Taxonomy.

"Davidia involucrata" is the only member of its genus, but there are two varieties differing slightly in their leaves, "D. involucrata" var. "involucrata", which has the leaves thinly pubescent (short-haired) on the underside, and "D. involucrata" var. "vilmoriniana", with glabrous (hairless) leaves. Some botanists treat them as distinct species, with good reason, as the two taxa have differing chromosome numbers so are unable to produce fertile hybrid offspring.

Description.

It is a moderately fast-growing tree, growing to in height, with alternate cordate leaves resembling those of a linden in appearance, except that they are symmetrical, and lacking the lop-sided base typical of linden leaves; the leaves are mostly 10–20 cm long and 7–15 cm wide and are ovate to heart-shaped.  "Davidia involucrata" is best known for its inflorescence that features white bracts surrounding a purplish-red flower head. The Latin specific epithet "involucrata" means "with a ring of bracts surrounding several flowers". These form a tight cluster about 1–2 cm across, each flower head with a pair of large (12–25 cm), pure white bracts at the base performing the function of petals. The inflorescences hang in long rows beneath the level branches and are at their best in late May. On a breezy day, the bracts flutter in the wind like white doves or pinched handkerchiefs, hence the English names for this tree.  The fruit is a very hard nut about 3 cm long surrounded by a green husk about 4 cm long by 3 cm wide, hanging on a 10 cm stalk. The nut contains 3–6 seeds.

History.

The genus "Davidia" is named for Father Armand David (1826–1900; "Père David"), a French Vincentian missionary and keen naturalist who lived in China. David first described the tree in 1869 as a single tree found at over altitude, and sent dried specimens to Paris; in 1871, Henri Baillon described it as a new genus and species.  British plant hunter Augustine Henry again found a single tree, this time in the Yangtse Ichang gorges and sent the first specimen to Kew Gardens. Plant collector Ernest Henry Wilson was employed by Sir Harry Veitch to find Henry's tree but arrived to find that it had been felled for building purposes; however, he later found a grove of the trees overhanging a sheer drop. Returning to Britain, Wilson’s boat was wrecked, but he managed to save his "Davidia" specimens.

Fossil record.

The oldest probable fossils of "Davidia" are permineralized fruits from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Dinosaur Provincial Park near Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. Those fruits are smaller than those of "D. involucrata" and have fewer locules, but are otherwise similar in morphology to the extant genus.  In 2009, B. I. Pavlyutkin described Miocene fossils in Primorsky Krai and assigned them to a new species in the genus "Davidia".

In gardens.

The species was introduced from China to Europe and North America in 1904, and is a popular ornamental tree in parks and larger gardens. Most trees in cultivation are var. "vilmoriniana", which has proved much better able to adapt to the climatic conditions in the west.  This tree and the cultivated variety "D. involucrata" var. "vilmoriniana" have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Davidia involucrata, the dove-tree, handkerchief tree, pocket handkerchief tree, or ghost tree, is a medium-sized deciduous tree in the family Nyssaceae. It was previously included with tupelos in the dogwood family, Cornaceae. It is native to South Central and Southwest China from Hubei to southern Gansu, south to Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan, but is widely cultivated elsewhere.


History and naming.

The Floyd–Warshall algorithm is an example of dynamic programming, and was published in its currently recognized form by Robert Floyd in 1962. However, it is essentially the same as algorithms previously published by Bernard Roy in 1959 and also by Stephen Warshall in 1962 for finding the transitive closure of a graph, and is closely related to Kleene's algorithm (published in 1956) for converting a deterministic finite automaton into a regular expression. The modern formulation of the algorithm as three nested for-loops was first described by Peter Ingerman, also in 1962.

Algorithm.

The Floyd–Warshall algorithm compares all possible paths through the graph between each pair of vertices. It is able to do this with formula_2 comparisons in a graph, even though there may be up to formula_3 edges in the graph, and every combination of edges is tested. It does so by incrementally improving an estimate on the shortest path between two vertices, until the estimate is optimal.  Consider a graph formula_4 with vertices formula_5 numbered 1 through formula_6. Further consider a function formula_7 that returns the shortest possible path from formula_8 to formula_9 using vertices only from the set formula_10 as intermediate points along the way. Now, given this function, our goal is to find the shortest path from each formula_8 to each formula_9 using "any" vertex in formula_13.  For each of these pairs of vertices, the formula_7 could be either  or  We know that the best path from formula_8 to formula_9 that only uses vertices formula_25 through formula_26 is defined by formula_27, and it is clear that if there was a better path from formula_8 to formula_15 to formula_9, then the length of this path would be the concatenation of the shortest path from formula_8 to formula_15 (only using intermediate vertices in formula_16) and the shortest path from formula_15 to formula_9 (only using intermediate vertices in formula_16).  If formula_37 is the weight of the edge between vertices formula_8 and formula_9, we can define formula_7 in terms of the following recursive formula: the base case is and the recursive case is  This formula is the heart of the Floyd–Warshall algorithm. The algorithm works by first computing formula_7 for all formula_46 pairs for formula_47, then formula_48, and so on. This process continues until formula_49, and we have found the shortest path for all formula_46 pairs using any intermediate vertices. Pseudocode for this basic version follows:

Example.

The algorithm above is executed on the graph on the left below:  Prior to the first recursion of the outer loop, labeled above, the only known paths correspond to the single edges in the graph. At, paths that go through the vertex 1 are found: in particular, the path [2,1,3] is found, replacing the path [2,3] which has fewer edges but is longer (in terms of weight). At, paths going through the vertices {1,2} are found. The red and blue boxes show how the path [4,2,1,3] is assembled from the two known paths [4,2] and [2,1,3] encountered in previous iterations, with 2 in the intersection. The path [4,2,3] is not considered, because [2,1,3] is the shortest path encountered so far from 2 to 3. At, paths going through the vertices {1,2,3} are found. Finally, at, all shortest paths are found.  The distance matrix at each iteration of, with the updated distances in bold, will be:

Behavior with negative cycles.

A negative cycle is a cycle whose edges sum to a negative value. There is no shortest path between any pair of vertices formula_8, formula_9 which form part of a negative cycle, because path-lengths from formula_8 to formula_9 can be arbitrarily small (negative). For numerically meaningful output, the Floyd–Warshall algorithm assumes that there are no negative cycles. Nevertheless, if there are negative cycles, the Floyd–Warshall algorithm can be used to detect them. The intuition is as follows:  Hence, to detect negative cycles using the Floyd–Warshall algorithm, one can inspect the diagonal of the path matrix, and the presence of a negative number indicates that the graph contains at least one negative cycle.. During the execution of the algorithm, if there is a negative cycle, exponentially large numbers can appear, as large as formula_62, where formula_63 is the largest absolute value of a negative edge in the graph. To avoid overflow/underflow problems one should check for negative numbers on the diagonal of the path matrix within the inner for loop of the algorithm. Obviously, in an undirected graph a negative edge creates a negative cycle (i.e., a closed walk) involving its incident vertices. Considering all edges of the above example graph as undirected, e.g. the vertex sequence 4 – 2 – 4 is a cycle with weight sum −2.

Path reconstruction.

The Floyd–Warshall algorithm typically only provides the lengths of the paths between all pairs of vertices. With simple modifications, it is possible to create a method to reconstruct the actual path between any two endpoint vertices. While one may be inclined to store the actual path from each vertex to each other vertex, this is not necessary, and in fact, is very costly in terms of memory. Instead, the shortest-path tree can be calculated for each node in formula_64 time using formula_65 memory to store each tree which allows us to efficiently reconstruct a path from any two connected vertices.

Pseudocode.

let dist be a formula_66 array of minimum distances initialized to formula_67 (infinity)

Analysis.

Let formula_69 be formula_70, the number of vertices. To find all formula_71 of formula_7 (for all formula_8 and formula_9) from those of formula_27 requires formula_76 operations. Since we begin with formula_77 and compute the sequence of formula_69 matrices formula_79, formula_80, formula_81, formula_82, the total number of operations used is formula_83. Therefore, the complexity of the algorithm is formula_84.

Applications and generalizations.

The Floyd–Warshall algorithm can be used to solve the following problems, among others:

Implementations.

Implementations are available for many programming languages.

Comparison with other shortest path algorithms.

The Floyd–Warshall algorithm is a good choice for computing paths between all pairs of vertices in dense graphs, in which most or all pairs of vertices are connected by edges. For sparse graphs with non-negative edge weights, a better choice is to use Dijkstra's algorithm from each possible starting vertex, since the running time of repeated Dijkstra (formula_85 using Fibonacci heaps) is better than the formula_86 running time of the Floyd–Warshall algorithm when formula_87 is significantly smaller than formula_88. For sparse graphs with negative edges but no negative cycles, Johnson's algorithm can be used, with the same asymptotic running time as the repeated Dijkstra approach.  There are also known algorithms using fast matrix multiplication to speed up all-pairs shortest path computation in dense graphs, but these typically make extra assumptions on the edge weights (such as requiring them to be small integers). In addition, because of the high constant factors in their running time, they would only provide a speedup over the Floyd–Warshall algorithm for very large graphs.

In computer science, the Floyd–Warshall algorithm (also known as Floyd's algorithm, the Roy–Warshall algorithm, the Roy–Floyd algorithm, or the WFI algorithm) is an algorithm for finding shortest paths in a weighted graph with positive or negative edge weights (but with no negative cycles). A single execution of the algorithm will find the lengths (summed weights) of shortest paths between all pairs of vertices. Although it does not return details of the paths themselves, it is possible to reconstruct the paths with simple modifications to the algorithm. Versions of the algorithm can also be used for finding the transitive closure of a relation formula_1, or (in connection with the Schulze voting system) widest paths between all pairs of vertices in a weighted graph.


