title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: Joan G. Haahr writes in "The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales": "The story is unusual among Andersen's early tales, both in its emphasis on sensual desire and in its ambiguities. Blind fate, not intention, determines all events. Moreover, the narrative questions the very decorum it praises. The tin soldier's passive acceptance of whatever happens to him, while exemplifying pietistic ideals of self-denial, also contributes to his doom. Were he to speak and act, the soldier might gain both life and love. Restrained, however, by inhibition and convention, he finds only tragedy and death. The tale is often read autobiographically, with the soldier viewed as symbolizing Andersen's feelings of inadequacy with women, his passive acceptance of bourgeois class attitudes, or his sense of alienation as an artist and an outsider, from full participation in everyday life."


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: Ub Iwerks did a 1934 Cinecolor cartoon based on the story entitled "The Brave Tin Soldier". The cartoon's plot is slightly different from the original story. The antagonist is not a Jack-in-the-Box, but rather a toy king who wants the ballerina for himself. The tin soldier attacks the king, and as a result is put on trial and sentenced to death via firing squad. The ballerina pleads for his life to be spared, but her pleas go ignored. She then stands alongside the tin soldier and both are shot into a burning fireplace, where he melts into the shape of a heart with her. The cartoon has a happy ending, as both the tin soldier and ballerina are sent to "Toy Heaven", where the tin soldier now has both legs.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: In the 1940 Disney animated film "Fantasia", a shorter/shortened version of the tale was planned for the film as indicated by 1938 storyboards. Unfortunately, the ending of the segment did not satisfy Walt Disney and the story was set aside.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: George Pal's war-themed 1941 Puppetoon, "Rhythm in the Ranks", is likely a loose adaptation of Andersen's story, with a toy soldier getting discharged after falling in love with an ice-skating ballerina.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: Paul Grimault (with Jacques Prévert) did a 1947 colour French cartoon "Le Petit Soldat" that portrayed the title character as a toy acrobat who is called to war and returns crippled but determined to rescue his ballerina.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: Marcia Brown's 1953 picture book illustrating the story in M. R. James's translation was awarded a Caldecott Honor.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: Shawn Phillips's 1964 song 'Little Tin Soldier' is also based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale and was covered by Donovan in 1965.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: The Small Faces 1967 song Tin Soldier opens with the lyric "I am a little tin soldier that wants to jump into your fire", and appears to have been influenced by the Andersen story.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: Andersen's contemporary August Bournonville choreographed the tale for his ballet "A Fairy Tale in Pictures", and George Balanchine choreographed the tale in 1975, allowing the soldier and the ballerina to express their love before the ballerina is blown into the fire. Georges Bizet set the tale to music in "Jeux d'Enfants".


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: A live action musical adaptation was the second of four episodes of The Enchanted Musical Playhouse that originally aired from 1984 to 1985 on the (then) brand new Disney Channel.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: In 1985, Harmony Gold made an English dub of The Little Train adaptation of the story, the film was originally made in Italy in the late 70s.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: In 1986, Atkinson Film-Arts made an animated adaptation featuring the voices of Rick Jones, Terrence Scammell, and Robert Bockstael, with narration by Christopher Plummer.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: In 1991, it was adapted into an animated television movie as part of Timeless Tales from Hallmark which was produced by Hanna-Barbera and Hallmark. It featured the voices of George Newbern as the Tin Soldier, Megan Mullally as the Ballerina, Tim Curry as the Jack-in-the-box and Paul Williams as a frog named Frogbauten. It was Curry's second clown role after he played Pennywise in "It" (1990).


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: 1995 saw Jon Voight make his directorial debut with "The Tin Soldier", a Showtime family film loosely based on Andersen's story.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: In 1996, Vivian Little and Kathleen Mills adapted Anderson's story into a full-length ballet for the Dance Fremont studio in Seattle. The ballet is still produced every winter, as an alternative to the popular Christmas ballet "The Nutcracker", which many American studios produce in December. Dance Fremont centers the story around a young deaf boy who receives the toys for Christmas, and uses Signed Exact English for all dialogue.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: In the 2000 Disney animated film "Fantasia 2000", an adaptation of the tale is set to the first movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major by Dmitri Shostakovich. The segment differs slightly from Andersen's tale: there are only five soldiers, but still only one with one leg; the ballerina appears to be made of porcelain; the soldier is disappointed to discover the ballerina has two legs, but the ballerina still accepts him; at the end, the jack-in-the-box villain is the one that perishes in the fire instead of the soldier and ballerina who both remain in one piece. Other animated films for children have been produced on the tale, and, in 1975, a science fiction fantasy feature film, "The Tin Soldier".


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: In Stieg Larsson's 2006 thriller "The Girl Who Played with Fire", the fiercely independent protagonist Lisbeth Salander compares the journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who had stayed loyal to her despite her repeated blatant rejection of him, with Andersen's steadfast tin soldier (implicitly comparing herself with Andersen's ballerina).


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: Mike Mignola's graphic novel "Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire" fuses the poignancy of "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" with supernatural Dracula myths, set in a post-World War I environment. Kate DiCamillo's "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" (2006) makes use of the tale's themes.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: The Hanson song Soldier is also based on this fairy tale. The song doesn't mention the goblin at all. The tin soldier fell out the window when the wind blew and the tin soldier and ballerina melted together while dancing and the ballerina fell near the fireplace.


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: In Anirudh Arun's 2013 bildungsroman "The Steadfast Tin Soldier?", the protagonist Ashwin is compared to the tin soldier by his successful brother Abhinav (the society thus plays the part of the dangerous jack-in-the-box).


title: The Steadfast Tin Soldier

text: Daft Punk's music video for the song "Instant Crush" is said to have been inspired by "The Steadfast Tin Soldier".


title: Odeon of Herodes Atticus

text: The Odeon of Herodes Atticus (Greek: Ωδείο Ηρώδου του Αττικού; also called Herodeion or Herodion; Greek: Ηρώδειο) is a stone Roman theatre structure located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis of Athens, Greece. The building was completed in AD 161 and then renovated in 1950.


title: Odeon of Herodes Atticus

text: It was built in AD 161 by Herodes Atticus in memory of his Roman wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. It was originally a steep-sloped theatre with a three-story stone front wall and a wooden roof made of expensive cedar of Lebanon timber. It was used as a venue for music concerts with a capacity of 5,000. It lasted intact until it was destroyed and left in ruins by the Heruli in AD 267.


title: Odeon of Herodes Atticus

text: The audience stands and the orchestra (stage) were restored using Pentelic marble in the 1950s. Since then it has been the main venue of the Athens Festival, which runs from May through October each year, featuring a variety of acclaimed Greek as well as International performances.


title: Odeon of Herodes Atticus

text: In 1957 Maria Callas performed at the Odeon as part of the Athens Festival and in the same year Edith Hamilton was pronounced an honorary citizen of Athens at ninety years of age. In May 1962 Frank Sinatra gave two Benefit concerts for the city of Athens. The Odeon of Herodes Atticus was the venue for the Miss Universe 1973 pageant. Another memorable performance at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus was given by the Greek singer Nana Mouskouri in 1984; after 20 years of absence she returned to her country. Luciano Pavarotti performed at the Odeon twice, in 1991 and in 2004. Vangelis' Mythodea premiered at Odeon of Herodes Atticus in July 1993 and the venue hosted Yanni's Live at the Acropolis performance in September 1993. Sting performed at the venue during his Mercury Falling Tour on May 17, 1996. In June 2018 he returned for two more concerts. Mario Frangoulis has performed at the historic theatre with Yannis Markopoulos' and directed by Elias Malandris, Orpheus in 1996 and also played the role of Erotokritos in his work based on Vitsentzos Kornaros' Erotokritos. He also performed 'Axion Esti' poem by Odysseus Elytis music by Mikis Theodorakis and conducted by the composer himself in May 1998 to benefit Elpida foundation for children suffering from cancer. Elton John performed two concerts at the venue during his Medusa Tour in 2000. In June 2008 Sylvie Guillem performed Boléro in company with the Tokyo Ballet as part of the Athens Festival. In September 2010, tenor Andrea Bocelli held a concert at the Odeon to raise funds for cancer research. In the Year 2012 Mario Frangoulis performed the leading role in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at the Herodes Atticus theatre. In 2020 the first art exhibition was held on the site, by Greek artist Dionisis Kavallieratos, entitled 'Disoriented Dance / Misled Planet' organised by NEON Organization and the Athens and Epidaurus Festival.


title: Odeon of Herodes Atticus

text: Other artists who have performed at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus include Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Montserrat Caballé, Alicia de Larrocha, Roger Woodward the Bolshoi Ballets, Calexico, Maurice Béjart, Joaquín Cortés, Paco de Lucía, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Goran Bregovic, Steve Harley (without the usual band, Cockney Rebel, but accompanied by an 80-piece orchestra), Jean Michel Jarre, Ennio Morricone, Jethro Tull, Karolos Koun, Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hatzidakis, Nikos Koundouros, Patti Smith, Sivert Høyem, Spiros Evangelatos, Fairuz, Yannis Markopoulos, George Dalaras, Haris Alexiou, Marinella, Foo Fighters, Yann Tiersen, Dionysis Savopoulos, Leonidas Kavakos, Kathryn Morgan, Dead Can Dance, Florence and the Machine and many other important artists and artistic organisations.


title: RE/MAX

text: RE/MAX, short for Real Estate Maximums, is an American international real estate company that operates through a franchise system. As of 2015, RE/MAX had more than 100,000 agents in 6,800 offices. RE/MAX operates in about 100 countries.


