The Snyder Estate Natural Cement Historic District is located in the Town of Rosendale, New York, United States. It is a  tract roughly bounded by Rondout Creek, Binnewater and Cottekill roads and Sawdust Avenue. NY 213 runs through the lower portion of the district, paralleling the dry bed of the Delaware and Hudson Canal.

Within the district's bounds are 122 contributing properties representing what remains of five plants that produced Rosendale cement, and the homes and dependencies of the Snyder family, who originally owned the land. They range in age from the bed of the canal, where the cement was discovered in 1825 during construction, to some of the last factories built before production was ended in 1970. Included are not just homes, barns, and factories but mines, reservoirs, and a rail siding. After an aborted attempt to secure National Historic Landmark District status in 1978, the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

Geography

The district is shaped like a letter "r", solidly bounded by the roads and creek on three of its sides, but with its eastern boundary mostly following old roads between Route 213, Binnewater road and Sawdust avenue. Physically, it is dominated by two large hills, foothills of the Shawangunk Ridge to the south, which rise to over 300 feet (91 m) in elevation, more than  above the creek's waters to the south.

Between them in a narrow valley sit the remains of one of the largest cement plants in it. An old Wallkill Valley Railroad siding runs from there to the northeast corner near where it once joined the main line at today's Binnewater Historic District. Old mines and quarries are tunneled into the sides of both hills.

The property is mostly wooded save for the developed areas. Some of the areas along the road are old fields, today meadows.

History

Natural cement production began almost immediately after its discovery inside district bounds by James McEntee, an engineer on the D&H canal construction project in 1825. Production peaked by the end of the 19th century at about 4,000,000 barrels per year. Demand for natural cement fell during the 20th century due to competitive pressure from Portland cement. The final cement company closed its operations in 1970 after a valiant attempt to survive mounted by A. J. Snyder.

19th century

The Snyder family owned and farmed the property since 1755. In 1809, Christopher and Deborah Snyder commissioned for their newlywed son, Jacob Lowe Snyder, a house with an accompanying gristmill on the creek. Known today as the Century House, it is the oldest extant building in the district whose age is precisely known.

In 1825, Jacob ceded a portion of his land to John B. Jervis of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company so that a canal could be built across the property. As a condition of building the canal, Jacob required the company to build him a slip so he could ship his produce to market, and a bridge to reach his mill. Crews excavating the area a short while later found large deposits of dolostone containing an ideal amount of clay minerals that, once pulverized and mixed, could be turned into natural cement without additives.

The company set up production facilities almost immediately, as similar cement was used to construct the Erie Canal. The presence of dolomite meant the canal could be built using this new cement and guaranteed another customer beside the anthracite coal miners the canal was built to serve. In 1830, Snyder leased the southeastern corner of his property to Watson Lawrence. Lawrence had already built a cement plant on adjacent land. Other mines and cement plants opened up in the  area along the Rondout as well, creating a vibrant local industry.

Snyder reinvested much of the Lawrence Cement Company's profits in improving its technical quality. He courted buyers for large, high-profile government projects like New York City's Croton Aqueduct and the Brooklyn Navy Yard docks. This helped create a reputation for quality that unwittingly resulted "Rosendale cement" becoming a generic term for any natural cement, regardless of where it was produced. The popularity ultimately strained the company's finances to the point of failure; the company closed in 1858.

Lawrence retained control of the new Lawrenceville Cement Company, but was ousted after three years when William Beach took over. Beach expanded the production facilities, in time for the rise in demand that occurred as the Gilded Age saw a rapid increase in demand after the lull caused by the Civil War. Beach died in 1881; control soon passed to his son William N. Beach II.

The younger Beach took advantage of the recently constructed Wallkill Valley Railroad and its connections to the New York Central network as a way to get product to market, building a siding to the plant. In keeping with a general national trend, this began a shift away from the canal that had spawned the cement works, and within two decades the canal would carry its last loads.

20th century

As the century ended, the natural-cement industry dominated the market. The Snyder family was proud that their cement had been used in the Brooklyn Bridge, an icon of the era. Beach built another new plant in the northeast corner of the property to handle demand. But the development of the cheaper Portland cement during that period eventually toppled the Rosendale variety, whose market share dropped 90% in the first decade of the 20th century. Local industrial magnate Samuel Coykendall eventually tried to salvage the Rosendale industry through mergers, combining all the local companies save the ones on the Snyder property into one. The Consolidated Rosendale Cement Company was no more successful than any of its component companies had been, and was in receivership by 1918.

In 1911 an Ulster County court had forced the sale of the Snyder company from William Snyder to 21-year-old Andrew J. Snyder II after a disagreement over the sharing of profits. The younger Snyder dismantled one of the larger plants and built a smaller one in its place. He was able to continue production on a reduced scale through the 1920s, and later in that decade attracted the interest of an investor from Cleveland named Kling, who leased a portion of the property from Snyder and started the Interstate Cement Company.

The Great Depression soon put an end to that venture, and by 1935 it had become the Century Cement Manufacturing Co., wholly owned by Snyder. He was able to keep the company going through the later 1930s when he allowed mushroom growers to set up shop in the abandoned Beach Mine. Eventually, that would produce five tons (4.5 tonnes) per day before it stopped in 1960.

At the same time he also took advantage of a discovery that Portland cement could be made even more quickly and last longer when combined with natural cement in an 80:20 ratio. This blend was particularly suited to highways, then being built at a great pace everywhere due to the combination of New Deal public works projects and increasing automobile use. By the start of World War II production was again on the increase.

It fell during the war years but rebounded afterward to even higher levels as highway construction picked up again with the development of the Interstate Highway System. In 1954 Rosendale cement was used for the nearby sections of the New York State Thruway. However, it would be the last major public project in which it was used.

Snyder had been exploring the possibilities of making Portland cement as well. Geologists found that there were significant reserves in the Hudson Valley of the type of limestone needed, so in 1958 the company bought a plant from the Swiss company Van Roll. Three years later it was built next to the existing facilities and began turning out cement. Around the same time, chemists developed an additive to Portland cement which eliminated the need for the Rosendale mix, and cut costs even further.

Snyder and the company's technical team tried to keep up with the changes, but they were as old as he was and had trouble getting the formula right. The market for the natural cement the property still produced was almost negligible, and in 1970 Snyder finally halted production almost a century and a half after Rosendale cement had first been discovered on the bed of the long-abandoned canal. He himself died five years later

Preservation

Recognizing its historic importance not just to the region but the country as a whole, two staffers at the American Association for State and Local History prepared an application to have the district designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978 that was never completed. The Century House Historical Society (CHHS) acquired the  around the eponymous 1809 building where Jacob Lowe Snyder lived at the time of the canal's construction. It was chartered provisionally in 1992 and fully in 2000. It runs the property as a museum devoted to both the house and the American natural cement industry.

In the plant's last years, one of the few markets it had left was the restoration of historic buildings that had originally used it or similar materials. The factory's closure left those builders without any source of authentic material. In 2004 Edison Coatings, Inc., of Plainville, Connecticut, trademarked the brand Rosendale Natural Cement Products and began offering an authentic, historically accurate replacement.

Significant contributing properties

Several of the many contributing resources to the district are notable in their own right. None have yet been separately listed on the Register, save the sections of canal bed, a National Historic Landmark.

The Century House Historical Society(CHHS) operates the site as a museum that is open to the public on Sunday afternoons in the summer season.  The museum is also known as the "Century House Historical Society Museum" and the "Snyder Estate Museum".

Century House
Jacob Lowe Snyder's 1809 frame house, renovated in the 1940s, is the core of the CHHS property and the oldest building in the district.

The house features the Cement Industry Museum, with artifacts and photographs from the Rosendale cement industry. Rosendale Natural Cement was used in the building of many historic buildings and structures, including the Brooklyn Bridge, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, the wings of the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, Grand Central Terminal, the Croton Aqueduct, the Empire State Building (foundation) and dams and many other public works projects.  There is also a display of horse-drawn carriages and sleighs.

Andrew J. Snyder I House
Known also as the Ceramic Brick House. Originally built in 1887 as a Second Empire-style mansion complete with mansard roof, in 1950 the windows and roof were converted to a more standard gable with dormers. It was also refaced in polychrome glazed brick imported from Leeds. This drastic exterior redesign did not cost the house its historic status as its original framing and interior layout remain intact.

Canal infrastructure
In addition to the canal bed, other aspects of the canal remain within the district. There is a waste weir next to it, and just west of Binnewater Road is a reservoir that was used to keep the canal full during dry stretches. The slip that the company built for Snyder is also intact, and is possibly the only remaining slip from the original construction along the entire length of the former canal.

Widow Jane Mine

Widow Jane Mine, a drift mine into one of the hillsides, is the oldest cement mine on the property. It was constructed using the room and pillar technique, where pillars of dolomite have been left to support the overlying rock. The largest of the mines, it has been likened to an underground pillared room. The deep mining operations are mostly flooded with groundwater, but the room and pillar entrance is available for visitors. Frequent events taking advantage of the unique acoustics are hosted in the summer.

References

External links

Century House Historical Society

National Register of Historic Places in Ulster County, New York
Cement
Mining communities in New York (state)
Historic districts in Ulster County, New York
Museums in Ulster County, New York
Mining museums in the United States
Historical society museums in New York (state)
Rosendale, New York
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
Mines in New York (state)


The Skylands Region (simply known as Skylands) is a region of New Jersey located in the northern and central parts of the state.  It is one of six tourism regions established by the New Jersey State Department of Tourism; the others are Gateway Region, Greater Atlantic City Region, the Southern Shore Region, the Delaware River Region, and the Shore Region.

The Skylands Region officially encompasses Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties; the northwestern part of the Passaic County fits in with the Skylands Region, but it is part of the Gateway Region and not the Skylands Region. One could also say that the westernmost part of Bergen (in the Ramapo Mountains) is also part of the Skylands. The area features uplifted land, rolling hills and mountains characteristic of North Jersey.  The region contains 60,000 acres (240 km²) of state parkland and a diverse geography filled with lakes, rivers, and picturesque hills.

Climate
This region is considered by Köppen to be Humid Continental (Dfb).

