Shimotsukare (しもつかれ) is a local Japanese dish served in the Northern Kantō region of Japan, primarily in Tochigi Prefecture but also in Gunma Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture. The dish is generally served on hatsu-u-no hi (初午の日, literally; first day of horse in the month of February) together with sekihan as an offering to appease the legendary deity, inari. Shimotsukare is usually made by simmering salmon head, vegetables, soybeans, abura-age (あぶらあげ or deep fried tofu skins) and sake kasu (酒粕, literally rice pulp from fermented sake). Common additional ingredients include grated raw radish (oroshi daikon) and carrots. The dish is also known as shimitsukari, shimitsukare or sumitsukare in some areas.

Origin and History of Shimotsukare

The origins of shimotsukare can be traced back to Edo period (1603–1868) and is thought to be a derivation of su-mutsukari (酢むつかり, literally roasted soy beans in vinegar), a speciality dish which was mentioned in mythological narratives of Uji Shūi Monogatari (宇治拾遺物語) and Kojidan (古事談). The origin of the name "shimotsukare" remains in debate. It is also widely believed that as the dish is mainly served in Tochigi Prefecture, formerly known as Shimotsuke Province (下野国), the name of the dish is thought to be a derivation of the phrase shimotsuke no karei (下野の家例, "traditional customs of the Shimotsuke clan")

Presentation
Various presentations of shimotsukare exists in different areas in Japan. The dish is served either hot or cold. Shimotsukare is normally served with rice but could also be taken without it. In some areas, once the dish is simmered, it will not be re-heated again when served.

As a means of preservation, simmered shimotsukare is kept in frozen grounds during winter and served on top of warm rice to allow it to thaw naturally.

Shimotsukare, together with its distinct flavor, scent and semi-liquid appearance is well received by some locals but not all. It is even referred as neko no gero 猫のゲロ, literally; cat's barf to some in Japan.

Nutritional Information
Some sayings such as "shimotsukare o nana-ken tabearukuto byoki ni naranai" (しもつかれを7軒食べ歩くと病気にならない literally, eating shimotsukare prepared from seven houses will keep you from getting sick)  noted that consuming shimotsukare promotes good health. The dish is also sometimes included in jubako (重箱 or Japanese tier bento bako) and shared amongst neighbours to prevent them from catching cold during winter.

Culture
Shimotsukare is a traditional home cooking and the recipe is passed down from mothers to the next generation. Though each preparation carries the same name of 'shimotsukare', ingredients and method of preparation varies from one household to another. Consequently, it is possible for people living in the same district to stumble upon shimotsukare that is totally different from their own preparation.

Present Day Shimotsukare
Shimotsukare could now be obtained conveniently in supermarkets and is sometimes served during kyushoku in some schools in Tochigi Prefecture.

Japanese cuisine

Shimotsukare


Nachi-Katsuura Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama, Japan. Facing the Pacific Ocean, it lies within the Yoshino-Kumano National Park. It is 0.83368 Earth radi from the rotational axis of the Earth, and +0.55040 Earth radii above the equatorial plane. The IAU observatory code for Nachi-Katsuura is 905.

See also
List of astronomical observatories

Notes

Astronomical observatories in Japan

Nachi-Katsuura Observatory


Sass Henno (born September 13, 1982 in Tartu, Estonia) is an Estonian writer.

He attended Miina Härma Secondary Grammar School in Tartu between 1989-2001. 2001-2003 he studied computer graphics and advertising in Tartu Art College, then film and video directing in the Tallinn University between 2003-2005. Since 2007 he has been attending a master's level screenwriting course in Baltic Film and Media School.

He won the first prize in Estonian Novel Competition 2005 with his work Mina olin siin. Esimene arest. A feature-length film based on the novel was released in 2008 (I Was Here).

Henno worked in Estonian Television as an assistant and director. Since 2005 he has been a member of Estonian Writers' Union. Since 2010 he works as a CEO of Spring Advertising ad agency Royal Service event marketing agency.

Henno also enjoys reading, sailing and shooting (IPSC).

Bibliography

 Elu algab täna (Life Starts Today e-book, 2003)
 Mina olin siin. Esimene arest  (I Was Here. The First Arrest; Eesti Päevaleht 2005)
 Mereröövlimäng (Pirat Game; Troll 2005)
 Elu algab täna (Life Starts Today; Eesti Päevaleht 2006)
 Südameasjad (Matters of the Heart; shortfilm, Allfilm 2007)

Translations
I Was Here. The First Arrest

 Macedonian: Jас бев тука, Skopje: Antolog 2014
 Hungarian: Itt jártam: az első letartóztatás, Budapest: Silenos 2010
 Latvian: Šeit biju es. Pirmais arests, Riga: Dienas Grāmata 2006

Pirate Game

 Russian: Игра в пиратов, Tallinn: Kite 2012

Awards
2004 Writers' Union Novel Competition, winner (I Was Here. The First Arrest)

References

 Toomas Haug, "Sass Henno, Robertino Loretti ja narkorealism" – Looming 2006, nr. 2, p. 300–304 (Sass Henno, Robertino Loretti and the narcorealism)
"Sass Henno" – Estonian Children's Literature Centre

1982 births
Living people
Estonian screenwriters
Estonian male novelists
Writers from Tartu
21st-century Estonian novelists
Miina Härma Gymnasium alumni
Tallinn University alumni
21st-century screenwriters

Sass Henno


Left-handedness is a  preference to use the left hand more than the right hand for daily activities such as writing or using tools. Most people can use either hand for many things. However, people very often have a definite preference for using the left or right hand for things such as: using a pen, using a knife, using scissors, brushing teeth, blowing their nose, and so on.  People who do not have a preference are called ambidextrous.

People do not just have preferences with things they do with their hands: they may, for example, be left-footed if they prefer to kick a ball with the left foot, or push harder with the left foot on a bicycle pedal.

Far more people are right handed than left handed. It is difficult to measure exactly how many, because each person has a different mixture of preferences, but about 510% are left-handed.

Bad Things about Left-Handedness

The way people see left-handedness:
Because left-handed people are different from most others, being left-handed has often been thought of as bad. For many years, right-handedness was seen as "normal" and left-handedness as "not normal". In Hebrew, as well as in other ancient Semitic and Mesopotamian languages, the word "left" was a symbol of power. In many European languages, "right" means "correct" (the opposite of "wrong"). In law the word "right" means authority and justice: in a democracy, everyone has certain "rights". In Russian and other Slavic languages prav is used in words meaning "correct" or "truth". Someone who is skilled with their hands is called "dexterous". But "left" often means "awkward" in many languages. In French "gauche" also means "clumsy". In English, the word "sinister" (which comes from the Latin word for "left", sinistra) means "evil". We also say that someone has "two left feet" meaning that they are clumsy with their feet (for example they may step on their partner's toes when dancing).

Sometimes people who are left-handed are called many different things, "Southpaws", "Lefties", and other simply mean names, like "Weird" or "Strange".

Things designed for right-handed people:
Things that are designed by right-handed people can cause problems for left-handed ones. These include guns, cameras, screws and in recent years the computer mouse and the iPhone. Many objects are sold in left-handed versions, which are often more expensive than the right-handed versions. Some items such as a computer mouse can be designed for right handed people but still be used by left handed people and in some cases may even be an improvement for right handed users.

Scissors, especially, cause left-handed people some trouble. Most scissors are made for right-handed people. Because they are designed this way, if a person tries to cut something while holding the scissors in their left hand, they cannot see the edge they are cutting. The way the cutting action works is also designed for right-handers, and left-handed people tend to force the blades open instead of cutting cleanly. Even though some scissors say that they can be used by both left and right-handed people, these scissors only have their handles changed. They are still right-handed scissors and still cause the same issues.

Handwriting:

It can be difficult for left-handed children to learn to write if the teacher does not give them special help. The reason for this is that most writing moves from left to right across the page. This means that left-handed writers may hold their hand over what has just been written.

In many countries, children are allowed to write with whichever hand is easier, although there are some countries where children may be made to write with the right hand. Many things can be difficult for left-handed writers. Chairs with writing boards may all be made for right-handed people. This makes left-handed people sit uncomfortably and hold their pens in an different way.

It may be curious that Arabic is written from right to left, but we have to remember that ancient writing was not done on paper. Paleo-Hebrew was right to left as a written language. Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Pashto, Urdu and Sindhi are the most widespread RTL writing systems today. Perhaps the writing tool originally used made this easier than modern pens. Some scripts (Chinese, Japanese) can be written vertically, although usually they are written horizontally.

Good Things about Left-Handedness

Recent research has shown that it can be an advantage for animals, and for humans to be left-handed. Being able to do things differently from most people can be a great help in many sports, such as tennis or fighting with swords. Left-handed people from Norse settlements in Ireland in the 10th Century were more favoured than right-handed people as they had the advantage of swinging with their left hand as they were on a horse or running down the stairs of a castle in attack or defence.
In tennis, left-handed players hold the racket in their left hand. Because of this, their grip of the handle is supposedly adjusted in a slightly different style from right-handed players. Some world champion tennis players that have played with their left hand include Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, Guillermo Vilas, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, and Rafael Nadal.

Related Pages:
 Right-handedness
 Handedness
 International Lefthanders Day

References:

Motor skills
Discrimination

Left-handedness


is a fictional character in the Street Fighter video game series. He is the martial arts master who trained Ryu and Ken, as well as his younger brother and former training partner, Akuma. Gouken is usually depicted as a bearded man who wears Japamala prayer beads on his neck and a karate gi with the kanji mu (無) or "void" sewn to the back. Although Gouken has been a supporting character in the Street Fighter series since Super Street Fighter II Turbo, he did not make his first full-fledged appearance in the video game until his appearance as a hidden character in Street Fighter IV.

