title: Meskhetian Turks

text: By the Peace of Amasya (1555), Meskheti was divided into two, with the Safavids keeping the eastern part and the Ottomans gaining the western part. In 1578, the Ottomans attacked the Safavid possessions in Georgia, which initiated the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590, and by 1582 the Ottomans were in possession of the eastern (Safavid) part of Meskheti. The Safavids regained control over the eastern part of Meskheti in the early 17th century. However, by the Treaty of Zuhab (1639), all of Meskheti fell under Ottoman control, and it brought an end to Iranian attempts to retake the region.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: On 15 November 1944, the then General Secretary of CPSU, Joseph Stalin, ordered the deportation of over 115,000 Meskhetian Turks from their homeland, who were secretly driven from their homes and herded onto rail cars. As many as 30,000 to 50,000 deportees died of hunger, thirst and cold and as a direct result of the deportations and the deprivations suffered in exile. The Soviet guards dumped the Meskhetian Turks at rail sidings across a vast region, often without food, water, or shelter.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: According to the 1989 Soviet Census, 106,000 Meskhetian Turks lived in Uzbekistan, 50,000 in Kazakhstan, and 21,000 in Kyrgyzstan. As opposed to the other nationalities who had been deported during World War II, no reason was given for the deportation of the Meskhetian Turks, which remained secret until 1968. It was only in 1968 that the Soviet government finally recognised that the Meskhetian Turks had been deported. The reason for the deportation of the Meskhetian Turks was because in 1944 the Soviet Union was preparing to launch a pressure campaign against Turkey. In June 1945 Vyacheslav Molotov, who was then Minister of Foreign Affairs, presented a demand to the Turkish Ambassador in Moscow for the surrender of three Anatolia provinces (Kars, Ardahan and Artvin). As Moscow was also preparing to support Armenian claims to several other Anatolian provinces, war against Turkey seemed possible, and Joseph Stalin wanted to clear the strategic Georgian-Turkish border where the Meskhetian Turks were settled and who were likely to be hostile to such Soviet intentions.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: Unlike the other deported Muslim groups, the Meskhetians have not been rehabilitated nor permitted to return to their homeland. In April 1970, the leaders of the Turkish Meskhetian national movement applied to the Turkish Embassy in Moscow for permission to emigrate to Turkey as Turkish citizens if the Soviet government persisted its refusal to allow them to resettle in Meskheti. However, the response of the Soviet government was to arrest the Meskhetian leaders.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: In 1989, riots broke out between the Meskhetian Turks who had settled in Uzbekistan and the native Uzbeks. Nationalist resentments against the Meskhetians who had competed with Uzbeks for resources in the overpopulated Fergana Valley boiled over. Hundreds of Meskhetian Turks were killed or injured, nearly 1,000 properties were destroyed and thousands of Meskhetian Turks fled into exile. The majority of Meskhetian Turks, about 70,000, went to Azerbaijan, whilst the remainder went to various regions of Russia (especially Krasnodar Krai), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: Meskhetian Turk refugees who had been persecuted in Central Asia were relocated to Azerbaijan where they settled in Khojaly before being subsequently massacred along with Azerbaijanis in 1992.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: Russian journalist Victoria Ivleva took photos of the town streets strewn with dead bodies of its inhabitants, including women and children. She described Meskhetian Turks from Khojaly who were captured by Armenian militants and she was hit by an Armenian soldier who took her for one of the captives when she was helping a Meskhetian Turk woman falling behind the crowd with four children, one of which wounded, and the other one newly born.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: Around 2,000 Meskhetian Turks have been forced to flee from their homes in Ukraine since May 2014 amid fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists. Turkish Meskhetian community representative in the eastern city of Donetsk, Nebican Basatov, said that those who have fled have sought refuge in Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and different parts of Ukraine. Over 300 Meskhetian Turks from the Turkish-speaking minority in eastern Ukraine have arrived in eastern Turkey's Erzincan province where they will live under the country's recently adopted asylum measures.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: According to the 1989 Soviet Census, there were 207,502 Turks living in the Soviet Union. However, Soviet authorities recorded many Meskhetian Turks as belonging to other nationalities such as "Azeri", "Kazakh", "Kyrgyz", and "Uzbek". Hence, official censuses do not necessarily show a true reflection of the real population of the Meskhetian Turks; for example, according to the 2009 Azerbaijani census, there were 38,000 Turks living in the country; however, no distinction is made in the census between Meskhetian Turks and Turks from Turkey who have become Azerbaijani citizens, as both groups are classified in the official census as "Turks" or "Azerbaijani". According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees report published in 1999, that 100,000 Meskhetian Turks lived in Azerbaijan and the defunct Baku Institute of Peace and Democracy stated, in 2001, that between 90,000 and 110,000 Meskhetian Turks lived in Azerbaijan, similarly, academic estimates have also suggested that the Turkish Meskhetian community of Azerbaijan numbers 90,000 to 110,000.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: More recently, some Meskhetian Turks in Russia, especially those in Krasnodar, have faced hostility from the local population. The Krasnodar Meskhetian Turks have suffered significant human rights violations, including the deprivation of their citizenship. They are deprived of civil, political and social rights and are prohibited from owning property and employment. Thus, since 2004, many Turks have left the Krasnodar region for the United States as refugees. A large number of them, comprising nearly 1300 individuals, is in Dayton, Ohio. They are still barred from full repatriation to Georgia. However, in Georgia, racism against Meskheti Turks is still prevalent due to differences in beliefs and ethnic tensions.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: The Meskhetian Turks speak an Eastern Anatolian dialect of Turkish, which hails from the regions of Kars, Ardahan, and Artvin. The Turkish Meskhetian dialect has also borrowed from other languages (including Azerbaijani, Georgian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Russian, and Uzbek) which the Meskhetian Turks have been in contact with during the Russian and Soviet rule.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: Meskhetian Turks' weddings consist of a traditional proposal from the groom's parents and if the bride's parents accept the proposal, an engagement party, or "Nişan", is done. Everyone at the "Nişan" is given a ceremonial sweet drink, called "Sharbat". The actual wedding lasts for two days. On the first day the bride leaves her house and on the second day is when the marriage happens. Before the bride enters her husband's house she uses the heel on her shoe to break two plates with her foot and applies honey on the doorway. This tradition serves the purpose of wishing happiness upon the new bride and groom in their marriage. At the end of the wedding, a dance ensues with the men and women dancing separately. Finally, the newlyweds have their last dance which is called the ‘Waltz’ and that completes the wedding.


title: Meskhetian Turks

text: The Religious male circumcision Ceremony of the Ahiska Turks, is hold in a big way of Dance, Music, Guests, rezitation of the Koran and a special Kirve (Sandek)


title: Anna Thomson

text: Anna Thomson is an American actress known professionally as Anna Levine. She was also credited as Anna Levine Thompson and Anna Thomson.


title: Anna Thomson

text: Thomson was orphaned at an early age and raised by her adoptive parents in New York City and France. She trained as a ballet dancer before becoming an actress.


title: Anna Thomson

text: She appeared in supporting roles in films such as "Heaven's Gate", "Desperately Seeking Susan", "The Crow" and "Unforgiven". She had also been known for her work in several of director Amos Kollek's films, such as "Sue Lost in Manhattan" and "Fast Food Fast Women", which gained her cult figure status in France.


title: Anna Thomson

text: In television, she played the role of Anna Rostov on "The Colbys", as well as appearing on "The Tracey Ullman Show" and the HBO comedy sketch show "Hardcore TV".


title: Tamilakam

text: Tamiḻakam (Tamil: தமிழகம்; Malayalam: തമിഴകം), refers to the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people, covering the southernmost region of the Indian subcontinent. Tamilakam covered today's Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Traditional accounts and the "Tolkāppiyam" referred to these territories as a single cultural area, where Tamil was the natural language and permeated the culture of all its inhabitants. The ancient Tamil country was divided into kingdoms. The best known among them were the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyans and Pallavas. During the Sangam period, Tamil culture began to spread outside Tamilakam. Ancient Tamil settlements were also established in Sri Lanka (Sri Lankan Tamils) and the Maldives (Giravarus).


title: Tamilakam

text: In contemporary India, Tamil politicians and orators often use the name "Tamilakam" to refer to Tamil Nadu alone.


title: Tamilakam

text: "Tamiḻakam" is a portmanteau of a word and suffix from the Tamil language, namely "Tamiḻ" and -akam. It can be roughly translated as the "home of Tamil". According to Kamil Zvelebil, the term seems to be the most ancient term used to designate Tamil territory in the Indian subcontinent.


title: Tamilakam

text: The "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea", as well as Ptolemy's writings, mention the term "Limyrike" which corresponds to the Malabar Coast of south-western India. Based on a misinterpretation of the Roman map "Tabula Peutingeriana" and the possible phonetic connection between the words "Damir-" and "Tamil", some modern scholars have wrongly mentioned Limyrike as "Damirica" (or "Damirice"), considering it as a synonym of "Tamilakam". The "Damirice" mentioned in the "Tabula Peutingeriana" actually refers to an area between the Himalayas and the Ganges.


title: Tamilakam

text: The term "Tamilakam" appears to be the most ancient term used for designating the Tamil territory. The earliest sources to mention it include "Purananuru" 168.18 and "Patiṟṟuppattu Patikam" 2.5. The Specific Preface ("cirappuppayiram") of the more ancient text "Tolkāppiyam" mentions the terms "tamil-kuru nal-lulakam" ("the beautiful world [where] Tamil is spoken") and "centamil ... nilam" ("the territory ... of refined Tamil"). However, this preface, which is of uncertain date, is definitely a later addition to the original "Tolkāppiyam". According to the "Tolkāppiyam" preface, "the virtuous land in which Tamil is spoken as the mother tongue lies between the northern Venkata hill and the southern Kumari."


