title: Michigan Wolverines

text: Through the 2008 Summer Olympics, 204 UM students and coaches had participated in the Olympics, winning medals at each Summer Olympic Games except 1896, and winning gold medals in all but four Olympiads. Through the year 2020, UM students/student-coaches (e.g., notably, Michael Phelps) have won a total of 185 Olympic medals: 85 Golds, 48 Silvers, and 52 Bronzes.


title: Michigan Wolverines

text: The Michigan Wolverines is one of the few college sports teams that does not have a live or costumed mascot, largely for reasons of tradition. In the late 1920s, the Wolverines did have an unofficial mascot – Biff, the Michigan Wolverine. The first Biff was a stuffed wolverine. The second Biff was a live wolverine, who had a companion named Bennie, but the two mustelids grew to become too ferocious to be taken to games, which ended their career as mascots.


title: Ogaden

text: Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled "Ogadēn"; , ) is one of the historical names given to the modern Somali Region, the territory comprising the eastern portion of Ethiopia formerly part of the Hararghe province. The other two names are the Haud and Reserved area.


title: Ogaden

text: The origin of the term "Ogaden" is unknown, however it is usually attributed to the Somali clan of the same name, originally referring only to their land, and eventually expanding to encompass most parts of the modern Somali Region of Ethiopia.


title: Ogaden

text: During the new region's founding conference, which was held in Dire Dawa in 1992, the naming of the region became a divisive issue, because almost 30 Somali clans live in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The ONLF sought to name the region ‘Ogadenia’, whilst the non-Ogadeni Somali clans who live in the same region opposed this move. As noted by Abdul Majid Hussein, the naming of the region where there are several Somali clans as ‘Ogadenia’ following the name of a single clan would have been divisive. Finally, the region was named the Somali region.


title: Ogaden

text: An alternative (possibly folk) etymology analyses the name as a combination of the Harari word "ūga" ("road") and Aden, a city in Yemen, supposedly deriving from an ancient caravan route through the region connecting Harar to the Arabian Peninsula.


title: Ogaden

text: There are few historical texts written about the people who lived in what is known today as the Somali Region, sometimes referred to as The 'Ogaden' region of Ethiopia. In its early history, The 'Ogaden' was inhabited by Harla, a now extinct people. Harla are linked to the Harari and Somali Ogaden clan. In the ninth century Ogaden served as capital of the Makhzumi Dynasty. Ogaden was part of the Ifat Sultanate in the 13th and beginning of the 14th centuries AD. The borders of the sultanate extended to the Shewa–Addis Ababa area of Ethiopia. The Ifat Sultanate was succeeded by the Adal Sultanate. There was an ongoing conflict between the Adal Sultanate and the Christian Kingdom of Abyssinia throughout this time. During the first half of the 16th century, most of Abyssinian territory was conquered and came under the rule of Adal, when Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, the leader of Adal, took control.


title: Ogaden

text: In the seventeenth century it became a tributary state of the Emirate of Harar. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the region was conquered by Menelik II of Ethiopia, who solidified their claim by treaties in 1897.


title: Ogaden

text: I.M. Lewis argues a subtly different interpretation of this treaty, emphasising that "the lost lands in the Haud which were excised from the Protectorate [i.e. British Somaliland] were not, however ceded to Ethiopia". In practice, Ethiopia exerted little administrative control east of Jijiga until 1934 when an Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission attempted to demarcate the treaty boundary. This boundary is still disputed.


title: Ogaden

text: After the Italian conquest of Ethiopia in 1936, Ogaden was attached to Italian Somaliland, becoming the Somalia Governorate within the new colony of Italian East Africa. Following the British conquest of this colony, the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement placed Ogaden under temporary British control. The British sought to unite Ogaden with British Somaliland and the former Italian Somaliland to realize Greater Somalia which was supported by many Somalis. Ethiopia unsuccessfully pleaded before the London Conference of the Allied Powers to gain the Ogaden and Eritrea in 1945, but their persistent negotiations and pressure from the United States eventually persuaded the British to cede Ogaden to Ethiopia in 1948. The last remaining British controlled parts of Haud were returned to Ethiopia in 1955.


title: Ogaden

text: In the late 1970s, internal unrest in the 'Ogaden' resumed. The Western Somali Liberation Front, spurred by Makhtal Dahir, used guerilla tactics to resist Ethiopian rule. Ethiopia and Somalia fought the Ogaden War over control of this region and its peoples.


title: Ogaden

text: In 2007, the Ethiopian Army launched a military crackdown in Ogaden after Ogaden rebels killed dozens of civilian staff workers and guards at an Ethiopian oil field. The main rebel group is the Ogaden National Liberation Front under its Chairman Mohamed O. Osman, which is fighting against the Ethiopian government. Some Somalis who inhabit in the 'Ogaden' claimed that Ethiopian military kill civilians, destroy the livelihood of many of the ethnic Somalis and commit crimes against the nomads in the region. However, testimony before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs revealed massive brutality and killings by the ONLF rebels, which the Ethiopian government labels "terrorists." The extent of this war can't be established due to a media blockade in the 'Ogaden' region. Some international rights organizations have accused the Ethiopian government of committing abuses and crimes that "violate laws of war," as a recent report by the Human Rights Watch indicates. Other reports have claimed that Ethiopia has bombed, killed, and raped many Somalis in the Ogaden region, while the United States continues to arm Ethiopia in the United States' ongoing War on Terror in the Horn of Africa.


title: Ogaden

text: The region, which is around 200,000 square kilometres, borders Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, and Somaliland. Important towns include Jijiga, Degahbur, Gode, Kebri Dahar, Fiq, Shilabo, Kelafo, Werder and Danan.


title: Ogaden

text: The Ogaden is part of the Somali Acacia–Commiphora bushlands and thickets ecoregion. It has been a historic habitat for the endangered African wild dog, "Lycaon pictus"; However, this canid is thought by some to have been extirpated from Ogaden.


title: Ogaden

text: The Ogaden is a plateau, with an elevation above sea level that ranges from 1,500 metres in the northwest, falling to about 300 metres along the southern limits and the Wabi Shebelle valley. The areas with altitudes between 1,400 and 1,600 metres are characterised as semi-arid; receiving as much as 500–600 mm of rainfall annually. More typical of the Ogaden is an average annual rainfall of 350 mm and less. The landscape consists of dense shrubland, bush grassland and bare hills. In more recent years, the Ogaden has suffered from increasingly erratic rainfall patterns, which has led to an increasing frequency of major droughts: in 1984–85; 1994; and most recently in 1999–2000, during which pastoralists claim to have lost 70–90 percent of their cattle.


title: Ogaden

text: The inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Somalis, of almost 30 clans. The Ogaden (clan) of the Darod constitute one of the majority in the region, and were enlisted in the Ogaden National Liberation Movement, That is why the region is associated with the Ogaden Clan. However, this is disputed. Other Somali clans in the region are Isaaq, Gadabuursi, Issa, Massare, Degodia and Jidle and Karanle Hawiye clans.


title: Rafael Amaya

text: José Rafael Amaya Núñez (born 28 February 1977) is a Mexican actor, born in Hermosillo, Mexico. He is best known for his character Aurelio Casillas in the Telemundo series "El Señor de los Cielos".


title: Rafael Amaya

text: Amaya was born in Hermosillo, Mexico, but when he was five years old, his family moved to Tecate, Baja California where he grew up. In his adolescence, he took theater and music classes. Upon entering college, he moved to San Diego, California to study but left school before graduating. After leaving college, he returned to Mexico to try his luck with a music group, the Palapa Band, which did not prosper. Amaya decided to enroll in the Centro de Educación Artística of Televisa, attempting to enter the world of music with another group, Garibaldi, with which he recorded two albums.


title: Rafael Amaya

text: After leaving his short musical career, in 2000, his first acting role was on the telenovela "La casa en la playa", where he played Romualdo; after gaining attention in the role, he received offers for roles in other productions. In 2001, he was cast in the role of Cástulo in "Sin pecado concebido". In 2002, he was given his first lead role in the telenovela "Salomé", where he plays José Julián, one of Salomé's three sons, a role that solidifies him as a bonafide actor and earns him two nominations, one for the El Heraldo de México and another for the TVyNovelas Awards. In that same year, he is called to be part of the cast of "Las vías del amor". In 2003, he again secures a leading role in the telenovela "Amar otra vez" with Irán Castillo and Valentino Lanús. His film debut comes in 2004 with the film "Desnudos", in which he shares credits with Karyme Lozano and Isabel Madow. In 2006, he goes to Miami, United States to film "Las dos caras de Ana" with his ex-partner Ana Layevska. In that same year, he returns to the cinema co-starring with Ana de la Reguera and Gabriela Platas in the controversial film "Así del precipicio". In February 2008, he began filming "24 cuadros de terror", where for the first time in his career, he played a serial killer. In that same year he filmed the romantic comedy film "Amor letra por letra" with Plutarco Haza and Silvia Navarro, which premiered in August of that year. He also participated in the film "Me gustas tú", a film that pays homage to the late comedian Germán Valdés, which also stars Carmen Salinas and Luis Felipe Tovar. That year proved to be a busy one with much activity having also appeared in the series "Mujeres asesinas" and "Sexo y otros secretos". At the end of that same year, he began filming the feature film "North", a thriller about immigrants who were robbed of their organs and then trafficked. He also appeared in the video clip of Enrique Iglesias song, "Lloro Por Ti".


title: Rafael Amaya

text: In 2009 he ventured further into the film industry. The frantic activity continued in 2010 playing Julián García Correa, a doctor with a mental disorder, in the telenovela of Telemundo "Alguien te mira." This production was the first time in which Amaya played a villain in a telenovela. In 2011 he had a brief role in the very successful telenovela "La Reina del Sur", playing the role of “El Guero,” who was the love interest of Kate del Castillo’s character and was the foundation on which the role of Aurelio Casillas in “Senor de Los Cielos” was based (both characters were pilots who had their own fleets of planes which were used to transport drugs for Mexico's most notorious cartels). In that same year, he traveled to Spain to participate in two series "Hospital Central" and "Doctor Mateo" and in the film "La piel azul".


