Medical uses.

Fever.

Paracetamol is used for reducing fever in people of all ages. The World Health Organization recommends that paracetamol be used to treat fever in children only if their temperature is higher than. The efficacy of paracetamol by itself in children with fevers has been questioned and a meta-analysis showed that it is less effective than ibuprofen. Paracetamol does not have significant anti-inflammatory effects.

Pain.

Paracetamol is used for the relief of mild to moderate pain. The use of the intravenous form for short-term pain in people in the emergency department is supported by limited evidence. In adults, it appears to be useful for migraines, tension headaches, perineal pain after childbirth, and kidney stone pain.

Osteoarthritis.

The American College of Rheumatology recommends paracetamol as one of several treatment options for people with arthritis pain of the hip, hand, or knee that does not improve with exercise and weight loss. A 2015 review, however, found it provided only a small benefit in osteoarthritis.  Paracetamol has relatively little anti-inflammatory activity, unlike other common analgesics such as the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) aspirin, and ibuprofen, but ibuprofen and paracetamol have similar effects in the treatment of headache. Paracetamol can relieve pain in mild arthritis, but has no effect on the underlying inflammation, redness, and swelling of the joint.

Lower back.

Based on a systematic review, paracetamol was recommended by the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society as a first-line treatment for lower back pain. The American College of Physicians,, noted evidence that it was no different than placebo in the treatment of nonradicular low back pain. Other systematic reviews have also concluded that evidence for its efficacy is lacking.

Headaches.

A joint statement of the German, Austrian, and Swiss headache societies and the German Society of Neurology recommends the use of paracetamol in combination with caffeine as one of several first-line therapies for treatment of tension and migraine headaches. In the treatment of acute migraine, it is superior to placebo, with 39% of people experiencing pain relief at one hour compared with 20% in the control group.

Postoperative.

Paracetamol combined with NSAIDs may be more effective for treating postoperative pain than either paracetamol or NSAIDs alone.

Teeth.

NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and diclofenac are more effective than paracetamol for controlling dental pain or pain arising from dental procedures; combinations of NSAIDs and acetaminophen are more effective than either alone. Paracetamol is particularly useful when NSAIDs are contraindicated due to hypersensitivity or history of gastrointestinal ulceration or bleeding. It can also be used in combination with NSAIDs when these are ineffective in controlling dental pain alone. The Cochrane review of preoperative analgesics for additional pain relief in children and adolescents shows no evidence of benefit in taking paracetamol before dental treatment to help reduce pain after treatment for procedures under local anaesthetic, but the quality of evidence is low.

Combination medications.

The efficacy of paracetamol when used in combination with weak opioids (such as codeine) improved for about 50% of people, but with increases in the number experiencing side effects. Combination drugs of paracetamol and strong opioids such as morphine improve analgesic effect.  The combination of paracetamol with caffeine is superior to paracetamol alone for the treatment of common pain conditions, including dental pain, "post partum" pain, and headache.

Patent ductus arteriosus.

Paracetamol is used to treat patent ductus arteriosus, a condition that affects newborns when a blood vessel used in developing the lungs fails to close as it normally does, but evidence for the safety and efficacy of paracetamol for this purpose is lacking. NSAIDs, particularly indomethacin and ibuprofen, have also been used, but the evidence for them is also not strong. The condition appears to be caused in part by overactive prostaglandin E2 (PGE), signalling primarily through its EP receptor, but possibly also through its EP receptor and EP receptors.

Adverse effects.

Healthy adults taking regular doses up to 4,000mg a day show little evidence of toxicity. They are more likely to have abnormal liver function tests, but the importance of this is uncertain.

Liver damage.

Acute overdoses of paracetamol can cause potentially fatal liver damage. In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a public-education program to help consumers avoid overdose, warning: "Acetaminophen can cause serious liver damage if more than directed is used." In a 2011 Safety Warning, the FDA immediately required manufacturers to update labels of all prescription combination acetaminophen products to warn of the potential risk for severe liver injury and required that such combinations contain no more than 325mg of acetaminophen. Overdoses are frequently related to high-dose recreational use of prescription opioids, as these opioids are most often combined with acetaminophen. The overdose risk may be heightened by frequent consumption of alcohol.  Paracetamol toxicity is the foremost cause of acute liver failure in the Western world, and accounts for most drug overdoses in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. According to the FDA, in the United States, "56,000 emergency room visits, 26,000 hospitalizations, and 458 deaths per year [were] related to acetaminophen-associated overdoses during the 1990s. Within these estimates, unintentional acetaminophen overdose accounted for nearly 25% of the emergency department visits, 10% of the hospitalizations, and 25% of the deaths."  Paracetamol is metabolized by the liver and is hepatotoxic; side effects are multiplied when combined with alcoholic drinks, and are very likely in chronic alcoholics or people with liver damage. Some studies have suggested the possibility of a moderately increased risk of upper gastrointestinal complications such as stomach bleeding when high doses are taken chronically. Kidney damage is seen in rare cases, most commonly in overdose.

Skin reactions.

On 1 August 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning about paracetamol. It stated that the drug could cause rare and possibly fatal skin reactions such as Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). Prescription-strength products would be required to carry a warning label about skin reactions, and the FDA urged manufacturers to do the same with over-the-counter products.

Asthma.

An association exists between paracetamol use and asthma, but whether this association is causal is still debated. Certain evidence suggests that this association likely reflects confounders rather than being truly causal. A 2014 review found that among children, the association disappeared when respiratory infections were taken into account. , the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence continue to recommend paracetamol for pain and discomfort in children, but some experts have recommended that paracetamol use by children with asthma or at risk for asthma should be avoided.

Other factors.

In contrast to aspirin, paracetamol does not prevent blood from clotting (it is not an antiplatelet), thus it may be used in people who have concerns with blood coagulation. Additionally it does not cause gastric irritation. However, paracetamol does not help reduce inflammation, while aspirin does. Compared with ibuprofen—whose side effects may include diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain—paracetamol has fewer adverse gastrointestinal effects. Unlike aspirin, paracetamol is generally considered safe for children, as it is not associated with a risk of Reye's syndrome in children with viral illnesses. If taken recreationally with opioids, weak evidence suggests that it may cause hearing loss. Paracetamol use may also inhibit the feeling of empathy for another's pain.

Overdose.

In general, the recommended maximum daily dose of paracetamol for healthy adults is three or four grams. Higher doses may lead to toxicity.  Untreated paracetamol overdose results in a lengthy, painful illness. Signs and symptoms of paracetamol toxicity may initially be absent or non-specific symptoms. The first symptoms of overdose usually begin several hours after ingestion, with nausea, vomiting, sweating, and pain as acute liver failure starts. People who take overdoses of paracetamol do not fall asleep or lose consciousness, although most people who attempt suicide with paracetamol wrongly believe that they will be rendered unconscious by the drug. The process of dying from an overdose takes from 3–5 days to 4–6 weeks.  Paracetamol hepatotoxicity is by far the most common cause of acute liver failure in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Paracetamol overdose results in more calls to poison control centers in the US than overdose of any other pharmacological substance. Toxicity of paracetamol is believed to be due to its quinone metabolite NAPQI.  Untreated overdose can lead to liver failure and death within days. Treatment is aimed at removing the paracetamol from the body and replenishing glutathione. Activated charcoal can be used to decrease absorption of paracetamol if the person comes to the hospital soon after the overdose. While the antidote, acetylcysteine (also called N-acetylcysteine or NAC), acts as a precursor for glutathione, helping the body regenerate enough to prevent or at least decrease the possible damage to the liver; a liver transplant is often required if damage to the liver becomes severe. NAC was usually given following a treatment nomogram (one for people with risk factors, and one for those without), but the use of the nomogram is no longer recommended as evidence to support the use of risk factors was poor and inconsistent, and many of the risk factors are imprecise and difficult to determine with sufficient certainty in clinical practice. NAC also helps in neutralizing the imidoquinone metabolite of paracetamol. Kidney failure is also a possible side effect.  Until 2004, tablets were available in the UK (brand-name Paradote) that combined paracetamol with an antidote (methionine) to protect the liver in case of an overdose. One theoretical, but rarely if ever used, option in the United States is to request a compounding pharmacy to make a similar drug mix for people who are at risk.  In June 2009, an FDA advisory committee recommended that new restrictions be placed on paracetamol use in the United States to help protect people from the potential toxic effects. The maximum dosage at any given time would be decreased from 1000mg to 650mg, while combinations of paracetamol and opioid analgesics would be prohibited. Committee members were particularly concerned by the fact that the then-present maximum dosages of paracetamol had been shown to produce alterations in liver function.  In January 2011, the FDA asked manufacturers of prescription combination products containing paracetamol to limit its amount to no more than 325mg per tablet or capsule and began requiring manufacturers to update the labels of all prescription combination paracetamol products to warn of the potential risk of severe liver damage. Manufacturers had three years to limit the amount of paracetamol in their prescription drug products to 325mg per dosage unit. In November 2011, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency revised UK dosing of liquid paracetamol for children.

Pregnancy.

Experimental studies in animals and cohort studies in humans indicate no detectable increase in congenital malformations associated with paracetamol use during pregnancy. Additionally, paracetamol does not affect the closure of the fetal ductus arteriosus as NSAIDs can.  Paracetamol use by the mother during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of childhood asthma. It is also associated with an increase in ADHD but it is unclear whether the relationship is causal. A 2015 review states that paracetamol remains a first-line recommended medication for pain and fever during pregnancy, despite these concerns.

Cancer.

