The anti-gender movement is an international movement that opposes what it refers to as "gender ideology", "gender theory" or "genderism", terms which cover a variety of issues and do not have a coherent definition. Members of the anti-gender movement primarily include those of the political right-wing and far right, such as right-wing populists, conservatives, and Christian fundamentalists. Anti-gender rhetoric has seen increasing circulation in trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) discourse since 2016. Members of the anti-gender movement oppose some LGBT rights, some reproductive rights, government gender policies, gender equality, gender mainstreaming, and gender studies academic departments.

The term gender ideology has been described by academics Stefanie Mayer and Birgit Sauer as an "empty signifier" and by Agnieszka Graff as a "great name for all that conservative Catholics despise". The idea of gender ideology has been described by some as a moral panic or conspiracy theory, as it alleges that there is a secret cabal out to undermine society. A report by the European Parliament linked the rise of the anti-gender movement in Europe to disinformation campaigns that are sponsored in large part by Russia.

The movement derives from Catholic theology and can be dated to the late twentieth century, but the protests that brought the movement to attention did not start until around 2012–2013. Gender researcher Andrea Pető states that the anti-gender movement is not a form of classical anti-feminism but instead "a fundamentally new phenomenon that was launched to establish a new world order".

Terminology

In non-English speaking countries, many anti-gender activists avoid using vernacular translations of the word "gender" in favor of the English word to promote the idea that gender is a foreign concept.

The concept of gender ideology does not have a coherent definition and covers a variety of issues; for this reason, it has been described by academics Stefanie Mayer and Birgit Sauer as an "empty signifier" and by Agnieszka Graff as a catch-all term "for all that conservative Catholics despise".
The term gender ideology and related terms gender theory and genderism, used interchangeably, are not equivalent to the academic discipline of gender studies, within which significant controversies and disagreements exist. Anti-gender proponents are often unaware of these debates and disagreements.
Elizabeth Corredor writes: "gender ideology serves as both a political and epistemological counterclaim to emancipatory conceptions of gender, sex, and sexuality". She adds that the anti-gender movement combines "gender ideology" rhetoric with attempts to exploit the existing divisions within LGBT and feminist movements. The movement accuses various actors of being bearers of "gender ideology", including "liberal, green or leftist politicians, women's rights activists, LGBT activists, gender policy officers of public administrations, and gender studies scholars".

Origin theories
There are various theories about when and where the anti-gender movement originated.

International conferences in the mid-1990s
Some scholars studying the anti-gender movement date its origins to 1990s discussions within the Catholic Church to counter the results of the United Nations' 1994 International Conference on Population and Development and the 1995 World Conference on Women, following which the UN began to recognize sexual and reproductive rights. The Holy See feared that this recognition would lead to abortion being seen as a human right, delegitimization of motherhood, and the normalization of homosexuality. The term gender "was understood by the Holy See as a strategic means to attack and destabilize the natural family". In 1997, American anti-abortion journalist Dale O'Leary, who is affiliated to the Opus Dei, wrote a book titled The Gender Agenda: "the Gender Agenda sails into communities not as a tall ship, but as a submarine, determined to reveal as little of itself as possible". In Catholic thought, the concept of gender ideology emerged from John Paul II's theology of the body, in which the sexes are held to be different and complementary. Although the ideas of the anti-gender movement were developed by 2003, protests related to the movement first emerged in some European countries around 2012–2013. Although it is still promoted by Catholic actors, the anti-gender movement spread more generally throughout the right-wing by 2019.

1980s Church origin
Alternately, the anti-gender movement has been dated to the early 1980s when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the later Pope Benedict XVI, noticed that feminist books arguing that gender was socially constructed were bestsellers in Germany and noticed changes in German law allowing transgender people to legally change their gender. Researcher Mary Anne Case therefore argues that "Trans rights claims were, together with feminist claims, thus a foundational component, not a recent addition, to the Vatican's sphere of concern around 'gender' and to the focusing of that concern on developments in secular law."

Later developments

Trans-exclusionary radical feminism or gender-critical feminism

Bassi and LaFleur note that "the trans-exclusionary feminist (TERF) movement and the so-called anti-gender movement are only rarely distinguished as movements with distinct constitutions and aims." Pearce et al. posits that the concept of "gender ideology" long employed by the anti-gender movement "saw increasing circulation in trans-exclusionary radical feminist discourse" from around 2016. Claire Thurlow noted that "despite efforts to obscure the point, gender critical feminism continues to rely on transphobic tropes, moral panics and essentialist understandings of men and women. These factors also continue to link trans-exclusionary feminism to anti-feminist reactionary politics and other 'anti-gender' movements." Judith Butler said that "the anti-gender ideology movement should be considered a neo-fascist phenomenon" and cautioned those on the left against joining forces with the movement.

Foreign influence
A report commissioned by the European Parliament found that anti-gender activity in Europe was funded to a large degree by Russian and American actors.

Central figures and issues

Key proponents of the anti-gender movement include Dale O'Leary, Michel Schooyans, Tony Anatrella, Gabriele Kuby, and . According to Łukasz Wawrowski, it is not possible to have a scientific discourse between gender studies scholars and anti-gender proponents, because for the former, gender is a scientific concept that can be researched and falsified, whereas anti-gender proponents derive their arguments from transcendent truths handed down by God, which are not subject to empirical verification.

In the European Parliament, the strong election results of the Italian Lega, the British Brexit Party (having left parliament on 31 January 2020), Poland's Law and Justice, Hungary's Fidesz and France's Rassemblement National contributed to a surge of the movement. Most of these MEPs belong to the right-wing populist and nationalist Identity and Democracy (ID) or the European Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) parliamentary groups. However, there are also members of the European Parliament representing these views within the European People's Party (EPP) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) groups.

Members of the anti-gender movement oppose some reproductive rights, particularly abortion, as well as some LGBT rights, especially same-sex marriage, along with some campaigns against gender-based violence. They may also campaign against anti-bullying programs, sex education in schools, and gender studies in higher education. According to Kováts, not all the movements fitting under the "anti-gender" label (by opposing "gender" or "gender ideology") are overtly anti-feminist or anti-LGBT, and the anti-gender movement is a novel phenomenon distinct from previous anti-feminism and homophobia. The anti-gender movement is not synonymous with the far-right, as not all far-right movements espouse anti-gender views, and anti-gender themes extend beyond the far-right.

"Gender ideology"
The anti-gender movement often uses the term "gender ideology". Anti-gender activists may portray the EU and international organizations as manipulated by lobbies, such as American billionaires, Freemasons, feminists, or Jews. To promote the idea that gender is a foreign concept imposed by corrupt elites, they often use the English word gender, rather than a translation into the local language.

Proponents present themselves as the defenders of the freedoms of speech, thought, and conscience against the "gender ideology", which they label as "totalitarian".

Some in the anti-gender movement consider "gender ideology" to be a totalitarian ideology. This is allegedly pushed by a secret cabal or foreign entities (such as the European Union, World Health Organization, or United Nations) for the purpose of weakening, undermining, or destroying families, the Catholic Church, the nation, or Western civilization.

