Homologues.

The most studied homologues of cyclin D are found in yeast and viruses.  The yeast homologue of cyclin D, referred to as CLN3, interacts with Cdc28 (cell division control protein) during G1.  In viruses, like Saimiriine herpesvirus 2 ("Herpesvirus saimiri") and Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8/Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus) cyclin D homologues have acquired new functions in order to manipulate the host cell's metabolism to the viruses’ benefit. Viral cyclin D binds human Cdk6 and inhibits Rb by phosphorylating it, resulting in free transcription factors which result in protein transcription that promotes passage through G1 phase of the cell cycle. Other than Rb, viral cyclin D-Cdk6 complex also targets p27, a Cdk inhibitor of cyclin E and A. In addition, viral cyclin D-Cdk6 is resistant to Cdk inhibitors, such as p21 and p16 which in human cells inhibits Cdk4 by preventing it from forming an active complex with cyclin D.

Structure.

Cyclin D possesses a tertiary structure similar to other cyclins called the cyclin fold. This contains a core of two compact domains with each having five alpha helices. The first five-helix bundle is a conserved cyclin box, a region of about 100 amino acid residues on all cyclins, which is needed for Cdk binding and activation. The second five-helix bundle is composed of the same arrangement of helices, but the primary sequence of the two subdomains is distinct. All three D-type cyclins (D1, D2, D3) have the same alpha 1 helix hydrophobic patch. However, it is composed of different amino acid residues as the same patch in cyclins E, A, and B.

Function.

Growth factors stimulate the Ras/Raf/ERK that induce cyclin D production. One of the members of the pathways, MAPK activates a transcription factor Myc, which alters transcription of genes important in cell cycle, among which is cyclin D. In this way, cyclin D is synthesized as long as the growth factor is present.  Cyclin D levels in proliferating cells are sustained as long as the growth factors are present, a key player for G1/S transition is active cyclin D-Cdk4/6 complexes. Cyclin D has no effect on G1/S transition unless it forms a complex with Cdk 4 or 6.

G1/S transition.

One of the best known substrates of cyclin D/Cdk4 and -6 is the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (Rb). Rb is an important regulator of genes responsible for progression through the cell cycle, in particular through G1/S phase.  One model proposes that cyclin D quantities, and thus cyclin D- Cdk4 and -6 activity, gradually increases during G1 rather than oscillating in a set pattern as do S and M cyclins. This happens in response to sensors of external growth-regulatory signals and cell growth, and Rb is phosphorylated as a result. Rb reduces its binding to E2F and thereby allows E2F-mediated activation of the transcription of cyclin E and cyclin A, which bind to Cdk1 and Cdk2 respectively to create complexes that continue with Rb phosphorylation. Cyclin A and E dependent kinase complexes also function to inhibit the E3 ubiquitin ligase APC/C activating subunit Cdh1 through phosphorylation, which stabilizes substrates such as cyclin A. The coordinated activation of this sequence of interrelated positive feedback loops through cyclins and cyclin dependent kinases drives commitment to cell division to and past the G1/S checkpoint.  Another model proposes that cyclin D levels remain nearly constant through G1. Rb is mono-phosphorylated during early to mid-G1by cyclin D-Cdk4,6, opposing the idea that its activity gradually increases. Cyclin D dependent monophosphorylated Rb still interacts with E2F transcription factors in a way that inhibits transcription of enzymes that drive the G1/S transition. Rather, E2F dependent transcription activity increases when that of Cdk2 increases and hyperphosphorylates Rb towards the end of G1. Rb may not be the only target for cyclin D to promote cell proliferation and progression through the cell cycle. The cyclin D-Cdk4,6, complex, through phosphorylation and inactivation of metabolic enzymes, also influences cell survival. Through close analysis of different Rb-docking helices, a consensus helix sequence motif was identified, which can be utilized to identify potential non-canonical substrates that cyclin D-Cdk4,6 could use to promote proliferation.

Docking to Rb.

RxL- and LxCxE- based docking mutations broadly affect cyclin-Cdk complexes. Mutations of key Rb residues previously observed to be needed for Cdk complex docking interactions result in reduced overall kinase activity towards Rb. The LxCxE binding cleft in the Rb pocket domain, which has been shown to interact with proteins such as cyclin D and viral oncoproteins, has only a marginal 1.7 fold reduction in phosphorylation by cyclin D-Cdk4,6 when removed. Similarly, when the RxL motif, shown to interact with the S phase cyclins E and A, is removed, cyclin D-Cdk4,6 activity has a 4.1 fold reduction. Thus, the RxL- and LxCxE based docking sites have interactions with cyclin D-Cdk4,6 like they do with other cyclins, and removal of them have modest a modest effect in G1 progression.  Cyclin D-Cdk 4,6 complexes target Rb for phosphorylation through docking a C-terminal helix. When the final 37 amino acid residues are truncated, it had previously been shown that Rb phosphorylation levels are reduced and G1 arrest is induced. Kinetic assays have shown that with the same truncation, the reduction of Rb phosphorylation by cyclin D1-Cdk4,6 is 20 fold and Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) is significantly increased. The phosphorylation of Rb by cyclin A-Cdk2, cyclin B-Cdk1, and cyclin E-Cdk2 are unaffected.  The C terminus has a stretch of 21 amino acids with alpha-helix propensity. Deletion of this helix or disruption of it via proline residue substitutions also show a significant reduction in Rb phosphorylation. The orientation of the residues, along with the acid-base properties and polarities are all critical for docking. Thus, the LxCxE, RxL, and helix docking sites all interact with different parts of cyclin D, but disruption of any two of the three mechanism can disrupt the phosphorylation of Rb in vitro. The helix binding, perhaps the most important, functions as a structural requirement. It makes evolving more difficult, leading the cyclin D-Cdk4/6 complex to have relatively small number of substrates relative to other cyclin-Cdk complexes. Ultimately this contributes to the adequate phosphorylation of a key target in Rb.  All six cyclin D-Cdk4,6 complexes (cyclin D1/D2/D3 with Cdk4/6) target Rb for phosphorylation through helix-based docking. The shared α 1 helix hydrophobic patch that all cyclin D's have is not responsible for recognizing the C-terminal helix. Rather, it recognizes the RxL sequences that are linear, including those on Rb. Through experiments with purified cyclin D1-Cdk2, it was concluded that the helix docking site likely lies on cyclin D rather than the Cdk4,6. As a result, likely another region on cyclin D recognizes the Rb C-terminal helix.  Since Rb's C – terminal helix exclusively binds cyclin D-Cdk4,6 and not other cell cycle dependent cyclin-Cdk complexes, through experiments mutating this helix in HMEC cells, it has been conclusively shown that the cyclin D – Rb interaction is critical in the following roles (1) promoting the G1/S transition (2) allowing Rb dissociation from chromatin, and (3) E2F1 activation.

Regulation.

In vertebrates.

Cyclin D is regulated by the downstream pathway of mitogen receptors via the Ras/MAP kinase and the β-catenin-Tcf/LEF pathways and PI3K. The MAP kinase ERK activates the downstream transcription factors Myc, AP-1 and Fos which in turn activate the transcription of the Cdk4, Cdk6 and cyclin D genes, and increase ribosome biogenesis. Rho family GTPases, integrin linked kinase and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) activate cyclin D gene in response to integrin.  p27 and p21 are cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CKIs) which negatively regulate CDKs. However they are also promoters of the cyclin D-CDK4/6 complex. Without p27 and p21, cyclin D levels are reduced and the complex is not formed at detectable levels.  In eukaryotes, overexpression of translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) leads to an increased level of cyclin D protein and increased amount of cyclin D mRNA outside of the nucleus. This is because eIF4E promotes the export of cyclin D mRNAs out of the nucleus.  Inhibition of cyclin D via i.a. inactivation or degradation leads to cell cycle exit and differentiation. Inactivation of cyclin D is triggered by several cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor protein (CKIs) like the INK4 family (e.g. p14, p15, p16, p18). INK4 proteins are activated in response to hyperproliferative stress response that inhibits cell proliferation due to overexpression of e.g. Ras and Myc. Hence, INK4 binds to cyclin D- dependent CDKs and inactivates the whole complex. Glycogen synthase kinase three beta, GSK3β, causes Cyclin D degradation by inhibitory phosphorylation on threonine 286 of the Cyclin D protein. GSK3β is negatively controlled by the PI3K pathway in form of phosphorylation, which is one of several ways in which growth factors regulate cyclin D. Amount of cyclin D in the cell can also be regulated by transcriptional induction, stabilization of the protein, its translocation to the nucleus and its assembly with Cdk4 and Cdk6.  It has been shown that the inhibition of cyclin D (cyclin D1 and 2, in particular) could result from the induction of WAF1/CIP1/p21 protein by PDT. By inhibiting cyclin D, this induction also inhibits Ckd2 and 6. All these processes combined lead to an arrest of the cell in G0/G1 stage.  There are two ways in which DNA damage affects Cdks. Following DNA damage, cyclin D (cyclin D1) is rapidly and transiently degraded by the proteasome. This degradation causes release of p21 from Cdk4 complexes, which inactivates Cdk2 in a p53-independent manner. Another way in which DNA damage targets Cdks is p53-dependent induction of p21, which inhibits cyclin E-Cdk2 complex. In healthy cells, wild-type p53 is quickly degraded by the proteasome. However, DNA damage causes it to accumulate by making it more stable.

