Biofiltration is a pollution control technique using a bioreactor containing living material to capture and biologically degrade pollutants.  Common uses include processing waste water, capturing harmful chemicals or silt from surface runoff, and microbiotic oxidation of contaminants in air. Industrial biofiltration can be classified as the process of utilizing biological oxidation to remove volatile organic compounds, odors, and hydrocarbons.

Examples of biofiltration
Examples of biofiltration include:
 Bioswales, biostrips, biobags, bioscrubbers, Vermifilters and trickling filters
 Constructed wetlands and natural wetlands
 Slow sand filters
 Treatment ponds
 Green belts
 Green walls
 Riparian zones, riparian forests, bosques
 Bivalve bioaccumulation

Control of air pollution
When applied to air filtration and purification, biofilters use microorganisms to remove air pollution.
The air flows through a packed bed and the pollutant transfers into a thin biofilm on the surface of the packing material. Microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi are immobilized in the biofilm and degrade the pollutant. Trickling filters and bioscrubbers rely on a biofilm and the bacterial action in their recirculating waters.

The technology finds the greatest application in treating malodorous compounds and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Industries employing the technology include food and animal products, off-gas from wastewater treatment facilities, pharmaceuticals, wood products manufacturing, paint and coatings application and manufacturing and resin manufacturing and application, etc. Compounds treated are typically mixed VOCs and various sulfur compounds, including hydrogen sulfide. Very large airflows may be treated and although a large area (footprint) has typically been required—a large biofilter (>200,000 acfm) may occupy as much or more land than a football field—this has been one of the principal drawbacks of the technology. Since the early 1990s, engineered biofilters have provided significant footprint reductions over the conventional flat-bed, organic media type.

One of the main challenges to optimum biofilter operation is maintaining proper moisture throughout the system. The air is normally humidified before it enters the bed with a watering (spray) system, humidification chamber, bio scrubber, or bio trickling filter. Properly maintained, a natural, organic packing media like peat, vegetable mulch, bark or wood chips may last for several years but engineered, combined natural organic, and synthetic component packing materials will generally last much longer, up to 10 years. Several companies offer these types of proprietary packing materials and multi-year guarantees, not usually provided with a conventional compost or wood chip bed biofilter.

Although widely employed, the scientific community is still unsure of the physical phenomena underpinning biofilter operation, and information about the microorganisms involved continues to be developed. A biofilter/bio-oxidation system is a fairly simple device to construct and operate and offers a cost-effective solution provided the pollutant is biodegradable within a moderate time frame (increasing residence time = increased size and capital costs), at reasonable concentrations (and lb/hr loading rates) and that the airstream is at an organism-viable temperature.  For large volumes of air, a biofilter may be the only cost-effective solution. There is no secondary pollution (unlike the case of incineration where additional CO2 and NOx are produced from burning fuels) and degradation products form additional biomass, carbon dioxide and water. Media irrigation water, although many systems recycle part of it to reduce operating costs, has a moderately high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and may require treatment before disposal. However, this "blowdown water", necessary for proper maintenance of any bio-oxidation system, is generally accepted by municipal publicly owned treatment works without any pretreatment.

Biofilters are being utilized in Columbia Falls, Montana at Plum Creek Timber Company's fiberboard plant. The biofilters decrease the pollution emitted by the manufacturing process and the exhaust emitted is 98% clean. The newest, and largest, biofilter addition to Plum Creek cost $9.5 million, yet even though this new technology is expensive, in the long run it will cost less overtime than the alternative exhaust-cleaning incinerators fueled by natural gas (which are not as environmentally friendly).

Water treatment

Biofiltration was first introduced in England in 1893 as a trickling filter for wastewater treatment and has since been successfully used for the treatment of different types of water. Biological treatment has been used in Europe to filter surface water for drinking purposes since the early 1900s and is now receiving more interest worldwide. Biofiltration is also common in wastewater treatment, aquaculture and greywater recycling, as a way to minimize water replacement while increasing water quality.

Biofiltration process

A biofilter is a bed of media on which microorganisms attach and grow to form a biological layer called biofilm. Biofiltration is thus usually referred to as a fixed–film process. Generally, the biofilm is formed by a community of different microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, yeast, etc.), macro-organisms (protozoa, worms, insect's larvae, etc.) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) (Flemming and Wingender, 2010). Air or water flows through a media bed and any suspended compounds are transferred into a surface biofilm where microorganisms are held to degrade pollutants. The aspect of the biofilm is usually slimy and muddy.

Water to be treated can be applied intermittently or continuously over the media, via upflow or downflow. Typically, a biofilter has two or three phases, depending on the feeding strategy (percolating or submerged biofilter):

 a solid phase (media);
 a liquid phase (water);
 a gaseous phase (air).

Organic matter and other water components diffuse into the biofilm where the treatment occurs, mostly by biodegradation. Biofiltration processes are usually aerobic, which means that microorganisms require oxygen for their metabolism. Oxygen can be supplied to the biofilm, either concurrently or countercurrently with water flow. Aeration occurs passively by the natural flow of air through the process (three phase biofilter) or by forced air supplied by blowers.

Microorganisms' activity is a key-factor of the process performance. The main influencing factors are the water composition, the biofilter hydraulic loading, the type of media, the feeding strategy (percolation or submerged media), the age of the biofilm, temperature, aeration, etc.

The mechanisms by which certain microorganisms can attach and colonize on the surface of filter media of a biofilter can be via transportation, initial adhesion, firm attachment, and colonization [Van Loosdrecht et al., 1990]. The transportation of microorganisms to the surface of the filter media is further controlled by four main processes of diffusion (Brownian motion), convection, sedimentation, and active mobility of the microorganisms. The overall filtration process consists of microorganism attachment, substrate utilization which causes biomass growth, to biomass detachment.

Types of filtering media

Most biofilters use media such as sand, crushed rock, river gravel, or some form of plastic or ceramic material shaped as small beads and rings.

Advantages

Although biological filters have simple superficial structures, their internal hydrodynamics and the microorganisms' biology and ecology are complex and variable. These characteristics confer robustness to the process. In other words, the process has the capacity to maintain its performance or rapidly return to initial levels following a period of no flow, of intense use, toxic shocks, media backwash (high rate biofiltration processes), etc.

The structure of the biofilm protects microorganisms from difficult environmental conditions and retains the biomass inside the process, even when conditions are not optimal for its growth. Biofiltration processes offer the following advantages: (Rittmann et al., 1988):

 Since microorganisms are retained within the biofilm, biofiltration allows the development of microorganisms with relatively low specific growth rates;
 Biofilters are less subject to variable or intermittent loading and to hydraulic shock;
 Operational costs are usually lower than for activated sludge;
 The final treatment result is less influenced by biomass separation since the biomass concentration at the effluent is much lower than for suspended biomass processes;
 The attached biomass becomes more specialized (higher concentration of relevant organisms) at a given point in the process train because there is no biomass return.

Drawbacks

Because filtration and growth of biomass leads to an accumulation of matter in the filtering media, this type of fixed-film process is subject to bioclogging and flow channeling. Depending on the type of application and on the media used for microbial growth, bioclogging can be controlled using physical and/or chemical methods. Backwash steps can be implemented using air and/or water to disrupt the biomat and recover flow whenever possible. Chemicals such as oxidizing (peroxide, ozone) or biocide agents can also be used.

Biofiltration can require a large area for some treatment techniques (suspended growth and attached growth processes) as well as long hydraulic retention times (anaerobic lagoon and anaerobic baffled reactor).

Drinking water
For drinking water, biological water treatment involves the use of naturally occurring microorganisms in the surface water to improve water quality. Under optimum conditions, including relatively low turbidity and high oxygen content, the organisms break down material in the water and thus improve water quality. Slow sand filters or carbon filters are used to provide a support on which these microorganisms grow. These biological treatment systems effectively reduce water-borne diseases, dissolved organic carbon, turbidity and color in surface water, thus improving overall water quality.

Typically in drinking water treatment; granular activated carbon or sand filters are used to prevent re-growth of microorganisms in water distribution pipes by reducing levels of iron and nitrate that act as a microbial nutrient. GAC also reduces chlorine demand and other disinfection by-product accumulation by acting as a first line of disinfection. Bacteria attached to filter media as a biofilm oxidize organic material as both an energy and carbon source, this prevents undesired bacteria from using these sources which can reduce water odors and tastes [Bouwer, 1998]. These biological treatment systems effectively reduce water-borne diseases, dissolved organic carbon, turbidity and color in surface water, thus improving overall water quality.

Wastewater
Biofiltration is used to treat wastewater from a wide range of sources, with varying organic compositions and concentrations. Many examples of biofiltration applications are described in the literature. Bespoke biofilters have been developed and commercialized for the treatment of animal wastes, landfill leachates, dairy wastewater, domestic wastewater.

This process is versatile as it can be adapted to small flows (< 1 m3/d), such as onsite sewage as well as to flows generated by a municipality (> 240 000 m3/d). For decentralized domestic wastewater production, such as for isolated dwellings, it has been demonstrated that there are important daily, weekly and yearly fluctuations of hydraulic and organic production rates related to modern families' lifestyle. In this context, a biofilter located after a septic tank constitutes a robust process able to sustain the variability observed without compromising the treatment performance.

In anaerobic wastewater treatment facilities, biogas is fed through a bio-scrubber and "scrubbed" with activated sludge liquid from an aeration tank. [Removal of hydrogen sulfide from an anaerobic biogas using a bio-scrubber - ScienceDirect] Most commonly found in wastewater treatment is the trickling filter process (TFs) [Chaudhary, 2003]. Trickling filters are an aerobic treatment that uses microorganisms on attached medium to remove organic matter from wastewater.

In primary wastewater treatment, biofiltration is used to control levels of biochemical oxygen, demand, chemical oxygen demand, and suspended solids. In tertiary treatment processes, biofiltration is used to control levels of organic carbon [ Carlson, 1998].

Use in aquaculture
The use of biofilters is common in closed aquaculture systems, such as recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).  Many designs are used, with different benefits and drawbacks, however the function is the same: reducing water exchanges by converting ammonia to nitrate.  Ammonia (NH4+ and NH3) originates from the brachial excretion from the gills of aquatic animals and from the decomposition of organic matter.  As ammonia-N is highly toxic, this is converted to a less toxic form of nitrite (by Nitrosomonas sp.) and then to an even less toxic form of nitrate (by Nitrobacter sp.).  This "nitrification" process requires oxygen (aerobic conditions), without which the biofilter can crash.  Furthermore, as this nitrification cycle produces H+, the pH can decrease which necessitates the use of buffers such as lime.