title: Rafael Amaya

text: After his trip to Spain, he was absent from the acting world for a year and a half. In 2013 he joined the cast of the television film of "Hallmark Channel", entitled "Meddling Mom", which had begun filming 2012, and where he played Pablo. In that same year, he was selected by Telemundo to play Aurelio Casillas a famous drug trafficker in the super series "El Señor de los Cielos", which is based on the life of Amado Carrillo Fuentes. Thanks to his performance he won as Favorite Lead Actor at the 2014 Premios Tu Mundo. Since first taking on this career-making role, he has won the prize three times consecutively in all the awards galas of Premios Tu Mundo. In 2014, he appeared in the short film "Kiss of Vengeance", and in the film based on the life of the actor Cantinflas. He also participated in two episodes in the series "Señora Acero" as Aurelio Casillas. In 2015 he got his first lead role in a film, entitled "Oro y polvo".


title: Rafael Amaya

text: In 2016 he also had a guest role (and cameo appearance) in the American series "Queen of the South", which was an adaptation of the telenovela "La Reina del Sur", where he also played Aurelio Casillas. In December of that same year, he again played Aurelio in the "spin-off" of the series "El Señor de los Cielos", entitled "El Chema".


title: Rafael Amaya

text: Amaya was in a relationship with actress Ana Layevska, whom he met in 2006 while working on the telenovela "Las dos caras de Ana". In 2007, they made their relationship official and both actors committed to getting married, but in 2010 Amaya ended his relationship with Layevska.


title: Rafael Amaya

text: In 2010, after ending his relationship with Layevska, he confirmed his relationship with the actress Angélica Celaya, whom he met in the telenovela "Alguien te mira." In 2014, they got engaged, but ended their relationship in 2015.


title: Japji Sahib

text: Japji Sahib (Punjabi: ਜਪੁਜੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ ) is the Sikh thesis, that appears at the beginning of the "Guru Granth Sahib" – the scripture of the Sikhs. It was composed by Guru Angad, and is mostly the writings of Guru Nanak the founder of Sikhism. It begins with "Mool Mantra" and then follow 38 "paudis" (stanzas) and completed with a final "Salok by Guru Angad" at the end of this composition. The 38 stanzas are in different poetic meters.


title: Japji Sahib

text: "Japji Sahib" is the first composition of Guru Nanak, and is considered the comprehensive essence of Sikhism. Expansion and elaboration of "Japji Sahib" is the entire "Guru Granth Sahib". It is first Bani in Nitnem. Notable is Nanak's discourse on 'what is true worship' and what is the nature of God'. According to Christopher Shackle, it is designed for "individual meditative recitation" and as the first item of daily devotional prayer for the devout. It is a chant found in the morning and evening prayers in Sikh gurdwaras. It is also chanted in the Sikh tradition at the Khalsa initiation ceremony and during the cremation ceremony.


title: Japji Sahib

text: Related to "Japji Sahib" is the Jaap Sahib (), the latter is found at the start of Dasam Granth and was composed by Guru Gobind Singh.


title: Japji Sahib

text: Japa (Sanskrit: जप) means the recitation of a mantra. The Sanskrit word "japa" is derived from the root "jap-", meaning "to utter in a low voice, repeat internally, mutter".


title: Japji Sahib

text: The Japji Sahib’s first stanza or pauri states that one cannot be cleaned or stay clean by repeatedly taking bath at holy sites as the thoughts are not clean, by silence alone one cannot find peace as the thoughts come one after another in our mind, by food and all material gains alone one cannot satisfy one's hunger, to be purified one must abide in love of the divine. Hymn 2 asserts that by God's command the ups and downs in life happen, it is He who causes suffering and happiness, it is He whose command brings release from rebirth, and it is His command by which one lives in perpetual cycles of rebirth from karma.


title: Japji Sahib

text: With good karmas in past life and his grace is the gate to "mukti" (liberation); in him is everything, states verse 4. The verse 5 states that He has endless virtues, so one must sing His name, listen, and keep the love for Him in one's heart. The Guru's "shabda" (word) is the protecting sound and wisdom of the Vedas, the Guru is Shiva, Vishnu (Gorakh) and Brahma, and the Guru is mother Parvati and Lakshmi. All living beings abide in Him. Verse 6 to 15 describe the value of listening to the word and having faith, for it is the faith that liberates. God is formless and indescribable, state verses 16 to 19. It is remembering His name that cleanses, liberates states Hymn 20. Hymns 21 through 27 revere the nature and name of God, stating that man's life is like a river that does not know the vastness of ocean it journeys to join, that all literature from Vedas to Puranas speak of Him, Brahma speaks, Siddhas speak, Yogi speaks, Shiva speaks, the silent sages speak, the Buddha speaks, the Krishna speaks, the humble Sewadars speak, yet one cannot describe Him completely with all the words in the world.


title: Japji Sahib

text: Verse 30 states that He watches all, but none can see Him. God is the primal one, the pure light, without beginning, without end, the never changing constant, states Hymn 31.


