In scripture.

The earliest known foreshadowing of the major legends of the Kayanian kings appears in the "Yashts" of the Avesta, where the dynasts offer sacrifices to the gods in order to earn their support and to gain strength in the perpetual struggle against their enemies, the "Anaryas" (non-Aryans, sometimes identified as the Turanians).  In "Yasht" 5, 9.25, 17.45-46, Haosravah, a Kayanian king later known as Kay Khosrow, together with Zoroaster and Jamasp (a premier of Zoroaster's patron Vishtaspa, another Kayanian king) worship in Airyanem Vaejah. The account tells that King Haosravah united the various Aryan (Iranian) tribes into one nation ("Yasht" 5.49, 9.21, 15.32, 17.41).

In tradition and folklore.

Towards the end of the Sassanid period, Khosrow II (590-628, named after the Kay Khosrow of legend) ordered a compilation of the legends surrounding the Kayanians. The result was the "Khwaday-Namag" or "Book of Lords," a long historiography of the Iranian nation from the primordial Gayomart to the reign of Khosrow II, with events arranged according to the perceived sequence of kings and queens, fifty in number.  The compilation may have been prompted by concern over deteriorating national spirit. There were disastrous global climate changes of 535-536 and the Plague of Justinian to contend with and the Iranians would have found much-needed solace in the collected legends of their past.  Following the collapse of the Sassanid Empire and the subsequent rise of Islam in the region, the Kayanian legends fell out of favour until the first revival of Iranian culture under the Samanids. Together with the folklore preserved in the Avesta, the "Khwaday-Namag" served as the foundation of other epic collections in prose, such as those commissioned by Abu Mansur Abd al-Razzaq, the texts of which have since been lost. The Samanid-sponsored revival also led to the resurgence of Zoroastrian literature, such as the Denkard, book 7.1 of which is also a historiography of Kayanians. The best known work of the genre is however Firdowsi's "Shahnameh" "Book of Kings", which - though drawing on earlier works - is entirely in verse.

The Kayanians (also Kays, Kayanids or Kaianids, or Kiani) are a semi-mythological dynasty of Persian tradition and folklore which supposedly ruled after the Pishdadids. Considered collectively, the Kayanian kings are the heroes of the Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, and of the "Shahnameh", Iran's national epic.


Discovery Centre.

The centre focuses on chemistry and the history of the chemical industry. In addition to static exhibitions and hands-on experiments, it contains the Alchemy Theatre which gives three-dimensional presentations and allows interactive voting. Family workshops are arranged during school and bank holidays. The centre organises a monthly "Science Club" for children aged 11–14 years, and "OATS" ("Over Age Teenage Scientists") for those aged over 14 years. According to former director Gordon Rintoul, as quoted in an article about the opening of the new building, one of the main purposes of the museum was to forge closer links between industry and the public. The museum attracts some 30,000 visitors per annum. About 25% of the current annual total is accounted for by school classes for which Catalyst provides an education program that links directly to the National Curriculum. Catalyst holds the accreditation of 'Quality Assured Visitor Attraction' and to date, has won a number of major awards, including the prestigious Gulbenkian award.  The centre charges an entrance fee., the regular admission fee is £5.95, and the concession fee is £4.95; in 1989 it was £1 for regular admission and 50p for children.

History.

Catalyst is located in Widnes, Cheshire, adjacent to Spike Island. The museum is housed in an old four-storey building with modern extensions. The building was originally known as the Tower Building and was constructed around 1860 by John Hutchinson as the administrative centre for his alkali business. It later became the head office of the Gossage soap company, which at one time was the largest of its kind in the world and handled half of the UK's soap exports. Moreover, the town of Widnes was once considered to be the centre of the chemical manufacturing industry in the North West and has strongly been influenced by it for the last 170 years.  The origins of the museum lie in the centenary exhibition of the Society of Chemical Industry in 1982. The development of Catalyst was originally initiated by a number of companies in the chemical industry in partnership with Halton Borough Council. It began as a research project in 1982. A study was conducted to find out whether sufficient material and an appropriate location were available to set up a museum devoted to chemical industry and a temporary display area was set up in the Old Town Hall in Widnes. It was a very traditional exhibit based display that dealt in equal parts with the local chemical industry and other local history.  By 1986 the space in the Old Town Hall was needed for other uses so Catalyst moved to its present location in Gossage Building in the West Bank area of Widnes. Dr. Gordon Rintoul, who became the new director in 1987, brought about a change of policy concerning the exhibition concept. He wanted to get away from exclusively local matters and focus on chemistry in everyday life.  The museum opened as "The Museum of the Chemical Industry" in 1989. It was said to be the world's first museum dedicated to the chemical industry.  A glass lift and an enclosed glazed roof-top observation deck, designed by, were added to the building in 1989 as part of the development of it into a museum.  In 1991, Rintoul was also the person who initiated the project for a new gallery in which visitors would be able to explore aspects of the chemical industry by "See,Touch,Do" exhibits after the examples of the Exploratorium in San Francisco and the Bristol Exploratory, a predecessor to At-Bristol.  In 1994–95, an extension was added to the north to provide an education centre and visitor services.  Although the museum is relatively young, it has already seen some major changes of location and of the exhibition concept, especially during the first years after its establishment.

Collection.

The museum holds a collection of archives relating to the chemical industry. The collection was started in 1982 with the setting up of the Halton Chemical Industry Museum Project as a project funded by the Manpower Services Commission and Halton Borough Council. The collection consists of nearly 8,000 individually numbered items and groups including objects, archive material and photographs. However, in terms of physical numbers of individual items and items within groups, the number of items approaches 10,000. If the individual research files from the ICI General Chemicals Group are also included then the collection would exceed 35,000 items. More information about the collections can be found on the Catalyst website.  The archives include company documents of all kinds, product brochures and general ephemera, consisting of documents, photographs and the entire research archive of the ICI General Chemical Division (including pre-war personal injury records), Peter Spence Archive, Hutchinson Dock Estate Papers, and the Clayton Aniline Company Archive, McKechnie Brothers ledgers, the Vine Chemicals/Barium Chemicals Limited documents, documents from J.W. Towers and Company (later Gallenkamps).  The photographic collection, consisting of 35mm negatives and photographs, documents products and processes, company history, social activity and local history from Merseyside, South Lancashire, and North and Mid Cheshire areas. The collection also houses photographic material from the Teesside Bridge & Engineering Company. They also hold on loan the Brunner Mond film collection.  The objects range from test tubes to a 20-ton cast iron caustic soda finishing vessel, laboratory equipment, and chemical samples. Catalyst has also collected some local social history objects which have helped to give a human context to the collection as a whole. The collection has concentrated, in terms of industry, on the salt-based chemical industries of Merseyside, South Lancashire and North and Mid Cheshire, along with other chemical industries that have arisen in these areas. The social history collection has been confined to Widnes and Runcorn and its environs.  The library comprises several sets of bound volumes including the Journal for Society of Chemical Industry, and the Imperial Chemical Industries magazine and newspaper. There are also many individual volumes relating to aspects of chemistry and industry, and to local area.  The map collection consists of Ordnance Survey maps of Widnes and Runcorn, and includes various Halton Borough Council annotated maps such as the sewer system in Halton, two complete sets of Ropers 1875 survey, a bound set of plans of the proposed Lancashire Plateway relating to Widnes and a set of Transporter Bridge bound plans.  The fine art collection ranges from portraits of local chemical manufacturers in oils and pastel, and depictions of local factories. The collection also includes bronze busts and plaques.

The Catalyst Science Discovery Centre (originally The Museum of the Chemical Industry) is a science centre and museum, focusing on chemistry and the history of the chemical industry, next to Spike Island and the River Mersey in Widnes, Cheshire. The museum is accredited by the Arts Council England.


Description.

The new line passes under the passenger and freight tracks of the Mannheim–Saarbrücken railway on the northwestern approach to Mannheim Hauptbahnhof and then runs over a 2,200 m long viaduct that crosses several intersecting roads in the port area. This viaduct is interrupted by two tied-arch bridges, one over a port channel, while the other is the Western Riedbahn bridge ("Riedbahnbrücke West") over the Neckar. Adjoining the viaduct is an almost 2,000 m–long embankment, which is interrupted by a five-span prestressed concrete bridge; it lies partly on the route of the Riedbahn’s approach to the original "Riedbahnhof" (Riedbahn Station) in Mannheim, which had been disused since 1971. It connects with the old Riedbahn (Mannheim–Frankfurt railway) at a level junction in Mannheim-Waldhof station, which was extensively adapted. Three new stations were built on the line to the west of Mannheim: "Mannheim-Hafen", "Mannheim-Neckarstadt" and "Mannheim-Luzenberg". The line follows the route of the "Neckarstadtbahn" (Neckar light railway), which was closed in the 1960s.  Heavy and slow freight trains still use the original (eastern) approach to the Riedbahn.  The line has been built for a top speed of 160 km/h. The maximum gradient is 1.25% (apart from a 1.39% ramp at Mannheim Hauptbahnhof). In cross-section it has been built with a distance between the two tracks of 4.00 m and a formation width of 10.0 m. The line is now operable in the region of Mannheim Hauptbahnhof (to kilometre 1.4) at 60 km/h, increasing on the way to Handelshafen station to 120 km/h and on the rest of the line at 160 km/h. It is equipped with the traditional H/V signalling system and Punktförmige Zugbeeinflussung train control system and from kilometre 5 and beyond with the Linienzugbeeinflussung (LZB) in-cab signalling and train protection system.

History.

Background.