See also
Bioretention
Folkewall
Media filter
Vermifilter

References

Further reading

 Biofilter Bags SE-14. (2012). California Stormwater BMP Handbook, 1–3. Retrieved from https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/13163/CASQA-Guidance-SE-14-Biofilter-Bags.

External links
Bioswales and strips for storm runoff - California Dept. of Transportation (CalTrans)

Bioreactors
Environmental engineering
Environmental soil science
Biodegradable waste management
Waste treatment technology
Air pollution control systems
Volatile organic compound abatement
Water filters

Biofilter


Mastic ( Mastika) is a resin that comes from the mastic tree, Pistacia lentiscus.  The tree grows in the Mediterranean region. In pharmacies and nature shops, it is called "Arabic gum" (not to be confused with gum arabic).

The resin is harvested in various places, especially the Greek island of Chios.
It is a liquid when the tree first produces it. Then it dries in the sun into drops of hard  resin. When chewed, the resin softens and becomes a white, opaque gum. The flavour is bitter at first. After some chewing, it has a refreshing, slightly pine or cedar-like flavour.

Mastic is used in food, medicine, and industry.

References

Other websites

 Mastic on chios.gr
 Mastic article from masticulture.com

Agriculture
Spices

Mastic


Krisdapor Mikaelian (; 18 October 1859 – 17 March 1905) was one of the three founders of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation along with Stepan Zorian (Rostom) and Simon Zavarian and a major figure of the Armenian national liberation movement. He was also known by the noms de guerre Hellen (), Topal (), and Edward ().

Early life
Mikaelian was born in the village of Agulis in the Nakhichevansky Uyezd of the Erivan Governorate of the Russian Empire, now part of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. His father was highly respected by the villagers, who considered him as the village judge and would bring their disputes to his arbitration. Mikaelian lost his mother at the age of four, and his father at the age of ten. He graduated from the local school with flying colors, and so the administration offered him a scholarship to the state pedagogical institute of Tiflis (modern-day Tbilisi, Georgia, on the condition that he then return to take a teaching position at the village school. He departed to Tiflis in 1874, but was not accepted into the academy until 1876, at the age of seventeen. He became an active member of the revolutionary organization Narodnaya Volya (People's Will), which was widespread amongst student circles. He read all the revolutionary literature he could get his hands on, and was especially influenced by the works of Welsh social reformer Robert Owen.

In 1880 he graduated from the pedagogical institute of Tiflis, returning to his hometown and honoring his agreement to teach at the village school. In 1884 he returned to Tiflis and found the student organization Armenian Patriotic Union (Միութիւն Հայրենասիրաց, Miutiun Hayrenasirats) in disarray. He managed to gather some of the members along with some laborers and gave them lectures, taught them primary subjects and language, and on Sundays trained them in the use of weapons. From this group prominent Armenian revolutionary figures such as Arabo and Markar Varjabedian emerged. Mikaelian was also preoccupied with educating older student groups, whom he educated in sociology. At that time he also became interested in Armenian issues, and paid visits to the famous Armenian patriotic intellectuals Raffi and Grigor Artsruni.

In 1885 the tsarist government closed down 400 Armenian schools, which left around 20,000 students and 2,000 teachers without occupation. Mikaelian and his comrades distribute flyers of protest, but met little success. In the autumn of 1885, Mikaelian departed to Moscow to continue his studies at the Petrovskaya Agricultural Academy. Raffi recommended him to his friend Melkon Kasbarian Paniants, asking him to aid Mikaelian financially, adding, "You can believe me in regards to his morality, that he is a most honorable youth." For a year and a half Mikaelian attended the Petrovskaya Agricultural Academy, where he met Stepan Zorian (Rostom) and Simon Zavarian. He took courses as an auditing student, simultaneously pursuing studies in scientific and economic issues and actively participating in student movements. Due to lack of financial means, Mikaelian left his studies incomplete and in 1887 returned to Tiflis and committed himself to revolutionary activities. He attempted to found a secret printing-house with Rostom, but they were unable to secure sufficient funds.

Political activism

Upon his return to Tiflis, he organized, trained, and taught groups of people belonging to the working class. In order to mobilize the dispersed Armenian fedayees, he founded an organization known as Young Armenia (Երիտասարդ Հայաստան, Yeritasard Hayastan). He later became a co-founder of the ARF alongside Simon Zavarian and Stepan Zorian. He was one of the members of the ARF Bureau until his death.

In 1891, he was deported by the Russian authorities to Kishinev in Bessarabia. He then made his way to Galatz, Romania, where he participated in the production of Droshak, the official newspaper of the ARF. Mikaelian returned to the Caucasus in 1892 and continued his activities there until 1898. He was jailed for six months by the Russian authorities in 1895. He went to Geneva in 1898 to edit Droshak. Mikaelian played an instrumental role in the creation of the bi-monthly Pro Armenia in 1900, a publication which brought together French intellectuals sympathetic to the Armenian cause. From 1901 to 1904, Mikaelian conducted the Potorik ("Storm") operation to extort money for the ARF from wealthy Armenians. Mikaelian was the central figure of the planning of the assassination attempt on Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the ultimately unsuccessful Yıldız assassination attempt. However, he died while testing bombs for the attempt in the mountain village of Sablyar, near Kyustendil in Bulgaria. He was 45 years old.

References

Bibliography

 Mihran Kurdoghlian, Badmoutioun Hayots, C. Hador (translators from the Armenian), Armenian History, volume III, p. 34, Athens, Greece: 1996
 The Book of The Tashnagtsagan Badanee Volume I., p 58–61, Los Angeles: 2007
 Գաբրիէլ Լազեան, Յեղափոխական Դէմքեր (Մտաւորականներ, Հայդուկներ), էջ 3–15, Մոնթէպէլլօ, Քալիֆորնիայ: Հ.Յ.Դ. «Դրօ» Կոմիտէութիւն, 1994 (Kapriel Lazian, Revolutionary Figures (Intellectuals, Freedom Fighters), p. 3-15, Montebello, CA: A.R.F. "Tro" Chapter, 1994)

See also
 Armenian Revolutionary Federation
 Stepan Zorian
 Simon Zavarian

1905 deaths
1859 births
Armenian revolutionaries
Armenian independence activists
People from the Russian Empire
Armenian nationalists

Christapor Mikaelian


Meloxicam, sold under the brand name Mobic among others, is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication (NSAID) used to treat pain and inflammation in rheumatic diseases and osteoarthritis. It is used by mouth or by injection into a vein. It is recommended that it be used for as short a period as possible and at a low dose.

Common side effects include abdominal pain, dizziness, swelling, headache, and a rash. Serious side effects may include heart disease, stroke, kidney problems, and stomach ulcers. Use is not recommended in the third trimester of pregnancy. It blocks cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) more than it blocks cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1). It is in the oxicam family of chemicals and is closely related to piroxicam.

Meloxicam was patented in 1977 and approved for medical use in the United States in 2000. It was developed by Boehringer Ingelheim; however, it is also available as a generic medication. In 2020, it was the 28th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 19million prescriptions.  An intravenous version of meloxicam (Anjeso) was approved for medical use in the United States in February 2020.

Adverse effects

Meloxicam use can result in gastrointestinal toxicity and bleeding, headaches, rash, and very dark or black stool (a sign of intestinal bleeding). It has fewer gastrointestinal side effects than diclofenac, piroxicam, naproxen, and perhaps all other NSAIDs which are not COX-2 selective.

In October 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required the drug label to be updated for all nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications to describe the risk of kidney problems in unborn babies that result in low amniotic fluid. They recommend avoiding NSAIDs in pregnant women at 20 weeks or later in pregnancy.

Cardiovascular
Like other NSAIDs, its use is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. Although meloxicam inhibits formation of thromboxane A, it does not appear to do so at levels that would interfere with platelet function. A pooled analysis of randomized, controlled studies of meloxicam therapy of up to 60 days duration found that meloxicam was associated with a statistically significantly lower number of thromboembolic complications than the NSAID diclofenac (0.2% versus 0.8% respectively) but a similar incidence of thromboembolic events to naproxen and piroxicam.

People with hypertension, high cholesterol, or diabetes are at risk for cardiovascular side effects. People with family history of heart disease, heart attack, or stroke should tell their treating physician as the potential for serious cardiovascular side effects is significant.

Gastrointestinal
NSAIDs cause an increase in the risk of serious gastrointestinal adverse events including bleeding, ulceration, and perforation of the stomach or intestines, which can be fatal. Elderly patients are at greater risk for serious gastrointestinal events.

Mouth
It is recommended to withhold meloxicam use for at least four to six half-lives prior to surgical or dental procedures due to increased risk for taste perversion, ulcerative stomatitis and dry mouth.

Mechanism of action

Meloxicam blocks cyclooxygenase (COX), the enzyme responsible for converting arachidonic acid into prostaglandin H2—the first step in the synthesis of prostaglandins, which are mediators of inflammation.
Meloxicam has been shown, especially at low therapeutic doses, to selectively inhibit COX-2 over COX-1.

Meloxicam concentrations in synovial fluid range from 40% to 50% of those in plasma. The free fraction in synovial fluid is 2.5 times higher than in plasma, due to the lower albumin content in synovial fluid as compared to plasma. The significance of this penetration is unknown, but it may account for the fact that it performs exceptionally well in treatment of arthritis in animal models.

Pharmacokinetics

Absorption
The bioavailability of meloxicam is decreased when administered orally compared to an equivalent IV bolus dose. Different oral formulations of meloxicam are not bioequivalent. Use of oral meloxicam following a high-fat breakfast increases the mean peak drug levels by about 22%; however, the manufacturer does not make any specific meal recommendations. In addition, the use of antacids does not show pharmacokinetic interactions. With chronic dosing, the time to maximum plasma concentration following oral administration is approximately 5–6 hours.

Distribution
The mean volume of distribution of meloxicam is approximately 10 L. It is highly protein-bound, mainly to albumin.

