Names.

Stadler's name for the train, 'SMILE', is short for "Schneller Mehrsystemfähiger Innovativer Leichter Expresszug" (English: “speedy, multi-system, innovative, lightweight express train”). The SBB have named the train "Giruno" (Romansh: "Buzzard"). Until 2017, Stadler referred to the train as 'EC250'.

Development.

During October 2014, Stadler received a SFr 980m ($US 1.1bn) contract from the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) that called for the development, construction and delivery of 29 high-speed EC250 electrical multiple units (EMUs), which included an option for the procurement of an additional 92 trains. The losing bidders for the contract included French conglomerate Alstom and Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Talgo. In September 2016, the first EC250 high-speed train was publicly launched at InnoTrans in Berlin, Germany; this launch was presented by Peter Spuhler, Stadler's owner and chief executive officer, and Andreas Meyer, the chief executive officer of SBB. The new trains are approved for operation in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy.  Based on the design of the Stadler FLIRT EMUs, the EC250 has been designed to cater to long distance rail journeys. It has been developed with a particular emphasis on providing a high level of both comfort and convenience for passengers, including families, senior citizens and disabled passengers. A low-floor entrance area has been adopted to ease the boarding process, the carriages provide step-free access from platforms at heights between 550mm and 760mm. The train-sets feature a pressure-tight design, which is intended to provide favourable thermal and sound insulation characteristics. The EC250 is designed to comply with the TSI-High-speed regulations as well as to meet the EN 15227 crashworthiness standards.  The EC250 has been developed with a flexible interior. This interior allows for carriages to be extensively refitted and modified in accordance with the requirements of various operators; this reduces the difficulty of maintaining equipment. Carriages offer relatively spacious and well-lit interiors.  The EC250 is equipped with a number of passenger comfort features, including 4G/3G signal boosters for mobile phone, power sockets at all seats, and large overhead luggage racks. The onboard storage areas are designed to be multi-functional, including space for bicycle storage. A number of gender-separated toilets are also scattered amongst the carriages. For accessibility purposes, a number of wheelchair spaces and wheelchair-accessible toilet facilities are present in both the first class and second class carriages.  In a standard configuration, each train is to accommodate seating for up to 405 passengers, composing 117 of these being seated in first class conditions and the remaining 288 in second class. It had a length of 202 meters and possess an empty weight of 380 tonnes. Each carriage has a width of 2.9 meters and a height of 4.25 meters; the wheelbase of the unpowered bogies is 2.7 meters, while those of the motorised bogies are 2.75 meters. A pair of trains can be coupled together; in such a configuration, they can seat in excess of 800 passengers.  The propulsion system consists of four motorised bogies, which are supplied with power from four roof-mounted electric current collectors. A key element of the arrangement is the advanced traction technology provided by ABB, which ensures a smooth start, relatively quick acceleration and efficient energy regeneration while the train is braking. The electrification systems fitted to the trains are compatible with the Swiss and German 15 kV 16.7 Hz alternating current (AC) overhead power supply, as well as Italian 3 kV direct current (DC) and 25 kV 50 Hz electrification systems. The motorised bogies are reportedly capable of generating a maximum power output of 6,000 kW, as well as the train's maximum operational speed of 250 km/h.

Operations.

The SBB intend to use their high-speed fleet on the line connecting Basel and Zürich with the Italian city of Milan through the Gotthard Base Tunnel; the SBB has stated that it has forecast passenger numbers on the Gotthard route to rise from around 9000 per day to 15,000 per day by 2020 and to exceed 18,000 passengers per day by 2025. During May 2017, the first train-set was scheduled to be handed over to the SBB, while commercial operations are intended to be launched by the end of 2019. Long-term plans are to run the type upon several international routes.  On 2 July 2017, a Stadler EC250 Giruno trainset travelled through the Gotthard Base Tunnel for the first time; the run was conducted for testing purposes and had reportedly been successful. At the time, further test runs were intended to be undertaken in the Czech Republic, along with Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Austria - the four countries where the trainsets are intended to be operated in.  In April 2018, a SBB Giruno reached 275km/h in the Gotthard Base Tunnel.  On April the 4th of 2019, the Federal Office of Transport authorised the EC250 for travel at 200 km/h.

The RABe 501, nicknamed Giruno, is a high-speed electric multiple unit train under development by Stadler Rail of Switzerland for the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). According to Stadler Rail it is to be the world's first single-decker low-floor high-speed train.


Early life.

Stevens grew up in Middlebury, Connecticut, the daughter of Mark and Clara (née Francisco) Stevens. She graduated from Pomperaug High School in Southbury in June 2010. She was named the 2009 Westbury Outstanding Teen at the Greater Watertown Scholarship Pageant.  Stevens is of Portuguese descent on her mother's side and speaks Portuguese. She was instrumental in the creation of the Evan Gagnon Memorial Scholarship Fund, which gives college scholarships to the seniors of Pomperaug High School (Evan Gagnon, who died in January 2009 at the age of two, was the son of Stevens' Spanish teacher.) She was a member of Pomperaug High School's varsity swim team for four years. Stevens first performed for an audience at the age of five years, when she sang the national anthem at a party for a politician in her hometown.  When she was seven years old, she sang "From This Moment On" at an aunt's wedding. She has long been active in her local theater community. She played Dorothy in both BSS Children's Theater and Main Street Theater's production of "The Wizard of Oz". At Main Street Theater Stevens also played the role of Sharpay in "High School Musical" and "The Cat" in "Honk". She played Nellie Forbush in Pomperaug High School's "South Pacific" alongside Gary Dwyer as Emile DeBeque. She performed at Carnegie Hall at the age of 13.

Career.

2009–2010: "American Idol".

On August 13, 2009, she auditioned for "American Idol" in Boston, Massachusetts and sang "At Last", where all four judges (including guest judge Victoria Beckham) advanced her to Hollywood. At the Boston audition, judge Kara DioGuardi called her one of the most talented 16-year-olds she had ever seen. In Hollywood, DioGuardi made the prediction, "You could be the potential winner." On March 24, 2010, Stevens landed in the bottom 3 during elimination night, along with Paige Miles and Tim Urban. She was proclaimed safe, giving her a spot on the "American Idol" summer tour.  Most of the critiques the judges gave her had been with regard to her pitch, age, and song choice. In her performance of "Chain of Fools", DioGuardi told her she had found where she belonged: R&B-pop, but she needed to work on being younger. She landed in the bottom three the following night but was declared safe, putting her into the Top 9.  In her Top 9 performance of "Let It Be", all of the judges thought it was a huge improvement. Ellen stated that she wouldn't be in the bottom 3 after that performance. Simon said that she had done what she was told by being Country, while Kara and Randy disagreed, opining that she has more of an R&B sensibility. Nonetheless, her performance secured her a position in the Top 8. However, the Top 9 remained intact for another week due to the judges' save of Michael Lynche. She was eliminated from "American Idol" the following week on April 14, along with Andrew Garcia. Her elimination came second on the double elimination night. From July 1 to August 31, 2010 Stevens toured with the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2010. On tour, she sang "Here We Go Again" and "Fighter".

2010–present: "Faking It" and "The Bold Type".

After her elimination, Stevens made several appearances on talk shows. On April 16, 2010, she appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" where she performed "Over the Rainbow". Stevens also appeared on the "Late Show with David Letterman" along with Andrew Garcia, where they sang "Superhuman" by Chris Brown and Keri Hilson. She and Garcia appeared on the "Wendy Williams Show" where she performed "Big Girls Don't Cry".  As of early November 2010, she has written 9 songs. Stevens was a guest performer on "Ídolos Portugal" on December 12, 2010, where she sang "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey. In June 2012, Stevens played the title role in Todrick Hall's YouTube sensation "Beauty and the Beat".  Stevens was cast to portray Nadia McConnell in "" in the 2013 Los Angeles revival.  She won the role of Karma Ashcroft in "Faking It", which premiered on April 22, 2014. In 2015, Stevens was cast as Lindsey Willows in the CSI finale movie "Immortality".  In 2016, Stevens was cast as Jane Sloan in "The Bold Type" which premiered on June 20, 2017.

Personal life.

In January 2018, Stevens became engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Paul DiGiovanni. On October 12, 2019, Stevens and DiGiovanni got married in Nashville, Tennessee.

Katherine Mari Stevens (born December 8, 1992) is an American actress and singer, known for finishing in eighth place on the ninth season of "American Idol" and starring as Karma Ashcroft in "Faking It" and Jane Sloan in "The Bold Type".


Career.

Sullivan was born in Tustin, California, on February 9, 1981, of Irish descent. He received his first pair of drumsticks at the age of five and his own drum set at the age of twelve. In high school, he started playing in bands. Before leaving to join Avenged Sevenfold as one of the band's founding members, Sullivan was the drummer for the third wave ska band Suburban Legends. At the age of twenty he recorded his first album with Avenged Sevenfold titled "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet". His early influences included Frank Zappa and King Crimson. The Rev said in a "Modern Drummer Magazine" interview that "I was raised on that stuff as much as rock and metal."  Later in life he was influenced by drummers Vinnie Paul, Mike Portnoy (who would later be his fill-in with Avenged Sevenfold), Dave Lombardo, Lars Ulrich and Terry Bozzio. "It's funny," says the drummer, "of all my influences, Tommy Lee is a visual influence. I never thought I'd have one of those." Sullivan had a signature ability called "the double-ride thing" or "The Double Octopus," as the Rev called it, "just for lack of a better definition." "The double-ride thing" is a technique that can be heard on tracks such as "Almost Easy," "Critical Acclaim," "Crossroads," and "Dancing Dead" in which Sullivan doubles up at a fast tempo between the double bass and ride cymbals. While playing, Sullivan often twirled his stick and tossed it between hands to show off for the crowd.  The Rev was a drummer, composer, songwriter, vocalist and pianist for Avenged Sevenfold. His vocals are featured in several Avenged Sevenfold songs, including "Strength of the World," "Afterlife," "A Little Piece of Heaven," "Almost Easy," "Scream," "Critical Acclaim," "Lost," "Brompton Cocktail," "Crossroads," "Flash of the Blade (Iron Maiden cover)," "Art Of Subconscious Illusion," "Save Me" and "Fiction." His music composing and songwriting are done in several songs for Avenged Sevenfold like "A Little Piece of Heaven," "Afterlife," "Almost Easy," "Unbound (The Wild Ride)," "Buried Alive," "Fiction," "Brompton Cocktail," "Save Me" and more. Avenged Sevenfold released a demo version of "Nightmare," featuring The Rev on an electronic drumset and some vocals.  At the second annual Revolver Golden God Awards, The Rev won the award for Best Drummer. His family members, and Avenged Sevenfold, received the posthumous honor on his behalf.  In an Ultimate Guitar online readers' poll of the "Top Ten Greatest Drummers of All Time," The Rev appeared at #8, placing higher than Bill Ward of Black Sabbath, and lower than Keith Moon of The Who. In 2017, he once again appeared in Ultimate Guitar's list of Top 25 Greatest Singing Drummers, at #5.

