title: Swansea University

text: Medicine and Life Science continue to be ranked in the UK top five overall at 4th in Allied Health Professions (UOA3), and Mathematics is ranked joint 16th in the UK and is joint top for impact, with 100% rated as outstanding.


title: Swansea University

text: Geography is ranked 20th in the UK, climbing 11 places with 90% 4* world-leading or 3* internationally excellent research. A third of the university's units of assessment rated 100% for their outstanding and very considerable impact.


title: Swansea University

text: The university is listed as one of the top 500 universities in the World University Rankings. Swansea is ranked 24th in the Guardian 2022 University guide.


title: Swansea University

text: Swansea University's best ranked departments include Medicine and Mathematics, ranked 4th and 16th respectively in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework. The Law Department also ranks highly, coming in at 22nd in the Times Good University Guide 2019 in the UK, as well as in the 151–200 category in QS World Rankings. Overall, Swansea University is ranked 48th in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.


title: Swansea University

text: National Student Survey results (for 2021) rank Swansea 12th in the UK for "overall satisfaction", with 82% saying they are satisfied with their course overall. The survey ranked Swansea number one for Archaeology; Biology (non-specific); English Language; and Others in Business and Management.


title: Swansea University

text: Swansea University is top in Wales in the 2023 Guardian University Guide and in the 2022 Student Crowd university rankings, which places it 15th in the UK.


title: Swansea University

text: In recent years, Swansea University has established many partnerships with leading universities in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.


title: Swansea University

text: Swansea University has a strategic partnership with Wuhan Union Hospital in Wuhan, China. The hospital was founded by Swansea missionary Reverend Doctor Griffith John. As a result of this partnership, in 2015, the College of Medicine hosted the 2nd UK-China Medical Forum at Singleton Hospital. Swansea University has also established a joint medical centre at the Wuhan Union Hospital to engage in clinical collaboration. In 2020, the partnership enabled health experts from across Wales to learn from some of the first medics to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Swansea University

text: in 2013, Swansea University established a partnership with Rice University and Texas A&M University. The universities collaborate on research as well as exchange visits by academics and students. Since then, the partnership has expanded to include six more partner institutions in Texas: University of Houston, University of Texas at Austin, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.


title: Swansea University

text: In 2012, Swansea University established a partnership with the Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France with the aim of beginning joint degree programmes, collaborative bids for European funding and student and staff exchanges particularly in the subject areas of Medicine, Computer Science and Engineering. This partnership has now grown to involve a community of universities and research organisations in the Rhone‐Alpes region of France with a combined student population of over 65,000. The partnership involves research collaboration, staff and student exchanges, and sharing facilities and best practice.


title: Swansea University

text: In 2007, the university set up a programme along with the local NHS trust, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, to establish a partnership with the School of Medicine at the University of the Gambia in The Gambia. The purpose of this partnership is to improve health care outcomes as well as collaborate on clinical care, health service delivery, teaching and research. This programme also provides opportunity for local doctors and medical students to pursue a placement in either the Gambia or Swansea Bay. In December 2014, this programme was awarded a United Nations Gold Star for its contribution to the improvement of Gambian health outcomes.


title: Swansea University

text: Swansea University collaborates with Navitas with International College Wales Swansea to provide foundation, 1st year degree and Pre-Masters programmes on campus.


title: Swansea University

text: In 2021 Swansea University launched a Sports and Exercise Science partnership with the University of Canberra in Australia and Swansea also offers a dual degree programme with Trent University in Canada. Since its inception in 2016, Swansea University has been a member of the Jiangsu–UK 20+20 World-Class University Consortium, involving more than 30 universities from the UK and Jiangsu Province in China.


title: Swansea University

text: Swansea University Students' Union (Welsh: "Undeb Myfyrwyr Prifysgol Abertawe") is the students' union for Swansea University. Known as the SU, it supports more than 170 student clubs including African-Caribbean, Chinese, Hellenic and Indian societies, among others. The Union runs student bars and nightclubs, a travel shop offering trips around the UK and Europe, a radio station, nursery, launderette and shops. Profits are reinvested into improving the student experience, including supporting students through its advice and support centre.


title: Swansea University

text: Services include money advice and support office, student counselling, a health centre, dentist, chaplains, an academic success programme, specialist tuition and residential services.


title: Swansea University

text: Sport Swansea offers more than 50 sports clubs and has over 5000 active members, covering sports ranging from rugby and aikido, dodgeball, and hockey to tae kwon do.


title: Swansea University

text: Swansea and Cardiff University compete in an annual varsity competition, known as the Welsh version of the Oxbridge event, which includes the Welsh Varsity rugby match and The Welsh Boat Race.


title: Swansea University

text: Most of Swansea University's individual and team training takes place at the Swansea Bay Sports Park off campus on Sketty Lane. In the same complex as the Wales National Pool, the Sports Village is home to outdoor football and rugby pitches, a running track, an indoor athletics centre, hockey pitches, racquet courts and a gym, which is open to both students and the general public. Several sports clubs also use facilities on the Bay Campus.


title: Swansea University

text: Xtreme Radio is the radio station of the University, run by students. It was founded in November 1968 as Action Radio, making it the third oldest student radio station in the UK and oldest in Wales. It broadcasts to various areas around campus and is available worldwide on the internet. The station plays a wide variety of music, as well as having a number of specialist programmes including talk and sports shows.


title: Swansea University

text: Swansea University provides approximately 3200 places in University halls across its two campuses, as well as some 1300 in the purpose-built Hendrefoelan Student Village and more in off-campus residences at Beck House.


title: Swansea University

text: There are also a number of university managed properties in the Uplands and Brynmill areas of the city.


title: Swansea University

text: The Bay Campus halls have about 2000 rooms and will in due course replace the student accommodation in the Hendrefoelan Student village. The Hendrefoelan estate is 2.5 miles from the Singleton Park campus, just off the main Swansea to Gower road, set amongst mature woodland with open grassy areas. The student village is now undergoing a phased redevelopment through the construction of 3 and 4-bedroom family homes.


title: Swansea University

text: There are nine halls that make up the campus residences providing accommodation to around 1182 students. The halls offer a combination of part and self-catered rooms and a choice of standard or ensuite study rooms. Three of these halls (Caswell, Langland and Oxwich) were completed in 2004 and the original halls (Kilvey, Preseli, Rhossili and Cefn Bryn, formerly known as Sibly, Lewis Jones, Mary Williams Annexe and Mary Williams respectively) have undergone some refurbishment in recent years. Penmaen and Horton are the newest addition to the campus residences providing 351 self-catered, ensuite study rooms. Many rooms have views over the bay or across the park.


title: Swansea University

text: Tŷ Beck consists of six large Victorian town houses situated in the Uplands area of Swansea, approximately a mile from the Singleton campus. It predominantly provides rooms for postgraduates and students with families, as well as overseas exchange students.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: Telfar Clemens (b. 1985, Queens, New York) is a Liberian-American fashion designer and the founder of the label Telfar. Clemens has won the 2017 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, the CFDA American Accessories 2019, and the CFDA American Accessories 2020.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: Clemens was born in Lefrak City, Queens in 1985. His parents are Liberian. His family moved back to Liberia for a short period of time, but then avoid the Second Liberian Civil War, relocated to Gaithersburg, Maryland.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: While in high school at New York's P.S. 206, Clemens's teacher wrote monograms for all of their students. The monogram the teacher gave to Clemens would later become the brand's signature logo.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: In 2005, as a student at Pace University, Clemens founded his eponymous, unisex fashion brand, Telfar. He graduated from Pace University in 2008.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: Clemens met Babak Radboy in 2004, who later joined Telfar as creative director and business partner in 2013.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: In September 2016, Clemens and Radboy worked together on an installation at the Berlin Biennale, accompanied by a video rendered by artists Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: In May 2017, Clemens collaborated with musician Solange Knowles to design the outfits for Knowles and her dancers for "An Ode To", a no-phones-allowed interdisciplinary performance at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: In September 2017, Clemens designed uniforms for 400 White Castle franchises. In October, 2017, Clemens released a special capsule collection in collaboration with White Castle that year, with all proceeds from the partnership went to bail funds for teenagers imprisoned on Rikers Island.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: In February 2019, Telfar showed his Fall Winter 2019 collection at Irving Plaza in New York City in an exclusive event celebrating black future(s) month, with 1000 guests, a mosh pit for a runway (models were crowd-surfed through the audience rather than walking down a runway), and live stage music. The fashion show, co-hosted by playwright Jeremy O. Harris, featured performances by musicians Ho99o9, Na-Kel Smith, Oyinda, Butch Dawson, and the designer Clemens himself.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: In early 2020, Clemens announced a collaboration with Gap Inc. The collection was postponed indefinitely in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: In August 2020, Telfar introduced the Bag Security Program, a one-day-only online event that would allow anyone to preorder bags for a guaranteed holiday delivery that year. “I created the bag security program so that people could be able to get the thing that they wanted. We just really wanted to know like if we actually gave people the chance to get this bag, how many bags can we sell in one day?” Clemens stated. Two more Bag Security Programs have since taken place, both in 2021.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: Clemens launched a line of durags in September 2020. Shortly after, Clemens announced a collaboration with UGG to launch in Fall of 2021.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: In 2021, GUESS, a large American retailer, produced a bag consumers recognized as a look-alike of the Telfar Shopping Bag, but with a G-logo in place of the Telfar brand. Guess’s handbag licenser Signal Brands voluntarily pulled the G-logo off of shelves and released a statement that "Signal Brands does not wish to create any impediments to Telfar Global's success and, as such, has independently decided to stop selling the G-logo totes."