title: RE/MAX

text: RE/MAX was founded in January 1973 by Dave Liniger and Gail Main (who later married Liniger and became Gail Liniger). The company was established with a maximum commission concept, meaning agents would keep nearly all of their commissions and pay their broker a share of the office expenses, rather than paying their broker a share of the commission of each sale, which is common in residential real estate. In 1975, Dennis Curtin purchased the first RE/MAX franchise outside of Colorado, in Kansas City, Missouri. The company grew to 100 franchises in two years. RE/MAX held its first convention in Las Vegas in 1976, which became an annual event.


title: RE/MAX

text: RE/MAX Ltd. Canada was started by Michael E. Hagel, of Vancouver BC, opened its first office outside the United States in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1977. In 1978, the red, white and blue hot air balloon became the official logo. By 1981, the company had 30 franchises in Canada. RE/MAX became the top real estate company in Canada in 1987.


title: RE/MAX

text: In 1994, the company expanded outside North America with the establishment of RE/MAX Europe. Regional operations expanded in Germany, Italy, Spain and South Africa. RE/MAX expanded to Australia and New Zealand in 1996.


title: RE/MAX

text: In November 1994, the RE/MAX Satellite Network (RSN) was launched in the US. Programs included training and company news.


title: RE/MAX

text: In 1998, Liniger attempted the first manned balloon flight around the world in a stratospheric gas balloon. The flight was canceled due to design and weather problems.


title: RE/MAX

text: In 2006, RE/MAX began to list all U.S. homes for sale on its website, including homes being sold by competitors. By 2009, the company had franchises in 70 countries.


title: RE/MAX

text: In April 2010, the Obama Administration announced the "Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives" (HAFA) program. The day the announcement was made, leaders from the U.S. Treasury Department and Bank of America participated in a live, national broadcast detailing the initiative at RE/MAX Headquarters in Denver. By 2011, the company had more than 6,000 franchises.


title: RE/MAX

text: In 2013, UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk released a report which alleged that real estate groups, such as RE/MAX, found to promote or sell properties in Israeli settlements may be held liable for complicity in the crime of promoting settlement activity in occupied territory. As of November 2015, RE/MAX Israel was still selling properties in 18 different Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.


title: RE/MAX

text: RE/MAX’s parent company, RE/MAX Holdings Inc, raised $220 million in its initial public offering (IPO) in 2013. A secondary offering was completed of approximately $185 million in November 2015. REMAX Holdings owns 58.3% and RIHI owns 41.7% of RE/MAX LLC. Total diluted share count (public and private) as of December 31, 2015, was 30.2 million shares.


title: RE/MAX

text: The company expanded into China in 2014 by opening an office in Beijing. The company had more than 15,000 agents in Europe. As of 2016, RE/MAX operates in about 100 countries and has more than 115 hot air balloons in operation, the largest corporate hot air balloon fleet in the world.


title: RE/MAX

text: In 2018, former president of the company Geoff Lewis, and Liniger stepped down from their roles to retire. Responsibilities were handed to CEO Adam Contos. In 2018 it was announced that founder David Liniger had violated company ethics with a multi-million-dollar loan of his own personal money to Contos.


title: RE/MAX

text: In 1992, RE/MAX became a sponsor of Children's Miracle Network. The company hosts art auctions, organizes golf tournaments, and encourages agent fundraising activities. Collectively, all RE/MAX affiliates have raised $147 million for the Children's Miracle Network hospitals in over 20 years of sponsorship.


title: RE/MAX

text: In 2002, the company became a sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race For The Cure events in the United States.


title: RE/MAX

text: RE/MAX University has been featured in "Training Magazine"s Top 125 US Organizations recognizing employee development.


title: Nenê

text: Nenê (; born Maybyner Rodney Hilário; September 13, 1982) is a Brazilian former professional basketball player. Known previously as Nenê Hilario, he legally changed his name to simply Nenê in 2003.


title: Nenê

text: Born Maybyner Rodney Hilário in São Carlos, Brazil, he was nicknamed "Nenê" (a variation of Brazilian Portuguese for "baby") because he was the youngest in both his family and his group of childhood friends. Like most Brazilian children, he played soccer from an early age; due to his skills, he was invited to train with pro clubs. In the mid-1990s, he started playing basketball at Escola de Basquete Meneghelli in his hometown. He later played professionally for Vasco da Gama from 1999 to 2002. In 2001, he joined the Brazilian national team and participated in the Goodwill Games.


title: Nenê

text: Nenê's successful three-year stint playing in Brazil earned him an NBA pre-draft camp invitation in Chicago in 2002. He was later selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft by the New York Knicks, who traded him to the Denver Nuggets. He was the first Brazilian ever to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft.


title: Nenê

text: Nenê began the 2002–03 season as a bench player, but ended it as a starter, averaging 10.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals. He ranked sixth in the NBA in field goal percentage (.519) and 20th in steals. He subsequently earned NBA All-Rookie first team honors.


title: Nenê

text: In his second season, Nenê played and started in 77 games, averaging 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 32.5 minutes per games. He ranked fourth in the NBA in field goal percentage (.530).


title: Nenê

text: In his third season, Nenê missed 27 games – 13 games due to a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, two games due to a right hip contusion, eight games due to a strained left hamstring, and four games due to an NBA suspension. He consequently played 55 games in 2004–05, averaging 9.6 points and 5.9 rebounds in 23.9 minutes per game.


title: Nenê

text: In 2005–06, Nenê missed 81 games after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee after just three minutes of action against the San Antonio Spurs in the Denver's season opening game on November 1.


title: Nenê

text: After re-signing with the Nuggets to a six-year, $60 million contract on July 20, 2006, Nenê returned to action in 2006–07, averaging 12.2 points and 7.0 rebounds in 64 games (42 starts).


title: Nenê

text: In 2007–08, Nenê played in just 16 games, averaging 5.3 points and 5.4 rebounds in 16.6 minutes per game. He suffered a torn ulner collateral ligament in his left thumb against the Boston Celtics on November 7 and missed the next 22 games.


title: Nenê

text: On January 11, 2008, Nenê released a statement saying that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the Denver Nuggets to address a medical issue. Three days later, he had a malignant testicular tumor removed at a Denver hospital. His right testicle was removed as well. He returned to action on March 27, 2008, in the Nuggets' 118–105 home win over the Dallas Mavericks. Nenê entered the game with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter to a standing ovation.


title: Nenê

text: Nenê missed 37 games between January 11 and March 24, 2008 after his bout with testicular cancer. A right groin strain also forced him to miss the final six games of the season.


title: Nenê

text: In response to his poor run of injuries and missed time, Nenê had a career-best year in 2008–09. He appeared in 77 games (76 starts) and averaged career-highs of 14.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.31 blocks, in addition to 1.23 steals in 32.6 minutes per game. He subsequently finished fifth in voting for the 2008–09 NBA Most Improved Player award. He also ranked second in the NBA in field goal percentage (.604 – 428-of-709), the best single-season mark in Nuggets' franchise history.


title: Nenê

text: In 2009–10, Nenê played and started all 82 games for the first time in his career and averaged 13.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, a career-high 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks in a career-high 33.6 minutes per game.


title: Nenê

text: In 2010–11, Nenê appeared in 75 games (starting all 75), averaging 14.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.12 steals while shooting an NBA-leading .615 from the field in 30.5 minutes per game.


title: Nenê

text: On March 15, 2012, Nenê was traded to the Washington Wizards in a three-way trade involving the Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers. He averaged 13.7 points and 7.5 rebounds in 39 total games (33 starts) with Washington and Denver during the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season.


title: Nenê

text: In 2012–13, Nenê averaged 12.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 27.2 minutes per game in 61 games (49 starts). On January 21, 2013, he scored a season-high 24 points in a 98–95 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.


title: Nenê

text: On November 26, 2013, Nenê scored a career-high 30 points in a 116–111 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Later that season, on February 22, Nenê matched that career-high in a 94–93 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.


title: Nenê

text: In 2014–15, various injuries and ailments limited Nenê's ability to produce at an optimum level, though he appeared in the most games (67) in five years. Towards the end of the season, when Nenê was relegated to more a supporting role to Marcin Gortat, he was a better rebounder and did more of the dirty work required. He averaged 11.0 points and 5.1 rebounds on 51.1% shooting during the season.


title: Nenê

text: Nenê appeared in 12 of team's first 13 games to begin the 2015–16 season, but between November 28 and January 3, he missed 19 straight games with a strained left calf. On March 14, 2016, he scored a season-high 20 points off the bench in a 124–81 win over the Detroit Pistons, Washington's largest victory since the 2002–03 season.


title: Nenê

text: On July 20, 2016, Nenê signed with the Houston Rockets. He made his debut for the Rockets in their season opener on October 26, 2016, scoring seven points off the bench in a 120–114 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. On January 5, 2017, he scored a season-high 18 points for his 12th double-digit game of the season in a 118–116 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. On April 23, 2017, he scored a playoff career-high 28 points on a perfect 12-of-12 shooting from the field to help the Rockets go up 3–1 in the team's first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On May 8, 2017, Nenê was ruled out for the remainder of the postseason with a left adductor tear. He suffered the injury the previous day in Game 4 of the Rockets' second-round playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs.


title: Nenê

text: On July 6, 2017, Nenê re-signed with the Rockets. On December 16, 2017, he scored a season-high 16 points in a 115–111 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.


