title: The Bridges at Toko-Ri

text: In the attacks against the historical bridges, the McDonnell F2H Banshee fighter-bombers (represented by Grumman F9F Panther) that are at the heart of the story did not bomb the bridges themselves, since they did not have the capability of carrying the heavy aerial bombs that were needed. Instead, they carried out the perilous mission of suppressing enemy anti-aircraft fire.


title: The Bridges at Toko-Ri

text: Film rights were purchased by the team of George Seaton and William Perlberg, who had a production unit at Paramount. They wanted Spencer Tracy for the role of admiral, but this was played by Frederic March.


title: The Bridges at Toko-Ri

text: Exteriors were shot aboard and , 27,100-ton s standing in for USS "Savo Island". The aircraft used in the film is the Grumman F9F-2 Panther, a Korean War workhorse still in service and equipping the air groups of both carriers at the time the film was made. In the novel, however, Brubaker's squadron flew McDonnell F2H Banshees. The squadron depicted is an actual unit, Fighter Squadron 192 (VF-192) "Golden Dragons," which was aboard "Oriskany" during the filming, and from its part in the movie, thereafter, billed itself as the "World Famous Golden Dragons." VF-192 had two war deployments to Korea, but aboard and flying Vought F4U-4 Corsairs. The squadron continues service today as Strike Fighter Squadron 192 (VFA-192), a Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet unit. The movie also took advantage of the early uses of helicopters in the military. Rooney's character flies a S-51/HO3S-1/H-5F, G, H Sikorsky "DragonFly" which was well-known as a naval rescue aircraft.


title: The Bridges at Toko-Ri

text: Location filming was also done in Post-War Japan at the US Naval Base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, and the historic Fujiya Hotel at Hakone. A ranch in Thousand Oaks, California, was also used for filming.


title: The Bridges at Toko-Ri

text: Although the film was released in Canada in December, 1954, it opened in the rest of the world, including the U.S., in 1955.


title: The Bridges at Toko-Ri

text: "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" was well received by critics and public alike. As an example of the films that came out of the Korean War, it was considered more of a multi-faceted account that dealt with both ordinary seamen and command officers involved in combat. Typical of the reviews was one by Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times", who noted how the film adaptation was true to the original story and was "vividly and movingly developed in this punctilious film." The close cooperation of the U.S. Navy led to spectacular aerial scenes as well as carrier action. A raid sequence with large scale models intercut with combat footage was a particularly effective scene that was later recognized in the Academy Awards.


title: The Bridges at Toko-Ri

text: "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" won the Academy Award for Best Special Effects (1956) and Alma Macrorie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Editing (1956). Mark Robson was also nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures in the Directors Guild of America Awards (1956).


title: The Bridges at Toko-Ri

text: Atypical of the World War 2 movies produced by Hollywood, "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" was considered a quiet anti-war themed movie. The Korean War never got the same attention in media as World War 2 as its geopolitical purpose in world security was considered dubious. Brubaker's character questions the purpose of the Korean War with the Rear Admiral and others. The final scenes of the movie document the hopeless deaths of the main protagonists as they lay in a muddy ditch in a foreign land. As the movie progresses through dangerous missions(ditching, flak fly throughs), Brubaker experiences moments of panic and PTSD as the Bridge mission looms closer and closer. Grace Kelly's character being a metaphorical representation of the country's confusion over the Korean War but remaining dutiful and unquestioning in its purpose.


title: The Bridges at Toko-Ri

text: In a scene from the 2021 movie "Licorice Pizza", Sean Penn plays an aging actor named "Jack Holden" who starred with Grace Kelly in a film called "The Bridges of Toko-San". Despite the name changes, this scene is an obvious allusion to William Holden and "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" (as is Tom Waits' character, director "Rex Blau", an obvious allusion to Mark Robson, director of "Toko-Ri", in the same scene).


title: Arabat Spit

text: The Arabat Spit (; ) or Arabat Arrow is a barrier spit that separates the large, shallow and very salty Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov. The spit runs between the Henichesk Strait in the north and the north-eastern shores of Crimea in the south.


title: Arabat Spit

text: The spit is commonly called the Arabat Arrow (, "Arabatska strilka"; ; , "Arabatskaya strelka") in Russia and Ukraine. It has been called an "arrow" since at least the middle of the 19th century.


title: Arabat Spit

text: The "Arabat" part of the name comes from the Arabat Fortress, a 17th-century Turkish fort at the southern end of the spit. "Arabat" derives from either Arabic "rabat" meaning a "military post" or Arabic "rabad" meaning a "suburb".


title: Arabat Spit

text: The Arabat Arrow is long, and from wide. Its surface area is and thus the average width is . The spit is low and straight on the Azov Sea side, whereas its Sivash side is more convoluted. It contains two areas which are wide and have brown-clay hills. They are located and from the Henichesk Strait.


title: Arabat Spit

text: The top layers of other parts of the spit are formed by sand and shells washed by the flows of the Azov Sea. Its vegetation mostly consists of various weed grasses, thorn, festuce grasses, spear grass, crambe, salsola, salicornia, Carex colchica, tamarisk, rose hip, liquorice, etc.


title: Arabat Spit

text: Offshore water is shallow with the depth reaching only some from the shore. Its temperature is around in winter (near freezing), in spring and autumn, and in summer; air temperature is almost the same.


title: Arabat Spit

text: The Arabat Arrow was wild until 1835 when a road and five stations at intervals were built along it for postal delivery. Later in the 19th century, 25 rural and 3 military settlements and one village named Arabat appeared on the spit. The rural population amounted to some 235 people whose occupation was mostly fishing, farming, and salt production. The latter activity is traditional for the region due to the vast areas of shallow and very saline water in the Sivash lagoons. Salt production in the 19th century was about on the Arabat Arrow alone.


title: Arabat Spit

text: While the spit is geophysically part of the Crimean Peninsula, politically its northern half belongs to Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, while its southern portion is, "de facto" since 2014, a part of the Russian Republic of Crimea. The entirety of the spit was occupied during the annexation, although Russia withdrew its forces from the northern Kherson side in December 2014. The entire spit has been back under Russian control since 25 February 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.


title: Arabat Spit

text: The rural communities of Henicheska Hirka, Shchaslyvtseve and Strilkove are located in the northern section of the spit, within the Kherson Oblast. The community of Solyane is located in the southern part of the spit, administered as part of the Republic of Crimea.


title: Arabat Spit

text: Arabat Spit is a popular place for summer vacation among Ukrainians because of the warm water of the Sea of Azov. There are a variety of hotels and guesthouses on the first line of the sea. Arabat Spit is popular among kitesurfers and windsurfers.


title: Đổi Mới

text: The Đổi Mới economic reforms were initiated by the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1986 during the party's 6th National Congress. These reforms introduced a greater role for market forces for the coordination of economic activity between enterprises and government agencies and allowed for private ownership of small enterprises and the creation of a stock exchange for both state and non-state enterprises.


title: Đổi Mới

text: After reunification in 1976, the economy of Vietnam was plagued by enormous difficulties in production, imbalances in supply and demand, inefficiencies in distribution and circulation, soaring inflation rates, and rising debt problems. Vietnam's gross domestic product (GDP) in 1984 was valued at US$18.1 billion with a per capita income estimated to be between US$200 and US$300 per year. Reasons for this mediocre economic performance have included severe climatic conditions that afflicted agricultural crops, bureaucratic mismanagement, extinction of entrepreneurship, and military occupation of Cambodia (which resulted in a cutoff of much-needed international aid for reconstruction).


title: Đổi Mới

text: From 1978 until 1991, Vietnam was a member of the Comecon, and therefore was heavily dependent on trade with the Soviet Union and its allies. Following the dissolution of the Comecon and the loss of its traditional trading partners, Vietnam was forced to liberalize trade, devalue its exchange rate to increase exports, and embark on a policy of economic development.


title: Đổi Mới

text: In the years immediately prior to the Đổi Mới Reforms, Vietnam faced an economic crisis; inflation soared to over 700 percent, economic growth slowed down, and export revenues covered less than the total value of imports. In addition, Soviet aid decreased, increasing Vietnam's international isolation. This resulted in intense debate within the Communist Party about the efficacy of the command economy system and the possibility of reform in the run up to the 6th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in December 1986.


title: Đổi Mới

text: One of the important developments which provoked change within the Party was the death of Party General Secretary, Lê Duẩn, in July 1986. In December 1986, the Sixth Party Congress elected as Party Secretary the more liberal Nguyễn Văn Linh, a reformist and former leader of the National Liberation Front.


title: Đổi Mới

text: While Đổi Mới was officially introduced at the 6th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1986, the state had initiated reforms in the early 1980s. Specifically, in October and November 1978, cooperative leaders in the north were permitted to rent out fields to members during the winter as long as the latter produced winter crops collectively for required number of days and return the land in time for growing paddy in the spring.


title: Đổi Mới

text: At the Six Party Plenum in August 1979, the Party allowed for the decentralization of economic decision making related to farming and introduced more incentives for production expansion. In 1980, Provincial governments were permitted to establish trading firms, breaking the monopoly of foreign trade by the central state in Vietnam. In 1981, agricultural reforms were introduced, which allowed farmland to be distributed to individual workers, individual management of a collective, and farmers could retain all production beyond their farming quota. These agricultural reforms contributed to the recovery of industrial output. Following these measures, price controls were removed from numerous consumer products to increase trade at real-market prices and ease shortages of them within the state trade system.


title: Đổi Mới

text: The 6th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam was convened on 15 December 1986 and lasted until 18 December. The Congress reaffirmed its commitment to the reform program of the 8th plenum of the 5th Central Committee, and issued five points;


title: Đổi Mới

text: Võ Văn Kiệt, a Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, delivered the Economic Report to the 6th National Congress. The political and economic reports stressed Đổi Mới (Renovation), and Vietnam specialist Carlyle Thayer wrote that Võ Văn Kiệt may have been the foremost advocate of this concept. In his speech to the Congress, Võ Văn Kiệt said, "in the economic field, there will be renovation in economic policies and the management system." Võ Văn Kiệt said that agriculture and not heavy industry would be most important during the 4th Five-Year Plan. During the 4th Five-Year Plan, Võ Văn Kiệt said, "[t]he ... main orientation for heavy industry in this stage is to support agriculture and light industry on a proper scale and at an appropriate technical level." Võ Văn Kiệt stressed the role of exports and the production of grain, food, and consumer goods to revitalize the Vietnamese economy. The main objective of the 4th Five-Year Plan was the production of grain and food products; "a target of 22–30 million metric tons of grain in paddy" was set for 1990. While several methods were to be used to reach this goal, material incentives and end-product contracts would play a prominent role. The Central Management System was abolished and the economic focus was shifted to the creation of a market-driven economy with different sectors, and competition between the private sector and the state in non-strategic sectors. In 1987, inspection stations along the national highway were removed to allow more efficient flow of goods and services between different municipalities. Markets where private agricultural products were allowed to be sold were rapidly growing.