title: Telfar Clemens

text: Clemens counts Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier and Yohji Yamamoto as influences, along with "life style" brands such as Calvin Klein, DKNY, and Polo Ralph Lauren.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: The Telfar Shopping Bag is made of vegan leather, branded with the signature "T" Telfar logo. It has been called an "it-bag" and "the decade's most important accessory" by major fashion publications. Originally modeled after shopping bags from Bloomingdale's, the Telfar Shopping Bag is colloquially known as the "Bushwick Birkin" due to its combination of status and accessibility.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: The bag has sold out within minutes of every restock, with demand crashing the shop site in July 2020. Telfar's team was initially concerned that bots were buying the bags to resell them at a higher price, but concluded that the bot issue was overstated—the issue was real demand.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: In November 2020, Oprah Winfrey picked the Telfar Bag as one of her 'Favorite Things'. The bag is also promoted by other notable figures such as Real Housewives of New York City star Sonja Morgan, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Swae Lee, Ashton Sanders, and Dua Lipa.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: Clemens won the 2017 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund along with a $400,000 prize, much of which he invested in the production of the Telfar Shopping Bag.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, "Queerty" named Telfar among the fifty heroes “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people”.


title: Telfar Clemens

text: In September 2020 Clemens won at CFDA again, this time the 2020 “American Accessories Designer of the Year” award.


title: Brazil women's national volleyball team

text: The Brazil women's national volleyball team is administrated by the "Confederação Brasileira de Voleibol" (CBV) and takes part in international volleyball competitions. It is ranked second in the FIVB World Rankings as of August 2021. They are the current record holder of FIVB World Grand Prix champion titles, having won it for the eleventh time in 2016 and are the gold medalists of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The team also get a gold in Pan American Games in 2011


title: Mikhael (film)

text: Mikhael is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written and directed by Haneef Adeni. It stars Nivin Pauly in the lead role with Unni Mukundan, Manjima Mohan, Siddique, JD Chakravarthy and Suraj Venjaramoodu in supporting roles. Music is composed by Gopi Sundar. The film released on 18 January 2019.


title: Mikhael (film)

text: George Peter is an influential gold smuggler in Kerala. One day, George and his driver are killed under mysterious circumstances where ACP Muhammed Easa and his colleague CI Isaac John arrives at the spot and discovers that the murder was carried out with a surgical blade, deducing that a doctor was behind it. They start investigating medical stores. At the same time, George's younger brother Marco meets their rival, William Davis and his elder son Abraham to ask whether it was their work. Abraham speaks in a condescending manner, which provokes Marco to shoot Abraham, showing Marco as a sadistic and ruthless criminal. During his funeral, Easa asks William and his younger son Francis about Abraham's murder, but to no avail.


title: Mikhael (film)

text: One night, a mysterious person shoots Patrick, who is Davis's right-hand man. Easa and Isaac take him to Star Hospital where he gets murdered despite being protected with maximum security. This solidifies Easa and Isaac's theory that the murderer is a doctor. Meanwhile, A contract killer interrogates a pharmacist to learn the truth about the murders. Both the gangs start believing that someone is after them. Isaac becomes suspicious of Easa since he earlier revealed that he had an informant, but didn't reveal anything about him. Isaac investigates on his own, discovering that Dr. Mikhael John, the casualty specialist of Star Hospital is both the killer and the informant.


title: Mikhael (film)

text: Issac also finds that Easa is helping Mikhael since they had contacted each other several times. He also tells Easa what he has learned in his investigation, forcing Easa to reveal everything in order to prevent the arrest of Dr. Mikhael. Easa explains that when Mikhael was 10 years old, he was involved in an accident that killed his father John (who is a martial arts trainer). Michael's mother Ancy blamed him for his father's death. Meanwhile, George's son Gerald challenged Jenny, Mikhael's sister to a kung-fu fight in front of the entire school. Jenny defeats him, causing his friends and other students to tease him for losing to a girl. Depressed over the matter, Gerald commits suicide by jumping from the school terrace.


title: Mikhael (film)

text: George visits Jenny and ask her to jump from the school terrace in the same way Gerald had jumped or he will kill her entire family. After George continuously disturbs and harasses her family, Jenny decides to jump off the school terrace. Before she jumps, Mikhael arrives and saves her. After learning about the harassment, Mikhael files a complaint to the police, but the Sub-Inspector thrashes and warns him, as they are allied with George. Ancy asks him to visit them in Christmas, but he refuses. George later kills Ancy, causing Michael to burn Peter's Audi Q7 car. George and his henchmen catch Michael, beat him brutally and leave him on a railroad track to die. Michael escapes, and eventually catches up George and his driver and kills them both.


title: Mikhael (film)

text: In the present, Marco learns about Mikhael and Jenny and vows to finish them. Easa also reveals that he ordered Mikhael to kill Patrick, since he was a common connection between both teams and killing him will provoke a gang war. Meanwhile, Jenny gets kidnapped by William and Davis, who learned that Mikhael was responsible for Patrick's death, but Mikhael is able to save Jenny; William and Francis are arrested by Easa, who also arrest Marco for killing Abraham, but Marco is released on bail. Marco kidnaps Jenny and takes her to the Helipad of a Skyscraper and challenges Mikhael to a fight. Mikhael arrives at the Helipad and fights with Marco. Finally, using a hidden surgical blade in his pocket, Michael is able to kill Marco. The film ends by showing Michael illegal donates Marco's organs to save three people, thus saving his family.


title: Mikhael (film)

text: "Mikhael" is the second directorial venture of Haneef Adeni, produced by Anto Joseph under the banner Anto Joseph Film Company. The film was announced on 12 July 2018. The pooja function was held in Kochi on 3 September, with principal photography beginning the same day.


title: Mikhael (film)

text: Navamy Sudheesh of "The Hindu" called the film an average action fare, wrote that "while the film is engaging at some levels, it lacks that raw energy and intensity of a thorough thriller." Manoj Kumar of "The Indian Express" criticized the film, rating 0.5 in a scale of 5 and calling it a "migraine-inducing incoherent mess, which kills our desire to be entertained." Sowmya Rajendran from "The News Minute" criticised the direction, script, editing and acting, and wrote that "even if you watch the film knowing what to expect of Haneef Adeni, 'Mikhael' is disappointing", she rated 2 in a scale of 5. Anna M. M. Vetticad of "Firstpost" rated the film 0.75 in a scale of 5 and wrote that "Nivin Pauly struggles through a pretentious, pompous affair ... the irritating music and pseudo-philosophical mumbo jumbo overshadow both the storyline and the usually reliable Nivin Pauly's natural charm". Litty Simon of "Malayala Manorama" said, "the slow-paced thriller won't really blow your mind but it comes with enough masala for a Nivin Pauly movie." Calling the film "loud" and "confused", Neelima Menon from "Huffington Post" wrote that Nivin Pauly "is a thorough misfit" in the film. She was also heavily critical about the film's music. Deepa Sonam of "The Times of India" rated the movie 2.5 on the scale of 5. "The New Indian Express" rated it 4.


title: Mikhael (film)

text: It was reported that the makers of the film tried to control negative reviews on social media by asking Facebook to remove such posts due to copyright policies; they were able to get Facebook to block two groups which discussed films in an attempt to save the film from getting negative word of mouth.


title: Startle response

text: In animals, including humans, the startle response is a largely unconscious defensive response to sudden or threatening stimuli, such as sudden noise or sharp movement, and is associated with negative affect. Usually the onset of the startle response is a startle reflex reaction. The startle reflex is a brainstem reflectory reaction (reflex) that serves to protect vulnerable parts, such as the back of the neck (whole-body startle) and the eyes (eyeblink) and facilitates escape from sudden stimuli. It is found across many different species, throughout all stages of life. A variety of responses may occur depending on the affected individual's emotional state, body posture, preparation for execution of a motor task, or other activities. The startle response is implicated in the formation of specific phobias.


title: Startle response

text: A startle reflex can occur in the body through a combination of actions. A reflex from hearing a sudden loud noise will happen in the primary acoustic startle reflex pathway consisting of three main central synapses, or signals that travel through the brain.