In an international treaty contracted in 1843 by the former states of Baden, Hesse and the Free City of Frankfurt, it was agreed that the preferred route of the planned Main-Neckar Railway ("Main-Neckar-Bahn") would end in neither Mannheim nor Heidelberg. Instead the new line would run to Friedrichsfeld, which is between them. The Riedbahn, which was opened later and eventually developed into a direct line from Frankfurt to Mannheim, was apparently designed for through traffic from Frankfurt via Mannheim to the Palatinate rather than for traffic from Frankfurt via Mannheim to Karlsruhe.  The Baden Mainline, the first railway line connecting to Mannheim, came from the southeast, and as a result the main station ("Hauptbahnhof") was built to the southeast of the city centre. This caused a problem of connecting to the Riedbahn, which was opened to Mannheim from the north by the Hessian Ludwig Railway in October 1879. This originally came from Darmstadt, although later a direct connection from Frankfurt was built. The company built its own station, the "Riedbahnhof" (Ried station), on the northern outskirts of Mannheim, north of the current Kurpfalz bridge. This had no connection to the Baden Mainline. Through traffic to Mannheim Hauptbahnhof was not possible until 1880 when a bypass was opened via Käfertal to the Rhine Valley Railway, so that the Riedbahn now reached Mannheim Hauptbahnhof from the southeast. Continuing to Karlsruhe and Stuttgart, however, required locomotives to be unhitched and moved to the back of trains so that they could reverse direction.  Shortly before the First World War and in the mid-1920s it has been proposed that the Riedbahn be rerouted through the port area to reach the Hauptbahnhof.  Before the Second World War the city of Mannheim suggested in an expert opinion that the Riedbahn's approach to Mannheim be rerouted to the west via Lampertheim, Frankenthal and Ludwigshafen. The time advantage from removing the reversal of train would have been lost as a result of the extra 10 km of this route. Both the 1943 B3 program developed just before World War II and the more limited remodeling plans of 1950/51 contained an approach of the Riedbahn from the west to Mannheim Hauptbahnhof. The latter plans envisaged a 9.5 km long new line from Mannheim-Waldhof with a grade-separated junction in the station area. For cost reasons, the project was abandoned gradually in the early 1950s. Finally, after 1953, the city of Mannheim deleted this proposal from its plan.  Direct access from the Riedbahn to the Mannheim node was proposed in a study for the Executive Board of Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) in 1964. The project was resumed in 1970, initially as a regional transport project of the State of Baden-Württemberg and the city of Mannheim. The Board of Directors of Bundesbahn agreed to the proposal in August 1970. A quadruplication of the tracks between Mannheim-Waldhof and Groß-Gerau would have complemented the "Western Entrance to the Riedbahn." This would have connected with the proposed Cologne-Groß–Gerau railway. Neither project was realised.  The reversals (including change of locomotives) in the early 1980s took at least six minutes and required numerous shunting movements; up to 3000 shunting movements were counted at Mannheim Hauptbahnhof each day. These circumstances led to frequent delays. The reversal of the trains required all station tracks to be crossed. The Western Entrance to the Riedbahn project was developed to resolve these problems.

Planning.

The new line was divided into three sections for planning: the approach to the northwestern end of Mannheim Hauptbahnhof (section 1: 0.0 to 0.9 km), the line between km 0.9 and 5.9 (section 2) and the integration into Mannheim-Waldhof station (section 3: 5.9 to 9.5 km).  The first planning approval process was initiated in mid 1971. In 1972 a heads of agreement was signed with the City of Mannheim. The project was later managed as part of the Frankfurt–Mannheim upgraded line ("Ausbaustrecke") project. In March 1977, the Management of DB put the overall project to the Board for consideration and it was adopted in May 1977. The benefit-cost ratio of the overall project was estimated to be 6.73. The City of Mannheim approved the Western Entrance to the Riedbahn project in November 1977. Transport Minister Kurt Gscheidle approved the construction of the 9.1 km long overall project on 7 September 1978. The estimated cost amounted to Deutsche Mark (DM) 230 million in 1975 prices, of which DM 12 million was attributed to regional transport improvements.  Planning was approved for the first section on 25 October 1978. Construction of the first civil engineering structures began in February 1979. The grade-separated entry into Mannheim Hauptbahnhof caused an extensive remodeling of the western approaches to Mannheim Hauptbahnhof, including all bridges. Works on this section did not affect the public.  Between 5 February and 5 March 1979, plans for the (northern) section 3 were developed in the Mannheim town hall. A citizens' initiative against the project had formed. It demanded, among other things, the relocation of the existing and the new railway facilities, the adjacent federal highway and the tram tunnel; the associated costs were calculated by Deutsche Bundesbahn as around DM one billion. The lowering of the railway tracks and a later lowering of the federal highway, which was also demanded, would have improved the poor conditions in the centre of the Waldhof district. DB found that an underground route would be technically feasible but financially unacceptable. The public hearing on this section, which was initially scheduled for 15 January 1980, was postponed to 31 January 1980 at the insistence of the concerned citizens, who criticised the date and type of notification. It finally took place at the end of March 1980. DB again refused the demands of most objectors for an underground route. A common planning approach by the city, state, federal government and Deutsche Bundesbahn eventually emerged in response to the demands of the citizens' initiative. Despite maintaining the above ground route, improvements could be achieved. Among other things, street signage would be changed, pedestrian links would be separated from the railway by noise barriers and the construction of freight facilities would be delayed. DB presented this solution in detail to the public and it was explained and discussed. This compromise was not opposed.  Planning of the (middle) section 2, was finalised on 6 October 1980. Its construction began in mid 1980. With the adoption of the zoning decision for the Mannheim-Waldhof area, the planning approval process was completed in August 1981. A total of 1,037 objections were received against the construction of the line and 17 actions were taken in the administrative court. These 17 individual actions were launched by the citizens' initiative. According to DB information all actions were settled by consensus.  At the end of May 1979, the Mannheim City Council approved the project, after DB had agreed to extensive soundproofing.  In the projections developed for planning in the late 1970s, an annual average of about 35 express trains and 35 local trains as well as 55 to 60 long-distance trains were expected each workday in both directions. While the local trains would serve all three proposed new stations, express trains would only stop at the "Westkreuz" station (km 2.1), which would provide the best link to the urban transport network.

Construction.

Work began on the full length of the project in 1981. All construction on the line was completed in 1983. As part of the works three new stations (Luzenberg, Neckarstadt, Handelshafen) were built. Waldhof station was completely rebuilt.  As part of the project, a new platform underpass equipped with escalators was built in Mannheim Hauptbahnhof and a new relay interlocking was put into operation in 1982.

Commissioning.

Trial operations began in January 1985. In the spring of 1985, leaflets and films were issued on future operations on the line to help drivers acquire route knowledge.  The new line was inaugurated on 2 June 1985 by German Transport Minister Werner Dollinger.  With the commencement of operations, services were introduced at 20-minute intervals between Lampertheim and Mannheim Hauptbahnhof, operated with push–pull train; 36 to 38 trains ran daily to Schwetzingen or Hockenheim. Simultaneously, regional services on the eastern introduction of the Riedbahn were largely discontinued. A replacement bus service was established between Luzenberg and Käfertal.  With the commissioning of the Western Entrance to the Riedbahn, the journey time was reduced by around ten minutes. In combination with the new Mannheim–Stuttgart line to the south, the journey time between Frankfurt and Stuttgart was shortened by more than an hour.

Operations.

Apart from regional services of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar, the line is now served by three Intercity-Express routes connecting southern Germany with Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Dortmund. French TGV trains running between Frankfurt and Paris and Frankfurt and Marseille use the line.

Costs.

In the preliminary design, the construction costs (without planning costs) was estimated at DM 215 million at 1975 prices. 26 percent of this was for by land acquisition, compensation and preliminary work in Mannheim and another 31 percent was attributed to bridges. 20.5 percent attributed to substructure and superstructure, 3.5 percent for the local stations and 19 percent for railway technical equipment.  The planning cost was DM 260 million at the end of 1981. In mid-1982, the planning cost was DM 280 million (at 1981 prices), of which more than DM 140 million had been spent. Ultimately, the construction cost was DM 300 million. About DM 100 million had been spent by the autumn of 1981.  Almost DM 250 million had been spent by the end of 1984 out of a total of DM 290 million (1985 prices).

The Western Entrance to the Riedbahn ("Westliche Einführung der Riedbahn", WER) is a 9.5 km-long line in the Germany state of Baden-Württemberg, which was opened in 1985. It gives direct access from the Mannheim–Frankfurt railway (known as the "Riedbahn") from the north to the western end of Mannheim Hauptbahnhof, allowing trains to the east and the south (and "vice versa") to continue without reversal.


Biography.

Zindzi Mandela was born on 23 December 1960 in Soweto to Nelson Mandela and Winnie Mandela. Her father was both a direct descendant of holders of the kingship of the Thembu people and an heir to the chieftaincy of Mvezo. Zindzi's nephew Mandla, descended from Mandela via his first wife Evelyn Mase, currently holds the latter title.  The year of her birth was also the year that the African National Congress (ANC) launched an armed wing. Her parents were wanted by the government. By the time her father was sent to prison Zindzi was 18 months old. During her youth Zindzi was often left in the care of her older sister Zenani Mandela when her mother was sent to prison for months at a time.  In 1977 her mother was banished to the Free State and Zindzi lived with her. Zindzi was not able to complete her education until she was sent to Swaziland. Eventually her mother was allowed to move back to Soweto.  In 1985 her father was offered a conditional release by the South African president, P. W. Botha. Her father's reply could not be delivered by her parents and Zindzi was chosen to read his refusal at a public meeting on 10 February 1985.  She studied law at the University of Cape Town, where she earned a BA in 1985.  Her poetry was published in 1978 in the book "Black as I Am", with photographs by Peter Magubane, and has also appeared in publications including "Somehow We Survive: An Anthology of South African Writing", edited by Sterling Plumpp and "Daughters of Africa", edited by Margaret Busby.

