Name.

The name Cergy comes from Medieval Latin "Sergiacum", meaning "estate of Sergius", a Gallo-Roman landowner.

Administration.

Cergy is the chief town of two cantons: Cergy-1 and Cergy-2.

Twin towns and sister cities.

Cergy is also informally twinned with a village in Palestine and a village in Senegal.

Demographics.

When Cergy was selected to become the center of a "new town", it was only a village. The commune had only 2,895 inhabitants in 1968. It then started to develop very quickly, exceeding 10,000 inhabitants in the mid-1970s and then 20,000 in the early-1980s. It is in this decade that its growth was most spectacular, since the city exceeded 48,000 inhabitants in 1990. The increase continued since, but at a notably slower pace, to reach 54,500 at 2004 estimates. However, on 1 January 2000, the commune lost a portion of its territory (net with a 1999 population of 62 persons) to the adjacent commune of Courdimanche. The official census figures have thus been revised downward from the 1999 official 54,781 to 54,719, and the land area from to 11.65 km2.

Port Cergy.

Port Cergy is a marina on the River Oise at 9. The site comprises both housing and recreational yachts as well as a boating school. The marina can hold 103 ships ranging 5 to 22m long and. The northern part of the site is reserved for restaurants and shops and have been built around a small bain.

Ham.

Ham is a small village to the south of Cergy. The village used to be part of the Sergentery and then commune of Neuville-sur-Oise but has since been amalgamated in the commune of Cergy. On its territory is the outdoor leisure centre 'Base de Loisirs de Cergy-Neuville'.

Transport.

Cergy is served by three stations on Paris RER line A and on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line: Cergy – Préfecture, Cergy – Saint-Christophe, and Cergy – Le Haut. Cergy is served by direct buses from Charles de Gaulle Airport.  The bus company STIVO provides 17 lines of buses to travel within the agglomeration of Cergy.

Education.

Secondary schools:  Lycée Alfred Kastler de Cergy-Pontoise is in neighbouring Pontoise.  Tertiary education:

Security.

Known as being a violent city in the past, with a criminal rate of 137.62 incidents per 1000 inhabitants, Cergy-Pontoise has experienced a significant decrease of violence in the past years. Reaching, in the year of 2008, a rate of 9,87 criminal incidents per 1000 inhabitants, which is still a high criminal rate.

In popular culture.

The town was used as a filming location for Henri Verneuil's film I... comme Icare released in 1979, starring Yves Montand. The EDF-GDF tower designed by architect Renzo Moro is the building from which the shots were fired to assassinate president Marc Jarry. The country that the movie depicts is not named, although the United States is perhaps suggested. The filmmakers chose the modern and innovative architecture of the new city to avoid depicting any particular country.  The town was also the location of the 1987 film My Girlfriend's Boyfriend directed by Eric Rohmer.

Cergy () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise, created in the 1960s, of which it is the central and most populated commune.

Cergy () est une commune française située dans le département du Val-d'Oise, en région Île-de-France. Ses habitants sont appelés les "Cergyssois" et ceux de la communauté d'agglomération de Cergy-Pontoise, les "Cergy-Pontains".


Plot summary.

On the eve of the coronation of King Rudolf V of Ruritania, his younger half-brother Michael, Duke of Strelsau, has him drugged. The unconscious king is abducted and imprisoned in a castle in the small town of Zenda. There are complications, plots, and counterplots, among them the schemes of Michael's mistress, Antoinette de Mauban, and those of his dashing but villainous henchman, Count Rupert of Hentzau.  In a desperate attempt to deny Michael the excuse to claim the throne, Colonel Sapt and Fritz von Tarlenheim, attendants of the king, persuade his distant cousin Rudolf Rassendyll, an English visitor, to impersonate the king for the coronation. Rassendyll falls in love with Princess Flavia, the king's betrothed, but cannot tell her the truth. He determines to rescue the king and leads an attempt to enter the castle of Zenda. The king is rescued and is restored to his throne, but the lovers, trapped by duty, must part.

Adaptations.

The novel has been adapted many times, mainly for film but also stage, musical, operetta, radio, and television. Probably the best-known version is the 1937 Hollywood movie. The dashingly villainous Rupert of Hentzau has been interpreted by such matinee idols as Ramon Novarro (1922), Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (1937), and James Mason (1952).

Film.

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Homages.

Many subsequent fictional works can be linked to "The Prisoner of Zenda"; indeed, this novel spawned the genre known as Ruritanian romance. What follows is a shortlist of those homages with a clear debt to Anthony Hope's book.

Legacy.

In a popular but very questionable account, a German circus acrobat named Otto Witte claimed he had been briefly mistaken for the new King of Albania at the time of that country's separation from the Ottoman Empire, and that he was crowned and reigned a few days. However, the date of this claim (1913), and the lack of any evidence to back it up, suggest that Witte made up his story after seeing the first film version of the novel.  Author Salman Rushdie cited "The Prisoner of Zenda" in the epigraph to "Haroun and the Sea of Stories", the novel he wrote while living in hiding in the late 1980s. The novel has been part of the syllabus of higher secondary schools in Pakistan for over three decades.

The Prisoner of Zenda is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in order for the king to retain the crown, his coronation must proceed. Fortuitously, an English gentleman on holiday in Ruritania who resembles the monarch is persuaded to act as his political decoy in an effort to save the unstable political situation of the interregnum.

"Le Prisonnier de Zenda (The Prisoner of Zenda)" est un roman d'aventures d'Anthony Hope, publié en 1894. Le roi de Ruritanie, un pays imaginaire, est enlevé à la veille de son couronnement, et on persuade le héros de l'histoire, un Anglais en vacances dont il se trouve qu'il ressemble au souverain, de jouer le rôle de ce dernier pour essayer de sauver la situation. L'infâme Rupert de Hentzau a donné son nom à la suite, publiée en 1898, qui est incluse dans certaines éditions de ce roman. Ces livres ont joui d'une grande popularité et inspiré un nouveau genre, celui de la romance ruritanienne, qui comprend les romans de George Barr McCutcheon dont l'intrigue se situe dans le Graustark. Ce roman a fait également l'objet d'une publication en feuilleton sous le titre "Le Roman d'un roi" dans la revue "Lectures pour tous".


Operation.

When the ambient air temperature drops to a set temperature, a modulating valve allows all or part of the chilled water to by-pass an existing chiller and run through the free cooling system, which uses less power and uses the lower ambient air temperature to cool the water in the system.  This can be achieved by installing an air blast cooler with any existing chiller or on its own. During low ambient temperatures, an installation can by-pass an existing chiller giving energy savings of up to 75%, without compromising cooling requirements.  In heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) in winter months, large commercial buildings interior spaces may need cooling, even while perimeter spaces may need heating. Free cooling is the production of chilled water without the use of a chiller, and can be used generally in the late fall, winter and early spring, in temperate zones. Free cooling is not entirely free since the chiller is still operational.

Methods.

Assuming that the system can utilize free cooling, there are three ways to use free cooling:

Strainer cycle.

The cooling tower water can be directly linked into the flow through the chilled water circuit. If the cooling tower is open then a strainer is required to eliminate any debris that could accumulate within the tower. The cost savings are associated with the limited use of the water chiller energy. There is an increased risk of corrosion using this method.

Plate and frame heat exchanger.

A heat exchanger will transfer heat directly from the chilled water loop to the cooling tower loop. The exchanger keeps the cooling tower water separate from the coolant flowing through the cooling coils. The chiller water is thus pre-cooled. An energy savings is due to reduced chiller loading and thus a reduction in energy consumption. There is an increase in cost due to the pump needing to compensate for the pressure differences.

Refrigeration migration.

A valve arrangement within the water chiller opens a direct path between the condenser and the evaporator. The relatively warm fluid in the chiller loop vaporizes the refrigerant, and the energy is carried directly to the condenser, where it is cooled and condensed by the water from the cooling tower. This method is driven by the idea that the refrigerant tends to move towards the coldest point in a refrigeration circuit. The cost savings associated with this method are due to the compressor’s inactivity, since the blower, fans and pumps are all operational.

Seasons.

High ambient temperature.

When the process return water temperature is equal to or lower than the ambient air temperature Free Cooling is not suitable. The system’s three way valve will bypass the free cooling heat exchanger and direct the fluid flow through the chillers to be cooled to the required set point temperature.

Mid-season operation.

For mid-season operation the water is partially cooled by the compressor and partially by the ambient temperatures. The percentage of Free Cooling achieved mid-season is dependent on seasonal temperatures although partial Free Cooling commences when the ambient air temperature is below the process return water temperature. The water is partially cooled through the Free Cooler then flows through the chillers to achieve the required set point temperature.

Winter operation.

In winter, when outdoor temperatures are low enough, the water is chilled solely by the Free Cooling coil. This allows the chillers’ compressors to stop operating, saving significant amounts of energy. The only electrical power used in winter operation is for fan operation. This can be achieved once the ambient air temperature is to below the process supply water temperature.

Limitations.

Freezing can occur once the ambient air temperature gets below. Another limitation is the temperature difference across the heat exchanger. A heat exchanger that has a very low temperature difference across can become economically unrealistic. The economics of the heat exchanger allow for a minimum free cooling water temperature of about.

