Description.

The western long-beaked echidna is an egg-laying mammal. Unlike the short-beaked echidna, which eats ants and termites, the long-beaked species eats earthworms. The long-beaked echidna is also larger than the short-beaked species, reaching up to ; the snout is longer and turns downward; and the spines are almost indistinguishable from the long fur. It is distinguished from the other "Zaglossus" species by the number of claws on the fore and hind feet: three (rarely four). It is the largest extant monotreme.

Distribution and habitat.

The species is found in the Bird's Head Peninsula and Foja Mountains of West Papua and Papua provinces, Indonesia, respectively, in regions of elevation between ; it is absent from the southern lowlands and north coast. Its preferred habitats are alpine meadow and humid montane forests.  A re-examination of a specimen in the British Museum (Tring collection), noted as collected at a site in the Kimberley region of north-west Australia, was identified as this species. The skin and skull is labelled as part of the material collected by John T. Tunney on an expedition through that region in the 1930s. If accurate it is evidence of a species thought to be have been extinct for millennia in Australia; the only records up to that time of " Zaglossus " was of fossils dated to the pleistocene period. The conclusion of the authors, supported by evidence from Aboriginal elders of the region and similar habitat to Papuan population, was that this species ought to be recognised in the state's fauna as persisting into the modern era and may be extant in a poorly surveyed area of the region.

Conservation.

The species is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN; numbers have decreased due to human activities including habitat loss and hunting. The long-beaked echidna is considered a delicacy, and although commercial hunting of the species has been banned by the Indonesian and Papua New Guinean governments, traditional hunting is permitted. In January 2013, an expedition led by Conservation International reported finding a population of the mammals as part of what they described as a "lost world" of wildlife in the Foja Mountains of Papua Province, Indonesia. A specimen collected in 1901 by John T. Tunney, later identified by Helgen "et al." (2012), might prove that, in addition to New Guinea, the species inhabited the northern part of Western Australia (Kimberley) at least as recently as the beginning of the 20th century.

The western long-beaked echidna ("Zaglossus bruijnii") is one of the four extant echidnas and one of three species of "Zaglossus" that occur in New Guinea. Originally described as "Tachyglossus bruijnii", this is the type species of "Zaglossus".

Paježura Bruijnova ("Zaglossus bruijni") je druh paježury z rodu "Zaglossus". Druh žije ve vnitrozemí Nové Guineje a na ostrově Salawatti ve vlhkých horských lesích 1000-3000 m n. m. Populace paježury klesá kvůli kácení lesů a nadměrnému lovu. Podle klasifikace IUCN je tento druh kriticky ohrožený. Poprvé jej popsali Peters a Doria v roce 1876.


Early life.

Bach was born Barbara Goldbach, in New York City, New York, in the Queens neighborhood of Rosedale, one of two daughters born to Howard Irwin Goldbach (1922–2001), a police officer of European Jewish heritage, and Marjorie Mary Goldbach (née McKnight; 1921–1997), an Irish homemaker. In 1964, she graduated from the all-girl Dominican Commercial High School in Jamaica, Queens. The following year, she shortened her last name to Bach and began modeling professionally, appearing in catalogs and fashion magazines.

Career.

Bach was one of the most sought-after faces in the '60s, working with the Eileen Ford Agency in New York, appearing on catalogs and the front covers of several international fashion magazines such as "Seventeen" (1965 and 1966), "Vogue" USA (July 1966) photographed by Richard Avedon, "ELLE" France (1966), "Gioia" Italy (1967–1970), and "Figurino" Brazil (1970).  Her acting career started in Italy, where she played Nausicaa in "L'Odissea" in 1968, an eight-hour long TV adaptation of Homer's famous epic poem "The Odyssey", directed by Franco Rossi and produced by Dino de Laurentiis.  In 1972, Bach co-starred with two other Bond girls, Claudine Auger and Barbara Bouchet, in the mystery "Black Belly of the Tarantula" (a giallo film) and had small roles in other Italian films.  In 1977, Bach portrayed the Russian spy Anya Amasova in the James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me". Bach remarked after the film that Bond is "a chauvinist pig who uses girls to shield him against bullets." The following year she appeared in the movie "Force 10 from Navarone". She lost a role to actress Shelley Hack when she auditioned for season four of the television series "Charlie's Angels". During an interview with Johnny Carson on May 9, 1979, she said that she lost the audition for "Charlie's Angels" because they felt she was too sophisticated in attitude and look, and thought that she was not American, even though she was born in Rosedale, Queens, and grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, in New York City. They asked her manager if she could play an American. Bach has 28 films to her credit. She was featured in a pictorial in "Playboy" in June 1977. She also had a cameo in a September 1987 special issue on the Bond girls.

Charity work.

In 1991, Bach co-founded the Self Help Addiction Recovery Program (SHARP) with Pattie Boyd, the former wife of George Harrison and Eric Clapton, both of whom assisted in the venture. Bach and Ringo Starr created The Lotus Foundation, a charity with many sub-charities.

Personal life.

Bach's first marriage was to Italian businessman Augusto, Count Gregorini di Savignano di Romagna. The couple had two children together, daughter Francesca and son Gianni, before divorcing in 1975. Bach married British musician Ringo Starr, formerly of The Beatles, at Marylebone Town Hall on 27 April 1981. The two met in 1980, on the set of the film "Caveman" (1981).  According to the International Vegetarian Union, Bach and Starr practise vegetarianism.  She is fluent in Italian and has a working knowledge of French and Spanish.  Her sister Marjorie Bach is married to Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh.

External links.

!colspan="3" style="background:#C1D8FF;"| James Bond

Barbara Bach, Lady Starkey (born Barbara Goldbach; August 28, 1946 or August 27, 1947) is an American actress and model, best known for her role as the Bond girl Anya Amasova in "The Spy Who Loved Me". She is the wife of English musician and former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.

Tučňák brýlový ("Spheniscus demersus"), někdy také nazývaný tučňák brýlatý nebo africký, je jediný druh který hnízdí na pobřeží jižní Afriky, zejména obývá řetězce ostrovů ležících nedaleko. Evropané se s ním seznámili už v 15. století. Stejně jako ostatní tučňáci není schopen letu, ale je uzpůsoben k potápění a částečnému životu na moři. Zrovna tak zde loví potravu a živí se převážně menšími druhy ryb, jako jsou sardinky, sardele či ančovičky.


History.

The authority was set up on July 1, 1961, under the Ports Authority Law 5721-1961. On July 26, 1988, the Knesset approved an amendment to the Ports Authority Law, merging Israel Railways into the Authority, henceforth to be known as the Israel Ports and Railways Authority. In 2002, Israel Railways was turned into a new state company and separated from the Ports Authority.

Responsibilities.

The duties are to plan, construct, develop, manage, maintain, and operate the ports. The Ports Authority law defines the Authority as a government corporation competent to acquire all rights, make all undertakings, and act as a litigant in all legal proceedings and a party to all contracts. It also stipulates that the Authority must run the ports as commercially viable enterprises and specifies those matters that require Government approval - development budgets, changes in tariffs, etc.

Governance.

The Ports Authority Council is appointed by the Government on recommendation of the Transport Minister. Of its 17 members, ten represent the public, and seven represent government ministries. Since 2011, former Mossad chief Meir Dagan is the current Director of the Israel Port Authority.

Competition and privatization.

In the beginning of the 21st century, the government of Israel instructed the Ports Authority to take steps aimed at increasing competition in the seaports field in the country. As part of this effort, Israel Shipyards was granted a permit to operate a small private port on its premises near the Port of Haifa, and the operation of each public port was handed to newly-created state companies in hopes increasing competition between Ashdod and Haifa ports.  Unfortunately, not enough of the desired competitive outcome was achieved due to the oligopolistic market position, historical labor union obligations, and limited capacity of the two existing major ports. As a result of this situation, in the middle of the 2010s, the Ports Authority embarked on a NIS7.5 billion (appx. US$2 billion) investment program to construct large new shipping terminals at both Haifa and Ashdod ports and held a bid for private companies to operate the new terminals for a period of 25 years beginning in the year 2021. Shanghai International Port Group (SPIG) won the tender to operate the "Bay Terminal" in Haifa, while Switzerland-based Terminal Investment Limited (also known as the TiL Group, controlled by the privately held MSC Group) won the tender to operate the "Southern Terminal" in Ashdod once the terminals’ construction is complete.

The Israel Ports Authority (רשות הספנות והנמלים) is the governmental agency which supervises and regulates the operation of Israel's seaports in Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat. It is located in Tel Aviv.

Izraelská přístavní a drážní správa (: רשות הספנות והנמלים) je vládní agentura, která provozuje a řídí izraelské přístavy v Haifě, Ašdodu a Ejlatu.


Contemporary plans of the tomb.

There are two known plans of the tomb's layout contemporary to its construction. One on papyrus (now located at the Egyptian Museum in Turin) provides a detailed depiction of the tomb at 1:28 scale. All of the passages and chambers are present, with measurements written in hieratic script. The papyrus plan also depicts the pharaoh's sarcophagus surrounded by four concentric sets of shrines, the same layout of shrines that were found intact within Tutankhamun's tomb. The other plan of the tomb was found inscribed on a slab of limestone not far from the tomb's entrance, and is a rough layout of the tomb depicting the location of its doors. The latter plan may have just been a "workman's doodle" but the papyrus plan almost certainly had a deeper ritual meaning, and may have been used to consecrate the tomb after it was built.

Tomb layout.

