Epilepsy.

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders after stroke, affecting around 50 million people worldwide. It is diagnosed in a person having recurrent, unprovoked seizures. These occur when cortical neurons fire excessively, hypersynchronously, or both, leading to temporary disruption of normal brain function. This might affect, for example, the muscles, the senses, consciousness, or a combination. A seizure can be focal (confined to a

History.

The ketogenic diet is a mainstream dietary therapy that was developed to reproduce the success and remove the limitations of the non-mainstream use of fasting to treat epilepsy. Although popular in the 1920s and '30s, it was largely abandoned in favour of new anticonvulsant drugs. Most individuals with epilepsy can successfully control their seizures with medication. However, 25–30% fail to achieve such control despite trying a number of different drugs. For this group, and for children in particular, the diet has once again found a role in epilepsy management.

Fasting.

Physicians of ancient Greece treated diseases, including epilepsy, by altering their patients' diet. An early treatise in the Hippocratic Corpus, "On the Sacred Disease", covers the disease; it dates from. Its author argued against the prevailing view that epilepsy was supernatural in origin and cure, and proposed that dietary therapy had a rational and physical basis. In the same collection, the author of "Epidemics" describes the case of a man whose epilepsy is cured as quickly as it had appeared, through complete abstinence of food and drink. The royal physician Erasistratus declared, "One inclining to epilepsy should be made to fast without mercy and be put on short rations." Galen believed an "attenuating diet" might afford a cure in mild cases and be helpful in others.  The first modern study of fasting as a treatment for epilepsy was in France in 1911. Twenty epilepsy patients of all ages were "detoxified" by consuming a low-calorie vegetarian diet, combined with periods of fasting and purging. Two benefited enormously, but most failed to maintain compliance with the imposed restrictions. The diet improved the patients' mental capabilities, in contrast to their medication, potassium bromide, which dulled the

Diet.

In 1921, Rollin Turner Woodyatt reviewed the research on diet and diabetes. He reported that three water-soluble compounds, β-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, and acetone (known collectively as ketone bodies), were produced by the liver in otherwise healthy people when they were starved or if they consumed a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet. Dr. Russell Morse Wilder, at the Mayo Clinic, built on this research and coined the term "ketogenic diet" to describe a diet that produced a high level of ketone bodies in the blood (ketonemia) through an excess of fat and lack of carbohydrate. Wilder hoped to obtain the benefits of fasting in a dietary therapy that could be maintained indefinitely. His trial on a few epilepsy patients in 1921 was the first use of the ketogenic diet as a

Anticonvulsants and decline.

During the 1920s and 1930s, when the only anticonvulsant drugs were the sedative bromides (discovered 1857) and phenobarbital (1912), the ketogenic diet was widely used and studied. This changed in 1938 when H. Houston Merritt, Jr. and Tracy Putnam

MCT diet.

In the 1960s, medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) were found to produce more ketone bodies per unit of energy than normal dietary fats (which are mostly long-chain triglycerides). MCTs are more efficiently absorbed and are rapidly transported to the liver via the hepatic portal system rather than the lymphatic system. The severe carbohydrate restrictions of the classic ketogenic diet made it difficult for parents to produce palatable meals that their children would tolerate. In 1971, Peter Huttenlocher devised a ketogenic diet where about 60% of

Revival.

The ketogenic diet achieved national media exposure in the US in October 1994, when NBC's "Dateline" television programme reported the case of Charlie Abrahams, son of Hollywood producer Jim Abrahams. The two-year-old suffered from epilepsy that had remained uncontrolled by mainstream and alternative therapies. Abrahams discovered a reference to the ketogenic diet in an epilepsy guide for parents and brought Charlie to John M. Freeman at Johns Hopkins Hospital, which had continued to offer the therapy. Under the diet, Charlie's epilepsy was rapidly controlled and his developmental

Efficacy.

The ketogenic diet reduces seizure frequency by more than 50% in half of the patients who try it and by more than 90% in a third of patients. Three-quarters of children who respond do so within two weeks, though experts recommend a trial of at least three months before assuming it has been ineffective. Children with refractory epilepsy are more likely to benefit from the ketogenic diet than from trying another anticonvulsant drug. Adolescents and adults may also benefit from the diet, though compliance with oral diet (vs tube fed) remains a problem.

Trial design.

Early studies reported high success rates; in one study in 1925, 60% of patients became seizure-free, and another 35% of patients had a 50% reduction in seizure frequency. These studies generally examined a cohort of patients recently treated by the physician (a retrospective study) and selected patients who had successfully maintained the dietary restrictions. However, these studies are difficult to compare to modern trials. One reason is that these older trials suffered from selection bias, as they excluded patients who were unable to start or maintain the diet and thereby selected from patients who would generate better results. In an attempt to control for this bias, modern study design prefers a prospective cohort (the

Outcomes.

A study with an intent-to-treat prospective design was published in 1998 by a team from the Johns Hopkins Hospital and followed-up by a report published in 2001. As with most studies of the ketogenic diet, no control group (patients who did not receive the treatment) was used. The study enrolled 150 children. After three months, 83% of them were still on the diet, 26% had experienced a good reduction in seizures, 31% had had an excellent reduction, and 3% were seizure-free. At 12

Indications and contraindications.

The ketogenic diet is indicated as an adjunctive (additional) treatment in children and young people with drug-resistant epilepsy. It is approved by national clinical guidelines in Scotland, England, and Wales and reimbursed by nearly all US insurance companies. Children with a focal lesion (a single point of brain abnormality causing the epilepsy) who would make suitable candidates for surgery are more likely to become seizure-free with surgery than with the ketogenic diet. About a third of epilepsy centres that offer the ketogenic diet also offer a dietary therapy to adults. The two less restrictive dietary variants—the low glycaemic index treatment and the modified Atkins diet—are more appropriate for adolescents and adults, mainly due to better adherence. A liquid form of the ketogenic diet is particularly easy to prepare for, and well tolerated by, infants on formula and by others who are tube-fed.  Advocates for the diet recommend that it be seriously considered after two medications have failed, as the chance of other drugs succeeding is only 10%. The diet is recommended

Interactions.

The ketogenic diet is usually initiated in combination with the patient's existing anticonvulsant regimen, though patients may be weaned off anticonvulsants if the diet

Adverse effects.

The ketogenic diet is not considered a benign, holistic, or all-natural treatment. As with any serious medical therapy, it may result in complications, although these are generally less severe and less frequent than with anticonvulsant medication or surgery. Common but easily treatable short-term side effects include constipation, low-grade acidosis, and hypoglycaemia if an initial fast is undertaken. Raised levels of lipids in the blood affect up to 60% of children and cholesterol levels may increase by around 30%. This can be treated by changes to the fat content of the diet, such as from saturated fats towards polyunsaturated fats, and if persistent, by lowering the ketogenic ratio. Supplements are necessary to counter the dietary deficiency of many micronutrients.  Long-term use of the ketogenic diet in children increases the risk

Implementation.

The ketogenic diet is a medical nutrition therapy that involves participants from various disciplines. Team members include a registered paediatric dietitian who coordinates the diet programme; a paediatric neurologist who is experienced in offering the ketogenic diet; and a registered nurse who is familiar with childhood epilepsy. Additional help may come from a medical social worker who works with the family and a pharmacist who can advise on the carbohydrate content of medicines. Lastly, the parents and other caregivers must be educated in many aspects of the diet for it to be safely implemented.  Implementing the diet can present difficulties for caregivers and the patient due to the time commitment involved in measuring and planning meals. Since any unplanned eating can potentially break the nutritional balance required, some people find the discipline needed to maintain the diet challenging and unpleasant. Some people terminate the diet or switch to a less demanding diet, like the modified Atkins diet or the low-glycaemic index treatment diet, because they find the difficulties too great.

Initiation.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital protocol for initiating the classic ketogenic diet has been widely adopted. It involves a consultation with the patient and their caregivers and, later, a short hospital admission. Because of the risk of complications during ketogenic diet initiation, most centres begin the diet under close medical supervision in the hospital.  At the initial consultation, patients are screened for conditions that may contraindicate the diet. A dietary history is obtained and the parameters of the diet selected: the ketogenic ratio of fat to combined protein and carbohydrate, the calorie requirements and the fluid intake.  The day before admission to hospital, the proportion of carbohydrate in the diet may be decreased and the patient begins fasting after his or her evening meal. On admission, only calorie- and caffeine-free fluids are allowed until dinner, which consists of "eggnog" restricted to one-third of the typical calories for a meal. The following breakfast and lunch are similar, and on the second day, the "eggnog" dinner is increased to two-thirds of a typical meal's caloric content. By the third day, dinner contains the

Maintenance.

After initiation, the child regularly visits the hospital outpatient clinic where they are seen by the dietitian and neurologist, and various tests and examinations are performed. These are held every three months for the first year and then every six months thereafter. Infants under one year old are seen more frequently, with the initial visit held after just two to four weeks. A period of minor adjustments is necessary to ensure consistent ketosis is maintained and to better adapt the meal plans to the patient. This fine-tuning is typically done over the telephone with the hospital dietitian and includes changing the number of calories,

Discontinuation.

About 20% of children on the ketogenic diet achieve freedom from seizures, and many are able to reduce the use of anticonvulsant drugs or eliminate them altogether. Commonly, at around two years on the diet, or after six months of being seizure-free, the diet may be gradually discontinued over two or three months. This is done by lowering the ketogenic ratio until urinary ketosis is no longer detected, and then lifting all calorie restrictions. This timing and method of discontinuation mimics that of anticonvulsant drug therapy in children, where the child has become seizure-free. When the diet is required to treat certain metabolic diseases, the duration will be longer. The total diet duration is

Variants.

Classic.

The ketogenic diet is calculated by a dietitian for each child. Age, weight, activity levels, culture, and food preferences all affect the meal plan. First, the energy requirements are set at 80–90% of the recommended daily amounts (RDA) for the child's age (the high-fat diet requires less energy to process than a typical high-carbohydrate diet). Highly active children or those with muscle spasticity require more food energy than this; immobile children require less. The ketogenic ratio of the diet compares the weight

MCT oil.

