Method of operation.

The Munter hitch creates friction by having the rope rub on itself and on the object it has been wrapped around. There is no localized abrasion on any part of the rope as it is a continuously moving hitch. One very useful aspect of the Munter is its reversibility; it can be pulled from either side of the rope and it still works just as effectively. The Munter hitch is a self regulating hitch. The heavier the load the tighter the bends in the hitch become and therefore creating more friction and self regulating.

Use for rappeling.

This hitch can be used to rappel or abseil down a vertical or semi vertical wall. When using the Munter hitch to rappel make sure to get proper training before using the hitch. Using this method to rappel is very hard on rope because of the rope on rope contact and is generally considered an emergency option only.

Use as load releasable tie off.

As with most belay devices and some hitches the Munter can be tied off (dogged/dogged off) to maintain tension in a manner which is easily released under tension, this is often referred to as a Munter-Mule-Overhand or MMO (Munter Mule Overhand)  The control rope (the rope not going to the load) is tied to the load rope with a Mule Knot (aka Halter hitch) - not a slipped overhand! - and the bight (loop) that sticks out is tied in an overhand around the load rope. A carabiner is then sometimes clipped through the end of the bight and around the load rope.  Examples of when a tie off would be employed include:  When a belayer needs to transfer the load from his harness to the anchor to escape the system: a rope grab (mechanical or friction knot/Prusik) is placed on the load line towards the load, rope is terminated on the rope grab (or the tails of accessory cord are used when using a cordelette with a Prusik as a rope grab) and runs back to the anchor where a Munter mule is tied under tension. The load can then be lowered (transferred) from the original belay onto the Munter Mule via the rope grab. The new line is often consider independent of the safety system so the original belay needs to be maintained throughout the process and secured back to the anchor before the system can be left unattended.

Use as a belay.

A belay system incorporating the Munter hitch is the same as any other belay system, which incorporates a belayer to tend the rope and an anchor, which secures the belay system and belayer.  There are several advantages to the Munter hitch. It requires no additional hardware other than a carabiner. It's also the most common belay system which locks with the brake hand in line with the load, and as such is a more suitable method for direct belays than using a normal belay plate. This can be useful when the anchor, carabiner and Munter hitch are above or behind the belayer whilst attention is paid to the loaded end of the rope. It can also more effectively dissipate heat than a belay device because no two surfaces of the rope are in contact with each other for more than an instant.  However, it places more bends in a rope than other belay methods, and creates significantly more friction on the outer sheath. Another disadvantage is that it can introduce significant twists to the rope. It is a versatile knot to know and can be used for full rope length vertical descents without the need for gloves.  The friction of the rope against the screw on the carabiner can cause the screw to undo and the carabiner to open, potentially weakening the strength of the carabiner, or allowing the rope to escape the carabiner completely.

Military use.

The Munter hitch is taught on Australian military roping courses as a simple and effective method for descending steep or overhanging terrain with combat equipment and can also be used for lowering heavy stores or casualties, the only equipment required being a harness or webbing seat, a locking carabiner, and a rope.

Arboreal usage.

For the recreational tree climber or working arborist, the Munter is useful to know as a reliable lowering knot for moderate loads. This hitch performs well on both 16 strand arborist climbing lines and the 11 mm double braid lines like Blaze and Velocity.

Tower technicians.

Tower technicians also use this knot for lowering loads, and tagging heavy loads while hoisting. It is commonly referred to in the tower industry as a tag knot.

The Munter hitch, also known as the Italian hitch or the Crossing Hitch, is a simple adjustable knot, commonly used by climbers, cavers, and rescuers to control friction in a life-lining or belay system. To climbers, this knot is also known as HMS, the abbreviation for the German term "Halbmastwurfsicherung", meaning "half clove hitch belay". This technique can be used with a special "pear-shaped" HMS locking carabiner, or any locking carabiner wide enough to take two turns of the rope. The Munter hitch is named after Werner Munter, a Swiss mountain guide who popularised its use in mountaineering.

Poloviční lodní smyčka, zkráceně "půlloďák" nebo HMS (z německého "Halbmastwurf"), je uzel používaný především v horolezectví. Používá se pro jištění prvolezce i druholezce (doporučená jistící metoda UIAA), v nouzi i na slaňování, má velmi dobré vlastnosti při zachycování pádu. Smyčka sama o sobě nedrží, pouze třením brzdí posouvání lana. Při spouštění lezce nebo při slaňování výrazně kroutí lano, což komplikuje jeho pohodlné používání.


Terminology.

Opioids include "opiates", an older term that refers to such drugs derived from opium, including morphine itself. Other opioids are semi-synthetic and synthetic drugs such as hydrocodone, oxycodone and fentanyl; antagonist drugs such as naloxone; and endogenous peptides such as the endorphins. The terms "opiate" and "narcotic" are sometimes encountered as synonyms for opioid. "Opiate"

Medical uses.

Pain.

The weak opioid codeine, in low doses and combined with one or more other drugs, is commonly available without a prescription and can be used to treat mild pain. Other opioids are usually reserved for the relief of moderate to severe pain.

Acute pain.

Opioids are effective for the treatment of acute pain (such as pain following surgery). For immediate relief of moderate to severe acute pain, opioids are frequently the treatment of choice due to their rapid onset, efficacy, and reduced risk of dependence. However, a new report showed a clear risk of prolonged opioid use when opioid analgesics are

Chronic non-cancer pain.

Guidelines have suggested that the risk of opioids is likely greater than their benefits when used for most non-cancer chronic conditions including headaches, back pain, and fibromyalgia. Thus, they should be used cautiously in chronic non-cancer pain. If used, the benefits and harms should be reassessed at least every three months.  In treating chronic pain, opioids are an option to be tried after other less risky pain relievers have been considered, including paracetamol/acetaminophen or NSAIDs like ibuprofen or naproxen. Some types of chronic pain, including the pain caused by fibromyalgia or migraine, are preferentially treated with drugs other than opioids. The efficacy of using opioids to lessen chronic neuropathic pain is uncertain.  Opioids are contraindicated as a first-line treatment for

Other.

Cough.

Codeine was once viewed as the "gold standard" in cough suppressants, but this position is now questioned. Some recent placebo-controlled trials have found that it may be no better than a placebo for some causes including acute cough in children. Thus, it is not recommended for

Diarrhea and constipation.

In cases of diarrhea-predominate irritable bowel syndrome, opioids may be used to suppress diarrhea. Loperamide is a peripherally selective opioid available without a

Shortness of breath.

Opioids may help with shortness of breath particularly in advanced diseases such as cancer and COPD among others.

Adverse effects.

In older adults, opioid use is associated with increased adverse effects such as "sedation, nausea, vomiting, constipation, urinary retention, and falls". As a result, older adults taking opioids are at greater risk for injury. Opioids do not cause any specific organ toxicity, unlike many other drugs, such as aspirin and paracetamol. They are not associated with upper gastrointestinal bleeding and kidney toxicity.  Prescription of opioids for acute low back pain and management of osteoarthritis seem to have long-term adverse effects  Children born to opioid-dependent mothers, especially those prescribed methadone, are at risk for neurodevelopment impairment, having lower Mental Development Index and Psychomotor Development Index scores than unexposed children.  Research suggests that when methadone is used long-term it can build up unpredictably in the body and lead to potentially deadly slowed breathing. Used medically, approaching toxicity goes unrecognized because the pain medication effect ends long before the drug's elimination half-life. According to the USCDC, methadone was involved in 31% of opioid related deaths in the US between 1999–2010 and 40% as the sole drug involved, far higher than other opioids. Studies of long term opioids have found that may stop them and minor side effects were common. Addiction occurred in about 0.3%. In the United States in 2016, opioid overdose resulted in the death of 1.7 in 10,000 people.  In the US charts below many deaths involve multiple opioids:

Reinforcement disorders.