Related concepts
According to sociologists Roman Kuhar and David Paternotte, "the invention of 'gender ideology' is closely connected to debates within the Catholic Church". Pope Francis has stated that "gender ideology" would undermine the Catholic Church's position on gender complementarity, comparing it to nuclear weapons, and said it was one of the "Herods that destroy, that plot designs of death, that disfigure the face of man and woman, destroying creation". In 2019, the Catholic Church released the first major document dealing specifically with "gender ideology", which states that there are only two biologically determined genders or sexes. According to Corredor,

The anti-gender movement is closely related to right-wing populism, nationalism, and the Christian right. According to Kuhar and Paternotte, "anti-gender campaigns are [not] the direct consequence of the right-wing populist wave, but the shift towards the Right reinforces these campaigns and provides them with new supporters who took over a concept of 'gender ideology' which shares some ideological structures with right-wing populist ideology". In line with their populist framing, referendums are often used to secure the outcomes desired by the anti-gender movement.

Analyses and responses
It is disputed the extent to which the anti-gender movement is a reaction to events and other movements, or a proactive movement attempting to create social change. Hande Eslen-Ziya argues that the anti-gender movement relies on what she calls "troll science," that she describes as "(distorted) scientific arguments moulded into populist discourse, creating an alternative narrative on the conceptions of gender equality."

According to Marta Rawłuszko, the anti-gender movement is, in part, a backlash against the devolution of power from democratically elected national governments to unelected equality bodies and international organizations, such as the European Union, which demand changes. Because these policies are not approved by voters or their elected representatives, they generate a democratic deficit. She notes that "gender equality policies have been implemented without engaging a wider audience or public debate".

However, Paternotte argues that picturing the anti-gender movement as a "backlash" is "conceptually flawed, empirically weak and politically problematic", because comparative research has shown that in different countries, the anti-gender activism is "sparked by extremely different issues".

The emergence and success of anti-gender movements is considered by political scientist Eszter Kováts to be a symptom of a deeper underlying socioeconomic, political, and cultural crisis of liberal democracy and a reaction to neoliberalism. Similarly, political scientist Birgit Sauer refers to these movements as, among other things, a reaction to deregulation, precarization of labor, the erosion of the welfare state and the widening of the gap between the rich and poor. In the journal LuXemburg in 2018, sociologist Weronika Grzebalska and political scientists Eszter Kováts and Andrea Pető analyze the term gender as the "symbolic glue" of the anti-gender movement, which unites different political and religious actors who would otherwise not cooperate with each other. They view the "gender ideology" that these actors mobilize against as a metaphor for the insecurity and unfairness produced by the neoliberal socioeconomic order.

The idea of gender ideology has been described as a moral panic or conspiracy theory. According to two political psychologists writing for The Conversation, the conspiracy theory contributed to a debate in Poland in 2020 about "whether the coronavirus pandemic is a punishment for gender theory". An Ipsos survey in October 2019 found that a plurality of Polish men under 40 believe that "the LGBT movement and gender ideology" is the "biggest threat facing them in the 21st century".

Those said to support gender ideology are delegitimized, negating pluralism and undermining liberal democracy, in a similar way to the far-right. Lorena Sosa, assistant professor at the  (SIM), states that the anti-gender movement has challenged human rights, such as protection from violence against women, and contributed to democratic erosion.

Pető argues that "The anti-gender movement is not merely another offshoot of centuries-old anti-feminism... The anti-gender movement is a fundamentally new phenomenon that was launched to establish a new world order." She also argues that the movement "is saturated with hatred"—citing online harassment against gender researchers—and argues that it "attacks liberalism and therefore democracy".
In 2021 the philosopher Judith Butler described the anti-gender movement as a fascist trend and cautioned self-declared feminists against allying with such movements in targeting trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people. In a 2019 paper Butler argued that "the confusion of discourses is part of what constitutes the fascist structure and appeal of at least some of these [anti-gender] movements. One can oppose gender as a cultural import from the North at the same time that one can see that very opposition as a social movement against further colonization of the South. The result is not a turn to the Left, but an embrace of ethno-nationalism."

Marie Wittenius of the Gunda Werner Institute for feminism and gender democracy argues that the term "gender ideology" "functions as a broad projection area for racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and transphobia, ethnicnationalist ideas as well as hostility towards elites."

In August 2021, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović said the anti-gender movement are "instrumentalising existing societal prejudices and verbally attacking LGBTI people to achieve political objectives for their own benefit" and said the targeting of "LGBTI people for political gain is a costly strategy which harms the lives and well-being of those affected and undermines social cohesion in general." The Commissioner said that "by permeating the political scene, the anti-gender movements are increasingly well-placed to erode the protection of human rights in Europe" and concluded that "by standing up for LGBTI people, we defend the equal human dignity of all, protect our societies' wellbeing and the strength of our precious human rights system."

In February 2022, the European Parliament Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality organised a public hearing on "Countering the anti-gender movement", highlighting the anti-gender movement as a threat to gender equality.

By region

The anti-gender movement emerged in Europe in the early 2010s and, as of 2019, was making headway in Latin America. The movement is transnational, with campaigns in different countries borrowing strategies and rhetoric from other countries. However, in individual countries the anti-gender movement overlaps with appeals to nationalism and national sovereignty.

Besides Catholicism, anti-gender rhetoric is used by other Christians, Confucians, Hindus, Muslims, and Jews.

Europe
Before the emergence of the anti-gender movement, activists and scholars believed that Europe was on an inexorable course towards complete gender equality and full LGBT rights, serious opposition to which was deemed a holdover from the past or else a phenomenon confined to Eastern Europe and Catholic countries. The anti-gender movement proved this perception to be incorrect. Since the 1990s, the European Commission has made eligibility for funding from the Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund conditional on local gender equality policies, which led to rapid changes after Poland joined the European Union in 2004.

In February 2019, the European Parliament passed a resolution against the "backlash in women's rights and gender equality in the EU".

Bulgaria
In February 2023 the Bulgarian Socialist Party called for a national referendum on "Gender Ideology". Later in the month, the party praised a Supreme Court ruling that only biological sex can be listed on government documents and could not be changed.

France

The anti-gender movement in France is spearheaded by Farida Belghoul and La Manif pour tous (LMPT), a protest movement which originated in early 2013 to oppose same-sex marriage in France and pivoted to opposing equality curricula after same-sex marriage was legalized in May 2013. The anti-gender movement in France has spread false rumors and hoaxes, such as the claim that masturbation is being taught in French kindergartens.

Germany

In Germany, right-wing extremists and right-wing populists mobilized against the concept of "gender madness," which was characterized as a "weapon" against "the German people" in a 2013 call by neo-Nazis.

Even outside the extreme right, there has been critical discussion of gender mainstreaming since 2006, when Eva Herman commented on the role of women in society and the  debated "political gender reassignment". Right-wing extremists used this as a prelude to a targeted campaign against gender mainstreaming.

Additionally, since 2013, the fundamentalist Christian protest alliance  has mobilized against same-sex marriage and gender mainstreaming.

