title: Neuroimaging

text: x ray tomography scan done at the ESRF (European synchrotron radiation facility) which had a resolution of about 25 microns the scan took about 22 hours.this scan was part of the human organ atlas which has other x ray tomography scans of other organs in the human body with the same resolution.


title: Neuroimaging

text: A crucial idea for magnetic resonance imaging is that the net magnetization vector can be moved by exposing the spin system to energy of a frequency equal to the energy difference between the spin states (e.g., by a radio frequency pulse). If enough energy is delivered to the system, it is possible to make the net magnetization vector orthogonal to that of the external magnetic field.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Neuroradiology often follows a neurological examination in which a physician has found cause to more deeply investigate a patient who has or may have a neurological disorder.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Common clinical indications for neuroimaging include head trauma, stroke like symptoms eg: sudden weakness/numbness in one half of body, difficulty talking or walking; seizures, sudden onset severe headache, sudden change in level of consciousness for unclear reasons.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Another indication for neuroradiology is CT-, MRI- and PET-guided stereotactic surgery or radiosurgery for treatment of intracranial tumors, arteriovenous malformations and other surgically treatable conditions.


title: Neuroimaging

text: One of the more common neurological problems which a person may experience is simple syncope. In cases of simple syncope in which the patient's history does not suggest other neurological symptoms, the diagnosis includes a neurological examination but routine neurological imaging is not indicated because the likelihood of finding a cause in the central nervous system is extremely low and the patient is unlikely to benefit from the procedure.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Neuroradiology is not indicated for patients with stable headaches which are diagnosed as migraine. Studies indicate that presence of migraine does not increase a patient's risk for intracranial disease. A diagnosis of migraine which notes the absence of other problems, such as papilledema, would not indicate a need for radiological investigations. In the course of conducting a careful diagnosis, the physician should consider whether the headache has a cause other than the migraine and might require radiological investigations.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Computed tomography (CT) or "Computed Axial Tomography" (CAT) scanning uses a series of x-rays of the head taken from many different directions. Typically used for quickly viewing brain injuries, CT scanning uses a computer program that performs a numerical integral calculation (the inverse Radon transform) on the measured x-ray series to estimate how much of an x-ray beam is absorbed in a small volume of the brain. Typically the information is presented as cross-sections of the brain.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce high quality two- or three-dimensional images of brain structures without the use of ionizing radiation (X-rays) or radioactive tracers.


title: Neuroimaging

text: The record for the highest spatial resolution of a whole intact brain (postmortem) is 100 microns, from Massachusetts General Hospital. The data was published in NATURE on 30 October 2019.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Positron emission tomography (PET) and brain positron emission tomography, measure emissions from radioactively labeled metabolically active chemicals that have been injected into the bloodstream. The emission data are computer-processed to produce 2- or 3-dimensional images of the distribution of the chemicals throughout the brain. The positron emitting radioisotopes used are produced by a cyclotron, and chemicals are labeled with these radioactive atoms. The labeled compound, called a "radiotracer", is injected into the bloodstream and eventually makes its way to the brain. Sensors in the PET scanner detect the radioactivity as the compound accumulates in various regions of the brain. A computer uses the data gathered by the sensors to create multicolored 2- or 3-dimensional images that show where the compound acts in the brain. Especially useful are a wide array of ligands used to map different aspects of neurotransmitter activity, with by far the most commonly used PET tracer being a labeled form of glucose (see Fludeoxyglucose (18F) (FDG)).


title: Neuroimaging

text: The greatest benefit of PET scanning is that different compounds can show blood flow and oxygen and glucose metabolism in the tissues of the working brain. These measurements reflect the amount of brain activity in the various regions of the brain and allow to learn more about how the brain works. PET scans were superior to all other metabolic imaging methods in terms of resolution and speed of completion (as little as 30 seconds) when they first became available. The improved resolution permitted better study to be made as to the area of the brain activated by a particular task. The biggest drawback of PET scanning is that because the radioactivity decays rapidly, it is limited to monitoring short tasks. Before fMRI technology came online, PET scanning was the preferred method of functional (as opposed to structural) brain imaging, and it continues to make large contributions to neuroscience.


title: Neuroimaging

text: PET scanning is also used for diagnosis of brain disease, most notably brain tumors, epilepsy, and neuron-damaging diseases which cause dementia (such as Alzheimer's disease) all cause great changes in brain metabolism, which in turn causes easily detectable changes in PET scans. PET is probably most useful in early cases of certain dementias (with classic examples being Alzheimer's disease and Pick's disease) where the early damage is too diffuse and makes too little difference in brain volume and gross structure to change CT and standard MRI images enough to be able to reliably differentiate it from the "normal" range of cortical atrophy which occurs with aging (in many but not all) persons, and which does "not" cause clinical dementia.


title: Neuroimaging

text: FDG-PET scanning is also often used in assessment of patients with epilepsy who continue to have seizures despite adequate medical treatment. In focal epilepsy, where seizures begin in a small part of the brain before spreading elsewhere, it is one of the many modalities used to identify the region of brain responsible for seizure onset. Typically, the area of brain where seizures begin is dysfunctional even when patient is not having a seizure and uptakes less glucose, hence less FDG compared to healthy brain regions. This information can help plan for epilepsy surgery as a treatment for drug resistant epilepsy.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Other radiotracers have also been used to identify areas of seizure onset though they are not available commercially for clinical use. These include C-flumazenil, 1C-alpha-methyl-L-tryptophan, C-methionine, C-cerfentanil.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is similar to PET and uses gamma ray-emitting radioisotopes and a gamma camera to record data that a computer uses to construct two- or three-dimensional images of active brain regions. SPECT relies on an injection of radioactive tracer, or "SPECT agent," which is rapidly taken up by the brain but does not redistribute. Uptake of SPECT agent is nearly 100% complete within 30 to 60 seconds, reflecting cerebral blood flow (CBF) at the time of injection. These properties of SPECT make it particularly well-suited for epilepsy imaging, which is usually made difficult by problems with patient movement and variable seizure types. SPECT provides a "snapshot" of cerebral blood flow since scans can be acquired after seizure termination (so long as the radioactive tracer was injected at the time of the seizure). A significant limitation of SPECT is its poor resolution (about 1 cm) compared to that of MRI. Today, SPECT machines with Dual Detector Heads are commonly used, although Triple Detector Head machines are available in the marketplace. Tomographic reconstruction, (mainly used for functional "snapshots" of the brain) requires multiple projections from Detector Heads which rotate around the human skull, so some researchers have developed 6 and 11 Detector Head SPECT machines to cut imaging time and give higher resolution.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Like PET, SPECT also can be used to differentiate different kinds of disease processes which produce dementia, and it is increasingly used for this purpose. SPECT scan using Isoflupane labeled with I-123 (also called DaT scan) is useful in differentiating Parkinson's disease from other causes of tremor.


title: Neuroimaging

text: SPECT scan is also used in evaluation of drug resistant epilepsy. This uses Tc labeled hexamethyl-propylene amine oxime (TcHMPAO) or ethyl cysteinate dimer ( Tc ECD) as the tracers. The radiotracer is injected into the patient's vein as soon as the start of a seizure is detected and scanning is done within few hours after the seizure is over. This technique is called ictal SPECT and relies on the increased CBF in areas of seizure onset during the seizure. Interictal SPECT is a scan done using the same tracers but during a time when the patient is not having a seizure. In between seizures, a reduction in CBF is seen in areas of seizure onset and is not as pronounced as the blood flow increase during the seizure.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Cranial ultrasound is usually only used in babies, whose open fontanelles provide acoustic windows allowing ultrasound imaging of the brain. Advantages include the absence of ionising radiation and the possibility of bedside scanning, but the lack of soft-tissue detail means MRI is preferred for some conditions.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and arterial spin labeling (ASL) relies on the paramagnetic properties of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin to see images of changing blood flow in the brain associated with neural activity. This allows images to be generated that reflect which brain structures are activated (and how) during the performance of different tasks or at resting state. According to the oxygenation hypothesis, changes in oxygen usage in regional cerebral blood flow during cognitive or behavioral activity can be associated with the regional neurons as being directly related to the cognitive or behavioral tasks being attended.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Most fMRI scanners allow subjects to be presented with different visual images, sounds and touch stimuli, and to make different actions such as pressing a button or moving a joystick. Consequently, fMRI can be used to reveal brain structures and processes associated with perception, thought and action. The resolution of fMRI is about 2-3 millimeters at present, limited by the spatial spread of the hemodynamic response to neural activity. It has largely superseded PET for the study of brain activation patterns. PET, however, retains the significant advantage of being able to identify specific brain receptors (or transporters) associated with particular neurotransmitters through its ability to image radiolabeled receptor "ligands" (receptor ligands are any chemicals that stick to receptors). There is also significant concern regarding the validity of some of the statistics used in fMRI analyses; hence, the validity of conclusions drawn from many fMRI studies.


