title: Healing the centurion's servant

text: In his Against Heresies, Irenaeus tells us that some Gnostics believed the story to be metaphorical, with the centurion being merely a symbol of the demiurge. According to this interpretation, the demiurge tells Jesus that he has tried all he could to save the servant (humanity) but his laws have not succeeded in healing humanity or offering it a proper means towards spiritual development. Accordingly, the demiurge urges Jesus to say a word (spread gnosis) to offer true salvation to humanity.


title: Healing the centurion's servant

text: Daniel A. Helminiak, an American Catholic priest, theologian and author of ""What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality"," states that the word , used for the servant, could have a sexual meaning. Theodore W. Jennings Jr. and Tat-Siong Benny Liew, also authors of various Christian books, further write that Roman historical data about patron-client relationships and about same-sex relations among soldiers support the view that the in Matthew's account is the centurion's "boy-lover", and that the centurion, therefore, did not want Jesus to enter his house for fear perhaps that the boy would be enamoured of Jesus instead. The Roman military historian D.B. Saddington writes that while he does not exclude the possibility, the evidence the two put forward supports "neither of these interpretations".


title: Snallygaster

text: In American folklore, the snallygaster is a bird-reptile chimera originating in the superstitions of early German immigrants later combined with sensationalistic newspaper reports of the monster. Early sightings associate the snallygaster with Frederick County, Maryland, especially the areas of South Mountain and the Middletown Valley. Later reports would expand on sightings encompassing an area to include Central Maryland and the Washington, DC, metro area.


title: Snallygaster

text: The area of Frederick County was settled by German immigrants beginning in the 1730s. Early accounts describe the community being terrorized by a monster called a "Schneller Geist", meaning "quick ghost" in German. The earliest incarnations of the creature mixed the half-bird features of a siren with the nightmarish features of demons and ghouls. The snallygaster was described as half-reptile, half-bird having a metallic beak lined with razor-sharp teeth, occasionally alongside octopus-like tentacles. The snallygaster was rumored to swoop silently from the sky to pick up and carry off its victims. The earliest stories claim that this monster sucked the blood of its victims. Seven-pointed stars, which reputedly kept the snallygaster at bay, can still be seen painted on local barns.


title: Snallygaster

text: Newspaper accounts throughout February and March 1909 describe encounters between local residents and a beast with "enormous wings, a long pointed bill, claws like steel hooks, and an eye in the center of its forehead." It was described as making screeches "like a locomotive whistle." A great deal of publicity surrounded this string of appearances, with the Smithsonian Institution offering a reward for the hide. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt reportedly considered postponing an African safari to personally hunt the beast. It was later revealed that these reports were part of a hoax perpetrated by "Middletown Valley Register" editor George C. Rhoderick and reporter Ralph S. Wolfe in an attempt to increase readership. The descriptions they invented borrowed themes from existing German folklore, including dragon-like creatures who snatched children and livestock, and also appeared to invoke descriptions of the Jersey Devil, which had been spotted mere weeks earlier.


title: Snallygaster

text: On June 22, 1953, Whittaker Chambers (whose home lies in Carroll County, Maryland) used the snallygaster to examine U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy in his essay "Is Academic Freedom in Danger?" ("Life" ): It was a trick of fate in a low comedy mood that Senator McCarthy should first have bounded into public view dragging the unlikely and protesting person of Mr. Lattimore to share with him a historic spotlight so grateful to the one and so acutely unwanted by the other. It was a trick of fate that, in the case of each, has led to some serious confusions. For it led to the translation of Senator McCarthy into the symbol of a national snallygaster (a winged hobgoblin used to frighten naughty children in parts of rural Maryland), instead of one of the two things that he obviously is: an instinctive politician of a kind fairly common in our history, in which case the uproar he inspires is a phenomenon much more arresting than the senator; or a politician of a kind wholly new in our history, in which case he merits the most cautious and coldblooded appraisal.


title: Snallygaster

text: In 2008, author Patrick Boyton published a history of the snallygaster, entitled "Snallygaster: the Lost Legend of Frederick County".


title: Snallygaster

text: In 2011, an annual beer festival (a "beastly beer jamboree") called "Snallygaster" started in Washington, DC.


title: Snallygaster

text: The 2017 edition of J. K. Rowling's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" incorporated the Snallygaster into her "Harry Potter" universe. It is described as a part-bird, part-reptile relative of the Occamy, with serrated steel fangs, a bulletproof hide, and a natural sense of curiosity.


title: Snallygaster

text: The Snallygaster is a Blended Whiskey produced by Dragon Distillery of Frederick, MD and released in 2018.


title: Snallygaster

text: South Mountain Creamery, a dairy farm located in Frederick County, Maryland, produces an ice cream flavor named Snallygaster. It consists of peanut butter flavored ice cream with caramel swirl, peanut butter cups, and pretzels.


title: Snallygaster

text: A Snallygaster hunt features prominently in season 5, episode 4 of the Hallmark Channel show "Chesapeake Shores".


title: Snallygaster

text: In 2021, Sarah Cooper, a cryptozoologist in Maryland, opened The American Snallygaster Museum in Libertytown, MD.


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: CityLights is a 2014 Indian drama film directed by Hansal Mehta starring Rajkummar Rao and actress Patralekha in the lead roles. It is a remake of the BAFTA nominated British film "Metro Manila" (2013). The film was presented by Fox Star Studios in association with Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt.


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: The story is about a poor farmer from Rajasthan coming to Mumbai in search of livelihood. The film released on 30 May 2014, and won rave reviews from most critics. In spite of releasing in just 350 screens, "CityLights" became a success due to its low cost of production and consistent collections at the box office.


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: Deepak Singh's (played by Rajkumar Rao) life as a former driver in the Indian Army in a village in Rajasthan who owns a garment store is tangled in the web of poverty, hope and despair. Deepak's family consists of his ever-supporting wife, Rakhi (played by Patralekha), and their little daughter, Mahi. They tag along his journey to Mumbai as he is unable to repay the money he owes for his store. With no contacts or addresses, except that of his friend Omkar, Deepak takes extreme measures to search for him when arriving to Mumbai.


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: Deepak is tricked by two con-men who offer to sell him a flat for Rs 10,000 and decamp with the money. With no details on them, the Mumbai police refuse to file an F.I.R. His wife meets an escort working at a night bar who provides them space in a building under construction as temporary accommodation, and convinces her to work as a bar dancer until Deepak finds a job.


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: Deepak gets hired as a driver for a privately owned security bureau with a monthly pay of Rs 15,000. Deepak's senior colleague, Vishnu (played by Manav Kaul) realizes that he is gullible, and does various favours for him in order to gain his trust. Vishnu later reveals a plans to loot a parcel being transported by the security agency. When Deepak vehemently opposes the idea of the theft, Vishnu blackmails him by revealing that he has hidden a box that he previously stole, in Deepak's house. Feeling cornered, Deepak agrees to the risky plan of stealing the keys for this box. However, Vishnu is attacked and killed in the course of the robbery. Meanwhile, Rakhi loses her job. Deepak finds the box stolen by his senior in his house and comes up with a plan to ensure Rakhi and Mahi's safe return to their village.


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: The movie ends when his attempt to steal the keys from the agency cost him his life but through a shrewd tactic he is able to pass on Rakhi the imprint of the key for the stolen box. Rakhi and Mahi return to the village with Rakhi lost in memory of Deepak and their happy past.


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: "CityLights" marked actress Anwita Paul's debut, known by her screen name Patralekha. As Paul was in a relationship with the lead actor Rao, the production house did not disclose her name until the trailer was released. When press kept questioning about the lead actress, the filmmakers dismissed the question.


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: While the film was originally set to be directed by Ajay Bahl, due to creative differences he was replaced by Hansal Mehta. In December 2013, it was announced that shooting would begin in Rajasthan.


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: The film was first scheduled to release on 1 May 2014, which was subsequently shifted to 30 May. On 5 May 26 minutes of footage was previewed at a Mumbai event.


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: The songs were composed by Jeet Gannguli with lyrics by Rashmi Singh. Rashmi Singh received Best Lyricist award at the 60th Filmfare Awards for her lyrics to the song "Muskurane."


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: Times of India reviews the cinematography of "Citylights" by Dev Agarwal is wonderful. Shots of the family sleeping against a rubbish pile, a '3BHK' in a construction site, Deepak staring at an ocean of pure despair, a fallen cycle in a courtyard, stand out. The family's migration stays with you as a vivid new experience – but its city sojourn occasionally reminds you of familiar moments.


title: CityLights (2014 film)

text: Sweta Kaushal writes in a "Hindustan Times" review that Hansal Mehta's direction makes "Citylights" "intensely gripping and thought-provoking, the interplay of emotions and how the couple copes with city's hardships are the high points of the film."


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: Amplitude-shift keying (ASK) is a form of amplitude modulation that represents digital data as variations in the amplitude of a carrier wave.


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: In an ASK system, a symbol, representing one or more bits, is sent by transmitting a fixed-amplitude carrier wave at a fixed frequency for a specific time duration. For example, if each symbol represents a single bit, then the carrier signal could be transmitted at nominal amplitude when the input value is 1, but transmitted at reduced amplitude or not at all when the input value is 0.


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: Any digital modulation scheme uses a finite number of distinct signals to represent digital data. ASK uses a finite number of amplitudes, each assigned a unique pattern of binary digits. Usually, each amplitude encodes an equal number of bits. Each pattern of bits forms the symbol that is represented by the particular amplitude. The demodulator, which is designed specifically for the symbol-set used by the modulator, determines the amplitude of the received signal and maps it back to the symbol it represents, thus recovering the original data. Frequency and phase of the carrier are kept constant.