Some studies have found an association between paracetamol and a slight increase in kidney cancer, but no effect on bladder cancer risk.

Pharmacology.

Pharmacodynamics.

Despite its common use, the mechanism of action of paracetamol is not completely understood. Unlike NSAIDs such as aspirin, paracetamol does not appear to inhibit the function of any cyclooxygenase (COX) enzyme outside the central nervous system, and this appears to be the reason why it is not useful as an anti-inflammatory. It does appear to selectively inhibit COX activities in the brain, which may contribute to its ability to treat fever and pain. This activity does not appear to be direct inhibition by blocking an active site, but rather by reducing COX, which must be oxidized in order to function.  Paracetamol apparently might modulate the endogenous cannabinoid system in the brain through its metabolite, AM404, which appears to inhibit the reuptake of the endogenous cannabinoid/vanilloid anandamide by neurons, making it more available to reduce pain. AM404 also appears to be able to directly activate the TRPV1 (older name: vanilloid receptor), which also inhibits pain signals in the brain.

Pharmacokinetics.

After being taken by mouth, paracetamol is rapidly absorbed by the gastrointestinal (GI) tract (although absorption through the stomach is negligible); its volume of distribution is roughly 50L. The concentration in serum after a typical dose of paracetamol usually peaks below 30μg/ml (200μmol/L). After 4hours, the concentration is usually less than 10μg/ml (66μmol/L).  Paracetamol is metabolized primarily in the liver, into toxic and nontoxic products. Three metabolic pathways are notable:  All three pathways yield final products that are inactive, nontoxic, and eventually excreted by the kidneys. In the third pathway, however, the intermediate product NAPQI is toxic. NAPQI is primarily responsible for the toxic effects of paracetamol; this constitutes an example of toxication. Production of NAPQI is due primarily to two isoenzymes of cytochrome P450: CYP2E1 and CYP3A4. At usual doses, NAPQI is quickly detoxified by conjugation with glutathione.

Chemistry.

Chemical properties.

Paracetamol consists of a benzene ring core, substituted by one hydroxyl group and the nitrogen atom of an amide group in the "para" (1,4) pattern. The amide group is acetamide (ethanamide). It is an extensively conjugated system, as one lone pair on the hydroxyl oxygen, the benzene pi cloud, the nitrogen lone pair, the p orbital on the carbonyl carbon, and one lone pair on the carbonyl oxygen are all conjugated. The presence of two activating groups also make the benzene ring highly reactive toward electrophilic aromatic substitution. As the substituents are "ortho, para"-directing and "para" with respect to each other, all positions on the ring are more or less equally activated. The conjugation also greatly reduces the basicity of the oxygens and the nitrogen, while making the hydroxyl acidic through delocalisation of charge developed on the phenoxide anion.  Paracetamol is part of the class of drugs known as "aniline analgesics"; it is the only such drug still in use today. It is not considered an NSAID because it does not exhibit significant anti-inflammatory activity (it is a weak COX inhibitor). This is despite the evidence that paracetamol and NSAIDs have some similar pharmacological activity.

Synthesis.

Original (Boots) method.

The original method for production involves the nitration of phenol with sodium nitrate gives a mixture of two isomers, from which the wanted 4-nitrophenol (bp 279°C) can easily be separated by steam distillation. In this electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction, phenol's oxygen is strongly activating, thus the reaction requires only mild conditions as compared to nitration of benzene itself. The nitro group is then reduced to an amine, giving 4-aminophenol. Finally, the amine is acetylated with acetic anhydride. Industrially direct hydrogenation is used, but in the laboratory scale sodium borohydride serves.

Green synthesis.

An alternative industrial synthesis developed by Hoechst–Celanese involves direct acylation of phenol with acetic anhydride catalyzed by HF, conversion of the ketone to a ketoxime with hydroxylamine, followed by the acid-catalyzed Beckmann rearrangement to give the amide.

Direct synthesis.

More recently (2014) a "one-pot" synthesis from hydroquinone has been described before the Royal Society of Chemistry. The process may be summarized as follows: The authors go on to claim an 88% yield and 99% purity.

Reactions.

"4"-Aminophenol may be obtained by the amide hydrolysis of paracetamol. "4"-Aminophenol prepared this way, and related to the commercially available Metol, has been used as a developer in photography by hobbyists. This reaction is also used to determine paracetamol in urine samples: After hydrolysis with hydrochloric acid, "4"-aminophenol reacts in ammonia solution with a phenol derivate, e.g. salicylic acid, to form an indophenol dye under oxidization by air.

History.

Acetanilide was the first aniline derivative serendipitously found to possess analgesic as well as antipyretic properties, and was quickly introduced into medical practice under the name of Antifebrin by Cahn & Hepp in 1886. But its unacceptable toxic effects – the most alarming being cyanosis due to methemoglobinemia – prompted the search for less toxic aniline derivatives. Harmon Northrop Morse had already synthesized paracetamol at Johns Hopkins University via the reduction of "p"-nitrophenol with tin in glacial acetic acid in 1877, but it was not until 1887 that clinical pharmacologist Joseph von Mering tried paracetamol on humans. In 1893, von Mering published a paper reporting on the clinical results of paracetamol with phenacetin, another aniline derivative. Von Mering claimed that, unlike phenacetin, paracetamol had a slight tendency to produce methemoglobinemia. Paracetamol was then quickly discarded in favor of phenacetin. The sales of phenacetin established Bayer as a leading pharmaceutical company. Overshadowed in part by aspirin, introduced into medicine by Heinrich Dreser in 1899, phenacetin was popular for many decades, particularly in widely advertised over-the-counter "headache mixtures", usually containing phenacetin, an aminopyrine derivative of aspirin, caffeine, and sometimes a barbiturate.  Paracetamol is the active metabolite of phenacetin and acetanilide, both once popular as analgesics and antipyretics in their own right. However, unlike phenacetin, acetanilide and their combinations, paracetamol is not considered carcinogenic at therapeutic doses.  Von Mering's claims remained essentially unchallenged for half a century, until two teams of researchers from the United States analyzed the metabolism of acetanilide and paracetamol. In 1947, David Lester and Leon Greenberg found strong evidence that paracetamol was a major metabolite of acetanilide in human blood, and in a subsequent study they reported that large doses of paracetamol given to albino rats did not cause methemoglobinemia. In three papers published in the September 1948 issue of the "Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics", Bernard Brodie, Julius Axelrod and Frederick Flinn confirmed using more specific methods that paracetamol was the major metabolite of acetanilide in human blood, and established that it was just as efficacious an analgesic as its precursor. They also suggested that methemoglobinemia is produced in humans mainly by another metabolite, phenylhydroxylamine. A follow-up paper by Brodie and Axelrod in 1949 established that phenacetin was also metabolized to paracetamol. This led to a "rediscovery" of paracetamol. It has been suggested that contamination of paracetamol with 4-aminophenol, the substance von Mering synthesised it from, may be the cause for his spurious findings.  Paracetamol was first marketed in the United States in 1950 under the name Triagesic, a combination of paracetamol, aspirin, and caffeine. Reports in 1951 of three users stricken with the blood disease agranulocytosis led to its removal from the marketplace, and it took several years until it became clear that the disease was unconnected. Paracetamol was marketed in 1953 by Sterling-Winthrop Co. as Panadol, available only by prescription, and promoted as preferable to aspirin since it was safe for children and people with ulcers. In 1955, paracetamol was marketed as Children's Tylenol Elixir by McNeil Laboratories. In 1956, 500mg tablets of paracetamol went on sale in the United Kingdom under the brand name Panadol, produced by Frederick Stearns & Co, a subsidiary of Sterling Drug Inc. In 1963, paracetamol was added to the "British Pharmacopoeia", and has gained popularity since then as an analgesic agent with few side-effects and little interaction with other pharmaceutical agents. Concerns about paracetamol's safety delayed its widespread acceptance until the 1970s, but in the 1980s paracetamol sales exceeded those of aspirin in many countries, including the United Kingdom. This was accompanied by the commercial demise of phenacetin, blamed as the cause of analgesic nephropathy and hematological toxicity. In 1988, Sterling Winthrop was acquired by Eastman Kodak which sold the over the counter drug rights to SmithKline Beecham in 1994.  Available without a prescription since 1959, it has since become a common household drug. Patents on paracetamol have long expired, and generic versions of the drug are widely available.

Society and culture.

Naming.

Acetaminophen is the name generally used in the United States (United States Adopted Name), Japan (Japanese Accepted Name), Canada, Venezuela, Colombia, and Iran; paracetamol is used in international venues (International Nonproprietary Name, Australian Approved Name, British Approved Name). In some contexts, such as on prescription bottles of painkillers that incorporate this medicine, it is simply abbreviated as APAP, for acetyl-para-aminophenol.  Both acetaminophen and paracetamol come from a chemical name for the compound: "para"-acetylaminophenol and "para"-acetylaminophenol.

Cost.

The wholesale price in the developing world is less than per dose. In the United States, it costs about per dose.  In Europe, prices differ from country to country; low-cost prices for 10 doses could reach in Portugal, in France and in Germany.

Available forms.