Pinkly Smooth.

Pinkly Smooth was an American heavy metal/avant-garde metal band. The band was formed in the summer of 2001 in Huntington Beach, California, as a side project for Avenged Sevenfold's drummer/composer/songwriter Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, and originally featured The Rev (under the name "Rathead") on vocals, along with fellow Avenged Sevenfold member Synyster Gates on guitar and former Ballistico band members Buck Silverspur (under the name "El Diablo") on bass and Derek Eglit (under the name "Super Loop") on drums. They released only one album–"Unfortunate Snort"—which featured former Avenged Sevenfold bassist Justin Meacham (under his stage name "Justin Sane") as a keyboard player.

Death.

On December 28, 2009, The Rev was found unresponsive in his Huntington Beach home, and was later pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital. Police ruled out foul play and noted that his death appeared to be from natural causes. An autopsy performed on December 30, 2009, was inconclusive, but toxicology results revealed to the public in June that he died from an overdose of oxycodone (Percocet), oxymorphone (a metabolite of oxycodone), diazepam (Valium), nordiazepam (a metabolite of diazepam), and alcohol. The coroner noted an enlarged heart as a "significant condition" that may have played a role in Sullivan's death.  On January 6, 2010, a private funeral was held for Sullivan, who was then buried in The Good Shepherd Cemetery, in Huntington Beach, California. Shortly after his death, Avenged Sevenfold dedicated their fifth studio album "Nightmare" (released that same year) to him, as well as several songs, including "So Far Away", which had been written by bandmate (and childhood friend) Synyster Gates; and "Fiction", which The Rev had written three days before his death. M. Shadows and Synyster Gates stated in an interview to "Hard Drive Radio":

Legacy.

His triple bass drum kit from the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour was donated for display at a Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada.

James Owen Sullivan (February 9, 1981 – December 28, 2009), professionally known by his stage name The Rev (shortened version of The Reverend Tholomew Plague), was an American musician, best known as the drummer, songwriter, backing vocalist and founding member of the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. The Rev was widely regarded and critically acclaimed for his work on Avenged Sevenfold albums, and contributed entire songs composed by himself, such as "Afterlife", "A Little Piece of Heaven", and "Almost Easy". He was also the lead vocalist/pianist in Pinkly Smooth, a side project where he was known by the name Rathead, with fellow Avenged Sevenfold member, guitarist Synyster Gates (Brian Elwin Haner Jr.), and he was the drummer for Suburban Legends from 1998 to 1999.


History.

The city is supposed to have been the capital of Volga Bulgaria from as early as the 8th century. Regular Russian incursions along the Volga, and internecine fights forced the Volga Bulgarian kings to intermittently move their capital to Bilyar. After a destruction of Bilyar during the Mongol invasion, the older capital became a centre of a separate province (or duchy) within the Golden Horde. During the period of Mongol domination Bolgar acquired immense wealth, many imposing buildings, and grew tenfold in size.  The Tokhtamysh–Timur war saw a marked decline in its fortunes. It was sacked by Bulaq-Temir in 1361, endangered by Timur, looted by Russian pirates (ushkuiniki), and destroyed in 1431 by Vasily the Blind of Muscovy. As a Muslim religious center Bolgar persevered until the mid-16th century when the Khanate of Kazan was conquered by the Russian Czar Ivan IV and incorporated into the Russian state.  During the Tsarist rule the site of the ancient town was settled by Russian commoners. Czar Peter the Great issued a special ukase to preserve the surviving ruins, which was probably a first Russian law aimed at preserving historical heritage.

Little pilgrimage.

During the Soviet period, Bolgar was a center of a local Islamic movement known as "The Little Hajj": Muslims from Tatarstan and other parts of the Soviet Union could not participate in the hajj to Mecca, so they travelled instead to Bolgar.

Importance.

The Tatars refer to the medieval capital of Volga Bolgaria as "Shahri Bolghar" (), that is, "the City of Bolghar". The town is part of their cultural heritage, because Volga Bulgaria is the predecessor state of the Khanate of Kazan, which in turn is in a way the predecessor of today's Russian republic of Tatarstan.  Today, the capital of Tatarstan is Kazan, but many Tatars consider Bolghar to be their ancient and religious capital and to allow a glimpse of Muslim Bulgar life before the Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria.

Bolghar (, ) was intermittently capital of Volga Bulgaria from the 8th to the 15th centuries, along with Bilyar and Nur-Suvar. It was situated on the bank of the Volga River, about 30 km downstream from its confluence with the Kama River and some 130 km from modern Kazan in what is now Spassky District. West of it lies a small modern town, since 1991 known as Bolgar. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex (ancient Bolghar hill fort) to the World Heritage List in 2014.


Club career.

Ciman began his career in the youth system of Charleroi and made his first team debut in 2004. His play with Charleroi attracted the interest of the top Belgian clubs. Ciman was transferred from Charleroi to Club Brugge in June 2008 and signed a three-year contract for the Belgian team, he was loaned to Kortrijk for the 2009–10 season. On 16 June 2010, he joined Standard Liège on a four-year contract. Upon joining Standard, Ciman established him as a starter and helped the club capture the 2010–11 Belgian Cup. He made 194 appearances for the club, scoring eight goals, before leaving the club in the winter of 2015.  Ciman signed a three-year deal with Major League Soccer club Montreal Impact on 22 January 2015. In his first season with the team, he was named MLS Defender of the Year. In July 2016, he was included in the roster for the 2016 MLS All-Star Game.  On 12 December 2017, Ciman was traded to MLS expansion side Los Angeles FC in exchange for Raheem Edwards and Jukka Raitala.  On 28 August 2018, Ciman joined Ligue 1 club Dijon FCO on a two-year contract. The transfer fee paid to LAFC was reported as $500,000. Just 4 months later, Ciman had his contract at Dijon terminated by mutual consent. On 27 December 2018, he returned to MLS, signing with Toronto FC.

International career.

Ciman was a member of the Belgian squad which came fourth at the 2008 Olympics.  Ciman also played for the National U21 side and was called up by national coach Georges Leekens for the friendly match against Bulgaria on 19 May 2010, during which he made his debut.  On 13 May 2014, Ciman was named in Belgium's squad for the 2014 World Cup. He was unused in the tournament, in which Belgium reached the quarter-finals. In the next major tournament, UEFA Euro 2016 he was also part of the squad. This time, he played in the opening game of the competition, a 2–0 defeat to Italy.  In May 2018, he was named as an alternate for Belgium’s squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Honours.

Club.

Club Brugge  Standard Liège  Montreal Impact  Toronto FC

Laurent Franco Ciman (born 5 August 1985) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC and the Belgium national team.


Names.

Cycads' only relation to the true palms (Arecaceae) is that both are seed plants. The Latin specific epithet "revoluta" means "curled back", in reference to the leaves. This is also called kungi (comb) palm in Urdu speaking areas.

Description.

This very symmetrical plant supports a crown of shiny, dark green leaves on a thick shaggy trunk that is typically about in diameter, sometimes wider. The trunk is very low to subterranean in young plants, but lengthens above ground with age. It can grow into very old specimens with 6–7 m (over 20 feet) of trunk; however, the plant is very slow-growing and requires about 50–100 years to achieve this height. Trunks can branch several times, thus producing multiple heads of leaves. The leaves are a deep semiglossy green and about long when the plants are of a reproductive age. They grow out into a feather-like rosette to in diameter. The crowded, stiff, narrow leaflets are long and have strongly recurved or revolute edges. The basal leaflets become more like spines. The petiole or stems of the sago cycad are long and have small protective barbs.  Roots are called "coralloid" with an "Anabaena" symbiosis allowing nitrogen fixation. Tannins-rich cells are found on either side of the algal layer to resist the algal invasion.  As with other cycads, it is dioecious, with the males bearing pollen cones (strobilus) and the females bearing groups of megasporophylls. Pollination can be done naturally by insects or artificially.

Cultivation and uses.

Propagation of "Cycas revoluta" is either by seed or clonally by removal of basal offsets. It is one of the most widely cultivated cycads, grown outdoors in warm temperate and subtropical regions, or under glass in colder areas. It grows best in sandy, well-drained soil, preferably with some organic matter. It needs good drainage or it will rot. It is fairly drought-tolerant and grows well in full sun or outdoor shade, but needs bright light when grown indoors. The leaves can bleach somewhat if moved from indoors to full sun outdoors. Of all the cycads, "C. revoluta" is the most popular in cultivation. It is seen in almost all botanical gardens, in both temperate and tropical locations. In many areas of the world, it is heavily promoted commercially as a landscape plant. It is also quite popular as a bonsai plant. First described in the late 18th century, it is tolerant of mild to somewhat cold temperatures, provided the ground is dry. Frost damage can occur at temperatures below −10 °C (14 °F). Healthy specimens have been grown with little protection as far north as St. Louis, Missouri, and New York, New York, both in USDA zone 7b. "C. revoluta" usually defoliates in winter in this temperate climate, but will usually flush (grow) several new leaves by spring.  This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).

