title: Shreya Dhanwanthary

text: In 2019, she played Zoya in the web series "The Family Man" of Amazon Prime for season 1 and continued the role in Season 2 (June 2021) on Amazon Prime. In 2020, she played Sucheta Dalal in the webseries "Scam 1992". In 2021, Dhanwanthary is seen playing the role of Mansi in the Amazon Prime web series Mumbai Diaries 26/11. Directed by Nikkhil Advani and produced by Emmay Entertainment, it also features Konkona Sen Sharma, Mohit Raina and Tina Desai in the lead roles.


title: Shreya Dhanwanthary

text: Dhanwanthary was ranked at the 43rd place in "The Times of India" "Most Desirable Women List" in 2020. Popular brands endorsed by her include Airtel, Pantaloons, Safi, Provogue, Vogue Eyewear, Gitanjal Maya Gold jewellery, D'damas jewellery, Jashn Sarees and Liberty Footwear.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: Mona Lisa Smile is a 2003 American drama film produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures in association with Red Om Films Productions, directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and starring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The title is a reference to the "Mona Lisa", the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and to the song of the same name, originally performed by Nat King Cole, which was covered by Seal for the movie. Julia Roberts received a record $25 million for her performance, the highest ever earned by an actress at that time.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: In 1953, Katherine Ann Watson, a 30-year-old graduate student in the Department of Art History at UCLA and Oakland State, takes a position teaching the history of art at Wellesley College.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: At her first class, Katherine discovers her students have memorized the entire textbook and syllabus, so she introduces them to modern art and encourages discussion about what is good art. Katherine comes to know them, seeking to inspire them to achieve more than marriage.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: Highly opinionated Elizabeth "Betty" Warren is outspokenly conservative. She does not understand why Katherine is not married and insists a universal standard exists for good art. She writes editorials for the college paper, exposing campus nurse Amanda Armstrong as a supplier of contraception, resulting in her termination.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: Other editorials attack Katherine for advocating that women seek a career instead of being wives and mothers. Betty cannot wait to marry Spencer and expects the traditional exemptions from attending class as a married woman; however, Katherine insists she will be marked on merit.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: Constance "Connie" Baker begins dating Betty's cousin, Charlie, but Betty tells her he is to marry Deb MacIntyre. Connie ends the relationship, believing Betty. However, some weeks later, Connie and Charlie reconnect, with him telling her he had stopped seeing Deb after the previous summer.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: Joan Brandwyn dreams of being a lawyer and is enrolled as prelaw, so Katherine encourages her to apply to Yale Law School. Accepted, she still opts to play the traditional role of a housewife to Tom Donegal. She tells Katherine that choosing to be a wife and mother does not reduce her intelligence.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: Giselle Levy has several lovers and liberal views about sex. She admires Katherine for encouraging the students to be independent. Giselle earns Betty's enmity, who is very conservative.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: Katherine declines a marriage proposal from her California boyfriend, as she does not love him enough and begins seeing the Wellesley Italian professor, Bill Dunbar. He is charming and full of stories about Europe and his heroic actions in Italy during the war. He has also had affairs with students (including Giselle), and Katherine makes him promise he will stop.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: The relationship progresses, but when Katherine learns that Bill spent the entire war at the Army Languages Center on Long Island, she breaks up with him. He responds that Katherine did not come to Wellesley to help the students find their way, but rather her way.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: Betty's marriage falls apart after Spencer has an affair, and her mother orders her to return to her husband rather than offer support. She visits Giselle in her dorm, who comforts her. In turn, Betty regrets how she has treated Katherine with her poor behavior. Eventually, influenced by her, Betty files for divorce and looks for an apartment in Greenwich Village.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: When Mrs. Warren confronts Betty for what she has done, she reveals her frustration with her mother for not supporting her when she asked for it. She says the only person who cared about her enough to help her out was Katherine. Therefore, Betty reveals she is going to have a life of her own, living with Giselle, and is considering applying to Yale Law School.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: Katherine's course is highly popular, so she is invited to return, but under these conditions: she must follow the syllabus, submit lesson plans for approval, and keep a strictly professional relationship with all faculty members and students.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: Katherine decides to leave to explore Europe. In the final scene, Betty dedicates her last editorial to Katherine, calling her "an extraordinary woman who lived by example and compelled us all to see the world through new eyes." As she leaves in a taxi, all her students follow on their bicycles, with Betty reaching to say goodbye until the taxi speeds away.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: In its first weekend, "Mona Lisa Smile" opened at number two at the U.S. box office, earning US$11,528,498 behind "". By the end of its run, while the film had grossed a respectable $141,337,989 worldwide, its U.S. domestic gross did not meet its $65 million budget, falling short at $63,860,942.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: "Mona Lisa Smile" received mixed to negative reviews from film critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a approval rating based on reviews, with an average score of and a consensus: "Though "Mona Lisa Smile" espouses the value of breaking barriers, the movie itself is predictable." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: In a typical review, Claudia Puig of "USA Today" wrote, "it's "Dead Poets Society" as a chick flick, without the compelling drama and inspiration... even Roberts doesn't seem convinced. She gives a rather blah performance as if she's not fully committed to the role... Rather than being a fascinating exploration of a much more constrained time in our social history, the film simply feels anachronistic. The film deserves a solid 'C' for mediocrity and muted appeal." Critic Elizabeth M. Tamny of the "Chicago Reader" shared this negative assessment, writing "Part of the problem is simply that "Mona Lisa Smile" is a Hollywood film, and Hollywood isn't good at depicting the life of the mind... And Julia Roberts is no help--you either like her or you don't, but either way it has little to do with talent. She's not so much an actor as a vessel for earnest reactions. The fact is... It's easier to take on an extremely black-and-white version of the most salient question from this film--can women bake their cake and eat it too?--than try to answer it in the present."


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: David Ansen of "Newsweek" wrote, "What drew the usually astute Mike Newell ('"Four Weddings and a Funeral"', '"Donnie Brasco"') to this project? There are hints that the script (credited to Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner) may once have had more shadings--a suggestion that Katherine's idealism is a form of power-tripping; that she's afraid of intimacy--but any ambiguity is quickly brushed aside to make way for the Julia lovefest. Newell, no hack, tries not to milk the cliches shamelessly, and that may be the movie's final undoing. Lacking the courage of its own vulgarity, "'Mona Lisa Smile"' is as tepid as old bathwater."


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: The college issued an official statement explaining their decision to allow the film to shoot on campus.


title: Mona Lisa Smile

text: In a message to Wellesley alumnae concerning the film, Wellesley College president Diana Chapman Walsh expressed regret about some of the reactions it generated, given that many alumnae from the 1950s felt that the film's portrayal of Wellesley was inaccurate.


title: Boerboel

text: The Boerboel () is a South African breed of large dog of mastiff type, used as a family guard dog. It is large, with a short coat, strong bone structure and well-developed muscles.


title: Boerboel

text: It is recognised by the Kennel Union of Southern Africa, but not by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale.


title: Boerboel

text: In South Africa, the "Animal Improvement Act (62 of 1998)" defines a breed of animal indigenous to or developed in the republic to be a landrace, therefore the Boerboel is regarded as a landrace in the republic. The Act grants powers to a registered "animal breeders society", and the South African Boerboel Breeders' Society (SABBS) is a registered animal breeders society. The SABBS is the only organisation authorised under the Act to officially register Boerboels. As legally registered custodian of the Boerboel dog breed, SABBS is responsible for the standards that govern identification, recording, evaluation and improvement of the breed. The Kennel Union of South Africa still recognises those Boerboels registered on its books.


title: Boerboel

text: The name Boerboel derives from the Afrikaans words which means farmer, and , a shortening of , which means 'bulldog'.


title: Boerboel

text: The Boerboel descends from an old Colonial cross-breed of mastiffs and bulldogs used both as a guard dog on remote farms and estates and for big game hunting, and known as the Boer Dog or Boer Hunting Dog. An account from 1909 describes this cross-breed as the best dog for hunting leopards and baboons in packs; a leopard with a leg caught in a trap can be killed by a pack of them. The "Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa" describes the Boer Mastiff as an excellent fighter; one killed a leopard in each of four single combats over a number of years, but was killed by a fifth.


title: Boerboel

text: Breeding of the Boerboel began in the 1950s. A breed association, the Suid-Afrikaanse Boerboel Telersvereniging or South African Boerboel Breeders Association, was established in 1983. A new association, the South African Boerboel Breeders' Society, was formed in 2012 and registered with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in 2014.


title: Boerboel

text: The Boerboel is a large dog, with a strong bone structure and well-developed muscles. The head is large, and the muzzle short.


title: Boerboel

text: The coat is short and sleek with dense hair coverage. The recognised colours are brindle, fawn, and brown; it may or may not have a black mask. There is one minor divergence between breed standards; the Kennel Union of South Africa does not accept black but SABBS does.


title: Boerboel

text: Ownership of the dog is limited by law in many countries: importation to Romania was prohibited in 2002, and ownership restricted to those with a court permit; the breed was banned in Denmark in 2010; in 2011 Russia designated it an "especially dangerous breed", subject to mandatory registration and certification; Ukraine has classified it as a dangerous dog, subject to mandatory microchipping, muzzle and civil liability insurance.


title: Boerboel

text: It is also banned or prohibited in Bermuda, France, Mauritius, and Qatar; importation is prohibited in the Faroe Islands, Singapore, Tunisia and the Turks and Caicos islands.