A hieratic ostracon has been discovered mentioning the initiation of the tomb, its location selected by the local governor and two of the pharaoh's chief attendants in the second year of his reign. Ramesses IV ascended the throne late in life, and to ensure that he would have a sizable tomb (during what would be a relatively brief reign of about six years), he doubled the size of the existing work gangs at Deir el-Medina to a total of 120 men. Though sizable, KV2 has been described as being "simplistic" in its design and decoration. The tomb was excavated at the base of a hill on the northwest side of the Valley of the Kings.  Like other tombs of the 20th Dynasty, KV2 is laid out along a straight axis. The successors of Ramesses III from this dynasty constructed tombs that follow this pattern and most were decorated in a similar manner to one other.  The tomb has a maximum length of 88.66 m and consists of three slowly descending corridors labeled B, C, and D. This is followed by an enlarged chamber (E), and then the burial chamber (J). Past the burial chamber lies a narrow corridor (K) flanked by three side chambers [Ka, Kb and Kc].  The tomb is mostly intact and is decorated with scenes from the "Litany of Ra", "Book of Caverns", "Book of the Dead", "Book of Amduat" and the "Book of the Heavens".  The sarcophagus is broken (probably in antiquity), and the mummy was relocated to the mummy cache in KV35.

Visits in antiquity.

The tomb was one of about eleven tombs open to early travelers. KV2 contains the second-highest number of ancient graffiti within it (after KV9), with 656 individual graffitos left by both Ancient Greek and Roman visitors. This tomb also contains around 50 or so examples of Coptic graffiti, mostly sketched onto the right wall by the entranceway, The tomb was likely used as a dwelling by Coptic monks, and there are also depictions of Coptic saints and crosses on the tomb's walls.  Early European visitors to the area included Richard Pococke, who visited KV2 and designated it "Tomb B" in his "Observations of Egypt", published in 1743.  The savants accompanying Napoleon's campaign in Egypt surveyed the Valley of the Kings and designated KV2 as "IIe Tombeau" ("2nd Tomb") in their list. Other visitors of note included James Burton, who mapped out the tomb in 1825, and the Franco-Tuscan Expedition of 1828-1829, who did an epigraphic survey of the tomb's inscriptions.

Modern archeological work.

Archeologist Edward Ayrton excavated the entranceway to the tomb during 1905/1906, followed by Howard Carter in 1920. Both of them found remnants of the materials which had originally come from inside the tomb, such as shabtis, numerous ostraca and fragments of wood, glass and Faience.

Tomb KV2, found in the Valley of the Kings, is the tomb of Ramesses IV, and is located low down in the main valley, between KV7 and KV1. It has been open since antiquity and contains a large amount of graffiti.

KV2 je egyptská hrobka ležící v Údolí králů mezi hrobkami KV1 a KV7. Byl v ní pochován faraon Ramesse IV. a obsahuje velké množství nástěnných maleb a hieroglyfů.


Nomenclature.

The most basic aryl group is phenyl, which is made up of a benzene ring with one hydrogen atom substituted for some substituent, and has the molecular formula CH−. Note that phenyl groups are not the same as benzyl groups, which consists of a phenyl group attached to a methyl group, and has the molecular formula CHCH−. To name compounds containing phenyl groups, the phenyl group can be taken to be the parent hydrocarbon and being represented by the suffix "-benzene". Alternatively, the phenyl group could be treated as the substituent, being described within the name as "phenyl". This is usually done when the group attached to the phenyl group consists of six or more carbon atoms.  As an example, consider a hydroxyl group connected to a phenyl group. In this case, if the phenyl group was taken as the parent hydrocarbon, the compound would be named hydroxybenzene. Alternatively, and more commonly, the hydroxyl group could be taken as the parent group (and the phenyl group treated as the substituent), resulting in the more familiar name phenol.

Reactions.

Electrophilic aromatic substitution.

Benzene rings have a delocalised pi-system of electrons, which creates areas of high negative charge. This makes aromatic compounds more prone to attacks by electrophilic reagents. However, due to the high stability of benzene rings, they will only react with highly reactive electrophiles, and will only undergo substitution reactions (but not addition reactions). Benzene's unusual stability is explained by its ability to delocalise charges by resonance. Electrophilic aromatic substitution of benzene takes place in two main steps: electrophilic attack and proton loss. The image below summarizes the general mechanism of an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction.  An example of such reaction is between bromine and benzene. In this reaction, a bromine atom will substitute a hydrogen atom in the benzene ring, giving bromobenzene, an aryl halide. However, due to the unreactive nature of benzene, catalyst such as aluminium chloride is needed. The formula for this reaction is:

Halogen-metal exchange of aryl halides.

Organometallic compounds are compounds that have a bond between a carbon and a metal atom.  The halogen atom of an aryl halide atom could be exchanged for a metal atom using an organometallic reagent. An example of such reaction is the reaction between bromobenzene and an organolithium reagent, where there is a nucleophilic attack of the lithium cation on bromine. The formula to such reaction is:  The reaction is able to occur since benzene has a higher acidity compared to butane, which can be explained by the stability of the carbanion after the molecule loses a proton. The lithium-phenyl complex (CHLi) can better delocalize the negative charge by resonating it around the benzene ring; whereas in a lithium-butyl complex (CHLi), the molecule is not capable of such resonance and is further destabilized by the fact that the negative charge is placed on a primary carbon. Hence, formation of the lithium-phenyl complex can be observed.

In the context of organic molecules, aryl is any functional group or substituent derived from an aromatic ring, usually an aromatic hydrocarbon, such as phenyl and naphthyl. "Aryl" is used for the sake of abbreviation or generalization, and "Ar" is used as a placeholder for the aryl group in chemical structure diagrams.

Termínem aryl (označovaným někdy zkratkou Ar, kolidující však se značkou argonu) se v organické chemii označuje libovolná funkční skupina nebo substituent odvozený od arenu odtržením atomu vodíku z atomu uhlíku aromatického cyklu, tedy například fenyl, thiofenyl, indolyl, naftyl apod. (viz nomeklaturu IUPAC). Název "aryl" se používá pro účely zobecnění.


Origins of the Kamehameha dynasty.

Originating lines.

The origins of the House of Kamehameha stems from the progenitor, Keōua Kalanikupuapa`ikalaninui who was the sacred father of Kamehameha I and by the royal court of his brother Kalaniʻōpuʻu who later became king and gave his war god Kuka'ilimoku to Kamehameha I and he became the king by conquest, uniting all the Hawaiian islands into one kingdom under his undivided rule. Kalaniʻōpuʻu's father was Kalaninuiʻīamamao and Keōua's father was Kalanikeʻeaumoku, both were sons of Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku. They shared a common mother, Kamakaʻīmoku. Both brothers served Alapaʻinui, the ruling King of Hawaiʻi island at the time. Contemporary Hawaiian genealogy notes that Keōua may not have been Kamehameha's biological father, and that Kahekili II might have been the figure's real father. But official genealogies of the chiefs as well as the rulers confirm that Keoua was the true father. Kamehameha I's mother was Kekuʻiapoiwa II, a granddaughter of Keawe.  The traditional mele chant of Keaka, wife of Alapainui, indicates that Kamehameha I was born in the month of "ikuwā" (winter) or around November. Alapai had given the child, Kamehameha to his wife Keaka and her sister Hākau to care for after the ruler discovered the boy had lived. Samuel Kamakau, in his newspaper article writes ""It was during the time of the warfare among the chiefs of [the island of] Hawaii which followed the death of Keawe, chief over the whole island (Ke-awe-i-kekahi-aliʻi-o-ka-moku) that Kamehameha I was born"". However, his general dating has been challenged. Abraham Fornander writes in his publication, "An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origins and Migrations": ""when Kamehameha died in 1819 he was past eighty years old. His birth would thus fall between 1736 and 1740, probably nearer the former than the latter"". "A brief history of the Hawaiian people" By William De Witt Alexander lists the birth date in the Chronological Table of Events of Hawaiian History" as 1736. He would be named Paiea but would take the name Kamehameha, meaning "The lonely one" or "The one who has been set apart".  Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the young Kamehameha's uncle, would raise him after his father's death. Kalaniʻōpuʻu ruled "Hawaiʻi" as did his grandfather Keawe. He had a number of advisors and priests. When word reached the ruler that chiefs were planning to murder the boy, he told Kamehameha:

Cook's arrival and death.

In 1778 Captain James Cook visited the Hawaiian Islands and returned in 1779. When his ship, "Resolution" broke a foremast as they were leaving, he was forced to turn back and return to Kealakekua Bay. A fight and theft of blacksmith tools led to a situation on shore where a Hawaiian canoe was confiscated, even after the tools were recovered. Tensions were high with the Hawaiian population and one of Cook's small boats was taken. In retaliation, Cook decided to kidnap King Kalaniʻōpuʻu. As he was being led away from his royal enclosure, his favorite wife, Kānekapōlei began to shout to the townspeople to get their attention. Two chiefs, Kalaimanokahoowaha (also known as Kanaina nui) and a royal attendant named Nuaa, saw her pleading as the King was being led away with his two sons following. As they reached the beach Kanaina, Kānekapōlei and Nuaa were able to convince Kalaniʻōpuʻu to stop and he sat where he stood. The crowd began to become aggressive and a rock was thrown and hit Cook. He took out his sword and struck Kanaina broadside without injury, but the chief reacted and immediately seized Cook and held him in his grip when the king's attendant, Nuaa stabbed him from behind. Before the remains of Cook were returned, the bones of the man were boiled down to strip off the flesh then given to chiefs. Kamehameha received Captain Cook's hair.