title: Japji Sahib

text: The Guru Granth Sahib starts with "Japji Sahib", while Dasam Granth starts with Jaap Sahib. Guru Nanak is credited with the former, while Guru Gobind Singh is credited with the latter. "Jaap Sahib" is structured as a stotra that are commonly found in 1st millennium CE Hindu literature. The Jaap Sahib, unlike the Japji Sahib, is composed predominantly in Braj-Hindi and the Sanskrit language, with a few Arabic and Persian words, and with 199 stanzas making it longer than Japji Sahib. The Jaap Sahib is, like Japji Sahib, in praise of God as the unchanging, loving, unborn, ultimate power and includes within it 950 names of God, starting with Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu and moving on to over 900 names and avatars of gods and goddesses found in Hindu traditions, with the assertion that these are all manifestations of the One, the limitless eternal creator. This is similar to Sahasranama texts of India, and for this reason this part is also called as Akal Sahasranama. The text includes Arabic and Persian words for God such as "Khuda" and "Allah". The Japu Sahib includes a mention of God as wielder of weapons, consistent with the martial spirit of Dasam Granth.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo is a Japanese science fiction anime television series produced by Gonzo. An adaptation of the 1844 novel "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas, the 24-episode series aired on Japanese television between October 2004 and March 2005; it was licensed for a Western release first by Geneon Entertainment and later by Funimation. The series was adapted into a CD drama, a trilogy of novels by screenwriter Shuichi Kouyama, and a manga written and drawn by series creator Mahiro Maeda which ran from 2005 to 2008.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Set in the year 5053, the series focuses on the impact of the titular Count: formerly a sailor named Edmund Dantes, he was betrayed by his friends and imprisoned on false charges. Aided by a mysterious force dubbed "Gankutsuou", Dantes escaped and refashioned himself as the Count, determined to exact vengeance on those who wronged him. The series is mainly told from the perspective of Viscount Albert de Morcerf, the teenage son of one of the Count's enemies. While the series adapts much of the original storyline and carries over its theme of revenge, the plot and characters feature multiple differences.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Originally intended as an adaptation of "The Stars My Destination" by Alfred Bester, the copyright holders' refusal to allow an adaptation led Maeda to instead use Dumas's novel, which had parallel themes to Bester's story. Maeda created the story and characters, collaborating on the former with Kouyama and the latter's designs with artist Hidenori Matsubara. The anime's artstyle blended Western Impressionism and Japanese Ukiyo-e styles. Fashion designer Anna Sui collaborated on costume designs. Original music was co-composed by Jean-Jacques Burnel of British band The Stranglers, who also composed and sang the main themes. The series was praised by Western critics and received multiple international accolades.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: "Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo" is set in the year 5053; the two major powers are the planet Earth and the alien-dominated Eastern Empire, who have been at war for an undetermined time. During a visit to the Moon-based city of Lune with his childhood friend Baron Franz d'Epinay, Viscount Albert de Morcerf meets a mysterious self-made nobleman called the Count of Monte Cristo. After the Count helps Franz save Albert from a gang of kidnappers, Albert introduces the Count into the high society of Paris. This includes Albert's father General Fernand de Morcerf and his wife Mercedes; the powerful banker Baron Jullian Danglars, his wife Victoria, and their daughter and Albert's betrothed Eugénie; and the Crown Prosecutor of Paris Gérard de Villefort, his current wife Héloïse, and his first wife's daughter Valentine. Albert later meets the Count's alien princess companion Haydée and the Marquis Andrea Cavalcanti, a flamboyant nobleman who quickly replaces Albert as Eugénie's fiancee through the Count's influence.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: During the course of the story, the Count is revealed to be Edmund Dantes, a former sailor and Mercedes's first love. Twenty years before, he was falsely implicated in a murder by his assumed friends Danglars and Fernand—Danglars due to his hatred of Edmund's honesty, and Fernand to win Mercedes's hand. Edmund is then imprisoned in the Château d'If by Villefort, who sought to protect himself due to being part of an associated political conspiracy. With the aid of a demonic being called Gankutsuou that was lurking in the d'If, Edmund escaped and refashioned himself as the Count, committing himself to revenge against those who wronged him and orchestrating Albert's kidnapping to ingratiate himself with Parisian society.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: The Count's revenge against his enemies spans multiple fronts. With Danglars, the Count manipulates events to ruin him, then later confronts him when he tries to escape his creditors; after revealing his identity, the Count leaves Danglars adrift in space. This event is compounded by the exposing of Andrea as a fraud and murderer, having been set up by the Count as royalty as part of his revenge. Albert helps Eugénie escape Paris, with the two admitting their love for each other. With Villefort, the Count first arranges for Héloïse to poison Valentine, of whom she is jealous. Valentine is saved and removed to Marseilles by her soldier lover Maximilien Morrel with Franz's help. The Count then arranges for Héloïse to poison herself, driving her insane. Villefort attacks the Count and is put on trial. Andrea appears and reveals himself as the illegitimate son of Villefort and Victoria, then poisons Villefort as revenge for his abandonment. The poison drives Villefort insane just after the Count reveals his motives.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Alongside these events, the Count ruins Fernand's name with help from Haydée, whose family was framed and murdered by Fernand as allies of the Eastern Empire, and who was sold into slavery. Albert challenges the Count to a duel for his family's honor, but Franz takes his place and is killed; in the process, Franz inflicts a fatal wound to the Count, who is kept alive by Gankutsuou. Fernand rallies his forces for a coup d'état in Paris, which results in the city being damaged, Andrea escaping prison and Villefort being killed; Fernand's aim is to take over the Earth government and wage fresh war against the Eastern Empire. When Albert and Mercedes try to reason with Fernand after they learn the truth, he injures them and confronts the Count, resulting in a stand-off where Fernand holds Haydée hostage. The Count becomes completely possessed by Gankutsuou and attempts to murder Albert, but Albert manages to banish Gankutsuou, and free from its control Edmund dies. Albert, Mercedes and Haydée escape, while Fernand commits suicide in an act of redemption. Five years later, peace is being established between Earth and the Eastern Empire. Haydée assumes her place as queen of her world; Maximilien leaves the army to live with Valentine; Mercedes is at peace, though mourning Edmund and Fernand's deaths; and Albert, having rebuilt his life, reunites with Eugénie.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: The anime is an adaptation of "The Count of Monte Cristo", a French adventure novel written by Alexandre Dumas in collaboration with his regular partner Auguste Maquet, beginning as a newspaper serial in 1844. "The Count of Monte Cristo" is considered a literary classic, and in the years since its publication has received numerous adaptations. While the original novel took place during the Bourbon Restoration of the early 19th century, "Gankutsuou" takes place in a distant science fiction-based future, although multiple events within the anime parallel the historic and political events portrayed in the novel. As with the original novel, "Gankutsuou" focuses on the theme of revenge; Edmund's pursuit of his enemies and how far he is prepared to go to exact slow calculated retribution is the central plot of both the novel and the anime. According to series creator Mahiro Maeda, the original story's Christian elements—which focused the novel's themes on forgiveness and divine retribution—were cut out to make the story more accessible to a modern audience, in addition to him thinking that the Count would never have enacted his revenge in the face of the novel's Christian themes. As a consequence, the anime's central theme became how the cast's actions are influenced by their emotions.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: While the core narrative remains intact and multiple characters are carried over directly from Dumas's original book, there are several alterations; the Count's origins are told in flashback rather than as part of a linear narrative, some characters such as Eugénie and the Count himself have differing fates, while other characters are removed entirely along with several subplots from the original novel. The anime's ending also differs substantially from the original novel's, particularly with the involvement of Albert and the Count's eventual fate. A key story element in the anime is the Count's relationship with Albert, who is given the role of main protagonist and medium for the viewer. Initially used as a pawn in the Count's schemes as in Dumas's original story, Maeda says that the Count slowly begins to see his old self in Albert's pure and trusting nature, but is still driven by his need for revenge against Albert's father Fernand. In the end, the Count is possessed by Gankutsuou and overtaken by their combined lust for revenge when he realizes their similarity. Maeda described the parallel yet contrasting perspectives of Albert and the Count as an expression of the original novel's final words "Wait and Hope"; the question put to viewers was how far the Count would go with his revenge and how Albert could reach him, also tying into words spoken by Franz earlier in the series about love and hate both stemming from a person caring for others.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: "Gankutsuou" was produced by Japanese animation studio Gonzo, with support from Media Factory and Kadokawa Corporation. Maeda acted as director, alongside creating the original concept and scenario draft. Maeda's draft was expanded into a full series by screenwriters Shuichi Kouyama, Natsuko Takahashi and Tomohiro Yamashita. The photography director was Takeo Ogiwara, while 3D CGI graphics were animated by Akira Suzuki. The art directors were Hiroshi Sasaki and Yusuke Takeda. Character designs were done by anime artist Hidenori Matsubara, with mechanical designs being handled by Makoto Kobayashi.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: The art style of the anime was used by Maeda to combine Western Impressionism with Ukiyo-e, a style of 19th century Japanese painting which strongly influenced the Impressionist movement. Among the artists referenced in the anime's style was Gustav Klimt, who was one of Maeda's favorite artists and provided inspiration for using blocks of strong primary colors. To create the anime's distinct animation style—which saw multiple bold colors and overlaid background and foreground layers—Maeda used a computer graphics program. One of the show's producers, Taichi Hashimoto, later stated that Gonzo wanted to make an anime that "talked" to viewers, something he felt was realized with "Gankutsuou". The use of the technique was also inspired by Maeda's liking for clear-cut costumes and outlines in Noh theater, contrasting against the highly-detailed traditional animation dominating anime production at the time.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Use of the program came about due to issues created by the source material, which set its events in grand aristocratic houses and consequently made key animation challenging. After trying several different animation types and getting nowhere, Maeda tried the computer-managed layering system, which made the process both possible and much easier than traditional animation. By using the computer program, Maeda could create different texture layers within scenes, creating something simultaneously complicated and minimalist. Because of this style, Maeda had to imagine each scene as being filmed with live-action actors rather than focusing on animation. Maeda wanted to give the impression in scenes that the audience were seeing it from far away, while character gestures held more meaning. This method was also chosen because Maeda wanted to fully express the different textures of character clothing. During the testing stages, Maeda worked with professional stylists, stapling fabric pieces to concept drawings to achieve the desired effect. Because of the use of the program, the illustrators only needed to create the clothing outlines for key frames rather than full character designs. Maeda later described the business side of animation production for "Gankutsuou" as "a nightmare".