Data centers and server rooms.

Energy efficiency.

Data centers account for 2% of the Global Electricity Consumption.  United Kingdom: In 2013, Chancellor George Osborne agreed to make a concession for data centers to be exempt from Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) and allow them to produce their own Climate Change Agreement (CCA). This is also recognised by a new European Commission to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. Cooling data centers or server rooms requires a lot of energy, therefore free cooling can be an ideal solution to save energy.

Types.

There are two free cooling options for a data center or server room with the first one being an integral free cooling coil or a chiller which works alongside a free cooler unit. Integral chillers are ideal for sites which have limited space and can offer high energy efficiency levels. These units feature high quality components including scroll and screw compressors, axial fans, and three-way modulating valves.  The other options is an independent free cooler that has a greater capacity for heat exchange, as it is sized to maximise efficiency which enables a larger area for the transfer of thermal energy. Independent free coolers have shown energy savings of up to 70%.

Sources.

There are four main sources of natural cooling energy

Free cooling is an economical method of using low external air temperatures to assist in chilling water, which can then be used for industrial processes, or air conditioning systems. The chilled water can either be used immediately or be stored for the short- or long-term. When outdoor temperatures are lower relative to indoor temperatures, this system utilizes the cool outdoor air as a free cooling source. In this manner, the system replaces the chiller in traditional air conditioning systems while achieving the same cooling result. Such systems can be made for single buildings or district cooling networks.

Le free cooling — locution anglophone signifiant littéralement "rafraîchissement gratuit" — est une méthode économique qui utilise la différence de température entre l'air en sortie des ordinateurs et la température de l'air extérieur afin d'aider au système de refroidissement à eau. Ce principe peut être utilisé pour l'industrie, les systèmes d'air conditionnés dans les centres de traitement de données économes en énergie.


Club career.

Hertha Berlin.

Ramos started his career at América de Cali but was sent out on loan to Trujillanos FC and Club Santa Fe in consecutive seasons. Ramos returned to América de Cali for the 2008 season and was one of the biggest reasons for the team winning the Mustang Cup in 2008, scoring in their 4–1 aggregate victory over Independiente Medellín. On 30 August 2009, he joined Hertha BSC in Germany after the clubs agreed a fee in the region of €2 million.  His first goal for Hertha came in the second round of the DFB Pokal on 22 September 2009, helping the club come back from 0–2 down to level at 2–2, only to lose in a penalty shoot-out. His first Bundesliga goal came against Stuttgart on 12 November, putting his side ahead before a late Zdravko Kuzmanović strike ensured a 1–1 draw. On 13 December 2013, Ramos scored two goals in nine minutes as Hertha came from 0–1 down to defeat Werder Bremen 3–2. In the 2013–14 Bundesliga season, he had his best season to date with Hertha, contributing 16 goals, the joint fourth most in the league.

Borussia Dortmund.

On 9 April 2014, it was announced that Ramos would sign for Borussia Dortmund, joining them on 1 July 2014, moving for an undisclosed fee and penning a four-year contract with the club. Ramos went on to say that he was looking forward to joining his new team, while also stating that he hoped to fill the void left by Robert Lewandowski for the fans.  Ramos made his Dortmund debut on 13 August 2014, coming on as a second-half substitute in Dortmund's 2–0 victory over Bayern Munich in the DFL Supercup. His first Dortmund goal came three days later, scoring Dortmund's final goal of their 4–1 victory over Stuttgart Kickers in the first round of the DFB Pokal. On 29 August, Ramos scored his first league goal for Borussia Dortmund against FC Augsburg, resulting in a 3–2 win, Dortmund's first of the Bundesliga season. On 13 September, Ramos scored his second goal for Dortmund against SC Freiburg and also provided an assist for Shinji Kagawa in a 3–1 win. He scored his first goals in Europe for Dortmund on 1 October, scoring twice after coming on as a substitute in a 3–0 win against Anderlecht in the Champions League.

Granada (loan).

Ramos was loaned out to Granada during the winter transfer window on January 24, 2017.

Chongqing Lifan.

Borussia Dortmund announced that Ramos was due to join Chongqing Lifan on June 30, 2017. A fee of €12million was reported to have been agreed over his transfer.

Granada.

In 2018, Ramos signed with Granada after two loan spells.

Return to América de Cali.

On 1 January 2020, Ramos returned to Colombia to sign with América de Cali.

International career.

He played for Colombia U-17 in the 2003 World Cup and scored three goals. This helped Colombia finish fourth. He received a full international call-up and started for Colombia on 20 August 2008 in a friendly against Ecuador in New Jersey.  On 2 July 2011, Ramos scored the only goal of the game just before half time against Costa Rica in the group stage of the 2011 Copa América in Argentina.  Ramos was included in Colombia's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, their first appearance in the tournament since 1998. He made his first appearance by starting in the last group game with the team already qualified, playing the whole 90 minutes as Colombia beat Japan 4–1. He came on as a substitute in both knockout games as Colombia eventually fell at the quarter-finals, their best performance to date.

Career statistics.

"Source":

Gustavo Adrián Ramos Vásquez (; born 22 January 1986), commonly known as Adrián Ramos, is a Colombian footballer who plays as a striker for Colombian club América de Cali.

Gustavo Adrián Ramos Vásquez plus communément Adrián Ramos, est un footballeur international colombien né le à Santander de Quilichao en Colombie. Il évolue actuellement au poste d'attaquant pour l'América de Cali.


Early career.

Bueno studied music and became a music teacher before forming the jazz combo band Estado de Animo in 1990, which also included guitarist Elmer Ferrer and pianist Roberto Carcassés. His band toured Spain, Bolivia, Uruguay, Germany, and Argentina in the 1990s. Descemer also performed in the United States in 1998 with the jazz ensemble Column B.  During this period, Bueno was artist-in-residence at Stanford University in California, and spent a year teaching at the University of South Africa in Cape Town. In 1999, after moving to New York, Bueno formed a hip-hop group, Yerba Buena, writing or co-writing most of the songs for their debut album "President Alien". Yerba Buena's tracks have been used in several US movies and Pepsi commercials.  Bueno moved back to Cuba and began producing, arranging, and composing music for young Cuban musicians, including "Haydée" for Haydée Milanés, "La Isla Milagrosa" for William Vivanco, and "Breathe" for Yusa. He also composed part of the music for the film "Habana Blues" (2005), being in the group of winners of the 2006 Goya award for Best Original Music. Several of his songs were in the soundtrack of "Habana Eva" by Venezuelan director Fina Torres, which won Best Film at New York International Latino Film Festival, and Best Film at Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.  Bueno also wrote a set of boleros for Fernando Alvarez just before Alvarez' death in 2002.

Solo career.

In 2005, after signing with Universal Latin, Bueno recorded his first solo album "Siete Rayo", a hip-hop fusion album. His album featured George Pajon of the Black Eyed Peas. The Batanga magazine wrote that, "The underground voice of AfroCuban fusion, Descemer Bueno, is now setting the pace for the future of Latin Music".  Bueno's second solo album, "Bueno", appeared in 2012, featuring duets of Bueno's compositions with various contemporary Cuban artists, including Kelvis Ochoa, Gema Corredera, Haila, X Alfonso, Baby Lores, and Alain Daniel. Bueno has produced albums for musicians including Diana Fuentes and Haydee Milanes.  Bueno worked with Enrique Iglesias on Iglesias's albums "Euphoria" and "Sex and Love". He wrote the song "Bailando" which appeared on "Sex and Love" and became an international hit credited to Iglesias featuring Bueno and Gente de Zona, and in some versions Sean Paul or others. "Bailando" won multiple Latin Grammies in 2014, including "Song of the Year." Bueno also composed the song "Cuando Me Enamoro", which became a major international hit for Juan Luis Guerra and Iglesias.  As of 2016, Bueno was working on a new double album, and had earlier in the year appeared on the new album, "Habana Dreams", by the Afro-Cuban percussionist Pedrito Martinez, performing on the song "Dios Mio", written with Martinez. Bueno also contributed to "Quiero Guarachar", an album by Miami-based Afro-Cuban funk group PALO!, as a vocalist and co-composer of the song "Agua Pa' Los Santos", also featuring Pedrito Martinez and percussionist Roman Diaz. Bueno is also featured in the PBS documentary "Ivy League Rumba", about the Brown University Latin Jazz and Pop Festival.  On January 18, 2019, Descemer Bueno released a music video for the song "Mátame" he recorded with Spanish singer Melody and El Micha.

Descemer Bueno (born July 5, 1971) is a Cuban singer, songwriter, and record producer. His first professional gigs were playing bass with Cuban troubadour Santiago Feliú.

Descemer Bueno, né en 1971 à Habana Vieja (la vieille ville de la Havane) est un chanteur, compositeur et producteur de musique cubain. Il est connu pour avoir joué de la basse avec (un grand troubadour cubain) lors de ses premiers spectacles professionnels.


High school and college.

