title: Myristicin

text: Myristicin also has potential chemoprotective properties. In mouse liver and small intestine mucosa, myristicin induced higher levels of glutathione "S"-transferase (GST), which catalyzes a reaction that detoxifies activated carcinogens. This indicates that myristicin may act as an inhibitor of tumorigenesis. It is still unknown how much the tendency of myristicin to induce apoptosis in cells contributes to its chemoprotective abilities.


title: Myristicin

text: Myristicin has been proven to be cytotoxic, or toxic to living cells. Specifically, it stimulates cytochrome c release, which activates caspase cascades and induces early apoptosis in the cells.


title: Myristicin

text: In human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells, myristicin led to apoptosis and observable morphological changes, as well as chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation. This indicates a definite cytotoxic effect, and a potential neurotoxic effect that requires further investigation.


title: Myristicin

text: Myristicin has also been shown to inhibit cytochrome P450 enzymes in humans, which is responsible for metabolizing a variety of substrates including hormones and toxins, allowing these substrates to accumulate. This can compound its own toxicity and/or lead to increased bioavailability of other substances, which can lower the threshold for overdose from other drugs that may be in the body.


title: Myristicin

text: The effects of nutmeg consumed in large doses are attributed mostly to myristicin, where 1–7 hours following ingestion symptoms include disorientation, giddiness, stupor, and/or stimulation of the central nervous system leading to euphoria, mild to intense hallucinations (similar to deliriants, walls and ceiling glitching or breathing), disorientation to time and surroundings, disassociation, feelings of levitation, feeling of fuzziness similar to THC but heavier, head feeling pressurized, loss of consciousness, tachycardia, weak pulse, anxiety, and hypertension. Symptoms of nutmeg intoxication further include nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, minor to severe muscle spasms (severe in extreme overdose), headache, dryness of mouth, mydriasis or miosis, hypotension, shock, and potentially death.


title: Myristicin

text: Myristicin poisoning can be detected by testing levels of myristicin in the blood. There are currently no known antidotes for myristicin poisoning, and treatment focuses on symptom management and potential sedation in cases of extreme delirium or aggravation.


title: Myristicin

text: With a chemical structure resembling amphetamines and other precursors, myristicin can also be used to synthesize illicit hallucinogenic drugs. Under controlled conditions, myristicin isolated from nutmeg oil can be converted into MMDMA, a synthetic "designer drug" amphetamine derivative that is less potent than MDMA but produces comparable stimulant and hallucinogenic effects.


title: Nokia N95

text: The Nokia N95 is a smartphone produced by Nokia as part of their Nseries line of portable devices. Announced in September 2006, it was released to the market in March 2007. The N95 ran S60 3rd Edition, on Symbian OS v9.2. It has a two-way sliding mechanism, which can be used to access either media playback buttons or a numeric keypad. It was first released in silver and later on in black, with limited edition quantities in gold and purple. The launch price of the N95 was around (about , ).


title: Nokia N95

text: The N95 was a high-end model that was marketed as a "multimedia computer", much like other Nseries devices. It featured a then-high 5 megapixel resolution digital camera with Carl Zeiss optics and with a flash, as well as a then-large display measuring 2.6 inches. It was also Nokia's first device with a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, used for maps or turn-by-turn navigation, and their first with an accelerometer. It was also one of the earliest devices in the market supporting HSDPA (3.5G) signals.


title: Nokia N95

text: After the introduction of the original model (technically named N95-1), several updated versions were released, most notably the N95 8GB with 8 gigabytes of internal storage, a larger display and improved battery. The 'classic' N95 and its upgraded variant N95 8GB are widely considered as breakthrough devices at the time of their launch. The N95 was well-regarded for its camera, GPS and mapping capabilities, and its innovative dual-slider form factor, and some have hailed it as one of the best mobile devices to have been released.


title: Nokia N95

text: The phone was unveiled on 26 September 2006 at the Nokia Open Studio 2006 event in New York City. It was considered to have been a turning point in the mobile industry due to its various capabilities; however, the device took a further six months until it was released. On 8 March 2007, Nokia was shipping N95 in key European, Asian, and Middle Eastern markets. It was on sale in many more countries during the week of 11 March. The N95 was still only available in limited quantities at this early stage and therefore its price was briefly raised to 800 euros.


title: Nokia N95

text: On 7 April 2007, the N95 went on sale in the United States through Nokia's Flagship stores in New York and Chicago and through Nokia's nseries.com website. No US carriers were expected to offer this phone. The U.S. version started retailing without carrier branding or discounts in Nokia's flagship stores in New York and Chicago on 26 September 2007.


title: Nokia N95

text: On 29 August 2007, two updated versions of the N95 were announced at a press event in London; first, the N95-2 (N95 8 GB), an updated version for the European/Asian markets with 8 gigabytes of internal storage and larger screen; secondly, the N95-3 (N95 NAM), replacing the original 2100 MHz W-CDMA air interface with support for the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz frequencies used for the 3G networks of most GSM-compatible mobile carriers in the Americas, including AT&T Mobility.


title: Nokia N95

text: Finally, later on 7 January 2008, Nokia introduced the N95-4, which is the US 8 GB version of the N95-3. The phone got its FCC approval on 30 January and launched 18 March. The first carrier to utilise this approval was Rogers Wireless in May 2009. Also at CES 2008, a red-coloured limited edition Nokia N95 was announced and released that year.


title: Nokia N95

text: The N95's main competitors during its lifetime were the LG Prada, Apple's iPhone (1st generation), Sony Ericsson's W950i and K850. The N95 managed to outsell its rivals. Despite Apple's much-hyped iPhone with its multi-touch technology, thin design and advanced web capabilities, the N95 had several key features against the iPhone, such as its camera with flash, video camera, Bluetooth file sharing, 3G and 3.5G connectivity, GPS, third-party applications and several other features.


title: Nokia N95

text: Even after the release of later Nseries phones, the N95's retail price was still around (about ) as of early 2010 despite its three-year-old age.


title: Nokia N95

text: The N95 contained an integrated GPS receiver which was located below the 0 key on the keypad. The phone ships with Nokia Maps navigation software.


title: Nokia N95

text: Out of the box, the N95 supported audio in MP3, WMA, RealAudio, SP-MIDI, AAC+, eAAC+, MIDI, AMR, and M4A formats. Its two-way slide, when opened towards the keypad, allowed access to its media playback buttons. A standard 3.5 mm jack is located on the left side of the phone and allowed the user to connect any standard headphones to the unit. With the AD-43 headset adapter the N95 introduced support for multiple remote control buttons on the headset. Users can also use Bluetooth for audio output using A2DP, or use the built-in stereo speakers. The N95 is also capable of playing video in 3GP, MPEG4, RealVideo, and, in newer firmware, Flash Video formats. All of the phone's video output could also be played through the TV-out feature. TV-out is a feature offered by the phones OMAP processor, that allowed users to connect the smartphone, using the supplied cable, to a TV or any other composite video input. Its main purpose was to allow users to show photos and videos on a large screen. The N95's built in UPnP capabilities also allowed the user to share the phones' media over a WLAN network. This provides easy access to the photos, music, and videos stored on the phone, from other UPnP capable devices on the network, enabling them to be watched or downloaded over the air.


title: Nokia N95

text: The N95 had built-in Wi-Fi, with which it could access the Internet (through an 802.11b/g wireless network). The N95 could also connect to the Internet through a carrier packet data network such as UMTS, HSDPA, or EDGE. The webkit-based browser displayed full web pages as opposed to simplified pages as on most other phones. Web pages may be viewed in portrait or landscape mode and automatic zooming was supported. The N95 also has built-in Bluetooth and works with wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth 2.0 technology and for file transfer.


title: Nokia N95

text: The original N95 did not support US-based versions of UMTS/HSDPA; UMTS features in these versions of the phone are disabled by default. Furthermore, the later N95 US versions support only AT&T's 850/1900 MHz UMTS/HSDPA bands, neither 1700 MHz of T-Mobile USA nor 2100 MHz bands are supported internationally.


title: Nokia N95

text: The phone could also act as a WAN access point allowing a tethered PC access to a carrier's packet data network. VoIP software and functionality is also included with the phone (though some carriers have opted to remove this feature).


title: Nokia N95

text: The N95 included a built-in accelerometer. This was originally only used for video stabilization and photo orientation (to keep landscape or portrait shots oriented as taken).


title: Nokia N95

text: Nokia Research Center allowed an application interface directly to the accelerometer, allowing software to use the data from it. Nokia has released a step counter application to demonstrate this. Another Nokia-created application taking advantage of the accelerometer is Nokia Sports Tracker.


title: Nokia N95

text: Third-party programs were created, including software that will automatically change the screen orientation when the phone is tilted, a program that simulates the sounds of a "Star Wars" lightsaber when the phone is waved through the air, a program allowing the user to mute the phone by turning it face-down, etc.


title: Nokia N95

text: The N95 was much talked about after announcement but was initially viewed as a niche feature-packed device. However it became a huge sales success for Nokia when released in most regions. 7 million Nokia N95 units were sold by the end of 2007. In its Q1 2008 report, Nokia claimed that 3 million N95 (including 8GB variant) units were shipped that quarter, bringing the total to at least 10 million. It managed to outsell rivals such as LG Viewty and iPhone.


title: Nokia N95

text: On 6 November 2007, AllAboutSymbian declared the N95 8GB as the "best smartphone ever". Years later on 24 January 2013, PC Magazine described the Nokia N95 as "One of the best smartphones in history on any platform".


title: Nokia N95

text: A slightly improved model in a candybar form called Nokia N82 was released in late 2007. The next year saw the introduction of the Nokia N96.