Tolerance.

Tolerance is a process characterized by neuroadaptations that results in reduced drug effects. While receptor upregulation may often play an important role, other mechanisms are also known. Tolerance is more pronounced for some effects than for others; tolerance occurs slowly to the effects on mood, itching, urinary retention, and respiratory depression, but occurs more quickly to the analgesia and other physical side effects. However, tolerance does not develop to

Physical dependence.

Physical dependence is the physiological adaptation of the body to the presence of a substance, in this case, opioid medication. It is defined by the development of withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued, when the dose is reduced abruptly or, specifically in the case of opioids, when an antagonist ("e.g.", naloxone) or an agonist-antagonist ("e.g.", pentazocine) is administered. Physical dependence is a normal and expected aspect of certain medications and does not necessarily imply that the patient is addicted.  The withdrawal symptoms for opiates may include severe dysphoria, craving for another

Addiction.

Drug addiction is a complex set of behaviors typically associated with misuse of certain drugs, developing over time and with higher drug dosages. Addiction includes psychological compulsion, to the extent that the sufferer persists in actions leading to dangerous or unhealthy outcomes. Opioid addiction includes insufflation or injection, rather than taking opioids orally as prescribed for medical reasons.  In European nations such as Austria, Bulgaria, and Slovakia, slow release oral morphine formulations are used in opiate substitution therapy (OST) for patients who do not well tolerate the side effects of buprenorphine or methadone. Buprenorphine can also be used together with naloxone for longer treatment of addiction. In other

Nausea and vomiting.

Tolerance to nausea occurs within 7–10 days, during which antiemetics ("e.g." low dose haloperidol once at night) are very effective. Due to severe side effects such as tardive dyskinesia, haloperidol is now rarely used. A related drug, prochlorperazine is more often used, although it has similar risks. Stronger antiemetics such as ondansetron or tropisetron are sometimes used when nausea is severe or continuous and disturbing, despite their greater cost. A less expensive alternative is dopamine antagonists such as domperidone and metoclopramide. Domperidone does not cross the blood–brain barrier and produce adverse central antidopaminergic effects, but blocks opioid emetic action in the chemoreceptor trigger zone. (The drug is not available in

Drowsiness.

Tolerance to drowsiness usually develops over 5–7 days, but if troublesome, switching to an alternative opioid often helps. Certain opioids such as fentanyl, morphine and diamorphine (heroin) tend to be particularly sedating, while

Itching.

Itching tends not to be a severe problem when opioids are used for pain relief, but antihistamines are useful for counteracting itching when it occurs. Non-sedating antihistamines such as fexofenadine are often preferred as

Constipation.

Opioid-induced constipation (OIC) develops in 90 to 95% of people taking opioids long-term. Since tolerance to this problem does not generally develop, most people on long-term opioids need to take a laxative or enemas.  Treatment of OIC is successional and dependent on severity. The first mode of treatment is non-pharmacological, and includes lifestyle modifications like increasing dietary fiber, fluid intake (around per day), and physical activity. If non-pharmacological measures are ineffective, laxatives, including stool softeners ("e.g.", polyethylene glycol), bulk-forming laxatives ("e.g.", fiber supplements), stimulant laxatives ("e.g.", bisacodyl, senna), and/or enemas, may be used. A common laxative regimen for OIC is the combination of docusate and bisacodyl. Osmotic laxatives, including lactulose, polyethylene

Respiratory depression.

Respiratory depression is the most serious adverse reaction associated with opioid use, but it usually is seen with the use of a single, intravenous dose in an opioid-naïve patient. In patients taking opioids regularly for pain relief, tolerance to respiratory depression occurs rapidly, so that it is not a clinical problem. Several drugs have been developed

Increased pain sensitivity.

Opioid-induced hyperalgesia – where individuals using opioids to relieve pain paradoxically experience more pain as a result of that medication – has been observed in some people. This phenomenon, although uncommon, is seen in some people receiving palliative care, most often when dose is increased rapidly. If encountered, rotation between several different opioid pain medications may decrease the development of increased pain. Opioid induced hyperalgesia more commonly occurs with chronic use or brief high doses but some research suggests that it may also occur with very low doses.  Side effects such as hyperalgesia and allodynia, sometimes accompanied by a worsening of neuropathic pain, may be consequences of long-term treatment with opioid analgesics, especially when increasing

Other adverse effects.

Low sex hormone levels.

Clinical studies have consistently associated medical and recreational opioid use with hypogonadism (low sex hormone levels) in different sexes. The effect is dose-dependent. Most studies suggest that the majority (perhaps as much as 90%) of chronic opioid users suffer from hypogonadism. Opioids can also interfere with menstruation in women by limiting the production of luteinizing hormone (LH). Opioid-induced hypogonadism likely causes the strong association of opioid use

Disruption of work.

Use of opioids may be a risk factor for failing to return to work.  Persons performing any safety-sensitive task should not use opioids. Health care providers should not recommend that workers who drive or use heavy equipment including cranes or forklifts treat chronic or acute pain with opioids. Workplaces which manage workers who perform

Increased accident-proneness.

Opioid use may increase accident-proneness. Opioids may increase risk of traffic accidents and accidental falls.  Reduced Attention  Opioids

side effects.

Infrequent adverse reactions in patients taking opioids for pain relief include: dose-related respiratory depression (especially with more potent opioids), confusion, hallucinations, delirium, urticaria, hypothermia, bradycardia/tachycardia, orthostatic hypotension, dizziness, headache, urinary retention, ureteric or biliary spasm, muscle rigidity, myoclonus (with high doses), and flushing (due to histamine release, except fentanyl and remifentanil). Both therapeutic and chronic use of opioids can compromise the function of the immune system. Opioids decrease the proliferation of macrophage progenitor cells and lymphocytes, and affect cell differentiation (Roy & Loh, 1996). Opioids may also inhibit leukocyte migration. However the relevance of this in the context of pain relief is not known.

Interactions.

Physicians treating patients using opioids in combination with other drugs keep continual documentation that further treatment is indicated and remain aware of opportunities to adjust treatment if the patient's condition changes to merit less risky therapy.

With other depressant drugs.

The concurrent use of opioids with other depressant drugs such as benzodiazepines or ethanol increases the rates of adverse events and overdose. The concurrent use of opioids with other depressant drugs such as benzodiazepines or ethanol increases the rates of

Opioid antagonist.

Opioid effects (adverse or otherwise) can be reversed with an opioid antagonist such as naloxone or naltrexone. These competitive antagonists bind to the opioid receptors with higher affinity than agonists but do not activate the receptors. This displaces the agonist, attenuating or reversing the agonist effects. However, the elimination half-life of naloxone can be shorter than that of the opioid itself, so repeat dosing or continuous infusion may be required, or a longer acting antagonist such as nalmefene may be used. In patients taking opioids regularly it is essential that the opioid is only partially reversed to avoid a severe and distressing reaction of waking in excruciating pain. This is achieved by not giving a full

Pharmacology.