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: The character designs were created by Matsubara, who had gained notoriety for his work on "Oh My Goddess!" and the "Sakura Wars" franchise. Matsubara was brought on at an early stage, when Maeda was putting together internal promotion videos for the project. Matsubara designed the characters based on Maeda's drafts. The character design of "Gankutsuou" was different from other anime of the time, not using shadows and highlighted elements and instead focusing on vigorous movement and exaggerated posture, communicating a character's personality through movement. Describing his feelings towards the project, Matsubara called designing the adult characters a welcome backlash from his earlier work, which focused almost exclusively on drawing and designing young female protagonists. When Matsubara was given Maeda's draft design for the Count, the character looked like a typical villain; as Matsubara created the final design, he softened the villainous aspects and added noble and sarcastic elements to the Count's expressions. Due to the chosen animation style, Matsubara could not put excessive rumples and creases into clothes as they would be invisible against the underlying textures.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Albert was given multiple outfits to reflect his changing attitudes and roles in the anime; his formal suit reflected his clashing feelings about an arranged marriage to Eugénie. Franz's design was less flamboyant than other characters, reflecting his grounded personality and sense of responsibility towards Albert. Eugénie had the most costume changes of the entire cast, with her styling drawing from 1960s fashion to illustrate the disconnect with her family and her wish to rebel. Haydée's design made her appear doll-like, with one of her dresses being modelled on stained glass and reflective of her melancholy background. Mercedes was designed to show her coldness and fragile spirit in the wake of losing Edmund, with her dress design using ice and crystal as a motif. Fernand was intended to be the polar opposite of the count, clothed in white or similar bright colours; Danglars's golden clothes symbolised his obsession with wealth; and Villefort's clothing symbolised his power of control.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: In addition to Japanese designers, "Gankutsuou" saw a collaboration with American fashion designer Anna Sui. Prior to being approached, Sui had always been fond of Japanese anime. During the Japanese launch of a perfume line, Sui visited Gonzo's studios and was approached by Maeda about a collaboration. Having previously done a collaboration for a Dark Horse Comics project and liking the prospect of working on a full-motion animation project, Sui accepted the offer. Her positive impression of the studio's animation technology and her liking for Dumas's original novel also contributed to her acceptance. The anime uses clothing styles drawn from early 19th century France, showing fashions associated with the time including the "dandy" look and widening hems for women's skirts being incorporated. Sui described these designs as her biggest challenge.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: When Maeda began the project, he initially wanted to adapt "The Stars My Destination", a science fiction novel by Alfred Bester. Maeda contacted the copyright holders to license an anime adaptation, but he was refused when the holders saw how many changes he proposed to make to the original narrative. Initially disappointed, Maeda searched for another work he could adapt into a science fiction setting and decided upon "The Count of Monte Cristo", as Dumas's novel had parallel themes to "The Stars My Destination". Maeda first read a simplified version of "The Count of Monte Cristo" when he was young. When he read the full version as an adult, he saw that the story was far more complex and interesting.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Maeda's initial draft was expanded upon by Kouyama, Takahashi and Yamashita. Faced with adapting a novel that was over 400-pages long into a 24-episode anime, Maeda struggled with including all the novel's key plot points within the anime while keeping viewers entertained. Originally intending to keep the anime firmly within a science fiction setting, his growing appreciation for the novel and its central human tragedy persuaded him to retain as much of the original's 19th century elements as possible. Maeda's first drafts had the Count as the main protagonist of a picaresque romance. As the project went through its draft stages, the focus shifted away from the adult Count and onto Albert, who was made much younger than in the original novel. The shift towards Albert continued the original novel's themes of changing times and clashing views, in addition to altering the dramatic elements by altering character perspectives and relationship dynamics. The anime's late night broadcast also allowed exploration of mature subjects like drug use and same-sex love, elements present in the original novel.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: When reworking the Count, Maeda drew from descriptions from Dumas's text of the Count's coldness being attributed to his being one of the undead; his appearance was also influenced by works associated with the circle of Lord Byron, who contributed to both Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" and early writing about vampires and whom Maeda assumed Dumas had been inspired by when writing about the Count. Early drafts of the Count had him as a far more eccentric character, with his alien nature being more overt and unsettling. The term "Gankutsuou" was originally used for the novel's Japanese translations dating back to its first publication in 1901, but Maeda took the title and turned it into something literal. The figure of Gankutsuou was a reimagining of Abbe Faria, a mentor figure to Edmund in the original novel. The change derived from Maeda's wish to examine the psychology of the Count and his need for revenge. Maeda later refused to define what Gankutsuou was, suggesting that it might be a manifestation of Edmund's madness. The removal of religious elements present in the novel allowed Maeda to create a narrative which needed no social or religious background to appreciate.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Speaking about his role, Fukuyama said that he almost did not take the role of Albert due to auditioning for another project when the script for "Gankutsuou" was sent to him. However his audition for the first project was a failure, and though disappointed it left him able to play Albert. Hirakawa, Franz's voice actor, was originally going to be cast as Albert. When Hirakawa arrived at the audition for Albert, a mix-up caused Hirakawa to be given Franz's lines. Rather than immediately correcting the mistake, Maeda tried out Hirakawa for the role of Franz and decided to keep him.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Several pieces of original music for "Gankutsuou" were composed by Jean-Jacques Burnel, bass guitarist for the British rock band the Stranglers. Burnel and Louie Nicastro handled instrumentation and arrangements, additional guitars were handled by Baz Warne, and vocals were provided by Burnel and Phillipa Cookman. Burnel was directly invited onto the project by Maeda, who flew to London to ask him in person. Maeda, who was a fan of Burnel's work, explained his artistic vision for the anime, and Burnel agreed to compose. He worked from his own country, then sent the completed themes to Japan, where they were arranged to fit the animation and pace where needed. Additional musical pieces and arrangements were done by Koji Kasamatsu and Reiji Kitazato. The music covers multiple genres, including opera and electronic dance.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Maeda initially intended the Count's character theme to be the Manfred Symphony from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Burnel had already composed an original character theme, and the rest of the production staff successfully overruled Maeda to keep Burnel's work. The Count's theme mixed original music with samples from Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony, "Robert le diable" by Giacomo Meyerbeer, and Gaetano Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor". The classical music was arranged by Kasamatsu, who was the series sound designer. The opening theme "We Were Lovers" and ending theme "You won't see me coming" were composed and sung by Burnel. The lyrics for all songs were written by Burnel.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: A soundtrack album, "Gankutsuou Original Soundtrack", was released on February 23, 2005 through the Victor Entertainment label Flying Dog. The album featured all music used in the anime including the opening and ending themes. A second album featuring the classical music sampled in the main soundtrack was released by Victor Entertainment on April 13, 2005. Both albums remain exclusive to Japan.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: "Gankutsuou" was first announced in March 2004, alongside its studio, its creator, and its status as an adaptation of Dumas's novel. The 24-episode anime aired on TV Asahi between October 5, 2004 and March 29, 2005; due to the anime's late night slot, its official broadcast date was a day behind the actual date. The third and fourth episodes underwent slight changes in their broadcast times. The series aired on Animax a day after its TV Asahi broadcast, running from October 6, 2004 and March 30, 2005. Late night and afternoon repeats followed the succeeding day. It was later broadcast on NHK BS2 between June 17 and December 2, 2008. A second repeat broadcast on AT-X between January 7 and June 20, 2012.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: The series was released in Japan on DVD by Media Factory; the series was published across twelve volumes between February 25, 2005 and January 25, 2006, with two episodes on each volume in addition to special features such as interviews and artwork. The complete series was released on Blu-ray on August 24, 2011 by Media Factory.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: The anime was first licensed for a Western release by Geneon Entertainment, which released the title on DVD with both subtitled Japanese audio and an English dub. The DVDs were released as "Chapters" with four episodes per volume; the DVDs released between October 25, 2005 and September 12, 2006. The first "Chapter" also released on Universal Media Disc concurrent with the DVD version. This version was released in Australia by Madman Entertainment beginning in April 2006. "Gankutsuou" was among the anime affected when Geneon Entertainment ended anime distribution in 2007. Following this, Funimation licensed the anime from Gonzo in 2008. The complete series was released on DVD on April 28, 2009. United Kingdom company Anime Limited licensed the anime for commercial release in 2014. The Blu-ray version released in 2016; a limited edition released with steelbook case and artbook released on February 8, while the standard edition released on April 3.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: "Gankutsuou" was adapted into a manga which ran in "Monthly Afternoon" from May 2005 to May 2008 issues. The manga was drawn by Maeda, who also provided the story draft; the manga and additional story elements were written by Yura Ariwara. Maeda was approached about a manga adaptation of "Gankutsuou" during production of the anime. Maeda agreed as it would potentially attract more people to the anime. The manga used a traditional handdrawn style rather than emulating the anime's artstyle, a decision made by Maeda. While the anime focused on the young characters of Albert and Franz, Maeda focused the manga on the machinations and inner workings of the Count himself, expanding upon events either briefly mentioned or left out of the anime. Maeda commented that he would have stopped the manga project quite early without the support of staff from both the anime and the manga. The manga was published in three volumes between December 2005 and July 2008 by Kodansha. The three volumes were published in English by Del Rey Manga, an imprint of Random House, between November 2008 and August 2009.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: A trilogy of novelizations was released between December 25, 2004 and May 25, 2005. The novels were written by Kouyama, with cover illustrations by Matsubara. A CD drama was published in November 2005 by Victor Entertainment. The drama covers events supplementary to the anime relating to the Count's past and the backstories of various characters.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: A stage play adaptation was announced in August 2019 and ran from December 20-28, 2019. The play directed and written by Yū Murai. Anime co-creator and director Mahiro Maeda collaborated on the stage production with Taichi Hashimoto, and Chūji Mikasano is the play's dramaturge. The play stars Shohei Hashimoto as Albert de Morcef, Masashi Taniguchi as the Count of Monte Cristo, and Junon Superboy Anothers member Yō Maejima as Franz d'Epinay.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: "Gankutsuou" was praised when released in North America, with sources such as Anime Insider, DVDTalk, Newsarama.com, Animeondvd.com and Anime News Network judging it to be among the best releases of the year.


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Reviews have generally been extremely positive. Reviews mainly focused on the visual effects of the show, both to its benefit and its detriment. Stig Høgset of THEM Anime Reviews commented, "While beautiful most of the time, the show can be quite hard on the eye at times."


title: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

text: Theron Martin of Anime News Network awarded "Gankutsuou" Series of the Year. It also won the Best TV Series award at the 10th Animation Kobe Fair. Helen McCarthy in "500 Essential Anime Movies" praised its "dazzling visual inventiveness".


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: "Have Mercy" is the debut solo single by the American singer Chlöe. It was released on September 10, 2021, as the lead single from her upcoming debut solo album, after earning fame as part of R&B sister duo Chloe x Halle. Prior to its release, a snippet of the song went viral on TikTok. It was written by Chlöe, Theron Thomas, and Nija Charles, and was produced by Murda Beatz, Chlöe, Joseph L'étranger, FnZ and BoogzDaBeast.


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: Positively reviewed by critics, "Have Mercy" debuted at number 28 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and at number 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Musically, the song is an uptempo song, with music critic Kyle Denis describing it as a "raucous and joyous ode to large derrières". A music video directed by Karena Evans was released alongside the song itself, and stars Chlöe as the head of a sorority full of gorgons who seduce men in order to turn them into stone. She gave her debut live performance of the song at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards, which earned praise from critics.


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: Prior to releasing "Have Mercy", Chlöe found fame performing alongside her sister as part of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle. In 2021, the two embarked on solo careers, with Halle starring in the 2023 film "The Little Mermaid", and Chlöe releasing covers of popular songs on social media. On July 1, 2021, Chlöe's 23rd birthday, she teased "Have Mercy" by posting a TikTok video of her dancing and twerking on a bed to a snippet of the song, with the caption "This is 23… HAVE MERCY". The snippet went viral and was used in over 800,000 videos on the platform.


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: Promotional photos for the single, taken by Edwig Stenson (who also did Chlöe's makeup for the photos) were released on August 24. She revealed the release date and cover art for the song, the latter of which depicts Chlöe in a revealing outfit, on September 6. "Have Mercy" was released on September 10, 2021, as Chlöe's debut solo single, and as the lead single from her upcoming debut album.


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: "Have Mercy" was produced by Canadian record producer Murda Beatz with Chlöe, Joseph L'étranger, FnZ and BoogzDaBeast, and its uptempo, bass-heavy beat is built around a sample of the Jersey club and Baltimore club song "Off the Chain" by TT the Artist and Uniiqu3. It was written by the song's producers along with Marquis Gasque, Theron Thomas, and Nija Charles. It is an upbeat song that Chlöe described as pop, with boastful lyrics that focus on Chlöe's buttocks and curvaceous figure and men's infatuation with her.


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: Jessica McKinney of "Complex" called Chlöe "hypnotizing" on "Have Mercy", and wrote that the song "boasts major sex appeal". "Teen Vogue"s Jazmine Denise wrote that Chlöe "came out swinging" with "Have Mercy", calling it a "spicy anthem". "Billboard"s Andrew Unterberger called the song a "booty anthem for the ages". Margaret Farrell of "Flood" wrote that the song, which she called "seductive" and "confident", is "beaming with sexual autonomy and next-level bravado" and "overflowing with nods to her mentor Mrs. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter". Jandrew Johnson of " The Afro Desk" complimented Chloe's songwriting ability, adding that she "truly understands how to write a hit single".


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: The music video for "Have Mercy" was directed by Karena Evans and filmed in late July 2021. The video was released on the same day as the song. Largely inspired by 1990s teen films, it stars Chlöe as the head of a sorority house full of undercover gorgons who seduce a group of fraternity brothers and turn them into stone. It was compared by critics to the story of Medusa.