title: Đổi Mới

text: Subsequently, the National Assembly introduced the 1987 Foreign Investment Law with a desire to "mobilize every means to attract foreign capital for local development," (Foreign Investment Law 1987) even permitting complete foreign ownership of domestic physical assets and outlawing the prospects of nationalization.


title: Đổi Mới

text: Privately owned enterprises were permitted in commodity production (and later encouraged) by the Communist Party of Vietnam. The first half of the 1990s observed changes in the legal framework for the private sector. In 1990, Law on Private Enterprises which provided a legal basis to private firms was enacted, while Companies Law acknowledged Joint-stock company and private limited liability company. In the same year, the Party began discussing the potential of privatizing state-owned enterprises (SOEs), while also normalizing relations with the People's Republic of China. Subsequently, the 1992 Constitution officially recognized the role of the private sector.


title: Đổi Mới

text: In the agricultural sector, the Land Law was enacted in 1988, which recognized private land use rights. In addition, Central Committee Resolution 10 was issued; according to this resolution, farmers were not obliged to participate in cooperatives and were permitted to sell their products on the free market. Also, the Resolution returned land-use rights to private households and recognized them as autonomous economic units. As a result, the agriculture sector and the rural economy began shifting from autarky to commodity production, allowing each region to produce according to their comparative market advantage. In this renewed economic model, the state retreated to a regulative role, with the market determining the prices of goods and services.


title: Đổi Mới

text: In the early 1990s, Vietnam accepted some World Bank reform advice for market liberalization, but rejected structural adjustment programs and conditional aid funding requiring privatization of state-owned enterprises. With the reforms, the number of private enterprises increased; and by 1996, there were 190 joint stock companies and 8,900 limited liability companies registered. The private sectors played an important role in the service industry, as the share in the retail trade activity increased from 41% to 76% in 1996.


title: Đổi Mới

text: Throughout this period, the National Assembly introduced various corporate and income tax deductions to spur both domestic and foreign investment. In terms of rural development, the government restructured the rural economy away from agriculture by incentivizing small and handcraft villages and training labor for the industrial sector.


title: Đổi Mới

text: While foreign trade was centrally controlled by the state, the state started to loosen control of foreign trade. Consumer goods were sent back home by Vietnamese who worked or studied in the socialist countries in the first stages up to the reunification. The sources of commercial goods diversified since then; these varied from gifts shipped by overseas Vietnamese to their families, to goods left over during the US occupation of the south which were tradable in the Soviet for raising capital. Further, neighboring countries such as Laos and Cambodia provided opportunities to smuggle goods into Vietnam. There were two types of goods smuggling from Cambodia; the first one included those left behind by victims of the Khmer Rouge, while the other were those imported from Thailand. For instance, Thai beer being imposed high duties was usually smuggled by the sea route into Vietnam.


title: Đổi Mới

text: As a result of vast privatization and economic reforms, Vietnam underwent a miraculous economic transformation in the 1990s. In specific, the early periods of reform (1986–1990) saw an average GDP growth of 4.4 percent per year, with the average GDP growth rate accelerating to approximately 6.5 percent per year from 1990 until the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997. In terms of scale, Vietnam's GDP grew almost five times from $6.472 billion in 1990 to $31.173 billion in 2000, while GDP per capita grew from $95 in 1990 to $390 in 2000. That is to show, both production and the standards of living improved over this period. Unlike many other fast-growing economies, the Vietnamese government diverted tax revenue collected from the expansion of economic activities to ensure that underdeveloped areas receive adequate investment in infrastructure and welfare. As a result, poverty rates declined significantly in most provinces, while income also recorded significant growth in metropolitan areas and provinces where levels of investment were high. As the overall investment environment and legal transparency improves, approximately $18.3 billion of actual foreign direct invested capital flowed into the Vietnamese economy. This increased FDI inflow provided the much-needed capital for economic growth, while also creating jobs for laborers in rural provinces and led to positive technological spillover. For instance, provinces with high FDI inflow such as Vinh Phuc or Binh Duong, the unemployment rates declined more significantly than the national rate, while their local income per capita also grew significantly. For local businesses, increased FDI inflow created more opportunity to partner with foreign firms through joint ventures and to supply parts and services for foreign firms, while also allowing locals to reap the benefits of technological spillover from FDI. Over time, these local businesses can develop their own production capacity, even becoming strategic partners with foreign investors.


title: Đổi Mới

text: Despite recording high GDP growth, the Vietnamese economy still had many structural problems heading to the new century. Without experience in managing a market economy, income inequality, negative environmental and social effects still pose a major threat as the country began eyeing integration into the global economy. State-owned enterprises, which still made up a significant portion of the economy, remained inefficient and are plagued by problems of corruption. In terms of poverty alleviation, despite recording a significant decline in the national poverty rate, absolute poverty was still rampant in mountainous provinces and provinces along the central coast. Not only so, relative poverty and the urban-rural income gap continue to be on the rise. In major metropolitan areas, affordable housing was lacking, thus hindering further potential growth in living standards for internal migrant labor. Despite recording high FDI inflow, the majority of FDI still focused on exploiting Vietnam's cheap labor and low environmental standards, thus hindering de facto sustainable growth. In terms of technological spillover, many domestic firms still lack the capacity to reap the benefits of increased FDI inflows. In various high-value added industries, especially the retail industry, FDI firms have grown to dominate the domestic market, crowding out domestic private investors. Even more, profits created by foreign investment tend to be repatriated to their home countries, and thus do not get reinvested into the local economy as profits for a domestic firm would. In terms of technological development, the economy's automation rate and the stock of highly-skilled labor remained low. The working environment, at the same time, remains highly inefficient and unwelcoming towards further reform, so much so that the country now experiences a major brain drain.


title: Đổi Mới

text: The Communist Party of Vietnam maintains that the socialist-oriented market economy is consistent with the classical Marxist view of economic development and historical materialism, where socialism can only emerge once material conditions have been sufficiently developed to enable socialist relations. The socialist-oriented market model is seen as a key step for achieving the necessary economic growth and modernization while being able to co-exist in the contemporary global market economy and benefit from global trade. The Communist Party of Vietnam has re-affirmed its commitment to the development of a socialist economy with its Đổi Mới reforms.


title: Rashid ad-Din Sinan

text: Rashid al-Din Sinan ( "Rashīd ad-Dīn Sinān"; 1131/1135 – 1193) also known as the Old Man of the Mountain ( "Shaykh al-Jabal", ), was a "da'i" (missionary) and leader of the Syrian branch of the Nizari Isma'ili state (the Assassin Order) from 1162 until his death in 1193. He was also a prominent figure in the history of the Crusades.


title: Rashid ad-Din Sinan

text: Rashid ad-Din Sinan was born between the years 1131 and 1135 in Basra, southern Iraq, to a prosperous family. According to his autobiography, of which only fragments survive, Rashid came to Alamut, the fortress headquarters of the Assassins, as a youth after an argument with his brothers, and received the typical Assassin training. In 1162, the sect's leader Ḥassan ʿAlā Dhikrihi's Salām sent him to Syria, where he proclaimed "Qiyamah" (repeating the ceremony of Hassan II at Alamut), which in Nizari terminology meant the time of the Qa'im and the removal of Islamic law. Based at the Nizari strongholds al-Kahf and later Masyaf, he controlled the northern Syrian districts of Jabal as-Summaq, Maarrat Misrin and Sarmin.


title: Rashid ad-Din Sinan

text: Rashid enjoyed considerable independence from the Nizari centre in Alamut and some writings attribute him with a semi-divine status usually given to the Nizari Ismaili Imam.


title: Rashid ad-Din Sinan

text: His chief enemy, the Sultan Saladin (1137/1138–1193), ruled over Egypt and Syria from 1174 to 1193. Saladin managed twice to elude assassination attempts ordered by Rashid and as he was marching against Aleppo, Saladin devastated the Nizari possessions. In 1176, Saladin laid siege to Masyaf but he lifted the siege after two notable events that reputedly transpired between him and the Old Man of the Mountain. According to one version, one night, Saladin's guards noticed a spark glowing down the hill of Masyaf and then vanishing among the Ayyubid tents. Saladin awoke from his sleep to find a figure leaving the tent. He saw that the lamps in his tent were displaced and beside his bed laid hot scones of the shape peculiar to the Assassins with a note at the top pinned by a poisoned dagger. The note threatened that he would be killed if he did not withdraw from his siege. Saladin gave a loud cry, exclaiming that Sinan himself was the figure that left the tent. As such, Saladin told his guards to come to an agreement with Sinan. Realizing he was unable to subdue the Assassins, he sought to align himself with them, consequently depriving the Crusaders of aligning themselves against him.


title: Rashid ad-Din Sinan

text: Sinan's last notable act occurred in 1191, when he ordered the successful assassination of the newly elected King of Jerusalem Conrad of Montferrat. Whether this happened in coordination with King Richard I of England, with Saladin, or with neither, remains unknown.


title: Rashid ad-Din Sinan

text: In 1193, Sinan wrote a letter to Leopold V, Duke of Austria at the request of Richard I, taking credit for the assassination order and subsequent death of Conrad of Monferrat, of which Richard was being accused. However, this letter is believed by modern historians to be a forgery written after Sinan's death.


title: Rashid ad-Din Sinan

text: He died in 1193 in al-Kahf Castle in Masyaf and was buried in Salamiyah. He was succeeded by the Persian "da'i" Abu Mansur ibn Muhammad or Nasr al-'Ajami appointed from Alamut, which regained a closer supervision over the Syrian branch of the Assassin Order.


