Biography.

Soddy was born at 5 Bolton Road, Eastbourne, England, the son of Benjamin Soddy, corn merchant, and his wife Hannah Green. He went to school at Eastbourne College, before going on to study at University College of Wales at Aberystwyth and at Merton College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1898 with first class honours in chemistry. He was a researcher at Oxford from 1898 to 1900.

Scientific career.

In 1900 he became a demonstrator in chemistry at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, where he worked with Ernest Rutherford on radioactivity. He and Rutherford realized that the anomalous behaviour of radioactive elements was because they decayed into other elements. This decay also produced alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. When radioactivity was first discovered, no one was sure what the cause was. It needed careful work by Soddy and Rutherford to prove that atomic transmutation was in fact occurring.  In 1903, with Sir William Ramsay at University College London, Soddy showed that the decay of radium produced helium gas. In the experiment a sample of radium was enclosed in a thin-walled glass envelope sited within an evacuated glass bulb. After leaving the experiment running for a long period of time, a spectral analysis of the contents of the former evacuated space revealed the presence of helium. Later in 1907, Rutherford and Thomas Royds showed that the helium was first formed as positively charged nuclei of helium (He) which were identical to alpha particles, which could pass through the thin glass wall but were contained within the surrounding glass envelope.  From 1904 to 1914, Soddy was a lecturer at the University of Glasgow. Ruth Pirret worked as his research assistant during this time. In May 1910 Soddy was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1914 he was appointed to a chair at the University of Aberdeen, where he worked on research related to World War I.  The work that Soddy and his research assistant Ada Hitchins did at Glasgow and Aberdeen showed that uranium decays to radium. It also showed that a radioactive element may have more than one atomic mass though the chemical properties are identical. Soddy named this concept isotope meaning "same place". The word was initially suggested to him by Margaret Todd. Later, J. J. Thomson showed that non-radioactive elements can also have multiple isotopes.  In 1913, Soddy also showed that an atom moves lower in atomic number by two places on alpha emission, higher by one place on beta emission. This was discovered at about the same time by Kazimierz Fajans, and is known as the radioactive displacement law of Fajans and Soddy, a fundamental step toward understanding the relationships among families of radioactive elements. Soddy published "The Interpretation of Radium" (1909) and "Atomic Transmutation" (1953).  In 1918 he announced discovery of a stable isotope of Protactinium, working with John Arnold Cranston. This slightly post-dated its discovery by German counterparts; however, it is said their discovery was actually made in 1915 but its announcement was delayed due to Cranston's notes being locked away whilst on active service in the First World War.  In 1919 he moved to the University of Oxford as Dr Lee's Professor of Chemistry, where, in the period up till 1936, he reorganized the laboratories and the syllabus in chemistry. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his research in radioactive decay and particularly for his formulation of the theory of isotopes.  His work and essays popularising the new understanding of radioactivity was the main inspiration for H. G. Wells's "The World Set Free" (1914), which features atomic bombs dropped from biplanes in a war set many years in the future. Wells's novel is also known as "The Last War" and imagines a peaceful world emerging from the chaos. In "Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt" Soddy praises Wells’s "The World Set Free". He also says that radioactive processes probably power the stars.

Economics.

In four books written from 1921 to 1934, Soddy carried on a "campaign for a radical restructuring of global monetary relationships", offering a perspective on economics rooted in physics – the laws of thermodynamics, in particular – and was "roundly dismissed as a crank". While most of his proposals – "to abandon the gold standard, let international exchange rates float, use federal surpluses and deficits as macroeconomic policy tools that could counter cyclical trends, and establish bureaus of economic statistics (including a consumer price index) in order to facilitate this effort" – are now conventional practice, his critique of fractional-reserve banking still "remains outside the bounds of conventional wisdom" although a recent paper by the IMF reinvigorated his proposals. Soddy wrote that financial debts grew exponentially at compound interest but the real economy was based on exhaustible stocks of fossil fuels. Energy obtained from the fossil fuels could not be used again. This criticism of economic growth is echoed by his intellectual heirs in the now emergent field of ecological economics.

Antisemitic views.

In "Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt" Soddy cited the (fraudulent) Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion as evidence for the belief, which was relatively widespread at the time, of a "financial conspiracy to enslave the world". He used the imagery of a Jewish conspiracy to buttress his claim that "A corrupt monetary system strikes at the very life of the nation." In the same document, he made reference to "the semi-Oriental" who is "supreme" in "high finance" and to an "iridescent bubble of beliefs blown around the world by the Hebraic hierarchy". Later in life he published a pamphlet "Abolish Private Money, or Drown in Debt" (1939) with a noted publisher of anti-Semitic texts. The influence of his writing can be gauged, for example, in this quote from Ezra Pound: "Professor Frederick Soddy states that the Gold Standard monetary system has wrecked a scientific age!... The world's bankers... have not been content to take their share of modern wealth production – great as it has been – but they have refused to allow the masses of mankind to receive theirs."

Descartes' theorem.

He rediscovered the Descartes' theorem in 1936 and published it as a poem, "The Kiss Precise", quoted at Problem of Apollonius. The kissing circles in this problem are sometimes known as Soddy circles.

Honours and awards.

He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1921 and the same year he was elected member of the International Atomic Weights Committee. A small crater on the far side of the Moon as well as the radioactive uranium mineral soddyite are named after him.

Personal life.

In 1908, Soddy married Winifred Moller Beilby (1885-1936), the daughter of industrial chemist Sir George Beilby and Lady Emma Bielby, a philanthropist to women's causes. The couple worked together and co-published a paper in 1910 on the absorption of gamma rays from radium. He died in Brighton, England in 1956, twenty days after his 79th birthday.

Frederick Soddy FRS (2 September 1877 – 22 September 1956) was an English radiochemist who explained, with Ernest Rutherford, that radioactivity is due to the transmutation of elements, now known to involve nuclear reactions. He also proved the existence of isotopes of certain radioactive elements.


Biography.

Early years.

Hevesy György was born in Budapest, Hungary to a wealthy and ennobled family of Hungarian-Jewish descent, the fifth of eight children to his parents Lajos Bischitz and Baroness Eugénia (Jenny) Schossberger (ennobled as "De Tornya"). Grandparents from both sides of the family had provided the presidents of the Jewish community of Pest. His parents converted to Roman Catholicism. George grew up in Budapest and graduated high school in 1903 from Piarista Gimnázium. The family's name in 1904 was Hevesy-Bischitz, and Hevesy later changed his own.  De Hevesy began his studies in chemistry at the University of Budapest for one year, and at the Technical University of Berlin for several months, but transferred to the University of Freiburg. There he met Ludwig Gattermann. In 1906 he started his Ph.D. thesis with Georg Franz Julius Meyer, acquiring his doctorate in physics in 1908. In 1908 Hevesy was offered a position at the ETH Zürich, Switzerland, yet being independently wealthy, he was able to choose his research environment. In succession he worked with Fritz Haber in Karlsruhe, Germany, then with Ernest Rutherford in Manchester, England, where he also met Niels Bohr. Back at home in Budapest he was appointed professor in physical chemistry in 1918. In 1920 he settled in Copenhagen.

Research.

In 1922 de Hevesy co-discovered (with Dirk Coster) the element hafnium (Hf) (Latin "Hafnia" for "Copenhagen", the home town of Niels Bohr). Mendeleev's 1869 periodic table arranged the chemical elements into a logical system, but a chemical element with 72 protons was missing. Hevesy determined to look for that element on the basis of Bohr's atomic model. The mineralogical museum of Norway and Greenland in Copenhagen furnished the material for the research. Characteristic X-ray spectra recordings made of the sample indicated that a new element was present. The accepted account has been disputed by Mansel Davies and Eric Scerri who attribute the prediction that element 72 would be a transition element to the chemist Charles Bury.  Supported financially by the Rockefeller Foundation, Hevesy had a very productive year. He developed the X-ray fluorescence analytical method, and discovered the samarium alpha-ray. It was here he began the use of radioactive isotopes in studying the metabolic processes of plants and animals, by tracing chemicals in the body by replacing part of stable isotopes with small quantities of the radioactive isotopes. In 1923, Hevesy published the first study on the use of the naturally radioactive Pb as radioactive tracer to follow the absorption and translocation in the roots, stems and leaves of Vicia faba, also known as the broad bean. Later, in 1943, the work on radioactive tracing would earn Hevesy the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  In 1924 Hevesy returned to Freiburg as Professor of Physical Chemistry, and in 1930 went to Cornell University, Ithaca as Baker Lecturer. Four years later he resumed his activities at Niels Bohr's Institute, based there through 1952. During 1943 he was domiciled in Stockholm and was an Associate of the Institute of Research in Organic Chemistry. In 1949 he was elected Franqui Professor in the University of Ghent. In his retirement, he remained an active scientific associate of the University of Stockholm. Hevesy was offered and accepted a job from the University of Freiburg.

World War II and beyond.

When Nazi Germany occupied Denmark during World War II, de Hevesy dissolved the gold Nobel Prize medals of Max von Laue and James Franck in aqua regia. During the occupation, it was illegal to send gold out of the country. If Laue and Franck had done so to protect the medals from being stolen, they could have faced prosecution by the Nazis. De Hevesy placed the resulting solution on a shelf in his laboratory at the Niels Bohr Institute. After the war, he returned to find the solution undisturbed and precipitated the gold out of the acid. The Nobel Society then recast the Nobel Prize medals using the original gold.  By 1943 Copenhagen was no longer safe for a Jewish scientist and de Hevesy fled to Sweden, where he worked at the Stockholm University College until 1961. In Stockholm de Hevesy was received at the department of chemistry by the Swedish professor and Nobel Prize winner Hans von Euler-Chelpin, who remained strongly pro-German throughout the war. Despite this, de Hevesy and von Euler-Chelpin collaborated on many scientific papers during and after the war.  While he was in Stockholm, de Hevesy received the Nobel Prize in chemistry. He was later inducted into the Royal Society and received the Copley Medal, of which he was particularly proud. De Hevesy stated: "The public thinks the Nobel Prize in chemistry for the highest honor that a scientist can receive, but it is not so. Forty or fifty received Nobel chemistry prizes, but only ten foreign members of the Royal Society and two (Bohr and Hevesy) received a medal-Copley." George de Hevesy was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1942, and his status was later changed to Swedish member. He received the Atoms for Peace Award in 1958 for his peaceful use of radioactive isotopes.