title: Neuroimaging

text: With between 72% and 90% accuracy where chance would achieve 0.8%, fMRI techniques can decide which of a set of known images the subject is viewing.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Recent studies on machine learning in psychiatry have used fMRI to build machine learning models that can discriminate between individuals with or without suicidal behaviour. Imaging studies in conjunction with machine learning algorithms may help identify new markers in neuroimaging that could allow stratification based on patients' suicide risk and help develop the best therapies and treatments for individual patients.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Diffuse optical imaging (DOI) or diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a medical imaging modality which uses near infrared light to generate images of the body. The technique measures the optical absorption of haemoglobin, and relies on the absorption spectrum of haemoglobin varying with its oxygenation status. High-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) has been compared directly to fMRI using response to visual stimulation in subjects studied with both techniques, with reassuringly similar results. HD-DOT has also been compared to fMRI in terms of language tasks and resting state functional connectivity.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Event-related optical signal (EROS) is a brain-scanning technique which uses infrared light through optical fibers to measure changes in optical properties of active areas of the cerebral cortex. Whereas techniques such as diffuse optical imaging (DOT) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measure optical absorption of haemoglobin, and thus are based on blood flow, EROS takes advantage of the scattering properties of the neurons themselves and thus provides a much more direct measure of cellular activity. EROS can pinpoint activity in the brain within millimeters (spatially) and within milliseconds (temporally). Its biggest downside is the inability to detect activity more than a few centimeters deep. EROS is a new, relatively inexpensive technique that is non-invasive to the test subject. It was developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where it is now used in the Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory of Dr. Gabriele Gratton and Dr. Monica Fabiani.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is an imaging technique used to measure the magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain via extremely sensitive devices such as superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) or spin exchange relaxation-free (SERF) magnetometers. MEG offers a very direct measurement of neural electrical activity (compared to fMRI for example) with very high temporal resolution but relatively low spatial resolution. The advantage of measuring the magnetic fields produced by neural activity is that they are likely to be less distorted by surrounding tissue (particularly the skull and scalp) compared to the electric fields measured by electroencephalography (EEG). Specifically, it can be shown that magnetic fields produced by electrical activity are not affected by the surrounding head tissue, when the head is modeled as a set of concentric spherical shells, each being an isotropic homogeneous conductor. Real heads are non-spherical and have largely anisotropic conductivities (particularly white matter and skull). While skull anisotropy has a negligible effect on MEG (unlike EEG), white matter anisotropy strongly affects MEG measurements for radial and deep sources. Note, however, that the skull was assumed to be uniformly anisotropic in this study, which is not true for a real head: the absolute and relative thicknesses of diploë and tables layers vary among and within the skull bones. This makes it likely that MEG is also affected by the skull anisotropy, although probably not to the same degree as EEG.


title: Neuroimaging

text: There are many uses for MEG, including assisting surgeons in localizing a pathology, assisting researchers in determining the function of various parts of the brain, neurofeedback, and others.


title: Neuroimaging

text: Functional ultrasound imaging (fUS) is a medical ultrasound imaging technique of detecting or measuring changes in neural activities or metabolism, for example, the loci of brain activity, typically through measuring blood flow or hemodynamic changes. Functional ultrasound relies on Ultrasensitive Doppler and ultrafast ultrasound imaging which allows high sensitivity blood flow imaging.


title: Neuroimaging

text: In June 2021, researchers reported the development of the first modular quantum brain scanner which uses magnetic imaging and could become a novel whole-brain scanning approach.


title: Neuroimaging

text: fMRI is commonly classified as a minimally-to-moderate risk due to its non-invasiveness compared to other imaging methods. fMRI uses blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD)-contrast in order to produce its form of imaging. BOLD-contrast is a naturally occurring process in the body so fMRI is often preferred over imaging methods that require radioactive markers to produce similar imaging. A concern in the use of fMRI is its use in individuals with medical implants or devices and metallic items in the body. The magnetic resonance (MR) emitted from the equipment can cause failure of medical devices and attract metallic objects in the body if not properly screened for. Currently, the FDA classifies medical implants and devices into three categories, depending on MR-compatibility: MR-safe (safe in all MR environments), MR-unsafe (unsafe in any MR environment), and MR-conditional (MR-compatible in certain environments, requiring further information).


title: Neuroimaging

text: The CT scan was introduced in the 1970s and quickly became one of the most widely used methods of imaging. A CT scan can be performed in under a second and produce rapid results for clinicians, with its ease of use leading to an increase in CT scans performed in the United States from 3 million in 1980 to 62 million in 2007. Clinicians oftentimes take multiple scans, with 30% of individuals undergoing at least 3 scans in one study of CT scan usage. CT scans can expose patients to levels of radiation 100-500 times higher than traditional x-rays, with higher radiation doses producing better resolution imaging. While easy to use, increases in CT scan use, especially in asymptomatic patients, is a topic of concern since patients are exposed to significantly high levels of radiation.


title: Neuroimaging

text: In PET scans, imaging does not rely on intrinsic biological processes, but relies on a foreign substance injected into the bloodstream traveling to the brain. Patients are injected with radioisotopes that are metabolized in the brain and emit positrons to produce a visualization of brain activity. The amount of radiation a patient is exposed to in a PET scan is relatively small, comparable to the amount of environmental radiation an individual is exposed to across a year. PET radioisotopes have limited exposure time in the body as they commonly have very short half-lives (~2 hours) and decay rapidly. Currently, fMRI is a preferred method of imaging brain activity compared to PET, since it does not involve radiation, has a higher temporal resolution than PET, and is more readily available in most medical settings.


title: Neuroimaging

text: The high temporal resolution of MEG and EEG allow these methods to measure brain activity down to the millisecond. Both MEG and EEG do not require exposure of the patient to radiation to function. EEG electrodes detect electrical signals produced by neurons to measure brain activity and MEG uses oscillations in the magnetic field produced by these electrical currents to measure activity. A barrier in the widespread usage of MEG is due to pricing, as MEG systems can cost millions of dollars. EEG is a much more widely used method to achieve such temporal resolution as EEG systems cost much less than MEG systems. A disadvantage of EEG and MEG is that both methods have poor spatial resolution when compared to fMRI.


title: Rikishi

text: A , or, more colloquially, , is a professional sumo wrestler. follow and live by the centuries-old rules of the sumo profession, with most coming from Japan, the only country where sumo is practiced professionally. Participation in official tournaments () is the only means of marking achievement in sumo, with the rank of an individual based solely on official wins. The number of active peaked at 943 in May 1994, at the height of the "Waka-Taka boom," but had declined to 665 by January 2022.


title: Rikishi

text: In popular use, the term can mean any sumo wrestler and be an alternative term to (sumo practitioner) or the more colloquial . The two kanji characters that make up the word are "strength/power" and "gentleman/samurai"; consequently, and more idiomatically, the term can be defined as "a gentleman of strength".


title: Rikishi

text: Within the world of professional sumo, is used as a catch-all term for wrestlers who are in the lower, un-salaried divisions of , , and . The more prestigious term refers to wrestlers who have risen to the two highest divisions of and and who have significantly more status, privilege and salary than their lower-division counterparts.


title: Rikishi

text: The life of a professional sumo wrestler is strictly regimented and has detailed prescriptions and rules for that have been observed for centuries, so much so that can be seen more as a way of life than a career.


title: Rikishi

text: Professional sumo is practiced exclusively in Japan, but wrestlers of other nationalities participate. there were 55 wrestlers officially listed as foreigners. In July 2007, there were 19 foreigners in the top two divisions, which was an all-time record, and for the first time a majority of wrestlers in the top ranks were from overseas. More recently, the ratio of foreigners has stabilized and there were 18 foreigners in the two top divisions.


title: Rikishi

text: A Japanese-American, Toyonishiki, and the Korean-born Rikidōzan achieved status prior to World War II, but neither were officially listed as foreigners. The first non-Asian to achieve fame and fortune in sumo was Hawaii-born Takamiyama. He reached the top division in 1968 and in 1972 became the first foreigner to win the top division championship. He was followed by a fellow Hawaii-born mega-weight Konishiki, of ethnic Samoan descent, the first foreigner to reach the rank of in 1987; and the Native Hawaiian Akebono, who became the first foreign-born in 1993. Musashimaru, born in Samoa and raised in Hawaii, became the second foreigner to reach sumo's top rank in 1999. Between 2003 and 2014, all four wrestlers reaching the rank were Mongolian: Asashōryū, Hakuhō, Harumafuji and Kakuryū. In 2012, the Mongolian Kyokutenhō became the oldest wrestler in modern history to win a top division championship. Wrestlers from Eastern European countries such as Georgia and Russia have also found success in the upper levels of sumo. In 2005, Kotoōshū from Bulgaria became the first wrestler of European birth to attain the ranking and the first to win a top division championship. In another milestone, Brazilian Ryūkō Gō became the first foreign born wrestler to be given status.


title: Rikishi

text: Until relatively recently, the Japan Sumo Association had no restrictions at all on the number of foreigners allowed in professional sumo. In May 1992, shortly after the Ōshima stable had recruited six Mongolians at the same time, the Sumo Association's new director Dewanoumi, the former Sadanoyama, announced that he was considering limiting the number of overseas recruits per stable and in sumo overall. There was no official ruling, but no stable recruited any foreigners for the next six years. This unofficial ban was then relaxed, but only two new foreigners per stable were allowed, until the total number reached 40. Then in 2002, a one foreigner per stable policy was officially adopted, though the ban was not retroactive, so foreigners recruited before the changes were unaffected. The move has been met with criticism. John Gunning claims it was introduced not for any racial reasons, but to ensure that foreign assimilate into sumo culture. He explained, there would be ten Hawaiian wrestlers in the same stable living in their own "little clique," not learning Japanese, so the rule "protects the culture of stables."


title: Rikishi

text: Originally, it was possible for a place in a stable to open up if a foreign born wrestler acquired Japanese citizenship. This occurred when Hisanoumi changed his nationality from Tongan at the end of 2006, allowing another Tongan to enter his stable, and Kyokutenhō's change of citizenship allowed Ōshima stable to recruit Mongolian Kyokushūhō in May 2007. However, on February 23, 2010 the Sumo Association announced that it had changed its definition of "foreign" to "foreign-born" (), meaning that even naturalized Japanese citizens will be considered foreigners if they were born outside of Japan. The restriction on one foreign wrestler per stable was also reconfirmed. As Japanese law does not recognize subcategories of Japanese citizen, this unique treatment of naturalized citizens may well be illegal under Japanese law, although the restriction has never been challenged in court.