Schierholtz was born February 15, 1984, in Reno, Nevada. His parents were Vai, Sr., and Karen Schierholtz, and he was the oldest of four children (Cainan; Vai, Jr.; and Sophia). He attended San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, California, the same high school as future San Francisco Giants teammate Randy Winn. At San Ramon Valley, he served as the team captain. Following high school, Schierholtz played for Chabot College, a community college located in Hayward, California. He spent the 2003 season with Chabot, starting at third base. In his lone season at Chabot, he was named an All-American.

Professional career.

San Francisco Giants.

Minor leagues.

Schierholtz was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the second round (63rd overall) of the 2003 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. He began his minor league career that year as a third baseman with the rookie Arizona League Giants, batting.400 in 11 games before getting promoted to the Single-A short season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Northwest League. In 35 games for Salem-Keizer, he hit.306 with 38 hits, three home runs, and 29 runs batted in (RBI). He began the 2004 season with the Single-A Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League, earning All-star game honors for that league. He batted.296 with 53 RBI in 58 games and was leading the league in home runs (15) and extra-base hits (37) before getting promoted to the Single-A advanced San Jose Giants of the California League. At San Jose, though still receiving significant playing time as a third baseman, he began to play the outfield as well. In 62 games with San Jose, he batted.295 with three home runs and 31 RBI. He was second on the team with nine triples after not hitting any with Hagerstown. He was third among Giants' prospects with 18 home runs and ranked second with 84 RBI in 2004.  In 2005, Schierholtz remained at San Jose, where he became an everyday right fielder. Over 128 games, he batted.319 (fifth in the California League) with 160 hits (tied with Chris Lubanski, Seth Smith, and Clay Timpner for fifth), 37 doubles (tied with Danny Putnam for eighth), eight triples (tied with Wladimir Balentien, Danny Richar, and Joe Gaetti for third behind Timpner's 12 and Anthony Webster's 11), 15 home runs, and 86 RBI. He batted.333 in the playoffs, helping San Jose win the California League championship.  Schierholtz moved up to the Double-A Connecticut Defenders of the Eastern League in 2006. In 125 games, he batted.270 with 127 hits, 14 home runs, and 54 RBI. He led the Defenders in most major batting categories and finished sixth in the Eastern League with seven triples. Entering the 2007 season, Schierholtz was ranked the eighth-best prospect in the Giants' organization by "Baseball America". That year, he was assigned to the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League. He spent most of the season with them. In 109 games, he had 137 hits, 31 doubles, 16 home runs, and 68 RBI. He finished third in the league in batting average (.333, behind Geovany Soto's.353 and Delwyn Young's.337) and triples (seven, tied with Scott Seabol behind Reggie Abercrombie's and Jeff Salazar's nine).

2007.

Giants' manager Bruce Bochy considered calling up Schierholtz in May 2007 when Dave Roberts started suffering elbow problems, but an injury to Schierholtz prevented that. On June 11, Schierholtz was called up to replace Dan Ortmeier and try to give the Giants some offensive help. He made his major league debut that day, against the Toronto Blue Jays as a defensive replacement. He got his first hit the next night, against A. J. Burnett in his first career at bat in a 3–2 victory over Toronto. During this stint, Schierholtz received most of the starts in right field. On June 23, at AT&T Park against the New York Yankees, he blooped an RBI single into center field against Scott Proctor in the bottom of the 13th inning to win the game 6–5 for the Giants. Despite a.325 batting average in 40 at bats, Schierholtz was sent down at the start of July to make room for Rich Aurilia, who was returning from the disabled list. He was recalled in September, and he received most of the starts in right field that month. In 39 games (112 at bats), he batted.304 with 34 hits, five doubles, three triples, 10 RBI, and two walks.  In 2008, "Baseball America" ranked Schierholtz the fourth-best prospect in the Giants' system. He attended spring training with the Giants but started the season in Fresno. Schierholtz was batting.314 with fifteen home runs and 65 runs batted in for the Grizzlies when his minor league season ended as a result of his being selected for the 2008 USA Olympic Baseball Team. In the sixth inning of a preliminary round game against China, he collided with China backup catcher Yang Yang at the home plate on a sacrifice fly, a play that resulted in a near brawl between the teams and saw Chinese manager Jim Lefebvre ejected from the game. Schierholtz played nine games with the Americans, batting.216 with four doubles, one home run, and six RBI as the United States earned a bronze medal.  Schierholtz was again called up in September 2008, as the Giants' roster expanded, and he was used as the Giants' starting right fielder for the remainder of the year. On September 3, he recorded four hits in a game for the first time in a 9–2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Three days later, he hit his first career home run against Jesse Chavez in a 7–6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 19 games (75 at bats) in 2008, Schierholtz hit.320 with 24 hits, eight doubles, one triple, one home run, and five RBI.

2009.

Schierholtz started the 2009 season as a pinch hitter. In June, he saw his playing time increase as Randy Winn, the Giants' right fielder, began playing left field frequently in place of Fred Lewis. On June 14, he had an inside-the-park home run, only the fourth in AT&T Park history, in the third inning against Brett Anderson of the Oakland Athletics in a 7–1 victory. He had four hits on June 28 in a 7–0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. From July 28 through August 12, he was on the disabled list with a bruised left hip, which he suffered after running into a chain-link fence at Turner Field. He saw his playing time reduced in September as Winn moved back to right field to give Eugenio Vélez and John Bowker opportunities in left. In a career-high 116 games (285 at bats) in 2009, Schierholtz batted.267 with 76 hits, five home runs, and 29 RBI. He had the third-highest batting average for a pinch hitter in the majors (.371, behind Seth Smith's.472 and Hideki Matsui's.381).

2010.

Schierholtz was expected to be the Giants' Opening Day right fielder in 2010, but Bowker won the position after hitting six home runs in spring training. Bowker, however, only held the job for 10 games before Schierholtz replaced him on April 17. In his first 16 games in the role, he batted.393, but over his next 19, he batted.154. When Buster Posey was called up in late May, Aubrey Huff moved from first base to right field, leaving Schierholtz on the bench. After Bengie Molina was traded, Posey switched from first base to catcher, but Travis Ishikawa began getting some starts at first base, creating a platoon between Schierholtz and Ishikawa, with Huff covering first base or right field depending on who was playing. When José Guillén was acquired on August 13, Schierholtz was relegated to the role of pinch-hitter and late-inning defensive substitution for the rest of the year. In 137 games (227 at bats), Schierholtz batted.242 with 55 hits, 13 doubles, three triples, three home runs, and 17 RBI.  Schierholtz received regular playing time throughout the postseason as a defensive replacement for starting outfielder Pat Burrell. Whenever the Giants held a lead in the sixth inning or later, Bochy would remove Burrell from the game, shift Cody Ross from right field to left field, and place Schierholtz in right field. This strategy was meant to provide the Giants with the best possible defensive outfield and, thus, the best chance of holding the lead and winning the game. Schierholtz ultimately appeared in 11 of San Francisco's 15 playoff games, accumulating 13 plate appearances and recording an RBI in Game 1 of the 2010 World Series against the Texas Rangers. In Game 4, a night when Bochy chose to start several of his backups, he got his first start of the postseason, playing right field in the Giants' 4–0 victory. The Giants won the World Series in five games, their first World Series victory since 1954.

2011.

Schierholtz hit a 467-foot home run at Coors Field on April 18, 2011, against Esmil Rogers in an 8–1 victory over the Rockies. At the start of May, Schierholtz took over the Giants' right field job, due to a slump by Burrell. He hit a game-tying, two-run pinch-hit home run against Grant Balfour on May 22 in an 11-inning, 5–4 victory over Oakland. Ten days later, he had a game-tying RBI single in the ninth inning against Fernando Salas and a game-winning RBI single in the 11th inning against Ryan Franklin in a 7–5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. On July 6, against the San Diego Padres, Schierholtz recorded his first multi-home run game. In the bottom of the 14th inning of that game, he hit a walk-off home run against Pat Neshek that secured a 6–5 victory for the Giants. Two days later, he had a splash hit home run against R.A. Dickey in a 5–2 loss to the New York Mets. Following the acquisition of Carlos Beltrán on July 28, Schierholtz began playing some left field for the first time in his career. He broke his right foot after hitting a foul ball off it against the Atlanta Braves on August 15. Schierholtz appeared in five more games after the injury, but it became too severe to play through, and he was placed on the disabled list on August 27 (retroactive to August 22), and, though initially expected to return, he missed the rest of the season. In 115 games (335 at bats), Schierholtz hit.278 with 93 hits, 22 doubles, nine home runs, and 41 RBI. He said of his 2011 season, "I was able to contribute to the team this year. That was a positive thing I can take from the season."

2012.