Paracetamol is available in tablet, capsule, liquid suspension, suppository, intravenous, intramuscular and effervescent forms. Intravenous acetaminophen is sold under the brand name Ofirmev in the United States.  In some formulations, paracetamol is combined with the opiate codeine, sometimes referred to as co-codamol (BAN) and Panadeine in Australia. In the U.S., this combination is available only by prescription, while the lowest-strength preparation is over the counter in Canada, and in other countries other strengths may be available over the counter. Paracetamol is also combined with other opioids such as dihydrocodeine, referred to as co-dydramol (British Approved Name (BAN)), oxycodone or hydrocodone. Another very commonly used analgesic combination includes paracetamol in combination with propoxyphene napsylate. A combination of paracetamol, codeine, and the calmative doxylamine succinate is also available. The efficacy of paracetamol/codeine combinations has been questioned by research from 2010.  Paracetamol is commonly used in multi-ingredient preparations for migraine headache, typically including butalbital and paracetamol with or without caffeine, and sometimes containing codeine.  Paracetamol is sometimes combined with phenylephrine hydrochloride. Sometimes a third active ingredient, such as ascorbic acid, caffeine, chlorpheniramine maleate, or guaifenesin is added to this combination.  When marketed in combination with diphenhydramine hydrochloride, it is frequently given the label "PM" and is meant as a sleep aid. Diphenhydramine hydrochloride is known to have hypnotic effects and is non-habit forming. Unfortunately, it has been implicated in the occasional development of restless leg syndrome.

Controversy.

In September 2013, an episode of "This American Life" titled "Use Only as Directed" highlighted deaths from paracetamol overdose. This report was followed by two reports by ProPublica alleging that the "FDA has long been aware of studies showing the risks of acetaminophen. So has the maker of Tylenol, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a division of Johnson & Johnson" and "McNeil, the maker of Tylenol,... has repeatedly opposed safety warnings, dosage restrictions and other measures meant to safeguard users of the drug."  A report prepared by an internal FDA working group describes a history of FDA initiatives designed to educate consumers about the risk of paracetamol overdose and notes that one challenge to the Agency has been "identifying the appropriate message about the relative safety of acetaminophen, especially compared to other OTC pain relievers (e.g., aspirin and other NSAIDs)". The report notes that "Chronic use of NSAIDs is also associated with significant morbidity and mortality. NSAID gastrointestinal risk is substantial, with deaths and hospitalization estimated in one publication as 3200 and 32,000 per year respectively. Possible cardiovascular toxicity with chronic NSAID use has been a major discussion recently", finally noting that "The goal of the educational efforts is not to decrease appropriate acetaminophen use or encourage substitution of NSAID use, but rather to educate consumers so that they can avoid unnecessary health risks."

Veterinary use.

Cats.

Paracetamol is extremely toxic to cats, which lack the necessary UGT1A6 enzyme to break it down safely. Initial symptoms include vomiting, salivation, and discoloration of the tongue and gums.  Unlike an overdose in humans, liver damage is rarely the cause of death; instead, methemoglobin formation and the production of Heinz bodies in red blood cells inhibit oxygen transport by the blood, causing asphyxiation (methemoglobemia and hemolytic anemia).  Treatment with N-acetylcysteine, methylene blue or both is sometimes effective after the ingestion of small doses of paracetamol.

Dogs.

Although paracetamol is believed to have no significant anti-inflammatory activity, it has been reported to be as effective as aspirin in the treatment of musculoskeletal pain in dogs.  A paracetamol-codeine product (brand name Pardale-V) licensed for use in dogs is available for purchase under supervision of a vet, pharmacist or other qualified person. It should be administered to dogs only on veterinary advice and with extreme caution.  The main effect of toxicity in dogs is liver damage, and GI ulceration has been reported.<ref name="doi10.1111/j.1476-4431.2000.tb00013.x"></ref> N-acetylcysteine treatment is efficacious in dogs when administered within two hours of paracetamol ingestion.

Snakes.

Paracetamol is lethal to snakes, and has been suggested as a chemical control program for the invasive brown tree snake ("Boiga irregularis") in Guam. Doses of 80mg are inserted into dead mice that are scattered by helicopter.

Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, is a medication used to treat pain and fever. It is typically used for mild to moderate pain relief. Evidence is mixed for its use to relieve fever in children. It is often sold in combination with other medications, such as in many cold medications. Paracetamol is also used for severe pain, such as cancer pain and pain after surgery, in combination with opioid pain medication. It is typically used either by mouth or rectally, but is also available by injection into a vein. Effects last between two and four hours. Paracetamol is generally safe at recommended doses. The recommended maximum daily dose for an adult is three to four grams. Higher doses may lead to toxicity, including liver failure. Serious skin rashes may rarely occur. It appears to be safe during pregnancy and when breastfeeding. In those with liver disease, it may still be used, but in lower doses. It is classified as a mild analgesic. It does not have significant anti-inflammatory activity. How it works is not entirely clear. Paracetamol was first made in 1877. It is the most commonly used medication for pain and fever in both the United States and Europe. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Paracetamol is available as a generic medication, with brand names including Tylenol and Panadol among others. The wholesale price in the developing world is less than per dose. In the United States, it costs about per dose. In 2017, it was the 25th-most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 24 million prescriptions.

Le paracétamol, aussi appelé acétaminophène, est un composé chimique utilisé comme antalgique (anti-douleur) et antipyrétique (anti-fièvre), qui figure parmi les médicaments les plus communs, utilisés et prescrits au monde.


History.

This small village in the Berry province acquired the title of 'City' in 1300. The parish was a dependency of the Archbishop of Bourges.  The manor of Sarzay belonged to the Barbançois family since the middle of the 14th century. They were a family of knights whose sons distinguished themselves in the battles of the Hundred Years War. The family built the castle and remained owners until 1720. Their title was promoted to marquis in 1651.  To begin with, the castle was open ground circled by a ditch and defended by an enclosure of which the only remnant is a chapel-tower. In 1360, the lord of Sarzy, Guillaume de Barbançois, fought the English outside the nearby town of La Châtre, before looting the town. Sarzay was at the edge of the kingdom of France, facing the English possessions of Poitou, Limousin and Aquitaine, and thus formed part of the first line of defence of the kingdom. Around 1440, Jean de Barbançois constructed a hall flanked with five towers, one of which served the various floors. The towers were crowned with machicolations. The castle contained the English invasion. Surviving intact from the Hundred Years War, the Wars of Religion, the Fronde and the French Revolution, it is today one of the most photographed monuments in France.

George Sand.

The castle was used as a setting by George Sand in her novel "le Meunier d'Angibault" (1845).

Today.

The castle on two hectares was bought in the end of 1982 by Richard Hurbain and his wife, Francoise, and their three sons for 790,000 francs. Hurbain pledged to restore the moats, build halls in the medieval style, and restore outbuildings as holiday accommodation. The castle is open to the public.  The Château de Sarzay has been classified since 1912 as a "monument historique" by the French Ministry of Culture.

Further reading.

An article on the castle and the restoration process (and the legal battles that ensued) appeared in "Smithsonian" magazine, January 1997, pages 64-73.

The Château de Sarzay is a 14th-century castle in the village of Sarzay in the Indre "département" of France. This imposing medieval fortress comprises 38 towers and three drawbridges. Numerous furnished rooms maintain their historical authenticity. From the tops of the towers, with their superb carpentry, one can discover the beauty of the surrounding countryside. Restored deep moats, the chapel and the hall complete the beauty of the site.

Le château de Sarzay fut une imposante forteresse de la fin du Moyen Âge. Il se situe sur la commune de Sarzay dans le département de l'Indre.


Career.

Member of the European Parliament, 2004–2017.

De Sarnez was first elected Member of the European Parliament for the Île-de-France in 2014. A member of the MoDem, she served as vice-chair of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education.  De Sarnez was also substitute for the Committee on Foreign Affairs, a member of the delegation for relations with South Africa and a substitute for the delegation to the EU–Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee. In 2016, she served as the parliament’s rapporteur on a plan to lend Tunisia €500 million on favourable terms to help it reduce its external debt and consolidate its democratic mechanisms.  In addition to her committee assignments, de Sarnez was a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights.  On the national level, de Sarnez served as campaign director for François Bayrou's unsuccessful 2012 presidential campaign. In the Republicans’ 2016 presidential primaries, she endorsed Alain Juppé as the party's candidate for the office of President of France.

Career in government and resignation.

"Le Canard enchaîné" published information that de Sarnez had been paid for work she had not actually done, embroiling François Bayrou in a fictitious jobs scandal. Bayrou resigned several days later, just before the 2017 legislative election, with Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announcing that Bayrou would not be a part of the government.  On 21 June 2017, de Sarnez was succeeded as the French Minister for European Affairs by Nathalie Loiseau.

Member of the French Parliament, 2017–present.

De Sarnez won a parliamentary seat in Paris in the 2017 legislative elections.  Since 2017, de Sarnez has been chairing the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the National Assembly. On 31 May 2019, she led a delegation of the committee on a visit to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the Syrian Democratic Council in Ayn Issa.

Marielle de Sarnez ( ; born 27 March 1951 in Paris) is a French politician of the Democratic Movement (MoDem) who currently represents the Paris 11th in the National Assembly. She served as Minister for European Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe from May to June 2017.

Marielle Lebel de Sarnez, plus connue sous le nom de Marielle de Sarnez, née le dans le de Paris, est une femme politique française.


History.

Gammarelli was created in 1798 and has tailored for the popes since then. It has been run by the same family for 6 generations.  The shop was created by Giovanni Antonio Gammarelli. His son Filippo took over the shop, and then Filippo's son, Annibale, succeeded his father. Annibale Gammarelli moved the store to 34 via Santa Chiara in the building of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. In 1874, Annibale moved the shop from its original location to its current spot on Via Santa Chiara 34. It's located inside the building of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. Annibale's sons Bonaventura and Giuseppe renamed the shop "Ditta Annibale Gammarelli". Bonaventura's son Annibale took over his father, followed by the sixth generation of the family: Maximillian, Lorenzo and Stefano Paolo. Pope Pius XII (1939-1958) is the only pope who selected a different tailor during his papacy.  In 2000, the shop was included in the list of historic shops of Rome.  In 2016, the 6th generation of Gammarellis took over the leadership of the shop.