title: Nokia N95

text: A revision of the N95, called N95 8 GB (N95-2, internally known as RM-320), was announced on 29 August 2007, and released in October 2007. It was released in a black color, instead of silver like the N95-1.


title: Nokia N95

text: The Nokia N95-3 was a revision of the N95, internally designated as RM-160, designed specifically for the North American market. It was also available in Australian and South American market.


title: Nokia N95

text: Both N95-3 and N95-4 also had some additional changes, such as the removal of the sliding lens cover for the camera, improved battery life, and doubling of RAM from 64 to 128 MB.


title: Nokia N95

text: Featuring the internal name RM-245, the N95-5 was targeted at the Chinese market. The main difference from the regular N95 was the lack of any 3G connectivity support, which has not been yet adopted in China at the time of release, and the absence of WLAN connectivity, due to Chinese regulations.


title: Nokia N95

text: The N95-6, internally coded RM-321 was a Chinese market-targeted version of the N95-2, lacking 3G and WLAN support just like the N95-5.


title: Nokia N95

text: In late 2020, prototype videos surfaced of a planned revision of the N95 that was never put into production, which included slide-out media controls and speakers, and a kickstand.


title: Audience

text: An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or academics in any medium. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art. Some events invite overt audience participation and others allow only modest clapping and criticism and reception.


title: Audience

text: Media audience studies have become a recognized part of the curriculum. Audience theory offers scholarly insight into audiences in general. These insights shape our knowledge of just how audiences affect and are affected by different forms of art. The biggest art form is the mass media. Films, video games, radio shows, software (and hardware), and other formats are affected by the audience and its reviews and recommendations.


title: Audience

text: In the age of easy internet participation and citizen journalism, professional creators share space, and sometimes attention with the public. American journalist Jeff Jarvis said, "Give the people control of media, they will use it. The corollary: Don't give the people control of media, and you will lose. Whenever citizens can exercise control, they will." Tom Curley, President of the Associated Press, similarly said, "The users are deciding what the point of their engagement will be — what application, what device, what time, what place."


title: Audience

text: In rhetoric, some audiences depend on circumstance and situation and are characterized by the individuals that make up the audience. Sometimes these audiences are subject to persuasion and engage with the ideas of the speaker. Ranging in size and composition, this audience may come together and form a "composite" of multiple groups.


title: Audience

text: An immediate audience is a type of audience that is composed of individuals who are face-to-face subjects with a speaker and a speaker's rhetorical text or speech. This audience directly listens to, engages with, and consumes the rhetorical text in an unmediated fashion. In measuring immediate audience reception and feedback, (audience measurement), one can depend on personal interviews, applause, and verbal comments made during and after a rhetorical speech.


title: Audience

text: In contrast to immediate audiences, mediated audiences are composed of individuals who consume rhetorical texts in a manner that is different from the time or place in which a speaker presents text. Audiences who consume texts or speeches through television, radio and internet are considered mediated audiences because those mediums separate the rhetor and the audience. Such audiences are physically away from the audience and the message is controlled. Understanding the size and composition of mediated audiences can be difficult because mediums such as television, radio, and Internet can displace the audience from the time and circumstance of a rhetorical text or speech. In measuring mediated audience reception and feedback (a practice called audience measurement), one can depend on opinion polls and ratings, as well as comments and forums that may be featured on a website. This applies to may fields such as movies, songs and much more. There are companies that specialize in audience measurement.


title: Audience

text: Theoretical audiences are imagined for the purpose of helping a speaker compose, practice, or a critic to understand, a rhetorical text or speech.


title: Audience

text: When a rhetor deeply considers, questions, and deliberates over the content of the ideas they are conveying, it can be said that these individuals are addressing the audience of self, or self-deliberating. Scholars Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca , in their book "The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation", argue that the rhetor "is in a better position than anyone else to test the value of his own arguments." The audience of self, while not serving as the ends to all rhetorical purpose or circumstance, nevertheless acts as a type of audience that not only operates as a function of self-help, but as instrument used to discover the available means of persuasion.


title: Audience

text: The universal audience is an imagined audience that serves as an ethical and argumentative test for the rhetor. This also requires the speaker to imagine a composite audience that contains individuals from diverse backgrounds and to discern whether or not the content of the rhetorical text or speech would appeal to individuals within that audience. Scholars Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca ascertain that the content addressed to a universal audience "must convince the reader that the reasons adduced are of a compelling character, that they are self-evident, and possess an absolute and timeless validity". The concept of the universal audience has received criticism for being idealistic because it can be considered as an impediment in achieving persuasive effect with particular audiences. Yet, it still may be useful as an ethical guide for a speaker and a critical tool for a reader or audience.


title: Audience

text: An ideal audience is a rhetor's imagined, intended audience. In creating a rhetorical text, a rhetor imagines is the target audience, a group of individuals that will be addressed, persuaded, or affected by the speech or rhetorical text. This type of audience is not necessarily imagined as the most receptive audience, but as the future particular audience that the rhetor will engage with. Imagining such an audience allows a rhetor to formulate appeals that will grant success in engaging with the future particular audience. In considering an ideal audience, a rhetor can imagine future conditions of mediation, size, demographics, and shared beliefs among the audience to be persuaded.


title: Audience

text: An implied audience is an imaginary audience determined by an auditor or reader as the text's constructed audience. The implied audience is not the actual audience, but the one that can be inferred by reading or analyzing the text. Communications scholar Edwin Black, in his essay, The Second Persona, presents the theoretical concept of the implied audience using the idea of two personae. The first persona is the implied rhetoric (the idea of the speaker formed by the audience) and the second persona is the implied audience (the idea of the audience formed by and utilized for persuasion in the speech situation). A critic could also determine what the text wants that audience to become or do after the rhetorical situation.


title: Audience

text: Through the Internet, every person is given the opportunity to participate in different ways. The Internet gives people a platform to write and reach the people who are interested in what they are writing about. When writers write online, they are able to form communities with the people they share common interests with. The audiences that people are trying to reach can be general or specific, all depending on what the writer is discussing in their online posts. Audiences have to go and check into what the writers are writing to stay on top of the latest information. Writers have to find their niche and try hard to work their way into an already formed community. The audience the writer is reaching is able to respond to the writers posts and can give feedback. The Internet allows these connections to be formed and fostered. In the "Here Comes Everybody" book by Clay Shirky, there are various examples of how audience is not only receiving content but actually creating it. The Internet creates a chance of being part of an audience and a creator at the same time.


title: Audience

text: Audience participation is commonly found in performances which break the fourth wall. Examples include the traditional British pantomimes, stand-up comedy, and creative stage shows such as Blue Man Group.


title: Audience

text: Audience participation can be uncomfortable for certain people, but is growing and evolving as a new tool of brand activation and brand engagement. In a bid to create and reinforce a special bond between brands and their consumers, companies are increasingly looking towards events that involve active audience participation. Often, organizations provide branded objects to event attendees that will involve the audience in the show as well as act as souvenirs of the event, creating a lasting link with the brand. For example, during Super Bowl XLVIII, the audience was incorporated in the Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show as part of the lighting effects. Pepsi involved the spectators by giving them "video ski hats" that produced visual effects across the crowd.


title: Audience

text: By appealing more directly to people and emotions, brands can obtain feedback from their consumers. Companies that provide or seek such experiences refer to the term "crowd activation". For example, Tangible Interaction named one of its branches Crowd Activation and PixMob refers to itself as a crowd activation company on its website.


title: Audience

text: One of the most well-known examples of popular audience participation accompanies the motion picture and music "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and its earlier stage incarnation "The Rocky Horror Show". The audience participation elements are often seen as the most important part of the picture, to the extent that the audio options on the DVD version include the option.


title: Audience

text: In the audience participation for the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975), the audience will make "call backs", and yell at the screen at certain parts of the movie. Also, a number of props are thrown and used by the audience during certain parts of the film.


title: Audience

text: "The Blues Brothers" (1980) has become a staple of late-night cinema, even slowly morphing into an audience-participation show in its regular screenings at the Valhalla Cinema, in Melbourne, Australia. John Landis acknowledged the support of the cinema and the fans by a phone call he made to the cinema at the 10th-anniversary screening, and later invited regular attendees to make cameo appearances in "Blues Brothers 2000" (1998). The fans act as the members of the crowd during the performance of "".


title: Audience

text: In British pantomime performances, the audience is a crucial aspect of the show and is expected to perform certain tasks such as:


title: Audience

text: "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" divides the audience into groups assigned to call out the concerns of three components of a character's psyche.


title: Audience

text: In "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", a Broadway theatre musical based on Charles Dickens's last, unfinished work, the audience must vote for whom they think the murderer is, as well as the real identity of the detective and the couple who end up together.


title: Audience

text: "Tony and Tina's Wedding" engages the entire audience at once, staging a narrative set during a wedding in which the audience performs the role of "guests".


title: Audience

text: The British panel game "QI" often allows the audience to try to answer questions. Currently, the audience have won one show, and have come last in another.


title: Audience

text: Magic shows often rely on some audience participation. Psychological illusionist Derren Brown relies heavily on audience participation in his live shows.


title: Audience

text: During performances of the "Radetzky March", it is traditional for the audience to clap along with the beat of the second (louder) repetitions of the chorus. This is particularly notable at the Neujahrskonzert.


title: Audience

text: Bloggers, YouTubers, and live streamers often allow their viewers moderated or unmoderated comments sections.


title: Audience

text: Some musical groups often heavily incorporate audience participation into their live shows. The superhero-themed comedy rock band The Aquabats typically do so within their theatrical stage shows through such antics as "pool floatie races", where members of the band race across the venue on inflatable rafts via crowd surfing, or providing the audience with projectiles (such as plastic balls or beach balls) to throw at costumed "bad guys" who come out on stage. Koo Koo Kanga Roo, a comedy dance-pop duo, write their music solely for audience participation, utilizing call and response style sing-along songs which are usually accompanied by a simple dance move that the band encourage the audience to follow along with.


