Ancient use.

The oldest known siege towers were used by the armies of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the 9th century BC, under Ashurnasirpal II (r. 884 BC – 859 BC). Reliefs from his reign, and subsequent reigns, depict siege towers in use with a number of other siege works, including ramps and battering rams.  Centuries after they were employed in Assyria, the use of the siege tower spread throughout the Mediterranean. The biggest siege towers of antiquity, such as the "Helepolis" (meaning ""The Taker of Cities"") of the siege of Rhodes in 305 BC, could be as high as 135 feet and as wide as 67.5 feet. Such large engines would require a rack and pinion to be moved effectively. It was manned by 200 soldiers and was divided into nine stories; the different levels housed various types of catapults and ballistae. Subsequent siege towers down through the centuries often had similar engines.  But this huge tower was defeated by the defenders by flooding the ground in front of the wall, creating a moat that caused the tower to get bogged in the mud. The siege of Rhodes illustrates the important point that the larger siege towers needed level ground. Many castles and hill-top towns and forts were virtually invulnerable to siege tower attack simply due to topography. Smaller siege towers might be used on top of siege-mounds, made of earth, rubble and timber mounds in order to overtop a defensive wall. The remains of such a siege-ramp at Masada, for example, has survived almost 2,000 years and can still be seen today.  On the other hand, almost all the largest cities were on large rivers, or the coast, and so did have part of their circuit wall vulnerable to these towers. Furthermore, the tower for such a target might be prefabricated elsewhere and brought dismantled to the target city by water. In some rare circumstances, such towers were mounted on ships to assault the coastal wall of a city: at the siege of Cyzicus during the Third Mithridatic War, for example, towers were used in conjunction with more conventional siege weapons.  One of the oldest references to the mobile siege tower in Ancient China was a written dialogue primarily discussing naval warfare. In the Chinese "Yuejueshu" (Lost Records of the State of Yue) written by the later Han Dynasty author Yuan Kang in the year 52 AD, Wu Zixu (526 BC – 484 BC) purportedly discussed different ship types with King Helü of Wu (r. 514 BC – 496 BC) while explaining military preparedness. Before labeling the types of warships used, Zixu said:

Medieval and later use.

With the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West into independent states, and the Eastern Roman Empire on the defensive, the use of siege towers reached its height during the medieval period. Siege towers were used when the Avars laid siege unsuccessfully to Constantinople in 626, as the "Chronicon Paschale" recounts:  At this siege the attackers also made use of "sows" – mobile armoured shelters which were used throughout the medieval period, and allowed workers to fill in moats with protection from the defenders (thus levelling the ground for the siege towers to be moved to the walls). However, the construction of a sloping talus at the base of a castle wall (as was common in Crusader fortification) could have reduced the effectiveness of this tactic to an extent.  Siege towers also became more elaborate during the medieval period; at the Siege of Kenilworth Castle in 1266, for example, 200 archers and 11 catapults operated from a single tower. Even then, the siege lasted almost a year, making it the longest siege in all of English history. They were not invulnerable either, as during the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, Ottoman siege towers were sprayed by the defenders with Greek fire.  Siege towers became vulnerable and obsolete with the development of large cannon. They had only ever existed to get assaulting troops over high walls and towers and large cannon also made high walls obsolete as fortification took a new direction. However, later constructions known as battery-towers took on a similar role in the gunpowder age; like siege-towers, these were built out of wood on-site for mounting siege artillery. One of these was built by the Russian military engineer Ivan Vyrodkov during the siege of Kazan in 1552 (as part of the Russo-Kazan Wars), and could hold ten large-calibre cannon and 50 lighter cannons. Likely, it was a development of the gulyay-gorod (that is a mobile fortification assembled on wagons or sleds from prefabricated wall-sized shields with holes for cannons). Later battery towers were often used by the Ukrainian Cossacks.

Modern parallels.

On 1 March 2007, police officers entered Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen, Denmark by being lifted to the upper levels of an illegally occupied structure using small boom cranes for a purpose similar to that for which siege towers were constructed. The officers were placed in containers that crane operators raised and placed against the structure's windows, enabling the officers to gain access to the structure.

A siege tower or breaching tower (or in the Middle Ages, a belfry) is a specialized siege engine, constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching the defensive walls of a fortification. The tower was often rectangular with four wheels with its height roughly equal to that of the wall or sometimes higher to allow archers to stand on top of the tower and shoot arrows into the fortification. Because the towers were wooden and thus flammable, they had to have some non-flammable covering of iron or fresh animal skins.


Description.

Appearance.

The Vizsla is a short-coated hunting dog of distinguished appearance and bearing. Robust, but rather lightly built, they are lean dogs that have defined muscles.  Various breeds are often mistaken for Vizslas and vice versa are commonly mistaken for other breeds. Redbone Coonhounds, Weimaraners and Rhodesian Ridgebacks are most commonly mixed up. The body structure of a Vizsla is very similar in appearance to a Weimaraner and a Redbone Coonhound, though the Vizsla is typically leaner with a more defined musculature. However, Weimaraners and Rhodesian Ridgebacks are larger than Vizslas.  The nose of the Vizsla will always have a reddish color that blends with the coat color. Black, brown, light pink, or another color nose is an indication of another breed. A Vizsla's eye and nail color should also blend with the coat color.

Color and coats.

The standard coat is a solid golden rust color in several shadings. The coat could also be described as a copper-brown color, russet gold, and dark sandy gold. Solid, dark, mahogany red and pale yellow are considered faults and a disqualification in competitions. Small areas of white on the fore-chest, neck, or tail are permissible but not preferred. Some variations in the Vizsla coat color along their back (saddle-type marks) are typical.  The American Kennel Club (AKC) breed standards for the Vizsla states that the coat should be short, smooth, dense, and close-lying, without a woolly undercoat. The Vizsla is not suited to being kept outside since, unlike most other breeds, it does not have an undercoat. They are self-cleaning dogs and rarely need to be bathed, if ever. They have little noticeable "dog smell" detectable by humans. After several forays into lakes and streams they will develop an aroma that is a weaker version of the 'wet dog' smell. A quick bath and this odor will vanish.

Size.

The Vizsla is a medium-sized dog, The average height and weight:

Tail.

The American breed standard does call for the tail to be docked to two-thirds of its original length. Breed standards in countries where docking is banned, such as the United Kingdom, do not allow this. The Vizsla holds its tail horizontal to the ground and wags it vigorously while charging through rough scrub and undergrowth.  The docked tail of the Vizsla is significantly longer than that of other dogs with traditionally docked tails such as the Weimaraner, Dobermann, Boxer, and Australian Shepherd. Since the tail is docked when the puppy is less than three days old, this longer dock can result in some variation in tail length among Vizsla dogs from different breeding programs.

Temperament.

Vizslas are very high energy, gentle-mannered, loyal, caring, and very affectionate. They quickly form close bonds with their owners, children, and even strangers. Often, they are referred to as "velcro" dogs because of their loyalty and affection. Vizslas will cry or whine when they feel neglected or are otherwise unhappy. Some will bark at strangers if they feel that they are invading the "pack" space. They are very good guard dogs when trained to be so.  They are natural hunters with an excellent ability to take training. Not only are they great pointers, but they are excellent retrievers as well. They will retrieve on land and in the water making the most of their natural instincts. However, they must be trained gently and without harsh commands or strong physical correction, as they have sensitive temperaments and can be easily damaged if trained too harshly. However the owner must show quiet authority in training, otherwise the dog is likely to take over the training session.  Vizslas are excellent swimmers. Some may need a little motivation to get in the water but as they get used to it they will love it. Like all hunting dogs, Vizslas require a great deal of exercise to remain healthy and happy.  The Vizsla thrives on attention, exercise, and interaction. They are intelligent dogs and need a lot of mental stimulation when young. If left alone for long hours, they can be bored and become destructive. With proper socialization and training, Vizslas are very gentle dogs that can be great around children. The Vizsla wants to be close to its owner as much as possible.

Health.

A Vizsla Club of America survey puts the average lifespan of the Vizsla at 9.15 years. The Vizsla is considered to be a robust dog but some localized breeding programs using a small number of dogs have led to heritable illnesses in some offspring including: Responsible breeders do not select dogs for breeding if they have such inherent problems. Vizslas can also suffer from hypothyroidism, dwarfism, persistent right aortic arch, tricuspid valve dysplasia, and progressive retinal atrophy. Major risks include epilepsy and lymphosarcoma. Vizslas can also be prone to skin and food allergies.  Unlike many other dogs, Vizslas do not have an undercoat. Therefore, they are unsuited for living outdoors.

History.

The first written reference to the Vizsla dog breed has been recorded in the "Illustrated Vienna Chronicle" prepared on order of King Louis I of Hungary by the Carmelite Friars in 1357.  As companions of the early warlords and barons, Vizsla blood was preserved pure for centuries by the land-owning aristocracy who guarded them jealously and continued to develop the hunting ability of these "yellow-pointers". Records of letters and writings show the high esteem in which the Vizsla was held.  The Vizsla has survived the Turkish occupation (1526–1696), the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, World War I, World War II and the Hungarian People's Republic. However, Vizslas faced and survived several near-extinctions in their history, including being overrun by English Pointers and German Shorthaired Pointers in the 1800s (Boggs, 2000:19) and again to near-extinction after World War II. A careful search of Hungary and a poll of Hungarian sportsmen revealed only about a dozen Vizslas of the true type still alive in the country. From that minimum stock, the breed rose to prominence once again. The various "strains" of the Vizsla have become somewhat distinctive as individuals bred stock that suited their hunting style. Outside Hungary, vizslas are commonly bred in Romania, Austria, Slovakia, and Serbia.  The Vizsla started arriving in the United States at the close of World War II. As interest in and devotion to the breed began to increase, owners formed the Vizsla Club of America in order to gain AKC recognition. As a result of registering foundation stock with the AKC, Vizsla owners were able to obtain official recognition on 25 November 1960, as the Vizsla became the 115th breed recognized by the American Kennel Club.  The Vizsla was used in development of other breeds, most notably the Weimaraner, Wirehaired Vizsla and German Shorthaired Pointer breeds. There is much conjecture about those same breeds, along with other pointer breeds, being used to reestablish the Vizsla breed at the end of the 19th century.