Normal dietary fat contains mostly long-chain triglycerides (LCTs). Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are more ketogenic than LCTs because they generate more ketones per unit of energy when metabolised. Their use allows for a diet with a lower proportion of fat and a greater proportion of protein and carbohydrate, leading to more food choices and larger portion sizes. The original MCT diet

Modified Atkins.

First reported in 2003, the idea of using a form of the Atkins diet to treat epilepsy came about after parents and patients discovered that the induction phase of the Atkins diet controlled seizures. The ketogenic diet team at Johns Hopkins Hospital modified the Atkins diet by removing the aim of achieving weight loss, extending the induction phase indefinitely, and specifically encouraging fat consumption. Compared with the ketogenic diet, the modified Atkins diet (MAD) places no limit on calories or protein, and the lower overall ketogenic ratio (about 1:1) does not need to be consistently maintained by all meals of the day. The MAD does not

Low glycemic index treatment.

The low glycemic index treatment (LGIT) is an attempt to achieve the stable blood glucose levels seen in children on the classic ketogenic diet while using a much less restrictive regimen. The hypothesis is that stable blood glucose may be one of the mechanisms of action involved in the ketogenic diet, which occurs because the absorption of the limited carbohydrates is slowed by the high fat content. Although it is also a high-fat diet (with approximately 60% calories from fat), the LGIT allows more carbohydrate than either the classic ketogenic diet or the modified Atkins

Prescribed formulations.

Infants and patients fed via a gastrostomy tube can also be given a ketogenic diet. Parents make up a prescribed powdered formula, such as KetoCal, into a liquid feed. Gastrostomy feeding avoids any issues with palatability, and bottle-fed infants readily accept the ketogenic formula. Some studies have found this liquid feed to be more efficacious and associated with lower total cholesterol than a

Worldwide.

There are theoretically no restrictions on where the ketogenic diet might be used, and it can cost less than modern anticonvulsants. However, fasting and dietary changes are affected by religious and cultural issues. A culture where food is often prepared by grandparents or hired help means more people must be educated about the diet. When families dine together, sharing the same meal, it can be difficult to separate the child's meal. In many countries, food labelling is not mandatory, so calculating macronutrients such as fat, protein and carbohydrates can be difficult. In some countries, it may be hard to find sugar-free forms of medicines and supplements, to purchase an accurate electronic scale, or to afford MCT oils.  In Asia, the

Mechanism of action.

Seizure pathology.

The brain is composed of a network of neurons that transmit signals by propagating nerve impulses. The propagation of this impulse from one neuron to another is typically controlled by neurotransmitters, though there are also electrical pathways between some neurons. Neurotransmitters can inhibit impulse firing (primarily done by γ-aminobutyric acid, or GABA) or they can excite the neuron into firing (primarily done by glutamate). A neuron that releases inhibitory neurotransmitters from its terminals is called an inhibitory neuron, while one that releases excitatory neurotransmitters is an excitatory neuron. When the normal balance between inhibition and excitation is significantly disrupted in all or part of the brain, a seizure can occur. The GABA system is an

Seizure control.

Although many hypotheses have been put forward to explain how the ketogenic diet works, it remains a mystery. Disproven hypotheses include systemic acidosis (high levels of acid in the blood), electrolyte changes and hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose). Although many biochemical changes are known to occur in the brain of a patient on the ketogenic diet, it is not known which of these has an anticonvulsant effect. The lack of understanding in this area is similar to the situation with many anticonvulsant drugs.  On the ketogenic diet, carbohydrates are restricted and so cannot provide for all the metabolic needs of the body. Instead, fatty acids are used as the major source of fuel. These are used through fatty-acid oxidation in the cell's mitochondria (the energy-producing parts of the cell). Humans can convert some amino acids into glucose by a process called gluconeogenesis, but cannot do this by using fatty acids. Since amino acids are needed to make proteins, which are essential for growth and repair of body tissues, these cannot be used only to produce glucose. This could pose a problem for the brain,

Other applications.

The ketogenic diet has been studied for potential therapeutic use in various neurological disorders other than epilepsy: Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), autism, headache, neurotrauma, pain, Parkinson's disease (PD) and sleep disorders.  Because some cancer cells are inefficient in processing ketone bodies for energy, the ketogenic diet has also been suggested as a treatment for cancer. A 2018 review looked at the evidence from preclinical and clinical studies of ketogenic diets in cancer therapy. The clinical studies in humans are typically very small, with some providing weak evidence for anti-tumour effect, particularly for glioblastoma, but in other cancers and studies, no anti-tumour effect was seen. Taken together, results from preclinical studies, albeit sometimes contradictory, tend to support an anti-tumor effect rather than a pro-tumor effect of the KD for most solid cancers.  The evidence of benefit for these conditions has not reached the level where clinical recommendations can be made.

The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used mainly to treat hard-to-control (refractory) epilepsy in children. The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates.

Ketogenní dieta je obecně typ diety s velmi malým množstvím sacharidů, jejíž dodržování vede ke změněnému metabolickému stavu organismu, ketóze.


History.

The castle of Dobrá Voda was presumably built in the last third of the 13th century by Comes Aba from the Hlohovec branch of the Aba clan, when royal power declined in the Kingdom of Hungary. According to a legend though, the castle was constructed by the lover of a local girl who cured the king with water from the local spring. In 1316 Matthew III Csák occupied the Dobrá Voda castle just like other castles in the region. In 1394 the castle was part of the royal donation to duke Stibor of Stiboricz. A group of unsatisfied magnates and prelates wanted to get rid of King Sigismund in 1403. As the castellan of the castle joined the rebellion, the royal army was forced to reconquer the castle.  After 1436 Dobrá Voda castle became property of the Ország family. In the first third of the 16th century the lord of the castle, László Ország, died. His widow remarried with the head of the Nógrád, István Losonci who acquired the ownership rights of the castle through this marriage. In the autumn of 1567 the Ország family died out with the passing of László's son, Kristóf Ország. King Maximilian pawned the Dobrá Voda castle to the Croat nobleman Ján Choron of Deveč. Another Croat nobleman, Krsto Ungnad, showed interest in obtaining the Dobrá Voda castle. As the husband of István Losonci's daughter Anna, who inherited the filial rights after her father's death, he applied his option to the castle. In 1583 he bought the castle with all the corresponding properties for 70 guldens from King Rudolph. Through his daughter Anna Mária, married to the anti-Ottoman wars hero Tamás Erdődy, the castle became in the hands of the Erdődy family.  By the end of the 17th century the Erdődy family already possessed and inhabited many manor houses in various towns. This caused the Dobrá Voda castle to be abandoned. At the beginning of the 18th century the war events during Rákóczi's War of Independence destroyed the castle. After being hit by a lightning, the castle burned down in 1762. Only a prison for nobility remained in the castle for a certain time.

Architecture.

The upper-castle consists of two prismatic towers with an oblong palace between them. Only the northern wall of the palace survived up to today. Next to the eastern tower is a small yard with a cistern with a well-preserved sink. A courtyard extends to the east of the upper-castle. A presumably Gothic chapel sits at the eastern end of this courtyard. Another possible function of the structure is that it was part of the palace, which formed with it ́s courtyard a fortified residence independent of the original castle. The upper- castle was widened in the west with a forecastle. A cannon bastion further improved it ́s defence. The entrance in front of the gate was fortified with a simple barbican. Because of the constant threat of Ottoman attacks an extensive lower-castle with auxiliary buildings secured with cannon bastions was constructed. The access road to the upper-castle ran through four gates connected by serpentines with straight stretches so that it could always be defended form a higher situated spot.

Dobrá Voda Castle () is a ruined castle in the municipality of Dobrá Voda in the Trnava region of Slovakia.

Hrad Dobrá Voda stojí na východním okraji Malých Karpat v Dobrovodském krasu, nedaleko obce Dobrá Voda v přírodní rezervaci Slopy.


History.

Construction.

Construction commenced in 1958, with French assistance according to the Protocol of Sèvres agreements. The complex was constructed in secret, and outside the International Atomic Energy Agency inspection regime. To maintain secrecy, French customs officials were told that the largest of the reactor components, such as the reactor tank, were part of a desalination plant bound for Latin America. Estimates of the cost of construction vary; the only reliable figure is from Shimon Peres, who wrote in his 1995 memoir that he and David Ben-Gurion collected US $40 million, "half the price of a reactor... [from] Israel's friends around the world."  The Dimona reactor became critical sometime between 1962 and 1964, and with the plutonium produced there, the Israel Defense Forces most-likely had their first nuclear weapons ready before the Six-Day War.

Inspections.

When the United States intelligence community discovered the purpose of the site in the early 1960s, the U.S. government demanded that Israel agree to international inspections. Israel agreed, but on the condition that U.S., rather than International Atomic Energy Agency, inspectors be used, and that Israel would receive advance notice of all inspections. According to declassified Johnson Administration documents, Israel opened Dimona to U.S. inspection in January 1965. Israel is one of five nations not to have signed the NPT (others are India and Pakistan, both of which have acknowledged having nuclear weapons), alongside North Korea which left the NPT. South Sudan is also a non-signatory.  Some claim that because Israel knew the schedule of the inspectors' visits, it was able to hide the illegal manufacture of nuclear weapons, thereby deceiving the inspectors, by installing temporary false walls and other devices before each inspection. The inspectors eventually informed the U.S. government that their inspections were useless, due to Israeli restrictions on what areas of the facility they could inspect. By 1969 the U.S. believed that Israel might have a nuclear weapon, and terminated inspections that year.

Jet aircraft take-down.

The Dimona reactor was overflown by unidentified jet aircraft before the Six-Day War in 1967. These planes were thought at the time to be Egyptian Air Force MiG-21s, although a controversial 2007 book argues that they were actually Soviet MiG-25s. During the war, an Israeli fighter jet damaged in a bombing raid over Jordan was shot down by air defenses protecting the reactor after straying over it, killing the pilot, Captain Yoram Harpaz.

Nuclear weapons production.

The full-scale production of nuclear warheads is believed to have commenced by 1966, with the Israel Defense Forces believed to be in possession of up to 13 operational nuclear warheads by 1967.

Mordechai Vanunu revelations.