Kamehameha I, founder of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

After Kalaniʻōpuʻu's death, Kīwalaʻō would take his father's place as first born and rule the island while Kamehameha would have religious authority. A number of chiefs supported Kamehameha and war soon broke out to overthrow Kīwalaʻō. After a number of battles the king was killed and envoys sent for the last two brothers to meet with Kamehameha. Keōua and Kaōleiokū arrived in separate canoes. Keōua came to shore first where a fight broke out and he and all aboard were killed. Before the same could happen to the second canoe, Kamehameha intervened. By 1795, Kamehameha would conquer all but one of the islands.  For his first royal residence, the new King built the first western-style structure built in the Hawaiian Islands, known as the "Brick Palace". The king commissioned the structure to be built at Keawa'iki point in Lahaina, Maui. Two foreign, ex-convicts from Australia's Botany Bay penal colony built the home. It was begun in 1798 and was completed after 4 years in 1802. The house was intended for Kaʻahumanu, but she refused to live in the structure and resided instead in a traditional Hawaiian-styled home only feet away.  Kamehameha I had many wives but held two the most high regard. Keōpūolani was the highest ranking aliʻi of her time and mother to his sons, Liholiho and Kauikeaouli. Kaʻahumanu was his favorite. Kamehameha I died in 1819 and his son, Liholiho would become the next king.

New king and form of government.

Kamehameha II, and the new office of Kuhina Nui.

After Kamehameha I's death, his first born son Liholiho left Kailua for a week and returned to be crowned king. At the lavish ceremony attended by commoners and nobles of the kingdom he approached the circle of chiefs, as Kaʻahumanu, the central figure in the group and Dowager Queen, spoke: ""Hear me O Divine one, for I make known to you the will of your father. Behold these chiefs and the men of your father, and these your guns, and this your land, but you and I shall share the realm together"" Liholiho agreed officially, which began a unique system of dual-government consisting of a King and co-ruler similar to a co-regent. The new Kamehameha II would share his rule with his stepmother, Kaʻahumanu. She would defy Hawaiian "kapu" by dining with the young king, violating the law separating genders during meals and leading to the destruction of the old Hawaiian religion. Kamehameha II died, along with his wife, Queen Kamāmalu in 1824 on a state visit to England where they succumbed to measles. He was King for only 5 years.  When Kamehameha II and his queen died in England, the remains of the couple were returned to Hawaii by Boki. On board the ship, "The Blond" his wife Liliha and Kekūanāoʻa would be baptized as Christians. Kaʻahumanu would also convert and become a heavy Christian influence on Hawaiian society until her death in 1832. Since the new king was only 12 years old, Kaʻahumanu was now senior ruler and named Boki as her Kuhina Nui.  Boki would leave Hawaii on a fatal trip to find sandlewood to cover a debt and would be lost at sea. His wife, Liliha would be left the governorship of Maui and would unsuccessfully attempt to whip up revolt against Kaʻahumanu, who, upon Boki's departure, had installed Kīnaʻu as a co-governor.

Kaʻahumanu.

Kaʻahumanu was born on Maui around 1777. Her parents were aliʻi chiefs of a lower ranking line. She became Kamehameha's consort when she was fourteen. George Vancouver states: ""[O]ne of the finest woman we had yet seen on any of the islands"". To wed the young woman, Kamehameha had to consent to make Kaʻahumanu's children his heirs to the Kingdom although, in the end, she produced no issue.  Before his death, Kamehameha selected Kaʻahumanu to rule along with his son. Kaʻahumanu had also adopted the boy. She had the highest political clout in the islands. A portrait artist remarked of her: ""This Old Dame is the most proud, unbending Lady in the whole island. As the widow of [Kamehameha], she possesses unbound authority and respect, not any of which she is inclined to lay aside on any occasion whatsoever"". She is one of the most influential leaders in Hawaii's history.

Kamehameha III, Kaʻahumanu II, III, "moi kuʻi, au-puni kuʻi" and the Great Māhele.

Liholiho's death elevated his younger brother, Kauikeaouli to the throne, styled as Kamehameha III at the age of twelve. When Kaʻahumanu died Kauikeaouli was 18.  With the death of the Kuhina Nui, the young king demanded to come into the possession of his full inheritance. He immediately rebelled against the Christian church and suspended all laws except murder and theft, which was a common tradition after the death of a chief. Distilleries were re-opened and the ban of alcohol lifted as was the ban on Hula. For his co-ruler, Kamehameha chose his aikāne (same sex partner), Kaomi. a young, half Tahitian man who had helped to heal the king and had been a close relationship for years. The church was outraged. Kaomi was granted true authority which he yielded. Eventually Kamehameha III, under pressure from the church, would remove the young man and would name Liliha to be the next Kuhina Nui. In November 1833, Hoapili (Liliha's father), Kekūanāoʻa, Kanaina and Kīnaʻu, along with armed royal attendants, including Kilinahe, went to the king's home to persuade him not to pick Liliha as Kuhina Nui. Hoapili begged the king to kill him if he should choose his daughter so the people would not blame him for her elevation. They pleaded with the king to choose Kinau as a true daughter of the House of Kamehameha. The King agreed and when he sent for Liliha to tell her the news, she was found drunk at home.  Kīnaʻu would be succeeded by Kekāuluohi as Kuhina Nui, acting for the true heir to the position, Victoria Kamāmalu, Kīnaʻu's infant daughter. Kekāuluohi would be styled as Kaʻahumanu III. After Kekāuluohi died in 1845, the next Kuhina Nui would be Keoni Ana, the son of John Young, one of Kamehameha I's important foreign advisors. Kauikeaouli named an heir, his nephew, Alexander ʻIolani Liholiho who took the throne styled as Kamehameha IV in 1855. The third Kamehameha instituted the Great Mahele, which gave up millions of acres of land passed from his brother, who inherited it from Kamehameha I, leaving all to him as the ruler of the kingdom. Kamehameha III had illegitimate twin sons by Jane Lahilahi named Kīwalaʻō (died young) and Albert Kūnuiākea (1851–1903).

Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma.

Alexander ʻIolani Liholiho was the nephew of Kamehameha II and grandson of Kamehameha I. He reigned as Kamehameha IV. Along with his wife Queen Emma, Kamehameha IV would establish the Queen's Medical Center. He was the son of Kīnaʻu, daughter of Kamehameha I and Kekūanāoʻa, a high ranking warrior chief from the conquest of the islands who became Governor of Oahu. He ascended the throne at the age of 21. He was a tall man often described as handsome. His wife was, Emma Naea Rooke, granddaughter of John Young. The couple had one child, a son named Albert Edward Kauikeaouli who died at the age of 4 years old leaving the throne to pass to his uncle.

Kamehameha V and the last Kamehameha king.

Lot Kapuāiwa became king in 1863 styled as Kamehameha V. Lot was a bachelor up to his death in 1872 bringing to an end the Kamehameha Dynasty. However, Lot had an illegitimate daughter Keanolani by his classmate Abigail Maheha at the Chiefs' Children's School.  On his deathbed, before his passing, he offered the throne to Elizabeth Keka'aniau and Bernice Pauahi Bishop but they both refused it. Finally, Kamehameha V stated: ""The throne belongs to Lunalilo; I will not appoint him, because I consider him unworthy of the position. The constitution, in case I make no nomination, provides for the election of the next King; let it be so."" He would die the following morning. This enabled an election from the original stock of ali'i who were groomed for the position to rule by royal decree of King Kamehameha III. The Princes and Chiefs of rank, eligible to be rulers who were groomed at the original Chiefs' Children's School.

Lunalilo.

William Charles Lunalilo was the highest chief in the Hawaiian Kingdom of his time. He became the first elected monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom and would be the last of the Kamehameha dynasty. Lunalilo was the son of Charles Kanaʻina and Miriam Auhea Kekauluohi, a niece of Kamehameha I through her father Kalaimamahu, Kamehameha I's half-brother. However, she was a formal member of the House of Kamehameha as a wife of the founding monarch in his last years. Lunalilo was also a member of the House of Keōua and the House of Moana. His mother was taken by Kamehameha, after her birth and given to Kaʻahumanu because she could not conceive. Kekauluohi was a punalua child, having dual parentage. Lunalilo was the last Kamehameha monarch.

Legacy.

The British name of the "Sandwich Islands" was replaced with ""Hawaiʻi"" due to the influence of the House of Kamehameha.  A good portion of the legacy of the Kamehamehas' lies in the lands and fortunes passed down to Bernice Pauahi Bishop. After her death in 1884, her husband, Charles Bishop, acting as one of five trustees and a co-executer of Pauahi's will, began the process of establishing the Kamehameha Schools which was founded in 1887. Charles Bishop would serve as president of the Board of trustees for the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, a perpetual trust with Kamehameha Schools the sole beneficiary, and gave back to the estate all lands deeded to him during his life and helped fund the first structures of the school out of his own money. In 1889, the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum was founded and endowed by Charles Bishop as a repository for the priceless Hawaiian artifacts from Pauahi's family. Princess Ruth Ke'elikōlani was the daughter of Pauahi and Mataio Kekūanaō'a, and a governess of the Big Island of Hawai'i.

The House of Kamehameha "(Hale O Kamehameha)", or the Kamehameha dynasty, was the reigning Royal Family of the Kingdom of Hawaii, beginning with its founding by Kamehameha I in 1795 and ending with the death of Kamehameha V in 1872 and Lunalilo in 1874. The kingdom would continue for another 21 years until its overthrow in 1893 with the fall of the House of Kalakaua.

Dynastie Kamehameha (havajsky: "Hale O Kamehameha", anglicky: "House of Kamehameha") byla domorodá dynastie, která vládla Havajským ostrovům v letech 1810 – 1872 a byla první a nejdéle vládnoucí havajskou královskou dynastií.


Early years.

Ulbricht was born in Leipzig, Saxony, to Pauline Ida (née Rothe) and Ernst August Ulbricht, an impoverished tailor. He spent eight years in primary school ("Volksschule") and this constituted all of his formal education since he left school to train as a joiner. Both his parents worked actively for the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which Walter joined in 1912. The young Ulbricht first learned about radical socialism at home then in Leipzig's Naundorfchen workers' district.