Activities.

Gammarelli makes zuchettos, galeros (the wide-brimmed, tasseled hat that used to be worn by cardinals), and other high-ranking prelates. Gammarelli also sells world-famous red socks. The sign on the front of the shop says "Sartoria Per Ecclesiastici" (clerical outfitters).  The staff is composed of a dozen workers (2003).<ref name="latimes 2003/dec/25"></ref>  The tradition of bestowing a galero to the cardinal when he entered the College of Cardinals was replaced with the presentation of their zuchetto after the Second Vatican Council. When a Cardinal dies, at a "Month's Mind", which is a requiem mass held a month after their death, the galero is raised to the roof of their cathedral, there to stay until it falls or deteriorates. In addition to Popes and Cardinals, it serves many Archbishops, Bishops, Monsignors, and other prelates and priests.

Gammarelli (full name Ditta Annibale Gammarelli) is the official tailor of the pope. The shop opened in 1798 and is located in Rome.

La maison Gammarelli est un atelier de couture romain spécialisé dans les vêtements ecclésiastiques. Il a été fondé dans les années 1790 par la famille Gammarelli. Installée au de la rue Santa Chiara depuis 1846, près du Panthéon, la boutique est le fournisseur exclusif des vêtements des papes depuis plusieurs décennies. Aujourd'hui, Annibale Gammarelli, qui a fortement développé l'activité, transmet petit à petit tout son savoir à ses deux neveux et fils.


Design.

Released around 1984, the original MPU-401 was an external breakout box providing MIDI IN/MIDI OUT/MIDI THRU/TAPE IN/TAPE OUT/MIDI SYNC connectors, for use with a separately-sold interface card/cartridge ("MPU-401 interface kit") inserted into a computer system. For this setup, the following "interface kits" were made:  In 2014 hobbyists built clones of the MIF-IPC-A card for PCs.

Variants.

Later, Roland would put most of the electronics originally found in the breakout box onto the interface card itself, thus reducing the size of the breakout box. Products released in this manner:  Still later, Roland would get rid of the breakout box completely and put all connectors on the back of the interface card itself. Products released in this manner:

Clones.

By the late 1980s other manufacturers of PCBs developed intelligent MPU-401 clones. Some of these, like Voyetra, were equipped with Roland chips whereas others had retro-engineered ROMs (Midiman / Music Quest).  Examples:  In 2015 hobbyists developed a Music Quest PC MIDI Card 8BIT clone. In 2017/2018 hobbyists developed a revision of the Music Quest PC MIDI Card 8BIT clone that includes a wavetable header in analogy of the Roland MPU-401AT.

Modes.

The MPU-401 can work in two modes, "normal mode" and "UART mode". "Normal mode" would provide the host system with an 8-track sequencer, MIDI clock output, SYNC 24 signal output, Tape Sync and a metronome; as a result of these features, it is often called "intelligent mode". Compare this to UART mode, which reduces the MPU-401 to simply relaying in-/outcoming MIDI data bytes.  As computers became more powerful, the features offered in "intelligent mode" became obsolete, as implementing them in the host system's software became more efficient (than paying for dedicated hardware that will do them). As a result, the UART mode became the dominant mode of operation, with many clones not supporting the "intelligent mode" at all, being advertised as MPU-401 compatible.

SoftMPU.

In the mid 2010s a hobbyist platform software interface, SoftMPU, was written that upgrades UART (non intelligent) MPU-401 interfaces to an intelligent MPU-401 interface, however this only works for the DOS operating system.

HardMPU.

In 2015 a PCB (HardMPU) was developed that incorporates SoftMPU as logic on hardware (so that the PC's CPU does not have to process intelligent MIDI). Currently HardMPU only supports playback and not recording.

Contemporary interfaces.

Physical MIDI connections are increasingly replaced with the USB interface, and a USB to MIDI converter in order to drive musical peripherals which do not yet have their own USB ports. Often, peripherals are able to accept MIDI input through USB and route it to the traditional DIN connectors. While MPU-401 support is no longer included in Windows Vista, a driver is available on Windows Update. As of 2011 the interface was still supported by Linux and Mac OS X.

The MPU-401, where "MPU" stands for MIDI Processing Unit, is an important but now obsolete interface for connecting MIDI-equipped electronic music hardware to personal computers. It was designed by Roland Corporation, which also co-authored the MIDI standard.

Le MPU-401 (MPU signifiant MIDI Processing Unit, soit "unité de traitement MIDI") est un standard important mais obsolète pour les interfaces MIDI pour les ordinateurs personnels. Il a été conçu par le constructeur Roland, qui est un des coauteurs de la norme MIDI.


History.

The party was founded in 1985 by Desmond O'Malley, a former senior minister in Fianna Fáil governments under Jack Lynch and Charles Haughey. O'Malley was a strong opponent of Haughey and was involved in a number of leadership heaves against Haughey, who was popular and controversial in equal measure. O'Malley had lost the Fianna Fáil whip in the Dáil in 1984 because of his support for the New Ireland Forum report and was finally expelled from Fianna Fáil early in 1985 for "conduct unbecoming" a member when he refused to support Fianna Fáil's opposition to the introduction of contraception.  O'Malley joined with Fianna Fáil members Mary Harney, Bobby Molloy and Pearse Wyse, Fine Gael TD Michael Keating and former Fine Gael activist Michael McDowell to set up the new party. The breakaways were dissatisfied with the policies of existing parties, which they viewed as being insufficiently liberal, both economically and on social issues such as divorce and contraception. In Ireland in 1985, when personal income above £7,300 per annum was taxed at 60 percent, the country's national debt was 104 percent of GDP, unemployment was 17.3 percent, the Progressive Democrats' liberal reformist agenda was considered especially radical.  McDowell suggested a number of names for the party, including New Democrats, New Republic, National Party, Radical Party; Progressive Democrats was not among his suggestions. O'Malley declared that the party ought to be pro-enterprise, in favour of economic participation by all, liberal and pluralist, hostile to institutional dependency, favourable to incentives, pro self-reliance, deregulating where possible, anti-monopoly and pro-competition, low-key on nationalism, stressing "real republican" values rather than "nationalistic myths".  In the 1987 general election the new party won 14 seats and 11.9% of the vote, becoming the third-largest party in the Dáil. The Progressive Democrats formed the second-largest opposition party under difficult circumstances. The minority Fianna Fáil government introduced some of the economic reforms that the Progressive Democrats had recommended. Fianna Fáil was however largely supported by Fine Gael where the economy was concerned, and so the Progressive Democrats had difficulty being effective in opposition.  After the 1989 election the party had only six seats but formed a coalition government with Fianna Fáil, with Charles Haughey as Taoiseach, which was the first time Fianna Fáil entered coalition. PD leader Desmond O'Malley served as Minister for Industry and Commerce.  When a scandal broke surrounding Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Brian Lenihan Snr's role in pressuring President Patrick Hillery not to allow then-Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald to dissolve the Dáil in 1982. The Progressive Democrats gave Haughey an ultimatum—unless Lenihan was sacked from cabinet, they would pull out of the coalition and support a no-confidence motion in the government. Haughey tried to force Lenihan to resign, and sacked him when he refused. Haughey was replaced in February 1992 by Albert Reynolds, and O'Malley retained his cabinet post.  After the collapse of Reynolds' first administration later in 1992, O'Malley retired from the leadership of the party. Following the 1992 general election, John Dardis (Agricultural Panel) and Cathy Honan (Industrial and Commercial Panel) were elected to Seanad Éireann as part of an election pact with their politically polar opposites Democratic Left. Mary Harney became the new leader after a bitter electoral contest with Pat Cox who later left the party. Harney was the first woman to lead any of the major Irish political parties. Harney served as Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) from May 1997 until September 2006 after a return to government in coalition with Fianna Fáil.  In the 2002 general election the party defied expectations by doubling its Dáil seats to eight, although its share of the vote declined slightly to 4%. In total the Progressive Democrats participated in coalition governments four times, on each occasion with Fianna Fáil (1989–1992; 1997–2002; 2002–2007; 2007–2009), and also with the Green Party from 2007 to 2009.  In 2005 Michael McDowell publicly took a firmly anti-republican position and named Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Martin Ferris as members of the IRA Army Council. The convention in Irish politics at this time was not to accuse Sinn Féin politicians of being members of the Army Council, in doing so McDowell broke with convention. He said that until the IRA disbanded Sinn Féin could not be involved in government, North or South.  On 7 September 2006 Mary Harney announced that she was stepping down as leader of the Progressive Democrats. She expressed a wish to stay on as Minister for Health. On 10 September, Michael McDowell was elected unopposed as Party Leader, having been nominated by Tom Parlon and that nomination being seconded by Liz O'Donnell. Liz O'Donnell became Deputy Leader and Tom Parlon became Party President.  The 2007 general election was a disastrous one for the party. The Progressive Democrats lost six of their eight seats in the 166-seat Dáil. Among those to lose their seats were party leader Michael McDowell, deputy leader Liz O'Donnell and party president Tom Parlon. McDowell retired from public life after he lost his seat, and Mary Harney was asked by the party chairman to resume the role of party leader. The following month, Tom Parlon announced that he was also leaving public life and would take up the position of Director General of the Irish Construction Industry Federation.  A committee headed by former Senator John Dardis recommended in September 2007 that the role of leader be taken on by a senator or councillor (although the party rules then required that the position must be held by a TD). A meeting of the party's General Council on 16 February 2008 changed the rules to allow any senator, councillor or any party member with the support of 20 other members to stand for the party's leadership and on 17 April, Senator Ciarán Cannon was elected leader, defeating fellow Senator Fiona O'Malley.  The party's two remaining TDs, Mary Harney and Noel Grealish, entered into coalition government with Fianna Fáil and the Green Party in the 30th Dáil. The party never recovered from this electoral collapse. On 8 November 2008, with all parliamentary members and founder Desmond O'Malley united in the opinion that the party was no longer politically viable, delegates to a special conference in Mullingar voted by 201 votes to 161 to bring the Progressive Democrats to an end. In January 2009 the party was still operating and in receipt of state funding, including a Party Leader's Allowance paid to Minister Mary Harney, but had ceased to receive funding by the following June. The archives of the Progressive Democrats party were presented to University College Dublin on 10 June 2009. At least 20 former Progressive Democrats councillors won seats on county, city and town councils at the 2009 local elections. Some were elected as Fine Gael candidates, some as Fianna Fáil and others as independents.  At the 2011 general election 11 former Progressive Democrats members stood as candidates for the Dáil in a country-wide spread of constituencies. Subsequently, three former PD members were elected. Mary Mitchell O'Connor (PD Councillor 2004–08) was elected in Dún Laoghaire for Fine Gael, Ciarán Cannon (PD Senator 2007–09 / party leader 2008–09) was elected in Galway East for the same party, while Noel Grealish (PD TD 2002–09 / caretaker party leader 2009) was re-elected as an independent TD for Galway West. Several ex-PD members stood for election to Seanad Éireann in 2011. The only successful candidature was that of Councillor Cait Keane (FG), who had served on South Dublin County Council for the PDs between 1991 and 2008, and had stood for election in the Dublin South-Central constituency for the PDs in 1992, 1994 and 1997.