title: Lacoste

text: Lacoste S.A. is a French company, founded in 1933 by tennis player René Lacoste, and entrepreneur Mangkha. It sells clothing, footwear, sportswear, eyewear, leather goods, perfume, towels and watches. The company can be recognised by its green alligator logo. René Lacoste, the company's founder, was first given the nickname "the Alligator" by the American press after he bet his team captain an alligator-skin suitcase that he would win his match. He was later redubbed "the Crocodile" by French fans because of his tenacity on the tennis court. In November 2012, Lacoste was bought outright by Swiss family-held group Maus Frères.


title: Lacoste

text: René Lacoste founded "La Chemise Lacoste" in 1933 with André Gillier, the owner and president of the largest French knitwear manufacturing firm at the time. They began to produce the revolutionary tennis shirt Lacoste had designed and worn on the tennis courts with the crocodile logo embroidered on the chest. The company claims this as the first example of a brand name appearing on the outside of an article of clothing. Starting in the 1950s, Izod produced clothing known as Izod Lacoste under license for sale in the U.S. This partnership ended in 1993 when Lacoste regained exclusive U.S. rights to distribute shirts under its own brand. In 1977, Le Tigre Clothing was founded in an attempt to directly compete with Lacoste in the US market, selling a similar array of clothing, but featuring a tiger in place of the signature Lacoste crocodile.


title: Lacoste

text: More recently, Lacoste's popularity has surged due to French designer Christophe Lemaire's work to create a more modern, upscale look. In 2005, almost 50 million Lacoste products sold in over 110 countries. Its visibility has increased due to the contracts between Lacoste and several tennis players, including former American tennis players Andy Roddick and John Isner, French veteran Richard Gasquet, and Swiss Olympic gold medalist Stanislas Wawrinka. Lacoste had also begun to increase its presence in the golf world, where noted two time Masters Tournament champion José María Olazábal and Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie have been seen sporting Lacoste shirts in tournaments.


title: Lacoste

text: Bernard Lacoste became seriously ill in early 2005, which led him to transfer the presidency of Lacoste to his younger brother and closest collaborator for many years, Michel Lacoste. Bernard died in Paris on 21 March 2006.


title: Lacoste

text: Lacoste licenses its trademark to various companies. Until recently, Devanlay owned the exclusive worldwide clothing license, though today Lacoste Polo Shirts are also manufactured under licence in Thailand by ICC and also in China. Pentland Group has the exclusive worldwide license to produce Lacoste footwear, Coty Inc. owns the exclusive worldwide license to produce fragrance, and CEMALAC holds the license to produce Lacoste bags and small leather goods.


title: Lacoste

text: In June 2007, Lacoste introduced their e-commerce site for the U.S. market. In 2009, Hayden Christensen became the face of the Challenge fragrance for men. In September 2010, Christophe Lemaire stepped down and Felipe Oliveira Baptista succeeded him as the creative manager of Lacoste.


title: Lacoste

text: René Lacoste Foundation is a community program developed to help children be able to play sports in school. In March 2016, the company opened a new flagship store on Fashion Street in Budapest.


title: Lacoste

text: In 2017, tennis player Novak Djokovic was named brand ambassador and "the new crocodile" (next to Rene Lacoste) for Lacoste. This obligation includes a five-year contract as well as multiple appearances in advertising campaigns, and was extended by three years.


title: Lacoste

text: In September 2019, Lacoste appointed Chinese singer / actor Z.Tao as their brand spokesperson for Asia Pacific as the brand's first attempt of appointing someone for the region. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, Lacoste collaborated with Supreme to release a collection of co-branded clothing.


title: Lacoste

text: In the early '50s, Bernard Lacoste teamed up with David Crystal, who at the time owned Izod, to produce Izod Lacoste clothing. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was extremely popular with teenagers who called the shirts simply Izod. While the union was both profitable and popular, Izod Lacoste's parent company (Crystal Brands, Inc.) was saddled with debt from other business ventures. When attempts to separate Izod and Lacoste to create revenue did not alleviate the debt, Crystal sold his half of Lacoste back to the French and Izod was sold to Van Heusen.


title: Lacoste

text: However, starting in 2000, with the hiring of a new fashion designer Christophe Lemaire, Lacoste began to take over control of its brand name and logo, reining in their branding arrangements. Currently, Lacoste has once again returned to the elite status it held before a brand management crisis circa 1990.


title: Lacoste

text: Lacoste was involved in a long-standing dispute over its logo with Hong Kong-based sportswear company Crocodile Garments. At the time, Lacoste used a crocodile logo that faced right (registered in France in 1933) while Crocodile used one that faced left (registered in various Asian countries in the 1940s and 1950s). Lacoste tried to block an application from Crocodile to register its logo in China during the 1990s, the dispute ending in a settlement. As part of the agreement, Crocodile agreed to change its logo, which now sports scalier skin, bigger eyes and a tail that rises vertically.


title: Lacoste

text: Lacoste operates a large number of Lacoste boutiques worldwide located as concessions in leading department stores and also as independent venue stores. In the United Kingdom, Lacoste is available from a variety of shops including, JD Sports, KJ Beckett and John Lewis Partnership. Likewise in the United States, the Lacoste brand can be found in stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Belk, Halls, and other independent retailers. In Canada, Lacoste is sold at Harry Rosen, Hudson's Bay (retailer), its own boutiques, and other independent retailers. In Australia, it is sold at David Jones, and Myer.


title: Lacoste

text: In March 2022, Lacoste partnered with Mojang Studios, or Minecraft, to create a whole new series of apparel, called Lacoste x Minecraft. The crocodile logo will go pixelated in Аits Minecraft merch line, with lots of different varieties of the crocodile on polos, hoodies, and T-shirts.


title: Lacoste

text: In July 2011, Lacoste, along with other major fashion and sportswear brands including Nike, Adidas and Abercrombie & Fitch, was the subject of "Dirty Laundry", a report by the environmental group Greenpeace. According to the findings of the report, Lacoste was accused of working with suppliers in China which contribute to the pollution of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers. Samples taken from one facility belonging to the Youngor Group located on the Yangtze River Delta and another belonging to the Well Dyeing Factory Ltd. located on a tributary of the Pearl River Delta revealed the presence of hazardous and persistent hormone disruptor chemicals, including alkylphenols, perfluorinated compounds and perfluorooctane sulfonate.


title: Lacoste

text: In December 2011, Lacoste was accused of censoring the work of Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour. Sansour had initially been included on a shortlist of eight nominees for the prestigious Lacoste Élysée prize – a competition which had been organised by the Musée de l'Élysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, with Lacoste's sponsorship. Sansour's entry into the competition was entitled "Nation Estate", which involved a series of "dystopic sci-fi images based on Palestine's admission to UNESCO". In this work Sansour imagines the state contained within a single skyscraper, with each floor representing a replica of "lost cities" including Jerusalem, Ramallah and Sansour's own hometown of Bethlehem.


title: Lacoste

text: A month before the selection jury was to meet to choose the winner, however, the Musée de l'Élysée informed Sansour that Lacoste had changed its mind about including her work in the competition and asked the Museum to remove her as a nominee citing her work to be "too pro-Palestinian". Sansour soon went public with her story and within 48 hours the Musée de l'Élysée came out in her support announcing, in a press release, that it had decided to suspend its relationship with Lacoste as a sponsor of this prize due to its insistence on excluding Sansour from the competition. The museum emphasized that its decision to end the competition was in line with the organisation's 25 years of commitment to artistic freedom.


title: Lacoste

text: Lacoste's attempt to censor Sansour's work led to widespread international negative media reports on the company's actions and renewed discussions on the role of private sector companies in art sponsorships.


title: Lacoste

text: In 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute accused at least 82 major brands, including Lacoste, of being connected to forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang.


title: Lacoste

text: As of 25 September 2022, Lacoste was one of 238 companies that continued to operate its business as usual in Russia, as reported by Yale CELI List of companies.


title: Birth control

text: Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only became available in the 20th century. Planning, making available, and using birth control is called family planning. Some cultures limit or discourage access to birth control because they consider it to be morally, religiously, or politically undesirable.


title: Birth control

text: The World Health Organization and United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide guidance on the safety of birth control methods among women with specific medical conditions. The most effective methods of birth control are sterilization by means of vasectomy in males and tubal ligation in females, intrauterine devices (IUDs), and implantable birth control. This is followed by a number of hormone-based methods including oral pills, patches, vaginal rings, and injections. Less effective methods include physical barriers such as condoms, diaphragms and birth control sponges and fertility awareness methods. The least effective methods are spermicides and withdrawal by the male before ejaculation. Sterilization, while highly effective, is not usually reversible; all other methods are reversible, most immediately upon stopping them. Safe sex practices, such as with the use of male or female condoms, can also help prevent sexually transmitted infections. Other methods of birth control do not protect against sexually transmitted diseases. Emergency birth control can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 to 120 hours after unprotected sex. Some argue not having sex is also a form of birth control, but abstinence-only sex education may increase teenage pregnancies if offered without birth control education, due to non-compliance.


title: Birth control

text: In teenagers, pregnancies are at greater risk of poor outcomes. Comprehensive sex education and access to birth control decreases the rate of unwanted pregnancies in this age group. While all forms of birth control can generally be used by young people, long-acting reversible birth control such as implants, IUDs, or vaginal rings are more successful in reducing rates of teenage pregnancy. After the delivery of a child, a woman who is not exclusively breastfeeding may become pregnant again after as few as four to six weeks. Some methods of birth control can be started immediately following the birth, while others require a delay of up to six months. In women who are breastfeeding, progestin-only methods are preferred over combined oral birth control pills. In women who have reached menopause, it is recommended that birth control be continued for one year after the last period.