In yeast.

A simplification in yeast is that all cyclins bind to the same Cdc subunit, the Cdc28. Cyclins in yeast are controlled by expression, inhibition via CKIs like Far1, and degradation by ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis.

Role in cancer.

Given that many human cancers happen in response to errors in cell cycle regulation and in growth factor dependent intracellular pathways, involvement of cyclin D in cell cycle control and growth factor signaling makes it a possible oncogene. In normal cells overproduction of cyclin D shortens the duration of G1 phase only, and considering the importance of cyclin D in growth factor signaling, defects in its regulation could be responsible for absence of growth regulation in cancer cells. Uncontrolled production of cyclin D affects amounts of cyclin D-Cdk4 complex being formed, which can drive the cell through the G0/S checkpoint, even when the growth factors are not present.  Evidence that cyclin D1 is required for tumorigenesis includes the finding that inactivation of cyclin D1 by anti-sense or gene deletion reduced breast tumor and gastrointestinal tumor growth in vivo. Cyclin D1 overexpression is sufficient for the induction of mammary tumorigenesis, attributed to the induction of cell proliferation, increased cell survival, induction of chromosomal instability, restraint of autophagy and potentially non-canonical functions.  Overexpression is induced as a result of gene amplification, growth factor or oncogene induced expression by Src, Ras, ErbB2, STAT3, STAT5, impaired protein degradation, or chromosomal translocation. Gene amplification is responsible for overproduction of cyclin D protein in bladder cancer and esophageal carcinoma, among others. In cases of sarcomas, colorectal cancers and melanomas, cyclin D overproduction is noted, however, without the amplification of the chromosomal region that encodes it (chromosome 11q13, putative oncogene PRAD1, which has been identified as a translocation event in case of mantle cell lymphoma). In parathyroid adenoma, cyclin D hyper-production is caused by chromosomal translocation, which would place expression of cyclin D (more specifically, cyclin D1) under an inappropriate promoter, leading to overexpression. In this case, cyclin D gene has been translocated to the parathyroid hormone gene, and this event caused abnormal levels of cyclin D. The same mechanisms of overexpression of cyclin D is observed in some tumors of the antibody-producing B cells. Likewise, overexpression of cyclin D protein due to gene translocation is observed in human breast cancer.  Additionally, the development of cancer is also enhanced by the fact that retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (Rb), one of the key substrates of cyclin D-Cdk 4/6 complex, is quite frequently mutated in human tumors. In its active form, Rb prevents crossing of the G1 checkpoint by blocking transcription of genes responsible for advances in cell cycle. Cyclin D/Cdk4 complex phosphorylates Rb, which inactivates it and allows for the cell to go through the checkpoint. In the event of abnormal inactivation of Rb, in cancer cells, an important regulator of cell cycle progression is lost. When Rb is mutated, levels of cyclin D and p16INK4 are normal.  Another regulator of passage through G1 restriction point is Cdk inhibitor p16, which is encoded by INK4 gene. P16 functions in inactivating cyclin D/Cdk 4 complex. Thus, blocking transcription of INK4 gene would increase cyclin D/Cdk4 activity, which would in turn result in abnormal inactivation of Rb. On the other hand, in case of cyclin D in cancer cells (or loss of p16INK4) wild-type Rb is retained. Due to the importance of p16INK/cyclin D/Cdk4 or 6/Rb pathway in growth factor signaling, mutations in any of the players involved can give rise to cancer.

Mutant phenotype.

Studies with mutants suggest that cyclins are positive regulators of cell cycle entry. In yeast, expression of any of the three G1 cyclins triggers cell cycle entry. Since cell cycle progression is related to cell size, mutations in Cyclin D and its homologues show a delay in cell cycle entry and thus, cells with variants in cyclin D have bigger than normal cell size at cell division.  p27/ knockout phenotype show an overproduction of cells because cyclin D is not inhibited anymore, while p27/ and cyclin D/ knockouts develop normally.

Cyclin D is a member of the cyclin protein family that is involved in regulating cell cycle progression. The synthesis of cyclin D is initiated during G1 and drives the G1/S phase transition. Cyclin D protein is anywhere from 155 (in zebra mussel) to 477 (in "Drosophila") amino acids in length.

Cyklin D je regulační protein buněčného cyklu u eukaryot patřící do rodiny cyklinů. V současnosti jsou rozeznávány tři typy tohoto proteinu – cyklin D, D a D. Vyskytují se především v dělících se buňkách, ve zvýšené míře především v buňkách nádorových.


History.

Roderic was a Visigothic emperor who ruled the area of Spain from 710-712 AD, later referred to by the Arabs, as "Al-Andalus". The Umayyad Empire had previously conducted small raids on the southern tip of Spain against the Visigoths, but full scale conquest did not begin until April of 711, when an army led by Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed the narrow channel that separated southern Spain from North African; the area is today known as Gibraltar, from the Arabic "Jabal Ṭāriq" (جبل طارق), meaning "mountain of Ṭāriq".  After crossing into Spain, Tariq's troops clashed with Roderic's small army at the banks of the Wadi-Lakku river. Visigothic forces were defeated and Roderic was killed, leaving an open path into Spain, and by extension Europe, for the Umayyad Empire to conquer. After the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711–718, the Iberian Peninsula was established as a province under the Umayyad Caliphate. The rulers of this province established their capital in Córdoba and received from the Umayyad Caliphate the title of "wali" or "emir".  In 756, Abd al-Rahman I, a prince of the deposed Umayyad royal family, refused to recognize the authority of the Abbasid Caliphate and became an independent emir of Córdoba. He had been on the run for six years after the Umayyads had lost the position of caliph in Damascus in 750 to the Abbasids. Intent on regaining a position of power, he defeated the existing Muslim rulers of the area who had defied Umayyad rule and united various local fiefdoms into an emirate. However, this first unification of al-Andalus under Abd al-Rahman still took more than twenty-five years to complete (Toledo, Zaragoza, Pamplona, Barcelona).  For the next century and a half, his descendants continued as emirs of Córdoba, with nominal control over the rest of al-Andalus and sometimes even parts of western North Africa, but with real control always in question, particularly over the marches along the Christian border, their power vacillating depending on the competence of the individual emir. For example, the power of emir Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi (circa 900) did not extend beyond Córdoba itself.  Upon the ascent to the throne of Abd al-Rahman III, who came to power in 912, the political decline of the emirate was obvious. Abd al-Rahman III rapidly restored Umayyad power throughout al-Andalus and extended it into western North Africa as well. In 929, to impose his authority and end the riots and conflicts that ravaged the Iberian Peninsula, he proclaimed himself caliph of Córdoba, elevating the emirate to a position of prestige not only in comparison to the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad but also the Shia Fatimid caliph in Tunis, with whom he was competing for control of North Africa. The Emirate of Cordoba gradually lost power and in 1492 Granada was retaken by the Christians and Muslim influence dissolved.

The Emirate of Córdoba (, "Imārat Qurṭubah") was a Medieval Islamic kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. Its founding in the mid eighth century would mark seven hundred years of independent Muslim rule in what is now Spain and Portugal.

Córdobský emirát je historický státní útvar, který se mezi lety 756 – 929 rozprostíral na většině území Pyrenejského poloostrova. Emirát založil v roce 756 Umajjovec Abdurrahmán I. Hlavním městem emirátu byla Córdoba, ve které v době emirátu vznikla Mezquita - velká mešita - i další významné stavby. Když se v roce 929 Abdurrahmán III. prohlásil za chalífu, emirát zanikl a dal vzniknout Córdobskému chalífátu.


Early life.

Dench was born in Heworth, York. Her mother, Eleanora Olive ("née" Jones), was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her father, Reginald Arthur Dench (1897–1964), a doctor, was born in Dorset, England, and later moved to Dublin, where he was

Career.

In Britain, Dench has developed a reputation as one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, primarily through her work in theatre, which has been her forte throughout her career. She has more than once been named number one in polls for Britain's best actor.

Early work.

Through her parents, Dench had regular contact with the theatre. Her father, a physician, was also the GP for the York theatre, and her mother was its wardrobe mistress. Actors often stayed in the Dench household. During these years, Judi Dench was involved on a non-professional basis in the first three productions of the modern revival of the York Mystery Plays in 1951, 1954 and 1957. In the third production she played the role of the Virgin Mary, performed on a fixed stage in the Museum Gardens. Though she initially trained as a set designer, she became interested in drama school as her brother Jeff attended the Central School of Speech and Drama. She applied and was accepted by the School, then based at the Royal Albert Hall, London, where she was a classmate of Vanessa Redgrave, graduating and being awarded four acting prizes, including the Gold Medal as Outstanding Student.  In September 1957, she made her first professional stage appearance with the Old Vic Company, at the Royal Court Theatre,

Prominence.

The 1966 BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles was made to Dench for her performance in "Four in the Morning" and this was followed in 1968 by a BAFTA Best Actress Award for her role in John Hopkins' 1966 BBC drama "Talking to a Stranger".  In 1968, she was offered the role of Sally Bowles in the musical "Cabaret". As Sheridan Morley later reported: "At first she thought they were joking. She had never done a musical and she has an unusual croaky voice which sounds as if she has a permanent cold. So frightened was she of singing in public that she auditioned from the wings,

Popular success.