Places and events
Allamuchy Freight House
Allamuchy Mountain State Park
Central Railroad of New Jersey main line
Columbia Trail
Delaware Water Gap and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (on New Jersey side of Pennsylvania-New Jersey border)
Duke Farms
Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
Hacklebarney State Park
High Point State Park
High Point
Hopatcong State Park
Jenny Jump State Forest
Jenny Jump Mountain
Land of Make Believe
Kittatinny Mountain
Kittatinny Valley State Park
Lackawanna Cut-Off
Lake Hopatcong
Lake Musconetcong
Lehigh Line
Musconetcong Mountain
Musconetcong River
Musconetcong Tunnel
New Jersey State Fair
Red Mill
Ringwood Manor
Ringwood State Park
Round Valley Reservoir
Space Farms Zoo and Museum
Spruce Run Recreation Area
Stokes State Forest
Sussex Branch Rail Trail
Swartswood State Park
The Sourlands
Sourland Mountain
Sourland Mountain Preserve
Wallkill River
Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge
Waterloo Village, New Jersey
Wild West City
Schooley's Mountain
Skylands estate
Somerset Patriots/TD Bank Ballpark
Sussex County Miners/Skylands Stadium
Voorhees State Park

See also
Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians
New York-New Jersey Highlands
Piedmont

References

External links

 The High Point of New Jersey: The Skylands Region
 New Jersey Skylands
 Skylands Tourism Council
 New Jersey Highlands Coalition

Tourism in New Jersey
Regions of New Jersey
Tourism regions of New Jersey
North Jersey
Highlands

Skylands Region


Richard Stanford Cox (April 19, 1930 – July 8, 1994), known professionally as Dick Sargent, was an American actor. He is best known for being the second actor to portray Darrin Stephens on ABC's fantasy situation comedy Bewitched. He took the name Dick Sargent from a Saturday Evening Post illustrator/artist of the same name.

Early life
Sargent was born Richard Stanford Cox in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, on April 19, 1930, to Ruth McNaughton and Colonel Elmer Cox. His mother was the daughter of John McNaughton, who founded Los Angeles's famed Union Stockyards. She appeared under the stage name of "Ruth Powell", and had supporting bit roles in such films as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and Hearts and Trumps with Nazimova. Sargent's father Elmer served in World War I and later became a business manager to Hollywood figures, including Douglas Fairbanks and Erich von Stroheim.

Sargent attended the San Rafael Military Academy in San Rafael, California, before majoring in drama at Stanford University. He appeared in two dozen plays with the Stanford Players Theater.

Career
Sargent appeared in feature films following his debut in Prisoner of War (1954). He appeared in The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) starring Fess Parker. In the 1957 movie Bernardine,  Sargent portrayed Sanford "Fofo" Wilson.

Sargent appeared in the 1959 feature film Operation Petticoat starring Cary Grant, and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken starring Don Knotts in 1966. He was a regular in three short-lived television comedies, One Happy Family in 1961, Broadside  in 1964, and The Tammy Grimes Show, a four-episode ABC flop in 1966. For three seasons, from 1969 to 1972, he played Darrin Stephens — a role he had previously turned down — in Bewitched, replacing ailing actor Dick York.

In 1975, Sargent appeared on the television show Tattletales with Fannie Flagg.

His later movies included the crime drama Hardcore (1979) as Jake Van Dorn's strait-laced brother-in-law, Wes DeJong, and as Dr. Jameson in the sci-fi horror film Parts: The Clonus Horror (1979). He also played Sheriff Grady Byrd in two 1979–1980 season episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard.

Sargent continued to work in film. He played Harry in Live a Little, Love a Little (1968) opposite Elvis Presley and Michele Carey, and made guest appearances on television series, including Navy Log, The West Point Story, Medic, Code 3, Ripcord, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, The Alaskans, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Rat Patrol, I Dream of Jeannie, Hazel, Dr. Kildare, Daniel Boone, Kraft Mystery Theater, Three's Company, The Waltons, Charlie's Angels, Knots Landing, Family Ties, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Adam-12, The Streets of San Francisco, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Ellery Queen, The Tony Randall Show, The Devlin Connection, Baretta, Switch, The Six Million Dollar Man, Marcus Welby, M.D., Trapper John, M.D., Matt Houston, Alice, Taxi, Benson, Vega$, Diff'rent Strokes, Here's Lucy, Love, American Style, The Yellow Rose, The Commish, Finder of Lost Loves, Murder, She Wrote, L.A. Law and Harry and the Hendersons. In 1990, he also portrayed himself in an episode of Columbo. In the mid-1980s he landed the steady role of Richard Preston, the widowed father, in the TBS sitcom Down to Earth. He also appeared in the fantasy comedy Teen Witch (1989).

Throughout the 1980s, he joined actress Sally Struthers as an advocate for Christian Children's Fund, which brought relief to children in developing nations. Sargent also did charitable work for the Special Olympics, World Hunger, AIDS Project Los Angeles and the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

Personal life
On National Coming Out Day in 1991, Sargent publicly declared his homosexuality and supported gay rights issues. The high rate of suicide among young gay people was the main reason; he jokingly referred to himself as a "retroactive role model". Sargent recognized that his ill health from prostate cancer may have led people to assume he suffered from AIDS.

Sargent had a companion with whom he lived for over 20 years, before the unidentified man died from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1979. He later lived with his domestic partner, Albert Williams, until his death.

In June 1992, Sargent was a Grand Marshal of the Los Angeles Gay Pride parade along with Elizabeth Montgomery.

Death
Sargent was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1989. Doctors were initially optimistic that it could be treated. However, the disease continued to spread and, by early 1994, he had become seriously ill. Sargent died from the disease on July 8, 1994, aged 64. His body was cremated.

Former Bewitched co-star Elizabeth Montgomery commented, "He was a great friend, and I will miss his love, his sense of humor and his remarkable courage." Montgomery herself died of colon cancer less than a year later.

Partial filmography

Prisoner of War (1954) – Lt. Leonard Lee (uncredited)
The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) – Deputy Larry Brewster
The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) – Union Soldier (uncredited)
Love Me Tender (1956) – Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
Bernardine (1957) – Sanford Wilson
Mardi Gras (1958) – Dick Saglon
Operation Petticoat (1959) – Ens. Stovall
The Great Impostor (1960) – Hotchkiss
That Touch of Mink (1962) – Young Man (Harry Clark)
For Love or Money (1963) – Harvey Wofford
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) – Lt. Belden 'Barney' Alderson
Fluffy (1965) – Tommy
Billie (1965) – Matt Bullitt
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) – George Beckett
The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968) – Capt. Elwood Prohaska
Daniel Boone - Reuben Stone - S2/E18 "The Deserter" (1966)
The Young Runaways (1968) – Freddy 'Sage'
Live a Little, Love a Little (1968)
 I Dream of Jeannie (1969) one episode, Jeannie for the Defense - Norman Cashman
Adam-12 (1969) Log 92, Tell him he pushed a little too hard – Harry
Bewitched (1969-1972) three seasons - Darrin Stephens
Here's Lucy (1973) one episode, Lucy Plays Cops and Robbers
 The Streets of San Francisco (1973) one episode, Season 1, episode 25, Shattered Image
The Love Boat (1977) one episode, Lonely at the Top/Silent Night/Divorce Me – Father Mike
Three's Company (1977) – Lloyd Cross
Charlie's Angels (1978) – one episode, Angels in Vegas - Marty Cole
Hardcore (1979) – Wes DeJong
Parts: The Clonus Horror (1979) – Dr. Jameson
''Family Ties'' (1982) one episode, No Nukes Is Good Nukes - Elyse's dad
I'm Going to Be Famous (1983) – The Director
Benson (1984) season 6 episode 4 "the campaign" as Worth Lakewood
The Eleventh Commandment (1986) – Charles Knight
Teen Witch (1989) – Frank Miller
Rock-A-Die Baby (1989) – Dad (Adam)
Twenty Dollar Star (1990) – Mr. Brandon
Murder by Numbers (1990) – Patrick Crain
Frame Up (1991) – Will Curran
Acting on Impulse (1993) – Mr. Randolph (final film role)

References

Further reading

External links

1930 births
1994 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Male actors from California
American male film actors
American male television actors
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from prostate cancer
American gay actors
American LGBT rights activists
LGBT people from California
Actors from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Activists from California
Bewitched
20th-century American LGBT people

Dick Sargent


HMS Royal Oak was a British battleship. It was built in 1916 and fought in the Battle of Jutland the same year. On 14 October 1939, soon after the start of World War II, it was sunk in Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland by the German submarine U-47. 835 people on the ship died when it sank, including the ship's admiral Sir Henry Blagrove. Many of the dead were boys younger than 16. The sinking affected people from both Germany and Britain: the commander of the German submarine, Günther Prien, was given a medal by Adolf Hitler, and the British quickly built sea walls to stop such a thing happening again.

Every year, Navy divers put a flag on the ship's stern.

Royal Oak

HMS Royal Oak


Maria van Riebeeck (née de la Queillerie; 28 October 1629 – 2 November 1664) was a French Huguenot who was the first wife of Jan van Riebeeck, the Dutch colonial administrator and first commander of the settlement at the Cape.

Life
She was the daughter of Abraham de la Queillerie (1589–1630) from Tournai, Belgium and Maria du Bois (born 1594 died unknown) from France. Her grandfather Chrétien de la Queillerie (1543-), a nobleman from the Boulogne-sur-Mer region, had also been a pastor in Armentières, then a military chaplain in the army of Guillaume d'Orange, then a pastor in the Pays- Bas, notably in Ghent, Leiden, Utrecht and Bergen-op-Zoom. They spoke French and Dutch in her family. She spent her childhood in Leiden.

She married Van Riebeeck on 28 March 1649 in Schiedam. The couple had eight children, of whom most died young. The couple arrived to the later Cape Town in South Africa in 1652.

The first period, they lived in a tent. Maria acted as the hostess to guests, is said to have entertained with a clavicord, and was described as diplomatically gifted in the company of foreigners. She was from 1658 active as a money lender to the colonists, and used a slave girl as an interpreter to communicate with the native population.

Little is known about the personality of Maria de la Queillerie, but in 1660–1661, the French priest Nicolas Étienne stayed ten months in Cape Town after a shipwreck; in a letter, he describes her as very pious (in Protestant faith of course), diplomatic and very intelligent.

She died in Dutch Malacca on 2 November 1664, aged 35, from undisclosed causes.

Legacy
She has been referred to as the ancestral mother of the white Afrikaners. The South African Navy submarine, the SAS Maria van Riebeeck, was named in her memory.

A commemorative plaque of Maria van Riebeeck can be found in the ruins of Saint Paul's Church in Malacca, replacing the original tombstone that was transported to Cape Town in 1915.