title: Rashid ad-Din Sinan

text: A fictionalized version of Rashid ad-Din Sinan (referred to as "Al Mualim", meaning "The Mentor") appears in Ubisoft's historical video game "Assassin's Creed", voiced by Peter Renaday. As the Mentor (leader) of the Assassin Order in the late 12th century, he is a prominent figure in the Third Crusade and wishes to defeat the Assassins' longtime enemies, the Knights Templar, who are taking advantage of the Crusade for their own ends. After one of the Assassins, Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad, fails to recover an artifact, the Apple of Eden, from the Templars due to being blinded by arrogance, Al Mualim strips him of his rank and orders him to assassinate nine prominent Templars across the Holy Land to regain his rank and redeem himself. However, Al Mualim's desire to obtain the Apple leads him to secretly betray the Assassins and ally with the Templars, whom he eventually betrays as well. After Altaïr disovers the truth about Al Mualim's betrayal and alliance with the Templars from his final target, he confronts his mentor and kills him to prevent him from using the Apple (which is actually a piece of advanced technology that predates humanity) to enslave the human race, which Al Mualim believed would permanently end all conflict. In the game, Al Mualim's death occurs in 1191 rather than 1193.


title: Micro Bit

text: The Micro Bit (also referred to as BBC Micro Bit, stylized as micro:bit) is an open source hardware ARM-based embedded system designed by the BBC for use in computer education in the United Kingdom. It was first announced on the launch of BBC's Make It Digital campaign on 12 March 2015 with the intent of delivering 1 million devices to pupils in the UK. The final device design and features were unveiled on 6 July 2015 whereas actual delivery of devices, initially planned for September 2015 to schools and October 2015 to general public, began on 10 February 2016.


title: Micro Bit

text: The device is described as half the size of a credit card and has an ARM Cortex-M0 processor, accelerometer and magnetometer sensors, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, a display consisting of 25 LEDs, two programmable buttons, and can be powered by either USB or an external battery pack. The device inputs and outputs are through five ring connectors that form part of a larger 25-pin edge connector. In October 2020, a physically nearly identical v2 board was released that features a Cortex-M4F microcontroller, with more memory and other new features.


title: Micro Bit

text: I/O includes three ring connectors (plus one power one ground) which accept crocodile clips or 4 mm banana plugs as well as a 25-pin edge connector with two or three PWM outputs, six to 17 GPIO pins (depending on configuration), six analog inputs, serial I/O, SPI, and I²C. Unlike early prototypes, which had an integral battery, an external battery pack (AAA batteries) can be used to power the device as a standalone or wearable product. Health and safety concerns, as well as cost, were given as reasons for the removal of the button battery from early designs.


title: Micro Bit

text: The available hardware design documentation consist of only the schematic and BOM distributed under the Creative Commons By Attribution license, no PCB layout is available. The compatible reference design by Micro:bit Educational Foundation, however, is fully documented.


title: Micro Bit

text: The Python programming experience on the Micro Bit is provided by MicroPython. Users are able to write Python scripts in the Micro Bit web editor which are then combined with the MicroPython firmware and uploaded to the device. Users can also access the MicroPython REPL running directly on the device via the USB serial connection, which allows them to interact directly with the Micro Bit's peripherals.


title: Micro Bit

text: The Micro Bit was created using the ARM mbed development kits. The run-time system and programming interface utilize the mbed cloud compiler service to compile the user's code into a .UF2 file. The compiled code is then flashed onto the device using USB or Bluetooth connections. The device appears as a USB drive when connected to a computer, and code can be flashed dragging and dropping the .UF2 file.


title: Micro Bit

text: The Micro Bit was designed to encourage children to get actively involved in writing software for computers and building new things, rather than being consumers of media. It was designed to work alongside other systems, such as the Raspberry Pi, building on BBC's legacy with the BBC Micro for computing in education. The BBC planned to give away the computer free to every year 7 (11- and 12-year old) child in Britain starting from October 2015 (around 1 million devices). In advance of the roll-out an online simulator was made available to help educators prepare, and some teachers were to receive the device in September 2015. The device was planned to be on general sale by the end of 2015. However, problems delayed the launch until 22 March 2016.


title: Micro Bit

text: The BBC had a difficult decision to choose which school year group would be the first to receive the free Micro Bits, and the BBC's head of learning said that "The reason we plumped for year seven [rather than year five] is it had more impact with that age group … they were more interested in using it outside the classroom".


title: Micro Bit

text: Planning for the project began in 2012 as part of the BBC Computer Literacy Programme, and by the time of the launch in July 2015 the BBC had taken on board 29 partners to help with the manufacturing, design, and distribution of the device. The BBC has said that the majority of the development costs were borne by the project partners.


title: Micro Bit

text: A prototype device and software stack created by BBC R&D, demonstrated in the initial announcement, was used to test the proposition in schools, and to provide a reference specification for the partnership to build upon.


title: Micro Bit

text: After a successful roll-out of the micro:bit across the UK, the BBC handed over the future of the BBC micro:bit, and adoption in other parts of the world, to the newly formed, not-for-profit, Microbit Education Foundation. The announcement was made on Oct 18, 2016 to a small group of journalists and educators at Savoy Place in London, that included a review of the past year and their plans for the future. The transition from the BBC to the micro:bit Education Foundation moved the official home of the micro:bit from microbit.co.uk to microbit.org.


title: Micro Bit

text: The BBC licensed the hardware technology as open source and allows it to be manufactured around the world for use in education. The foundation oversees this.


title: Micro Bit

text: On Jan 2, 2018 it was announced that Gareth Stockdale from BBC Learning would succeed Zach Shelby as CEO of the Microbit Educational Foundation.


title: Micro Bit

text: The foundation is also providing a fully documented reference design of a device different from the marketed, but software compatible, with the intention of easing the independent development and manufacturing of micro:bit derived devices and products. The reference design is open source hardware, but unlike the marketed device employing a CC BY 4.0 license it is distributed under the terms of the Solderpad Hardware Licence, Version 0.51. The available design documentation for the reference design includes both schematic and circuit board layout in several EDA suite formats.


title: Micro Bit

text: On 13 October 2020, the Micro:bit Educational Foundation has announced a revised version of micro:bit. Available for the same price as the original micro:bit and sharing its general design, micro:bit v2 includes Nordic nRF52833 CPU (ARM Cortex-M4, 64 MHz, 128 KB RAM, 512 KB flash), and additionally a microphone, a speaker, a touch sensor, and power saving mode.


title: LA Giltinis

text: The LA Giltinis are a former Major League Rugby team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. The team was announced in 2020 and entered the league in the 2021 season as an expansion franchise. The Giltinis, named for a yet-to-be-released cocktail, were owned by Adam Gilchrist and Loyals Rugby. It was based in El Segundo, California, and played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Darren Coleman was announced as the head coach.


title: LA Giltinis

text: The club won the MLR Shield in their inaugural season, but were disqualified from the playoffs in 2022. The Glintis and the Austin Gilgronis—another MLR team owned by Gilchrist—were removed from the league in October 2022.


title: LA Giltinis

text: A potential Los Angeles expansion bid for MLR, led by LA Coast Rugby and Adam Gilchrist, was announced in 2018 with plans for the team to enter the league in 2019. The team's bid was later replaced by a new proposal from Loyals Rugby, who were announced as the winners of the expansion team in 2020. The team, named for a cocktail like the Austin Gilgronis, began play in 2021. In its first season, the Giltinis posted a 12–4 record, hosted, and defeated Rugby ATL in the MLR final, winning the shield.


title: LA Giltinis

text: During the 2022 season, MLR announced that the Giltinis and the Gilgronis—both owned by Gilchrist—were disqualified from the playoffs due to a violation of league rules, allegedly including salary cap issues. Gilchrist filed suit against the league in June 2022; the two teams were expelled from the league in October following a failed attempt to sell both teams.


title: LA Giltinis

text: The Giltinis played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a multi-use stadium in Exposition Park, Los Angeles.


title: Fuel dumping

text: Fuel dumping (or a fuel jettison) is a procedure used by aircraft in certain emergency situations before a return to the airport shortly after takeoff, or before landing short of the intended destination (emergency landing) to reduce the aircraft's weight.


title: Fuel dumping

text: Aircraft have two major types of weight limits: the maximum takeoff weight and the maximum structural landing weight, with the maximum structural landing weight almost always being the lower of the two. This allows an aircraft on a normal, routine flight to take off at the higher weight, consume fuel en route, and arrive at a lower weight.


title: Fuel dumping

text: It is the abnormal, non-routine flight where landing weight can be a problem. If a flight takes off at the maximum takeoff weight and then must land well before its destination, even returning immediately after takeoff to the departure airport (for example, because of mechanical problems or a passenger medical problem), it will contain more fuel than was intended for landing. If an aircraft lands at more than its maximum allowable weight, it might suffer structural damage or even break apart on landing.


title: Fuel dumping

text: As jets began flying in the US in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the FAA rule in effect at the time mandated that if the ratio between an aircraft's maximum structural takeoff weight and its maximum structural landing weight was greater than 1.05, the aircraft had to have a fuel-dump system installed. Aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and 727 and the Douglas DC-8 had fuel dump systems. Any of those aircraft needing to return to a takeoff airport above the maximum landing weight would jettison an amount of fuel sufficient to reduce the aircraft's weight below that maximum landing weight limit, and then land.


title: Fuel dumping

text: During the 1960s, Boeing introduced the 737, and Douglas introduced the DC-9, the original models of each being for shorter routes; the 105% figure was not an issue, thus they had no fuel-dump systems installed. During the 1960s and 1970s, both Boeing and Douglas "grew" their respective aircraft as far as operational capabilities were concerned via Pratt & Whitney's development of increasingly powerful variants of the JT8D engines that powered both aircraft series. Both aircraft were now capable of longer duration flights, with increased weight limits, and complying with the existing 105% rule became problematic due to the costs associated with adding a fuel-dump system to aircraft in production. Considering the more powerful engines that had been developed, the FAA changed the rules to delete the 105% requirement, and Federal Aviation Regulations 25.1001 was enacted stating a jettison system was not required if the climb requirements of FAR 25.119 (Landing Climb) and FAR 25.121 (Approach Climb) could be met, assuming a 15-minute flight. In other words, for a go-around with full landing flaps and all engines operating, and at approach flap setting and one engine inoperative, respectively.


