title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Two days later, Ferdinand II was elected Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick was the only elector who voted against Ferdinand; even the Protestant prince-electors John George I of Saxony and John Sigismund of Brandenburg adhered to the tradition of supporting the Habsburg Imperial candidate. The electoral college also condemned the Bohemian Confederation's attempt to remove Ferdinand from the throne of Bohemia and declared that the 1617 vote of the Estates of Bohemia, making Ferdinand King of Bohemia, was binding.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Frederick's decision to accept the Bohemian crown has been the subject of much historical speculation. Later Catholic propaganda, in a view accepted by Friedrich Schiller, portrayed the decision as based mainly on Elizabeth Stuart's desire to be a queen. More recently, historians have concluded that Frederick's decision was based primarily on a sense of duty to his fellow Protestants, although Frederick wavered between his obligations to the emperor and his commitment to his religious brethren. There also seems to have been economic considerations; the Upper Palatinate was at that time Europe's center for iron production, while Bohemia was a focal point for the tin and glass trade. Christian I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg, told Frederick that a union of the two areas could be commercially advantageous.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: On 12 September 1619, the Protestant Union met at Rothenburg ob der Tauber and called on Frederick not to intervene in Bohemian affairs. Other possible allies – the Dutch Republic, Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and the Republic of Venice – sent letters saying they would not be able to offer Frederick assistance if he accepted the Bohemian offer. Only Gabriel Bethlen offered words of encouragement.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Between 24 September and 28, Frederick reached his decision "not to resist the will of the Almighty" and thus decided to accept the Bohemian crown. The Dutch Republic, the Republic of Venice, Denmark, and Sweden recognised Frederick as King of Bohemia.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: On 29 September 1619, Frederick left Heidelberg for Prague. He travelled through Ansbach, Amberg, Neumarkt, and Waldsassen, where he was met by representatives from the Bohemian Estates. Together, they then travelled through Cheb, Sokolov, Žatec, Louny, and Slaný. Finally on 31 October 1619, Frederick entered Prague, along with 568 people and 100 cars, and was greeted enthusiastically.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Frederick donned the Crown of Saint Wenceslas in St. Vitus Cathedral on 4 November 1619. The coronation was conducted not by the Archbishop of Prague but by the Utraquist administrator of the diocese, Jiřík Dicastus, and a Protestant elder, Jan Cyril Špalek z Třebíče. The liturgy was modelled on that used at the coronation of Charles IV, with only a few parts altered. The litany was sung – per the Catholic tradition – rather than spoken as was normally done by the Calvinists. Frederick was anointed with little objection. At the end of the coronation, the Estates paid homage to Frederick.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Although a large part of the country was already devastated by war, and many refugees were encamped in the town, the coronation was celebrated with lavish parties.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Frederick assumed a weak crown and a state torn with internal divisions. The state's finances had been disrupted for years, and, at any rate, Bohemian kings had only very limited ability to raise funds, being primarily dependent on the goodwill of the nobility and the tax allocations of the diets. The Protestant nobles felt that higher taxes were necessary to pay for war against the German Catholic League, but the country already felt overburdened in the wake of the Long War. Further limiting Frederick's ability to manoeuvre was the need to distribute royal bounty to supporters in order to ensure their loyalty to his regime.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: In Prague, Frederick soon came to be alienated from a portion of the nobility and the clergy. Neither Frederick nor his wife spoke Czech, so court offices were staffed primarily with foreigners, while the administration of the localities was left to the local nobles. This made an alliance of the royal family with the corporate bodies of the realm difficult.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Further alienation was caused by Frederick V's court preacher, Abraham Scultetus, who was determined to use his new post to advance the cause of Calvinism in Bohemia. The Utraquist churches had retained the use of relics and images in church, but Scultetus now launched an iconoclastic crusade against images: beginning on 21 December 1619, images were removed from St. Vitus Cathedral, and on 27–28 December, a famous altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Younger depicting the Virgin Mary was destroyed. There was even a rumour that the grave of St. Wenceslaus was to be desecrated. Scultetus' iconoclasm was deeply unpopular, and Frederick attempted to distance himself from it, claiming that his orders were not being carried out by his followers.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: The nickname "The Winter King" appeared shortly after the beginning of Frederick's reign and our first printed reference using the term came in a 1619 Imperial pamphlet that presented the phrase in the context of a royal chronogram. Frederick's propagandists attempted to respond to the phrase by arguing that Frederick was in fact a "Winter Lion" who defended the crown of Bohemia against troublemakers and liars, and that he would also be a "Summer Lion."