Vizsla in the UK.

Approximately 4,520 Vizsla puppies are registered with the Kennel Club of Great Britain (KC) each year, making the breed one of the top 50 most popular. The number is steadily rising year after year as more people recognize the breed. There are two breed clubs for the Vizsla in Britain, The Hungarian Vizsla Club and The Hungarian Vizsla Society. The winner of the Best In Show award at Crufts 2010 was a Vizsla named Hungargunn Bear It'n Mind.

The Vizsla () is a dog breed from Hungary and belongs to the FCI group 7 (Pointer group). The Hungarian or Magyar Vizsla are sporting dogs and loyal companions. The Vizsla's medium size is one of the breed's most appealing characteristics. As a hunter of fowl and upland game, the Vizsla has held a prominent position among sporting dogs – that of household companion and family dog.


History.

Beginning in the early to mid-1600s, hat weaving evolved as a cottage industry along the Ecuadorian coast as well as in small towns throughout the Andean mountain range. Hat weaving and wearing grew steadily in Ecuador through the 17th and 18th centuries.  In 1835, Manuel Alfaro arrived in Montecristi to make his name and fortune in Panama hats. He set up a Panama hat business with his main objective being exportation. Cargo ships from Guayaquil and Manta were filled with his merchandise and headed to the Gulf of Panama. His business prospered as more and more Gold Rush prospectors arrived and passed through Panama needing a hat for the sun.  One of the first towns to start weaving the hats in the Andes is Principal, part of the Chordeleg Canton in the Azuay province. Straw hats woven in Ecuador, like many other 19th and early 20th century South American goods, were shipped first to the Isthmus of Panama before sailing for their destinations in Asia, the rest of the Americas and Europe, subsequently acquiring a name that reflected their point of international sale—"panama hats"—rather than their place of domestic origin.  The term was being used by at least 1834. The popularity of the hats increased in the mid-19th century when many miners of the California Gold Rush traveled to California via the Isthmus of Panama and Pacific Mail Steamship Company. In 1906, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt visited the construction site of the Panama Canal and was photographed wearing a Panama hat, which further increased the hats' popularity. Although the Panama hat continues to provide a livelihood for thousands of Ecuadorians, fewer than a dozen weavers capable of making the finest "Montecristi superfinos" remain. Production in Ecuador is dwindling, due to economic problems in Ecuador and competition from Chinese hat producers.

Tamsui hat.

The tamsui hat was a straw hat made in Formosa (now Taiwan) to directly compete with the Panama in the early 20th century. Tamsui hats were made from "Pandanus odoratissimus" fibre, which grew plentifully on the island. As they retained their whiteness, were washable, and could be folded and carried about without damage, Tamsui hats replaced the rather costlier Panama in East Asia in the early 20th century.

Quality.

The two main processes in the creation of a Panama hat are weaving and blocking. The two most common types of weaves are the "Cuenca" and "Brisa." The "Cuenca" weave has the appearance of a herringbone pattern and utilizes slightly more straw than the "Brisa" weave. The "Brisa" weave has the appearance of small diamonds/squares. This type of weave is less intricate but perceived as finer than the "Cuenca" weave by some as it is lighter. Other types of weaves include the "Crochet, Fancy," "Torcido", and "New Order."  The quality of a Panama hat is defined by the tightness of the weave. The fine weave of the hat was ideal for protection against the tropical sun. Historically, to measure the tightness of the weave, a simple square tool that looks like a frame for a one-inch picture was used. The aperture of this frame was 25 mm, or about 1 inch. The regulator would set this frame one inch from the edge of the hat's brim edge, and then count the peaks of the cross weaves, called "carerra," moving in a parallel direction. The tighter the weave, the more "carerras" were counted. That number would be multiplied by two and reconciled against a grading chart. A highly refined grade 20 would consist of 16 "carerras".The price of these hats depends on the time and quality that a weaver put in to the hat. A master weaver could take as long as eight months to weave a single hat. Weavers could sell a single hat to buyers for $200. Once the hat is sold to a buyer it then would pass through more people who would "finish the brim, shape it, remove imperfections, bleach the straw, and add interior and exterior brands." After this one hat has been through at least six people it can then be sold outside of Ecuador for $450 to $10,000. The best hats can sell for up to fifty times more than what one weaver is paid for eight months of labor.  The best quality hats are known as "Montecristis", after the town of Montecristi, where they are produced. The rarest and most expensive Panama hats are hand-woven with up to 3000 weaves per square inch. In February 2014, Simon Espinal, an Ecuadorian 47-year-old Panama hat weaver considered to be among the best at his craft, set a world record by creating a Panama hat with four thousand weaves per inch that took eight months to handcraft from beginning to end.  According to popular lore, a "superfino" Panama hat can hold water, and, when rolled up, pass through a wedding ring.

Name.

Despite their name, Panama hats have never been made in Panama. They originated in Ecuador where they are made to this day. Historically, throughout Central and South America, people referred to Panama hats as “Jipijapa,” “Toquilla,” or “Montecristi” hats at the time (the latter two phrases are still in use today). Their designation as Panama hats originates in the 1850s, when Ecuadorian hat makers emigrated to Panama, where they were able to achieve much greater trade volumes.Ecuador's low tourism and international trade levels during the 1850s prompted hat makers to take their crafts to the busy trade center of Panama. There, the hat makers were able to sell more hats than they ever could in Ecuador. The hats were sold to gold prospectors traveling through Panama to California during the historic Californian Gold Rush. Travelers would tell people admiring their hats that they bought them in Panama. So, the hats quickly became known as “Panama hats.”  Soon after at the 1855 World's Fair in Paris, Panama hats were featured for the first time on a global scale. However, the Fair’s catalog did not mention Ecuador as its country of origin. It listed this type of hat as a “cloth hat” even though it was clearly not made out of cloth.  The name "Panama hat" was further reinforced by President Theodore Roosevelt's trip to oversee the construction of the Panama Canal. Roosevelt used his natural ability to drum up publicity by posing for a series of photos at the Panama Canal construction site in 1906. Photographic technology was relatively new at the time, and President Roosevelt was not shy about using the press to his advantage. Photos of his visit showed a strong, rugged leader dressed crisply in light-colored suits sporting Ecuadorian-made straw Panama hats.  The Panama Hat Trail, by Tom Miller, Univ. of Arizona Press

A Panama hat, also known as an Ecuadorian hat or a toquilla straw hat, is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin. Traditionally, hats were made from the plaited leaves of the "Carludovica palmata" plant, known locally as the "toquilla palm" or "jipijapa palm", although it is a palm-like plant rather than a true palm.


Conceptual basis.

Ida Rolf described the body as organized around an axis perpendicular to the earth, parallel to the pull of gravity, and she believed the function of the body was optimal when it was organized in that way. She saw the body as continuously in a struggle with gravity; in her view, gravity tends to shorten fascia, leading to disorder of the body's arrangement around its axis and creating imbalance, inefficiency in movement, and pain. Rolfers aim to lengthen the fascia in order to restore the body's arrangement around its axis and facilitate improved movement. Rolf also discussed this in terms of "energy" and said:  Rolfers make a life study of relating bodies and their fields to the earth and its gravity field, and we so organize the body that the gravity field can reinforce the body's energy field. This is our primary concept.  The manipulation is sometimes referred to as a type of bodywork, or as a type of massage. Some osteopaths were influenced by Rolf, and some of her students became teachers of massage, including one of the founders of myofascial release.  Rolf claimed to have found an association between emotions and the soft tissue, writing "although rolfing is not primarily a psychotherapeutic approach to the problems of humans", it does constitute an "approach to the personality through the myofascial collagen components of the physical body". She claimed Rolfing could balance the mental and emotional aspects of subjects, and that "the amazing psychological changes that appeared in Rolfed individuals were completely unexpected". Rolfers suggest their manipulations can cause the release of painful repressed memories. Rolfers also hold that by manipulating the body they can bring about changes in personality; for example, teaching somebody to walk with confidence will make them a more confident person. The connection between physical structure and psychology has not been proven by scientific studies.

Technique.

Rolfers posit that they manipulate the body's fascial layers. Rolfing also uses a combination of active and passive movement retraining.  Rolfing is typically performed in a progression of 10 sessions, sometimes called "the recipe". The first three sessions of the protocol focus on superficial tissues, the next four focus on deeper tissues and specifically the pelvis, and the final sessions address the whole body.  A session typically lasts between 60 and 90 minutes. The recipient wears undergarments. Positions for the work include lying on a table, sitting, and standing.  Rolfing treatments are sometimes painful. For adults, there may be moments of intense sensation during a treatment or soreness afterward. However, the technique can be done gently enough for children and the elderly. Rolf believed fascia tightens as a protective mechanism, and therefore thought an aggressive approach could be counter-productive.

Effectiveness and reception.

In 2015 the Australian Government's Department of Health published a review of 17 alternative therapies, including Rolfing, which concluded no clear evidence of effectiveness was found. Accordingly, in 2017, the Australian government named Rolfing as a practice that would not qualify for insurance subsidy, saying this step would "ensure taxpayer funds are expended appropriately and not directed to therapies lacking evidence".  The American Cancer Society says the deep soft tissue manipulations such as those used in Rolfing are a concern if practiced on people with cancer near tumor sites.  Proponents of Rolfing claim it can be used to alleviate pain. However, Rolfing's focus on appropriate "alignment" of structures of the body does not reflect modern science about pain.  In 2010 "The New York Times" reported that Rolfing was enjoying a "resurgence" following an endorsement from Mehmet Oz on "The Oprah Winfrey Show".  Because of its dependence on vitalistic concepts and its unevidenced propositions about the connection between physical manipulation and psychology, Rolfing is classified as a pseudoscience, and its practice has been characterized as quackery.  Writing for Science-Based Medicine, lawyer Jann Bellamy writes that in the United States of America the public are inadequately protected from bodywork practices such as Rolfing because of the lack of independent oversight; instead regulation is carried out within a "closed loop" system by such bodies as the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.