title: Tamilakam

text: While these ancient texts do not clearly define the eastern and western boundaries of the Tamilakam, scholars assume that these boundaries were the seas, which may explain their omission from the ancient definition. The ancient Tamilakam thus included the present-day Kerala. However, it excluded the present-day Tamil-inhabited territory in the North-East of Sri Lanka.


title: Tamilakam

text: Approximately during the period between 600 BCE to 300 CE, Tamiḻakam was ruled by the three Tamil dynasties: the Chola dynasty, the Pandyan dynasty and the Chera dynasty. There were also a few independent chieftains, the Velirs (Satyaputra). The earliest datable references to the Tamil kingdoms are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE during the time of the Maurya Empire.


title: Tamilakam

text: The Pandyan dynasty ruled parts of South India until the late 17th century. The heartland of the Pandyas was the fertile valley of the Vaigai River. They initially ruled their country from Korkai, a seaport on the southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, and in later times moved to Madurai. The Chola dynasty ruled from before the Sangam period (~3rd century BCE) until the 13th century in central Tamil Nadu. The heartland of the Cholas was the fertile valley of the Kaveri. The Chera dynasty ruled from before the Sangam period (~3rd century) until the 12th century over an area corresponding to modern-day western Tamil Nadu and Kerala.


title: Tamilakam

text: The Vealirs ("Vēḷir") were minor dynastic kings and aristocratic chieftains in Tamiḻakam in the early historic period of South India.


title: Tamilakam

text: Tamiḻakam was divided into political regions called "Perunadu" or "Great country", "nadu" means country.


title: Tamilakam

text: There were three important political regions which were Chera Nadu, Chola Nadu and Pandya Nadu. Along these three there were two more political regions of Athiyaman Nadu (Sathyaputha) and Thamirabharani Nadu (Then Paandi) which were later on absorbed into Chera resp. Pandya Nadu by 3rd century BCE. Tondai Nadu which was under Chola Nadu, later emerged as independent Pallava Nadu by 6th century CE.


title: Tamilakam

text: Again Tamilakam were divided into 12 socio-geographical regions called "Nadu" or "country". Each of this Nadu had their own dialect of Tamil.


title: Tamilakam

text: Some other "Nadus" are also mentioned in Tamil literature which were not part of Tamilakam, but the countries traded with them in ancient times.


title: Tamilakam

text: Although the area covered by the term "Tamilakam" was divided among multiple kingdoms, its occurrence in the ancient literature implies that the region's inhabitants shared a cultural or ethnic identity, or at least regarded themselves as distinct from their neighbours. The ancient Tamil inscriptions, ranging from 5th century BCE to 3rd century CE, are also considered as linguistic evidence for distinguishing Tamilakam from the rest of South India. The ancient non-Tamil inscriptions, such as those of the northern kings Ashoka and Kharavela, also allude to the distinct identity of the region. For example, Ashoka's inscriptions refer to the independent states lying beyond the southern boundary of his kingdom, and Kharavdela's Hathigumpha inscription refers to the destruction of a "confederacy of Tamil powers".


title: Tamilakam

text: With the advent of the early historical period in South India and the ascent of the three Tamil kingdoms in South India in the 6th century BCE, Tamil culture began to spread outside Tamiḻakam. Prior to 3rd century BCE, more Tamil settlers arrived in Sri Lanka. The Annaicoddai seal, dated to the 3rd century BCE, contains a bilingual inscription in Tamil-Brahmi.Though Tamils have been living in Sri Lanka since the Ancient era at least with universally accepted dates of at least the 10th century BCE showing signs of Tamil civilisation in Sri Lanka Excavations in the area of Tissamaharama in southern Sri Lanka have unearthed locally issued coins produced between the second century BCE and the second century CE, some of which carry local Tamil personal names written in early Tamil letters, which suggest that local Tamil merchants were present and actively involved in trade along the southern coast of Sri Lanka by the late classical period. Around 237 BCE, "two adventurers from southern India" established the first Tamil rule at Sri Lanka. In 145 BCE Elara, a Chola general or prince known as Ellāḷaṉ took over the throne at Anuradhapura and ruled for forty-four years. Dutugamunu, a Sinhalese, started a war against him, defeated him, and took over the throne. Tamil Kings have been dated in Sri Lanka to at least the 3rd century BCE.


title: Tamilakam

text: Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Dravidian folk religion, Jains, and Buddhists have coexisted in Tamil country for at least as early as the second century BCE.


title: The Brave (film)

text: The Brave is a 1997 American independent neo-western film adapted from the Gregory Mcdonald novel of the same title. It was directed and co-written by Johnny Depp. The cast includes Depp and Marlon Brando.


title: The Brave (film)

text: This film was Depp's directorial debut. He co-wrote the screenplay with his brother. The film was first shown at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival where it received generally negative reviews. The film was released in theaters and on DVD internationally, but not in the United States.


title: The Brave (film)

text: A Native American man named Raphael lives with his wife and two children in a remote community, near a garbage dump. He sells whatever he can to make a living. Raphael, seeing the hopelessness of his situation and his inability to provide for his family, agrees to star in a snuff film for a large sum of money that he hopes will give his family a chance for a better life.


title: The Brave (film)

text: Having been given part of the money in advance, Raphael is given a week to live and then return to be tortured and killed in front of the camera. Over the course of his final week of his life Raphael changes his relationship with his wife and children and faces his own personal anguish with his fate.


title: The Brave (film)

text: The initial script, written by Paul McCudden and based on a book by Gregory Mcdonald, attracted interest from Hollywood studios in 1993, despite the dark nature of the story. Disney's Touchstone Pictures eventually picked up the film, and work on it was set to happen at the start of 1994. In December 1993 however, Aziz Ghazal (the first time director from USC film school who was attached to the picture) killed his wife and daughter before committing suicide. His body would not be found by Los Angeles police for over a month. With the director of the film missing and presumed responsible for the murder of his family, Touchstone immediately suspended production.


title: The Brave (film)

text: In spite of this major setback, McCudden and his production partner Charles Evans persisted in trying to get the film made, as they had already invested a substantial amount of their own money into it. In 1994, they were able to convince Johnny Depp to rewrite, direct and produce the film. Depp didn't like the original script, but still took on the project as he was moved by "the idea of sacrifice for family." Depp cast himself in the lead role as a means to attract interest from potential financers. The film had an estimated production budget of $5 million and Depp agreed to pay if the cost went over, and may have put as much as $2 million of his own money into the film.


title: The Brave (film)

text: The initial 1997 reviews from American critics were highly negative. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 33% based on reviews from 6 critics. "Variety" dismissed the film as "a turgid and unbelievable neo-western." Time Out says there's nothing inherently wrong with the film but that "Besides the implausibilities, the direction has two fatal flaws: it's both tediously slow and hugely narcissistic as the camera focuses repeatedly on Depp's bandana'd head and rippling torso."


title: The Brave (film)

text: The negative reviews led to Depp's decision to not give "The Brave" a formal release in the United States, either in theaters or on home media.


title: Lilia Buckingham

text: Lilia Buckingham (born April 9, 2003) is an American Internet personality, actress, dancer, author, and producer.


title: Lilia Buckingham

text: Buckingham was born and raised in Beverly Hills, to Jane (née Rinzler) and Marcus Buckingham. She has an older brother, Jack. She is openly lesbian.


title: Lilia Buckingham

text: Buckingham began acting in local musical theatre productions at a young age. She competitively danced with the MNR Dance Factory, where she met and befriended Mackenzie and Maddie Ziegler and began to grow her online platform. Together with her older brother, Jack, they co-founded anti-cyberbullying organization Positively Social.


title: Lilia Buckingham

text: Buckingham made her television debut in 2012 with a minor role in an episode of "Modern Family". She began working with Brat in 2018, starring as Autumn Miller on the web series "Dirt". The character has also made appearances in other series such as "Chicken Girls", "Total Eclipse" and "Zoe Valentine", as well as the 2019 Brat film "Spring Breakaway". She also made several appearances on the network's talk show, "Brat Chat".


title: Lilia Buckingham

text: In November 2018, Buckingham and Emily Skinner released a single, "Denim Jacket", and donated a portion of the proceeds to GLAAD.


title: Lilia Buckingham

text: Buckingham voices Heather Masterson, the epistolary narrator of Brat series "Crown Lake", which she co-produces with Sara Shepard. Her other filmmaking work includes directing and producing a music video for Jillian Shea Spaeder's 2019 single "Something Better", which received accolades at a number of film festivals. She and Spaeder, her then-girlfriend, wrote and starred in the short film "Pink".


title: Lilia Buckingham

text: Buckingham and Shepard went on to co-author a young adult novel, "Influence", about the world of social media influencers.


title: Lilia Buckingham

text: In 2022, Buckingham starred in Meet Cute's series, "A Pool For Love." The story is set at a public pool in Florida where Buckingham's character, Jordan, is the new head lifeguard. Marissa, the new girl on the block, joins the lifeguard team and turns Jordan's summer into chaos as she starts to explore her own sexuality and grow feelings for Marissa.


title: Cot–caught merger

text: The "cot"–"caught" merger or merger, formally known in linguistics as the low back merger, is a sound change present in some dialects of English where speakers do not distinguish the vowel phonemes in "cot" and "caught". "Cot" and "caught" (along with "bot" and "bought", "pond" and "pawned", etc.) is an example of a minimal pair that is lost as a result of this sound change. The phonemes involved in the cot–caught merger, the low back vowels, are typically represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet as and , respectively (in the U.S., co-occurring with the father–bother merger, as and ). The merger is typical of most Canadian and Scottish English dialects as well as some Irish and U.S. English dialects.


title: Cot–caught merger

text: An additional vowel merger, the father–bother merger, which spread through North America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, has resulted today in a three-way merger in which most Canadian and some U.S. accents have no vowel difference in words like "palm" , "lot" , and "thought" .