In 2012, Schierholtz started the season as a bench player but soon became the Giants' everyday right fielder. On April 23 and 24, he had back-to-back three-hit games against the Mets. He batted.372 over his first 14 games but hit just.048 over his next seven. When May started, Bochy benched him in favor of Gregor Blanco. On July 18, in an interview with Henry Schulman of the "San Francisco Chronicle", he said that Bochy had told him in May that he did not view him as an everyday player. He said that, while he did not ask for a trade, "I think whatever the best fit for the team and me is would be ideal. I can't really make those decisions. It's all up to them. Whether I'm here or not I'm going to give my best effort every day and bust my tail." That weekend, he started three games against the Philadelphia Phillies in right field, partly because Blanco and Ángel Pagán had been struggling. On July 22, Schierholtz hit two home runs against Joe Blanton, the second of which forced the game into extra innings. However, the Giants would lose 4–3 in 12 innings. In 77 games (175 at bats), Schierholtz hit.251 with 44 hits, four doubles, five triples, five home runs, and 16 RBI. At the trade deadline on July 31, Schierholtz was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies along with minor league catcher Tommy Joseph and minor league pitcher Seth Rosin for outfielder Hunter Pence.

Philadelphia Phillies.

Upon Schierholtz's arrival in Philadelphia, manager Charlie Manuel said he wanted to give Schierholtz everyday playing time for the rest of the year, in order to assess him. In the transition, Schierholtz changed his number from 12 to 22. In his debut, Schierholtz homered against Edwin Jackson in a 3–2 victory against the Washington Nationals. However, Schierholtz was sent to the disabled list on August 13 after fouling a ball off his right big toe in a game against the Cardinals. He remained on the disabled list until September 1. On September 7, he delivered a game-ending RBI single against Will Harris, giving the Phillies a 3–2 win over Colorado. Schierholtz appeared in 33 games with the Phillies, batting.273 with 18 hits, four doubles, one home run, and five RBI. In 114 games (241 at bats) with Philadelphia and San Francisco, he batted.257 with 62 hits, eight doubles, five triples, six home runs, and 21 RBI. After the season, the Phillies non-tendered Schierholtz, making him a free agent. They chose to non-tender him because they were only projecting him as a fifth outfielder, and Schierholtz was due for a pay raise.  Despite being traded to the Phillies, Schierholtz received his second World Series ring from the Giants due to his contributions during the first half of the 2012 season with the team.

Chicago Cubs.

On December 5, 2012, Schierholtz signed a $2.25 million, one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs. He was the Cubs' starting right fielder for most of the 2013 season. From June 4 through 18, he set a career-high with a 10-game hitting streak. On June 14, he had two triples in a game for the first time in his career in a 14-inning, 6–5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. On June 22, he set a career-high with his 10th home run of the season in a 4–3 loss to the Houston Astros. He batted.286 with 11 home runs through June 30 but saw his average sink to.218 for the rest of the season, although he would hit 10 home runs. On July 24, he had a career-high five RBI, including a game-winning RBI double against David Hernandez in the 12th inning of a 7–6 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Three days later, he hit a home run against Sergio Romo in a 1–0 victory over the Giants. Schierholtz reset his career-high in RBI with six on August 19, including home runs against Jordan Zimmermann and Fernando Abad in an 11–1 victory over the Washington Nationals. In 137 games (462 at bats), Schierholtz batted.251 with career-highs in hits (116), doubles (32), home runs (21), runs scored (56), and RBI (68). Defensively, he posted a.988 fielding percentage.  On January 17, 2014, Schierholtz signed a $5 million, one-year deal to remain with the Chicago Cubs. On June 3, he had a game-ending RBI single against Scott Rice, giving the Cubs a 2–1 victory over the Mets. He was designated for assignment by the Cubs on August 6, 2014. Chicago released the veteran on waivers after he had a.192 batting average and six home runs over 99 games.

Washington Nationals.

On August 18, 2014, Schierholtz signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals, and was assigned to the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs of the International League. The Nationals selected Schierholtz's contract on August 23 and used him as a reserve outfielder. On September 21, he tripled home a run against Nate Eovaldi, then scored on a double by Anthony Rendon in a 2–1 victory over the Miami Marlins. In 23 games (40 at bats) with the Nationals, Schierholtz batted.225 with one home run. His combined totals were a.195 average, 69 hits, seven home runs, and 37 RBI in 122 games with Chicago and Washington. Schierholtz reached the playoffs with Washington as they won the National League East. He appeared in all four games of the 2014 National League Division Series, getting a hit and three walks in four plate appearances for a 1.000 on-base percentage as the Nationals were defeated by the Giants. After the season, he became a free agent.

Texas Rangers organization.

On February 6, 2015, Schierholtz signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. He competed for an outfield spot but was released on March 28 before the season started.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp.

After his release from Texas, Schierholtz went to Japan, signing a one-year deal with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). During the 2015 season, he hit.250 (58-for-232), with 10 home runs and 30 RBIs in 65 games. "It was definitely an interesting experience and I learned a lot. I enjoyed living with the Japanese culture and learning some of their ways and values. The fans are very kind to the American foreign players and it was a great experience," Schierholtz summarized his time in Japan.

Detroit Tigers organization.

On December 23, 2015, Schierholtz signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers, and was invited to 2016 spring training. Failing to make the club, he played 31 games for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens of the International League, batting.246 with 29 hits, three home runs, and 13 RBI before his release on May 22. On August 5, 2016, Schierholtz received an 80-game suspension from Major League Baseball for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

Personal life.

Schierholtz married Kate Eveland, a former guard on the San Diego State basketball team on December 3, 2011. Cainan, his younger brother, was arrested on a DUI in 2004 and was charged with another DUI and felony hit-and-run on August 1, 2010. Nate said, "Obviously, it's very upsetting... It's just something very irresponsible and he's going to have to do some decent time for what he's done. I'll stick by him and support him to get the counseling he needs." Vai, Jr., his youngest brother, attended the Air Force Academy and played baseball for the Falcons. His mother lives in Alamo, California; her house burned down in 2009 but was rebuilt.  Schierholtz used to bat without batting gloves, one of the few Major Leaguers to do so, but since 2011 has used batting gloves.

Nathan John "Nate" Schierholtz (born February 15, 1984) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants (2007–2012), Philadelphia Phillies (2012), Chicago Cubs (2013–2014), and Washington Nationals (2014). He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for Hiroshima Toyo Carp (2015).

Nathan John Schierholtz (né le à Reno, Nevada, États-Unis) est un voltigeur de la Ligue majeure de baseball. Il est présentement sous contrat avec les Tigers de Détroit.


Name.

The name “Galinstan” is a portmanteau of gallium, indium, and stannum (Latin for “tin”).  The brand-name “Galinstan” is a registered trademark of the German company Geratherm Medical AG, but “galinstan” is in common use for any eutectic alloy of gallium, indium, and tin.

Physical properties.

Galinstan tends to be “wet” and adhere to many materials, including glass, which limits its use compared to mercury.

Uses.

Galinstan is commercially used as a mercury replacement in thermometers due to its nontoxic properties, but the inner tube surface must be coated with gallium oxide to prevent the alloy from wetting the glass surface.  Galinstan has higher reflectivity and lower density than mercury. In the field of astronomy it is considered as a replacement for mercury in liquid-mirror telescopes.  Galinstan may be used as a thermal interface for computer hardware cooling solutions, though major obstacles for widespread use are its cost and aggressive corrosive properties (it corrodes many other metals such as aluminium by dissolving them). It is also electrically conductive, and so needs to be applied more carefully than regular non-conductive compounds. Two thermal interfaces have already been developed: Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut and Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra, with thermal conductivities of 73 and 38.4 W/mK respectively. However, they must be carefully applied with a Q-tip (unlike ordinary thermal compounds, where no manual spreading is needed), and cannot be used on aluminum heatsinks as aforementioned.  Galinstan is difficult to use for cooling fission-based nuclear reactors, because indium has a high absorption cross section for thermal neutrons, efficiently absorbing them and inhibiting the fission reaction. Conversely, it is being investigated as a possible coolant for fusion reactors. Unlike other liquid metals used in this application, such as lithium and mercury, the nonreactivity makes galinstan a safer material to use.

X-ray equipment.

Extremely high-intensity sources of 9.25 keV X-rays (gallium K-alpha line) for X-ray phase microscopy of fixed tissue (such as mouse brain), from a focal spot about 10 μm × 10 μm, and 3-D voxels of about one cubic micrometer, may be obtained with an X-ray source that uses a liquid-metal galinstan anode. The metal flows from a nozzle downward at a high speed, and the high-intensity electron source is focused upon it. The rapid flow of metal carries current, but the physical flow prevents a great deal of anode heating (due to forced-convective heat removal), and the high boiling point of galinstan inhibits vaporization of the anode.

Galinstan is a brand-name and a common name for any member of a family of liquid metal eutectic alloys whose composition is mainly consisting of gallium, indium, and tin. Such eutectic alloys are liquids at room temperature, typically melting at, while commercial Galinstan melts at.

Le galinstan est un alliage eutectique de gallium (Ga), d'indium (In) et d'étain (Sn) qui est liquide à température ambiante, avec une température de fusion de (dans sa forme ternaire pure). Grâce à la faible toxicité et à la faible réactivité de ses composants, il est utilisé comme substitut du mercure (Hg) toxique et du NaK réactif. Il est composé (dans sa forme ternaire pure) de 68,5 % de gallium, 21,5 % d'indium et 10 % d'étain (le nom est un mot-valise venant de gallium, indium, et stannum). Galinstan est une marque déposée le 10 décembre 1996 par la société allemande "Geratherm Medical AG".