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Meanwhile, Ferdinand II rallied his forces against Frederick. On 21 October 1619, he signed a treaty with Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, leader of the Catholic League. This treaty provided that Maximilian would be commander of the forces against Frederick, promised that Maximilian would retain all of the occupied Bohemian lands for himself, and that he would be granted Frederick's electoral title as well. The Emperor was also able to obtain the support of Elector John George I of Saxony; John George's court preacher, Matthias Hoe von Hoenegg, encouraged the Emperor to smash Frederick and the Bohemians.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Frederick's chancellor, Christian of Anhalt, urged Frederick to call a meeting of Protestant princes at Nuremberg in December 1619. This conference was a fiasco, as few princes bothered to send representatives. John George of Saxony declined to send a representative. Those who did attend half-heartedly promised to secure Frederick's Rhineland territories during Frederick's absence in Bohemia.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: In March 1620, during a meeting of the Imperial party at Mulhouse, Frederick despatched a legal defense of his actions. He argued that he had not broken the imperial peace because Bohemia was located outside of the Holy Roman Empire and there was not, therefore, a conflict between an imperial prince and the emperor. Frederick argued that it would therefore be illegal for Ferdinand to use imperial power against him. This meeting, which included John George of Saxony and Maximilian of Bavaria, rejected Frederick's argument, finding that Bohemia was an indivisible part of the Empire.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: On 1 April 1620, the Imperial party issued an ultimatum calling on Frederick to leave Bohemia by 1 June. If Frederick did not comply by this date, Ferdinand threatened to enforce his right as Holy Roman Emperor and rightful King of Bohemia to overthrow the usurper.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: A little later, John George of Saxony signed a treaty with Ferdinand in which Ferdinand guaranteed the practice of Lutheranism in Bohemia and recognized the secular areas in the Netherlands. Ferdinand also agreed to give John George Lusatia, thus cementing John George's dominance of the Upper Saxon Circle.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: This was the context when the parliament of the Bohemian Confederacy met on 25 March 1620. Frederick called for massive tax increases and conscription to fight the impending Imperial threat. To raise money for the Bohemian forces, Frederick used his private funds, pawned his jewels and, in May 1620, drove the Palatinate into insolvency when he decided to move two tons of gold to Bohemia.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Bad news continued to arrive for Frederick. James VI of Scotland and I of England refused to support his son-in-law militarily. The Netherlands sent only a small force and promised only 50,000 florins a month for Frederick. Worst of all for Frederick, on 3 July 1620, the Protestant Union signed the Treaty of Ulm (1620), thereby withdrawing their support for Frederick and declaring neutrality in the conflict between Frederick and the Catholic League.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: With the signing of the Treaty of Ulm Ambrogio Spinola, 1st Marquis of the Balbases, began raising Imperial troops in the Spanish Netherlands and in the Alsace region.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: In early August 1620, 25,000 troops, under the command of Spinola, marched into Bohemia. In the third week of August, they shifted their focus and marched into the nearly unarmed Electoral Palatinate, occupying Mainz. The Electoral Palatinate was defended by only 2,000 English volunteers and the country was easily taken. Imperial troops set up camp in Frankenthal and Mannheim. Spinola crossed the Rhine on 5 September 1620 and proceeded to capture Bad Kreuznach on 10 September and Oppenheim on 14 September. From Bohemia, Frederick was powerless to stop the occupation of his ancestral homeland.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: After capturing Linz, Upper Austria, Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria crossed the Bohemian border on 26 September 1620. At Rokycany, Maximilian's forces first met with the 15,000 ragtag, poorly paid and poorly equipped troops that Frederick had managed to raise. Frederick visited his army on 28 September 1620, but, lacking a military background, left the conduct of the war to his generals. Frederick focused his attention on organizing supplies and preparing fortifications.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: After a series of skirmishes, on 5 November 1620, Frederick drew his forces back towards Prague and Imperial troops followed them. On 7 November, Bohemian forces determined to make a stand at White Mountain, just outside Prague. The day before, King Frederick had ridden down the lines and exhorted the soldiers. He then rushed to Prague to implore the Bohemian Estates to raise money for his troops and to receive the envoys of the English king. However, it was too late. When, on 8 November 1620, Frederick wanted to ride back to the troops, he was met at the gates of Prague by fleeing soldiers of his army and his chancellor, Anhalt, who informed him of the disaster: the Bohemian army had received a crushing defeat that morning in the Battle of White Mountain.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Anhalt could recommend only one option to Frederick: immediate flight. As such, on 9 November, Frederick fled to the Silesian capital of Breslau, along with his wife and child, some advisers, and not much more baggage than the Bohemian Crown Jewels.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Maximilian took Prague shortly after Frederick's departure. From Silesia, Frederick wanted to plan revenge for the Battle of White Mountain, but the Silesian Estates refused to support this project, and he was forced to leave Silesia in early 1621.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Contemporary pamphleteers – both Catholic and Protestant – were merciless in their portrayal of Frederick's flight from Prague. After Frederick's Garter was found in Prague, pamphleteers routinely portrayed him with his stockings falling down.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: On 21 January 1621, Ferdinand issued a decree against Frederick and Anhalt, accusing them of breach of peace, supporting rebels, and treason. Ferdinand decreed that Frederick's lands and titles within the Holy Roman Empire were now forfeited. On 6 February 1621, representatives of the Protestant Union met with Ferdinand at Heilbronn to protest, but they soon agreed to support the settlement in the Palatinate, and the Palatinate remained occupied by Spanish troops. At this point, the Protestant Union had essentially ceased to exist.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: The Twelve Years' Truce ended on 9 April 1621. On 14 April, Frederick joined his wife at The Hague. The Dutch Republic and Frederick signed a contract in which he accepted the support of the Netherlands for the reconquest of his dominions.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: In Bohemia, the crushing of the Bohemian Revolt had terrible consequences. Twenty-eight Bohemian nobles were killed in the Old Town Square executions on 21 June 1621. Afterwards, the heads of twelve nobles, along with the hand of Joachim Andreas von Schlick, were nailed to the Old Town Tower of Charles Bridge, where they remained for ten years. The elective monarchy was now abolished; the role of the Estates greatly curtailed; and the Letter of Majesty was torn by Ferdinand himself. Only Lutheranism remained tolerated in Bohemia, and in the coming years, the rest of the population would be actively re-Catholicized. Bohemia would remain part of the Habsburg monarchy until 1918.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: In summer 1621, John II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, Frederick's former guardian who had served as regent of the Electoral Palatinate when Frederick left for Prague, resigned.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: However, Ernst von Mansfeld continued to occupy a portion of the Upper Palatinate and had successfully resisted efforts by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly to dislodge him. Mansfeld crossed into the Rhenish Palatinate in early 1622, and on 21 April 1622, Frederick joined Mansfeld there. Frederick attempted to convince other Protestant princes to reconstitute the Protestant Union, but met with limited success. Frederick's cause was boosted by a 27 April 1622 victory over Tilly's forces at the Battle of Wiesloch, but this boost was short lived. Frederick's forces under the command of Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach were defeated at the Battle of Wimpfen on 6 May 1622; and then forces under Christian the Younger of Brunswick were soundly defeated at the Battle of Höchst on 20 June 1622.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Frederick was increasingly under Mansfeld's influence at this time, and was growing disillusioned with the Protestant cause. With Frederick's knowledge, Mansfeld raided Darmstadt and captured Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and his son Johann as hostages. This was clearly a violation of Imperial law, and cost Frederick whatever remaining sympathy he still had in Europe. During his retreat into Alsace, Mansfeld burned a city and thirty villages.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Frederick dismissed Mansfeld after he became convinced he would be unable to reconquer his hereditary lands. Frederick then spent the summer with his uncle, Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, in Sedan.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Shortly thereafter, troops under Tilly and Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba completed the Spanish conquest of the Electoral Palatinate. After an eleven-week siege, Heidelberg fell on 19 September 1622; Mannheim similarly fell on 5 November 1622. Only the British garrison in Frankenthal now held out. After the conquest of Heidelberg, the Protestant churches were closed, the university was closed, and at the request of Maximilian, the great library, the famous "Bibliotheca Palatina" (3500 manuscripts), was presented as a gift of thanks to Pope Gregory XV in appreciation of the 620,000 guilders he had provided for financing the campaigns of the Catholic League.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: On 23 February 1623, Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor awarded Frederick's electoral title to Maximilian of Bavaria, who now became Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria. Maximilian was also awarded the conquered territory of Upper Palatinate as a fief. Other territories of the Electoral Palatinate (Parkstein, Weiden in der Oberpfalz, and Peilstein im Mühlviertel) were awarded to Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: In late 1622 and early 1623, Frederick organised a Palatinate government-in-exile at The Hague. This Palatinate Council was headed by Ludwig Camerarius.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: During the negotiations for the Spanish Match, Frederick urged his father-in-law not to go through with the Match.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: There were attempts at reconciling Frederick with the emperor in 1624–25 and in 1627, but these came to naught. Frederick was willing to compromise with the emperor, but he wanted the restoration of his lands and electoral title, and the emperor was not inclined to restore these to Frederick. Frederick held out some hope that his lands might be retaken militarily, but these hopes were crushed on 27 August 1626, when the forces of Christian IV of Denmark were crushed by Tilly at the Battle of Lutter.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Frederick left most of the day-to-day business of his government-in-exile to his counselors, although he did take some interest in his finances. Frederick was very stingy in funding his administration, and yet, in order to maintain the dignity of a royal court, he spent vast sums on building and entertainment, quickly blowing through donations from the English and Dutch governments. For example, in 1629, Frederick commissioned Bartholomeus van Bassen to build him a large winter palace in Rhenen. When completed in 1631, this palace had a large central residence, a courtyard, a two-storey main building with two wings projecting to the south, and was surrounded by large gardens. Frederick spent much of his time there in hunting and long walks.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Frederick suffered a personal tragedy on 17 January 1629. He was traveling to Amsterdam to view the Spanish treasure fleet captured by the Dutch West India Company when his boat capsized while crossing the Haarlemmermeer, a body of water near Haarlem. Frederick survived the accident, but his eldest son, the fifteen-year-old Frederick Henry of the Palatinate, did not. Frederick himself sustained serious physical injuries in the accident, and would not fully recover for 15 months.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: At the Diet of Regensburg (1630), Frederick formally petitioned to be forgiven for having accepted the crown of Bohemia and admitted his wrongdoing. But nothing came of this. In March 1631, Frederick despatched diplomat Sir Robert Anstruther to hold discussions with Ernst Egon VIII, Count of Fürstenberg, president of the Imperial Privy Council, about restoring Frederick's lands, but Frederick died before these could bear any fruit.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: On 4 July 1630, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden intervened in the Thirty Years' War. On 16 September 1631, Gustavus Adolphus' forces defeated Tilly's forces at the Battle of Breitenfeld (1631). Tilly was defeated the following year, and Gustavus Adolphus' forces swept into southern Germany. When Oppenheim was captured in December 1631, Frederick believed the time was ripe for him to reestablish himself in the Palatinate, and he left for Heidelberg.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: In February 1632, Frederick met Gustavus Adolphus at Frankfurt, with Gustavus Adolphus paying Frederick full royal honours. However, Gustavus Adolphus was not prepared to offer Frederick support for restoring him in the Palatinate because England and the Netherlands had not signed off on such a proposal.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Frederick subsequently took part in Gustavus Adolphus' march into the Duchy of Bavaria, and was present for the march into Munich on 17 May 1632. Upon Frederick's pressing his case with Gustavus Adolphus, Gustavus Adolphus told Frederick that he would accept Frederick's restoration without Dutch/British support only if Frederick would agree to hold the Palatinate as a fief of the King of Sweden. The lands of the Palatinate were simply too important strategically for Gustavus Adolphus to hand them over to Frederick. Gustavus Adolphus also insisted that Frederick would have to agree to establish equal rights for Lutherans in his territories. Frederick refused Gustavus Adolphus' conditions and they parted, with Frederick travelling to Swedish-occupied Mainz, intending to return to The Hague.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Gustavus Adolphus was killed at the Battle of Lützen (1632) on 16 November 1632. About this time, the English finally determined to send an expeditionary force to participate in the Thirty Years' War. Unfortunately for Frederick, it was too late. Beginning in October 1632, he had suffered from an infection that got worse in the following weeks. The famed physician Peter Spina was summoned from Darmstadt to Mainz, but nothing could be done for Frederick. Frederick died on the morning of 29 November 1632, of a "pestilential fever".


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: Frederick's son and heir, Charles Louis, was only 15 years old. Therefore, Frederick's brother (Charles Louis' uncle), Ludwig Philipp, Louis Philip, Count Palatine of Simmern-Kaiserslautern, served as regent. Frederick's internal organs were buried at St. Catherine's in Oppenheim and his embalmed body was taken to Frankenthal. On 9 June 1635, with Spanish troops approaching, Ludwig Philipp of Pfalz-Simmern-Kaiserslautern fled to Kaiserslautern with Frederick's body. It is believed that Ludwig Philipp of Pfalz-Simmern-Kaiserslautern transferred Frederick's body to Sedan in September 1637, but Frederick's final resting place is unknown.


title: Frederick V of the Palatinate

text: He married Elizabeth Stuart, the daughter of James VI of Scotland and I of England and of Anne of Denmark in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall on 14 February 1613 and had the following children:


title: Overweight

text: Being overweight or fat is having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is especially common where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary.


title: Overweight

text: , excess weight reached epidemic proportions globally, with more than 1 billion adults being either overweight or obese. In 2013, this increased to more than 2 billion. Increases have been observed across all age groups.


title: Overweight

text: A healthy body requires a minimum amount of fat for proper functioning of the hormonal, reproductive, and immune systems, as thermal insulation, as shock absorption for sensitive areas, and as energy for future use; however, the accumulation of too much storage fat can impair movement, flexibility, and alter the appearance of the body.


title: Overweight

text: The degree to which a person is overweight is generally described by the body mass index (BMI). "Overweight" is defined as a BMI of 25 or more, thus it includes pre-obesity defined as a BMI between 25 and 29.9 and obesity as defined by a BMI of 30 or more. Pre-obese and overweight however are often used interchangeably, thus giving overweight a common definition of a BMI of between 25 and 29.9. There are, however, several other common ways to measure the amount of adiposity or fat present in an individual's body.


title: Overweight

text: The most common method for discussing this subject and the one used primarily by researchers and advisory institutions is BMI. Definitions of what is considered overweight vary by ethnicity. The current definition proposed by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) designates whites, Hispanics and blacks with a BMI of 25 or more as overweight. For Asians, overweight is a BMI between 23 and 29.9 and obesity for all groups is a BMI of 30 or more.