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: The video features several dance sequences, and also stars Rome Flynn as Chlöe's main love interest, a 21-year-old man who goes missing after being turned to stone by her, Bree Runway as a sorority sister who spanks one of the fraternity brothers (played by Mark Young) who is dressed only in a jockstrap, and Tina Knowles as a sorority house mother. Throughout the video, Chlöe wears a number of different oufits, including a pink plaid blazer with hot pants, square sunglasses, and a diamond choker, as well as another outfit made up of a matching pink bralette and short shorts with socks and heeled sandals. One of the outfits in the video includes a gold jacket originally worn by Diana Ross in a 1981 "Vogue" spread. Ann Powers of NPR compared Chlöe's role in the video to that of Aaliyah in the 2002 film "Queen of the Damned".


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: Chlöe's blonde dreadlocks in the video were styled by Kari Williams, Tinisha Meeks, Brittny Chere, and Jehcara Nelson. Her outfits were styled by Zerina Akers.


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: Bianca Betancourt of "Harper's Bazaar" wrote that the video for "Have Mercy" proved that Chlöe was "Beyoncé's ultimate protégé", calling the choreography "high-power" and "sultry" and the outfits "standout ensembles". NPR's Ann Powers described the video's premise as "a sweet flip of horrifically common frat party #metoo narratives" and added that Chlöe's dancing "might cause Normani to sweat".


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: In response to fans who questioned Chlöe's decision to wear revealing clothing in the video, she stated, "It's my body, and I'm so proud of it."


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: "Have Mercy" debuted at number 28 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and at number 13 on "Billboard"s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, selling 8,500 downloads and yielding 13.8 million streams in its first week of tracking. In January 2022, the song was certified gold by the RIAA.


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: Chlöe's debut performance of "Have Mercy" took place at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards in September 2021, where she was introduced by her sister Halle Bailey. The performance was prefaced by Chlöe standing in a red cape, operatically and repeatedly singing her own name before screaming and tearing off the cape. During the performance, she energetically danced and twerked in a hot pink leotard and ankle boots, accompanied by male backup dancers in varsity jackets, while the song's lyrics flashed on the screen behind her. She ended it by licking the microphone and smacking her buttocks. After the performance was over, she left the stage and cried.


title: Have Mercy (Chlöe song)

text: The performance received praise from Simone Biles. Bianca Betancourt of "Harper's Bazaar" wrote that the performance "did not disappoint" and "shut down the VMA's stage", while "Essence"s Brooklyn White described it as "electrifying" and wrote that Chlöe "served fashion, face, choreo and vocals". "USA Today"s Melissa Ruggieri wrote that Chlöe's "sassy" performance "showcased how much she has learned from mentor Beyoncé as she imbued her performance with drama, twerking and most importantly, actual vocal talent". "Billboard"s Heran Mamo ranked the performance the second-best of the night, writing that Chlöe "made her mark on the VMAs stage" and called the choreography "tectonic plate-shifting". "BET" regarded her performance as "one of the most memorable of the night". Ellise Shafer of "Variety" wrote that the performance's dance break "proved [Chlöe] has the chops to be a true triple threat", and Adrian Horton of "The Guardian" referred to her live vocals as "impressive" and remarked that the performance was one of several that were "daring" and "high on sex appeal". "BBC News"s Mark Savage also praised her vocals as "flawless" and the choreography as "whip-crack", adding that she "tore up the stage". "Vulture"s Charu Sinha called her vocals "flawless" and the choreography "complicated", writing that she "commanded the VMAs stage with such obvious star power that it kind of rendered the night's other performances embarrassing by comparison". Chlöe also injured her shoulder during the performance.


title: Deliver Us from Eva

text: Deliver Us from Eva is a 2003 American romantic comedy film starring LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union, revolving around LL's character Ray being paid to date a troublesome young lady named Eva (Union). It is considered by many as a modern update of William Shakespeare's play, "The Taming of the Shrew". It was released to the US theaters on February 7, 2003 by Focus Features, and also stars Essence Atkins, Duane Martin, and Mel Jackson.


title: Deliver Us from Eva

text: The title is a play on a line of the Lord's Prayer: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."


title: Deliver Us from Eva

text: Evangeline (Eva for short) Dandridge works for The Los Angeles Health Department as an inspector, a job most suitable for her bossy and perfectionist nature. She and her sisters—Kareenah, Bethany, and Jacqui—have been taking care of each other since their parents died when they were young. As a result of the combination of her personality and her family's circumstances, Eva's level of involvement in her sisters' lives causes a high level of tension between her and her sisters' significant others (Mike, Tim, and Darrell, respectively).


title: Deliver Us from Eva

text: While the significant others are out at a bar complaining about how interfering Eva is, they come across Mike's old friend Ray Adams. Ray is a "Master Player" who can handle even the most difficult women. The guys hire Ray to seduce Eva and convince her to move away with him so they can finally be free of her meddling. Little do they know Eva has already been offered a new job in Chicago.


title: Deliver Us from Eva

text: After a disastrous first date, Ray tells the guys that Eva is too difficult for even him to handle and offers to return their money. However, when he runs into Eva while at work delivering meat to local restaurants they make amends and begin a relationship. Eva and Ray fall in love, and Eva even temporarily abandons her shrewish ways. When things start to get serious, Eva's sisters all start comparing their relationships to Ray and Eva's relationship, making things even worse than before.


title: Deliver Us from Eva

text: After they find out about Eva's job offer, the significant others panic and attempt to break up the blossoming romance, claiming their wives never let them hear the end of the latest with Eva and Ray, and that Eva intends to stay in the city. Things get so complicated that the men finally hatch a daring plan: kidnap Ray, lie to Eva about his death in an accident and cajole her into leaving the city.


title: Deliver Us from Eva

text: Eva believes them and arranges a tearful funeral for her "dead" boyfriend. In the middle of the service Ray appears, having escaped his prison, and the whole truth comes out. An angry Eva dumps Ray and storms out of the church. After the whole ordeal, Ray tries numerous times to apologize to Eva and tells her that he truly loves her, but Eva does not want to hear it and still plans to move on without him.


title: Deliver Us from Eva

text: Days later, she apologizes to Mike, Tim, and Darrell for meddling and being a huge pain and distraction for them and her sister's lives. She reveals that they dissolved and split their parent's inheritance and her sisters and their partners reconcile. Mike and Bethany become engaged. Eva leaves and starts her new life in Chicago.


title: Deliver Us from Eva

text: One day after a meeting, Ray surprises Eva on a white horse in front of her boss and colleagues. Ray reveals that he left everything behind in Los Angeles to come and be with Eva in Chicago. He tells her that he can't live without her and will do whatever it takes to win her back. Convinced, Eva takes Ray back and they share a kiss before leaving on the white horse, ready to start their new lives together.


title: Deliver Us from Eva

text: "Deliver Us from Eva" received mixed reviews from critics, as it holds a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 81 reviews.


title: Deliver Us from Eva

text: The film opened at No. 6 in the U.S. Box office in the weekend of February 7, 2003, raking in $6,648,374 USD in its first opening weekend.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a coeducational service fraternity. It is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of over 25,000 students, and over 500,000 alumni members. There are also 250 chapters in the Philippines, one in Australia and one in Canada. The 500,000th member was initiated in the Rho Pi chapter of Alpha Phi Omega at the University of California, San Diego.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Alpha Phi Omega is a national co-ed service fraternity organized to provide community service, leadership development, and social opportunities for college students. The purpose of the fraternity is "to assemble college students in a National Service Fraternity in the fellowship of principles derived from the Scout Oath and Scout Law of the Boy Scouts of America; to develop Leadership, to promote Friendship, and to provide Service to humanity; and to further the freedom that is our national, educational, and intellectual heritage." Alpha Phi Omega's primary focus is to provide volunteer service within four areas: service to the community, service to the campus, service to the fraternity, and service to the nation and world.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Being primarily a service organization, Alpha Phi Omega does not operate nor maintain a fraternity house as lodging quarters for members nor for any other persons. However, a chapter may maintain rooms for meetings at the discretion of its members. Alpha Phi Omega does not restrict its members from being members of any other organization.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Alpha Phi Omega was founded on December 16, 1925, at Lafayette College, on the 2nd floor of Brainerd Hall (known as Hogg Hall since 1944), located in Easton, Pennsylvania. APO was founded by Frank Reed Horton and 13 other students who were former Boy Scouts and scouters, as a way to continue participating in the ideals of Scouting at the college level. These founding brothers were Frank Reed Horton, Everett William Probst, Ephraim Moyer Detwiler Jr., Thane Sanford Cooley, William Taylor Wood, Lewis Burnett Blair, Gordon Minnier Looney, Donald LeRoy Terwilliger, William Weber Highberger, Robert Jefferson Green, Donald H. Fritts, Ellsworth Stewart Dobson, George Axel Olsen, and Herbert Heinrich. Six advisors were also inducted: Lafayette President John H. MacCracken, Dean Donald B. Prentice, Professors D. Arthur Hatch and Harry T. Spengler; one local Scouting official, Herbert G. Horton, and one national Scouting official, the national director of relationships for the Boy Scouts of America, Ray O. Wyland. The founders insisted that all those gaining membership must pledge to uphold the fraternity's three cardinal principles of Leadership, Friendship, and Service. Of these founding members, several made significant contributions to APO that are still recognized today. Everett Probst designed the pin and coat of arms, Thane S. Cooley suggested the hand clasp during the toast song, and Elsworth Dobson and Gordon M. Looney helped write the constitution and bylaws.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Alpha Phi Omega became a national fraternity on January 11, 1927, with the founding of Beta chapter at University of Pittsburgh. Horton served as Supreme Grand Master from the founding of the fraternity until the 1931 convention. A total of 18 chapters were founded during this period. At the 1931 convention, H. Roe Bartle was elected as Supreme Grand Master (title changed to National President in 1934) and served through World War II, stepping down at the 1946 convention. During his time as president, the number of chapters grew to 109. Early in his term (October 1931), Alpha Phi Omega was formally recognized by the Boy Scouts of America.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: The most rapid growth of the fraternity was in the post-war years. By 1950, Alpha Phi Omega had 227 chapters in the United States. The first chapter outside the US was organized in the Philippines that year. Many Filipinos were active in the Boy Scouts. Sol Levy, an APO member from University of Washington and Professional Scouter introduced the organization to Filipino Scouts. Librado I. Ureta, a graduate student at Far Eastern University in Manila, was among the audience. Inspired by Levy's words, he read the publications and shared them with fellow Eagle Scouts and students on the FEU campus. He asked their opinion about Levy's desire and the response was good. On March 2, 1950, the Alpha Phi Omega International Service Fraternity was chartered on campus.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Alpha Phi Omega grew rapidly in the Philippines. By its third year, seven chapters had been chartered at Manila and Visayan schools and it was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a nonstock, nonprofit, and nondividend corporation. Alpha Phi Omega (Phil.) Inc. was the first branch of the fraternity to be chartered outside the USA.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: The fraternity was opened fully to women in 1976. All members are called "Brothers," regardless of gender. The Fraternity views "Brothers" as a gender-neutral term. Before women were allowed to join, several smaller sororities, parallel in ideals but independent in structure, were formed for women who had been Camp Fire Girls or Girl Scouts, including Gamma Sigma Sigma and Omega Phi Alpha. Several Alpha Phi Omega chapters also had started "little sister" groups; some of which formed separate organizations (e.g. Jewels of Tau, Phyettes etc.).


