title: Rony Seikaly

text: Seikaly increased his scoring to 17.3 and once again averaged 11.8 rebounds a game (8th in the league) during the 1992–93 season. He managed to win the NBA player of the week after averaging 30 points and 20 Rebounds for the week of March 7. The following season featured increased scoring by Rice and Smith, and Seikaly averaged 15.1 points a game for third on the team while leading the team in rebounds with 10.3 rebounds per game. The Heat won 42 games, good enough to make the playoffs. Facing off against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Seikaly's career with Miami saw him setting numerous team records, including blocks (8), rebounds (34) and double–doubles. During his run with the Heat, he had the nickname "The Spin Doctor", due to his trademark low-post spin moves. On November 2, 1994, Seikaly was traded to the Golden State Warriors.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Seikaly only played in 36 games during the 1994–95 season, but started in all but one of those appearances averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds per game for the Warriors who were decimated by injuries. He would go on to start in 60 of 64 games in the 95–96 season, averaging 12 points and 7.8 rebounds, but the Warriors once again were plagued by injuries and could not reach the playoffs. In November 1996, he was once again traded, this time to the Orlando Magic.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: The Magic had been a dominant Eastern Conference team, but lost superstar center Shaquille O'Neal, and Seikaly was brought in to fill the void. Despite playing alongside other veteran scorers such as Horace Grant, Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott, Seikaly boosted his scoring to 17.3 points per game for second on the team behind All-Star Penny Hardaway, and led the team in rebounds per game (9.5) and blocks (1.4). The Magic won 45 games and entered the playoffs as the 7th seed in the conference, facing off against Seikaly's old team in Miami, who then featured an All-Star center Alonzo Mourning. Despite taking a 2–0 lead in Miami, the Magic responded with two wins at home to tie the series at 2 games apiece, but injuries forced Seikaly out of the 4th and deciding 5th games in which the Heat won to advance.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Seikaly would start in 47 games to start the 1997–98 season, but in February he was traded to the Utah Jazz, a deal that was rescinded due to Seikaly's refusal to report, Orlando then responded by sending him to the New Jersey Nets. He averaged 16 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his stint in Orlando.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Following his arrival in New Jersey, Seikaly had a career ending foot injury and only played in 9 games to finish the 1997–98 season, and would only play in 9 games of the lockout shortened 1998–99 season before retiring from the league. He holds NBA career averages of 14.7 points per game, 9.5 rebounds per game, and 1.3 blocks per game.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: In 2000, Seikaly moved to the Spanish ACB League club Barcelona. In three games played in Spain's 2000–01 ACB season, he averaged 15.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game, in 28.3 minutes played per game. With Barcelona, he also played in the top-level European-wide club competition, the EuroLeague. In the EuroLeague's 2000–01 season, he played in a total of four games. He averaged 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game, in 24.5 minutes played per game.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Seikaly first began training and practicing with the senior Greek national team, in 1983, at the age of 18. However, because he was unable to acquire a Greek passport, he was unable to represent Greece's national team in any official games. Despite that obstacle, he continued to train and practice with Greece's national team until 1986. Despite not being able to play with Greece, Seikaly felt connected to the national team, since he had trained and practiced with it for 3 years. Because of that, he sat next to the Greek team's bench at the final of the 1987 Athens EuroBasket, in which Greece beat the Soviet Union, to win the tournament's gold medal.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: 1986 Goodwill Games, and the 1986 FIBA World Championship. As a member of Team USA, he won gold medals at both tournaments. In 7 games played during the 1986 FIBA World Championship, Seikaly averaged 4.3 points per game.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Seikaly asked FIBA to grant him permission to represent the Lebanese national team. FIBA granted the request, and Seikaly was thus able to represent Lebanon. With Lebanon, he played at the 1999 West Asian Championship, which was held in Beirut. Seikaly helped the Lebanese win the tournament's silver medal. He averaged 30 points and 20 rebounds in those games.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Seikaly, an avid lover of music, started DJing at the age of 14 whilst living in Greece. After retiring from basketball, he developed his passion into a musical career as a professional DJ and music producer. "Sports will always be my love, but music will always be my passion," he said.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Seikaly has been producing and working in the genres of house, deep house, tech house and techno, and has played in many of the clubbing meccas across the globe.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: He has released many solo EPs including a lot of his early work "House Calls" in 2010, "East West" EP in 2012 and "East West" EP volume 2 in 2014. He then followed them up with "Holdin On" and "Signs" EP in 2015 and "The Sword" EP in 2016. In 2012, Rony produced a full mix album titled "Nervous Nitelife Presents Rony Seikaly" and he has also released on esteemed imprints such as Stride, Moon Harbor, Radiant, Saved, Suara, Yoshitoshi, Nervous, Stereo, Subliminal and many more. Since 2019, he has started his own record label "STRIDE" that has involved mostly his own work, with standout producers around the world joining him for remixes, including Bedouin, Luciano, Gorge, Audiofly, Hector Couto, Davi, Nick Curly, Black Circle and others. The label has been a resounding success with many chart hitting successes, including 5 tracks in the top 10, and currently finds itself in the Top 3 Deep House record labels... This is almost unheard of in just over a year of a label and shows Rony's keen ear for music.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: He has also ran his own radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio called "SugarFreeRadio" which aired four days per week and was a resounding success since 2012.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Before playing in the NBA with the Miami Heat, Seikaly was offered a contract by the Greek Basket League team AEK Athens, but he turned it down, and opted to sign with the Heat instead. During his NBA playing career, he returned to Greece during the off-season, to visit his friends and family members. Seikaly owns a villa in Mykonos, Greece, and he still vacations there.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: When Magic Johnson returned to the NBA HIV-positive, and there was opposition to his inclusion in the league, because of his health status, Seikaly challenged him to a game of one-on-one, to show everyone that HIV is not contagious by touch.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Seikaly was formerly married to Mexican model Elsa Benítez, the 2001 and 2006 cover girl for the "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit issues. They divorced in 2005; they have a daughter, Mila.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Since July 2015, Seikaly has been married to Brazilian fashion blogger and model Martha Graeff, to whom he became engaged on the Greek island of Mykonos.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Seikaly is involved in many charities, such as the Miami Heat's Corporate Education and "Shoot for the Stars" programs, and the Make A Wish Foundation. He also founded the Rony Seikaly Golf Tournament to benefit cystic fibrosis research.


title: Rony Seikaly

text: Revenues from the sale of his 2012 album, "Nervous Nitelife Presents Rony Seikaly", went to the Children's Department at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Foundation in Miami.


title: University of Colorado

text: The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. It is governed by the elected, nine-member board of regents.


title: Chokha

text: A chokha also known as a cherkeska is a woolen coat with a high neck that is part of the traditional male dress of peoples of the Caucasus. It was in wide use among Abazins, Abkhazians, Eastern Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Balkars, Chechens, Circassians, Georgians, Ingush, Karachays, Nogais, Ossetians, Tats, the peoples of Dagestan, as well as Terek and Kuban Cossacks who adopted it from the aforementioned peoples.


title: Chokha

text: Russians and Ukrainians called the attire a "cherkeska" (meaning 'of/from Circassia') because when they arrived in the Caucasus they saw it for the first time being worn by Circassians. Later the Kuban Cossacks adopted it as part of their costume.


title: Chokha

text: Before the Russian invasion, parts of the South Caucasus were under an Persian influence so the word chugha was widely used in the region and still continues to be used to refer to the attire, although, the pronunciation of the word varies among ethnicities. The word chugha is of an Iranian origin meaning 'outfit made of textile', but it was also found being used in Turkic languages to describe another similar coat chugha (çoğa) that was worn during winters in Central Asia. In that context, it is also possible that the word comes from the word "chek", which is what the Turks call cotton fabric, from which the outerwear is sewn. Also, the word "chek" means "pull", "tighten", "tie up". From the Book of Dede Korkut, the name of this type of clothing was known among the Oghuz Turks as "chuga" or "cuha" as well which translates to "cloth"..


title: Chokha

text: The word chugha was used mostly in regions like the South Caucasus, Chechnya and Dagestan. Georgians call it "chokha" but the clothing used to be called "talavari" which is now known as the Khevsur chokha. Azerbaijanis either call the caftan a "chukha" or "chuxa" or "arkhalig", although arkhalig is most of the time associated with a lighter jacket but Azerbaijanis use those words interchangeably.


title: Chokha

text: However, in Circassian languages, the word chugha was not adopted and the outfit is known as "shwakh-tsia" which means 'covers the horseman', or simply "tsey", meaning 'from fabric'. The Turkic groups in North Caucasus such as the Nogais, Balkars, Karachays and Kumyks named the coat chepken, which is another word that entered the Russian language in the form of "chekmen".


title: Chokha

text: A popular theory is that the caftan found in Moschevaya Balka is the prototype of what we know today as chokha. The prototype may have been a common type of clothing among the Khazars and the Alans. It is possible that the caftan has its origins from the Generic Horse Archer Costume which is a clothing style worn by horsemen among the Iranian groups, Western Turks, the Huns, and also the east Germanic peoples who settled in the Pontic and Danube regions and took the clothes west after the invasion of the Huns in 375CE. The caftan was worn by horsemen along the Silk Road in Caucasus during the 8th–10th centuries, although, the generic horse archer costume remained unchanged in the region for centuries. Due to tensions between Byzantine Empire and Persia, Georgia became an important route for steppe merchants to deliver silk to Byzantium. Georgians and other North Caucasian groups started adopting the costume style because of Georgia's role in the silk road and having constant interactions with the neighboring steppe peoples.