title: Overweight

text: BMI, however, does not account extremes of muscle mass, some rare genetic factors, the very young, and a few other individual variations. Thus it is possible for an individuals with a BMI of less than 25 to have excess body fat, while others may have a BMI that is significantly higher without falling into this category. Some of the above methods for determining body fat are more accurate than BMI but are less convenient to measure.


title: Overweight

text: If an individual is overweight and has excess body fat it can create or lead to health risks. Reports are surfacing, however, that being mildly overweight to slightly obese – BMI being between 24 and 31.9 – may be actually beneficial and that people with a BMI between 24 and 31.9 could actually live longer than normal weight or underweight persons.


title: Overweight

text: While some negative health outcomes associated with obesity are accepted within the medical community, the health implications of the overweight category are more controversial.


title: Overweight

text: A 2016 review estimated that the risk of death increases by seven percent among overweight people with a BMI of 25 to 27.5 and 20 percent among overweight people with a BMI of 27.5 to 30. Katherine Flegal et al., however, found that the mortality rate for individuals who are classified as overweight (BMI 25 to 29.9) may actually be lower than for those with an "ideal" weight (BMI 18.5 to 24.9), noting that many studies show that the lowest mortality rate is at a BMI close to 25. The specific conclusions appear to depend on what other factors are controlled for, and Flegal has accordingly alleged that the findings from the 2016 review are driven by bias toward preconceived opinions.


title: Overweight

text: Being overweight has been identified as a risk factor for cancer, and Walter Willett predicts that being overweight will overtake smoking as the primary cause of cancer in developed countries as cases of smoking-related cancer dwindle. Being overweight also increases the risk of oligospermia and azoospermia in men.


title: Overweight

text: Being overweight has been shown not to increase mortality in older people: in a study of 70 to 75-year old Australians, mortality was lowest for "overweight" individuals (BMI 25 to 29.9), while a study of Koreans found that, among those initially aged 65 or more, an increase in BMI to above 25 was not associated with increased risk of death.


title: Overweight

text: Being overweight is generally caused by the intake of more calories (by eating) than are expended by the body (by exercise and everyday activity). Factors that may contribute to this imbalance include:


title: Overweight

text: People who have insulin dependent diabetes and chronically overdose insulin may gain weight, while people who already are overweight may develop insulin tolerance, and in the long run develop type II diabetes.


title: Overweight

text: Dietitians generally recommend eating several balanced meals dispersed through the day, with a combination of progressive, primarily aerobic, physical exercise. In fact, some research found benefits from physical activity, diet and behaviour changes on BMI in children from 12 to 17 years old.


title: Overweight

text: Considering that most of the treatment strategies are directed to change lifestyle-related behaviours of individuals (namely in dietary and physical activity), the transtheoretical model (TTM) has been used as a framework to design weight management interventions. A systematic review assessed the effectiveness of dietary and physical activity interventions based on the TTM in producing sustainable (one year or longer) weight loss in overweight and obese adults. The included studies did not allow to produce conclusive evidence about the impact of the use of this model combined with these interventions on sustainable weight loss. Nevertheless, very low quality scientific evidence suggests that this approach may lead to improvements in physical activity and dietary habits, namely increased in both exercise duration and frequency, and fruits and vegetables consumption, along with reduced dietary fat intake.


title: Overweight

text: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that nearly 2 billion adults worldwide, aged 18 years and older, were overweight in 2016.


title: Overweight

text: According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), an estimated 71.6% of the United States' adult population aged 20 and over is considered either overweight or obese, and this percentage has increased over the last four decades.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: The Watcher in the Woods is a 1980 American supernatural horror film directed by John Hough and Vincent McEveety and starring Bette Davis, Carroll Baker, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Kyle Richards, and David McCallum. Based on the 1976 novel by Florence Engel Randall, the film tells the story of a teenage girl and her little sister who become encompassed in a supernatural mystery regarding a missing girl in the woods surrounding their new home in the English countryside.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: Filmed at Pinewood Studios and the surrounding areas in Buckinghamshire, England, "The Watcher in the Woods" was one of several live-action films produced by Walt Disney Productions in the 1980s, when the studio was targeting young adult audiences. The film had its premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on April 17, 1980, but was pulled from release after ten days, and future screenings were canceled by the studio because of an overwhelming negative response from critics and audiences. Several changes were made thereafter, including the excision of a pre-credits sequence, as well the filming of an entirely new ending, which was directed by Vincent McEveety without Hough's involvement. Disney re-released the revised cut of the film on October 9, 1981, and it grossed $5 million.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: Though critical response to the film was varied and included numerous unfavorable reviews, the film went on to garner a cult following in the years following its release. Another adaptation of the novel was released for television in 2017 starring Anjelica Huston.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: Americans Helen and Paul Curtis and their daughters, Jan and Ellie, move into a manor in rural England. Mrs. Aylwood, the owner of the residence who now lives in the guest house next door, notices that Jan bears a striking resemblance to her daughter, Karen, who disappeared inside an abandoned chapel in the woods thirty years earlier.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: Jan senses something unusual about the property almost immediately, and begins to see strange blue lights in the woods, triangles, and glowing objects. On one occasion, she sees the apparition of a blindfolded girl in a mirror in front of her. Shortly after the family settles in, Ellie goes to buy a puppy she inexplicably names "Nerak". After seeing the reflection of the name "Nerak" (Karen spelled backwards), Jan is told about the mystery of Mrs. Aylwood's missing daughter by Mike Fleming, the teenage son of a local woman, Mary.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: One afternoon, Nerak runs into woods, and Ellie chases after him. Jan, realizing her sister has disappeared from the yard, goes into the woods to find her, eventually locating her at a pond. In the water, she sees a blue circle of light, and is blinded by a flash, causing her to fall in; she nearly drowns, but Mrs. Aylwood saves her. Mrs. Aylwood brings Jan and Ellie to her home, and recounts the night her daughter disappeared.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: Later, Mike discovers that his mother, Mary, was with Karen when she disappeared, but she evades his questions. Meanwhile, Jan attempts to get information from John Keller, a reclusive aristocrat who was also there that night, but he refuses to speak to her. On her way home, Jan cuts through the woods, where she encounters a local hermit, Tom Colley, who tells Jan he was also present at Karen's disappearance. He claims that during a seance-like initiation ceremony on the night of a lunar eclipse, Karen vanished when lightning struck the church bell tower.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: Jan decides to recreate the ceremony during the upcoming solar eclipse, hoping it will bring Karen back. She gathers Mary, Tom, and John at the abandoned chapel, and they attempt to repeat the ceremony. Meanwhile, Ellie, while watching the eclipse from the front yard, suddenly goes into a trance-like state, apparently possessed, and enters the woods. At the chapel, the ceremony is interrupted by a powerful wind that shatters the windows, and Ellie appears. In a voice that is not her own, she explains that an accidental switch took place thirty years ago, in which Karen traded places with an alien presence from an alternate dimension; thus, the Watcher has been haunting the woods since, while Karen has remained suspended in time.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: The Watcher leaves Ellie's body, manifesting as a pillar of light, fueled by the "circle of friendship". It engulfs Jan and lifts her into the air, but Mike intercedes and pulls her away before the Watcher disappears. Simultaneously, the eclipse ends, and Karen, still the same age as when she disappeared, reappears – still blindfolded. She removes the blindfold just as Mrs. Aylwood enters the chapel.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: "The Watcher in the Woods" is based on Florence Engel Randall's 1976 novel "A Watcher in the Woods". Producer Tom Leetch pitched the project to Disney executive Ron Miller, stating that "This could be our "Exorcist"." Brian Clemens adapted the novel into a screenplay. However, Disney decided that Clemens' version—which had a different conclusion than that of the novel—was "too dark and threatening and black," and had Rosemary Anne Sisson revise it. This script was later revised again by Gerry Day in July 1979. Miller recruited John Hough to direct the film after seeing his previous movie, "The Legend of Hell House" with Roddy McDowall.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: When the film was pulled from theatres, several new endings were penned by various writers at Disney to substitute for the original. In addition to the work of studio writers, a number of science fiction writers, including Robert Silverberg, Joe Haldeman, and the Niven/Pournelle team, all working separately, were brought in and paid for alternate endings, but apparently none of those were used. Harrison Ellenshaw, the visual effects designer, later stated that there were "roughly 152" possible endings. Ellenshaw wrote the version of the ending that eventually accompanied the final 1981 re-released version the film.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: According to director John Hough during his audio commentary on the 2002 Anchor Bay DVD release, casting the role of the young Mrs. Aylwood was complicated, since the character is featured in two separate time periods; Bette Davis, who was already cast as Mrs. Aylwood, was considered for playing both the young and old versions of the character.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: According to Hough, Davis "desperately" wanted to play both parts; so much so, that the production crew had make-up and hair specialists flown in from Los Angeles in order to work on Davis in preparation for screen tests; the goal was to reverse her age appearance by thirty years. After the screen tests were completed and viewed by the crew, Hough was concerned about Davis playing the younger character, and felt that the make-up and hair work had "maybe knocked about twenty years off of her age, but not forty"; Davis was 72 years old at the time. Upon viewing the tests, Hough cued for the crew to leave the screening room, and said, "Bette, I don't think you've made it". After taking one long drag from her cigarette, Davis replied: "You're goddamn right". British actress Georgina Hale ended up taking the role of the younger Mrs. Aylwood; according to Hough, she took the part largely because of her admiration for Davis.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: In casting the leading part of Jan, Diane Lane had been the initial choice, but she declined. The part eventually went to Lynn-Holly Johnson, who had gained attention in the United States as a professional figure skater, as well as for her acting role as a blind ice skater in the 1978 film, "Ice Castles", for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: Carroll Baker, who was living in London at the time, was asked to play the part for Hough (who had long admired her work). She accepted the role. Eleven-year-old Kyle Richards - who played Ellie, the youngest sister in the film - had previously worked with Hough on "Escape to Witch Mountain" in an uncredited role as a younger version of her sister, Kim Richards.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: Principal photography for "The Watcher of the Woods" began in August 1979, on a budget of approximately $7 million. The film was shot primarily at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England, and the surrounding areas. St. Hubert's Manor, the house used in the film was located near Iver Heath; it has since been deconstructed and turned into apartments. Hough used several locations that are also seen in Robert Wise's "The Haunting", most notably the grand mansion in which John Keller's character lives; this was the same house used for filming "The Haunting" (Ettington Park, Warwickshire). The shoot lasted a total of twelve weeks. During filming, producer Ron Miller would often intervene to tone down intense scenes, leading to "unhappy compromises" between him and the filmmakers.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: The special effects sequences (much of which appear in the film's excised alternate endings) were completed at Disney studios in Burbank, California by Harrison Ellenshaw after filming in England was completed. Ellenshaw's previous credits included "Star Wars" (1977) and "The Black Hole" (1979). Art Cruickshank and Bob Broughton oversaw the photographic effects, while Cruickshank completed miniature photography. Hough was disappointed with the way the alien appeared on film, and recalled: "The animation was out of my control. I had no say. The last four minutes undid all the good work of the previous 87 minutes when the monster came out,” he continues. “It moved in a very stiff way, and it really wasn’t up to what we were later going to see in later films."