Ideology and policies.

The Progressive Democrats were described as conservative-liberal, liberal, and classical liberal.  The party's economic policies were based on economic liberalism. They supported the freedom of private enterprise and the lowering of taxes. They generally favoured privatisation; for example, they supported the privatisation of the previously state-owned airline Aer Lingus and communications company Telecom Éireann. They were also part of the break-up of airports company Aer Rianta and unsuccessfully lobbied for a private, competing second terminal in Dublin Airport. As acting PD leader and Minister for Health, Mary Harney was involved in the controversial extension of private-sector influence in health care. She pursued a policy of co-location of private hospitals on public hospital grounds and is seen as sympathetic to the privatisation of health insurance. However, they opposed their coalition partner's plans to privatise airports company Aer Rianta on the grounds that a private monopoly would be worse than a public monopoly.  The party was a strong supporter of low taxation. As the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) stated in 2002: "On balance, budgets over the past 10 to 20 years have been more favourable to high income groups than low income groups, but particularly so during periods of high growth". While the party was in government since 1997, the lower rate of income tax fell from 26% to 20% and the upper rate from 48% to 41%.  They supported low corporation tax because they believe it encouraged business growth and enabled private enterprise to be rewarded. The party often claimed these policies were in part responsible for the "Celtic Tiger" economy. Dermot McAleese, emeritus professor of economics at Trinity College, Dublin, says that the emergence of the Progressive Democrats in 1985 may have had a more positive influence on the economy than some recognise. He argues the Irish low-tax, pro-business economy is based in large part on Progressive Democrat policies. "They proved that there was a constituency for this, and they gave the intellectual power to it."  The party leaders rejected the idea that they are ruled by ideology alone. Former party leader Michael McDowell has said that he sees liberalism as not being on the left-right spectrum as it is a mix of the ideals of both. Mary Harney, on becoming health minister said "I don't get my politics from any ideology, I get it from my experience and common sense". Yet Harney was a controversial minister who attempted to extend private influence in the health service and McDowell's campaign in the general election included particularly strong attacks on Irish left-wing parties.  Despite having in its ranks the openly gay Colm O'Gorman, the Progressive Democrats did not support same-sex marriage. Instead, they claimed to propose legislating for civil union; however attempts by the Labour Party to legislate for civil unions in the previous Dáil had been forestalled by PD Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell, due to his insistence that non-sex relationships be recognised too. The Progressive Democrats again voted down the same bill in the current Dáil.  Both Progressive Democrats and other commentators have suggested that the party had a greater influence on government policy since 1997 than might be expected from its size. This belief appears to have some basis – as of September 2004 the party controlled two of the most important cabinet positions (Justice and Health), despite having less than one-tenth of the seats of its coalition partner Fianna Fáil.  In a 2000 speech to the American Bar Association, the then party leader Mary Harney appeared to express a desire that Ireland become "closer to Boston than Berlin", adopting US free-market models for economic development, health, education, and other services rather than European Continental models because she believed that the continental countries (such as Germany and France), while having more equality had bad economies and high unemployment.  However, in the midst of the ongoing Irish financial crisis, many opponents began to question the legacy of the Progressive Democrats. In a review of the Department of Finance Robert Wright, a Canadian economist, singled out the policies of the PD's and Fianna Fáil's 2002 election manifestos as contributing significantly to the 2008 property market crash.

Notes.

Margaret Buckley had led Sinn Féin between 1936 and 1950, but during a period where they held no seats in the Dáil and didn't contest elections.

The Progressive Democrats (, literally The Democratic Party, PDs) was a conservative-liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on divorce, contraception, and other social issues. The party also supported economic liberalisation, advocating measures such as lower taxation, fiscal conservatism, privatisation, and welfare reform. It enjoyed an impressive début at the 1987 general election, winning 14 seats in Dáil Éireann and capturing almost 12 per cent of the popular vote to temporarily surpass the Labour Party as Ireland's third-largest political party.

Les Démocrates progressistes (en anglais, "Progressive Democrats", en irlandais, "An Paírtí Daonlathach") étaient un parti politique irlandais, libéral membre du parti ELDR.


Production.

Fireworks Entertainment stated that they wanted to make use of the TV rights to "RoboCop" before they expired and thus ordered that "Prime Directives" be made, selecting Julian Grant to direct. Grant had a reputation for finishing projects ahead of schedule and under budget. He, in turn, picked Joseph O'Brien and Brad Abraham to write the series. Richard Eden, who played the role of RoboCop during the 1994, was approached to reprise the role for this series, but negotiations broke down for an unspecified reason.  The previous incarnation of "RoboCop" was the family-friendly TV series from 1994. Grant had no interest in perpetuating this approach, however, and would return RoboCop to his dark, violent roots. Although "Prime Directives" takes place ten years after the original film, the production was not permitted to use clips from the feature films. However, MGM had licensed shots of Murphy's death scene from the original film for the television show to use. The creators of "Prime Directives" took the footage that the TV show used, recolored the shots blue, and used them in the third film in the series, "Resurrection".

Cast.

Prior to being cast, Fletcher had not seen the "RoboCop" feature films, and no effort was made to mimic Peter Weller's original movements. Fletcher instead worked out a RoboCop movement system for himself that he felt was appropriate for where the character was, physically and emotionally.

Continuity.

"Prime Directives" takes place ten years after "RoboCop". This series is largely considered an alternate reality to the films as major events of the second and third films and the are almost completely ignored. In contrast to the events shown in the films, Delta City is developed and OCP is not dissolved. In the theatrical movie series, Murphy is publicly revealed to have been converted into RoboCop and openly uses his legally deceased name, whereas in this series, Murphy's identity remains secret until the fourth episode, in which he is legally recognized as Police Commander Alex Murphy, formerly known as Robocop Model 01.  O'Brien stated, "there's nothing in "PD" that significantly contradicts those other versions. The reasoning behind setting our story ten years later was to just give ourselves some distance, creatively and temporally, to tell our tale, and not out of any disrespect for those earlier incarnations, nor the people responsible for them."  In regards to the character of Anne Lewis, O'Brien went on to say, "As far as we were concerned Anne Lewis is dead. Whether this happened in "RoboCop 3" or not we leave to the discretion of the individual viewer."

Plot.

Ten years after the events of "RoboCop", RoboCop has become outdated and tired. Delta City (formerly Detroit) is now considered the safest place on Earth, and he is no longer viewed as particularly necessary.  The first half of the series focuses on Alex Murphy's former partner, John T. Cable, who is slain by RoboCop after his system is hacked to program him to terminate Cable. Cable is then resurrected as a cyborg in most aspects identical to the RoboCop model, save for color and the addition of a second sidearm. "RoboCable" is sent to destroy RoboCop, but after several battles, Cable is convinced to ally with Murphy. Meanwhile, OCP (on the verge of bankruptcy) is taken over by a scheming executive, Damian Lowe, who manages to murder the entire board of directors. To bring OCP back, he plans to use an artificial intelligence called SAINT to automate the entire city.  The second half of the series introduces Dr. David Kaydick, who plans to introduce a "bio-tech" virus called "Legion" to wipe out not only Delta City but all life on the planet, infecting computers and people alike. He takes control of RoboCable by planting a chip in him that causes him pain or death, at Kaydick's discretion. RoboCop receives aid from a group of tech thieves led by Ann R. Key, who are determined to stop Kaydick, and RoboCop's own son, James – now fully grown and aware of his father's fate. RoboCop and his rag-tag band race to stop Kaydick from infiltrating OCP tower and activating SAINT, which would presumably kill almost all humans. During the confrontation, RoboCop and James reconcile with each other, and manage to rekindle RoboCable's previous personality. Key and Kaydick both die during a confrontation with each other. Utilizing James's EMP device, and having shut down RoboCop, RoboCable and Legion are terminated. RoboCop gets rebooted without his previous OCP restriction programming (as well as restoring his identity as "Alex Murphy" as opposed to an OCP product number) or his prime directives. After viewing a goodbye message left by Cable, Murphy returns to active duty to stop the resultant crime in Delta City due to the EMP pulse blacking out the city, "deciding" by his own that he will follow his three prime directives: Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, and uphold the law.  In the epilogue, Murphy and his allies form the Prime Directives foundation while OCP is disgraced publicly and facing thousands of indictments and a multi-trillion dollar class action lawsuit.