Development
While the backstory for the early installments of the Street Fighter series established that Ryu and Ken trained under the same martial arts master and that the master was killed by his brother, the identity of this character was originally unnamed. The instruction manual for the North American and European versions of Street Fighter II for the SNES identified Ryu and Ken's master under the name of Sheng Long, a name derived from a mistranslation of Ryu's victory phrase in the arcade version of the game ("You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance"), which was also basis of the hoax character of the same name. Sheng Long was later used as the name of Ryu and Ken's master in the Malibu Comics and Movie game.

Gouken as a character was originally conceived in the Masaomi Kanzaki manga Street Fighter II: Ryu, an adaptation of the original Street Fighter II showcased in Japan's Family Computer Magazine (and later adapted into English under the simplified title Street Fighter II). Capcom later revealed Gouken as a playable character for Street Fighter IV. His presence in the game was hinted months before his official appearance in the game, with Street Fighter IV project manager Natsuki Shiozawa showing a silhouetted illustration in her blog, claiming that the character was "Sheng Long", as well as the character being featured in an animated teaser for the console versions of Street Fighter IV and in Akumas ending in the game. This was corroborated by comments Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono made in an interview published in the January 2008 Issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, which Executive editor Shane Bettenhausen took this to mean the planned appearance of Sheng Long or Gouken in Street Fighter IV. Ono later confirmed in an interview with Play magazine that Gouken's inclusion in the title was fan service in response to fans requesting Sheng Long's presence in the game.

Fictional background

In the storyline of Street Fighter II: Ryu, Gouken trained Ryu and Ken in his temple somewhere in the Japanese wilderness. One day, Akuma stormed Goukens dojo and killed him, leaving Ryu and Ken with the duty to avenge their masters death. While the novel took liberties with the established canon of the games, Goukens character would be adapted in the storyline of the later games in the series following Akuma's introduction in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

According to the backstory that was developed for Super Street Fighter II Turbo and the Street Fighter Alpha series, Gouken and Akuma learned a murderous martial art style from their master, . It included the special techniques the Hadouken, the Shoryuken and the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, 20 years before the Street Fighter tournament. After Goutetsu was killed by Akuma, Gouken refined these special techniques, eliminating the "murderous energy" they possessed and developed them into a purely combative martial art. He would then teach this new style to two students, Ryu and Ken. Gouken also trained Dan at one time, but then expelled him after seeing that Dan was motivated by revenge.

Gouken makes an appearance in Akuma's ending in the original Street Fighter Alpha, in which he is depicted as a white-bearded old man with bushy eyebrows. Akumas dialogue exchange with Ryu in Street Fighter Alpha 2 suggest that Akuma killed Gouken prior to the events of the Alpha series. Suzaku Castle, Ryu's home stage in the Street Fighter II series, Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, is the apparent resting place of Gouken.

Gouken makes his first full-fledged appearance as a fighter in the arcade version of Street Fighter IV, where he appears as a secret computer-controlled challenger. Capcom retconned Gouken's apparent death during his battle with Akuma. In Gouken's animated opening he reveals that after losing in battle to Akuma, he did not die but was simply rendered unconscious for an extended period of time. Gouken survived the Shun Goku Satsu by completely emptying his soul of emotions, which left him in a deep coma. He is shown watching as Ryu and Ken walk off, believing him, Gouken, to be dead. He is not concerned, however, what Ryu and Ken believe as he knows that their path is a righteous one and that he looks forward to reuniting with them once more someday. Gouken's mid-game cutscene show him confront Ryu, much to Ryu's disbelief, for a friendly master versus student spar in which Gouken is victorious. In his animated ending, Gouken faces Ryu again, finding that his student is being overtaken by the murderous energy, defeats him and suppresses, after which he notices Akuma is in the area. He also appears again in Akuma's animated ending. In this scene, after Ryu has been defeated by Gouken, Akuma appears and challenges his brother to a fight to the death with the winner claiming Ryu. Gouken also reveals that he has reached a new level of mastery known as  and has now become even stronger, to the point where Akuma stops his Raging Demon attack after sensing Gouken's power of Nothingness.

Techniques

Gouken's special techniques in Street Fighter IV include the , a variation of the Hadōken projectile techniques which he performs with only one hand, in addition to being able to launch them at an angle and delay their release (he can throw two at the same time as an EX Move as well); the , a technique in which Gouken advances (while passing through attacks and fireballs) towards his opponent in a pose similar to Akuma's Ashura Senkuu pose in Street Fighter EX and attacks with a powerful palm; the , a vertical version of the Tatsumaki Senpū Kyaku; and the . While Gouken doesn't use the Dragon Punch as a regular special technique, his Super Combo is the , while his Ultra Combo is the , which was originally one of Ryus Super Arts from the Street Fighter III games and a Super Combo in Street Fighter Alpha 3. In addition, he also has Ryu's  as a second Ultra Combo in Super Street Fighter IV.

In other media
In addition to his debut in the Masaomi Kanzaki's manga adaptation of Street Fighter II, Gouken also played a role in Masahiko Nakahira's manga adaptations of Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter III: Ryu Final, where he appears in flashbacks involving Ryu and Ken's training days. The Alpha manga differs from the back-story of the games in which it was Goutetsu, rather Gouken, who refined their martial art from an art of assassination to a pure martial art. In addition, the manga also established that Gouken forbade Ryu and Ken the use of the Shōryūken. Ryu Final depicts the battle between Gouken and Akuma, which results in the destruction of a forest and the collapse of a hill. The prayer beads worn by Akuma are the same ones that originally belonged to Gouken. Gouken also appears in the Street Fighter episode "The World's Greatest Warrior", with his character design being similar to those in prior Street Fighter manga.

Gouken's role in UDON Entertainment's Street Fighter comic series is much the same as his official story. Gouken raised Ryu, an orphaned boy, in the ways of his martial art. During his training, Gouken committed himself to teaching Ryu only the non-lethal arts, sparing him from the darkness that would come from teaching him the full range of techniques (the side that embraces the Satsui no Hadō, or "Killing Intent"). He also would train the son of an American businessman, Ken Masters, much in the same way. Gouken maintains a difference in philosophy from his brother, Akuma, who believes that the only true mastery comes from training in all facets of their art. This eventually leads to his death during Ryu's absence from the dojo to attend the first Street Fighter tournament. Akuma challenges Gouken to a mortal battle and Gouken is defeated. For the remainder of the comic series, Ryu dedicates himself to forcing out the negativity that wells up within him and adhering to his master's precepts and teachings of humanity and respect for one's opponent. However, he also yearns to avenge Gouken's death and will seek out Akuma at any cost. This all comes to a head at the conclusion of the series (during the third series of comics, Street Fighter II Turbo) when Ryu is attending M. Bison's Street Fighter tournament. Akuma intervenes before the final battle of the tournament between Ryu and Bison and defeats Bison so he may fight Ryu. The two clash but Akuma still overpowers Ryu. Before he can land the final blow, Gouken's spirit is revived and engages a shocked Akuma. The two warriors battle to an unseen conclusion.

Japanese actors Akira Koieyama and Shogen Itokazu portrayed older and younger Gouken respectively in the TV series Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist.

Reception
Ryan Clements from IGN commented that Gouken is one of the best new characters from Street Fighter IV, recommending him highly due to his large number of combos and originality. Cam Shea of IGN AU held similar praise, adding "He just exudes power." On the other hand, Game Revolution reviewer Nick Tan criticized Gouken's moves for being much stronger than those of many other characters, making evading them almost impossible. In 2016, Screen Rant named Gouken the "7th Most Powerful Street Fighter Character", adding "As the master of Ryu and Ken, and the older brother of Akuma, it's no surprise that Gouken would be a powerful figure in the Street Fighter universe." In their rankings of Street Fighter characters, Paste ranked Gouken at 54th place, adding "He can be an extremely punishing character, but still falls into the crowded shoto category and fails to be a more memorable fighter because of it." Den of Geek ranked Gouken as the "37th Best Street Fighter Character", stating "He's like the antithesis of Dan and Sean in that his fighting style differentiates itself from Ryu, Ken, and Akuma, but in a way that makes him appear more masterful. More power and less wasted movement."

See also
 Sheng Long, a hoax character conceived from a mistranslation in the original Street Fighter II

References

Bibliography

Ansatsuken
Fictional Japanese people in video games
Fictional judoka
Fictional jujutsuka
Fictional karateka
Fictional kenpō practitioners
Fictional martial arts trainers
Fictional martial artists in video games
Fictional Shorinji Kempo practitioners
Fictional shotokan practitioners
Fictional taekwondo practitioners
Male characters in video games
Street Fighter characters
Video game bosses
Video game characters introduced in 1993
Video game characters who can move at superhuman speeds
Video game characters with superhuman strength

Gouken


Aaron Clark (October 16, 1787 – August 2, 1861) was an American politician who became the second popularly elected Mayor of New York, serving two one-year terms from 1837 to 1839. He was a member of the Whig Party.

Early life
Clark was born in Worthington, Massachusetts. He grew up in Pawlet, Vermont, attended Union College in Schenectady, New York, and fought in the War of 1812.

Political career
After the war, Clark moved to Albany, New York, and was Clerk of the New York State Assembly from 1814 to 1820. Afterwards he removed to New York City where he worked in banking, ran a lottery, and became involved in local politics. He served as alderman, a powerful position in the charged political climate of the city. He was elected mayor in 1837 and 1838 for one year terms, and was defeated in 1839.

Election of 1837
The main event of that year was the financial Panic of 1837, in which the economy collapsed following several years of boom. New York real estate values plummeted. Many were unemployed, some were homeless. There was widespread dissatisfaction among the working and middle class residents during what were called the "hard times".

To relieve the plight of the people, Alderman Clark focused on reviving the economy. Following his party's program of internal improvements, he proposed that shipping piers be built at public expense around the waterfront so as to stimulate trade and create jobs. An incautious statement that his proposal would "raise the price of every lot 5 x 100 feet west of Broadway $5,000 at a jump." fit in with the perception by  many Democrats that the Whigs were the "party of the rich", and the Democrats pushed instead for "poor relief" (direct handouts).