title: Startle response

text: First, there is a synapse from the auditory nerve fibers in the ear to the cochlear root neurons (CRN). These are the first acoustic neurons of the central nervous system. Studies have shown a direct correlation to the amount of decrease of the startle to the number of CRNs that were killed. Second, there is a synapse from the CRN axons to the cells in the nucleus reticularis pontis caudalis (PnC) of the brain. These are neurons that are located in the pons of the brainstem. A study done to disrupt this portion of the pathway by the injection of PnC inhibitory chemicals has shown a dramatic decrease in the amount of startle by about 80 to 90 percent. Third, a synapse occurs from the PnC axons to the motor neurons in the facial motor nucleus or the spinal cord that will directly or indirectly control the movement of muscles. The activation of the facial motor nucleus causes a jerk of the head while an activation in the spinal cord causes the whole body to startle.


title: Startle response

text: During neuromotor examinations of newborns, it is noted that, for a number of techniques, the patterns of the startle reaction and the Moro reflex may significantly overlap, the notable distinction being the absence of arm abduction (spreading) during startle responses.


title: Startle response

text: There are many various reflexes that can occur simultaneously during a startle response. The fastest reflex recorded in humans happens within the masseter muscle or jaw muscle. The reflex was measured by electromyography which records the electrical activity during movement of the muscles. This also showed the latency response or the delay between the stimulus and the response recorded was found to be about 14 milliseconds. The blink of the eye which is the reflex of the orbicularis oculi muscle was found to have a latency of about 20 to 40 milliseconds. Out of larger body parts, the head is quickest in a movement latency in a range from 60 to 120 milliseconds. The neck then moves almost simultaneously with a latency of 75 to 121 milliseconds. Next, the shoulder jerks at 100 to 121 milliseconds along with the arms at 125 to 195 milliseconds. Lastly the legs responds with a latency of 145 to 395 milliseconds. This type of cascading response correlates to how the synapses travel from the brain and down the spinal cord to activate each motor neuron.


title: Startle response

text: The acoustic startle reflex is thought to be caused by an auditory stimulus greater than 80 decibels. The reflex is typically measured by electromyography, brain imaging or sometimes positron electron tomography. There are many brain structures and pathways thought to be involved in the reflex. The amygdala, hippocampus, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and anterior cingulate cortex are all thought to play a role in modulating the reflex. The anterior cingulate cortex in the brain is largely thought to be the main area associated with emotional response and awareness, which can contribute to the way an individual reacts to startle-inducing stimuli. Along with the anterior cingulate cortex, the amygdala and the hippocampus are known to have implications in this reflex.


title: Startle response

text: The amygdala is known to have a role in the "fight-or-flight response", and the hippocampus functions to form memories of the stimulus and the emotions associated with it. The role of the BNST in the acoustic startle reflex may be attributed to specific areas within the nucleus responsible for stress and anxiety responses. Activation of the BNST by certain hormones is thought to promote a startle response The auditory pathway for this response was largely elucidated in rats in the 1980s. The basic pathway follows the auditory pathway from the ear up to the nucleus of the lateral lemniscus (LLN) from where it activates a motor centre in the reticular formation. This centre sends descending projections to lower motor neurones of the limbs.


title: Startle response

text: In slightly more detail this corresponds to ear (cochlea) → cranial nerve VIII (auditory) → cochlear nucleus (ventral/inferior) → LLN → caudal pontine reticular nucleus (PnC). The whole process has a less than 10ms latency. There is no involvement of the superior/rostral or inferior/caudal colliculus in the reaction that "twitches" the hindlimbs, but these may be important for adjustment of pinnae and gaze towards the direction of the sound, or for the associated blink.


title: Startle response

text: In a 2005 study by Martin et al., at the Department of Aviation and Logistics, University of Southern Queensland, the performance of aircraft pilots following unexpected critical events, in relation to recent aircraft accidents, is examined. The deleterious effects of the startle response was identified as causal or contributory in these events. The authors argue that fear resulting from threat


title: Startle response

text: potentiates startle effects and has significant deleterious effects on cognition. This could contribute to poor performance following an unexpected critical event in aviation. They discuss training strategies for improved performance, which would expose pilots to unexpected critical events more often, and develop greater self-efficacy.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies and protocols, increasing access to birth control, and leading campaigns against child marriage, gender-based violence, obstetric fistula, and female genital mutilation.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: The UNFPA supports programs in more than 144 countries across four geographic regions: Arab States and Europe, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa. Around three-quarters of the staff work in the field. It is a founding member of the United Nations Development Group, a collection of UN agencies and programmes focused on fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: The agency began operations in 1969 as the United Nations Fund for Population Activities under the administration of the United Nations Development Fund. In 1971 it was placed under the authority of the United Nations General Assembly. Its name was changed into United Nations Population Fund in 1987. However, the shortened term of UNFPA has been retained.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: In September 2015, the 193 member states of the United Nations unanimously adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 goals aiming to transform the world over the next 15 years. These goals are designed to eliminate poverty, discrimination, abuse and preventable deaths, address environmental destruction, and usher in an era of development for all people, everywhere.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: The Sustainable Development Goals are ambitious, and they will require enormous efforts across countries, continents, industries and disciplines, but they are achievable. UNFPA works with governments, partners and other UN agencies to directly tackle many of these goals – in particular Goal 3 on health, Goal 4 on education and Goal 5 on gender equality – and contributes in a variety of ways to achieving many of the other goals.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: UNFPA is the world's largest multilateral source of funding for population and reproductive health programs. The Fund works with governments and non-governmental organizations in over 150 countries with the support of the international community, supporting programs that help women, men and young people:


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: The Fund raises awareness of and supports efforts to meet these goals, advocates close attention to population concerns and helps nations formulate policies and strategies in support of sustainable development. Osotimehin assumed leadership in January 2011. The Fund is also represented by UNFPA Goodwill Ambassadors and a Patron.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: UNFPA works in partnership with governments, along with other United Nations agencies, communities, NGOs, foundations and the private sector, to raise awareness and mobilize the support and resources needed to achieve its mission to promote the rights and health of women and young people.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: Contributions from governments and the private sector to UNFPA in 2016 totaled $848 million. The amount includes $353 million to the organization's core resources and $495 million earmarked for specific programs and initiatives. As a result of the economic impact of coronavirus pandemic, United Kingdom imposed 85% aid cut to UNFPA.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: UNFPA has been accused by groups opposed to abortion of providing support for government programs which have promoted forced abortions and coercive sterilizations.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: UNFPA says it "does not provide support for abortion services". Its charter includes a strong statement condemning coercion.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: Controversies regarding these claims have resulted in a sometimes shaky relationship between the organization and three presidential administrations, that of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, withholding funding from the UNFPA.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: UNFPA provided aid to Peru's reproductive health program in the mid-to-late 1990s. When it was discovered a Peruvian program had been engaged in carrying out coercive sterilizations, UNFPA called for reforms and protocols to protect the rights of women seeking assistance. UNFPA continued work with the country after the abuses had become public to help end the abuses and reform laws and practices.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: From 2002 through 2008, the Bush Administration denied funding to UNFPA that had already been allocated by the US Congress, on the grounds that the UNFPA supported Chinese government programs which include forced abortions and coercive sterilizations. In a letter from the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns to Congress, the administration said it had determined that UNFPA's support for China's population program "facilitates its government's coercive abortion program", thus violating the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, which bans the use of United States aid to finance organizations that support or take part in managing a program of coercive abortion of sterilization.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: The notion that UNFPA had any connection to China's administration of forced abortions was deemed to be unsubstantiated by investigations carried out by various US, UK, and UN teams sent to examine UNFPA activities in China. Specifically, a three-person U.S State Department fact-finding team was sent on a two-week tour throughout China. It wrote in a report to the State Department that it found "no evidence that UNFPA has supported or participated in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization in China," as has been charged by critics.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: However, according to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, the UNFPA contributed vehicles and computers to the Chinese to carry out their population planning policies. However, both the Washington Post and the Washington Times reported that Powell simply fell in line, signing a brief written by someone else. Rep. Chris Smith R-NJ, criticized the State Department investigation, saying the investigators were shown "Potemkin Villages" where residents had been intimidated into lying about the family-planning program. Dr. Nafis Sadik, former director of UNFPA, said her agency had been pivotal in reversing China's coercive population planning methods, but a 2005 report by Amnesty International and a separate report by the United States State Department found that coercive techniques were still regularly employed by the Chinese, casting doubt upon Sadik's statements.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: But Amnesty International found no evidence that UNFPA had supported the coercion. A 2001 study conducted by the pro-life Population Research Institute PRI claimed that the UNFPA shared an office with the Chinese family planning officials who were carrying out forced abortions.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: "We located the family planning offices, and in that family planning office, we located the UNFPA office, and we confirmed from family planning officials there that there is no distinction between what the UNFPA does and what the Chinese Family Planning Office does," said Scott Weinberg, a spokesman for PRI. However, United Nations Members disagreed and approved UNFPA's new country programme in January 2006. The more than 130 members of the "Group of 77" developing countries in the United Nations expressed support for the UNFPA programmes. In addition, speaking for European democracies – Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany – the United Kingdom stated, "UNFPA's activities in China, as in the rest of the world, are in strict conformity with the unanimously adopted Programme of Action of the ICPD, and play a key role in supporting our common endeavor, the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms".