First World War and the German Revolution.

Ulbricht served in the Imperial German Army during World War I from 1915 to 1917 in Galicia, on the Eastern Front, and in the Balkans. He deserted the Army in 1918, as he had opposed the war from the beginning. Imprisoned in Charleroi, in 1918 he was released as part of the collapse of Imperial Germany.  In 1917 he became a member of the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) after it split off from the Social Democratic Party over support of Germany's participation in World War I.  During the German Revolution of 1918, Ulbricht became a member of the soldier's soviet of his army corps. In 1919, he joined the "Spartakusbund" and became one of the founding members of the KPD.

The Weimar years.

Along with the bulk of the USPD, he joined the KPD in 1920 and became one of its active organizers. He rose fast in the ranks of the KPD, becoming a member of the Central Committee in 1923. Ulbricht was an adherent of the Lenin model, which favored a highly centralized party. Ulbricht attended the International Lenin School of the Comintern in Moscow in 1924/1925. He came home in 1926 and went on to assist the newly appointed party chief Ernst Thälmann. The electors subsequently voted him into the regional parliament of Saxony ("Sächsischer Landtag") in 1926. He became a Member of the "Reichstag" for South Westphalia from 1928 to 1933 and served as KPD chairman in Berlin and Brandenburg from 1929.  In the years before the 1933 Nazi election to power, paramilitary wings of Marxist and extreme nationalist parties provoked massive riots connected with demonstrations. Besides the Berlin Police, the KPD's arch-enemies were street-fighters like the Nazi Party's SA, the Monarchist German National People's Party's Stahlhelm, and Stormtroopers affiliated with "radical nationalist parties." The Social Democratic Party of Germany and it's paramilitary Reichsbanner forces, which dominated local and national politics from 1918–1931 and which the KPD accused of "Social fascism," was their most detested foe. Ulbricht quickly became a KPD functionary and this was attributed to the Bolshevization of the party.  At an event arranged by the Nazi Party in January 1931, Ulbricht was allowed by Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Party's Gauleiter of Berlin and Brandenburg, to give a speech. Subsequently, Goebbels delivered his own speech. The attempt at a friendly discussion turned hostile and became a debate. A struggle between Nazis and Communists began: police officers divided them. Both sides had tried to use this event for their election propaganda. The brawl took two hours to disperse and over a hundred were injured in the melee.

The Bülowplatz Murders.

During the last days of the Weimar Republic, the KPD had a policy of assassinating two Berlin police officers in retaliation for every KPD member killed by the police.  On August 2, 1931, KPD Members of the Reichstag Heinz Neumann and Hans Kippenberger received a dressing down from Ulbricht, who was the Party's leader in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. Enraged by police interference and by Neumann and Kippenberger's failure to follow the policy, Ulbricht snarled, "At home in Saxony we would have done something about the police a long time ago. Here in Berlin we will not fool around much longer. Soon we will hit the police in the head."  Enraged by Ulbricht's words, Kippenberger and Neumann decided to assassinate Paul Anlauf, the forty-two-year-old Captain of the Berlin Police's Seventh Precinct. Captain Anlauf, a widower with three daughters, had been nicknamed "Schweinebacke", or "Pig Face" by the KPD.  According to John Koehler, "Of all the policemen in strife-torn Berlin, the reds hated Anlauf the most. His precinct included the area around KPD headquarters, which made it the most dangerous in the city. The captain almost always led the riot squads that broke up illegal rallies of the Communist Party."

Nazi and war years.

The Nazi Party attained power in Germany in January 1933, and very quickly began a purge of Communist and Social Democrat leaders in Germany. Following the arrest of the KPD's leader, Ernst Thälmann, Ulbricht campaigned to be Thälmann's replacement as head of the Party.  Ulbricht lived in exile in Paris and Prague from 1933 to 1937. The German Popular Front under the leadership of Heinrich Mann in Paris was dissolved after a campaign of behind-the-scenes jockeying by Ulbricht to place the organization under the control of the Comintern. Ulbricht tried to persuade the KPD founder Willi Münzenberg to go to the Soviet Union, allegedly so that Ulbricht could have "them take care of him". Münzenberg refused. He would have been in jeopardy of arrest and purge by the NKVD, a prospect in both Münzenberg's and Ulbricht's minds. Ulbricht spent some time in Spain during the Civil War, as a Comintern representative, ensuring the murder of Germans serving on the Republican side who were regarded as not sufficiently loyal to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin; some were sent to Moscow for trial, others were executed on the spot. Ulbricht lived in the Soviet Union from 1937 to 1945, leaving from Hotel Lux to return to Germany on 30 April 1945.  At the time of the signing of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, Ulbricht and the rest of the German Communist Party supported the treaty.  Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Ulbricht was active in a group of German communists under NKVD supervision (a group including, among others, the poet Erich Weinert and the writer Willi Bredel) which, among other things, translated propaganda material into German, prepared broadcasts directed at the invaders, and interrogated captured German officers. In February 1943, following the surrender of the German Sixth Army at the close of the Battle of Stalingrad, Ulbricht, Weinert and Wilhelm Pieck conducted a Communist political rally in the center of Stalingrad which many German prisoners were forced to attend. The NKVD head Lavrenty Beria described Ulbricht as "the greatest idiot that he had ever seen".

Post-war political career.

Role in communist takeover of East Germany.

In April 1945, Ulbricht led a group of party functionaries (""Ulbricht Group"") into Germany to begin reconstruction of the German Communist Party along orthodox Stalinist lines. According to Grieder, "Espousing the motto 'it must look democratic but we must control everything', he set about establishing an SED dictatorship." Within the Soviet occupied zone of Germany, the Social Democrats were pressured into merging with the Communists, on Communist terms, to form the Socialist Unity Party of Germany ("Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands" or "SED"), and Ulbricht played a key role in this.

Rise to power.

After the founding of the German Democratic Republic on 7 October 1949, Ulbricht became Deputy Chairman "(Stellvertreter des Vorsitzenden)" of the Council of Ministers "(Ministerrat der DDR)" under Minister-President and Chairman Otto Grotewohl, i.e., deputy prime minister. In 1950, as the SED restructured itself into a more orthodox Soviet-style party, he became General Secretary of the SED Central Committee, replacing Grotewohl and State President Wilhelm Pieck as co-chairmen. This position was renamed "First Secretary" in 1953.

Leadership of East Germany.

Consolidation of authority.

After the death of Stalin (whose funeral was attended by Ulbricht, Grotewohl and other German communists) in March of that year, Ulbricht's position was in danger because Moscow was considering taking a soft line regarding Germany. Ulbricht was accused of building a cult of personality around himself, with an elaborate jubilee planned for his 60th birthday on 30 June 1953, which Ulbricht later cancelled. The propaganda film "Baumeister des Sozialismus - Walter Ulbricht", remained under wraps until the fall of the GDR.  The June 1953 East German uprising forced Moscow to turn to a hardliner, and his reputation as an archetypal Stalinist helped Ulbricht. In June 16, 1953, a protest erupted at East Berlin's Stalin Allee as enraged workers demanded comprehensive economic reforms. The East German police had to call in Soviet military units stationed in the city to help suppress the demonstration and communist rule was restored after several dozen deaths and 1,000 arrests. He was summoned to Moscow in July 1953, where he received the Kremlin's full endorsement as leader of East Germany. He returned to Berlin and he took the lead in calling in Soviet troops to suppress the widespread unrest with full backing from Moscow and its large army stationed inside the GDR. His position as leader of the GDR was now secure.  Ulbricht managed to rise to power despite having a peculiarly squeaky falsetto voice. His Saxon accent, combined with the high register of his voice, made his speeches sound incomprehensible at times.

Construction of a socialist society in GDR.

At the third congress of the SED in 1950, Ulbricht announced a five-year plan concentrating on the doubling of industrial production. As Stalin was at that point keeping open the option of a re-unified Germany, it was not until July 1952 that the party moved towards the construction of a socialist society in East Germany. The "building of socialism" ("Aufbau des Sozialismus") was begun under the orders of Stalin, the real ruler of East Germany. By 1952, 80% of industry had been nationalized.  The Council of Ministers of East Germany decided to close the Inner German Border in May 1952. The National People's Army (NVA) was established in March 1956, an expansion of the Kasernierte Volkspolizei which been set up already in June 1952. The Stasi (MfS) was founded in 1950, rapidly expanded and employed to intensify the regime's repression of the people. The states ("Länder") were effectively abolished in July 1952 and the country was governed centrally through districts. Ulbricht uncritically followed the orthodox Stalinist model of industrialization: concentration on the development of heavy industry regardless of the cost, availability of raw materials, and economic suitability. The result was an unstable economy that was chronically short of consumer goods, and those that were produced were often of shoddy quality. For example, the Trabant automobile introduced in 1957 was widely ridiculed for its poor quality. Germans joked, "How do you double the value of a Trabant? Fill it up with petrol." The frustrations led many to flee to the West: over 360,000 did so in 1952 and the early part of 1953.  In 1957, Ulbricht arranged a visit to an East German collective farm at Trinwillershagen in order to demonstrate the GDR's modern agricultural industry to the visiting Soviet Politburo member Anastas Mikoyan. The collectivization of agriculture was completed in 1960, later than Ulbricht had expected. Following the death of President Wilhelm Pieck in 1960, the SED wrote the president's post out of the constitution. Taking its place was a collective head of state, the "Council of State". Ulbricht was named its chairman, a post equivalent to that of president. His power consolidated, Ulbricht suppressed critics such as Karl Schirdewan, Ernst Wollweber, Fritz Selbmann, Fred Oelssner, Gerhart Ziller and others from 1957 onward, designated them as "factionalists" and eliminated them politically.

The Berlin Wall.