title: Audience

text: The television series "Mystery Science Theater 3000" featured a man and his robots who were held as imprisoned audience members and tortured by being forced to view "bad" movies; to retain their sanity, they talked throughout and heckled each one.


title: Audience

text: In a similar vein, the online site Television Without Pity has a stable of reviewers and recappers who speak the lingo of audience members rather than of scholars, and who sometimes act as though they, too, are being tortured.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: Home for the Holidays is a 1995 American family comedy-drama film directed by Jodie Foster and produced by Peggy Rajski and Foster. The screenplay was written by W. D. Richter, based on a short story by Chris Radant. The film's score was composed by Mark Isham. The film follows Claudia Larson, who after losing her job, kissing her ex-boss, and finding out that her daughter has plans of her own for the holidays, departs Chicago to spend her Thanksgiving with her dysfunctional family.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: The film features an ensemble cast, including Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Dylan McDermott, Geraldine Chaplin, Steve Guttenberg, Cynthia Stevenson, Claire Danes, Austin Pendleton, and David Strathairn.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: "Home for the Holidays" was released theatrically on November 3, 1995, by Paramount Pictures in North America and by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment worldwide. The film received mixed reviews from critics who appreciated Foster's direction, and Hunter's and Downey's performances but criticised the screenplay. The film grossed $22.1 million against a budget of $20 million.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: Claudia Larson is a single mother who has just been fired from her job. She flies from Chicago to spend Thanksgiving at the Baltimore home of her parents, Adele and Henry, while her only child decides to stay home and spend the holiday with her boyfriend. While on the plane, Claudia makes a phone call to Tommy, her younger brother and confidant, who she believes won't be attending the Thanksgiving dinner, and unloads her problems.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: Claudia arrives in Baltimore at her parent’s home. That night, Tommy arrives with his friend Leo Fish, whom Claudia believes to be his boyfriend. Claudia is glad to see her brother but fears that he and Jack, his boyfriend, have broken up. The next day while in town, Claudia runs into a girl she used to go to school with and feels diminished by talk of her divorce. Leo comes to her aid.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: On Thanksgiving Day, eccentric Aunt Glady (Adele's sister), who is showing signs of dementia, professes her love for Henry. Shortly after, Tommy accidentally drops the turkey all over he and Claudia’s conservative sister Joanne resulting in an argument in which she reveals to everyone that Tommy had married Jack in a beach wedding several months ago.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: After the meal, Tommy, Leo, Joanne’s husband Walter and son Walter Jr. play football and, frustrated by the game, the brothers-in-law begin to fight. Walter wrestles Tommy onto the ground, and Tommy accidentally punches Leo who's trying to break them up. Henry sprays his them with the hose, and Walter leaves with his wife and children.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: The family returns inside, where Henry answers the ringing phone; it turns out to be Jack calling. Before handing the phone over to Tommy, Henry says that he's happy for both of them. Their conversation reveals they are still happily together. Claudia and Leo drive Aunt Glady home, then deliver leftovers to Joanne's family. In the car, Leo tells Claudia that Tommy showed him a picture of her, and he came to Thanksgiving to meet her. They kiss.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: Arriving back at Claudia’s parents’ home, Leo and Claudia begin to make out in the living room, but Tommy, reminds Leo that they have to get an early start in the morning. The next day, Claudia wakes up and sees Tommy and Leo driving away and heads to the airport herself shortly after. Before the plane takes off, Leo gets in the seat next to her, and they fly back to Chicago together.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: Screenwriter W. D. Richter adapted a short story by Chris Radant that appeared in the "Boston Phoenix". Executive producer Stuart Kleinman sent Jodie Foster the screenplay with a note that said, "It's a complete mess and I love it." Foster agreed and decided that it would be her second directorial effort (the first was "Little Man Tate"). Castle Rock Entertainment was originally going to finance the film but canceled. Foster's own production company, Egg Pictures, acquired Richter's screenplay. She struck a deal with Paramount Pictures to distribute the film theatrically and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment to handle the international rights and domestic video and pay television. These rights now belong to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) through their acquisition of PolyGram's pre-1996 library.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: Foster said, "The great challenge was to find a beautiful idea to pull through it, a narrative line that would make the story work." Foster met with Richter and together they brainstormed and "had great fun thinking up new details and lives and clearing up the relationships," Foster remembers. They worked on the script so that the film reflected Foster's point of view and her own life experiences. She showed the first draft to Holly Hunter who agreed to star after reading it. Working with a $20 million budget, Foster spent ten weeks filming in Baltimore with a two-week rehearsal period. She used this time to get input from the actors about dialogue. If a scene of speech did not ring true, she wanted to know. She picked the city because it was the "prototype of the American city. It's dangerous, east coasty, urban. Yet it still has a hopeful quality to it." Principal photography began in February 1995. Filming of the Thanksgiving dinner took more than ten days, using 64 turkeys, 20 pounds of mashed potatoes, 35 pounds of stuffing, 44 pies, 30 pounds of sweet potatoes, 18 bags of mini-marshmallows and 50 gallons of juice that stood in for wine. Foster allowed Robert Downey Jr. to improvise, which got him excited about making films again after a period of time where he became disillusioned with acting.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: "Home for the Holidays" was released on November 3, 1995 in 1,000 theaters and grossed US$4 million in its opening weekend. It went on to make $17.5 million in North America. The film earned a further $4.7 million internationally for a worldwide total of $22.1 million.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes "Home for the Holidays" has an approval rating of 64% based on reviews from 50 critics. The site's consensus states: "Much like a real-life visit "Home for the Holidays", this Thanksgiving-set dramedy can get a little bumpy – but it also has its share of fondly memorable moments." On Metacritic the film has a score of 56 out of 100 based on reviews from 15 critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade C+ on scale of A to F.


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: In his three and half star review, Roger Ebert praised Foster's ability to direct "the film with a sure eye for the revealing little natural moment," and Downey's performance that "brings out all the complexities of a character who has used a quick wit to keep the world's hurts at arm's length." Janet Maslin, in her review for "The New York Times", praised Holly Hunter's performance: "Displaying a dizziness more mannered than the cool, crisp intelligence she shows in "Copycat", Ms. Hunter still holds together "Home for the Holidays" with a sympathetic performance." In his review for the "Boston Globe", Jay Carr praised the film for being "filled with juicy performances that expand resourcefully beyond what we think are going to be their boundaries, the film carries us beyond our expectations. That's what makes it so pleasurable."


title: Home for the Holidays (1995 film)

text: "USA Today" gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, ""Home" has the usual hellish ritual. They come, they eat, they argue, they leave. It's the stuffing in-between that makes it special." However, in her review for "The Washington Post", Rita Kempley criticized some of the performances: "Downey brings a lot of energy to the role, but his antics can be both tedious and distracting. Hunter has a lovely scene with her disgruntled sister, but there's no time for that relationship to develop, what with a romantic interest yet to explore." In his review for "Rolling Stone" magazine, Peter Travers had problems with the screenplay: "It's a shame that W.D. Richter's un-Disney-ish script often slides into shrill stereotypes and sitcom silliness."