Release of father and First Lady.

When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, immediate talks began between the unbanned political party the ANC, and the ruling government the National Party to dismantle the Apartheid system.  With then ANC president Oliver Tambo's health deteriorating, Mandela was elected as the new ANC president and a candidate for the President of South Africa in the upcoming 1994 general elections.  After Mandela was elected president and his divorce from Winnie in 1996, Zindziswa was chosen to accompany her father to his inauguration and become the stand in First Lady of South Africa until her father remarried in 1998 on his 80th birthday to former Mozambique first lady Graça Machel.

Career.

Mandela-Hlongwane is said to have agreed to arrange a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao to coincide with her father's birthday in 2011. The match did not take place and the boxing promoter Duane Moody sued successfully for a US court to order that she pay $4.7m, plus costs, in damages to Moody. Mandela-Hlongwane was expected to appeal.

Ambassadorship.

In 2014 she was reported to be South Africa's ambassador to Denmark. She first arrived in Denmark in June 2015.

Personal life.

Zindzi has been married twice and has four children: Zoleka Mandela, (1980), Zondwa Mandela (1985), Bambatha Mandela (1989) and Zwelabo Mandela (1992). Her first husband was Zwelibanzi Hlongwane. She married her second husband, Molapo Motlhajwa, who was a member of the South African National Defence Force, in March 2013.

Controversies.

Twitter controversy.

In June 2019, while ambassador to Denmark, Mandela's Twitter account sent a series of increasingly strongly worded Tweets, where she discussed "trembling white cowards who are the thieving rapist descendants of Van Riebeck [sic]", and "uninvited visitors who don't want to leave" that caused significant controversy. Mandela-Hlongwane had previously that month expressed her "deep, pure unconditional love and respect" for "CIC" (leader) of the Economic Freedom Fighters(EFF), Julius Malema.  While being investigated by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) for breaching their social media policy, Mandela remained defiant, Tweeting that "I am not accountable to any white man or woman for my personal views. No missus or baas here. Get over yourselves #OurLand". She was ordered by foreign minister Naledi Pandor to "conduct herself as a diplomat" and to adhere to the department's social media policy, and concern about her views was expressed by former president Thabo Mbeki, and her views were described as hate speech by ANC veteran Mavuso Msimang, while her opinions drew support from the EFF and the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal Sihle Zikalala. Her Tweets came close to the end of her four-year term as ambassador to Denmark.

Zindziswa Mandela (born 23 December 1960), also known as Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane, is a South African politician who is currently serving as her country's ambassador to Denmark. The daughter of anti-apartheid activists Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Zindzi is the younger sister of Zenani Mandela and the third of Nelson Mandela's three daughters.


History.

Ski jumping originated in Norway, and has been practiced since time immemorial, using handmade temporary hills. The first record is credited to Olaf Rye, a soldier who set up a show spectated by his fellow soldiers in 1808, reaching in Eidsberg, Norway. This small hill was probably near Eidsberg church, possibly at the farm Lekum.  Sondre Norheim, credited as the 'father' of modern skiing, made the second official record at in 1868. Tim Ashburn says in his book "The History of Ski Jumping" that Norheim's longest jump on the circular track in Haugli ground in 1868 should have been measured at, but that newspapers in Christiania reported that the length "was a little exaggerated", so the official record is everywhere written as 19.5 m.  The sport quickly spread to Finland, the United States and Canada, where some of the subsequent records were set. Early jumping competitions were only scored by style, and it was seen as disruptive to attempt to jump further. Not until 1901 was a scoring system for distance introduced. With the construction of "Bloudkova Velikanka" in Planica, Yugoslavia, in 1934, the separate discipline of ski flying was introduced, which is essentially an 'extreme' version of ski jumping.  With one exception, all of the world records for distance have been set on five of the world's six ski flying hills, of which five remain in use. In 1936, Josef "Sepp" Bradl was the first to surpass the mark, landing a jump of. The FIS was long opposed to ski flying as a whole, and it has never been included in the Olympic or Nordic World Ski Championships. However, since 1972, the FIS Ski Flying World Championships has been a mainstay event, and ski flying event are also part of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup calendar. The first to officially reach was Toni Nieminen in 1994, by landing a jump of ; at the time, ski jumpers did not receive distance points for the part of the jumps exceeding 191 metres.  The distance of a ski jump is measured from the end of the 'table' (the very tip of the 'inrun' ramp) to halfway between the athletes' feet when they touch ground. To qualify, the jump must be made in a sanctioned competition, or official trial or qualification runs for these, with a system to control the actual length. To win a competition, an athlete needs both distance and style, the latter of which is achieved by attaining a proper Telemark landing; therefore jumpers are not motivated to jump as far as possible, only as far necessary to attain a good landing. Jumps are invalid if the jumper falls, defined as touching the ground with his hands or body before reaching the fall line. However, if an athlete touches the snow with any part of their body after landing, and receives style points greater than 14 from at least three judges, the jump is valid and counts as an official world record.  When ski flying began in the 1930s, jumps were recorded in a traditional Scandinavian measure of length, the Danish alen (1 alen (Denmark) = ). Some older United States and Canadian records were recorded in feet. Now, jump length is measured by the meter. Today, camera technology capably makes the measurements. Before, spectators were stationed downhill, meter by meter, and the raised hand of the nearest observer marked the jumper's landing.

Official world records.

Although International Ski Federation doesn't officially recognize world records.

Invalid world records.

If an athlete touches the ground with their hands, body, or falls before reaching the outrun line, the jump is deemed invalid and thus not listed as a world record. Jumps landed during non-competition training rounds or hill tests are also not recognized as official world records. Distances set by test jumpers ("Vorspringer", or "V-jumpers") during competition rounds are deemed official.

All jumps over 250 metres.

As of 24 March 2019

Most number of jumps over 250 metres.

As of 24 March 2019, including invalid jumps:

Summer world records.

Plastic matting for ski jumping was invented by German athlete Hans Renner. The first ski jumping tests on plastic without any audience were made on 31 October 1954 at Regenbergschanze in Zella-Mehlis, East Germany. The "Wadeberg Jugendschanze" K40 in Oberhof, East Germany, which was built just next to the old Thüringenschanze, officially became the world's first plastic covered ski jumping hill. On 21 November 1954 they organized first ever and at the same time regional competition on plastic at »Wadeberg Jugendschanze K40« in front of 15,000 spectators where Werner Lesser set first two ever plastic/summer world records of 41 and 42 metres (135 & 138 ft). Russian ski jumper Dimitry Vassiliev holds the current summer world record on plastic with 147.5 metres (484 ft) which he set at Russian National Championships on 15 October 2016 in Sochi, Russia.

Ski jumping is a winter sport in which athletes compete on distance and style in a jump from a ski jumping hill. The sport has traditionally focused on a combination of style and distance, and it was therefore early seen as unimportant in many milieus to have the longest jump. The International Ski Federation (Fédération Internationale de Ski; FIS) has largely been opposed to the inflation in hill sizes and setting of distance records, and no world records have been set at Olympic, World Championship, Holmenkollen Ski Festival or Four Hills Tournament events, as these have never been among the largest hills in the world.


Structure.

The descending thoracic aorta is part of the aorta, which has different parts named according to their structure or location. The descending thoracic aorta is a continuation of the descending aorta and becomes the abdominal aorta when it passes through the diaphragm. The initial part of the aorta, the ascending aorta, rises out of the left ventricle, from which it is separated by the aortic valve. The two coronary arteries of the heart arise from the aortic root, just above the cusps of the aortic valve. The aorta then arches back over the right pulmonary artery. Three vessels come out of the aortic arch: the brachiocephalic artery, the left common carotid artery, and the left subclavian artery. These vessels supply blood to the head, neck, thorax and upper limbs.  Behind the descending thoracic aorta is the vertebral column and the hemiazygos vein. To the right is the azygos veins and thoracic duct, and to the left is the left pleura and lung. In front of the descending thoracic aorta lies the root of the left lung, the pericardium, the esophagus, and the diaphragm.  The esophagus, which is covered by a nerve plexus lies to the right of the descending thoracic aorta. Lower, the esophagus passes in front of the aorta, and ultimately is situated on the left.

Function.

The aorta is an artery that conveys oxygenated blood from the heart to other parts of the body. It is one of the largest arteries in the body. The aorta gives off several paired branches as it descends. In descending order, these include the  Note: The posterior intercostal arteries are branches that originate throughout the length of the posterior aspect of the descending thoracic aorta.

The descending thoracic aorta is a part of the aorta located in the thorax. It is the third and last part of the thoracic aorta and is a continuation of the aortic arch. It is located within the posterior mediastinal cavity. The descending thoracic aorta begins at the lower border of the fourth thoracic vertebra and ends in front of the lower border of the twelfth thoracic vertebra, at the aortic hiatus in the diaphragm where it becomes the abdominal aorta.


History.

In 1938, Vasilios and Aphrodite Haseotes purchased a single-cow farm in Cumberland, Rhode Island, which eventually grew into the largest dairy farm in Southern New England. Cumberland Farms opened a dairy store in Bellingham, Massachusetts, in 1958 and the first convenience store in the northeastern United States in 1962.  In the late 1960s the Cumberland Farms had a successful ad campaign that helped expand their franchise, in part due to catchy jingles written by Brad Delp, who later co-founded the rock band Boston with Tom Scholz.  Cumberland Farms had been a two-thirds limited partner in the Gulf Oil company since 1993, while it has owned the rights to sell gasoline under the Gulf name throughout the United States since 1986. In 2016, Cumberland Farms sold its portion of Gulf Oil.  In September 2010, Cumberland Farms sold 61 locations, then in June 2011 closed an additional 29 stores. According to management, these sales and closures were to redeploy capital to their remaining stores and new builds.  In July 2018, Cumberland Farms closed several Florida locations to focus their attention on the state's East Coast.  In the past, Cumberland Farms television ads have featured actor David Hasselhoff. In spring 2019, Cumberland Farms TV ads began using retired pro wrestling star, "The Nature Boy", Ric Flair.  In April 2019, Cumberland Farms was reported to have retained Bank of America to explore a possible sale of the entire chain.  On July 31, 2019, U.K. based EG Group announced having entered a binding agreement to purchase Cumberland Farms.