title: Nenê

text: Nenê missed the first 21 games of the 2018–19 season with a strained right calf. Nenê's final NBA game was Game 6 of the 2019 Western Conference Semifinals against the Golden State Warriors on May 10th, 2019. In his final game, Nenê recorded 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. He declined his $3.8 million player option, thus making him a free agent.


title: Nenê

text: On September 3, 2019, Nenê re-signed with the Rockets. Most of his 2019-20 salary was non-guaranteed in the form of a likely bonus. The NBA suspected cap circumvention and ruled that Nenê's salary value in a trade would only be the guaranteed $2.6 million and not the full value of $10 million.


title: Nenê

text: Due to a lingering hip injury, Nenê was unable to play in a single game for the Rockets in 2019-20. On February 5, 2020, Nenê was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in a four-team, 12-player trade. The following day, Nenê was waived by the Hawks.


title: Nenê

text: Nenê has been a member of the senior Brazilian national basketball team. With Brazil, he played at the following major tournaments: the 2001 FIBA AmeriCup, the 2003 FIBA AmeriCup, the 2007 FIBA AmeriCup, the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 2014 FIBA World Cup, and the 2016 Summer Olympics. He won the silver medal at the 2001 FIBA AmeriCup.


title: Nenê

text: On January 14, 2008, Nenê had a malignant testicular tumor removed. His right testicle was removed as well. In the years after his cancer scare, Nenê, a Christian, said God used cancer to test him and prepare him for helping others. Upon retiring from basketball, Nenê plans to become involved with church activities in Brazil.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: The nine familial exterminations or nine kinship exterminations or execution of nine relations, also known by the names zuzhu ("family execution") and miezu ("family extermination"), was the most severe punishment for a capital offense in premodern China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. A collective form of kin punishment typically associated with offenses such as treason, the punishment involved the execution of all relatives of an individual, which were categorized into nine groups. Nine exterminations were often done by slow slicing. The occurrence of this punishment was somewhat rare, with relatively few sentences recorded throughout history.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: Confucian principles also played a major role in the extent of the punishment. The killing of children was disapproved under Mencius' principle that "being offspring is not a sin" (Classical Chinese: 罪人不孥), so that children under a certain age were often spared execution.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: The punishment by nine exterminations is usually associated with the tyrannical rulers throughout Chinese history who were prone to use inhumane methods of asserting control (such as slow slicing, or "death by ten thousand cuts"). The first written account of the concept is in the "Classic of History", a historical account of the Shang (1600 BC – 1046 BC) and Zhou (1045 BC – 256 BC) Dynasties, where it is recorded that prior to a military battle, officers would threaten their subordinates that they would exterminate their families if they refused to obey orders.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: From the Spring and Autumn period (770BC–403BC), there are records of exterminations of "three clans" (). A notable case was under the State of Qin in 338 BC: lawmaker Shang Yang's entire family was killed by order of King Huiwen of Qin, while Shang Yang himself was sentenced to death by being drawn and quartered. This was an ironic occurrence as it was Shang Yang who formulated such a punishment into Qin law in the first place, being commonly recorded as a lawmaker who used excessive punishments.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: During the Qin Dynasty (221 BC – 207 BC), punishments became even more rigorous under the first emperor of unified China, Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC). In order to uphold his rule, strict laws were enforced, where deception, libel, and the study of banned books became punishable by familial extermination. This increase in tyranny only helped to speed up the overthrow of the Qin Dynasty. The Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), although it inherited the concept of family execution, was more moderate in inflicting such severe punishments. In many cases, the Han Emperor would retract the sentence, and so family executions were much rarer than under the Qin Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty (618–907), the family punishment was not abolished, but it was only applied to those who plotted against the rule of the Emperor. By this time, the penalty had become more regulated and different; from the Tang Code, the sentence involved the death of parents, children over the age of sixteen, and other close kindred, and was only applied to the offenses of treason and rebellion.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) Dynasties, the breadth of family extermination was increased. Under the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368 – 98), those committing rebellion and treason were punished by having their parents, grandparents, brethren (by birth, as well as "sworn brothers"), children, grandchildren, those living with the criminal regardless of surname, uncles, and the children of brethren put to death, as well as death for the rebels themselves by slow slicing or "lingchi". The number of sentences during the Ming were higher than that of the Tang, due to the policy of "showing mercy beneath the sword" (), while females were given the choice to become slaves rather than be killed. A rare case was Fang Xiaoru (1357–1402), whose students and friends were also executed as the 10th family by the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402 – 1424), the only case where "ten exterminations" was officially sentenced and carried out. The punishment by family extermination during the Qing Dynasty was a direct imitation of the regulation under the Ming.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: On 1 November 1728, after the Qing reconquest of Lhasa in Tibet, several Tibetan rebels were sliced to death by Qing Manchu officers and officials. The Qing Manchu President of the Board of Civil Office, Jalangga, Mongol sub-chancellor Sen-ge, and brigadier-general Manchu Mala ordered the Tibetan rebels Lum-pa-nas and Na-p'od-pa to be sliced to death. They ordered gZims-dpon C'os-ac'ad (Hsi-mu-pen ch'ui-cha-t'e), son of Lum-pa-nas and rNog Tarqan bsKal-bzajn-c'os-adar and dKon-mc'og-lha-sgrub (Kun-ch'u-k'o-la-ku-pu) and dGa'-ldan-p'un-ts'ogs (K'a-erh-tan-p'en-ch'u-k'o), sons of Na-p'od-pa to be beheaded. Byams-pa (Cha-mu-pa) and his brother Lhag-gsan (La-k'o-sang) and their brothers, daughters, wives, and mother were exiled after their father sByar-ra-nas was beheaded. The Manchus wrote that they "set an example" by forcing the Tibetans to publicly watch the executions of Tibetan rebels of slicing like Na-p'od-pa since they said it was the Tibetan's nature to be cruel. The exiled Tibetans were enslaved and given as slaves to soldiers in Ching-chou (Jingzhou), K'ang-zhou (Kangzhou), and Chiang-ning (Jiangning) in the marshall-residences there. The Tibetan rNam-rgyal-grva-ts'an college administrator (gner-adsin) and sKyor'lun Lama were tied together with Lum-pa-nas and Na-p'od-pa on 4 scaffolds (k'rims-sin) to be sliced. The Manchus used muskets to fire 3 salvoes and then the Manchus strangled the 2 Lamas while slicing Lum-pa-nas and Na-p'od-pa to death while they beheaded the 13 other rebel leaders. The Tibetan population was depressed by the scene and the writer continued to feel sad as he described it 5 years later. All relatives of the Tibetan rebels including little children were executed by the Qing Manchus except the exiled and deported family of sByar-ra-ba who were condemned to be slaves. The public executions spectacle worked on the Tibetans since they were "cowed into submission" by the Qing. Even the Tibetan collaborator with the Qing, Polhané Sönam Topgyé (P'o-lha-nas), felt sad at his fellow Tibetans being executed in this manner and he prayed for them. All of this was included in a report by General Yue Zhongqi and sent to the Qing emperor at the time, the Yongzheng Emperor.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: Punishment by nine exterminations was abolished near the end of the Qing Dynasty, and was officially repealed by the imperial government in 1905.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: There were various ethical judgements regarding group punishment in ancient times. It was typically seen as a tyrannical method of rule, unjustly punishing innocent family members for the crime of a relative. Like all forms of collective punishment, it was also intended as a dreadful deterrent for the worst crimes, rather than merely as a form of revenge.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: In ancient Korea, this punishment was applied during the reign of King Jinpyeong of Silla (579-632) when conspirator Ichan Chilsuk (이찬 칠숙) and his entire family and relatives to the ninth degree were put to death.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: In ancient Japan, the punishment was carried out among samurai from the end of the Heian period to the Edo period. For example, regarding the situation when the Kai-Takeda clan was destroyed by Nobunaga Oda, Yu Hirayama wrote, "The Takeda family, the fudai (a hereditary vassal to the feudal lords of Shingen), the influential Kokushu (local samurai) of Kai, etc. were almost destroyed."


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: In ancient Vietnam, the most prominent example is the execution of most of the family members of Nguyễn Trãi (1380–1442), an official who was wrongly accused of killing the King. He had his entire family executed.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: In ancient times, there were nine different relations (or guanxi) which an individual had with other people, which were referred to as the "family" or "tribe" () during that period. These relations, under Confucian principles, were bonded by filial piety. Because members of a family remained strictly loyal to one another, they were considered responsible for crimes committed by any member due to guilt by association. It also provided the argument that the entire family would be responsible in supporting each other in the case of a rebellion against a ruler.


title: Nine familial exterminations

text: The Chinese character 族 can be translated by its original definition of "clan" or "tribe", or it can have the additional meanings of "kinship", "family" (as in 家族), or "ethnicity" (as in 民族).