After the long period between James Bond films "Licence to Kill" (1989) and "GoldenEye" (1995), the producers brought in Dench to take over as the role of M, James Bond's boss. The character was reportedly modeled on Dame Stella Rimington, the real-life head of MI5 between 1992 and 1996; Dench became the first woman to portray M, succeeding Robert Brown. The seventeenth spy film in the series and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 officer, "GoldenEye" marked the first "Bond" film made after the dissolution of

2001–2005.

In January 2001, Dench's husband Michael Williams died of lung cancer. Dench went to Nova Scotia, Canada, almost immediately after Williams's funeral to begin production on Lasse Hallström's drama film "The Shipping News", a therapy she later credited as her rescue: "People, friends, kept saying, 'You are not facing up to it; you need to face up to it', and maybe they were right, but I felt I was – in the acting. Grief supplies you with an enormous amount of energy. I needed to use that up." In between, Dench finished work on Richard Eyre's film "Iris" (2001), in which she portrayed novelist Iris Murdoch. Dench shared her role with Kate Winslet, both actresses portraying Murdoch at different phases of her life. Each of them was nominated for an

2006–2010.

Dench, in her role as "M", was the only cast member carried through from the Brosnan films to appear in "Casino Royale" (2006), Martin Campbell's reboot of the James Bond film series, starring Daniel Craig in his debut performance as the fictional MI6 agent. The thriller received largely positive critical response, with reviewers highlighting Craig's performance and the reinvention of the character of Bond. It earned over US$594 million worldwide, ranking it among the highest-grossing James Bond films ever released. Also in April 2006, Dench returned to the West End stage in "Hay Fever" alongside Peter Bowles and Belinda Lang. She finished off 2006 with the role of Mistress Quickly in the RSC's new musical "The Merry Wives", a version of "The Merry Wives of Windsor".

2011–2014.

In 2011, Dench starred in "Jane Eyre", "My Week with Marilyn" and "J. Edgar". In Cary Joji Fukunaga's period drama "Jane Eyre", based on the 1847 novel of the same name by Charlotte Brontë, she played the role of Alice Fairfax, housekeeper to Rochester, the aloof and brooding master of Thornfield Hall, where main character Jane, played by Mia Wasikowska, gets employed as a governess. Dench reportedly signed to the project after she had received a humorous personal note from Fukunaga, in which he "promised her that she'd be the sexiest woman on set if she did the film". Acclaimed among critics, it was a mediocre arthouse success at the box office, grossing US$30.5 million worldwide. In Simon Curtis' "My Week with Marilyn", which depicts the making of

2015–2017.

In 2015, Dench appeared opposite Dustin Hoffman in Dearbhla Walsh's small screen adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's novel "Esio Trot" (1990), in which a retired bachelor falls in love with his widowed neighbour, played by Dench, who keeps a tortoise as a companion after the death of her husband, First broadcast on BBC One on New Year's Day 2015, it became one of the most-watched programmes of the week, and earned Dench her first Best Actress nomination at the 2016 International Emmy Awards. On her performance, "Telegraph"s Michael Hogan commented: "We've grown accustomed to seeing Dench in forbidding roles, but here, she recalled her footloose, flirtatious side, displayed in sitcoms as "A Fine Romance" and "As

2018–present.

Dench was cast as the elder version of titular character Joan Elizabeth Stanley in Trevor Nunn's spy drama film "Red Joan" (2018). Based on Jennie Rooney's same-titled novel, it was inspired by the life of KGB intelligence source Melita Norwood. While the film earned generally mixed to negative reviews, Dench was applauded for her performance, with "The Daily Telegraph" agreeing that "Dench is wasted in this absurd portrayal." Her other film of 2018 was "All Is True", a fictional historical film for which she reunited with Kenneth Branagh to portray William Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathaway. Released to favorable reviews, critics called the film "impressively cast and beautifully filmed. "All Is True" takes an elegiac look at Shakespeare's final days." Also in 2018, Dench appeared alongside Eileen Atkins, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith in Roger Michell's

Upcoming projects.

Dench will next appear alongside Eddie Izzard, Carla Juri, and James D'Arcy in Andy Goddard's war drama film "Six Minutes to Midnight" (2020). Also in 2020, Dench has also finished filming on "Blithe Spirit", a comedy film based upon the 1941 play of the same name. Directed by Edward Hall, it is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2020.

Personal life.

Dench is a long-time resident of Outwood, Surrey.  Dench was married to the late British actor Michael Williams. They married on 5 February 1971. They had one child, who is known professionally as Finty Williams (born Tara Cressida Frances Williams on 24 September 1972), and through her marriage, one grandchild. Dench and her husband starred together in several stage productions and on the Bob Larbey British television sitcom, "A Fine Romance" (1981–84). Michael Williams died from lung cancer in 2001, aged 65.  Dench has been in a relationship with conservationist David Mills since 2010. During a 2014 interview with "The Times" magazine, she discussed how she never expected to find love again after her husband's death, "I wasn't even prepared to be ready for it. It was very, very gradual and grown up... It's just wonderful."  In early 2012, Dench discussed her macular degeneration, with one eye "dry" and the other "wet", for which she has been treated with injections into the eye. She said that she needs someone to read scripts to her. She also underwent knee surgery in 2013, but stated that she recovered from the procedure well, and: "It's not an issue for me."  Dench has been an outspoken critic of prejudice in the movie industry against older actresses. She stated in 2014, "I'm tired of being told I'm too old to try something. I should be able to decide for myself if I can't do things and not have someone tell me I'll forget my lines or I'll trip and fall on the set"; and "Age is a number. It's something imposed on you... It drives me absolutely spare when people say, 'Are you going to retire? Isn't it time you put your feet up?' Or tell me [my] age."  In 2013, she spoke about her personal religious faith. Dench, a Quaker, said, "I think it informs everything I do... I couldn't be without it."

Honours and charity.

Dench was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1970 Birthday Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1988 New Year Honours. She was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2005 Birthday Honours. In June 2011, she became a fellow of the British Film Institute (BFI).  Dench is the Patron and President of the alumni foundation of Drama Studio London.  In a biography by John Miller it was noted that in the late 1990s Dench was the patron of over 180 charities, many of which were related either to the theatre or to medical causes, for example York Against Cancer. Dench is a patron of the Leaveners, Friends School Saffron Walden, The Archway Theatre, Horley, Surrey and OnePlusOne Marriage and Partnership Research, London. She became president of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London in 2006, taking

Political views and social interests.

Dench has worked with the non-governmental indigenous organisation Survival International, campaigning in the defence of the tribal people – the San of Botswana and the Arhuaco of Colombia. She made a small supporting video saying the San are victims of tyranny, greed, and racism. Dench is also a patron of the Karuna Trust, a charity that supports work amongst some of India's poorest and most oppressed people, mainly, though not exclusively, Dalits.  On 22 July 2010, Dench was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by Nottingham Trent University. The Dr. Hadwen Trust announced on 15 January 2011, that Dench had become a patron of the trust, joining, among others, Joanna Lumley and David Shepherd. On 19 March 2012, it was

Over the next two decades, Dench established herself as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She received critical acclaim for her work on television during this period, in the series "A Fine Romance" (1981–1984) and "As Time Goes By" (1992–2005), in both of which she held starring roles. Her film appearances were infrequent, and included supporting roles in major films, such as "A Room with a View" (1986), before she rose to international fame as M in "GoldenEye" (1995), a role she continued to play in "James Bond" films until "Spectre" (2015).

Judith Olivia „Judi“ Dench (* 9. prosince 1934, York, Yorkshire, Anglie, Spojené království) je britská filmová a divadelní herečka. Vynikla zpočátku na divadle (poprvé hrála Ofélii v "Hamletovi" v roce 1957), a to hlavně v shakespearovských rolích ("Macbeth" - 1977, "Antonius a Kleopatra" - 1987). Ceněný byl i její výkon ve Wildeově komedii "Jak je důležité mít Filipa" (2002).


History.