Opioids bind to specific opioid receptors in the nervous system and other tissues. There are three principal classes of opioid receptors, μ, κ, δ (mu, kappa, and delta), although up to seventeen have been reported, and include the ε, ι, λ, and ζ (Epsilon, Iota, Lambda and Zeta) receptors. Conversely, σ (Sigma) receptors are no longer considered to be opioid receptors because their activation is not reversed by the opioid inverse-agonist naloxone, they do not exhibit high-affinity binding for classical opioids, and they are stereoselective for dextro-rotatory isomers while the other opioid receptors are stereo-selective for levo-rotatory isomers. In addition, there are three subtypes of μ-receptor: μ and μ, and the newly discovered μ. Another receptor of clinical importance is the opioid-receptor-like receptor 1 (ORL1), which is involved in pain responses as well as having a major role in the development of tolerance to μ-opioid agonists used as analgesics. These are all G-protein coupled receptors acting on GABAergic neurotransmission.  The pharmacodynamic response to an opioid depends upon the receptor to which it binds, its affinity for that receptor, and whether the opioid is an agonist or an antagonist. For example, the supraspinal analgesic properties of the opioid agonist morphine are mediated by activation of the μ receptor; respiratory depression and physical dependence by the μ receptor; and sedation and spinal analgesia by the κ receptor. Each group of opioid receptors elicits a distinct set of neurological responses, with the receptor subtypes (such as μ and μ for example) providing even more [measurably] specific responses. Unique to each opioid is its distinct binding affinity to the various classes of opioid receptors ("e.g." the μ, κ, and δ opioid receptors are activated at different magnitudes according to the specific receptor binding affinities of the opioid). For example, the opiate alkaloid morphine exhibits high-affinity binding to the μ-opioid receptor, while ketazocine exhibits high affinity to ĸ receptors. It is this combinatorial mechanism that allows for such a wide class of opioids and molecular designs to exist, each with its own unique effect profile. Their individual molecular structure is also responsible for their different duration of action, whereby metabolic breakdown (such as "N"-dealkylation) is responsible for opioid metabolism.

Functional selectivity.

A new strategy of drug development takes receptor signal transduction into consideration. This strategy strives to increase the activation of desirable signalling pathways while reducing the impact on undesirable

Opioid comparison.

Extensive research has been conducted to determine equivalence ratios comparing the relative potency of opioids. Given a dose of an opioid, an equianalgesic table is used to find the equivalent dosage

Usage.

Opioid prescriptions in the US increased from 76 million in 1991 to 207 million in 2013.  In the 1990s, opioid prescribing increased significantly. Once used almost exclusively for the treatment of acute pain or pain due to cancer, opioids are now prescribed liberally for people experiencing chronic pain. This has been accompanied by rising rates of accidental addiction and accidental overdoses leading to death. According to the International Narcotics Control Board, the United States and Canada lead the per capita consumption of prescription opioids. The number of opioid prescriptions per capita in

History.

Naturally occurring opioids.

Opioids are among the world's oldest known drugs. The earliest known evidence of "Papaver somniferum" in a human archaeological site dates to the Neolithic period around 5,700–5,500 BC. Its seeds have been found at Cueva de los Murciélagos in the Iberian Peninsula and La Marmotta in the Italian Peninsula.  Use of the opium poppy for medical, recreational, and religious purposes can be traced to the 4th century BC, when ideograms on Sumerians clay tablets mention the use of "Hul Gil", a "plant of joy". Opium was known to the Egyptians, and is mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus as an ingredient in a mixture for the soothing of children, and for the treatment of breast abscesses.  Opium was also known to the Greeks. It was valued by Hippocrates (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) and his students for its sleep-inducing properties, and used for the treatment of pain. The Latin saying "Sedare dolorem opus divinum est", trans. "Alleviating pain is the work of the divine", has been variously ascribed to Hippocrates and to Galen

Laudanum.

The term laudanum was used generically for a useful medicine until the 17th century. After Thomas Sydenham introduced the first liquid tincture of opium, "laudanum" came to mean a mixture of both opium and

The opium trade.

Opium became a major colonial commodity, moving legally and illegally through trade networks involving India, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British and China, among others. The British East India Company saw the opium trade as an investment opportunity in 1683 AD. In 1773 the Governor of Bengal established a monopoly

Morphine.

In the 19th century, two major scientific advances were made that had far-reaching effects. Around 1804, German pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner isolated morphine from opium. He described its crystallization, structure, and pharmacological properties in a well-received paper in 1817. Morphine was the first alkaloid to be isolated from any medicinal plant, the beginning of modern scientific drug discovery.  The second advance, nearly fifty years later, was the refinement of the hypodermic needle by Alexander Wood and

Codeine.

Codeine was discovered in 1832 by Pierre Jean Robiquet. Robiquet was reviewing a method for morphine extraction, described by Scottish chemist William Gregory (1803–1858). Processing the residue left from Gregory's procedure, Robiquet isolated a crystalline substance from the other active components of opium. He wrote of his discovery:

Semisynthetic and synthetic opioids.

Synthetic opioids were invented, and biological mechanisms for their actions discovered, in the 20th century. Scientists have searched for non-addictive forms of opioids, but have created stronger ones instead. In England Charles Romley Alder Wright developed hundreds of opiate compounds in his search for a nonaddictive opium derivative. In 1874 he became the first person to synthesize diamorphine (heroin), using a process called acetylation which involved boiling morphine with acetic anhydride for several hours.  Heroin received little attention until it was independently synthesized by Felix Hoffmann (1868–1946), working for Heinrich Dreser (1860–1924) at Bayer Laboratories. Dreser brought the new drug to market as an analgesic and a cough treatment for tuberculosis, bronchitis, and asthma in 1898. Bayer ceased production in 1913, after heroin's addictive potential was

Criminalization and medical use.

Non-clinical use of opium was criminalized in the United States by the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914, and by many other laws. The use of opioids was stigmatized, and it was seen as a dangerous substance, to be prescribed only as a last resort for dying patients. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 eventually relaxed the harshness of the Harrison Act.  In the United Kingdom the 1926 report of the Departmental Committee on Morphine and Heroin Addiction under the Chairmanship of the President of the Royal College of Physicians reasserted medical control and established the "British system" of control—which lasted until the 1960s.  In the 1980s the World Health Organization published guidelines for prescribing drugs,

"Remove the Risk".

In April 2019 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the launch of a new education campaign to help Americans understand the important role they play in removing and properly disposing of unused prescription opioids from their homes. This new initiative is

Society and culture.

Definition.

The term "opioid" originated in the 1950s. It combines "opium" + "-oid" meaning "opiate-like" ("opiates" being morphine and similar drugs derived from opium). The first scientific publication to use it, in 1963, included a footnote stating, "In this paper, the term, 'opioid', is used in the sense originally proposed by George H. Acheson (personal communication) to refer to any chemical compound with morphine-like activities". By the late 1960s, research found that opiate effects are mediated by activation of specific molecular

Efforts to reduce abuse in the US.

In 2011, the Obama administration released a white paper describing the administration's plan to deal with the opioid crisis. The administration's concerns about addiction and accidental overdosing have been echoed by numerous other medical and government advisory groups around the world.  As of 2015, prescription drug monitoring programs exist in every state, except for Missouri. These programs allow pharmacists and prescribers to access patients' prescription histories in order to identify suspicious use. However, a survey of US physicians published in 2015 found that only 53% of doctors used these programs, while 22% were

Global shortages.

Morphine and other poppy-based medicines have been identified by the World Health Organization as essential in the treatment of severe pain. As of 2002, seven countries (USA, UK, Italy, Australia, France, Spain and Japan) use 77% of the world's morphine supplies, leaving many emerging countries lacking in pain relief medication. The current system of supply of raw poppy materials to make poppy-based medicines is regulated by the International Narcotics Control Board under the provision of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The amount of raw poppy materials that each country can demand annually based on these provisions must correspond

Recreational use.

Opioids can produce strong feelings of euphoria and are frequently used recreationally. Traditionally associated with illicit opioids such as heroin, prescription opioids are misused recreationally.  Drug misuse and non-medical use include the use

Classification.