title: Birth control

text: About 222 million women who want to avoid pregnancy in developing countries are not using a modern birth control method. Birth control use in developing countries has decreased the number of deaths during or around the time of pregnancy by 40% (about 270,000 deaths prevented in 2008) and could prevent 70% if the full demand for birth control were met. By lengthening the time between pregnancies, birth control can improve adult women's delivery outcomes and the survival of their children. In the developing world, women's earnings, assets, and weight, as well as their children's schooling and health, all improve with greater access to birth control. Birth control increases economic growth because of fewer dependent children, more women participating in the workforce, and less use of scarce resources.


title: Birth control

text: Birth control methods include barrier methods, hormonal birth control, intrauterine devices (IUDs), sterilization, and behavioral methods. They are used before or during sex while emergency contraceptives are effective for up to five days after sex. Effectiveness is generally expressed as the percentage of women who become pregnant using a given method during the first year, and sometimes as a lifetime failure rate among methods with high effectiveness, such as tubal ligation.


title: Birth control

text: The most effective methods are those that are long acting and do not require ongoing health care visits. Surgical sterilization, implantable hormones, and intrauterine devices all have first-year failure rates of less than 1%. Hormonal contraceptive pills, patches or vaginal rings, and the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), if adhered to strictly, can also have first-year (or for LAM, first-6-month) failure rates of less than 1%. With typical use, first-year failure rates are considerably higher, at 9%, due to inconsistent use. Other methods such as condoms, diaphragms, and spermicides have higher first-year failure rates even with perfect usage. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends long acting reversible birth control as first line for young individuals.


title: Birth control

text: While all methods of birth control have some potential adverse effects, the risk is less than that of pregnancy. After stopping or removing many methods of birth control, including oral contraceptives, IUDs, implants and injections, the rate of pregnancy during the subsequent year is the same as for those who used no birth control.


title: Birth control

text: For individuals with specific health problems, certain forms of birth control may require further investigations. For women who are otherwise healthy, many methods of birth control should not require a medical exam—including birth control pills, injectable or implantable birth control, and condoms. For example, a pelvic exam, breast exam, or blood test before starting birth control pills does not appear to affect outcomes. In 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a detailed list of medical eligibility criteria for each type of birth control.


title: Birth control

text: Hormonal contraception is available in a number of different forms, including oral pills, implants under the skin, injections, patches, IUDs and a vaginal ring. They are currently available only for women, although hormonal contraceptives for men have been and are being clinically tested. There are two types of oral birth control pills, the combined oral contraceptive pills (which contain both estrogen and a progestin) and the progestogen-only pills (sometimes called minipills). If either is taken during pregnancy, they do not increase the risk of miscarriage nor cause birth defects. Both types of birth control pills prevent fertilization mainly by inhibiting ovulation and thickening cervical mucus. They may also change the lining of the uterus and thus decrease implantation. Their effectiveness depends on the user's adherence to taking the pills.


title: Birth control

text: Combined hormonal contraceptives are associated with a slightly increased risk of venous and arterial blood clots. Venous clots, on average, increase from 2.8 to 9.8 per 10,000 women years which is still less than that associated with pregnancy. Due to this risk, they are not recommended in women over 35 years of age who continue to smoke. Due to the increased risk, they are included in decision tools such as the DASH score and PERC rule used to predict the risk of blood clots.


title: Birth control

text: The effect on sexual drive is varied, with increase or decrease in some but with no effect in most. Combined oral contraceptives reduce the risk of ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer and do not change the risk of breast cancer. They often reduce menstrual bleeding and painful menstruation cramps. The lower doses of estrogen released from the vaginal ring may reduce the risk of breast tenderness, nausea, and headache associated with higher dose estrogen products.


title: Birth control

text: Progestin-only pills, injections and intrauterine devices are not associated with an increased risk of blood clots and may be used by women with a history of blood clots in their veins. In those with a history of arterial blood clots, non-hormonal birth control or a progestin-only method other than the injectable version should be used. Progestin-only pills may improve menstrual symptoms and can be used by breastfeeding women as they do not affect milk production. Irregular bleeding may occur with progestin-only methods, with some users reporting no periods. The progestins drospirenone and desogestrel minimize the androgenic side effects but increase the risks of blood clots and are thus not first line. The perfect use first-year failure rate of injectable progestin is 0.2%; the typical use first failure rate is 6%.


title: Birth control

text: Barrier contraceptives are devices that attempt to prevent pregnancy by physically preventing sperm from entering the uterus. They include male condoms, female condoms, cervical caps, diaphragms, and contraceptive sponges with spermicide.


title: Birth control

text: Globally, condoms are the most common method of birth control. Male condoms are put on a man's erect penis and physically block ejaculated sperm from entering the body of a sexual partner. Modern condoms are most often made from latex, but some are made from other materials such as polyurethane, or lamb's intestine. Female condoms are also available, most often made of nitrile, latex or polyurethane. Male condoms have the advantage of being inexpensive, easy to use, and have few adverse effects. Making condoms available to teenagers does not appear to affect the age of onset of sexual activity or its frequency. In Japan, about 80% of couples who are using birth control use condoms, while in Germany this number is about 25%, and in the United States it is 18%.


title: Birth control

text: Male condoms and the diaphragm with spermicide have typical use first-year failure rates of 18% and 12%, respectively. With perfect use condoms are more effective with a 2% first-year failure rate versus a 6% first-year rate with the diaphragm. Condoms have the additional benefit of helping to prevent the spread of some sexually transmitted infections such as HIV/AIDS, however, condoms made from animal intestine do not.


title: Birth control

text: Contraceptive sponges combine a barrier with a spermicide. Like diaphragms, they are inserted vaginally before intercourse and must be placed over the cervix to be effective. Typical failure rates during the first year depend on whether or not a woman has previously given birth, being 24% in those who have and 12% in those who have not. The sponge can be inserted up to 24 hours before intercourse and must be left in place for at least six hours afterward. Allergic reactions and more severe adverse effects such as toxic shock syndrome have been reported.


title: Birth control

text: The current intrauterine devices (IUD) are small devices, often 'T'-shaped, containing either copper or levonorgestrel, which are inserted into the uterus. They are one form of long-acting reversible contraception which are the most effective types of reversible birth control. Failure rates with the copper IUD is about 0.8% while the levonorgestrel IUD has a failure rates of 0.2% in the first year of use. Among types of birth control, they, along with birth control implants, result in the greatest satisfaction among users. As of 2007, IUDs are the most widely used form of reversible contraception, with more than 180 million users worldwide.


title: Birth control

text: Evidence supports effectiveness and safety in adolescents and those who have and have not previously had children. IUDs do not affect breastfeeding and can be inserted immediately after delivery. They may also be used immediately after an abortion. Once removed, even after long term use, fertility returns to normal immediately.


title: Birth control

text: While copper IUDs may increase menstrual bleeding and result in more painful cramps, hormonal IUDs may reduce menstrual bleeding or stop menstruation altogether. Cramping can be treated with painkillers like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Other potential complications include expulsion (2–5%) and rarely perforation of the uterus (less than 0.7%). A previous model of the intrauterine device (the Dalkon shield) was associated with an increased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease, however the risk is not affected with current models in those without sexually transmitted infections around the time of insertion. IUDs appear to decrease the risk of ovarian cancer.


title: Birth control

text: Surgical sterilization is available in the form of tubal ligation for women and vasectomy for men. Tubal ligation decreases the risk of ovarian cancer. Short term complications are twenty times less likely from a vasectomy than a tubal ligation. After a vasectomy, there may be swelling and pain of the scrotum which usually resolves in one or two weeks. Chronic scrotal pain associated with negative impact on quality of life occurs after vasectomy in about 1-2% of men. With tubal ligation, complications occur in 1 to 2 percent of procedures with serious complications usually due to the anesthesia. Neither method offers protection from sexually transmitted infections. Sometimes, salpingectomy is also used for sterilization in women.


title: Birth control

text: This decision may cause regret in some men and women. Of women who have undergone tubal ligation after the age of 30, about 6% regret their decision, as compared with 20-24% of women who received sterilization within one year of delivery and before turning 30, and 6% in nulliparous women sterilized before the age of 30. By contrast, less than 5% of men are likely to regret sterilization. Men who are more likely to regret sterilization are younger, have young or no children, or have an unstable marriage. In a survey of biological parents, 9% stated they would not have had children if they were able to do it over again.


title: Birth control

text: Although sterilization is considered a permanent procedure, it is possible to attempt a tubal reversal to reconnect the fallopian tubes or a vasectomy reversal to reconnect the vasa deferentia. In women, the desire for a reversal is often associated with a change in spouse. Pregnancy success rates after tubal reversal are between 31 and 88 percent, with complications including an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy. The number of males who request reversal is between 2 and 6 percent. Rates of success in fathering another child after reversal are between 38 and 84 percent; with success being lower the longer the time period between the vasectomy and the reversal. Sperm extraction followed by in vitro fertilization may also be an option in men.


title: Birth control

text: Behavioral methods involve regulating the timing or method of intercourse to prevent introduction of sperm into the female reproductive tract, either altogether or when an egg may be present. If used perfectly the first-year failure rate may be around 3.4%, however if used poorly first-year failure rates may approach 85%.