A statue of Maria van Riebeeck is located in a Cape Town square between Heerengracht Street and Adderley Street, next to that of her husband. It was offered in 1952 by the Dutch State for the commemorations of the 300th anniversary of the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Having no certainty as to the appearance of Maria, the sculptor Dirk Wolbers used his own wife as a model. The statue was unveiled by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands on October 2, 1954. Queen Juliana was not present having told Prime Minister DF Malan that she would not travel to South Africa while apartheid, implemented from 1948, is said to be in force there. The statue was then placed in the garden of the National Art Museum in Cape Town.

References

1629 births
1664 deaths
Dutch emigrants to South Africa
Dutch East India Company people from Rotterdam
17th-century people from the Dutch Empire
Dutch Cape Colony people
17th-century South African people

Maria van Riebeeck


The avermectins are a series of drugs and pesticides used to treat parasitic worms and insect pests. They are a group of 16-membered macrocyclic lactone derivatives with potent anthelmintic and insecticidal properties. These naturally occurring compounds are generated as fermentation products by Streptomyces avermitilis, a soil actinomycete. Eight different avermectins were isolated in four pairs of homologue compounds (A1, A2, B1, B2), with a major (a-component) and minor (b-component) component usually in ratios of 80:20 to 90:10. Avermectin B1, a mixture of B1a and B1b, is the drug and pesticide abamectin. Other anthelmintics derived from the avermectins include ivermectin, selamectin, doramectin, eprinomectin.

Half of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura for discovering avermectin, "the  derivatives  of which have radically lowered the incidence of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, as well as showing efficacy against an expanding number of other  parasitic diseases."

History
In 1978, an actinomycete was isolated at the Kitasato Institute from a soil sample collected at Kawana, Ito City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Later that year, the isolated actinomycete was sent to Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories for testing. Various carefully controlled broths were fermented using the isolated actinomycete. Early tests indicated that some of the whole, fermented broths were active against Nematospiroides dubius in mice over at least an eight-fold range without notable toxicity. Subsequent to this, the anthelmintic activity was isolated and identified as a family of closely related compounds. The compounds were finally characterized and the novel species that produced them were described by a team at Merck in 1978, and named Streptomyces avermitilis (with the adjective probably intended to mean that it kills worms).

In 2002, Yoko Takahashi and others at the Kitasato Institute for Life Sciences, Kitasato University, and at the Kitasato Institute, proposed that Streptomyces avermitilis be renamed Streptomyces avermectinius.

Dosing
A commonly used therapy in recent times has been based on oral, parenteral, topical, or spot topical (as in veterinary flea repellant "drops") administration of avermectins. They show activity against a broad range of nematodes and arthropod parasites of domestic animals at dose rates of 300 μg/kg or less (200 μg/kg ivermectin appearing to be the common interspecies standard, from humans to horses to house pets, unless otherwise indicated). Unlike the macrolide or polyene antibiotics, they lack significant antibacterial or antifungal activities.

Mechanism of action
The avermectins block the transmission of electrical activity in invertebrate nerve and muscle cells mostly by enhancing the effects of glutamate at the glutamate-gated chloride channel that is specific to protostome invertebrates,
with minor effects on gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors.
This causes an influx of chloride ions into the cells, leading to hyperpolarisation and subsequent paralysis of invertebrate neuromuscular systems; comparable doses are not toxic for mammals because they do not possess  protostome-specific glutamate-gated chloride channels.

Toxicity and side effects
Resistance to avermectins has been reported, which suggests moderation in use. Resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans has been observed by the most obvious route – variation of the glutamate-gated chloride channel. Research on ivermectin, piperazine, and dichlorvos in combinations also shows potential for toxicity. Avermectin has been reported to block LPS-induced secretion of tumor necrosis factor, nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2, and increase of intracellular concentration of Ca2+.  Adverse effects are usually transient; severe effects are rare and probably occur only with substantial overdose, but include coma, hypotension, and respiratory failure, which can lead to death.  No specific therapy exists, but symptomatic management usually leads to a favorable prognosis.

Avermectin biosynthesis

The gene cluster for biosynthesis of avermectin from S. avermitilis has been sequenced. The avermectin biosynthesis gene cluster encodes enzymes responsible for four steps of avermectin production: 1) production of the avermectin aglycon by polyketide synthases, 2) modification of the aglycon, 3) synthesis of modified sugars, and 4) glycosylation of the modified avermectin aglycon.  This gene cluster can produce eight avermectins which have minor structural differences.

The avermectin initial aglycon is synthesized by the polyketide synthase activity of four proteins (AVES 1, AVES 2, AVES 3, and AVES 4). The activity of this enzyme complex is similar to type I polyketide synthases. Either 2-methylbutyryl CoA or isobutyryl CoA can be used as starting units and are extended by seven acetate units and five propionate units to produce avermectin "a" series or "b" series, respectively. The initial aglycon is subsequently released from the thioesterase domain of AVES 4 by formation of an intramolecular cyclic ester.

The avermectin initial aglycon is further modified by other enzymes in the avermectin biosynthetic gene cluster. AveE has cytochrome P450 monooxygenase activity and facilitates the furan ring formation between C6 and C8.  AveF has NAD(P)H-dependent ketoreductase activity which reduces the C5 keto group to a hydroxyl. AveC influences the dehydratase activity in module two (affecting C22-C23), although the mechanism by which it does this is not clear.  AveD has SAM-dependent C5 O-methyltransferase activity. Whether AveC or AveD acts on the aglycon determines whether the resulting avermectin aglycon will produce avermectin, series "A" or "B" and series 1 or 2 (see synthesis schematic diagram table), respectively.

Nine open reading frames (orf1 and aveBI-BVIII) are downstream of aveA4, which are known involved with glycosylation and sugar synthesis. AveBII-BVIII are responsible for synthesis of dTDP-L-oleandrose and AveBI is responsible for glycosylation of the avermectin aglycon with the dTDP-sugar. The sequence of orf1 suggests that its product will have reductase activity, but this functionality does not appear to be necessary for avermectin synthesis.

Other uses
Abamectin is the active ingredient in some commercial ant bait traps. Ivermectin, formulated from Avermectin, has a wide variety of uses in human beings. According to a paper (Ivermectin: "Wonder Drug" from Japan: the human use perspective) written by the drugs co-creator Satoshi Ōmura and Andy Crump for The Japan Academy, Ivermectin has improved the lives of billions of people worldwide and not solely for uses as an anti parasitic.

See also
 Milbemycins are a chemically closely related group of parasiticides.
 Avermectin/ivermectin glycorandomization

References

Antiparasitic agents
Polyketides

Avermectin


North Perth is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Vincent.

This old, established suburb three kilometres north of the Perth central business district is a place of mainly solid brick homes built from the early 1900s, many of which are now undergoing extensive renovations in line with the nationwide trend toward close-to-the-city living. It is home to various small shops and cafes, as well as the Rosemount Hotel. Beatty Park Leisure Centre was built (as Beatty Park Aquatic Centre) for the Perth Commonwealth Games in 1962 in Vincent Street.

North Perth is home to North Perth Primary School and Kyilla Primary School.  North Perth Primary School was established in 1899 and by 1921 was the largest primary school in the state.

According to the 2016 Census data, North Perth has a median age of 37 years, with 14.0% over the age of 65. The residents have a median personal income per week of $943, median household income of $2,074 and median family income of $2,616. This is a higher median income in all categories than Australia as a whole ($724, $1,910 and $1,595 respectively).

See also
 Electoral district of North Perth
 Municipality of North Perth

References

External links

Suburbs of Perth, Western Australia
Suburbs in the City of Vincent

North Perth, Western Australia


Uziel "Uzi" Gal (, born Gotthard Glas; 15 December 1923 – 7 September 2002) was  a German-born Israeli firearm designer who invented the Uzi submachine gun.

Biography
Gal was born in Weimar, Germany to Miele and Erich Glas. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, he first moved to the United Kingdom and later in 1936 to Kibbutz Yagur in the British Mandate of Palestine, where he changed his name to Uziel Gal.

In 1943, he was arrested for illegally carrying a gun and was sentenced to six years in prison. However, he was pardoned and released in 1946 (serving less than half of his sentence).

Gal began designing the Uzi submachine gun shortly after the founding of Israel and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. In 1951, it was officially adopted by the Israel Defense Forces and was called the Uzi after its creator. Gal did not want the weapon to be named after him but his request was denied. In 1955, he was decorated with the Tzalash haRamatkal and in 1958, Gal was the first person to receive the Israel Security Award, presented to him by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion for his work on the Uzi.

Gal retired from the IDF in 1975, and moved to the United States the following year. He settled in Philadelphia so that his daughter, Tamar, who had serious brain damage, could receive extended medical treatment there.

In the early 1980s, Gal assisted in the creation of the Ruger MP9 submachine gun.

Gal continued his work as a firearms designer in the United States until his death from cancer in 2002. His body was flown back to Yagur for burial.

References

External links
 Uziel Gal biography by his son, Iddo Gal

1923 births
2002 deaths
Weapon designers
Weapon design
Firearm designers
Israeli military personnel
Israeli colonels
Israel Defense Prize recipients
Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania
Recipients of British royal pardons
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
Israeli inventors
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine
Israeli emigrants to the United States
Israeli people of German-Jewish descent

Uziel Gal


The Tryzub is a Ukrainian national symbol and the modern small coat of arms of Ukraine. It is a golden trident of a particular shape on a blue background. It was also the coat of arms of the Rurikid dynasty and the Kievan Rus state in the past. There are different theories about the origin and meaning of the Tryzub, but none of them is widely accepted. The Tryzub is often thought to be a stylized image of a falcon or an anchor-cross. The concept of "Tryzubets" is much broader than the Tryzub and refers to graphic symbols that are genetically related to it, which can be found in many cultures around the world. The Tryzub was used as a symbol by the Rurikid princes, but it is not clear if it was a symbol only of the Rurikids or an ancient symbol of the Slavs.

History of Ukraine
Coats of arms
Heraldry

Tryzub


Stutthof was a Nazi prison and later a concentration camp. It was near the village of Sztutowo in Poland,. Stutthof was  from the German-occupied Free City of Sanzig. The camp was built around existing structures, It was first used as a prison for Polish leaders and intelligentsia. It became a prison on 2 September 1939. The prison was made into a concentration camp on 7 January 1942. Stutthof was liberated by the Allies on 9 May 1945,It was the last camp to be liberated. Stutthof was the only concentration camp to be liberated after World War II ended in Europe on 8 May 1945.