Metabolism
Meloxicam is extensively metabolized in the liver by the enzymes CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 (minor) into four inactive metabolites. Peroxidase activity is thought to be responsible for the other two remaining metabolites.

Excretion
Meloxicam is predominantly excreted in the form of metabolites and occurs to equal extents in the urine and feces. Traces of unchanged parent drug are found in urine and feces. The mean elimination half-life ranges from 15 to 20 hours.

Specific populations

Geriatrics
Use of meloxicam is not recommended in people with peptic ulcer disease or increased gastrointestinal bleed risk, including those over 75 years of age or those taking medications associated with bleeding risk. Adverse events have been found to be dose-dependent and associated with length of treatment.

Veterinary use
Meloxicam is used in veterinary medicine to treat dogs, but also sees off-label use in other animals such as cattle and exotics.

The most common side effects include gastrointestinal irritation (vomiting, diarrhea, and ulceration).

In healthy dogs given meloxicam, no perioperative adverse effects on the cardiovascular system have been reported at recommended dosages. Perioperative administration of meloxicam to cats did not affect postoperative respiratory rate nor heart rate.

A peer-reviewed journal article cites NSAIDs, including meloxicam, as causing gastrointestinal upset and, at high doses, acute kidney injury and CNS signs such as seizures and comas in cats. It adds that cats have a low tolerance for NSAIDs.

No decline in renal excretory function was observed when meloxicam was administered to cats with chronic kidney disease. Cats that received meloxicam had greater proteinuria at 6 months than cats that received placebo. It was concluded that meloxicam should be used with caution in cats with chronic kidney disease.

Meloxicam has been investigated as an alternative to diclofenac by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to prevent deaths of vultures.

Pharmacokinetics
In dogs, the absorption of meloxicam from the stomach is not affected by the presence of food, with the peak concentration (Cmax) of meloxicam occurring in the blood 7–8 hours after administration. The half-life of meloxicam is approximately 24 hours in dogs.

In the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), very little meloxicam is absorbed into the blood after oral administration (that is, it has poor bioavailability).

Legal status

United States
In 2003, meloxicam was approved in the U.S. for use in dogs for the management of pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis, as an oral (liquid) formulation of meloxicam. In January 2005, the product insert added a warning in bold-face type: "Do not use in cats." An injectable formulation for use in dogs was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2003.

In October 2004, a formulation for use in cats was approved for use prior to surgery only. This is an injectable meloxicam, indicated for as a single, one-time dose only, with specific and repeated warnings not to administer a second dose.

In 2005, the FDA sent a Notice of Violation to the manufacturer for its promotional materials which included promotion of the drug for off-label use.

In February 2020, meloxicam injection was approved for use in the United States. The FDA granted the approval of Anjeso to Baudax Bio.

European Union
In Europe the product is licensed for other anti-inflammatory benefits including relief from both acute and chronic pain in dogs. Meloxicam is also licensed for use in horses, to relieve the pain associated with musculoskeletal disorders.

Meloxicam was authorised for use in cattle throughout the European Union in January 1998, via a centralised marketing authorisation. The first generic meloxicam product was approved in 2006.

Other countries
, meloxicam is registered for long-term use in cats in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. In the United Kingdom, meloxicam is licensed for use in cats, guinea pigs, horses, and livestock including pigs and cattle.

See also
 Bupivacaine/meloxicam

References

External links

Benzothiazines
Boehringer Ingelheim
Carboxamides
Cat medications
Dog medications
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
Wikipedia medicine articles ready to translate
Thiazoles
Veterinary drugs
Sultams

Meloxicam


Jan-Erik "Janne" Olsson (born 1941) is a Swedish criminal, born and raised in Ekeby, outside Helsingborg. He was the main culprit in the 1973 Norrmalmstorg robbery in Stockholm, for which the term Stockholm syndrome was named.

Kalmar Prison
Olsson met the known criminal Clark Olofsson at the Swedish correctional facility in Kalmar, and they became friends. Olsson was fascinated by Clark Olofsson's criminal past as a bank robber. After Olsson later disappeared during a furlough, he carried out a failed rescue attempt of Clark Olofsson on 7 January 1973, attempting to blow up the wall with dynamite that he had smuggled in earlier. Olsson sat in a car outside during the attempt. However, Olofsson failed to detonate the dynamite, which caused the rescue attempt to fail.

Norrmalmstorg robbery

Olsson was the main culprit at the Norrmalmstorg robbery in Stockholm on 23–28 August 1973. On 23 August 1973, he was inside the Pressbyrån store in central Stockholm, where he masked himself. He then entered Kreditbanken with a submachine gun under his jacket and took four people hostage, demanding that Clark Olofsson be brought to him along with 3 million Swedish krona. Olofsson was a repeat offender who had committed several armed robberies and acts of violence, the first at the age of 16. During the robbery, Olsson fired multiple times at the police, injuring one officer in the hand and another in the face and arms. He spoke twice with Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. The robbery ended on 28 August after the police deployed gas. Olsson, as well as the hostages and Clark Olofsson, all survived unharmed. Olsson was sentenced to ten years in prison; he was released in the early 1980s.

Since the robbery, Olsson has not been convicted of any other crimes. He lived in Thailand for 15 years with his wife and son, where they ran a supermarket. He has since returned to Helsingborg, where he has operated an automobile repair shop, and is now retired. Olsson has shown remorse for his actions as a habitual offender and has openly apologised for the hostage situation in Norrmalmstorg.

Bibliography

References

Notes

1941 births
Living people
People from Bjuv Municipality
Swedish bank robbers
Swedish prisoners and detainees
Prisoners and detainees of Sweden
Swedish expatriates in Thailand
People convicted of robbery

Jan-Erik Olsson


James Richard Laurinaitis (born December 3, 1986) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current assistant linebackers coach for Ohio State. He played as a linebacker for the St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he was a three-time consensus All-American and won numerous awards. He was drafted by the Rams in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft.

Early years
Laurinaitis was born in Wayzata, Minnesota. He was raised in a family of athletes; his father Joe, a WWE Hall of Famer also known as "Road Warrior Animal", and two uncles (John and Marcus) were professional wrestlers. He attended Wayzata High School, and played high school football and hockey. He was touted as a potential second or third-round National Hockey League (NHL) draft pick, but teams didn't draft him because it was thought that he was more likely to pursue a football career. While he was a successful hockey player, having been named a team captain as a senior, football was arguably his best sport. He was named Defensive Mr. Football in Minnesota in 2004. That season, he helped lead his high school football team to the state championship game in Class 5A with 193 tackles, including 28 for loss and five sacks.

College career

Laurinaitis attended Ohio State University, where he played for coach Jim Tressel's Ohio State Buckeyes football team from 2005 to 2008. As a true freshman in 2005, he played in all 12 games eventually reaching No. 2 on the depth chart at strong-side linebacker behind Bobby Carpenter. After Carpenter broke a leg on the first play from scrimmage in their rivalry game against Michigan, Laurinaitis played the rest of that game, and also started in their Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame. At the end of the 2006 regular season, Laurinaitis led the team in tackles (115) and interceptions (5), and also had 8.5 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks.

In 2006 Laurinaitis won the Nagurski Award as the nation's best defensive player, and was also named a finalist for the Butkus and Bednarik awards. He was a first-team All-Big Ten selection, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American. Laurinaitis won the Butkus Award for most outstanding college linebacker in 2007. He was also recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American in 2007, having been named to the first-teams of multiple selectors including the Associated Press (AP), the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), FWAA, Sporting News, the Walter Camp Foundation, and Rivals.com. He was honored as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

In 2008, he was named one of four finalists for the 2008 Rotary Lombardi Award (only Big Ten player in consideration for that award) and the winner of the Lott Trophy for The Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year and the recipient of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. He was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American for the third consecutive year. He was also a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented to the nation's top defender by the Maxwell Club of Philadelphia and one of five defensive players among fifteen finalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year award. He started all thirteen games, becoming the fourth player in school history to lead the team in tackles three times in a career, as he ranked second in the Big Ten and 14th nationally with an average of 10.0 tackles per game. He recorded a career-high 130 tackles (52 solos) that included four sacks, seven stops for losses and one quarterback pressure, caused a fumble, deflected four passes and picked off two others.

Laurinaitis is the only player to ever win two Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year awards (in both coaches and media).

Career statistics

Professional career
Laurinaitis attended the NFL Scouting Combine and performed all of the combine and positional drills. On March 19, 2009, he participated at Ohio State's Pro day and improved his 40-yard dash (4.72s), 20-yard dash (2.72s), 10-yard dash (1.59s), short shuttle (4.18s), and three-cone drill (6.81s). At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Laurinaitis was projected to be a first or second round pick by NFL draft experts or scouts. He was ranked as the second best inside linebacker prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and NFL analyst Mike Mayock.

St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams selected Laurinaitis in the second round (35th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft. Laurinaitis was the fourth linebacker drafted in 2009, behind Aaron Curry, Brian Cushing, and Clay Matthews III.

2009

On July 29, 2009, the Rams signed Laurinaitis to a four-year, $5.1 million contract that included $3.3 million guaranteed.

Laurinaitis entered training camp slated as the starting middle linebacker, replacing Will Witherspoon. Head coach Steve Spagnuolo named Laurinaitis the starting middle linebacker to begin the regular season.

He made his professional regular season debut and his first career start in the St. Louis Rams' season-opener at the Seattle Seahawks and recorded 14 combined tackles (ten solo) in their 28–0 loss. On October 9, 2009, Laurinaitis recorded six solo tackles, a pass deflection, and made his first career interception during a 38–10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 5. Laurinaitis made his first career interception off a pass by Vikings' quarterback Brett Favre, that was originally intended for wide receiver Bernard Berrian, and returned it for a seven-yard gain in the second quarter. In Week 12, he collected nine solo tackles and made his first career sack during a 27–17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Laurinaitis made his first career sack on quarterback Matt Hasselbeck for a seven-yard loss in the first quarter. He started in all 16 games during his rookie season in 2009 and recorded 120 combined tackles (107 solo), five pass deflections, two interceptions, two sacks, and a forced fumble. He earned the Carroll Rosenbloom Memorial Award, which goes to the Rams rookie of the year. He was also named to the NFL All-Rookie team by Sporting News.