Sago.

The pith contains edible starch, and is used for making sago. Before use, the starch must be carefully washed to leach out toxins contained in the pith. Extracting edible starch from the sago cycad requires special care due to the poisonous nature of cycads. Cycad sago is used for many of the same purposes as palm sago. Sago is extracted from the sago cycad by cutting the pith from the stem, root and seeds of the cycads, grinding the pith to a coarse flour and then washing it carefully and repeatedly to leach out the natural toxins. The starchy residue is then dried and cooked, producing a starch similar to palm sago/sabudana. The cycad seed contains cycasin toxin and should not be eaten as it is possible for cycasin toxin to survive the most vigorous of repeated washings. Cycasin toxin can cause ALS, Parkinson's, prostate cancer and fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma.  "Aulacaspis yasumatsui" is a scale insect feeding on "C. revoluta", and unchecked is able to destroy the plant.

Chemistry.

The hydro-alcoholic extract of leaves of "C. revoluta" shows the presence of alkaloids, steroids and tannins while the chloroform extract shows the presence of saponins, tannins and sugars. Leaflets also contain biflavonoids. Estragole is the primary volatile compound emitted from the male and female cones of "C. revoluta".

Toxicity.

Cycad sago is extremely poisonous to animals (including humans) if ingested. Pets are at particular risk, since they seem to find the plant very palatable. Clinical symptoms of ingestion will develop within 12 hours, and may include vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, seizures, and liver failure or hepatotoxicity characterized by icterus, cirrhosis, and ascites. The pet may appear bruised, have nose bleeds (epistaxis), melena (blood in the stool), hematochezia (bloody straining), and hemarthrosis (blood in the joints). The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center estimates a fatality rate of 50 to 75% when ingestion of the sago palm is involved. If any quantity of the plant is ingested, a poison control center or doctor should be contacted immediately. Effects of ingestion can include permanent internal damage and death.  All parts of the plant are toxic; however, the seeds contain the highest level of the toxin cycasin. Cycasin causes gastrointestinal irritation, and in high enough doses, leads to liver failure. Other toxins include Beta-methylamino L-alanine, a neurotoxic amino acid, and an unidentified toxin which has been observed to cause hindlimb paralysis in cattle.

Cycas revoluta (Sotetsu [Japanese ソテツ], sago palm, king sago, sago cycad, Japanese sago palm), is a species of gymnosperm in the family Cycadaceae, native to southern Japan including the Ryukyu Islands. It is one of several species used for the production of sago, as well as an ornamental plant.


Encryption.

Each letter is represented by a number modulo 26. Though this is not an essential feature of the cipher, this simple scheme is often used:  To encrypt a message, each block of "n" letters (considered as an "n"-component vector) is multiplied by an invertible "n" × "n" matrix, against modulus 26. To decrypt the message, each block is multiplied by the inverse of the matrix used for encryption.  The matrix used for encryption is the cipher key, and it should be chosen randomly from the set of invertible "n" × "n" matrices (modulo 26). The cipher can, of course, be adapted to an alphabet with any number of letters; all arithmetic just needs to be done modulo the number of letters instead of modulo 26.  Consider the message 'ACT', and the key below (or GYBNQKURP in letters): Since 'A' is 0, 'C' is 2 and 'T' is 19, the message is the vector: Thus the enciphered vector is given by: which corresponds to a ciphertext of 'POH'. Now, suppose that our message is instead 'CAT', or: This time, the enciphered vector is given by: which corresponds to a ciphertext of 'FIN'. Every letter has changed. The Hill cipher has achieved Shannon's diffusion, and an n-dimensional Hill cipher can diffuse fully across n symbols at once.

Decryption.

In order to decrypt, we turn the ciphertext back into a vector, then simply multiply by the inverse matrix of the key matrix (IFKVIVVMI in letters). (See matrix inversion for methods to calculate the inverse matrix.) We find that, modulo 26, the inverse of the matrix used in the previous example is: Taking the previous example ciphertext of 'POH', we get: which gets us back to 'ACT', as expected.  Two complications exist in picking the encrypting matrix:  Thus, if we work modulo 26 as above, the determinant must be nonzero, and must not be divisible by 2 or 13. If the determinant is 0, or has common factors with the modular base, then the matrix cannot be used in the Hill cipher, and another matrix must be chosen (otherwise it will not be possible to decrypt). Fortunately, matrices which satisfy the conditions to be used in the Hill cipher are fairly common.  For our example key matrix: So, modulo 26, the determinant is 25. Since this has no common factors with 26, this matrix can be used for the Hill cipher.  The risk of the determinant having common factors with the modulus can be eliminated by making the modulus prime. Consequently, a useful variant of the Hill cipher adds 3 extra symbols (such as a space, a period and a question mark) to increase the modulus to 29.

Example.

Let  formula_9  be the key and suppose the plaintext message is HELP. Then this plaintext is represented by two pairs  formula_10  Then we compute  formula_11 and  formula_12  and continue encryption as follows:  formula_13  The matrix K is invertible, hence formula_14 exists such that formula_15. The inverse of K can be computed by using the formula formula_16  This formula still holds after a modular reduction if a modular multiplicative inverse is used to compute formula_17. Hence in this case, we compute  formula_18  formula_19  Then we compute  formula_20 and  formula_21  Therefore,  formula_22.

Security.

The basic Hill cipher is vulnerable to a known-plaintext attack because it is completely linear. An opponent who intercepts formula_23 plaintext/ciphertext character pairs can set up a linear system which can (usually) be easily solved; if it happens that this system is indeterminate, it is only necessary to add a few more plaintext/ciphertext pairs. Calculating this solution by standard linear algebra algorithms then takes very little time.  While matrix multiplication alone does not result in a secure cipher it is still a useful step when combined with other non-linear operations, because matrix multiplication can provide diffusion. For example, an appropriately chosen matrix can guarantee that small differences before the matrix multiplication will result in large differences after the matrix multiplication. Indeed, some modern ciphers use a matrix multiplication step to provide diffusion. For example, the MixColumns step in AES is a matrix multiplication. The function "g" in Twofish is a combination of non-linear S-boxes with a carefully chosen matrix multiplication (MDS).

Key space size.

The key space is the set of all possible keys. The key space size is the number of possible keys. The effective key size, in number of bits, is the binary logarithm of the key space size.  There are formula_24 matrices of dimension n × n. Thus formula_25 or about formula_26 is an upper bound on the key size of the Hill cipher using n × n matrices. This is only an upper bound because not every matrix is invertible and thus usable as a key. The number of invertible matrices can be computed via the Chinese Remainder Theorem. I.e., a matrix is invertible modulo 26 if and only if it is invertible both modulo 2 and modulo 13. The number of invertible n × n matrices modulo 2 is equal to the order of the general linear group GL(n,Z). It is Equally, the number of invertible matrices modulo 13 (i.e. the order of GL(n,Z)) is The number of invertible matrices modulo 26 is the product of those two numbers. Hence it is Additionally it seems to be prudent to avoid too many zeroes in the key matrix, since they reduce diffusion. The net effect is that the effective keyspace of a basic Hill cipher is about formula_30. For a 5 × 5 Hill cipher, that is about 114 bits. Of course, key search is not the most efficient known attack.

Mechanical implementation.

When operating on 2 symbols at once, a Hill cipher offers no particular advantage over Playfair or the bifid cipher, and in fact is weaker than either, and slightly more laborious to operate by pencil-and-paper. As the dimension increases, the cipher rapidly becomes infeasible for a human to operate by hand.  A Hill cipher of dimension 6 was implemented mechanically. Hill and a partner were awarded a patent () for this device, which performed a 6 × 6 matrix multiplication modulo 26 using a system of gears and chains.  Unfortunately the gearing arrangements (and thus the key) were fixed for any given machine, so triple encryption was recommended for security: a secret nonlinear step, followed by the wide diffusive step from the machine, followed by a third secret nonlinear step. (The much later Even-Mansour cipher also uses an unkeyed diffusive middle step). Such a combination was actually very powerful for 1929, and indicates that Hill apparently understood the concepts of a meet-in-the-middle attack as well as confusion and diffusion. Unfortunately, his machine did not sell.

See also.

Other practical "pencil-and-paper" polygraphic ciphers include:

In classical cryptography, the Hill cipher is a polygraphic substitution cipher based on linear algebra. Invented by Lester S. Hill in 1929, it was the first polygraphic cipher in which it was practical (though barely) to operate on more than three symbols at once.


Personal life.

Stroll is the son of billionaire Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll and Belgian fashion designer Claire-Anne Callens. Stroll has an older sister named Chloe. Stroll races under the Canadian flag and holds both Canadian and Belgian citizenship.

Career.

Like many race drivers, the Geneva-based Canadian began his motorsport career in karting at the age of 10. He recorded numerous race and championship wins in his native Canada and North America and in 2008, his first year of karting, he won the Federation de Sport Automobile du Quebec rookie of the year award and driver of the year in 2009. In 2010, Stroll became a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.

Formula 4.

Stroll's car racing debut came in the 2014 Florida Winter Series, a non-championship series organised by the Ferrari Driver Academy. He raced against future Formula One competitors Nicholas Latifi and Max Verstappen, and took two podium finishes as well as pole position at Homestead–Miami Speedway.  Stroll made his competitive car racing debut in the 2014 Italian F4 Championship, driving for Prema Powerteam. Despite missing the final round due to injury, Stroll emerged as series champion, taking seven race wins, thirteen podium finishes and five pole positions.