Nazi Germany

Stutthof concentration camp


Whittaker is an unincorporated community in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan.  The community is located within Augusta Charter Township. As an unincorporated community, Whittaker has no legally defined boundaries or population statistics of its own but does have its own post office with the 48190 ZIP Code.

Geography
Whittaker sits at an elevation of  above sea level.  The community is located about  southeast of Ann Arbor in the southeastern corner of Washtenaw County.  Paint Creek flows near Whittaker, and U.S. Route 23 is approximately four miles (6.4 km) to the west.

Whittaker is served by Lincoln Consolidated School District.

History
The area was originally referred to as Augusta Center, when businessman Frank Whittaker opened a general store near a railway line around 1860 after moving a few miles south from the community of Willis.  Augusta Township, which was established much earlier in 1836, built its township hall in the area in 1867.  A hotel, several stores, blacksmith shops, and a creamery were soon built in the growing community that was named after Whittaker.  In 1880, the community was given a train station on the Wabash Railroad, which allowed for easy export of lumber and other goods directly to Detroit.

The community of Whittaker received its first post office on January 9, 1882 with William Bishop serving as the first postmaster.  The post office has continued to remain in operation, and the current post office is located at 11014 Whittaker Road.  The post office utilizes the 48190 ZIP Code and serves only a very small area; it is primarily used for post office box services.  The surrounding areas are served by Milan 48160 to the west, Ypsilanti 48197 to the north, and Willis 48191 to the east and south.

The single railway line continues to run through the community.  It is currently operated by Norfolk Southern Railway but contains no station in the area.

Images

References

Unincorporated communities in Michigan
Unincorporated communities in Washtenaw County, Michigan

Whittaker, Michigan


A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with reptile-like traits.

Dragon may also refer to:

Arts and entertainment

Characters and fictional entities
 Dragon (Dungeons & Dragons), a monstrous creature
 Dragon (Middle-earth), a type of fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's books
 Dragon (Shrek), a character in Shrek
 The Dragon, a title for the world's champion against the forces of darkness in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series
 Dragon, a member of Gen13
 Dragon, the leading character in the Image Comics title Savage Dragon
 Dragons (Dragon Prince), mythical beasts
 Dragons (Pern), by Anne McCaffrey
 The Dragon (Beowulf)
 Richard Dragon, a DC Comics character
 Dragon Shiryū, a Saint Seiya character
 Dragon (One Piece)

Films
 The Dragon, a 1916 film directed by Harry A. Pollard
 Dragon (2006 film), an action/fantasy film
 Dragon (2011 film), a Hong Kong-Chinese martial arts thriller
 Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, a 1993 biographical film
 Dragons 3D, a 2013 IMAX film starring Max von Sydow
 Dragons: Fire and Ice (2004 film), animated Mega-Blocks film

Gaming
 Dragon, a version of the video game Mega Man Star Force
 Dragon tiles, a type of honor tile in mahjong
 Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation, a chess opening
 Dragon by Komodo Chess, a chess engine

Literature
 Dragon (Brust novel), a 1998 novel by Steven Brust
 Dragon (Cussler novel), a 1990 novel by Clive Cussler
 Dragon (fantasy series), fantasy novels by Laurence Yep (1982–1992)
 "Dragon" (Kalapugama short story), by Anandasiri Kalapugama (1975)
 Dragon (poem), by Aleksey Tolstoy (1875)
 "The Dragon" (poem), by Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayyati (1996)
 "Dragon: the Old Potter's Tale", a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1919)
 The Dragon (fairy tale), an Italian fairy tale
 "The Dragon" (short story), by Ray Bradbury (1955)
 The Dragons, a 1996 fantasy novel by Douglas Niles

Periodicals
 Dragon (magazine), a Dungeons & Dragons magazine
 Dragon Magazine (Fujimi Shobo), a Japanese light novel magazine (1988-current)

Music

Groups
 Dragon (band), a New Zealand/Australian rock group
 Dragons (band), an English group
 The Dragons (band), an American rock group

Albums
 Dragon (Loudness album)
 Dragon (Jake Shimabukuro album)
 The Dragon (album), by Vangelis

Songs
 "Dragon", by Martin Garrix
 "Dragon", by Miriam Bryant
 "Dragon", by the Sugarcubes from Life's Too Good
 "Dragon" by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard from PetroDragonic Apocalypse
 "Dragons", by Caravan Palace from Caravan Palace

Roller coasters
 Dragon (Adventureland), in Altoona, Iowa
 Dragon Challenge, in Orlando, Florida
 Dragon Coaster (Playland), in Rye, New York
 The Dragon, Ocean Park Hong Kong, in Hong Kong, China

Television
 Dragon Television, a Chinese provincial satellite TV station
 Dragon (TV series), a Canadian children's TV program
 DreamWorks Dragons, a TV series based on How to Train Your Dragon
 "The Dragon" (Arrow), nineteenth episode of the 2018 sixth season of the TV show Arrow

Other arts and entertainment
 Dragon (M. C. Escher), a 1952 wood-engraving print by M. C. Escher
 The Dragon (theatre play), by Evgeny Shvarts (1944)
 Dragon, a 2013 play written by Oliver Emanuel

Biology

Animals
 Agamidae, a family of lizards, of which many genera are known as dragons, especially in subfamilies Amphibolurinae and Draconinae
Amphibolurinae
 Ctenophorus, an Australian genus of lizards, of which many species are known as dragons
 Pogona, a genus of Australian lizards, commonly called "bearded dragons"
Draconinae
 Acanthosaura, commonly named as "horned dragons," a genus of lizards, endemic to Southeast Asia
 Draco, commonly known as "flying dragons," a genus of lizards, endemic to Southeast Asia
  Dragonfish, many fish
  Dragonet, fish of the Callionymidae
  Komodo dragon, a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo
  Sea dragon, various animals

Other uses in biology
 Antirrhinum, a genus of plants, known as "snap dragon"
 Dracaena, a genus of trees, also known as "dragon tree"
 DRAGON (protein), a membrane receptor protein
 Pitaya, also called "dragon fruit," fruit of several different cactus species
 Saururus cernuus, a species of plants, also called "water dragon"
 Tarragon, a species of perennial herbs, which is called dragon in several languages including its Latin name

Brands and enterprises
 Cathay Dragon, an international airline based in Hong Kong, previously known as Dragonair
 Dragon Models Limited, a toy manufacturer
 Dragon Petroleum, a Welsh fuel company

Education
 Dragon School, a British preparatory school in Oxford, England
 The Dragon Academy, a private school in Ontario, Canada

Mathematics and computing
 Dragon (cipher)
 Dragon (remote sensing)
 AMD Dragon, a platform engineered for gamers
 Comodo Dragon, a freeware web browser
 Dragon chip, a line of Chinese CPUs
 Dragon curve, a family of fractal curves
 Dragon Data, a Welsh computer manufacturer
 Dragon 32/64, the names of two 1980s home computers
 Dragon NaturallySpeaking, a speech recognition software package
 DRAKON (Russian: ДРАКОН, "dragon"), a programming language used in flight controllers for rockets and space vehicles

Military
 Dragon (firearm), the short version of the blunderbuss
 "Dragons", a USMC helicopter squadron (see: VMM-265)
 BQM-147 Dragon, United States unmanned aerial vehicle
 Focke-Achgelis Fa 223, German World War II helicopter, known in English as Dragon
 HMS Dragon, the name of at least 14 ships (and a building) of the English/British Navy
 M47 Dragon, an American anti-tank missile system
 The Dragons, a display team consisting of 4 x Hawker Hunters of No. 4 Flying Training School RAF, during 1973
 , a Union Navy steamer during the American Civil War
 Dragón, a Spanish development of the Mowag Piranha V Wheeled Infantry Fighting Vehicle

Nobility and royalty
 Dragon Throne, the throne of the Emperor of China
 Order of the Dragon, a former monarchical chivalric order

People
 Vlad II Dracul (1390–1447), duke of Wallachia, nicknamed "Vlad the Dragon"
 Goran Dragić (born 1986), Slovenian basketball player
 G-Dragon (born 1988), South Korean rapper
 Carmen Dragon (1914–1984), American conductor and composer
 Daryl Dragon (1942–2019), American musician, one half of the duo Captain & Tennille; son of Carmen Dragon
 Tatsumi Fujinami (born 1953), Japanese professional wrestler, nicknamed "The Dragon"
 Bruce Lee (1940–1973), Chinese actor and martial artist, nicknamed "The Dragon"
 Lyoto Machida (born 1978), Brazilian martial artist, nicknamed "The Dragon"
 Ricky Steamboat (born 1953), American professional wrestler, nicknamed "The Dragon"
 Matthew Stevens, Welsh snooker player nicknamed "The Welsh Dragon"
 Don "The Dragon" Wilson (born 1954), American champion kickboxer and actor
 Ryuji Kumita (born 1967), Japanese racing driver who uses the pseudonym "Dragon"

Places

Extra-terrestrial
 Draco (constellation) (Latin for Dragon), a constellation in the far northern sky
 The Dragon, a grouping of galaxies in the field of Abell 370

Terrestrial
 Dragon, Utah, United States, a ghost town
 Dragon Cone, a volcano in British Columbia, Canada
 Dragon Hill, Uffington, a mountain in England
 "The Dragon", a section of U.S. Route 129 between Deals Gap, North Carolina and Punkin Center, Tennessee, in the United States

Sports teams

Africa
 AS Dragons (Kinshasa), a soccer team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
 AS Dragons FC de l'Ouémé, a soccer team in Benin
 ASK Dragão, a soccer team in Angola
 Dragón FC, a soccer team in Equatorial Guinea
 Drakensberg Dragons, South Africa field hockey club

Asia
 CEC Dragons, the sports teams of the Cebu Eastern College in the Philippines
 China Dragon, an ice hockey team in China
 Chunichi Dragons, a baseball team in Japan
 Jeonnam Dragons (formerly spelled as Chunnam Dragons), a football team in South Korea
 Jiangsu Dragons, a Chinese Basketball Association team
 Kuala Lumpur Dragons, a Malaysian basketball team
 Shanghai Dragons, an Overwatch eSports team in China
 Sichuan Dragons, a baseball team in China
 Team Dragon, nickname for China men's national basketball team
 Welcoat Dragons, a basketball team in the Philippines