2010
Defensive coordinator Ken Flajole retained Laurinaitis as the starting middle linebacker to begin training camp. Head coach Steve Spagnuolo officially named him the starter to begin the regular season, alongside outside linebackers Larry Grant and Na'il Diggs. On October 31, 2010, he collected eight combined tackles, deflected a pass, made a sack, and recorded an interception during a 20–10 victory against the Carolina Panthers. Laurinaitis intercepted a pass by quarterback Matt Moore, that was originally a flea flicker intended for wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. on the Panthers' first offensive play of the game. In Week 11, he collected a season-high 11 combined tackles (eight solo) during a 34–17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. On December 19, 2010, Laurinaitis made a season-high 11 combined tackles (ten solo) and broke up one pass in the Rams' 27–13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15. He started all 16 games in 2010 and finished his second season with 114 combined tackles (98 solo), five pass deflections, three sacks, and an interception.

2011
Laurinaitis retained his starting middle linebacker role in 2011 and started alongside outside linebackers Bryan Kehl and Ronald Bartell. On September 19, 2011, he collected a season-high 14 combined tackles (nine solo) in the Rams' 28–16 loss at the New York Giants in Week 2. In Week 11, Laurinaitis recorded a season-high 13 solo tackles during a 24–7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He started all 16 games and finished the 2011 season with a career-high 142 combined tackles (105 solo), seven passes defensed, three sacks, and two interceptions.

2012
On January 2, 2012, the Rams fired head coach Steve Spagnuolo and general manager Billy Devaney after they finished with a 2–14 record and did not qualify for the playoffs in their third consecutive season. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended for the entire season due to his involvement on the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal. The Rams resorted to having the assistant defensive coaches fill in for Williams. Laurinaitis entered training camp slated as the starting middle linebacker. Head coach Jeff Fisher officially named Laurinaitis the starter to begin the regular season, along with outside linebackers Rocky McIntosh and Jo-Lonn Dunbar.

On September 8, 2012, the Rams signed Laurinaitis to a five-year, $42.12 million contract extension with $23.50 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2 million.

On October 21, 2012, Laurinaitis collected a season-high 14 combined tackles (13 solo) in the Rams' 30–20 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 7. In Week 12, he tied his season-high of 14 combined tackles (seven solo), deflected a pass, and made his first interception of the season during a 31–17 win at the Arizona Cardinals. Laurinaitis intercepted a pass by Cardinals' quarterback Ryan Lindley, that was intended for wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and returned it for an 18-yard gain in the fourth quarter. On December 23, 2012, Laurinaitis recorded 12 combined tackles (11 solo), a season-high two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Josh Freeman in a 28–13 win at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16. He started in all 16 games in 2012 and recorded a career-high 142 combined tackles (117 solo), five pass deflections, two interceptions, and was credited with half a sack.

2013
The Rams hired Tim Walton as their new defensive coordinator. Walton retained the 4-3 defense and named Laurinaitis the starting middle linebacker to start the regular season, along with outside linebackers Alec Ogletree and Will Witherspoon. On September 26, 2013, he collected a season-high 12 combined tackles (nine solo) and broke up two passes during a 35–11 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 4. In Week 16, he recorded six combined tackles and was credited with a season-high 1.5 sacks on quarterback Mike Glennon in the Rams' 23–13 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He started in all 16 games and recorded 116 combined tackles (85 solo), a career-high nine pass deflections, 3.5 sacks, and two interceptions.

2014
On January 29, 2014, the Rams announced the decision to mutually part ways with defensive coordinator Tim Walton. The Rams brought back defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and retained Laurinaitis as the starting middle linebacker, along with outside linebackers Jo-Lonn Dunbar and Alec Ogletree. On November 16, 2014, Laurinaitis recorded a season-high 11 combined tackles (seven solo) and made one sack during a 22–7 win against the Denver Broncos in Week 7. In Week 14, he collected six combined tackles, deflected a pass, and was credited with a season-high 1.5 sacks in the Rams' 24–0 win at the Washington Redskins. He started in all 16 games in 2014 and recorded 109 combined tackles (81 solo), 3.5 sacks, and two pass deflections.

2015
Laurinaitis returned as the starting middle linebacker in 2015, along with outside linebackers Alec Ogletree and Akeem Ayers. In Week 2, he collected a season-high nine combined tackles during a 24–10 loss at the Washington Redskins. The following week, Laurinaitis made eight combined tackles in the Rams' 12–6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3. He earned his 916th tackle during the game which moved him into first-place on the franchise's all-time list. The Rams used a different system to track tackles than the NFL. On November 1, 2015, Laurinaitis recorded seven combined tackles and made the first safety of his career in the Rams' 27–6 win against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8. Laurinaitis tackled running back Mike Davis for a one-yard loss in the endzone for a safety in the first quarter. In Week 12, he tied his season-high of nine combined tackles during a 31–7 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals. Laurinaitis started in all 16 games in 2015 and recorded 109 combined tackles (61 solo), a pass deflection, a sack, an interception, and a safety.

2016
On February 19, 2016, the Rams released Laurinaitis. He finished his tenure with the Rams with 852 combined tackles, 34 pass deflections, 16.5 sacks, and ten interceptions and started every single regular season game over eight seasons. His streak stood at 112 consecutive starts at the time of his release. Laurinaitis attended meetings with the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons.

New Orleans Saints
On March 16, 2016, the New Orleans Saints signed Laurinaitis to a three-year, $8.25 million contract with a signing bonus of $1.80 million.

Head coach Sean Payton named Laurinaitis the starting middle linebacker to begin the regular season, along with outside linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Stephone Anthony. He started in the New Orleans Saints' season-opener against the Oakland Raiders and collected a season-high seven combined tackles and deflected a pass in their 35–34 loss. On September 26, 2016, Laurinaitis recorded seven combined tackles during a 45–32 loss against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3. Laurinaitis sustained an injury to his quadriceps during the Saints' loss to the Falcons and was sidelined for the next two games (Weeks 4–5). His injury ended his streak of 115 consecutive starts. On November 5, 2016, Laurinaitis was placed on injured reserve after re-injuring his quadriceps. On November 17, 2016, Laurinaitis was waived by the Saints from the injured reserve. He finished the season with 17 combined tackles (nine solo) and a pass deflection in five games and three starts.

Retirement
On April 11, 2017, Laurinaitis announced his retirement after an 8-year career in the NFL.

NFL career statistics

Coaching career
Laurinaitis entered the coaching profession in 2022 when he was named a graduate assistant and assistant linebackers coach for Notre Dame under former Ohio State teammate Marcus Freeman. The following season, he was named to the same position for his alma mater, Ohio State.

Personal life
Laurinaitis is one of two children born to Joseph and Julie Laurinaitis. He has Lithuanian roots on his father's side. Laurinaitis has a half-brother, Joseph, Jr., from his father's first marriage, who is a veteran of the Iraq War and training to become a police officer. His younger sister, Jessica, played on her high school hockey team.

Laurinaitis comes from a family that has significant ties to Professional wrestling. His father Joe wrestled as Road Warrior Animal, one half of legendary wrestling tag-team The Road Warriors with Road Warrior Hawk. His uncle Marcus wrestled in Europe, Japan, and the United States as The Terminator and later Fury. His other uncle, John, wrestled as Johnny Ace and was a star in Japan, later becoming an executive with WWE.

On March 23, 2013, Laurinaitis married Shelly Williams whom he met while attending Ohio State University. The couple has two children.

Laurinaitis is an evangelical Christian. Laurinaitis has spoken about his faith saying, "To me, there's nothing that trumps my faith in Christ—not even an NFL career. Everything I have on this earth is borrowed. All that really matters is eternity. God has blessed me with a platform and with an opportunity to do something that I love to do. Out of my gratefulness, I give all that I have as if He's the only One watching."

The Big Ten Network hired Laurinaitis in 2017 as a college football analyst and co-host of a weekly Ohio State show on SportsTime Ohio. In 2018, Laurinaitis was hired by radio station 97.1 The Fan where he co-hosted a midday sports talk program until 2022.

References

External links

1986 births
Living people
All-American college football players
American football linebackers
American people of Lithuanian descent
College football announcers
New Orleans Saints players
Ohio State Buckeyes football players
People from Wayzata, Minnesota
Players of American football from Hennepin County, Minnesota
St. Louis Rams players

James Laurinaitis


Drafting tools may be used for measurement and layout of drawings, or to improve the consistency and speed of creation of standard drawing elements. Tools such as pens and pencils mark the drawing medium. Other tools such as straight edges, assist the operator in drawing straight lines, or assist the operator in drawing complicated shapes repeatedly.  Various scales and the protractor are used to measure the lengths of lines and angles, allowing accurate scale drawing to be carried out. The compass is used to draw arcs and circles.  A drawing board was used to hold the drawing media in place; later boards included drafting machines that sped the layout of straight lines and angles. Tools such as templates and lettering guides assisted in the drawing of repetitive elements such as circles, ellipses, schematic symbols and text. Other auxiliary tools were used for special drawing purposes or for functions related to the preparation and revision of drawings.   The tools used for manual technical drawing have been displaced by the advent of computer-aided drawing, drafting and design (CADD).

History
The ancient Egyptians are known to have used wooden corner rulers. Ancient Nuragic people in Sardinia used compasses made of bronze, like the one displayed in showcase 25 in the Nuragic department of the National Archeological Museum G. A. Sanna in Sassari. In ancient Greece, evidence has been found of the use of styli and metal chisels, scale rulers and triangle rulers. Excavations in Pompeii have found a bronze tool kit used by the Romans, which contained triangle rulers, compasses and a ruler to use with a pen.

Although a variety of styli were developed in ancient times and were still being used in the 18th century, quills were generally used as the main drawing tool. Styli were also used in the form of ivory or ebony pencils.

Protractors have been used to measure and draw angles and arcs of a circle accurately since about the 13th century, although mathematics and science demanded more detailed drawing instruments. The adjustable corner ruler was developed in the 17th century, but a feasible screw-tightened version not until the 1920s.

In the 17th century, a stylus that could draw a line with a specific width called a ruling pen was developed. The stylus had two curved metal pieces which were joined by a screw. Ink was trickled between the blades, from which it flowed evenly across the paper. The basic model was maintained for a long time, with minor modifications, until the 1930s when the German technical drawing pens came to the market.