title: Rikishi

text: While sumo is considered a martial art, it diverges significantly from many other typical Eastern martial art styles, in both presentation and structure. Whereas most martial arts award promotions to practitioners through time and practice, a 's sumo rank can be gained and lost every two months in the official tournaments. Conversely, in more common Japanese martial arts (such as karate), ranks are gained after passing a single test, and practitioners of karate are not normally demoted, even after repeated poor performances at tournaments. This divergence from other martial arts creates a high-pressure, high-intensity environment for . All the benefits that wrestlers receive can be taken from them if they fail to maintain a high level of achievement in each official tournament (or ).


title: Rikishi

text: Furthermore, sumo does not provide any means of achievement besides the official tournaments. A 's rank is determined solely by his number of wins during an official tournament. On the other hand, in many other Eastern martial arts, competitors can display their skill by performing standard routines, called or forms, to receive recognition. Thus, sumo wrestlers are very specialized fighters who train to win their bouts using good technique, as this is their only means of gaining better privileges in their stables and higher salaries.


title: Rikishi

text: The numerous differences between sumo and its martial arts counterparts have not deterred many former sumo wrestlers from competing in mixed martial arts. Most have had limited achievement; perhaps the most successful sumo wrestler to have competed in MMA is Tadao Yasuda, who holds a record of two wins and four losses. Sumo wrestlers are seen as generally ineffective in MMA because the sports are vastly different from one another in achieving victory; striking techniques and submissions are required for MMA and neither are taught in sumo wrestling. A few key sumo techniques which require grabbing the belt or pants of the opponent also become ineffective, as this is illegal in MMA.


title: Rikishi

text: Other sumo wrestlers to have fought in mixed martial arts include Baruto Kaito, Alan Karaev, Ōsunaarashi Kintarō, Kōji Kitao, Henry Armstrong Miller, Akebono Tarō, Teila Tuli and Wakashoyo. Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida also has a sumo background but his main style is Shotokan Karate.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: West Ham United Women Football Club is an English women's football club affiliated with West Ham United. They were formed in 1991 and play home games at Dagenham & Redbridge's Chigwell Construction Stadium on Victoria Road.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: Whilst the 1970s saw a short lived incarnation of West Ham United Ladies, it was early in 1991 when Roger Morgan, the Football in the Community officer at West Ham United, mooted the idea of forming the present ladies section of the club. Following a number of initial coaching sessions to bring in local players and the capture of John Greenacre, who had then recently relinquished his managerial posts at Romford Ladies, to help organise the club, the first friendly match was set for 29 March 1992 resulting in a defeat to Barnet Ladies. Undeterred, two teams were entered into the Greater London Regional Women's Football League for the following season; one in Division 3 and the other in Division 4 and the Hammers opened their first competitive season with a 5–1 victory against Hackney “B” on 27 September 1992 going on to finish the campaign in a respectable fourth place although the second team found life harder and were relegated to the 5th Division. A third-place finish the following season with was sufficient to earn promotion to Division Two and the next season there was a promotion into Division One following another third-place finish.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: 1995–96 saw a season of consolidation after the two consecutive promotions in two years with a mid table placing, but the season saw the club enter the FA Women's Cup for the first time, having been encouraged by a goalless draw with Arsenal Ladies the previous year in the London FA Women's Cup. The club also embarked on its first overseas tour taking in trips to Germany and Holland. International recognition was furthered as Claire Lacey, the Hammers goalkeeper, was awarded an England cap in an away fixture against Portugal to become the club's first international representative.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: Two more season of consolidation as a mid table Division One side in the Greater London League followed as the club went through a difficult period off the pitch, with personnel changes in the backroom staff and ground problems seeing Brampton Manor School, Barking and Little Heath all used as home grounds.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: The 1998–99 season saw the Hammers fortunes take an upturn reaching their first cup final in the Russell Cup and more importantly gaining the runners up spot in the league and with it promotion into the Greater London League Premier Division. The momentum continued as the Hammers immediately made an impact in the Premier Division coming second behind the semi professional set up at Fulham, before clinching the title the year after, coupled with a run to the 4th round of the FA Women's Cup.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: 2000–01 saw the introduction of the now highly successful junior section playing in the Essex County Girls League laying the foundations for another period of growth for the club as a second successful Greater London League Premier League campaign this time saw the Hammers winning the promotion play off and allowed the club to start the 2002–03 season in the South East Combination League, where a fourth-place finish showed the Hammers ability to hold their own at this level. The promise of being able to step up further emerged when the runners up spot was claimed the year after. Hopes were high the club could go one further for the 2004–05 campaign and in a nail-biting finish the Hammers emerged victorious from a winner takes all final league game with Northampton to win the title, only just missing out on the double following a league cup final defeat to the same opponents.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: Just 13 seasons after starting out West Ham United Ladies had now reached the FA Women's Premier League and achieved a sixth-place finish in their opening season at this level despite a shaky start as they got accustomed to the higher standard. There were no such problems for the reserve team though, who were only just pipped to the runners up spot in the Premier League (Reserves) Division Two South. The following season was a disappointment as the team started to slide and the club ended up in a situation where they would be relegated if the teams below were to win their games in hand although by the end of the season results had gone in the Hammers favour. The Reserve team finished rock bottom in their division but amongst the junior sections the club continued to flourish and from the junior ranks both management staff and playing personnel were elevated to get the club back on track.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: 2007–08 saw Tony Marshall take over as first team manager helped by Alex Bonner as coach. The club switched to play home games at Harlow Town and with a massive rebuilding job to be done the Hammers turned to youth with a side featuring many previous junior players from the club, who were more than able to hold their own with a sixth-place finish.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: The next season saw continued improvements: a new base at Thurrock, a highest-ever third-place finish in the league, and the first team lifting their first major trophy after winning the Essex FA County Cup. The success spanned across the whole club with the reserve team ending the season top of the Premier (Reserves) Division Two South and amongst the junior side's haul of silverware were the London FA Girls Youth Cup and the Southern Region Under 16 FA Tesco Cup.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: The Hammers were again amongst the leading sides in the 2009–10 campaign although too many draws saw them slip to fifth position with the reserve team consolidating following their promotion. Again there was success for the junior sides with the Under 16 team winning the UK Home International Tesco Cup at the Reebok Stadium. 2010–11 saw the side lead the table for much of the winter but were pipped to the promotion spots in the run in eventually finishing in third place. However the Essex FA County Cup was regained and best ever runs in the FA Women's Cup and FA Women's Premier League Cup saw both quarter finals reached.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: 2011–12 followed a similar pattern with good cup runs taking the club to the Essex FA County Cup final and the FA Women's Premier League Cup quarter final. Again a third-place finish was achieved in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: In Summer 2014, former professional footballer Julian Dicks took charge of the team. His first competitive game was against Spurs Ladies. He helped to improve the team from their 10th-place finish the season and then to a sixth-placed finish in the 2014–15 season, along with a London FA Capital Women's Cup Final date against Charlton Athletic Ladies.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: In March 2015, John Hunt and his son Stephen Hunt were appointed Joint Chairman. On 5 June 2015, the club announced the creation of the West Ham Ladies Learning Academy. In July 2015, Marc Nurse became manager replacing ex-professional footballer Julian Dicks, who was promoted to work with the men's first team. Under Nurse, West Ham go on to finish 10th for the 2015–16 season. The season began in controversial circumstances when club captain Stacey Little led a small walkout of players and went to the press. Little had criticised the main club in the press the previous year over a lack of funding. The highlight of the season by far was the Ladies' first and last full league match at Upton Park in the club's last season there before moving to Stratford. The Ladies secured a record crowd of 1,741 as a penalty by captain Katie Bottom sealed a 1–0 win. The game became widely known for an off-the-ball incident when the video of a Spurs defender stamping on the head of West Ham striker Whitney Locke went viral.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: During the summer of 2016, the team toured the Netherlands and played two top sides (MSV Duisburg and FC Twente) and were beaten in both matches. The Chairmen then took the decision to replace Nurse as manager and replace him with James Marrs who had recently led Brighton Ladies to promotion but was then sacked in controversial circumstances. Marrs appealed the circumstances of his sacking and in October 2016 an FA hearing held that the finding of the Sussex FA were such that "no reasonable body would have reached" and his record was cleared. The following day West Ham United nevertheless released Marrs as the Hunts were replaced as Chairmen and the Ladies absorbed into the main club. The events leading to the takeover of the Ladies were triggered by unfavourable press coverage of the main club's treatment of the Ladies team. For the rest of the 2016–17 season, the Ladies were managed by the West Ham Foundation coaches finishing 9th. The summer of 2017 saw West Ham Ladies undergo significant changes as the club looked to reach the top Women's Southern League within five years. Jack Sullivan, son of West Ham chairman David Sullivan was named the team's managing director, while Karen Ray took up the role of ladies' general manager. Greg de Carnys also moved over from the Academy to look after the ladies' first team and academy. In the first half of the season, the results were poor with 12 losses from 17 games, and on 9 December 2017, it was announced that de Carnys had parted company with the club and that Ray would take charge of the team on an interim basis. Following this, the results improved, with 11 wins and only 1 loss from the next 14 games, including victories in both the Isthmian League Women's Cup and FA WPL Plate.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: On 28 May 2018, it was announced that West Ham Ladies had successfully gained entry into the WSL, the top league in England. West Ham Ladies changed their name to West Ham United women's team in July 2018. Former Women's Super League winner Matt Beard was appointed head coach of West Ham United women in June 2018. Beard secured the signings of experienced players including Gilly Flaherty, Claire Rafferty, Jane Ross and Tessel Middag in preparation for the club's first season in the WSL. The club reached the FA Women's Cup Final in May 2019, ultimately losing 3–0 to Manchester City.