Gameplay.

Players control Conan the Barbarian from a third-person perspective while attempting to advance through the series of levels that subdivide the game. The gameplay is the same for each level: Conan moves from area to area, fighting groups of enemies until he reaches the end. At the end of certain levels, the barbarian has to fight a more powerful opponent called a boss. Defeating a boss involves a two-stage process: Conan has to inflict heavy damage on the creature and thus trigger an interactive button-pressing sequence that players have to complete to kill the boss. Several cycles of this process are required to defeat most bosses. Besides combat, button-pressing sequences are also used to interact with the environment, such as knocking down obstacles to create passageways, or as parts of platforming sequences in which Conan climbs walls and jumps from ledge to ledge. Players can save their progress by using special stones that are placed throughout the game. Conan starts each level with his default one-handed sword, and can pick up shields and other weapons to switch between three styles of attack: fighting with a one-handed weapon, a two-handed weapon, or a weapon in each hand. Each style features several attacks with names like "Cimmerian Charge" and "Black River Rage". The barbarian can change or stop his attacks at any time, creating many options in combat. When Conan lands a sequence of successive hits on his enemies, he activates his Song of Death, which increases the damage of his attacks for a short time. For defense, Conan can roll under enemy attacks or block them. If the player presses the block button just when an enemy is about to hit the barbarian, an image of a controller button appears on the screen. Pressing the button shown will make Conan execute a gory counterattack, which instantly kills the enemy. Other methods to kill enemies include grabbing and throwing them against other objects, such as spikes and other enemies, or over cliffs.  In addition to physical assaults, Conan can use magic powers to damage enemies. Gaining these powers in later stages of the game, the barbarian can turn opponents into stone, call down fire from the heavens, and summon flocks of ravens to do his bidding. These magical attacks can quickly end fights, but their use is limited by the number of magic points Conan has. When an enemy is killed, colored runes—each one conferring its own special advantage—are released and gathered by the barbarian. Red runes act as experience points, which are exchanged for advanced attacks. Green and blue runes restore Conan's health and magic points, respectively. The barbarian can also obtain runes by breaking containers and freeing maidens from captivity.

Plot and setting.

In "Conan", the hero is on a quest to recover his lost armor and defeat an evil wizard. The game takes place in the world of Hyboria, a creation of Robert E. Howard for his stories about Conan the Barbarian. "Conan"s developer, Nihilistic Software, chose several Hyborian locations, such as Kush, Stygia, and the Barachan Isles, to establish a link to the literary world. Hyboria was designed to be a fantasy version of Earth around, and its civilizations were based on those from the Stone to Iron Ages. Nihilistic portrayed the plains of Kush, a fictional Africa, as savannahs with villages of straw huts. Stygia was illustrated as a land filled with structures resembling Egyptian tombs and the Barachan Isles as lushly jungled islands.

Characters.

Conan is the protagonist in many of Howard's stories: a franchise has been built around the character, and Frank Frazetta's paintings have further elevated the barbarian's profile in pop culture. Howard presented his barbarian hero as a strong, shrewd, barbaric, and ambitious man in a primitive world of magic. His stories are simple and portray Conan overcoming a series of obstacles to defeat the antagonists with his physical prowess. Nihilistic originally intended to stay faithful to the literature, but the writers strayed from the canon by showing the barbarian as willing to use magic. The literary Conan abhors magic, but Nihilistic reasoned that, in order to restore his armor to its original non-magical state, he is willing to use the magic it has been cursed with.  The developers did, however, stay true to the physical depictions of the barbarian. Reflecting how fights are described in the stories, players can kill foes in the goriest manner—dismembering and disemboweling them. Nihilistic wanted to show that the brutal killings are considered natural by Conan and not executed out of a thirst for blood. The inspiration for Conan's moves came from several sources, but mostly from Frazetta's artwork. The animators took several of Conan's poses straight from the paintings and modeled his movements after those of the characters in the feature animation "Tarzan" and the action films "Troy" and "Ong Bak". The names of several fighting techniques such as "Gwahlur's Leap", "Bel's Gambit", and "Camel Punch" were also based on names and events from the "Conan" stories and films. To garner extra publicity, the publisher THQ hired Golden Globe-winning actor Ron Perlman to provide the voice for Conan.  Typical "Conan" stories by Howard featured leading females who were occasionally damsels in distress. However, they were also strong and fearless women who would rescue the hero at crucial moments. Nihilistic cast the game's leading female character, A'kanna, in this mold; the warrior queen and Conan aid each other in several parts of the game. By contrast, there are topless, chained-up women scattered across the game's levels. However, these are in the game only because of the developer's belief that nudity was integral to a "Conan" story. Showing their breasts and acting in a burlesque manner, these damsels-in-distress reward players with red runes when rescued.

Story.

Howard's short story, "Queen of the Black Coast", served as the inspiration for the game's plot. In the short story, Conan has a brief romance with Bêlit, a pirate queen. Near the end of the story a demonic creature kills Bêlit and Conan seeks revenge. The creature, however, is stronger than Conan, overpowers him, and is about to kill him when Bêlit's spirit startles it and inspires Conan to kill the beast. The game's story follows a similar theme with A'kanna in the role of Bêlit. Told as a campfire story, cut scenes—in the form of static artwork or animation rendered by the game engine—open and close each level with narratives from an elderly A'kanna.  The story starts at Parad Isle where Conan is raiding a tomb. Instead of finding treasure, he unknowingly frees Graven, a wizard who had been confined in a magical prison for his transgressions. Showing no gratitude, the wizard curses Conan's armor, scatters it across the world, and teleports the barbarian away. Vowing to retrieve his armor, Conan meets A'kanna while he is fighting through a pirate base. Teaming up with the barbarian to find his armor, the warrior queen hopes to use its magic to end the curse—the Black Death—that is causing her people to kill each other. Their quest leads players through several locations and boss creatures such as dragons, undead elephants, and krakens. Flashbacks are shown when retrieving a piece of armor after killing certain bosses; these back-stories tell of Graven's imprisonment of the gods, his plan to sacrifice his daughter A'kanna, and his creation of the Black Death to transform the world to his liking.  In the last level, Conan has retrieved all his armor and returns to Parad Isle to rescue A'kanna from her father. After a long boss fight and several button-pressing sequences, Conan slays the wizard at the bottom of the ocean. Graven's defeat frees the gods he had imprisoned, and they bring him back to life for eternal punishment. The story ends with the separation of the barbarian and the warrior queen. Conan goes on to fulfill his destiny to be a king as written in Howard's stories. A'kanna, however, grows old in a village, telling stories to children and never forgetting Conan.

Development.

In 2005, THQ acquired the rights to produce a series of video games featuring Conan the Barbarian and the world of Hyboria. This news came to the attention of Nihilistic Software who had just completed the action game "". The video game developer was looking to develop an action game similar to "God of War" for its next project and saw the world of Conan as a good setting. The team quickly built a prototype to demonstrate its concept to THQ and received approval for the project. The video game publisher officially announced the game to the industry on February 26, 2007.  Nihilistic decided to use the features of other action games for "Conan". While "God of War" was its inspiration for the camera system, "Ninja Gaiden" was a great influence on the combat engine. The team wanted to emulate the complexity of "Ninja Gaiden"s combat system, with many attacking options and an equal emphasis on being alert to the actions of enemies. Nihilistic also wanted the game to appeal to button mashing players as well as those who want to control their character with finesse. In addition, it designed the game to increase the frequency and difficulty of encounters as players advance through the levels.  "Conan" was developed to be released on the. Although the architectures of the two consoles were very different, Nihilistic designed its product to perform equally on both of them, using force feedback and motion sensing to enhance the playing experience. "Conan" was originally scheduled for an early 2008 release, but was brought forward to the second half of 2007 because of THQ's poor performance in that fiscal year. After the game was released in Europe, Nihilistic made demos of the game available for downloading over Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

Visual style.

The appearance of Howard's Conan and Hyboria in the popular imagination owes much to Frazetta's distinctive oil paintings. While Nihilistic's writers tried to tell a story in Howard's style, its artists attempted to emulate Frazetta's style on the electronic display screen. Instead of making each computer representation as realistic as possible, they created models based mainly on their perception of each object's intrinsic nature. The artists used video graphics technology such as normal mapping technique to emulate brush strokes on the models' textures. These digital brush strokes were visible on the cliffs in the game. The character models were outlined with light colors instead of dark ones, creating the subtle blend of object and background found in oil paintings, and fog effects allowed the team to recreate Frazetta's use of shadows in the middle area of the image. To complete the game's appearance, the artists used darker color palettes, motifs, and themes to present a more serious mood, in harmony with the gore and nudity in the game.

Music.