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: Like AM, an ASK is also linear and sensitive to atmospheric noise, distortions, propagation conditions on different routes in PSTN, etc. Both ASK modulation and demodulation processes are relatively inexpensive. The ASK technique is also commonly used to transmit digital data over optical fiber. For LED transmitters, binary 1 is represented by a short pulse of light and binary 0 by the absence of light. Laser transmitters normally have a fixed "bias" current that causes the device to emit a low light level. This low level represents binary 0, while a higher-amplitude lightwave represents binary 1.


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: The simplest and most common form of ASK operates as a switch, using the presence of a carrier wave to indicate a binary one and its absence to indicate a binary zero. This type of modulation is called on-off keying (OOK), and is used at radio frequencies to transmit Morse code (referred to as continuous wave operation),


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: More sophisticated encoding schemes have been developed which represent data in groups using additional amplitude levels. For instance, a four-level encoding scheme can represent two bits with each shift in amplitude; an eight-level scheme can represent three bits; and so on. These forms of amplitude-shift keying require a high signal-to-noise ratio for their recovery, as by their nature much of the signal is transmitted at reduced power.


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: ASK system can be divided into three blocks. The first one represents the transmitter, the second one is a linear model of the effects of the channel, the third one shows the structure of the receiver. The following notation is used:


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: Different symbols are represented with different voltages. If the maximum allowed value for the voltage is A, then all the possible values are in the range [−A, A] and they are given by:


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: Considering the picture, the symbols v[n] are generated randomly by the source S, then the impulse generator creates impulses with an area of v[n]. These impulses are sent to the filter ht to be sent through the channel. In other words, for each symbol a different carrier wave is sent with the relative amplitude.


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: where * indicates the convolution between two signals. After the A/D conversion the signal z[k] can be expressed in the form:


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: In this relationship, the second term represents the symbol to be extracted. The others are unwanted: the first one is the effect of noise, the third one is due to the intersymbol interference.


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: If the filters are chosen so that g(t) will satisfy the Nyquist ISI criterion, then there will be no intersymbol interference and the value of the sum will be zero, so:


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: The probability density function of having an error of a given size can be modelled by a Gaussian function; the mean value will be the relative sent value, and its variance will be given by:


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: where formula_9 is the spectral density of the noise within the band and Hr (f) is the continuous Fourier transform of the impulse response of the filter hr (f).


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: where, for example, formula_11 is the conditional probability of making an error given that a symbol v0 has been sent and formula_12 is the probability of sending a symbol v0.


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: If we represent all the probability density functions on the same plot against the possible value of the voltage to be transmitted, we get a picture like this (the particular case of formula_14 is shown):


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: The probability of making an error after a single symbol has been sent is the area of the Gaussian function falling under the functions for the other symbols. It is shown in cyan for just one of them. If we call formula_15 the area under one side of the Gaussian, the sum of all the areas will be: formula_16. The total probability of making an error can be expressed in the form:


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: We now have to calculate the value of formula_15. In order to do that, we can move the origin of the reference wherever we want: the area below the function will not change. We are in a situation like the one shown in the following picture:


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: it does not matter which Gaussian function we are considering, the area we want to calculate will be the same. The value we are looking for will be given by the following integral:


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: where formula_20 is the complementary error function. Putting all these results together, the probability to make an error is:


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: from this formula we can easily understand that the probability to make an error decreases if the maximum amplitude of the transmitted signal or the amplification of the system becomes greater; on the other hand, it increases if the number of levels or the power of noise becomes greater.


title: Amplitude-shift keying

text: This relationship is valid when there is no intersymbol interference, i.e. formula_22 is a Nyquist function.


title: Squat lobster

text: Squat lobsters are dorsoventrally flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax. They are found in the two superfamilies Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea, which form part of the decapod infraorder Anomura, alongside groups including the hermit crabs and mole crabs. They are distributed worldwide in the oceans, and occur from near the surface to deep sea hydrothermal vents, with one species occupying caves above sea level. More than 900 species have been described, in around 60 genera. Some species form dense aggregations, either on the sea floor or in the water column, and a small number are commercially fished.


title: Squat lobster

text: The two main groups of squat lobsters share most features of their morphology. They resemble true lobsters in some ways, but are somewhat flattened dorsoventrally, and are typically smaller. Squat lobsters vary in carapace length (measured from the eye socket to the rear edge), from in the case of "Munidopsis aries", down to only a few millimetres in the case of "Galathea intermedia" and some species of "Uroptychus". As in other decapod crustaceans, the body of a squat lobster may be divided into two main regions: the cephalothorax (itself made up of the "cephalon", or head, and the thorax), and the pleon or abdomen.


title: Squat lobster

text: The cephalothorax is made of 13 body segments (somites), although the divisions are not obvious and are most easily inferred from the paired appendages. From front to back, these are, the two pairs of antennae, six pairs of mouthparts (mandibles, maxillae, maxillules and three pairs of maxillipeds), five pairs of pereiopods. The cephalothorax is covered with a thick carapace, which may extend forwards in front of the eyes to form a rostrum; this is highly variable among squat lobsters, being vestigial in "Chirostylus", wide and often serrated in some genera, and long, narrow, and flanked with "supraorbital spines" in others. The degree of ornamentation on the surface of the carapace also varies widely, and there are almost always at least a few setae (bristles), which can be iridescent in some members of the Galatheidae and Munididae. A pair of compound eyes also project on stalks from the front of the carapace; these are made up of ommatidia with square facets, which is typical of the "reflecting superposition" form of eye. Many deep-sea species have reduced eyes, and reduced movement of the eyestalks. In the families Munididae and Galatheidae, there is often a row of setae close to the eyes, forming "eyelashes".


title: Squat lobster

text: The most conspicuous appendages are the pereiopods, and the largest of these is the first pair. These each end in a chela (claw), and are therefore known as the "chelipeds"; they can be more than six times the body length, although some groups show sexual dimorphism, with females having proportionally shorter chelipeds. The following three pairs of pereiopods are somewhat smaller than the chelipeds and are without claws, but are otherwise similar; they are used for walking. The fifth pair of pereiopods are much smaller than the preceding pairs, and are held inconspicuously under the carapace. They each end in a tiny chela, and are generally believed to be used for cleaning the body, especially the gills, which are in a cavity protected by the carapace.


title: Squat lobster

text: The pleon is made up of six somites, each bearing a pair of pleopods, and terminating in a telson. The first somite is narrower than the succeeding somites, and the last pair of pleopods are modified into uropods, which flank the telson. The pleon is usually curled under the thorax, such that only the first three somites are visible from above. The form of the pleopods varies between the sexes. In females, the first one or two pairs are missing, while the remaining pairs are uniramous, and have long setae, to which the eggs can be attached. In males, the first two pairs are formed into gonopods, and are used to transfer the spermatophore to the female during mating; the first pair is often missing. The remaining pleopods can be similar to those of the females, or reduced in size, or entirely absent. In both sexes, the uropods are biramous.


title: Squat lobster

text: The majority of squat lobsters are benthic, spending their lives on the sea-floor. A few, however, spend part of their lives living in the water column, often forming dense pelagic swarms of juveniles, especially in areas with high densities of plankton; this behaviour is seen in the species "Pleuroncodes planipes" (off Baja California, Mexico), "P. monodon" (Peru and Chile) and "Munida gregaria" (Otago, New Zealand and southernmost South America). Although "Munida quadrispina" also has pelagic juveniles, they have not been observed to form swarms. As well as these pelagic swarms, many species form dense aggregations on the sea floor. This is particularly prominent around hydrothermal vents, where species such as "Shinkaia crosnieri" are particularly abundant.


title: Squat lobster

text: Squat lobsters feed on a variety of foods, with some species filter feeding, while others are detritus-feeders, algal grazers, scavengers or predators. Some are highly specialised; "Munidopsis andamanica" is a deep-sea species that feeds only on sunken wood, including trees washed out to sea and timber from ship wrecks. Squat lobsters are large enough to be caught by top predators, and can thus form a "direct trophic shortcut" between the primary producers at the bottom of the food web, and the carnivores at the top.


title: Squat lobster

text: In March 2022 it was reported that a squat lobster, possibly from the genus "Munidopsis", had been filmed on the wreck of the "Endurance", which sank in 1915 in the Antarctic. This was the first record of a living squat lobster in the Weddell Sea.


title: Squat lobster

text: Flesh from these animals is often commercially sold in restaurants as "langostino" or sometimes dishonestly called "lobster" when incorporated in seafood dishes. As well as being used for human consumption, there is demand for squat lobster meat to be used as feed in fish farms and shrimp or prawn farms. This is in part because they contain astaxanthin, a pigment that helps to colour the meat of farmed salmon and trout.


title: Squat lobster

text: Despite their worldwide distribution and great abundance, there are few functioning fisheries for squat lobsters. Experimental fisheries have occurred in several countries, including Argentina, Mexico, and New Zealand, but commercial exploitation is currently restricted to Latin America, and chiefly to Chile. The main target species are "Pleuroncodes monodon", "P. planipes", and "Cervimunida johni".