1837 also saw the rise of the "Equal Rights Party", which came to be known as the Locofocos. The Locofocos split from the Democrats in 1835, and opposed both internal improvements and poor relief. They stood instead for laissez-faire, against monopoly, and against the consolidation of money and power. In 1837 the Locofocos fielded Moses Jacques, Tammany Hall Democrats nominated John J. Morgan, and Clark was the Whig candidate. The fledgling faction was popular enough to split the Democratic vote, propelling the Whigs to victory in both the mayoral and city council races. The vote tallies were 16,140 for Clark, 12,974 for Morgan, and 3,911 for Jacques. The election led to much soul-searching in Tammany Hall, and forced the main Democratic faction to take the Locofocos' concerns seriously.

Election of 1838
After Clark's first term, the privations of the hard times combined with the perception that the policies of the Whig administration favored the rich made Clark profoundly unpopular among a part of the poorer majority. In 1838, the newly reconciled Democrats fielded Tammany Hall leader Isaac Varian. Nevertheless, they were not successful in unseating Clark: Varian received 19,411 votes to Clark's 19,930, a difference of only 1.3%.

It may be (and was widely believed at the time) that the Whigs resorted to massive fraud in securing the election. In 1838 there was no voter registration law, and the elections were administered by Whig-appointed officials. Allegations included violent intimidation, multiple voting in different precincts, importation of "voters" from other jurisdictions, and other improprieties.

Election of 1839
1839 saw a Varian-Clark rematch, with massive electoral fraud being perpetrated this time by both parties. Varian won with 21,072 votes to Clark's 20,005. Following the election, a widespread outcry resulted in the passage of a voter registration bill during Varian's first term. The bill regularized electoral procedure in the city and served to decrease the incidence of fraud in future elections.

Later life
As mayor, Clark lived on Broadway near Leonard Street, a few short blocks north of the New York City Hall. There he attempted to gain the favor of society by giving frequent balls, which earned him the nickname "Dancing Mayor".

After ending his political career, Clark returned to business and became a patron of Hamilton College, which still awards an annual prized for oratory named in his honor. Clark endowed the prize with a gift in 1859, shortly before his death.

Personal
Clark married Catherine Maria Lamb in 1815. With her he had six children, five of whom lived past childhood. Catherine died in 1832, and Clark never remarried.

He died in Brooklyn, New York on August 2, 1861. Both he and his wife are buried in the Clark family crypt at the New York Marble Cemetery on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

References

Sources

Gustavus Myers,, Ch. XII, XIV, New York City (1901), passim.
Biography from New York Marble Cemetery

1787 births
1861 deaths
People from Worthington, Massachusetts
New York (state) Whigs
19th-century American politicians
Clerks of the New York State Assembly
Mayors of New York City
Politicians from Albany, New York
Burials at New York Marble Cemetery
People from Massachusetts in the War of 1812

Aaron Clark


Ponce Kiah Marchelle Heloise Cruse Evans (born April 15, 1951 in Waco, Texas), best known by her pen name Heloise, is an American writer, author, and speaker specializing in lifestyle hints, including consumer issues, pets, travel, food, home improvement, and health.  Heloise's father was in the Air Force, and like many military brats she moved frequently.

Heloise's mother, Heloise Bowles (May 4, 1919–December 28, 1977), born in Fort Worth, Texas, started a newspaper column in the Honolulu Advertiser called "Readers Exchange" in February 1959, later changed to "Hints from Heloise" when King Features Syndicate picked up the column and started syndicating it nationwide. Within just a few years, the column appeared in over 600 newspapers worldwide.

Heloise (the daughter) took over the column in 1977 when mother Heloise died of heart disease. She worked with her mother for several years and contributed to the column as Heloise II. It is still one of the most widely syndicated newspaper columns. She is a contributing editor for Good Housekeeping magazine and writes the monthly column "Heloise to the Rescue." She has written 11 books, hosted a national radio show and is a nationally known speaker. In 1983 an on-line database of "Hints from Heloise" became one of the first on-line information products available to the public via the Mattel Aquarius computer system.

Heloise graduated from the Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas (now Texas State University) in 1974 with a double major in Business Administration and Mathematics, and a teacher's certificate. She currently resides near San Antonio, Texas.

Notes

External links
Heloise.com

1951 births
Living people
American advice columnists
American women columnists
Writers from San Antonio
Texas State University alumni
20th-century American women writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
American women non-fiction writers
21st-century American women writers

Heloise (columnist)


elementary OS is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu LTS. It promotes itself as a "thoughtful, capable, and ethical" replacement to macOS and Windows and has a pay-what-you-want model. The operating system, the desktop environment (called Pantheon), and accompanying applications are developed and maintained by Elementary, Inc.

Design philosophy
The human interface guidelines of the elementary OS project focus on immediate usability with a gentle learning curve, rather than full-fledged customization.
The three core rules the developers set for themselves were "concision", "accessible configuration" and "minimal documentation".

Since its inception, elementary OS has received praise and criticism for its design. Wired claimed that it closely resembled macOS, visually and in user experience. The elementary developers maintain that any similarities are unintentional.

Pantheon's main shell is deeply integrated with other elementary OS applications, like Plank (a dock), Web (the default web browser based on GNOME Web) and Code (a simple text editor). This distribution uses Gala as its window manager, which is based on Mutter.

Pantheon desktop environment
The Pantheon desktop environment is built on top of the GNOME software base, i.e. GTK, GDK, Cairo, GLib, (including GObject and GIO), GVfs, Vala and Tracker. The desktop allows for multiple workspaces to organize the user's workflow.

Pantheon applications that are designed and developed by elementary include:
 Pantheon Greeter: session manager based on LightDM
 Gala: window manager
 Wingpanel: top panel, similar in function to GNOME Shell's top panel
 Slingshot: application launcher located in WingPanel
 Plank: dock (upon which Docky is based)
 Switchboard: settings application (or control panel)
 Pantheon Mail: e-mail client written in Vala and based on WebKitGTK
 Calendar: desktop calendar
 Music: audio player
 Code: code-focused text editor, comparable to gedit or leafpad.
 Terminal: terminal emulator
 Files (formerly called Marlin): file manager
 Installer: Installer built in partnership with System76.

Bryan Lunduke of Network World wrote that the Pantheon desktop environment, elementary OS's centerpiece, was among the best of 2016.
Pantheon is also being released as an optional work-in-progress desktop environment in GeckoLinux. In addition to its x86 installer, Elementary offers various experimental builds that run on ARM devices such as the Pinebook Pro and Raspberry Pi 4.

Development

The elementary OS distribution started as a set of themes and applications designed for Ubuntu which later became its own Linux distribution. Being Ubuntu-based, it is compatible with its repositories and packages, and prior to version 0.4 "Loki", it used the Ubuntu software centre to handle software installation and uninstallation. However, after the release of Loki, Elementary bundled their own app store, AppCenter, whose user interface is designed to be intuitive for new users without consuming excessive resources.

elementary OS is based on Ubuntu's Long Term Support releases, which Ubuntu's developers actively maintain for bugs and security for years even as development continues on the next release.

elementary OS founder Danielle Foré has said that the project is not designed to compete with existing open source projects, but to expand their reach. It also seeks to create open source jobs through developer "bounties" on specific tasks. As of the 2016 Loki release, 17,500 in bounties had been raised.

0.1 Jupiter
The first stable version of elementary OS was Jupiter, published on 31 March 2011 and based on Ubuntu 10.10.

0.2 Luna

In November 2012, the first beta version of elementary OS code-named Luna was released, which uses Ubuntu 12.04 LTS as a base.
The second beta version of Luna was released on 6 May 2013, carrying more than 300 bug fixes and several changes, such as improved support for multiple localizations, multiple display support and updated applications. On 7 August 2013, a countdown clock appeared on the official website with a countdown to 10 August 2013. The second stable version of elementary OS, Luna, was released that same day, along with a complete overhaul and redesign of the elementary OS website.

0.3 Freya

The name of the third stable version of elementary OS, Isis, was proposed in August 2013 by Danielle Foré, the project leader. It was later changed to Freya to avoid association with the terrorist group ISIS. It is based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, which was released in April 2014. The first beta of Freya was released on 11 August 2014. The second beta of Freya was released on 8 February 2015. The final version was released on 11 April 2015, after a countdown clock appeared on the website eight days earlier.

Freya was downloaded 1.2 million times. In line with Elementary's intent to expand the reach of open source software, 73 percent of Freya downloads were from closed source operating systems.

In 2015, the elementary OS developers changed the download page to default to a monetary amount before providing a direct HTTP download for the current stable release. Despite the fact that the user could specify any amount, or no amount at all, it sparked controversy about how such practices are typically not perceived as being in alignment with FOSS distribution philosophies. The elementary OS team has defended the action stating that "Around 99.875% of those users download without paying", and that it is needed to ensure the continued development of the distribution.

In a review of all Linux distributions, Linux.com gave elementary OS their "best-looking distro" superlative in early 2016. The reviewer noted its developers' design background, their influence from Mac OS X, and their philosophy of prioritizing strict design rules and applications that follow these rules.

0.4 Loki

elementary OS 0.4, known by its codename "Loki", was released on 9 September 2016. Loki was built atop the Ubuntu "long-term support" version released earlier in the year and its updated kernel (4.4). Loki revamped the operating system's notifications and added multiple new pieces of standard software. It let users set notification display preferences. Updated notification menu bar indicators began to display information from the notification—such as the title of an email—rather than a general alert. The operating system also added a system-wide integration for online accounts for Last.fm and FastMail, with other services in development.