In 1986, Mordechai Vanunu, a former technician at Dimona, fled to the United Kingdom and revealed to the media some evidence of Israel's nuclear program and explained the purposes of each building, also revealing a top-secret underground facility directly below the installation. The Mossad, Israel's secret service, sent a female agent named Cheryl Bentov (née Hanin) who lured Vanunu to Italy, where he was kidnapped by Mossad agents and smuggled to Israel aboard a freighter. An Israeli court then tried him in secret on charges of treason and espionage, and sentenced him to eighteen years imprisonment. At the time of Vanunu's kidnapping, "The Times" reported that Israel had material for approximately 20 hydrogen bombs and 200 fission bombs by 1986. In the spring of 2004, Vanunu was released from prison, and placed under several strict restrictions, such as the denial of a passport, freedom of movement limitations and restrictions on communications with the press. Since his release, he has been rearrested and charged multiple times for violations of the terms of his release.

Safety concerns.

Safety concerns about the 55+ year-old reactor have been reported. In 2004, as a preventive measure, Israeli authorities distributed potassium iodide anti-radiation tablets to thousands of residents living nearby.  In 2006 a group of local residents was formed due to concerns regarding serious threats to health and safety from living near the reactor.

Attacks.

In January 2012, media reports indicated that the Israel Atomic Energy Commission had decided to temporarily shut down the reactor. The site's vulnerability to attack from Iran was cited as the main reason for the decision. In October and November 2012, it was reported that Hamas had fired rockets at Dimona and/or Negev Nuclear Research Center. In July 2014 Hamas again fired rockets towards the area surrounding the reactor. The facility was not harmed or damaged in any of the attempted strikes.

Declassified documents.

In April 2016 the U.S. National Security Archive declassified dozens of documents from 1960 to 1970, which detail what American intelligence viewed as Israel’s attempts to obfuscate the purpose and details of its nuclear program. The Americans involved in discussions with Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and other Israelis believed the country was providing “untruthful cover” about intentions to build nuclear weapons.

Conspiracy theories.

Assassination of John F. Kennedy.

In 2004, Mordechai Vanunu stated that the assassination of John F. Kennedy was Israel's response to "pressure [Kennedy] exerted on...Ben-Gurion, to shed light on Dimona's nuclear reactor in Israel". The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi claimed during a United Nations General Assembly speech in 2009 that Israel had ordered the killing of President Kennedy because Kennedy had wanted to investigate the Negev Nuclear Plant.

References.

Bibliography.

"Books"  "Journals"  "News"  "Online sources"

The Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center (, formerly the "Negev Nuclear Research Center", unofficially sometimes referred to as the "Dimona reactor") is an Israeli nuclear installation located in the Negev desert, about thirteen kilometers south-east of the city of Dimona. In August 2018, it was renamed after the late President and Prime Minister of Israel, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres.

Izraelské atomové centrum Dimona (popřípadě Negevské nukleární výzkumné středisko) je izraelské výzkumné centrum pro atomovou energii. Nachází se v Negevské poušti, asi 13 km jihovýchodně od města Dimona. Jedná se o vysoce utajovaný a dobře oplocený a chráněný komplex, nad nímž je bezletová zóna. Oficiálně byl uváděn jako textilní továrna, ale všeobecně se má za to, že zde dochází k výrobě jaderných zbraní, což potvrzuje i mnoho expertů. Taktéž se objevily zprávy o tom, že se zde vyrábí ochuzený uran pro vojenské účely (plášť střel schopných prorazit pancíř). Izrael sice uznal existenci zařízení jako takového, ale nikdy nereagoval na otázky ohledně jeho účelu. Jeho stavba začala v roce 1958, ve spolupráci s francouzskými experty (dělníkům bylo řečeno, že se jedná o odsolovací zařízení). Komplex byl vystavěn v utajení a doposud nebyl nikdy kontrolován mezinárodním úřadem pro kontrolu atomové energie (IAEA) – inspektoři do jeho prostor zatím neměli přístup. Spojené státy americké zjistily pravý účel negevského střediska někdy v 60. letech 20. století a žádaly Izrael o prohlídku jejich inspektory. Izrael souhlasil, ale vyžádal si, aby každá prohlídka s náležitým předstihem avizována. Hlavní reaktor byl postaven někdy mezi lety 1962 a 1964 a předpokládá se, že první izraelské jaderné zbraně s plutoniem zde byly vyrobeny ještě před Šestidenní válkou. V roce 1986 byly detaily o negevském středisku vyzrazeny tamním technickým pracovníkem Mordechajem Vanunu.


Education.

Born in Pelham, New York, to immigrant Italian parents, Nick Bollettieri attended Pelham Memorial High School. He was a charter member of the Beta Lambda Chapter of the Omega Gamma Delta Fraternity and he graduated in 1949. In 1953, he graduated from Spring Hill College (Mobile, Alabama) with a degree in philosophy. After serving with the United States Army, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant, in 1956 he turned to teaching tennis after dropping out of the University of Miami Law School. Bollettieri's first students included Brian Gottfried. His first formal tennis camp was at Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

Career.

Though he had only dabbled at the sport in high school, Bollettieri was the tennis director at Dorado Beach Hotel in Puerto Rico in the late 1960s when it was a Rockefeller resort. His main assistant coach there was Julio Moros, who followed Bollettieri when he set up his academy in Florida.  Moving to Longboat Key, Florida, in 1977, Bollettieri served as an instructor for the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort. In 1978, Bollettieri opened the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy (NBTA) near Bradenton, Florida on 40 acres (162,000 m2) in unincorporated Manatee County on the west coast of Florida, about fifty miles south of Tampa. NBTA was the first major tennis boarding school and it changed the way tennis was taught at the elite junior level.  Seeing a template for other sports, International Management Group (IMG) bought the academy from Bollettieri in 1987, but Bollettieri continues to manage and play a pivotal role in the development of the tennis academy and ancillary programs. Bollettieri currently coaches top-tier players at the academy, and spends most of his life in Bradenton, Florida.

Off-court.

Bollettieri continues with teaching and public speaking engagements worldwide, including a visit to teach students at Tri-State Athletic Club in Evansville, Indiana. He is instruction editor of "TENNIS magazine" and has written an autobiography, "My Aces, My Faults", with Dick Schaap, New York City: HarperCollins (1996). Hardcover:,. New York: Avon Books (1997). Paperback:,.  Bollettieri has also written an instructional book, "Bollettieri's Tennis Handbook", which covers everything from stroke techniques and strategies to skill development and physical and mental conditioning. The "Nick Bollettieri DVD Collection" brings Bollettieri's teaching to life in a set of 10 DVDs that cover everything from tactics to practice and forehands to drop shots. Bollettieri has also published a very recent autobiography entitled: "BOLLETTIERI - Changing the Game", which covers everything from where he was born to the present.

Notable students.

The earliest Bollettieri pupils to reach no. 1 were Monica Seles, Jim Courier and Andre Agassi. Later, Marcelo Ríos climbed to the top while associated with Bollettieri. The Williams sisters have a long-standing relationship with Bollettieri, having visited the academy for years, and they often prepare for Grand Slams there. Mary Pierce and Anna Kournikova also trained at the academy. More recent students training with Bollettieri include Maria Sharapova (who moved from Russia at the age of nine) and Jelena Janković (from Belgrade, Serbia, aged 12); both became no. 1.

Honors.

On May 18, 2008, Bollettieri was honored at the New York College of Health Professions with an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters for his contribution to the world of sports, fitness, and wellness. Bollettieri also was commencement speaker at the college's commencement ceremony.  In 2014 he was inducted to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The following year, Bollettieri became the first white man to be inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame.

Family.

Bollettieri married Cindi Eaton on April 22, 2004. That same year, Nick and Cindi founded the nonprofit fitness camp, Camp Kaizen.  Bollettieri has seven children; five adult children, James, Danielle, Angelique, Nicole and Alexandra, and two adopted sons, Giovanni and Giacomo. He also has two granddaughters, Willa Bay and Addison Skye and two grandsons, Hudson and Jameson. Bollettieri's wife is Cindi Eaton Bollettieri.

Nicholas James Bollettieri (born July 31, 1931) is an American tennis coach. He pioneered the concept of a tennis boarding school, and helped develop many leading tennis players during the past decades, including Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles, and Mary Pierce. He has also worked with Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchová, Jelena Janković, Jerome Romualdez, Nicole Vaidišová, Sabine Lisicki, Sara Errani, Tommy Haas, Max Mirnyi, Xavier Malisse, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Anna Kournikova, Marcelo Ríos, Kei Nishikori. Bollettieri has also been a tour traveling coach, for the last time with Boris Becker for two years.

Nicholas James Bollettieri (* 31. července 1931, Pelham, New York) je americký tenisový trenér, zakladatel Tenisové akademie Nicka Bollettieriho, známý výchovou a vedením mnoha tenistů světové úrovně včetně Andre Agassiho, Jima Couriera, Moniky Selešové a Mary Pierceové.


Description.

Fulgurites are formed when lightning strikes the ground, fusing and vitrifying mineral grains. The primary SiO phase in common tube fulgurites is lechatelierite, an amorphous silica glass. Because their groundmass is generally amorphous in structure, fulgurites are classified as mineraloids.  Material properties (color, surface texture) of fulgurites vary widely, depending on bulk composition, interface dynamics, and trace elements. Most natural fulgurites fall on a spectrum from colorless (transparent), to white, to black. Iron oxide is a common impurity that can result in deep brownish-green coloration. Lechatelierite similar to fulgurites can also be produced via controlled (or uncontrolled) arcing of artificial electricity into a medium. Downed high voltage power lines have produced brightly-colored lechatelierites, due to copper or other materials from the power lines themselves. Brightly-colored lechatelierites resembling fulgurites are usually synthetic and reflect the incorporation of synthetic materials. However, lightning can strike man-made objects, resulting in colored fulgurites.  The interior of Type I (sand) fulgurites normally is smooth or lined with fine bubbles, while their exteriors are coated with rough sedimentary particles or small rocks. Other types or fulgurites are usually vesicular, and may lack an open central tube; their exteriors can be porous or smooth. Branching fulgurites display fractal-like self-similarity and structural scale invariance as a macroscopic or microscopic network of root-like branches, and can display this texture without central channels or obvious divergence from morphology of context or target (e.g. sheet-like melt, rock fulgurites). Fulgurites are usually fragile, making the field collection of large specimens difficult.  Fulgurites can exceed tens of centimeters in diameter and can penetrate deep into the subsoil, sometimes occurring as far as below the surface that was struck. Or they may form directly on sedimentary surfaces. One of the longest fulgurites to have been found in modern times was a little over in length, and was found in northern Florida. The Yale University Peabody Museum of Natural History displays one of the longest known preserved fulgurites, approximately in length. Charles Darwin in "The Voyage of the Beagle" recorded that tubes such as these found in Drigg, Cumberland, UK reached a length of. The Winans Lake fulgurite[s] (Winans Lake, Livingston County, Michigan), extended discontinuously throughout a 30 m range, and arguably includes the largest reported fulgurite mass ever recovered and described: its largest section extending approximately 16 ft (4.88 m) in length by 1 ft in diameter (30 cm).  Peak temperatures within a lightning channel exceed 30,000 K, with sufficient pressure to produce planar deformation features in SiO, a kind of polymorphism. This is also known colloquially as shocked quartz.