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: President Bush denied funding to the UNFPA. Over the course of the Bush Administration, a total of $244 million in Congressionally approved funding was blocked by the Executive Branch.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: In response, the EU decided to fill the gap left behind by the US under the Sandbaek report. According to its Annual Report for 2008, the UNFPA received its funding mainly from European Governments:


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: Of the total income of M845.3 M, $118 was donated by the Netherlands, $67 M by Sweden, $62 M by Norway, $54 M by Denmark, $53 M by the UK, $52 M by Spain, $19 M by Luxembourg. The European Commission donated further $36 M. The most important non-European donor State was Japan $36 M. The number of donors exceeded 180 in one year.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: In the United States, nonprofit organizations like Friends of UNFPA formerly Americans for UNFPA worked to compensate for the loss of United States federal funding by raising private donations.


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: In January 2009 President Barack Obama restored US funding to UNFPA, saying in a public statement that he would "look forward to working with Congress to restore US financial support for the UN Population Fund. By resuming funding to UNFPA, the US will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries."


title: United Nations Population Fund

text: In April 2017, the U.S. announced that it will cut off funding to UNFPA, on the grounds that it "supports, or participates in the management of, a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization." UNFPA refuted this claim, as all of its work promotes the human rights of individuals and couples to make their own decisions, free of coercion or discrimination. In addition, the United States said during the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board meeting that considered the China programme in 2015:During its recent visit, the U.S. delegation observed the positive impact of UNFPA's rights-based programming in China. We commend the Fund's adherence to demonstrating the advantages of a voluntary approach to family planning and were pleased to see – in support of its ICPD commitments – increased provider emphasis on patient rights.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: The term "behind closed doors" is used in several sports, to describe matches played where spectators are not allowed in the stadium to watch. The reasons for this may include punishment for a team found guilty of a certain act in the past, stadium safety problems, public health concerns, or to prevent potentially dangerous clashes between rival supporters. In football, it is predicated by articles 7, 12 and 24 of FIFA's disciplinary code.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Crowdless games are a rare occurrence in professional sports. When they do occur, it is usually the result of events beyond the control of the teams or fans, such as weather-related concerns, public health concerns, or wider civil disturbances unrelated to the game. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic caused most sports leagues around the world to be played behind closed doors.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: In Brazil, the practice of games without public access is known as "closed gates" (in Portuguese, "portões fechados"), even referred as such in the Brazilian Football Confederation's rulebook. Once it was applied to a whole tournament: two rounds of the Campeonato Catarinense second division in 2014 were behind closed doors because the competing clubs did not deliver the security checks for their stadiums. Sanitary reasons dictated the restriction in 2009, where two games of the Série D were played behind closed doors due to the H1N1 flu pandemic.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: "Behind closed doors" or "crowdless" matches in the major North American sports leagues have historically been exceedingly rare. Most professional sports in the United States have been "gate-driven leagues": they relied upon ticket sales and other game-day expenditures such as parking and concessions for the majority of their income, and going crowdless would deprive the leagues of that revenue, while still leaving the leagues responsible for the salaries of the participants. Broadcasting revenues have only in the 21st century risen to become a revenue source substantial enough to offset the loss of ticket sales, and even then it has only been such for the highest level major leagues. Amateur leagues also have the ability to operate crowdless, given their much lower expenses; at the recreational level, most games do not draw paying fans. In between exist professional leagues without sufficient broadcast revenue to economically operate without gate receipts.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: The most prevalent example of North American teams playing without fans in attendance was as a consequence of public health measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, these were determined by local health authorities which had the power to limit public gatherings. While the terms and duration of these measures varied by jurisdiction, as a general rule Canadian provincial measures were far more strict and kept in place considerably longer compared to those in U.S. states. Canadian authorities were also much less willing to grant exemptions for professional sports teams, with the exemptions granted being very limited in scope, in some cases, public health authorities threatened not to grant sufficient dispensation to allow the a sufficient gathering to permit a game to be played at all.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: A related issue affecting the leagues was travel restrictions, imposed at the federal, provincial and state levels, barring non-essential boder crossings and/or mandating strict quarantine for border crossers, which would have restricted the availability of players if they frequently crossed the international border. The NHL, as the primarily U.S. based league with the most teams in Canada, responded to all of this by finishing the 2019-20 NHL season behind closed doors in restricted access "bubbles" in Canada and creating temporary divisions including the all-Canadian North Division for the 2020-21 NHL season.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: The National Football League, which was in its offseason at the start of the pandemic, was the only league able to complete its season in 2020 with minimal disruption to the schedule. Over time, public health authorities began to allow crowds again, first in limited numbers. One of the consequences of this was that Super Bowl LV, the first to be held in the stadium of a particating team, was also the least-attended Super Bowl in history. By the autumn of 2021, capacity crowds were generally allowed throughout the United States although some Canadian jurisdictions continued to limit attendance. By the spring of 2022, capacity limits were lifted in Canada as well.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Several leagues have collective bargaining agreements which mandate that the players as a group receive a defined percentage of league revenues. This meant the owners had the legal right to recoup a portion of any lost ticket revenues, as in these leagues a portion of salaries is paid into escrow pending a final determination of revenue. In some cases, such as the NHL, the owners and players agreed to modify their CBA to defer this "debt" over several years. In Major League Baseball, which does not have such defined revenue sharing, players agreed to receive pro-rated salaries over a reduced 60 game schedule for the 2020 Major League Baseball season.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Minor League Baseball and the Canadian Football League both cancelled their summer 2020 seasons rather than attempt to go crowdless (the CFL has substantial television revenue, but not enough to cover salaries and other gameday expenses, with no prospect of convincing provincial governments to allow crowds to attend games at this time this meant the league lost less money by not playing).


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Hooliganism has been less of a factor in North American sports than in the rest of the world. Local law enforcement in the United States and Canada are traditionally armed, unlike in some other countries. In addition, private security contractors working for either the team or a league, and national agencies such as the United States Department of Homeland Security take large roles in preventing situations of fan violence before they can occur by restricting access to known troublesome fans either at the gate or at the stage of selling tickets (such as "do not sell" lists), along with heavy restrictions on bringing in items and screening with metal detectors and pat-down searches where bringing in a weapon or explosive device can result in immediate arrest and permanent banishment from a venue, and other examples such as the "clear bag" policy, which only allows spectators to bring in bags that can be easily seen through.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Teams also have incentive to prevent fan violence due to forfeit rules which come with penalties to their records and playoff positioning, and league sanctions such as fines and the stripping of draft picks due to neglecting to create a safe environment for players, which in turn can affect teams for years beyond a violent event. Also sporting events in North America are considered to be more of a family-friendly and uniting affair, as sports fans tend to respect each other as fans of a common sport. In other countries around the world, sports matches are sometimes proxies for bitter and long-standing ethnic, political, and religious divisions; this is less so in the United States, where the broad variety of sports options manifests as different ethnic groups preferring different sports, reducing the chance at intercultural rivalry within a single sport. While racial segregation in the United States once extended to organized sports, the primary intent was to exclude blacks from playing on white teams and leagues altogether, so the result was often the organization of separate teams and leagues for black players, whom the white teams simply refused to play. When the "color lines" of each sport were finally broken, it was by formerly all-white teams signing blacks instead of by admitting entire black teams, although numerous incidents of racist abuse by players and spectators did occur in the decades following integration.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Furthermore, the much larger geographical footprint of the North American sports leagues mean that even fierce rivals are often based hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. For example, while the Dallas Cowboys are considered to be the bitter rivals of every other team in the NFC East, their nearest division rival is based almost from the Dallas metropolitan area by air, and over from Dallas by road. The only other NFL team in Texas by contrast is in the opposite conference, so, meaning under normal circumstances they will only play each other every four years. Fans elsewhere in the world can easily travel to most if not all of their league's stadiums by road or by train, and bus and rail carriers have evolved there to cater to the expected demand. In contrast, fans of the North American sports leagues would need to travel by air if they wanted to attend most of their team's road games, and though certain teams' fan bases are known for having large presences in opposing stadiums (such as the Bills Mafia and, in a more specific example, the San Francisco 49ers fan base regularly traveling downstate to SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles), these fans generally are there to influence the home advantage and commune with like-minded fans more than to cause trouble with the home fans. Such "stadium crashing" is more easily achieved in cities where support for the local franchise is lukewarm and tickets are easier to buy, further reducing tensions and lowering the risk of riots. In contrast to the local derbies of European soccer, some North American teams in the same metropolitan areas, especially in baseball and (gridiron) football, are separated into opposite conferences or leagues so that they are among the least frequent opponents on their schedules, inhibiting the development of a crosstown rivalry and allowing fans in a metropolitan area to support both teams with minimal conflict. Furthermore, unlike in most geographically smaller and more densely populated countries, teams are typically not required to (and typically do not) set aside whole sections of their stadiums for opposing fans and instead sells almost all tickets to the first takers, further disincentivizing them from traveling to away games.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: All of these reduce the chances of hooliganism, eliminate the need to segregate fans from opposing teams, and ultimately negate the threat of a closed-door game due as a consequence of fan violence. In rare circumstances where a serious incident has occurred (such the 2004 Pacers–Pistons brawl in the NBA), sports authorities have leaned toward identifying and excluding the specific people involved as opposed to indiscriminately punishing the wider, law-abiding fan base. In contrast to the rest of the world where "behind closed doors" games are given out as penalties for previous violations or to prevent potential violence (stadium safety issues, checkered history of rival supporters), such occurrences in North America have happened for entirely different reasons.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Perhaps one of the first and most famous incidents of a sport being carried out behind closed doors was Game 3 of the World Chess Championship 1972 in Reykjavík, Iceland, often referred to as the Match of the Century. Eventual winner Bobby Fischer, who was upset by the noise of film cameras, insisted he would not play unless it was behind closed doors. Sportingly, his opponent, Boris Spassky, obliged Fischer's request rather than claim a win by forfeit.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: After rioting by fans in the first leg against Castilla in Spain, West Ham United were forced to play the second leg at Upton Park in October 1980 to an empty stadium.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: After rioting by fans in a semifinal at Anderlecht in Belgium the previous April, Aston Villa were forced to begin their defence of the European Cup at an empty Villa Park in a September 1982 first round match, with the match kicking off at 2:30 pm on a Wednesday afternoon.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: After UEFA ban resulting from the incidents in the match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in a semifinal in Spain the previous April, Real Madrid were forced to play the match at home against Napoli in the European Cup at an empty Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on 16 September 1987.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: As a result of a policeman being killed during rioting at a Serie A match between Catania and Palermo on 2 February, the Italian Football Federation suspended all Italian matches indefinitely. Subsequently, matches resumed but many clubs were ordered to play their games behind closed doors until their stadiums met with updated security regulations.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Juventus were ordered to play a home game behind closed doors after their fans had racially abused Internazionale striker Mario Balotelli during a 1–1 Serie A draw in April 2009.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: In March 2009, Sweden's Davis Cup tennis team was slated to host a qualifying match against Israel's team in the city of Malmö. The local authorities in Malmö, particularly the city's then-Mayor, did not want an Israeli team to play there and pushed to cancel the match. When the Swedish Tennis Association noted that a cancellation would result in Sweden suffering a forfeit loss and being eliminated from the Davis Cup altogether, it was agreed that the Sweden-Israel match would be played without spectators on