Original 1908 text.

In his original book on Boy Scouting, Baden-Powell introduced the Scout Promise, as follows:

World Organization of the Scout Movement requirements.

The form of the promise has varied slightly from country to country and over time, but must fulfill the requirements of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) to qualify a National Scout Organization for membership. Together with clarifying its Scout Law, the Constitution of WOSM states:  In order to accommodate many different religions within Scouting, "God" may refer to a higher power, and is not specifically restricted to the God of the monotheistic religions. The WOSM Constitution explains "Duty to God" as "Adherence to spiritual principles, loyalty to the religion that expresses them and acceptance of the duties resulting therefrom."  The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), which is a sister organization to WOSM, has the very same wording in their constitution (Part I, Article 2: Original Promise), and follows similar policies.

Alternative promises.

Although the Constitution of WOSM states that the Promise should include a reference to Duty to "God", Scouting founder Lord Baden-Powell approved the use of promises with reference to a "higher ideal", "higher truth", an optional reference to God, or without a reference to God, for Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Finland. Three of these countries still offer this alternative promise (France, the Netherlands and Czech Republic). WOSM stated in 1932 that no new exceptions would be made and expressed the hope that the few remaining countries would stop using a promise without any reference to Duty to God.  The Israeli Scouts, though founded in 1919/1920, and joining WOSM in 1951 and WAGGGS in 1963, also have no "duty to God" or apparent equivalent in their promise. In 1969, the Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs israélites de France decided to discontinue using the reference to "God" due to its inconsistency with religious beliefs and practices from a Jewish perspective. Use of the word God (Dieu), derived from Zeus, can be seen as an inappropriate pagan reference in Jewish texts or education.  As of July 2017, Scouts Australia provides the option to use one of two different versions of the Scout Promise, one which allows scouts to promise "To be true to my spiritual beliefs [,] To contribute to my community and our world." The other option is to promise "To do my duty to my God, and To the Queen of Australia."

Non-WOSM Scouting.

Scout sections that follow traditional Scouting, such as Baden-Powell Scouts within the World Federation of Independent Scouts, use several promises including the original Scout promise above that includes the reference to God. Some, however, for example the 1st Tarrant Scout Group in Fort Worth, Texas use a blend of the original promise and the "Outlander Promise" which, "according to tradition", B-P wrote for Scouts that had to omit the reference to God or a monarch for reasons of conscience.

Since the publication of "Scouting for Boys" in 1908, all Scouts and Girl Guides around the world have taken a Scout (or Guide) promise or oath to live up to ideals of the movement, and subscribed to a Scout Law. The wording of the Scout Promise (or Oath) and Scout Law have varied slightly over time and from country to country. Some national organization promises are given below. Although most Scouting and Guiding organizations use the word "promise", a few such as the Boy Scouts of America tend to use "oath" instead. Typically, Scouts and Guides will make the three-fingered Scout Sign when reciting the promise.


Early life.

Jolliet was born in 1645 in Beaupré, a French settlement near Quebec City. When he was seven years old, his father died; his mother then married a successful merchant. Jolliet's stepfather owned land on the Ile d'Orleans, an island in the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec that was home to First Nations. Jolliet spent much time on Ile d'Orleans, so it was likely that he began speaking Indigenous languages of the Americas at a young age. Besides French, he also learned English and Spanish. During his childhood, Quebec was the center of the French fur trade. The Natives were part of day-to-day life in Quebec, and Joliet grew up knowing a lot about them. Jolliet entered a Jesuit school in Quebec as a child and focused on philosophical and religious studies, aiming for priesthood. He also studied music, becoming a skilled harpsichordist and church organist. He received minor orders in 1662 but abandoned his plans to become a priest, leaving the seminary in 1667 to pursue fur trading instead..

Exploration of the Upper Mississippi.

While Hernando de Soto was the first European to make official note of the Mississippi River by discovering its southern entrance in 1541, Jolliet and Marquette were the first to locate its upper reaches, and travel most of its length, about 130 years later. De Soto had named the river Rio del Espiritu Santo, but tribes along its length called it variations "Mississippi", meaning "Great River" in the Algonquian languages.  On May 17, 1673, Jolliet and Marquette departed from St. Ignace, Michigan with two canoes and five other voyageurs of French-Indian ancestry. The group sailed to Green Bay. They then paddled upstream (southward) on the Fox River to the site now known as Portage, Wisconsin. There, they portaged a distance of slightly less than two miles through marsh and oak forest to the Wisconsin River. Europeans eventually built a trading post at that shortest convenient portage between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins. On June 17, the canoeists ventured onto the Mississippi River near present-day Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.  The Jolliet-Marquette expedition traveled down the Mississippi to within 435 miles (700 km) of the Gulf of Mexico. They turned back north at the mouth of the Arkansas River. By this point, they had encountered natives carrying European goods and worried about a possible hostile encounter with explorers or colonists from Spain. The voyageurs then followed the Mississippi back to the mouth of the Illinois River, which friendly natives told them was a shorter route back to the Great Lakes. Following the Illinois river upstream, they then turned up its tributary the Des Plaines River near modern-day Joliet, Illinois. They then continued up the Des Plaines River and portaged their canoes and gear at the Chicago Portage. They then followed the Chicago River downstream until they reached Lake Michigan near the location of modern-day Chicago. Father Marquette stayed at the mission of St. Francis Xavier at the southern end of Green Bay, which they reached in August. Joliet returned to Quebec to relate the news of their discoveries.

Later years.

Jolliet married Claire-Francoise Byssot de la Valtrie. Like Jolliet, she was Canadian born, a daughter of Francois Byssot de la Riviere and his wife Marie Couillard. Claire Francoise was also a sister of Louise Byssot de la Valtrie, wife of Seraphin de Margane, Seigneur de la Valtrie. In 1680, Jolliet was granted the Island of Antwhere where he created a fort and maintained soldiers. In 1693, he was appointed "Royal Hydrographer", and on April 30, 1697, he was granted a seigneury southwest of Quebec City which he named Jolliest.  In 1694, he sailed from the Gulf of St. Lawrence north along the coast of Labrador as far north as Zoar, a voyage of five and a half months. He recorded details of the country, navigation, the Inuit and their customs. His journal ("Journal de Louis Jolliet allant à la descouverte de Labrador, 1694,") is the earliest known detailed survey of the Labrador coast from the Strait of Belle Isle to Zoar.  In May 1700, Louis Jolliet left for Anticosti Island. He then disappears from the historical record. There is no listing of his death or burial place, and the sole record of his fate is the notation that a mass for his soul was said in Quebec on September 15, 1700.

Legacy.

Jolliet's main legacy is most tangible in the Midwestern United States and Quebec, mostly through geographical names, including the cities of Joliet, Illinois; Joliet, Montana; and Joliette, Quebec (founded by one of Jolliet's descendants, Barthélemy Joliette).  The several variations in the spelling of the name "Jolliet" reflect spelling that occurred at times when illiteracy or poor literacy was common and spelling was unstandardized. Jolliet's descendants live throughout eastern Canada and the United States. The Louis Jolliet rose, developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, was named in his honor.  The Jolliet Squadron of cadets at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean in the Province of Quebec was named in his honor. Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Illinois, is named after the explorer, as are numerous high schools in North America.  A cruise ship sailing out of Quebec City is also named in his honour.

Louis Jolliet (September 21, 1645after May 1700) was a French-Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America. Jolliet and Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette, a Catholic priest and missionary, were the first non-Natives to explore and map the Mississippi River in 1673.


History.

They started cmc. they were originally a pious association of ladies formed in 1626 for the care of thein the service of the sick. The members placed themselves under the patronage of St. Charles Borromeo, called the "Apostle of Charity", and adopted the constitutions drawn up by Dom Epiphane Louys, Abbot of Estivals and Vicar General of the reformed Premonstratensians.  By the middle of the 18th century the congregation was in charge of numerous hospitals, and shortly afterwards took up as an additional task the Christian education of children. During the French Revolutionary period the members, although dispersed and deprived of their religious habit, continued their work so heroically as to win the encomiums of their persecutors. On 22 July 1804, they resumed their wearing of the habit, having obtained the approval of Napoleon, and were soon in a flourishing condition.

Organisation and branching.