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Adam LaMarque Jones (born August 1, 1985) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Orix Buffaloes.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: The Mariners selected Jones in the first round of the 2003 MLB draft. He came up in the Mariners' minor league system as a shortstop before transitioning to the outfield. He made his MLB debut with the Mariners in 2006 and was traded to the Orioles before the 2008 season. Jones is a five-time MLB All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a Silver Slugger winner.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Adam Jones was born in San Diego, California on August 1, 1985, the son of Andrea, who raised Jones and his older brother alone until he was five. Growing up in San Diego, he was a San Diego Padres fan and was a huge fan of Tony Gwynn. Jones excelled at both football and basketball and did not pick up a baseball bat until he was twelve. In 1997 his stepfather, Kenneth, took him to a Padres game after which he started to gain an interest in the sport. He picked up the sport very quickly and went on to star on his high school team. Jones graduated from Morse High School in 2003 after leading his high school team as both a pitcher and a shortstop. During his senior season he batted .406, hit four home runs and batted in 27 runs. On the mound, Jones posted a record of three wins and three losses, while posting a 2.71 ERA. At Morse, Jones was a teammate of future Baltimore Orioles teammate Quintin Berry. Jones initially committed to play college baseball at San Diego State for head coach Tony Gwynn.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones was selected by the Seattle Mariners with the 37th pick in the first round of the 2003 MLB draft as a shortstop/right-handed pitcher. Most experts believed Seattle wanted to use him as a pitcher, but Jones said he would prefer to play every day and was made the shortstop of the Mariners' rookie league affiliate. A few years later when the Mariners acquired Yuniesky Betancourt, they asked Jones if he would move to the outfield and he agreed.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones' MLB career began when he was called up to the Mariners from the Tacoma Rainiers on July 14, 2006. He replaced corner outfielder Shin-Soo Choo whose attempt to fill in for injured starting center fielder Jeremy Reed was less than successful. Jones made his major-league debut that night, going 0-for-3 with a fourth-inning walk in a 5–3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. After going hitless in his first twelve at bats, he got his first major league hit when he singled off Sidney Ponson in the seventh of an 11-inning 5–4 defeat to the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium four nights later on July 18. Jones hit his first home run in the majors off Adam Eaton in the third inning of an 8–2 loss to the Texas Rangers at Ameriquest Field in Arlington on August 10, 2006.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On August 3, 2007, Jones returned to the MLB for the first time that season, starting in right field against the Boston Red Sox. He went 2-for-4 and scored two runs in the 7–4 victory.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On February 8, 2008, Jones was traded to the Baltimore Orioles along with left-handed reliever George Sherrill and minor league pitchers Kam Mickolio, Chris Tillman, and Tony Butler for the left-handed starting pitcher Érik Bédard.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On July 28, 2008, Jones became the second player ever to hit a triple and a grand slam in the same game as a visitor to Yankee Stadium (the first was Pat Seerey in 1945). On September 21, 2008, Jones hit the final triple at Yankee Stadium in the second inning off Andy Pettitte and later scored the first run of the game.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones finished his first season with the Orioles batting .270 to go along with nine home runs, 57 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 132 games. He was tied for 11th in the major leagues with seven triples.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: After a strong start to the season, Jones was selected to represent Baltimore in the 2009 All Star Game on July 5. In the game, he drove in Curtis Granderson on a sacrifice fly for the winning run in the American League's 4–3 victory.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: The second half wasn't as kind to Jones though and in August, he sprained his left ankle and missed the end of the 2009 season. He finished the season with a .277 batting average, 19 homers, 70 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 119 games. He tied for fifth among major league center fielders with nine outfield assists.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones finished his third season in Baltimore with a .284 batting average, 19 homers, 69 RBI and seven stolen bases in 149 games. He led all center fielders and was second in the majors in outfield assists with 12.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: His home runs included an inside-the-park home run on May 22, 2010, when center fielder Nyjer Morgan, apparently not realizing the ball was still on the playing field, threw his glove down in disgust.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: As of August, Jones was having the best statistical season of his career. On August 6, in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays, he hit his then career high 20th home run of the season.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: In 2011, Jones led the major leagues in sacrifice flies, with 12, and led all AL outfielders in errors, with 8.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones started the 2012 season hitting .310 with 14 home runs and 31 runs batted in through the Orioles' first 46 games. His stellar play led to the Orioles signing him to a six-year contract extension worth $85.5 million on May 26. Escalators could raise that total to $91.5 million over the same period. The contract surpassed the previous contracts of Miguel Tejada and Nick Markakis as the largest in Orioles' history and makes Jones the second highest paid center fielder in Major League Baseball, behind the Dodgers' Matt Kemp. Jones hit the second walk-off home run of his career on June 9, a two-run home run in the bottom of the 12th inning that resulted in a 6–4 victory for the Orioles over the Philadelphia Phillies.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones hit the 100th home run of his career on August 28 against the Chicago White Sox. Two days later, he established a new career high by hitting his 26th home run of the season, also against the White Sox. Jones played in all 162 games in 2012, batting .287 with 32 home runs and 82 RBI.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On September 30, 2012, Jones was named the Most Valuable Oriole for the second consecutive season. The Orioles made the playoffs as a wild card against the Texas Rangers. In the 2012 American League Wild Card Game, Jones hit a sacrifice fly to score a run in the Orioles' 5–1 win. The Orioles would later lose in five games to the New York Yankees in the 2012 American League Division Series.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Prior to the start of the 2013 season, Jones was selected by the United States national baseball team to participate in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He appeared in his third All-Star Game, his first as a starter.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones finished a strong 2013 season batting .285 with 33 home runs and 108 RBI, both of which were new career highs. He did, however, draw only 25 walks and finished with a .318 on-base percentage, his lowest since 2008. On August 11, 2013, at a game at AT&T Park in San Francisco, a fan threw a banana towards him in the outfield, Jones reported via Twitter.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: After the Orioles failed to make the 2013 playoffs, Jones decided to join MLB Network as an extra analyst for the duration of the postseason.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On April 13, Jones recorded his 1,000th career hit off Mark Buehrle in a game versus the Toronto Blue Jays. In a game against the Houston Astros at Camden Yards on May 11, 2014, he singled with the bases loaded and drove in his 500th and 501st RBIs. Jones participated in the 2014 MLB All-Star Game. After the season ended, he traveled to Japan to join a team of MLB All-Stars playing against All-Stars of Nippon Professional Baseball in the 2014 Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series. The Orioles went on to win the 2014 American League Division Series in a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers, and later lost in a four-game sweep in the 2014 American League Championship Series to the Kansas City Royals.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: In 2015, Jones was elected to his fifth All-Star Game, his fourth in a row. He was originally voted in as a reserve, however, an injury to Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon allowed Jones to replace Gordon as a starting outfielder. During the Orioles' final game before the All-Star break, Jones hit two home runs in a game against the Washington Nationals, raising his career total with the Orioles to 180. His second home run moved him into eighth on the Orioles all-time home runs list, and it was his seventh career multi-home run game. On July 30, Jones hit the 182nd home run of his Orioles career, which tied him for seventh on the team's all-time list with Ken Singleton. The very next night, Jones hit a three-run home run, giving him sole possession of seventh place on the all-time Orioles home run list. It was also his one hundredth career home run at OPACY. On August 16, Jones went 3-for-4 and hit two home runs in an 18–2 rout of the Oakland Athletics. It was Jones' eighth career multi-home run game.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones played in 137 games in 2015, his lowest total since 2009. He hit a career-low .269 with 27 home runs and 82 RBI. The Orioles finished the season with a record of 81–81.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones started the 2016 season batting second in the starting lineup. He went 1-for-5 with an RBI in the season opener, in a 3–2 win over the Minnesota Twins. On April 6, Jones injured himself during an at-bat late in the game. He sat out for the next four days, before returning on April 11 as a defensive replacement. He wouldn't start again until April 14. Jones hit .224 in April after collecting 15 hits in 67 at-bats. He only hit one home run while driving in seven runs.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: After going 1-for-5 in a victory over the Athletics on May 8, Jones' average dipped to .200. He later tweeted "Gonna figure it allllll out. Part of the grind. #StayHungry" that day. Over the next week, Jones collected 13 hits, four home runs, nine RBIs, hit .520, and had two game-winning hits (two-run single & solo homerun).


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On May 13, Jones hit his 200th career home run in a game against the Detroit Tigers. On June 2, the Orioles hit a season-high seven home runs in a game against the Red Sox, two of which belonged to Jones. The second one (in the eighth inning) was his 200th career home run in an Orioles uniform. In addition, his first homer came from the leadoff spot, giving him a home run in each spot in the lineup. On July 8, Jones passed Brady Anderson for sole possession of sixth place on the Orioles all-time home run list with 210.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones finished 2016 slashing .265/.310/.436 with an OPS of .746. He hit 29 home runs while driving in 83 runs. He swung at 44.8% of pitches outside the strike zone (the highest percentage in the majors), and swung at 60.6% of all pitches he saw, tops in the major leagues. Jones would go 1-for-5 with a run scored in the Orioles Wild Card Game loss.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: During the second game of the season, Jones hit his 223rd career home run as an Oriole, tying him for fifth all-time in franchise history with Rafael Palmeiro. Jones would pass Palmeiro five games later with his second home run of the season and 224th in an Orioles uniform. While at Fenway Park on May 1, Jones witnessed a Red Sox fan throw peanuts at him while running into the dugout at the end of an inning and another fan(s) who used a barrage of racial slurs directed at Jones. The next day, on May 2, Jones received a welcoming ovation while playing the next game at Fenway. On May 3, Jones was ejected for the first time in his career, by the home plate umpire, Sam Holbrook, for arguing balls and strikes. On May 10, Jones recorded his 745th career RBI as an Oriole, surpassing Brady Anderson for sixth most all-time in franchise history. On May 21, Jones hit his 124th career home run at Camden Yards, tying him with Rafael Palmeiro for most home runs in ballpark history. The following night, Jones passed Palmeiro with a three-run homer in the second inning, giving him sole possession of first place on top of Camden Yards' home run leaderboard. Jones was also first all-time in extra-base hits and RBIs at Camden Yards. On August 28, Jones hit the 250th home run of his career.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On September 1, Jones was ejected in the first inning of a game against the Blue Jays, after expressing his displeasure with a strike call. It was the second ejection of his career, the first coming earlier in the year.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: During opening day against the Minnesota Twins on March 29, 2018, Jones hit a walk-off home run as the Orioles won 3–2. On April 5, Jones drove in two runs, moving him past Ken Williams for sixth-most RBIs in franchise history. Then, on April 26, Jones tied Boog Powell for sixth-most extra-base hits in franchise history with 557.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On August 10, Jones made his first start as a right fielder in an Orioles uniform after playing 1,555 in center for the O's. This allowed Cedric Mullins to take over the position. He ranked first in franchise history in games started and innings played in center and ranked second in games, putouts, assists and Gold Gloves won. Jones' 259 career home runs as a centerfielder ranked 13th most in MLB history. During the game, he collected a stolen base, the 86th of his Orioles career, moving him into 10th place all-time in Orioles history.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Despite a drop in his power numbers, Jones put up a solid .281/.313/.419 slash line with 15 home runs (the first time he failed to reach 20 since 2010), 63 RBI, 35 doubles and seven steals in 145 games. He became a free agent at the conclusion of the season.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones finished his Orioles career with the following ranks in the franchise's history: 875 runs scored (seventh), 1,781 hits (fifth), 305 doubles (eighth), 263 home runs (fifth), 866 RBI (sixth), 595 extra-base hits (fifth). He added five All-Star game appearances, four Gold Gloves and one Silver Slugger during his 11-year tenure.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: In 2019, Jones batted .260/.313/.414 with 16 home runs and 67 RBI in 137 games for Arizona. On defense in 2019, he had the lowest fielding percentage of all major league right fielders (.972).