Mike Reagan, a music composer noted for his work in video games such as "Darkwatch" and "God of War", was hired by THQ to write the music for "Conan". To begin, he wanted to compose simple but powerful melodies, and looked to Basil Poledouris's score for the 1982 film "Conan the Barbarian" for inspiration. As Reagan played development copies of the game, he was influenced by two other works: Igor Stravinsky's barbaric and sensual ballet music "The Rite of Spring", and Bernard Hermann's score from the 1958 action film "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad". Each week, Nihilistic and Reagan updated each other with copies of their work-in-progress, synchronizing their efforts. Reagan also studied with noted percussion artists Denny Seiwell, Emil Richards, and Michael Duffy to gain further insight on the use of drums to accompany the game's bloody and violent plot. After mastering the soundtrack, he brought the music of "Conan" to an October 2007 Video Games Live show, performing it live in Los Angeles, United States.

Reception.

"Conan" received "average" reviews on both platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Most critics agreed that the game's best selling point was its variety in combat. They had a lot of fun with its easy-to-learn controls, skill customization, and most of all, the varied brutal depictions of Conan's kills. TeamXbox said the combat system "blossoms into a complex string of commands that will reward the user (with gore) for pressing the right buttons at the right time". The pounding, militaristic orchestra tunes accompanying the action further enhanced the critics' experience with the game.  In Japan, "Famitsu" gave it a score of all four sevens for a total of 28 out of 40, while "Famitsu Xbox 360" gave its Xbox 360 version a score of one six, two fives, and one six for a total of 22 out of 40.

God of war clone game or inspiration game?

Many critics complained that "Conan" copied many ideas from "God of War". "Game Informer" referred to this imitation as "[Conan] groveling at Kratos' feet, begging for gameplay wisdom". A few reviewers, however, found this forgivable and said the game was made to be fun without any higher ambitions. "Conan"s camera system irritated several critics for failing to provide an adequate view of the situation at certain critical moments. Its puzzles were oversimple and lacked clear directions for proceeding to the next step. The artificial intelligence for the adversaries in the game was found to be predictable and flawed by a few critics. In addition, they found the final encounter with Graven to be overlong and frustrating. Calling the fight "as painful as a trip to the proctologist", IGN and "Game Informer" judged it to be one of the worst boss fights in video game history.

Game features.

The critics had mixed opinions about three prominent features of the game: voice acting, artwork, and faithfulness to Howard's writings. Perlman earned acclaim for his vocal performance and gravely voice that matched the game's dialogue, but he also received criticism for not sounding like a barbarian. A few applauded Nihilistic for capturing the oil painting feel of Frazetta's art, but several others said the graphics consisted of drab-looking environments that were jagged-edged and pixelated when zoomed in. Although the animations were rated to be smooth and vivid, the lack of variety among enemy character models was criticized. Several critics also praised Nihilistic for recreating the atmosphere of Howard's stories. The decision to have Conan use magic was, however, called a "blasphemy" by IGN. G4 Canada disagreed and forgave the game on the grounds that it was mostly faithful to the books. Ray Huling of "The Escapist" said the game's developers misunderstood Conan's appeal to the masses. In the journalist's opinion, Howard's depiction of Conan's brutal physical nature called attention to the dull nature of their lives and offered them a temporary escape. Furthermore, Huling said that Nihilistic used the characteristics of Conan for superficial purposes and that, in copying the mechanics of another game without any groundbreaking innovations of its own, Nihilistic missed the essence of Howard's stories and created a shell of what its game could have been.

Sales.

Despite the average reviews and success of Howard's franchise, "Conan" sold poorly and failed to recoup THQ's investment. The publisher publicly announced that the game's poor sales contributed to their US$20 million write-off in fiscal year 2008.

Mature content.

Although the game's violence was praised by the gaming industry, it was condemned by the National Institute on Media and the Family, which placed "Conan" on a list of games that parents were urged to avoid buying for their children. "Conan"s Mature rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, largely due to its violent content, made the game a target for a law being pushed in California, United States. Proposed in 2005, the law was intended to regulate sales of Mature-rated games. It was blocked by a legal challenge from the gaming industry in 2007, but California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played Conan in the 1982 film, appealed the judgment, seeking to ensure that "Conan" and other games with similar levels of violence would be sold only to those older than 17. On February 20, 2009, his appeal was rejected by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, who ruled that such a restriction violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Conan is a 2007 action-adventure game developed by Nihilistic Software and published by THQ for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Players take control of the titular hero, Conan the Barbarian, from Robert E. Howard's fantasy literature. Nihilistic Software was inspired by the "God of War" and "Ninja Gaiden" video games to create a game that features gore and nudity.

Conan est un jeu vidéo d'action développé par Nihilistic Software et édité par THQ, sorti en 2007 sur PlayStation 3 et Xbox 360. Le jeu se déroule dans l'univers de "Conan le Barbare".


Formation.

A graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations of Russin MFA (MGIMO), specializing in "International Economics" (1975). Fluency in English, Spanish and French.

Academic.

Doctor of economic sciences. Member (academician) of the International Academy of Management (Moscow). Member of the Board of Directors of the Association of International Law Maritime. Author of several scientific works in the field of transport networks.

Auditor of the Accounting Chamber of the Russian Federation (1995-2001).

The sphere of competence - the auditor on the control of public debt and the banking system. Affected by the State Duma on April 7, 1995, on the proposal of the faction of the Liberal Democratic party of Russia. Released from the post on February 14, 2001 in connection with her appointment as Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for the administration.

The activity on the post of the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (2003-2004).

In May 2003, President Vladimir Putin has appointed Ms. Mitropfanova by his Decree to the post of the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. For the first time in the history of Russian diplomacy, a Deputy Minister became a woman.  Her sphere of competence covered topics of human rights, of the rights of compatriots living abroad and international cultural relations.  After the abolition of the Russian Ministry of Affairs of Federation and Nationalities her mandate included also the activities of the Centre of Russia for the scientific cooperation and cultural department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (Roszaroubezhcentre).

Diplomatic rank.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (February 9, 2010)

Personal life.

Married, mother of three children.  Brother - Alexei V. Mitrofanov Russian politician, former MP.

Eleonora Valentinovna Mitrofanova (; born 11 June 1953) is a Russian politician and diplomat. The Ambassador-at-large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (since 25 October 2016). Supervises the issues of the world heritage of UNESCO, the support of the Russian language in the world, gender equality.

Eleonora Valentinovna Mitrofanova (en ), née le 11 juin 1953 à Stalingrad, est une diplomate, haut fonctionnaire et femme d'État russe. Elle a le rang d'ambassadeur extraordinaire et plénipotentiaire. Elle est présidente de l' depuis décembre 2017, après avoir été notamment vice-ministre des affaires étrangères, et déléguée permanente de la Fédération de Russie auprès de l’UNESCO (2009-2016).


Background.

The Cyprus Olympic Committee was first recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1978, and the nation has participated in every Summer Olympics and Winter Olympic Games since their debut in 1980. At the time of the Vancouver Olympics, no Cypriot athlete had ever won a medal. They would win their first medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics two years after Vancouver. The nation sent two alpine skiers to Vancouver, the brother and sister pair of Christopher Papamichalopoulos and Sophia Papamichalopoulou. Papamichalopoulos was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony, while Papamichalopoulou was awarded the honor for the closing ceremony.

Alpine skiing.

Christopher Papamichalopoulos was 21 at the time of the Olympics. In the giant slalom, held on 23 February, he finished the first run with a time of 1 minute and 29 seconds, but failed to finish the second run, and was unranked for the event. He took part in the men's slalom on 27 February, but failed to finish the first run.  Sophia Papamichalopoulou was 19 years old at the time of the Vancouver Olympics. She competed in both the women's giant slalom and the women's slalom. The giant slalom was held on 24–25 February, as weather postponed the second run until the next day. In her first run, she posted a time of 1 minute and 28 seconds; the next morning she was faster, recording a time of 1 minute and 23 seconds. Her total time of 2 minute and 51 seconds was good for 55th place out of 60 competitors who finished both runs. The slalom event was held on 26 February, and Papamichalopoulou posted two runs of 1 minute and 2 seconds each. Her combined time was good enough for 53rd place, out of 55 competitors who finished both legs of the race.

Cyprus sent a delegation to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, held between 12–28 February 2010. The national delegation consisted of two athletes, alpine skiers Christopher Papamichalopoulos and Sophia Papamichalopoulou. Papamichalopoulou finished 53rd in the women's slalom, the best finish for Cyprus at these Olympics.

Cet article contient des informations sur la participation et les résultats de Chypre aux Jeux olympiques d'hiver de 2010 à Vancouver au Canada. Chypre était représenté par deux athlètes, qui participent tous deux au ski alpin.


Detection.

Acetylenediol was first observed in the gas-phase by mass spectrometry. The compound was later obtained by photolysis of squaric acid in a solid argon matrix at.

Derivatives.

Alkoxide derivatives.