title: Chokha

text: The costume consisted of the following elements: shorts, leggings, caftan or coat (multiple layers), and boots. The large dolman sleeves allow for freedom of movement and the two slits towards the back allow the skirt to cover the legs more fully while seated on horseback. The original use of the coat is very specialized for mounted archery, horse riding, and combat, similar to the use modern chokha. Well-preserved caftans were made of Sogdian and Chinese fabrics. Later in the Khazar reign the caftan started to become associated with aristocracy in the Caucasus and it remained that way until late 19th century. By the period of the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE– 8 CE), silk trimming became a regular feature in the steppe environment. Prior to this, garments were trimmed with woven trim or fur. Piping or trimming of the caftan's collar and the chest was a common feature among the noble and common classes of the Parthians, Kushans, Sasanians, Sogdians, Hephthalites, Huns, Turks, Alans, and the Scythians. Another design of the caftan also includes the lapels. Lapels do not feature on Parthian, Kushan, or Sasanian caftans, however they do appear in art from Hepthalite and Sogdian sites, it is suggested that the political ascendance of the Western Turks in the Alan’s territory resulted in the adoption of lapels. The caftan prevailed in fashion through the early medieval period in the Near East and Central Asia.


title: Chokha

text: There is very little evidence for the existence of a separate women’s clothing across the Eurasian steppe and in the Caucasus since the Moschevaya Balka graves show distinct sexual dimorphism in the clothes. Sogdian and Hunnic Women wore clothing comparatively more similar to their male counterparts. The differences in fashion between men and women start to become more obvious in later centuries, the male attire continues to follow Persian and Central Asian traditions while the female attire seems to have taken some of its inspiration from eastern Mediterranean models but the steppe influence remains.


title: Chokha

text: The 8th century caftan known as chokha evidently does not resemble the military outfit worn in Caucasus and among Cossacks that we know today, it transformed over time - it changed its length and added new elements. For example, earlier on there was no such detail on the chokha like the gazyr. It appeared later when firearms started to be widely used. Initially, gazyrs were carried in leather bags attached to a shoulder strap or belt but a lot of different objects were already attached to the belt, a shashka and a gun were worn over the shoulder on belts. This is why the gazyrs began to be sewn on the coat on both sides of the chest. This detail helped soldiers to easily store cartridges. In addition, the location it was sewn made it comfortable for the soldier wearing it so during the battle they did not have to look for them and fiddle around for a long time. Some chokhas had removable gazyrs while others were sown on the chest of the coat. More primitive versions of chokha looked like a looser, sometimes even a baggier type of clothing. The length was up to the knees or up to half of the thigh. Long narrow sleeves sometimes had a triangular protrusion at the bottom, covering the back of the arm. The chest was not as open as in chokhas from later models, and often there was a fastener from the neck to the waist. In some cases, there was a collar in the form of a low stand with bevelled front corners. Another difference between the prototype and the current chokha is the open cut chest of the coat which was most likely a style brought to Near East as a result of numerous Turkic invasions. The Caucasians also adopted numerous headwear and clothing items from the Iranian groups and later from the Turks that started to be worn together with the chokha . By the 18th century, a male costume common for the Caucasus was finally formed which consisted of gazyrs on the chest, beshmet, cherkeska, burka, bashlyk, papakha, etc.


title: Chokha

text: The chokha was in wide use among the inhabitants of the Caucasus from 8th until the early 20th century, when it declined during the Soviet Era. Nowadays, chokha is no longer in use but continues to still be worn for ceremonial and festive occasions. For many, it is a symbol of fight for freedom. In Georgia it is used as a symbol of national pride, and is frequently worn by Georgian men at weddings and official functions. Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili ordered high-ranking Georgian officials working abroad to present themselves in national costumes, including the chokha, at official meetings. On June 9, 2020, the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation in Georgia recognized Chokha wearing tradition as a part of Intangible cultural heritage of Georgia.


title: Chokha

text: Chokha types and designs vary by region and by culture but there are two types of chokhas worn most commonly in Caucasus: general and weighted. The common features are that the collars of both chokhas are cut open and the skirt of the coats are usually either corrugated or pleated. Chokha is usually made of broadcloth or shawl but some chokhas are made of thinner textiles for festive occasions. It was also common for chokhas to be worn without the bullet pockets or gazyrs. An arkhalig would also be worn under chokha. The style, decorations and patterns on chokha varies among ethnicities.


title: Chokha

text: There were also chukha types that included Persian elements such as the folding sleeves, completely unsewn from the armpit to the elbow, and sleeves that are cut in half from top which were worn for casual use. Those persianate style chukhas were predominantly worn among the inhabitants of Transcaucasia, especially among Azerbaijanis, Eastern Armenians, inhabitants of southern Dagestan, as well as among the Persians. In some artworks, Georgians are also depicted wearing it. The chukhas with the folding sleeves were the main uniform and clothing attire in the army of the Caucasian khanates. Later, it was in wide use in the Caucasian Convoy of the Imperial army and became a uniform of the chief officers of Muslim(Azerbaijani) and Lezgin Squadron. Along with the coat, a tall Qajar era fur hat was worn.


title: Chokha

text: This is the most widely used type of chokha in the Caucasus. From the colors, the length and the general design of the chokha, it was possible to know a person's age, profession, and even class. The general cherkeska were sewn not only from gray and black fabric, but also from red, blue, green, golden yellow, purple and brown. The lining of the sleeve of the general chokha is made of silk fabric, the sleeves often have loops and buttons made of string. Chokhas with very long skirts were popular among the nobility. It is cut at the waist with gathers and folds, girded with a black leather belt decorated with silver pieces, the belt buckle served as a chair for carving fire. The outfit was a clothing for combat, it was not supposed to hinder movement, so the sleeves were wide and short, sometimes with rows of buttons down the openings, and hand flaps. Only the old people wore the sleeves long to warm the hands. As mentioned previously, later on cases were added to place cartridges, the cases made it possible to load a flint or match gun at full gallop. Sometimes the cases were located almost under the armpits. An obligatory item of both men's and women's clothing was long tight pants - an element of clothing that was present among the steppe peoples, which was necessary for frequent horseback riding and in harsh climatic conditions. The general outfit almost always includes a dagger called "khinjal", a beshmet worn under the chokha, gazyrs (bullet/charge holders), and a "bashlyk" (a hood, separate from the robe) or a "papakha" (a tall fur hat).


title: Chokha

text: Unlike the general chokha, which was typically worn for battle, the main attribute of the weighted chokha is its small bullet-pockets or cartridge holders on both sides of the chest, which over time turned into having a purely decorative significance. Gazyrs for this chokha were made of wood, and in the upper, above-pocket part they had small hoods out of gold or silver with niello or gilt. Sometimes there were golden or silver chains going up front the gazyrs where they were connected with a rosette. It was customary for the weighted chokha to have a set of eight cartridge holders on each breast.


title: Chokha

text: Among Georgians, three types of chokhas are primarily used: the Kartl-Kakheti chokha (Kartli and Kakheti are eastern Georgian provinces), the Khevsur chokha (mainly in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti province of Georgia), and the Adjarian chokha (mainly found in western Georgian provinces such as Adjara and Guria, previously also in Lazona). In Georgia, the color black for chokha was reserved to the "Orden of Chokhosani" who represented the elite society of the citizens: great generals, war heroes, famous poets, and the people who had done some big service to the country. Special decorations were also used to denote their status.


title: Chokha

text: The Kartli-Kakheti version shares similarities with the general Caucasian chokha. In most cases, different decorations fill the bullet spaces. The Kartli-Kakheti chokha is longer than the Khevsur chokha and has triangle-like shapes on the chest, exposing the inner cloth called beshmet. It tends to have (locally called "masri") on both sides of the chest-spaces. The skirt usually has slits on the sides. People wear them without belts. The Kartli-Kakheti chokha has long sleeves and is usually black, dark red or blue.


title: Chokha

text: This is the most popular chokha used in Georgia, often seen in official meeting and musical performance.


title: Chokha

text: The Khevsur chokha was worn in the Khevsureti province of Georgia in the Greater Caucasus mountains. The Khevsur chokha is considered to be the closest to the medieval version of the chokha as it shares similarities in design with the aforementioned caftan found in Moschevaya Balka. It is mostly short, with trapezoid shapes. The front side of the chokha has rich decorations and slits on the sides, which extend to the waist. The Khevsur chokha has rich decorations made up of crosses and icons.


title: Chokha

text: The Adjarian chokha is worn in Adjara, Guria regions of Georgia and was worn in historical Lazeti(modern day Turkey), though, the outfit is more similar to the clothing worn by Pontic Greeks. Adjaran national men's costume consists of a shirt (perangi) and trousers cut out in a specific way (dzigva) and sewn from wool fabric or sateen of black colour. Because trousers are folded, wide on top and narrowed down, they were comfortable and were easy to wear in action. The outer garment was zubuni that was tucked into the trousers. Zubunis were winter clothing, warmed with cotton lining and sleeveless vests. The most expensive and visible part is chokha which was tied around with special broad belt with laces or leather belt. Kabalakhi (or bashlyk) is a winter headwear made of thin wool. And, of course, outfit would not be complete without a dagger in sheath, a rifle and bandolier or gazyr. As footwear they used colorful wool knitted socks, pachula (soft leather shoes) and boots tied with belts.


title: Chokha

text: Evgenia Nikolaevna Studenetskaya, a well-known scholar and museum figure who worked for more than 50 years at the State Museum of Ethnography (now the Russian Museum of Ethnography), was one of the best experts on the customs of the peoples of the Caucasus, as well as the costume of the peoples of the North Caucasus. In 1989, she published the book "Clothes of the peoples of the North Caucasus of the XVIII-XX centuries" (). Generally, the North Caucasian groups wore a very similar style of the general cherkeska. The only way one could tell to which group the coat belonged to is by inspecting the textile it was made of, the decorations, and the number bullet cases sown on the cherkeska.


title: Chokha

text: According to her book, in Circassian and Abkhazian societies the cherkeska was worn among the royals, the knights, and of upper class. Different colors of clothing for males were strictly used to distinguish between different social classes, for example white is usually worn by princes, red by nobles, gray, brown, and black by peasants (blue, green and the other colors were rarely worn). Until 1785, Circassia resembled the medieval states of Western Europe due to their feudal systems, however, the spread of Islam in those territories started to diminish the system. Because of the feudalist nature of the their society Circassian knightly culture was developed. They made up the troops of the Circassian principalities, almost identical in structure, form, and in other parameters to the European concept of "knightly army". The cherkeska was in wide use among the Circassian cavalry and was worn together with weaponry and armor. It was also common among inhabitants of Northwestern Caucasus to wear cherkeskas with no open cut on the chest. The number of pockets or cases for gazyrs can vary from 4-5 up to 18 on each side of the chest. The numbers of gazyrs is special as its also an indicator of status and ranking among the Circassians especially among the noble warriors.