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: The first step in paving the way for women to join Alpha Phi Omega was the Constitutional Convention in 1967, which removed the requirement that members have affiliation with the Boy Scouts of America.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Starting at the 1970 National Convention, co-ed membership was sponsored by Zeta Chapter and co-sponsored by several other chapters but failed to reach the two-thirds majority at the National Conventions which was required to alter the organization's bylaws. Zeta went coed that year with B. Hesselmyer being the first official woman in the national fraternity with the knowledge and help of a past national president and a current board member. Some chapters (like Delta Rho at Rutgers University and Alpha Tau at Butler University) went co-ed prior to 1976, despite the fact that the national by-laws did not allow it. They did so by registering women by using only the first letter of their first name. Many chapters that attempted to register women with the national office would receive the paperwork and fees back for women initiates. The Alpha Chi chapter at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ran their own printing press, and thus was able to generate certificates and membership cards for their own female initiates prior to 1976.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: At the 1974 National Convention, the Fraternity allowed chapters to have women as affiliate members of the fraternity, and during the 1976 National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, the decision was made to formally welcome females as full members of the fraternity. As with many major changes, this one caused a great deal of dismay, especially among several long-established chapters. Many of these chapters threatened to disassociate with the national fraternity if they were forced to become co-ed. In order to preserve the unity of the fraternity as a whole, the amendment was crafted such that it did not require existing chapters to admit women as members albeit all new chapters had to. It was felt that with the course of time, all would go coed. This "gentleman's agreement" was formalized in a resolution at the 1998 Convention and includes the following points: "The fraternity continues to encourage all Chapters and petitioning groups to open their membership to all students. All Chapters and petitioning groups have the right to choose their own members using objective and open policies that are consistent with the fraternity's governing documents, the rules of the host institutions that they serve and the traditions of that Chapter, if any. Single-gender chapters chartered before the 1976 National Convention may remain single-gender unless they become inactive or coeducational. All petitioning groups seeking to charter or re-charter will be and remain co-educational. Allowing women members in 1976 reversed the continuing steep decline in membership of the Fraternity and started a growth cycle in the Fraternity.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: At the July 2005 National Board of Directors meeting a resolution was passed: "The actions of the 1976 and 1998 National Conventions have attempted to clarify the Fraternity's open membership policy...The National Board is charged with...enforcing the membership policies of the Fraternity as well as ensuring compliance with applicable laws, and upon advice of legal counsel, all chapters must practice open membership without regard of gender". A decision by the 2006 National Convention on December 30, 2006, has essentially upheld the Board's previous resolution, adding additional clarifications to the transitional process for the all-male chapters, including a timeline for completion of their transition to co-educational status by the 2008 National Convention, and the establishment of a committee consisting of active members and alumni to assist with the process. In the spring of 2008, the Sigma Xi chapter at the University of Maine formally disassociated from the national fraternity, forming a new fraternity: Alpha Delta. They cited that their action was due to an "ideological split", claiming that the national fraternity allowed female members to join and took away the student-focus. In addition, Brothers from Zeta Theta chapter at Drexel University, Pi Chi Chapter at Duquesne University, and Psi Delta Chapter at the University of Maine at Machias have joined this new fraternity.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: On December 30, 2006, the 2006 National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, elected the first female National President of the organization, Maggie Katz. Brother Katz was re-elected, without contest, on December 30, 2008, in Boston, Massachusetts.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: The International Council of Alpha Phi Omega (ICAPO) was created at the 1994 Dallas-Fort Worth Alpha Phi Omega (USA) national convention with the signing of the charter document. Meetings followed at the 1995 Alpha Phi Omega (Philippines) and the 1996 Phoenix Alpha Phi Omega – USA National Convention. At the 1996 convention, a formal set of operating policies for the council was signed and the first officers were elected. ICAPO meetings now occur in conjunction with Alpha Phi Omega national conventions in the US and the Philippines.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: The programs of the fraternity are centered around developing its three cardinal principles: Leadership, Friendship, and Service. Many chapters plan several local service projects throughout the year, including blood drives, tutoring, charity fundraising events, Scouting events, used book exchanges, Boy Scout Merit Badge days, campus escort initiatives, and housing construction/rehabilitation. Signature projects include the annual National Service Week, in the first full week of November, and the Global Spring Youth Service Day in April. Many of the operations of individual chapters are left to their own discretion, though most chapters have membership requirements which require a certain number of hours of service each semester. In the United States, on April 14, 2003, the fraternity received Daily Point of Light Award #2397 in recognition of its members, who give unselfishly of their time and energy on a daily basis, and who cumulative donate an average of over 300,000 hours of community service each semester.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: APO Leads (stylized as APO LEADS) is a leadership development program organized by the national organization of Alpha Phi Omega in the United States. The APO Leads program consists of five individual modular components of leadership development. Each of these modular components focus on skills that will help the participant be a successful leader and team member in Alpha Phi Omega and in life. The five components of APO Leads are Launch, Explore, Achieve, Discover, and Serve. Launch is a pre-requisite for participation in any of the other four courses. At the completion of the series of courses, the participant will have a set of transferable skills that are applicable to Alpha Phi Omega, to the working world, as well as to leadership in other organizations. APO Leads has its roots in an earlier program, the Leadership Development Workshop (LDW). The LDW was an all-day, eight-hour leadership development course that was offered to members during the 1980s and 1990s. It was reorganized into the current APO Leads program, which was rolled out in 2002.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: In the United States, Alpha Phi Omega organizes National Service Week (NSW), a project collaboration encompassing all chapters across the nation. The original concept of a "national service project" dates back to the 1948 national convention, in which delegates approved the rebuilding of the Scout Hut at Hallows Church in London after World War II. There were several other national service efforts outside of NSW, including a recent international book drive in 2001, in which chapters collected approximately 100,000 books for schools in the Philippines.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: NSW began in 1987 as National Service Day, and later expanded to National Service Week in 1997 to allow for greater flexibility and increased participation while retaining the sense of unity of the original concept. NSW is always held during the first full week of November.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: A theme for NSW is selected by the delegates of each national convention. The first service week, in 1987 was themed around "Diabetes & Other Chronic Illnesses". The 2014 National Convention determined that the National Service Week program of emphasis for 2015–2016 shall be "Literacy and Learning for all", with specific focus on "Improving Literacy for Adults" in 2015 and "Improving Literacy in Youth" in 2016.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Spring Youth Service Day is Alpha Phi Omega's effort in participating in the Global Youth Service Day project with its partner organization, Youth Service America. During one weekend in April, millions of youth participate in this project, which bills itself as the largest service event in the world. Projects include tutoring young children, disaster relief, voter registration, nutritional awareness, distributing HIV/AIDS prevention materials, and more. Global Youth Service Day supports youth on a lifelong path of service and civic engagement, and educates the public, the media, and elected officials about the role of youth as community leaders.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: The International Council of Alpha Phi Omega (ICAPO) is the coordinating council of the Alpha Phi Omega National Organizations. During the 1980s, contact between Alpha Phi Omega (USA) and Alpha Phi Omega (Philippines) increased. National presidents Earle Herbert (USA) and Carlos "Caloy" Caliwara (Philippines) as well as other leaders in the two organizations concluded there was a need for an international coordinating body to promote the ideals of the fraternity around the world.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: As stated in the charter of ICAPO: "The purpose of the ICAPO is to promote the principles and ideals of Alpha Phi Omega, as originally exemplified by Frank Reed Horton, around the world. To this end, the Council aids in introducing and establishing collegiate-based Alpha Phi Omega organizations in countries where it is not now located and assists in institutionalizing Alpha Phi Omega organizations in countries where it is currently introduced or established. It serves as an official link among the variously established independent national Alpha Phi Omega organizations, and works to promote a deeper understanding and an increased working relationship among the independent national organizations."