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is an aggressive non-viral clonally transmissible cancer which affects Tasmanian devils, a marsupial native to Australia. DFTD was first described in 1996. In the subsequent decade the disease ravaged Tasmania's wild devils. Affected high-density populations had up to 100% mortality in 12–18 months. Between 1996 and 2015, DFTD wiped out 95% of affected populations.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: There is often more than one primary tumour. Visible signs of DFTD begin with lumps of soft tissue around the mouth, which ulcerate. Tumours are locally aggressive, destroying the underlying bone of the jaw which interferes with feeding. Tumours may also cover the eyes. Devils usually die within six months from organ failure, secondary infection, or metabolic starvation.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: The most plausible route of transmission is through biting, particularly when canine teeth come into direct contact with the diseased cells. Other modes of transmission may include the ingestion of infected carcasses and the sharing of food, both of which involve an allogeneic transfer of cells between unrelated individuals. The animals most likely to become infected are the fittest devil individuals.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: DFTD tumours are large soft tissue masses which become centrally ulcerated. The tumours are composed of lobules of nodules of round to spindle-shaped cells, often within a pseudocapsule. Tumours metastasise to regional lymph nodes involvement and systemically to the lungs, spleen and heart.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: Tasmanian devil cells have 14 chromosomes; the oldest-known strain of the tumour cells have thirteen chromosomes, nine of which are recognisable and four of which are mutated "marker" chromosomes. More recently evolved strains have an additional mutant marker chromosome, for a total of fourteen chromosomes. Researchers identified the cancer as a neuroendocrine tumour, and found identical chromosomal rearrangements in all the cancer cells. The karyotype anomalies of DFTD cells are similar to those of cancer cells from canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT), a cancer of dogs that is transmitted by physical contact. Among the mutations present in the tumour genome is trisomy in chromosome 5p, as well as several single base mutations, and short insertions and deletions, e.g., deletions in the chromosomes 1, 2 and 3. Some of the mutated or deleted genes in DFTD are RET, FANCD2, MAST3 and BTNL9-like gene.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: Classical DFTD likely originated in the Schwann cells of a single devil. Schwann cells are found in the peripheral nervous system, and produce myelin and other proteins essential for the functions of nerve cells in the peripheral nervous system. Researchers sampled 25 tumours and found that the tumours were genetically identical. Using deep sequencing technology, the study authors then profiled the tumours' transcriptome, the set of genes that are active in tumours; the transcriptomes closely matched those of Schwann cells, revealing high activity in many of the genes coding for myelin basic protein production. Several specific markers were identified, including the MBP and PRX genes, which may enable veterinarians to more easily distinguish DFTD from other types of cancer, and may eventually help identify a genetic pathway that can be targeted to treat it.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: In 2015, a second genetically distinct strain of DFTD was identified, which was tetraploid, not diploid like the main form of the cancer. The tetraploid form has been linked to lower mortality rates. The cell type origin of this strain of DFTD is unknown. Increased levels of tetraploidy have been shown to exist in the oldest strain of DFTD as of 2014, which correlates with the point at which devils became involved in a DFTD removal programme. Because ploidy slows the tumour growth rate, the DFTD removal programme has been suggested as a selective pressure favouring slower-growing tumours, and more generally that disease eradication programmes aimed at DFTD may encourage the evolution of DFTD. The existence of multiple strains may complicate attempts to develop a vaccine, and there are reports of concerns that the evolution of the cancer may allow it to spread to related species such as the quoll.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: Wild Tasmanian devil populations are being monitored to track the spread of the disease and to identify changes in disease prevalence. Field monitoring involves trapping devils within a defined area to check for the presence of the disease and determine the number of affected animals. The same area is visited repeatedly to characterise the spread of the disease over time. So far, it has been established that the short-term effects of the disease in an area can be severe. Long-term monitoring at replicated sites will be essential to assess whether these effects remain, or whether populations can recover. Field workers are also testing the effectiveness of disease suppression by trapping and removing diseased devils, with the expectation that removal of diseased devils from wild populations would decrease disease prevalence, allowing devils to survive beyond juvenile years and so to breed. One study reported that a system of culling prior to 2010 did not impede disease spread.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: Picking a genetically diverse breeding stock, defined by the genome sequence, may help with conservation efforts. Two "insurance populations" of disease-free devils have been established at an urban facility in the Hobart suburb of Taroona and on Maria Island off the east coast of Tasmania. Captive breeding in mainland zoos is also a possibility.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: Due to the decreased life expectancy of the devils with DFTD, affected individuals have begun breeding at younger ages in the wild, with reports that many only live to participate in one breeding cycle. Hence, Tasmanian devils appear to have changed breeding habits in response to the disease; females had previously begun to breed annually at age two, for about three more years, dying thereafter of a variety of causes. Populations are now characterised by onset of breeding at age one, dying of DFTD, on average, shortly thereafter. Social interactions have been seen to contribute to spread of DFTD in a local area.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: The decline in devil numbers is also an ecological problem, since its presence in the Tasmanian forest ecosystem is believed to have prevented the establishment of the red fox, with the most recent known organism accidentally being introduced into Tasmania in 1998. Tasmanian devil young may now be more vulnerable to red fox predation, as pups are left alone for long periods of time.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: In response to the impact of DFTD on Tasmanian devil populations, 47 devils have been shipped to mainland Australian wildlife parks to attempt to preserve the genetic diversity of the species. The largest of these efforts is the Devil Ark project in Barrington Tops, New South Wales; an initiative of the Australian Reptile Park. This project aims to create a set of one thousand genetically representative devils, and is now a major focus of the insurance policy. The Tasman peninsula is being considered as a possible "clean area" with the single narrow access point controlled by physical barriers. The Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries and Water is experimenting on culling infected animals with some signs of success.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: A diagnostic blood test was developed in mid-2009 to screen for the disease. In early 2010, scientists found some Tasmanian devils, mostly in the north-west of Tasmania, that are genetically different enough for their bodies to recognise the cancer as foreign. They have only one major histocompatibility complex, whereas the cancerous cells have both.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: Oocyte banking may be useful in the conservation effort for Tasmanian devils, as the survival rate of cryopreserved oocytes is 70%.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: In 1996, a photographer from The Netherlands captured several images of devils with facial tumours near Mount William in Tasmania's northeast. Around the same time, farmers reported a decline in devil numbers. Menna Jones first encountered the disease in 1999 near Little Swanport, in 2001 capturing three devils with facial tumours on the Freycinet Peninsula.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: The theory that cancer cells themselves could be an infective agent (the Allograft Theory) was first offered in 2006 by Pearse, Swift and colleagues, who analysed DFTD cells from devils in several locations, determining that all DFTD cells sampled were genetically identical to each other, and genetically distinct from their hosts and from all other individual Tasmanian devils whose genetics had been studied; this allowed them to conclude that the cancer originated from a single individual and spread from it, rather than arising repeatedly, and independently. Twenty-one different subtypes have been identified by analysing the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of 104 tumours from different Tasmanian devils. Researchers have also witnessed a previously uninfected devil develop tumours from lesions caused by an infected devil's bites, supporting the contention that the disease is spread by allograft, with transmission via biting, scratching, and aggressive sexual activity between individuals. During biting, infection can spread from the bitten devil to the biter.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: Initially, it was suspected that devils had low genetic diversity, so that their immune system did not recognise the tumour cells as foreign. However, it was later demonstrated that devils are sufficiently genetically diverse to mount a strong immune response to foreign tissue.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: The devil population on the peninsula decreased dramatically. In March 2003 Nick Mooney wrote a memo to be circulated within the Parks and Wildlife Services calling for more funding to study the disease, but the call for funding was edited out before the memo was presented to Bryan Green, then Tasmania's Minister for Primary Industries, Water and Environment. In April 2003, a working group was formed by the Tasmanian Government to respond to the disease. In September 2003, Nick Mooney went to the Tasmanian daily newspaper "The Mercury", informing the general public of the disease and proposing a quarantine of healthy Tasmanian devils. At the time, it was thought that a retrovirus was a possible cause. David Chadwick of the state Animal Health Laboratory said that the laboratory did not have the resources needed to research the possibility of a retrovirus. The Tasmanian Conservation Trust criticised the Tasmanian government for providing insufficient funds for research and suggested that DFTD could be zoonotic, posing a threat to livestock and humans. On 14 October 2003, a workshop was held in Launceston. In 2004, Kathryn Medlock found three oddly shaped devil skulls in European museums and found a description of a devil in London Zoo dying, which showed a similarity to DFTD.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: Calicivirus, 1080 poison, agricultural chemicals, and habitat fragmentation combined with a retrovirus were other proposed causes. Environmental toxins had also been suspected. In March 2006 a devil escaped from a park into an area infected with DFTD. She was recaptured with bite marks on her face, and returned to live with the other devils in the park. She wounded a male and by October both devils had DFTD, which was subsequently spread to two others (an incident that in retrospect would be understood in the context of the allograft theory of transmission).