title: Cot–caught merger

text: The shift causes the vowel sound in words like "cot", "nod" and "stock" and the vowel sound in words like "caught", "gnawed" and "stalk" to merge into a single phoneme; therefore the pairs "cot" and "caught", "stock" and "stalk", "nod" and "gnawed" become perfect homophones, and "shock" and "talk", for example, become perfect rhymes. The cot–caught merger is completed in the following dialects:


title: Cot–caught merger

text: Nowhere is the shift more complex than in North American English. The presence of the merger and its absence are both found in many different regions of the North American continent, where it has been studied in greatest depth, and in both urban and rural environments. The symbols traditionally used to transcribe the vowels in the words "cot" and "caught" as spoken in American English are and , respectively, although their precise phonetic values may vary, as does the phonetic value of the merged vowel in the regions where the merger occurs.


title: Cot–caught merger

text: Even without taking into account the mobility of the American population, the distribution of the merger is still complex; there are pockets of speakers with the merger in areas that lack it, and vice versa. There are areas where the merger has only partially occurred, or is in a state of transition. For example, based on research directed by William Labov (using telephone surveys) in the 1990s, younger speakers in Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas exhibited the merger while speakers older than 40 typically did not. The 2003 Harvard Dialect Survey, in which subjects did not necessarily grow up in the place they identified as the source of their dialect features, indicates that there are speakers of both merging and contrast-preserving accents throughout the country, though the basic isoglosses are almost identical to those revealed by Labov's 1996 telephone survey. Both surveys indicate that, as of the 1990s, approximately 60% of American English speakers preserved the contrast, while approximately 40% merged the phonemes. Further complicating matters are speakers who merge the phonemes in some contexts but not others, or merge them when the words are spoken unstressed or casually but not when they're stressed.


title: Cot–caught merger

text: Speakers with the merger in northeastern New England still maintain a phonemic distinction between a fronted and unrounded (phonetically ) and a back and usually rounded (phonetically ), because in northeastern New England (unlike in Canada and the Western United States), the cot–caught merger occurred without the father–bother merger. Thus, although northeastern New Englanders pronounce both "cot" and "caught" as , they pronounce "cart" as .


title: Cot–caught merger

text: Labov et al. also reveal that, for about 15% of respondents, a specific – merger before but not before (or other consonants) is in effect, so that "Don" and "dawn" are homophonous, but "cot" and "caught" are not. In this case, a distinct vowel shift (which overlaps with the cot–caught merger for all speakers who have indeed completed the cot–caught merger) is taking place, identified as the Don–dawn merger.


title: Cot–caught merger

text: According to Labov, Ash, and Boberg, the merger in North America is most strongly resisted in three regions:


title: Cot–caught merger

text: In the three American regions above, sociolinguists have studied three phonetic shifts that can explain their resistance to the merger. The first is the fronting of found in the Inland North; speakers advance the vowel as far as the cardinal (the open front unrounded vowel), thus allowing the vowel to lower into the phonetic environment of without any merger taking place. The second situation is the raising of the vowel found in the New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore accents, in which the vowel is raised and diphthongized to , or, less commonly, , thus keeping that vowel notably distinct from the vowel . The third situation occurs in the South, in which vowel breaking results in being pronounced as upgliding , keeping it distinct from . None of these three phonetic shifts, however, is certain to preserve the contrast for all speakers in these regions. Some speakers in all three regions, particularly younger ones, are beginning to exhibit the merger despite the fact that each region's phonetics should theoretically block it.


title: Cot–caught merger

text: African American Vernacular English accents have traditionally resisted the cot-caught merger, with pronounced and traditionally pronounced , though now often . Early 2000s research has shown that this resistance may continue to be reinforced by the fronting of , linked through a chain shift of vowels to the raising of the , , and perhaps vowels. This chain shift is called the "African American Shift". However, there is still evidence of AAVE speakers picking up the cot-caught merger in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Charleston, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia, and in parts of California.


title: Cot–caught merger

text: In North America, the first evidence of the merger (or its initial conditions) comes from western Pennsylvania as far back as the data show. From there, it entered Upper Canada (what is now Ontario). In the mid-19th century, the merger also independently began in eastern New England, possibly influencing the Canadian Maritimes, though the merger is in evidence as early as the 1830s in both regions of Canada: Ontario and the Maritimes. Fifty years later, the merger "was already more established in Canada" than in its two U.S. places of origin. In Canadian English, further westward spread was completed more quickly than in English of the United States.


title: Cot–caught merger

text: Two traditional theories of the merger's origins have been longstanding in linguistics: one group of scholars argues for an independent North American development, while others argue for contact-induced language change via Scots-Irish or Scottish immigrants to North America. In fact, both theories may be true but for different regions. The merger's appearance in western Pennsylvania is better explained as an effect of Scots-Irish settlement, but in eastern New England, and perhaps the American West, as an internal structural development. Canadian linguist Charles Boberg considers the issue unresolved. A third theory has been used to explain the merger's appearance specifically in northeastern Pennsylvania: an influx of Polish- and other Slavic-language speakers whose learner English failed to maintain the distinction.


title: Cot–caught merger

text: In London's Cockney accent, a cot–caught merger is possible only in rapid speech. The vowel has two phonemically distinct variants: closer (phonetically ) and more open (phonetically ). The more open variant is sometimes neutralized in rapid speech with the vowel (phonetically ) in utterances such as (phonemically ) for "I was four then". Otherwise is still readily distinguished from by length.


title: Cot–caught merger

text: Outside North America, another dialect featuring the merger is Scottish English. Like in New England English, the cot–caught merger occurred without the father–bother merger. Therefore, speakers still retain the distinction between and .


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: The Avengers is the name of several comic book titles featuring the team the Avengers and published by Marvel Comics, beginning with the original "The Avengers" comic book series which debuted in 1963.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: In 1960, DC Comics launched a comic book series featuring a team of superheroes called the Justice League. Impressed by that book's strong sales, Martin Goodman, the owner of Marvel Comics predecessor Timely Comics, asked Stan Lee to create a title featuring a similar team of superheroes for Marvel. Lee recounts in "Origins of Marvel Comics":


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: Much like the Justice League, the Avengers were an assemblage of pre-existing superhero characters created by Lee and Jack Kirby. Kirby did the artwork for the first eight issues only, in addition to doing the layouts for issues #14–16. This initial series, published bi-monthly through issue #6 (July 1964) and monthly thereafter, ran through issue #402 (Sept. 1996), with spinoffs including several annuals, miniseries and a giant-size quarterly sister series that ran briefly in the mid-1970s. Marvel filed for a trademark for "The Avengers" in 1967 and the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued the registration in 1970.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: Between 1996 and 2004, Marvel relaunched the primary Avengers title three times. In 1996, the "Heroes Reborn" line, in which Marvel contracted outside companies to produce four titles, included a new volume of "The Avengers". It took place in an alternate universe, with a revamped history unrelated to mainstream Marvel continuity. "The Avengers" vol. 2 was written by Rob Liefeld and penciled by Jim Valentino, and ran for 13 issues (Nov. 1996–Nov. 1997). The final issue, which featured a crossover with the other "Heroes Reborn" titles, returned the characters to the main Marvel Universe.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: "The Avengers" vol. 3 relaunched and ran for 84 issues from February 1998 to August 2004. To coincide with what would have been the 500th issue of the original series, Marvel changed the numbering, and "The Avengers" #500-503 (Sept.– Dec. 2004), the one-shot "Avengers Finale" (Jan. 2005) became the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline and final issues. "Avengers" vol. 4 debuted in July 2010 and ran until January 2013. Vol. 5 was launched in February 2013. After Secret Wars, a new Avengers team debuted, dubbed the "All-New, All-Different Avengers", starting with a Free Comic Book Day preview.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: In the first issue, the Avengers team began with Ant-Man (Hank Pym), Hulk (Bruce Banner), Iron Man (Anthony Stark), Thor, and the Wasp (Janet van Dyne). The roster changed almost immediately after the first issue; in the second issue, Ant-Man became Giant-Man, and at the end of the issue, Hulk quit the team. Issue #4 brought the title's first major milestone: the revival and return of Captain America (Steve Rogers).


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: The creative team of writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema introduced new characters such as Arkon in issue #75 (April 1970) and Red Wolf in #80 (Sept. 1970). The team's adventures increased in scope as the team crossed into an alternate dimension and battled the Squadron Supreme, and fought in the Kree-Skrull War, which guest-starred the Kree hero, Mar-Vell/Captain Marvel. Novelist Harlan Ellison plotted two stories for the series. The first ("The Summons of Psyklop") was published in issue #88 (May 1971) and the second ("Five Dooms to Save Tomorrow") in #101 (July 1972).


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: During the summer of 1973, Englehart and artists Bob Brown and Sal Buscema produced "The Avengers-Defenders Clash" storyline which crossed over between the two team titles. This eight-issue story was the first summertime cross-title event, and was very popular with readers.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: George Pérez became the title's artist with issue #141 (Nov. 1975) which saw the start of a seven-part story featuring the Squadron Supreme and the Serpent Crown. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart's run on "The Avengers" eighth on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: After Englehart departed and a seven-issue stint by Gerry Conway, Jim Shooter began as writer, generating several classic adventures, including "The Bride of Ultron", the "Nefaria Trilogy", and "The Korvac Saga". Shooter introduced the character of Henry Peter Gyrich, the Avengers' liaison to the United States National Security Council. The true origins of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were revealed in a three-part story that ran in issues #185-187 (July-Sept. 1979).


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: The first major development was the breakdown of Henry Pym, which writer Roger Stern resolved this by having Pym outwit Egghead and defeated the latest incarnation of the Masters of Evil single-handedly, and proved his innocence.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: Stern developed several major storylines, such as "Ultimate Vision"; the formation of the West Coast Avengers; and "Avengers Under Siege". Rogue, who would later become a member of the X-Men, was introduced in "The Avengers Annual" #10 (1981) by writer Chris Claremont and artist Michael Golden.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: Stern created the villain, Nebula, who falsely claimed to be the granddaughter of Thanos. Following Stern's departure, Walt Simonson wrote the series briefly but left due to editorial conflicts.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: John Byrne took over writing both "West Coast Avengers" and "The Avengers" and merged the two separate Avengers teams into one team with two bases. Byrne's contributions included a revamping of the Vision, and the discovery that the children of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision were actually illusions. The Avengers titles in late 1989 were involved in the major crossover event "Acts of Vengeance".