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On December 10, 2019, Jones signed with the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball on a two-year contract worth $8 million.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On June 19, 2020, Jones made his NPB debut. During the course of the season, Jones slashed .258/.331/.417 and collected 78 hits, 12 doubles and 12 home runs, drove in 43 runs while scoring 29 and stole one base in 87 games.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On November 25, 2021, Jones became known as "Mr. Thanksgiving" for his game-winning home run ("Turkey Shot") in the top of the ninth inning in Game 5 of the 2021 Japan Series on the American Thanksgiving holiday to help Orix stave off elimination.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: In the 2017 WBC opening round of group play, Jones helped the USA advance to the second round by recording a walk-off hit vs. Colombia. In the second round, in a game against the Dominican Republic, Jones made a home-run-saving catch that helped propel Team USA into the semifinals. The team went on to win the 2017 Classic against Puerto Rico. Jones was later quoted as saying, "To do it with those guys, it was probably the best experience of my life so far, especially with sports," and was extremely glad to have had the experience.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: To go along with his solid defensive showcase, Jones slashed .200/.243/.429 and hit two doubles, two home runs and drove in five runs. In addition, Jones hit a walk off single in the US' first game of the tournament against Colombia. Jones also hit a game-tying solo home run against Venezuela in the eighth inning of the US' Pool F game, sparking a rally that led the team to a 4–2 victory.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: On May 29, 2010, Jones was mistakenly detained at the Canadian border while he was trying to get to Toronto. He believed it was a case of mistaken identity; however, he would not disclose whether he was mistaken for Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, who has had numerous brushes with the law.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones married Audie Fugett, the only daughter of Jean Fugett, in late December 2014. They had their first son in March 2014. Jones was the best man at Quintin Berry's wedding and also the godfather to his son, Kameron.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Being a San Diego native, Jones is a season ticket holder for the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League and has even worked as an off ice referee for the team. Jones remains a Padres fan during and after his career and has been following the team and former teammate Machado during their 2022 playoff run.


title: Adam Jones (baseball)

text: Jones has four tattoos. One of his mother and another of his grandmother, who he calls "the two most important women in my life", on his left shoulder. Whenever crossing the plate after hitting a home run, he would tap his left shoulder as a tribute.


title: Cancer cell

text: Cancer cells are cells that divide continually, forming solid tumors or flooding the blood with abnormal cells. Cell division is a normal process used by the body for growth and repair. A parent cell divides to form two daughter cells, and these daughter cells are used to build new tissue or to replace cells that have died because of aging or damage. Healthy cells stop dividing when there is no longer a need for more daughter cells, but cancer cells continue to produce copies. They are also able to spread from one part of the body to another in a process known as metastasis.


title: Cancer cell

text: There are different categories of cancer cell, defined according to the cell type from which they originate.


title: Cancer cell

text: Cancer cells have distinguishing histological features visible under the microscope. The nucleus is often large and irregular, and the cytoplasm may also display abnormalities.


title: Cancer cell

text: The shape, size, protein composition, and texture of the nucleus are often altered in malignant cells. The nucleus may acquire grooves, folds or indentations, chromatin may aggregate or disperse, and the nucleolus can become enlarged. In normal cells, the nucleus is often round or solid in shape, but in cancer cells the outline is often irregular. Different combinations of abnormalities are characteristic of different cancer types, to the extent that nuclear appearance can be used as a marker in cancer diagnostics and staging.


title: Cancer cell

text: Cancer cells are created when the genes responsible for regulating cell division are damaged. Carcinogenesis is caused by mutation and epimutation of the genetic material of normal cells, which upsets the normal balance between proliferation and cell death. This results in uncontrolled cell division in the body. The uncontrolled and often rapid proliferation of cells can lead to benign or malignant tumours (cancer). Benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body or invade other tissues. Malignant tumors can invade other organs, spread to distant locations (metastasis) and become life-threatening.


title: Cancer cell

text: More than one mutation is necessary for carcinogenesis. In fact, a series of several mutations to certain classes of genes is usually required before a normal cell will transform into a cancer cell.


title: Cancer cell

text: Damage to DNA can be caused by exposure to radiation, chemicals, and other environmental sources, but mutations also accumulate naturally over time through uncorrected errors in DNA transcription, making age another risk factor. Oncoviruses can cause certain types of cancer, and genetics are also known to play a role.


title: Cancer cell

text: Stem cell research suggests that excess SP2 protein may turn stem cells into cancer cells. However, a lack of particular co-stimulated molecules that aid in the way antigens react with lymphocytes can impair the natural killer cells' function, ultimately leading to cancer.


title: Cancer cell

text: Cells playing roles in the immune system, such as T-cells, are thought to use a dual receptor system when they determine whether or not to kill sick or damaged human cells. If a cell is under stress, turning into tumors, or infected, molecules including MIC-A and MIC-B are produced so that they can attach to the surface of the cell. These work to help macrophages detect and kill cancer cells.


title: Cancer cell

text: Early evidence of human cancer can be interpreted from Egyptian papers (1538 BCE) and mummified remains. In 2016, a 1.7 million year old osteosarcoma was reported by Edward John Odes (a doctoral student in Anatomical Sciences from Witwatersrand Medical School, South Africa) and colleagues, representing the oldest documented malignant hominin cancer.


title: Cancer cell

text: The understanding of cancer was significantly advanced during the Renaissance period and in to the Age of Discovery. Sir Rudolf Virchow, a German biologist and politician, studied microscopic pathology, and linked his observations to illness. He is described as "the founder of cellular pathology". In 1845, Virchow and John Hughes Bennett independently observed abnormal increase in white blood cells in patients. Virchow correctly identified the condition as blood disease, and named it "leukämie" in 1847 (later anglicised to leukemia). In 1857, he was the first to describe a type of tumour called chordoma that originated from the clivus (at the base of the skull).


title: Cancer cell

text: Cancer cells have unique features that make them "immortal" according to some researchers. The enzyme telomerase is used to extend the cancer cell's life span. While the telomeres of most cells shorten after each division, eventually causing the cell to die, telomerase extends the cell's telomeres. This is a major reason that cancer cells can accumulate over time, creating tumors.


title: Cancer cell

text: Scientists have discovered a molecule on the surface of tumors that appears to promote drug resistance—by converting the tumor cells back into a stem cell-like state.


title: Cancer cell

text: When the tumor cells began to exhibit drug resistance, the cells were "simultaneously" transforming into a stem cell-like state, which made them impervious to the drugs. It appeared that the treatment itself was driving this transformation by activating a specific molecular pathway. Luckily, several existing drugs, such as Bortezomib for example, can attack this pathway and reverse the cellular transformation, thus 're-sensitizing' the tumor to treatment.


title: Cancer cell

text: In February 2019, medical scientists announced that iridium attached to albumin, creating a photosensitized molecule, can penetrate cancer cells and, after being irradiated with light (a process called photodynamic therapy), destroy the cancer cells.


Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic is a 2015 original play by New York-based playwright Matt Cox. The play is a parody of the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling, but from the perspective of the "Puffs". The play premiered at The People's Improv Theater on December 3, 2015. It moved to the Off-Broadway theater New World Stages in 2016. The show has been praised for its comedy and staging. It was nominated for the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for "Best Unique Theatrical Experience" in 2017.


title: Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic

text: Cox told SyFy Wire that he was currently working on another show he had written and worked on with McCarthy called "Kapow - i GoGo", a play split into three parts that ran about 4.5 hours when put together about different nerdy cartoons, franchises, and "sci-fi stuff" (Cox's words). He tells reporter, Lisa Granshaw, that he came up with the idea for Puffs on a subway ride one night home. He thought to himself "it would've been really terrible to be another student at that particular magic school whenever Harry was there." The whole ride home, he thought about that idea and how every year something bad would happen all because of Potter. He then began to piece together some other ideas from '90s pop-culture references and funny movie flaws that could be an entertaining play. As he began to think about it more, he thought about how easy it would be to sell to "anyone who has never been destined to save the world" (words from the BroadwayHD description of the show).


text: "Soon after," he says, "we did a reading, which was fun to put together. We kept tweaking it until we moved from the People's Improv Theater to the Elektra and now New World Stages, and it's been a fun time." He told Granshaw that the hardest part about creating the show was to cram seven books, movies, and all the humor into a show that actually wouldn't run for five hours (a line said by the narrator in the beginning of the show). The next step was to make sure that all the characters were interesting and had depth.


text: Granshaw asked if the play having moved to several different locations changed staging and the play itself. Cox told her that it definitely did because, as each theater grew in popularity, it also grew in size and stage space. He and McCarthy, of course, found it challenging to make it bigger and grander but still remain exciting and interesting, therefore using the technique of the different doors.


text: When asked what it was like balancing the humor and serious bits of the show, Cox responded with: "That was one of the most important things when we were developing the show, that it still had that sense of really true heart to it, just because, similar to what I was saying earlier, that way it doesn’t just feel like a parody, which would have been very easy to do. That way it’s something that sticks with you, that sense of heart. We all come from theater backgrounds, and it was the only way to make it feel like it was an actual story in the same way the books and movies are. The reason they’ve lasted this long because there’s so many relatable things and putting that in and having there be a reason this story is being told."


text: "Puffs" opened on December 3, 2015, at the off-off-Broadway theater, The People's Improv Theater in New York City, New York, directed by Kristin McCarthy Parker and was scheduled to be just a five-night run. Co-produced by Stephen Stout and Colin Waitt, the production starred Zac Moon, Langston Belton, Julie Ann Earls, A.J. Ditty, Evan Maltby, Madeleine Bundy, Nick Carlillo, Jessie Cannizzaro, Stephen Stout, Eleanor Philips, and Andy Miller. The theater saw how well "Puffs" was doing and decided to extend the run. It ultimately ran for eight months.