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: The film's original intended ending featured an appearance by the growling Watcher, a skeletal, insectoid alien, which picks Jan up in the chapel and disappears. At this point, the two were supposed to fly across an alien landscape to the Watcher's crippled spacecraft. Inside, Karen was trapped in a pyramidal prism. According to Sam Nicholson, the visual effects supervisor, "For some reason, the girl who disappeared imbalanced this alien's craft when she went through this portal. Which in turn caused this alien to crash." Jan reached out to Karen, and when the two embraced they were teleported back to the chapel. The girls then returned to the manor, where Mrs. Aylwood and her daughter were reunited. As they walk arm in arm, Jan explains everything to Ellie: the Watcher – who was switched with Karen by accident during the eclipse – needed Jan to free the girl. The visual effects for the "other world" scenes were not finished in time for the release because the film was rushed out to coincide with Bette Davis's 50th anniversary as a film actor in 1980 (Davis was first hired by Universal Studios in 1930). Rather than finish the existing effects shots, Disney opted to rewrite and reshoot the ending, toning down the references to the occult.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: The first official theatrical ending, which was shown in the film's brief 1980 screening in New York City (see Release history) featured only part of the original ending, eliminating the "other world" sequence and replacing it with Helen's interrogation of Tom, Mary, and John at the chapel, after Jan disappears during their re-enactment of the séance. It did, however, include the appearance of the alien creature as it picks up Jan and disappears into thin air. While Helen is questioning everyone in the chapel, Jan re-appears, and emerges from a beam of light, hand-in-hand with Karen. The girls return to the house, where Mrs. Aylwood and Karen are re-united in the front yard, and Jan discusses the watcher with Ellie. This ending forced the film to rely on Jan's brief, cryptic explanation to provide closure. This conclusion to "The Watcher in the Woods" was nearly unintelligible as a result, thus giving the film the reputation of not having an ending. It also omitted Mrs. Aylwood's condemnation of recreating the séance on the basis that it was witchcraft.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: After critical backlash during the film's limited theatrical run in New York on April 17, 1980, the film was pulled from theaters and reshoots of its ending began without director Hough in the late spring of 1980. Due to the 1980 actors strike, Davis was unable to return to England to film reshoots, so her additional footage was shot in California. The 1981 theatrical release is the "official" version of the film and can be found on any VHS, laserdisc, or DVD release of "The Watcher in the Woods" (except for Blu-ray). It is summarized above in the film's synopsis. In this third, official ending, the re-imagined Watcher (an ectoplasmic pillar of light) was less threatening and more supernatural. The nature of Karen and the Watcher's switch was clearly explained by Ellie in the chapel (whilst possessed by the Watcher). The new footage (including the forest scenes that replaced the original opening credits) was directed by Vincent McEveety, although he was not credited due to union rules which forbade a screen credit unless the director worked on the film for a certain number of hours.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: In addition to the replaced ending, the film's opening sequence was also changed: In Hough's original cut, the opening credits sequence was played after a sequence in which a young girl playing in the woods encounters the Watcher, who strikes her doll with a blue beam of light, incinerating it.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: "The Watcher in the Woods" had a limited release showing at New York City's Ziegfeld Theatre beginning April 17, 1980. Initially, the studio had planned to expand the film's release to between 600 and 700 theaters by June 1980. However, following an overwhelmingly negative reaction from audiences and critics, the film was pulled from the Ziegfeld Theater after only 10 days, and other scheduled screenings were canceled. The negative response prompted Disney to undertake reshoots of the film's ending, which cost the production an additional $1 million. In its place, Disney re-released "Mary Poppins" (1964).


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: The film was re-released eighteen months later on October 9, 1981, after extensive reshoots and the addition of an entirely new ending. Promotional material for the film presented it as a straightforward suspense film aimed for more mature audiences, a new endeavor for Disney; the film's theatrical trailer began with a title card reading:


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: During its original April 1980 run in New York City, the film grossed only $40,000 before being pulled from theaters due to poor audience response. It was re-released in October 1981 on 240 screens, and grossed $1.2 million during its opening week. It went on to gross a total of $5 million domestically,


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: The film was released on VHS in the 1980s. In 1999, Anchor Bay Entertainment announced a special edition DVD release of the film, but it was removed from their schedule shortly after and delayed indefinitely. Anchor Bay released the film three years after their initial announcement, on April 2, 2002. Their edition of the film features an audio commentary with director Hough, three theatrical trailers, a television spot, as well as two alternate endings viewable separate from the film: the "other world" footage as an abbreviated (14 minute long) and unfinished alternate ending. The second alternate ending (6 minutes long) is an approximation of the first theatrical ending.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment re-released a Region 2 DVD of the film in early 2004, and in the United States on August 3, 2004. Hough's audio commentary commissioned for the Anchor Bay release is not present on this disc.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: On September 7, 2021, the film was released on Blu-ray exclusively through Disney Movie Club (which was presented in the original 1980 theatrical version instead of the 1981 theatrical re-release version).


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: The film is not available on Disney+ at this time. However, it is available to watch for free on YouTube.


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" panned the film during its original 1980 theatrical run, writing: "I challenge even the most indulgent fan to give a coherent translation of what passes for an explanation at the end." He also criticized the special effects, noting that the creature in the film's finale "looks as if it had been stolen from a Chinese New Year's parade." Kathleen Carroll of the "New York Daily News" similarly deemed it a "somewhat tantalizing but ultimately ridiculous suspense movie." Gene Shalit of "Ladies Home Journal" also criticized the film, writing: ""The Watcher in the Woods" wastes the talents of Bette Davis and wastes our time with the non-talents of two children who speak in monotones... This dreary Disney movie may scare some ten-year-old girls who enjoy teenage mysteries, but parents and other adults will be exasperated. In a review published in "Essence", Bonnie Allen noted: "I could not figure out what audience the film was made for. The plot has no new twist on the haunted English mansion scenario. Bette Davis, as the mother of the hauntee, is not enough to legitimize this horrid horror. As a matter of fact, "The Watcher in the Woods" is best left unwatched." Jim Wright of the "Hackensack Record" similarly felt the film was unoriginal, and that "when the payoff arrives...  it is filled with absurdities rather than answers."


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: A review published in "Variety" gave the film a middling review, noting: "The acting and writing are barely professional but the art direction, especially Alan Hume’s stunning camerawork, gives the pic a gloss." At the time, producer Miller stated he felt the film had fared poorly with critics and audiences because "most of the film is a mysterious suspenseful movie but ends with a sci-fi twist. We're now looking for a more clever ending." Al Frank of the "Morristown Daily Record" felt that, though the film had a flawed conclusion, "John Hough's direction mixes the light with the spooky so well you're always surprised at what comes next." "The Central New Jersey Home News"s Ted Serrill noted that the film was "entertaining without let-up" and praised its cinematography, concluding that it "will do as a tasty forerunner of "The Shining", which is to come next month."


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: Christopher John reviewed "The Watcher in the Woods" in "Ares Magazine" #3 and commented that "It must be put on record that for a studio unused to being totally serious, this is a big step forward. "The Watcher In The Woods" takes its creators quite a distance from the syrup of Disney's past. It is just unfortunate that a baby's first steps are usually awkward, stumbling ones."


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: The film's second theatrical run with a brand new ending garnered it some critical praise, with "The Hollywood Reporter" calling it a "A rattlingly good suspense yarn. The ending is seamless, satisfying, resolving the mystery. The film is genuinely eerie and scary." An article published in "The New York Times" commented on the revised version of the film, writing: "The early good reviews for the revised "Watcher in the Woods" do not, by any means, solve all of Disney's problems. The PG-rated (Parental Guidance Suggested) movie is tense and scary enough to appeal to the teen-age audience that the studio has been trying to woo for the last four or five years. But can any film with a Disney label attract teen-agers?"


