types" such as the mammy. Melissa Harris-Perry has argued that the mammy was a creation of the imagination of the white supremacy, which reimagined the powerless, coerced slave girls as soothing, comfortable, and consenting women. This contradicts other historically accurate accounts of enslaved women fearing for their lives at the hands of abusive masters. In 1981, Andy Warhol included the mammy in his Myths series, alongside other mythological and folklore characters such as Santa Claus, Mickey Mouse, and Superman.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: In "Mammy: A Century of Race, Gender, and Southern Memory" (2008), Kimberly Wallace-Sanders argued that the mammy's stereotypical attributes point to the source of her inspiration: "a long lasting and troubled marriage of racial and gender essentialism, mythology, and southern nostalgia."


title: Mammy stereotype

text: The romanticized mammy image survives in the popular imagination of the modern United States. Psychologist Chanequa Walker-Barnes argues that political correctness has led to the mammy figure being less prevalent in the 21st-century culture, but the mammy archetype still influences the portrayal of African-American women in fiction, as good caretakers, nurturing, selfless, strong, and supportive, the supporting characters to white protagonists. She cites as examples Miranda Bailey, Mercedes Jones, and Ivy Wentz.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: The mammy is usually portrayed as an older woman, overweight, and dark skinned. She is an idealized figure of a caregiver: amiable, loyal, maternal, non-threatening, obedient, and submissive. The mammy figure demonstrates deference to white authority. On occasion, the mammy is also depicted as a sassy woman. She is devoted to her owners/employers and her primary goal in life is to care for their needs. In some portrayals, the mammy has a family of her own. But her caregiving duties always come first, leading to the mammy being portrayed as a neglectful parent or grandparent. And while the mammy is devoted to her white family, she often treats her own family poorly. Moreover, she has no black friends.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: Melissa Harris-Perry describes the relationship between the mammy and other African Americans in "Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America" (2011) by summarizing that "Mammy was not a protector or defender of black children or communities. She represented a maternal ideal, but not in caring for her own children. Her love, doting, advice, correction, and supervision were reserved exclusively for white women and children."