title: West Ham United F.C. Women

text: Beard and the club agreed to part ways by mutual consent on 19 November 2020. The board named goalkeeping coach Billy Stewart and first-team coach Paul McHugh as interim head coaches while a search for a full-time manager is being undertaken.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Kshama Sawant (; born October 17, 1973) is an Indian-American politician and economist who has served on the Seattle City Council since 2014. She is a member of Socialist Alternative, the first and only member of the party to date to be elected to public office.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: A former software engineer, Sawant became an economics instructor in Seattle after immigrating to the United States from her native India. She ran unsuccessfully for the Washington House of Representatives in 2012 before winning her seat on the Seattle City Council in 2013. She was the first socialist to win a citywide election in Seattle since Anna Louise Strong was elected to the school board in 1916. Sawant narrowly survived a December 7, 2021 recall election for her position on the council by a margin of 310 votes, or 0.76%. It was the first held in Seattle since 1975.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Born to H. T. and Vasundhara Ramanujam into a middle-class Tamil Brahmin family in the city of Pune, India. Sawant was raised mostly in Mumbai. Her mother is a retired principal and her father, a civil engineer, was killed by a drunk driver when she was 13 years old. She describes her family as "full of doctors and engineers and mathematicians" but says that "I wasn’t exposed to any particular ideology growing up."


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Mumbai in 1994. After moving to the United States with her husband Vivek Sawant, a Microsoft software engineer, she decided to turn her attention to economics following a year and a half stint as a programmer. She received her PhD in economics from North Carolina State University in 2003. Her dissertation was titled "Elderly Labor Supply in a Rural, Less Developed Economy".


title: Kshama Sawant

text: After moving to Seattle, she taught at Seattle University and University of Washington Tacoma and was an adjunct professor at Seattle Central College. She was also a visiting assistant professor at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant has indicated that the genesis of her becoming a socialist began in India, a country plagued by immense poverty. This development was furthered when she arrived in the United States, which she describes as "the wealthiest country in the history of humanity", and was surprised to encounter poverty and homelessness. In 2006, she attended a Socialist Alternative meeting after reading a pamphlet and proceeded to become a member.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: In 2012, Sawant ran unsuccessfully for Position 1 in the 43rd district of the Washington House of Representatives, representing Seattle. Sawant also ran and advanced past the primaries as a write-in win for Position 2. Washington state law allowed her to choose the election in which she would run, but as a write-in candidate, she was not permitted to state her party preference. Sawant successfully sued the Washington secretary of state for the right to be listed as a Socialist Alternative member on the ballot. Sawant challenged incumbent Democratic House speaker Frank Chopp in the general election on November 6, 2012. She received 29% of the vote to Chopp's 70%.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: After her unsuccessful run for the House, Sawant entered the race for Seattle City Council with a campaign organized by the Socialist Alternative. She won 35% of the vote in the August primary election, and advanced into the general election for the at-large council position 2 against incumbent Richard Conlin, making her the first socialist to advance to a general election in Seattle since 1991. On November 15, 2013, Conlin conceded to Sawant when returns showed him down by 1,640 votes or approximately 1% of the vote.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant's victory made her the first socialist to win a citywide election in Seattle since Anna Louise Strong was elected to the School Board in 1916 and the first socialist on the City Council since A. W. Piper, elected in 1877. She was sworn into office on January 6, 2014.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant declared a victory in May 2014 after Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced an increase in the minimum wage to $15, which was the cornerstone of her campaign for City Council, but she is not pleased that large corporations will be allowed a few years to phase in the wage hike. During a speech at the City Council on the day of the vote she said, "We did this. Workers did this. Today’s first major victory for 15 will inspire people all over the nation."


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Several Democrats endorsed her candidacy. Celebrity endorsements included Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant received no endorsements from sitting councilmembers, while Mike O'Brien expressed support of the idea of third party candidates but explicitly declining to extend an endorsement of Sawant. "The Stranger" alt-weekly endorsed both her State House and her City Council candidacy. Councilman Nick Licata also declined to endorse her but spoke positively of her campaign saying, "she has been able to craft a message that is understandable, simple and eschews most of the rhetoric", and when her eventual election victory seemed unlikely, he expressed his hope that Sawant would not "disappear after the election if she loses. She represents the poor, the immigrants, the refugees—the folks who are not in our City Council offices lobbying us."


title: Kshama Sawant

text: During her campaign, Sawant said that, if elected, she would donate the portion of her salary as a City Council member that exceeded the average salary in Seattle. On January 27, 2014, she announced that she would live on $40,000 of her $117,000 salary. She places the rest into a political fund that she uses for social justice campaigns. As of September 19, 2021, she cited her current city-allotted salary as $140,000, while she continues to take home $40,000 of that amount.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant called for the expansion of bus and light rail capacity with a millionaire's tax. She has also called for "transit justice", which would include free user fares; an increase in free transit services to the poor, especially communities in south Seattle; and restriction of transit options to communities that "can afford other options" until the foregoing measures are implemented.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: During the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Sawant urged the Seattle City Council to condemn both Israel's attacks on Gaza and Hamas's attacks on Israel, and called on President Obama and Congress to denounce the Israeli blockade of Gaza and to cut off all military assistance to Israel. Sawant's call to condemn Israel's actions prompted a response from Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer, calling for Sawant to retract the statement.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: The core issues of Sawant's campaign were a successful minimum wage increase to $15/hour, a successful "millionaire's tax" or income tax on wealthy Seattleites, and an unsuccessful rent control program. Back during the 2013 campaign, Sawant had said rent control is "something everyone supports, except real estate developers and people like Richard Conlin" and compared the legal fight for its implementation to same-sex marriage, and the legalization of marijuana in the United States, both of which she supports. Her campaign for a $15 an hour minimum wage has been credited for bringing the issue into the mainstream and attracting support for the policy from both Seattle former Mayors Michael McGinn and Ed Murray. In response to criticism that a $15 an hour minimum wage could hurt the economy, she said, "If making sure that workers get out of poverty would severely impact the economy, then maybe we don't need this economy." She is also a supporter of expanding public transit and bikeways, ending corporate welfare, ending racial profiling, reducing taxes on small businesses and homeowners, protecting public sector unions from layoffs, living wage union jobs, and social services.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant's platform of non-local Seattle issues, like rent control, income tax, corporate welfare, supporting the minimum wage outside Seattle, in SeaTac, and other cities, and participating in the Seattle Arctic drilling protests drew criticism from Sawant's opponents and favor with her leftist supporters. Her District 3 opponent Pamela Banks criticized Sawant's status as a national figure was a distraction from her primary duty to serve her constituents. "The Seattle Times", in their endorsement of Banks, said the City Council "isn't a job for an ideologue" and that "the District 3 seat is more than a podium", that it "needs a collaborative leader to work with other districts and balance resources and investment." On April 7, 2015, journalist Chris Hedges endorsed Sawant.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant advanced through the primary election for City Council District 3 representative on August 4, 2015 with 52% of the vote, 18 percentage points ahead of her closest opponent, Pamela Banks at 34%. Voters returned Sawant to the City Council and made her the first District 3 representative in November 2015, with 17,170 votes counted for Sawant and 13,427 for Banks, or 56% to 44%. With incumbent O'Brien elected to District 6, and former Licata aide Lisa Herbold elected to District 1, they, along with Sawant, became the new progressive bloc of the Council, which became majority female with the addition of two other women, Debora Juarez and Lorena González. Sawant, as one of the four people of color on the new Council, also became part of a younger and more diverse Council, the first to seat members by district in more than 100 years.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: In 2019, Sawant ran against Egan Orion, a small business advocate and organizer of the city's annual LGBT pride festival.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: The 2019 Seattle City Council election gained national attention after Amazon spent an unprecedented $1.5 million on the campaign. The company, which is the largest private employer in the city, contributed the funds to a political action committee operated by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce which backs candidates the chamber considers to be more "business-friendly". The PAC supported Sawant's opponent in the race. Amazon became increasingly involved in city council politics after the passage of the Seattle head tax in 2018, which would have cost the company $11 million annually in order to fund public housing and homeless services. Shortly after enacting the tax, the city council voted 7–2 to repeal it, with Sawant being one of the two dissenters.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant and Mayor Jenny Durkan repeatedly clashed, and in June 2020, Sawant said that the mayor should resign. In a letter to the Council president on June 30, 2020, Durkan asked the City Council to investigate Sawant under its city charter authority to punish members for "disorderly or otherwise contemptuous behavior," writing that Sawant had participated in a march to her home, knowing that her address "was protected under the state confidentiality program because of threats against me due largely to my work as U.S. Attorney." The mayor accused Sawant and others of acting "with reckless disregard of the safety of my family and children." Additionally, Sawant led protesters into Seattle City Hall, which was closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic, on the evening of June 9, 2020. Durkan also alleged that Sawant had used her council office to promote the "Tax Amazon" ballot initiative, urged protesters to occupy the East Precinct police station, and involved Socialist Alternative in her council office staffing decisions. Durkan said that she respected policy disagreements with members, but that these


title: Kshama Sawant

text: disagreements, "do not justify a council member who potentially uses their position in violation of law or who recklessly undermines the safety of others, all for political theatre." In response, Sawant accused Durkan of being the leader of a "pro-corporate political establishment" and of carrying out "an attack on working people's movements."