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: A review published in "TV Guide" criticized the film even with the revised ending and gave it one out of four stars, noting: "From the start it's apparent that [the setting] is no ordinary glen teeming with cute little Disney squirrels. Johnson, however, isn't intimidated by the woods, but strange incidents begin occurring when she becomes possessed by the spirit of Davis's long-dead daughter. Though the filmmakers make some effort to create a creepy atmosphere, they fail at one of horror's most basic formats—the haunted house story." Michael Blowen of "The Boston Globe" was also critical, deeming Davis "sour-faced," adding: "Everything in the filmdirection, acting, writing, music arrangements, and editingis as transparent as Casper the Friendly Ghost."


title: The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

text: , "The Watcher in the Woods" holds a rating of 52% based on 25 reviews with the consensus: ""The Watcher in the Woods" boasts plenty of spooky atmosphere and a typically strong performance from Bette Davis, but it builds to a conclusion so dissatisfying that it undermines all that came before."


title: Penaeus monodon

text: Penaeus monodon, commonly known as the giant tiger prawn, Asian tiger shrimp, black tiger shrimp, and other names, is a marine crustacean that is widely reared for food.


title: Penaeus monodon

text: "Penaeus monodon" was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1798. That name was overlooked for a long time, until 1949 when Lipke Holthuis clarified to which species it referred. Holthuis also showed that "P. monodon" had to be the type species of the genus "Penaeus".


title: Penaeus monodon

text: Females can reach about long, but are typically long and weigh ; males are slightly smaller at long and weighing . The carapace and abdomen are transversely banded with alternative red and white. The antennae are grayish brown. Brown pereiopods and pleopods are present with fringing setae in red.


title: Penaeus monodon

text: Its natural distribution is the Indo-Pacific, ranging from the eastern coast of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, as far as Southeast Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and northern Australia.


title: Penaeus monodon

text: It is an invasive species in the northern waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean off the Southern U.S.


title: Penaeus monodon

text: The first occurrence of "P. monodon" in the U.S. was in November 1988. Close to 300 shrimp were captured off the Southeastern shore after an accidental release from an aquaculture facility. This species can now be caught in waters from Texas to North Carolina. Although "P. monodon" has been an invasive species for many years, it has yet to grow large established populations. Escapes in other parts of the world, though, have led to established "P. monodon" populations, such as off West Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean.


title: Penaeus monodon

text: "P. monodon" is suited to inhabit a multitude of environments. They mainly occur in Southeastern Asia, but are widely found. Juveniles of "P. monodon" are generally found in sandy estuaries and mangroves, and upon adulthood, they move to deeper waters (0- 110 meters) and live on muddy or rocky bottoms. The "P. monodon" has shown to be nocturnal in the wild, burrowing into substrate during the day, and coming out at night to feed. "P. monodon" typically feed on detritus, polychaete worms, mollusks, and small crustaceans. They feed on algae, as well. Due to their nutrient-rich diet, these shrimp are unable to consume phytoplankton because of their feeding appendages, but they are able to consume senescent phytoplankton. They also commence mating at night, and can produce around 800,000 eggs.


title: Penaeus monodon

text: "P. monodon" is the second-most widely cultured prawn species in the world, after only whiteleg shrimp, "Litopenaeus vannamei". In 2009, 770,000 tonnes were produced, with a total value of US$3,650,000,000. "P. monodon" makes up nearly 50% of cultured shrimp alone.


title: Penaeus monodon

text: The prawn is popular to culture because of its tolerance to salinity and very quick growth rate. However, they are very vulnerable to fungal, viral, and bacterial infections. Diseases such as white spot disease and yellowhead disease have led to a great economic impact in shrimp industries around the globe. They can receive transmitted diseases from other crustaceans such as the Australian red claw crayfish ("Cherax quadricarinatus"), which is susceptible to yellowhead disease and has shown to transmit it to "P. monodon" in Thailand.


title: Penaeus monodon

text: Since black tiger shrimp are susceptible to many diseases, this engenders economic constraints towards the black tiger shrimp food industry in Australia, which is farm-raised. To confront such challenges, attempts have been made to selectively breed specific pathogen-resistant lines of black tiger shrimp.


title: Penaeus monodon

text: "P. monodon" has been farmed throughout the world, including areas such as West Africa, Hawaii, Tahiti, and England. For optimal growth, "P. monodon" is raised in waters between 28 and 33°C. Characteristically for the "Penaeus" genus, "P. monodon" has a natural ability to survive and grow in a wide range of salinity, though its optimal salinity is around 15-25 ppt. While in a farm setting, the shrimp are typically fed a compound diet, which is produced in dried pellets. By mixing the diet to have compound feeds and fresh feed, "P. monodon" was shown to have better reproductive performance.


title: Penaeus monodon

text: In 2010, Greenpeace added "P. monodon" to its seafood red list – "a list of fish that are commonly sold in supermarkets around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries". The reasons given by Greenpeace were "destruction of vast areas of mangroves in several countries, overfishing of juvenile shrimp from the wild to supply farms, and significant human-rights abuses".


title: Penaeus monodon

text: In an effort to understand whether DNA repair processes can protect crustaceans against infection, basic research was conducted to elucidate the repair mechanisms used by "P. monodon". Repair of DNA double-strand breaks was found to be predominantly carried out by accurate homologous recombinational repair. Another, less accurate process, microhomology-mediated end joining, is also used to repair such breaks.


title: Child custody

text: Child custody is a legal term regarding "guardianship" which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of "legal custody", which is the right to make decisions about the child, and "physical custody", which is the right and duty to house, provide and care for the child. Married parents normally have joint legal and physical custody of their children. Decisions about child custody typically arise in proceedings involving divorce, annulment, separation, adoption or parental death. In most jurisdictions child custody is determined in accordance with the best interests of the child standard.


title: Child custody

text: Following ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in most countries, terms such as parental responsibility, "residence" and "contact" (also known as "visitation", "conservatorship" or "parenting time" in the United States) have superseded the concepts of "custody" and "access" in some member nations. Instead of a parent having "custody" of or "access" to a child, a child is now said to "reside" or have "contact" with a parent.


title: Child custody

text: Legal custody involves the division of rights between the parents to make important life decisions relating to their minor children. Such decisions may include choice of a child's school, physician, medical treatments, orthodontic treatment, counseling, psychotherapy and religion.


title: Child custody

text: Legal custody may be joint, in which case both parents share decision-making rights, or sole, in which case one parent has the rights to make key decisions without regard to the wishes of the other parent.


title: Child custody

text: Physical custody establishes where a child lives and who decides day-to-day issues regarding the child. If a parent has physical custody of a child, that parent's home will normally be the child's legal residence (domicile). The times during which parents provide lodging and care for the child is defined by a court-ordered custody "parenting schedule", also known as a "parenting plan".


title: Child custody

text: "Joint physical custody", or "shared parenting", means that the child lives with both parents for equal or approximately equal amounts of time. In joint custody, both parents are "custodial parents" and neither parent is a non-custodial parent. With joint physical custody, terms such as "primary custodial parent" and "primary residence" have no legal meaning other than for determining tax status. The term "visitation" is not used in joint physical custody cases, but only for sole custody orders. In joint physical custody, the actual lodging and care of the child is shared according to a court-ordered custody schedule, also known as a "parenting plan" or "parenting schedule".


title: Child custody

text: "Sole physical custody" means that a child resides with only one parent, while the other parent may have visitation rights with their child. The former parent is the "custodial parent" while the latter is the "non-custodial parent".


title: Child custody

text: Comparing 36 western countries in 2005/06, Thoroddur Bjarnason studied the proportion of 11-15-year-old children living in different child custody arrangements. The percent of children living in intact families with both their mother and father were highest in Macedonia (93%), Turkey (89%), Croatia (89%) and Italy (89%), while it was lowest in the United States (60%), Romania (60%), Estonia (66%) and Latvia (67%). In the other anglophone countries, it was 70% in the United Kingdom, 71% in Canada and 82% in Ireland. Among the children who did not live with both their parents, the percent in a shared parenting versus sole custody arrangement was highest in Sweden (17%), Iceland (11%), Belgium (11%), Denmark (10%), Italy (9%) and Norway (9%). At 2% or less, it was lowest in Ukraine, Poland, Croatia, Turkey, the Netherlands and Romania. It was 5% in Ireland and the United States and 7% in Canada and the United Kingdom. Shared parenting is increasing in popularity, and by 2016/17, the percentage in Sweden had increased to 34% among the 6-12 year old age group and 23% among 13-18-year-old children.


title: Child custody

text: A child custody case must be filed in a court that has jurisdiction over the child custody disputes. Jurisdiction normally arises from the presence of the children as legal residents of the nation or state where a custody case is filed. However, some nations may recognize jurisdiction based upon a child's citizenship even though the child resides in another country, or may allow a court to take jurisdiction over a child custody case either on a temporary or permanent basis based upon other factors.


title: Child custody

text: Forum shopping may occur both between nations and, where laws and practices differ between areas, within a nation. If a plaintiff files a legal jurisdiction that the plaintiff believes to have more favorable laws than other possible jurisdictions, that plaintiff may be accused of forum shopping.


title: Child custody

text: The Hague Convention seeks to avoid this, also in the United States of America, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act was adopted by all 50 states, family law courts were forced to defer jurisdiction to the home state.


title: Child custody

text: In the context of cases regarding custody, the "best interest" rule suggests that all legal decisions made to accommodate the child are made with the goal of ensuring a child's happiness, security and overall well being. There are many different factors that go into the decision that is made in a child's best interest, which include: the child's health, environment and social interests, the relationship each parent has with the child, and the ability of each parent to address the needs of the child.