There are a number of broad classes of opioids: Tramadol and tapentadol, which act as monoamine uptake inhibitors also act as mild and potent agonists (respectively) of the μ-opioid receptor. Both drugs produce analgesia even when naloxone, an opioid antagonist, is administered.  Some minor opium alkaloids and various substances with opioid action are also found elsewhere, including molecules present in kratom, "Corydalis", and "Salvia divinorum" plants and some species of poppy aside from "Papaver somniferum". There are also strains which produce copious amounts of thebaine, an important raw material for making many semi-synthetic and synthetic opioids. Of all of the more than 120 poppy species, only two produce morphine.  Amongst analgesics there are a small number of agents which act on the central nervous system but not on the opioid receptor system and therefore have none of the other (narcotic) qualities of opioids although they may produce euphoria by relieving pain—a euphoria that, because of the way it is produced, does not form the basis of habituation, physical dependence, or addiction. Foremost amongst these are nefopam, orphenadrine, and perhaps phenyltoloxamine or some other antihistamines. Tricyclic antidepressants have painkilling effect as well, but they're thought to do so by indirectly activating the endogenous opioid system. Paracetamol is predominantly a centrally acting analgesic (non-narcotic) which mediates its effect by action on descending serotoninergic (5-hydroxy triptaminergic) pathways, to increase 5-HT release (which inhibits release of pain mediators). It also decreases cyclo-oxygenase activity. It has recently been discovered that most or all of the therapeutic efficacy of paracetamol is due to a metabolite, AM404, which enhances the release of serotonin and inhibits the uptake of anandamide.  Other analgesics work peripherally ("i.e.", not on the brain or spinal cord). Research is starting to show that morphine and related drugs may indeed have peripheral effects as well, such as morphine gel working on burns. Recent investigations discovered opioid receptors on peripheral sensory neurons. A significant fraction (up to 60%) of opioid analgesia can be mediated by such peripheral opioid receptors, particularly in inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, traumatic or surgical pain. Inflammatory pain is also blunted by endogenous opioid peptides activating peripheral opioid receptors.  It was discovered in 1953, that humans and some animals naturally produce minute amounts of morphine, codeine, and possibly some of their simpler derivatives like heroin and dihydromorphine, in addition to endogenous opioid peptides. Some bacteria are capable of producing some semi-synthetic opioids such as hydromorphone and hydrocodone when living in a solution containing morphine or codeine respectively.  Many of the alkaloids and other derivatives of the opium poppy are not opioids or narcotics; the best example is the smooth-muscle relaxant papaverine. Noscapine is a marginal case as it does have CNS effects but not necessarily similar to morphine, and it is probably in a category all its own.  Dextromethorphan (the stereoisomer of levomethorphan, a semi-synthetic opioid agonist) and its metabolite dextrorphan have no opioid analgesic effect at all despite their structural similarity to other opioids; instead they are potent NMDA antagonists and sigma 1 and 2-receptor agonists and are used in many over-the-counter cough suppressants.  Salvinorin A is a unique selective, powerful ĸ-opioid receptor agonist. It is not properly considered an opioid nevertheless, because:

Endogenous opioids.

Opioid-peptides that are produced in the body include:  β-endorphin is expressed in Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) cells in the arcuate nucleus, in the brainstem and in immune cells, and acts through μ-opioid receptors. β-endorphin has many effects, including on sexual behavior and appetite. β-endorphin is also secreted into the circulation from pituitary corticotropes and melanotropes. α-neo-endorphin is also expressed in POMC cells in the

Opium alkaloids and derivatives.

Opium alkaloids.

Phenanthrenes naturally occurring in (opium):  Preparations of mixed opium alkaloids, including papaveretum, are still occasionally used.

Allosteric modulators.

Plain allosteric modulators do not belong

Opioids are substances that, when reaching opioid receptors, have effects similar to those of morphine. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid use disorder, reversing opioid overdose, suppressing cough, as well as for executions in the United States. Extremely potent opioids such as carfentanil are approved only for veterinary use. Opioids are also frequently used non-medically for their euphoric effects or to prevent withdrawal. Side effects of opioids may include itchiness, sedation, nausea, respiratory depression, constipation, and euphoria. Long-term use can cause tolerance, meaning that increased doses are required to achieve the same effect, and physical dependence, meaning that abruptly discontinuing the drug leads to unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. The euphoria attracts recreational use and frequent, escalating recreational use of opioids typically results in addiction. An overdose or concurrent use with other depressant drugs like benzodiazepines commonly results in death from respiratory depression. Opioids act by binding to opioid receptors, which are found principally in the central and peripheral nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. These receptors mediate both the psychoactive and the somatic effects of opioids. Opioid drugs include partial agonists, like the anti-diarrhea drug loperamide and antagonists like naloxegol for opioid-induced constipation, which do not cross the blood-brain barrier, but can displace other opioids from binding to those receptors. 69,000 people worldwide die of opioid overdose each year and 15 million people have an opioid addiction.

Jako opioid je označena látka schopná vázat se na opioidní receptor. Tyto receptory se nachází zejména v centrálním nervovém systému a v menší míře i v trávicí soustavě. Existují čtyři hlavní skupiny opioidů:


History.

In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1412, when Hungary leased Litmanová to Poland in an effort to raise money for a war. After 360 years of Polish rule, Poland returned Litmanová to Hungary in 1772. The village was located in the northeastern part of Szepes County. Then in 1918, the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire paved the way for Litmanová’s admittance into the newly formed country of Czechoslovakia. Finally, in 1993, through a joint decision, Czechoslovakia was partitioned into two independent countries, the Czech and Slovak Republics. Since this time, Litmanová has been part of the Slovak Republic. Many residents emigrated to the United States in the early 20th century.

Geography.

The municipality lies at an altitude of 670 metres (2200 feet) and covers an area of. It had a population of 629 people in 2004, most of them Rusyns. Litmanová is located very close to the Polish border. No roads cross the border here, but there are a number of hiking trails with border crossings.

Government.

Litmanová’s government consists of a head mayor and seven councilmen. Elections are held every four years. Each official is elected by the village people. There are no term limits.

Education.

Education in this small village is limited to one tiny schoolhouse. The school holds roughly: 80 pupils, 10 teachers, a principal and a vice-principal. Only grades 1 to 4 are taught here. For further education, pupils must travel to the nearest city, Stará Ľubovňa, approximately 12 km (7 miles) away.

Great religious events.

Between 1990 and 1995, two young girls - Ivetka Korčáková (born 1978) and Katka Češelková (born 1977) - reported several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of "The Immaculate Purity" on Zvir Mountain in Litmanová. During these religious events, the visionaries were accompanied by many priests, and now there is a Marian shrine at the place of the apparitions. Many people, not only Slovaks, make pilgrimages to this location to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and obtain water from a holy stream.

Litmanová (, "Lytmanova"; ; - until 1902 "Littmanova") is a village and municipality in Stará Ľubovňa District in the Prešov Region of northern Slovakia. A small ski resort and a Catholic religious site are located in Litmanová.

Litmanová je vesnice ve východním Slovensku v okrese Stará Ľubovňa. V blízkosti obce se nachází lyžařský areál. Asi tři kilometry od obce leží hora Zvir, známé poutní místo, na kterém se v letech 1990 až 1995 údajně dvěma slovenským dívkám zjevovala Panna Maria. O hlavní protagonistce zjevení a těchto událostech byl v roce 2008 natočen český dokumentární film "Ivetka a hora".


Hydrology, geology and geography.