title: Fuel dumping

text: A large-scale fuel dumping occurred on September 11, 2001, when U.S. airspace was closed due to the September 11 attacks. International flights en route to the U.S. were either turned back to their point of origin or diverted to land in Canada and other countries. Many of these flights were fuelled for travel well into the American interior; for those mid-flight aircraft unable to land due to excessive fuel weight, dumping was necessary.


title: Fuel dumping

text: Since most twin jet airliners can meet these requirements, most aircraft of this type such as the Boeing 737 (all models), the DC-9/MD80 and Boeing 717, the A320 family and various regional jet ("RJ") aircraft do not have fuel dump systems installed. In the event of an emergency requiring a return to the departure airport, the aircraft circles nearby in order to consume fuel to get down to within the maximum structural landing weight limit, or, if the situation demands, simply lands overweight without delay. Modern aircraft are designed with possible overweight landings in mind, but this is not done except in cases of emergency, and various maintenance inspections are required afterwards.


title: Fuel dumping

text: Long-range twin jets such as the Boeing 767 and the Airbus A300, A310, and A330 may or may not have fuel dump systems, depending upon how the aircraft was ordered, since on some aircraft they are a customer option. Three- and four-engine jets like the Lockheed L-1011, McDonnell Douglas DC-10 / MD-11, Boeing 747 and Airbus A340 usually have difficulty meeting the requirements of FAR 25.119 near maximum structural takeoff weight, thus most of those have jettison systems. A Boeing 757 has no fuel-dump capability as its maximum landing weight is similar to the maximum take-off weight.


title: Fuel dumping

text: Fuel-dumping operations are coordinated with air traffic control, and precautions are taken to keep other aircraft clear of such areas. Fuel dumping is usually accomplished at a high enough altitude (minimum 6,000 feet, AGL), where the fuel will dissipate before reaching the ground. Fuel leaves the aircraft through a specific point on each wing, usually closer to the wingtips and farther away from engines, and initially appears as more liquid than vapor. Specific areas have been designated where fuel dumping is allowed to avoid damage or harm where the fuel may drop; generally speaking, this is above seas or unpopulated areas above land. Delta Air Lines Flight 89 is an example of fuel dumping that violated established regulations: on 14 January 2020, it dumped more than 10,000 gallons of fuel at a low altitude over a populated area in Los Angeles, causing injuries to 56 people including school children below.


title: Fuel dumping

text: It is difficult to quote specific dump rates even for specific types of aircraft since the dumped fuel is not pumped but delivered by gravity feed so as to be more independent of electrical systems, which might be unavailable in a fuel-dump scenario. This means the actual rate depends on the pressure exerted by the fuel head: the more fuel on board, the higher the rate at which it flows out. This also means that the dump rate is not constant, but decreases while dumping because the fuel head and its pressure decrease.


title: Fuel dumping

text: As a rule of thumb for the Boeing 747, pilots either quote dump rates ranging within 1–2 tons per minute or reference a thumb formula of in minutes. In 2009, an Airbus A340-300 returning to its airport of departure shortly after takeoff dumped 53 tons of fuel in 11 minutes.


title: Fuel dumping

text: The average rate of descent of the dumped fuel is approximately . Air traffic control, after receiving information by the pilots executing the dumping procedure, usually separates other traffic by vertically and laterally, since the dumped vapours if ingested by a jet engine might cause serious problems to the engine's normal operation.


title: Fuel dumping

text: A dump-and-burn is a fuel dump in which the fuel is ignited, intentionally, using the plane's afterburner. A spectacular flame combined with high speed makes this a popular display for air shows or as a finale to fireworks. Dump-and-burns are also referred to as "torching" or "zippos".


title: Fuel dumping

text: The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark's dump and burn is so powerful that it can set a runway on fire, as the flame burns rubber from skid marks. The aircraft has been used for this purpose in Australia during the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics and (until 2010) regularly at Brisbane's Riverfestival and the Australian Grand Prix. The F-111 is ideally suited to perform the dump-and-burn maneuver, as its fuel dump nozzle is located between the engine exhausts.


title: Chang Hsueh-liang

text: Chang Hsüeh-liang (, June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also romanized as Zhang Xueliang, nicknamed the "Young Marshal" (少帥), known in his later life as Peter H. L. Chang, was the effective ruler of Northeast China and much of northern China after the assassination of his father, Zhang Zuolin (the "Old Marshal"), by the Japanese on June 4, 1928. He was an instigator of the 1936 Xi'an Incident, in which Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of China's ruling party, was arrested in order to force him to enter into a truce with the insurgent Chinese Communist Party and form a united front against Japan, which had occupied Manchuria. Chiang agreed, but when he had an opportunity, he seized Chang, who then spent over 50 years under house arrest, first in mainland China and then in Taiwan. Chang is regarded by the Chinese Communist Party as a patriotic hero for his role in the Xi'an Incident. He was also known for having an affair with Edda Mussolini.


title: Chang Hsueh-liang

text: Chang Hsüeh-liang was born in Haicheng, Liaoning province on June 3, 1901, Chang was educated by private tutors and, unlike his father, felt at ease in the company of westerners. He graduated from Fengtian Military Academy, was made a colonel in the Fengtian Army, and appointed the commander of his father's bodyguards in 1919. In 1921 he was sent to Japan to observe military maneuvers, where he developed a special interest in aircraft. Later, he developed an air corps for the Fengtian Army, which was widely used in the battles that took place within the Great Wall during the 1920s. In 1922, he was promoted to Major General and commanded an army-sized force. Two years later, he was also made commander of the air units. Upon the death of his father in 1928, he succeeded him as the leader of the Northeast Peace Preservation Forces (popularly "Northeast Army"), which controlled China's northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Fengtian, and Jilin (Kirin). In December of the same year he proclaimed his allegiance to the Kuomintang (KMT; Chinese Nationalist Party).


title: Chang Hsueh-liang

text: The Japanese believed that Chang Hsüeh-liang, who was known as a womanizer and an opium addict, would be much more subject to Japanese influence than was his father. On this premise, an officer of the Japanese Kwantung Army therefore killed his father, Zhang Zuolin (the "Old Marshal"), in the Huanggutun incident, by exploding a bomb above his train while it crossed under a railroad bridge. Surprisingly, the younger Chang proved to be more independent and skilled than anyone had expected and declared his support for Chiang Kai-shek, leading to the reunification of China in 1928. With the assistance of Australian journalist William Henry Donald and Dr. Harry Willis Miller, he overcame his opium addiction in 1933 with the administering of Cantharidin auto-serum therapy.


title: Chang Hsueh-liang

text: He was given the nickname "Hero of History" () by PRC historians because of his desire to reunite China and rid it of Japanese invaders; and was willing to pay the price and become "vice" leader of China (not because it was good that he was supporting the Kuomintang). In order to rid his command of Japanese influence, he had two prominent pro-Tokyo officials executed in front of the assembled guests at a dinner party in January 1929. It was a hard decision for him to make. The two had powers over the heads of others. In May 1929, relations between the Kuomintang Nanjing and the excessively strengthened Feng Yuxiang worsened. In addition, the Japanese government, dissatisfied with the pro-Kuomintang policy of Zhang Zuolin, and now his son, threatened to "take the most decisive measures to ensure that the Kuomintang flag never flies over Manchuria". The" young Marshal " supported Nanjing, and Feng's troops were pushed back to the outlying provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, and in July 1929, Japan officially recognized Kuomintang China. At the same time, Zhang Xueliang and Chiang Kai-shek held a personal meeting in Beiping, at which a decision was made on the armed seizure of the Chinese Eastern Railway or CER. By pushing Zhang Xueliang to take this step, Chiang Kai-shek sought to make the young marshal completely dependent on Nanjing and at the same time raise his prestige and get most of the profits from the operation of the CER at the disposal of Nanjing. Zhang Xueliang, in turn, believed that the capture of the CER would strengthen his position in the Northeast, allow him to personally manage the profits of the CER, and ensure his independence from Nanjing. As a result, on July 10, 1929, the Conflict on the CER began. However, the Red Army showed a higher combat capability, and the conflict ended with the signing of the Khabarovsk Protocol of December 22, 1929.


title: Chang Hsueh-liang

text: In 1930, when warlords Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan attempted to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang government, Chang stepped in to support the Nanking (Nanjing)-based government against the Northern warlords in exchange for control of the key railroads in Hopeh (Hebei) and the customs revenues from the port city of Tianjin. A year later, in the September 18 Mukden Incident, Japanese troops attacked Chang's forces in Mukden (Shenyang) in order to provoke a full-on war with China, which Chiang did not want to face until his forces were stronger. In accordance with this strategy, Zhang's armies withdrew from the front lines without significant engagements, leading to the effective Japanese occupation of Zhang's former northeastern domain. There has been speculation that Chiang Kai-Shek wrote a letter to Chang asking him to pull his forces back, but Zhang later stated that he himself issued the orders. Apparently, Chang was aware of how weak his forces were compared to the Japanese and wished to preserve his position by retaining a sizeable army. Nonetheless, this would still be in line with Chiang's overall strategic standings. Chang later traveled in Europe before returning to China to take command of the Encirclement Campaigns, first in Hopeh-Honan (Henan)-Anhui and later in the Northwest.


title: Chang Hsueh-liang

text: On April 6, 1936, Chang met with CPC delegate Zhou Enlai to plan the end of the Chinese Civil War. KMT leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek at the time took a passive position against Japan and considered the communists to be a greater danger to the Republic of China than the Japanese, and his overall strategy was to annihilate the communists before focusing his efforts on the Japanese. He believed that "communism was a cancer while the Japanese represented a superficial wound." Growing nationalist anger against Japan made this position very unpopular, and led to Chang's action against Chiang, known as the Xi'an Incident.


title: Chang Hsueh-liang

text: On December 1936, Chang and General Yang Hucheng kidnapped Chiang, imprisoning him until he agreed to form a united front with the communists against the Japanese invasion. After two weeks of negotiations, Chiang agreed to unite with the communists and drive the Japanese out of China. When Chiang was released on December 26, Chang chose to return to the capital city of Nanking with him; once they were away from Chang's loyal troops, Chiang had him placed under house arrest. From then on, he was under constant watch and lived near the Nationalist capital city, wherever it moved to.


title: Chang Hsueh-liang

text: In 1949, Chang was transferred to Taiwan, where he remained under house arrest for the next 40 years in a villa in Taipei's northern suburbs, where he received occasional guests. Much of his time was spent studying Ming dynasty literature, the Manchu language, collecting Chinese fan paintings, calligraphy and other works of art by illustrious artists (a collection of more than 200 works, using his studio's name "Dingyuanzhai" (), was auctioned with tremendous success by Sotheby's on 10 April 1994). Zhang studied the New Testament Bible. In 1964, he formally married Edith Chao, daughter of a senior official, who left her family in her teens to become his companion and later followed him into exile. His first wife, Ms. Yu, said she was so moved by Ms. Chao's devotion that she released her husband from his vows. Chang and his wife, Edith, became devout Christians who also regularly attended Sunday services at the Methodist chapel in Shilin, a Taipei suburb, with Chiang Kai-Shek's family. After Chiang's death in 1975, his freedom was officially restored.


title: Chang Hsueh-liang

text: Chang immigrated to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1995. There were numerous pleas for him to visit mainland China, but Chang declined, citing his political closeness to the KMT. He died of pneumonia at the age of 100 at Straub Hospital in Honolulu, and was buried in Hawaii.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: Yoo Seon-ho (born January 28, 2002) is a South Korean singer, actor and model. He is best known as a contestant on the survival reality show "Produce 101" (season 2) and drama "Under the Queen's Umbrella".