title: Child custody

text: The "best interest" rule has been considered to be a standard in determining child custody for the most recent 40 years in history. Although it has been so widely favored amongst legal systems, there are some deficiencies to the concept. Robert Mnookin, an American lawyer, author, and a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, claimed that the best interest rule is indeterminate. It is considered to be a broad and vague set of guidelines that only leads to increased conflict amongst the parents instead of promoting cooperation that would actually lead to the best interest of the child being met. Some of these problems specifically include:


title: Child custody

text: In order to better analyze the "best interest" of children, several experiments were conducted to observe the opinions of children themselves. Children of divorce were found to want equal time with both of their parents. Studies conducted by Wallerstein, Lewis and Blakeslee (2002) show that children from all age ranges indicate that equal or shared parenting is of their best interest 93 percent of the time. Several other studies were able to produce similar results, including Smart (2002), Fabricus and Hall (2003), Parkinson, and Cashmore and Single (2003). As a result, there has been a push to allow for joint custody of children in the most recent years, which strives to best meet the interests of the children and most evidently favors a gender neutral stance on the custody issue. However, the decision is highly situational, for joint custody can only be achieved in the absence of certain exceptions. For example, history of domestic violence found from either parent can most certainly trump the possibility of joint custody for a child.


title: Child custody

text: In an economic analysis, Imran Rasul has concluded that if one parent values child quality more than the other, the spouses prefer that parent to have sole custody, while joint custody is optimal for parents with relatively equal valuation of child quality. He has further concluded that "joint custody is more likely to be optimal when divorce costs fall, so that children retain contact with both parents" and that "this may improve child welfare".


title: Child custody

text: As the roles of children have changed over the past couple of centuries from economic assets to individuals, so has the role of mothers and fathers in who would provide the best care for the child. Many courts and judges lean more towards the maternal figure when there is a trial for custody of a child. According to Family Change and Time Allocation in American Families study done at UCLA, women allocate about 13.9 hours a week to child care while men allocate about 7 hours a week. Additionally, according to the Current Population Survey, in 2013, custodial mothers were more likely to have child support agreements (52.3 percent) comparative to custodial fathers (31.4 percent).


title: Child custody

text: Women's and father's rights activists often become involved in matters of child custody since the issue of equal parenting is controversial, most of the time combining the interests of the child with those of the mothers or fathers. Women's rights activists are concerned about "family violence, recognizing primary caregiving, and inequities associated with awarding legal joint custody without a corresponding responsibility for child care involvement". Father's rights activists are more concerned about their "disenfranchisement from children’s lives, the importance of parent-child attachment, combating parental alienation, and access enforcement". Courts cannot determine an individual child's best interests with certainty, and judges are "forced to rely on their own interpretations of children’s interests, and idiosyncratic biases and subjective value-based judgments, including gender bias". Judges are currently using the ‘best interest of the child’ standard that was made to consider the interests of the child before the mothers and fathers, including the child's mental, emotional, physical, religious, and social needs.


title: Child custody

text: Child poverty, lack of resources, and women's economic dependence on men all remain pressing issues that are not effectively noted during the custody trials.


title: Child custody

text: Each parent has a responsibility under the Australian "Family Law Act 1975" for their children. The parental responsibility does not change in cases of separation or dysfunction between the two parents.


title: Child custody

text: In the case of divorce or separation of parents many hurdles can fall in the way regarding the custody of their children, deciding who will be the custodial parent and so forth. In Australia when parents cannot come to an agreement which meets both of their needs when it comes to the custody of their child/ren cases are taken to the Family Court of Australia, which happens in more scenarios than expected. When parents cannot agree on these arrangements and take matters to court, the court makes orders about parental responsibilities, and have the power to approve and make consent orders.


title: Child custody

text: In the Czech Republic, both parents are entrusted with child's custody until a court decides otherwise.


title: Child custody

text: A divorce is possible only after a court decision on custody was rendered. A decision should be made within six months, however when parents fail to reach agreement the cases typically take much longer. The court decides with the child's best interest in mind. In case of children 12 years and older, the child's preference becomes key to the court ruling. Court may also refer parents to mediation, try "test modes" of various custody arrangements or request psychological and psychiatrical evaluation of children and parents. In exigent circumstances, a parent can file for preliminary injunction for custody or child support payments. The court must decide on whether to grant the injunction within seven days.


title: Child custody

text: In Pakistan, the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 is the principal law that governs child custody. Pursuant to that statute and case law, the governing principle in child custody determinations, whether to a parent or third party, is the welfare of the minor.


title: Child custody

text: Looking at the history of child custody demonstrates how the views of children and the relationship between husbands and wives have changed over time. The view of children has changed from economic assets to individuals with their own interests. Fathers were also once seen as the head of the household compared to today, when fathers and mothers have more equal standing in the care of their children.


title: Child custody

text: During this time period, custodial issues arose with occasions other than divorce such as the death of the father or both parents, inability of parents to care for the children, or with situations involving illegitimate children. Children at the time were seen as economic assets with labor value. In addition to this, the only other important consideration in determining custody was the ability of the adults to supervise and raise the child. Widows would lose their children because they would not be able to support them. These children would be taken from the mother and given to another family that would support the child in return for the child's labor services. Otherwise, fathers were seen as the head of the household and had complete custody rights to children.


title: Child custody

text: The view of children as servants to their fathers and economic assets began to change in the nineteenth century. Children were seen to have interests of their own that were often associated with the care of a nurturing mother. The women's movement of the time also fought for women's right to child custody in their campaign. Judges eventually began to favor the "best interests of the child," which, especially for young and female children, was associated with mothers. Maternal presumption was judicially developed through legislature such as the "Tender Years Doctrine" that presumed that children should be placed with their mothers in custody debates. Granting custody to the father was seen "to hold nature in contempt, and snatch helpless, puling infancy from the bosom of an affectionate mother, and place it in the coarse hands of the father" when the mother was "the softest and safest nurse of infancy". This maternal presumption continued for over a hundred years. The only exception to maternal presumption was if the mother was considered to be "unfit." Most often, this occurred when women had committed adultery or left their husband.


title: Child custody

text: By the early twentieth century, divorce cases became more common, and custody disputed simultaneously became an issue that affected many families. With the changing attitudes of the Roaring 20's, a woman's sexual conduct no longer prevented her from receiving custody for her children. The double standard on sexual conduct of fathers and mothers was removed. The new rule according to Keezer on the Law of Marriage and Divorce stated that "Where the children are of tender years, other things being equal, the mother is preferred as their custodian, and this more especially in the case of female children, and this though she may have been guilty of delinquencies in the past but there is no evidence that she was delinquent at the time of determining the matter by the court."


title: Child custody

text: In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, divorce rates increased dramatically. Due to the nature of divorce, the rules governing child custody became increasingly difficult to determine. It was at this time that the idea of mothers being favored to gain custody of children in the event of a divorce was challenged. "The simple fact of being a mother does not, by itself, indicate a capacity or willingness to render a quality of care different from that which the father can provide", a New York court stated in 1973. It was at this time that the basis of the "best interest rule" was changed to address many aspects of the child's care in order to promote gender neutrality in decisions regarding custody. These aspects include the child's mental, emotional, physical, religious, and social needs. All children have the right to services that prevent them from physical or psychological harm. This means that when assessing the best interest of the child, it is not only important to assess the parents who are fighting for custody, but also the environments in which the child would be placed under the custody of either parent. In a situation where neither parent would be deemed an appropriate caretaker for a child, custody would be given to a foster care center.


title: Child custody

text: In some states joint physical custody creates a presumption of equal shared parenting, however in most states, joint physical custody creates an obligation to provide each of the parents with "significant periods" of physical custody so as to assure the child of "frequent and continuing contact" with both parents. For example, U.S. states such as Alabama, California, and Texas do not necessarily require joint custody orders to result in substantially equal parenting time, whereas states such as Arizona, Georgia, and Louisiana do require joint custody orders to result in substantially equal parenting time where feasible. Courts have not clearly defined what "significant periods" and "frequent and continuous contact" mean, which requires parents to litigate to find out.


title: Benji

text: Benji is a fictional character created by Joe Camp. He has been the focus of several movies from 1974 through the 2000s. It is also the title of the first film in the "Benji" franchise.


title: Benji

text: Benji is a small, lovable mixed-breed dog with an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time, usually to help someone overcome a problem.


title: Benji

text: Joe Camp is the creator and director of the Benji film franchise. His son Brandon Camp helmed the 2018 reboot film for Blumhouse Productions. The film was released on March 16, 2018 by Netflix.


title: FN Model 1949

text: The Fabrique Nationale Model 1949 (often referred to as the FN-49, SAFN, or AFN (automatic rifle version) is an autoloading battle rifle designed by Belgian small arms designer Dieudonné Saive in 1947. It was adopted by the militaries of Argentina, Belgium, the Belgian Congo, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Luxembourg, and Venezuela. The selective fire version produced for Belgium was known as the AFN.


title: FN Model 1949

text: While well regarded for its high build quality and reliability in comparison to the rifles of the time, its marketability was limited, as it was not developed in time for use in World War II but later, as many militaries had already begun the switch to selective fire battle rifles. An unknown number of FN-49s were produced as selective fire automatic rifles, but the small 10 round box magazine limited the usefulness of the fully automatic feature.


title: FN Model 1949

text: The FN-49 found itself in direct competition with a number of more modern rifles such as the Heckler & Koch G3 and Fabrique Nationale de Herstal's own FN FAL, resulting in limited sales.


title: FN Model 1949

text: Dieudonne Saive, Fabrique Nationale's then chief firearm designer, experimented with a number of recoil-operated rifle designs in the early 1930s. While little came of these experiments, they would become the basis for a gas-operated semi-automatic rifle, which he patented in 1936 and prototyped in 1937. (Photographs of these prototypes still exist, and they show a number of characteristics that would later appear in the FN-49.)