Classification.

Fulgurites have been classified by Pasek et al. (2012) into five types related to the type of sediment in which the fulgurite formed, as follows:

Significance.

Paleoenvironmental indicator.

The presence of fulgurites in an area can be used to estimate the frequency of lightning over a period of time, which can help to understand past regional climates. Paleolightning is the study of various indicators of past lightning strikes, primarily in the form of fulgurites and lightning-induced remanent magnetization (LIRM) signatures.

Place in planetary processes and the geologic record.

Many high-pressure, high-temperature materials have been observed in fulgurites. Many of these minerals and compounds are also known to be formed in extreme enviroments such as nuclear weapon tests, hypervelocity impacts, and interstellar space. Shocked quartz was first described in fulgurites in 1980. Other materials, including highly reduced silicon-metal alloys (silicides), the fullerene allotropes C (buckminsterfullerenes) and C, as well as high-pressure polymorphs of SiO, have since been identified in fulgurites.  Reduced phosphides have been identified in fulgurites, in the form of schreibersite (FeP, (Fe,Ni)P), and titanium(III) phosphide (TiP). These reduced compounds are otherwise rare on Earth due to the presence of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere, which creates oxidizing surface conditions.

Fulgurite (from the Latin "fulgur", meaning "lightning") are natural tubes, clumps, or masses of sintered, vitrified, and/or fused soil, sand, rock, organic debris and other sediments that sometimes form when lightning discharges into ground. Fulgurites are classified as a variety of the mineraloid lechatelierite. When lightning strikes a grounding substrate, upwards of 100 million volts (100 MV) are rapidly discharged into the ground. This charge propagates into and rapidly vaporizes and melts silica-rich quartzose sand, mixed soil, clay, or other sediments. This results in the formation of hollow, branching assemblages of glassy tubes, crusts, and vesicular masses. Because of the high temperature differential between the core of a fulgurite and the surrounding soil, many fulgurites show evidence of progressive crystallization: in addition to glasses, many are partially protocrystalline or microcrystalline. Fulgurites have no fixed composition because their chemical composition is determined by the physical and chemical properties of whatever material is being struck by lightning.

Fulgurit (název z latinského "fulgur", tedy blesk, blýskání), česky též bleskovec, je geologický útvar, vzniklý zásahem blesku do písku, případně půdy nebo pevných hornin. Systematicky je řazen mezi tzv. šokově metamorfované horniny.


Ethnic composition.

Baltic Germans were not a purely German ethnic group. The early crusaders, tradesmen and craftsmen often married local women, as there were no German women available. Some noble families, such as the Lievens, claimed descent through such women from native chieftains. Many of the German Livonian-Order soldiers died during the Livonian War of 1558–1583. New German arrivals came to the area. During this time the Low German ("Plattdeutsch") of the original settlers was gradually replaced by the High German ("Hochdeutsch") of the new settlers.  In the course of their 700-year history, Baltic German families had ethnic German roots, but also intermarried extensively with Estonians, Livonians and Latvians, as well as with other Northern or Central European peoples, such as Danes, Swedes, Irish, English, Scots, Poles, Hungarians and Dutch. In cases where intermarriage occurred, members of the other ethnic groups frequently assimilated into German culture, adopting German language, customs, and family names. They were then considered Germans, leading to the ethnogenesis of the Baltic Germans. The families of Barclay de Tolly and of George Armitstead (1847-1912), who had emigrated from the British Isles, married into and became part of the Baltic-German community.

Territories.

Baltic German settlements in the Baltic area consisted of the following territories:

Conquering the Baltics.

Small numbers of Ethnic Germans began to settle in the area in the late 12th century when traders and Christian missionaries began to visit the coastal lands inhabited by tribes who spoke Finnic and Baltic languages. Systematic conquest and settlement of these lands was completed during the Northern Crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries which resulted in creation of the Terra Mariana confederation, under the protection of Roman Popes and Holy Roman Empire. After the heavy defeat in the 1236 Battle of Saule the Livonian Brothers of the Sword became a part of the Teutonic Order.  During the next three centuries German-speaking soldiers, clergymen, merchants and craftsmen constituted the majority of the quickly growing urban population, as the native inhabitants usually were prohibited from settling there. Membership in the Hanseatic League and active trade links with Russia and Europe increased wealth of Baltic German traders.

Polish-Lithuanian and Swedish rule.

As the military power of the Teutonic Knights weakened during the 15th century wars with the Kingdom of Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Livonian branch in the north began to pursue its own policies. When the Prussian branch of the Order secularized in 1525 and became a Polish vassal state as the Duchy of Prussia, the Livonian branch remained independent while searching for a similar way to secularize. Livonia became mostly Protestant during the Reformation.  In 1558, the Tsardom of Russia began the Livonian War against Terra Mariana which soon involved the Kingdoms of Poland, Sweden, and Denmark and lasted for 20 years. In 1561, Terra Mariana ceased to exist and was divided among Denmark (which took the island of Ösel), Sweden (which took northern Estonia) and Poland, which annexed the newly created Duchy of Livonia, and granted the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a vassal state of Poland-Lithuania, to the last Master of the Livonian Order Gotthard Kettler. The secularized land was divided among the remaining knights who formed the basis of Baltic nobility.  The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia existed as a German-speaking country until 1795, while the northern part of Duchy of Livonia was conquered by Sweden which controlled parts of Estonia between 1561 and 1710 and Swedish Livonia between 1621 and 1710, having signed an agreement with the local Baltic German nobles not to undermine their political rights and autonomy.  The "Academia Gustaviana" (now University of Tartu) was founded in 1632 by King Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden. It remained the only institution of higher education in the former Livonian territories and became the intellectual focus of the Baltic Germans.  At the end of the 17th century Sweden introduced the land reduction in its Baltic provinces and properties held by German nobility became the property of the Crown. That effectively turned serfs into free peasants, but it would be overturned when Russia conquered these territories in 1710 and restored the rights of German landowners under the Treaty of Nystad.

Russia's Baltic governorates (1710–1917).

Between 1710 and 1795, following Russia's success in the Great Northern War and the three Partitions of Poland, the areas inhabited by Baltic Germans eventually became Baltic governorates of Russian Empire - Courland Governorate, Governorate of Livonia and Governorate of Estonia.

Autonomy.

The Baltic provinces remained autonomous and were self-governed by the local Baltic nobility. Until the imperial reforms of 1880s local government was in the hands of the landtag of each province, in which only members of the matriculated Baltic nobility held membership and cities were ruled by German burgomasters.  Between 1710 and approximately 1880 Baltic German ruling class enjoyed great autonomy from the Imperial government and achieved great political influence in the Imperial court. Starting from the 18th century Baltic German nobility increasingly assumed leading posts in the Russian imperial government, after all, Russia was ruled by a German dynasty of Holstein-Gottorp, and Baltic Germans provided a well-educated, Westernized elite.  Germans, other than the local estate-owners, mainly lived in the cities, such as Riga, "Reval", "Dorpat", "Pernau" and "Mitau". As late as the mid-19th century the population of many of these cities still had a German majority, with Estonian, Latvian or Jewish minorities. By 1867 Riga's population was 42.9% German. Until the late 19th century most of the professional and learned classes in the region, the "literati", were Germans.  German political and cultural autonomy ceased in the 1880s, when Russification replaced German administration and schooling with the usage of Russian. After 1885 provincial governors usually were Russians.

Rise of native peoples.

Years of peace under Russian rule brought increasing prosperity and many new manor houses were built in country estates, but economic exploitation worsened the situation of the native population. For examples, see List of palaces and manor houses in Latvia and List of palaces and manor houses in Estonia.  The native Latvian and Estonian population enjoyed fewer rights under the Baltic German nobility compared to the farmers in Germany, Sweden, or Poland. In contrast to the Baltic Germans, Estonians and Latvians had restricted civil rights and resided mostly in rural areas as serfs, tradesmen, or as servants in manors and urban homes. They had no rights to leave their masters and no last names. This was in keeping with the social scheme of things in Russian Empire, and lasted until the 19th century, when emancipation from serfdom brought those inhabitants increased civil freedoms and some political rights.  In 1804 Livonian peasant law was introduced by Imperial government, aimed at improving conditions for serfs. Serfdom was abolished in all Baltic provinces between 1816 and 1820, about half a century earlier than in Russia proper. For some time there was no outward tension between the German speakers and indigenous residents.  If earlier any Latvian or Estonian who managed to rise above his class was expected to Germanize and to forget his roots, by the middle of 19th century German urban classes began to feel increasing competition from the natives, who after the First Latvian National Awakening and Estonian national awakening produced their own middle class and moved to German and Jewish dominated towns and cities in increasing numbers.  The Revolution of 1905 led to attacks against the Baltic German landowners, the burning of manors, and the torture and even killing of members of the nobility. During the 1905 Revolution groups of rebels burned over 400 manor houses and German owned buildings and killed 82 Germans. In response Cossack punitive expeditions aided by German nobles and officers burned down hundreds of farms, arrested and deported thousands and summarily executed at least 2,000 people.  Reaction to 1905 Revolution included a scheme by Karl Baron von Manteuffel-Szoege and Silvio Broedrich-Kurmahlen to pacify the countryside by settling up to 20,000 ethnic German farmers, mostly from Volhynia, in Courland.