Their rule, based on the rule of St. Augustine, received papal approbation in 1859, and additional constitutions were confirmed by Leo XIII in 1892. Their work includes the direction of all manner of charitable institutions, such as domestic and trade schools, homes for first communicants, protectories, poor-houses, homes for defectives and female reformatories, as well as the care of the sick in their homes. They also have charge of schools, including a number of normal institutes in Austria. Candidates must spend one year as postulants and from three to four and a half years as novices before being admitted to the congregation. The auxiliary sisters for the care of the sick renew their vows annually.  There are several entirely independent branches of Borromean Sisters. In 1838 one was established by Aloysius Joseph Freiherr von Schrenk, Prince-Bishop of Prague (died 1849), which was confirmed as a separate in 1841, and in the early 20th century had 900 members in 102 houses, chiefly in Bohemia, Moravia, Upper Austria and Lower Austria.  In 1848 Melchior Freiherr von Diepenbrock, Prince-Bishop of Breslau, invited the Prague Borromeans to found a house at Neisse, which, in 1857, was raised to the rank of the mother-house of a separate congregation. Later the mother-house was transferred to Trebnitz, and temporarily, during the Kulturkampf, to Teschen, where a provincial house for imperial Austria was later established (1889).  A house of this congregation founded at Alexandria in 1884 was, in 1894, made a provincial mother-house and a novitiate for the (Ottoman) Orient, with the direction of schools, an asylum for the aged, and a hospice for German pilgrims. Affiliated foundations have been made at Jerusalem (1886), Haifa (1888), Cairo (1904) and Emmaus. The members of the Trebnitz congregation numbered 1900, in 211 houses c. 1910.  In 1811 a foundation was made from Nancy at Trier whence the congregation spread to other cities of western Germany. In 1849 a provincial house was erected at Trier which by decree of Pius IX (18 September 1872), was made the mother-house of an independent congregation. A famous Borromean institution is St. Hedwig's Hospital at Berlin, founded in 1846 by Angelika Eschweiler. The Trier branch comprises over 1200 sisters in 70 houses.  A foundation was also made at Maastricht (Dutch province of Limburg) in 1837 by Peter Anton van Baer.

The Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo are a number of female Catholic religious congregations sharing one rule and tradition.


History.

The Royal Spanish Academy was founded in 1713, modeled after the Accademia della Crusca (1582), of Italy, and the Académie Française (1635), of France, with the purpose "to fix the voices and vocabularies of the Spanish language with propriety, elegance, and purity". King Philip V approved its constitution on 3 October 1714, placing it under the Crown's protection.  Its aristocratic founder,, Duke of Escalona and Marquess of Villena, described its aims as "to assure that Spanish speakers will always be able to read Cervantes" – by exercising a progressive up-to-date maintenance of the formal language.  The RAE began establishing rules for the orthography of Spanish beginning in 1741 with the first edition of the (spelled from the second edition onwards). The proposals of the Academy became the official norm in Spain by royal decree in 1844, and they were also gradually adopted by the Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas. Several reforms were introduced in the (1959, New Norms of Prosody and Orthography). Since the establishment of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language in 1951, the Spanish academy works in close consultation with the other Spanish language academies in its various works and projects. The 1999 Orthography was the first to be edited by the twenty two academies together. The current rules and practical recommendations on spelling are presented in the latest edition of the (2010).  The headquarters, opened in 1894, is located at Calle Felipe IV, 4, in the ward of Jerónimos, next to the Museo del Prado. The Center for the Studies of the Royal Spanish Academy, opened in 2007, is located at Calle Serrano 187–189.

Fundamentals.

According to Salvador Gutiérrez, an academic numerary of the institution, the Academy does not dictate the rules but studies the language, collects information and presents it. The rules of the language are simply the continued use of expressions, some of which are collected by the Academy. Although he also says that it is important to read and write correctly. Article 1 of the statutes of the Royal Spanish Academy, translated from Spanish, says the following:

Composition.

Members of the Academy are known as (), chosen from among prestigious people within the arts and sciences, including several Spanish-language authors, known as The Immortals (Spanish: ), similarly to their French Academy counterparts. The numeraries (Spanish: "Números)" are elected for life by the other academicians. Each academician holds a seat labeled with a letter from the Spanish alphabet, although upper and lower case letters denote separate seats.  The Academy has included Latin American members from the time of Rafael María Baralt, although some Spanish-speaking countries have their own academies of the language.

The Royal Spanish Academy (Spanish:, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, but is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other hispanophone nations through the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language. The RAE's emblem is a fiery crucible, and its motto is ("Cleans, sets, and gives splendor").


Geography.

The western shore of the glacial lake is located near the Kreuzberg Saddle mountain pass of the Bundesstraße road from Greifenburg to Hermagor. A smaller mountain road runs from the Drava valley via Stockenboi to the eastern end. Despite its elevation of 930 mAA (3051 ft), the lake surface can reach 24 degrees Celsius in the summer months, while in winter the water freezes over completely and allows skaters to move freely on the ice.  Due to its steep shore, the eastern part is almost uninhabited, with only a narrow path leading to the eastern end, where the area of the Stockenboi municipality reaches the lake. Here the "Weißenbach" creek runs down to the Drava Valley. Along the shore are banks of chalk originating from the surrounding mountains of the Southern Limestone Alps, which give the waters its characteristic colour and the Weissensee ("White Lake") its name.  About two thirds of the lake's surface are part of a protected area. Ship transport on the lake is provided by four vessels and a speed boat. Except for public transport, the operation of motor boats is prohibited. The waters of the lake reach drinking water quality. The area has much wildlife. It contains many different types of fish, especially trout, common carp, perch and northern pike. Also, there are many different birds, ranging from ducks to geese and herons.

Population.

According to a 2001 survey, the Weissensee district had 788 inhabitants of which 97.2% had Austrian citizenship. 73.6% of those surveyed claimed to be members of the evangelical church, 22% claimed to be members of the Roman-Catholic church, and 1% were of Islamic faith. 3.4% claimed not to belong to a religious denomination.

Activities.

Since 1989, in winter the lake is the site of the Dutch "Alternatieve Elfstedentocht" speed skating competition. Beside skating, ice stock sport and cross-country skiing around the Weissensee is quite popular. A smaller alpine skiing area is situated at the southern shore. In February 2007 the first underwater ice hockey world championship was held at the lake. In January 2011, an Austrian mountain aviator association landed about 30 small aircraft on the frozen surface.  A prominent mountain spur at the northern shore, Ronacherfels, is named after a local peasant who died in the winter of 1916 while steering a sleigh on the frozen lake. Taking a shortcut home, he sledged over a thin patch of ice, fell through and died. His body was never found. In honour of his memory, the spur and a nearby inn were named after him.  Parts of the 1987 James Bond film "The Living Daylights" were shot at frozen Weissensee.

The Weissensee (German spelling: "Weißensee") is a lake in the Austrian state of Carinthia within the Gailtal Alps mountain range. The highest situated Carinthian bathing lake shares its name with the municipality of Weissensee on the northern and southern shore.


Background.

The War of the Austrian Succession was sparked by the death of Charles VI in 1740 and the succession of his daughter Maria Theresa. The Habsburg Monarchy was originally subject to Salic law, which excluded women from inheriting it; the 1713 Pragmatic Sanction set this aside, allowing Maria Theresa to succeed her father.  This became a European issue because the Monarchy was the most powerful element in the Holy Roman Empire, a loose federation of mostly German states. This position was threatened by the growing size and power of Bavaria, Prussia and Saxony, as well as Habsburg expansion into lands held by the Ottoman Empire. The Empire was headed by the Holy Roman Emperor; in theory an elected post, it had been held by a Habsburg since 1437. France, Prussia and Saxony now challenged Austrian dominance by nominating Charles of Bavaria as Emperor.  In December 1740, Frederick II seized the opportunity to invade Silesia and begin the First Silesian War. With a population of over one million, the Silesian mining, weaving and dyeing industries produced 10% of total Imperial income. Under Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, the Prussians quickly over-ran most of the province and settled into winter quarters but failed to capture the southern fortresses of Glogau, Breslau, and Brieg. Maria Theresa sent an army of about 20,000 men led by Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg to take back the province and assert herself as a strong monarch.

The march north.

Neipperg's army caught Frederick II completely off guard as he lingered in the province, and surged northwards past Frederick and his army to relieve the city of Neisse, which was being besieged by a small Prussian force and had not yet fallen. Both Neipperg and Frederick rushed northwards in parallel columns, in a race to reach the city first. In atrocious weather, Neipperg reached Neisse first and set up camp there. Frederick II and his entire army were now caught behind enemy lines with a large Austrian force lying between him and the rest of his kingdom and his supply and communication lines cut off. Both sides knew that battle was now inevitable.

Prussian preparations.

Captured Austrian soldiers told Frederick the exact position of Neipperg's forces at Mollwitz, and the morning fog and snow allowed Frederick's army to advance undetected to within 2000 paces of Neipperg's camp. Most commanders would then have given the order to charge the camp and rout the Austrian army, but since Frederick had never fought a campaign or a battle before, he instead decided to deploy his army in a battle line. There was very heavy snow on the ground which caused snow-blindness, and Frederick miscalculated the distance to the river on his right. He deployed several of his units behind a bend in the river where they could take no part in the battle, and several more units were deployed perpendicular to his two battle lines on the right flank. It is said that Schwerin commented early on that Frederick miscalculated the distance, but he was ignored.

Austrian preparations.

Neipperg was in a bad situation when he discovered Frederick's entire army on his doorstep by simply looking out of his window. Not only were most of his soldiers still sleeping, but his entire army was facing to the north-west, away from the Prussians. The Austrian army was waking up, desperately rushing from its camp and trying to form into a cohesive fighting force. By around 1 pm, both sides had formed lines of battle and were ready to engage.

Battle.