DVD release.

In 2002 the complete mini-series was released in the UK on Region 2 by Prism Leisure. Delta Visual Entertainment reissued "RoboCop: Prime Directives" on DVD in the UK on November 17, 2008.  Lionsgate Home Entertainment released the entire four-part mini-series on DVD in Region 1 in 2003, in four separate releases. All four DVDs were re-released in June 2011.

Reception.

The return to darkly satirical, violent storytelling (unlike the family-friendly approach taken as of "") was welcomed. However, the special effects, locations, action sequences and overall production value have been criticized as reflecting a low budget, a common slight on TV productions of that period.  With virtually no commercial promotion, "Prime Directives" premiered in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel to lackluster ratings. Despite its poor ratings, it easily recouped its production costs through foreign sales, turning a substantial profit before broadcast and became a regular fixture on Canada's Space.

RoboCop: Prime Directives is a Canadian TV miniseries released in 2001 spun off from the action film "RoboCop" franchise. The series, created by Fireworks Entertainment, consists of four feature-length episodes: "Dark Justice", "Meltdown", "Resurrection", and "Crash and Burn". All four episodes have been released on DVD.

RoboCop 2001 ou Robocop : Directives Prioritaires ("RoboCop: Prime Directives") est une mini-série de science-fiction canadienne en 4 épisodes de 94 minutes, créée par Julian Grant d'après les personnages de la série de films "RoboCop" créés par Edward Neumeier et Michael Miner, et diffusée entre le et le sur Space.


History.

The term "numerical integration" first appears in 1915 in the publication "A Course in Interpolation and Numeric Integration for the Mathematical Laboratory" by David Gibb.  Quadrature is a historical mathematical term that means calculating area. Quadrature problems have served as one of the main sources of mathematical analysis. Mathematicians of Ancient Greece, according to the Pythagorean doctrine, understood calculation of area as the process of constructing geometrically a square having the same area ("squaring"). That is why the process was named quadrature. For example, a quadrature of the circle, Lune of Hippocrates, The Quadrature of the Parabola. This construction must be performed only by means of compass and straightedge.  The ancient Babylonians used the trapezoidal rule to integrate the motion of Jupiter along the ecliptic. For a quadrature of a rectangle with the sides "a" and "b" it is necessary to construct a square with the side formula_2 (the Geometric mean of "a" and "b"). For this purpose it is possible to use the following fact: if we draw the circle with the sum of "a" and "b" as the diameter, then the height BH (from a point of their connection to crossing with a circle) equals their geometric mean. The similar geometrical construction solves a problem of a quadrature for a parallelogram and a triangle. Problems of quadrature for curvilinear figures are much more difficult. The quadrature of the circle with compass and straightedge had been proved in the 19th century to be impossible. Nevertheless, for some figures (for example the Lune of Hippocrates) a quadrature can be performed. The quadratures of a sphere surface and a parabola segment done by Archimedes became the highest achievement of the antique analysis. For the proof of the results Archimedes used the Method of exhaustion of Eudoxus.  In medieval Europe the quadrature meant calculation of area by any method. More often the Method of indivisibles was used; it was less rigorous, but more simple and powerful. With its help Galileo Galilei and Gilles de Roberval found the area of a cycloid arch, Grégoire de Saint-Vincent investigated the area under a hyperbola ("Opus Geometricum", 1647), and Alphonse Antonio de Sarasa, de Saint-Vincent's pupil and commentator, noted the relation of this area to logarithms.  John Wallis algebrised this method: he wrote in his "Arithmetica Infinitorum" (1656) series that we now call the definite integral, and he calculated their values. Isaac Barrow and James Gregory made further progress: quadratures for some algebraic curves and spirals. Christiaan Huygens successfully performed a quadrature of some Solids of revolution.  The quadrature of the hyperbola by Saint-Vincent and de Sarasa provided a new function, the natural logarithm, of critical importance.  With the invention of integral calculus came a universal method for area calculation. In response, the term quadrature has become traditional, and instead the modern phrase ""computation of a univariate definite integral"" is more common.

Reasons for numerical integration.

There are several reasons for carrying out numerical integration.

Methods for one-dimensional integrals.

Numerical integration methods can generally be described as combining evaluations of the integrand to get an approximation to the integral. The integrand is evaluated at a finite set of points called integration points and a weighted sum of these values is used to approximate the integral. The integration points and weights depend on the specific method used and the accuracy required from the approximation.  An important part of the analysis of any numerical integration method is to study the behavior of the approximation error as a function of the number of integrand evaluations. A method that yields a small error for a small number of evaluations is usually considered superior. Reducing the number of evaluations of the integrand reduces the number of arithmetic operations involved, and therefore reduces the total round-off error. Also, each evaluation takes time, and the integrand may be arbitrarily complicated.  A 'brute force' kind of numerical integration can be done, if the integrand is reasonably well-behaved (i.e. piecewise continuous and of bounded variation), by evaluating the integrand with very small increments.

Quadrature rules based on interpolating functions.

A large class of quadrature rules can be derived by constructing interpolating functions that are easy to integrate. Typically these interpolating functions are polynomials. In practice, since polynomials of very high degree tend to oscillate wildly, only polynomials of low degree are used, typically linear and quadratic. The simplest method of this type is to let the interpolating function be a constant function (a polynomial of degree zero) that passes through the point formula_3. This is called the "midpoint rule" or "rectangle rule"  The interpolating function may be a straight line (an affine function, i.e. a polynomial of degree 1) passing through the points formula_5 and formula_6. This is called the "trapezoidal rule"  For either one of these rules, we can make a more accurate approximation by breaking up the interval formula_8 into some number formula_9 of subintervals, computing an approximation for each subinterval, then adding up all the results. This is called a "composite rule", "extended rule", or "iterated rule". For example, the composite trapezoidal rule can be stated as  where the subintervals have the form formula_11 with formula_12 and formula_13 Here we used subintervals of the same length formula_14 but one could also use intervals of varying length formula_15.  Interpolation with polynomials evaluated at equally spaced points in formula_8 yields the Newton–Cotes formulas, of which the rectangle rule and the trapezoidal rule are examples. Simpson's rule, which is based on a polynomial of order 2, is also a Newton–Cotes formula.  Quadrature rules with equally spaced points have the very convenient property of "nesting". The corresponding rule with each interval subdivided includes all the current points, so those integrand values can be re-used.  If we allow the intervals between interpolation points to vary, we find another group of quadrature formulas, such as the Gaussian quadrature formulas. A Gaussian quadrature rule is typically more accurate than a Newton–Cotes rule, which requires the same number of function evaluations, if the integrand is smooth (i.e., if it is sufficiently differentiable). Other quadrature methods with varying intervals include Clenshaw–Curtis quadrature (also called Fejér quadrature) methods, which do nest.  Gaussian quadrature rules do not nest, but the related Gauss–Kronrod quadrature formulas do.

Generalized midpoint rule formula.

A generalized midpoint rule formula is given by or where formula_19 denotes formula_20-th derivative. For example, substituting formula_21 and in the generalized midpoint rule formula, we obtain an equation of the inverse tangent where formula_24 is imaginary unit and  Since at each odd formula_9 the numerator of the integrand becomes formula_27, the generalized midpoint rule formula can be reorganized as  The following example of Mathematica code generates the plot showing difference between inverse tangent and its approximation truncated at formula_29 and formula_30:  f[theta_, x_] := theta/(1 + theta^2*x^2);  aTan[theta_, M_, nMax_] :=  Plot[{ArcTan[theta] - aTan[theta, 5, 10]}, {theta, -Pi, Pi}, For a function formula_31 defined over interval formula_32, its integral is Therefore, we can apply the generalized midpoint integration formula above by assuming that formula_34.

Adaptive algorithms.

If "f"("x") does not have many derivatives at all points, or if the derivatives become large, then Gaussian quadrature is often insufficient. In this case, an algorithm similar to the following will perform better: def calculate_definite_integral_of_f(f, initial_step_size): Some details of the algorithm require careful thought. For many cases, estimating the error from quadrature over an interval for a function "f"("x") isn't obvious. One popular solution is to use two different rules of quadrature, and use their difference as an estimate of the error from quadrature. The other problem is deciding what "too large" or "very small" signify. A "local" criterion for "too large" is that the quadrature error should not be larger than "t" · "h" where "t", a real number, is the tolerance we wish to set for global error. Then again, if "h" is already tiny, it may not be worthwhile to make it even smaller even if the quadrature error is apparently large. A "global" criterion is that the sum of errors on all the intervals should be less than "t". This type of error analysis is usually called "a posteriori" since we compute the error after having computed the approximation.  Heuristics for adaptive quadrature are discussed by Forsythe et al. (Section 5.4).

Extrapolation methods.