title: Mammy stereotype

text: This stereotype contrasts with the Jezebel stereotype, which depicts younger African-American women as conniving and promiscuous. The mammy is occasionally depicted as a religious woman. More often than not, the mammy is an asexual figure, "devoid of any personal desires that might tempt her to sin". This helps the mammy serve as both a confidante and a moral guide to her young charges, capable of keeping them in line.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: Kimberly Wallace-Sanders includes other characteristics of the mammy in "Mammy. A Century of Race, Gender, and Southern Memory" (2008): A large dark body, a round smiling face, a deeply sonorous and effortlessly soothing voice, a raucous laugh. Her personal attributes include infinite patience, self-deprecating wit, an implicit understanding and acceptance of her own inferiority, and her devotion to whites. The mammy was also large-breasted, desexualized, and potentially hostile towards black men. Many of these characteristics were denied to African-American female slaves but were generally attributed to the mammy.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: The dress often reflects the status of her owner. The mammy is usually neat and clean and wears attire that is suitable for her domestic duties. Sometimes a mammy considers herself to be dressed up, but that is usually just an addition of a bonnet and a silk velvet mantle, which probably belonged to her owner.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: The stereotypical mammy is often illiterate, though intelligent in her own way. However, as intelligent as she is, most of her intelligence is a result of past experiences and conflicts. In particular, a mammy of an aristocratic family can be identified by her air of refinement.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: When the mammy does not stay in the house of her owner or is not busy attending to the needs of the owner's children, she usually lives with her husband and children in a cabin that is distinguished from the cabins of the other enslaved people in either size or structure. Her cabin stands near the owner's house, but at a distance from the cabins of the other enslaved people.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: Although her duties are far less tiring and strenuous than those of the other slaves, her hours are often long, leaving little time for her own leisure. Not until the mammy becomes too old for these duties does she enjoy any home life of her own, since she is always preoccupied with the home life of her owner. There is a flexibility about the mammy's duties that distinguishes her from just being an ordinary nurse or a wet nurse, even though there is a possibility that she can perform either of these tasks. In some of the wealthier households, the fictional mammy has assistants who would help her take care of the household's children. These women are often much younger than the mammy herself.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: The mammy, unlike other slaves, is usually not up for sale, and the children of the mammy are kept in the same family for as long as possible, retaining the same relationships that the mammy has with the owner. There are oftentimes when a mammy is forced to leave her own children behind in order to care for the owner's children. In many cases mammies choice to even have their own children is taken away because they need to be able to fully provide nutrition to their owner's children, and there is a fear that if they are feeding their own children as well there may not be enough milk for the owner's children.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: The fictional role of the mammy in plantation households grows out of the roles of enslaved African-Americans on the plantation. African-American slaves played vital roles in the plantation household. For the mammy, the majority of these duties generally are related to caring for the children of the owner's family, thus relieving the mistress of the house of all the drudgery work that is associated with child care. When the children have grown up and were able to take care of themselves properly, the mammy's main role is to help the mistress with household tasks. As her years of service with the family increase, the mammy's sphere of influence increases as well. She is next to the mistress in authority and has the ability to give orders to everybody in the house.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: The mammy is often considered to be part of the slaveholding family as much as its blood members were considered. Although she is considered of a lower status, she is still included in the inner circle. She has often been referred to as a "unique type of foster motherhood". Aside from just tending to the needs of the children, the mammy is also responsible for teaching the proper etiquette to them, such as addressing the elders on the plantation as "aunt" or "uncle", as well as what was best to say on a particular occasion and what was not. The mammy is able to discipline her charges whenever they do something undesirable, and is able to retain their respect towards her, even after the children have grown to adults.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: The mammy caricature has been used as advertisements for corporations especially within the food industry. In 2020 the brand Aunt Jemima came under criticism for its branding after receiving public criticism about the company using a mammy caricature as its logo. The character of Aunt Jemima was not a real person and was portrayed by several people, beginning with freed slave Nancy Green from 1893 to 1923, followed by others including Anna Robinson (1923–1951), Edith Wilson (1948–1966), and Ethel Ernestine Harper (the 1950s). One of the founders of Aunt Jemima came up with the name and branding after hearing a minstrel song called "Old Aunt Jemima". Subsequently, other companies who profited from using images of black caricatures received criticism as well. Uncle Ben's, Mrs. Butterworth's, and Cream of Wheat are some of the companies that were spotlighted. In 2021, Quaker Oats, the owners of the Aunt Jemima brand, decided to rebrand it as The Pearl Milling Company and changed its logo from the mammy caricature to an image of a traditional milling building.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: "Aunt Priscilla's Recipes" was a food and recipe column published in the "Baltimore Sun" during the 1930s. Aunt Priscilla was a mammy caricature who was the stereotypical good southern cook who spoke in a broken and exaggerated dialect. The alias of Aunt Priscilla was actually a white woman named Eleanor Purcell. Purcell also released several cookbooks under the alias. Purcell also took up the person of Aunt Ada in a column for "The Evening Sun" named "Ask Aunt Ada". Black women were often the faces of these food or housekeeping columns because of the stereotypes like the mammy which associated them with servant and domestic roles.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: Images such as Aunt Jemima and Aunt Priscilla were mammy caricatures that created a negative and limiting representation as servant roles for white families.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: In the early 20th century, the mammy character was common in many films. Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress with her performance as "Mammy" in "Gone with the Wind" in 1939. In 1940, shortly after the win, the NAACP scrutinized McDaniel's role, and criticized Hollywood for the lack of diverse Black roles and characters outside of servitude. McDaniel responded to backlash by saying, "Why should I complain about making $7,000 playing a maid? If I didn't, I'd be making $7 a week actually being one."