title: Squat lobster

text: In Central America, the primary species of squat lobster targeted by fisheries is a species of "Pleuroncodes". There is a great deal of confusion over both scientific names and common names, and the exact species is often unknown. In El Salvador, for instance, the commercial catch is generally referred to as ""P. planipes"", but is in fact "P. monodon". Commercial fishing for squat lobsters in El Salvador began in the early 1980s; production increased markedly in the 2001 season, and has continued to grow, now making up 98% of the demersal resources landed in El Salvador, with annual catches peaking at 13,708 t in 2005. In Costa Rica, aggregations of squat lobsters are avoided, as the fishermen fear the squat lobsters will clog their nets. In Nicaragua, squat lobsters are heavily exploited, especially following a large increase in fishing effort in the 2007 season. In Panama, production reached 492 t in 2008. Chilean squat lobster fisheries initially targeted "Cervimunida johni", beginning in 1953. By the mid-1960s, effort had largely switched to "P. monodon". In an effort to conserve stocks, the Chilean government instituted quotas for squat lobsters, and the fishery is closely monitored. In New Zealand, "Munida gregaria" has been considered as a potential fisheries resource, particularly to feed farmed Chinook salmon ("Oncorhynchus tshawytscha").


title: Squat lobster

text: In early classifications, squat lobsters were placed together in the superfamily Galatheoidea alongside the porcelain crabs of the family Porcellanidae. In the early 21st century, however, the assumption that the various families of squat lobster were closely related began to be questioned. Although superficially similar, there were few morphological characteristics that united the squat lobsters to the exclusion of other families in the Anomura. With extensive DNA sequence data, it is now accepted that squat lobsters do not make up a single, monophyletic group. Rather, the Chirostylidae and Kiwaidae are only relatively distantly related to the other squat lobsters, and are closer to hermit crabs and king crabs (Paguroidea), the mole crabs in the superfamily Hippoidea, and the small families Lomisidae and Aeglidae. Squat lobsters are therefore divided among two superfamilies:


title: Squat lobster

text: They contain a total of around 60 genera, divided into over 900 recognised species; more than 120 undescribed species are also thought to exist. The centre of diversity for squat lobsters is the "coral triangle", or Indo-Australian Archipelago, especially in the region of New Caledonia (with more than 300 species) and the region of Indonesia and the Philippines.


title: Squat lobster

text: Fossil galatheoid squat lobsters have been found in strata dating back to the Middle Jurassic of Europe, but no fossils can be confidently assigned to the "Chirostyloidea", although "Pristinaspina" may belong either in the family Kiwaidae or Chirostylidae.


title: Cédric Villani

text: Cédric Patrice Thierry Villani (; born 5 October 1973) is a French politician and mathematician working primarily on partial differential equations, Riemannian geometry and mathematical physics. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 2010, and he was the director of Sorbonne University's Institut Henri Poincaré from 2009 to 2017. As of September 2022, he is a professor at Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques.


title: Cédric Villani

text: Villani has given two lectures at the Royal Institution, the first titled 'Birth of a Theorem'. The English translation of his book "Théorème vivant" ("Living Theorem") has the same title.


title: Cédric Villani

text: In the book he describes the links between his research on kinetic theory and the one of the mathematician Carlo Cercignani: Villani, in fact, proved the so-called Cercignani's conjecture.


title: Cédric Villani

text: Villani was elected as the deputy for Essonne's 5th constituency in the National Assembly, the lower house of the French Parliament, during the 2017 legislative election. He was elected as a member of La République En Marche! (REM), but in May 2020 left the party to form a new party, Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity (EDS). Following the dissolution of EDS, Villani joined Ecology Generation, and ran for re-election under the banner of the NUPES. He was elected Vice President of the French Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices in July 2017.


title: Cédric Villani

text: He lost his seat in the 2022 French legislative election to La Republique En Marche! candidate Paul Midy by 19 votes.


title: Cédric Villani

text: After attending the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Villani was admitted at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and studied there from 1992 to 1996, after which he was appointed an agrégé préparateur at the same school. He received his doctorate at Paris Dauphine University in 1998, under the supervision of Pierre-Louis Lions, and became professor at the École normale supérieure de Lyon in 2000. He is now professor at the University of Lyon. He was director of the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris from 2009 to 2017.


title: Cédric Villani

text: He has held various visiting positions at Georgia Tech (Fall 1999), the University of California, Berkeley (Spring 2004), and the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (Spring 2009).


title: Cédric Villani

text: Villani has worked on the theory of partial differential equations involved in statistical mechanics, specifically the Boltzmann equation, where, with Laurent Desvillettes, he was the first to prove how quickly convergence occurs for initial values not near equilibrium. He has written with Giuseppe Toscani on this subject. With Clément Mouhot, he has worked on nonlinear Landau damping. He has worked on the theory of optimal transport and its applications to differential geometry, and with John Lott has defined a notion of bounded Ricci curvature for general measured length spaces. He also served on the Mathematical Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize in 2015 and 2016.


title: Cédric Villani

text: Villani received the Fields Medal for his work on Landau damping and the Boltzmann equation. He described the development of his theorem in his autobiographical book "Théorème vivant" (2012), published in English translation as "Birth of a Theorem: A Mathematical Adventure" (2015). He gave a TED talk at the 2016 conference in Vancouver.


title: Cédric Villani

text: In 2017, it was announced that Villani had been selected as a candidate for "En Marche!" (LREM) in the 2017 French legislative election, for Essonne's 5th constituency. In the first round of voting, Villani obtained 47% of the vote and was thus strongly placed for the second round which he won with 69.36% of the vote.


title: Cédric Villani

text: In 2019, Villani applied to be selected to lead the LREM candidate slate for the 2020 Paris election. By July 2019, he was one of three LREM candidates, all deputies in the National Assembly, still seeking the position; the other two were Benjamin Griveaux (who had been the government spokesperson) and Hugues Renson (who had been the vice-president of the National Assembly). On 10 July, the nomination committee picked Griveaux. On 4 September, Villani officially announced his candidacy for the municipal election.


title: Assemblage (art)

text: Assemblage is an artistic form or medium usually created on a defined substrate that consists of three-dimensional elements projecting out of or from the substrate. It is similar to collage, a two-dimensional medium. It is part of the visual arts and it typically uses found objects, but is not limited to these materials.


title: Assemblage (art)

text: The origin of the art form dates to the cubist constructions of Pablo Picasso c. 1912–1914. The origin of the word (in its artistic sense) can be traced back to the early 1950s, when Jean Dubuffet created a series of collages of butterfly wings, which he titled "assemblages d'empreintes". However, Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso and others had been working with found objects for many years prior to Dubuffet. Russian artist Vladimir Tatlin created his "counter-reliefs" in the mid 1910s. Alongside Tatlin, the earliest woman artist to try her hand at assemblage was Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, the Dada Baroness. In Paris in the 1920s Alexander Calder, Jose De Creeft, Picasso and others began making fully 3-dimensional works from metal scraps, found metal objects and wire. In the U.S., one of the earliest and most prolific assemblage artists was Louise Nevelson, who began creating her sculptures from found pieces of wood in the late 1930s.


title: Assemblage (art)

text: In the 1950s and 60s assemblage started to become more widely known and used. Artists like Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns started using scrappy materials and objects to make anti-aesthetic art sculptures, a big part of the ideas that make assemblage what it is.


title: Assemblage (art)

text: The painter Armando Reverón is one of the first to use this technique when using disposable materials such as bamboo, wires, or kraft paper. In the thirties he made a skeleton with wings of mucilage, adopting this style years before other artists. Later, Reverón made instruments and set pieces such as a telephone, a sofa, a sewing machine, a piano and even music books with their scores.


title: Assemblage (art)

text: In 1961, the exhibition "The Art of Assemblage" was featured at the New York Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition showcased the work of early 20th-century European artists such as Braque, Dubuffet, Marcel Duchamp, Picasso, and Kurt Schwitters alongside Americans Man Ray, Joseph Cornell, Robert Mallary and Robert Rauschenberg, and also included less well known American West Coast assemblage artists such as George Herms, Bruce Conner and Edward Kienholz. William C Seitz, the curator of the exhibition, described assemblages as being made up of preformed natural or manufactured materials, objects, or fragments not intended as art materials.


title: Three Christs

text: Three Christs, also known as State of Mind, is a 2017 American drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Jon Avnet and based on Milton Rokeach's nonfiction book "The Three Christs of Ypsilanti". It screened in the Gala Presentations section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is also known as: "Three Christs of Ypsilanti", "The Three Christs of Ypsilanti", "Three Christs of Santa Monica", and "The Three Christs of Santa Monica".


title: Three Christs

text: The film is an adaptation of "The Three Christs of Ypsilanti", Rokeach's 1964 book-length psychiatric case study of three patients whose paranoid schizophrenic delusions cause each of them to believe he is Jesus Christ.


title: Three Christs

text: Dr Alan Stone, a progressive and idealistic psychologist, dropped out of New York University in 1954 to work directly with patients at the Ypsilanti State Mental Asylum. Stone, whose focus is on schizophrenic patients, is widely considered a critic of the system. In the 1950s, people with mental illnesses were mostly only kept in institutions and sedated when needed. Treatments with insulin shock therapy and the use of electric shocks were common, while talk therapy was only a marginal phenomenon.


title: Three Christs

text: In Ypsilanti, Stone meets two patients who both believe they are Jesus Christ: the short intellectual Joseph Cassell and the gruff Clyde Benson. Out of this coincidence, the psychologist develops a format of group talk therapy. He has another patient transferred to Ypsilanti who also believes he is Christ, Leon Gabor, and brings the three men together to study their behavior. He finds out that the problems of the three are completely different. Gabor suffered all his life from his deeply religious mother, and he was also traumatized by multiple rapes by a man he had been exposed to as a soldier. Benson couldn't cope with the death of his beloved wife from an abortion. Cassell is prone to outbursts of anger. Once admitted to the institution, he was repeatedly sedated with electric shocks, which he subsequently developed a great fear of because he feared for his sanity. Contrary to the skepticism of many colleagues, including the head of the institution, Dr. Orbus, Stone takes a different course and, for example, completely dispenses with physical punishment. In fact, he manages to get through to the patients by talking to them and writing them letters.