title: Chokha

text: Weapons that are frequently worn with the Circassian attire is a dagger called " kama" () or "kinzhal" (when transliterating ) and a sword called "shashka" (). It is a special kind of sabre; a very sharp, single-edged, single-handed, and guardless sword. Although the sword is used by most of Russian and Ukrainian Cossacks, the typically Adyghean form of the sabre is longer than the Cossack type.


title: Chokha

text: The cherkeskas Ossetians wore had a slightly different characteristics. In art, Ossetians are depicted in a short cherkeska without a cutout on the chest, its sides are pulled together by three pairs of strings. Ossetians also have other caftans of similar design to the general cherkeska such "karts", a winter sheepskin coat, and a lighter unlined linen caftan with frogging called the "kurta", both are words of Iranian origin. Ossetians and Circassians generally wore their coats in similar fashion. The coats were most of the time made of black or gray cloth, with split sleeves. Sometimes the sleeves have a slit on the inside from the armpit and below the elbow, coats with sleeves shortened to the elbow were also commonly used. Ossetians wore gazyrs cases made from leather which held cartridges from 7 to 10 compartments.


title: Chokha

text: Materials among the Nakh peoples are poorer. There are various depictions by travellers of Ingush men in a cherkeska with a standing collar, the coat resembles the type worn among the Northwestern Caucasians. In the album published in Paris in 1813, Chechens are depicted in short, knee-length coats with narrow sleeves. Alexander Beggrov depicts a Chechen in a short fur coat with a separate gas cap hanging on a belt. In D.A. Milyutin's works, a Chechen is depicted in a short, but wide-open coat with a narrow sleeves.


title: Chokha

text: Azerbaijanis wore chukha with or without the gazyrs. The chukha with sewn bullet pockets was called "hazyrdashly" (), it was called "hazyrdashsyz" () if it was without the sewn bullet pockets. The caftan and the bullet cases are decorated with various golden or silver laces and other fabrics, specific decorations and patterns are usually added on their costumes that makes it differ from the other styles. The color of the chukha mattered to Azerbaijanis as well. The colors that were used most often were blue, green, white, brown, and black. The colors white and blue were used for the inside of the coat and as a layer indicator. In Azerbaijani society, chukha was worn among the peasants as well as the upper class, while in other parts of the Caucasus it was worn to attribute to upper class and the aristocracy as a remnant of Khazar traditions, it had more of a symbol of boasting than practicality. Different materials and decorations were used on chukhas and arkhaligs to determine social class and age. Some chukas were not worn for battles and did not have gazyrs, Azerbaijanis wore those for performing their folk music such as mugham. Azerbaijani men usually wore the chukha and the arkhalig in the same fashion Turkmens, Volga Tatars and the Crimean Tatars wore their caftans. Aside from the general and weighted chukha, there are other types that were in wide use among Azerbaijanis such as the "duzyakha" (), "oymayakha" (), and "atmagol" () chukhas.


title: Chokha

text: One of the most popular types of chukhas used among Azerbaijanis was the atmagol chukha, which is a Persian styled chukha worn for battles. The arms of atmagol were long and the entirety of the sleeves were cut and completely detached. The long sleeves could be hung behind the shoulder. Aside from the aesthetic, the sleeves were used to deceive the enemy during battle and also to keep the hands warm. The atmagol chukha is considered to be a huge national pride of the Azerbaijani people and is an important part of the male traditional attire along with the arkhalig.


title: Chokha

text: Duzyakha and oymayakha differed from general chukha when it came to the shape of the arm. The lining of the arm with a swollen or rounded tip was made of silk. These sleeves often had loops and buttons made of string. Oymayakha was similar to duzyakha as neither required bullet pockets, however, the two types differed in the design of the collar: duzyakha translates to "plain collar" while oymayakha means "carved collar". Oymayakha was popular in Nakhchivan, the collar of the coat was heavily decorated, the design reflected the fashion of the Qajar era.


title: Chokha

text: Other types of chukhas worn by Azerbaijanis that were recorded are: “kemerchin” (), “buzmely” (), “takhtaly” (), “qolchaqly” (), “doshuachig” (), and “doqquztakhta” ().


title: Chokha

text: Cherkeska was constantly worn by Terek and Kuban Cossacks and the dress code was identical to the one worn by Caucasians. The main color worn in the army was in black, gray, dark blue, white, and brown; red was only worn for important ceremonies. Although the color of the daily cherkeska was up to the individual's choice, by the time of the Great War each Cossack had to wear a gray cherkeska and black beshmet as a uniform. Some cossacks variated their cherkeskas and beshmets with different kinds of halons and cartridges, sewed initials or namesakes and decorated it with various laces, but that was considered unprofessional.


title: Chokha

text: The length of the coat was regulated in the army but was not strongly enforced until later. Before the war of 1914-1918, its length decreased significantly and reached almost a knee. This was partly due to the convenience of movement and landing on a horse, and partly for the sake of aesthetics. But the concept of aesthetics is conditional and in the late XIX century the cherkeska was worn long, reaching many almost heels. On the cutout and at the bottom it is sheathed with a shoelace, black or in the color of the material from which it is sewn. It is fastened on internal hooks or loops tied from the lace with which it is sheathed. Cossacks called such fasteners "gudzyki". In winter, some Cossacks wore cherkeskas with fur called "Bekirks" or "kurks".<ref name="knowledge_base/base-17/1144524376-sobstvennyjj-ego-imperatorskogo-velichestva.html#.XyvnESgzbDc">Собственный эскорт ЕГО ИМПЕРАТОРСКОГО ВЕЛИЧЕСТВА</ref>


title: Rima Fakih

text: Rima Fakih Slaiby (; born September 22, 1985) is a Lebanese American model, philanthropist, former professional wrestler and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2010. Having previously been crowned Miss Michigan USA 2010, Fakih was the first Arab American woman and the third woman from Michigan to win the Miss USA title.


title: Rima Fakih

text: Fakih was a contestant in season five of "WWE Tough Enough", where she trained to become a professional wrestler. In 2018, she became the national director of the Miss Universe Lebanon Organization. As a philanthropist and advocate, she has worked with numerous organizations in the United States and in Lebanon devoted to providing assistance for women and children.


title: Rima Fakih

text: Rima Fakih was born on September 22, 1985 in Srifa, a small city in the Jabal Amel region of Southern Lebanon, to parents Hussein and Nadia Fakih. She is the fourth of five children; her siblings include brothers Rabih and Rami, and sisters Rana and Rouba. Fakih was raised in a Shia Muslim family. She spent her early life in the village of Souk El Gharb, and attended Catholic school near Beirut.


title: Rima Fakih

text: In 1993, Fakih and her family moved from Lebanon to New York City due to the effects of the Lebanese Civil War. After arriving in the United States, the family settled in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. Fakih attended St. John's Preparatory School in Astoria, while her father ran a restaurant in Manhattan. In New York, Fakih's family faced discrimination, and believed that this was due to events in the Middle East. Business at her father's restaurant began to rapidly decline following the September 11 attacks in 2001.


title: Rima Fakih

text: In 2003, Fakih moved with her family to Dearborn, Michigan, home to one of the largest Arab American populations in the country. After moving to Michigan, Fakih attended Henry Ford Community College and later received degrees in economics and business management from the University of Michigan–Dearborn. Initially, Fakih had planned to attend law school after completing her reign as Miss USA. Prior to becoming a pageant titleholder, Fakih was working at the Detroit Medical Center in developing and recruiting for the Arab American community.


title: Rima Fakih

text: Fakih first began competing in pageantry at age 19, when she placed as the fourth runner-up at Miss Wayne County, a qualifying pageant for Miss Michigan within the Miss America system. She went on to compete in three minor international pageants.


title: Rima Fakih

text: In 2008, Fakih was selected to represent Michigan in the Miss Lebanon Emigrant pageant. The pageant was meant for women belonging to the international Lebanese diaspora, with the winner going on to compete in Miss Lebanon. Fakih placed as the second runner-up in the competition, behind winner Carina El Kaddissi of Brazil and first runner-up Jessica Kahawaty of Australia.


title: Rima Fakih

text: In 2009, Fakih won the Miss Michigan USA 2010 title on her first attempt. As Miss Michigan USA, she received the right to represent Michigan at Miss USA 2010. The Miss USA competition was held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts within Planet Hollywood Las Vegas in Las Vegas on May 16, 2010. After competing in the preliminary competition, Fakih was selected as one of the fifteen semifinalists. She later advanced to the top ten and top five, until being crowned the winner, besting first runner-up Morgan Woolard of Oklahoma; her win ended a five-year streak of southern states winning the title. Following her win, Fakih became the third woman representing Michigan to win the Miss USA title following Carole Gist in 1990 and Kenya Moore in 1993, the first winner from the Midwest since Shandi Finnessey in 2004 who won representing Missouri, and is believed to be the first Lebanese American, Arab American, and Muslim American, although pageant officials have stated that their records are not detailed enough to confirm this.


title: Rima Fakih

text: During and after the Miss USA competition, Fakih's background, religious beliefs, and Arab identity became the subject of media attention and discussion. Regarding her identity, Fakih stated "I'd like to say I'm American first, and I am an Arab-American, I am Lebanese-American, and I am Muslim-American." While her victory was celebrated by some in the Arab American community, she was also criticized by some amidst allegations that she did not properly represent Muslims. Iranian-Canadian Islamic scholar Ghazal Omid wrote "To say that she is a Muslim is inaccurate. No Muslim woman can call herself a Muslim and be on stage with her bikini." In response to criticism from some within the Muslim community, Fakih stated that while she and her family identify as Muslims and respect the religion, they are not as strict as others and do not define themselves by their religion, adding that they view themselves as more "spiritual" than "religious." Her religion and role in pageantry was further scrutinized after it emerged that Fakih had taken part in a "Stripper 101" competition hosted by Detroit morning show "Mojo in the Morning", where she pole danced.