Despite economic gains, emigration still continued. By 1961, 1.65 million people had fled to the west. Fearful of the possible consequences of this continued outflow of refugees, and aware of the dangers an East German collapse would present to the Soviet Union's Communist satellite empire, Ulbricht pressured Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in early 1961 to stop the outflow and resolve the status of Berlin. During this time, the refugees' mood was rarely expressed in words, though East German laborer Kurt Wismach did so effectively by shouting for free elections during one of Ulbricht's speeches.  When Khrushchev approved the building of a wall as a means to resolve this situation, Ulbricht threw himself into the project with abandon. Delegating different tasks in the process while maintaining overall supervision and careful control of the project, Ulbricht managed to keep secret the purchase of vast amounts of building materials, including barbed wire, concrete pillars, timber, and mesh wire. On 13 August 1961, work began on what was to become the Berlin Wall, only two months after Ulbricht had emphatically denied that there were such plans ("Nobody has the intention of building a wall"), thereby mentioning the word "wall" for the very first time. Ulbricht deployed GDR soldiers and police to seal the border with West Berlin overnight. The mobilization included 8,200 members of the People's Police, 3,700 members of the mobile police, 12,000 factory militia members, and 4,500 State Security officers. Ulbricht also dispersed 40,000 East German soldiers across the country to suppress any potential protests. Once the wall was in place, Berlin went from being the easiest place to cross the border between East and West Germany to being the most difficult.  The 1968 invasion by Warsaw Pact troops of Czechoslovakia and the suppression of the Prague Spring were also applauded by Ulbricht. East German soldiers were among those massed on the border but did not cross over, probably due to Czech sensitivities about German troops on their soil during World War II. It earned him a reputation as a staunch Soviet ally, in contrast to Romanian leader Nicolae Ceauşescu, who condemned the invasion.

The New Economic System.

From 1963, Ulbricht and his economic adviser Wolfgang Berger attempted to create a more efficient economy through a New Economic System ("Neues Ökonomisches System" or NÖS). This meant that under the centrally coordinated economic plan, a greater degree of local decision-making would be possible. The reason was not only to stimulate greater responsibility on the part of companies, but also the realization that decisions were sometimes better taken locally. One of Ulbricht's principles was the "scientific" execution of politics and economy: making use of sociology and psychology but most of all the natural sciences. The effects of the NÖS, which corrected mistakes made in the past, were largely positive, with growing economic efficiency.  The New Economic System, which involved measures to end price hikes and increase access to consumer goods, was not very popular within the party, however, and from 1965 onwards opposition grew, mainly under the direction of Erich Honecker and with tacit support of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Ulbricht's preoccupation with science meant that more and more control of the economy was being relegated from the party to specialists. Also, Ulbricht's motivations were at odds with communist theory, which did not suit ideological hardliners within the Party.

Cultural and architectural policy.

For ideological reasons, the communist regime demolished large numbers of important historical buildings. The Berlin Palace and the Potsdam City Palace were destroyed in 1950 and 1959. About 60 churches, including intact, rebuilt or ruined ones, were blown up, including 17 in East Berlin. The Ulrich Church in Magdeburg was razed in 1956, the Dresden Sophienkirche in 1963, the Potsdam Garrison Church in June 1968 and the fully intact Leipzig Paulinerkirche in May 1968. Citizens protesting the church demolitions were imprisoned.  Ulbricht attempted to shield the GDR from the cultural and social influences of the western world, particularly the youth culture. He intended to create the most comprehensive youth culture of the GDR, which should be largely independent of western influences.  In 1965 at the 11th Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the SED, he made a critical speech about copying culture from the western world by referring to the "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" of the Beatles song: "Is it truly the case that we have to copy every dirt that comes from the west? I think, comrades, with the monotony of the yeah yeah yeah and how that all is called should we make a stop".

Dismissal and death.

By the late 1960s, Ulbricht was finding himself increasingly isolated both at home and abroad. The construction of the Berlin Wall became a public relations disaster for him, not only in the West, but even with the Eastern Bloc. This became increasingly critical as the GDR faced increasing economic problems due to his failed reforms, and other countries refused to offer any kind of assistance. His refusal to seek rapprochement with West Germany on Soviet terms, and his rejection of détente infuriated Brezhnev who, by that time, found Ulbricht's demands for greater independence from Moscow increasingly intolerable (especially in the aftermath of the Prague Spring). One of his few victories during this time was the replacement of the GDR's original superficially liberal democratic constitution with a completely Communist document in 1968. The document formally declared East Germany to be a socialist state under the leadership of the SED, thus codifying the actual state of affairs since 1949.  On 3 May 1971 Ulbricht was forced to resign from virtually all of his public functions "due to reasons of poor health" and was replaced, with the consent of the Soviets, by Erich Honecker. Ulbricht was allowed to remain as Chairman of the State Council, the effective head of state, and held on to this post for the rest of his life. Additionally, the honorary position of Chairman of the SED was created especially for him. Ulbricht died at a government guesthouse in Groß Dölln near Templin, north of East Berlin, on 1 August 1973, during the World Festival of Youth and Students, having suffered a stroke two weeks earlier. He was honoured with a state funeral and buried among other communists in the Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde.

Legacy.

Ulbricht remained loyal to Marxist-Leninist principles throughout his life, rarely able or willing to make compromises. Inflexible and unlikeable, a "widely-loathed Stalinist bureaucrat well known for his tactics denouncing rivals", he was an unlikely figure to attract much public affection or admiration. However, he also proved to be a shrewd and intelligent politician who knew how to get himself out of more than one difficult situation. Despite stabilising the GDR to some extent, he never succeeded in raising the standard of living in the country to a level comparable to that in the West. Soviet party leader Nikita Khrushchev observed, "A disparity quickly developed between the living conditions of Germans in East Germany and those in West Germany."  German historian Jürgen Kocka in 2010 summarized the consensus of scholars:

Personal life.

Ulbricht lived in Majakowskiring, Pankow, East Berlin. He married twice: in 1920 to Martha Schmellinsky and from 1953 until his death to Lotte Ulbricht "née" Kühn (1903–2002). Ulbricht and Schmelinsky had a daughter in 1920, who grew up and lived separated from Ulbricht for almost her entire life. After the failure of this first marriage, he was in a relationship with Rosa Michel (born Marie Wacziarg, 1901–1990). With Michel, Ulbricht had another daughter, Rose (1931–1995).  His marriage with Lotte Kühn, his partner for most of his life (they had been together since 1935), remained childless. The couple adopted a daughter from the Soviet Union named Beate (born Maria Pestunowa, 1944–1991). Ulbricht's family life was fraught with problems; Beate entered into two marriages of which her adoptive parents disapproved, and she suffered from alcoholism. Ulbricht eventually disinherited her; custody of her children would be with her stepmother Lotte.

Decorations.

In 1956, Ulbricht was awarded the Hans Beimler Medal, for veterans of the Spanish Civil War, which caused controversy among other recipients, who had actually served on the front line. He was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 29 June 1963. On visiting Egypt in 1965, Ulbricht was awarded the Great Collar of the Order of the Nile by Nasser.

Literature.

There are no biographies in English written after the fall of the GDR. These have been published in German:

Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in exile in France and the Soviet Union) in the early development and establishment of the German Democratic Republic in East Germany. As the First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party from 1950 to 1971, he was the chief decision maker in East Germany. From President Wilhelm Pieck's death in 1960 on, he was also the East German head of state until his own death in 1973.

Walter Ulbricht (30. června 1893, Lipsko – 1. srpna 1973, Templin severně od Berlína) byl německý komunistický politik, generální tajemník Sjednocené socialistické strany Německa v letech 1950 až 1971, od roku 1960 do roku 1973 předseda Státní rady Německé demokratické republiky.


Uses.

Drilling fluids.

About 80% of the world's barium sulfate production, mostly purified mineral, is consumed as a component of oil well drilling fluid. It increases the density of the fluid, increasing the hydrostatic pressure in the well and reducing the chance of a blowout.

Radiocontrast agent.

Barium sulfate in suspension is frequently used medically as a radiocontrast agent for X-ray imaging and other diagnostic procedures. It is most often used in imaging of the GI tract during what is colloquially known as a "barium meal". It is administered orally, or by enema, as a suspension of fine particles in a thick milk-like solution (often with sweetening and flavoring agents added). Although barium is a heavy metal, and its water-soluble compounds are often highly toxic, the low solubility of barium sulfate protects the patient from absorbing harmful amounts of the metal. Barium sulfate is also readily removed from the body, unlike Thorotrast, which it replaced. Due to the relatively high atomic number ("Z" = 56) of barium, its compounds absorb X-rays more strongly than compounds derived from lighter nuclei.

Pigment.

The majority of synthetic barium sulfate is used as a component of white pigment for paints. In oil paint, barium sulfate is almost transparent, and is used as a filler or to modify consistency. One major manufacturer of artists' oil paint sells "permanent white" that contains a mixture of titanium white pigment (TiO) and barium sulfate. The combination of barium sulfate and zinc sulfide (ZnS) is the inorganic pigment called lithopone. In photography it is used as a coating for certain photographic papers.

Paper brightener.

A thin layer of barium sulfate called baryta is first coated on the base surface of most photographic paper to increase the reflectiveness of the image, with the first such paper introduced in 1884 in Germany. The light-sensitive silver halide emulsion is then coated over the baryta layer. The baryta coating limits the penetration of the emulsion into the fibers of the paper and makes the emulsion more even, resulting in more uniform blacks. (Further coatings may then be present for fixing and protection of the image.) More recently, baryta has been used to brighten papers intended for ink-jet printing.

Plastics filler.

Barium sulfate is commonly used as a filler for plastics to increase the density of the polymer in vibrational mass damping applications. In polypropylene and polystyrene plastics, it is used as a filler in proportions up to 70%. It has an effect of increasing acid and alkali resistance and opacity.