Hungary
According to Eszter Kováts and Andrea Pető, writing in 2017, there was "no significant anti-gender movement" in the country, but "a palpable anti-gender discourse", especially in the later 2010s, which to date had only sporadically intersected with the national public debate. They write that the Hungarian anti-gender discourse emerged in 2008, when a textbook was published that was criticized by a Fidesz MP. The politician said that the textbook contained "gender ideology" and that "the greatest danger of this trend is that society will lose its sexual identity". In politics, the anti-gender discourse first attained prominence in 2010, when the left-wing government inserted a sentence into the national curriculum stating that early childhood educators should "deliberately avoid any strengthening of gender stereotypes and facilitate the dismantling of the prejudices concerning the social equality of genders". Right-wing media gave the change much coverage; it was alleged to promote "gender ideology".

Italy
Anti-gender in Italy has been sponsored by Lega Nord party as well as the groups Pro Vita (associated with the neo-fascist party New Force) and Manif pour Tous Italia, later called Generazione Famiglia. In the 2018 Italian general election, Lega Nord placed members of Catholic organizations on its electoral lists, sealing an anti-gender alliance.

Lithuania
The 2020 Lithuanian parliamentary elections and the formation of coalition between the Homeland Union and Freedom Party, which shares a positive stance on LGBT-related policies, led to the formation of anti-gender movements such as the Lithuanian Family Movement and political parties like the National Alliance.

Norway
Gender studies scholar Elisabeth L. Engebretsen has identified groups such as the Norwegian branch of Women's Declaration International and LLH2019, a self-declared sister organization of LGB Alliance, as key anti-gender actors in Norway. According to Engebretsen these groups are part of a "complex threat to democracy."

Poland

In late 2013, the term gender, which had been confined to academic discourse, became popularized as part of an anti-gender campaign by the right-wing and the Catholic Church. The campaign against "gender ideology" is promoted by the ruling, national-conservative PiS party, by the Catholic Church's hierarchy, and more radically nationalist groups with which PiS has a fluid boundary: All-Polish Youth, the National Rebirth of Poland, and the National-Radical Camp. Sociologists  and Paweł Żuk write that: "The right in Poland perceives both feminist and homosexual circles as a threat to the national identity associated with the Catholic religion and as a threat to the traditional family model and social order." Anti-LGBT rhetoric from the Polish right increased following the conclusion of the 2015 European migrant crisis, during which anti-migrant rhetoric was prominent. With anti-gender rhetoric, the LGBT community served as the scapegoat or demonized enemy required by populist politics.

A 2020 survey of a representative sample of 1,000 Poles found that 30% believed in the existence of a gender conspiracy, "defined as a secret plan to destroy Christian tradition partly by taking control over public media". The survey found that belief in the gender conspiracy did not correlate with religiosity; it was strongly associated with the belief that the Catholic Church should occupy a privileged position in society and rejection of LGBT people as neighbors. Marta Rawłuszko suggests that Polish people may be prone to finding conspiracies because of the actual plots during communist rule. In June 2020, Polish president Andrzej Duda of PiS drew attention when he called LGBT an "ideology" and a form of "neo-Bolshevism", ahead of the 2020 Polish presidential election.

North America

Canada
In 2023, the "1 Million March 4 Children" was a series of anti-LGTBQ protests carried out in various cities throughout Canada. Protesters advocated removing "pronouns, gender ideology and mixed bathrooms" in the educational environment. Protesters claimed children were exposed to "inappropriate" topics regarding sexuality and gender identity. At least 63 counter-protests were planned or carried out in response to the march. On September 19, 2023, an educational union in Ontario had three offices vandalized with anti-LGBTQ messages. In response to the march, various school boards in Ontario expressed their support for LGBTQ schoolchildren, staff, and families. In Ottawa, two protesters were arrested for "inciting hatred" by "displaying hateful material". Another person was arrested for disturbance. The protests were condemned by Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe, as well as cities such as Whitehorse.

United States
In 2021, there was a march in Puerto Rico against the introduction of a "Gender Perspective curriculum" in public schools that was created under former Governor Alejandro García Padilla and being enacted under Governor Pedro Pierluisi. Marchers said they opposed "Gender Ideology". Speakers included Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres, political scientist , and other religious leaders.

Latin America

Brazil
Former President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro has characterized "gender ideologists" as a force that is opposed to conservative Christianity. He has also said that he wants to ban "gender ideology in schools".

Colombia
During the 2016 Colombian peace agreement referendum, evangelical Christian groups and right-wing politicians who opposed the peace agreement argued that protections for LGBT people in the treaty were "an instrument to impose gender ideology". This helped motivate much of the evangelical electorate to oppose the agreement, which was ultimately rejected by voters, 50.22% (No) to 49.78% (Yes).

Middle East

Iraq
In 2023, the Iraqi government issued an order officially prohibiting media from using the word "gender". It also mandated that the word "homosexuality" be avoided, in favor of "sexual deviance".

See also

 Anti-Gender Campaigns in Europe - non-fiction book on the movement
 Anti-LGBT rhetoric
 Complementarianism
 Discrimination against non-binary people
 Gender and politics
 Gender empowerment
 Gender essentialism
 LGBT-free zone
 Sociology of gender
 Transphobia
 TERF

References
Notes

Footnotes

Sources

Further reading

External links
Anti-gender politics at London School of Economics blogs
Responding to anti-gender at ILGA-Europe

21st-century social movements
Anti-LGBT sentiment
Criticism of feminism
LGBT-related conspiracy theories
Moral panic
Opposition to feminism
Opposition to sex education
Scares
Social conservatism
Conspiracy theories involving religion
LGBT and religion
Transgender topics and religion
LGBT-related controversies
2020s anti-LGBT movement in the United States
Transphobia

Anti-gender movement


Another Son was the second full-length album and final recording by Four to the Bar, released in 1995.

The album was a radical departure from their first, 1994's Craic on the Road.

The band is listed as producing the album. Engineer Tim Hatfield has also been credited with playing a significant role in the success of the record.

Track listing

"The Newry Highwayman" (Traditional)
"Another Son" (Kelleher)
"The Western Shore" (Clifford)
"Shelli Sullivan's/Passing My Time/Marie Harvey's Delight" (O'Neill)
"NY's for Paddy" (Yeates)
"Something's Come In" (Kelleher)
"Catch the Wind" (Donovan)
"The World Turned Upside-Down" (Rosselson)
"The Shores of America" (Kelleher)
"The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Water" (W.B. Yeats (lyrics); Clifford (music))
"Skibbereen" (Traditional)
"Getting Medieval" (Traditional)
"No Matter Where You Go" (Kelleher)

Personnel

David Yeates: Vocals, bodhran, flute, tin whistle, percussion
Martin Kelleher: Guitar, bouzouki, five-string banjo, backing vocals
Patrick Clifford: Bass guitar, piano, electric guitar
Keith O'Neill: Fiddle, tenor banjo

Production
Produced by Four to the Bar
Engineered by Tim Hatfield
Recorded at O'Neill's Irish Castle, Poughkeepsie, NY
Mixed at Mastermix Recording, New York, NY
Mastered at Steller Productions, New York, NY
Manufactured and printed by Disc Makers, USA

External links
Another Son Release Party Program
Winick, Steve, Review of Another Son, Dirty Linen Magazine, February/March 1996 (Issue #62)
Review of Another Son, Rock 'n' Reel Magazine
Four to the Bar official web site

1995 albums
Four to the Bar albums

Another Son


Thomas H. Makiyama (1928–2005), born in Hawaii, was an aikido teacher and founder of Keijutsukai Aikido and the Keijutsukai International Federation (Keijutsukai Kokusai Renmei), based in Tokyo.  The organization teaches Keijutsukai Aikido and  Keijutsu (a specialized method of defensive tactics for law enforcement personnel).