title: Rima Fakih

text: As Miss USA, Fakih received the right to represent the United States at Miss Universe 2010. The Miss Universe competition was later held on August 23, 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Fakih was not selected as one of the fifteen semifinalists, becoming the first American entrant to fail to place in the competition since Shauntay Hinton at Miss Universe 2002, and only the fourth ever. Fakih later completed her reign as Miss USA on June 19, 2011, after crowning Alyssa Campanella of California as her successor at Miss USA 2011.


title: Rima Fakih

text: In 2018, Fakih received the license for the Miss Universe Lebanon competition, becoming the organization's national director. She organized the Miss Universe Lebanon 2018 competition, which crowned Maya Reaidy as its winner, who went on to represent Lebanon at Miss Universe 2018. The 2019 edition of the competition was later canceled due to the 2019–20 Lebanese protests, while the 2020 edition was never scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon.


title: Rima Fakih

text: As a part of Miss Universe, Fakih has worked with Best Buddies International to help create new opportunities for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. She now serves as a board member for the organization. She was named as an ambassador for The Children's Cancer Center in Lebanon (CCCL) in February 2020. In March of the same year, she was appointed as an ambassador for School on Wheels, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free tutoring and mentoring for children who are experiencing homelessness.


title: Rima Fakih

text: In response to the 2020 Beirut explosion, Fakih, alongside her husband Wassim Slaiby, created a campaign called "#GlobalAidForLebanon", in collaboration with Global Citizen and the United Nations World Food Programme. The fundraiser has raised over 2 million dollars to provide assistance for those affected. On April 15, 2021, Fakih was appointed to the World Food Program USA's Board of Directors, where she serves as the chairwoman of their communications committee.


title: Rima Fakih

text: During her reign as Miss USA, Fakih was frequently involved in WWE events. She first appeared as a guest star on the November 29, 2010 episode of "WWE Raw", where she crowned Sheamus as winner of the King of the Ring tournament. The following month, she appeared at the "WWE Tribute to the Troops" event in Fort Hood, Texas, where she served as the ring announcer. Fakih later appeared as a contestant on season five of "WWE Tough Enough" on the USA Network, competing for a contract with the WWE as a professional wrestler. She was eliminated from the competition in week four. Due to scheduling conflicts with Miss USA 2011, Fakih was the only contestant from the season not to appear in the live finale episode. Following her appearance in the series, Fakih revealed that she was receiving training to become a professional wrestler. In 2012, she made an appearance at WrestleMania Axxess.


title: Rima Fakih

text: Fakih was listed as number 86 on AskMen.com's top 99 women in 2011. Also in 2011, The Roots performed a freestyle about Fakih during her appearance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon". Fakih also had a cameo in the film "Real Steel" (2011). In 2012, Fakih participated in the Fox dating game show "The Choice" as one of its four female celebrity bachelorettes in its June 28, 2012 episode. In 2015, Fakih competed in the Thai reality design competition series "The Apartment - Celebrity Edition", where she placed as the runner-up behind Chinese actress Xiao Wang.


title: Rima Fakih

text: After her coronation as Miss USA in 2010, Fakih was among the guests at the American Chamber of Commerce conference in Cairo alongside former US President Bill Clinton. In January 2010, Fakih received the key to Dearborn which was presented by Mayor John B. O'Reilly Jr.


title: Rima Fakih

text: In 2011, Fakih was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, resulting in an arrest for misdemeanor drunk driving.


title: Rima Fakih

text: On May 15, 2016, Fakih married music executive and talent manager Wassim Slaiby in a ceremony at The Patriarchal Edifice in Bkerké, Lebanon. Prior to their wedding, Fakih converted from Shia Islam to Maronite Christianity. The wedding was attended by numerous celebrities, including The Weeknd (who is managed by Slaiby), French Montana, Haifa Wehbe, and Wael Kfoury and was presided over by Maronite Patriarch, Bechara Boutros al-Rahi. Together, Fakih and Slaiby have three children. They reside in Los Angeles, California.


title: Ziauddin Yousafzai

text: Ziauddin Yousafzai (; ; born 20 April 1969) is a Pakistani education activist best known as the father of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who protested against the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan opposition to the education rights of girls, especially for Pakistani girls.


title: Ziauddin Yousafzai

text: Yousafzai was born in 1969 to a Pashtun family in Shangla. Ziauddin's father was the orator Rohul Amin Yousafzai, who was also a teacher of theology at a government high school and imam of the local mosque.


title: Ziauddin Yousafzai

text: As teacher he used to run a chain of schools known as the Khushal Public School, named after a famous Pashtun poet, Khushal Khan Khattak, as well as being a member of the Rotary Club of Swat. Politically, he was affiliated with the Awami National Party, a left-wing Pashtun nationalist group.


title: Ziauddin Yousafzai

text: Ziauddin drew inspiration from his father, an educational activist. Even though he had a stutter, he wanted to prove to his parents that he would be able to learn and speak correctly.


title: Ziauddin Yousafzai

text: Ziauddin Yousafzai attended Jahanzeb College located in Swat, Pakistan. During his time in college, he was made general secretary of the Pashtun Students Federation (PSF), a student wing of the Awami National Party (ANP) that wanted equal rights for Pashtuns. Yousafzai graduated from Jahanzeb College with a Master's in English.


title: Ziauddin Yousafzai

text: Yousafzai has a wife, named Toor Pekai, a daughter, Malala, and two sons, Khushal and Atal. His first child, born before Malala, was stillborn. Ziauddin has been seen on interviews with his daughter, being able to speak fluent English, Urdu, and Pashto.


title: Ziauddin Yousafzai

text: When his daughter, Malala, was old enough to start understanding that at a certain age girls were prohibited to attend school, he inspired her to stand up and speak up. Instead of attending school, girls would have to stay home and learn how to cook for their brothers and fathers. When he created his schools after college with his friend Naeem Khan, they would of course be open to teaching girls who would strive to keep learning and going to school. He supported every woman who wanted to become successful in life and not stay illiterate like many women in Pakistan.


title: Ziauddin Yousafzai

text: Ziauddin did a sit down interview with the current affairs program The Agenda. He also gave a speech for TED Talk where he describes the reasons he encourages his daughter to speak up for women's rights. In his speech, he recalls never seeing his sisters' names written on paper growing up, and going to school while they all had to stay home. He attributes his activism to these facts.


title: Ziauddin Yousafzai

text: On 11 June 2015, Yousafzai received an honorary doctorate of law from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada for his commitment to peace, as well as his ongoing efforts for the educational rights of girls in Pakistan and beyond.


title: Ziauddin Yousafzai

text: In 2017, Yousafzai was awarded, along with his daughter, an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa.


title: Ziauddin Yousafzai

text: Yousafzai wrote an autobiography titled "Let Her Fly" which was published in November 2018. In his book he describes his fight for the rights of all children to have an equal education, and speaks about opportunities and social and political recognition.


title: David Caspe

text: David Herbert Caspe (born October 20, 1978) is an American film and television writer. As a writer-producer, he is best known for his work in television as creator of sitcoms such as ABC's "Happy Endings", the Showtime comedy "Black Monday", and the NBC sitcoms "Kenan" and "Marry Me". Other work includes writing the 2012 film "That's My Boy" and co-creating the YouTube Premium series "Champaign ILL".


title: David Caspe

text: In 2006, Caspe moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in screenwriting. In 2010, his screenplay for "I Hate You, Dad" (later re-titled "That's My Boy") was picked up by Sony and Happy Madison productions. The film starred Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, and was released on June 15, 2012.


title: David Caspe

text: Caspe's ABC series "Happy Endings" ran for three seasons, ending its run on May 3, 2013. As well as creating the series, he was also the executive producer and co-showrunner. He went on to create the NBC sitcom "Marry Me", which he again collaborated on with his wife Casey Wilson (they had previously met on "Happy Endings"), the premise was loosely based on Wilson and Caspe's relationship. The series starred Wilson and Ken Marino as a newly engaged couple and ran for one season from 2014 to 2015. Caspe is known to set his shows in his hometown of Chicago.


title: David Caspe

text: Along with Jordan Cahan and Daniel & Matthew Libman, Caspe co-created the YouTube Premium series "Champaign ILL" starring Adam Pally, Sam Richardson, and Jay Pharoah. The series premiered on December 12, 2018.


title: David Caspe

text: His next series "Black Monday" was picked up by Showtime in 2017, starring Don Cheadle, Regina Hall, and Andrew Rannells. Caspe and co-creator Jordan Cahan will serve as showrunners and produce the show alongside executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The first season premiered on January 20, 2019. The series concluded on August 1, 2021 after three seasons.


title: David Caspe

text: In July 2020, Caspe was brought in as the showrunner and executive producer to work with co-creator Jackie Clarke and to develop the re-tooled pilot and first season for the new NBC sitcom "Kenan", starring "Saturday Night Live" cast member Kenan Thompson. The series ran for two seasons from 2021 to 2022. Caspe and Clarke are currently the showrunner-executive producers on the upcoming Netflix comedy "Blockbuster", starring Randall Park. The series is set to premiere in late 2022.


title: David Caspe

text: Caspe lives in Los Angeles and is married to actress Casey Wilson. They originally met in early 2010 when Wilson auditioned for his ABC series "Happy Endings" and after working together on the show for over a year, started dating in July 2011. They got engaged over Labor Day weekend in September 2013 and were married on May 25, 2014 in Ojai, California. They have two sons, Max Red Caspe (born May 2015) and Henry Bear Caspe (born August 24, 2017).


title: Patti Stanger

text: Stanger was born and raised in Short Hills, New Jersey. She was adopted by Ira and Rhoda (Rhoda was also a matchmaker), and was raised in the Jewish faith. She graduated from Millburn High School in 1979 and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Miami in 1983. She currently lives in Los Angeles.


title: Patti Stanger

text: Stanger is a third-generation matchmaker (see shidduch). Prior to founding her business in January 2000, she worked as the Director of Marketing for Great Expectations.