Although the diol has only fleeting existence in concentrated form, salts of the acetylenediolate (ethynediolate) dianion O−C≡C−O are well known. These organometallic compounds (specifically, alkoxides) are formally derived from ethynediol by loss of two hydrogen ions, but they are not normally generated in that way.  The typical synthesis route for these salts is the reduction of carbon monoxide. Potassium acetylenediolate (KCO) was first obtained by Liebig in 1834, from the reaction of carbon monoxide with metallic potassium; but for a long time the product was assumed to be "potassium carbonyl" (KCO). Over the next 130 years were described the "carbonyls" of sodium (Johannis, 1893), barium (Gunz and Mentrel, 1903), strontium (Roederer, 1906), and lithium, rubidium, and caesium (Pearson, 1933). The reaction was eventually shown to yield a mixture of the potassium acetylenediolate and potassium benzenehexolate.  The true structure of these salts was clarified only in 1963 by Werner Büchner and E. Weiss.  Acetylenediolates can also be prepared by the rapid reaction of CO and a solution of the corresponding metal in liquid ammonia at low temperature. Potassium acetylenediolate is a pale yellow solid that reacts explosively with air, halogens, halogenated hydrocarbons, alcohols, water, and any substance which possesses an acidic hydrogen.

Coordination complexes.

Acetylenediol can form coordination compounds, such as [TaH(HOC≡COH)(dmpe)Cl]Cl where dmpe is bis(dimethylphosphino)ethane.  Acetylenediolate and related anions such as deltate and squarate have been obtained from carbon monoxide under mild conditions by reductive coupling of CO ligands in organouranium complexes.

Other derivatives.

Although again not derived from acetylenediol, a variety of structurally related compounds are known. Examples include the diethers diisopropoxyethyne ((CH)CH)-O-C≡C-O-(CH(CH)) and di-tert-butoxyethyne ((CH)C)-O-C≡C-O-(C(CH)).

Acetylenediol, or ethynediol, is a chemical substance with formula HO−C≡C−OH (an ynol). It is the diol of acetylene. Acetylenediol is unstable in the condensed phase, although its tautomer glyoxal (CHO) is well known.

L'éthynediol ou acétylènediol est un composé organique de formule semi-développée HO–C≡C–OH. C'est le dialcool de l'éthyne. L'éthynediol est instable en phase condensée bien que son tautomère, l'éthanedial (glyoxal), O=CH–CH=O soit bien connu.


History.

The Zamagurie region was already declared as a protected territory in 1932, making it the first protected international nature park in Europe. On the Polish side it was called Pieniński Park Narodowy, while the Slovak part of the Pieniny Mountains was a national nature reserve. The National Park itself was founded on 16 January 1967, which makes it the second oldest national park in Slovakia after the Tatra National Park. By the 1994 act of the Slovak parliament regarding nature and landscape protection, the name of the park was changed to the Pieniny National Park. Its borders were adjusted in 1997.

Location.

The park is located in north-eastern Slovakia. It covers the eastern Pieniny Mountains on the border with Poland. The Pieniny Mountains as a whole, cover an area of more than 100km2. The eastern part of it is situated on the territory of Slovakia, the western half belongs to Poland. The valley of the Dunajec river marks the border between Slovakia and Poland. The Pieniny Mountains are not particularly high, especially in the western part of the range. Though this is somewhat disguised by the extreme dissection of the landscape, especially around the Dunajec river gorge. Along this canyon, the highest point on the Slovak side is the Holica mountain with 828m. The highest point in the national park is Vysoké skalky at 1050m. Vysoké skalky is located in the Lesser Pieniny range, which forms a boundary ridge between Slovakia and Poland, consisting of several smaller cliffs. In the south and southwest, bordering the Tatra National Park, the protective belt reaches the Popradská kotlina basin and the Ždiarska brázda furrow.

Geology.

The geological foundation of the territory of the Pieniny national park is composed of two basic structures. The western part of the Pieniny mountain range consists of a complex chain of rugged mountains through which the Dunajec river cut out a rocky canyon. Near to the spot where the Dunajec river leaves Slovakia, the Lesnicky Potok brook flows into the gorge from the right side. The Prielom Lesnickeho potoka chasm carved its path through the hard limestone cliffs. It is a gorge, nearly 300m deep squeezed between vertical dark gray limestone cliffs. Above the gorge, the valley of the Lesnicky potok brook is wider and oval-shaped.

Flora.

The Pieniny national park is characterised by the distribution of the vegetation over several altitude vegetation tiers. The nature of the whole Zamagurie region has been heavily changed by humans, e.g. the basins have been deforested. Before the deforestation, the basins and furrows were covered by beech forests, which no longer grow in the Tatras with a small exception of the Belianske Tatry reforestation project. The Pieniny national park is rich in rare varieties of plants, including endemites and subspecies, e.g. Chrysanthemum zawadzkii, Taraxacum pieninicum and Libanotis montana sibirica.

Fauna.

The national park is home to mammals including the brown bear, the wolf, the lynx, the chamois, the river otter and the alpine marmot. On the rocky cliffs, eagles nest on inaccessible spots and several storks nest in the region of the national park.

Tourism.

The national park is known for its natural environment, including the Dunajec River Gorge, which is a rafting and hiking location. The park offers traditional folklore and architecture, especially the village of Červený Kláštor with the Museum of National Culture.

Pieniny National Park (; abbr. PIENAP) is a national park in northern Slovakia. The park is located in the eastern Pieniny Mountains on the border with Poland. It is the smallest national park in Slovakia with an area of 37.49 km2 (14.48 mi2) and a buffer zone of 224.44 km2 (86.66 mi2). The park is located in the Slovak districts of Kežmarok and Stará Ľubovňa in the Prešov Region.

Le parc national des Piénines () (abrev. PIENAP) est le plus petit des parcs nationaux slovaques. Il est connu en particulier pour les gorges de la rivière Dunajec. Il est frontalier avec la Pologne, et jouxte le parc national polonais des Piénines.


Career.

Youth and amateur.

Zizzo attended Patrick Henry High School, where he played soccer and baseball. As a baseball center fielder, he was a four-year letterman and voted first-team All-CIF his junior year. He also excelled in soccer, he was voted All-CIF honors four years straight (2002–05). He played club soccer for Hotspurs USA (El Cajon, CA), and was a member of his region's Olympic Development Program (ODP) team. Zizzo then went on to play two years of college soccer at UCLA. At UCLA he was an NCSAA/adidas All-American as a freshman in 2005. Zizzo was also selected as Pac10 Freshman Player of the Year the same year. In 2006, UCLA reached the College Cup vs. Santa Barbara in St. Louis.  He finished his career at UCLA with 43 appearances, eight goals, and 14 assists.  During his college years he also played two seasons with senior amateur team Orange County Blue Star in the USL Premier Development League.

Professional.

Zizzo left college early and turned professional in July 2007 after a successful U20 World Cup in Canada for the United States. He signed to German Bundesliga club Hannover 96, for a three-year contract. Zizzo made his Bundesliga debut for Hannover on May 10, 2008 in a match against Werder Bremen. In October 2009, Zizzo suffered an ACL injury and missed the entire 2009–10 season. During his stay at the club he was a regular starter for the reserve side, Hannover 96 II, appearing in 45 league matches and scoring 8 goals.  On July 21, 2010, Chivas USA acquired Zizzo through a weighted lottery conducted by MLS. Zizzo played in 10 games (making one start) over the second half of the season, totaling 254 minutes and one assist. On February 15, 2011, Zizzo was traded by Chivas USA to MLS expansion side Portland Timbers in exchange for allocation money. Zizzo scored his first MLS goal on August 15, 2012 in a 2–2 draw at Toronto FC. On August 31, 2013, Zizzo scored his second career league goal in a 4–2 loss to Real Salt Lake. In three seasons with Portland Zizzo appeared in 60 league matches and scored 2 goals and assisted on 7.  On December 13, 2013, Zizzo was traded to Sporting Kansas City in exchange for allocation money. On September 23, 2014 Zizzo helped Sporting to a 3–0 victory over Real Estelí in a CONCACAF Champions League match, scoring the third goal of the match.  On December 10, 2014, Zizzo was the ninth pick of New York City FC in the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft. The following day he was traded to local rivals New York Red Bulls in a deal agreed prior to the draft, with Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara going the other way on a one-year loan. Zizzo made his debut for New York on March 8, 2015 coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 draw at former club Sporting Kansas City. On March 22, 2015 Zizzo started his first match for New York in a 2–0 victory over rival D.C. United at Red Bull Arena. On July 1, 2015 Zizzo scored his first goal for New York, helping the Red Bulls to a 4–1 victory in the U.S. Open Cup over local rival New York Cosmos. Zizzo ended the season as the club's starting right back and helped New York in capturing the 2015 MLS Supporters' Shield.  On August 15, 2017, Zizzo helped New York to a 3–2 come from behind victory over FC Cincinnati, providing the game winning assist on Bradley Wright-Phillips's goal in the 101st minute which sent New York to their first Open Cup final since 2003.  In January 2018, Zizzo signed as a free agent with Atlanta United FC.  Zizzo announced his retirement from playing professional soccer on May 21, 2019.  Just over 6-months following his announced retirement, Zizzo returned to professional soccer when he was announced as the first ever signing for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal ahead of their inaugural season in 2020.

International.

Zizzo represented the U.S. at the U18 and U20 levels. He participated in the Lisbon International Tournament and the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland with the U18s in 2005. Zizzo suited up for the United States. U20 National Team in the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup, starting all five of the team's matches in the tournament and helping the team reach the quarterfinals. He made his senior national team debut on August 22, 2007, in a friendly against Sweden.