Family life and death.

De Hevesy married Pia Riis in 1924. They had one son and three daughters together, one of whom (Eugenie) married a grandson of the Swedish Nobel laureate Svante Arrhenius. De Hevesy died in 1966 at the age of eighty and was buried in Freiburg. In 2000, his corpse was transferred to the Kerepesi Cemetery in Budapest, Hungary. He had published a total of 397 scientific documents, one of which was the Becquerel-Curie Memorial Lecture, in which he had reminisced about the careers of pioneers of radiochemistry. At his family's request, his ashes were interred at his birthplace in Budapest on 19 April 2001.  10 May 2005 the Hevesy Laboratory was founded at Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, now Technical University of Denmark, DTU Nutech. It was named after George de Hevesy as the father of the isotope tracer principle by the initiative of the lab's first head Prof. Mikael Jensen.

George Charles de Hevesy (; 1 August 1885 – 5 July 1966) was a Hungarian radiochemist and Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, recognized in 1943 for his key role in the development of radioactive tracers to study chemical processes such as in the metabolism of animals. He also co-discovered the element hafnium.


Early life and career.

Bellingshausen was born to a Baltic German noble Bellingshausen family in the, Ösel County in the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire; now Saare County, Estonia. His paternal family had Holsteinish origins, the surname Bellingshausen was first recorded in Lübeck. He enlisted as a cadet in the Imperial Russian Navy at the age of ten. After graduating from the Kronstadt naval academy at age eighteen, Bellingshausen rapidly rose to the rank of captain.

First Russian circumnavigation.

A great admirer of Cook's voyages, Bellingshausen served from 1803 in the first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth. He was one of the officers of the vessel "Nadezhda" ("Hope"), commanded by Adam Johann von Krusenstern.  The mission was completed in 1806. After the journey Bellingshausen published a collection of maps of the newly explored areas and islands of the Pacific Ocean.

Service as captain.

Bellingshausen's career continued with the command of various ships in the Baltic and Black Seas. From 1812 to 1816 he commanded the frigate "" and from 1817 to 1819 the frigate "", both in the Black Sea Fleet. During 1812 he met on Macquarie island Richard Siddins, the Australian captain of the ship "Campbell Macquarie".

First Russian Antarctic expedition.

When Emperor Alexander I authorized an expedition to the south polar region in 1819, the authorities selected Bellingshausen to lead it as an experienced captain and explorer, and a prominent cartographer. The expedition was intended to explore the Southern Ocean and to find land in the proximity of the South Pole. The preparation work on the two ships, the 985-ton sloop-of-war "Vostok" ("East") and the 530-ton support vessel "Mirny" ("Peaceful") was carried out by Mikhail Lazarev, who had captained his own circumnavigation of the globe before. Bellingshausen became the captain of "Vostok", and Lazarev captained "Mirny". The journey started from Kronstadt on 4 June 1819. They stopped briefly in England, where Bellingshausen met with Sir Joseph Banks, the president of the Royal Society. Banks had sailed with Captain James Cook fifty years earlier and supplied the Russians with books and charts for their expedition.  Leaving Portsmouth on 5 September 1819 the expedition crossed the Antarctic Circle (the first to do so since Cook) on 26 January 1820 (New Style). On 27 January the expedition discovered the Antarctic mainland approaching the Antarctic coast at a point with coordinates 69o21'28"S 2o14'50"W and seeing ice-fields there. The point in question lies within twenty miles of the Antarctic mainland. Bellingshausen's diary, his report to the Russian Naval Minister on 21 July 1821 and other documents, available in the Russian State Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic in Saint Petersburg, Russia, were carefully compared with the log-books of other claimants by the British polar historian A. G. E. Jones in his 1982 study "Antarctica Observed". Jones concluded that Bellingshausen, rather than the Royal Navy's Edward Bransfield on 30 January 1820 or the American Nathaniel Palmer on 17 November 1820, was indeed the discoverer of the sought-after Terra Australis.  During the voyage Bellingshausen also visited Ship Cove in New Zealand, the South Shetland Islands, and discovered and named Peter I, Zavodovski, Leskov and Visokoi Islands, and a peninsula of the Antarctic mainland that he named the Alexander Coast but that has more recently borne the designation of Alexander Island. Bellingshausen and Lazarev managed to twice circumnavigate the continent and never lost each other from view. Thus they disproved Captain Cook's assertion that it was impossible to find land in the southern ice fields. The expedition also made discoveries and observations in the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Admiral.

Returning to Kronstadt on 4 August 1821, Bellingshausen was made counter admiral. He fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829 and attained the rank of vice admiral in 1830. In 1831 he published the book on his Antarctic travel, called "Double Investigation of the Southern Polar Ocean and the Voyage Around the World" ("Двукратные изыскания в южнополярном океане и плавание вокруг света").

Military governor of Kronstadt.

He became the military governor of Kronstadt, the naval base at the approaches of St Petersburg, from 1839, and died there in 1852.

Legacy.

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen is remembered in Russia as one of its greatest admirals and explorers. In the Antarctic, multiple geographical features and locations, named in honor of Bellingshausen, remind of his role in exploration of the southern polar region.

Monuments.

There is a memorial stone of Bellingshausen on the previous site (on the ruins) of Lahhentagge/Lahetaguse manor in Ösel/Saaremaa.  There is a monument to Bellingshausen in Nikolayev, Ukraine.  There is a monument to Admiral Bellingshausen in Kronstadt.

Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (; – ), a Russian naval officer, cartographer and explorer of Baltic German extraction, who ultimately rose to the rank of admiral. He participated in the First Russian circumnavigation of the globe and subsequently became a leader of another circumnavigation expedition that discovered the continent of Antarctica.


Appearance.

"Acherontia atropos" is a large hawk moth with a wingspan of approximately 80–120 mm (about 3.5 to 5 inches), making it the largest moth in a number of the regions in which it resides. An adult "A. atropos" has the typical wing and body structure seen in the family Sphingidae. The upper set of wings are brown with hints of yellow, amber, charcoal and cream; the lower wings are yellow with two brown stripes fashioned in waves extending diagonally across the surface. At rest, the wings of the moth fold downwards, concealing the hindwings behind the forewings.  The abdomen of "A. atropos" is robust and is covered in brown, feathery down. Yellow striping that highly resembles the colour patterns of a hornet extends part way across each abdominal segment. The intensity and distribution of colour can vary widely in individual specimens, with some individuals occasionally found expressing an indistinguishable "skull-like" pattern on the thorax.  Sexual dimorphism  Like in most Lepidoptera, female moths of this species tend to be larger than males, appearing bulkier and sporting larger, more robust abdomens.  The abdomen of a male "Acherotia atropos" is less broad, with a pointed distal (lower) abdominal segment. In contrast, the females of the species have a distal abdominal segment that is rounded off at the tip. Antennae seen on a male are thinner and shorter than the antennae seen on a female. There are no pattern or colour changes related to the sex of an "A. atropos".

Behaviour.

This species displays a number of behaviours not normally seen in Lepidoptera.  Unlike most moths, which generate noise by rubbing external body parts together, all three species within the genus "Acherontia" are capable of producing a "squeak" from the pharynx, a response triggered by external agitation. The moth sucks in air, causing an internal flap between the mouth and throat to vibrate at a rapid speed. The "squeak" described is produced upon the exhalation when the flap is open. Each cycle of inhalation and exhalation takes approximately one fifth of a second.  It is unclear exactly why the moth emits this sound. One thought is that the squeak may be used to deter potential predators. Due to its unusual method of producing sound, the squeak created by "Acherontia atropos" is especially startling. Another hypothesis suggests that the squeak relates to the moth's honey bee hive raiding habits. The squeak produced from this moth mimics the piping noise produced from a honey bee hive's queen, a noise in which she utilizes to signal the worker bees to stop moving.

Etymology.

"Acherontia atropos" receives both its species and genus names from bodies relating to death or dark subjects.  The species name "atropos" relates to death, and is named after the Greek goddess Atropos. Atropos was one of the three Moirai, goddesses of fate and destiny. According to Greek mythology, the three Moirai decide the fate of humans, making them a lesser symbol of death.  The genus name "Acherontia" is in relation to Acheron, a river located in Epirus, Greece. In mythology, Acheron was thought to be a pathway that lead to Hades due to the large, dark gorges it flowed through. In Greek mythology, Acheron is a river in Hades, and the name itself occasionally refers directly to the underworld.

Distribution.

"Acherontia atropos" occurs throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean region, much of Africa down to the southern tip, and increasingly as far north as southern Great Britain due to recently mild British winters. It occurs as far east as India and western Saudi Arabia, and as far west as the Canary Islands and Azores. It invades western Eurasia frequently, although few individuals successfully overwinter.

Development.

There are several generations of "Acherontia atropos" per year, with continuous broods in Africa. In the northern parts of its range the species overwinters in the pupal stage. Eggs are laid singly under old leaves of Solanaceae: potato especially, but also "Physalis" and other nightshades. However it also has been recorded on members of the Verbenaceae, e.g. "Lantana", and on members of the families Cannabaceae, Oleaceae, Pedaliaceae and others. The larvae are stout with a posterior horn, as is typical of larvae of the Sphingidae. Most sphingid larvae however, have fairly smooth posterior horns, possibly with a simple curve, either upward or downward. In contrast, "Acherontia" species and certain relatives bear a posterior horn embossed with round projections about the thicker part. The horn itself bends downwards near the base, but curls upwards towards the tip.  The newly hatched larva starts out light green with yellow stripes diagonally on the sides, but darken after feeding. In the second instar, it has thorn-like horns on the back. In the third instar, purple or blue edging develops on the yellow stripes and the tail horn turns from black to yellow. In the final instar, the thorns disappear and the larva may adopt one of three colour morphs: green, brown or yellow. Larvae do not move much, and will click their mandibles or even bite if threatened, though the bite is effectively harmless to human skin. The larva grows to about 120–130 mm, and pupates in an underground chamber. The pupa is smooth and glossy with the proboscis fused to the body, as in most Lepidoptera.