Cumberland Farms, colloquially known as Cumby's, is a regional chain of convenience stores based in Westborough, Massachusetts, operating primarily in New York, New England and Florida. Cumberland Farms operates 566 retail stores, gas stations, and a support system including petroleum and grocery distribution operations in 8 states: Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Its original colors were navy blue and orange, but in 2009, they rebranded with a new logo and colors (navy blue and green). The new logo change marked the beginning of the transformation of Cumberland Farms stores from older, legacy stores to new AIM stores that now include numerous new fresh food items such as pizza, chicken sandwiches, subs, and a roller grill. Cumberland Farms offers a large assortment of food service items, candy, snacks, and chilled drinks, which it calls "The Chill Zone", along with Cumberland Farms branded chips, pastries, candy, and coffee, etc.


Club career.

Palmeiras.

Born in Guarulhos, São Paulo, Braz graduated with Palmeiras' youth setup. He made his professional debut on 10 February 2007, coming on as a substitute for Dininho in a 1–1 home draw against Bragantino for the Campeonato Paulista championship.  Braz appeared more regularly in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, after the arrival of new manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo. However, after struggling with injuries, he lost his starting spot.

Panathinaikos.

On 19 January 2009 Braz signed a four-and-a-half year deal with Greek giants Panathinaikos in a free transfer, after alleging irregularities with his contract. He made his debut for the side on 15 March, replacing fellow countryman Marcelo Mattos in a 1–0 away defeat of Thrasyvoulos.

Flamengo.

On 21 July 2009, after appearing rarely, Braz signed a one-year loan deal with Flamengo. He made his debut on 9 August, starting in a 1–0 home win over Corinthians.  A backup to Álvaro and Ronaldo Angelim, Braz contributed with one goal in ten appearances as his side lifted the league trophy in the last round. On 12 August 2010, Flamengo acquired 60% of his rights, with the player signing a new four-year deal.

Santos.

On 18 May 2012 Braz moved to Santos, along with Flamengo teammate Rafael Galhardo, in an exchange for Ibson. He acted mainly as a backup to Edu Dracena and Durval during his first year, appearing in only seven matches.

Loan to Vitória.

In January 2013, after being deemed surplus to requirements by manager Muricy Ramalho, Braz was loaned to Vitória. However, in August he was left out of the first-team squad, later accusing the club of not paying his wages. He eventually returned to Santos in December.

Return to Santos.

Shortly after his return to "Peixe", new manager Oswaldo de Oliveira granted his place in the first-team. Profiting from Dracena and Gustavo Henrique's injuries, he was later first-choice in the end of the 2014 Campeonato Paulista, and remained a starter in Série A.  On 6 September 2014 Braz scored his first goals for Santos, netting a brace in a 3–1 home win against his former side Vitória. He played his 100th game for the club on 4 October of the following year, starting in a 3–1 home win against Fluminense.  A regular starter, Braz played his 200th match for the club on 5 April 2018, in a 1–0 away win against Estudiantes de La Plata.

Loan to Sivasspor.

On 8 August 2018, Braz was loaned to Süper Lig side Sivasspor for one year, with an option to buy for a fee of € 2 million.

Grêmio.

On 25 May 2019, Santos announced the signing of Marinho, while Braz moved to Grêmio as a part of the deal.

International career.

Braz was capped at under-18 and under-20 levels for Brazil.

David Braz de Oliveira Filho (born 21 May 1987), known as David Braz, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Grêmio as a central defender.


Biography.

Thomas Ruffin was born on November 17, 1787 at the residence of his maternal grandfather Thomas Roane at Newington in King and Queen County, Virginia. Ruffin graduated from Princeton University and studied law in North Carolina under Archibald Murphey. He commenced the practice of law in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where he also farmed. He was elected to several terms in the North Carolina House of Commons and served as a Superior Court judge from 1816 to 1818 and from 1825 to 1828. In 1828, the state called upon Ruffin to bring the State Bank of North Carolina out of debt as its new President, which he did in one year. The legislature then named him to the state Supreme Court.  "The election of former Superior Court Judge and State Bank President Ruffin to the bench in 1829 effectively ensured the North Carolina Supreme Court's survival", according to Martin Brinkley (see link below). Ranked by Harvard Law School Dean Roscoe Pound as one of the ten greatest jurists in American history, Ruffin singlehandedly transformed the common law of North Carolina into an instrument of economic change. His writings on the subject of eminent domain--the right of the state to seize private property for the public good—paved the way for the expansion of railroads into North Carolina, enabling the "Rip Van Winkle State" to embrace the industrial revolution. Ruffin's opinions were cited as persuasive authority by appellate tribunals throughout the United States. The influence his decisions exercised upon the nascent jurisprudence of the states then known as the Southwest (Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi), which were settled by emigrating North Carolinians in large numbers, made Ruffin a celebrated figure at home. Public veneration of the "stern prophet," as Ruffin was called, preserved his Court from destruction by populist politicians. Together, Justice William Gaston and Ruffin, whom his colleagues elected Chief Justice in 1833 (by a coin toss, according to a popular but probably apocryphal account), dominated their less-talented brother judges, rendering treatise-like opinions that inspired one contemporary to exclaim: "No State of the Union... not even the United States, ever had a superior Bench; few ever had its equal."  Ruffin wrote the decision in the case of "North Carolina v. Mann" (1829), which sanctioned the "absolute" power of a master over a slave.  Ruffin was also the author of "Dougherty v. Stepp" (1835), a staple of first-year Torts classes in American law schools used to teach students about the tort of trespass upon real property.  Ruffin retired in 1852 to his plantation in Alamance County, but the legislature called him back to the Court in 1858. He retired again after about one year, at the age of 78. His home after the end of the American Civil War until his death in 1870, the Ruffin-Roulhac House at Hillsborough, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.  In addition to his legal and political career, Ruffin was an innovative farmer, and was president of the state's Agricultural Society from 1854 to 1860.  Ruffin was also a trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for some 24 years.  The unincorporated community of Ruffin, in Rockingham Co., is named for Thomas Ruffin.

Thomas Ruffin (1787–1870) was an American jurist and Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1829 to 1852 and again from 1858 to 1859. He was Chief Justice of that Court from 1833 to 1852.


Overview.

The Ascender is the only one of GM's GMT360-based mid-size SUVs that was not actually GM-branded. The Ascender LWB was dropped after the 2006 model year. Reviews warned of a thin dealer network for warranty repairs, and the Kelley Blue Book projected a relatively low resale value similar to the TrailBlazer. However, Isuzu offers a seven-year/75,000-mile powertrain warranty, and substantial factory incentives. The Ascender ended production on June 6, 2008, as part of Isuzu's withdrawal from the United States market. The Ascender (along with the related GMC Envoy) were both replaced by the 2010 GMC Terrain, based on the GM Theta platform. 7-passenger versions of both SUVs were indirectly replaced by the GMC Acadia in 2007, based on the GM Lambda platform.  Engines:

Recall.

In 2012, General Motors and Isuzu recalled more than 258,000 SUVs in the U.S. and Canada to fix short-circuits in power window and door-lock switches that could cause fires. The recall covered Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, Isuzu Ascender and Saab 9-7X SUVs from the 2006 and 2007 model years. The SUVs were sold or registered in the United States also including Hawaii and Alaska and Canada as well.  General Motors announced the recall of 316,357 vehicles in late 2014, primarily in North America, to fix malfunctioning headlights. According to the company, a problem in the headlamp driver module could have led to temporary or permanent malfunctioning of the low-beam headlamps and daytime running lamps. This increased the possibility of an accident. However, the high-beam headlamps, marker lamps, turn signals and fog lamps are not affected by the issue. The vehicles that were covered under the recall are the 2006–2009 Buick LaCrosse sedans; 2006–2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy and Buick Rainier SUVs; and 2006–2008 Saab 9-7X and Isuzu Ascender SUVs.

The Isuzu Ascender is a mid-size SUV built by General Motors for Isuzu. The 7-passenger Ascender was introduced for the 2003 model year as a replacement for the Isuzu Trooper. The 5-passenger Ascender was introduced for the 2004 model year as a replacement for the Isuzu Rodeo and the Isuzu Axiom.


Medical uses.

Copper IUDs are a form of long-acting reversible contraception and are one of the most effective forms of birth control available. The type of frame and amount of copper can affect the effectiveness of different copper IUD models. The failure rates for different models vary between 0.1 and 2.2% after 1 year of use. The T-shaped models with a surface area of 380 mm2 of copper have the lowest failure rates. The TCu 380A (ParaGard) has a one-year failure rate of 0.8% and a cumulative 12-year failure rate of 2.2%. Over 12 years of use, the models with less surface area of copper have higher failure rates. The TCu 220A has a 12-year failure rate of 5.8%. The frameless GyneFix also has a failure rate of less than 1% per year. Worldwide, older IUD models with lower effectiveness rates are no longer produced.  Unlike other forms of reversible contraception, the typical use failure rate and the perfect use failure rate for the copper IUDs are the same because the IUD does not depend on user action. A 2008 review of the available T-shaped copper IUDs recommended that the TCu 380A and the TCu 280S be used as the first choice for copper IUDs because those two models have the lowest failure rates and the longest lifespans. The effectiveness of the copper IUD (failure rate of 0.8%) is comparable to tubal sterilization (failure rate of 0.5%) for the first year. However, the effects of the copper IUD are reversible, which can be viewed as either an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on a person's goals for contraception.