text: In late 2015 during the very beginning of the performances, Tilted Windmills Theatricals under the direction of Tony-nominated producer David Carpenter decided to option the play from Matt Cox and ultimately produce "Puffs" as a commercial production at the off-Broadway Elektra Theater. The costumes were designed by Madeleine Bundy, the set and props were designed by Bundy and Liz Blessing, lighting was designed by Michelle Kelleher, sound was designed by Cox himself, and the production included original music by Brian (Hoes) Metolius.The cast remained the same except for Maltby, who was replaced by James Fouhey. The production also gained two swings, Jake Keefe and Anna Dart.


text: In May of 2017, the building which the Elektra was in was condemned and the production was given three months to find a new home. David Carpenter ultimately decided to transfer the production to the preeminent off-Broadway theatre complex New World Stages for an open-ended run on their Stage 5. The show transferred to the theater on July 17, 2017, with the same cast, designs, and direction from the Elektra, with the exception of Blessing, leaving Bundy in charge of scenic, costume, and prop design. The production ran until August 18, 2019. Puffs broke every record at Stage 5 including, highest single day sales, highest advance, highest weekly sales and longest tenant in the theatre.


text: In late May 2018, Fathom Events announced that they would be broadcasting a live filming of "Puffs" live in theaters around the world for two nights. The recording was later uploaded to BroadwayHD, iTunes, Amazon and Google Play.


text: In April 2019, "Puffs" announced a new production at The Entertainment Quarter in Sydney, Australia. Lauren McKenna directed and also played Leanne. The Sydney show included re-worked designs by Bundy, Goldman, Cox, and Hoes. It opened on May 17 and included G-rated Saturday and Sunday matinees.


text: The Canadian premier of Puffs opened on June 7, 2019, at The Lower Ossington Theatre in Toronto, Canada, directed by Seanna Kennedy, stage-managed by Alyssa Obrigewitsch, and produced by Joseph Patrick. It featured set design by Michael Nicholas Galloro, costume design by Rachelle Bradley, and lighting design by Mikael Kangas. It closed on August 4, 2019.


text: A Mexican version is scheduled to open in 2022 in Saltillo, Mexico, by Cuarta Pared Teatro as the first version to be performed in Latin America.


text: A Narrator addresses the audience and begins to tell a tale about a young, orphaned boy with a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt, but dismisses the boy's story to introduce another orphan named Wayne who lives with his uncle Dave in New Mexico. One day, an owl drops a letter in Wayne's living room telling him that he has been invited to "a certain school of female magic and male magic." His uncle quickly tells him that his parents were wizards before rushing him to the train station. Wayne is then taken to the magic school and finds himself in a sorting ceremony in which students are sorted into different houses: "Braves," "Smarts," and "Snakes". Wayne tells another student how nervous he is and ponders if he has enough personality to be sorted. The student is revealed to be the orphan boy from the beginning who then sorted into the Brave house. The hat sorts Wayne in the "Puff" category.


text: The Puffs introduce themselves in the Puff common room. Megan declares that she was put into the Puff house mistakenly, and she should be with the Snakes. "Cedric" shows up and introduces himself as the group leader. He assures the group that they are a valid house, though they will be bullied. He encourages them to win the Puffs' first House Cup by earning points for good behavior. Megan sneaks out to be with the Snakes. Wayne and Oliver bond over both being new to the school and magic itself and Oliver, a math prodigy, worries about the difficulty of magic. After a day of unsuccessful classes and many lost points, Wayne begins to lose hope. During the appearance for a troll in the dungeon during the school's Halloween feast, Wayne and Oliver notice that Megan is missing. They find her wandering around a forbidden chamber with her ghost friend, the Fat Friar. She complains about being in the Puffs and missing her mom. The Narrator introduces Megan's mom, Xavia Jones, who was put in WizPriz for working with the dark lord. Megan is hostile before agreeing to be friends with Wayne and Oliver. Before they leave, they all look into a mirror where they see their greatest desires. Wayne sees that he becomes a hero, Oliver becomes a famous mathematician, and Megan sees her mom and herself reuniting. Megan tells a teacher that Wayne and Oliver came to save her and the trio is awarded their first set of points. Sometime later, Cedric thanks Wayne for inspiring the Puffs to earn more points. At the end of the year, the headmaster announces that the Puffs came in third place and they celebrate, before the headmaster awards more points to the Braves so that the Puffs end up in fourth place again.


text: The Narrator introduces the second year, where a giant snake attacks the whole school. On Halloween, Wayne and Megan tell Oliver that a secret chamber has been opened and that the snake is inside. The defense teacher takes matters into his own hands and begins a dueling club. He selects "Blondo Malfoy" and Mr. Potter to practice dueling. After Malfoy casts a spell, it is revealed that Potter can talk to snakes. J Finch worries about dying, but leaves the room despite advice and is petrified when he sees the snake in the hallway. Wayne suggests that he kill the monster himself and become the hero of the school. He meets Ginny and develops a crush. Later, Harry kills the snake and everyone goes home for the summer. In year three, Megan tells her friends that a masked murder is in the school and that she thinks it's Xavia, coming to rescue her. Leanne invites everyone to her slumber party and Sally, believing that Wayne and Oliver are throwing it, flirts with them. She takes off her glasses to get a clearer look at the invitation, and the boys quickly find her attractive. Cedric tells the Puffs a bedtime story about how the magic school was founded. The trio remains awake and Megan reveals that she feels like a disappointment to Xavia. On their field trip the next day the Puffs get drunk on Butterbeer.


text: In year four, the school holds a special three wizard tournament with two neighboring schools. Names are drawn from a cup to decide who will participate. Cedric's name is drawn but the Puffs' excitement is quickly halted when Potter's name is drawn as well. Wayne gives Cedric a book featuring different kinds of creatures he might have to face during the tournament. In the first challenge, the student must take the golden egg from a dragon's lair. Cedric uses one of Wayne's spells and comes in second place, just behind Potter. Cedric approaches Wayne with the prize from the challenge; Wayne helps him solve the egg's riddle. Wayne tells Cedric that he thinks the most while taking a bath. In the bathtub, Cedric encounters Myrtle and they figure out what the second challenge will be. Oliver and Megan go to a Christmas ball together where they awkwardly attempt to have fun. The Puffs attend the second challenge, which proves to be quite boring, but Cedric wins and they celebrate. When Wayne struggles with a spell, Cedric tells him that the best he can do is try. Cedric also promises to teach Wayne all the magic he knows after the third challenge. At the third challenge, the Puffs see Cedric emerge victorious, before realizing he is dead. The Narrator stops the show and gives the audience an intermission.


text: The Narrator begins the act where it left off. Cedric died during the final tournament challenge. In year five the Puffs are still mourning, but make a promise to not be "too sad." However, a drunk Wayne enters, yelling that there is no purpose in attending school without Cedric to guide them. Some of the Puffs have been inducted into Albus' Army. At the end of the year, Megan and Oliver kiss for the first time and reconcile their friendship with Wayne. It is announced that the Dark Lord has returned and that nobody is safe. In the Dark Lord's lair, he and Xavia are planning to steal Megan from the school and destroy Potter.


text: At the start of year six, Wayne is hoping to get a girlfriend and get onto the sports team. However, at the sports tryouts the rude coach, Zach Smith, declines all the Puffs. Sally attempts to flirt with Wayne and he agrees to go on a date with her. Megan follows directions from a note she thought was written by Oliver, but it turns out that Xavia wrote the note and to take Megan hostage. Oliver and Wayne get caught as well, and Xavia tells Megan that she must kill Wayne and Oliver first before they can leave. Megan can't bring herself to kill them; Xavia calls her "nothing but a Puff" and a disgrace to the Dark Lord. Xavia begins to cast a death spell to kill all of them, but gets the spell wrong several times. Megan realizes that her mother isn't as evil or capable as she seems. Xavia accidentally releases the trio and they fight her. She vows that they will regret this and vanishes. Megan realizes that deep down, both her and her mother are just Puffs but begins to accept who she truly is. They stop by the mirror they looked at in year one; their other wishes have vanished and their only wish is to remain friends forever.


text: During the summer, Oliver tells his friends that, for his own safety as a "Mug Born," he will not be returning to the magic school for their final year. Wayne and Megan find it is very hard to get on without him. When Potter returns to fight the Dark Lord and the Puffs all rush to him. Mr. Voldy tells everyone to bring him Harry or that there will be consequences over the school's loud speaker. Potter runs off and the Puffs debate what to do. They come to the consensus that they can't fix anything because they are "just Puffs" so decide to go home. Leanne steps up to tell the group that they still matter at the school; everyone agrees to fight with Potter. Oliver shows up to help his friends. Xavia also sneaks in, now prepared to kill Megan. She accidentally kills one of Voldy's fighters and immediately feels guilty for it. She accept that she is just a Puff and gives Megan her wand. Sally, J Finch, and Leanne are killed during the battle and the trio goes to help them. Voldy, thinking Wayne is Harry, kills him. Wayne awakens in a white train station with the headmaster, who died in the end of year six. Wayne realizes that he died in the battle and complains to the headmaster that his life was useless. The headmaster counters that Wayne was the hero in his own story. Wayne finally accepts his fate and the Narrator closes out the story, informing the audience that Harry killed Voldy and was once again hailed as the hero of the school. But before he lets the audience leave, he takes them to one final destination, nineteen years after the battle.


text: A now grown up Megan walks through a train station where she meets with her husband, Oliver. They panic before they find their son wandering around. The boy is revealed to be the Narrator, now twelve years old and named Wayne. His parents tell him that while the school may be scary and dangerous, he is named after one of the bravest students ever, and they send him off on the train. Oliver asks Megan what house she thinks he'll be placed in and she tells him, "I have a pretty good idea." Wayne is seen in the sorting ceremony where a hat is placed on his head. After hearing what house he's been placed in, he looks out to the audience and smiles.