Formula 3.

2015.

At the beginning of 2015, Stroll won the New Zealand-based Toyota Racing series, recording 10 podiums – including four wins – from 16 race starts. In the same year, he also contested the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with Prema Powerteam, partially owned by his father Lawrence Stroll. He competed against future Formula One competitors Antonio Giovinazzi, Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Alexander Albon, winning one race at the Hockenheimring and achieving six total podium finishes in the 33-race series. He ended the season 5th in the championship. 2015 also marked Stroll's first and only appearance at the non-championship Formula Three Macau Grand Prix, which he finished in 8th place.  On 11 November 2015, it was announced that Stroll would leave the Ferrari Driver Academy to serve as a test driver for Williams.

2016.

Stroll began 2016 by finishing 5th at the 2016 24 Hours of Daytona, driving for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing in a Ford EcoBoost Prototype. He remained with Prema Powerteam for a third consecutive year to compete in his second season of the Formula 3 European Championship. He won the first race at Circuit Paul Ricard before taking thirteen more race victories over the season, including five consecutive victories in the final five races. He claimed the title with four races to go and ended the season 187 points clear of nearest competitor Maximilian Günther.  Stroll drove for the Williams team for the 2017 Formula One Season. He became the first Canadian Formula One driver since the World Drivers' Champion Jacques Villeneuve. After three retirements, Stroll's first race finish came at the fourth round in Russia, where he finished in eleventh despite spinning on the first lap. In the Spanish Grand Prix, Stroll finished sixteenth and last of all the drivers to finish the race. Two weeks later, Stroll retired after brake failure in Monaco, but was still classified 15th. Stroll scored his first points in his home Grand Prix in Montreal, finishing in 9th place.

Formula One.

Williams (2017–2018).

Stroll got his first podium by finishing third in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, becoming the youngest rookie and the second youngest driver after Max Verstappen to finish on the podium in Formula One, at the age of 18 years and 239 days. Further, Stroll gained more positions on the opening lap than any of his rivals in the season.  Stroll registered the 4th fastest time during a wet qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix. Due to both Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen (respectively 3rd and 2nd) taking grid penalties, Stroll was promoted to the 2nd place on the starting grid, making him the youngest Formula One driver to start on the front row of a race at the age of 18 years and 310 days. Stroll finished 7th in the race.  At the third to last race of the 2017 season, the Mexican Grand Prix, Stroll worked his way up to 6th in the race from 11th on the grid, promoted from 12th after Daniel Ricciardo (originally 7th) was demoted due to penalties, and finished in that position, placing him ahead of teammate Felipe Massa on points scored for the first time this season.  got off to a rough start, with multiple incidents and mistakes within the first few races. Despite an 8th place in Azerbaijan, Stroll scored his next point at Monza, having failed to score at his home race in Canada when he crashed with Brendon Hartley. Although the FW41 was well off the pace all season, it was reliable as Stroll only retired from 2 races during the season.  Stroll was signed by Racing Point for the season alongside Sergio Pérez where he replaced Esteban Ocon. Stroll scored his first points for the team at the opening race in Australia, finishing 9th. At the Chinese Grand Prix, Stroll criticized team strategy after finishing outside of the point-scoring positions for the second consecutive race. In Spain he was involved in a collision with Lando Norris that ended both drivers' races. A third points finish came at his home race in Canada, where he finished 9th after starting in 17th.

Racing Point (2019–2020).

In qualifying at the German Grand Prix, Stroll progressed to Q2 and qualified 15th, ending a streak of fourteen Grands Prix in which he had been eliminated in Q1. During the race, he narrowly missed out on a podium, running with slick tyres on a drying track late in the race. He would cross the line in 4th place. Stroll's next points finish came in Belgium, where he started 16th and finished 10th. He scored his final points of the season after finishing 9th in Japan. His second and third retirements of the season came during the final two races, after he suffered a suspension failure in Brazil and brake issues in Abu Dhabi.  Stroll finished his first season at Racing Point in 15th place in the championship with 21 points, considerably below teammate Pérez's 52 points, having been out-qualified by Pérez 18-3 over the season's 21 races.  Stroll and Pérez were re-signed by Racing Point for."" Stroll will race under an American license in 2020 after Canada’s national sporting authority resigned its mandate from the FIA, but will still be shown as Canadian on every official recognition during race weekends.

Aston Martin (2021).

Stroll is due to drive for the rebranded Racing Point team in as they become Aston Martin.

Racing record.

Complete Formula One results.

Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.<br> <nowiki>*</nowiki> Season still in progress.

Lance Stroll (born 29 October 1998) is a Belgian-Canadian racing driver currently driving in Formula One with Racing Point, having previously driven for Williams in 2017 and 2018. He was Italian F4 champion in 2014, Toyota Racing Series champion in 2015, and 2016 FIA European Formula 3 champion. He was part of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2010 to 2015. He achieved his first podium finish, a 3rd place, at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, becoming the second-youngest driver to finish an F1 race on the podium and the youngest to do so during his rookie season. Stroll also competed in endurance racing, taking part in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2016 and 2018.


Symptoms and consequences.

Symptoms of the bore-out syndrome are described by the Frankfurt psychotherapist Wolfgang Merkle as similar to the burnout syndrome. These include depression, drive and insomnia, but also tinnitus, susceptibility to infection, stomach upset, headache and dizziness.  The consequences of boreout for employees are numerous both psychologically and physically and more or less serious. On the psychological level, boredom, dissatisfaction, and permanent frustration gradually lead the victim of a boreout into a vicious circle. They gradually lose the will to act at the professional level and at the personal level. To the loss of self-esteem is added the constant anxiety of being discovered. The boreout victim lives with the constant fear that their supervisor, colleagues, or friends will discover their inactivity and duplicity. The confrontation with and enduring the unsatisfactory situation leads to further stress that paralyzes and strains. Being constantly confronted with the emptiness of their professional life and their uselessness in society, the employee is in great pain. The suffering all the more accentuated because it cannot be shared and if it is, is not understood. This is also the reason that this syndrome is relatively unknown: – Interview: Wolfgang Merkle Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung, 2010  This can lead to serious mental disorders such as personality destruction or even depression or suicide. Boreout is also a trigger for physical diseases such as certain types of epilepsy caused by stress or exhaustion, severe sleep disorders, hand and voice tremors, shingles, and ulcers.  On the physical side, according to the British "Bored to death" study, employees who are bored at work are two to three times more likely to be victims of cardiovascular events than those whose employment is stimulating. The permanent anxiety in which the employee lives exhausts him physically. Fatigue is constant despite physical inactivity. Boreout can lead to eating disorders such as untimely nibbling or loss of appetite. Some people may use alcohol or drugs to overcome their discomfort and thus develop a harmful addiction.

Elements.

According to Peter Werder and Philippe Rothlin, the absence of meaningful tasks, rather than the presence of stress, is many workers' chief problem. Boreout consists of three elements: boredom, lack of challenge, and lack of interest. These authors disagree with the common perceptions that a demotivated employee is lazy; instead, they claim that the employee has lost interest in work tasks. Those suffering from boreout are "dissatisfied with their professional situation" in that they are frustrated at being prevented, by institutional mechanisms or obstacles as opposed to by their own lack of aptitude, from fulfilling their potential (as by using their skills, knowledge, and abilities to contribute to their company's development) and/or from receiving official recognition for their efforts.  The authors suggest that the reason for researchers' and employers' overlooking the magnitude of boreout-related problems is that they are underreported because revealing them exposes a worker to the risk of social stigma and adverse economic effects. (By the same token, many managers and co-workers consider an employee's level of workplace stress to be indicative of that employee's status in the workplace.)  There are several reasons boreout might occur. The authors note that boreout is unlikely to occur in many non-office jobs where the employee must focus on finishing a specific task (e.g., a surgeon) or helping people in need (e.g., a childcare worker or nanny). In terms of group processes, it may well be that the boss or certain forceful or ambitious individuals with the team take all the interesting work leaving only a little of the most boring tasks for the others. Alternatively, the structure of the organization may simply promote this inefficiency. Of course, few if any employees (even among those who would prefer to leave) want to be fired or laid off, so the vast majority are unwilling and unlikely to call attention to the dispensable nature of their role.  As such, even if an employee has very little work to do or would only expect to be given qualitative inadequate work, s/he gives the appearance of "looking busy" (e.g., ensuring that a work-related document is open on one's computer, covering one's desk with file folders, and carrying briefcases (whether empty or loaded) from work to one's home and vice versa).

Coping strategies.

The symptoms of boreout lead employees to adopt coping or work-avoidance strategies that create the appearance that they are already under stress, suggesting to management both that they are heavily "in demand" as workers and that they should not be given additional work: "The boreout sufferer's aim is to look busy, to not be given any new work by the boss and, certainly, not to lose the job."  Boreout strategies include:

Consequences for Employee.

Consequences of boreout for employees include dissatisfaction, fatigue as well as ennui and low self-esteem. The paradox of boreout is that despite hating the situation, employees feel unable to ask for more challenging tasks, to raise the situation with superiors or even look for a new job. The authors do however propose a solution: first, one must analyse one's personal job situation, then look for a solution within the company and finally if that does not help, look for a new job. If all else fails, turning to friends, family, or other co-workers for support can be extremely beneficial until any of the previously listed options become viable.

Consequences for Business.

According to Prammer, boreout can also have a variety of effects on businesses:

Boredom boreout syndrome is a psychological disorder that causes physical illness, mainly caused by mental underload at the workplace due to lack of either adequate quantitative or qualitative workload. One reason for bore-out could be that the initial job description does not match the actual work.


Life.