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: "security grounds". Rioting outside the arena led to numerous arrests, and in the end Sweden lost to Israel and saw their 2009 Davis Cup run end anyway.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: FC Dinamo București had to play two group stage home games behind closed doors after their match against FC Slovan Liberec on 25 August 2009 was abandoned in the 88th minute due to a pitch invasion by Dinamo fans.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: During the penultimate round of league games all teams had to play with closed doors due to the H1N1 swine flu outbreak in infected cities. Several games taking place in areas which were badly affected by the outbreak were also played behind closed doors the following week. Games behind closed doors have been played regularly as a penalty for bad behavior of fans in Mexico, most recently an Apertura 2015 game in which Atlas hosted Querétaro at Estadio Jalisco because of last season quarterfinal game in which Atlas fans invaded the pitch against their hated rivals Guadalajara.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: In rugby union, the 2010–11 Heineken Cup pool stage match between Edinburgh and Castres at Murrayfield was played behind closed doors on 20 December 2010. The match was originally scheduled for 19 December, but was postponed due to heavy snow in Edinburgh that covered the pitch and created major access issues for potential spectators. The competition organiser, European Rugby Cup, decided to hold the rescheduled match behind closed doors to remove any possible danger to spectators attempting to travel to the match.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Starting with the 2011–12 season, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) instituted a modified version of this rule. The penalty for a team sanctioned for crowd violence is now a ban on both ticket sales to, and attendance by, males over age 12 (as spectators). Women, and children under age 12 of either sex, are admitted free. The first game under the new rule took place on 20 September 2011, when Fenerbahçe hosted Manisaspor at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul. Over 41,000 women and children attended the match (plus a small number of men who had sneaked into the stadium). The experiment was so successful that the TFF planned to require that teams allocate an unspecified number of free tickets for women and children at all future club matches. Shortly thereafter, the TFF stated that it would reimburse clubs for free tickets given to women and children for regular league games (i.e., games not subject to crowd restrictions), and increased the upper age limit for "children" for the purposes of free ticketing to 15.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: A match between Eredivisie clubs Ajax and AZ in the fourth round of the 2011–12 KNVB Cup was replayed behind closed doors at Ajax's home ground, Amsterdam Arena, on 19 January 2012.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: In the original match, held at the same venue on 21 December 2011, Ajax held a 1–0 lead when a fan ran onto the pitch and launched a karate kick from behind against AZ goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado, who responded by attacking the fan before police and security arrived. When Alvarado was sent off for retaliating against his attacker, AZ left the pitch, and the match was abandoned. The KNVB rescinded the red card and ordered the match replayed in its entirety.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: After Ajax also apologised to their opponents, they were fined €10,000 for failing to provide adequate security to prevent the fan, who was serving a three-year stadium ban, from entering the arena. Ajax accepted the penalties, and announced that it had extended the fan's stadium ban by 30 years and banned him for life from the club and its season ticket list.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: On March 8, 2014, the Urawa Red Diamonds were forced by the J.League to play their next game against Shimizu S-Pulse in front of only journalists and security as the Reds hung up a banner in Saitama Stadium which read "JAPANESE ONLY", which was deemed racist against fans.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Surrounding violence in Catalonia due to the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, the match between Barcelona and Las Palmas in the 2017–18 La Liga was played behind closed doors. Barcelona first requested the LFP to postpone their match which was to be played on the same day as the referendum. This request was declined by the LFP, saying that, if Barcelona refused to play the match, their six points would be deducted. To protect the fans, as well as in protest to LFP's decision, Barcelona played the match behind closed doors, a first at their stadium, Camp Nou. The match ended 3–0 in favor of Barcelona.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: As part of the sanctions handed to the Philippine men's basketball team in the aftermath of their involvement in their brawl against Australia during their home game on 2 July 2018, the Philippine national team was obliged to play their next home match in the second round of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers behind closed doors with the succeeding two home games being placed under probation. The lone game that was played behind closed doors was their home game against Qatar on 17 September 2018 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: On 5 March 2022, a riot broke out among fans during a Liga MX football game between Querétaro F.C. and Atlas F.C., injuring at least 26 people.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: In the aftermath of the riots, Querétaro was ordered to play its home matches behind closed doors for up to a year, while also banning its supporters' group for three years, and the club's owners being required to divest the club, and be prohibited from league activities for five years. Liga MX's second-tier league, Liga de Expansión MX, ordered all matches league-wide to be played behind closed doors from 8–13 March 2022.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: On 28 April 2015, a Major League Baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles was played behind closed doors due to security concerns. The death of African-American resident Freddie Gray while in police custody had led to ongoing riots and civil unrest in the city; the game was to have been the last game of a three-game series, but the first two had already been postponed due to the unrest. The game was also moved from the evening to the afternoon, as a 10 p.m. curfew would have required suspension of the game had it been played at its original time. The game was televised in the Baltimore and Chicago markets, and was also offered as the "free game of the day" on MLB's streaming service nationwide. Unofficially, some fans were able to watch the game through obstructed gates in left-center field, along with guests at the nearby Hilton Baltimore, which overlooks Camden Yards.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: This was the first time a major professional sporting event in North America was held in an empty venue; in Minor League Baseball, a 2008 Iowa Cubs game was played without public admittance due to flooding in Des Moines, Iowa, while a 2002 Charleston RiverDogs game featured an intentional "Nobody Night" stunt, where spectators could not take their seat in the stands (but were still allowed to be in other areas of the ballpark) until after the attendance count was made official in the fifth inning. Approximately 1,800 spectators were in attendance.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: While large galleries consisting of thousands of fans are standard for top-level professional golf events in the United States, on 30 June 2012, the third round of the 2012 AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland was played without fans being admitted due to trees being downed and other storm damage caused by a derecho the night before. Additionally, the start of the third round was delayed to the early afternoon, instead of a morning start that is normal for a round of a golf tournament utilizing a stroke play format, in order to allow for the continuation of course clean-up efforts. This is the first of two recorded instances of any part of a PGA Tour event being played without a gallery present.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: In the 2016 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California, after inclement weather disrupted play on Sunday and several trees were ripped apart on the golf course, fans were barred from the premises for the Monday conclusion of the final round of the tournament due to safety issues. The 2018 edition of the same tournament also was finished behind closed doors on Monday. The sudden death playoff had reached five holes without a winner, and darkness made it impossible to complete the tournament. The event concluded Monday morning at 8:18 a.m. behind closed doors.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: The Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League have played in two such "behind closed doors" games, both caused by severe winter storms when the opposing team and game officials had already arrived in the city. On 22 January 2016, the Checkers played against the Chicago Wolves behind closed doors because of a severe winter storm, and the same again on 17 January 2018, the Checkers played against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers behind closed doors as a result of inclement weather (ice and snow). Both games were played at Bojangles' Coliseum.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: In 1985, a measles outbreak on campus led Boston University to hold home ice hockey games without spectators for a week, in order to control the disease's spread. Basketball games were also affected, and other large public events on campus were also temporarily banned.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Games without crowds were often the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the period before COVID-19 vaccinations were widely available, due to government-imposed restrictions on large gatherings to prevent spread of COVID-19. Many events that were not postponed or cancelled were held behind closed doors as broadcast-only events.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: WWE moved all of its professional wrestling programs to a studio at its training facility in Orlando between 11 March 2020, and August 2020 with no audience, including its flagship event WrestleMania 36 (originally scheduled to be held at Tampa, Florida's Raymond James Stadium on 5 April). In August, the promotion debuted an arena setup called the WWE ThunderDome to allow fans to virtually attend events; a similar setup for their NXT brand dubbed the Capitol Wrestling Center debuted in October, though with a small crowd of select live fans allowed. Rival promotion All Elite Wrestling similarly moved its weekly programs to a closed set, beginning 18 March at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida (and a brief stint in April at a training warehouse in Georgia before returning to Daily's Place); the promotion began to a readmit a limited number of ticketed fans (10–15% capacity of venue) in late August 2020. Other promotions similarly began holding shows behind closed doors.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: The Haru basho in Osaka, Japan. When the tournament went underway several wrestlers, used to fighting in a usually packed arenas, remark on how odd it is to fight in a virtually empty arena, with Enhō commenting, "It’s like I can’t raise my fighting spirit...It made me wonder what I'm fighting for."