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: In 2006, DFTD was classed a List B notifiable disease under the Government of Tasmania's Animal Health Act 1995. The strategy of developing an insurance population in captivity was developed. It was reassessed in 2008. A 2007 investigation into the immune system of the devils found that when combatting other pathogens, the response from the immune system was normal, leading to suspicion that the devils were not capable of detecting the cancerous cells as "non-self". In 2007, it was predicted that populations could become locally extinct within 10–15 years of DFTD occurring, and predicted that the disease would spread across the entire range of the Tasmanian devils causing the devils to become extinct within 25–35 years.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: In 2016, devils are endangered as the localised populations were shown to have declined by 90 per cent and an overall species decline of more than 80 per cent in less than 20 years, with some models predicting extinction. Despite this, devil populations persist in disease-stricken areas. The devils have, in a way, fought back the extinction by developing the gene that is immune to face tumors. The genes have already existed in the Tasmanian devil as part of their immune system. They increased in frequency due to natural selection. That is, the individuals with particular forms of these genes (alleles) survived and reproduced disproportionately to those that lacked the specific variants when disease was present.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: In 2008, a devil—given the name Cedric by those who treated and worked with him—was thought to have a natural immunity to the disease, but developed two facial tumours in late 2008. The tumours were removed, and officials thought Cedric was recovering well; but in September 2010, the cancer was discovered to have spread to the lungs, leading to his euthanasia.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: In 2013, a study using mice as a model for Tasmanian devils suggested that a DFTD vaccine could be beneficial. In 2015, a study which mixed dead DFTD cells with an inflammatory substance stimulated an immune response in five out of six devils injected with the mixture, engendering for a vaccine against DFTD. Field testing of the potential vaccines has been undertaken as a collaborative project between the Menzies Institute for Medical Research and the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program. Strong immune responses were induced by the vaccine, but the vaccine did not protect all devils from developing DFTD. An oral bait vaccine for DFTD is in the early stages of development as of 2020.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: Research by Professor Greg Woods from the University of Tasmania's Menzies Institute for Medical Research has shown encouraging evidence for the potential development of a vaccine using dead devil facial tumour disease cells to trigger an immune response in healthy devils. Field testing of the vaccine is being undertaken as a collaborative project between the Menzies Institute for Medical Research and the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program under the Wild Devil Recovery program, and aims to test the immunisation protocol as a tool in ensuring the devil's long-term survival in the wild.


title: Devil facial tumour disease

text: In March 2017, scientists at the University of Tasmania presented an apparent first report of having successfully treated Tasmanian devils with the disease, by injecting live cancer cells into the infected devils to stimulate their immune system to recognise and fight the disease. In 2019, researchers from University of Sydney reported constricted diversity of the T cell repertoire in devils with DFTD, suggesting that DFTD may impact the host immune system directly. Several studies of immune checkpoint molecules, such as PD-1 and PD-L1, have been undertaken in devils and suggest that potential immune evasion pathways used by human cancers could also be active in DFTD.


title: Septic drain field

text: Septic drain fields, also called leach fields or leach drains, are subsurface wastewater disposal facilities used to remove contaminants and impurities from the liquid that emerges after anaerobic digestion in a septic tank. Organic materials in the liquid are catabolized by a microbial ecosystem.


title: Septic drain field

text: The drain field typically consists of an arrangement of trenches containing perforated pipes and porous material (often gravel) covered by a layer of soil to prevent animals (and surface runoff) from reaching the wastewater distributed within those trenches. Primary design considerations are both "hydraulic" for the volume of wastewater requiring disposal and "catabolic" for the long-term biochemical oxygen demand of that wastewater. The land area that is set aside for the septic drain field may be called a septic reserve area (SRA).


title: Septic drain field

text: Sewage farms similarly dispose of wastewater through a series of ditches and lagoons (often with little or no pre-treatment). These are more often found in arid countries as the waterflow on the surface allows for irrigation (and fertilization) of agricultural land.


title: Septic drain field

text: Many health departments require a percolation test ("perc" test) to establish the suitability of drain field soil to receive septic tank effluent. An engineer, soil scientist, or licensed designer may be required to work with the local governing agency to design a system that conforms to these criteria.


title: Septic drain field

text: A more progressive way to determine leach field sizing is by direct observation of the soil profile. In this observation, the engineer evaluates many features of the soil such as texture, structure, consistency, pores/roots, etc.


title: Septic drain field

text: The goal of percolation testing is to ensure the soil is permeable enough for septic tank effluent to percolate away from the drain field, but fine grained enough to filter out pathogenic bacteria and viruses before they travel far enough to reach a water well or surface water supply. Coarse soils – sand and gravel – can transmit wastewater away from the drain field before pathogens are destroyed. Silt and clay effectively filter out pathogens but allow very limited wastewater flow rates. Percolation tests measure the rate at which clean water disperses through a disposal trench into the soil. Several factors may reduce observed percolation rates when the drain field receives anoxic septic tank effluent:


title: Septic drain field

text: Just as a septic tank is sized to support a community of anaerobic organisms capable of liquefying anticipated amounts of putrescible materials in wastewater, a drain field should be sized to support a community of aerobic soil microorganisms capable of decomposing the anaerobic septic tank's effluent into aerobic water. Hydrogen sulfide odors or iron bacteria may be observed in nearby wells or surface waters when effluent has not been completely oxidized prior to reaching those areas. The biofilm on the walls of the drain field trenches will use atmospheric oxygen in the trenches to catabolize organic compounds in septic tank effluent. Groundwater flow is laminar in the aquifer soils surrounding the drain field. Septic tank effluent with soluble organic compounds passing through the biofilm forms a mounded lens atop the groundwater underlying the drain field. Molecular diffusion controls the mixing of soluble organic compounds into the groundwater and the transport of oxygen from underlying groundwater or the capillary fringe of the groundwater surface, to micro-organisms capable of catabolizing dissolved organic compounds remaining in the effluent plume.


title: Septic drain field

text: When a septic tank is used in combination with a biofilter, the height and catabolic area of the drain field may be reduced. Biofilter technology may allow higher density residential construction, minimal site disturbance and more usable land for trees, swimming pools, or gardens. With adequate routine maintenance it may reduce the chances of the drain field plugging up. The biofilter will not reduce the volume of liquid that must percolate into soil, but it may reduce the oxygen demand of organic materials in that liquid.


title: Septic drain field

text: A drain field may be designed to offer several separate disposal areas for effluent from a single septic tank. One area may be "rested" while effluent is routed to a different area. The nematode community in the resting drain field continues feeding on the accumulated biofilm and fats when the anaerobic septic tank effluent is no longer available. This natural cleansing process may reduce bioclogging to improve the hydraulic capacity of the field by increasing the available interstitial area of the soil as the accumulated organic material is oxidized. The percolation rate after resting may approach, but is unlikely to match, the original clean water percolation rate of the site.


title: Septic drain field

text: Septic tank and drain field microorganisms have very limited capability for catabolizing petroleum products and chlorinated solvents, and cannot remove dissolved metals; although some may be absorbed into septic tank sludge or drain field soils, and concentrations may be diluted by other groundwater in the vicinity of the drain field. Cleaning formulations may reduce drain field efficiency. Laundry bleach may slow or stop microbial activity in the drain field, and sanitizing or deodorizing chemicals may have similar effects. Detergents, solvents, and drain cleaners may transport emulsified, saponified or dissolved fats into the drain field before they can be catabolized into short-chain organic acids in the septic tank scum layer.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a 2010 3D documentary film by Werner Herzog about the Chauvet Cave in Southern France, which contains some of the oldest human-painted images yet discovered. Some of them were crafted around 32,000 years ago. The film premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival and consists of images from inside the cave as well as interviews with various scientists and historians. The film also includes footage of the nearby Pont d'Arc natural bridge.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: Herzog's interest in the Chauvet cave was prompted by Judith Thurman's "New Yorker" article "First Impressions". Thurman is listed as one of the co-producers of the film.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: The cave is carefully preserved and the general public is not allowed to enter. Herzog received special permission from the French Minister of Culture to film inside the cave.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: Having received permission, Herzog nonetheless had to film under heavy restrictions. All people authorized to enter must wear special suits and shoes that have had no contact with the exterior. Also, because of near-toxic levels of radon and carbon dioxide, nobody can stay in the cave for more than a few hours per day.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: Herzog was allowed to have only three people with him in the cave: the cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger, a sound recordist (Eric Spitzer-Marlyn), and an assistant. Herzog himself worked the lights. The crew was allowed to use only battery-powered equipment they could carry into the cave themselves, and only lights that gave off no excess heat. The 3-D cameras were custom-built for the production, and were often assembled inside the cave itself. Herzog was allowed six shooting days of four hours each. The crew could not touch any part of the cave's wall or floor, and were confined to a walkway.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: The production encountered several technical difficulties in working with the 3-D cameras in a documentary setting. At the time of production, 3-D films were typically shot on stages with heavy use of digital manipulation. Often, foreground and background elements would be shot separately and digitally composited into the finished shot. Techniques for 3-D filmmaking in natural environments with a single camera and no compositing were largely undeveloped, and had to be worked out experimentally by the crew in post-production.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: Before production of "Cave of Forgotten Dreams", Herzog was skeptical of the artistic value of 3-D filmmaking, and had only seen one 3-D film (James Cameron's "Avatar"). Herzog still believes that 3-D is not suited for general use in cinema, but used it in "Cave" to help "capture the intentions of the painters", who incorporated the wall's subtle bulges and contours into their art.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: The idea to use a 3-D camera for the film was first suggested by Zeitlinger, who had imagined before ever entering the cave that 3-D might be appropriate to capture the contours of the walls. Herzog dismissed the idea, believing 3-D to be (in Zeitlinger's words) "a gimmick of the commercial cinema". After visiting the cave, however, Herzog immediately decided that the film must be shot in 3-D. After the production, Herzog stated that he had no plans to use 3-D again.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: The film had its debut on 13 September 2010, at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was finished at the last minute, with only 30 minutes of footage completed on the Wednesday before its showing. It was the first 3-D film to screen at the festival's Bell Lightbox theatre, and the digital projectors jammed only five minutes from the end, interrupting its debut.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: Two days later, IFC Films announced that it had secured the rights to all US distribution of the film in a "mid-six-figure deal". Television rights had already been owned by the History Channel, who partially financed the film's production.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: After the film's premiere, Herzog was asked why the French Ministry of Culture, who sponsored the film, did not require its premiere to be in France. Herzog replied, "They didn't know it was finished".


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: In January 2011, a trailer for "Cave" was released which advertised a release date of Spring 2011. It premiered in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 25 March 2011. Also in March a second trailer was released for US distribution, which announced a US release date of 29 April 2011.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: The film opened on 29 April 2011, shown in the US in five theaters in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The ticket sales averaged $25,500 per theater for the opening weekend, which was Herzog's best-ever per theater opening, and the highest per theater average of any film in the US for the weekend.