title: Kshama Sawant

text: In August 2020, petitioner Ernie Lou submitted a petition to the King County Elections Office to recall Sawant, which was allowed to proceed in a decision by the Washington Supreme Court on April 1, 2021. Sawant responded by denying the charges in the petition and claiming that the recall effort was backed by right-wing billionaires. The recall campaign was criticised by journalist Liza Featherstone, who characterised it as being controlled by "tech corporations, real estate interests, and business lobbyists". In September 2021, the King County Elections Office set the recall election date for December 7. Sawant's strategy for the recall election focused on driving up turnout among young voters, one of her core constituencies. It was the first recall election held in Seattle since the 1975 recall election against Mayor Wesley C. Uhlman. The results of the election were close, with Sawant overcoming the recall by 310 votes, which was 0.76% of the 41,033 votes cast. The turnout was 52.9%.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant has advocated the nationalization of large Washington State corporations such as Boeing, Microsoft, and Amazon and expressed a desire to see privately owned housing in "Millionaire's Row" in the Capitol Hill neighborhood turned into publicly owned shared housing complex saying, "When things are exquisitely beautiful and rare, they shouldn't be privately owned." During an election victory rally for her City Council campaign, Sawant criticized Boeing for saying it would move jobs out of state if it could not get wage concessions and tax breaks. She called this "economic terrorism" and said in several speeches that if the company moved jobs out of state, the workers should take over its facilities and bring them into public ownership. She has said they could be converted into multiple uses, such as production for buses. Sawant maintains that a socialist economy cannot exist in a single country and must be a global system just as capitalism today is a global system.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant opposed the construction of the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel calling it "environmentally destructive" and "something most people were against, most environmental groups were against".


title: Kshama Sawant

text: She opposed the Seattle Public Schools Measures of Academic Progress test in public schools, and supported the teachers' boycott of the standardized tests. Sawant has called for a revolt against student debt saying that "the laws of the rich are unenforceable if the working class refuses to obey those laws". She is an active member of the American Federation of Teachers union and has been critical of American labor union leadership, saying the leadership, "in the last 30 years has completely betrayed the working class. They are hand in glove with the Democratic Party, pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into their campaigns, and they tell rank and file workers that you have to be happy with these crumbs". Sawant believes the American Labor movement should break with the Democratic Party and run grassroots left-wing candidates.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant advocates for a moratorium on deportations of undocumented immigrants from Seattle and granting unconditional citizenship for all persons currently in the United States without citizenship. She opposes the E-Verify system.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant is a member of Socialist Alternative, the United States section of the Trotskyist international organization the International Socialist Alternative, formerly the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI).


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant said she rejects working with either the Democratic or the Republican party and advocates abandoning the two-party system. She has called for "a movement to break the undemocratic power of big business and build a society that works for working people, not corporate profits—a democratic socialist society." In 2013, Sawant urged other left-wing groups, including Greens and trade unions, "to use her campaign as a model to inspire a much broader movement".


title: Kshama Sawant

text: On February 20, 2019 she published an article in Socialist Alternative backing Bernie Sanders' run for the Democratic nomination. In 2020, she spoke at a campaign rally for him at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. She joined the Democratic Socialists of America in February 2021.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Before running for office, Sawant received attention as an organizer in the local Occupy movement. She praised Occupy for putting "class," "capitalism," and "socialism" into the political debate. After Occupy Seattle protesters were removed from Westlake Park by order of Seattle Mayor Michael McGinn, Sawant helped bring them to the Capitol Hill campus of Seattle Central Community College, where they remained for two months. She joined with Occupy activists working with local organizations to resist home evictions and foreclosures, and was arrested with several Occupy activists including Dorli Rainey on July 31, 2012 for blocking King County Sheriff's deputies from evicting a man from his home.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: The Sawant state campaign criticized the raiding of Occupy Wall Street activists' homes by the Seattle Police Department's SWAT team. She also advocated on LGBT, women's, and people of color issues, and opposed cuts to education and other social programs. She gave a teach-in course at an all-night course at Seattle Central Community College.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: On November 19, 2014, Sawant was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct at a $15 minimum wage protest in Seatac, Washington. She was released on $500 bail. On May 1, 2015, a SeaTac municipal court judge dismissed charges against her. The judge determined that testimony provided by police demonstrated that it was technically the police themselves, not protesters, who had blocked traffic.


title: Kshama Sawant

text: In a February 2017 article in the socialist magazine "Jacobin", Sawant called for a "wave of protests and strikes" on May Day, including "workplace actions as well a mass peaceful civil disobedience that shuts down highways, airports, and other key infrastructure". Her statement was controversial: Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said that it was "unfortunate and perhaps even tragic for an elected official to encourage people to confront and engage in confrontations with the police department" and the Washington State Patrol called the writings "irresponsible" and "reckless".


title: Kshama Sawant

text: In June 2020, Sawant was criticized by the Trotskyist World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) for supposedly working "along politically harmless channels by promoting illusions in local police reform" and for promoting "the anarchistic commune" known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ). Following a June 20 shooting in the zone that left one man dead and another critically wounded, Sawant said there were "indications that this may have been a right-wing attack," for which President Trump would bear "direct responsibility, since he has fomented reactionary hatred specifically against the peaceful Capitol Hill occupation". Two days later, "The Seattle Times" reported, Sawant "walked back her unfounded claim that the shooting 'may have been a right-wing attack.' She now says that appears to be incorrect".


title: Kshama Sawant

text: Sawant is often reticent about her personal life and background, preferring to stick to political issues. She has said that her entire family remains in India with her mother currently residing in Bangalore. During her 2013 campaign for the Seattle City Council, she indicated that she and her husband Vivek Sawant, had been separated for nearly six years. In 2014, Sawant and Calvin Priest, a Seattle Socialist Alternative organizer, purchased a home together in the Leschi neighborhood. In 2016, Sawant took time off to be out of the country for their wedding. Kshama became a United States citizen in 2010.


title: Code.org

text: Code.org is a non-profit organization and eponymous website led by Hadi and Ali Partovi that aims to encourage people, particularly school students in the United States, to learn computer science. The website includes free coding lessons, sounds, and many more things used to help students code fluently. The initiative also targets schools in an attempt to encourage them to include more computer science classes in the curriculum. On December 9, 2013, they launched the Hour of Code nationwide to promote computer science during Computer Science Education Week through December 15, 2013.


title: Code.org

text: Code.org was launched in January 2013 by Iranian-American brothers Hadi Partovi and Ali Partovi, as a non-profit focused on making computer programming more accessible. The initial focus was on creating a database of all computer science classrooms in the United States. At the time, Hadi Partovi stated that about ninety percent of US schools do not teach programming, despite it now being a "foundational field". The idea for the organization came from Hadi, who states that he thought of it on the day of Steve Jobs' death in 2011 while mulling over his own potential legacy. After this, Hadi began working full-time in attempt to further grow the platform and organization.


title: Code.org

text: In late February 2013, a month after launch, they released a video featuring Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey, and other programmers and entrepreneurs on the importance of learning how to code. Two weeks after the launch, "TechCrunch" reported that the video had gone viral and received a lot of positive attention. Partovi raised about $10 million for Code.org from various tech companies and tech company founders. In 2014, Code.org posted a one-hour tutorial to build and customize a "Flappy Bird" video game using the site's block visual programming language. Code.org has also created coding programs revolving around characters from the Disney film "Frozen", in addition to "Angry Birds", and "Plants vs. Zombies". In December 2014, Code.org held a successful Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that raised over $5 million to help educate school children. Overall, about 100 million students have been reached by Code.org efforts. On November 16, 2015, Microsoft announced a partnership with Code.org to launch "Minecraft" as a tutorial to teach kids how to code.


title: Code.org

text: In February 2016, Code.org won the award for "Biggest Social Impact" at the Annual Crunchies Awards. In December 2016, Code.org rang the opening bell of the NASDAQ. In March 2017, Code.org began extending its work to the region of Rajasthan, India.


title: Code.org

text: During Computer Science Education Week from December 9 to December 15, 2013, Code.org launched the "Hour of Code Challenge" on its website to teach computer science to school students, enticing them to complete short programming tutorials. The Hour of Code involved getting people to write short snippets of code to achieve pre-specified goals using Blockly, a visual programming language of a similar flavor as Logo. The initiative had been announced about two months in advance and at the time of launch, the initiative was supported by then United States President Barack Obama as well as executives from technology companies such as Microsoft and Apple Inc. It was also supported by educational online learning platforms such as Khan Academy. About 20 million people participated and over 600 million lines of code had been written. The Hour of Code also offered participation gifts to some of the schools involved, such as a set of fifty laptops or a conference call with one a tech "luminary" like Gates or Dorsey. The crowdfunding effort for Hour of Code received the highest amount of funding ever raised on Indiegogo. By October 2014, about forty million students had taken the Hour of Code class, and a second Hour of Code was held in December 2014. That year, locations for Hour of Code lessons included Apple retail stores.


title: Code.org

text: In December 2016, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau helped launch the international Hour of Code campaign for 2016.


title: Code.org

text: And in December 2017, Code.org announced that Hour of Code had reached over 500 million hours served.