title: Three Christs

text: When he makes the cover of a professional journal with his new approach, it arouses the envy of Dr. Orbus, who wants a share of the fame and henceforth urges to be involved in the treatment. Since Stone reacts reservedly to Orbus's obvious craving for prestige, the latter finally bypasses the colleague and lets Cassell be taken alone to his office for an interview. It is revealed that Stone wrote the letters to Cassell on Orbus' behalf, since the head of the asylum originally declined the task. Cassell feels betrayed by Stone and stalled by Orbus. Despite good behavior, he sees his hopes of leaving the clinic dwindling. Out of anger at this realization, he becomes abusive again, which is why Orbus orders renewed electric shocks for him. Stone rushes over and tries to stop it, but is ultimately unable to prevent the shocks. In a skirmish with another doctor, he injures him and himself. Orbus then has him expelled from the institution.


title: Three Christs

text: Orbus takes over his patients. Cassell, however, who noticed that Stone wanted to save him and also that he then disappeared, no longer trusts Orbus. He sees himself in his power and believes in another long suffering. Finally, during a conversation in the chapel's bell tower with Orbus, he jumps out of the window and dies.


title: Three Christs

text: In the later hearing, Stone accused Orbus of making negligent decisions. He also deciphers Cassell's last words, according to which Cassell not only committed suicide to be free, but above all gave his life to justify the sins of Orbus as Jesus did the sins of mankind. The hearing ends with Stone being fired. However, he is granted permission and funds to continue his study, including the two remaining patients, in New York. Orbus, on the other hand, remains formally in his post, but without decision-making powers until his retirement. The film closes with a summary. Although Stone's therapeutic approach ultimately did not prove to be effective, it would have helped him himself. In the final scene, Stone takes the dead Cassell's seat, playing cards with the two Jesuses.


title: Three Christs

text: "Three Christs" began filming in New York in the summer of 2016. Three short scenes, shot in downtown Ypsilanti, were included in the film.


title: Three Christs

text: The film had its world premiere in the Gala Presentations section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in theaters and on VOD by IFC Films on January 10, 2020. It was released on Shout Factory on June 16, 2020.


title: Three Christs

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 43% based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 5.20/10. The website's critics consensus reads, ""Three Christs" is far from an unholy mess, but this fact-based drama forsakes its talented cast with a disappointingly facile treatment of genuinely interesting themes." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), or acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis, is a rare autoimmune disease marked by a sudden, widespread attack of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. As well as causing the brain and spinal cord to become inflamed, ADEM also attacks the nerves of the central nervous system and damages their myelin insulation, which, as a result, destroys the white matter. It is often triggered by a viral infection or vaccinations.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: ADEM's symptoms resemble the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), so the disease itself is sorted into the classification of the multiple sclerosis borderline diseases. However, ADEM has several features that distinguish it from MS. Unlike MS, ADEM occurs usually in children and is marked with rapid fever, although adolescents and adults can get the disease too. ADEM consists of a single flare-up whereas MS is marked with several flare-ups (or relapses), over a long period of time. Relapses following ADEM are reported in up to a quarter of patients, but the majority of these 'multiphasic' presentations following ADEM likely represent MS. ADEM is also distinguished by a loss of consciousness, coma and death, which is very rare in MS, except in severe cases.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: It affects about 8 per 1,000,000 people per year. Although it occurs in all ages, most reported cases are in children and adolescents, with the average age around 5 to 8 years old. The disease affects males and females almost equally. ADEM shows seasonal variation with higher incidence in winter and spring months which may coincide with higher viral infections during these months. The mortality rate may be as high as 5%; however, full recovery is seen in 50 to 75% of cases with increase in survival rates up to 70 to 90% with figures including minor residual disability as well. The average time to recover from ADEM flare-ups is one to six months.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: ADEM produces multiple inflammatory lesions in the brain and spinal cord, particularly in the white matter. Usually these are found in the subcortical and central white matter and cortical gray-white junction of both cerebral hemispheres, cerebellum, brainstem, and spinal cord, but periventricular white matter and gray matter of the cortex, thalami and basal ganglia may also be involved.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: When a person has more than one demyelinating episode of ADEM, the disease is then called recurrent disseminated encephalomyelitis or multiphasic disseminated encephalomyelitis (MDEM). Also, a fulminant course in adults has been described.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: ADEM has an abrupt onset and a monophasic course. Symptoms usually begin 1–3 weeks after infection. Major symptoms include fever, headache, nausea and vomiting, confusion, vision impairment, drowsiness, seizures and coma. Although initially the symptoms are usually mild, they worsen rapidly over the course of hours to days, with the average time to maximum severity being about four and a half days. Additional symptoms include hemiparesis, paraparesis, and cranial nerve palsies.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Neurological symptoms were the main presentation of COVID-19, which did not correlate with the severity of respiratory symptoms. The high incidence of ADEM with hemorrhage is striking. Brain inflammation is likely caused by an immune response to the disease rather than neurotropism. CSF analysis was not indicative of an infectious process, neurological impairment was not present in the acute phase of the infection, and neuroimaging findings were not typical of classical toxic and metabolic disorders. The finding of bilateral periventricular relatively asymmetrical lesions allied with deep white matter involvement, that may also be present in cortical gray-white matter junction, thalami, basal ganglia, cerebellum, and brainstem suggests an acute demyelination process. Additionally, hemorrhagic white matter lesions, clusters of macrophages related to axonal injury and ADEM-like appearance were also found in subcortical white matter.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Since the discovery of the anti-MOG specificity against multiple sclerosis diagnosis it is considered that ADEM is one of the possible clinical causes of anti-MOG associated encephalomyelitis.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: ADEM term has been inconsistently used at different times. Currently, the commonly accepted international standard for the clinical case definition is the one published by the International Pediatric MS Study Group, revision 2007.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Given that the definition is clinical, it is currently unknown if all the cases with ADEM are positive for anti-MOG autoantibody, but in any case, it seems strongly related to ADEM diagnosis.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: While ADEM and MS both involve autoimmune demyelination, they differ in many clinical, genetic, imaging, and histopathological aspects. Some authors consider MS and its borderline forms to constitute a spectrum, differing only in chronicity, severity, and clinical course, while others consider them discretely different diseases.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Typically, ADEM appears in children following an antigenic challenge and remains monophasic. Nevertheless, ADEM does occur in adults, and can also be clinically multiphasic.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Problems for differential diagnosis increase due to the lack of agreement for a definition of multiple sclerosis. If MS were defined just by the separation in time and space of the demyelinating lesions as McDonald did, it would not be enough to make a difference, as some cases of ADEM satisfy these conditions. Therefore, some authors propose to establish the separation line in the shape of the lesions around the veins, being therefore "perivenous vs. confluent demyelination".


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: The pathology of ADEM is very similar to that of MS with some differences. The pathological hallmark of ADEM is perivenular inflammation with limited "sleeves of demyelination". Nevertheless, MS-like plaques (confluent demyelination) can appear


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Plaques in the white matter in MS are sharply delineated, while the glial scar in ADEM is smooth. Axons are better preserved in ADEM lesions. Inflammation in ADEM is widely disseminated and ill-defined, and finally, lesions are strictly perivenous, while in MS they are disposed around veins, but not so sharply.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Nevertheless, the co-occurrence of perivenous and confluent demyelination in some individuals suggests pathogenic overlap between acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis and misclassification even with biopsy or even postmortem ADEM in adults can progress to MS


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: When the person has more than one demyelinating episode of ADEM, the disease is then called recurrent disseminated encephalomyelitis or multiphasic disseminated encephalomyelitis (MDEM).


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Another variant of ADEM in adults has been described, also related to anti-MOG auto-antibodies, has been named fulminant disseminated encephalomyelitis, and it has been reported to be clinically ADEM, but showing MS-like lesions on autopsy. It has been classified inside the anti-MOG associated inflammatory demyelinating diseases.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis (AHL, or AHLE), acute hemorrhagic encephalomyelitis (AHEM), acute necrotizing hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis (ANHLE), Weston-Hurst syndrome, or Hurst's disease, is a hyperacute and frequently fatal form of ADEM. AHL is relatively rare (less than 100 cases have been reported in the medical literature ), it is seen in about 2% of ADEM cases, and is characterized by necrotizing vasculitis of venules and hemorrhage, and edema. Death is common in the first week and overall mortality is about 70%, but increasing evidence points to favorable outcomes after aggressive treatment with corticosteroids, immunoglobulins, cyclophosphamide, and plasma exchange. About 70% of survivors show residual neurological deficits, but some survivors have shown surprisingly little deficit considering the magnitude of the white matter affected.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: This disease has been occasionally associated with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, malaria, sepsis associated with immune complex deposition, methanol poisoning, and other underlying conditions. Also anecdotal association with MS has been reported


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Laboratory studies that support diagnosis of AHL are: peripheral leukocytosis, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis associated with normal glucose and increased protein. On magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), lesions of AHL typically show extensive T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) white matter hyperintensities with areas of hemorrhages, significant edema, and mass effect.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: No controlled clinical trials have been conducted on ADEM treatment, but aggressive treatment aimed at rapidly reducing inflammation of the CNS is standard. The widely accepted first-line treatment is high doses of intravenous corticosteroids, such as methylprednisolone or dexamethasone, followed by 3–6 weeks of gradually lower oral doses of prednisolone. Patients treated with methylprednisolone have shown better outcomes than those treated with dexamethasone. Oral tapers of less than three weeks duration show a higher chance of relapsing, and tend to show poorer outcomes. Other anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive therapies have been reported to show beneficial effect, such as plasmapheresis, high doses of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), mitoxantrone and cyclophosphamide. These are considered alternative therapies, used when corticosteroids cannot be used or fail to show an effect.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: There is some evidence to suggest that patients may respond to a combination of methylprednisolone and immunoglobulins if they fail to respond to either separately