title: Patti Stanger

text: She also worked in fashion. Stanger was introduced to the fashion industry by Janis Spindel, who had hired and scouted the 24-year-old when looking for an assistant. Stanger worked for 10 years in the fashion industry at Unionbay Sportswear, JouJou Jeans, and Saks Fifth Avenue.


title: Patti Stanger

text: In 2000, Stanger stated that "successful men in the dating arena needed a private, exclusive club where they could come to find their beautiful and intelligent wives."


title: Patti Stanger

text: In 2008, Stanger signed a deal to have her own reality show called "Millionaire Matchmaker" on the Bravo TV Network. Stanger starred in and produced the show.


title: Patti Stanger

text: The hour-long show followed her matchmaking at Millionaire's Club. Each episode featured her matchmaking two millionaires. First, millionaire clients submitted a biographical video profile on a DVD describing the type of partner they want. Stanger then met them individually to better understand their desires and welcome them to the club. She's been called "The Simon Cowell of Dating" and made very quick, very direct comments. "I am not paid to hide my true feelings," she said. Her "casting calls" or "recruiting sessions", where she screened men and women, involved her making brutal comments on their dress and appearance. She told one woman she had a beautiful face but could not meet her millionaire because she was 10–15 lbs overweight. "I can't do much for women over 45," Stanger said in an interview, "and if they're overweight, it's almost impossible." She told another woman to take off her wig, then suggested she come back after she got hair extensions.


title: Patti Stanger

text: The millionaires and 30–40 potential dates would first meet at a cocktail party Stanger hosted called a "VIP mixer", where they mingled and the millionaires got to evaluate the candidates. The millionaires chose their top two candidates and had 10-minute "mini dates", after which they picked the candidate they liked best. Stanger announced the choices to the group, and then the millionaires set up their "master dates".


title: Patti Stanger

text: The Millionaire's Club has a few rules. For example, millionaires cannot discuss sex or trade phone numbers at the mixer. No sex is allowed until the couple is in an "exclusive, committed, monogamous relationship". There is also a two-drink maximum enforced on each date. If a millionaire violates the terms of the club, then Patti can throw him or her out of the club.


title: Patti Stanger

text: At the end of each episode, Stanger called each candidate chosen for their master date, after which Patti called each millionaire or invites him or her into her office to discuss how the date went.


title: Patti Stanger

text: The show would conclude with updates on each couple, indicating whether they are still together or not.


title: Patti Stanger

text: In April 2009, Patti Stanger was hired by Clear Channel subsidiary Premiere Radio Networks to host a 4-week special titled "P.S. I Love You" for XM Satellite Radio. The live call-in program was simulcast on Clear Channel owned MIX channel 22 and The Pink Channel on channel 24, Sunday evenings. After a month's hiatus, the program was returned to the schedule on a semi-regular basis, until it was moved to Thursday evenings in July 2009 and made a permanent fixture. Stanger continues to host "P.S. I Love You" on Thursday nights from 4 PM to 6 PM Pacific time on both Mix and The Pink Channel.


title: Patti Stanger

text: In 2003, Stanger started dating Andy Friedman, a real-estate executive whom she met through another matchmaker. On July 22, 2009, Lalate.com announced that Friedman had proposed on May 31, her birthday. They did not agree on a date for the wedding, although episodes of season three of "The Millionaire Matchmaker" showed Stanger engaged in wedding planning activities, and she spoke openly to the media about details of the wedding.


title: Patti Stanger

text: On August 14, 2010, Stanger announced via Twitter that she was ending her relationship with Friedman, stating, "I just ended my relationship with Andy. It hit me really hard that I want kids in my life. You have to agree on the non-negotiables." She has also stated in the season 5 finale of "Millionaire Matchmaker" that Friedman was like a "best friend" to her and that passion was lacking in their relationship.


title: Patti Stanger

text: After she was matched on her own show, Patti started seeing John Matthews, the man she picked. In the "Millionaire Matchmaker Reunion" show however, she said the two of them were just friends.


title: Patti Stanger

text: Stanger's first book on dating was published in 2009. It is entitled "Become Your Own Matchmaker: 8 Easy Steps for Attracting Your Perfect Mate".


title: Patti Stanger

text: In February 2012, she was one of a group of celebrities who walked a catwalk in red dresses for the "Heart Truth Red Dress Collection" show, part of New York Fashion Week. She wore a Marc Bouwer dress.


title: Patti Stanger

text: On September 25, 2011, during a taping of "Watch What Happens Live" hosted by Andy Cohen, Stanger made some controversial remarks. When responding to a question from a gay man about a long-distance open relationship, she said, "There is no curbing you people". She later told a viewer who Skyped in, "You are very handsome, I thought you were straight." She went on to explain that she meant he was not "queen-y". Stanger also made comments about Jewish men and smart women that viewers and critics deemed offensive.


title: Patti Stanger

text: These comments quickly drew many angry responses on Twitter. Bravo and Stanger issued apologies with Stanger tweeting, "I am so sorry. I did not mean to offend anyone with my comments last night on "Watch What Happens Live".”


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: California's 3rd congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in California. John Garamendi, a Democrat, has represented the district since January 2013.


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: Effective January 2023, California's 3rd congressional district will include much of the Sierra Nevada and many of the northeastern suburbs of Sacramento, stretching south to Death Valley. It encompasses Alpine, Inyo, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, and Sierra counties, as well as parts of El Dorado, Sacramento, and Yuba counties. The largest city in the district is Roseville; it also includes the mountain resort cities of South Lake Tahoe, Truckee and Mammoth Lakes.


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: Prior to redistricting in 2020, the 3rd district encompassed most of the Sacramento Valley north and west of Sacramento. It covered all of Colusa, Sutter and Yuba counties, most of Glenn, Lake, Solano and Yolo counties and a portion of Sacramento County.


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: Prior to redistricting by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission of 2011, the 3rd district consisted of Alpine, Amador, and Calaveras counties plus portions of Sacramento and Solano counties.


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: The 3rd district once extended up the Sacramento Valley from Sacramento to take in rural territory up to Tehama County.


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: Once a Democratic bastion, the district was pushed into more rural and Republican-leaning territory after the 1990 census, and finally elected a Republican in 1998. The 2001 reapportionment made the district more compact and Republican than its predecessor, though it was far less Republican than the neighboring 4th district. Although there was some movement in registration in favor of the Democrats, it still had a strong GOP flavor as most of the Sacramento area's Democratic voters lived in the neighboring 5th district.


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: While George W. Bush carried the district in 2004 with 58.2% of the vote, the district swung rapidly in the Democratic column in 2008 with Barack Obama narrowly winning a plurality with 49.28% of the vote over John McCain's 48.81%. However, despite Obama's win, in the congressional election held on the same day the Republicans retained the seat.


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: After redistricting, this district essentially became the 7th district, while a new 3rd was created with lines similar to what the old 3rd had in the 1990s. This version of the 3rd was considered a swing district, though the bulk of its population lives in Democratic-leaning areas in the outer Bay Area and in the closer-in suburbs of Sacramento.


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: As of the 2020 redistricting, California's 3rd congressional district is located in the Sierra Nevada region. It encompasses Alpine, Inyo, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, and Sierra Counties, as well as parts of El Dorado, Sacramento, and Yuba Counties.


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: El Dorado County is split between this district and the 5th district. They are partitioned by Scott Creek, Perry Creek, Perry Creek Rd, Rocky Bar Rd, Grizzly Flat Rd, Happy Valley Rd, Canon Creek, E16 Highway, Pleasant Valley Rd, Cedar Ravine Rd, Woodland Dr, Weber Creek, Highway 50, Chili Bar Reservoir, South Fork American River, Marshall Rd, Hastings Creek, Highway 49, Pilot Creek, North Fork American River, and the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area. The 3rd district takes in the city of South Lake Tahoe.


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: Sacramento County is split between this district and both the 6th district and 7th district. The 6th and 3rd districts are partitioned by Latrobe Rd, Scott Rd, Deer Creek, Carson Creek, Nimbus Rd, E3 Highway, Illinois Ave, Madison Ave, Kenneth Ave, Wachtel Way, and Old Auburn Rd. The 3rd district takes in the city of Folsom and the census-designated place of Orangevale.


title: California's 3rd congressional district

text: Yuba County is split between this district and the 1st district. They are partitioned by State Highway 70, Ellis Rd, and Union Pacific. The 3rd district takes in the city of Wheatland, and the census-designated places of Linda, Olivehurst, and Plumas Lake.


title: Bear-baiting

text: Bear-baiting is a blood sport in which a chained bear and one or more dogs are forced to fight one another. It may also involve pitting a bear against another animal.


title: Bear-baiting

text: Bear-baiting was very popular from the 12th until the 19th century. From the sixteenth century, many bears were maintained for baiting. In its best-known form, arenas for this purpose were called bear-gardens, consisting of a circular high fenced area, the "pit", and raised seating for spectators. A post would be set in the ground towards the edge of the pit and the bear chained to it, either by the leg or neck. Several well-trained fighting or baiting dogs, usually Old English Bulldogs, would then be set on it, being replaced as they got tired or were wounded or killed. In some cases the bear was let loose, allowing it to chase after animals or people. For a long time, the main bear-garden in London was the Paris Garden, a section of the Bankside lying to the west of The Clink, at Southwark.


title: Bear-baiting

text: Henry VIII was a fan and had a bear pit constructed at his Palace of Whitehall. Elizabeth I was also fond of the entertainment; it featured regularly in her tours. When an attempt was made to ban bear-baiting on Sundays, she overruled Parliament. Robert Laneham's letter describes the spectacle presented by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester at Kenilworth Castle in 1575:


title: Bear-baiting

text: Variations involved other animals being baited, especially bulls. Bull-baiting was a contest which was similar to bear baiting in which the bull was chained to a stake by one hind leg or by the neck and worried by dogs. The whipping of a blinded bear was another variation of bear-baiting. Also, on one curious occasion, a pony with an ape tied to its back was baited; a spectator described that "... with the screaming of the ape, beholding the curs hanging from the ears and neck of the pony, is very laughable".