title: Birth control

text: Fertility awareness methods involve determining the most fertile days of the menstrual cycle and avoiding unprotected intercourse. Techniques for determining fertility include monitoring basal body temperature, cervical secretions, or the day of the cycle. They have typical first-year failure rates of 24%; perfect use first-year failure rates depend on which method is used and range from 0.4% to 5%. The evidence on which these estimates are based, however, is poor as the majority of people in trials stop their use early. Globally, they are used by about 3.6% of couples. If based on both basal body temperature and another primary sign, the method is referred to as symptothermal. First-year failure rates of 20% overall and 0.4% for perfect use have been reported in clinical studies of the symptothermal method. A number of fertility tracking apps are available, as of 2016, but they are more commonly designed to assist those trying to get pregnant rather than prevent pregnancy.


title: Birth control

text: The withdrawal method (also known as coitus interruptus) is the practice of ending intercourse ("pulling out") before ejaculation. The main risk of the withdrawal method is that the man may not perform the maneuver correctly or in a timely manner. First-year failure rates vary from 4% with perfect usage to 22% with typical usage. It is not considered birth control by some medical professionals.


title: Birth control

text: There is little data regarding the sperm content of pre-ejaculatory fluid. While some tentative research did not find sperm, one trial found sperm present in 10 out of 27 volunteers. The withdrawal method is used as birth control by about 3% of couples.


title: Birth control

text: Sexual abstinence may be used as a form of birth control, meaning either not engaging in any type of sexual activity, or specifically not engaging in vaginal intercourse, while engaging in other forms of non-vaginal sex. Complete sexual abstinence is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy. However, among those who take a pledge to abstain from premarital sex, as many as 88% who engage in sex, do so prior to marriage. The choice to abstain from sex cannot protect against pregnancy as a result of rape, and public health efforts emphasizing abstinence to reduce unwanted pregnancy may have limited effectiveness, especially in developing countries and among disadvantaged groups.


title: Birth control

text: Deliberate non-penetrative sex without vaginal sex or deliberate oral sex without vaginal sex are also sometimes considered birth control. While this generally avoids pregnancy, pregnancy can still occur with intercrural sex and other forms of penis-near-vagina sex (genital rubbing, and the penis exiting from anal intercourse) where sperm can be deposited near the entrance to the vagina and can travel along the vagina's lubricating fluids.


title: Birth control

text: Abstinence-only sex education does not reduce teenage pregnancy. Teen pregnancy rates and STI rates are generally the same or higher in states where students are given abstinence-only education, as compared with comprehensive sex education. Some authorities recommend that those using abstinence as a primary method have backup methods available (such as condoms or emergency contraceptive pills).


title: Birth control

text: The lactational amenorrhea method involves the use of a woman's natural postpartum infertility which occurs after delivery and may be extended by breastfeeding. This usually requires the presence of no periods, exclusively breastfeeding the infant, and a child younger than six months. The World Health Organization states that if breastfeeding is the infant's only source of nutrition, the failure rate is 2% in the six months following delivery. Six uncontrolled studies of lactational amenorrhea method users found failure rates at 6 months postpartum between 0% and 7.5%. Failure rates increase to 4–7% at one year and 13% at two years. Feeding formula, pumping instead of nursing, the use of a pacifier, and feeding solids all increase its failure rate. In those who are exclusively breastfeeding, about 10% begin having periods before three months and 20% before six months. In those who are not breastfeeding, fertility may return four weeks after delivery.


title: Birth control

text: Emergency contraceptive methods are medications (sometimes misleadingly referred to as "morning-after pills") or devices used after unprotected sexual intercourse with the hope of preventing pregnancy. Emergency contraceptives are often given to victims of rape. They work primarily by preventing ovulation or fertilization. They are unlikely to affect implantation, but this has not been completely excluded. A number of options exist, including high dose birth control pills, levonorgestrel, mifepristone, ulipristal and IUDs. Providing emergency contraceptive pills to women in advance does not affect rates of sexually transmitted infections, condom use, pregnancy rates, or sexual risk-taking behavior. All methods have minimal side effects.


title: Birth control

text: Levonorgestrel pills, when used within 3 days, decrease the chance of pregnancy after a single episode of unprotected sex or condom failure by 70% (resulting in a pregnancy rate of 2.2%). Ulipristal, when used within 5 days, decreases the chance of pregnancy by about 85% (pregnancy rate 1.4%) and is more effective than levonorgestrel. Mifepristone is also more effective than levonorgestrel, while copper IUDs are the most effective method. IUDs can be inserted up to five days after intercourse and prevent about 99% of pregnancies after an episode of unprotected sex (pregnancy rate of 0.1 to 0.2%). This makes them the most effective form of emergency contraceptive. In those who are overweight or obese, levonorgestrel is less effective and an IUD or ulipristal is recommended.


title: Birth control

text: Dual protection is the use of methods that prevent both sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. This can be with condoms either alone or along with another birth control method or by the avoidance of penetrative sex.


title: Birth control

text: If pregnancy is a high concern, using two methods at the same time is reasonable. For example, two forms of birth control are recommended in those taking the anti-acne drug isotretinoin or anti-epileptic drugs like carbamazepine, due to the high risk of birth defects if taken during pregnancy.


title: Birth control

text: Contraceptive use in developing countries is estimated to have decreased the number of maternal deaths by 40% (about 270,000 deaths prevented in 2008) and could prevent 70% of deaths if the full demand for birth control were met. These benefits are achieved by reducing the number of unplanned pregnancies that subsequently result in unsafe abortions and by preventing pregnancies in those at high risk.


title: Birth control

text: Birth control also improves child survival in the developing world by lengthening the time between pregnancies. In this population, outcomes are worse when a mother gets pregnant within eighteen months of a previous delivery. Delaying another pregnancy after a miscarriage however does not appear to alter risk and women are advised to attempt pregnancy in this situation whenever they are ready.


title: Birth control

text: Teenage pregnancies, especially among younger teens, are at greater risk of adverse outcomes including early birth, low birth weight, and death of the infant. In 2012 in the United States 82% of pregnancies in those between the ages of 15 to 19 years old are unplanned. Comprehensive sex education and access to birth control are effective in decreasing pregnancy rates in this age group.


title: Birth control

text: Birth control methods, especially hormonal methods, can also have undesirable side effects. Intensity of side effects can range from minor to debilitating, and varies with individual experiences. These most commonly include change in menstruation regularity and flow, nausea, breast tenderness, headaches,  weight gain, and mood changes (specifically an increase in depression and anxiety). Additionally, hormonal contraception can contribute to bone mineral density loss,  impaired glucose metabolism, increased risk of venous thromboembolism. Comprehensive sex education and transparent discussion of birth control side effects and contraindications between healthcare provider and patient is imperative.


title: Birth control

text: In the developing world, birth control increases economic growth due to there being fewer dependent children and thus more women participating in or increased contribution to the workforce - as they are usually the primary caregiver for children. Women's earnings, assets, body mass index, and their children's schooling and body mass index all improve with greater access to birth control. Family planning, via the use of modern birth control, is one of the most cost-effective health interventions. For every dollar spent, the United Nations estimates that two to six dollars are saved. These cost savings are related to preventing unplanned pregnancies and decreasing the spread of sexually transmitted illnesses. While all methods are beneficial financially, the use of copper IUDs resulted in the greatest savings.


title: Birth control

text: The total medical cost for a pregnancy, delivery and care of a newborn in the United States is on average $21,000 for a vaginal delivery and $31,000 for a caesarean delivery as of 2012. In most other countries, the cost is less than half. For a child born in 2011, an average US family will spend $235,000 over 17 years to raise them.


title: Birth control

text: Globally, as of 2009, approximately 60% of those who are married and able to have children use birth control. How frequently different methods are used varies widely between countries. The most common method in the developed world is condoms and oral contraceptives, while in Africa it is oral contraceptives and in Latin America and Asia it is sterilization. In the developing world overall, 35% of birth control is via female sterilization, 30% is via IUDs, 12% is via oral contraceptives, 11% is via condoms, and 4% is via male sterilization.


title: Birth control

text: While less used in the developed countries than the developing world, the number of women using IUDs as of 2007 was more than 180 million. Avoiding sex when fertile is used by about 3.6% of women of childbearing age, with usage as high as 20% in areas of South America. As of 2005, 12% of couples are using a male form of birth control (either condoms or a vasectomy) with higher rates in the developed world. Usage of male forms of birth control has decreased between 1985 and 2009. Contraceptive use among women in Sub-Saharan Africa has risen from about 5% in 1991 to about 30% in 2006.


title: Birth control

text: As of 2012, 57% of women of childbearing age want to avoid pregnancy (867 of 1,520 million). About 222 million women however were not able to access birth control, 53 million of whom were in sub-Saharan Africa and 97 million of whom were in Asia. This results in 54 million unplanned pregnancies and nearly 80,000 maternal deaths a year. Part of the reason that many women are without birth control is that many countries limit access due to religious or political reasons, while another contributor is poverty. Due to restrictive abortion laws in Sub-Saharan Africa, many women turn to unlicensed abortion providers for unintended pregnancy, resulting in about 2–4% obtaining unsafe abortions each year.


title: Birth control

text: The Egyptian Ebers Papyrus from 1550 BC and the Kahun Papyrus from 1850 BC have within them some of the earliest documented descriptions of birth control: the use of honey, acacia leaves and lint to be placed in the vagina to block sperm. Silphium, a species of giant fennel native to north Africa, may have been used as birth control in ancient Greece and the ancient Near East. Due to its supposed desirability, by the first century AD, it had become so rare that it was worth more than its weight in silver and, by late antiquity, it was fully extinct. Most methods of birth control used in antiquity were probably ineffective.