Europe
 AS Dragon, an association football team from Guadeloupe
 Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe), an American football team active in Spain from 1991 to 2003
 Barcelona Dragons (ELF), an American football team active in Spain since 2021
 Catalans Dragons, a rugby league club in France
 Celtic Dragons, a netball team in Wales, U.K.
 Delft Dragons, an American football team in the Netherlands
 Dragons (rugby union), a rugby union team in South East Wales, U.K.
 Dragons de Rouen, an ice hockey team in France
 Dragons Rhöndorf, a German basketball team
 Dragons (women's cricket), a women's cricket team in Ireland
 Dublin Dragons, an American football team in Ireland
 Dudelange Dragons, an American football team in Luxembourg
 Glamorgan Dragons, a cricket team in the United Kingdom
 KHC Dragons, a field hockey club in Belgium
 RC Dragon Brno, a rugby union team in the Czech Republic
 Wrexham A.F.C., a Welsh association football team known as the Red Dragons

North America
 C.D. Dragón, a soccer team in El Salvador
 Chesapeake Dragons, a soccer team in the U.S.
 Dayton Dragons, a baseball team in the U.S.
 Dragon Racing, an American auto racing team
 Dragons, nickname of sports teams at Jefferson High School in Jefferson, Georgia in the U.S.
 Dragons, nickname of sports teams at Lake Orion High School in Lake Orion, Michigan in the U.S.
 Drexel Dragons, the sports teams of Drexel University in the U.S.
 Jersey Dragons, a soccer team in the U.S.
 Lane College Dragons, the sports teams of Lane College in the U.S.
 Los Angeles Dragons (American football), a former American football team in the U.S.
 Los Angeles Dragons, an Australian rules football team in the U.S.
 Moorhead Dragons, the sports teams of Minnesota State University Moorhead in the U.S.
 New York Dragons, an Arena Football League team in the U.S.
 Portland Forest Dragons, a former name of the Oklahoma Wranglers, an Arena Football team in the U.S.
 San Antonio Dragons, an ice hockey team in the U.S.
 San Francisco Dragons, a field lacrosse team in the U.S.
 Seattle Dragons, an American football team in the U.S.
 Shreveport Swamp Dragons, formerly the Shreveport Captains, a baseball team in the U.S.
 Thomasville Dragons, a women's soccer team in the U.S.
 Tiffin Dragons, the sports teams at Tiffin University in the U.S.
 Verdun Dragons, an ice hockey team in Canada
 Wisconsin Dragons, a women's tackle football team in the U.S.

Oceania
 A.S. Dragon (Tahiti), a soccer team
 Darwin Dragons SC, a soccer team
 Engadine Dragons, a junior rugby league team
 Northcote Football Club, aka the Northcote Dragons, an Australian rules Football team
 St. George Dragons, a rugby league team
 St. George Illawarra Dragons, a rugby league football club
 Shellharbour City Dragons, a rugby league team
 South Dragons, a former team in the Australasian National Basketball League (2006-2009)

Transport

Air
 de Havilland Dragon, a small commercial aircraft
 Douglas B-23 Dragon, a twin-engined bomber aircraft
 Independence Dragon, a German paraglider design
 Sopwith Dragon, a British single-seat fighter biplane

Land
 Dennis Dragon, a bus
 Dragon Automobile Company, an American manufacturer (1906-1908)
 Kaiser Dragon, a 1950s American car
 Dragon (1848–1872), a GWR Iron Duke Class locomotive
 Dragon (1873–1892), a South Devon Railway Buffalo class locomotive
 Dragon (1880–1892), a GWR Rover class locomotive
 Dragon (1891-1915), a GWR 3031 Class locomotive
 Dragon (2009–present) Newag E6ACT, an electric freight locomotive

Space
 Dragon (rocket), a French research sounding rocket
 SpaceX Dragon capsule, used to transport cargo to and from the International Space Station
 SpaceX Dragon 2 capsule, also used to transport crew to and from the International Space Station

Water
 Dragon (keelboat), a sailing yacht, used in racing
 Dragon boat, a narrow canoe-style boat, used for the sport of dragon boat racing

Other uses
 Dragon (Ninurta), a figure in Sumerian religion
 Dragon (zodiac), in the Chinese zodiac
 Dragon reactor, a gas-cooled nuclear reactor in England
 Satan, referred to several times in the Book of Revelation as the "Dragon"
 Welsh Dragon, the flag of Wales
 In the Japanese board game shogi, the rook and bishop promote to a "dragon (king)" and a "dragon horse"
 The 2020 Middle East storms of 23 March 2020 and following days are sometimes called the "Dragon storms"

See also

 Draconian (disambiguation)
 Dracaena (disambiguation)
 Drache (disambiguation)
 Draco (disambiguation)
 Dragone (disambiguation)
 Dragon I (disambiguation)
 Dragon II (disambiguation)
 Red Dragon (disambiguation)

Dragon (disambiguation)


The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is an industry trade group representing primarily the major freight railroads of North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States). Amtrak and some regional commuter railroads are also members. Smaller freight railroads are typically represented by the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), although some smaller railroads and railroad holding companies are also members of the AAR. The AAR also has two associate programs, and most associates are suppliers to the railroad industry.

Creation
AAR was created October 12, 1934, by the merger of five industry-related groups:
 The American Railway Association
 The Association of Railway Executives
 The Bureau of Railroad Economics
 The Railway Accounting Officers Association
 The Railway Treasury Officers Association

William George Besler was its first President.

Facilities and subsidiaries
The AAR is headquartered in Washington, D.C., not far from the Capitol.  Its information technology subsidiary, Railinc, is based in Cary, North Carolina.  Railinc IT systems and information services, including the Umler system, the Interline Settlement System and Embargoes system are an integral part of the North American rail infrastructure.  Railinc delivers approximately nine million messages each day over its EDI network, including transportation waybills, advance train consists, blocking requests and responses and trip plans.  Its applications support railroads, equipment owners and rail industry suppliers along every link of the supply chain.  The company maintains the only industry-accepted version of the North American railroad industry's official code tables. Beginning as an information technology department within the Association of American Railroads (AAR), the company was established as a wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary of the AAR in 1999.

Another subsidiary, the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), operates and maintains the Transportation Technology Center, a  facility  northeast of Pueblo, Colorado, owned by the United States Department of Transportation. The facility is under a care, custody and control contract with the Federal Railroad Administration.  TTCI has an array of specialized testing facilities and tracks.  The site enables testing of freight and passenger rolling stock, vehicle and track components, and safety devices.

Functions
Where appropriate, the AAR represents its members' interests to the public at large and to Congress and government regulators in particular.  The AAR works to improve the efficiency, safety and service of the railroad industry, such as through its responsibility for the industry's interchange rules and equipment specifications, e.g. for locomotive multiple unit control.

One of the AAR's duties is to oversee the assignment of reporting marks – two to four letter codes that uniquely identify the owner of any piece of railroad rolling stock or intermodal freight transport equipment (trailers, semi-trailers, containers, etc.) that can be carried on a railroad.

Reports
In November 2013 the AAR urged the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to press for improved tank car safety by requiring all tank cars used to transport flammable liquids to be retrofitted or phased out, and new cars be built to more stringent standards."

Members

AAR Full Members

 Alaska Railroad Corporation
 Railroads owned by Anacostia Rail Holdings Company
 BNSF Railway Company
 Canadian National Railway Company
 Canadian Pacific Kansas City
 CSX Transportation, Inc.
 Florida East Coast Railway
 Railroads owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
 Indiana Rail Road Company
 Iowa Interstate Railroad, LLC
 Metra
 National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)
 Norfolk Southern Corporation
 Railroads owned by R.J. Corman Railroad Group, LLC
 Union Pacific Railroad
 Vermont Rail System
 Railroads owned by Watco
 Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway

AAR Special Members (Canadian and Mexican Railroads)
 Canadian Pacific Kansas City (Mexican Operations)
 Ferrocarril del Istmo de Tehuantepec
 Ferrocarril y Terminal del Valle de México
 Grupo México Transportes

Former members
 Canadian Pacific Railway
 Ferrosur
 Kansas City Southern de México
 Kansas City Southern Railway
 Pan Am Railways

See also
 American Railway Association
 Organisation for the Combined Operations of Railways (OSShD)
 International Union of Railways (UIC)
 African Union of Railways (AUR)
 AAR wheel arrangement

References

Further reading

External links

 Association of American Railroads website
 Railinc
 Transportation Technology Center
 Association of American Railroads (AAR) Reporting Marks
 AAR Records 1939~1978, PSU Library

Rail transportation in North America
Trade associations based in the United States
1934 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Railway associations

Association of American Railroads


A calf (: calves) is a young domestic cow or bull. Calves are reared to become adult cattle or are slaughtered for their meat, called veal, and their hide.

The term calf is also used for some other species. See "Other animals" below.

Terminology

"Calf" is the term used from birth to weaning, when it becomes known as a weaner or weaner calf, though in some areas the term "calf" may be used until the animal is a yearling. The birth of a calf is known as calving. A calf that has lost its mother is an orphan calf, also known as a poddy or poddy-calf in British. Bobby calves are young calves which are to be slaughtered for human consumption. A vealer is a calf weighing less than about  which is at about eight to nine months of age. A young female calf from birth until she has had a calf of her own is called a heifer
(). In the American Old West, a motherless or small, runty calf was sometimes referred to as a dodie.

The term "calf" is also used for some other species. See "Other animals" below.

Early development

Calves may be produced by natural means, or by artificial breeding using artificial insemination or embryo transfer.

Calves are born after nine months. They usually stand within a few minutes of calving, and suckle within an hour. However, for the first few days they are not easily able to keep up with the rest of the herd, so young calves are often left hidden by their mothers, who visit them several times a day to suckle them. By a week old the calf is able to follow the mother all the time.

Some calves are ear tagged soon after birth, especially those that are stud cattle in order to correctly identify their dams (mothers), or in areas (such as the EU) where tagging is a legal requirement for cattle. Typically when the calves are about two months old they are branded, ear marked, castrated and vaccinated.

Calf rearing systems

The single suckler system of rearing calves is similar to that occurring naturally in wild cattle, where each calf is suckled by its own mother until it is weaned at about nine months old. This system is commonly used for rearing beef cattle throughout the world.

Cows kept on poor forage (as is typical in subsistence farming) produce a limited amount of milk. A calf left with such a mother all the time can easily drink all the milk, leaving none for human consumption. For dairy production under such circumstances, the calf's access to the cow must be limited, for example by penning the calf and bringing the mother to it once a day after partly milking her. The small amount of milk available for the calf under such systems may mean that it takes a longer time to rear, and in subsistence farming it is therefore common for cows to calve only in alternate years.