title: Bear-baiting

text: Attempts to end the entertainment were first made in the Kingdom of England by the Puritans, with little effect. The deaths of several spectators, when a stand collapsed at the Paris Gardens on 12 January 1583, was viewed by early Puritans as a sign of God's anger, though not primarily because of the cruelty but because the bear-baiting was taking place on a Sunday. One bear named Sackerson was written into the Shakespearean comedy "The Merry Wives of Windsor".


title: Bear-baiting

text: Baiting was banned by the Puritans during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the resultant Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, which ended in 1660. By the late 17th  century "the conscience of cultivated people seems to have been touched". By the 18th century bear-baiting had largely died out in Britain, with the cost of importing bears for blood sports prohibitively high. It was not until 1835 that baiting was prohibited by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835, introduced as a bill by the member of parliament for South Durham, Joseph Pease, who was a Quaker and a member of the committee of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. At that time, the "bull stone" of Leslie, Fife was first recorded in the "New Statistical Account of Scotland" as an item which had already fallen out of use. It is a large stone to which bulls and occasionally bears were tied before being baited. The Act, which also banned (but failed to eradicate) dog fighting and cockfighting, was soon extended across the Empire.


title: Bear-baiting

text: In the 18th century, King Frederick I of Sweden was said to have been presented with a "very large lion" from the Barbary people, which then killed a bear after the king pitted them together in a fight.


title: Bear-baiting

text: In India, towards the end of the 19th century, Gaekwad Sayajirao III of Baroda arranged a fight between a Barbary lion and Bengal tiger, to determine whether the lion or tiger should be called the "King of the Cat Family." The victor then had to face a Sierran Grizzly bear weighing over , after the Gaekwad was told that the cat was not the "King of Carnivorae."


title: Bear-baiting

text: Bear baiting has been occurring in the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan, since 2004. The events are organized predominantly by local gangsters who own the fighting dogs.


title: Bear-baiting

text: During the event the bear will be tethered to a rope long in the centre of an arena to prevent escape. Bears' canine teeth are often removed and their claws may be filed down giving them less advantage over the dogs. Each fight lasts around three minutes. If the dogs pull the bear to the ground they are said to win the fight. Bears usually have to undergo several fights during each day's event.


title: Bear-baiting

text: Bears are illegally sourced by poaching. Asian black bears and brown bears are known to be poached in Pakistan and used in bear baiting. Asiatic black bears are listed as vulnerable on the World Conservation Union's (IUCN's) Red List of Threatened Animals. The capture of bear cubs is prohibited across three provinces of Pakistan by: the North West Frontier Province Conservation and Management Act (1975); the Punjab Wildlife Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management Act (1974); and the Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance (1972).


title: Bear-baiting

text: Bear baiting was banned in Pakistan by the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1890). Pakistan's wildlife authorities are working with animal welfare groups to eradicate the events, with some success. The Bioresource Research Centre, a Pakistani wildlife group working to end bear-baiting, uses Islamic teachings to encourage mosques in areas where baiting occurs, to add an anti-cruelty message to their Friday "Khuṭbah" (, Sermon). Depending on the context, though the Quran does not directly forbid the baiting of animals, there are restrictions on how people can treat them, and it is outlawed in certain hadiths.


title: Bear-baiting

text: Kund Park Sanctuary was opened in 2000 by World Animal Protection to provide a home for bears confiscated by the wildlife authorities and NGOs working to eradicate bear baiting in Pakistan. However, during the 2010 Pakistan floods Kund Park was destroyed and all but three of the 23 bears there died. The survivors were moved to a newly constructed sanctuary in Balkasar Bear Sanctuary.


title: Bear-baiting

text: As recently as 2010, illegal bear-baiting was practiced publicly in South Carolina. All such public exhibitions have been shut down as of 2013.


title: Bear-baiting

text: In the 19th century and during Mexican and earlier Spanish colonial rule, fights had been organized in California, which had a subspecies of brown bear of its own. In a case of the bear winning, the bear would use its teeth to catch a bull between its horns, on its nose, which would allow the bear to move its head enough to twist its neck, or bite a part of the bull's body, like the tongue, or use its paws to catch or harm the bull, like in squeezing its neck, or catching its tongue:


title: Bear-baiting

text: Storer and Trevis (1955) mentioned the account of Albert Evans, who said that he saw an uncommon incident at a Plaza de Toros in Veracruz, Mexico, in January 1870. A bear called 'Samson' dug a hole so large that it could hold an elephant, before using its large paws to carry and throw an opposing bull headfirst into the hole, paw-swipe its side till its breath appeared to have been half-knocked out of its body, and then use one paw to hold the bull, and the other to bury it alive.


title: Bear-baiting

text: The term "bear baiting" may be also used for the hunting practice of luring a bear with bait to an arranged killing spot. The hunter places an amount of food, such as raw meat or sweets, every day at a given spot until the hunter notices the food is being taken each day, accompanied by bear tracks. He then chooses a day to await the bear, killing it when it arrives to feed. In 2007, such bear baiting was legal in many states in the United States, with the Humane Society reporting that: Bear baiting is banned in 18 of the 28 states that allow bear hunting. It persists... in Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. For instance, in Wisconsin in 2002, hunters killed 2,415 bears; those using bait accounted for 1,720 of the kills. In Maine, hunters killed 3,903 bears in 2001, and baiters took 3,173 of the animals.


title: Bear-baiting

text: Author Washington Irving described vaqueros setting a bear against a bull, in his 1837 book "The Adventures of Captain Bonneville." In this "favorite, though barbarous sport" in Monterey, a bear and a bull would be caught from the wild and put together in an arena in a fight to the death.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a music educator as well as an advocate for folk singers to combine traditional songs with new compositions.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Paxton's songs have been widely recorded, including modern standards such as "The Last Thing on My Mind", "Bottle of Wine", "Whose Garden Was This", "The Marvelous Toy", and "Ramblin' Boy". Paxton's songs have been recorded by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, the Weavers, Judy Collins, Sandy Denny, Joan Baez, Doc Watson, Harry Belafonte, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Seekers, Marianne Faithfull, the Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, John Denver, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Flatt & Scruggs, the Move, the Fireballs, and many others (see covers).


title: Tom Paxton

text: Paxton was born on October 31, 1937, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, to Burt and Esther Paxton. His father was "a chemist, mostly self-educated", and as his health began to fail him, the family moved to Wickenburg, Arizona. It was here that young Paxton began riding horses at the numerous dude ranches in the area. It was also here that he was first introduced to folk music, discovering the music of Burl Ives and others.


title: Tom Paxton

text: In 1948, the family moved to Bristow, Oklahoma, which Paxton considers to be his hometown. Soon after, his father died from a stroke. Paxton was about 15 when he received his first stringed instrument, a ukulele. He was given a guitar by his aunt when he was sixteen, and he soon began to immerse himself in the music of Burl Ives and Harry Belafonte.


title: Tom Paxton

text: In 1955, Paxton enrolled at the University of Oklahoma, where he studied in the drama school. It was here that he first found other enthusiasts of folk music and discovered the music of Woody Guthrie and the Weavers. He would later note, "Woody was fearless; he'd take on any issue that got him stirred up ... and he became one of my greatest influences." In college, he was in a group known as the Travellers, which sang in an off-campus coffeehouse.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Upon graduating in 1959 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Paxton acted in summer stock theatre and briefly tried graduate school before joining the Army. While attending the Clerk Typist School in Fort Dix, New Jersey, he began writing songs on his typewriter and spent almost every weekend visiting Greenwich Village in New York City during the emerging early 1960s folk revival.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Shortly after his honorable discharge from the Army, Paxton auditioned for the Chad Mitchell Trio via publisher Milt Okun in 1960. He initially received the part, but his voice did not blend well enough with those of the group members. However, after singing his song "The Marvelous Toy" for Okun, he became the first writer signed to Milt's music publishing company, Cherry Lane Music Publishing.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Paxton soon began performing at The Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village, where he became a mainstay. In 1962, he recorded a privately produced live album at the Gaslight entitled, "I'm the Man That Built the Bridges". During his stay in Greenwich Village, Paxton published some of his songs in the folk magazines "Broadside" and "Sing Out!", and performed alongside such folksingers as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Eric Andersen, Dave Van Ronk, and Mississippi John Hurt. Paxton met his future wife, Margaret Ann Cummings (known as "Midge"), at the Gaslight one night in January 1963 after being introduced to her by David Blue.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Pete Seeger learned a few of Paxton's songs in 1963, including "Ramblin' Boy" (which Seeger performed at The Weavers reunion concert at Carnegie Hall) and "What Did You Learn in School Today?" Paxton increased his profile as a performer, appearing at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival, which was recorded by Vanguard Records. A month after Newport in 1963, Paxton married Midge. He began traveling the country on the coffeehouse and small-venue circuit before returning to New York. Paxton became involved with causes that promoted human rights, civil rights and labor rights. In 1963, Paxton and a group of other folk musicians performed and offered moral support to striking coal miners in Hazard, Kentucky.


title: Tom Paxton

text: After returning to New York in 1964, Paxton signed with Elektra Records, a label which at that time featured a distinguished roster of folk musicians. He would go on to record seven albums for Elektra. As the folk revival hit its peak, Paxton began getting more work outside of New York City, including benefit concerts and college campus visits. In 1964, he took part in the Freedom Summer and visited the Deep South, with other folk musicians, to perform at voter registration drives and civil rights rallies. His civil rights song "Beau John" was written after attending a Freedom Song Workshop in Atlanta, Georgia, and the song "Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney" was written about the murders of three civil rights activists (Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney) in the summer of 1964 by members of the Ku Klux Klan near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Paxton's own compositions began to be increasingly recognized within folk music circles, and in other genres.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Of the songwriters on the Greenwich Village scene of the 1960s, Dave Van Ronk said, "Dylan is usually cited as the founder of the new song movement, and he certainly became its most visible standard-bearer, but the person who started the whole thing was Tom Paxton ... he tested his songs in the crucible of live performance, he found that his own stuff was getting more attention than when he was singing traditional songs or stuff by other people ... he set himself a training regimen of deliberately writing one song every day. Dylan had not yet showed up when this was happening, and by the time Bobby came on the set, with at most two or three songs he had written, Tom was already singing at least 50 percent his own material. That said, it was Bobby's success that really got the ball rolling. Prior to that, the folk community was very much tied to traditional songs, so much so that songwriters would sometimes palm their own stuff off as traditional."