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Unlike other sports such as association football, the concept of "behind closed doors" as a form of punishment does not exist in Gaelic games such as football and hurling. It first emerged in the sports due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) first thought about playing games behind closed doors in March 2020 but decided against it at that time. The following month it had still not been given serious thought by the organisation. Opponents at this time included players such as Killian Young and managers such as Pete McGrath. On the night of 18 August 2020, the Government imposed new restrictions as the pandemic worsened, and games (which had just resumed) were forced behind closed doors as a result.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: The later rounds of the 2020 National Football League and 2020 National Hurling League and the entirety of the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and 2020 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship were played at grounds where spectators were not admitted. The 2020 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final was the first All-Ireland final to be played behind closed doors, followed less than two weeks later by the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Early rounds of the 2021 National Football League and 2021 National Hurling League were also played without crowds.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: The 2020 Players Championship was scheduled to play on its second day as it was due to plan without spectators, organizers had to cancel the remainder of the event. This subsequently had the PGA Tour to suspend the event until 11 June. With the Masters Tournament (the first men's major championship of 2020) being rescheduled from April to November, while the PGA Championship and U.S. Open also being rescheduled to August and September, respectively from their usual May and June schedule, and the Open Championship cancelled for the first time since 1945. The PGA Championship became the first men's major of the season and was held behind closed doors.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Likewise, the early LPGA season was merely affected by the pandemic as tournaments in Asia had cancelled early in response with the outbreak in China, as the LPGA Tour had to suspend until 30 July. With the ANA Inspiration tournament (the first women's major championship of 2020) being rescheduled from April to September, while the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and U.S. Women's Open also being rescheduled to October and December, respectively, with the Evian Championship (first rescheduled to 6–9 August after being postponed from the original July schedule) cancelled for the first time in its 26-year history. However, the AIG Women's British Open became the first women's major of the season and was held behind closed doors, took place on the usual August schedule and went on as planned.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: A match between the Seattle Dragons and LA Wildcats of the XFL was scheduled to be played behind closed doors; the league's decision came shortly after Washington state governor Jay Inslee announced a ban on public assemblies of over 250 people. The game was ultimately never played as the pandemic forced the league to prematurely terminate its 2020 season.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: During the 2020 NFL season, many games were played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some teams allowed a limited number of fans for some or all of their home games.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: The British Horseracing Authority announced on 16 March that all horse racing in the UK would be held behind closed doors until the end of March. Similarly, the annual Triple Crown races in the United States, including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes were all held behind closed doors. The Kentucky Derby and Preakness States were both moved from their usual May scheduling to September and October, respectively, with the Belmont Stakes being held on its usual June date.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: The Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League announced on 11 March 2020 that all of their remaining home games in the 2019–20 season at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio would be played behind closed doors due to an executive order by Ohio governor Mike DeWine that banned public gatherings with an attendance of 1,000 people or more. This would subsequently become moot the following day when the NHL suspended its season. Starting on 1 August, the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs commenced in the two bubble locations of Edmonton and Toronto with no fans present.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: During the 2020–21 NHL season, three U.S.-based teams began the season admitting a limited number of spectators, but by the end of the regular season only the seven Canadian teams were playing crowdless games. While the 2021–22 NHL season began with all teams hosting spectators at full capacity, by December 2021 all Canadian NHL teams became subject to provincial public health orders to control the spread of Omicron variant, with Quebec prohibiting spectators at all sporting events, and the owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets both enacted a behind closed doors policy after Ontario and Manitoba restricted arena capacity to a maximum of 1,000 and 250 people respectively. As part of a wider array of games postponed due to players being placed under COVID-19 protocol due to positive tests, the NHL postponed almost all games hosted by Canadian teams (and in some cases, moved games to the home arena of their American opponent) for a period, specifically citing attendance restrictions as reasoning.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: Initially, the 2020 Summer Olympics (postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic) were approved for a maximum of 10,000 spectators or 50% capacity (whichever is lower) per-venue. On 8 July 2021, it was announced that Tokyo and the three prefectures (Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama) would be placed under a new state of emergency from 12 July through 22 August due to rising cases in the area, and that spectators would be prohibited at all Olympic venues in the city. Organizers had already prohibited spectators and supporters from outside of Japan from attending the Games due to concerns over international travel restrictions. Fukushima, and Hokkaido would also prohibit spectators during the Games.


title: Behind closed doors (sport)

text: The 2020 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California was postponed shortly before the beginning of the qualifying stage after a COVID-19 case was confirmed within Riverside County and the county's health department declared a public health emergency. Subsequently, both the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's Tennis Association (WTA) announced that their seasons would be suspended until at least 31 July, with the 2020 French Open being rescheduled to September and Wimbledon being cancelled for the first time since 1945. Furthermore, the US Open was played without spectators on the original late-August date as planned. Additionally, the 2020 ATP Finals held in London (being the final year to be hosted the finals on that city) was played without spectators as planned.


title: Alicia Menendez

text: Alicia Jacobsen Menendez ( ; born July 2, 1983) is an American television commentator, host, and writer. She is the author of "The Likeability Trap: How to Break Free and Succeed as You Are" (2019), and an anchor for MSNBC. Since 2020, she has hosted "American Voices" on Saturdays and Sundays on MSNBC. She is also a contributing editor at "Bustle" and host of its "Latina to Latina" podcast. Formerly, she was a correspondent on the PBS show "Amanpour & Company" and the host of "Come Here and Say That" on Fusion. Prior to that she was a host and producer at HuffPost Live. She is the daughter of United States Senator Robert Menendez.


title: Alicia Menendez

text: Menendez grew up in Union City, New Jersey, the daughter of United States Senator Bob Menendez and Jane Jacobsen. Her father is a third generation American of Cuban ancestry and her mother is of German, Norwegian, and Irish ancestry. She graduated from Harvard College in 2005. She was raised Catholic.


title: Alicia Menendez

text: Menendez was a frequent guest on CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. Prior to joining HuffPost Live, the streaming video network of "The Huffington Post", Menendez co-hosted "Power Play" on Sirius XM's Cristina Radio, and served as a contributor to NBCLatino.com. In 2011, Menendez and Adriana Maestas founded Dailygrito.com, a website that offers a Latino take on politics and media. In 2012, DailyGrito.com was acquired by Politic365.com.


title: Alicia Menendez

text: Menendez co-founded Define American with Jose Antonio Vargas, Jake Brewer, and Jehmu Greene. Define American focuses on immigration reform. She served as Senior Advisor at NDN, a center-left think tank and advocacy organization in Washington, DC. Menendez is a veteran of Rock the Vote and Democracia USA. She also spent time as a television segment producer and on-air contributor for RNN TV in New York. Menendez is a former correspondent for the show "Amanpour & Company" on PBS. She joined MSNBC in October 2019. On September 19, 2020, she began hosting a new program on MSNBC, "American Voices", which airs on Saturdays and Sundays. In 2022, she was regularly seen on MSNBC serving as guest anchor of other programs such as "All In", Alex Wagner Tonight and the "11th Hour".


title: Alicia Menendez

text: At Harvard University, Menendez's senior honors thesis on women's social capital drew the attention of "U.S. News & World Report" and "The New York Times". In 2005, "The Harvard Crimson" named Menendez one of the 15 most interesting members of the class of 2005 and she was selected to deliver her undergraduate commencement address.


title: Alicia Menendez

text: In 2015, she married Carlos Prío Odio in Coral Gables, Florida. Prío's grandfather, Carlos Prío Socarrás, was the president of Cuba from 1948 to 1952.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (also known as One Step Beyond) is an American anthology series created by Merwin Gerard. The original series was broadcast for three seasons by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) from January 1959 to July 1961.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: Created by Merwin Gerard and produced by Collier Young, "One Step Beyond" was hosted by John Newland, "your guide to the supernatural" (also credited as "Our guide into the world of the unknown"). Newland, who also directed every episode, presented tales that explored paranormal events and various situations that defied "logical" explanation. Unlike other anthology programs, the ABC network series episodes were presented in the form of straightforward 30-minute docudramas, all said to be based on "human record" (implying historically factual events); however, the incidents depicted were closer to popular urban legends dramatized for the screen. The program included the corporate name of sponsor Alcoa in its title for its initial run. In syndication, the program title became simply "One Step Beyond".