Niche uses.

Barium sulfate is used in soil testing. Tests for soil pH and other qualities of soil use colored indicators, and small particles (usually clay) from the soil can cloud the test mixture and make it hard to see the color of the indicator. Barium sulfate added to the mixture binds with these particles, making them heavier so they fall to the bottom, leaving a clearer solution.  In colorimetry, barium sulfate is used as a near-perfect diffuser when measuring light sources.  In metal casting, the moulds used are often coated with barium sulfate in order to prevent the molten metal from bonding with the mould.  It is also used in brake linings, anacoustic foams, powder coatings, and root canal filling.

Catalyst support.

Barium sulfate is used as a catalyst support when selectively hydrogenating functional groups that are sensitive to overreduction. With a low surface area, the contact time of the substrate with the catalyst is shorter and thus selectivity is achieved. Palladium on barium sulfate is also used as a catalyst in the Rosenmund reduction.

Pyrotechnics.

As barium compounds emit a green light when burned, barium salts are often used in green pyrotechnic formulas, although nitrate and chlorate salts are more common. Barium sulfate is commonly used as a component of "strobe" pyrotechnic compositions.

Copper industry.

As barium sulfate has high melting point and is insoluble in water, it is used as a release material in casting of copper anode plates. The anode plates are cast in copper molds, so to avoid the contact of the liquid copper and the solid copper mold, a solution of barium sulfate in water is used as a coating on the mold surface. Thus when the liquid copper solidifies in form of an anode plate it can be easily released from its mold.

Radiometric measurements.

Barium sulfate is sometimes used (or else PTFE) to coat the interior of integrating spheres due to the high reflectance of the material and near Lambertian characteristics.

Production.

Almost all of the barium consumed commercially is obtained from barite, which is often highly impure. Barite is processed by carbothermal reduction (heating with coke) to give barium sulfide: In contrast to barium sulfate, barium sulfide is soluble in water and readily converted to the oxide, carbonate, and halides. To produce highly pure barium sulfate, the sulfide or chloride is treated with sulfuric acid or sulfate salts: Barium sulfate produced in this way is often called "blanc fixe", which is French for "permanent white." Blanc fixe is the form of barium encountered in consumer products, such as paints.  In the laboratory barium sulfate is generated by combining solutions of barium ions and sulfate salts. Because barium sulfate is the least toxic salt of barium due to its insolubility, wastes containing barium salts are sometimes treated with sodium sulfate to immobilize (detoxify) the barium. Barium sulfate is one of the most insoluble salts of sulfate. Its low solubility is exploited in qualitative inorganic analysis as a test for Ba ions as well as for sulfate.

History.

Barium sulfate is reduced to barium sulfide by carbon. The accidental discovery of this conversion many centuries ago led to the discovery of the first synthetic phosphor. The sulfide, unlike the sulfate, is water-soluble.  During the early part of the 20th century, during the Japanese colonization period, hokutolite was found to exist naturally in the Beitou hot-springs area near Taipei City, Taiwan. Hokutolite is a radioactive mineral composed mostly of PbSO and BaSO, but also containing traces of U, Th and Ra. The Japanese harvested these elements for industrial uses, and also developed dozens of “therapeutic hot-spring baths” in the area.

Safety aspects.

Although soluble salts of barium are moderately toxic to humans, barium sulfate is nontoxic due to its insolubility. The most common means of inadvertent barium poisoning arises from the consumption of soluble barium salts mislabeled as BaSO. In the Celobar incident (Brazil, 2003), nine patients died from improperly prepared radiocontrast agent. In regards to occupational exposures, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration set a permissible exposure limit at 15 mg/m while the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has a recommended exposure limit at 10 mg/m. For respiratory exposures, both agencies have set an occupational exposure limit at 5 mg/m.

Barium sulfate (or sulphate) is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula BaSO. It is a white crystalline solid that is odorless and insoluble in water. It occurs as the mineral barite, which is the main commercial source of barium and materials prepared from it. The white opaque appearance and its high density are exploited in its main applications.

Síran barnatý je barnatá sůl kyseliny sírové s chemickým vzorcem BaSO. Jedná se o bílý krystalický prášek nerozpustný ve vodě a jiných tradičních rozpouštědlech, je však rozpustný v koncentrované kyselině sírové. Nerost baryt je složen především ze síranu barnatého a je hlavní rudou barya. Často se extrahuje ve vysokých pecích, protože odolává vysokým teplotám.


History.

IRES sequences were first discovered in 1988 in the poliovirus (PV) and encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) RNA genomes in the labs of Nahum Sonenberg and Eckard Wimmer, respectively. They are described as distinct regions of RNA molecules that are able to recruit the eukaryotic ribosome to the mRNA. This process is also known as cap-independent translation. It has been shown that IRES elements have a distinct secondary or even tertiary structure, but similar structural features at the levels of either primary or secondary structure that are common to all IRES segments have not been reported to date.  In recent years it has become common for molecular biologists to insert IRES sequences into their vectors to allow for expression of two genes from a single vector—for example, a transgene and a fluorescent reporter molecule. The first gene is initiated at the normal 5' cap, and the second gene is initiated at the IRES.

Location.

IRESs are commonly located in the 5'UTR of RNA viruses and allow translation of the RNAs in a cap-independent manner. However, mRNAs of viruses from "Dicistroviridae" family possess two open reading frames (ORFs), and translation of each is directed by two distinct IRESs. It has also been suggested that some mammalian cellular mRNAs also have IRESs. These cellular IRES elements are thought to be located in eukaryotic mRNAs encoding genes involved in stress survival, and other processes critical to survival. As of September 2009, there are 60 animal and 8 plant viruses reported to contain IRES elements and 115 mRNA sequences containing them as well.

Activation.

IRESs are often used by viruses as a means to ensure that viral translation is active when host translation is inhibited. These mechanisms of host translation inhibition are varied, and can be initiated by both virus and host, depending on the type of virus. However, in the case of most picornaviruses, such as poliovirus, this is accomplished by viral proteolytic cleavage of eIF4G so that it cannot interact with the 5'cap binding protein eIF4E. Interaction between these two eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) of the eIF4F complex is necessary for 40S ribosomal subunit recruitment to the 5' end of mRNAs, which is further thought to occur with mRNA 5'cap to 3' poly(A) tail loop formation. The virus may even use partially-cleaved eIF4G to aid in initiation of IRES-mediated translation.  Cells may also use IRESs to increase translation of certain proteins during mitosis and programmed cell death. In mitosis, the cell dephosphorylates eIF4E so that it has little affinity for the 5'cap. As a result, the 40S ribosomal subunit, and the translational machinery is diverted to IRES within the mRNA. Many proteins involved in mitosis are encoded by IRES mRNA. In programmed cell death, cleavage of eIF-4G, such as performed by viruses, decreases translation. Lack of essential proteins contributes to the death of the cell, as does translation of IRES mRNA sequences coding proteins involved in controlling cell death.

Mechanism.

To date, the mechanism of viral IRES function is better characterized than the mechanism of cellular IRES function, which is still a matter of debate. HCV-like IRESs directly bind the 40S ribosomal subunit to position their initiator codons are located in ribosomal P-site without mRNA scanning. These IRESs still use the eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) eIF2, eIF3, eIF5, and eIF5B, but do not require the factors eIF1, eIF1A, and the eIF4F complex. In contrast, picornavirus IRESs do not bind the 40S subunit directly, but are recruited instead through the eIF4G-binding site. Many viral IRES (and cellular IRES) require additional proteins to mediate their function, known as IRES "trans"-acting factors (ITAFs). The role of ITAFs in IRES function is still under investigation.

Testing.

Testing a particular RNA sequence for IRES activity relies on a bicistronic reporter construct. When an IRES segment is located between two reporter open reading frames in a eukaryotic mRNA molecule (a bicistronic mRNA), it can drive translation of the downstream protein coding region independently of the 5'-cap structure bound to the 5' end of the mRNA molecule. In such a setup, both proteins are produced in the cell. The first reporter protein located in the first cistron is synthesized by the cap-dependent initiation, while translation initiation of the second protein is directed by the IRES element located in the intercistronic spacer between the two reporter protein coding regions. However, there are several caveats to be aware of when interpreting data produced using bicistronic reporter constructs. For example, there are several known cases of mis-reported IRES elements that were later recognized as promoter-containing regions. More recently, splice acceptor sites within several presumed IRES segments have been shown to be responsible for apparent IRES function in bicistronic reporter assays.

Limitations and alternatives.

IRES sequences are often used in molecular biology to mimic a polycistronic mRNA. One can put several genes on one plasmid and just need one promotor and terminator. The advantage of this technique is that molecular handling is improved. The problem about IRES is that the expression for each subsequent gene is decreased.  Another viral element to establish polycistronic mRNA in eukaryotes are 2A-peptides. Here the gene expression does not decrease.

An internal ribosome entry site, abbreviated IRES, is an RNA element that allows for translation initiation in a cap-independent manner, as part of the greater process of protein synthesis. In eukaryotic translation, initiation typically occurs at the 5' end of mRNA molecules, since 5' cap recognition is required for the assembly of the initiation complex. The location for IRES elements is often in the 5'UTR, but can also occur elsewhere in mRNAs.

IRES (zkratka z angl. "internal ribosome entry site", tzn. „vnitřní místo pro vstup ribozomu“) je zvláštní sekvence přítomná v oblasti před začátkem genu, která umožňuje nasednutí ribozomu a tedy spuštění translace. Jedná se o výjimku z pravidla, že ribozom nasedá na 5' čepičky, jak je to běžné u eukaryotické mRNA. IRES se zřejmě vážou do speciálního místa na ribozomu, tzv. E-místa, které přibližuje IRES startkodon (AUG) k P místu ribozomu, kde se odehrává iniciace translace.