Loki replaced Freya's Midori web browser with Epiphany, a WebKit2-based browser with better performance. After the Yorba Foundation which developed the Geary email client was dissolved, elementary OS forked Geary as "Mail" and added new visual and integration features. In a new calendar feature, users could describe events in natural language, which the calendar program interprets and places into the proper time and description fields when creating events.

elementary OS also created its own app store that simplifies the process of installing and updating applications. Project founder Danielle Foré called the AppCenter the biggest feature in the Loki release, and noted its speed improvement over other installation methods and internal development benefits for departing from Ubuntu's upgrade tools. Loki developers received $9,000 in bounties during its development—nearly half of the project's total bounty fundraising.

Jack Wallen of Linux.com praised Loki as being among the most elegant and best-designed Linux desktops. He found the web browser and app store changes to be significant improvements, and the email client revamp "a much-needed breath of fresh air" in a stagnating field. Overall, Wallen surmised that existing users would appreciate Loki's polish and new users would find it to be a perfect introduction to the operating system. Bryan Lunduke of Network World lauded Loki's performance, usability, polish, and easy installation, but considered it a better fit for new Linux users than for those already established.

The elementary OS team received a large donation from an anonymous donor in early August 2018. The donation has allowed the development team to hire an additional full-time employee and expand long-term viability for the project.

5.0 Juno

elementary OS 5.0, known by its codename "Juno", was released on 16 October 2018. The update brings changes to the AppCenter pay-what-you-want system, as well a Night Light feature for changing the screen color at night, and adjustable window tiling as well as several other new features for the Pantheon desktop and elementary OS applications. The update also contained a new Housekeeping feature in settings, which removes trashed, as well as temporary, files after a given time interval.

Jack Wallen, writing for TechRepublic, praised the update for bringing subtle changes and improving upon Loki. Jason Evangelho, writing for Forbes, called the update elegant, stating that "elementary OS 5.0 Juno, thus far, does just work. And looks absolutely beautiful doing it." In a review from LinuxInsider, the reviewer called the operating system a "very solid Linux distro" despite criticizing it for lacking power-user features.

As of November 2018, Juno has been downloaded over 160,000 times, with 1% of people choosing to pay (with $10 being the most common amount, followed closely by $1)

As part of an October 2019 update, elementary OS started supporting Flatpak out of the box, thereby making it easier to install any of the wide array of Flatpak apps that are available.

5.1 Hera

Development of elementary OS 5.1 "Hera" began after the release of elementary OS 5.0 "Juno" and focused on refining the user experience, improving performance, and introducing new features.

The development team started by addressing various bugs and stability issues present in the previous version. They put great emphasis on enhancing system performance and optimizing resource usage to ensure a smoother overall experience. One of the key goals of "Hera" was to make elementary OS even more responsive and efficient.

In terms of visual improvements, the team refined the existing desktop environment, Pantheon, and its accompanying applications. The design language was further polished, resulting in a more polished and consistent look throughout the system. Several system icons and styles were updated, giving "Hera" a more refined appearance.

The Files (formerly known as Nautilus) file manager received attention during development, with improvements in performance and a cleaner interface. Additionally, the team introduced a revamped Applications menu, making it easier to navigate and find installed software.

6.0 Odin
elementary OS 6.0, released on 10 August 2021 under the codename "Odin", builds upon 5.1 Hera by including new features like a dark style and the ability to change the accent color, Improved notification handling and a new Notification Center, Online accounts for things like IMAP and CalDAV for email and calendar respectively, Multi-touch Gestures for app switching and multiple desktops, an all new installer, a firmware updates app and more.

6.1 Jólnir

elementary 6.1, code name "Jólnir", was released on 20 December 2021.

Change of ownership
When 6.0 and 6.1 were released, the pay model wasn't bringing in enough revenue. After legal challenges between the two co-founders, Cassidy James Blaede decided to sell 100% of their shares to Danielle Foré. The CFO, Liz Kecso, also left the company while these issues were happening.

7.0 Horus
elementary OS 7.0 "Horus" was released on 31 January 2023. The update focuses on the AppCenter, new features and settings, and the developer platform. This version is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

Summary table

Notes

References

Apps

External links

 elementary OS archive and downloads

Operating system distributions bootable from read-only media
Software that uses Clutter (software)
Software that uses GTK
Ubuntu derivatives
Debian-based distributions
X86-64 Linux distributions
Linux distributions

Elementary OS


Francesco Pasqual Filice (baptismal name) (August 19, 1922 – July 17, 2015) was an American priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.  Filice was a professor of biology at the University of San Francisco (1947–1976), founder of United for Life of San Francisco (1968), co-founder of the St. Ignatius Institute (1976), co-founder of Priests for Life (1991), and founder of the Holy Family Oratory of St. Philip Neri.

Ancestry
Filice's father, the elder Francesco Filice, descended, on his father's side, from a tribe of shepherds in what is now the Calabria province of Southern Italy.  Filice theorizes that his father's family  were Jews who took refuge in Southern Italy after the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

Filice's grandmothers were Rafaella Fortino and Nicolina Pascuzzi, both of whose families descended from the mountain peoples of Celtic descent in Southern Italy.  These tribes descend from the Boii, a Celtic people that specialized in cattle raising and filled up the Apennines in Roman times.

The name "Filice" is theorized to be either a form of the word for "fern" in the Southern Italian dialect (in which case, the accent should be on the first 'i') or a corruption of the Latin word for "happy", which is "felix".  Both Filice and Joseph G. Fucilla, in his book Our Italian Surnames, support the latter theory. In later years, Fr. Filice would tell his friends that his name meant, "pure Easter joy."

The Filice Family, into which Fr. Filice would be born, went to the United States from Rogliano, a small town near Cosenza in Calabria.  After spending some time in Washington State, they settled in Gilroy and Hollister, agriculturally-oriented cities south of San Francisco, near San Jose.  In Gilroy and Hollister, they owned various types of orchards.

Early life
Filice was born in Hollister, California on August 19, 1922.  He was the firstborn son of Francesco and Antonia (Antoinette) Filice.  The elder Francesco Filice died before his son's birth. Filice's birth certificate lists his name as "Franciesco Pasquale Patricio Filice" (sic), while his baptismal certificate reads "Francesco Pasqual Filice" (sic).

Filice grew up on Judah Street in San Francisco's inner Sunset District, but he also spent much of his childhood with his cousins in Gilroy and Hollister.  When he was a young boy, his widowed mother married Francis Garofalo, a barber in San Francisco.  They had one daughter, Gloria Garofalo Pizzinelli.  Mrs. Pizzinelli inhabits the family home on Judah Street to this day and has three children of her own, as well as ten grandchildren.

Filice graduated from St. Anne of the Sunset Catholic School in 1935.  He attended Polytechnic High School, and then the Christian Brothers' Sacred Heart High School, where he distinguished himself academically.

Education
In 1939, Filice enrolled at the University of San Francisco - San Francisco's Jesuit university - where he took the Bachelor of Science in 1943. In 1945, he earned the Master of Science degree at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1949, he earned the Ph.D., also at Berkeley. He published his doctoral dissertation Studies on the Cytology and Life History of a Giardia From the Laboratory Rat (Berkeley: University of California Press) in 1952.

Academic career
In 1947, Filice accepted a position as professor of biology at the University of San Francisco, where he would teach for almost 30 years.

Among Filice's scholarly work in the field of parasitology was a study based upon his doctoral research to characterize the life cycle of the medically significant parasite causing Giardiasis.

Filice F.P. 1952. Studies on the cytology and life history of a Giardia from the laboratory rat. U.C. Publications in Zoology 57(2):53-146  University of California Press: Berkeley.

In the early 1950s, Filice and co-workers investigated levels of amino acids in the body tissues of various marine invertebrates including seastars, sea urchins and spoon worms.  They were the first to demonstrate that various marine invertebrates maintain high concentrations of amino acids in their tissues in comparison to vertebrate animals.

Giordano, M.F., H.A. Harper and F.P. Filice. 1950. The amino acids of the blood of Urechis caupo.  Wasmann J. Biol. 8(1):1-7.
Giordano, M.F., H.A. Harper and F.P. Filice. 1950. The amino acids of a starfish and a sea urchin (Asteroidea and Echinoidea).  Wasmann J. Biol. 8(2):129-132.

Later in that decade, Filice embarked on a scientific expedition to Baja California, and he was a leader in the "Save The Bay" organization and movement in San Francisco, which sought to deter City planners from filling in the San Francisco Bay in order to increase development of the Bay Area.  In this respect, he published three significant studies in the field of marine ecology:

Filice, F.P., 1954. An ecological study of the Castro Creek area of San Pablo Bay. Wasmann J. Biol. 12(1):1-24.
Filice, F.P., 1958. Invertebrates from the estuarine portion of San Francisco Bay and some of the factors influencing their distribution. Wasmann J. Biol. 16:159-211.
Filice, F.P., 1959. The effects of wastes on the distribution of bottom invertebrates in San Francisco Bay estuary. Wasmann J. Biol. 17:1-17.

Anti-abortion activism
Also central to his work as a professor of biology was anti-abortion activism and the defense of unborn human life.

Prior to the late 1960s, abortion was illegal in every state of the United States, except in cases where the pregnancy posed a risk to the mother's life. This changed in 1967 when Colorado became the first state to legalize abortion in cases of rape, incest, or when there was a threat of permanent disability to the pregnant women. During this period, when the topic of overpopulation first became widely discussed, Filice recalls that not a month would pass when he did not receive, as a biology professor at USF, a free copy of a textbook which called into question population growth. The first such book was The Population Bomb. Dr. Filice found the arguments made in such books unconvincing and began to speak against them at various meetings.

At this time, Filice was invited to participate in a panel discussing concerns over population at a local high school, by a former student of his who was teaching biology. In his observation, the speakers affiliated with Planned Parenthood and the representative of the Human Population Institute of Stanford only talked about how to get an abortion, without addressing the population question at all. This concerned Filice, and, as a result, he called the chancery of the Archdiocese of San Francisco to ask what they were doing to respond. Finding out that they did not have a plan for action, Filice asked if they minded if he tried something. The Chancellor of the Archdiocese told him to go ahead.