Lajsek was born on February 8, 1925 in Křesetice, a village near Kutná Hora in the central Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) in a merchant family. In 1944, he graduated from a machinery industrial high school in Kutná Hora. During World War II, he took part in a rebellious organization "The Fist", where he fought against the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. After World War II, he moved to Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he worked in the Czechoslovak Union of Industry. Beginning in 1946, he studied at the Charles University in Prague. During this time, Lajsek discovered his artistic talent, and he graduated in 1950. In 1966 he also graduated with degree in economy. Then he worked as a teacher. He was also a professor at the School of Applied Arts in Prague beginning in 1955.  Lajsek achieved success in his artistic career quite early. In 1955, he was accepted into the Štursa society, and later to the VI Center. He took part in a competition for renovation of premises of the National Theatre (Prague). Since 1954, he had been a member of the Union of Czechoslovak Creative Artists. In 1960, he established an artistic society named The Group of Eight Artists, in which he acted as the head. The aims of this society were mainly to set up educational, artistic events in the countryside and to look for new places where various exhibitions might be held. In 1985, he was awarded by the president of republic with the national honor For Excellent Work. He died on October 2, 2001 in Prague, Czech Republic, at the age of 76.

Painting.

His artistic production was very versatile in genres. He was dedicated to abstract painting, realism, surrealism, etc. But his best known production was landscape-painting. In this respect, he was one of the best-known painters of his period in Czechoslovakia. He inspired himself in his home Central-Bohemian region or in streets of Prague, as well as during his abroad journeys to Greece or Yugoslavia.

Oldřich Lajsek (Czech pronunciation: lai•sek) (February 8, 1925 - October 2, 2001) was a Czech painter, designer, graphic artist and teacher of arts. He became a member of the Union of Czechoslovak Creative Artists in 1954. He was the head of an artistic society named The Group of Eight Artists. In 1985, he was awarded the national honor For Excellent Work. During his life, he created over 3000 productions of which more than 1800 went to private collections.


Background and education.

He was the eldest son of Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, and Lady Cornelia Henrietta Maria Spencer-Churchill, daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough. He was the elder brother of Frederick Guest, Oscar Guest and Henry Guest, and a first cousin of Winston Churchill. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.  He was commissioned a lieutenant in the Dorset Yeomanry on 9 May 1896. Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in late 1899, he volunteered for service and was appointed a lieutenant in the Imperial Yeomanry on 24 February 1900, leaving England for South Africa on the "SS Manchester Merchant" in early March. He was awarded the Queen's South Africa Medal with two clasps. After returning to the United Kingdom, he was promoted to captain on 18 January 1902.

Political career, 1900–1915.

He was elected to Parliament for Plymouth in a by-election in February 1900 (a seat he had unsuccessfully contested in 1898), as a Conservative, and retained his seat in the general election of 1900. In 1904, during the controversy within the Conservative Party over adopting protectionism, he and other members of his family followed Churchill into the Liberal Party in support of free trade.  He sat as an MP until 1910, when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Ashby St Ledgers, of Ashby St Ledgers in the County of Northampton, and became Paymaster General in the government of H. H. Asquith. He served as Paymaster General until 1912, and later served as a Lord in Waiting on King George V.  In 1914, he succeeded his father as Baron Wimborne. At the start of World War I, he was appointed to the staff of the newly formed 10th (Irish) Division under Lieutenant-General Sir Bryan Mahon at the Curragh Camp.

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1915–1918.

In February 1915, Wimborne was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in succession to Lord Aberdeen. At this time, the Lord Lieutenant was largely a ceremonial position; real power was in the hands of the Chief Secretary and the Under-Secretary. Determined to be more involved in decision-making, he was appointed Director of Recruiting in October 1915, heading up the new Department of Recruiting for Ireland. He insisted on being kept up to date on the state of the country, and had the Under-Secretary, Sir Matthew Nathan, send him police reports, details of prosecutions and recruitment figures.  On the weekend preceding the Easter Rising, following the capture of the German arms ship "Aud" and the arrest of Sir Roger Casement, Wimborne urged Nathan to order the arrest of a large number of rebel leaders. Nathan was unwilling to do so without the authorisation of the Chief Secretary, Augustine Birrell, who was in London. Before the authorisation was received, the Rising began on 24 April 1916. Wimborne proclaimed martial law in Dublin. Thereafter, the military took control. A new Commander-in Chief, General Sir John Maxwell, arrived in Ireland on 28 April and the rebels surrendered on 29 April. Wimborne initially refused to offer his resignation after the Rising. He resigned under pressure from the government but was re-appointed.  The Royal Commission on the 1916 Rebellion (the Hardinge commission) exonerated Wimborne of any blame for the Rising, saying that his position as Lord Lieutenant was "anomalous in quiet times and almost unworkable in times of crisis". He continued as Lord Lieutenant for another two years. On his retirement in 1918, he was created Viscount Wimborne, of Canford Magna in the County of Dorset.

Marriage and issue.

On 10 February 1902, he married at St Peter's Church, Eaton Square, London, the Honourable Alice Grosvenor (1880–1948), daughter of Robert Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Ebury. They had one son, Ivor Guest, 2nd Viscount Wimborne, and two daughters, Rosemary and Cynthia.  By the 1930s, they were living separate lives, though remaining on the friendliest terms. From 1934 until her death, Alice was linked with the composer William Walton. Wimborne died in June 1939, aged 66, at Wimborne House in Arlington Street, London, the house in which he was born. He was succeeded by his only son, Ivor. Lady Wimborne died in April 1948, aged 67.

Ivor Churchill Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne, KP, PC (16 January 1873 – 14 June 1939), known as Lord Ashby St Ledgers from 1910 to 1914 and as Lord Wimborne from 1914, was a British politician and one of the last Lords Lieutenant of Ireland, serving in that position at the time of the Easter Rising.


Background.

The twins were born in Carver County, Minnesota, to Patty, a registered nurse, and Mike Hensel, a carpenter and landscaper. They have a younger brother and sister. They were raised in New Germany, Minnesota, attended Mayer Lutheran High School in Mayer, and graduated from Bethel University in St. Paul in 2012.

Physiology.

The twins have a single body with separate heads and necks, a chest that is wider than normal, two arms, and two legs. At birth, they had a rudimentary arm between the bases of their necks attached to a shoulder blade at the back, being combined parts of Abby's left arm and Brittany's right arm. It was removed, leaving the shoulder blade.  Abby's head tilts laterally outward about 5 degrees to the right, while Brittany's tilts laterally at about 15 degrees to the left, causing her to appear shorter even when seated. Brittany's leg is in fact nearly two inches shorter than Abby's and Brittany tends to stand and walk on tip-toe which has made her calf muscle significantly larger than Abby's. The continued growth of Abby's spine was surgically halted after Brittany prematurely stopped growing. At age 12, they underwent surgery at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare to correct scoliosis and to expand their chest cavity to prevent future difficulties with breathing.  Each twin manages one side of their conjoined body. The sense of touch of each is restricted to her body half; this shades off at the midsagittal plane such that there is a small amount of overlap at the midline. Stomach aches, however, are felt by only the twin on the opposite side.  They cooperatively use their limbs when both hands or both legs are required. By coordinating their efforts, they are able to walk, run, swim, and ride a bicycle normally. Together, they can type on a computer keyboard and drive a car. However, Abby, at, is taller and longer of leg than Brittany, at and their disparate heights led to difficulty in balancing a Segway, as shown in their 2012 reality series.

Organ distribution.

The twins have individual organs in the upper part of their body, while most located at or below the level of the navel are shared, the exception being the spinal cord.

Separation.

Upon their birth, the twins' parents decided not to attempt surgical separation after hearing from doctors that it was not likely that both would survive the operation. As the twins grew and learned to walk and develop other skills, their parents confirmed their decision against separation, arguing that the quality of life for the surviving twin or twins living separately would be less than their quality of life as conjoined people.

Adulthood.

The twins both passed their driver's license exams, both the written and practical tests. Although driving is a coordinated activity, they had to take the test twice, once for each twin. Abby controls the devices on the right of the driver's seat; Brittany, those on the left. Together they control the steering wheel.  They both graduated from high school in 2008. They began college at Bethel University in Arden Hills, Minnesota, majoring in education. They had considered pursuing different concentrations within that major, but the volume of extra coursework was prohibitive. They graduated with Bachelor of Arts degrees in 2012.  Some of the twins' clothes are altered by a seamstress so that they have two separate necklines, in order to emphasize their individuality. They usually have separate meals, but sometimes share a single meal for the sake of convenience. For tasks such as responding to email, they type and respond as one, anticipating each other's feelings with little verbal communication between them. In such cases as the latter, their choice of grammatical person is to use "I" when they agree, but use their names when their responses do differ.  They intensely dislike being stared at or photographed by strangers while going about their private lives. In interviews for the Discovery Channel in 2006, they, then 16, said that they hoped to date, get married, and have children. They also stated that they hoped that by providing some information about themselves, they would be able to lead otherwise fairly typical social lives.

Media appearances.

The twins appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on April 8 and April 29, 1996. During the same month, they were featured on the cover of "Life" under the caption "One Body, Two Souls", and their daily lifestyle was described in the article, "The Hensels' Summer". "Life" followed up with another story in September 1998. In 2002, they appeared in "Joined for Life", a TV documentary by Advanced Medical Productions, distributed on the Discovery Health Channel and a 2003 follow-up, "Joined at Birth".  In 2003, an updated story of them at age 11 (filmed in 2001) was published in "Time" and again in "Life". ABC TV also did a documentary called "Joined For Life".  A UK television special in 2005 as part of the series "Extraordinary People". In 2006, Advanced Medical made another documentary, "Joined for Life: Abby & Brittany turn 16", that discusses their adolescence, school, social life, and activities such as getting their driver's licenses.  The twins starred in the reality TV show "Abby & Brittany" that started in August 2012. "Abby and Brittany: Joined for Life" was shown by the BBC in the UK in May 2013, and covers the period from their finishing college to starting a part-time teaching job.