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: Yoo Seon-ho was born on January 28, 2002 in Seoul, South Korea. He is currently attending Hanlim Multi Art School.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: Soon after Produce 101 ended, Yoo became a regular guest on a new variety show called "Special Private Life" together with other fellow Produce 101 contestants. He also had guest appearances in variety shows like "Live Talk Show Taxi" and "Problematic Men". In August 2017, Yoo started appearing as a regular guest for a few episode on Channel A's "Let's Eat Out This Saturday". From July to August 2017, Yoo along with BtoB's Yook Sung-jae promoted for TMON's "Let's Fly TMON Tour" campaign.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: On August 3 it was revealed that Yoo would make his acting debut in the web-drama "Mischievous Detectives" alongside Apink's Namjoo and fellow Produce 101 Contestant Ahn Hyung Seob. Yoo played the role of Pyo Han Eum, an honorary forensic investigator that was awarded for solving a murder case. The web-drama surpassed 10 million views in a month on Naver.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: Yoo acted as the main protagonist of 10cm's music video for the song "Pet", having been chosen by the singer himself.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: In October 2017, Yoo was part of the main cast of the beauty variety show "The Cushion" together with BtoB's Jung Il-hoon and popular Korean beauty YouTuber Lena.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: Yoo held his first fanmeet "The Most Preferred Time" on October 27 at the Woori Art Hall in Seoul's Olympic Park. The fanmeet sold out in less than five minutes which saw Cube Entertainment adding a second date, on October 28.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: On October 20, was revealed that Yoo will guest on "One Night Food Trip" alongside his label mate, Pentagon's Hui, the filming started in Vietnam on October 22. Seonho was confirmed as part of variety show cast tvN's "Nest Escape 2", with filming taking place in Greece.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: Yoo joined the cast of variety show "Photo People 2" with filming taking place in Japan in March 2018.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: After finishes his fan meeting tour with Osaka, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Bangkok and Tokyo on December 23, 2017, he will held an encore fanmeeting at Olympic Hall, Olympic Park in Seoul on April 14 with 2500 seats and were sold out in 1 minute.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: Yoo made his solo debut with EP "Spring, Seonho" on April 11, 2018 with the lead single "Maybe Spring" composed by Lee Jin-ah.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: In July 2018 it was revealed that he will return to play Pyo Han Eum in "Mischievous Detective Season 2". Seonho was also cast in variety show JTBC's "Carefree Travellers" as fixed cast. Yoo became the model for Goobne a chicken brand. A CF like a youth movie was release starring Yoo Seonho, which surpassed 3.4 million views.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: In 2019, Yoo, alongside Lai Kuan-lin and Ha Neul were chosen as new models for TBJ clothing brand. On June 10, Yoo became the ambassador for Korea Pediatric Diabetes Association alongside (G)I-dle.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: In December 2019, Seon-ho become a regular guest in SBS's basketball variety show "Handsome Tigers". The show premiered in January 2020. Later in December, Seonho was cast in tvN's new variety show "Cat's Meow Is Fake", the show was aired on January 5, 2020.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: In 2021, Yoo joined JTBC drama "Undercover", playing the son of Ji Jin-hee and Kim Hyun-joo, who has autism.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: In 2022, Yoo returned to the small screen with the MBC drama "Doctor Lawyer", playing the teenage So Ji-sub. Later he joined the tvN historical drama "Under the Queen's Umbrella", which was broadcast in October 2022. The same year, Yoo became a fixed cast member of the KBS2 reality show "2 Days & 1 Night Season 4", with his first episode airing in December.


title: Yoo Seon-ho

text: In between 2017 and 2019, Yoo Seon-ho has endorsed TMON Tour Nalja Titu, Goodal, GS25, Acuvue, TMRW, Goobne and TBJ.


title: Lisa De Leeuw

text: She appeared in over 200 films and was inducted into both the X-Rated Critics' Organization Hall of Fame and the AVN Hall of Fame.


title: Lisa De Leeuw

text: She also appeared in magazine spreads for pornographic magazines such as "Genesis", "Hustler", and "Swank" in the early 80s.


title: Lisa De Leeuw

text: She has been widely reported to be dead, but due to the underground nature of the adult industry in the era in which she was active, her true identity and current status are not verifiable. In the 2000 book "Skinflicks: The Inside Story of the X-Rated Video Industry", writer and porn producer David Jennings describes the stigma and rumors surrounding AIDS in the porn community in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He wrote: "Reputed to be dead of AIDS, Lisa DeLeeuw and Brandy Alexandre, now out of the industry, proclaimed themselves alive and healthy." However, in 2003, another publication, "Headpress 25", claimed that De Leeuw died of complications from AIDS on November 11, 1993.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: The ACTH test (also called the cosyntropin, tetracosactide, or Synacthen test) is a medical test usually requested and interpreted by endocrinologists to assess the functioning of the adrenal glands' stress response by measuring the adrenal response to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH; corticotropin) or another corticotropic agent such as tetracosactide (cosyntropin, tetracosactrin; Synacthen) or alsactide (Synchrodyn). ACTH is a hormone produced in the anterior pituitary gland that stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), and aldosterone.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: During the test, a small amount of synthetic ACTH is injected, and the amount of cortisol (and sometimes aldosterone) that the adrenals produce in response is measured. This test may cause mild side effects in some individuals.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: This test is used to diagnose or exclude primary and secondary adrenal insufficiency, Addison's disease, and related conditions. In addition to quantifying adrenal insufficiency, the test can distinguish whether the cause is adrenal (low cortisol and aldosterone production) or pituitary (low ACTH production). The Insulin tolerance test is recognized as the gold standard assay of adrenal insufficiency, but due to the cumbersome requirement for a two-hour test and the risks of seizures or myocardial infarction, the ACTH stimulation test is commonly used as an easier, safer, though not as accurate, alternative. The test is extremely sensitive (97% at 95% specificity) to primary adrenal insufficiency, but less so to secondary adrenal insufficiency (57-61% at 95% specificity); while secondary adrenal insufficiency may thus be dismissed by some interpreters on the basis of the test, additional testing may be called for if the probability of secondary adrenal insufficiency is particularly high.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: Adrenal insufficiency is a potentially life-threatening condition. Treatment should be initiated as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed, or sooner if the patient presents in apparent adrenal crisis.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: This test can be given as a "low-dose short test", a "conventional-dose short test", or as a "prolonged-stimulation test".


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: In the low-dose short test, 1 μg of an ACTH drug is injected into the patient. In the conventional-dose short test, 250 μg of drug are injected. Both of these short tests last for about an hour and provide the same information. Studies have shown the cortisol response of the adrenals is the same for the low-dose and conventional-dose tests.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: The prolonged-stimulation test, which is also called a "long conventional-dose test", can last up to 48 hours. This form of the test can differentiate between primary, secondary, and tertiary adrenal insufficiency. This form of the test is rarely performed because earlier testing of cortisol and ACTH levels in association with the short test may provide all the necessary information.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: The test should not be given if on glucocorticoids or adrenal extract supplement, as these will affect test results. Stress and recently administered radioisotope scans can artificially increase levels and may invalidate test results. Spironolactone, contraceptives, licorice, estrogen, androgen (including DHEA) and progesterone therapy may also affect both aldosterone and cortisol stimulation test results. To stimulate aldosterone, consumption of salt should be reduced to a minimum, and foods high in sodium avoided for 24 hours prior to testing. Women should ideally undergo testing during the first week of their menstrual cycle as aldosterone (and occasionally cortisol) may be falsely elevated in the luteal cycle secondary to progesterone inhibition, leading to a compensatory rise in aldosterone levels.<ref name = "91/10/3981"></ref>


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: Traditionally, cortisol and ACTH levels (separate lavender top tube) are drawn at baseline (time = 0). Next, synthetic ACTH or another corticotropic agent is injected IM or IV, depending on the agent. Approximately 20 mL of heparinized venous blood is collected at 30 and 60 minutes after the synthetic ACTH injection to measure cortisol levels.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: ACTH samples are kept on ice and sent immediately to the laboratory, whereas cortisol does not need to be kept on ice.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: Commonly reported reactions are nausea, anxious sweating, dizziness, itchy skin, redness and or swelling of injection site, palpitations (a fast or fluttering heart beat), and facial flushing (may also include arms and torso), but should disappear within a few hours. Rarely seen, but serious side effects include rash, fainting, headache, blurred vision, severe swelling, severe dizziness, trouble breathing, irregular heartbeat.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: In healthy individuals, the cortisol level should increase above 18-20 μg/dl within 60 minutes on a 250 mcg cosyntropin stimulation test.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: In Addison's disease, both the cortisol and aldosterone levels are low, and the cortisol will not rise during the cosyntropin stimulation test