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: As of 12 June 2011, the film had grossed $6.4 million, making it the highest-grossing independently released documentary of 2011, earning over 10 times more than the second-place film, "The Last Lions".


title: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

text: The film's reception was positive. It holds a 96% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 128 reviews, as well as metacritic score of 86 on the Metacritic, based on 34 reviews.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Usher syndrome, also known as Hallgren syndrome, Usher–Hallgren syndrome, retinitis pigmentosa–dysacusis syndrome or dystrophia retinae dysacusis syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder caused by a mutation in any one of at least 11 genes resulting in a combination of hearing loss and visual impairment. It is a major cause of deafblindness and is at present incurable.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Usher syndrome is classed into three subtypes (I, II and III) according to the genes responsible and the onset of deafness. All three subtypes are caused by mutations in genes involved in the function of the inner ear and retina. These mutations are inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern.


title: Usher syndrome

text: The occurrence of Usher syndrome varies across the world and across the different syndrome types, with rates as high as 1 in 12,500 in Germany to as low as 1 in 28,000 in Norway. Type I is most common in Ashkenazi Jewish and Acadian populations, and type III is rarely found outside Ashkenazi Jewish and Finnish populations. Usher syndrome is named after Scottish ophthalmologist Charles Usher, who examined the pathology and transmission of the syndrome in 1914.


title: Usher syndrome

text: People with Usher I are born profoundly deaf and begin to lose their vision in the first decade of life. They also exhibit balance difficulties and learn to walk slowly as children, due to problems in their vestibular system.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Usher syndrome type I can be caused by mutations in any one of several different genes: "CDH23, MYO7A, PCDH15, USH1C" and "USH1G". These genes function in the development and maintenance of inner ear structures such as hair cells (stereocilia), which transmit sound and motion signals to the brain. Alterations in these genes can cause an inability to maintain balance (vestibular dysfunction) and hearing loss. The genes also play a role in the development and stability of the retina by influencing the structure and function of both the rod photoreceptor cells and supporting cells called the retinal pigmented epithelium. Mutations that affect the normal function of these genes can result in retinitis pigmentosa and resultant vision loss.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Worldwide, the estimated prevalence of Usher syndrome type I is 3 to 6 per 100,000 people in the general population. Type I has been found to be more common in people of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry (central and eastern European) and in the French-Acadian populations (Louisiana). Among Acadians, research into haplotype data is consistent with one single mutation being responsible for all cases of Usher syndrome type I.


title: Usher syndrome

text: People with Usher II are not born deaf and are generally hard-of-hearing rather than deaf, and their hearing does not degrade over time; moreover, they do not seem to have noticeable problems with balance. They also begin to lose their vision later (in the second decade of life) and may preserve some vision even into middle age.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Usher syndrome type II may be caused by mutations in any of three different genes: "USH2A, GPR98" and "DFNB31". The protein encoded by the" USH2A "gene, usherin, is located in the supportive tissue in the inner ear and retina. Usherin is critical for the proper development and maintenance of these structures, which may help explain its role in hearing and vision loss. The location and function of the other two proteins are not yet known.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Usher syndrome type II occurs at least as frequently as type I, but because type II may be underdiagnosed or more difficult to detect, it could be up to three times as common as type I.


title: Usher syndrome

text: People with Usher syndrome III are not born deaf but experience a progressive loss of hearing, and roughly half have balance difficulties.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Mutations in only one gene, "CLRN1", have been linked to Usher syndrome type III. "CLRN1" encodes clarin-1, a protein important for the development and maintenance of the inner ear and retina. However, the protein's function in these structures, and how its mutation causes hearing and vision loss, is still poorly understood.


title: Usher syndrome

text: The frequency of Usher syndrome type III is significant only in the Finnish population as well as the population of Birmingham, UK, and individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. It has been noted rarely in a few other ethnic groups.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Usher syndrome is characterized by hearing loss and a gradual visual impairment. The hearing loss is caused by a defective inner ear, whereas the vision loss results from retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a degeneration of the retinal cells. Usually, the rod cells of the retina are affected first, leading to early night blindness (nyctalopia) and the gradual loss of peripheral vision. In other cases, early degeneration of the cone cells in the macula occurs, leading to a loss of central acuity. In some cases, the foveal vision is spared, leading to "doughnut vision"; central and peripheral vision are intact, but an annulus exists around the central region in which vision is impaired.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Usher syndrome is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. Several genes have been associated with Usher syndrome using linkage analysis of patient families (Table 1) and DNA sequencing of the identified loci. A mutation in any one of these genes is likely to result in Usher syndrome.


title: Usher syndrome

text: The clinical subtypes Usher I and II are associated with mutations in any one of six ("USH1B-G") and three ("USH2A, C-D") genes, respectively, whereas only one gene, "USH3A", has been linked to Usher III so far. Two other genes, "USH1A" and "USH2B", were initially associated with Usher syndrome, but "USH2B" has not been verified and" USH1A" was incorrectly determined and does not exist. Research in this area is ongoing.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Using interaction analysis techniques, the identified gene products could be shown to interact with one another in one or more larger protein complexes. If one of the components is missing, this protein complex cannot fulfil its function in the living cell, and it probably comes to the degeneration the same. The function of this protein complex has been suggested to participate in the signal transduction or in the cell adhesion of sensory cells.


title: Usher syndrome

text: A study shows that three proteins related to Usher syndrome genes (PCDH15, CDH23, GPR98) are also involved in auditory cortex development, in mouse and macaque. Their lack of expression induces a decrease in the number of parvalbumin interneurons. Patients with mutations for these genes could have consequently auditory cortex defects.


title: Usher syndrome

text: The progressive blindness of Usher syndrome results from retinitis pigmentosa. The photoreceptor cells usually start to degenerate from the outer periphery to the center of the retina, including the macula. The degeneration is usually first noticed as night blindness (nyctalopia); peripheral vision is gradually lost, restricting the visual field (tunnel vision), which generally progresses to complete blindness. The qualifier "pigmentosa" reflects the fact that clumps of pigment may be visible by an ophthalmoscope in advanced stages of degeneration.


title: Usher syndrome

text: The hearing impairment associated with Usher syndrome is caused by damaged hair cells in the cochlea of the inner ear inhibiting electrical impulses from reaching the brain. It is a form of dysacusis.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Since Usher syndrome is incurable at present, it is helpful to diagnose children well before they develop the characteristic night blindness. Some preliminary studies have suggested as many as 10% of congenitally deaf children may have Usher syndrome. However, a misdiagnosis can have bad consequences.


title: Usher syndrome

text: The simplest approach to diagnosing Usher syndrome is to test for the characteristic chromosomal mutations. An alternative approach is electroretinography, although this is often disfavored for children, since its discomfort can also make the results unreliable. Parental consanguinity is a significant factor in diagnosis. Usher syndrome I may be indicated if the child is profoundly deaf from birth and especially slow in walking.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Thirteen other syndromes may exhibit signs similar to Usher syndrome, including Alport syndrome, Alström syndrome, Bardet–Biedl syndrome, Cockayne syndrome, spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, Flynn–Aird syndrome, Friedreich ataxia, Hurler syndrome (MPS-1), Kearns–Sayre syndrome (CPEO), Norrie syndrome, osteopetrosis (Albers–Schonberg disease), Refsum disease (phytanic acid storage disease) and Zellweger syndrome (cerebrohepatorenal syndrome).


title: Usher syndrome

text: Although Usher syndrome has been classified clinically in several ways, the prevailing approach is to classify it into three clinical sub-types called Usher I, II and III in order of decreasing severity of deafness. Although it was previously believed that there was an Usher syndrome type IV, researchers at the University of Iowa recently confirmed that there is no USH type IV. As described below, these clinical subtypes may be further subdivided by the particular gene mutated; people with Usher I and II may have any one of six and three genes mutated, respectively, whereas only one gene has been associated with Usher III. The function of these genes is still poorly understood.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Usher syndrome is a variable condition; the degree of severity is not tightly linked to whether it is Usher I, II or III. For example, someone with type III may be unaffected in childhood but go on to develop a profound hearing loss and a very significant loss of sight by early-to-mid adulthood. Similarly, someone with type I, who is therefore profoundly deaf from birth, may keep good central vision until the sixth decade of life or even beyond. People with type II, who have useful hearing with a hearing aid, can experience a wide range of severity of the RP. Some may maintain good reading vision into their 60s, while others cannot see to read while still in their 40s.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Since Usher syndrome is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, both males and females are equally likely to inherit it. Consanguinity of the parents is a risk factor.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Since Usher syndrome results from the loss of a gene, gene therapy that adds the proper protein back ("gene replacement") may alleviate it, provided the added protein becomes functional. Recent studies of mouse models have shown one form of the disease—that associated with a mutation in myosin VIIa—can be alleviated by replacing the mutant gene using a lentivirus. However, some of the mutated genes associated with Usher syndrome encode very large proteins—most notably, the "USH2A" and "GPR98" proteins, which have roughly 6000 amino-acid residues. Gene replacement therapy for such large proteins may be difficult.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Usher syndrome is responsible for the majority of deafblindness. It occurs in roughly 1 in 23,000 people in the United States, 1 in 28,000 in Norway, and 1 in 12,500 in Germany. People with Usher syndrome represent roughly one-sixth of people with retinitis pigmentosa.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Usher syndrome is named after the Scottish ophthalmologist Charles Usher, who examined the pathology and transmission of this illness in 1914 on the basis of 69 cases. However, it was first described in 1858 by Albrecht von Gräfe, a pioneer of modern ophthalmology. He reported the case of a deaf patient with retinitis pigmentosa, who had two brothers with the same symptoms. Three years later, one of his students, Richard Liebreich, examined the population of Berlin for disease pattern of deafness with retinitis pigmentosa. Liebreich noted Usher syndrome to be recessive, since the cases of blind-deafness combinations occurred particularly in the siblings of blood-related marriages or in families with patients in different generations. His observations supplied the first proofs for the coupled transmission of blindness and deafness, since no isolated cases of either could be found in the family trees.