History.

Ida Rolf began working on clients in New York City in the 1940s with the premise that the human structure could be organized "in relation to gravity". She developed structural integration with one of her sons and by the 1950s she was teaching her work across the United States. In the mid-1960s she began teaching at Esalen Institute, where she gathered a loyal following of students and practitioners. Esalen was the epicenter of the Human Potential Movement, allowing Rolf to exchange ideas with many of their leaders, including Fritz Perls. Rolf incorporated a number of ideas from other areas including osteopathic manipulation, cranial osteopathy, hatha yoga, and the general semantics of Alfred Korzybski. In 1971 she founded the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration. The school has been based in Boulder, Colorado, since 1972, and as of 2010 included five institutes worldwide.  Since Rolf's death, the field of Structural Integration has fragmented into various schools. Of these schools, the Rolf Institute is the only one with the use of the trademarked terms "Rolfing" and "Certified Rolfer". Other schools of Structural Integration certify "Practitioners of the Rolf Method of Structural Integration" including the Guild for Structural Integration, Hellerwork Structural Integration, Aston Patterning, SOMA, KMI, and a dozen other Structural Integration schools. A professional membership organization exists called the International Association of Structural Integration, which has certified practitioners by exam since 2007.

Rolfing () is a form of alternative medicine originally developed by Ida Rolf (1896–1979) as Structural Integration. It is typically delivered as a series of ten hands-on physical manipulation sessions sometimes called "the recipe". It is based on Rolf's ideas about how the human body's "energy field" can benefit when aligned with the Earth's gravitational field. Practitioners combine superficial and deep manual therapy with movement prompts. The process is sometimes painful. It is not known whether Rolfing is safe.


Etymology.

The German name is derived from "Wasenkuppe, Asenberg" or "Weideberg" and means "Pasture mountain".

Geography.

The Wasserkuppe lies in the administrative district Fulda north of Gersfeld. Other villages nearby are Poppenhausen ( west - south west) and Wüstensachsen ( east, part of Ehrenberg, Hesse). It is part of the Rhön Biosphere Reserve.  The Wasserkuppe sources the spring of the river Fulda (the western source of the Weser) and the river Lütter which joins the Fulda after.  The other peaks near the Wasserkuppe are Abtsrodaer Kuppe (north, NN), (east, NN) and Pferdskopf (south west, NN).

Aeronautical development.

Students from the Darmstadt University of Technology, then known as "Technische Hochschule Darmstadt", began flying gliders from the Wasserkuppe as early as 1911, but interest in gliding in Germany increased greatly after 1918 when the Treaty of Versailles restricted the production or use of powered aircraft in the nation. From 1920 onwards, annual gliding competitions were held, leading to records being set and broken for height, distance and duration of unpowered flight. In 1922 became the first glider pilot to use an updraft rising along a mountain slope to stay aloft for a lengthy period. He then founded the world's first glider pilot school at the Wasserkuppe.  The first competition was organised by Oskar Ursinus, who also built the first clubhouse on the Wasserkuppe in 1924 to replace the shipping containers that enthusiasts were using as accommodation up to that point. By 1930, the competition had become an international event, drawing pilots from all over Europe and even the United States.  Also in 1924 'Rhönvater' (Rhön father) Oskar Ursinus convinced the then secretary of air transport for the ministry of transportation to turn the new gliding club into a state funded research organization. This started the Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft and as a result, the Wasserkuppe now had a gliding school, workshops for building gliders and a funded research facility. Alexander Lippisch was appointed as the managing director of the new society.  Virtually every German aeronautical engineer and test pilot of note during the 1920s and 1930s spent time building, testing, and flying aircraft at the Wasserkuppe, including the Günter brothers, Wolf Hirth, the Horten brothers, Robert Kronfeld, Hans Jacobs, Heini Dittmar, Alexander Lippisch, Willy Messerschmitt, Hanna Reitsch, Peter Riedel, and Alexander Schleicher. Beverley Shenstone, who was later a key part of the design team for the Spitfire, flew gliders at Wasserkuppe in 1930. This period saw great advances in new technologies such as flying wings and rocket-powered flights.  In the 1930s the "Ehrenhalle" (Hall of Honor) was constructed in the Lilienthal Haus, with heavy bronze doors opening into a large hall with a stained glass window. The centerpiece is a larger-than-life bronze figure of Otto Lilienthal lying on an (empty) tomb. It is a memorial to all pilots who have died in aviation accidents. The inscription on the memorial is Lilienthal's famous last words: "Opfer müssen gebracht werden" roughly meaning: "Sacrifices must be made."  During the Third Reich, gliding activities became largely controlled by the state, and for Hitler Youth pilots and their instructors, proficiency in gliding was viewed as the first step towards the Luftwaffe. Sailplane research was also nationalised under the "Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug" (DFS — German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight).  Following World War II, a US Air Force base, radar station, and surveillance station were established there but when restrictions on German aviation were lifted in 1951, gliding soon returned to the Wasserkuppe where it has remained popular since. Beginning in the 1970s, the newer sport of hang gliding has also found a home there. Following the reunification of Germany and demise of the Soviet Union, the surveillance and radar installations were removed in the 1990s.  In 1970, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first competition, the "Deutsches Segelflugmuseum" (German Sailplane Museum) was opened on the plateau, with Neil Armstrong a guest of honour at the ceremony. The museum gained a new building in 1987. The Wasserkuppe is also the home of the "Oldtimer Segelflugclub" (OSC – Oldtimer Gliding Club), dedicated (as its name suggests) to flying vintage sailplanes.  Next to the long tradition of sailplanes the Wasserkuppe has become a sports and weekend centre offering a wide selection of activities. Paragliding as well as Snowkiting is offered. In winter the area is used by skiers and snowboarders.

The is a mountain within the German state of Hesse. It is a large plateau formation at an elevation of and is the highest peak in the Rhön Mountains. Great advances in sailplane development took place on the mountain during the interwar period, driven by annual contests. Near the summit there is still an airfield used by gliding clubs and pilots of light aircraft.


Context.

In March 1919, Benito Mussolini founded the first "Italian Combat Leagues" ("Fasci Italiani di Combattimento") at the beginning of the "two red years" ("biennio rosso"). Mussolini suffered a defeat in the election of November 1919 mainly due to his attempt to "out-socialist the socialists" at the ballot box. But in the general election of 1921, Mussolini was elected to Parliament.  Fascists used militia squads, the Squadrismo, also known as the "Blackshirts" due to their uniform. In August 1920, the militia was used to break the general strike which had started at the Alfa Romeo factory in Milan. In November 1920, after the assassination of Giulio Giordani (a right-wing municipal councillor in Bologna), the Blackshirts were active in violent suppression of the socialist movement (which included a strong anarcho-syndicalist component), especially in the Po Valley.  Trade unions were dissolved while left-wing mayors resigned. The fascists, included on Giovanni Giolitti's "National Union" lists at the May 1921 elections, then won 35 seats. Mussolini withdrew his support from Giolitti and his Italian Liberal Party (PLI) and attempted to work out a temporary truce with the Italian Socialist Party by signing a "Pact of Pacification" in summer 1921. This provoked protest with more radical members of the Fascist movement, the Blackshirt "Squadristi" and their leaders, the "Ras" ("Dukes", from an Ethiopian term). In July 1921, Giolitti attempted without success to dissolve the "squadristi". The contract with the socialists was nullified during the Third Fascist Congress on November 7–10, 1921, where Mussolini negotiated a nationalist program and renamed his political party the National Fascist Party, which boasted "2,200 fasci and 320,000 members" by late 1921. In August, an anti-fascist general strike was triggered, but failed to rally the Italian People's Party ("Partito Popolare Italiano") and was repressed by the fascists. A few days before the march, Mussolini consulted with the U.S. Ambassador Richard Washburn Child about whether the U.S. government would object to Fascist participation in a future Italian government. Child encouraged him to go ahead. When Mussolini learned that Prime Minister Luigi Facta had given Gabriele d'Annunzio the mission to organize a large demonstration on 4 November 1922 to celebrate the national victory during the war, he decided on the March to accelerate the process and sidestep any possible competition..

March.

The "quadrumvirs" leading the Fascist Party, General Emilio De Bono, Italo Balbo (one of the most famous "ras"), Michele Bianchi and Cesare Maria de Vecchi, organized the March, while the "Duce" was waiting in Milan. He did not participate in the march, though he allowed pictures to be taken of him marching along with the Fascist marchers, and he comfortably went to Rome the next day. Generals Gustavo Fara and Sante Ceccherini assisted to the preparations of the March of 18 October. Other organizers of the march included the Marquis Dino Perrone Compagni and Ulisse Igliori.  On 24 October 1922, Mussolini declared before 60,000 people at the Fascist Congress in Naples: "Our program is simple: we want to rule Italy." Meanwhile, the Blackshirts, who had occupied the Po plain, took all strategic points of the country. On 26 October, the former prime minister Antonio Salandra warned current Prime Minister Luigi Facta that Mussolini was demanding his resignation and that he was preparing to march on Rome. However, Facta did not believe Salandra and thought that Mussolini would govern quietly at his side. To meet the threat posed by the bands of fascist troops now gathering outside Rome, Luigi Facta (who had resigned but continued to hold power) ordered a state of siege for Rome. Having had previous conversations with the King about the repression of fascist violence, he was sure the King would agree. However, King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign the military order. On 29 October, the King handed power to Mussolini, who was supported by the military, the business class, and the right-wing.  The march itself was composed of fewer than 30,000 men, but the King in part feared a civil war since the "squadristi" had already taken control of the Po plain and most of the country, while Fascism was no longer seen as a threat to the establishment. Mussolini was asked to form his cabinet on 29 October 1922, while some 25,000 Blackshirts were parading in Rome. Mussolini thus legally reached power, in accordance with the Statuto Albertino, the Italian Constitution. The March on Rome was not the seizure of power which Fascism later celebrated but rather the precipitating force behind a transfer of power within the framework of the constitution. This transition was made possible by the surrender of public authorities in the face of fascist intimidation. Many business and financial leaders believed it would be possible to manipulate Mussolini, whose early speeches and policies emphasized free market and laissez faire economics. This proved overly optimistic, as Mussolini's corporatist view stressed total state power over businesses as much as over individuals, via governing industry bodies ("corporations") controlled by the Fascist party, a model in which businesses retained the responsibilities of property, but few if any of the freedoms. By 1934 Mussolini claimed to have nationalized "three-fourths of the Italian economy, industrial and agricultural", more than any other nation except the Soviet Union.  Mussolini pretended to be willing to take a subalternate ministry in a Giolitti or Salandra cabinet, but then demanded the presidency of the Council. Fearing a conflict with the fascists, the ruling class thus handed power to Mussolini, who went on to install the dictatorship after the 10 June 1924 assassination of Giacomo Matteotti – who had finished writing "The Fascisti Exposed: A Year of Fascist Domination" – executed by Amerigo Dumini, accused of being the leader of the "Italian Ceka", however there is no evidence for such an organization existing.