Filice had a student, John Martin, who had become a Lutheran, and, when Filice expressed his concern about how things were developing, this student told him that his pastor had expressed the same concerns. As a result, he invited his pastor to have lunch with Filice at USF. Pastor Kangas was pastor of the Finnish Lutheran Church of St. Francis on Church Street in San Francisco. Pastor Kangas was from Ohio. Filice found him to be a very spiritual man.

Filice also invited to the lunch meeting Eileen Ziomeck (now Dr. Aicardi, a pediatrician in San Francisco), who, in Filice's words, was "smartest student I ever had".  The four people who attended the luncheon decided to start an educational group aimed at countering the claims regarding population growth made in the media.

Pastor Kangas knew an Episcopalian minister who was of the same mind. He was Rev. Charles Carroll, chaplain at UCSF and pastor of the church that is now the Catholic chapel of St. John of God.  Rev. Carroll had been a Catholic, at one time, but now served under the Episcopalian Bishop of San Francisco.  His presence on the committee added a socially upscale quality to the movement.

So the four contacted Rev. Carroll and called a meeting.  St. Mary's Hospital let them use a meeting room.  No doctors were at the meeting. Those in attendance at this first meeting were: Filice, Eileen Ziomeck, John Martin, John Galten, Clayton Barbeau (a Catholic author), Rev. Bernie Bush, S.J., Rev. Theodore Taheny, S.J., Rev. Carroll, Pastor Kangas, Bob Augros (a philosophy professor at USF), and others whom Filice cannot remember. He does remember that there were fourteen people present.

They decided that the political problem was impractical to address directly, and that what was needed was an educational group to counter the arguments of the pro-choice movement. Filice remembers going around the room and asking each if they wanted to be chairman, but each of them declined. So, by default, Filice became the chairman of this emergent anti-abortion group in San Francisco. Thus was born United for Life of San Francisco.

United for Life met every two weeks for the next seven years. At their first official meeting, Dr. Raymond Dennehy came up from Santa Clara University, where he taught philosophy. Dr. Augros and he took the task of countering the arguments of their opposition, and they developed a pamphlet in question-and-answer form that became the source of arguments against abortion for all the anti-abortion groups in the United States. This pamphlet was later the basis of a book by Dr. Jack and Barbara Willke from Ohio.

United for Life developed the first anti-abortion newsletter in the United States and contacted all the groups in California and the United States. In most densely populated areas, ad hoc groups formed.  For example, across the bay in Oakland, "Voice of the Unborn" was formed by a number of housewives. In Los Angeles, a right-to-life organization was formed by a group of doctors' wives. There was a network of such groups who brought information to their legislatures and to young people.

In addition, United for Life developed speakers bureaus: lawyers, scientists, students, and women who went to every school in the Bay Area to present the anti-abortion message.  They purchased films which explored prenatal development.  They asked to address every event in the Bay Area where their opposition would be.

United for Life organized the opposition to the bills in the California State Assembly to strike down all the abortion laws, and they "defeated it handsomely."

Mary Ann Schwab and Alice Austurias, members of United for Life, organized the Catholic Office for Life in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and staffed it for many years. Some of the members of United for Life organized the Political Action organization in California as a separate organization because of the tax laws.

The Birthright organization was started in San Francisco by Dr. Filice's second-oldest daughter, Carol Brown.  A similar organization with the same name had been started in Toronto, Ontario. Brown and her helpers contacted the Toronto office, and they joined with the international organization. This helped the spread of Birthright offices on the West Coast.

Of Roe v. Wade, Filice has stated: "A purely fabricated case went to the Supreme Court and Justice Blackmun, without shame, wrote a majority opinion that is a masterpiece of false logic. The Court struck down all the laws protecting the child. In doing so they threw our legal system into a shambles.  To this day, the effects are felt in the grossly unjust decisions made by the courts to protect the capacity to kill the child in the womb".

Filice finds noteworthy that the anti-abortion effort was the first effort by Catholic lay people in the United States without the help of the clergy; it was an entirely lay movement, the first, in Filice's experience, in the United States where the people acted without the leadership of their pastors.  This was important because the Catholic organizers wanted non-Catholics to join in.  Their conviction was that abortion is a human problem and not just a religious one.  The early anti-abortion activists felt that they, as citizens, had to educate the voters in the United States.  As a result, many Catholic priests felt that it was not their fight.  All that has changed by now, Fr. Filice points out: Priests for Life  grew out of United for Life.

Personal life
In 1947, Filice married Barbara Ann Fate, the daughter of Michael and Blanche Fate.  Michael Fate was half Italian and half Irish, and Blanche Fate was half Irish and half Swedish.  Ms. Fate had earned a baccalaureate degree at Lone Mountain College in San Francisco.

Filice had six children. The Filice Family would settle on 24th Avenue in San Francisco's Richmond District, attending St. Monica's parish and school.  Filice's daughters attended Presentation High School, while his sons attended St. Ignatius, San Francisco's Jesuit high school.

In the early 1960s, Filice participated in one of the first cursillo retreats given in San Francisco, and he became a Third Order Carmelite.  In 1964, he took his family on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.  From the early 1960s to the middle 1970s, Filice was involved with the St. Vincent de Paul Society and the anti-abortion movement.

Mrs. Filice died from complications related to kidney failure on February 11, 1976.  Soon after, Dr. Filice retired from his professorship at the University of San Francisco and was accepted by Archbishop Joseph Thomas McGucken as a seminarian of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.  From 1977 to 1979, he was engaged in formation for the priesthood at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, CA.  He was ordained a priest of Jesus Christ on May 19, 1979 at St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco.  The ordaining prelate was Archbishop John R. Quinn of San Francisco.

Filice served as a parochial vicar in various parishes of the Archdiocese of San Francisco until 1986, when, with the permission of Archbishop Quinn, he established the Holy Family Oratory of St. Philip Neri in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.  The impetus for the foundation of the Oratory was an awareness of the attacks on the family in the West, which had taken deep root in the culture.  Fr. Filice sought to combat these evils by engaging in a sustained and organized apostolic service to the family in the context of the Oratorian life.  In addition, he saw the common life of the Oratory as a healthy form of community life for secular priests engaged in pastoral ministry.  The Oratory had pastoral care of the students of San Francisco State University until 1991, when it transferred its operations to the parish of San Jose de la Mesa in Tijuana, Mexico.  Fr. Filice served there until 1996, when Archbishop William Levada called him home to the Archdiocese of San Francisco.  Fr. Filice was assigned to be chaplain of the Veterans Administration Hospital in San Francisco.  He served in that capacity until his retirement in the early 2000s.

Filice then resided in San Francisco as senior priest in residence at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in the outer Richmond District.  He also served as full-time chaplain to the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration at 771 Ashbury Street in San Francisco.  He was also part-time chaplain at the San Francisco County Jail, the Richmond Jail, and the San Bruno Jail, and at the Novitiate of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta's Missionaries of Charity, at St. Paul's on Church Street in the Noe Valley neighborhood of the Mission District.

Filice died on July 17, 2015, at Nazareth House in San Rafael surrounded by many of his family members. He was 92 years of age and until recent months had remained quite active in his ministry since his ordination in 1979.

See also

References

American anti-abortion activists
American Roman Catholic priests
American people of Italian descent
University of San Francisco alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni
University of San Francisco faculty
Catholic clergy scientists
Saint Patrick's Seminary and University alumni
People from Gilroy, California
1922 births
2015 deaths
Activists from California
Scientists from California
People of Calabrian descent
American biologists
Catholics from California

Francis P. Filice


Jordi Montaña has been the Rector of the University of Vic since 13 July 2010, when he was appointed by the Balmes University Foundation Board of Trustees.

Teaching work
A full professor at Ramon Llull University and a lecturer at ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Jordi Montaña holds a doctorate in industrial engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, a master's degree in Business Administration and Management from ESADE and a degree in industrial engineering from the School of Industrial Engineering of Barcelona. He took postgraduate studies at the University of Bradford, at the Management Centre in Brussels and the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne.

From 1976 until his appointment as Rector of the University of Vic, he was a lecturer at ESADE, where he was head of the ESADE Design Management Chair, undertaking research into design and business, and their impact on the economy and society.

At the same time, he was a visiting lecturer at the École des Hautes Études Commerciales, the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Koblenz, the Art Center College of Design (Switzerland), the Copenhagen Business School and the Bocconi University in Milan. He has taught at the Universidad Centroamericana in Managua, at the Central American University in San Salvador, at the EAFIT University in Medellin and at the Indian Institutes of Management. He was the first director of the DEADE programme in Cuba, a joint programme of ESADE, the London School of Economics and the École des Hautes Études Commerciales.

Professional career
He has always been associated with the world of industrial design, and was the founder and chief executive officer of Quod, Disseny i Marketing SA and Enginyeria Cultural SA; the founder and chief executive officer of the National Society for the Development of Design and Innovation (Spanish Ministry of Industry and Energy); and president of the board of Integral Design and Development SA; president of the ADI-FAD, and trustee and executive committee member of the Barcelona Design Centre Foundation. He was a member of the board and treasurer for the international NGO Design for the World.

During his career, he has taught extensively, while at the same time providing consultancy in strategies for marketing, innovation, product development, design management and corporate branding for companies (Manpower, Sony, La Española, Novartis, Nestlé, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark and others) and institutions, including the Spanish Institute for Small and Medium Enterprises (Ministry of Industry), the Ministry of Industry of Nicaragua, the Venezuelan Ministry of Public Works, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Commission. He was a member of the group of design experts at the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, the European Union's office for the registration of European designs and trademarks.

Awards
 2010. The 'Marketing Trends Award' for his contribution to research in design, innovation and marketing, at the 9th ESCP Europe International Congress on Marketing Trends
 2010. Gold Award from the North American Case Research Association.