title: Code.org

text: The first step in the organization's efforts as regards the curriculum of schools was to work with US school districts to add computer programming as a class. Most US schools did not have a course code for computer sciences, in order for schools to be able to offer coding as a class. After this, the next step was to create free online teaching and learning materials for schools to use if instituting computer science classes. By 2014, Code.org had launched computer courses in thirty US school districts to reach about 5% of all the students in US public schools (about two million students), and by 2015, Code.org had trained about 15,000 teachers to teach computer sciences, able to reach about 600,000 new students previously unable to learn computer coding, with large percentages of those being either female or minorities. To date, Code.org has prepared over 72,000 educators to teach computer science.


title: Code.org

text: That year Code.org was partnered with about seventy of the largest US school districts (including each of the seven largest), representing several million students. The company also partnered with other computer class businesses and private entities to provide additional computer learning materials and opportunities. As of 2015, six million students had been enrolled in Code.org curriculum classes. That year, Code.org partnered with College Board, in order to develop a slate of advanced placement computer classes. The main platform used in Code.org instruction is Code Studio which according to TechCrunch, "teaches the underlying concepts in programming through the manipulation of blocks of logic that when stacked together in a particular order, move a character around a scene or draw a shape."


title: Code.org

text: In 2018, Code.org celebrated record participation by girls and underrepresented minorities in AP computer science classrooms, driven in large part by students in the Code.org CS Principles classrooms.


title: Code.org

text: One of the main lobbying efforts of Code.org in state legislatures is to ensure that computer classes are not registered as foreign language classes, but as science classes, in order to ensure that more than coding is taught in computer courses. Code.org also focuses specifically on female and minority students, as the organization believes these are the students most at risk of not receiving computer science education before high school or college.


title: Code.org

text: Writing for "San Jose Mercury News", Mike Cassidy praised Code.org and the Hour of Code, writing: "A publicity stunt is what we need." John Dvorak was critical of the Hour of Code in an article for "PC Magazine". Dvorak wrote: "I see it as a ploy to sell more computers in schools."


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: Casper: A Spirited Beginning is a 1997 American direct-to-video fantasy comedy film based on the Harvey Comics cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost. It serves as a prequel to the 1995 Universal/Amblin film "Casper". The plot explores additional details surrounding the titular character's origins. The film was produced by The Harvey Entertainment Company and Saban Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on September 9, 1997, and was met with widespread criticism from critics. 20th Century Fox had previously acquired film rights to the character from Universal. The original VHS release included the US version of the music video for 911's "Love Sensation" as a special feature, though it has been omitted from the subsequent DVD releases. The soundtrack album was released on CD and cassette on October 24, 1997.


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: In a ghost train where spirits are heading towards the Ghost Central, Casper is unaware of where he is, while also unaware that he is a ghost himself. He gets kicked off the train and finds himself in the city of Deedstown, where he unintentionally scares a bunch of the town's citizens, which leads him to the realization that he is in fact a ghost.


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: Meanwhile, a loner boy named Chris Carson, with a passionate obsession of the supernatural, has a strained relationship with his work-obsessed father Tim Carson, who is attempting to demolish the Applegate Mansion, to make way for a new renovation for the town: building a brand new mini-mall in its place. However, a group of protestors are against the demolition, as the house is considered a historical landmark. The protest is cut short when the wrecking crew that Tim hired and protestors are terrorized by the Ghostly Trio, Stretch, Fatso and Stinkie, who are in possession of the Mansion. Chris witnesses this after seeing the group running in panic, and wants to join the Trio, but they refuse since he is only human.


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: The train that Casper was on arrives in Ghost Central run by the evil ghoul Kibosh, where new spirits are trained to learn the proper ghost lifestyle and work to receive a haunting license. After discovering Casper's absent, Kibosh becomes furious about the idea of letting a rookie ghost being let loose without any education and forces his spineless assistant Snivel to find Casper and bring him back.


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: Back at Deedstown, Chris's teacher, Sheila Fistergraff, who leads the protesters, witnesses in the news that Tim and Mayor Johnny Hunt will proceed with the demolition project as planned, despite the setbacks, after the mayor threatens to dismiss Tim if he fails.


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: Chris runs into Casper, and instantly befriends him, much to Casper's surprise due to seeing that a human is not afraid of him. Chris insists on teaching Casper to be a real ghost while also introducing him to the Trio. Much to the Trio's delight, they discover that Casper has not gone to the Ghost Central and has therefore never been educated by Kibosh, which gives them the opportunity to train Casper and prove themselves to Kibosh, so he would stop pursuing them. However, they are unknowingly eavesdropped on by Snivel, who informs Kibosh of their plan, much to Kibosh's rage. Casper manages to succeed in his first lesson in going into the stealth mode (going invisible), but fails at every other lesson, leading the Trio to realize that Casper is too soft to be a terrifying ghost: he wants to be friendly, which forces them to kick him out.


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: After a night of waiting for his father's arrival at his school's open house, Chris gets disappointed that he never showed up as Fistergraff tries to comfort and support Chris. The next morning, Tim decides to make it up to him by spending more time with him that night. Chris offers to teach Casper to become a better ghost after Casper informed him on what happened. Casper manages to succeed by using his powers on a bully named Brock getting him into trouble with the principal, and so he tests his new powers by using them to help people.


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: Tim is unable to attend a parent-teacher conference he and Chris planned earlier, but Chris hopes his father will remember their other plans, and with Casper's help, sets up dinner for Tim's arrival, Snivel sees Casper acting like a servant to a human and leaves to report back to Kibosh, to which Kibosh prepares to retrieve Casper himself. The Ghostly Trio discover Casper's good deeds and abduct him in attempt to save their reputation, which unfortunately ruins Chris' opportunity to have Tim meet Casper as Tim does not believe Chris, and instead leaves to visit the mayor. Chris runs away, feeling betrayed by Casper, but gets captured and locked inside the mansion by Brock and his gang out of retaliation, unaware that a bomb has been planted inside by Bill Case, a professional bomber hired by Tim to blow up the mansion.


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: The next morning, Kibosh arrives in Deedstown, captures the Ghostly Trio, and sends Snivel to find Casper, who fled the Trio the night before. After discovering that Chris ran away, Tim meets Casper, and they both set out to find him, with Casper assuming that he is in the Applegate Mansion, which is about to explode, so Tim hitches a ride with Fistergraff as Casper arrives at the mansion to find Chris, and try to help him escape. Tim manages to get Chris out and Casper eats the bomb, which explodes in his stomach, saving the mansion.


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: With Kibosh being impressed with Casper's technique, Casper informs him that the Ghostly Trio taught him how to do it, so Kibosh decides to let Trio stay and haunt, which led to the Trio returning Casper the favor by lying to Kibosh saying that they are Casper's uncles, after Kibosh informs them the importance of family, which allows Casper to stay with his "uncles" and Kibosh to leave them in peace. Chris and his father reconcile and Brock and his gang get their comeuppance when the Trio hangs them from the branches of a nearby tree by their underwear. Casper decides to go with a new name; Casper the Friendly Ghost.


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: "Casper: A Spirited Beginning" received an extremely negative reaction from film critics. Based on 5 reviews on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 0% of critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 2.2/10.


title: Casper: A Spirited Beginning

text: "Casper: A Spirited Beginning" was released on VHS in 1997, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It was re-released on DVD in 2005, by Classic Media and Sony Wonder, and has been re-released in 2021, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.


title: Tunnel diode

text: A tunnel diode or Esaki diode is a type of semiconductor diode that has effectively "negative resistance" due to the quantum mechanical effect called tunneling. It was invented in August 1957 by Leo Esaki, Yuriko Kurose, and Takashi Suzuki when they were working at Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, now known as Sony. In 1973, Esaki received the Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Brian Josephson, for discovering the electron tunneling effect used in these diodes. Robert Noyce independently devised the idea of a tunnel diode while working for William Shockley, but was discouraged from pursuing it. Tunnel diodes were first manufactured by Sony in 1957, followed by General Electric and other companies from about 1960, and are still made in low volume today.


title: Tunnel diode

text: Tunnel diodes have a heavily doped positive-to-negative (P-N) junction that is about 10 nm (100 Å) wide. The heavy doping results in a broken band gap, where conduction band electron states on the N-side are more or less aligned with valence band hole states on the P-side. They are usually made from germanium, but can also be made from gallium arsenide and silicon materials.


title: Tunnel diode

text: The "negative" differential resistance in part of their operating range allows them to function as oscillators and amplifiers, and in switching circuits using hysteresis. They are also used as frequency converters and detectors. Their low capacitance allows them to function at microwave frequencies, far above the range of ordinary diodes and transistors.


title: Tunnel diode

text: Due to their low output power, tunnel diodes are not widely used: Their radio frequency output is limited to a few hundred milliwatts due to their small voltage swing. In recent years, however, new devices that use the tunneling mechanism have been developed. The "resonant-tunneling diode" (RTD) has achieved some of the highest frequencies of any solid-state oscillator.


title: Tunnel diode

text: Another type of tunnel diode is a "metal-insulator-insulator-metal" (MIIM) diode, where an additional insulator layer allows ""step tunneling"" for more precise control of the diode. There is also a "metal-insulator-metal" (MIM) diode, but due to inherent sensitivities, its present application appears to be limited to research environments.


title: Tunnel diode

text: Under normal forward bias operation, as voltage begins to increase, electrons at first tunnel through the very narrow P-N junction barrier and fill electron states in the conduction band on the N-side which become aligned with empty valence band hole states on the P-side of the P-N junction. As voltage increases further, these states become increasingly misaligned, and the current drops. This is called "negative differential resistance" because current "decreases" with "increasing" voltage. As voltage increases beyond a fixed transition point, the diode begins to operate as a normal diode, where electrons travel by conduction across the P-N junction, and no longer by tunneling through the P–N junction barrier. The most important operating region for a tunnel diode is the "negative resistance" region. Its graph is different from normal P-N junction diode.