Built between 1482 and 1548, la Lonja is composed of three parts (plus the Orange Garden - a walled court-yard). The main hall, "Sala de Contratacion" (The Contract Hall) is a large lavishly decorated space supported by gorgeous twisted columns. This was the financial centre of La Lonja, where the merchants work out contracts. The side-wing is named the Pavilion of the Consulate, and this was the seat of the "Tribunal del Mar" - the first marine merchant tribunal to ever be formed in Spain. The first two floors were the main function rooms, with the upper one hosting a richly decorated ceiling. These rooms are still maintain original furnishings. On occasion, the Tribunal would imprison merchants for debts in the central tower of La Lonja - the third part of the structure.  Behind the current building, there was an earlier one from the 14th century, which was called the "Oil Exchange" ("Llotja de l’Oli", in Valencian, or "Lonja del Aceite", in Spanish). It was used not only for trading with agricultural oils, but for all kind of business. Where in 1348 was traded "perxal" (percale) as some kind of silk.  Valencia's commercial prosperity reached its peak during the 15th century, and led to the construction of a new building.  The design of the new Lonja of Valencia was derived from a similar structure in the Lonja of Palma de Majorca, built by the architect Guillem Sagrera in 1448. The architect in charge of the new Lonja was Pere Compte, who built the main body of the building – the Trading Hall (or "Sala de Contractació" in Valencian) – in only fifteen years (1483–1498). So is written in a blue band that runs along all four walls of the Trading Hall, also called "Hall of Columns". It proclaims in golden letters the following inscription:  According to the local Valencian scholar Joan Francesc Mira, this inscription showed that it was not a necessary to be a Protestant or a foreigner to establish the basis of a good trade; it also showed the union of ethics and economy. Other construction and decoration works lumbered on until 1548, such as the "Consolat del Mar" (Consulate of the Sea), a Renaissance building adjoined to La Lonja.  During subsequent centuries, La Lonja functioned as a silk exchange. The honesty of its traders is honored by the inscription that runs around the main contract hall.  The UNESCO considered it as a World Heritage Site in 1996 since "the site is of outstanding universal value as it is a wholly exceptional example of a secular building in late Gothic style, which dramatically illustrates the power and wealth of one of the great Mediterranean mercantile cities."

The Llotja de la Seda (,, English "Silk Exchange") is a late Valencian Gothic-style civil building in Valencia, Spain. It is a principal tourist attraction in the city.

Llotja de la Seda je název pro několik budov ve Valencii ve stejnojmenném společenství Španělska, ve kterých se v minulosti provozoval obchod, a to zejména s hedvábím. Budovy jsou vystavěny v gotickém slohu, jejich výstavba spadá do 15. a 16. století. Pro svou mimořádnou kulturní hodnotu byly v roce 1996 zapsány na seznam světového dědictví.


History.

Disk images were originally (in the late 1960s) used for backup and disk cloning of mainframe disk media. The early ones were as small as 5 megabytes and as large as 330 megabytes, and the copy medium was magnetic tape, which ran as large as 200 megabytes per reel. Disk images became much more popular when floppy disk media became popular, where replication or storage of an exact structure was necessary and efficient, especially in the case of copy protected floppy disks.

Uses.

Disk images are used for duplication of optical media including DVDs, Blu-ray discs, etc. It is also used to make perfectclones of hard disks.  A virtual disk may emulate any type of physical drive, such as a hard disk drive, tape drive, key drive, floppy drive, CD/DVD/BD/HD DVD, or a network share among others; and of course, since it is not physical, requires a virtual reader device matched to it (see below). An emulated drive is typically created either in RAM for fast read/write access (known as a RAM disk), or on a hard drive. Typical uses of virtual drives include the mounting of disk images of CDs and DVDs, and the mounting of virtual hard disks for the purpose of on-the-fly disk encryption ("OTFE").  Some operating systems such as Linux and macOS have virtual drive functionality built-in (such as the loop device), while others such as older versions of Microsoft Windows require additional software. Starting from Windows 8, Windows includes native virtual drive functionality.  Virtual drives are typically read-only, being used to mount existing disk images which are not modifiable by the drive. However some software provides virtual CD/DVD drives which can produce new disk images; this type of virtual drive goes by a variety of names, including "virtual burner".

Enhancement.

Using disk images in a virtual drive allows users to shift data between technologies, for example from CD optical drive to hard disk drive. This may provide advantages such as speed and noise (hard disk drives are typically four or five times faster than optical drives, are quieter, suffer from less wear and tear, and in the case of solid-state drives, are immune to some physical trauma). In addition it may reduce power consumption, since it may allow just one device (a hard disk) to be used instead of two (hard disk plus optical drive).  Virtual drives may also be used as part of emulation of an entire machine (a virtual machine).

Software distribution.

Since the spread of broadband, CD and DVD images have become a common medium for Linux distributions. Applications for macOS are often delivered online as an Apple Disk Image containing a file system that includes the application, documentation for the application, and so on. Online data and bootable recovery CD images are provided for customers of certain commercial software companies.  Disk images may also be used to distribute software across a company network, or for portability (many CD/DVD images can be stored on a hard disk drive). There are several types of software that allow software to be distributed to large numbers of networked machines with little or no disruption to the user. Some can even be scheduled to update only at night so that machines are not disturbed during business hours. These technologies reduce end-user impact and greatly reduce the time and man-power needed to ensure a secure corporate environment. Efficiency is also increased because there is much less opportunity for human error. Disk images may also be needed to transfer software to machines without a compatible physical disk drive.  For computers running macOS, disk images are the most common file type used for software downloads, typically downloaded with a web browser. The images are typically compressed Apple Disk Image (.dmg suffix) files. They are usually opened by directly mounting them without using a real disk. The advantage compared with some other technologies, such as Zip and RAR archives, is they do not need redundant drive space for the unarchived data.  Software packages for Windows are also sometimes distributed as disk images including ISO images. While Windows versions prior to Windows 7 do not natively support mounting disk images to the files system, several software options are available to do this; see Comparison of disc image software.

Security.

Virtual hard disks are often used in on-the-fly disk encryption ("OTFE") software such as FreeOTFE and TrueCrypt, where an encrypted "image" of a disk is stored on the computer. When the disk's password is entered, the disk image is "mounted", and made available as a new volume on the computer. Files written to this virtual drive are written to the encrypted image, and never stored in cleartext.  The process of making a computer disk available for use is called "mounting", the process of removing it is called "dismounting" or "unmounting"; the same terms are used for making an encrypted disk available or unavailable.

Virtualization.

A hard disk image is interpreted by a Virtual Machine Monitor as a system administrator using terms of naming, a hard disk image for a certain Virtual Machine monitor has a specific file.  Hard drive imaging is used in several major application areas:  There are two schemes predominant across all Virtual Machine Monitor implementations:  There are two modes in which a disk can be mapped for a virtual machine:

System backup.

Some backup programs only back up user files; boot information and files locked by the operating system, such as those in use at the time of the backup, may not be saved on some operating systems. A disk image contains all files, faithfully replicating all data. For this reason, it is also used for backing up CDs and DVDs.  Files that don't belong to installed programs can usually be backed up with file-based backup software, and this is preferred because file-based backup usually saves more time or space because they never copy unused space (as a "bit-identical" image does), they usually are capable of incremental backups, and generally have more flexibility. But for files of installed programs, file-based backup solutions may fail to reproduce all necessary characteristics, particularly with Windows systems. For example, in Windows certain registry keys use short filenames, which are sometimes not reproduced by file-based backup, some commercial software uses copy protection that will cause problems if a file is moved to a different disk sector, and file-based backups do not always reproduce metadata such as security attributes. Creating a bit-identical disk image is one way to ensure the system backup will be exactly as the original. Bit-identical images can be made in Linux with dd, available on nearly all live CDs.  Most commercial imaging software is "user-friendly" and "automatic" but may not create bit-identical images. These programs have most of the same advantages, except that they may allow restoring to partitions of a different size or file-allocation size, and thus may "not" put files on the same exact sector. Additionally, if they do not support Windows Vista, they may slightly move or realign partitions and thus make Vista unbootable (see Windows Vista startup process).

Rapid deployment of clone systems.

Large enterprises often need to buy or replace new computer systems in large numbers. Installing operating system and programs into each of them one by one requires a lot of time and effort and has a significant possibility of human error. Therefore, system administrators use disk imaging to quickly clone the fully prepared software environment of a reference system. This method saves time and effort and allows administrators to focus on unique distinctions that each system must bear.  There are several types of disk imaging software available that use single instancing technology to reduce the time, bandwidth, and storage required to capture and archive disk images. This makes it possible to rebuild and transfer information-rich disk images at lightning speeds, which is a significant improvement over the days when programmers spent hours configuring each machine within an organization.

Legacy hardware emulation.

Emulators frequently use disk images to simulate the floppy drive of the computer being emulated. This is usually simpler to program than accessing a real floppy drive (particularly if the disks are in a format not supported by the host operating system), and allows a large library of software to be managed.

Copy protection circumvention.

A "mini image" is an optical disc image file in a format that fakes the disk's content to bypass CD/DVD copy protection.  Because they are the full size of the original disk, Mini Images are stored instead. Mini Images are small, on the order of kilobytes, and contain just the information necessary to bypass CD-checks. Therefore; the Mini Image is a form of a No-CD crack, for unlicensed games, and legally backed up games. Mini images do not contain the real data from an image file, just the code that is needed to satisfy the CD-check. They cannot provide CD or DVD backed data to the computer program such as on-disk image or video files.

Creation.

Creating a disk image is achieved with a suitable program. Different disk imaging programs have varying capabilities, and may focus on hard drive imaging (including hard drive backup, restore and rollout), or optical media imaging (CD/DVD images).  A "virtual disk writer" or "virtual burner" is a computer program that emulates an actual disc authoring device such as a CD writer or DVD writer. Instead of writing data to an actual disc, it creates a virtual disk image. A virtual burner, by definition, appears as a disc drive in the system with writing capabilities (as opposed to conventional disc authoring programs that can create virtual disk images), thus allowing software that can burn discs to create virtual discs.

Utilities.