title: Usher syndrome

text: Animal models of this human disease (such as knockout mice and zebrafish) have been developed recently to study the effects of these gene mutations and to test potential cures for Usher syndrome.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC, formerly University of Maryland University College) is a public university in Adelphi, Maryland. It is the largest of the University System of Maryland campuses. Established in 1947, UMGC focuses on online education in its classes and programs on campus in its Academic Center in Largo and at satellite campuses across the Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area, throughout Maryland, and across the world.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: UMGC serves over 90,000 students worldwide and is one of the largest distance-learning institutions in the world. UMGC is open to all applicants for undergraduate programs, and is among the top 10 recipients of the federal G.I. Bill benefits. The university offers 120 academic programs in instructor-led and online classes, including bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, as well as undergraduate and graduate certificates. UMGC is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: UMGC is an outgrowth of the evening program for adults at the University of Maryland, which began in the 1920s. In 1947, the College of Special and Continuation Studies (CSCS) was established. In 1959, The CSCS became the University of Maryland University College (UMUC). In 1970, UMUC became an independent institution, and it became a member of the University System of Maryland in 1988.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: UMUC formerly had an international campus in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, (near Stuttgart), until 2002. It also ran a two-year residential campus in Munich, Germany, from 1950 to 1992, which then moved to Augsburg, Germany, from 1993 to 1994, and then to Mannheim, Germany, in 1995 until it finally closed in 2005. The residential campus offered a two-year associate degree and mainly served high school graduate children of U.S. military and government personnel stationed in Europe.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: In 2008 UMUC offered courses on over 130 military installations at locations throughout Europe and the Middle East, as well as in Asia. In 2004, UMUC shared the ICDE Prize of Excellence from the International Council for Open and Distance Education. In FY 2015, UMGC offered on-site classes in 20 countries throughout the world, enrolling almost 11,000 students, in Asia and Europe.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: UMUC was a college in the traditional American sense of the word, albeit one associated with a university—hence, "University College." The "University of Maryland" prefix indicated the historical entity to which the college belonged originally. In the university's name, "University College" represented "the specialized concentration on professional development," while "University of Maryland" represented the affiliation of the university with the University System of Maryland.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: When UMUC first opened in 1947, the school was named College of Special and Continuation Studies to distinguish it as an institution independent from the University of Maryland, College Park. In 1953, Raymond Ehrensberger, chancellor of the institution at that time, wanted to change the name to something more meaningful and less cumbersome for people to say and remember. Early suggestions for the name included College of General Studies, College of Adult Education and University College.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: In 1959, Chancellor Ehrensberger persuaded the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents to change the name to University of Maryland University College. The name "University College" was adopted from the British university system to depict an educational institution offering "courses and programs from all academic departments outside the university's walls and normal class times." Therefore, UMUC was not a division of the University of Maryland, College Park, but rather a separate institution within the University System of Maryland.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: In 2019, the university announced that its name would change to "University of Maryland Global Campus" accompanied by a half-billion dollar national marketing campaign to expand the school's global outreach. The name change request was submitted as SB 201 and HB 319 in the 2019 regular session of the Maryland General Assembly. The name change was enacted into law on April 18, 2019 when the bill was signed by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: UMGC is one of the largest providers of distance education in the United States. Courses are delivered in traditional classroom settings, as well as online. Even before the advent of online education by way of the World Wide Web, UMGC was a distance education pioneer and offered distance learning using its WebTycho interface by way of dial-up access. UMGC later adopted the use of the Web for connectivity to its online classrooms, as well as using television and correspondence courses to deliver course content.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: The Undergraduate School offers more than 30 bachelor's degree programs and undergraduate certificates, awarded in business management, computers/information technology, communications, criminal justice/legal studies, and social sciences. Undergraduate students can earn credit through classroom-based and online courses or through the Prior Learning programs. The Undergraduate program serves as a continuation of the Community Colleges of Maryland and elsewhere. The Prior Learning programs offer an escalated degree option for education and training completed in the workplace or military. This program provides general education credits that can be applied towards a degree at UMGC.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: The Graduate School offers more than 55 master's degree programs, graduate certificates, and doctoral degrees. Most graduate programs are available in both classroom and online formats. Several master's degrees are available in an accelerated Executive format or executive online format only.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: UMGC offers face-to-face courses and support in Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Guam, Japan, Okinawa, Singapore, South Korea, Diego Garcia, Spain.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: The headquarters for UMGC is located in Adelphi, Maryland near the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. Until late 2000, the UMGC headquarters was listed in College Park, Maryland. In an attempt to establish its own identity as an independent university, UMGC changed its postal address to Adelphi, an unincorporated community that borders College Park. The address change with the U.S. Postal Service involved no physical move of people and facilities. The marketing decision to change its postal address was one of many undertaken by UMGC to distinguish the university as one of the largest distance-education centers, with over 248,000 students enrolled worldwide in FY 2015.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: UMGC purchased for $38 million its new headquarters building in Largo, Maryland, which was once the headquarters site for Hechinger and corporate offices of Raytheon. UMGC retrofitted its new headquarters to meet "green" building requirements for LEED certification. UMGC followed the same process as it did to achieve LEED certification in 2005 for its Inn & Conference Center, which became the first hotel complex in the United States to achieve certification as a green building.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: UMGC operates satellite campuses at more than 140 worldwide locations, including across the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, the United States, Europe, and Asia.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: In the greater Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, daytime, evening and weekend classes are held at 21 locations, including holding many of its classes at the University of Maryland, College Park campus. The satellite campuses offer varying academic services, including advising, computing, and library facilities (extensive library services are available to distance education students via the University's Information and Library Services department).


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: UMGC operates a facility in Dorsey, Maryland adjacent to the Dorsey MARC Train Station. In partnership with Maryland community colleges and other University System of Maryland institutions, UMGC offers courses and degree programs at several higher education centers throughout the state. In conjunction with the College of Southern Maryland, it operates the Waldorf Center for Higher Education in Waldorf, Maryland. A consortium of universities led by Anne Arundel Community College, including UMGC, operates a higher education center adjacent to Arundel Mills mall in Hanover, Maryland. In addition, the University offers courses at the Universities at Shady Grove and University System of Maryland at Hagerstown, which are part of the University System of Maryland.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: In Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, UMGC offers courses on military bases for service members, contractors, Federal employees, and their families. In addition to distance learning via the Web, the university offers on-site, instructor-led classes at 130 overseas US military bases in 22 countries throughout the world. Overseas instruction is coordinated through its European Division, which covers USCENTCOM installations in the Middle East, and Asian Divisions. UMGC divisional headquarters are located in Kaiserslautern, Germany (following the closure of United States Army Garrison Heidelberg) and on Yokota Air Base, Tokyo, Japan, respectively.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: UMGC specializes in distance learning for adult, non-traditional students in Maryland, across the country, and around the world by operating satellite campuses and offering online instruction. In FY 2015 the university enrolled almost 52,000 active-duty service members at over 140 worldwide locations. In FY 2015, more than 32,000 Marylanders attended UMGC.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: About three-quarters of the undergraduate students attend part-time. Over ninety-two percent of UMGC students are employed full-time. The majority of undergraduate students are female. The median age of stateside undergraduate students is 31. Almost two-thirds of the graduate MBA students are married, half are female, and over a third are minorities. Over a third of UMGC's stateside students were African-American, and this minority group earned over a third of the degrees awarded by the university.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: UMGC was ranked #1 in "The Military Times" “Best for Vets: Colleges 2015” list of top online and nontraditional schools in 2015. "Military Times" “Best for Vets” is one of the most respected and comprehensive rankings for veterans who are considering higher education. The publication looked at U.S. Department of Education statistics on student success and academic quality, as well as areas such as university culture, student support, and academic policies in evaluating hundreds of schools.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: In 2011, UMGC received the Institution Award from the Council of College and Military Educators (CCME), a not-for-profit organization founded to promote, encourage and deliver quality education to service members and their families in all branches of the U.S. armed services. The Institution Award is given to a college or university that supplies quality education programs to the armed services. CCME selected UMGC due to its dedication, leadership and numerous accomplishments in providing quality, voluntary off-duty education programs.


title: University of Maryland Global Campus

text: "U.S. News & World Report" ranked UMGC #131-171 in Regional Universities North for its 2022 edition of Best Colleges.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: Most criticism of Wikipedia has been directed toward its content, its community of established users, and its processes. Critics have questioned its factual reliability, the readability and organization of the articles, the lack of methodical fact-checking, and its political bias. Concerns have also been raised about systemic bias along gender, racial, political, corporate, institutional, and national lines. In addition, conflicts of interest arising from corporate campaigns to influence content have also been highlighted. Further concerns include the vandalism and partisanship facilitated by anonymous editing, clique behavior from contributors as well as administrators and other top figures, social stratification between a guardian class and newer users, excessive rule-making, edit warring, and uneven application of policies.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: The reliability of Wikipedia is often questioned. In "Wikipedia: The Dumbing Down of World Knowledge" (2010), journalist Edwin Black characterized the content of articles as a mixture of "truth, half-truth, and some falsehoods". Oliver Kamm, in "Wisdom?: More like Dumbness of the Crowds" (2007), said that articles usually are dominated by the loudest and most persistent editorial voices or by an interest group with an ideological "axe to grind".