title: Tom Paxton

text: In 1965, Paxton made his first tour of the United Kingdom. The tour was the beginning of a still-thriving professional relationship that has included yearly performances there. He met Bruce Woodley, one of the founding members of the Australian folk group The Seekers and they collaborated on the song "Angeline (Is Always Friday)" which The Seekers recorded and featured in their concerts, TV shows and a DVD. In 1967, the rock group Clear Light recorded a menacing and lengthy psychedelic version of Paxton's song "Mr. Blue" on their only album "Clear Light". Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton's recording of "The Last Thing on My Mind" reached the top ten on the U.S. country singles charts in December 1967. Then in 1968, Paxton scored a Top 10 radio hit when The Fireballs recorded his song "Bottle of Wine". In the 1960s, Paxton licensed one of his songs, "My Dog's Bigger than Your Dog", for use in a Ken-L Ration dog food commercial. Not too fazed by the success of some of his songs, Paxton continued writing and performing. He was not interested in jumping on the folk rock (or, as he once joked, "folk rot") bandwagon though, and continued his folk singer-songwriter style on albums like "Outward Bound" (1966) and "Morning Again" (1968). On January 20, 1968, three months after the death of Woody Guthrie, Paxton and a number of other prominent folk musicians performed at the Harold Leventhal produced "A Tribute to Woody Guthrie" concert at New York City's Carnegie Hall.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Paxton decided to try some more elaborate recording techniques, including neo-chamber music with string sections, flutes, horns, piano, various session musicians, as well as his acoustic guitar and vocals, similar to what his labelmate Judy Collins and his friend Phil Ochs were experimenting with around this time. Paxton finally broke into the album pop charts himself with "The Things I Notice Now" in the summer of 1969, and also charted with "Tom Paxton 6" in the spring of the following year. His song "Whose Garden Was This", an environmentalist anthem written for the first Earth Day, was later recorded by John Denver and became the title track of Denver's 1970 album. Another Paxton song Denver recorded was "Forest Lawn", in whose lyrics Paxton satirized the "theme park approach" to death that Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California has been accused of having taken.


title: Tom Paxton

text: The diverse "Baroque Folk" experimentation on Paxton's recordings was basically short-lived though, and he tended to think that the music was becoming too overproduced and away from the more natural acoustic roots that he loved best. Regarding this time, he said, "the acoustic guitar has always been what I loved the most ... I "know" I didn't have that rock mentality or anything. I was still a kid from a small town in Oklahoma. And I just wanted to hear folk songs." Paxton continued to sing and perform his songs on acoustic guitar at his live performances, and it was not too long before his albums would once again generally reflect his original traditional-sounding style.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Paxton, his wife and their two daughters lived in Holland Park, London, for about four years in the early 1970s. After a stay in England due to professional success and love of the country, Paxton and Midge went on a tour of New Zealand and China and even appeared on a Chinese talk show. Paxton released "How Come the Sun" in 1971. The album gave him his highest chart ranking in the U.S. but it only reached number 120 and his next album, "Peace Will Come" (1972), barely even reached the charts. He soon returned to New York City and the Long Island town of East Hampton before moving to the Washington, D.C. area around 1977. After recording three albums for Reprise Records and a few for "an English label that didn't pan out well", Paxton signed with Vanguard Records, with whom he recorded a live album with Steve Goodman, "New Songs From the Briarpatch" (1977), which contained some of Paxton's topical songs of the 1970s, including "Talking Watergate" and "White Bones of Allende" as well as a song dedicated to Mississippi John Hurt entitled "Did You Hear John Hurt?" In 1978, Paxton released his album "Heroes", which contained a song, "Phil", about his friend Phil Ochs, who had taken his own life in 1976. The album also includes the song "The Death of Stephen Biko", which details the murder of anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko in South Africa.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Paxton's 1979 album, "Up and Up", contains the song "Let the Sunshine", which addresses issues concerning environmentalism and solar energy. Paxton has also performed at the Clearwater Festival, an annual event, started by Pete Seeger, dedicated to environmentalism and cleaning up the Hudson River. His 1983 album "Bulletin" includes a song about Woody Guthrie entitled "They Couldn't Take the Music".


title: Tom Paxton

text: After recording for labels such as Mountain Railroad and Flying Fish in the 1980s, Paxton started his own label, Pax Records, in 1987. It was during this time that Paxton continued to suffer from an undiagnosed and deepening depression that affected his work. With some advice from Midge, he began to look for a solution and was eventually diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, for which he received ongoing treatment.


title: Tom Paxton

text: In the 1990s, Paxton began delving deeply into children's music, recording nine children's albums during the decade. In July 1994, Paxton was invited to perform at a folk festival in Israel, "Jacob's Ladder", and he played there and a series of concerts around Israel accompanied by folk guitarist and harmonica player Shay Tochner. Paxton recorded a live album in 1996 with his good friend Jim Rooney, and it contained some new comical songs about current events. Eric Weissberg, John Gorka, Robin and Linda Williams, among others, also performed; and the album was titled "Live: For the Record". In the mid-1990s, Paxton also began to give more workshops in songwriting.


title: Tom Paxton

text: In 2000, Paxton once again began to write more of the topical songs that had been prominent during his early career. In 2001, he released an album with Anne Hills entitled "Under American Skies", and in 2002, he released an album of all new songs entitled "Looking for the Moon" (Appleseed Recordings). At the time of its release, Paxton was quoted saying that it might be his best album so far. "Looking for the Moon" contains the song "The Bravest", which is about the firefighters who gave their lives while trying to save others in New York City on September 11, 2001. Around this time, Paxton began writing and releasing his "Short Shelf Life Songs" about current events for free download on his website. Paxton wrote a number of topical protest songs that were critical of the Bush administration's actions. In 2007, he rewrote a song of his from 1965 entitled "Lyndon Johnson Told The Nation", about the escalation of the war in Vietnam, and transformed it into "George W. Told The Nation", about the surge in the Iraq war. In 2007, Tom Paxton became one of the founding members of the Copyright Alliance, whose purpose is to promote the cultural and economic benefits of copyrights.


title: Tom Paxton

text: In 2008, Paxton rewrote his song "I'm Changing My Name to Chrysler", about the federal loan guarantee to Chrysler in 1979, as "I Am Changing My Name to Fannie Mae", about the 700 billion dollar "bailout of the U.S. financial system". He continues to perform yearly tours of the United States and UK.


title: Tom Paxton

text: In March 2015, Paxton released the studio album "Redemption Road". In January 2017, Paxton released "Boat in the Water", his sixty-third album.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Paxton is now in "semi-retirement", though he still performs occasional shows and did a 10 venue UK tour in 2017.


title: Tom Paxton

text: Paxton toured the UK in 2018 and 2019 (11 venues), accompanied by The Don Juans. His shows featured his 2011 song "What if, no matter" ("He couldn't lay his hands on a gun").


title: Tom Paxton

text: Paxton married his wife, Midge (born Margaret Anne Cummings, February 23, 1945), in 1963. They have two daughters, Jennifer and Kate, and three grandsons. Jennifer is a history professor who has published courses for The Teaching Company. Midge Paxton died June 1, 2014 after a long illness.


title: Tom Paxton

text: He has described his political views in the following way: "My own politics more or less resembled Will Rogers's politics. He had said that he belonged to no organized political party — he was a Democrat ... being young and impassioned almost automatically put me over on the radical side of most issues. Being older, I find myself still more or less there, somewhat to my surprise."


title: Tom Paxton

text: In February 2002, Paxton was honored with the ASCAP Lifetime Achievement Award in Folk Music. A few days later, he received three Wammies (Washington, DC, Area Music Awards); as Best Male Vocalist in the "traditional folk" and "children's music" categories, and for Best Traditional Folk Recording of the Year for "Under American Skies" (2001).


title: Tom Paxton

text: Paxton has been nominated four times for Grammy Awards, all since 2002. He was first nominated in 2002 for his children's album, "Your Shoes, My Shoes". The following year, "Looking for the Moon" received a 2003 nomination for "Best Contemporary Folk Album". "Live in the UK" (2005), received a 2006 Grammy nomination in the "Best Traditional Folk Album" category. Most recently, his 2008 album "Comedians and Angels" received a 2009 nomination, also in the "Best Traditional Folk Album" category. Paxton was honored with a 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy, and the formal announcement was made during the 51st Annual Grammy Awards telecast, which aired on February 8, 2009.


title: Tom Paxton

text: In 2004, the Martin Guitar Company introduced the HD-40LSH Tom Paxton Signature Edition acoustic guitar in his honor. In 2005, Paxton received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting at BBC Radio 2's Folk Awards at London's Brewery Arts Centre. In 2006, Paxton received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance. On January 22, 2007, Paxton was honored with an official Parliamentary tribute at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom at the start of his 2007 UK tour. On May 3, 2008, Paxton was honored with a special lifetime tribute from the World Folk Music Association, and a concert was held at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria Campus, in Alexandria, Virginia.


title: Critical period

text: In developmental psychology and developmental biology, a critical period is a maturational stage in the lifespan of an organism during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to certain environmental stimuli. If, for some reason, the organism does not receive the appropriate stimulus during this "critical period" to learn a given skill or trait, it may be difficult, ultimately less successful, or even impossible, to develop certain associated functions later in life. Functions that are indispensable to an organism's survival, such as vision, are particularly likely to develop during critical periods. "Critical period" also relates to the ability to acquire one's first language. Researchers found that people who passed the "critical period" would not acquire their first language fluently.


title: Critical period

text: Some researchers differentiate between 'strong critical periods' and 'weak critical periods' (a.k.a. 'sensitive' periods) — defining 'weak critical periods' / 'sensitive periods' as more extended periods, after which learning is still possible. Other researchers consider these the same phenomenon.


title: Critical period

text: For example, the critical period for the development of a human child's binocular vision is thought to be between three and eight months, with sensitivity to damage extending up to at least three years of age. Further critical periods have been identified for the development of hearing and the vestibular system.