Makiyama started budō at the age of 18 in 1947 after enlisting in the U.S. Army. He was sent to Japan  and was stationed in Yokohama, where he was assigned to the 8th Army's military police criminal investigation division. At the Isezaki-cho police station in Yokohama he started to train in police judo.

Over the years, he studied judo, jujutsu, Gōjū-ryū karate and aikido among other budō arts.  In aikido, he achieved eighth dan (1977) in Yoshinkan aikido and a certification as shihan. He is believed to be the only American with that distinction at the time.

He also contributed to a number of articles for martial arts publications such as Black Belt magazine. Makiyama was the author of one of the first books in English on Aikido in 1960 and the book Keijutsukai Aikido in 1983. In Hawaii, Makiyama was instrumental in forming the first official branch of the Aikido Yoshinkai outside Japan, at the personal request of the late Gozo Shioda, a close friend and professional acquaintance since 1948.

Makiyama created the Keijutsukai (Police/Security Techniques Association) in February 1980 after training as an independent system commenced during the early part of 1979. He was the Keijutsukai Director until his death on September 9, 2005.

References

Sources
 Frank Paetzold, Wu Shu, Books on Demand GmbH (2003), p 151,
 Gary Bennett, Aikido Techniques and Tactics, Human Kinetics Europe Ltd (1997), p 24,
 Thomas H Makiyama, The techniques of aikido, Jenkins (1963), ASIN: B0000CLSPM
 Thomas H Makiyama, Keijutsukai Aikido: Japanese Art of Self-defense, Ohara Publications Inc.,U.S. (1998),

External links
 Aikido Journal entry for Thomas H. Makiyama

Martial arts school founders
1928 births
2005 deaths
American aikidoka
American military personnel of Japanese descent
American sportspeople of Japanese descent
20th-century American philanthropists

Thomas H. Makiyama


Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above "Edler" and below "" (Baron). As with most titles and designations within the nobility in German-speaking areas, the rank was hereditary and generally was used with the nobiliary particle of von or zu before a family name.

For its historical association with warfare and the landed gentry in the Middle Ages, the title of Ritter can be considered roughly equal to the titles of "Knight", but it is hereditary like the British title of "Baronet". The wife of a Ritter was called a "Frau" (in this sense "Lady") and not Ritterin.

In heraldry, from the late 18th century, a Ritter was often indicated by the use of a coronet with five points, But not everyone who was a Ritter and displayed arms made use of such a coronet. In the Austrian Empire and in Austria-Hungary, the title of "Ritter von" was bestowed upon citizens who deserved more than the plain "von" but were not considered deserving enough as to be given a barony and designated as "".

Even today, members of the Central European Order of St. George, which goes back to Emperor Maximilian and was later reactivated by the Habsburgs after its dissolution by Nazi Germany, are "Ritter" (knights).

In addition to the described system, Württemberg introduced orders of merit beginning in the late 18th century, which also conferred nobility as "Ritter von" but kept the title limited to the recipient's lifetime (see Military Order of Max Joseph).

See also
 Ridder

References

Titles
Austrian noble titles
German noble titles

Ritter


Ambabai Jhansi is a village in the Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh, India.

Demographics
As per census of 2011, there are 1137 families residing in Ambabai. The total population of Ambabai is 5815 out of which 3073 are males while 2742 are females. The average sex ratio of Ambabai village is 892 which is lower than the state average of 912.  The literacy rate of Ambabai was 67.58% compared to 67.68% of Uttar Pradesh.

References

Villages in Jhansi district

Ambabai, Jhansi


Harald Borgen Bjerke (4 March 1860 – 1 April 1926) was a Norwegian businessperson.

He was born in Kristiania. From 1895 to 1912 he was the managing director of Mandalsgatens Høvleri. From 1910 to 1912 he also chaired the Norwegian Employers' Confederation. From 1918 to 1926 he was the Director-General of Norsk Hydro.

He was also a supervisory council member of Elektrisk Bureau.

References

1860 births
1926 deaths
Businesspeople from Oslo
Norsk Hydro people

Harald Bjerke


Raman Hui Shing-Ngai (Traditional Chinese: 許誠毅, born 4 July 1963) is a Hong Kong animator, film director, and film producer. He is best known for directing  the films Monster Hunt and Monster Hunt 2.

Early life
Hui was born in Hong Kong, and grew up in a single parent family, with his mother raising him and two other siblings. Liking to draw since he could remember, he went to Hong Kong Polytechnic University where he graduated in 1984 in graphic design.

Career
After graduation, he worked as a cel animator at Quantum Studios in Hong Kong. In 1989, he moved to Canada to attend a three-month course at Sheridan College to improve his knowledge in computer animation. For a while he was creating hand-drawn animated productions for TV commercials in Toronto. In 1989, Hui started working as a junior animator at Pacific Data Images, which was later acquired by DreamWorks Animation. There, he worked on various commercials and short films. Among other work, he directed two short films, Sleepy Guy (1995), and Fat Cat on a Diet (2000). He was the supervising animator and lead character designer on PDI's first feature film, Antz, released in 1998. From there he went on to serve as supervising animator for Shrek and Shrek 2. In 2004, he spent half a year in Hong Kong where he directed animation for the DreamWorks Animation's televisions series Father of the Pride, which was subcontracted to a Hong Kong company. In 2007, he co-directed his first feature film, Shrek the Third. He also directed three short films, Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five, Scared Shrekless and Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos.

Hui illustrated several children story books in collaboration with Kiehl's to raise funds for various Hong Kong organizations. His first book, Brownie and Sesame was released in 2004, followed by Piccolo in 2005 and Grandma Long Ears in 2006.

Due to his contributions to the Shrek films, Forbes listed Hui in 2010 among 25 notable Chinese-Americans in the business field.

Hui said of himself that he is a "Hong Konger living in America," being "sandwiched between Western and Chinese cultures." After arriving to the United States, beside learning a new language, Hui had most troubles adapting to a different lifestyle: "Hong Kong is a busy place. But the place I lived, Silicon Valley, was so quiet that if you see someone walking down the street at night, you should feel worried." Although, he prefers living in Hong Kong, Hui prefers working in the United States: "They make sure you have enough time to do your job well. I feel attached to that country because it is where I learned all my skills."