Artists (including Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer, Nicholas Bion and George Adams) generally made drawing tools for themselves. Industrial production of technical drawing instruments started in 1853, when Englishman William Stanley (1829–1909) founded a technical manufacturing company in London. Even then, however, most tools were still made by hand.

In the 1930s the equipment available expanded: drawing apparatus and Rapidograph-drawing pens appeared, improving the line quality and, especially, producing consistent line width. In addition to the Rapidograph stylus, a more traditional Grafos-type stylus was used for a long time, where different line widths were achieved by changing the pen nib. For instance in Finland Grafos was commonly used as a primary drawing tool still in the early 1970s.

Equipment changed radically during the 1990s, when computer-aided design almost completely ousted drawing by hand. Technical design has changed from drawing by hand to producing computer-aided design drawings, where drawings are no longer "drawn", but are built from a virtually-produced model. Drawings are not necessarily produced in hard copy at all, and if they are needed they are printed automatically by a computer program. Hand-drawn designs however are still widely used in the draft design stage.

Drawing tools

Pencil

Traditional and typical styli used for technical drawing are pencils and technical pens.

Pencils in use are usually mechanical pencils with a standard lead thickness. The usual line widths are 0.35 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.7 mm and 1.0 mm. Hardness varies usually from HB to 2H. Softer lead gives a better contrast, but harder lead gives a more accurate line. Bad contrast of the lead line in general is problematic when photocopying, but new scanning copy techniques have improved the final result. Paper or plastic surfaces require their own lead types.

In most cases, the final drawings are drawn with ink, on either plastic or tracing paper. The pen is generally a Rapidograph-type technical pen, a marker pen that draws lines of consistent width (so-called steel marker pen). The pen has an ink container which contains a metal tube, inside which is a thin metal needle or wire, the soul. Ink is absorbed between the needle and the tube wall, preventing an excessive amount of ink from being released. The needle has a weight and by waving the pen back and forth the needle is released and the ink can run. Originally, the tank was filled from an ink bottle; newer pens sometimes alternatively use ink cartridges.

Each line width has its own stylus. The line width is standardized: In Finland, the most commonly used set is , , , ,  and . Separate styli are used for tracing paper and plastic, because plastic requires a harder pen tip. To function well they require regular maintenance, the finest marker pens in particular.

Drafting board

The drawing board is an essential tool. Paper will be attached and kept straight and still, so that the drawing can be done with accuracy. Generally, different kind of assistance rulers are used in drawing. The drawing board is usually mounted to a floor pedestal in which the board turns to a different position, and also its height can be adjustable. Smaller drawing boards are produced for table-top use. In the 18th and 19th centuries, drawing paper was dampened and then its edges glued to the drawing board. After drying the paper would be flat and smooth. The completed drawing was then cut free. Paper could also be secured to the drawing board with drawing pins or even C-clamps. More recent practice is to use self-adhesive drafting tape to secure paper to the board, including the sophisticated use of individualized adhesive dots from a dispensing roll. Some drawing boards are magnetized, allowing paper to be held down by long steel strips. Boards used for overlay drafting or animation may include registration pins or peg bars to ensure alignment of multiple layers of drawing media.

T-square
A T-square is a straightedge which uses the edge of the drawing board as a support. It is used with the drafting board to draw horizontal lines and to align other drawing instruments. Wooden, metal, or plastic triangles with 30° and 60° angles or with two 45° angles are used to speed drawing of lines at these commonly used angles.  A continuously adjustable 0–90° protractor is also in use. An alternative to the T-square is the parallel bar which is permanently attached to the drawing board. It has a set of cables and pulleys to allow it to be positioned anywhere on the drawing surface while still remaining parallel to the bottom of the board.  The drafting machine replaces the T-square and triangles.

Drafting machine

A drafting machine is a device which is mounted to the drawing board. It has rulers whose angles can be precisely adjusted with a controlling mechanism.

There are two main types of apparatus: an arm-type parallelogram apparatus based on a hinged arm; and a track-type apparatus which moves on a rail mounted to the top of the drawing board. The accuracy of the arm type apparatus is better in the middle of the board, decreasing towards the edges, whereas a track machine has a constant accuracy over the whole board. The drawing head of a track-type drafting machine slides on bearings in a vertical rail, which in turn is moved along a horizontal, top-mounted rail. Both apparatus types have an adjustable drawing-head with rules attached to a protractor scale so that the angle of the rules may be adjusted.

A drafting machine allows easy drawing of parallel lines over the paper. The adjustable angle between the rulers allows the lines to be drawn in varying accurate angles. Rulers may also be used as a support for separate special rulers and letter templates. The rules are replaceable and they can be for example scale-rules.

Drawing apparatus has evolved from a drawing board mounted parallel ruler and a pantograph, which is a device used for copying objects in an adjustable ratio of sizes.

French curves

French curves are made of wood, plastic or celluloid. Some set squares also have these curves cut in the middle. French curves are used for drawing curves which cannot be drawn with compasses. A faint freehand curve is first drawn through the known points; the longest possible curve that coincides exactly with the freehand curve is then found out from the French curves. Finally, a neat continuous curve is drawn with the aid of the French curves.

Rulers

Rulers used in technical drawing are usually made of polystyrene. It is used for drawing lines and connecting points. Rulers come in two types according to the design of their edge. A ruler with a straight edge can be used with lead pencils and felt pens, whereas when a technical pen is used the edge must be grooved to prevent the spread of the ink.

A scale ruler is a scaled, three-edged ruler which has six different scales marked to its sides. A typical combination for building details is 1:20, 1:50, 1:100, 1:25, 1:75 and 1:125. There are separate rulers for zoning work as well as for inch units. Today scale rulers are made of plastic, formerly they were made of hardwood. A pocket-sized version is also available, with scales printed on flexible plastic strips.

Compass
Compasses are used for drawing circles or arc segments of circles. One form has two straight legs joined by a hinge; one leg has a sharp pivot point and the other has a holder for a technical pen or pencil. Another form, the beam compass, has the pivot point and pen holder joined by a trammel bar, useful when drawing very large radius arcs. Often a circle template is used instead of a compass when predefined circle sizes are required.

Templates

Templates contain pre-dimensioned holes in the right scale to accurately draw a symbol or sign.

Letter templates are used for drawing text, including digits and letter characters. Diagrams are usually of a standard letter shape and size to conform to standards of encodings (e.g. DIN or ANSI). For example, in Finland the series used is 1.8 mm, 2.5 mm, 3.5 mm, 5.0 mm and 7.0 mm. Except for the very biggest ones, the templates are only suitable for technical pen drawing.

For drawing circles and circle-arcs, circle templates which contain a set of suitably-sized holes are used. Templates are also available for other geometric shapes such as squares and for drawing ellipses, as well as many specialized varieties for other purposes.

There are also specific templates to provide user with the most common symbols in use in different branches of designing.

For example, the architect templates can be used to draw different sized doors with their "opening arcs",

building and equipment symbols and furniture. The templates also provide the symbols for thermal insulation.

A geometry template is a piece of clear plastic with cut-out shapes and/or curves for use mainly by primary and secondary school students. Such templates often also include length and angle measurements. In Australia, where geometry templates are common school equipment, known brands include Mathomat and MathAid.

Two methods of drawing smooth curves in manual drafting are the use of French curves and flat splines (flexible curves). A French curve is a drawing aid with many different smoothly-varying radiused curves on it; the manual drafter can fit the French curve to some known reference points and draw a smooth curved line between them. A spline is a flexible ruler, usually rubber or plastic coated with a metal "backbone", which can be smoothly shaped to follow a desired curve and allows drawing a smooth line between initial reference points. Sometimes a spline is temporarily held in position with small weights.

Perspective machines

A perspective machine is an instrument designed to create perspective drawings.

Drawing materials

Drafting paper
Silk-paper-like translucent drafting paper that wrinkles when wetted. It is primarily suitable for pencils and felt tip pens. Pencil marks can be corrected to some extent with an eraser.

Thick draft paper
Sandwich-paper-like, thin translucent sheet of paper.

Manufactured in different strengths, the surface may be slightly polished. This paper also wrinkles upon wetting. Suitable for pencil and felt tipped pens, and with limitations for technical pens. An eraser can be used for pencil lines. Ink is difficult to erase without damage.

Cloth
Drafting linen was formerly used for technical drawings. It was durable and held up to handling, but it was difficult to use in modern whiteprints for reproduction, and shrinking was a concern.

Tracing paper

Polished sandwich paper-like, translucent thick paper, which comes in different strengths. Wrinkles upon wetting. Suitable for both graphite pencils and technical pens. An eraser or sharp scraper tool is used for corrections.

Tracing tube
Translucent plastic film, which is usually of gray or a light khaki shade. Common types are 0.05, 0.07 and 0.10 mm thick. These films are also used in photocopying. The most commonly used materials are polyesters, and sometimes also PVC or polycarbonate; arguably, a proprietary eponym or genericized trademark for this is called Mylar.

Inks
Drawing inks can be divided into two groups: India ink and polymer inks. India ink is used on paper and drafting film plastics. The most commonly used India ink is a colloidal mixture of water and carbon black.

Dry transfer
Dry transfer decals can speed the production of repetitive drawing elements such as borders, title blocks, line types, shading, and symbols.  They were frequently used in the production of schematic drawings, maps, and printed circuit board artwork, for example. Dry transfer lettering such as Letraset was used especially in lettering larger size document annotations, or when consistency of lettering was especially required.

Reproduction

Many copies of technical drawings may be required in the construction of a project. Reproductions must be accurate as to size and shape, but for many purposes need not be permanent. The blueprint process was first used for mechanical reproduction of drawings. Drawing offices may use diazo or whiteprint processes.  Where the volume of drawings reproduced justifies the cost of the machine, a large format photocopier using xerography can reproduce drawings at lower cost than re-plotting them.

See also

References

Further reading

 Pere, Aimo (in Finnish) Koneenpiirustus 1 & 2 (Machine Drawing 1 & 2) Kirpe, 2004.

External links

Technical drawing

Hand tools

Technical drawing tool


Gear was an American men's magazine published by Bob Guccione, Jr. devoted chiefly to revealing pictorials of popular singers, B-movie actresses, and models, along with articles on gadgets, cars, fashion, sex, and sports.