Folklore.

In spite of the fact that "Acherontia atropos" is perfectly harmless except as a minor pest to crops and to beehives, the fancied skull pattern has burdened the moth with a negative reputation, such as associations with the supernatural and evil. There are numerous superstitions to the effect that the moth brings bad luck to the house into which it flies, and that death or misfortune may be expected to follow. More prosaically, in South Africa at least, uninformed people have claimed that the moth has a poisonous, often fatal, sting (possibly referring mainly to the proboscis, but sometimes to the horn on the posterior of the larva).  It appeared in "The Hireling Shepherd", in Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and in movies such as "Un Chien Andalou" and the promotional marquee posters for "The Silence of the Lambs". In the latter film the moth is used as a calling card by the serial killer Buffalo Bill, and though the movie script refers to "Acherontia styx", the moths that appear in the film are "Acherontia atropos". In "The Mothman Prophecies" this moth is referred to. It also appears in the music video to Massive Attack's single, "Butterfly Caught".  The death's-head moth is mentioned in Susan Hill's gothic horror novel, "I'm the King of the Castle" as it is used to instil fear in one of the young protagonists.  John Keats mentioned the moth as a symbol of death in his "Ode to Melancholy": "Make not your rosary of yew-berries, / Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be / Your mournful Psyche".  In José Saramago's novel "Death with Interruptions", "Acherontia atropos" appears on the American edition's cover, and is a topic that two characters mull over.

Acherontia atropos, the (African) death's-head hawkmoth, is the most widely recognized of three species within the genus "Acherontia" (the other two being "Acherontia lachesis" and "Acherontia styx"). It is most commonly identified by the vaguely skull-shaped pattern adorning the thorax, the characteristic from which its common and scientific names are derived. The species was first given its scientific name by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of "Systema Naturae".


Biography.

William Francis Giauque was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on May 12, 1895.  As his parents were U.S. citizens, they returned to the U.S. where he attended public schools primarily in Michigan. Following the death of his father in 1908, the family returned to Niagara Falls, where he studied at the Niagara Falls Collegiate Institute. After graduation, he looked for work in various power plants at Niagara Falls both for financial reasons and to pursue a career in electrical engineering. He was widely unsuccessful.  Eventually, however, his application was accepted by the Hooker Electro-Chemical Company in Niagara Falls, New York, which led him to employment in their laboratory. He enjoyed the work, and decided to become a chemical engineer.  After two years of employment, he entered the College of Chemistry of the University of California, Berkeley, where he received a bachelor of science degree with honors in 1920. He entered graduate school at Berkeley, becoming a University Fellow (1920–1921) and a James M. Goewey Fellow (1921–1922). He received the Ph.D. degree in chemistry with a minor in physics in 1922.

Research.

Although he began university study with an interest in becoming an engineer, he soon developed an interest in research under the influence of Professor Gilbert N. Lewis. Due to his outstanding performance as a student, he became an Instructor of Chemistry at Berkeley in 1922 and after passing through various grades of professorship, he became a full Professor of Chemistry in 1934. He retired in 1962.

Absolute zero.

He became interested in the third law of thermodynamics as a field of research during his experimental research for his Ph.D. research under Professor George Ernest Gibson comparing the relative entropies of glycerine crystals and glass.  The principal objective of his researches was to demonstrate through range of appropriate tests that the third law of thermodynamics is a basic natural law. In 1926, he proposed a method for observing temperatures considerably below 1 Kelvin (1 K is −457.87 °F or −272.15 °C). His work with D.P. MacDougall between 1933 and 1935 successfully employed them.  He developed a magnetic refrigeration device of his own design in order to achieve this outcome, getting closer to absolute zero than many scientists had thought possible. This trailblazing work, apart from proving one of the fundamental laws of nature led to stronger steel, better gasoline and more efficient processes in a range of industries.  His researches and that of his students included a large number of entropy determinations from low temperature measurements, particularly on condensed gases. The entropies and other thermodynamic properties of many gases were also determined from quantum statistics and molecular energy levels available from band spectra as well as other sources.  His correlated investigations of the entropy of oxygen with Dr. Herrick L. Johnston, led to the discovery of oxygen isotopes 17 and 18 in the Earth's atmosphere and showed that physicists and chemists had been using different scales of atomic weight for years without recognising it.

Personal life.

In 1932, Giauque married Dr. Muriel Frances Ashley and they had two sons. He died on March 28, 1982 in Berkeley, California.

William Francis Giauque (; May 12, 1895 – March 28, 1982) was an American chemist and Nobel laureate recognized in 1949 for his studies in the properties of matter at temperatures close to absolute zero. He spent virtually all of his educational and professional career at the University of California, Berkeley.


Biography.

Strutt was born on 12 November 1842 at Langford Grove in Maldon, Essex. In his early years he suffered from frailty and poor health. He attended Eton College and Harrow School (each for only a short period), before going on to the University of Cambridge in 1861 where he studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree (Senior Wrangler and 1st Smith's Prize) in 1865, and a Master of Arts in 1868. He was subsequently elected to a Fellowship of Trinity. He held the post until his marriage to Evelyn Balfour, daughter of James Maitland Balfour, in 1871. He had three sons with her. In 1873, on the death of his father, John Strutt, 2nd Baron Rayleigh, he inherited the Barony of Rayleigh.  He was the second Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge (following James Clerk Maxwell), from 1879 to 1884. He first described dynamic soaring by seabirds in 1883, in the British journal "Nature". From 1887 to 1905 he was Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution.  Around the year 1900 Rayleigh developed the "duplex" (combination of two) theory of human sound localisation using two binaural cues, interaural phase difference (IPD) and interaural level difference (ILD) (based on analysis of a spherical head with no external pinnae). The theory posits that we use two primary cues for sound lateralisation, using the difference in the phases of sinusoidal components of the sound and the difference in amplitude (level) between the two ears.  During the First World War, he was president of the government's "Advisory Committee for Aeronautics", which was located at the National Physical Laboratory, and chaired by Richard Glazebrook.  In 1919, Rayleigh served as President of the Society for Psychical Research. As an advocate that simplicity and theory be part of the scientific method, Rayleigh argued for the principle of similitude.  Rayleigh was elected Fellow of the Royal Society on 12 June 1873, and served as president of the Royal Society from 1905 to 1908. From time to time Rayleigh participated in the House of Lords; however, he spoke up only if politics attempted to become involved in science.  He died on 30 June 1919, at his home in Witham, Essex. He was succeeded, as the 4th Lord Rayleigh, by his son Robert John Strutt, another well-known physicist. Lord Rayleigh was buried in the graveyard of All Saints' Church in Terling in Essex.

Religious views.

Rayleigh was an Anglican. Though he did not write about the relationship of science and religion, he retained a personal interest in spiritual matters. When his scientific papers were to be published in a collection by the Cambridge University Press, Strutt wanted to include a religious quotation from the Bible, but he was discouraged from doing so, as he later reported:  Still, he had his wish and the quotation was printed in the five-volume collection of scientific papers. In a letter to a family member, he wrote about his rejection of materialism and spoke of Jesus Christ as a moral teacher:  He held an interest in parapsychology and was an early member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). He was not convinced of spiritualism but remained open to the possibility of supernatural phenomena. Rayleigh was the president of the SPR in 1919. He gave a presidential address in the year of his death but did not come to any definite conclusions.

Honours and awards.

The lunar crater "Rayleigh" as well as the Martian crater "Rayleigh" were named in his honour. The asteroid 22740 Rayleigh was named after him on 1 June 2007. A type of surface waves are known as Rayleigh waves. The rayl, a unit of specific acoustic impedance, is also named for him. Rayleigh was also awarded with (in chronological order):  Lord Rayleigh was among the original recipients of the Order of Merit (OM) in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902, and received the order from King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 8 August 1902.  He received the degree of "Doctor mathematicae (honoris causa)" from the Royal Frederick University on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centennial of the birth of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.  Sir William Ramsay, his co-worker in the investigation to discover Argon described Rayleigh as "the greatest man alive" while speaking to Lady Ramsay during his last illness.  H. M. Hyndman said of Rayleigh that "no man ever showed less consciousness of great genius".

John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, (; 12 November 1842 – 30 June 1919), was a British scientist who made extensive contributions to both theoretical and experimental physics. He spent all of his academic career at the University of Cambridge. Among many honors, he received the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies." He served as President of the Royal Society from 1905 to 1908 and as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1908 to 1919.


Operations.

The common operations involving heaps are:

Implementation.

Heaps are usually implemented with an implicit heap data structure, which is an implicit data structure consisting of an array (fixed size or dynamic array) where each element represents a tree node whose parent/children relationship is defined implicitly by their index. After an element is inserted into or deleted from a heap, the heap property may be violated and the heap must be balanced by swapping elements within the array. In an implicit heap data structure, the first (or last) element will contain the root. The next two elements of the array contain its children. The next four contain the four children of the two child nodes, etc. Thus the children of the node at position "n" would be at positions 2n and 2n + 1 in a one-based array, or 2n + 1 and 2n + 2 in a zero-based array. Computing the index of the parent node of n-th element is also straightforward. For one-based arrays the parent of element n is located at position n/2. Similarly, for zero-based arrays, is the parent is located at position (n-1)/2 (floored). This allows moving up or down the tree by doing simple index computations. Balancing a heap is done by sift-up or sift-down operations (swapping elements which are out of order). As we can build a heap from an array without requiring extra memory (for the nodes, for example), heapsort can be used to sort an array in-place.  Different types of heaps implement the operations in different ways, but notably, insertion is often done by adding the new element at the end of the heap in the first available free space. This will generally violate the heap property, and so the elements are then shifted up until the heap property has been reestablished. Similarly, deleting the root is done by removing the root and then putting the last element in the root and sifting down to rebalance. Thus replacing is done by deleting the root and putting the "new" element in the root and sifting down, avoiding a sifting up step compared to pop (sift down of last element) followed by push (sift up of new element).  Construction of a binary (or "d"-ary) heap out of a given array of elements may be performed in linear time using the classic Floyd algorithm, with the worst-case number of comparisons equal to 2"N" − 2"s"("N") − "e"("N") (for a binary heap), where "s"("N") is the sum of all digits of the binary representation of "N" and "e"("N") is the exponent of 2 in the prime factorization of "N". This is faster than a sequence of consecutive insertions into an originally empty heap, which is log-linear.