title: Birth control

text: The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle ( 384–322 BC) recommended applying cedar oil to the womb before intercourse, a method which was probably only effective on occasion. A Hippocratic text "On the Nature of Women" recommended that a woman drink a copper salt dissolved in water, which it claimed would prevent pregnancy for a year. This method was not only ineffective, but also dangerous, as the later medical writer Soranus of Ephesus ( 98–138 AD) pointed out. Soranus attempted to list reliable methods of birth control based on rational principles. He rejected the use of superstition and amulets and instead prescribed mechanical methods such as vaginal plugs and pessaries using wool as a base covered in oils or other gummy substances. Many of Soranus's methods were probably also ineffective.


title: Birth control

text: In medieval Europe, any effort to halt pregnancy was deemed immoral by the Catholic Church, although it is believed that women of the time still used a number of birth control measures, such as coitus interruptus and inserting lily root and rue into the vagina. Women in the Middle Ages were also encouraged to tie weasel testicles around their thighs during sex to prevent pregnancy. The oldest condoms discovered to date were recovered in the ruins of Dudley Castle in England, and are dated back to 1640. They were made of animal gut, and were most likely used to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases during the English Civil War. Casanova, living in 18th century Italy, described the use of a lambskin covering to prevent pregnancy; however, condoms only became widely available in the 20th century.


title: Birth control

text: The birth control movement developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Malthusian League, based on the ideas of Thomas Malthus, was established in 1877 in the United Kingdom to educate the public about the importance of family planning and to advocate for getting rid of penalties for promoting birth control. It was founded during the "Knowlton trial" of Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh, who were prosecuted for publishing on various methods of birth control.


title: Birth control

text: In the United States, Margaret Sanger and Otto Bobsein popularized the phrase "birth control" in 1914. Sanger primarily advocated for birth control on the idea that it would prevent women from seeking unsafe abortions, but during her lifetime, she began to campaign for it on the grounds that it would reduce mental and physical defects. She was mainly active in the United States but had gained an international reputation by the 1930s. At the time, under the Comstock Law, distribution of birth control information was illegal. She jumped bail in 1914 after her arrest for distributing birth control information and left the United States for the United Kingdom. In the U.K., Sanger, influenced by Havelock Ellis, further developed her arguments for birth control. She believed women needed to enjoy sex without fearing a pregnancy. During her time abroad, Sanger also saw a more flexible diaphragm in a Dutch clinic, which she thought was a better form of contraceptive. Once Sanger returned to the United States, she established a short-lived birth-control clinic with the help of her sister, Ethel Bryne, based in the Brownville section of Brooklyn, New York in 1916. It was shut down after eleven days and resulted in her arrest. The publicity surrounding the arrest, trial, and appeal sparked birth control activism across the United States. Besides her sister, Sanger was helped in the movement by her first husband, William Sanger, who distributed copies of "Family Limitation." Sanger's second husband, James Noah H. Slee, would also later become involved in the movement, acting as its main funder. Sanger also contributed to the funding of research into hormonal contraceptives in the 1950s. She helped fund research Dr. John Rock, and biologist Gregory Pincus that resulted in the first hormonal contraceptive pill, later called Enovid. The first human trials of the pill were done on patients in the Worcester State Psychiatric Hospital, after which clinical testing was done in Puerto Rico before Enovid was approved for use in the U.S.. The people participating in these trials were not fully informed on the medical implications of the pill, and often had minimal to no other family planning options. The newly approved birth control method was not made available to the participants after the trials, and contraceptives are still not widely accessible in Puerto Rico.


title: Birth control

text: The increased use of birth control was seen by some as a form of social decay. A decrease of fertility was seen as a negative. Throughout the Progressive Era (1890–1920), there was an increase of voluntary associations aiding the contraceptive movement. These organizations failed to enlist more than 100,000 women because the use of birth control was often compared to eugenics; however, there were women seeking a community with like-minded women. The ideology that surrounded birth control started to gain traction during the Progressive Era due to voluntary associations establishing community. Birth control was unlike the Victorian Era because women wanted to manage their sexuality. The use of birth control was another form of self-interest women clung to. This was seen as women began to gravitate towards strong figures, like the Gibson girl.


title: Birth control

text: The first permanent birth-control clinic was established in Britain in 1921 by Marie Stopes working with the Malthusian League. The clinic, run by midwives and supported by visiting doctors, offered women's birth-control advice and taught them the use of a cervical cap. Her clinic made contraception acceptable during the 1920s by presenting it in scientific terms. In 1921, Sanger founded the American Birth Control League, which later became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In 1924 the Society for the Provision of Birth Control Clinics was founded to campaign for municipal clinics; this led to the opening of a second clinic in Greengate, Salford in 1926. Throughout the 1920s, Stopes and other feminist pioneers, including Dora Russell and Stella Browne, played a major role in breaking down taboos about sex. In April 1930 the Birth Control Conference assembled 700 delegates and was successful in bringing birth control and abortion into the political sphere – three months later, the Ministry of Health, in the United Kingdom, allowed local authorities to give birth-control advice in welfare centres.


title: Birth control

text: The National Birth Control Association was founded in Britain in 1931, and became the Family Planning Association eight years later. The Association amalgamated several British birth control-focused groups into 'a central organisation' for administering and overseeing birth control in Britain. The group incorporated the Birth Control Investigation Committee, a collective of physicians and scientists that was founded to investigate scientific and medical aspects of contraception with 'neutrality and impartiality'. Subsequently, the Association effected a series of 'pure' and 'applied' product and safety standards that manufacturers must meet to ensure their contraceptives could be prescribed as part of the Association's standard two-part-technique combining 'a rubber appliance to protect the mouth of the womb' with a 'chemical preparation capable of destroying... sperm'. Between 1931 and 1959, the Association founded and funded a series of tests to assess chemical efficacy and safety and rubber quality. These tests became the basis for the Association's Approved List of contraceptives, which was launched in 1937, and went on to become an annual publication that the expanding network of FPA clinics relied upon as a means to 'establish facts [about contraceptives] and to publish these facts as a basis on which a sound public and scientific opinion can be built'.


title: Birth control

text: In 1936, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in "United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries" that medically prescribing contraception to save a person's life or well-being was not illegal under the Comstock Laws. Following this decision, the American Medical Association Committee on Contraception revoked its 1936 statement condemning birth control. A national survey in 1937 showed 71 percent of the adult population supported the use of contraception. By 1938, 374 birth control clinics were running in the United States despite their advertisement still being illegal. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt publicly supported birth control and family planning. The restrictions on birth control in the Comstock laws were effectively rendered null and void by Supreme Court decisions "Griswold v. Connecticut" (1965) and "Eisenstadt v. Baird" (1972). In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson started endorsing public funding for family planning services, and the Federal Government began subsidizing birth control services for low-income families. The Affordable Care Act, passed into law on March 23, 2010, under President Barack Obama, requires all plans in the Health Insurance Marketplace to cover contraceptive methods. These include barrier methods, hormonal methods, implanted devices, emergency contraceptives, and sterilization procedures.


title: Birth control

text: In 1909, Richard Richter developed the first intrauterine device made from silkworm gut, which was further developed and marketed in Germany by Ernst Gräfenberg in the late 1920s. In 1951, an Austrian-born American chemist, named Carl Djerassi at Syntex in Mexico City made the hormones in progesterone pills using Mexican yams ("Dioscorea mexicana"). Djerassi had chemically created the pill but was not equipped to distribute it to patients. Meanwhile, Gregory Pincus and John Rock with help from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America developed the first birth control pills in the 1950s, such as mestranol/noretynodrel, which became publicly available in the 1960s through the Food and Drug Administration under the name "Enovid". Medical abortion became an alternative to surgical abortion with the availability of prostaglandin analogs in the 1970s and mifepristone in the 1980s.


title: Birth control

text: Human rights agreements require most governments to provide family planning and contraceptive information and services. These include the requirement to create a national plan for family planning services, remove laws that limit access to family planning, ensure that a wide variety of safe and effective birth control methods are available including emergency contraceptives, make sure there are appropriately trained healthcare providers and facilities at an affordable price, and create a process to review the programs implemented. If governments fail to do the above it may put them in breach of binding international treaty obligations.


title: Birth control

text: In the United States, the 1965 Supreme Court decision "Griswold v. Connecticut" overturned a state law prohibiting dissemination of contraception information based on a constitutional right to privacy for marital relationships. In 1972, "Eisenstadt v. Baird" extended this right to privacy to single people.


title: Birth control

text: In 2010, the United Nations launched the "Every Woman Every Child" movement to assess the progress toward meeting women's contraceptive needs. The initiative has set a goal of increasing the number of users of modern birth control by 120 million women in the world's 69 poorest countries by 2020. Additionally, they aim to eradicate discrimination against girls and young women who seek contraceptives. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended in 2014 that oral birth control pills should be over the counter medications.


title: Birth control

text: Since at least the 1870s, American religious, medical, legislative, and legal commentators have debated contraception laws. Ana Garner and Angela Michel have found that in these discussions men often attach reproductive rights to moral and political matters, as part of an ongoing attempt to regulate human bodies. In press coverage between 1873 and 2013 they found a divide between institutional ideology and real-life experiences of women.


title: Birth control

text: Religions vary widely in their views of the ethics of birth control. The Roman Catholic Church re-affirmed its teachings in 1968 that only natural family planning is permissible, although large numbers of Catholics in developed countries accept and use modern methods of birth control. The Greek Orthodox Church admits a possible exception to its traditional teaching forbidding the use of artificial contraception, if used within marriage for certain purposes, including the spacing of births. Among Protestants, there is a wide range of views from supporting none, such as in the Quiverfull movement, to allowing all methods of birth control. Views in Judaism range from the stricter Orthodox sect, which prohibits all methods of birth control, to the more relaxed Reform sect, which allows most. Hindus may use both natural and modern contraceptives. A common Buddhist view is that preventing conception is acceptable, while intervening after conception has occurred is not. In Islam, contraceptives are allowed if they do not threaten health, although their use is discouraged by some.