In more intensive dairy farming, cows can easily be bred and fed to produce far more milk than one calf can drink. In the multi-suckler system, several calves are fostered onto one cow in addition to her own, and these calves' mothers can then be used wholly for milk production. More commonly, calves of dairy cows are fed formula milk from soon after birth, usually from a bottle or bucket.

Purebred female calves of dairy cows are reared as replacement dairy cows. Most purebred dairy calves are produced by artificial insemination (AI). By this method each bull can serve many cows, so only a very few of the purebred dairy male calves are needed to provide bulls for breeding. The remainder of the male calves may be reared for beef or veal;  Only a proportion of purebred heifers are needed to provide replacement cows, so often some of the cows in dairy herds are put to a beef bull to produce crossbred calves suitable for rearing as beef.

Veal calves may be reared entirely on milk formula and killed at about 18 or 20 weeks as "white" veal, or fed on grain and hay and killed at 22 to 35 weeks to produce red or pink veal.

Growth

A commercial steer or bull calf is expected to put on about  per month. A nine-month-old steer or bull is therefore expected to weigh about . Heifers will weigh at least  at eight months of age.

Calves are usually weaned at about eight to nine months of age, but depending on the season and condition of the dam, they might be weaned earlier. They may be paddock weaned, often next to their mothers, or weaned in stockyards. The latter system is preferred by some as it accustoms the weaners to the presence of people and they are trained to take feed other than grass. Small numbers may also be weaned with their dams with the use of weaning nose rings or nosebands which results in the mothers rejecting the calves' attempts to suckle. Many calves are also weaned when they are taken to the large weaner auction sales that are conducted in the south eastern states of Australia. Victoria and New South Wales have  (sale yard numbers) of up to 8,000 weaners (calves) for auction sale in one day. The best of these weaners may go to the butchers. Others will be purchased by re-stockers to grow out and fatten on grass or as potential breeders. In the United States these weaners may be known as feeders and would be placed directly into feedlots.

At about 12 months old a beef heifer reaches puberty if she is well grown.

Diseases
Calves suffer from few congenital abnormalities but the Akabane virus is widely distributed in temperate to tropical regions of the world. The virus is a teratogenic pathogen which causes abortions, stillbirths, premature births and congenital abnormalities, but occurs only during some years.

Calves commonly face on-farm acquired diseases, often of infectious nature. Preweaned calves most commonly experience conditions such as diarrhea, omphalitis, lameness and respiratory diseases. Diarrhea, Omphalitis and Lameness are most common in calves aged up to two weeks, while the frequency of respiratory diseases tends to increase with age. These conditions also display seasonal patterns, with omphalitis being more common in the summer months, and respiratory diseases and diarrhea occurring more frequently in the fall.

Uses
Calf meat for human consumption is called veal, and is usually produced from the male calves of Dairy cattle.  Also eaten are calf's brains and calf liver. The hide is used to make calfskin, or tanned into leather and called calf leather, or sometimes in the US "novillo", the Spanish term. The fourth compartment of the stomach of slaughtered milk-fed calves is the source of rennet. The intestine is used to make Goldbeater's skin, and is the source of Calf Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase (CIP).

Dairy cows can only produce milk after having calved, and dairy cows need to produce one calf each year in order to remain in production. Female calves will become a replacement dairy cow.  Male dairy calves are generally reared for beef or veal; relatively few are kept for breeding purposes.

Other animals

In English the term "calf" is used by extension for the young of various other large species of mammal. In addition to other bovid species (such as bison, yak and water buffalo), these include the young of camels, dolphins, elephants, giraffes, hippopotamuses, deer (such as moose, elk (wapiti) and red deer), rhinoceroses, porpoises, whales, walruses and larger seals. (Generally, the adult males of these same species are called "bulls" and the adult females "cows".) However, common domestic species tend to have their own specific names, such as lamb, foal used for all Equidae, or piglet used for all suidae.

References

External links

Weaning-beef-calves
Calving on Ropin' the Web, Agriculture and Food, Government of Alberta, Canada
Winter Feeding Sites and Calf Scours, Kansas State University

Cattle
Vertebrate developmental biology
Articles containing video clips

Calf (animal)


Donald Newton Van Zant (born June 11, 1952) is a retired American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for being a member of the band 38 Special, from its formation in 1974 until 2013. He is the middle of three sons; his older brother Ronnie was the original lead singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd who died in a 1977 plane crash in Mississippi, and his younger brother Johnny has been the lead singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd since 1987. Donnie and Johnny Van Zant also had performed together as the group Van Zant.

According to a posting in March 2013 on the 38 Special website, "Donnie Van Zant has not been able to join the band's performances for the past six months. In accordance with his doctor's strict orders and due to health issues related to inner-ear nerve damage, he will not be able to join 38 Special onstage in the foreseeable future. Donnie will continue to write and record with the band." However, it was announced later in 2013 that he had officially left 38 Special, and was retiring.

References

External links
 38 Special Website
 The Van Zants – Brothers Johnny & Donnie

1952 births
38 Special (band) members
American rock singers
Living people
Musicians from Jacksonville, Florida
Van Zant (band) members
Singers from Florida
American people of Dutch descent
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers

Donnie Van Zant


Cobbler is a dessert consisting of a fruit (or less commonly savory) filling poured into a large baking dish and covered with a batter, biscuit, or dumpling (in the United Kingdom) before being baked. Some cobbler recipes, especially in the American South, resemble a thick-crusted, deep-dish pie with both a top and bottom crust. Cobbler is part of the cuisine of the United Kingdom and United States, and should not be confused with a crumble.

Origin
Cobblers originated in the British American colonies. English settlers were unable to make traditional suet puddings due to lack of suitable ingredients and cooking equipment, so instead covered a stewed filling with a layer of uncooked plain biscuits, scone batter or dumplings, fitted together. The origin of the name cobbler, recorded from 1859, is uncertain: it may be related to the archaic word cobeler, meaning "wooden bowl", or the term may be due to the topping having the visual appearance of a 'cobbled' stone pathway. However, Oxford English Dictionary defines cobble as "roughly assemble or put together something from available parts or elements." Which perfectly defines the use of scraps of pie crust to lattice, or the use of leftover scone or biscuit, cobbled together with whatever filling or fruit was readily available.

Varieties
Note the crisp and crumble differ from the cobbler in that the former's top layers may also include rolled oats made with oatmeal.

North America

Grunts, pandowdy, and slumps are Canadian Maritimes, New England and Pennsylvania Dutch (Apple Pan Dowdy) varieties of cobbler, typically cooked on the stovetop, or in an iron skillet or pan, with the dough on top in the shape of dumplings. They reportedly take their name from the grunting sound they make while cooking. Another name for the types of biscuits or dumplings used is dough-boys. Dough-boys are used in stews and cobblers alike.

In the United States, additional varieties of cobbler include the apple pan dowdy (an apple cobbler whose crust has been broken and perhaps stirred back into the filling), the Betty, the buckle (made with yellow batter [like cake batter] with the filling mixed in with the batter), the dump (or dump cake), the grump, the slump, and the sonker.  The sonker is unique to North Carolina: it is a deep-dish version of the American cobbler.

Cobblers most commonly come in single fruit varieties and are named as such, e.g. blackberry, blueberry, and peach cobbler. The tradition also gives the option of topping the fruit cobbler with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream. Savory cobblers are less common in the region; for example, tomato cobbler, which may include onion and a biscuit topping that may include cheese or cornmeal, is one savory variant that also resembles Southern tomato pie.  Old California orchard cuisine features peach, pear, apricot, and, most prized by many, tartarian cherry cobblers.

The Texas Legislature designated peach cobbler as the official cobbler of Texas in 2013.

Betty
The American variant known as the Betty or brown Betty dates from at least the early 19th century.  In 1864, in the Yale Literary Magazine, it appeared with "brown" in lower case, thus making "Betty" the proper name.  In 1890, however, a recipe was published in Practical Sanitary and Economic Cooking Adapted to Persons of Moderate and Small Means with the word "Brown" capitalized, rendering "Brown Betty" the proper name.

Brown Betties are made with breadcrumbs (or bread pieces, or graham cracker crumbs), and fruit, usually diced apples, in alternating layers. They are baked covered and have a consistency like bread pudding.

In the midwestern United States, apple Betty is often a synonym for apple crisp.

UK and Commonwealth

In the UK and Commonwealth of Nations, the scone-topped cobbler predominates, and is found in both sweet and savory versions. Common sweet fillings include apple, blackberry, and peach. Savory versions, such as beef, lamb, or mutton, consist of a casserole filling, sometimes with a simple ring of cobbles around the edge, rather than a complete layer, to aid cooking of the meat. Cheese or herb scones may also be used as a savory topping.

Cobblers and crumbles were promoted by the Ministry of Food during the Second World War, since they are filling, yet require less butter than a traditional pastry, and can be made with margarine.

See also

 Apple crisp
 Pudding
 Dump cake

References

External links

American desserts
British desserts
Desserts
Fruit pies
Cuisine of the Southern United States
Thanksgiving food
Christmas food
Baked goods

Cobbler (food)


NBA Jam is a long-running basketball video game series based on the National Basketball Association (NBA). Initially developed as arcade games by Midway, the game found popularity with its photorealistic digitized graphics, over-the-top presentation and exaggerated style of two-on-two basketball play. The successor to Midway's Arch Rivals, the original 1993 NBA Jam allowed players to jump many times above their own height, make slam dunks that defy human capabilities, and freely shove or elbow opponents out of the way without consequences. It also featured a variety of secret characters, as well as the ability to track player records and statistics between play sessions.

After the release of NBA Jam Tournament Edition, Acclaim, the publishers of the home versions of the NBA Jam games acquired exclusive rights to release games under the NBA Jam name under their Acclaim Sports brand. They produced their own games with the NBA Jam name starting in 1996 with NBA Jam Extreme, an arcade game featuring the trademark over-the-top style of the previous games. Meanwhile, Midway continued its own series of NBA games with NBA Hangtime. After NBA Jam Extreme, Acclaim started publishing titles exclusive to home consoles with a more realistic style. Acclaim then attempted to return the series to its arcade roots with one more console game, 2003's NBA Jam, before the company closed in 2004.

6 years later, Electronic Arts acquired the rights to the name and in 2010 released NBA Jam for the Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was an attempt to replicate the original Midway games on newer consoles and original lead designer/programmer Mark Turmell was consulted on its development.

Installments
Midway NBA series

Non-Midway NBA Jam series

Reception
In 1996, Next Generation listed the NBA Jam series as number 99 on its "Top 100 Games of All Time", commenting that, "NBA Jam is still a terrific game, especially in the arcade with four players. Many of its innovations are now cliche, but it remains one of the best arcade machines around."