World War I.

World War I brought the end of the alliance of the Baltic Germans and the Russian Tsarist government. German heritage made them to be seen as the enemy by Russians. They were seen also as traitors by the German Empire if they remained loyal to Russia. Their loyalty to the state was questioned and rumors of a German fifth column increased together with the defeats of the Imperial army led by Baltic German general Paul von Rennenkampf. All German schools and societies were closed in the Estonian Governorate and Germans were ordered to leave the Courland Governorate for inner Russia.  Courland was conquered by Germany in 1915 and included into the military Ober Ost administration. After the Russian surrender at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1917, the German Empire occupied the remaining Baltic provinces.  The Ober Ost military administration began plans for German colonization of Courland. On April 20, 1917, the Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern front announced that 1/3 or arable land there should be reserved for settlement by German war veterans. This was approved by Courland's German nobility on September 22, 1917.

United Baltic Duchy.

Livonian and Estonian nobles on January 28, 1918, delivered a note of independence to Soviet representatives in Stockholm, announcing their intent to break away from Russia under the rights granted to them by the Treaty of Nystad of 1721. In response Bolsheviks, who controlled Estonia, arrested 567 leading Germans and deported them to Russia. After signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk they were allowed to return. Under German-Soviet treaties, Germany gained control over Courland, Riga, Saaremaa (Ösel), Livonia and Estonia.  In spring of 1918, Baltic Germans announced the restoration of the independent Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and pursued plans for uniting it with the Kingdom of Prussia. On April 12, 1918, Baltic German representatives from all Baltic provinces met in Riga and called on the German Emperor to annex the Baltic lands.  Later, instead of outright annexation, a plan for a United Baltic Duchy ruled by Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg was developed. Its regency council met on November 9, 1918, but collapsed together with the German Empire.

Independent Baltic states.

The Baltic Germans' rule and class privileges came to the end with the demise of the Russian Empire (due to the Bolshevik revolution of October 1917) and the independence of Estonia and Latvia in 1918–1919.  Baltic Germans greatly suffered under Bolshevik regimes in Estonia and Latvia. While short-lived, they pursued Red Terror against Germans, often killing them purely because of their nationality.  After the collapse of the German Empire, Baltic Germans in Estonia began forming volunteer units to defend against the Bolshevik threat. On November 27, 1918 this was authorized by the Estonian government, and the Volunteer Baltic Battalion ("Freiwilligen Baltenbataillon") was formed under the command of Colonel Constantin von Weiss ().  During the Estonian and Latvian independence wars of 1918–1920, many Baltic Germans signed voluntarily into the newly formed Estonian and Latvian armies to help secure the independence of these countries from Russia. These Baltic German military units became known as the "Baltische Landeswehr" in Latvia and "Baltenregiment ()" in Estonia. The State archives of Estonia and Latvia keep individual military records of each person who fought in this war.  "Baltische Landeswehr" units took Riga on May 22, 1919 which was followed by White Terror in which up to 2,000 people, mostly Latvians, were shot as suspected Bolshevik supporters.  Baltic German outlying estates were frequent targets of local Bolsheviks (as portrayed in the film, "Coup de Grâce") and the combination of local Bolsheviks and nationalists following independence brought about land nationalisations and a displacement of Baltic Germans from positions of authority. Baltic Germans of the Livonian Governorate found themselves in two new countries, both of which introduced sweeping agrarian reforms aimed at the large land owners, an absolute majority of whom were Germans.  As a result of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Russian Civil War, many Baltic Germans fled to Germany. After 1919, many Baltic Germans felt obliged to depart the newly independent states for Germany, but many stayed as ordinary citizens.  In 1925 there were 70,964 Germans in Latvia (3.6%) and 62,144 in 1935 (3.2% of population). Riga remained by far the largest German center with 38,523 Germans residing there in 1935, while Tallinn then had 6,575 Germans.  While the German landed class soon lost most of their lands after the agrarian reforms, they continued to work in their professions and to lead their companies. German cultural autonomy was respected. The Committee of the German Baltic Parties in Latvia and "Deutsch-baltische Partei in Estland" in Estonia participated in elections and won seats.  At the same time, as both young states built their institutions this often reduced the status of their minorities. In Latvia, children of mixed marriages were registered as Latvians while in Estonia they took the nationality of their fathers, who increasingly were Estonians. This quickly reduced the number of German children. German place names were eliminated from public use. German congregations lost their churches. Tallinn Cathedral was given to an Estonian congregation in 1927. After the 1923 referendum St. James's Cathedral in Riga was lost and Riga Cathedral taken away after another referendum in 1931.

Agrarian reforms.

At the start of independence Baltic Germans owned 58% of land in Estonia and 48% in Latvia. Radical agrarian reforms were implemented in both countries to break German power and to distribute land to the veterans of independence wars and landless peasants. This largely destroyed the landed class of German noble families and their economic base.  On October 10, 1919 the Estonian parliament expropriated 1,065 estates (96.6% of all estates). March 1, 1926 law set the compensation to the former owners of arable land at about 3% of its market value and no compensation at all for the forests. This almost instantly bankrupted the German noble class, even if they were allowed to keep some 50 ha of their lands.  On September 16, 1920 the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia nationalized 1,300 estates with 3.7 million hectares of land. Former German owners were allowed to keep 50 ha of land and farm equipment. In 1924, the Saeima decided that no compensation would be paid to former owners. In 1929, the Saeima voted that veterans of the "Baltische Landeswehr" could not receive any land.

Estonia.

In Estonia, there was only one German party, which from 1926 was led by Axel de Vries (), editor of "Revaler Bote". Their leading parliamentarian was Werner Hasselblatt (1890–1958). Germans never received ministerial posts in governments. The three largest minorities Germans, Swedes and Russians sometimes formed election coalitions. The "Deutsch-baltische Partei in Estland" was established to defend the interests of German landowners, who wanted to receive compensation for their nationalized lands and properties. After land nationalization they received no compensation, but could keep plots up to 50 ha which could not support their manor houses.  Germans were banned from governmental and military positions. Many Germans sold their properties and emigrated to Scandinavia or Western Europe. Most of the grand manor houses were taken over by schools, hospitals, local administration and museums.  Estonia's Baltic German population was smaller than Latvia's, so as Estonians continued to fill professional positions such as law and medicine, there was less of a leadership role for the Baltic Germans. Baron Wilhelm Wrangell, leader of the Baltic German cultural association between 1933 and 1938 was included in the Estonian Council of State after 1937 as a token representative of minorities. The last leader of Baltic German Cultural administration was.  On February 12, 1925 Estonia adapted the Cultural Autonomy and national Minorities act which provided for some cultural autonomy of Germans. Despite this, German community in Estonia continued to decline as the majority of young people chose to emigrate. By 1934 there were 16.346 Baltic Germans in Estonia, 1.5% of the total population.  Estonia allowed German schools in German language, they were overseen by the "Gesellschaft Deutsche Schulhilfe", which was part of the Union of German Societies in Estonia. After adoption of the Minority law of February 5, 1925 the Baltic German Cultural Council was created on November 1, 1925. In 1928, German schools were attended by 3,456 pupils.

Latvia.

In Latvia, Baltic Germans remained a politically active and organized ethnic group, although they lost some influence after the 1934 Latvian coup d'état. A couple of times Germans received ministerial posts in coalition governments. Commander of Latvia's Navy between 1919 and 1931 was Admiral Archibald Count von Keyserling.  Six, later seven, German parties existed and formed a coalition in the Saeima. The leading politicians were Baron Wilhelm Friedrich Karl von Fircks, leader of the Baltic-German People's Party and Paul Schiemann, editor in chief of the "" newspaper and leader of the Baltic-German Democratic Party. Increased activity of National Socialist supporters in the German community led to the resignation of Schiemann from the "Rigasche Rundschau" in 1933.  Minority cultural affairs were overseen by the Ministry of Culture and the German section was led by pastor Karl Keller (1868–1939) and later by Dr. Wolfgang Wachtsmuth. In 1923, there were 12.168 pupils in German schools. The Herder Institute, a private German university with three faculties (Theology, Jurisprudence and Political Science and Philosophy) was established.  In 1926, the German community introduced voluntary self-taxation, asking all Germans to contribute up to 3% of their monthly income to community activities. In 1928, the Baltic German National Community was established as the central representative body of Baltic Germans in Latvia.  Educational autonomy of Germans was severely limited in 1931–1933, when the Minister of Education introduced a policy of latvianization in minority schools. On July 18, 1934 the autonomous German schools were brought under complete control of the Ministry of Education.  After the May 15, 1934 coup all associations and independent business organizations had to shut down, this affected the German community especially hard, as they lost their ancient communal centers – guilds, and all of their property was nationalized. Then followed a wave of takeovers of Jewish, Russian and German businesses – banks, factories and trading companies were purchased by state owned banks at set rates in order to reduce minority control over businesses.

Resettlement of all Baltic Germans (1939–1944).

1939–1940.

As a result of the secret agreements of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, Estonia and Latvia were assigned to the "Soviet sphere of influence". One of the main conditions posed by Hitler to Stalin in August 1939 was the prior transfer of all ethnic Germans living in Estonia and Latvia to areas under German military control. These became known as the Nazi–Soviet population transfers. Stalin proceeded to set up Soviet military bases in Estonia and Latvia in late 1939.  In a speech to Reichstag on October 6, 1939 with was broadcast live on radio, Hitler announced that German minorities should be resettled in the Reich (Back home to Reich, "heim ins Reich"). Resettlement was overseen by Himmler who created a new Reich Commisariat for the Strengthening of Germandom for this purpose.  Treaties were signed with Estonia and Latvia in 1939 and 1940 concerning the emigration of Baltic Germans and the liquidation of their educational, cultural, and religious institutions. Nazi Germany succeeded in getting the Baltic Germans to abandon their homes and homeland in haste. Due to the imposition of wartime rationing, Germans were banned from taking along any valuables, objects of historic value, fuels and even food. Massive sell-off of household items and small businesses followed. Larger properties, real estate and businesses were sold over a longer period of time by a special German commission to local governments.  The Estonian and Latvian governments published books containing alphabetical lists of the names of resettled Baltic German adults together with their birthdate, birthplace and last address in the Baltics.  Baltic Germans left by ships from the port cities of Estonia and Latvia to ports of Gotenhafen and Stettin and then were transported to Posen and Lodz in "Reichsgau Wartheland" (sometimes called "Warthegau") and other Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany. The "new" homes and farms they were given to live in had been owned and inhabited by Poles and Jews just a few months earlier who were executed or deported eastwards when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. The new arrivals fulfilled Nazi plans for ethnic Germanization of these lands.