RawWrite and WinImage are examples of floppy disk image file writer/creator for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. They can be used to create raw image files from a floppy disk, and write such image files to a floppy.  In Unix or similar systems the dd program can be used to create disk images, or to write them to a particular disk. It is also possible to mount and access them at block level using a loop device.  Apple Disk Copy can be used on Classic Mac OS and macOS systems to create and write disk image files.  Authoring software for CDs/DVDs such as Nero Burning ROM can generate and load disk images for optical media.

A disk image, in computing, is a computer file containing the contents and structure of a disk volume or of an entire data storage device, such as a hard disk drive, tape drive, floppy disk, optical disc, or USB flash drive. A disk image is usually made by creating a sector-by-sector copy of the source medium, thereby perfectly replicating the structure and contents of a storage device independent of the file system. Depending on the disk image format, a disk image may span one or more computer files.

Diskový obraz je archivní soubor obsahující digitální kopii dat disku. Kromě datových souborů obsahuje obraz také všechna metadata souborového systému, a to včetně Boot sektoru, struktur a atributů. Tyto vlastnosti činí formát atraktivní alternativou k fyzickým médiím pro přenos mnoha druhů dat.


Description.

"Royal Sovereign" had a length overall of, a beam of and a deep draught of. She had a designed displacement of and displaced at deep load. She was powered by four Parsons steam turbines using steam from eighteen oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were rated at and a top speed of. She had a range of at a cruising speed of. Her crew numbered 1,240 officers and ratings in 1921. "Royal Sovereign" cost £2,570,504 upon completion.

Armament.

The ship was equipped with eight breech-loading (BL) Mk I guns in four twin gun turrets, in two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. Twelve of the fourteen BL Mk XII guns were mounted in casemates along the broadside of the vessel amidships; the remaining pair were mounted on the shelter deck and were protected by gun shields. Her anti-aircraft armament consisted of two quick-firing (QF) 20 cwt Mk I AA guns.  In August–September 1924, the 3-inch guns were replaced by a pair of QF Mk V guns, During the ship's 1927–28 refit, the shelter deck 6-inch guns were removed and another pair of 4-inch AA guns were added. These were replaced by eight QF 4-inch Mk XVI guns in twin turrets during "Royal Sovereign"s 1937–1938 refit. A pair of eight-barrel 2-pounder "pom-poms" were added in 1932 abreast the funnel, and two four-barrel "pom-poms" were added in early 1942 atop 'B' and 'X' turrets. Ten 20 mm Oerlikon guns were also added in 1941. Another six were added in 1943. "Royal Sovereign" was initially equipped with four submerged torpedo tubes on her broadside, though the after pair were removed in 1932. The forward pair were also removed in 1937–1938, during the ship's last prewar refit.

Fire control.

"Royal Sovereign" was completed with two fire-control directors fitted with rangefinders. One was mounted above the conning tower, protected by an armoured hood, and the other was in the spotting top above the tripod foremast. Each turret was also fitted with a 15-foot rangefinder. The main armament could be controlled by 'X' turret as well. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the compass platform on the foremast once they were fitted in March 1917. A rangefinder replaced the smaller one originally fitted in 'X' turret in 1919. Similarly, another large rangefinder was fitted in 'B' turret during the ship's 1921–1922 refit. A simple high-angle rangefinder was added above the bridge during that same refit.  About 1931, a High-Angle Control System (HACS) Mk I director replaced the high-angle rangefinder on the spotting top. During the 1932 refit two positions for 2-pounder "pom-pom" anti-aircraft directors were added on new platforms abreast and below the fire-control director in the spotting top. In the 1937–1938 refit a HACS Mark III director replaced the Mk I in the spotting top and another was added to the torpedo-control tower aft. By 1942, a Type 279 air warning radar, a Type 273 surface-search radar, a Type 284 gunnery radar and two Type 285 anti-aircraft gunnery radars were installed. By September 1943, the Type 284 radar had been replaced by an improved Type 284B and two Type 282 radars had been fitted for the "pom-poms".

Protection.

"Royal Sovereign"s waterline belt consisted of face-hardened Krupp cemented armour (KC) that was thick between 'A' and 'Y' barbettes and thinned to 4 to 6 inches (102 to 152 mm) towards the ship's ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. Above this was a strake of armour 6 inches thick that extended between 'A' and 'X' barbettes. Transverse bulkheads 4 to 6 inches thick ran at an angle from the ends of the thickest part of the waterline belt to 'A' and 'Y' barbettes.  The gun turrets were protected by of KC armour, except for the turret roofs which were thick. The barbettes ranged in thickness from above the upper deck, but were only 4 to 6 inches thick below it. The "Revenge"-class ships had multiple armoured decks that ranged from in thickness. The main conning tower had 13 inches of armour on the sides with a roof. The torpedo control tower in the rear superstructure had 6 inches of armour protecting it. After the Battle of Jutland, 1 inch of high-tensile steel was added to the main deck over the magazines and additional anti-flash equipment was added in the magazines. In 1918 the gun shields for the upper deck 6-inch guns were replaced by armoured casemates.  To protect against underwater explosions, the ship was fitted with longitudinal torpedo bulkheads 1 to inches thick that ran from the forward to the rear magazines. During her 1921 refit, "Royal Sovereign" was fitted with an anti-torpedo bulge that ran the length of the ship between the fore and aft barbettes. It was divided into a water-tight empty lower compartment and an upper compartment filled with water-tight "crushing tubes" intended to absorb and distribute the force of an explosion. The space between the tubes was filled with wood and cement.

Aircraft.

The ship was fitted with flying-off platforms mounted on the roofs of 'B' and 'X' turrets in 1918, from which fighters and reconnaissance aircraft could launch. In 1932 the platforms were removed from the turrets and a trainable catapult was installed on her quarterdeck, along with a crane to recover a seaplane. The catapult and crane were removed by March 1937.

Service history.

First World War.

"Royal Sovereign" was laid down on 15 January 1914 at the HM Dockyard, Portsmouth. The ship was launched on 29 April 1915 and commissioned in May 1916. On 30 May 1916, three weeks after her commissioning, "Royal Sovereign" was present in Scapa Flow when the fleet commander, Admiral John Jellicoe ordered the Grand Fleet to sea. Jellicoe purposely left "Royal Sovereign" behind in port due to the inexperience of her crew; causing her to miss the Battle of Jutland the following day. In the months after the engagement, "Royal Sovereign" was quickly made ready for service with the fleet to further increase the numerical superiority of the Grand Fleet over the German High Seas Fleet.  The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August 1916 to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruisers were sunk by German U-boats during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. The Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.  In April 1918, the High Seas Fleet again sortied, to attack British convoys to Norway. They enforced strict wireless silence during the operation, which prevented Room 40 cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral David Beatty. The British learned of the operation only after an accident aboard the battlecruiser forced her to break radio silence to inform the German commander of her condition. Beatty then ordered the Grand Fleet to sea to intercept the Germans, but he was not able to reach the High Seas Fleet before it turned back for Germany. This was the last time "Royal Sovereign" and the rest of the Grand Fleet would go to sea for the remainder of the war. On 21 November 1918, following the Armistice, the entire Grand Fleet left port to escort the surrendered German fleet into internment at Scapa Flow.

Inter-war period.

The Royal Marines detachment assigned to "Royal Sovereign" left the ship on 21 June 1919 to conduct exercises. The ship meanwhile went into drydock at Invergordon in September. Post-war demobilisation in 1919 saw some 500 men leave the ship while she was in dock. Upon returning to service in late 1919, the ship was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet. Conflicts between Greece and the crumbling Ottoman Empire prompted the Royal Navy to deploy a force to the eastern Mediterranean. In April 1920, "Royal Sovereign" and her sister ship steamed to the region via Malta. While in the Ottoman capital Constantinople, "Royal Sovereign" and the other British warships took on White émigrés fleeing the Communist Red Army. Among those refugees aboard "Royal Sovereign" was a princess of the Galitzine family.  The 1922 Washington Naval Treaty cut the battleship strength of the Royal Navy from forty ships to fifteen. The remaining active battleships were divided between the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets and conducted joint operations annually. "Royal Sovereign" remained with the Atlantic Fleet through 1926. On 4 October 1927, the ship was placed in reserve to effect a major refit. Four new rangefinders and eight searchlights were installed. On 15 May 1929, the refit was finished, and the ship was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. The squadron consisted of "Royal Sovereign", her sisters "Resolution" and, and, and based in Malta. By the 1930s, the five ships of the "Queen Elizabeth" class were rotated through extensive modernisation. "Royal Sovereign" and her sisters, however, were smaller and slower than the "Queen Elizabeth" class, and so they were not extensively modernised in the inter-war period. The only changes made were augmentations to their anti-aircraft batteries.  Fleet exercises in 1934 were carried out in the Bay of Biscay, followed by a fleet regatta in Navarino Bay off Greece. In 1935, the ship returned to Britain for the Jubilee Fleet Review for King George V. In August 1935, "Royal Sovereign" was transferred to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet, where she served as the flagship of Rear Admiral Charles Ramsey. The ship served as a training vessel until 2 June 1937, when she was again placed in reserve for a major overhaul. This lasted until 18 February 1938, after which she returned to the 2nd Battle Squadron. In 1939, King George VI made a state visit to Canada; "Royal Sovereign" and the rest of the fleet escorted his ship halfway across the Atlantic and met it on the return leg of the voyage.  In early 1939, the Admiralty considered plans to send "Royal Sovereign" and her four sisters to Asia to counter Japanese expansionism. They reasoned that the then established "Singapore strategy", which called for a fleet to be formed in Britain to be dispatched to confront a Japanese attack was inherently risky due to the long delay. They argued that a dedicated battle fleet would allow for faster reaction. The plan was abandoned, however, because the new s would not begin to enter service until 1941. In the last weeks of August 1939, the Royal Navy began to concentrate in wartime bases as tensions with Germany rose. "Royal Sovereign" steamed to Invergordon, where she joined her sisters "Resolution" and,, and the battlecruiser. By 31 August, the force joined, the flagship of Admiral Charles Forbes, the commander of the Home Fleet.