title: Tunnel diode

text: When used in the reverse direction, tunnel diodes are called back diodes (or backward diodes) and can act as fast rectifiers with zero offset voltage and extreme linearity for power signals (they have an accurate square law characteristic in the reverse direction). Under reverse bias, filled states on the P-side become increasingly aligned with empty states on the N-side, and electrons now tunnel through the P-N junction barrier in reverse direction.


title: Tunnel diode

text: In a conventional semiconductor diode, conduction takes place while the P-N junction is forward biased and blocks current flow when the junction is reverse biased. This occurs up to a point known as the "reverse breakdown voltage" at which point conduction begins (often accompanied by destruction of the device). In the tunnel diode, the dopant concentrations in the P and N layers are increased to a level such that the reverse breakdown voltage becomes zero and the diode conducts in the reverse direction. However, when forward-biased, an effect occurs called quantum mechanical tunneling which gives rise to a region in its voltage vs. current behavior where an "increase" in forward voltage is accompanied by a "decrease" in forward current. This "negative resistance" region can be exploited in a solid state version of the dynatron oscillator which normally uses a tetrode thermionic valve (vacuum tube).


title: Tunnel diode

text: The tunnel diode showed great promise as an oscillator and high-frequency threshold (trigger) device since it operated at frequencies far greater than the tetrode could: well into the microwave bands. Applications of tunnel diodes included local oscillators for UHF television tuners, trigger circuits in oscilloscopes, high-speed counter circuits, and very fast-rise time pulse generator circuits. In 1977, the Intelsat V satellite receiver used a microstrip tunnel diode amplifier (TDA) front-end in the 14–15.5 GHz frequency band. Such amplifiers were considered state-of-the-art, with better performance at high frequencies than any transistor-based front end. The tunnel diode can also be used as a low-noise microwave amplifier. Since its discovery, more conventional semiconductor devices have surpassed its performance using conventional oscillator techniques. For many purposes, a three-terminal device, such as a field-effect transistor, is more flexible than a device with only two terminals. Practical tunnel diodes operate at a few milliamperes and a few tenths of a volt, making them low-power devices. The Gunn diode has similar high frequency capability and can handle more power.


title: Tunnel diode

text: Tunnel diodes are also more resistant to ionizing radiation than other diodes. This makes them well suited to higher radiation environments such as those found in space.


title: Tunnel diode

text: Tunnel diodes are susceptible to damage by overheating, and thus special care is needed when soldering them.


title: Tunnel diode

text: Tunnel diodes are notable for their longevity, with devices made in the 1960s still functioning. Writing in "Nature", Esaki and coauthors state that semiconductor devices in general are extremely stable, and suggest that their shelf life should be "infinite" if kept at room temperature. They go on to report that a small-scale test of 50 year-old devices revealed a "gratifying confirmation of the diode's longevity". As noticed on some samples of Esaki diodes, the gold-plated iron pins can in fact corrode and short out to the case. This can usually be diagnosed and treated with simple peroxide / vinegar technique normally used for repairing phone PCBs and the diode inside normally still works.


title: Tunnel diode

text: Surplus Russian components are also reliable and often can be purchased for a few pence, despite original cost being in the £30–50 range.


title: Tunnel diode

text: The units typically sold are GaAs based and have a ratio of 5:1 at around 1–20 mA , and so should be protected against overcurrent.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: The Tottenham Mandem (also Tottenham Man Dem, TMD, or Man Dem Crew, formerly known as Frontliners or Tottenham Boys) were an organised street gang based in Tottenham, North London, that began on the Broadwater Farm estate prior to the Broadwater Farm riot in 1985. One of the early members and later leader Mark Lambie was a suspect in the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during that riot. Lambie had been top of Operation Trident's wanted list due to the close links he had built with gangs in Wembley, Harlesden and south London. He was jailed in 2002. During the 90s, TMD was one of the largest gangs in North London and controlled much of the drug markets in the area.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In the early 2000s, members of TMD formed the North Star record label and music group. The group was active in the music scene at the time, and acted as promoters for So Solid Crew. TMD also declined during this period, instead splintering off into various independent groups such as NPK (Northumberland Park Killers), Tiverton Mandem, and Chestnut Estate (CE, also known as Black Gang), although some still used the "Tottenham Mandem" name. Some younger members of TMD began to associate with the London Bloods and used names such as Ida Boys (also known as Ida Rydaz, Ida Bloodstarz, or IDA), and Bloodline or Bloodgang, whereas some older members began to use the name 'Star Gang'. Collectively, everyone from the Broadwater Farm estate began to be referred to as 'Farm Mandem' (FMD).


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: Some of these groups, such as Star Gang, became active in the road rap scene at the time. Two members of Star Gang, Headz (now known as Headie One) and Young RV (now known as RV), later became prominent in the UK drill scene and formed part of the UK drill collective OFB (Original Farm Boys).


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: TMD, like many other London gangs such as the Peckham Boys and Ghetto Boys, has its origins in the 1970s, and was founded in Broadwater Farm, Tottenham. By the time of the infamous Broadwater Farm riot in 1985, the gang was firmly established in the area. The gang is a derivative of another local gang known as the Broadwater Farm Posse, formed in the 1970s by Black British youth of West Indian origins. TMD originally went by the name "Frontliners", then later "Tottenham Boys", then finally 'Tottenham Mandem".