The accuracy of a quadrature rule of the Newton-Cotes type is generally a function of the number of evaluation points. The result is usually more accurate as the number of evaluation points increases, or, equivalently, as the width of the step size between the points decreases. It is natural to ask what the result would be if the step size were allowed to approach zero. This can be answered by extrapolating the result from two or more nonzero step sizes, using series acceleration methods such as Richardson extrapolation. The extrapolation function may be a polynomial or rational function. Extrapolation methods are described in more detail by Stoer and Bulirsch (Section 3.4) and are implemented in many of the routines in the QUADPACK library.

Conservative (a priori) error estimation.

Let formula_35 have a bounded first derivative over formula_36 i.e. formula_37 The mean value theorem for formula_38 where formula_39 gives  for some formula_41 depending on formula_42.  If we integrate in formula_42 from formula_44 to formula_45 on both sides and take the absolute values, we obtain  We can further approximate the integral on the right-hand side by bringing the absolute value into the integrand, and replacing the term in formula_47 by an upper bound  where the supremum was used to approximate.  Hence, if we approximate the integral formula_48 by the quadrature rule formula_49 our error is no greater than the right hand side of. We can convert this into an error analysis for the Riemann sum (*), giving an upper bound of  for the error term of that particular approximation. (Note that this is precisely the error we calculated for the example formula_51.) Using more derivatives, and by tweaking the quadrature, we can do a similar error analysis using a Taylor series (using a partial sum with remainder term) for "f". This error analysis gives a strict upper bound on the error, if the derivatives of "f" are available.  This integration method can be combined with interval arithmetic to produce computer proofs and "verified" calculations.

Integrals over infinite intervals.

Several methods exist for approximate integration over unbounded intervals. The standard technique involves specially derived quadrature rules, such as Gauss-Hermite quadrature for integrals on the whole real line and Gauss-Laguerre quadrature for integrals on the positive reals. Monte Carlo methods can also be used, or a change of variables to a finite interval; e.g., for the whole line one could use  and for semi-infinite intervals one could use  as possible transformations.

Multidimensional integrals.

The quadrature rules discussed so far are all designed to compute one-dimensional integrals. To compute integrals in multiple dimensions, one approach is to phrase the multiple integral as repeated one-dimensional integrals by applying Fubini's theorem (the tensor product rule). This approach requires the function evaluations to grow exponentially as the number of dimensions increases. Three methods are known to overcome this so-called "curse of dimensionality".  A great many additional techniques for forming multidimensional cubature integration rules for a variety of weighting functions are given in the monograph by Stroud.

Monte Carlo.

Monte Carlo methods and quasi-Monte Carlo methods are easy to apply to multi-dimensional integrals. They may yield greater accuracy for the same number of function evaluations than repeated integrations using one-dimensional methods.  A large class of useful Monte Carlo methods are the so-called Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms, which include the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm and Gibbs sampling.

Sparse grids.

Sparse grids were originally developed by Smolyak for the quadrature of high-dimensional functions. The method is always based on a one-dimensional quadrature rule, but performs a more sophisticated combination of univariate results. However, whereas the tensor product rule guarantees that the weights of all of the cubature points will be positive if the weights of the quadrature points were positive, Smolyak's rule does not guarantee that the weights will all be positive.

Bayesian Quadrature.

Bayesian Quadrature is a statistical approach to the numerical problem of computing integrals and falls under the field of probabilistic numerics. It can provide a full handling of the uncertainty over the solution of the integral expressed as a Gaussian Process posterior variance. It is also known to provide very fast convergence rates which can be up to exponential in the number of quadrature points n.

Connection with differential equations.

The problem of evaluating the integral can be reduced to an initial value problem for an ordinary differential equation by applying the first part of the fundamental theorem of calculus. By differentiating both sides of the above with respect to the argument "x", it is seen that the function "F" satisfies Methods developed for ordinary differential equations, such as Runge–Kutta methods, can be applied to the restated problem and thus be used to evaluate the integral. For instance, the standard fourth-order Runge–Kutta method applied to the differential equation yields Simpson's rule from above.  The differential equation "F"'("x") = ƒ("x") has a special form: the right-hand side contains only the independent variable (here "x") and not the dependent variable (here "F"). This simplifies the theory and algorithms considerably. The problem of evaluating integrals is thus best studied in its own right.

In analysis, numerical integration comprises a broad family of algorithms for calculating the numerical value of a definite integral, and by extension, the term is also sometimes used to describe the numerical solution of differential equations. This article focuses on calculation of definite integrals. The term numerical quadrature (often abbreviated to "quadrature") is more or less a synonym for "numerical integration", especially as applied to one-dimensional integrals. Some authors refer to numerical integration over more than one dimension as cubature; others take "quadrature" to include higher-dimensional integration.

En analyse numérique, il existe une vaste famille d’algorithmes dont le but principal est d’estimer la valeur numérique de l’intégrale définie sur un domaine particulier pour une fonction donnée (par exemple l’intégrale d’une fonction d’une variable sur un intervalle).


History.

A deed of gift issued 1 May 704 in Würzburg by the Thuringian Duke Hedan II to the Anglo-Saxon bishop Willibrord of Utrecht is the first written reference to Arnstadt ("Arnestati"), along with two other towns—the oldest documented reference of settlements in Thuringia and central and eastern Germany. In 726, Arnstadt passed to the Abbey of Echternach, and later to the Abbey of Hersfeld. According to historian August Beck, in 925 the territories of Henry I were extended as a bulwark against the invading Magyars. On 17 December 954, Holy Roman Emperor Otto I made peace in Arnstadt with his rebellious son Liudolf of Swabia and another son, William, whom he appointed Archbishop of Mainz, and decided that the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of our Lady) would be built.  In the 12th century a part of Arnstadt fell under the rule of the Counts of Kevernburg. On 8 March 1198 the princes of the Holy Roman Empire gathered in Arnstadt and elected Philip of Swabia as King of Germany. In 1220 Arnstadt was first described as a "civitas", that is, a city. On 21 April 1266, the abbot of the Abbey of Hersfeld granted a charter; thereafter, Arnstadt became a hub for trade in timber, grain, wine and wood.  After the extinction of the Kevernburg family from 1302 to 1306, the counts of Schwarzburg took possession of Arnstadt. Attempts by Erfurt 1342 and 1345 to seize what was now a wealthy town failed due to the strong attachment. Arnstadt's prosperity was based on the milling industry, the cloth-making trade, tanneries, and trade in wine, woad, wood, grain, wool, and vegetables.  On 30 January 1349, Count Günther XXI of Schwarzburg, an adversary of King Charles IV, was elected and crowned sovereign of Arnstadt in Frankfurt. He renounced this title on 26 May for 20,000 silver marks. A 1404 reference was found in 2000 to Bratwurst originating in Arnstadt, therefore the town claims its invention. In 1496, the Schwarzburg domains were divided into the lordships of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, to which Arnstadt belonged. During the German Peasants' War 95 participants in the uprising were beheaded as ringleaders in the Arnstadt marketplace, on 17 June and 2 August 1525. The city was forced to pay 3000 guilders for supporting the insurgents. In 1531 the Reformation was introduced into Arnstadt. As a result, the Franciscan maidens' convent, and subsequently the Franciscan mendicant convent (Barfüßerkloster) were secularized. From 1581 the church of the former Barfüßerkloster (now the Oberkirche) was the main church of the city. In 1553, work began on the count's residence, Neideck Castle. The water palace was completed in 1560.  With the onset of industrialisation, a residential area emerged to the west and south of the old town, and industrial areas to the north. During the Second World War, it was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp, mainly for Poles and Russians. 1,700 prisoners were housed in tents that contained only 100 bunks. The camp was liberated by American Forces in April 1945. A number of mass graves were discovered. 1,200 civilians from the neighbouring city of Weimar were brought on a forced tour of the camp. This included a "parchment display" which displayed a "lampshade made of human skin." The display also included pieces of skin used for painting pictures. After the Second World War, the town expanded further to the north along the Geratals, new residential areas emerged in the 1970s and 80s, in the east and southeast of Arnstadt, including the residential Raven Hold. Arnstadt is a manufacturing centre with glassworks and foundries, a solar panel production plant, and glove-manufacturing and wood-finishing businesses.

Main sights.

Arnstadt has a beautifully kept old city, restricted to pedestrian traffic. Its noteworthy buildings include: The composer Johann Sebastian Bach, whose family lived for generations in the vicinity of Arnstadt, became the organist at the New Church in 1703 while he was still in his teens. He stayed there until 1707. Bach had a high opinion of Johann Friedrich Wender, the organ-builder who had recently constructed the church's organ. While there is some uncertainty about which of his surviving compositions were produced in Arnstadt, there is evidence that the Wender organ, which still survives, allowed Bach to experiment with unusual modulations and harmonies. Many Bach scholars believe his well-known "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" was composed with the Arnstadt organ in mind.

Miscellaneous.

The annual precipitation averages 487 mm.  The town hosts an annual high jump meet – "Hochsprung mit Musik" – which attracts some of the world's foremost high jumpers. Kajsa Bergqvist set a world record in Arnstadt's "Sporthalle am Jahn-sportpark" in 2006.

Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera about 20 kilometres south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially preserved town wall. The town is nicknamed "Das Tor zum Thüringer Wald" ("The Gateway to the Thuringian Forest") because of its location on the northern edge of that forest. Arnstadt has a population of some 27,000. The city centre is on the west side of Gera. The municipality has absorbed several neighbouring municipalities: Angelhausen–Oberndorf (1922), Siegelbach (1994), Rudisleben (1999) and Wipfratal (2019). The neighbouring municipalities are Amt Wachsenburg, Alkersleben, Dornheim, Bösleben-Wüllersleben, Stadtilm, Ilmenau, Plaue and Geratal.