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: "One Step Beyond" filled the time slot at 10 p.m. Tuesday vacated by the crime/police reality show "Confession".


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: Among its varied tales, "One Step Beyond" dealt with premonition of death ("The Lincoln Assassination") and disaster ("Tidal Wave", "Night of April 14th"); astral projection ("The Long Call"); the existence of ghosts ("The Last Round", "The Death Waltz"); and wildly improbable coincidence ("Reunion", "Death on the Mountain", etc.). Paula Raymond appeared in the third episode of the first season, initially broadcast on February 3, 1959, in the episode titled "Emergency Only," which also featured Jocelyn Brando as a screaming fortune teller at a party. Joan Fontaine and Warren Beatty play husband and wife in the episode "The Visitor."


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: Like "The Twilight Zone", "One Step Beyond" is a hosted anthology series about other-wordly phenomena. But it actually debuted nine months before "The Twilight Zone". And while "The Twilight Zone" was explicitly a fictional show (with both science fiction and fantasy episodes), "One Step Beyond" purported only to tell stories based on "human record" (documented historical events).


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: A January 1961 episode, "The Sacred Mushroom," deals with the discovery of mind-altering drugs. Newland traveled to Mexico where he met with a local shaman who was an initiate in ritual use of magic mushrooms. The then-unknown mushrooms were purportedly able to increase the user's psychic powers. Newland ingested several mushrooms and allowed his reactions to be filmed for broadcast. This was the only episode of the entire series to have a relatively reality-based "documentary" tone, rather than the scripted docudramas that comprised all other episodes. Although the subject matter (the enhancement of psychic powers) accorded with the rest of the series, this episode was somewhat controversial and was omitted from the syndication; it has been seen only rarely since its original broadcast. However, according to Newland, it was the most popular episode of the series. A complete transcript of this episode is reproduced in chapter seven of "The Sacred Mushrooms of Mexico" by Brian Akers.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: The show used a large number of writers. Larry Marcus was the most prolific contributor, with over 30 episodes to his credit. Marcus would later win an Emmy for his work on "Route 66", and receive an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for "The Stunt Man".


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: Other relatively frequent contributors included show creator Merwin Gerard; Don M. Mankiewicz (who would later write for "Star Trek"); Gabrielle Upton (who wrote for a wide range of anthology shows, including "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", and was later head writer of "The Guiding Light"); and Howard Rodman (later story editor of "Route 66" and creator of "Harry O").


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: Charles Beaumont wrote two episodes of "One Step Beyond" just before jumping over to "The Twilight Zone", to which he was a major contributor. Francis Cockrell also wrote two episodes; he was a frequent writer on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and would later contribute to the second season of "The Outer Limits".


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: Many famous and some not-yet-famous actors appeared in episodes of the series, including the following:


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: The last 13 episodes of the third season were filmed at MGM Studios, Borehamwood, England, due to a suggestion by Newland. According to Newland, "I thought it would give a little boost to the show because Great Britain offered good actors, good situations, and good settings. We sought permission from Alcoa, and they okayed it."


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: Harry Lubin composed the music for the series with a soundtrack album, "Music from 'One Step Beyond"' released by Decca Records (DL 8970) in 1960. The most well-known tracks of the series were entitled: "Weird" (originally composed by Lubin for the score of an April 1955 "Loretta Young Show" episode, "Feeling No Pain"), usually played when the supernatural aspect of the episode was being discussed, and "Fear" that became the musical theme of the series.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: The Ventures included a cover version of the show's main theme music "Fear" in their highly acclaimed 1964 Dolton Records album "The Ventures in Space". The second season of "The Outer Limits" used a variation of "Fear" for the end titles.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: A heavy metal cover of the title song was recorded by the band Fantômas on their album "The Director's Cut" in 2001.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: After its cancellation during 1961, the series continued to be shown throughout the United States in off-network syndication until the early 1980s.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: For its re-release to television for the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s, the initial and end titles were given new theme music and graphics designed for the time, as if the show had continued into the 1990s. These episodes were also edited for time from 25 minutes to 22 minutes.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: Despite the public domain status for most episodes, the series' remaining copyrights belongs to its distributor CBS Television Distribution. CTD is the successor to the series' previous distributors, which include ABC Films successor Worldvision Enterprises and CTD's predecessor Paramount Domestic Television.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: Episodes are currently broadcast by the Retro Television Network available as a digital subchannel in some US markets. Full episodes are also available for digital streaming on Amazon Prime (charge per episode as of 2021), FMC Movie Classics (free), Tubi (free), and Amazing Classics (free).


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: In May 2021 the UK nostalgia channel Talking Pictures TV began to broadcast the series, with the first episode airing on 11 May.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: During 2007, Mill Creek Entertainment released a 4-disc Region 1 DVD set entitled "The Very Best of One Step Beyond". The set contains 50 episodes. The quality varied drastically from episode to episode.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: On September 15, 2009, CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount) released "One Step Beyond - The Official 1st Season" on Region 1 DVD.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: "One Step Beyond" is the first pre-1973 in-house production of ABC to get a DVD release from CBS/Paramount. Other shows once distributed by ABC Films (which became Worldvision Enterprises) were either released by CBS/Paramount because the company owns the libraries of the actual producers of the shows (such as "The Fugitive" or "The Mod Squad"), or were released by different companies because ancillary rights are owned by other entities (such as "George of the Jungle").


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: The Film Chest Media Group released the series in a six-disc Collector's Box on April 7, 2015. The box features only 70 episodes of the series, however (mostly episodes from the first two seasons). Very few of the third-season episodes are on this set.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: Delta Entertainment Corporation in 2005 released a collection of 33 (presumably public domain) episodes on eight region-free DVDs.


title: Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond

text: During 1978, the series was revived partly by Gerard and Young, with John Newland hosting and directing most of the episodes; the new series was named "The Next Step Beyond". The series was broadcast for one year with 25 episodes, 14 of which were remakes of "One Step Beyond" episodes.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: The Gauss–Newton algorithm is used to solve non-linear least squares problems, which is equivalent to minimizing a sum of squared function values. It is an extension of Newton's method for finding a minimum of a non-linear function. Since a sum of squares must be nonnegative, the algorithm can be viewed as using Newton's method to iteratively approximate zeroes of the sum, and thus minimizing the sum. It has the advantage that second derivatives, which can be challenging to compute, are not required.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: Non-linear least squares problems arise, for instance, in non-linear regression, where parameters in a model are sought such that the model is in good agreement with available observations.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: The method is named after the mathematicians Carl Friedrich Gauss and Isaac Newton, and first appeared in Gauss' 1809 work "Theoria motus corporum coelestium in sectionibus conicis solem ambientum".


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: Given formula_1 functions formula_2 (often called residuals) of formula_3 variables formula_4 with formula_5 the Gauss–Newton algorithm iteratively finds the value of the variables that minimize the sum of squares


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: At each iteration, the update formula_11 can be found by rearranging the previous equation in the following two steps:


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: With substitutions formula_14, formula_15, and formula_16, this turns into the conventional matrix equation of form formula_17, which can then be solved in a variety of methods (see Notes).


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: In data fitting, where the goal is to find the parameters formula_19 such that a given model function formula_20 best fits some data points formula_21, the functions formula_22are the residuals:


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: Then, the Gauss–Newton method can be expressed in terms of the Jacobian formula_24 of the function formula_25 as


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: The assumption in the algorithm statement is necessary, as otherwise the matrix formula_29 is not invertible and the normal equations cannot be solved (at least uniquely).