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: In his article "The 'Undue Weight' of Truth on Wikipedia" (2012), Timothy Messer–Kruse criticized the that deals with the relative importance of sources, observing that it showed Wikipedia's goal was not to present correct and definitive information about a subject but to present the majority opinion of the sources cited. In their article "You Just Type in What You are Looking for: Undergraduates' Use of Library Resources vs. Wikipedia" (2012) in an academic librarianship journal, the authors noted another author's point that omissions within an article might give the reader false ideas about a topic, based upon the incomplete content of Wikipedia.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: Wikipedia is sometimes characterized as having a hostile editing environment. In "Common Knowledge?: An Ethnography of Wikipedia" (2014), Dariusz Jemielniak, a steward for Wikimedia Foundation projects, stated that the complexity of the rules and laws governing editorial content and the behavior of the editors is a burden for new editors and a license for the "office politics" of disruptive editors. In a follow-up article, Jemielniak said that abridging and rewriting the editorial rules and laws of Wikipedia for clarity of purpose and simplicity of application would resolve the bureaucratic bottleneck of too many rules. In "The Rise and Decline of an Open Collaboration System: How Wikipedia's Reaction to Popularity is Causing its Decline" (2013), Aaron Halfaker said the over-complicated rules and laws of Wikipedia unintentionally provoked the decline in editorial participation that began in 2009—frightening away new editors who otherwise would contribute to Wikipedia.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: There have also been works that describe the possible misuse of Wikipedia. In "Wikipedia or Wickedpedia?" (2008), the Hoover Institution said Wikipedia is an unreliable resource for correct knowledge, information, and facts about a subject, because, as an open-source website, the editorial content of the articles is readily subjected to manipulation and propaganda. The 2014 edition of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's official student handbook, "Academic Integrity at MIT", informs students that Wikipedia is not a reliable academic source, stating, "the bibliography published at the end of the Wikipedia entry may point you to potential sources. However, do not assume that these sources are reliable use the same criteria to judge them as you would any other source. Do not consider the Wikipedia bibliography as a replacement for your own research."


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: Wikipedia that the encyclopedia should not be used as a primary source for research, either academic or informational. The British librarian Philip Bradley said, "the main problem is the lack of authority. With printed publications, the publishers have to ensure that their data are reliable, as their livelihood depends on it. But with something like this, all that goes out the window." Likewise, Robert McHenry, editor-in-chief of "Encyclopædia Britannica" from 1992 to 1997, said that readers of Wikipedia articles cannot know who wrote the article they are reading—it might have been written by an expert in the subject matter or by an amateur. In November 2015, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger told Zach Schwartz in "Vice": "I think Wikipedia never solved the problem of how to organize itself in a way that didn't lead to mob rule" and that since he left the project, "People that I would say are trolls sort of took over. The inmates started running the asylum."


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: In "Internet Encyclopaedias Go Head-to-head", a 2005 article published in the scientific journal "Nature", the results of a blind experiment (single-blind study), which compared the factual and informational accuracy of entries from Wikipedia and the "Encyclopædia Britannica", were reported. The 42-entry sample included science articles and biographies of scientists, which were compared for accuracy by anonymous academic reviewers; they found that the average Wikipedia entry contained four errors and omissions, while the average "Encyclopædia Britannica" entry contained three errors and omissions. The study concluded that Wikipedia and "Britannica" were comparable in terms of the accuracy of its science entries. Nevertheless, the reviewers had two principal criticisms of the Wikipedia science entries: (i) thematically confused content, without an intelligible structure (order, presentation, interpretation); and (ii) that undue weight is given to controversial, fringe theories about the subject matter.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: The dissatisfaction of the "Encyclopædia Britannica" editors led to "Nature" publishing additional survey documentation that substantiated the results of the comparative study. Based upon the additional documents, "Encyclopædia Britannica" denied the validity of the study, stating it was flawed, because the "Britannica" extracts were compilations that sometimes included articles written for the youth version of the encyclopedia. In turn, "Nature" acknowledged that some "Britannica" articles were compilations, but denied that such editorial details invalidated the conclusions of the comparative study of the science articles.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: The editors of "Britannica" also said that while the "Nature" study showed that the rate of error between the two encyclopedias was similar, the errors in a Wikipedia article usually were errors of fact, while the errors in a "Britannica" article were errors of omission. According to the editors of "Britannica", "Britannica" was more accurate than Wikipedia in that respect. Subsequently, "Nature" magazine rejected the "Britannica" response with a rebuttal of the editors' specific objections about the research method of the study.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: Inaccurate information that is not obviously false may persist in Wikipedia for a long time before it is challenged. The most prominent cases reported by mainstream media involved biographies of living people.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: The Wikipedia Seigenthaler biography incident demonstrated that the subject of a biographical article must sometimes fix blatant lies about his own life. In May 2005, an anonymous user edited the biographical article on American journalist and writer John Seigenthaler so that it contained several false and defamatory statements. The inaccurate claims went unnoticed from May until September 2005 when they were discovered by Victor S. Johnson Jr., a friend of Seigenthaler. Wikipedia content is often mirrored at sites such as Answers.com, which means that incorrect information can be replicated alongside correct information through a number of web sources. Such information can thereby develop false authority due to its presence at such sites.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: In another example, on March 2, 2007, MSNBC.com reported that then-New York Senator Hillary Clinton had been incorrectly listed for 20 months in her Wikipedia biography as having been valedictorian of her class of 1969 at Wellesley College, when in fact she was not (though she did speak at commencement). The article included a link to the Wikipedia edit, where the incorrect information was added on July 9, 2005. The inaccurate information was removed within 24 hours after the MSNBC.com report appeared.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: Attempts to perpetrate hoaxes may not be confined to editing existing Wikipedia articles, but can also include creating new articles. In October 2005, Alan Mcilwraith, a call center worker from Scotland, created a Wikipedia article in which he wrote that he was a highly decorated war hero. The article was quickly identified as a hoax by other users and deleted.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: There have also been instances of users deliberately inserting false information into Wikipedia in order to test the system and demonstrate its alleged unreliability. Gene Weingarten, a journalist, ran such a test in 2007, in which he inserted false information into his own Wikipedia article; it was removed 27 hours later by a Wikipedia editor. Wikipedia considers the deliberate insertion of false and misleading information to be vandalism.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: Wikipedia regards the concept of a neutral point of view as one of its non-negotiable principles; however, it acknowledges that such a concept has its limitations its policy states that articles should be "as far as possible" written, "without editorial bias". Mark Glaser, a journalist, also wrote that this may be an impossible ideal due to the inevitable biases of editors. Research has shown that articles can maintain bias in spite of the neutral point of view policy through word choice, the presentation of opinions and controversial claims as facts, and framing bias.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: In August 2007, a tool called WikiScanner—developed by Virgil Griffith, a visiting researcher from the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico—was released to match edits to the encyclopedia by non-registered users with an extensive database of IP addresses. News stories appeared about IP addresses from various organizations such as the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Diebold, Inc. and the Australian government being used to make edits to Wikipedia articles, sometimes of an opinionated or questionable nature. Another story stated that an IP address from the BBC itself had been used to vandalize the article on George W. Bush. The BBC quoted a Wikipedia spokesperson as praising the tool: "We really value transparency and the scanner really takes this to another level. Wikipedia Scanner may prevent an organization or individuals from editing articles that they're really not supposed to." Not everyone hailed WikiScanner as a success for Wikipedia. Oliver Kamm, in a column for "The Times", argued instead that:


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: WikiScanner reveals conflicts of interest only when the editor does not have a Wikipedia account and their IP address is used instead. Conflict-of-interest editing done by editors with accounts is not detected, since those edits are anonymous to everyone except some Wikipedia administrators.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: The 2005 "Nature" study also gave two brief examples of challenges that Wikipedian science writers purportedly faced on Wikipedia. The first concerned the addition of a section on violence to the schizophrenia article, which was little more than a "rant" about the need to lock people up, in the view of one of the article's regular editors, neuropsychologist Vaughan Bell. He said that editing it stimulated him to look up the literature on the topic.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: Another dispute involved the climate researcher William Connolley, a Wikipedia editor who was opposed by others. The topic in this second dispute was "language pertaining to the greenhouse effect", and "The New Yorker" reported that this dispute, which was far more protracted, had led to arbitration, which took three months to produce a decision. The outcome of arbitration was for Connolley to be restricted to undoing edits on articles once per day.


title: Criticism of Wikipedia

text: While Wikipedia policy requires articles to have a neutral point of view, it is not immune from attempts by outsiders (or insiders) with an agenda to place a spin on articles. In January 2006, it was revealed that several staffers of members of the U.S. House of Representatives had embarked on a campaign to cleanse their respective bosses' biographies on Wikipedia, as well as inserting negative remarks on political opponents. References to a campaign promise by Martin Meehan to surrender his seat in 2000 were deleted, and negative comments were inserted into the articles on United States Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, and Eric Cantor, a congressman from Virginia. Numerous other changes were made from an IP address assigned to the House of Representatives. In an interview, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales remarked that the changes were "not cool".