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: Bob Harras and Steve Epting took over the title in the summer of 1991 and introduced a stable lineup with ongoing story lines and character development. Their primary antagonists in this run were the mysterious Proctor and his team of other-dimensional Avengers known as the Gatherers.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: This culminated in "", a 19-part storyline that ran through all Avengers-related titles and showcased a conflict between the Kree and the Shi'ar Empire.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: Marvel contracted out "The Avengers" and three related titles — "Captain America", "Fantastic Four", and "Iron Man" to former Marvel artists Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, two of the founding creators of Image Comics. While "The Avengers" was relaunched as a new series, the "Heroes Reborn" line ended after a year as planned and the license reverted to Marvel.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: Writer Kurt Busiek and penciler George Pérez launched a new volume of the series with "The Avengers" vol. 3, #1 (Feb. 1998). Busiek concurrently wrote the limited series "Avengers Forever". Busiek's run included many of the Avengers' traditional villains.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: Successor writer Geoff Johns dealt with the aftermath of Busiek's Kang arc, as the Avengers were granted international authority by the United Nations. Chuck Austen followed as writer. Writer Brian Michael Bendis then rebooted the series with the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: All four Avengers series ("The Mighty Avengers", "New Avengers", "Dark Avengers", and "Avengers: The Initiative") were canceled, and a new ongoing series titled "Avengers" was launched in May 2010, written by Brian Michael Bendis and penciled by John Romita Jr.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: In 2012, a biweekly "Avengers" title was launched, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by different artists for each story arc. After Secret Wars, a new Avengers title (vol. 6) dubbed the "All-New, All-Different Avengers" launched in 2015 written by Mark Waid, with alternating artwork by Mahmud Asrar and Adam Kubert, and covers by Alex Ross. Mark Waid and Alex Ross continued with "Avengers" vol. 7, which launched in 2017, with artwork by Mike del Mundo.


title: The Avengers (comic book)

text: It was relaunched once again in 2018 as part of Marvel's "Fresh Start" relaunch featuring a creative by Jason Aaron (w) and Ed McGuinness (pen).


title: BoPET

text: BoPET (biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and aroma barrier properties, and electrical insulation. A variety of companies manufacture boPET and other polyester films under different brand names. In the UK and US, the best-known trade names are Mylar, Melinex, and Hostaphan.


title: BoPET

text: BoPET film was developed in the mid-1950s, originally by DuPont, Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), and Hoechst.


title: BoPET

text: In 1955 Eastman Kodak used Mylar as a support for photographic film and called it "ESTAR Base". The very thin and tough film allowed reels to be exposed on long-range U-2 reconnaissance flights.


title: BoPET

text: In 1964, NASA launched Echo II, a diameter balloon constructed from a thick mylar film sandwiched between two layers of thick aluminium foil bonded together.


title: BoPET

text: The manufacturing process begins with a film of molten polyethylene terephthalate (PET) being extruded onto a chill roll, which quenches it into the amorphous state. It is then biaxially oriented by drawing. The most common way of doing this is the sequential process, in which the film is first drawn in the machine direction using heated rollers and subsequently drawn in the transverse direction, i.e. orthogonally to the direction of travel, in a heated oven. It is also possible to draw the film in both directions simultaneously, although the equipment required for this is somewhat more elaborate. Draw ratios are typically around 3 to 4 in each direction.


title: BoPET

text: Once the drawing is completed, the film is "heat set" or crystallized under tension in the oven at temperatures typically above . The heat setting step prevents the film from shrinking back to its original unstretched shape and locks in the molecular orientation in the film plane. The orientation of the polymer chains is responsible for the high strength and stiffness of biaxially oriented PET film, which has a typical Young's modulus of about . Another important consequence of the molecular orientation is that it induces the formation of many crystal nuclei. The crystallites that grow rapidly reach the boundary of the neighboring crystallite and remain smaller than the wavelength of visible light. As a result, biaxially oriented PET film has excellent clarity, despite its semicrystalline structure.


title: BoPET

text: If it were produced without any additives, the surface of the film would be so smooth that layers would adhere strongly to one another when the film is wound up, similar to the sticking of clean glass plates when stacked. To make handling possible, microscopic inert inorganic particles, such as silicon dioxide, are usually embedded in the PET to roughen the surface of the film.


title: BoPET

text: Biaxially oriented PET film can be metallized by vapor deposition of a thin film of evaporated aluminium, gold, or other metal onto it. The result is much less permeable to gases (important in food packaging) and reflects up to 99% of light, including much of the infrared spectrum. For some applications like food packaging, the aluminized boPET film can be laminated with a layer of polyethylene, which provides sealability and improves puncture resistance. The polyethylene side of such a laminate appears dull and the boPET side shiny.


title: BoPET

text: Other coatings, such as conductive indium tin oxide (ITO), can be applied to boPET film by sputter deposition.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Sexuality in South Korea has been influenced by culture, religion, and westernization. Viewpoints in contemporary society can be viewed as a conflict between the traditional, conservative older generation and the more liberal and 'modern' generation. Due to this conflict, several issues in Korea, including sexual education, homosexuality, and sexual behavior are highly contested.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Women have been marginalized throughout Korean history. Women could not participate in the main social system and were discriminated against on the basis of: their roles in marriage, fertility, lack of rights in divorce proceedings, and set roles in society.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Historically, Korean society was patriarchal, especially due to Confucianism. The position of a woman depended on the position of a male member of her family. Only the women of the ruling class could enjoy the same privileges of the men in the same class. Although men were allowed to have multiple wives, women were expected to have chastity and were compelled to remain unmarried if their husbands died. The aforementioned societal norms began to be enforced during the Joseon Dynasty. For instance, chastity of widows was enforced by forbidding the sons and grandsons of remarried women from taking the Gwageo. However, women were entitled to inherit property.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: In the family, women were expected to take care of the family finances. Women from lower class had jobs such as "mudang", or shamans; folk healer; kisaeng. Female shamans outnumbered male shamans, and women were usually only examined by women folk healers. Women were excluded from schools until 1886, when Ewha Hakdang was established.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: During the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392), monogamy was supported while divorce and remarriage were common. However, the aristocracy in this period practiced polygamy, and a man was legally allowed to have up to four wives. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897), monogamy was established as the official policy. However, elites were legally allowed to maintain concubines; however, children birthed with concubines were declared illegitimate since the early 15th century, and were banned from gwageo since 1471. During this period, women's remarriage was prohibited from 1447 to 1897. Marriage with those with both the same surname and family origin was forbidden, and is still forbidden today.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: During this time, early marriages were common. Early marriages were often arranged and can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms of Korea period (57 AD-668). Children about 10 years old could be presented to another family; this was done for both boys and girls. In the Joseon dynasty, the legal age for marriage was 15 for boys and 14 for girls. When a child assumed responsibility for the child's family, the child could marry at the age of 12. The society commonly believed that a higher age for marriage was associated with inappropriate sexual activity. This custom continued unto the 20th century.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: The traditional concepts of sexuality in Korea have been influenced by: Confucianism, Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism, Catholicism, and Protestantism.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Confucianism became important in the 7th century. During the Goryeo Dynasty, Confucianism served as the practical and philosophical structure of the state, and was the official ideology during the Joseon Dynasty. Neo-Confucianism became prominent in the 15th century. In Confucianism, men were considered to be positive (yang) and women negative (yin). As yang was considered more dominant than yin, men were considered to be comparably omnipotent, justifying male dominance and discrimination against female. Furthermore, sex was considered a duty to the family, rather than an act of pleasure. Although only three percent of the population has Confucianism as a belief system today, it remains the basis for sexual ethics and criminal law.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Buddhism was introduced during the Three Kingdoms period. It was the official religion during the Goryeo Dynasty, but lost influence during the Joseon Dynasty. Buddhism was used to instruct people to give up all desires, including those related to sex, and sexual activities were forbidden in many sects.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Catholicism was introduced at the end of the 17th century and began to become popular among the common people at the end of the 18th century. Though Catholicism was outlawed and banned, and the followers executed, it continued to have underground support. Protestantism was introduced on 1884. Both religions were involved in several intellectual movements, and promoted equal rights.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: In the Joseon Dynasty, unmarried men and women received a very limited form of sexual education. The education was focused on methods of becoming pregnant and consequent reproduction. Married couples received a calendar that stated information about the best days for fertility; this information was usually given only to the bride, although the groom sometimes received it. As producing children was considered a duty, families sometimes intervened. Prenatal care was considered important and was given even before conception.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: The traditional lack of information and education concerning sexual issues is currently conflicting with Western viewpoints of sexuality, and can be seen through the increasing rates of teenage pregnancy and sexual abuse. In 1968, the Planned Parenthood Federation of Korea (PPFK) has started sexual education. Since 1982, counseling centers for adolescents have been provided in schools and industrial parks. However, public education concerning sexuality is inadequate. Sexual education solely focuses on physical development and gender roles such as menstruation, pregnancy, virginity, sexual activities, and Sexually transmitted diseases. In 1996, the Korea Research Institute for Culture and Sexuality was established to develop sexual education programs.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Starting in the early 1990s, interest in sexual education began to increase. Books, academic interests, and mass media focusing on sexuality began to increase. In 1998, the instructor of a public sexual educational program on television became popular. According to two Korean Research Institute on Sexuality and Culture studies done on 1996 and 1997, 37.1% of male students learned about sex from pornography, while 14% learned it from their peers; for female students, 37% received sexual education from peers while 25.7% received it from school.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: According to the Korean Research Institute of Sexuality, 70% of female high school students agreed that masturbation was natural, though only 15.2% of the surveyed students reported masturbating, and the biggest group felt guilty about doing so. In contrast, 49.9% of male high school students reported masturbating. For parents, 75.2% were positive about their own masturbation. The attitudes of the parents toward masturbation had a positive correlation with the attitude of the parents toward their children's masturbation.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Production of pornography is illegal, although amateur material known as "Yadong" exists. Consequently, Koreans mostly consume pornography from overseas, especially Japanese pornography, sometimes using proxy servers to evade Korean Internet censorship. There are also adult videos filmed abroad with Korean actors, and recorded sex cams sessions. Popularity of K-pop resulted with flooding new porn genre Deepfake with manufactured adult videos with K-pop stars.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: In one study, 99.5% of male college students reported that they had been exposed to pornography (excluding participants who declined to answer the question), with 99.1% occasionally using it for masturbation. On average, participants masturbated to pornography 1-2 times a week. Women's pornography use was not investigated.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Yaoi fiction and comics are consumed by a subgroup of women. In 2005, there was a pornographic online magazine named "Foxylove" that catered mainly to Korean women and reportedly had over a hundred thousand subscribers.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: While the circumcision rates in Korea were extremely high (90% in age groups 17–19) as of 2002, the rates have declined recently; the circumcision rate for males 14–29 is 75.8%, with the aforementioned group rate down to 74.4%. It has been conjectured that the decline in the rate of circumcision was due to the increased availability of new information.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: In a survey given in 1997, 44.4% of female high school students reported that they had had heterosexual relationships and 7.5% of the entire group had had coital experiences. Of the group who had had coital experiences, 38.7% claimed to have been coerced and 32.3% attributed the reason to love. In a group of students who had not performed vaginal intercourse, about half the students were open to the idea of having sex and blamed their lack of experience on the lack of opportunities. However, 44.7% of students accepted light kissing and 31.6% accepted holding hands as permissible behavior in dating. The majority view was that virginity should be kept until marriage, with 88.1% of the group. For the survey of male students, 16.2% admitted to having had coital experiences, mostly with their girlfriends (74.7%). On the other hand, 65.7% of male high school students indicated a positive attitude towards premarital sexual activity, but only 7.5% had had previous sexual experiences. As a whole, the rate of students who had had sexual experiences increased in the late 20th century.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: A survey in 1991 indicated that, of surveyed adult males aged from 20 to 40, over 80% had had previous heterosexual relationships. Of the 80%, 44.7% reported their first sexual experience to have been with a prostitute. A study of married couples revealed that about half the people studied thought negatively about premarital relationships; in general, the female partners were more open to premarital and extramarital relationships. The double standard of relationships was hypothesized to cause psychological and physical (especially sexual) stress for females. Hymenorrhaphy, or hymen reconstruction surgery, is also popular in Korea, as the hymen is prized as the symbol for virginity.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Homosexuality is not outlawed in Korea, but it is also not expressly permitted. On September 7, 2013, the first gay marriage in Korea took place. However, the marriage was not legally binding; the couple has vowed to legally challenge this in court.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Under the law, rape is punishable with a prison sentence from 7 years to life imprisonment. The definition of "rape" includes adult males as victims, as well as marital rape. As of 2009, the statute of limitations for sexual assault is ten years.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: As of 2009, reports of sex crimes have been on the rise, especially those involving child victims. In 2012, there were 77,000 reported cases of sexual assault. In 2011, 22,034 rapes were reported. A study in 1997 found that 45.5% of female high school students reported sexual harassment, mostly by their male friends. These statistics are not considered an accurate representation of the true cases; a 2010 survey by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family concluded that only about 10 percent of all sexual assault cases were reported.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Currently, there is a prevalent traditional belief that rape is a man's mistake that should be forgiven, especially for victims who had been drunk or wearing revealing clothes. The Miryang gang rape incident in 2004 provoked controversy due to victim blaming and other mistreatment by police officials. This mistreatment ultimately led to a 2008 judgment against the police by the Supreme Court of Korea. There are rape crisis centers available, run by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: South Korean and foreign women and girls have been victims of sex trafficking in South Korea. They are raped and physically and psychologically harmed in brothels, businesses, homes, hotels, and other locations throughout the country.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: Prostitution in South Korea is illegal, but according to The Korea Women's Development Institute, the sex trade in Korea was estimated to amount to 14 trillion South Korean won ($13 billion) in 2007, roughly 1.6 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.