History and profile
Gear debuted in September 1998, with actress Peta Wilson on the cover. The magazine established itself with several publishing stunts such as publishing a nude photo of women's football celebrity Brandi Chastain.

When Gear featured a pictorial of a scantily clad   Jessica Biel in the March 2000 issue, who posed while appearing on the family drama 7th Heaven and was then 17 years old, actor Stephen Collins, who played her father on the show, described the pictures as "child pornography". The mature Biel cited it as one of her biggest regrets.  Esquire magazine described the photo shoot as "quasi-infamous".

Guccione described his vision for the magazine as being a successor to the likes of Esquire and GQ and to produce a literate magazine that includes quality journalism alongside articles on celebrities and fashion. Advertisers viewed the magazine as being more like Maxim, Stuff, or FHM, forcing it into the category of lads mags. Efforts were made to change the magazine's perceived image by moving from covers featuring scantily clad female celebrities to different cover images, including notable actors such as Elijah Wood and Christian Slater.

Gear  closed in 2003 with the intention of relaunching at a later date, hoping to break out of the lads mag category as Details had done. The magazine was described as similar to Spin also founded by Bob Guccione, Jr., and was praised for attempts to achieve the same kind of serious journalism. Ann Gerhart of The Washington Post described the magazine derisively as "the frat boy's Esquire".

See also
 Lad culture
 Cool Gadgets for men

References

1998 establishments in the United States
2003 disestablishments in the United States
Defunct magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 1998
Magazines disestablished in 2003
Magazines published in New York City
Men's magazines published in the United States

Gear (magazine)


Townshend Landscape Architects are a London-based Landscape Architecture practice established in 1988 by Robert Townshend. The practice specialises in landscape architecture, public realm masterplanning and urban design in the UK, Europe, Middle East, and Far East.

Projects of note include More London, a mixed-use development including the City Hall offices designed by Foster and Partners on the southern bank of the Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, the design of the open spaces and infrastructure at Brindleyplace in Birmingham, Bishops Square public realm and roof terraces, and are joint masterplaners for King's Cross Central masterplan with Allies and Morrison and Demetri Porphyrios for the  brownfield site to the north of King's Cross and St Pancras Stations which includes Granary Square.

Gallery

Selected projects

 More London, London
 King's Cross Central, London
 Spitalfields, London
 Brindleyplace, Birmingham
 Granary Square, London
 The Crystal, London
 Corvin Promenade, Budapest, Hungary
 Metropole, Warsaw, Poland
 Château de Villandry, France
 Carter Lane, St Paul's Cathedral, London
 Tower Place, London
 Bluewater Shopping Centre, Kent
 Central Spine, Manchester
 Bankside 123, London
 Ropemaker Roof Terraces, London
 Abu Dhabi Investment Council Headquarters, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
 Esplanade Quarter, Jersey
 Plaza of Nations, Vancouver, Canada

Awards

 2000 Civic Trust Award - Central Square & Oozells Square, Brindley Place
 2005 London Planning Awards, Best Built Project contributing to London's Future - Bishops Square, London
 2007 London Planning Awards, The Mayor's Award for Excellence in Planning - King's Cross Central
 2007 London Planning Awards, Best New Public Space - Bishops Square, London

References

External links
Townshend Landscape Architects Website

Architecture firms based in London
British landscape architects
Design companies established in 1988

Townshend Landscape Architects


Baba Jai Lal Ji Ubhi (Punjabi:ਬਾਬਾ ਜੈ ਲਾਲ ਜੀ ਉੱਭੀ) (June 1561 - 1641) is a Sikh religious figure who is venerated for his religious devotion and service to the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev Ji.

Early life
Baba Jai Lal ji Ubhi was born in the village of Patara (near the city of Jalandhar, Punjab, India) to a Sikh (Ramgarhia) family. His father's name was Baba Bhagtoo ji, and his mother's name was Nihalo ji. Both his parents died when he was 12 or 13 years old. That great loss moved him in the training of professional skill to living hood at the same time, he attached to Sikh basic values dasavndh and kirt karo vand shako and spiritual training in the guidance of Shri Guru Arjun dev ji and Baba Buddha ji.

Career
Baba Jai Lal ji ubhi was an expert craftsman who selflessly donated his services to the construction of Thum Sahib, a Gurdwara commissioned by Guru Arjan Dev Ji, near Kartarpur. Baba Jai Lal Ubhi's work can be found in Gurdwara Thum Sahib, which still stands today.

Noting Jai Lal's altruistic contributions and faith, Guru Arjan Dev Ji blessed Jai Lal ubhi.  It is believed that, in addition to Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Baba Budha Ji also blessed Jai Lal, and that Baba Dasa Ji from the nearby village of Slampur, although a few years his senior, considered Jai Lal to be his spiritual teacher.

Baba Jai Lal Ji maintained a hut for prayers outside the village of Patara, and devotees visited this hut to seek his spiritual advice and blessings. To honor his memory, a Gurdwara named after Baba Jai Lal Ji was erected at Jalandhar Cantonment at the original location of this hut.

References

2. shri kartarpur sahib

3. tham sahib

4. Ramgarhia ancestary

1561 births
1641 deaths
History of Sikhism
Indian Sikhs
People from Jalandhar

Jai Lal Ubhi


The Battle of Clitheroe was a battle between a force of Scots and English knights and men at arms which took place on 10 June 1138 during the period of The Anarchy. The battle was fought on the southern edge of the Bowland Fells, at Clitheroe, Lancashire.

Background
During the civil war in England known as The Anarchy, King David I of Scotland chose to fight for his niece, Matilda. At this time, David was also known to be attempting to absorb Northumberland into Scotland. To these ends David led a Scottish army into Northumberland in early 1138,
carefully avoiding battle with the forces led by King Stephen of England, until King Stephen was forced to retire south. This left David free to resume his invasion, which he did, crossing into Northumberland on 15 April and laying siege to Norham Castle.

It was around the time of the siege of Norham castle that William fitz Duncan, the Mormaer of Moray, was placed in command of a part of the Scottish forces, including a contingent of Galwegians, and was sent to raid into the lands of Craven and Clitheroe.

Battle
Not much is known about the battle itself. What is known is that the Scottish forces led by William fitz Duncan encountered a heavily armoured English army in chainmail and helmets near the river Ribble on 10 June. It is also said that the men of Galloway played a large part in the battle for the Scottish army. These men were known to be lightly armed and armoured, and renowned for their ferocious charges at the enemy.

The battle resulted in a victory for the Scottish army, with English sources saying the river Ribble ran red with blood.

Aftermath
After the battle of Clitheroe the Scottish army rampaged around the land, killing many and enslaving others.

Later, William fitz Duncan and his men rejoined the main Scottish army in time for the Battle of the Standard, near Northallerton, on 22 August, which was a victory for the English army.

References

Further reading
 Oram, Richard, David: The King Who Made Scotland, (Gloucestershire, 2004), pp. 132–3

1138 in Scotland
1138 in England
Battles between England and Scotland
Battles involving England
Battles involving Scotland
Clitheroe
Battle
Ribble Valley
Conflicts in 1138
Battles of The Anarchy

Battle of Clitheroe


The human penis is a male body part found on the outside of the body. It is used for urination and for sexual intercourse. The main sexual function of the penis is to be inserted into a female's vagina and deliver semen which may cause pregnancy. The penis also provides pleasure during other types of sexual activity, including foreplay, oral sex, and solo sex (which doctors say is normal and healthy.)

There are many slang words for penis. They include dick, cock, and schlong. A euphemism for penis is male member. The general area where the penis is located is called the crotch. Sometimes people who do not want to use the word penis use the word crotch instead. For example, someone might say a rapper "grabbed his crotch" rather than "grabbed his penis."

Females have a clitoris, which is like a penis, although the outside part of the clitoris is much smaller than the penis. Most of the clitoris is inside the body. Part of the shaft of the clitoris is covered by a thin layer of skin called the clitoral hood, which is similar to the foreskin of the penis, discussed below. Both the penis and the clitoris are erectile organs, meaning they can become larger and harder when touched, rubbed, or stimulated in other ways.

Structure

The human penis exits the abdomen above the scrotum and hangs freely outside the body. The main visible part is called the shaft.
The human penis has three parts.
Body of the penis: The main visible part of the penis. The urethra runs underside of the penis.
Root of the penis: Invisible part of the penis. It reaches near the anus and contains the bulb of the penis and the crus of the penis. The crus of the penis is attached to the pubic bone.
Skin of the penis: The shaft is covered by the skin. The skin is not attached tightly to the inner tissue. So it can move freely on the shaft.

The human penis is made up of three rod-shaped tissues. It has two corpora cavernosa (special pieces of muscle) next to each other and a corpus spongiosum (spongy muscle) between them.
The end of the corpus spongiosum forms the glans penis. The glans penis is covered by the foreskin in uncircumcised males. The rounded base of the glans is called the corona. The area on the bottom of the penis, where the foreskin is attached, is known as the frenulum of prepuce.

The urethra, the tube where urine and semen travel through, runs down the corpus spongiosum (spongy tissue), and opens at the tip of the penis. The opening is called the urinary meatus. Sperm are made in the testes (ball-like organs) and stored in the epididymis (layer of tissue) around the testes. During ejaculation, sperm are pushed up the vas deferens. Fluids are added by the seminal vesicles, the prostate gland and the bulbourethral glands to make semen.

In sexual reproduction

Erection

A penis can become erect ("hard") if a  male is sexually aroused (or sometimes during sleep, even though there is no sexual stimulation). In an erection, the penis fills with blood. The blood makes the penis become longer, thicker and harder. Veins taking blood away from the penis get smaller, so less blood is taken through. Arteries bringing blood to the penis get wider, bringing more blood to the penis. Erections sometimes occur in the male fetus (before birth), and occur naturally from birth onwards.  It is normal for the penis to be erect when a male wakes up. This is commonly called morning wood. It is also normal for male teenagers and men to have an erection several times per night when sleeping. If this does not happen, the person may have a bad medical problem or depression (a mental health problem.) Not being able to have an erection can also be caused by various common drugs, including antidepressants and drugs taken to control high blood pressure. During the day, an erection sometimes happens for no reason, or when undressing. This is most common in young teenagers and is normal.  People call this a spontaneous (sudden or surprise) erection. A slang word for an erection is a boner.