The Prussian forces advanced on the Austrian line in two sections, but six regiments of Austrian cavalry, numbering 4,500 to 5,000 men and horses, crashed into the cavalry on the right wing of the Prussian Army and shattered it. This left the Prussian flank open to attack, and the Austrian cavalry then turned on the unprotected infantry. Schwerin, the Prussian military commander under Frederick, now advised Frederick II to leave the battlefield because it looked as though the Prussian army was about to be defeated, and the king heeded this warning. Abandoning the field, he was nearly caught and almost shot. Many historians believe that Schwerin advised Frederick to leave so that Schwerin could take command of the troops himself: he was a veteran general.  The scene was chaotic: the perpendicular infantry units deployed between the two Prussian lines were fleeing or firing on other Prussian troops as the Austrian cavalry drove into their flank, but at some point the Prussian infantry, drilled and trained to perfection under Frederick William I, began spontaneously turning right and firing volley after volley at the Austrian cavalry, causing tremendous losses. The leader of the Austrian cavalry, General Römer, received a fatal shot to his head from a Prussian musket ball. With the leaders of both wings dead, an officer asked Schwerin where they should retreat to. Schwerin famously replied, "We'll retreat over the bodies of our enemies", and soon restored the situation on the Prussian right wing.  A second Austrian cavalry attack on the left side was beaten back and Schwerin ordered a general advance of all Prussian forces. The Prussian infantry soon engaged the Austrian battle line. They were some of the most well-drilled infantry of the period, and could fire 4-5 shots a minute with their flintlock muskets, seriously outgunning their opponents. Soon the Austrians were routed from the field and Frederick the Great stood victorious.

Aftermath.

The victory was due to Field Marshal Schwerin. Frederick the Great had fled from the battlefield when the Austrians seemed to be winning. He later swore never again to leave his troops behind in battle, and he kept this promise faithfully until his death in the late 18th century. He annexed the province of Silesia from Austria and learned a number of valuable lessons from Mollwitz. He is quoted as saying, "Mollwitz was my school". Frederick had made several mistakes but his army still won the battle due to their superior training. From now on he was committed to aggression, and geared his entire army towards an aggressive approach. He gave a standing order that his cavalry commanders would never receive a cavalry charge standing still. He greatly increased the use of light cavalry, Hussars, who would act as skirmishers and scouts. Afterwards he is quoted as saying, "The Prussian army always attacks."

The Battle of Mollwitz was fought by Prussia and Austria on 10 April 1741, during the First Silesian War (in the early stages of the War of the Austrian Succession). It was the first battle of the new Prussian King Frederick II, in which both sides made numerous military blunders but Frederick the Great still managed to attain victory. This battle cemented his authority over the newly conquered territory of Silesia and gave him valuable military experience.


Early life and education.

Akerlof was born in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, the son of Rosalie Grubber (née Hirschfelder) and Gösta Åkerlöf, who was a chemist and inventor. His mother was Jewish, from a family that had emigrated from Germany. His father was a Swedish immigrant. Akerlof graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1958 and received the Aldo Leopold Award in 2002. In 1962 he received his BA degree from Yale University, in 1966 his PhD degree from MIT, and taught at the London School of Economics 1978–80.

Contributions to economics.

"The Market for Lemons" and asymmetric information.

Akerlof is perhaps best known for his article, "The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism", published in "Quarterly Journal of Economics" in 1970, in which he identified certain severe problems that afflict markets characterized by asymmetric information, the paper for which he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize. In "Efficiency Wage Models of the Labor Market", Akerlof and coauthor/former Fed Chair Janet Yellen propose rationales for the efficiency wage hypothesis in which employers pay above the market-clearing wage, in contradiction to the conclusions of neoclassical economics.

Identity economics.

In his latest work, Akerlof and collaborator Rachel Kranton of Duke University introduce social identity into formal economic analysis, creating the field of identity economics. Drawing on social psychology and many fields outside of economics, Akerlof and Kranton argue that individuals do not have preferences only over different goods and services. They also adhere to social norms for how different people should behave. The norms are linked to a person's social identities. These ideas first appeared in their article "Economics and Identity", published in "Quarterly Journal of Economics" in 2000.

Reproductive technology shock.

In the late 1990s Akerlof's ideas attracted the attention of some on both sides of the debate over legal abortion. In articles appearing in The "Quarterly Journal of Economics", "The Economic Journal", and other forums Akerlof described a phenomenon that he labeled ""reproductive technology shock."" He contended that the new technologies that had helped to spawn the late twentieth century sexual revolution, modern contraceptives and legal abortion, had not only failed to suppress the incidence of out-of-wedlock childbearing but also had actually worked to increase it. According to Akerlof, for women who did not use them, these technologies had largely transformed the old paradigm of socio-sexual assumptions, expectations, and behaviors in ways that were especially disadvantageous. For example, the availability of legal abortion now allowed men to view their offspring as the deliberate product of female choice rather than as the joint product of sexual intercourse. Thus, it encouraged biological fathers to reject not only the notion of an obligation to marry the mother but also the idea of a paternal obligation.  While Akerlof did not recommend legal restrictions on either abortion or the availability of contraceptives his analysis seemed to lend support to those who did. Thus, a scholar strongly associated with liberal and Democratic-leaning policy positions has been approvingly cited by conservative and Republican-leaning analysts and commentators.

Looting.

In 1993 Akerlof and Paul Romer brought forth "", describing how under certain conditions, owners of corporations will decide it is more profitable for them personally to 'loot' the company and 'extract value' from it instead of trying to make it grow and prosper. For example:  Bankruptcy for profit will occur if poor accounting, lax regulation, or low penalties for abuse give owners an incentive to pay themselves more than their firms are worth and then default on their debt obligations. Bankruptcy for profit occurs most commonly when a government guarantees a firm's debt obligations.

Norms and macroeconomics.

In his 2007 presidential address to the American Economic Association, Akerlof proposed "natural norms" that decision makers have for how they "should" behave, and showed how such norms can explain discrepancies between theory and observed facts about the macroeconomy. Akerlof proposed a new agenda for macroeconomics, using social norms to explain macroeconomic behavior. He is considered together with Gary Becker as one of the founders of social economics.  He is a trustee of Economists for Peace and Security and co-director of the Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being Program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). He is on the advisory board of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1985.

Personal life.

His wife, Janet Yellen, was the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and professor emeritus at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, and was the former President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and former Chair of President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisors. His son Robert Akerlof has a PhD in economics from Harvard University and teaches at the University of Warwick.  Akerlof was one of the signees of a 2018 "amici curiae" brief that expressed support for Harvard University in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard lawsuit. Other signees of the brief include Alan B. Krueger, Robert M. Solow, Janet Yellen, Cecilia Rouse, as well as numerous others.

George Arthur Akerlof (born June 17, 1940) is an American economist who is a university professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and Koshland Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He won the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (shared with Michael Spence and Joseph E. Stiglitz).


History.

In 1009 "Herswithehusen" became the property of Meinwerk, bishop of Paderborn. The abbey was founded on 28 May 1140, by bishop Bernhard I of Paderborn as a daughter house of Kamp Abbey on the Lower Rhine. Construction was completed with the dedication of the church in 1165.  Between 1185 and 1243 three daughter houses were founded from Hardehausen: in 1185, Marienfeld Abbey in Münsterland; in 1196, Bredelar Abbey near Marsberg; and in 1243, Scharnebeck Abbey in Marienfliess near Lüneburg. Also, the nunnery at Wilhelmshausen (Walshausen) which Hardehausen had acquired in 1293 and subsequently emptied, was re-established in 1320 with a new community of monks.  During the Thirty Years' War the abbey was looted and destroyed. During its reconstruction in the years 1680 to 1750 it received its present form.  In 1803 the abbey was secularised, and the monks expelled. The contents were sold or auctioned, and the church was demolished in 1812. The estates were rented out as state property.  Hardehausen was briefly re-founded as a Cistercian monastery in 1927, but the new community was brought to an end by an order of dissolution issued by the National Socialist government in 1938, when the buildings and grounds were sold to the Henschel company from Kassel, from whom they were acquired by the "Verein für katholische Arbeiterkolonien" ("Union for Catholic Workers' Colonies"). In 1944 the "Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt" (Napola) Bensberg transferred to Hardehausen. At this period an external work party from Buchenwald concentration camp, consisting of 30 prisoners, were deployed for forced labour in Hardehausen.  Since 1945 the former monastery has been used for the educational activities of the present Archdiocese of Paderborn. Here are located the "Jugendhaus Hardehausen" (established 1945) and also the "Landvolkshochschule Anton Heinen" (established 1949, to provide adult education for the entire rural district). In 1970 all the buildings on the site were altered and extended for their educational functions.

Hardehausen Abbey ("Kloster Hardehausen") is a former Cistercian monastery located near Warburg in the district of Höxter in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.


History.

The founding of a monastery.

After his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1138, the bishop of Olomouc, Jindřich Zdík, took hold of the idea of founding a monastery of regular canons in Prague. He had the support of the bishops of Prague and Soběslav I, Duke of Bohemia and—after his death—Vladislav II. After Zdík's first unsuccessful attempt to found a Czech variant of the canons' order at the place called Strahov in 1140, an invitation was issued to the Premonstratensians, whose first representatives arrived from Steinfeld in the Rhine valley (now Germany).  The monks began to build their monastery first of wood, with a Romanesque basilica as the center of all spiritual events in Strahov. The building was gradually completed and the construction of the monastery stone buildings continued, in order to replace the provisional wooden living quarters with permanent stone. In 1258, the monastery was heavily damaged by fire and later renewed.

During the Hussite Wars.