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Living people
1963 births
Hong Kong film directors
Chinese animated film directors
Alumni of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Sheridan College animation program alumni
DreamWorks Animation people

Raman Hui


Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero gravity, zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force). Micro-g environment (often referred to by the term microgravity) is more or less synonymous, with the recognition that g-forces are never exactly zero.

Weight is a measurement of the force on an object at rest in a relatively strong gravitational field (such as on the surface of the Earth). These weight-sensations originate from contact with supporting floors, seats, beds, scales, and the like. A sensation of weight is also produced, even when the gravitational field is zero, when contact forces act upon and overcome a body's inertia by mechanical, non-gravitational forces- such as in a centrifuge, a rotating space station, or within an accelerating vehicle.

When the gravitational field is non-uniform, a body in free fall experiences tidal forces and is not stress-free. Near a black hole, such tidal effects can be very strong, meeting to spaghettification. In the case of the Earth, the effects are minor, especially on objects of relatively small dimensions (such as the human body or a spacecraft) and the overall sensation of weightlessness in these cases is preserved. This condition is known as microgravity, and it prevails in orbiting spacecraft.

Weightlessness in Newtonian mechanics

In Newtonian physics, the sensation of weightlessness experienced by astronauts is not the result of there being zero gravitational acceleration (as seen from the Earth), but of there being no g-force that an astronaut can feel because of the free-fall condition, and also there being zero difference between the acceleration of the spacecraft and the acceleration of the astronaut. Space journalist James Oberg explains the phenomenon this way:

From the perspective of an observer not moving with the object (i.e. in an inertial reference frame) the force of gravity on an object in free fall is exactly the same as usual. A classic example is an elevator car where the cable has been cut and it plummets toward Earth, accelerating at a rate equal to the 9.81 meters per second per second. In this scenario, the gravitational force is mostly, but not entirely, diminished; anyone in the elevator would experience an absence of the usual gravitational pull, however the force is not exactly zero. Since gravity is a force directed towards the center of the Earth, two balls a horizontal distance apart would be pulled in slightly different directions and would come closer together as the elevator dropped. Also, if they were some vertical distance apart the lower one would experience a higher gravitational force than the upper one since gravity diminishes according to the inverse square law. These two second-order effects are examples of micro gravity.

Weightless and reduced weight environments

Reduced weight in aircraft

Airplanes have been used since 1959 to provide a nearly weightless environment in which to train astronauts, conduct research, and film motion pictures. Such aircraft are commonly referred by the nickname "Vomit Comet".

To create a weightless environment, the airplane flies in a  parabolic arc, first climbing, then entering a powered dive. During the arc, the propulsion and steering of the aircraft are controlled to cancel the drag (air resistance) on the plane out, leaving the plane to behave as if it were free-falling in a vacuum.

NASA's Reduced Gravity Aircraft
Versions of such airplanes have been operated by NASA's Reduced Gravity Research Program since 1973, where the unofficial nickname originated. NASA later adopted the official nickname 'Weightless Wonder' for publication. NASA's current Reduced Gravity Aircraft, "Weightless Wonder VI", a McDonnell Douglas C-9, is based at Ellington Field (KEFD), near Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.

NASA's Microgravity University - Reduced Gravity Flight Opportunities Plan, also known as the Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program, allows teams of undergraduates to submit a microgravity experiment proposal. If selected, the teams design and implement their experiment, and students are invited to fly on NASA's Vomit Comet.

European Space Agency A310 Zero-G
The European Space Agency (ESA) flies parabolic flights on a specially modified Airbus A310-300 aircraft to perform research in microgravity. Along with the French CNES and the German DLR, they conduct campaigns of three flights over consecutive days, with each flight's about 30 parabolae totalling about 10 minutes of weightlessness. These campaigns are currently operated from Bordeaux - Mérignac Airport by Novespace, a subsidiary of CNES; the aircraft is flown by test pilots from DGA Essais en Vol.

, the ESA has flown 52 scientific campaigns and also 9 student parabolic flight campaigns. Their first Zero-G flights were in 1984 using a NASA KC-135 aircraft in Houston, Texas. Other aircraft used include the Russian Ilyushin Il-76 MDK before founding Novespace, then a French Caravelle and an Airbus A300 Zero-G.

Commercial flights for public passengers

Novespace created Air Zero G in 2012 to share the experience of weightlessness with 40 public passengers per flight, using the same A310 ZERO-G as for scientific experiences. These flights are sold by Avico, are mainly operated from Bordeaux-Merignac, France, and intend to promote European space research, allowing public passengers to feel weightlessness. Jean-François Clervoy, Chairman of Novespace and ESA astronaut, flies with these one-day astronauts on board A310 Zero-G. After the flight, he explains the quest of space and talks about the 3 space travels he did along his career. The aircraft has also been used for cinema purposes, with Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis for the Mummy in 2017.

The Zero Gravity Corporation operates a modified Boeing 727 which flies parabolic arcs to create 25–30 seconds of weightlessness.

Ground-based drop facilities

Ground-based facilities that produce weightless conditions for research purposes are typically referred to as drop tubes or drop towers.

NASA's Zero Gravity Research Facility, located at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, is a 145 m vertical shaft, largely below the ground, with an integral vacuum drop chamber, in which an experiment vehicle can have a free fall for a duration of 5.18 seconds, falling a distance of 132 m. The experiment vehicle is stopped in approximately 4.5 m of pellets of expanded polystyrene, experiencing a peak deceleration rate of 65 g.

Also at NASA Glenn is the 2.2 Second Drop Tower, which has a drop distance of 24.1 m. Experiments are dropped in a drag shield in order to reduce the effects of air drag. The entire package is stopped in a 3.3 m tall air bag, at a peak deceleration rate of approximately 20 g. While the Zero Gravity Facility conducts one or two drops per day, the 2.2 Second Drop Tower can conduct up to twelve drops per day.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center hosts another drop tube facility that is 105 m tall and provides a 4.6 s free fall under near-vacuum conditions.

Other drop facilities worldwide include:
 Micro-Gravity Laboratory of Japan (MGLAB) – 4.5 s free fall
 Experimental drop tube of the metallurgy department of Grenoble – 3.1 s free fall
 Fallturm Bremen University of Bremen in Bremen – 4.74 s free fall
 Queensland University of Technology Drop Tower - 2.0 s free fall

Random Positioning Machines
Another ground-based approach to simulate weightlessness for biological sample is a "3D-clinostat," also called a random positioning machine. Unlike a regular clinostat, the tandom positioning machine rotates in two axes simultaneously and progressively establishes a microgravity-like condition via the prinicple of gravity-vector-averaging.

Neutral buoyancy

Orbits

On the International Space Station (ISS), there are small g-forces come from tidal effects, gravity from objects other than the Earth, such as astronauts, the spacecraft, and the Sun, air resistance, and astronaut movements that impart momentum to the space station). The symbol for microgravity, μg, was used on the insignias of Space Shuttle flights STS-87 and STS-107, because these flights were devoted to microgravity research in low Earth orbit.