References

Living people
Spanish industrial designers
Academic staff of University Ramon Llull
Academic staff of ESADE
Polytechnic University of Catalonia alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Academic staff of Central American University

Jordi Montaña


The three primary objectives of nuclear reactor safety systems as defined by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission are to shut down the reactor, maintain it in a shutdown condition and prevent the release of radioactive material.

Reactor protection system (RPS)
A reactor protection system is designed to immediately terminate the nuclear reaction. By breaking the nuclear chain reaction, the source of heat is eliminated. Other systems can then be used to remove decay heat from the core. All nuclear plants have some form of reactor protection system.

Control rods
Control rods are a series of rods that can be quickly inserted into the reactor core to absorb neutrons and rapidly terminate the nuclear reaction. They are typically composed of actinides, lanthanides, transition metals, and boron, in various alloys with structural backing such as steel. In addition to being neutron absorbent, the alloys used also are required to have at least a low coefficient of thermal expansion so that they do not jam under high temperatures, and they have to be self-lubricating metal on metal, because at the temperatures experienced by nuclear reactor cores oil lubrication would foul too quickly.

Safety injection / standby liquid control
Boiling water reactors are able to SCRAM the reactor completely with the help of their control rods. In the case of a loss of coolant accident (LOCA), the water-loss of the primary cooling system can be compensated with normal water pumped into the cooling circuit. On the other hand, the standby liquid control (SLC) system (SLCS) consists of a solution containing boric acid, which acts as a neutron poison and rapidly floods the core in case of problems with the stopping of the chain reaction.

Pressurized water reactors also can SCRAM the reactor completely with the help of their control rods.  PWRs also use boric acid to make fine adjustments to reactor power level, or reactivity, using their Chemical and Volume Control System (CVCS). In the case of LOCA, PWRs have three sources of backup cooling water, high pressure injection (HPI), low pressure injection (LPI), and core flood tanks (CFTs).  They all use water with a high concentration of boron.

Essential service water system

The essential service water system (ESWS) circulates the water that cools the plant's heat exchangers and other components before dissipating the heat into the environment. Because this includes cooling the systems that remove decay heat from both the primary system and the spent fuel rod cooling ponds, the ESWS is a safety-critical system. Since the water is frequently drawn from an adjacent river, the sea, or other large body of water, the system can be fouled by seaweed, marine organisms, oil pollution, ice and debris. In locations without a large body of water in which to dissipate the heat, water is recirculated via a cooling tower.

The failure of half of the ESWS pumps was one of the factors that endangered safety in the 1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood, while a total loss occurred during the Fukushima I and Fukushima II nuclear accidents in 2011.

Emergency core cooling systems

Emergency core cooling systems (ECCS) are designed to safely shut down a nuclear reactor during accident conditions. The ECCS allows the plant to respond to a variety of accident conditions (e.g. LOCAs) and additionally introduce redundancy so that the plant can be shut down even with one or more subsystem failures. In most plants, ECCS is composed of the following systems:

High pressure coolant injection system
The High Pressure Coolant Injection (HPCI) System consists of a pump or pumps that have sufficient pressure to inject coolant into the reactor vessel while it is pressurized. It is designed to monitor the level of coolant in the reactor vessel and automatically inject coolant when the level drops below a threshold. This system is normally the first line of defense for a reactor since it can be used while the reactor vessel is still highly pressurized.

Automatic depressurization system

The Automatic Depressurization System (ADS) consists of a series of valves which open to vent steam several feet under the surface of a large pool of liquid water (known as the wetwell or torus) in pressure suppression type containments (typically used in boiling water reactor designs), or directly into the primary containment structure in other types of containments, such as large-dry or ice-condenser containments (typically used in pressurized water reactor designs). The actuation of these valves depressurizes the reactor vessel and allows lower pressure coolant injection systems to function, which have very large capacities in comparison to the high pressure systems. Some depressurization systems are automatic in function, while others may require operators to manually activate them. In pressurized water reactors with large dry or ice condenser containments, the valves of the system are called Pilot-operated relief valves.

Low pressure coolant injection system
An LPCI is an emergency system which consists of a pump that injects a coolant into the reactor vessel once it has been depressurized. In some nuclear power plants an LPCI is a mode of operation of a residual heat removal system, also known as an RHR or RHS but is generally is called LPCI. It is also not a stand-alone valve or system.

Core spray system (only in BWRs)
This system uses spargers (pipes fitted with an array of many small spray nozzles) within the reactor pressure vessel to spray water directly onto the fuel rods, suppressing the generation of steam. Reactor designs can include core spray in high-pressure and low-pressure modes.

Containment spray system
This system consists of a series of pumps and spargers that spray coolant into the upper portion of the primary containment structure. It is designed to condense the steam into liquid within the primary containment structure in order to prevent overpressure and overtemperature, which could lead to leakage, followed by involuntary depressurization.

Isolation cooling system
This system is often driven by a steam turbine to provide enough water to safely cool the reactor if the reactor building is isolated from the control and turbine buildings. Steam turbine driven cooling pumps with pneumatic controls can run at mechanically controlled adjustable speeds, without battery power, emergency generator, or off-site electrical power. The Isolation cooling system is a defensive system against a condition known as station blackout. This system is not part of the ECCS and does not have a low coolant accident function. For pressurized water reactors, this system acts in the secondary cooling circuit and is called Turbine driven auxiliary feedwater system.

Emergency electrical systems
Under normal conditions, nuclear power plants receive power from generator. However, during an accident a plant may lose access to this power supply and thus may be required to generate its own power to supply its emergency systems. These electrical systems usually consist of diesel generators and batteries.

Diesel generators
Diesel generators are employed to power the site during emergency situations. They are usually sized such that a single one can provide all the required power for a facility to shut down during an emergency.  Facilities have multiple generators for redundancy. Additionally, systems that are required to shut down the reactor have separate electrical sources (often separate generators) so that they do not affect shutdown capability.

Motor generator flywheels
Loss of electrical power can occur suddenly and can damage or undermine equipment. To prevent damage, motor-generators can be tied to flywheels that can provide uninterrupted electrical power to equipment for a brief period. Often they are used to provide electrical power until the plant electrical supply can be switched to the batteries and/or diesel generators.

Batteries
Batteries often form the final redundant backup electrical system and are also capable of providing sufficient electrical power to shut down a plant.

Containment systems
Containment systems are designed to prevent the release of radioactive material into the environment.

Fuel cladding
The fuel cladding is the first layer of protection around the nuclear fuel and is designed to protect the fuel from corrosion that would spread fuel material throughout the reactor coolant circuit. In most reactors it takes the form of a sealed metallic or ceramic layer. It also serves to trap fission products, especially those that are gaseous at the reactor's operating temperature, such as krypton, xenon and iodine. Cladding does not constitute shielding, and must be developed such that it absorbs as little radiation as possible. For this reason, materials such as magnesium and zirconium are used for their low neutron capture cross sections.

Reactor vessel
The reactor vessel is the first layer of shielding around the nuclear fuel and usually is designed to trap most of the radiation released during a nuclear reaction. The reactor vessel is also designed to withstand high pressures.

Primary containment
The primary containment system usually consists of a large metal and/or concrete structure (often cylindrical or bulb shaped) that contains the reactor vessel. In most reactors it also contains the radioactively contaminated systems. The primary containment system is designed to withstand strong internal pressures resulting from a leak or intentional depressurization of the reactor vessel.

Secondary containment
Some plants have a secondary containment system that encompasses the primary system. This is very common in BWRs because most of the steam systems, including the turbine, contain radioactive materials.

Core catching
In case of a full melt-down, the fuel would most likely end up on the concrete floor of the primary containment building.  Concrete can withstand a great deal of heat, so the thick flat concrete floor in the primary containment will often be sufficient protection against the so-called China Syndrome.   The Chernobyl plant didn't have a containment building, but the core was eventually stopped by the concrete foundation.  Due to concerns that the core would melt its way through the concrete, a "core catching device" was invented, and a mine was quickly dug under the plant with the intention to install such a device.  The device contains a quantity of metal designed to melt, diluting the corium and increasing its heat conductivity; the diluted metallic mass could then be cooled by water circulating in the floor.  Today, all new Russian-designed reactors are equipped with core-catchers in the bottom of the containment building.

The AREVA EPR, SNR-300, SWR1000, ESBWR, and Atmea I reactors have core catchers.

The ABWR has a thick layer of basaltic concrete floor specifically designed to catch the core.

Standby gas treatment
A standby gas treatment system (SGTS) is part of the secondary containment system. The SGTS system filters and pumps air from secondary containment to the environment and maintains a negative pressure within the secondary containment to limit the release of radioactive material.

Each SGTS train generally consists of a mist eliminator/roughing filter; an electric heater; a prefilter; two absolute (HEPA) filters; an activated charcoal filter; an exhaust fan; and associated valves, ductwork, dampers, instrumentation and controls. The signals that trip the SGTS system are plant-specific; however, automatic trips are generally associated with the electric heaters and a high temperature condition in the charcoal filters.

Ventilation and radiation protection
In case of a radioactive release, most plants have a system designed to remove radioactivity from the air to reduce the effects of the radioactivity release on the employees and public. This system usually consists of containment ventilation that removes radioactivity and steam from primary containment. Control room ventilation ensures that plant operators are protected. This system often consists of activated charcoal filters that remove radioactive isotopes from the air.

See also
 Boiling water reactor safety systems
 Nuclear accidents in the United States
 Nuclear safety in the U.S.
 Passive nuclear safety
 World Association of Nuclear Operators

References

Standards
 American National Standard, ANSI N18.2, "Nuclear Safety Criteria for the Design of Stationary Pressurized Water Reactor Plants," August 1973.
 IEEE 279, "Criteria for Protection Systems for Nuclear Power Generating Stations."

Nuclear reactor safety
Systems
Nuclear power plant components

Nuclear reactor safety system


Schmeeckle Reserve is a  natural land area located on the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, United States. It contains hiking trails, natural land area, a visitor center, multiple habitats, abundant wildlife and a manmade lake. "The Reserve was created to protect and restore native ecological communities, serve as an outdoor classroom for students and teachers, and provide recreational opportunities to all visitors."