Spring 1941 resettlement.

In early 1941, the Nazi German government arranged another resettlement for all those who had refused to leave in 1939 or 1940. The action was called the "Nachumsiedlung". This time around no compensation was offered for any property or belongings left behind and this group of resettlers were treated with intense suspicion or considered traitors because they had refused Hitler's first call to leave the Baltics in 1939. Most of these arrivals were first settled in filtration camps. Unknown to the general public, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union was only 2 to 4 months away, and this was Hitler's last chance to transfer these people in peacetime conditions.  By this time, the remaining Baltic Germans in Estonia and Latvia found themselves in a vastly different situation than in 1939. Their countries were now occupied by the Soviet Union, and intense pressure and intimidation had been put on anyone with a position of privilege or wealth before 1939. Mass arrests and some killings had taken place. Fearing a worsening of the situation, the vast majority of the remaining Baltic Germans decided to leave. About 7,000 resettled from Estonia by late March 1941, and approximately 10,500 resettled from Latvia by late March 1941.  No books were published listing those who resettled in 1941; however, the present-day archives of Estonia and Latvia still have the lists of all those who left in this year.

1941–1944.

A very small minority of Baltic Germans refused again to be resettled and remained in the Baltics past March 1941. Some fell victim to the Soviet deportations to Siberian gulags beginning in early June 1941. The names and data of those deported from Estonia from 1941 to 1953 have been published in books. Details are kept at the Museum of Occupations in Estonia.  After the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union and the conquering of Latvia and Estonia, a small number of Baltic Germans were allowed to return in order to serve as translators, but requests of many resettled Germans to be allowed to return to their homelands were denied by Himmler's SS. Many German Baltic men were mobilized in the occupied Warthegau and served in the German army.  The resettled Germans fled west with the retreating German army in 1944. No precise numbers or lists are available for them. However, several thousand Baltic Germans remained in the Baltics after 1944, but they were subject to widespread discrimination (and possible deportation to Siberia until 1953) by the Soviet authorities ruling Estonia and Latvia. As a result of this, many hid or lied about their Baltic German origins. Most of those who stayed past 1944 were children of mixed ethnic marriages or themselves married to ethnic Estonians, Latvians or Russians and their descendants no longer consider themselves German.

"Second resettlement" 1945.

The Soviet Union's advance into Poland and Germany in late 1944 and early 1945 resulted in the Baltic Germans being evacuated by the German authorities (or simply fleeing) from their "new homes" to areas even further in the west to escape the advancing Red Army. Most of them settled in West Germany, with some ending up in East Germany.  In stark contrast to the resettlements in 1939–1941, this time around the evacuation in most of the areas was delayed until the last moment, when it was too late to conduct it in an orderly fashion, and practically all of them had to leave most of their belongings behind. Seeing as they had only been living in these "new" homes for only about five years, this was almost seen as a second forced resettlement for them, albeit under different circumstances.  Many Baltic Germans were on board the KdF Ship "Wilhelm Gustloff" when it was sunk by a Soviet submarine on January 30, 1945. By one estimate, About 9,400 people on board died, which would make it the largest loss of life in a single ship sinking in history. Additionally, many Baltic Germans died during the sinking of the SS "General von Steuben" on February 10, 1945.  Two books listing the names and personal data of all Baltic Germans who died as a result of the resettlements and wartime conditions between 1939 and 1947 have been published by the Baltic German genealogical society: "Deutsch-baltisches Gedenkbuch. Unsere Toten der Jahre 1939–1947" by Karin von Borbély, Darmstadt, 1991; and "Nachtrag zum Deutsch-baltisches Gedenkbuch" by Karin von Borbély, Darmstadt, 1995.  With Estonia and Latvia falling under Soviet rule after 1944, most Baltic Germans did not return to the Soviet occupied Baltics.

Canada.

Many thousands of Baltic Germans emigrated to Canada starting in 1948 with the support of Canadian Governor General The Earl Alexander of Tunis, who had known many Baltic Germans when he had commanded the Baltic German Landeswehr for a short time in 1919. Initially only 12 Germans were allowed to settle in 1948. Based on the good behavior of this group, many thousands of Baltic Germans were soon allowed to immigrate during the following years.  A small group of Latvians and Baltic Germans emigrated to Newfoundland as part of then Premier Joseph Smallwood's New Industries Program. Several families in Corner Brook built, operated and worked in the cement and gypsum plants that provided essential material for the creation of Newfoundland's infrastructure after Confederation.

Destruction of cultural heritage in the Soviet Baltics (1945–1989).

During the 50-year-long occupation of the Baltic states, Soviet occupation authorities governing the Estonian SSR and the Latvian SSR, politically empowered by their victory in World War II, were keen to erase any traces of ethnic German rule in past centuries. Numerous statues, monuments, structures or landmarks with German writing were destroyed, vandalized or left to ruin.  The largest Baltic German cemeteries in Estonia, Kopli cemetery and Mõigu cemetery, both standing since 1774, were completely destroyed by the Soviet authorities. Great Cemetery of Riga, the largest burial ground of Baltic Germans in Latvia standing since 1773, also had the vast majority of its graves destroyed by the Soviets.

1989 to present.

The present-day governments of Estonia and Latvia, who regained their independence in 1991, generally take a positive, or sometimes neutral, view towards the contributions of the Baltic Germans in the development of their cities and countries throughout their history. An occasional exception to this comes with some criticism in relation to the major landowners, who controlled most of the rural areas of the Baltics, and the ethnic Estonians and Latvians, until 1918.  After Estonia regained independence from the Soviet Union on August 20, 1991, the exiled association of the German Baltic nobility sent an official message to the president-to-be Lennart Meri that no member of the association would claim proprietary rights to their former Estonian lands. This, and the fact that the first German ambassadors to Estonia and Latvia were both Baltic Germans, helped to further reconcile the Baltic Germans with these two countries.  Cooperation between Baltic German societies and the governments of Estonia and Latvia has made the restoration of many small Baltic German plaques and landmarks possible, such as monuments to those who fought in the 1918–1920 War of Independence.  Since 1989, many elderly Baltic Germans, or their descendants, have taken holidays to Estonia and Latvia to look for traces of their own past, their ancestral homes, and their family histories. Most of the remaining manor houses have new owners, and operate as hotels that are open to the public.

Notable Baltic Germans.

Baltic Germans played leading roles in the society of what are now Estonia and Latvia throughout most of the period from 13th to mid-20th century, with many of them becoming noted scientists or explorers. A number of Baltic Germans served as ranking generals in the Russian Imperial Army and Navy, including Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Adam Johann von Krusenstern, Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden, Paul von Rennenkampf and Franz Eduard von Totleben.  Many Baltic Germans (such as Eugen Müller and Prince Anatol von Lieven) sided with the Whites and related anti-Bolshevik forces (like the "Baltische Landeswehr" and the "Freikorps" movement) during the Russian Civil War.

The Baltic Germans ( or, later ) and остзейцы "ostzeitsy" 'Balters' in Russian) are ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined as a geographically determined ethnic group. The largest groups of present-day descendants of the Baltic Germans live in Germany and Canada. It is estimated that several thousand still reside in Latvia and Estonia.

Baltští Němci ( "Deutsch-Balten" nebo "Baltendeutsche", nebo či – odvozeno od – německého jména Baltského moře) je označení užívané pro německé obyvatelstvo obývající od středověku do 40. let 20. století Livonsko, tj. východní pobřeží Baltského moře dnes patřící k Lotyšsku a Estonsku.


Etymology.

The word "mask" appeared in English in the 1530s, from Middle French "masque" "covering to hide or guard the face", derived in turn from Italian "maschera", from Medieval Latin "masca" "mask, specter, nightmare". This word is of uncertain origin, perhaps from Arabic "maskharah" مَسْخَرَۃٌ "buffoon", from the verb "sakhira" "to ridicule". However, it may also come from Provençal "mascarar" "to black (the face)" (or the related Catalan "mascarar", Old French

History.

The use of masks in rituals or ceremonies is a very ancient human practice across the world, although masks can also be worn for protection, in hunting, in sports, in feasts, or in wars – or simply used as ornamentation. Some ceremonial or decorative masks were not designed to be worn. Although the religious use of masks has waned, masks are used sometimes in drama therapy or psychotherapy. One of the challenges in anthropology is finding the precise derivation of human culture and early activities, with the invention and use of the mask only one area of unsolved inquiry. The use of masks dates back several millennia. It is conjectured that the first masks may have generally been used by primitive people to associate the wearer with some kind of unimpeachable authority, such as "the gods" or to otherwise lend credence to the person's claim on a given social role.  The oldest masks that have been discovered are 9,000 years old, being held by the Musée "Bible et Terre Sainte" (Paris), and the Israel Museum (Jerusalem). Most probably the practice of masking is much older – the earliest known anthropomorphic artwork is circa 30,000–40,000 years old – but insofar as it involved the use

Masks in performance.

Throughout the world, masks are used for their expressive power as a feature of masked performance – both ritually and in various theatre traditions. The ritual and theatrical definitions of mask usage frequently overlap and merge but still provide a useful basis for categorisation. The image of juxtaposed Comedy and Tragedy masks are widely used to represent the Performing Arts, and specifically drama.  In many dramatic traditions including the theatre of ancient Greece, the classical Noh drama of Japan (14th century to present), the traditional Lhamo drama of Tibet, Talchum in Korea, and the Topeng dance of Indonesia, masks were or are typically worn by all the performers, with several different types of mask used for different types of character.  In Ancient Rome, the word "persona" meant 'a mask'; it also referred to an individual who had full Roman citizenship. A citizen could demonstrate

Ritual masks.