Sub-Orbital flights
Over the years, biomedical research on the implications of space flight has become more prominent in evaluating possible pathophysiological changes in humans. Sub-orbital flights seize the approximated weightlessness, or µg, in the low Earth orbit and represent a promising research model for short-term exposure. Examples of such approaches are the MASER, MAXUS, or TEXUS  program run by the  Swedish Space Corporation and the European Space Agency.

Orbital Motion
Orbital motion is a form of free fall. Objects in orbit are not perfectly weightless due to several effects:
Effects depending on relative position in the spacecraft:
Because the force of gravity decreases with distance, objects with non-zero size will be subjected to a tidal force, or a differential pull, between the ends of the object nearest and furthest from the Earth. (An extreme version of this effect is spaghettification.) In a spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO), the centrifugal force is also greater on the side of the spacecraft furthest from the Earth. At a 400 km LEO altitude, the overall differential in g-force is approximately 0.384 μg/m.
Gravity between the spacecraft and an object within it may make the object slowly "fall" toward a more massive part of it. The acceleration is 0.007 μg for 1000 kg at 1 m distance.
Uniform effects (which could be compensated):
Though extremely thin, there is some air at orbital altitudes of 185 to 1,000 km. This atmosphere causes minuscule deceleration due to friction. This could be compensated by a small continuous thrust, but in practice the deceleration is only compensated from time to time, so the tiny g-force of this effect is not eliminated.
The effects of the solar wind and radiation pressure are similar, but directed away from the Sun. Unlike the effect of the atmosphere, it does not reduce with altitude.
Other Effects:
Routine crew activity: Due to the conservation of momentum, any crew member aboard a spacecraft pushing off a wall causes the spacecraft to move in the opposite direction.
Structural Vibration: Stress enacted on the hull of the spacecraft results in the spacecraft bending, causing apparent acceleration.

Weightlessness at the center of a planet

Absence of gravity
A "stationary" micro-g environment would require travelling far enough into deep space so as to reduce the effect of gravity by attenuation to almost zero. This is simple in conception but requires travelling a very large distance, rendering it highly impractical. For example, to reduce the gravity of the Earth by a factor of one million, one needs to be at a distance of 6 million kilometres from the Earth, but to reduce the gravity of the Sun to this amount, one has to be at a distance of 3.7 billion kilometres. This is not impossible, but it has only been achieved thus far by four interstellar probes: (Voyager 1 and 2 of the Voyager program, and Pioneer 10 and 11 of the Pioneer program.) At the speed of light it would take roughly three and a half hours to reach this micro-gravity environment (a region of space where the acceleration due to gravity is one-millionth of that experienced on the Earth's surface). To reduce the gravity to one-thousandth of that on Earth's surface, however, one needs only to be at a distance of 200,000 km.

At a distance relatively close to Earth (less than 3000 km), gravity is only slightly reduced. As an object orbits a body such as the Earth, gravity is still attracting objects towards the Earth and the object is accelerated downward at almost 1g. Because the objects are typically moving laterally with respect to the surface at such immense speeds, the object will not lose altitude because of the curvature of the Earth. When viewed from an orbiting observer, other close objects in space appear to be floating because everything is being pulled towards Earth at the same speed, but also moving forward as the Earth's surface "falls" away below. All these objects are in free fall, not zero gravity.

Compare the gravitational potential at some of these locations.

Health effects

Following the advent of space stations that can be inhabited for long periods, exposure to weightlessness has been demonstrated to have some deleterious effects on human health. Humans are well-adapted to the physical conditions at the surface of the Earth. In response to an extended period of weightlessness, various physiological systems begin to change and atrophy. Though these changes are usually temporary, long term health issues can result.

The most common problem experienced by humans in the initial hours of weightlessness is known as space adaptation syndrome or SAS, commonly referred to as space sickness. Symptoms of SAS include nausea and vomiting, vertigo, headaches, lethargy, and overall malaise. The first case of SAS was reported by cosmonaut Gherman Titov in 1961. Since then, roughly 45% of all people who have flown in space have suffered from this condition. The duration of space sickness varies, but in no case has it lasted for more than 72 hours, after which the body adjusts to the new environment. NASA jokingly measures SAS using the "Garn scale", named for United States Senator Jake Garn, whose SAS during STS-51-D was the worst on record. Accordingly, one "Garn" is equivalent to the most severe possible case of SAS.

The most significant adverse effects of long-term weightlessness are muscle atrophy (see Reduced muscle mass, strength and performance in space for more information) and deterioration of the skeleton, or spaceflight osteopenia. These effects can be minimized through a regimen of exercise, such as cycling for example. Astronauts subject to long periods of weightlessness wear pants with elastic bands attached between waistband and cuffs to compress the leg bones and reduce osteopenia.  Other significant effects include fluid redistribution (causing the "moon-face" appearance typical of pictures of astronauts in weightlessness), a slowing of the cardiovascular system as blood flow decreases in response to a lack of gravity, a decreased production of red blood cells, balance disorders, and a weakening of the immune system. Lesser symptoms include loss of body mass, nasal congestion, sleep disturbance, excess flatulence, and puffiness of the face.  These effects begin to reverse quickly upon return to the Earth.

In addition, after long space flight missions, astronauts may experience severe eyesight problems. Such eyesight problems may be a major concern for future deep space flight missions, including a crewed mission to the planet Mars. Exposure to high levels of radiation may influence the development of atherosclerosis also.

On December 31, 2012, a NASA-supported study reported that human spaceflight may harm the brains of astronauts and accelerate the onset of Alzheimer's disease. In October 2015, the NASA Office of Inspector General issued a health hazards report related to human spaceflight, including a human mission to Mars.

Space motion sickness

Space motion sickness (SMS) is thought to be a subtype of motion sickness that plagues nearly half of all astronauts who venture into space. SMS, along with facial stuffiness from headward shifts of fluids, headaches, and back pain, is part of a broader complex of symptoms that comprise space adaptation syndrome (SAS). SMS was first described in 1961 during the second orbit of the fourth crewed spaceflight when the cosmonaut Gherman Titov aboard the Vostok 2, described feeling disoriented with physical complaints mostly consistent with motion sickness. It is one of the most studied physiological problems of spaceflight but continues to pose a significant difficulty for many astronauts. In some instances, it can be so debilitating that astronauts must sit out from their scheduled occupational duties in space – including missing out on a spacewalk they have spent months training to perform. In most cases, however, astronauts will work through the symptoms even with degradation in their performance.

Despite their experiences in some of the most rigorous and demanding physical maneuvers on earth, even the most seasoned astronauts may be affected by SMS, resulting in symptoms of severe nausea, projectile vomiting, fatigue, malaise (feeling sick), and headache. These symptoms may occur so abruptly and without any warning that space travelers may vomit suddenly without time to contain the emesis, resulting in strong odors and liquid within the cabin which may affect other astronauts. Some changes to eye movement behaviors might also occur as a result of SMS. Symptoms typically last anywhere from one to three days upon entering weightlessness, but may recur upon reentry to Earth's gravity or even shortly after landing. SMS differs from terrestrial motion sickness in that sweating and pallor are typically minimal or absent and gastrointestinal findings usually demonstrate absent bowel sounds indicating reduced gastrointestinal motility.