title: FN Model 1949

text: FN's new rifle was still in development in late 1938 – early 1939, and a version with a 5-round magazine was about to be marketed. When German armies invaded Poland, these plans were delayed to increase production of bolt-action rifles and machine guns.


title: FN Model 1949

text: The German invasion of Belgium in May 1940 interrupted any plans for the production of the new model, as Liège, home of FN's factory, was occupied by the German military. Despite this setback, Saive was able to escape to England via Portugal in 1941, where he continued work on what would become the FN-49.


title: FN Model 1949

text: By 1943, Saive was back to working on his experimental rifle, now in 7.92×57mm Mauser. Late that year, the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield ordered 50 prototypes (designated "EXP-1" and sometimes referred to as "SLEM-1" or "Self-Loading Experimental Model"). Based on tests with these prototypes, Enfield placed an order for 2,000 rifles for troop trials, but a last-minute problem with the moderation of the gas pressure (as well as the impending end of World War II) led to the cancellation of this order. Despite this, Saive (who had returned to Liège shortly after its liberation in September 1944) continued work on the rifle, and finalized the design for the FN-49 in 1947.


title: FN Model 1949

text: The FN Model 1949 is not ammunition specific, since it has an adjustable gas port or valve to adjust the rifle to various propellant and projectile specific pressure behavior, in which the gas port can be adjusted with a special wrench. This also requires removing the upper forward handguard for the adjustment.


title: FN Model 1949

text: The contracts for the SAFN 1949 rifle started in 1948 with the first order placed by Venezuela on March 31, 1948, delivered exactly four months later. The last production contract of complete rifles was ordered by Indonesia on December 19, 1960 and delivered by February 19, 1961.


title: FN Model 1949

text: Some sources claim pre-production models for demonstration and testing were produced in 1948, making rifle ready for contract orders and mass production. Other sources however claim the rifle was trialed with the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1947, The Netherlands Navy trials did not however lead to a sales contract.


title: FN Model 1949

text: FN started looking for customers, but the communist states were not an option (as they were required to buy or build Soviet designs). The Western European nations had vast stocks of World War II firearms. They also could get American and British weapons aid, which was inexpensive or free. So FN decided to market to the non-aligned countries, who did not want to commit to Western or Soviet doctrine, which was inevitable when accepting aid.


title: FN Model 1949

text: The first contract production of the SAFN 1949 rifle was delivered to Venezuela by May 31, 1949. It composed of 2,000 rifles in caliber 7×57mm Mauser, with an additional 2,012 rifles including cut-away training demonstration rifles delivered by July 31, 1949. The remaining rifles of the Venezuelan contract of 8,012 rifles were sold as surplus in the United States, and are prized by US collectors, sportsmen, and hunters because of the unique features ordered by Venezuela, the general good to excellent condition of the surplus rifles, and the superb accuracy of the 7×57mm Mauser cartridge.


title: FN Model 1949

text: The second contract was for the Egyptian government, consisting of 100 rifles chambered to fire the 8×57mm Mauser cartridge. It was ordered on May 30, 1948 and delivered by June 10, 1949. While initially a small contract delivery, Egypt would eventually purchase 37,602 SAFN 1949 rifles total.


title: FN Model 1949

text: The third contract was ordered by the Belgian government, starting with thirty test rifles on May 12, 1949, received on August 31, 1949, and a second larger order for 100 test rifles delivered by December 12, 1949. The Belgians would make a contract for production of the SAFN 1949 rifle on August 24, 1950 for 6000 rifles in caliber .30-06 Springfield. The Belgians designated the rifle as the "ABL SAFN-49", ABL is an acronym for the Belgian Army in both French and Dutch; "AB" for the French "Armée Belge" and "BL" for the Dutch "Belgisch Leger". The contracts for the SAFN 1949 rifle made by FN for Belgium totaled 87,777 rifles total, composing almost half of all FN-49 rifles ever produced. A fully automatic, selective fire version, known as the AFN was produced for the Belgian military. It is sometimes stated that all the ABL weapons were either built as a selective fire automatic rifle or that all could be readily convertible to selective fire automatic rifle. The AFN was also used by the Marines of the Belgian Navy or ZM-FN. (Zeemacht - Force Navale).


title: FN Model 1949

text: Luxembourg was the fourth country to order the SAFN 1949 rifles, with the first order placed on October 4, 1950 and taking possession of the first 1,500 rifles by May 5, 1951. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg would eventually purchase a total of 6,306 rifles, including rifles specifically for Luxembourg's Gendarmerie, which were FN-49s that comprised standard models, training cut-away rifles, and sniper variants, all in caliber .30-06 Springfield. The Luxembourg models, except for the Gendarmerie contract, were sold as surplus in the United States. Some were distributed to purchasers in larger US chain retail outlets. The Luxembourg models are sought after for two reasons: first, because of the particularly good condition of the Luxembourg surplus rifles; and second, because these FN-49 rifles were chambered for the .30-06 Springfield, a cartridge popular in the US sport shooting and hunting communities. Very few .30-06 FN-49 rifles from other contracts have been imported into the United States, making the Luxembourg rifles the only affordable option for an FN-49 in that caliber.


title: FN Model 1949

text: Indonesia, the Belgian Congo, and Colombia would make up the fifth to seventh contracts, all produced in caliber .30-06.


title: FN Model 1949

text: Argentina requested the eighth contract, ordering 5,536 SAFN 1949 rifles in caliber 7.65×53mm Argentine on July 29, 1953 for use by the Argentine Navy after an initial order of one test rifle in 1948.


title: FN Model 1949

text: Several prototypes were made in other calibers, including at least five in 6.5×55mm for testing in Sweden, one in caliber 7.5×54mm French for testing in Syria, one in caliber .30-06 for testing in the United States, and one in caliber 7.62×51mm NATO for Brazil.


title: FN Model 1949

text: A very small yet unknown quantity of commercial rifles chambered in .30-06 were imported to the US and Australia by Browning some time during the 1960s. These rifles are incredibly rare and few examples have been documented. They are configured with a polished checkered stock with a rollover cheek piece and side mount.


title: FN Model 1949

text: Contrary to some speculation, FN did not contract or produce the Argentine conversion of SAFN 1949 rifles from 7.65×53mm Argentine to 7.62×51mm NATO. While FN did receive and then later deliver an order for a conversion of a single rifle in March 1967, the remaining armory stock of the Argentine rifles were converted domestically by Metalúrgica Centro, a company formerly known as Fábrica de armas Halcón. Metalúrgica Centro provided and installed in each rifle a new barrel in 7.62×51mm NATO, modified each ejector, and modified each trigger guard to take a new 20 round detachable box magazine. The converted rifles were provided with proprietary 20 round detachable box magazines manufactured by Metalúrgica Centro to fit the SAFN 1949 rifle conversions. The 20 round steel magazines are proprietary, but were made to share the magazine loading charger with the FN FAL rifle used by the Argentine Army. These chargers are the same as for the Mauser Kar-98k, and thus not interchangeable with standard NATO stripper clips. These are very inexpensive via surplus dealers. Not only are Mauser 98 stripper clips not interchangeable with 7.62×51mm NATO standard, but also not with old 7.65×53mm Argentine versions.


title: FN Model 1949

text: Surplus Argentine rifles function quite well, but many imported magazines were poorly cut down to 10 rounds due to US import restrictions.


title: FN Model 1949

text: Some US collectors have been able to modify BAR 1918 and MG13 magazines to fit the original caliber rifles. However, the quality varies heavily with these mag conversions, ranging from some simply being extended internal magazines without last round bolt hold-open to those with fully detachable magazines and working bolt catch (the latter requiring the receiver feed lips and trigger guard modifications the Argentinian .308 weapons have).


title: Dysgeusia

text: Dysgeusia, also known as parageusia, is a distortion of the sense of taste. Dysgeusia is also often associated with ageusia, which is the complete lack of taste, and hypogeusia, which is a decrease in taste sensitivity. An alteration in taste or smell may be a secondary process in various disease states, or it may be the primary symptom. The distortion in the sense of taste is the only symptom, and diagnosis is usually complicated since the sense of taste is tied together with other sensory systems. Common causes of dysgeusia include chemotherapy, asthma treatment with albuterol, and zinc deficiency. Liver disease, hypothyroidism, and rarely certain types of seizures can also lead to dysgeusia. Different drugs could also be responsible for altering taste and resulting in dysgeusia. Due to the variety of causes of dysgeusia, there are many possible treatments that are effective in alleviating or terminating the symptoms of dysgeusia. These include artificial saliva, pilocarpine, zinc supplementation, alterations in drug therapy, and alpha lipoic acid.


title: Dysgeusia

text: The alterations in the sense of taste, usually a metallic taste, and sometimes smell are the only symptoms.


title: Dysgeusia

text: A major cause of dysgeusia is chemotherapy for cancer. Chemotherapy often induces damage to the oral cavity, resulting in oral mucositis, oral infection, and salivary gland dysfunction. Oral mucositis consists of inflammation of the mouth, along with sores and ulcers in the tissues. Healthy individuals normally have a diverse range of microbial organisms residing in their oral cavities; however, chemotherapy can permit these typically non-pathogenic agents to cause serious infection, which may result in a decrease in saliva. In addition, patients who undergo radiation therapy also lose salivary tissues. Saliva is an important component of the taste mechanism. Saliva both interacts with and protects the taste receptors in the mouth. Saliva mediates sour and sweet tastes through bicarbonate ions and glutamate, respectively. The salt taste is induced when sodium chloride levels surpass the concentration in the saliva. It has been reported that 50% of chemotherapy patients have had either dysgeusia or another form of taste impairment. Examples of chemotherapy treatments that can lead to dysgeusia are cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, vismodegib, and etoposide. The exact mechanism of chemotherapy-induced dysgeusia is unknown.