title: Sexuality in South Korea

text: From 1953 to 2015, adultery was punishable by up to two years in prison for both the adulterer and their partner. In February 2015, the Constitutional Court of Korea overturned the law.


title: New World (2013 film)

text: New World () is a 2013 South Korean crime drama film written and directed by Park Hoon-jung. Starring Choi Min-sik, Hwang Jung-min, Song Ji-Hyo and Lee Jung-jae, the film is a melodrama revolving around an undercover cop who finds it difficult to play both a cop and a goon. "New World" is the first entry in a planned trilogy.


title: New World (2013 film)

text: Lee Ja-Sung (Lee Jung-jae) is an undercover police officer who has been working in Goldmoon International, South Korea's largest corporate crime syndicate. During his 8 years, he is constantly at risk of discovery. Chief Kang (Choi Min-sik) promises to reassign Ja-Sung to an overseas position in the police force, but he continually delays his promise. When Ja-Sung threatens to quit the police force, Chief Kang threatens to leak his true identity to the crime syndicate, which would ensure his painful death.


title: New World (2013 film)

text: The chairman of Goldmoon dies in an accident, and two men fight to succeed him. Jung Chung is backed by the Chinese-descended Northmoon clan. Lee Joong-gu is backed by the Jaebum faction.


title: New World (2013 film)

text: Chief Kang sets Jung and Joong-gu against each other in hopes that they will defeat each other and clear the path for Jang Su-Ki to become the new chairman. Su-ki is nominally the vice president of the company, but he has no real power. Chief Kang hopes that the Goldmoon company will be weak enough to defeat if led by the weak Su-ki. Chief Kang blackmails Jung and convinces him to leak evidence about Joong-gu in exchange for a pardon for his own crimes. After he arrests Joong-gu, he informs Joong-gu that Jung betrayed him. Enraged, Joong-gu sends his men to assassinate Jung. Joong-gu's men ambush Jung and fatally wound him. In the meantime, Joong-gu's men break into Ja-Sung's house. Ja-Sung's wife is saved by the police but suffers a miscarriage from shock.


title: New World (2013 film)

text: Shattered by Jung's attack and terrified of what Joong-gu will do to him once he is released from prison, Ja-Sung begs Chief Kang to reassign him and let him disappear. Chief Kang refuses to keep his promise and destroys Ja-Sung's police profile to force him to continue to work for Goldmoon. After that Ja-Sung goes to see Jung at the hospital and, before his death, Jung tells Ja-Sung to decide his loyalty. Ja-Sung understands that Jung discovered that he is an undercover cop, but he pretends not to know because of their friendship.


title: New World (2013 film)

text: Ja-Sung finally decides to become a bad boy. He takes control of Jung's faction and secures the loyalty of Su-ki's men. When Su-ki attempts to have Ja-Sung executed, his men kill him instead. At Ja-Sung's bidding, his underlings murder Chief Kang, Police Director Ko, and Joong-gu. As a result, Ja-Sung's past undercover identity remains a secret while he smoothly ascends to become the new chairman of Goldmoon.


title: New World (2013 film)

text: "The New York Times" called the film "both less bloody and more thoughtful than most of its genre, the shifting-alliances plot becoming more engrossing as it progresses."


title: New World (2013 film)

text: "Los Angeles Times" wrote that "writer-director Park Hoon-jung tells this twisty story of internecine warfare within a Korean corporate crime syndicate with patience, elegance and no small amount of bloodshed."


title: New World (2013 film)

text: "Salon" said that "the rewards come from a satisfying plot, distinctive characters and a series of memorable showpieces, and Park handles all three demands well," and "no one in American movies has made a crime opera this good in years."


title: New World (2013 film)

text: "Film Business Asia" praised it as "the best played and most gripping Korean gangster movie since Yoo Ha's "A Dirty Carnival". [...] not only showcases three of South Korea's best actors at the top of their game but also manages to sustain its 2 and a half-hour running time on sheer character drama rather than action or violence."


title: New World (2013 film)

text: The film also received many negative reviews as well. David Noh from "Film Journal" wrote "There's nothing wrong with reworking films like "Election" and "Infernal Affairs". Scorsese won an Oscar for "The Departed", his version of the latter. Sadly, Park doesn't bring anything new to the genre, apart from a lot more crane shots and one too many stoic grimaces."


title: New World (2013 film)

text: Linda Barnard from "Thestar.com" gave it 2 stars out of 4, writing "South Korean gangster film "New World" tries to expand the genre with nods to "The Godfather" but can't escape the over-the-top acting, expansive violence and overdone story typical of Seoul-made crime dramas."


title: New World (2013 film)

text: "Slant Magazine" also gave it a negative review, stating "Bestowed with a somewhat novel twist, Park Hoon-jung's "New World" employs the good-guy/bad-guy power dynamic of the typical cop-gangster flick and treats it as the primary source of the story's intrigue. But the mole-imbedded gang war at the heart of this film plays out less like an organic round of Go between cops and criminals than the elaborate scheme of one character operating like a sadistic Creator and wreaking havoc in the lives of his ants."


title: New World (2013 film)

text: After competing with DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures, and Warner Bros., Sony Pictures picked up the remake rights, reportedly in the mid six-figure range. The production company Vertigo Entertainment will handle the project with producers Roy Lee and Dan Lin, Jon Silk and John Powers Middleton as executive producers, and Will Fetters as screenwriter. The 2018 Tamil movie "Chekka Chivantha Vaanam" was reported to be the "Indianized version" of this movie owing to its similarity in plot, characterization and the narrative.