Even when the nausea and vomiting resolve, some central nervous system symptoms may persist which may degrade the astronaut's performance. Graybiel and Knepton proposed the term "sopite syndrome" to describe symptoms of lethargy and drowsiness associated with motion sickness in 1976. Since then, their definition has been revised to include "...a symptom complex that develops as a result of exposure to real or apparent motion and is characterized by excessive drowsiness, lassitude, lethargy, mild depression, and reduced ability to focus on an assigned task." Together, these symptoms may pose a substantial threat (albeit temporary) to the astronaut who must remain attentive to life and death issues at all times.

SMS is most commonly thought to be a disorder of the vestibular system that occurs when sensory information from the visual system (sight) and the proprioceptive system (posture, position of the body) conflicts with misperceived information from the semicircular canals and the otoliths within the inner ear. This is known as the 'neural mismatch theory' and was first suggested in 1975 by Reason and Brand. Alternatively, the fluid shift hypothesis suggests that weightlessness reduces the hydrostatic pressure on the lower body causing fluids to shift toward the head from the rest of the body. These fluid shifts are thought to increase cerebrospinal fluid pressure (causing back aches), intracranial pressure (causing headaches), and inner ear fluid pressure (causing vestibular dysfunction).

Despite a multitude of studies searching for a solution to the problem of SMS, it remains an ongoing problem for space travel. Most non-pharmacological countermeasures such as training and other physical maneuvers have offered minimal benefit. Thornton and Bonato noted, "Pre- and inflight adaptive efforts, some of them mandatory and most of them onerous, have been, for the most part, operational failures." To date, the most common intervention is promethazine, an injectable antihistamine with antiemetic properties, but sedation can be a problematic side effect. Other common pharmacological options include metoclopramide, as well as oral and transdermal application of scopolamine, but drowsiness and sedation are common side effects for these medications as well.

Musculoskeletal effects
In the space (or microgravity) environment the effects of unloading varies significantly among individuals, with sex differences compounding the variability. Differences in mission duration, and the small sample size of astronauts participating in the same mission also adds to the variability to the musculoskeletal disorders that are seen in space. In addition to muscle loss, microgravity leads to increased bone resorption, decreased bone mineral density, and increased fracture risks. Bone resorption leads to increased urinary levels of calcium, which can subsequently lead to an increased risk of nephrolithiasis.

In the first two weeks that the muscles are unloaded from carrying the weight of the human frame during space flight, whole muscle atrophy begins. Postural muscles contain more slow fibers, and are more prone to atrophy than non-postural muscle groups. The loss of muscle mass occurs because of imbalances in protein synthesis and breakdown. The loss of muscle mass is also accompanied by a loss of muscle strength, which was observed after only 2–5 days of spaceflight during the Soyuz-3 and Soyuz-8 missions. Decreases in the generation of contractile forces and whole muscle power have also been found in response to microgravity.

To counter the effects of microgravity on the musculoskeletal system, aerobic exercise is recommended. This often takes the form of in-flight cycling. A more effective regimen includes resistive exercises or the use of a penguin suit (contains sewn-in elastic bands to maintain a stretch load on antigravity muscles), centrifugation, and vibration. Centrifugation recreates Earth's gravitational force on the space station, in order to prevent muscle atrophy. Centrifugation can be performed with centrifuges or by cycling along the inner wall of the space station. Whole body vibration has been found to reduce bone resorption through mechanisms that are unclear. Vibration can be delivered using exercise devices that use vertical displacements juxtaposed to a fulcrum, or by using a plate that oscillates on a vertical axis. The use of beta-2 adrenergic agonists to increase muscle mass, and the use of essential amino acids in conjunction with resistive exercises have been proposed as pharmacologic means of combating muscle atrophy in space.

Cardiovascular effects

Next to the skeletal and muscular system, the cardiovascular system is less strained in weightlessness than on Earth and is de-conditioned during longer periods spent in space. In a regular environment, gravity exerts a downward force, setting up a vertical hydrostatic gradient. When standing, some 'excess' fluid resides in vessels and tissues of the legs. In a micro-g environment, with the loss of a hydrostatic gradient, some fluid quickly redistributes toward the chest and upper body; sensed as 'overload' of circulating blood volume. In the micro-g environment, the newly sensed excess blood volume is adjusted by expelling excess fluid into tissues and cells (12-15% volume reduction) and red blood cells are adjusted downward to maintain a normal concentration (relative anemia). In the absence of gravity, venous blood will rush to the right atrium because the force of gravity is no longer pulling the blood down into the vessels of the legs and abdomen, resulting in increased stroke volume. These fluid shifts become more dangerous upon returning to a regular gravity environment as the body will attempt to adapt to the reintroduction of gravity. The reintroduction of gravity again will pull the fluid downward, but now there would be a deficit in both circulating fluid and red blood cells. The decrease in cardiac filling pressure and stroke volume during the orthostatic stress due to a decreased blood volume is what causes orthostatic intolerance. Orthostatic intolerance can result in temporary loss of consciousness and posture, due to the lack of pressure and stroke volume. Some animal species have evolved physiological and anatomical features (such as high hydrostatic blood pressure and closer heart place to head) which enable them to counteract orthostatic blood pressure. More chronic orthostatic intolerance can result in additional symptoms such as nausea, sleep problems, and other vasomotor symptoms as well.

Many studies on the physiological effects of weightlessness on the cardiovascular system are done in parabolic flights. It is one of the only feasible options to combine with human experiments, making parabolic flights the only way to investigate the true effects of the micro-g environment on a body without traveling into space. Parabolic flight studies have provided a broad range of results regarding changes in the cardiovascular system in a micro-g environment. Parabolic flight studies have increased the understanding of orthostatic intolerance and decreased peripheral blood flow suffered by astronauts returning to Earth. Due to the loss of blood to pump, the heart can atrophy in a micro-g environment. A weakened heart can result in low blood volume, low blood pressure and affect the body's ability to send oxygen to the brain without the individual becoming dizzy. Heart rhythm disturbances have also been seen among astronauts, but it is not clear whether this was due to pre-existing conditions of effects of a micro-g environment. One current countermeasure includes drinking a salt solution, which increases the viscosity of blood and would subsequently increase blood pressure which would mitigate post micro-g environment orthostatic intolerance. Another countermeasure includes administration of midodrine, which is a selective alpha-1 adrenergic agonist. Midodrine produces arterial and venous constriction resulting in an increase in blood pressure by baroreceptor reflexes.

Effects on non-human organisms

Russian scientists have observed differences between cockroaches conceived in space and their terrestrial counterparts. The space-conceived cockroaches grew more quickly, and also grew up to be faster and tougher.

Chicken eggs that are put in microgravity two days after fertilization appear not to develop properly, whereas eggs put in microgravity more than a week after fertilization develop normally.

A 2006 Space Shuttle experiment found that Salmonella typhimurium, a bacterium that can cause food poisoning, became more virulent when cultivated in space. On April 29, 2013, scientists in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, funded by NASA, reported that, during spaceflight on the International Space Station, microbes seem to adapt to the space environment in ways "not observed on Earth" and in ways that "can lead to increases in growth and virulence".