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: While the ICAPO binds both Alpha Phi Omega (USA) and Alpha Phi Omega (Philippines) into one larger international organization, the respective national organizations operate as individual organizations with a high degree of autonomy. Alpha Phi Omega (USA) has committed to the establishment of Alpha Phi Omega in Canada, and Alpha Phi Omega (Philippines) has committed to the establishment of Alpha Phi Omega in Australia.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Alpha Phi Omega of the United States has 738 chartered chapters. It currently has 367 chapters that are active, 14 Petitioning Groups, 19 Interest Groups, and 343 that are inactive. (Petitioning and Interest groups include both those at schools which have previously had active chapters and those that have not.) In addition Alpha Phi Omega has 16 charters at schools which have closed or merged with another school with an older charter.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: In the United States, the fraternity is headquartered out of a National Office located at 14901 E. 42nd St., Independence, Missouri 64055–7347. The building was dedicated on November 17, 1990, following a four-year fundraising campaign during the 1980s. Fundraising for the building continued during the early 1990s, through matching gifts and a national fundraising event entitled, "Burn the Mortgage", raising over $28,000. Thanks to these donations, the fraternity paid the 10 year mortgage in only four years, and National President Jerry Schroeder ceremonially burned the mortgage at the 1994 National Convention in Dallas – Fort Worth, Texas.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: The national organization of Alpha Phi Omega in the Philippines maintains a four layer administrative structure:


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Alpha Phi Omega of the Philippines has charters (either fraternity, sorority or both) at 243 colleges and universities.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: The National Office for Alpha Phi Omega of the Philippines is at 301-A Two Seventy Midtower Condominium, 270 Ermin Garcia Street, Barangay Silangan, Cubao, Quezon City Past locations of the Alpha Phi Omega of the Philippines office include:


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Alpha Phi Omega has a chapter at University of British Columbia The group at UBC became a Petitioning Group on July 18, 2015 They chartered on December 13, 2015. Chapters in Canada will remain an extension of Alpha Phi Omega USA until there is a presence on 5 campuses.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Alpha Phi Omega of the United States offers active membership (brotherhood) to be granted to all students enrolled at colleges and universities with active chapters of Alpha Phi Omega. Individual chapters are granted flexibility in determining the level of activity of Graduate Students at their institution. Honorary membership may be granted by either active chapters or by the National Board of Directors.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Until the 1967 Constitutional Convention, current or former membership in Scouting was a requirement to become an active brother. For example, in the Alpha Phi Omega National Constitution in 1957:


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Members were never required to have been boy scouts. For example, Bill Clinton was a cub scout, but not a scout while growing up and was able to join Alpha Phi Omega as a student. The bylaws also allowed for men to qualify by registering with their local council as a merit badge counselor, in the College Scouter Reserve, or other similar positions.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: In addition to being a coeducational, one thing that further differentiates Alpha Phi Omega from social fraternities is that its national bylaws restricts its chapters from maintaining fraternity houses to serve as residences for their members. This also encourages members of social fraternities and sororities that have houses to join APO as well.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: National conventions in Alpha Phi Omega are biennial gatherings of the respective national organization of the fraternity, in which official business is conducted and brothers from the various chapters in the organization meet to share ideas, expanding leadership, friendship, and service. In the very early years, decisions of the National Fraternity were conducted by mail. The first actual assembly of delegates in a convention was held in St. Louis, Missouri, on March 1–2, 1931. Seven of the fraternity's eighteen chapters were represented at this convention by a total of 23 students and advisors.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Alpha Phi Omega of the United States hosts biennial national conventions during even-numbered years. , Alpha Phi Omega has conducted forty-five national conventions, the most recent in Austin, Texas. Conventions were not held in 1942 and 1944 due to World War II, and a special Constitutional Convention was held in 1967. Alpha Phi Omega of the Philippines conducts biennial national conventions in odd-numbered years, and , twenty-four conventions have been held.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: In the US, national conventions are officially called to order by an opening ceremony in which the Eternal Flame of Service is brought forth by members of the Delta Omega chapter at the University of Houston. This tradition was started after the twenty-first national convention in Dallas, Texas. In the early hours of December 30, 1970, the delegates of the Delta Omega chapter met in a ceremony in the suite of H. Roe Bartle, with the newly elected members of the National Board of Directors and National President Aubrey B. Hamilton. Bartle lit a small blue candle that he in turn used to light a hurricane lamp, which was then passed from the blue candle to each of the board members' candles. He then joined the board members to light two four foot candles. The flame was then taken to Houston and allowed to burn while awaiting the completion of the Eternal Flame site.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: Convention attendance has grown considerably through the years. The largest convention attendance in the US to date has been 2,316 in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2002, and the largest number of chapters represented was 235 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2000.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: The official publication of the fraternity is the "Torch & Trefoil." First published as the "Lightbearer" in February 1927, the name was changed to the "Torch & Trefoil" by the decision of the Fifth Alpha Phi Omega national convention in December 1934. The new name was from the Torch as the emblem of Education and the Trefoil as the emblem of Scouting. A version is published quarterly by the national organization of the United States, as well as a separate version by the national organization of the Republic of the Philippines.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: The "Lightbearer" has been published since 1966 as a separate daily publication during Alpha Phi Omega National Conventions, and distributed to convention attendees.


title: Alpha Phi Omega

text: The monthly mailing from the fraternity to its chapters was the "Chapter Bulletin" from 2004 to 2008.


title: Laminate flooring

text: Laminate flooring (also called floating wood tile in the United States) is a multi-layer synthetic flooring product fused together with a lamination process. Laminate flooring simulates wood (or sometimes stone) with a photographic applique layer under a clear protective layer. The inner core layer is usually composed of melamine resin and fiber board materials. There is a European Standard No. EN 13329:2000 specifying laminate floor covering requirements and testing methods.


title: Laminate flooring

text: Laminate flooring has grown significantly in popularity, perhaps because it may be easier to install and maintain than more traditional surfaces such as hardwood flooring. It may also have the advantages of costing less and requiring less skill to install than alternative flooring materials. It is reasonably durable, hygienic (several brands contain an antimicrobial resin), and relatively easy to maintain.


title: Laminate flooring

text: Laminate floors are reasonably easy for a DIY homeowner to install. Laminate flooring is packaged as a number of tongue and groove planks, which can be clicked into one another. Sometimes a glue backing is provided for ease of installation. Installed laminate floors typically "float" over the sub-floor on top of a foam/film underlayment, which provides moisture- and sound-reducing properties. A small () gap is required between the flooring and any immovable object such as walls, this allows the flooring to expand without being obstructed. Baseboards (skirting boards) can be removed and then reinstalled after laying of the flooring is complete for a neater finish, or the baseboard can be left in place with the flooring butted into it, then small beading trims such as shoe moulding or the larger quarter-round moulding can be fitted to the bottoms of the baseboards. Saw cuts on the planks are usually required at edges and around cupboard and door entrances, but professional installers typically use door jamb undercut saws to cut out a space to a height that allows the flooring to go under the door jamb & casing for a cleaner look.


title: Laminate flooring

text: Improper installation can result in peaking, in which adjacent boards form an inverted V shape projecting from the floor, or gaps, in which two adjacent boards are separated from each other.


title: Laminate flooring

text: It is important to keep laminate clean, as dust, dirt, and sand particles may scratch the surface over time in high-traffic areas. It is also important to keep laminate relatively dry, since sitting water/moisture can cause the planks to swell, warp, etc., though some brands are equipped with water-resistant coatings. Water spills aren't a problem if they're wiped up quickly, and not allowed to sit for a prolonged period of time.


title: Laminate flooring

text: Adhesive felt pads are often placed on the feet of furniture on laminate floors to prevent scratching.


title: Laminate flooring

text: Inferior glueless laminate floors may gradually become separated, creating visible gaps between planks. It is important to "tap" the planks back together using the appropriate tool as gaps are noticed in order to prevent dirt filling the gaps, thus making it more difficult to put into place.


title: Laminate flooring

text: Quality glueless laminate floors use joining mechanisms which hold the planks together under constant tension which prevent dirt entering the joints and do not need "tapping" back together periodically.


title: Laminate flooring

text: The North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA) is a trade association of laminate flooring manufacturers and laminate flooring manufacturer suppliers in the United States and Canada. It is a standards developing organization accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop voluntary consensus standards for laminate flooring materials, and it has established testing and performance criteria that are used in North America.


title: Laminate flooring

text: NALFA issues a certification mark named the NALFA Certification Seal which signifies that the product has passed 10 performance tests, has been proven to meet these standards by an independent, third-party testing lab, and has been manufactured in North America. The certification review includes:


title: Laminate flooring

text: Laminate flooring is often made of melamine resin, a compound made with formaldehyde. The formaldehyde is more tightly bound in Melamine formaldehyde (MF) than it is in Urea-Formaldehyde (UF), reducing emissions and potential health effects. Thus LEED v2.2's EQ Credit 4.4 precludes the use of UF, but allows the use of MF.


title: Laminate flooring

text: by the Swedish company , and sold under the brand name Pergo. They had been making floor surfaces since 1923. The company first marketed its product to Europe in 1984, and later to the United States in 1994. Perstorp spun off its flooring division as the separate company named Pergo, now a subsidiary of Mohawk Industries. Pergo is the most widely known laminate flooring manufacturer, but the trademark PERGO is not synonymous for all laminate floors.


title: Laminate flooring

text: Glueless laminate flooring was invented in 1996 by the Swedish company Välinge Aluminium (now Välinge Innovation) and sold under the names of Alloc and Fiboloc. However, a system for holding flooring panels together was also developed in parallel by the Belgian company Unilin released in 1997 and sold under the name of .


title: Laminate flooring

text: The two companies have been in a great number of legal conflicts over the years, and today most, if not all glueless locking flooring is made under license from either Välinge, Unilin, or even a combination of both.


title: 2007–08 La Liga

text: The 2007–08 La Liga season, the 77th since its establishment, started on 25 August 2007 and finished on 18 May 2008. Real Madrid defended their La Liga title successfully after a 2–1 victory over Osasuna. This season, all European leagues ended earlier than the previous season, due to the UEFA Euro 2008 championship. It also was the first year of the new La Liga television agreement that had La Sexta mark its first year of television broadcasting.


title: 2007–08 La Liga

text: Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Segunda División. The promoted teams were Valladolid, Almería and Murcia. Valladolid and Murcia returned to the top flight after an absence of three years while UD Almería were promoted for the first time. However, since AD Almería played in the 1980–81 La Liga, the city of Almería returned to the top fight after an absence of twenty six years. They replaced Celta de Vigo, Real Sociedad and Gimnàstic, ending their top flight spells of two, forty and one year respectively.


title: Benzydamine

text: Benzydamine (also known as Tantum Verde and branded in some countries as Maxtra Gargle, Difflam and Septabene), available as the hydrochloride salt, is a locally acting nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) with local anaesthetic and analgesic properties for pain relief and anti-inflammatory treatment of inflammatory conditions of the mouth and throat. It falls under class of chemicals known as indazole.