Applications.

The heap data structure has many applications.

In computer science, a heap is a specialized tree-based data structure which is essentially an almost complete tree that satisfies the heap property: in a "max heap", for any given node C, if P is a parent node of C, then the "key" (the "value") of P is greater than or equal to the key of C. In a "min heap", the key of P is less than or equal to the key of C. The node at the "top" of the heap (with no parents) is called the "root" node.


History.

In 1930, Josef Schwarz became a partner in Südfrüchte Großhandlung Lidl & Co., a fruit wholesaler, and he developed the company into a general food wholesaler.  In 1977, under his son Dieter Schwarz, the Schwarz-Gruppe began to focus on discount markets, larger supermarkets, and cash and carry wholesale markets. He did not want to use the name Schwarz-Markt ("Schwarzmarkt" means "black market") and rather use the name of Josef Schwarz's former business partner, A. Lidl, but legal reasons prevented him from taking over the name for his discount stores. When he discovered a newspaper article about the painter and retired schoolteacher Ludwig Lidl, he bought the rights to the name from him for 1,000 German marks.  Lidl is part of the Schwarz Group, the fifth-largest retailer in the world with sales of €104.3 billion (2018).  The first Lidl discount store was opened in 1973, copying the Aldi concept. Schwarz rigorously removed merchandise that did not sell from the shelves, and cut costs by keeping the size of the retail outlets as small as possible. By 1977, the Lidl chain comprised 33 discount stores.  Lidl opened its first UK store in 1994. Since then, Lidl UK has grown consistently, and today has over 800 stores. While it is still a small player in the United Kingdom, with a grocery market share of less than 5%, its importance, along with that of continental, no-frills competitor Aldi is growing, with half of the shoppers in the United Kingdom visiting Aldi or Lidl over Christmas 2014.  Sven Seidel was appointed CEO of the company in March 2014, after the previous CEO Karl-Heinz Holland stepped down. Holland had served as chief executive since 2008 but left due to undisclosed "unbridgeable" differences over future strategy. Seidel stepped down from his position in February 2017 after "Manager Magazin" reported he had fallen out of favour with Klaus Gehrig, who has headed the Schwarz Group since 2004. Seidel was succeeded as CEO by Dane Jesper Højer, previously head of Lidl's international buying operation.  In June 2015, the company announced it would establish a United States headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Lidl has major distribution centers in Mebane, North Carolina, and Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The company initially focused on opening locations in East Coast states, between Pennsylvania and Georgia, and as far west as Ohio. In June 2017, Lidl opened its first stores in the United States in Virginia Beach and other mid-Atlantic cities. The company planned to open a total of one hundred U.S. stores by the summer of 2018. In November 2018, Lidl announced plans to acquire 27 Best Market stores in New York and New Jersey. In December 2018, Lidl opened its first location in New York City, in the Staten Island Mall.

Business model.

Like fellow German supermarket Aldi, Lidl has a zero waste, no-frills, "pass-the-savings-to-the-consumer" approach of displaying most products in their original delivery cartons, allowing the customers to take the product directly from the carton. When the carton is empty, it is simply replaced with a full one. Staffing is minimal.  In contrast to Aldi, there are generally more branded products offered. Lidl distributes many low-priced gourmet foods by producing each of them in a single European Union country for its whole worldwide chain, but it also sources many local products from the country where the store is located. Like Aldi, Lidl has special weekly offers, and its stock of non-food items often changes with time. In contrast to Aldi, Lidl advertises extensively in its homeland of Germany.  As with Aldi, Lidl does not play mood music in most countries including homeland Germany, In Lidl stores in the United States, Croatia, Spain (at least not all of them), Poland, Lithuania and two stores in Denmark as a test, they do play music. Lidl stores have PA systems for important announcements but do not broadcast commercials.  The Lidl operation in the United Kingdom took a different approach than in Germany, with a focus on marketing and public relations, and providing employee benefits not required by law, including paying the independently verified living wage and offering a staff discount. Upmarket products were introduced, especially in the lead-up to Christmas. This required significant investment in marketing to produce sales growth but had an effect on Lidl's logistical operation and pressure on profits. Ronny Gottschlich, who ran Lidl UK for the six years to 2016, was responsible for this approach, which led to friction with head office, due to the cost involved. In September 2016, Gottschlich unexpectedly left and was replaced by the Austrian sales and operations director, German-national Christian Härtnagel. Lidl continued to have ambitious investment plans in the United Kingdom, ultimately doubling the number of stores to 1,500. In the financial year of 2015, Lidl Great Britain's revenue from its over 630 stores throughout Britain was £4.7 billion.

Stores.

Lidl was present in 29 countries.

Other services.

In October 2009, Lidl Movies was launched in the United Kingdom, undercutting Tesco DVD Rental, which had previously been the United Kingdom's cheapest online rental service for DVDs. The service was powered by OutNow DVD Rental. OutNow went into liquidation in October 2011, taking Lidl Movies with it.  In January 2012, Lidl launched bakeries in their stores across Europe. They consist of a small baking area with a number of ovens, together with an area where bread and pastries, such as croissants, are displayed for sale. The bakeries were initially trialed in a limited number of stores, to determine whether there was a demand for freshly baked products in-store.  In August 2013, Lidl UK also launched an online photo service, which prints photos and photo gifts at discounted prices.  As of May 2019, Lidl US has partnered with Boxed.com to test a home delivery service using the online retailer's technology. Lidl plans to open its first stores in Long Island, N.Y., in early 2020. Lidl also partners with Target Corp. subsidiary Shipt for grocery home delivery.  Lidl also runs Representative Offices in China and Bangladesh, though there is no mention of Lidl stores opening in said countries.

Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount supermarket chain that operates over 10,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to Dieter Schwarz, who also owns the hypermarket chain Kaufland.


Description.

The Eurasian otter is a typical species of the otter subfamily. Brown above and cream below, these long, slender creatures are well-equipped for their aquatic habits. Their bones show osteosclerosis, increasing their density to reduce buoyancy. This otter differs from the North American river otter by its shorter neck, broader visage, the greater space between the ears and its longer tail. However, the Eurasian otter is the only otter in much of its range, so it is rarely confused for any other animal. Normally, this species is long, not counting a tail of. The female is shorter than the male. The otter's average body weight is, although occasionally a large old male may reach up to. The record-sized specimen, reported by a reliable source but not verified, weighed over.

Distribution and habitat.

The Eurasian otter is the most widely distributed otter species, its range including parts of Asia and Africa, as well as being spread across Europe, south to Israel. Though currently believed to be extinct in Liechtenstein and Switzerland, they are now very common in Latvia, along the coast of Norway, in the western regions of Spain and Portugal and across Great Britain, especially Shetland, where 12% of the UK breeding population exists. Ireland's otters are geographically widespread and believed to be the most stable population in Europe. In Italy, they can be found in southern parts of the peninsula. The South Korean population is endangered. In India, the species is distributed in the Himalayan foothills, southern Western Ghats and the central Indian landscape.  In general, their varied and adaptable diets mean they may inhabit any unpolluted body of fresh water, including lakes, streams, rivers, canals and ponds, as long as the food supply is adequate. In Andalusia the golf courses became part of their habitat. Eurasian otters may also live along the coast, in salt water, but require regular access to fresh water to clean their fur. When living in the sea, individuals of this species are sometimes referred to as "sea otters", but they should not be confused with the true sea otter, a North Pacific species much more strongly adapted to a marine existence.  The extinct Japanese river otter is usually considered a subspecies.

Diet.

The Eurasian otter's diet mainly consists of fish. Fish is their most preferred choice of food in Mediterranean and temperate freshwater habitats. During the winter and in colder environments, though, fish consumption is significantly lower, and the otters use other sources of food, including amphibians, crustaceans, insects, birds and sometimes small mammals, including young beavers.

Breeding.

Eurasian otters are strongly territorial, living alone for the most part. An individual's territory may vary between about long, with about being usual. The length of the territory depends on the density of food available and the width of the water suitable for hunting (it is shorter on coasts, where the available width is much wider, and longer on narrower rivers).The Eurasian otter uses its feces, spraints, to mark its territory and prioritize the use of resources to other group members. The territories are only held against members of the same sex, so those of males and females may overlap. Mating takes place in water. Eurasian otters are nonseasonal breeders (males and females will breed at any time of the year) and it has been found that their mating season is most likely determined simply by the otters' reproductive maturity and physiological state. Female otters become sexually mature between 18 and 24 months old and the average age of first breeding is found to be years. Gestation for the Eurasian otter is 60–64 days, the litter weighing about 10% of the female body mass. After the gestation period, one to four pups are born, which remain dependent on the mother for about 13 months. The male plays no direct role in parental care, although the territory of a female with her pups is usually entirely within that of the male. Hunting mainly takes place at night, while the day is usually spent in the Eurasian otter's holt (den) – usually a burrow or hollow tree on the riverbank which can sometimes only be entered from underwater. Though long thought to hunt using sight and touch only, evidence is emerging that they may also be able to smell underwater – possibly in a similar manner to the star-nosed mole.

Conservation.