During the rain season in winter, the lake is filled by numerous wadi (periodically drying rivers), mostly from north and north-west. The largest of them are the Djedi and Arab running from west to east down the slopes of Aurès Mountains. Others include Abiod, Beggour Mitta, Biskra, Bir Az Atrous, Cheria, Demmed, Dermoun, Derradj, Djedeida, Djemorah, Halail, Horchane, Ittel, Mechra, Melh, Mzi, Messad, Oum El Ksob, Soukies, Tadmit and Zeribet. In summer, the lake and most the rivers feeding it dry out, and Chott Melrhir turns into a salt pan. The annual water evaporation varies between 9.6 and 20 km, and evaporation from soil nearby the lake can reach 14 km.  Chott Melrhir is separated from the nearby Chott Meorouane, which lies south-west, by a stripe of permanently dry land which can be as narrow as 4 kilometers in some places. The bottom of the lake is mostly composed of gypsum and mud and is covered in salt in summer. The lake emits a garlic-like odor. Although the dry soil in and around the lake appears arable, it is nearly barren due to the high concentration of salt. For the same reason, the soil absorbs much condensation overnight that keeps it partly humid during much of the day.

Climate.

The climate in the Chott Melrhir is hot and arid with high evaporation and low precipitation. The average lowest and highest temperatures are 11.4 and 34.2 °C, respectively, and the minimum temperature is about 0 °C. Annual precipitation is below 160 mm. The winds have a speed between 2.7 and 5.3 m/s and are mostly directed south-east between June and September and north-west between autumn and early spring. Sandstorms are more frequent in winter and late summer and last 39 days per year on average.

Flora and fauna.

The shallow waters of the lake contain scarce vegetation composed of 72 species of plants which have adapted to salty water, such as Parish's glasswort ("Arthrocnemum subterminale"), sea lavender ("Limonium"), rushes ("Juncus"), glasswort ("Salicornia"), "Sarcocornia", bulrush ("Scirpus") and seepweeds ("Suaeda"). Some species are unique for Algeria and 14 are endemic, such as "Fagonia microphylla", "Oudneya africana", "Zygophyllum cornutum", "Limoniastrum feii" and "Ammosperma cinerea". They grown up to 30 cm in height and host relatively rich avifauna, mostly ducks, sandgrouse, houbara bustard ("Chlamydotis undulata") and greater flamingo ("Phoenicopterus roseus"). Lake waters are saturated with salt with concentrations reaching 0.4 kg/L and sustain only few animal species, such as brine shrimp. Wild boars, golden jackals, hares and foxes were observed around the lake. In June 2003, Chott Melrhir was included to the List of Ramsar wetlands of international importance.

Chott Melrhir () also known as Chott Melghir or Chott Melhir is an endorheic salt lake in northeastern Algeria. It the westernmost part of a series of depressions, which extend from the Gulf of Gabès into the Sahara. They were created between Miocene and Early Pleistocene as a result of compression accompanying the formation of the Atlas Mountains. With the maximum area of about, Chott Melrhir is the largest lake in Algeria. It lies almost entirely below the sea level and contains the lowest point in Algeria,. Its size varies over the year and is usually larger than from east to west. The nearby cities are Biskra (60 km north-east), El Oued and Touggourt (85 km south).

Šot Melrhir ("Chott Melrhir", ["shaṭ malghígh"]) je slané bezodtoké jezero (šot) na východě alžírské části Sahary. Je to největší jezero v zemi. Jezero se nachází uprostřed bezodtoké oblasti, v propadlině, jejíž dno se nachází pod úrovní moře. V současné době je rozdělené na dvě části. Má rozlohu 6700 km2. Leží 26 m pod úrovní světového oceánu.


Etymology.

"Syllable" is an Anglo-Norman variation of Old French "sillabe", from Latin "syllaba", from Koine Greek "syllabḗ" (). means "what is taken together", referring to letters that are taken together to make a single sound.

Transcription.

In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the period marks syllable breaks, as in the word "astronomical".  In practice, however, IPA transcription is typically divided into words by spaces, and often these spaces are also understood to be syllable breaks. In addition, the stress mark is placed immediately before a stressed syllable, and when the stressed syllable is in the middle of a word, the stress mark also marks a syllable break, for example in the word "understood".  When a word space comes in the middle of a syllable (that is, when a syllable spans words), a tie bar can be used for liaison, as in the French combination "les amis". The liaison tie is also used to join lexical words into phonological words, for example "hot dog".  A Greek sigma,, is used as a wild card for'syllable', and a dollar/peso sign,, marks a syllable boundary where the usual period might be misunderstood. For example, is a pair of syllables, and is a syllable-final vowel.

Components.

Typical model.

In the typical theory of syllable structure, the general structure of a syllable (σ) consists of three segments. These segments are grouped into two components:  The syllable is usually considered right-branching, i.e. nucleus and coda are grouped together as a "rime" and are only distinguished at the second level.  The "nucleus" is usually the vowel in the middle of a syllable. The "onset" is the sound or sounds occurring before the nucleus, and the "coda" (literally 'tail') is the sound or sounds that follow the nucleus. They are sometimes collectively known as the "shell". The term "rime" covers the nucleus plus coda. In the one-syllable English word "cat", the nucleus is "a" (the sound that can be shouted or sung on its own), the onset "c", the coda "t", and the rime "at". This syllable can be abstracted as a "consonant-vowel-consonant" syllable, abbreviated "CVC". Languages vary greatly in the restrictions on the sounds making up the onset, nucleus and coda of a syllable, according to what is termed a language's phonotactics.  Although every syllable has supra-segmental features, these are usually ignored if not semantically relevant, e.g. in tonal languages.

Chinese model.

In Chinese syllable structure, the onset is replaced with an initial, and a semivowel or liquid forms another segment, called the medial. These four segments are grouped into two slightly different components:  In many languages of the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area, such as Chinese, the syllable structure is expanded to include an additional, optional segment known as a medial, which is located between the onset (often termed the "initial" in this context) and the rime. The medial is normally a semivowel, but reconstructions of Old Chinese generally include liquid medials ( in modern reconstructions, in older versions), and many reconstructions of Middle Chinese include a medial contrast between and, where the functions phonologically as a glide rather than as part of the nucleus. In addition, many reconstructions of both Old and Middle Chinese include complex medials such as,, and. The medial groups phonologically with the rime rather than the onset, and the combination of medial and rime is collectively known as the final.  Some linguists, especially when discussing the modern Chinese varieties, use the terms "final" and "rime/rhyme" interchangeably. In historical Chinese phonology, however, the distinction between "final" (including the medial) and "rime" (not including the medial) is important in understanding the rime dictionaries and rime tables that form the primary sources for Middle Chinese, and as a result most authors distinguish the two according to the above definition.

Grouping of components.

In some theories of phonology, syllable structures are displayed as tree diagrams (similar to the trees found in some types of syntax). Not all phonologists agree that syllables have internal structure; in fact, some phonologists doubt the existence of the syllable as a theoretical entity.  There are many arguments for a hierarchical relationship, rather than a linear one, between the syllable constituents. One hierarchical model groups the syllable nucleus and coda into an intermediate level, the "rime". The hierarchical model accounts for the role that the "nucleus"+"coda" constituent plays in verse (i.e., rhyming words such as "cat" and "bat" are formed by matching both the nucleus and coda, or the entire rime), and for the distinction between heavy and light syllables, which plays a role in phonological processes such as, for example, sound change in Old English "scipu" and "wordu".

Body.

In some traditional descriptions of certain languages such as Cree and Ojibwe, the syllable is considered left-branching, i.e. onset and nucleus group below a higher-level unit, called a "body" or "core". This contrasts with the coda.

Rime.