title: Dysgeusia

text: Distortions in the taste buds may give rise to dysgeusia. In a study conducted by Masahide Yasuda and Hitoshi Tomita from Nihon University of Japan, it has been observed that patients with this taste disorder have fewer microvilli than normal. In addition, the nucleus and cytoplasm of the taste bud cells have been reduced. Based on their findings, dysgeusia results from loss of microvilli and the reduction of Type III intracellular vesicles, all of which could potentially interfere with the gustatory pathway. Radiation to head and neck also results in direct destruction of taste buds, apart from effects of altered salivary output.


title: Dysgeusia

text: Another primary cause of dysgeusia is zinc deficiency. While the exact role of zinc in dysgeusia is unknown, it has been cited that zinc is partly responsible for the repair and production of taste buds. Zinc somehow directly or indirectly interacts with carbonic anhydrase VI, influencing the concentration of gustin, which is linked to the production of taste buds. It has also been reported that patients treated with zinc experience an elevation in calcium concentration in the saliva. In order to work properly, taste buds rely on calcium receptors. Zinc “is an important cofactor for alkaline phosphatase, the most abundant enzyme in taste bud membranes; it is also a component of a parotid salivary protein important to the development and maintenance of normal taste buds.”


title: Dysgeusia

text: There are also a wide variety of drugs that can trigger dysgeusia, including zopiclone, H-antihistamines, such as azelastine and emedastine. Approximately 250 drugs affect taste, including Paxlovid, a drug used to treat COVID-19. Some describe so-called "Paxlovid mouth" as like a "mouthful of dirty pennies and rotten soymilk," according to the "Wall Street Journal".


title: Dysgeusia

text: The sodium channels linked to taste receptors can be inhibited by amiloride, and the creation of new taste buds and saliva can be impeded by antiproliferative drugs. Saliva can have traces of the drug, giving rise to a metallic flavor in the mouth; examples include lithium carbonate and tetracyclines. Drugs containing sulfhydryl groups, including penicillamine and captopril, may react with zinc and cause deficiency. Metronidazole and chlorhexidine have been found to interact with metal ions that associate with the cell membrane. Drugs that act by blocking the renin - angiotensin - aldosterone system, for example by antagonizing the angiotensin II receptor (as eprosartan does), have been linked to dysgeusia. There are few case reports claiming calcium channel blockers like Amlodipine also cause dysguesia by blocking calcium sensitive taste buds.


title: Dysgeusia

text: Changes in hormone levels during pregnancy, such as estrogen, can affect the sense of taste. A study found that 93 percent of pregnant women reported some change in taste during pregnancy.


title: Dysgeusia

text: Xerostomia, also known as dry mouth syndrome, can precipitate dysgeusia because normal salivary flow and concentration are necessary for taste. Injury to the glossopharyngeal nerve can result in dysgeusia. In addition, damage done to the pons, thalamus, and midbrain, all of which compose the gustatory pathway, can be potential factors. In a case study, 22% of patients who were experiencing a bladder obstruction were also experiencing dysgeusia. Dysgeusia was eliminated in 100% of these patients once the obstruction was removed. Although it is uncertain what the relationship between bladder relief and dysgeusia entails, it has been observed that the areas responsible for urinary system and taste in the pons and cerebral cortex in the brain are close in proximity.


title: Dysgeusia

text: Dysgeusia often occurs for unknown reasons. A wide range of miscellaneous factors may contribute to this taste disorder, such as gastric reflux, lead poisoning, and diabetes mellitus. A minority of pine nuts can apparently cause taste disturbances, for reasons which are not entirely proven. Certain pesticides can have damaging effects on the taste buds and nerves in the mouth. These pesticides include organochloride compounds and carbamate pesticides. Damage to the peripheral nerves, along with injury to the chorda tympani branch of the facial nerve, also cause dysgeusia. A surgical risk for laryngoscopy and tonsillectomy include dysgeusia. Patients with the burning mouth syndrome, most likely menopausal women, often have dysgeusia as well.


title: Dysgeusia

text: The sense of taste is based on the detection of chemicals by specialized taste cells in the mouth. The mouth, throat, larynx, and esophagus all have taste buds, which are replaced every ten days. Each taste bud contains receptor cells. Afferent nerves make contact with the receptor cells at the base of the taste bud. A single taste bud is innervated by several afferent nerves, while a single efferent fiber innervates several taste buds. Fungiform papillae are present on the anterior portion of the tongue while circumvallate papillae and foliate papillae are found on the posterior portion of the tongue. The salivary glands are responsible for keeping the taste buds moist with saliva.


title: Dysgeusia

text: A single taste bud is composed of four types of cells, and each taste bud has between 30 and 80 cells. Type I cells are thinly shaped, usually in the periphery of other cells. They also contain high amounts of chromatin. Type II cells have prominent nuclei and nucleoli with much less chromatin than Type I cells. Type III cells have multiple mitochondria and large vesicles. Type I, II, and III cells also contain synapses. Type IV cells are normally rooted at the posterior end of the taste bud. Every cell in the taste bud forms microvilli at the ends.


title: Dysgeusia

text: In general, gustatory disorders are challenging to diagnose and evaluate. Because gustatory functions are tied to the sense of smell, the somatosensory system, and the perception of pain (such as in tasting spicy foods), it is difficult to examine sensations mediated through an individual system. In addition, gustatory dysfunction is rare when compared to olfactory disorders.


title: Dysgeusia

text: Diagnosis of dysgeusia begins with the patient being questioned about salivation, swallowing, chewing, oral pain, previous ear infections (possibly indicated by hearing or balance problems), oral hygiene, and stomach problems. The initial history assessment also considers the possibility of accompanying diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, or cancer. A clinical examination is conducted and includes an inspection of the tongue and the oral cavity. Furthermore, the ear canal is inspected, as lesions of the chorda tympani have a predilection for this site.


title: Dysgeusia

text: In order to further classify the extent of dysgeusia and clinically measure the sense of taste, gustatory testing may be performed. Gustatory testing is performed either as a whole-mouth procedure or as a regional test. In both techniques, natural or electrical stimuli can be used. In regional testing, 20 to 50 µL of liquid stimulus is presented to the anterior and posterior tongue using a pipette, soaked filter-paper disks, or cotton swabs. In whole mouth testing, small quantities (2-10 mL) of solution are administered, and the patient is asked to swish the solution around in the mouth.


title: Dysgeusia

text: Threshold tests for sucrose (sweet), citric acid (sour), sodium chloride (salty), and quinine or caffeine (bitter) are frequently performed with natural stimuli. One of the most frequently used techniques is the "three-drop test." In this test, three drops of liquid are presented to the subject. One of the drops is of the taste stimulus, and the other two drops are pure water. Threshold is defined as the concentration at which the patient identifies the taste correctly three times in a row.


title: Dysgeusia

text: Suprathreshold tests, which provide intensities of taste stimuli above threshold levels, are used to assess the patient's ability to differentiate between different intensities of taste and to estimate the magnitude of suprathreshold loss of taste. From these tests, ratings of pleasantness can be obtained using either the direct scaling or magnitude matching method and may be of value in the diagnosis of dysgeusia. Direct scaling tests show the ability to discriminate among different intensities of stimuli and whether a stimulus of one quality (sweet) is stronger or weaker than a stimulus of another quality (sour). Direct scaling cannot be used to determine if a taste stimulus is being perceived at abnormal levels. In this case, magnitude matching is used, in which a patient is asked to rate the intensities of taste stimuli and stimuli of another sensory system, such as the loudness of a tone, on a similar scale. For example, the Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center asks patients to rate the intensities of NaCl, sucrose, citric acid and quinine-HCl stimuli, and the loudness of 1000 Hz tones.


title: Dysgeusia

text: Other tests include identification or discrimination of common taste substances. Topical anesthesia of the tongue has been reported to be of use in the diagnosis of dysgeusia as well, since it has been shown to relieve the symptoms of dysgeusia temporarily. In addition to techniques based on the administration of chemicals to the tongue, electrogustometry is frequently used. It is based on the induction of gustatory sensations by means of an anodal electrical direct current. Patients usually report sour or metallic sensations similar to those associated with touching both poles of a live battery to the tongue. Although electrogustometry is widely used, there seems to be a poor correlation between electrically and chemically induced sensations.


title: Dysgeusia

text: Certain diagnostic tools can also be used to help determine the extent of dysgeusia. Electrophysiological tests and simple reflex tests may be applied to identify abnormalities in the nerve-to-brainstem pathways. For example, the blink reflex may be used to evaluate the integrity of the trigeminal nerve–pontine brainstem–facial nerve pathway, which may play a role in gustatory function.


title: Dysgeusia

text: Structural imaging is routinely used to investigate lesions in the taste pathway. Magnetic resonance imaging allows direct visualization of the cranial nerves. Furthermore, it provides significant information about the type and cause of a lesion. Analysis of mucosal blood flow in the oral cavity in combination with the assessment of autonomous cardiovascular factors appears to be useful in the diagnosis of autonomic nervous system disorders in burning mouth syndrome and in patients with inborn disorders, both of which are associated with gustatory dysfunction. Cell cultures may also be used when fungal or bacterial infections are suspected.


title: Dysgeusia

text: In addition, the analysis of saliva should be performed, as it constitutes the environment of taste receptors, including transport of tastes to the receptor and protection of the taste receptor. Typical clinical investigations involve sialometry and sialochemistry. Studies have shown that electron micrographs of taste receptors obtained from saliva samples indicate pathological changes in the taste buds of patients with dysgeusia and other gustatory disorders.