title: Birth control

text: September 26 is World Contraception Day, devoted to raising awareness and improving education about sexual and reproductive health, with a vision of "a world where every pregnancy is wanted." It is supported by a group of governments and international NGOs, including the Office of Population Affairs, the Asian Pacific Council on Contraception, Centro Latinamericano Salud y Mujer, the European Society of Contraception and Reproductive Health, the German Foundation for World Population, the International Federation of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, International Planned Parenthood Federation, the Marie Stopes International, Population Services International, the Population Council, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Women Deliver.


title: Birth control

text: There are a number of common misconceptions regarding sex and pregnancy. Douching after sexual intercourse is not an effective form of birth control. Additionally, it is associated with a number of health problems and thus is not recommended. Women can become pregnant the first time they have sexual intercourse and in any sexual position. It is possible, although not very likely, to become pregnant during menstruation. Contraceptive use, regardless of its duration and type, does not have a negative effect on the ability of women to conceive following termination of use and does not significantly delay fertility. Women who use oral contraceptives for a longer duration may have a slightly lower rate of pregnancy than do women using oral contraceptives for a shorter period of time, possibly due to fertility decreasing with age.


title: Birth control

text: Access to birth control may be affected by finances and the laws within a region or country. In the United States African American, Hispanic, and young women are disproportionately affected by limited access to birth control, as a result of financial disparity. For example, Hispanic and African American women often lack insurance coverage and are more often poor. New immigrants in the United States are not offered preventive care such as birth control.


title: Birth control

text: In the United Kingdom contraception can be obtained free of charge via contraception clinics, sexual health or GUM (genitourinary medicine) clinics, via some GP surgeries, some young people's services and pharmacies.


title: Birth control

text: In September 2021, France announced that women aged under 25 in France will be offered free contraception from 2022. It was elaborated that they "would not be charged for medical appointments, tests, or other medical procedures related to birth control" and that this would "cover hormonal contraception, biological tests that go with it, the prescription of contraception and all care related to this contraception".


title: Birth control

text: From August 2022 onwards contraception for women aged between 17 and 25 years will be free in the Republic of Ireland.


title: Birth control

text: Free the Pill, a collaboration between Advocates for Youth and Ibis Reproductive Health are working to bring birth control over-the-counter, covered by insurance with no age-restriction throughout the United States.


title: Birth control

text: Improvements of existing birth control methods are needed, as around half of those who get pregnant unintentionally are using birth control at the time. A number of alterations of existing contraceptive methods are being studied, including a better female condom, an improved diaphragm, a patch containing only progestin, and a vaginal ring containing long-acting progesterone. This vaginal ring appears to be effective for three or four months and is currently available in some areas of the world. For women who rarely have sex, the taking of the hormonal birth control levonorgestrel around the time of sex looks promising.


title: Birth control

text: A number of methods to perform sterilization via the cervix are being studied. One involves putting quinacrine in the uterus which causes scarring and infertility. While the procedure is inexpensive and does not require surgical skills, there are concerns regarding long-term side effects. Another substance, polidocanol, which functions in the same manner is being looked at. A device called Essure, which expands when placed in the fallopian tubes and blocks them, was approved in the United States in 2002. In 2016, a black boxed warning regarding potentially serious side effects was added, and in 2018, the device was discontinued.


title: Birth control

text: Methods of male birth control include condoms, vasectomies and withdrawal. Between 25 and 75% of males who are sexually active say they would use hormonal birth control if it was available for them. A number of hormonal and non-hormonal methods are in trials, and there is some research looking at the possibility of contraceptive vaccines.


title: Birth control

text: A reversible surgical method under investigation is reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance (RISUG) which consists of injecting a polymer gel, styrene maleic anhydride in dimethyl sulfoxide, into the vas deferens. An injection with sodium bicarbonate washes out the substance and restores fertility. Another is an intravas device which involves putting a urethane plug into the vas deferens to block it. A combination of an androgen and a progestin seems promising, as do selective androgen receptor modulators. Ultrasound and methods to heat the testicles have undergone preliminary studies.


title: Birth control

text: Neutering or spaying, which involves removing some of the reproductive organs, is often carried out as a method of birth control in household pets. Many animal shelters require these procedures as part of adoption agreements. In large animals the surgery is known as castration.


title: Birth control

text: Birth control is also being considered as an alternative to hunting as a means of controlling overpopulation in wild animals. Contraceptive vaccines have been found to be effective in a number of different animal populations. Kenyan goat herders fix a skirt, called an olor, to male goats to prevent them from impregnating female goats.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: Simeon Borisov von Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (, ; born 16 June 1937) is a Bulgarian politician who reigned as the last tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria as Simeon II from 1943 until 1946. He was six years old when his father Boris III of Bulgaria died in 1943 and royal power was exercised on his behalf by a regency led by Simeon's uncle Kiril, Prince of Preslav, General Nikola Mihov and prime minister, Bogdan Filov. In 1946 the monarchy was abolished by referendum, and Simeon was forced into exile.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: He returned to his home country in 1996, formed the political party National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP) and was elected Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria from July 2001 until August 2005. In the next elections, as a leader of NMSP, he took part in a coalition government with the Bulgarian Socialist Party. In 2009, after NMSP failed to win any seats in Parliament, he left politics.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: He is, along with the current Dalai Lama, one of only two living people who were heads of state during World War II.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: Simeon was born to Boris III of Bulgaria and Giovanna of Italy. Following his birth, Boris III sent an air force officer to the Jordan River to obtain water for Simeon's baptism in the Orthodox faith. He was pointed to accede to the throne on 28 August 1943 upon the death of his father, who had just returned to Bulgaria from a meeting with Adolf Hitler. Then a massive media campaign was launched throughout Bulgaria in the name of the Tsar to uphold the national spirit during heavy War-times. Since Simeon was only six years old, his uncle Prince Kiril, Prime Minister Bogdan Filov, and Lt. General Nikola Mihov of the Bulgarian Army were appointed regents.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: Under his father, Bulgaria had reluctantly joined the Axis powers in World War II but had managed to preserve diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. Still, on 5 September 1944 Stalin declared war on Bulgaria and three days later, the Red Army entered the country without encountering resistance. On the next day, 9 September 1944, Prince Kyril and the other regents were deposed by a Soviet-backed coup and arrested. The three regents, all members of the last three governments, Parliament deputies, heads of the army and eminent journalists were executed by the Communists in February 1945.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: The royal family—Queen Giovanna, Simeon, and his sister Maria-Louisa—remained at Vrana Palace near Sofia, while three new regents were appointed (Todor Pavlov, Venelin Ganev and Tsvetko Boboshevski). On 15 September 1946, a referendum was held in the presence of the Soviet army. It resulted in a 95.6% approval for republic and abolition of the monarchy.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: On 16 September 1946, the royal family was exiled from Bulgaria while given a way to take out large amount of movable property along with the train composition. They first went to Alexandria, Egypt, where Queen Giovanna's father Victor Emmanuel III, the former king of Italy, lived in exile. There, in 1951 Simeon studied at Victoria College (along with Crown Prince Leka of Albania). In July 1951, General Francisco Franco's dictatorship in Spain granted asylum to the family.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: In Madrid, Simeon studied at the Lycée Français. On 16 June 1955, upon turning 18, in accordance with the Tarnovo Constitution Simeon read a proclamation to the Bulgarian people, claiming he is Tsar of Bulgaria, confirming his will to be Tsar of all Bulgarians and to follow the principles contrary to then ruled by communist regime Bulgaria. In 1958, he enrolled at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in the United States, where he was known as "Cadet Rylski No. 6883", and graduated as a second lieutenant. Once again in Spain (between 1959 and 1962), Simeon studied law and business administration.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: He became a businessman. For thirteen years, he was chairman of the Spanish subsidiary of Thomson, a French defense and electronics group. He was also an adviser in the banking, hotel, electronics, and catering sectors.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: On 21 January 1962, Simeon married a Spanish aristocrat, "Doña" Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela. The couple have had five children – four sons (Kardam, Kiril, Kubrat and Konstantin) and a daughter, Kalina, all of whom subsequently married Spaniards. All of his sons received names of Bulgarian Tsars, his daughter has a Bulgarian name, although only four of his eleven grandchildren have Bulgarian names (Boris, Sofia, Mirko and Simeon).