The rime or rhyme of a syllable consists of a nucleus and an optional coda. It is the part of the syllable used in most poetic rhymes, and the part that is lengthened or stressed when a person elongates or stresses a word in speech.  The rime is usually the portion of a syllable from the first vowel to the end. For example, is the rime of all of the words "at", "sat", and "flat". However, the nucleus does not necessarily need to be a vowel in some languages. For instance, the rime of the second syllables of the words "bottle" and "fiddle" is just, a liquid consonant.  Just as the rime branches into the nucleus and coda, the nucleus and coda may each branch into multiple phonemes. The limit for the number of phonemes which may be contained in each varies by language. For example, Japanese and most Sino-Tibetan languages do not have consonant clusters at the beginning or end of syllables, whereas many Eastern European languages can have more than two consonants at the beginning or end of the syllable. In English, the onset, nucleus, and coda may all have two phonemes, as in the word "flouts": [fl] in the onset, the diphthong [aʊ] in the nucleus, and [ts] in the coda.  "Rime" and "rhyme" are variants of the same word, but the rarer form "rime" is sometimes used to mean specifically "syllable rime" to differentiate it from the concept of poetic rhyme. This distinction is not made by some linguists and does not appear in most dictionaries.

Weight.

A heavy syllable is generally one with a "branching rime", i.e. it is either a "closed syllable" that ends in a consonant, or a syllable with a "branching nucleus", i.e. a long vowel or diphthong. The name is a metaphor, based on the nucleus or coda having lines that branch in a tree diagram.  In some languages, heavy syllables include both VV (branching nucleus) and VC (branching rime) syllables, contrasted with V, which is a light syllable. In other languages, only VV syllables are considered heavy, while both VC and V syllables are light. Some languages distinguish a third type of superheavy syllable, which consists of VVC syllables (with both a branching nucleus and rime) or VCC syllables (with a coda consisting of two or more consonants) or both.  In moraic theory, heavy syllables are said to have two moras, while light syllables are said to have one and superheavy syllables are said to have three. Japanese phonology is generally described this way.  Many languages forbid superheavy syllables, while a significant number forbid any heavy syllable. Some languages strive for constant syllable weight; for example, in stressed, non-final syllables in Italian, short vowels co-occur with closed syllables while long vowels co-occur with open syllables, so that all such syllables are heavy (not light or superheavy).  The difference between heavy and light frequently determines which syllables receive stress – this is the case in Latin and Arabic, for example. The system of poetic meter in many classical languages, such as Classical Greek, Classical Latin, Old Tamil and Sanskrit, is based on syllable weight rather than stress (so-called "quantitative rhythm" or "quantitative meter").

Syllabification.

Syllabification is the separation of a word into syllables, whether spoken or written. In most languages, the actually spoken syllables are the basis of syllabification in writing too. Due to the very weak correspondence between sounds and letters in the spelling of modern English, for example, written syllabification in English has to be based mostly on etymological i.e. morphological instead of phonetic principles. English written syllables therefore do not correspond to the actually spoken syllables of the living language.  Phonotactic rules determine which sounds are allowed or disallowed in each part of the syllable. English allows very complicated syllables; syllables may begin with up to three consonants (as in "string" or "splash"), and occasionally end with as many as four (as in "prompts"). Many other languages are much more restricted; Japanese, for example, only allows and a chroneme in a coda, and theoretically has no consonant clusters at all, as the onset is composed of at most one consonant.

Ambisyllabicity.

There can be disagreement about the location of some divisions between syllables in spoken language. The problems of dealing with such cases have been most commonly discussed with relation to English. In the case of a word such as "hurry", the division may be or, neither of which seems a satisfactory analysis for a non-rhotic accent such as RP (British English): results in a syllable-final, which is not normally found, while gives a syllable-final short stressed vowel, which is also non-occurring. Arguments can be made in favour of one solution or the other: Wells (2002) proposes a general rule that "Subject to certain conditions..., consonants are syllabified with the more strongly stressed of two flanking syllables", while many other phonologists prefer to divide syllables with the consonant or consonants attached to the following syllable wherever possible. However, an alternative that has received some support is to treat an intervocalic consonant as "ambisyllabic", i.e. belonging both to the preceding and to the following syllable:. This is discussed in more detail in.

Onset.

The onset (also known as anlaut) is the consonant sound or sounds at the beginning of a syllable, occurring before the nucleus. Most syllables have an onset. Syllables without an onset may be said to have a "zero onset" – that is, nothing where the onset would be.

Onset cluster.

Some languages restrict onsets to be only a single consonant, while others allow multiconsonant onsets according to various rules. For example, in English, onsets such as "pr-", "pl-" and "tr-" are possible but "tl-" is not, and "sk-" is possible but "ks-" is not. In Greek, however, both "ks-" and "tl-" are possible onsets, while contrarily in Classical Arabic no multiconsonant onsets are allowed at all.

Null onset.

Some languages forbid null onsets. In these languages, words beginning in a vowel, like the English word "at", are impossible.  This is less strange than it may appear at first, as most such languages allow syllables to begin with a phonemic glottal stop (the sound in the middle of English "uh-oh" or, in some dialects, the double T in "button", represented in the IPA as ). In English, a word that begins with a vowel may be pronounced with an epenthetic glottal stop when following a pause, though the glottal stop may not be a phoneme in the language.  Few languages make a phonemic distinction between a word beginning with a vowel and a word beginning with a glottal stop followed by a vowel, since the distinction will generally only be audible following another word. However, Maltese and some Polynesian languages do make such a distinction, as in Hawaiian "fire" and / "tuna".  Hebrew and Arabic forbid empty onsets. The names "Israel", "Abel", "Abraham", "Iran", "Omar", "Abdullah", and "Iraq" appear not to have onsets in the first syllable, but in the original Hebrew and Arabic forms they actually begin with various consonants: the semivowel in "yisrāʔēl", the glottal fricative in "heḅel", the glottal stop in "ʔaḅrāhām" and "ʔīrān", or the pharyngeal fricative in "ʕumar", "ʕabduḷḷāh", and "ʕirāq". Conversely, the Arrernte language of central Australia may prohibit onsets altogether; if so, all syllables have the underlying shape VC(C).  The difference between a syllable with a null onset and one beginning with a glottal stop is often purely a difference of phonological analysis, rather than the actual pronunciation of the syllable. In some cases, the pronunciation of a (putatively) vowel-initial word when following another word – particularly, whether or not a glottal stop is inserted – indicates whether the word should be considered to have a null onset. For example, many Romance languages such as Spanish never insert such a glottal stop, while English does so only some of the time, depending on factors such as conversation speed; in both cases, this suggests that the words in question are truly vowel-initial. But there are exceptions here, too. For example, standard German (excluding many southern accents) and Arabic both require that a glottal stop be inserted between a word and a following, putatively vowel-initial word. Yet such words are said to begin with a vowel in German but a glottal stop in Arabic. The reason for this has to do with other properties of the two languages. For example, a glottal stop does not occur in other situations in German, e.g. before a consonant or at the end of word. On the other hand, in Arabic, not only does a glottal stop occur in such situations (e.g. Classical "he asked", "opinion", "light"), but it occurs in alternations that are clearly indicative of its phonemic status (cf. Classical "writer" vs. /mak "written", "eater" vs. "eaten").  The writing system of a language may not correspond with the phonological analysis of the language in terms of its handling of (potentially) null onsets. For example, in some languages written in the Latin alphabet, an initial glottal stop is left unwritten; on the other hand, some languages written using non-Latin alphabets such as abjads and abugidas have a special zero consonant to represent a null onset. As an example, in Hangul, the alphabet of the Korean language, a null onset is represented with ᄋ at the left or top section of a grapheme, as in 역 "station", pronounced "yeok", where the diphthong "yeo" is the nucleus and "k" is the coda.

Nucleus.

The "nucleus" is usually the vowel in the middle of a syllable. Generally, every syllable requires a nucleus (sometimes called the "peak"), and the minimal syllable consists only of a nucleus, as in the English words "eye" or "owe". The syllable nucleus is usually a vowel, in the form of a monophthong, diphthong, or triphthong, but sometimes is a syllabic consonant.  In most Germanic languages, lax vowels can occur only in closed syllables. Therefore, these vowels are also called checked vowels, as opposed to the tense vowels that are called "free vowels" because they can occur even in open syllables.