The March on Rome () was an organized mass demonstration in October 1922, which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party ("Partito Nazionale Fascista", or PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy ("Regno d'Italia"). In late October 1922, Fascist Party leaders planned an insurrection, to take place on 28 October. When fascist troops entered Rome, Prime Minister Luigi Facta wished to declare a state of siege, but this was overruled by King Victor Emmanuel III. On the following day, 29 October 1922, the King appointed Mussolini as Prime Minister, thereby transferring political power to the fascists without armed conflict.


Derivation.

Roughly speaking, the simplest version of Stirling's formula can be quickly obtained by approximating the sum  with an integral:  The full formula, together with precise estimates of its error, can be derived as follows. Instead of approximating, one considers its natural logarithm, as this is a slowly varying function:  The right-hand side of this equation minus  is the approximation by the trapezoid rule of the integral  and the error in this approximation is given by the Euler–Maclaurin formula:  where is a Bernoulli number, and is the remainder term in the Euler–Maclaurin formula. Take limits to find that  Denote this limit as. Because the remainder in the Euler–Maclaurin formula satisfies  where big-O notation is used, combining the equations above yields the approximation formula in its logarithmic form:  Taking the exponential of both sides and choosing any positive integer, one obtains a formula involving an unknown quantity. For, the formula is  The quantity can be found by taking the limit on both sides as tends to infinity and using Wallis' product, which shows that. Therefore, one obtains Stirling's formula:

An alternative derivation.

An alternative formula for using the gamma function is (as can be seen by repeated integration by parts). Rewriting and changing variables, one obtains Applying Laplace's method one has which recovers Stirling's formula: In fact, further corrections can also be obtained using Laplace's method. For example, computing two-order expansion using Laplace's method yields and gives Stirling's formula to two orders:  A complex-analysis version of this method is to consider formula_24 as a Taylor coefficient of the exponential function formula_25, computed by Cauchy's integral formula as  where denotes the Stirling numbers of the first kind. From this one obtains a version of Stirling's series  which converges when.

Versions suitable for calculators.

The approximation  and its equivalent form  can be obtained by rearranging Stirling's extended formula and observing a coincidence between the resultant power series and the Taylor series expansion of the hyperbolic sine function. This approximation is good to more than 8 decimal digits for with a real part greater than 8. Robert H. Windschitl suggested it in 2002 for computing the gamma function with fair accuracy on calculators with limited program or register memory.  Gergő Nemes proposed in 2007 an approximation which gives the same number of exact digits as the Windschitl approximation but is much simpler:  or equivalently,  An alternative approximation for the gamma function stated by Srinivasa Ramanujan (Ramanujan 1988) is  for. The equivalent approximation for has an asymptotic error of and is given by  The approximation may be made precise by giving paired upper and lower bounds; one such inequality is

Estimating central effect in the binomial distribution.

In computer science, especially in the context of randomized algorithms, it is common to generate random bit vectors that are powers of two in length. Many algorithms producing and consuming these bit vectors are sensitive to the population count of the bit vectors generated, or of the Manhattan distance between two such vectors. Often of particular interest is the density of "fair" vectors, where the population count of an "n"-bit vector is exactly formula_35. This amounts to the probability that an iterated coin toss over many trials leads to a tie game.  Stirling's approximation to formula_36, the central and maximal binomial coefficient of the binomial distribution, simplifies especially nicely where formula_37 takes the form of formula_38, for an integer formula_39. Here we are interested in how the density of the central population count is diminished compared to formula_40, deriving the last form in decibel attenuation:  This simple approximation exhibits surprising accuracy:  Binary diminishment obtains from dB on dividing by formula_43.  As a direct fractional estimate:  Once again, both examples exhibit accuracy easily besting 1%:  Interpreted at an iterated coin toss, a session involving slightly over a million coin flips (a binary million) has one chance in roughly 1300 of ending in a draw.  Both of these approximations (one in log space, the other in linear space) are simple enough for many software developers to obtain the estimate mentally, with exceptional accuracy by the standards of mental estimates.  The binomial distribution closely approximates the normal distribution for large formula_37, so these estimates based on Stirling's approximation also relate to the peak value of the probability mass function for large formula_37 and formula_48, as specified for the following distribution: formula_49.

History.

The formula was first discovered by Abraham de Moivre in the form  De Moivre gave an approximate rational-number expression for the natural logarithm of the constant. Stirling's contribution consisted of showing that the constant is precisely formula_51.

In mathematics, Stirling's approximation (or Stirling's formula) is an approximation for factorials. It is a good approximation, leading to accurate results even for small values of. It is named after James Stirling, though it was first stated by Abraham de Moivre.


Life account.

Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was the second son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. He was a younger brother of Emperor Maximilian II. At the behest of his father, he was put in charge of the administration of Bohemia in 1547. He also led the campaign against the Turks in Hungary in 1556.  In 1557 he was secretly married to Philippine Welser, daughter of a patrician from Augsburg, with whom he had several children. The marriage was only accepted by Emperor Ferdinand I in 1559 under the condition of secrecy. The children were to receive the name "of Austria" but would only be entitled to inherit if the House of Habsburg became totally extinct in the male line, and thus the marriage had many qualities of a morganatic marriage. The sons born of this marriage received the title Margrave of Burgau, after the Margraviate of Burgau, an ancient Habsburg possession in Further Austria. The younger of the sons, who survived their father, later received the princely title of "Fürst zu Burgau".  After his father's death in 1564, Ferdinand became the ruler of Tirol and other Further Austrian possessions under his father's will. However, he remained governor of Bohemia in Prague until 1567 according to the wishes of his brother Maximilian II.  In his own lands, Ferdinand made sure that the Catholic counter-reformation would prevail. He also was instrumental in promoting the Renaissance in central Europe and was an avid collector of art. He accommodated his world-famous collections in a museum built specifically for that purpose, making Ambras Castle Innsbruck the oldest museum in the world, and as the only Renaissance Kunstkammer of its kind to have been preserved at its original location, the Chamber of Art and Curiosities at Ambras Castle Innsbruck represents an unrivalled cultural monument. The collection was started during Ferdinand's time in Bohemia and he subsequently moved it to Tyrol. In particular, the Chamber of Art and Curiosities, the gallery of portraits, and the collection of armor were very expensive, leading Ferdinand to incurred a high level of debt. Part of collections remained in Innsbruck, and part ultimately was moved to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.  After the death of his wife Philippine in 1580, he married Anna Caterina Gonzaga, a daughter of William I, Duke of Mantua, in 1582.  Archduke Ferdinand died on 24 January 1595. Since his sons from the first marriage were not entitled to the inheritance, and the second produced only surviving daughters, Tirol was reunified with the other Habsburg lands. His daughter from the Mantuan marriage to Anna Caterina (later Anna Juliana) became Holy Roman Empress Anna, consort of Emperor Mathias, who received his Further Austrian inheritance.

Children.

He and his first wife Philippine Welser were parents of four children:  On 14 May 1582, Ferdinand married his niece Anne Catherine. She was a daughter of William I, Duke of Mantua, and Eleonora of Austria, younger sister of Ferdinand. They were parents to three daughters:  He had at least two illegitimate children:  –With Anna von Obrizon:  –With Johanna Lydl von Mayenburg:

Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria (Linz, 14 June 1529 – 24 January 1595, Innsbruck) was ruler of Further Austria and since 1564 Imperial count of Tirol. The son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, he was married to Philippine Welser in his first marriage. In his second marriage to Anna Juliana Gonzaga, he was the father of Anna of Tyrol, future Holy Roman Empress.


Actions.

The basic sequence involved in drag and drop is:  Dragging requires more physical effort than moving the same pointing device without holding down any buttons. Because of this, a user cannot move as quickly and precisely while dragging (see Fitts' law). However, drag-and-drop operations have the advantage of thoughtfully chunking together two operands (the object to drag, and the drop location) into a single action. Extended dragging and dropping (as in graphic design) can stress the mousing hand.  A design problem appears when the same button selects and drags items. Imprecise movement can cause an attempt to select an object to register as a dragging motion.  Another problem is that the target of the dropping can be hidden under other objects. The user would have to stop the dragging, make both the source and the target visible and start again. In classic Mac OS the top-of-screen menu bar served as a universal "drag cancel" target. This issue has been dealt with in Mac OS X with the introduction of Exposé.

In Mac OS.

Drag and drop, called click and drag at the time, was used in the original Macintosh to manipulate files (for example, copying them between disks or folders.). System 7 added the ability to open a document in an application by dropping the document icon onto the application's icon.  In System 7.5, drag and drop was extended to common clipboard operations like copying or moving textual content within a document. Content could also be dragged into the filesystem to create a "clipping file" which could then be stored and reused.  For most of its history Mac OS has used a single button mouse with the button covering a large portion of the top surface of the mouse. This may mitigate the ergonomic concerns of keeping the button pressed while dragging.

In OS/2.

The Workplace Shell of OS/2 uses dragging and dropping extensively with the secondary mouse button, leaving the primary one for selection and clicking. Its use like that of other advanced Common User Access features distinguished native OS/2 applications from platform-independent ports.

In HTML.