Filmography.

Documentaries and other television appearances include:

Abigail Loraine Hensel and Brittany Lee Hensel (born March 7, 1990) are American conjoined twins. They are dicephalic parapagus twins, and are highly symmetric for conjoined twins, giving the appearance of having a single body without marked variation from normal proportions. Each has a separate heart, stomach, spine, pair of lungs, and spinal cord.


Gameplay.

"Subway Surfers" is an endless runner video game. The game starts by tapping the touchscreen, while Jake (the game's starter character) or any other character sprays graffiti on a train, and then gets caught in the act by the inspector and his dog, who starts chasing the character. While running, the player can swipe up, down, left, or right to avoid crashing into oncoming obstacles especially moving trains, poles, tunnel walls and barriers. By swiping rapidly as speed increases, more points can be acquired. A crash results in a game over, but the player can continue running by using keys. The player can collect various items such as coins, keys, score multipliers, super sneakers, jetpacks, magnets, mystery boxes and power jumpers. A power jumper provides combustion by launching up the character, while a jetpack has an ability to fly, a coin magnet that attracts all coins on the track, super sneakers that gives the ability to jump higher and a score multiplier that multiplies the score. Items, such as a hoverboard, allows the character to avoid collisions lasting about 30 seconds.  Daily Challenges and Weekly Hunts give rewards for unique movements throughout gameplay. Missions have various tasks measured by player accuracy. Up to 18 characters are unlocked using via coins, keys, in-game purchases, collecting specific items, or connecting to a Facebook account. Most characters have up to 2 different outfits. Meanwhile, up to 17 hoverboards can be unlocked with the same methods; each have different abilities that can assist the player. When the game updates to a new location, a new character and hoverboard will be available temporarily until the next update.

Reception.

"Subway Surfers" received decent reviews. Critics praised the game's visual style and entertaining gameplay, but criticized it for its monotonous world and unresponsive controls. Review aggregator website Metacritic gave the game 71 out of 100 based on 8 reviews.  Dan Griliopoulos of "Pocket Gamer" gave the game a score of 5 out of 10, praising the game's fun gameplay and free access, but criticizing the game's controls and parsimonious game design.  Gamezebo's Dant Rambo scored the game 3.5 out of 5, writing "It makes little attempt to stand out from other endless runners, but it's hard not to appreciate the polish of "Subway Surfers". The controls are responsive, the gameplay is addictive, and it doesn't try and force you into spending cash on in-game items."  Other reviewers were not as critical. "148Apps" and "TouchArcade" gave the game 4/5.  The game was nominated for "Action Game" and "Family & Kids Game" at the 2019 Webby Awards.

"Subway Surfers: The Animated Series".

On 1 June 2018, a series of animated shorts debuted on SYBO Games' YouTube channel. The 10 x 4 minute episodic series is scripted by Brent Friedman and Francesca Marie Smith and produced by Sander Schwartz. Chris Bartleman is supervising director and Michael Hegner is director. Denmark's WilFilm provides post-production services. The series currently has 11 episodes.

Subway Surfers is an endless runner mobile game co-developed by Kiloo and SYBO Games, private companies based in Denmark. It is available on Android, iOS, Kindle, and Windows Phone platforms and uses the Unity game engine. In the game, players take the role of young graffiti artists who, upon being caught in the act of applying graffiti to ("tagging") a metro railway site, run through the railroad tracks to escape from the inspector and his dog. As they run, they grab gold coins, power-ups and other items along the way while simultaneously dodging collisions with trains and other objects, and can also jump on top of the trains and surf with hoverboards to evade the capture until the character crashes on an obstacle, getting caught by the inspector or getting hit by a train. Special events, such as the Weekly Hunt, can result in in-game rewards and characters.


Premise.

Molly Woods, an astronaut with ISEA (International Space Exploration Agency) is assigned a 13-month solo mission aboard space station "Seraphim". She returns home to her husband John, a robotics engineer who created their son Ethan, a prototype android called a "humanich". When Molly discovers that she has mysteriously become pregnant despite years of infertility, she begins a search for answers.

Reception.

Critical reception.

"Extant" has received generally favorable reviews. On Metacritic, the first season holds a score of 68 out of 100, based on 31 critics, and season 2 has a score of 63 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a "certified fresh" rating of 83% based on 40 reviews, with the consensus reading: "While many of its ideas are clearly borrowed from other sources, "Extant" benefits from a unique approach to some familiar stories and a strong lead in Halle Berry." The second season holds a "fresh" rating of 73% based on 11 reviews, with the consensus reading: "Extant amps up the action in Season Two, adding much-needed stamina to shore up Halle Berry's compelling performance."

Ratings.

Including Live + 3 day (DVR) viewing, the series premiere was watched by 11.88 million viewers and attained an 18-49 rating of 2.2.

Accolades.

In 2014, "Extant" was chosen, along with six others, for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series.

Home media releases.

On December 16, 2014, CBS Home Entertainment released the first season on DVD and Blu-ray in Region 1. The second season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 15, 2015.

Broadcast.

The series is available for streaming on Amazon Video devices four days after broadcast on CBS. In Canada, the series premiered on July 9, 2014, on Global Television Network. In Australia, the series premiered on July 13, 2014, on Network Ten. The series premiered in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2014, on Amazon Video. It made its television premiere on January 20, 2015 on Syfy. In New Zealand, it debuted on July 23, 2014 on Prime.

Extant is an American science fiction drama television series created by Mickey Fisher and, as executive producer, Steven Spielberg. The story revolves around astronaut Molly Woods (Halle Berry) who returns home to her family inexplicably pregnant after 13 months in outer space on a solo mission.


Background.

The Moscow Metro, being one of the busiest in the world and serving up to nine million passengers on a daily basis, covered of route and included 194 stations at the time of the derailment. Despite having a reputation for reliability, the system has been increasingly suffering from mismanagement, cost-cutting practices, poor maintenance and outages in recent years.  According to several media reports, a Facebook user announced that two weeks prior to the disaster, he filed an official request to the head of the underground system reporting "problems with the tracks." The user quoted from the reply received in his e-mail: "The tracks are maintained in conformity with the technical standards and tolerances. Problems with mechanical switches in the joints have not been detected, being that the size of the gaps correspond to the technical regulations."

Derailment.

The derailment occurred away from the Park Pobedy station outbound towards the Slavyansky Bulvar station, near the railroad switch to a then-unused track for the western section of the Kalininskaya Line. The switch was installed a few weeks prior to the accident, as part of a construction project initiated in 2013 that was working to extend the Kalininskaya Line to the western part of Solntsevo District. Surviving passengers who were unable to cross the debris were evacuated through several construction drifts leading to the surface shaft.  The derailment also caused a massive power outage on the line; another train, which was located in the tunnel at the time of accident some from Slavyansky Bulvar, was also stuck, and passengers had to be evacuated. There were no medical injuries reported from that train.  Early reports cited a power surge as the cause of the accident, but this has not been confirmed and remains under investigation. Passengers on the train described cars striking one another, with most of the impact occurring at the front of the train. The first car, where all of the deaths reportedly occurred, had jackknifed in on itself, and the cars behind it piled up on each other. The final two cars remained on the tracks and were only slightly damaged.

Victims.

There were 24 killed in the accident (22 initially, 2 in hospitals), and about 118 were hospitalized. Seventeen of the victims were Russian citizens, and the remaining victims included 2 citizens of Tajikistan, 2 citizens of China, and one person each from Ukraine, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan. About 42 people remained in "serious condition". Another 200 people were evacuated from the Metro; those with injuries were attended outside the station. Initial reports stated that an additional 20 passengers remained underground, trapped in one of the cars. The train operator, a 29-year-old man, survived the crash, but was badly injured and had to undergo cranial surgery.  An accident witness reported to a news agency: A spokesperson for the transport commission indicated that all passengers were "evacuated from the affected stations by midday". Terrorist threat was suspected, but quickly dismissed in this case. In the early morning of 17 July, personnel finished clearing away the debris and reported another casualty. In total, 17 corpses were removed from the debris, with the remainder of the victims succumbing to critical injuries within 24 hours of rescue. The tunnel was reportedly ready for repairs and night time maintenance as of 1:00 am local time on 18 July and restored to full functionality around 6:00 am.

Investigation.

On 15 July 2014, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal investigation of the accident, according to part 3 of Article 263.1 of the Criminal Code (violation of the requirements of transport safety). Supervising examination of the accident site, investigators interviewed witnesses and employees., the Committee's official representative, said that several causes for the accident were being considered, but that all were technical, there being no connection with terrorist attacks. He stated that certain people would be investigated and suspects would be identified.  On 16 July 2014, a senior track master and his assistant, who had worked on the installation of the new switch, were detained on a charge of negligence. According to investigators, they installed it incorrectly two months previously using a wire instead of special equipment to forcibly lock the switch, as it led to a yet incomplete tunnel. This wire could have failed and gotten the switch stuck in an intermediate position, derailing the train. Unprofessional operation of the train was said to have been another contributing factor, as the previous train that had passed over the switch 3 to 4 minutes before the accident had been traveling at a lower speed, and thus had not derailed.  On 22 July 2014, Ivan Besedin, chief executive of the Moscow Metro, was removed from office by Mayor Sergey Sobyanin. Besedin was replaced by former chief executive of the high speed railway branch of Russian Railways, Dmitry Pegov, in order to restore Muscovites' faith in the metro safety.

Verdicts.

The first trial on the matter ended and the verdicts were announced on 9 November 2015. Track master assistant Yuri Gordov was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment, track repair deputy director Aleksei Trofimov, senior track master Valeri Bashkatov and deputy director of the subcontractor company "Spetstekhrekonstruktsiya" Anatoli Kruglov each were sentenced to 5.5 years of imprisonment. There is a separate investigation involving six additional defendants that was still ongoing at the time of conclusion of the first trial.