title: Mammy stereotype

text: Some of the contemporary media portrayals of the mammy caricature have been acted out by black men (Henson, 2013). A contemporary portrayal of the mammy caricature is seen in the film "Big Momma's House" directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Martin Lawrence. In the movie Martin Lawrence plays an FBI agent, Malcolm Turner, who goes undercover as "Big Momma" Hattie Mae Pierce, who exhibits the stereotypical mannerisms and appearance of a mammy caricature. The character of Big Momma is a plus-size older black matriarch and homemaker with overtly religious beliefs and a nurturing demeanor. Another mammy stereotype that the movie displays is the one of midwifery and domestic work. This originates from the history of older Black women serving as midwives on plantations.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: "The Help" is a movie based on a novel by Kathryn Stockett about Black maids of white families in Jackson Mississippi during the 1960s. The novel and film center around the experience of Black domestic workers, influenced by the writer and director both having Black nannies growing up. The story is good from the perspective of the main character Skeeter, who has also been raised by a Black nanny. During the movie, Skeeter convinces several Black maids to share their stories and grievances, which causes an uproar. The movie came under criticism for several reasons. One being that both the novel and film were written and executed by white people, whose portrayals of Black maids were derived from the limited perspectives of people who did not share the life experiences of the people being depicted. The Association of Black Historians released a statement saying, "The Help distorts, ignores and trivializes the experiences of black domestic workers." When asked about her role in the movie, Viola Davis expressed her concern with playing the role because of the stereotype. However, she argued that the mammy remains a caricature because she is never humanized in the writings or portrayals. Davis' mother and grandmother also worked as maids, so she was familiar with the experience and lives of black women within domestic work. Davis also challenged filmmakers to explore the lives of these women outside of the kitchen and to not limit their identity to that of maids.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: Mammy imagery can be found in the form of several objects including dolls, ceramics, cookie jars, salt and pepper shakers, and other household items. The mammy caricature was part of post Civil War propaganda that spread negative and false stereotypes about African Americans. These mammy ceramics and dolls had similar effects as the false representations created by minstrel shows. These figurines often had exaggerated features and tried to falsely portray African Americans as "docile, dumb and animated". Despite their racist meaning, these items have been passed down and seen as memorabilia. Although these mammy dolls and ceramics dehumanize Black people, some of them are still valued and sold for hundreds of dollars. In Natchez, Mississippi there is a roadside restaurant called Mammy's Cupboard that was founded in 1940. The building is shaped like a mammy caricature along with a head-wrap and long red skirt. Similar to Aunt Jemima, Mammy's Cupboard use the imagery and the stereotype of Black women to promote a business. The restaurant's use of a mammy caricature to portray Black servitude is reminiscent of how it was done in the Old South.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: The character Beloved Belindy was designed by Raggedy Ann creator Johnny Gruelle. This character was sold as a doll and featured in books.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: Televisions did not become common in US household until around the mid to late 1940s, making radio shows popular forms of entertainment for the American family. In 1939, Beulah Brown, debuted as a character on the radio show "Homeward Unincorporated." Beulah, as a character, was highly stereotypical and was the quintessential mammy figure auditorily. The character was originally played by white actor Marlin Hurt. The character was well taken to and added to several other radio shows. Over time, the creators and producer of these shows wanted to have an actual Black women as the voice of the character. Hattie McDaniel was given the role on the radio version in 1947, as she was famous for her multiple other award-winning performances portraying the mammy stereotype. The radio show was taken to television in the early 1950s and went on to run for three seasons. The first of season of the show, starred Ethel Waters, who later left the series due to not wanting to portray the mammy stereotype any longer. McDaniel, took over the role for the second season, filming a total of six episodes before becoming ill. McDaniel has been noted to have chosen to play these mammy roles time and time again as they were the only accessible roles for black actress during this time. Moreover, she made more money portraying these characters than she would have as an actual maid. Similar to how she was given the role on the radio, McDaniel was the epitome of what a mammy looked like as well with being big in size, large mouth, and dark skin that contrast from white teeth and big eyes. The role on television was also portrayed by Louise Beavers. Aside from the actress that portrayed her, Beulah, as a character, had all the characteristics of a mammy. She always made sure her "family", more the family works for, is well taken care of. Helping them at any cost and putting their need above hers can be seen in multiple episodes of the show. The NAACP, and other critics, did not like the image of the Black American women the show represented as it supported the mammy stereotype.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: Over time, the image of the mammy was given a contemporary makeover. Some of the more contemporary features that the mammy received were that her head rag was removed and she became smaller, as well as lighter in complexion. In addition, her owner was not always white.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: Some contemporary television sitcoms which featured mammies include "Maude", where the character Florida, played by Esther Rolle, worked as a domestic for a white family. A spin-off titled "Good Times" was made, where Rolle's character became the center of the series; the show focused on her family, which lived generally happy lives in a low-income housing project. Other television series that featured mammies as characters include "That's My Mama", "Gimme a Break!" and "What's Happening!!".


title: Mammy stereotype

text: When other contemporary mammies emerged, they usually retained their occupation as domestic workers and exhibited these physical feature changes; however, their emotional qualities remained the same. These contemporary mammies continued to be quick-witted and remained highly opinionated. A new twist in the outlook of the contemporary mammy occurred in the sitcom "The Jeffersons", where Florence, a maid played by Marla Gibbs, works for an affluent African-American family.