title: William Cheung

text: William Cheung or Cheung Cheuk-hing (張卓慶, pinyin: "Zhāng Zhuóqìng") (born October 10, 1940) is a Hong Kong Wing Chun kung fu practitioner and currently the Grandmaster of his lineage of Wing Chun, entitled Traditional Wing Chun (TWC). He also heads the sanctioning body of TWC, the Global Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu Association (GTWCKFA). Cheung is responsible for introducing Bruce Lee to his master Ip Man when they were teenagers in Hong Kong.


title: William Cheung

text: In the 1950s Cheung grew up in Kowloon, where fighting skills were considered a measure of self-worth and pride. At age 11, Cheung's challenge matches were on the school playground and his fighting style was Tai Chi Chuan, which was not sufficient to elevate him among the youth of Hong Kong. This fighting was a concern and was frowned upon by his father who was a police inspector; hence Cheung avoided becoming involved in gangs. By his teenage years however the challenge fights continued, and—as they are inextricably linked to extortion rackets of secret societies—Cheung's high-achieving family saw him as a source of embarrassment.


title: William Cheung

text: A turning point in Cheung's life was when a gang leader who was undefeated in combat challenged an old man who was rumored to fight in a little–known Kung Fu style of a woman. Cheung witnessed the challenge and watched as the thin old man who was Ip Man quickly defeated the gang leader. Impressed by the old man's skill, Cheung visited Ip Man and became his student. Over the next few months Cheung became a favorite of Ip Man and became a live–in student for 3 years, before leaving Hong Kong.


title: William Cheung

text: During his time living with Ip Man, Cheung introduced a then 15–year–old famous child actor, Bruce Lee, whom he first met at Lee's 9th birthday to Ip Man. Originally Ip Man had rejected Bruce the right to learn Wing Chun Kung Fu under him because of the long standing rule in the Chinese Martial Arts world to not teach foreigners. His one quarter German background from his mother's side would be an initial obstacle towards his Wing Chun training. However Cheung would speak on his behalf and Lee was accepted into the school.


title: William Cheung

text: Cheung and Lee became friends and training partners. After several months of daily training, they both became more involved in street challenge fights, until one day Cheung fought a triad leader and seriously wounded him. This prompted Cheung's father to send him away from Hong Kong to put him out of harm's way; however, the problems followed him, and he and his family decided that it was better for his safety to migrate to Australia to begin a new life.


title: William Cheung

text: Bruce Lee acknowledged that while in Hong Kong, he saw Cheung as one of the best fighters. Bruce Lee was still young at the time and still developing as a martial artist. His exposure to fighters was few and far between. Cheung was not only his friend but also his si-hing, older Kung Fu Brother who often taught him some Wing Chun. Bruce showed him respect by naming Cheung as one of the best fighters, promoting not only his friend but Wing Chun as a legitimate martial art style.


title: William Cheung

text: After moving to Melbourne, Australia to teach Traditional Wing Chun professionally in 1973, Cheung established his Wing Chun studio in Melbourne's CBD. According to "The Sydney Morning Herald", his studio attracts hundreds of new students each year. Early in 1976 Cheung participated in the formation of the Australian National Kung Fu Federation and became its president. The federation ran the Australasian Kung Fu Championships from circa 1977/1978. These were the earliest Australian full contact tournaments open to all styles of martial arts. In 1976 Cheung also had a publicly documented feud with fellow Melbourne Kung Fu instructor Barry Pang who was the federation's vice president at the time. Cheung denounced Pang in the local papers, cast him out of the federation and challenged him to a duel for the rights to teach in the city. The Sunday Observer described it as a 'Kung-Fu War' and wrote about it for three consecutive weeks, eventually proclaiming Cheung as the victor.


title: William Cheung

text: Cheung trained students in the US as well, including some who became successful in their martial arts careers, such as Eric Oram who went on to train Robert Downey Jr. and Christian Bale in preparation for their Hollywood movie roles.


title: William Cheung

text: He also trained Anthony Arnett who has been winning martial arts tournaments since 1974 and has won grand champion multiple times some of which were for 3 years and 6 years running in different tournament circuits.


title: William Cheung

text: Cheung was acknowledged as one of Yip Man’s disciples who helped to firmly establish Wing Chun’s reputation as a fighting art through the challenge matches in Hong Kong.


title: William Cheung

text: Having been in duels with several triad members he had defeated in China, Cheung had reason to fear for his life, so in 1957 he emigrated to Australia. He was forced to fight ten sailors set up by the triads who were seeking revenge on his way there. Cheung sustained several stab wounds from the fight as some of the men were armed.


title: William Cheung

text: In 1984 Cheung set a world speed punching record of 8.3 punches per second at Harvard University in Boston.


title: William Cheung

text: Over a 28-year period Cheung has been featured on the front cover of 35 magazines between 1982 and 2010, the first being "Inside Kung Fu" in October 1982 and the most recent "Martial Arts Illustrated" in April 2010.


title: William Cheung

text: Cheung attained a Bachelor of Economics from the Australian National University, after graduating from secondary school in Hong Kong. Cheung is a certified Doctor of Chinese Medicine under the Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Victoria, and a member of the Australian Chinese Traditional Orthopaedics Association Inc. He has also been invited as a Guest Professor to Foshan Sports University (China), and as a Senior Research Professor of the Bone Research Department to Beijing Chinese Medical University (China).


title: Microsoft Dynamics 365

text: Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a product line of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) intelligent business applications announced by Microsoft in July 2016 and released on November 1, 2016.


title: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

text: The Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe is an American twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter designed by Sikorsky Aircraft for the United States Army. It is named after Tarhe, an 18th-century chief of the Wyandot Indian tribe whose nickname was "The Crane". The civil version is the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane.


title: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

text: Work on what would become the CH-54 can be traced back to Sikorsky's earlier activities with "sky-crane" helicopters, particularly the piston-engined Sikorsky S-60 of the late 1950s. Following the end of the Korean War, the United States Army sought to procure a successor to the Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave, an early piston-engined heavily lift helicopter; being aware of this need, Sikorsky were keen to fulfil it. The company was already working on the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane, a civil-orientated heavy lift rotorcraft that was designed specifically for the purpose of carrying large payloads externally; the development of a military-configured derivative was viewed as a natural option. While Sikorsky were quick to recognise the advantages of adopting turboshaft propulsion, there were no suitable engines of that type initially available, thus it had to work with the American engine manufacturer Pratt and Whitney to modify their JT12 turbojet to produce one.


title: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

text: One innovative feature for any helicopter of the era was the incorporation of an automatic flight control system, effectively a fly-by-wire arrangement. This feature enabled the aft-facing crew member to control the rotorcraft's pitch, roll, and yaw with 10% control authority, along with an altitude-hold function; it was also praised for being relatively easy to fly under instrument flight rules (IFR). Considerable attention was paid to the fuselage's design, particularly to minimising weight and maintenance requirements. the landing gear was designed to kneel to make loading easier as well as to ease operations from sloped surfaces. From on onset, Sikorsky sought enable the type to carry as diverse a range of cargoes as possible, leading to the incorporation of fitting for the carriage of barges and of a specially-designed multipurpose "people pod" that was suited for use for personnel transport, paratroop operations, and even as a mobile hospital or mobile command post.


title: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

text: On 9 May 1962, the first of three prototypes performed its maiden flight. It was subsequently tested by the US Army at Fort Benning while the other two underwent an evaluation in West Germany. During June 1963, it was announced that the US Army had placed an order for an initial six helicopters, designating it as the "CH-54A"; the first of these was officially accepted on 30 June 1963. Following a relatively brief period of testing and evaluation, the CH-54 was quickly put into active use in Vietnam.


title: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

text: Early on, the type had demonstrated itself to possess unrivalled performance in some aspects. , it continues to hold the helicopter record for highest altitude in level flight at , which it set in 1971, as well at the fastest climb to 3,000, 6,000, and 9,000 m (10,000, 20,000, and 30,000 ft). On 20 April 1965, a CH-54A equipped with a people pod lifted 90 people, comprising its crew of three and 87 combat-equipped troops; this was the largest number of people to be lifted by a single helicopter at that time.


title: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

text: The United States Army would ultimately procure 105 examples, which it operated under the designation of "CH-54 Tarhe". It was most prolifically used during the Vietnam War, typically to provide logistical support and heavy transport activities in aid of American ground troops. In the theatre, CH-54s would routinely be used to reposition artillery pieces such as the M101 howitzer, and even airlift bulky payloads such as bulldozers and patrol boats. In terms of retrieved aircraft alone, in excess of 380 were reportedly recovered via CH-54, resulting in the saving of several hundred million dollars.


title: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

text: In particular, those forces operating in and around the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North Vietnam and South Vietnam were unable to rely on ground supply routes due to the unavoidable challenges posed by the local geography; instead, they were almost entirely dependent on air support provided by rotorcraft such as the CH-54. The type would operate so close to the frontlines that several would come under fire from the North Vietnamese. One unusual use of the type came under the "Combat Trap" programme, which saw it drop 10,000lb bombs, intended for clearing landing zones. One danger that its crews had to maintain awareness of was the strong downwash generated by the rotors, nearby tents were particularly at risk of being blown away.


title: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

text: As a heavy transport helicopter, capable of retrieving numerous types of downed aircraft, it proved to be highly successful. The Tarhe can hold its cargo up and tight against its center spine to lessen drag and eliminate the pendulum effect when flying forward, as well as winch vehicles up and down from a hovering position, so the helicopter can deploy loads while hovering. Due to budget cuts, the Heavy Lift Helicopter (HLH) program was canceled and the CH-54 was not upgraded with larger engines. The relatively small fleet proved costly to maintain, thus the tandem-rotor Boeing CH-47 Chinook, a rival heavy lift helicopter, gradually supplemented the CH-54 for most transport duties, eventually replacing it in Regular Army aviation units during the 1980s. Another heavy lift helicopter, the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion, had also been developed using many of the proven systems of the CH-54, including its engine, fuselage, and dynamic systems.