The monastery continued functioning until the period of the Hussites, when it was attacked and plundered by the citizens of Prague in 1420. Books, articles of worship, and the furnishings of both church and convent were burned. Although the building did not sustain great damage from an architectural viewpoint, the monastery took a long time to recover.  During the Hussite Wars, the years of the reign of George of Poděbrady, and the time up to the end of the 16th century, Strahov was relatively moribund. Attempts were made by various officials to renew the original monastery and its religious life, but they were unsuccessful.  It was not until the arrival of the abbot Jan Lohelius that a turn came about. This cleric, originally of Teplá Abbey, became the abbot of Strahov in 1586 and all his abilities were devoted to the renewal of Strahov. He tried to raise the spiritual life of the monastery and, as a visitator circarie of the Premonstratensian order as a whole in Bohemia, he also devoted attention to the material aspect of things. He reconstructed the church, renewed the abbey buildings, established workshops, built a new dormitory and refectory, and had the monastery gardens newly laid out. He regained many of the monastery estates in order to build up the material base of the monastery, providing funds for the institution's maintenance and further development. Thanks to his untiring activity, by 1594—only eight years after Lohelius's appointment—a twelve-member community of monks could live in the monastery once more.

During the Thirty Years' War.

In 1612 Jan Lohelius became the archbishop of Prague, his work at Strahov then being continued by the new abbot, Kašpar Questenberg. He continued in the expensive work started by Lohelius, completed the lower cloisters and prelature, and even erected a new building in the form of St. Elizabeth's Hospital, as well as adding out-buildings and a brewery. Furthermore, he founded the Norbertine seminary in the New Town, which was intended for the theological studies of members of the order. All this was achieved during the Thirty Years' War, when Kašpar Questenberg himself was forced by the violence to flee from Prague. The financial account of the costs incurred by his building activities amounted to about 100,000 tolars, which at that time was a very respectable sum for any building work. In this respect, Kašpar Questenberg's expenditures were comparable with such builders as his contemporary Albrecht von Wallenstein.  One of the biggest events in the history of the Premonstratensian order was the transfer of the remains of Norbert of Xanten, the founder of the order, from Magdeburg. The reinterring took place under Questenberg's abbacy. This came about in 1627, and since then the remains of the saintly founder have laid at rest in the abbey church. During Questenberg's time, the Church of Saint Roch was also completed. Originally it was a votive church whose construction was started by Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1602 as an expression of thanks for the end of the plague in 1599. After numerous changes of fortune the church was completed, including its interior, by 1630. When Kašpar Questenberg died in 1640 his successor was Kryšpin Fuk, who continued in his work. Moreover, he gained renown for himself through his participation in the making of the Vltava navigable in the sector called St John's Rapids ("Svatojánské proudy"). During this period the abbey was plundered by troops of the Swedish Empire towards the end of the Thirty Years' War. The church and the library were looted. After the departure of the Swedes, Kryšpin Fuk had the damaged abbey repaired again, his work being continued by the Abbots Ameluxen, Sutor, and Franck. The last-mentioned had the prelature reconstructed and a new St. Elizabeth's Hospital built, because the original one built by Kašpar Questenberg was demolished during the construction of Baroque fortifications in Prague.

The Theological Hall.

In 1670 Jeroným Hirnheim, a philosopher and theologian, became the abbot of Strahov. His greatest work, which has survived to the present day, was the building of a new library in the so-called Theological Hall ("Teologický sál"), completed in 1679. During the 17th and early 18th centuries, other abbots continued in the reconstruction of the monastery. They also cared for the church, which was repaired and decorated several times during the given period. The monastery experienced other significant building activity, namely after the assaults of French and Bavarian troops in 1742, when Prague was bombarded and seriously damaged. The abbot then organized building efforts anew, in the course of which the church was rebuilt along with the monastery area.  After 1950, the library was incorporated into the Memorial of National Literature. Following events of 1989 the library was, along with the monastery, returned to the Premonstratensians. Within the library, a reading room is also open. The Strahov Library contains over 200,000 volumes, including over 3,000 manuscripts and 1,500 first prints stored in a special depository.

The Philosophical Hall.

In 1779 Václav Mayer occupied the abbot's throne and was the last to carry out great building activities. His most outstanding work was the building of the new library, now in Classical style. Today it is called the Philosophical Hall ("Filosofický sál"). This work brought the extensive building activity at Strahov Monastery to an end and the following generations of abbots devoted their attention merely to minor architectural repairs, all under the influence of contemporary fashion, and to maintenance of the area as a whole.  The monastery survived in this way until 1950, when it was taken over by the communist regime, the religious being interned and placed in civil employment, very few of them being able to work in the clerical administration as priests of the diocese. The monastery was subjected to thorough archeological research and transformed into the Memorial of National Literature. In the course of the said archeological research the long since forgotten Romanesque form of the monastery was revealed and reconstructed in a sensitive way.

After the Velvet Revolution.

After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, the monastery was returned to the Premonstratensian Order, which began to realize a costly reconstruction of the building. By 1994 the church had been restored, a new technical network constructed, the Strahov picture gallery newly built, and the Strahov library renewed. Other architectural restorations were also carried out.

Strahov Monastery () is a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1143 by Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia. It is located in Strahov, Prague, Czech Republic.


Geography.

With an area of, Chiloé Island is the second largest island in Chile (after the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego), the largest island completely within Chile, and the fifth largest in South America. It is separated from the Chilean mainland by the Chacao Strait ("Canal Chacao") to the north, and by the Gulf of Ancud ("Golfo de Ancud") and the Gulf of Corcovado ("Golfo Corcovado") to the east; the Pacific Ocean lies to the west, and the Chonos Archipelago lies to the south, across the Boca del Guafo. The island is from north to south, and averages wide. The capital is Castro, on the east side of the island; the second largest town is Ancud, at the island's northwest corner, and there are several smaller port towns on the east side of the island, such as Quellón, Dalcahue and Chonchi.  Chiloé Island and the Chonos Archipelago are a southern extension of the Chilean coastal range at Chilean Patagonia, which runs north and south, parallel to the Pacific coast and the Andes Mountains. The Chilean Central Valley lies between the coastal mountains and the Andes, of which the Gulfs of Ancud and Corcovado form the southern extension. Mountains run north and south along the spine of the island. The east coast is deeply indented, with several natural harbors and numerous smaller islands.

Climate.

Chiloé runs from 41o47′S to 43o26′S, and has a humid, cool temperate climate. The western side of the island is rainy and wild, home to the Valdivian temperate rain forests, one of the world's few temperate rain forests. Chiloé National Park ("Parque Nacional de Chiloé") is located on the island's western shore and Tantauco Park ("Parque Tantauco") a private natural reserve created and owned by Chilean business magnate and President of Chile Sebastián Piñera, is located on the island's southern shore and both include parts of the coastal range. The eastern shore, in the rain shadow of the interior mountains, is warmer and drier.

Alfaguara project.

The northwestern of Chiloé Island in Chiloé National Park has a great diversity of marine fauna, including blue whale, sei whale, Chilean dolphins and Peale's dolphins; sea lions, marine otters, and Magellanic penguin and Humboldt penguins. Nevertheless, this relatively undisturbed area faces different threats, like urban development, habitat degradation, land and marine pollution.  The Alfaguara project (blue whale project), conducted by the Cetacean Conservation Center, is based at Puñihuil on the northwest coast. The project combines long term research, educational and capacity building programs for marine conservation combined with the sustainable development of the local communities. The Islotes de Puñihuil Natural Monument is a group of three islets to the west and north of Puñihuil. The monument is the only known shared breeding site for Humboldt and Magellanic penguins. It is also a breeding area for other species, such as the red-legged cormorant and kelp gull.

History.

Chiloé has been described by Renato Cárdenas, historian at the Chilean National Library, as “a distinct enclave, linked more to the sea than the continent, a fragile society with a strong sense of solidarity and a deep territorial attachment.” Chiloé's history began with the arrival of its first human inhabitants more than 7,000 years ago. Spread along the coast of Chiloé are a number of middens - ancient dumps for domestic waste, containing mollusc shells, stone tools and bonfire remains. All of these remains indicate the presence of nomadic groups dedicated to the collection of marine creatures (clams, mussels and "choromytilus chorus", among others) and to hunting and fishing. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived on Chiloé Island in the 16th Century, the island was inhabited by the Chono, Huilliche and Cunco peoples. The original peoples navigated the treacherous waters of the Chiloé Archipelago in boats called "dalcas" with skill that impressed the Spaniards.  The first Spaniard to sight the coast of Chiloé was the explorer Alonso de Camargo in 1540, as he was travelling to Peru. However, in an expedition ordered by Pedro de Valdivia, captain Francisco de Ulloa reached the Chacao Channel in 1553 and explored the islands forming the archipelago, and is thus considered the first discoverer of Chiloé. In 1558, Spanish soldier García Hurtado de Mendoza began an expedition which would culminate in the Chiloé archipelago being claimed for the Spanish crown.  The city of Castro was founded in 1567. The island was originally called New Galicia by the Spanish discoverers, but this name did not stick and the name Chiloé, meaning “place of seagulls” in the Huilliche language, was given to the island.  Jesuit missionaries to Chiloé Island, charged with the evangelization of the local population arrived on Chiloé at the turn of the 17th Century and built a number of chapels throughout the archipelago. By 1767 there were already 79 and today more than 150 wooden churches built in traditional style can be found on the islands, many of these declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Following the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, the Franciscans assumed responsibility for the religious mission to Chiloé from 1771.  Chiloé only became part of the Chilean republic in 1826, eight years after independence and following the two failed campaigns for independence in 1820 and 1824. From 1843, a large number of Chilotes (as inhabitants of the island are called) migrated to Patagonia in search of work, mainly in Punta Arenas, but as living and working conditions in Chiloé improved in the following century this migration began gradually to decrease.  In the 19th century, Chiloé was a center for foreign whalers, particularly French whalers. From the middle of the 19th century and until the beginning of the 20th century, Chiloé was the main producer of railroad ties for the whole continent. From this point on, new towns dedicated to this industry were formed, including Quellón, Dalcahue, Chonchi and Quemchi were established. From 1895, lands were given to European settlers and also to large manufacturing industries.  With the rise of farming, inland areas of Chiloé Island began to be occupied; previously only the coastline had been inhabited. With the construction of the railroad between Ancud and Castro in 1912, the occupation of inland zones was completed. This railroad is no longer in service.