Second World War.

On 31 August, the day before the German invasion of Poland, "Royal Sovereign" was assigned to a screening force in the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap to patrol for German merchant ships that might be attempting to reach Germany. At the outset of war in September 1939, "Royal Sovereign" was assigned to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet. She was assigned to the North Atlantic Escort Force, which was based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was tasked with protecting convoys to Britain. Upon returning to Plymouth, she underwent a short refit. In May 1940, she moved to the Mediterranean Fleet. There she was based in Alexandria with the battleships, "Malaya", and, under the command of Admiral Andrew Cunningham. On 25–27 June, she and her sister ship escorted two convoys from Alexandria to Malta. On 28 June, aerial reconnaissance located Italian destroyers off Zakynthos; Admiral John Tovey took the 7th Cruiser Squadron. "Royal Sovereign" was left behind due to her slow speed. Cunningham split his fleet into three groups; "Royal Sovereign" and "Malaya" were the core of Group C. She was present at the Battle of Calabria on 18 July, but her slow speed prevented her from engaging the Italian battleships. "Warspite" bore the brunt of the action, as "Royal Sovereign" and "Malaya" lagged behind.  In mid-August 1940, while steaming in the Red Sea, "Royal Sovereign" was unsuccessfully attacked by the. Later that month, she returned to Atlantic convoy duties. These lasted until August 1941, when periodic maintenance was effected in Norfolk, Virginia. The Admiralty decided in May 1941 to deploy a powerful fleet to be based in Singapore to counter any Japanese attempt to invade Western colonies in Southeast Asia. "Royal Sovereign" and her sisters "Revenge", "Ramillies", and "Resolution" were assigned to the force. The unit was to have been assembled in Singapore by March 1942, though "Royal Sovereign" reached the theatre earlier. At the beginning of March 1942, "Royal Sovereign", the heavy cruiser, and several smaller vessels escorted the convoy SU.1 of twelve troopships transporting 10,090 soldiers. The convoy departed Colombo on 1 March, bound for Australia. The convoy reached Fremantle without incident on 15 March. By the end of March 1942, the Eastern Fleet had been formed, under the command of Admiral James Somerville. The fleet was centred on a pair of fleet aircraft carriers, the elderly carrier, and five battleships, four of which were "Royal Sovereign" and her sisters; the fifth was "Warspite". The fleet also included seven cruisers and sixteen destroyers. Despite the numerical strength of the Eastern Fleet, many of its units, including the four "Revenge"-class battleships, were no longer front-line warships. Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo's powerful "Kido Butai", composed of six carriers and four fast battleships, was significantly stronger than Somerville's Eastern Fleet. As a result, only the modernised "Warspite" could operate with the two fleet carriers; "Royal Sovereign", her three sisters, and "Hermes" were kept away from combat to escort convoys in the Indian Ocean.  In late March, the code-breakers at the Far East Combined Bureau, a branch of Bletchley Park, informed Somerville that the Japanese were planning a raid into the Indian Ocean to attack Colombo and Trincomalee and destroy his fleet. He therefore divided his fleet into two groups: Force A, which consisted of the two fleet carriers, "Warspite" and four cruisers, and Force B, centred on "Royal Sovereign" and her sisters and the carrier "Hermes". He intended to ambush Nagumo's fleet in a night action, the only method by which he thought he could achieve a victory. After three days of searching for the Japanese fleet without success, Somerville returned to Addu Atoll to refuel. While refuelling his ships, Somerville received a report that the Japanese fleet was approaching Colombo, which they attacked the following day, on 5 April, followed by attacks on Trincomalee on 9 April.  Following the raid in April 1942, Somerville withdrew "Royal Sovereign" and her three sisters to Mombasa, where they could secure the shipping routes in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. "Royal Sovereign" and her sisters departed from Addu Atoll early on the morning on 9 April, bound for Mombasa. Here they remained stationed until September 1943, with the exception of another long period in the dockyard in Philadelphia in late 1942. While "Royal Sovereign" was moored in Philadelphia, the American light cruiser, a badly-damaged veteran of the Battle of Cape Esperance, shared a pier with her. During the refit, the ship's deck armour was increased by and four of her six-inch guns were removed. "Royal Sovereign" was sent back to the United States for a major overhaul in Philadelphia, from March to September 1943. She then returned to the Indian Ocean to resume her patrol duties. In January 1944, she left the Indian Ocean, bound for Britain.

Service with the Soviet Navy.

After returning to Britain, "Royal Sovereign" was sent to the naval base in Scapa Flow. On 30 May 1944 she was transferred on loan to the Soviet Navy as "Arkhangelsk" in lieu of war reparations from Italy. The ship left Britain on 17 August 1944 as part of the escort for Convoy JW 59, which contained thirty-three merchant vessels. Six days later, while still en route, the convoy was attacked by the U-boat. The submarine's captain, Hans-Günther Lange, incorrectly reported hits on "Arkhangelsk" and a destroyer, though his torpedoes had exploded prematurely. Under the impression that they had crippled the battleship, the Germans launched several submarine attacks on the ship while she was moored in Kola. Anti-torpedo nets ensured that the attacks failed, however. The Germans then planned to use six "Biber" midget submarines to attack the ship, but mechanical difficulties eventually forced the cancellation of the plan. Regardless, "Arkhangelsk" had already departed Kola to patrol the White Sea by the time the "Biber"s would have arrived. A Soviet crew commissioned the ship on 29 August 1944 at Polyarny. "Arkhangelsk" was the largest ship in the Soviet fleet during the war. While in Soviet service, she was the flagship of Admiral Gordey Levchenko and was tasked with meeting Allied convoys in the Arctic Ocean and escorting them into Kola.  "Arkhangelsk" ran aground in the White Sea in late 1947; the extent of damage, if any, is unknown. The Soviet Navy returned the ship to the Royal Navy on 4 February 1949 after the former was transferred to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. The Soviet Navy had initially sought to avoid sending the ship back, claiming that she was not sufficiently seaworthy to make the voyage back to Britain. After an inspection by a Royal Navy officer, however, the Soviet Navy agreed to return the vessel in January 1949. Upon returning to the Rosyth naval base, Royal Navy personnel thoroughly inspected the ship and found much of her equipment to be unserviceable. It appeared to the inspectors that the main battery turrets had not been rotated while the ship was in Soviet service, and were jammed on the centreline. As a result of her poor condition, she was sold for scrap. The ship arrived at Thos W Ward's scrapyard at Inverkeithing, Scotland, on 18 May to be broken up. The elevation mechanisms from her main battery gun turrets were later reused in the Mark I radio telescope at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire built in 1955–1957.

HMS "Royal Sovereign" (pennant number 05) was a (also known as "Royal Sovereign" and R-class) battleship of the Royal Navy displacing and armed with eight guns in four twin-gun turrets. She was laid down in January 1914 and launched in April 1915; she was completed in May 1916, but was not ready for service in time to participate in the Battle of Jutland at the end of the month. She served with the Grand Fleet for the remainder of the First World War, but did not see action. In the early 1930s, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and based in Malta.

HMS Royal Sovereign byla britská bitevní loď třídy Revenge, dokončená v době první světové války, která se účastnila bojů druhé světové války. Například bojovala v bitvě u Punta Stilo. Po vyřazení lodi z aktivní služby v listopadu 1943 ji Britové zapůjčili do Sovětského svazu, kde ji Sovětské námořnictvo provozovalo jako "Archangelsk". Sověti ji vrátili v roce 1949 a v témže roce byla vyřazena.


Background.

The Spanish–American War began on April 25, 1898, due to a series of escalating disputes between the two nations, and ended on December 10, 1898, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. It resulted in Spain's loss of its control over the remains of its overseas empire. After much of mainland Latin America had achieved independence, Cuba tried its hand at revolution in 1868–1878, and again in the 1890s, led by José Martí, or "El Apóstol." Martí returned to Cuba and participated at first in the struggles against the Spanish government, but was killed on May 19, 1895. The Philippines at this time also became resistant to Spanish colonial rule. August 26, 1896 presented the first call to revolt, led by Andrés Bonifacio, succeeded by Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, who had his predecessor arrested. Bonifacio was executed on May 10, 1897. Aguinaldo then negotiated the Pact of Biak-na-Bato with the Spaniards and was exiled to Hong Kong along with the other revolutionary leaders.  The Spanish–American War that followed had overwhelming U.S. public support due to the popular fervor towards supporting Cuban freedom as well as furthering U.S. economic interests overseas. The U.S. was particularly attracted to the developing sugar industry in Cuba. The U.S. military even resorted to falsifying reports in the Philippines in order to maintain public support for U.S. involvement abroad. The U.S. appealed to the principles of Manifest Destiny and expansionism to justify its participation in the war, proclaiming that it was America's fate and its duty to take charge in these overseas nations.  On September 16, U.S. President William McKinley issued secret written instructions to his emissaries as the Spanish–American War drew to a close:

Negotiations.