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: In secondary adrenal insufficiency, due to exogenous steroid administration suppressing pituitary production of ACTH or due to primary pituitary disorder causing insufficient ACTH production, the adrenal glands will atrophy over time and cortisol production will fall and patients will fail stimulation testing. Early in the development of secondary adrenal insufficiency, the adrenals may not have atrophied and can still stimulate, resulting in a normal cosyntropin stimulation test.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: If secondary adrenal insufficiency is diagnosed, the insulin tolerance test (ITT) or the CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone) stimulation test can be used to distinguish between a hypothalamic (tertiary) and pituitary (secondary) cause but is rarely used in clinical practice.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: ACTH will be low - usually below 35, but most people with secondary fall within the range limit. This is inappropriately normal for the low cortisol level.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: In some cases, the actual cause of low ACTH is from low CRH in the hypothalamus. It is possible to have separate ACTH and CRH impairment such as can happen in a head injury.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: The ACTH stimulation test is occasionally used to test adrenal production of aldosterone at the same time as cortisol to also help in determining if primary (hyperreninemic) or secondary (hyporeninemic) hypoaldosteronism is present. Human ACTH has a slight stimulatory effect on aldosterone, but the amount of synthetic ACTH given in the stimulation is equivalent to more than a whole days production of natural ACTH, so the aldosterone response can be easily measured in blood serum. Same as cortisol, aldosterone should double from a respectable base value (around 20 ng/dl, must fast salt 24 hours and sit upright for blood draw) in a healthy individual.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: The aldosterone response in the ACTH stimulation test is blunted or absent in patients with primary adrenal insufficiency including Addison's disease. The base value is usually in the mid-teens or less and rise to less than double the base value thus indicating primary hypoaldosteronism (sodium low, potassium and renin enzyme will be high) and is an indicator of primary adrenal insufficiency or Addison's disease.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: Aldosterone response of several factors from a low base value. This factoring indicates secondary hypoaldosteronism (sodium low, potassium and renin enzyme will be low). Usually doubling to quadrupling from a low base aldosterone value is what is seen in secondary adrenal insufficiency. Decoupling of aldosterone in the ACTH stimulation test is possible (i.e. 2 ng/dl stimming to 20).<ref name="abstract/122/5/2090"></ref> A result of doubling or more of aldosterone may help in tandem with a cortisol stimulation that doubled or more confirm a diagnosis of secondary adrenal insufficiency. In rare cases, an aldosterone stimulation which did not double, but with the presence of low potassium, low renin and low ACTH indicates atrophy of aldosterone production from the prolonged lack of renin.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: Similar to the cortisol stimulation in ACTH deficiency, the test interpreter may lack knowledge of how to properly interpret for secondary hypoaldosteronism and think a result of aldosterone doubling or more from a low base value is good.


title: ACTH stimulation test

text: Recent data showed that Synacthen test results can be used to predict future recovery of HPA axis function in patients with reversible causes of Adrenal Insufficiency.


title: Ariel Camacho

text: José Ariel Camacho Barraza (July 8, 1992 – February 25, 2015) was a Mexican singer-songwriter who performed the Sierreño and Regional Mexican music genre. He was the lead singer of his band, Ariel Camacho y Los Plebes del Rancho. In 2013 Ariel Camacho y Los Plebes del Rancho signed to JG Records. In 2014 they signed with DEL Records.


title: Ariel Camacho

text: Ariel Camacho was born to Benito Camacho and Reynalda Barraza on July 8, 1992 in Guamuchil, Sinaloa. He started singing at the age of 12 in Angostura, Sinaloa. When he was in middle school, he met César Iván Sánchez, who played guitar and did back up vocals. Camacho later sought to expand his group and found a tuba player, Omar Burgos. His first concert was held in Tijuana, in which he played for more than 40,000 people. He quickly became known for his expressive way of playing the requinto (12 string guitar). He became known as "La Tuyia" due to a childhood nickname given to him by his grandfather because his guitar was much bigger than him. He decided to form a band in the start of 2013. His band "Ariel Camacho y Los Plebes del Rancho" consisted of "El Tigre", Cesar Sánchez (rhythm guitar and backing vocals) and Omar Burgos, "El Cenizo" (tuba). Camacho was the lead singer and played lead guitar (Requinto) in the band. His band quickly became known due to their unusual combination of standard guitar, requinto, and tuba. Among their most successful songs were "Hablemos", "Te Metiste", "El Karma" and "Rey de Corazones". He was later nicknamed "El Rey de Corazónes" after releasing "Rey de Corazones" a song that quickly made his group known through social media. Camacho was praised for maintaining a classical element in his regional music by paying attention to the songwriters who had come before him such as Miguel y Miguel (Camacho's favorite artists). He was also a frequent collaborator with other corrido singers, including Grupo Fernandez, Marca Registrada, Los Traviesos De La Sierra and Regulo Caro.


title: Ariel Camacho

text: Camacho and four other people were in a car accident on the road from Angostura, Sinaloa. Camacho was returning from a performance at a music festival, Carnaval de Mocorito. Camacho and two others died and two other people were injured. They were riding in a 2004 Honda Accord when Camacho lost control. The accident reportedly occurred at two in the morning on highway Angostura- La Reforma. Camacho died on impact. It is unclear whether he was driving intoxicated although it was reported he was driving at excessive speed. He died at the age of 22.


title: Ariel Camacho

text: Following his death, his group's song "El Karma" reached number one on the "Billboard" Hot Latin Songs chart in March and the album hit the TOP FIVE of the Latin albums chart. Shortly after his death, his band "Los Plebes del Rancho" changed their name as a tribute to Camacho into "Los Plebes Del Rancho de Ariel Camacho." They continue to make albums in honor of Camacho, like "Recuerden Mi Estilo", alongside Camacho's father, Benito Camacho. Many have paid tribute to Camacho through the use of songs such as Virlan Garcia with "Hasta el Cielo", Los Traviezoz de la Zierra with "Mis Ultimos Momentos" and "Un Mentado Ariel." An album in tribute to Camacho was also released in 2017 called "Ariel Camacho Para Siempre" that features artists such as Gerardo Ortiz, Regulo Caro, and Revolver Cannabis. Each year on the 25th of February in memory of Camacho, his band, family members, fans, and other artists come together at his grave to commemorate him. Ariel is now known by many as "El Rey del Requinto", "El Mentado", "Rey de Corazones" and "La Tuyia."


title: George Wickham

text: George Wickham is a fictional character created by Jane Austen who appears in her 1813 novel "Pride and Prejudice". George Wickham is introduced as a militia officer who has a shared history with Mr. Darcy. Wickham's charming demeanour and his story of being badly treated by Darcy attracts the sympathy of the heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, to the point that she is warned by her aunt not to fall in love and marry him. It is revealed through the course of the story that George Wickham's true nature is that of a manipulative unprincipled layabout, a ne'er-do-well wastrel, compulsive liar and a degenerate, compulsive gambler, a seducer and a libertine, living the lifestyle of a rake. Lacking the finances to pay for his lifestyle, he gambles regularly (not just because he is a degenerate compulsive gambler and has no sense of economy) and cons credit from tradesmen and shopkeepers and skips out on paying-up.


title: George Wickham

text: Jane Austen's inspiration for the plot developed around the character of George Wickham was "Tom Jones", a novel by Henry Fielding, where two boys – one rich, one poor – grow up together and have a confrontational relationship when they are adults.


title: George Wickham

text: A minor character, barely sketched out by the narrator to encourage the reader to share Elizabeth's first impression of him, he nonetheless plays a crucial role in the unfolding of the plot, as the actantial scheme opponent, and as a foil to Darcy.


title: George Wickham

text: Henry Fielding's Tom Jones influenced the development of Wickham's character. He has traits of the main protagonists of "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling": the hero, Tom Jones, and his half-brother, Blifil. There is a deliberate resemblance between the confrontational relationship between the two characters in Fielding's novel and in the one created by Jane Austen between Wickham and Darcy. Finally, the Pemberley estate, under the authority of Mr. Darcy, Senior, recalls the property of the wise Squire Allworthy of Paradise Hall.


title: George Wickham

text: At the beginning of her novel, Jane Austen gives Wickham the appearance of a hero by his good looks and distinguished manners: he is reminiscent of Tom Jones, the foundling, unfairly banned from the squire's estate by the severe and pretentious Blifil, son of Bridget, the squire's sister. Master Blifil and the bastard Tom grew up in the same estate, and have received the same education and the same affection from the squire. Blifil is rather strict and reserved; Tom, a jolly lad who pleases the ladies (both young and old), generous but impulsive and not strictly honourable, is too easily moved by a pretty face and has a tendency to put himself in difficult or scabrous situations.


title: George Wickham

text: But while Tom Jones, who has an upright soul, overcomes his misfortunes and shows nobility of character, Wickham does not correct himself because he hides a corrupt soul under his beautiful appearance. Like the treacherous Blifil, Wickham is permanently banned from the "paradise" of his childhood.


title: George Wickham

text: It is also possible that Jane Austen was influenced, for the relationship between Wickham and Darcy, by Proteus and Valentine, "The Two Gentlemen of Verona", created by Shakespeare; at least, that is the opinion of Laurie Kaplan, who recalls how subtly Jane Austen borrows from the Shakespearean comedy. Proteus, though a son of a gentleman, is intoxicated by the facilities and the luxury of the Court of Milan, where he has been sent by his father, and behaves very badly towards his childhood friend, Valentine, betraying and slandering him, causing his exile, while Valentine never stops, even in adversity, behaving nobly.


title: George Wickham

text: Another inspiration is Joseph Surface from "The School for Scandal", who, like Wickham, "seems to be charming and upright but in fact is a thorough going villain".


title: George Wickham

text: Henry Austen is regarded as an obvious inspiration for the character of George Wickham by Claire Tomalin, who cites Henry and Wickham's inability to settle on a career or a bride, and as Wickham, like Henry, "shows himself to be more agreeable than reliable".


title: George Wickham

text: Sheryl Craig suggests that Wickham is named after the contemporary spymaster William Wickham, who was a figure of some notoriety at the time. According to her, "Jane Austen’s first readers would have immediately connected the surname Wickham with deception, secrets, spies, and disappearing money."