Uses.

Calcium formate is used within EU as an animal feed preservative. It acidifies the feed thus preventing microbe growth and increasing shelf life. About 15 g of calcium formate addition per kg of feed lowers its pH by one. 15 g/kg is the maximum recommended feed concentration within EU – this level is thought to be safe for pigs, chickens, fish and ruminants. The compound is not environmentally harmful in feed use at these levels. Calcium formate prevents the growth bacteria such as "E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus" and "Enterococcus hirae" in growth mediums. It also prevents the growth of fungi like "Aspergillus niger" and "Candida albicans". However, the relevance of these experimental observations to feed preservation is not known.  Calcium formate is used as a masking agent in the chrome tanning of leather. Calcium formate in tannage formulation promotes faster, more efficient leather penetration of the chrome. Calcium formate can also be used as a replacement for formic acid in the pickling operation.  As a grout and cement additive, calcium formate imparts a number of desirable properties in the final product, e.g. increased hardness and decreased setting time. Its addition is desirable for work at low temperature and for inhibition of corrosion of metal substrates within cement/grout. It is also effective in the prevention of efflorescence. In drywall (gypsum board), calcium formate can function as a fire retardant.  Calcium formate and urea mixtures are effective deicers, and tend to cause less corrosion of steel and cement surfaces relative to some other deicers.

Research.

Calcium formate seems to be safe as a calcium supplement for people with one time doses of 3.9 g (1200 of calcium) per day. Increases in blood formate concentration have been observed with such doses, but in healthy subjects the formate does not accumulate, and is quickly metabolized. Calcium formate is shown to be more readily absorbed form of calcium than calcium carbonate and calcium citrate. No optic nerve damage has been observed with calcium formate supplementation – alongside with formaldehyde, formate is a major metabolic product of methanol, which can cause blindness upon ingestion.  Calcium formate could be used to remove environmentally harmful (see acid rain) sulfur oxides (SO) from fossil fuel exhausts of e.g. power plants. Calcium formate is added to wet calcium carbonate to promote the formation of gypsum when exhaust is run through it. This process is called wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGS). Gypsum binds sulfur oxides thus reducing their release to the environment via exhaust. Calcium formate seems to be more effective than or almost equally as effective as some other industrially used WFGS agents.

Production.

Calcium formate is formed as a co-product during trimethylolpropane production. Hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide) is used as the source of calcium. Butyraldehyde and formaldehyde react in a water solution in the presence of a basic catalyst, forming an unstable intermediate product, dimethylol butyraldehyde (DIMBA). DIMBA reacts further with formaldehyde to give trimethylolpropane and calcium formate. Calcium formate is separated from the solution, heat treated to remove formaldehyde and then dried.  Calcium formate can also be made from calcium hydroxide and carbon monoxide at high pressure and temperature – e.g., at 180 °C and 35 atm. It may also be made from calcium chloride and formic acid.

Safety.

Pure calcium formate powder irritates eyes severely, but causes no skin irritation. Powder inhalation can be dangerous. The compound has a stinging taste. Ingesting liquids with high calcium formate concentrations cause severe gastrointestinal lesions.

Calcium formate is the calcium salt of formic acid. It is also known as E238. Under this E number it is used as an animal feed preservative within EU, but not in foods intended for people.

Mravenčan vápenatý (systematický název "methanoát vápenatý" nebo "vápenatá sůl kyseliny methanové") je vápenatá sůl kyseliny mravenčí. Je to bílá krystalická látka bez zápachu. Má chemický vzorec Ca(HCOO). Existuje jako minerál formikait, ale vyskytuje se velmi řídce. Je znám z ložisek bóru. Tato látka se používala v potravinářství jako přídavná látka pod označením E238 do roku 1998.


Production.

Michael Faraday first synthesized tetrachloroethylene in 1821 by thermal decomposition of hexachloroethane.  Most tetrachloroethylene is produced by high temperature chlorinolysis of light hydrocarbons. The method is related to Faraday's discovery since hexachloroethane is generated and thermally decomposes. Side products include carbon tetrachloride, hydrogen chloride, and hexachlorobutadiene.  Several other methods have been developed. When 1,2-dichloroethane is heated to 400 °C with chlorine, tetrachloroethylene is produced by the chemical reaction: This reaction can be catalyzed by a mixture of potassium chloride and aluminium chloride or by activated carbon. Trichloroethylene is a major byproduct, which is separated by distillation.  According to a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report of 1976, the quantity of tetrachloroethylene produced in the United States in 1973 totaled 320,000 metric tons (706 million lb). By 1993, the volume produced in the United States had dropped to 123,000 metric tons (271 million lb).

Uses.

Tetrachloroethylene is an excellent solvent for organic materials. Otherwise it is volatile, highly stable, and nonflammable. For these reasons, it is widely used in dry cleaning. It is also used to degrease metal parts in the automotive and other metalworking industries, usually as a mixture with other chlorocarbons. It appears in a few consumer products including paint strippers and spot removers. It is also used in aerosol preparations.  It is used in neutrino detectors where a neutrino interacts with a neutron in the chlorine atom and converts it to a proton to form argon.

Historical applications.

Tetrachloroethylene was once extensively used as an intermediate in the manufacture of HFC-134a and related refrigerants. In the early 20th century, tetrachloroethene was used for the treatment of hookworm infestation.

Health and safety.

The acute toxicity of tetrachloroethylene "is moderate to low". "Reports of human injury are uncommon despite its wide usage in dry cleaning and degreasing".  The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified tetrachloroethylene as a Group 2A carcinogen, which means that it is probably carcinogenic to humans. Like many chlorinated hydrocarbons, tetrachloroethylene is a central nervous system depressant and can enter the body through respiratory or dermal exposure. Tetrachloroethylene dissolves fats from the skin, potentially resulting in skin irritation.  Owing to tetrachloroethylene's toxicity and cancer risks, California's Air Resources Board banned the substance from use in new dry-cleaning machines in 2007, with older PCE-using machines shut down by mid-2010 and the use of all such machines to be discontinued in California by 2023.  Animal studies and a study of 99 twins showed there is a "lot of circumstantial evidence" that exposure to tetrachloroethylene increases the risk of developing Parkinson's disease ninefold. Larger population studies are planned. Also, tetrachloroethylene has been shown to cause liver tumors in mice and kidney tumors in male rats.  At temperatures over, such as in welding, tetrachloroethylene can be oxidized into phosgene, an extremely poisonous gas.  The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has compiled extensive health and safety information for tetrachloroethylene, including recommendations for dry cleaning establishments.  Tetrachloroethylene exposure has been linked to pronounced acquired color vision deficiencies after chronic exposure.

Testing for exposure.

Tetrachloroethylene exposure can be evaluated by a breath test, analogous to breath-alcohol measurements. Because it is stored in the body's fat and slowly released into the bloodstream, tetrachloroethylene can be detected in the breath for weeks following a heavy exposure. Tetrachloroethylene and trichloroacetic acid (TCA), a breakdown product of tetrachloroethylene, can be detected in the blood.  In Europe, the Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) recommends for tetrachloroethylene an occupational exposure limit (8 hour time-weighted average) of 20 ppm and a short-term exposure limit (15 min) of 40 ppm.

Environmental contamination.

Tetrachloroethylene is a common soil contaminant. With a specific gravity greater than 1, tetrachloroethylene will be present as a dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) if sufficient quantities are released. Because of its mobility in groundwater, its toxicity at low levels, and its density (which causes it to sink below the water table), cleanup activities are more difficult than for oil spills: oil has a specific gravity less than 1. Recent research on soil and ground water pollution by tetrachloroethylene has focused on in-place remediation. Instead of excavation or extraction for above-ground treatment or disposal, tetrachloroethylene contamination has been successfully remediated by chemical treatment or bioremediation. Bioremediation has been successful under anaerobic conditions by reductive dechlorination by "Dehalococcoides" sp. and under aerobic conditions by cometabolism by "Pseudomonas" sp. Partial degradation daughter products include trichloroethylene, cis-1,2-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride; full degradation converts tetrachloroethylene to ethene and hydrogen chloride dissolved in water.  Estimates state that 85% of tetrachloroethylene produced is released into the atmosphere; while models from OECD assumed that 90% is released into the air and 10% to water. Based on these models, its distribution in the environment is estimated to be in the air (76.39% - 99.69%), water (0.23% - 23.2%), soil (0.06-7%), with the remainder in the sediment and biota. Estimates of lifetime in the atmosphere vary, but a 1987 survey estimated the lifetime in the air to be about 2 months in the Southern Hemisphere and 5–6 months in the Northern Hemisphere. Degradation products observed in a laboratory include phosgene, trichloroacetyl chloride, hydrogen chloride, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide. Tetrachloroethylene is degraded by hydrolysis, and is persistent under aerobic conditions. It is degraded by reductive dechlorination under anaerobic conditions, with degradation products such as trichloroethylene, dichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, ethylene, and ethane.. It has an ozone depletion potential of 0.005, where CFC-11 (CClF) is 1.

Tetrachloroethylene, also known under the systematic name tetrachloroethene, or perchloroethylene, and many other names (and abbreviations such as "perc" or "PERC", and "PCE"), is a chlorocarbon with the formula ClC=CCl. It is a colorless liquid widely used for dry cleaning of fabrics, hence it is sometimes called "dry-cleaning fluid". It has a sweet odor detectable by most people at a concentration of 1 part per million (1 ppm). Worldwide production was about in 1985.