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: The Gauss–Newton algorithm can be derived by linearly approximating the vector of functions "r". Using Taylor's theorem, we can write at every iteration:


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: with formula_31. The task of finding formula_32 minimizing the sum of squares of the right-hand side; i.e.,


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: is a linear least-squares problem, which can be solved explicitly, yielding the normal equations in the algorithm.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: The normal equations are "n" simultaneous linear equations in the unknown increments formula_32. They may be solved in one step, using Cholesky decomposition, or, better, the QR factorization of formula_35. For large systems, an iterative method, such as the conjugate gradient method, may be more efficient. If there is a linear dependence between columns of J, the iterations will fail, as formula_29 becomes singular.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: In this example, the Gauss–Newton algorithm will be used to fit a model to some data by minimizing the sum of squares of errors between the data and model's predictions.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: In a biology experiment studying the relation between substrate concentration and reaction rate in an enzyme-mediated reaction, the data in the following table were obtained.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: that fits best the data in the least-squares sense, with the parameters formula_41 and formula_42 to be determined.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: Denote by formula_43 and formula_44 the values of and rate respectively, with formula_45. Let formula_46 and formula_47. We will find formula_48 and formula_49 such that the sum of squares of the residuals


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: The Jacobian formula_51 of the vector of residuals formula_52 with respect to the unknowns formula_53 is a formula_54 matrix with the formula_55-th row having the entries


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: Starting with the initial estimates of formula_57 and formula_58, after five iterations of the Gauss–Newton algorithm, the optimal values formula_59 and formula_60 are obtained. The sum of squares of residuals decreased from the initial value of 1.445 to 0.00784 after the fifth iteration. The plot in the figure on the right shows the curve determined by the model for the optimal parameters with the observed data.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: It can be shown that the increment Δ is a descent direction for , and, if the algorithm converges, then the limit is a stationary point of . However, convergence is not guaranteed, not even local convergence as in Newton's method, or convergence under the usual Wolfe conditions.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: The rate of convergence of the Gauss–Newton algorithm can approach quadratic. The algorithm may converge slowly or not at all if the initial guess is far from the minimum or the matrix formula_61 is ill-conditioned. For example, consider the problem with formula_62 equations and formula_63 variable, given by


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: The optimum is at formula_65. (Actually the optimum is at formula_66 for formula_67, because formula_68, but formula_69.) If formula_70, then the problem is in fact linear and the method finds the optimum in one iteration. If |λ| < 1, then the method converges linearly and the error decreases asymptotically with a factor |λ| at every iteration. However, if |λ| > 1, then the method does not even converge locally.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: In what follows, the Gauss–Newton algorithm will be derived from Newton's method for function optimization via an approximation. As a consequence, the rate of convergence of the Gauss–Newton algorithm can be quadratic under certain regularity conditions. In general (under weaker conditions), the convergence rate is linear.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: The recurrence relation for Newton's method for minimizing a function "S" of parameters formula_71 is


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: Elements of the Hessian are calculated by differentiating the gradient elements, formula_75, with respect to formula_76:


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: The Gauss–Newton method is obtained by ignoring the second-order derivative terms (the second term in this expression). That is, the Hessian is approximated by


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: where formula_79 are entries of the Jacobian J. Note that when the exact hessian is evaluated near an exact fit we have near-zero formula_52, so the second term becomes near-zero as well, which justifies the approximation. The gradient and the approximate Hessian can be written in matrix notation as


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: These expressions are substituted into the recurrence relation above to obtain the operational equations


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: that needs to hold to be able to ignore the second-order derivative terms may be valid in two cases, for which convergence is to be expected:


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: With the Gauss–Newton method the sum of squares of the residuals "S" may not decrease at every iteration. However, since Δ is a descent direction, unless formula_86 is a stationary point, it holds that formula_87 for all sufficiently small formula_88. Thus, if divergence occurs, one solution is to employ a fraction formula_89 of the increment vector Δ in the updating formula:


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: In other words, the increment vector is too long, but it still points "downhill", so going just a part of the way will decrease the objective function "S". An optimal value for formula_89 can be found by using a line search algorithm, that is, the magnitude of formula_89 is determined by finding the value that minimizes "S", usually using a direct search method in the interval formula_93 or a backtracking line search such as Armijo-line search. Typically, formula_89 should be chosen such that it satisfies the Wolfe conditions or the Goldstein conditions.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: In cases where the direction of the shift vector is such that the optimal fraction α is close to zero, an alternative method for handling divergence is the use of the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm, a trust region method. The normal equations are modified in such a way that the increment vector is rotated towards the direction of steepest descent,


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: where D is a positive diagonal matrix. Note that when D is the identity matrix I and formula_96, then formula_97, therefore the direction of Δ approaches the direction of the negative gradient formula_98.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: The so-called Marquardt parameter formula_99 may also be optimized by a line search, but this is inefficient, as the shift vector must be recalculated every time formula_99 is changed. A more efficient strategy is this: When divergence occurs, increase the Marquardt parameter until there is a decrease in "S". Then retain the value from one iteration to the next, but decrease it if possible until a cut-off value is reached, when the Marquardt parameter can be set to zero; the minimization of "S" then becomes a standard Gauss–Newton minimization.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: For large-scale optimization, the Gauss–Newton method is of special interest because it is often (though certainly not always) true that the matrix formula_101 is more sparse than the approximate Hessian formula_102. In such cases, the step calculation itself will typically need to be done with an approximate iterative method appropriate for large and sparse problems, such as the conjugate gradient method.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: In order to make this kind of approach work, one needs at least an efficient method for computing the product


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: for some vector p. With sparse matrix storage, it is in general practical to store the rows of formula_101 in a compressed form (e.g., without zero entries), making a direct computation of the above product tricky due to the transposition. However, if one defines c as row "i" of the matrix formula_101, the following simple relation holds:


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: so that every row contributes additively and independently to the product. In addition to respecting a practical sparse storage structure, this expression is well suited for parallel computations. Note that every row c is the gradient of the corresponding residual "r"; with this in mind, the formula above emphasizes the fact that residuals contribute to the problem independently of each other.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: In a quasi-Newton method, such as that due to Davidon, Fletcher and Powell or Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno (BFGS method) an estimate of the full Hessian formula_107 is built up numerically using first derivatives formula_108 only so that after "n" refinement cycles the method closely approximates to Newton's method in performance. Note that quasi-Newton methods can minimize general real-valued functions, whereas Gauss–Newton, Levenberg–Marquardt, etc. fits only to nonlinear least-squares problems.


title: Gauss–Newton algorithm

text: Another method for solving minimization problems using only first derivatives is gradient descent. However, this method does not take into account the second derivatives even approximately. Consequently, it is highly inefficient for many functions, especially if the parameters have strong interactions.


title: John William Friso

text: John William Friso (; 14 August 1687 – 14 July 1711) became the (titular) Prince of Orange in 1702. He was the Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen in the Dutch Republic until his death by accidental drowning in the Hollands Diep in 1711. From World War II to 2022, Friso and his wife, Marie Louise, were the most recent common ancestors of all current European monarchs.


title: John William Friso

text: He was the son of Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, and Princess Henriëtte Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau who were both first cousins of William III. As such, he was a member of the House of Nassau (the branch of Nassau-Dietz), and through the testamentary dispositions of William III became the progenitor of the new line of the House of Orange-Nassau. He was educated under Jean Lemonon, professor at the University of Franeker.


title: John William Friso

text: With the death of William III of Orange, the legitimate male line of William the Silent (the second House of Orange) became extinct. John William Friso, the senior agnatic descendant of William the Silent's brother and a cognatic descendant of Frederick Henry, grandfather of William III, claimed the succession as stadtholder in all provinces held by William III. This was denied to him by the republican faction in the Netherlands.


title: John William Friso

text: The five provinces over which William III ruled – Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel – all suspended the office of stadtholder after William III's death. The remaining two provinces – Friesland and Groningen – were never governed by William III, and continued to retain a separate stadtholder, John William Friso. He established the third House of Orange, which became extinct in the male line in 1890. His son, William IV of Orange, later became stadtholder of all seven provinces.


title: John William Friso

text: John William Friso's position as William III's heir general was opposed by King Frederick I of Prussia, who also claimed (and occupied) part of the inheritance (for example Lingen). Under William III's will, Friso stood to inherit the Principality of Orange. However, the Prussian King Frederick I also claimed the Principality of Orange in the Rhône Valley, of which he later ceded the territory to France.


title: John William Friso

text: On coming of age in 1707, John William Friso became a general of the Dutch troops during the War of Spanish Succession, under the command of the Duke of Marlborough, and turned out to be a competent officer. He commanded Dutch infantry at the Battle of Oudenarde, the Siege of Lille, and the Battle of Malplaquet. The prestige that he acquired from his military service should have favored his eventual elevation as stadtholder in the remaining five provinces. However, in 1711, when traveling from the front in Flanders to meet the King of Prussia in The Hague in connection with his suit in the succession dispute, he drowned on 14 July when the ferry boat on the Moerdyk was overturned in heavy weather. His son was born six weeks after his death.


title: John William Friso

text: On 26 April 1709, he married Princess Maria Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1688–1765), daughter of Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and granddaughter of Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland. They had two children.


title: John William Friso

text: Between 9 April 1939 and 18 May 1941 and again between 31 July 1943 and 8 September 2022 John William Friso and Maria Louise were the most recent common ancestors to all reigning European monarchs. Between 18 May 1941 and 31 July 1943 the puppet Independent State of Croatia was a kingdom under Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta (his regnal name was Tomislav II) in opposition to the exiled monarchy under Peter II of Yugoslavia. Peter and Aimone's wife Irene descended from John William Friso and Marie Louise, but not Aimone himself, so the position of royal MRCA was held by John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1654 – 1686), who held the distinction alone since the descents came from both his marriages.