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: In a study of 16 children with ADEM, 10 recovered completely after high-dose methylprednisolone, one severe case that failed to respond to steroids recovered completely after IV Ig; the five most severe cases – with ADAM and severe peripheral neuropathy – were treated with combined high-dose methylprednisolone and immunoglobulin, two remained paraplegic, one had motor and cognitive handicaps, and two recovered. A recent review of IVIg treatment of ADEM (of which the previous study formed the bulk of the cases) found that 70% of children showed complete recovery after treatment with IVIg, or IVIg plus corticosteroids. A study of IVIg treatment in adults with ADEM showed that IVIg seems more effective in treating sensory and motor disturbances, while steroids seem more effective in treating impairments of cognition, consciousness and rigor. This same study found one subject, a 71-year-old man who had not responded to steroids, that responded to an IVIg treatment 58 days after disease onset.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Full recovery is seen in 50 to 70% of cases, ranging to 70 to 90% recovery with some minor residual disability (typically assessed using measures such as mRS or EDSS), average time to recover is one to six months. The mortality rate may be as high as 5–10%. Poorer outcomes are associated with unresponsiveness to steroid therapy, unusually severe neurological symptoms, or sudden onset. Children tend to have more favorable outcomes than adults, and cases presenting without fevers tend to have poorer outcomes. The latter effect may be due to either protective effects of fever, or that diagnosis and treatment is sought more rapidly when fever is present.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: ADEM can progress to MS. It will be considered MS if some lesions appear in different times and brain areas


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Residual motor deficits are estimated to remain in about 8 to 30% of cases, the range in severity from mild clumsiness to ataxia and hemiparesis.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Patients with demyelinating illnesses, such as MS, have shown cognitive deficits even when there is minimal physical disability. Research suggests that similar effects are seen after ADEM, but that the deficits are less severe than those seen in MS. A study of six children with ADEM (mean age at presentation 7.7 years) were tested for a range of neurocognitive tests after an average of 3.5 years of recovery. All six children performed in the normal range on most tests, including verbal IQ and performance IQ, but performed at least one standard deviation below age norms in at least one cognitive domain, such as complex attention (one child), short-term memory (one child) and internalizing behaviour/affect (two children). Group means for each cognitive domain were all within one standard deviation of age norms, demonstrating that, as a group, they were normal. These deficits were less severe than those seen in similar aged children with a diagnosis of MS.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: Another study compared nineteen children with a history of ADEM, of which 10 were five years of age or younger at the time (average age 3.8 years old, tested an average of 3.9 years later) and nine were older (mean age 7.7y at time of ADEM, tested an average of 2.2 years later) to nineteen matched controls. Scores on IQ tests and educational achievement were lower for the young onset ADEM group (average IQ 90) compared to the late onset (average IQ 100) and control groups (average IQ 106), while the late onset ADEM children scored lower on verbal processing speed. Again, all groups means were within one standard deviation of the controls, meaning that while effects were statistically reliable, the children were as a whole, still within the normal range. There were also more behavioural problems in the early onset group, although there is some suggestion that this may be due, at least in part, to the stress of hospitalization at a young age.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: The relationship between ADEM and anti-MOG associated encephalomyelitis is currently under research. A new entity called MOGDEM has been proposed.


title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

text: About animal models, the main animal model for MS, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is also an animal model for ADEM. Being an acute monophasic illness, EAE is far more similar to ADEM than MS.


title: Monopole antenna

text: A monopole antenna is a class of radio antenna consisting of a straight rod-shaped conductor, often mounted perpendicularly over some type of conductive surface, called a ground plane.


title: Monopole antenna

text: The driving signal from the transmitter is applied, or for receiving antennas the output signal to the receiver is taken, between the lower end of the monopole and the ground plane. One side of the antenna feedline is attached to the lower end of the monopole, and the other side is attached to the ground plane, which is often the Earth. This contrasts with a dipole antenna which consists of two identical rod conductors, with the signal from the transmitter applied between the two halves of the antenna.


title: Monopole antenna

text: The monopole is often used as a resonant antenna; the rod functions as an open resonator for radio waves, oscillating with standing waves of voltage and current along its length. Therefore the length of the antenna is determined by the wavelength of the radio waves it is used with. The most common form is the "quarter-wave monopole", in which the antenna is approximately one quarter of the wavelength of the radio waves. However in broadcasting monopole antennas = 0.625 wavelength long are also popular, because at this length a monopole radiates a maximum amount of its power in horizontal directions. The monopole antenna was invented in 1895 by radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi; for this reason it is sometimes called the "Marconi antenna".


title: Monopole antenna

text: The monopole antenna was invented in 1895 and patented in 1896 by radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi during his historic first experiments in radio communication. He began by using dipole antennas invented by Heinrich Hertz consisting of two identical horizontal wires ending in metal plates. He found by experiment that if instead of the dipole, one side of the transmitter and receiver was connected to a wire suspended overhead, and the other side was connected to the Earth, he could transmit for longer distances. For this reason the monopole is also called a "Marconi antenna", although Alexander Popov independently invented it at about the same time.


title: Monopole antenna

text: Like a vertically suspended dipole antenna, a monopole has an omnidirectional radiation pattern: It radiates with equal power in all azimuthal directions perpendicular to the antenna. The radiated power varies with elevation angle, with the radiation dropping off to zero at the zenith on the antenna axis. It radiates vertically polarized radio waves. Since vertical halfwave dipoles must have their center raised at least a quarter wave above the ground, whereas monopoles must be mounted directly on the ground, the monopoles' radiation patterns are more greatly affected by resistance in the earth, and the radiation pattern with elevation inherently differs.


title: Monopole antenna

text: A monopole can be visualized ("right") as being formed by replacing the bottom half of a vertical dipole antenna (c) with a conducting plane (ground plane) at right-angles to the remaining half. If the ground plane is large enough, the radio waves from the remaining upper half of the dipole (a) reflected from the ground plane will seem to come from an image antenna (b) forming the missing half of the dipole, which adds to the direct radiation to form a dipole radiation pattern. So the pattern of a monopole with a perfectly conducting, infinite ground plane is identical to the top half of a dipole pattern.


title: Monopole antenna

text: Up to a length of a half-wavelength (formula_1) the antenna has a single lobe with maximum gain in horizontal directions, perpendicular to the antenna axis. Below the quarter wavelength (formula_2) resonance the radiation pattern is nearly constant with length. Above (formula_3) the lobe flattens, radiating more power in horizontal directions.


title: Monopole antenna

text: Above a half-wavelength the pattern splits into a horizontal main lobe and a small second conical lobe at an angle of 60° elevation into the sky. However, the horizontal gain keeps increasing and reaches a maximum at a length of five-eighths wavelength: formula_4 (this is an approximation valid for a typical thickness antenna, for an infinitely thin monopole the maximum occurs at formula_5). The maximum occurs at this length because the opposite phase radiation from the two lobes interferes destructively and cancels at high angles, "compressing" more of the power into the horizontal lobe.


title: Monopole antenna

text: Slightly above formula_6 the horizontal lobe rapidly gets smaller and the high angle lobe gets larger, reducing power radiated in horizontal directions, and hence reducing gain. Because of this, not many antennas use lengths above formula_6 or 0.625 wave. As the antenna is made longer, the pattern divides into more lobes, with nulls (directions of zero radiated power) between them.


title: Monopole antenna

text: The general effect of electrically small ground planes, as well as imperfectly conducting earth grounds, is to tilt the direction of maximum radiation up to higher elevation angles and reduce the gain.


title: Monopole antenna

text: Because it radiates only into the space above the ground plane, or half the space of a dipole antenna, a monopole antenna over a perfectly conducting infinite ground plane will have a gain of twice (3 dB greater than) the gain of a similar dipole antenna, and a radiation resistance half that of a dipole. Since a half-wave dipole has a gain of 2.19 dBi and a radiation resistance of 73 Ohms, a quarter-wave () monopole will have a gain of and a radiation resistance of about 36.5 Ohms. The antenna is resonant at this length, so its input impedance is purely resistive. The input impedance has capacitive reactance below and inductive reactance from


title: Monopole antenna

text: The gains given in this section are only achieved if the antenna is mounted over a perfectly conducting infinite ground plane. With typical artificial ground planes smaller than several wavelengths, the gain will be 1 to 3 dBi lower, because some of the horizontal radiated power will diffract around the plane edge into the lower half space, where it dissipates in the soil. Similarly over a resistive earth ground, the gain will be lower due to power absorbed in the earth.


title: Monopole antenna

text: As the length is increased to approach a half-wavelength ( ) – the next resonant length – the gain increases some, to 6.0 dBi. Since at this length the antenna has a current node at its feedpoint, the input impedance is very high. A hypothetical infinitesimally thin antenna would have infinite impedance, but for finite thickness of typical monopoles it is around 800–2,000 Ohms; high, but manageable by feeding through a substantial step-up transformer.