Access.

In late 2012, LAN Airlines became the first airline to offer flights to Chiloé Island, inaugurating a regular service between Puerto Montt and the airport of Mocopulli, Dalcahue. Previously the only means of access to Chiloé island was via a ferry service across the Chacao Channel.  A project to build a bridge from Chiloé Island to the mainland of Chile was initially proposed in 1972 and was eventually launched under the government of Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006) who launched the project as part of works to celebrate the Bicentennial of Chile. In 2006, however, the Chacao Channel bridge project was cancelled by the Ministry of Public Works after concerns about its total cost, which was estimated to be higher than the initial budget for the project. In May 2012, President Sebastián Piñera again revived the project, announcing an international bidding process would be opened to present the best solution for the construction of the bridge, with a US$740 million investment limit.

Chiloé Island (Spanish: "Isla de Chiloé"), also known as Greater Island of Chiloé ("Isla Grande de Chiloé"), is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern Chile, in the Los Lagos Region.


Playing career.

Hlinka began to play ice hockey at a young age. When he was six years old, he was playing HC Litvínov's youth team. He played in Czechoslovak league for the first time when he was 16.  At age 20, he became a captain Litvínov's men's team and played in the Czechoslovak national team for the first time. He played 256 games as a member of the Czechoslovak national team and scored 132 goals in international games. He also played in 544 games in Czechoslovak league and scored 347 times. Hlinka was named the Golden Hockey Stick winner as the country's top player in 1978.  Hlinka helped the Czechoslovak team to win world titles in 1972, 1976, and 1977. As a member of the Czechoslovak team, he won an Olympic bronze medal in 1972 and a silver medal in 1976.  Hlinka played in the inaugural Canada Cup tournament in 1976, the international tournament in which the best available players competed for their countries (most notably, players from the National Hockey League). Canada defeated Czechoslovakia in the best-of-three final two games to nothing, with scores of 6–0 and 5–4. The following year, he was named the national team's captain, a position he held from 1977 to 1980.  In 1981, Hlinka and fellow Czech Jiří Bubla joined the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. This started the Czech migration to the NHL. They were the first Czechoslovak players to compete in the NHL with the permission of their country's authorities. (Jaroslav Jiřík played legally in the NHL in the 1969–70 season, but only in three games.) Playing in his first NHL season, Hlinka set a Canucks record for the most points by a rookie with 60 (later matched by Pavel Bure in 1991–92). During the subsequent 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Canucks advanced to the Finals against the New York Islanders. In a losing effort (Vancouver lost the series in four straight games), Hlinka and Bubla became the first Czechs to ever play in the Stanley Cup Finals. The following season, Hlinka improved to 63 points over 65 games. In his two years in the NHL, Hlinka totalled 42 goals and assisted on 81 others in 137 games.  Hlinka returned to Europe to finish his playing career due to problems with his back in 1983. He played in Swiss team EV Zug until 1985, when he returned to Litvínov where he started his coaching career.

Coaching career.

After his return to Czechoslovakia, Hlinka began to coach in "his" HC Litvínov. Later, he coached temporarily in Freiburg, Germany.  Hlinka also became very famous for his trick in the 1986–87 season. Litvínov was in last place in the standings of the Czechoslovak league. Hlinka, already 37 years old, began to play again. Litvínov immediately improved its game and went unbeaten in Hlinka's first eight games (six wins and two ties). Altogether, he played 19 games and scored 23 points.  In the 1990s, Hlinka was head coach of Czechoslovak and later Czech national teams. His teams won bronze medals at the Albertville Olympics and the World Championships in 1992 and 1993. He left the national team after an unsuccessful World Championship in 1994.  Hlinka returned in 1997 and his team won the bronze medal at the World Championship again. Hlinka became a national hero when his team won the gold medal at the Nagano Olympics; the first time that the NHL agreed to release its players for the Games. The triumph was celebrated by the whole nation. The dominance of the Czech hockey team in the world was confirmed one year later when Hlinka's team won the World Championship again.  In 2000–01, Hlinka returned to the NHL as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He and Alpo Suhonen became the second and third Europeans to ever coach in the NHL, following Johnny Gottselig. His first season also coincided with Mario Lemieux's return to the NHL, and together they made a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals, knocking off the higher seeded Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres along the way before falling to the New Jersey Devils. The next season was not successful, as the struggling small-market Penguins had traded their superstar, Jaromír Jágr. Hlinka himself was criticized by Lemieux for not taking classes in the summer to improve his English and that contributed to the frosty relationship between them. He was fired four games into the 2001–02 season and returned to Europe.  In 2001–02, he worked as general manager of Czech national team and, in 2002–03, he coached Russian team Avangard Omsk for one season.

Death.

Hlinka was supposed to be once again head coach of the Czech national team in the 2004–05 season. However, he died on August 16, 2004, at age 54 when his car collided head-on with a Daewoo Avia driving the wrong way on the E48 highway only 200 yards from the town of Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. He had gone to Karlovy Vary to ensure that Jaromír Jágr would participate in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. The truck suddenly appeared in Hlinka's lane. The truck driver claimed that he had to avoid a collision with an animal. More likely (the court was inclined to believe this), he turned from the main road and made a left at an intersection where it was prohibited. Hlinka was not using a safety belt, but according to experts, it would not have prevented his death.

Ivan Hlinka (January 26, 1950 – August 16, 2004) was a Czech professional ice hockey player and coach. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in Czech ice hockey history. A big centre, his playing style was comparable to Phil Esposito, often scoring with shots from the slot.


Meaning.

Autopoiesis was originally presented as a system description that was said to define and explain the nature of living systems. A canonical example of an autopoietic system is the biological cell. The eukaryotic cell, for example, is made of various biochemical components such as nucleic acids and proteins, and is organized into bounded structures such as the cell nucleus, various organelles, a cell membrane and cytoskeleton. These structures, based on an external flow of molecules and energy, "produce" the components which, in turn, continue to maintain the organized bounded structure that gives rise to these components (not unlike a wave propagating through a medium).  An autopoietic system is to be contrasted with an allopoietic system, such as a car factory, which uses raw materials (components) to generate a car (an organized structure) which is something "other" than itself (the factory). However, if the system is extended from the factory to include components in the factory's "environment", such as supply chains, plant / equipment, workers, dealerships, customers, contracts, competitors, cars, spare parts, and so on, then as a total viable system it could be considered to be autopoietic.  Though others have often used the term as a synonym for self-organization, Maturana himself stated he would "[n]ever use the notion of self-organization... Operationally it is impossible. That is, if the organization of a thing changes, the thing changes". Moreover, an autopoietic system is autonomous and operationally closed, in the sense that there are sufficient processes within it to maintain the whole. Autopoietic systems are "structurally coupled" with their medium, embedded in a dynamic of changes that can be recalled as sensory-motor coupling. This continuous dynamic is considered as a rudimentary form of knowledge or cognition and can be observed throughout life-forms.  An application of the concept of autopoiesis to sociology can be found in Niklas Luhmann's Systems Theory, which was subsequently adapted by Bob Jessop in his studies of the capitalist state system. Marjatta Maula adapted the concept of autopoiesis in a business context. The theory of autopoiesis has also been applied in the context of legal systems by not only Niklas Luhmann, but also Gunther Teubner.  In the context of textual studies, Jerome McGann argues that texts are "autopoietic mechanisms operating as self-generating feedback systems that cannot be separated from those who manipulate and use them". Citing Maturana and Varela, he defines an autopoietic system as "a closed topological space that 'continuously generates and specifies its own organization through its operation as a system of production of its own components, and does this in an endless turnover of components, concluding that "Autopoietic systems are thus distinguished from allopoietic systems, which are Cartesian and which 'have as the product of their functioning something different from themselves. Coding and markup appear allopoietic", McGann argues, but are generative parts of the system they serve to maintain, and thus language and print or electronic technology are autopoietic systems.  In his discussion of Hegel, the philosopher Slavoj Žižek argues, "Hegel is – to use today's terms – the ultimate thinker of autopoiesis, of the process of the emergence of necessary features out of chaotic contingency, the thinker of contingency's gradual self-organisation, of the gradual rise of order out of chaos."

Relation to complexity.

Autopoiesis can be defined as the ratio between the complexity of a system and the complexity of its environment.

Relation to cognition.

An extensive discussion of the connection of autopoiesis to cognition is provided by Thompson. The basic notion of autopoiesis as involving constructive interaction with the environment is extended to include cognition. Initially, Maturana defined cognition as behavior of an organism "with relevance to the maintenance of itself". However, computer models that are self-maintaining but non-cognitive have been devised, so some additional restrictions are needed, and the suggestion is that the maintenance process, to be cognitive, involves readjustment of the internal workings of the system in some metabolic process. On this basis it is claimed that autopoiesis is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for cognition. Thompson (p. 127) takes the view that this distinction may or may not be fruitful, but what matters is that living systems involve autopoiesis and (if it is necessary to add this point) cognition as well. It can be noted that this definition of 'cognition' is restricted, and does not necessarily entail any awareness or consciousness by the living system.