The Eurasian otter declined across its range in the second half of the 20th century primarily due to pollution from pesticides such as organochlorine and polychlorinated biphenyls. Other threats included habitat loss and hunting, both legal and illegal. Eurasian otter populations are now recovering in many parts of Europe. In the United Kingdom, the number of sites with an otter presence increased by 55% between 1994 and 2002. In August, 2011, the Environment Agency announced that otters had returned to every county in England since vanishing from every county except the West Country and parts of Northern England. Recovery is partly due to a ban on the most harmful pesticides that has been in place across Europe since 1979, partly to improvements in water quality leading to increases in prey populations, and partly to direct legal protection under the European Union Habitats Directive and national legislation in several European countries. In Hong Kong, it is a protected species under Wild Animals Protection Ordinance Cap 170. It is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List.  In Asia, it is listed as endangered in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand, and critically endangered in Mongolia.  Most species that are victims of population decline or a loss of habitat tend to eventually lose their genetic difference due to inbreeding from small populations. A study conducted in 2001, examined whether or not the populations of Eurasian otters suffered from a lack of genetic variability. In the study, they examined teeth of otter skulls at the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen and the Natural History Museum, Aarhus. The samples were collected between 1883 and 1963 in Denmark (Funen, Zealand, and Jutland). The study examined the tissue on the teeth of the skulls and determined the genetic variability based on DNA analysis. In conclusion, the study discovered that despite the population declines, the Eurasian otter was not a victim of declining genetic variability.  The decline in population of native freshwater fishes, which is the preferred food of Eurasian otters, in the rivers of Iberia, along with the expansion of exotic fish species like centrarchids could potentially put Eurasian otters at risk for extinction.

The Eurasian otter ("Lutra lutra"), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia. The most widely distributed member of the otter subfamily (Lutrinae) of the weasel family (Mustelidae), it is found in the waterways and coasts of Europe, many parts of Asia, and parts of northern Africa. The Eurasian otter has a diet mainly of fish, and is strongly territorial. It is endangered in some parts of its range, but is recovering in others.


History.

Humans lived alongside the Vaud lakes in prehistoric times. Later, the Celtic tribe of the Helvetii inhabited the area. Caesar's troops defeated the Helvetii in 58 BC and as a consequence the Romans settled in the area. The many towns established by the Romans include Vevey () and Lausanne ("Lausonium" or "Lausonna").  In 27 BC the state of "Civitas Helvetiorum" was established around the capital of Avenches ("Aventicum"). There are still many Roman remains around the town today. Between the 2nd and the 4th centuries Alemannic tribes repeatedly invaded the area, and in the 5th century the Burgundians occupied the territory. The Merovingian Franks later replaced the Burgundians. Their control did not last long either, and in 888 the area of the canton of Vaud became part of the Carolingian Empire (the successor state to the Merovingians). In 1032 the Zähringens of Germany defeated the Burgundians. The Zähringens themselves were succeeded in 1218 by the counts of Savoy. It was only under the counts of Savoy that the area gained political unity as the Barony of Vaud. A part stretching from Attalens to the River Sarine, in the north, was absorbed by the canton of Fribourg. As the power of the House of Savoy declined at the beginning of the 15th century, troops from Bern occupied the land. By 1536 Bern had completely annexed the area. Vaud's Protestant Reformation started with co-workers of John Calvin like Pierre Viret (a famous debate took place at the cathedral of Lausanne), but it was only decisively implemented when Bern put its full force behind it.  The Bernese occupiers were not popular amongst the population. In 1723 Major Abraham Davel led a revolt against Bern, in protest at what he saw as the denial of political rights of the French-speaking Vaudois by the German-speaking Bernese; he was subsequently beheaded. Later, inspired by the French Revolution of 1789–1799, the Vaudois drove out the Bernese governor in 1798 and declared the Lemanic Republic. Vaud nationalists like Frédéric-César de La Harpe had called for French intervention in liberating the area, and French Revolutionary troops moved in, taking over the whole of Switzerland itself in the process and setting up the Helvetic Republic. Under Napoleon I (Emperor 1804-1815), Vaud became (1798-1803) the canton of Léman. Unrest about the abolition of feudal rights and taxes led to increased discontent, which culminated in the revolt of the Bourla-papey in spring 1802, closely followed by the Stecklikrieg (August to October, 1802) that brought the end of the entire Helvetic Republic in 1803. In 1803 Vaud joined the re-installed Swiss Confederation. In spite of Bernese attempts to reclaim Vaud, it has remained a sovereign canton ever since.  In the 19th century, the canton of Vaud was an outspoken opponent of the "Sonderbund" Catholic separatist movement, which led to intervention by 99,000 Swiss Federal troops under General Henri Dufour against 79,000 separatists, in the Sonderbund War (November 1847). Separation was prevented at the cost of very few lives.  The current cantonal constitution dates from 14 April 2003, replacing the constitution of 1885.

Geography.

The canton stretches from Lake Neuchâtel in the north, where it borders the canton of Neuchâtel, to Lake Geneva () in the south, where it borders the canton of Geneva, the French department of Haute-Savoie (lake border) and the canton of Valais (Chablais). In the Jura mountains in the west, the canton borders the French departments of Ain, Jura, and Doubs. In the east, it borders the cantons of Fribourg and Bern. The total area is.  Along with the canton of Berne, Vaud is one of the two cantons whose territory extends from the Jura to the Alps, through the three distinct geographic regions of Switzerland.  The areas in the south east are mountainous, situated on the north side of the Bernese Alps. This region is commonly named the "Vaud Alps" (). The Diablerets massif, peaking at, is the highest mountain of the canton. Other summits such as the Grand Muveran and the Tour d'Aï are visible from most of the canton. The area also hosts several popular skiing destinations such as Villars, Les Diablerets and Leysin.  The central area of the canton, in contrast, consists of moraines and is hilly. There are plains along the lakes. In the north, Avenches is in an exclave of the canton surrounded by the canton of Fribourg and Lake Neuchâtel. On the other hand, there are three enclaves of the canton of Fribourg (Estavayer-le-lac, Vuissens, Surpierre), as well as two enclaves of the canton of Geneva (Céligny), that are surrounded by the canton of Vaud.  The north-western part of the canton is also mountainous but in a more modest way with mountains generally not above ; the Jura Mountains. The Vallée de Joux is one of the most popular destinations in the region and also a centre of luxury mechanical Swiss watch manufacturing.

Politics.

Members of the national council.

Source:

Members of the council of states.

Source:

Political subdivisions.

Districts.

The canton of Vaud is divided into 10 districts:

Municipalities.

There are 376 municipalities in the canton ().

Demographics.

The population is French-speaking and historically was mostly Protestant (Calvinist), dating from the early years of the Reformation. Recently, however, this has been changing due to immigration from Southern Europe. In 2000, the population was nearly evenly split between Protestants (40%) and Roman Catholics (34%).  The population of the canton (as of ) was., the population included about 28% foreigners, including many Italians. The major population centres of the canton are: Lausanne ( inhabitants in ), Montreux-Vevey (Montreux: Vevey: inhabitants) and Yverdon-les-Bains ( inhabitants). The region around Nyon is often considered part of the agglomeration of Geneva. All of these are on Lake Geneva (called Lac Léman in French), except for Yverdon, which is on Lake Neuchâtel.

Economy.

The capital, Lausanne, is the major city of the canton. There are light industries concentrated around it. In 1998, 71.7% of the workers worked in the tertiary sector and 20.8% in the secondary.  The canton is the second-largest producer of wine in Switzerland. Most of the wine produced in the canton is white, and most vineyards are located on the steep shores of Lake Geneva such as the UNESCO World Heritage Site the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces. There is agriculture in the areas away from Lake Geneva. Sugar beet is important around Orbe, tobacco in La Broye Valley, and fruit at the foot of the Jura mountains. Cattle breeding and pasture are common in the Alps and the Jura mountains. There is a salt mine at Bex. Tourism is important in many towns along Lake Geneva. Major lakeside resorts include Lausanne, Montreux, and Vevey.  The Union Cycliste Internationale is based in Aigle, and many of its defamation lawsuits against critics have been heard in the Est Vaudois district court of Vevey.

Education.

Two Swiss public universities are located within the canton:  Additionally, there are several public "hautes écoles" offering a limited selection of programmes:

Local cuisine.

Taillé aux greubons are a salted bakery specialty of the region consisting of crackling encased in puff pastry. Another of the canton's specialties is carac, a pastry made of pie crust filled with chocolate ganache, covered by a characteristic green frangipane layer, and topped with a dot of chocolate.

The canton of Vaud ( ;, ;, ) is the third largest of the Swiss cantons by population and fourth by size. It is located in Romandy, the French-speaking western part of the country; and borders the canton of Neuchâtel to the north, the cantons of Fribourg and Bern to the east, Valais and Lake Geneva to the south, the canton of Geneva to the south-west and France (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté) to the west.


Family.

Gregory was a son of Otto I, Duke of Carinthia, a member of the Salian dynasty who was a grandson of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I. Gregory V succeeded John XV as pope when only twenty-four years of age. He was the chaplain of his cousin, Otto III, who presented him as candidate. Gregory V is often counted as the first German pope (or the second if Boniface II, an Ostrogoth, is counted).

Policies.

Politically, Gregory V acted consistently as the Emperor's representative in Rome and granted many exceptional privileges to monasteries within the Holy Roman Empire. One of his first acts was to crown Otto III emperor on 21 May 996. Together, they held a synod a few days after the coronation in which Arnulf, Archbishop of Reims, was ordered to be restored to his See of Reims, and Gerbert of Aurillac, was condemned as an intruder. King Robert II of France, who had been insisting on his right to appoint bishops, was ultimately forced to back down, and also to put aside his wife, Bertha of Burgundy, by the rigorous enforcement of a sentence of excommunication on the kingdom.  Until the conclusion of the council of Pavia in 997, Gregory V had a rival in the person of the antipope John XVI (997–998), whom Crescentius II and the nobles of Rome had chosen against the will of the youthful Emperor Otto III, Gregory's cousin. The revolt of Crescentius II was decisively suppressed by the Emperor, who marched upon Rome. John XVI fled, and Crescentius II shut himself up in the Castel Sant'Angelo. The Emperor's troops pursued the antipope, captured him, cut off his nose and ears, cut out his tongue, blinded him, and publicly degraded him before Otto III and Gregory V. When the much respected St. Nilus of Rossano castigated both the Emperor and Pope for their cruelty, John XVI was sent to the monastery of Fulda in Germany, where he lived until c. 1001. The Castel Sant'Angelo was besieged, and when it was taken in 998, Crescentius II was hanged upon its walls.