Emergency contraception.

It was first discovered in 1976 that the copper IUD could be used as a form of emergency contraception (EC). The copper IUD is the most effective form of emergency contraception. It is more effective than the hormonal EC pills currently available. The pregnancy rate among those using the copper IUD for EC is 0.09%. It can be used for EC up to 5 days after the act of unprotected sex and does not decrease in effectiveness during the 5 days. An additional advantage of using the copper IUD for emergency contraception is that it can be used as a form of birth control for 10–12 years after insertion.

Removal and return to fertility.

Removal of the copper IUD should also be performed by a qualified medical practitioner. Fertility has been shown to return to previous levels quickly after removal of the device. One study found that the median amount of time from removal to planned pregnancy was three months for those women using the TCu 380Ag.

Side effects.

Expulsion: Sometimes the copper IUD can be spontaneously expelled from the uterus. Expulsion rates can range from 2.2% to 11.4% of users from the first year to the 10th year. The TCu380A may have lower rates of expulsion than other models. Unusual vaginal discharge, cramping or pain, spotting between periods, postcoital (after sex) spotting, dyspareunia, or the absence or lengthening of the strings can be signs of a possible expulsion. If expulsion occurs, the woman is not protected against pregnancy. If an IUD with copper is inserted after an expulsion has occurred, the risk of re-expulsion has been estimated in one study to be approximately one third of cases after one year. Magnetic resonance imaging may cause dislocation of a copper IUD, and it is therefore recommended to check the location of the IUD both before and after MRI.  Perforation: Very rarely, the IUD can move through the wall of the uterus. Risk of perforation is mostly determined by the skill of the practitioner performing the insertion. For experienced medical practitioners, the risk of perforation is 1 per 1,000 insertions or less. If perforation does occur it can damage the internal organs, and in some cases surgery is needed to remove the IUD.  Infection: The insertion of a copper IUD poses a transient risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in the first 21 days after insertion. However, it is a small risk and is attributable to preexisting gonorrhea or chlamydia infection at the time of insertion, and not to the IUD itself. Proper infection prevention procedures have little or no effect on the course of gonorrhea or chlamydia infections, but is important in helping protect both clients and providers from infection in general. Such infection prevention practices include washing hands and then putting on gloves, cleaning the cervix and vagina, making minimal contact with non-sterile surfaces (using a "no touch insertion technique") and, after the procedure, washing hands again and then processing instruments. The device itself carries no increased risk of PID beyond the time of insertion.  Cramping: Many women feel cramping or pain during the IUD insertion process and immediately after as a result of cervix dilation during insertion. Taking NSAIDS before the procedure can reduce discomfort, as can the use of a local anaesthetic. Misoprostol 6 to 12 hrs before insertion can help with cervical dilation. Some women may have cramps for 1 to 2 weeks following insertion. The copper IUD can also increase cramps during a woman's period. This symptom will clear up for some women in 3 to 6 months, but may not for others.  Heavier periods: The copper IUD increases the amount of blood flow during a woman's menstrual periods. On average, menstrual blood loss increases by 20–50% after insertion of a copper-T IUD; increased menstrual discomfort is the most common medical reason for IUD removal. This symptom may clear up for some women after 3 to 6 months, but may not for others.  Irregular bleeding and spotting: For the first 3 to 6 months after insertion, the copper IUD can cause irregular periods and spotting between periods. String problems: A small portion of men report that they can feel the strings during intercourse. In this case, strings can be trimmed. However, very short strings can prevent the woman from checking the strings for expulsion. Medical ultrasonography may be required in such cases to check the location of the IUD.  Pregnancy: Although rare, if pregnancy does occur with the copper IUD in place there can be serious side effects. The risk of ectopic pregnancy to a woman using an IUD is lower than the risk of ectopic pregnancy to a woman using no form of birth control. However, of pregnancies that do occur during IUD use, a higher than expected percentage (3–4%) are ectopic. If a pregnancy occurs with the IUD in place there is a higher risk of miscarriage or early delivery. If this occurs and the IUD strings are visible, the IUD should be removed immediately by a clinician. Although the Dalkon Shield IUD was associated with septic abortions (infections associated with miscarriage), other brands of IUD are not. IUDs are also "not" associated with birth defects.  Some barrier contraceptives protect against STIs. Hormonal contraceptives reduce the risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a serious complication of certain STIs. IUDs, by contrast, do "not" protect against STIs or PID.

Contraindications.

A category 3 condition indicates conditions where the theoretical or proven risks usually outweigh the advantages of inserting a copper IUD. A category 4 condition indicates conditions that represent an unacceptable health risk if a copper IUD is inserted.  Women should not use a copper IUD if they:  A full list of contraindications can be found in the World Health Organization (WHO) "Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use" and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) "United States Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use".  While nulliparous women (women who have never given birth) are somewhat more likely to have side effects, this is not a contraindication for IUD use. Overall, IUDs are safe and acceptable also in young nulliparous women. The same is likely the case for virgin women, unless there is a microperforate hymen that obstructs any insertion of the IUD.

Device description.

There are a number of models of the copper IUD available around the world. Most copper devices consist of a plastic core that is wrapped in a copper wire. Many of the devices have a T-shape similar to the hormonal IUD. However, there are "frameless" copper IUDs available around the world as well. ParaGard is the only model currently available in the United States. At least three copper IUD models are available in Canada, two of which are a slimmer T-shape version used for women who have not had children. Early copper IUDs had copper around only the vertical stem, but more recent models have copper sleeves wrapped around the horizontal arms as well, increasing effectiveness. Some newer models also contain a silver core instead of a plastic core to delay copper fragmentation as well as increase the lifespan of the device. The lifespan of the devices range from 3 years to 10 years; however, some studies have demonstrated that the TCu 380A may be effective through 12 years.  Its ATC code is.

Insertion.

The copper IUD must be inserted by a qualified medical practitioner. A copper IUD can be inserted at any phase of the menstrual cycle, but the optimal time is right after the menstrual period, when the cervix is softest and the woman is least likely to be pregnant. The insertion process generally takes five minutes or less. The procedure can cause cramping or be painful for some women. Before placement of an IUD, a medical history and physical examination by a medical professional is useful to check for any contraindications or concerns. It is also recommended by some clinicians that patients be tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia, as these two infections increase the risk of contracting pelvic inflammatory disease shortly after insertion. Immediately prior to insertion, the clinician will perform a pelvic exam to determine the position of the uterus. After the pelvic exam, the vagina is held open with a speculum. A tenaculum is used to steady the cervix and uterus. Uterine sounding may be used to measure the length and direction of the cervical canal and uterus in order to decrease the risk of uterine perforation. The IUD is placed using a narrow tube, which is inserted through the cervix into the uterus. Short monofilament plastic/nylon strings hang down from the uterus into the vagina. The clinician will trim the threads so that they only protrude 3 to 4 cm out of the cervix and remain in the upper vagina. The strings allow the patient or clinician to periodically check to ensure the IUD is still in place and to enable easy removal of the device.  The copper IUD can be inserted at any time in a woman's menstrual cycle as long as the woman is not pregnant. An IUD can also be inserted immediately postpartum and post-abortion as long as no infection has occurred. Breastfeeding is not a contraindication for the use of the copper IUD. The IUD can be inserted in women with HIV or AIDS as it does not increase the risk of transmission. Although previously not recommended for nulliparous women (women who have not had children), the IUD is now recommended for most women who are past menarche (their first period), including adolescents.  After the insertion is finished, normal activities such as sex, exercise, and swimming can be performed as soon as it feels comfortable. Strenuous physical activity does not affect the position of the IUD.

Types.

Many different types of copper IUDs are currently manufactured worldwide, but availability varies by country. In the United States, only one type of copper IUD is approved for use, while in the United Kingdom, over ten varieties are available. One company, Mona Lisa N.V. offers generic versions of many existing IUDs.

Frameless IUDs.

The frameless IUD eliminates the use of the frame that gives conventional IUDs their signature T-shape. This change in design was made to reduce discomfort and expulsion associated with prior IUDs; without a solid frame, the frameless IUD should mold to the shape of the uterus. It may reduce expulsion and discontinuation rates compared to framed copper IUDs.  Gynefix is the only frameless IUD brand currently available. It consists of hollow copper tubes on a polypropylene thread. It is inserted through the cervix with a special applicator that sutures the thread to the fundus (top) of the uterus; the thread is then cut with a tail hanging outside of the cervix, similar to frame IUDs. When this tail is pulled, the suture comes undone and the device can be removed. This requires more force than removing a T-shaped IUD, but results in comparable discomfort during removal. Gynefix is not approved for use in the United States.

Mechanism of action.

The copper IUD's primary mechanism of action is to prevent fertilization. Copper acts as a spermicide within the uterus. The presence of copper increases the levels of copper ions, prostaglandins, and white blood cells within the uterine and tubal fluids.  Although not a primary mechanism of action, some experts in human reproduction believe there is sufficient evidence to suggest that IUDs with copper can disrupt implantation, especially when used for emergency contraception. Despite this, there has been no definitive evidence that IUD users have higher rates of embryonic loss than women not using contraception. Therefore, the copper IUD is considered to be a true contraceptive and not an abortifacient.

Usage.

Globally, the IUD is the most widely used method of reversible birth control. The most recent data indicates that there are 169 million IUD users around the world. This includes both the nonhormonal and hormonal IUDs. IUDs are most popular in Asia, where the prevalence is almost 30%. In Africa and Europe the prevalence is around 20%. As of 2009, levels of IUD use in the United States are estimated to be 5.5%. Data in the United States does not distinguish between hormonal and nonhormonal IUDs. In Europe, copper IUD prevalence ranges from under 5% in the United Kingdom to over 10% in Denmark in 2006.