Article V of the peace protocol between United States and Spain on August 12, 1898 read as follows:  The composition of the American commission was somewhat unusual in that three of its members were senators, which meant, as many newspapers pointed out, that they would later vote on the ratification of their own negotiations. These were American delegation's members:  The Spanish commission included the Spanish diplomats Eugenio Montero Ríos, Buenaventura de Abarzuza, José de Garnica, Wenceslao Ramírez de Villa-Urrutia, Rafael Cerero, and the French diplomat Jules Cambon.  The American delegation, headed by former Secretary of State William R. Day, who had vacated his position as US Secretary of State to head the commission, arrived in Paris on September 26, 1898. The negotiations were conducted in a suite of rooms at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the first session, on October 1, the Spanish demanded that before the talks got underway, the return of the city of Manila, which had been captured by the Americans a few hours after the signing of the peace protocol in Washington, to Spanish authority. The Americans refused to consider the idea and, for the moment, it was pursued no further.  Felipe Agoncillo, a Filipino lawyer who represented the First Philippine Republic, was denied participation in the negotiation.  For almost a month, negotiations revolved around Cuba. The Teller Amendment to the US declaration of war made it impractical for the US to annex the island, unlike Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. At first, Spain refused to accept the Cuban national debt of four hundred million dollars, but ultimately, it had no choice. Eventually, it was agreed that Cuba was to be granted independence and for the Cuban debt to be assumed by Spain. It was also agreed that Spain would cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States.  The negotiators then turned to the question of the Philippines. Spanish negotiators were determined to hang onto all they could and hoped to cede only Mindanao and perhaps the Sulu Islands. On the American side, Chairman Day had once recommended the acquisition of only the naval base in Manila, as a "hitching post." Others had recommended retaining only the island of Luzon. However, in discussions with its advisers, the commission concluded that Spain, if it retained part of the Philippines, would be likely to sell it to another European power, which would likely be troublesome for America. On November 25, the American Commission cabled McKinley for explicit instructions. Their cable crossed one from McKinley saying that duty left him no choice but to demand the entire archipelago. The next morning, another cable from McKinley arrived:  On November 4, the Spanish delegation formally accepted the American demand, and Spanish Prime Minister Práxedes Mateo Sagasta backed the commission. With the growing risk of the negotiations collapsing, there were mutters about resuming the war. The US elections on November 8, however, cut McKinley's Republican majority in the US Congress less than had been anticipated. The American delegation, therefore, took heart, and Frye unveiled a plan of offering Spain ten or twenty million dollars for the islands.  After some discussion, the American delegation offered twenty million dollars on November 21, one tenth of a valuation that had been estimated in internal discussions in October, and requested an answer within two days. Montero Ríos said angrily that he could reply at once, but the American delegation had already departed from the conference table. When the two sides met again, Queen-Regent Maria Christina had cabled her acceptance. Montero Ríos then recited his formal reply:  Work on the final draft of the treaty began on November 30. It was signed on December 10, 1898. The next step was ratification. In Madrid, the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislature, rejected it, but Maria Christina signed it as she was empowered to do by a clause in the Spanish constitution.

US ratification.

In the US Senate, there were four main schools of thought on US imperialism that influenced the debate on the treaty's ratification. Republicans generally supported the treaty, but those opposed either aimed to defeat the treaty or exclude the provision that stipulated the acquisition of the Philippines. Most Democrats favored expansion as well, particularly in the South. A minority of Democrats also favored the treaty on the basis of ending the war and granting independence to Cuba and the Philippines. During the Senate debate on ratification, Senators George Frisbie Hoar and George Graham Vest were outspoken opponents. Hoar stated:  Some anti-expansionists stated that the treaty committed the US to a course of empire and violated the most basic tenets of the US Constitution. They argued that neither the Congress nor the President had the right to pass laws that governed colonial peoples who were not represented by lawmakers.  Some Senate expansionists supported the treaty and reinforced such views by arguing:  Expansionists said that the Constitution applied only to US citizens, an idea that was later supported by the US Supreme Court in the Insular Cases.  As the Senate debate continued, Andrew Carnegie and former President Grover Cleveland petitioned the Senate to reject the treaty. Both men adamantly opposed such imperialist policies and participated in the American Anti-Imperialist League, along with other such prominent members as Mark Twain and Samuel Gompers.  The treaty was eventually approved on February 6, 1899, by a vote of 57 to 27, just over the two-thirds majority required. Only two Republicans voted against ratification: George Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts and Eugene Pryor Hale of Maine. Senator Nelson W. Aldrich had opposed entry into the Spanish–American War but supported McKinley after it began. He played a central role in winning the treaty's two-thirds majority ratification.

Provisions.

The Treaty of Paris provided for the independence of Cuba from Spain, but the US Congress ensured indirect US control by the Platt Amendment and the Teller Amendment. Spain relinquished all claims of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. Upon Spain's departure, Cuba was to be occupied by the US, which would assume and discharge any obligations of international law by its occupation.  The treaty also specified that Spain would cede Puerto Rico and the other islands under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies as well as the island of Guam in the Mariana Islands to the US.  The treaty also specified that Spain would cede the Philippine Islands, including the islands within a specified line, to the US, and that the United States would pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars.  Specifics of the cession of the Philippines were later clarified by the 1900 Treaty of Washington. The boundary between the Philippines and North Borneo was further clarified by the Convention Between the United States and Great Britain (1930).

Aftermath.

Victory in the Spanish–American War turned the US into a world power because the attainment of the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines expanded its economic dominance in the Pacific. Its growth continued to have effects on US foreign and economic policy well into the next century. Furthermore, McKinley's significant role in advancing the ratification of the treaty transformed the presidential office from a weaker position to a prototype of the stronger presidency that is more seen today.  The US military occupation also continued to have further impacts abroad. In the Philippines, revolts against US involvement, initiated on February 4, 1899, quickly surpassing the fighting that had just ended against the Spanish. As one Filipino writer noted in 1899:  Now here is a unique spectacle – the Filipinos fighting for liberty, the American people fighting to give them liberty.  According to the US National Park Service, "The Spanish–American War and its aftermath delayed Philippine independence until after World War II, but established a relationship that fostered a substantial Filipino population within U.S. borders."  Furthermore, the Platt Amendment allowed the US to continue its occupation of Cuba without annexing it despite promises that had been made during the war and negotiations over Cuban freedom. To maintain control in Cuba, the US government espoused the idea that the Cuban people were unprepared for self-governance. As US Senator Stephen Elkins noted:  When Cuba shall become a part of the American Union and the isthmian canal shall be completed, which is now assured, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Hawaii and the Philippines will be outposts of the great Republic, standing guard over American interests in the track of the world's commerce in its triumphant march around the globe. Our people will soon see and feel that these island possessions belonging to the United States are natural and logical, and in the great part we are to play in the affairs of the world we would not only give them up but wonder how the working of our natural destiny we could get on without them. The splendid chain of island possessions, reaching half-way around the world, would not be complete without Cuba, the gem of the Antilles.  Overall, those occupations greatly contributed to the era's growing economic role of the US.

The Treaty of Paris of 1898 (Filipino: "Kasunduan sa Paris ng 1898;" Spanish: "Tratado de París de 1898") was a treaty signed by Spain and the United States on December 10, 1898, that ended the Spanish–American War. Under it, Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba and also ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States. The cession of the Philippines involved a compensation of $20 million from the United States to Spain.

Pařížská mírová smlouva (1898) podepsaná dne 10. prosince 1898 mezi USA a Španělskem, znamenala ukončení španělsko-americké války. Kuba signatářem smlouvy nebyla, ale plnila pouze funkci pozorovatele.


Taxonomy and systematics.

The limpkin is placed in its own monotypic family, Aramidae, which is in turn placed within the crane and rail order Gruiformes. The limpkin had been suggested to be close to the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae, based upon shared bird lice. The Sibley–Ahlquist taxonomy of birds, based upon DNA–DNA hybridization, suggested that the limpkin's closest relatives were the Heliornithidae finfoots, and Sibley and Monroe even placed the species in that family in 1990. More recent studies have found little support for this relationship. More recent DNA studies have confirmed a close relationship with particularly the cranes, with the limpkin remaining as a family close to the cranes and the two being sister taxa to the trumpeters.  Between 1856 and 1934, the limpkin was treated as two species, one in South America ("Aramus guarauna") and the other found in Central America, the Caribbean, and Florida ("Aramus pictus"). Today, it is treated as a single species with four subspecies. Along with the nominate subspecies "A. g. guarauna", "A. g. dolosus", "A. g. elucus" (both J. L. Peters, 1925), and "A. g. pictus" (F. A. A. Meyer, 1794) are recognized. The difference between the subspecies are related to slight differences in size and plumage.  Although the limpkin is the only extant species in the family today, several fossils of extinct Aramidae are known from across the Americas. The earliest known species, "Aramus paludigrus", is dated to the middle Miocene, while the oldest supposed members of the family, "Aminornis" and "Loncornis", have been found in early Oligocene deposits in Argentina, although whether these are indeed related is not certain; in fact, "Loncornis" seems to be a misidentified mammal bone. Another Oligocene fossil from Europe, "Parvigrus pohli" (family Parvigruidae), has been described as a mosaic of the features shared by the limpkins and the cranes. It shares many morphological features with the cranes and limpkins, but also was much smaller than either group, and was more rail-like in its proportions. In the paper describing the fossil, Gerald Mayr suggested that it was similar to the stem species of the grues (the cranes and limpkins), and that the limpkins evolved massively long bills as a result of the specialisation to feeding on snails. In contrast, the cranes evolved into long-legged forms to walk and probe on open grasslands.