title: Critical period

text: Examples of strong critical periods include monocular deprivation, filial imprinting, monaural occlusion, and Prefrontal Synthesis acquisition. These traits cannot be acquired after the end of the critical period.


title: Critical period

text: Examples of weak critical periods include phoneme tuning, grammar processing, articulation control, vocabulary acquisition, music training, auditory processing, sport training, and many other traits that can be significantly improved by training at any age.


title: Critical period

text: Critical periods of plasticity occur in the prenatal brain and continue throughout childhood until adolescence and are very limited during adulthood. Two major factors influence the opening of critical periods: cellular events (i.e. changes in molecular landscape) and sensory experience (i.e. hearing sound, visual input, etc). Both need to coincide for the critical period to open properly. At the cellular level, critical periods are characterized by maturation of the inhibitory circuits. More precisely, factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and orthodenticle homeobox 2 (Otx2) contribute to the maturation of a major class of inhibitory neurons: parvalbumin-positive interneurons (PV cells). Prior to the onset of the critical period, modulation of this circuit is hampered by early factors such as polysialic acid (PSA). PSA acts, in part, by preventing Otx2 interaction with PV cells. Soon after the opening of the critical period, PSA levels decrease, allowing PV cell maturation by activating inhibitory GABAa receptors that facilitate inhibitory circuit remodeling. Artificially removing PSA, or experimentally manipulating inhibitory transmission can result in early opening of the critical period. While the timing of these molecular events seems to be partially explained by clock genes, experience is crucial as sensory deprivation experiments have been shown to interfere with the proper timing of critical periods.


title: Critical period

text: Hebbian theory guides the idea of activity-dependent competition: if two neurons both have the potential to make a connection with a cell, the neuron that fires more will make the connection.


title: Critical period

text: This phenomenon of activity-dependent competition is especially seen in the formation of ocular dominance columns within the visual system. Early in development, most of the visual cortex is binocular, meaning it receives roughly equal input from both eyes. Normally, as development progresses, the visual cortex will segregate into monocular columns that receive input from only one eye. However, if one eye is patched, or otherwise prevented from receiving sensory input, the visual cortex will shift to favor representation of the uncovered eye. This demonstrates activity-dependent competition and Hebbian theory because inputs from the uncovered eye make and retain more connections than the patched eye.


title: Critical period

text: Axon formation and growth is another key part of plasticity and activity-dependent competition. Axon growth and branching has been shown to be inhibited when the neuron's electrical activity is suppressed below the level of an active neighbor. This shows that axonal growth dynamics are not independent but rather depend on the local circuits within which they are active (i.e. the activity of the other neurons competing for connections).


title: Critical period

text: Microglia inherently play a role in synaptic pruning during adolescence. As resident immune cells of the central nervous system, microglia’s main role is phagocytosis and engulfment. Studies have found that during critical periods in the visual cortex, neural synapses become the target of microglial phagocytosis. Neurons who received less frequent input from retinal ganglion cells during early postnatal periods were more prone to be engulfed and pruned by microglia, as per monocular deprivation experiments. Similar results were found when manipulating G-coupled purinergic receptors on microglial processes. Blocking these receptors or performing a knockout experiment significantly lowered microglial interactions and synaptic pruning during the early visual cortex critical period. More recently, the expression of the complement component 4 gene has been found to significantly contribute to abnormally high levels of microglial synaptic pruning during early stages of development in schizophrenic neurons and microglia, suggesting a genomic connection between the immune system and critical periods.


title: Critical period

text: Dendritic spine motility is the altering of the dendritic morphology of a neuron, specifically the appearing and disappearing of the small protrusions known as spines. In early postnatal development, spine motility has been found to be at very high levels. Due to its most pronounced occurrence during postnatal days 11 through 15, spine motility is thought to have a role in neurogenesis. Motility levels significantly decrease before the start of the visual cortex critical period and monocular deprivation experiments show that motility levels steadily decrease until the critical period is over, hinting that motility might not be explicitly involved in this process. However, binocular deprivation before eye-opening resulted in a significant up-regulation of spine motility until the peak of the critical period, resulting in controversial findings regarding the role of dendritic spine motility.


title: Critical period

text: Another critical component of neuronal plasticity is the balance of excitatory and inhibitory inputs. Early in development, GABA, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the adult brain, exhibits an excitatory effect on its target neurons. However, due to changes in internal chloride levels due to the up-regulation of potassium chloride pumps, GABA then switches to inhibitory synaptic transmission. The maturation of the GABAergic inhibitory system helps to trigger the onset of critical periods. Strengthened GABAergic systems can induce an early critical period, while weaker GABAergic inputs can delay or even prevent plasticity. Inhibition also guides plasticity once the critical period has begun. For example, lateral inhibition is especially important in guiding columnar formation in the visual cortex. Hebbian theory provides insight on the importance of inhibition within neural networks: without inhibition, there would be more synchronous firing and therefore more connections, but with inhibition, fewer excitatory signals get through, allowing only the more salient connections to mature.


title: Critical period

text: Critical period closure has been shown to be modulated by the maturation of inhibitory circuits, mediated by the formation of perineuronal nets around inhibitory neurons. Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are structures in the extracellular matrix formed by chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, hyaluronan, and link proteins. These structures envelop the soma of inhibitory neurons in the central nervous system, appearing with age to stabilize mature circuits. PNN development coincides with the closure of critical periods, and both PNN formation and critical period timing is delayed in dark-rearing. For example, PNN digestion by ABC chondroitinase in rats leads to a shift in ocular dominance upon monocular deprivation, which is normally restricted to its critical period much earlier in development.


title: Critical period

text: Additionally, PNNs are negatively charged, which is theorized to create a cation-rich environment around cells, potentially leading to an increased firing rate of inhibitory neurons, thereby allowing for increased inhibition after the formation of PNNs and helping to close the critical period. The role of PNNs in critical period closure is further supported by the finding that fast-spiking parvalbulmin-positive interneurons are often surrounded by PNNs.


title: Critical period

text: Perineuronal nets have also been found to contain chemorepulsive factors, such as semaphorin3A, which restrict axon growth necessary for plasticity during critical periods. In all, these data suggest a role for PNNs in the maturation of CNS inhibition, the prevention of plastic axonal growth, and subsequently, critical period closure.


title: Critical period

text: Another mechanism that closes the critical period is myelination. Myelin sheaths are formed by oligodendrocytes in the CNS that wrap around segments of axons to increase their firing speed. Myelin is formed in the early stages of development and progresses in waves, with brain areas of later phylogenetic development (i.e. those associated with “higher” brain functions like the frontal lobes) having later myelination. The maturation of myelination in intracortical layers coincides with critical period closure in mice, which has led to further research on the role of myelination on critical period duration.


title: Critical period

text: Myelin is known to bind many different axonal growth inhibitors that prevent plasticity seen in critical periods. The Nogo Receptor is expressed in myelin and binds to the axonal growth inhibitors Nogo and MAG (among others), preventing axon growth in mature, myelinated neurons. Instead of affecting the timing of the critical period, mutations of the Nogo receptor prolong the critical period temporarily. A mutation of the Nogo receptor in mice was found to extend the critical period for monocular dominance from around 20 – 32 days to 45 or 120 days, suggesting a likely role of the myelin Nogo receptor in critical period closure.


title: Critical period

text: Additionally, the effects of myelination are temporally limited, since myelination itself may have its own critical period and timing. Research has shown that social isolation of mice leads to reduced myelin thickness and poor working memory, but only during a juvenile critical period. In primates, isolation is correlated with abnormal changes in white matter potentially due to decreased myelination.


title: Critical period

text: In all, myelin and its associated receptors bind several important axonal growth inhibitors which help close the critical period. The timing of this myelination, however, is dependent on the brain region and external factors such as the social environment.


title: Critical period

text: While the presence or absence of sensory experiences most robustly shapes brain development during the critical period, the behavioral context (i.e. the amount of attention, arousal, fear and reward experienced) concurrent with the sensory inputs have been suggested to be important in regulating the brain remodeling mechanisms. In terms of brain connectivity, these behavioral and contextual inputs activate the neuromodulatory system, which have substantial connectivity to the cortex The molecular effectors released by the neuromodulatory system are called neuromodulators, which include acetylcholine, dopamine, and noradrenaline among others. Investigating the effect of these molecules, as well as the neurons that release and bind them, has been one approach to elucidate the biology of neuromodulation. Research using this approach has highlighted the role of neuromodulation in sensory processing during the critical period. For example, on the one hand, in kittens, a shift in ocular dominance resulting from monocular deprivation during the critical period is reduced by combined destruction of noradrenergic and cholinergic neurons. In addition, prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) causes a shift in perceptual narrowing on language to earlier in development. On the other hand, neuromodulatory stimulation has been shown to induce brain plasticity in adult mice. While being subjected to cholinergic or dopaminergic stimulation, adult mice listening to a tone of specific frequency exhibited expansion of the tonotopic area in the auditory cortex that responds specifically to sounds of that frequency.


title: Critical period

text: Mechanistically, neuromodulation is increasingly being recognized for its fine-tuning of the PV cell-mediated inhibition of excitatory pyramidal neurons' soma. Central to the neuromodulatory regulation of PV cell activity is the existence of distinct subsets of inhibitory neurons, which are responsive to activation by neuromodulators and which inhibit PV cells. Within these cells, some also inhibit specific pyramidal cell dendrites. By inhibiting PV cells activity, the neuromodulator-sensitive inhibitory cells such as those expressing Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) or somatostatin (SST) lift the inhibition of the pyramidal neurons; in other words, the activity of VIP and SST-expressing cells result in the disinhibition of pyramidal neurons. Then, by inhibiting only certain dendritic branches of these now dis-inhibited pyramidal neurons, the neuromodulation-activated cells allow select sensory inputs to excite the pyramidal neurons and be represented in the brain circuitry. Thus, in a landscape of global inhibition by maturing inhibitory signaling, neuromodulation allows windows of dis-inhibition, temporally and spatially, that allow behaviorally important sensory inputs the opportunity to influence the brain.