Death.

Gregory V died suddenly, not without suspicion of foul play, on 18 February 999. He is buried in St. Peter's Basilica near Pope Pelagius I. His successor was Gerbert, who took the name Sylvester II.

Pope Gregory V (; c. 972 – 18 February 999), born Bruno of Carinthia, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 3 May 996 to his death. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was made pope by his cousin Emperor Otto III.


Background.

In 1700, the senior branch of the House of Habsburg became extinct with the death of Charles II of Spain. The War of the Spanish Succession ensued, with Louis XIV of France claiming the crowns of Spain for his grandson Philip, and Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor claiming them for his son Charles. In 1703, Charles and Joseph, Leopold's sons, signed the Mutual Pact of Succession, granting succession rights to the daughters of Joseph and Charles in the case of complete extinction of the male line but favouring the daughters of Joseph over those of Charles, as Joseph was older.  In 1705, Leopold I died and was succeeded by his elder son, Joseph I. Six years later, Joseph I died leaving behind two daughters, Archduchesses Maria Josepha and Maria Amalia. Charles succeeded Joseph, according to the Pact, and Maria Josepha became his heir presumptive.  However, Charles decided to amend the Pact to give his own future daughters precedence over his nieces. On 19 April 1713, he announced the changes in a secret session of the council.  Securing the right to succeed for his own daughters, who were not even born yet, became Charles's obsession. The previous succession laws had also forbidden the partition of the Habsburg dominions and provided for succession by females, but that had been mostly hypothetical. The Pragmatic Sanction was the first such document to be publicly announced and so required formal acceptance by the estates of the realms affected.

Foreign recognition.

For 10 years, Charles VI laboured, with the support of his closest advisor, Johann Christoph von Bartenstein, to have his sanction accepted by the courts of Europe. Only the Electorate of Saxony and the Electorate of Bavaria did not accept it because it was detrimental to their inheritance rights. (Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony was married to Maria Josepha of Austria and Charles, Elector of Bavaria to Maria Amalia of Austria, both daughters of Charles's deceased elder brother Joseph I.)  Charles VI made commitments with Russia and Augustus of Saxony, King of Poland, which caused two wars: the War of the Polish Succession against France and Spain, which cost him Naples and Sicily, and the Austro-Russian–Turkish War, which cost him Little Wallachia and northern Serbia, including the Fortress of Belgrade.

Internal recognition.

Hungary, which had an elective kingship, had accepted the house of Habsburg as hereditary kings in the male line without election in 1687 but not semi-Salic inheritance. The Emperor-King agreed that if the Habsburg male line became extinct, Hungary would once again have an elective monarchy; the same was the rule in the Kingdom of Bohemia.  Maria Theresa, however, still gained the throne of Hungary. The Hungarian Parliament voted its own Pragmatic Sanction of 1723 in which the Kingdom of Hungary accepted female inheritance supporting her to become queen of Hungary.  Croatia was one of the crown lands that supported Emperor Charles's Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 and supported Empress Maria Theresa in the War of the Austrian Succession of 1741–48 and the Croatian Parliament signed their own Pragmatic Sanction of 1712. Subsequently, the empress made significant contributions to Croatian matters by making several changes in the administrative control of the Military Frontier, the feudal and tax system. She also gave the independent port of Rijeka to Croatia in 1776.

Outcome.

Charles VI spent the time of his reign preparing Europe for a female ruler, but he did not prepare his daughter, Maria Theresa. He would not read documents to her, take her to meetings or allow her to be introduced to ministers or have any preparation for the power she would receive in 1740. It is possible that the reason was that such instruction would imply an acceptance of his inability to produce a male heir.  Charles VI managed to get the great European powers to agree to the Pragmatic Sanction (for the time being) and died in 1740 with no male heirs. However, France, Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony broke their promises and contested the claims of his daughter Maria Theresa on his Austrian lands, and initiated the War of the Austrian Succession, in which Austria lost Silesia to Prussia.  Further, the elective office of Holy Roman Emperor was filled by Joseph I's son-in-law Charles Albert of Bavaria, marking the first time in several hundred years that the position was not held by a Habsburg. As Emperor Charles VII, he lost his own country, Bavaria, to the Austrian army of his wife's cousin Maria Theresa and then died. His son, Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, renounced claims on Austria in exchange for the return of his paternal duchy of Bavaria. Maria Theresa's husband was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Francis I in 1745. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, finally recognised Maria Theresa's rule.

The Pragmatic Sanction () was an edict issued by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, on 19 April 1713 to ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions, which included the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Netherlands, could be inherited by a daughter.


Types.

Flat yard.

Flat yards are constructed on flat ground, or on a gentle slope, not enough to allow a free-fall operation without locomotives. Freight cars are pushed by a locomotive and coast to their required location.

Gravity yard.

Gravity yards were invented in the 19th century, saving shunting engines and instead letting the cars roll by gravity was seen as a major benefit, whereas the larger amount of manual work required to stop the rolling cars in the classification tracks was judged to be not that important. Gravity yards were a historical step in the development of classification yards and were later judged as inferior to hump yards, because it became clear that shunting engines were needed anyway (at least in inclement weather like strong winds or icy temperatures when the oil in the bearings became thick), and because manual labour was getting relatively more and more expensive. Thus, only few gravity yards were ever built, sometimes requiring massive earthwork (one example is the first German gravity yard at Dresden).  Most gravity yards were built in Germany and Great Britain, a few also in some other European countries, for example Łazy yard near Zawiercie on the Warsaw-Vienna Railway (in Poland). In the USA, there were only very few old gravity yards; one of the few gravity yards in operation today is CSX's Readville Yard south of Boston, Massachusetts.

Hump yard.

Hump yards are the largest and most effective classification yards, with the largest shunting capacity, often several thousand cars a day. They work similarly to gravity yards, but the falling gradient is limited to a small part of the yard, namely the hump. It is the heart of the yard—a lead track on a small hill over which an engine pushes the cars. Single cars, or a block of coupled cars, are uncoupled just before or at the crest of the hump, and roll by gravity onto their destination tracks in the tracks where the cars are sorted, called the "classification bowl". The speed of the cars rolling down from the hump into the classification bowl must be regulated according to whether they are full or empty, heavy or light freight, varying number of axles, whether there are few or many cars on the classification tracks, and varying weather conditions, including temperature, wind speed and direction. As concerns speed regulation, there are two types of hump yards—without or with mechanisation by retarders. In the old non-retarder yards braking was usually done in Europe by railroaders who laid skates onto the tracks. The skate or wheel chock was manually (or, in rare cases, mechanically) placed on one or both of the rails so that the treadles or rims of the wheel or wheels caused frictional retardation and resulted in the halting of the railway car. In the United States this braking was done by riders on the cars. In the modern retarder yards this work is done by mechanized "rail brakes" called retarders, which brake the cars by gripping the wheels. They are operated either pneumatically or hydraulically. Pneumatic systems are prevalent in the United States, France, Belgium, Russia and China, while hydraulic systems are used in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.  Classification bowls in Europe typically consist of 20 to 40 tracks, divided into several fans or balloons of tracks, usually with eight classification tracks following a retarder in each one, often 32 tracks altogether. In the United States, many classification bowls have more than 40 tracks, which are often divided into six to ten classification tracks in each balloon loop.  Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska, United States, the world's largest classification yard, is a hump yard. Other large American hump yards include Argentine Yard in Kansas City, Kansas, Robert Young Yard in Elkhart, Indiana, Clearing Yard in Chicago, Illinois, Englewood Yard in Houston, Texas, and Waycross Rice Yard in Waycross, Georgia. Notably, in Europe, Russia and China, all major classification yards are hump yards. Europe's largest hump yard is that of Maschen near Hamburg, Germany; it is only slightly smaller than Bailey Yard. The second largest is in the port of Antwerp, Belgium. Most hump yards are single yards with one classification bowl, but some, mostly very large, hump yards have two of them, one for each direction, thus are double yards, such as the Maschen, Antwerp, Clearing, and Bailey yards. According to the PRRT&HS PRR Chronology, the first hump yard in the United States was opened May 11, 1903 as part of the Altoona Yards at Bells Mills (East Altoona). Other sources report the PRR yard at Youngwood, PA which opened in the 1880s to serve the Connellsville coke fields as the first U.S. hump yard.  Almost all gravity yards have been retrofitted with humps and are worked as hump yards. Examples include Dresden Friedrichstadt and Nürnberg (Nuremberg) Rbf (Rbf: "Rangierbahnhof", "classification yard"), both in Germany.

A classification yard (American and Canadian English (Canadian National Railway use)) or marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English (Canadian Pacific Railway use)) is a railway yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railway cars onto one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a "lead" or a "drill". From there the cars are sent through a series of switches called a "ladder" onto the classification tracks. Larger yards tend to put the lead on an artificially built hill called a "hump" to use the force of gravity to propel the cars through the ladder.


Implementations.

Many kinds of operating systems implement ACLs, or have a historical implementation. The first time in the filesystem of Multics in 1965.

Filesystem ACLs.