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: In 1990, just months after the fall of communism, Simeon was issued a new Bulgarian passport. In 1996, fifty years after the abolition of the monarchy, Simeon returned to Bulgaria and was met in many places by crowds of approval. He did not, at that point, make any political announcements or moves, as he had already denied in a TV interview (1990) to have any material property claims against Bulgaria. However, these social sentiments gradually disappeared after his premiership, with Simeon making moves to take back large areas or real estate property in Bulgaria that was under the monarchy's governance before 1945.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: In 2001, Simeon, who had by this time taken the name "Simeon Borisov Saxe-Coburg-Gotha", announced he would return to Bulgaria to form a new political party, the National Movement Simeon II (later renamed to NMSP), dedicated to "reforms and political integrity." Simeon promised that in 800 days the Bulgarian people would feel tangible positive effects of his government and would enjoy significantly higher standards of living.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: NMSP won a large victory in the parliamentary elections held on 17 June 2001, capturing 120 of the 240 seats in Parliament and defeating the two main pre-existing political parties. Simeon gave an oath as Prime Minister of Republic of Bulgaria on 24 July, forming a coalition with the ethnic Turkish party, Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). He gave ministerial positions in his government mainly to technocrats and Western-educated economic specialists.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: During his time in power, Bulgaria joined NATO, after he had agreed to enter into the USA led coalition against Iraq. In 2002, he received the Path to Peace Award from the Path to Peace Foundation.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: In the 2005 elections, Simeon's party ranked second and participated in the grand coalition government led by the Bulgarian Socialist Party and including the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. Simeon was given the unofficial ceremonial post of Chairman of the Coalition Council.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: The party got just 3.01% of votes and no seats at the parliamentary elections of 2009. Shortly after, on 6 July, Simeon also resigned as NMSP leader.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: Although not yet formally renouncing his claim to the Bulgarian throne, Simeon and his family take part in long orchestrated media campaigns and moves throughout Bulgarian political space. He used the title "Tsar of the Bulgarians" in his political statements during his exile. Since his return to Bulgaria, however, Simeon has consistently avoided revealing his views on the restoration of the Bulgarian monarchy, notwithstanding the original name of his party.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: Simeon wrote an autobiography in French under the title "Simeon II de Bulgarie, un destin singulier" that was released in Bulgaria on 28 October 2014. It was first presented at the headquarters of the UNESCO in Paris on 22 October 2014.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: At the time of his death, Ferdinand I held the record for the longest-lived head of state in Bulgarian history, having been 87 years, and 197 days old when he died on 10 September 1948. Simeon will break his grandfather's record if he remains living after December 31, 2024.


title: Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

text: In a statement published on its website on 1 May 2015, the Bulgarian Patriarchy announced that Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha will be referred to as Tsar of Bulgaria in all public and private services held in the dioceses of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.


title: Induction cooking

text: Induction cooking is performed using direct induction heating of cooking vessels, rather than relying on indirect radiation, convection, or thermal conduction. Induction cooking allows high power and very rapid increases in temperature to be achieved, and changes in heat settings are instantaneous.


title: Induction cooking

text: In an induction stove (also "induction hob" or "induction cooktop"), a cooking vessel with a ferromagnetic base is placed on a heat-proof glass-ceramic surface above a coil of copper wire with an alternating electric current passing through it. The resulting oscillating magnetic field wirelessly induces an electrical current in the vessel. This large eddy current flowing through the resistance of a thin layer of metal in the base of the vessel results in resistive heating.


title: Induction cooking

text: For nearly all models of induction cooktops, a cooking vessel must be made of, or contain, a ferrous metal such as cast iron or some stainless steels. The iron in the pot concentrates the current to produce heat in the metal. If the metal is too thin, or does not provide enough resistance to current flow, heating will not be effective. Induction tops typically will not heat copper or aluminum vessels because the magnetic field cannot produce a concentrated current, but cast iron, enameled, carbon steel and stainless steel pans will usually work. And any vessel can be used if placed on a suitable metal disk which functions as a conventional hotplate.


title: Induction cooking

text: Induction cooking has good electrical coupling between the pan and the coil and is thus quite efficient, which means it puts out less waste heat and it can be quickly turned on and off. Induction has safety advantages compared to gas stoves and outputs no air pollution into the kitchen. Cooktops are also usually easy to clean, because the cooktop itself has a smooth surface and does not get very hot.


title: Induction cooking

text: An induction cooker transfers electrical energy by induction from a coil of wire into a metal vessel. The coil is mounted under the cooking surface, and a high frequency (e.g. 24 kHz) alternating current is passed through it. The current in the coil creates a dynamic magnetic field. When a suitable electrically conductive pot is brought close to the cooking surface, the magnetic field induces large eddy currents in the pot. The coil has many turns, while the bottom of the pot effectively forms a single shorted turn. This forms a transformer that steps down the voltage and steps up the current. This large current flowing through the base of the pot produces heat through Joule heating; the hot pot then in turn heats its contents by heat conduction.


title: Induction cooking

text: For high efficiency there should be as little electrical resistance in the coil and as much as possible in the pan so that most of the heat is developed in the pan.


title: Induction cooking

text: At the frequencies typically used in induction cooking (on the order of 25 kHz to 50 kHz), currents flow mostly in the outside of conductors (the skin effect). Reducing the skin effect in the coil reduces its resistance and the heat wasted in the coil. Therefore the coil is made from litz wire, which is a bundle of many smaller insulated wires woven together in parallel. Litz wire reduces skin effect, and coil resistance, so that the coil stays cool.


title: Induction cooking

text: For induction cooking, the base of a suitable vessel is typically made of a steel or iron. These ferromagnetic materials have a high magnetic permeability which greatly decreases the skin depth, concentrating the current in a very thin layer at the surface of the metal bottom of the pan. This makes the electrical resistance in the pan relatively high, and so good efficiency at heating the pan is obtained.


title: Induction cooking

text: However, for non ferrous metals, such as aluminum, the skin depth in the pans with typical induction cooktops is too large, and thus efficiency with a standard induction cooker would be extremely poor- the resistive heating in the coil and pan would be similar. This situation could damage the cooktop, so the cooktop detects it and rejects the pan.


title: Induction cooking

text: The heat that can be produced in a pot is a function of the surface resistance. A higher surface resistance produces more heat for similar currents. This is a “figure of merit” that can be used to rank the suitability of a material for induction heating. The surface resistance in a thick metal conductor is proportional to the resistivity divided by the skin depth. Where the thickness is less than the skin depth, the actual thickness can be used to calculate surface resistance. Some common materials are listed in this table.


title: Induction cooking

text: For some materials, the thickness of a cooking pot can be less than the skin depth, increasing efficiency. For example, typical titanium camping cookware has a thickness (typically around 0.5 mm) around 4 times less than its skin depth at 24 kHz, increasing its efficiency by that factor compared to thick titanium. Less practically, a piece of aluminium foil is typically around 35 times thinner than aluminium's skin depth, so will heat efficiently (and melt quickly). In contrast, to get the same surface resistance with copper as with carbon steel would require the metal to be thinner than is practical for a cooking vessel; at 24 kHz a copper vessel bottom would need to be 1/56th the skin depth of carbon steel. Since the skin depth is inversely proportional to the square root of the frequency, this suggests that much higher frequencies would be required to obtain equivalent heating in a copper pot as in an iron pot at 24 kHz. Such high frequencies are not feasible with inexpensive power semiconductors; in 1973 the silicon-controlled rectifiers used were limited to no more than 40 kHz. Even a thin layer of copper on the bottom of a steel cooking vessel will shield the steel from the magnetic field and make it unusable for an induction top. In ferrous materials some additional heat is created by hysteresis losses, but this creates less than ten percent of the total heat generated.


title: Induction cooking

text: New types of power semiconductors and low-loss coil designs have made an all-metal cooker possible which can be used with any metal pot or pan even if not designed for induction. Panasonic Corporation in 2009 developed a consumer induction cooker that uses a higher-frequency magnetic field of 60 kHz or higher, and a different oscillator circuit design, to allow use with non-ferrous metals as well, including aluminum, multilayer and copper pots and pans. In 2017 Panasonic released a single-burner counter top "all metal" unit, using their trade name "Met-All", aimed at commercial kitchens.


title: Induction cooking

text: Induction cooking provides fast heating, improved thermal efficiency, and more consistent heating than cooking by thermal conduction. Generally, the higher the power rating, the faster the cooking time. Induction cooktop power ratings are generally quoted for power delivered to the pan, whereas gas ratings are specified in terms of gas use, but gas is much less efficient. In practice, induction cook zones commonly have heating performance more comparable to a commercial gas burner than domestic burners.


title: Induction cooking

text: Often a thermostat is present to measure the temperature of the pan. This helps prevent the pan from severely overheating if accidentally heated empty or boiled dry, but some models can allow the induction cooker to maintain a target temperature.


title: Induction cooking

text: The pan is insulated by the cooking surface, and voltages generated in the pan are far too low to represent a shock hazard.


title: Induction cooking

text: The cooktop can detect whether cookware is present by monitoring power delivered. As with other electric ceramic cooking surfaces, a maximum pan size may be specified by the manufacturer, and a minimum size is also stated.


title: Induction cooking

text: The control system shuts down the element if a pot is not present or not large enough. If a pan boils dry it can get extremely hot – a thermostat in the surface will turn off the power if it senses overheating to prevent cooker failures and potential fires.


title: Induction cooking

text: Induction cooker tops are generally a low-thermal expansion glass-ceramic. The surface of the cooker is heated only by the pot and so does not usually reach an extremely high temperature, and the thermal conductivity of glass ceramics are poor so the heat does not spread far. Induction cookers are easy to clean because the cooking surface is flat and smooth and does not usually get hot enough to make spilled food burn and stick.


title: Induction cooking

text: The surface is brittle and can be damaged by sufficient impact although they are required to meet minimum specified product safety standards with regard to impact. Aluminum foil can melt onto the top and cause permanent damage or cracking of the top. Surfaces can be scratched by sliding pans across the cooking surface.


title: Induction cooking

text: Some noise is generated by an internal cooling fan. Also, audible electromagnetically induced acoustic noise (a high-pitched hum or buzz) may be produced by cookware, especially at high power, if the cookware has loose parts or if the multiple layers of the pot are not well bonded to each other; cookware with welded-in cladding layers and solid riveting is less likely to produce this type of noise. Some users are more capable of hearing (or more sensitive to) this high-frequency whine.