Ejaculation

Ejaculation is when semen is pushed from the penis. It usually happens during an orgasm. Males can ejaculate during sexual intercourse or by masturbation. There are usually 40 million or more sperm in the semen ejaculated. Semen usually has a slight smell of chlorine and ammonia. It is not poisonous, but it is very bad if it gets in someone's eye. The enzymes semen contains to penetrate the egg in a female will also attack the eye. Be careful not to ejaculate into your eye or your partner's eye. Semen contains proteins and fructose (a kind of sugar.) Some people say it tastes sweeter if the man eats a lot of fruit. Scientists have not proven that. Smoking, or drinking coffee, tea or colas that contain caffeine can create a bitter flavor. Semen is slimy when wet. Eventually, it dries in the air and hardens like glue.

In reproductive sexual intercourse between a male and female, the erect penis is inserted into the vagina and moved in and out. The vagina places pressure on the penis, which can cause the male to have an orgasm and ejaculate into the vagina, causing insemination (meaning that semen enters the female's reproductive system.)

Orgasm and ejaculation can happen during many types of sex acts including anal and oral sex, and when masturbating. A condom should be used during anal sex to avoid getting a urinary tract infection. Masturbation can include touching and rubbing the penis and other sensitive areas of the body, such as the scrotum, and other places in the genital area. This can be done naked or through clothes. Sometimes the penis is squeezed between the partner's thighs without being inserted into the body. This is called intercrural sex. Sometimes the penis is rubbed against the other person's body. The people can be naked or wearing clothes. When two males rub their penises together or against each other's body, it is called frottage. Ejaculation may also happen without touching during sleep (called a 'wet dream'). This is common, especially for pre-teen and teenage boys. It is uncommon in adults. While it can feel almost magical to ejaculate during a dream, boys don't like the mess it creates. Boys usually don't have wet dreams if they masturbate before sleeping every night.  A male must have started puberty before he can ejaculate. (Sometimes when a boy who has not started puberty masturbates, a small amount of urine comes out.) During orgasm, muscles push semen from the penis. Semen moves through the urethra and comes out of the hole at the tip of the penis.

Condom use

A man can put a condom on his penis to prevent semen from entering the female's reproductive system. A condom is very thin, so having sex still feels good. It is normally made of latex. If used correctly, a condom usually stops the woman from getting pregnant and having a baby. The condom also lowers the chance of getting a sexually transmitted infection from the sexual partner or giving a sexually transmitted infection to the sexual partner. While condoms are most commonly used during vaginal sex, a condom can also be used during oral sex, anal sex, and masturbation.

Vaccination to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections
Vaccinating young people (both girls and boys) before the age when they first have sex can reduce their risk of getting one infection called HPV. The United States CDC says the HPV vaccine should be given at age 11 or 12 years but can be started at age 9. HPV increases the risk of cancer, including cancer in the throat or neck if people have oral sex (licking, kissing or sucking on the penis.) HPV can be under the foreskin if the penis has a foreskin, and in the semen whether the penis is circumcised or uncircumcised.

Penis size in humans

The length and thickness of the penis is different for different people. The size of a soft penis (flaccid or not erect) is much smaller than when it is erect. Some penises grow more when they get hard than other penises. In most cases, whether a penis is big or small, it can still be used for sex. It averages out to be around 3 to 6 inches long when not erect. The average size of an erect human penis is between 13 – 16 cm (5.1– 6 in). The average circumference of a penis is 12.3 cm (4.85 in) when fully erect. The penis grows bigger during puberty. At the start of puberty, the average length of the penis is . The penis reaches adult size about 5 years later. A study done in 1996 found the mean length of an adult man's penis is  when it is not erect. The average length of an erect penis is about .
The human penis is longer than in other primates except for the chimpanzee. The chimpanzee's penis is about the same length. The penis is bigger in circumference on humans than on other primates.

Circumcision
The foreskin is a fold of skin that covers the end of the penis. The foreskin is a bit thicker than an eyelid. Cutting off the foreskin is called circumcision. The foreskin is connected to the head of the penis. During circumcision, most or all of the foreskin is removed from the penis. This simple change to the penis is very common in many countries of the world including the United States and Israel.  Circumcision is done for medical reasons because it lowers the chance of ever getting cancer of the penis to near zero. The foreskin removed during circumcision is a possible source of penile cancer. Childhood circumcision has a strong protective effect against penile cancer in later life. Penile cancer has been nearly eliminated in populations of males circumcised shortly after birth. Circumcision virtually eliminates the risk of invasive penile cancer. Being uncircumcised is a risk factor for penile cancer. Invasive penile cancer is cancer that spreads in the body. It is uncommon but often causes the man to die. Circumcision also reduces the risk of cancer of the cervix in female sexual partners.  Cervical cancer is very common. It causes over 300,000 deaths of women worldwide every year. Circumcision reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of getting or spreading HIV/AIDS. Circumcision became more common in Africa after HIV/AIDS began. The use of condoms also reduces the risk of getting or spreading HIV/AIDS, but many people in Africa cannot afford condoms or choose not to use them.

Circumcision is usually performed on infant males for medical reasons, or for religious reasons, especially for Jews and Muslims, or cultural reasons in the United States, the Philippines, and South Korea. "Cultural reasons" means reasons such as beliefs that the penis stays cleaner or looks more beautiful when circumcised. "Cultural reasons" also includes tradition, meaning parents wanting their son's penis to look like the father's penis and like other boys' penises. In the United States, one of the reasons for it being a tradition is that it was once a requirement in the navy and popular in other parts of the military. The World Health Organization estimates that the overall male circumcision rate in the United States is somewhere between 76 and 92 percent. Circumcision was also very common in Canada, although that is no longer the case, due in part to changes in government rules about paying for circumcision. Through the first half of the twentieth century, up to about the late 1960s and even the early 1970s, it was common for men in the United States and Canada to swim naked (without bathing suits) at high school, college, and YMCA pools. It was also common that men showered together in schools and in the military. Since it was common for boys and young men to be naked, many parents wanted their sons to look like other American males. Parents did not want their sons to look different from the majority.

Some males have the foreskin cut off when they are adults because they have problems with their foreskin. Some males have the foreskin cut off because they want to change how their penis looks. Few boys are born without a foreskin or with a very short foreskin, called aposthia, naturally circumcised.

In common speech, you can say that someone is cut or uncut, meaning circumcised or not circumcised. For example, one teenage boy might ask another teenage boy, "Are you cut?" While this is slang English, it is not considered profanity.

In some religions, babies and young boys have their foreskins cut off. This is expected in Islam and Judaism. It is not required according to Christianity. Among Christians in the United States, it is more common among Protestants than among Catholics. In the United States, circumcision is less common among boys and men whose families came from Mexico, who are usually Catholic. In Judaism, infant males are required to have their foreskin removed as a sign of the covenant (ancient promise) made with God.

When a foreskin is removed from a baby, doctors can use the skin for important medical purposes. Doctors can replace skin on someone with burns or with foot sores caused by diabetes. Foreskins that have been removed can be used for medical research.

If a male is uncut (uncircumcised) he should wash under the foreskin every day. However, young boys should not pull or push their foreskin back when washing. Not washing can cause a bad smell. People should not use soap when washing their penis. Getting soap inside the penis (in the urethra) can hurt. It is like getting soap in the eyes.

Skin color
Penile skin is often slightly darker than skin in surrounding areas. This is due to a higher concentration of melanocytes in genital skin tissue. The tip (glans) of the penis is usually pink or red color even if the penis shaft skin is dark. If the man is not circumcised, the tip is usually covered by the foreskin. The foreskin is about the same color as the skin on the shaft of the penis.

If a man's penis skin changes color and he doesn't know why, he should go to a doctor. He could have an infection, diabetes or cancer. A sunburn on the penis can happen quickly.  If a man is outside without clothes, he will get a sun tan. That is normal. Too much sun causes sunburn. Doctors say to use sunscreen (sun cream) before and after nude swimming. A sunburn can happen in a few minutes on a very sunny day.

Culture

Since the oldest cultures the penis has assumed a strong importance as a symbol of fertility used also in religious ceremonies to celebrate and (people hoped) to improve the reproductive capacity of men and beasts. For example, in Roman paganism, the god Priapus is characterized by a huge penis. In some places in Japan and South Korea, there are special days and public events to celebrate the penis. When an erect penis is shown in art or in cultural events, it is often called a phallus.

Piercing
Some men put jewelry on their penis. This is a type of body piercing called genital piercing. One main reason is that it can make sex more pleasurable. Jewelry is sometimes at the tip (through the glans and urethra), sometimes through the foreskin, corona, or frenulum, or sometimes under the shaft of the penis.

Related pages
 Male reproductive system
 Phallus
 Scrotum
 Testicles
 Vagina
 Fellatio

References

Other websites

 Kinsey Institute on the penis

Anatomy of the male reproductive system

Human penis


The Yalta Conference (sometimes called the Crimea Conference) was held from 4 to 11 February 1945, a few months before the end of the Second World War in Europe. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Winston Churchill), the President of the United States (Franklin D. Roosevelt) and the Premier of the Soviet Union (Joseph Stalin) met in Crimea and talked about what to do with Germany. The Yalta Conference was important in European history.

Agreements

The allies agreed at Yalta :
 Germany would be completely disarmed.
 A new world organisation would be set up, the United Nations.
 Stalin would join the war against Japan three months after the defeat of Germany.
 Germany would be split up into four different pieces (occupation zones), one occupied by France, the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom.
 Berlin would also be split up into four different areas
 Germans who committed war crimes would be judged and sentenced.
 A Soviet-dominated government would be set up in Poland
 Eastern Europe would be under Soviet influence.
 Free elections would be held in countries free from German rule.
 Planning would start on war reparations by Germany and how much money it would owe the other countries.

Related pages
 Potsdam Conference

Other websites
 A revision site for IGCSE students
 The Yalta Betrayal
 In Depth information on Yalta, not recommended for Simple Wikipedia Users
 The Aims of The Allies at the Yalta Conference in depth

World War II

Yalta Conference


is a multipurpose athletic facility located in Izumi-ku, Sendai, Japan.  Managed by the city of Sendai, it can be configured for softball, futsal and tennis, among other sports.  International events, such as exhibition matches between the United States women's softball team and Japan, have taken place there, and the facility has also hosted concerts by SMAP and other artists.