A filesystem ACL is a data structure (usually a table) containing entries that specify individual user or group rights to specific system objects such as programs, processes, or files. These entries are known as access-control entries (ACEs) in the Microsoft Windows NT, OpenVMS, Unix-like, and Mac OS X operating systems. Each accessible object contains an identifier to its ACL. The privileges or permissions determine specific access rights, such as whether a user can read from, write to, or execute an object. In some implementations, an ACE can control whether or not a user, or group of users, may alter the ACL on an object.  PRIMOS featured ACLs at least as early as 1984.  In the 1990s the ACL and RBAC models were extensively tested and used to administer file permissions.

POSIX ACL.

POSIX 1003.1e/1003.2c working group made an effort to standardize ACLs, resulting in what is now known as "POSIX.1e ACL" or simply "POSIX ACL". The POSIX.1e/POSIX.2c drafts were withdrawn in 1997 due to participants losing interest for funding the project and turning to more powerful alternatives such as NFSv4 ACL., no live sources of the draft could be found on the Internet, but it can still be found in the Internet Archive.  Most of the Unix and Unix-like operating systems (e.g. Linux since 2.5.46 or November 2002, BSD, or Solaris) support POSIX.1e ACLs (not necessarily draft 17). Many of them, for example AIX, FreeBSD, Mac OS X beginning with version 10.4 ("Tiger"), or Solaris with ZFS filesystem, support NFSv4 ACLs, which are part of the NFSv4 standard. There are two experimental implementations of NFSv4 ACLs for Linux: NFSv4 ACLs support for Ext3 filesystem and the more recent Richacls which brings NFSv4 ACLs support for Ext4 filesystem. ACLs are usually stored in the extended attributes of a file on these systems.

Active Directory ACLs.

Microsoft's Active Directory Directory Service implements an LDAP server that store and disseminate configuration information about users and computers in a domain. Active Directory extends the LDAP specification by adding the same type of access-control list mechanism as Windows NT uses for the NTFS filesystem. Windows 2000 then extended the syntax for access control entries such that they could not only grant or deny access to entire LDAP objects, but also to individual attributes within these objects.

Networking ACLs.

On some types of proprietary computer-hardware (in particular routers and switches), an access-control list provides rules that are applied to port numbers or IP addresses that are available on a host or other layer 3, each with a list of hosts and/or networks permitted to use the service. Although it is additionally possible to configure access-control lists based on network domain names, this is a questionable idea because individual TCP, UDP, and ICMP headers do not contain domain names. Consequently, the device enforcing the access-control list must separately resolve names to numeric addresses. This presents an additional attack surface for an attacker who is seeking to compromise security of the system which the access-control list is protecting. Both individual servers as well as routers can have network ACLs. Access-control lists can generally be configured to control both inbound and outbound traffic, and in this context they are similar to firewalls. Like firewalls, ACLs could be subject to security regulations and standards such as PCI DSS.

SQL implementations.

ACL algorithms have been ported to SQL and to relational database systems. Many "modern" (2000s and 2010s) SQL-based systems, like enterprise resource planning and content management systems, have used ACL models in their administration modules.

Comparing with RBAC.

The main alternative to the ACL model is the role-based access-control (RBAC) model. A "minimal RBAC model", "RBACm", can be compared with an ACL mechanism, "ACLg", where only groups are permitted as entries in the ACL. Barkley (1997) showed that "RBACm" and "ACLg" are equivalent.  In modern SQL implementations, ACLs also manage groups and inheritance in a hierarchy of groups. So "modern ACLs" can express all that RBAC express, and are notably powerful (compared to "old ACLs") in their ability to express access-control policy in terms of the way in which administrators view organizations.  For data interchange, and for "high level comparisons", ACL data can be translated to XACML.

An access-control list (ACL), with respect to a computer file system, is a list of permissions attached to an object. An ACL specifies which users or system processes are granted access to objects, as well as what operations are allowed on given objects. Each entry in a typical ACL specifies a subject and an operation. For instance, if a file object has an ACL that contains, this would give Alice permission to read and write the file and Bob to only read it.


Names.

The Oder is known by several names in different languages, but the modern ones are very similar: English and ; Czech, Polish, and, ; (); Medieval Latin: "Od(d)era"; Renaissance Latin: "Viadrus" (invented in 1534).  Ptolemy knew the modern Oder as the Συήβος ("Suebos"; Latin "Suevus"), a name apparently derived from the Suebi, a Germanic people. While he also refers to an outlet in the area as the Οὐιαδούα "Ouiadoua" (or Οὐιλδούα "Ouildoua"; Latin "Viadua" or "Vildua"), this was apparently the modern Wieprza, as it was said to be a third of the distance between the "Suebos" and Vistula. The name "Suebos" may be preserved in the modern name of the Świna river (German "Swine"), an outlet from the Szczecin Lagoon to the Baltic.  In the Old Church Slavonic language, the name of the river is "Vjodr".

Geography.

The Oder is long: in the Czech Republic, in Poland (including on the border between Germany and Poland) and is the third longest river located within Poland (after the Vistula and Warta), however, second longest river overall taking into account its total length, including parts in neighbouring countries. It drains a basin of, of which are in Poland (89%), in the Czech Republic (6%), and in Germany (5%). Channels connect it to the Havel, Spree, Vistula system and Kłodnica. It flows through Silesian, Opole, Lower Silesian, Lubusz, and West Pomeranian voivodeships of Poland and the states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany.  The main branch empties into the Szczecin Lagoon near Police, Poland. The Szczecin Lagoon is bordered on the north by the islands of Usedom (west) and Wolin (east). Between these two islands, there is only a narrow channel (Świna) going to the Bay of Pomerania, which forms a part of the Baltic Sea.  The largest city on the Oder is Wrocław, in Lower Silesia.

Navigation.

The Oder is navigable over a large part of its total length, as far upstream as the town of Koźle, where the river connects to the Gliwice Canal. The upstream part of the river is canalized and permits larger barges (up to CEMT Class IV) to navigate between the industrial sites around the Wrocław area.  Further downstream the river is free flowing, passing the towns of Eisenhüttenstadt (where the Oder–Spree Canal connects the river to the Spree in Berlin) and Frankfurt upon Oder. Downstream of Frankfurt the river Warta forms a navigable connection with Poznań and Bydgoszcz for smaller vessels. At Hohensaaten the Oder–Havel Canal connects with the Berlin waterways again.  Near its mouth the Oder reaches the city of Szczecin, a major maritime port. The river finally reaches the Baltic Sea through the Szczecin Lagoon and the river mouth at Świnoujście.

History.

Under Germania Magna the river was known to the Romans as the "Viadrus" or "Viadua" in Classical Latin, as it was a branch of the Amber Road from the Baltic Sea to the Roman Empire. In Germanic languages, including English, it was and still is called the "Oder", written in medieval Latin documents as "Odera" or "Oddera". Most notably, it was mentioned in the Dagome iudex, which described territory of the Duchy of Poland under Duke Mieszko I in A.D. 990, as a part of duchy's western frontier.  Before Slavs settled along its banks, the Oder was an important trade route and towns in Germania were documented along with many tribes living between the rivers Albis (Elbe), Oder, and Vistula. Centuries later, after Germanic tribes, the Bavarian Geographer (ca. 845) specified the following West Slavic peoples: Sleenzane, Dadosesani, Opolanie, Lupiglaa, and Golensizi in Silesia and Wolinians with Pyrzycans in Western Pomerania. A document of the Bishopric of Prague (1086) mentions Zlasane, Trebovyane, Poborane, and Dedositze in Silesia.  From the 13th century on, the Oder valley was central to German Ostsiedlung, making the towns on its banks German-speaking over the following centuries.  The Finow Canal, first built in 1605, connects the Oder and Havel. After completion of the more straight Oder–Havel Canal in 1914, its economic relevance decreased.  The earliest important undertaking with a view to improving the waterway was initiated by Frederick the Great, who recommended diverting the river into a new and straight channel in the swampy tract known as Oderbruch near Küstrin. The work was carried out in the years 1746–53, a large tract of marshland being brought under cultivation, a considerable detour cut off and the main stream successfully confined to a canal.  In the late 19th century, three additional alterations were made to the waterway:  By the Treaty of Versailles, navigation on the Oder became subject to International Commission of the Oder. Following the articles 363 and 364 of the Treaty Czechoslovakia was entitled to lease in Stettin (now Szczecin) its own section in the harbour, then called "Tschechoslowakische Zone im Hafen Stettin". The contract of lease between Czechoslovakia and Germany, and supervised by the United Kingdom, was signed on February 16, 1929, and would end in 2028, however, after 1945 Czechoslovakia did not regain this legal position, de facto abolished in 1938–39.  At the 1943 Tehran Conference the allies decided that the new eastern border of Germany would run along the Oder. However, after World War II, the German areas east of the Oder and the Lusatian Neisse were put under Polish administration by the victorious allies at the Potsdam Conference (at the insistence of the Soviets). As a result, the so-called Oder–Neisse line formed the border between the Soviet occupation zone (from 1949 East Germany) and the areas of Germany under Polish administration. The final border between Germany and Poland was to be determined at a future peace conference. A part of the German population east of these two rivers was evacuated by the Nazis during the war or fled from the approaching Red Army. After the war, the remaining 8 million Germans were forcibly expelled from these territories by the Polish and Soviet administrations. East Germany confirmed the border with Poland under Soviet pressure in the Treaty of Zgorzelec in 1950. West Germany, after a period of refusal, confirmed the inviolability of the border in 1970 in the Treaty of Warsaw. In 1990 newly reunified Germany and the Republic of Poland signed a treaty recognizing the Oder–Neisse line as their border.

Cities.

Main section:  Dziwna branch (between Wolin Island and mainland Poland):  Świna branch (between Wolin and the Usedom islands):  Szczecin Lagoon:  Peene branch (between Usedom Island and the German mainland):

The Oder (, ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe and Poland's third-longest river after the Vistula and Warta. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany as part of the Oder–Neisse line. The river ultimately flows into the Szczecin Lagoon north of Szczecin and then into three branches (the Dziwna, Świna and Peene) that empty into the Bay of Pomerania of the Baltic Sea.


Taxonomy and systematics.

German zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller described the toco toucan in 1776.

Subspecies.