The HTML5 working draft specification includes support for drag and drop. HTML5 supports different kinds of dragging and dropping features including: Based on needed action, one of the above types can be used. Note that when an HTML element is dragged for moving its current position, its ID is sent to the destination parent element; so it sends a text and can be considered as the first group.  Google's web-based e-mail application Gmail supports drag-and-drop of images and attachments in the latest Google Chrome browser and Apple's Safari (5.x). And Google Image search supports drag & drop.

On a touch screen.

Touch screen interfaces also include drag and drop, or more precisely, long press, and then drag, e.g. on the iPhone or Android home screens.  iOS 11 implements a drag-and-drop feature which allows the user to touch items (and tap with other fingers to drag more) within an app or between apps on iPads. On iPhones, the functionality is only available within the same app that the user started the drag.

In end-user programming.

Drag and drop is considered an important program construction approach in many end-user development systems. In contrast to more traditional, text-based programming languages, many end-user programming languages are based on visual components such as tiles or icons that are manipulated by end users through drag-and-drop interfaces. AgentSheets, a programming environment for kids, introduced the modern notion of drag and drop blocks programming providing 4 core affordances: 1) Blocks that are end-user composable, 2) blocks are end-user editable, 3) blocks can be nested to represent tree structures, 4) blocks are arranged geometrically to define syntax. Drag and drop is also featured in many shader editing programs for graphics tools, such as Blender. Drag and drop also features in some video game engines, including Unreal Engine, GameMaker Studio, Construct 2 and, with expansion, Unity (game engine).

Examples.

A common example is dragging an icon on a virtual desktop to a special trashcan icon to delete a file.  Further examples include:

In computer graphical user interfaces, drag and drop is a pointing device gesture in which the user selects a virtual object by "grabbing" it and dragging it to a different location or onto another virtual object. In general, it can be used to invoke many kinds of actions, or create various types of associations between two abstract objects.


Formation of evaporite rocks.

Although all water bodies on the surface and in aquifers contain dissolved salts, the water must evaporate into the atmosphere for the minerals to precipitate. For this to happen, the water body must enter a restricted environment where water input into this environment remains below the net rate of evaporation. This is usually an arid environment with a small basin fed by a limited input of water. When evaporation occurs, the remaining water is enriched in salts, and they precipitate when the water becomes supersaturated.

Evaporite depositional environments.

Marine evaporites.

Marine evaporites tend to have thicker deposits and are usually the focus of more extensive research. They also have a system of evaporation. When scientists evaporate ocean water in a laboratory, the minerals are deposited in a defined order that was first demonstrated by Usiglio in 1884. The first phase of the experiment begins when about 50% of the original water depth remains. At this point, minor carbonates begin to form. The next phase in the sequence comes when the experiment is left with about 20% of its original level. At this point, the mineral gypsum begins to form, which is then followed by halite at 10%, excluding carbonate minerals that tend not to be evaporites. The most common minerals that are generally considered to be the most representative of marine evaporites are calcite, gypsum and anhydrite, halite, sylvite, carnallite, langbeinite, polyhalite, and kainite. Kieserite (MgSO) may also be included, which often will make up less than four percent of the overall content. However, there are approximately 80 different minerals that have been reported found in evaporite deposits (Stewart, 1963; Warren, 1999), though only about a dozen are common enough to be considered important rock formers.

Non-marine evaporites.

Non-marine evaporites are usually composed of minerals that are not common in marine environments because in general the water from which non-marine evaporite precipitates has proportions of chemical elements different from those found in the marine environments. Common minerals that are found in these deposits include blödite, borax, epsomite, gaylussite, glauberite, mirabilite, thenardite and trona. Non-marine deposits may also contain halite, gypsum, and anhydrite, and may in some cases even be dominated by these minerals, although they did not come from ocean deposits. This, however, does not make non-marine deposits any less important; these deposits often help to paint a picture into past Earth climates. Some particular deposits even show important tectonic and climatic changes. These deposits also may contain important minerals that help in today's economy. Thick non-marine deposits that accumulate tend to form where evaporation rates will exceed the inflow rate, and where there is sufficient soluble supplies. The inflow also has to occur in a closed basin, or one with restricted outflow, so that the sediment has time to pool and form in a lake or other standing body of water. Primary examples of this are called "saline lake deposits". Saline lakes includes things such as perennial lakes, which are lakes that are there year-round, playa lakes, which are lakes that appear only during certain seasons, or any other terms that are used to define places that hold standing bodies of water intermittently or year-round. Examples of modern non-marine depositional environments include the Great Salt Lake in Utah and the Dead Sea, which lies between Jordan and Israel.  Evaporite depositional environments that meet the above conditions include:  The most significant known evaporite depositions happened during the Messinian salinity crisis in the basin of the Mediterranean.

Evaporitic formations.

Evaporite formations need not be composed entirely of halite salt. In fact, most evaporite formations do not contain more than a few percent of evaporite minerals, the remainder being composed of the more typical detrital clastic rocks and carbonates. Examples of evaporite formations include occurrences of evaporite sulfur in Eastern Europe and West Asia.  For a formation to be recognised as evaporitic it may simply require recognition of halite pseudomorphs, sequences composed of some proportion of evaporite minerals, and recognition of mud crack textures or other textures.

Economic importance of evaporites.

Evaporites are important economically because of their mineralogy, their physical properties in-situ, and their behaviour within the subsurface.  Evaporite minerals, especially nitrate minerals, are economically important in Peru and Chile. Nitrate minerals are often mined for use in the production on fertilizer and explosives.  Thick halite deposits are expected to become an important location for the disposal of nuclear waste because of their geologic stability, predictable engineering and physical behaviour, and imperviousness to groundwater.  Halite formations are famous for their ability to form diapirs, which produce ideal locations for trapping petroleum deposits.  Halite deposits are often mined for use as salt.

Major groups of evaporite minerals.

This is a chart that shows minerals that form the marine evaporite rocks, they are usually the most common minerals that appear in this kind of deposit.  Evaporite minerals start to precipitate when their concentration in water reaches such a level that they can no longer exist as solutes.  The minerals precipitate out of solution in the reverse order of their solubilities, such that the order of precipitation from sea water is:  The abundance of rocks formed by seawater precipitation is in the same order as the precipitation given above. Thus, limestone (calcite) and dolomite are more common than gypsum, which is more common than halite, which is more common than potassium and magnesium salts.  Evaporites can also be easily recrystallized in laboratories in order to investigate the conditions and characteristics of their formation.

Evaporite () is the term for a water-soluble mineral sediment that results from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. There are two types of evaporite deposits: marine, which can also be described as ocean deposits, and non-marine, which are found in standing bodies of water such as lakes. Evaporites are considered sedimentary rocks and are formed by chemical sediments.


Biography.

Peter Fechter was born on 14 January 1944, in Berlin, Germany, during the final years of World War II. Fechter was the third of four children, and raised in the Weißensee district of Berlin. His father was a mechanical engineer and his mother was a saleswoman. Fechter finished school at the age of 14, and graduated as a bricklayer. After World War II had ended, Weißensee was located in the Soviet occupation zone of Berlin when the city was divided during the Allied Occupation, with the Soviet zone later becoming East Berlin in East Germany. Fechter's eldest sister had married and now lived in West Berlin, where she was regularly visited by her parents and siblings. On 13 August 1961, the East German authorities abruptly closed the border and began construction of the Berlin Wall, effectively separating Fechter and his family from his sister in West Berlin. Fechter's colleague, Helmut Kulbeik, later stated that he and Fechter had been contemplating defecting to West Berlin for a while, and that they had also explored the border installations, but no concrete planning was ever made at the time. Shortly after, Fechter was denied a legally sanctioned trip to West Germany by his company, despite receiving good judgement.

Death.

On 17 August 1962, around one year after the construction of the Berlin Wall, Fechter and Helmut Kulbeik attempted to flee from East Germany. The plan was to hide in a carpenter's workshop near the wall on Zimmerstrasse and, after observing the border guards from there, to jump out of a window into the "death-strip" (a strip running between the main wall and a parallel fence which they had recently started to construct), run across it, and climb over the two metre (6.5 ft) wall topped with barbed wire into the Kreuzberg district of West Berlin near Checkpoint Charlie.  Their plan was initially successful as both Fechter and Kulbeik reached the final wall, but as they began to climb the East German border guards fired at them. Although Kulbeik succeeded in crossing over the wall, Fechter was shot in the pelvis while still climbing, in plain view of hundreds of witnesses. He fell back into the death-strip on the East German side, where he remained in view of West German onlookers, including journalists. Despite his screams, Fechter received no medical assistance from the East German side, and could not be tended to by those on the West side. West Berlin police threw him bandages, which he could not reach, and he bled to death after approximately one hour. As a result of his death, hundreds in West Berlin formed a spontaneous demonstration, shouting "Murderers!" at the border guards. The lack of medical assistance for Peter Fechter was attributed to mutual fear: Western bystanders were apparently prevented at gunpoint from assisting him, although according to a report in "Time" magazine, a second lieutenant of the US Army on the scene received specific orders from the US Commandant in West Berlin to stand firm and do nothing. It also emerged during the trial that any aid attempt from the West had indeed been made impossible, but according to a report from forensic pathologist Otto Prokop, "Fechter had no chance of survival. The shot in the right hip had caused severe internal injuries." Likewise, the head of the East German border platoon stated that he was afraid to intervene, because of an incident just three days earlier when an East German soldier Rudi Arnstadt had probably been shot by a Western federal policeman. Nonetheless, the East German border soldiers did retrieve Peter Fechter's body an hour after he had died.

Trial.

In March 1997, seven years after the reunification of Germany and 35 years after Fechter's death, two former East German guards, Rolf Friedrich and Erich Schreiber, faced manslaughter charges for Fechter's death. Both admitted to the shooting after an intense investigation. They were both convicted and sentenced to 20 and 21 months' imprisonment on probation. Due to a lack of conclusive evidence, the court was unable to determine which of three gunmen (one of whom had already died) had fired the fatal bullet. After pleading guilty to the crime, during sentencing, both guards apologized for killing Fechter, saying that if they could take it back, they would, and that they were honestly remorseful for their actions.