Relation to consciousness.

The connection of autopoiesis to cognition, or if necessary, of living systems to cognition, is an objective assessment ascertainable by observation of a living system.  One question that arises is about the connection between cognition seen in this manner and consciousness. The separation of cognition and consciousness recognizes that the organism may be unaware of the substratum where decisions are made. What is the connection between these realms? Thompson refers to this issue as the "explanatory gap", and one aspect of it is the hard problem of consciousness, how and why we have qualia.  A second question is whether autopoiesis can provide a bridge between these concepts. Thompson discusses this issue from the standpoint of enactivism. An autopoietic cell actively relates to its environment. Its sensory responses trigger motor behavior governed by autopoiesis, and this behavior (it is claimed) is a simplified version of a nervous system behavior. The further claim is that real-time interactions like this require attention, and an implication of attention is awareness.

Criticism.

There are multiple criticisms of the use of the term in both its original context, as an attempt to define and explain the living, and its various expanded usages, such as applying it to self-organizing systems in general or social systems in particular. Critics have argued that the concept and its theory fail to define or explain living systems and that, because of the extreme language of self-referentiality it uses without any external reference, it is really an attempt to give substantiation to Maturana's radical constructivist or solipsistic epistemology, or what Danilo Zolo has called instead a "desolate theology". An example is the assertion by Maturana and Varela that "We do not see what we do not see and what we do not see does not exist". The autopoietic model, said Rod Swenson, is "miraculously decoupled from the physical world by its progenitors... (and thus) grounded on a solipsistic foundation that flies in the face of both common sense and scientific knowledge".

The term autopoiesis () refers to a system capable of reproducing and maintaining itself. The original definition can be found in "" (1st edition 1973, 2nd 1980): The term was introduced in 1972 by Chilean biologists Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela to define the self-maintaining chemistry of living cells. Since then the concept has been also applied to the fields of cognition, systems theory, architecture and sociology.


Features.

Less a square than a boulevard, Wenceslas Square has the shape of a very long (750 m, total area 45,000 m) rectangle, in a northwest–southeast direction. The street slopes upward to the southeast side. At that end, the street is dominated by the grand neoclassical Czech National Museum. The northwest end runs up against the border between the New Town and the Old Town.

History.

In 1348, Bohemian King Charles IV founded the New Town of Prague. The plan included several open areas for markets, of which the second largest was the "Koňský trh", or Horse Market (the largest was the Charles Square). At the southeastern end of the market was the Horse Gate, one of the gates in the walls of the New Town.  The Statue of Saint Wenceslas formerly stood in the middle of Wenceslas Square, near Grandhotel Evropa, it was moved to Vyšehrad in 1879. During the Czech national revival movement in the 19th century, a more noble name for the street was requested. At this time the square was renamed and new Statue of Saint Wenceslas was built in 1912.  On 28 October 1918, Alois Jirásek read the proclamation of independence of Czechoslovakia in front of the Saint Wenceslas statue.  The Nazis used the street for mass demonstrations. During the Prague Uprising in 1945, a few buildings near the National Museum were destroyed. They were later replaced by department stores.  On 16 January 1969, student Jan Palach set himself on fire in Wenceslas Square to protest the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.  On 28 March 1969, the Czechoslovak national ice hockey team defeated the USSR team for the second time in that year's Ice Hockey World Championships. As the country was still under Soviet occupation, the victory induced great celebrations. Perhaps 150,000 people gathered on Wenceslas Square, and skirmishes with police developed. A group of provocateurs then attacked the Prague office of the Soviet airline Aeroflot, located on the street. The vandalism served as a pretext for reprisals and the period of so-called normalization.  In 1989, during the Velvet Revolution, large demonstrations (with hundreds of thousands of people or more) were held here.  Wenceslas Square is lined by hotels, offices, retail stores, currency exchange booths and fast-food joints. To the dismay of locals and city officials, the neighboring streets are also a popular location for prostitutes to ply their trade late at night. Many strip clubs exist around Wenceslas Square, making Prague a popular location for stag parties. Wenceslas Square is also a popular place to spend the New Year's celebrations, another popular option are terraces near the river. The Christmas markets ("Vánoční trhy") are held here every year from early December to the first week of January.

Art and architecture.

The two obvious landmarks of Wenceslas Square are at the southeast, uphill end: the 1885–1891 National Museum Building, designed by Czech architect Josef Schulz, and the statue of Wenceslas.  Other significant buildings on the square include:

Transport.

The Prague Metro's line A runs underneath Wenceslas Square, and the Metro's two busiest stations, Muzeum (lines A and C) and Můstek (lines A and B), have entrances on the street. Currently tram bisect the square only. Tram tracks running the length of the street were removed from the street in 1980; a proposal to reintroduce trams is under consideration. The construction should begin in 2021. Most of the street is open to automobile traffic, but the northwestern end is pedestrianised since 2012.

Wenceslas Square (Czech:, colloquially "Václavák" ) is one of the main city squares and the centre of the business and cultural communities in the New Town of Prague, Czech Republic. Many historical events occurred there, and it is a traditional setting for demonstrations, celebrations, and other public gatherings. It is also the place with the busiest pedestrian traffic in the whole country. The square is named after Saint Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia. It is part of the historic centre of Prague, a World Heritage Site.


History.

Charles Square originated as a part of the New Town of Prague founded in 1348 by emperor Charles IV. With Wenceslas Square (Horse Market) and "Senovážné náměstí" (Hay Market) it became one of three main squares of the newly founded town. These squares were connected with one street (today streets Vodičkova and Jindřišská). Charles Square was supposed to be the most important square of the New Town of Prague and probably of the whole of Prague, therefore the Town Hall of the New Town was built there. Despite these plans the most important square later became Wenceslas Square.  In the late 14th century the Corpus Christi Chapel was built in the middle of the square. It was closed in 1784 and demolished a few years later. This chapel was a very important place of pilgrimage in the late 14th and early 15th century, because the holy relics and crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire were shown there to thousands of pilgrims.  On 30 July 1419 the Hussite Wars broke out in this square, when Hussites led by priest Jan Želivský threw some Catholic councilors from windows of the New Town Hall. This event is called "the First Defenestration of Prague".  In the 17th century the Jesuits started to build their New Town residence on Charles Square. They also founded a new church dedicated to their patron saint and founder of the Jesuit Order, St. Ignatius of Loyola. This church was designed by Carlo Lurago and built in 1655-1677 in the early Baroque style.  On the south side of the square there is a gate to the Church of St. John of Nepomuk "on the Rock" which was built in the high Baroque style in 1730s by Kilian Ignac Dientzenhofer.

Charles Square () is a city square in the New Town of Prague, Czech Republic. At roughly 80,550 m2 it is one of the largest squares in the world and was the largest town square of the medieval Europe. Founded in 1348 as the main square of the New Town by Charles IV, it was known as "Dobytčí trh" (Cattle Market) from the 15th century and finally named after its founder in 1848. The central portion of the square was turned into a park in the 1860s.


Name.

The name Malá Strana translated into English literally means "Little Side", though it is frequently referred to as "Lesser Town", "Lesser Quarter", or "Lesser Side". This name derives from its position on the left (west) bank of the river Vltava, on the slopes just below the Prague Castle, in opposition to the larger towns of Prague on the right bank, to which it is conjoined by the Charles Bridge.  The town was originally called the "New Town beneath the Prague Castle" () after 1257 when it was founded. After Charles IV founded the New Town of Prague in 1348, the town was renamed the "Lesser Town of Prague" (). In the 17th century the unofficial name "Little Quarter" () was first used.

History.

Malá Strana was founded by the King Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1257. As a royal town (a town founded by the king) it got many privileges. It was created by amalgamating a number of settlements beneath the Prague Castle into a single administrative unit. The original residents were expelled and mostly German craftsmen and merchants were invited by the king. Even though the city was royal, the king did not master the city as a whole.  In the second half of the 14th century the Lesser Town of Prague was extended by the King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV who built a new defensive wall called Hunger Wall.  In 1419-1420 the Lesser Town was burnt down by Hussites. In 1541 the town was strongly damaged again by a fire which killed fifty people. After this fire the town was rebuilt in the Renaissance style and many palaces of nobility were built there.  The market place, now known as "Malostranské náměstí" (Lesser Town Square), was the center of the town. This square is divided into the upper and lower parts with the St. Nicholas Church in the middle.

Architecture.

Baroque architecture predominates in Malá Strana, but the history of the district dates back to far before the Baroque era. Baroque architecture eventually dominated when the style was implanted on Malá Strana after the destructive fires in 1541.

Malá Strana (Czech for "Little Side (of the River)", ) or more formally Menší Město pražské () is a district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic, and one of its most historic neighbourhoods.


Name.

The Greek name ("Édessa") means "tower in the water" and is generally thought to be of Phrygian origin, although a minority of scholars consider it to be Illyrian instead. The Slavic name "Vodĭnŭ" () commonly held to derive from the Slavic word for "water" was first attested in the 10th century, and became the common name until the 20th century.  "Vodená" () was the name used in Greek until 1923, when the ancient name was revived. The Bulgarian and Macedonian name remains "Voden" (Cyrillic: ). In Turkish, the city is known as "Vodina", and in Aromanian the city is known as either "Edessa", "Vudena" or "Vodina".  Seleucus I Nicator named the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia (modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey) after the Macedonian Edessa.