History
Before 1956 the current Schmeeckle Reserve was farmland (corn and grain) and grazing (dairy cattle) land. This land, however was not fertile enough to support a large plant population for agriculture due to bedrock close to the surface, making some areas too wet or dry to support crops. By the 1950s several farmers had abandoned their efforts to make the ground agriculturally productive (abandoned machinery and building foundations are still visible onsite). The University began purchasing this land, which is located north and east of campus, in 1956, and initially used it as a picnic area. Students from the University's Conservation Department were called out to fight fires many times, and their furrows which they dug to help stop the fires can still be seen weaving through the reserve. By 1969 the University owned a total of  of land, and there was debate on whether to use it for residence halls, housing for married students, athletic fields, or other options. In 1974 the University proposed to use this land for a natural area and hiking trails, with an arboretum. At that time the area presently covered by Lake Joanis was not part of the University's holdings.

Creation of Lake Joanis
At about the same time that the University was proposing its natural area plan, Sentry Insurance, a nationwide company headquartered in Stevens Point, proposed building a new office building on the next major street north of the University campus. The company's environmental impact statement found that the building would significantly increase vehicle traffic on Reserve Street, which ran through the campus at that time.  To reduce the danger that this increase would pose to the University's students, the company proposed closing that street and extending Michigan Avenue through the proposed natural area to replace Reserve Street.  At first this proposal brought heated resistance, since it would split the natural area, so a compromise was reached: the construction would require significant soil, which was to be excavated from a 50-acre tract east of the University's acreage.  The company would leave that excavation open (it would eventually fill with groundwater, creating an artificial lake), and would deed the tract to the University to be added to the proposed nature holdings.

The University agreed with this proposal, and public opposition was calmed. The road extension was completed in 1975.  The resulting lake, which covered 24 of the site's 50 acres, was officially named Lake Joanis in 1994, after Sentry Insurance President John Joanis, who paid for its excavation.

Creation
Schmeeckle Reserve was established in 1976 with a $250,000 Land and Water Conservation (LAWCON) Grant. The  with Lake Joanis was included within the reserve at this time. The Reserve's first Director was Ron Zimmerman (1977). One of his first acts was to work for the purchase of an adjacent (20 acres) farm, that was once owned by the Edward Wojcik family. The Wojcik's ranch home was converted into the Visitor Center by students from the University over a three-year period, finishing by 1979. By 1981 the LAWCON funds had paid for over five miles of trails and boardwalks, fitness trails and the shelter building.

Expansion
Over the years, Schmeeckle Reserve has continued to expand its facilities and resources. When the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame was created in 1984, Schmeeckle Reserve became its new home. In 1990, the Hall of Fame constructed a new addition to the Visitor Center with funding from the city's Motel Room tax and more LAWCON funding. Included in the addition was a walk-through exhibit area, formal Hall of Fame gallery, meeting room and sign-making workshop.

With the 1998 acquisition of the 75-acre Berard Oaks area at the northeast corner of the Reserve, Schmeeckle has grown to 280 acres. The Reserve continues to evolve, as new trails are developed, further land acquisitions are sought, and prairie and oak savannah habitats are restored.

Fred Schmeeckle
Fred Schmeeckle, the namesake of the reserve, was a professor from Nebraska who taught at the Stevens Point Normal School beginning in 1923. He taught agriculture but was also a supporter of conservation education, "the destruction of forests, pollution of water, and misuse of wildlife areas are factors that started me thinking something should be done to educate people in the wise use of resources." In the early 1930s Schmeeckle began teaching conservation courses. This program is now the largest undergraduate natural resources program of its kind in the nation. Schmeeckle took his classes on walks and on bird watching trips to the natural area north of the campus, which is now where the reserve is located. In 1954 Schmeeckle said, "Some day this area will serve as an island of green in the city of Stevens Point." He had it right and his island of green is now named for him.

Plant and animal life
The habitats within the Reserve are many and varied. Cattails, pine, oak and deciduous forests are found. Wildlife common to the reserve 'but not limited to' include frogs, deer, rabbits, squirrels, turtles, snakes, geese and ducks.

See also
 List of botanical gardens and arboretums in Wisconsin

References

Walking Trails of Eastern and Central Wisconsin by Bob Crawford and Robert F. Crawford. page 201
Hiking Wisconsin by Martin Hintz page 209

External links
Schmeeckle Reserve
Urban Deer Management
Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame

Stevens Point, Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
Botanical gardens in Wisconsin
Arboreta in Wisconsin
Nature centers in Wisconsin
Protected areas of Portage County, Wisconsin
Nature reserves in Wisconsin

Schmeeckle Reserve (Stevens Point, Wisconsin)


Blackett is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blackett is located 48 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

History
Blackett takes its name from George Forster Blackett, Superintendent of the Government Cattle Station at Rooty Hill 1820–1830.

Blackett is primarily a residential suburb with very limited commercial activity, having only a small shopping complex containing a combination liquor/general store, a Halal and non-Halal butcher, a bakery, take-away store, and combined service station/general store, which caters heavily to residents of Pacific Islander extraction. It is quite close to the suburbs of Mount Druitt and St Marys, which most residents would consider to be more commercial areas (having shopping centres, banking facilities and railway stations). Other nearby suburbs with shopping facilities (though no rail access) include Emerton and Plumpton.

Transport
On the day of the 2016 Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people were: Car, as driver 61.3%, Car, as passenger 10.4%.

By road, Blackett is adjacent to the Westlink M7 motorway which can provide very easy access to the Great Western Highway and the M4 Motorway, providing road access to the western sections of the city and eastward to the Sydney CBD.
This suburb is linked by several private bus companies to the train stations located at Mount Druitt and St Marys.

Cycleways running through Blackett run from Poppondetta Park all the way to Mt Druitt and the M7 cycleway, which in turn connects to the cycleways on the M4 and M2 Motorways.

Schools
Blackett Public School (founded in 1971) and Niland Special School are both public schools in the suburb.

Population
According to the 2016 census, there were 3,452 people in Blackett.
 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 10.6% of the population.
 63.9% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 5.5% and Samoa 3.0%.
 68.0% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Samoan 5.0%, Arabic 1.9% and Tongan 1.7%.
 The most common responses for religion were Catholic 25.9%, No Religion 21.8% and Anglican 17.0%.

Housing
Housing is very heavily dominated by public housing built throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with large numbers of freestanding fibro houses and extensive terrace-style complexes. The houses are gradually transferring to private ownership, and as this continues, these government-built premises are being replaced with privately built, modern homes, similar to those being built in other areas of Sydney.

Of occupied private dwellings in Blackett 89.6% were separate houses.

Politics

For federal elections, Blackett is in the safe Labor electoral division of Chifley. This seat is currently held by Ed Husic of the Australian Labor Party and he was last re-elected at the 2013 elections. The seat has been held continuously by the Australian Labor Party since it was proclaimed in 1984

For NSW state elections, Blackett is in the Electoral district of Mount Druitt. This seat is currently held by Edmond Atalla, of the Australian Labor Party. It has been held by a Labor candidate since it was proclaimed in 1971.

Notes
  State Election 2003 – Polling Booth Results, courtesy State Electoral Office of NSW.
  Federal Election 2004 – Polling Booth Results for Chifley, courtesy Australian Electoral Commission.

Further reading

References

External links
 of Blackett's boundaries, from the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales.
 Profile of the federal seat of Chifley.
 The Blacketts of North East England

Suburbs of Sydney
City of Blacktown

Blackett, New South Wales


Arnold L. Zenker (born 1938) is a retired media broadcaster and public appearance counselor who gained brief stardom by sitting in for Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News in 1967.  Zenker studied at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, from which he received an undergraduate and a law degree.  In 1967 at the age of 28, he was asked to sit in for anchor Walter Cronkite to deliver the nightly news. Zenker, working as a manager of news programming at CBS at the time, was chosen because a strike by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists left the network without an immediate substitute.

For 13 days, Zenker delivered the CBS Evening News, telling viewers that he was "sitting in for Walter Cronkite".  After the strike ended, Cronkite returned on April 11, 1967, and opened with the words, "Good evening.  This is Walter Cronkite, sitting in for Arnold Zenker.  It's good to be back."

Once the strike ended Zenker returned to his former post.  After that he went on to host a variety of television and radio shows in Boston and Baltimore and worked at one time in labor relations at ABC.  Zenker founded the company Arnold Zenker Associates in Boston, which trains "people to successfully master the public spotlight."

References

External links
"Portrait of the Artists". Time. (April 7, 1967). Retrieved September 4, 2006.

American television journalists
Living people
Year of birth uncertain
CBS News people
American male journalists
Journalists from New York City
1938 births

Arnold Zenker


Mount David is a prominent  mountain summit located in Chelan County of Washington state. The mountain is situated in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, on land managed by the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Mount David is the highest point of Wenatchee Ridge, a subrange which also includes Indian Head Peak, Whittier Peak, Mount Saul, and Mount Jonathan. Its nearest higher neighbor is Bandit Peak,  to the east-northeast. Precipitation runoff from Mount David drains into tributaries of the White River. Although modest in elevation, relief is significant since Mt. David rises 5,100 feet above the White River Valley in two miles. This peak was named for the biblical David by Albert Hale Sylvester, a pioneer surveyor, explorer, topographer, and forest supervisor in the Cascades who named thousands of natural features. This mountain can be climbed via the strenuous seven-mile Mount David Trail with over 5,000 feet of elevation gain.

Geology

The North Cascades feature some of the most rugged topography in the Cascade Range with craggy peaks, spires, ridges, and deep glacial valleys. Geological events occurring many years ago created the diverse topography and drastic elevation changes over the Cascade Range leading to the various climate differences.