Under certain test conditions, microbes have been observed to thrive in the near-weightlessness of space and to survive in the vacuum of outer space.

Commercial applications

High-quality crystals
While not yet a commercial application, there has been interest in growing crystals in micro-g, as in a space station or automated artificial satellite, in an attempt to reduce crystal lattice defects. Such defect-free crystals may prove useful for certain microelectronic applications and also to produce crystals for subsequent X-ray crystallography.

In 2017, an experiment on the ISS was conducted to crystallize the monoclonal antibody therapeutic Pembrolizumab , where results showed more uniform and homogenous crystal particles compared to ground controls. Such uniform crystal particles can allow for the formulation of more concentrated, low-volume  antibody therapies, something which can make them suitable for subcutaneous administration, a less invasive approach compared to the current prevalent method of intravenous administration.

See also

Artificial gravity
Astronauts
Astronaut training
Commercial astronauts
Clinostat
Commercial use of space
Effect of spaceflight on the human body
ESA Scientific Research on the International Space Station
European Low Gravity Research Association (ELGRA)
G-jitter
Microgravity University
Reduced-gravity aircraft
Scientific research on the International Space Station
Space adaptation syndrome
Space manufacturing
Space medicine
Vomit Comet

References

External links

 Weightlessness Flight with Zero-Gravity airplane
 Microgravity Centre
 How Weightlessness Works at HowStuffWorks
 NASA - SpaceResearch - Human Physiology Research and the ISS: Staying Fit Along the Journey
 Zero gravity chair use the concept of weightlessness
 "Why are astronauts weightless?" Video explanation of the fallacy of "zero gravity".
 Overview of microgravity applications and methods
 Criticism of the terms "Zero Gravity" and "Microgravity", a persuasion to use terminology that reflects accurate physics (sci.space post).
 Microgravity Collection, The University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections
 Space Biology Research at AU-KBC Research Centre

Gravity
Space medicine

Weightlessness


John Wesley College was the seminary of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa situated at Kilnerton in Pretoria, South Africa.  It was most commonly referred to as John Wesley College Kilnerton.  It opened at Kilnerton in 1994, and was replaced by the Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary, located in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, in January 2009.

History
The facility was first established as Kilnerton Institution in 1886 and situated in Weavind Park, a suburb of Tshwane (Pretoria),  and was named after the Rev John Kilner, secretary of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society who encouraged the formation of an indigenous clergy in South Africa.  The goal was to provide education for the local people.  There was also a request from local chiefs for the Methodist Church to provide land where they could safely settle.  When Kilnerton Institution was established these people settled at what became Kilnerton Village.  Kilnerton served the community with a primary school, a high school, a training college or normal school as well as with a clinic and special domestic science course.  Their spiritual needs were served by the services held in the chapel on the hill.

Revival
Kilnerton became the site of the revival of John Wesley College when the Federal Theological Seminary of Southern Africa closed, opening its doors on 6 February 1994.  This occasion also marked the revival of Kilnerton as a training institution after 32 years. With the closure of the Department of Theology and Religion at Rhodes University in 2000, John Wesley College Kilnerton became the only centre for residential theological education in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.

Notable alumni
Dikgang Moseneke, Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa, William Frederick Nkomo, Thomas Masekela, Enos Makhubedu, Miriam Makeba, Lilian Ngoyi, Rev Sedumedi Molope, and Sefako Makgatho

External links
 John Wesley College

Christianity in Pretoria
Seminaries and theological colleges in South Africa
Methodist seminaries and theological colleges
Methodism in South Africa
Schools in Pretoria

John Wesley College


Issara Kachaiwong (born October 4, 1983, in Chanthaburi, Thailand), is a former Thai professional snooker player.

Career
Kachaiwong first came to public attention in 2002 when he became the Thai national under-20 champion. He continued to impress on the amateur scene winning the first edition of the General Cup International, defeating players like Mark Allen and Dominic Dale and also capturing a gold medal at the 2004 Thai Games, before he finally qualified for the main tour by winning the 2006 Asian championships, defeating Mohammed Shehab 6–3 in the final.

His best performance in the debut season came at the 2006 Grand Prix in October in Aberdeen. During that tournament he impressed, winning 4 of his five matches during the group stages. His only loss came against John Higgins. However he failed to make the top two as both Higgins and Alan McManus, who Kachaiwong had beaten, had better frame differences. He was the only player who won four times in the group stages who did not make it through to the knockout stages. The rest of Kachaiwong's results was not good enough to keep him on tour, but he was handed a wild card for another season. Despite a last 64 run at the season-ending World Championship, he was again relegated.

At the 2010 ACBS Asian Snooker Championship Kachaiwong beat Mohammad Sajjad from Pakistan 7–3 in the final to become the champion and regained his tour card for the 2010–11 season. Once again he struggled for results, his best performance coming at the China Open where he reached the final qualifying round. He finished the season 87th in the world rankings and failed to retain his place on the tour.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 2 (1 title)

Pro-am finals: 2 (2 titles)

Amateur finals: 5 (4 titles)

References

External links

Issara Kachaiwong
Living people
1983 births
Issara Kachaiwong
Issara Kachaiwong
SEA Games medalists in cue sports
Competitors at the 2005 SEA Games

Issara Kachaiwong


Weep Not, Child is a novel written by the Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. It is his first novel and was published in 1964 under the names James Ngugi. It was the first English novel published by an East African.

Weep Not, Child deals with British colonialism and the Mau Mau Uprising.

Story
Njoroge is a young Kenyan boy. He is the first one in his family to go to school. His family lives on land owned by Jacobo, an African who became rich by making deals with white settlers (specifically Mr. Howlands).

Everyone is focused on the trial of Jomo Kenyatta. A lot of black people think he will help Kenya become independent. But Kenyatta loses and goes to jail. This leads to more people protesting and more suppression of the black population.

Jacobo and Mr. Howlands fight against the Mau Mau.

Njoroge tries to kill himself. However, his mother find him before he can succeed. He is disappointed and ashamed of being a coward.

Characters
 Njoroge is the main character. He goes to school to be educated as possible.
 Ngotho is Njoroge's father.
 Nyokabi and Njeri are Ngotho's wives. Njeri is Ngotho's first wife and mother of Boro, Kamau, and Kori. Nyokabi is his second wife and mother of Njoroge and Mwangi.
 Boro, Kamau, Kori and Mwangi are Njoroge's brothers. Mwangi and Njoroge share the same mom and dad. Mwangi died in World War II.
 Mwikaki is Njoroge's friend. He later develops a crush on her.
 Jacobo is the village chief. He is Mwikaki's father.
 Mr. Howlands is a white Englishman. He owns the land that belonged to Ngotho's ancestors.

Themes
Weep Not, Child talks about Kikuyu stories and African nationalism. It also explores the negative effects of colonialism and imperialism.

Jomo Kenyatta, who was the first prime minister of Kenya, is portrayed as a savior of the nation in the novel.

English-language novels
1964 books
African literature
Kenya

Weep Not, Child