It is named for its seashell-like appearance.  The entire southern half (outfield, when configured for softball) is capable of rotating around the outside of the rest of the stadium, giving an open-air feel at times.

Completed in 2000, the facility has a total of 21,324 m² of enclosed space spread across four levels, including the entrance hall, locker rooms, permanent and temporary seating areas, and the main athletic ground, which is 13,132 m² in size.  Up to 1050 seats are available for spectator matches, although most of the time the grounds are being used by residents of the city for recreational purposes.

Part of a larger athletic compound, including several other tennis courts, a gymnasium, and the practice fields for Vegalta Sendai, Shellcom Sendai is located approximately 25 minutes by foot from Izumi-Chūō Station, on the Sendai Subway Nanboku Line; and less than five minutes from the Izumi parking area ETC exit of the Tōhoku Expressway.

External links

  Shellcom Sendai information

Sports venues in Sendai
Indoor arenas in Japan
Softball venues
Covered stadiums in Japan
Baseball venues in Japan
Sports venues completed in 2000
2000 establishments in Japan

Shellcom Sendai


The Great Big British Quiz (TGBBQ) was an interactive quiz based channel on which viewers where invited to phone in to solve puzzles in return for cash and prizes. It broadcast from studios in Battersea, London, England, and it was usually seen on Sky Digital. Its mascot was a dog called Jack who barked each time a caller was selected and put through to the studio. TGBBQ was live every day and broadcast hours varied, from 9:00 am to 1:00 am in its heyday, to 20:00 pm until 4:00 am as the quiz TV boom came to an end. The channel at one time produced and presented shows for Five and Sci Fi Channel. The show was seen on channel 840 on Sky Digital and channel 770 on NTL. On 4 May 2007, TGBBQ ceased operating due to Play To Win TV entering liquidation.

Presenters

Russ Spencer
Dan Warren
Derek Gibbons
Lisa-Marie Long
Carole Machin
Anna Fowler
Alex Kramer
Sara Damergi
Pollyanna Woodward
Sharon Clancy
Yiolanda Koppel
Lesley Collier
Zoe French
Rebecca Walsh
Carryl Varley
Liam Dolan
Ronan McKenna
Abi Griffiths
Abby Surgeon
Tim Fornana
Bev French
Sarah Hendy
Ashley House

Sci-Fi Quiz Zone
The Sci-Fi Quiz Zone was a separate programme but still went under the name of The Great Big British Quiz, being referred to as TGBBQ's production. It was based in the same studio as The Great Big British Quiz but used different effects and games. The music was the same and there was still Jack the dog as the mascot. It was broadcast at different times, usually starting between 12:50 am and 1:40 am, and always ending at 4:00 am, on the same channel as TGBBQ as well as the Sci-Fi Channel.

References

Quiz channels in the United Kingdom
Television channels and stations established in 2005
Defunct television channels in the United Kingdom
Phone-in quiz shows

The Great Big British Quiz


Grigory Zinovyevich Isayev (; born 1943) was a Russian politician and labor activist. He was the leader of the Samara Stachkom (Strike Committee) and the Party of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. A young man when Joseph Stalin died, he soon developed an admiration for Stalin's ideology that would drive him throughout life. His young experiences, along with a three-year tour in the Soviet Army in Germany, served to harden his anti-reformist tendencies ideologically. Later joining Alexei Razlatsky in the Soviet dissident movement, the two would form the Samara Stachkom, a Maoism aligned dissident network.  Throughout the 1970s, Isayev and the Stachkom engaged routinely in short strikes for "simple" changes in working conditions. Also a key part of Isayev's dissident life was the copying of Ideological Notebooks, done to circumvent Soviet censors and spread awareness of the Stachkom.

After Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland in 1981, Soviet crackdowns on dissidents and strikers became more common. Two days later, on December 15, Isayev and Razlatsky, along with most of the Stachkom leadership were then arrested and sentenced to a prison camp for their roles in organizing a workers' strike and an underground communist organization in the Soviet Union while under Leonid Brezhnev's rule. Isayev was sentenced to 5"5 years of camps and 5 of exile", and spent the next 5 years in a camp outside the city of Perm. This process was aggravated by Brezhnev's death, and the rise of Viktor Chebrikov as head of the KGB, whose time in leadership was "the heyday of the KGB", leading to many further dissident arrests and convictions. Under the leadership of Yuri Andropov and Chebrikov, "almost all known dissidents were arrested or expelled", including all known associates of the Stachkom.  After Isayev's release, he continued to lead the Stachkom's remnants, eventually forming them into the "Party of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat", a Mao-Zedong-Thought aligned political party in the Russian Federation. He was arrested twice under Boris Yeltsin in 1998 for leading the successful two-month-long strike of the 5,000 ZIM (Zavod imeni Maslennikova) factory's workers and the blockade of the main street of Samara which paralyzed the center of the city.

Later in life, Isayev was often been invited to be a guest speaker at schools and universities, speaking on the subjects of Philosophy and Marxism–Leninism. Isayev lived in the Stachkom's headquarters, a former bomb shelter known as the "Ravine of Underground Revolutionaries".  Many Russian communist ideologues and politicians had visited this shelter, and engaged with Isayev in debate, generally ending in the visiting party being branded a "Counter-Revolutionary". Isayev died on July 20, 2020, in Samara, having become locally loved for his resistance to the Yeltsin regime later in life.

References

External links
 The Life of Grigory Isayev

 Viewpoint: Grigory Isayev about labour movement in Russia and World at Krasnoe TV

1943 births
2020 deaths
People from Saratov Oblast
Russian communists
Russian politicians
Soviet dissidents
Soviet prisoners and detainees

Grigory Isayev


Edward Richard de Grazia (February 5, 1927 – April 11, 2013) was an American lawyer, writer, and free speech activist.

De Grazia was born in Chicago.  He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, before returning to the United States.  He graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor's in 1948, and earned his J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1951.  He practiced law in Washington, D.C., and then worked for a time with UNESCO in Paris (1956 to 1959). After teaching at a variety of Washington, D.C., area law schools, in 1976 he became a founding member of the faculty at Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, where he remained for the next three decades.

De Grazia was married three times, to Ellen O'Connor, Liz Goode, and Lora Price.  He had several children, including Augustus de Grazia (died 2011), David de Grazia, Christophe de Grazia, Belinda de Grazia Holtzclaw, and Elizabeth de Grazia Blumenfeld.

De Grazia was involved in numerous high-profile cases of literary and artistic censorship in the 1960s, including several on behalf of the publisher Barney Rosset, who published works by Henry Miller and William Burroughs, among others. De Grazia was also involved in efforts to protect the speech rights of antiwar demonstrators, as described by Norman Mailer in Armies of the Night (1968). In 1991 he published Girls Lean Back Everywhere: The Law of Obscenity and the Assault on Genius, a lengthy and authoritative history of the struggle against literary censorship.

Significant cases litigated
 Postal Service censorship of Lysistrata (1955)
 Grove Press v. Gerstein (1964), censorship of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer (1934), decided with Jacobellis v. Ohio
 1965 - censorship of William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch (1959)
 1967 censorship of film I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967)
 Defense of Lenny Bruce

Bibliography
 Censorship Landmarks (1969)
 Banned Films (with Roger Newman) (1982)
 Girls Lean Back Everywhere: The Law of Obscenity and the Assault on Genius (1991)

References

1927 births
2013 deaths
American civil rights lawyers
American legal scholars
Legal historians
Free speech activists
First Amendment scholars
Cardozo School of Law faculty
University of Chicago alumni
Writers from Chicago
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
Historians from Illinois

Edward de Grazia


TI, ti, and variants may refer to:

Arts and entertainment
 Ti/Si, the seventh syllable in the solfège technique
 The International (Dota 2), an esports tournament
 Twilight Imperium, a game

Businesses and organizations
 TI-class supertankers, ships operated by Tankers International
 Texas Instruments, an American electronics company
 Telecom Italia, an Italian telecommunications company
 TI Group, previously Tube Investments, an English engineering company
 Therapeutics Initiative, a medication evaluation organization
 Tiger Inn, a Princeton University eating club
 Toastmasters International, a public speaking organization
 Former Tol Air, IATA code
 Tailwind Airlines, IATA code
 Transparency International, anti-corruption organisation
 Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, US

People
 Ti, a high-status official during the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt
 Ti. for Tiberius, a Roman given name
 T.I. (born 1980), US actor Clifford Harris
 "Targeted individual", person claiming to be subject to "gang stalking"
 Ti, Bonnie Nettles, religious leader

Places
 Ti, Oklahoma, US
 Thursday Island, Torres Strait
 Ticino, a canton (federated state) of Switzerland

Science, technology, and mathematics

Biology and medicine
 Ti or Tī, a generic name in Polynesian languages for plants of the genus Cordyline, including:
 Cordyline fruticosa, Tī, Tī pore (Māori), Kī (Hawaiian)
 Cordyline australis (Tī kōuka or Cabbage tree, New Zealand)
 Cordyline banksii (Tī ngahere or Forest cabbage tree, New Zealand)
 Cordyline indivisa (Tī toī, tōī or Mountain cabbage tree, New Zealand)
 Cordyline obtecta (Tī, Norfolk Island cabbage tree, Three Kings cabbage tree, Norfolk Island and New Zealand)
 Cordyline pumilio (Tī rauriki, Tī koraha or Dwarf cabbage tree, New Zealand)
 Therapeutic index

Computing
 Ti (prefix symbol), of interim unit tebi; e.g. Tib for tebibit

Other uses in science, technology, and mathematics
 Topological insulator
 Titanium, symbol Ti, a chemical element
 Truncated icosahedron

Other uses
 Ti (concept), a term meaning "substance" (體) in Chinese
 TI (cuneiform), a sign in cuneiform writing
 Ti, Old Swedish spelling of Týr, deity of Norse mythology
 Tigrinya language (ISO 639-1 code "ti")
 ti (digraph), the characters
 Tenant inducement, in commercial real estate

See also

 Di (disambiguation) for several Chinese concepts; "Ti" is the Wade–Giles equivalent of "Di"
 TL (disambiguation)
 T1 (disambiguation)

TI