Consonant nucleus.

The notion of syllable is challenged by languages that allow long strings of obstruents without any intervening vowel or sonorant. By far the most common syllabic consonants are sonorants like,,, or, as in English "bottle, "church" (in rhotic accents), "rhythm, "button" and "lock n key". However, English allows syllabic obstruents in a few para-verbal onomatopoeic utterances such as "shh" (used to command silence) and "psst" (used to attract attention). All of these have been analyzed as phonemically syllabic. Obstruent-only syllables also occur phonetically in some prosodic situations when unstressed vowels elide between obstruents, as in "potato" and "today", which do not change in their number of syllables despite losing a syllabic nucleus.  A few languages have so-called "syllabic fricatives", also known as "fricative vowels", at the phonemic level. (In the context of Chinese phonology, the related but non-synonymous term "apical vowel" is commonly used.) Mandarin Chinese is famous for having such sounds in at least some of its dialects, for example the pinyin syllables "sī shī rī", sometimes pronounced respectively. Though, like the nucleus of rhotic English "church", there is debate over whether these nuclei are consonants or vowels.  Languages of the northwest coast of North America, including Salishan, Wakashan and Chinookan languages, allow stop consonants and voiceless fricatives as syllables at the phonemic level, in even the most careful enunciation. An example is Chinook 'those two women are coming this way out of the water'. Linguists have analyzed this situation in various ways, some arguing that such syllables have no nucleus at all and some arguing that the concept of "syllable" cannot clearly be applied at all to these languages.  Other examples:  In Bagemihl's survey of previous analyses, he finds that the Bella Coola word 'he arrived' would have been parsed into 0, 2, 3, 5, or 6 syllables depending on which analysis is used. One analysis would consider all vowel and consonant segments as syllable nuclei, another would consider only a small subset (fricatives or sibilants) as nuclei candidates, and another would simply deny the existence of syllables completely. However, when working with recordings rather than transcriptions, the syllables can be obvious in such languages, and native speakers have strong intuitions as to what the syllables are.  This type of phenomenon has also been reported in Berber languages (such as Indlawn Tashlhiyt Berber), Mon–Khmer languages (such as Semai, Temiar, Khmu) and the Ōgami dialect of Miyako, a Ryukyuan language.

Coda.

The coda (also known as auslaut) comprises the consonant sounds of a syllable that follow the nucleus. The sequence of nucleus and coda is called a rime. Some syllables consist of only a nucleus, only an onset and a nucleus with no coda, or only a nucleus and coda with no onset.  The phonotactics of many languages forbid syllable codas. Examples are Swahili and Hawaiian. In others, codas are restricted to a small subset of the consonants that appear in onset position. At a phonemic level in Japanese, for example, a coda may only be a nasal (homorganic with any following consonant) or, in the middle of a word, gemination of the following consonant. (On a phonetic level, other codas occur due to elision of /i/ and /u/.) In other languages, nearly any consonant allowed as an onset is also allowed in the coda, even clusters of consonants. In English, for example, all onset consonants except are allowed as syllable codas.  If the coda consists of a consonant cluster, the sonority decreases from left to right, as in the English word "help". This is called the sonority profile. English onset and coda clusters are therefore different. The onset "str" in "strengths" does not appear as a coda in any English word, and likewise the coda "ngths" does not appear as an onset in any word.

Open and closed.

A coda-less syllable of the form V, CV, CCV, etc. (V = vowel, C = consonant) is called an open syllable or free syllable, while a syllable that has a coda (VC, CVC, CVCC, etc.) is called a closed syllable or checked syllable. Note that they have nothing to do with open and close vowels, but are defined according to the phoneme that ends the syllable: a vowel (open syllable) or a consonant (closed syllable). Almost all languages allow open syllables, but some, such as Hawaiian, do not have closed syllables.  When a syllable is not the last syllable in a word, the nucleus normally must be followed by two consonants in order for the syllable to be closed. This is because a single following consonant is typically considered the onset of the following syllable. For example, Spanish "casar" "to marry" is composed of an open syllable followed by a closed syllable ("ca-sar"), whereas "cansar" "to get tired" is composed of two closed syllables ("can-sar"). When a geminate (double) consonant occurs, the syllable boundary occurs in the middle, e.g. Italian "panna" "cream" ("pan-na"); cf. Italian "pane" "bread" ("pa-ne").  English words may consist of a single closed syllable, with nucleus denoted by ν, and coda denote by κ:  English words may also consist of a single open syllable, ending in a nucleus, without a coda:  A list of examples of syllable codas in English is found at English phonology: Coda.

Null coda.

Some languages, such as Hawaiian, forbid codas, so that all syllables are open.

Suprasegmental features.

The domain of suprasegmental features is the syllable and not a specific sound, that is to say, they affect all the segments of a syllable:  Sometimes syllable length is also counted as a suprasegmental feature; for example, in some Germanic languages, long vowels may only exist with short consonants and vice versa. However, syllables can be analyzed as compositions of long and short phonemes, as in Finnish and Japanese, where consonant gemination and vowel length are independent.

Tone.

In most languages, the pitch or pitch contour in which a syllable is pronounced conveys shades of meaning such as emphasis or surprise, or distinguishes a statement from a question. In tonal languages, however, the pitch affects the basic lexical meaning (e.g. "cat" vs. "dog") or grammatical meaning (e.g. past vs. present). In some languages, only the pitch itself (e.g. high vs. low) has this effect, while in others, especially East Asian languages such as Chinese, Thai or Vietnamese, the shape or contour (e.g. level vs. rising vs. falling) also needs to be distinguished.

Accent.

Syllable structure often interacts with stress or pitch accent. In Latin, for example, stress is regularly determined by syllable weight, a syllable counting as heavy if it has at least one of the following: In each case the syllable is considered to have two morae.  The first syllable of a word is the initial syllable and the last syllable is the final syllable.  In languages accented on one of the last three syllables, the last syllable is called the ultima, the next-to-last is called the penult, and the third syllable from the end is called the antepenult. These terms come from Latin'"last",'"almost last", and "" "before almost last".  In Ancient Greek, there are three accent marks (acute, circumflex, and grave), and terms were used to describe words based on the position and type of accent. Some of these terms are used in the description of other languages.

History.

Guilhem Molinier, a member of the Consistori del Gay Saber, which was the first literary academy in the world and held the Floral Games to award the best troubadour with the "violeta d'aur" top prize, gave a definition of the syllable in his "Leys d'amor" (1328–1337), a book aimed at regulating then-flourishing Occitan poetry:

A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. It is typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "building blocks" of words. They can influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic metre and its stress patterns. Speech can usually be divided up into a whole number of syllables: for example, the word "ignite" is composed of two syllables: "ig" and "nite".

Slabika je nejmenší organizační jednotka řeči, kterou vyslovujeme, část slova vyslovená jedním nárazem dechového proudu. Např. po-le- slovo vyslovujeme ne po hláskách, ale po slabikách. Slabika je tvořena jádrem, které obvykle bývá ohraničeno svahy. Slova mohou být bezslabičná (splývají se slabikou sousedního slova), jednoslabičná nebo víceslabičná. Jednotkou délky, trvání slabiky je mora.


Early years.

Erik Olof Mellberg was born in Gullspång, Sweden on 3 September 1977 to parents Berit and Erik. Mellberg's mother Berit was a physical education teacher who passed on her love of sport to her son. As a youth, Mellberg enjoyed playing tennis and dreamed of Wimbledon rather than the World Cup. Mellberg was something of a tennis prodigy and it was not until he was 14 that Mellberg began to focus on football.