History.

According to popular legend, Arab traders inserted small stones into the uteruses of their camels to prevent pregnancy during long desert treks. The story was originally a tall tale to entertain delegates at a scientific conference on family planning; although it was later repeated as truth, it has no known historical basis.  Precursors to IUDs were first marketed in 1902. Developed from stem pessaries (where the stem held the pessary in place over the cervix), the'stem' on these devices actually extended into the uterus itself. Because they occupied both the vagina and the uterus, this type of stem pessary was also known as an "interuterine device". Use of "interuterine" devices was associated with high rates of infection; for this reason, they were condemned by the medical community.  The first intrauterine device (contained entirely in the uterus) was described in a German publication in 1909, although the author appears to have never marketed his product.  In 1929, Ernst Gräfenberg of Germany published a report on an IUD made of silk suture. He had found a 3% pregnancy rate among 1,100 women using his ring. In 1930, Gräfenberg reported a lower pregnancy rate of 1.6% among 600 women using an improved ring wrapped in silver wire. Unbeknownst to Gräfenberg, the silver wire was contaminated with 26% copper. Copper's role in increasing IUD efficacy would not be recognized until nearly 40 years later.  In 1934, Japanese physician Tenrei Ota developed a variation of the "Gräfenberg ring" that contained a supportive structure in the center. The addition of this central disc lowered the IUD's expulsion rate. These devices still had high rates of infection, and their use and development was further stifled by World War II politics: contraception was forbidden in both Nazi Germany and Axis-allied Japan. The Allies did not learn of the work by Gräfenberg and Ota until well after the war ended.  The first plastic IUD, the "Margulies Coil" or "Margulies Spiral", was introduced in 1958. This device was somewhat large, causing discomfort to a large proportion of women users, and had a hard plastic tail, causing discomfort to their male partners. The modern colloquialism "coil" is based on the coil-shaped design of early IUDs.  The "Lippes Loop", a slightly smaller device with a monofilament tail, was introduced in 1962 and gained in popularity over the Margulies device.  The stainless steel single-ring IUD was developed in the 1970s and widely used in China because of low manufacturing costs. The Chinese government banned production of steel IUDs in 1993 due to high failure rates (up to 10% per year).  Howard Tatum, in the US, conceived the plastic T-shaped IUD in 1968. Shortly thereafter Jaime Zipper, in Chile, introduced the idea of adding copper to the devices to improve their contraceptive effectiveness. It was found that copper-containing devices could be made in smaller sizes without compromising effectiveness, resulting in fewer side effects such as pain and bleeding. T-shaped devices had lower rates of expulsion due to their greater similarity to the shape of the uterus.  The poorly designed Dalkon Shield plastic IUD (which had a multifilament tail) was manufactured by the A. H. Robins Company and sold by Robins in the United States for three and a half years from January 1971 through June 1974, before sales were suspended by Robins on June 28, 1974 at the request of the FDA because of safety concerns following reports of 110 septic spontaneous abortions in women with the Dalkon Shield in place, seven of whom had died. Robins stopped international sales of the Dalkon Shield in April 1975.  Tatum developed many different models of the copper IUD. He created the TCu220 C, which had copper collars as opposed to copper filament, which prevented metal loss and increased the lifespan of the device. Second-generation copper-T IUDs were also introduced in the 1970s. These devices had higher surface areas of copper, and for the first time consistently achieved effectiveness rates of greater than 99%. The last model Tatum developed was the TCu380A, the model that is most recommended today. In addition to T-shaped IUDs, there are also U-shaped IUDs (such as the Multiload) and 7-shaped Gravigard Copper 7 (with a mini version for nulliparous women introduced in the 1980s). More recently, a frameless IUD called Gynefix was introduced.

Brands.

The ParaGard T-380A is an IUD with copper, manufactured and marketed in the United States by The Cooper Companies. It is the only copper-containing intrauterine device approved for use in the U.S. (three hormonal uterine devices, Mirena, Skyla and Liletta are also approved). The ParaGard consists of a T-shaped polyethylene frame wound with copper wire, along with two monofilament threads to aid in removal of the IUD.  The ParaGard T 380A was developed in the 1970s by the Population Council and Finishing Enterprises Inc. (FEI). The Population Council's ParaGard new drug application (NDA) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and FEI began manufacturing it for distribution outside the United States in 1984. GynoPharma (originally GynoMed) began marketing it in the U.S. in May 1988. On August 2, 1995, Ortho-McNeil acquired GynoPharma and began marketing ParaGard in the U.S. On January 1, 2004, FEI Women's Health acquired the patent from the Population Council and U.S. marketing rights from Ortho-McNeil. On November 10, 2005, Duramed Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals, acquired FEI Women's Health and ParaGard. On July 18, 2008, it was announced that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. would acquire Barr Pharmaceuticals.  On Nov. 01, 2017, The Cooper Companies acquired Paragard from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries for approximately $1.1 billion.  The original FDA approval of ParaGard in 1984 was for 4 years continuous use, this was later extended to 6 years in 1989, then 8 years in 1991, then 10 years in 1994. (ATC code )

Intrauterine device (IUD) with copper also known as intrauterine coil, is a type of intrauterine device which contains copper. It is used for birth control and emergency contraception within five days of unprotected sex. It is one of the most effective forms of birth control with a one-year failure rate around 0.7%. The device is placed in the uterus and lasts up to twelve years. It may be used by women of all ages regardless of whether or not they have had children. Following removal, fertility quickly returns. Side effects include heavy menstrual periods, painful periods, or the device may come out. It is less recommended in people at high risk of sexually transmitted infections as it may increase the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease in the first three weeks after insertion. If a woman becomes pregnant with an IUD in place removal is recommended. Rarely, uterine perforation can occur during insertion. The copper IUD is a type of long-acting reversible birth control. It primarily works by killing the sperm. The copper IUD came into medical use in the 1970s. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system. The wholesale cost in the developing world is about US$0.37–3.00 per IUD. In the United Kingdom they cost the NHS about £10 GBP. In the United States they cost around $750. They are used by more than 170 million women globally.


John Harding, 1st Baron Harding of Petherton

Early life and First World War.

Born the son of Francis Ebenezer Harding and Elizabeth Ellen Harding (née Anstice) and educated at Ilminster Grammar School and King's College London, Harding started as a boy clerk in December 1911, earning promotion to assistant clerk in the Post Office in July 1913 and then to full clerk in the Second Division of the Civil Service in April 1914.  Harding became a part-time soldier, joining the 11th (County of London) Battalion (Finsbury Rifles) of the London Regiment, a unit of the British Army's Territorial Force, being commissioned as a second lieutenant on 15 May 1914. During the First World War (1914–1918) he was attached to the Machine Gun Corps and fought in the Gallipoli Campaign in August 1915. He transferred to the regular armed forces as a lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry on 22 March 1917 and was assigned to the Middle Eastern theatre of operations. He took part in the Third Battle of Gaza in November 1917 and was subsequently awarded the Military Cross.  During the interwar period Harding adopted the name "John", which his Regular Army comrades preferred, and in 1921 was posted to India. Promoted to captain on 11 October 1923 and later attended the Staff College, Camberley. He joined the general staff at headquarters Southern Command in 1930 before becoming brigade major of the 13th Infantry Brigade in 1933. He became a company commander with the 2nd Battalion with promotion to major on 1 July 1935. After a tour as a staff officer in the Directorate of Operations at the War Office, he was further promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 January 1938.

Second World War.

Harding served in the Second World War, initially as Commanding Officer (CO) of the 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, in which capacity he served in Waziristan and was mentioned in despatches, before joining the staff of Middle East Command in October 1940 and then becoming a brigadier General Staff (BGS) of the Western Desert Force (WDF) in December. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services in that role. When Generals Richard O'Connor and Philip Neame were captured in April 1941, Harding took temporary command of the WDF, in which capacity he took the decision to hold Tobruk. He was promoted to the substantive rank of colonel on 9 August 1941 (with seniority backdated to 1 January 1941) and was later awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).  Harding went on to be BGS of XIII Corps (the new name adopted by the former WDF) in August 1941 and, having been mentioned in dispatches in early 1942 and awarded a Bar to his DSO in February 1942. He was promoted to acting major-general on 26 January 1942 and became Deputy Director of Military Training Middle East Command, in which capacity he was again mentioned in despatches in the summer of 1942.  He was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 7th Armoured Division in September 1942. He led the division in the Second Battle of El Alamein in October–November. He led his forward headquarters from a tank and then a jeep and, during the pursuit of the Axis forces to Tripoli, was subsequently wounded by shell splinters in January 1943. He was awarded a second Bar to his DSO for his conduct in late January 1943. At the same time his rank of major-general was made temporary.  He returned to the United Kingdom and, despite losing three fingers from his left hand, recovered relatively quickly. On 10 November 1943 he was promoted to acting lieutenant general and assumed command of VIII Corps, which was to take part in the invasion of Normandy. Soon afterwards, however, he was posted to the Italian Front in January 1944 to become Chief of Staff to General Sir Harold Alexander, then commanding the 15th Army Group, later designated the Allied Armies in Italy (AAI) before reverting to 15th Army Group in December 1944. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 16 June 1944 for his service in Italy, and promoted to the substantive rank of major general on 13 July 1944. He played a large part in the planning for Operation Diadem, the Fourth and final Battle of Monte Cassino and led to the capture of Rome and the destruction of a large portion of the enemy's forces and the subsequent fighting on the Gothic Line. He went on to take command of XIII Corps in Italy in March 1945, leading it through the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, arriving in Trieste just after the German surrender in May and the end of World War II in Europe. He was also awarded the Legion of Merit in the Degree of Commander by Harry S. Truman, the President of the United States, for his conduct during the war on 14 May 1948.