title: Monopole antenna

text: The horizontal gain continues to increase up to a maximum of about 6.6 dBi at a length of five-eighths wavelength so this is a popular length for ground wave antennas and terrestrial communication antennas, for frequencies where a larger antenna size is feasible. The input impedance drops to about 40 Ohms at that length. The antenna's reactance is capacitive from However, above the horizontal gain drops rapidly because progressively more power is radiated at high elevation angles in the second lobe.


title: Monopole antenna

text: For monopole antennas operating at lower frequencies, below 20 MHz, the ground plane is usually the Earth; in this case the antenna is a vertical mast mounted on the ground on an insulator to isolate it electrically from the ground. One side of the feedline is connected to the mast and the other to an Earth ground at the base of the antenna. In transmitting antennas to reduce ground resistance this is often a radial network of buried wires stretching outward from a terminal near the base of the antenna. This design is used for the mast radiator transmitting antennas employed for radio broadcasting in the MF and LF bands. At lower frequencies the antenna mast is electrically short giving it a very small radiation resistance, so to increase efficiency and radiated power capacitively toploaded monopoles such as the T-antenna and umbrella antenna are used.


title: Monopole antenna

text: At VHF and UHF frequencies the size of the ground plane needed is smaller, so artificial ground planes are used to allow the antenna to be mounted above the ground.


title: Monopole antenna

text: A common type of monopole antenna at these frequencies for mounting on masts or structures consists of a quarter-wave whip antenna with a ground plane consisting of 3 or 4 wires or rods a quarter-wave long radiating horizontally or diagonally from its base connected to the ground side of the feedline; this is called a ground-plane antenna. At gigahertz frequencies the metal surface of a car roof or airplane body makes a good ground plane, so car cell phone antennas consist of short whips mounted on the roof, and aircraft communication antennas frequently consist of a short conductor in an aerodynamic fairing projecting from the fuselage; this is called a "blade antenna".


title: Monopole antenna

text: The quarter-wave whip and rubber ducky antennas used with handheld radios such as walkie-talkies and portable FM radios are also monopole antennas. In these portable devices the antenna does not have an effective ground plane, the ground side of the transmitter is just connected to the ground connection on its circuit board. Since the circuit board ground is often smaller than the antenna, the antenna and ground combination may function more as an asymmetrical dipole antenna than a monopole. The hand and body of the person holding them may function as a rudimentary ground plane.


title: Monopole antenna

text: The monopole element is bent over parallel to the ground area on the circuit board, so it can be enclosed in the device case; usually the antenna is fabricated of copper foil on the printed circuit board itself.


title: Monopole antenna

text: This geometry would give the antenna a very low impedance if it was driven at the base. To improve the impedance match with the feed circuit (typically 50 Ohms impedance) the antenna is "shunt fed", the feedline is instead connected to an intermediate point along the element, and the element end is grounded.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: Bryan is a city and the county seat of Brazos County, Texas, United States. It is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley (East and Central Texas). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 83,980. Bryan borders the city of College Station, which lies to its south. Together they are referred to as the Bryan–College Station metropolitan area, which has a population of more than 250,069.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: The area around Bryan was part of a land grant to Moses Austin by Spain. Austin's son, Stephen F. Austin, helped bring settlers to the area. Among the settlers was William Joel Bryan, the nephew of Stephen Austin. In 1866 the county seat of Brazos County was changed from Boonville to Bryan, and a post office was opened. In 1867, after many delays caused by the Civil War, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, which had only previously gotten as far as Millican, finally reached Bryan. A short time later, in 1871, the city of Bryan became incorporated. Just south of Bryan, Texas A&M College opened in 1876 in what later would be known as College Station. The following year, 1877 saw the establishment of the Bryan Independent School District. Keeping up with progress in the rest of the country, Bryan added electric lighting and a waterworks to its community in 1889. The fifth Brazos County courthouse was built in 1892, and by the turn of the century, in 1900, the International-Great Northern Railroad stopped in Bryan.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: Using a generous grant of $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie, the Carnegie Library of Bryan opened its doors in 1902. A bell, made in 1905 and rung in 1918 to signal the end of World War I is still located out front today. In 1910 the town built an interurban railroad to College Station. By 1923 the line was abandoned. The first Jewish place of worship, the Temple Freda synagogue, was opened in 1913. During the 1930s the town of North Oakwood merged with Bryan. Now Bryan and College Station are "twin" cities. In 1936 State Highway 6 was built, running right through town.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: In 2006 the Texas A&M University System announced that the new Texas A&M Health Science Center campus would be built in Bryan near the new Traditions Golf Course development.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: A fire at the El Dorado Chemical Co. in 2009 caused the evacuation of 70,000 residents due to the burning of ammonium nitrate, possibly causing minor respiratory problems. However, the city requested that only "anyone who can smell smoke or see smoke to evacuate their homes and businesses" and did not enforce an evacuation except for 500 homes in the nearby vicinity of the fire. Less than 1,000 residents chose to evacuate, taking shelter at Texas A&M University, which closed its campus for the day to ease traffic problems. City fire officials chose to let the fire burn down before tackling it, since the chemicals were water reactive. The evacuation, which started at 2:30 pm CST ended at 7 pm, except for a small, defined area immediately around the fire, where approximately 100 Bryan residents lived. In the end, only 500 residents were under a mandatory evacuation, and 35 people were treated for respiratory problems from the smoke. Officials from El Dorado said there was never any danger from the smoke or fire. The warehouse, valued at just under $1 million, was destroyed.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: In 2010 the Brazos County District Attorney's Office started the enforcement of a "Gang Safety Zone" in response to an escalation in violence within Bryan. Major US papers and ABC News covered this move. Cities like Houston and Los Angeles looked to the Bryan model of safety enforcement surrounding gang violence. The injunction declared a area in Bryan as the Gang Safety Zone. This placed about half of downtown in the area.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: In 2013 the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan closed as a result of state budget cuts which impacted family-planning facilities. The facility began offering abortions in 1998; it was one of three in the state which ceased operations on August 31, 2013.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: On April 8, 2021, a workplace shooting occurred in Bryan. An employee of Kent Moore Cabinets, a local cabinet-making company, killed one person and injured five others, four of them critically. He then fled but was later taken into police custody, shooting and injuring a state trooper in the process. In June, 27-year-old suspect Larry Bollin was indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder and aggravated assault.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: Bryan is located northwest of the center of Brazos County. It is bordered to the southeast by the city of College Station and to the northwest by the unincorporated community of Lake Bryan. The Brazos River flows past approximately nine miles to the southwest. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.20%, is water.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: The local climate is subtropical and temperate and winters are mild with periods of low temperatures usually lasting less than two months. Snow and ice are extremely rare. Summers are warm and hot with occasional showers being the only real variation in weather.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 83,980 people, 30,647 households, and 18,659 families residing in the city.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 65,660 people, 23,759 households, and 14,873 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,515.2 people per square mile (584.9/km). There were 25,703 housing units at an average density of 593.1 per square mile (229.0/km). The racial makeup of the city was 64.65% White, 17% African American, 0.40% Native American, 1.65% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 13.32% from other races, and 2.17% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any ethnicity/nationality were 17.83% of the population.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: There were 23,759 households, out of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.2% were married couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.27.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.0% under the age of 18, 18.1% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 15.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.7 males.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: The median income for a household in the city was $31,672, and the median income for a family was $41,433. Males had a median income of $29,780 versus $22,428 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,770. About 15.5% of families and 22.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.0% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: Sports complexes and recreation centers include: Kyle Field, Merrill Green Stadium, Reed Arena, Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park, American Momentum Bank Ballpark, G. Rollie White Coliseum, Anderson Track and Field Complex, Aggie Soccer Complex, Bryan Regional Athletic Complex, Aggie Softball Complex, George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, Spirit Ice Arena, The City Course at Phillips Event Center, and Bryan Aquatic Center.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the Hamilton Unit, a pre-release facility in Bryan. Hamilton opened as an adult prison facility. It was renovated for juveniles and, in mid-1997, re-opened as the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) J.W. Hamilton Jr. State School. On June 15, 2003, the facility was transferred back to the TDCJ. The TDCJ also operates the Bryan District Parole Office in nearby College Station.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: The United States Postal Service operates the Bryan and Downtown Bryan post offices. The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates the Federal Prison Camp, Bryan, a women's prison located in Bryan.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: The Brazos Transit District began offering bus service in the Bryan-College Station in 1974. It offers fixed bus routes throughout Bryan-College Station. Operating on weekdays on an hourly basis, the seven routes converge at a central location for transferring between routes. It also offers paratransit services for disabled riders and an on-demand shared ride service. Texas A&M University, headquartered in sister city College Station, operates student-driven free buses on weekdays for use by the general public that includes coverage around several apartment complexes in Bryan near campus and along a route that culminates at the campus of Blinn College.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: Bryan is served commercially by Easterwood Airport, a regional airport operated by Texas A&M University in College Station. American Eagle offers flights to and from their larger hub airport at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.


title: Bryan, Texas

text: The city of Bryan owns and operates Coulter Field and provides fixed-base operator services, hangar space, and runways for private flights.


title: Mansaf

text: Mansaf () is a traditional Jordanian dish made of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice or bulgur.


title: Mansaf

text: It is a popular dish eaten throughout the Levant. It is considered the national dish of Jordan, and can also be found in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria. The name of the dish comes from the term "large tray" or "large dish".The dish evolved greatly between the 1940s and late 1980s, undergoing changes in the recipe as well as in the preparation process.