title: George Wickham

text: Once he appears at Meryton, Wickham is noticed, especially by the Bennet sisters: his youth, his manly beauty, his distinguished look and bearing speak immediately in favour of this handsome stranger seen in the street. He has all the appearance of the ideal romantic hero. The uniform, the red coat of Colonel Forster's militia, adds to his prestige among the women. Once he is introduced by Lieutenant Denny, the friend he accompanied, he displays friendly manners and "a happy readiness of conversation – a readiness at the same time perfectly correct and unassuming". Susan Morgan notes that in contrast to Austen's introductions of other characters, Wickham's introduction "tells us nothing of Mr. Wickham's qualities or nature, but only of his looks and manners". Elizabeth Bennet, in particular, is "delighted": she finds him well above the captains of the militia in elegance and manners. That is why, when her aunt, Mrs Philips, invited some officers and her nieces to her home the following evening, she is flattered to be "the happy woman" with whom Wickham spends most of the first evening. He seems to her much more worthy of interest when he appears to be an innocent victim of the cruelty and jealousy of Mr. Darcy, whom she finds so unpleasant.


title: George Wickham

text: As the narrator reveals nothing of the new officer's past, he is seen exclusively through the positive image that Elizabeth and other characters form of Wickham – in particular Mrs. Gardiner, her aunt. A native of Derbyshire, where she had lived "ten or twelve years before her marriage", he gave her the opportunity to evoke pleasant memories of youth, so she was inclined towards him. And if she puts Elizabeth on guard when she sees the interest her niece has in him, it is not that she does not trust him, but, as he has no money, it would be very "imprudent" on the part of her niece to fall in love and marry him. According to David Shapard, the only reason why Wickham and Elizabeth do not seriously consider marriage is that they are both without funds. The Bennets, who were offended by the snobbery of Darcy and of Bingley's sisters, welcome him and listen to the story of his grievances with sympathy and without mistrust. Mr. Bennet himself has a certain weakness for him. Jennifer Preston Wilson asserts that Wickham relies upon making a very good first impression and carefully reading his audience to find out their sympathies.


title: George Wickham

text: The first appearance of Wickham in Meryton is when Darcy and Elizabeth meet again after Elizabeth and Jane's stay in Netherfield, when the latter was sick. The scene takes place in the street where the Bennet ladies, accompanied by the ridiculous and pompous Mr. Collins, come to make the acquaintance of Wickham, when they are joined by Darcy and Bingley who are just crossing the city on horseback. Only Elizabeth, burning to know the explanation, notices the brief exchange between Wickham and Darcy: one turned red, the other pale. As all the focus is on Elizabeth noticing this exchange between the men, Burns suggests that we are not told that Wickham is observing Darcy and Elizabeth as well.


title: George Wickham

text: Wickham profits from the sympathy enjoyed in the city by Colonel Forster and his regiment choosing Meryton as its winter quarters. It is one of the local militias raised to reinforce the army against the threat of French invasion. The presence of officers, generally young people from good families, disrupts the routine of local social life: they participate in community life, inviting gentlemen to the mess, and being invited themselves to balls, evening socials, and receptions. As some came with their spouses, teas and visits between women increased the occasions for marriageable young ladies to meet these dashing idle officers in red coats. England was at war, the population feared an invasion, the army was recruiting and the prestige of the regimental uniform was therefore total. It was possible for a new militia officer to make a fresh start in life, as Wickham's rank could be obtained without having to live in the local area. In addition, according to the "Cambridge Chronicle" of 3 January 1795, the Derbyshire Militia, which Deidre Le Faye suggests inspired Jane Austen, was very well behaved in the two towns of Hertfordshire where it was stationed, as well as in church.


title: George Wickham

text: Only Mr. Bingley and his sisters, Mr. Darcy's friends, consider he is not respectable and he behaved in an undignified way towards the latter, but they ignore the details of the story. They only know that Darcy "cannot bear to hear George Wickham mentioned." In any case, they quickly leave Hertfordshire, leaving the field free to Wickham.


title: George Wickham

text: Burning to know the reasons for his and Darcy's attitude when they were face to face, and blinded by her prejudice against Darcy, Elizabeth is not alerted by the impropriety that Wickham demonstrated by using the first opportunity to address the subject himself; she does not realize the skill with which he manipulates her through his hesitation and reticence. On the contrary she looks forward to his sparkling conversation, not realising her imprudence in believing a man who is a tricky conversationalist. Relying totally on his good looks, she accepts without question, without even considering to check it, his version of the story. She sympathises fully with his misfortunes, when he obligingly describes the unfair treatment to which he was subjected: Darcy had, through pure jealousy, refused to respect the will of his late father who had promised him the enjoyment of ecclesiastical property belonging to the family, forcing him to enlist in the militia to live. Although Wickham states that out of respect to his godfather, he cannot denounce Darcy, he does so, feeding into Elizabeth's prejudices about Darcy.


title: George Wickham

text: He lies with skill, especially by omission, taking care not to mention his own faults, and remains close enough to the truth to deceive Elizabeth: nothing he says about the behaviour of Darcy is fundamentally wrong, but it is a warped presentation, "pure verbal invention" according to Tony Tanner. Darcy's generosity, attention to his farmers, and affection for his sister, are presented as the work of a calculating mind with a terrible aristocratic pride. Thus, in the context of Meryton, without his past and his family being known, Wickham's lies are readily believed, and he is left to indulge in his weakness for gambling and debauchery. He is protected by the mask of his fine manners and the certainty that Darcy, anxious to preserve the reputation of his younger sister, would not stoop to denounce him.


title: George Wickham

text: In the long letter that Darcy presents to her in Rosings Park Elizabeth discovers the true past of Wickham and can begin to sort out the truth from the lies.


title: George Wickham

text: She thus recognises that she failed in judgment, "because his attitude, his voice, his manners had established him straightaway as in possession of all qualities". She admits to being at first mistaken by the appearance of righteousness and an air of distinction. She notices an "affectation" and an "idle and frivolous gallantry" in Wickham's manners after being informed by Darcy's letter.


title: George Wickham

text: George Wickham was the son of an estate manager for Mr. Darcy Senior, and George Wickham was the godson of Mr. Darcy Senior, who raised him practically like a second son, both in recognition of his father's work and loyalty and by affection for this boy with "charming manners". Because he wanted to secure Wickham's future, his godfather paid for his studies in college and then at Cambridge. By giving him the ability to enter religious orders and by granting him the valuable living of a curacy dependent on Pemberley (Kympton), he would have guaranteed Wickham a most honourable social position. Not at all attracted by the clerical profession, to the great relief of Darcy, Wickham preferred to claim a final settlement of £3,000 at the death of his godfather, in lieu of the Living, on top of an inheritance of an additional £1,000 also left to him by Darcy Sr.—an amount of £4,000 in total, which would have provided Wickham with a living allowance of £200 per annum, "IF" he hadn't squandered it.


title: George Wickham

text: Once this money was squandered Darcy refused him further help, so Darcy supposed that he sought revenge and financial enrichment by taking advantage of Georgiana Darcy's stay in Ramsgate to seduce her, hoping to steal her away and marry her, getting his hands on the young girl's £30,000 dowry. His attempt to seduce Georgiana was facilitated by their childhood friendship (to which Darcy alluded when he described Wickham to Elizabeth) and the relative isolation of the shy adolescent (she was only fifteen years old) without a mother to chaperone her at the seaside town, and by having her companion, Mrs. Young, helping him.


title: George Wickham

text: He is a good-for-nothing and a scoundrel who shows two forms of evil. He is "imprudent and extravagant" as Colonel Forster finally discovered, which meant, in less diplomatic language, that he had love affairs and piled up debts, especially gambling debts. It is discovered at the time of his elopement with Lydia that Wickham has not maintained any long friendships before he entered the militia at the urging of Denny. This is presented in the novel as having been a sign of his bad character, and Fulford states that Wickham uses the prestige of the militia and the anonymity it provides to run away from his debts. He searched desperately for a financially advantageous marriage: in Meryton, Wickham openly courted Mary King from the moment she inherited 10,000 pounds, but her uncle took her to Liverpool. Tongues loosened to reveal other misadventures once Lydia's absence became known: "He was declared to be in debt to every tradesman in the place, and his intrigues, all honoured with the title of seduction, had been extended into every tradesman's family".


title: George Wickham

text: Lydia, at fifteen, Georgiana's age when he tried to take her away, falls madly in love while they are in Brighton, to the point of agreeing to accompany him when he flees the regiment for not paying his debts of honour. She refuses to leave him, insensitive to the collateral damage the scandal will cause to her family, but he only marries her in desperation, negotiating the terms with Darcy who uses his connections and his fortune to procure Wickham a position, and save Lydia's respectability, allying himself with Mr Gardiner for the occasion. The reactions of the Bennet family are mixed: Mrs Bennet, relieved to see a first daughter duly married, and delighted that it is her favourite daughter, welcomes the young couple with affection after the wedding, sorry to see them go to rejoin the Garrison at Newcastle. Jane blushed in confusion and Mr Bennet ironically claims to be "enormously proud" of a son-in-law so shameless and cynical: "He simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us all."


title: George Wickham

text: Elizabeth is "disgusted" to see Lydia and him so comfortable and "promises, in the future, never to set limits on the impudence of an impudent man". According to Claire Tomalin, this is partially due to a lingering jealousy of Elizabeth towards Lydia for marrying Wickham. Wickham's final scene in the novel is "presented as an interruption" – Woloch notes that Elizabeth tries to walk to the house quickly in order to get rid of him, and that she "hoped she had silenced him". According to Woloch, the narrator suggests that Wickham and Elizabeth "never speak seriously again" after this conversation. In this conversation, Wickham tries to discern what Elizabeth now knows about him with some "careful probing", and she responds with "some gentle teasing", which Mai interprets as showing the value of forgiveness. Elizabeth is no longer fooled, not by his beautiful rhetoric nor by his engaging ways. Elizabeth and Jane, who are the only ones to know the whole truth of Wickham's character, continue their financial support of their sister, and Darcy helps Wickham in his career (as he had promised his father, and for the sake of his wife), but the doors of Pemberley remain definitely closed to him.


title: George Wickham

text: In the actantial scheme Wickham plays the role of the opponent. He represents the traditional figure of the debauched and depraved libertine from novels of the eighteenth century. The figure of the bad boy, who is dangerous and a bit too enticing, from whom the heroine must learn to stay away, is presented with more vivacity than the hero who is honest and a real gentleman. Wickham is no exception to the rule: he has charm and immediately captivates by his apparent frankness and friendly ease. But he is the most dissolute and the most cynical of all the seducers described by Jane Austen, and he uses his good looks and good education to create an illusion. He has defects that are much more serious than those of the bad boys in the other novels: a formidable manipulator of language, he is also the only one who recklessly plays a big game, the only one who slanders with such impudence; and things go much worse for him than for them who, on the contrary, do not end up banished from good society.