On 15 July 2014, at around 8:40 am MSK (), an outbound Moscow Metro train derailed between Park Pobedy and Slavyansky Bulvar stations of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line. Casualties reported include 24 dead and 160 injured. Early reports suggested a power surge or a terrorist attack to be the cause of the derailment, but both were soon dismissed.


Election.

In the 2014 parliamentary election, Juncker campaigned as the candidate of the European People's Party (EPP) for the presidency of the European Commission. The EPP won a plurality in parliament, and on 27 June, the European Council nominated him for the post. Later on 15 July 2014, the European Parliament elected Juncker as the new Commission president. On 22 October, the European Parliament approved the Juncker Commission in its entirety and during the 23–24 October 2014 meeting of the European Council the Council formally appointed the new Commission. On 1 November 2014, the new Commission officially assumed office. Juncker has outlined a ten-point agenda for his Presidency focusing on jobs and growth.

Commissioners.

The following college of commissioners serves under Juncker's presidency:  (14)

President's cabinet.

The President's cabinet supports the President of the commission, and thus has a very central role in coordinating the work of the European Commission as a whole. The president's cabinet is led by Clara Martinez Alberola. Formerly, it was led by Martin Selmayr, who has been described as "the most powerful EU chief of staff ever."

Project teams.

Juncker has for the first time proposed a commission that clusters certain members together under designated policy areas. These clusters are known as "Project Teams" and will each be headed by one of the vice presidents. Each team is composed of a core membership in addition to members who may fall under its respective umbrella as needed. Timmermans and Georgieva both oversee all commissioners while the remaining five project teams are as follows:

A European Agenda on Migration.

In 2015, when European migrant crisis unfolded, new project team was formed.

The Juncker Commission was the European Commission in office since 1 November 2014 to 30 November 2019. Its president was Jean-Claude Juncker, who presided over 27 other commissioners (one from each of the states composing the European Union, except Luxembourg, which is Juncker's state). In July 2014, Juncker was officially elected to succeed José Manuel Barroso, who completed his second five-year term in that year.


Electoral system.

The process of election for the Sejm is through open party-list proportional representation via the D'hondt method in multi-seat constituencies, with a 5% national threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions (requirements waived for ethnic minorities). The senate is elected using first-past-the-post voting in single-member districts. To be included on a ballot, a senate candidate must present 2,000 signatures of support from their constituents. For Sejm elections, the threshold is 5,000 signatures per constituency, though that requirement is waived for parties that have already registered lists in at least half of all constituencies (21 out of 41 as of this election).  Overall, the Sejm includes 460 MPs. Should a party have 231 or more deputies in Parliament, it has an absolute majority and can thus govern autonomously, without the need for support from other parties. The constitution can be amended with a supermajority of two-thirds, or 307 deputies.

Election date.

The date of the election, 25 October, was set by the previous President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski. The latest possible date for the election to be held was in November 2015, four years after the previous election. Prior to the announcement of the election date, the most likely dates were thought to be in October or November.  In the previous parliamentary elections in 2011 the Civic Platform–Polish People's Party coalition government, in power since 2007, won a second term. All 460 seats in the Sejm and 100 seats in the Senate were up for election.

Results.

The opposition party, Law and Justice won the election with 37.58% of the vote against the governing Civic Platform, which gained a 24.09% share. Beata Szydło became the new Prime Minister, succeeding Ewa Kopacz. Law and Justice became the first party in Poland to win majority government in a free election, since 1991. The other parties considered winners were two newcomer parties, Kukiz's Movement (third place) and Ryszard Petru's Modern party (4th place).  Two of the biggest losers were Civic Platform and the Polish People's Party. PO suffered its worst result in a parliamentary election in ten years, ending eight years of political dominance. The PSL, the junior partner in the outgoing government, had its worst result in 25 years (5.13%), just crossing the 5% threshold by a few thousand votes. Another perceived loser was the Democratic Left Alliance, Poland's largest left-wing party, which failed to win a seat for the first time since the change of system. The SLD ran as the largest partner of the United Left, which was 0.5% short of the 8% threshold for electoral alliances to win seats.

Reactions.

Political analysts noted that the election marked the first time in the post-communist era that a political party received enough votes to form a majority government. BBC News suggested that Law and Justice's strategy of putting forward Szydło as its candidate for prime minister was a "winning formula" in the election. Szydło was widely perceived as being more moderate than PiS' outspoken leader, Jarosław Kaczyński. However, it also noted that Kaczyński could step into the role of prime minister after the election.  According to the Associated Press, the new Sejm was the most right-wing parliament in Europe due to the absence of centre-left MPs in the chamber. All five parties in the Sejm tilted rightward on social issues. Between them, left-leaning alliances only gained 11 percent of the vote.  Kopacz swiftly conceded defeat after exit polls from TVP showed PiS on its way to a majority, while Kaczyński declared victory and hailed his party's historic majority. Kaczyński also paid tribute to his late brother, President Lech Kaczyński, who died in the 2010 plane crash.

Parliamentary elections to both the Sejm and Senate were held in Poland on 25 October 2015. The election was won by the largest opposition party, the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS), with 37.6% of the vote against the governing Civic Platform (PO), which achieved 24.1%. Official results, announced on 27 October, gave Law and Justice 235 of 460 seats (51 percent), a majority of four. PiS vice chairwoman Beata Szydło succeeded PO leader Ewa Kopacz as Prime Minister of Poland, heading a one-party cabinet.


Life.

Agnes was born in 1268 into the noble Segni family in Gracciano, a frazione of Montepulciano, then part of the Papal States. At the age of nine, she convinced her parents to allow her to enter a Franciscan monastery of women in the city known as the "Sisters of the Sack", after the rough religious habit they wore. They lived a simple, contemplative life. She received the permission of the pope to be accepted into this life at such a young age, which was normally against Church law.  In 1281, the lord of the castle of Proceno, a fief of Orvieto, invited the nuns of Montepulciano to send some of their sisters to Proceno to found a new monastery. Agnes was among the nuns sent to found this new community. At the age of fourteen she was appointed bursar.  In 1288 Agnes, despite her youth at only 20 years of age, was noted for her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and deep life of prayer, and was elected as the abbess of the community. There she gained a reputation for performing miracles; people suffering from mental and physical ailments seemed cured by her presence. She was reported to have "multiplied loaves", creating many from a few on numerous occasions, recalling the Gospel miracle of the loaves and fishes. She herself, however, suffered severe bouts of illness which lasted long periods of time.  In 1306, Agnes was recalled to head the monastery in Montepulciano. Agnes reached a high degree of contemplative prayer and is said to have been favored with many visions. After her return, she proceeded to build a church, Santa Maria Novella in Florence, to honor the Blessed Mother, as she felt she had been commanded to do in a mystical vision several years earlier. She also had a vision of St. Dominic Guzman, under the inspiration of which she led the nuns of her monastery to embrace the Rule of St. Augustine as members of the Dominican Order. She was frequently called upon to bring peace to the warring families of the city.  By 1316, Agnes' health had declined so greatly that her doctor suggested taking the cure at the thermal springs in the neighboring town of Chianciano Terme. The nuns of the community prevailed upon her to take his recommendation. While many of the other bathers reported being cured of their illnesses, Agnes herself received no benefit from the springs. Her health failed to such a degree that she had to be carried back to the monastery on a stretcher.

Veneration.

Agnes died the following 20 April, at the age of 49. The Dominican friars attempted to obtain balsam (or myrrh) to embalm her body. It was found, however, to be producing a sweet odor on its own, and her limbs remained supple.  When her body was moved years after her death to the monastery church, it was found to be incorrupt. Her tomb became the site of pilgrimages.  Some fifty years later, a Dominican friar, the Blessed Raymond of Capua, who served as confessor to St. Catherine of Siena, wrote an account of Agnes' life. He described her body as still appearing as if she were alive. Catherine herself referred to her as "Our mother, the glorious Agnes". Catherine made a pilgrimage to Montepulciano while visiting her niece, Eugenie, who was a nun there.  Agnes was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726. Her feast day is celebrated within the Dominican Order on 20 April.

Agnes of Montepulciano, O.P. (1268 – 1317), was a Dominican prioress in medieval Tuscany, who was known as a miracle worker during her lifetime. She is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church.


Background.

Polandball has its roots in an August 2009 "cyberwar" between Polish Internet users and the rest of the world on drawball.com. The website, which offers a virtual canvas, allows Internet users to draw whatever they want, and to draw over others' drawings. On the Polish internet, an idea was raised to draw the Polish flag on the ball, and thousands of Poles together managed to take over the drawball with a painting of white on top of red, with the word "POLSKA" written in the middle. After co-ordination from 4chan, this was then covered over by a giant swastika, an interaction which was repeated several times over the ensuing weeks.  Krautchan.net was a German-language imageboard whose /int/ board was frequented by English-speaking netizens. The beginning of the Polandball meme is credited to "Falco", a British user on /int/, who created the meme in September 2009 using Microsoft Paint in an apolitical way to troll "Wojak", a Pole on the same board who contributed in broken English, after which Polandball cartoons were enthusiastically drawn by Russians.  Polandball comics have no defined authors, and anyone is able to make one. This has become an internet meme, presented e.g., on Reddit and Facebook.

Themes.

Poland.