Municipality.

The municipality Edessa was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units:  The municipality has an area of 611.212 km, the municipal unit 321.225 km.

History.

According to some ancient writers, Caranus, the legendary founder of the Argead Dynasty (whose most famous member was Alexander the Great), established the city of Edessa and made it the first capital of ancient Macedon, and later Argead rulers moved Macedon's capital to Aegae and eventually Pella. Archaeological remains have been discovered on the site of ancient Edessa, just below the modern city (40°47'48.48"N 22° 3'26.24"E). The walls and many buildings have been unearthed so far. A colonnade with inscription in Greek dates from Roman times. The city achieved certain prominence in the first centuries AD, being located on the Via Egnatia. From 27 BC to 268 AD it had its own mint. The Orthodox Christian Saint Vassa and her three children were put to death here in the 3rd century AD.  Little is known about the fate of the city after 500 AD, but we know that its Greek bishop, Isidoros, participated in the Ecumenical Council of 692.  The city disappears from the sources thereafter, and re-emerges only in the 11th century, in the account of the Bulgarian wars of Emperor Basil II by the chronicler John Skylitzes, with the Slavic name "Vodena" ( in Greek). The Bulgarian historian Vasil Zlatarski hypothesized that it was Vodena, and not Vidin on the Danube, that was a base of the Cometopuli in their revolt against Byzantium.  Due to its strategic location, controlling the Via Egnatia as it enters the Pindus mountains, the town was much fought over in the subsequent centuries: the Normans under Bohemond I captured it briefly in 1083, but were eventually repelled by the forces of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. The Nicaean emperor John III Vatatzes captured in 1253, while in the mid-14th century its possession was disputed between the Byzantines and the Serbs under Stephen Dushan, with the latter securing its possession in January 1351. The city was for some time under control of Radoslav Hlapen, who gave it as dowry to his son-in-law Nikola Bagaš probably around 1366/7. The city remained in Bagaš's hands at least until 1385. It fell to the Ottoman war leader Evrenos Bey in the late 14th century, along with the rest of Macedonia.  During the period of Ottoman rule, the Turkish and Muslim component of the town's population steadily increased. From the 1860s onwards, the town was a flashpoint for clashes between Greeks and Bulgarians.  After almost 500 years of Ottoman rule, Edessa was annexed by Greece on 18 October 1912 during the First Balkan War, following the Hellenic Army's military victory against the Ottomans in the battle of Sarantaporo. At that time, Edessa was already well on its way to becoming a major industrial center in Macedonia. Four large textile factories with the Hemp Factory being the biggest, employing the abundant waterfalls as a source of energy. Prior to World War I, in addition to Greeks, the region of Edessa was also populated by Turks, Bulgarians, Pomaks and Vlachs, but during the population exchange between Greece and Turkey most of the Turks and Pomaks living in Edessa were transferred to Turkey. Large numbers of Greek refugees from Asia Minor were settled in the area in 1923. The population swelled from 9,441 to 13,115 in the 1920s. A large segment of the population specialized in silk production, allowing Edessa to enjoy a high standard of living in the interwar period (1922–1940).  The town suffered during the last days of German occupation of Greece in 1944. As a retaliation for the shooting of one soldier by resistance fighters, the Nazis set Edessa on fire. Half of the city, including the Cathedral and the First Primary School, was destroyed and thousands of people were left homeless.  During the Greek Civil War (1946-1949) Edessa was twice attacked in 1948 by the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), under the control of the Communist Party of Greece. The Slavic-Macedonian National Liberation Front (SNOF), later simply the National Liberation Front (NOF) was heavily established in the area, with eleven Slav Macedonian partisan units operating in the mountains around the city. When the NOF merged with the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), many Slav Macedonians in the region enlisted as volunteers in the DSE. In early 1949, the military forces of the Greek Government conducted a series of successful military operations that destroyed all communist forces and after the end of war in August 1949, many communists and sympathizers, both ethnic Greeks and ethnic Macedonians were expelled from Greece and fled to the countries of Eastern Europe.  Since the 1970s Edessa's economy no longer relies on industry. At the beginning of the 21st century, it is a city based on services (mostly linked to its function as capital of the Pella regional unit) and tourism due to the many ancient sights nearby, including ancient Pella, the waterfalls and winter sports.

Infrastructure.

Transportation.

Edessa railway station is located on the Thessaloniki–Bitola railway and is served by both InterCity trains and Proastiakos Thessaloniki suburban trains.

Sports.

Edessa hosts two sport clubs with presence or earlier presence in the higher national divisions in Greek football and handball. These clubs are shown below.

Edessa (, ), until 1923 Vodena (; known as the "City of Waters"), is a city in northern Greece and the capital of the Pella regional unit, in the Central Macedonia region of Greece. It was also the capital of the defunct province of the same name.


History.

MinGW was originally called mingw32 ("Minimalist GNU for W32"), following the GNU convention whereby Windows is shortened as "W32". The numbers were dropped in order to avoid the implication that it would be limited to producing 32-bit binaries. Colin Peters authored the initial release in 1998, consisting only of a Cygwin port of GCC. Jan-Jaap van der Heijden created a Windows-native port of GCC and added binutils and make. Mumit Khan later took over development, adding more Windows-specific features to the package, including the Windows system headers by Anders Norlander. In 2000, the project was moved to SourceForge in order to solicit more assistance from the community and centralize its development.  MinGW was selected as Project of the Month at SourceForge for September 2005.  In 2007 a fork of the original mingw called mingw-w64 appeared in order to provide support for 64 bits and new APIs. It has since then gained widespread use and distribution.  MSYS (a contraction of "Minimal System") was introduced as a Bourne shell command line interpreter system with the aim of better interoperability with native Windows software.  In 2018, following a disagreement with SourceForge about the administration of its mailing lists, MinGW migrated to OSDN.

Programming language support.

Most languages supported by GCC are supported on the MinGW port as well. These include C, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++, Fortran, and Ada. The GCC runtime libraries are used (libstdc++ for C++, libgfortran for Fortran, etc.).  MinGW links by default to the Windows OS component library MSVCRT, which is the C library that Visual C version 6.0 linked to (the initial target was CRTDLL), which was released in 1998 and therefore does not include support for C99 features, or even all of C89. While targeting MSVCRT yields programs that require no additional runtime redistributables to be installed, the lack of support for C99 has caused porting problems, particularly where printf-style conversion specifiers are concerned. These issues have been partially mitigated by the implementation of a C99 compatibility library, "libmingwex", but the extensive work required is far from complete and may never be fully realized. MinGW-w64 has resolved these issues, and provides fully POSIX compliant printf functionality.

Link compatibility.

Binaries (executables or DLLs) generated with different C++ compilers (like MinGW and Visual Studio) are in general not link compatible. However, compiled C code is link compatible.

Components.

The MinGW project maintains and distributes a number of different core components and supplementary packages, including various ports of the GNU toolchain, such as GCC and binutils, translated into equivalent packages. These utilities can be used from the Windows command line or integrated into an IDE. Packages may be installed using the command line via mingw-get.  MinGW supports dynamic libraries named according to the codice_1 and codice_2 conventions, as well as static libraries following the codice_3 naming convention common on Unix and Unix-like systems.  In addition, a component of MinGW known as "MSYS" ("minimal system") provides Windows ports of a lightweight Unix-like shell environment including rxvt and a selection of POSIX tools sufficient to enable autoconf scripts to run, but it does not provide a C compiler or a case-sensitive file system.  "mingwPORTs" are user contributed additions to the MinGW software collection. Rather than providing these "add-ons" as precompiled binary packages, they are supplied in the form of interactive Bourne shell scripts, which guide the end user through the process of automatically downloading and patching original source code, then building and installing it. Users who wish to build any application from a mingwPORT must first install both MinGW and MSYS.  The implementation of Windows system headers and static import libraries are released under a permissive license, while the GNU ports are provided under the GNU General Public License. Binary downloads of both the complete MSYS package and individual MinGW GNU utilities are available from the MinGW site.

Comparison with Cygwin.

Although both Cygwin and MinGW can be used to port Unix software to Windows, they have different approaches: Cygwin aims to provide a complete POSIX layer comprising a full implementation of all major Unix system calls and libraries. Compatibility is considered higher priority than performance. On the other hand, MinGW's priorities are simplicity and performance. As such, it does not provide certain POSIX APIs which cannot easily be implemented using the Windows API, such as codice_4, codice_5 and codice_6. Applications written using a cross-platform library that has itself been ported to MinGW, such as SDL, wxWidgets, Qt, or GTK, will usually compile as easily in MinGW as they would in Cygwin.  Windows programs written with Cygwin run on top of a copylefted compatibility DLL that must be distributed with the program, along with the program's source code. MinGW does not require a compatibility layer, since MinGW-based programs are compiled with direct calls to Windows APIs.  The combination of MinGW and MSYS provides a small, self-contained environment that can be loaded onto removable media without leaving entries in the registry or files on the computer.  It is also possible to cross-compile Windows applications with MinGW-GCC under POSIX systems. This means that developers do not need a Windows installation with MSYS to compile software that will run on Windows with or without Cygwin.

An ignition system generates a spark or heats an electrode to a high temperature to ignite a fuel-air mixture in spark ignition internal combustion engines, oil-fired and gas-fired boilers, rocket engines, etc. The widest application for spark ignition internal combustion engines is in petrol (gasoline) road vehicles such as cars and motorcycles.