title: Benzydamine

text: It may be used alone or as an adjunct to other therapy giving the possibility of increased therapeutic effect with little risk of interaction.


title: Benzydamine

text: Benzydamine has been used recreationally. In overdosages it acts as a deliriant and CNS stimulant. Such use, particularly among teenagers, has been reported in Poland, Brazil and Romania.


title: Benzydamine

text: Benzydamine is well tolerated. Occasionally oral tissue numbness or stinging sensations may occur, as well as itching, a skin rash, skin swelling or redness, difficulty breathing and wheezing.


title: Benzydamine

text: It selectively binds to inflamed tissues (Prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor) and is normally free of adverse systemic effects.


title: Benzydamine

text: Unlike other NSAIDs, it does not inhibit cyclooxygenase or lipooxygenase, and is not ulcerogenic. It has powerful reinforcing effect and has cross sensitization with drugs of abuse such as heroin and cocaine in animals. It is hypothesized that it has cannabinoid agonistic activity.


title: Benzydamine

text: Synthesis starts with the reaction of the "N"-benzyl derivative from methyl anthranilate with nitrous acid to give the "N"-nitroso derivative. Reduction by means of sodium thiosulfate leads to the transient hydrazine (3), which undergoes spontaneous internal hydrazide formation. Treatment of the enolate of this amide with 3-chloro-1-dimethylamino propane gives benzydamine (5). Please note there is an error in this section: US3318905 states that the nitroso derivative is reduced with sodium hydrosulfite (sodium dithionite) and not with sodium hyposulfite (sodium thiosulfate), as shown in the above scheme and stated in text.


title: Benzydamine

text: An interesting alternative synthesis of this substance starts by sequential reaction of "N"-benzylaniline with phosgene, and then with sodium azide to product the corresponding carbonyl azide. On heating, nitrogen is evolved and a separatable mixture of nitrene insertion product and the desired ketoindazole # results. The latter reaction appears to be a Curtius rearrangement type product to produce an N-isocyanate #, which then cyclizes. Alkylation of the enol with sodium methoxide and 3-dimethylaminopropyl chloride gives benzydamine.


title: Benzydamine

text: Alternatively, use of chloroacetamide in the alkylation step followed by acid hydrolysis produces bendazac instead.


title: Benzydamine

text: Studies indicate that benzydamine has notable in vitro antibacterial activity and also shows synergism in combination with other antibiotics, especially tetracyclines, against antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.


title: Benzydamine

text: It also has some cannabinoid activity in rats but has not been tested in humans. It is also hypothesized to act on 5-HT2A receptors due to its structural similarity with serotonin.


title: Western Thrace

text: Western Thrace or West Thrace (, "[Dytikí] Thráki" ; ; , "Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya"), also known as Greek Thrace, is a geographic and historical region of Greece, between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country; East Thrace, which lies east of the river Evros, forms the European part of Turkey, and the area to the north, in Bulgaria, is known as Northern Thrace.


title: Western Thrace

text: Inhabited since paleolithic times, it has been under the political, cultural and linguistic influence of the Greek world since the classical era; Greeks from the Aegean islands extensively colonized the region (especially the coastal part) and built prosperous cities such as Abdera (home of Democritus, the 5th-century B.C. philosopher who developed an atomic particle theory, and of Protagoras, a leading sophist) and Sale (near present-day Alexandroupolis). Under the Byzantine Empire, Western Thrace benefited from its position close to the imperial heartland and became a center of medieval Greek commerce and culture; later, under the Ottoman Empire, a number of Muslims settled there, marking the birth of the Muslim minority of Greece.


title: Western Thrace

text: Topographically, Thrace alternates between mountain-enclosed basins of varying size and deeply cut river valleys. It is divided into the three regional units (former prefectures): Xanthi, Rhodope and Evros, which together with the Macedonian regional units of Drama, Kavala and Thasos form the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace.


title: Western Thrace

text: The Fourth Army Corps of the Hellenic Army has its headquarters in Xanthi; in recent years, the region has attracted international media attention after becoming a key entering point for illegal immigrants trying to enter European Union territory; Greek security forces, working together with Frontex, are also extensively deployed in the Greco-Turkish land border.


title: Western Thrace

text: The approximate area of Western Thrace is 8,578 km² with a population of 371,208 according to the 2011 census. It's estimated that two-thirds (67%) of the population are Orthodox Christian Greeks, while about a third (33%) are Muslims who are an officially recognised minority of Greece. Of these, about a quarter are of Turkish origin, while another quarter are Pomaks who mainly inhabit the mountainous parts of the region. The rest are Muslim Greeks or Romani. The Romani of Thrace are also mainly Muslim, unlike their ethnic kin in other parts of the country who generally profess the Orthodox faith of the Greek majority.


title: Western Thrace

text: Thrace is bordered by Bulgaria to the north, Turkey to the east, the Aegean Sea (Greece) to the south and the Greek region of Macedonia to the west. Alexandroupolis is the largest city, with a municipal population of 72,959 according to the 2011 census. Below is a table of the five largest Thracian cities:


title: Western Thrace

text: After the Roman conquest, Western Thrace further belonged to the Roman province of Thracia founded in 46 AD. At the beginning of the 2nd AD century Roman emperor Trajan founded here, as a part of the provincial policy, two cities of Greek type (i.e. city-states), Traianoupolis and Plotinopolis. From this region passed the famous Via Egnatia, which ensured the communication between East and West, while its ramifications were connecting the Aegean world with Thracian hinterland (i.e. upper and middle valley of Evros river). From the coast also passed the sea route Troad–Macedonia, which the Apostle Paul had used in his journeys in Greece. During the great crisis of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century AD, Western Thrace suffered from the frequent incursions of the barbarians until the reign of Diocletian, when it managed to prosper again thanks to its administrative reforms.


title: Western Thrace

text: The region had been under the rule of the Byzantine Empire from the time of the division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western empires in the early fourth century AD. The Ottoman Empire conquered most of the region in the 14th century and ruled it until the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913. During Ottoman rule, Thrace had a mixed population of Turks and Bulgarians, with a strong Greek element in the cities and the Aegean Sea littoral. A smaller number of Pomaks, Jews, Armenians and Romani also lived in the region. At 1821, several parts of Western Thrace, such as Lavara, Maroneia, and Samothraki rebelled and participated in the Greek War of Independence.


title: Western Thrace

text: During the First Balkan War, the Balkan League (Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Montenegro) fought against the Ottoman Empire and annexed most of its European territory, including Thrace. Western Thrace was occupied by Bulgarian troops who defeated the Ottoman army. On November 15, 1912, on the right bank of the river Maritza, Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps captured the Turkish corps of Yaver Paha, which defended Eastern Rhodopes and Western Thrace from invading Bulgarians.


title: Western Thrace

text: The victors quickly fell into dispute on how to divide the newly conquered lands, resulting in the Second Balkan War. In August 1913, Bulgaria was defeated, but kept Western Thrace under the terms of the Treaty of Bucharest.


title: Western Thrace

text: In the following years, the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire), with which Bulgaria had sided, lost World War I, and as a result, Bulgaria had to surrender Western Thrace under the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Neuilly. Western Thrace was under temporary management of the Entente led by French General Charles Antoine Charpy. In late April 1920, as per the San Remo conference with gathered the leaders of the main allies of the Entente powers (except the US), Western Thrace was given to Greece.


title: Western Thrace

text: Throughout the Balkan Wars and World War I, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey each forced respective minority populations in the Thrace region out of areas they controlled. A large population of Greeks in Eastern Thrace, and Black Sea coastal and southern Bulgaria, was expelled south and west into Greek-controlled Thrace. Concurrently, a large population of Bulgarians was forced from the region into Bulgaria by Greek and Turkish actions. Turkish populations in the area were also targeted by Bulgarian and Greek forces and pushed eastward. As part of the Treaty of Neuilly and subsequent agreements, the status of the expelled populations was legitimized. This was followed by a further population exchange which radically changed the demographics of the region toward increased ethnic homogenization within the territories each respective country was ultimately awarded.


title: Western Thrace

text: This was followed by the large-scale Greek-Turkish population exchanges of 1923 (Treaty of Lausanne), which finalized the reversal of Western and Eastern Thrace region's pre-Balkan War demography. The treaty granted the status of a minority to the Muslims in Western Thrace, in exchange for a similar status for the ethnic Greek minority in Istanbul and the Aegean islands of Imbros and Tenedos.


title: Western Thrace

text: After the German invasion (April 1941), the area was occupied by Bulgarian troops, as part of the triple Axis occupation of Greece, during World War II. During this period (1941-1944) the demographic distribution was further changed, with the arrest of the region's approximately 4,500 Jews by the Bulgarian police and their deportation to death camps administered by Germany. None of them survived.


title: Western Thrace

text: The economy of Thrace in recent years has become less dependent on agriculture. A number of Greek-owned high-tech industries belonging to the telecommunications industry have settled in the area. The Egnatia Odos motorway which passes through Thrace, has contributed to the further development of the region. Tourism is slowly becoming more and more important as the Aegean coast has a number of beaches, and there is also the potential for winter tourism activities in the Rhodopi mountains, the natural border with Bulgaria, which are covered by dense forest.


title: Western Thrace

text: The Muslim minority of Thrace are Greek citizens of diverse ethnic origins and is recognised as religious minority in accordance with the Treaty of Lausanne which Greece has signed with Turkey, and along with the Greek Constitution, enshrines the fundamental rights of the Turks and other ethnic groups of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace and the obligations towards them. The Greek government is not referring to the Muslim minority by a specific ethnic background, as it includes Turks, Pomaks and Roma Muslims.


title: Western Thrace

text: The minority was exempted from the 1922-1923 Exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey and was granted special rights within the framework of the Treaty of Lausanne, such as religious freedom and education in the Turkish language.