title: Induction cooking

text: Some cooking techniques available when cooking over a flame are not applicable. Persons with implanted cardiac pacemakers or other electronic medical implants are usually instructed to avoid sources of magnetic fields; the medical literature seems to suggest that proximity to induction cooking surfaces is safe, but individuals with such implants should always check first with their cardiologists. Radio receivers near the induction-cooking unit may pick up some electromagnetic interference.


title: Induction cooking

text: Because the cooktop is shallow compared to a gas-fired or electrical coil cooking surface, wheelchair access can be improved; the user's legs can be below the counter height and the user's arms can reach over the top.


title: Induction cooking

text: The 2014 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings concluded that "induction cooking is not always the most efficient method of cooking. When tested with a large cooking vessel, the efficiency of conventional electric


title: Induction cooking

text: the cooking vessel." Cooking methods that use flames or hot heating elements have a significantly higher loss to the ambient environment; induction heating directly heats the pot. Because the induction effect does not directly heat the air around the vessel, induction cooking results in further energy efficiencies. Cooling air is blown through the electronics beneath the surface but it is only slightly warm.


title: Induction cooking

text: The purpose of a cooktop is to prepare food; for example, long periods of simmering may be required. A rational measure of efficiency would be to compare the actual energy input to the cooktop to some theoretical value required to prepare the specified food. Since experiments to make these measurements would be difficult to replicate, energy efficiency measurements that are published concentrate on the ability of a cooktop to transfer energy to a metal test block, which is much easier to measure in a repeatable fashion.


title: Induction cooking

text: Energy transfer efficiency, as defined by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is the percentage of the energy consumed by a cooker that, at the end of a simulated cooking cycle, appears to have been transferred as heat to a standardized aluminum test block.


title: Induction cooking

text: The DOE test cycle starts with both the block and the cooktop at room temperature: 77 °F ± 9 °F (25 °C ± 5 °C). The cooktop is then switched to maximum heating power. When the test block temperature reaches + 144 °F (+80 °C) above the initial room temperature, the cooktop power is immediately reduced to 25% ± 5% of its maximum power. After 15 minutes of operation at this lower power setting, the cooktop is turned off and the heat energy in the test block is measured. Efficiency is given by the ratio between energy in the block and input (electric) energy.


title: Induction cooking

text: Such a test, using a combination of two different power levels, was conceived to mimic real life use. Wasted energy terms such as residual unused heat (retained by solid hot-plates, ceramic or coil at the end of the test), and losses from convection and radiation by hot surfaces (including the ones of the block itself) are simply disregarded and don't contribute to efficiency.


title: Induction cooking

text: In typical cooking, the energy delivered by the cooker is only partly used to heat the food up to temperature; once that has occurred, all the subsequent energy input is delivered to the air as loss through steam or convection and radiation from the pan sides. Since there is no increase in the food temperature, the DOE test procedure would consider the efficiency substantially zero. Cooking procedures such as reduction of a sauce, braising meat, simmering, and so on are significant uses of a cooker, but efficiency of these practices is not modelled by the DOE test procedure.


title: Induction cooking

text: In 2013 and 2014 DOE developed and proposed new test procedures for cooking products to allow direct comparison of energy transfer efficiency measurements among induction, electric resistance, and gas cooking tops and ranges. The procedures use a new hybrid test block made of aluminum and stainless steel, so it is suitable for tests on induction cookers. The proposed rule lists results of real lab tests conducted with the hybrid block. For comparable (large) cooking elements the following efficiencies were measured with ±0.5% repeatability: 70.7% - 73.6% for induction, 71.9% for electric coil, 43.9% for gas. Summarizing the results of several tests, DOE affirms that "induction units have an average efficiency of 72.2%, not significantly higher than the 69.9% efficiency of smooth—electric resistance units, or the 71.2% of electric coil units". Moreover, DOE reminds that the 84% induction efficiency, cited in previous Technical Support Documents, was not measured by DOE laboratories, but just "referenced from an external test study" performed in 1992.


title: Induction cooking

text: In addition, independent tests conducted by manufacturers, research laboratories and other subjects seem to demonstrate that actual induction cooking efficiencies usually stay between 74% and 77% and occasionally reach 81% (although these tests could follow procedures different from that of DOE).


title: Induction cooking

text: These clues indicate that the 84% induction average efficiency reference value should be taken with caution.


title: Induction cooking

text: For comparison and in agreement with DOE findings, cooking with gas has an average energy efficiency of about 40%. It can be raised only by using special pots with fins whose first design and commercialization came years ago, but that have been recently rediscovered, redesigned in a different way and put again on the market. So for environmental considerations dealing with induction versus gas, a 40% gas efficiency will be used.


title: Induction cooking

text: When comparing with gas, the relative cost of electrical and gas energy, and the efficiency of the process by which electricity is generated, affect both overall environmental efficiency (as explained in more detail below) and cost to the user.


title: Induction cooking

text: Energy lost from gas cooking heats the kitchen, whereas with induction cooking, the losses are much lower. This results in less heating of the kitchen itself and can affect the amount of ventilation required. In addition, gas stoves are a significant source of indoor air pollution and require good ventilation.


title: Induction cooking

text: Gas cooking efficiencies may be lower if waste heat generation is taken into account. Especially in restaurants, gas cooking can significantly increase the ambient temperature in localized areas. Not only may extra cooling be required, but zoned venting may be needed to adequately condition hot areas without overcooling other areas. Costs must be considered depending on an individual situation due to numerous variables in temperature differences, facility layout or openness, and heat generation schedule. Induction cooking using grid electricity may surpass gas efficiencies when waste heat and air comfort are quantified.


title: Induction cooking

text: In a commercial setting, induction cookers do not require safety interlocks between the fuel source and the ventilation, as may be required with gas systems.


title: Induction cooking

text: Induction equipment may be a built-in surface, part of a range, or a standalone surface unit. Built-in and rangetop units typically have multiple elements, the equivalent of separate burners on a gas-fueled range. Stand-alone induction modules are usually single-element, or sometimes have dual elements. All such elements share a basic design: an electromagnet sealed beneath a heat-resisting glass-ceramic sheet that is easily cleaned. The pot is placed on the ceramic glass surface and begins to heat up, along with its contents.


title: Induction cooking

text: In Japan, some models of rice cookers are powered by induction. In Hong Kong, power companies list a number of models. Asian manufacturers have taken the lead in producing inexpensive single-induction-zone surfaces; efficient, low-waste-heat units are advantageous in densely populated cities with little living space per family, as many Asian cities are. Induction cookers are less frequently used in other parts of the world.


title: Induction cooking

text: Induction ranges may be applicable in commercial restaurant kitchens. Electric cooking avoids the cost of natural gas piping and in some jurisdictions may allow simpler ventilation and fire suppression equipment to be installed. Drawbacks for commercial use include possible breakages of the glass cook-top, higher initial cost and the requirement for magnetic cookware.


title: Induction cooking

text: The ferromagnetic properties of a steel vessel concentrate the induced current in a thin layer near its surface, which results in a strong heating effect. In paramagnetic materials like aluminum, the magnetic field penetrates deeper, and the induced current encounters little resistance in the metal. According to Lenz's law the efficiency of the induction in the pot may be sensed, so that the induction may be attained accordingly with special electronics devices. At least one high-frequency "all-metal" cooker is available, that works with lower efficiency on non-ferromagnetic metal cookware.


title: Induction cooking

text: The cooking surface is made of a glass-ceramic material which is a poor heat conductor, so only a little heat is lost through the bottom of the pot. In normal operation the cooking surface stays significantly cooler than with other stove cooking methods, but still needs to cool down before it can be safely touched.


title: Induction cooking

text: Units may have one, two, three, four or five induction zones, but four (normally in a 30-inch-wide unit) is the most common configuration in the US and Europe. Two coils are most common in Hong Kong and three are most common in Japan. Some have touch-sensitive controls. Some induction stoves have a memory setting, one per element, to control the time that heat is applied. At least one manufacturer makes a "zoneless" induction cooking surface with multiple induction coils. This allows up to five utensils to be used at once anywhere on the cooking surface, not just on pre-defined zones.


title: Induction cooking

text: Small stand-alone portable induction cookers are relatively inexpensive, priced from around in some markets.


title: Induction cooking

text: Cookware must be compatible with induction heating; in most models, only ferrous metal can be heated. Cookware should have a flat bottom since the magnetic field drops rapidly with distance from the surface. (Special and costly wok-shaped tops are available for use with round-bottom woks.) Induction disks are metal plates that are heated by induction and heat non-ferrous pots by thermal contact, but these are much less efficient than ferrous cooking vessels.


title: Induction cooking

text: Induction-compatible cookware for an induction cooking surface can nearly always be used on other stoves. Some cookware or packaging is marked with symbols to indicate compatibility with induction, gas, or electric heat. Induction cooking surfaces work well with any pans with a high ferrous metal content at the base. Cast iron pans and any black metal or iron pans will work on an induction cooking surface. Stainless steel pans will work on an induction cooking surface if the base of the pan is a magnetic grade of stainless steel. If a magnet sticks well to the sole of the pan, it will work on an induction cooking surface. An "all-metal" cooker will work with non-ferrous cookware, but available models are limited.


title: Induction cooking

text: Aluminum or copper alone does not work on standard induction cooktops because of the materials’ magnetic and electrical properties. Aluminum and copper cookware are more conductive than steel, but the skin depth in these materials is larger since they are non-magnetic. The current flows in a thicker layer in the metal, encounters less resistance and so produces less heat. Ordinary induction cookers will not work efficiently with such pots. However, aluminum and copper are desirable in cookware, since they conduct heat better. Because of this, 'tri-ply' pans often have an induction-compatible skin of stainless steel containing a layer of thermally conductive aluminum.