Commemoration.

A cross was placed on the western side near the spot where Fechter was shot and bled to death. At the invitation of Willy Brandt, the mayor of West Berlin, the Yale Russian Chorus sang a German translation of Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus near the site in the week following the shooting. On the first anniversary, a wreath was placed there by Willy Brandt and US major general James Polk.  The story of Peter Fechter was the headline of American news magazine "Time" in August 1962. In this article was used the noun "Wall of Shame" (Mauer der Schande), and this became a synonym for the wall. After German reunification in 1990, the Peter-Fechter-Stelle memorial was constructed on Zimmerstrasse, at the precise spot where he had died on the Eastern side, and this has been a focal point for some of the commemorations regarding the wall. The shooting has also been the subject of documentaries on German television. Cornelius Ryan dedicated his book "The Last Battle" to the memory of Fechter. Composer Aulis Sallinen wrote an orchestral work "Mauermusik" to commemorate Fechter. In 2007, artist Mark Gubb was commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Arts to create a performance based on the death of Peter Fechter. The performance was a one-hour live piece that was later recorded and screened at the ICA with a discussion panel at the end consisting of the artist, and actor Dominik Danielewicz who played the part of Peter Fechter. The 1972 ballad "Libre" ("Free") – a recording famous in all Ibero-America – by Spanish singer Nino Bravo, remembers this event. In 2012 Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill's play "Peter Fechter: 59 Minutes", a poetic re-imagining of the final hour of Fechter's life, was produced in Canada and Berlin.

Peter Fechter (14 January 1944 – 17 August 1962) was a German bricklayer who became the twenty-seventh known person to die at the Berlin Wall. Fechter was 18 years old when he was shot and killed by East German border guards while trying to cross over to West Berlin.


Sources.

The major sources for myths about Jörmungandr are the "Prose Edda", the skaldic poem "Húsdrápa", and the Eddic poems "Hymiskviða" and "Völuspá". Other sources include kennings in other skaldic poems. For example, in "Þórsdrápa", "faðir lögseims", "father of the sea-thread", is used as a kenning for Loki. There are also image stones from ancient times depicting the story of Thor fishing for Jörmungandr.

Stories.

There are three preserved myths detailing Thor's encounters with Jörmungandr:

Lifting the cat.

In one story, Thor encounters the giant king Útgarða-Loki and has to perform deeds for him, one of which is a challenge of Thor's strength. Útgarða-Loki goads Thor into lifting the serpent disguised by magic in the form of a magic colossal cat. Thor grabs the cat around the middle of its belly but is unable to lift such a monstrous creature as Jörmungandr. He manages to raise the cat high enough for only one of its paws to lift from off the floor. Útgarða-Loki expresses how the result was expected and later explains his deception. He acknowledges Thor's lifting of the cat as an impressive deed as he stretched the serpent to where it almost reached the sky. Many watching became fearful when they saw one paw lift off the ground. If Thor had managed to lift the cat completely from the ground, he would have altered the boundaries of the universe.

Thor's fishing trip.

Jörmungandr and Thor meet again when Thor goes fishing with the giant Hymir. When Hymir refuses to provide Thor with bait, Thor strikes the head off Hymir's largest ox to use as his bait. They row to a point where Hymir often sat and caught flat fish and where he drew up two whales. Thor demands to go further out to sea and does so despite Hymir's protest.  Thor then prepares a strong line and a large hook and baits it with the ox head, which Jörmungandr bites. Thor pulls the serpent from the water, and the two face one another, Jörmungandr dribbling poison and blood. Hymir goes pale with fear. As Thor grabs his hammer to kill the serpent, the giant cuts the line leaving the serpent to sink beneath the waves and returns to its original position encircling the earth. In earlier Scandinavian versions of the myth, Thor successfully captures and kills the serpent by striking it on the head.  This encounter with Thor shows to have been one of the most popular motifs in Norse art. Four picture stones that have been believed to have been linked with the myth are the Altuna Runestone, Ardre VIII image stone, the Hørdum stone, and the Gosforth Cross. A stone slab that may be a portion of a second cross at Gosforth also shows a scene of a man fishing for a serpent-like creature using an ox head. These stones did not agree on the myth's conclusion as some had displayed scenes of the serpent escaping by the giant and some of its death. The Ardre VIII stone depicts a man entering a house where an ox is standing, and another scene showing two men using a spear to fish. The image on this stone is dated to the 8th or 9th century. If the stone was correctly interpreted as a depiction of this myth, it would demonstrate that the same of a similar version of the myth remained unchanging for a period of about 500 years prior to the recording of the version in the "Prose Edda" around the year 1220.

Ragnarök.

One sign for the coming of Ragnarök is the violent unrest of the sea as Jörmungandr releases its tail from its mouth and thrashes its way onto land. Fenrir will set ablaze one half of the world with fire while Jörmungandr sprays poison to fill the skies and seas of the other half. Fenrir and Jörmungandr will then join the sons of Muspell into the plain of Vigrid. Here is where the last meeting between the serpent and Thor is predicted to occur. Thor will become occupied with battling the serpent and is unable to help others as they fight their own battles. He will eventually kill Jörmungandr but will fall dead after walking nine paces, having been poisoned by the serpent's deadly venom.

Analysis.

John Lindow draws a parallel between Jörmungandr's biting of its own tail and the binding of Fenrir, as part of a recurring theme of the bound monster in Norse mythology, where an enemy of the gods is bound but destined to break free at Ragnarok.

Eponym.

Asteroid 471926 Jörmungandr was named after the mythological sea serpent. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 25 September 2018 ().

In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr (, pronounced, meaning "huge monster"), also known as the Midgard (World) Serpent (), is a sea serpent, the middle child of the giantess Angrboða and Loki. According to the "Prose Edda", Odin took Loki's three children by Angrboða—the wolf Fenrir, Hel, and Jörmungandr—and tossed Jörmungandr into the great ocean that encircles Midgard. The serpent grew so large that it was able to surround the earth and grasp its own tail. As a result, it received the name of the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent. When it releases its tail, Ragnarök will begin. Jörmungandr's arch-enemy is the thunder-god, Thor. It is an example of an ouroboros.


Geography.

Situated north of the Jizera Mountains on the western shore of the Kwisa River, Lubań is part of the historic Upper Lusatia region. It is located about east of Zgorzelec/Görlitz and about northwest of Jelenia Góra. From 1975–1998 it was part of the former Jelenia Góra Voivodeship.

History.

Lubań probably is at the site of a small settlement established by the West Slavic Milceni tribe in the 9th and 10th century, whose lands up to the Kwisa River from 927 on were gradually conquered by the German king Henry the Fowler and incorporated into the "marca Geronis" in 939. In 965 the ill-defined Milceni territory became part of the Imperial Margraviate of Meissen. From 1002 to 1031 the area was part of Poland. In 1156 Emperor Frederick Barbarossa vested his ally, the Přemyslid duke Vladislaus II of Bohemia with the territory around Bautzen ("Budissin"), then called "Milsko", and after the 15th century called "Upper Lusatia".  Like several other city foundings under the rule of the Přemyslid dynasty, owing to its favourable location on the historic Via Regia trade route close to the border with the Duchy of Silesia of fragmented Poland, Lubań expanded rapidly in the course of the German "Ostsiedlung". In 1220 or 1268 (the second date is more probable) it is documented as a town with Magdeburg rights. Since about 1253 Upper Lusatia temporarily had been under the rule of the Ascanian margraves John I and Otto III of Brandenburg. By the end of the 13th century Luban's first brewery was founded by the Franciscans and cloth production flourished thanks to Flemish settlers. In 1297, a clothiers' uprising took place, which was brutally suppressed. Its two leaders were beheaded at the market square.  In 1319 the town became part of the Duchy of Jawor of fragmented Poland under the Piast Duke Henry I of Jawor along with lands up to the town of Görlitz. He built a new town hall, whose ruins can be seen today (Kramarska Tower). In 1320, he founded a Magdalene monastery in Lubań. He appointed a separate wójt for the town, which to that point administratively was subordinate to the wójt of Görlitz. Henry ruled the town for eighteen years, before he finally ceded it to his brother-in-law King John of Bohemia.  The centre of the medieval town was a square marketplace with perpendicular streets, leading to four gates: Zgorzelecka/Görlitzer Tor to the west, Bracka/Brüdertor, built in 1318 together with stone curtains by Duke Henry of Jawor, to the south, Mikołajska/Nikolaitor to the east and Nowogrodziecka/Naumburger Tor to the north. The first mayor of the town was Nikolaus Hermann, and Lubań received its own seal.  Under the rule of the Bohemian (Czech) Crown, Lubań on 10 August 1346 established the Lusatian League, together with the towns of Görlitz (Zgorzelec), Löbau ("Lubij"), Zittau ("Żytawa"), Bautzen ("Budziszyn") and Kamenz ("Kamieniec Łużycki"). Twice however, in 1427 and 1431, the Hussites completely demolished the town; it was quickly rebuilt. In its history, the town has repeatedly suffered great fires, which often ruined the whole town. Many inhabitants died as a result of plagues. In 1437 Bohemian King Sigismund exempted the town from taxes for 15 years.  In 1469 it became part of Hungary. In 1490 it became again part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, now ruled by the Jagiellonian dynasty, and after 1526 by the House of Habsburg. In 1498 Bohemian King Vladislaus II established an annual eight-day fair. In the 15th and 16th century brewing prospered, with local beer being popular throughout Lusatia and Silesia, it was even served in the famous "Świdnica Cellar" in Wrocław.  According to the 1635 Peace of Prague, the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II in his capacity as Bohemian king passed Lusatia with the town to the Electorate of Saxony. As a result of the Thirty Years' War, the local economy collapsed, and in 1659, 1670 and 1696 the town was hit by fires. Prosperity came with the Polish-Saxon Union, when from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 to 1763 the Saxon electors Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III were also kings of Poland. The town prospered due to linen and cloth production as well as trade in Polish oxen. On June 25, 1697, a few days before being elected King of Poland, Augustus II visited the town. During his rule, the "Dom pod Okrętem" ("House under the Ship") was built. In 1734 a ceremonial illumination of the town took place in honor of King Augustus III of Poland.  Following the Napoleonic wars, in 1815 the Lusatian territory around Lauban and Görlitz was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia after the Vienna Congress and incorporated into the Province of Silesia. In 1865 and 1866 Lauban obtained railway connections with Görlitz and Jelenia Góra (then "Hirschberg"). From 1871 to 1945 the town was part of Germany. During World War I, the Germans established a large prisoner-of-war camp in the town, whose first prisoners, from September 1914, were soldiers of Imperial Russia, including Poles and Georgians conscripted into the Russian army (large parts of Polish and Georgian lands were under Russian rule before regaining independence in 1918). From 1915, French soldiers as well as political prisoners and common criminals were also imprisoned there. Aleksandra Szczerbińska, the future wife of the leader of interwar Poland Józef Piłsudski, was imprisoned there in 1916. Józef Piłsudski and Aleksandra Piłsudska are today commemorated in Lubań with a memorial stone. During World War II, Germans created numerous forced labor camps in the town, the largest of which was "Wohnheimlager GEMA", in which Polish and Russian women were imprisoned. Polish and Russian women were imprisoned also in other camps, as well as Russians, Hungarians, Frenchmen, Latvians and Ukrainians.  Lauban was the site of one of the last Nazi German victories in World War II. After it was taken in the Upper Silesian Offensive by the Red Army on 16 February 1945, the Wehrmacht successfully retook the town in a counterattack on 8 March 1945. After the war, the town fell to Poland as part of the so-called Recovered Territories. In 1945–46, the totality of the native population was expelled, and Polish new-settlers found a new home here.  In 1992–2004 the marketplace was renovated. Streets were paved and town houses around the Kramarska Tower were rebuilt.