text: "The New York Times"'s Laura Collins-Hughes wrote: "The fun of "Puffs", though, is in its intersections with the story we know from J. K. Rowling's books and the movie adaptations. The one Puff with any panache is Cedric Diggory, played by Evan Maltby with such lovable good-guy warmth that when he dies, in an episode the narrator (A. J. Ditty) calls "Year Four: The Puffs and the Year They Mattered", it’s actually rather sad. (Again: You didn’t already know that Cedric dies? Not the show for you.)"


text: Diane Snyder from "Time Out" says: "But even Potter virgins will enjoy the show’s witty wordplay and well-executed physical comedy. At times, the pacing is so frenetic that jokes can’t find a place to land, but there’s heart as well as humor here."


text: Theasy.com wrote: ""Puffs" wisely avoids special effects or high-tech gadgetry—the show begins with an overhead projector!—and instead uses inventive movement and plenty of (theatrical) magic."


text: Jade Kops of BroadwayWorld said: "Cox cleverly highlights the flaws in the books and the movies and neatly skirts around the Potter/Gryffindor centric storyline that everyone knows by not even presenting Ron and Hermione as real people. Professors are presented with enough recognizable traits to not require names to be used and events easily tie together for well versed fans."


text: Matt Windman from the theater critic's site AM New York wrote: "By the end, "Puffs" comes to resemble a "Saturday Night Live" skit that has gone on way too long, feeling rushed in its storytelling and long-winded in its execution. Many jokes fail to land, and the humor may be too tame for its own good... Nevertheless, "Puffs" offers a good deal of harmless fun and manages to embrace a cute riff on a popular franchise."


title: Zinc sulfide

text: Zinc sulfide (or zinc sulphide) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula of ZnS. This is the main form of zinc found in nature, where it mainly occurs as the mineral sphalerite. Although this mineral is usually black because of various impurities, the pure material is white, and it is widely used as a pigment. In its dense synthetic form, zinc sulfide can be transparent, and it is used as a window for visible optics and infrared optics.


title: Zinc sulfide

text: ZnS exists in two main crystalline forms. This dualism is an example of polymorphism. In each form, the coordination geometry at Zn and S is tetrahedral. The more stable cubic form is known also as zinc blende or sphalerite. The hexagonal form is known as the mineral wurtzite, although it also can be produced synthetically. The transition from the sphalerite form to the wurtzite form occurs at around 1020 °C. A tetragonal form is also known as the very rare mineral called polhemusite, with the formula .


title: Zinc sulfide

text: Zinc sulfide, with addition of few ppm of suitable activator, exhibits strong phosphorescence. The phenomenon was described by Nikola Tesla in 1893), and is currently used in many applications, from cathode ray tubes through X-ray screens to glow in the dark products. When silver is used as activator, the resulting color is bright blue, with maximum at 450 nanometers. Using manganese yields an orange-red color at around 590 nanometers. Copper gives long-time glow, and it has the familiar greenish glow-in-the-dark. Copper-doped zinc sulfide ("ZnS plus Cu") is used also in electroluminescent panels. It also exhibits phosphorescence due to impurities on illumination with blue or ultraviolet light.


title: Zinc sulfide

text: Zinc sulfide is also used as an infrared optical material, transmitting from visible wavelengths to just over 12 micrometers. It can be used planar as an optical window or shaped into a lens. It is made as microcrystalline sheets by the synthesis from hydrogen sulfide gas and zinc vapour, and this is sold as FLIR-grade (Forward Looking Infrared), where the zinc sulfide is in a milky-yellow, opaque form. This material when hot isostatically pressed (HIPed) can be converted to a water-clear form known as Cleartran (trademark). Early commercial forms were marketed as Irtran-2 but this designation is now obsolete.


title: Zinc sulfide

text: Zinc sulfide is a common pigment, sometimes called sachtolith. When combined with barium sulfate, zinc sulfide forms lithopone.


title: Zinc sulfide

text: Fine ZnS powder is an efficient photocatalyst, which produces hydrogen gas from water upon illumination. Sulfur vacancies can be introduced in ZnS during its synthesis; this gradually turns the white-yellowish ZnS into a brown powder, and boosts the photocatalytic activity through enhanced light absorption.


title: Zinc sulfide

text: Both sphalerite and wurtzite are intrinsic, wide-bandgap semiconductors. These are prototypical II-VI semiconductors, and they adopt structures related to many of the other semiconductors, such as gallium arsenide. The cubic form of ZnS has a band gap of about 3.54 electron volts at 300 kelvins, but the hexagonal form has a band gap of about 3.91 electron volts. ZnS can be doped as either an n-type semiconductor or a p-type semiconductor.


title: Zinc sulfide

text: The phosphorescence of ZnS was first reported by the French chemist Théodore Sidot in 1866. His findings were presented by A. E. Becquerel, who was renowned for the research on luminescence. ZnS was used by Ernest Rutherford and others in the early years of nuclear physics as a scintillation detector, because it emits light upon excitation by x-rays or electron beam, making it useful for X-ray screens and cathode ray tubes. This property made zinc sulfide useful in the dials of radium watches.


title: Zinc sulfide

text: Zinc sulfide is usually produced from waste materials from other applications. Typical sources include smelter, slag, and pickle liquors. As an example- the synthesis of ammonia from methane requires a priori removal of hydrogen sulfide impurities in the natural gas, for which zinc oxide is used. This scavenging produces zinc sulfide:


title: Zinc sulfide

text: It is easily produced by igniting a mixture of zinc and sulfur. Since zinc sulfide is insoluble in water, it can also be produced in a precipitation reaction. Solutions containing Zn salts readily form a precipitate ZnS in the presence of sulfide ions (e.g., from HS).


title: Laramidia

text: Laramidia was an island continent that existed during the Late Cretaceous period (99.6–66 Ma), when the Western Interior Seaway split the continent of North America in two. In the Mesozoic era, Laramidia was an island land mass separated from Appalachia to the east by the Western Interior Seaway. The seaway eventually shrank, split across the Dakotas, and retreated toward the Gulf of Mexico and the Hudson Bay. The masses joined, forming the continent of North America.


title: Laramidia

text: Laramidia stretched from modern-day Alaska to Mexico. The area is rich in dinosaur fossils. Tyrannosaurs, dromaeosaurids, troodontids, hadrosaurs, ceratopsians (including "Kosmoceratops" and "Utahceratops"), pachycephalosaurs, and titanosaur sauropods are some of the dinosaur groups that lived on this landmass. A strong latitudinal climatic gradient existed on the landmass in the final 15 million years of the Cretaceous, helping drive regional provincialism of dinosaur faunas.


title: Laramidia

text: From the Turonian age of the Late Cretaceous to the very beginning of the Paleocene, Laramidia was separated from Appalachia to the east. As a result, the fauna evolved differently on each land mass over that time. Geological conditions were generally favorable for the preservation of fossils in Laramidia, making the western United States one of the most productive fossil regions in the world. Less is known about Appalachian biodiversity in the Cretaceous as few fossiliferous deposits exist in the region today and half of the fossil beds in Appalachia were destroyed during the Pleistocene ice age. However, fossil beds which haven't been discovered yet could exist in areas of the former Appalachian continent.


title: Laramidia

text: In western North America during the Cretaceous the dominant theropods were the tyrannosaurs, huge predatory dinosaurs with proportionately massive heads built for ripping flesh from their prey. In Laramidia there were the theropods of Tyrannosaurinae such as "Tyrannosaurus rex", "Nanuqsaurus hoglundi", "Daspletosaurus", "Teratophoneus", and theropods of Albertosaurinae such as "Albertosaurus" and "Gorgosaurus", all being included under the same family of Tyrannosauridae and not all contemporary. The bodies of tyrannosaurs exhibited huge heads and legs, in contrast to proportionally tiny arms. The teeth exhibited in this family are rather comparable to railroad spikes and would have helped inflict major damage on prey.


title: Laramidia

text: Another common group of North American dinosaurs were the hadrosaurs, the so-called "duck-billed" dinosaurs. The fossil record shows a staggering variety of hadrosaur forms in Laramidia.


title: Laramidia

text: Other differences in genera appear between the island land masses. Sauropods roamed Laramidia during the Cretaceous after apparently dying out in Appalachia. Nodosaurs, though, appear to have been more plentiful in Appalachia. Nodosaurs were large, herbivorous armored dinosaurs which lacked the giant club tail of their western relatives. They were scarce in Laramidia by the late Cretaceous, existing only in specialized forms like "Edmontonia" and "Panoplosaurus" while nodosaurs were thriving in Appalachia.