Postwar.

Promoted after the war to lieutenant general on 19 August 1946, Harding succeeded Alexander as commander of British forces in the Mediterranean in November 1946. He became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Southern Command in July 1947 and went on to be Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), Far East Land Forces on 28 July 1949 at the early stages of the Malayan Emergency. Having been promoted to full general on 9 December 1949, made Aide-de-Camp General to H.M. The King on 21 October 1950 and advanced to a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the King's Birthday Honours 1951, Harding became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) on 30 August 1951.  Harding was appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) on 1 November 1952: in this capacity he advised the British government on the response to the Mau Mau Uprising. He was promoted to field marshal on 21 July 1953, and retired from the army on 29 September 1955.  Harding was also Colonel of the North Somerset Yeomanry from 2 February 1949, Colonel of the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles from 18 May 1951 (to 1961), Colonel of the Somerset Light Infantry from 13 April 1953, Colonel of the Life Guards from 26 April 1957 and Colonel of the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry from 6 October 1959.

Cyprus and later career.

On 3 October 1955, Harding was assigned the post of Governor of the British colony of Cyprus. As Governor of Cyprus, Harding sought to restore the relations with the United Kingdom, by negotiating with both the Greek-Cypriot and the Turkish-Cypriot communities on the island, while the British Government was negotiating with the Greek and Turkish governments. Harding took strict measures to improve the security situation in Cyprus, EOKA having declared an armed struggle against the British on 1 April 1955. To this end, Harding instituted a number of unprecedented measures including curfews, closures of schools, the opening of concentration camps, the indefinite detention of suspects without trial and the imposition of the death penalty for offences such as carrying weapons, incendiary devices or any material that could be used in a bomb. A number of such executions took place often in controversial circumstances (e.g. Michalis Karaolis) leading to resentment, in Cyprus, the United Kingdom and in other countries.  Implementing the policy of the British Government, Harding also attempted to use negotiations to end the Cyprus crisis. However, negotiations with Archbishop Makarios III were unsuccessful and, eventually, Harding exiled Makarios to the British colony of Seychelles. On 21 March 1956 EOKA made an assassination attempt on Harding's life which failed as the time bomb under his bed failed to go off. It was not long after this that Harding offered a reward of £10,000 for General George Grivas, the leader of EOKA.  Facing growing criticism in the United Kingdom about the methods he used and their lack of effectiveness, Sir John Harding resigned as Governor of Cyprus on 22 October 1957 and was replaced by Sir Hugh Foot.  In January 1958, Harding was created Baron Harding of Petherton. In retirement he became Non-Executive Chairman of Plessey as well being the first Chairman of the Horse Race Betting Levy Board. His interests included his membership of the Finsbury Rifles Old Comrades Association in which he participated until late in his life. He died at his home in Nether Compton in Dorset on 20 January 1989.

Family.

In 1927 he married Mary Rooke; they had one son: John Charles Harding, 2nd Baron Harding of Petherton.

External links.

Field Marshal Allan Francis Harding, 1st Baron Harding of Petherton, (10 February 1896 – 20 January 1989), known as John Harding, was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First World War and the Second World War, served in the Malayan Emergency, and later advised the British government on the response to the Mau Mau Uprising. He also served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, and was Governor of Cyprus from 1955 to 1957 during the Cyprus Emergency.


Functional equation and integer arguments.

The Barnes "G"-function satisfies the functional equation  with normalisation "G"(1) = 1. Note the similarity between the functional equation of the Barnes G-function and that of the Euler Gamma function:  The functional equation implies that "G" takes the following values at integer arguments:  and thus  where formula_8 denotes the gamma function and "K" denotes the K-function. The functional equation uniquely defines the G function if the convexity condition: formula_9 is added.

Reflection formula 1.0.

The difference equation for the G function, in conjunction with the functional equation for the gamma function, can be used to obtain the following reflection formula for the Barnes G function (originally proved by Hermann Kinkelin):  The logtangent integral on the right-hand side can be evaluated in terms of the Clausen function (of order 2), as is shown below:  The proof of this result hinges on the following evaluation of the cotangent integral: introducing the notation formula_12 for the logcotangent integral, and using the fact that formula_13, an integration by parts gives  Performing the integral substitution formula_15 gives  The Clausen function – of second order – has the integral representation  However, within the interval formula_18, the absolute value sign within the integrand can be omitted, since within the range the 'half-sine' function in the integral is strictly positive, and strictly non-zero. Comparing this definition with the result above for the logtangent integral, the following relation clearly holds:  Thus, after a slight rearrangement of terms, the proof is complete:  Using the relation formula_21 and dividing the reflection formula by a factor of formula_22 gives the equivalent form:  Ref: see Adamchik below for an equivalent form of the reflection formula, but with a different proof.

Reflection formula 2.0.

Replacing z with (1/2) − "z"" in the previous reflection formula gives, after some simplification, the equivalent formula shown below (involving Bernoulli polynomials):

Taylor series expansion.

By Taylor's theorem, and considering the logarithmic derivatives of the Barnes function, the following series expansion can be obtained:  It is valid for formula_27. Here, formula_28 is the Riemann Zeta function:  Exponentiating both sides of the Taylor expansion gives:  Comparing this with the Weierstrass product form of the Barnes function gives the following relation:

Multiplication formula.

Like the Gamma function, the G-function also has a multiplication formula:  where formula_33 is a constant given by:  Here formula_35 is the derivative of the Riemann zeta function and formula_36 is the Glaisher–Kinkelin constant.

Asymptotic expansion.

The logarithm of "G"("z" + 1) has the following asymptotic expansion, as established by Barnes:  Here the formula_38 are the Bernoulli numbers and formula_36 is the Glaisher–Kinkelin constant. (Note that somewhat confusingly at the time of Barnes the Bernoulli number formula_40 would have been written as formula_41, but this convention is no longer current.) This expansion is valid for formula_42 in any sector not containing the negative real axis with formula_43 large.

Relation to the Loggamma integral.

The parametric Loggamma can be evaluated in terms of the Barnes G-function (Ref: this result is found in Adamchik below, but stated without proof):  The proof is somewhat indirect, and involves first considering the logarithmic difference of the Gamma function and Barnes G-function:  where  and formula_47 is the Euler–Mascheroni constant.  Taking the logarithm of the Weierstrass product forms of the Barnes function and Gamma function gives:  A little simplification and re-ordering of terms gives the series expansion:  Finally, take the logarithm of the Weierstrass product form of the Gamma function, and integrate over the interval formula_50 to obtain:  Equating the two evaluations completes the proof:  And since formula_21 then,

In mathematics, the Barnes G-function "G"("z") is a function that is an extension of superfactorials to the complex numbers. It is related to the gamma function, the K-function and the Glaisher–Kinkelin constant, and was named after mathematician Ernest William Barnes. It can be written in terms of the double gamma function.


Early life.

Xhafer Ibrahim Deva was born in Mitrovica, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire on 21 February 1904. He was the seventh son of Ibrahim Deva, a wood merchant from Đakovica. Prior to the Balkan Wars, he attended a German-language school in Salonika. Afterwards, he studied commerce at Robert College, an American private boarding school in Istanbul's Arnavutköy neighbourhood. He graduated in 1922 and travelled to Egypt, where he briefly worked for a bank in Alexandria. Suffering from rheumatism, he left Egypt and sought treatment in Austria. He studied forestry in Vienna before returning to Mitrovica in 1933 and setting up a lumber business that lasted until 1941.

World War II.