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: By the early 1990s, TMD was one of the largest gangs in North London, controlling many of the drug markets in the area. One leader of TMD, Mark Lambie (also known as "Devil Man", "Obeah Man", or the "Prince of Darkness"), was a suspect in the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the Broadwater Farm Riot. Lambie helped forge links and alliances with gangs across London and beyond. In 1991, he was sentenced to years in jail due to involvement in a gang shooting, although this was reduced a year. In 1995, police intelligence reports indicated he had been fraternizing with gang members from Brent and Notting Hill. He also had a feud with Jerome Maddix, who had experienced a drive-by shooting at his home and was murdered a year later in Jamaica.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In 1996, police believed Mark and an associate, Clifford Angol, may have been involved in the non-fatal shooting of Kenneth Wowe in West London. The following year, three gunmen entered a Caribbean restaurant in West London called The Place To Be and asked to see Mark. While it is suspected Mark Lambie was there at the time, he kept quiet if he was. Instead two innocent Marks were shot after identifying themselves. Police suspected this may have been an attempted retaliation shooting following the shooting of Kenneth Wowe. Six months later, Kenneth Wowe was shot dead. Mark and Clifford were promptly arrested, but let go due to lack of evidence. A few days later, Clifford Angol was shot dead.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In 1999, a man was shot in Colosseum nightclub in Vauxhall. The victim named Mark Lambie as the shooter, who was then arrested, but once again was let go after the victim withdrew his evidence. In the same year, police believed he and an associate, Michael Thomas (aka Mallet), had shot at an EQ nightclub in Hackney Marsh. Police suspected this was a form of blackmail. There was a third incident at a Hackney club where Stephen Grant was shot dead. Police suspected this was a part of the TMD and Hackney Boys dispute. Lambie was suspected of being at the club.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: From 1997, TMD had a conflict with another local gang known as the Hackney Boys (also known as Hackney Mandem, or HMD). The conflict resulted in a number of tit-for-tat killings. The origins of the feud aren't clear; in the book "Guns and Gangs: The Inside Story of the War on our Streets" by Graeme McLagen, it is claimed the conflict began when 16-year-old Guydance Dacres was shot dead in 1997 at a Chimes nightclub in Hackney. It was Guydance's first night out at a club ever. Anthony Bourne, member of TMD allies Edmonton Firm, and Fabiann Fatinikun were both acquitted of the murder. James Sutherland however, a former police officer, has stated the death of Guydance was not the cause of the conflict behind TMD and the Hackney Boys and the killings that followed. The conflict may have begun earlier, in 1995/6, when members of TMD robbed youths from Hackney, and one TMD member had stabbed a Hackney Boy member.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: Either way, a month after the death of Guydance Dacres, members of the Hackney Boys confronted two members of TMD, Clint Ponton (also known as C1 or The Chosen One, later member of North Star) and 16-year-old Kingsley Iyasara (nicknamed Popcorn), and chased them. Clint escaped, but Kingsley was cornered on a block of flats, beaten, kicked, punched and ultimately shot and killed. Kingsley ultimately bled to death on the roof of the block of flats. Two of the individuals involved in the murder of Kingsley Iyasara, Meneliek Robinson and Corey Wright, were themselves shot dead soon after they were released from prison in 1999 and 2001 respectively.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: There was another incident at a Hackney nightclub in 1999 where Stephen Grant was shot dead. Police suspected this was a part of the TMD and Hackney Boys dispute. Two days later, a Hackney youth was shot at by members of TMD in Southgate.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: On 4 December 2002, TMD member Adrian Crawford (aka Buckhead) was shot dead by Hackney Boys member Daniel Cummings. Adrian had previously been arrested alongside Mark Lambie while visiting an associate in jail.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: On 21 April 2003, Jason Fearon was shot at in a London club. He tried to flee in his Audi, but was shot at again and killed. Police were told this was due to a conflict between TMD and the Hackney Boys. The club was hosting an event at the time for So Solid member Lisa Maffia. Clint Ponton was arrested in connection of the shooting. He denied all the charges, and claimed he was trying to change his life. After beating the case, he came back to the UK and decided to focus on his music group North Star.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: By 2000, Mark Lambie was considered untouchable by the local black community. Some people in the local community believed he was capable of juju powers and was untouchable due to magic. This earned him the nickname "Obeah Man", named after an African spiritual system. He was top of Operation Trident's wanted list due to the close links he had built with gangs in Wembley, Harlesden in Brent, and south London. While Trident struggled to find evidence to convict Lambie, they managed to convict two of his associates, Michael Thomas (aka Mallet) and Ricky Sweeney. In order to prevent his girlfriend from testifying against him, Ricky Sweeney had her shot. She was also shot at while on a visit to Jamaica. Ultimately she survived, and aided police in testifying against Ricky. Ricky was jailed for life for an execution he took part in, in 1999. Police were also struggling because they did not actually know where Mark Lambie was or where he lived, which made traditional methods of gathering information on someone somewhat difficult. Instead police used similar tactics American police used when going after Al Capone, by going after his associates. Police also found that Mark was living in South London, rather than North as was expected, and that he was using false names, such as 'Paul Gordan'. Eventually they managed to find him and his brother, Wesley Lambie, in a car that was suspected to be stolen (although the owner refused to testify it was). They also found heroin in the car, but were unable to link it to the Lambie brothers. Although they were unable to bring charges, knowing where he was made surveillance now a possibility.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In 2002, Mark Lambie and Anthony "Blue" Bourne (a member of the North London gang "The Firm") were jailed after the kidnapping, blackmailing, and torture of two men, Mr. Smith and Mr. Morris, from Tottenham on 21 April 2001. The police had been following Lambie around Tottenham on the day, and saw him enter and leave Broadwater Estate. It was considered too risky to enter the Estate, so they waited outside until Mark left, and followed him to a party. Nothing eventful happened, so they returned to the police station. What they didn't know was that an associate of Mark, Anthony Bourne, had lured two men into Broadwater Estate, where they were kidnapped at gunpoint by at least 14 people. The two men had driven a blue sports car into the estate, which the police had spotted earlier as they were following Mark. The group took the two men into a house, which they burst into, ordering the current occupants (two women and two children) to move downstairs, and then began to torture the two men, demanding money from them both. The house they had entered was the same house the police had seen Mark enter earlier in the day, which the police had interpreted to be a party.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: The men were hit with hammers, burned with an electric iron, and had boiling water poured onto their genitals. One of the victims, Mr. Smith, was able to escape after suggesting there was money at a nearby salon. He was bundled into a car, and driven to the salon, which was promptly robbed while the Mr. Smith was secured in the boot of the car. While the suspects were inside the salon, Mr. Smith was able to escape from the car and ran to the nearby police station. After his escape, the gang began to flee. They took Mr. Morris outside but were seen by a passing police car. The gang fled, and Mr. Morris ran towards a police car he had spotted passing by and lunged onto the bonnet asking for help.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: Two other members of the gang that were involved in the incident, Warren Leader and Francis Osei, were also convicted of kidnapping and blackmail. Warren Leader was released in 2009, but in 2013 he was jailed for 16 years for running a heroin factory.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In October 2003, Gavin Smith was killed in Lordship Recreation Ground. Mark Duggan, member of TMD off-shoot Star Gang, was arrested in suspicion of the murder. He was released without charge however. In March 2004, Marcus Cox, a TMD member, was shot dead on Tottenham High Road. He was shot by Syron Martin. The prosecution alleged it was revenge for a robbery that had happened prior. Syron alleged that Cox had threatened to kill him if he did not give Cox money. He alleged that he brought a gun and body armour for protection, and on seeing Cox in public, "lost his head" and shot him.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In 2002/3, Clint Ponton travelled to Ayia Napa. While there, he met up with Megaman from So Solid and became inspired to form his own music group. While still in Ayia Napa, both Clint Ponton and Wesley Lambie were allegedly involved in a stabbing incident. The charges were dropped, but they were convicted and fined for carrying knives.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: On 21 April 2003, Jason Fearon was shot at in a London club. He tried to flee in his Audi, but was shot at again and killed. The club was hosting an event at the time for So Solid member Lisa Maffia. Clint Ponton (also known as C1 or The Chosen One) was arrested in connection of the shooting. He denied all the charges, and claimed he was trying to change his life.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: Clint Ponton and Wesley Lambie formed a music collective called North Star or NorthStar. Clint Ponton and Wesley Lambie formed the NorthStar music record label, promotion, and production company. The group started putting on UK garage events, and acted as the promoters for UK garage crew So Solid. The group also started booking events for Wiley. Clint has stated the success of So Solid inspired him to refocus on music. The group also became associated with PDC. C1 stated he created it as he wanted to change around his life and move to more legitimate things. North Star had 3 artists that acted as a music group together, C1, Chyna, and Young Spray. Together, they were signed to Lisa Maffia's Maffia Records record label. The group went to number 1 on the Channel U charts with the song "On A Rise". Young Spray had met C1 when he was 16 while both were in prison.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In 2008, Clint was stabbed in the neck at the Urban Music Awards in what was suspected by police to be a part of a Tottenham gang conflict.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: The early 2000s saw a decline in TMD. Tottenham became less unified and local independent gangs propped up. Meanwhile, members of NorthStar pursued their careers in music. Killings also dropped during this period, but the rivalries continued through music with rival groups sending disses towards each other (such as Mash Town from London Fields).


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: Some of the Tottenham split-offs from TMD were Ida Boys, NPK (Northumberland Park Killers), Chestnut Estate (CE, also known as Black Gang), and Tiverton Mandem. 'Star Gang' also formed during this period, created by older members of TMD. The name 'Star Gang' was allegedly influenced by "North Star", the music group setup by former TMD members during the early 2000s. Some of the younger members of TMD had begun to associate with the London Bloods movement and began calling themselves Ida Boys (also known as Ida Rydaz, Ida Bloodstarz, or IDA), Bloodline or Bloodgang, and BWF (Broadwater Farm).


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: Some groups still referred to themselves as the "Tottenham Mandem" regardless, but the term no longer referred to a specific gang. Collectively, some of the fragmentations were all known as "Farm Mandem" (FMD), and they still had links to older TMD members.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: Some of these groups, such as Star Gang, became active in the road rap scene at the time. Two members of Star Gang, Headz (now known as Headie One) and Young RV (now known as RV), later became prominent in the UK drill scene and formed part of the UK drill collective OFB (Original Farm Boys).


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In the mid-late 2000s, members of TMD became associated with the Ghetto Boys, a gang based in South London. Younger members of the Ghetto Boys had formed "Shower". Together, members of TMD and the Ghetto Boys called themselves "Shower Syndicate". It is alleged the group had links with the Jamaican gang Shower Posse. In 2009, two members of TMD were giving life sentences after murdering someone in South London.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: NPK (Northumberland Park Killers), also known as Sin Squad, are a split-off group from TMD located in the Northumberland Park estate of Tottenham. It is identified using the colour purple.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In 2007, a fight occurred between members of the NPK and the Shankstarz, a gang from neighbouring Edmonton, following an attempted ambush on two Shankstarz members; the ambush was revenge for the attack of an NPK member at a club in Forest Gate. The fight involved up to 20 people near Hertford Road. In 2009, 6 members of the NPK and 5 members of the Shankstarz were sentenced for the fight.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In 2009, NPK members were imprisoned for the murder of Gary Guthrie and ongoing violence between the NPK and the Shankstarz, including the attempted murder of Jerome "Smallman" Bruce-de-Rouche.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In 2011, Bienvenu Vangu, a member of the rival Wood Green Young Guns, attacked 2 members of NPK with an axe. He would plead guilty to violent disorder, attempted wounding with intent and possession of a sharp pointed article in a public place, and was sentenced to 6 years in prison, in addition to a 4-year license. In August the same year, Steven Grisales, an architecture student from Argentina, was stabbed to death by Ochaine Williams, a NPK member. Williams would be sentenced to years in prison; naming restrictions for Williams were lifted in October. His sentence would later be extended to 12 years.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In 2014, Corrine Allen was sentenced to 2 years in prison, suspended for 2 years, for driving Jermaine Nimoh, a NPK member, for the purpose of drug dealing. Nimoh was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months for possession with intent to supply. It was also noted in a report by the Integrated Gangs Unit in Haringey that there was increased tensions between the NPK and the Farm Mandem.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: On 3 February 2018, Kwabena Nelson, also known as Kobi and a former member of NPK, was stabbed to death by members of the Wood Green Mob (WGM) following them crashing into his car. Neron Quartey would be sentenced to a minimum of 26 years in August for involvement in his death. Some weeks later, on 8 March, Kelvin Odunuyi - also known as Lampz or DipDat- was shot to death outside the Vue cinema in Wood Green. It was assumed that Lampz's death was retaliation for the death of Kobi. As of August 2021, no one has been convicted for Lampz's murder.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: Roughly one month following the death of Lampz, on 2 April, Tanesha Melbourne-Blake was shot and killed alongside Chalgrove Road in Tottenham. The shooting was linked to the WGM-NPK conflict, with several posts tagged with "#NPK" making references to the death of Melbourne-Blake. It was alleged that the murder was a revenge attack following a rapper from Wood Green, named Bobby Slater, being attacked at a restaurant in Farringdon. "The Sun" offered a £50,000 reward for information regarding her killer. In 2020, it was determined that the gun used in Melbourne-Blake's murder was used in another murder.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: In 2020, members of NPK, alongside SJ of OFB, were sentenced to life for the murder of Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, also known as K1, and the attempted murder of Jason Fraser, both affiliated with the WGM.


title: Tottenham Mandem

text: The NPK is also associated in the UK drill music scene, with its members having released songs with accompanying music videos. Rappers that go under the "Sin Squad (SS)" collective include Stewie, Bully B, GP, Uncs, KayyKayy and LR.