title: George Wickham

text: He is also the only one of lower social status. In this regard, Jane Austen contrasts the judgement of Elizabeth Bennet to that of Caroline Bingley, imbued with rank and fortune. Miss Bingley's prejudice against Wickham, in her ignorance of the inside story, leans mainly on the fact that he is a commoner ("Considering where he comes from, you cannot expect much better"), when Elizabeth shows a greatness of spirit in refusing to tie the value of a person to his social position: "His guilt and his descent appear by your account to be the same (...) for I have heard you accuse him of nothing worse than of being the son of Mr, Darcy's steward". Darcy himself refuses to tie Wickham's origin to his conduct, since he considers, in his letter to Elizabeth, that Wickham's father was "a very respectable man, who had the responsibility of the entire Pemberley estate for years" and admirably performed his duties. By using the snobbish Miss Bingley to warn Elizabeth, and the naive Jane in Darcy's defense, Austen subtly prejudices the reader's mind in favour of Wickham.


title: George Wickham

text: Robert Markley argues that Wickham's seduction spree is a way to revenge himself on the gentlemanly society that he has the education, but not the funds, to access. The narrator uses Wickham to argue against the idea of love at first sight, and Hall states that this allows Elizabeth to consider the attractive reliability of the "boy next door", Darcy. Alex Woloch discusses Wickham as a foil to Mr. Collins in terms of their being unworthy suitors for Elizabeth – while Mr. Collins offers financial security without love, Wickham offers sexual fulfilment without stability.


title: George Wickham

text: The omniscient narrator reveals nothing of the youth or the true nature of Wickham. The reader knows him only through what he says about himself and what is said about him, but only later in the story, by characters who knew him before: Darcy (at Rosings Park), and Mrs. Reynolds (at Pemberley). It is therefore difficult to get a fair idea of a character so difficult to define. If the Bingley family (who had never met him before their arrival in Hertfordshire) are only aware of the little Darcy has told them, Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper of Pemberley, has known Darcy and Wickham from infancy. She can confirm that he was raised at Pemberley at the expense of Mr. Darcy Senior, and knows that he is in the army, but fears that he has turned out badly: "I am afraid he has turned out very wild".


title: George Wickham

text: At most, the narrator gives the reader a subtle warning by some facial expressions, some slight pauses (marked by dashes) some hesitations in his conversation. In this way, on the evening of their first meeting, Wickham asks Elizabeth, in a slightly hesitating manner, how long Darcy has been in Hertfordshire, then, "after a short pause", Elizabeth vividly assures him that all Meryton is "disgusted by his pride" and that no one has anything good to say about him, he begins to disclose his confidences to a partner who is all ears. Later, hearing Collins quote Lady Catherine, and "after having observed her for a moment," he asks Elizabeth if she is closely linked to the De Bourgh family. She is convinced that what he says is true because he looks so honest, and that is what justifies and reinforces her dislike for Darcy. For Matt Brumit, when Wickham avoids the whist card game and sits with Elizabeth and Lydia to play lotteries, Wickham may be attempting to hide his gambling, rather than the sign of interest Elizabeth sees it as.


title: George Wickham

text: It is only after the revelations of Darcy that Wickham's true character is "unmasked" for Elizabeth. The reader, going back and forth with her, becomes aware of his prudent way of "testing the waters" and gauging the feelings of others, addressing himself to a cynical manipulation of his interlocutors, subtly hiding the truth by deliberate omissions and practicing safe slander (he confides only to Elizabeth while Darcy is at Netherfield, but makes his version of the facts public as soon as Darcy is gone). It is only "a posteriori" that the irony in the vocabulary of emotion he uses is discovered: "I can never be in company with this Mr. Darcy without being grieved to the soul by a thousand tender recollections". Darcy evokes, in him, "his resentment in proportion to the distress of his financial situation and the violence of his reproaches". For Richard Jenkyns, Wickham's deceptiveness is the "pivot upon which the entire plot turns". Jenkyns discusses how Claire Tomalin regards Wickham as frivolous rather than a true villain, but Jenkyns regards this as being further evidence of Wickham being a great conman. Jenkyns points out, in defending Austen's characterisation of Wickham, that the only account of the seduction of Georgiana is given by Darcy. Susan Morgan regards Wickham as being designed by Austen to be a stock villain in both his "false face as a charming young man and in his true face as the fortune hunter" – even the kind-hearted Jane cannot fail to understand that Wickham's intentions towards Lydia are dishonourable when she discovers Wickham is "a gamester!".


title: George Wickham

text: Wickham, whose speech is full of duplicity and is skilled at making white look black has certainly read with profit Lord Chesterfield's "Letters to His Son", full of pragmatic, but also quite Machiavellian advice, to appear a true gentleman in society.


title: George Wickham

text: Jane Austen uses nearly the same words to describe Charles Bingley and George Wickham: both are likable, charming, cheerful, have easy manners, and above all, have the air of a gentleman. But Wickham, to whom Austen gives more engaging manners if it is possible than to Bingley, only has the appearance of a gentleman – not the behaviour – as Elizabeth will point out bitterly afterward. Bingley is impressionable, weak even, without much knowledge of himself, but he is simple and honest, while Wickham is a hypocrite and a true villain who hides his "lack of principles" and his "vicious tendencies" under his likable airs.


title: George Wickham

text: The character defect that the narrator attacks most strongly in "Pride and Prejudice" is reliance on first impressions and judging only on the face and general appearance. Jane Austen frequently used the word "appearance" when describing Wickham so as to emphasize that Elizabeth can see only the surface of the character. Wickham is assumed to be honest because he is handsome and his manners are charming. Elizabeth, who told Jane that "sincerity can be read on his face", and Mrs. Gardiner that he is "beyond all comparison, the most agreeable man I ever saw," which implies she is relying on his appearance to show his character, acknowledges, after having read what Darcy reveals of Wickham, that she had never thought of going beyond the appearance and to analyse his "real character". Thus, the narrator reveals Elizabeth has been taken in by the surface appearance of Wickham.


title: George Wickham

text: As to the opinion of the inhabitants of Meryton, the narrator shows with some irony that it is unreliable and unpredictable: if Wickham is "universally appreciated" at the beginning, he is then considered, with the same exaggeration, as the most evil (wickedest) man in the world, and each one openly affirms that they were always highly suspicious of his apparent virtue: "had always distrusted the appearance of his goodness".


title: George Wickham

text: Jane Austen invites the reader to compare the evolution of the "two gentlemen of Derbyshire", Darcy and Wickham, who are "born in the same parish, within the same park" and are "nearly the same age". They are therefore childhood companions ("the companion of my youth" wrote Darcy), that the behaviour of Wickham towards Georgiana has transformed into enemies and at the meeting of Elizabeth into rivals. Wickham acts as a foil to Darcy – Austen uses the comparison between the two characters to contrast them and provide insights into each of the men. Raised at Pemberley (an almost perfect and ideal place) and pampered by his godfather, the former owner, Wickham knew Darcy very well. George Wickham was the son of the steward, he probably always felt envy and jealousy towards the heir. Taking after his spendthrift mother, Wickham, instead of taking the virtuous and honorable way offered to him, rejected the moral rules that governed the estate and the behaviour of its successive owners, keeping only the exterior of a gentleman, not the behaviour.


title: George Wickham

text: Winter life in Meryton, in the midst of idle officers, generally sons of good families who relieved their boredom by breaking the hearts of romantic young girls, and incurring debts that frequent trips allowed them to avoid paying; the opportunities to participate in balls, assemblies, and evening soirées organized by the "four-and-twenty families" who were relatively rich, was better suited to his libertine tastes. Wickham's irresponsible elopement with Lydia inspires Elizabeth to confide in Darcy, setting the stage for Darcy to demonstrate that he now feels responsible for Wickham's continued bad behaviour by his silence – if he had made Wickham's bad character known, Lydia would have been safe. Darcy chooses to involve himself in arranging Lydia's marriage, despite the risk to his own reputation.


title: George Wickham

text: As Lydia Bennet, wasteful and morally uncontrollable, embodies the dark side of Elizabeth, so Wickham appears as the double negative of Darcy: he takes liberties with the truth (Darcy claims to have a horror of lying), he has sentimental adventures, accumulates a dark slate of debts with the merchants, and, most importantly, is an unrepentant gambler. The couple that is formed in the outcome with Lydia, writes Marie-Laure-Massei Chamayou, "therefore represents the opposite sulfurous and Dionysian side" to the solar couple who are Darcy and Elizabeth.


title: George Wickham

text: The fact that Wickham and Darcy are both attracted to Elizabeth is important for the moral sensibility of the Bildungsroman: Elizabeth must not be wrong and choose the wrong suitor. The parallels between the journey of the two young men from Derbyshire and the two Bennet daughters who are both lively and cheerful, who love to laugh and find themselves attracted by Wickham end in a very moral fashion: Darcy, the honest man, weds Elizabeth and takes her to Pemberley. Wickham, the rakehell and unlucky gambler, after having courted Elizabeth for a time, is forced to marry the foolish Lydia and sees himself exiled far from Pemberley.


title: George Wickham

text: In trying to seduce Georgiana and by fleeing with Lydia, he defied a moral edict and social convention, that Jane Austen whose "view of the world was through the Rectory window" neither could nor would excuse: while she offers her heroes a happy future based on affection, mutual esteem, and a controlled sexuality; Austen forces Wickham to marry Lydia, whom he quickly ceases to love. Although he had almost seduced Georgiana Darcy, and then paid attention to Mary King with her 10,000 pounds a year, Wickham runs off with Lydia and is bribed to marry her. It seems that he often runs away from his marriage to "enjoy himself in London or Bath", which critic Susannah Fullerton regards as being what Wickham deserves. But he does not have the stature of his predecessor, Lovelace, nor is he as thorough a villain. His rank of ensign in the regular army was the lowest and could be held by boys of 15, which Breihan and Caplan see as a sign of Darcy feeling that "enough was enough!" Wickham's career path in the North, where he might at any point be drawn into war, may reflect a desire for atonement and honest service.