Tetrachlorethylen (systematický název "tetrachlorethen"; často se používá označení perchlorethylen, lidově také tetrachlorethylmarmeláda nebo různé další názvy) je chlorovaný uhlovodík s chemickým vzorcem ClC=CCl. Jedná se o bezbarvou kapalinu široce používanou k chemickému čištění oděvů. Má sladkou vůni vnímanou většinou lidí již při koncentraci 1 ppm. Roční světová výroba v roce 1985 byla 1 milion tun.


Performance history.

"Il viaggio a Reims" was first performed at the Théâtre Italien, Paris, on 19 June 1825, with Giuditta Pasta as Corinna. There were only four original performances. The different parts of the manuscript, assumed lost, were re-found and re-assembled in the 1970s by the musicologist Janet Johnson, with the help of Philip Gossett.  The first performance after the reconstruction was given at the Rossini Opera Festival on 18 August 1984. It was conducted by Claudio Abbado and directed by Luca Ronconi. The cast included Francisco Araiza (Conte di Libenskof), Lella Cuberli (Contessa di Folleville), Enzo Dara (Barone di Trombonok), Cecilia Gasdia (Corinna), Eduardo Gimenez (Cavalier Belfiore), William Matteuzzi (Zefirino), Leo Nucci (Don Alvaro), Ruggero Raimondi (Don Profondo), Samuel Ramey (Lord Sidney), Katia Ricciarelli (Madama Cortese), and Lucia Valentini Terrani (Marchesa Melibea).  Other performances have followed. The American premiere was given on 14 June 1986 by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis at the Loretto-Hilton Theater in St. Louis, directed by Colin Graham and conducted by Richard Buckley. In 1992, The Royal Opera, London, gave several performances: Carlo Rizzi conducted, and the cast included Montserrat Caballé, Renée Fleming, Sylvia McNair, John Aler and Andrew Shore. In Helsinki, on 9 January 2003, the opera was directed by Dario Fo and conducted by Pietro Rizzo.  The Polish premiere was given in April 2003, directed by Tomasz Konina, with, among others, Ewa Podleś as Marchesa Melibea and Rockwell Blake as Count Libenskoff (Alberto Zedda conducted).  In November 2005 there was another production in Monte Carlo, with a cast including June Anderson, Raùl Gimenez, Rockwell Blake, and Ruggero Raimondi. The Wiener Staatsoper produced the opera in its Rossini Festival conducted by Claudio Abbado, with Montserrat Caballé and again Ruggero Raimondi. The Kirov Opera performed it at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, in January 2007. The work was produced in Tel Aviv by the Israeli Opera in November 2007. The African premiere was presented by the University of Cape Town in collaboration with Cape Town Opera in 2010. The South American premiere was presented by the Teatro Argentino de La Plata, Argentina, in 2011. During the 2011/12 season, productions were given by the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp in December, where the action took place inside a jumbo jet, and at the Teatro Comunale, Florence, in January where the action was staged in an early 20th-century luxury spa. Damiano Michieletto directed the opera, set in an art gallery, for the Dutch National Opera in 2015 and for the Royal Danish Opera in 2017. This production was also used for the Australian premiere at the Arts Centre Melbourne and the Sydney Opera House in 2019 for Opera Australia with Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Conal Coad, John Longmuir; Daniel Smith conducted the Orchestra Victoria.

Synopsis.

Act 1.

"Scene 1: Introduction"  The housekeeper Maddalena is unhappy with the preparations made by the servants for the arrival of the important people who are travelling to Reims for the coronation of Charles X of France. ("Presto, presto... su, corraggio") The servants repudiate her assertions. The hotel's doctor, Don Prudenzio, announces that, because of the impending arrivals, the normal business of the spa will be suspended. The spa attendants rejoice and depart. He checks with Antonio that his instructions about the necessary meals for the visitors have been followed.  Madame Cortese, the proprietress of the hotel, appears. She regrets that she will be unable to attend the coronation ("Di vaghi raggi adorno"), but is keen to show off the hotel to the visitors in the hope that they will return some day to take the waters. She particularly requests that everyone should be enthusiastic about each of the travellers' specific interests. Everyone agrees, and she is left alone.  "Scene 2: The Countess of Folleville's arrival"  The Countess calls for her maid, Modestina, and Madame Cortese goes to search for her. Modestina appears, and the Countess, worried that her clothes have not yet arrived, asks why there has been no reply to a letter that she had sent. Modestina had entrusted the letter to the Countess's cousin, Don Luigino, who immediately arrives to say that the stagecoach which he had hired to carry the boxes had overturned on the way. The Countess faints and Don Luigino calls for help.  Maddalena, Antonio, Don Prudenzio and the servants arrive, together with Baron Trombonok. Don Prudenzio and the Baron argue about how to resuscitate the Countess, but she recovers sufficiently to lament the loss of her garments. ("Partir, o ciel! desio") However, when Modestina appears with a large box containing a beautiful Paris bonnet, she rejoices that it, at least, has been saved from the accident. ("Che miro! Ah! Quel sorpresa!") Everyone is amused by this sudden turn of events, and all except Antonio and the Baron depart.  "Scene 3: Sextet"  After agreeing with the Baron the arrangements for the party's departure in the evening, Antonio leaves. The Baron cannot help laughing at the Countess's sudden recovery and the insanity of the world in general. He is joined by Don Profondo, Don Alvaro, the Marquise Melibea, Count Libenskof. It is clear that Don Alvaro and the Count are rivals for the Marquise's affections. They are all waiting for the new horses which will be necessary for the continuation of the journey, but Madame Cortese, who now arrives, says that she cannot understand why they have not arrived. Alvaro and Libenskof quarrel, the ladies are alarmed, and the Baron and Don Profondo are amused by the idiocy of lovers. ("Non pavento alcun periglio")  A harp prelude is heard, and the poetess Corinna sings offstage of brotherly love, to everyone's delight. ("Arpa gentil")

Act 2.

"Scene 1: Lord Sidney's aria"  Madame Cortese is still waiting for the return of her servant Gelsomino with news of the horses. Lord Sidney approaches, and she muses on his unwillingness to approach Corinna who, she is sure, reciprocates his love.  Sidney, alone, laments his situation. ("Invan strappar dal core") His mood lifts when girls singing in praise of Corinna enter with flowers, but then he is disturbed by Don Profondo's strange requests for information about the location of antiquities, and departs.  "Scene 2: Corinna's duet with the Chevalier Belfiore"  Profondo is joined by Corinna and her companion Delia. Corinna asks when the party is to depart, and he and Delia leave Corinna alone while they go to see whether the horses have arrived.  Corinna is joined by the Chevalier, who declares his love. ("Nel suo divin sembiante") She is taken aback and repudiates him. The Chevalier retreats, hoping to try again later, and Corinna returns to her room.  "Scene 3: Don Profondo's aria"  Don Profondo, who has seen the Chevalier with Corinna, reflects that the Countess will scratch the Chevalier's eyes out if she finds out what he has been doing. He then turns his attention to enumerating the effects of his fellow-travellers (as requested by the Baron), noting that their possessions tend to sum up their each of their nations' characteristics. ("Medaglie incomparabili") He looks forward to the impending departure.  The Countess appears, looking for the Chevalier. She is not pleased when Don Profondo tells her that he has been having a poetry lesson. Don Alvaro and Count Libenskof join them, asking about the horses, and the Baron, too, appears, looking woebegone. What has happened? The rest of the travellers arrive, and the Baron produces the courier Zefirino, who is obliged to report that there are no horses to be had anywhere, not even for ready money. There will be no journey to Reims for the coronation!  "Scene 4: Grand concerted ensemble for 14 voices"  Everyone is horrified. ("Ah! A tal colpo inaspettato") But Madame Cortese appears with a letter from Paris. Don Profondo reads it out: the King will return from Reims in a few days and there will be great festivities. Anyone who was unable to get to Reims will be consoled by an even finer spectacle. The Countess steps forward to invite the entire company to her home in Paris for the celebrations. A stagecoach will convey them there on the following day, but in the meantime a grand banquet, with invitations to the public, will be held at the Golden Lily, paid for with the money that would have been spent at the coronation. Any money left over will be given to the poor.

Act 3.

"Scene 1: Duet for the Count and the Marquise"  When everyone else has left, the Baron tries to reconcile the jealous Count with the Marquise, who has been seen with Don Alvaro. When he departs, the misunderstanding is resolved and harmony is restored. ("D'alma celeste, oh Dio!")  They depart, and the scene changes to the hotel's garden. Antonio and Maddalena ensure that all is prepared for the banquet. The Baron has engaged a travelling company to provide entertainment with singing and dancing.  "Scene 2: Finale"  After the opening chorus ("L'allegria è un sommo bene"), the Baron introduces a series of short national songs sung by each of the travellers, some of them set to well-known tunes, and ending with, first, a French anthem (the Marche Henri IV) for the Duchesse de Berry, then a rustic Tyrolean duet for Madame Cortese and Don Profondo, and finally an improvised solo for Corinna on one of a number of mostly French subjects suggested by each traveller and drawn from an urn. The winning subject turns out, appropriately enough, to be "Charles X, King of France". The opera ends with dances and a chorus.

References.

Notes  Sources

Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'albergo del giglio d'oro (The Journey to Reims, or The Hotel of the Golden Fleur-de-lis) is an operatic dramma giocoso, originally performed in three acts, by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Balocchi, based in part on "" by Germaine de Staël.

Cesta do Remeše (italsky: Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'albergo del giglio d'oro - Cesta do Remeše aneb Hotel u zlaté lilie) je korunovační opera Gioacchina Rossiniho z roku 1825 ke korunovaci francouzského krále Karla X. Žánrově se jedná o Dramma giocoso. Libreto napsal Luigi Balocchi podle románu Madame de Staël "Corinne, ou l'Italie". Premiéru měla 19. června 1825 v "Comédie-Italienne" v Paříži.