title: Mansaf

text: The original pastoralist Bedouin mansaf underwent significant changes in the 20th century. The dish is said to originally have been made with simply meat (camel or lamb), meat broth or ghee (clarified butter) and bread. Following the popularization of rice in northern Transjordan in the 1920s, rice gradually was introduced into the dish, at first mixed with bulgur, and later on its own, until the dish reached its modern incarnation of being based on white rice. Similarly, the jameed sauce is a recent development, as the Bedouins did not historically feature jameed in their cooked dishes until their modern sedentarization.


title: Mansaf

text: Jameed is a hard dry yogurt that is prepared by the boiling of sheep or goat's milk, which is then left to dry and ferment. The mixture is later kept in a fine woven cheesecloth to make a thick yogurt. Salt is added daily to thicken the yogurt even more for a few days, which then becomes very dense and is shaped into round balls. The city of Al-Karak in Jordan has a reputation for producing the highest quality of jameed.


title: Mansaf

text: A jameed broth is prepared and the pieces of lamb are cooked in it. The dish is served on a large platter with a layer of flatbread (markook or shrak) topped with rice and then meat, garnished with almonds and pine nuts, and then the creamy jameed sauce is poured on top of the dish.


title: Mansaf

text: Mansaf is associated with a traditional Jordanian culture based on an agro-pastoral lifestyle in which meat and yogurt are readily available. Mansaf is served on special occasions such as weddings, births and graduations, or to honor a guest, and on major holidays such as Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha, Christmas, Easter and Jordan's Independence Day. It is traditionally eaten collectively from a large platter in the Bedouin and rural style, standing around the platter with the left hand behind the back and using the right hand instead of utensils. Mansaf plays an active role in settling tribal disputes in Jordan in what is known as an "Atwa" (truce) and a "Ja'ha" (peacemaking process). It is thought to signal the end of a conflict when the heads of conflicting tribes visit each other and the host sacrifices a sheep or a goat for a shared mansaf, taken to be a sign of reconciliation.


title: Mansaf

text: Since mansaf was originally popular among Bedouins, much of the traditions that they used with the dish still exist today. The tray containing mansaf is placed on a table where people gather around it while standing. Mansaf should be eaten with the use of a person's right hand only while the left is behind the person's back. The hand is used to create balls of rice and then the ball is placed in the mouth through the use of three fingers. It is frowned upon to blow on the ball of rice, no matter how hot. Many of these traditions are still used; however, it can also be eaten with spoons and plates.


title: Mansaf

text: Though mansaf is frequently referred to as Jordan's "national dish", Palestinian Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University Joseph Massad states that mansaf is not a truly "traditional" dish, but is rather a more recent dish which was developed during the Hashemite-Mandatory era of the early 20th century, and then promulgated as a national dish following independence. Massad notes that the current form of mansaf differs from the independence-era and Mandate-era recipes but is portrayed by the state as a dish that is both national and a Bedouin tradition, despite it also historically being a dish of the peasants and Bedouins of the neighboring regions of southern Palestine and Syria.


title: Mansaf

text: The inhabitants of Al-Salt and Al-Karak are reputed to make the best mansaf in Jordan. Other variants of the dish also exist and are adapted to the regional tastes and circumstances. These include fish mansaf, found in the south around the port city of Aqaba. An urban, less ceremonial adaptation of mansaf using non-dried yogurt is called "shakreyyeh". It is sometimes cooked with poultry instead of lamb and is common in the northern part of Jordan. In the 2020s, a restaurateur in Amman began selling single servings of mansaf in cups. While some customers find it convenient, others find that it demeans the prestige and honor associated with it.


title: Mansaf

text: Prior to 1945, mansaf was made up of three main components: the bread, the meat and the clarified butter. The bread that was used is called khobz al-shrak. It is a whole wheat bread that is described as “thick”, “flat” , “paper-thin” and “crumb-less”. Mansaf was made using whole wheat flour because wheat was an easily accessible crop at the time. The specific type of bread varied based on local regions. The next main component of mansaf was the meat. It was boiled in water in order to clean it from dirt and film that developed on its surface. After the meat was fully cooked, it was added on top of the bread, and the meat broth was poured over the bread. The final step was pouring the clarified butter, called samin beladee, on top.


title: Mansaf

text: The first evolutions to change this initial recipe were a decrease in the amount of broth added to the base, and adding bulgur wheat to the meal. This is because bulgur became a widely grown crop around 1945. The wheat was cleaned, boiled, then spread on a clean surface and left to dry in the sun for a few days. Once the drying process was complete, the wheat was ground up, which is what turns it into bulgur wheat. Finally, the bulgur wheat was cooked similar to how rice is cooked today.


title: Mansaf

text: Around the 1950s, replacing bulgur wheat with rice started to rise in popularity when making mansaf, due to a city in Jordan called Hartha’s proximity to Syrian and Palestinian borders. This resulted in better access to trade networks.


title: Mansaf

text: In the early 1960s, new toppings were introduced to the recipe of mansaf. Those include roasted almonds and pine nuts. A few years after that, the clarified butter and the broth were replaced with jameed, which is a yogurt sauce. People also started cooking the meat in this yogurt sauce, which resulted in a more “robust flavor” which marinated the meat during the cooking process.


title: Mansaf

text: Prior to the 1970s, mansaf was cooked in a large copper cauldron that was placed over a fire in the courtyards of one's home. The cauldron was so large that people had no choice but to cook the this dish outdoors. Once the ingredients were fully cooked, they would be placed on a large copper platter and carried indoors.


title: Mansaf

text: After the 1970s, many changes occurred to the original recipe and preparation of mansaf. The bread was replaced with rice, and the platter used for the mansaf changed from traditional copper to a florally decorated enamelware or aluminum platter. These changes happened due to advancements in technology, which made it possible for mansaf to be cooked indoors, in smaller amounts for smaller groups of people like families.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: Ricky Van Shelton (born January 12, 1952) is an American retired country music singer. Active between 1986 and 2006, he charted more than 20 singles on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs charts. This figure includes 10 Number One hits: "Somebody Lied", "Life Turned Her That Way", 'Don't We All Have the Right", "I'll Leave This World Loving You", "From a Jack to a King" (a cover of the Ned Miller hit), "Living Proof", "I've Cried My Last Tear for You", "Rockin' Years" (a duet with Dolly Parton), "I Am a Simple Man", and "Keep It Between the Lines". Besides these, seven more of his singles landed in the Top 10 on the same chart. He also released nine studio albums, of which his first four were certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: He was born at Danville Regional Medical Center in Danville, Virginia, United States, to Jenks and Eloise Shelton in 1952, but was raised in Grit, Virginia, and went to High school in Gretna, Virginia. Although "Van" is a common portion of surnames derived from people of Dutch origin, "Van" in this case is Shelton's middle name.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: Shelton's father sang gospel music while he was still a child, and from this Shelton also sang gospel, but he also liked pop music. He was soon in church, singing gospel. When he was a teenager, however, Shelton discovered country music. He soon started singing in his brother's band, singing country music, and performed at any local gathering he could.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: After he graduated from high school, Shelton started performing in area clubs and also worked a series of jobs. In 1984, Bettye Witt, his girlfriend at the time (and, since August 4, 1986, wife) found a job in Nashville, Tennessee, and Shelton went along with her. In Nashville, Shelton tried to land a deal with a recording contract, and worked in area nightclubs. In 1986, Jerry Thompson, a newspaper columnist, heard one of Shelton's demos, and arranged an audition with Columbia Records. Soon thereafter, Shelton was offered a recording contract with CBS, with Jerry Thompson serving as his manager. In that same year, he recorded his first album, "Wild-Eyed Dream". The title track was released as a single, and reached No. 24 on the Country charts.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: "Wild-Eyed Dream" became successful for Shelton and his record label. The next song from the album, "Crime of Passion" gained him an even bigger hit on the Country charts, when it reached the Top 10 early that year. The follow-up was an even bigger success. This next song was called "Somebody Lied", and in December 1987 it became his first No. 1 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. Nine other songs would make it to No. 1 on the Country charts during his career. He had a pair of other No. 1 singles from his debut album: "Life Turned Her That Way" and "Don't We All Have the Right". His album reached the No. 1 spot on the Top Country Albums chart in 1987, was one of the biggest-selling Country albums of the year, and it made Shelton one of the most successful male vocalists of that year.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: He achieved equal success the next year with a new album and a new single. The album was titled "Loving Proof", and it too was a No. 1 Billboard Country album. The album spawned three No. 1 hits for Shelton. These songs were, "I'll Leave This World Loving You" (for two weeks in November 1988), "From a Jack to a King" (in March 1989), and "Living Proof" (in October 1989). "From a Jack to a King" was a remake of the original by Ned Miller. By this time in country music, Neo-Traditionalism was in its peak, and because of this, so was Shelton's career, just like so many of his counterparts, like Clint Black, George Strait, Randy Travis, and Dwight Yoakam.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: His albums continued to win him praise and keep him high on the charts. His third album was no different. Titled "RVS III", this album spawned only one No. 1 single, called "I've Cried My Last Tear For You". Although this was his only No. 1 from the album, two singles came close, "Statue of a Fool" (originally recorded by Jack Greene) and "I Meant Every Word He Said", both of which reached number 2 on the Country charts. By now in his career, Shelton was one of Country music's most successful male vocalists. All his albums around this time had been certified by the RIAA as Platinum, and were also all No. 1 albums on the "Top Country Albums" chart. In 1990, he recording a Christmas album titled "Ricky Van Shelton Sings Christmas".