Ritual masks occur throughout the world, and although they tend to share many characteristics, highly distinctive forms have developed. The function of the masks may be magical or religious; they may appear in rites of passage or as a make-up for a form of theatre. Equally masks may disguise a penitent or preside over important ceremonies; they may help mediate with spirits, or offer a protective role to the society who utilise their powers. Biologist Jeremy Griffith has suggested that ritual masks, as representations of the human face, are extremely revealing of the two fundamental aspects of the human psychological condition: firstly, the repression of a cooperative, instinctive self or soul; and secondly, the extremely angry state of the unjustly condemned conscious thinking egocentric intellect.  In parts of Australia, giant totem masks cover the body.

Africa.

There are a wide variety of masks used in Africa. In West Africa, masks are used in masquerades that form part of religious ceremonies enacted to communicate with spirits and ancestors. Examples are the masquerades of the Yoruba, Igbo, and Edo cultures, including Egungun Masquerades and Northern Edo Masquerades. The masks are usually carved with an extraordinary skill and variety by artists who will usually have received their training as an apprentice to a master carver – frequently it is a tradition that has been passed down within a family through many generations. Such an artist holds a

Oceania.

The variety and beauty of the masks of Melanesia are almost as highly developed as in Africa. It is a culture where ancestor worship is dominant and religious ceremonies are devoted to ancestors. Inevitably, many of the mask types relate to use in these ceremonies and are linked with the activities of secret societies. The mask is regarded as an instrument of revelation, giving

North America.

Arctic Coastal groups have tended towards simple religious practice but a highly evolved and rich mythology, especially concerning hunting. In some areas, annual shamanic ceremonies involved masked dances and these strongly abstracted masks are arguably the most striking artifacts produced in this region.  Inuit groups vary widely and do not share a common mythology or language. Not surprisingly their mask traditions are also often different, although their masks are often made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones, and feathers. In some areas Inuit women use finger masks during storytelling and dancing. Pacific Northwest Coastal indigenous groups were generally highly skilled woodworkers. Their masks were often master-pieces of carving, sometimes with movable jaws, or a mask within a mask, and parts moved by pulling cords. The carving of masks was

Latin America.

Distinctive styles of masks began to emerge in pre-Hispanic America about 1200BC, although there is evidence of far older mask forms. In the Andes, masks were used to dress the faces of the dead. These were originally made of fabric, but later burial masks were sometimes made of beaten copper or gold, and occasionally of clay.  For the Aztecs, human skulls were prized as war trophies, and skull masks were not uncommon. Masks were also used as part of court entertainments, possibly combining political

Asia.

India/Sri Lanka/Indo-China.

Masked characters, usually divinities, are a central feature of Indian dramatic forms, many based on depicting the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Countries that have had strong Indian cultural influences – Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand, and Lao – have developed the Indian forms, combined with local myths, and developed their own

Indonesia.

In Indonesia, the mask dance predates Hindu-Buddhist influences. It is believed that the use of masks is related to the cult of the ancestors, which considered dancers the interpreters of the gods. Native Indonesian tribes such as Dayak have

China.

In China, masks are thought to have originated in ancient religious ceremonies. Images of people wearing masks have been found in rock paintings along the Yangtze. Later mask forms brings together myths and symbols from shamanism and Buddhism.  "Shigong" dance masks were used in shamanic rituals

Korea.

Korean masks have a long tradition associated with shamanism and later in ritual dance. Korean masks were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses; ceremonially, for burial rites in jade and bronze

Japan.

Japanese masks are part of a very old and highly sophisticated and stylized theatrical tradition. Although the roots are in prehistoric myths and cults, they have developed into refined art forms. The oldest masks are the "gigaku". The form no longer exists, and was probably a type of dance presentation. The "bugaku" developed from this – a complex dance-drama that used masks with moveable jaws.  The "nō" or noh mask evolved from the gigaku and bugaku and are acted entirely by men. The masks are worn throughout very long performances and are consequently very light. The "nō" mask is the supreme achievement of Japanese mask-making. "Nō" masks represent gods, men, women, madmen and devils, and each category has many sub-divisions. "Kyōgen" are short farces with their own masks, and accompany the tragic nō plays. Kabuki is the theatre of modern Japan, rooted in the older forms, but in this form masks are replaced by painted faces.

Inuit cultures.

Middle East.

Theatre in the Middle East, as elsewhere, was initially of a ritual nature, dramatising man's relationship with nature, the gods, and other human beings. It grew out of sacred rites of myths and legends performed by priests and lay actors at fixed times and often in fixed locations. Folk theatre – mime, mask, puppetry, farce, juggling – had a ritual context in that it was performed at religious or rites of

Europe.

Masks are used throughout Europe, and are frequently integrated into regional folk celebrations and customs. Old masks are preserved and can be seen in museums and other collections, and much research has been undertaken into the historical origins of masks. Most probably represent nature spirits, and as a result many of the associated customs are seasonal. The original significance would have survived only until the introduction of Christianity which then incorporated many of the customs into its own traditions. In the process their meanings were also changed so, for example, old gods and goddesses were, literally, demonised and were viewed as mere devils, subjugated to the Abrahamic God.  Many of the

Masks in theatre.

Masks play a key part within world theatre traditions, particularly non-western theatre forms. They also continue to be a vital force within contemporary theatre, and their usage takes a variety of forms.  In many cultural traditions, the masked performer is a central concept and is highly valued. In the western tradition, actors in Ancient Greek theatre wore masks, as they do in traditional Japanese Noh drama. In some Greek masks, the wide and open mouth of the mask contained a brass megaphone enabling the voice of the wearer to be projected into the large auditoria. In medieval Europe, masks were used in mystery and miracle plays to portray allegorical creatures, and the performer representing God frequently wore a gold or gilt mask. During the Renaissance, masques and ballet de cour developed – courtly masked entertainments that continued as part of ballet conventions until the late eighteenth century. The masked characters of the Commedia dell'arte included the ancestors of the modern clown. In contemporary western theatre, the mask is often used alongside puppetry to create a theatre which is essentially visual rather than verbal, and many of its practitioners have been visual artists.  Masks are an important part of many theatre forms throughout world cultures, and their usage in theatre has often developed from, or continues to be part of old, highly sophisticated, stylized theatrical traditions.

Contemporary theatre.

Masks and puppets were often incorporated into the theatre work of European avant-garde artists from the turn of the nineteenth century. Alfred Jarry, Pablo Picasso, Oskar Schlemmer, and other artists of the Bauhaus School, as well as surrealists and Dadaists, experimented with theatre forms and masks in their work.  In the 20th century, many theatre practitioners, such as Meyerhold, Edward Gordon Craig, Jacques Copeau, and others in their lineage, attempted to move away from Naturalism. They turned to sources such as Oriental Theatre (particularly Japanese Noh theatre) and commedia dell'arte, both of which forms feature masks prominently.  Edward Gordon Craig

Functional masks.

Masks are also familiar as pieces of kit associated with practical functions, usually protective. There has been a proliferation of such masks recently but there is a long history of protective armour and even medical masks to ward off plague. The contrast with performance masks is not always clear-cut. Ritual and theatrical masks themselves can be considered to be practical, and protective masks in a sports context in particular are often designed to enhance the appearance of the wearer.

Medical.

Some masks are

Protective.

Protective masks are pieces of kit or equipment worn on the head and face to afford protection to the wearer, and today usually have these functions:  In Roman gladiatorial tournaments masks were sometimes used. From archaeological evidence it is clear that these were not only protective but also helped make the wearer appear more intimidating. In medieval Europe and in Japan soldiers and samurai

Disguise.

Masks are sometimes used to avoid recognition. As a disguise the mask acts as a form of protection for the wearer who wishes to assume a role or task without being identified by others. Masks are also used to prevent recognition

Sports.

An interesting example of a sports mask that confounds the protective function is the wrestling mask, a mask most widely used in the Mexican/Latin lucha libre style

Punitive.

Masks are sometimes used to punish the

Fashion.

Decorative masks may be worn as part of a costume outside of ritual or ceremonial functions. This is often described as a masque, and relates closely

Horror film.

Masks have been used in many horror films to conceal the identities of the killer. Notable examples include Jason Voorhees of the "Friday the 13th" series, Jigsaw Killer from Saw, Ghostface of the "Scream" series, and Michael Myers of the "Halloween" series.

A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, as well as in the performing arts and for entertainment. They are usually worn on the face, although they may also be positioned for effect elsewhere on the wearer's body.

Maska (z franc. "masque", snad z arab. "maskara", šašek) je kulturní předmět, jímž si člověk maskuje či zakrývá obličej nebo jeho část. Maska tak zakrývá totožnost svého nositele a zpravidla předstírá nebo propůjčuje nějakou jinou. Vyskytuje se prakticky ve všech známých kulturách a slouží k velmi rozmanitým účelům. Patrně nejstarší jsou masky rituální a pohřební, později divadelní, plesové a karnevalové (maškara). Masky jsou důležité téma etnologie a kulturní antropologie.


Definitions.