Club career.

Early career.

Mellberg played for local side "Gullspång" before being picked up by then Swedish Premiership side Degerfors IF. After being relegated he joined capital club AIK, where he made an instant impression, became Swedish champion 1998 and was sold after just 10 months. Spanish side Racing Santander moved to secure the promising Swedish centre half, and although having a difficult time adjusting to Spanish football he soon claimed a starting berth and impressed in his first season. Continuing to play well, Mellberg was said to be on his way to several big Spanish sides, including Barcelona and Valencia.

Aston Villa.

However, Aston Villa managed to secure his signature and he became a consistent and vital part of the team. Mellberg was left out of boss David O'Leary's first side for a game against Portsmouth, but was soon made the captain of the club for the rest of his reign. Mellberg was a vital part of the team that finished 6th in the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the League Cup in O'Leary's first season. Mellberg resigned as captain following the 2006 World Cup—he was replaced by Gareth Barry. In 2007 the new manager of Aston Villa, Martin O'Neill, continued to consider Mellberg as the first choice centre back. On the opening day of the 2006–07 Premiership season Mellberg became the first person to score in a competitive game at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium. During the 2007–08 season, he played at the right back position following the purchase of Zat Knight, who played alongside Martin Laursen at centre back. Mellberg was sent off against Portsmouth on 15 March 2008 for two bookable offences.  In January 2008 it was announced that Mellberg had signed a pre-contract agreement with Juventus. His final home game for Aston Villa was against Wigan Athletic on 3 May. The game was designated as "Olof Mellberg" day in appreciation of his service to the club. On his final game for Aston Villa away at West Ham United, as a leaving gift, Mellberg gave every single Villa fan at Upton Park either a home or an away shirt with his name and number on the back and the message "Thanks 4 Your Support" – being the number 4 of Aston Villa. He also said he would frame the kit which he used on his last ever Aston Villa game – the game against West Ham. To this day Mellberg is very highly thought of and respected by Aston Villa supporters as one of their greatest ever players.

Juventus.

In January 2008 it was confirmed that Mellberg had signed a pre-contract agreement with Italian giants Juventus, allowing him a Bosman move to Serie A on a three-year contract for the start of the 2008–09 season. He made his Juventus debut on 16 July 2008 in a friendly match versus Serie B outfit, Piacenza. Juventus surprisingly lost the match 1–0. On 18 January 2009, Mellberg scored his first goal for Juventus against Lazio in the 30th minute.

Olympiacos.

On 23 June 2009, it was confirmed that Mellberg agreed with Olympiacos to sign a three-year contract with the club. Olympiacos paid Juventus €2.5 million for the Swede's signature. Despite the rotation of several managers in the club while there, he was always a constant in the central defence and his consistency and experience proved to be invaluable for Olympiakos. Thanks to his passionate play and high professionalism, he has become a fan favourite – to the point that when Olympiakos had a streak of bad games, Mellberg was always the only player who was spared from criticism – and one of the most highly respected players in Greece.  Mellberg turned down a new deal at the end of the 2011–12 season to extend his time in Athens, hoping to find a new challenge with his agent saying, "...we don't close any doors."

Villarreal.

On 8 August 2012, Mellberg signed a one-year contract with Spanish club Villarreal. Mellberg appeared 29 times for Villareal in Spanish Segunda División, scoring twice, and was an important part of the squad that finished second in Segunda División and was promoted to La Liga.

FC Copenhagen.

On 9 July 2013, Mellberg signed a two-year contract with Danish champions FC Copenhagen, but left after one season.

International career.

Mellberg made his debut against Austria in March 2000 and was a member of the Sweden national football team in the 2002 World Cup and 2006 World Cup, as well as the Euro 2000, Euro 2004, Euro 2008 and Euro 2012. He scored 8 goals in 117 caps, before retiring from the national team following Euro 2012.  During an open team practice before the 2002 World Cup, Mellberg broke into a fight with his teammate former Arsenal winger Freddie Ljungberg after a robust tackle from Mellberg. The two of them were quickly separated by teammates. Since then, the two of them have been known for not being the best of friends, and in the 2006 World Cup, Mellberg and Ljungberg, according to leak from inside the team, had a very fiery argument, after Sweden's draw with Trinidad and Tobago. In 2003, he was selected as the best Swedish player of the year, winning the Guldbollen.  During the penalty shoot-out after the Euro 2004 quarter-final against Netherlands, Mellberg has a penalty saved by Edwin van der Sar, as the Netherlands won the shoot-out 5–4 and advanced to the semi-finals.  During a 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying match against Croatia in October 2005, Mellberg boxed the ball away with his hand in the Swedish penalty area. Croatia were awarded a penalty kick for this, which Dario Srna scored, and Sweden lost the match 0-1.  After the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Mellberg relinquished his captaincy and Ljungberg took his place as Sweden captain.  On 4 September 2006, Mellberg, along with Sweden teammates Zlatan Ibrahimović and Christian Wilhelmsson, was sent home from the national squad for breaking an 11 pm team curfew ahead of a European Championships qualifier against Liechtenstein. On 7 October 2006, Mellberg returned to Sweden's lineup for their European Championships qualifier against Spain, which they won 2–0. In the 2012 European Championships, Mellberg scored twice in their match against England in the group stages to give Sweden a 2–1 lead, however, Sweden went on to lose 2–3. After the tournament, Mellberg decided to end his international career.

Style of play.

During his career, Mellberg primarily played as a central defender or right-back, although he was also capable of playing in a holding role in midfield on occasion. In a "Sports Illustrated" profile in the lead-up to Euro 2012, he was described as being "big, strong and exceptional in the air", while a "BBC" profile ahead of the 2002 World Cup noted that "[h]e pressures attackers superbly and rarely comes off second best in a challenge." Regarded as a promising defender in his youth, he later made a name for himself as a solid, dependable, and hard-tackling centre-back. Although he was not very fast, he was strong, and had an excellent positional sense, and was also a good header of the ball, which made him a goal-threat on set-pieces.

Managerial career.

Brommapojkarna.

Mellberg was appointed manager of Swedish club IF Brommapojkarna in November 2015, signing a two year-contract and taking over following their recent relegation to the third tier of Swedish football.  Brommapojkarna won the Division 1 title during Mellberg's first season in charge and won their second successive promotion the following year, in October 2017, to return to the top flight, Allsvenskan. After the season, Mellberg chose not to renew his expiring contract with Brommapojkarna.

Fremad Amager.

On 1 July 2019 Fremad Amager announced, that Mellberg had joined the club as their new manager. Mellberg was reinforced with Azrudin Valentić, who he worked with in Brommapojkarna and who until the arrival of Mellberg, was the manager of the club. With the access of Mellberg, the club changed the structure of the sporting staff, with Mellberg becoming manager and Azrudin Valentić becoming the first team coach.

Helsingborgs IF.

After only two months in charge of Fremad Amager, the club announced that Mellberg had left the club to become the manager of Helsingborgs IF.

Personal life.

Mellberg has two children with long term partner Carolina Kihl. Daughter Saga was born in December 2002 and son John was born in July 2006.  Mellberg and Kihl married in Sweden on 13 July 2013.  According to Mellberg's mother, he is considering attending university after his retirement.

Honours.

Club.

AIK  Aston Villa  Juventus  Olympiacos  F.C. Copenhagen

Manager.

Brommapojkarna

Erik Olof Mellberg (; born 3 September 1977) is a Swedish former professional footballer who serves as manager of Helsingborgs IF.

Olof Mellberg (* 3. září 1977, Gullspang) je švédský fotbalový obránce hrající za řecký Olympiakos. Ve švédské reprezentaci působí ve funkci kapitána.