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: Around the same time, Shelton wrote a series of children's books. The first two titles of his books were, "Tales From a Duck Named Quacker" and "Quacker Meets Mrs. Moo". The series also contains "Quacker Meets Canadian Goose" and were all illustrated by Shan Williams Burklow.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: Shelton continued his success as the decade began to progress. The next year, 1991, proved another successful year for Shelton. He duetted on the song, "Rockin' Years" with Dolly Parton (which also went to No. 1), as well as a new album, titled, "Backroads". The album featured his last No. 1 hits, along with a number 13 hit called "After the Lights Go Out". His hit streak continued up until this year, and his album was just as successful as his songs.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: By 1992, Shelton's success on the Country charts was tapering off and, like many others in the industry, he was swept out of popularity by the changes in country music that arrived in the early 1990s. He enjoyed one last Top 10 hit (which actually reached number 5) titled "Wild Man", which was put on his newest album, called "Greatest Hits Plus". Another single, "Just as I Am", was featured on his "Greatest Hits" album, but it only made the Top 30 that year. He also released a gospel music album titled "Don't Overlook Salvation".


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: By 1993, it was clear that Shelton was winding farther and farther away from the top ten on the Country charts. In 1994, he had his last top 40 hit with "Where Was I". After 1994's "Love and Honor" album, Shelton decided to leave Columbia Records.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: After being under Columbia Records, Shelton was absent from the Country chart for a long period of time. However, Columbia continued to release Greatest Hits collections to the public. Shelton continued to work on other projects during this time, which did not mean giving up performing.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: In 1997, Shelton formed his own label, titled RVS Records. That same year, he released his first album in three years, titled "Making Plans". Shelton financed the project himself however, and worked out to release his album only to Wal-Mart stores.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: In 2000, Shelton signed with the Audium label, where he made another album called "Fried Green Tomatoes", which spawned his first single in over five years called "The Decision", but it failed to make a substantial impact on the Country chart.


title: Ricky Van Shelton

text: In May 2006, Shelton announced that he would be retiring from touring to spend more time with his family.


title: Basketball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

text: The men's basketball tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, began on 15 August and ended on 28 August, when Argentina defeated Italy 84–69 for the gold medal. The games were held at the Helliniko Olympic Indoor Arena and Olympic Indoor Hall.


text: In spite of an undefeated preliminary round, the Spaniards were defeated by The United States to the chagrin of Spanish head coach Mario Pesquera.


text: Unlike their Spanish counterparts, however, the Lithuanians had an easy time disposing of the Del Harris-led Chinese squad.


text: Argentina, led by 13 points from both Manu Ginóbili and Fabricio Oberto, disposed of the home squad, led by the 12 points from Nikos Chatzivrettas.


text: The United States won its first bronze medal since 1988 by avenging the preliminary loss to Lithuania of one week earlier.


text: Argentina won its first ever Olympic gold medal in basketball and became the first Latin and first Hispanic nation to obtain an olympic gold medal in men's basketball.


title: Fuligo septica

text: Fuligo septica is a species of slime mold, and a member of the class Myxomycetes. It is commonly known as scrambled egg slime, or flowers of tan because of its peculiar yellowish appearance. It is also known as dog vomit slime mold, and is relatively common with a worldwide distribution, often being found on bark mulch in urban areas after heavy rain or excessive watering. Their spores are produced on or in aerial sporangia and are spread by wind.


title: Fuligo septica

text: The first description of the species was provided by French botanist Jean Marchant in 1727, who referred to it as "fleur de tan" (bark flower); Marchant also classified it as "des éponges" (one of the sponges). Carl Linnaeus called it "Mucor septicus" in his 1763 "Species Plantarum". The species was transferred to the genus "Fuligo" by German botanist Friedrich Heinrich Wiggers in 1780.


title: Fuligo septica

text: Like many slime molds, the cells of this species typically aggregate to form a plasmodium, a multinucleate mass of undifferentiated cells that may move in an ameboid-like fashion during the search for nutrients. "F. septica"'s plasmodium may be anywhere from white to yellow-gray, typically in diameter, and thick. The plasmodium eventually transforms into a sponge-like aethalium, analogous to the spore-bearing fruiting body of a mushroom; which then degrades, darkening in color, and releases its dark-colored spores. "F. septica" produces the largest aethalium of any slime mold. This species is known to have its spores dispersed by beetles (family Latridiidae).


title: Fuligo septica

text: The spores have a two-layered wall, with a dense outer layer with spines, and a fibrous inner layer. During germination, the outer layer splits to create an opening, and more elastic inner layer ruptures later as protoplasm emerges. A remnant of the inner layer may be persistent and adhere to the protoplast after it has emerged from the spore. A peroxidase enzyme present in the inner cell wall plays a role in germination.


title: Fuligo septica

text: "Fuligo septica" grows on rotten wood and plant debris, but can also grow on the leaves and stems of living plants.


title: Fuligo septica

text: Slime molds have a high resistance to toxic levels of metals; one author was prompted to write "The levels of Zinc in "Fuligo septica" were so high (4,000–20,000 ppm) that it is difficult to understand how a living organism can tolerate them." The resistance to extreme levels of zinc appears to be unique to "F. septica". The mechanism of this metal resistance is now understood: "F. septica" produces a yellow pigment called fuligorubin A, which has been shown to chelate metals and convert them to inactive forms.


title: Fuligo septica

text: Extracts from "F. septica" show antibiotic activity against "Bacillus subtilis" and "Candida albicans", and cytotoxic activity on KB cells (a cell line derived from a human carcinoma of the nasopharynx).


title: Fuligo septica

text: "Fuligo septica" contains a yellow pigment called fuligorubin A that is thought to be involved in photoreception and in the process of energy conversion during its life cycle. In 2011 a Japanese research group reported isolating and characterizing a new chlorine-containing yellow pigment from a specific strain of the organism that they called dehydrofuligoic acid.


title: Fuligo septica

text: In Finland, "F. septica" was believed to be used by witches to spoil their neighbors' milk. This gives it the name "paranvoi", meaning "butter of the familiar spirit". In Dutch, "heksenboter" refers to "witches' butter". In Latvian, the slime mold (amongst other slime molds) is called "ragansviests" as "witches' butter" or "raganu spļāviens" as "witches' spit" but it is unclear about the origins of these names.


title: Fuligo septica

text: Introns are sections of DNA that must be properly cleaved, digested and processed prior to rendering functional mRNAs for protein synthesis. Because it has a large number of group I introns, "F. septica" is used as a model to understand the processing and evolution of RNA.


title: Ryan Ochoa

text: Ryan Ochoa (born May 17, 1996) is an American actor. He is known for playing the role of Lanny on the Disney XD series "Pair of Kings", and for his recurring role of Chuck Chambers on the Nickelodeon series "iCarly".


title: Ryan Ochoa

text: Ryan Ochoa was born in San Diego, California. His ancestry includes Mexican, Filipino, Italian, Irish, and Russian-Jewish. He has four siblings, including younger brother Raymond Ochoa.


title: Ryan Ochoa

text: Ochoa had his first professional acting job at the age of eight, when he was cast in a national commercial for Dairy Queen.


title: Ryan Ochoa

text: Ryan's film debut was in the 2007 film, "Nostalgia" as Ryan Zorn, the son of the main character. He appeared in the 2009 film "The Perfect Game" as Norberto, one of the 9 baseball players. He also played Tiny Tim in 2009's "A Christmas Carol". Ochoa played the voice of the character of Rick in the animated film "Astro Boy".


title: Ryan Ochoa

text: Ochoa has appeared in the television show, "iCarly", in the episodes "iHurt Lewbert", "iReunite with Missy", "iTwins", "iFind Lewbert's Lost Love", "iBloop", and "iBeat the Heat". He reprised his role in the 2021 revival series.


title: Ryan Ochoa

text: In 2011 appeared in "Disney's Friends for Change". He co-starred as Lanny in the Disney XD series "Pair of Kings", and as Max Doyle in the straight-to-DVD film "".


title: White coat ceremony

text: The white coat ceremony (WCC) is a ritual in some schools of medicine and other health-related fields that marks the student's transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences. At some schools, where students begin meeting patients early in their education, the white coat ceremony is held before the first year begins. It is an example of a matriculation. The ritual is a recent invention, first being popularized in the 1990s.


title: White coat ceremony

text: Over 100 medical schools in the United States now have a WCC, and many students now consider it a rite of passage in the journey toward a healthcare career. Some schools also use this as a graduation from the entire program.


title: White coat ceremony

text: According to some, WCCs have taken on a quasi-religious significance which symbolizes a "conversion" of a lay person into a member of the healthcare profession and is similar to a priest's ordination to the priesthood, although it is notable that the white coat is a recent adoption by the medical profession. However, in many medical schools around the world students begin wearing their white coats during first-year anatomy class, so there is no official white coat ceremony.


title: White coat ceremony

text: In the nineteenth century respect for the certainty of science was in stark contrast to the quackery and mysticism of nineteenth-century medicine. To emphasize the transition to the more scientific approach to modern medicine, physicians sought to represent themselves as scientists and began to wear the most recognizable symbol of the scientist - the white laboratory coat. This led to the more recent association of the white coat with medicine since its continued adoption.


title: White coat ceremony

text: WCCs originated in University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine in 1989, but the first full-fledged ceremony was at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1993. In 1993, Dr. Arnold P. Gold, a teacher and pediatric neurologist, created the first full-fledged WCC at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Before this ceremony, medical students typically received the Hippocratic Oath for the first time at commencement. This ceremony marks a change in tradition, introducing students to the Oath before starting their first year of study. This was intended to provide students with well-defined guidelines regarding the expectations and responsibilities appropriate for the medical profession prior to their first day of class. Since its conception at Columbia, the WCC has spread rapidly to schools of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, osteopathic medicine, optometry, and nursing worldwide.