The premise of Polandball is that it represents Poland and its history, relations with other countries and stereotypes, focusing on Polish megalomania and national complexes. With the exception of English-speaking ones, interactions between countryballs tend to be written in broken English and Internet slang, reminiscent of the lolcat meme, and by the end of the cartoon Poland, which is purposely represented as red on top of white (the reverse of the Polish flag), is typically seen weeping.  Polandball depiction of Poland portrays a number of stereotypes. These include bad English use by Poles, blaming others for its failures in particular given the backdrop of repeated invasions by Russians and Germans (such as the 18th century partitions and World War II), Polish propensity for telling tales of the glorious past, and the perception of Poles as "dull-witted" and "psycho-Catholic".  Some Polandball comics arise from the premise that Russia can fly into space, whilst Poland cannot. One of the earliest Polandball comics begins with the premise that Earth is going to be struck by a giant meteor, leading to all countries with space technology leaving Earth and going into orbit around the planet. At the end of the cartoon, Poland, still on earth, is crying, and in broken English pronounces the canonical Polandball catchphrase "Poland cannot into space". In this humorous way, Russians put a halt to all discussion with Poles on which country is superior.

Other countries.

Polandball can also include comics on other countries, but by convention these comics are usually still referred to as Polandball comics, although they are sometimes also referred to as countryballs. States, provinces, and other such divisions can also be used; multi-national organizations such as the European Union and United Nations are also common, but their lack of power compared to their constituent states means that they are portrayed as weak or puppets. Countries are also represented as balls.  There are various other established conventions. The 'r's and 'l's in East Asian nations' speech switch places in a stereotypes of East Asians. The United States sports a pair of shades and often has its stars replaced by the text "x50", and regularly uses profanity. It regularly mistakes countryballs without a direct historical and/or political connection to it either for their neighbors or with those with similar flags. Japan sometimes wears cat ears, the United Kingdom wears a monocle and a top hat (as does Hong Kong, since it was once a territory of the United Kingdom) and Canada is often seen wearing a coonskin cap.  The simplicity of Polandball, added with its recognition of world history and a focus on current affairs, makes the meme suited to commenting on international events. Amongst events which have been covered by Polandball and have been noted in the media, are the Senkaku Islands dispute, the 2013 papal conclave which saw Jorge Mario Bergoglio being elected as the new Pope, the 2014 Ukrainian crisis, the 2014 Crimean crisis and issues relating to Filipino workers in Taiwan.

Assessment.

A report on the Russian radio station Vesti FM noted a post on Livejournal which asked readers to list five images that come to mind when thinking of Poland or Poles. The five pages of responses, illustrating the deep historical ties between Russia and Poland, recalled subjects including False Dmitriy I, "Tomek in the Land of the Kangaroos" by Polish author Alfred Szklarski, "Czterej pancerni i pies" ("Four tank-men and a dog"), Russophobia and Polandball.  Wojciech Oleksiak, writing on culture.pl, a project of the Polish government-funded Adam Mickiewicz Institute which has the aim of promoting Polish language and culture abroad, noted that due to anyone being able to create a Polandball comic, the existence of the meme has created new opportunities for people to express their personal views on race, religion and history. In describing Polandball as the Internet "par excellence", he further stated that comic plots can be "rude, impolite, racist, abusive, or just plain dumb", whilst also noting that the politically incorrect nature of the comics add to the attractiveness of the meme.  At the same time, Oleksiak notes that Polandball comics often employ exaggerated Polish stereotypes, such as Poles not being as proficient in English as other nationalities, and Poland itself being a country full of dull-witted hyper-Catholics. On the other hand, some stereotypes employed in Polandball comics, such as Poles telling stories about the nation's glorious history and dwelling on a deep rooted martyrdom, are mostly true; whilst the stereotype that Poles hold many national complexes and blame external forces for their own failures, is true, but somewhat justified.  Oleksiak further notes that from Polandball, Poles can learn to have "a sense of humour about our long-time grudges".

In popular culture.

A Nintendo Switch game called "Polandball can into Space" was released on 18 June 2020.

Polandball, also known as countryballs, refers to user-generated visual art, typically manifesting as online comics, where countries are personified as (typically) spherical personas decorated with their country's flag, interacting in often broken English (with the exception of countryballs that speak English natively), usually with regional and/or national variations (e.g. France's Engrish is interspersed with French words). The characters poke fun at national stereotypes and international relations, as well as historical conflicts. Countryballs have also been used in videos and comics involving alternate and speculative history. It is an Internet meme which originated on the /int/ board of German imageboard Krautchan.net in the latter half of 2009.


Life.

Giovanni Dominici was born in Florence in 1355 to the poor but devout Domenico Dominici (a silk merchant) and Paola Zorzi. His father died while his mother was pregnant with Giovanni.  In his childhood he spent hours in the Dominican-run Santa Maria Novella church. If someone needed to see him his mother directed them to the church and said: "There he spends all his houses". It therefore stood to reason that in 1370 he sought admission into the order. But he suffered from a severe speech impediment which - combined with a lack of formal education - made the friars doubt his vocation to their order. They refused him admission a number of times until 1372 and even insisted that he should remain home to care for his mother. But his mother insisted that Dominici should follow his calling for it was not for her to stand against his religious calling.  He was then accepted and began his novitiate with the friars there and he began his studies in Pisa and Florence. The friars were surprised to see that he had a sharp mind with a good grasp of the complexities of theological and philosophical subject so much so that he was sent to the college in Paris to further his studies. On his return from Paris when he completed his theological studies his speech impediment became the problem which the authorities of the order had feared from the beginning. Preaching was an expected part of each friar's life which would prove to be problematic for Dominici. He sought the intercession of the Dominican secular Saint Catherine of Siena and he was cured of this impediment. Dominici was ordained to the priesthood in 1380. He was then appointed as a professor and preacher and held that post for over a decade in Venice. Dominici became the prior for the order's house at Santa Maria Novella in 1381 and retained the position until serving as the prior from 1386 to 1387. He was teaching at San Zanipolo in Venice from 1388 until 1389 when he left.  In 1392 he was appointed as the Vicar Provincial for the Roman province of the order in 1392. It was a time of disorder for the Dominicans for the order had suffered major losses in membership through a great plague. The convent in Venice had lost 77 friars in a matter of months as an example. The Master General Raymond of Capua authorized Dominici to establish priories of strict observance in Venice (1394) and Fiesole (1406). It was in the latter that the talented artists and brothers Giovanni and Benedetto entered the order around 1407. Giovanni would later be known as Fra Angelico. Dominici also founded the Corpus Domini convent in Venice for the Dominican nuns of the strict observance; an account of his life was found in the chronicle and necrology of that place after Bartolomea Riccoboni discovered it. He also corresponded with Chiara Gambacorti and advised her on how to restore discipline to Dominican nuns.  Dominici received into the order on 4 August 1405 four men which included the future Archbishop of Florence Antoninus after the latter heard him preach once. The two worked together in Fiesole. Vincent Ferrer was once preaching in Genoa when an invitation was extended for him to preach in Florence. But Ferrer said he would not since a saint (Dominici) was among their number and was preaching.  Dominici was sent as the Venetian representative to the papal conclave of 1406 in which Pope Gregory XII was elected. He soon became the counsellor and confessor for the pope who on 26 March 1408 appointed him as the Archbishop of Ragusa. In mid-1408 the pope named him as a cardinal and sent him as ambassador to the Hungarian kingdom to secure the adhesion of Sigismund to the pope. On 26 March 1408 he was sent with Giacopo del Torso to negotiate with Antipope Benedict XIII in an attempt to secure the latter's abdication though this was unsuccessful.  Dominici was present at the Council of Constance (which he convinced the pope to convoke) on 4 July 1415 when he read the resignation letter that the pope had written. Dominici had advised the pope to abdicate as the surest means of ending the Great Schism which had arisen to divide the Church. It was also at that point that he tried to resign his cardinalate to make clear to all that he had no desire to advance through his accomplishment. But the Council rejected that resignation and he remained as a cardinal. It had been before this that he tried to convince Antipope John XXIII to abdicate though that proved useless. Pope Martin V (who sometimes sought his counsel) appointed him as the papal legate to Bohemia on 19 July 1418 but he accomplished little with the followers of John Hus owing to the timid King Wenceslaus IV. But he had been present when Hus was burnt at the stake back in 1415.  On 23 July 1409 he was named as the abbot "commendatario" for the Santi Andrea e Saba convent while named provost "commendatario" for the Santa Maria dell'Isola Tremici convent. On 1 January 1411 he was appointed as a legate to both Genoa and Milan. He later was named as the abbot "commendatario" for the Benedictine convent of Santi Vito e Salvo on 13 January 1411.  Dominici died at Buda on 10 June 1419 from a fever and he was buried in the Saint Paul the Hermit church there. His tomb became a site of miracles and his remains were venerated until the destruction of the church during a Turkish invasion. Antoninus of Florence later wrote a memoir on Dominici.

Beatification.

Dominici's holiness had been renowned during his life and he was venerated soon after his death with miracles being reported at his tomb. Pope Gregory XVI beatified Dominici centuries later on 9 April 1832.

Published works.

Dominici was a prolific writer on spiritual subjects but he was also a graceful poet; his vernacular songs or "Laudi" show his tact as a poet. His "Regola del governo di cura familiare", written between 1400 and 1405 is a pedagogical work which treats (in four books) of the faculties of the soul as well as the powers and senses of people. He also touched on the uses of material goods and the education of children.  His "Lucula Noctis" (which he addressed to the Chancellor of the Florentine Republic Coluccio Salutati) is the most important treatise of that time on the studies of the pagan authors. Dominici did not condemn classical studies outright though did express strong criticism of some humanist tendencies such as the use of rhetoric in politics and the rise of the professional politician.  There is now an Open Access revised edition of Hunt's 1940 critical edition of the "Lucula" provided on The "Manipulus/Lucula noctis" Project website.

Giovanni Dominici ( 1355 – 10 June 1419) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate and professed member from the Order of Preachers who became a cardinal. His ideas had a profound influence on the art of Fra Angelico who entered the order through him. But he once encountered difficulties becoming a friar due to a speech impediment that his superiors believed would rule him ineligible for both profession and the priesthood. Dominici became a noted theologian and preacher and was tireless in establishing monasteries and convents in cities such as Fiesole and Lucca.