Two subspecies are recognized:

Description.

The toco toucan has a striking plumage with a mainly black body, a white throat, chest and uppertail-coverts, and red undertail-coverts. What appears to be a blue iris is actually thin blue skin around the eye. This blue skin is surrounded by another ring of bare, orange skin. The most noticeable feature, however, is its huge bill, which measures from in length, which is yellow-orange, tending to deeper reddish-orange on its lower sections and culmen, and with a black base and large spot on the tip. It looks heavy, but as in other toucans it is relatively light because the inside largely is hollow. The tongue is nearly as long as the bill and very flat. This species is the largest toucan and the largest representative of the order Piciformes. The total length of the species is. Body weight in these birds can vary from, with males averaging against the smaller female, which averages. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is, the tail is and the tarsus is. Other than the size difference, there are no external differences between the sexes. Juveniles are duller and shorter-billed than adults. Its voice consists of a deep, coarse croaking, often repeated every few seconds. It also has a rattling call and will bill-clack.  The bill is the largest relative to body size of all birds providing 30 to 50% of its body surface area, although another Neotropical species, the sword-billed hummingbird, has a longer bill relative to its body length. It was called by Buffon a “grossly monstrous” appendage. Diverse functions have been suggested. Charles Darwin suggested it was a sexual ornament: “toucans may owe the enormous size of their beaks to sexual selection, for the sake of displaying the diversified and vivid stripes of colour with which these organs are ornamented". Further suggestions have included aid in peeling fruit, intimidating other birds when robbing their nests, social selection related to defense of territory, and as a visual warning.  Research has shown that one function is as a surface area for heat exchange. The bill has the ability to modify blood flow and so regulate heat distribution in the bird, allowing it to use its bill as a thermal radiator. In terms of surface area used for this function, the bill relative to the bird's size is amongst the largest of any animal and has a network of superficial blood vessels supporting the thin horny sheath on the bill made of keratin called the rhamphotheca.  In its capacity to remove body heat the bill is comparable to that of elephant ears. The ability to radiate heat depends upon air speed: if this is low only 25% of the adult bird's resting heat production to as much as four times this heat production. In comparison, the bill of a duck and the ears of elephant can shed only 9 to 9.1% of resting heat production. The bill normally is responsible for 30 to 60% of heat loss. The practice of toco toucans of placing their bills under their wings may serve to insulate the bill and reduce heat loss during sleep. It has been observed that "complexities of the vasculature and controlling mechanisms needed to adjust the blood flow to the bill may not be completely developed until adulthood."

Distribution and habitat.

The toco toucan occurs in northern and eastern Bolivia, extreme south-eastern Peru, northern Argentina, eastern and central Paraguay, and eastern and southern Brazil (excluding southern Rio Grande do Sul, the dry regions dominated by Caatinga vegetation and coastal regions between Ceará and Rio de Janeiro). Other disjunct populations occur along the lower Amazon River (Ilha de Marajó west approximately to the Madeira River), far northern Brazil in Roraima, coastal regions of the Guianas and it has been recently registered in north-west Uruguay. It only penetrates the Amazon in relatively open areas (e.g. along rivers). It is resident, but local movements may occur.  It is, unlike the other members of the genus "Ramphastos", essentially a non-forest species. It can be found in a wide range of semi-open habitats such as woodland, savanna and other open habitats with scattered trees, Cerrado, plantations, forest-edge, and even wooded gardens. It is mainly a species of lowlands, but occurs up to near the Andes in Bolivia. It is easily seen in the Pantanal.

Behaviour and ecology.

The toco toucan eats fruit using its bill to pluck them from trees, but also insects, frogs, small reptiles, small birds and their eggs and nestlings. The long bill is useful for reaching things that otherwise would be out-of-reach. It is typically seen in pairs or small groups. In flight it alternates between a burst of rapid flaps with the relatively short, rounded wings, and gliding. Nesting is seasonal, but timing differs between regions. The nest is typically placed high in a tree and consists of a cavity, at least part of which is excavated by the parent birds themselves. It has also been recorded nesting in holes in earth-banks and terrestrial termite-nests. Their reproduction cycle is annual. The female usually lays two to four eggs a few days after mating. The eggs are incubated by both sexes and hatch after 17–18 days. These birds are very protective of themselves and their chicks.

Aviculture.

Like the keel-billed toucan, the toco toucan is sometimes kept in captivity, but has a high fruit diet and is sensitive to hemochromatosis (an iron storage disease). Also, pet toco toucans must not be permitted to eat mouse (or rat) meat, due to a risk of bacterial infection. There is an ongoing population management plan that should help to revert the decreasing captive population of the toco toucan for Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) member institutions. This is the second management plan that is occurring since 2001.

Status.

Because it prefers open habitats, the toco toucan is likely to benefit from the widespread deforestation in tropical South America. It has a large range and except in the outer regions of its range, it typically is fairly common. It is therefore considered to be of Least Concern by BirdLife International.

The toco toucan ("Ramphastos toco"), also known as the common toucan or giant toucan, is the largest and probably the best known species in the toucan family. It is found in semi-open habitats throughout a large part of central and eastern South America. It is a common attraction in zoos.


History.

The first certain testimony of a political body governing the shores of the lake is from 818. Occupying an area of strategic importance, the lake was then part of the feudal dominion of the County of Sperio. Circa 1000, it came under the control of the Bishop of Como. The region was the site of the war between Como and Milan over control of Alpine traffic from 1218 to 1227. As the lake and its shores became progressively incorporated into the Duchy of Milan they became the subject of political and territorial contention during the 15th century, and Lugano became the lake's main town.  The lake definitively ceased to belong to a single sovereign political entity following the establishment of the transalpine bailiwicks of the Swiss cantons at the beginning of the 16th century. The Italian-Swiss border was fixed in 1752 by the Treaty of Varese, and has since remained virtually unchanged.  In 1848, the Melide causeway was built on a moraine between Melide and Bissone, in order to carry a road across the lake and provide a direct connection between Lugano and Chiasso. Today the causeway also carries the Gotthard railway and the A2 motorway.

Geography.

The lake is in size, 63% of which is in Switzerland and 37% in Italy, has an average width of roughly, a maximum depth of found in the northern basin. The culminating point of the lake's drainage basin is the Pizzo di Gino summit in the Lugano Prealps (). Bathing in the lake is allowed at any of the 50 or so bathing establishments located along the Swiss shores.  The Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia and parts of the waters of the lake are considered by European Customs Law as non-territorial for fiscal purposes and as such enjoy a special tax status as a duty-free area, exemption from EU VAT  and offer residents other advantageous tax privileges.  The Melide causeway separates the northern () and southern () basins, although a bridge in the causeway permits water flow and navigation. The lake retention time is an average of 8.2 years; that of the northern basin (11.9 years) is considerably higher than the southern one (2.3 years).  Places on the lake in Switzerland (CH) and in Italy (I) include (from Lugano, clockwise):

Navigation.

The lake is navigable, and used by a considerable number of private vessels. Passenger boats of the Società Navigazione del Lago di Lugano (SNL) provide services on the lake, principally for tourist purposes, but also connecting Lugano with other lakeside communities, some of which have no road access.  Fishery in the lake (and Lake Maggiore) is regulated by a 1986 agreement between Switzerland and Italy. The current agreement on navigation dates from 1992.

Pollution.

Pollution has long been a problem in Lake Lugano. In the 1960s and 1970s it was officially forbidden to bathe in the lake. Despite the continued introduction of sewage treatment plants such as in Gandria, factors such as lake retention time and lack of oxygen and increasing phosphorus concentrations means it is unclear if the lake will recover.  The Federal Office for the Environment's last published report on Lake Lugano dates from 1995. To summarise that report:  The Swiss-Italian organisation CIPAIS in its most recent published report says: The Italian environmental group Legambiente, in its 2007 study of all northern Italian lakes, found Lake Lugano to be the most polluted of all. According to Legambiente, the only reason swimming was not banned on the Italian Lakes was because the state of Lombardy changed the law. They state that pollution levels in the lakes do not conform to European rulings and the lack of sewage treatment is illegal.  Their 2010 measurements found samples taken at Ponte Tresa, Ostene and Port Ceresio to be "heavily polluted" (more than 1,000 UFC/100 ml intestinal enterococci and/or greater than 2000 UFC/100 ml "E. coli").

Fauna.

The lake is full of fish. Apart from a few protected areas, such as the mouth of the River Cuccio in Porlezza, fishing is allowed anywhere, although according to various regulations. Protected species are the bleak and the white clawed crayfish ("Austropotamobius pallipes"). The bleak is almost extinct here, unlike in Lago Maggiore, and planning is under way for the controlled repopulation of the lake, particularly around Ponte Tresa.  In 1895 the brook trout was introduced from Lake Zug, while between 1894 and 1897 the common whitefish was introduced. Since 1950 attempts have been made to introduce the whitefish "Coregonus macrophthalmus" from Lake Neuchâtel, but it has not established itself effectively.  The Common Roach is present in large numbers and took around ten years to colonise the entire lake, thereby replacing the bleak. Still present are the European chub, tench, carp and a few examples of European perch, largemouth bass, zander and burbot. Recently the wels catfish and pigo have been spotted.

Fossils.

The whole area behind the southern shores of Lake Lugano is rich in fossils. The focal point of these fossil deposits is Monte San Giorgio, where since the 19th century many fossils have been found dating from the mid-Triassic (around 220 million years ago). The deposits on Monte San Giorgio stretch towards the west into Italian territory and the deposits of Besano. Fossils dating from the early Jurassic (around 180 million years ago) have also been found along the southern shores but more towards the east and Osteno.

Lake Lugano ( or, from ; ; ) is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated between Lake Como and Lago Maggiore. It was cited for the first time by Gregory of Tours in 590 with the name "Ceresio", a name which is said to have derived from the Latin word "cerasus", meaning cherry, and refers to the abundance of cherry trees which at one time adorned the shores of the lake. The lake appears in documents in 804 under the name "Laco Luanasco".