Description.

The limpkin is a somewhat large bird, long, with a wingspan of. Body mass ranges from, averaging. The males are slightly larger than the females in size, but no difference in plumage is seen. Its plumage is drab—dark brown with an olive luster above. The feathers of the head, neck, wing coverts, and much of the back and underparts (except the rear) are marked with white, making the body look streaked and the head and neck light gray. It has long, dark-gray legs and a long neck. Its bill is long, heavy, and downcurved, yellowish bill with a darker tip. The bill is slightly open near but not at the end to give it a tweezers-like action in removing snails from their shells, and in many individuals the tip curves slightly to the right, like the apple snails' shells. The white markings are slightly less conspicuous in first-year birds. Its wings are broad and rounded and its tail is short. It is often confused with the immature American white ibis.  This bird is easier to hear than see. Its common vocalization is a loud wild wail or scream with some rattling quality, represented as ""kwEEEeeer" or "klAAAar"." This call is most often given at night and at dawn and dusk. Other calls include "wooden clicking", clucks, and in alarm, a "piercing "bihk, bihk..."".

Distribution and habitat.

The limpkin occurs from peninsular Florida (and formerly the Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia) and southern Mexico through the Caribbean and Central America to northern Argentina. In South America, it occurs widely east of the Andes; west of them its range extends only to the Equator.  It inhabits freshwater marshes and swamps, often with tall reeds, as well as mangroves. In the Caribbean, it also inhabits dry brushland. In Mexico and northern Central America, it occurs at altitudes up to. In Florida, the distribution of apple snails is the best predictor of where limpkins can be found.  The limpkin undertakes some localized migrations, although the extent of these is not fully understood. In some parts in the northern part of the range, females (and a few males) leave the breeding areas at the end of summer, returning at the end of winter. In Brazil, birds breeding in some seasonal marshes leave during the dry season and return again with the rains. Birds may also migrate between Florida and Cuba, as several limpkins on the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas have been reported, but these records may also represent vagrants or postbreeding dispersal. One study in Florida using wing tags found limpkins dispersed up to away from the breeding site. This tendency may explain vagrant limpkins seen in other parts of the United States and at sea near the Bahamas.

Behavior and ecology.

Limpkins are active during the day, but also forage at night. Where they are not persecuted, they are also very tame and approachable. Even so, they are usually found near cover. They are not aggressive for the most part, being unconcerned by other species and rarely fighting with members of their own species.  Because of their long toes, they can stand on floating water plants. They also swim well, both as adults or as newly hatched chicks, but they seldom do so. They fly strongly, the neck projecting forward and the legs backward, the wings beating shallowly and stiffly, with a jerky upstroke, above the horizontal most of the time.

Feeding.

Limpkins forage primarily in shallow water and on floating vegetation such as water hyacinth and water lettuce. When wading, they seldom go deeper than having half the body underwater, and never are submerged up to the back. They walk slowly with a gait described as "slightly undulating" and "giving the impression of lameness or limping", "high-stepping", or "strolling", looking for food if the water is clear or probing with the bill. They do not associate with other birds in mixed-species feeding flocks, as do some other wading birds, but may forage in small groups with others of their species.  The diet of the limpkin is dominated by apple snails (Ampullariidae) of the genus "Pomacea". The availability of this one mollusk has a significant effect on the local distribution of the limpkin. Freshwater mussels, including "Anodonta cowperiana", "Villosa vibex", "Elliptio strigosus", "E. jayensis", and "Uniomerus obesus", as well as other kinds of snails, are a secondary food sources. Less important prey items are insects, frogs, lizards, crustaceans and worms. These prey items may be important in periods of drought or flooding when birds may be pushed into less than optimal foraging areas. In one site in Florida, moon snails and mussels were the most important prey items. Two studies, both in Florida, have looked at the percentage composition of the diet of limpkins. One, looking at stomach contents, found 70% "Pomacea" apple snails, 3% "Campeloma", and 27% unidentified mollusc, probably "Pomacea".  When a limpkin finds an apple snail, it carries it to land or very shallow water and places it in mud, the opening facing up. It deftly removes the operculum or "lid" and extracts the snail, seldom breaking the shell. The extraction takes 10 to 20 seconds. The orange-yellow yolk gland of female snails is usually shaken loose and not eaten. It often leaves piles of empty shells at favored spots.

Reproduction and breeding.

Males have exclusive territories, which can vary in size from. In large, uniform swamps, nesting territories can often be clumped together, in the form of large colonies. These are vigorously defended, with males flying to the territory edges to challenge intruders and passing limpkins being chased out of the territory. Territorial displays between males at boundaries include ritualized charging and wing-flapping. Females may also participate in territorial defense, but usually only against other females or juveniles. Territories may be maintained year-round or abandoned temporarily during the nonbreeding season, usually due to lack of food.  Limpkins may be either monogamous, with females joining a male's territory, or serially polyandrous, with two or more females joining a male. With the monogamous pairs, banding studies have shown that a small number of pairs reform the following year (four out of 18 pairs).  Nests may be built in a wide variety of places – on the ground, in dense floating vegetation, in bushes, or at any height in trees. They are bulky structures of rushes, sticks, or other materials. Nest building is undertaken by the male initially, which constructs the nest in his territory prior to pair-bond formation. Unpaired females visit a number of territories before settling on a male with which to breed. Males may initially challenge and fight off prospective mates, and may not accept first-year females as mates. Pair-bond formation may take a few weeks. Courtship feeding is part of the bonding process, where males catch and process a snail and then feed it to the female.  The clutch consists of three to eight eggs, with five to seven being typical and averaging 5.5, which measure. The egg color is highly variable. Their background color ranges from gray-white through buff to deep olive, and they are marked with light-brown and sometimes purplish-gray blotches and speckles. The eggs are laid daily until the clutch is complete, and incubation is usually delayed until the clutch is completed. Both parents incubate the eggs during the day, but only the female incubates at night. The shift length is variable, but the male incubates for longer during the day. The male remains territorial during incubation, and leaves the clutch to chase off intruders; if this happens, the female returns quickly to the eggs. The incubation period is about 27 days, and all the eggs hatch within 24 hours of each other.  The young hatch covered with down, capable of walking, running, and swimming. They follow their parents to a platform of aquatic vegetation, where they are brooded. They are fed by both parents; they reach adult size at 7 weeks and leave their parents at about 16 weeks.

Ecology.

Limpkins are reported to be attacked and eaten by American alligators. Also, adults with serious foot and leg injuries have been reported, suggesting they may have been attacked by turtles while standing on floating vegetation. Their nests are apparently preyed upon by snakes, raccoons, crows, and muskrats. Foraging adults may in times of drought be victims of kleptoparasitism by snail kites, and the attempted theft of apple snails caught by limpkins has also been observed in boat-tailed grackles.  Limpkins in Florida were examined for parasites, which included trematodes, nematodes, and biting lice. Two biting lice species were found, "Laemobothrion cubense" and "Rallicola funebris". The trematode "Prionosoma serratum" was found in the intestines of some birds; this species may enter the bird after first infecting apple snails (this has been shown to be the route of infection for a closely related trematode to infect snail kites). Nematodes "Amidostomum acutum" and "Strongyloides" spp. are also ingested and live in the gut.

Relationship with humans.

Many of the limpkin's names across its range are onomatopoeic and reflect the bird's call; for example, "carau "in Argentina, "carrao" in Venezuela, and "guareáo "in Cuba. The species also has a range of common names that refer to its call, for example lamenting bird, or to its supposed gait, crippled bird. The limpkin does not feature much in folklore, although in the Amazon people believe that when the limpkin starts to call, the river will not rise any more. Its call has been used for jungle sound effects in Tarzan films and for the hippogriff in the film "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".

The limpkin ("Aramus guarauna"), also called carrao, courlan, and crying bird, is a bird that looks like a large rail, but is skeletally closer to cranes. It is the only extant species in the genus Aramus and the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina. It feeds on molluscs, with the diet dominated by apple snails of the genus "Pomacea". Its name derives from its seeming limp when it walks.

Kurlan chřástalovitý ("Aramus guarauna") je poměrně velký americký pták. Je podobný ibisům, čápům a volavkám, ale zastupuje vlastní čeleď kurlanovitých z řádu krátkokřídlých, takže je příbuzný spíše jeřábům.