Personal life.

Zizzo holds both American and Italian citizenship, as both his parents were born in Palermo, Sicily. This helped with negotiating a contract in Europe with Hannover 96. In November 2013 Zizzo married Destiny Moniz. They have 3 daughters, Capri Kalei born April 8, 2015, Aeri Elalia born on January 6, 2017 and Zuri Meadow born June 29, 2018.

Honors.

Club.

New York Red Bulls

Club.

Atlanta United FC

Salvatore "Sal" Zizzo Jr. (born April 3, 1987) is an American soccer player who plays for San Diego Loyal in the USL Championship.

Sal Zizzo est un joueur international américain de soccer né le à San Diego en Californie. Il évolue actuellement comme défenseur latéral avec Atlanta United en MLS.


Benefits.

The primary usefulness of SSA comes from how it simultaneously simplifies and improves the results of a variety of compiler optimizations, by simplifying the properties of variables. For example, consider this piece of code:  Humans can see that the first assignment is not necessary, and that the value of codice_1 being used in the third line comes from the second assignment of codice_1. A program would have to perform reaching definition analysis to determine this. But if the program is in SSA form, both of these are immediate:  Compiler optimization algorithms which are either enabled or strongly enhanced by the use of SSA include:

Converting to SSA.

Converting ordinary code into SSA form is primarily a simple matter of replacing the target of each assignment with a new variable, and replacing each use of a variable with the "version" of the variable reaching that point. For example, consider the following control flow graph:  Changing the name on the left hand side of "x formula_1 x - 3" and changing the following uses of x to that new name would leave the program unaltered. This can be exploited in SSA by creating two new variables: x and x, each of which is assigned only once. Likewise, giving distinguishing subscripts to all the other variables yields:  It is clear which definition each use is referring to, except for one case: both uses of y in the bottom block could be referring to either y or y, depending on which path the control flow took.  To resolve this, a special statement is inserted in the last block, called a "Φ (Phi) function". This statement will generate a new definition of "y" called y by "choosing" either y or y, depending on the control flow in the past.  Now, the last block can simply use y, and the correct value will be obtained either way. A Φ function for "x" is not needed: only one version of x, namely x is reaching this place, so there is no problem (in other words, Φ(x,x)=x).  Given an arbitrary control flow graph, it can be difficult to tell where to insert Φ functions, and for which variables. This general question has an efficient solution that can be computed using a concept called "dominance frontiers" (see below).  Φ functions are not implemented as machine operations on most machines. A compiler can implement a Φ function by inserting "move" operations at the end of every predecessor block. In the example above, the compiler might insert a move from y to y at the end of the middle-left block and a move from y to y at the end of the middle-right block. These move operations might not end up in the final code based on the compiler's register allocation procedure. However, this approach may not work when simultaneous operations are speculatively producing inputs to a Φ function, as can happen on wide-issue machines. Typically, a wide-issue machine has a selection instruction used in such situations by the compiler to implement the Φ function.  According to Kenny Zadeck, Φ functions were originally known as "phony" functions while SSA was being developed at IBM Research in the 1980s. The formal name of a Φ function was only adopted when the work was first published in an academic paper.

Computing minimal SSA using dominance frontiers.

First, we need the concept of a "dominator": we say that a node A "strictly dominates" a different node B in the control flow graph if it is impossible to reach B without passing through A first. This is useful, because if we ever reach B we know that any code in A has run. We say that A "dominates" B (B is "dominated by" A) if either A strictly dominates B or A = B.  Now we can define the "dominance frontier": a node B is in the dominance frontier of a node A if A does "not" strictly dominate B, but does dominate some immediate predecessor of B. (Possibly node A is an immediate predecessor of B. Then, because any node dominates itself and node A dominates itself, node B is in the dominance frontier of node A.) From A's point of view, these are the nodes at which other control paths, which don't go through A, make their earliest appearance. Dominance frontiers capture the precise places at which we need Φ functions: if the node A defines a certain variable, then that definition and that definition alone (or redefinitions) will reach every node A dominates. Only when we leave these nodes and enter the dominance frontier must we account for other flows bringing in other definitions of the same variable. Moreover, no other Φ functions are needed in the control flow graph to deal with A's definitions, and we can do with no less. There is an efficient algorithm for finding dominance frontiers of each node. This algorithm was originally described in Cytron "et al." 1991. Also useful is chapter 19 of the book "Modern compiler implementation in Java" by Andrew Appel (Cambridge University Press, 2002). See the paper for more details.  Keith D. Cooper, Timothy J. Harvey, and Ken Kennedy of Rice University describe an algorithm in their paper titled "A Simple, Fast Dominance Algorithm". The algorithm uses well-engineered data structures to improve performance. It is expressed simply as follows:  Note: in the code above, an immediate predecessor of node n is any node from which control is transferred to node n, and idom(b) is the node that immediately dominates node b (a singleton set).

Variations that reduce the number of Φ functions.

"Minimal" SSA inserts the minimal number of Φ functions required to ensure that each name is assigned a value exactly once and that each reference (use) of a name in the original program can still refer to a unique name. (The latter requirement is needed to ensure that the compiler can write down a name for each operand in each operation.)  However, some of these Φ functions could be "dead". For this reason, minimal SSA does not necessarily produce the fewest Φ functions that are needed by a specific procedure. For some types of analysis, these Φ functions are superfluous and can cause the analysis to run less efficiently.

Pruned SSA.

Pruned SSA form is based on a simple observation: Φ functions are only needed for variables that are "live" after the Φ function. (Here, "live" means that the value is used along some path that begins at the Φ function in question.) If a variable is not live, the result of the Φ function cannot be used and the assignment by the Φ function is dead.  Construction of pruned SSA form uses live variable information in the Φ function insertion phase to decide whether a given Φ function is needed. If the original variable name isn't live at the Φ function insertion point, the Φ function isn't inserted.  Another possibility is to treat pruning as a dead code elimination problem. Then, a Φ function is live only if any use in the input program will be rewritten to it, or if it will be used as an argument in another Φ function. When entering SSA form, each use is rewritten to the nearest definition that dominates it. A Φ function will then be considered live as long as it is the nearest definition that dominates at least one use, or at least one argument of a live Φ.

Semi-pruned SSA.

Semi-pruned SSA form is an attempt to reduce the number of Φ functions without incurring the relatively high cost of computing live variable information. It is based on the following observation: if a variable is never live upon entry into a basic block, it never needs a Φ function. During SSA construction, Φ functions for any "block-local" variables are omitted.  Computing the set of block-local variables is a simpler and faster procedure than full live variable analysis, making semi-pruned SSA form more efficient to compute than pruned SSA form. On the other hand, semi-pruned SSA form will contain more Φ functions.

Converting out of SSA form.

SSA form is not normally used for direct execution (although it is possible to interpret SSA), and it is frequently used "on top of" another IR with which it remains in direct correspondence. This can be accomplished by "constructing" SSA as a set of functions which map between parts of the existing IR (basic blocks, instructions, operands, "etc.") and its SSA counterpart. When the SSA form is no longer needed, these mapping functions may be discarded, leaving only the now-optimized IR.  Performing optimizations on SSA form usually leads to entangled SSA-Webs, meaning there are Φ instructions whose operands do not all have the same root operand. In such cases color-out algorithms are used to come out of SSA. Naive algorithms introduce a copy along each predecessor path which caused a source of different root symbol to be put in Φ than the destination of Φ. There are multiple algorithms for coming out of SSA with fewer copies, most use interference graphs or some approximation of it to do copy coalescing.

Extensions.

Extensions to SSA form can be divided into two categories.  "Renaming scheme" extensions alter the renaming criterion. Recall that SSA form renames each variable when it is assigned a value. Alternative schemes include static single use form (which renames each variable at each statement when it is used) and static single information form (which renames each variable when it is assigned a value, and at the post-dominance frontier).  "Feature-specific" extensions retain the single assignment property for variables, but incorporate new semantics to model additional features. Some feature-specific extensions model high-level programming language features like arrays, objects and aliased pointers. Other feature-specific extensions model low-level architectural features like speculation and predication.

Compilers using SSA form.

SSA form is a relatively recent development in the compiler community. As such, many older compilers only use SSA form for some part of the compilation or optimization process, but most do not rely on it. Examples of compilers that rely heavily on SSA form include:

In compiler design, static single assignment form (often abbreviated as SSA form or simply SSA) is a property of an intermediate representation (IR), which requires that each variable be assigned exactly once, and every variable be defined before it is used. Existing variables in the original IR are split into "versions", new variables typically indicated by the original name with a subscript in textbooks, so that every definition gets its own version. In SSA form, use-def chains are explicit and each contains a single element.

En compilation informatique, (SSA), en français, forme statique à affectation unique est une représentation intermédiaire (RI) du code source d'un programme dont la particularité est d'astreindre chaque variable à n'être affectée qu'une et une seule fois. Les variables existantes dans la première représentation sont divisées en « versions », les nouvelles variables reprenant le nom original avec une extension.