Let Σ be a finite alphabet of "b"-digits, and Σ the set of all sequences that may be drawn from that alphabet. Let "S" ∈ Σ be such a sequence. For each "a" in Σ let "N"("a", "n") denote the number of times the digit "a" appears in the first "n" digits of the sequence "S". We say that "S" is simply normal if the limit  for each "a". Now let "w" be any finite string in Σ and let "N"("w", "n") be the number of times the string "w" appears as a substring in the first "n" digits of the sequence "S". (For instance, if "S" = 01010101..., then "N"(010, 8) = 3.) "S" is normal if, for all finite strings "w" ∈ Σ,  where | "w" | denotes the length of the string "w". In other words, "S" is normal if all strings of equal length occur with equal asymptotic frequency. For example, in a normal binary sequence (a sequence over the alphabet {0,1}), 0 and 1 each occur with frequency ⁄; 00, 01, 10, and 11 each occur with frequency ⁄; 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, and 111 each occur with frequency ⁄, etc. Roughly speaking, the probability of finding the string "w" in any given position in "S" is precisely that expected if the sequence had been produced at random.  Suppose now that "b" is an integer greater than 1 and "x" is a real number. Consider the infinite digit sequence expansion "S" of "x" in the base "b" positional number system (we ignore the decimal point). We say that "x" is simply normal in base "b if the sequence "S" is simply normal and that "x" is normal in base "b if the sequence "S" is normal. The number "x" is called a normal number (or sometimes an absolutely normal number) if it is normal in base "b" for every integer "b" greater than 1.  A given infinite sequence is either normal or not normal, whereas a real number, having a different base-"b" expansion for each integer "b" ≥ 2, may be normal in one base but not in another (in which case it is not a normal number). For bases "r" and "s" with log "r" / log "s" rational (so that "r" = "b" and "s" = "b") every number normal in base "r" is normal in base "s". For bases "r" and "s" with log "r" / log "s" irrational, there are uncountably many numbers normal in each base but not the other.  A disjunctive sequence is a sequence in which every finite string appears. A normal sequence is disjunctive, but a disjunctive sequence need not be normal. A "rich number" in base "b" is one whose expansion in base "b" is disjunctive: one that is disjunctive to every base is called "absolutely disjunctive" or is said to be a "lexicon". A number normal in base "b" is rich in base "b", but not necessarily conversely. The real number "x" is rich in base "b" if and only if the set {"xb" mod 1 : "n" ∈ N} is dense in the unit interval.  We defined a number to be simply normal in base "b" if each individual digit appears with frequency 1/"b". For a given base "b", a number can be simply normal (but not normal or "b"-dense), "b"-dense (but not simply normal or normal), normal (and thus simply normal and "b"-dense), or none of these. A number is absolutely non-normal or absolutely abnormal if it is not simply normal in any base.

Properties and examples.

For any base, while rational numbers can be simply normal in a particular base, every normal number is irrational.  The concept of a normal number was introduced by. Using the Borel–Cantelli lemma, he proved that almost all real numbers are normal, establishing the existence of normal numbers. showed that it is possible to specify a particular such number. proved that there is a computable absolutely normal number. Although this construction does not directly give the digits of the numbers constructed, it shows that it is possible in principle to enumerate all the digits of a particular normal number.  The set of non-normal numbers, despite being "large" in the sense of being uncountable, is also a null set (as its Lebesgue measure as a subset of the real numbers is zero, so it essentially takes up no space within the real numbers). Also, the non-normal numbers (as well as the normal numbers) are dense in the reals: the set of non-normal numbers between two distinct real numbers is non-empty since it contains every rational number (in fact, it is uncountably infinite and even comeagre). For instance, there are uncountably many numbers whose decimal expansions (in base 3 or higher) do not contain the digit 1, and none of these numbers is normal.  Champernowne's constant obtained by concatenating the decimal representations of the natural numbers in order, is normal in base 10. Likewise, the different variants of Champernowne's constant (done by performing the same concatenation in other bases) are normal in their respective bases (for example, the base-2 Champernowne constant is normal in base 2), but they have not been proven to be normal in other bases.  The Copeland–Erdős constant obtained by concatenating the prime numbers in base 10, is normal in base 10, as proved by. More generally, the latter authors proved that the real number represented in base "b" by the concatenation where "f"("n") is the "n" prime expressed in base "b", is normal in base "b". proved that the number represented by the same expression, with "f"("n") = "n", obtained by concatenating the square numbers in base 10, is normal in base 10. proved that the number represented by the same expression, with "f" being any non-constant polynomial whose values on the positive integers are positive integers, expressed in base 10, is normal in base 10.  where ["f"("n")] is the integer part of "f"("n") expressed in base "b", is normal in base "b". (This result includes as special cases all of the above-mentioned results of Champernowne, Besicovitch, and Davenport & Erdős.) The authors also show that the same result holds even more generally when "f" is any function of the form where the αs and βs are real numbers with β > β > β >... > β ≥ 0, and "f"("x") > 0 for all "x" > 0.  It has been an elusive goal to prove the normality of numbers that are not artificially constructed. While, π, ln(2), and e are strongly conjectured to be normal, it is still not known whether they are normal or not. It has not even been proven that all digits actually occur infinitely many times in the decimal expansions of those constants (for example, in the case of π, the popular claim "every string of numbers eventually occurs in π" is not known to be true). It has also been conjectured that every irrational algebraic number is absolutely normal (which would imply that is normal), and no counterexamples are known in any base. However, no irrational algebraic number has been proven to be normal in any base.

Non-normal numbers.

No rational number is normal in any base, since the digit sequences of rational numbers are eventually periodic. However, a rational number can be "simply" normal in a particular base. For example, formula_3 is simply normal in base 10.  Then α is a Liouville number and is absolutely abnormal.

Properties.

Additional properties of normal numbers include:

Connection to finite-state machines.

Agafonov showed an early connection between finite-state machines and normal sequences: every infinite subsequence selected from a normal sequence by a regular language is also normal. In other words, if one runs a finite-state machine on a normal sequence, where each of the finite-state machine's states are labeled either "output" or "no output", and the machine outputs the digit it reads next after entering an "output" state, but does not output the next digit after entering a "no output state", then the sequence it outputs will be normal.  A deeper connection exists with finite-state gamblers (FSGs) and information lossless finite-state compressors (ILFSCs).  Schnorr and Stimm showed that no FSG can succeed on any normal sequence, and Bourke, Hitchcock and Vinodchandran showed the converse. Therefore: Ziv and Lempel showed: (they actually showed that the sequence's optimal compression ratio over all ILFSCs is exactly its "entropy rate", a quantitative measure of its deviation from normality, which is 1 exactly when the sequence is normal). Since the LZ compression algorithm compresses asymptotically as well as any ILFSC, this means that the LZ compression algorithm can compress any non-normal sequence.  These characterizations of normal sequences can be interpreted to mean that "normal" = "finite-state random"; i.e., the normal sequences are precisely those that appear random to any finite-state machine. Compare this with the algorithmically random sequences, which are those infinite sequences that appear random to any algorithm (and in fact have similar gambling and compression characterizations with Turing machines replacing finite-state machines).

Connection to equidistributed sequences.

A number "x" is normal in base "b" if and only if the sequence formula_26 is equidistributed modulo 1, or equivalently, using Weyl's criterion, if and only if  This connection leads to the terminology that "x" is normal in base β for any real number β if the sequence formula_28 is equidistributed modulo 1.

In mathematics, a real number is said to be simply normal in an integer base b if its infinite sequence of digits is distributed uniformly in the sense that each of the b digit values has the same natural density 1/b. A number is said to be normal in base b if, for every positive integer n, all possible strings n digits long have density b.

Normální číslo je takové reálné číslo, v jehož reprezentaci v každém základu "z" (např. "z"=10 pro desítkovou soustavu) jsou Jinými slovy, všechny posloupnosti cifer délky "n" se vyskytují s limitní hustotou formula_3.


Name.

He was the "first Magnus" to rule Sweden for any length of time, not generally regarded as a usurper or a pretender (but third Magnus to have been proclaimed Sweden's king and ruled there). Later historians ascribe his epithet "Ladulås" – "Barnlock" – to a royal decree of 1279 or 1280 freeing the yeomanry from the duty to provide sustenance for travelling nobles and bishops ("Peasants! Lock your barns!"); another theory is that it's a corruption of Ladislaus, which could possibly have been his second name, considering his Slavic heritage. This king has also been referred to as Magnus I, but that is not recognized by any Swedish historians today.

Early life.

Magnus, whose birth year has never been confirmed in modern times, was probably the second son of Birger Jarl (1200–66) and Princess Ingeborg, herself the sister of the childless King Eric XI and daughter of King Eric X. Thus, Valdemar Birgersson (1239–1302) was the eldest son and ruled as Valdemar, King of Sweden from 1250-1275, succeeding King Eric, their maternal uncle who ruled until 1250. Birger Jarl had designated Magnus as Jarl, henceforth titled Duke of Sweden, and as Valdemar's successor. Even after Valdemar's coming of age in 1257, Birger Jarl kept his grip over the country. After Birger's death in 1266 Valdemar came into conflict with Magnus who wanted the throne for himself.

Accession and marriage.

In 1275, Duke Magnus started a rebellion against his brother with Danish help, and ousted him from the throne. Valdemar was deposed by Magnus after the Battle of Hova in the forest of Tiveden on June 14, 1275. Magnus was elected king at the Stones of Mora ("Mora stenar"). In 1276, Magnus allegedly married a second wife Helwig, daughter of Gerard I of Holstein. Through her mother, Elizabeth of Mecklenburg, Helwig was a descendant of Christina, the putative daughter of King Sverker II. A papal annulment of Magnus' alleged first marriage and a dispensation for the second (necessary because of consanguinity) were issued ten years later, in 1286. Haelwig later acted as regent, probably 1290–1302 and 1320–1327.

Reign.

The deposed King Valdemar managed, with Danish help in turn, to regain provinces in Gothenland in the southern part of the kingdom, and Magnus had to recognize that in 1277. However, Magnus regained them about 1278 and assumed the additional title "rex Gothorum", King of the Goths, starting the tradition of "King of the Swedes and the Goths".  King Magnus's youngest brother, Benedict (1254-1291), then archdeacon, acted as his Lord High Chancellor of Sweden, and in 1284 Magnus rewarded him with the Duchy of Finland.  Magnus died when his sons were yet underage. Magnus ordered his kinsman Thurchetel Canuteson, the Lord High Constable of Sweden as the guardian of his heir, the future King Birger, who was about ten years old at father's death.

Modern research.

In spring 2011, archaeologists and osteologists from the University of Stockholm were given permission to open one of the royal graves in Riddarholm Church ("Riddarholmskyrkan") in order to study the remains of what was presumed to be Magnus Ladulås and some of his relatives. SVT broadcast a presentation of the preliminary studies, where a number of results were presented; among others his sickly disposition. Carbon-14 tests dated the bones to the 15th century, indicating the remains could not be those of the king and his family. In December 2011, the researchers applied for permission to open the neighbouring sarcophagus, which has hitherto been presumed to contain the bones of a later king, Charles VIII.

Children.

From his alleged first (annulled) marriage to an unknown woman:  From his second marriage to Helwig of Holstein:

Magnus III (; ca. 1240 – 18 December 1290) was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290.

Magnus III. Švédský ( "Magnus Ladulås" nebo "Magnus Birgersson", "Maunu Ladonlukko" nebo "Maunu Birgerinpoika"; 1240 – 8. prosince 1290) byl švédský jarl a král.