References

External links
 NBA Jam on Electronic Arts website
 NBA Jam reviewed on IGN Entertainment website - Release Date: October 22, 2010

Video game franchises introduced in 1993

NBA Jam


The Coronation (Russian: Коронация, или Последний из романов, "Coronation, or the Last of the Romanovs") is a historical detective novel by Boris Akunin, published originally in 2000. It is subtitled великосветский детектив ("high-society detective"). This novel was published in English in February 2009.

The scene of this seventh novel in the Erast Fandorin series is set in 1896 Moscow, at the time of the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II (between 6 May and 20 May O.S.). Akunin prominently features the Khodynka Tragedy of 18 May 1896, when a crowd at the coronation festival stampeded and  nearly 1400 people were killed.

The book won the Russian Anti-Booker prize in 2000 for prose. Many Akunin fans in Russia state this book is his best, reading about the tragic atmosphere of late 19th century Russia. However, members of the Russian Orthodox Church objected to the negative portrayal of many members of the Romanov family, especially the characterization of the character Grand Duke Simeon Alexandrovich as a homosexual.

Plot
The story is told from the perspective of Afanasi Ziukin, the majordomo of Grand Duke George Alexandrovich. Erast Fandorin investigates the abduction of Grand Duke Mikhail, the four-year-old youngest son of George Alexandrovitch, by criminal mastermind "Doctor Lind" whom Fandorin has been pursuing for several years. Their initial confrontation is briefly described in the novella "Dream Valley" from the Jade Rosary Beads collection. This time, Lind demands the Orlov diamond, a prerequisite for the upcoming coronation, as a ransom. Nicholas II is portrayed as dependent on his uncles Cyril and Simeon, the Governor-General of Moscow.

Akunin distorts the Romanov family relations somewhat. The three uncles of Nicolas II (sons of Alexander II) are semi-fictitious:

George Alexandrovich, named after George Alexandrovitch, Nicholas' younger brother, but based on Nicholas' brother-in-law Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich.
Simeon Alexandrovich, the Governor General of Moscow is based on Nicholas' real uncle Sergei Alexandrovich.
Cyril Alexandrovich is based on Nicholas' real uncle Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, and named after Cyril, Vladimir's son.

Title
The original Russian title, Коронация, или Последний из романов, could be literally translated as Coronation, or the Last of the novels (note the lack of capitalization on the last Russian word). The title is however to be understood as The Last of the Romanovs, although the last word should then have been Романовых. The reason for the broken Russian in the title becomes apparent only at the very end of the book, where an Englishman says this phrase using his dictionary, failing to inflect the last word correctly.
Despite its title, this is not the last Fandorin novel. The title of the German translation is : Die Entführung des Großfürsten, subtitled: Fandorin ermittelt (translation: The Grand Duke's abduction).

References

Shneidman, N.N. Russian Literature, 1995-2002: On the Threshold of the New Millennium. 2004, University of Toronto Press.
Štulhofer, Aleksandar, and Theo Sandfort. Sexuality and Gender in Postcommunist Eastern Europe and Russia. 2005, The Haworth Press.
Wachtel, Andrew. Remaining Relevant after Communism: The Role of the Writer in Eastern Europe. 2006, University of Chicago Press.
Full text of the novel, in Russian

Fiction set in 1896
2000 Russian novels
Novels by Boris Akunin
Novels set in Moscow
Russian historical novels
Russian detective novels

The Coronation (novel)


The East India Docks were a group of docks in Blackwall, East London, England, north-east of the Isle of Dogs. Today only the entrance basin and the perimeter wall are still visible. The dock Basin was gradually extended and new locks built, but the 20th century saw the decline of the London docklands and the East India Docks closed in 1967. The Basin was turned into a nature reserve by the London Docklands Development Corporation and has been in the ownership of Lee Valley Regional Park Authority since 1998.

History
Following the successful creation of the West India Docks, which opened in 1802, an Act of Parliament in 1803 set up The East India Dock Company, promoted by the British East India Company.

References

Ports and harbours of the United Kingdom

Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

East India Docks


Agela was an assembly of young men in Dorian Crete, who lived together from their seventeenth year till the time of their marriage. Up to the end of their sixteenth year they remained in their father's house; and from the circumstance of their belonging to no agela, they were called apageloi. They were then enrolled in agelae which were of an aristocratic nature, and gave great power to particular families. An agela consisted of the sons of the most noble citizens, who were usually under the jurisdiction of the father of the youth who had been the means of collecting the agela. It was the duty of this person, called , to superintend the military and gymnastic exercises of the youths, to accompany them to the hunting, and to punish them when disobedient. He was accountable, however, to the state, which supported the agela at the public expense. All the members of an agela were obliged to marry a woman at the same time.

When they ceased to belong to an agela, they partook of the public meals for men andreia (Laconian syssitia). These institutions were afterwards preserved in only a few states of Crete, such for instance as Lyctus. At Sparta the youths left their parents' houses at seven years of age and entered the bouai, the Spartan equivalent for agela.

References

Ephorus, ap. Strab. x. p. 480, &c.; Heracl. Pont. c. 3.; Hock, Creta^ iii. p. 100, &c.; Muller, Dor. iv. 5. § 3; Hermann, Griech. Staatsaltertliumer, § 22; Wachsmuth, Hellen. Alterthumskunde, vol. i. p. 362, 2d ed.; Krause, Die Gymnastik u. Agonistik d. Hellenen, p. 690, &c.)

Dorian Crete
Society of ancient Greece

Agela


Ballana () was a cemetery in Lower Nubia. It, along with nearby Qustul, were excavated by Walter Bryan Emery between 1928 and 1931 as a rescue project before a second rising of the Aswan Low Dam. A total of 122 tombs were found under huge artificial mounds. They date to the time after the collapse of the Meroitic state but before the founding of the Christian Nubian kingdoms, around AD 350 to 600. They usually featured one or several underground chambers, with one main burial chamber. Some tombs were found unlooted, but even the robbed burials still proved to contain many burial goods.

The objects found are chiefly of Nubian origin, but there were also many objects imported from Byzantine Egypt and the Mediterranean in general. Most remarkable is a set of crowns from different tombs showing that the richest burials belong to local ruling kings and queens. There were horses and servants buried with their masters. There are few written objects in the burials. The identification of the tomb owners is, therefore, impossible. It has been assumed that these are the burials of the kings and the court of Nobatia.

One important tomb discovered here was tomb 118 which consisted of three chambers. It might be described as an example of a royal burial at Ballana and consisted of a main burial chamber and two storage rooms. The roof of the burial chamber had collapsed and the tomb, therefore, escaped looting. The body of the person buried here was found on a bier. It was most likely that of a king. Upon his head was found a crown. Under the bier, were the remains of a large wooden gaming board, weapons and an iron folding chair. There were also skeletons of a young male servant and a cow. In the two storerooms, more skeletons of servants, as well as pottery and several bronze lamps were discovered.

The Ballana tombs belong to a culture complex often called X-Group. Following the find of these tombs, this culture is most often called Ballana Culture. The original Ballana cemetery is now flooded by the Nasser Lake.

References

Literature
Walter B. Emery: Nubian Treasure. London 1948, pp. 57–72

External links
Nubia Museum: Ballana and Qustul
Nubia Museum: The X Group or Ballana Culture

History of Nubia
Archaeological sites in Egypt
1928 archaeological discoveries
Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century

Ballana


Francis Knyvett Leighton (1806 – 13 October 1881) was an English academic and priest, who was Warden of All Souls College, Oxford, from 1858 until his death.

Life
Leighton was educated at the University of Oxford, matriculating as a member of Trinity College on 24 June 1823 at the age of 16. He was a demy (scholar) at Magdalen College from 1823 to 1829, obtaining a second-class BA degree in 1828, and winning a prize for Latin verse in 1826. He was elected to a Fellowship at All Souls College in 1829, which he held until 1843. He was ordained as a priest in the Church of England and served as Rector of Cardeston, Shropshire, and then as vicar of St Chad's, Shrewsbury, and rector of Harpsden, Oxfordshire. He was elected Warden of All Souls in 1858, holding the position until his death on 13 October 1881; as Warden, he was also rector of Lockinge in Oxfordshire. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1866 to 1870 (a post in which he was "distinguished by his courtesy and hospitality", according to his obituary in The Times), and a residentiary canon of Westminster Abbey from 1868 onwards. He died in the Warden's Lodgings at the college, aged 75, after a "long and lingering illness". He was described as being "distinguished by an amiable and refined, but genial courtesy".

References

1806 births
1881 deaths
Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
Wardens of All Souls College, Oxford
Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford
19th-century English Anglican priests
Canons of Westminster

Francis Leighton


Gliese 581 is an M-class red dwarf star that is not far from the Earth.  It is 22 light years away from the Solar system.  This makes it the 89th closest known star to the Sun.  It is also known as HO Librae, GL 581, or GJ 581.

Astronomers  have discovered some planets that orbit Gliese 581.  The astronomers agree that four of the planets are real, but some think there are two more planets.

Gliese 581 has a radius, and mass, about a third that of the Sun.  Its estimated temperature  is 3,498 Kelvin (4125 Celsius, 7457 Fahrenheit).  Its luminosity is 0.01205 times the luminosity of the Sun.

People on Earth can see Gliese 581 in the constellation Libra.  The star's apparent magnitude is 10.57.  This means that a person on Earth would need to use a telescope to see Gliese 581, because the star is not bright enough for the naked eye to see.

Planets
In the 2005, scientists found a planet orbiting Gliese 581.  The scientists, led by Stephen Vogt, used a method called Doppler spectroscopy to find the planet and some facts about the planet. They said that the planet, named Gliese 581b, has a size close to the size of Neptune (the eighth planet in our solar system). They found that 581b weighs 16.6 times as much as the Earth, and that its orbit around GL 581 lasts for 5.366 days.

After this study was published, more scientists started to look for other planets that orbit Gliese 581. In the 2007, another group of astronomers said that they found two more planets.  These two planets were named 581c and 581d.  For planet c, the scientists measured a mass of 5.06 times the Earth's mass.  They found that the planet's orbit lasts for 12.931 days.  For planet d, they found a mass of 8.3 times the Earth's mass, and an orbit time of 83.4 days.

In 2009, the first group of astronomers found a fourth planet, named 581e.  They measured the planet's mass to be 1.94 times the mass of the Earth, and measured the planet's orbit to be 3.149 days long.  The astronomers also studied planet 581d again, and made more accurate measurements for that planet.  They found that the planet has a mass that is 7.09 times the Earth's mass, and that its orbit lasts for 66.8 days.