title: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

text: The CH-54 was also operated by the Army National Guard, where it performed a variety of military and civilian missions. It participated in various humanitarian relief operations, including the rescuing of a whale in Alaska. Unusual payloads include whole antenna towers and log cabins; another example was the use of a CH-54 to airlift air conditioners onto the roof of the Pentagon. Furthermore, it was commonly tasked with relocating non-airworthy or retired aircraft. Despite these atypical demands, the CH-54 achieved a strong safety record. The military cutbacks enacted at the end of the Cold War proved to be the death knell for the CH-54's military service; the final National Guard flight was conducted on 10 January 1993.


title: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

text: Following their withdrawal from military use, many CH-54s were acquired by civilian operators and thus continued to be used in this new capacity. Of these, Erickson Air-Crane of Central Point, Oregon, operates the largest fleet of S-64 helicopters in the world under the name Erickson S-64 Aircrane. These can be equipped with water-dropping equipment (some also have foam/gel capability) for firefighting duties worldwide. After obtaining the type certificate and manufacturing rights in 1992, Erickson remains the manufacturer.


title: Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe

text: A large number of surviving airframes exist in flyable condition as well as in museum collections worldwide.


title: Lean On

text: "Lean On" is a song recorded by American electronic dance music group Major Lazer and French DJ and record producer DJ Snake featuring vocals from Danish singer MØ. It was released on March 2, 2015, as the lead single from Major Lazer's third studio album, "Peace Is the Mission" (2015). It was written by MØ, Diplo, William Grigahcine, Martin Bresso and Jr Blender, and produced by Major Lazer and DJ Snake. It is an EDM, electronic and moombahton song.


title: Lean On

text: "Lean On" was a critical and commercial success, peaking at number four on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. It reached number one in several other countries including Argentina, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Mexico and Switzerland; as well as the top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, France, Israel, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden. In November 2015, "Lean On" was named by Spotify as the most streamed song of all time, and has over 1 billion streams globally as of June 2017; however, it was later overtaken by Drake's "One Dance" (2016).


title: Lean On

text: The accompanying music video for "Lean On" was filmed in ND Studios, Karjat, Kaul Heritage City, in Vasai in Maharashtra, India and in the Golden Hall at Stockholm City Hall. The video premiered on March 23, 2015, and has over 3.27 billion views on YouTube as of October 2022. According to IFPI, "Lean On" was the fifth best selling song of 2015 worldwide, and one of the best-selling singles of all time, with global sales of 13.1 million.


title: Lean On

text: Regarding the creative process behind "Lean On", producer Diplo of Major Lazer said, "We wrote this song with MØ very early from an instrumental Jr Blender created in some sessions in Trinidad. It was a strong hook. Very big to me but the production was lacking an attitude we needed. A year later I remixed the song at a completely different tempo and asked DJ Snake for a signature post chorus. After he did his thing, me, MØ and Blender rewrote the song at the new tempo in Las Vegas and made something very unique that became our album's lead-off single. We're super proud of this song." Diplo offered a slower reggae arrangement of the song to Rihanna, who rejected it. He also offered said arrangement of the song to Nicki Minaj, who turned it down as well. Diplo called this turn of events "a blessing in disguise". MØ sounds better than anybody was going to sound on that record."


title: Lean On

text: The song has received critical acclaim. Brennan Carley of "Spin" wrote, "It's as if No Doubt met the C+C Music Factory". "Consequence of Sound"s Michelle Geslani called the song a "bouncy banger" and complimented MØ's "siren-like" vocals. David Jeffries from AllMusic praised MØ and DJ Snake for helping the track "deliver the sentimental lyrics and sensual house music at an intoxicating half-speed tempo." "Billboard"'s Matt Medved praised the song, explaining, "Lean On" gives Major Lazer’s reggae, trap and moombahton blend a pop gloss. Already a festival favorite, it looks primed to follow Jack Ü and Justin Bieber's "Where Are Ü Now" as another Diplo product that both innovates and finds crossover appeal."


title: Lean On

text: "Rolling Stone" ranked "Lean On" at number 48 on its year-end list to find the 50 best songs of 2015, while "Billboard" listed it number one on its Top 10 Dance/Electronic songs of 2015. The latter magazine also ranked "Lean On" at number 3 on its year-end critics' poll for 2015: "The Grammys got it wrong. It's rare that a dance record of this quality reaches this level of ubiquity—after all, this is Spotifys most streamed song of all-time as of Nov. 2015. Despite being independently released, the infectious three-minute single became the poster child for dance crossover, dominating both radio and festival play and hitting No. 4 on the Hot 100. By "Billboard"'s measure, 'Lean On' was the dance/electronic song of the year." The prestigious "Village Voice" ranked "Lean On" at number 25 on their annual year-end critic's poll. On January 26, 2016, "Lean On" reached #3 on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2015.


title: Lean On

text: "Lean On" was a global commercial success. In the United States, "Lean On" debuted at the bottom of the "Billboard" Hot 100 on the issue dated April 25, 2015. The song later reached number four on August 29, 2015, spending 10 consecutive weeks in the top-10. This entry makes it Major Lazer and MØs highest-charting hit in the country at the time making Major Lazer's first top 10 and top 40, also making MØ's first top 10 and second top 40 ("Cold Water", a collaboration with Justin Bieber, reached number two in 2016); "Lean On" also ties with DJ Snakes "Turn Down for What", which also reached number four in June 2014.


title: Lean On

text: In the United Kingdom, "Lean On" debuted at number 38 on the UK Singles Chart on the week ending April 11, 2015. The song entered the top-10 three weeks later, before reaching number two on June 27, 2015. The song spent 12 non-consecutive weeks in the top-10, becoming one of the few songs during 2015 to spend more than 10 weeks in the top 10 (even above several number-one singles). Elsewhere, in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway, "Lean On" reached number one. Additionally, the single reached number 3 on the Canadian Hot 100.


title: Lean On

text: In November 2015, "Lean On" was announced to have overtaken "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran as the most streamed song of all time on Spotify, with 526 million streams globally. It currently has over 1 billion streams on the site, making it the fourth most streamed song.


title: Lean On

text: The accompanying music video for "Lean On" was directed by Tim Erem, produced by Mikhail Mehra, Akshay Multani & Per Welen, director of photography Jacob Møller. It was shot at ND Studios, Karjat and Kaul Heritage City, Vasai in Maharashtra, India. Some scenes of the video are filmed in the Golden Hall of the Stockholm City Hall. It follows a premise of Major Lazer, MØ and DJ Snake engaging in modernised Bollywood dance sequences. It was inspired by a previous tour Major Lazer embarked on in the country. Speaking about the music video, Major Lazer member Diplo said:


title: Lean On

text: "When we toured there [in India] as Major Lazer, it was mind-blowing to see our fan-base and we wanted to incorporate the attitude and positive vibes into our video and just do something that embodies the essence of Major Lazer. Major Lazer has always been a culture mashup and to us, India feels like some kind of special creature with one foot in history and one firmly in the future."The video premiered on March 22, 2015, and has over 3 billion views on YouTube, making it the 26th most viewed video on the site.


title: Lean On

text: On July 10, 2015, the official EP of remixes was released for digital download. The EP consists of seven remixes.


title: Lean On

text: The official remix of "Lean On" features a guest appearance by American singer Ty Dolla Sign. It was premiered through Major Lazer's SoundCloud on June 17, 2015. Ty Dolla Sign starts the remix with his new verse while the rest of the song is the same as in the original version.


title: Lean On

text: The remix was well received by music critics. Zach Frydenlund of "Complex" wrote; "While the song was already catchy as hell, Ty Dolla adds another element to the single". "Rap-Up" also gave a positive review to the remix with writing that Ty Dolla Sign starts the song with "electrifying verse that is guaranteed to get you lit". Elias Leight of "The Fader" wrote that Ty Dolla Sign added "some extra juice" to the song with his verse.


title: Park Soo-jin

text: Park Soo-jin (born November 27, 1985) is a South Korean actress, singer and model. She was a member of K-pop girl group Sugar from 2001 to 2006, then she transitioned to acting in 2007. Park has also hosted "Tasty Road" since 2010, a cable show that features trendy restaurants in Seoul.


title: Park Soo-jin

text: Park married actor and KeyEast chairman Bae Yong-joon on July 27, 2015 at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel; they announced their engagement in May 2015. The couple's first child, a boy, was born on 23 October 2016.


title: Park Soo-jin

text: In August 2017, it was revealed that Park is in the early stages of pregnancy with her second child. Park gave birth to a girl on April 10, 2018.


title: Erik von Markovik

text: Erik von Markovik (born September 24, 1971), more popularly known by his stage name, Mystery, is a Canadian pickup artist and television personality. He is best known for his profiling in Neil Strauss's"" and his appearances on the VH1 television show "The Pickup Artist".


title: Erik von Markovik

text: The character Mystery was created by Erik von Markovic in the late 1990s for his performances as a mentalist, titled Natural Magic. He has done magic performances in many places, including Toronto, Las Vegas and Hollywood. The name Mystery was also used by von Markovik as an internet username. He is the author of "The Mystery Method: How to Get Beautiful Women Into Bed".


title: Erik von Markovik

text: Mystery describes himself as a "late bloomer" and acknowledges that he spent his early life playing "Dungeons & Dragons" and he had little or no success with women. However, his desire to love and be loved by women prompted him to go clubbing every night, practicing and testing various ways to implement social interactions with people. Over a period of trial and error of more than ten years, "and many, many mistakes," Mystery created what is now known as the 'Mystery Method' or the 'Venusian Arts'.


title: Erik von Markovik

text: He closely observed how people act with each other during the "courtship" of a relationship, and combining these observations with various theories of evolutionary psychology, he created a system of techniques and strategies designed to help men succeed with women in different social situations such as bars, clubs, cafes and similar places. He shared his theories in a discussion group on Usenet, alt.seduction.fast, and became famous for his analytical approach in the field of seduction and the "reports" he detailed.