The Kingdom of Italy invaded the Albanian Kingdom on 7 April 1939, and deposed its monarch, King Zog I. Afterwards, they re-established the Albanian state as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy,  By 1941, Deva was the first Kosovo Albanian political leader to declare himself ready to collaborate with the Germans in the event of the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia. Having been in contact with the "Abwehr" (the German military intelligence) for some time, he met Hermann Neubacher, the German special representative for southeastern Europe, in Belgrade prior to the invasion and had given the latter his support.  The Axis powers invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941. Afterwards, the country was dismantled and the Wehrmacht established the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia under a military government of occupation. The territory included most of Serbia proper, with the addition of the northern portion of Kosovo and the Banat. Italian Albania was expanded to include adjacent parts of Yugoslavia incorporated mainly from the Yugoslav "banovinas" (regional subdivisions) of Vardar and Morava. Most of Kosovo was annexed to Albania and in the beginning Albanians living there enthusiastically welcomed the Italian occupation. Although officially under Italian rule, the Albanians controlled the region and were encouraged to open Albanian language schools, which had been banned by the Yugoslav government. The Italians also gave the inhabitants Albanian citizenship and allowed them to fly the Albanian flag.  Later that year, Deva worked with the Balli Kombëtar and the Germans to establish a pro-German Albanian government in Kosovo linked to the Albanian nation. He quickly became the Balli Kombëtar's most powerful figure, instructing members to follow a militant interpretation of Islam. The most capable Kosovo Albanian politician of the war, he was then appointed head of the local administration in German-occupied Mitrovica. After the capitulation of Italy, Deva and Bedri Pejani, assisted by the German emissary Franz von Schweiger, set up the Second League of Prizren on 16 September 1943. The league, whose aim was to defend the borders of Greater Albania, declared "jihad" (holy war) against Slavs, Gypsies and Jews and sought to create an ethnically cleansed Greater Albania. Between 4 and 7 December 1943, 400 soldiers of Kosovo Regiment commanded by Deva surrounded Peć and committed mass murder of local Serbs and Montenegrins, killing at least 300 people. Deva subsequently placed the newly established units of Balli Kombëtar under the command of the Germans.  Together with Pejani and Ibrahim Biçakçiu, a landowner from Elbasan, he later helped create a national committee of twenty-two Albanian and Kosovo Albanian leaders which declared Albania independent and which elected an executive committee under Biçakçiu to form a provisional government. On 5 November, Deva was appointed Minister of the Interior in the Tirana Government of Rexhep Mitrovica and collaborated with the Germans to oppose the spread of Communist forces in the north, effectively giving him direct command over the forces of the new government.  On 4 February 1944, police units under his authority massacred 86 residents of Tirana suspected of being anti-fascists. Later, Deva began recruiting Kosovo Albanians to join the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian). In May, he visited Germany with Ago Agaj, the Albanian Minister of National Economy. On 16 June, Mitrovica's government was dissolved and Deva lost his position as Minister of the Interior. He was then appointed leader of the Second League of Prizren, and took charge of anti-Partisan operations around the town in September.  With the Allied victory in the Balkans imminent, Deva was also involved in a last-ditch attempt to set up an anti-Communist government in Kosovo, and received large caches of weapons and ammunition from SS General Josef Fitzthum and Neubacher's special representative, Karl Gstottenbauer. He and his men also engaged in collecting food and radio equipment from withdrawing German soldiers and attempted to purchase further weapons from them in order to organize a "final solution" of the Slavic population of Kosovo. Nothing came of this as the powerful Yugoslav Partisans prevented any large-scale ethnic cleansing of Slavs from occurring. According to German reports from November 1944, Deva had a force of about 20,000 armed men at his disposal. Historian Jozo Tomasevich writes that this number is likely exaggerated, but concedes that large groups of Kosovo Albanians were active in the region at the time.  Historical review of Deva's role in World War II has become more complicated as, while his atrocities and collaboration with the Axis continue to be acknowledged and condemned, his role in saving Jews within Albania proper has also come to light. In the spring of 1944, the Nazi occupiers again asked for a list of Jews, which had earlier been refused by Albanian collaborationist authorities; upon hearing the grave situation, two of the local Jewish leaders sought the council of Mehdi Frasheri, a government official, for help; Frasheri referred them to Xhafer Deva, who apparently on the one hand had a "good reputation for protecting Jews" yet on the other "had become known for the terror he exercised across the streets of Tirana along with his hordes". Xhafer Deva, then the interior minister of the Albanian quisling government, reportedly told two Jewish delegates that he had the list, and agreed that he would protest the matter with the Germans. He refused to hand the list over to the Germans and rejected their requests to gather Jews in one place, purportedly because of the Albanian besa custom of hospitality. To the Germans, Deva argued that he would not hand over the list as he would not accept "interference in Albanian affairs". Deva informed the leaders of the Jewish community that he had successfully refused the German request afterward. In June 1944, the German government asked for the list of Jews again, and the Albanian collaborationist government refused yet again.

Exile and death.

As the war in Albania drew to a close, Deva fled to Croatia and then to Austria in December, where he was resettled with the help of the Reich Foreign Ministry as the Germans evacuated Albania and Kosovo. There, he joined other anti-Communist Albanians in exile and took care of the ailing Rexhep Mitrovica. From late 1945 until early 1947, he lived in western Austria, at a safe distance from Soviet forces. In 1947, Deva moved via Italy to Damascus in Syria, where he helped publish an exile newspaper entitled "Bashkimi i Kombit" (). In 1956, he immigrated to the United States and briefly lived in New York and Boston. In 1960, he moved to Calaveras County, California, and worked as an assistant supervisor at the mailing department of Stanford University in Palo Alto until his retirement in 1972. In his years in exile, Deva led the Third League of Prizren and played an active role in organizing anti-Communist resistance. He died on 25 May 1978, aged 74. Files released after his death showed that Deva was one of 743 suspected fascist war criminals recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Cold War.

Xhafer Ibrahim Deva (21 February 1904 – 25 May 1978) was a Kosovo Albanian politician during World War II. A notable local politician in Kosovo and in Axis-occupied Albania, he took charge German-occupied Mitrovica and worked with the Germans to establish a pro-German Albanian government in Kosovo. Following the capitulation of Italy from the war, he helped form a provisional government under German occupation and set up the Second League of Prizren alongside other Albanian nationalists. On 5 November 1943, he was appointed Minister of the Interior of Albania and was effectively given direct command of the forces of the newly formed Albanian government. On 4 February 1944, police units subordinate to him massacred 86 residents of Tirana suspected of being anti-fascists. Deva was later involved in recruiting Kosovo Albanians to join the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian). He lost his position as Minister of the Interior with the dissolution of the Albanian government on 16 June, and subsequently became leader of the Second League of Prizren and led anti-Partisan operations around Prizren in September. Soon after, he fled to Croatia and then to Austria with the help of the Germans, where he joined other anti-Communist Albanians. After the war, he moved via Italy to Damascus, where he helped publish an exile newspaper entitled "Bashkimi i Kombit" (). In 1956, he immigrated to the United States and briefly lived in New York and Boston before moving to Calaveras County, California in 1960. Here, he worked as an assistant supervisor at the mailing department of Stanford University in Palo Alto until his retirement in 1972. During this time, he led the Third League of Prizren and played an active role in organizing anti-Communist resistance until his death on 25 May 1978. Files released after his death showed that he had been recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) while living in the United States.


Early history.

The first European in the area was explorer Edward John Eyre, who passed through the area on his passage from Streaky Bay to the head of Spencer Gulf in late 1839.  The area was first settled in the 1870s by lease-holding pastoralists who moved north up the Eyre Peninsula during the 1870s and 1880s. They lightly stocked the land and relied on the limited water supplies and intermittent open grass lands to raise their stock. It was more intensively settled for wheat farming from 1908, when overseas demand for wheat increased in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The large tracts of mallee scrub began to be cleared to facilitate this, and soon regular mail services were established from the port at Cowell. Bags of wheat had to be loaded onto bullock drays which carried the produce to Cowell 76 km south.  In 1913, Kimba was connected by narrow gauge railway to Port Lincoln. This development encouraged a number of new wheat farmers to move into the area. Two years later the township of Kimba was officially proclaimed and service industries began to move into the district.  Education within the town is provided by the Kimba Area School where around 170 students from reception to year 12 attend.

National Radioactive Waste Management Facility.

Two properties in the Kimba district were nominated in 2017 for a proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility, to store low-level and intermediate-level nuclear waste. One is owned by Brett and Michelle Rayner, and the other is owned by Andrew and Dale Baldock. A third proposed site is located at Barndioota in the Flinders Ranges.  In 2017, a Kimba town vote demonstrated support for further investigation of the prospect. The result of the vote was 396 to 294 in favour. Opposition to the project has been expressed by community groups "No Radioactive Waste on Agricultural Land in Kimba or SA" and the "Against Radioactive Waste Action Group".  On 1 February 2020 federal resources minister, Matt Canavan, announced that of Jeff Baldock's Napandee property, west of Kimba, would provide the location to permanently store low-level waste. The facility would also temporarily store intermediate-level waste from Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, until a suitable permanent site was found.  The federal government is allocating a community development package to boost the skills of local businesses and workers to build and run the dump. The facility would cost, and create 45 jobs during construction and 25 ongoing jobs.

Culture.

An large-scale public artwork known as "The Big Galah" welcomes visitors to Kimba as they enter the township. The Kimba Art Prize is held annually by the District Council of Kimba. Selected works are displayed in the Kimba Institute in September, and an award is presented to a local artist. In 2017, the art prize received 150 entries from around South Australia and interstate.  In 2017 a high mural was completed on the town's grain silos by Melbourne artist Cam Scale, part of the silo art projects that extend across South Australia and Victoria.

Climate data and extremes.

Kimba is located within a dry (arid and semi arid) climate zone (Köppen climate classification "BSh"), where precipitation is less than the total potential evapotranspiration. The region is characterised by hot summers and relies on cool winter rainfall for cereal (dominantly wheat and barley with smaller amounts of oats and canola) agriculture. Grazing is also practised, largely that of merino sheep for wool production with smaller amounts of cattle grazing. Water for stock is sourced solely from rainfall due to the paucity of reliable groundwater in the district, and often summer thunderstorms can supplement the winter rainfall for grazing purposes.  Kimba and the associated Buckleboo agricultural area is one of a small number of communities on Eyre Peninsula located significantly to the north of Goyders Line in South Australia. This line represents a remarkable development in climatic understanding from the 19th century in that it was the first recognition of the vagaries of highly variable rainfall and climatic conditions with respect to European style agriculture.

Soils and geomorphology.

The Kimba district is dominated by calcareous earths, containing distinctive calcrete profiles and varying degrees of development, with minor ferruginous red-brown earths and local pisolitic regions. The major exception is to the south west of the Kimba District, within the Corrobinnie Depression, a palaeochannel which is now filled with deep sands. Much of this region is unsuitable for agriculture and comprises the Pinkawillinie Conservation Park. Locally grey loams and gypsum bearing flats are developed, with minor evaporites surrounding playa lakes, such as Lake Gilles at the eastern end of the district.  Small rounded hills in the form of Wild Dog Hill occur in the Kelly region to the east of Kimba township, with two ranges, Botanella Hills and the Wilcherry Range comprising uplands to the north east. The Gawler Ranges located in the pastoral country to the far north, the Cleve Uplands to the south, and the Corrobinnie Depression comprise distinct geomorphic boundaries to the District Council of Kimba.

Kimba is a rural service town on the Eyre Highway at the top of Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. At the 2016 census, Kimba had a population of 629 and it has an annual rainfall of. There is an tall statue of a galah beside the highway, marking halfway between the east and west coasts of Australia. The Gawler Ranges are north of the highway near the town.