Possibility of more planets
Vogt's group of astronomers said that they have found two more planets orbiting Gliese 581, named 581f and 581g.  They published their findings in 2010.  For planet 581f, they found a mass of 7.0 Earth masses and an orbit length of 433 days.  For the other new planet, 581g, the group measured a mass that was 3.1 times the mass of the Earth and an orbit that was 36.6 days long.

After the Vogt group published their report on the fifth and sixth planets, some other astronomers published opposing results.  In 2012, these other scientists said that planets 581f and 581g did not actually exist.  Their report stated that the Vogt group's new findings were false positives.  They looked at the original Doppler spectroscopy data again, and found no signs of the two new planets.

However, the Vogt group published even more research that supported the two new planets.  Later in 2012, they studied new Doppler spectroscopy experiments and found stronger signs of planets 581f and 581g.  They also simulated the two orbit models that the two groups of scientists have proposed.  Vogt's group found that the proposed system with four planets was unstable, meaning that if there were only four planets orbiting Gliese 581, the system would have broken a long time ago.  On the other hand, they said that the system with six planets was much more stable.

Today, there is still no consensus about whether or not planets 581f or 581g exist.

Orbit models
Two orbit models for the Gliese 581 system are being considered currently.  An orbit model is a scientific model that astronomers create as a hypothesis of how a star's planets go through their orbits.  One has four planets with eccentric orbits, and the other has six planets with circular orbits.

In the first model, some scientists propose that only the four planets 581b, 581c, 581d, and 581e orbit Gliese 581.  None of the planets orbits in a circle.  Instead, their paths around the star are ellipses.

In the second model, the six planets 581b through 581g orbit around Gliese 581.  Here, each planet has a circular orbit around the host star.

Comet belt
In November 2012, scientists at the European Space Agency said that they found a belt of comets orbiting around Gliese 581.  Our solar system has a similar comet belt called the Kuiper belt.

Habitability
Astronomers think that Gliese 581's habitable zone goes from approximately 0.05 AU (astronomical units) to 0.24 AU away from the star.  This means that planets orbiting between these distances could be the right temperature to let organic life (life as we know it on Earth) survive.

If the six-planet model is correct, then at least two of the planets might be habitable.  In other words, humans might be able to live there.  In this model, the planet 581d orbits at the outside edge of Gliese 581's habitable zone, and the planet 581g orbits in the middle of the habitable zone.  If the atmosphere on 581g is like Earth's atmosphere, the planet's temperature would be between 236 and 261 Kelvin (-37 and -12 Celsius, -35 and 10 Fahrenheit).  This is only a little lower than Earth's temperature.

Even though these two planets might be the right temperature for life to live, other issues could make their environments hostile.  Planet 581g might be stuck in an orbit resonance, where the planet spins at the same rate that it orbits around the star.  This would mean that one side of the planet always faces the star, just like the same side of the Moon always faces the Earth.  If this is the case, the side that faces the star would be too hot for people to live, while the other side would be too cold.  Planet 581d might also be caught in an orbit resonance.

Other websites
 Articles about Gliese 581. Space.com articles about Gliese 581

References

Red dwarfs

Gliese 581


An antipropulsive is a drug used in the treatment of diarrhea. It does not address the underlying cause (for example, infection or malabsorption), but it does decrease motility.

Examples include diphenoxylate, loperamide, and eluxadoline.

See also
 Propulsive

References

Antidiarrhoeals

Antipropulsive


The 1985 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 7th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 15 races. Al Unser Sr. was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Arie Luyendyk. The 1985 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Danny Sullivan won the Indy 500, in dramatic fashion, a race that became known as the "Spin and Win."

In September 1984, Rick Mears suffered serious leg injuries in a crash at Sanair. Mears drove only a part-time schedule in 1985, racing at Indianapolis, and subsequently on ovals only. Al Unser Sr. took Mears' full-time seat at Penske Racing as a substitute for the season. Unser had one win, ten top fives, and one other top ten, en route to the championship, a battle that climaxed in dramatic fashion in the final race of the season.

Season summary
Defending series champion Mario Andretti won the season opener, finished second at the Indy 500, and won the next two races, jumping out to the early points lead. A mid-season slump, however, saw him achieve only one top five finish the remainder of the year. He then broke his collarbone in a crash at Michigan, and was forced to sit out one race. The driver of the season became Al Unser Jr., who won the next two races (Meadowlands and Cleveland), and finished the year with nine finishes in the top 4.

At the midpoint of the season, Mario Andretti's points lead had dwindled, while Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser Sr., and Al Unser Jr. were all closing in. At the Pocono 500, Rick Mears triumphantly returned to victory lane after his leg injuries. Finishing second and third were Al Jr. and Al Sr., respectively, with Al Sr. now taking the points lead. Unser Jr. ate away at the points lead over the next four races, and the Unsers were neck-and-neck approaching the season finale. Meanwhile, Bobby Rahal was making a championship run of his own, winning 3 out of 4 races, and four poles in a row during a stretch in September-October. He almost won four races in row, but was taken out while leading at Sanair with only 13 laps to go. Rahal closed to within 13 points of the championship lead.

With two races to go, Unser Jr. led Unser Sr. by only 3 points. Father and son finished 1st and 2nd at Phoenix, and the standings were flipped. Al Sr. led Al Jr. by 3 points going into the finale at Miami. Rahal finished a distant 6th at Phoenix, and was mathematically eliminated from the championship.

The season finale at Tamiami Park ended in dramatic fashion. Danny Sullivan and Bobby Rahal finished 1st and 2nd, respectively, but the attention of the day was focused on the two Unsers. Late in the race, Al Unser Jr. was running third, and Al Unser Sr. was running 5th. At the moment, Al Jr. was leading the hypothetical championship standings by 1 point.

In the closing laps, Al Unser Sr. chased down and passed Roberto Moreno for 4th place. He held on to finish fourth, and thus won the championship by 1 point over his son. Unser Sr. afterwards expressed some regret about snatching the championship title from his son, but felt it was his responsibility to his own team and his own sponsors to race to his ability all the way to the end. It was also in the best interests of sportsmanship to all competitors not to give favor to his son. Unser Sr. also knew his days were numbered as a competitive driver on the circuit, while he knew Unser Jr. had many years ahead to have another chance at the title (Al Unser Jr. would indeed win the championship twice - 1990 and 1994).

The 1985 season saw two controversies at two separate races. The Michigan 500 had to be postponed for a week due to tire issues. In September, the race at Sanair came to a bizarre conclusion when the safety car, leading the field on the final lap under caution, suddenly veered into the pits on the final turn. Leader Johnny Rutherford was not informed, and second place Pancho Carter accelerated past him and beat him to the finish line. Officials initially awarded the victory to Carter, and Rutherford protested. After review, Rutherford was eventually restored the victory. (In many motorsport codes, the safety car exits to pit lane on the final lap; in most North American codes, the safety car remains on the circuit towards the finish line.)

Drivers and teams
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1985 Indy Car World Series season.  All cars used Goodyear tires.

- The number in parentheses is the number the car used at the Indianapolis 500, if a different number was used.

Notable team and driver changes

 Rick Mears was sidelined due to injuries for much of the season. Danny Sullivan left Doug Shierson Racing to join Team Penske.
 Al Unser Jr. left Galles Racing to replace Sullivan at Doug Shierson Racing. He was replaced at Galles Racing by Geoff Brabham, who previously drove for Kraco Racing.
 Mayer Motor Racing, which ran 1984 with drivers Tom Sneva and Howdy Holmes, did not run in 1985. Tom Sneva moved  to All American Racers, which expanded to a two car team, while Howdy Holmes moved to Forsythe Racing, who had run 1984 without a steady driver.
 Galles Racing expanded to a two car team. Joining Geoff Brabham, the second car was run by Pancho Carter on the ovals and rookie Roberto Moreno on the road courses.
 Bignotti-Cotter Racing changed its name to Team Cotter, continuing to field a car for Roberto Guerrero.
 Bill Whittington, who did not have a ride in 1984, joined Arciero Racing, replacing Pete Halsmer. Halsmer only ran a few races that year.
 Rookie Arie Luyendyk ran his first full season, driving for Provimi Veal Racing. He replaced Derek Daly, who was left without a full-time ride.
 Geoff Brabham was replaced at Kraco Racing by Kevin Cogan.
 Gordon Johncock retired shortly before the 1985 Indianapolis 500. He was replaced at Patrick Racing by rookie Bruno Giacomelli.
 Johnny Rutherford returned to full-time driving, replacing Al Holbert at Alex Morales Motorsports. Holbert returned to sports cars.
 Dick Simon scaled back to part-time driving. His ride at Dick Simon Racing was split with Raul Boesel.
 Stan Fox, who ran full-time in 1984, did not run in 1985. A variety of drivers are ran at Leader Card Racing.
 Interscope Racing and driver Danny Ongais only ran part-time in 1985.
 Tom Hess Racing, which drove most of 1984 with Dick Ferguson, also scaled back to part-time.

Season Schedule and Results

Schedule

 Oval/Speedway
 Road/Street course
NC Non-championship event

The Dana 150 was scheduled for March 31, but postponed on March 13 due to track damage sustained over winter testing. On August 6, it was rescheduled for an October 13 date.

The Michigan 500 was scheduled for July 21, but postponed a week due to tire concerns. NBC did not return to televise the race.

Race results

Indianapolis was USAC-sanctioned but counted towards the CART title.

Drivers points standings

Sanair controversy
In the Sanair race (Molson Indy 300), Roberto Guerrero had a strong lead until he lost control and spun. Later in the race Jacques Villeneuve Sr. collided with leader Bobby Rahal in attempt to challenge for the lead, taking both out. The race finished under a yellow flag, but the safety car entered pit lane on the final lap, and thinking there would be a final restart, Pancho Carter passed Johnny Rutherford after the safety car entered pit lane and before the finish line.  CART initially declared Carter the winner, but an appeals panel later overturned the decision and confirmed Rutherford's victory.  In many codes of motorsport (typically FIA Code) the safety car enters pit lane as the field is on the final lap, and the cars cross the checkered flag together without the safety car on course.  However, this practice is not accepted in North America, where the safety car leads the leaders to the finish line if the safety car situation exists.

See also
 1985 Indianapolis 500

References

 ChampCarStats.com (Archived 2009-07-26)]

Champ Car seasons
IndyCar

1985 CART PPG Indy Car World Series