The history of the formation of the Cascade Mountains dates back millions of years ago to the late Eocene Epoch. With the North American Plate overriding the Pacific Plate, episodes of volcanic igneous activity persisted. Glacier Peak, a stratovolcano that is  north of Mount David, began forming in the mid-Pleistocene. Due to Glacier Peak's proximity to Mount David, volcanic ash is common in the area. In addition, small fragments of the oceanic and continental lithosphere called terranes created the North Cascades about 50 million years ago.

During the Pleistocene period dating back over two million years ago, glaciation advancing and retreating repeatedly scoured  and shaped the landscape. Uplift and faulting in combination with glaciation have been the dominant processes which have created the tall peaks and deep valleys of the North Cascades area.

Climate
Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the Cascade Mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Cascade Range, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the Cascades (orographic lift). As a result, the Cascades experience high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall. During winter months, weather is usually cloudy, but, due to high pressure systems over the Pacific Ocean that intensify during summer months, there is often little or no cloud cover during the summer. The months July through September offer the most favorable weather for viewing or climbing this peak.

See also

 Geography of Washington (state)
 Geology of the Pacific Northwest
 List of mountain peaks of Washington (state)

References

External links
 Weather forecast: Mount David
 Mount David Trail #1521: US Forest Service

Mountains of Washington (state)
Mountains of Chelan County, Washington
Cascade Range
North Cascades
North American 2000 m summits

Mount David (Washington)


The striped-faced dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura) is a small, Australian, nocturnal, "marsupial mouse," part of the family Dasyuridae. The species' distribution occurs throughout much of inland central and northern Australia, occupying a range of arid and semi-arid habitats.

While the species has a broad distribution range, it has been declining across much of Australia, including the western region of New South Wales (NSW). This is due to several threatening processes, primarily habitat degradation.

This has led to the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage listing the species as 'vulnerable'. The species is not listed on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species list the species as of 'least concern'.

Recent genetic studies have discovered that this dunnart species is in fact three distinct species that over several million years diverged from each other. However, because they are difficult to distinguish, they tend to be treated as a single species.

The three subspecies are as follows:
 Sminthopsis macroura macroura in central, eastern, and western Australia
 S.m. stalkeri in central northern Australia
 S.m. froggatti in the Kimberley region

Description
The stripe-faced dunnart has an average length of 155–198 mm from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail, a snout to anus distance of 75–98 mm, a tail measuring 80–100 mm and an ear length of 17–18 mm. Its weight varies between 15 and 25 grams. The species is pale grey-brown above with an obvious dark strip on the forehead from the top of muzzle to between ears, and the ears are slightly darker than other dunnart species. Underparts and feet are white. The tail is often swollen, wide at the base and narrowing to the tail, with hairs extending beyond the tail tip.

The species can be distinguished from other similar species like the fat-tailed dunnart (S. crassicaudara) by the dark stripe on the forehead, which is only partly similar to the Julia Creek dunnart (S. douglasi). However, the Julia Creek dunnart is two to three times heavier than the striped-faced dunnart and is longer with a head and body length of 100 to 135mm.

The maximum longevity of the species in captivity is 4.9 years.

Distribution and habitat
The stripe-faced dunnart's distribution covers a broad area of central and northern Australia, from the Pilbara to central Northern Territory, western and central Queensland, south to north-east South Australia to north and west New South Wales. The species also inhabits a range of habitats, mainly within arid regions, occurring in low shrublands containing saltbush (Atriplex spp.) and bluebush (Maireana spp.), in spinifex grasslands on sandy soils, among sparse Acacia shrublands, in tussock grasslands on clay, sandy or stony soils, on open salt lakes, and on low, shrubby, rocky ridges. The highest abundance of the species occurs mainly in tussock grasslands and shrublands where overgrazing by domestic and feral stock is sparse or absent, and often where there are drainage lines in natural vegetation which tend to improve the availability of food and shelter. The species shelters under rocks and logs, in cracks in the soil and in tussock grass.

A study has found that the species is capable of successfully surviving and reproducing in small remnants of native vegetation which are fenced to prevent large herbivores from grazing. However, adults of the dunnart were not detected in the grazing area surrounding the non-grazed habitat. Several factors can be attributed to this finding, that the greater diversity and cover of vegetation may increase arthropod biomass providing a more guaranteed supply of food for the dunnarts. The denser vegetation cover in the non-grazed sites provides more protection from predators and the absence of livestock reduces soil compaction, allowing for an entire network of soil cracks that provide favourable refuges and foraging sites for the species.

Social organisation and breeding
The stripe-faced dunnart breeds from July through February and has a gestation period of eleven days, the shortest of any mammal.  The species is polyoestrous with a mean cycle length of 23–25 days. Males are capable of breeding throughout the breeding season and for up to three seasons.

The litter size can vary to a maximum of eight joeys which is equal to the number of teats. They have a pouch life of 40 days, with the pouch fully enclosing the newborn young who are attached to a nipple until they are well developed.  If the mother has only one or two young she might not rear them. After leaving the pouch, the young remain in the nest and suckle for another 30 days. There are usually two litters per season, but in captivity the dunnart can possibly raise three.

Females mature at about four months of age, earlier than males who mature at about nine months. Environmental factors such as ambient temperature and abundance of available food are significant influences regulating reproduction. Studies have found that male stripe-faced dunnarts have lower sperm production compared to other dasyurid species.

Diet
The species mostly eats invertebrates, excluding ants, and may also occasionally consume other small mammals and lizards. An analysis of faecal matter of the stripe-faced dunnart at two locations found that their diet consisted entirely of invertebrates from the classes of Arachnida, Chilopoda, Crustacea, and Insecta. The species is known to eat more isopterans (termites) than the fat-tailed dunnart. The species consumed up to 50% of their body mass equivalent in food per day compared to fat-tailed dunnarts which require up to 81%, yet both species tend to have similar body weight.

Survival
The stripe-faced dunnart has developed many strategies and adaptations to survive in the extreme, arid environment of greatly varying temperatures and lack of water and nutrients. To survive the fluctuating temperatures, the species can maintain an even body temperature with a marked diurnal temperature cycle, torpor and avoiding direct exposure. To avoid exposure during the summer, the species is active at night and rests during the day in burrows it digs, or nests made of grasses, leaves and other materials in hollow logs, under dense vegetation or tree cavities. It also shelters in soil cracks, under rocks, logs and in animal burrows.

To survive throughout winter, the species enters torpor daily, usually during the night and awakening by midday, when it uses sun basking to rewarm itself. As the winter nights become colder, the daily torpor bouts become longer and deeper; females tend to remain in torpor longer than males. Torpor allows the species to decrease water loss and reduce energy expenditure by up to 90%, considerably reducing the amount of food to be foraged; this is especially useful for when food availability during the winter is low. The stripe-faced dunnart may also readily enter daily torpor during the summer if food availability is low or ambient temperatures are unstable.

Like the fat-tail dunnart, the stripe-faced dunnart is able to store excess fat in its tail during periods of abundant food, and uses these food stores when food is scarce, often during the winter. The dunnart is capable of gaining all its moisture needs from the insects that it eats.

Threats
The main threats to the species are overgrazing and trampling of shrublands and tussock grasslands by feral herbivores and domestic stock. Habitat clearing, fragmentation, landscape degradation, and fires which occur too frequently and extensively, are also threats to its habitat. Predation by feral cats and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) directly impacts the species' population. Removal of fallen timber threatens the species, as it relies on this for shelter from the heat and predator, and forages for invertebrates that live in or under woody debris. The dunnarts are very sensitive to the organophosphorus pesticide fenitrothion which at sub-lethal intoxication can cause lethargy and temporary immobilisation, increasing the risk of predation. This pesticide is used by local landholders to control locusts.

Conservation
The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage implemented a program called 'Saving our Species' which aims to conserve as many threatened species as possible, including the stripe-faced dunnart. Some of the measures being taken include:

 Trialling the installation of small (10-20ha) stock-proof enclosures within agricultural landscapes, to function as habitat refuges. These sites will be monitored to determine the effectiveness of this management strategy.
 Working with relevant landholders and fire management authorities to create an appropriate fire regime that preserves patches of ground cover vegetation and dead wood.
 Encouraging local landholders to protect patches of intact saltbush and other ground layer vegetation, as well as reducing grazing pressure and other disturbances.
 Conducting surveys in areas of suitable habitat to discover new populations and determine the species' distribution and abundance.
 Raising awareness of the impacts of using fenitrothion and promoting the use of less toxic alternatives to local landholders.

References

External links
Stripe-faced dunnart
NSW threatened species
TheWebsiteOfEverything.com
Australian Biological Resources Study

Dasyuromorphs
Mammals of Western Australia
Mammals of South Australia
Mammals of the Northern Territory
Mammals of New South Wales
Marsupials of Australia
Mammals described in 1845

Stripe-faced dunnart


1066 was a year which brought great changes in England. The land had four kings during the year. The year started under Anglo-Saxon rule, and ended under Norman rule. This was the only occasion since Roman Britain when the entire country was successfully invaded.

There were four kings during the year: Edward the Confessor (to 5 January 1066), Harold Godwinson (to 14 October 1066), Edgar the Ætheling (to 10 December 1066), and finally William I, Duke of Normandy.

Events
 6 January – Harold II crowned King of England
 25 September – Harold II defeats Tostig and Harald Hardraada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Tostig and Harald Hardraada are killed
 14 October – At the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy) defeats Harold. Harold is killed. In England, this heralds the start of the Middle Ages.

 The Viking port of Hedeby, a town on the Baltic Sea, is destroyed by Slavs.

Deaths
 4 or 5 January – King Edward the Confessor of England dies
 25 September – killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge:
 King Harald III of Norway (b. 1015)
 Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria
 14 October – killed at the Battle of Hastings:
 King Harold II of England
 Leofwine Godwinson, brother of King Harold II
 Gyrth Godwinson, brother of King Harold II

 John Scotus (bishop of Mecklenburg (Johannes Skotus) (born around 990)
 10 November – Sacrificed to Radegast:

1066