title: Erik von Markovik

text: Mystery taught and then befriended the writer Neil Strauss, who became Mystery's wingman and eventually a mentor in the seduction community. Along with a group of other former students, Mystery and Strauss shared a mansion in Hollywood ("Project Hollywood"), which soon became a focal point for potential students. Their friendship is told in the book of Strauss's method, "".


title: Erik von Markovik

text: In 2004, Mystery formed the Mystery Method Corporation, and at the end of 2006, Mystery left to found a new company, called Venusian Arts. (The Mystery Method Corporation continued without him, and has since changed its name to Love Systems). Mystery's current venture is a company called "3 Second Rule", named after a Mystery Method rule whereby the student pickup artist must approach a set of people within 3 seconds of first noticing them.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Human iron metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that maintain human homeostasis of iron at the systemic and cellular level. Iron is both necessary to the body and potentially toxic. Controlling iron levels in the body is a critically important part of many aspects of human health and disease. Hematologists have been especially interested in systemic iron metabolism because iron is essential for red blood cells, where most of the human body's iron is contained. Understanding iron metabolism is also important for understanding diseases of iron overload, such as hereditary hemochromatosis, and iron deficiency, such as iron-deficiency anemia.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Iron is an essential bioelement for most forms of life, from bacteria to mammals. Its importance lies in its ability to mediate electron transfer. In the ferrous state (Fe), iron acts as an electron donor, while in the ferric state (Fe) it acts as an acceptor. Thus, iron plays a vital role in the catalysis of enzymatic reactions that involve electron transfer (reduction and oxidation, redox). Proteins can contain iron as part of different cofactors, such as iron–sulfur clusters (Fe-S) and heme groups, both of which are assembled in mitochondria.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Human cells require iron in order to obtain energy as ATP from a multi-step process known as cellular respiration, more specifically from oxidative phosphorylation at the mitochondrial cristae. Iron is present in the iron–sulfur cluster and heme groups of the electron transport chain proteins that generate a proton gradient that allows ATP synthase to synthesize ATP (chemiosmosis).


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Heme groups are part of hemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells that serves to transport oxygen from the lungs to other tissues. Heme groups are also present in myoglobin to store and diffuse oxygen in muscle cells.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: The human body needs iron for oxygen transport. Oxygen (O) is required for the functioning and survival of nearly all cell types. Oxygen is transported from the lungs to the rest of the body bound to the heme group of hemoglobin in red blood cells. In muscles cells, iron binds oxygen to myoglobin, which regulates its release.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Iron is also potentially toxic. Its ability to donate and accept electrons means that it can catalyze the conversion of hydrogen peroxide into free radicals. Free radicals can cause damage to a wide variety of cellular structures, and ultimately kill the cell.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Iron bound to proteins or cofactors such as heme is safe. Also, there are virtually no truly free iron ions in the cell, since they readily form complexes with organic molecules. However, some of the intracellular iron is bound to low-affinity complexes, and is termed labile iron or "free" iron. Iron in such complexes can cause damage as described above.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: To prevent that kind of damage, all life forms that use iron bind the iron atoms to proteins. This binding allows cells to benefit from iron while also limiting its ability to do harm. Typical intracellular labile iron concentrations in bacteria are 10-20 micromolar, though they can be 10-fold higher in anaerobic environment, where free radicals and reactive oxygen species are scarcer. In mammalian cells, intracellular labile iron concentrations are typically smaller than 1 micromolar, less than 5 percent of total cellular iron.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: In response to a systemic bacterial infection, the immune system initiates a process known as iron withholding. If bacteria are to survive, then they must obtain iron from their environment. Disease-causing bacteria do this in many ways, including releasing iron-binding molecules called siderophores and then reabsorbing them to recover iron, or scavenging iron from hemoglobin and transferrin. The harder the bacteria have to work to get iron, the greater a metabolic price they must pay. That means that iron-deprived bacteria reproduce more slowly. So, control of iron levels appears to be an important defense against many bacterial infections. Certain bacteria species have developed strategies to circumvent that defense, TB causing bacteria can reside within macrophages, which present an iron rich environment and "Borrelia burgdorferi" uses manganese in place of iron. People with increased amounts of iron, as, for example, in hemochromatosis, are more susceptible to some bacterial infections.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Although this mechanism is an elegant response to short-term bacterial infection, it can cause problems when it goes on so long that the body is deprived of needed iron for red cell production. Inflammatory cytokines stimulate the liver to produce the iron metabolism regulator protein hepcidin, that reduces available iron. If hepcidin levels increase because of non-bacterial sources of inflammation, like viral infection, cancer, auto-immune diseases or other chronic diseases, then the anemia of chronic disease may result. In this case, iron withholding actually impairs health by preventing the manufacture of enough hemoglobin-containing red blood cells.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Most well-nourished people in industrialized countries have 4 to 5 grams of iron in their bodies (∼38 mg iron/kg body weight for women and ∼50 mg iron/kg body for men). Of this, about is contained in the hemoglobin needed to carry oxygen through the blood (around 0.5 mg of iron per mL of blood), and most of the rest (approximately 2 grams in adult men, and somewhat less in women of childbearing age) is contained in ferritin complexes that are present in all cells, but most common in bone marrow, liver, and spleen. The liver stores of ferritin are the primary physiologic source of reserve iron in the body. The reserves of iron in industrialized countries tend to be lower in children and women of child-bearing age than in men and in the elderly. Women who must use their stores to compensate for iron lost through menstruation, pregnancy or lactation have lower non-hemoglobin body stores, which may consist of , or even less.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Of the body's total iron content, about is devoted to cellular proteins that use iron for important cellular processes like storing oxygen (myoglobin) or performing energy-producing redox reactions (cytochromes). A relatively small amount (3–4 mg) circulates through the plasma, bound to transferrin. Because of its toxicity, free soluble iron is kept in low concentration in the body.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Iron deficiency first affects the storage of iron in the body, and depletion of these stores is thought to be relatively asymptomatic, although some vague and non-specific symptoms have been associated with it. Since iron is primarily required for hemoglobin, iron deficiency anemia is the primary clinical manifestation of iron deficiency. Iron-deficient people will suffer or die from organ damage well before their cells run out of the iron needed for intracellular processes like electron transport.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Macrophages of the reticuloendothelial system store iron as part of the process of breaking down and processing hemoglobin from engulfed red blood cells. Iron is also stored as a pigment called hemosiderin, which is an ill-defined deposit of protein and iron, created by macrophages where excess iron is present, either locally or systemically, e.g., among people with iron overload due to frequent blood cell destruction and the necessary transfusions their condition calls for. If systemic iron overload is corrected, over time the hemosiderin is slowly resorbed by the macrophages.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Human iron homeostasis is regulated at two different levels. Systemic iron levels are balanced by the controlled absorption of dietary iron by enterocytes, the cells that line the interior of the intestines, and the uncontrolled loss of iron from epithelial sloughing, sweat, injuries and blood loss. In addition, systemic iron is continuously recycled. Cellular iron levels are controlled differently by different cell types due to the expression of particular iron regulatory and transport proteins.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: The absorption of dietary iron is a variable and dynamic process. The amount of iron absorbed compared to the amount ingested is typically low, but may range from 5% to as much as 35% depending on circumstances and type of iron. The efficiency with which iron is absorbed varies depending on the source. Generally, the best-absorbed forms of iron come from animal products. Absorption of dietary iron in iron salt form (as in most supplements) varies somewhat according to the body's need for iron, and is usually between 10% and 20% of iron intake. Absorption of iron from animal products, and some plant products, is in the form of heme iron, and is more efficient, allowing absorption of from 15% to 35% of intake. Heme iron in animals is from blood and heme-containing proteins in meat and mitochondria, whereas in plants, heme iron is present in mitochondria in all cells that use oxygen for respiration.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: Like most mineral nutrients, the majority of the iron absorbed from digested food or supplements is absorbed in the duodenum by enterocytes of the duodenal lining. These cells have special molecules that allow them to move iron into the body. To be absorbed, dietary iron can be absorbed as part of a protein such as heme protein or iron must be in its ferrous Fe form. A ferric reductase enzyme on the enterocytes' brush border, duodenal cytochrome B (Dcytb), reduces ferric Fe to Fe. A protein called divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1), which can transport several divalent metals across the plasma membrane, then transports iron across the enterocyte's cell membrane into the cell. If the iron is bound to heme, it is instead transported across the apical membrane by heme carrier protein 1 (HCP1). Heme is then catabolized by microsomal heme oxygenase into biliverdin, releasing Fe.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: These intestinal lining cells can then either store the iron as ferritin, which is accomplished by Fe binding to apoferritin (in which case the iron will leave the body when the cell dies and is sloughed off into feces), or the cell can release it into the body via the only known iron exporter in mammals, ferroportin. Hephaestin, a ferroxidase that can oxidize Fe to Fe and is found mainly in the small intestine, helps ferroportin transfer iron across the basolateral end of the intestine cells. Upon release into the bloodstream, Fe binds transferrin and circulates to tissues. In contrast, ferroportin is post-translationally repressed by hepcidin, a 25-amino acid peptide hormone. The body regulates iron levels by regulating each of these steps. For instance, enterocytes synthesize more Dcytb, DMT1 and ferroportin in response to iron deficiency anemia. Iron absorption from diet is enhanced in the presence of vitamin C and diminished by excess calcium, zinc, or manganese.


title: Human iron metabolism

text: The human body's rate of iron absorption appears to respond to a variety of interdependent factors, including total iron stores, the extent to which the bone marrow is producing new red blood cells, the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood, and the oxygen content of the blood. The body also absorbs less iron during times of inflammation, in order to deprive bacteria of iron. Recent discoveries demonstrate that hepcidin regulation of ferroportin is responsible for the syndrome of anemia of chronic disease.