title: Mammy stereotype

text: "A Different World" was a 1980s sitcom that featured students at a fictional historically black college named Hillman. In an episode titled "Mammy Dearest", the mammy stereotype was discussed. The episode centered on an exhibition planned by the character Whitley Gilbert. In the exhibition, Gilbert included images of a "mammy". The character of Charnele Brown is upset and wants it removed from the exhibition. Gilbert and others argue that they must reclaim the image and separate it from its racist history. Later in the episode Brown reveals a childhood story in which she dressed up a Nubian princess for a costume contest at school. When she won, she was referred to as "Aunt Jemima". The incident was traumatic for her because she felt that was how people saw her.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: Persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD), previously called persistent sexual arousal syndrome, is spontaneous, persistent, unwanted and uncontrollable genital arousal in the absence of sexual stimulation or sexual desire, and is typically not relieved by orgasm. Instead, multiple orgasms over hours or days may be required for relief.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: PGAD occurs in women. It has been compared to priapism in men. PGAD is rare and is not well understood. The literature is inconsistent with the nomenclature. It is distinguished from hypersexuality, which is characterized as heightened sexual desire.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: In 2003, "persistent genital arousal" was considered for inclusion with regard to the International Consultation on Sexual Medicine (ICSM). In 2009, "persistent genital arousal dysfunction" was included in its third edition. PGAD is not included in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-5) or the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), which may be due to the disorder requiring further research.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: The condition has been characterized by a researcher as being a term with no scientific basis. There is concern that the title may be misleading because, since the genital arousal is unwanted, it is dubious to characterize it as arousal.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: Other researchers have suggested that the disorder be renamed "persistent genital vasocongestion disorder (PGVD)" or "restless genital syndrome (ReGS)."


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: Physical arousal caused by PGAD can be very intense and persist for extended periods, days or weeks at a time. Symptoms include pressure, pain, irritation, clitoral tingling, throbbing, vaginal congestion, vaginal contractions, and sometimes spontaneous orgasms. Pressure, discomfort, pounding, pulsating, throbbing or engorgement may include the clitoris, labia, vagina, perineum, or the anus. The symptoms may result from sexual activity or from no identified stimulus, and are not relieved by orgasm except for cases where multiple orgasms over hours or days allow for relief. The symptoms can impede on home or work life. Women may feel embarrassment or shame, and avoid sexual relationships, because of the disorder. Stress can make the symptoms worse.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: Researchers do not know the cause of PGAD, but assume that it has neurological, vascular, pharmacological, and psychological causes. Tarlov cysts have been speculated as a cause. PGAD has been associated with clitoral priapism, and has been compared to priapism in men. It is also similar to vulvodynia, in that the causes for both are not well understood, both last for a long time, and women with either condition may be told that it is psychological rather than physical. It has been additionally associated with restless legs syndrome (RLS), but a minority of women with PGAD have restless legs syndrome.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: In some recorded cases, the syndrome was caused by or can cause a pelvic arterial-venous malformation with arterial branches to the clitoris. Surgical treatment was effective in this instance.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: Because PGAD has only been researched since 2001, there is little documenting what may cure or remedy the disorder. Treatment may include extensive psychotherapy, psycho-education, and pelvic floor physical therapy. In one case, serendipitous relief of symptoms was concluded from treatment with varenicline, a treatment for nicotine addiction. It was reported in a study that masturbation (51%), orgasm (50%), distraction (39%), intercourse (36%), exercise (25%), and cold compresses (13%) were the most relieving treatments that could be done without the help of a professional.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: Having a team of professionals such as a medical provider, a pelvic floor physical therapist, and sex therapist has shown to aid patients. One study found that after working with professionals patients felt validated, listened to, and that their sexual function had improved. Many patients felt practicing mindfulness allowed them to adjust to living with PGAD by recognizing thoughts and emotions corresponding to the symptoms and avoiding brooding over them. This treatment method focuses on reducing the anxiety that is caused by the condition and pushes the patient to develop effective distraction and relaxation techniques.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: PGAD is very rare and is believed to affect about 1% of women. Although online surveys have indicated that hundreds of women may have PGAD, documented case studies have been limited to about 22.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: The earliest references to PGAD may be Greek descriptions of hypersexuality (previously known as "satyriasis" and "nymphomania"), which confused persistent genital arousal with sexual insatiability. While PGAD involves the absence of sexual desire, hypersexuality is characterized as heightened sexual desire.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: The term "persistent sexual arousal syndrome" was coined by researchers Leiblum and Nathan in 2001. In 2006, Leiblum renamed the condition to "persistent genital arousal disorder" to indicate that genital arousal sensations are different from those that result from true sexual arousal. The rename was also considered to give the condition a better chance of being classified as a dysfunction.


title: Persistent genital arousal disorder

text: Women with PGAD report having unstable mental health with thoughts of suicide and difficulty completing daily activities. Before the start of their PGAD, many women were seen to have higher stress scores as well as symptoms of depression and anxiety. Panic attacks (31.6%) and major depression (57.9%) were reported commonalities between patients occurring at least one year prior to the onset of PGAD symptoms. Up to 45% of women with the disorder have reported having a history with antidepressants.