Arnstadt est le chef-lieu de l'arrondissement d'Ilm en Thuringe (Allemagne) et est surnommée « la porte de la forêt de Thuringe » ("Das Tor zum Thüringer Wald").


Origins.

The first muster of militia forces in what is today the United States took place on September 16, 1565, in the newly established Spanish military town of St. Augustine. The militia men were assigned to guard the expedition's supplies while their leader, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, took the regular troops north to attack the French settlement at Fort Caroline on the St. Johns River. This Spanish militia tradition and the English tradition that would be established to the north would provide the basic nucleus for Colonial defense in the New World.  The militia tradition continued with the first permanent English settlements in the New World. Jamestown Colony (established in 1607) and Plymouth Colony (established in 1620) both had militia forces, which initially consisted of every able bodied adult male. By the mid-1600s every town had at least one militia company (usually commanded by an officer with the rank of captain) and the militia companies of a county formed a regiment (usually commanded by an officer with the rank of major in the 1600s or a colonel in the 1700s).

Organization.

Territorial organization.

The National Guard of the several states, territories, and the District of Columbia serves as part of the first line of defense for the United States. The state National Guard is organized into units stationed in each of the 50 states, three territories, and the District

National Guard Bureau.

The National Guard is administered by the National Guard Bureau, which is a joint activity of the Army and Air Force under the DoD. The National Guard Bureau provides a communication channel for state National Guards to the DoD. The National Guard Bureau also provides policies and requirements for training and funds for state Army National Guard and state Air National Guard units, the allocation of federal funds to the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard, and other administrative responsibilities prescribed under. The National Guard Bureau is headed by the Chief of the National Guard Bureau (CNGB), who is a four-star general in the Army or Air Force and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  The National Guard Bureau

Constitutional basis.

The respective state National Guards are authorized by the Constitution of the United States. As originally drafted, the Constitution recognized the existing state militias, and gave them vital roles to fill: "to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasion." (Article I, Section 8, Clause 15). The Constitution distinguished "militias," which were state entities, from "Troops," which were unlawful for states to maintain without Congressional approval. (Article I, Section 10, Clause 3). Under current law, the respective state National Guards and the State Defense Forces are authorized by Congress to the states and are referred to as "troops.".  Although originally state entities, the Constitutional "Militia of the Several States" were not entirely independent because they

Standards.

Both the Army National Guard and Air National Guard are expected to adhere to the same moral and physical standards as their "full-time" active duty and "part-time" reserve federal counterparts. The same ranks and insignia of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force are used by the Army National

Other organizations.

State defense forces.

Many states also maintain their own state defense forces. Although not federal entities like the National Guard of the United States, these forces are components of the state militias like the individual state National Guards.  These forces were created by Congress in 1917 as a result of the state National Guards' being deployed and were known as Home Guards. In 1940, with the onset of World War II and as a result of its federalizing the National Guard, Congress

Naval militias.

Although there are no Naval or Marine Corps components of the National Guard of the United States, there is a Naval Militia authorized under federal law.. Like the soldiers and airmen in the National Guard of the United States, members of the Naval Militia are authorized federal appointments or enlistments at the discretion of the Secretary of the Navy.. To receive federal funding and equipment, a

Duties and administrative organization.

National Guard units can be mobilized for federal active duty to supplement regular armed forces during times of war or national emergency declared by Congress, the President or the Secretary of Defense. They can also be activated for service in their respective states

National Guard active duty character.

The term "activated" simply means that a unit or individual of the reserve components has been placed on orders. The purpose and authority for that activation determines limitations and duration of the activation. The Army and Air National Guard may be activated in a number of ways as prescribed by public law. Broadly, under federal law, there are two titles in the United States Code under which units and troops may be activated: as federal soldiers or airmen under Title 10 ("Armed Forces") and as state soldiers or airmen performing a federally-funded mission under Title 32 ("National Guard"). Outside federal activation, the Army and Air National Guard may be activated under state law. This is known as state active duty (SAD).

State and territory duty.

When National Guard units are not under federal control, the governor is the commander-in-chief of the units of his or her respective state or territory (such as Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands). The President of the United States commands the District of Columbia National Guard, though this command is routinely delegated to the Commanding General of the DC National Guard. States are free to employ their National Guard

Federal duty.

Title 10 service means full-time duty in the active military service of the United States. The term used is "federalized". Federalized National Guard forces have been ordered, by the President to active duty either in their

History.

Colonial history.

On December 13, 1636, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ordered that the Colony's scattered militia companies be organized into North, South and East Regiments—with the goal of increasing accountability to the colonial government and responsiveness during conflicts with indigenous Pequot Indians. Under this

American Revolutionary War.

The Massachusetts militia began the American Revolutionary War at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, The Massachusetts militia units were mobilized either during or shortly after the above battles and used to form, along with units from Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire, the Army of

Nineteenth century.

The early United States distrusted a standing army, and kept the number of professional soldiers small. During the Northwest Indian War, the majority of soldiers were provided by state militias. There are nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812.  The Marquis de Lafayette visited the U.S. in 1824–25. The 2nd Battalion, 11th New York Artillery, was one of many militia commands who turned out in welcome. This unit

Industrialization and labor unrest.

Labor unrest in the industrial and mining sections of the Northeast and Midwest led to demands for a stronger military force within the states. After the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, calls for military suppression of labor strikes grew louder, and National Guard units proliferated. In many states, large and elaborate armories, often built

Twentieth century.

Throughout the 19th century the Regular U.S. Army was small, and the state militias provided the majority of the troops during the Mexican–American War, the American Civil War, and the Spanish–American War. With the Militia Act of 1903, the militia was more organized and the name "National Guard" recommended. In 1933, federally-recognized state National Guard units were required to join the National Guard of the United States, a reserve component of the U.S. Army; this is the official founding of the present National Guard. In World War I, National Guard soldiers made up 40 percent of the men in U.S. combat divisions in France. In World War II, the National Guard made up 18 divisions. One hundred forty thousand Guardsmen were mobilized during the Korean War and over 63,000 for Operation Desert Storm. They have also participated in U.S. peacekeeping operations in Somalia, Haiti, Saudi Arabia,

Twenty-first century.

National Guard units played a major role in providing security and assisting recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in September 2005  In 2005, National Guard members and reservists were said to comprise a larger percentage of frontline fighting forces than in any war in U.S. history (about 43 percent in Iraq and 55 percent in Afghanistan). There were more than 183,366 National Guard members and reservists on active duty nationwide who left behind about 300,000 dependents, according to U.S. Defense Department statistics. In 2011, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. stated that "Every Guard brigade has deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, and over 300,000 Guardsmen have deployed in this war."  In January and February 2007, National Guard troops from 8 states were activated to go help shovel snow, drop hay for starving cattle, deliver food and necessities to stranded people in their houses, and help control traffic and rescue stranded motorists in blizzards dropping feet of snow across the country.  In the first quarter

Relevant laws.

The United States Congress has

Notable members.

Presidents.

Militia service was a common trait among presidents of the United States. Eighteen of America's 45 presidents have served in colonial or state militias and two have served in the National Guard since it was established in 1903. Among these, three served in colonial militias

Number of guardsmen by state, territory and D.C..

A member of the NG, often called a "guardsman," is a person who has signed an Enlistment Contract and has subscribed to an Enlistment Oath, is still alive, or has not yet been discharged. The subscription to the oath (typically a recitation) and the signature must be witnessed by a person, typically a Guard officer, authorized as an official witness. The term of the enlistment, or membership, runs from the date on the contract through the date on the discharge or the death certificate.  The "number of guardsmen" is a statistic generated by the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), an agency of the DoD tasked with tracking the identities of all persons in the active military, its reserves, and civilians employed by it. Membership in the Guard may be regarded as an independent variable. It changes constantly. Its value at any instant cannot be known exactly. It can, however, be estimated from the records of the DMDC. Its data and reports are for the most part inaccessible to the general public, but it does make available some reports under the category "DoD Personal, Workforce Reports & Publications."  The series "Military and Civilian Personnel by Service/Agency by State/Country (Updated Quarterly)," containing the statistics on membership in the NG by state, territory, and D.C., is updated every 3rd month at the end of the month. For example, one was generated on June 30, 2017. Like all statistics, these numbers of guardsmen are a sample culled according to a certain method. The report states that it uses the sources: "Active Duty Master File, RCCPDS, APF Civilian Master, CTS Deployment File, Civilian Deployment." The probabilities of the statistics being accurate to various percentages are not stated.  Below is a sample summary of a profile of Guard membership taken from the file of June 30, 2017. Only the non-total columns come from the source. The totals are calculated from the data.

The United States National Guard is part of the reserve components of the United States Army and the United States Air Force. It is a military reserve force composed of National Guard military members or units of each state and the territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, for a total of 54 separate organizations. All members of the National Guard of the United States are also members of the Organized Militia of the United States as defined by. National Guard units are under the dual control of the state governments and the federal government.

La Garde nationale des États-Unis (en anglais, "United States National Guard") est une force militaire de réserve américaine constituée de l'Army National Guard, une composante de l’United States Army (armée de terre) et de la Garde nationale aérienne, une composante de l’United States Air Force (force aérienne). L'Army National Guard représente approximativement la moitié des forces de combat et le tiers de l'organisation logistique de la United States Army. Ces deux branches de la Garde nationale sont gérées par le National Guard Bureau, qui est commandé par un officier qui est d'office élevé au rang de "General".