Government spending in the United States is the spending of the federal government of the United States, and the spending of its state and local governments.


title: Government spending in the United States

text: The US government's Bureau of Economic Analysis for 2019 estimates $7.3 trillion in total government expenditure and $21.4 trillion total GDP which is 34%.


text: This government total excludes spending by "government enterprises" which sell goods and services "to households and businesses in a market transaction." These "government enterprises" include the U.S. Postal Service, Federal Housing Administration, flood insurance, housing authorities, transit systems, airports, water ports, and utilities. However "their investment, interest payments, and operating surplus (or deficit) are recorded as government transactions."


text: BEA also shows $3.8 trillion government consumption expenditures and gross investment, which excludes transfer payments (like social security), subsidies and interest. BEA describes its different totals.


text: BEA's 34% is smaller because it just includes government spending. OECD's total is larger because it also includes fees, e.g. tuition payments at public colleges.


text: For most governments around the world, the majority of government spending takes place at the federal/national level. As of 2019, in the United States, approximately 55% of government spending is spent by the federal government, while the remaining 45% of government spending is spent by state and local government. Federal government spending in the United States can be broken down into three general categories: mandatory/entitlement spending, discretionary spending, and interest on government debt.


text: Mandatory/entitlement spending is spending for programs with funding levels that are automatically determined by the number of eligible recipients in those programs. Mandatory programs are created under authorization laws, meaning that Congress must provide whatever funds are necessary to keep these programs functional. Funding for these programs cannot be adjusted in the annual budget process; on the contrary, the only way Congress can change funding levels for these programs is by amending the authorization laws directly. Each year, the Office of Management and Budget provides an estimate of required funds for these programs, which is included in the annual budget.


text: "Figure A" provides a breakdown of the major mandatory government spending categories as of the fiscal year 2019 budget approved by Congress. As "Figure A" suggests, Social Security is the single largest mandatory spending item, taking up 38% or nearly $1,050 billion of the $2,736 billion total. The next largest expenditures are Medicare and Income Security, with the remaining amount going to Medicaid, Veterans Benefits, and other programs.


text: Discretionary spending is optional spending that is determined by Congress each year through an annual appropriations process. After mandatory spending levels have been estimated by the Office of Management and Budget, discretionary spending is determined by both chambers of Congress and usually includes input from the incumbent president of the United States. Subcommittees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate appropriate discretionary funds for their respective areas, and the two chambers reconcile their differences. Once a final spending bill has been created, passed and signed by the president, the bill becomes law.


text: "Figure B" provides a snapshot of the major discretionary government spending categories as of the fiscal year 2019 budget approved by Congress. As the figure suggests, over 50% of discretionary spending is attributed to national defense. The remaining 48% of funds is divided among non-defense items such as transportation and education. Total discretionary spending approved for the fiscal year 2019 is $1,305 billion, just 28% of total spending.


text: National defense spending is any government spending attributable to the maintenance and strengthening of the United States Armed Forces, including the Army, Navy, Marines, and the Air Force. As of the fiscal year 2019 budget approved by Congress, national defense is the largest discretionary expenditure in the federal budget. "Figure C" provides a historical picture of military spending over the last few decades. In 1970, the United States government spent just over $80 billion on national defense. Over the next two decades, national defense spending increased steadily to around $300 billion per year. Military spending fell in the 1990s, but increased markedly in the 2000s as a result of the War in Afghanistan and Iraq. Military spending was cut slightly during the Obama Administration, but the Trump Administration plans to ramp up military spending to combat ISIL. National defense spending is expected to be $678 billion in 2019, an amount greater than the military expenditures of the next 9 countries combined.


text: Oftentimes, federal governments spend more money than they collect in tax revenue in a given year. When the government spends more than it brings in, it runs a Budget Deficit that year. In order to pay for the extra spending, governments issue debt. Government debt is the amount of money credited from individuals, firms, foreign entities as well as the federal government itself through the federal reserve system. Debt accrues over time. Most public debt is held in the form of treasury bills and bonds, and the government has to repay debt over time. In order to provide an incentive for individuals, businesses and other entities to lend money, the government must also pay these parties interest on the debt. The interest expense for fiscal year 2019 is $363 billion, or 7.9% of the total budget. According to estimates from the Office of Management and Budget, interest on government debt is expected to more than double by 2028 and account for a larger percentage of total expenditures.


text: The Census of Governments for 2017 shows $3.7 trillion total of state ($2.3) and local ($1.9) government expenditures. The total is less than the parts, to exclude duplicative inter-governmental transactions. The data are available for detailed categories of revenue and expenditure for each state, and for the total of local governments in each state.


text: At the beginning of the 20th century, the majority of government spending in the United States took place at the local level. However, federal spending increased relative to state and local spending as a result of World War I and World War II, and by the 1930s, state and local government spending accounted for less than one half of government spending. By 2019, federal spending was more than 20% of GDP, while state and local spending hovered around 17% of GDP. As a result, in recent years, state and local governments account for approximately 45% of total government expenditures. State and local government spending is typically spent in 6 broad categories: elementary and secondary education, higher education, health, welfare, police and safety, and transportation. Over the last few decades, funding for education at the state level has fallen, while funding for health has more than doubled.


text: While federal governments often run budget deficits (where government spending exceeds government tax revenue), state governments usually have balanced budgets. A balanced budget is when government spending in a given year equals government revenue in that year. This high degree of fiscal balancing is a result of most states in the U.S. having balanced budget requirements. A balanced budget requirement is a law that requires a government to balance its budget annually, such that government spending equals government revenue. There are two types of balanced budget requirements: ex-post balanced budget requirements, and ex-ante balanced budget requirements. An ex-post balanced budget requirement stipulates that a government must balance their budget by the end of each fiscal year, while an ex-ante balanced budget requirement dictates that a state must adopt a balanced budget at the beginning of each fiscal year. Ex-ante balanced budget requirements rely on estimates and assumptions about future costs and revenue growth, so they are more easily manipulated.


text: With a population of nearly 40 million as of 2018, California has by far the largest annual state expenditures. California receives a significant amount of money from the federal government, especially for healthcare and welfare programs, but also has large in-state expenditures. According to California's Department of Finance, the state's 2017-2018 enacted state budget includes over $180 billion in state funds. As can be seen below, "Table 1" gives an overview of California's 2017-2018 enacted state budget. As the table suggests, health care and K12 education represent California's largest expenditures of state funds. The largest health care expenditure is for California's Medi-Cal program, a health insurance program for low-income families in California. In addition, health care spending is focused on women's health services, treatment for addiction, and dentistry. As "Table 1" suggests, California also spends significantly on higher education, police, and transportation, with smaller portions of funding attributable to environmental protection and other activities.


title: Bird intelligence

text: The difficulty of defining or measuring intelligence in non-human animals makes the subject difficult to study scientifically in birds. In general, birds have relatively large brains compared to their head size. The visual and auditory senses are well developed in most species, though the tactile and olfactory senses are well realized only in a few groups. Birds communicate using visual signals as well as through the use of calls and song. The testing of intelligence in birds is therefore usually based on studying responses to sensory stimuli.


title: Bird intelligence

text: The corvids (ravens, crows, jays, magpies, etc.) and psittacines (parrots, macaws, and cockatoos) are often considered the most intelligent birds, and are among the most intelligent animals in general. Pigeons, finches, domestic fowl, and birds of prey have also been common subjects of intelligence studies.


title: Bird intelligence

text: Bird intelligence has been studied through several attributes and abilities. Many of these studies have been on birds such as quail, domestic fowl, and pigeons kept under captive conditions. It has, however, been noted that field studies have been limited, unlike those of the apes. Birds in the crow family (corvids) as well as parrots (psittacines) have been shown to live socially, have long developmental periods, and possess large forebrains, all of which have been hypothesized to allow for greater cognitive abilities.


title: Bird intelligence

text: Counting has traditionally been considered an ability that shows intelligence. Anecdotal evidence from the 1960s has suggested that crows can count up to 3. Researchers need to be cautious, however, and ensure that birds are not merely demonstrating the ability to subitize, or count a small number of items quickly. Some studies have suggested that crows may indeed have a true numerical ability. It has been shown that parrots can count up to 6.


title: Bird intelligence

text: Cormorants used by Chinese fishermen were given every eighth fish as a reward, and found to be able to keep count up to 7. E.H. Hoh wrote in "Natural History" magazine:


title: Bird intelligence

text: Many birds are also able to detect changes in the number of eggs in their nest and brood. Parasitic cuckoos are often known to remove one of the host eggs before laying their own.


title: Bird intelligence

text: Visual or auditory signals and their association with food and other rewards have been well studied, and birds have been trained to recognize and distinguish complex shapes. This may be an important ability which aids their survival.


title: Bird intelligence

text: Associative learning is a method often used on animals to assess cognitive abilities. Bebus "et al." define associative learning as "acquiring knowledge of a predictive or causal relationship (association) between two stimuli, responses or events." A classic example of associative learning is Pavlovian conditioning. In avian research, performance on simple associative learning tasks can be used to assess how cognitive abilities vary with experimental measures.


title: Bird intelligence

text: Bebus "et al." demonstrated that associative learning in Florida scrub-jays correlated with reversal learning, personality, and baseline hormone levels. To measure associative learning abilities, they associated coloured rings to food rewards. To test reversal learning, the researchers simply reversed the rewarding and non-rewarding colours to see how quickly the scrub-jays would adapt to the new association. Their results suggest that associative learning is negatively correlated to reversal learning. In other words, birds that learned the first association quickly were slower to learn the new association upon reversal. The authors conclude that there must be a trade-off between learning an association and adapting to a new association.


title: Bird intelligence

text: Bebus "et al." also showed that reversal learning was correlated with neophobia: birds that were afraid of a novel environment previously set up by the researchers were faster at reversal learning. The inverse correlation, where less neophobic birds performed better on the associative learning task, was measured but was not statistically significant. Opposite results were found by Guido "et al.", who showed that neophobia in "Milvago chimango", a bird of prey native to South America, negatively correlated to reversal learning. In other words, neophobic birds were slower at reversal learning. The researchers suggested a modern explanation for this discrepancy: since birds living near urban areas benefit from being less neophobic to feed on human resources (such as detritus), but also benefit from being flexible learners (since human activity fluctuates), perhaps low neophobia coevolved with high reversal learning ability. Therefore, personality alone might be insufficient to predict associative learning due to contextual differences.


title: Bird intelligence

text: Bebus "et al." found a correlation between baseline hormone levels and associative learning. According to their study, low baseline levels of corticosterone (CORT), a hormone involved in stress response, predicted better associative learning. In contrast, high baseline levels of CORT predicted better reversal learning. In summary, Bebus "et al." found that low neophobia (not statistically significant) and low baseline CORT levels predicted better associative learning abilities. Inversely, high neophobia and high baseline CORT levels predicted better reversal learning abilities.