Economy.

There are following workplaces in Lubań:  There are also following notable companies:  In terms of entertainment and consumption, the town offers clubs, restaurants, swimming pools, a cinema and even a small modern shopping centre.

Culture.

Lubań is the hub of culture in Lubań County. The town has its House of Culture. There is also a regional museum.

Education.

Lubań has five kindergartens, five primary schools, and three secondary schools. "Zespół Szkół Ponadpodstawowych im. Adama Mickiewicza w Lubaniu" is ranked amongst the best secondary schools in the entire "Lower Silesian Voivodeship".

Health care.

Lubań has a hospital named Łużyckie Centrum Medyczne im. Lucjana Kopcia.

Transportation.

Lubań has a bus station and a train station. Since 2011 a public transportation system functions in the town.

Places of interest.

Points of interest in Lubań include:

Twin towns – sister cities.

Lubań is twinned with:

Lubań (; ) is a town in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwest Poland. It is the administrative seat of Lubań County and also of the smaller Gmina Lubań (although it is not part of the territory of the latter, as the town is a separate urban gmina in its own right).


Design and development.

In 1963, the Soviet government held a request for proposal among the aircraft design bureaus, with the aim of developing an aircraft analogous to the North American XB-70 Valkyrie. The Sukhoi design, with its high cruise speed of was favored over the designs submitted by Yakovlev and Tupolev and after a preliminary design review in June 1964, the building of a prototype was authorized. Development of the T-4 required massive research effort to develop the technologies necessary, including the manufacturing technologies to machine and weld the materials necessary to withstand sustained Mach 3 flight. Nearly 600 patents or inventions are attributed to the program. The first flying prototype was finally completed in the autumn of 1971. Work continued on an additional three airframes (one for static testing) through 1975. In 1974, the Ministry of Aviation Industry ordered work suspended on the T-4 project, which was officially scrapped on 19 December 1975.  The T-4 had intake ramps similar to the XB-70, was made largely from titanium and stainless steel, and featured a quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire control system but also employed a mechanical system as a backup. The aircraft's droop nose lowered to provide visibility during takeoff and landing. A periscope was used for forward viewing when the nose was retracted, and could be employed at speeds of up to. Drogue parachutes were used in addition to conventional wheel brakes.

Operational history.

The first T-4, designated "101", first flew on 22August 1972. The test pilot was Vladimir Ilyushin, son of famed aircraft designer, Sergei Ilyushin, and navigator Nikolai Alfyorov. Testing continued to 19January 1974. The T-4 flew only ten times for a total 10 hours and 20 minutes. It is believed to have reached at least Mach1.3 at an altitude of using four Kolesov RD36-41 engines. These engines each produced thrust with afterburners. The aircraft was designed to achieve speeds of up to Mach3.0 with nine tons of weapons (two MKB Raduga Kh-45 missiles) under the wings, but the program was cancelled before the full performance of the aircraft could be reached..

Aircraft on display.

One T-4 survives. Aircraft "101" is on display at the Central Air Force Museum in Monino near Moscow. The serial numbers of the prototypes were "101" to "106". Only "101" and "102" were built, while other additional prototypes "103" and "104" were under construction, and "105" and "106" only existed on draft charts. Only the "101" completed all the test flights and flew the last test flight before the project was canceled on 22 January 1974. The rest of the prototypes were scrapped.

The Sukhoi T-4, or "Aircraft 100", or "Project 100", or "Sotka" was a Soviet high-speed reconnaissance, anti-ship and strategic bomber aircraft that did not proceed beyond the prototype stage. It is sometimes called the Su-100.


Conceptual basis.

The macrobiotic diet is associated with Zen Buddhism and is based on the idea of balancing yin and yang. The diet proposes 10 plans which are followed to reach a supposedly ideal yin:yang ratio of 5:1. The diet was popularized by George Ohsawa in the 1930s and subsequently elaborated by his disciple Michio Kushi. Medical historian Barbara Clow writes that, in common with many other types of quackery, macrobiotics takes a view of illness and of therapy which conflicts with mainstream medicine.  Macrobiotics emphasizes locally grown whole grain cereals, pulses (legumes), vegetables, edible seaweed, fermented soy products, and fruit combined into meals according to the ancient Chinese principle of balance known as yin and yang. Whole grains and whole-grain products such as brown rice and buckwheat pasta (soba), a variety of cooked and raw vegetables, beans and bean products, mild natural seasonings, fish, nuts and seeds, mild (non-stimulating) beverages such as bancha twig tea, and fruit are recommended.  Some macrobiotic proponents stress that yin and yang are relative qualities that can only be determined in a comparison. All food is considered to have both properties, with one dominating. Foods with yang qualities are considered compact, dense, heavy, and hot, whereas those with yin qualities are considered expansive, light, cold, and diffuse. However, these terms are relative; "yangness" or "yinness" is only discussed in relation to other foods.  Brown rice and other whole grains such as barley, millet, oats, quinoa, spelt, rye, and teff are considered by macrobiotics to be the foods in which yin and yang are closest to being in balance. Therefore, lists of macrobiotic foods that determine a food as yin or yang generally compare them to whole grains.  Nightshade vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplant; also, spinach, beets, and avocados are not recommended or are used sparingly in macrobiotic cooking, as they are considered extremely yin. Some macrobiotic practitioners also discourage the use of nightshades because of the alkaloid solanine which is thought to affect calcium balance. Some proponents of a macrobiotic diet believe that nightshade vegetables can cause inflammation in the body and osteoporosis.

Practices.

Food.

Some general guidelines for the Japanese-style macrobiotic diet are the following (it is also said that a macrobiotic diet varies greatly, depending on geographical and life circumstances):  Fish and seafood, seeds and nuts, seed and nut butters, seasonings, sweeteners, fruits, and beverages may be enjoyed occasionally, two to three times per week. Other naturally-raised animal products may be included if needed during dietary transition or according to individual needs.

Kitchenware.

Cooking utensils should be made from certain materials such as wood or glass, while some materials including plastic, copper, and non-stick coatings are to be avoided. Electric ovens should not be used.

Japanese popularity and influence.

The macrobiotic way of eating was developed and popularized by the Japanese. During the Edo period in Japan peasants were not allowed to eat meat and had a diet based on staples of rice and soybeans. According to some macrobiotic advocates, a majority of the world population in the past ate a diet based primarily on grains, vegetables, and other plants. Because the macrobiotic diet was developed in Japan, Japanese foods that are thought to be beneficial for health are incorporated by most modern macrobiotic eaters.

Cancer.

The American Cancer Society recommends "low-fat, high-fiber diets that consist mainly of plant products"; however, they urge people with cancer not to rely on a dietary program as an exclusive or primary means of treatment. Cancer Research UK states, "There is no scientific evidence to prove that a macrobiotic diet can treat or cure cancer or any other disease".

Nutrition.

The macrobiotic diet is a type of fad diet. Most macrobiotic diets are not nutritionally sound.  Fish provides vitamin B in a macrobiotic diet, as bioavailable B analogues have not been established in any natural plant food, including sea vegetables, soya, fermented products, and algae. Although plant-derived foods do not naturally contain B, some are fortified during processing with added B and other nutrients. Vitamin A, as its precursor beta-carotene, is available from plants such as carrots and spinach. Adequate protein is available from grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and bean products. Sources of Omega-3 fatty acids are discussed in the relevant article, and include soy products, walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, and fatty fish. Riboflavin along with most other B vitamins are abundant in whole grains. Iron in the form of non-heme iron in beans, sea vegetables and leafy greens is sufficient for good health; detailed information is in the USDA database.

Safety.

Complications.

One of the earlier versions of the macrobiotic diet that involved eating only brown rice and water has been linked to severe nutritional deficiencies and even death. Strict macrobiotic diets that include no animal products may result in nutritional deficiencies unless they are carefully planned. The danger may be worse for people with cancer, who may have to contend with unwanted weight loss and often have increased nutritional and caloric requirements. Relying on this type of treatment alone and avoiding or delaying conventional medical care for cancer may have serious health consequences.

Children.

Children may also be particularly prone to nutritional deficiencies resulting from a macrobiotic diet.

Pregnancy.

Macrobiotic diets have not been tested in women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, and the most extreme versions may not include enough of certain nutrients for normal fetal growth.

A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is a fad diet based on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism. The diet attempts to balance the supposed yin and yang elements of food and cookware. Major principles of macrobiotic diets are to reduce animal products, eat locally grown foods that are in season, and consume meals in moderation.


General.

A botfly, also written bot fly, bott fly or bot-fly in various combinations, is any fly in the family Oestridae. Their lifecycles vary greatly according to species, but the larvae of all species are internal parasites of mammals. Largely according to species, they also are known variously as warble flies, heel flies, and gadflies. The larvae of some species grow in the flesh of their hosts, while others grow within the hosts' alimentary tracts.  The word "bot" in this sense means a maggot. A warble is a skin lump or callus such as might be caused by an ill-fitting harness, or by the presence of a warble fly maggot under the skin. The human botfly, "Dermatobia hominis", is the only species of botfly whose larvae ordinarily parasitise humans, though flies in some other families episodically cause human myiasis and are sometimes more harmful.  "Cuterebra fontinella", the mouse botfly, parasitizes small mammals all around North America.  The botfly will hijack a mosquito to inject the host with the eggs.

Family Oestridae.

The Oestridae now are generally defined as including the former families Oestridae, Cuterebridae, Gasterophilidae, and Hypodermatidae as subfamilies.  The Oestridae, in turn, are a family within the superfamily Oestroidea, together with the families Calliphoridae, Rhinophoridae, Sarcophagidae, and Tachinidae.  Of families of flies causing myiasis, the Oestridae include the highest proportion of species whose larvae live as obligate parasites within the bodies of mammals. Roughly 150 species are known worldwide. Most other species of flies implicated in myiasis are members of related families, such as blow-flies.

Infestation.

Botflies deposit eggs on a host, or sometimes use an intermediate vector such as the common housefly, mosquitoes, and, in the case of "D. hominis", a species of tick. After mating, the female botfly captures the phoretic insect by holding onto its wings with her legs. She then makes the slip—attaching 15 to 30 eggs onto the insect's abdomen, where they incubate. The fertilized female does this over and over again to distribute the 100 to 400 eggs she produces in her short lifespan of only 8-9 days. Larvae from these eggs, stimulated by the warmth and proximity of a large mammal host, drop onto its skin and burrow underneath. Intermediate vectors are often used, since a number of animal hosts recognize the approach of a botfly and flee.  Eggs are deposited on animal skin directly, or the larvae hatch and drop from the eggs attached to the intermediate vector; the body heat of the host animal induces hatching upon contact or immediate proximity. Some forms of botfly also occur in the digestive tract after ingestion by licking.  Myiasis can be caused by larvae burrowing into the skin (or tissue lining) of the host animal. Mature larvae drop from the host and complete the pupal stage in soil. They do not kill the host animal, thus they are true parasites.  The equine botflies present seasonal difficulties to equestrian caretakers, as they lay eggs on the insides of horses' front legs, on the cannon bone and knees and sometimes on the throat or nose, depending on the species. These eggs, which look like small, yellow drops of paint, must be carefully removed during the laying season (late summer and early fall) to prevent infestation in the horse. When a horse rubs its nose on its legs, the eggs are transferred to the mouth and from there to the intestines, where the larvae grow and attach themselves to the stomach lining or the small intestine. The attachment of the larvae to the tissue produces a mild irritation, which results in erosions and ulcerations at the site. Removal of the eggs (which adhere to the host's hair) is difficult, since the bone and tendons are directly under the skin on the cannon bones; eggs must be removed with a sharp knife (often a razor blade) or rough sandpaper and caught before they reach the ground. The larvae remain attached and develop for 10–12 months before they are passed out in the feces. Occasionally, horse owners report seeing botfly larvae in horse manure. These larvae are cylindrical in shape and are reddish orange in color. In one to two months, adult botflies emerge from the developing larvae and the cycle repeats itself. Botflies can be controlled with several types of dewormers, including dichlorvos, ivermectin, and trichlorfon.  In cattle, the lesions caused by these flies can become infected by "Mannheimia granulomatis", a bacterium that causes lechiguana, characterized by rapid-growing, hard lumps beneath the skin of the animal. Without antibiotics, an affected animal will die within 3-11 months.  "Dermatobia hominis", the human botfly, occasionally uses humans to host its larvae. The larva, because of its spines, can pose an extremely painful subepidermal condition. The fastest way to remove a botfly is by putting a generous amount of iodine in the hole. The botfly will react immediately by poking out of the hole. Another removal method is to use the tree sap of the "matatorsalo", found in Costa Rica, which is reputed to kill the larva, yet leave its body in the skin. Additionally, one can attempt to seal the breathing hole of the larva with nail polish or petroleum jelly; after a day, with a clinical professional, the breathing hole is enlarged and the larva is removed with forceps. Squeezing the larvae out is not recommended, as it can cause the larvae to rupture; its bodily fluids have been known to cause severe anaphylactic shock. Use of adhesive tape can work, but carries additional risk of infection because portions of the larva's breathing tube can be broken off by the tape and make the remainder of the body difficult to remove.

As human food.

In cold climates supporting reindeer or caribou-reliant populations, large quantities of "Hypoderma tarandi" (caribou warble fly) maggots are available to human populations during the butchery of animals.  The sixth episode of season one of the television series "Beyond Survival", titled "The Inuit – Survivors of the Future", features survival expert Les Stroud and two Inuit guides hunting caribou on the northern coast of Baffin Island near Pond Inlet, Nunavut, Canada. Upon skinning and butchering of one of the animals, numerous larvae (presumably "H. tarandi", although not explicitly stated) are apparent on the inside of the caribou pelt. Stroud and his two Inuit guides eat (albeit somewhat reluctantly) one larva each, with Stroud commenting that the larva "tastes like milk" and was historically commonly consumed by the Inuit people.  Copious art dating back to the Pleistocene in Europe confirms their consumption in premodern times, as well.

Botflies, also known as warble flies, heel flies, and gadflies, are a family of flies technically known as the Oestridae. Their larvae are internal parasites of mammals, some species growing in the host's flesh and others within the gut. "Dermatobia hominis" is the only species of botfly known to parasitize humans routinely, though other species of flies cause myiasis in humans.


Chemistry.

Different kinds of pastries are made by utilizing the natural characteristics of wheat flour and certain fats. When wheat flour is mixed with water and kneaded into plain dough, it develops strands of gluten, which are what make bread tough and elastic. In a typical pastry, however, this toughness is unwanted, so fat or oil is added to slow down the development of gluten. Pastry flour can also be used, since it typically has a lower level of protein than all-purpose or bread flours.  Lard or suet work well because they have a coarse, crystalline structure that is very effective. Using unclarified butter does not work well because of its water content; clarified butter, or ghee, which is virtually water-free, is better, but shortcrust pastry using only butter may develop an inferior texture. If the fat is melted with hot water or if liquid oil is used, the thin oily layer between the grains offers less of an obstacle to gluten formation and the resulting pastry is tougher.

History.

The European tradition of pastry-making is often traced back to the shortcrust era of flaky doughs that were in use throughout the Mediterranean in ancient times. In the ancient Mediterranean, the Romans, Greeks and Phoenicians all had filo-style pastries in their culinary traditions. In the plays of Aristophanes, written in the 5th century BC, there is mention of sweetmeats, including small pastries filled with fruit. Roman cuisine used flour, oil and water to make pastries that were used to cover meats and fowls during baking in order to keep in the juices, but the pastry was not meant to be eaten. A pastry that was meant to be eaten was a richer pastry that was made into small pastries containing eggs or little birds and that were often served at banquets. Greeks and Romans both struggled in making a good pastry because they used oil in the cooking process, and oil causes the pastry to lose its stiffness.  In the medieval cuisine of Northern Europe, pastry chefs were able to produce nice, stiff pastries because they cooked with shortening and butter. Some incomplete lists of ingredients have been found in medieval cookbooks, but no full, detailed versions. There were stiff, empty pastries called coffins or 'huff paste', that were eaten by servants only and included an egg yolk glaze to help make them more enjoyable to consume. Medieval pastries also included small tarts to add richness.  It was not until about the mid-16th century that actual pastry recipes began appearing. These recipes were adopted and adapted over time in various European countries, resulting in the myriad pastry traditions known to the region, from Portuguese "pastéis de nata" in the west to Russian "pirozhki" in the east. The use of chocolate in pastry-making in the west, so commonplace today, arose only after Spanish and Portuguese traders brought chocolate to Europe from the New World starting in the 16th century. Many culinary historians consider French pastry chef Antonin Carême (1784–1833) to have been the first great master of pastry making in modern times.  Pastry-making has a strong tradition in many parts of Asia. Chinese pastry is made from rice, or different types of flour, with fruit, sweet bean paste or sesame-based fillings. The mooncakes are part of Chinese Mid Autumn Festival traditions, while cha siu bao, steamed or baked pork buns, are a regular savory dim sum menu item. In the 19th century, the British brought western-style pastry to the far east, though it would be the French-influenced Maxim in the 1950s that made western pastry popular in Chinese-speaking regions starting with Hong Kong. The term "western cake" (西餅) is used to refer to western pastry, otherwise Chinese pastry is assumed. Other Asian countries such as Korea prepare traditional pastry-confections such as tteok, hangwa, and yaksik with flour, rice, fruits, and regional specific ingredients to make unique desserts. Japan also has specialized pastry-confections better known as mochi and manjū. Pastry-confections that originate in Asia are clearly distinct from those that originate in the west, which are generally much sweeter.

Pastry chefs.

Pastry chefs use a combination of culinary ability and creativity for baking, decoration, and flavoring with ingredients. Many baked goods require a lot of time and focus. Presentation is an important aspect of pastry and dessert preparation. The job is often physically demanding, requiring attention to detail and long hours. Pastry chefs are also responsible for creating new recipes to put on the menu, and they work in restaurants, bistros, large hotels, casinos and bakeries. Pastry baking is usually done in an area slightly separate from the main kitchen. This section of the kitchen is in charge of making pastries, desserts, and other baked goods.

Pastry is a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as "bakers' confectionery". The word "pastries" suggests many kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder, and eggs. Small tarts and other sweet baked products are called pastries. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties.